*Wow, I feel like an idiot. I was getting ready to start a new chapter for this and couldn't remember which chapter I was on, so I went to "find" in Word and found that I had TWO chapter fives and hadn't yet uploaded this chapter that was already conveniently written. Wow. Well, it's all good because here's the next chapter that I wrote forever ago and forgot about, but it's here!*
Chapter Six: The Keeper of Dreams
Fuu, Ferio, Hikaru and Lantis arrived at the palace the next day, a day early. They were surprised but thrilled to find Umi and Clef there early, and more importantly, uninjured.
Both Fuu and Hikaru had an undeniable sadness in their eyes though, and Umi realized they too had revived their Legendary Rune Gods. Umi and Clef had no questions for them, but the other four had questions for Umi and Clef, "Where have you been? Is Silvius alive? Has he been defeated? How did you get back?" the questions rolled from Hikaru's tongue.
Clef sighed and closed his eyes, "Maybe it's time I told you three about the Legend of the Keepers."
"The Legend of the Keepers?" Ferio looked skeptical, "But that's only a story parents tell their children. It can't possibly…"
"Every word is true," Lantis interjected. "I met one, fleeing."
"Was she shunned?" Umi asked him, but he shook his head.
"She left the Sacred Village to serve her punishment of fifty years in solitude," he answered.
"Alone for fifty years?" Hikaru's eyes filled with pain.
"What did she do?" Umi persisted.
"A man she did not love fell in love with her. He was forbidden to love her, so he was banished to the floor for one hundred years," Lantis explained in his calm, low voice.
"Forbidden to love her?" Fuu inquired meekly.
"Some loves are forbidden in the Sacred Village, more so there than here, but, for the Keeper of Dreams all love is forbidden," Lantis clenched his fists, that was his only sign of emotion.
"Quies," Umi whispered. "He fell in love with Quies."
A quick look of astonishment crossed Lantis' face, then vanished.
"We met her in the Sacred Village," Umi answered his look, and Ferio's jaw dropped. This time the astonishment on Lantis' face was apparent, and it stayed.
"You were in the Sacred Village?" he whispered, and Umi nodded as Clef chose this moment to begin his tale.
"Yes, some love is forbidden in the Sacred Village as it is in all places, but the restrictions are greater, the punishments more severe. But the Keepers themselves go back thousands of years, four Pillars before Princess Emeraude. Her name was Silvia, and she was weak of heart. The Pillar System was young then; the tests contained the flaws of humans. Once she had been named Pillar, she couldn't handle it. Her heart was not strong enough to pray constantly for the wellbeing of Cephiro. So, just before she died, she made a wish for Cephiro. She wished that another Pillar would never have to die in exhaustion, and the Keepers were born. Each Keeper was born with a special purpose. They came to the Sacred Village to be trained and when they were ready or the old Keeper was killed, they took his or her place. The stronger the powers of the Keeper, the more punishment he or she was born with. For every betrayal of the Ancient Laws and Codes of the Keepers comes a certain punishment. If a Keeper refuses his or her punishment his or her titles are stripped, and he or she is shunned from the Sacred Village, mortal, never to return."
"How sad…" Hikaru mumbled, and the other two nodded.
"But who decides the punishments Guru?" Fuu asked.
Clef shook his head, "Mokona, and the Will of Cephiro. You know Cephiro is a living being, and it enforces its own Will on others."
"Why is it forbidden to love?" Hikaru demanded; her hands were clenched. This seemed wrong to her, every fiber of her being was screaming with the betrayal.
"Because, you can become…blinded, by love," Ferio looked down, "and you've betrayed your duties."
Fuu looked at him curiously- was he speaking from experience?
"It used to be, that love wasn't forbidden, then people and Keepers alike began to slip up. They began to abuse love and its privileges. They'd forget about their duties, and so certain love became forbidden. Certain people were shaded from one another with punishments. Still, people fall victim to love, though they shouldn't, they're exposed to those they're supposed to stray from. Sometimes, it's an accident," Clef's eyes turned to Lantis, "sometimes, it's on purpose," here he looked at Umi who looked down. "Either way, the punishments are dealt out. If the lovers can both return from their punishments, and revive the things they've betrayed and their love, then they can be free. They can return in glory, and their punishments can be lifted. The stronger the person, the more difficult the punishment."
"That's…" Fuu couldn't find the word.
"It goes back for thousands of years; some things have their reasons. It's a test of love, of duty," Ferio's head was still on the ground.
Fuu looked up, "Crimson regret and betrayal," she whispered. "Those were the words on the doors. Did we…have we…betrayed them?"
"You…" Ferio was choked. "You…"
"You betrayed no one Wind Knight; they betrayed you," Silvius appeared in front of them, and Umi winced. He walked toward her and grabbed her chin in his hands. "I know you've seen the Sacred Village, but why are you here? Why aren't you with Veneficus?"
Umi ripped away and drew her sword, "He was Cleansed, luckily not banished," she spat.
"Pity," Silvius sighed.
"You have no right in this Palace Silvius," Clef informed him, which caused his eyes to swerve to meet Clef's.
"I used to have every right. Don't you remember old friend? You granted me access, naïve as you were. You were young; you knew nothing of the Sacred Village or the floor. You let me in to see the very thing I was forbidden to have," he smiled, and Umi cringed. "And why shouldn't I have her? She was beautiful and powerful; we were young and foolish. I was the Keeper of Magic, the strongest Mage in Cephiro; my powers were only matched by you. So I seized what was forbidden, forsaking Ancient Codes. Only, she didn't love me. Why be punished for someone who did not love me in return?"
"There are Keepers that suffer those consequences. Their duty is strong," Clef's voice was angry.
"Who? Quies? Foolish girl, she's a devil and trickster. I've seen more Keepers fall at her hands than I want to count. She takes her punishment silently, which only makes her more desirable, and she knows it. She knows it, and she loves it," he laughed when he saw Umi's rising anger.
"Just because you couldn't accept your own punishment!" she shouted, and his eyes were almost considerate as they fell upon her.
"You saw the floor inside the Palace of Keepers? Hundreds of nameless faces all trying to break free, all getting nowhere. Not able to feel, not able to live, but unable to die? Umi, my sweet, could you stand that for four hundred years?" he inquired, and she stepped back. She knew she couldn't.
"Silvius, you chose your own path. Your fate is no fault of ours; it lies with you," Lantis spoke, and Silvius' eyes filled with anger.
"It's hers, hers and those eyes! Those enrapturing eyes, all I wanted was to be seen by them. But those are eyes of a Dragon as well. I'll show that damned Dragon what punishment really is. He left her once, how will he suffer when he loses her forever?" he opened a hand, and a burst of blue and white magic came spiraling toward her. She jumped over it and landed inches from Silvius. He hissed and vanished.
"Well," Umi muttered as she unsummoned her sword, "he's filling in pieces of the puzzle every time he appears."
"But he keeps bringing more questions," Fuu shook her head, trying to piece it all together. Ferio put a hand on her shoulder, and she blushed.
Ascot burst into the room, "Guru, Magic Knights, Prince," he bowed, and they bowed back. "There's-there's urgent news from-from the Sacred Village, from Veneficus."
Clef's eyes narrowed, "What news?"
"It's the Keeper of Dreams; she's been banished to the floor. He says she has no replacement, one has not been born in this world. He wants you to bring the Magic Knights to the Sacred Village, to undergo the Tests," Ascot's voice was panicked.
"What?" Clef shouted, outraged.
"He's commanded it Guru," Ascot bowed, his eyes lingering on Umi who immediately began to panic.
"What's going on?" Umi questioned frantically.
"The Keeper of Magic and the Master Mage are trained together. Ascot and Veneficus were trained together, but Veneficus' time came prematurely. The two are very close, as Silvius and I once were. He would have sent word to Ascot about Quies' banishment. He summons all three of you, though only one of you is capable of being the Keeper of Dreams. It takes a strong magic, and a resilient heart, a sharp mind, but a deep intuition. An intuition as deep as the Sea," his eyes locked on Umi's, and her face paled.
"No," she whispered. "No, I won't go."
"You must," Clef's eyes filled with tears, four hundred years of exile, only to find this.
"I've spent four hundred years without you. I betrayed Selece for you! I betrayed my duty as a Magic Knight only for you! I will not lose you now," and her exile and the years before it crashed over her like a wave. She had caught the attention of Silvius when he was 'visiting' Clef, but she did not love the Keeper of Magic. She had already fallen in love with the Master Mage.
She tried to deny it, to push it away. For awhile it worked, but one night he confessed his own love for her. She could no longer deny it. They spent one night together before she ran to Selece. She told Selece of Silvius, who had fallen in love with her, but she spoke mostly of Clef. She spoke of her hidden love and their night together. She knew she would be punished.
Selece listened, all the while his heart broke, because the deeper her love ran, the more severe the punishment. Her love would destroy them both. She had betrayed her duty, and in doing so, she had betrayed them both.
When she was finished, the punishment was clear in both their minds, for their minds were linked, but no longer. The decision was a hard one, but both chose punishment.
'I must wash my hands of thee,' Selece told her, and she began to sob. Tears fell freely down her cheeks, more rapid than before. 'For four hundred years I will suffer solitude. For four hundred years thee will live in darkness until eighteen years before thine return. Then, thou will be reborn on Earth, not alone, but in a strange, cruel world. Thou will feel pain like none before until thou can revive thine forbidden love and me. Only then, wilt thou be cleaned. Do thout accept?"
"Yes," Umi whispered, and Selece shrieked, and Umi was transported to a world of darkness. She remembered every minute of the three hundred eighty-two years she had to wander there. It made her fall to the ground in sudden weariness. Before she knew it, she had fallen into a world of darkness, like all those years ago.
Clef reached down and swiped her forehead gently with his hand, trying to understand what he had done to anger Cephiro so greatly. He picked her up gently, "Come, we must go to the Sacred Village. Delay could have us all punished."
They nodded weakly and followed Clef outside.
They mounted their Horses, and Clef held Umi close to him so that she wouldn't fall as they set off at a slow canter, all the more Clef could stand with Umi unconscious.
*
"Veneficus, you fool," he hissed at the Gates of the Sacred Village. "You cannot do this."
"Quies has chosen her path, now we must find a replacement," he answered solemnly. "You were banished from the Sacred Village Silvius, you will not enter."
Silvius opened a hand and a ball of blue and white magic flew toward the Gates, but Veneficus closed his fist, and the ball was smothered.
"I control all magic in this world Silvius, as you once did. You should know attacking will do nothing," Veneficus sighed heavily. "I do not wish to punish the Master Mage, though I know you do. So why are you fighting for him Silvius?"
He just glared and didn't respond. If Umi was sent into the Village she would be taken from Clef, yes, but Veneficus would distance himself from her, just as he distanced himself from Quies. His falling to temptation was the only way Silvius could ever regain his title.
"Do you think that you would really get your title back Silvius? That has never taken place; you chose your road. The only way to regain your title is through punishment. If Veneficus were to fall, his replacement would be the next in line, not you," Mentis, the Keeper of the Mind, read his thoughts and shook her head.
He scowled at her and closed his eyes, trying to force her from his head. She simply laughed and waited for him to ultimately realize that he could no longer match the power of the Keepers.
"Your choice has driven you into madness, but you were the one who sought out the Magic Knights. You drove yourself into temptation," Veneficus told him wearily.
Silvius glared but did not dare to challenge the Keeper of Magic. He closed his eyes and vanished.
"He will return," Veneficus mumbled, and they nodded. "Bring Quies to me."
"Veneficus…" Mentis started, but he shook his head.
"Bring her to me, we must speak together, once and for all. If she is to go to the floor I must tell her that her punishment will be stronger. This is the ultimate act of selfishness," he clenched his fists. "Ascot told me of Clef's struggle, and how this will destroy him. It seems that Ascot's time will be premature as well. Her decisions will shape the fate of Cephiro."