I do not own the picture above, it belongs to it's respectful owner. I only own this story and any OC's, unless stated otherwise.

In any case, here's Kero! Isn't he adorable~?

I will not just be using things from Cardcaptor, but from all of CLAMP - the ones - they are a group of female manga artists - who made 'Cardcaptor Sakura', as well as many other anime/manga. Like, I will be using some things from 'Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle'. Information and facts in the CLAMP Multiverse about magic - their kind of magic - and other things like that. i don't know if I will be using more characters from the Multiverse, but we'll see.

Since I am mixing Multiverses/Fandoms, I will be using a lot of headcanons to try and make sense of everything - like types of magic and whatnot. Please know that none of this - or at least, not too much of it - is canon. This is a fanfic made because I wanted to write it. Simple as that.

Having said that, the timeline for CCS is different in this story - that way I can fit it in with the story and make sense of it in a way. Have a lot of explanations to do, so things are not canon and might be fudged up a bit - a lot - to make it work.

If you want canon, go watch the actual cartoons and anime, please and thank you.

Having said all that, I hope that you all enjoy this as much as I did making it! I have had this idea in my head for a while now, so this is exciting for me to write! I know I don't want to post this story until I have a good amount of chapters done, or at least, a lot of words in it, so I know that those reading this are a ways off from when I am writing this - or at least, a month or something away. I have had this idea for a while, and I blame my love of cartoons and anime/manga alike - as well as being trash.

But, if I wasn't trash, then I wouldn't be writing anything - sad thing to think about, isn't it? Or, it is for me at least.

-Chapter Start-

"Fuck me gently with a chainsaw." Jack softly, near silently, said to himself. If his face wasn't already pure white, he would have paled at the sight of something coming out of the book - and said book having some sort of magical circle under it.

'Magic.' Dread cooled whatever temper may have blazed within him, his blank red eyes taking in the sight before him, his face glowing from the yellow light shinning out of the book and circle under it. 'Why is it always me?'

Finally, whatever was coming out was finally out.

What looked like a small yellow lion plushy or stuffed animal floated above the book. It had a ball of white fur at the end of it's tail, and white wings on it's back. Still, the innocent appearance did not matter in the long run. The most enchanting of things, the most beautiful and innocent looking items and people are the ones you need to watch out for, the ones that are most likely to kill you or screw you up badly - that much Jack knew from experience.

He was just waiting for shit to hit the fan. All he needed to do was press one button hidden on his person to call his Protectors and up security. It might not do anything, but damn if he isn't going to be someone else's plaything.

The new person/toy/whatever the hell it was blinked, showing small black eyes. Those black eyes met his red ones and then-!

"Hey, hello, hi!" The plush like animal called out with a large grin, making Jack flinch back in surprise. "Thanks for getting me out of that stuffy book, I've been in there for ages!"

"Your....welcome." Jack said, cautiously and slowly. His red eyes never leaving the other. Now, how to ask 'Are you some type of evil spirit planning on word conquest?' without adding some suspicion on himself? Because, let's face it here, he doesn't have the best track record when it comes to living - or dead - things coming out of items they shouldn't be.

"Oh!" The thing gasped once it caught sight of the card Jack had sued before, flying down to pick up the fallen card. "You must have some magic in you to be able to open the book and use one of the card."

Jack couldn't help but snort at that. Him? With magical abilities? Jack Spicer, the one who was always rejected by Heylin and Xiaolin sides alike for his lack of magical talent, seeing him as weak for not being able to do what they could and instead relied on his brains and machines, having magic? This thing was trying to pull a fast one on him it seems. Well, he wasn't going to play this game, or at least, not by any rules he isn't.

"Just who and what are you?" Jack glared down at the thing, eyes trailing it as it floated up with the card.

Suddenly, the thing lost it's large grin, face going serious - and making Jack tense, waiting to see what the other will do.

"I'm Keroberos, the guardian of the Sakura Book. You can call me 'Kero'!" Keroberos stated this factually with a unknown undertone. "And you are the one I have been waiting for."

-Kero, Before Waking Up-

-"Kero-Chan, this is the only way."-

Keroberos - Kero, for short - could remember his last Mistress's face clearly. Her kind green eyes, soft and happy smile, soft short, shoulder length light brown hair framing her face, and the way she was clumsy yet forever optimistic. After his first Master - Clow Reed - sealed him into the book and died, he couldn't have asked for a better Mistress.

Kinomoto Sakura - or, Sakura Kinomoto - was something else, and he loved as much as he could. She was precious to him, and he had wanted to protect her from anything and everything as her guardian.

That's the reason why it hurt so much even if he understood why she did what she did.

-"They''re coming, Kero-Chan! They'll-they'll kill you all!"-

Sakura had been having prophetic dreams once more, about some hidden magical clan that would take the book and cards, killing her and her friends. Kero could recall waking up to her screaming more than once when the dreams started. Yet, even as every scramled for a way to prevent that one future, her dreams never changed.

Kero was forced to watch that light in her eyes die out, slowly but surely. Her smile fake and weak as every plan did nothing to what was to come. The guardian of the book thought that he would never see Sakura smile as brightly as she had once before this dreams started to torture her.

It wasn't until something, out of their control, changed the course somehow in someway, that Kero saw her smile. A true one, brighter than any before. 

-"It's different now. Someone or something has cut the strings and made a new path for the future."-

Happy was an understatement with how every felt, relief coming soon after. Suspicious as well, but they were not above using whatever opening they could to save everyone.

Kero still wishes that there had been another way.

Sakura had looked so happy, yet saddened. It wasn't until she started talking about what she dreamed, what she saw, and what they would have to do that the arguments started back up once more. Sakura wouldn't hear any word against it though, her mind was made up.

For some reason though, Kero had a feeling that this was more than it being the only way this would work. That there was something Sakura wasn't telling them - that there was something more to all these dreams about the boy and about who cut the strings on the most likely future, changing into a whole new one unlike any before.

-"The butterfly is flapping in a new path, the hurricane is coming. There is a lot to do to prepare for a storm this size, but we can do it!"-

A new type of storm was coming, and Sakura had came up with a plan to make sure that her dream, the one where everyone lived, would come true.

Just sealing the cards in the book wouldn't work - the Clan, whoever they are, would find a way to unlock it eventually. And even if they didn't, the book and cards would be forever lost while in the Clan's hold. So, after some thinking, Sakura came up with a plan. One that came to her when she had been watching some old videos of her capturing cards.

One that would, to Kero's and everyone's horror, mean scattering most of the cards once more. Just as Sakura accidentally did the first time when she first found the book - back when it was still the Clow Book.

That was the last time Kero was able to call her 'Stupid', but he can remember her smiling and laughing at the insult he threw her way.

-"They'll get the cards if I don't do this, Kero-Chan. I'm not changing my mind, so don't ask me to, please."-

It was a simple plan, one that would need to happen just at the right moment to make sure no one got hurt.

The plan was to use the Windy Card to scatter the cards to all points of the world, randomly at that. That way, the Clan would find it hard to look for them. Then, with the Windy Card, Sakura would use the Sleep Card, putting the cards themselves into a 'sleep mode' until the time comes - until the new Cardcaptor takes the staff and is named, ready to go off collecting the cards once more. Once the staff is passed, Sakura's spell and command will be broken, making sure that the cards will slowly wake up, wherever they are.

With the cards 'asleep', it would be impossible to take them down through magical means. Nearly impossible to find them on normal means, as the Windy Card would scatter them somewhere safe and hidden from all.

But, before all that, Sakura picked out a few cards to keep in the sealed book. She laughed and said "I would have loved to have more than one card when I was starting out!" when asked about it. It was a gamble to keep even one card in the book, as the book could be found after hiding it - but Sakura had a secret plan for the book, one she refused to tell to anyone.

It was a simple plan, but one that could work as long as it was timed right.

That time would be when the Clan surrounds Sakura, and in plain view, she would do the task and let the Clan know that there was no chance of them getting the cards or the book.

-"My magic will be sealed, but at least you all will be safe. We all will live fine, but my magic might as well be gone forever. It's.....It'll be fine, I promise! We just have to do what we have to."-

Actions have consequences. While a the plan would work as long as everything was done right, there would be consequences.

The Clan would have revenge for Sakura doing this to them. Killing her would have no effect, and trying to kill everyone would just be asking for trouble when they should be searching for the cards. They wanted the cards and book more than they wanted them dead.

Sakura saw what would happen, and told Kero what would happen before she sealed the book back up - with him in it to guard over it once more.

Her magic would be sealed within her. The Clan would chain her magic up inside of her forever for tricking them. Even if she did find any cards or the book once more, she would not be able to open it or use them, because her magic would be trapped in her body with no way to access it.

She didn't say how they would do this, or when, but Kero knew it would hurt. not just physically, but emotionally. Because, even if they could meet once more, it wouldn't be the same. Loosing his happy face, he had cried with his Mistress - because he knew it would be the end for their chapter soon.

Dread was in his heart when he thought about that, because he had a feeling that when he gets out, Sakura will no longer be in this world. Her story having ended before he could wake up once more and see her.

Kero could only hope that her story had the happiest ending there was.

-"I saw him in my dreams you know. He looked very strong!....But also so sad. I wanted to cheer him up, give him a hug and tell him "Everything will be fine!"....but I couldn't. You'll help him, right Kero-Chan? I never wanted to put this burden on anyone else, especially someone so sad, so you have to make sure to be nice to him - or no sweets for a week!"-

Clumsy, stubborn, dense and more than a little naive - gullible to a fault. Sakura had many faults.

But, she was also loving, willing to do anything for her family and friends and go any length for them.

Kero doesn't know how this mysterious teen was able to be counted in the same category as Sakura's most important people, but he did somehow. When asked about the teen she saw, she only said kind, yet in depth, things about the one she saw. With a gentle smile, fond eyes, it wasn't hard that the one, this boy, had captured a piece of her heart just like all her friends have done.

More than once, Kero wondered on just what did Sakura see in her dream of the unknown male teen.

'Just what did you do or say to get such a look from a stranger? Even one as kind as Sakura?'

-"He looked so tired, but when he smiled, it was as if there was nothing else that mattered. That one smile I saw in my dream, small and tired as it was, felt like everything had been worth it. His eyes were like blood, yet had a fire in them that looked nearly smothered out. No tears, even when I could feel him wanting to cry. He stood tall, but it was if there was a great weight on him. Kero-Chan, while older than how old I was when I first started, I don't think he had the same happy life I did. Be gentle and cheer him up for me, won't you? I'd love to see him smile with a blazing fire in his eyes, even if it is only one more time."-

It was only when he woke up after so many years passed - was it fifty or seventy? - that Kero could sort of understand what his Mistress was talking about.

Waking up was slow, but once his eyes were opened, Kero was greeted with the sight of a teen cautiously backing away from him.

The teen was as white as snow, with shadowed red eyes that reminded Kero of blood. Uneven sunset red hair - short in the back, gathered in the front with the bangs cut uneven once more and covering his left eye for the most part. It was spiky and messy, as if someone attacked his hair with a pair of knives - on top of his head and wearing dark colors with a bit of gold thrown in.

It wasn't the colors of the teen that made him almost understand what Sakura was talking about though.

It was the other's deadpanned face, the way his eyes were shadowed and the way he carried himself. Tall and straight, but looking like if one more ounce of weight is added, he'll finally break.

A normal teen should not stand that way. A normal boy's eyes should not tell unknown horrors.

Kero knew why Sakura cared so much now, how the boy had taken a part of her heart and affection for his own, even though he had never met her.

Sakura always cared too much, always had such a bleeding heart for those hurt and broken. And if there was one thing Kero could tell about the boy, it was that he was beyond hurt.

The magic surrounding and coming off - it was screaming - the other told him that much.

-Present-

"We'll that isn't creepy or anything." Jack deadpanned, making sure to shuffle further away from Kero. "Listen, I don't have time for stalkers or-"

"I don't mean it like that!" Kero huffed, feeling annoyed.

"-anything like that." Jack went on without pausing, face set in a deep frown as he looked the small animal thing that is called 'Kero' up and down. "So, why don't you just tell me what you want, and we can go from there. Because I have a feeling that you won't just leave."

"Well, at least you got that right." The yellow creature laughed uproariously, making Jack sweatdrop.

Once his laughing calmed, Kero looked to the human teen with a serious face. "You, the only one who has been able to open the book in over fifty years, have been chosen to be the new Cardcaptor."

"....You say that, but I don't know what that means." Jack eventually said, cursing at himself. 'Magic, it's always fucking magic!' How the teen just wanted to curle up in a ball and cry. 'Don't get the puzzle box, try to change what is going on, it'll be fine. Instead I got a magical book with some magical cards inside, with a fucking furry coming out saying that I have been 'chosen' because of those damned changes. What the hell is my life?!'

Taking in a deep breath, Jack tried to starve off his eventual breakdown - it wasn't working on the inside, but from the outside, it was hard to tell. Small victories.

Kero sighed, realizing this is going to take a while to convince the other to become a Cardcaptor. "How about a deal?" Kero watched as the other tensed up, as if expecting a fight. "You tell me your name, and I tell you everything you need to know."

'Names have power.' Jack blinked, hesitating before answering. "Jack Spicer."

"Well, Jack, you have opened the Sakura Book, once known as the Clow Book." Kero floated up so that he was closer to Jack's face, the Bubbles card in his hands. "And only someone with an immense amount of magical power can do that. That lock on it is not just for looks, you know."

"I really don't." Jack denied, shaking his head in negative. "Magic isn't a talent I got, you got the wrong guy."

"Talent has nothing to do with it." Kero flew back to the book, softly putting the Bubbles Card back within it. "Talent just means you are good at something, not that you have the potential to do something. You have magic, I can feel it."

Sighing, Jack walked forward to the desk. Pulling out the desk chair, Jack sat on it. He had a feeling this was going to take a while.

"Okay, before this goes on, I have one important question that I need answered." Jack paused to make sure that Kero was listening to him. Once seeing that, Jack went on in a grim voice. "Is this anything like the Shen Gong Wu?"

"The Shen Gong Wu?!" Kero's eyes grew wide at this. "I didn't know that those items were known. But, no, that's Xiaolin and Heylin magic. The Cards are a mixture of magics, but none of them are Xiaolin and Heylin magic. Different types and categories of magic. Xiaolin and Heylin magic come from Chi, and you must have an affinity for it - it can't be taught unless there is. Sure, the affinity could be small, small to where you can't do anything huge like summon fire or something like that, but it must be there to learn it and use it. While you must have enough magic to unlock the book and use the cards, you don't need a affinity for a certain type of magic or element. Just enough magical power. It makes things easier to have one, but not needed. It can though, effect how easy some cards are to use." 

Kero shrugs softly. "Chi comes from the inside of a person and their life force, magic can come from anywhere. Your body can be a conductor or the battery to power up magic, it just depends on the type magic and the way you are using it. Every country has a different culture and way to practice their magic. What matters here is where you draw your magic from. Like, the Shadows, the Sun, the Moon, or the Stars. Your heritage can play a big part too. That can effect quite a few things in the long run, but while it can make things harder, it's not impossible to use the Cards no matter where you get your magic from."

Here, Kero gestures to the book. "Besides, the Shen Gong Wu are not sentient or made up of pure magic like the Cards are. Sure, you might get a Wu that can come alive once used, but if not in use, it is a normal item with the potential to be used normally. Inside the cards are spirits you could say, magical spells that have gained sentience to various degrees. They can do things on their own, unlike with the Wu - which you have to activate by saying the name and letting it suck up some of your magic to use."

'Suck....up some of my magic.' Jack blinked at this new information. It made sense now when Kero said he had magic, and it also made sense on how he could actually use the Wu. The Wu are magical items, so it would be realistic for magic to be needed to use it. What he didn't get was how he had magic. No one had ever said or mentioned to Jack that he had any type - and apparently, there are types of magic. - of magic. Maybe because his is a different type compared to their own? Or maybe because they never wanted him to be able to use any type of magic?

Kero did say that countries play a part in it, meaning one's heritage can as well. Jack, having a Greek-American heritage, could very well just have a different type that they didn't notice. Small, to where they just didn't bother saying anything. Yet, here was Kero saying he must have more than a small amount of magical powers, for he unlocked the book on his desk. Maybe he doesn't have talent in magic, but he does apparently have enough - more than enough - potential to learn and use magic.

He just doesn't know what type of magic it is, or where it comes from. And that alone makes Jack iffy on this whole thing.

"The Wu are not widely known about." Jack stated, eyes staring at the Sakura Book in deep thought. "In fact, I didn't know there were other magical items but the Shen Gong Wu."

Kero flinched back in shock at this, looking to Jack with wide eyes. "Of course there are!" The yellow guardian puffed out his chest. "Maybe not as good as the Cards of course, but there are other magical items all over the world! And that's not even counting the schools or spells."

"And what exactly is this book and cards." Jack's eyes locked onto Kero, making Kero twitch at the sight of those shadowed red eyes. "If they are not Wu, what are they?"

"The Sakura Book once used to be called the 'Clow Book'." Kero started to explain, looking down at the book fondly and sadly. "A powerful - the most powerful! - magician, a sorcerer. He created the cards with a blend of both Eastern and Western magic. He also created me, his best piece of work yet!" Kero winked with a cocky smirk. "But the cards grew too powerful and unruly. So, Clow made a book with a seal on it, to keep them contained and in control. Clow, later foreseeing his death, sealed the book up with me as it's guardian. Later, a nine year old girl named Sakura found the book....and scattering the cards by accidentally using one of the cards."

Jack tilted his head in thought, his mind wiring with this new information. "I'm guessing she had to go looking for them then, right?"

"Yes." Kero nodded with a small smile. "She became the new Cardcaptor. After a long journey, she eventually won and got all the cards, her magic changing the Clow Book into the Sakura Book - becoming the new Master and Mistress of the book and cards, as well as me. In later years, she still had many trials and adventures, but she conquered them all with a smile."

Leaning back, Jack had a feeling that this wasn't all, but knew to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he kept the conversation going. "Then, why are you here?" Jack glanced down to the book. "Shouldn't you be with her instead?"

Taking in a shuddering breath, Kero could still see Sakura in his mind, smiling at him. "I want to be, but I can't. Sakura....Sakura knew that the cards would be scattered once more, with her not being able to protect them any longer. She knew it, because she planed it. Another magical Clan were after the cards, so she scattered them once more. But, because of this, her magic got sealed by that Clan. But, before that could happen, she sealed me, the book and scattered the cards once more, hiding the book away so that no one could find it until the time was right." Kero sadly sighed, looking down. "Sakura had dreams. A few having you in it. I don't know what she saw, or what happened in them, but all I know is that she knew that you would open the book once more."

Shifting in his seat, Jack didn't know what to feel.

"Over fifty years have passed, maybe seventy for all I know, since I have fallen asleep in the book." Kero looked up to Jack, a fire in his small black eyes. "You are the first one to open the book in all those years. That means you are the new Cardcaptor. The next to captor all the cards and keep them safe."

"Look," Jack sighed, rubbing his face. "I'm sorry for your loss. Even if she is still alive, that has got to hurt leaving her like that. But, you have the wrong person for this job." Jack gestured to all of himself, face grimly amused. "I'm....I'm not great at magical things. Why don't I help you find someone better? That much I can do-"

"No! The one who opens the book and breaks the seal is the only one who can do this!" Kero interrupted hotly. But, understanding was swimming in Kero's mind. He could see that the teen honestly thought he would be bad at it, but was still willing to help in a way - just not in the way Kero wanted or needed. "You might not be great at it now, but you can learn!"

'And fail at it all.' Jack mentally pointed out to himself.

This whole situation was deep, deeper than anything he has ever been in. Jack was pretty much just thrown into the world of the Shen Gong Wu, not really understanding the battle or war for them all at the start. Later on, it got more personal only for him to want out - killing him at the end, and a Wu throwing him back. But, this situation?

This wasn't accidental from what Jack is understanding here. Apparently, this 'Sakura', had seen him in some type of future vision/dream, and decided he would be their best bet for these magical cards, created by one of the most powerful magicians/sorcerers of all time. This never happened in his last life, Jack is pretty sure that he would remember this.

But, that just means that the Wu that sent him back did something more than just send him back. It left ripples in the time stream, caused one hell of a butterfly effect by sending him back. Maybe, in his original years of being fifteen, he wasn't the best bet because of how he was normally; a smart brat with little maturity. But now? He was different. And maybe that had caused ripples in time, in the future. Because of this, Jack could see how those who could see the future being confused at the sudden changes in the most likely future. There is no one set future, but there is one that is the most likely to happen.

Jack just caused a bigger change than he thought he did, one that he doesn't think will end well for him.

"I....I don't think this is-" Jack tried to come up with a way to make this just all go away. He knows he wouldn't be good at this, he failed in the war for the Wu after all. What would changing the item he is fighting for do? Nothing. He's just a good for nothing that can't do anything right when it comes to the magical world. "-a good idea." Jack eventually settled on saying.

It would never be a good idea. Jack knew it, but others didn't. Because he could remember it all.

"Things might be tough, but nothing we can't win over." Kero insisted, a pleading look on his face. "What's the worst that can happen?"

'I could die-' Red eyes widened. Freezing, Jack's heart stopped at this thought.

In the war for the Shen Gong Wu, he died - and was brought back, but that wasn't the point right now. What was, was the fact that in one war for magical items, he died a horribly death. He wasn't stupid, Jack knew that others would be after the Sakura Cards, maybe even that mysterious Clan too - if they didn't die because of vengeance, but it sounds like Sakura wasn't the type to do that.

Jack had been thinking hard on if he should join the war for the Shen Gong Wu once more. But, he just didn't want to deal with the others once more...but it could be so easy to just let things happen. He had almost died plenty of times in those Showdowns when he was trying, so what would happen if he didn't try? In between a rock and a hard place, Jack didn't know what to do with himself.

But, here, he has a opportunity. A way to where he doesn't have to deal with the Wu, and find a way to have a possibility of it all ending. One where he doesn't have to interact with those Monks, Chase, Wuya or any other in that damned war.

'But, am I willing to give it my all?' Jack knew that if he did this, he would have to honestly try to get the cards, not die off right at the bat. He'd have to actively try to live. Something he didn't want to do.

'I'm more likely to die close to the end, just like the war for the Wu. So, it shouldn't matter in the long run.' Jack had to bit his lip to stop the smirk that wanted to come up. He has made his choice.

Jack has found his method to his death. All he has to do now is wait for it, and it will come to him once more. War for magical items, doesn't matter what those items are, are dangerous - and more than likely to kill him. He just has to wait for that moment, just as that final Showdown.

Mind made up, Jack lifted his head and looked straight at Kero with hard eyes.

"I'll do it."

He has picked his destiny. He can only hope that the road he has picked will end in what he wants.

Kero grinned, opening his arms as his body shook from his delighted laughter. "Really?! This is awesome!" Then, he turned deadly serious. "Just one more thing."

Jack straightened in his chair at the tone. "Yes?"

Kero took in a deep breath, and then asked slowly "Do you have any cake?"

"....Cake?" Jack repeated blankly.

"Yeah man! I haven't had a piece of cake in years!" Loosing all seriousness, Kero seemed to sparkle. "Or-or maybe some pudding? How about some candies? It doesn't have to be cake-"

Watching the rambling, floating guardian, Jack could only hang his head in his hands.

'I got rid of a vengeful, spiteful spirit, and instead got a glutenous, happy-go-lucky guardian animal of some kind....' Jack peeked up to see Kero waxing poetry about all the different sweets there are.

'I don't know which is worse. At least Wuya couldn't eat me out of the mansion even in her physical body!'

-End Chapter.

The first meeting between Kero and Jack!

Jack still very much wants to die, yet doesn't want to deal with his abusers and bullies from the life he had lived before going back in time. So, he took another rout to get what he wants. But, although he doesn't know it, he'll still see and interact with the Xiaolin and Heylin gangs later on.

Like stated up above, I made up the reasons for Sakura doing what she did. I also fudged up her timeline to make it fit in with the story. If you do not like this, there are other stories you can go read. But, I had to change things to make them fit in with the world I am building.

I took facts from different anime's, manga, cartoons, and even real life for the headcanons for the magic that Kero explained. But, not all of it is real or canon - please remember that.

Jack does have magic in this story if that isn't obvious, and there are reasons for why it is so much now. But, that'll be explained later on in the story.

In the next chapter, there will be more explanations, as well as some magic!