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

I got through proofing this one so quickly that I decided to put it up early. So now, the action's finally starting to pick up. Yay!

I'm tired, so I have nothing more clever to say for now. Good night!


Scars

by Maelstra

Scene 4: The Basement of Cephiro

"I think it must have already left," Umi declared as she sank onto an old sofa with an exhausted sigh.

"We don't know exactly what we're looking for, Umi-san. Any number of things could easily be hiding amongst all this clutter." Fuu gestured at the hodgepodge of objects that littered this particular basement chamber. They had found books, desks, tables, pianos, life-size elephant sculptures, soap boxes, and a three-necked cello – all just clustered right around the door.

"Fuu's right. They could be hiding a whole Mashin in here!" Hikaru stretched and yawned. "But, as long as it didn't move, we'd never ever notice it!"

"Maybe we should try asking Ferio again," Fuu admitted, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, since it might not be anything worth worrying about . . . anyway . . . ?" Umi trailed off.

The other two girls were instantly alert as well. "I sense a presence," Hikaru whispered, puzzled. Fuu nodded in agreement.

Umi looked around the chaotic room, but could see no one besides themselves. Quickly, she grew frustrated. "Hey, whoever you are! Show yourself!"

Fuu frowned. "Umi, that's not very polite . . ."

"Aah!" Hikaru pointed.

The girls stared at the figure walking towards them, unable to explain why they had not seen her before. She looked very close to their own age, and even wore a school uniform as well. Her purple hair was twisted up into two elegant loops behind her ears, and her whole appearance was rather becoming – except for her face. Her eyes were cold, and her mouth was sloped permanently downward. She walked until she was only two armspans away from the girls, and then she suddenly stopped and regarded them critically.

"Um, hi. I'm Hikaru. What are you doing here?" Hikaru took several steps forward and extended her hand in greeting.

The violet-haired girl only glowered back. Hikaru was so surprised by this reaction she froze and let her hand fall back down to her side.

Finally, the stranger spoke. "What are you doing in Cephiro?"

"What do you mean, what are we doing here?" Umi was offended at the girl's attitude. "We have friends here! We have as much a right to be here as you do!"

The girl looked as though this response puzzled her, then her eyes turned angry. "You should leave. You Earth people don't belong here."

"What . . . ?" Hikaru scratched her head. "But aren't you from Earth, too? No one on Cephiro seems to dress like that . . . If we're not supposed to be here, then what are you doing here?"

The mysterious girl turned and started walking away. She said something more, but too softly for the other girls to hear.

"Wait!" Hikaru chased after the girl, following her between an aisle of tall furniture. Umi and Fuu shook themselves out of their surprise and followed. Hikaru abruptly skidded to a stop, and Fuu and Umi ran into her.

"Ouch! Hikaru, what are you doing?" Umi moaned, rubbing her arm.

"But the . . . it's a dead end."

Umi and Fuu peered around Hikaru and verified that the aisle did indeed suddenly end in a high wall of boxes. Umi scowled. "So then, where did that weird girl go?"

"Magic . . ." Fuu muttered. She slowly tilted her head to look up at the ceiling. "In Cephiro, if one had a sufficiently strong will, couldn't one change one's locations in an instant?"

"Huh? I don't think I'm following you, Fuu," Umi said.

"It's just . . . I can't sense her presence anymore. It's like she didn't just hide – instead, she actually left the basements entirely."

"But, we can't usually 'sense' people like that . . . can we?" Hikaru asked. "I mean . . . I felt something when she appeared. But that's not normal, right?"

"I've never felt anything like that before," Fuu agreed. "So it implies that she is somehow unlike normal people."

"I wonder though . . . why would we have such a connection to her?" Umi mused.

Hikaru perked up. "Maybe it's because we're from the same world? We've never met another human here before, after all."

"You have a good point," Fuu nodded.

Umi interrupted suddenly, "So, wait gals. Is she the disturbance from this morning that was worrying Ferio?"

Hikaru slowly started walking back out of the aisle. "She didn't seem like a threat. I wonder why Ferio would worry."

"She needs an attitude adjustment," Umi sniffed. "Who's she to say who belongs in Cephiro and who doesn't?"

"Yeah . . ." Hikaru said to herself. She led the way toward the exit, but then froze suddenly. "Hey . . . did you feel that?"

"Feel . . . what?" Umi asked.

"I . . . thought I felt something, Hikaru-san. Like a sudden chill. But maybe – no! She's back, upstairs."

"You're right." Umi stiffened.

They ran upstairs again. The palace of Cephiro had many flights of stairs, and only one central elevator which didn't even cover all the floors. The three girls raced up the spiraling, marble steps as fast as they could, although Umi stumbled and almost fell at one point. Hikaru, the fastest, took the lead, and as she reached the landing of the uppermost basement, instead of heading for the elevator beside the stairwell, she ran down the long, pale hall toward one of the audience chambers.

"Where are you going?" Umi yelled, skidding to a puzzled stop.

Fuu froze a moment as well. "Umi – Hikaru-san's right!" Fuu broke into a run after the red-haired girl. After a moment, Umi collected herself and started running again.

Hikaru burst through the tall, double doors, with Umi and Fuu right behind her. Surprise gripped them as soon as they entered the room. The purple-haired girl was indeed here. As was Ferio. The prince carried his large, curved sword that the magic knights had seen him carry when they had first met him, and he currently held it before himself defensively. Ferio was a strong warrior in his own right, but he was currently breathing heavily, and several large areas of his white robes were stained red from his own blood.

The purple-haired stranger seemed untouched. She had a long, slender sword – so very similar to Hikaru's personal blade – and as the magic knights watched in shock, she charged Ferio again.

Her strike was lightning fast, but Ferio parried it – barely. She immediately countered with a slash at his head, then his feet, then his sword arm. Ferio jumped back and reflexively clutched his arm. Apparently the injury was not bad, because after only a short pause he charged forward and tried to catch the girl with a quick strike.

She dodged, easily. Ferio's attacks looked swift and graceful when he was dealing with monsters, but this stranger's speed and agility made the prince's every move look clumsy. The girl ducked, dodged, spun, and then struck, cutting Ferio across the chest. His sword slipped out of his fingers as he staggered backwards.

For all the action, only seconds had passed since the magic knights opened the door. "We have to do something!" Fuu gasped, her face turning white. Without thinking, she charged forward, and Hikaru and Umi flanked her. Every time the magic knights returned to their own world, their magical gifts from Cephiro were left behind. When they had returned to save Cephiro during the battle for the pillarship, Clef had reawakened the gifts, but he had not any of the subsequent times they had returned to visit Cephiro.

Fully aware that she could stand no chance in this battle without armor and without a weapon, Fuu nevertheless tried to cling to one hope. With all her heart, she willed her hidden magic to return to her – the magic that Clef had woken for her twice, but she did not know how to wake on her own. "Wind . . ." Fuu faltered, not sure what to summon – and still even doubting that she could summon anything. She closed her eyes and tried to block out doubts; Ferio needed her. "Wind . . . Collision!" As silly as it sounded, the desperate spell worked. Fuu opened her eyes and watched the stranger be thrown backwards into the far wall by the magical gust.

"Fuu . . ." Ferio whispered, only then noticing her presence. "G-get out. It's too dangerous for you . . ."

"No!" Fuu whispered back, hurried to his side and trying to steady him. "I can't just leave you like this."

"Why are you doing this?!" Hikaru yelled at the purple girl. "Why do you want to hurt Ferio?!"

The strange girl got back on her feet quickly. She shook herself, and then gripped her sword before her in an attack grip. "He is prince of Cephiro. That is reason enough." Then, her sword began to glow an unhealthy red-violet. "Explosion Lightning!" Then, she released her spell. Its name quite accurately described the attack.

Hikaru regained consciousness first and quickly staggered back to her feet. She saw that Umi and Fuu were still out, and that meanwhile the purple-haired girl had crossed the room and now stood with her sword held above the unconscious prince's head. "No!" Hikaru summoned all the energy she could find, and charged and tackled the girl. "Don't you dare!"

They tumbled, the girl's sword clattering away in the struggle, and finally the stranger ended up pinned under Hikaru. The girl growled, and with a burst of inhuman strength threw Hikaru off. Hikaru broke her fall by landing in a roll and then sprang back to her feet. The stranger tried to lunge for her sword, but Hikaru blocked her, kicking her back.

The girl scowled and tried again, but Hikaru blocked her every effort, kicking or punching as fast as she could move. Finally Umi and Fuu also regained consciousness, and when they saw what was going on, they rushed to Hikaru's side and stood at ready.

At last, the girl grew frustrated. "Why do you defend him?"

"His sister, Princess Emeraude, summoned us here as Magic Knights. After we . . . fulfilled Emeraude's wishes, we wanted to come back to this world, to be with our friends," Hikaru explained.

Umi joined in. "Prince Ferio helped us before, and he is one of our good friends. We absolutely won't let anyone get away with hurting him, or any of our other friends."

"Please, why are you doing this? There's been enough pain and suffering in Cephiro already," Fuu pled.

The strange girl stared. "You're . . . you're all serious. I . . . I . . ."

Hikaru tried to approach the girl in truce again. "Please tell us your name. We want there to be peace and happiness for all the people in Cephiro."

Just as before, the girl backed away. "I don't understand you people!" she growled, angry. She spun around and started stomping away. Midstep, she started turning translucent – then after two more paces, she had completely disappeared.

"Wha–? What the –?" Umi sputtered.

Hikaru cocked her head in confusion. "I can't sense her anymore. I guess she's gone again."

"Ferio? Ferio! Are you alright?" Fuu was much more concerned with the prince than the strange girl. Though she shook his shoulder, he did not stir. His breathing had gotten weaker, and his face was very pale.

"Can you heal him?" Umi asked.

"I . . . I don't know. I know I've cast the healing spell many times before . . . but it's like I can't remember the words." Fuu nevertheless closed her eyes to try anyway. Light shimmered around her hands for a moment, but much too soon flickered away. "I . . . can't do it. I need Clef to help me reawaken the spells . . ."

"Hey, that's a good idea!" Hikaru perked up. "Let's call Clef! If we all focus our will at the same time, it should work."

The girls agreed to try, and all clasped hands together. Almost as soon as they started, Clef burst through the door. "Magic Knights, what's the matter? I thought I sensed your –"

Fuu uncharacteristically interrupted the diminutive mage. "Please, Guru Clef! You have to help Ferio! I can't remember how to use my healing magic . . ."

Clef's eyes widened as he noticed the state of the prince. Without further question, he ran to Ferio's side and started muttering healing spells.

"What happened here?" Lafarga asked as he entered the room after Clef, his face plainly reflecting his shock.

Umi attempted to explain concisely, "There was this crazy girl who appeared out of nowhere, and she started attacking Ferio but wouldn't say why. Then, when we attacked her, she just got scared and ran away."

"I don't think she left because she was scared of us," Fuu corrected quietly, still not taking her eyes off of Ferio.

"Anyway," Umi huffed, "We don't know what she was doing because she'd hardly say a word to us. She wouldn't even tell us her name."

"But how could she penetrate the defenses of the castle?" Lafarga wondered, very concerned. "Wouldn't the guards have seen her come in?"

"She can disappear and reappear anywhere she wants," Hikaru told him. "We saw her, just now – she just melted away into thin air."

Clef paused in his ministrations of the prince. "She disappeared? That's very disturbing . . ."

Silence took the place of the conversation. Clef went back to healing Ferio, who by now looked a better color, but was still breathing weakly.

Umi finally broke the awkward silence by turning to Lafarga. "So, when did you get back from Autozam?"

"Just a moment ago. I was explaining the outcome to Clef when he suddenly sensed your call."

"Huh. What lucky timing. So . . . where's Ascot?"

Lafarga hesitated, his expression turning even more serious. "Umi, we . . . ran into some . . . difficulties on our trip . . ."