Chapter Three: Fahren and Chizeta arrive!

A huge dragon glides through the sky, its destination known to its occupants and the place it was heading to. A little girl laughs (if you could call it laughter) gleefully as she watches the landscape get closer.

"We'll be in Cephiro soon! We'll be Cephiro's Pillar!" Lady Aska of Fahren shouted, before laughing some more.

"My Lady………………." Chanan, Aska's elderly advisor mutters, in exasperation. Aska ignored him.

"We are the Crown Princess Aska of Fahren! We are invincible!" Aska shouted, then continued on her ego trip.

Coming in from the opposite direction, another battleship was emerging from space. It's purpose was the same.

"So, that is the country of magic, Cephiro?" Tarta asked, as she eyed the desolate waste below her.

"Is that Cephiro? My, it is small, isn't it? That's probably as small as our country." Tatra said, with a good-natured giggle. That made her sister go ballistic.

"Y'know, we've finally made it to Cephiro! Don't rain on my parade when I'm getting all psyched up, Tatra!" Tarta shouted, furiously.

"Don't be mean, Tarta. I'm the older sister." Tatra sniffled, then her mood brightened, "But the way you talked just now, Tarta,……………." Tatra said, leaving her thought dangling.

"Anyway…….we must get to Cephiro as soon as possible!" Tarta said, urgently, getting an agreement from Tatra.

"Cephiro, get ready! Tarta and Tatra are going to take you!" Tarta shouted, determinedly.

At Cephiro Castle, Yukito was again standing at the window, gazing out at the sky. The darkness outside matched his mood.

"Yukito? Magic Knight Yukito? Is that you?" a woman's voice asked. Yukito whirled around to find a familiar young woman standing there.

"Sera-san! It's so good to see you again!" Yukito said, his mood immediately brightened by seeing a familiar face.

"It's good to see you too, Yukito! I barely recognized you when you were standing there. You looked so sad and distant." Sera said, as Yukito's mahogany eyes clouded over with sorrow.

"I keep thinking of the way Cephiro used to be, and how it got to be like it is now." Yukito said, gloomily.

"You're still thinking about the Pillar, aren't you?" Sera asked.

"Yes. Such a tragic thing should never have happened. The Pillar had to sacrifice not only her life, but also her heart; it's too cruel a fate for anyone to have to live with. As Hikaru-san had said when we got back to Tokyo, it wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair." Yukito said, softly. Then a violent rumbling sounded close by, shaking the castle to its foundations.

"W-what's going on?!" Yukito asked, as he fell down, after trying in vain to keep his balance.

"I think another piece of Cephiro has fallen away!" Sera shouted.

"The girls…………." Yukito trailed off, as he dashed back to the bedrooms, worry for his female companions creasing his brow. Just as he entered their hallway, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu appeared, running in the opposite direction.

"Minna-san!" Yukito shouted, over the roar.

"Yukito-san!" Fuu yelped, relieved to see him.

"Yukito-chan! We're going to the observatory! Come on!" Hikaru shouted. Yukito nodded and ran after her.

Clef turned when he heard the voices of the Magic Knights calling out to him, asking if he was all right. With a quick movement, Clef opened the doors, revealing the four pale-faced and worried teens. Ferio and Presea, who had been in the observatory with Clef when the tremor had struck, smiled when Hikaru and her group entered.

"Clef, what was that tremor?" Hikaru asked.

"Cephiro has started breaking apart again, and very quickly at that." Clef said, getting a collective gasp from the four Knights.

"Then we have very little time left." Umi murmured, getting an agreement from Fuu and Yukito.

"What's worse, is that Autozam is closing in." Clef said, as he willed an illusion screen to appear and it showed the battleship's location.

"I think it is time we paid a visit to Autozam and see what they want. Are you with me, Minna-san?" Yukito asked, as he turned to look at his comrades.

"I agree with you, Yukito-chan." Hikaru said, as Fuu and Umi nodded in agreement.

"Be careful, you four. Autozam has proven to be quite unpredictable thus far." Ferio said, concerned for their safety.

"Don't worry. I'll protect the girls." Yukito said, knowing that Ferio worried about Fuu and Clef worried about Umi.

"We are also worried about you, Yukito. You've been getting very little sleep here lately." Presea said, with concern in her voice. Yukito smiled.

"Don't worry, Presea-san, I'll be careful." Yukito said, before he and the other Knights left the observatory.

"Selece!"

"Windam!"

"Yue!"

"Rayearth!"

With four shouts, the four Mashin were summoned and the Magic Knights left the castle, hoping that they would be able to talk to Eagle of Autozam and ask him why he was attacking. With their mission in their minds, the four Magic Knights crossed the distance and landed on the platform of the battleship. There, waiting for them, was Eagle's white mecha.

"Well, here goes. I hope we can talk to him." Yukito thought, as he and his fellow Knights descended from the Mashin and stood before the mecha. They watched as Eagle got out of the mecha and approach them. Eagle had to admit, he was impressed by these teenagers from another world, as he looked at each one, he read their personalities from their eyes. Yet, when he got to Yukito, he was startled. Yukito's eyes were almost exactly like his!

"Well, I see that you have decided to visit me, Legendary Magic Knights! Yet I know that you didn't exactly come up for tea. I have introduced myself already to you four, but, what are your names?" Eagle asked, wanting to be polite, despite the circumstances.

"I am Hikaru Shidou." Hikaru said, quietly.

"Umi Ryuuzaki." Umi replied, simply.

"Fuu Houoji." Fuu said, her voice, as usual, soft.

"And I am Yukito Tsukishiro." Yukito said, as he looked directly into Eagle's eyes.

"So you are the one who repulsed me so strongly yesterday! Lantis had told me that there was one male Magic Knight, according to the legend. It seems that the legend has become reality. So, why have you four come up here?" Eagle asked, first addressing Yukito, then turning his attention to the rest.

"We would like to know why you're attacking Cephiro. What are you after?" Hikaru asked.

"Why would that be of any concern to you?" Eagle asked, casually.

"It's something we need to discuss, Eagle Vision-kun." Yukito said, quietly.

"Well, if you really want to know…………..?!" Eagle trailed off when something caught his eye. Instinctively, Yukito turned around and looked, gasping at what he saw. A giant dragon had just emerged from the clouds.

"I've got a bad feeling about this………………." Yukito thought, as the owner of the dragon announced herself.

"I am Aska of Fahren! I demand that you leave Cephiro right now!" a girl's voice screeched.

"Hmm………….seems as though we have some company………sorry I can't stay, Magic Knights. I've got to see what Fahren is up to." Eagle said, before promptly flying off. Within moments, the Magic Knights were in hot pursuit, though in some ways they didn't know what they were flying into. Almost as though they could hear Yukito's foreboding thoughts, something appeared in their path.

"What is that?!" Fuu asked, as the thing turned to face them.

"It looks almost like a Chinese lion." Yukito suggested, before the thing rushed at them.

"Whoa!" Umi yelped, as they all moved quickly to avoid the monster.

"Where did it come from?! It just appeared from nowhere!" Hikaru shouted, as she and her comrades whipped out their swords.

"It is an illusion." Rayearth said, as they all dodged another attack.

"An illusion?" Fuu asks, confused.

"Yes. It is an illusion only the Royal Family of Fahren can make." Windam replies, wisely.

"Hmm…………..then it must take a strong heart to make illusions in Fahren." Yukito observed.

"That is correct, Magic Knight." Yue said, coolly.

"Then they must be after the Pillar, as well." Yukito murmured, before swiping at the lion with his sword. After a scuffle with the lion, Yukito and the other Knights returned to the castle. As they filed into the main audience chamber, Yukito noticed that some new faces were among those they knew.

"Kero! Get down from there! KERBEROS!" one mage shouted, furiously, as an elfin man with wings flew from one rafter to another in an effort to annoy his friend.

"Look out below!" Kerberos shouted, nearly landing on poor Innouva in the process.

"What are you trying to do?! Drive everyone in Cephiro insane?!" Innouva asked, his voice rising a little, as he berated the younger 'elf'.

"Aw, c'mon, Innouva! What's the fun of letting all this depress you? The least we can do is take everyone else's minds off of what is goin' on outside." Kerberos replied, then noticed that the Magic Knights had just come in.

"Hello!" Kerberos shouted, joyfully, as Innouva sighed in resignation.

"Hello! What's your name?" Hikaru asked.

"My name's Kerberos, but everybody (except Mage Eriol and Innouva) just calls me Kero. What's your name?" Kerberos asked.

"My name's Hikaru Shidou! It's a pleasure to meet you, Kero-chan!" Hikaru said, with a smile.

"He's so cheerful, he reminds me of you, Hikaru-san, the way you were when we first met." Fuu said, with a smile. Hikaru grinned back. Yukito smiled as well, pleased that the girls were smiling again. But there was still something that bothered him. As an impromptu meeting started in the center of the room between the mages and the Knights, Yukito's thoughts wandered. Throughout the meeting, some would turn their gazes to Yukito and look at his distant expression.

"Something is here in Cephiro. Something evil. It's like I can sense it, but I can't pinpoint where it is coming from. Does the Madoushi know what it is?" Yukito wondered, as Hikaru put forward a proposition that she and Lantis go out and look to see if there was anyone still outside of the castle. Yukito was against it, but there would be no convincing Hikaru otherwise.

"Yukito, you've been very distant since we first arrived back here. What's wrong?" Umi asked, when the meeting was over.

"I don't know, Umi-san. It's like I keep sensing something, but I don't know what it is or where it is. All I know is that it is evil and that it is somewhere in Cephiro." Yukito said, honestly.

"Have you told Clef about this yet?" Umi asked. Yukito shook his head.

"I have yet to do so. I am sure that he would have let the other mages know if he had sensed it as well." Yukito said, as Fuu caught up with them.

"Umi-san, Yukito-san, where are you two headed?" Fuu asked.

"I'm going to the residential area. I want to go see where Cephiro's people are." Yukito replied, then looked at Umi.

"I'm going to go by and see Clef. I'll ask him if he's sensed anything, okay, Yukito?" Umi queried.

"Okay. Arigato, Umi-san." Yukito said, before he parted company with the two girls. When he got to the residential quarters, Yukito was amazed by what he saw. Instead of seeing something like what was in the futuristic movies of his world, he saw what almost looked like a world within a room. Trees and flowers of every kind grew and fountains flowed with clear, clean water.

"Hello mister!" a voice chirped. Yukito looked down to see a little girl standing there.

"Hello! What's your name?" Yukito asked, as he got down on bent knee so he could be at eye level with the girl.

"My name's Mira, what's yours?" the girl asked, happily.

"My name is Yukito. You've got a very pretty name, Mira!" Yukito said, with a smile.

"Thank you! You've got a pretty name too, Yuki!" Mira said, with a laugh.

"I wonder if Hikaru-san was like this when she was little?" Yukito wondered, as he continued to smile at the girl.

"You've got very pretty eyes, too!" Mira said, catching Yukito somewhat off guard.

"Why, thank you!" Yukito said, laughing when she took his by the hand and started tugging him in the direction of her friends.

"Hey everyone! This is my new friend, Yuki!" Mira shouted, as she led Yukito over. The children's eyes lit up when they saw Yukito, and they started asking him a million questions, most of them about his glasses, and some of them about his being a Magic Knight. Yukito smiled and laughed; it felt good to forget about what had happened and not think about the grim situation outside. From the shadows, Innouva and Sera watched, knowing that this was just the kind of distraction Yukito needed. Then, abruptly, the moment ended. Yukito stood bolt upright; Hikaru was in danger! Muttering apologies to the children, he rushed off, his armor changing as he ran.

"Yue!" Yukito shouted, calling on his Mashin and leaving before Umi and Fuu had even gotten their swords out.

"Please…………hang on, Hikaru-san!" Yukito thought, as he flew in the direction he knew Hikaru to be in.