A/n: I know it's been a long time since I updated and this chapter is short, but I've finally regained ideas for this story and the next will surely be longer if you stick with it. I promise. It just had to be ended where it was ended. It was screaming at me "End this here!" so I had to do what it said, I'm sorry! But please don't be so angry as to not review because there's a surprise in store for you all at the end.

Chapter Seventeen

"Where are they?" Umi demanded heatedly.

"I don't know," Fuu's cheeks were lined with tears. "I shouldn't have gotten angry and run off. I…so many things could have happened to him."

"Sh…Fuu-chan," Hikaru tried to comfort her friend, but Fuu was beyond comforting. Ferio had vanished when he went out into the night to find her, and Clef was missing as well. Umi couldn't help but feel her own words had a lot to do with his disappearance.

"Three of the Protectors gone," Lantis whispered behind them, and they all turned to face him. "Three of five and one turned evil."

"What do you think it is Lantis?" Hikaru inquired, but he shook his head.

"There is only one thing it could be," he answered, and Umi's hands clenched tightly.

"We will go and seek her then," she glared viciously, and Fuu and Hikaru stepped beside her, donning their armor as they did.

"It is our duty to our country," Hikaru drew her sword.

"It is our duty to those we love," Fuu echoed, and Lantis nodded his approval.

"Then I will come with you, as one of the last remaining Protectors."

"As will I," a small voice resolved behind Lantis, and Umi smiled warmly.

"Ascot," she seemed to sigh, and Fuu and Hikaru exchanged weak smiles. So everything would be put to rights.

"I will go as your Protector Umi, and that is all," he added, and Umi's heart dropped from her stomach.

"What?"

He shook his head, signaling that it was for another time, when they weren't surrounded by people, and she agreed, with sullen eyes. So he wasn't going to let her take him back and live a lie. She felt somehow…relieved. Yet, pained all the same. She shook the thoughts from her body and forced herself to focus on the task at hand, finding and destroying Shadow. Then, then she would worry about her Protectors.

Shadow laughed softly from the dark as she let the image fade, "Just what I thought they would do," she commented to herself, and was faced with three sets of angry eyes.

"You will be vanquished," Clef promised her, and she turned and stroked his face with a gentle hand.

"I wouldn't be so sure my pet," she mumbled into his ear and turned back to her crystal. Now, all she had to do was send them a few clues and wait.

"Oh Magic Knights," Eagle laughed softly as he appeared before them. "The things you get yourselves into."

"Eagle?" Hikaru rushed forward, but Lantis held her back.

"Don't, it is not the Eagle we know," he instructed, and Hikaru recoiled from his touch but stepped back all the same.

"Lantis," Eagle hissed, drawing his sword. "You always did want to get in the way."

"What has happened to you Eagle?" Fuu whispered, shaking her head.

"What would ever cause you to betray the one you love?" Umi screamed, then met Ascot's eyes and stepped back. But you don't love him, her mind reminded her. She instinctively drew her sword, hoping to banish the voice by banishing Eagle.

"Ah, Water Knight, how funny of you to say that," he grinned impishly at Ascot, whose eyes narrowed. "Why would one betray the one they loved? Seems like a good question to ask, legitimate. Unless, of course, you can't find an answer."

She stayed absolutely silent, and he nodded.

"That's what I thought, so, I guess, I don't need one either."

"Eagle, what's happened to you?" Hikaru called, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Why are you doing this to us? Eagle I thought you loved me!"

"Hikaru-hime…" and in that voice was the true Eagle, so much of the true Eagle that Shadow was forced to recall him, shrieking angrily to herself.

Weakly, Eagle struggled in his chains next to the other two Protectors. He smiled triumphantly at her, those damned resilient eyes, "You cannot control everything about me Shadow," he grumbled through his chains. "You cannot ever control everything."

She reached out and smacked him hard across the face, "Next time she will not get away so easily," she vowed as the Knights continued on their quest.

They stopped in the Forest of Silence. Something about the looming darkness in the forest told them that they would surely find their pray somewhere here, "We're on her turf now," Lantis said in a low voice. He couldn't help but feel this was a trap, yet he stayed silent. He had no desire to upset any of them anymore, least of all Hikaru. All day he'd seen distress grow in all their eyes but since Eagle's heart-filled uttering of her name, Hikaru had become more and more worried. She had gone so far as to protest stopping; even when the moon rose in the sky and the wear on everyone was evident. No, mentioning a trap would not benefit them in the least. They all needed rest, and sleep wouldn't come easily as it was.

"I'll take first watch," Ascot offered, and they all agreed and headed to bed, with Hikaru holding Mokona tightly against her chest.

Umi lingered, and Hikaru was about to protest when Fuu put a hand on the Fire Knight's shoulder and shook her head gently. Taking one last glance at Umi, they both retreated indoors.

"You should be in bed, "Ascot mumbled though Umi hadn't made a noise, and he hadn't seen her. He'd simply known she'd be there.

"Couldn't sleep anyway," she came and sat next to him on the steps of the egg-shaped tent Mokona had provided them with.

He smiled weakly at her and turned to gaze up at the night sky.

"It's a beautiful night," she offered, but he simply nodded, never even turning. "You're still mad at me…"

"Not mad," he shook his head, and she tried to peer into his eyes, but his shaggy brown hair covered them from view. "Just…surprised…I guess…"

"It just happened Ascot," she pleaded. "I didn't even know who I was."

"But he did," he whispered, unable to keep from feeling betrayed by his teacher. "And somewhere you did too, and it was meaningful enough to bring you back to us-to him."

"No," she grabbed his arms and turned him to make him look at her, "You're the man in my past Ascot; I remember now."

When he looked into her crystalline eyes, welling with tears, he saw his greatest fears become reality. He just stared at her for awhile before he reached up and wiped a few stray strands of hair from her face, "Umi, you can't look at me like this and tell me honestly that you don't love him. I might have been the man in your past, but now-looking at you-now, more than ever, I know he's the man in your future."

"Ascot," her eyes trembled, but he knew those tears were not for him, not anymore. Somewhere along the way he'd lost the Water Knight's heart. He didn't know where or when or how, and he supposed none of that really mattered anymore anyway. All that mattered was that she was no longer his to love, and he couldn't stand to live a lie any longer, "I-gomen nasai!" The tars fell like rain down her cheeks, and even in his own loss he held her against his broken heart as she sobbed, praying for strength as he did.

"Aw, how touching," a voice as cold as the winter wind lashed against Ascot's ears.

"Fuu! Hikaru! Lantis!" he called, jumping up and pulling Umi behind him. So, Shadow intended to fight them on only a few minutes sleep.

The two Knights, followed by Lantis, sprang from the tent, swords already drawn, and he could feel Umi drawing hers behind him.

"So now, my Magic Knights, the ultimate test," Shadow cackled, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, in front of them, were their Protectors.

"Eagle!"

"Ferio!"

"Clef!"

"Yes, you've been missing them haven't you? Well, they've been missing you too," Shadow teased cruelly, and Hikaru stepped forward.

"You did this to Eagle!"

"Poor little Fire Princess," she stroked Eagle's cheek softly, and Hikaru's grip on her sword tightened. "He asked for it. Always went out alone, staring at the sky, mourning his loss, praying you'd remember. So I decided to spare him his agony.

"And the Prince," she scoffed, throwing her eyes to Ferio, "so quick to run after his Princess- so quick to pull an illusion into his arms. He never even saw it coming, not like the Master Mage."

Umi's eyes widened as Shadow shifted into the most beautiful woman they'd ever seen and sauntered toward Clef, kissing his silent lips carefully, "He liked the way I looked, even surpassing the legendary beauty of the Water Princess, so he let his eyes wander. Too late did they fall upon this," she held up a black opal dangling from a chain that flashed white and purple.

"Clef's magic," Ascot whispered, and the Knights gasped and stepped back.

"So long it's been used in the service of good," she ran the necklace under her fingers before she slipped it around her neck. "Now, it's time to see what it can really do."

She stepped back and snapped. Obediently, the three Protectors came to life, stopping to stand before those they protected. A smile curved on her lips, "Kill them."