A New Prétear

"What are we going to do?" Goh moaned, "Without a Prétear we can't fight these guys!"

Sasame nodded his head as Takako cuddled closer to him, "True but where are we going to find a Prétear at this time?"

"Why don't you ask Atarashi for help?"

"Shin for the last time we are going to keep my daughter out of this," Hayate said, "I don't want her to go through the pains that Himeno went through."

"Fine," Shin snorted, "I'm going to go and find Atarashi. Let me know what your decision is when I get back. Oh, I am not going to make any promises that I won't tell her about you guys. Believe it or not, your daughter has a right to know everything."

The others watched Shin storm out of the room before they went back to forming a plan.

"Ashi, I know you're in there!" Shin called.

Atarashi swung down from the tree where she was perched, "What do you want Shin?"

"I need to tell you something Ashi."

"Alright."

Shin sighed as he sat down on a bench, "Eighteen years ago Fenril, Princess of Disaster, escaped from her prison in Leafenia. The knights realized that in order to defeat Fenril they needed a Prétear. At the time I was just a little boy and did not see how dire the situation was. But we did find a girl to become Prétear."

"Who was she?"

"The Prétear was your mother Ashi. You know the other knights as well. The Knight of Plants is me, the Knight of Wind is your father, the Knight of Fire is Goh, the Knight of Light is Kei, the Knight of Water is Hajime, and the Knight of Freezing is Mannen.

"Your parents did not want you to know any of this because they were afraid that you might suffer like your mother did when she was Prétear. They even forbade any knights to date you or to love you as anything more than a sister. There were so many times when I wanted to tell you. None of them have any idea that you possess the power of the Prétear."

Atarashi nodded, "Okay I can understand all of that. Shin, does this mean that you know what was wrong with mother earlier?"

Shin sighed, "Your mother lost her ability to prét. She can no longer protect anyone with her powers. But with a new evil rising we require a Prétear in order to save the world."

Atarashi nodded again. She knew what she must do. The only question was would the others allow her to? They were always protecting her but now that she had the chance to protect them in return... Everything had become so confusing so quickly. No one even knew anything about this new enemy.

"Shin, I will take my mother's place."

"Are you sure about this?"

Positive, she thought, If I lose my nerve now then let's face it, the world is going to die. I won't let that happen. As long as Shin believes in me then I know that I can do this. Oh, my mother and father are going to kill me!

Sasame stopped listening to the arguments of his friends to see what he could hear outside. He knew something was out there but he could not pinpoint just what it was. Finally he realized all too late that whatever it was was crawling up the side of the house. It was crawling towards the window where Mannen was perched blissfully unaware.

"Mannen!" Sasame cried as the creature snatched Mannen out of the room. Instantly the knights were out the window prepared to fight. However there was nothing to be seen outside.

Slowly five vines crawled along the ground snaking up the legs of the knights until they had all of them ensnared. The knights tried in vain to free themselves but it was useless. They could not break free of the web that held them tight.

"Look what I caught in my web today! Six little Knight Flies!"

Hayate turned towards Chikiu as much as possible, "Let us go!"

"I don't feel like it at this moment. But if you'd like then you may continue your struggles. After all, your struggling has been so helpful to me."

"What do you mean?" Mannen demanded.

"Simple my vines are draining your Leafe and feeding it to me. The more you struggle the more Leafe I receive," Chikiu laughed, "Now you have two options: either you can struggle and die quickly or you can sit there and die a slow, painful death."

"I have a couple of options for you as well," a voice cried, "Either you can free them and remain in one piece or you can keep them in your web and face the consequences."

Chikiu turned towards the voice and found only the silhouette of two teenagers. Had the knights found a Prétear already?

"Who are you?"