1 Sorry this has taken me so long, I've been fiddling with my format,
making it easier to read, I hope. Well, I'm leaving tomorrow for some
relative's house, so I won't be able to update much anyway.
2
3 Chapter 8: Yet Another Reason.
Umi was being very quiet and that worried everyone who knew her, to say the least. She had received the information about what had happened without batting an eyelash; Ferio hadn't been too surprised either, only looked like it was what he had expected all along.
They had agreed not to talk about it to Hikaru just yet, it seemed to still be a delicate subject with her. Lantis hadn't come to breakfast at all, and Fuu wondered if he didn't come because he was sure to be treated with pity and suspicion if he did come, or if he was just a solitary person who didn't really like to be around that many people.
Clef was eating a small piece of bread and still watching the roads by way of a portable little mirror that he held the hand not occupied by bread. Nothing had happened since Autozam's road had captured the others, but everyone knew that the period of rest was soon over. Even if the whole day passed uneventfully there would always be someone keeping watch, ready to call if there was any sign of change.
But back to Umi, she was still sitting there, pondering. Fuu tapped her on the shoulder, drawing her attention away from the note in her hand.
"Clef wants us to go back to the large mirror, he wants to give us a bit of information that he's gathered from the library about the other countries and so on."
"All right, Hikaru knows where the dining room is doesn't she?"
"Yes, if she doesn't, I'm sure Mokona will be able to help. And anyway, from what I have gathered from Clef then she should not awaken for several hours yet,"
"Well then." Umi got up and folded the note, putting it down upon the table as she followed the others and Clef.
Hikaru hadn't come down yet, but the Guru said that she would be fine. Symptoms like sleeping for hours and slight disorientation, he said, would be typical and nothing to worry about. She would probably be hungry and come down as soon as she woke up, so they had left a lot of food and some water for her. Fuu closed the door softly after herself and Umi, leaving the hall uninhabited again.
That was before the first of the tremors that wracked Cephiro hit, causing Eagle's note to flutter onto the ground.
~ * ~
At that moment their small redheaded friend was engaged in managing to go down the flight of stairs that led to the dining hall. She had awoken some time before and had almost fallen asleep again but her stomach wouldn't leave her in peace.
Instead of lying around any longer she had gotten up to find some food. But Hikaru had soon found that navigating the castle had been almost as difficult as letting her thoughts continually drift off in a direction that she wasn't too fond of at the moment.
First remembering the way to the kitchens and then getting there had almost made her decide to turn around and go back to sleep. But even as she considered it she felt the castle shake and roll underneath her feet, reminding her forcefully that they had about a week, maybe more before the land fell apart completely and irreplaceably. Knowing that she couldn't fall asleep after that particular realization, she had continued on, trying to keep from falling over as the floor quaked and shook.
After a while these tremors faded but she continued to move as fast as possible, wanting to find Clef and some food quickly, then, if she could, go out in her Mashin and really help Cephiro. Not harm it the way they had last time.
But.should we really want to help a world that exists only with the sacrifice of these people, these 'Pillars?' We can't just leave it like this, but. it's not right. She wasn't going to say 'fair.' What had happened with Princess Emeraude had shown her that not everything, perhaps nothing, was fair.
When Hikaru finally reached the dining hall she was surprised to see it empty. Some of the plates had fallen to the ground, nothing was broken but she decided that it would be better to pick things up first. If another earthquake hit then she didn't want to trip on plates and such.
With a sigh the Knight bent down and began to pick up the dishes and a pair of chopsticks that had also slid off the table. That was when she noticed that a piece of paper had also drifted to the floor. Curious she put all of her load on the ground and scooped it up, straightening she held it up so that she could read it.
It was after reading it that Hikaru decided that she wasn't fighting completely for Cephiro and Princess Emeraude anymore. Now she was fighting for all of her own reasons.
"Lantis,
I hope I was able to deliver this myself but that might not be possible. If it isn't then you will have received this from Hikaru and she'll be ready to kill me at the moment. If that is the case then I don't blame her. I do, however, want you to know what happened. I feel that I at least owe it to you since, well, never mind. Call it a repayment for the favor that you did me.
I regret to say that I wasn't as careful as I should have been and I allowed some of the more independent thinking crewmen to get ideas. Unfortunately those ideas included gentince. They also lead to an overdose and a short period of memory loss.
It only lasted a day or two but I fear that Hikaru feels that she should have known all along and that she won't say anything about what happened. I'm certain that she will be even more angry with me if she reads this, but that isn't really important. I need to finish this or it'll take up three or four pages of paper that I do not have. I think that we will be seeing each other soon though.
Eagle Vision"
Hikaru found herself resisting the urge to call out her Mashin and leave the castle to immediately pay Eagle an unexpected visit. Her hand clenched around the letter, crumpling it as she controlled her anger, deciding that, since it was in the dining hall, the others would know what had happened.
Holding the paper in her fist Hikaru was surprised to see that it was starting to turn black and looked singed even as she held it. She looked closer and it instantly burst into flames, she watched in bewildered amazement, as it burned the letter to a scatter of pale ash in her hand, but she couldn't even feel it.
Oh.I must be using my magic. But, how does magic sense its wielder's intentions? And why would it burn Eagle's note without me commanding it? Opening her hand from its closed position, Hikaru watched the pale flecks drift down to the floor.
Turning she caught a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye. Moving closer she blinked.
"Mokona?"
Lantis was ignoring the winged annoyance that persisted in fluttering about him, patiently refraining from just walking out of his rooms and shutting the door before Primera could follow. Instead he merely ignored her chatter, and worked on his map.
Since he had to find the road to the Pillar before anyone else found it he was making a map. Showing how much ground he had covered in a day, since Cephiro was collapsing he had started at the outer edges and moved inward. But, much to his dismay, he had discovered that the perimeter was slowly following him, the land crumbled beneath him and after a while he would retreat back to the castle, more and more discouraged as the hours went by.
A soft and consistent tapping on the door brought Lantis out of his thoughts and back into reality. Opening the door he didn't see anything.
"Puu!" cried a small furry object that suddenly shot straight up at him.
Lantis looked down at the fuzzy creature that was now clinging to his shoulder, happily swinging around as he turned and closed the door again.
"Yikes!" shrieked Primera as she saw Mokona. "Why me?" she moaned again as the fluffy marshmallow bounced off Lantis and rushed toward her. Ignoring them the swordsman looked back at his map.
"Pu! Puu pu pu!" He turned around again; about to politely request that they keep it down, not that it would do much good.
However, he found himself faced with Mokona, who was standing on the table in front of him and looking completely serious as well as worried. He knelt next to it, completely disregarding Primera's tearful pleas to get rid of it.
"Pu!" Lantis watched with a flicker of interest and surprise trailing across his face as Mokona's jewel changed from bright red to a swirling dark sable color. "Pu puu pu pu!"
2
3 Chapter 8: Yet Another Reason.
Umi was being very quiet and that worried everyone who knew her, to say the least. She had received the information about what had happened without batting an eyelash; Ferio hadn't been too surprised either, only looked like it was what he had expected all along.
They had agreed not to talk about it to Hikaru just yet, it seemed to still be a delicate subject with her. Lantis hadn't come to breakfast at all, and Fuu wondered if he didn't come because he was sure to be treated with pity and suspicion if he did come, or if he was just a solitary person who didn't really like to be around that many people.
Clef was eating a small piece of bread and still watching the roads by way of a portable little mirror that he held the hand not occupied by bread. Nothing had happened since Autozam's road had captured the others, but everyone knew that the period of rest was soon over. Even if the whole day passed uneventfully there would always be someone keeping watch, ready to call if there was any sign of change.
But back to Umi, she was still sitting there, pondering. Fuu tapped her on the shoulder, drawing her attention away from the note in her hand.
"Clef wants us to go back to the large mirror, he wants to give us a bit of information that he's gathered from the library about the other countries and so on."
"All right, Hikaru knows where the dining room is doesn't she?"
"Yes, if she doesn't, I'm sure Mokona will be able to help. And anyway, from what I have gathered from Clef then she should not awaken for several hours yet,"
"Well then." Umi got up and folded the note, putting it down upon the table as she followed the others and Clef.
Hikaru hadn't come down yet, but the Guru said that she would be fine. Symptoms like sleeping for hours and slight disorientation, he said, would be typical and nothing to worry about. She would probably be hungry and come down as soon as she woke up, so they had left a lot of food and some water for her. Fuu closed the door softly after herself and Umi, leaving the hall uninhabited again.
That was before the first of the tremors that wracked Cephiro hit, causing Eagle's note to flutter onto the ground.
~ * ~
At that moment their small redheaded friend was engaged in managing to go down the flight of stairs that led to the dining hall. She had awoken some time before and had almost fallen asleep again but her stomach wouldn't leave her in peace.
Instead of lying around any longer she had gotten up to find some food. But Hikaru had soon found that navigating the castle had been almost as difficult as letting her thoughts continually drift off in a direction that she wasn't too fond of at the moment.
First remembering the way to the kitchens and then getting there had almost made her decide to turn around and go back to sleep. But even as she considered it she felt the castle shake and roll underneath her feet, reminding her forcefully that they had about a week, maybe more before the land fell apart completely and irreplaceably. Knowing that she couldn't fall asleep after that particular realization, she had continued on, trying to keep from falling over as the floor quaked and shook.
After a while these tremors faded but she continued to move as fast as possible, wanting to find Clef and some food quickly, then, if she could, go out in her Mashin and really help Cephiro. Not harm it the way they had last time.
But.should we really want to help a world that exists only with the sacrifice of these people, these 'Pillars?' We can't just leave it like this, but. it's not right. She wasn't going to say 'fair.' What had happened with Princess Emeraude had shown her that not everything, perhaps nothing, was fair.
When Hikaru finally reached the dining hall she was surprised to see it empty. Some of the plates had fallen to the ground, nothing was broken but she decided that it would be better to pick things up first. If another earthquake hit then she didn't want to trip on plates and such.
With a sigh the Knight bent down and began to pick up the dishes and a pair of chopsticks that had also slid off the table. That was when she noticed that a piece of paper had also drifted to the floor. Curious she put all of her load on the ground and scooped it up, straightening she held it up so that she could read it.
It was after reading it that Hikaru decided that she wasn't fighting completely for Cephiro and Princess Emeraude anymore. Now she was fighting for all of her own reasons.
"Lantis,
I hope I was able to deliver this myself but that might not be possible. If it isn't then you will have received this from Hikaru and she'll be ready to kill me at the moment. If that is the case then I don't blame her. I do, however, want you to know what happened. I feel that I at least owe it to you since, well, never mind. Call it a repayment for the favor that you did me.
I regret to say that I wasn't as careful as I should have been and I allowed some of the more independent thinking crewmen to get ideas. Unfortunately those ideas included gentince. They also lead to an overdose and a short period of memory loss.
It only lasted a day or two but I fear that Hikaru feels that she should have known all along and that she won't say anything about what happened. I'm certain that she will be even more angry with me if she reads this, but that isn't really important. I need to finish this or it'll take up three or four pages of paper that I do not have. I think that we will be seeing each other soon though.
Eagle Vision"
Hikaru found herself resisting the urge to call out her Mashin and leave the castle to immediately pay Eagle an unexpected visit. Her hand clenched around the letter, crumpling it as she controlled her anger, deciding that, since it was in the dining hall, the others would know what had happened.
Holding the paper in her fist Hikaru was surprised to see that it was starting to turn black and looked singed even as she held it. She looked closer and it instantly burst into flames, she watched in bewildered amazement, as it burned the letter to a scatter of pale ash in her hand, but she couldn't even feel it.
Oh.I must be using my magic. But, how does magic sense its wielder's intentions? And why would it burn Eagle's note without me commanding it? Opening her hand from its closed position, Hikaru watched the pale flecks drift down to the floor.
Turning she caught a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye. Moving closer she blinked.
"Mokona?"
Lantis was ignoring the winged annoyance that persisted in fluttering about him, patiently refraining from just walking out of his rooms and shutting the door before Primera could follow. Instead he merely ignored her chatter, and worked on his map.
Since he had to find the road to the Pillar before anyone else found it he was making a map. Showing how much ground he had covered in a day, since Cephiro was collapsing he had started at the outer edges and moved inward. But, much to his dismay, he had discovered that the perimeter was slowly following him, the land crumbled beneath him and after a while he would retreat back to the castle, more and more discouraged as the hours went by.
A soft and consistent tapping on the door brought Lantis out of his thoughts and back into reality. Opening the door he didn't see anything.
"Puu!" cried a small furry object that suddenly shot straight up at him.
Lantis looked down at the fuzzy creature that was now clinging to his shoulder, happily swinging around as he turned and closed the door again.
"Yikes!" shrieked Primera as she saw Mokona. "Why me?" she moaned again as the fluffy marshmallow bounced off Lantis and rushed toward her. Ignoring them the swordsman looked back at his map.
"Pu! Puu pu pu!" He turned around again; about to politely request that they keep it down, not that it would do much good.
However, he found himself faced with Mokona, who was standing on the table in front of him and looking completely serious as well as worried. He knelt next to it, completely disregarding Primera's tearful pleas to get rid of it.
"Pu!" Lantis watched with a flicker of interest and surprise trailing across his face as Mokona's jewel changed from bright red to a swirling dark sable color. "Pu puu pu pu!"