The book was ancient-looking. Metallic decorations adorned the binding : a lion's head and feathered wings around a blazing sun on a chain and topped by a crescent moon. The title was weird too : The Clow. Ranma wondered what kind of book it could be with such a name. It was also closed with a lock.
Having found a secluded spot, Ranma decided to take a look. He had time to kill and the book's content would perhaps be interesting, who knows ?
To Ranma's surprise, the lock opened without great effort on his part. Then things got weird. The book glowed and a... plush-looking creature came out of the cover. It looked around, searching for something and spoke "Hello, young man. How are you ?"
"Fine. And who... what are you ?" Ranma had seen worse things in his life than a talking plushy "You're not going to curse me or something, right ?"
The small winged cat-looking (not so much as to activate Ranma's ailurophobia) being frowned in indignation "Gods, no ! Whatever gave you that idea !?" It tooked a righteous 'declaration' pose "I am Kerberos, the beast of the seal, protector of the book of Clow !"
"Right..." Ranma sweatdropped and scratched his head "So you're this book's guardian. It must be precious then"
Kerberos closed his eyes, nodding "This book is not an ordinary book, you know. Inside, you can find cards named Clow Cards"
Ranma opened the book and indeed found a hole where you could put cards instead of normal pages. There was something wrong however.
"Er... Kerberos ? There's only one card in the book" He shook up the book to be sure. Nope, only one.
"WHAT ?" Kerberos literally threw itself in Ranma's face "THIS IS A DISASTER !"
"Geez, calm down !" Ranma peeled the frantic little beast off his face "So you've lost your cards, big deal..."
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND !" Kerberos' voice grew dark and ominous "Clow card, when the seal is broken, on this world the scourge will be unleashed. The prophecy is clear, this isn't a joking matter !"
Ranma was still sceptical "I don't think a bunch of cards are going to be the end of the world. You are overreacting"
"FOOL !" Ranma was bashed in the ground by a big fan Kerberos pulled out of nowhere "The Clow cards are not mundane playing cards ! A mighty sorcerer with unimaginable powers named Clow Lead created them. Each card is sentient living being with a name, an appearance and a magical power..." Kerberos picked up the only card in the book "For example, Windy here has power over the wind"
Kerberos was now nose-to-nose with Ranma "When loose, the cards commit evil and destructive acts. Nothing natural can stop them. That's why Clow made this book to lock them up and put me in the binding to watch over them"
Ranma stood up "So if you're supposed to watch over this book, how did the cards escape ?"
Kerberos stopped in the middle of his rant and grew a huge sweatdrop "The cards must have took advantage of my long slumber to get out..." Ranma chuckled "It's not funny ! We have a problem !"
Ranma felt a chill "We ? What do you mean by that ? It's not my fault you didn't do your job correctly !"
"This book can only be opened by someone with magic powers. Since you did it and woke me up, that means you have a strong potential for magic" Kerberos looked intently at the martial artist "What's your name, my boy ?"
"Ranma. Ranma Saotome. Look, magic has been nothing but trouble for me and..." Too late. Kerberos had already started to chant an incantation.
"Key of the Seal" A small metal key rose from the book and levitated in front of Ranma "Before you stands the covenant's executor... This young man, Ranma... O Key. Grant your power to this young man... Release !"
The small key flashed and grew into a sword-like giant key "Take it, Ranma !" The pig-tailed martial artist, bewildered at these events, complied. When he fully grasped the key, a mystic symbol appeared beneath him, he was taken in a small tornado and a violent flash blinded him. When his vision cleared, he was holding the 'keyblade' while Kerberos took a victory pose "Card Captor Ranma is born !"
*****
It took a few minutes for Kero-chan (Ranma was fond of giving nicknames to his friends) to explain the situation in more details and convince Ranma to hunt and capture the Clow cards still at large.
Kero-chan gave Ranma a pen and told him to write his name on the bottom of the Windy card in order to master it and its power "Now all you have to do is summonthe card's power. First activate your key. Repeat after me : Key of occult power, reveal your true form. I, Ranma, by our pact, command you. Release !"
Ranma followed Kero-chan's instructions and his small key pendant became the keyblade once more. He pulled out the card and held it in front of him.
"Card, work of Clow, lend your strength to my key ! May the magic of this card invest my key and its power be mine ! WINDY !"
A giant circle filled with symbols appeared under the new Card Captor and Windy manifested herself in an explosion of power. Ranma looked at the feminine creature and blinked.
(AN : The keyblade in this episode has nothing to do with the one in Kingdom Hearts. Sakura's pink scepter would have looked ridiculous for Ranma so Kerberos changed its shape to appeal more to a male user)
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Mon, 25 Nov 2002 23:31)
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