Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Hashira no Eagle ❯ Hashira no Eagle ( Chapter 1 )

Hashira no Eagle

This was too much to take in one time. Geo knew it would be quite a while before he could get all his thoughts straightened out, but there was one particular thought that kept pounding like huge drums, almost enveloping the other thoughts that rolled in his head.

Eagle. Pillar.

Eagle. Pillar. Test.

It took Zazu a while to figure out what had happened to Eagle and the FTO after the big ball of fluff opened its mouth longer than its own body, but Geo knew right away that Eagle had been sucked into the fluff ball along with the red Magic Knight. Sucked into the fluff ball...

Eagle Vision, Geo's best friend, was chosen to take the test to become the Pillar.

And somehow, deep in his heart, he knew that if Eagle won, his intentions were not going to be what Geo had originally thought they were going to be. Eagle, as much as he loved his country, wasn't going to find a solution for Autozam's pollution problem. He wasn't even going to move the Autozamians into Cephiro.

Geo didn't know what Eagle was planning, but he already didn't like it. The medical data that he had just looked at didn't promise a good future for his commander.

If Eagle lost... Geo's stomach churned with the nauseating thought that he would never see Eagle again if he lost.

The second in command of the NSX had been so lost in his thoughts that he had paid no mind to the events going on outside of the battleship. But the familiar rumbling voice of the fluff ball jolted Geo out of his isolated warehouse:

"I am the creator of this world."

Creator? That little ball of fuzz?! That... that's the "Creator"? That thing that sucked Eagle into the hell of the testing place for the Pillar...

...is the "Creator"?

"This world... its order... all are my creation."

Just then, all of Geo's thoughts came to a complete halt. All of the work he had been saving mentally to organize his thoughts was deleted in an instant.

Creator. Eagle. Test. Pillar. White fluff ball. Creator. Front of me. Eagle. Eternal sleep. Soon. Eagle. Sick. Dying. No. Not dying. Eternal sleep.

Geo threw himself back into the chair but immediately stood back up, the back of his knees lightly touching the edge of the seat. Grabbing his head, he could only mutter, "Eagle."

He concentrated. He had to fit the pieces of his brain back together. He had to think clearly. He had to before it was...

...too late? Too late for what? He was helpless! He couldn't help Eagle; the GTO and all of the other mecha had been locked down. The passwords had been changed by none other than Eagle himself. Zazu was nothing more than an extremely skilled mechanic; he was not a computer hacker. In Autozam, magic was not taught--he couldn't summon a "seijyu", a spirit animal, like Lantis could.

Damn it, he was so powerless. Too powerless!

Eagle was going to... what was Eagle going to do?

He wasn't exactly going to die. Certainly he wasn't going to do it in pursuit of becoming Cephiro's pillar! He didn't like the scientific term that the medical analysis had given him--he hated complex words--but he knew right away what the disease was.

It was the same disease that had put many great generals and commanders out of their lives before. It was the equivalent of eternal sleep.

Geo didn't want Eagle to go out and fight in that condition! He didn't care how much Autozam needed Cephiro's pillar system. Eagle could not...

He stopped himself. He was thinking the same thoughts as he had when Eagle departed the NSX to fight Chizeta and Fahren in the FTO. He could not do that! He had to think in the present time. The present time!

"One of the Magic Knights, Hikaru Shidou, and Eagle of Autozam, are taking the test to become the Pillar."

It was confirmed.

Damn it!

"I won't let Hikaru go through it alone!" one of the other Magic Knights--the ones left behind--shouted.

The other agreed. "Mokona-san! Take us to Earth, please!"

"I can't allow that. Only those with the ability of becoming the Pillar may go to the testing place."

Geo closed his eyes and sank into the chair. He understood how the girls felt, except he was more in despair. They were actually out there. They could actually find a way to help. He could not. The GTO and the other mecha were unusable. Worthless pieces of junk at the moment, really, if he couldn't even use them!

He was helpless. He hated the feeling. He hated knowing the fact that there was absolutely nothing he could do for his best friend, his commander, Eagle.

What's worse, he hated the anguish that swam in his mind during the entire course of time.

Eagle's not going to make it. Eagle will not become the Pillar. Eagle will not make it.

"Why--"

The Creator's voice rang out again. "The next Pillar is Hikaru."

That's not his name!

"Eagle!" Geo shouted, his voice somehow not loud enough in his own ears. Something bad was going to happen, and Geo knew it. He couldn't help but to tremble, moisture surfacing in his eyes. He couldn't find the voice to ask the Creator what was going to happen.

Luckily, Lantis did.

"Those who do not pass," the Creator said, "disappear."

NO!

Geo refused for himself to never see Eagle again. Not at least one last time before Eagle passed out perpetually--that wasn't fair! He had to. He didn't care if he was being selfish, letting Eagle just disappear instead of sleeping forever. He knew it'd be less painful, but he didn't want Eagle to die like this!

Not like this. Please. One more time. Even if for a minute. Eagle, don't go. Not like this. Please don't!

Out of the desperation, guilt, and fear for the life of the closest friend Geo ever had, a tear trickled down his cheek onto his quivering knuckles.

If only he had gotten the data sooner... if only he had asked for the computer to give him the results of Eagle's medical tests in under two hours instead of three...

What difference would it have made? Eagle would still have taken the test.

And Geo would still be helpless.

Eagle was gone--

"The new pillar, Hikaru, is trying bring Eagle of Autozam with her," said the Creator.

Geo jumped out of his seat and the palm of his hands landed on the console. "What?" he yelped in joy and bemusement. Weren't the Magic Knights and the NSX crew enemies? Why was she helping Eagle?

And why was he complaining?!

"Only the Pillar can pass through the road. At this rate, the two of them will disappear."

Geo slumped his shoulders in defeat and closed his eyes lightly. Damn. Shit. Neither of the words seemed right. None of them. Eagle was going to cease to exist--not die, but disappear. Poof. Be gone. For good. Forever.

Suddenly, his eyes caught the sight of red emerging from a bright white light. The Magic Knight? Was Eagle with her? He had to be!

Eagle, please don't tell me you convinced that girl to leave you behind! Because if you did... I'll never forgive you!

Even as he thought those words, he didn't believe a single thing he thought. Eagle was there. Eagle was back. Geo was going to see him again, and it was thanks to this Magic Knight and her friends who were helping her at that moment. Even if Eagle had convinced the Magic Knight, the Pillar of Cephiro, to leave him behind, Geo knew that he wouldn't have to forgive him. He would have to have forgiven himself.

Luckily, it was not the case--the new mashin that had appeared, which looked like a combination of all three of the Magic Knights, held out its hand and revealed a sleeping figure.

Eagle was back.

And as the words as the new Pillar rang out, Geo knew that the Pillar system had been obliterated.

For the first time since Eagle, Geo, and Zazu left Autozam, for the first time since Lantis left Autozam, Geo truly smiled. He could never have been happier.