The Sky, his Sun, his Moon
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The Sun – Kero’s
perspective
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“Hi,
my name is Kero-chan.”
Those
were the first words he taught me to say.
Clow
Read was our father, our master and our creator.
I,
Keroboes, represent the sun, the “yang” element and western magic. My counterpart Yue represents the moon, the
“yin” and Chinese magic. Many believe
that we were created to be guardians for the Clow cards, Clow’s
masterpieces. In truth, we were not
created to protect the cards. No, we
were created following a teenage contest between Clow and his cousin. I still remember being summoned in
existence only to see 16-year-old Clow smirk at a defeated cousin who now had
to fulfill his bargain of yelling over the hills for an hour that half Brit
wizards were not inferior to pure English ones. It was a clear victory - Clow had created 2 magical beings, his
cousin had to be content with calling up a slug or two.
We
only became guardians for the cards much later after Clow had begun summoning
them. They were his pride and joy after
Yue and myself. As eccentric his
reasons for our creation, Clow was a good father and master to us. As for Yue, despite his professed appall at
my enjoyment of all things sweet, he adores me as I do him. I put up with his sulkiness. After all, one must forgive him for being
sore that Clow made me the better looking of us both.
Yue
constantly berated me for my addiction to all things sweet. He used to grumble that I lived to eat. True, I did not need to eat to live, but it
was not like I deprived Clow of his food.
Yue’s just jealous Clow let me lick the bowls after he was done
cooking. Clow was a great magician but
more so where food was concerned. His
cooking was unparalleled but despite the aromas that would arise during
mealtimes, Yue would never take a bite.
“We’re
magician guardians, we don’t go eating Master out of house and home,” he
used to say while frowning at the same time.
This inevitably prompted Clow to tease him to lighten up but even the
greatest magician in the world couldn’t get sourpuss to smile. Despite his sulky exterior, Yue was and is a
great guy – but keep it to yourself, I’ll rather skip dessert than to admit
that in front of him.
Life
with Clow? Normal is hardly the
word. For one, we used to live
with his parents until they had passed on, so half the year we would be in Hong Kong China, the other half
in Essex England. Like the brand of
magic he invented, Clow was a mix of East and West. His mother was one of the Li-s, a powerful family of Chinese magicians. His father was a famous English wizard
himself, reputed to be related to Merlin, the legendary wizard in King Arthur’s
court - Merlin’s mother’s side of course, since Merlin was the son of the devil
himself. His parents had parted ways
shortly after Clow celebrated his 7th birthday. They remained friendly but the family was split over 2 continents. He was evasive every time someone broached
the subject and while I was curious about the whole matter myself, I did not
press him.
I enjoyed both stays equally; the ship travels in between Hong Kong and Essex were murder. Clow never consented to flying or appariation for such occasions. “You never known what happens on a ship,” he used to say when I whined that it was much faster and more comfortable to travel by air. It was only after his father and mother passed on that we settled in Japan. Clow had fallen for the sakura it would seem. His chief pleasure on setting up permanent residence in Japan was the growing of the most beautiful sakura trees in his orchard. It was also then he made his own brand of magic and created his masterpiece, the Clow cards.
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Madam
Li was fonder of Yue I suspect. They
used to totter in the kitchen for hours, chatting as they prepared the
meals. Clow studied hard at the Chinese
arts when we were with Madam Li. While
the smell of sandalwood which was everywhere in Madam Li’s house was a pleasant
one, I preferred the smell of fragrant rice.
Of course, I had to promise that I would not try to steal food while they
were cooking but a lion cub can always look cute and get away with murder.
Yue
was chattier when Madam Li was alive or did he get grouchier as he got
older? Hmmm, I think deep down, under
his icy façade, the old bag misses her.
I
do too. She was beautiful and graceful
if a bit strict. Clow definitely got her
looks although he was more like his father in his temperament. Her raven black hair was impeccable at all
times, even when she developed a strip of gray in her fringe when she was
older.
She
would feed me bits of dumplings or whatever she was cooking as she told Yue and
myself stories of Clow’s childhood. The
stories only confirmed what I had been suspecting all along, that my master was
hell of a prankster.
Clow
was a troublemaker from young. He would
terrorize the other unwary village kids with his tricks. Fish would appear from nowhere down someone’s pants. Girls would find their candy transformed
into beautiful peonies.
“He
was always a very talented boy, awfully wild though,” she used to say.
“The
worst was at Chinese New Year when he was 10.
The village (they used to stay in a village in Canton until Clow was 10)
was gearing for celebrations with roast pigs and chicken at the ancestor
worship. Imagine the chaos that broke
out when the villagers found the roasted chickens and roasted pigs offerings
replaced with live chickens and pigs,” she grimaced as she recalled the
reaction of the villagers. “He scarred
even the village chieftain witless.”
“How
did you know it was master Clow?”
“Kero,
no prizes for guessing who I found hiding behind the ancestral altar grinning
away. I had to box his ears quite a bit
to have him appear suitably repentant before the chieftain.”
Yue
stifled a giggle.
“You
find that funny Yue? Imagine the spells
I had to cast to restore order. A tonne
of sleep spells, forgetting spells and the cleaning up …” she admonished her
favorite moon guardian lightly.
“I
concur madam, what a waste of good food.”
“Kero,
is food all you can think of?” she frowned as she fed me a grape.
Yue
stifled another.
“But
mother, the firecrackers display was so boring …” Clow entered the kitchen just
then, “can I get a drink?”
He
wore a most unrepentant smile as she patted his head affectionately before
shooing him with a pot of her specially brewed tea back into the study.
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Life
at the castle with Read Senior was exciting, even if the food was not as good
as with Madam Li’s. Yue used to either
holster himself up in the library or skull the walkways. Read Senior used to joke that with Yue’s
visit, the castle ghosts would be able to take a well-deserved vacation on the
coasts of England.
The
endless corridors in the castle amazed me.
Unlike Madam Li, Read Senior was not uncomfortable with flaunting his
magical prowess. The castle was larger
than its exterior suggested and the garden was an endless maze although it
looked like a simple formation of rose hedges.
One of Yue’s other past times when he consented to not moping around the
castle was to challenge the maze. The
roses were beautiful, mocking the obviously winter landscape outside the castle
compounds.
Me? I much preferred the fireplace. I would plonk myself by Read Senior’s
favorite armchair as he read. The
sausages roasting at the fireplace was a most lovely sight.
Clow
and his father would sit together after dinner when Clow had finished his
lessons for the day and Read Senior delighted in recounting all the pranks he
and Clow had played.
“Father,
why do parents delight in embarrassing their children in front of their magical
guardians?” Clow would grumble good-naturedly.
Even
Yue who was more aloof at the visits in Essex couldn’t stay away at those
times. Sitting on the stairs nearby, he
would pretend to read – except if one looked at him closely, one would realize
he hadn’t turned the page for hours.
“Ho,
that was because you were such a handful as a child. Goodness, if we had twins, I’m not so sure the world would have
survived the horror.”
“Father.”
“Kero,
let me tell you about the time he was 11.
You know boys his age are usually in boarding school until they hit
college at 17? Well guess why he only
attended boarding school until he was 15?”
“That
was because they didn’t have the subjects I wanted.”
“That
was because you nearly destroyed the castle.”
“Did
not.”
“I
had to apologize to Albus about a million times. You do remember you were only allowed to finish the course by
correspondence, under your mother’s and my guidance.”
“I
was innocent.”
“Master
Read, what did master do?” Yue asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“He
was at potions class and well, yes, the potions master is a bit of a sourpuss.”
I
shot an amused glance at Yue. If looks
could kill, that would have been the end of me then.
“Anyhow,
this gentleman here decided that a potion to cause the sample pebble to crack
was too simple for him and ended up brewing up something that effectively
devastated the dungeon and half the school’s structure. But mind you, before then I had received a thousand owls from the
potions master complaining that Clow here would always mess with his potions
and not obey instructions.”
“Father
… there was never ever any proof …”
“Heh
heh, between us, I think that was a colossally good prank to play on old greasy
hair, but not a word to your mother, she thinks he’s cute.” Read Senior nudged
Clow playfully.
“No
one can prove I did it,” sulked Clow.
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Life
continued to be a string of pranks for master.
The Clow cards were an extension of his fun loving personality and
morbid sense of humor. The Bubble was
summoned because he thought it would be funny to see my expression on being
soaped when I least expected it. Yue
commented wryly that at least the house would stop smelling like a wet dog on
the occasions I did not adhere strictly to my bathe schedules. I didn’t mind the Bubble that much except
that she would always tickle me whenever she was called. Trust Clow to instruct her to do that. He would grin as I protested, “but Kero,
tickling builds character,” he would say.
Hah, that never did work with Yue.
I would rather fight a bull than try to tickle that grouch.
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“Hmm
I’m sick of washing the dishes. And the
rooms are a mess. Oh dear grand-aunt
will be here tomorrow, she will grumble about the mess.”
“Maybe
we can keep her in the garden the whole of her visit?”
“Master,
let me take over the chores. It’s late
and you should rest.”
“Bootlicker.”
“What
did you say you poor excuse of a lion?”
“Nothing
… “
“Nah,
we need something to make these dirty dishes and mess go away like right
now. Oh, I know.”
And
that was how Clow was inspired to call upon the Erase and the Create.
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The Moon – Yue’s
perspective
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My
name is Yue. I am the guardian of the
moon, of the yin and the embodiment of Chinese magic. My counterpart is Kero. A
lion in form, his stomach is bigger than his roar.
My
creator and master is Clow Read. He is
the greatest magician that ever lived and I am proud to have been called to be
his guardian.
Life
with my master is never predictable. He
loves a good laugh now and then.
Sometimes I envy Kero - good-natured, and able to catch the joke much
quicker than I am able to. At other
times I feel like strangling that silly neck of his when he plays the
fool. We are the guardians and servants
of Clow Read. We exist to serve him,
not to eat him out of house and home.
That being said, I’m grudgingly fond of him, but I’ll prefer to keep
that to myself. He would tease to no
end if he knew.
Just
the other day, master created the Sweet.
I had barely finished cleaning the kitchen and had gone for a quick
dusting of master’s study when Kero decided to raid the kitchen. I suppose master’s freshly baked cakes had
drawn the greedy lion like bees to honey.
About
to admonish him, master had appeared behind me with a playful smile. Motioning for me to keep quiet, he summoned
the Sweet to dust the cake with an overdose of sugar.
The
sight of Kero choking on the over-sweetened cake nearly made me laugh aloud.
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Kero
and I once had quite a bad fight about why he could not behave like any other
normal sun guardian. I do not
appreciate being treated like a cat toy, nor is my hair meant for his pawing
amusement.*
I
felt bad thereafter. The lion was badly
behaved but that did not excuse my behavior either. The awkwardness btween us the next day was dreadfully tense. I had glanced at the lion sulking in the corner of the hall. Neither of us wanted to be the first to
admit that we were sorry.
All
of a suddenly, a flash appeared past us and ran up towards Master’s study. Anxious for his safety, we both chased after
the bolt. In our worry, we had nearly
broken down the door.
“Isn’t
it time you both said sorry?” Clow
smiled as he petted a little furry rabbit like animal in his arms. “Oh and say hello to the Dash. Isn’t he cute?”
Kero
and I looked at each other before bursting into grins. We could hide nothing from him.
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“Yue
look …”
“Yes
I wonder if it will bloom soon?”
…
“Master,
you are too nosy aren’t you?”
Clow
released the Flower from her duties and sat down under the sakura tree contented.
The two guardians smiled and settled down under their favorite tree with
their beloved master between them. They
did not notice the little girl hiding behind the wall, peering at them with
large green eyes.
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Clow
closed his eyes. He felt weary. His guardians would sleep until their new
master was ready. It was time for his
eternal rest. He looked 30 but he was in
reality a 190-year-old man after all. He
smiled as he saw the vision of a young Sakura releasing the Clow cards by mistake. The look of surprise on her face as she
summoned Windy was amusing.
“They
will love her, maybe more than they loved me.
She will be a good master for them.
Ah, well and now for my last trick.”
Casting
his last spell, he divided his spent soul into 2. Fujitaka would be the father of Sakura, and Eriol the one to
ensure that the Clow cards would survive as the Sakura cards.
“It’s
going to be fun …” as he thought about the looks on Yue’s and Kero’s faces when
they would finally meet Fujitaka and Eriol.
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Kero
yawned. There was something familiar
about the little girl standing before him.
She was clutching Windy as she had the most perplexed look in her green
eyes.
Kero
did what most magical guardians of magical cards would do; he held out a paw,
“Hi, my name is Kero-chan.”
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written
by Kit – 16 October 2002
usual
disclaimers apply, no copyright etc. etc. in characters which belong to Clamp
and JKR, not responsible for trauma suffered if you choke after reading this
fic etc. etc.
* see Leareth’s masterpiece, “Shadows of the Moon” at Echoes of the Void