Story: Tomoyo's World -Part 1- World Turned Upside Down (chapter 8)

Authors: Risa Kaijuu

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Chapter 8

Title: Chapter 7



Chapter 7

Thursday July 27 11:45am Taiwan time.

Since they had no checked luggage it wasn't long after landing that they were leaving the airport in a cab. They asked the driver to take them to a nature preserve that Eriol had found on a map, and on the way Tomoyo remembered something. "Would it be okay if I called my mom?"

"It isn't really necessary you know. All this will be erased as soon as you use the Return Card and she isn't going to remember anything."

"I know. But remember, I can expect to have trouble and it may be a day or so before that happens. And when I'm not at home tonight she is going to wonder where I am. And perhaps try to find me. And I just don't want to worry her."

"Okay, but don't tell her where we are. If she thinks you are trying to get to Hong Kong she will really try to find us."

"Okay." she replied with a smile, then dialed Sonomi's cell." "Hi Mom!" "Hi Dear. Is this important? I'm very busy right now."

"I just wanted to tell you that I won't be home tonight."

"So where are you going to be?"

"I don't want to get into that right now, but I'll explain it all if you ask me when I get home, okay?" A promise she could keep she figured with a slight smile.

"Well that certainly sounds strange. Why can't you tell me?"

"It's a long story, and I don't want to get into it right now, but I just didn't want you to worry about me."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Sakura and Hong Kong, does it?!" "Bye Mom." Then she hung up and turned her cell off. "I guess that was a really bad idea, but I hated to just disappear. Now I hope I didn't mess something up..." she sighed.

In less than an hour they were walking through the woods looking for a good place for Magic training. After a frustrating twenty more minutes they finally found a suitable clearing well off the paths and the training started. The first thing Eriol had Tomoyo try was to draw magic power from the earth and store it. And as Eriol had hoped, she seemed able to do this almost at once. "Can you feel the memories of your ancestor yet?"

"No, not really. Or not like my real memories anyway. It's just like when you describe something, it sounds familiar and then I remember how to do it."

"Well, I doubt that your ancestor knows how to use a Tomoyo Card, so we had better work on that. Draw some Magic from the earth and send it into the Fly Card."

"Don't I have to take it out first?" "No, not really. Since it is the only Card you have, there is no way you can make a mistake."

"How much Magic should I give it?"

"With the Fly card you can just fill it till it won't take anymore. Can you feel the Cards thirst for Magic?"

"Yes, I think I can. Okay, here I go... There, it doesn't want anymore energy. Now don't I need a staff? Like Sakura's Star Staff?"

"I hope not. I tried very hard to advance your Magic control to the point where you shouldn't need a staff just to use a Card . You may seem to be just starting in Magic like Sakura was when she was ten, but this is a completely different situation." When Tomoyo nodded Eriol continued. "Just reach out to the card with your Magic and tell it to do it's job."

In a couple of seconds wings sprouted out of Tomoyo's back. But they weren't angel wings like Sakura's, they looked like insect wings. And there were four of them. Long narrow transparent insect wings, which caught the light and reflected it back in many colors. The sudden weight of the wings on her back caused Tomoyo to step back and then lean forward a bit to balance them. The wings weren't heavy for their size but they were over eight feet from tip to tip. I can feel them! They are really part of me! Kind of like having four more limbs, no...they are very different from arms and legs. They don't have that much feeling. More like ears maybe... And they don't come out of my shoulders like Sakura's, they come out lower down my back...

"I saw you working on those wings last week. Are you sure you want to give Tomoyo new and untested wings?"

"I have tested them! And they work perfectly." He replied to Kaho then turned to Tomoyo. "Those are dragonfly wings. And dragonfly wings are far more efficient than bird wings, or as people call them, angel wings. Dragonflies can fly forward and backward as well as lift very large weights, fly very fast and stop almost instantly. Try that with angel wings and you'll tear half the feathers off!" When Kaho smiled and shook her head, he turned to Tomoyo. Okay Tomoyo-san, now you can practice flying. Try to get the feel of your wings to the point where you don't have to give specific commands but just think what you want to do and have them respond."

At first Tomoyo made some faces but nothing happened for several seconds. This is kind of like trying to wiggle your ears... Ah! They are moving! But they must have to move much faster than that to fly. After wiggling for a few seconds her wings suddenly started beating faster than the eye could see with a roaring sound like a big electric fan. And up she went perhaps twenty feet into the air. THAT'S IT! But I'm going up too fast! Her wings suddenly stopped and she stared falling. NO! Beat! Immediately her wings started roaring again and she went higher. Too hard! Gently now... Finally her wings only slowed and she almost held her position for a moment before slowly coming back down backwards. No, now that's too slow. There has to be an easier way to control these things. Sakura never had this problem. But then she is really talented. Oh SAKURA! Tomoyo had forgotten that she was flying with her own wings for a moment as her mind filled with thoughts of the girl she loved. Now hover! Hold position! Her thought command to her Fly Card worked and she did indeed hover perfectly still. That's it! Instead of saying, beat harder or less, I just tell the card which way I want to move and how fast.

After moving forward and backwards and turning a few times, she decided it wasn't that hard after all. Now to land. Fly Card! Land straight down from here. And instantly she felt weightless as the ground rushed up at her. NO! Not so fast! Not so FAST! She mentally yelled at her Card as the ground rushed up at her. But it seemed that she had over reacted because she not only slowed rapidly as she got close to the ground, but before her feet could touch she reversed direction and flew back up backwards. "This is a lot harder than it looks when Sakura does it!" she yelled out. After flying around rather erratically, and banging her shins painfully on a tree branch at one point, she tried landing again. She did get down this time but due to the placement of her wings down on her back, she wasn't flying in an upright position but nearly prone, so when she got down to the ground she couldn't get her feet under her and wound up face down on the grass. "I'm sorry, that I am doing so poorly." She sighed.

"That's okay," Eriol told her with a smile, "you are doing fine. And if it will make you feel any better, Sakura's wings are a lot easier to use than yours, but yours are much faster and far more maneuverable. It's like you have the special high performance model." I didn't ask for "high performance" wings! But perhaps I'll need them to save Sakura. In any case I -have- to learn to use them! But I could use some protection. "I think I had better put my helmet on. And I might as well put the rest of the motorcycle stuff on as well, It should give me at least some protection if I fall again."

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