*Sorry this one took so long, I was kinda lost where it should go, I figured it out! Yey me! Hope this works for everyone ^.^*
Chapter Eleven: Confrontation
I didn't move, didn't make a sound. I thought that if I stayed completely still and completely silent the walls wouldn't attack me. Unfortunately, there was no such luck.
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and a soft voice in my ear, "Come on Umi, it's time to go," I turned and smiled weakly. Nothing seemed to register. I never even thought about the trickery of the room.
"I knew you'd come for me. How are Hikaru and Fuu?" I took the hand he offered and tried to smile through my exhaustion.
"We…" he turned and looked at her. "Fuu and Hikaru are…" his eyes lowered.
"What?" I stopped and stared, feeling my face grow pale and my body get weak.
"Fuu and Hikaru are dead Umi," his words were so harsh, so final.
"What? Dead?" I couldn't feel. My mind was numb. They couldn't possibly, not Hikaru, my little sister, not Fuu, she was too brilliant. No. I refused to believe it. "They're not, you're lying me. This is a sick joke."
"No love, the Dark Lords and I…came to an…understanding," a cruel light shone in his eyes, one I'd never seen in his eyes before.
"What?" I whispered.
"They would spare Cephiro and take us back, as long as I killed the Magic Knights of Cephiro."
Then…then…they…Hikaru-Fuu… "No." I fell to the floor. "No, I won't…it's not…can't be…Clef, how-how could you?"
"I'm sorry Umi, for the good of Cephiro," he raised his staff, and I didn't even have the strength to raise my hands in defense. Didn't want to, I thought he was…different. I closed my eyes, but when I opened them I was lying on the cold stone floor once more, trembling. I was in the spot I had been time and time before, shaking in that eerie deep gray darkness.
"What a pathetic show. I thought you Magic Knights were supposed to be brave," the Dark Lord of Water spat as she stepped into the room once more. "Or maybe that's only the Fire Knight."
"Leave Hikaru alone!" I screamed and stood, clenching my fists and trying to Will my sword to my hands with all my might. I wasn't able to.
"Oh your dear Hikaru is not my concern, I'll leave her up to Akuro," she smiled ruthlessly, and my heart began to well. Blood boiled in my body, and I thought that I was going to lunge at her. The only thing that kept me back was the pure knowledge that she had ma…my heart started to pump, and my brain began to think quickly. I couldn't summon my sword missing my ovum, no, but…could I still use magic? I felt a new wave of courage and strength as I raised my hands and began a spell. "Aoi Yatsumaki!" The Waterspout fell from my fingers and toward Uchiyama who screamed, not expecting it, and fell to the ground, coughing and bleeding. She jumped up and looked around her, eyes darting from one wall to the other. I had caught her vulnerable and while she was touching the ground she could be attacked by the walls. She jumped into the air but landed quickly, her magic drained for a short period. She wasn't able to hover in the air as she and the other two had done before.
"Mizu no Ryuu!" the Water Dragon drove her into the ground, and she screamed and held out her hands as I watched the illusion engulf her.
Someone was walking down a red velvet carpet; the dress was long and flowing, a tinge of blue in it. It was beautiful, but the veil hid her face. I looked at the girl curiously. Then my eyes turned toward the beaming man that she was going to meet. It was Clef, and I gasped and jumped back.
"Damn you Clef!" the Dark Lord of Water screamed and ran toward Clef, whose eyes filled with anger at the disruption. He glared and clapped, his staff appearing in his hands. The magic engulfed her, and when she opened her eyes she was lying on the ground, trembling in fear. I glared in disgust. Her worst nightmare was Clef's happiest day.
"If you love him you'd want to see him happy," I whispered as I approached, my hand out in attack position.
"He never thought about my happiness!" she screamed. "I don't want him happy with anyone but me. He never thought that playing with me like he did would hurt me! He never cared!"
"You're wrong Uchiyama," a voice told her from behind, and I turned and my eyes lit up. I wanted to run to him, but was wary…this could be another illusion. He never let his eyes wander to mine, and this made me even more wary.
"You never once thought about what it would do to me! Turning me away like that, shunning me like you did! All you thought about was how it would look, all you thought about was the arrival of those damn Magic Knights!" she screamed, standing and staring into his cold blue eyes.
"The Magic Knights have always been my first priority, you're right. After Princess Emeraude left this world, I swore to protect them. It was my duty, but I always cared about how it would affect you. It's not my fault that you turned your heart cold Uchiyama. That was not my doing," he never flinched, never budged.
"Lies! All you've ever done is lie to me! I'm sick of it!" a stream of Water flew toward Clef and wrapped around him. My eyes widened in fright, but he simply closed his eyes and created a wall of white around himself, and Uchiyama's Water couldn't penetrate. She screamed, aggravated, and opened her hand to try another attack.
Clef opened his hand, and his staff began to glow blue. It flashed a bright blue light and I looked up and realized I was outside of that room, and Uchiyama had vanished.
"Where are we?" I asked softly, glad to be away from that room, but curious all the same.
"We're in their palace," he said just as softly, as if afraid to disrupt something. "We're in the home of the old pillar."
"Oh," I whispered, looking around at the tall ceilings and the pillars that held them, marble. "Where are Hikaru and Fuu?" my throat was dry, where were they? My mind raced back to that vision, that room didn't hold the truth did it?
"They're…" he looked around, as if he had heard something, but then stopped and continued. "They're looking for you, I'll call them back now."
I heaved a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes and spoke in his mind to them. Soon, I saw them running up to us, and I felt Hikaru grab me in a tight embrace as Fuu smiled warmly and sighed almost as heavily as I just had.
"So glad to see you're all right Umi-san," she grinned, and Hikaru nodded as she released me.
"I wouldn't have been if you hadn't come to find me, arigato," I smiled at them all, my eyes lingering on Clef's. He smiled back and nodded his head.
"It was the least we could do, after all, we do need you," he said mildly.
My eyes went back to that room, and I didn't want to think about it, but my mind lingered. Why hadn't Nori been in my visions? I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and looked back to Clef who was watching me intently, "What does that room do?" I inquired, and he sighed, as if he knew that I was going to ask that. I guessed that he did.
"It's the room where the Princess used to pray," he began to explain. "She would use that room to keep her pious, to let her know what was in her subconscious. It let her know what her greatest fears were. When she was alone, her greatest fears were of the downfall of Cephiro; it kept her prayers strong and plentiful. Then, when he came, her fears began to be of him leaving the house forever, of them being separated. That's when she took her own life."
We were silent then; it was one of the saddest endings I'd ever heard. She had to show herself the worst things that could happen to her and Cephiro to make her pray harder? She had to have loved Cephiro. Just like Princess Emeraude…my eyes filled with tears, and I saw Hikaru and Fuu were crying as well. Lantis and Ferio had their heads bowed in silent prayer. I pushed away and shook my head; we couldn't let this get to us. She was gone; we had to fight new enemies now. The Pillar System had been abolished with Hikaru's strong heart that was all we could do.
"Are you all ready to play now? We'll play in here, on our turf," the Dark Lord of Fire appeared in front of us, smiling ruthlessly.
"We're ready," Hikaru whispered and drew her sword; that's when I realized I didn't have my ovum. My hands ran over one another, bare, they were bare. Clef's eyes shot down, and he shook his head.
"Where is her ovum Akuro?" he demanded of the Dark Lord of Fire, and her fiery deep maroon eyes met his.
"How would I know? That's Uchiyama's problem, but I expect you'll be able to ask her shortly. After Iesada gets through with her, of course," she bowed in mock respect and turned back to Hikaru. "Let's dance."
"Gladly," Hikaru whispered, and the Dark Lord of Fire landed on the ground and the two began to pace. The Dark Lord of Fire drew her own sword, but this one was engulfed in flame. My breath caught.
"Hikaru!"
"Hikaru-san!"
"Back off!" the Dark Lord of Fire threw a Ring of Fire around the two so that we couldn't pass, but we could still see through the flames and toward the fight.
"Hikaru!" Lantis tried to reach her, but the wall reached out with fiery hands and tried to engulf him. He jumped back, sword drawn, but couldn't do anything.
Then our problems only grew, because the Dark Lord of Wind and the Dark Lord of Water appeared.
Fuu drew her sword immediately. I felt strangely vulnerable. I had my magic, but…I couldn't do what Hikaru and Fuu had done, I had no sword.
"Uchiyama, give her her ovum back," Clef ordered, and I smiled weakly. He was always there for me.
"Still defending her Clef?" the Dark Lord of Wind hissed and laughed. "No mind, I'm here for…other reasons…" her eyes fell onto Ferio's, but he turned his head angrily. Then her eyes met Fuu's, but Fuu held them courageously. She laughed and nodded, "Very good Wind Knight, but let's see what you're really worth shall we?"
"We shall," Fuu answered spitefully, and the Dark Lord of Wind began to pace around Fuu. She saw the Dark Lord of Fire's idea and grinned. She raised her hands, and a tornado surrounded the two, but it wasn't a tornado, because we could see through it.
"Torturing us," Ferio muttered and gripped his sword harder, as invalid as Lantis.
"I won't return her ovum," the Dark Lord of Water stated simply. "I think I'd rather have it for myself," she clapped, and it appeared. Slowly, she placed it on her own hand, but Water engulfed her, and she began to choke and drown. She threw it off, and it hit the ground. I ran up to it and grabbed it, placing it on my own hand. I drew my sword and was suddenly refreshed, "Let's play, you and I," I whispered, and she glared, rubbing her hand, but came to the ground, and we began to pace. The wall of Water went up, and then we were on our own.
Tori Amos, Scarlet's Walk, Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
"And the Jacaranda tree
Is telling me of the
Trouble you're in
Just by the way
She bends
Remember dancing and
Wondering as you were swaying
What kind of woman you'd be
"What will be will be"
Over my dead body
Slip through your hand
Again and again
Slip through your hand
Again and again
My old flame was a
Jester and a joker
And a dealer of men,
They called him
The prince
Prince of Black Jacks and
Of women and of anything
That slipped into his hands"
