Disclaimer: MKR and its great character belong to CLAMP.
Notes: we're very close to the end....thank you for having read the story 'till this point, as usual I'll thank all of you, one by one, in the final chapter. Anyway, hope you'll like this one.
Umi make sign to Ascot to help the Master Mage, so she stood up and walked to Ferio. The boy was lying still on the floor, his eyes shut, his fists tightly clenched.
Slowly she approached him and crouched beside him
"Ferio?" she asked in a whisper, the boy swallowed and, sighing deeply, opened an eye
"I'll kill him..." the King whispered, the bluette placed a hand on his shoulder
"no, I'll do it" the boy smiled gratefully to her.
Lantis approached them and picked up Ferio
"c'mon, your highness, you need some cures..."
"ouch! Be careful there!"
"whatever..."
They walked inside the palace, on the other hand, the bluette remained there, looking up at the sky.
A raindrop fell on her face, another one, and the third.
She bitterly thought that every time they were there, something terrible happened.
"Umi" Clef's voice called her, so she sighed and went in the bibliotheca
"yes?" she asked sitting on the edge on his desk, where Ascot had laid him
"you must accept the idea of attacking them. Fighting against them" the bluette stayed silent, the Madoshi slowly moved his hand, entwining his fingers with hers
"I can't do it" she whispered
"Umi..."
"it's too much, Clef. I'm not sure I can handle all this anymore...I'm tired"
Hardly, the Master Mage sat up and gently wrapped his arms around her, the girl rested her head against his chest, his ribs ached
"ouch" he muttered, she immediately rose it
"forgive me..." then she turned to Ascot who was bending Ferio and moved to call him, but the Madoshi stopped her
"I can do it myself" he said, summoning some vials, the bluette smiled and helped him
"I'm afraid it will take more than two simple potions, Master Mage" she said, he looked confused at her, the girl went to the summoner and took some bends, then came back to him
"c'mon, take your shirt off"
"excuse me?!" he was blushing as a mad, she laughed
"your ribs are cracked, you need a bandage"
"my potions will perfectly..."
"will you ever follow my advices for once?!" exasperated, she asked, Clef sighed and took his white shirt off
"I'm all yours to torture" he muttered, the girl smiled triumphantly and kissed his cheek.
Umi noted that her hands were trembling, and she admitted to herself –with great disappoint- that the whole situation was making her nervous.
Clef's skin was smooth and cold to the touch, and she noticed that in his new, mature form, the muscles on his abdomen were well taught, though he didn't seem particular muscular. Maybe because he always had on that damn large outfit, in the end she had always preferred his common clothes than....
Her decency made her blush: what the hell was she thinking?!
Clef chuckled at her trembling touch and flashing cheeks
"what's so funny?!" she pointed out, angry, he laughed and leaned in to claim her lips with his own, Umi felt chills running down her spin.
After all the cures needed, Ascot accompanied the Water Knight to her room
"I'm sorry for what happened" he whispered, looking down, Umi just sighed
"I'll break down if we don't stop it soon..."
"so you are ready to..."
"yes. I'm since a while and now that he took them away from me...I feel even more mad" she interrupted him, the summoner slowly nodded
"well, I guess you're quite tired, I'll let you sleep"
"yes, thank you" he smiled
"nothing..." the Balu kissed her cheek
"rest well, Umi chan"
"when I call you, I expect you to run to me. Immediately!" furiously, Arashi yelled
"my apologies" Fuu whispered, lowering her stare and lightly bowing to him, the man waved her
"anyway, I've a commission for you" the King changed topic
"what, Arashi?" Hikaru asked, he smirked
"you'll have to bring here anyone in the castle of Cephiro" he answered
"what do you mean?"
"the King, Ferio; the soldiers, Lantis and that Lafarga guy; the smith, Presea; that beanpole summoner, Ascot; and obviously the Master Mage, Clef"
Fuu shivered. Ferio. Her head ached again a strange sensation spread across her body, deep inside her. But really she couldn't say what it was.
"as you order" the Fire Knight replied,
"perfect...cast a spell if you're able to...or just go there and take them, I don't care...just one thing"
"what?"Fuu asked
"the Madoshi. I want him perfect: no wounds, no cuts...he must be fine"
"yes" Hikaru said, Arashi smirked
"good, now go" both the girl nodded and stepped out of the room.
A loud scream forced her to open her eyes, Umi confusedly looked around her: the sun was setting.
Another scream broke the peace in the castle, so the Water Knight quickly wore her glove and run out of her room, hoping that it was nothing to worry about, but perfectly knowing that on the contrary there was some serious problem.
She got paralyzed at the sight her eyes offered to her: Hikaru was standing beside Fuu, who was with her back against the wall, the Fire Knight's sword brushing her throat
"Hikaru! Stop it, for Emeraude's sake!" the bluette shouted, going against her, the red haired girl turned and sent a fire attack to her friend, Umi was forced to jump away to avoid it
"stay away! don't get in between" she said
"Umi!" Fuu said on the contrary, looking terrified at her
"Fuu, is it you?" she asked, the blonde was crying
"yes...I'm sorry! I didn't want to...I suppose it was a spell, I..."
"shut up!" Hikaru shouted, pressing the blade to the Wind Knight's neck, it was cold against her skin.
"Hikaru, let her go..." Umi tried, slowly approaching her
"or what?" despitefully, she asked
"I..." the bluette bite her lower lip
"yes?"
"you're too tender hearted, Umi chan...that's why we can win" no, she couldn't let them defeat her. Not without fighting
"I'll attack you..." she hissed.
Hikaru laughed openly
"really funny..." but before she could ask anything else a huge pillar of water wrapped around her
"Mizu no Ryuu!" Umi shouted.
The Fire Knight fell on her knees, panting heavily, the Water Knight approached her, smirking
"Water beats Fire...story as old as time, you should know it"
"you!" Hikaru yelled, glaring at her, in the meantime Fuu went to Umi's side
"Hikaru, what's wrong with you?"
"you don't understand!" she yelled
"I must do it!"
"but why?" exasperated, the blond girl asked
"because I...I...because it's so!" she just exclaimed, sending an attack against them, both shut their eyes, the attack came from too close for even hoping to avoid it
"barrier!" Clef's voice saved the girls
"Guru Clef!" the Wind Knight exclaimed, the Madoshi smiled to her
"it's good to have you back..." he replied in a smile, keeping his barrier on
"but how did it happened?" Umi asked, confused
"Ferio" he simply answered
"what do you mean?"
"she's linked to him...Cephiro is a magical kingdom, feelings here are everything"
"true...I had to attack him...I couldn't, I got paralyzed...it was impossible to me.."
"Akai Inazuma!" Hikaru's attack crashed again the barrier again, she fell on her knees
"she's getting tired, that's good" Clef considered
"no, she's loosing energy! It's dangerous Clef!" the bluette exclaimed
"we have no choice, Umi" he replied, looking severely at the Fire Knight.
After other two attacks, she fell on the floor and her eyes slipped closed. Silence spread in the corridor of the castle.
Cautiously, the Supreme Yil approached her, lightly poking her side. As his hand toughed Hikaru's shoulder, a flashing green light came out of her, forcing the Madoshi to cover his eyes with an arm
"seems like we meet again, eh?" Arashi's voice broke the silence. Instinctively, the Master Mage put himself between his enemy and Hikaru's fainted body
"leave them" he said
"I'm afraid I can't..." then he waved his hand and the Fire Knight disappeared; Umi shouted and run against him
"what did you do to her?!" she asked, the King didn't reply, just pushed her away with a large gesture of his arm that generated a sort of blast of wind that made her fall on the floor
"Umi!" the Madoshi exclaimed, running to her
"she's in Iris now...earlier we did almost the same thing with the others..." Fuu explained
"the others?!" Clef asked, helping the Water Knight up
"yes, the castle is empty..."
"not yet..." Arashi considered smirking, then he casted a spell on the Wind Knight who screamed aloud and disappeared
"Fuu!" Umi yelled, Clef tightened the hold on his staff
"that's enough" he hissed, trying to send a blast of magic against his enemy
"Protection!" Arashi exclaimed as a green dome surrounded him, drifting away the Master Mage's spells that retorded against his own creator. The Irisan smiled and snapped his fingers
"chains" he casted and immediately the Madoshi was unable to move, the Water Knight bited her lips: how was it possible? The most powerful sorcerer in the whole Cephiro trapped by that man...Arashi laughed
"when one is more focused on defending others instead of thinking to himself, everything becomes easiest, and I can beat even the Madoshi of Cephiro..." he commented, she glared at him
"get out of my mind, you asshole!" he laughed
"gladly, and I'm even going away from this castle..."
"wise decision" she spitefully commented, he smirked
"but I'll take the mage to keep me company, hope you won't mind it..."
"leave him alone! You've already..."
"took the others? True, that's why I want him as well...I want to complete my...collection, if you like the definition"
"don't dare!" she shouted running against him, he laughed clearly amused
"see you later, Umi chan" he said and, waving his hand, disappeared together with everyone.
"damn it" she whispered resting her forehead against the smooth, cold wall
"damn it!" she repeated shouting and slamming her fist against it.
Now she was alone. Really alone. No one was by her side: Hikaru was possessed, Fuu has been took away from her, just like Clef. Lantis and Ferio were knocked out and prisoners on Iris together with Lafarga, Ascot had made the same end, and, upon hearing Arashi words, even Presea and Rai were out of her reach.
She was going to cry when a voice called her
"Umi, hun, is it you?" her eyes flickered open as she stared at the pink haired girl before her
"Caldina!" she yelled embracing her tight and burying her face in the hollow of her neck, the Chizetian girl hugged her back
"holy Pillar, you can't even imagine how afraid I was earlier..." she said
"what happened?"
"I was in the dungeons together with Presea, the guys were training, you know, and then Hikaru and Fuu burst in"
"what did they do?"
"well, first they attacked Lafarga, Presea and I tried to help him, but Hikaru almost knocked me out with one of her spells, then Fuu sent her typhoon against Lafarga and, saying something strange in a language I suppose was Irisan, made him disappear while Hikaru made the same thing to Presea...I tried to help her but really there was nothing I could do..." the bluette swallowed
"it's not over, darling, then both went against Lantis, you know he's a very capable fighter, but really he didn't feel like facing Hikaru and in a few he was knocked out too"
"Hikaru hurt him?!"
"yeah, and she went even pretty hard on him! Anyway, Rai was furious for what they did to Presea and attacked Fuu, Ferio obviously ordered him to stop it and, while they argued, Hikaru got rid of Rai. Then she told Fuu to be fast and get rid of Ferio, she was going to do it, but Ferio talked to her...he was very sweet, just like she was his Fuu, not one of Arashi's draughtsman"
"and did it...?"
"yeah, eventually it worked. Fuu run to him and told him she was terribly sorry, that she didn't mean to hurt him...unfortunately Hikaru was still possessed and she slammed Fuu against a wall shouting she was an idiot, that she was weak...Fuu's attempts to make her reason were useless, it ended up with Hikaru making Ferio disappear"
"for Emeraude's sake..." that was the only thing Umi was able to whisper, Caldina noticed the bluette was trembling so she sighed and made her sit on the floor
"then she was mad even at me, and she tried to take me but Fuu helped me and we run away, then I casted a spell to teleport us away but something went wrong and it didn't effected Fuu so she stayed here...I just heard Hikaru saying that I wasn't important after all...I think that Arashi had listed them the ones he wanted on Iris, and I suppose he isn't aware of my magic abilities" someone coughed making them turn
"Water Knight..." Helios' voice said, Umi gazed up at him
"what are you doing here?"
"seems like Arashi didn't asked for me...or my mates" he explained sitting next to the bluette
"we must do something" she declared
"what?" Caldina asked
"I don't know, but we need to go there and take the others back...and eventually I'd rather get rid of that monster"
"Water Knight, think we should wait..."
"no, we'll do it sooner than what you think...summon your men"
"I won't take orders from you" he snapped, she looked at him with a spiteful face
"you will"
"I don't take orders from..."
"I proved you I was able to handle you and your men, and I fought for this Kingdom more than once. I'm used to these fights, so you'll do what I order"
"I..."
"summon your men and get ready, we're going on Iris" the man looked at her, then sighed clearly defeated
"fine, Water Knight" she smirked
"call me Umi"
"and how will we get to Iris, Umi?" he asked, the bluette smiled looking at Caldina, the Chizetian smiled back
"magic...what a wonderful thing!" she exclaimed.
She was coming, what a fantastic news. He turned to Clef who was by his side, still unable to move
"seems like we're going to have a nice visit" the Mage glared at him
"you won't rise a single finger on her" Arashi laughed
"of course I won't, I'll leave this pleasure to someone who really deserves it".
The Supreme Yil paled, Arashi couldn't do this.
"c'mon, Madoshi, you was so close to do it...well, of course I'll finish her, but the honour to make her unconscious will be all yours"
"I won't do it, Arashi, never!"
"may I remind you that you are under my spell and you obey to everything I order you to do?"
"you can't do this!"
"oh I can Clef...of course I can...still, there's a way to avoid all this"
"whatever Arashi, but stop it!" the Irisan smiled
"Cephiro"
The Master Mage swallowed. Now he understood why the Madoshi was forbidden to love. Nothing had to come before Cephiro, and if he'd ever gave his love to something –or someone, to put it better- else, in moments like this a choice would have been hard.
"so, Clef, what do you chose? Your precious Umi, or your country?"
He stayed silent, he just couldn't chose.
"I...that's not me who must decide, we have a King now" slowly he said, even if he perfectly know that Ferio would never make a choice between Cephiro and its Water Knight. As if reading his thoughts, the Irisan laughed
"Ferio is the most inexperienced King I've ever met...everyone knows it, if you take a decision he follows you. So...what's your choice, Master Mage?" .
Clef stayed silent again, they couldn't ask him this. He'd give everything to see Umi safe but what good could bring them a King like Arashi? Even if he'd accepted his offer, surely Umi wouldn't be safe. It was a lost battle. Arashi smirked
"I'll take it as if you have just preferred your country to the Water Knight"
"never!"
"too late, Master Mage. I'm curious to see how our dear Umi will take it"
Clef clenched his fists and, focusing on his magic, tried to break the spell that was keeping him motionless, eventually he did it and a flashing light surrounded him, Arashi looked surprised at the scene
"why that face? I'm the Madoshi, you should know what my powers are able to do" the Supreme Yil spitefully commented, the Irisan glared at him
"you won't rise a finger on me"
"do you really think so?" Clef asked, picking up his wand and pointing it towards the King's throat
"yes" he answered snapping his fingers.
The Madoshi's head started spinning, his throat dried, strange chills run down his spin
"ok, Clef, now you'll stay good and quite here, then when Umi comes, you'll think of her" Arashi ordered
"I...no...I can't..." he hardly breathed, the Irisan snapped his fingers again and suddenlt the Supreme Yil's eyes became two blank pool of blue
"get rid of her" he ordered and, despite what his heart wanted, those words came out from his lips
"gladly"
"perfect, now leave me" Arashi ordered, and Clef obeyed.
The Irisan King smiled satisfied: Umi would have a break down knowing that the Master Mage was by his side and he'd get Cephiro in a blink.
How powerless could become the best sorcerer of that dimension, once his weak spot was found!
Congratulating mentally to himself, the Irisan King sat on his throne and looked at the blue haired girl his magic was making him see.
Umi rose her magic glove and immediately her blue armour wrapped around her slender frame, then she looked at Helios and his men, all of them were looking at her curiously and a bit sceptically.
"well, you know Iris better than me, so I assume there's nothing I can say to you" the girl mused, Helios nodded and looked at his soldiers
"he took Rai, and he's making our planet a hell, so we g there, we set the others free and she'll get rid of him"
"Helios, he surely has other men with him"
"we'll fight, we're soldier in the end" he answered, the army nodded, Umi smirked to them and looked at Caldina who was in a corner, leaning against a wall. Then walked to her
"are you ready?"
"yes, but what about you?" the Chizetian asked
"ready. And furious. He mustn't take them, he signed his end" Caldina smirked and hugged her
"let's give him a lesson"
Umi turned and looked at the Irisan army
"are you ready?" she asked
"yes, Umi" Helios answered, so the bluette made a sign to the Chizetian girl, who closed her eyes and started whispering some strange words, accompanied by slow movements of her arms. In a few a pink and grey twinkle light filled the room and Caldina opened her eyes
"Iris" she said.
