I do not own InuYasha or Magic Knight Rayearth in any way, shape or form!


Speech Key:

"The" – Oral/Normal Speech

'The'Thoughts


PLEASE READ BEFORE BEGINNING CHAPTER!

AN: This chapter was a little more difficult to write, I'll admit. Remember when I said that this story would be primarily manga-based, but references to the anime would be made? Well, this is where I had to get creative and see what I could mesh into the manga timeline without disrupting too much. No clue how well a job I did, but we'll see in the end, I suppose…

Oh, and I wanted to make this clear so there was no confusion, Presea is really Presea like in the manga. Sierra wasn't a bad character; I'm just saying that the second season of the anime was waaaaay too dark, despite some lighter moments, the overall tone was just too dark. (Grrr! Animation companies! This would be a great time to try and give over a redo of the series ya know! Like you did for Sailor Moon which is now way closer to the manga than the original anime! I like both, so I'm not again the old anime so much save for a few tidbits here and there…) Sierra will be included, but as herself.

Anyway, I hope you all like this and please remember to review, but if you've nothing polite to say then don't bother saying anything at all!


~A Match of Two Souls~

oO-Impossibilities-Oo

"H-How did she survive?" Presea asked. "This is impossible! Absolutely impossible! Completely unheard of! Never in all my years—"

"What? So you're saying she should've died?" Umi huffed.

Caldina nodded. "I'm agreein' with the lil'missy here. Shouldn't we be happy Hikaru's alive?"

"Perhaps you should calm down, Umi-san. There must be some explanation," Fuu said pleadingly. "Presea-san, could you possibly explain what you're in such shock about?"

The Pharle sighed as she turned to look at the unconscious Hikaru tucked into her bed. "Why don't we gather everyone into the throne room? I think situation should be made known, Guru Clef might want to know just what has happened…"

The two Magic Knights cast an unsure glance at each other and then at Hikaru before nodding. "Mokona-san?" Fuu went over to the fluffy white creature. "Will you stay here with Hikaru-san and watch over her?"

"Puu! Puu!" Mokona nodded, standing up as straight as he could.

~AMatchOfTwoSouls~

"Do you remember how you retrieved the Escudo that was used to create your swords?" Presea asked, not looking at the two Magic Knights.

Everyone in the throne room looked interested in the answer to the question. Escudo was an ore that was rarely used, but very few that obtained it ever divulged how they got it.

"Well, we all had to face the ones we valued the most," Umi remembered. "I had to fight my parents, but I didn't want to at first…"

"And I faced myself, though I didn't understand why at first," Fuu added. "I believe Hikaru-san said that she faced her dog, Hikari."

"That's pretty harsh," Ferio winced. "If I really went through with trying to get that stuff…GAH! I don't even want to think about who could've been there!"

"I didn't know how I was going to get through it. I thought I wouldn't get through it; I know Hikaru and Fuu felt the same," the bluenette spoke. "But then Emeraude-hime came to us and showed us how to see that what we were facing were only illusions. That those imitations of the ones we cared for would never do to us what they were doing."

Clef looked surprised. 'Emeraude-hime came to their aid? But how? I would've been able to sense her magic if she'd used it!'

"I suspected that would be the case," Presea nodded with a sigh. "There is a reason why Escudo, while being the strongest ore in Cephiro, isn't often used. The test you passed in order to gain the Escudo is just one of the reasons…the other is because once you've gained the ore, it binds you irrevocably to it."

"Binds?" Ascot asked curiously. "What does that mean, Presea?"

"Escudo is a special mineral because it's the only one able to create evolving weapons," the Pharle explained. "As you grow, not just in physical strength, but in strength of mind and heart, the weapons evolve to accommodate and mark that growth. Umi, Fuu, did you never wonder why your swords evolved at the times they did?"

"I always thought it was meant to happen," Umi shook her head. "So I didn't think too much of it."

"To be honest," Fuu put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "I expected something like that happen once I heard that Escudo was a legendary mineral. I never stopped to understand the process of how they evolved, to be honest, though it wasn't a surprise when they did."

"You expected them to evolve?" Lafarga blinked. "How could you expect them to evolve if you were new to this world?"

"I will answer that in just a moment, Lafarga-san," Fuu told the current Captain of the Guard. She turned to Clef, "Clef-san, you were surprised when we first came to Cephiro that we neither knew of magic or at least knew of our magic, correct?"

The lavender-haired man that had the appearance of a child nodded. "I found it very odd, considering you three were to be the Magic Knights."

"That would be because true magic doesn't exist in our world."

"What?" Surprisingly, it was Lantis that had let his shock be known, however quietly it might have seemed to be.

"That's right," Umi nodded. "Our world isn't one where belief is power or where magic reigns. We have people who can perform illusions, but not true magic. Things like that only exist in stories or games in our world, maybe that's why Fuu suspected something."

"Exactly," the blonde-haired Magic Knight spoke. "Cephiro and its way of life, to the people of Earth, would be considered something of a fantasy."

"Enough about that," Caldina pointed her fan at Presea. "Why were ya so surprised that Hikaru was alive?"

"When the Magic Knights received their Escudo," the Pharle answered, "they were bonded to it through the passing of the trial. When someone is bound to a weapon forged of Escudo, their very life is bound to the weapon. No other can use the weapon because of this bond, but if the weapon is destroyed then it will take the life of the wielder with it."

"But Hikaru is alive, so that can't be true, right?" Umi asked, her tone bordering on hysteria.

"No, it's true," the caramel-haired Pharle shook her head. "I've seen it happen, which is why I'm confused as to why Hikaru is alive. That doesn't mean I'm not glad she survived; I just want to know how she survived the severance of the bond."

She looked at the Magic Knights. "Your bonds with your own weapons are even stronger because you are Magic Knights, because your Rune Gods are connected to you through them. Hikaru's sword snapping would have meant instant death, and yet she is still alive. Unconscious, yes, but undoubtedly alive."

"But if that wasn't supposed to happen," Caldina mused, "Did something or someone help our lil'missy?"

"I don't know," Presea shook her head. "I was hoping…that you might have some idea, Guru Clef," she turned to looked at the small man in white.

"I—" Clef looked unsure. "I've never heard of such a thing ever happening. I know of the dangers of a weapon forged from Escudo and the bond between the receiver and the ore. But never have I ever seen something like this…"

"OH!"

Everyone looked startled at the sudden exclamation. Looking to the source, they saw a distressed Knight of Wind. "Fuu? Is something the matter?" Ferio asked.

"Hikaru-san's hand!" she spoke worriedly. "There were no scars!"

"Huh?" Now everyone looked confused, at least everyone but Umi.

"You're right," the blunette shook her head. "But how? We weren't in Cephiro at the time, so I know you didn't use any magic…"

"May I ask what is troubling you?" Lafarga asked.

"Before we came back to Cephiro, Hikaru-san had cut her hand," Fuu bit her lip. "I cleaned it, but it should have scarred. We weren't in Cephiro where I could use my magic to heal her. But, then, what happened to heal her so completely?"

A thought occurred to Knight of Water. "Could whatever helped Hikaru with those cuts have helped her stay alive after her sword was snapped?"

"It's very likely," Clef nodded. "Can you tell us just how Hikaru's sword was destroyed?"

"We don't know much," Fuu shook her head. "I remember seeing Hikaru-san and Rayearth fighting another Rune God."

"But it was one we've never seen before," Umi added. "And I couldn't sense anyone inside of it, either. The Rune God felt like it was there on its own. It was the one that destroyed Hikaru's sword…"

"No one else was there?" the former attendant of Princess Emeraude asked. "Could you feel anyone there around the both of you?"

"No one," the Knights chimed.

The lavender-haired Mage pursed his lips. "Umi, Fuu, would you come here for a moment? I'd like to check something."

The Magic Knights glanced at one another and shrugged, but they complied with the request nonetheless.

Clef raised his hand and faced his palm to the girls before him, eyes closed in concentration. A faint glow emitted from the appendage as a shimmering trail left to engulf the girls. Everyone held their breath as they watched the Mage work, but couldn't help but wonder just what he was checking for.

"It's just as I suspected," he spoke finally.

"What is it?" Lafarga asked.

"Magic," Clef spoke. "It's not any kind of magic I've felt, either. Because they've been venturing deeper into Cephiro, I'm able to get a feel for the energies of Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren."

"How could ya sense Autozam?" Caldina scratched her head. "They use machines for everything!"

"But mental energy is a focus for many of Autozam's mechanics," Lantis said, spooking everyone in the room. He'd been silent for so long that they'd forgotten he was there in the first place.

"Anyway," Clef coughed, trying to bring the conversation back to where it was before the interruption. "It seems that there is a foreign magic intertwined with your own, Umi, Fuu. I would wager that Hikaru has the same."

"But if it's connected with our magic, shouldn't we able to feel it?" Umi asked.

"Not exactly. When I say 'intertwined', I mean it very loosely. I could see your magic flowing strong and true; this new magic is only there as a…support of sorts. I don't know how to explain because I've never seen such magic before. But I can tell you that it isn't intent on causing harm."

"But, then, where did the magic come from?" Fuu wondered.

"I don't know," Clef shook his head. "As I said, I've never felt a magic like this before. So…pure and light. Strong, yet gentle. Kind, but protective. If anything, this is only going to help you three, it will never hinder you."

"Then can we assume that this magic is how Hikaru survived?" Ferio clarified.

The Mage nodded. "As we've stated before, Hikaru should never have survived that ordeal, Magic Knight or not, strong willed or not. Something must have saved her and I believe it was this strange magic that did so."

Ascot, young as he might have been in years, saw something in the older Mage's face. "You knew, did you? About this magic? Even before you checked Umi and Fuu."

At this, the entire room focused on the lavender-haired man. "I can't say I didn't know about it," he sighed. "I really could only tell that there was something strange present, something not of Cephiro. But because of the situation at hand with the other three worlds, I didn't have time to look into it. Eventually, I suppose I just forgot about it for the most part."

"Clef-san?" Fuu spoke up. "Do you know of any other Rune Gods besides the three that Hikaru-san, Umi-san, and I have?"

"No," the Mage said slowly. "The only three true Rune Gods in existence are the three you have been chosen by."

"But then," Umi caught onto Fuu's line of thinking, "What was the Rune God Hikaru was fighting?"

"I don't know. There has been something ominous lurking in the air since word of Emeraude-hime's death spread. It's only grown stronger as Cephiro continues to crumble…"

'Could we have more to deal with than just the invading worlds?' Fuu and Umi looked at one another worriedly.


Adieu,

TsukiyoTenshi