I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP.

Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I think this update should make up for it. I was just going to post the next scene, but the third scene is so short that I decided to tack it on, too. So, here you are. In the meantime, I'll be working on proofing the next section, and celebrating my finals being over. Whoohoo!

Happy reading!


Scars

by Maelstra

Scene 2: The Palace of Cephiro

Fuu, Umi, and Hikaru appeared in Cephiro right when they were expected. By now, they had the knack for visualizing where they wanted to appear – no more materializing high up in the sky, miles above land! They had chosen to go right to the throne room in the crystalline castle at the heart of the magical land.

Prince Ferio, wearing his elegant white robes as usual, was busying himself with some reports of the villages. As soon as he noticed Fuu, his face lit up, and he tossed the reports aside. "How are you?" he asked gently, immediately going over to the blond girl.

"We've all been quite well, Ferio," Fuu answered, smiling and blushing faintly.

"Are you the only one here today, Ferio?" Hikaru asked while stretching her arms behind her head.

"No . . . hm. Clef was here just a minute ago." He glanced around the room, then shrugged and put back on a smile. "He'll be back. So, why are you all wearing your uniforms again?"

"Oh, we had school today." Umi flipped her long, blue hair back over her shoulders. "We decided we wanted to come straight to Cephiro instead of changing clothes first."

"How's Eagle doing?" Hikaru piped up. Whenever she visited, if this was not her first question, then it was usually her second.

Ferio patted her shoulder reassuringly. "He's doing extremely well. Clef thinks he should wake up very soon."

"Today?" The girls all looked excited.

"Maybe. But at any rate, you ought to go and tell him 'hi.' I think he'll be quite curious to hear what you've been up to."

"Not much," Umi said. "After all, hasn't it just been a week since we last came?"

"Has it?" Ferio straightened up and raised his eyebrows. "Hm. It seems that Clef was right that the time between our worlds has still not totally synchronized. At present, it seems time is running much faster here. It's actually been almost two months since your last visit."

"What? Really?" Hikaru scratched her head. "So, does that mean we can stay twice as long before anyone at home notices?"

Ferio scratched his head as well. "Um . . . I think you'd better ask Clef on that one. You wouldn't want to guess wrong and then make your families worry."

"Of course," Fuu nodded. "The magic here makes Cephiro marvelous . . . but a bit confusing."

"Heh. Yeah – I sometimes find it a bit confusing myself." Ferio smiled, once again directing his full attention on Fuu.

She did not seem to mind. "So, Prince Ferio – what have you been doing for the past few months?"

"Nothing very interesting," he drawled, waving a hand at his invisible problems. "I've been trying to do what you and Clef suggested – get the villages to mostly govern themselves. The people are so used to relying on a pillar, though, that they are having a hard time adapting." Ferio shook his head. "Everyday, I get at least a dozen people coming to me and complaining because they can't figure out what it is I want them to do."

"Oh my. Do you have to handle all the complaints yourself?"

"Most of them. Like I said, it's just because they aren't sure what to do without a pillar, so they look to me as being the most likely person to be in charge."

"Why don't they talk to Clef or Lafarga . . . or even Lantis?" Umi interrupted.

"We're getting there . . ." Ferio chuckled. "But, unfortunately, those three are also very busy all the time, too. In fact, both Lafarga and Lantis are away at the moment, visiting the other nearby worlds. Lafarga and Ascot left just this morning to go visit the Autozamian capitol."

"Oh!" Hikaru's face brightened. "So, are you working on helping Autozam cure their environmental problems?"

"We're still taking the first steps . . . In spite of all Geo's help, we've had a hard time coming to an agreement with their government about what to do. Most of the Autozamians want our help badly, but apparently a few vocal people are worried that Cephiro will try to reciprocate for Autozam's attempted invasion."

"Cephiro would never do that!" Fuu protested, upset. "Why can't they see that all Cephiro wants is peace?"

"Oh, don't worry." Ferio tried to disarm their fears. "They'll figure it out soon enough. Some people are just a little too paranoid for their own good."

Fuu noticed a trace of an emotion flicker through Ferio's eyes at his last statement. "Is something the matter, Ferio?"

"Hm?" His face was instantly set, looking calm and careless.

A little too carefully set. "Prince Ferio . . . you seem to be worried about something," Fuu said slowly and deliberately.

"I – no . . . I guess I'm still thinking about a . . . recent incident. It's nothing though – we already got things all resolved, and no real damage was done . . ."

"Can't we help you with any-?"

"No. It's fine. It's nothing you lovely ladies should have to concern yourselves with." At the last, he gave a particularly meaningful glance to Fuu, trying to distract her.

Fuu was not convinced, but Hikaru was. "Well, so can we go see Eagle now?"

"Of course. I have something else I need to discuss with Clef, so you all should go ahead." Ferio waved as he started walking off to look for the young-looking mage. "I'll at least see you again by dinner." Then, he was immediately out of sight.

"Goodness – he's certainly busy now," Umi commented. "No time to roam about in forests anymore."

"I imagine that there's less need for patrolling the forests, now that most of the monsters are gone . . ." Fuu bit her lip.

Umi poked her. "Come on, stop worrying so much. If Ferio says he's fine, he's fine. He's just worrying about the Cephiran people, and trying to take as good care of them as his sister did. It's nothing he can't handle."

"Okay." Fuu made an effort to push aside her concerns and smile for the benefit of her two friends. "Shall we go see Eagle-san?"


Ah, Hikaru – it's so good to hear you again. It's been a while. Eagle was still unconscious and confined to his bed, but the magic Clef had woven over him let him hear what was said to him, and also let him respond by telepathy.

Hikaru found this kind of communication fascinating, but confusing. She had once asked Clef why all Cephirans didn't talk this way, since their magic seemed to allow it – but Clef had told her that only Autozamians had the right kind of gift to transmit their mental energy so that others could hear them. While Hikaru still wondered why this was the case, she had decided that she would at least be happy that Eagle could hear her, and she him, even though she did not exactly understand why it worked.

Meanwhile, Umi took it upon herself to explain the time passage. ". . . and so it seems like it was longer to you guys than it was to us."

That's interesting. Didn't you say that your first two visits to Cephiro seemed to take no time at all in your world?

"Yes, Eagle-san. But now, the flow of time between our two worlds seems to be moving towards perfect synchronization."

I suppose that the results of the pillar test and Mokuba's decision must be having an effect on all the existing worlds. Eagle frowned ever so faintly in his sleep. I wonder what effect this is all having on Autozam.

"Well – Ferio said they've sent people to Autozam to look at their problem," Hikaru piped up.

Yes – I was told that Lafarga and Ascot were going. I was just wondering . . . well, maybe there is no reason that the time between Cephiro and Autozam would change. It seems to be synchronized right now, anyway, as far as I know . . .

Fuu stared down at the sleeping blond for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Finally, she asked, "Eagle-san, does Ferio ever talk to you about the problems of Cephiro?"

Ferio and the others do occasionally tell me of current events – more to keep me from getting bored than because those things have any influence on me. He paused briefly. Actually, is there a reason you ask that? This morning, I thought I sensed a major disturbance in the castle . . . but no one has said a word about it to me. I may have been mistaken.

"I thought there was something he wasn't telling us." Fuu felt vindicated. "Why is he trying to protect us? We helped fight for Cephiro's safety after all . . ."

Eagle laughed, telepathically. Fuu, I can think of at least one very good reason why Ferio would want to protect you.

She blushed immediately. "But still – if there's anything I can do, I want to help him!"

All in the room were silent for a moment; even Eagle seemed to be thinking – or perhaps just resting. The silence stretched on so long that finally Umi glanced at her companions and they started to leave quietly. Just before they made it to the door, Eagle telepathically commented, The disturbing presence – I think it's still here. It was in the throne room this morning, but now I can sense it flickering around the basements.

"Hey, great! We can go take a look ourselves and find out what's going on," Umi approved.

Hikaru considered this. "Yeah, we should go. Maybe Ferio didn't mention it because he thought it went away – but if it's still here, we Magic Knights should definitely go check it out!"

"Yes." Fuu nodded. "Thank you, Eagle-san."

It's moving faster now, so perhaps you should hurry.

"Right. Thanks, Eagle!" Hikaru led the charge out the door.

Eagle's last message was so strong they could hear it even in the hall. Be careful!


Scene 3: Back on Autozam

Bad, bad smells. Smoke mostly, that choked and scratched. And something soft – the soft thing smelled nicer. It smelled alive, like forests, and a little like cinnamon.

Finally Ascot opened his eyes, and all he could see was dark fur – but after a moment, he recognized the fur. "Mimi?" he croaked, his raw throat protesting speech.

Mimi growled comfortingly.

Ascot sighed and hugged her tighter. "Thank you. I didn't know what – without you, I –"

Mimi rumbled again, then asked Ascot what he was doing in such a wretched place anyway.

"I . . . and Lafarga, we came here . . . to talk to the people." Ascot leaned back from Mimi to view his surroundings. They were sitting on a block of cracked, blackened concrete. Up above, all he could see were the stalks of buildings disappearing up into smog. "I've got to get back to Lafarga," he groaned. Reluctantly, he climbed out of Mimi's lap and stood up. He felt fine, and so had probably only fainted while falling – luckily Mimi had caught him before he suffered any serious injury. He looked up again and tried to imagine how high the tops of the buildings were. Then he considering sneaking into elevators and running around again. I'm too tired for any more of this. But even as bad as this air is, I think Mimi's a strong enough flier . . .

Mimi grunted interrogatively.

Ascot sighed. "Mimi, I need to get back to the top again. Can you fly me?"

Mimi grunted, offended at the notion that she might not be able to carry her little master up a few thousand feet. She growled to ask Ascot if he were up to the task.

"I think I'll be alright. I know a spell to help with sudden altitude gain . . ."

Mimi snorted derisively. She didn't need any magic to help her fly. Then, without further conversation, she grabbed the skinny boy in two paws and leapt up to take off.

Once Ascot caught his breath, he started chanting the words to the spell. It was actually meant for diving, but Ascot assumed it could work for the other direction as well. As soon as he got the spell in place, his ears popped painfully, but then everything seemed to be stable.

Mimi continued pumping her wings, and soon the ground was completely invisible in the heavy smog.

Ascot tried to cover his face in his sleeve. As bad as the low-level smog had been, the middle level was even worse. How do the Autozamians ever survive breathing air like this?! Then Ascot realized that they probably didn't breathe this air – the whole time he had been here, most of the people he'd seen were inside the buildings. And all those who were outside wore a scarf or something over their faces. This situation really is terrible. They need help. But how can Cephiro help them if they won't let us?!

Mimi suddenly veered for a mid-level balcony and landed. She coughed violently, her whole body shaking and her hands convulsively clenching Ascot tighter.

"Are you okay?" he tried to yell, but his sleeve muffled his voice. Hesitantly, he uncovered his face and tried his question again.

In response, Mimi only grumbled, then jumped and started flying again.

Ascot re-covered his face and clung tightly to Mimi's hairy torso. She seemed to be putting all her strength into flying as fast as she could manage. Ascot sighed, feeling useless. Clef had taught him a number of useful spells, but none of them could help a person breathe freely in a toxic atmosphere. As the moments passed, then air changed from a murky brown to almost clear with a faint orange cast. Then Mimi landed again.

"Maybe you'd better rest a moment," Ascot said, carefully stroking Mimi's arm. The more he watched her gasp for breath, though, the more worried he became. "Actually, Mimi, maybe you'd better go home."

Mimi raised up in indignation, insulted that her master was implying that she was too tired. She growled a protest.

"We're most of the way there, Mimi. Look – I think I see the platform I need. It's just a few more levels up." Ascot actually was pretty sure that the lit platform he pointed to was the correct one. If he squinted, he thought he could see the remaining stump from the bridge his pursuers had destroyed. "I have a better chance of making it there if I sneak up by myself, anyway."

Mimi was not convinced. She rumbled and asked Ascot how he intended to deal with the armed, Autozamian psychopaths if they came back.

"They saw me fall . . . I'm pretty sure they at least wouldn't expect me to come back so soon."

Utterly a sarcastic croon, Mimi shook her head and crossed her arms firmly. Then, she was suddenly wracked by more deep coughing.

Ascot made a quick decision. "You have to go home. Don't worry about me – I'll be just fine." Before he finished talking, he started weaving the spell. The circle of summoning appeared beneath Mimi's feet.

Mimi wailed in protest, but she had been caught off guard. The spell swallowed her up and sent her immediately back to Cephiro.

For a moment, Ascot stared at the spot where Mimi had been. Already he felt lonelier and more overwhelmed at the thought of proceeding alone. I had no choice. She wasn't thinking of her own health at all . . . Ascot found the sole doorway on the balcony, pressed a switch to make it slide open, and quickly stepped inside.