Chapter 12
Inouva returned from his battle with the magic knights. He had had the upper hand against them, but due to Fuu's success in reviving the second Rune-God Windam, he was defeated. He knew that Zagato would be at least minorly disappointed. He bowed before Zagato.
"I beg for your forgiveness, Lord Zagato. I only ask that you return me to my original form," said Inouva.
"I cannot," said Zagato. He ordered Lafarga the swordmaster to come forth. A man with blonde hair cut short in the front and a long ponytail in the back appeared.
"Come with me to see your former master," said Zagato. Of course, he was talking about Princess Emeraude. He teleported to the water dungeon.
'Magic knights, please hurry and revive those Rune-Gods. Dinah, end this before it's too late,' thought Princess Emeraude, weeping softly.
"Are you feeling any pain?" Zagato asked her.
"Zagato..won't you please stop? Please stop this," begged Princess Emeraude, "if you continue, our world will be in ruins."
"I'm afraid that my heart is unchanged. Even if this world were to crumble, even if everyone in this world were to die, my heart will not waver," said Zagato. "Princess Emeraude."
"Zagato," said the princess.
"Sea god Selece, wind god Windam... two Rune-Gods have been awakened from their slumber by those girls from another world. Only one Rune-God remains. The scarlet Rune-God that lies in the fire shrine has not been revived," Zagato told her.
All of a sudden, Lafarga appeared. Princess Emeraude was happy to see him. She had not seen him since the day Zagato kidnapped her. Zagato had attacked Lafarga when he had tried to stop him from taking her, and she had been worried about him ever since. She was relieved to see that Lafarga was alive and well. Unbeknownst to Princess Emeraude, this was not the same Lafarga.
"It's you, Lafarga," she said.
"That's right. Lafarga was the captain of the guard that protected you. Of course, when you were the pillar, there was not much to protect you or the castle from. He was merely employed to combat the occasional monster or two. He was known as the strongest swordsman in all of Cephiro," said Zagato, "do you think those girls you summoned from another world have chances of defeating him?"
Princess Emeraude now knew what Zagato had in mind. He planned to use Lafarga's strengths to his advantage. She just couldn't let that happen. She begged Lafarga to not listen to Zagato.
"Your cries are useless. I have cast a spell on Lafarga that controls his heart," Zagato informed her.
Princess Emeraude was appalled at that. She never thought that Zagato would go as far as manipulating others against their wills.
"How could you do such a cruel thing?" cried Princess Emeraude. She pleaded with Lafarga to wake up, but to no avail.
"Go now, Lafarga, and when you return, bring with you the corpses of those magic knights," ordered Zagato.
Like a robot, Lafarga bowed respectfully, and left to carry out Zagato's orders.
Zagato turned to Princess Emeraude. "If you insist on opposing me, you will prolong your anguish. Give up if you want to make things easier for yourself." With that, he left the water dungeon.
Princess Emeraude was distressed by Zagato's personality change. She was tempted to do as he said and give up, if it would make him happy. But she knew that it would only make matters worse. Besides, she didn't want to break the promise she made to Dinah.
Zagato went back to the throne room to relax. Dinah came in with a plate of cheese sticks.
"Here's a snack for you," said Dinah.
"Thank you," said Zagato, taking the plate from Dinah.
Dinah asked him about the magic knights' progress.
"They have revived 2 Rune-Gods so far," answered Zagato.
"I'm not surprised. I expect nothing less from the legendary magic knights," said Dinah. She covered her mouth with her hands. She didn't want Zagato to know her opinion just yet. Thankfully for her, Zagato didn't suspect anything.
"Well, those children will not reach any further. Lafarga is battling them as we speak," said Zagato.
"I see," said Dinah. For Emeraude's sake, she hoped that the magic knights would be victorious over Lafarga, and that Lafarga would regain his memories.
"Well, I will go and rest now. Enjoy your snack," said Dinah. She left the throne room.
After a brief battle, Lafarga finally regained his memories. He had no idea where he was and what he was doing there. And he wanted to know who the three girls were.
"Where am I?" asked Lafarga.
Before Hikaru could answer, he went on to ask where Princess Emeraude was.
"I must save Princess Emeraude," he said.
Hikaru was surprised to hear that.
"Save the princess? You mean that you're not one of Zagato's minions?" she asked.
Lafarga explained who he was, and about how he tried to stop Zagato from taking Princess Emeraude, but he failed. He became worried when he saw Hikaru's bleeding face.
"How did you get those wounds? Was it me?" he asked.
"You weren't responsible because you were being controlled by Zagato. Don't worry about it," said Hikaru.
"Hello over there! If he's not one of Zagato's minions, do you think he can help us get out of here?" called Umi. She and Fuu raced over to where Hikaru and Lafarga were.
Hikaru gave Lafarga back his sword. He apologized for what happened.
"I'm sorry about the flames," said Hikaru. "You didn't get burned?"
"Do not worry about me," said Lafarga. He asked the three girls who they were.
Hikaru explained to him that she and the other girls were summoned from another worlds to become magic knights. The magic knights rung a bell with Lafarga. He recalled hearing about the legend some time ago.
"So you are the ones. Only those summoned from another world can become magic knights," said Lafarga.
Umi asked him what he planned to do now.
"I will now continue my quest to search out and rescue Princess Emeraude. You girls have set me free from the nightmare of Zagato's evil magic spell. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know we will meet again," said Lafarga, leaving. Umi and Fuu called after him, but he was already gone.
"Let's go and revive the last Rune-God," said Hikaru. She thought about how proud Presea would be of her and the other girls. Hikaru, Fuu and Umi continued on their journey to the fire shrine. Hikaru thought about how they were able to become friends with some of their former enemies.
'Hmm, it would be nice if we can somehow become friends with Zagato, too,' she thought. Something told her that underneath his ruthless exterior was a very good person. She hoped that her instincts were right.