Runaway
Hikaru was running. Towards what, she didn't know. But she did know what she was running from. She still heard the pained screams in her head, even though they had faded from the air long ago. She was painfully aware that what she had just seen and heard would torture her for the rest of her days.
They were dead. Her best friends were killed right before her eyes. And for what? All so some little princess, who had made only one selfish wish in her life, could escape. Could die and join the man she loved. But her hired executioners had refused to do as they were told. And two of the three had been killed. Hikaru was all that was left of the so-called Magic Knights.
Hikaru had been the first to refuse when Emeraude had begged for death. The young Magic Knight had known that she wouldn't be able to bring herself to kill the princess that she and her two best friends had fought so hard to rescue. Umi and Fuu felt the same way, and had voiced their refusal only seconds after Hikaru. And that was when the merciful Emeraude had disappeared forever.
They had fought hard. As hard as they could without killing the princess. Hikaru had constantly tried to keep Umi and Fuu from injury, if only to receive on herself. And they had seemed to be winning. Their unspoken agreement was to let the princess fight out her grief. To let her wear herself down until she couldn't fight anymore. But, before that plan could be realized, the unthinkable had happened.
Hikaru had faltered.
Emeraude had sliced the red head from shoulder to elbow, and Hikaru had flinched. In seconds, her sword flew from her hands and her she fell hard. Her head hit the ground with a hollow crack, and she felt her entire body engulfed in numbness as her eyes slowly closed.
There was no way she could protect herself now. Hikaru knew it when she heard the shout of triumph from Emeraude break through her clouded consciousness. She heard Fuu and Umi screaming her name, and clashes of sword against sword.
It took a bloodcurdling scream to force Hikaru to open her eyes again. And what she saw pressed what little air she had in her lungs out in a hiss.
Umi was staggering to the side. Her hand pressed to a deep wound in her chest. Blood flowed in torrents from the gaping hole. She choked as blood dripped from her mouth and nose. The water warrior stumbled a few more steps before falling to the ground where she lay motionless.
Hikaru would have screamed if her body had let her. But that need to scream was swallowed when she saw Fuu fall only moments after Umi.
The red head felt the bright bonds that she held with her best friends fade into blackness. And she knew. They were gone.
Emeraude laughed evilly, and Hikaru snapped out of her daze. Before she knew it, she was on her feet and sprinting away from the cackling woman, despite her body's many protests.
So she ran. For how long, she didn't know. She only knew that her friends were dead. Dead and never to come back. And she had done nothing to stop it.
The reality of what she was doing slowly sunk into her scattered awareness and her run slowed into a walk.
She fell to her knees in the barren wasteland that had once been beautiful Cephiro. Wrapping her arms around herself she wept. She wept for Umi. She wept for Fuu. But mainly she wept for herself. She had just run from the threat that had killed her two best friends. How could she have done that? Was it the fact that she still didn't want to kill Emeraude? Was it fear for her own life? If so, it was for her own selfishness.
Hikaru's anger turned into bitterness as she gave her 'mission' more thought. Her mind clicked away, trying to make sense of the new ideas running through it.
Emeraude had just killed two innocent people, who had done nothing but defend themselves and each other. They had done nothing to deserve what they were given.
Yes, they had killed Zagato. The man who had only fought to protect the love of his life. But if they hadn't, the magic knights themselves would have died instead.
They had been led on, from the very beginning of their 'quest', that they were to rescue the princess. Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru had all promised each other that they would fight together and never give up.
Never give up…
The words of that promise echoed through Hikaru's mind.
Umi and Fuu had never given up. They had died still fighting. They had died together.
But Hikaru had given up. She had run from the fight. She had stopped trying and run to safety only seconds after her best friends had fallen in death.
And there was no way that Hikaru was going to betray Umi and Fuu any more than she already had.
Screaming with all of the strength left in her body, she drew her sword. Her voice echoed over the barren fields of burned earth. She turned and ran back to where she was meant to be. Back to the fight where her fate awaited her.
Her feet pounded the ground as she sprinted, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She ignored the wounds that bled constantly and protested the jarring run. Emeraude was going to learn what she had brought upon herself. And she wouldn't like it.
There she was. Emeraude was kneeling in the middle of a field, as if in prayer. Hikaru didn't even try to make her approach silent. She screamed as she leapt up and brought her sword down on Emeraude.
The princess blocked the frenzied blow and rolled out of the way.
Hikaru attacked with all that she had. Her face was set in a fierce grimace as she fought. Her sword made blurred arches as she moved with all the strength she had left in her body. Her lungs protested from lack of air, but she gave off a yell and ignored it. And Emeraude was keeping up to Hikaru's pace, if barely.
It wasn't even a fair fight. Hikaru struck Emeraude down within seconds of beginning that fight. Hikaru, who had held back her strength in order to keep the princess from harm, had unleashed her power and killed that very princess she had sworn to protect.
Dropping to her knees next to the fallen princess Emeraude, Hikaru wept into her hands. The fact that Emeraude had killed innocent people didn't make the blood on Hikaru's hands any less painful. The crying redhead's desolate screams reached across the land as the first rain that Cephiro had seen in months began to fall.
It was as if the very skies felt the girl's pain and tried to comfort her. It was as if Umi and Fuu were watching their best friend as her soul was torn to shreds with grief and conflicting emotions.
Eventually the rain stopped. As well as the girl's tears.
Standing, Hikaru worked to quickly bury the two fallen Magic Knights and the fallen princess. As she worked, she hummed Umi's favorite song. She remembered long walks with Umi and Fuu, when they all sang together, trying to fight off the loneliness and silence that permeated the land they traveled. Umi's voice filling the air with smooth melodies as Fuu sent her voice soaring toward the heavens. That was when Hikaru had felt most at peace. Her friends surrounding her, and her mind clear.
After saying a simple prayer for each of the dead, Hikaru sent her sword back into the jewel on her hand and started away from the battleground. She had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do. She didn't wish to go home anymore. She just wanted to move without having to think.
That was the day that two of the Legendary Magic Knights valiantly lost their lives, and the third, after winning the battle, disappeared.