For once, Clef had nothing to do. After the Magic Knights left for a second time...there really wasn't anything to do. Sure, some stray monsters attacked when he went out once in a while, but other than that...not much has been going on.
Then something came into his range of sensing. What the- He quickly sent Fyula out to take a look. Sure enough, moments later, three familier faces came into view from the window. Clef waved out to Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, who were riding on Fyula towards the entrance to the castle.
"So they're back again?"
Presea, Lafarga, Caldina, Ascot, Ferio, and Lantis came into the room. Clef nodded. "Yeah...but if Mokona's gone, there's no one to summon them...so I wonder how..." Presea chuckled. "Come on, enough with this chit chat. Let's go greet them!" Clef slightly smiled. "Yes."
The moment they got to the entrance to the castle, Fuu ran into Ferio's arms, Umi practically tackled Ascot, and Hikaru snuggled against Lantis. The others watched with smiles. But underneath his own smile, Clef was confused. He hadn't just sensed those three...he had sensed someone else seemingly just appear in Cephiro...but only these three were here. It was strange.
After remeeting each other for the second time, Presea blinked. "But...how did you get here? Nobody's left to bring you." Hikaru shrugged. "Actually, we weren't even in the tower. See, Umi and Fuu were at my house, when the floor suddenly caved in like the last two times. Then we were here..." Clef sighed as Hikaru finished. "Mokona's gone, and the princess has been gone for a long time...so how..." Before he could go into deep thought, a lighthearted chuckle echoed throughout the hallway.
"Clef, you haven't changed one bit. Still as serious and determined as always, just how I remember."
He knew that voice. But it had been so long since he heard it. The others seemed to hear it, so he wasn't hearing things...everyone turned to the entrance, and Clef was so surprised he almost dropped his staff. His eyes widened as he saw the person before him.
It was a female. She had long dark magenta hair in two long ponytails, slightly pale skin, and deep brown eyes. She had a white short-sleeved shirt, a purple jacket connected with a green ribbon, blue pants with a golden embroidery, white knee socks, and brown boots. Around her neck was a golden chain necklace, two ends 'holding' a shining blue gem in the center. Around her shoulder was a brown satchel.
Clef blinked. "T-Tekina?!" Tekina smiled. "It's been a long time." Then, a small bunny-like creature appeared from behind Tekina's leg. It had puffy ears with three 'spikes' at the ends. It was mainly brown, but the spikes and a line design connected to them were green, and the creature had metallic arms colored golden. "Ya, it's been a long time since we've seen each other. Years and years and years!"
Clef didn't respond...after a few moments, he turned away and walked towards his chambers. Tekina sighed. "He's still so stubborn...Kitan, I'll be back in a bit." "Okay~!" Tekina followed the mage while Kitan stayed behind.
Hikaru leaned down to look at the creature. "So...who are you guys?" Kitan twirled around. "I'm Kitan! And that girl was Tekina Dragoniss. Not sure if he's mentioned it, but we're old friends of Clef." Fuu blinked and thought for a moment. "Yes, he has never mentioned you two. I wonder why..." Kitan sighed and replied "It's because we haven't seen him for so long. He doesn't seem to have forgotten about us, though." Umi blinked. "Then...why did he walk away...?" Presea chuckled. "If there's one thing I know about Clef, he doesn't like to show his emotions around other people..." Caldina smirked. "Why don't we let them catch up for a while, kay~?"
...
Clef stared out the window of his room. He couldn't believe it. All these years, and she shows up now? He hadn't even got into contact with her since...since...
"You know, there's no need to hide from me."
That voice...that damn voice had been haunting him every night, even if he never showed it. Tekina looked around the room. "Just like you. It fits you, having a room like this."
"Why now?" Tekina blinked when Clef spoke. "You could have come back sooner..." Tekina chuckled. "What, were you scared? I don't go down easily, you know." Clef slightly shuddered. Yes, but that day...I can't ever get it out of my mind. It scared me...
The shudder didn't go unoticed by the girl, who then walked over to the mage. "You haven't changed at all...you always did like high places." The window showed much of the outside-it was really high up. A soft hand placed it's palm on top of the mage's head as the girl sat on her knees.
Suddenly, he whirled around and quickly wrapped his arms around her. "Yes. It did scare me, because you never contacted me afterwards...I missed you." Clef looked at Tekina with a slight smile on his face. "Welcome back." Tekina's other hand touched his back as she hugged him back. "I missed you too...I'm back." The two shared a smile before they got up. Clef's face turned serious. "Well? Any news?" Tekina sighed. "No, not yet...but I'll find something eventually." Clef was silent for a moment. "I understand." Tekina grinned. "Don't worry. I don't plan on leaving again anytime soon."
Clef nodded. "Good."
