Chapter thirty-five… Belong
This girl… this human girl.
From the minute she arrived in Cephiro, I could feel how her sadness weighed her down, and I knew she was the one I'd been trying to find. My kindred spirit.
The one who had the potential to become my Magic Knight of Darkness.
The one who would don me.
She fascinated me. I watched her every move, listened to every word… and soon I was captivated. I could not get away.
In Eterna, after she'd passed the trial but was about to be driven mad… I had already decided not to intervene, because there was a chance—a slight chance, but a chance nonetheless—that she would become my Knight then and there.
If that had happened, I would probably have won this war by now.
But I just could not watch her in such anguish. Such sheer terror and pain.
I intervened anyway, and she in turn became captivated by me.
I intervened at the Temple of Windom for the very same reason, and when she left the others in her group to come with me…
…when she finally, finally became my Magic Knight…
…was that when I began to love her?
Mako stood exactly where Ciela had positioned him—facing Keilin, directly in front of her, perhaps five feet from where she was bound to the wall.
He heard the soft swish of the Pillar's robes as she stepped into position behind him, forming a straight line.
"You are going," she murmured quietly, "to be sent into the depths of Keilin's heart. You are going into her soul. And that is where she will be."
Mako remained perfectly still, eyes locked on Keilin's face.
She was still in there somewhere…
Ciela continued. "Your duty is to rescue her from whatever is holding her… and to bring her back. She wants to come back."
She was still in there, still alive, reaching out… hoping for someone to come for her.
"But, Water Knight… if you cannot defeat whatever is waiting for you… pull out."
Absolutely not.
"It will consume your soul as well… and Cephiro will be in even worse danger."
Fat chance.
He was going to save her, and the three of them would save this world. Together. They'd all make it, they'd all pull through, they'd all fulfill their promise.
"Mako," said Li quietly.
He turned his head. She and Hawk stood side-by-side to his right, but she stepped in front of the mechanic and came just a little closer.
"I wanted to tell you once… but I was too afraid… maybe upset… oh, I don't know, but it's just that… well, just like last time… if you need anything, I'll be there." She gave a small smile as her eyes filled. "And don't do anything stupid."
Without realizing he was doing so, Mako lifted his right arm and reached for her.
Behind him, Ciela gave a cry in a language he did not know, and the feel of magic swelled around him, freezing him in place.
Keilin sucked in a sharp breath and cried out in her sleep as a bright line of light emerged from her chest and extended towards Ciela, going straight through Mako's body.
The Knight of Water felt a thousand different things all in one moment, and then all he knew was blackness.
Li recoiled. What was this?
Mako had gone rigid, like a statue, but his head had lolled to the right and his eyes had fallen out of focus.
Ciela, on the other hand, had her head bowed and her eyes closed. Her mouth moved silently, but whether she was chanting a spell or praying out of habit was unclear.
Li's eyes trailed up and down the beam of light that was boring straight through Mako's chest. It was wide, perhaps four inches in diameter, and the brightest, purest white she had ever seen.
The light, whatever it was, was very pretty, but it made her uneasy.
She took a few steps forward, and Hawk Vision clamped a hand on her shoulder. "Don't," he said simply.
Li glared at him over her shoulder. "I don't like this," she said sharply. "I just want to make sure he's alright."
"Ciela knows what she's doing," the System Master said with quiet confidence. "You gotta trust her." Then, after a beat, "And you gotta trust Mako, too. He's not the kind of person who'll go down without a fight."
"Go down without a fight?" Li repeated incredulously. "You think he's in trouble or something?"
Hawk shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that he'll do his best… whether you're there or not."
Li didn't know whether or not to be offended by this, so she pressed her lips together tightly and turned back to face Mako.
Go down without a fight…?
Where was he right now?
Mako opened his eyes.
Nothing. Darkness. A probable black hole limbo void.
This is what a soul looks like? he thought doubtfully.
As if on cue, a very small gasp sounded from behind him.
Mako tried to spin around, but his body did not obey him.
In this lightless place, he half expected to see nothing as he looked down at himself—but to his considerable surprise, he had as clear a view of his body as he'd had in the palace just a minute ago.
He also realized that he was floating. In nothing.
This is just too weird, he thought.
The little intake of breath sounded again, and this time Mako focused on simply willing himself to turn around.
His body responded to that will, and he found himself slowly turning until the source of the sound was in his field of vision.
It was Keilin, as he had expected—but it was not the Keilin he'd thought he would find here.
It was Keilin… stripped of all masks, veils, and disguises. It was she, herself, and no other.
Unlike her outer self, she was not dressed in black, nor was she wearing the armor, boots, or glove she had worn as a Magic Knight… only her plain green school uniform, unaltered in any way. She too was suspended in nothing, floating limply in the darkness. Her arms and legs dangled downwards, and her head was tipped back; she was asleep, just as she was back in the palace.
How long had it been…?
How long had her soul been chained like this?
Mako felt his heart grow heavy as he watched her. How was he supposed to do anything for her? What could he do for her?
He willed himself closer. "Keilin?"
No response.
"Keilin, it's me… it's Mako. Can you hear me?"
Nothing.
Mako stretched out his arm, and his hand cupped the side of her face. "Keilin…"
And at that very moment, something hit him hard across his own face. He fell back, clutching at it for a moment, then looked around wildly. "What in the…"
But he was alone, save for the sleeping girl in front of him.
Rubbing at his right cheek, which had taken the brunt of the unexpected blow, Mako did one last turn, still seeing no one else. What on earth was that?
He willed himself back towards Keilin and tentatively touched her face again.
Nothing happened for a brief moment, and then screaming filled his ears, bloodchilling screams of desperation and fear, so horrible that he thought he would rather be hit again than continue to listen. He drew his hand away from Keilin, and immediately the cries died.
Something else came to him then, a brief flash of a memory… Mokona brushing the side of Keilin's face, and the girl instinctively pulling away in fear…
She grew up with this, Mako realized. The blows, the screaming… oh, heavens, she grew up with all of this.
With Hawk Vision's hand still gripping her shoulder, Li stood still, watching Mako's face apprehensively.
She hated this. She absolutely hated wondering about what was going on. She hated being worried sick.
Hawk seemed to sense her agitation. "You've gotta trust them," he repeated. "Ciela and Mako both. And," he added, "Keilin, too. You gotta trust that she'll do what she can to come back."
Immediately, Mako give a muffled yell, and his head thrashed for just a second.
Li gasped, one hand coming up to her mouth. "What was that?" she whispered. "It's like…"
"It's like he got hit," Hawk finished. "Yeah, I think he was. Look at the side of his face. It's turning red."
Li struggled to go forward, but Hawk said it again, firmly this time: "Trust them, Li."
Slowly, shakily, the Fire Knight nodded. "Yeah… okay."
Hawk's hand lifted from her shoulder, and she fell to her knees, as if unable to support herself.
Please, she prayed silently, let them be alright. Please.
"Keilin," Mako tried again. "Come on, listen to me. I'm here, I'm right here… but I don't know where you are."
His hand reached for her face once more, and the moment he touched her skin, a voice resounded inside his head, furiously outpouring rage and pain, so loud, so harsh that he almost withdrew his hand, but he forced himself to keep it where it was, gritted his teeth and yelled over it all: "Keilin! Where are you?"
"I am here, Water Knight."
There was a metal shing from behind him. He snatched his hand away from Keilin's face and will-turned around, the voice screaming in his mind fading the instant he did so.
There. Standing maybe ten feet away. The Magic Knight of Darkness, sword drawn, regarding him with an expression not unlike the one she'd worn in the Forest of Silence—pensive, yet challenging.
She spoke again, the faintest hint of a smile tugging briefly at one corner of her mouth: "I'm right here."
Mako glanced over his shoulder. The real Keilin was there, still as before.
He looked back at the Knight of Darkness. "You aren't Keilin."
"I am now," she replied. "She gave herself to me."
"That doesn't make you her," Mako said. "So you must be…"
The other gave a mock bow. "Keilin's own darkness manifest."
Mako indicated Keilin's sleeping form with a jerk of his head. "Why won't she wake?"
"The answer is nothing new," Darkness said casually. "Fear. Guilt. Anger. By now, she cannot let it go, thus giving me free reign of her very self." That tiny smirk pulled at her mouth again, and she added, "Her body, spirit, and soul are all mine, Water Knight."
"Hate to break it to you," Mako shot back, "but you can't own someone like that." He pulled an escudo knife into his hand, gripped the handle tightly, felt its reassuring weight. "Keilin is the only one who can be Keilin, period."
The Knight in front of him lost the delicate smirk playing with her mouth, and anger flashed in her eyes. "You cannot defeat me, Mako Keines."
"I am going to take Keilin back with me," Mako shot back, "and I won't let you stop me."
Darkness flew at him with blinding speed, and Mako hardly had time to recoil before he felt cold steel bite his arm. He fell back, clutching at it, and looked up to see his own blood lining the blade the Knight held.
Drip.
Li's head snapped up at the sound. Did she just hear…?
"What was that?" she asked aloud.
"What was what?" Hawk said. "I didn't hear—"
"Oh my word," Li breathed as her eyes fell on the tiny puddle of blood on the floor, and her gaze traveled upward to the open gash on Mako's right arm that hadn't been there a second ago.
Hawk followed her gaze and sucked in a breath. "It's begun," he said softly.
The Knight of Darkness smiled again. "Mako Keines… you really have no idea what you have gotten yourself into." She spread her arms and did a quick turn, indicating the void all around them. "All of this… it is all myself, all Keilin, all darkness. Here, in her empty soul, I am all-powerful. I could kill you before you draw your next breath."
Mako half expected her to do so as he straightened up again, still tightly holding his arm. But he was granted a next breath, and even one after that, before Darkness continued.
"Why are you here, Mako Keines?"
"Why do you think I'm here?" Mako shot at her, but the Knight ignored this. She circled behind Keilin and draped her arms around the sleeping girl's shoulders, bringing her face to rest besides Keilin's.
"This girl is nothing to you," she went on. "Just weeks ago, a stranger. You barely knew her even when she left you. So why are you here? Why do you put yourself at risk so willingly? Why do you put Cephiro's future on the line? For her?" She stroked Keilin's face lightly, and the girl winced in her sleep.
"Let her go," Mako demanded.
The Knight smiled at him, that infuriating smile again. "You are making the wrong assumption, Water Knight. Tell her to let me go, if that is what you wish."
Mako's grip on the dirk's handle tightened in anger.
"Again I ask you," the Knight of Darkness said quietly, "why are you here?"
"The same reason I was called to Cephiro in the first place," Mako retorted. "To purge this world of darkness. Saving Keilin is the first step in saving the world."
"Pretty words, Mako Keines." The Knight trailed one finger from Keilin's temple to her lips. "But is that all they are?"
As if on cue, Keilin's eyes snapped open, and the girl straightened herself up with a gasp that sounded as if she had just surfaced in the ocean.
"Keilin!" Mako cried, starting forward—and Darkness was suddenly there, pressing her blade against his throat.
"Stay where you are," she said simply.
Keilin stood dazedly before them as if in a trance, one hand on her chest, breathing heavily, trying to choke back sobs and failing. She moaned, then sank to her knees, crying freely.
Mako opened his mouth to yell her name again, but another voice beat him to it: "Keilin."
She lifted her head as Cail appeared, walking steadily towards her with his arm outstretched.
"Keilin, no!" Mako blurted. "Over here, it's me, it's Mako—"
Giving no indication that she had heard him, Keilin took Cail's hand and allowed herself to be raised to her feet.
He embraced her tightly, and she cried into his shoulder. "Cail… what is happening to me?"
"You are feeling the tensions of this world," Cail answered gently. "The struggles between Darkness and Light. Their continued war is weighing heavily on you."
Keilin's sobs racked her body. "All I wanted…" She couldn't continue past this, and Cail continued to hold her until she managed, "All I wanted was to belong somewhere!"
"Keilin—" Mako began, but the Knight of Darkness pressed her sword just a little harder against his throat, and he fell silent for fear of the blade cutting into his windpipe.
"You do belong," Cail murmured. "You belong with me."
No, Mako thought, horrified, no, Keilin, no—
"Keilin!" he yelled aloud, and the movement caused skin to break along the blade.
"Keilin!"
Just the one word, the name alone. Mako said nothing else.
Li watched in horror as a thin line of blood appeared on his throat. "Mako… oh, please, no, Mako!"
She started forward, and exactly as before, Hawk grabbed hold of her shoulder. "Li—" he began, but the Fire Knight drew her whip from her glove and wheeled around, forcing the System Master to let go of her.
"I don't know what exactly is going on in there," she snapped, "but I know that he's in trouble, that they're both in trouble, and so help me I am not about to stand by and let my friends be hurt!"
"Ciela said it was a job for only one of you," Hawk countered. "You just have to—"
"Absolutely not," Li shot at him. "I'm going."
Daring the System Master to try and stop her with a sharp glare, she backed away, then turned and sidestepped into the beam of light connecting Keilin and Ciela through Mako.