Unlike Umi, who couldn't chase the rider of the robot named Eagle Vision, there were no walls of light or anything else blocking Hikaru from the magical horse rider except the distance. Determined not to give up, she ran with all her might to catch up with the man... Even though he didn't leave any traces, Hikaru felt she knew where to go.
"Hikaru!" Umi and Fuu called out to her.
"Wait! I'll find him!"
"He's a stranger! What do you want to do?"
At the very least... "Thank him!" Hikaru replied, waving. Unfortunately, she looked back and didn't see what was in front of her.
"Watch out!"
Too late. She couldn't stop in time...
"PUU!" Mokona was almost stepped on by her. Hikaru, losing control of her body, fell face-first onto the floor. "Puu! Puu!" Mokona sounded worried.
"Hikaru, are you okay?" Fuu asked quickly.
"I'm fine..." Hikaru said, holding back the pain. She rubbed her knees.
"Really?" Fuu didn't believe her. She checked her over carefully.
"Really, I'm fine." Hikaru exclaimed happily when she saw Mokona jumping into her lap. "Mokona!" Hikaru immediately grabbed the rabbit-like creature and hugged it tightly. She rubbed Mokona's soft fur, and Mokona squealed with delight.
"You two are still close..."
"Mokona, I'm sorry I almost killed you!"
"You hurt yourself, Hikaru," Umi corrected Hikaru's words. She shook her head, "Oh my God, you're still so clumsy..." Umi pulled Hikaru up.
Mokona jumped up and down excitedly in a certain direction.
"It wants us to follow it!"
"You're still great at understanding Mokona, Hikaru!"
"Let's go, everyone!"
Mokona stopped and bounced up and down in front of a closed door. The door was large and beautiful, similar to the one leading to the Great Hall where they had met Clef.
"Do you want me to open it?" Hikaru asked. "Alright... what's inside—" Hikaru was startled half to death when a woman emerged from behind the door and suddenly hugged her.
"Long time no see! I've missed you, my dear!"
"Caldina?!" Umi and Fuu exclaimed in unison.
"Let go, I can't breathe!" Hikaru struggled to free herself.
"Oh, oh! I forgot!" Caldina laughed in her characteristic accent. "How are you all?"
"You look well, Caldina," Hikaru said, gasping for breath.
"Of course..."
Then, a man emerged from the room...
"LaFarga!" Umi and Fuu exclaimed in unison again. "You live in the castle too?" Umi asked. LaFarga just smiled...
Caldina laughed. "Hahaha... he has to live in the castle. We're married!"
"Wow!" Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu exclaimed together. Hikaru now hugged her to congratulate her. "There will be a baby!" She was so happy.
Caldina blushed, as did LaFarga. She laughed again. "That's still a long way off!" Caldina patted Hikaru's shoulder, feeling awkward. She tried to change the topic. She seemed to be looking for someone... "Isn't he with you?" she asked LaFarga. "He should be here!"
"Who, Cal?" Fuu asked, also looking around.
Caldina suddenly straightened up. Her hands were on her hips and her face puffed up in annoyance. "Hey, don't just hide there. Come here, you shy one..." The person Caldina was looking for was hiding behind one of the room's pillars. "You..." Caldina finally approached and dragged him... "Why are you hiding?" The person was so stubborn. "Don't be shy. You finally get to meet them again!"
"Who?" Umi wanted to know. The person finally revealed himself; a tall young man with bangs covering his eyes. He bowed deeply. "You look like Ascot..." Umi approached him and looked closely. "Are you also a monster tamer?"
Umi didn't understand, and Caldina burst into laughter. "This young man is Ascot!"
Umi was very surprised. "WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE! The last time I saw him, he was this short!" Ascot used to take the form of a child... "He couldn't have grown this tall!" To see Ascot now, Umi had to strain to look up. "Impossible..." No, this is very possible, she thought. This is Cephiro! She felt like fainting.
"Ascot decided to grow taller to impress you—"
Ascot quickly covered Caldina's mouth. His face instantly turned bright red.
"What?" Umi wanted to know more.
Caldina managed to free herself from Ascot. "You're making it hard for me to breathe!"
"S-sorry..."
"Oh my God, you really are Ascot!" Umi exclaimed. "You've really grown, Ascot! Honestly, I'm glad to see you're okay."
The redness in Ascot's face only deepened... Looking at Umi's face, he seemed mesmerized.
"I'm also glad to see you all again!" Hikaru said.
"Even so, we have to apologize," Caldina said. "We were once the people who did bad things to Cephiro, and to you too."
"I swear never to raise my weapon against the people who protect Cephiro..." LaFarga said.
Ascot added, "You taught me how I should care for my friends. Even if they are monsters, they are all accepted to live in the castle now. Thank you..."
"Can you show us?" Umi asked Ascot. Ascot nodded happily.
In the midst of these difficult conditions, it turns out that there are still good things happening. Everyone seemed to have gathered in the castle, all determined to protect Cephiro. This meant that Cephiro still had more strength to endure. Hikaru suddenly remembered something she had left unfinished.
"Umm... I want to ask something. When we were checking the situation outside the castle earlier, we were attacked by a combat robot from Autozam..."
"We saw your battle..." said LaFarga.
"Hey, you're not hurt, are you?!" Caldina asked suddenly, worried.
"We're fine..." Fuu reassured her. "Thanks to someone."
"Who?" Caldina wanted to know.
"A man," Umi replied. "He was riding a flying horse. He was wearing black combat clothes and... I hope I didn't see wrong, he was with a butterfly. He shot something to stop Hikaru's battle with that Autozam robot."
LaFarga's face turned sour. Caldina and Ascot fell silent. Hikaru noticed this and felt uneasy.
"Do you know who he is?" Fuu asked.
"Of course," LaFarga answered curtly. "That coward..."
Suddenly something flew quickly past their noses. Everyone was shocked. Umi was stunned to see the butterfly right in front of her eyes. "What did you say? A BUTTERFLY?!" the butterfly shouted, hitting Umi's head, making Umi scream.
"Stop it!"
"I won't accept this! I'll get you back—" Before it could do anything possibly worse, Mokona grabbed it... "LET GO OF ME, RABBIT!" The small butterfly struggled, and Mokona pinned it down, jumping around excitedly.
"Mokona!" Hikaru immediately pulled Mokona into her embrace. The butterfly finally managed to free itself and flew high above their heads. Hikaru was stunned... "You're that butterfly!"
"What are you looking at?" it asked boldly. "I'm not a butterfly. I'm a pixie, a fairy."
"A fairy?"
"You've never seen a fairy? Tsk tsk tsk. Let me tell you." The fairy flew low, right in front of Hikaru's eyes. "A fairy is a special creature, with a combination of human and animal powers." It laughed, proud of itself.
Hikaru could see that. The fairy had a human body, but its size and appearance were like a butterfly. Its wings flapped and each agile movement left a trail of light.
"So... do you have a name?"
"Primera."
"I'm Hikaru... This is Umi," Hikaru introduced Umi, who was still frowning, annoyed at the butterfly. "And this is Fuu." Fuu bowed politely. "Sorry that we didn't know you."
"Well... It's understandable."
"Primera, may I know, who was the person with you earlier? Where is he now?"
"Person?"
"You were with him during our battle against the Autozam robot in the sky of Cephiro, weren't you?"
"You mean Lord Lantis?"
Lantis? Hikaru finally understood. That was also the name Eagle Vision had murmured. "Can we meet him?"
"You can't meet him." Primera turned away from them. "He's mine."
Primera flew away from them. Hikaru watched, feeling disappointed. Umi and Fuu stood by her side. "She's an unpleasant fairy..." Umi remarked.
"Yes..."
Hikaru still felt uneasy. She didn't expect that not everyone would be friendly with them. The atmosphere around them turned gloomy. Whoever he was, this young man named Lantis didn't seem to be liked here.
At first faint, they then heard the sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps on the floor. Primera could be heard talking quickly to someone. Both of them approached. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu were startled.
"Lord Lantis!" Primera called out in a coquettish voice. "Let's go quickly..."
Lantis appeared before them. He was very tall with short black hair. His eyes were dark, so cold and emitted a hostile look. There was no smile... or joy on his face, as if smiling was the hardest thing for him to do.
"... Don't look at them. Just pass by..." Primera said, lifting her nose.
Hikaru's uneasiness grew stronger. She didn't know whether to greet him or what. Hikaru was convinced that this person was not an enemy, but as a friend, he was acting unpleasantly. Was it just because they were meeting for the first time and didn't know each other yet? Or was it because they were wrong, starting their introduction with a bad impression... listening to LaFarga's words, "That coward..."
Hikaru stood rooted to the spot, only able to stare at his face, directly into his dark eyes that stared back at her, and then at his figure as he walked towards the castle exit. Why did this person look so familiar? And his eyes... there was something there, the secret to why there was deep sadness and anger in them.
Hikaru remembered what she had to say. "Thank you..." Lantis stopped and turned to Hikaru. "You saved us. Thank you!"
Hikaru waited for his response. She felt the anxiety of her two friends standing close behind her.
"So... you are the Magic Knights," Lantis said softly. A sigh escaped his lips, as if he was finally satisfied with knowing who the Magic Knights were. Lantis continued walking. He caught LaFarga's meaningful look. "I know that..." he said to LaFarga, "I'm not welcome here at all." He passed LaFarga and left. Primera followed, not forgetting to sneer at them.
"She's a really unpleasant fairy..." Umi sneered back.
"A very cold man..." Fuu expressed her impression.
"He..." Hikaru said uncertainly. "I feel like I've seen him before..."
"Of course he seems familiar," LaFarga replied, his dislike for Lantis completely honest. "Lantis is Zagato's brother."