Chapter 20

The proof of the pillar was still changing its shape. It had begun to on the day Hikaru and Eagle entered the crown room. Both of them had yet to know which one of them was destined to be the next pillar. It depended on how strong their wills would be during certain situations.

Lantis had never told Mage Clef what he thought of the pillar system before, and decided that it was time to let his views be known, now that there were two possible candidates who had the qualifications of the pillar. "I do not like the thought of Cephiro's fate depending solely on the pillar."

"Agreed." It was so burdensome that Princess Emeraude had no room for anything else in her heart. Under her reign, Cephiro was peaceful. There were no natural disasters and very little, if any, violence. But even though Princess Emeraude had forgotten her duties and her heart was filled with sadness, she still proved how selfless she was when she denied her freedom at the people's expense and wished for her own destruction instead.

Clef asked the questions he wanted the answers to for quite sometime. "Tell me, Lantis...why did you leave Cephiro? And why did you return at this time?"

"I had no desire to witness the potential tragedy that would unfold as a result of Zagato's love and the law against it. I have returned to eliminate the pillar system once and for all." Although Princess Emeraude and Zagato had been given a second chance to live, and Emeraude's heart was free this time around, he did not want the next pillar to go through the same thing she did. He did not believe that tragedy should ever be allowed to repeat itself.

Mage Clef thought that was an acceptable solution. "I am sure that you have noticed that Hikaru has had a difficult time forgiving herself for what happened as well."

Lantis nodded. It pained him that she was so hard on herself, especially after she was forgiven. This gave him another reason to destroy the pillar system.

"I do not want to see tear stained faces of the magic knights ever again," said Mage Clef.

Meanwhile, Umi had returned from her duel with the princesses of Chizeta. She was proud of herself for her victory, not to mention the fact that she was able to negotiate with the princesses. That was icing on the cake for her, even if she had to learn to get along with the younger sister.

"Look, Fuu, Umi has returned," said Ferio.

Fuu was very glad to see Umi. She was worried about her the whole time she was fighting the duel. "Hello Miss Umi. How are you feeling? You weren't injured at all, were you?"

"Not a scratch on me," said Umi. She introduced Ferio and Fuu to the princesses of Chizeta.

"Pleased to meet you," said Tatra warmly. She introduced herself. But Tarta was not as friendly.

"I'm Tarta." She turned her back to Tatra.

Umi looked slightly embarrassed."Don't mind her. She means nothing by it," she told Fuu.

"She's a very shy person," added Tatra.

"I see," said Fuu.

Tatra didn't think Tarta was doing a good job making a good first impression at all. In order to get her to look happier, she stretched her cheeks as widely as she could.

"Stop! You're hurting me!" whined Tarta. She found her sister's goofy antics frustrating.

"I'm sorry," said Tatra, letting go of her sister's cheeks. "I'm only looking out for your well being."

Just then, a red dragon shaped battleship appeared outside.

"It's Fahren's battleship," said Fuu.

A little girl's voice announced that she came in peace. Fuu recognized the voice. It was Aska of Fahren. Aska and Sang Yung came out of the battleship and entered the castle. At first, Lady Aska was not sure how to say what she wanted to say. Sang Yung gave her a look that said, 'Just say it.'

Aska nodded. "I just came to say that Fahren would stop its invasion, because I love my people too much to think only of Cephiro. "

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed the sandy haired magic knight. She was hoping that the princess would see what she had been trying to tell her.

"I also wanted to keep the promise that we made," continued Aska.

"Promise?" repeated Fuu, looking confused for a moment. Then she remembered.

"Yeah. You said that if we met under different circumstances, we would have tea," Aska reminded her.

"That's right. I thought you would have forgotten about that."

"Of course I didn't," said the princess, looking a bit hurt. She worried that Fuu would see her as a bother. "I'm sorry, but am I bothering you?"

"Not at all," said Fuu kindly. She felt bad for acting like she forgot.

"Would it be all right if I called you Fuu?"

"Of course."

"Yay!" shouted Aska, throwing her arms around Fuu.

Hikaru was thinking about the turn of events that occurred in the crown room. She was surprised that it turned out that she was one of the possible pillar candidates. And she was especially surprised that 2 people had the hearts of a pillar. Suddenly, her expression into a sinister one. A hand reached out of the mirror and grabbed her. It was Nova again. She gasped in horror.

"If it is you who is the pillar, what will you do, Hikaru?" asked Nova mockingly.

In all actuality, that was a good question. Hikaru really didn't want to abandon her love for Lantis. She hoped there would be a way around that, even if she was the pillar.

"I HATE Lantis! All he wants to do is stop me from playing with you," said Nova impetuously. She called on two monsters to "play" with Hikaru. Two incredibly hideous monsters appeared. Nova disappeared from the room, and went looking for Lantis.

Nova had failed to kill Lantis the first time she tried. Hikaru had a very bad feeling that she was going to correct that. But with the monsters blocking her way, it looked like she wasn't going anywhere for awhile. 'Oh no! I must warn Zagato about this. I hope that after I'm done fighting these monsters, I won't be too late.' She got off her bed and prepared to fight Nova's creatures, something that could take forever.