In the next week, things began to heat up. They had to battle quite a few strong monsters, along with one of the new evil leader's minions. They made it out alive, and Jayde and Fuu's healing spells were very helpful. The next month was even worse, defeating the rest of the evil minions, along with a small army of villagers that were being controlled. On top of this, there were the regular forest monsters and the more powerful monsters that became more plentiful the closer they got to the their true enemy's fortress. They had learned that his name was Lennacs.

Eventually, they made it in. Lennacs himself was waiting for them, and the fight began right away. The magic knights launched at him, using both magic and their swords. Fuu had told Ferio to stay out of the fight, she didn't want him to get hurt. Clef, Jayde, and Ascot were launching spells at him from a safe distance away. Suddenly, The magic knights were all flung to the wall behind the sorcerers, hitting it with a sickening smack. Ferio ran back to make sure they were alive while Clef and the others continued firing on Lennacs. Lennacs fired on them a couple times, amused at their efforts, though Jayde's jade balls did have some effect. Eventually, he got bored, and decided to attack the girl that actually managed to sting him with those little balls she kept throwing at him. He picked up a couple pieces of broken stone that littered the floor and threw them at Jayde. One shaved her forehead, a few small ones ripped up her robes (She had summoned new ones a while ago), and one large one punched a hole right through the left side of her chest. Jayde fell back, and the other two continued firing, trying to defeat the creature that had apparently killed four of their friends.

Jayde coughed a couple times, and tried to stand back up. The cut on her head was bleeding profusely, along with the wound that had narrowly missed her heart. She wasn't able to stand, so kneeled on one knee and supported herself with her staff. She looked around and saw the destruction that Lennacs had caused. She also saw that the magic knights were conscious, but not in any shape to fight. Ferio knew that he was useless in this battle, and Clef and Ascot were trying their hardest, but weren't faring to well. Seeing Lennacs preparing for another attack, her eyes narrowed. She remembered a spell from long ago, when she had just been starting out as Master Clef's apprentice.

"I will not allow you to hurt my friends!"

Jayde raised her staff high above her head, and smiled. The others could see the main jewel in her staff begin to glow with a white light. Suddenly, Clef remembered something from long ago.

~Memory~

"Master Clef, I have a spell, but I can't use it."

"What do you mean, Jayde?"

"I had a dream, and it gave me the spell. It's very powerful."

"And why can't you use it?"

"Because if I did, I would die."

~End of Memory~

"Jayde! No!"

As Jayde sent the white light streaming towards Lennacs, the magic knights and the others could hear her voice.

"I'm sorry Master Clef, but I must disobey you one last time. Umi, you and Master Clef be happy, you two belong together. Hikaru, Fuu, don't cry, I do this out of love. Ferio, be kind to Fuu. Ascot, some day, you will find someone special."

Suddenly, there was an explosion, and both Lennacs and Jayde were gone. The magic knights, Ferio, and Ascot stood shocked, but Clef didn't. He slammed his fist into the ground.

"Foolish girl. She knew how much Cephiro needs spellcrafters and she goes and uses that spell. She knew the consequences!"

Umi put her hand on Clef's shoulder.

"Clef, you know that isn't true. She gave her life for Cephiro, for us."

Clef nodded and the group slowly began to walk away when Ascot tuned around. The others all watched him as he walked to where Jayde had been and bent down. He carefully picked something up and walked back over to the others, and they all gasped. It was Jayde's headband. Ascot kept it firmly in his grip as they walked back to the castle.


~Epilogue~

The magic knights were all present at Jayde's funeral, along with Clef, Ferio, Ascot, and quite a few others. The story of the battle had spread quickly, and everyone that was able to come had shown up. Since there was no body to bury, they had built a small memorial, and had placed her headband in a glass case on the memorial. Below that, some words, the summarized version of the battle, had been engraved, along with a few quotes that Clef had chosen. There were three;

"I'm Jayde, and I can hurt you. That's all you need to know about me",

"For me, it isn't a success if it doesn't leave me unconscious for at least a couple of days",

And "So what if Jade balls explode easily? They're really fun to juggle."

The others thanked Clef for choosing those quotes, they really showed what Jayde had been like. The five of them returned to the castle once the service was over. Hikaru was the first one to speak.

"Wow, it's still so weird. I got so used to her being around, and suddenly, she's just not there."

Umi nodded.

"Yeah, it's hard to come to grips with it. She was so lively. Even if she didn't talk much, you could always tell that she was there."

Ferio sat down next to Fuu and added his piece.

"Yeah, she was really nice, even if a bit rough. Sometimes, when it was late, we'd talk telepathically. I can't do it on my own, but she was able to make it so that we could. She believed very strongly in quite a few things."

Fuu looked up at him.

"Like what?"

"Well, for one thing, she was adamant that Clef knew what others thought of him, even if he didn't show it."

Ascot nodded at that.

"Yeah. It was pretty weird, me and her actually had quite a bit in common."

Umi looked at him.

"How so?"

"Well, she liked Clef, and I... like you, and we both knew that it was hopeless. We became friends through that. Like I had told her a while ago, a miserable existence, but at least not a lonely one."

Umi smiled slightly, she was glad that he had finally come out and said that he liked her. It had been obvious for a long time, but he never actually said anything.

Hikaru looked at Clef. He'd barely said anything after the battle. He was sitting in a chair, looking down.

"Hey Clef, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Hikaru."

"Well you don't look it. Something's obviously troubling you."

Clef looked up at them, and they could all see his sadness.

"I don't know, it's just strange, as you said. She was my apprentice for only a small amount of time, by Cephiro's standards anyway, when she disappeared. After a decade or so, I figured that she had been killed somehow. Then, she suddenly arrived with you three and I had my apprentice back. I had gotten used to having her around again, having someone who understood magic on a higher level than most people, then she was gone again, and this time she won't be able to come back."

Hikaru looked sad for a moment, as did all the others, but then she brightened up.

"Clef, couldn't the pillar bring her back? If she was killed, couldn't the pillar do that?"

Clef shook his head.

"No, you see, she wasn't killed, she didn't exactly die, though we'll never see her again."

Fuu looked at Clef.

"What do you mean?"

"Before her headband was put in it's case, I looked at it. She had left the workings of the spell in there, so that I could see how it worked. That spell she used, which she never named and I don't plan on naming either, is very different than any widely used spells out there. Instead of drawing on an element, it draws directly off of the person's spirit. She put her whole being into that last spell, using her best strength, herself, to destroy Lennacs. In doing so, Jayde ceased to exist, though she never really died."

"Wow, I had no idea."

Clef smiled slightly at Fuu.

"Neither did I, until I saw that. She created the spell, unknowingly, not long after she became my apprentice. She had just woken up, and told me of a powerful spell that her dream had given her. She said that she couldn't use it because it would kill her."

Hikaru nodded.

"Yeah, dreams can be helpful and horrible, all at the same time. I can't even count how many times my dreams have given me warnings or information."

The magic knights left again, not long after that meeting. They promised to come back, each for their own reasons.