Two men came into the room and took away Nobyre and Hedaimo. Larumele and Yeiry followed behind them closely, and saw them place the young girls' bodies beside those of Waemi, Umi, and Meline. The two girls clung to each other, frightened and disturbed, but somehow at peace, in a way --- the fight was finally over, and they knew it.
There was nobody else that they could see inside the building. They crept outside.
The sun was setting, slowly, washing the sky in a bloody red light. Ferio was holding Fuu, who had regained conciousness but couldn't quite stand properly, and Ascot was cradling Cerise in his arms as she sobbed uncontrollably. Hikaru sat alone, the grass around her smeared with blood. Her sword lay next to her, stained a sickening red. She had her knees drawn up to her chest, with her arms wrapped around them, and she had hidden her face in her arms. Although her face was not visible, her despair was obvious by the way her shoulders shook with sobs, and by the way she was hunched over limply, as though she didn't have the will to sit up straight.
Larumele began to move forward to comfort the redhead (Yeiry, all her emotional strength spent, had given in to weakness and had now accepted Ferio's offer of a warm arm; she leaned against him, and Fuu smiled sadly, resting a hand gingerly on the younger girl's shoulder.), but stopped halfway down the steps. She tilted her head back, staring up at the orange-and-red sky.
The black silhoutte of a ship, suspended in the air, grew larger, larger, until it finally touched the ground on the other side of the gardens. Larumele did not move, unsure, and there was complete silence, save for Hikaru's muffled sobs, for a long moment.
Larumele shivered; the sun was nearly down, and as the inky black-blue of night was creeping across the sky, nearing the sun, the cool night breeze was already beginning to blow. The foul stench of blood was carried away by the fresh wind, and the auburn-haired girl filled her lungs gratefully with the coolness of it.
After the breeze began to coax the blades of grass to gently rustle, there was another short pause. Hikaru's sobs had quieted, but they still remained, simply less audible.
The sound of footsteps came from the gardens. There were no voices. One couldn't see who was coming, for the storms Presea has created during the fight had torn vines and trees and bushes from their roots, and leaves and twigs were everywhere. Whoever was approaching had to push their way through a miniature jungle of sorts.
Larumele still remained standing on the steps.
The curtains of vines and branches was swept to one side, and three people came through. They were only slightly identifiable as men of Autozam, for only a tiny portion of the sun remained above the distant horizon.
Hikaru's sobs became silent; her shoulders no longer shook. She raised her head slowly, revealing her face, tear-streaked, smudged with dirt and blood, with a mournful expression on. Her lower lip began to tremble.
Clumsily, as though her legs didn't quite work, the Magic Knight stumbled to her feet. Then she was running, running as though her life depended upon it, only stopping when she had flung herself, with a despairing wail, into the gentle arms of Eagle Vision.
Hikaru slowly sipped the bowl of hot broth that had been offered to her, still trembling with one of Eagle's arms around her shoulders comfortingly. The liquid reeked thickly of hyredem, hinting that it ought to taste pleasant, but it only enforced the bitter taste in her mouth.
The medic had attended to Fuu, who was as sitting near Hikaru, leaning her head against Ferio's shoulder. She stared at her hand, held tightly by Ferio's, for a long time before speaking.
"They are tending to Presea-san."
Hikaru set her bowl down, glancing up at Fuu hesitantly. "Will... she be okay?" Fuu nodded slightly.
Ferio looked past Hikaru, who was now playing with her braid distractedly while Eagle stared at her worriedly, then said, "Ascot, c'mere."
The tall boy came from the doorway where he had been standing, hesitantly entering the circle. Fuu patted the floor between herself and Eagle. "Please sit, Ascot-san."
He sat down, and Hikaru looked up at him. He kept his head down, refusing to look up at them. His hands were tightly clenched, and by the way he bit his lower lip, she could tell he was fighting off tears.
Hikaru tilted her head to one side. "Ascot." He didn't respond. "It's okay to... to cry."
He hastily wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why should I be crying?" he asked. "I mean... you were so close to Lantis, and Umi, and everyone else that's... that's gone. I didn't even know any of them that well, except Umi and... and Meline-san..." His voice trailed off, and he fell completely silent again.
The silence lasted heavily for a while. Hikaru's hands were shaking slightly as adrenaline wore off and a leaden guilt settled on her heart, but she knew it wasn't her fault, in truth, and she knew not to make the same mistake she had made the last time such a tradgedy had happened.
The quiet was broken by a scuffling of feet and a small voice from the doorway inquiring, "Can we come in?"
Fuu smiled at the girls standing at the entrance to the room. "Of course."
Cerise found her way to her brother's side, nestling up against him in a search for comfort. He put one arm around her, although he did not look up. Yeiry and Larumele quietly seated themselves between Hikaru and Ferio, filling in the gap in the little circle they had formed.
It was quiet again. After a moment, Larumele spoke up. "Nobyre and Hedaimo are dead."
Fuu nodded weakly. "Clef-san told us."
After finally draining the last of the broth, Hikaru set the bowl down again as she muttered, "This is so stupid." Her voice wavered tearfully, and she winced. "I... I mean," she continued hesitantly, "this morning, everyone was perfectly happy, and nobody was... nobody was dead. And now... it's been only a few hours, and everything's so different."
Yeiry traced a circle on the cold floor with a fingertip. "Can... can I ask a question?" she asked hesitantly, unsurely. A few heads nodded slightly, and she glanced back down at her finger drawing on the floor. "Why'd... why'd she kill Waemi-chan?" There was a shakiness in her voice. "I mean... Waemi didn't do anything to her. She was just worried about Fuu-san... she only wanted to..." Yeiry squeezed her eyes shut; she no longer drew circles on the tiles, but now clutched the hem of her skirt in both hands in a gesture of helplessness. "I... I know it sounds selfish, but... it's not fair." She sniffled, glanced up. "Umi-san... Umi-san and Lantis-san... they were fighting, weren't they? All Waemi-chan did was go... go past Presea..." Her voice trailed off as she swallowed hard against tears.
"Farl Presea was not... well, she is not Farl Presea," Cerise said in a small voice, "not anymore. She doesn't remember anything about her life with all of you. All she remembers is from the time we took her."
Ascot brushed his little sister's bushy bangs out of her crimson eyes. "Cerise, can you tell us what happened? Meline told us little bits, but she was... she wasn't clear."
"Meline is... was crazy," Cerise said quietly. "When... when the Magic Knights killed Emeraude-hime, and Cephiro crumbled, Papa was out for his monthly hunt. His apprentice came back and told us Papa got crushed by a big rock that fell. Then... then Mama wouldn't eat or sleep. She... she died, too.
"Meline went crazy because of it. Papa's apprentice locked her up, and he had spirit mirrors for us so we could look into the happy place --- the shadow place, where all the spirits live --- and still talk to Mama and Papa.
"They were so angry at the Magic Knights for the suffering they made... Papa made a book. I don't know how, but he made a book that told me how to kill the Magic Knights. It told me to get someone close to them and make that person kill them. They didn't want me to kill because I'm so little.
"I chose Farl Presea. Her mind was the easiest to get inside. I made her have dreams to tell her what was going to happen. I gave her a choice to either come with me or refuse, and if she refused, and I would make the pain in her head." Cerise lifted her face, shifting her gaze to those around her. "She refused. The pain took away her memory, and I made her a soldier."
"To kill us," Fuu said softly.
"Why did you kill Emeraude-hime?" Cerise asked tearfully. "I don't want you to be killed anymore, but why?"
Hikaru tightened her grip on Eagle's hand. "Emeraude... had fallen in love with Sol Zagato. She asked... she asked us to kill her, so she could be free from her duty as Pillar and pray for only the man she loved, and also because her love for him was ruining Cephiro. The only way to fix it was for her to be killed and another to take her place."
"But Cephiro is beautiful again," Cerise said. "Who took her place? I live very far away. I didn't know who the new Pillar was."
Hikaru closed her eyes, and Eagle gently stroked her hair with his fingertips as she answered quietly, "Eagle and I took the Test. I was chosen to be the Pillar, and my first --- and only --- prayer for Cephiro was that the Pillar system might be eradicated. It was my wish that the people's hearts would decide the country's fate."
Cerise smiled slightly. "That was a good wish." The redhead nodded slightly.
Fuu glanced up --- she had been deep in thought during Cerise's conversation with her friend. "Why could we not return home?" she asked. "When we first came here this visit, we tried to go home, and couldn't."
"I kept you here." Cerise's blood-colored eyes were watery. "I used my will. I prayed and wished and hoped very hard that you would stay here long enough for... for me to kill you."
"You must have a very strong heart," the blond said gently, "to have been able to contain us here. Please... will you do a favor for me, and for the rest of us, and perhaps use that strong heart with only good intentions from now on?"
Cerise nodded, promising.
Ferio squeezed Fuu's hand tightly as she smiled at the small girl, then leaned her head on Ferio's shoulder. "I still cannot imagine how Presea could have grown so... so heartless."
Ferio shrugged a little. "Dunno. Maybe she was fed from a bad futame or something."
"A what?"
The tiniest semblance of a smile formed on his lips. "Never mind, Fuu-chan. Never mind."
"Part of Presea's training was to regain some parts of her memory," Cerise said, beginning an explanation. "It was good for her to forget her relationships with you so she could... do her job, but it was also good for her to know herself well. Part of that was a training exercise where she had to recognize emotions in herself and learn what made her feel that way. Somehow, during that training, she made herself hate herself even more than she hates the Magic Knights."
"Presea..." Hikaru bit her lip. "I miss her."
"So do I," Larumele said quietly. "She visited the kitchens a lot... we weren't really friends, but she was always so nice to us. Waemi was her favorite, I think." The brunette's voice cracked, and she fell silent.
There was another lengthy silence before the door creaked open slowly and Caldina's head popped in the room. "Hey," she said quietly, "I found this puffball an' thought y'all might wanna see it." She half-kicked, half-pushed Mokona inside the room with her foot. "I'm gonna go now," she added, then shut the door.
Mokona bounded over to the little circle with a "Puuuu!", and Hikaru scooped it up in her arms, hugging it tightly. "Mokona," she muttered shakily into its fur, "where have you been? I haven't seen you since this morning..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh, Mokona, everything's so screwed up..."
Fuu smiled slightly. "I... I remember Umi-san saying how she thought Mokona would be tasty to eat." Tears tugged at the corners of her eyes. "Perhaps we should make Mokona pie."
"Or Mokona muffins." Hikaru laughed a little bit, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She glanced at the faces of the others in the circle --- Yeiry, Larumele, Ferio, Fuu, Ascot, Cerise, Ealge --- and felt her mouth stretch into a true smile. Her heart was wrung with grief --- she knew it would be for a long time --- but she couldn't help but recognize the tiniest flicker of content within herself as she sat with the people so dear to her. It was very different from other times, without Umi, Waemi, Nobyre, and Hedaimo giggling with her, but it was also very much the same. That fact, along with the warm comfort of her loved ones, was enough to make her remember to be thankful for what she had left. At least she, unlike poor Presea, was not alone.
