"I want to go to Cephiro."
Umi and Fuu's eyes widened. They had never thought of this before. "Hikaru?"
"My resolve hasn't changed," Hikaru said firmly once again. "I want to return to Cephiro. I want to help the land that Emeraude has protected for so long. I want to make amends for the mistakes I made against that land..."
They were silent for a long time, processing her words. Umi and Fuu finally understood. They realized they wanted the same thing.
"Yes," Umi nodded.
"Me too." Fuu concluded their shared resolve.
"I want to do something..." Hikaru's sentence hung in the air. Slowly, she turned towards the sky behind her, which she felt was radiating a strong light.
Suddenly, the floor of Tokyo Tower where they stood jolted and cracked. They were very surprised, without warning they felt the familiar sensation again... The floor beneath them seemed to give way and light was everywhere... enveloping, blinding their eyes...
"What is this light?!" Hikaru shielded her eyes, shouting.
"It's like the light that appeared when we were summoned to Cephiro!"
"Are we going back to Cephiro?"
Hikaru's eyes widened. Open?! The portal to Cephiro was open?! The path to Cephiro?! The light became more intense and blinded them. Hikaru had no time to celebrate, her attention was drawn to her world receding and shrinking, as if they were entering a long corridor. How could this be? Were they being summoned again?
The shocked screams of Umi and Fuu became faint in her ears, as if she were alone in that place. It was useless to search... She closed her eyes, deciding to believe that what was happening would bring her to the world she desired, which was to return to Cephiro. For a moment, she felt she was touching something like mist and moving forward through it; the boundary between two worlds...
Right. Our journey back then was so heroic. Now, I am in that world again. Even though what I feel is sadness, how can I regret it? Hikaru felt like she was speaking in her sleep. She was sure, she was still dreaming...
She was amazed by the strong wind... blowing against her. As she opened her eyes, as if about to burst her eardrums, she heard the frightened screams of Umi and Fuu. She was not in her bed, but free-falling in the air!
"WHERE ARE WE?" Umi flailed, as if there was something to hold on to. She was in an extreme panic. "We're falling! WE'RE FALLING!" There were still thousands of meters below them before they would hit the ground. "HELP!"
Umi screamed louder, her voice growing hoarse as lightning struck dangerously close to them. Again and again, bolts of lightning flashed near, relentless.
"Lightning in Cephiro? This isn't Cephiro..."
"How can you think in a situation like this, Fuu?!" Umi yelled incredulously.
"The sky is black!"
"WE'RE GOING TO CRASH INTO THE OCEAN!"
"But that's not the ocean! It's land!"
Hikaru's eyes widened as she saw the rough, jagged surface of the earth below them...
"I DON'T CARE! WE'RE GOING TO HIT IT!"
"Calm down, Um-" Fuu said, trying to find humor in their situation, laughing.
"CAN'T CALM DOWN!"
"We can fly-"
Umi suddenly went silent when, unexpectedly, she hit something soft. Her free fall stopped. She saw that Hikaru and Fuu had experienced the same thing. She tried to sit up. She found herself sitting on a massive creature, a blue fish with glittering scales and wings. The fish made a strange noise, as if it was happy to see them.
"Fyula? Fyula!" Umi recognized it. "You're Fyula, right?" The fish answered with the same sound. "You're Clef's fish! You saved us."
Fuu gasped. "So, we are really in Cephiro?"
"It can't be! Where are the floating green mountains, the seas, the forests..." Umi choked up. "This isn't Cephiro! This is hell!"
Hikaru clung tightly to Fyula. She gazed at the world before her with empty eyes... Her excitement vanished in an instant. "Cephiro..." This was truly Cephiro.
Fyula flew in a certain direction. Hikaru looked at the sky. The sun was nowhere to be seen. There was no light, not even stars.
"Where are you taking us, Fyula?" Umi asked. Once again, Fyula only responded with its peculiar sound. It continued on its chosen path.
They traveled in silence after their biggest question was answered. They passed over vast, desolate land, if they could interpret it that way. Everything was dead, no trees or other living creatures. They wondered if there were cities in Cephiro, like in their world, and soon their question was answered in the form of the eerie ruins of a civilization, covering a vast area.
"Did a war or a natural disaster happen here?" Fuu asked tensely. The only references she had for such a state were war or natural disaster. There was no answer. Hikaru and Umi were lost in their own thoughts.
"Where are the people?" Umi asked after a while. No one dared to think in that direction. With such emptiness, she knew the worst: death or mass slaughter. Umi shook her head vigorously.
"Where are the people..." Hikaru tried to remain optimistic. "Where did they all go..."
"Right," Fuu agreed. "There must be a place where people took refuge." Fuu looked around, searching until she spotted something in the distance. "A place... Is that it?"
Little by little, its massive, majestic form became more apparent, standing tall in stark contrast to its surroundings...
"A castle?!"
The structure was protected by a kind of transparent, shimmering barrier... Fyula flew through it. The three girls were astounded... They were utterly confused.
"Never seen a place like this before... It's inhabited." Umi pointed out.
Dense, lush trees, springs, small rivers, and lakes... Houses... People were looking back at them... Men, women, children... they were busy with something. And men and women in special attire with weapons strapped to their bodies... They passed all this, heading to the center, a complex of many towers. One tower stood the tallest in the middle...
Fyula descended and landed smoothly on one of the towers. Fyula let out a joyful cry.
"Let's get down..." Hikaru suggested.
"Hey, we don't know what this place is..." Umi tried to stop Hikaru.
"Fyula wants us to get down..."
"You still understand animal language, Hikaru?"
"Hey, hey..." Fuu patted her friends' shoulders. "We are in the right place." Fuu smiled and pointed. "This is Cephiro."
Hikaru and Umi turned and their faces lit up with joy. "Presea!"