Chapter Ten: Embracing the Darkness and the Light

Once in the other dimension, an intense battle began. Yukito and the others had to keep alert at all times, since Nova was in control of the dimension itself.

"Flame Arrow!" Nova shouted, aiming at Yukito.

"Moon Arrow!" Yukito cried, defending himself by firing his attack directly at Nova's, destroying it in mid-flight.

"Look out! Behind you!" Eagle shouted at Umi and Fuu, who turned around too late and found out the hard way that Nova was using top-like weapons against them.

"Nova! Why do you want to kill everyone?!" Hikaru asked.

"Because Mother Debonair told me that it would make you happy………..and she said I got to kill everyone!" Nova said, as insanity ablaze in her eyes as she attacked again.

Back at the castle, the situation was getting steadily worse. The crumbling of Cephiro was reaching its final stages. Inside the castle, Ferio and the other Royals struggled to keep the people from panicking. Clef, in the meantime, had gone into the Crown Room, where the Proof of the Pillar was kept.

"The land that Princess Emeraude loved……………and the land that I love as well…………is dying. Presea." Clef called, telepathically. Presea looked up, as she sat with Alcione.

"Yes Madoushi?" Presea asked.

"From here on out, I will use all of my strength to protect this castle." Clef said, calmly.

"No! Clef! Don't do it! It's too dangerous!" Presea pleaded.

"Don't worry. I won't die. If I died, then there would be tears on the faces of the Magic Knights again! I don't have any intention of seeing their tears. So please, let the Magic Knights know." Clef thought, before he shifted his focus back to protecting the castle.

"CLEF NO!!!!!!!!!!" Presea screamed, as brilliant light emanated from the Crown Room and surrounded the castle, stabilizing it.

Back in the other dimension, Eagle had taken several crushing blows against him. As he drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness, a voice called out to him.

"Eagle…………………..Eagle!" Lantis called. Eagle opened his eyes.

"Lantis………………" Eagle replied, wincing from his wounds as he sat back up.

"Use the FTO to attack this Mashin." Lantis commanded.

"I won't do it. If you died, Hikaru would be devastated. I have no desire to see tears on the faces of any of the Magic Knights." Eagle said, as the FTO shot a net over Regalia, preventing it from making the killing blow on Yukito's Mashin.

"What?!" Nova asked, turning to look at where the net was coming from.

"Eagle!" Hikaru shouted, relieved to see that he was still alive. Nova growled.

"Get out of my way!" Nova screamed, as she attacked Eagle with the top-like weapons.

"Who said I was going to die? I intend to escape when Nova's powers are at their weakest. So attack this Mashin!" Lantis demanded. Eagle grimaced as electricity sparked around him then he nodded.

"All right……..come on FTO…………….GO!!!!!!!!!" Eagle shouted, as his command forced the FTO to its feet, then into the air, straight at Regalia.

"Huh?!" Nova asked, stunned that the severely damaged mecha was still able to fly. With fierceness, the FTO grabbed Regalia by the head, blasting it the entire time, then it jammed a clawed hand against the chest of the Mashin. Inside, Lantis winced, feeling the blow to Regalia's chest as though it had been his own chest that had been punched.

"Irazuma Shuurai!" Lantis shouted, summoning the lightning to strike where he was.

"No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nova screamed, as Lantis was removed from the gem on Regalia's chest by the FTO and Regalia was blown to oblivion by the lightning. Fuu gasped as the dimension melted away, revealing that they had been fighting in front of the castle the entire time! Gently, the FTO laid Lantis down on the ground, careful not to reopen any of his wounds. Inside the mecha, Eagle sat back, panting, as blood ran freely down his face.

"Lantis! Eagle!" Hikaru shouted. Yukito was relieved to see that Lantis was safely out of the evil Mashin. The moment was interrupted by an irate Debonair appearing behind them.

"You have ruined everything! You little bastard!" Debonair screamed, as she sent a ball of energy straight at Eagle. Eagle didn't stand a chance. The energy struck the FTO with the fiery fury of an atomic bomb.

"Lantis……………………please…………………make Hikaru…………happy. Sera, I'm sorry…………………" Eagle thought, before the FTO exploded into a fireball.

"EAGLE!" Hikaru screamed, as tears came to her eyes.

"EAGLE!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sera wailed, having seen the whole thing from her vantage point in the aeries. With a scream, Hikaru made the other three Mashin converge into Rayearth.

"Spiral of Light!" the four Knights shouted, sending their combined attack at Debonair. It didn't work. Lantis watched helplessly from where he was, the feeling of loss stealing over him.

"Eagle………………….." Lantis thought, as a few tears escaped his eyes. His best friend had just died, right before his eyes. He could hear the sounds of fighting nearby, but his mind was far away.

Back at the Autozamian battleship, tears were also being shed.

"Eagle!!! Eagle!!!!!!!" Zazu wailed, as he cried for his commander.

"That stubborn fool!" Geo said, as tears flowed freely down his face. All of the people on board the battleship donned their mourning armbands, knowing that their commander was not coming back.

Yukito sighed as he, Fuu and Umi flew back to the castle. In Yue's hands he carried a semi-conscious Lantis, who seemed to be in shock about Eagle's death.

"Are you sure we should have left her alone like that?" Umi asked.

"She must come to her own conclusions, Umi-san. She and Nova are the same person, only one happens to be the dark side of her heart. Let Hikaru-san settle things with Nova." Fuu said, still seeming to be a little angry, since she didn't add the suffix 'san' onto Nova's name.

"Lantis-kun, daijobu ka?" Yukito asked. It took Lantis a moment to reply.

"Hai……………." Lantis replied, in a voice so soft that Yukito had to strain his ears to hear him. When they landed, Fuu was quick to heal Lantis' physical wounds, but she knew that nothing could heal the ones on his heart. Without even thinking, Fuu hugged Lantis, offering a shoulder to cry on. Umi and Sera were quick to follow the example.

"Gomenasai, we couldn't save him." Fuu murmured, as Lantis closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears from falling.

A short while later, Hikaru returned, showing to them all that she was whole again. For a few minutes, Hikaru stayed near Lantis, consoling him in the only way she knew how. After that, she and the other Knights were off again, heading for the area Debonair called home.

"I can only hope that this will be the last battle." Yukito thought, as they all flew towards the darkness.