Chapter VI: Informal Intro's
`What ever did I do to deserve this?' Lantis wondered as he quietly stood by the men's dressing room waiting for Hikaru and that friend of hers' to return. They'd been in this store for over half an hour and so far he'd only tried on one outfit that a male store clerk had somehow coerced him to wear. It had been tight for his liking. He didn't care much for the colour either. Usually he wasn't a picky dresser and didn't give a second thought to what he wore, however not even he could stand the sight of this particular set of clothing; Bright, green pants and orange shirt that itched around its collar. The clerk said he looked good but that didn't make him feel any better.
When Umi and Hikaru had found him; Umi took one look and asked, "What the hell are you wearing?"
She turned her attention to the clerk, "Fashion sense? Do you even have any?" and continued to chew the clerk out. Hikaru looked rather dumbfounded over the whole situation. Her eyes quickly roamed over what he wore and crinkled her nose in distaste.
He slunk back into the dressing room and changed.
Now the two girls were off somewhere hunting down some other clothes for him to try on, and they had left about ten minutes ago… `Perhaps, I should have stayed in bed' he thought as he let out a low sigh. His arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the wall.
`I'd rather be fighting with one hundred monsters.' He thought then about Sakuya. He was familiar but how? Only the Pillar possessed the power to draw people from one world to another. So that would mean that only Hikaru had that ability, but did she even know how? The Magic Knights had summoned themselves the second time they had come to Cephiro but that had been accidental from what he understood. Then there was the fact that she had abolished the Pillar System never to return. Did that not mean that she no longer had the power of the Pillar? Or perhaps she had and her power merely had not yet been realized?'
"Hello in there? Anybody home?" A hand was frantically waving back and forth in front of his face. As he looked down, he realized that the hand belonged to that of the Magic Knight of Water. Her arms were full of shirts and pants.
A walking pile of clothing closely followed behind her. "But… Umi. Even if all of this clothing fits him… there's no way I'd be able to pay you back. I mean, these prices- Whoa!" she yelled as she lost her balance and fell before Lantis could move to catch her.
Sighing Umi piled all the articles of clothing she'd collected on Lantis and went over to help Hikaru pick up the clothes now scattered on the floor. "My family's rich Hikaru. What's fifty thousand yen to me?"
"Fifty thousand? My brother's and I don't spend this much money on clothing in a year!"
"Don't worry Hikaru, you'll pay me back, you both will. But not necessarily with money."
"I don't think I like the sound of that," Hikaru replied with an increased sound of worry in her voice.
`I definitely should have stayed in that bed…' Lantis affirmed. Umi forced him back into the change room.
'Oh, this is gonna suck big time.' The currently blond haired young man announced mentally as he walked up to the desk clerk.
"Hello, may I help you?"
"Uh, yeah. Which planes have been delayed?"
"Let me see…" she said as she began typing on her on her computer's keyboard. "I believe the four thirty flight to Detroit, the three forty-five flight to Vancouver, and the… three fifteen flight to Tokyo Japan will be delayed.
"Great," he said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea how long the Tokyo flight will be delayed for?"
"No. I'm afraid not. Just wait and listen for an announcement."
"Yeah, whatever." He said as he fought through the crowded airport to make his way over to where his friend quietly sat with his luggage.
"Maxwell, what's the what?" his best friend, Thomas asked as he sat down.
A hand combed through his slightly gnarled hair, "they have no idea when my flight's going to come in." Maxwell answered with mild distraught in his voice. "I really wish I wasn't going, Tom."
"Why? I mean this is Japan we're talking about. Think of all the anime you're going to be able to watch that's never been shown here. Man if I could trade places with you, I'd do it in a second.
"Yeah, but you don't know how to speak Japanese."
"Well true but there are translators, right?"
He shrugged, "When I get over there, I won't be able to just sit around watching TV all day. They get way more homework than we do, harder too, and they have extra school after school. Half my time will be spent studying." He pointed out.
"Sounds like your life schedule here; you go to school, when you get home you have extra schooling from your personal tutors, then you have Japanese school on Saturday's-"
"Yeah, I guess you're right but I'm going to be stuck there with, her…"
"Oh, so that's why you don't want to go. It's not because of the schooling; it's because of a girl. Heh, here's a surprise, you not wanting to be around a girl."
"Shut up man. It's not like that, the last time we spoke, we ended up on bad terms."
"Just like any other girl you talk to."
The young man huffed, "What makes you think I'm the one who did something?"
Thomas merely glared at him. "I'm sure you'll be able to sweet-talk your way back into her good graces."
"Hope so, otherwise I'll have to learn how to sleep with my eyes open."
"That's the spirit! But if you do happen to die, can I have your comic book collection?"
"What has you so agitated young prince?" the armor clad, master swordsmen questioned his pacing, green haired prince.
"We should be trying to figure out a way to help Lantis." He stated.
"You shouldn't worry yourself Ferio. There are more pressing matters to attend to."
"You mean my coronation?" Ferio shot back, "that can wait. How can I be a good King if I merely except the fact that one of my country's citizens just up and disappeared?"
"With all do respect your majesty, Lantis is a full grown man. He is more than fit to take care of himself."
"LaFarga," Ferio messaged his temple, "please don't call me by my title. I hate such formalities."
Before LaFarga could reply to that, Ascot jumped in, "I agree with Ferio, LaFarga. Look I know you and Lantis have had your differences but he's still one of us. He might need our help."
"I understand that but as Master Mage Clef has explained to us, any and all portals or gateways have been closed. There is no way to follow Lantis; which means that even if he is in dire need of our assistance, there's nothing we can do." LaFarga countered.
Just then the doors creaked open to reveal the short, Master Mage supporting himself with his staff. Sweat streamed down his face as he took in deep breaths.
"Hey Clef, you okay?" Ferio walked towards Clef. "You don't look so good."
"I'll be alright," he answered as he fell into Ferio's arms. "Sorry, I just… Need some rest…"
"LaFarga, help me carry him to his room-"
"No, wait! Mokona and I… we… Lantis… do not worry." He tried to explain as he fell unconscious and went limp as Ferio held him.
"Hey Clef? CLEF!"
The pale skinned deity of water stood amidst the ice-cold room. Her breath, crystallizing as it escaped her lips. Narrowing her eyebrows, she resumed her training. Her movements were fluent as she gracefully swung the thin custom made blade that Eagle had given her, in the arid room.
"Tell me Umi…" Eagle said as he suddenly appeared behind the water Knight. "Why do you train? You're beyond that of medieval weapons. And why do you chose to make the air around you so deadly cold when you're alone?"
She remained silent, unable to answer his question as the room slowly reverted back to its usual temperature. Umi was about to swing the rapier again when Eagle placed his hands over hers. "Eagle…" she said as he moved in front of her; cradling her head with his one free hand as he leaned his forehead against hers.
"Shhhh…" he whispered, closing his eyes, he opened a telepathic link between them, `You hardly ever bother to use that sword of yours when in battle…' the hand that had gently cupped her chin, now wrapped around her thin waist. The other loosened its grip on her wrist and ran his thumb over the beautiful ocean blue ovum embedded into her left hand.
"I enjoy fencing." She spoke aloud. For even though her lord and master had taught her the gift of telepathy, she preferred to voice her thoughts. His cool lips lightly brushed over hers and she allowed herself to relax into it.
He pulled away from her slightly and became serious, "You are to assist in capturing the new Earth we've just discovered."
"I understand." Umi answered as she was released completely from Eagle's grasp.
"I await your return, my faithful dragon." He stated as he watched her retreating form.
It appeared as though Lantis would be staying with the Shidou family for a while. He originally had had no intention of imposing but Hikaru and her brother Kakeru insisted. Neither of the other two siblings had any objections and thus was unanimously decided that he would stay with them. However, Hikaru's brother's may not have been so hospitable towards him, had they known of the attraction he felt towards Hikaru.
While in the shopping mall, Umi had explained to him that Hikaru's brothers were incredibly protective of their dear little sister. Apparently when Umi had come over to the Shidou household for the first time, Masaru and Kakeru had bombarded her with a million and one questions: "Do you smoke? Drink? Are you in some sort of gang? Are your grades high? -We don't need someone who doesn't care for their education to be influencing our dear Hikaru" The three ended up getting into a big fight and for a short while Kakeru and Umi couldn't even be in the same room together without going after each others throats.
The Magic Knight of Water had declared to both Hikaru and himself that it would be best that neither of them say anything about their relationship-which Umi had stressed for the two to pretend that they didn't have one- to anyone. Which wasn't all that big a deal for Lantis, considering her preferred to keep to himself.
"Hello there." Lantis said calmly to the wolf dog, which had been debating on whether or not it should go over to the new stranger who had been with the Shidou family for the past few days. Though it was a friendly dog, he had sensed something between the man and his master and was unsure of how to act around the stranger. Hikaru was the one whom the dog was most loyal towards and was compelled to protect.
Lantis' eyes softened and beckoned the dog to come closer, "You are very protective towards her as well aren't you?" The dog took the invitation and slowly walked over the man with its head low to the ground. Lantis held out the palm of his hand and allowed the four-legged creature to take in his scent; a scent that was not unfamiliar, he'd smelt this scent very strongly on Hikaru… the dog's tail wagged happily as he licked the man's hand. Lantis moved his hand and gently patted the dog's head then massaged the back of his left ear. "You need not worry, I would never intentionally harm her…"
"Well, I think Hikari has found a new friend," Masaru said after a few minutes of watching Lantis and the family pet interact with each other on the porch. Across from him were, Umi and his little sister Hikaru whom were studying, as he should have been doing. Though the two girls went to different schools, they would occasionally get together for a study session on the weekend. Since it was already late Satoru had said she was more than welcome to stay over for the night, so long as she didn't mind sleeping in Hikaru's room on a count of the guest room was currently being used by Lantis. After calling her parents who gave the okay, Umi promised she'd make tomorrow's breakfast, which was followed by a gleeful cheer from both Hikaru and Kakeru who then high-fived each other.
His little sister looked up from the table and turned around. None of them could quite tell what Lantis was saying to Hikari, but it was obvious that the two were hitting it off.
Just as Hikaru was about to get up she heard the stern voice of her older brother, "Stay."
"Huh?" she said turning to look at him.
"You have not finished you're homework, so stay at the table," Masaru ordered. Though Hikaru was, for the most part a good student and focused on her studies, as her brothers wanted her to, she was easily distracted.
"Just for a minute?"
"No. You can play with Hikari later."
She slumped into her chair as Masaru stood up and closed the paper door that lead outside. A small dog like whimper escaped her lips, followed by "Meanie."
"Finish your homework and I'll convince Satoru to give us all some ice cream."
She brightened at that statement, "Okay!"
"Hey! That's bribery!" Kakeru jumped in as he turned his attention away from the dishes he was drying.
"Well, she would have had to finish her homework anyway, but at least with the promise of ice cream she won't be all pouts about it," Umi pointed out, as she briefly looked up from the text she was reading.
Kakeru considered this for a moment, "good point, plus we all get to eat ice cream. I wonder what flavor that guy would want…?"
"His name is Lantis," Hikaru corrected.
"Does he even like ice cream?" Umi questioned.
Pulling open the door to his apartment, Sakuya found a dark, brown haired, young woman standing in front of him. "What do you want?" he asked gruffly.
"I… Um… I live in the apartment room just down the hall. You're in my Art class aren't you? Well we haven't been properly introduced yet. I'm Ogata Haruka." She said smiling brightly.
"That's nice," he went to close the door.
"Wait Tsukyo! I brought you a house warming present." Haruka said as she forced herself into the room.
"This isn't a house," he stated in a slightly annoyed tone.
She giggled, "Well, if you want to get technical-have you had dinner yet?" she inquired as she wondered about the room.
"Uh, no."
She opened his fridge door and peeked inside, but frowned when she found only a carton of soymilk, a bottle of hoisin sauce, some pickled vegetables and a half carton of eggs. "Don't tell me this is all you've been eating."
"I go out to eat, for the most part."
"Oh, that's no good. It's important to eat healthy home cooked meals. Lucky for you I just happen to have some leftovers from my supper in this little bag," she explained, holding it up. She then set the bag down and pulled out a sealed container. "Do you have a microwave?"
"No I don't," he said as he took the container and set it down on the table.
Chopsticks were abruptly shoved in his face, "go ahead, and try it."
"Uh… okay." He sat down and pulled back the lid.
"It tastes better warmed up but- how do you get your hair all those different shades of blue?"
"My hair's like this naturally. Look," he said, suddenly getting up. He walked over to the door and pulled it open. "I appreciate the food and the gift, but if you don't mind I'd just like to be left alone right now."
Haruka frowned a little, disappointed that she had to leave so soon, but her smile quickly returned. "I understand. I'll come back for the container later, bye," she closed the door behind her as she left.
Sakuya stood there a moment before he walked back towards the table. Glancing at the gift she'd left him, his curiosity got the better of him; unwrapping it he discovered it was a book, the title read, "Welcome to Tokyo". Placing the book down he looked at the food she'd left him.
"So Lantis has come to Earth Hikaru?" The ever chipper, golden eyed Eagle Vision asked, as they once again found them selves walking down the long corridor.
"Yeah. He just appeared in front of my house a few days ago," the red haired girl answered. "But he was hurt pretty badly somehow, so he was asleep until just yesterday."
"Is he okay now though?"
"His wounds haven't completely healed yet but I think he'll be okay… Eagle?"
He stopped walking abruptly. Turning to her he asked with concern, "what is it?"
There was a long pause, as she debated whether or not she should ask him the question that she had been wondering ever since he started appearing in her subconscious. "N-Never mind. It's not important," she finally answered. Hikaru then walked over to the solidifying door, she raised her hand up to its knob when a soft maniacal laughter sounded in the distance. "Huh?" Her head bolted up as she strained to hear it more clearly, "Do you- Do you hear that?"
Eagle's features darkened slightly. "No. It's not important either," She turned to look at him questionably; it wasn't like him to get like this… Knowing that she'd probably picked up on his sudden change in attitude, he quickly reverted back to his upbeat self and decided to change the subject, "Why not open the door?"
"Um, okay." Peeking inside the laughter seemed to fade away completely as she found the room, completely vacant save for the gold-chained pendant, which floated in the center of the room. She knew instantly what it was and took a step into the room. Making her way over towards the levitating object, she gently brushed her fingers over the intricate beauty before clasping it and holding it over her heart. She was suddenly filled with an overwhelming feeling of peace and warmth as she thought back fondly to when she'd first received the precious gift from Lantis in that serene Cephirian garden.
"No one's up yet," Eagle announced from the doorway. "Why not go and pay our dear Lantis a visit?"
Hikaru's head suddenly snapped up. "hm?" she yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. About an hour ago she'd entered the family's meditation room. She remembered walking in and sitting down but couldn't remember anything after that. Her mind drew up a blank. It was almost the day dreams she'd had previously in Cephiro when Nova and Debonair had first made contact with her. A strange feeling had washed over her and she found herself unable to shake it. Standing up, she stretched her muscles and walked out of the room.
She had had every intention of heading straight to her room to wake Umi up and have her make the breakfast she'd promised when she suddenly felt an unexplainable force guide her outside. Stepping through the kitchen's threshold, she instantly folded her arms around herself as the cool air of early morning attacked her. She rubbed her goose-bumped arms as she walked into the back yard only to find herself stop in front of the training room where the Shidou brothers taught their kendo classes in the winter time.
The mysterious force seemed to be even stronger now as she moved her shaking hand to pull the door back slightly. Peering into the room she stood there silently as she watched the tall figure's slow movements. It was Lantis; Hikaru had known it was him before she'd even looked in through the doorway. His movements were so elegant, so slow, and so precise it seemed as though he was practicing Tai Chi. Maybe he'd learned it while on Fahren?
He stopped suddenly to Hikaru's dismay and stood upright. Lantis turned and looked right at her; he'd sensed her presence too.
"Oh, s-sorry," she stuttered. "That I disturbed you. I'll leave you be-"
"That's alright. This is your home you can do as you please. I don't mind the company…" said as he closed the distance between them. Holding out his hand to her he bowed slightly, "besides, it is I who should apologize for coming in here without notifying anyone."
She shook her head, "You're a guest in this household. Furthermore, you're going to be living here for at least a little while, so please treat this home as though it was your own." She then took his hand gratefully. He kissed her backhand and led her into the room.
There was a moment's pause before he spoke again, "was there something you wished to ask me?" he said as he bent down and picked up his new long-sleeved dress shirt.
"As a matter of fact," Hikaru replied as she watched him slide his masculine arms into the black shirt, "I was sort of wondering how it was possible for you to come to Earth. It's not that I don't want you here, it's just that I thought only a Pillar could…"
"That's what I thought."
"You mean you don't even know how you got here Lantis?" He then placed a hand on her forehead. "Huh?"
"Shhh… just relax. I won't hurt you." As she did so, images flashed through her mind and she knew what had happened to him while back in Cephiro. Slowly he removed his hand from where it had temporarily rested on her head. She stood there blankly for a moment allowing the serge of information to seep in. She blinked a few times, "wow… How'd you do that?" she asked, still slightly dazed.
"I temporarily linked our minds. I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to be able to do it or, but it would seem as though the later is not the case. As you said, magic can't be used here, or perhaps it simply cannot be controlled… At any rate I can at least do simple tricks. I thought it would be easier this way than trying explain what I am not entirely certain about myself."
"Oh…" She then blushed slightly when she realized that his hand now softly gripped her arm, with his other hand, he cupped her chin and tilted her head upwards to look at him.
"I like your hair." He stated as he fiddled with her red tendrils. It had been taken out of her usual braid and was left down, save for the two small braids at the opposing sides of her head, which tied together at the back.
"I, Um…" she began. The Fire Knight held a few locks a looking at them briefly before pulling them back behind her ear. Flattered that he'd actually noticed the simple change and that he approved it. "Umi did this last night, before we went to bed. She was bored and couldn't fall asleep, so she took my braid out and played around with it for a while." He gently combed the lock of hair behind her ear as she continued, "Speaking of Umi, I should probably go and wake her up, so she can make breakfast…"
"You probably should," Lantis agreed, however neither made any indication of leaving.
The tingles Hikaru had been feeling inside her intensified as he bent down towards her. It felt like they were picking up where they'd left off two years ago when he'd said he loved her and it was as if the day was only a few moments ago; as if they had never been forced away from each other. This felt right. Just like it had felt right after Debonair's defeat…
His cool lips lightly brushed over hers, just as he'd done yesterday when he had attempted to comfort her.
Timidly, the young Knight of Fire pressed her lips against his before he could pull away. Silently pleading Lantis to stay close to her.
His free arm found itself bracing her lower back and pulling her upwards as he continued to kiss her; it was innocent and tender at first. He dared to slide his tongue over her lips and that was when she'd lost it. She responded in kind, electrified by sensation in her mouth. She moaned and wrapped her hands around his neck. The suppressed feelings that had pent up inside them came raging out.
Hikaru was still quite a short woman and craning her neck up for her to reach his lips only lasted for so long before her feet were swept off the ground. His hands were under her rump holding her against him, her legs suggestively wrapped around his waist. He sunk to the floor cradling her in his lap aggressively kissing her, conveying the love and the want that he could not vocalize. She moaned again when his lips went to her neck and it wasn't until she felt her hakama loosening that she pulled away.
"wait," she gasped.
His grip on the small Japanese woman loosened. Her whole body trembled at the after shock of their first real kiss. The brief experience both excited and scared her; she had been caught off guard, and wrapped up in the moment. And it was only after realizing she would have lost her shirt that she became conscious of just how out of hand the simple kiss had become. She carefully climbed off of him.
With shaky hands, Hikaru quickly covered herself up and backed away blushing horribly.
"Hikaru?" he got up still panting.
"I'm sorry," she stammered. "It's..." she struggled for words. She was sixteen she reminded herself. The thoughts racing through her mind, what she had been thinking about doing-that was supposed to be saved for her wedding day. What would her family think? "this isn't..." she turned and hugged herself. "It's not appropriate." She was convincing herself as much as she was convincing him.
He carefully approached her, "Wait, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable,"
She had responded so strongly, but perhaps he'd read her wrong. "I over stepped my bounds. I am the one who owes the apology."
She said nothing. He coaxed her arms away from her sides and took her hands, "Hikaru I love you, I've missed you but and I am sorry to have gotten so carried away."
She nodded "Me too. But I- we shouldn't do uh, those things until I'm older." She squeaked. Too embarrassed and stimulated to say more.
He rubbed her palms with his thumbs, "I will restrain myself. I will be more careful so that we are more... appropriate."
Hikaru nodded again. "I should probably go get Umi,"
He nodded.
"I really should go and wake Umi," she said again. Hikaru quickly turned to leave and ended up banging her shoulder against the door's way. She suddenly turned around about to say something but the words seemed unable to form so she just smiled shyly and waved before heading off into the house.
Lantis couldn't help but grin at the Knight's clumsy retreating form. He would have to research Tokyo's customs about age appropriate things as Hikaru put it, when he got a chance.
"Really Hikaru, you didn't have to walk me home." Umi said to the energetic red haired girl beside her.
"I had to take Hikari for a walk anyway, so why not walk you home?" she countered with a dumb grin on her face.
"Well Miss perky, don't you usually take Hikari to the park? And what's with the goofy smile?" She had stayed up late last night and was then forced to get up early this morning by Hikaru. She had no idea how Hikaru was able to do that; be so chipper in the morning… Unlike the red head, Umi wasn't that big of a morning person and it unnerved her ever so slightly to be bombarded with such an upbeat and positive force so early into the morning when she was generally negative. Until she downed a coffee or had a nice cold shower and completely woke up. Unfortunately for her she didn't get the chance to take a shower and the Shidou's didn't keep coffee in the house.
"To answer your first question, yes. I do usually take Hikari to the park. So I'll take him there after wards. And to answer your second question grumpy pants… uh, there's nothing to the smile." Her grin only grew wider and a light blush could easily be seen on her cheeks.
"You're blushing."
"Uh, no I'm not. It's just the cool air."
When they arrived outside the gates to the Ryuuzaki household, Hikaru motioned for Hikari to sit and wait at the gate until she returned. The dog sat obediently and the two girls strolled up the walkway, continuing with their conversation.
"I guess the weather is a little colder than it usually is this time of year," Umi finally agreed. "But frankly I haven't really noticed any change in temperature."
"I've noticed," Hikaru stated as she hugged herself in a fruitless attempt to warm up. `Shoot. I should have taken my sweater…' She hadn't felt chilled before, while walking with Umi. But then again, they had been walking at a faster pace and they were goofing around. Now that they'd slowed their pace, she was able to feel the cold.
As if reading her mind, Umi spoke, "if you wait a minute," she began. She fiddled with her key ring as the two stood on her stoop. "I'll lend you a warm sweater."
"Great"
Sliding her key into the lock, Umi turned it and pushed into her house. She gestured for Hikaru to come in out of the supposed "cold".
"Uhh, Umi…?" Hikaru questioned as she pointed into the direction of the Ryuuzaki's living room.
"Huh?" Following Hikaru's gaze she discovered a golden blond haired man lounging on her sofa. "What the- Who the hell are you?"
The young man turned to look at her, the expression on his face told Umi that he recognized her instantly. `Crap! No way. It can't be…'
"Aw, come on. Don't tell me you don't remember who I am," he said with an arrogant grin. "It's only been about ten years…"
"How's he doing? Will he be all right?" the young prince asked as the female Autozam doctor stepped out of the Master Mages bedroom and into the hall. She wore a long white coat, medical equipment threatened to fall from her deep pockets as she moved about. Her eyes were emerald colored and her hair, a dark caramel brown, which flowed down her back. She reminded Ferio slightly of his beloved Fuu… Since the signing of the peace treaty between Cephiro and Autozam, a few of their citizens had come to the magical land. By chance, the young doctor who had only just recently come to Cephiro, decided to take up residence in a nearby town not all that far from the castle and so Ferio had Ascot summon one of his creatures so that they could go ask the doctor for help. She in turn was overjoyed at the prospect of being able to actually enter the crystal palace and was even more thrilled to be asked to examine one of the currently, most oldest Cephirian's alive.
"Well prince Ferio," she began as she typed something into the small computer-like band wrapped around her arm. "Mr. Clef appears to be completely fine. His mental energy has dropped down surprisingly though."
"Is that bad?" Ascot inquired.
She smiled gently. "Only if he doesn't rest. You said that he was using a lot of energy earlier right? Well in my experience, the patient is usually just suffering from exhaustion. Now, so long as he drinks plenty of fluids, and restrains his activities, he should be back to normal within a few days-probably. I've never treated a magic user before, so I'm not exactly sure if he'll be fine in just a few days. It may take a little longer than that for him to recuperate. But if he gets worse then, well, you know where I am. If you'll excuse me, I really must get back…"
"Thanks." Ferio said, then directed his attention towards Ascot, "hey Ascot? Would you mind giving the lovely lady a ride back to her house?"
"Uh, I guess not. Sure. Follow me Ms. -er I mean doctor." He said as he motioned her to follow him.
"Great! I wanted to ask you about that flying beast from before; I noticed that its coat of fur was fairly shinny. It looked rather healthy, what kind of foods do you feed it?" she questioned as the two headed off down the hallway.
"LaFarga?" Ferio began, looking up at him.
"What is it?"
"Can ya just check on Clef every so often? I would but I've got…" he closed his eyes and sighed. "Prince duties to attend to." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Right now I have to go and attend a meeting with the council… But at any rate, if Clef's condition worsens, I want you to inform me right away. Regardless of whether I'm still in the meeting or not okay?"
LaFarga bowed slightly, "Understood."
LaFarga watched as the heir to the Cephirian throne hastily speed down the hallway in a rather improper fashion. His prince had atrocious manors, was quick to make decisions without thinking things over and continuously found one reason or another as to why he could not be crowned "King" and constantly took off on his own without notifying anyone. However, despite all of that, he was a very compassionate and fair ruler and he'd easily won the hearts of the residents of Cephiro. He put the well being of his people above himself and showed promise as a great king. In some ways, he was much like his dear elder sister Princess Emeraude, and his carefree attitude made it hard for even the most uptight of people to get bogged down with political matters.
The Captain of the Guard let out a sigh and took a step back as the heavy doors to Clef's room slowly opened. Taking the invitation he headed into the large room and knelt at the elder man's side. "Master Mage…"
"Lantis is on Earth, safe for the time being… But I am not sure if having him stay in the other world is such a good idea at this time…" the Mage said as he slowly sat up in his bed.
Confusion was etched across the Sword Master's face. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'd really rather not say… I feel an ill omen approaching. I'm afraid I cannot tell you anything other than that…" he coughed and shook, and LaFarga instantly stood up and helped Clef lye down again.
"Master Mage Clef, please relax. You must rest and regain your strength…" Lafarga urged but Clef seemed to disregard what he said.
"Lantis must return…" Clef said. He wasn't even exactly sure himself why he so desperately desired for the Magic Swordmen to return. But something in the pit of his stomach demanded it to be so.
"But there is no way for him to-"
"Not necessarily…Lafarga, I wish to send you on an errand. One which for the moment, I'd prefer that you not make mention of to anyone." He stated as Lafarga listened intently. He sat up slightly and grabbed his staff; he swung it horizontally in the air and a world map of Cephiro appeared.
"There is a scroll that I would like you to retrieve for me. It lies within one of the far northwestern villages. To which village, Mokona can identify. However, the scroll will be hidden with in one of the village elder's hut. Come later and I will give you a seal that you will present to the elder-" he broke into a set of violent coughs, his staff clattering to the ground in the process.
The Sword Master waited patiently until the coughs subsided, "If you do not mind my asking, what significance is this scroll?"
The older man smiled, "it may give reference as to how to cross over into another world. I would like you to leave as soon as possible."
LaFarga stood shocked. Had he herd right? "That- But that is not possible. I thought-"
"That only the Pillar could grant passage from one world to another? Yes. I too thought that. For the longest of time actually, I had never given much thought about it until the day Lantis left us and wound up in the Magic Knight's dimension… When Mokona told us of the one who had created a portal…" Clef closed his eyes and organized his thoughts. The sedatives the doctor had administered to him, to help him rest were starting to kick in.
"What makes you think we can travel from one world to another?" LaFarga questioned, his curiosity was beginning to grow.
"Something our young prince said. How was it possible for the young man Sakuya to generate a portal? I've been doing some research. Mokona presented me with a tomb that may hold the answer however this particular book is in old Cephirian text and I am having a hard time understanding it. The scroll should be able to help me translate the passages in the book…" He yawned and relaxed in his bed.
"I understand, but why must this information be kept in secret from even the prince?"
"If Ferio were to discover that there was a remote chance to bring Lantis back, he would do everything within his power to do so, but if it proves that we can not do this, I do not want to get his highness' hopes up-As soon as possible, I want you to retrieve for me the old scroll..." with that the Mage reluctantly nodded off.
"A way to another world…"
Masaru had dashed off to work. Hikaru had gone off to take Hikari for his daily walk. The little Shidou sister was also walking Umi home, so she'd probably take a longer time to get beck than usual. Which left only Kakeru to assist Satoru in the class he was currently teaching. It was the "kiddy class" so both brothers would need to pay close attention to them. Of all the classes taught, teaching young children the basics of Kendo was the most difficult. The children tended to get easily distracted, and often flailed their training swords around with out thinking about the consequences. They were loud and very rude at times yet despite all of that, each and every one of them was ready and eager to be taught and loved their Sensei's.
Today they were all to spar. In pairs they would come up at a time and fight against each other.
"Yamato and Hiroshi." Satoru called out and the two boys stood up and headed over to him.
Yamato was six years old and had short mahogany coloured hair; his bangs hung over his dark brown eyes in small locks, which would normally be easy to see except now he was decked in the necessary protective gear. He was a quiet little boy, who tended to shy away from crowds of people. His family was close friends with the Shidou family.
Hiroshi was much more out going than him. The center of attention, all the children looked up to him and cheered him as he walked up to Satoru. His eyes and hair were both jet black and came up to about the same height as Yamato. One of the better skilled students, he was expected to beat Yamato hands down.
Both boys bowed to their Sensei then to each other, the class cheered at the sidelines and Kakeru quickly quieted them down as the match began.
Tears streamed down the brown haired boy's face as he sat sobbing underneath one of the shady old trees. He looked up to see the match corresponding after the one he'd had with Hiroshi was well underway. Satoru called out a point as one of the attacks connected to the chest plate of children currently sparring.
"Boys don't cry." Yamato told himself as he wiped the tears away only to have more take their place. It was weak to cry his father was always telling him that. He hated that he was not able to restrain himself.
"So then why are you crying?" it was a deep voice unfamiliar to the young boy.
The boy looked up to find a dark haired man lounging peacefully on one of the trees strong limbs. "W-who are you?"
The figure dropped down from where he'd been above and landed gracefully beside him. The boy took a step back, startled slightly. "I am familiar with sword play." He said simply.
The boy looked at him strangely for a moment, "I'm Yamato." The man smiled and Yamato wiped his eyes again he liked this man he decided. He seemed nice.
"Why are you crying?" the man asked gently.
"I lost…"
"Everyone loses sometimes."
"But I always lose! I don't want to lose anymore! I want to win. I want to be strong and compete in tournaments when I get older just like my daddy!" There was a flare in his eyes, which quickly faded. "but… I'm not good enough…"
"You're too gentle. You hesitate to attack when you see an opening." The man said as he patted the boy's head and stood up.
"Hey, Mister? Where are you going?" Yamato called out as he watched the man over to the rack of shinai, take two of them and head back.
He crouched and held one of the shinai's out for the little boy.
"Kakeru Sensei?" A child's voice called out and Kakeru looked down to see one of the boys tugging at his clothing.
"Huh?" Was all Kakeru said in response.
"Whose that man with Yamato?"
Kakeru looked around then decided to follow the direction in which a few of the other boys were looking. There he saw Lantis standing by the young boy giving him instructions, and demonstrating appropriate ways to use the shinai. "Lansit?"
"Huh?"
Kakeru looked down at the boy. "Oh, he's a new friend who's going to be staying here for a while." He began as he watched the two and Kakeru was surprised to see that Yamato seemed to have improved. He seemed more confident. "Satoru." Kakeru whispered, as he kept his gaze on the two in the not too far off distance.
"What is it," Satoru asked after calling out another point. His attention had been focused on the two young boys sparring, just where his attention was supposed to be, and still was.
"Take a look see, it would seem as though the mysterious stranger is assisting you as well." Kakeru said almost absently.
Satoru's focus fell away from the two boys. His left eyebrow rose slightly, "Wha…" he found Kakeru pointing his index finger at something. Satoru's eyes followed to discover Lantis with the young Yamato.
The man straightened the boy's shinai into the appropriate position, said something to him then crouched down on the ground. He picked up a twig and drew what appeared to Satoru, to be a line. He uttered something and the boy motioned to attack Lantis. Effortlessly the man countered it. He said something and the boy went to strike again and again.
By now the whole class was watching the scene unfold. And it was only now that it dawned on Kakeru, "hey, they should be wearing-" he motioned to head over to Lantis when Satoru's hand firmly clamped down on his shoulder. "Satoru…?"
"Let them be." He said as he looked on.
"But if Lansit accidentally injures Yamato-" he was cut off again by his elder brother.
"Kakeru," Satoru sighed. "His name is Lantis. Try to remember and besides, he won't hurt Yamato. Can't you tell? He's in full control of the situation." He stated; his eyes were transfixed on the scene. `He's a very interesting person indeed…' Satoru thought. `He's good. Better than I thought.' He slowly headed over to the two. And Kakeru followed after him. `I thought he was merely relaxing up in that tree. But it seems as though he was watching the match between Hiroshi and Yamato and picked up on Yamato's hesitance to strike Hiroshi…' Satoru was originally going to have a brief talk about it with the young boy but it now seemed as though he might not need to. It appeared as though the Shidou's guest had addressed it with the boy already.
"Woa!" Yamato cried out as he stumbled back and fell.
Lantis crouched down at eye level. "That's enough now," he said gently and a small bird perched on his shoulder. He held up his fingers for the bird to fly onto and the feathered creature took up the invitation. It chirped happily and the slight disappointed look on Yamato's face instantly faded away and was replaced with a smile.
"Class is almost over now Yamato." Satoru said as he approached from behind the boy.
"Satoru Sensei… Kakeru Sensei…" the boy stuttered.
"Why not go with my younger brother and tell the class that they have free time until your parents pick you up?" He asked kindly.
The boy nodded and ran a few steps then turned around, "Thank you for helping me…" Unsure of what to call him, the boy simply added, "Sensei."
"Hey don't get a head of yourself, Lance" Kakeru eyed Lantis
"Lance?" Lantis repeated.
"Kakeru is horrible with names. Allow me to apologize on his behalf." Satoru said as he stood beside the black haired man and the bird flew from Lantis' finger onto his shoulder.
He was stoic. "May I assume that you are still standing here because you wished to speak with me?"
"Would you care to assist me while I'm instructing Kendo classes?" he said cutting right to the point.
Lantis contemplated it for a moment. He would be staying in the Shidou household for at least a little while so he felt it necessary to do something other than simply lounge around all day. It would give him something to do at any rate. He smiled "Sure, why not?"
TBC