Sorry for the long hiatus! School got pretty busy...and then I got lazy :P
Thanks to re-watching part of Pretear with a friend, I am back into writing pretear fics mode! Hope you enjoy and feedback is welcome as always!
...
The peaceful surroundings were almost too perfect—something that slowly warned Mawata of the unease that had been suppressed inside of her once she entered this realm. Leafenia…would this place hold the answers she was hoping for? Would she be able to find her sister here?
She took a deep breath and paused in place. She could feel the breeze trying to reach out to her, trying to speak with her. But the moment she felt it's meaning begin to reach her consciousness, it faded away.
"You feel it, too? The wind, I mean," Go asked.
Mawata nodded.
"It's saying we should leave. A warning," he muttered.
Mawata looked over to him, trying to mask her frustration at being unable to hear the wind's message. After all, she had been the mortal with no magical powers. The bystander who had been able to do nothing but watch the world crumble before her. As a result of her own selfishness…
"Does it say why?" she asked back. Go shook his head.
"I'm gonna keep going regardless," he replied. Mawata frowned. The unspoken issue weighed in her mind, the issue that the Leafe knights had avoided discussing. The question she needed to ask now.
"Where is Takako?" she asked.
Go froze and then clenched his hands into fists. Strange, Mawata thought, for him to be so silent…
"She destroyed her own Leafe to wreck the havoc you see now on Liora. If she still exists from her powers as Fenril, she's probably nothing more than a shell of a being. No threat anymore…" Go mused.
"Is it possible that she and Himeno had the same fate…?" Mawata began, but was silenced by a harsh look from Go.
They continued in silence, even the peace of Leafenia not easing the tension between the two.
…
Hikari stood by the window with her eyes closed. She was trying to block out the sounds of Mannen's cries as Kei disinfected his wounds. Leafe knight he may be, but he was still human. His Leafe needed to be replenished along with traditional treatment of his wounds. Receiving a wound while pret-ed inflicted more damage because the damage was both spiritual and physical. Both the body and Leafe became wounded.
"I'm sorry," Hikari murmured, the emptiness of her shell filling with the sense of remorse. She stiffened when she felt a jacket placed onto her shoulders. Turning, she found herself facing Sasame.
"You did well. Do not be too hard on yourself," he said softly.
She nodded.
"You should go see Hayate. He has the next shard for you," he mentioned.
Hikari walked down the hall to where Hayate was placing Hajime and Shin to bed. They were exhausted—both physically and mentally from the day—and their innocent faces made Hikari wonder how long they would need to do this for. How many shards were there? Was it even necessary to collect them?
Hayate saw her standing uneasily at the doorway.
"Come in," he said. She made her way over to him and stroked Shin's head softly, trying to find peace in his sleeping form.
"This is for you," Hayate said, handing the shard to her. As soon as she touched it, the shard enveloped her in light and surged into her…
A gentle looking woman with red hair was watering flowers. She smiled and passed the watering can to her. She took it in her tiny hands, laughing as she watered the flowers. A man with long, brown hair and glasses was standing behind them, watching the scene with a smile on his face. The image faded to the scene of another stern woman with her two daughters beside the same man. A family…
Confused, Hikari frowned.
"My family," she managed after a pause. Hayate nodded.
"Himeno's biological mother passed away when she was younger, so her father remarried. She had a step mother and two stepsisters," Hayate explained.
"So, the green-haired girl…is a stepsister?" Hikari asked. Hayate nodded.
"Mawata," Hayate said.
"Ma-wa-ta," Hikari pronounced, as if feeling the name in her mouth.
"And the rest of the family?" Hikari asked.
"Have all passed away," Hayate said bluntly. Hikari nodded. She appreciated his honestly with her.
"How?" she asked as they closed the door of the room and headed down the hallway.
"That's a story for another time," Hayate said, "Get some rest now. We start again tomorrow morning."
…
A sudden jolt through his mind brought Go to his knees.
"Go?" Mawata asked, concerned, yet trying to act detached at the same time.
Your presence is not welcome here, a voice cut through his mind. The sharp tone was familiar and foreign at the same time and caused his body to shudder. The edge in the voice—the threat with the power to follow up on the threat—was hidden within the voice.
"Who are you?" Go cried out, oblivious to Mawata's voice.
The demon of your nightmares. Now leave before the peace is broken, the voice replied.
The pressure on his mind disappeared and Go shakily got back to his feet.
"She's here," Go said cryptically to Mawata, looking more determined than ever to continue, "She's here."
…
"They've been left to their own devices for too long, wouldn't you agree?" she asked.
"They pose no more threat to us as they are," another replied. The woman looked at him sharply.
"One of them came into Upper City itself not too long ago. And there are rumors that the girl was found again," the women snapped.
"But wasn't that according to your plan? You wanted her to be found. That was why you created the crack in the barrier…" a third voice interjected.
"I want the girl. Nothing more and nothing less. The knights are useless to us, but if they continue the way they are, they will become more than an insignificant nuisance," the woman countered, "Get in touch with our agent and send the message that the time has now come…"