Disclaimer: I don't own Rayearth! CLAMP does!

~*~*~*~*~

Hikaru dropped the silver spoon down to the bowl with a series of clatters. She smiled brightly, her ruby eyes dancing as she gazed at the empty bowl, once filled with sugary vanilla ice cream.

She beamed up at Lantis. "That was good!" she smiled.

Lantis's lips curled into an awkward sort of smile, but his mouth twisted into an odd shape, which just came to show how long it had been since he had last smiled.

As Lantis stared into Hikaru's bright, ruby-red eyes, a warm pleasure filled him. He found the feeling to be rather odd, but after a while, he decided he liked the gentle sensation.

Hikaru giggled and turned away, staring down at the table. All happiness seemed to leave her. There was a long silence before he spoke.

"Lantis?" she asked.

Lantis lifted his head.

"Do you hate humans?"

Lantis paused. "Yes..." he began. "...and no."

There was another long pause. "Why?"

Lantis looked at Hikaru in silent confusion.

"Why do humans and demons hate each other so much?" she asked again.

"Perhaps we are afraid of what we do not understand," Lantis answered.

"Afraid?"

Lantis nodded. "Maybe that why we so aimlessly attack each other... out of fear."

"Do you fear humans?"

"Yes," Lantis answered. "But, humans and demons have not always resided together."

Hikaru only stared at Lantis, waiting for an explanation.

"We demons once lived in an alternate realm," Lantis said. "Cephiro. We all lived together in harmony, until one day, when a human girl wandered into our realm. Her name was Emeraude. The High Priest, Zagato, of Cephiro, fell in love with the girl, and she with him.

"Love between humans and demons was forbidden, so the Cephirian gods took the life of the High Priest, and shunned all of Cephiro's inhabitants, while forcing them out onto the planet Earth.

"Overwhelmed with grief over the loss of her love, Emeraude took her own life in order to be with her love. Meanwhile, demons were overcome with fear of humans, humans equally fearful of demons, and they fought.

"That is how humans and demons began their never-ending battle."

Tears welled up in Hikaru's eyes, turning them to glassy red orbs.

Lantis hesitated, but reached out and brushed Hikaru's shoulder in gentle concern. Hikaru brushed a salty tear from her cheek.

"I... I don't think I hate demons anymore..." she sniffed. "I never considered how demons felt about humans. Now I know that not all demons are bad."

"And I know that not all humans are evil," Lantis whispered. "I know that there are evil demons just as there are evil humans."

Lantis froze and Hikaru dove into his arms, crying softly. He patted her back awkwardly, and she lifted herself from his arms.

"I'm sorry," she said in a quavering voice. She looked carefully at Lantis and noticed a scar on the side of his neck that ran under his shirt.

"That scar..." Hikaru whispered. "How far does it run?"

Lantis's hand flew to his neck and he touched the scar gingerly. "It ends near my lower back, I suppose."

"Where did it come from?"

Lantis hesitated. "I was attacked by a human swordsman when I was a child."

Hikaru looked at Lantis sympathetically. "Why would anyone attack a child?"

Lantis's eyes hardened. "People are afraid of what they do not understand," he repeated.

Hikaru felt overwhelmingly sympathetic for the demon race. At that moment, she wanted more than anything to protect the demons she had met. She and Lantis stared deeply into each other's eyes, as if searching for some unknown emotion. Before she knew it, Hikaru found herself leaning towards Lantis, and he towards her. Their lips touched lightly before they both pulled away, as if they had just gained realization of their actions.

Lantis cleared his throat loudly and Hikaru's face was nearly as red as her hair. Suddenly, Eagle approached from behind them—he had gone off to check on a strange disturbance he had felt.

"Lantis," Eagle addressed the raven-haired swordsman. "May I have a word?"

Lantis furrowed his brow in silent confusion, but rose from his chair and followed Eagle to an isolated corner of the room.

"It's the curse foretold in the Prophecy," Eagle whispered. "I'm sure of it."

"We should alert His Majesty," Lantis replied sternly. "Prince Ferio."

Eagle nodded. "But what about...?" he gestured to Hikaru.

"We'll just take her with us..." Lantis said. "If she's a servant, then it shouldn't be a problem."

Eagle nodded again and the headed back towards Hikaru.

"We need to... run a little errand," Eagle said to Hikaru. "Would you like to come along?"

Hikaru paused, then nodded and stood. The three then headed towards Ferio's bedroom chambers.

~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Ascot and Umi made their way towards Clef's room. After they headed down he narrow, winding hallways, they finally reached the door to Clef's room. Ascot stepped up and knocked on it firmly.

"Doushi Clef," he called knocking on the door. "Clef? Are you there?"

Ascot called a couple more times before grasping the doorknob and giving it a firm tug. To his surprise, the door opened with ease.

"That's strange..." Ascot muttered. "He never leaves his door unlocked..."

Ascot stuck his head inside the room and called out again. "Clef! Clef?"

"Is he there?" Umi asked from behind Ascot.

"No," Ascot shook his head. Suddenly, his head jerked up slightly.

"What's wrong?" Umi asked.

"I sense him..." Ascot mumbled. "He's near the Prince's chambers! C'mon!"

Ascot took Umi's hand and they raced down the hallways.

"I-I thought you said your magic wasn't working!" Umi called to Ascot. "How can you still sense people?"

"That's not magic!" Ascot replied. "It's demonic instinct!"

Umi cocked an eyebrow and continued to follow Ascot towards a large balcony. They were nearing the end of the balcony when suddenly, Ascot let out a loud cry and backed away. Umi stopped and turned around.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Ascot had covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve.

"That smell!" he replied in disgust.

"What smell?" Umi asked again.

"I smell blood!" Ascot exclaimed.

Umi grimaced. "Blood?"

Ascot didn't reply, but walked over to the edge of the balcony. He took a torch off the wall and kneeled on the floor. He held the torch over a small pool of blood.

Umi whimpered as she stared at the blood on the ground.

"It's fresh blood..." Ascot whispered and made a disgusted face. Suddenly, something caught his eye. He moved the torch to his left and saw an arrow lying on the floor, the arrowhead was covered in blood.

Ascot shuddered and stood up. "Come on," he motioned to Umi. "Let's keep going."

Umi nodded shakily and followed Ascot further down the dark hallway.

~*~*~*~*~

Sorry this chapter's so short—I'm suffering from terrible writers-block at the moment. I hope the scene with Hikaru and Lantis was OK... I've never written H/L romance before. Anyways, thank you again to all of you who reviewed! I'll have Ch. 6 up as soon as I can! ^_^