Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Genesis ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Genesis

 

Summary: Seven Year after the battle with Debonair, the people of Cephiro decide to resurrect the two people whose actions laid out the foundations for their current state of peace and prosperity so they too can enjoy the fruits that had come from the tragedy of the past…

 

Disclaimer: Magic Knight Rayearth belongs to Clamp and Tokyo Pop and all other licensed distributers.

 

Note: Follows both Manga and Anime. Debonair and Nova were defeated, but Eagle didn't die. The Magic Knights go back to visit every once in a while.

 

Prologue

 

Seven years have passed since Magic Knight's first arrival in Cephiro, six months and two weeks since the day of the fall of Debonair and the birth of Hikaru as the new pillar. Seven years of glorious peace in which Cephiro has been upheld by the will of the people, with Hikaru, the ruling Pillar, interfering only once in a while to maintain the fragile peace that bound the land. Throughout the years of peace, the Former Magic Knights became an almost constant fixture in Cephiro, and when they were asked to recount their days as Magic Knights up to the current moment, they would always smile and say that many of the lessons that allowed Cephiro the peace that it had had up to that point would never have been learned if it had not been for the Princess Emeraude and her High Priest Zagato. As this was often repeated, the people came to see the truth in the words of the former Magic Knights, and it was only a matter of time before the people of Cephiro wished that they could share this new Cephiro with the Princess Emeraude and the High Priest Zagato.

 

On one of the Magic Knights' many visits to Cephiro, the people selected a representative and sent him to the Castle to appeal to the Pillar about reviving Emeraude and Zagato. The Magic Knight of Fire, Shidou Hikaru met the representative and after hearing out the representative's case, she instructed him to tell the people to make their appeal themselves as one.

 

“Cephiro is a land of the people, after all,” she said with a gentle smile.

 

The representative brought the Pillar's words to the people, and the people obeyed. However, Mokona would not grant them their appeal for he felt that if he granted this appeal for the revival of Emeraude and Zagato, many people would want for him to revive their loved ones as well. Disappointed, the people once again selected a representative and sent him to the Pillar. The Pillar solemnly heard the case, and agreed to make the appeal herself and sent the representative away.

 

The three Magic Knights appealed to Mokona who once again refused to revive Emeraude and Zagato, but the Magic Knights were adamant.

 

“We will pay the price required,” Hikaru said, “Even the people are willing, so long as it is only Emeraude and Zagato who are revived.”

 

“The price will be heavy,” Mokona said warningly.

 

“We will pay it nevertheless!” Ryuzaki Umi, the Magic Knight of Water said.

 

“The price will be painful to pay,” Mokona said.

 

“We will still pay it!” Houoji Fuu, the Magic Knight of Wind said.

 

“Then so be it,” Mokona said and he told the three Magic Knights their portion of the price for the revival of Emeraude and Zagato.

 

“Oh, Legendary Magic Knights,” Mokona said, “For the revival of Emeraude and Zagato, you must pay with your relationships with the world from whence you come. You will never again call the First World home, and those whom you loved and loved you in turn will never know you. Are you still willing to pay?”

 

Hikaru's eyes were solemn as she said firmly, “I will pay.”

 

Umi's eyes were filled with sorrow and determination as she said, “I too, will pay.”

 

Fuu's eyes were sorrowful but set as she said, “I will pay also.”

 

“So be it,” Mokona said. “Then on the night of Emeraude and Zagato's fall, let all the people of Cephiro pray for their revival. If all the people pray, I will revive the Princess Emeraude who was once Pillar, and Zagato who was her High Priest.”

 

The three Magic Knights agreed and made to depart, but Mokona was not done yet. “However,” Mokona said, “The people of Cephiro must pay a price as well. The relationships of three are not enough to fully balance the price of two lives.”

 

“The people will pay also,” Hikaru said, her voice sure.

 

“Then let them pay their price,” Mokona said, “which shall be thus; for one year, the current Pillar's powers are sealed. In that time, the people of Cephiro must uphold the land themselves, and no monsters may be born.”

 

“The people will pay their price without fail,” Hikaru said.

 

“Perhaps,” Hikaru startled as she heard Mokona's voice in her heart, “However, you will be frozen in a crystal of your element and put in a deep sleep where you may observe the world as it moves forward in your dreams. In that crystal, your body will be frozen in time, and you will have no need for sustenance. And who knows? Perhaps you will learn things while dreamwalking that you would not normally learn in the world of the waking.”

 

“I have faith in the people of Cephiro,” Hikaru said firmly in her heart.

 

“I will collect the price on the day of the appeal,” Mokona said, “You have until then to set your affairs into order.”

 

Silence fell, and Mokona vanished in a swirl of light. The three Knights exchanged looks, and sighed, and made their way out of the chamber. It would be hard to leave behind the people that they loved, but to have the chance to give Emeraude and Zagato the chance to be together was not an opportunity tha5t came around often. They knew they would miss their friends and family dearly, but the benefits outweighed the ill, and the sacrifice, while difficult, would be well worth it. Or at least they hoped it would be worth it.

 

-

 

Time passed by swiftly, and any one knew it, they were only three days away from the date of appeal. Hikaru quickly realized that the Magic Knights were running out of time, and arranged for them to return home briefly to see their family one last time. All three would have the glove hidden in their clothes, and they could put only three sets of clothes and five other objects which could be just about anything as long as the girls could carry them one at a time when they were not in the glove. Sentimentality, Hikaru mused as she, Umi, and Fuu prepared to return to Earth, was such a sad thing when one was about to give up everything.

 

-

 

The morning of the Appeal, Hikaru woke with the dawn. As she moved through her chamber and dressed in the formal robes of the Pillar, and slipped on the glove of a Magic Knight, her mind touched lightly upon what was to come. It was in contemplative silence that she left her chambers and made her way through the castle toward the Chamber of Prayer. Part way there, a door opened and Clef stepped out into the hall.

 

“Isn't it a bit early to be out, Hikaru?” Clef asked.

 

Hikaru smiled. “I could say the same to you, Master Mage Clef,” she replied.

 

Clef smiled briefly at the girl, then frowned as he realized that she was dressed in the robes of the Pillar. “You're going to the Chamber of Prayer?” he asked.

 

Hikaru nodded, “Yes, I will be there for a little bit,” she said.

 

“In which case, I will have someone bring you up a tray,” Clef said.

 

“That's not necessary,” Hikaru protested.

 

Clef frowned. “You are sure?”

 

“Yes,” Hikaru said, “It'll be fine.”

 

Clef's eyes were troubled as he agreed and said, “Then I will accompany you to the Chamber.”

 

The Master Mage did not miss the tensing of the red-haired Knight's shoulders as she agreed with a smile that did not reach her eyes. Clef felt a tendril of worry wriggle its way through his mind. In his previous experience with Pillars, when they got worried and evasive, then something was up, and no one but the Pillar would be aware if whatever was taking place was good or bad until whatever it was happened. For his own peace of mind, Clef needed answers, and one way or another; he was going to get an answer out of the Pillar even if he had to pull Lantis into the game.

 

“You seem troubled,” Clef said as they made their way down the hall.

 

Hikaru smiled. “What ever gave you that idea?”

 

“Perhaps the fact that you are evading the question?” was Clef's rebuttal.

 

Hikaru looked away, and said softly, “Are you aware, Clef, of the prices that will have to be paid for this wish?”

 

“There is a price?” Clef asked, worry became terror that began tearing at his heart. What price was expected for this wish that so many people had pushed the Magic Knights into appealing for, and who would pay it?

 

“Nothing comes for free,” Hikaru said solemnly. “For a wish to be granted, a price of equal worth must be exchanged for the wish in question. In the shop of the Witch of Worlds, a teenage boy works to pay for a wish that he desires granted. In the shop of the Witch of Worlds, four people give up the things most precious to them for the ability to traverse the worlds, one so she can follow and regain what was lost, one to seek out what was lost to save the life of one he holds dear, another to return home, and another to never have to return home. Only together could they pay the price for the key, but even the journey has its own prices. The same can be applied to our current circumstances. Equal exchange is not only a law in Alchemy or Chemistry, but also in Magic and Life.”

 

“What is the price that we must pay?” Clef asked.

 

Hikaru smiled, “All who appeal will pay, and the prices of those who convinced Mokona to grant this appeal are especially heavy, but heavier still is the price laid on the shoulders of the Pillar.”

 

“Hikaru,” Clef said, “What is this price?”

 

“It can be many things,” Hikaru said, “from the relationship between two people, to one's treasured memories, and even one's own soul.”

 

“That is not a reassuring answer,” Clef muttered as they stopped before the giant double doors that led into the Chamber of Prayer.

 

Hikaru chuckled. “Perhaps, however that is all the answer you will get for now. Ask Umi or Fuu again after the moment of Appeal passes.”

 

Clef stared at her in shock. “What?!”

 

Hikaru laid her hand lightly on the door and said quietly, “My price as Pillar is linked to the collective price of Cephiro. I doubt that I will be in any condition to be answering questions after the Appeal is granted.”

 

Surprise and horror warred in Clef's heart, and all he could do was blurt out, “What?!” Hikaru pushed the door open and without a word. “Hikaru!” Clef called. Hikaru paused in the doorway and looked over her shoulder at him quizzically. “Why is your price linked to Cephiro?”

 

Hikaru paused and said quietly, “Because Cephiro is a world for the people, and when the hearts of all Cephiro make an appeal for a single cause, the Pillar represents them, and the Pillar's price is always the heaviest.”

 

“But why?!” Clef demanded. “Why do you have to pay a price that would affect your health?”

 

“That is merely the way of things, Clef,” Hikaru said gently. Clef opened his mouth to protest and Hikaru held up a hand, and Clef reluctantly swallowed his words. “Don't dwell too much on this,” Hikaru said gently, “Everything will be alright in the end. Simply…. Do me a favor, Clef, and make sure that neither Emeraude or Zagato learn of the prices that will be paid on their behalf.”

 

Clef bowed stiffly. “If the Princess wishes it.”

 

Hikaru smiled sadly, “I'm sorry to place such a heavy burden on you Clef.” And the door closed silently behind her.

 

Clef stared at the carved doors for a moment before he turned and made his way down the hall back toward the living area. First he would question the other two Magic Knights, then he would speak with Lantis about the stunt that his lover the Pillar was preparing to pull…