"Keiko, hang on!"
Hikaru yelled as she, Umi, and Fuu tried to pull the young girl up. She looked to be about 10, though she claimed to be 14, with messy blue hair, bangs, a braid much like Hikaru's, and two locks of hair that hung down from the sides of her face. Her dark purple eyes were angry.
"Let me go! I didn't fall on accident, why can't you accept that I want to-"
Keiko was cut off by a bright light. Hikaru and the others started pulling harder, trying to bring her back onto the bridge before they were transported to Cephiro. Instead, as they were transported, they realized that they had brought Keiko with them.
Uh oh, Clef isn't gonna like this. Oh well, at least we were able to save her.
Hikaru thought as the giant fish once again brought them to a familiar cliff. Clef was standing in plain sight, and all four of the girls could see his expression at the fact that there were four girls.
"Clef! It's nice to see you again!"
"Hello Hikaru. Who is that?"
Clef pointed at Keiko with his staff. Keiko looked down, embarrassed. She could tell that she wasn't supposed to be there.
"That's Keiko. She had fallen off of the bridge and we were trying to pull her back up when we were summoned. I guess she got dragged along somehow."
"Umi, I didn't fall. How many times have I told you, I wanted to drown."
Keiko whispered it so that Umi was the only one that heard her. Clef sighed.
"What's done is done, and she won't be able to go back until you've completed your task."
Umi sighed.
"What is it this time, Clef?"
Clef told them, while Keiko looked around. Where they were had a good amount of cliffs, she liked that. As soon as they were busy discussing whatever it as that was going on, she'd jump. For the time being she just stood, looking like she was taking in the view. Fuu didn't fall for it.
"Miss Keiko! Please get away from that ledge!"
Hikaru and Umi dragged her over to a tree and forced her to sit down against it.
"Stay there or we'll have to tie you to it."
Keiko nodded, knowing that Umi's threat was not empty. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Keiko sighed and rested her head against the tree trunk. Clef glanced at her, then returned to talking about the current crises.
"Clef, what'll we do about Keiko? We can't leave her alone, but it would be too dangerous to bring her with us."
"I will watch her until you've completed your task."
"But I thought you prefer being alone?"
"She does not seem like she'd be much trouble, and she doesn't talk too much, so as long as I don't have to keep her from jumping off of a cliff to often, I won't have any trouble."
Keiko stood up, keeping her head down.
"You won't have to worry about that, sir. If I know that you will keep me from doing what I wish to, as those three have done, I will not waste your energy."
Clef nodded.
"Alright. Well girls, you should be going, you have a long way to go."
The magic knights nodded and ran off into the forest. Clef motioned for Keiko to follow him, she nodded and began walking. A few minutes later, a monster emerged from the forest. Keiko instinctively dropped into a defensive pose, bringing her right hand up into the air at the same time. As she drew breath to speak, Clef also prepared to cast a spell. At the same time, a thought struck him.
What is she doing? She doesn't know any magic!
As Keiko called out "Lightning ball!" An image superimposed itself over Keiko in Clef's mind. A previous student of his, a young girl, taking that exact pose, shouting in that exact voice. As the monster crumbled Clef shook it from his head as coincidence. That girl, Jayde, had disappeared years ago.
Keiko turned to face Clef with wide, frightened eyes.
"How.... How did I do that? It seemed so familiar, but I can't remember ever doing that before."
"Magic is often like that, though Im wasn't expecting you to be able to do magic, considering that the magic knights didn't know any when they first came to Cephiro."
Keiko nodded, looking of to the side. Clef was used to the submissive behavior and gave her a slight nod before continuing to walk.
Eventually they reached another cliff and Clef stopped. Keiko stood next to him, looking at the sea below. Then she looked at Clef.
"If IO were to jump right now, would you really stop me?"
"Why would you jump?"
"I heard you remind Hikaru and the others that the will is the most powerful force in this world. When they were summoned here, they had been concentrating on keeping me from going over the edge of a bridge. I would like to finish what I was planning to do."
Clef sat, motioning for Keiko to do the same.
"Why did you try to jump in the first place?"
Keiko sighed, she didn't want to tell him, but felt that she had no choice.
"For as long as I can remember, I've felt out of place, as if I don't belong. It's impossible to survive like that, shunned by everyone. I simply couldn't take it anymore."
Clef felt like there was something about this, something that would directly affect him. Sometimes he wished that he was a seer.
"Just how far back ca you remember?"
"I...I don't know. I can remember only up to four years back, when I woke up at an orphanage. Though it's strange, I have flashes of memories of things and places that I've never done or seen before."
Clef nodded. The odd feeling was increasing, but he wasn't sure what it was.
"Do you feel out of place here?"
"Actually.... No, I don't. That's strange."
"Well then, we should keep moving."
Keiko nodded and stood up. As Clef stood, he realized that Keiko would have some trouble traveling in the outfit she was wearing.
"Keiko, hold on. You will not be able to travel in that outfit."
Keiko turned to face Clef with a puzzled look on her face. Clef raised his staff and said the spell. Keiko's school uniform disappeared and streams of purple mist surrounded her, forming into clothing. When it was done, Clef stepped back in surprise. Keiko was wearing a tri-layered cloak, the first layer was solid blue, the second layer was a transparent purple, and the topmost layer was light blue, with an amethyst clasp and a hood. She was also wearing a green tunic with a closed neck and short sleeves. She was also holding a wooden staff with three gems in the top, which was shaped like a bird's head. There was a purple ribbon held on by an amethyst clip on one side. She was also wearing two bracelets, one on the upper part of each arm. Each was a different design.
Jayde? But, it couldn't be.
Keiko looked at her new clothes.
"Weird, they look like they'd be annoying, but they're actually very comfortable. I thought that I'd just be getting armor. Guess that's just for the magic knights. Thank very much, mister Clef."
Keiko tilted her head.
"That's odd, something's missing. I can't tell what though...How strange."
Clef decided to try something. Before Jayde had disappeared, she had given him her headband but hadn't told him why.
Clef held out his hand and summoned the headband. It was very simple, a gold band with a jade, cut into a diamond shape, set in the middle of it (Think Presea's headband, but with a large green diamond shaped stone). He handed it to Keiko.
"Put this on."
Keiko looked at it strangely, but put it on, with the jade resting in the middle of her forehead. Instantly, the stone began to glow and Keiko gasped. It dimmed a moment later and Keiko dropped to the ground, using her staff for support. When she stood again, she looked straight at Clef.
Her eyes, something's different.
Keiko's eyes were no longer fearful and dim, but joyful and bright. She sighed and laughed. Her laugh was quiet and low, the opposite of the high pitched giggle that most girls had.
"Master Clef, thank you for returning my headband. It's been so long. I mean, it's been what, a century? I can't believe how many times my memory was re-blanked and I went to a different orphanage. I thought I was a normal human and couldn't figure out why I didn't seem to age. *sigh* It's good to have my memories back."
"Jayde? Is that really you?"
"Yes, I'm sorry if I worried you, I was gone for such a long time."
"Where were you?"
"I was on Earth, where the magic knights are from."
"How were you able to get there? Only the princess has the power to move people from one world to the other."
"I know, but there are areas, weak spots in whatever keeps our worlds apart. I had discovered one such area. That's why I gave you my headband, into which I put my memories. I didn't know what it would be like on the other side, or if I would ver be able to get back."
Suddenly switching to student-teacher mode, Clef's eyes narrowed.
"That was extremely foolish of you, Jayde."
Jayde dropped her head.
"I realize that, and ask your forgiveness, Master Clef."
"You are forgiven. Now come, it will be night soon, and we need to reach shelter. Cephiro is no longer a safe place."
Jayde nodded and followed her master into the woods, towards a nearby town. She decided not to suggest summoning a creature to make the trip shorter, she was savoring being back, and knowing that she was home after a century on an alien planet.