Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Magic Knight Rayearth: Medieval Mystery Series ❯ The Forgotten Realm ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19

"Hikaru!"

"Hikaru-san!"

Hikaru slowly opened her eyes to find herself back in the realm of the beast gods with Umi and Fuu. Slowly she shook her head and got to her feet, discovering her wounds to be healed, and her armor in tact.

"Magic Knights," The voice of Rayearth boomed, "Each of you has successfully passed your trial, you may now don us in preparation for battle."

"However be warned," said Windam, "The first realm is a dangerous place, unlike any other you have ever imagined."

"Your every uncertainty is multiplied a thousand fold within that space." Celes warned. "You must not falter."

There was a moment of silence before each magic knight nodded.

"Very well," Said Rayearth. The mashin suddenly came to life, and Umi, Fuu and Hikaru were wrapped in light. Slowly, they felt themselves begin to fall, faster, faster, until they crashed through the blackness, which shattered like glass before them. When they opened their eyes, a strange landscape lay before them.

There seemed to be three different horizons, one running horizontal, one vertical and one passing right below them, each bordered by misty blackness. Large hunks of earth floated around mindlessly crashing into each other, and it seemed impossible to tell up from down or backwards. The three girls stood amazed.

"H...Hikaru-chan. Is that you in that big suit of armor?" Umi asked in uncertainty.

"Yeah..." came the answer, just as unsure, "Strange, it doesn't feel like I'm wearing anything heavy."

"It is a strange phenomenon indeed," said Fuu, "But perhaps we should focus on finding Emerald-himen and Zagato-san."

"Oh, right!" Umi began looking around, first forward, than back, than up, than down. "How the hell are we supposed to do that?"

"I'm not sure..." said Fuu as she looked around. They stood for a moment, scanning the skies.

"Ah!" Exclaimed Hikaru Suddenly, "There!"

As she pointed, the girls saw a flicker of light in the distance, and they followed it.

The light had originated from one of the many masses of earth floating in the space. As they came closer, they saw two figures...

"Emerald!" Gasped Umi.

"Zagato!" Followed Hikaru.

Fuu watched as something glimmered in Emerald's hands. "Pandora's Box..."

Within an instant they teleported to the surface of the rock, running as they hit the ground.

"Zagato!"

"Emerald,"

"Stop!"

The smiling pair stopped and looked up in surprise, the happiness vanishing from their faces...

"Magic knights..." Emerald said as they came to a stop directly before her.

"Emerald!" Hikaru gasped out of breath, "Please stop this! Please leave Pandora's box alone."

The beautiful princess simply stared at them a moment, almost as if she didn't believe they were actually there.

"I'm impressed that you managed to make it this far." Zagato said, coming up beside Emerald. He was smiling again as he looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

The girls stopped. Certainly they hadn't known what to expect, but not this. Emerald looked up at Zagato and brushed his cheek with her gloved hand, smiling.

"They-They're acting like newly weds!" Thought Umi in surprise. She grit her teeth and took a step forward.

"Give us Pandora's box now so we can all go home peacefully." she demanded.

Zagato looked at her. "We are home," was the answer. When he met only their confused faces, he went on.

"Do you know the legend behind Eterna?" he began, continuing before he could get an answer. "It tells about how three girls saved the world from destruction using the power of their wills, but in truth, it is far more complicated than that."

"This was once a world where men lived, a place where everyone's will worked together to shape the earth and sky. They say at first it was peaceful, but then man's individuality got the better of him, and the people became divided. Some wished to shape the world this way, others that. In the end it split the land and caused the heavens to be fractured. It would have vanished completely, had it not been for meddling of three children."

"Using the power of the gods to amplify their wills, they split the worlds, creating that portion of earth now called Cefiro. To prevent the destruction from occurring again, they sealed the power of their wills in a box, and banished it to this, the first world."

"So this place was created by people's conflicting wills?" Hikaru asked.

Zagato nodded and turned to Emerald who held Pandora's box in her hand. "It is a shame, they only managed to minimise the damage, the problem is still there."

"Problem..." Fuu repeated.

"The human problem, their fate if you will..." Emerald said softly.

"People will never escape their hatred, or their greed..." Zagato's face was sad and heavy. "I thought that I could save them, teach them to live without hatred or greed, but I soon realised that I could not. They are flawed, as all people are, through no fault of their own. It is their condition, how they were created."

"That still doesn't justify using Pandora's box to destroy everything!" Umi blasted. Zagato and Emerald took a step back in surprise.

"You have the wrong idea..." Emerald said, " We don't plan to use this box to destroy, but to create."

"Create?"

"Yes," put in Zagato, "We hope to create a new Cephiro, and a new race. A world of beings who exist without greed, without hate, without war. A world protected by the pure wishes of one person, instead of many conflicting ones. A heaven, if you will, of love hope, wonder, and peace..."

"Heaven..." Whispered Hikaru.

"You can't." Fuu said, her voice firmly resolved. "If you open that box, the power of mans will, will be released again, and this waste land is all that will be left of our Cephiro."

"What!" cried Umi, grabbing her sword, Hikaru and Fuu did like wise. "No way!"

"You...you would sacrifice heaven for that bastard land of tears and despair?" Zagato narrowed his eyes. "So in the end, you are simply victims of the human condition as well..."

"What are you talking about?" Yelled Umi, "What about everyone in Cephiro?"

"How could you do that to Clef, and Presea...your own brother!!" Hikaru cried. "You'll just leave them to die?"

"How greedy of you to think only of yourselves." Zagato said, disappointed. "This will be a new world, free from all pain and sorrow. It's worth goes far beyond anything mortal."

The girls stood their ground, unmoving. Suddenly the box in Emerald's hands began to glow.

"NO!" Yelled Umi.

"The seal is being broken..." Confirmed Fuu.

"ARROW OF...."

Hikaru never finished as Zagato released a wave of electrical energy upon them. They screamed in pain, then suddenly vanished...

"Huh? I'm back in the..." Thought Hikaru as she looked around her mashin.

"Hikaru Look Out!!"

"Hikaru-san!"

She hardly had time to see the large mashin as it flew towards them, let alone dodge it. The force sent her flying back, colliding with a clump of wondering earth. She grimaced in pain...

"Zagato? But how?" yelled Umi in shock as she faced the giant black mashin.

"This is a land of will," answered Fuu, "and Emerald has Pandora's box..."

"MIDNIGHT THUNDER!"

"SHEILDING WIND!"

They grit their teeth as snakes of black lightening swirled around them, held back only a few inches by Fuu's protective spell.

"BLUE WATERSPOUT!"

Umi's water spell whipped around her and attracted all the electricity to it. Then she flung it back at Zagato.

"CRIMSON LIGHTNING!"

Hikaru's spell joined with Umi's, combining their strength. However...

"Crysta Shield"

Zagato's powers seemed to be mounting as the seal on Pandora's box slowly crumbled. He wasn't even using his full force, yet the attack bounded off harmlessly.

"GREEN GALE!!"

Fuu tried a surprise attack from the side.

"Black Wind"

Came the effortless response. It was so strong her own attack stopped and then came boomeranging back at her with re-doubled force. She shrieked slightly as the two magic attacks whipped surface lacerations through her skin, and sent her falling into space.

"Fuu!" Cried Hikaru and Umi. They flew after her, Hikaru reaching her first and catching her fall.

"Midnight Thunder"

"Look out!" Umi stood before Hikaru and Fuu, taking the full force of the attack.

"UMI!!!"

Hikaru grabbed her before she could fall, with as much help as Fuu could manage. They stood facing Zagato.

"Now to finish you off..." he said, his voice hollow.

"Black Crystal Shard."

A thousand sharp iceberg sized shards appeared in the air and flew at them so fast, none of the girls could see them.

"STOP!!!"

Everything seemed to freeze in mid air, and hover there for one confused minute.

"Emerald..."

Her fair and beautiful face filled with kindness and resolve. Within her hands the ominous box stood open, a pure white light radiating not only from its lid, but the sides and bottom of the box as well. She stood, strong and lovely, a princess of light.

"Zagato, do not kill them. We cannot build a pure world upon the spilt blood of others."

Zagato seemingly came out of a rage and calmed his fury. The crystal shards and Zagato's mashin vaporised into smoke before the girls eyes, and soon he re-appeared beside Emerald.

"...are...are we too late?" grimaced the wounded Umi. "We....we can't be!"

But even as she spoke, their mashin began to glow with an unnatural white light, that seemed to cover them and devour them from the outside. It was blinding and the three girls shut their eyes. They began to fall, quickly down into infinity, only to open their eyes to see a white pillar of light come up and swallow them, separate them, and completely blanket them.

"Don't give up yet..."

Fuu opened her eyes. The falling had stopped, the motion, the sound, everything. Time stood still, and she was completely surrounded by white. Except for the figure before her.

"Please understand," said Emerald, "I don't despise our world, however, I was always alone there. I thought I could solve everything, care for everyone, and keep the peace all by myself, and in the end, I pushed everyone away, and had nothing."

"Emerald..." whispered Fuu sadly.

"But then I found Zagato, and found I could not get away from him. He too, wanted to save the world, and believed he was strong enough. He even tried to save me, as if I needed saving..." she laughed a bit at the memory of it, then sighed, "We could never have been together there. I was betrothed at birth, and a priest may not marry. Zagato decided that we would come here, even if it meant destroying our world. I followed...I, I could not live without him, not alone again.

There was a silence. Fuu understood, she knew loneliness, she knew how Emerald felt, so what could she say? She couldn't even say for sure that she would have done any differently. But why...

"Magic knight," Fuu looked up again, and saw that the light was getting brighter. Emerald was disappearing. "Please, save our world, save it from our own selfishness and folly."

"Save it?" Fuu repeated surprised. Was there a way?

"Find the key to Pandora's box. It alone is the only thing which can seal the will of men again. Please, before it is too late."

"But how do we do that? Where is the key?" Fuu yelled, Emerald had all but vanished by now.

"The key is now in the hands of my brother, although he does not know. Find him, help him. I caused him much pain when I set him free. Please tell him I'm sorry..."

"Your...brother?"

Everything went dark, everything was gone. Fuu was alone again, though she did not know it. She slept peacefully for a long time...

*~*~*~*~*~*

Clef sat down on one of the hard pews of the chapel and sighed. Nothing had been going well recently. Since the girls had vanished into Eterna almost a week ago people had been coming to the capital in hoards, claiming that their homes and towns had been destroyed by swarms of monsters and demanding Clef do something about it. They were restless, unhappy, scared and some were threatening to riot. The return of Lantis, who was well known as the greatest knight in Cefiro had calmed them for a while, however, Clef knew it would not last.

As their doubt and fear grew, so did the sightings and reported size of the monsters, a reality which chilled Clef to the very heart. The seal on Pandora's box had been broken and Umi and the others were most likely dead. Everything seemed to be crumbling, and Clef had no clue how to stop it. On top of that, everything he saw, everything that was done, brought back a flood of memories about Presea, and the shocking reality that she was dead. He felt weak with grief.

He looked up at the well of Eterna, and suddenly, he hated it. If only it had stayed dormant, or even better, never existed in the first place. It was the cause of all this. Everything, from the appearance of those gems to the disappearance of Umi, Hikaru and Fuu. He hated it, and staring at it, so calm, so serene, without a care in the world, he became enraged. He ran forward, bringing his staff up he struck it upon the rim with all his might. There was a loud hard bang as the two surfaces collided, then nothing. Clef opened his eyes to find the rod and the basin were still intact, the only thing that was sore was his arm from the recoil of his blow. Nothing.

"BAM"

Clef was blown backwards a brilliant light exploded from Eterna and filled the entire room. He sat on the floor shielding his eyes and praying the wrath of Eterna wouldn't kill him. To his surprise, the light vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, seemingly without doing anything. He slowly stood up, slightly shaken and very glad to be alive. Then his heart jumped again...

"What happened?" Lantis charged into the room sword in hand. He got about halfway to the alter before he too stopped. Clef knelt over Umi and examined her. She had been hurt, but not severely, and seemed to be sleeping. Hikaru too seemed to be okay, and everyone instantly breathed a sigh of releif. But there was something missing...

"Say, where's da green one?" Caladina asked suddenly.

"Fuu!" Clef exclaimed.

They searched the area for her, but the green knight was nowhere to be found.

*~*~*~*~*

Ferio walked through the woods alone. It was getting dark, and he had no clue where the nearest village was. "Guess I'll sleep outside tonight," he muttered to himself. He stopped as the wind swept over the forest and made the trees seem to whisper all around him, or maybe it was the voice of the wind...

He grit his teeth. He was thinking about her again, it hurt, and he had to stop it. Even so, there were days when he would turn around and expect her to just walk out from behind a tree and smile at him. Then there were the bad days...

"Stop it!" he scolded out loud, just to make his point clear to himself, "She's a magic knight. She deserves better than some moronic second rate gypsy to spend her life with..."

He stopped. What was that sound just now? It seemed to shrill to be a bird, it was more like a beeping sound, very close...

He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the two magic objects that Emerald had given him, the other one he had given to Fuu.

"Beeeeeep"

The gem was reacting to something...could it be? Could Fuu?

He clicked the button, nothing happened.

"Shit!" he swore out loud and would have thrown the gem away right then and there had something strange not happened. It began to glow brightly in his hand, and a beam of light shot forwards into the darkness. Surprised, Ferio grabbed the hilt of his sword and ran in that direction. After a minute he reached a clearing, stopped dead, and rubbed his eyes.

She was there! Floating! Surrounded by light! She just appeared out of nowhere! What was going on?

The light died and she began to fall to the ground. Ferio found his legs back just in time to jump forward and stop her head from hitting the ground. She was there! She was real! He couldn't believe it.

Slowly he reached down and touched her face.

"Fuu..."