-1Magic Knight Rayearth
Left in Cephiro
Chapter V: Hikaru awakens! The appearance of the Twilight Knights!
Lantis finds himself wandering in the darkest depths of the great black void. The air itself is saturated with sorrow, and hate permeates into it like a fog.
"The deep and painful lamentation makes sense, but why is there such a strong aura of anger here as well?"
Lantis shakes his head as he contemplates the situation. He continues his journey ever deeper into the depths of Hikaru's conscience.
"From what Clef has told me, I could clearly see why their hearts would be filled with such immense sorrow. No one deserves to suffer as they have. However, why this animosity? These young girls...could they have suffered so much that their sorrow would be perversed into hatred? I was not under the impression that these girls would be capable of such rancor. This feeling seems almost unnatural."
Lantis progresses further into the darkness.
"ONYX LIGHTNING!"
An explosion of flames suddenly rain down upon Lantis and the red-black lightning surges through his clothing. Lantis shakes the attack off without much harm done to him.
"So...this entity is responsible for Master Mage being unable to reach Hikaru's heart," Lantis notes to himself and then stares ahead at the one who attacked him.
His eyes fall upon a petite young man, with braided black hair and deep blue eyes.
"Who are you, what are you doing here? Are you Hikaru's heart?"
"Hikaru? Who is Hikaru? I don't think I know that name?", Yami remarks.
"You are in Hikaru's heart, yet you know not who she is? Just what manner of creature are you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know this, you've come from that unreachable shimmering palace!"
Yami readies himself to strike the dark swordsman once more. Lantis, seeing his opponent preparing to send forth another magical attack, quickly retaliates.
"LIGHTNING BALL COME FORTH," Lantis cries out before the anti-Magic Knight could launch off another Onyx Lightning spell.
His attack hits hard and sends his opponent flying back. Yami struggles back onto his feet, spitting out blood from his mouth.
"Hikaru! Are you there? Master Mage Clef sent me to help you."
is someone...there? that voice? that couldn't be...zagato?
"Ah, so you are here, Hikaru," Lantis notes.
Suddenly, Hikaru wearing her school uniform emerges from the shadows. Her body is nearly transparent and as she kneels upon nothingness, she looks as though she is on the verge of fading away, forever forgotten.
you are...zagato...
"Hikaru? So, that is the name of that Red Light I loath so much," Yami comments.
Lantis turns from Hikaru and faces the dark Magic Knight.
"Be gone from here," Lantis warns simply, "or else I will have no choice but to destroy you."
destroy...who? destroy me? do you want...to kill me? are you here to kill me for what i've done to both you and princess emeraude? are you here for revenge?
Lantis briefly looks at Hikaru.
"I believe you have mistaken me for my brother. I am called Lantis, and I have not come to kill you."
Lantis returns to stare down his opponent. Yami refuses to back down.
"You are the one who is not welcomed here. This is my dominion. This girl is mine. Who are you to her anyway? Leave or I shall expunge you from this place like I did that pathetic little leprechaun!"
"So, it was you who prevented Clef from reaching Hikaru. I have trained in darkness deeper than this. Your powers are far too weak to do me harm."
The two dark figures square off against one another. Hikaru lingers in the darkness as little more than a wisp of her former self.
"ONYX LIGHTNING!"
"LIGHTNINGBALL COME FORTH!"
The two attacks flare up and clash against one another. A huge explosion of magical energy erupts, but neither attack overcomes the other to reach its intended target.
"DARKNESS ARROW!"
"BARRIER SHIELD," Lantis cries out, and the black firebolt is blasted back at Yami.
Yami grinds his teeth together. The power of darkness has no effect on Lantis, whereas on the former visitor to this sad realm, was drained of his spiritual energy the longer he had remained there.
A dark aura begins to surround Yami, as armor, similar to that of the Magic Knights, forms itself onto his small form. His armor and equipment is almost an inverted version of that Hikaru once possessed. However, Lantis, never having seen a fully transformed Magic Knight, does not recognize it. Now draped in black, gray, and red, Yami is ready to retaliate against the intruder.
umi...fuu...where are you? where am i? what is going on here? is this...hell? did i...die? is this my punishment...my punishment for having killed princess emeraude...and lord zagato? i...i didn't know...i didn't realize it until it was too late. i...i should have done more. i should have considered their feelings. i...didn't realize what i was doing was wrong...i didn't know. that doesn't justify it. that doesn't excuse me. that doesn't absolve the sins i've committed. maybe i deserve to be punished.
The evil aura surrounding Yami suddenly increases in power. Yami readies his longsword, cackling with dark, magical fire. Lantis is briefly taken aback by the sudden increase in his opponent's power. He quickly realizes that his foe's increase of power is a direct result of the Magic Knight's remorse.
Lantis quickly runs to the misty presence of Hikaru. He quickly puts up his Barrier Shield as Yami launches another assault with his Onyx Lightning.
"You are Hikaru, am I right?"
Hikaru looks up at Lantis, her eyes filled with sorrow.
zagato? wha...what do you want?
"You are mistaken. As I have already said, I am not Zagato. He was my brother. I am Lantis. I found you lying unconscious in the barren wasteland that was once known as Cephiro. Master Mage Clef attempted to revive you, but something impeded him from reaching your heart. That is why I am here."
"DARKNESS ARROW!"
Yami's attack bounces off of the magical swordsman's barrier. Hikaru's body suddenly regains a more solid form. Concerned for the sake of her friends, she looks around in the darkness for some sign of them.
"Umi! Fuu! Where are my friends?!"
"ONYX LIGHTNING!"
The dark fire erupts and rains down upon Lantis' shield.
"We do not know as of yet. There's no need to worry about that now. What's important is that we get out of here. If either of us linger here any longer, we'll both be lost forever," Lantis explains.
"ONYX LIGHTNING!"
Lantis' barrier begins to weaken as Yami continues to batter it down with his attacks.
"Who's that? Why is he attacking us," Hikaru wonders, now noticing the Dark Magic Knight.
"I know not what manner of being this young man is, but he is apparently a creation of someone's heart...someone's deepest darkest fears. I believe that you two are somehow connected," Lantis explains.
"ONYX LIGHTNING!"
The barrier begins to weaken further, and shrinks in size.
"How? How could the two of us be connected? I've never seen him before."
Lantis shakes his head.
"I do not know. However, we do not have anymore time left. We must leave now."
"But, how do we get out of here?"
"Leave that to me. Hold onto my hand and don't let go," Lantis remarks.
Hikaru hesitates for a moment before placing her hand in the hand of the handsome stranger, who so resembles the Lord Zagato that she and her friends had fought not so long ago. With a final blast from Yami's Onyx Lightning attack, the Barrier Shield is broken, and Lantis and the young Magic Knight are nowhere to be found.
His enemies gone, Yami lets out a disheartening sigh. He realizes that red haired girl is the source of all his suffering. He looks at the place where the dark swordsman and the former Magic Knight once were. He notes that his attack only managed to break the protective spell the black magical swordsman had cast. That only could mean that the two had escaped.
"Yami! I am sorry I could not have made it back sooner," Kaze apologizes as he appears beside him in a jade zephyr.
"Kaze," Yami remarks turning around to speak with his green haired companion, "where's Mizu?"
"Mizu tried to establish contact with the Blue Water," Kaze begins, "however, this caused the two of them to fall unconscious. I have noticed how the three of us somewhat resemble the three girls we refer to as the Red Light, Blue Water, and Green Wind. I theorize that the three of us are in some way connected to the three of them."
"Connected in some way," Yami remarks remembering that the man who he had fought had also noted a connection.
"When I told this to Mizu, he thought that he could try to create an opening to that other world by making contact with the Blue Water. Unfortunately, as a result, they both lost consciousness. However, for a moment, we were able to see through the eyes of our respective counterparts. The world I saw was completely different from that other world. It was so much more alive."
"There's yet another world?"
"It would appear to be so," Kaze remarks as a matter of factly.
"Hey, what's that strange hole over there," Mizu asks, appear amongst them in a swirl of azure water.
"Mizu! You should not be here! You have not yet recovered," Kaze protects.
"Hey, Mizu's right, what is that strange sparkling thing coming from over there," Yami remarks pointing to a tiny bright light where Lantis and Hikaru had been.
"It would appear to be a hole from which light is shinning through."
Hikaru sits up in the bed and founds herself surrounded by a few familiar faces.
"Impossible! She's...really here," the Master Smith exclaims.
"Presea", Hikaru cries out and rushes out to hug the once fallen Master Smith.
"Oh, um, Hikaru," Presea remarks, taken slightly aback.
"You've done well, Lantis."
"I've only done what I could. I see now why you had so much trouble."
"Oh," the Master Mage inquires.
"Presea, you're alright! But, how? You...you died. Fuu tried so hard to revive you with her Winds of Healing...she tried over and over again. I'm so sorry."
/I would rather not discuss this in the open, but there appeared to be some sort of malevolent entity reside inside of Hikaru's heart. No, not her heart, her heart was only a gateway to a shadow world. I appologize, but I was unable to find out more about this individual./
/I understand,/ Clef begins his telepathic reply, /I can only hope that nothing ill becomes of this./
"Well, its a long story Hikaru. Right now, I think you should rest. You've been through a lot. I'll come by later and explain everything that's happened."
"Ah, yes, Hikaru," the Master Mage begins as he turns his attention to the young former Magic Knight, "I am glad to see that you are well. I am sure that you have many questions, but as Presea has already suggested, you need to rest. I will explain as much as I can to you when you are feeling better."
"Um...sure."
"Excuse me, I must take my leave now."
Lantis stands up and makes his way out.
"Wait, mister!"
Lantis turns around to look at the girl who had called out to him.
"You said...your name was Lantis," Hikaru inquires.
"I did," Lantis answers.
"Thank you Lantis, for helping me."