Chapter Eight: Cornered

Indeed, Clef did have to sit down for Caldar to tell his tale, and by the time he'd told it, Clef was pale in wonder, "I – knew the legend, but I never knew the details," he breathed, and Caldar smiled faintly.

"I'm amazed my story has survived the ages. Tell me, how many years has it been?"

"3589," Clef answered solemnly, "or so we estimate."

Caldar chuckled at that, "I see the Master Mages haven't changed as much as the language."

Clef smiled and nodded, "No, I suppose we haven't. Do you feel well enough to stand? I would like the others to meet you."

Caldar made an attempt to swing his legs out from underneath the sheets and managed to stand shakily with the Master Mage's help.

"Well, it seems you didn't damage Ascot's body any, now it's just a matter of remembering how to walk," Clef informed him, allowing Caldar to keep a steady hand on his staff, since he'd have to crawl to use the mage as a brace.

Caldar laughed, took a step forward and toppled over, "Easier said than done," he admitted as he pulled himself to his stolen feet and tried to conjure images of walking. Unfortunately, he'd never really paid attention to walking too much, so the images weren't sticking. When he finally found one, a memory of him striding forward to pull the Water Knight into his arms, he tried again and found he was successful. Smiling triumphantly, he took another step and soon found himself strolling down the halls, the Master Mage struggling to keep up.

He wanted to run, to jump, to laugh, to cry out to the heavens, and only his well-trained mind stopped him. He was a prince; he had to act dignified.

"Ascot!" he looked up and saw someone bounding toward him, a boy just becoming a man with a forest of green hair and a scar across his face that made him look older than he really was. "Did you find them? Are they all right? Tell me man, is Fuu-chan okay?" he grabbed Caldar's shoulders and shook him desperately. Who is this lunatic? Caldar thought to himself, shaking off the newcomer, who pulled back, his distress written across his face. "She's all right, right? You saw them, didn't you? Say something, damn it!"

"Ferio," Clef pulled the man back, and his golden eyes turned toward Clef.

Golden eyes? Caldar shook his head in disgust. That was no way for a Prince of Cephiro to act! What if his people saw him like that? How could he lead his people when his emotions clearly led him?

As if reading his mind, as he probably is, Caldar added to the stray thought, Clef answered his questions, "Cephiro is different now, the king and the Pillar don't work together, in fact, there is no Pillar. Ferio is just as free as any other civilian of Cephiro," he explained, and Caldar's eyes widened in shock. No Pillar? A king just a symbol? Who led the people then? Surely they couldn't manage themselves!

"Clef, why are you explaining that to Ascot?" Ferio looked stressed and confused, like a man on the edge, and Caldar spared himself a second of pity for the young man.

"Because Ferio, this is not Ascot, merely someone who used a wrong spell in trying to save Ascot. Prince Ferio, meet Prince Caldar. I guess you could say he's your great-great grandfather," Clef gave Caldar a sideways glance, and Caldar grinned.

"No, no, I didn't have any children; the line who took over must have been entirely new."

Ferio just stared, jaw hanging, "How?" he squeaked, and Clef ushered him into the dining hall where proper introductions and story telling could be done for everyone. Caldar sighed heavily and followed, knowing it was bound to be a long night.

"So you're King Taro?" Ascot was fairly surprised his words came out so easily considering he was half paralyzed with fear.

"Making the one who stole your body Prince Caldar, yes, very clever boy. But then, I'd expect no less from someone apprenticed to the Master Mage."

"And why would Prince Caldar want my body?" Ascot demanded, barely stopping his next words. 'I thought he was supposed to be the good guy.'

"Well, originally he was simply trying to stop me from taking it, but now I suppose he'll go questing after the Water Knight to try and save her and her miserable and equally pesky friends. He'll probably declare his undying love and help her kill Mala and expect it to end happily. He always was too noble for his own good," Taro spat viciously, clearly distracted by something Ascot would bet was a memory.

So it's true, about Umi's former self and Prince Caldar, a twinge of pure hatred stripped Ascot's senses to the bone. Who did this guy think he was? First, he steals my body, and now he's going to steal Umi, and she doesn't even know how I feel. Then came the regret, first at his instinctive hatred and then at his own stupidity.

There he was, just before the Knights left, Umi so close he could feel her breath on his shoulder, pouring out her feelings while he just sat in a stupor. If she ran to Caldar it was only because he'd never said anything! She probably thought he didn't even care! At that moment, he didn't even care if she loved him or not so long as she knew! But she didn't, and he had only himself to blame. Cursing his idiocy a thousand times over, he resolved to find a way out of this cell and the first chance he got, he'd tell her, whether she'd run to Caldar or not, just so she knew she had other options.

Satisfied with that plan of action, he pulled back into himself and began to think of ways to escape.

Fuu slapped the dark sword away with her mind, drawing her own sword in a signal to Hikaru and Umi to unravel their plan, "I would never," she whispered fiercely, and Mala smiled sickly and nodded.

"Very well then, let us see how long never is."

A blast of ice cold magic sent Fuu plunging into darkness, and when she looked up, she found that the darkness had turned into a crowded classroom. Was she giving a lecture? Then why was everyone laughing?

She looked down to the podium and sudden horror made her so dizzy she almost collapsed. She was stark naked, and a fiery blush rose to her cheeks. Think Fuu, clothes, get clothes, but…could this be a Test?

She vaguely remembered Clef saying that her only option was to attack Mala, and only Mala. She took hold of her emotions firmly, stepped from behind the podium and began to scan the multitude of hysterically giggling faces. She tried to think how funny it would be for one of her own professors to give a lecture completely nude, but that only made her face burn hotter. When she was sure that her ears were going to explode from the embarrassment the laughter caused her, she pinpointed her target in the crowd and called on her magic, "Imashime no Kaze!"

Almost immediately, the image faded, and she was faced with a snarling Mala.

"Just because I have intelligence doesn't mean I wouldn't do stupid things," Fuu told her simply, which made the enraged woman hiss and lob another illusion at her. This one, Fuu cleverly evaded, rolling and coming up within striking distance of Mala, who jumped back and just barely missed Fuu's blade.

The two squared off and glared at one another, both waiting for the other to strike, "I'm looking forward to you joining my side Wind Knight," Mala taunted, but Fuu kept control, because little did Mala know, but she had another card up her sleeve, and that fact kept her calm. Umi-san, Hikaru-san, hurry, she pleaded as the two resumed their pacing.

"Now!" Hikaru yelled over the commotion the men were causing, and Umi and Hikaru shed their disguises immediately, drawing their swords. "As soon as we cast, imagine your homes and you're free!" Hikaru commanded before the compulsions set in, and the men were forced to move in. Hikaru nodded at Umi, and they both raised their hands. "Concentrate!" Hikaru screamed, gathering her magic around her.

"Koori no Yaiba!" Umi was the first to unleash the deadly magic, centering it so it hit a wide range and was therefore less lethal.

Hikaru countered with a similar toned done spell, "Akai Inazuma!"

The Water and Fire mingled together in a vicious union; the men didn't have a chance, and Hikaru only prayed they were concentrating. As the magic tore through them, one by one, they began to disappear until Umi saw she and Hikaru were the only ones still standing.

"Come on, let's go," Umi mumbled meekly, and Hikaru nodded and followed.

"Please, I know you all must have questions, but from what I can see, your Knights are in serious danger, and if I can, I want to help them," Caldar halted the onslaught of questions before they could begin, using the one thing he knew would stop them. "Tell me what happened."

So Clef retold the tale with the others filling in gaps, and when Caldar had the whole story, his eyes darkened. "I didn't know she'd grown that powerful. Very well," he sighed. "I will have to go to them."

"But how?" Presea blurted out after everyone's initial shock. "We don't have enough magic to perform that spell again!"

Caldar smiled wryly, "I've got some magic of my own," he told her, and they understood. Just because he was in Ascot's body didn't mean he was confined to Ascot's magic. Magic was a thing of spirit, and he had proved his spirit had stayed intact after 3500 years.

"I'll take you to them," Ferio offered, and he smiled and thanked them.

"And on the way, I think I'm ready to hear what became of my Knights, after I lost them."

Eagle stood, "That is indeed a sad tale; perhaps, I should accompany you for the telling. I've learned much in my stay here, and that is one ending I should like to spare the people of this land."

Umi and Hikaru threw the doors to the throne room open, tracing Fuu's magic easily, both silently thanking Clef for teaching them that particular skill as they did.

"Took you long enough!" Fuu called teasingly, and Mala spun and gasped in horror.

"Hey, we were busy!" Hikaru shouted back defensively as the two took fighting stances, creating a triangle around the cornered Mala.

They all knew it the minute desperation leapt into her eyes- a cornered animal was dangerous, and they'd cornered her.

"Akai Inazuma!"

"Midori no Senpuu!"

"Imashime no Kaze!"

But the three attacks met an impenetrable shield forged of fear and need. That was when Umi found herself the target. Somewhere in Mala's twisted, depraved mind, she decided that if she was going to die, she was going to take Umi with her, and a suicidal fanatic was the worst kind.

"Umi-chan!" but Hikaru's lunge toward her friend was too late, and Mala had her. She grabbed her with her magic, freezing her in her tracks. "Time to die Water Knight," she whispered hatefully as Umi struggled in her grasps.

Fuu and Hikaru battered Mala's shield with magic and swords as she approached Umi, but she didn't budge, and Umi's eyes widened in terror. I should have told him, she thought as Mala's hands fell to her throat, a sick gleam in her eyes.

"The Water Knight took her own life in grief," Eagle told him quietly, "and the other two buried themselves in trifles until they were taken as well."

Caldar choked on his pain; he had to maintain face. Why would she do that? He'd given his life to save her! And she'd thrown it away! Yet, he coveted the power of their love that she could not live without him. How much of his love was in this new Knight? Could he somehow…No, he shook his head, my Umi is waiting for me somewhere; I can't steal this new Knight's life, just like I can't steal this body…

"This body I'm currently in residence of, are he and the Water Knight lovers?" Caldar's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Why did I ask that? What's come over me that I can't even control my words? I need to get a grip.

"Umi and Ascot?" the Prince called Ferio snorted; something a Prince of his day would never do. Things had to be changing, "No, Ascot's loved Umi for years, and everyone seems to know it but her."

"Umi is a very insightful girl except when it comes to her own love life then she doesn't have a clue," Eagle added, and Caldar couldn't help but let a little pride show. He certainly wouldn't have hesitated in telling her his feelings; clearly this Ascot was a coward.

"Here we are," Ferio mumbled grimly, and stopped at a large wooden door, not caring to enter but feeling he must.

"Right this way," Eagle herded them both in.

Caldar's breath stopped in his throat, there on three beds, the girls lie in a solemn visual, breathing elevated as if they were in battle. On the far right was the Water Knight, and his body ached at just the sight of her, "Umi-chan," he whispered. She didn't look so much different than his Umi, only more beautiful if anything. Any words he might have said were stopped in his throat as he neared, then sat carefully on the bed to stroke her long blue hair. "I'm coming," he promised when she whimpered, then turned back to Ferio and Eagle. "I'll be back in an hour, make sure the Guru is here."

They nodded stiffly, and Caldar surrounded himself in magic, inducing the trance-like state the three Knights were in, then collapsed onto the bed.

"I see a little man sitting and he's wondering

If over his little plot he might be King

He finds his present world a little boring

There's no land that is so small that it cannot divide

So come on draw the line and you just pick your side

Ignoring anyone who gives a warning

For I am the answer you seek

The dream in your sleep

You never wanted to awaken and

I am the plan that won't fail

The crime without trail

And all I really need right now is you

I see a little man thinking that he might need more

And so his eyes are drifting to the house next door

He wonders if his neighbors might be leaving

So he makes a little offer that they're understand

There's no point in letting things get out of hand

For no one wants to see their widows grieving."

Savatage, I Am, Dead Winter Dead