Chasing Anything By: Vanilla Fox
Disclaimer: Rayearh is not mine, never wil be, either. But at least I get to mess around with it.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, everyone. Or at least, to... those who did. Three words to y'all: Hope you enjoy!
[Chapter 2 - Attacks Begin]
Aile looked around, she was in a forest, which was a few miles away from the castle, it seemed. She felt slightly uneasy at the silence, but how could she be uneasy for long, especially when she had been it's companion for several months now? In the horizon, she saw the rising turrets of crystal, and smiled. Her mission had begun- she was in Cefiro.
Hikaru laughed with Lantis as a bird plopped down from his finger, and onto his head, making quite a comfortable, and good looking nest. Fuu and Umi looked up from their gardening and giggled, enjoying the clear day. Clef was examining his flowers with the Palu, and Ferio was watching all this from a sheaf of papers stacked on a table, all for official business. From above, invisible in the shadows cast by the sun, a figure clothed in black watched all this, indescribable feelings welling up inside her. her eyes betrayed some- hate? Anger? Jeaslousy? Even she didn't know. But she did know, despite all this inner turmoil, that this wasn't the time to attack.
However, she kept her eyes on the red haired one- the Magic Knight of Fire, Hikaru. She was the main cause of all this. She was the one who had... who had... She was the Pillar of Cefiro, and that was enough. Aile's grey eyes looked over the group again. She could've sworn that the Master Mage had looked up, but she didn't know. And she didn't want to take the risk. Instead, she went back inside, and stealthily made her way to a small abandoned room, where it was dusty, and seemingly, ignored. It was a good place to hide, for now.
Clef looked up- he couldv'e sworn he sensed something... a small, but very fierce anger... he ignored it and went back to examining his pomelia herbs. But suddenly, he let a small shout of surprse escape him as he was drenched in icy cold water. He turned around, only to be bombarded by more streams of water. "Wh-*splutter* Umi!" There were sounds of laughter as the Magic Knight of water sprayed him with water which was coming out of her finger, at a high rate. Lantis smiled at hearing Hikaru laugh, and then at the fact that Clef had summoned his staff and was now chasing Umi all over the gardens.
Alie looked as evveryone drifted off from their dinner. And wistfully, she remembered teh times when she was with he friends, and Eagle... and his friends... Geo and the little kid. But she steeled herself, and put a 'normal' smile on her face. Finally, Hikaru bade the others goodnight. Alie was smiling all the way as she followed Hikaru to her room. When she closed the door, Alie followed. Hikaru had a goofy grin on her face as she spied the moon from above the tree's leaves. Unconsciously, she let what was on her mind slip. "Lantis..." The Autozamian almost snorted. Lovesick girl... And it's not even a year since.... And she's forgotten about him?!
"You're in love with Lantis Kailu?" She asked, as if she was commenting about the weather, as she came out of the shadows. Hikaru spun around, looking at her. She looked at the cloaked form which seemed to materialise out of her room's shadows.... "Do you know that for me, that that's unforgivable? How you seem to have forgotten about the one of most recent blood on your hands, and how it was even the most important one? The one of an innocent's?" She was getting uncomfortable now. This woman was disconcerting her, the way she was talking about all this things in a tone wihch was meant for trivial things such as discussing the weather. Slowly, she backed up. "Who are you?" Her ovum gem flashed, and she was in her armour, her sword in her hand. The woman continue to walk forward, then stopped. "I'm one of the people you've hurt." She looked up, the shadows uncloaking her face. Black wisps of hair fell at the sides of her face, and those eyes... Hikaru felt extremely unnerved. She was smiling, but her eyes... they were so angry, so despairing... so turmoiled. But another thing was, she was so sad. Hikaru raised her sword.. "What are you doing here, then?" Aile smiled, and laughed.
Two short swords appeared in her hands, presumably retrieved from her cloak. Hikaru frowned and tensed up. Aile attacked first. her left stabbed, and her right defended. But Hikaru parried move after move.Howeverm she left the right one unattended, and and was cut in the left arm with it. She gave out a cry of pain, and jumped back. Now, she realized, people would've heard her.
She backed into the door, and Aile looked at her, still smiling, her eyes closed from all the smiling. "Your dear Lantis and the other Magic Knights should be coming right now, but it won't save you." She charged in for another attack, and Hikaru couldn't help but release her Red Tornado. She gasped, but Aile came out of the smoke unharmed. She smiled and cocked her head to one side. Her voice was still that now, irritatingly calm and 'talking-about-the-weather' voice. "What if I had been a village girl, Hikaru Shidou? You would've killed me... And you would've cried... Then the Prince, and the Master Mage would've forgiven you, because you were a Magic Knight, and you were their friend." Hikaru gave a whimper, but she continued, mercilessly in the same tone. "You migth even fall into depression, but the other Magic Knights would most likely comfort you, and say that it wasn't your fault, you were attacked first, and it was self defense." Even when the door opened, the group she had been talking about standing behind Hikaru, all frozen with shock. "And then everything would be okay, and eventually, you won't forget, but you would push me to the bck of your mind, where you'll only remember me very rarely..."
Hikaru's stricken group of friends stood there, looking at the place where Alie was. But she was gone. And they never saw her. They heard her voice, the same discussing-the-weather tone. And sadly, they knew how true what she had said was. Hikaru looked at where her 'Assasin' was. But now, there was only a pool of moonlight there. However, all thoughts were pulled aside as Lantis came up behind her. "What was that all about?" She shook her head. "I...I don't know."
The three girls hugged each other, and Clef suddenly found that he had somethings to attend to. Aile, howeverm was waiting for him in his study. When he saw the smilng girl in front of him, in her pink and grey robes, he held his staff in front of him, ready to strike. But she held out her hand, and he looked at her, somehow trusting her and returning his staff into it's former position, being held at his side. "Who are you, and what do you want? What is your purpose?" Aile laughed. "So many questions, Guru Clef... You know that I am your 'assasin', do you not? I cannot tell you my name. But what I want? I simply want revenge. My purpose? To kill the Magic Knight of Fire." Clef was utterly confused. Throughout her entire speech, she still had that tone, and she was smiling as if over they were speaking over a cup of tea. And her eyes looked like glass, they betrayed nothing. he couldn't sense any feelings coming from her either. Still smilng, she sat down on a cushioned chair, and grinned at him. "Don't bother, Guru. I have no feelings or emotions right now. So don't tire yourself searching for something that isn't existent. But... for answering your questions, i would like you to answer mine. Don't worry, it's only one, and I believe it's quite harmless."
Clef looked at her, eyes narrowed. She smiled innocently up at him. "I want to know where Eagle died."
He stiffened, and looked at her. Her smile had faltered at the last word, but was back up now. And very briefly, he felt a strong feeling from her. It was only a second, or so, but it was so strong, such a strong feeling of sadness, that he was almost winded. He bowed his head, not meeting eyes as piercing as his own. "He died... here... in Cefiro castle, in Debonair's hands." He sighed, trying to push away the memory, and When he looked up, he heard a faint Thank You, but she was gone. As if nobody had been there. He sighed, and summoned a chair for himself. "Hikaru.. So... She's after you, with a very broken... no- shattered heart."
Clef sighed and looked into the darkness of the night. Assasin... Somehow, he knew that that wasn't who she was. She wasn't an assasin, she didn't want to kill. But he hed felt her will. It was so strong, fueled by such strong emotions, that could'e only resulted in several ways... He thought on the possibilities. She might have bottled up such strong sadness, until it turned to hate, anger... and so one, until she couldn' let it go anymore, and they were all contained inside of her. or, her feelings were so strong, much stronger than he would ever experience, unless someone like Umi.... he blushed and turned his thougts back on track. They might've been so strong that if she let them out, they would kill her... He sighed. "What in the world is Cefiro coming to?"
A/N: So, then... this is longer, isn't it? I told ya! Once my brain juice starts flowing, I'll be spewing out a few pages of completed and utter nonsense, but hey.... Thanks so much for the reviews, and I hope that ou guys will review again. I hope to make this quite short, maybe a six or seven chapter story only. But I don't know whether to make it sad, or not. I could satisfy Ascot fans out there.... But I'm partial to Clef, so I'm sorry, I think this is gonna be Clemi. =)
R&R, Onegai, Vanilla Fox