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: Okay, I know it's been a bit annoying not seeing Kagome appear just yet, but it really wasn't time for her to come in. Besides, I had to set a foreground before bringing Kagome in, hence all the chapters and the like with the girls in Cephiro. As for Kagome getting with Lantis, that's not coming until a tiny bit later, much to my annoyance, but what's done is done I suppose.

Anyway, this chapter's a bit longer than I thought it would've turned out to be, but I think it's because of how this was arranged and what was included. Kudos to whoever figures out the song I used! ;3

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-Loving Warmth-Oo

Hikaru awoke to find herself lying atop a rough, rocky surface. Craters and boulders, rock formations and spikes were strewn about in every direction possible. The sky was clouded in a dark-grey with flashes of red and black running through it.

"Where am I?" she asked herself. A soft murmur echoed around the barren space, catching the fiery-haired teen's attention. "Who is it?" The noise became louder, but the words were even more muddled than before. "Hello?"

"Hello, my little Magic Knight," the woman from before spoke, drowning out the other voice as a figure stepped out, seemingly from the sky itself. "You are well rested, I trust?"

"Wh-Who are you?" Hikaru stuttered out as she slid back, unable to get up. She took in the form of the woman who'd always been cloaked in darkness before this. "What do you want from me?"

The tall woman before her wore a tattered black dress with bony ornaments, highlighting her ghostly complexion. A web-like cloak fell down her back and trailed behind her. Obsidian eyes filled with contempt stood out from an oval face. Ashen-blue hair was pulled tight onto her head with a bone headdress. Long spider-like fingers each tipped with equally long red talon-esque nails traced the air with a sense of false mischief.

"I am the beginning of the end and the end that is the beginning," blood-red lips spread into a cruel imitation of a smile. "As for what I want? I thought that would be rather obvious, my dear." She reached out a long arm and caught Hikaru's chin in her long talons and brought her in close.

"Your sorrow. Your fear. Your heart. I want you, little Hikaru," she whispered into the teen's ear.


-Crystal Palace-

"No!" Sierra cried out as she was thrown back by the darkness whipping about Hikaru's body.

"Sierra!" Presea ran over to her sister after setting Mokona down. "What happened? Are you alright?" The younger Pharle groaned as rested against her sister. "Sierra, what just happened?"

"It didn't work," Sierra explained with a grunt of pain. Her sister helped her into a seat within the room and looked sadly at Hikaru's form. "The darkness that has a hold of Hikaru is too strong for me to break through. She is alive and her heart still stands strong, but with each passing moment, it's weakening."

"So what does this mean for Hikaru?"

The younger Pharle looked to her sister before turning her eyes back onto the floating teen. "It's all up to Hikaru now. She'll need to find a way to get herself out of the darkness' grasp. The most we can do now is believe in her."

"Hikaru…"

Neither sister saw the jewel on Mokona's flash gold once again. Nor did they take notice of the attentive expression on his face.

~AMatchOfTwoSouls~

-The Throne Room-

Clef fell to his knees with a grunt. 'What is this wicked presence I feel? It feels so similar to what to what I've sensed within Cephiro lately.' He held onto his staff tightly, trying to get back up, but the sheer strength of the ominous presence he felt was enough to bring him back to the ground.

"Guru Clef!" the slam of the now open doors caught the Mage by surprise. He turned up bright-blue eyes to the form of his former student followed by his fairy companion.

"L-Lantis?" Clef panted out as the Cail helped him up into a seat. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I felt the dark presence within the castle," the armoured male answered. "I needed to see if I was the only one who felt it, so I came to you. Do you know what this is? Where it's coming from?"

The lavender-haired man shook his head. "I've felt a strange and terrible presence within Cephiro for a while now. It began just after Emeraude-hime's…passing." His eyes dulled at the memory. "And it has only grown stronger. I don't know who or what it could be. Only that it's dangerous, not just to us, but also those who seek to become the new Pillar."

Cobalt eyes hardened at the last word, but still Lantis said nothing. "Then what can we do? Cephiro crumbles a little more with each day that goes by. The road to the Pillar hasn't revealed itself, neither to any of us nor to the others who seek it as they venture further into our world."

(AN: Okay, I know that some people are going to get on about Lantis' eye colour, so I'm going to make it clear right here. It was only in the anime that Lantis had violet eyes just like his brother. The manga portrays him with blue eyes that aren't totally dark, but neither are they totally light. The manga also shows in some coloured illustrations, at least in the volumes I have, that despite being brothers and looking very much alike, that's all they shared since Zagato was the one with violet eyes and Lantis the blue, not counting the whole age/hair difference.)

Clef could only close his eyes in resignation, having no answer he could provide. 'I know, Lantis, I know. I've tried so hard to find the Road to the Pillar, but what more can I do besides protect the of this world? A world where the Will of one is the only support and protection it has. A world that can never be truly beautiful so long as the life of one is sacrificed for it…'


"N-No!" Hikaru shouted, mustering the strength to shove herself out of the woman's clutches. "Leave me alone!"

"Why should I?" the woman lashed out at the teen with a whip of dark energy. "You are my greatest strength and you don't even know it! Why would I give up something so delicious?"

The fiery-haired teen let out a cry of pain as she was thrown back into a boulder. 'I'm her greatest strength? I'm helping her? How?' she thought weakly. 'If I'm somehow helping her, then doesn't that mean that I'm hurting the place I promised to protect? That I'm hurting the ones I love?'

The ghastly woman cackled as she reached out a hand and speared Hikaru's prone form with bolts of dark lightning. "Won't you give in, Hikaru? Stay with me and you'll never have to feel weak again! I can give you all the power you want, as long as you stay with me!"

'I-I—' Hikaru didn't know what to do. Her body ached from the bolts directed at her. Her will to fight faded with each reminder that she was somehow helping this evil woman. 'What do I do?' she thought back to the one person who cared for her and understood her despite all the secrets Hikaru held. 'Neechan…'

The bracelet on her wrist let out a burst of blinding periwinkle light.


-Crystal Palace-

Presea and Sierra gasped when they felt a pulse of magic leave Hikaru's form. It was strange, how warm and comforting it was, this new magic. "What's going on?" the younger Pharle whispered, looking at Hikaru's form.

The teen's body was engulfed in a periwinkle glow that seemed to be holding the darkness at bay. The whipping dark aura that had been all but a maelstrom around the fiery-haired girl had been repelled into submission. The warm light around Hikaru's form continuously held the darkness at bay as it tried to get back to the scarlet-haired girl.

"Puu…" Mokona cooed softly.

"I've never seen anyth—Do you hear that?" Presea asked suddenly.

"Hear what?" Sierra tilted her head, trying to hear whatever her sister was hearing. At first there was nothing, but then a bell-like voice rang out, growing louder with each passing second.

Haru ni saku hana
Natsu hirogaru sora yo

"Puu!" Mokona cooed excitedly seeing the glow around Hikaru's wrist.

Kokoro no naka ni
Kizamarete kirameku

"It's a miracle," Sierra whispered as she spotted the darkness slowly being purified bit by bit.

~AMatchOfTwoSouls~

-Gardens-

Asa ni furu ame
Mado o tozasu hi ni mo

Ascot looked up from the basket where he'd been piling fruit into. It wasn't something he'd wished to be doing right now, but he felt restless. And as much as he wanted to go and help Umi, he didn't want another sleeping spell being put on him by Caldina. 'I'll just have to wait for the right moment…'

"I wonder who's singing," the Beast Summoner mused to his creature friends. They, too, had been captivated by the voice and had stopped to listen. "What the—" it was then that they all felt a soothing pulse run through them. "Was that…magic?" Ascot whispered. 'I've never felt magic like that before…'

Mune ni afureru hikari wa
Kumo no ue

"Well, ain't that just the prettiest voice ya ever heard?" Caldina smiled as she listened. She'd come to keep an eye on the Mage Apprentice after he'd awoken from his small nap.

"I haven't heard such a voice since…" Lafarga's voice trailed off as he remembered the former Pillar. "Who do you think it is?"

~AMatchOfTwoSouls~

-The Throne Room-

Yorokobi kanshimi
Subete idaite aruite iru

"Do you hear that?" Lantis asked, as he heard the voice echoing through the halls.

Clef only nodded, allowing a small smile to grace his face. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Watashi ni te o
Kimi no te o
Tsuyoku tsunagu mono

Only when they felt the rush of magic that followed did they come to attention. "What was—" the only Cail of Cephiro placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, preparing to attack if need be. It didn't matter if the magic he'd felt wasn't malicious; it was unknown to him and so was deemed a threat.

"Stand down, Lantis," Clef waved at the armoured male. "Whatever this magic is, it won't harm anyone. This is the same magic I felt protecting Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu."

"But why now?" cobalt eyes turned onto the shorter man.

"The last time this magic appeared, was when Hikaru's sword was destroyed," Clef pondered. "Realistically, you understand that she should never have survived once it was destroyed. And yet she did, all because of that foreign magic I sensed protecting the three young women from another world. That magic was what kept Hikaru alive despite the severed bond. If we feel that magic now, I have to assume that it's here to protect again."

"But who would need…" Lantis' eyes widened as he remembered that Hikaru was undergoing a trial to revive her sword. "Hikaru?"

"It would be the only thing that makes sense," the Mage nodded, coming to the same conclusion. "The ominous presence we've felt must be trying to hurt Hikaru somehow. If it is, then that same magic that helped her before would surely do so again."


Aki wa mizube ni
Fuyu kozue ni hisomu

'I know that voice…' Hikaru thought as ruby eyes opened to connect with glowing minty ones she knew very well. "Neechan?"

Sekai no oku no
Kagirinai yasashisa

"What are you doing here?" the teen panicked. "You could get hurt! You need to go back home!" The glowing apparition that was Kagome only smiled softly as she continued to sing. "Neechan!"

Yoru ga kuru tabi
Inori o sasageyou
Ashita kuru hi o
Shizuka ni mukaeyou

"Neechan?" Hikaru questioned as she older girl pulled her into a gentle embrace, placing her head on top of her own. 'She feels so warm…'

Watashi o michibiku
Tooi tooi yobigoe yo
Hohoemu you ni
Utau you ni
Hibiku kaze no oto

'It's like she's trying to tell me something…' the teen thought. 'But what could it be?'

Yorokobi Kanashimi
Subete idaite aruite iru
Watashi no te to
Kimi no te o
Tsuyoku tsunagu mono

Ruby eyes widened as memories rushed through her mind.

"I have a feeling you'll be able to conquer your demons as long as you have hope and belief in yourself and your friends."

"From the moment we're born, Fate writes out the path we'll follow in life. It'll twist and it'll turn, but you'll learn and grow through those experiences."

"Everything that happens does because it was already meant to, regardless of choice. Everyday we're faced with choices from the smallest, simplest things to matters of great importance."

"There are no coincidences in this world, Hikaru."

"Do you understand now?" Kagome asked with a soft smile.

Hikaru nodded, the determined fire returning to her ruby eyes.

"Then remember your wish. Remember what you're fighting for, remember why you're here!"

"I do!" the fiery-haired teen all but shouted. "I do remember my wish; I do remember why I'm here. And I especially remember why I'm fighting!"

~AMatchOfTwoSouls~

"What?" the vile-looking woman hissed backing away from the periwinkle light engulfing Hikaru's form. "What power is this?"

The light shattered into thousands of tiny particles of light. There stood a healthy an whole Hikaru surrounded by a strong ruby aura. Compared to the broken and battered teen before, this girl was one whose spirit burned bright with determination and sheer will.

This was a girl who would never back down no matter how difficult circumstances became.

With a howl of rage, the woman robed in black and bone lashed out with another round of darkened lightning. Much to her shock and fury, her attacks only bounced off of Hikaru, a shield provided by the aura around her protecting her. "How!"

Fists clenched, the woman conjured blackened flames around her hands. "Feeling a bit braver, are we? Why don't we see how you fare against your own power?" She raised her hands and turned them onto Hikaru. "Flame Arrow!"

However, Hikaru remained unfazed. She only raised a hand, the flames dissipating on contact. "My turn," she clenched her fist, the fire beginning to spread around her hand, "Ruby Lightning!"

The woman screamed as she was pushed back by the burst crimson electric bolts. "How? How is it you can muster the Will to fight again?"

"Because I'll be going back," Hikaru spoke, "Back to my best friends, and back to the world I promised to protect."

"You'll never go back if I have anything to do about it!" Long red talons reached out and sent blades of black energy crackling with deep-violet sparks flying towards the Knight of Fire.

The teen only raised her arm and swung it straight down, forming a wall of fire. The blades of energy that were sent towards Hikaru were absorbed into the flames as quick as they came. "I'm going back to fulfill the promise I made, not just to the people of Cephiro, but to fulfill the promise I made in my heart. I have too much to do and too many people counting on me to come back to just give up here and now!"

The robed woman could only snarl as she saw the twister of flames rise up around Hikaru's body. "No!" She watched as the teen raised her arm into the sky. The flames formed a fiery apparition of Rayearth's beastly before shifting to form her sword. The only difference right now was that the blade that usually shone silver was now a blade of pure energy.

"I will go back, and no one, especially you, is going to stop me!" the Knight of Fire swung the sword, releasing a surge of energy that blasted the woman back.

"So long as fear reigns, Debonair will always be here!" the robed woman, now known as Debonair, screeched as she was driven out.


-Crystal Palace-

"She's done it," Presea wiped away the tears that had been flowing over her cheeks. She moved over to the falled figure of the fiery-haired girl and propped her up against herself. "She's safe and whole!"

"And she also has her sword back," Sierra sniffled. She gestured to the armour that had reappeared over Hikaru's uniform. "So what we came to do was done."

"Puu!" Mokona bounced happily.

"But, still, I wonder…" Presea murmured as she lifted the small girl into her arms, intent on taking her back to the room she shared with her friends. "Whose voice was it we heard? And what was that strange magic?"

"I've never felt anything like it before," the younger Pharle shook her head. "Magic users of Cephiro vary depending on their talent in the arts. But no matter what tpe they specialize in, the magic will always have a certain feel to it; this tells us that the magic is from Cephiro. But that magic just now…I've never felt anything so light and pure. Whatever it was, that type of magic isn't from anyone in Cephiro."


Adieu,

TsukiyoTenshi