CHAPTER NINE: Adolphus' Secret
Hikaru fell down to the ground, landing neatly on both her feet. She opened her eyes and scanned the semi-solid darkness around her. Close to the wall, the light of the flame torches illuminated Hikaru's vision. But as she slowly walked away, going to the direction of the forest, the light from the torches dimmed until only the pale light of the moon and a few stars guided her way.
There was no sound in the night. It was silent, giving Hikaru the feeling that she was in a vast, tombless graveyard. The wind caressed her face gently yet its fingers were clothed in bitter cold and Hikaru's hand quickly went up her face to brush away the sting. Hikaru walked on, undaunted yet cautious not to cause any trouble for herself or Adolphus.
Hikaru tripped on something cold and hard. Unable to see clearly, she bent down to see what it was. Hikaru felt for something like cold steel or metal and raised it up to the moonlight. She frowned, wondering what a piece of machinery was doing in such a place. Unless Autozam has been in these parts, it was highly unlikely that the small piece would exist freely in Vena. Hikaru looked up and sniffed. The strong smell of wet earth told her she was near the forest.
Then, she heard it. Hikaru dropped the piece of metal and perked up her ears. She did hear something. Could it be...
The hand that touched Hikaru's left shoulder was not gentle. Hikaru struggled, trying to free herself from that painful grasp. But when she turned around, no one was there. Hikaru winced, clutching at her shoulder. It was wet and warm. When Hikaru brought her hand to her lips, she smelled blood.
I don't understand, she thought, confused. The wound had already healed perfectly that afternoon! To add to Hikaru's confusion, several regions of her body began to ache and bleed. Wounds were staring to appear and so were bruises. Hikaru, weighed down by her injuries, did not see him coming.
"You will die here!" Hikaru gasped as a pair of strong arms pulled her up and carried her farther from the town. Hikaru knew who was talking to her but those words did not come from his lips first, as Hikaru grimly remembered.
Hikaru raised her eyes up. The moon and stars were covered by a black cloud, which Hikaru realized later were the canopy of trees in the forest. Then, she was gently laid down to lean against a giant tree trunk, smelling heavily of moss and soil.
"I thought I was healed," she groaned, clutching at her side. The monster they encountered in the forest earlier apparently managed to break one of her ribs. Adolphus went to her in the dark, whispered something, and laid his hand on Hikaru's side. Immediately, Hikaru felt better.
"You have the power to heal," Hikaru said.
"My power is to see through people," Adolphus replied, checking Hikaru's shoulder. He tore Hikaru's sleeve and wrapped the wound in something soft and minty. Hikaru gritted her teeth. She could not see his face in the dark but she knew his voice. Hikaru was torn between trusting him and distrusting him.
"Then you did know about me calling for Lexxus." Hikaru used her uninjured arm to heave herself up without any help from Adolphus.
"Why did you follow me out?" he asked.
"I didn't feel like partying when several people are dead," she told him. Hikaru heard Adolphus walk farther from her. "Besides, I thought it rather strange that you would go out into the forest at this time of the night right after what happened---"
"My business is my own, Magic Knight," Adolphus snapped. "You have gone far beyond the safety of the gates and now, you have imposed upon me the task of having to protect you!"
"Excuse me!" Hikaru barked. "I don't need you to protect me! I can very well shield myself from any danger!"
"Well, this place is no ordinary place!" Adolphus barked back. "Death is the only way out of the forest!"
"Is that why you have come here, then?" asked Hikaru, moving closer to where his voice had come from. "To be killed? Adolphus, nothing can bring your loved ones back! If you die, Don and his brother would have no one left! No one!"
Adolphus grabbed Hikaru by the arms and said angrily, "Even if I will it for myself, I cannot die! As long as her will commands it, I cannot be touched by anything! No monster can harm me! No evil can touch me! I do not get sick! I am willed to live forever! I am everlasting!"
Hikaru was getting more confused. What was Adolphus talking about? Is he saying he's immortal? But how could that be?
"Adolphus? Who is she?"
Adolphus took a sharp intake of breath and released Hikaru. "I dare not tell you. It is best that you know nothing."
"Well, that's helpful, really," Hikaru sarcastically said. "Look, since you can read minds anyway, I guess there is no point in denying that we have come from the castle to search for the true Pillar of Cephiro."
Hikaru heard Adolphus footsteps walking away from her. She followed him. "Then your quest is in vain, Magic Knight. You will not find the Pillar here. At least, no longer."
"Huh? Adolphus, stop talking in riddles and tell me---"
Hikaru stopped talking and walking at the same time as a foul, rancid smell reached her nostrils. She heard a faint growl from somewhere and it was not her stomach.
"Get down!" Adolphus shouted. Hikaru fell face flat to the ground and something bristly brushed the top of her head. The ground shook slightly.
The monster! Hikaru stood up and heard the sound of a weapon being slashed. Hikaru could not see in the dark. She had to do something!
Flame of Lexxus, re---
Wait! If she calls out for the power to wield fire, she might kill Adolphus instead.
Hikaru had to think twice. Then, she remembered.
"Escudo!"
A bright, red light issued from the red orbs on Hikaru's gauntlets as Escudo materialized in front of Hikaru. Hikaru grabbed the hilt of the sword and marveled as it glowed brightly.
The Pillar is nearby!Adolphus!
Hikaru remembered her promise to Master Clef that she would protect the true Pillar with her life. So she will.
Please, let me see through the dark...
Miraculously, Hikaru's vision cleared and she could see Adolphus struggling with the monster. Hikaru charged forward, bringing the blade of Escudo down on the monster's neck. Just as Sierra had promised, she was able to make Escudo lighter, faster, and sharper. Hikaru's swing brought the blade through the thick, bristle-ridden hide of the monster and out down the underside of the neck. Hikaru felt something hard make contact with the blade inside the monster's body. She pulled the blade out and stepped back. She saw Adolphus back away from the carcass as it exploded.
Hikaru bent down and picked up a piece of the monster's body. It was similar to the one she tripped on outside the gates.
Machinery... It came to Hikaru then that the people of Cephiro have begun their rebellion against the castle by using the same technology the allies have given them. If Autozam has been providing technological machinery to Cephiro, a land where will was power, who knows what other monsters and devilry walked the land?
Angrily, Hikaru grabbed Adolphus' hand and led him out of the forest. There, she asked him, "What is going on in this place, Adolphus? Escudo has determined you to be the Pillar of Cephiro and if you do not tell me the truth, everything we have labored for in this land would have been in vain! Tell me now!"
Adolphus looked painfully at Hikaru and at that moment, she seemed to be looking straight into Eagle Vision's eyes. "I wished to be released from her spell but it was not to be. She has held us prisoner for so long and I have felt that my family needed to get out before it was too late. I was to go with them beyond the forest to the castle but she kept me from going and sent them alone to the lair of the monsters! She will kill anyone I hold dear to become the Pillar of Cephiro and drive away the foreign allies!"
"Who is this woman you are talking about? And why would she want to become the Pillar?"
"My power to heal comes from her, Magic Knight! My power for vision is what she needed. She and I were made one by a spell that cannot be undone unless the perpetrators are killed!"
"Then she is after you!"
"No!" Adolphus said out loud. "If I die, she loses half of her power. It is not I she wants to kill."
"But you are the next Pillar!" Hikaru said adamantly, pointing to the glinting Escudo. "Escudo is all the proof we need to know who you really are!"
"I don't know how your sword works, Magic Knight, but I cannot become the true Pillar of Cephiro because I am not a healer."
Hikaru heard the gates being moved in the distance. "What do you mean?"
"The true Pillar of Cephiro must be able to heal, Magic Knight. It is a skill that comes from will and an innate power to provide comfort and security. Who else do you know can do such?"
Hikaru tried to think. She looked at the gates and saw that they were open but was now being closed. Several figures were moving inside the gates. Who? Who?
Healer...
"Fuu!" Hikaru shouted. Hikaru could not understand how Escudo could have been wrong. Escudo should know better. But now, Hikaru must go and warn her friends first. They must leave the town and go as far away as possible.
"Wait, Magic Knight!" Adolphus shouted but Hikaru was already limping towards the town gates, which were closing fast on her. Then, she saw Fuu and Umi standing beyond the gates, facing a bent old woman.
"Fuu! Umi!" Hikaru shouted. "Get out now! Get out!"
Fuu and Umi shook their heads at her. The old woman looked at Hikaru.
"Do not dare contend with my power, Magic Knight!" the old woman said, raising her arms to the air. The gates closed in and Hikaru was too late. She clutched at the bars and watched in fury at the old woman.
"Let my friends out, you wicked hag!" Hikaru shouted.
The old woman went to Hikaru and saw Escudo glowing. "Ah! The symbol of the Pillar... yes... It is lovely.... But I don't think your friend deserves to hold that prize." The old woman looked at Fuu.
"You think she's the Pillar but she's not!" Hikaru yelled. "I---"
Umi glared at Hikaru. Hikaru bit her lip and did not complete was she was going to say.
"I have lived for so long and seen so many wrongs done to my beloved Cephiro all because of the blunders one young Pillar has made," the old woman said, walking over to Fuu. "I do not wish to live another century with someone as incompetent as you bring this paradise to its end, Magic Knight."
Hikaru saw Adolphus scale the gate and land on the other side.
"Adolphus! Let me in!"
But Adolphus did not look back at her. He walked straight towards the old woman and stood by her. Hikaru had to think fast. She could call on the Rune God and lay waste to the old woman and Adolphus but what about the other innocent people in the town?
The old woman blasted Hikaru away from the gates as they opened. Slowly, the old woman made Fuu walk towards the gates. Hikaru, who landed with her back on the ground, stood up again and wondered why the old woman was letting Fuu go.
"Oh, please no!" Umi cried out. When Hikaru threw a questioning look at Umi, her blue-haired friend mouthed, "Poison."
Hikaru had no ideas left. Adolphus and the old woman were in league. He had managed to give out only a sliver of the evil truth of the town and then went crawling back to his half. To think that he sent his family to be killed by the monsters of the forest made Hikaru furious.
Fuu was only two steps away from the outside of the gates. Hikaru prayed. Help us.
"Puu puu puuu!"
Hikaru looked up and saw Mokona and the little boy Don pushing Fuu back inside the gate. The old woman was momentarily startled.
"Get away, boy!" she shrieked, trying to push Fuu the other way. But Mokona and the boy were pushing back with all their might, a frozen Fuu sandwiched between them.
"Uncle! Help us!" Don begged Adolphus. Hikaru watched as the private battle being fought between Adolphus' love for his nephew and the old woman's spell on him registered on his face. Hikaru felt almost sorry for him.
"All right! This is what you want, eh?" The old woman swung her staff to the side, sending the boy and Mokona flying to the air and landing with a thud on the ground beside Hikaru. The boy was unconscious and so was Mokona but they were still alive. Anger seized Hikaru's heart but she could not do anything. One more step was all it was going to take to kill Fuu.
A strange thought occurred to Hikaru. Escudo glowed in the presence of Adolphus. If he is the true Pillar of Cephiro, he will be able to hold on to the sword and use it. It would be risky, Hikaru knew. He could either kill the old woman or Fuu and Umi. But Hikaru had to try and bet on Adolphus' conscience.
"Adolphus!" Hikaru shouted at him. Adolphus looked at her. "Would you do anything for Don? What would you do for Cephiro, huh? What are you willing to lose?"
Umi looked at Hikaru questioningly. "Hikaru! What in the world are you talking about? Hikaru, no!" Hikaru threw Escudo towards Adolphus. The old woman laughed.
"Adolphus!" He caught the sword in his hand.
Adolphus closed his eyes for a moment as the old woman started to push Fuu one last time. He opened his eyes and said, "Everything."
Umi was yelling something but it all seemed unintelligible to Hikaru. Fuu tried to keep her balance as her foot began its descent on the few inches of ground beyond the gates. Hikaru saw Adolphus run forward with Escudo glowing brightly in his hand and then...
He thrust Escudo into the old woman's back. The old woman howled in pain and she fell down to the ground. Fuu, a second from falling to the ground dead, was pushed back inside by Hikaru. Umi ran outside to get Don and Mokona. Hikaru and Fuu embraced, sighing with relief.
"Oh, Hikaru!" Fuu said, smiling gratefully. "She thought I was the Pillar of Cephiro! Like that would happen in a thousand years!"
Hikaru laughed. "Just to humor you, no, I don't think that will happen in a thousand years, Fuu."
Umi was also very much relieved. "I don't think Old Woman Naidah would have stopped at killing Fuu, you know. She could have butchered us, too."
Suddenly, the body of the old woman stirred. Fuu, Umi, and Hikaru backed away.
"She's still alive! I can't believe this!" Umi exclaimed.
"Magic Knight of Fire!" Adolphus handed Escudo back to Hikaru. She held on to the hilt of the sword and smiled at him.
"Thank you, Adolphus. I---"
Hikaru gasped as Adolphus pushed his body onto the blade. The sword embedded itself through his midsection. Fuu and Umi gasped themselves. Hikaru trembled as Adolphus held on to the sword, not letting Hikaru pull it out of his body.
"N-No..." Hikaru stammered. Adolphus was slowly falling down to the ground. He held on then to Hikaru as she tried to hold on to his dying body in her arms.
"Y-You didn't h-have to do t-that," she told him, her tears falling down on his face.
"She and I were one, Magic Knight. If I continue living, she continues living. The spell can only be broken with both our deaths."
Hikaru sobbed. "But you're the Pillar... I swore to find you and protect you...."
Adolphus smiled. "I am not the true Pillar of Cephiro. T-Trust me, Magic Knight. I know w-what I'm talking about..." He looked at Don in Umi's arms. "Give Don and his brother to people who will love them and take good care of them. I-It's... the... l-least I-I... could d-d-do... f-for Eila... The people are now free. T-Thank y-you...."
Adolphus expired his last breath and then there was no more. Hikaru's tears fell in torrents. Umi and Fuu turned away, their own tears of regret flowing from their eyes. Several people from the hut began coming out. The guards, who were put to sleep by the old woman, woke up.
"What's going on here?" asked the purple-haired warrior. They saw the old woman on the ground and Adolphus being cradled by a weeping woman.
"What am I doing here?" one woman asked. "This is not the town of Hoam, is it?"
"Who are these people?" asked another. Fuu knew that the spell has indeed been broken and none of the people in the imaginary town would remember Old Woman Naidah. The forest also disappeared.
Umi and Fuu approached Hikaru. They must leave immediately.
"Hikaru," Fuu said gently. "We must go." Hikaru sobbed silently.
At that moment, a shadow and several blinking lights fell above them. Umi and Fuu looked up and saw a giant spacecraft looming above them.
"What's that?" asked the people.
NSX, Fuu thought happily. Just as she was about to bend down to tell Hikaru the good news, Fuu stepped backward.
Hikaru was looking straight up at the lights.
Then, she screamed.