Disclaimer: The wonderfully talented CLAMP owns Magic Knight Rayearth!!

Hehehe.... long time, no see, eh? Well, I'm back! I hope you like Chapter 4!! ^_^

~*~*~*~*~

Ferio raced down the halls as fast as his legs could carry him. His mind filled with uncertain thoughts.

Clef... Ferio thought. Could he be in danger? What did the Prophecy mean?

His mind raced, as did his legs. He was distracted, however, when a golden-haired young woman ran in his direction. He stopped abruptly, and she ran into him. She crashed to the floor.

"G-gomen!" she began. She looked up at the man she had run into and her eyes grew wide.

Ferio was mesmerized by her beauty.

"Pardon me, mademoiselle," he said, as graciously as possible. He bent down to help her up and realized she was a human. His brilliant golden eyes met her emerald green ones, which were covered by spectacles.

Fuu was completely frozen as she stared at him: his fangs, his pointed ears, his tail. He was strikingly handsome. She couldn't help but stare at him.

"I'm terribly sorry," Ferio continued. "Please, accompany me to my bedroom chamber. Perhaps we can talk."

Ferio edged closer to Fuu, his lips brushing against her ear as he spoke.

"Oh," Ferio said suddenly, pulling away. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Prince Ferio. And you are?"

Fuu was pulled from her staring trance.

"Me?" she stuttered. "I'm Fuu," Fuu suddenly remembered Clef's advice and bit her lit nervously.

"Fuu?" Ferio asked. "That's a pretty name."

"Arigato," Fuu replied hesitantly.

"What's a pretty human wandering about a demon castle for, anyway?" Ferio asked skeptically.

"I'm..." Fuu paused. "A servant." Didn't he know she was one of the Demon Slayers aimed to kill him? Suddenly, Fuu figured it out. He was expecting men to be the Demon Slayers.

"A servant?" Ferio asked. "You're too pretty."

Fuu blushed.

"C'mon," he said, gently taking a hold on her arm. "Let's go to my room."

Fuu nodded hesitantly and went with him.

~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Hikaru nervously searched the dark halls in the west wing of the castle. She peeked around each corner, making sure the coast was clear. Suddenly, a voice came from behind her.

"Are you lost, miss?" a voice asked.

Hikaru gasped and turned around to find her captors, Lantis and Eagle. They apparently didn't recognize her.

"Um..." Hikaru began. "Well, I..."

"Don't be alarmed," the platinum blonde assured her. "We have no intention of harming you. Are you a maid?"

Hikaru stood still.

"Step out into the light," the raven-haired man suggested.

Reluctantly, Hikaru obeyed. Lantis froze at the sight of her. To him, she was an angel, fallen from Heaven.

Eagle smiled. "That's better."

The men's appearance, strangely enough, did not alarm Hikaru. She found the wolf demon to be amazingly handsome, and the eagle demon to be the vision of elegance.

"Come," Lantis said nervously, though he didn't show his anxiety. "Perhaps you are hungry? We can find you something to eat."

Hikaru nodded and followed the two demons down the dimly lit hallways.

"May I ask your name?" Eagle asked in a friendly tone.

"H-Hikaru," Hikaru replied. She then remembered Clef's advice about not revealing their identities and mentally kicked herself.

"Hikaru?" Eagle asked. "What a nice name. My name is Eagle."

"I'm Lantis," Lantis replied shortly.

Lantis... Hikaru thought dreamily.

The three walked down the halls until they came to a large door.

Lantis held his hand towards the door and waited. When nothing happened he put on a rather shocked expression and edged his hand closer, waited for the magic coursing through his veins to open the door for him. When nothing happened for a second time, he and Eagle exchanged puzzled glances and Lantis pushed the door open manually. He stood to the side with Eagle, who seemed quite shaken.

"After you," Eagle gestured to Hikaru as he tried his best to smile. Hikaru nodded and headed into the large room to be greeted by a long dining table.

"Have a seat," Eagle motioned to a chair and walked towards a silver dessert trolley. Lantis followed.

Hikaru sat in one of the velvet cushioned dining chairs and observed her surroundings. The walls and floor were made of marble, although the walls were cracked in numerous places. The velvet on the seats were worn and table was scratched. Nevertheless, the room was spectacular. Hikaru glanced over to where Lantis and Eagle stood. They leaned over the dessert trolley, as if admiring the Gateau de Chocolat, while actually conversing in hushed voices.

"What happened back there?!" Eagle whispered harshly.

"I don't know," Lantis replied. "The magic... just wouldn't come."

"You don't think it's..."

"What?"

"That Prophecy?"

"Prophecy?" Lantis questioned.

"You know," Eagle said. "The Prophecy Master Clef taught us when we were younger."

Lantis paused, probing his mind for this particular Prophecy. "The one about the war?"

"Yeah."

"It can't be..."

"Is there something wrong over there?" Hikaru called to them.

Eagle and Lantis spun around.

"No!" Eagle called back. "Nothing at all! Do you like sweets?"

Hikaru looked at him curiously. "Yeah, I do."

"Good," Eagle smiled, grabbing a bowl of ice cream for Hikaru and a strawberry parfait for himself. Lantis followed as Eagle headed towards the table. The two men sat down on either side of Hikaru, and Eagle handed Hikaru her ice cream.

"Arigato!" Hikaru said happily, then glanced at Lantis. "Aren't you going to eat anything, Lantis?"

"I don't like sweet foods," Lantis replied. "Go ahead and eat."

Hikaru smiled at Lantis, then to Eagle, who was picking delicately at his parfait.

"Thank you both," she smiled.

~*~*~*~*~

Umi snuck down the dark hallways timorously. She whimpered to herself and clutched her sword tighter. Suddenly, a rat scurried by her feet. She screamed shrilly and clutched her sword to her chest before clamping a hand over her mouth in hopes of stifling the sound.

"Is someone over there?" a voice called from behind a corner.

Umi looked around frantically, trying to find a place to hide. She turned towards the sound of footsteps coming towards her and stared, petrified, waiting for whoever it was to come around the corner and catch her.

"Hello?" the voice asked again questionably. Umi watched as a tall young man with brown hair and overgrown bangs hiding emerald green eyes turned the corner. Umi could barely make out a long fox tail and small fangs as well as pointed ears in the dim light. As he stepped into a small patch of light in the dark hallway, he saw his robes were white and green.

Umi stood shaking as the man approached her.

"I-it's alright," the man stammered as he saw her shaking in fear. "I won't hurt you—can't hurt you, either. My magic won't work for some reason."

Umi bit her lip and stood upright.

"I'm Ascot," the man said. "What's your name?"

"Umi," Umi said bravely.

She's pretty... Ascot thought and blushed. Just like her name...

"Are you lost?" Ascot asked. "D-do you work for the Prince?"

Umi paused shortly, pondering the thought, and nodded.

"I'm trying to find my teacher," Ascot told her. "Would you like to come?"

Umi paused, then nodded. Anything was better than being alone in those creepy hallways.

Ascot blushed a bright red. "O-okay."

Together, they headed back down the hallways.

~*~*~*~*~

Clef ran as quietly as he could towards the Prince's chamber. He had sensed the Prince's change in direction and decided it was his duty to head after him: He had to warn Ferio of the curse—no matter what the cost. He dreaded the thought of waking the next morning and looking at the window to see a giant human mob around the castle. Somehow, he knew the word would get around that the demons had lost their supernatural powers.

Clef tried his best to hide his face as he raced down the corridor. He hoped the guards wouldn't notice his missing claws and fangs—he just knew that if the guards saw him, they would think he was a human invader. However, there wasn't much he could do about his missing tail. He had thought of tying one of his bed sheets around his waist and let it act as a tail, but he found it made him look like a deformed squirrel.

Clef spotted a open balcony, jutting from a large opening in the wall, and hid behind a pillar with his back facing the stone. He peeked around the pillar to see three guards standing at the edge of the balcony, overlooking the gardens.

"Damn!" Clef cursed to himself. He glanced to his left and tried to estimate the width of the balcony and how long it would take him to run across to the other side. It would take him a good seven or so seconds to get to a safe, enclosed hallway—too long, but he would have to take the chance.

Clef took a deep breath and turned, racing in front of the balcony. The guards spotted him and, at not seeing any sign of the tail of a demon, automatically assumed an intruder.

"Intruder!" one of the guards yelled. "Fire!"

At the guard's command, the other two guards began to shoot their arrows at Clef. One arrow pierced his side while the other barely missed the top of his head. The force from the arrow nearly knocked Clef off his feet, but he regained his footing and made it to the protected hallway. He found a opening in the wall and ducked into it as the guards began to race after him. He stood perfectly still in the dark and waited as the guards rushed past him. Once he could no longer hear their footsteps, Clef stepped from the narrow opening and pulled the arrow from his side. He winced as the arrow was pulled from his skin. He knew the wound wasn't fatal—it hadn't been terribly deep—but it would definitely slow him down.

Clef dropped the arrow and clutched his side with one hand, the wall with the other. He could feel the blood seeping through his robes, and the feeling of the substance against his hand gave him a rather unpleasant sensation. Wincing, he slowly made his way towards Ferio's bedroom chamber.

~*~*~*~*~

Ferio opened the door to his chambers and motioned for Fuu to enter the room. Fuu hesitantly stepped inside and took a good look at the Prince's room. It was, by far, the most spectacular room she had seen so far: Velvet drapes hung over the window elegantly, and all of the furniture was made from a gorgeous mahogany wood. The room was dimly lit by a few candles placed in elegant sconces. When Ferio motioned for her to sit at the foot of the bed, Fuu noticed beautiful silk sheets.

"You're room is very..." Fuu trailed off, probing her mind for a word to describe the marvel in front of her eyes as she sat down.

"Very...?" Ferio encouraged her to continue.

"Beautiful!" Fuu sighed.

Ferio chuckled slightly. "It's rather comforting to me."

Fuu laughed lightly. Before she knew it, Ferio had engaged her in a deep conversation about palace life. He spoke of gorgeous balls in the most elegant rooms in the palace, and the people, or rather demons, they attracted.

"Why... I mean, there aren't any balls around here now, are there?" Fuu asked.

"No," Ferio shook his head sadly. "We demons have always been shunned by society. It's been that way for as long as I can remember. We used to all be able to live together, all of the demons and humans. But then, everything changed. We don't know what happened. Humans began to attack our villages, burn everything and slay our people. We retreated to fortresses for refuge, mostly to no avail. The castles used to be beautiful. Now, they are left in shambles. Even the castle we are in a this moment is a ruin."

"Ferio..." Fuu whispered. "I'm so sorry." And she truly was.

Ferio shook his head. "We suspected there was a traitor among us; someone who may have attacked the human kind, and turned them against us."

"Ferio..." Fuu muttered again. She stared into beautiful golden eyes and he looked back, becoming lost in a forest of emerald green.

Slowly, the gap between them began to close. Both pairs of eyes shut, and Ferio's lips brushed against hers. Fuu savored the soft kiss, and ran her hand down Ferio's battled-scarred cheek.

Their kiss was abruptly interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

Ferio reluctantly pulled himself away from Fuu and moved towards the door. Clef fell from the doorway, gasping for air. He fell onto his hands and knees and his blood dripped to the marble floors, staining the stone a deep red.

"Clef!" Ferio gasped and dropped to his knees by his friend. "For the love of decency, have you forgotten how to heal yourself?!"

Fuu stood up abruptly and stared, wide-eyed, at Clef. He shot Fuu a nervous glance as if to say: "What in the world are you doing here?"

"God, who did this...?" Ferio asked, shaking his head.

"The guards..." Clef gasped. "Guards... thought... human..." his words were jumbled.

"The guards?" Ferio asked. "What the hell are you mumbling about?"

"Ferio..." Clef gasped as more blood poured from his side. He looked up into the Prince's eyes, ignoring the fact that Fuu was staring at him. "The curse... the Prophecy!"

"Curse?" Ferio asked again.

"Ferio!" Clef panted harshly as he took one hand and lifted his flowing lavender hair away from his ears. He turned his head and Ferio clearly saw what he meant. Ferio grabbed Clef's hand and observed his fingernails carefully, seeing clawless fingers. He couldn't see any sign of a tail, either.

"Clef," Ferio breathed. "What the hell happened?"

~*~*~*~*~

Well, there it is! I hope you liked it! I'm going to try to upload as many chapters as possible over the next few weeks before I go on yet another vacation... (But, hey! It's summer, right?) Thank you to all of you who reviewed for your support! Look out Chapter 5!! R&R, kudasai!! ^^