1 Chapter 9: Yesterday's Memories.
Umi and Fuu waited on the outskirts of the battle, being quietly frustrated. They had come to see if they could slip in and try to enter the road again. Or ambush that annoying robot from Autozam.
As they waited quietly, not quite reckless enough to charge straight in and get hit by three separate attacks, because, as Fuu had put it: "Umi-chan, rushing in and committing suicide because you are impatient will solve no problems."
So they floated there, waiting for someone to win, and/or notice them. Waiting silently was proving difficult for Umi. As she waited her thoughts inevitably turned to her friend.
I wish I could see how Hikaru's doing, just once. Without having to go through whatever the Mashin have to do to us to allow us to go past the road's exterior. Umi was still sore from that experience.
This is really getting us nowhere. I wanted to find out how Hikaru is, but waiting around the edge of a battle is not usually the best way to do that. Fuu's thoughts were running down much the same track as Umi's.
But even as she was about to suggest they go back to the castle, the battle began to break itself up. The robot let loose a storm of large missiles, hitting everything but the Magic Knights, who were fast enough to avoid them. The two other ships, a dragon and an odd structure that looked almost like an ornamental teapot crossed with a gravy boat, as Umi had observed earlier, were severely damaged and started to limp back to their roads.
As the robot began to turn and go back to it's road Fuu pounced. Umi following not too far behind.
"Binding Winds!" Fuu let her spell loose before the robot could slip inside its road. The winds of Fuu's spell wrapped around it, holding it in place. It turned, and faced them, but they were no longer there. Umi had slipped around it, standing between it and it's road.
* * * * * * *
Eagle had expected them to try something like this, switching off his radio so that Geo couldn't distract him, he turned to see only the green Knight in front of him. The FTO's sensors warned him the other was hovering behind him, keeping him from making a run for it.
According to Hikaru, the green one would be Fuu, Knight of Wind. The other is Umi, her element is water. If that's so then if I hit the wind Mashin, I will be released from this spell.
He readied a missile and was about to fire when the Knight behind him spoke.
"What have you done with Hikaru?" she demanded, pushing forward so that she was hovering just outside the spell that held him. "Why don't you let her go?"
"I will let her go when she wants to leave," he shot his missile at the Wind Mashin.
"Guardian Wind!" the winds around him dropped away then rose up between him and her, the missile exploded far from its target on a barrier of winds.
"What does that mean?" asked Fuu; hardly even noticing that another missile had just exploded on her shield.
"Exactly what I said," Eagle smiled, and continued to fire his missiles.
* * * * * * *
Hikaru looked at the child, waiting for an explanation. But as she waited, she couldn't help but watch the battle below. As she did so, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was the child again, looking at her intently, as though she could see into the other's thoughts and heart.
"Do you remember them, Hikaru? Your friends, Umi and Fuu?" she asked, eyes never wavering from Hikaru's.
Hikaru shook her head, but even as she did so, she thought she heard a far off voice saying, "Hikaru! You ask too much of yourself! You always say that you're okay, but I don't believe you!" "Yes," agreed another voice, "You should take better care of yourself, Hikaru-chan." Hikaru heard her own happy laughter, echoed by the laughter of the two voices.
"Try and remember, Hikaru, you can if you try hard enough." As the child instructed, Hikaru focused on the two voices, and the names the girl had called them. When she did, everything whirled away, shoving her into a whirlpool of images.
Two girls stood beside her, one with long blue hair, and the other with short, bouncy golden curls. The blond one held a bow and shot a glittering arrow at a monster that suddenly appeared before them. Hikaru was surprised as she held out her own sword, ready to fight.
Minutes later, the monster was dead and the two other girls smiled at her and they complimented each other's fighting skills.
The image disappeared in a flash of golden light. Another replaced it. And then another, and another. Soon they flowed together, showing her herself, always fighting together with those girls, always fighting for them. As the last image cleared away, she heard an echo of their voices, "We will always fight, together, always." And suddenly she was back above the road, but even as she gasped, another voice was heard, echoing out of her more recent memories. "It was an accident, I am sorry, Hikaru." And one last image appeared before her, Eagle's face as he smiled at her, explaining yet another gadget to her.
"Eagle," she growled, looking down at the FTO. Before she could even think about trying to go down and fight, a small hand once again touched her shoulder.
"You mustn't try to fight now, Hikaru," Princess Emeraude's voice jerked her around. "I am doing a dangerous thing, pulling your mind out here. If you try to become involved in their fight, I do not know what will happen." Her voice held a touch of uncertainty. "But I do know that if you try too hard then you could make it so that I cannot return you to your body."
"Y-you mean, I'm not really here?" Hikaru asked, looking down at herself, her form did seem to waver, just a little bit.
"You are here, but you are not fully here. I could try to bring your body out of the road, but not without damaging it. And I can't pull it and your armor out here too." Hikaru gasped, looking back at her again.
"I can get my armor back?"
"I can bring it here and you will have it when you wake up. But I cannot promise that its transportation will go unnoticed." Hikaru considered.
"I want my armor back. I can figure out what to do after that." Princess Emeraude nodded and Hikaru's armor, and original clothing, suddenly appeared. Hikaru felt better, more like herself, when they were back on.
"I will send you back now, even I am not allowed to help you past this. But I can give you a word of warning. Your armor has been missed, and time passes differently here, we are seeing everything slower, it's been fifteen minutes since the armor was discovered missing. Your reception there will not be a welcoming one." With that, Princess Emeraude motioned, and Hikaru was once again surrounded by the rose colored lights.
She opened her eyes, and immediately regretted it.
Umi and Fuu waited on the outskirts of the battle, being quietly frustrated. They had come to see if they could slip in and try to enter the road again. Or ambush that annoying robot from Autozam.
As they waited quietly, not quite reckless enough to charge straight in and get hit by three separate attacks, because, as Fuu had put it: "Umi-chan, rushing in and committing suicide because you are impatient will solve no problems."
So they floated there, waiting for someone to win, and/or notice them. Waiting silently was proving difficult for Umi. As she waited her thoughts inevitably turned to her friend.
I wish I could see how Hikaru's doing, just once. Without having to go through whatever the Mashin have to do to us to allow us to go past the road's exterior. Umi was still sore from that experience.
This is really getting us nowhere. I wanted to find out how Hikaru is, but waiting around the edge of a battle is not usually the best way to do that. Fuu's thoughts were running down much the same track as Umi's.
But even as she was about to suggest they go back to the castle, the battle began to break itself up. The robot let loose a storm of large missiles, hitting everything but the Magic Knights, who were fast enough to avoid them. The two other ships, a dragon and an odd structure that looked almost like an ornamental teapot crossed with a gravy boat, as Umi had observed earlier, were severely damaged and started to limp back to their roads.
As the robot began to turn and go back to it's road Fuu pounced. Umi following not too far behind.
"Binding Winds!" Fuu let her spell loose before the robot could slip inside its road. The winds of Fuu's spell wrapped around it, holding it in place. It turned, and faced them, but they were no longer there. Umi had slipped around it, standing between it and it's road.
* * * * * * *
Eagle had expected them to try something like this, switching off his radio so that Geo couldn't distract him, he turned to see only the green Knight in front of him. The FTO's sensors warned him the other was hovering behind him, keeping him from making a run for it.
According to Hikaru, the green one would be Fuu, Knight of Wind. The other is Umi, her element is water. If that's so then if I hit the wind Mashin, I will be released from this spell.
He readied a missile and was about to fire when the Knight behind him spoke.
"What have you done with Hikaru?" she demanded, pushing forward so that she was hovering just outside the spell that held him. "Why don't you let her go?"
"I will let her go when she wants to leave," he shot his missile at the Wind Mashin.
"Guardian Wind!" the winds around him dropped away then rose up between him and her, the missile exploded far from its target on a barrier of winds.
"What does that mean?" asked Fuu; hardly even noticing that another missile had just exploded on her shield.
"Exactly what I said," Eagle smiled, and continued to fire his missiles.
* * * * * * *
Hikaru looked at the child, waiting for an explanation. But as she waited, she couldn't help but watch the battle below. As she did so, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was the child again, looking at her intently, as though she could see into the other's thoughts and heart.
"Do you remember them, Hikaru? Your friends, Umi and Fuu?" she asked, eyes never wavering from Hikaru's.
Hikaru shook her head, but even as she did so, she thought she heard a far off voice saying, "Hikaru! You ask too much of yourself! You always say that you're okay, but I don't believe you!" "Yes," agreed another voice, "You should take better care of yourself, Hikaru-chan." Hikaru heard her own happy laughter, echoed by the laughter of the two voices.
"Try and remember, Hikaru, you can if you try hard enough." As the child instructed, Hikaru focused on the two voices, and the names the girl had called them. When she did, everything whirled away, shoving her into a whirlpool of images.
Two girls stood beside her, one with long blue hair, and the other with short, bouncy golden curls. The blond one held a bow and shot a glittering arrow at a monster that suddenly appeared before them. Hikaru was surprised as she held out her own sword, ready to fight.
Minutes later, the monster was dead and the two other girls smiled at her and they complimented each other's fighting skills.
The image disappeared in a flash of golden light. Another replaced it. And then another, and another. Soon they flowed together, showing her herself, always fighting together with those girls, always fighting for them. As the last image cleared away, she heard an echo of their voices, "We will always fight, together, always." And suddenly she was back above the road, but even as she gasped, another voice was heard, echoing out of her more recent memories. "It was an accident, I am sorry, Hikaru." And one last image appeared before her, Eagle's face as he smiled at her, explaining yet another gadget to her.
"Eagle," she growled, looking down at the FTO. Before she could even think about trying to go down and fight, a small hand once again touched her shoulder.
"You mustn't try to fight now, Hikaru," Princess Emeraude's voice jerked her around. "I am doing a dangerous thing, pulling your mind out here. If you try to become involved in their fight, I do not know what will happen." Her voice held a touch of uncertainty. "But I do know that if you try too hard then you could make it so that I cannot return you to your body."
"Y-you mean, I'm not really here?" Hikaru asked, looking down at herself, her form did seem to waver, just a little bit.
"You are here, but you are not fully here. I could try to bring your body out of the road, but not without damaging it. And I can't pull it and your armor out here too." Hikaru gasped, looking back at her again.
"I can get my armor back?"
"I can bring it here and you will have it when you wake up. But I cannot promise that its transportation will go unnoticed." Hikaru considered.
"I want my armor back. I can figure out what to do after that." Princess Emeraude nodded and Hikaru's armor, and original clothing, suddenly appeared. Hikaru felt better, more like herself, when they were back on.
"I will send you back now, even I am not allowed to help you past this. But I can give you a word of warning. Your armor has been missed, and time passes differently here, we are seeing everything slower, it's been fifteen minutes since the armor was discovered missing. Your reception there will not be a welcoming one." With that, Princess Emeraude motioned, and Hikaru was once again surrounded by the rose colored lights.
She opened her eyes, and immediately regretted it.