One day, three middle-school girls, Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, and Fuu Hououji were on field trips to Tokyo Tower for their respective classes from their respective schools, but were transported to a magical realm called Cephiro. When they were there, a wizard named Clef told them that Princess Emeraude, the "Pillar" of Cephiro, whose duty it was to use her willpower and prayers to uphold the land of Cephiro, was captured by the High Priest Zagato, and she summoned the three girls to become legendary warriors known as the "Magic Knights" who were prophesied to save Cephiro from ultimate destruction. Clef gave the girls magical powers and magic armor called "guards," and the three heroines set off on their quest.

The trio then went to the Forest of Silence, where they befriended the blacksmith, Presea, who gave them magical weapons, and a white, fluffy creature named Mokona who guided the girls in their journey. Another ally they gained along the way was the wandering swordsman Ferio, whom Fuu fell in love with. In order to become the Magic Knights, the girls first had to awaken legendary spirits known as the Mashin, who function like "mecha" in combat. In order to do that, the heroines needed to fight against numerous monsters as well as Zagato's henchmen, overcoming these battles with the sheer power of their will.

Once they became true Magic Knights, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu infiltrated Zagato's fortress to rescue Princess Emeraude. They battled Zagato, and triumphed over him, but he perished from the battle, much to Princess Emeraude's despair and rage. Hatred took her over, and she tried to murder the Magic Knights, yet the innocence left in her told the Magic Knights what their true purpose was. She said that as the "pillar", she needed to devote herself fully to upholding Cephiro, yet Emeraude and Zagato fell in love with each other. Her duty as pillar wouldn't allow her to be with Zagato, and her romantic feelings for him led to Cephiro slowly eroding away. She blamed the erosion of Cephiro on the weakness of her own will. She revealed to the girls that she summoned them to become the Magic Knights so they would kill her. Zagato's reason to kill the Magic Knights was because he wanted to protect Emeraude. The Magic Knights triumphed over Princess Emeraude, killing her and granting her wish, but their hearts were broken beyond repair, knowing that they killed not only the very person they sought to protect, but also the man she loved. They were sent back to their own world, but what should have been a moment of celebration became a moment of mourning. The girls were traumatized by the battle, and unable to re-adjust to their normal lives back in Tokyo.

Some time has passed since then…

Hikaru stood in what appeared to be a lonely void, surrounded by what appeared to be a starry night sky, as tears rolled down her face as she remembered the horrors that she experienced in Cephiro. She collapsed to her knees in anguish. She started crying. "It can't be true… Was I… The true villain… All along?" But then a cyan fog appeared before her and she heard a woman's voice laugh maniacally. The ominous, cruel cackle chilled her to the bone. She looked up to see who was there.

When Hikaru turned her head upwards, she saw what appeared to be the silhouette of a woman with very long fingernails in a long black dress with large shoulder pads and a blue cape. Her body was entirely in silhouette, and thus Hikaru was unable to make out who that woman was. The silhouette had ominous, glowing red eyes. The mystery woman shrieked in a sadistic tone, "The Pillar of Cephiro is but a corpse. Soon this world will become a realm of darkness! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Hikaru rose up to her feet and gasped, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Soon, all that there is will forever cease to be. Everything will be no more. Not only Cephiro. Soon, all worlds will belong TO ME! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Right next to the large woman in shadows, Hikaru saw a silhouette of another figure. A young girl of the same height as her with long hair, in what appeared to be some kind of body suit. Then the larger woman's form morphed into more abstract forms before breaking apart into a black mist. The mist surrounded Hikaru, who felt fear and terror as it engulfed her. She was no longer surrounded by a starry night sky. Now, she was trapped in an empty black void. Then the woman appeared before her and slashed at her with her fingernails…

Hikaru gasped and awoke in panic on the floor of a small room at her family's kendo school. She breathed heavily at the terror of what she witnessed in her dream. She felt her heart pounding rapidly and sweat pouring down her forehead. But after a minute or so, she became calmer and more relaxed. She let out a sigh of relief and said, "Just a dream."

Hikaru then opened her window, letting in all the bright sunlight. She shielded her eyes from the blinding sunlight until they adjusted to it.

"But that couldn't have been a mere dream. What Umi, Fuu, and I went through in Cephiro really happened." Hikaru then walked over to the garden and put on her slippers. She then walked over to her pet dog, Hikari, who was lying in the grass, and crouched on over to hug him. "Good morning, Hikari. Miss me?" Hikari walked over to her and affectionately licked her face. Hikaru let out a friendly giggle, but then she started to ponder for a moment. "That woman… who was she?"

Later that afternoon, Hikaru was kneeling at the dojo wearing a white hakama with a solemn look on her face, practically struggling to prevent itself from bursting into tears. A far cry from her usual happy-go-lucky nature that she has usually had before the trials that came before her in Cephiro. Everything around here was unusually quiet.

All three of Hikaru's older brothers eavesdrop on Hikaru in her solemn, depressed state. The youngest of the brothers wore a black boys' school uniform, the middle brother wore a tan sweatshirt and a light grey pair of pants, and the oldest one wore a black hakama similar to Hikaru's white one. All three of them had reddish-brown hair with eyes to match.

The youngest of the brothers, Kakeru, said, "Hikaru hasn't been her usual cheerful self."

The middle brother, Masaru, replied, "She's been like that ever since she came back from her Tokyo Tower field trip."

Kakeru started to panic a bit. "Do you think something happened to her while she was there!?"

Masaru then asked, "What do you think may have happened!?"

Kakeru then said, "What if rude tourists knocked her around while she was at the souvenir stand?"

Masaru then shouted, "Or some weird creep tried to pull the moves on her!? I won't allow any guy to be rude to our little Hikaru!"

Kakeru smirked, "If a guy was rude to her, I'll find out who and give him a good thrashing. Nobody messes with our little Hikaru.

The oldest of the three brothers, Satoru, walked past his two younger brothers and walked up to Hikaru. He knelt down in front of her, Hikaru whispered, "Satoru…"

Satoru placed his hand on Hikaru's forehead as if she were having a fever. "You're not telling us what has been bothering you?" Hikaru tilted her head downwards and closed her eyes. "It's okay. I won't press you into talking about it."

Hikaru said tearfully, "I'm sorry, Satoru…"

"If you'd rather carry this burden by yourself, stick to that decision. But if you'd rather consult with us about it, feel free."

"Okay!" Hikaru felt better and had a bit more confidence.

Masaru then started tightly hugging Hikaru from behind, saying, "You're not being fair, Satoru!"

Hikaru called, "Hey! Watch it, Masaru!"

Masaru then loosened his embrace a bit. "I'm just worried about you too, Hikaru."

"Thanks, Masaru."

Kakeru then rushed over and started hugging Hikaru too as Masaru let go of her. Kakeru shouted, "Am I not worried about our adorable baby sister too?"

Hikaru shouted, "Hey! Let go!"

Kakeru loosened his grip on Hikaru, and started sobbing, saying, "If something bothers you, you can cry on my shoulder!"

Hikaru smiles sweetly, saying, "You can cry on mine as well, Kakeru. Thank you for being there for me, my brothers! I love you all so much!"

Meanwhile, in a large mansion located in another part of Tokyo, Umi Ryuuzaki was sitting down at the breakfast table with her father as her mother set the table, adorning it with numerous foods like croissants, gravy, slices of cucumber, and a few other things to eat. Umi's plate had a fried egg, two bits of broccoli, and two small pieces of squash. As soon as her mom sat down for breakfast, Umi slowly dragged her knife across the fried eggs. But she was hesitant to start eating. Mrs. Ryuuzaki started to worry. She asked, "What's wrong, Umi? Do you not like my cooking anymore?"

Umi snapped out of her trance and tried to act cheerful and bubbly. "It's not that at all! Your cooking is still great!"

Mr. Ryuuzaki lowered the paper, saying, "Seriously, what's wrong, Umi? You haven't been yourself lately. And it's been a while since we've had your homemade cakes."

Umi continued to act upbeat. "I'm okay, guys. It's nothing to worry about. I'm just not hungry."

Mrs. Ryuuzaki said, "If you aren't feeling well, perhaps we should take you to our doctor."

Umi still tried to keep up the facade. "I'm perfectly healthy. You don't need to worry, mom and dad."

Mr. Ryuuzaki asked, "Are you struggling to find a boyfriend?"

Umi started to feel embarrassed. "Dad, that's ridiculous!"

Mr. Ryuuzaki put his newspaper away, saying, "You could benefit from some romance. After all, it was romance that led to me marrying this wonderful woman you call 'mom.'"

Mrs. Ryuuzaki replied, "Oh, honey..." as she and her loving husband went all lovey-dovey with each other.

Umi was aggravated at what she was seeing. "Guys, not so early in the morning, geez!" But after less than a minute, she started getting pensive. "I wish my biggest problem was simply romance…"

As Fuu left the gates of her house, a Western-style house with lots of trees around it, she called to her parents, saying, "I'll be back soon." She took off for school

After taking a few steps, she heard another girl's voice calling her, saying, "Fuu! Wait!"

Fuu then turned around and saw the girl. The girl was her older sister, Kuu. She called her name. "Kuu?"

Kuu came up to Fuu, saying, "Do you need some company?"

After walking a few blocks towards Fuu's school, Kuu said to Fuu, "Mom and Dad are worried about you since your Tokyo Tower field trip."

Fuu felt guilty. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I just am able to see how hard you try to make it seem like no big deal. That's how I know it's serious."

Fuu was at a loss for words.

Kuu continued trying to be supportive. "Fuu, do you have anyone to talk to?"

Fuu replied, "Well, actually I do."

Kuu smiled compassionately. "That's good. Because it can be hard when you think nobody understands. But if you're not alone, if you have someone to talk to, someone to give you advice, things get better.

"You're right, Kuu."

"Does mother know you're meeting those friends you mentioned?"

"Indeed. We plan on meeting up today at Tokyo Tower after school."

But then, in an instant, Kuu started getting cheery and bubbly. "Tokyo Tower? The sweets they have there are at the top of the class! Especially the Chicken Buns!"

Fuu replied, "Well, I'll be sure to buy some for you."

"Thank you very much, Fuu! I can't wait!" Kuu then ran off towards her own school.

Fuu then looked off into the distance. She had a somber feeling in her heart. "Tokyo Tower. That is a place that we will never forget."

It was twilight. Hikaru was back at the observatory of the Tokyo Tower where she was on that field trip to Tokyo Tower. She pondered on what she, Umi, and Fuu went through back in Cephiro. She kept thinking about the horrific tragedies they endured. She kept thinking about Princess Emeraude's dying words, "Magic Knights… thank you…"

"Princess Emeraude…" whispered Hikaru. She felt that she couldn't hold her tears back any longer.

But then she felt someone tightly hug her from behind. She quickly gasped in surprise. She heard a familiar voice behind her, saying, "Careful, Hikaru. I don't need you bursting into tears." The person behind Hikaru loosened her embrace. Hikaru turned around and recognized who it was. It was one of her two friends from Cephiro: Umi, with the other one, Fuu in tow. Umi then continued. "Because if you do, I might actually follow suit."

Hikaru then called, "Umi. Fuu."

Fuu took a few steps towards Hikaru, asking, "Are you not sleeping much lately? You look a little pale."

Hikaru smiles. "Thanks for being here for me, you guys." She pointed at a nearby binoculars stand. "You see that, Fuu? That's the binoculars stand that I was looking through during that field trip to Tokyo Tower."

Fuu replied, "I see that. Your time ran out on those binoculars, and I gave you an additional yen coin."

"I rushed on over to thank you for it, and then I came across Umi and her classmates. And that's when it happened."

Umi somberly said. "Yes. When it happened. When we were summoned to Cephiro."

Hikaru continued. "I have dreams about Cephiro. The world we were summoned the last time we came here. The volcano, the sea, the floating mountain… A magical realm supported by Princess Emeraude. Its Pillar." Hikaru's voice started to crack. "And that horrific battle that took place there. Princess Emeraude. The Pillar of Cephiro. With the power of her will, she maintained peace and tranquility in her kingdom single-handedly. I thought I would be helping her. Protecting her." Hikaru couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She began breaking down. "But instead… I ended up…" She clenched her fists in frustration over the outcome of her battles. "With her blood on my hands…" The clenching of her fists became so tight that her fingernails started to penetrate the outer layers of the skin on the palms of her hands. Slight trickles of blood started to leak out through her fingers.

Umi noticed this and gasped in horror. "Stop it, Hikaru!"

Realizing what she was doing, Hikaru snapped out of it and opened her palms. Fuu walked up to her with a handkerchief and wiped away the blood, saying, "The spells we learned in Cephiro are unusable here. I can't heal you."

"I'm sorry. I just thought that becoming the Magic Knights would make us heroes. I was hot-headed and I thought I was fighting for justice. I never stopped to think about why Zagato started such a terrible fight in the first place. Or the motivations behind Princess Emeraude's actions."

Umi stepped in. "None of us did. We were summoned to Cephiro out of the blue. When we arrived there, I was fixated on going back home. Then we learned magic and got our evolving weapons and armor and revived the Mashin. We all thought we would help Princess Emeraude and save Cephiro."

It was Fuu's turn to speak. "Cephiro seemed like a world from a role playing game, yet it was quite real. But unlike in an RPG, there were no definite heroes and villains. That battle took a horrid toll on us. Everyone from us to Zagato to Emeraude followed their hearts. And that brought tragedy."

Umi replied, "Speaking of RPGs, I couldn't bring myself to play them anymore. It feels too real. I know that the game keeps telling me that I'm the hero and the guys I'm fighting are evil. But I started thinking that they consider their actions justified. And they think that I'm the bad guy. I tried playing games in genres lighter on story like platformers and shoot-em-ups, but they didn't fare much better. They felt just as real as the RPGs. The one-dimensional, stereotypically evil personalities of their antagonists felt like a manipulative lie that I've been told for my whole life. And don't even get me started on beat-em-ups. I started feeling like a heartless bully whenever I played them."

Hikaru took a stand. She said, "I want to go back to Cephiro. Nothing ever changes there." She opened her eyes and stood firmly as she called, "I want to return to Cephiro and help the land that Princess Emeraude loved so much!"

Umi and Fuu said simultaneously, "We concur."

But then a large blinding light engulfed the observation deck, just like the first time around. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu shielded their eyes from the light. Hikaru shouted, "What's that light!?"

Umi replied, "It's just like the light from the day…"

Then Fuu finished the sentence, "when we were summoned to Cephiro!"

The light engulfed the trio again just like last time.

As soon as the light waned, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu found themselves free-falling through the skies falling several miles in a stormy sky. Umi shouted, "Where are we!? The sky is black! AAAAAAHH!"

Hikaru heard a rumbling nearby. "Thunder!?"

The girls saw below them nothing but a big desert with spiky mountains beneath them. They screamed in terror as they fell towards the ground.

Umi shouted "We'll fall into the sea!"

Fuu pointed at the ground below, saying, "That's not the ocean!" It wasn't the ocean. It was really the ground with a slew of mountains all across it.

Umi shouted, "But the ground looks like water!"

But then, they landed on the back of a familiar escort. A creature they instantly recognized. It was the same flying fish that rescued them the last time they were summoned to Cephiro. Fuu asked, "Fyula?"

Umi said, "You're Fyula, aren't you!? Fyula! You saved us! Uh, again! Thank you so much. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Fuu said, then we must be… in Cephiro!"

Umi felt flabbergasted. "What!? Then, what happened to the volcano!? The ocean!? The floating mountain!? All I'm seeing is a gargantuan, rocky landscape!"

Hikaru asked, "Where are you taking us, Fyula?"

But then, they were taken to a strange castle that looked like three large crystal spires surrounded by a lot of crystal stalagmites every which way and the middle spire seemed to have a structure to it like a building. A powerful barrier surrounded the castle. Hikaru said, "A castle?" Fyula flew right through the barrier with the girls aboard his back, and flew through the opening in the middle spire of the castle, which looked like a golden plated window with jewels around it.

Fyula landed on the floor of the castle after the window behind him closed, and then the girls spotted someone there that they recognized. Hikaru instantly called out in surprise. "Presea!"

Master Smith Presea was there right before the girls. The girls dismounted from Fyula, and Hikaru then rushed on over to Presea and tightly embraced her. "Presea!"

Presea was happy to see Hikaru again. "Hikaru." She looked over Hikaru's shoulder and saw Umi and Fuu there too. "Umi. Fuu." Presea and Hikaru let go of their embrace, and then Presea lost all joy in her expression as she started speaking. "After you left, Guru Clef explained everything. As a Pharle, I knew the legend of the Magic Knights, but I didn't know the terrible secret." She was on the verge of starting to cry. "I'm sorry. The weapons I forged for you brought you nothing but grief." Hikaru tightened her eyes. As far as she was concerned, Presea was in the same tragic boat as her. Presea started to lead the girls, saying, "Anyhow, we should be going. The Guru and the Prince are waiting."

Umi replied, "Hey, we met the Guru, but what Prince?"

Hikaru and Fuu looked at each other curiously. They were curious.

Presea said, "Just follow me." The girls followed Presea into the next room. They walked through the door and then Presea said, "Guru. My Prince. I present to you Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu.

The girls saw Guru Clef in the room. There was also a nearby chair with someone sitting in it but the girls couldn't see who. Clef turned around towards the girls. Hikaru called his name, rather meekly. "Clef…"

Clef began speaking to the girls. "Girls from another world. I recklessly sent you into a horrible battle." He soberly closed his eyes. "I am sorry."

Umi replied, almost tearfully, "No. You knew Princess Emeraude better than we did. Her deception must have been really hard on you."

"Umi…"

Hikaru clenched her fist in tearfulness. "We failed Cephiro and Princess Emeraude…"

But then the girls heard a familiar voice saying, "That's where you are mistaken." The person in the chair rose from it and turned towards the girls. The girls instantly knew who it was. Fuu gasped, "Ferio!?"

Ferio continued. "Magic Knights. You gave my elder sister her wish."

Hikaru was confused. "Your sister?"

Ferio nodded his head. "Princess Emeraude was my only sibling."

Umi was shocked. "Then you're the Prince?!"

"I am the prince, but I spent most of my youth in fencing tournaments. I spent very little time here in the castle."

Fuu thought it was all starting to make sense to her. "So that's how you knew the legend of the Magic Knights."

Ferio nodded again. "Only those close to Princess Emeraude knew the full story. I should have told you. The title of Prince is a burdensome one. I was trying to keep my secret from everyone."

Fuu clutched her fist and looked away, saying, "Then I…" Fuu then turned towards Ferio, with tears starting to leak from her eyes. "Your sister…" Fuu tilted her head downwards and started crying.

Ferio embraced Fuu, saying, "Just before the Pillar passed away, I heard my sister's voice. She was happy to be able to pray for the man she loved rather than simply be the Pillar. She found peace in her final moments."

Clef said, "I also heard her speak. She told me to tell the Magic Knights, 'I'm sorry,' and 'Thank you.'"

Hikaru started crying. "You're… welcome?…" All three of the Magic Knights started crying Even though Princess Emeraude found peace in her final moments, the girls still couldn't forgive themselves for killing her. It took approximately around a minute, but after they had exhausted their tears, Clef asked, "Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu. Why are you here? Didn't Princess Emeraude return you to your world after you granted her wish?"

Hikaru replied, "We don't know either. There was a flash of light outside the Tokyo Tower windows."

Fuu continued. "It was the same as when Princess Emeraude summoned us."

Clef was confused and even scared. "But only the Pillar should be able to summon those from another world."

Umi asked, "So you didn't summon us?"

"No. Only the Pillar has such an ability, and Cephiro currently lacks a Pillar."

Hikaru asked, "Is that why Cephiro looks completely different?"

Clef explained. "Yes. We have lost the Pillar. She held this world together through her will alone. Without her, Cephiro is a land of distortion."

Umi said, "So when the Princess passed away, Cephiro crumbled."

Clef continued. "Those of us who had the strength used our will to build this castle for our people."

"Fuu asked, "Then this castle was made out of will power?"

Clef replied, "Yes, but it can't last for long. If we don't find a new pillar as soon as possible, Cephiro will disappear altogether. And as if that's not enough, armies from other lands are drawing near."

Hikaru asked, "Other lands!?"

The ceiling changed its appearance to look like a map of the sky, showing Cephiro and three strange looking planets surrounding it. The girls asked, "What is that!?"