Let's grow young together.
By Flash.
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Clef, the Magic Knights, Presea or even Cephiro. or whatever they are calling it now. I am, how ever, expecting to receive ownership of a certain Mr Ishida this Christmas. I think even my dad can work out what I want when I stick post-it notes with "buy me Yamato Ishida" on all over the house. I even covered the TV, just to be sure. I don't own digimon either.
AN: Please don't borrow my ideas or characters without asking. And don't flame, give me constructive criticism! I will use it! (If I want to.) This will be Manga based, the OAV confuses me too much, and that's all I've seen. Set after the creator Mokona and the spirits have departed, the world is called Emerald in honour of the Princess, to make sure that the tragedy doesn't happen again. They decided that the world should be created by all the hearts in Emerald, so that the good and bad balance out. Now, a few years later, a new big bad is appearing and the Knights are spending more and more time in Cephiro. A secret long buried in Clef's heart is about to be exposed, but Clef holds together more of Cephiro than even the combined knights can handle. The only solution is to heal his heart, and fast.
Chapter One: Falling.
The Magic Knights collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air and trembling from exhaustion. A beam of gentle white light appeared next to them, fading to reveal the pale Guru and his assistant Palu. They immediately moved forwards, holding out clear bottles of water for them to drink. Clef sat between Hikaru and Fuu as Ascot fussed over Umi.
"How are you all?" Clef's voice sounded as pale as he looked, with a weariness in it that went further than just physical.
"We're fine Clef, but those last demons took the last of our strength. Nine at once! There is no way that is fair. How are you doing?" Fuu handed her bottle back to the magician, studying his face as he accepted the silent offer and drained the rest of the liquid. He sat back and closed his eyes. "I'm fine, I'm just worried about you ."
"And they have every reason to be worried about you, Guru!"
"Ascot." Clef sat forwards again, opening his eyes to glare a warning at the Palu. Who ignored it.
"There was another attack on the sanctuary while you were out." Ascot paused to let the startled exclamations quiet as Clef sighed and shut his eyes again. "Everyone's ok, but only just. And only because of Clef. Lantis and La Fargo are okay, but you can't expect them to fend off twelve demons at once. Clef took down six monsters. He shouldn't even be able to move! Let alone come to see how you are, but nnnoooo. Our Clef isn't mortal, he can just order us to let him go so he can check on everyone else with no thought of his own safety." The sarcastic tone of his voice still stood no chance of hiding his worry, and served to make it even more contagious, infecting the Knights. Clef tuned their scolding out and began to drowse off, as his own worries filled his mind.
He didn't know who was commanding these monsters, but after today's timed attack he knew that there was definitely a master behind it. A human as well, no one else would have the evil in them to attack the innocents of his world. And no one else could have timed the attacks to hit the palace of sanctuary at the moment the Magic Knights were elsewhere. Also, he was worried about the land itself. The hearts and dreams of all in Cephiro. in Emerald. Could they stay strong enough to hold the land together? Already some of the adults were disheartened, and parts of the land were held in autumn. Would it take long before the fear and separation from their homes became too much? Before their world began to crumble?
No. He couldn't think like that. If he believed, if just he out of all the people believed, they would stay together. Yet, he didn't have that much power left in him. He was using too many powers and prayers, too much of his soul. No! He pushed his fears away again. He was just tired, and he was always depressed when he was overtired. Man, his head hurt. It felt like something was pressing in on his brain.
He stood up suddenly, cursing himself loudly. The knights stood as well, shocked. They didn't understand the words he used, but the tone of his voice was enough to tell them they really didn't want to know. The look on Ascot's face was as outraged and distressed to become hilarious, but it wasn't funny at all.
"What is it Clef?" Hikaru, innocent that she was, still knew something was wrong, that Clef was NOT saying something she wanted translating. "What's wrong?"
"Demons, more of them! How could I be caught off my guard like this? They're close!" "What? Umi yelled, twisting round to look for the monsters.
"Hurry! Clef, Umi, we have to return to sanctuary palace!" Ascot reached out to grab Fuu to him, beginning the transportation chant, only to have her twist from him to stare across the clearing. "Too late!"
The trees at the southern edge of the clearing they had stopped in shook, and then fell. Three more beasts came through, tall as trees, with four arms ending in razor claws. Their appearance was that of huge and deformed insects, and Clef shuddered visibly at the sight of them. He doesn't like bugs.
The Knight's drew their weapons immediately, advancing on two of the beasts with a well-oiled machine's fluidity. Ascot turned to the last, calling forth his friends to help him. Clef could only watch as his allies fought, the blast it would take to destroy one of the monsters would also kill them, as they were constantly moving between him and the target. Hikaru's sword caught the light along it's blood stained edge as she held it above her head to catch the forearm of the demon, sliding it behind her as she slipped in and switching hands to slice up the centre of the being. It fell towards her, and she dodged backwards as Fuu and Umi sliced the next monster simultaneously. Further along, Ascot's friends held the last still as he threw a giant lightning bolt at it.
As it fell, smoking, to the ground the warriors turned back to Clef. He sighed in relief and began to focus for the transportation spell. Yet, the pressure on his mind had not left. He frowned slightly, then cried out in alarm as another demon stood behind the trees. This one was different, darker, taller. It let out a shriek, sounding like the struggling brakes of a train, the shot a blast of dark energy towards the turning figures. They caught it and fell, collapsing before Clef's shield surrounded them, taking the blast onto him alone. Pulling his staff before him he struggled to catch the blast in the mouth of the creature on it, holding it then throwing it back as one would a lacrosse ball. (AN, I've never played that, it looks dangerous. Fun!)
It took all of his strength to push that blast away, the very last of his soul. Yet as he collapsed onto the churned up grass he saw it recoil, then stand again. His vision was going dark, but the sight of his friends stretched out in front of him seemed to be burned into his mind. They were helpless. unconscious. lost.
He made a last effort to move, to reach out to his staff, but he couldn't even feel his limbs, let alone move them. As everything clouded over he sent out one last thought, to the one he had always relied on. To the one that no longer existed in this world.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In the palace of sanctuary, the graceful Caldina walked, well, not so gracefully into the "Focus Hall." This was a room specially designed to monitor the entire world and it's state, showing it on a holographic and 3d image of Emerald rising from the table in the centre. It was here that the greatest hearts could reach out to help support damaged areas, healing them. Presea was sat on the edge of this, choosing not to use one of the, to quote Lady Asaka, "Cleffie" chairs. The Guru had created them in his usual, decorative and bejewelled fashion. Presea's fury and worry over he teacher and friend would not allow her to use anything that resembled him until she had had the chance to yell at him. And maybe boil him a little. I mean, as she no longer had Mokona to torture, she had had (^_^;)to find another victim SOMEwhere. And, at the moment, the stubborn little ancient child was bugging her the most. Why wouldn't he ever look after himself? It was almost as if he didn't care what happened to him at all. Just like when he had sent the Knights to her, staying behind to face whatever Zagato threw at him. Then again, he had known that it wasn't him that Zagato was after.
She had just finished explaining to Prince Ferio what had happened since he was injured and confined to his rooms three days ago. The Magic Knights had been visiting for most of every day, but since the times of the earth and Emerald had been synchronised they had been unable to stay for days, as their time would pass the same way, and they would not worry their parents. This had put far more pressure on the warriors of Cephiro. no...Emerald. No matter how you looked at it, the only one able to equal the power of the knight was Clef, and though he matched their powers when they were working as one, as a team, it was destroying him. He couldn't do so much at once! No one dared ask themselves now just how much the fate of Emerald lay on his shoulders. It felt as if the burden of the pillar had fallen mostly onto him alone. And that was precisely what Hikaru and the Knights had wanted to stop, anyone having the weight of the world on their heart.
As Caldina stormed in, Presea and Ferio both looked up and almost talked. but thought better of it. Caldina's temper when it came to La Fargo had rapidly become legendary. He and Lantis had both been taken out of action in the battle this morning, while almost everyone else was still out of action from the large siege they had withstood a week ago. The three sat round the table, all worrying in their different ways. Caldina glowered and span her chair, Presea stared at another imagining what Clef would look like with his ears stretched out, and Ferio stared at the point on the map where he believed Fuu to be. The sudden earthquake caught them all off guard.
A sudden heaving of the floor and furniture sent them flying violently into a heap on the tiles, before they all scrambled up to look at the changing map on the table. Large areas of it began to flicker, first red. then black. then disappearing altogether.
"But what could it." Ferio was staring blankly at the map, while a stunned Caldina could only shrug her shoulders in answer. It was down to Presea to voice her worst fear:
"Something's happened to Clef."
The other two stared in horror at her drawn face, bleached white except for a trickle of blood from her lip where she bit into it. Stretching on hand to the map as if to pull him back, her tears began to fall.
"Clef."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Clef was feeling colder and colder, more distanced. He vaguely felt it when his heart lost contact with the world, but it didn't seem to matter anymore.
It's so far
The sense of his wounded allies seemed to shrink, though he could not tell if it was him or them that was changing. Maybe it was both.
So cold, distant.
His sense of himself no longer had a shape, no arms, no legs.
Is this what it's like to die?
Am I really dying?
Why don't I care?
No head. No staff. Strangely that last part annoyed him more than any other. His staff was fun, and stylish. Not that he had anything to hold it with.
If this is death, it's rather boring.
Outside his mind, the Knights were coming to, only to see their teacher, their friend, lying lifelessly between them and the demon. They had used so much power, they couldn't even let go the tears they wanted to shed. Couldn't defend themselves. Even the violent shaking of the ground couldn't shift them. It wobbled the monster though. It spread its legs an used its first two arms to brace itself, then shot another blast at Clef, just to be certain. Time almost seemed to slow down, as the ball of crackling sheer darkness sped straight towards him. Still they couldn't move. It grew closer, ten metres, five metres, two metres, one. then,
Stopped.
It hung in mid air, seeming to be stuck on a barrier of light, Clef's special move.
A bright light shone behind it, surrounding Clef. It grew stronger and stronger, until the knights were no longer sure if they saw it of a series of after images. The Orb began to shape itself, forming two legs, two arms, and a staff. By the time even Umi's eyes had cleared she stood there.
Clef felt a sudden warmth radiating from where he had left, calling to him, pulling him back. He sighed in relief as he was shoved unceremoniously back into his body.
I didn't know if you could come in time.
Opening his eyes for the briefest of moments he vaguely saw the girl stood over him, and felt the not unpleasant sensation of growing fast to the same appearing age as her. Then he fell into unconsciousness, but not out of his world.
* * * * * * * * * * *
She was young, around fifteen or sixteen from the look of her. She wore a long black coat over a blue shirt and grey trousers, the emblem on the coat pocket suggesting that this was a uniform of some sort. Her hair was long, and fine, and loose. It was also a pale white/sea green colour, shading with her large blue/green eyes that were only a little bluer than Clef's. Her shoes, placed either side of Clef's prone body, were actually black boots that disappeared under her flared trousers. All in all, she looked like a fairly typical Earth schoolgirl, bar one thing.
The staff.
Her staff, held firmly in both hands and emanating that white barrier, was so similar to Clef's that it was impossible to think the were made by different people. It was out of place, yet the way she handled it made the rest of her seem out of place instead. The feeling that she was not what she appeared was aided by the first words out of her mouth:
"How dare you attack him?" She yelled, her eyes blazing at it. "Have you any idea how powerful he is? What he's been through? What he's lost?" He demon seemed put off by these statements, confused. She took advantage of this by pushing the ball of energy back at it, following it up with a blast of ice shards. This caused the knights to flinch, as they knew that move. Clef hadn't taught it to anyone since Alcione had fallen to Zagato.
Yet this girl had helped them, and her stance over the Guru was definitely defensive. There was something different about Clef as well. it took them all a while to figure out that their teacher, while still unmistakably Clef, was grown. Older, taller. His hair now fell over his eye to his chin on the right side, half concealing a slender and handsome face that matched the taller and slender yet strong body that lay in robes that had somehow stretched to fit his new form. They all felt the great thud as the demon fell, then watched as the staff fell from her hands to lie next to Clef's, it's dragon's head next to his staff's lion's head. She twisted and fell to her knees beside him, smiling as tears began to fall down her face.
"Of course I would be in time, Clef. Mokona would never let us die before we finished the tasks he gave us. You know who he is now, don't you. I can feel it." she stretched out one hand to push back his hair- then paused. Her hand stayed trembling over his face for a few long moments, uncertain. It looked almost as if she feared this was a dream, that one touch would break it. Then in one movement she had slipped her arms around him, cradling his body against hers. There was no doubt in any that saw her that she was on their side, or at least Clef's. And no doubt that she knew Clef very well.
That was how the party from the palace found them, the Knight's and Ascot all beginning to pull themselves up and sit facing the place where the strange girl knelt holding Clef and letting her tears fall lightly into his hair.
Presea had brought herself and Ferio there, knowing more magic than most suspected. She gathered the knight's together silently, and then approached the girl slowly.
"Excuse me, but may I ask just who you are?" She was too worried to be shocked at a strange girl turning up out of nowhere and crying over her teacher. (AN but only because I couldn't write it well enough ^_^;) "Will you bring Clef with us? We must move back to somewhere safe." The girl looked up, tears drying on her face as she took in the sight of the weary group.
"There is no danger here now. But Clef must rest; he has a lot of strength to recover. How anyone could let him take on this much of the world? He's not allowed to become Pillar. Where is the Princess?" She glanced over the group and the sorrow in her eyes grew as she realised who the three knights were. "Ah, I had forgotten. I'm sorry; I had forgotten what Mokona told me. Though how I was supposed to believe a fluff ball that appeared in a dream I don't know. I suppose that there is no pillar now? Yes, I remember. Mokona the creator mentioned something about that, that you decided that EVERYONE should support Cephiro. It feels right, like this. Prince," she turned to Ferio. "Where is his room? Picture it."
Ferio shut his eyes, recognising the touch of another mind reaching out to his. He concentrated on an image of his mentor's rooms, the space he had designed himself, a single room with an adjoining bathroom. The one room he used as living room, bedroom, and study. He had refused to have any more than the one room, though every citizen was allowed a much larger area. His excuse had been that he was never in his room, and indeed he seemed to spend all of his time in the focus room, trying to find answers to the problems facing their land. The girl closed her eyes as well, holding one hand palm up in front of her and Clef. Lifting her head to the clouds she chanted under her breath, calling a ball of light to her hand. It grew to surround them both, and when it disappeared they could see that the green haired girl and Clef had as well.
* END *
Oh well, hope it wasn't too bad. Please review, AND HELP ME TO WRITE BETTER!!!
Heh.
This was a little bit rushed, I wanted to put too much into this Chapter. And it was late. Very late. It still is. What should I call my Schoolgirl? The only thing I can think of is Song, but that's. rather strange. HELP!!!
I say help too much.
Next Chapter out soon, if you like it or not.
* Evil laugh. *
* Walks into door. *
By Flash.
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Clef, the Magic Knights, Presea or even Cephiro. or whatever they are calling it now. I am, how ever, expecting to receive ownership of a certain Mr Ishida this Christmas. I think even my dad can work out what I want when I stick post-it notes with "buy me Yamato Ishida" on all over the house. I even covered the TV, just to be sure. I don't own digimon either.
AN: Please don't borrow my ideas or characters without asking. And don't flame, give me constructive criticism! I will use it! (If I want to.) This will be Manga based, the OAV confuses me too much, and that's all I've seen. Set after the creator Mokona and the spirits have departed, the world is called Emerald in honour of the Princess, to make sure that the tragedy doesn't happen again. They decided that the world should be created by all the hearts in Emerald, so that the good and bad balance out. Now, a few years later, a new big bad is appearing and the Knights are spending more and more time in Cephiro. A secret long buried in Clef's heart is about to be exposed, but Clef holds together more of Cephiro than even the combined knights can handle. The only solution is to heal his heart, and fast.
Chapter One: Falling.
The Magic Knights collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air and trembling from exhaustion. A beam of gentle white light appeared next to them, fading to reveal the pale Guru and his assistant Palu. They immediately moved forwards, holding out clear bottles of water for them to drink. Clef sat between Hikaru and Fuu as Ascot fussed over Umi.
"How are you all?" Clef's voice sounded as pale as he looked, with a weariness in it that went further than just physical.
"We're fine Clef, but those last demons took the last of our strength. Nine at once! There is no way that is fair. How are you doing?" Fuu handed her bottle back to the magician, studying his face as he accepted the silent offer and drained the rest of the liquid. He sat back and closed his eyes. "I'm fine, I'm just worried about you ."
"And they have every reason to be worried about you, Guru!"
"Ascot." Clef sat forwards again, opening his eyes to glare a warning at the Palu. Who ignored it.
"There was another attack on the sanctuary while you were out." Ascot paused to let the startled exclamations quiet as Clef sighed and shut his eyes again. "Everyone's ok, but only just. And only because of Clef. Lantis and La Fargo are okay, but you can't expect them to fend off twelve demons at once. Clef took down six monsters. He shouldn't even be able to move! Let alone come to see how you are, but nnnoooo. Our Clef isn't mortal, he can just order us to let him go so he can check on everyone else with no thought of his own safety." The sarcastic tone of his voice still stood no chance of hiding his worry, and served to make it even more contagious, infecting the Knights. Clef tuned their scolding out and began to drowse off, as his own worries filled his mind.
He didn't know who was commanding these monsters, but after today's timed attack he knew that there was definitely a master behind it. A human as well, no one else would have the evil in them to attack the innocents of his world. And no one else could have timed the attacks to hit the palace of sanctuary at the moment the Magic Knights were elsewhere. Also, he was worried about the land itself. The hearts and dreams of all in Cephiro. in Emerald. Could they stay strong enough to hold the land together? Already some of the adults were disheartened, and parts of the land were held in autumn. Would it take long before the fear and separation from their homes became too much? Before their world began to crumble?
No. He couldn't think like that. If he believed, if just he out of all the people believed, they would stay together. Yet, he didn't have that much power left in him. He was using too many powers and prayers, too much of his soul. No! He pushed his fears away again. He was just tired, and he was always depressed when he was overtired. Man, his head hurt. It felt like something was pressing in on his brain.
He stood up suddenly, cursing himself loudly. The knights stood as well, shocked. They didn't understand the words he used, but the tone of his voice was enough to tell them they really didn't want to know. The look on Ascot's face was as outraged and distressed to become hilarious, but it wasn't funny at all.
"What is it Clef?" Hikaru, innocent that she was, still knew something was wrong, that Clef was NOT saying something she wanted translating. "What's wrong?"
"Demons, more of them! How could I be caught off my guard like this? They're close!" "What? Umi yelled, twisting round to look for the monsters.
"Hurry! Clef, Umi, we have to return to sanctuary palace!" Ascot reached out to grab Fuu to him, beginning the transportation chant, only to have her twist from him to stare across the clearing. "Too late!"
The trees at the southern edge of the clearing they had stopped in shook, and then fell. Three more beasts came through, tall as trees, with four arms ending in razor claws. Their appearance was that of huge and deformed insects, and Clef shuddered visibly at the sight of them. He doesn't like bugs.
The Knight's drew their weapons immediately, advancing on two of the beasts with a well-oiled machine's fluidity. Ascot turned to the last, calling forth his friends to help him. Clef could only watch as his allies fought, the blast it would take to destroy one of the monsters would also kill them, as they were constantly moving between him and the target. Hikaru's sword caught the light along it's blood stained edge as she held it above her head to catch the forearm of the demon, sliding it behind her as she slipped in and switching hands to slice up the centre of the being. It fell towards her, and she dodged backwards as Fuu and Umi sliced the next monster simultaneously. Further along, Ascot's friends held the last still as he threw a giant lightning bolt at it.
As it fell, smoking, to the ground the warriors turned back to Clef. He sighed in relief and began to focus for the transportation spell. Yet, the pressure on his mind had not left. He frowned slightly, then cried out in alarm as another demon stood behind the trees. This one was different, darker, taller. It let out a shriek, sounding like the struggling brakes of a train, the shot a blast of dark energy towards the turning figures. They caught it and fell, collapsing before Clef's shield surrounded them, taking the blast onto him alone. Pulling his staff before him he struggled to catch the blast in the mouth of the creature on it, holding it then throwing it back as one would a lacrosse ball. (AN, I've never played that, it looks dangerous. Fun!)
It took all of his strength to push that blast away, the very last of his soul. Yet as he collapsed onto the churned up grass he saw it recoil, then stand again. His vision was going dark, but the sight of his friends stretched out in front of him seemed to be burned into his mind. They were helpless. unconscious. lost.
He made a last effort to move, to reach out to his staff, but he couldn't even feel his limbs, let alone move them. As everything clouded over he sent out one last thought, to the one he had always relied on. To the one that no longer existed in this world.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In the palace of sanctuary, the graceful Caldina walked, well, not so gracefully into the "Focus Hall." This was a room specially designed to monitor the entire world and it's state, showing it on a holographic and 3d image of Emerald rising from the table in the centre. It was here that the greatest hearts could reach out to help support damaged areas, healing them. Presea was sat on the edge of this, choosing not to use one of the, to quote Lady Asaka, "Cleffie" chairs. The Guru had created them in his usual, decorative and bejewelled fashion. Presea's fury and worry over he teacher and friend would not allow her to use anything that resembled him until she had had the chance to yell at him. And maybe boil him a little. I mean, as she no longer had Mokona to torture, she had had (^_^;)to find another victim SOMEwhere. And, at the moment, the stubborn little ancient child was bugging her the most. Why wouldn't he ever look after himself? It was almost as if he didn't care what happened to him at all. Just like when he had sent the Knights to her, staying behind to face whatever Zagato threw at him. Then again, he had known that it wasn't him that Zagato was after.
She had just finished explaining to Prince Ferio what had happened since he was injured and confined to his rooms three days ago. The Magic Knights had been visiting for most of every day, but since the times of the earth and Emerald had been synchronised they had been unable to stay for days, as their time would pass the same way, and they would not worry their parents. This had put far more pressure on the warriors of Cephiro. no...Emerald. No matter how you looked at it, the only one able to equal the power of the knight was Clef, and though he matched their powers when they were working as one, as a team, it was destroying him. He couldn't do so much at once! No one dared ask themselves now just how much the fate of Emerald lay on his shoulders. It felt as if the burden of the pillar had fallen mostly onto him alone. And that was precisely what Hikaru and the Knights had wanted to stop, anyone having the weight of the world on their heart.
As Caldina stormed in, Presea and Ferio both looked up and almost talked. but thought better of it. Caldina's temper when it came to La Fargo had rapidly become legendary. He and Lantis had both been taken out of action in the battle this morning, while almost everyone else was still out of action from the large siege they had withstood a week ago. The three sat round the table, all worrying in their different ways. Caldina glowered and span her chair, Presea stared at another imagining what Clef would look like with his ears stretched out, and Ferio stared at the point on the map where he believed Fuu to be. The sudden earthquake caught them all off guard.
A sudden heaving of the floor and furniture sent them flying violently into a heap on the tiles, before they all scrambled up to look at the changing map on the table. Large areas of it began to flicker, first red. then black. then disappearing altogether.
"But what could it." Ferio was staring blankly at the map, while a stunned Caldina could only shrug her shoulders in answer. It was down to Presea to voice her worst fear:
"Something's happened to Clef."
The other two stared in horror at her drawn face, bleached white except for a trickle of blood from her lip where she bit into it. Stretching on hand to the map as if to pull him back, her tears began to fall.
"Clef."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Clef was feeling colder and colder, more distanced. He vaguely felt it when his heart lost contact with the world, but it didn't seem to matter anymore.
It's so far
The sense of his wounded allies seemed to shrink, though he could not tell if it was him or them that was changing. Maybe it was both.
So cold, distant.
His sense of himself no longer had a shape, no arms, no legs.
Is this what it's like to die?
Am I really dying?
Why don't I care?
No head. No staff. Strangely that last part annoyed him more than any other. His staff was fun, and stylish. Not that he had anything to hold it with.
If this is death, it's rather boring.
Outside his mind, the Knights were coming to, only to see their teacher, their friend, lying lifelessly between them and the demon. They had used so much power, they couldn't even let go the tears they wanted to shed. Couldn't defend themselves. Even the violent shaking of the ground couldn't shift them. It wobbled the monster though. It spread its legs an used its first two arms to brace itself, then shot another blast at Clef, just to be certain. Time almost seemed to slow down, as the ball of crackling sheer darkness sped straight towards him. Still they couldn't move. It grew closer, ten metres, five metres, two metres, one. then,
Stopped.
It hung in mid air, seeming to be stuck on a barrier of light, Clef's special move.
A bright light shone behind it, surrounding Clef. It grew stronger and stronger, until the knights were no longer sure if they saw it of a series of after images. The Orb began to shape itself, forming two legs, two arms, and a staff. By the time even Umi's eyes had cleared she stood there.
Clef felt a sudden warmth radiating from where he had left, calling to him, pulling him back. He sighed in relief as he was shoved unceremoniously back into his body.
I didn't know if you could come in time.
Opening his eyes for the briefest of moments he vaguely saw the girl stood over him, and felt the not unpleasant sensation of growing fast to the same appearing age as her. Then he fell into unconsciousness, but not out of his world.
* * * * * * * * * * *
She was young, around fifteen or sixteen from the look of her. She wore a long black coat over a blue shirt and grey trousers, the emblem on the coat pocket suggesting that this was a uniform of some sort. Her hair was long, and fine, and loose. It was also a pale white/sea green colour, shading with her large blue/green eyes that were only a little bluer than Clef's. Her shoes, placed either side of Clef's prone body, were actually black boots that disappeared under her flared trousers. All in all, she looked like a fairly typical Earth schoolgirl, bar one thing.
The staff.
Her staff, held firmly in both hands and emanating that white barrier, was so similar to Clef's that it was impossible to think the were made by different people. It was out of place, yet the way she handled it made the rest of her seem out of place instead. The feeling that she was not what she appeared was aided by the first words out of her mouth:
"How dare you attack him?" She yelled, her eyes blazing at it. "Have you any idea how powerful he is? What he's been through? What he's lost?" He demon seemed put off by these statements, confused. She took advantage of this by pushing the ball of energy back at it, following it up with a blast of ice shards. This caused the knights to flinch, as they knew that move. Clef hadn't taught it to anyone since Alcione had fallen to Zagato.
Yet this girl had helped them, and her stance over the Guru was definitely defensive. There was something different about Clef as well. it took them all a while to figure out that their teacher, while still unmistakably Clef, was grown. Older, taller. His hair now fell over his eye to his chin on the right side, half concealing a slender and handsome face that matched the taller and slender yet strong body that lay in robes that had somehow stretched to fit his new form. They all felt the great thud as the demon fell, then watched as the staff fell from her hands to lie next to Clef's, it's dragon's head next to his staff's lion's head. She twisted and fell to her knees beside him, smiling as tears began to fall down her face.
"Of course I would be in time, Clef. Mokona would never let us die before we finished the tasks he gave us. You know who he is now, don't you. I can feel it." she stretched out one hand to push back his hair- then paused. Her hand stayed trembling over his face for a few long moments, uncertain. It looked almost as if she feared this was a dream, that one touch would break it. Then in one movement she had slipped her arms around him, cradling his body against hers. There was no doubt in any that saw her that she was on their side, or at least Clef's. And no doubt that she knew Clef very well.
That was how the party from the palace found them, the Knight's and Ascot all beginning to pull themselves up and sit facing the place where the strange girl knelt holding Clef and letting her tears fall lightly into his hair.
Presea had brought herself and Ferio there, knowing more magic than most suspected. She gathered the knight's together silently, and then approached the girl slowly.
"Excuse me, but may I ask just who you are?" She was too worried to be shocked at a strange girl turning up out of nowhere and crying over her teacher. (AN but only because I couldn't write it well enough ^_^;) "Will you bring Clef with us? We must move back to somewhere safe." The girl looked up, tears drying on her face as she took in the sight of the weary group.
"There is no danger here now. But Clef must rest; he has a lot of strength to recover. How anyone could let him take on this much of the world? He's not allowed to become Pillar. Where is the Princess?" She glanced over the group and the sorrow in her eyes grew as she realised who the three knights were. "Ah, I had forgotten. I'm sorry; I had forgotten what Mokona told me. Though how I was supposed to believe a fluff ball that appeared in a dream I don't know. I suppose that there is no pillar now? Yes, I remember. Mokona the creator mentioned something about that, that you decided that EVERYONE should support Cephiro. It feels right, like this. Prince," she turned to Ferio. "Where is his room? Picture it."
Ferio shut his eyes, recognising the touch of another mind reaching out to his. He concentrated on an image of his mentor's rooms, the space he had designed himself, a single room with an adjoining bathroom. The one room he used as living room, bedroom, and study. He had refused to have any more than the one room, though every citizen was allowed a much larger area. His excuse had been that he was never in his room, and indeed he seemed to spend all of his time in the focus room, trying to find answers to the problems facing their land. The girl closed her eyes as well, holding one hand palm up in front of her and Clef. Lifting her head to the clouds she chanted under her breath, calling a ball of light to her hand. It grew to surround them both, and when it disappeared they could see that the green haired girl and Clef had as well.
* END *
Oh well, hope it wasn't too bad. Please review, AND HELP ME TO WRITE BETTER!!!
Heh.
This was a little bit rushed, I wanted to put too much into this Chapter. And it was late. Very late. It still is. What should I call my Schoolgirl? The only thing I can think of is Song, but that's. rather strange. HELP!!!
I say help too much.
Next Chapter out soon, if you like it or not.
* Evil laugh. *
* Walks into door. *