storypaint | Judgment (Syaoran gen)

Comm: 5_changes
Words: 693
Title: Judgment
Author: rhap_chan
Fandom: Cardcaptor Sakura
Claim: What if Sakura had given up the Clow Cards-- that is, what if Syaoran became the official Cardcaptor?
Theme Set: D
Theme 1. lost cause
Rating and Warnings: G, spoilers for Final Judgment
Summary and Notes: Syaoran was confident he would win the Final Judgment, whether he was the "chosen" Cardcaptor or not.

Was it really a lost cause, like Yue told me? Would I not be able to defeat him because I was not the one chosen by Keroberos? There was no time for questions because the dance of combat had began.

He was very fast and I had to react to his attacks and search desperately through my mind to find the right card. I would not lose simply because I was not chosen. Keroberos made his choice by accident, the girl told me. She had opened the Book on accident.

This wasn't an accident. I chose to collect all the Clow Cards for the honor of my clan. I would not lose.

The first card I tried was Windy. It was a good all-around card and it had helped me capture other cards with ease, but Yue blew it away like nothing.

"Windy is under my jurisdiction," he said with a cold smile, and I shivered. How could I ever have had a crush on his false form? Yue was so different from Yukito, it was as if they were two separate people. But I knew this to be an illusion. There was only one aware being in there, no matter what Yukito's friends thought. There was only Yue. I could not afford to be merciful.

He knocked me down and I hit the cold steel of the Tower hard, but I rolled away from his attack and got upright again. I used Jump to keep my steps light and planned my next move.

The second card I tried was Firey, and it had much more effect. A trail of flame blazed up his bow-arm and his eyes widened with shock. He beat the fire out with his other hand but I could see how serious the burn looked where the flames had eaten away his clothing. It gave me confidence. The next card I tried would bring him down.

The card I chose was Lock. That had been one of the last cards I had found. I had sensed it in Daidouji's house early on, but it was difficult to find an excuse to get in there. I had made up some sort of story about having feelings for Sakura (that pitiful girl who had tried to be the Cardmistress) and wanting her advice. Her irritating girlishness had been worth sitting through. When she left the room for tea I retrieved the card. The box it was protecting was filled with old junk, flowers and an eraser, but I left it alone. Best that no one else knew the secret.

I called the card's name and saw Yue's eyes widen for only a moment before he was enveloped in chains. He fell nearly at my feet, his proud wings now bound. I was pleased with my victory for the moment before his eyes darkened and he threw the chains away without a thought, and suddenly I was pressed down by cold metal. I could hardly breathe and my brain began to panic but I kept searching in my mind for the right card, for another alternative, but his voice rose triumphantly above mine--

"Li Syaoran has failed in the Final Judgment. And so, as Clow willed, we will forget--"

That was the last thing I heard before consciousness faded.

The next morning I woke with a strange phrase on my mind--

A lost cause...

I had had a strange dream the night before, a fantastic dream about angels and lions and magic, but now it was time to get ready for school. I put on my uniform and glared into the mirror. Another day. Why had Mother sent me to school abroad anyway? Maybe tonight I would call her and ask her to come home.

I threw everything in my bag but thought for a moment that something was missing-- one of my larger textbooks, a red one-- but I didn't have a red textbook, so I threw the thought from my mind and went to school. I didn't have a red textbook or an interesting life. I was just Li Syaoran, normal boy. That was how it always had been.