Hey people!! There's so many people to thank, and I feel it takes up so much time.....so, I'm just going to say one big gigantic THANK YOU!!!!!

Oh, and I'll be sending out emails to you who have reviewed in the past, telling you that I've updated....I've done this before, and it's worked, so there! Teehee...

Disclaimer: If you, by now, do not know that I do not own Magic Knight Rayearth, then WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON FANFICTION.NET??? *ahem* *cough* Sorry, temporary evil moment there......

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Chapter 8

"Why is the ground shaking?!" Umi shouted, while everyone else panicked around her. The earth quaked beneath them, knocking the Knight that controlled water into the handsome palu standing right next to her.

Ascot just blushed a bright red, while Umi clung onto him for dear life, afraid that any moment she would be sucked down a deep crevice that would open up in the ground. Suddenly, she heard some familiar, tinkling music. She looked up and saw a glowing, blue ball of light in front of her. She reached out towards it and was able to ease it back to her for a closer look. It was, in fact, the music box that Ascot had given her....

Umi, surprised, glanced up at the others. Fuu was currently being mesmerized by her earring, which seemed to be floating magically in a ball of light as well, except this ball was green. Hikaru herself was glowing, her eyes shut peacefully.

The red light engulfed her body, and she, the music box, and the earring floated to the middle of the ballroom. Presea covered her mouth in horror.

"It can't be....." Tarta gasped.

"The prophecy....it can't be coming true!" said her sister, equally scared.

"No, no one has the power to do that!" Ferio screamed out with horror. "If this doesn't stop, the power of her heart will be extracted from her, and she will ultimately be gone forever!"

Lantis grabbed at the little girl's ankle, but it was too late. She and the other possessed objects were already too high for him to reach for. Hikaru had her hands clasped over her heart. Suddenly, the red light was concentrated on her heart. The redhead then lifted her hands, and the light with it, over her head.

Umi gasped, speechless. Fuu yelled out to her sister, "HIKARU!" but the cry only fell upon dead ears. A bright light filled the room once again, but instead of showering everyone with hope, they were all covered in fear.

The ground started shaking even more, knocking all the people off of their feet. All of the sudden, the ceiling was ripped off of the ballroom! For that moment, everyone was concentrated on the ceiling, until Lady Aska noticed that the worst was yet to come.

"Oh no!!" she yelled, pointing at where Hikaru, the music box, and the earring were. Hikaru seemed to be faltering, and in a few seconds, she started dropping to the ground, leaving her heart suspended with the other objects.

Lantis rushed up to her in time to catch her in his arms, but when he shook her, trying to revive her, she would not budge. He placed one hand on her cheek, and found it cold. Umi and Fuu both ran to Lantis's side, both sobbing with the most terrible grief.

"I never got the chance," he said, "to tell her the truth...." Fuu placed one hand on his shoulder, but then felt herself tiring out. She looked to Umi, who looked like she was about to faint.

Then, something clicked in the blonde's brain. She looked at the glowing orbs, and realized that they were glowing brighter by the minute. Doing some quick thinking, she barked at Umi, "Our possessions! They're sucking the life out of us!"

"But why?" Umi mumbled, barely able to move her lips.

"Our hearts...they treasure those two objects the most! We have used that music box and that earring to reminisce, and therefore have invested too much of our hearts in them!"

"But, who would want our life force?"

Fuu shook her head, then looking skyward, realized something else. She pointed to the sky slowly. Umi sluggishly turned her head and saw what had torn the ceiling off of their beautiful new ballroom. Standing there was a giant mecha, that looked like.....

"A GIANT CHICKEN?!" Lady Aska screamed in horror. Then, the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. "We wants it for our room!!"

"No, Lady Aska!" Sanyun pleaded. "Not again!" Sanyun held back the terribly excited Fahrenian princess, until they were both run over by a terrified Primera and her obsessive suitor, Yuri.

The chicken ignored the mess below it, and made a grab for the glowing objects. There was an evil cackle as the raspy voice was heard again, this time more triumphant than ever before. "Finally!" it announced. "My own will is going to be fulfilled!"

Umi squinted her eyes in anger, and stole a glance at Fuu. The Magic Knight of the Wind gave her a nod, and the two remaining Knights got to their feet. They wobbled a little bit, for lack of energy, but were able to gain balance.

"Selece!"

"Windam!"

At the sound of their names, the two Mashin rose from the ground and greeted their owners. In an instant, Umi and Fuu were inside their Spirits and ready to fight off the chicken.

They both reached out their giant hands and blocked the chicken from obtaining the only things in the world that were keeping them alive at that moment. With one punch, Windam, with Fuu inside, sent the chicken flying to a different part of Cephiro. Fuu and Umi then flew to where the evil being had landed.

The gigantic bird got up again, and shot missiles at Umi and Fuu, who immediately blocked. Umi went for the neck of the evil robot, wringing it as if to choke whoever was inside. Somehow, the chicken got out and began pecking madly at Umi, who screeched in pain.

Fuu tried to wrestle the rabid bird off of her best friend, but it seemed no use. The chicken somehow had the upper hand in this fight.

The others could only look on in horror, except for Lantis, who was still holding Hikaru in his arms. He sat on the ground, cradling her softly. He looked down into her lifeless face and brushed one stray hair from her face.

What he had thought was love before was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. As Lantis held her hand in his, he remembered that sunny smile that Hikaru always gave him. Her eyes, he thought, were always lit up and full of joy whenever she saw him. Those two eyes were what he lived for, the eyes of a person who had the strongest heart in the world.

She was always doing favors for others, he remembered. She had even wanted him to hit her, because she, in her own mind, had thought she deserved to be punished for what she had done as a Magic Knight. And she was always the sweetest, friendliest person around. That was why Mokona had liked her in the first place.

Though Lantis had never really shown it, he really did have feelings for her. He had always assumed that whatever it was, those feelings meant love. But now, he knew what love meant, as he sat there holding her. For the first time, one tear rolled down his cheek. It dripped onto one of her cheeks and rolled down it.

He could hear the Mashin fighting in the background with the giant chicken. Knowing that he probably might have to leave to fight soon, Lantis leaned down kissed Hikaru on the lips. He had wanted to do so for the longest time, but never had the guts to, afraid of how she would react. At least now, he thought, she wouldn't be able to reject him.

Lantis pulled back, and looked at her once again. But something unexpected happened then. Hikaru's eyes fluttered open. She looked up into the dark eyes of her knight in shining armor. Immediately, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled her back to herself, giving him another kiss. [Author's note: OH, the fluffiness!! Sorry, I just had to put that in there! Hehehhee]

In the distance, the giant chicken was putting up one heck of a fight. Of course, it wasn't helping that Fuu and Umi were also currently being drained of the power of their hearts. The evil mecha had the Mashin on their knees by the time Hikaru was revived.

Thankfully, Hikaru was revived in the nick of time, for as soon as she had opened her eyes once again, the red orb returned to her. The music box and the earring dropped to the ground, no longer glowing. With that, the robot chicken was rendered immobile.

Umi, suddenly filled with more energy, grabbed one wing of the giant bird, and Fuu grabbed the other. Together, they flew the frozen chicken back to the palace, where everyone was waiting.

There, the others waited for them. Aska, Sanyun, Yuri, and Primera were still all jumbled up in their squabble. Hikaru was also there, smiling in her usual way and holding the music box in one hand and the earring in the other hand. Fuu and Umi hopped down from their spirits and gladly gave Hikaru the most enormous hug ever.

"You're okay!" Fuu said through tears. "We thought you were....."

"Oh, it doesn't matter anymore!" Umi said, also leaking at the eyes. "As long as you're okay!"

"Everything's not okay yet...." spoke up a wise voice from behind the three. They all looked behind them to see Clef standing there, apparently also newly revived. He looked seriously at each girl. All three of the Magic Knights threw confused looks back at him.

"The chicken! It's gone!" whined Hikaru. "Can't we just get on with my party now?" Umi and Fuu nodded in agreement.

Clef shook his head. Suddenly, Mokona appeared out of no where, and jumped into Guru Clef's arms.

"MOKONA!!!" Presea bellowed. "Don't tell me you hid again?!"

The holy creature just gave a blank face and an expressionless, "Puu." Presea made a grab for the fluffy white entity, but only to find that Clef had snatched it out of harm's way just in time.

Clef sighed and rubbed his head. With Mokona in one arm, and his staff in the other, he looked to the giant robot chicken. "Haruka, come on out!"

To everyone's surprise, the beak of the chicken opened wide, and eerie smoke poured out of it. In the smoke, the silhouette of a small figure appeared, and the mysterious stranger known as Haruka began to step out of their mecha.

As soon as the person had safely exited their vehicle, none other than Zazu wheeling a cradle entered onto the scene. "Look!" he said, his eyes shut. "I gave the two babies bottle of vodka!"

He gestured to the cradle, where the little Eagle and Geo were indeed sucking on their two bottle of liquor. When Zazu got no response, he looked around to find that the room was demolished. "What happened to the roof? What's with the giant chicken? Is that why there was an earthquake?" Then, the technician's eyes widened with horror. "And what are they doing here?!"

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