Author: Sparkling Moon Phoenix.
Genre: Anime, Adventure, Fantasy.
Rating: T just to be safe/ will be M rating in later chapters.
Status: Work In Progress.
Chapter: Act 10.
Standard disclaimers apply. Clamp, Sunrise Television owns the rights to MKR. I am just using the characters for a fiction of my own devising and the enjoyment of Rayearth fans everywhere. Any original characters, spells etc are © Sparkling Moon Phoenix.
A/N: the Magic Knights are sixteen years old in this fan fiction. Plus Clef appears in this chapter in his OVA form and will do so now for the entirety of this fan fiction.
Italicized speech indicates a character's thoughts. Writing like this indicates radio communication. *Writing like this indicates Knight/Mashin communications*. /script like this indicates an Ancient calling on their power/. [Speech like this indicates telepathic communication].
Summary: begins after Hikaru Shidou is captured by Eagle Vision and taken aboard the NSX. During her confinement Hikaru begins to detect something stirring within her soul. Is it the effects of the Energy Net or is it something else, echoing from the long hidden past of Cephiro. Eagle/Hikaru, A/U, F/F.
MKR: A New Spell for Hikaru
Act 10: Intertwining of Spirits
~:O:~
He could feel the sharp pain of the young Knight through his mental shielding. In her weakened state, it seemed at least to him, she felt things more keenly. He reached for the young Knight. She flinched again, shifting away from him. The bleak tang of her fear flooded his mind. Halting, he noticed the slight trembling of her body. Whether it came from being frightened of him, a complete stranger or from being cold, he couldn't readily discern this. He did take note of the fact she lay quite close to the remnants of the shattered water jug. He sighed.
I'll have to deal with her apparent fear of me. Deciding to initiate another attempt at removing her from near the deadly shards of glass, the young Commander lunged, fingers wrapping firmly around one slender ankle.
A piercing cry rang within the confines of the Infirmary.
'L-let go of me!' Her voice, shrill from barely repressed terror sounded in his ears.
Hikaru struck out with her other foot, trying to dislodge Eagle's fingers. The young Commander took hold of her other leg, pulling the Fire Knight closer to him. The dusky eyes of the Knight widened; her breathing harsh and rapid. A sense of power building raced across his thoughts. Realizing his mistake too late, his gaze alighted upon the focal crystal affixed to the right hand of the young Knight. The circular gem flickered with a strange intensity, the core afire with light.
Damnit, she is calling upon her magic. This I cannot allow. Keeping a firm grip on Hikaru's legs, he straddled her slim waist, being careful not to crush her with his much larger frame. She tried bucking him off, but he held her pinned to the floor of the Infirmary. Her flailing hands battered his face and neck, landing blows he hardly felt. For once, the upper body garb of his uniform proved useful.
Once again underestimating his captive proved to be a mistake. With her legs trapped by his heavier weight, Hikaru resorted to the only method of defence her brothers instilled in her from a young age. Pushing through the fear she directed all the force she could muster. She struck out. The noise of flesh cracking against flesh rang out in the Infirmary. She punched Eagle squarely on the jaw. After hearing his suppressed hiss of pain, she realized the blow had connected. She continued battering the young man until she saw a flicker of annoyance pass onto his face.
With one swift movement he incapacitated her arms. The fire wielder had proven to be rather crafty. He would not do so a third time. The young Commander felt his lower lip begin to swell. In a few hours he would have a rather fine bruise. One given to him by a frail young girl. Well, perhaps not so powerless. After knowing her for a few short hours, the young Commander came to realise he really didn't understand the Magic Knights at all. The only source of information he had concerning these enigmatic opponents, his former best friend. Lantis
The Fire Knight possessed depths of strength he never thought someone of her diminutive stature could have. Once again I wonder what you are really capable of. Her struggles increased. A deep wave of relief surged through the young Autozamian. Despite her legs being pinned, she still tried to strike him somewhere that would have caused him pain. Already he could imagine his burly First Officer and young Chief Engineer would say about the rather splendid mark that in a few hours would colour the entirety of his lower lip.
'Enough!' His voice quiet, yet ringing with calm authority brought a quick cessation to her struggles. 'I am only trying to assist you.'
He gazed down at the still form of the Magic Knight he currently held trapped. She lay on the cold flooring of the Infirmary looking at him with widened eyes, her face bare of any expression. He could feel through his gloves the heat of a fire spell building. Scarlet light erupted from the focal crystal, bathing both Commander and Magic Knight in a faint nimbus.
'It would be most unwise of you to release that spell.' Eagle stated quietly. 'There are items in here that would prove to be rather explosive if mixed with fire.'
The crystal on her flesh continued to shine, bathing his face and form with faint roseate light. The glow of her powers pulsated within it. The heat slowly dissipated, but the tang of magic remained.
Eagle knew from his own experience fighting this particular Magic Knight, her powers were strong. He couldn't say how talented the other two Magic Knights were, but he could be certain of the Fire Knight and the force of her will. The strength of her mind and heart matched his formidable spirit and mind. The young Commander could feel power emanating from the crystalline Ovum. The Knight pinned beneath him brimmed with it. He could glimpse the flow of energy from within her skin. It moved throughout her entire body, the light shining brightest near her heart. Eagle thought he could glimpse something lying next to her heart, that image faded.
Amazing. Lady Knight you are one intriguing mystery, one that I will solve. Mesmerized by the shifts of magic within her skin Eagle slowly lifted one hand, carefully pressing fingertips to certain points on her face. Just by that fleeting physical contact alone the bleakness of the Lady Knight's fear surged through his mental shields. Sweat beaded upon her forehead. Eagle felt the drops against the tips of his fingers. Her expressive eyes glazed over, faintly hazy with barely suppressed fright.
'Calm yourself, Lady Knight.' The Commander said softly, the tone of his voice low and soothing. 'I don't wish to cause you any harm.'
His words had no effect. Her struggles renewed. Once again Eagle could sense the delicate flaring of her powers. This he had to put a stop to. Minutely his fingers pressed harder against her porcelain skin. He initiated the first fragile part of the mental link.
'Our souls are merging,' he whispered, his warm breath ghosting over her face. 'Our souls are one. . .'
The words of the mind-link ritual taught to him as a child fell from his lips. He dropped the constraints he normally kept erected upon his telepathic gifts. He summoned his mental sight, faint tendrils of thought slipped from his mind until he encountered the presence of another spirit, one that bore gifts similar to his own.
A window flowing with roseate light opened into his thoughts. He could see the deep flows of her Knightly powers thrum within her soul, accompanied by other echoes of gifts just beginning to stir from a state of dormancy. Of all the spirits he joined with, hers was the most unique. Eagerly he moved through the rosy flows, gently touching her mind. An unseen barrier stopped his questing thoughts, followed by a fleeting surge of pain.
Not from him. From her.
[Stop resisting me Hikaru.]
Already he gleaned one fact from his young captive; her name. He pressed though that wall of resistance, flooding the mind of the Fire Knight with calm. Her strands of thought and memory shone as he viewed them with his telepathic gift. Reaching out with his own mind he paused, admiring the way the roseate gold of her thoughts intertwined with his own moon pale essence. Gently he twined his thoughts within those of the Fire Knight, sifting through the memories of recent days.
Memories still bright and clear from recent days activated under his roving touch. A hint of amusement surged within him when he caught a glimpse of all three Knights, as well as some of the other women who dwelled within the castle, conversing with one another in an immense bath. Then he pushed his mind away from that particular remembrance. He didn't mean to intrude on her most private thoughts. With the type of link he created between their minds, such intrusions were sometimes unavoidable. Other scenes momentarily diverted his attention, until he heard a voice, not one that belonged to the young Fire Knight.
One memory in particular intrigued him and he merged his telepathic gift with it.
*Memory Flash*
The scent of crystal waters, tinged with the earthy tang of damp stone filled the chamber. Golden light streamed through a window inset within the distant ceiling, flooded the ethereal chamber. In the centre of the circular room, surrounded by water, a tall stone pillar stood, bathed in light. A fragile golden circlet, three emeralds of varying size inset within the metal hovered. Sparks of magic flowed from the crown.
The flash of a red sleeve, capped by a white and gold gauntlet began to move out over the still waters, delicate fingers outstretched.
'Hikaru stop.' A male voice came from nearby.
'Why?' Hikaru looked to her right, where a short man stood, regarding the Fire Knight with ageless blue eyes. A man, diminutive in stature and garbed in elaborate robes stood next to the Knight.
'This is why.' He reached up, removed an earring and flung it over the pool.
The earring never made the journey over the waters. Startled cries erupted from all the people on the threshold of the Crown Room as the water awoke with a violent fury, the earring now shattered into shards too minute for the human eye to see.
'The room is protected by ancient magical wards. Only those who are deemed worthy are allowed to approach the Coronet of the Pillar unharmed. Those who do not qualify are killed in the attempt.'
*End memory flash*
Partially closing the mind-bond between the thoughts of the young fire wielder and him, Eagle cursed. The plan he conceived whilst he and his crew undertook the long voyage here to Cephiro would have to be altered. Perhaps he could ask the Science Lab to uncover a way to pass through the barrier unharmed.
o
~(:O:)~
Astalia, watching through the eyes of the Autozamian Medical Tech whose body she currently donned, let slip an oath word and then quickly stifled it. Her people hadn't accounted for this. Eagle Vision, Commander of the NSX somehow had gained a psychic gift normally found only within the bloodlines of her own people. She couldn't do anything to arouse the suspicions of the young Commander or his Executive Officer. Both were too curious and intelligent. She hoped she wouldn't have to take measures to ensure the safety of the younger Knight. After glimpsing what had just occurred, she knew she wouldn't have to intervene. At least not in a physical sense, psychically she might have to interfere. From what she caught sight of, seated on the cold floor behind the young Commander and Fire Knight, she suppressed a grin. Her young protégé possessed hidden depths of strength, triggered by her sudden physiological changes within her physical form. A suppressed hiss of pain snapped Astalia out of her train of thought.
Astalia silently chuckled. The girl had guts, punching her captor like that. It was a sign her young charge was now coming into her hidden Ancient heritage and abilities. A normal human wouldn't be able to move at all after sustaining injuries and physical shock from a weapon such as the young Commander used to subdue the Knight.
But she could stop him from delving too far within the mind of the young Fire Knight. The younger races couldn't learn of the re-emergence of her people. They were not yet ready for such knowledge. The imbalance flowing within and without the beleaguered planet, the Ancients' former home Cephiro, had to be corrected; then and only then, could her brethren begin to heal Autozam. As she sensed the young Commander initiate the beginning stages of the mind-link, she called upon her own formidable gifts. Threading a small amount of her own telepathic gift through the link she shared with Hikaru, she delicately erected a series of barriers around the memories concerning the Pillar System the young Knight held within her mind.
Astalia knew, through her discreet monitoring of internal communications between Eagle Vision and his Executive Officer Geo Metro, the ultimate goal of their mission was to acquire the limitless, yet destructive capabilities of the Pillar System. Hikaru possessed a measure of knowledge concerning the Coronet of the Pillar and the location within the sanctuary of Cephiro Castle. This she couldn't allow, not at this instance in time. From her personal observations of the young Commander, she knew him to be strong of will, perhaps powerful enough to become the next Pillar of Cephiro.
I underestimated this young Autozamian. Until my protégé can shield her mind from outside influences, I will have to do it for her. The Ancient Knight who had donned the physical form of a Medic of Autozam, using the body as a vessel for her living soul knew she didn't possess all of her innate talents. But she still retained enough of her own telepathic talents to block the unexpected Gift of the young High Commander.
Her gifts detected the link between the Commander and young Fire Knight. Eagle was in the process of touching Hikaru's memories. Fleeting images of a particular one Astalia caught within her own mind. Astalia decided against intervention this once, Eagle had just unearthed the fact that his attempts to access the powers contained within the Coronet of the Pillar would not be an easy task. Powerful enchantments, ones that were imbued with the capability to take the life of those considered to be unworthy of the being the next Pillar, were cast into the very waters and stones of the Crown Room.
Astalia had to stifle a laugh as shocked surprise and consternation from the mind of Eagle Vision battered against her mental barricades. For the moment events were not in the favour of Eagle Vision. However much she wished to separate the pair on the floor, she couldn't. Eagle was the only one who could sever the temporary bond he initiated with the fledgling Ancient trapped beneath him.
Curse these damn restrictions! Astalia rubbed her temples. Pain throbbed dully. A strong analgesic would soon be required. I just wish others of my kind were here!
Her silent wish must have been heard. Brilliant lavender radiance flooded the Sickbay.
Astalia gasped. The power belonged to someone she thought had passed on as she entered into magical stasis. Only one Ancient she knew of could project the force of his mind across the depths of space.
Clef Acair Valerian, High Mage of the Chronos Order.