Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Afterlife ❯ Image of the Stars ( Chapter 1 )

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Afterlife
Part 1
By Fairy Sakura

A vision of a horrible yesterday came hazily to my head. The ground beneath me felt soft, as if I were laying in a freshly fallen pile of cherry blossom petals. I opened my eyes, my lips tremebling. The sight I saw, his eyes directed into mine, was intriguing. My surroundings were as if I were in an eternal dream. I thought to myself, Could this be real, or meerly an illusion?

"It's all in how you look at it" said a calm, familiar voice. I smiled, my memory still hazy, as a familiar someone hovered over me. I gazed into his eyes, trying to recollect. Gradually, the memories appeared in my head.

"Z-z-zagato?" I whimpered. My head felt like there was a missing puzzle piece. I remembered of three girls from another world, getting magic from Clef and murdering Zagato, I remembered a strong painful guilt, but it was all a blur after that. "W-where am I?" I wondered, sitting up.

"Where is your most desired place to be right now?" Zagato asked. "Well I don't know...with you I suppose" I answered, not fully understanding what he said. "Well that is where you are" he said with a smile.

My memory was finally almost fully recovered. In my head was now a picture of the generous girls from another world. They were fighting, but against whom? The face slowly cleared up in my head. Right then I realized that it was my love..."Zagato" I mumbled. "Eh?" He answered. "Um, nothing" I said with a quick smile.

Every bit of guilt I felt, disappeared as if it was a drop of sadness in an ocean of happiness. The emotion was drowned out by an unknown force. The new place could not have been Cephiro, because in Cephiro, there were distinct feelings. This must be a new place, indeed. The world that I've heard prophecies about, the only place I can find true happiness. The place people go after dying...

Dying...

Dying...

Dying...

The puzzle in my mind was complete. A horrid vision appeared in my head, of bloodshed. I had turned evil. That wasn't the real me... That was a state of mind after my loved one was killed, a mixture of my sorrow, sadness guilt, and anger All I remember after that is saying to them "I'm sorry, and thank you Magic Knights" The words echoed in my mind. I felt a sudden guilt, which was drowned out, again by happiness. Secretly, I wanted to be guilty. I desired for my emotions to run free, as if I were in Cephiro. The loss of human emotions felt as if my heart were incomplete. I wondered if the Magic Knights were in guilt. If they were, I'd feel even worse, or try to.

***

I knew something was wrong. It was my intuition as her body guard for so long. She looked deep in thought. "Zagato" she said to me. "I don't like this place. I loved Cephiro, where my will determined all, and my feelings are free to roam, although the guilt I was in recently wasn't much better than this."

"I don't understand" I answered, confused. "Wouldn't you be a happy spirit in a beautiful eternal dream, than a princess with a whole country laying on her shoulders? I'm...happy that you're...free from the burden of the pillar, but I'm not happy if you're not truly happy." I said, with a small smile. "You just don't understand!" she shrieked, looking like she was about to cry, but then smiling as if she were in denial. She walked away into the twilight. I'm starting to vaguely understand what she's trying to say... I thought to myself. I thought it would be great for her to die and be up here with me, rather than having the burden of a whole country, with numerous restrictions on her back. I thought it would be better for her, so she could be happy, and when she's happy I'm happy. But I was wrong. She couldn't been any better off as the Pillar; I guess there was no right way to go. I felt a bit of guilt, which was drowned out like a sad grain of sand on a beach of happiness. The reason as to why Emeraude did not like this place was starting to unravel.

"Zagato?" I heard a calm, female voice inquire. "I need to ask you a question" she said with hardly any expression in her voice. "This has really been bugging me and...um...well.... do you think perhaps we can see what Cephiro looks like now?" she asked me, with a light studder in her tone of voice. I nodded. "We can take the image of the stars and watch anywhere from afar. That is why there are so many stars: they are all the descended spirits watching and guarding us." "Like a guardian angel?" "I suppose you could say that" I said with a smile. "B-but how do we do this?" "Emeraude, in this place we can take shape of anything, for we are spirits." I informed.

***

I was afraid to see what Cephiro looked like, now that there was no Pillar. I wanted, yet didn't want to see it. I shut my eyes tightly. Slowly, I opened them. It was worse than I thought. Cephiro was a big battle ground, full of bloodshed, as if there never was any order. I still cared about my people as much as I did when I was Pillar. I saw three heads that particularly stood out from the crowd. one had bright red hair, one had long blue hair, and one had short blonde hair. I tried to think of who it was...it was like a fog of frustration. "th-the Legendary Magic Knights!" I exclaimed. "Huh?" Zagato said, confused. "Oh nothing" I answered, laughing, forgetting about what I was looking at. "They're in a battle, I've got to help them!" "NO! You mustn't interfere with the battle-- they can handle it themselves. Besides it will take up all of your power that you'll need for a more important future event."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but it was like he was predicting the future.

As I scanned over the whole world of Cephiro, a queer force made me stop at a mother and a daughter. They had matching short purple hair and big green eyes that shone in the moonlight. Her mother pointed up to a star. "Each of these stars represent a passed resident of Cephiro; two of them are Princess Emeraude and Zagato, her bodyguard. They fell in love, but the Pillar isn't supposed to fall in love." the mother said to her daughter, a flashback coming two her head. "Those two!" the little girl bursted out, pointing accurately at us. "Really..." her mom said in disbelief. "Really! Those stars are speaking to me!" she exclaimed, a bit angry because her mom didn't belieive her.

"Look! They remembered us!" I indicated. "Yes, that just shows how great of a leader you are." Zagato complimented with a wink. My desire was to go back to Cephiro, no matter what it took me.

***

Author's Notes: Hiyall! Thank you for reading Chapter 1 of Afterlife! Hehe, remember to review it and leave your email addy so I can update you! If I get 10 reviews, I'll go on.