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

Optional author monologue:

I'm so sorry I didn't finish the last two chapters by today like I planned. I read two books on Friday instead of writing. "Hidden Talents" and "True Talents." They were good books, by the way.

On the other hand, this chapter is twice as long as some of the others have been – so it's almost like two chapters by itself. And also, the final chapter will be all the better for me taking an extra couple of days to work on it. It needs the extra work anyway, since I wrote this whole story (up to this chapter) last summer, but I only finally started putting the last chapter to paper this week. I think it's pretty funny that I forgot to write the last scene in the first place – but I think what happened was that I was trying to finish this story before NaNoWriMo started, but I didn't quite make it. And then, I was so preoccupied with that story until January that Scars just slipped my mind. At least I was smart enough to make some notes so that I could remember what I intended to do.

End of optional author monologue.

And so, the final scene will appear sometime early next week, classes and brain power permitting. Until then, I hope you enjoy this scene.


Scars

by Maelstra

Scene 9: Autozam's Invasion of Cephiro

Ferio released a long, prolonged sigh of relief. "Man, I am so glad I had you girls here to figure that out."

Clef smirked proudly. "Well, isn't it the job of the Magic Knights to defend the peace of Cephiro? We are indeed very lucky to have such brave, strong-willed Magic Knights to aid us in all our troubles."

Umi and Fuu blushed at the compliment. Hikaru just stretched out her arms, then made her sword and armor melt away while commenting, "I'm just happy we could help Aki. From the start, she seemed so sad – but she let her sorrow turn into anger, and it got out of control."

"Yes . . ." The smile slipped from Clef's face. "Unfortunately, speaking of things getting out of control – I contacted Autozam, but I was told that Geo Metro was under arrest – under suspicion of being a traitor."

"What? But all Geo's done is pass along news for Eagle!" Umi protested.

"You're right, but apparently they decided that he has had too much contact with Cephiro, and that his loyalty is now suspect."

"But Guru Clef, that makes no sense!" Fuu shook her head.

"I know . . . but there's nothing I can do from here. They won't let me talk to President Vision or any of the other leaders." Clef sighed and massaged the back of his head. "We may have no choice but to face the invasion as best we can. I managed to contact Lantis on Chizeta, and he should already be on his way back." Clef summoned a ball of magic in one palm, and after swirling in a mass of rainbow, it resolved itself into a miniature of Cephiro. A faint purple spark flickered high in the sky. As everyone watched, it gradually moved closer to the surface of Cephiro. "The first Autozamian Mashin of the invasion fleet is nearly here," Clef explained. "Magic Knights, do you wish to join our forces that will go meet it?"

"Of course," Hikaru answered instantly. "Maybe it's just a scout ship, and we can use the chance to talk to them and get them to call off the invasion."

"You're always so optimistic, Hikaru," Umi said with a sigh while ruffling the red head's hair.

"I'm coming too, Clef," Ferio declared. "Now that the ghost has been dealt with, there's no reason for me to stay cooped up in here."

"Of course – I would not try to stop you, Prince. However . . . may I suggest you find some better armor than your nightclothes?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ferio casually shooed everyone out of his room. "I'll meet you outside on the plains."

Almost as quickly as the girls made it outside, Ferio caught up to them, fully dressed in his princely robes, and carrying his sword and a shield that the girls had never seen him use. "Where is it?" he asked Clef without preamble.

"There." Clef pointed to a dark shape in the sky. "It's coming down quickly. You four go ahead – I need to warn everyone in the castle and nearby to either take cover or prepare to fight."

"Right." Ferio took the lead and the three Magic Knights trailed after him.

"Are you fully recovered now, Ferio?" Fuu asked quietly after she managed to catch up to the prince's stride.

"Eh . . . well enough, I hope. Don't worry about me – I'm just fine against things that I can actually hit."

"But their Mashin – what if they attack Cephiro from the sky?"

"Well . . . that would be harder," Ferio admitted. He slowed his pace and looked up into the sky. "But this Mashin looks more like it's trying to land than attack."

"We ought to stop here so it doesn't come down on top of us," Umi suggested tensely.

The crest of the hill where they stood seemed safe enough, so the others conceded. The Mashin was only a few hundred feet up by then, and it started slowing its descent drastically. Clef ran up then, followed by Lafarga and a handful of palace guards.

The ship suddenly froze awkwardly in midair before, then dropped fifty feet in free fall. It slowed its descent again and drifted down closer to the ground – but then, while it was still at least seventy feet up, it suddenly dropped like a boulder and crashed into the plains. The giant robot landed flat on its feet, but the legs buckled, and the whole robot fell over onto its side with a resounding crash.

"Ah – Clef, did you do something to it?" Hikaru asked worriedly.

"No, I didn't do anything. Maybe it was damaged in the flight?"

"Actually, it just looks like the pilot has never tried landing a robot on real terrain before."

Hikaru recognized the voice instantly, but could not place it until she turned around. "Eagle?! You're awake?!" She dove and grabbed him in a bear hug around his waist.

"Yes . . . It's funny, but I was just lying there, growing more and more agitated because there was nothing I could do to help. Finally, I heard Clef's call to the castle for everyone to prepare for the invasion . . . and something just snapped." The white-haired man chuckled. "Since Cephiro is a place of will, I probably just wanted to wake up so badly that I finally did."

"Do you feel alright?" Hikaru interrogated him. "Do you feel any tiredness at all?"

"I feel a little groggy – but I'd expect that much after sleeping for months. Anyway – shouldn't we go investigate our new guest?" Eagle asked with a significant nod in the direction of the downed, purple robot.

They rushed over, and the Magic Knights summoned out their armor and magic swords as insurance. Ferio also cocked his blade at ready. The hatch to the cockpit started opening, but from the angle, it hit the ground and jammed. Lafarga grunted, went forward and yanked it all the way open.

"Ascot?" Lafarga stepped back in surprise.

"It burns," Ascot whimpered, looking at Lafarga with wild eyes. "Get it off – help me!" He lay sideways, awkwardly, in the pilot seat, tugged desperately at the control headband. His struggles had snapped several of the connecting wires, yet the whole contraption had somehow become tangled in his longish hair. "Please?" he begged weakly.

Lafarga went forward and quickly removed the headband, along with many strands of Ascot's brown hair. Ascot gratefully leapt out of the seat and collapsed on the hard ground in a limp sprawl. His robes were singed and sweaty, and he gasped for breath like he had been running a marathon. All the while, he kept clutching both hands tightly against his forehead.

Fuu sent her sword away, though she still kept her armor for the moment. "Are you injured? Let me see." She gently tried to coax Ascot to sit upright and to remove his arms from shielding his head.

"It hurts . . . I could barely see . . . It didn't hurt at all at first," he sobbed, finally dropping his hands to his sides, out of the way.

Fuu pushed Ascot's bangs from his eyes for a closer look, then gasped sharply. "Oh my goodness – it's burned!" She prepped herself for a magic spell. "Hold still, Ascot. Healing Winds!" Her emeraldine magic wrapped around the boy, and briefly swallowed him completely in its light. Then, the magic faded, leaving him apparently the same as before. Fuu pushed back Ascot's bangs with both hands, stared at his forehead, and frowned. "It didn't work. I can't understand why . . ."

"Let me see?" Eagle carefully made his way closer and studied Ascot's forehead with a critical eye. "Those marks – they look like old burn scars."

"Scars? What – but I don't . . ."

"Yeah . . ." Eagle trailed off, apparently talking to only himself. He stood to reach into the giant robot's cockpit and withdrew the control headband, tsking as he saw the broken wires hanging forlornly from the edges. With flick of his wrist, he unplugged the surviving wires, then crouched down and held the band up near Ascot.

Ascot reflexively leaned away, but Eagle seemed oblivious to the boy's discomfort. The blond man studied the inside of the headband, and simultaneously pushed back Ascot's bangs to glance at his forehead. "Ha – I was right. The wiring patterns don't match, so it couldn't have been this particular headband that burned you."

Umi frowned. "So, where are the burns from?"

"How long have you had those scars?" Hikaru asked, finally joining the conversation.

"I don't know!" Ascot sighed. "I didn't even know they were there!"

"How can you not know something like that?" Umi wanted to know.

"I know!" Hikaru declared. "His bangs are so long that when he looks in the mirror, he can't see his forehead anyway!"

Ascot sighed. "Really, I remember nothing about it . . ."

"Interesting." Eagle sat down on a convenient stone and set both hands atop his knee. "So, when have you had a chance to fly before?"

"What?" Ascot was so stunned by the question, he stared at Eagle speechlessly for a moment. "W-what do you mean? I've never touched one of those things before in my life!" He glanced back at the purple monstrosity that still rested where he had crashed it. "And, I never want to again, either!"

Now Eagle looked surprised. "But that can't be possible – I saw how well you flew. It took Lantis several months to master even a simple, personal hovercar."

"But – well . . . maybe Lantis was just bad at it."

Hikaru interrupted, "You shouldn't talk that way about Lantis when he isn't around to defend himself."

Ascot shook his head and finished explaining. "Anyway, it didn't seem any harder than making rocks and other little things fly. I was using my magic to do that for years."

Clef glanced up at the sky, and everybody else followed his lead. They could still not see anything beyond the thin clouds and blue sky, but their anxiety made them start imagining they saw moving specks if they stared too long. Clef shortly returned his attention to the group. "The rest of the Autozamian fleet will arrive here in minutes. Eagle – I've already tried calling your father, but I've had no luck. Do you think you could contact this fleet and persuade them to return to Autozam peacefully?"

"Well – just a minute," Eagle hastily dismissed Clef, much to the Guru's (and everyone else's) surprise. Then Eagle bit on his lip and looked at Ascot extremely seriously. "I think I recognize the pattern of those burn marks – they're from an experimental, high-energy band that was recently banned because of dangerous side effects. Can you remember anything that would explain why you have those burns on your forehead?"

Ascot blinked, several times more than necessary as he tried to collect his thoughts. He had a strange image pass through his mind of a searing-hot headband welded to his head – but he could make no sense of it and swiftly dismissed it. "No. I-I really don't know."

"Hm. Well then . . ." Eagle tapped a finger to the side of his chin thoughtfully, still staring straight into Ascot's eyes. Suddenly, he asked, "How old are you?"

"What?" Ascot scraped his knuckles against a rock as he jerked back in surprise. "Well . . ." Does he think this will somehow help me figure out how I got burned? "I really don't know. Everyone on Cephiro just appears as the age they want to be. I mean . . . I myself stayed as a little kid for years – until Umi finally helped my heart to mature." Ascot glanced shyly up at said blue-haired girl, and she gave him a slight grin in return.

Eagle looked a bit puzzled. He then shrugged. "This is a very mysterious world, indeed. But then, why not? In that case . . . what is the earliest thing you remember?"

Ascot pursed his lips and sincerely tried to remember. So much of his past before he had met the Magic Knights had become blurred. He had asked some others, and they had indicated that it was just a normal part of growing up, to have childhood become more indistinct. Perhaps it was not normal for so many memories to grow faint all at once. He had never worried about it before. But now, I need to remember. Before the Magic Knights, before Zagato, what was I doing . . . ? He focused with all his might, starting with the day he met Umi, and working backwards from there. Slowly, images and memory fragments came back to him. "I remember the day I met Caldina. She found me living with monsters, and she said she thought I needed to hang around more humans. So, she led me to the nearest village, where the local Palu taught me summoning magic . . ."

"Hm . . . so you don't remember your parents or family at all?" Eagle pried.

Ascot shook his head. He'd never really thought about it before, but for some reason, the way Eagle said it made him feel a bit sorry for himself. The feeling was strange, and Ascot suddenly wanted to change the subject. "Hold on – I'd like to ask you a question now: why did that scary old guy attack us as soon as we arrived on Autozam?"

Eagle shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. Can you explain exactly what happened?"

Lafarga took over, giving an extremely concise description. He ended with, "And that head officer took one look at us and declared that we were now enemies."

"I see . . . that makes perfect sense now . . ." Eagle stared off into space, drawing in the air to form diagrams only he could discern – but he suddenly looked very, very pleased.

Ascot frowned deeply, disturbed that Eagle should be so happy about what he and Lafarga had gone through. "Right . . . so, um . . . maybe you should try to call the fleet now?"

Clef nudged Eagle in the shoulder meaningfully. Eagle glanced up briefly and nodded in acknowledgment, then finally stood. He offered Ascot a hand, still grinning inanely, and helped the boy to shakily get to his feet. "So then . . . what was your name again?"

"A-It's Ascot."

"A-scot?"

"Yeah . . . I think it's the name Caldina called me," he admitted, rubbing his fingers through the hair on his neck. "When I lived with the monsters, I think they called me . . . something else. I can't remember anymore."

"Uh-huh. Might the name have been 'Scotian'?"

"Uh . . ." Ascot glanced by reflex at Lafarga, who shrugged in indifference. Then, Ascot closed his eyes and muttered. "Scot-ian? A-scot. A-scot-ian? Yeah . . . Yeah, that might've been it – ack!"

Eagle without warning dove forward and squashed Ascot in a tight hug. "That's wonderful!"

Ascot tried to push the crazy blond off of him. "Will you explain what you're talking about?! Who am I then?"

"Scotian Vision, an authentic Autozamian." Eagle permitted Ascot to squirm out of the hug, but countered by threading one of his arms through Ascot's and clinging like glue.

"Hey!" Umi protested. "I thought you said it was the Supreme General's son who was kidnapped."

"Ah . . . did I forget to mention that my father used to be the Supreme General before he was appointed President?" Eagle smiled innocently, but no one was convinced.

Hikaru perked up. "Oh – so you two are brothers?"

"That is correct," Eagle affirmed.

Ascot finally stopped trying to pull away. "Wha– but?" He stared at Eagle, utterly confused. "Wait – but, why . . . um . . . how?" Ascot mentally retraced the last five minutes of conversation, and realized that the evidence did seem to point to Eagle's conclusion. "But then, why would the Autozamians want to attack Lafarga and me?"

"That's easy." Eagle waved a finger in the air. "The man you ran into on Autozam was one of the people who kidnapped you, Scotian. He recognized you immediately, and was afraid that you would tell the President on him."

"So then, Eagle, if Asc–Scot–um . . . the kid was really kidnapped by Autozamians, why would they try to blame it on Cephiro?" Umi interjected.

"Would the . . . treacherous Autozamian officer have hidden motives for wanting to attack Cephiro?" Ferio inquired after remaining silent for quite a long time.

Eagle answered instantly, "There are . . . a fair number of people who think moving the population of Autozam to Cephiro is the only real solution to our problems. However . . . most of these people don't care what might happen to the people who already live on Cephiro."

"So, they want to conquer our world for territory?" Clef asked, concerned.

"I think it is a strong possibility." Eagle folded his arms. "Throughout Father's whole career, people have criticized him for not taking the extraplanetary expansion idea seriously enough. He's never been fond of the idea of invading at all. In fact, he probably would never had agreed to the last invasion attempt if I had not personally pushed for it . . ."

"So, what do we do now? The fleet must nearly be here," Ferio asked, glancing up nervously toward the sky.

Eagle sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can call the President via this robot here – he might have even come with the invasion force – and he will certainly accept my communications. However, it would be much easier if I could tell him specifics of who is behind this old deception." He turned again to Ascot. "Scotian, I'm sure you probably don't want to remember what happened – no doubt it was very frightening for you – but I really need to know who brought you here ten years ago."

"I-I understand." Ascot looked down at his hands and his feet, avoiding Eagle's gaze. "I just . . . I mean, I'll try." He glanced over to Lafarga. "Um, that man who turned everyone against us – didn't he have gray hair?"

Lafarga grunted in agreement.

Ascot made a face; that little would be of no help. He tried his best to concentrate, to will himself to remember something more. "Uh . . . I think he'd look really creepy with a mustache, and . . . um . . . I don't know why, but for some reason I picture his name being something like 'Sabrina'."

"Sabrina?" Lafarga echoed, his face blank. "I don't recall him ever mentioning his name, Ascot."

"Wait – not General Sebring?" Eagle jumped in. "He's Father's number one advisor!"

Ascot cringed and shrugged.

Eagle just kept talking. "No, no, you're right – it probably makes sense. He did have a mustache until five or so years ago. And, who else could have avoided Father's suspicions for so many years? But Sebring wouldn't have worked alone, I'd guess . . . Please, Scotian, think. Was there anyone else?"

Ascot tried to picture Sebring with a mustache, and suddenly found himself recalling a black cave. He shuddered involuntarily. I don't want to remember this! But . . . I have to . . . "I think . . . there was someone with really bright, red hair. And . . . one more person. I don't remember what he looked like but . . . he whistled, I think?" Ascot found himself carried away by the memory now. He remembered flashes of pain, and his forehead throbbing like it was going to burst. Finally, he'd blacked out and awakened to finding himself in a strange, unfriendly place – a dark, natural cave, surrounded by bad, bad men. He recalled more disjointed moments of pain . . . and then a monster had snatched him away. Mimi's mother, an enormous, feral monster that roamed the area, had heard the commotion and come to investigate. She had burst into the cave, found Ascot, and in a maternal impulse had carried Ascot outside to her own lair, to safety. After that, things trickled back into memories that Ascot could more painlessly recall. And then those days melted seamlessly back into the day he had met Caldina.

"Red hair – that could be General Tiburon," Eagle mused out loud, lost in his own thoughts. "And Captain Cressida – Sebring's longtime assistant, almost constantly whistling – is also an extremely likely suspect."

"Why would they do this?" Ascot asked softly.

Eagle finally noticed this boy's pale complexion, and rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "There's not always a good reason for some things that people do. But, I promise you I'll do everything I can to make things right." Eagle glanced up at the sky, started, then looked over to Clef a bit sheepishly. "I think I'll try to call Father right now."

This prompted everyone else to look up. All but Lafarga gasped or otherwise vocally expressed their surprise. The blue sky above was peppered with little black dots: the individual ships of the Autozamian invasion fleet. Eagle wasted no more time, and immediately hopped up into the sideways robot and plugged himself in to the computer.

"How do you feel, Ascot?" Hikaru asked gently.

"I don't know . . . how I should feel," he answered, shaking his head.

"So – you're not really Cephiran," Umi commented into the awkward silence. "I never would have guessed that."

"Nor I, Ascot-san." Fuu blinked, then corrected herself. "I suppose I should say, 'Scotian-san'."

"No . . ." Ascot shook his head vehemently. "I . . . You don't have to call me that. Ascot is just fine." He blushed, embarrassed. "I mean . . . I'm not really sure what to think right now, anyway, and I –"

"Hey, Scotian, could you please come here for a minute?" Eagle called down from the robot.

After recovering from Eagle's interruption, Ascot tried to recall what point he had been intending to make, but failed. He sighed, glanced at all his friends, then reluctantly clambered back into the purple robot.

Inside, Eagle had a glowing orb that filled half the space. Eagle had himself seated on the side of the command chair – he patted the space beside him to indicate he wanted Ascot to come up there as well. Once Ascot complied, he could see that the glowing orb actually had someone's face in the center.

Eagle explained to the person in the magic orb, "He really barely remembers a thing – he must have gone through a terrible trauma. But look – you can see . . ."

"Oh my stars," the head in the orb exclaimed. "It is – it really is Scotian."

Ascot squinted into the glowing ball at the man with gray hair that hung in a style very similar to Eagle's. Something in the face made Ascot think back to portrait he had seen back on Autozam. "Sir . . . ? Are you my . . . father?"

The head of President Vision nodded. "Yes, Scotian."

"But you . . . you won't hurt the Cephirans, will you?" Ascot burst out, anxiety overcoming him.

"No, we won't. Eagle has explained the whole situation to me. Don't worry, Scotian – Sebring and his cohorts are being arrested, the fleet has been ordered back. I will come down and meet with the leaders of Cephiro, in person, and then we can all finally go home."

Go home? Ascot pictured the vaulted, marble hallways of the Cephiran castle. He saw the gardens around the castle, the fields, and the deep caverns where his monster friends lived. Not home? Ascot suddenly thought that he might never be able to see these places again, and the feeling sickened him. He felt almost nauseous. The head inside the orb still smiled kindly at him, and Ascot did not want to offend this President Vision, but he really did not know what he ought to do.

Eagle looked over at Ascot, and seemed to recognize the boy's confusion, so he patted him on the shoulder, then resumed talking to his father. Ascot just sat still, not hearing a word Eagle said, clutching the sideways seat tightly with both hands, rhythmically pinching the headrest cushion with his fingers. What will I do? What can I do? Will I never see Umi and Mimi or Clef and Lafarga and Caldina or anyone else from Cephiro again?

The glowing orb buzzed, then disappeared. Eagle nudged Ascot and asked, "Are you okay?"

Okay? Are you kidding me? "I . . . really don't know how to deal with this. It's so . . ."

"Relax," Eagle cut him off. "The toughest part is over now. I promise, Scotian, that everything will work out okay."

Ascot sighed and permitted Eagle to wrap a comforting arm around him. He was tired, physically, and tired of fighting his bewildered emotions. For the moment, I just want to hope . . . I want to hope that Eagle is right, and that things will work out . . .

I want to hope that my friends will all be okay . . . But right now, I mostly want to hope that when this is all resolved, I won't have to be alone.


I have a lot I want to say about this story, and particularly this scene, but I'm going to save it for the end note of the next chapter. I mostly want to share my own opinion about the outcome of my experiment (see first chapter's head note), and blab a bit about the characters. So, until then, stay tuned!