A/N: Happy Holidays everyone!
Chapter Eight
"How did Lantis just so suddenly recover his memory?" Fuu asked as they ate dinner that night. She had pondered over it so long; she just had to know.
"You must first remember what was close to you, and then you slowly recover them. On coming back to Cephiro mostly everyone remembered what was close to him or her immediately. For you three it will be more difficult because there were so many complications in your lives, so many things to feel close to," Clef explained, and Ferio turned his eyes from Fuu when she questioned his pained look.
"Well why don't you enlighten us and just spare us the misery?" Umi questioned dryly. "Just tell us what was close to us."
"We can't," Ascot burst out and sighed, pulling his eyes back to the floor. "If we do the spell will be complete, and you'll never recover your memories. The bond will be strengthened. The spell is really quite evil, it's just this one thing that keeps it from taking you all over completely."
"Evil?" Hikaru inquired in a meek voice. "You cast a dark spell on us?"
"It was the only way," Clef tried to defend himself, but he couldn't believe he had done it either.
"Or you could have let us fight and die with our country," Umi spat back. She dropped her fork and fell back in her chair.
"Umi-chan?" Hikaru held one of her shoulders.
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy," Umi smiled and tried to sit back up, but something was holding her down.
"What's going on here?" Presea's eyes narrowed. A dark force was present in the room.
"I'll tell you what's going on," a wicked looking woman in a deep purple dress with long navy blue hair appeared in front of them. Her eyes were dark black, and you could barely see where her pupils were.
"Stay back devil!" Clef ordered, and immediately there were four people around the three Princesses'.
"Who are you?" Hikaru demanded and tried to stand, but when she did she was thrown back into her chair with a heavy hand.
"Magic," Lantis hissed and glared at the woman who held out a hand to Hikaru and then Fuu. All three of the girls were chained to their seats.
"So the Magic Knights and the Princesses' of Cephiro decide to come back and play rulers again, well listen here! I'm the ruler now! I'm the Queen of Cephiro and you three are not going to take that from me!"
"Go back to the dark where you came from!" Lafarga drew his sword. "We vanquished you to that realm and there will you stay."
"You think a sword is any kind of stop to me?" she laughed and threw her head back. "You know as well as I that a sword is no stop."
"Then maybe I am," Clef stood in front of Umi and dared the girl to come any closer.
"Ah…" she sighed and looked a Clef with hate in her eyes. "I see now, the Master Mage of Cephiro come back from defending his little dog on earth. Well now it's time to get a clue, because I've taken this land for myself."
Clef threw his staff into the ground, and a silver light shot from his staff and engulfed the girl who screamed and disappeared. When she was gone he looked around the room and made sure everyone was okay before he sat down and tried to hide his shaking hands.
"Who was that?" Caldina asked Lafarga gently. He looked down and clenched his fingers into tight balls.
"That was the Queen of the Shadow. She has no proper name, but they call her Shadow. She hates all and longs only to cloak Cephiro in her evil. We thought we had vanquished her and sealed her away, back to the dark realm of Cephiro where she came from, but it seems we were wrong."
"The dark realm of Cephiro?" Fuu inquired.
"Cephiro has two different sides," Ferio began to explain. "This one is the light side, where there is peace and happiness. There is also a dark side, where there is always evil and chaos. The two never collide except when an evil so great manages to escape and desires revenge. The evils of the dark realm hate us because we banished them to constant misery. They will stop at nothing to destroy us and let us feel what it's like to live in their world."
"That's terrible!" Hikaru shouted and looked at them all with angry eyes. "Why would you ever banish people like that?!"
"We had to," Eagle told her softly. "They're evil, they cause chaos and harm. Would you rather it be a combination of good and evil? When you've lived your life in peace why would you want war?"
She stayed quiet, because she didn't know the answer. "That's how it is on Earth, and she thought of all the hate that lingered there, and somehow understood why they would want to protect their home from the evils of the world.
"So you understand," Lantis smiled a small smile at her. "I knew you would."
"It just doesn't seem right," Hikaru shook her head.
"What isn't right is killing innocent people and trying to take things that don't belong to you," Lafarga protested. "That's what they've done to get there; that's what they want to inflict on Cephiro. That's what we must fight to protect."
Hikaru nodded, "You're right. We must fight."
{"Hikaru, Hikaru…" a ghostly voice called her in the nothingness.
"I'm here!" she called back, and a figure wreathed in flame bounded toward her. She laughed merrily and called a name she couldn't remember. She ran to the creature.
"Hikaru, it's been so long," the thing told her, and she tried to apologize.
"I know it has R…}
The world became colorful again, and Lantis and Eagle were hovering over her.
"Hikaru-hime?" Lantis' was the first voice she heard, and she smiled.
"I'm fine, just a little tired," she told them and then realized she was on the ground.
"I don't think that's fine Hikaru-hime," Eagle muttered, and she laughed.
"Just tired, needing rest."
"I think we all do," Umi smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I agree," Fuu nodded. "After that witch and the meal, sleep would help us clear our thoughts."
So they all agreed and headed toward bed.
*
"I wish I could tell her," Ascot couldn't sleep. All he did was toss and turn all night. He couldn't sleep; her blank eyes plagued him.
How could she forget him? How could she forget what they had? Wasn't he the one who was important to her?
His thoughts overran him to the point of exhaustion, and he fell asleep only just a few moments before the sun rose.
*
Ferio's fingers ran across the chain on his neck. He gripped it and let his fingers fall down and over the item on the end. His Fuu-chan, where had she gone?
He saw her body and it was she, and heard her voice and it was she, but these things that she did, it wasn't her. The eyes, they were the same deep green but they held no love for him.
He stood and paced, punching the wall. How much longer would he have to live without having her near him? How much longer until his heart broke? How much longer would he be able to stand not feeling her hair beneath his fingers? His fears were sickening, and he tried not to think of them, but still they came, until late into the night. He only found sleep when he thought of the last time they were together, really together, when the country was at peace.
{"Fuu-chan?"
"Yes Ferio?" she smiled at him, and he cupped her face in his hands.
"You know that I love you."
She nodded, "And I love you."
"And I want that to be forever," he added.
She laughed, "It is forever."
"I want you and I to be forever."
She stayed silent, shock and apprehension overtook her. "Oh?" she managed to choke out.
He nodded, "Please promise me something."
"Anything," he could tell that her throat was tight.
"Promise me that you'll never love anyone but me, and promise me that every night when you fall asleep you'll think of me, just as I think of you."
"Of course I will Ferio," she burst out. "I can think of nothing but you even when you're just feet away."
He smiled and kissed her, and it was that kiss that was most lasting for him.}
*
Eagle hated himself for hating Lantis. He was glad that his best friend had his memories back, but he didn't want him to remember Hikaru as he obviously did. He didn't ever want to see them together. He wanted her to be happy though. It just wasn't fair that love for her should separate best friends. It didn't seem fair that they should both see the love the other shared and that she shouldn't be able to make a decision between them. She had to notice; she was naïve, but she wasn't blind.
"Hikaru," he threw himself on his bed and looked at the ceiling. "Why must you torment me so?"
*
Lantis sat on the balcony and looked at the stars. He was sitting peacefully, filled with thoughts of his brother and Emeraude, thinking about his own love, when just the person on his mind came behind him. He jumped and drew his sword, but lowered it when he realized who it was. "Hikaru," he sheathed the sword, "you startled me."
"Gomen nasai, may I join you?"
He nodded, and she stood next to him as he resumed his position, staring at the sky.
"I couldn't sleep," she explained when no explanation was necessary.
"You should try, you're bound to have a long day ahead of you. I assume Clef is going to want you three to be able to don your…" he stopped, one of those things he couldn't say. "Never mind."
She looked at him, concerned, but didn't push it any further. "What are you still doing up?"
"Thinking."
"About what?"
"Zagato."
"Oh."
"And Emeraude."
The name made pain spring into her eyes, but she didn't know why.
"They died for their love."
"It's romantic," she smiled.
"It's tragic," he turned and walked from the balcony. Anger flared in his heart that his brother would abandon him for a girl. But then, would he abandon Eagle for Hikaru? The thought made him guilty, and his eyes filled with pain.
"Lantis?" Hikaru touched his arm. "What's wrong?"
"I'm worried," he lied. "I think you should get some sleep. We all need it."
"Hai," she knew that he needed his time. Even this new person he was the same, he still needed the silence. "I'll see you in the morning then."
He nodded, and watched her walk out.
*
Fuu tried to get over the pain in Ferio's eyes but there was no getting around it. There was something lurking there. He was hiding something; they all knew what it was, but she couldn't. She hated being left in the dark, especially when it involved her.
Eventually she sat up and began to wonder the halls of the palace where she ran into Ferio.
"Huh?" she looked into the darkness and saw a male figure cloaked in the night. She began to run the other way but a soothing voice stopped her.
"It's okay, it's just me."
"Ferio?"
He nodded and stepped into a place where the moon could show him better. "Sorry to scare you. What are you doing up so late?"
"Couldn't sleep, you?"
"Same."
There was a long silence before he offered an arm, and she looked at him curiously, "Wanna go for a walk?"
"Okay," she took his arm, and they walked down the halls together in a contented silence.
"We used to do…" he stopped. "Never mind."
She looked at him but didn't push, never pushed.
After what seemed like ages of silence she yawned, and he smiled and led her back to her room.
"Arigato," she mumbled as he tucked her in her bed. "You helped me settle down."
"I'm glad," he waited for the light sound of her deep breathing and then kissed her forehead. "Good night, my Fuu-chan." He slipped out the door and sighed to himself, that experience had only made his brain beat down more questions upon him, and make his heart speed up. Looks like he had more walking to do.
*
This new Clef was so different from the one in the halls she knew, Umi thought to herself. He was just the same looking, and just as egotistical as before, but here he seemed to have the authority to back it all up.
And what about Ascot? That shy boy who seemed to know a lot more than he let on? There was something more to both of them, to all of them actually that they weren't letting on. Well she wasn't about to just let everything fall into place. She wasn't going to sit here and ask questions to herself. She knew she didn't know the answers!
*
Clef sighed heavily and opened the door to whoever was knocking. "Umi?"
She walked in, and he sighed even heavier and closed the door behind her. "Tell me what you're hiding."
"I would if I could, but I can't, so if you don't mind, I'm doing some research," he offered the door, but she wouldn't budge.
"Nope, you're not getting rid of me that easily," she informed him.
He glared and shut the door once again. "What?" he snapped.
"I am not a child, and I won't be treated like one. I want to know what's going on here, what you're hiding from us. There can't be that much that you can't tell us. Can't you just explain it a little more?"
"No, I can't," he answered hotly. "I've told you all that I could, now please, go to sleep. You're going to need your strength so that you can don…" he stopped. "I've said enough all ready. Good night."
She sighed and turned; she would have to get this information from somewhere else. "This isn't over."
He shut the door and whispered to himself. "Gods I hope not."