Chapter Four: The Darkness of Everyone's Hearts; Debonair!

Yukito could feel it, Hikaru was in terrible danger. She was fighting something she had no chance of winning.

"Yukito-san! Wait for us!" Fuu shouted, as she and Umi struggled to keep up with him. Silently, Yukito cursed himself; how could he have been so foolish as to let Hikaru go alone with Lantis?!

"Don't push yourself, Magic Knight. Your body can barely take it." Yue said, with concern tugging at the edges of his voice.

"I know, Yue, I know! But I must live up to the promises I've made to protect the girls! Those promises include Hikaru-san!" Yukito said, as Hikaru came into sight below him. She had just summoned Rayearth and another Mashin stood in front of hers; this one radiating with evil power.

"Another Mashin?!" Umi yelped.

"Minna! That Mashin………………..!" Yukito trailed off when something flashed in front of him and the familiar and reassuring sight of Cephiro Castle disappeared from the landscape. Then laughter echoed across the barren landscape.

"Nani……….?!" Yukito asked, as he looked around.

"What is this place?!" Umi asked, as she looked around.

"This is yet another dimension. One that the evil Mashin is creating." Selece replied, calmly.

"The twisted reflection of a twisted heart." Yukito murmured, as he watched the dark Mashin closely.

"Who are you? Why did you bring us here?" Fuu asked. There was another bone-chilling laugh and a voice answered.

"Because I want to play with Hikaru! I also want to show my love for her by killing everyone and everything she loves!" the voice replied, before shooting some arrows made of fire at them.

"Guardian Wind!" Fuu shouted, as she brought up her wind barrier.

"Moon Shield!" Yukito cried, also bringing up his barrier.

"I'm going to kill you!" the voice screamed, as she charged at the four Knights.

"White Avalanche!" Yukito shouted, sending his most powerful attack at their enemy.

"Flame Arrow!" the stranger screamed, sending a barrage of fiery arrows at him, melting his attack and lancing his shoulder with one of the arrows. Yukito cried out in agony as the arrow passed through and fell back clutching his shoulder. As his consciousness started to fade, Yukito heard Hikaru attack and heard the sickening sound of her sword breaking.

"How could this be? Hikaru-san's sword has broken…………………?" Yukito wondered, as darkness enveloped him. In the darkness, Yukito could hear laughter; cruel laughter with no humor behind it. Briefly, he saw a woman standing there, her cold purple eyes glaring down at him.

"Fool…………You'll never win! Never!" the woman sneered, as she disappeared from view.

"Yukito-san…………" Fuu murmured, as she gazed at the still form of the young man. He'd been unconscious since their battle against Nova, even though Fuu had healed his shoulder.

"He never said anything about feeling tired………He kept telling us that he was all right. Why did he worry so much about us?" Umi asked, as she brushed a stray strand of silvery gray hair off of Yukito's pale face.

"I don't know. He's always been so concerned about protecting us, even after we returned to Tokyo." Fuu murmured, going silent when Yukito stirred slightly.

"Yukito?" Umi asked, hoping that he was about to awaken.

"U-umi-san? Daijobu ka?" Yukito murmured, weakly.

"Hai. How do you feel?" Umi asked, gently.

"A little tired, but I guess I'm all right." Yukito said, as he slowly sat up.

"I'm glad to see that you're all right, Yukito." Umi said, then noticed Yukito's expression change.

"Where is Hikaru-san? Is she all right?" Yukito asked, worried about the red-haired girl.

"She's fine. She was in shock after her sword broke, but she seems to be recovering." Umi said, alarmed when Yukito started to get up.

"Yukito-san! You mustn't!" Fuu said, trying her best to keep Yukito from overexerting himself again.

"I must see for myself, Fuu-san!" Yukito cried, as he grabbed his glove, waited a few seconds for his clothes to appear, then dashed out of the room.

"Yukito!" Umi shouted, as she and Fuu chased him all the way to Hikaru's room. Hikaru looked up, startled when she heard a loud knock at her door.

"Who is it?" Hikaru asked.

"Hikaru-san! Are you all right?" Yukito's voice replied.

"Yukito-chan!" Hikaru yelped, quickly opening the door and hugging the male Magic Knight.

"Thank goodness you're all right! I was so afraid that something had happened to you!" Yukito said, as he hugged the redhead back.

"I'm fine! But I thought you were dead, Yukito-chan! Fuu-chan couldn't get you to wake up! I thought you had died just like Presea had!" Hikaru bawled, tears of relief flowing down her face.

"I'm fine, Hikaru-san, just a little tired, that's all. I've been so worried about you girls that I haven't been resting properly. I guess it caught up with me during the last battle." Yukito murmured, feeling tired now, now that he knew Hikaru was safe.

"You don't have to worry, Yukito-chan. I'm fine. Fuu-chan and Umi-chan are fine. It's just that I am no longer of any use to you. I can't summon Rayearth without my sword." Hikaru said, sadly.

"Hikaru-san, listen to me," Yukito said, as he tilted Hikaru's chin up, so that now she was looking into his eyes. "You are not useless. It doesn't matter whether or not you have a sword or a Mashin, you are still Hikaru Shidou. Even if you can't fight alongside us in the flesh, your heart is with us. Besides, I'm sure that there is a way to revive your sword and Rayearth. Don't give up on us now, Hikaru-san. We need that bright smile of yours to lighten up this dismal world." Yukito said, gently. Hikaru nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Arigato, Yukito-chan." Hikaru said, with a smile.

"You're welcome, Hikaru-san." Yukito said, as he led Hikaru out of her room, to where Umi and Fuu waited in the hallway.

"You heard what was said in there?" Hikaru asked.

"Hai. Yukito-san is right. Even if you can no longer fight, you are still one of my best friends, Hikaru-san." Fuu said, as she hugged her friend. Umi joined in the hug while Yukito watched, his eyes warm. Later, while the girls were off doing something with Caldina and Presea (not that, potential hentai readers!) Yukito wandered the halls, not watching where he was going and running into someone.

"Gomen! I wasn't watching where I was going!" Yukito yelped, jumping back and looking up at who he'd run into.

"It's all right." A calm voice replied.

"You're Lantis, aren't you?" Yukito asked.

"Yes. And you are the Moon Knight, Yukito. Hikaru's friend." Lantis said, as he gazed at the youth before him.

"Hai. Lantis-kun, what happened out there when you were with Hikaru? How did that evil Mashin attack her?" Yukito asked. Lantis looked taken aback by the straightforwardness, but proceeded to speak with his usual icy calm.

"I don't know. She was first attacked by Eagle and taken to Autozam's battleship. I tried to protect her, but I was prevented from doing so by an old friend of yours." Lantis said, quietly.

"An old friend? Was there someone I knew still out in that wasteland?" Yukito asked, confused.

"My attacker was a sorceress by the name of Alcione." Lantis replied. That shocked Yukito.

"Alcione?! She's still alive?!" Yukito asked, not bothering to keep his voice down.

"Yes. But her mind is………….." Lantis trailed off when something crossed his senses.

"Yukito! Lantis!" Clef's voice shouted in their minds.

"Madoushi!" Yukito exclaimed, as he and Lantis started running towards the observatory.

"Yukito, the other countries have just begun their attack! You, Fuu, and Umi must go and see if you can stop them!" Clef explained, mentally.

"Right! Sorry, Lantis-kun, but our conversation must wait!" Yukito shouted, as he dashed to the aeries where Umi and Fuu now waited.

"Selece!"

"Windam!"

"Yue!"

With that, the three Magic Knights left the castle.

"I feel bad about leaving Hikaru back there." Umi said, gloomily.

"I know, but until she can revive her sword, we'll have to go out without her." Yukito replied, quietly.

"I agree. It would be far too dangerous for her to come with us without her Mashin." Fuu agreed.

"Next to impossible." Windam said, contributing to the conversation for the first time.

"I wonder what else is going to happen?" Umi asked, speaking her thoughts aloud. Within moments, they were confronted by what looked like beefed up genies.

"You had to ask, Umi-san." Yukito muttered, as he armed himself and prepared for battle.

"Oh! Look Tarta! Aren't they just adorable?" Tatra asked, as the images of the three Mashin appeared on the screen in front of them. Tarta muttered something obscene under her breath, then got back to the business at hand.

"Tatra, pay attention!" Tarta shouted, as she and Tatra started communicating with their Djinn by dancing.

"W-what are they doing?" Umi asked, as the two genies danced in front of them.

"I think they're dancing, Umi-san…………" Fuu replied, as the two genies ended up facing one another.

"Fuu-san! Umi-san! Move!" Yukito shouted, as he got in front of them, just before the two genies fired a blast of white-hot light.

"Yukito!" Umi cried, as the blast came in.

"Moon Shield!" Yukito shouted, putting up his barrier in front of the blast.

Ooooh! That damn thing! It deflected our blast!" Tarta shouted, furiously. Tatra merely giggled and shook her head, knowing that her hotheaded sister would go nuts if they lost.

"Shall we keep fighting then, Tarta?" Tatra asked.

"Of course! We didn't come all this way to lose!" Tarta shouted, as she got her sister to help again.

"Water Dragon!" Umi shouted, sending her spell at the two genies. The genies casually sucked the water up, as though it was nothing more than the water coming from a water fountain.

"That's disgusting!" Umi screeched, as her attack was swallowed.

"I must agree with you on that, Umi-san." Yukito muttered, not wanting to believe what he'd just seen.

"That's disgusting!" Aska of Fahren said, looking a little green as she watched the goings on with her crystal ball.

"Those are the Djinn of Chizeta's princesses." Chanan said, dismayed when he saw that Aska didn't know what they were.

"The Djinn are the Guardian Spirits of Chizeta's princesses. That would almost make them like knights." Sanyun said, matter-of-factly.

"We don't want disgusting knights like that." Aska muttered, as she searched her quarters for a barf bag.

"These things are weird! They are really weird!" Umi shouted, as the two genies smiled at them.

"Which country are these things from?" Fuu asked.

"Those are the Guardian Spirits, the Djinn, of Chizeta." Selece said, in response to Fuu's question.

"Guardian Spirits?" Yukito asked.

"They protect the two princesses of Chizeta." Windam said, before Umi started on another tirade.

"S-spirits……..are supposed to be cute." Umi said, sulkily.

"Who says?" Yue asked, coolly. Then, as suddenly as the two Djinn had appeared, another adversary appeared on the scene; a giant!

"Whoa!" Yukito yelped, as the thing swiped at them, then turned and looked at Chizeta's Djinn. As they watched, Yukito became vaguely aware that something was watching them.

"Umi-san, Fuu-san, do you feel…………….?!" Yukito was interrupted by something slashing his side.

"Yukito-san!" Fuu yelped, before something grabbed her and Umi, preventing them from going after Yukito. As Yukito fell, his mind repeated the scenes of what had just happened, but he couldn't figure out what had just attacked him. He cried out when something else passed through his newly healed shoulder, causing even more pain.

"Magic Knight!" Yue shouted, before something grabbed onto Yukito.

"Huh?" Yukito thought, looking up at whatever had grabbed him and prevented his downward plunge. It was the white mecha from before!

"Eagle of Autozam………………….." Yukito thought, before consciousness left him.

Eagle sighed as he got back onto the battleship. He'd just captured another Magic Knight, but it wasn't the one he was hoping to catch. As he docked the FTO, he leaned the Mashin against the metal hand railing and got out. Zazu was sitting at his usual spot when a soft white light emanated from the Mashin.

"What the………?!" Zazu asked, as the light faded, leaving a young man standing there. Zazu gaped in horror at what he saw; the young man was covered in blood from a hole in his shoulder and side.

"Help…………." The young man whispered, before collapsing at Zazu's feet.

"Hey! Bridge! This is Zazu Torque! Get a med-team down here at once! The Magic Knight the Commander had brought back has been injured!" Zazu shouted, into his comm-link.

"We're on our way, Zazu." Geo replied, from his end, as Eagle helped Zazu stanch the Magic Knight's bleeding.

"I hope we're not too late to help him." Zazu said, as he applied pressure to the shoulder wound.

"I hope so too, Zazu, even though he is our enemy." Eagle murmured, as running feet heralded the arrival of the med-unit.

Far away, an evil being smiled in satisfaction. Her plan was running smoothly.

"Mother, when will I be able to play with Hikaru again?" Nova asked.

"Soon. Very soon." Debonair replied, as a sinister smile spread across her face.

"Very soon indeed." Debonair thought, before erupting into peals of evil laughter.