Erratum: By the way, I only realized I got so mixed up with some of the characters that I completely forgot who was dead, who is still alive, and who does not exist at all! Some of the names I only asked from my younger brother because we used to watch the series when we were very young (not that I'm old...) and that was quite a long time ago. I guess with the passing of time, we have somehow forgotten certain characters. LasGaspar IS Lafarga and Innouva is DEAD. Thanks for pointing those out.

CHAPTER FIVE: The Trouble with Cephiro

"Hikaru? Hikaru? Wake up."

Hikaru opened her eyes and sat up reluctantly. She brushed the sleep off her eyes and yawned widely. "Huh? W-What?" Blinking several times, Hikaru tried to see who it was that had woken her up. A pair of green eyes framed with wide eyeglasses came into view.

"Oh, Fuu! It's you." Hikaru squinted through the lace curtains of the wide windows of her bedroom and saw the moon and stars still hanging up the black skies of Cephiro. "Fuu, it's in the middle of the night, I think. Is something wrong?"

Fuu shook her head. "No. Just that Sierra wants to arm us this early."

Hikaru was confused. Her brain was still half-asleep. "Arm us? I think I've got those already---"

"Weapons and armor, Hikaru," Fuu said, smiling. "We're going tomorrow to scour the countryside."

Groaning, Hikaru plopped back into bed. "Aw, Fuu! It's still too early! Can't Sierra wait for just a few more hours until I get some more sleep?"

Fuu looked long and hard at Hikaru and saw that Hikaru had circles around her eyes. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you, Hikaru?"

Hikaru sighed and sat up again. "Fine. No, I'm not sleeping well at all. Not since we were still back on earth."

"Why?" asked Fuu worriedly.

Hikaru gave a sardonic laugh. "First of all, I got fired from school."

"What?"

"Yes, Fuu. Hard to believe, huh? I don't know exactly why but I think I must have done something that really scared the school, or at least some of the people there." No, she had no idea what had happened. All Hikaru could remember were the bloodstains all over her front and the horrified looks on the faces of the other teachers and some of her students.

Fuu felt sorry for her friend. "Oh, Hikaru! I'm so sorry! I didn't know..."

"Second of all, I keep thinking about what to do with Cephiro." Turning to look at Fuu, Hikaru said desperately, "I feel like I'm being sucked into this great chasm from which there is no escape! Yet I also feel like I don't want to escape! Fuu, am I finally losing my mind? I no longer understand anything in my life! I feel so lost!"

Fuu sighed and stood up from Hikaru's bed. How uncanny, that Hikaru felt as she did right now. Lost.

"I feel like I belong nowhere," said Hikaru, finally getting out of bed.

"Bingo."

"Oh, what the heck!" Hikaru stretched up her arms. "What can we do, Fuu, huh? We're here, we might as well do something productive with our time, right?"

Fuu smiled at her friend. Hikaru. Always the optimist. "Sure thing, Hikaru. But for now, Sierra would be waiting for us."

The two women walked down the long corridor until they reached a circular room. Umi and Sierra were already there.

Umi flipped her hair backward. "Hmph! I almost thought you guys weren't coming!"

Hikaru smiled apologetically. "Oops! Sorry, Umi!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's just get on with it so I can catch up on my beauty sleep."

Sierra then said a long incantation and the three were wrapped around in a bright, white light.

"Pray with me, Magic Knights," she coaxed them as they closed their eyes and let Sierra's power envelope them. "Open your heart to me."

The first onslaught of thought brought Sierra to her knees. These girls are suffering inside them. They feel incomplete. Sierra almost could not breath as their thoughts and feelings all blended inside her. Tears began to come out of Sierra's eyes. How can anyone bear so much pain and not die of it?

Then I must do what I can to make them perfect. Knights of Cephiro. Awaken!

When the Magic Knights opened their eyes, they were back on the ground. Nothing seemingly changed. They were still wearing the same breastplates and gauntlets.

"Er, Sierra?" asked Hikaru, checking out her clothes. "Where's---"

"Where are our weapons?" Umi raised her eyebrows at Sierra. She was clearly disappointed. Umi was half-expecting her clothes to become much more grand and intimidating, perhaps fashionable. And her saber. Oh, how she missed holding one!

Sierra smiled benignly at them. "Carrying weapons out in the open would not do good for you when you go out of the castle. They will appear to you only when you need them."

"Like, for example, a giant monster is two seconds away from tearing our skin to pieces?" Umi asked, annoyed. She really was expecting a lot and got disappointed a lot.

Sierra continued to smile. "You're a great warrior, Umi. I'm sure that even before a minute has passed, you would have killed that monster before it could do any harm to you or the others."

Umi opened her mouth to say something probably nasty but Fuu patted Umi's shoulder to stop her. Embarrassed, Fuu said, "Umi's just sleepy. Maybe we should get a few hours of sleep before we leave."

Nodding, Sierra said, "Yes, I understand. I wish there was another time but my powers manifest a thousand times at this time of the day, just when the moon and the sun are simultaneously appearing in the skies of Cephiro. And I wanted to give you only the best of what I can offer."

Hikaru rushed forward to embrace Sierra. It felt soothing to Hikaru. "Thank you, Sierra. We appreciate what you've done for us. I only hope there was something we can do for you, too."

Sierra gave a low-sounding laugh. "Well, I'll think about it while you sleep. There might be something. Now, get back to bed."

The three women walked out of the room to head back to their respective bedrooms. Umi, humbled yet prideful enough to admit she was, said huffily, "I don't understand that woman! She's always so nice! It's irritating!"

Hikaru and Fuu giggled. "Oh, Umi!" Hikaru said, holding Umi's hand. "Sierra's always very nice to us. Don't be angry with her. Please?"

Umi sighed. "Fine! I only hope she does not make Mokona or any other freaky, little animal tag along with us."

They were already near their rooms when someone stepped out of one of the rooms. They stepped back, surprised. It was Ferio.

Hikaru and Umi exchanged glances, then focused their eyes on Fuu. Fuu, not wanting to let them or Ferio see the emotional turmoil, smiled widely. Too wide, in fact.

"Oh! Good morning, Ferio!" she said chirpily. Hikaru lifted arm to nudge Fuu but Umi grabbed her forearm and dragged her from the place.

"Umi!" Hikaru wailed as Umi continued to pull her away from Fuu and Ferio.

"Shut up, Hikaru! Let's leave them alone!"

"B-But Fuu doesn't want to---" Umi stopped dragging her when they were too far to be heard.

"Hikaru, don't be dense! Of course, Fuu wants to be with him! So much so that she's very afraid of being near him!"

Hikaru did not argue with Umi. She balled a fist and placed it on her heart. Yes, she understood Fuu completely. Umi's loud yawn brought Hikaru back to her senses.

"Okay, Umi. Let's go to sleep."

"Ah! Finally!"

It was as if Hikaru and Umi had never been there only moments ago. Fuu and Ferio stared at each other for a very long time.

"I think I should go back to bed," Fuu said. She walked briskly forward but Ferio held her arm, keeping her from going any further.

"Fuu..."

"Don't make this any harder than it already is, Ferio. It's over, you know that. Now, let me go. Please." Her plea came barely as a whisper. Ferio removed his hold on her but she did not run. She walked away from him.

"It was you who left, Fuu. Not I."

Fuu stopped, her back on him. "Yes, I know."

"But why? We had so much going for us here! Why didn't you stay?"

Fuu swallowed, keeping her tears in check. "Because I was afraid that if I woke up, you'd be just a dream. I can't live in a dream forever, Ferio. I had to live in reality. I-I had to find someone real."

She did not see Ferio frown. "I'm as real as any other man in the universe, Fuu. It was real, our love. It was."

"Listen to what you're saying," Fuu said, as she started to walk away from him again. "Was, Ferio, was. Go back to your wife and son. They need you."

"Fuu---" But Fuu had already rounded a corner and Ferio was left alone. When she could no longer stand it, Fuu leaned backwards against a wall and slumped to the floor, weeping. She had been sobbing for quite a while when a shadow fell above her and she raised her tear-stained face to meet the eyes of the last person she expected to be there at that moment.

Forcing a smile on her face, Fuu stood up and calmed herself down. "H-Hello, L-Lantis."

Lantis showed no expression on his face as, to Fuu's bewilderment, he offered a white handkerchief to her. Fuu took the handkerchief graciously and wiped her eyes with it.

"T-Thanks," she said. Lantis asked, "When are you leaving?"

"After the sun rises up or rather, after Hikaru has her breakfast," Fuu answered.

"You'll die if you continue on this mission Clef has sent you to," he said. Fuu shrugged.

"Maybe."

"You sound like you don't care."

Fuu sniffed. "But I do! I don't want to die and neither do Umi and Hikaru! We have so much left to do in our world!"

"Then why don't you will yourselves back? Go back and never return."

"You have no idea how much I want to go back to our world, Lantis," Fuu told him. "But somehow, Cephiro does not want to let us go. It's holding on to us that no matter how much we desire to go home, we could not. It's keeping us here and we can do nothing about it."

Lantis sighed in defeat. "Be careful of the people outside the castle. They are wary of strangers, especially of you."

Fuu frowned. "Why?"

"Because you come from the castle. The people are rebelling against our policies."

"On what?"

"Alliance with other nations. Autozam, Fahren, and Cizeta."

"But aren't they Cephiro's friends?" asked Fuu, more confused than ever. "If it weren't for their help the last time we've been here, Cephiro would have been destroyed."

The dark corridors began to be filled with light as the rays of the sun appeared and filtered through the curtains. Lantis inhaled, then exhaled heavily. "They do not think we ought to trust our allies. Even while Eagle's technological projects, Aska's continued goodwill, and Tata and Tatra's guardianship of the space borders, benefit us, the people are adamant on letting them go."

The people of Cephiro have free will... Cephiro is a magical place where a single thought can make or unmake great things... unbound thoughts and actions and emotions... a second Debonair...

"And if we don't let our allies go?"

"It is the end of Cephiro."

"All the more that we must go on this mission to find the true Pillar---"

"No!" Lantis snapped. Fuu turned her head up to look at him suspiciously.

"What are you so afraid of, Lantis? Hikaru is no longer the Pillar of Cephiro. There is no need to worry about her."

Lantis was spared an answer when Caldina came. "Fuu, breakfast is ready before you leave." Realizing who it was Fuu was talking to, Caldina asked, "What are you doing here Lantis?"

"Lantis! There you are!" Fuu and Caldina's heads turned to look from behind Lantis. Primera, the fairy, came into view as she perched herself on Lantis' left shoulder. She pinched Lantis' cheek with her tiny hand.

"Where have you been?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest. "I've been looking for you all night!"

Lantis inclined his head towards Fuu and Caldina. Then, he turned away from them as Primera talked and talked to his ear.

"I swear, Lantis is probably the most patient man I know in Cephiro to even endure a minute with that imp!" Caldina muttered. To Fuu, she said out loud, "Come on, Fuu! Time to eat!"

Fuu nodded and followed after Caldina, trying to forget about Ferio and thinking of what Lantis has told her about Cephiro. She looked out the windows as they passed and saw that the sun was fully risen.

How long had she been crying?

----

Umi was neatly slicing her eggs into quarters. Fuu, amusedly, watched Hikaru delve into her heaping breakfast plate as if she had not eaten for weeks. When Hikaru was finished eating, she rubbed her bloated stomach, satisfied.

"Wow!" she breathed. "That was the most delicious breakfast I've ever tasted!"

"Everything you eat tastes delicious, Hikaru," Umi murmured. She finished her eggs daintily and arranged the spoon and fork side by side on the plate. Umi finished her juice and dabbed at the sides of her mouth with a table napkin. Hikaru ogled at her.

"What?" Umi asked. "Just because we're in another planet doesn't mean we have to forget our table manners."

Hikaru pouted as she viewed the mess on her plate. Her eating utensils were askew and bits and pieces of egg, ham, and bread were scattered all over the table. Fuu smiled kindly and pointed to her lip. Hikaru touched the same area on her lip and felt something sticky. Hikaru wiped it immediately with her soiled table napkin.

"Hahaha," she laughed nervously. "I think I liked those eggs a bit too much."

"So Fuu," Umi started. She fixed her stare at Fuu. "You didn't go back to bed, did you?"

There was no point in lying, Fuu thought. "No, I didn't. I had to do something."

"Really? Like what?" Umi sounded interested. She was leaning forward the table. Hikaru did the same. "What did you and Ferio do?"

"M-Me? H-Him?" Fuu looked from one face to the other and gasped. Her cheeks turned scarlet. "Oh dear! Nothing happened! You guys! How could you even think like that? He's married with a kid, for crying out loud!"

Hikaru and Umi backed away, their hands up. "Gee, Fuu!" Umi exclaimed. "We weren't even thinking like that---Okay, maybe we were. But hey! Keep your hair on! It's not like we're egging you two on. Right, Hikaru?" Umi glared at Hikaru.

"Hehehe, right, Umi."

Fuu finished her own breakfast and stood up while Umi and Hikaru followed. "I think we better go and see Master Clef."

The three went on to Master Clef, who was standing at the highest balcony in the castle. The view of Cephiro was beautiful there.

"If I may say so, Cephiro has never looked more beautiful," said Hikaru.

"Do not be deceived by appearances," Clef said, turning away and walking back into the castle. The Magic Knights walked after him. When he turned again to face them, he said, "I am sending you out with naught but three things. First, never get waylaid by your emotions. It is important that out there, where most of the people do not know you, an alert mind is kept open. As I've said before, appearances can be deceiving. Do not reveal yourself to them as the Magic Knights. Second, never ever use your weapons unless it is deemed necessary. When the situation is not life threatening, taking the life of your assailant can never be justified by the laws of Cephiro. Third, when you have found the true Pillar, protect the Pillar with all your might.

"My power is weakening as years pass. I fear I cannot wait for the next Pillar to come if the one you find will perish."

"Master Clef," Fuu spoke. "I've heard of the political turmoil Cephiro is facing. Is this what's troubling Cephiro again?"

Umi and Hikaru, who knew nothing of this, stood by and threw questioning looks at Fuu and Clef. Clef bowed his head.

"I am no substitute for the Pillar of Cephiro and in the years that Cephiro had no Pillar, the people started to think that having one was some form of prison. I had to make do with diplomacy and alliances to ensure the protection and development of the land. Cephiro's citizens have begun to think that we are powerful enough to exist without any aid."

"Cephiro has become proud," Hikaru whispered. Clef heard her and nodded.

"There are some who remain open to the idea of having a Pillar who protects them and cares for them. However, there are those who will oppose you under the pretense that the Pillar System is inhuman when in truth, it is because the Pillar is all seeing and all knowing. Whatever their plans are will be made known to the Pillar of Cephiro."

"Well, if the Pillar is all seeing and all knowing, people would not want that person to violate their privacy," said Hikaru. Clef shook his head.

"Power in thought comes to the Pillar only when the existence of Cephiro becomes endangered. Evildoers are found out and their plans are prevented from execution. Sadly, they do not want a single entity to rule Cephiro."

"In short," added Umi. "They have lost faith. They have lost faith in the Pillar."

"The Pillar of Cephiro is the last bulwark of justice. Only the Pillar can bring true and lasting order to Cephiro. Those who has other plans have now become a threat to our existence." Clef looked at each of the women. "Please, Magic Knights. Do what you must and can."

The Magic Knights knelt before Clef, their right hands upon their hearts. "Yes, we will, Master Clef."

When the three have left Clef's presence, they went out into the courtyard where Caldina and Lafarga were waiting. Sierra came as well, Mokona in her arms.

"About the favor I wish to ask of you," Sierra said to them. "This is it."

"What is it?" Hikaru asked. Mokona jumped out of Sierra's arms and landed in Hikaru's.

"Bring along Mokona with you, just so we'd have peace of mind here. He will keep you safe."

"And fed!" Hikaru said excitedly, bouncing Mokona up and down. Umi groaned.

"I knew this would happen! What about our peace of mind!"

Hikaru bounced Mokona some more when she caught sight of someone further off. She forgot about Mokona and let him fall to the ground.

"Puu puu puuuuuu!" Mokona squealed. Hikaru gasped and picked him up, rubbing his bottom.

"Gee, I'm so sorry, Mokona!"

"Puu puu puuu!" Hikaru handed Mokona over to Fuu.

"Wait, guys. I have to talk to someone." She dumped Mokona into Fuu's arms.

"Hikaru! Wait! Where---"

Hikaru ran away from the group to the back of the castle where he saw a large black stallion tied to a tree. She looked around her but there was no one else. When she turned to head back to the courtyard, she collided with someone.

"Lantis!"

To her surprise, Lantis placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked into her eyes and finally spoke to her. "When you find the true Pillar of Cephiro, go back to your world and never come back."

"I don't understand---"

"I can no longer protect you, Hikaru, from whatever fate has laid out for you in Cephiro. You've always followed your own heart. I cannot dictate to you what to do. The only thing I can do is beg you to stop going back to Cephiro, whatever the Rune Gods may tell you."

Lantis? Begging her?

Hikaru wanted to touch his face but restrained herself. Lantis removed his hands from her shoulders. "Lantis, am I making you suffer by being here? Does it pain you to see me back?"

"No."

Hikaru was about to say something but Umi's shout carried over to where Hikaru and Lantis were standing. Even his stallion reared.

"Hikaru! Hey! We have to leave now!"

Lantis stepped aside and gave her way to pass by as Hikaru walked towards the courtyard. She stopped momentarily to look at him and then went on her way.

-----

Clef watched from the balcony. He watched the Magic Knights walk out of the castle, Mokona jumping behind them.

"I feel as if I want to call them back," he said.

"Then call them back."

"I saw a vision, Sierra, and it haunts me now."

Sierra looked at Clef worriedly. "What vision, Master Clef?"

"The Magic Knights lying each in pools of blood. Those pools come together to form streams and rivers, emptying themselves into the wide seas of Cephiro. Then, rain was of blood and the fields prospered. Flowers grew beautiful and the birds were singing---"

"It is a most strange vision, Master Clef," remarked Sierra. "Life after death, it seems to tell us."

"Yes. But I don't want it to be their deaths for that life, Sierra."

Even Sierra had no answer to the question of Cephiro's salvation. "We are not completely powerless, Master Clef. We must continue our talks with the people of Cephiro. While they are in search of the true Pillar, we must do our part."

Clef agreed. "True, Sierra. So it is. Come, let us go. Get Caldina and Ascot."

"Yes, Master Clef."