While storms and earthquakes had been a never-before-seen sight on Cephiro just a few weeks ago, the people had gotten used to them as of late. But tonight, the weather seemed especially hostile, as bright flashes of light in all colors could be seen through the clouds. The thunder echoed throughout the barren landscapes, its echoes sounding like the cries of a thousand wars. Only select few individuals on Cephiro, knew that things were much worse.
"Lightning Bolt Onslaught!"
"Golden Death!"
A massive golden ball of magical energy lit up the battlefield as it flew towards the Magic Knights. Fuu and Umi tried evading it but were instead caught in a rain of lightning bolts that peppered their Mashins. Hikaru tried pushing the giant ball back, but was overpowered and knocked back by it. As her Mashin struck a floating chunk of the crystal barrier, Golden Death exploded, almost knocking her out.
Hearing the pained wails of the red Magic Knight, Emeraude let out a maniacal laughter, "Ha-hahahaha!"
"Princess Emeraude, get a hold of yourself!" Umi yelled out, struggling to stay standing up. "You yourself brought us here to…"
Umi couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. The thought of killing Princess Emeraude still sickened her, even more now that she was fighting alongside Zagato. However, the ruler of Cephiro seemed to have no qualms about harming them.
Golden light gathered into Emeraude's hand before forming into a white bastard sword with a golden handle and a blue cross guard. With Zagato by her side, the two of them charged at the Magic Knights, with Zagato tackling down Umi and Emeraude swinging at Fuu. They managed to barely parry with their own swords, but were still being pushed back.
"Please, Princess Emeraude!" Fuu yelled out desperately. "I don't want to harm you, but if this keeps going on, Ferio and others will die!"
"I don't care!" Emeraude yelled, her voice full of rage and murderous intent. "I just want to be together with Zagato!"
Listening to Emeraude's yells, Umi turned to Zagato, "Do you hear what she sounds like? Is this really the same Emeraude that you fell in love with!"
"She may have changed but my feelings for her stay the same," Zagato spoke adamantly. "Once all of you are dead, once Cephiro is gone, she will finally be able to be herself!"
With almost perfect timing, Zagato and Emeraude pushed the two Magic Knights back, before both unleashing powerful melee spells.
"Silver Death Strike… Diablo!"
"Shining Impact… Cynos!"
Silver colored explosion blew out of Zagato in all directions that knocked the Magic Knights back. This was then followed by a white, spiraling sword swing from Emeraude that cut into both of their abdomens. Selece and Windam were sent flying, hitting the same chunk of crystal that Rayearth was laying on top of. All three Mashins and their pilots were injured, with sparks flying everywhere and blood dripping from underneath their armors.
"Fuu-chan… Umi-chan…" Hikaru gritted her teeth, forcing herself up. "We have to keep fighting… otherwise, Cephiro…"
"I… I can't…" Umi whined, holding back tears. "Zagato and Emeraude… they remind me of my mom and dad. If either of them was in danger… they too would fight back like this!"
"And I… I do not think I can bear to kill Ferio's sister…" Fuu admitted, feeling utterly useless. "I do not want him to hate me…"
"I don't like it either" Hikaru admitted, trying to relit Rayearth's flames. "But if we don't do it… then no one else… Cephiro will…"
"Ms. Hikaru!" Fuu yelled out, seeing her collapse back down. "Winds of Healing!"
Fuu began to frantically heal both Umi and Hikaru, and while her magic worked on their Mashins as well, it was slow going. In the meanwhile, Zagato and Emeraude were charging up their most powerful spells, preparing to finish off the Magic Knights. White- and magenta-colored balls of energy lit up the sky, as the two lovers prepared to bid farewell to Cephiro.
"Darkness Burst Death Strike…"
"Oblivion Flare Purgatory Strike…"
"Rider Kick!"
Zagato nearly fell over inside his Mashin as a powerful impact struck the back of his head. His mind went blank for a moment as he was sent flying in the path of Emeraude's spell. Emeraude managed to cancel out her spell in time, however Zagato's spell was left unfinished, and detonated upon the two of them.
As an explosion of black flames dissipated, Zagato and Emeraude saw a towering armored figure. Standing up as tall as the other Mashins and being silver and gold in color, the Magic Knights wondered if Hotaru had obtained his own giant robot. But as the fire completely petered out, they could see the familiar lime-green eyes and smug expression.
"Hotaru!?" Hikaru and Zagato yelled out at the same time.
"In the flesh," the brunette young man smiled, "which is more than I can say about you, Zagato. Still hiding inside that tin can?"
"Why you insolent—!" Emeraude snarled, before Zagato stopped her.
"Calm down, Emeraude," Zagato spoke calmly, before turning towards Hotaru. "Do you really think we will fall for your childish taunts?"
"…Yeah, you are probably right," Hotaru nodded, acknowledging his short sightedness, before turning towards the Magic Knights, "HIKARU! UMI! FUU! I will keep Zagato busy! You girls take care of Emeraude!"
All five of them were shocked by Hotaru's lack of discreetness, as he blurted out his plan out in the open.
"What does he think he is doing?" Umi yelled, grabbing the sides of her Mashin's head.
"How is he going to separate the two of them?" Fuu wondered, tilting her head.
"GOT IT! GO FOR IT!" Hikaru yelled back, having been fully healed.
Zagato gritted his teeth, raising his sword and shield up, "As if I would ever let you tear us apart! …Eh?"
Before Zagato even noticed it, Hotaru had already wrapped his arms around his Mashin's waist. Seeing the giant warrior hugging his opponent, the Magic Knights were disturbed by this and Emeraude was fuming with jealousy.
"I'm afraid we got no choice," Hotaru shook his head gently.
Without a further warning, both Zagato and Hotaru disappeared. This took the women by surprise, until they heard a delayed scream and a crashing sound. Instead of teleporting or going through a wormhole, Zagato and Hotaru had crashed into the remains of the crystal barrier, at a supersonic speed. With instant acceleration, Hotaru got off of Zagato, taking a comfortable distance away from the high priest.
"Zagato!" Emeraude yelled, seeing Zagato buried halfway into the crystal.
"Ruby Lightning!"
"Sapphire Whirlpool!"
"Emerald Typhoon!"
The barrage of spells bound Emeraude in her place, preventing her from going over to help her beloved. By the time she broke out of the swirling storm of elements, the Magic Knights were already standing in her way, brandishing their swords.
"Our fight isn't over yet, Princess Emeraude," Hikaru spoke out, gripping her sword tighter.
Seeing the Magic Knights surrounding Emeraude, Zagato quickly got back up from the crystalline rubble. He was still shaken from the sudden acceleration but he had to go and help her. But just as he was about to take off, Hotaru appeared in front of him in a flash. The young man floated in front of him, with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down on Zagato.
"Going somewhere?" Hotaru asked.
"Do you believe that having your armor evolved will be enough to stand against the might of a Mashin?" Zagato asked, his magical power flaring up once more.
Having already fought Zagato multiple times, Hotaru could tell his magical powers had increased far more than his own. The Mashins were a great power multiplier, but so was his new spell. Titanium Power combined the effects of all of his previous four spells. With his size, strength, and speed all increased to new heights, these buffs didn't add to one another, but multiplied.
"In terms of magical power, you far exceed me," Hotaru admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "However, in terms of physical power, I would wager I have the upper hand."
Zagato chuckled, smelling his bluff, "And what makes you so sure about that? What makes this giant form that much more powerful than the previous?"
"It's harder, better, stronger, faster, and…" Hotaru said, unfolding his arms, revealing a white glowing orb on his chest, "I now have a weapon."
Grabbing hold of the air around the orb on his chest, Hotaru felt a jolt like never before when summoning weapons. As he pulled back, a massive strand of energy that crackled like lightning, materialized into a weapon in his hand.
It was a sword almost as long as he was tall with a huge curved, two-toned single-edge blade. The edge of the blade was bright silver and the ridge was titanium black. The back of the ridge had a row of small spikes at the deepest point of the curve and the edge had thirty small, lime-green orbs that sat flush with it. Like his other weapons, it had a silver handle with a golden pommel, with the handle being long enough for two hands. Its golden hand guard was curved with a shape somewhere between a leaf and a claw.
While Hotaru was disappointed in receiving yet another sword, he quite liked this one. Ithad significant heft to it due to being the size of a Mashin, yet felt less cumbersome than his first sword. Its blade was broad but not overly thick and seemed like it would cut through a mountain. As he held it with both hands and pointed it at Zagato, he could see his foe take a step back.
"High Priest Zagato, meet Titan Slicer," Hotaru christened his sword, before charging forth.
With the speed and flight of Titanium Power, Hotaru cleared the distance between them in one step. Zagato only had a split second to react before Hotaru brought the titanic sword down on him, but managed to block it with his shield. Although his shield took the brunt of the attack, the vast quantities of force applied to Titan Slicer's thin blade was transferred directly into his wrist.
To prevent his wrist from breaking, Zagato pulled back as quickly as he could, but was caught by surprise by Hotaru's sudden up swing. Just as instantly as Hotaru managed to change the direction of his swing, the curved blade of the Titan Slicer course corrected itself. The tip of the blade hit the underside of the black Mashin's over protruding chest, slicing right through it. A sharp pain ran across Zagato's chest upwards, with blood gushing out from the wound.
Seeing Hotaru coming in with another unpredictable swing, Zagato teleported out of the way. He reappeared hundreds of meters behind Hotaru and pointed his lance-like sword at him.
Knowing he had no time to waste, he casted as quickly as he could, "Shadow Impact… Lexus!"
"Astra!"
Before Zagato could finish his spell, a large ball of lightning flew right towards him and hit him in the face. The explosion that followed was powerful enough to send him reeling back and to make his ears ring. He was blinded for a moment, losing concentration on his spell, but he could've sworn the spell had come from Hotaru's back.
"Barrier Circle!" he cast instinctively.
Waiting for his eyesight and hearing to return, Zagato could hear several impacts from outside his barrier. As his sight returned, Zagato saw Hotaru whaling at his barrier at full force, breaking it apart little by little. Despite his quick movements, Zagato could see a small figure peeking out from behind Hotaru's shoulder. Alcyone was holding tightly onto Hotaru's hair, her lower body hidden underneath his armor.
"You!" Zagato grunted, before teleporting away again. "Lightning Bolt Onslaught!"
This time he appeared directly above Hotaru, unleashing a barrage of lightning down on his two foes. As the bolts of lightning struck Hotaru, they seemed to push him back as he was forced to block with his sword and arms.
Seeing Hotaru was unable to ground himself while flying, Alcyone yelled. "Icicle Onslaught!"
A spray of icicles the size of greatswords erupted from her bident-like staff and clashed with the lightning bolts. While she couldn't counter Zagato's spell completely, she was able to create an opening in his barrage. Seeing the opening, Hotaru flew up towards Zagato like a rocket, while swinging upwards. Combining the speed of his ascent and his swing, his sword struck the black Mashin's right armpit at double the speed of sound.
There was a loud sonic boom as Hotaru flew past Zagato, chopping the high priest's arm clean off.
"Aaaaaagh!" Zagato yelled out in pain, grasping at his missing arm.
"Arile!" Alcyone yelled back.
A blue burst of lightning struck Zagato from above, electrocuting him in his weakened state. Zagato was close to losing consciousness from pain, but he knew he couldn't give up, now that they had gotten this far.
"Eme… raude!" he called out through the pain.
Having launched their attack against Princess Emeraude, the Magic Knights found her to be far tougher than Zagato. Though Emeraude wasn't as skilled of a fighter, each of her attacks packed an overwhelming amount of force. Each slash of her sword cleaved the clouds apart and each spell she fired had enough power to rock the battlefield. However, her movements, while fast and devastating, were predictable and easy to read.
"Princess Emeraude, come to your senses!" Hikaru insisted, dodging another sword blow. "You summoned us to save this world! You wanted us to become Magic Knights so a new Pillar could be chosen! Why are you fighting us!"
"You just want to keep me away from Zagato!" Emeraude screamed, launching a powerful wind attack from her hand. "I don't care who you are, if you stand in my way, you will perish!"
As the black wind pushed back on the Mashins of the Magic Knights, it was like a continuous shockwave. The rubble around them was ground to dust and they could barely move out of the way.
Listening to Emeraude's words, Fuu realized something, "She… She doesn't remember us!"
Emeraude's assault came to an end abruptly. The wind stopped blowing and the Magic Knights saw the white Mashin staring off towards the battle with Hotaru and Zagato. Worried she might rush over to join Hotaru's fight; they were surprised as Emeraude started to chant something.
"W-What is she doing?" Umi gasped through the pain.
"She is praying," Selece answered. "She is using the Pillar's most powerful ability that allows her to affect Cephiro directly."
"Then what is she… HOTARU LOOK OUT!" Hikaru called out for her friend.
A dark purple pulsating orb formed in Emeraude's hand before she threw it in the direction of the fighting men. Seeing the orb flying towards them, Hotaru quickly moved out of the way, making sure Alcyone didn't get flung off of him. However, as he watched from afar, he noticed the orb hadn't been meant for him.
"Emeraude… what are you…" Zagato asked, before the orb struck the back of his Mashin, "do—AAAAHHH!"
A shadow enveloped the black Mashin, causing it to turn into a pitch-black silhouette, before starting to change. The silhouette's shoulders became sharper and pointier, its cape spread out and split in two, and its legs became bulkier. Finally, a spiked instrument of some kind replaced the Mashin's missing arm.
As the silhouette faded, the full transformation was revealed. Zagato's Mashin's armor was now fixed and had more layers to it, and its outline looked more vicious and spiky. Instead of sabaton-like feet, it now had hooved feet with two large claws. Its right arm looked like a thin, spiky, mechanical crab-claw. At the ends of the split cape, there were sharp claw-like spikes.
Seeing the transformation, Alcyone instinctively hid deeper inside Hotaru's armor, "That thing isn't normal…"
With an unearthly screech, the black Mashin charged at Hotaru. The brunette warrior took a flying step back to keep his distance, but the monstrous Mashin caught up to him in the blink of an eye. Before he could react, its black claw wrapped around his neck, squeezing it tightly. While the insides of the claw were sharp, Hotaru's boosted defenses managed to prevent decapitation. However, the claw was pressing firmly against his carotid arteries, making him feel light-headed.
Unable to use his sword in such close quarters, Hotaru instead started punching Zagato's head, "Let! Go! You! Stupid! ...Graaah!"
Despite his punches delivering powerful blows that dented the Mashin's helmet, Zagato didn't seem to even flinch. As Hotaru was starting to feel his mind going blank, he noticed Zagato's cape start moving. The ends of the split cape wrapped around each other, forming two sharp spikes which moved on their own volition. With Zagato holding him out by an arm's length, the spiky tendrils started jabbing at Hotaru at a rapid pace.
"Guuaaah!" Hotaru yelled out through the choking.
"Die, bodyguard!" Zagato roared, his voice sounding hoarse and monstrous.
While the spikes couldn't pierce his armor, he could still feel the power of their impacts. It was like Zagato's cape was stabbing directly into his innards at the speed of a sewing machine.
Some ways away, the Magic Knights were watching in horror at Zagato's transformation. Seeing the High Priest now dominate the battle against Hotaru, they knew they had to hurry. With Princess Emeraude charging up another enormous ball of golden light, the three of them stood firmly. Their hearts beat as one and their Mashins glowed a bright light.
"We won't let you cause more pain!" Umi yelled out.
"We will return to Tokyo together!" Fuu swore on her honor.
"I'll never lose my dear friends!" Hikaru stood her ground.
Red, green, and blue magic circles with the symbols of the Mashins appeared in front of their respective owners.
"We refuse to lose!" they all yelled as one. "Spiral Light!"
Red, green, and blue beams of light fired off in different directions, before spiraling around each other. As they merged, they formed a gigantic ball of white light that flew forward with the multicolored beams following behind.
"Golden Death!" Emeraude shouted,
As the ruler of Cephiro threw the ball of golden light larger than her Mashin, the two spells collided. Instead of exploding, the spells pushed against each other, growing more powerful as the two opposing sides fed more power into them. Hotaru watched this from afar while still being choked and stabbed, recognizing the Magic Knights' attack.
That won't be enough… they can't beat Emeraude with that attack!
"Arile!" Alcyone yelled, firing a cone of lightning at Zagato's face.
Despite the point-blank distance, Zagato didn't seem to flinch, but Hotaru noticed how his grip seized momentarily.
"Black Binding!" she cast again, aiming for Zagato's cape.
Black rings appeared around the twisted-up fabric, tying the two tendrils together. With their movement halted, Hotaru knew what he needed to do.
"Silver Speed, Aluminum flight!" he yelled, shrinking back to normal size.
As he shrank, he slipped out of Zagato's pincers. He grabbed hold of Alcyone and flew towards the clashing energy balls. As he flew underneath the black Mashin's feet, he could hear the rubbery rings snapping. Turning around, he saw Zagato flying behind him, yelling fiercely and slowly gaining on them.
"Alcyone!" Hotaru yelled out. "Give me that power enhancing drug and teleport away!"
"B-But the side effects…" she stuttered.
"Just do it!"
Reaching into the sack that Hotaru had given her, Alcyone pulled out a beige ball of medicine about the size of a glass marble. As Hotaru's hands were full holding her, she fed the medicine to him. The drug was extremely bitter and dry, but Hotaru managed to force it down his throat. As he did, he could feel a surge of energy the likes of which he had never felt before. Power and magic were flowing from within him, making his eyes feel like they were about to pop.
Staring at the white and gold energy spheres in front of him, Hotaru roared with bloodshot eyes, "OH YEAH! Here we go! TITANIUM POWER!"
As Hotaru's body expanded mid-flight, Alcyone quickly teleported back to the crystal barrier remnants. Once Hotaru was back to the size of a Mashin, he was right in front of the two clashing spells. Bending his knees, Hotaru quickly changed course upwards, flying at a hypersonic speed, missing the two orbs only by inches. As Hotaru continued his loop de loop, he spotted Zagato just below him, stopping just before he hit the two spells. While the rampaging high priest had managed to evade the collision, he was just where Hotaru wanted him.
Bracing for impact, Hotaru tucked in his arms and legs, "So long Zagato!"
Slamming into the back of the black Mashin like a gargantuan cannon ball, Hotaru thrusted Zagato into the collision point of Spiral Light and Golden Death. Just as Zagato's mech entered the two clashing forces, Hotaru changed the direction of his movement, letting Zagato's momentum do the rest.
"Aaah! Emeraudeeeee!" Zagato wailed, his Mashin and body being eroded away. "Please… be free…"
"Zagatoooo!" Emeraude yelled in desperation, before the two spells exploded.
A massive fireball that eclipsed the floating fortress itself rocked the heavens, with the shockwave blowing away the clouds. As Hotaru was engulfed by it, he felt the shattering impact and primordial heat of it. Had he not been under the effects of Alcyone's drug, he wasn't sure if his Tungsten Defense effects would be powerful enough to protect him.
As the explosion dissipated, everything was dead silent. All the debris from the crystal barrier had been blown away and the clouds had parted, revealing a starry night sky. The Magic Knights watched from a distance, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Seeing Hotaru's armor reflecting starlight, they all sighed in relief knowing he was okay.
"Did… did we get Princess Emeraude?" Umi asked, looking around.
"If we did, shouldn't we be back to Tokyo now?" Fuu asked.
"Then where is… she…" Hikaru's eyes widened.
Far away in the distance, the Magic Knights could see a golden light begin to shine. In the light, they saw Princess Emeraude's Mashin rising up, as the golden aura around it expanded rapidly. Being closer to Emeraude, Hotaru could see that the white Mashin wasn't even scuffed up by the explosion. What worried all of them even more, was that Emeraude's power seemed to be rising.
"ZAGATOOOOO!" Emeraude yelled, her cry causing the air around her to shake.
"How does she still have the energy to keep on going!?" Umi asked, starting to feel the exhaustion of the battle.
Just as they were starting to lose hope, they heard a kind voice, "O' legendary Magic Knights…"
"That voice…" Hikaru blinked. "Princess Emeraude?"
Floating above the white devil Mashin, they could see a huge projection of Princess Emeraude. It wasn't the tall beauty that Hotaru had seen in the castle, but the same image they had all seen before arriving at Cephiro. The projection looked sad, remorseful, and was holding her hands together in a praying position.
"Please… before it is too late…" the projection begged them.
Below the projection, the white devil-looking Mashin was transforming. Its gold and blue high-heels warped and spread out, turning into four clawed feet. The black demonic wings on its back moved lower down, as the Mashin's spine extended. Eventually its lower body split in half, as it gained a centaur-like lower body with a white, whip-like tail. It gained a second pair of digitigrade legs, with golden taloned feet. Its red hair extended out as two spiked tendrils that moved around on its own.
"I have turned my grief from losing Zagato into hatred and created this monster," Emeraude's projection told them, her voice full of shame and regret.
The Mashin stood on its hindlegs and kicked the air, letting out an unnatural sounding neigh. It then began to gallop towards the Magic Knights, lightning sparking underneath its feet.
"So please… Kill me," the projection begged with a strained voice.
Still hopped up on Alcyone's drug, Hotaru pulled out his Titan Slicer, and dashed forth, "If you say so!"
Bringing his sword down on the centaur-like Mashin at hypersonic speeds, Hotaru was ready to cleave the ex-princess in half. But as he brought his sword down, a golden barrier appeared around Emeraude's Mashin. There was an audible clanging sound similar to a church bell being rang, as the sword impacted the barrier. The barrier sparked and flared, shocking Hotaru, before the Mashin's ramming speed pushed him back with great force.
"Urgh! What the Hell…" Hotaru gasped, feeling the after shock reverberate through his body.
Does… does this mean only the Magic Knights can harm her after all?
"Shining Impact… Cynos!" Emeraude yelled out.
Before Hotaru could think of his next move, Emeraude's magic infused sword slash struck him against his chest. While his defenses held out, he was sent flying by the force of the attack, all the way to where the Magic Knights were floating. With great effort, the three of them managed to catch Hotaru and stop his descent.
"Hotaru! Are you alright?" Hikaru asked, looking at his giant face.
"I'm fine," he gasped, before coughing. "But I don't think I got much time left…"
"What do you mean, Mr. Hotaru?" Fuu asked, seeing his expression turn paler.
Before he had time to answer, Alcyone teleported over to Hotaru's chest, "I gave him one of my experimental drugs in order to defeat Zagato. Once its effects wear off, Hotaru will be out of the fight."
"…Can you give us that same drug as well?" Umi asked.
"Not without you getting out of those robots," Alcyone said, before noticing something in the corner of her eye.
"LOOK OUT!" Hotaru yelled.
"Ivory Eradication!" Emeraude fired a beam from her sword.
Shoving Alcyone off of his chest, Hotaru quickly moved in to block the beam. Though it was the most powerful attack he had ever taken head-on, he found the strength to push back. With the impact of the attack and Hotaru shoving her off of him, Alcyone dropped the bag she was holding onto.
"The drugs!" she yelled out.
"They don't need them!" Hotaru yelled, while holding back the beam.
Once Hotaru could feel the white energy beam relent, he blocked it with his Titan Slicer. Flying towards Emeraude with great speed, Hotaru threw his sword at the princess. The sword bounced off the barrier like last time, but it did distract Emeraude long enough for Hotaru to get behind her. Grabbing hold of Emeraude's long white tail, he pulled back on it with all his strength, keeping the centaur away from the knights.
"Please! I am about to disappear," Emeraude projection yelled out once more.
Holding onto Emeraude's tail tightly, Hotaru saw how the white Mashin's hair tendrils tried to skewer him. Luckily for him, he was outside of their reach, but the centaur was constantly trying to reach him with its back kicks and sword. At the same time, he could feel the effect of the drug to start wearing off.
"Hurry already!" Hotaru yelled out. "I don't know how much longer I can hold her back!"
"But what are we supposed to do!" Fuu yelled out.
"Believe in yourselves!" Hotaru bellowed, feeling his arms about to give up.
Seeing Hotaru struggling, Alcyone teleported back onto his shoulder. She pointed her staff at Emeraude and cast Black Binding onto her legs over and over again, trying to slow her down.
"Soon my heart will surely pray for Cephiro's complete destruction and annihilation…" Emeraude's projection struggled to hold itself together. "Grant me my true wish. Let me be with Zagato… So that I only have to think of Zagato. So that we can be together eternally."
Hearing Emeraude's heartfelt wish pained their hearts greatly. While they knew it was the only way to save Cephiro, it felt wrong on so many levels. The thought that two lovers had to die to be together. The idea that such an innocent person would have to be slain to save the world. The fact that they had been chosen for this task without their consent.
"Magic Knights, grant me the one and only selfish wish of my life!" the projection pleaded, before fading away.
As the ground beneath them started cracking and magma erupted from its depths, the three Mashins slowly stood up straight. The three Magic Knights quieted the pain in their hearts, before their wills all rang as one.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hikaru roared, letting out her frustration.
The three Mashins glowed brightly before charging in, their bodies turning into beams of red, green, and blue energy. The beams shot out into the sky in wide arcs, before colliding together above Emeraude, Hotaru, and Alcyone. A bright flash lit up the starry night sky, shining a gentle light upon all of Cephiro.
They finally did it…, Hotaru sighed in relief.
From the light appeared a red, gold, and white, four-winged Mashin. It had a pair of massive white feathered wings and a pair of black draconic wings below those. A red dragon tail grew out from between its armored white tassets. Its pauldrons were wide and sharp and above its head it had a seven horned crown with six golden horns and a white middle horn. Its fingers had golden claws and its feet had four golden talons, three in front, one in back. On its left arm, it wore a shield that resembled Rayearth's shield, but turned around and smaller. In its right arm, it held a large sword made entirely out of pure light. Its body had several orbs, each one colored red, green, and blue.
"Is that…" Alcyon gasped.
"Cephiro's salvation," Hotaru smiled, letting go of Emeraude's tail.
He then grabbed Alcyone off of his shoulder and held her securely, before flying downwards as fast as possible. Emeraude tried slashing in their direction at first, but Hotaru managed to avoid the attack.
"W-Where you going, Hotaru?" Alcyone asked, her ankle length black hair blinding her in high speed flight.
"The drug's about to run out! I don't want to be up in the sky when that happens, or under that fortress!"
With her earlier target out of her reach, the berserk Emeraude looked up at the four-winged foe. She spread out her wings and galloped towards the combined Mashin, her bastard sword pointed forward.
Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu were all tearing up inside the combined Mashin, as they pointed their sword of light forward. Making peace with their destiny, they flew in to intercept Emeraude, bringing their sword down. The combined Mashin's speed far exceeded that of Emeraude's centaur Mashin, and managed to weave around her bastard sword. The sword of light struck underneath Emeraude's left arm, cutting directly into her heart.
Zagato… Finally, I am yours and only yours.
Several rays of light erupted out of the quadrupedal Mashin, before a blinding burst of energy lit up the skies. The Magic Knights were blinded by the blight, but during their moment of impaired sight, they saw a vision before them. A tall dark-haired man in armor hugging a slightly shorter blonde woman in a white dress. Both figures were surrounded by light and their expressions were at peace.
Thank you… Magic Knights…
As the bright flash of light radiated throughout the sky, people in Tokyo Tower were overcome by shock for a moment. They had to cover their eyes so as not to be blinded. But as nothing else happened and their eyesight seemed fine, they slowly uncovered their faces. Everything was fine and no one seemed injured, nor was the tower damaged. It was a bright afternoon with nothing out of the ordinary, aside from three schools on a field trip to Tokyo Tower at the same time.
"That was some flash of light," a brown-haired school girl in a red uniform said.
A girl with short orange hair nodded, before turning around, "What do you think that was, Hikaru? …Huh?"
As she looked in the direction her red-haired and upbeat friend was, she saw her hugging two other girls. A beautiful girl with blue hair in a blue school uniform and a tall blonde girl in a green one. All three of them embraced each other in a way that made it seem like they were very close friends. It could have been considered a happy reunion, if all three of them hadn't been crying into each other's shoulders.
"It wasn't a dream…" Hikaru sobbed, being hugged by the taller girls.
"Hikaru… Fuu," Umi embraced her friends tightly.
"Ms. Hikaru… Hotaru isn't here with us," Fuu sniffed, while smiling.
Hikaru smiled back, nodding gently, "So, he stayed behind after all…"
After over ten weeks of non-stop travel, trying to save Cephiro and make it back home, they had finally succeeded. At a glance, no time seemed to have passed in their original world. It was still the day of the field trip and Umi had plenty of time to make it into the fencing tournament. Fuu and Hikaru could go home to meet their siblings and parents, without having made them worry. And yet, none of that seemed important at the moment.
"I want to go to Cephiro again…" Hikaru wept, unable to open her eyes due to the tears. "I want to go to Cephiro, and this time, do everything I can for the world Emeraude nurtured, and everyone helped to protect."
"I want to go and see the kind of life Hotaru and Alcyone make for themselves…" Umi admitted, her voice low and hoarse.
"I need to go and apologize to Ferio… for not telling him goodbye," Fuu sobbed.
As their field trip came to a close, the three of them swore they would someday return to Cephiro.
Author's Afterword: Season one finale, we finally made it! It has been a long and rewarding journey and I hope you've all enjoyed it. Not that we are anywhere CLOSE to finishing.
As always, I felt the need to raise the stakes and while Zagato and Emeraude fighting together would be scary enough, what if power ups? Emeraude possesses the power of prayer so her buffing Zagato felt like a natural thing to happen. And once Zagato did die, I found it a fitting place to have Emeraude go through a transformation that was the manga version of her Mashin.
As for the other power couple of these chapters, Hotaru and Alcyone finally managed to spend some time together. I figured they would both enjoy being little loot goblins while the final battle was going on, before their pasts coming to haunt them. Once the battle began, it was fun coming up different ways for them to fight together. I am curious as to what everyone thought Titanium Power did when it was mentioned in the previous half of the story. Hotaru's new spell doesn't just combine his previous spells, but brings his entire journey together. Spells that at first hand seemed almost useless, now culminating together into something rivaling the power of a Mashin. I also tried taking design cues for Titan Slicer from all of Hotaru's previous weapons.
Next up, we're going to have a few more original chapters, before the start of Season two. This is to give Hotaru and Alcyone some time alone, as well as to shine a spotlight on the other side characters. After all, wouldn't we all like to know what happened during the week the girls were away from Cephiro?
As always, reviews and speculations are welcomed and appreciated. Let me know how you all liked this chapter!