Storyline Name: Waning Moonlight
Creator(s): Addelyn and Eternal Knight
Forum: Gates to the Multiverse
Universe: Card Captor Sakura
Advanced or Relaxed: Relaxed
Moderator: Addelyn 


Plot Summary:
Now that Sakura has turned 18 and completed her magical training, with the help of her two guardians Keroberous and Yue, she is ready to tackle any problems as the Mistress of the Cards. Her first order of business is to use her magic to separate Yue and his false for Yukito, giving both beings their own lives.

Her quiet guardian is still as aloof as ever. None of her previous attempts at befriending her guardian have worked this far. Now that he has his own body, and is living in her new apartment that she is renting for college, she hopes that she can convince her guardian to see her as a friend and not simply as his Mistress.  

It’s not long before everyone realizes that something has gone wrong with the spell. Yue’s magic is fading fast and he is becoming weaker by the day. Can Sakura figure out a way to save him before he’s gone forever?

Details on any necessary information:
Takes place after the end of the manga/anime by several years. Sakura is 10 by the end of cannon so she’ll be 18 in this RP.

False Form: Yue is Yukito's true form. Yukito was originally intended to be a fake form for Yue to exist in in order to save magical energy while he waited for a new Master of the Cards. 

Restrictions:
Only Sakura and Yue are playable characters, anyone else will be NPCed for plot purposes.

Source: based on CCS manga/anime
OOC Thread: Skype
Member to Character List:
Addelyn- Sakura Kinomoto
Eternal Knight- Yue

Sakura paced her room as she waited for Yukito to arrive. Today was it, there was no going back. She couldn't help but be nervous; all the ways that this could go wrong were floating through her head like an endless horror movie. What if she couldn't do this? What if she wasn't strong enough and something went wrong? 

"If you keep pacing like that you're going to wear a hole in the floor, Monster," Toya commented from his spot on the couch. He didn't want to admit it, but he was just as nervous as his sister was. 

"Toya!" she cried, whirling to face him. She could see the small smile tugging at his lips; he had meant to distract her from her worrying, and it had worked. 

"Stop thinking about it so much Sakura, you'll be fine. Your magic has come a long way and if anyone can do this, I know its you!" Kerberos said, gently head butting her hip. She regarded her friend and guardian for a moment. He was right. She had gotten herself out of so many sticky situations in the past. If she was capable of capturing all the Clow Cards, passing Yue's Judgement and converting all the cards into Sakura cards, then she was able to do this. 

"You're right," she said, kneeling as she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you!"

How Yukito was able to put so much faith in one person, Yue would never understand. His temporary form was convinced that all would go well.

Sakura had grown so much in the last few years that perhaps he should consider the possibility that she would succeed, after all, she had beaten him. With a little help, but nobody could have turned one of his protected cards against him if not for someone worthy of replacing Clow Reed. She was strong, there was no denying it.

It was a withdrawn Yue that finally appeared in the light of his usual transforming seal, his wings unfurling in the small room, arms crossed against his chest. His eyes fell on Sakura, his expression unreadable. She was stressed, he had heard her. Her brother was agitated, it was easy to see and feel when you knew where to look. Kero was... confident of course.

How could an 18 years old woman erase what had been done for a reason by forces once stronger than her? But he was willing to try. For both Yukito and Sakura. Not that he would state it aloud.

"Are you ready?"

He asked straight to the point, not fond of useless chit chat.

Sakura nearly jumped when Yue spoke, not having heard him enter the room. He was always so silent and graceful and a small part of Sakura was jealous. Shaking her head, she smiled up at her guardian. 

"I'm ready if you are." Grabbing the chain from around her neck, she held it out in front of her. "Key of the Star, with powers burning bright, reveal the staff and shine your light, release!" She took a steadying breathe as she regarded her guardian and friend. Going over the spell she had written just for this, she finally felt ready to begin. 

Focusing, her seal appeared beneath her, glowing brilliantly. "Power of the Stars, Once there was one, now there shall be two. Separate these two beings, deserving of their own lives. Let what was once in the shadows come forth to the light. Shine your light upon them, reveal your true forms to me, release!"  Focusing her will and intent, she imagined both Yukito and Yue standing before her as she felt her spell begin to take hold. It was quickly draining her power reserves though, and she felt herself begin to weaken. Just a little longer, please, I need this to work for them. 

Finally the spell finished, leaving two men in front of her. Smiling, she swayed for a moment, before falling forward, fainting.

He nodded slowly. They were ready. He looked with a hidden interest as she called upon her staff. He knew she had worked on it thoroughly and he knew she wanted this to work. As any magic, its consequences and effects were something that appealed to his curiosity. The shift happened slowly – or was it fast, he couldn't be sure, the sensations were different from what he was used to – and when he opened his eyes, it was just in time to catch his Mistress before she landed on the ground. He noticed Kero in the corner of his eyes that had readied himself in case he wasn't quick enough.

-It worked?

Yukito's voice was faint in his ears, more of a relieved surprise than a real question. The guardian was still looking at Sakura, a small frown creasing his forehead.

“Apparently.” He answered absently.

He first scanned his own body, trying to see if the change had altered his form, but he still felt his powers, the energy coursing through is veins and his physical strength remained. He lifted Sakura easily and carried her to the couch where he slowly set her down.

-How are you feeling? Asked Keroberos to Yue even though all his attention and worries were on Sakura.
“She will recover.” Yue assured him, avoiding the question. “She just needs time now. To know whether or not there were consequences for this, we will have to wait.”

"Yue," Keroberus growled, when his brother and fellow guardian ignored him. He was of course worried about Sakura, but he was also worried about the moon guardian as well. Why did he always have to dodge personal questions like this? Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Touya relax at Yue's words about his sister as he continued to fuss over Yukito. 

"Nnggh, what happened?" Sakura asked, eyes blinking slowly as she attempted to sit up from where Yue had put her on the couch. The least thing that she remembered was trying to separate Yue and Yukito. "Yue!" she looked around wildly, trying to locate her guardian. Was he okay? Was he injured? Had the spell worked?

Yue ignored Kero's growling, his eyes still set on his Mistress. If his features stayed quite inexpressive, he was slightly worried this feat had taken too much of a toll on her. She was still young, still inexperienced. She had proven herself powerful and yet he found himself unable to fully trust her energy to last. For a short moment, his eyes shifted to Toya and Yukito, the guardian observing their reactions to this new situation. Yukito would be free from being someone's false and temporary form and Yue would be free to be himself and not only when his powers were needed.

But it still felt empty inside of his mind now that he was alone with his own thoughts. Surely that would come back once he was alone and without distraction.

If the fact his name came before Yukito's actually surprised him, he didn't let it show.

-You separated them, then fainted, Kero helpfully provided for her. Yue carried you there.

The other guardian's voice actually did the trick to fully bring his focus back on the present situation as his wings furled on his back slowly.

"The spell seemingly worked. Yukito's health has not wavered and my powers have not decreased."
-How are you feeling, Sakura? asked Yukito's soft voice just as Yue finished.

Separated or not, Yue apparently could still count on the other to express worries where he preferred to keep mostly to himself, but he was as interested to know the answer as were probably anyone in this room. Would she faint again? Would she fall ill? There were many questions and not too many answers. Nobody had ever tried that before and if the thought had appeared foolish at first, she had been right. It had worked. For now.

"I feel fine," she answered, neglecting to tell them that she felt tired. No need to worry anyone, right?

"Are you sure you're fine Yue?" reaching out, she placed a hand on his forearm.

Sakura's statement actually didn't really do anything to reassure anyone. Most of them were still worried, but there was nothing they could do for now, so they preferred not to burden her with it. Yukito felt fine, Yue said nothing more and it was not long before Toya left with Yukito. Kero forced their young mistress to go to bed and the two guardians were left all alone to discuss. It had been years since the last time they were able to meet without interruption or worry about Yukito's memory laps. They spoke well into the night, but Yue was gone - to flex his wings said Kero - when Sakura woke up.

---

Things had been calm for a few months. Yukito lived as a being of his own and Yue found himself more often than not standing somewhere inside Sakura's apartment. He could have left the house probably, but he never saw the need or the usefulness in doing so. He was there as a guardian when Sakura needed help with her magic or a threat - which would be surprising considering she was finally done thwarting Clow's plans, but he wasn't here to accompany them everywhere in town. Kero, as always however, wouldn't care very much whether or not going out was useful. He seemed to like his freedom as much as Yue appreciated being alone in the apartment when both of them were out. Anyway, Yue knew his wings wouldn't be subtle in the mortal world.

The first oddities they felt occurred while Sakura was sleeping. A magical force unknown of them both. It was gone as quickly as it came and it didn't come back until the day after when Sakura came back from college. The same energy was felt again and after some deliberations, they decide to investigate. Magic was not uncommon, but in this town, Sakura was usually the only wielder. The fact they had felt something new could be good or bad.

---

When they arrived at the correct location, there seemed to be nothing much. The park was quiet, the shadows motionless and things seemed as they always were. Everything called for a false alarm, up until a large and round cloud appeared, the particles swirling above their heads. At its center grew a strange hole that reflected back the ground under them.

-This is too abstract for Clow.
"Clow Reed made it very clear on how he much preferred not to have any more contacts," replied Yue coldly, agreeing with Kero in his own way.
-It looks harmless enough.

As soon as Kero spoke a large beam of sheer energy was released towards Sakura.

Staff in hand, Sakura barely had enough time to summon the Fly card, wings magically appearing on her back, easily lifting her out of the path of the energy beam. Quickly regaining her bearings, she turned to face the location the beam had come from, trying to see or sense anything unusual. 

"Kero, Yue, are you both alright?" she called.

-We are! growled Keroberos, answering for the both of them as Yue mainly stayed silent. Are you?

Quite certain his mistress was well, Yue was more interested in what exactly was that cloud, what new menace could really be floating above their heads when the greatest magician of all time had called a truce on their fuel?

While Kero was absorbed by Sakura's well-being, Yue was the only one who saw a shift in the cloud just in time to take off and grip Sakura out of harms way, his forcefield surrounding them both in time. If the first beam ricocheted on it, the second went right through it, passing between them without, fortunately, hurting any of them. Yue's face changed, but instead of staying there mid-flight and shocked, he flew them both to the ground, landing near Kero.

The sun guardian, though apparently ready to make a comment on what just happened protected Sakura from another beam instead, Yue dodging it by physically jumping aside.

-Right, what do we do now against it? I would have said it was an illusion earlier but that's nasty real if it's one.


"Try the Sword." Suggested Yue, his eyes back on the cloud.

"The Sword?" It would easily be able to cut through the energy beams and hopefully hit whatever was causing them. Holding her staff in front of her, she summoned sword, watching as her staff transformed into a sword. She held it looking around carefully trying to sense where the next beam would come from.

Yue and Kero exchanged a glance as Sakura prepared herself to fight against the strange little cloud that was causing the whole chaos since they arrived. Fortunately, it seemed to be motionless, the only reactions from it that were visible being the beams that attacked them before.

The moon guardian was agitated when their unusual foe attacked again, a small beam darting at Sakura once more. At the same time, Kero sent a beam of energy at it, flames flaring in the cloud's direction and hitting it right. Unfortunately, the magical attack didn't seem to do much. The second beam that then flew towards Sakura was way bigger and stronger than the first as if Kero's powers had fueled it.

This time she was ready. Using the Sword, she brought it down in a decisive swipe in front of her, cutting the beam in two so it went around her. 

"How do we stop this thing?" she asked. Would any of her cards work? Deciding to try an old but reliable method, she summoned a card.  "Windy, become a binding chain, Windy!" Maybe if they could bind it, it could be stopped.

The cloud didn't move, letting Windy surround it. Despite the loyal card, however, another beam was shot towards the young mistress. Kero winced, but kept himself from attacking again.


-If fire feeds it, do you think ice could stop it?

He asked to both Sakura and Yue. Yue simply tilted his head on the side, taking in this suggestion, then turned to her.


"Perhaps can we attract its attention long enough for you to freeze it?"

And maybe even would it be possible to just break it with Sword afterwards and be done with it. Yue wasn't sure he wanted to know where it came from and he was more worried about his own problem than a new enemy.

"Sounds like a great idea Yue!" Sakura said, flashing him a brilliant smile. They needed the things attention on Yue so that Sakura would be able to summon the Freeze and have the card sneak up behind it and freeze it. 

"Whenever you're ready." 

She was smiling. He still wasn't used to Sakura's optimism. Kero would tell him to loosen up and take on her, but life wasn't as glamour as she sometimes saw it. They saw with different eyes and Yue's were old and tired.

A bow of light appeared in front of him as he slowly made an up to down motion with his left arm. His right arm slid backward, an arrow appearing against the bow. He shot, but before arriving into the cloud the arrow disappeared.

He succeeded anyway, the cloud's attention caught by the pathetic attempt of a depowered guardian. Yue avoided the pink beam suddenly coming at him and kept its attention on him, despite how weaker his attacks were.

-Now! Said Kero urgently at Sakura, hiding his obvious worry.

Sakura fowned as she watched Yue's arrow disappeared before hitting its mark. Yue never misses... before she could put more thought into it, Kero's voice slammed her back into the present. 

"Freeze!" Tossing the card in the air, she brought her wand down, summoning the icy being. She had enough practice with the cards that she could communicate what she wanted from them without words, their relationship extremely close after all these years. 

Freeze raced around the cloud, coming at it from the rear. She would do what her mistress commanded. She kept one eye on Yue, having sensed his low powered attack. As a card under his domain, Freeze cared about Yue, and was worried about him. Something wasn't right. Making a mental note to talk to the other cards when she returned to the deck, she concentrated on her task at hand, enveloping the cloud before freezing it solid.

Yue caught Freeze's glance, but his features revealed nothing more on his own thoughts about what was going on. He had lost the mastery of the cards under his control when Sakura became their mistress, but it didn't mean he stopped caring - or what was caring for him anyway - about them. It messed with his pride maybe, but the past was the past.

The cloud made no attempts of fighting, or if it did, it didn't have any time, soon stuck and frozen.

"Hit it. The cloud should shatter now."

From his point of view, this battle was finally over. His eyes darted to his hands a moment before the guardian crossed his arms against his chest.

He wondered if Yukito was having troubles as well or if he was the only one weakening.

Unsure, but willing to follow Yue's suggestion, Sakura approached the frozen cloud carefully, after it sank towards the Earth. Extending her staff, she poked it, only to have it shatter with the contact. 

Could it really be that simple?

She looked around hesitantly, expecting something else to pop out of no where. 

"We did it?"

"Apparently."

There wasn't much emotions in his tone or on his features, his eyes staring at the pieces left of the cloud. Slitted pupils seemed to disappear in the color of his irises before he finally turned on his heels, his arms somewhat closing more around him the fabric usually floating around him.

Usually, he would have changed back into Yukito or flew back home, but since his wings didn't seem to work correctly and that Yukito wasn't part of him anymore, walking would have to do.

Keroberos grimaced, but didn't revert back into his smaller form yet.


-You're alright Sakura?

She turned towards Yue as he spoke, his tone reminding him of when they first met, how emotionless and cold it was. While to anyone who didn't know Yue as well as Sakura and Kero did would think that nothing had changed, they knew better. To see this reversion to how he was before, it worried her. 

"I'm fine," she replied to Kero, trying to force a smile on her face for his benefit, though she suspected that Kero knew she was worried about Yue. Besides Tomoyo, Kero was her best friend and knew her the best. 

Knowing that she couldn't force Yue to talk to her, she decided to wait him out and keep an eye on him. Maybe he would tell her what was going on when he was ready?

"Let's go home, I'll make us some tea and I think there's still some cake leftover in the fridge."

 & Keroberos kinda
-Cake?!

It didn't take more than that for the guardian to shrink into a more subtle form, floating around Sakura in delight.

-What are we waiting for?! He exclaimed, motioning for her to move.

He still glanced at Yue, trying not to sport a worried expression in front of his mistress - and quite honestly his friend - but the other guardian shouldn't be weakening. He doubted Yue would breakdown over it, but he couldn't help being wary on how Sakura would take it. The last time she hadn't been enough for the lunar guardian, the young girl hadn't taken it very well.

---

Yue arrived before them, walking at a pace that seemed surreally calm for him and yet still quite faster than theirs. He didn't understand, nor did he really want to. Did that mean he was slowly dying? And would he fade? Probably. Would Yukito fade too?

By some chance, maybe the human was able to leave independently of him now.
How ironic would it be if by freeing them both, this spell had also condemned them?

His wings reappeared just when he was about to try the door, his eyes widening. A single motion of his wrist and fingers unlocked the apartment's door and Yue entered, a single glance engulfing the whole room. His fingers twitched and he kept walking to the window, not bothering to close behind him.

---

-Caaaaaaaake. Sing sang Keroberos' voice as they reached the home they now shared, a mix of both genuine and forced excitation marking his tone.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at Kero's enthusiasm for cake. In all the years she had known him, his love for the sweet treat (or any treat if she was being realistic), had never once waned. 

"Yue, why don't you take a seat in the living room and Kero and I will bring out some cake and tea?" She knew her moon guardian wouldn't eat the cake, but he had started drinking tea. She didn't dare push for more, knowing that he had most likely started drinking the tea to please her. 

Even after all these years, she still hesittated to ask him to do things around the house. She couldn't help but wonder if her relationship with the man would ever be at a point where she would feel comfortable. The last thing she wanted to do was make him feel like he was being ordered around. 

Today though, it worked out. She wanted an opportunity to ask Kero about what he thought was going on with Yue...but how? Even in the kitchen, Yue would most likely overhear and if she used any of the cards, he would know. 

Sakura threw Kero a helpless look, hoping he had a solution.

 & Keroberos kinda

-Why do you always make me do all the things? growled Keroberos, though despite his complaints, he would do it, as always.

Yue turned only when Sakura entered the room, not without sending a last blank glance to the sky. He nodded at her suggestion but soon noticed the gaze Sakura sent to the other guardian and sighed soundlessly. He looked at her, seriousness in his slit eyes instead of emptiness before he tilted his head slightly.

"Do you wish for me to leave this floor so you can have some privacy, mistress?"

Yue's arrogance that had not so much faded since he had first judged her could still be heard beneath his poised tone.

"No, no, you don't need to do anything," she said, arms waiving wildly. She stilled panicked when he spoke to her like that, even after all this time. She wanted to bury her face in embarrassment. 

What was it about him that got her so flustered so easily? She ha thought that she had gotten over her crush of Yukito, but what if her feelings hadn't been for him, but for her Moon Guardian that she unknowingly sensed inside her brothers significant other.

"It seemed like you wanted to ask Keroberos something."

He remarked with patience, wondering if she really thought he wouldn't notice such an evident exchange of looks between the two of them. It didn't bother him that Sakura would wish a certain privacy with the other guardian, after all, they were friends and had been since even before Yue was forced to join his new mistress.

-Can we eat now? The solar guardian whined, also trying to break the tension that he sensed slowly forming between them all. We can talk all we want while we do?

Players have agreed to put the RP in the Graveyard until the time that both RPers have more time to give this RP.