"All right, child, hurry up and get some sleep. Good night~"
"Okay, Grandma~"
After Grandma closed the door and left, Adam set down the milk and looked thoughtfully at the Book of Sealing.
After his earlier test, Grandma truly could not see the Book of Sealing's true form, nor could she hear Spinel Sun's voice.
"Do you believe us now?"
Spinel Sun's voice carried exhaustion. He did not understand why this child was so wary.
"Speaking now consumes what little magic power we have left. In case you are still considering it and our magic power runs out afterward, I'll tell you how to form the contract first."
"If you ultimately decide you do not want to form a contract, please write down the method and keep it together with the Book of Sealing."
"..."
As Spinel Sun spoke more and more, his weariness grew heavier. Adam did not know whether he was mentally exhausted or whether their magic really was nearly depleted.
"...Um, isn't there some kind of wand?"
Adam now believed ninety percent of what the Book of Sealing said... all right, seventy percent, no more than that. But he truly had no other way to verify it.
Still, he remembered that Sakura had a Sealing Wand.
"Mm, there is a Sealing Wand, but we can only give it to you after you form a contract..."
"O Book of Sealing, which conceals the power of darkness, I, Adam Lee, enter into a contract with you..."
Following Spinel Sun's instructions, Adam placed his hand above the Book of Sealing and recited the incantation for forming the contract.
So far, the Book of Sealing had indeed revealed no flaws. For his own safety... it was worth trying!
After he finished the entire incantation, Adam felt a force begin to flow through his body. It was as though the words he had spoken had formed a contract, and just as Adam's name was stamped upon it at the end... the contract failed.
"Huh? What happened?"
Spinel Sun and Cerberus spoke at the same time.
"Oh, I was just testing whether there was a trap in that incantation. Looks like you really weren't lying to me."
Without changing expression, Adam cleared his throat.
"O Book of Sealing, which conceals the power of darkness, I, Adam Reed, enter into a contract with you..."
"Huh?!"
As his name was stamped onto it, Spinel Sun and Cerberus let out even more shocked cries.
"What's wrong? This time I did it exactly the way you told me."
"No, it's nothing..."
Within the Book of Sealing, Spinel Sun and Cerberus exchanged a glance. Could this be the true requirement for opening the Book of Sealing?
Clow Reed truly had taken the principle of keeping benefits within the family to the extreme!
"From now on, you are the Cardcaptor we serve. We will do our utmost to assist you!"
"I'll summon you both as soon as I can."
After forming the contract, Adam learned the Book of Sealing's current condition. It was desperately short on magic power and urgently needed replenishing; the two Sealed Beasts could not even maintain forms in their energy-saving state.
Adam also learned the attributes of the two Sealed Beasts. Cerberus represented the sun and Western magic, while Spinel Sun represented the moon and Eastern magic.
At the same time, Adam naturally gained the ability to open the Book of Sealing. When he opened the cover, a stack of Clow Cards lay quietly in the center of the book, with the key-form Sealing Wand resting on top.
"Hmm?"
Adam picked up the golden Sealing Wand and held it in his palm.
"Has the Sealing Wand always looked like this?"
"The appearance of the Sealing Wand changes according to its contractor's magic power. This one is the Wand of Darkness once used by Clow Reed."
Cerberus was the one who spoke.
"It seems, Adam, that your dark magic power is highly compatible with Clow Reed's."
"Clow Reed's Wand of Darkness... By the name of our contract, reveal your true form to me."
In its key form, the head of the Wand of Darkness was a full moon-shaped crescent completely enclosing a sun-like disk. After its full release, that enclosing relationship did not change, but the sun portion enlarged, leaving only the circle at the sun's center enclosed by the crescent.
The spikes symbolizing sunlight pierced out through the crescent. Adam gave it a swing and found that it seemed quite handy for close combat as well.
The Sealing Wand also seemed able to adjust its fully released size according to its wielder's height, but the Wand of Darkness was still a head taller than Adam. Fortunately, its shaft was slender, so its proportions remained balanced.
Standing before the full-length mirror, Adam looked at himself in the reflection, dressed in pajamas and leaning on the Wand of Darkness.
Should he be disappointed or relieved? A Cardcaptor transformation did not include a change of clothes.
He should try the Clow Cards too...
"I need to remind you, Adam, that you are still too young. Your magic power is not sufficient to use the Clow Cards freely."
Spinel Sun's voice came from the floating Book of Sealing.
"Magic power grows along with age, proficiency in using magic, and learning more magical knowledge. Right now, you can probably only use a Clow Card once a day. Otherwise, it could be dangerous."
"Once... does that include The Nothing?"
Adam's gaze passed over the Clow Cards one by one, but he did not find The Nothing.
"The Nothing is still sealed away. If you so much as come into contact with that card now, you will be affected by its magic power. Even if The Nothing does not intend it, you will still vanish completely from this world."
The two little ones did not find it strange that Adam knew of The Nothing. The information Adam received after forming the contract had been left behind by Clow Reed, and even they did not know exactly what it contained.
"The Nothing is the void opposed to everything represented by the other fifty-two Clow Cards. To use this Clow Card, not only do you need immense magic power, you must also create the fifty-fourth Clow Card yourself—the Love."
"The Love? I understand."
"Among the fifty-four Clow Cards, only the Love does not... Huh? You're not going to keep asking?"
Cerberus's voice sounded conflicted.
"After all, with my current abilities, even if I learned more, I still couldn't create the Love right away, could I?"
A smile flickered in Adam's eyes.
"But if you, Kero, are willing to share information about the Love, I'd be happy to hear it."
"Mm, being called Kero is a little too..."
Hearing that voice, Adam could not help but picture an image in his mind—
A cat, blushing, covering its face.gif
"Ehh~"
"Suppi, I can call you that too."
"Ehh?!"
There was now another cat in Adam's imagined scene. He could not help looking forward even more to life after the two cute creatures were summoned.
Come to think of it, Hogwarts seemed to forbid bringing animals other than cats, toads, and owls, didn't it?
"Ahem, the Love was not kept among the Clow Cards because love cannot exist independently apart from people."
After quite a while, Kero finally found his voice again.
"All things in the world are destined to return to nothingness. Only love can counter nothingness."
Adam spoke with feeling. The instant his words fell, he vaguely sensed a force.
It was hidden deep within his heart, making him feel peace and joy without even realizing it.
"That is...?"
"Huh? Can you already sense the Love?"
Kero's voice held both urgency and regret.
"Sadly, your magic power still isn't sufficient. Otherwise, you could have created the Love by seizing this opportunity!"
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