"Kero-chan, Where are You?" A Cardcaptor Sakura Halloween Fanfic Story Written by Freedom Fighter Rating: PG ********** Chapter Five - Ghosts Just Wanna Have Fun (10.30.02) [Tuesday, October 29th - Inside the Haunted House] Sakura, Syaoran, and Keroberos continue to sprint through the hallways as they inch ever closer to finding Tomoyo and Eriol. Suddenly, a ringing sound fills the air. The trio comes to a stop as Sakura reaches into her backpack and pulls out her cell phone. "Hello?" she answered. "Sakura-chan? Is that you?" asked the voice that Sakura knew belonged to Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-chan!" "Sakura-chan! Thank goodness!" "Is that Daidouji?" Syaoran asked. Sakura replied with a simple nod. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. So is Eriol-kun. We're just waiting for you to find us." "I think we're almost there. Just hang on." With that, Sakura hangs up and puts the cell phone back in her pack. She then takes off again, with Syaoran and Keroberos right behind her. "They shouldn't be too much further," Keroberos reassured Sakura and Syaoran. ====== Tomoyo and Eriol sat patiently, waiting for Sakura and the others to find them. Before they knew it, the pitter-patter of footsteps can be heard off in the distance and are getting closer. A smile develops on Tomoyo's face as she stands up and spots Sakura, Syaoran, and Keroberos heading towards them. "Sakura-chan!" "Tomoyo-chan!" Tomoyo spreads her arms wide open as Sakura runs right into her. The two share a meaningful hug, glad to be together once again. "Now that we're back together," Syaoran stated aloud, "we can now go after the ghosts that trapped us down here." "Actually," Eriol butted in, "we haven't exactly been trapped." Eriol gets up and heads back to the wall he was feeling earlier. Stopping at a certain spot, his hands begin to glow with magic. The wall then begins to retract, much to Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaoran's surprise, revealing a hidden staircase leading further up. "When did you figure out that the staircase was there?" Syaoran asked. "When Tomoyo and I approached this spot, I began to sense a magical lock of some sort in the area. Tomoyo was getting worried about Sakura, so I used it to hide my discovery while I tried to make sure what I was sensing actually existed." "So, why hide it from me this long?" Tomoyo asked. "I only managed to figure out how to unlock a minute ago. It was protected by very powerful magic." "Hey!" Sakura brightened up. "Maybe you could unlock the front door too. Then we can get out of here!" "It's worth a try. I think that door is locked by the same magic as well." "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" "But shouldn't we catch the ghosts and figure out why they trapped us here in the first place?" Syaoran asked again. "I'm sure we'll find out the answer soon enough," Eriol said with a smile. ====== Reaching the top of the secret stairwell, Eriol unlocks yet another magically sealed door. When it opens, the group finds themselves back in the haunted house. "Just as I thought," Eriol commented. "We're back in the haunted house." "Good!" Sakura exclaimed, starting to shiver in fear again. "Let's find the exit, alright?" "What about the ghosts?" Syaoran asked. "You mean those ghosts?" Tomoyo pointed to their left, where the two ghosts were floating towards them. Sakura wraps her arms around her friend, shaking and praying that the ghosts would go away. But Syaoran wasn't willing to run around any longer. He steps forward and crouches into a fighting stance. "You ghosts have bothered us for the last time! It's time you left us alone!" "That won't be necessary," Eriol stated, putting a hand on Syaoran's shoulder before turning to the ghosts. "Haven't you two had enough fun for one day?" "You mean we're not scaring you?" the ghost on the left asked. Eriol shook his head. "Sorry. I wasn't scared at all." "Aw man," the ghost on the right whined. "We thought we had scared the heebie jeebies out of you." "And we never thought you'd get out of that underground maze." "You don't want to hurt us?" Tomoyo asked. "No way!" "We just wanted to have some fun." "Scaring is our way of having fun." "But it's no fun if you guys don't feel scared." Sakura was hiding behind Tomoyo, attempting to keep the ghosts from seeing her. "So the only reason you kept us here was to scare us for fun?" Syaoran asked. "That's right." "But I guess we should let you go." "If you're not having fun, there's no use in keeping you trapped here." The ghosts float by the group as they head for the front door. The group reluctantly follows, keeping their guard up in case this was a trick. "Does anyone know what's going on here?" Keroberos asked. "Anyone?" ====== Leading them through the corridors, the ghosts tell their story to the group as they search for the front door. "You go around the world every year looking to have fun?" Sakura asked, a little more sane now that the ghosts were actually being friendly and not scary. "Yep. This is the fourth year we've done it." "Unfortunately, we've had trouble getting people to come into the house." "I mean, why are humans scared of old, creaky houses anyway?" "It's not like they're going to fall on top of them when they enter." "Actually, that's one reason we'd avoid such a place," Tomoyo informed them. "Then again, there are people who love these types of places." "Not me!" Sakura shouted, shaking her head. "Maybe people could actually get in if it wasn't protected by magic," Syaoran said. "Yeah," Tomoyo added. "If I were trying to get in here by myself, I would have never succeeded." "That's because the doors could only be opened by someone with magic," Kero concluded. "We're not sure how that came to be," the first ghost said. "We just know it's been that way since we started traveling the world," said the second. "But how do we fix that?" "Yeah. We're just ghostly spirits. We can scare people for fun, but that's about it." "No magical powers whatsoever." "What shall we do?" "Leave that to me," Eriol said with a smile. With a snap of the fingers, Eriol uses his magical powers to remove the magic protecting the house itself. "There," Eriol snapped his fingers again. "It's done." "You mean it?" "People can enter freely now?" "Of course. Tomoyo-chan, if you'll demonstrate." Surprisingly, the group was now by the front door. Tomoyo reaches for the doorknob. With the greatest of ease, she opens the door, letting the bright sunlight into the room. But letting the sun enter the house causes the house and the two ghosts to begin to fade away. "What's going on?" Sakura asked. "The house is disappearing!" Syaoran exclaimed. "If you're in here when it disappears, you'll disappear with it!" one of the ghosts yelled. "You must get out of here!" the other yelled. "What about you?" "We belong here. But we will continue to travel the world by day and scare by night." "That is what we do. We are ghosts." "Come on!" Keroberos yelled. "The house is about to pass into another dimension!" Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol, and Keroberos run out of the house and off of the property just in time, as the house fades away. "Where did they go?" Tomoyo asked, looking around. "Probably to a place where it's dark," Eriol replied. "After all, ghosts love the dark." "But who placed that magical barrier on the house in the first place?" "Who knows? But at least now they'll get to have all of the fun they want." "Sakura-chan!" The familiar cheery voice of Chiharu Mihara fills the air. Keroberos instantly changes back into little Kero and slips into Sakura's backpack before he can be seen. "Ohayo, Eriol-kun! Ohayo, Li-kun!" The two boys returned a similar greeting to Chiharu. "Ohayo!" they both greeted in unison. "You two came to work on your book reports?" "I'm already finished with mine," Eriol proclaimed. "Really?" Chiharu smiled. "Any suggestions as to what's a good book to write about?" "Certainly," Eriol headed towards the library with Chiharu. Tomoyo chases after them. "Eriol-kun, don't you want to help me with my report?" The three of them run into the library, with Sakura and Syaoran walking slowly behind them. "Li-kun, what just happened?" "All I know that we must have been in that house for almost an hour, yet only a few minutes have passed since we went in." "That's weird. How could that have happened?" "Beats me. Anyway, we should stop wasting time. We do have a book report to finish, after all." Sakura and Syaoran head into the library, hoping to resume life normally again. But as they depart, they are unaware that the two spirits which had brought them a bit closer together were watching over them from the sky before fading away and heading to darker skies. Well, that's the end, folks! Happy Halloween, and don't forget to review!