Author's note: Four OCs will be introduced in this chapter, readers, meet Amati and Kendrah, Giovanna and Zenvo.
Disclaimer: I don't own Amati and Kendrah, Adiaskskyfire originally does, in ' Secretos" however they are not completely identical to the Amati and Kendrah in "Secretos". Giovanna and Zenvo are my OCs, but it is obvious who Amati, Kendrah, Giovanna and Zenvo resemble as you read this chapter.
Many thanks to ZeyMoonsea, Adiaskyfire, Glory Jean from Tumbkr, Ascella Star, Adiaksyfire and Keren Olivero for their support and opinions.
Hikaru led Mokona, Umi and Fu u into the living quarters of the civilians, having recalled the direction Mira went off.
The doors of the portal opened to them and the girls were pleasantly surprised to see an beautiful garden not unlike the Cephiro they first knew, with bright sunlight and a wide expense of greenery.
The girls took into the idyllic scenery and was greatly impressed by what the people's will could achieve.
The silvery twinkling music of a harp caught the knights attention to an attractive young couple sitting there; a ruggedly handsome, dignified young man with long, slightly wavy dark blue hair was reading and a very pretty young lady with long straight dark purple hair with straight bangs and ornate pins in her hair was playing a harp, chain mail overlaid their clothing. She was clad in a fine, calf length dress of the colour of bluebells accentuated by a wide belt and embroidered trims, he was clad in a long dark grey clerical robe.
The couple glanced indulgently at some children in the garden, two boys were running about laughing and a group of girls were making flower wreaths , Mira was among them.
Mira turned and spotted Hikaru.
" Hello, Miss Hikaru!" Then the chattering children immediately flocked around the 3 lovely girls, Umi and Fuu promptly introduced themselves.
Mira presented the girls with three flower wreaths they just made from the flowers in the garden, " I just made three flower wreaths for you Hikaru, and your friends Umi and Fuu, I remember they were there tooo! This time I could thank you properly."
"Thanks, they are beautiful!"
"Mira, why don't we say hello to the guy and girl over there?" Hikaru asked Mira, noticing the young couple who was left out.
Mira waved at the couple and called to them.
"Hey, Mr Amati, Miss Kendrah, why are you frozen there? Why not you come over to say hello to Hikaru, Umi and Fuu? Amati and Kendrah are very nice people, they always protect our village."
The knights saw the couple who looked so sanguine moments ago wore unreadable expressions on their faces, they nodded stiffly and came to the Knights, their bearing noble and sophisticated but something seemed not right.
Hikaru beamed thinking of the possibility of making new friends in Cephiro and greeted them enthusiastically, however, the couple appeared much less than enthusiatic to meet them.
The girl smiled at the Knights winsomely, yet the Knights noted her smile did not extend to her blue bell coloured eyes, "I am Kendrah, disciple of Clef, and the daughter of the mayor of their village, also a warrior. Lady Magic knights, how do you do?"
The man extended a hand to the knights, "Amati, disciple of Clef, warrior and priest of their village." His face was civil, his voice was very polite but bland, not betraying any emotions, for all his politeness, his sharp blue-gray eyes were frosty and even his mouth was curved in the right shape, his smile was strained, his body tense as though wary of them.
The knights shook Amati's hand, Amati gave them a slight bow and kept his distance.
Kendrah shook her head at the young priest and apologised graciously, with her winsome expression and her voice as sweet as the harp she played moments ago. " Amati is rather quiet and talks only when needed, so lady magic knights, plsease excuse his behavior." Although the girl sounded perfectly chipper and amiable, somehow the friendliness had a hint of forcedness to the Knights.
"Disciples of Clef?" The girls looked at each other and the statement rang a bell to the girls. That would explain the forced friendliness in the girl and the outright frostiness in the man.
Umi saw the sadness and guilt evident in Hikaru's face and put her arm around Hikaru's shoulder. Fuu decided to break the awkwardness and tension and save any confrontation for later, maybe get a way to talk to the couple in private.
"You are Mira, are you?" Fuu enquired. Then Mira confirmed her identity and prompted her friends to introduce themselves to the knights.
A brown haired boy introducted himself as Odyssey , a blue haired boy Romeo, a girl with an Alice band in her hair Portia , an older girl with plaits Aurora, her sleeping baby brother Aston, a blue haired girl with two short pigtails Serena.
" Children, why don't I sing a song? Although the question was addressed to the children, Fuu wanted to sing a song because Hikaru always liked her singing.
"Fuu is singing a song! We like songs, of course! Kendrah, why not you accompany Fuu with your harp?" asked the children who were oblivious to the tension between the older boy and girls.
Kendrah hesitated but nodded nonetheless.
"The kind girl wants to sing for you and I love songs too so, " then Kendrah clapped her hands and addressed the Knights brightly, " Nice to have met you girls, lets find a comfortable spot to sit down for our duet. "
The group found themselves sitting comfortable on the grass, but Amati kept his distance with a tense and alert expression on his face, as if he was a guard on the lookout of some enemy.
Kendrah stroke her harp and Fuu sung a favorite song of hers.
The children were obviously impressed with Fuu's captivating voice and applauded the blonde heartily. " Bravo! Bravo!"
"Fuu, I really love your singing!" Hikaru was cheerful again. Umi also offered Fuu her praises.
" You compliment me, Miss Hikaru, Miss Umi." beamed the Knight of Wind.
"Fuu, you can sing as good as Princess Emeraude!"
Upon that statement Kendrah covered her mouth, Amati stopped looking out for whatever he wanted to look out and looked at the children as they chimed in " Yes, yes, Princess Emeraude's singing was all wonderful!"
Serena, the blue haired girl stated, " She was the most beautiful girl in Cephiro."
Aurora exclaimed, " When Princess Emeraude was here, Cephiro was beautiful, as beautiful as the Princess herself.
Hikaru responded, " Yes I know." recalling the idyllic Cephiro she saw, would this be restored? And without sacrificing someone?
Odyssey and Romeo exchanged glances and said "If a new Pillar comes, the land will be beautiful again and we will not see the scary monsters anymore!"
The Knights couldn't help feeling frustrated hearing this and Hikaru heard the voice in her head again.
Hikaru, look, what a mess you made? how will you get undo all this? They will only want a pillar to save them, stop wasting your time on these weaklings! What is the point of protecting them? Just let them walk their path of destruction and save yourself from frustration!
Hikaru heard the voice in her mind again, she kept her head high, her upper lip stiff trying to channel her mind again to her resolution.
Amati's lips quivered as if he wanted to say something finally, but Mira seized the chance to speak.
" Mates, Lantis, the nice man who rescued us, said Flowers will bloom without a Pillar!"
" Mira, you are right." the Knights couldn't help noticing when Amati was addressing the children, he had a tender and gentle expression on his face, a warmer side that he did not show when he greeted the knights.
"My friends, it is not good for your country if you all rely on a new Pillar coming to save the world. You shall all believe that, without a Pillar, Cephiro will still rise again from its ruins, like the immortal bird you read in stories, the Phoenix, it rises from its ashes on its own, and it rises more beautiful and strong then before. Cephiro is a land of will, you could all help upholding the country together instead of waiting for a new Pillar. You must all believe or else your fears will worsen everything."
The knights were amazed to hear another Cephiran sharing their views.
"Amati, we know you are very nice to us, you are clever and know so many things, you taught us lots, you saved us from monsters countless times, you helped evacuate the everyone to the Castle but sometimes, you are just as crazy as Lord Zagato, your leader, he also told us we could all uphold the country ourselves, with our own wills, and not just the Pillar alone our parents all say he must be drunk or he went nuts" responded Odyssey.
The knights looked at each other when they heard Odyssey's statement. Hikaru wanted to step in to defend the late High Priest but someone else did it for her.
"Odyssey, you could say anything you want, but please don't insult Lord Zagato, you know he is our friend, and do you want anyone to insult your best friend Romeo? How would you feel if I call your friend Romeo names? " Kendrah admonished sternly but gently. " Children, Amati is right, Zagato was right."
Kendrah stroke her harp again, " Listen to all these strings, a tune could only be produced by all these strings, yes some are long, some a short and one string is the longest." Kendra plucked the longest string and a monotonous sound came forth "but if I only harp on one string, how boring it would be?"
Odyssey mumbled an apology.
The children looked at Kendrah, not understanding her analogy.
"Miss Kendrah, the monsters are so scary, we cannot fight them, we don't have powers like you!" said Serena. " The land is breaking itself up in pieces, it..it is not possible even if we believe! We need a Pillar to come and save the land, Cephiro isn't a harp you could fix just by replacing a broken string! We have no power to uphold the land ! Only a Pillar can!"
" Lord Zagato...We heard about him...could you tell us what he was like?" Hikaru asked as soon as she heard Zagato' name being mentioned, hoping to find out what part the late High Priest played in Cephro.
Amati and Kendrah exchanged glances hearing the Fire Knight' s question. Amati turned his face away again, but not before giving an accusing glare to the Knights (while the knights were not looking). Kendrah elbowed him to remind him to keep up with his mask of politeness.
" Lord Zagato might be crazy, but he was actually a nice man. He was the most learned man in Cephiro, excluding Master Mage Clef. JHe knew everything, because he was the High Priest. He was always devoted to taking care of our needs and let Princes Emeraude knew what to wish for, he knew so many stories and we all like him telling us the stories and everything he knew!
It was true he looked all serious and even scary, dressed in black robes as big as a tent with all the big armour, but when he smiled, he was all different, he had a very very kind smile, he has a good heart under that scary armour. He was actually a very gentle and caring guy. We could all trust him to let Princess Emeraude know what we needed. " replied the older girl Aurora.
"Lord Zagato was as good in playing the organ and piano as good as Princess Emeraude was good in singing! We heard him, he was superb!" Mira and the other children joined Aurora.
" Do you remember Emeraude's friend Alcyone, the very pretty lady with dark wavy hair who was with her all the time? , She was nearly as beautiful as Emeraude and she was so good with her ice tricks, she made all these pretty things from ice and she could even make big ice sculptures to amuse us when we asked her to！"
The children got absorbed in their chattering that they did not notice the Knights were mourning for the people they mentioned, the knights felt especially sad to hear they were also well loved by the people!
Now, now, Hikaru Shidou, you killed good people, people who everyone loved, good luck in finding out what you could do about this! For there is nothing you could do to erase the damage! Would you have the nerve to go and ask them how did they disappear from the face of Cephiro? They disappeared because of you! You! You are still the murderer of the brother of the man you love! You will not be loved!
"Hikaru, you are looking very strange again, you are daydreaming sometimes." Umi and Fuu looked solicitously at the redhead.
Amati stood up abruptily and paced about, that tense, alert expression returned to his face, his eyes narrowed, as something that surely should not be there materialized, first a speck of darkness then...
"Kendrah! Look! That evil presence I sensed is here!" Amati pointed at a small dark pulsating sphere emitting omnious red lightning, Kendra gasped with wide eyed fear, but she regained her calm in a split second, a blade on a stick resembling a naginata appeared in her hands. But a hideous crimson monster already crept out of the hole!
A crozier appeared in Amati's hands.
"Lightning Flechettes!" bright darts that shone like lightning appeared out of Amati's crozier, countless darts exterminated the first monster, yet it was only a herald of more to come.
Kendrah yelled, "Dear, dear, I am angry, very angry, do you monsters know no one threatens my people and lives! Why do you keep coming? Ahhh!" her naginata was alight with bluebell coloured flames, a second one was exterminated with her flaming naginata.
Amati's lightning darts turned a third one into a smoldering mess, Kendra impaled a fourth and turned the monster into toast easily,
"I hate monsters!" Kendrah ranted to her lover. 'I want to roast them all!"
'Kendrah, you know how sometimes your temper is the very opposite of the way you look." Amati mocked his comely girlfriend with a slight smile while flinging more darts and roasted another monster.
'Says who?" Kendrah snapped back. " Do you think you really behave the way you look?" as the couple wiped the floor with more monsters.
Soon enough the commotion drew the attention of the children and Knights, the first thing that drew Hikaru's attention was the Kendrah's blue fames in all their mesmerizing beauty but the red head knew better than to watch these flames, her sword materialized immediately, so did the swords of the other two knights as Serena bursted into tears and the rest of the innocent children screamed.
Fuu chanted, " Winds of protection!" Mira and her friends were safely esconced in a wall of currents.
Amati and Kendrah saw Fuu's action and they saw all three girls running towards them to give them help, they looked puzzled at their gesture.
"Amati, Kendrah, let us join!" shouted the knights as they quickly got surrounded by monsters, given their frosty reception towards the girls, the knights were not surprised that the couple started fighting without asking them to join.
The couple nodded, obviously, whatever they thought about the knights had to be dropped at that moment.
Darts, naginata and swords all came to action, Amati noticed his lover shot glances at Hikaru every now and then, as if she was curious about the other fire warrior's abilities.
"Kendrah, you are not seeing the cute little redhead as a rival, aren't you?" Amati asked when he was back to back with Kendrah.
"She is certainly worthy." remarked Kendrah, " and so are her friends, but still..." Kendrah let her sentence drop to incinerate another monster.
'Still they killed our seniors. They killed my leader, Zagato!" Amati finished her sentence, in a restrained voice that showed only the slightest hint of anger as he flung his darts at another monsters who attempted to make a tasty dinner of the couple, having failed to reach the children.
"Amati, i know how you feel, they killed Alcyone who was protecting Princess Emeraude from them! But they were just innocent girls dragged into this cruel system!" pleaded Kendrah.
"Kendrah, i am trying to convince myself of that, like what you are doing." said Amati in between shooting the darts.
"The red head and her friends are no doubt powerful and I have a feeling their wills might match the late pillar's, and their hearts are certainly good, they meant well. " remarked Kendrah while stealing glances towards the girls.
Yet weapons proved to be no use to the source of the monsters.
The dark sphere got bigger and bigger as the children cried and screamed and the battling group got outnumbered in a matter of time.
Amati paused, his brows furrowed in concentration.
The monsters soon approached Fuu's stronghold of currents where the children were, even extending their claws towards them, and a cacophony of cries ensued. The Knights rushed to protect the children but then an incredible and even wonderful sight turned up in the nick of time in the form of backup.
"Creature summon!" A tall slim figure wearing a beret and green and white robes was standing there, two of Ascots's campanions vended off the evil monsters.
'Ascot!" Umi exclaimed in relief.
'Amati! Clef got your telepathic message and told us to come, I also brought-"
The metallic rattle of chains interuppted Ascot's introduction, the chains bound up and restrained another monster who was about extend its abominable claws towards the children.
A girl with a profusion of long glossy dark green ringlets was standing there, she wore a rose red dress overlaid by chain mail. The girl deftly flung another chain which ended with a razor sharp blade and finished the monster off.
"Diamond Blizzard!" another young man sent out a mini blizzard from a wand topped with a large blue round jewel, the garden was monster free for the moment.
"Elder brother, did you get hurt?" The green haired girl enquired, the knights were amazed to see the skilled wielder of chains was an angelic beauty of alabaster complexion, massive turquoise eyes that brimmed with pure innocence, she was like a fairy princess.
"No, not at all, Giovanna, how about you?" Amati smiled affectionately at his sister with a look that said "well done".
Hikaru looked on and couldn't help feeling gooey seeing the brother sister interaction, for that moment she saw herself in Tokyo again, with her elder brothers who always rooted for her.
"Ascot, thanks for your help" Kendrah turned to the regally handsome blond man, she paused, an odd expression flickered on her face, as though the blond man should not be there, "and for yours too, Zenvo." Kendrah smiled her winsome smile again before Zenvo could notice.
Zenvo grinned, his ice blue eyes gleamed playfully, Zenvo looked every inch an ice prince, with his shoulder length platinum blond hair, fair skin and ice blue and white clothing, his deportment was a perfect combination of strength and grace, a white swan made human.
Amati also gave Zenvo a confused look as if Zenvo was the last person he expected to turn up but said nothing.
"Ascot, Giovanna, Zenvo!' The children cheered seeing the warriors.
Zenvo waved at the kids and smiled his charming smile.
"No, not at all, by the way, the monster infestations are getting worse, they Lafarga, Prince Ferio and Caldina are really busy fighting them. So Ascot came here with us. " reported the ice prince.
The relief of the group was short lived and everyone's eyes turned to the chains in Giovanna's hands that were rattling.
"I sense evil..." Giovanna wore that same tense look her brother wore.
"Where?" asked Amati, Giovanna gazed at her chains, that answered the question for their wielder as they shot from her hands to bind up another monster. The girl flung the other chain that ends with the blade in a seamless movement to the monster.
The warriors were aghast to see the the omnious sphere appearing again, growing alarmingly quick in size and darkness spewing out more and more monsters.
The chilren all inadverdently screamed, cried and whimpered seeing the rampant monsters
"Is there any ends to this?" Umi and Fuu were back to back. "No matter how much we fought, there is no end to this infestation!"
"it looks like we are fighting the mighty Hydra in Greek myths? it seemed for one monster killed two more would turn up." Fuu remarked.
"Oh no! the monsters are getting harder and harder to fight!" Kendrah realised the monters became more and more resilient, she had to work harder and harder to slash the monsters.
Ascot's companions were also noticing this, it was evident from their body languagge.
"Nooo!" An angelic voice screamed, the knights beheld in horror to hear the sound of something smashing, a monster broke free of Giovanna's restraining chain and then smashed the attacking one, turning both chains into scrap metal.
The lovely face contorted in horror and she was close to tears to see her prized weapons smashed.
"Dirty monster! How dare you do this to my best friend!' yelled Kendrah at the top of her lungs as she rushed to Giovanna's side.
'Icicle wall!" Zenvo's wand spewed out a great wall of icicles forming a perfect barrier that impaled the monsters who tried to reach the green haired beauty.
Ascot and the knights noticed, Amati was turning a blind eye to his distressed sister.
"Kendrah, Zenvo, leave her! She could fend for herself! I am not going to keep running to her side as if she is a baby!" Amati instructed sternly as Kendrah tried to rush to Giovanna's side.
What? Ascot and the Knights baulked at the priest who addressed his sister with affection moments ago was ironically not the one who was rushing to the newly defenceless girl.
Amati frowned seeing the monsters still intact despite numerous darts embedding in a monster's body, but his head was still high, his bearing confident. He held his crosier up high, a good shepherd watching over his flock.
" If I lose to you, I would not be worthy to be called a student of Teacher Clef, who is protecting this place with all his heart, Lightning Soar!" Bright flechettes flew out from the crosier and assembled themselves into an impressive, bird like shape, mesmerizingly beautiful and almost blindingly bright, it was like hundreds of lightning bolts assembling together, a hologram of a Phoenix was formed and took to the air vanquishing monster after monster.
Kendrah gave a last glance to her friend sadly and tore her eyes away from her.
" Monsters, don't you dare to crush my spirits!" The dark haired girl proved her will of iron, " I promised my teacher and also father to protect everyone! Teacher Clef was giving all he have to uphold this place, he is putting up with all the stress and pain a person could endure to protect us, this is the least I could do! I will not fail! " the flames on her naginata again burned strong and bright and again with another monster incinerated. "Monsters, begone! And this is for my friend Giovanna! This should teach you guys for destroying her weapons!"
'Same with me, Kendrah!" Zenvo's eyes lingered on the girl but he turned and join the fight. " We could protect the people, we will let Teacher Clef know the people are in safe hands so he would have less to worry about! We must save this land through love, faith and hope! I have faith, this land will be saved, I have faith, this land will become the land who everyone will join forces to uphold, the land my elder sister Alcyone and Lord Zagato gave up their lives to see!"
The knights exchanged distraught looks in hearing the statement.
"Alcyone also had a brother?"
"Avalanche execution!" Zenvo conjured an avalanche with his wand and indeed buried monsters in an avalanche.
They surely are determined, thought Hikaru. They are so noble and so strong, so looked up to...
Not a mess like you, right? They were angry with you, you saw that. Do you think you would win their trust？ Even you have a sword in your hand, you are just as good as that defenceless girl, the flower that would soon be trodden on!
The voice sounded in Hikaru's head again.
" If there is a Pillar, we would not need to see these monsters!" The children lamented inside the stronghold. Serena bursted into tears.
" Monsters, fear, fear produces monsters, yes! Their fear is strengthening the monsters! So that means we are addressing the symptoms and not the cause!" exclaimed the logical Fuu!
"Children, don't cry, don't be frightened!" pleaded Umi, who decided to put Fuu's theory to test. " You are my friends, I will protect you, I will not lose, just like Amati and Kendrah, they will not lose because they want to protect you all! Please! Trust us! It is not going to get any worse, why not try?"
Kendrah piped up, " Please trust us! Did Amati and I not fend monsters off the village countless times? Did we ever lose? We never lose because Amati and I love you all, I love my village, because I promised father I will protect everyone, when I have this thought, I will never fail! Because love will drive away all fear!"
"The Magic Knights saved my soul, they comforted me back when I was a lonely outcast, they accepted me unconditionally even I hurt them before. Now I will do my best to help them!" Ascot companions gained new strength as Ascot 's will strengthened.
Giovanna slowly turned her eyes to the crying child and wiped away a tear in her eye,
"Serena, I was just like you before, I cried all the time, even if it was a scratch, I used to rely on my brother to save me all the time. So many people told me that would be my fate, relying on my brother to save me, they told me I would have no power to fend for myself, I will always be the little girl that would only cry and whimper in the face of an enemy.
But Teacher Clef, my brother and my friends and my true love have a lot of faith in me and in return i love them and this world with all my heart. This drove me to become the warrior I became today.
I will not sit here and wait to be defended, I will not be slain by any monsters, I want to protect you all. Look, Serena, behold the power of belief! " Serena stopped crying and looked at the warriors expectantly.
Fuu sensed the air turned very still, a stifling stuffiness descended in the garden, as if a storm would soon happen.
Giovanna smiled again, her arm extended.
"Another wind warrior ?" thought Fuu with amazement.
'Empyrean whirlwinds!" powerful whirlwinds formed invisible chains to restrain and vanquished more monsters. The winds were so powerful that it actually destroyed the monsters like what a cyclone could do to a town. The winds even toppled a few trees.
Amati's lighting phoenix remained there in its steadfast brightness, a beacon for all those present.
"Even all the darkness in the world will not extinguish the light of even one candle. " resolved Amati. "No darkness shall put out the spark in my heart. For I believe Cephiro, the country i love shall not be annilated by fear!
"We will fight together to the last!" Ascot shouted to egg his companions on. " I want to save this land we love, and all the people we love." Ascot stole a longing glance to Umi, the sea nymph who he had a crush on.
If Amati and Kendrah and Zenvo and Giovanna and Ascot resolved not to lose, I would not lose either, thought the fire knight. If I don't have faith in myself, all would be finished! If i don't love myself, I cannot drive the darkness in my heart away!
Love, of course Now I know how to get rid of the monster in my heart！Hikaru remembered what Kendrah said.
" Flame arrow！Hikaru's flame magic glowed hotter and brighter than ever. Kendrah watched with a mixture of awe and affirmation, then the eyes of both fire warriors met and they smiled at each other.
Mira nodded at the fighters and put her arm around Serena. She had a brave look in her innocent little face.
"We must try!" The children looked at each other.
" Ladies and gentlemen, don't give up!"
"Go for it!" The children cheered the fighters on.
To the relief of everyone, the monsters were vanquished again one by one.
The dark sphere gradually shrunk and reduced to a wisp.
After ensuring the coast was all clear, Fuu withdrew her wind barrier, the children jubilantly skipped out of the barrier and hugged the warriors.
"Well done everyone!" Umi beamed at the children." The monsters got weaker when you become brave!"
" All the monsters are indeed a manifestation of the fear in our hearts." observed the blonde Wind Knight.
"Yes, we are fighting against our hearts all along." Hikaru stated, she have had her share in it, then Hikaru looked up as her shoulders were patted. Kendrah was smiling at her, this time, the smile reached her eyes.
"You and your friends are awesome, thank you for helping us We wouldn't know what we would have done without you." the dark haired beauty offered the knights her gratitude and she held the fire knight's hand and squeezed it briefly, a tide of warmth swept over Hikaru, all she could do was to smile back, words just failed her.
'Ascot, many thanks to you and your friends. They have helped us a lot." The priest also offered Ascot his gratitude.
"No...not at all." Ascot was more than pleased for the chance to help the civilians.
"You all did very well." Giovanna and Zenvo hugged the children, then Giovanna surveyed the trees she toppled by her whirlwind attack. "But I made a mess..."
"Children, you now know you must beware the nice ones, especially our little Giovanna. She is all cute and sweet like a princess, but it is certain she would blow you to low Cephiro orbit if you ever get on the wrong side of her, I am worried about that too so I have to be extra good to her all the time. Maybe one day you cannot see me again, it was because I drove her mad and she send me to low Cephiro orbit or even to Autozam or Fahren or Chizeta. " joked the handsome blond.
Giovanna stepped on Zenvo's foot, causing him to yelp, to the amusement of the kids.
"Haha, now i know I wouldn't get a chance to visit low Cephiro orbit if all I got is a stamp on the foot." the ice prince chuckled at the sight of the pouting girl.
"You really want to fly?" Giovanna made all attempts she could to be threatening, but no one was scared.
"Giovanna, never mind." Her elder brother came to her " I just know you can do it and you did not disappoint me. " The girl beamed with pride and nodded.
"By the way, here are the pieces of your chains, get Presea to fix them as soon as possible." Amati gave his sister the fragments of the chains. "We don't really want trees to fall over everytime you fight." Amati winked at his sister who pouted again.
"I just know you can do it." The knights heard it and this phrase was etched indelibly in their minds.
Fuu looked at the priest and remarked wistfully. " If only Princess Emeraude could do the same thing..."
The fire knight and the water knight saw Fuu's point and nodded.
Ascot clapped his hands, " I think it is getting late, should we walk our young friends home?"
Everyone agreed and started to make their way to the quarters where the civilians gathered. The Cephirans chatted gaily, but the knights shared a moment together.
The wind knight whispered to her friends, " I know the situation is very frustrating, but we must never give up, we mean, not only we must stick to our cause, we must never give up faith in the people. There wouldn't be any obstacles the three of us cannot overcome." The girls hugged each other before making they joined the group.
Umi's face was overwhelmed by sadness as guilt as she watched Zenvo walking away, she sincerely hoped for a chance to apologize, was Zenvo's cheerfulness and playfulness there only for the sake of the children? After all, he appeared way too radiant for someone who lost a sister.
"Umi, I know how you are feeling. I will be with you no matter what." This time, Hikaru found the chance to return the multitude of favors her loyal friend generously gave to her.