So do the slowly appearing images.

He continues to not really try to interpret them, trying to get... Feelings. Impressions. Being so unanalytical is a challenge, but he's trying.

Ball of sunlight: check.

Avatars of the cards growing in detail: check.

That one's Float. That one's Windy. Cerberus is over there. He doesn't think about this, just knows it.

That is correct! And he gets more details, too.

The Float embodies... gravity. Lack thereof. It has layers of meaning involving control and will, but overall it's a fairly simple and simple-minded card.

The Windy, however... is wind. She is storm and gale and hurricane, she is the summer breeze over the sea, she is a goddess and an animal, she is larger and older than most things. She is looking kindly on Terry, grandmotherly, even, and smiling.

He stays there for a while, absorbing some of the layers of meaning. The wind is big and free and giving and taking.

Then he falls out of it when he tries a little to hard to understand Windy. Something that likely isn't going to really happen for months or years, if ever.

...And he's the cardcaptor, with some sort of strange power over these vast, old things.

It's glorious and terrible. Excited and anxious. He's been thrown into the middle of something big and messy and now it's sink-or-swim. He's damn well going to swim.

He sits there, thinking, for a few minutes, then goes back to meditating. He's seen what Windy and Float are, can he piece together what they want?

Float: doesn't have much in the way of desires.

Windy: seems to... want... something? Related to Terry? Once again that grandmotherly feeling around him. She wants... what's best for him? It's fuzzy and vague, and waiting more time doesn't seem to reveal any further details.

As the cards' attitudes toward him go, 'grandmotherly' is definitely one of the better possibilities.

He stops meditating to eat that second cookie and ask Cerberus, "How do I find the rest of the cards anyway?"

"They will reveal themselves. They won't have travelled very far, and you'll be able to feel them."

"So I don't necessarily need to go on a scavenger hunt, good. Can the staff be made smaller without The Small? I don't think it'll fit in my backpack like so, and carrying it around openly would be needlessly attention-getting."

"You just need to will it to return to its Key shape."

Staff: Become key.

"I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow's Saturday so I can go out to the middle of nowhere and practice with Float and Windy some more. Our family doesn't do dessert at breakfast, fair warning." Because sweets are blatantly obviously one of the best paths to Cerberus's goodwill. "Though pancakes with syrup and chocolate sauce might count."

"They dooooo!"

"I'll try to swing some then."

And he gets ready for bed, and then sleeps.

Cerberus finds a comfortable-looking soft spot and sleeps, too.

At breakfast the next morning, Terry does manage to get two pancakes with syrup and chocolate sauce and whipped cream for Cerberus. He includes a fork.

Cerberus wakes up, yawns, looks around blinking and—

-screams.

"Augh, shh, shush!" He pokes his head out the room door. "I'm okay just stubbed my toe!"

"What's wrong, Cerberus?"

"Who's Cerberus? Who are you? Why are you huge? Where am I what's going on-"

"Oh hell. I think a card got you. Um. I'm not huge, you're small. I learned about magic yesterday when I found these magic cards, some things happened, long story short most of 'em are out there loose causing havoc. One got you, I think. Time would cover amnesia, change if you and Cerberus got swapped..."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Magic exists. Surprise. You are an unsuspecting victim of same, and I'm going to fix it. Allow me to demonstrate." He finds the key-staff and wills it to be big again.

It very unhelpfully remains key-shaped!

"I know magic exists, and it'd be obvious anyway now that I suddenly woke up in—" He looks around. "Your room instead of mine."

"Someone else who knows more about this stuff than me. I should have quizzed Cerberus more. Hm." The activation phrase yesterday was something like 'Oh Key, grant him the power.' ...Half of tech support is trying the obvious thing.

"Oh, Key, show your true power. Release!"

That works.

"I presume Cerberus is," he looks down, then behind himself at his tail, then up at Terry, "this stuffed bear's name."