CHAPTER TWO: A Decade After
Ten long years have passed in peace and prosperity in the land of Cephiro. Ten long years of free breath, lush gardens, and tranquil seas. Life was good and right; no evil darkness existed and no shadow loomed above the people's hearts.
It has been ten long years since the last visitors came. Three young girls from another planet, from another time and space. Yet their consciousness has always been one with Cephiro. As was their hearts and souls. Yet, after a decade of peace, the last war with evil and the glory of the Rune Gods were all but pages in the history books, ignored or forgotten. No one now remembers clearly those strange visitors or their adventures, save for those who have known them and loved them in Cephiro.
Cephiro was as it was supposed to be: Quiet. Peaceful. Undisturbed. Paradise.
A man dressed in majestic robes and leaning upon a long staff stood on the highest point of the castle of Cephiro as he looked over the horizon. The breeze caressed his face. His eyebrows knotted.
Something was not right in Cephiro. It has been a long time since anything remotely dark has happened. Why should it come now?
And he was afraid.
She lay in bed, her eyes closed, her body wrapped around a soft feather pillow. She could feel the rays of the sun on her skin She was not asleep, only reluctant to get up and face the day. What was there to look forward to? She no longer had a life, as far as she could tell. There were several knocks on the door to her bedroom and she groaned inwardly. No, I don't want anyone coming to see what a wreck I am---
"Hikaru? Are you there?"
Hikaru almost fell out of bed when she heard that voice. She knew the owner of that voice. Oh, how lovely to hear it first thing in the morning!
She rushed to the door and engulfed in a tight embrace whoever it was on the other side.
Umi, her blue-haired friend, laughed daintily. "Hikaru! You're going to smother me!"
Hikaru let go, her red eyes swimming with much gladness over the arrival of her friend.
"It's been a long time, Umi! When have you arrived?" Hikaru asked. Umi flicked her hair back with a hand. "Only yesterday. Paris was such a blast! I'll tell you all about it later when we meet Fuu. Hikaru! It's almost nine in the morning and you're still inside your bedroom! This isn't you!"
Hikaru grinned sheepishly. "Sorry for the inconvenience. I'm glad my brothers let you in. I just--- stayed up a little too late, er, preparing my lesson plan for my students. Those kids take up much of my time, you know. Hey!"
She watched in confusion as Umi lifted both of hands up and looked at her fingers.
"Umi? Do I have dirt on under my nails? I swear I washed my hands after gardening session yesterday---"
"Hikaru!" Umi gasped. "You're not married yet?!"
Hikaru did not understand. "Er, should I be? I'm not even engaged yet. Nor do I have a steady lovelife."
"Oh, my goodness!" Umi exclaimed. Hikaru lifted an eyebrow. "Umi, as far as I can see, you're not engaged yourself."
Umi swatted Hikaru's arm painfully. Hikaru winced. "Well, I just thought that at least one of us ought to have a romantic life at our age. Hikaru, I just turned twenty-four two weeks ago! This news depresses me."
"What, your birthday or my loveless life?"
"Both!" Umi snapped. "Now, get yourself ready because I'm going to treat you and Fuu to lunch."
Hikaru smiled. When was the last time she had good lunch? "Really? Thanks! Good thing I don't have class today."
"Hikaru, it's Monday. Are you sure you don't have a class?"
"I'd skip one just for you, Umi."
An hour later, Hikaru and Umi were seated facing each other at a round table in a posh restaurant. Hikaru glanced around, feeling small and underdressed. Umi was wearing an elegant suit of silk while she was wearing an old pair of khakis, sneakers, and a floral print blouse. They were waiting for Fuu to arrive.
Umi glanced at her watch. It was thirty past twelve. "Fuu is late."
"She must be," said Hikaru. "Fuu is always busy with her patients and Kenji---"
Umi's eyes went wild. "Kenji? Who's Kenji?"
"Er, her friend? I haven't talked to Fuu lately myself but when I went to the hospital, I met her there and she was with this other doctor named Kenji Sunami. I was there, by the way, to visit one of my students who got hit and run by a car---"
Hikaru was interrupted when she felt a searing pain deep within the core of her body. It brought tears to her eyes and she struggled to control it. It ebbed for a few seconds, only to come back tenfold. Thankfully, Umi turned away and waved to someone at the door, which turned out to be Fuu. She was wearing a white coat over semi-casual attire and a black doctor's bag was beside her.
Umi and Fuu hugged. Hikaru prayed for the pain to go away and when it did, she got up and hugged Fuu, too. The pain did not return.
"Hikaru? Are you all right? You look pale," Fuu said, frowning slightly. Hikaru nervously laughed and shook her head.
"I must be hungry because you took so long!" The three of them laughed and ordered lunch. For the rest of the lunch, Hikaru was not bouncy but she participated in the conversation.
"Hikaru, I thought you wanted to be an animal trainer or something," said Umi, taking a sip of her wine. "I've been gone for four years from Japan and you're a teacher!"
Hikaru stopped slicing her steak for a few seconds, resumed, and took a bite out of her steak. "Well, things change, Umi. Pretty much fast, too. Sometimes I do volunteer work, training dogs for the police department. Income is not steady there, you know. Besides, I like children. And you, Umi? What have you been doing traipsing around Europe for four years?"
Umi laughed, wiping her chin with a table napkin. "Changing the subject, eh? Actually, I do interior design now, Hikaru. I studied for a while, learned the ropes of the business, and went for it. Income is huge, as long as you work for the right clients."
"Looks like you're very successful, Umi," Fuu remarked, smiling behind her spectacles. Umi sniffed. "Like you're not, Doctor! Look at you! You've always been good in science and all that cell stuff. Now, I've been hearing something about a Kenji Sunami."
Fuu glared at Hikaru, who raised her hands up in apology. Fuu sighed and shook her head. "Umi, Kenji and I are good friends. That's all." Like Hikaru, Fuu watched in confusion as Umi tinkered with her fingers. Seeing there was no ring, Umi gave up with a resounding sigh.
"Great! Three old ladies! This is not good!"
Hikaru and Fuu exchanged glances. Umi looked at them and asked, "What are we three waiting for? Why are we holding back? What's there to hold on to anyway?"
Umi's outburst silenced her friends. Fuu bowed her head. A dazed look passed over Hikaru's eyes and she turned her head to look out of the window, staring up at the height of the Tokyo Tower. Umi sighed for the last time and shook her head pityingly.
"We're all three of us doomed," she pronounced. She knew exactly what they were all holding on to. Or at least what Hikaru and Fuu were holding on to. She loved her life before but that was the past. The real world needed her more and so she heeded its call. Was that such a bad thing? To live as she ought to? Umi got tired of waiting in Paris and she missed home. But she missed something much more. The feeling of exhilaration, of things unknown and strange. That feeling was alien to her now and she wished she could just have it one last time. And she wanted to see Hikaru and Fuu.
"I feel sad that we're no longer high school students," Fuu said out of the blue, playing with her food.
"Or children with simple desires like adventure," said Hikaru, sadly. Umi realized she was not alone. Her friends felt what she felt.
"We're getting older," all three said simultaneously. A long silence followed. All of a sudden, Hikaru clutched at her heart, her face contorting with pain. Fuu and Umi were shocked.
"It's nothing," Hikaru told them, gasping. Fuu and Umi were worried and were even more so when blood began oozing out from Hikaru's nostrils.
"We've got to get out of here," said Fuu. Umi nodded, dropped some bills on the table and together with Fuu, ushered a weak Hikaru out of the restaurant amid stares from the other customers.
"Hold on, Hikaru," Fuu said, feeling Hikaru's pulse. She gulped. It was racing too fast for a normal human being to endure. Fuu knew Hikaru was going to die if something was not going to be done.
They brought Hikaru behind an abandoned warehouse. Umi stopped caring for her new Gucci shoes. Hikaru was more important. "Hikaru!" she said worriedly. "Hikaru! What's going on? Fuu! What's the matter with her?"
Fuu did not know either and she was starting to feel this was no ordinary illness. Hikaru seemed to be in a trance. Her pupils were dilated and blood would not stop from oozing out of her nostrils. Umi was near tears. Why is it that when they're together, something bad always happens?
"Hikaru?" Fuu asked, turning Hikaru's face towards her. Hikaru was gasping for air. "Hikaru, what is happening to you?"
Fuu and Umi were almost not too surprised when they heard Hikaru's reply.
CEPHIRO.
Umi and Fuu nodded to each other and they helped Hikaru up. Umi hailed a taxi cab and they got in. The cab driver looked at them from the rearview mirror. The girl's nose was bleeding. She might get stains on my seats.
"Well? What are you waiting for?!" Umi screamed. "Tokyo Tower and fast!"
The cab driver did not understand why they wanted to be at the Tower instead of a hospital. And the lady doctor did not seem much baffled either. He drove as fast as he could so he could get rid of them. They reached the Tower within ten minutes. The blue-haired lady paid him five thousand yen, a good three thousand above the fare. She did not ask for change and he watched curiously as the three girls made their way up the Tower. When they disappeared from view, he drove away.
Meanwhile, Umi and Fuu half-dragged Hikaru up the Tower. Hikaru was trying to speak in between gasps for air. The air around her was too thick. What was happening to her? She could have sworn she heard his prayer from that Other World. And when she tried to talk to him with her thoughts, her heart felt like it was going to explode.
When they reached the viewing deck of the Tower, they leaned Hikaru against a wall. Luckily, there were no other people there except the three of them. Hikaru faced the sun, her hands spread on the glass wall.
Fuu and Umi held Hikaru's hands. "Hikaru? Is Cephiro in trouble again?" asked Fuu.
Hikaru's eyes opened very wide and the voice that issued from her lips were not her own.
"Cephiro is fated to die."
Fuu and Umi gasped. "No!" Fuu exclaimed, shaking Hikaru's shoulders. "I've made my life here! I cannot return again, do you hear me! I'm doing this for my own soul! My sanity!"
Then, another voice echoed around them. It was a voice Fuu knew best.
"You are now bound to me. I am bound to Cephiro. You are bound to Cephiro."
Umi stepped back as Fuu fell on her knees, her hands upon her ears. Umi looked around her. Hikaru was staring at the sun like a crazy woman. Fuu was weeping silently on the floor.
At last, it spoke to her.
"You were never lost to me as I was never lost to you. Your quest is never-ending. It continues until the end of all time. For as long as your soul is alive, so is Cephiro kept alive."
"What has happened to Cephiro?" Umi dared ask the voice.
"There is no light without darkness. No birth without death. No sky without earth. No fire without water. No love without hate."
Again, Hikaru's lips opened, used by another voice, as Umi watched. "You are bound to the fate of Cephiro. The events of your world are no different from those in Cephiro. Your world is strong and old. Its foundation stretches back beyond imagination. Cephiro is an infant. It barely fits recognizable into the time and space of your world and your science. The death of Cephiro sets the beginning of the death of your world."
Fuu wiped away her tears. She stood up and said, "This will never end, will it? Wingdam?"
"That is not up to you to decide. The masters of Cephiro have heeded the call of the land. Will you, Magic Knight?"
Fuu and Umi knew they had no choice and from what they could see of Hikaru, she was far too possessed to have a choice either. The feeling of adventure Umi wanted to experience was not what she expected. She wanted it to happen in the real world. Her world. Fuu wanted a peaceful life, away from killing and hurting people. How could she become a doctor if all she was ever fated to do was to pilot a huge robot and kill Cephiro's enemies?
The two of them touched Hikaru's shoulders. Umi closed her eyes.
"What about Hikaru? Does she have a choice, Ceres?"
Ceres answered, "That is up to her. Her fate is interwoven with that of Cephiro. Her life is Cephiro's own."
"I don't understand..."
"You will when the appointed time comes. She will make her decision, as you will make yours."
"Fine," Umi said out loud. "Whatever makes you guys happy. Fuu?"
Fuu knew it was over. She will never lead a normal life. She might as well use it where it's needed. As of the moment, it was Cephiro. Fuu nodded.
"Yes, I am ready."
Umi glanced at Hikaru. "Well, I think there's no need to bother asking Hikaru."
Finally, Hikaru snapped out of her trance and she looked around in confusion. "What? What happened? What are we doing up here? Why are you holding my shoulders? Is that blood on your shoes, Umi? Fuu? What's going on?"
Umi rolled her eyes. "Just think of Cephiro, will you?"
Hikaru looked at Fuu and Fuu nodded. Hikaru shrugged. "All right. I think I heard Lexxus talking a while ago. It sounded weird. I haven't heard him for ages---"
"HIKARU!" Fuu and Umi exclaimed.
"All right, all right!" Hikaru closed her eyes and thought hard of Cephiro. The other two girls did the same and they were all engulfed in a blinding white light. Within seconds, the three of them vanished.
The cab driver blinked. Did he see what he just saw? That blinding, white light from the Tower. That was where those women were. He could not help but feel worried. That was strange.
He went to his daughter's school to speak with her teacher. A widower, he had to be responsible for his daughter in place of her mother. After parking his cab, he went inside the school grounds. He went to the playground where the children were having a nice game of softball. Several adults were watching. His daughter saw him and waved as she dodged a ball.
"Sir?" a woman asked. He turned around.
"I'm here to see my daughter's homeroom teacher," he said. "I was informed there was some trouble."
"Oh! That," the woman said, shaking her head. "I'm the principal of this school. Please follow me to my office." She turned away from him and walked back inside the building. The game has just finished and his daughter's team won. She went up to him and gave him a hug.
"Father! We won!"
"Yes, you did!"
Then, she frowned slightly. "Father, are you here about my teacher?"
"Er, yes, little one."
She sighed. "It wasn't her fault, Father. She's just magical."
He raised an eyebrow. Magical? Shouldn't his daughter be upset that her teacher told on her? Then, he remembered the meeting with the principal. He told his daughter to wait for him at the playground. He went to the principal's office and was asked to sit down.
"Sir, I would like to apologize for whatever trauma or emotional disturbance your daughter has suffered a few days ago," she said. The cab driver scratched his head. What was going on?
"I'm not here for my daughter's behavior, am I?"
The principal seemed embarrassed and said quickly. "Oh, heavens! No, sir! Your daughter is one of best and well-behaved students here. One of our teachers just went awry in her class and a lot of the children and some parents were scared out of their wits."
"Did this teacher hurt my daughter in any way?"
"Physically? Oh, no! It's not like that! You see, she just went a bit wild on them, I should say. There was no intention to hurt. No."
The cab driver nodded. "Well, my daughter seems fine. She even says this teacher is magical."
"Really?" the principal asked, not convinced. "Well, not all children are easily scared. If you need to know more, here is a background on that teacher. We had to terminate her, regretfully."
She handed him a folder. He opened it and the face that looked up at him caused him to sputter. The principal looked at him worriedly. "Sir? Are you all right?"
He nodded vigorously and closed the folder immediately. He said a quick goodbye to the principal and went to get his daughter. As they walked away from the school, he heard several whispers.
"She went as if she were possessed, you know? Speaking in riddles and strange words."
"Really? And I heard her hands bled!"
"No, you dimwit! Her nose bled. Like a river, one of the students said. And her hands sprouted those red orbs, like giant boils. I heard it was disgusting."
The cab driver was silent for the rest of the ride home. His daughter noticed this.
"The voice said she had to go back where she belonged. Father, do you think she's all right? Miss Hikaru was such a nice lady and she had beautiful stories about a magical place called Cephiro, Princess Emeraude, and a cute animal named Mokona. Father? Why are we heading for the Tower?"