Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Cross ❯ Hostilities ( Chapter 16 )

(Author's Notes: Oi. What's it been? A year? I'm so awful. -_- Anyway, somehow I've fallen back into my Rayearth craze, with any luck it'll stick around long enough for me to turn out the next chapter. That's more, less all I've got to say on the matter. Within the next week I'll probably also post the next chapter of Mechanical Wings so all you GxE fans can be happy. I know a lot of you think I've taken the story in a rather bazaar and not very GxE direction but, don't worry it'll get back on track eventually. Just wait. Both you and Geo.)

 

 

Cross: Chapter XIV

Hostilities

 

The commander of the NSX Geo Metro stood bathed in the bright rays of the morning sun. He kneeled and placed an assortment of wildflowers by the grave marker and after a moment, stood again. “Sorry I haven't visited you lately. . . Been busy Y'know. We were shorthanded and I ended up one of the grunt workers for the Coliseum modifications. Boy that wasn't fun. Especially with Zazu being the assistant director of the whole ordeal.”

 

He stretched and took in a deep breath. “There's something about this world,” he sighed. “Sets you at ease.” He surveyed his surroundings. The sky was clear and the “Field of Vision” as Eagle's death site had been dubbed, was a vibrant sea of green grass. Only the odd piece of mechanical wreckage tarnished the lovely view. “It's hard to believe this country was teetering on the brink of destruction not all that long ago. It's too bad you never got the chance to see Cephiro for it's true worth. Lantis' description didn't do it justice.”

 

Deciding he'd been here long enough, Geo took a seat beside the grave. “Did I tell you about Lantis? He disappeared not long ago,” he said with some gloom. “The only knowledge of what's happened to him is based off of the interpretations of some bizarre Cephirian creature. Oh, but I'm sure he's fine,” he quickly added. He imagined the worried look on his former commander's face, knowing that that would be how Eagle would feel right now were he still alive. “Knowing him he's probably getting on decently.”

 

After several moments Geo spoke again, “I was really shocked when I first heard about it. I don't know the details. . . But, I hear that the Captain of the Inner Guard has been running errands for the Master Mage, and the rumor that I heard through the grapevine is that the old Guru has been looking into Inter-dimensional Transportation. . .I don't know for certain though so. . . I wonder if it's possible-well obviously it's possible because the Magic Knight's hail from another dimension right? So do their Mashin, I'm just wondering if we can do it though.” He let out a bit of a sardonic laugh, “Remember the crazy theories we had to study back in our school days?”

 

His little reminiscence was cut short when his communicator sounded.

 

“Geo! Geo!” It was Zazu.

 

Geo answered. “I'm here, I'm here. What do you want?”

 

“We're getting ready to take off. If you want a ride to the coliseum, then get your but over here.”

 

“Oi, wait for me. I'll be back in thirty.”

 

“You'd better be or we're leaving without you.”

 

Geo was starting to get annoyed. “I get it all ready. I'll be there, so shut your trap.”

 

He clicked off his communicator and put it away. Once again he looked to Eagle's grave marker. “Well buddy, looks like this is where I take off. I'll come by again real soon. I promise.”

 

* * *

 

 

Fuu removed her glasses and messaged her temples. She'd been working on reports for several hours straight. It couldn't be helped though. On top of listening in on her exchange student's classes and doing the class work assigned, she also had her studies from home to deal with. For each week she'd been out of Japan, her teachers had sent her the work she'd missed and likewise, she'd done her best to stay on top of things and e-mail the completed work back to her teachers. It took time and was stressful, even for her.

 

By rights, she probably could have gotten away with only working on some of it- or none at all. It wasn't really compulsory for her to complete the assignments seeing as she possessed such high marks, but, she didn't marvel at the thought of falling behind, even in the slightest and so she pushed on enduring and completing all of her schoolwork.

 

“Fuu? You almost finished?” She turned, replacing her glasses. If she wasn't mistaken his name was Vaughn. He was twenty three and holding down a part time job. From what she'd gathered, he'd dropped out of college in his second year and did little for the family. He didn't impress her much but she kept that to herself.

 

“I've just sent everything I needed to, so I can reave now if you like.” Fuu chirped.

 

He made his way over to the computer. “Great, cuz I'm suffering Ever Quest withdrawal.”

 

He pushed by Fuu and plopped himself down on the chair.

 

“I'm leaving then,” Fuu said once she'd gotten to the threshold.

 

He grunted in response.

 

It felt good to be out of the computer's chair. She made her way over to the kitchen mostly for the sake of the walk. The family's cat came scurrying by; hissing at Fuu as it headed to the kitchen. There were sounds of an electric can opener hard at work as she neared the room and when she entered, she found Terry, the girl who had also signed up for the foreign exchange. The cat stood watching intently meowing and whining as it waited for its meal. Pulling back the lid of the small can, and Terry scooped some of its contents into the small dish by her feet. The cat sniffed, licked the food and went on to feed.

 

Covering the can and returning it to its rightful place, she finally noticed Fuu. “Oh, hey. Finish your work?”

 

Fuu nodded, “Yes. Sorry to have taken so rong.”

 

“Do you still want to come along with me and Mini to the movies?”

Mini was Terry's best friend. Fuu had met her when she began attending Terry's high school. From what she'd been told, the girl had been born and raised for a little over half of her child hood in Vietnam, and when she and her family had moved here, she'd encountered similar difficulties in trying to adapt as Fuu did now.

 

The empathy Mina felt for Fuu allowed for the two of them to easily befriend each other, which made the exchange experience all the more enjoyable.

 

“Yes. I would rove to, so'rong as you will still have me,” Fuu declared. In the time she'd spent in America, she, herself was surprised at just how much her ability to understand and speak English had improved. It was taking her less and less time to translate, although she still had trouble with pronunciation and she had yet the capability to properly decipher more complex dialogue.

 

“Great.” Terry said as she went to the phone. “You don't mind walking do you?”

 

“Not at all.”

 

She quickly punched in several numbers and when Mini picked up on the other end. She informed her that she and Fuu would be picking her up within the next twenty minutes or so.

 

They talked for a minute or so longer and Fuu busied herself with retrieving a drink from the fridge, so as not to seem as though she were eaves dropping.

 

When the other girl hung up the phone she turned to Fuu. “Are you ready to go?”

 

Fuu set her glass down, having finished it.

 

“I need to go and retlieve my purse first.”

 

“Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the cost.”

 

Fuu went to protest, preferring to pay her own way for things but Terry spoke over her.

 

“You treated my family to such nice Japanese food last week, just think of it as payback if you must.”

 

“But, I . . . alright.”

 

“Well, come on then Fuu. Let's get going,” she said as she headed out the room.

 

 

* * *

 

 

His world was dying… He could feel it. Once the rivers of the land sparkled like diamonds, the air smelled of sweet flower nectar, and the land itself was a beauty rivaled only by that of the biblical Eden. He remembered it almost perfectly, the way it was before the merge. He remembered growing up in Cephiro's palace, his loving mother and the learning of kendo with her, he remembered developing his magic as one of the master mage's pupils, attempting European fencing with his “aunt” Umi-that was when he was but a young child. Infatuated with the tales of the magic knights and determined to become one of them. He smiled fondly. Life had been perfect.

 

Several years later, his perfect life had become not so perfect. The peaceful world he'd known was caught up in a sudden war. His country's invaders: unknown. They hailed not from any of the neighboring countries. They had simply shone up one day and invaded. He'd been around ten at the time-roughly four years ago.

 

The invasion wasn't only directed at Cephiro. No, Autozam, Fahren, and Chizeta had also fallen under siege, and not long after all four countries were on the verge of destruction and his mother-Cephiro's unofficial Pillar had vanished with out trace. Fear and uncertainty had long since crept back into the people's hearts by that time and the added loss of one of the land's greatest warriors helped none. It increased the people's fears.

But then something happened. The four countries, Cephiro, Fahren, Chizeta, and Autozam had somehow bound with the world Earth, creating a new planet.

 

Some people had been lost with the merge, but those who had come to exist in the new world possessed no recollection of their past. It was only he who remembered.

 

The Earth, from what he'd known of it had changed drastically when the forces of the four countries intergraded with it. Some cities were enhanced, however, many, far too many were unable to properly merge, resulting in cities of ruin. New materials were created as a result of the merge and they were found to be incredibly strong, stronger than escudo. Unfortunately, it was incredibly hard to forge weapons or anything for that matter.

 

It wasn't until long after the merge that they had begun to learn their invaders objectives. From what little information had been gathered, it was one, to mine the new materials created from the merge. Many people had been “captured” by the invaders and had become their miners and grunt workers because of that. And two, with the merge came a pathway, a stable a road to connect with other worlds. That was what they'd wanted overall. But why did they want a pathway to other dimensions? Why did they desire the new materials created? That was the question that had yet to be answered…

 

 

It had been three hours since the most recent battle. It had come unexpectedly, just as all the attacks came and it caught the rebels unawares. Ever so slowly, their numbers were increasing while the rebels were greatly diminishing.

 

The smell of gun smoke dominated the air and fire engulfed much of the land. Many had died. His katana was already drawn and held at the ready as he sped past the putrid smelling, corpses.

 

This was life now. The choices, running, hiding or fighting. Did it really matter in the long run?

 

A shot was sounded and he had little time to react. He was hit in the shoulder from behind and propelled forward by sheer force of the blast. He collided harshly into burning rock and debris. He cried out in agony and tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. He coughed and sensed the enemy closing in. The young one quickly ran a mental check over himself and was thankful that his armour was specialized in absorbing magic attacks- when thought about, magic was a form of energy and what the enemy tended to use was some sort of energy blasting gun. Their weapons were much like the weapons of the Autozams. Though the attack had been able to penetrate his armour and dig into his flesh, it would've been worse if he'd been given the standard armour generally issued to the other fighters.

 

He could feel his skin, where the armour had been blasted away, swell and crack and bleed as he slowly stood; his injured shoulder arm lye lifelessly at his side. It was at least a second-degree burn if not a third, but at the moment he didn't have the time to check.

 

The men muttered as they closed in. They looked at him. He wore strange clothing and his hair was a brilliant red, which was pulled into a braid. “What the- we hit this guy with a double blaster Riffle. How can he be able to stand?

 

“Maybe he's one `O them Ceps. You know, the magic people,” one suggested.

 

“ Move in carefully boys. If he so much as farts, open fire!” Another barked.

 

“He's just a boy.”

 

“Ain't you heard the rumors `bout them Ceps? They say they're magic's as powerful as our greatest weapons and they can make themselves look however old or however young they want. This kid could actually be well over a hundred years.”

 

He heard. He shouldn't have been able to hear, but he heard. A bonus to being son of the recent Pillar, was that he could manipulate reality if only just a little. He smiled in honest innocence. “No! I'm only fourteen!” He chirped. He quickly scanned the area until he found where his sword had fallen and then he crouched and sped forward. He ran straight at the soldier in his way. Few had actually reacted by trying to shoot him. And just as he was about to collide into the soldier whom was preparing to attack, he jumped up and somersaulted over him. He dashed to the side and rolled, grabbing his sword in the process. There was another shot and it grazed the side of his shin. He fell back down as he tried to get up and another shot was fired. On instinct, his right hand shot out and he yelled out an attack. A spear of fire came from him and shot forward, piercing through the energy blast and continuing until it impaled itself onto the soldier from whom the blast came. Instantly, the spear dispersed and engulfed the man in an inferno and within moments there was nothing left of him but ash.

 

A few men stopped their advance in shock and fear. This gave the Magic user time to recover from both the attack on him and the recoil of his counter attack. Magic was very draining on ones self; in this merged world where it was neither the domesticated Earth his mother had hailed from, nor the Cephiro he'd known as a child. But a new world…

 

He darted forward. He dodged an attack and carried on until he'd meet his first opponent. The man had tried to hit him with the butt of his weapon however, the attack had been used against him and the man was pushed back, off balance. He was dead before he'd even hit the ground.

 

The boy automatically wiped the blood from his sword. Another charged and he sidestepped the attack then brought his weapon down the center. The man stood still a moment and then, slowly the left side of him slid forward while the right fell to the side. He tore his eyes away; holding his nausea at bay as best he could.

 

Several more men met their end by his blade. He fell forward when he was attacked from behind. He felt the power of steel toed boots harshly kicking him and he heard the footsteps of others coming to aid his attacker. His eyes closed and again he reluctantly used his magic. Fire gathered between his hands, tendrils of electricity flew outward and then he'd released it. The fire spread out in every direction; attacking every soldier, fore the electricity carried within the flames was drawn to the men's weapons; they were such good conductors.

 

He breathed deeply and he knew it would take time to recover. After a moment, he tried to stand but found he couldn't. His knees were buckling, his legs were in no better a state and his hands were trembling. He took in deep breaths and relaxed as best he could, forcing himself to overpower his fatigue. It would be a while before he'd be able to move on.

 

 

Easily, he now jumped over the debris and ran through the wild flames as though they were mere water droplets until he'd reached the city he was too late to protect. Another city… He lowered his head, then raised it again as he entered. Much of the city was barren and flame kissed. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust… he thought bitterly. He remembered someone once saying that and it felt fitting to say it before this city of nothing.

 

Then he felt it; a presence unique and unknown. He followed it and discovered a woman of sea blue colored hair. By her clothing, he could tell she was a soldier for the invaders.

 

He motioned to close in on her without her knowing when, his pant leg snagged on a twisted piece of metal. He fell and she turned from her perch to face him.

 

“Stealthy,” she said sarcastically with utter flatness in her voice.

 

“Not my most dramatic of entrances.” He stood up and dusted himself off.

 

“You killed a lot of people back there.”

 

“Sorry about that, but see, they were kind of trying to kill me.” He said as he headed towards her.

 

She stood and turned, ready to face her opponent, however, all she encountered was dust and lifeless gray ash as it was picked up and swept away in the harsh wind. Then she felt a sharp, blade; which abnormally radiated a strong heat graze her throat. “Neat trick huh?” He said obviously impressed with his little vanishing act. “I insist that you people leave. Go back to where you came from.”

 

“That will be a problem.” She touched his sword and he suddenly felt deathly cold, like he was being frozen from the inside out. He let go of his weapon and jumped back. He focused his energy when his sword clattered to the scorched ground, dissolving it into fire and reforming in his hand.

 

“Clever boy.” She commented.

 

A quick motion and a flick of her wrist and a somewhat thin blade of ice formed. She held it with one hand. The other rested on her hip.

 

He ran forward and attacked. She parried. He raised his sword above his head and brought it down towards hers. She moved to the side then stepped forward and lunged. The ice seared through him, chilling his very soul. She withdrew her weapon from his body and went to stab again when he amazingly caught the blade and used his power to melt it to nothing. He winced as he felt his blood draining from him and then he was propelled backward as an intense pressure of water bombarded him.

 

He hit the ground, amazingly, still clutching his sword. He made a fist and hurled a spear of fire at her.

 

“Water dragon.” She said calmly and a flood of water raced towards him in the form of a dragon. It consumed his attack and met him with full force. He cried out and was pushed back further.

 

He looked up at her and found that she was glowing, a dark blue. Her hair was wild and flying in all directions and she attacked with a pummel of ice-cold water. He couldn't concentrate on escaping the continuous attacks and just as he was about to give up and blackout, it stopped. He wasn't sure what was going on, however, he heard heavy footsteps and he looked out to find the silhouette of a man coming towards him.

 

He instantly went into a defensive position. The man's hands were raised up in defeat. “I'm not here to fight with you.”

 

Being that the man now stood closer to him, he could make out the clothing and saw it was another invader. He held his sword at the ready. He then cringed and hunched over on his knees. He felt the blood rushing from his wounds and he mentally kicked himself for being so careless as to reopen the wound on his shoulder. He gave a dangerous warning glare and then growled. Trying to sound more threatening then he actually was at the moment. Again he cringed then spat the little bit of blood in his mouth.

 

“I highly doubt that my friend.”

 

There was a moment's pause, then he kneeled down so that they were at eye level. He examined the red head's wounds. He motioned closer and the young man instantly raised his sword-as high as he could. “Your wounds need tending to.”

 

“I'll heal. I don't need your help.”

 

“At this rate you'll bleed to death.”

 

“Why are you so concerned?” He spat.

 

There was silence again and the older man averted his gaze. Then he stood. “I'll contend with this water witch, I suggest you take your leave.” And with that, he turned and left, heading back towards the sapphire haired woman.

 

“H-Hikari…” The young man whispered and instantly his spirit beast appeared. It was a wild looking wolf-creature. Its fir was shimmering silver and white and its eyes were dark and pensive. It whimpered and licked the red head's cheek. The beast then crouched down and helped its master as best it could to mount the young man on his back. Then the beast took off.

 

 

“Ryuuzaku Umi. Correct?”

 

Being that she was still paralyzed, it took nearly all of the blue haired women's power to look away. That's when she noticed a pin, commonly used for acupuncture, in her arm. No doubt there was some sort of poison coating the tip of the needle.

 

“What to do with you?” He asked aloud. “You're a very important person, to this Organization. It might be wise to take you away. Then again, perhaps it would be wiser to leave you where I can keep an eye on you.” He crouched down, and lifted her chin to have her look at him. “What do you think?”

 

Umi focused her power and formed a small ice shard within her hand. “I think you should have dealt with me when you had the chance rather than socialize with that kid.” She smirked as she pushed the small shard into her thigh. She leapt forward, the blood stained ice piece now targeted at his throat.

 

He made a few hand gestures. “Stop.” He looked at what was held within her hand. He ensnared her gaze with his and held his hand over her forehead and entered her mind.

 

The plan was to erase his and the other man's encounter with her, and he did, with slight difficulty. Then a thought had occurred to him and he decided to probe her mind to discover what secrets she held. That's when he felt the strong jab shoot through his mind and he nearly lost the connection. His head pounded but he continued to pry and his head began to feel like it would collapse on itself. He knew the woman wasn't the one who was doing this, and so he used much of his power to reveal whom he was truly facing in this battle of mental power. After a few minutes he saw the blurred image of one of the Organization's Scientist-strategists: The man simply known as Eagle.

 

Unfortunately, he was unable to discover anything more, the other man had a magnificent mental barrier and he was forced out. He clutched his head and felt a warm trickled run from his ears and nose. He touched the liquid slowly running down his face from his nostrils and confirmed that it was in fact his blood.

 

He looked up at the woman in front of him. He raised his hand and withdrew the pin from her arm. He put it away, slowly stood and walked off. He had to return to his base before his superiors would grow suspicious of his absence. And he also needed time to recover. He thought back to the younger man and wandered what it was that had caused him to nearly blow his cover. And he also wondered why so much energy was placed to keep others out of the blue haired woman's mind.