Impossible Decisions
Ch. 6: A Second Too Fast
Umi plummeted into the room, searching frantically for Clef. "Guru! PROBLEM! Really big problem! Problem beyond all problems! Problem that the Creator himself would be floored by! VERY big problem!"
"Umi! Calm down! What's wrong?" asked the violet haired mage, concern evident in his eyes.
"LANTIS!!! That's the problem! Right there, Lantis! Coming straight down the hall! Guess who's he looking for."
Before Clef had a chance to reply, the hysterical girl cried out, "Hikaru, of course! Hikaru! The nutcase, who I'd be lecturing if it weren't for this little change of events, right there! LANTIS IS HERE TO SEE HER!"
"Yes, yes, I assumed that, Knight. Now please, Fuu, calm Umi down." Clef's head was spinning from the sudden barrage of events, and he was barely maintaining a grasp on everything. He quickly walked down the hall, already deciding that Eagle be the one to break the news to Hikaru's lover.
Hikaru watched everything with vacant eyes, but didn't comment at all. Using her own will, she calmed Umi down with a wave of her hand. The new Pillar slowly stood up, and after casting one more silencing gaze around the room, glided out the door. "I must make preparations. A meeting with our allies will be held soon. Cephiro may gain a new supporter, if I play my cards correctly."
Umi, Fuu and Ferio, the current residents of the room, gaped after her. Watching and listening to the marionette that was once Hikaru, it sent chills up their spine. It was stunning, how detached and emotionless she was now. The scary part was that she wasn't hiding her emotions, she just didn't have them anymore. It was… strange. Very strange.
~*~
Primera could barely hide her glee as Eagle continued to explain the situation to Lantis. Lantis had his face set in the usual stony glare, but his eyes held a rage never before seen. Lafarga and Caldina hovered nearby, not daring to come closer, but still watching in case Lantis lost his temper. His family line had proven to be a bit unpredictable when it concerned the Pillar.
"You mean, Hikaru has become the Pillar again? Why would she do such an idiotic thing!?! Is she all right? The Creator… I will have his puffy little body sliced in two for this!" Lantis continued to rant in a low, threatening voice, his dark eyes glaring at nothing.
Eagle gulped, why the fuck was he doing this? He was having a hard enough time himself, not quite understanding Hikaru's sudden decision. His own heart ached to see Hikaru's vibrant smile or to hear her giggle. He would die to be able to see her skip down the halls, chattering to her friends. But he knew he couldn't break down now, Lantis was doing a good enough job for the both of them. And the dark haired swordsman couldn't know how Eagle felt, the whole situation would just become worse.
"There's more."
Primera leaned forward in the air, eager to hear more dirt on Lantis's so-called beloved. Lantis stopped his muttering and stared at Eagle, willing him to continue.
"She gave up her emotions. The Creator took her soul, leaving her only with an idea of what she must do. What her mission is."
The young fairy blinked in shock, while Lantis was paralyzed into disbelief. Primera had had no idea of Hikaru's undying love for Cephiro, and she was certainly impressed. At the same time she was quite obviously happy to have Hikaru out of the way. The intelligent pixy also noted that Eagle's eyes were strangely broken, and his voice had lost his usual cheeriness.
~*~
Lantis took a few deep breaths, preparing himself for what he might see beyond the heavy metal door. Finally, he pushed through the obstacle, and took his first sight of the new Pillar.
To the human eye, she was still Hikaru. Her soft red hair was still as long and unruly as ever, except now it had been bound tightly into a bun. No change had been administered to her creamy skin and untouched body. Her face kept it's cute, almost perfect, features and her eyes still had their gem-like quality. But something was missing… Something that made Hikaru, Hikaru. It wasn't the fight, oh, no, that was certainly still there. Hidden behind her concern for Cephiro, but it was there.
No… something else…
It finally dawned on Lantis. Her innocence. It had been ripped away from her very soul the same way Emeraude's heart had been when she fell in love with his brother. Those gems of hers, her fearsome red eyes, held a wisdom beyond her age. A sad wisdom.
"Hikaru…"
The Pillar, who had been sizing him up, gave no reaction save for one word. "Hello."
The hollow greeting hit him like a swing from Fuu's sword, but the strong man refused to show it. "I was away at Autozam for business, but I'm back now."
"I've noticed that," Hikaru put down the heavy book in her hands, and turned her body to face him directly. There was a cynical edge to her voice that had never been there before, and Lantis cringed inwardly. He never knew how painful it was to see a loved one change so dramatically. Change willingly. Zagato had changed a bit when he fell in love with the Pillar; but it was a slow, almost unrealistic, kind of change.
"I've missed you."
For a second, a slight wave of recognition passed through Hikaru, but it was quickly hidden away again. She just stared at him, unsure of what answer to give him. Finally she said, rather hesitantly, "You are a great advantage to Cephiro's army. Cephiro is glad to have you back."
A small smile played on Lantis's lips; he had noticed that tiny tremor. "By Cephiro, are you referring to yourself?"
The Pillar didn't reply, but only glared at him. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying. Now I must request that you leave, I have a meeting to attend."
Lantis turned to leave, but then he paused and looked over his shoulder. A barely visibly spark of humor was in eyes. He slowly turned and walked closer to her. Hikaru shrank away slightly, not expecting this. Lantis leaned down, till his face was barely an inch from hers. The Pillar looked at him warily, probably planning to slap him the second he got closer. Instead of a kiss, however, the swordsman smiled mischievously and pinched her ass.
"Oh!" Hikaru quickly stepped away, and a slight look of embarrassment crossed her face before quickly being replaced by stone. "That's enough of your mischief, Cail Lantis. I request that you remove yourself immediately from my sight."
Lantis didn't reply, but gently grabbed her shoulders. With a slight smirk he whipped her around to face the wall. He lowered his head until his mouth was right next to her ear, and whispered, "There."
"I'm afraid you misunderstood me–," Hikaru was cut short as Lantis's arms found their way around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her neck gently, ignoring her squirming.
"Before I left, you gave me a promise." Lantis's lips gently greeted her ear lobe, lightly tugging on her earlobe.
Hikaru might have been void of feelings, but her memory was working perfectly. Her face paled considerably at his words. "I'm afraid I can't fulfill such a promise."
Lantis kissed her cheek, and Hikaru didn't squirm this time. "Why not?"
The redhead was stony quiet for a few seconds before turning her head to face him. "Because I don't love you."
The Cail stopped his advances at these words. He felt his own heart shatter within him at the finality of her words, and he let his arms slide off her body. She cautiously turned to face him. The Pillar looked somewhat surprised at his shock and she softly added, "I'm sorry." For she might have been emotionless, but there was a pity there. The part of her that kept her human enough to be the Pillar. Not quite love, certainly not hate, but a strange forgiving sorrow for her people.
Lantis stepped back from her and stared at her pitying face for a second. He turned away, and made his way to the door. Without looking back, he softly murmured, "I'm sorry, too."
He left a second before a tiny tear escaped Hikaru's eyes, a second too fast for the Creator. A Second Too Fast.
~*~
"LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" The tiny fairy pounded her miniature fists against the glass walls of the strong cage.
Presea licked her lollypop, a gift from the Knights, before responding, "No."
"You bitch! How could you this to me? Where's MY LANTIS?!?"
"He's not yours, he's Hikaru's." She licked her lollypop again, and continued to leaf through Fuu's Reader's Digest. These 'Earth' people never failed to amuse Presea. There pictures alone were fascinating. Not to mention these stories… Hospitals? Something about nurses? Basketball? Who were The Beatles? The pictures of food looked absolutely tantalizing, though.
"NO! Never! That greedy redhead can't steal away my precious Lantis! I've known him much longer than she has. I've seen him in rather intimate situations."
Presea scoffed and replied, "I'm sure Hikaru's seen him in some rather intimate positions. All you've probably done is spy on him while he was changing. Now if anyone did that to me, I'd give them a punishment they'd remember till the end of their days." She smiled, and drifted off to dreamland again. "First I'd pin their ears, and then tie their arms back. After that I'd strip them down and hang them from the highest point of the castle, and then they'd know how it feels to be spied on when they're naked."
Primera was absolutely fuming by now, but didn't respond. The echoes of boots clacking came to their attention, and Presea and Primera turned. A rather disheartened Lantis came into view. He walked towards them, and plucked the glass walls off the cage. "Thank you for watching Primera, Presea."
"No problem. Err, how did it go?"
Lantis's eyes flashed, and Presea immediately regretted asking the question. "She's NOT Hikaru."
"Yeah, I know. It hurts everyone." Presea put down her magazine and stood up. She was a couple feet shorter than him, it seemed, and she strained to look into his eyes. "Hey, Hikaru loves you. You know she does, that girl in there isn't Hikaru, she's some clone who just looks like her. And Hikaru was never Hikaru because of her looks!"
The swordsman smiled sadly, and nodded. "Yes, I know. Once again, I thank you Presea."
"HEY! Blondie! Don't you get too close to my Lantis either!" Primera loomed into her face, and glared. "Besides, don't you have that wizard kid to mess with at night?"
Presea turned an interesting shade of red and purple, and Lantis quickly trapped her little face behind his hand. "Err, I have to leave now, Presea. Good bye."
To Be Continued
Author note time!
Thought I was dead, didn't you? Well, HA HA!!! ^^ Sarah's alive and kicking! I hope you weren't too bored by this story, and sorry if any of the dialogue offended you. I just finished watching Angel Cop again. ^^;; Good anime, ya know. Kinda gory though. Lucifer is THE coolest villain-chick in the world! (What a name, though, eh?)
Anyway, let's chat about the story itself, now. Well, I had wanted to squish the meeting with the other countries in here, but I had a brilliant idea instead! (Yeah, I know, it's just scary when I get one of those.) I narrowed the name of the new country down to a couple of choices, and I want you guys to review and tell me which one you want. Or you can submit one yourself, but I prefer you use one of the ones I chose.
B.T.W., this planet is based completely around music. Basically, it's a planet that is run by energy created by music. O_o Weird, but true! Believe it or not, eh folks?
Akime (Ah-keem-eh) Meloda (Mel-oh-dah) Symphony (Sim-fa-nee) – Not really a made up one, eh? Serenada (Ser-en-ah-da) Billad (Bee-lad)
Oh, and the next chapter might be where Aska chats about the Samurai and the Whore, as well as explain how the monarchy system in Fahren works.
