Chapter 22 Overcoming Memories
He closed his eyes and wished away the pain, "Stop thinking about her!" he growled to himself and went back to maneuvers with his sword, but they all failed and fumbled, and he was left with his thoughts, "This is not helping."
"Lantis," a voice came from behind him, and he turned.
"Lafarga."
"You're right, continually hurting yourself is not going to make Hikaru come back, nothing is going to make her come back. You have to get over it and find someone else, or at least get over it. I think that if you find someone else you'll be able to get over it though," he advised.
"You think I haven't tried?!" Lantis demanded and then sighed heavily, "I've tried, but I can't bring myself to love anyone else. I keep comparing them to her, and they can't add up."
Lafarga looked deep into his eyes, "Try to get some sleep though, lately it's been affecting you more."
"Yeah I know," Lantis muttered as Lafarga walked out, "It's because I sense danger, and I don't want my Fire Faerie in harm."
A scream made his eyes snap up from thinking.
"Lantis!"
"Hikaru!" he ran toward the voice and found her writhing in his room in agony. Her eyes were closed, and she was squirming as if in severe pain. His eyes ran over her; she was taller but not by much. Her hair was longer but still that same fiery red. She wore a red skirt and white shirt, "Hikaru," he didn't know what to do, so he knelt by the bed and tried to shake her awake.
She began to sweat, and he looked nervous and worried; his eyes were stressed. What was wrong?
"Lantis," she panted, "Please, help, it hurts."
"Hikaru," he shook her hard, but there was no waking her, "I don't understand."
"I miss you," she mumbled, and he closed his eyes, and a tear streamed down his cheek, as it touched it sizzled.
"What?" he touched her face; it was flaming hot.
"Lantis!" she shot up and looked around her; her red eyes were wide in terror and disbelief. Slowly she turned her head to her left and found him, "Lantis," she breathed and threw her arms around him.
He held her while she cried and said a prayer thanking whoever brought her to him.
"It was so awful, they burnt down our house, and Satoru and Maseru and Kakeru, they were all killed. I don't want to fight anymore, I don't want to see fighting. They didn't like us 'cause we were Japanese, and they burnt down our house, and my mother and father, they were killed, and I was, but then Cephiro saved me," she whispered into the nape of his neck, and he let her cry and tell her story.
"Sh…it'll be okay Hikaru," he told her softly, "You're here now, here to stay and that's all that matters."
"But my parents," she whispered.
"Your parents are safe in your afterlife," he tried to console her.
When her tears had eased he let her go gently and looked at her; she was still beautiful, but her hands showed work of some kind he didn't understand. Her face was dirty as if covered in soot, but her eyes were bright and there was hidden joy there, through the memories.
"Gomen nasai," she said softly, and he looked at her confused, "For-for fighting when I left. I didn't want to hurt you, but I was worried about Umi-chan and Fuu-chan," and now new tears came to her eyes, "But then…" she looked at him, suddenly tired, "I looked for Umi-chan forever, and I never found her."
"I'm sure she's okay, maybe, maybe if you came back so did she," he offered, and she smiled.
"Maybe."
He touched her face again, and it was normal, not on fire. At first he pulled away, but then bent in gently and kissed her, at first softly but then more passionately. When they broke away she was breathless, and he smiled at her.
"God I missed you," she whispered and kissed him again.
"I know what you mean," he took her hand, and they walked from the room.
§§§~~~
"Hello?"
"Where are we?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
Satoru, Maseru and Kakeru walked around the place they were in carefully, not completely sure where they were and not wanting to anger the inhabitants.
"The last thing I remember is a huge explosion," Kakeru told them.
"I remember a shot and trying to get a bullet in my gun," Maseru added.
"Both of you, were-were killed, in battle," Satoru informed them, "And I was taken by the enemy, thinking that I was one of them or something. And then, after that, they found my packs and knew I wasn't one of them and killed me, I think."
"So are we in some kind of heaven or afterlife or something?" Maseru looked around at the white walls of the magnificent structure.
"It sure looks like it," Kakeru nodded.
"No," a voice behind them said quietly, and they spun, "You're in Cephiro."
They were met with a stunning girl that looked to be about Satoru's age with long golden hair in a high ponytail, wearing strange clothes. She was followed by a pink creature that bounced up and down happily.
"Cephiro," Satoru whispered the word, "Then…"
"Yes, you were summoned, but not by the inhabitants," her smile brought warmth to them, "By your sister. She wished so hard that you would not be dead, that you would be safe and loved, that before your life gave way you were summoned to Cephiro though an illusion of your body remained. When they think that they found your bodies it was only an illusion to protect the earthlings from believing that people could simply vanish," she explained.
"Oh…" was all Kakeru was able to say.
"Then Hikaru? Is she here?" Satoru questioned.
The girl looked down, "No, I don't think so, but," she brightened, "Your parents are here."
"But the radio said that she was killed!" Satoru shouted at the girl, "Why didn't she wish herself safe!?"
"I can't answer that."
"Mokona!" a voice shouted from behind them, and the creature bounded off. When they were able to see, they saw a tall man with dark hair and deep blue eyes standing next to a short girl with red hair and eyes.
"Hikaru!" all three shouted, "You're here!"
"What?" Hikaru whispered and walked up to them, "Satoru? Maseru? Kakeru? How?"
"Your will was that strong Magic Knight of Fire," the girl bowed and snapped her fingers. Hikaru's armor and sword was summoned in front of her, "Only if you wish to still fight for Cephiro."
"I do," Hikaru nodded and closed her eyes and the lightweight armor was on her body.
The three simply watched, amazed.
"Wow," Maseru muttered.
Hikaru smiled and drew her sword.
"Oh my God…" Kakeru was speechless.
She unsummoned her sword and grinned, one last thing, her eyes were saying, "Akai Inazuma!" the fire streamed down the hall until it disappeared.
"If you broke something Guru Clef is not going to be happy," the girl muttered.
"That's amazing," Satoru commented.
"Oh Clef'll get over it, have you met my brothers?" Hikaru put Lantis out of the small bit of distress he was in.
"Sort of," the girl smiled at them.
"Well this is Kakeru, Maseru and Satoru," she pointed at each, "Guys this is Persea, she's the Master Craftsman; she made all the armor and weapons of the Magic Knights. Which reminds me," Hikaru looked back at Lantis, "Did you ever get your new sword even after the battle?"
"Actually," Lantis smiled at Persea, "I did."
"Wanna try it out later?" Hikaru challenged, and he nodded in agreement.
"Who is this?" Maseru's eyes narrowed.
"Uh oh," Hikaru looked away, "Well this is Lantis and we gotta go um…talk to Clef or something sayonara," she grabbed his hand and darted down the hall, him asking questions after her.
Satoru watched, his eyes were angry.
"Don't worry," Persea put a hand on his shoulder, "She's in good hands. Lantis is one of the best swordsmen in Cephiro, and he's a great person. You'll learn to love him. He's a little quiet, but Hikaru and him, well…it's kind of a long story."
"That we're about to hear," Kakeru told her, and she laughed and took them to the dining room to feed them and tell the tale.
§§§~~~
He put the book down and sighed heavily, "I'll never be able to let her go," he muttered, and tried to force it away. She was angry with him; she didn't want to be with him because he wouldn't let them know about her. But now, now that she was gone they all knew, and he wished she had a chance to see that they knew. But she never would, he would have to face the facts; she wasn't coming back, "Fuu-chan, why did you leave?" he whispered, and closed his eyes. He could picture her, that beautiful golden colored hair and glasses, perfect frame and a personality more beautiful than any of her features.
She was so perfect, everything he wanted, and she was gone, out of his life in an instant. He couldn't help but feel it was his fault, that if he had told them sooner rather than later she would still be with him. She would be here, and he wouldn't be feeling this pain. If she had stayed than Hikaru would be there, and Lantis wouldn't be hurting. It was too late for Umi maybe, but for those two it wasn't, and it was all his fault.
"If only," he whispered, and his sister walked in to hear him.
"If only's aren't going to bring her back," she said softly, "I know you're hurting, but none of that is going to help, let her go," she turned and left the room.
"Let her go," he mumbled and looked back at the book and picked it up. He put it down almost immediately upon picking it up, "I can't do this, I've got to do something else." He decided to go back to his room and get his sword, maybe he could find someone to fight him. So he put the book back in the library and then walked to his room. He walked inside and found the most beautiful creature lying on his bed.
"Fuu," he whispered and walked carefully to the bedside, afraid that if he walked too quickly he would find it was an illusion, and she would disappear.
He put his hands on hers, and they were deathly cold, but still they trembled. He looked at her, confused and afraid because she uttered no word at the touch. He shook her, but there was no movement except for the shaking hands.
"Fuu," he shook her and remembered once that she had said she was a light sleeper, but she still didn't hear Umi leave. It scared him that at his violent shake she didn't wake, "Fuu come on!" he shouted, but still there was no movement, "Fuu…"
She shot bolt upright and stared at her surroundings, "Kuu…" she looked around and saw that she was no longer in a forest of Hiroshima, there wasn't a cloud of orange dust coming towards her, and there weren't fighters overhead, in fact, she was inside. Slowly she turned and saw a beaming Ferio.
"Ferio?" she looked at him for a long time, trying to decide if this was real.
"Fuu," he dropped her hands and looked down; she must still be mad, he thought.
"Oh God Ferio!" she grabbed his hands and put her arms around him, "You're here! So I'm in Cephiro!"
"Uh…yeah," he hugged her and tried to console her.
"I think…I think the Americans bombed us, but it was like nothing I've seen before. There was this huge explosion, and everything was gone, and there was this cloud of orange smoke. And my sister, she was at home, I know that explosion hit the city, so she-she was killed," the realization hit her hard and made her cry harder, "I thought I lost everything Ferio, but now…" she pulled back and looked into his amber eyes, "I was wrong."
"Fuu," he kissed her and didn't want to let go, "You'll never loose me," he whispered and touched her hair. She was the same girl he remembered, glasses and all. She had gotten a bit taller, and her hair was somewhat longer, but it still shone, and her amazing emerald eyes were bright with hope.
"But Kuu…" she looked down, "She was the only one I had. And I wanted, I wanted to find the other two, but…I couldn't look for Americans in my household, and when we moved from Tokyo I knew they would never find me, so I gave up. But now I'm here; they must be here too right?"
He looked away from her, "I haven't seen them, no, but they might be here," he offered, and she smiled.
"I know they are; I know they wanted to come back too. I don't know how, but I know they did. Ferio the war, it was awful. I wanted to see it through; I wanted to see the end of it, see peace for my people, for their people, but it lasted longer than I thought it would. I thought about Cephiro and you everyday, there wasn't a day I didn't long to go back, but the war held me here."
"I knew that you wouldn't ever forget," he pulled hair out of her eyes, "They kept telling me to put it behind me, but I couldn't; I could never forget you."
She smiled and buried her head in his chest, and they sat there for a long while, safe in each other's arms, until she stood and told him she was hungry and wanted to see if the others were there yet.
He wished that he could tell her nicely that they might be there, but he didn't want to hurt her so he stayed silent.
§§§~~~
"Where am I?" Kuu asked, wondering around the building she was in, "This doesn't look like a hospital ward, but after that explosion…" she grimaced, "I bet I'm dead," she muttered and looked around, "This place is beautiful enough to be heaven."
"What's heaven?" a tall boy that looked about her age asked, and she smiled at him.
"It's like…an afterlife, after you die, I wonder…" she looked down, "I hope Fuu survived."
"Fuu?" his eyes grew wide, "The Magic Knight of Wind?"
"Magic Knight," she knew the phrase, "This is Cephiro?!" she screamed.
He nodded, "Where else would it be?"
"Then I must not be dead, something must have happened, and I ended up here."
"How do you know the Magic Knight of Wind?" he asked suspiciously.
"Well you see, I'm her sister," she grinned, "And you would be…?"
"M…" he couldn't finish.
"Kuu!" Fuu grabbed her sister in a huge embrace, "You're alive!"
"Yes…Fuu!" it dawned on her, and she hugged her sister back.
"How did this happen?" Fuu looked at Ferio, "How did she get here? She's not a Magic Knight."
"I know," Ferio said quietly, "Maybe we should go down to breakfast and look for Clef, we'll get some answers from him."
"Okay," Fuu agreed, "Oh by the way, Kuu this is Ascot, Ascot this is my sister Kuu," she introduced them.
"Nice to meet you," Kuu bowed, and he looked confused.
"Why do all of you earthlings do that?"
They laughed and walked down to breakfast to find the answers they needed.
§§§~~~
"Hikaru-san!" Fuu squealed, delighted, when she found the girl at breakfast. She watched confused as the three other guys at the table glared at Lantis, "Uh…what's going on? Who are these people?"
"Fuu-chan!" Hikaru grabbed her friend in a hug, "These," she looked back at them as they walked to the table, "Are my brothers, Satoru, Kakeru and Maseru."
"Oh," Fuu smiled at them and bowed, "Nice to meet you."
"This is the Magic Knight of Wind, Fuu," Hikaru told them, and they stood and bowed back.
"This is my sister Kuu," Fuu introduced her, "This is the Magic Knight of Fire, Hikaru."
"Nice to meet you," after the formalities were over they sat at the table, and didn't need to explain because Fuu had explained it all already to her sister.
§§§~~~
She stumbled out of the room she was in without even thinking where she was. She walked around, and her leather boots made no noise on the floor. As her memories cleared and her head stopped spinning, she began to think about where she was. She remembered these walls, and this place, "Cephiro…" tears welled in her eyes, "I don't want to be here…"
"But obviously you did to end up here," a voice behind her told her, and she turned and found the Master Mage of Cephiro. She looked down almost as a reaction.
"No I don't," she said firmly, "Send me home."
"You'll die there, and only you can send you home," his voice was so gentle, so knowing, "At least look around, maybe you'll find something you like," he turned and walked the other way, thinking.
She was so skinny, so sick, it made him want to kill someone. It was even worse than when he had first found her so many years ago. She was taller, and her hair was still bright blue and long; her eyes were dull though, they had lost their shine, their elegance and power. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to look at her, and though he was ashamed he turned and let her find her own way around. Let her fend for herself, again, as always.
She scowled and turned, walking the other way. She thought that she might as well make the best of it, and her stomach was growling.
§§§~~~
She walked around, in complete silence, looking around her. She thought that these must be the gates to the afterlife, so she was carefree except for the pain that her daughter might have to bear the pain of her death.
"Who might you be?" a friendly voice made her turn, and she smiled at the girl who asked the question.
"I am…" she didn't get to finish because a tall man clad in black armor stepped beside the girl with long golden flowing hair in the white dress and answered for her.
"She is the Magic Knight of Wind's mother. Clef told me we might be expecting her," he told the girl, and she smiled at her.
"Oh, well then you are most certainly welcome here, any relative of Umi's is a friend of ours," she smiled warmly, and her mother smiled back.
"Arigato, but where may I ask is Umi? I mean, where am I? I think I know, but I'm not sure, and still I don't know how I got here," she sounded confused.
"You are in Cephiro as I'm sure you've guessed, and your daughter is here," Clef told her and looked down, "You are in as poor condition as she is though; you should eat something. You came here because your daughter willed your safety and her own, this place is the safest there is, thanks to them."
"We were put through a lot," she looked down, "But now that we're here any doubt I might've had about this place is erased. Could someone show me to my daughter?"
"We'd be glad to," the girl smiled, "I am Emeraude, the Princess of Cephiro and this is Zagato, the Head Priest."
"Nice to meet you," her mother bowed, and they walked toward the dining hall.
Emeraude frowned when she saw Clef wasn't following them, "Guru are you not coming?"
He shook his head and turned the other way; he needed to think.
Umi's mother frowned as she watched him leave; she remembered the pain caused to her daughter by him though she refused to admit that she loved him. She could see it every time Umi spoke of him; it was obvious.
"What is that all about?" Zagato mused, and Emeraude shook her head so that her hair flew out amazingly behind her.
"I don't have the slightest clue."
§§§~~~
"Umi-chan!"
"Umi-san!"
They both ran to her, and tears fell down her cheeks as she hugged them close.
"Fuu…Hikaru," she closed her eyes, "I can't believe you're here."
"God Umi," Hikaru whispered as they pulled back and looked at her, "What did they do to you?"
"It's quite a long story," Umi responded and looked down, "My mother died, I don't know how, I guess starvation, and then I remember I stopped breathing, but then I was here, so I guess before I died I was brought here. I wasn't meant to die because you guys were here, but now…"
"Umi," her mother called, and she spun on her heels.
"Mom?" she flew into her mother's arms, and tears poured down her cheeks, "But how?"
"That's what we were going to tell you Umi," Hikaru grinned.
"The people that we love were brought with us. The war caused us to want them here, and so when they were killed, they weren't really, they were just sent here," Fuu explained.
"But…I found your body," she protested, not wanting to get hurt again.
"It was only an illusion dear," her mother soothed her worries, and she looked around her.
"I can't believe this."
"It is pretty unbelievable," a boy on the other side of the room responded to her comment.
"Who are these people?" Umi looked at all the new faces.
"Well this is my mom and dad," Hikaru introduced the newcomers to the breakfast table, "And my brothers, Satoru, Maseru and Kakeru."
"Please don't say pleased to meet you and bow and all that; we've had enough of that for one day," Maseru begged, and Umi grinned.
"I actually wasn't going to; I've lived in America too long to worry about that."
"See Americans aren't all that bad," Kakeru jabbed a girl that looked a lot like Fuu in the ribs.
"That's my sister Kuu," Fuu told her, and Umi smiled.
"And this is the Magic Knight of Water, Umi," Hikaru and Fuu chorused.
"Well now that that's over can we please eat?" Umi whined, "I'm starving!"
They laughed and the meal was served, but no one could deny the sadness in the Water Knight's eyes.
*There is one more chapter ahhh! But that's all I swear! I actually finished, but the chapter was too long so I split it into two. By the way! I have a great idea for a sequel to this involving the Magic Knights and their daughters and uh…maybe something about going back to earth? Well I have some really good ideas, tell me what you think. Oh ! And it wouldn't be this long did I apologize for that by the way? Well if I haven't I'm really sorry!*
Tori:
Oh I know you love to turn this little blue girl baby Upsidedown
But my heart it says
You've been shatter shatter shatter SHATTER shattered
And I know you're still a boy still comin' out of your mother
But when you gonna stand on your own?
I say the world is sick
You say tell me what that makes us darlin'
You see
You always find my faults
Faster than you find your ownYou say the world is getting rid of her DEMONS
I say baby what have you been smokin'?
~Tori Amos, Upsidedown, from the Winter Single, Little Earthquakes