Love Across Time: Hidden Royalty

Disclaimer: I don't own Rayearth.

Chapter 4: An Enemy Revealed and Sad Partings

"It makes perfect sense," said Windom, "Why didn't I see it sooner."

"Because we were not supposed to see. Nobody was supposed to make the connection."

"Debonair," growled Selece, "Looking back it seems so obvious."

"Yes, everything was set up specifically," said Windom. "Look at the Knights deaths. First, she gets rid of my Knight, the one known for her logical thinking, and wisdom. She destroyed her by making her greatest weakness a reality. The fear that the man she loved, would blame her for fulfilling his sisters last wish. She places a spell on Ferio controlling him, and he doesn't realize it before it is too late. With Fuu's fears turning into a reality, she whispers more doubts into her head, with Fuu thinking they are her own thoughts. Debonair keeps pushing her, and planting ideas into her head until she breaks."

"Next is my Knight," said Selece picking up the trail, "Who's death, Debonair knows will be the last straw for the Fire Knight. There was a problem though; the Water Knight would not be easy to take down. So she resorted to poisoning her with the berries, that I saw, had stained her fingers. Once she was gone, the Fire Knight was vulnerable."

"Finally, Debonair fills Hikaru's mind with subtle thoughts, like she had with Fuu. Hikaru finds herself becoming more and more desperate, and Clef conveniently finds the "forgotten" rule of the Magic Knights and then she is gone," said Rayearth, "When you told me of Umi's warning to Hikaru, "Not dead," I realized that the Knights had killed only one person intentionally. That was Debonair, the main enemy that the girls came back to battle, of their own choice."

"Well, I don't want to just sit around here," said Selece, "Let's go finish the job our Knights set out to complete." The other rune gods nodded in agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a dark part of a forest.

Debonair smiled mockingly at the three Rune gods who stood before her, in there Mashin form. They had tried to attack her but a shield had surrounded her. "I am not as weak as you thought," she cackled. "It is useless. Without your Knights, there is no way you can defeat me." Selece gave a shout and threw an attack at the shield, but like the others it bounced off harmlessly. "The girls were part of your hearts and power. That is the reason I was able to survive."

"Explain!" demanded Rayearth narrowing his eyes.

"Killing Emeraude affected the girls so greatly.."

"They did not kill her!" shouted Selece, "They only fulfilled her last request."

Debonair glared at Selece for interrupting her, "When their attacks hit me, they remembered Emeraude and a little feeling of grief filtered into their hearts. With that moment of wavering, the attack weakened, and I was able to escape. Once I came here I was free to plan and carry out my revenge. It went very well, don't you think?" she asked smiling. "One died by love, one by poison, and one by grief. Now all I have to do is recover all my strength, and Cephiro will be mine! No one will stop me!"

'If only we could combine,' thought Rayearth.

"No Debonair. You will never touch the land of Cephiro again!" Everyone stared in shock, for standing beside Rayearth was Hikaru.

"You will pay for what you tired to do to us!" declared Fuu appearing next to Windom.

"And I will avenge our honor, and Cephiro," stated Umi appearing next to Selece.

"What?" cried Debonair, "How can this be! I destroyed you!"

Umi laughed as she called her sword, and sliced the air with it, "Oh, you tried, but here we are."

Fuu and Hikaru nodded pulling out their swords. "When we realized what you were trying to do, we fought back," said Fuu glaring at Debonair.

"And now we will destroy you!" said Hikaru thrusting her sword into the air.

"Rayearth!"

"Windom!"

"Selece!"

The girls took their places inside their Rune gods. "For Cephiro!" yelled the Knights and Rune gods, as the three Mashin combined. Then with raised sword and a shout of "Spiral Attack!" Debonair disappeared forever.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Umi! Fuu! Hikaru! I can't believe it you guys are here!" shouted Rayearth happily, as the Rune gods returned to their sleeping forms.

"This is wonderful!" said Selece lowering his head for Umi to pet.

"Definitely a welcome surprise," said Windom bending his head to Fuu.

"How were you able to survive Debonair's traps?" asked Rayearth as Hikaru climbed on to his back, as the group turned back toward the palace of Cephiro.

"It was our elements. As I was fighting for what I thought was my last breathe, I was surrounded by fire. My element healed my wound and strengthened me. Next thing I knew I heard Debonair and I was here."

"The same happened to me," said Umi.

" I also experienced the same chain of events," smiled Fuu.

"Well, I'm glad your back," smiled Selece. All the girls' expressions became down cast.

"We are not here to stay," said Fuu sadly.

"What!" shouted the Rune gods.

"The rule about a Magic Knight being forbidden to love a man of Cephiro, and the consequences if she does, is partially true," said Hikaru as she climbed off Rayearth's back. "You see a Knight was strongly persuaded to not love a man while she was on the mission, she had been called from her world for. It just made things less complicated and helped her focus. If however, she confessed her love to the man, instead of loving him from afar, she would have to be exiled to her respective shrine. A knight was not forbidden to love. For once the mission was over she was freed from this demand." The group stopped and a moment of confused silence hung between the Knights and the Rune gods until Selece spoke. "Doesn't that mean you will come with us? There is nothing to stop you from doing so."

"No. We did not follow the proper steps of going to our shrines, when we fell in love. The men we fell in love with knew of our feelings for them and reciprocated them. It is now demanded that we be sent home, and as Magic Knights, we can never return to Cephiro," said Umi, as tears began to slide down her face. Suddenly water began to swirl around Umi's feet, as fire and wind rose around the other Knights.

"Our time is up, we must say good-bye," said Fuu. Reaching out, each girl hugged the neck of their Rune god, as their elements rose higher around them.

"Don't be sad," said Hikaru, "I just know we will meet again." All three girls then vanished.

A/N: Told you they weren't dead.  Sorry this chapter was shorter than I wanted. I promise next time it will be longer. So, what will happen now? Will the girls be able to get back to Cephiro? What about their guys? Keep reading and find out.