chapter 6
Fantasy
by Tina Plunkett
"Tama... I don't really know him. A priest or something.. but he looked
so familiar. How do you know him...
Ragyn?"
Ragyn sighed. His bangs blew up then slowly drifted down with each breath.
His head tiled down in thought.
She had been sent by Tama which meant that something in the balance
between Earth and Cephiro was shifting. Time
or chance. Her name was Umi. The water controller, Dragon, or one of
the three legendary Magic Knights of this time.
As a child he had spent studying the legends and histories of the old
world Cephiro. The pillar system was something of
the past put away by the last Pillar of the Land, Hikaru but with time
shifting would something occur to significantly
change it? Tama was set up on earth to guard the gate between time
and the two worlds. If Tama felt the need to send
one of the legendary Magic Knights to the past to the gate he was guarding
on Cephiro then something horrendous was
going to happen.
Umi watched the boy's eyebrows bunch in thought. Almost five minutes had
passed in silence and still he
didn't answer her question. He seemed so lost in thought, in deep troubling
thought that she felt bad if she was
to disturb him. Felt bad? She had gained respect and settled down since
the last visit to the land.
"Tama..." Ragyn blinked as if to clear his internal thoughts. "Tama is
the guarding of time between Cephiro and
Earth. Time has begun to shift differently in the past or rather in
your present and my past."
A unwavering stare was drawn from Umi towards Ragyn.
"So what do you mean? This sounds like Back to the Future or some other crazy American film...."
"I mean that a few years ago in your time, Earth time, something happened
that wasn't supposed to. Or maybe
it was. I don't know but whatever it is we have to stop Cephiro from
going back to the old Pillar system."
"But Hikaru stopped it and why should I even believe what your saying?"
Umi pushed the covers off her legs,
swung them up and over the bed, and stood up. "I have to go.
Im sure Hikaru and Fuu are worried about me. I was
supposed to meet with them at Tokyo tower." Actually, hadn't
she told Fuu that she couldn't go?
"I can't make you believe me and I can't make you stay. I would like you
to consider helping me find the problem.
And even if you say no I'll escort you to the Castle. The forest of
silence separates us from the castle."
The forest of silence. There it was again. She had hoped never to look
at it, with all the monsters at every
corner. Magic couldn't help you in the forest of silence and sometimes
swords couldn't either. The major tool in your
arsenal had to be your wits, your mind. Once slip could cost you your
life. At first it had been a game with her aspiring
to be a witch but it had become a terrible reality.
"Umi?"
She was taking this to seriously since the nightmares had begun. She just
needed to relax. Perhaps she did
need a little adventure to settle herself down. Accepting Ragyn's mission
if it could take her away from the dreams
at night. In her thought about nightmares she hadn't realized that
as she sleep prior to waking up to Ragyn she had
dreamed about the forest of silence in the land that had always pushed
aside the nightmares. She had missed a key
in a world of locks.
"all right. I'll help you... but is there any way we can go around the forest of silence?"
"Im afraid not. It would take to long."
Ascot stretched and
shifted uncomfortably. The couch he rested on was forming a groove around
him.
Clef had been searching with his viewer most of the day and Ascot was
growing tired of it. If Clef couldn't find her this
way then he would have to search for her on his own. Using one
of his friends he could easily travel over extensive
ground. His overcoat swung against his legs while he pivoted around
to look at the door. Clef never heard Ascot leave
the room.
"Umi.." He sighed into the
wind blowing past his face. Even in the warmth of summer, the eternal summer
of
Cephiro, it seemed cold. His clothing held no protection for the sudden
chill in the air. No clouds appeared in the sky
above him to signal an on coming rain, and magic traces didn't linger
in the air. He shivered inwardly trying to grasp
at the dark cloud gathering in his mind.
Ascot lowered his head
and touched the air. A golden pentagram formed shining like golden string
that the
fates spin. He needed the aide of one of his friends. A flying creature
with huge feathery wings, a body of a lion, and
the head of a strange gray wolf. A close cousin to the griffin. His
hands ruffled the fur around its neck and the huge
beast pressed against his scratching hands.
"Requiem... hey. I
need your help old friend." He pulled himself up on the back of the
creature. He would
concentrate his search near the forest of silence since Clef could
not use his magic to search through it. Being a
Magic Knight even could not save her from some of the monsters that
lurked there. Especially a particular flying
bird beast that could not be killed by sword attacks.
His overcoat flapped
in the wind as Requiem rose up above the land of Cephiro. The town
gathered around
the castle slowly tapered out and soon was replaced by farmland, plans,
and the occasional outpost. The closes
village to the Forest of Silence lay fifteen miles away from it. There
had even been talk of moving it further away
after the land of Cephiro began a rebuilding process......after Emeruald.
Ascot coughed into his hand and reached for his
hat as a sudden gust of wind pulled at it. A little to late, the hat
tumbled downward through the occasional cloud cover.
He sighed. That had been the second hat he had lost this month
to an adventure through the sky. But the hat wasn't
important... Umi was. Requiem turned sharply sensing the aura of the
Forest of Silence. Now if only some of the clouds
would dissipate from covering the area.
The black and emerald
jeweled hat kept tumbling toward the ground. Sometimes plunging like a
speeding
bullet and other times catching a breeze to float softly down for awhile.
Finally, without much gusto, it landed outside
a small house as a figured stepped out into the sun.
Umi rubbed her eyelids against the sun's assault. The fresh air filled
her nostrils. So much for the air in Tokyo.
A black thing dropped from the sky about a yard away. It rolled over
as another wind current brushed past them.
She had an urge to run after it and grab it. Her hat. Her hat, she
couldn't lose her hat... but it wasn't her hat. And why
did her thoughts suggest it? Her eyes followed the hat in its roll
when a green and yellow glint flashed. No wonder
the hat looked so familiar. Ascot! It had to be Ascot's hat or a close
facsimile of it. Her legs took off where her mind
stopped. A quick sprint took her the full distance to the object.
"Umi! Wait! What are you doing?" Ragyn bolted out the door to follow after
her if she planned some type of
escape. An escape wouldn't be logical because he agreed to help her
or she had agreed to help him but unknowingly.
He stopped when she started walking back with a black rag in her hands.
Or rather, on closer inspection, a black hat
trimmed in gold and deep green emeralds. "What... a hat?"
"This hat looks like.... a friend's hat. He's a summoner at the castle.
Bal Ascoto. Ascot." She looked up
at the sky line hoping to see a glimpse of anything that would give
her reason to where this hat had fallen from.
If her guess had been right then the two other Knights had appeared
near the castle safely which would leave some
suspecting that she might have also been called but somewhere else.
She was hoping that her guesses were right.
She had been in a different location then Hikaru and Fuu but would
that explain her being transported to a different
area in Cephiro.
Ragyn nodded. "Perhaps they felt your entrance in this land and are looking
for you. That would help us out
greatly if we meet up with them. I would indulge you that this is a
sign that they are near." He sighed and followed
her gaze upward. "It would also seem they are traveling around
the forest of silence through the air. However we will
have to travel through the forest, on foot."
Umi frowned. There it was again. Going through the forest of silence on
foot like so many months ago. Months
ago...? How long had it been for Cephiro? What was the time difference
between the worlds... dimensions any ways?
She stopped fidgeting with the hat and stared up at Ragyn. "all right.
Lets go to the castle... but do you have a sword I
could borrow?"
Ragyn smiled softly. "Yes. It's inside by the bed. I think it will suit
you Magic Knight. " He hefted the bag of
supplies over his shoulder and waited for her. The trip would, no doubt
in his mind, pull them a little closer together
and perhaps he would gather all the trust he would need from her. Trust
was a big commodity when you planned on
stabbing someone in the back. They would always chalk it up to denial.
"This it?"
"Yes."
"Okay, Im ready."
***********************
Clef paused and cleared
his throat. Exhausted he sat down and summoned up some hot tea from the
kitchen.
The cup almost brimming over with the dark electric taste of Ceilic
a herb for settlement in the local area. The Pillar knew
he needed rest but still to look over into her bright hopeful eyes
he could not give her any sign that Umi would be found
safely. He had little doubt at her ability to protect herself but there
was always the possibility that something had
happened to her. That possibility doubled as more time passed. He hadn't
been able to find her yet and a day had
passed or was it two? Day had passed, night had come and gone, and
now it was afternoon again. Two days and
a night. Now Ascot was gone probably searching for her in his own way.
Clef sipped at his tea thinking. He was trying
to find words of comfort which he wouldn't repeat to Hikaru.
Finally he decided to be honest with her. His head bent, his eyes filled
with worry and a knowledge that
he could not do much with the current situation unless he traveled
like Ascot out. But he couldn't, he thought bitterly,
he couldn't travel out to save the one... the one what? That was dear
to his heart as all the Magic Knights were.
Yes, as dear to his heart as Emeruald, Lantis... and Zagato had been.
His family. His students. He had to stay here
with the castle, with the pillar and with the Prince as advisor and
counselor.
"Hikaru, It troubles me that I can not find her with my viewer. It could
mean two things." Only two? It could
mean three but I can't think about that right now. I won't think about
it right now. "She is in the forest of silence... or
some one's magic is interfering with mine." But who would be strong
enough to do that? Zagato had been and Lantis
was strong enough to challenge him too but he wouldn't. Lantis would
have no motive to block Umi from them, plus
he seemed just as worried as the rest.
Clef placed his emptied cup down on the saucer and balled his fists up
with his staff in his lap. His head rested
on his cherub hands. Honestly he felt defeated. "Im sure we will
find her with the viewer or Ascot will spot her from the
air." The Yil felt a small pang of jealousy at the Bal but it
quickly passed. He was, after all, a Yil and his first duty
was to the Pillar.
__________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer time! These characters are not mine. They belong to the very
special group titled "Clamp" and what lovely
ladies they are! Ragyn is the only character of mine that is original.
Thanks for reading!
