Chains of Destiny
Ch. 3: The Last Magic Knight
By Oniko
Hikaku rested on a bed of silk and velvet. She had very little strength so far from Cephiro. She had never before realized how much of her power came from the land. Now simple prayers took all of her energy and left her exhausted. First she had created this floating palace to house them. That was not a simple spell and it drained all of her reserve and put her in bed for several days. Since then she had been concealing the Magic Knights from scrying spells. That was what was keeping her in bed. Lantis must have suspected something but he never confronted her about it. He was too focused on "protecting" her from the Magic Knights.
It was ironic, really, that she had summoned the Knights so than no other innocents would die due to her failure as Pillar and now because of them she had lost nearly everyone. Ferio was the first friend she lost. Like so many others he had known when the Magic Knights were summoned and like too many of her friends he had decided to stop them. He met them at the Sacred Fountain of Eterna, the one that she and her friends had lead him to the first time she came to Cephiro. He had never forgotten its location, though she wished he had, and he died there. Lantis' scrying allowed them to see the last moments of Ferio's life but they were too far away to help him. He was a strike away from killing the Knight of Fire when the Knight of Air used her magic, her Winds of Admonishment to hold him, and her winds pulled the breath from his lungs. Hikaru could only watch in horror as he died. She didn't know Fuu's magic could kill like that.
It was after that incident that she started blocking the Knights from scrying spells. She thought that maybe if her friends couldn't find the Knights they would give up on trying to kill them, and she wouldn't lose anyone else. But it didn't turn out that way. Instead Lantis and the others planned ambushes at places they knew the magic knights had to go, specifically the mashin's temples. She tried to tell Lantis that he would only be aiding the Magic Knights, that the mashin would use them to test the Knights like they had tested Hikaru and her friends when Emeraude was the Pillar, but he didn't listen.
That was how they had lost Caldina. She faced the magic knights twice, once in the Sea Cave and once in the Floating Mountain. The first time she came back in tears, overcome by the painful memories of when she fought the Magic Knights before under Lord Zagato's command. The second time, she didn't come back at all. Of all of them only Clef was blessed with a peaceful death. He went to sleep one evening and simply didn't wake up. Presea had followed soon after but not before burning her library and destroying every last scrap of knowledge on the forging of Escudo.
Hikaru could hear Lantis softly calling her. She was awake, or at least as awake as she ever got lately. Now he wanted her to move, waste what little energy she had. She turned her head towards him and opened her eyes. Hopefully he didn't want anything more taxing from her.
"Lafarga is dead." He said. His face cold and unreadable although she could feel his pain radiating off of him in waves. Lafarga had been one of his closest friends, despite, or perhaps because of, their rocky start. If Lafarga failed that meant the Magic Knights had the last mashin and were heading here. "Send them back Hikaru. Don't make them do this."
"I can't." She said. Even if she stood in the center of Cephiro, even cloaked in all of her power, she wouldn't be able to send the Knights home. Only her death could do that.
"Then I must do what I must."
"Don't!" she forced herself up. "Please, don't do this."
"I must protect you, Hikaru, at all costs."
"Even if it means your life?"
"Even then." He said. "Even if it means the lives of those three girls. Even if it means the destruction of all of Cephiro. I would see you safe. I am not like my brother, I will not stand by and I will not fail."
"Lantis, they are just children, you can't."
"You should have thought of that before you summoned them." Then he was gone.
"Oh, Lantis. You are more like Zagato than you know." Hikaru said softly. There was nothing she could do anymore but wait. She leaned back down on the cushions and released the concealing spell. She felt almost instantly better without the continuous drain on her energy. With her mind and heart freed from the burden she could sense things around her. She could sense Lantis creating a mashin with which he would face the Magic Knights. She could already envision its final form. Black as a starless sky with dark jewels the color of Lantis' eyes on its breastplate. The helm would be a stylized horse-head with a crest of black hair flowing behind it. It was darkly beautiful and crafted of pain and rage. A mashin with which to kill the Magic Knights.
She could sense them coming now. They were almost to the palace. She didn't want to know what was going to happen next. But she was afraid to look away. The fight was brutal with swords and magic. Lantis was out numbered but his strength of heart more then made up for it. If the girls didn't find their own strength soon they would lose. At that moment Lantis' sword found its target, the Water Knight's heart. Everything froze for one breathless moment Hikaru could feel the Magic Knight dying. Her power fluttered and faded. Celes was gone, back to that other place where the mashin sleep. The other two Magic Knights were shocked by the death of their comrade but they were not weakened. The Knight of Fire was the strongest and the other Knight supported and strengthened her, fanning the flames of her rage. The magic was building, growing with the pain and rage into a single powerful blast that was aimed at Lantis.
"No!" Hikaru screamed, although no one could hear her. She focused her will and her power into a shield bolstered by her love and fear and threw it over Lantis seconds before the Magic Knights' combined power hit him. The blast slammed up against her shield with a terrible force and it shattered her hastily constructed barrier. The backlash of the broken spell combined with exhaustion slapped Hikaru down into the depths of unconsciousness.
When she awoke Hikaru was still lying in her bed. She was confused briefly before she remembered the fight between Lantis and the Magic Knights. She sat up, jerked awake by worry. Did she put the shield up in time? Was it enough? She calmed herself and extended her awareness outwards. She could sense the two remaining Magic Knights. One of them, the Knight of Air, was very weak and possibly dying. She could also sense Eagle Vision of Autozam, the last of her protectors.
:Eagle: she asked telepathically. It was a minor miracle that Eagle had survived the battles when Hikaru was made Pillar. Although he had survived and healed Eagle's sickness got the better of him and him body was locked in a coma-like sleep. He could communicate with a few people telepathically, herself and Lantis primarily. Zazu, a young mechanic from Autozam and also Eagle's friend had rigged some programs that Eagle was able to run using a minimum of mental energy and incorporating more of Cephiro's magic. It was the first efforts made to blend Cephiro's magic and Autozam's technology. The programs were created to allow Eagle more freedom and the ability to communicate with others. Hikaru could sense that someone, probably Lantis, had jerry-rigged a bank of guns into the system. :Eagle, what's going on:
:Don't worry Hikaru. I'll keep you safe.: he replied. He was hiding something from her. His heart was strong, he had almost become the Pillar himself and his heart was almost as strong as hers, almost but not quite. Telepathy opened the mind, made it harder to hide things from others. She plucked the thoughts from his mind easily. The Magic Knights had entered his room looking for the Princess so his first barrage took them by surprise. They were not expecting another enemy. The Fire Knight had escaped mostly unscathed but the Knight of Air was gravely injured. If she didn't heal herself soon she would die, but her magic was tied up in the shield protecting them if she dropped it to heal both girls would die. They huddled together under the shield spell while bullets ricocheted around them. The one girl, the Knight of Fire, stood up suddenly and walked towards Eagle leaving her friend behind. Somehow she had figured out that Eagle was controlling the guns, which must seems strange to her a comatose body attacking them. In fact it was the only weakness to the system. Eagle had to be nearly on top of the guns in order to trigger them, because the system wasn't strong enough to maintain a long distance connection. The Knight of Air somehow extended her shield to cover both girls, but the drain on her heart was too great. It was a toss up as to which would kill her first exhaustion or blood loss. The Knight of Fire strode forward determinedly, she summoned the sword to her hands. Hikaru was startled by the similarities the girl bore to herself so long ago. Or was that Eagle's emotions clouding the vision? The girl raised the sword high overhead with the tip pointing downwards, poised to strike.
It was at that moment that the Knight of Air died. Her magic shield around them flickered and faded. The Knight of Fire paused and half-turned back to her friend. Eagle's guns trained on her, a single shot to the head and she wouldn't feel a thing, not like the other poor girl.
"Eagle, No!" Hikaru cried out. :Please. No.:
She could feel his attention turn to her. :Is this what you really want: he asked and she could feel the weight of his question on her soul, knowing that it meant his death as well as hers.
"I..." She stammered she had thought she was doing the right thing but with Eagle's thoughts and emotions clouding hers she wasn't so sure any more. "I...don't know."
But it was too late. Eagle had waited too long and the Magic Knight plunged her sword down through his heart. For a moment, still connected by telepathy, Hikaru felt his pain and thought she might die with him. Eagle forcefully ripped his mind from hers and slammed down every last barrier he could before she had to suffer though his death as well. Hikaru opened her eyes to her room in the floating fortress. There was no one between her and the last Magic Knight, everyone was dead.
"Not Lantis." She prayed, let her shield have been in time, let him be okay. She stood up shakily, feeling weak, it had been a long time since she had to move on her own. She could see herself in her bedroom mirror. Grief and pain had aged her. If she were back in Tokyo she would have said she looked to be in her mid-twenties. Her hair had escaped the ribbon she tied it up in and flowed around her, shimmering like fire. Her eyes were red as blood and dark with pain. The only thing left was for her to face the Knight and then someone else could become the Pillar.
With a thought she appeared in the great room before the Magic Knight. The great room was replica of her own throne room in the palace on Cephiro only on a much greater scale. The flame carved throne was large enough to seat a mashin and the vast expanse of the hall looked like it could house a hundred mashin easily. There were no great mashin in the hall only Hikaru and the Magic Knight. The girl stepped towards her hesitantly.
"Princess Hikaru?" Hikaru nodded in acknowledgement. "Princess Hikaru, I am the Magic Knight that you summoned here to save Cephiro. I've worked hard to become a Knight and along the way have lost some of my dearest friends."
Hikaru was amazed at how young the girl was to be so strong. Surely, she had never been so naive, so innocent. "But together we have overcome many obstacles and defeated Lord Lantis for me to come here to rescue you."
Hikaru felt a sharp pain in her heart, of course Lantis had to have been defeated in order for this babbling twit to be standing in front of her. She just hadn't thought of all the implications until the girl spelled it out for her.
"My Lantis?" she asked her voice wavering, sounding weak, must try that again. "You defeated Lantis?"
The girl nodded her eyes sparkling brightly. She was proud of herself. "It was a hard battle and one of my friends died. I was able to combine...Princess Hikaru are you alright?" the girl rushed forward as Hikaru felt her legs collapse out from under her. She pushed the girl away from her roughly.
"You killed him!" If she thought the pain she had suffered over the past few months was bad, it was nothing compared to the aching emptiness that filled her heart now. Hikaru found it difficult to think for the pain in her heart. The Magic Knights were just supposed to kill her. Not her friends, and not Lantis. They, he, should have been safe. They should be here to teach the new Pillar like they had taught her, but now they were gone. He was gone. Because of this girl. This Magic Knight.
Before she knew what she was doing she was seated on the throne encased in a great mashin, wrought of her pain. The mashin was like Rayearth in many respects but the spirit was young and dependent on her will and power. She looked down at the girl who was stepping back away from the throne in confusion.
"How dare you!" Hikaru stood up, her mashin towering over the young girl. "I summoned you here to save Cephiro from destruction. Not to destroy everything that I hold dear."
Hikaru's sword was in her hands and she brought it down, slamming it deep into the stone floor where the Magic Knight stood moments before. Now Rayearth stood before her wreathed in flames. Hikaru lifted her blade and attacked the girl with lightning fast strikes. Pain and rage fueled her but she was still nowhere near full strength. Rayearth scrambled backwards, dodging and blocking what blows he could. But the Magic Knight he was bonded too was shaken and confused, her heart was not strong enough.
"You were supposed to kill just me!" Hikaru cried. Tears were streaming down her face. Lantis, her Lantis was gone. "Please."
The Magic Knight got her feet under her and charged. It was a clumsy attack at best and if Hikaru wasn't so exhausted and emotionally taxed she would have been able to block the girl easily. The two swords scraped against each other in a shower of sparks and Hikaru's was turned away. The girl completed the lunge and her blade slid easily into the mashin's lower abdomen. Hikaru screamed in pain as she felt a phantom sword cut into her and blood poured down her side.
Both mashins were gone and the two girls stood clutching each other with their swords between them. The swords vanished as Hikaru collapsed to the ground, dragging the girl down with her. The Magic Knight cradled Hikaru in her lap crying and sobbing apologies.
"Oh God, oh God. I'm so sorry." The girl sobbed. Then she stated screaming "Help! Somebody, help! We need a doctor…a healer…something. Help…somebody."
"It's okay." Hikaru said gently. She reached up to cup the girl's face in her hand. "It's okay. You did the right thing. You saved Cephiro."
"No." She said "Princess Hikaru, you will be okay. Somebody please…"she stopped abruptly and stared off somewhere Hikaru couldn't see. "No. I thought you were dead."
"No." A deep and achingly familiar voice answered. Hikaru felt her heart quiver and Lantis stepped into her view. He knelt down beside her and cradled the other side of Hikaru's body. "Princess Hikaru created a shield at great expense to herself to protect me from the attack. While the shield took the brunt of the blast I was still knocked unconscious. I came here as quickly as I could."
"Can you heal her." The Magic Knight asked.
"No." He answered looking at Hikaru with pain in his eyes. Pain that the Magic Knight was just beginning to realize had been there all along. "No magic on Cephiro could heal the Pillar once she had been wounded by the Magic Knights, death is the only release from her pain."
"I don't understand. Why?"
"The position of Pillar is for life, and the Pillar is immortal and cannot be harmed by any creature of Cephiro, not even herself. So when the burden becomes too much to bear the Pillar must summon the Magic Knights from another world to release her." He gave the girl a long and measuring look and in his eyes was a look of pain and something else that the girl was hard pressed to define. He sighed and cupped the girl's face in his hand, much like Hikaru had moments before. "You are so like her in many ways. I'm sorry you were summoned here to bring this tragedy to an end. But when you return take strength in the knowledge that you will be the last drawn into this sad story."
"I don't understand, why?" She asked again reaching out to grab his hand she noticed that her own was rather transparent. "What's going on?"
"Hikaru is dying. When she is gone you will be home." He replied. "As for your first question. This will never happen again because I will destroy the pillar system that created this tragedy even if it means destroying Cephiro itself."
That was the last of that other world that the Magic Knight saw. She found herself back in her own home world, standing alone in a crowd of people. It was only then that she could put words to the look in Lord Lantis' eyes at the very end. It was the look of someone who had loved and suffered unimaginable pain for it. It was the look of someone whose heart was stronger then everyone else's.
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AN: Okay that's the last chapter. I was thinking 'tragedy' would be a much more appropriate genre then 'angst' turned out to be but that wasn't available. Anyways, please tell me what you think. I love reviews! And now I am going to go run and hide from the people who want to hurt me for this ending.