* "Dialogue"* symbolizes flashbacks

Chapter 2 A New Beginning in a New World

"Who is she?" a man in clad black armor with expressionless eyes asked as she blinked awake.

"She just appeared out of nowhere," a girl with long blond hair in a high ponytail blinked furiously looking at the red-headed girl.

"Who are you?" she asked drowsily.

They looked down at her, and the blond girl smiled, "You're in Cephiro, I'm Persea."

As she sat up she began looking around as words dawned on her, "Where's Cephiro? Is it near America?"

"What's America?" the girl named Persea questioned.

Her jaw dropped, "It's on the continent of North America," she said impatiently.

"Continent? North America?"

"Earth?!" she persisted, and Persea shook her head, clueless, "Hahaha funny what's the joke? Where am I? What is this all about?"

"You're in Cephiro, and I am Lantis," the man in black armor introduced himself, and she was surprised; he didn't seem to be one to talk.

"Cephiro?"

§§§~~~

"She's like a Goddess," he stoked her short blond hair with one finger letting it slide down her arm.

"Ferio," his sister smacked him lightly, "Just because she's a beautiful stranger doesn't mean…" she didn't get a chance to finish because the girl was waking. Ferio jumped back and waited as she shook her head and adjusted her glasses looking around.

"Oh hello," she smiled at them, "Who are you?"

"My name's Ferio," he jumped at the opportunity and took her hand helping her up. She blushed as the girl near him shook her head. When she did her long flowing blond hair shook in waves and made her look as if she carried a magical presence all around her.

"And I," she said a little more formally, but her voice rang with friendliness and caring, "I am Emeraude."

"But I don't understand where am I?"

"You are in Cephiro," Emeraude responded.

"What's Cephiro? All I remember is sitting on my bed and then blacking out and waking here," she was in distress as she looked around, a pained expression on her face, and he wanted to reach out to her and tell her it would be alright. Just the thought of this beautiful girl in any pain caused his heart to ache. He managed to contain himself and hold his position as his sister responded.

"Cephiro is another world, separate from your own, and you are here to help us save it, girl from another world."

§§§~~~

"Uh…Guru Clef…uh there's this…uh…girl…um…in my room…and…she…uh…well…you see, she kinda…um…dropped out of nowhere, and uh…landed on the bed, and…maybe you should come and…uh…find out what happened," he stumbled as he ran into the Master Mage's study.

"I'll be right there," he didn't seem surprised at all as he stood heavily and walked with his apprentice to the next room. What he found didn't seem to surprise him either. A girl, a beautiful girl, with long sinuous blue hair that looked like a river flowing down her shoulders lay on the boy's bed, fast asleep. She whimpered in her sleep as tears fell down her face, then a scream from the girl as she struggled with the comforter on the bed muttering phrases that were too jumbled to understand.

They both frowned as Clef shook his head and waved his staff over the girl calming her enough to wake her gently. When she opened her eyes she saw the lavender haired man looking down at her, the deep enrapturing eyes staring at her as if they could see through her soul. Her eyes strayed to the tall boy that looked about her age or maybe older standing timidly in the corner, ringing his hands. She smiled then looked at her surroundings, the room was plain enough and the bed was the most comfortable she'd felt in a long time.

"Who are you?" she managed to choke through surprise.

"I am the Master Mage Clef, and this is my apprentice, Ascot," the lavender haired man told her.

She shook her head, confused, "Um okay, is that supposed to help?"

He smiled slightly, "You're in Cephiro."

She moaned, and they looked at her confused as the boy approached shyly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and his bangs covered his eyes as he spoke.

"Is that another camp? Where is my mother? If you hurt her I swear I will have your blood if it is the last thing I do," her eyes turned to ice, and they were both startled at how quickly this girl's mood changed.

"Cephiro, is…another world. We brought you here to save it, you and two others. Girls from another world apart from Cephiro, you will become the Legendary Magic Knights and don the three Rune-Gods."

§§§~~~

"Cephiro is run by the Pillar of the World, Princess Emeraude. A long time ago she used to have to pray constantly for the safety of Cephiro and its people, but we changed that. We made it so that she could experience everything we could, everything the people could. We trusted the people of Cephiro enough to let them each control a portion of Cephiro so that the Princess could be free but now it seems something dark has whispered poison in their ears, and they have all started thinking corrupt thoughts. Cephiro is beginning to crumble, and we fear if this evil is not found it will be destroyed. It was written in a prophecy long ago that if ever the world was in danger the Legendary Magic Knights from another world would be summoned, and they would aid Cephiro in their battle. Those Knights would be summoned by the Pillar of Cephiro and would don the Rune-Gods to help them in their fight," the Guru Clef was explaining to them all as they sat at the dinner table awaiting their meal.

"So we are those Magic Knights?" the blond girl tried the phrase out on her tongue.

"Yes," Princess Emeraude said softly, "You three," she looked to the three girls.

"Well I guess since we're going to be saving the world together we should introduce ourselves," the girl with red hair in a long braid that fell down her back said cheerily, "My name is Hikaru Shidou."

The blond girl went next with a smile that went to her brilliant green eyes, "I'm Fuu Hououji."

The last to go was the blue haired girl with those amazing ocean colored eyes, "Umi Ryuuzaki."

"So what part of Japan are you guys from?" the girl named Fuu asked. Umi looked down and scowled as Hikaru looked at her dumbfounded, "You all have Japanese names, and I thought we were speaking Japanese."

"This language, I'm assuming that's what it is, is not one of ours. I presume that our language is somehow automatically translated for you," Clef explained.

"But you still have Japanese names," Fuu protested.

"I was born in Japan, before…" Umi didn't finish.

"My mother and father moved away just before I was born. I speak fluent Japanese, and they named me using their native language of course," Hikaru said smiling, and Fuu smiled back.

"So where do you live now?"

Umi stayed silent, but she could tell Hikaru was going to respond. Somehow she doubted that this girl knew just what was going on in the world today.

"America," Hikaru responded, "That's where they moved. I grew up in New York."

Fuu's eyes darkened, "Traitor," she muttered and stood, "I can't fight with a traitor."

"What?!" all the people in the room screamed.

"How could you say that?!" Hikaru demanded standing up as well clenching her fists.

Despite all the anxiety in the room Fuu kept her calm, "The people in Japan are dying because of all the damage the Americans are doing, and you are there helping them. I'm guessing you're making weapons for them, that's what a lot of the women are doing. Donating scrap metals and greases to make bombs, bombs that in turn are killing thousands of Japanese people, thousands of your people, or do you consider yourself an American now?"

The others in the room turned to the one girl who through it all kept quiet, scowling viciously at the two. She hated the Americans for locking her in an internment camp, but she hated the Japanese for forcing the Americans to react so cruelly. In all reality she wanted to be as far away from Japan and America as possible, and it wasn't until that moment that she realized that that was what she had been wishing for this whole time. 'Well Umi,' her mind said grimly satisfied, 'You got what you wanted, you couldn't be further from either place.'

"What are they talking about," the voice of the boy named Ascot threw her back into reality.

"All this about blood and gore," Persea shook her head, "Do you understand what they're talking about?"

Umi nodded, "Japan, that's the country we're from, well Fuu and I, Hikaru's mother and father were born there,  but she wasn't. Japan bombed…attacked, America in a quest for power and world domination I suppose," she was sure to keep her voice down because she wasn't sure how either would react to her words, "They wanted to take over the world. Well they bombed America, the place where Hikaru and I…live."

'If you can call that living,' her mind muttered, but she forced herself to continue.

"So now America is striking back at Japan horribly. American's are not ones to be trifled with. Fuu is calling Hikaru a traitor because she's a Japanese America, a Japanese girl that lives in America, and she hasn't aided Japan. She's accusing her of treason."

"And where do you stand?" Clef asked seeming thoroughly intrigued.

"I wouldn't care if I never saw either country again," Umi said hatefully clenching her fists, "I wouldn't care if I never set eyes on Earth again, except…for my mother…"

"I was born in America so I am an American, just because I'm an American doesn't mean that I'm a traitor to Japan. Japan and America used to be friends, why can't we be friends now?!" Hikaru was trying desperately to get over this, but Fuu wouldn't let it go.

"Please," a strong voice calmed them all, and a man in all black that resembled Lantis walked into the room.

"Umi, Fuu, Hikaru this is Zagato, the High Priest of Cephiro," Emeraude introduced him smiling slightly. He bowed to her, then to the girls.

"Now please isn't there a way to settle this? If not settle it put it behind us?" he begged them, "Cephiro needs your help, and we will never accomplish anything if there is all this talk of treachery, you three will never become strong of heart if you don't learn to get along."

Fuu sighed and sat as Hikaru did the same, "I suppose," Fuu said softly, "I could put it out of my mind considering we are in another world."

"Very good," Zagato said softly, and everyone in the room seemed to let out a breath they had been holding.

"So what do your parents do?" Hikaru brought up a lighter conversation, or at least she thought it would be.

"My father is a general in the Japanese Army, and my mother stays at home," Fuu said roughly, and they understood now. No wonder she took it like this, her father had installed it in her head that anyone that went against Japan was a traitor…especially other Japanese

"Oh," Hikaru said meekly and turned to Umi, who scowled and didn't answer, "Umi?"

Umi looked up, "If I told you you'd both hate me, so I'm not going to say anything at all."

"What about you?" Fuu turned to Hikaru.

"Well my father owns this bookshop, and my mother…she home schools us, but it's been kinda rough lately with the shop…"

Fuu smiled almost with malice, "Bookshop isn't going so well huh? I bet I know why. It's because the Americans won't shop in your store right? And you're being home schooled because they won't let you go to school in their schools. Or is it just because your parents are afraid they'd turn on you and resort to violence? Americans do seem to think with their fists more than their heads, maybe your family recognizes that?"

Hikaru glared, "It's not because of any of those things! It's just because they think that I'd get a better education if she taught me! I get more Japanese culture that way, more of the Japanese way of life."

"You don't deserve to know any of our customs," Fuu muttered and crossed her arms, "Treachery is punishable by death I hope you know."

Hikaru scowled viciously, and Umi looked down, tears in her eyes. She knew that all too well.

"Why if my father even heard you…" Fuu began.

"Stop it!" Umi screamed standing up clenching her fists, and blood trickled down as tears streamed down her cheeks, "Stop it both of you! Don't you see?! It's this hatred that got us into this! It's this hatred that is killing thousands and it's petty! Stop and just for a minute think about it! Really think about," she added softly, "Put it behind you. We are too far away to even care. If we were from anywhere else we wouldn't have problems so just for our stay here let's just pretend we're all from different places okay? I've seen too much misery in my life," she turned and ran. She didn't even wait for the dinner that she so desperately wanted, so desperately needed. She just turned and ran through the unfamiliar palace letting her tears come as memories flashed into her eyes.

* "Fight or die!"

"I won't ever fight with him!"

"Then death is your choice?"

"Death is my choice."

"No! Father!"*

She screamed and hit her fists against the wall, "Dammit!" she sobbed into her arms, "Dammit! Why did you do that?! For them?! For the people who are squabbling like chickens?! Why did you do it father?! Why?!"

"Umi?" Clef came up behind her, and she looked up into his ocean blue eyes trying to brush away her tears. He always seemed to see her cry, "Why did you run out like that? You said all those things and then didn't even stick around to see if they happened?"

"I don't care," Umi muttered, "I just wanted them to think about how stupid and petty they sound; they have no idea…"

"There is something in your life that you're hiding," it was a statement not a question, "Something that you don't want anyone to know, but something you want to get out, tell me, please."

Umi shook her head, "I can't."

He looked saddened, "Please then at least come back and eat something. It looks like you haven't eaten a decent meal in weeks," he meant it to be a joke, but she truly did look sick.

"I haven't," she muttered, and his eyes widened.

"Why not?"

She shook her head and walked with him back to the table in silence. This was the most she had spoken in months, and it felt weird to speak again.

When she walked back in the room Hikaru and Fuu looked down, ashamed. What she said was right; it was stupid to fight over something that was forever away, especially when these people were about to loose their whole world. For these people they would come to some kind of agreement.