Ok, before I start, thanks to my reviewers (could you believe there's actually some people who read my fic..? O.O I still can't)
Miemu Akari: Thanks again, you were my first reviewer ever!!!
blazingIcEph0eniX: Well, you figured out pretty soon, didn't you? Now you know who's this chapter about... but the next, hehehe, I'm not telling you! Everybody is gonna get one, that's for sure! And as for the pairing... I'm on chapter 8 and I don't know who's gonna get who... but maybe I can do something for you...
Well, the last and hideous thing, I don't own Rayearth (I wish I own one of those CLAMP bishounen though) and I'm not making money out of this, so don't sue me.
Just read and enjoy!
********** Battling emotions **********
Chapter II
Lantis - Necessity
Lantis walked slowly through the forest. While in Autozam he had not been able to see many trees, and to be now among so many of them relaxed him queerly. He wouldn't recognize it openly, but he had missed Cefiro. Nevertheless, being there was bringing back to him the memories he had been trying so hard to banish from his mind. And this way, struggling his own fight, he approached to the place where the high and dense vegetation finished abruptly.
Before he could realize, he had left the forest behind and he was walking into a beautiful green prairie. He looked around. Everything was flourishing, as if the spring was eternal in those places. And when he rose his eyes, he sighted a silhouette standing out against the morning sky, dominating the landscape from the high of the mountain.
- Cefiro's castle...
The enormous construction could easily match its environment in beauty. Since the abolition of the Pillar's system, the whole planet had evolved to become a paradise again, like in the best times of princess Emeraude's life, but now transformed and conserved by the good desires and the will of its inhabitants. But such prosperity seemed offensive to Lantis, as well as he found the reining happiness to be insulting, for it was so dense he could even breathe it. He should feel blissful that everything was going so well, that his planet was the most beautiful in the entire system and that its people were taking care of maintaining peace and order. At least, flowers grew more beautiful, not needing of someone's prayers to keep them alive. No more inhumane sacrifices. But it didn't work out so well for him; he didn't feel as well as he should. If everything went so fine, so smooth, the Magic Knights were not necessary anymore. And such fact made Lantis deeply unfortunate.
Suddenly, a buzzing out of nature began to grow. However, he didn't move. He stopped amid the path crossing the grassland and observed the sky with pronounced indifference. He knew that jet and engine noise perfectly, and he knew there was nothing to be afraid of. A vast shade passed flying over his head, at full speed. It was the NSX, the flagship of Autozam's fleet. As usual, carrying Commander Eagle Vision, his inseparable friends Geo Metro and Zazu Torque, and its entire crew.
Lantis waved his hand briefly, resembling a greeting, and he remained at the same spot, as he watched the ship heading towards the castle. The relationships among the countries were good enough for such visits to take place often, especially since Cefiro's inhabitants were helping the Autozamians deal with the ever present pollution, currently receding the highly automated world.
As a matter of fact, the project had begun a couple of years ago, and the encouraging results could already be seen. In such works Lantis had been involved to such extent he practically lived in Autozam. He collaborated day by day with all the other people who had joined the task step by step. Chizeta and Fahrem's princesses carried out frequent visits to the recovering planet, contributing with their citizens' help and their own magic powers. The first ones had already become almost as assiduous as Lantis and they all shared a fraternal friendship now. Such union among the planets was also a gift from the Magic Knights, and now the visits between the countries took place in an atmosphere of total companionship.
But there was a secret, or at least a hidden reason why Cefiro's only magic swordsman had taken certain aversion to his homeland, to the point that he felt his heart twisting sorely just at the thought he had to go back. Eagle had offered him the opportunity to accompany them on the NSX, but he had refused, with the undeclared purpose of delaying his return as much as possible. Cefiro's beauty and happiness hurt him, and there was no spot inside the castle that didn't bring bittersweet memories to his mind.
- Hikaru... - he mumbled unwittingly.
He just had to remember her. He had found her in a moment when his heart despaired for an exit from the lockup he himself had confined it. Such a noble and innocent girl, she seemed more like a fallen angel than a creature in the flesh. Crimson eyes bearing a warm look, which melted the ice armor covering his soul. An overflowing energy that contaminated everything she touched, and made him shiver with no great effort. All the happiness of living and the world's purity focused on her small adolescent body.
He wondered how would she be. Would she be doing fine with her family and her friends in the Mystic World? Would she have forgotten Cefiro? It had been so long, and the Magic Knights had never returned. Perhaps they were not able to... or they didn't want to. Perhaps they had all found somebody to love, they were happy and maybe they were even... married. This last thought turned to be a cruel claw, squeezing the swordsman's heart merciless.
Yes, he couldn't help it. He had fallen in love with her, almost unnoticedly. A love with no hopes and no future, since she belonged to another world, in another dimension. He understood now what his brother Zagato had suffered facing the word "impossible", just as much as he was suffering when imagining how would it be like if Hikaru were in Cefiro's castle, hoping to see him arrive to run to meet him and toss her arms around his neck. Lantis' soul was consumed in the fire of his refrained passion, the flame lit by a girl worlds apart from him. He was not able to suffocate such burning longing, no matter how hard he tried.
Useless torture! He knew too well that she would not be there to receive him. He had not seen her for five years, and every day he tried to forget her, he missed her more and more, as if his dimmed soul refused to let her luminous memory go. Autozam and the whole work he could perform over there were hardly a way of keeping himself busy to avoid thinking. Also, that polluted planet went much more in agreement with his dismal spirit than the brightness of his own world.
He turned his look towards the floor. The celestial blue sky was neither good for his eyes, which were also blue, but as dark as night, fringed by a violet radiance. Dark and endless night for the one whose sun has been stolen, altogether with light and heat. He frowned. Right at his feet, the late blossoms thrived, announcing perennial spring, cheerful products of human inspiration. That was Cefiro. But not all desires were fulfilled.
- And what about MY wish? - he wondered, looking up to the sky again.
Why couldn't his golden dream be completed, like all the other ones were? Wasn't that way Cefiro was meant to be? The place where the strongest will shall prevail? Maybe he didn't have a heart powerful enough or his desire was not so strong after all? But it was, he was sure nobody all over the entire planet wanted anything with the intensity he wished...
- I wish... - he said brokenly, as he still hesitated between burying his deeper yearning or let it out freely - I want the Magic Knights back...
What a nonsense. Only princess Emeraude, or whomever the Pillar was, or some serious threat could carry out the miracle he dreamt night after night. He was not able to understand why they had never returned if it turned out to be so easy in the beginning. He feared the girls from Mystic World had forgotten about Cefiro and all its residents. But even so, he could not stop wanting their return with all his might. The hope of seeing the girl he loved above everything else had helped him going on all those years. He felt losing that illusion would be like having no reason to live. But he was beginning to despair. Memories were just not enough to feed his heart, hungry for affection, for HER affection.
- Please, come back, Hikaru. - he sighed in utter sadness - I need you.
He hadn't realized how, in the mean time, a strange breeze had risen around him...
ºººººººººº
The discussion between Umi and Fuu was endless and useless, but it was now a while since Hikaru had stopped listening to them. Sunk in her own thoughts, she didn't notice how the air, previously in absolute calm, had begun to whirl around her. However, she could do nothing but notice the pressure growing on her chest, as she grasped the locket stronger. In an instant, her eyes didn't respond her anymore and everything got dark. Then, lacking one her senses, Hikaru felt the breeze whipping her face, and she realized it didn't belong to her world. The same way it had abandoned her before, vision returned unexpectedly, making her eyes hurt in the sudden light surge. But she was no longer watching at the city to her feet. On the other hand, she saw a green grass panorama spreading till horizon, dominated by a crystalline mass that rose steadily on top of a mountain, standing out supernaturally against a baby blue sky. And amid the grassland, a human figure sheathed in an armor, with the hilt of a sword hanging to a side of his body. A man completely dressed in black, whose cape and hair, also black, waved smoothly to the breeze. Hikaru opened her eyes widely, and her heart skipped a beat, just to bolt into a wild beating as soon as she breathed in. A million years could go by and still that image would never fade from her memory. She knew him; she could recognize him among thousands of men. A choked scream escaped from her lips:
- Lantis!
As a magic word, Umi and Fuu forgot their discussion at once when they heard Hikaru scream, and they searched for her, looking around. The redhead had been wandering all alone, while she digressed lost in her thoughts, but they didn't take long to find her... and they were deeply astonished by the sight! A white light covered the ex fire knight almost completely, and her feet were now floating some centimeters away from the floor. One faster than the other one, both girls understood what was happening.
- Hikaru! - Fuu ran, not wanting to lost a single second, forgetting and rejecting any rational consideration in the moment's euphoria - Take me with you!
Umi shook her head. It couldn't be...! Could it?
- Hey! Wait for me! I wanna go too!
With this she rushed towards her two friends that lolled on the air, hugging each other strongly, both of them almost covered by the blinding radiance. Umi got near them and grabbed Fuu's hanging arm, just a second before they all disappeared, right in front of the indifferent looks of all the visitors in Tokyo Tower, who ignored that very near them, the deepest desire of three young girls had just been granted.
ºººººººººº
All of a sudden, in Cefiro's castle throne room, Guru Clef rose startled. He had just felt a strong presence in the air, a sensation he didn't feel since long time ago, so long he had almost forgotten how it felt. Presea, who had just entered, realized the magician's paleness.
- Guru Clef? - she looked at him with concern - Are you alright?
- Seijyuu! - he exclaimed, and right before their eyes an enormous flying fish appeared. The magician caressed its back - Go soon, Fiura, go get them.
The creature transformed immediately into a small brilliant sphere that left flying out of the window, at such speed that it would be difficult to determine if it left or simply vanished in the air. All this happened in front of Presea's astonished eyes. She didn't remember any occasion for Guru Clef to made use of Fiura. Except...
- Guru Clef... could it be... the Magic Knights...?
- Yes, Presea. They are back.
ºººººººººº
Lantis opened his eyes in amazement. He had closed them while he let the breeze coming out of nowhere caress his face softly, carrying an unknown perfume. And being this way, with his eyes closed, he had seen HER... like in a dream, watching him from a metallic-like construction, with moistened eyes and a jewel in her hands, the locket he had given her, the one that once had belonged to his mother. Yes, it was she; he could not be wrong about this. Perhaps more grown, more like a woman, definitively more beautiful than ever, but he would have not hesitated even if he would have spotted her among millions of similar girls. It was SHE, and she had called him out, she had screamed HIS name. What a gorgeous vision! But... could it be a deceit all made by his inflamed mind? Would it be he was already crazy from thinking about her, from drawing her in his imagination? Or perhaps it was just...?
He looked around one more time. Everything was the same as before, and however, something had changed. Something in the air, or the illumination, or maybe in the flowers' aroma. And suddenly, he knew it. The revelation hit him like a warm sensation flowing all over his body, the same way that breeze saturated of a sweet and mysterious perfume had done moments ago. Nature glowed, more brilliant and more beautiful than before, because the entire Cefiro was happy with the return of the last person who had been bestowed with the power of the crown. Lantis held his breath, not daring to give credit to his own senses that announced him the reappearance of a well-known aura. After five long years... the Pillar's aura showed up again.
- Seijyuu!
With a loud scream and a movement of his sword, appeared in his hands by magic, Lantis made his horse come from the dimension in which it inhabited. He mounted agilely and spurred the steed impatiently, so that it raced towards its destiny. If the swordsman had been able to perceive that presence, which was excessively strong, then it was logical that Guru Clef was also able to notice it. If there were any " visitors ", Cefiro's most powerful magician should have been already taken care of giving them an appropriate greeting. So, there was only a place to where he could go in search for answers. The same place he had hated to go before for all the memories kept within it: the castle.
The mount was speedy as a gale, but not enough to please the desperation that had taken possession of its horseman. If what he felt was certain, then his desire had been fulfilled. With the wind whipping his face roughly, Lantis still doubted on his good fortune. But he keep inciting the horse, making it practically fly, while his lips murmured over and over again, like an incantation, the Pillar's name:
- Hikaru...
To be continued...
Next chapter: Rivalry
Miemu Akari: Thanks again, you were my first reviewer ever!!!
blazingIcEph0eniX: Well, you figured out pretty soon, didn't you? Now you know who's this chapter about... but the next, hehehe, I'm not telling you! Everybody is gonna get one, that's for sure! And as for the pairing... I'm on chapter 8 and I don't know who's gonna get who... but maybe I can do something for you...
Well, the last and hideous thing, I don't own Rayearth (I wish I own one of those CLAMP bishounen though) and I'm not making money out of this, so don't sue me.
Just read and enjoy!
********** Battling emotions **********
Chapter II
Lantis - Necessity
Lantis walked slowly through the forest. While in Autozam he had not been able to see many trees, and to be now among so many of them relaxed him queerly. He wouldn't recognize it openly, but he had missed Cefiro. Nevertheless, being there was bringing back to him the memories he had been trying so hard to banish from his mind. And this way, struggling his own fight, he approached to the place where the high and dense vegetation finished abruptly.
Before he could realize, he had left the forest behind and he was walking into a beautiful green prairie. He looked around. Everything was flourishing, as if the spring was eternal in those places. And when he rose his eyes, he sighted a silhouette standing out against the morning sky, dominating the landscape from the high of the mountain.
- Cefiro's castle...
The enormous construction could easily match its environment in beauty. Since the abolition of the Pillar's system, the whole planet had evolved to become a paradise again, like in the best times of princess Emeraude's life, but now transformed and conserved by the good desires and the will of its inhabitants. But such prosperity seemed offensive to Lantis, as well as he found the reining happiness to be insulting, for it was so dense he could even breathe it. He should feel blissful that everything was going so well, that his planet was the most beautiful in the entire system and that its people were taking care of maintaining peace and order. At least, flowers grew more beautiful, not needing of someone's prayers to keep them alive. No more inhumane sacrifices. But it didn't work out so well for him; he didn't feel as well as he should. If everything went so fine, so smooth, the Magic Knights were not necessary anymore. And such fact made Lantis deeply unfortunate.
Suddenly, a buzzing out of nature began to grow. However, he didn't move. He stopped amid the path crossing the grassland and observed the sky with pronounced indifference. He knew that jet and engine noise perfectly, and he knew there was nothing to be afraid of. A vast shade passed flying over his head, at full speed. It was the NSX, the flagship of Autozam's fleet. As usual, carrying Commander Eagle Vision, his inseparable friends Geo Metro and Zazu Torque, and its entire crew.
Lantis waved his hand briefly, resembling a greeting, and he remained at the same spot, as he watched the ship heading towards the castle. The relationships among the countries were good enough for such visits to take place often, especially since Cefiro's inhabitants were helping the Autozamians deal with the ever present pollution, currently receding the highly automated world.
As a matter of fact, the project had begun a couple of years ago, and the encouraging results could already be seen. In such works Lantis had been involved to such extent he practically lived in Autozam. He collaborated day by day with all the other people who had joined the task step by step. Chizeta and Fahrem's princesses carried out frequent visits to the recovering planet, contributing with their citizens' help and their own magic powers. The first ones had already become almost as assiduous as Lantis and they all shared a fraternal friendship now. Such union among the planets was also a gift from the Magic Knights, and now the visits between the countries took place in an atmosphere of total companionship.
But there was a secret, or at least a hidden reason why Cefiro's only magic swordsman had taken certain aversion to his homeland, to the point that he felt his heart twisting sorely just at the thought he had to go back. Eagle had offered him the opportunity to accompany them on the NSX, but he had refused, with the undeclared purpose of delaying his return as much as possible. Cefiro's beauty and happiness hurt him, and there was no spot inside the castle that didn't bring bittersweet memories to his mind.
- Hikaru... - he mumbled unwittingly.
He just had to remember her. He had found her in a moment when his heart despaired for an exit from the lockup he himself had confined it. Such a noble and innocent girl, she seemed more like a fallen angel than a creature in the flesh. Crimson eyes bearing a warm look, which melted the ice armor covering his soul. An overflowing energy that contaminated everything she touched, and made him shiver with no great effort. All the happiness of living and the world's purity focused on her small adolescent body.
He wondered how would she be. Would she be doing fine with her family and her friends in the Mystic World? Would she have forgotten Cefiro? It had been so long, and the Magic Knights had never returned. Perhaps they were not able to... or they didn't want to. Perhaps they had all found somebody to love, they were happy and maybe they were even... married. This last thought turned to be a cruel claw, squeezing the swordsman's heart merciless.
Yes, he couldn't help it. He had fallen in love with her, almost unnoticedly. A love with no hopes and no future, since she belonged to another world, in another dimension. He understood now what his brother Zagato had suffered facing the word "impossible", just as much as he was suffering when imagining how would it be like if Hikaru were in Cefiro's castle, hoping to see him arrive to run to meet him and toss her arms around his neck. Lantis' soul was consumed in the fire of his refrained passion, the flame lit by a girl worlds apart from him. He was not able to suffocate such burning longing, no matter how hard he tried.
Useless torture! He knew too well that she would not be there to receive him. He had not seen her for five years, and every day he tried to forget her, he missed her more and more, as if his dimmed soul refused to let her luminous memory go. Autozam and the whole work he could perform over there were hardly a way of keeping himself busy to avoid thinking. Also, that polluted planet went much more in agreement with his dismal spirit than the brightness of his own world.
He turned his look towards the floor. The celestial blue sky was neither good for his eyes, which were also blue, but as dark as night, fringed by a violet radiance. Dark and endless night for the one whose sun has been stolen, altogether with light and heat. He frowned. Right at his feet, the late blossoms thrived, announcing perennial spring, cheerful products of human inspiration. That was Cefiro. But not all desires were fulfilled.
- And what about MY wish? - he wondered, looking up to the sky again.
Why couldn't his golden dream be completed, like all the other ones were? Wasn't that way Cefiro was meant to be? The place where the strongest will shall prevail? Maybe he didn't have a heart powerful enough or his desire was not so strong after all? But it was, he was sure nobody all over the entire planet wanted anything with the intensity he wished...
- I wish... - he said brokenly, as he still hesitated between burying his deeper yearning or let it out freely - I want the Magic Knights back...
What a nonsense. Only princess Emeraude, or whomever the Pillar was, or some serious threat could carry out the miracle he dreamt night after night. He was not able to understand why they had never returned if it turned out to be so easy in the beginning. He feared the girls from Mystic World had forgotten about Cefiro and all its residents. But even so, he could not stop wanting their return with all his might. The hope of seeing the girl he loved above everything else had helped him going on all those years. He felt losing that illusion would be like having no reason to live. But he was beginning to despair. Memories were just not enough to feed his heart, hungry for affection, for HER affection.
- Please, come back, Hikaru. - he sighed in utter sadness - I need you.
He hadn't realized how, in the mean time, a strange breeze had risen around him...
ºººººººººº
The discussion between Umi and Fuu was endless and useless, but it was now a while since Hikaru had stopped listening to them. Sunk in her own thoughts, she didn't notice how the air, previously in absolute calm, had begun to whirl around her. However, she could do nothing but notice the pressure growing on her chest, as she grasped the locket stronger. In an instant, her eyes didn't respond her anymore and everything got dark. Then, lacking one her senses, Hikaru felt the breeze whipping her face, and she realized it didn't belong to her world. The same way it had abandoned her before, vision returned unexpectedly, making her eyes hurt in the sudden light surge. But she was no longer watching at the city to her feet. On the other hand, she saw a green grass panorama spreading till horizon, dominated by a crystalline mass that rose steadily on top of a mountain, standing out supernaturally against a baby blue sky. And amid the grassland, a human figure sheathed in an armor, with the hilt of a sword hanging to a side of his body. A man completely dressed in black, whose cape and hair, also black, waved smoothly to the breeze. Hikaru opened her eyes widely, and her heart skipped a beat, just to bolt into a wild beating as soon as she breathed in. A million years could go by and still that image would never fade from her memory. She knew him; she could recognize him among thousands of men. A choked scream escaped from her lips:
- Lantis!
As a magic word, Umi and Fuu forgot their discussion at once when they heard Hikaru scream, and they searched for her, looking around. The redhead had been wandering all alone, while she digressed lost in her thoughts, but they didn't take long to find her... and they were deeply astonished by the sight! A white light covered the ex fire knight almost completely, and her feet were now floating some centimeters away from the floor. One faster than the other one, both girls understood what was happening.
- Hikaru! - Fuu ran, not wanting to lost a single second, forgetting and rejecting any rational consideration in the moment's euphoria - Take me with you!
Umi shook her head. It couldn't be...! Could it?
- Hey! Wait for me! I wanna go too!
With this she rushed towards her two friends that lolled on the air, hugging each other strongly, both of them almost covered by the blinding radiance. Umi got near them and grabbed Fuu's hanging arm, just a second before they all disappeared, right in front of the indifferent looks of all the visitors in Tokyo Tower, who ignored that very near them, the deepest desire of three young girls had just been granted.
ºººººººººº
All of a sudden, in Cefiro's castle throne room, Guru Clef rose startled. He had just felt a strong presence in the air, a sensation he didn't feel since long time ago, so long he had almost forgotten how it felt. Presea, who had just entered, realized the magician's paleness.
- Guru Clef? - she looked at him with concern - Are you alright?
- Seijyuu! - he exclaimed, and right before their eyes an enormous flying fish appeared. The magician caressed its back - Go soon, Fiura, go get them.
The creature transformed immediately into a small brilliant sphere that left flying out of the window, at such speed that it would be difficult to determine if it left or simply vanished in the air. All this happened in front of Presea's astonished eyes. She didn't remember any occasion for Guru Clef to made use of Fiura. Except...
- Guru Clef... could it be... the Magic Knights...?
- Yes, Presea. They are back.
ºººººººººº
Lantis opened his eyes in amazement. He had closed them while he let the breeze coming out of nowhere caress his face softly, carrying an unknown perfume. And being this way, with his eyes closed, he had seen HER... like in a dream, watching him from a metallic-like construction, with moistened eyes and a jewel in her hands, the locket he had given her, the one that once had belonged to his mother. Yes, it was she; he could not be wrong about this. Perhaps more grown, more like a woman, definitively more beautiful than ever, but he would have not hesitated even if he would have spotted her among millions of similar girls. It was SHE, and she had called him out, she had screamed HIS name. What a gorgeous vision! But... could it be a deceit all made by his inflamed mind? Would it be he was already crazy from thinking about her, from drawing her in his imagination? Or perhaps it was just...?
He looked around one more time. Everything was the same as before, and however, something had changed. Something in the air, or the illumination, or maybe in the flowers' aroma. And suddenly, he knew it. The revelation hit him like a warm sensation flowing all over his body, the same way that breeze saturated of a sweet and mysterious perfume had done moments ago. Nature glowed, more brilliant and more beautiful than before, because the entire Cefiro was happy with the return of the last person who had been bestowed with the power of the crown. Lantis held his breath, not daring to give credit to his own senses that announced him the reappearance of a well-known aura. After five long years... the Pillar's aura showed up again.
- Seijyuu!
With a loud scream and a movement of his sword, appeared in his hands by magic, Lantis made his horse come from the dimension in which it inhabited. He mounted agilely and spurred the steed impatiently, so that it raced towards its destiny. If the swordsman had been able to perceive that presence, which was excessively strong, then it was logical that Guru Clef was also able to notice it. If there were any " visitors ", Cefiro's most powerful magician should have been already taken care of giving them an appropriate greeting. So, there was only a place to where he could go in search for answers. The same place he had hated to go before for all the memories kept within it: the castle.
The mount was speedy as a gale, but not enough to please the desperation that had taken possession of its horseman. If what he felt was certain, then his desire had been fulfilled. With the wind whipping his face roughly, Lantis still doubted on his good fortune. But he keep inciting the horse, making it practically fly, while his lips murmured over and over again, like an incantation, the Pillar's name:
- Hikaru...
To be continued...
Next chapter: Rivalry