At the shores of the northern sea, it was a peaceful night. The seas were calm to a point that waves didn't even crash against the cliffs. It was a starless night and the red glow of the set sun could be seen in the horizon. However, this peace was soon brought to an end by the appearance of a bright golden light some miles off the shore.
The source of this light was a hexagram magic circle created by Summoner Ascot. The young summoner was floating high above the circle, which was creating waves in all directions on the ocean surface. Though he had drawn many beast summoning circles over the last month, this one was by far the largest.
"Beast Summon!" his voice echoed across the waves.
A golden pillar of light the size of a skyscraper rose up from the circle, followed by a deep and booming outcry. The shadowy form of a towering figure could be seen through the light, which obscured most of the monster's features. Only its two asymmetrical red eyes and numerous fins and spikes could be recognized from its outline. Once the light faded, only the glow of its eyes could be seen in the dark of the night.
Even with the magic circle gone, the ocean only came up to the titan's hips. This was Ascot's most powerful beast. Its size, strength, and power outmatched those of his other friends. What's more, it was humanoid and intelligent. This level of power and intelligence did come with a price though.
"I'm glad you came, Capella," Ascot chuckled. "The Magic Knights will be here soon. I'll get them this time."
Capella let out a dismissive grumble and turned its head away. The giant monster was not happy to have been woken up for something like this.
"You're saying it doesn't concern you?" Ascot asked, stunned.
The problem with Capella was that despite his intelligence, he had quite the temper. In addition, Capella preferred sleeping at the bottom of the sea to conflict, but when angered would be a horrifying sight. However, he also had a soft spot for his allies.
"Both Pajero and Vigor were killed by them!" Ascot let the giant monster know. "They were both your friends!"
Capella roared in anger. He remembered the cute fire breathing puppy he liked to pet, as well as his buddy who he had once tried teaching how to swim, quite fondly. The idea these two had been killed by some insects made his blood boil.
"That's right Capella," Ascot nodded, knowing he could be trusted. "You're going to defeat the Magic Knights with me! Like this."
Without a warning, Ascot's entire body turned into a green ball of energy. At a blink of an eye, the ball of energy struck Capella's forehead. This caused the titan to roar in pain and fall backwards, back beneath the waves. As the water splashed high up into the sky, the roars of the beast disappeared and were replaced with the echoing laugh of a young boy.
Soon after, all was quiet once more.
The next morning our heroes had been woken up by Mokona earlier than usual, despite protests. Like a doting mother hurrying her kids to school, Mokona had shooed them out of the bed by bouncing on top of them all. The little white creature had been full of energy and immediately summoned them a quick breakfast of fruit.
Once Hotaru and the others were done dressing up, they had followed Mokona towards the rising sun. After walking through the remainder of the forest they were in, they came to an overhanging cliff that faced the sea. With the light of the rising sun glimmering on the waves, the view was truly breathtaking. Though the way they appreciated it varied.
Hikaru's eyes sparkled, "Wow."
"This is such a lovely view," Fuu admired the view.
"It's official, we have walked across an entire continent!" Hotaru grumbled, still feeling sleepy.
Hotaru being grumpy as of late was nothing out of the ordinary. For a few days now, the young man had been snappy and had bags under his eyes. This had started soon after their last clash with Alcyone, making the Magic Knights believe his bad mood had something to do with the raven-haired villainess. Hotaru however, had denied this.
Despite the Magic Knights all believing otherwise, the truth was much simpler, and a lot more worrying to Hotaru. The reason he had lost slept, was because of the anticipation of this day.
"Pu-puu pu-puu puu puu!" Mokona chirped, waving towards the sea with its stubby arm.
"Mokona, do you mean…" Hikaru's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You mean the legendary Mashin is down here…" Umi continued.
"Puu puu," Mokona nodded.
Hotaru sighed deeply. He knew this day would come and had on multiple occasions wondered if he should make a run for it. Not only was today's adventure going to be the most dangerous yet, it could very well have been impossible.
In the original series, all the Magic Knights had already evolved their Escudo swords by this point. However, due to his mistake, Umi's sword had not evolved. And this next adventure was entirely dependent on Umi.
"What? This isn't that weird Spring of Eterna!" Umi yelled at Mokona. "You can't be telling us to dive in again!"
"Pu-pudu puu!" Mokona chirped and turned around with a hop.
A blue beam of light shone from Mokona's forehead gem and drew a blue hexagram magic circle on the ground. A pillar of light rose from the circle and a round metallic object appeared in it. The object was like a saucer with a round bottom and five blue orbs around its underside. The inside was brownish and divided into levels, which made the rim of the saucer look like a one big couch. There was a dark gray metallic orb hovering above the saucer, and two large feathered wings on either side of the saucer.
The three girls gasped at the sight of the flying saucer, but before they could ask questions, Hotaru yelled over them.
"Mokona!" Hotaru yelled while trying to catch the bouncing ball. "You had a FUCKING UFO on you this entire time and made us walk and waste who knows how many days to get here!"
Hotaru had originally planned on this being just a fake outburst to cover up for his earlier inquiries of transport. Them walking had helped them grow and develop and given Hotaru time to work on his mission. But with his current mental state, Hotaru was out for blood.
"PUPUUUU!" Mokona screamed, being chased by Hotaru wielding his giant chainsaw sword.
Eventually the girls managed to calm Hotaru down, after which they all got on top of the winged saucer. Once they were seated, the aircraft started gaining altitude, however its wings stayed motionless.
"I-It's floating!" Hikaru gasped in amazement.
With the saucer leaning slightly forward, it began to fly across the sea gracefully. The group had only a few seconds to enjoy the view, before the flying saucer dropped like a rock.
"NANI!?" Umi screamed. "We're gonna crash! We're gonna crash!"
If I reincarnate today, let it be somewhere less plot heavy, Hotaru prayed.
The ocean floor approached rapidly and soon they hit the water's surface. Despite making a big splash, the group was okay, if not for the sudden increase in heart rate.
"Puu pu-puu!" Mokona chirped before firing another beam of light.
This time a pink light shone from its forehead and hit the ball floating above them. The ball glowed yellow before a glowing, see-through energy barrier enveloped the topside of the saucer. Eventually the barrier solidified into a glass dome and together with the saucer created the shape of an egg.
The craft then sank underneath the waves, quickly diving into the depths of the ocean. As the passengers carefully got up from the floor and looked around, they could see a myriad of fish swimming around them. The light of the sun could be seen through the surface, but it got dimmer as they descended.
"We have been enclosed inside a bubble," Fuu sighed in relief.
As they kept descending, they could see the ocean floor, but they were headed deeper. Right underneath them there was a round dark pit that seemed to go down for miles. Despite things getting darker, it was not like the atmosphere was showing signs of pressure.
"Mokona! If you can do this kinda stuff, do it right from the start!" Umi shook Mokona.
"Mokona sure is having a rough day," Hikaru noted.
Umi's voice and gaze became more serious as she thought about their situation, "You knew about this and were having fun watching us, weren't you?"
Before she could dig deeper into the twisted depths of Mokona's mind, Umi noticed something in the darkness of the abyss.
"Look!"
As everyone turned in the direction Umi was facing, they could see a large underwater structure at the bottom of the abyss. There were large pillars and stone arches at the floor of the abyss, but most of the structure was carved to the rocky wall. There was a large cave-like entrance at the bottom, a large dragon-like face above it, and a hexagram inside a circle above that. At the center of the hexagram, there was a round symbol of sorts.
The place looked deserted and there were no fish or any other living creatures around.
"It looks like… a shrine," Fuu pointed out. "I guess we've made it."
"Umi, what's wrong?" Hikaru asked, noticing her friend was feeling a bit blue.
"I don't know… My body… feels hot…"
As Umi panted, her body truly glowed blue, making her look almost like a ghost. While Fuu and Hikaru looked worried for her, Hotaru's expression was getting brighter.
Well at least that seems familiar. Maybe her sword did not need to evolve for this after all?
Once nearly at the bottom of the abyss, the flying saucer flew into the mouth of the cave-like entrance. Instead of an underwater cave, they entered a massive room that was completely dry. The ceiling was too dark for them to see any of its details, but the floor was covered in perfectly cut, dark green stone tiles. Around the room, there were massive, perfectly round and smooth, purple pillars. The entrance they had just gone through looked like a massive waterfall from this side.
As the saucer landed, its dome disappeared, allowing for its passengers to get off. Their surroundings were dark and their footsteps on the stone floor echoed throughout the chamber.
Hikaru looked around the pillar-filled room, wondering, "What is this place?"
"It seems there is fresh air in here," Fuu pointed out.
"This is the Water Shrine. The Mashin is here," an echoing voice answered.
"Umi-chan, how do you know?" Hikaru asked her blue-haired friend.
Instead of an answer, Umi just kept walking deeper into the chamber.
"In any case, we should split up and search," Fuu suggested.
Hotaru nodded, "Alright, you two check the sides of the room, I will keep an eye on Umi."
With that agreed upon, Fuu and Hikaru started searching around the place. Even though they were doing so at a brisk pace, the chamber seemed to go on forever. The forest of pillars seemed as vast as the ocean itself and its dark depths just as mysterious. Eventually they both decided to come back to where they had started.
"There was nothing over there," Fuu reported back as she saw Hikaru.
"Nothing here either. I didn't see anything strange."
"Oh? Where is Ms. Umi and Mr. Hotaru?"
"HAY! Get over here real quick!" they could hear Hotaru's voice in the distance.
Hikaru and Fuu rushed over to the direction of the voice, worried that something may have happened. Eventually they spotted Hotaru, who was standing alone. Only as they got closer, they could see that he was standing next to a set of massive stone doors. The double doors were made of smooth dark purple stone and carved intricately. They were large enough to let an ocean liner through.
"This seems to be a very large room", Fuu said in amazement.
"Hotaru, where is Umi?" Hikaru asked, seeming anxious.
"She just phased through the door!" Hotaru explained, seeming slightly shook. "It was like she was a ghost."
Hikaru went pale and started banging on the door with her hand, "Umi, are you in there? Umi!"
As if responding to Hikaru's touch, the doors slowly started opening inwards. As they parted, they revealed a huge room with black walls and a shiny floor. At the back of the room, at the top of a short but wide staircase, was a green carved wall. The carvings represented clouds with a sun at the top center of the mural, with rays of light shining from it. Below the sun, there was a giant blue statue of a dragon. The dragon had two wings, a long neck, and two arms with four claws in each hand. Its head was reminiscent of a Chinese dragon, with several horns, a mane, and a gem on its forehead. The lower body of the dragon was sunken into the mural.
In front of the mural, stood a familiar blue-haired girl.
"Nice statue," Hotaru admired the aesthetics of the room.
"Umi, are you alright?" Hikaru asked, before hurrying over to her friend.
Before she could get closer, an angry figure rushed in front of her, "Puu!"
"Mokona…" Hikaru flinched.
It took the entire group by surprise to see Mokona this serious. So far Mokona had only ever appeared cheerful, aside from being scared on a few occasions. To see their guide so aggressive was kinda alarming. However, it wasn't the only strange thing going on.
"Ms. Hikaru, Mr. Hotaru, Ms. Umi is acting strangely," Fuu pointed out.
As they watched from afar, the blue aura that had surrounded Umi earlier had surfaced again. Umi's entire body was glowing and her hair and skirt were flowing in the air without a single gust of wind. But aside from the supernatural special effects, not much else seemed to be going on.
"You mean she is being quiet for a change?" Hotaru joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Before either Fuu or Hikaru could scold Hotaru, the dragon statue's eyes started glowing yellow. The glow soon turned blue and spread to the gem on its forehead, after which the stone came to life. Starting from the head, the dragon's skin turned scaly and the giant monster peeled off the wall.
Umi did not seem bothered by this, but the same could not be said about the others.
"The dragon is coming out," Hikaru gasped.
"Sir Mokona, is Ms. Umi alright?"
"Puu", Mokona nodded.
I hope she is. All is going as expected so far. Maybe I was worrying over nothing?
As the dragon continued separating from the wall, Umi extended her hand over towards it, as if trying to pet its snout. The dragon motioned in kind, bringing its head closer to the blue-haired girl. The dragon's scales were dark lapis lazuli blue, its mane and hair were dark azure, its underbelly sand blue, and the folds of its wings black. Its eyes glowed bright yellow, like the lures of an angler fish in the deep dark sea.
"My name is Selece," the dragon spoke out in a booming echoey voice without moving its jaw. "I am the legendary Mashin that only the legendary Magic Knight may touch."
Whereas Hikaru and Fuu could not believe their ears, Hotaru pondered out loud, "I wonder how much I could charge for a thesaurus in this world…"
As if taking offense to that, the dragon's eyes and forehead gem glowed white, before an invisible force knocked all except Umi back. The force reminded Hotaru of his car accident, but was less painful. They all flew out of the room, after which the doors quickly closed before them. Hikaru and Fuu landed on their butts, whereas Hotaru landed on top of Mokona.
"S-Sorry about that," Hotaru apologized, quickly getting off of the rabbit fay.
"Umi!" Hikaru yelled, rushing over to the door.
Hikaru pounded on the door, calling for her friend's name, but the giant doors did not budge.
"No use. It's totally shut," she eventually gave up.
"Was that dragon really the legendary Mashin?" Fuu asked Mokona.
"Pupuu puu puu!" Mokona nodded, bowing deeply.
Hikaru's eyes lit up cheerfully, "Then if we revive that Mashin, we can save Cephiro!"
"We will be able to rescue Princess Emeraude!"
"And something about you guys being able to return to Tokyo, I guess," Hotaru filled in for Umi, leaning against a pillar.
Just as Hotaru thought that this day wouldn't be so bad after all, a childish laughter echoed throughout the great pillar filled hall.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I won't allow that."
There was a bright flash of golden light, as a massive magic circle appeared in the air between the pillars.
"Whose there?" Hikaru yelled out.
While Hotaru could have answered this question, he was currently staring at the magic circle with his jaw agape. The shadow of a ginormous humanoid figure could be seen forming in the circle, which reached all the way to the ceiling. Soon, a massive two clawed foot stepped out of the circle, crushing the stone floor underneath it. Fuu, Hikaru, and Hotaru had to take several steps back, as the monster made its way through the circle.
That thing is a LOT bigger than I remember it being!
While Ascot had thrown giant monsters after them one after another for a while now, this one was on another level. With its head almost touching the ceiling, the monster could have been classified as a kaiju. But not only was the monster big, it was armed to the teeth.
The monster's skin was olive green, but most of its body was covered in armor made from metal and blue scales. The armor had two spikes on each knee, three spikes on each pauldron, and a single longer one on the forehead of the helmet. It had a red belt and carried a massive sword and shield. Its face was covered by its helmet, but its red eyes were visible, the right one being large and round, and the left one small and slanted. On its forehead, it had a large, glowing, green gem.
Not wasting any time, Hotaru activated Tungsten Defense and summoned his spear and shield in advance.
"Magic Knights, how dare you kill my friends," the giant monster spoke in a high-pitched voice.
"Y-You're…" Hikaru stuttered, remembering the voice.
Hikaru and Fuu flashed back on their previous encounters. The giant evolving caterpillar that had destroyed Presea's mansion, that Hotaru had killed. The massive manta ray they had fought in the desert that Fuu had split in half.
"Could he be talking about that sand monster that I defeated?" Fuu suggested.
"I-I get it."
Hikaru thought back on the little critter she had named Hikari, who had turned into a giant wolf-like monster. 'Why are you hesitating? Don't listen to them… Remember… Remember that they killed our friends!' The pain of those memories was too much for Hikaru to forgive.
"That voice from back then…" she held back her tears before turning to the giant fishman. "It was you wasn't it!"
"This is for all my friends! Die, Magic Knights!"
The monster quickly spread out its arms, after which a powerful blast of air blew out from the monster's chest. The gust of wind knocked Fuu and Hikaru back against the pillars and walls of the room, almost knocking them out from the get go.
"He-hahahaha! You girls are so weak," the giant monster laughed. "I wonder what Alcyone was doing, losing to girls like you."
"Hay! I'm standing here!" Hotaru yelled from behind his shield.
Due to his increased density, Hotaru had held firm against the gusts of wind. However, he was surprised by the attack, since he did not remember there being a third monster that used wind as a weapon.
"Oh, I am not even surprised by that, Hotaru," the giant monster chuckled. "With how often Alcyone moans about you, I knew you would be a tougher nut to crack. You even killed poor Stratos!"
"Wait… Alcyone?" Hikaru interrupted. "Then you're friends with her?"
"Friends? Ahahahahaha! That hag isn't even close to being my friend. My friends are all beasts."
With that said, the giant monster swung its massive sword down at Hotaru. With no time to jump out of the way, Hotaru raised his shield up in order to block it. The giant sword clashed against the round shield, ringing it like a gong, and drove Hotaru's feet into the stone tile floor. But despite blocking the attack, Hotaru experienced something he had never felt before in either of his lives; a complete bone fracture.
"AAAAAAHHH!" Hotaru screamed.
"Hotaru!" Fuu and Hikaru yelled.
Hotaru gritted his teeth and dropped his spear, before grabbing hold of his left upper arm. The force of the impact had leveraged to his humerus and, despite his toughness increasing magic, had snapped it. His left arm, which was still strapped to his shield, hung limply on his side. The pain was worse than anything he had ever felt and he was only barely able to stay conscious.
Straining his eyes to keep them open despite the tears, Hotaru looked up at the monster, "You little bastard!"
"That looks like it hurt…" the monster said, sounding almost sorry. "Whatever! Die!"
The monster then released another powerful blast of wind, targeting all of its enemies at once. Before she could get knocked back again, Hikaru jumped high and gathered flames in her hands.
"Flame Arrow!"
The fireball shot out at the giant monster, causing the air around it to turn boiling hot. However, despite Hikaru's anger, the monster was able to block the attack with its shield.
"That's weak!" the monster roared, backhanding the fire away.
The monster then let out another powerful blast of air, knocking the airborne Hikaru far away from it.
While this was all going on, Hotaru had retreated away from the monster and covered Fuu from the wind with his body. At the same time, Fuu was doing the best she could to heal Hotaru's broken arm. She was able to stop the internal bleeding, but fully healing the arm would require time that they didn't have.
As Hikaru was thrown back, Fuu instinctively ran over to her to see if she was alright, "Ms. Hikaru!"
"Wait!" Hotaru yelled, running after her.
Hikaru was slowly getting up, until she was helped up by Fuu, "It's no use… Magic doesn't work."
By the time Hotaru had managed to run over to them, the giant monster laughed once more as it walked closer to them.
"Fufufufu, ahahaha! Magic Knights, this will be your grave!"
Within the chamber, Umi was still in an almost trance-like state. Though normally she would've run away from the giant dragon at the first sight of it, she could not help but to feel a connection to it. Even her friends getting kicked out of the room didn't seem to bother her.
"The legendary… Mashin," she uttered, coming to grips with the situation.
"Girl summoned from another world to become a Magic Knight," the dragon greeted her formally. "Show before me proof that thy power makes thee worthy of donning me."
Umi was confused by this request, "Proof?"
"Show before me thy powers. Show before me the strength of thine heart that makes thee worthy of becoming a legendary Magic Knight."
"Strength of… my heart," Umi repeated, feeling herself faltering slightly.
The strength of my heart… but aren't I the weakest of the group? The others have evolved their weapons and Hotaru was able to save us all while lagging behind.
Despite her escape from the world created by her indecision, she still had doubts about herself. She knew what she had to do, but was she the one worthy of doing so?
On the other side of the door, the battle against the giant monster was going south quickly. The monster just kept blasting them all away time after time, not giving them time to counter attack. Since blocking any attacks would only result in more broken bones, Hotaru had swapped over to Steel Strength. While he could use his strength to jump around and dodge attacks, he couldn't use his giant sword with one arm. By all means, he was entirely dependent on the success of the Magic Knights, but they weren't faring much better.
As Hikaru and Fuu got knocked back once again, the monster laughed cheerfully and pointed its gargantuan sword at Fuu.
Seeing her friend in danger, Hikaru rushed in, summoning her sword, "Stop!"
She jumped up to try and cut the monster's arm, but the massive sea titan just blocked her with its shield. The force of the block pushed Hikaru back, but she managed to land on her feet. However, the redheaded Magic Knight was getting exhausted from exerting herself and fell to her knees.
"You can't defeat me," the monster declared confidently, before laughing once more.
"That voice…" Fuu gasped.
Listening to the laughter of the monster, Fuu noticed something. The laughter was coming from the monster, but not from its mouth, but from its forehead. As she looked at the gem, she realized it was flashing in accordance with the monster's words.
"Playtime's over. Die!" the monster yelled and swung down its sword.
"Ms. Hikaru, the gem on his forehead!"
Hikaru realized what Fuu meant, but the sword was already above her. She tried jumping away, but there was no space. Moments before the sword was going to hit her, she noticed Hotaru jumping towards her.
"Tungsten Defense!" Hotaru yelled mid jump.
Having propelled himself with Steel Strength and then increased the density of his body, his body collided with the giant sword with great force. It wasn't enough to break it, but it was enough for him to shoulder tackle the sword away from Hikaru.
With her trajectory now clear, Hikaru leapt towards the monster and brought her broadsword down with an overhead swing. The blade cut through the green gem cleanly, causing the monster to let out a deep roar of pain. A pillar of green energy burst through the gem which then exploded, causing a huge amount of energy to be released from it. The monster eventually fell down onto its knees and then face down onto the floor.
The green energy that had been released from it, focused into an orb in front of Hikaru. As the bubble burst, a young brown-haired kid popped out of it, falling onto his hands and knees.
Ignoring this, Fuu rushed over to her two comrades, "Ms. Hikaru, Mr. Hotaru, are you hurt?"
"Why did I tackle with the left side…" Hotaru whimpered, before being tended to by Fuu.
"I-I'm fine," Hikaru stuttered, looking at Hotaru's twisted arm, before turning her head, "But more importantly…"
As Fuu was healing Hotaru's arm, she turned towards the small white dot on the ground. It was a boy with a large black hat, a white robe, a large golden necklace, and green pointy shoes. All of his clothes were decorated with round green gems.
"A child? I thought the voice was too cute to be Mr. Beast's,"
Hotaru was in too much pain to make a joke about that.
"Y-You guys are awful!" the child yelled, before getting up and repeating, "You're awful! Look what you did to my friend!"
"Friend?" Hikaru asked.
"This Mr. Beast?"
"Oh, you must be Ascot then," Hotaru said, trying to smile through the pain. "Nice to meet you."
"H-How do you know my name?"
Realizing he had blurted something he shouldn't have, Hotaru quickly tried to come up with a believable excuse.
"I h-heard your name from Ferio," he answered, acting he was in pain to cover his stuttering. "Alcyone mentioned you as well."
"Yeah, well unlike them, this is my friend, Capella!" Ascot yelled out, speaking with a steadfast voice. "Pajero, Vigor, and Deucy too!"
Despite their adamant way of speaking, it was clear that the young boy was getting overwhelmed by emotions. His body was shaking and his voice was catching in his throat, as if he was trying to hold back his tears and anger. He was clenching his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white, but it did little to disguise his unease.
"But everyone says that weird creatures like them aren't my friends! That we shouldn't be friendly because they're monsters!" the young boy ranted, his face turning red. "Nobody really understands them! They were all my good friends! How dare you… You guys…"
While Hikaru could understand what Ascot was talking about, his words rubbed her the wrong way. Tired of the one-way conversation, she walked over to the short summoner, silencing him.
"How can you make your friends attack us?" Hikaru yelled. "Are you alright with us wounding or defeating your friends?"
Scared of the taller girl, Ascot backed away a bit, "I-I'm not fine with it at all."
"Aren't you sad if your friends get hurt? Don't you feel like helping your friends when they're in danger? If you don't hold your friends dear then what do you?"
"That's enough Hikaru!" Hotaru yelled out. "Leave the kid alone."
Both Hikaru and Ascot were surprised by what the older teenager was saying.
"But…"
"He is a summoner, right?" Hotaru asked, looking at Ascot. "That means he fights by summoning monsters to fight in his stead. However, I do agree that he should learn to fight by their side, not just using them as tools."
Hotaru had a whole speech prepared for this situation, but just as Fuu was done healing his arm, Capella was done with his nap. The giant monster's eyes lit up bright red and it stood up, shaking rubble and debris off of it. Capella let out a deep booming roar that echoed throughout the room like a sonar.
"Capella!" Ascot greeted his friend happily.
Instead of greeting its summoner back, Capella released an even more intense burst of wind from its body. Because of the angle of the attack, Hikaru, Fuu, and Hotaru managed to hold their ground. However, due to his light weight, Ascot was picked up and blown back by the wind, landing onto his face.
As Ascot sat up on the floor, he shook his fist at the monster, "What are you doing, Capella? It's me! It's Ascot!"
Not pleased by being directly controlled by the little pipsqueak, Capella stomped on his summoner. Ascot managed to run out of way just in time, for him to avoid the giant two-toed foot. Capella then corrected its angle before firing another burst of wind at the Magic Knights and Hotaru. This time the wind struck them square in the chest, sending them all careening into the pillars.
Fully enraged, Capella began to smash the pillars down with its bare hands. It took down the three pillars Hotaru and the two girls were next to, almost burying them in rubble. Seeing that his friend had gone berserk, Ascot summoned his hovering rock and flew away screaming. As its master disappeared into the dark recesses of the room, Capella stomped over to the stone doors.
With zero regard to anything around it, Capella started punching the doors. The giant doors that had stood the test of time for thousands of years, only held back Capella for ten seconds. As they were pounded to rubble, Umi turned around in horror, seeing the monster for the very first time.
Not only was the monster the same size as the dragon, but what was behind her worried her even more. Her friends were barely holding up and were panting heavily, Hotaru included.
"Hikaru! Fuu! Hotaru!"
"Show before me the strength of thine heart that makes thee worthy of becoming a legendary Magic Knight," the dragon repeated. "Show before me the strength of thine heart."
The creeping sense of doubt clawed at her heart again, feeling she was stuck between two monsters. Would she be able to truly revive the Mashin if she couldn't even make her sword evolve? She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard armored running footsteps and familiar voices.
"I would say that thing is like a broken record, but I don't think it even knows what vinyl is!" Hotaru yelled frustratedly, pulling out his giant sword, before rushing in front of the monster.
Hikaru ran next to him, facing the monster as well, "Umi, hurry and revive the Mashin!"
"Leave this battle to us!" Fuu insisted.
"Hikaru! Fuu! Hotaru! I don't think I can revive it!" Umi yelled before rushing towards her friends to help them.
"Let them be!" the dragon commanded.
Umi came to a halt and turned around in shock, "Why?"
"Yon beast is not a monster that thou canst defeat," the dragon said bluntly. "Thou canst not defeat it with thy sword unevolved. Flee."
"T-That can't be…" Umi whimpered.
Did the dragon truly think so little of her? While her comrades were fighting against the monster, did it truly expect her to just leave as she was too weak? It wasn't like her friends were faring any better than she was. Hikaru's fire spell could not get past the monster's shield and Fuu's sword couldn't beat the monster's armor. Hotaru was swapping between his spells, throwing his giant sword at the monster and then calling it back, though this barely left a dent in the monster.
"Thine objective is to defeat High Priest Zagato," the dragon spoke out in a serious tone. "For this reason, thou cannot be killed here. Thou must survive even if thou art alone. That is the strength of thine heart."
"The strength of my heart…" Umi repeated, both insulted and appalled.
"Show before me thy strength! Show before me the strength of thine heart that makes thee worthy of becoming a legendary Magic Knight!"
To run away, leaving Hikaru, Hotaru, and Fuu here… That can't be the strength of my heart!
As Umi thought about the dragon's words, she saw how the armored monster was assaulting her friends. Hikaru was slammed back by the monster's clawed fist. Fuu was blown away by its wind. Hotaru successfully stabbed his sword into the ground, and braced himself against it, as the monster kicked in his direction. Despite the sword's blade hitting the monster directly between its toes, it managed to kick Hotaru and his sword away without damage to its foot.
"I can't… I can't do that!" Umi managed to pull herself out of the trance.
As the monster approached the altar she and the dragon stood on, Umi raised her hand into the air and conjured a geyser of water.
"Water Dragon!"
The jet of water in the shape of a dragon crashed into the monster at full force, square in the chest. While it dealt no damage to the beast, it managed to knock it onto its back.
Without a single shred of doubt, Umi rushed towards the monster, "How dare you hurt my friends!"
She summoned her sword, preparing to stab it right into the monster's eye. As she rushed in, the egg-shaped gem on the guard of her rapier started cracking. As it shattered, a blinding light shone from it. A dragon made of blue light erupted from it, before wrapping around the guard. A new round blue gem with a baby dragon coiled around it appeared on the hilt, with the dragon's yellow wings forming the cross guard.
Despite the girl's sword evolving, Capella was not impressed. It stood up and with all of its fury it let out another blast of wind. The wind was about to blow Umi back, until it was interrupted by another gale.
"Winds of Protection!"
A protective barrier of emerald winds formed before Umi, covering her from Capella's attack.
"Fuu!"
"I-It seems that I have managed to create another spell…" Fuu spoke weakly, trying to hold up the barrier with the last of her strength.
Capella increased the force of its wind, but was interrupted by the furious words of Hikaru.
"Ruby Lightning!"
The red ball of lightning struck Capella directly in against its chest, stopping its attack. However, aside from a light shock, the monster seemed fine.
Umi turned towards the direction of the attack, and saw Hikaru being held up by Hotaru. Their tank had apparently prevented Hikaru from getting blown away by the wind.
"Hikaru!"
"Umi…" Hikaru said weakly, before almost passing out in Hotaru's arms.
"So, what is our plan of attack when Ruby Lightning doesn't work!" Hotaru yelled hysterically.
As the towering monster stomped its way closer to them, Umi defiantly stood in front of it with her new sword. She could not allow the monster to harm her tired and battered teammates. As the monster loomed over her, she heard the weak voices of Hikaru and Fuu.
"Umi… together…"
"Ms. Umi, I as well…"
Seeing that all three of the Magic Knights now had their weapons evolved, Hotaru let out a single tear of relief and happiness. He pulled out his spear and shield, preparing to protect them with his life.
"We go down, we go down together."
"Everyone…" Umi sniffed, overcome by emotions. "I… I… If it means leaving Hikaru, Fuu, and Hotaru behind, then… I DON'T NEED A MASHIN!"
Hotaru smiled hearing those words, but quickly felt a chill run down his spine. The atmosphere in the room had suddenly changed and he turned around to face the dragon.
The dragon's eyes and forehead gem all glowed bright blue and it stood up on its hindlegs. It pointed its long neck and face straight up and spread its massive wings, before its entire body began to glow. With its entire body turning into a mass of energy that resembled a sea of sparkling sapphires, the dragon glowed brightly and changed shape.
The Magic Knights and the monster also turned around, as they could all feel a powerful surge of magical energy emanating from the altar. The energy mass's shape first changed from a dragon to an egg and then into a winged humanoid. As the light dissipated, one could also spot it having a tail.
"A-A robot?" Hikaru stuttered.
"That dragon…"
"The Mashin is a giant robot?" Fuu gawked.
"Who decided to name them after a pun…" Hotaru chuckled freely, finally getting to laugh at the name without rousing suspicion.
The Mashin was gigantic in size, being as tall as Capella. Its metallic body was mostly ultramarine in color, with its overall design aching that of an armored knight. Its knees, feet, topsides of its forearms, chest, and crotch had decorative golden armor pieces. It had two clawed toes on each foot, five fingered clawed hands, and a slender segmented tail. It had a helmet that resembled the head of a dragon, with five horns, with the middle one being blue and the rest golden. Its face and lower chest were bright silver in color, and it had yellow eyes. It had wide and swooping pauldrons and armored hip skirts, as well as two dragon-like wings with black folds. The giant mech had blue orbs on its: knee pads, crotch plate, hip skirts, collar; yellow orbs on its shoulders and elbows; and a large black one on its chest.
Seeing a new larger target, Capella directed its fury towards the Mashin. With a single war cry, the sea titan started strutting its way towards the metallic foe, causing the chamber to shake beneath its steps. The Mashin returned in kind by clenching its fists, raising them up and bumping them together. After pressing its knuckles together, a blue energy sphere appeared around its arms.
A barrage of blue beams of light shot out of Selece's body, bombarding Capella who let out a painful roar. The barrage did not stop, until the monster was completely erased by the light. The Magic Knights were amazed by this show of power, whereas Hotaru was close to fainting from the relief of it finally being over.
"The Mashin…"
"…lent us its powers!"
As the dust settled, only the giant robot was left standing before them. It was only now that they could truly take in the scale and magnificence of this magical machine.
"Legendary Magic Knight," Selece spoke out. "I have seen proof of the strength of thine heart that cares for thy comrades."
"What?" Umi blinked confused. "T-Then what you said earlier…"
"Thou hast overcome the challenge."
"Challenge?"
"It seems that you were being tested by the Mashin, Ms. Umi," Fuu explained.
"It's because you saved us instead of running away! It accepted you as a Magic Knight!" Hikaru congratulated her.
Hotaru sighed deeply, "It's almost like whenever something in Cephiro is called 'legendary', there is always a catch involved."
"However, thine heart is not yet ready to don me," Selece addressed Umi. "When thou awaken as a true Magic Knight, I will show myself to thee once again."
With this said, the orbs on Selece's shoulders and chest glowed bright blue, before the giant robot turned into energy once again. The giant mass of energy then shot out at Umi, before being absorbed into the center gem of her chest armor.
The three girls felt an incredible amount of power flowing through them, as their armor started glowing once more. Their chest plates expanded and turned into full-blown cuirasses, which also covered their necks. Their pauldrons grew and gained an extra extension that covered their upper arms. The golden patterns on their armors grew more intricate and around the gems on their left-hand gloves, they all gained individual crests. Hikaru's resembled flames, Umi's a dragon, and Fuu's a bird.
"T-This is…" Umi stuttered.
"The armor evolved again!" Fuu said elatedly.
"The Mashin has been revived! We can save Cephiro now!" Hikaru cheered, almost jumping for joy.
The victorious cheers were interrupted, when they heard a loud metallic clang. As the three girls turned around, they saw Hotaru banging on the side of his armor.
"Is this thing busted or something!"
Unlike the armors of the girls, his had not changed in the slightest. Aside from now knowing what a bone fracture feels like, Hotaru had not gained anything out of this adventure.
"Curious," Fuu spoke out, stroking her chin. "I guess your armor already evolved earlier when it was infused with Escudo, so you don't get an upgrade from this."
"My armor doesn't evolve, my weapons don't evolve, I don't learn any new spells!" Hotaru ranted while ruffling his hair, before calming down. "…I guess this is the difference between Magic Knights and the average warrior."
"Puu pupuu!" Mokona, who had come out from hiding, patted his foot empathetically.
"Cheer up Mr. Hotaru. I'm sure you will become a great warrior someday," Fuu tried to comfort him. "When we get back to Mokona's shelter, we will take care of the chores to let you relax."
"I suppose that is something," Hotaru sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Let's go get Zagato!" Umi cheered, trying to brighten the mood. "We'll defeat you, wherever you come from!"
"Yeah, that's right Umi!" Hikaru agreed.
"That's so wonderful!" Fuu added.
"Pupu puu!"
Little did our heroes know that while they were cheering their victory, Zagato had been following the progress of Ascot. Seeing that not only had his youngest minion failed, but that the Magic Knights had managed to awaken Selece, he was not in the best of moods. But to hear the Magic Knights declaring their victory so early on, was an insult to injury.
But as the three girls cheered, their fourth companion seemed surprisingly subdued. He had complained about lack of progress on his armor earlier, but to not even cheer about the Mashin? Did he know something or had figured something out that the others hadn't?
Furthermore, the armor he was wearing worried him. This was the first time he had seen it and it functioned just like Alcyone and Ascot had told him. An evolving armor reinforced with the evolving ore Escudo, first of its kind in history. Its potential was untold.
Hotaru, you may call yourself an average warrior, but you truly are the fear of the unknown personified. The legend of the Magic Knights I can deal with, but a variable like yourself must be snuffed out as soon as possible.
Zagato turned off the water mirror and began to charge up his power. A dark purple aura flared up around him. He was done playing games.
Having made their way out of the underwater shrine on board the winged saucer, it didn't take long for them to reach the ocean surface. Once out of the water, their craft continued flying up high into the sky. It felt good for them to feel the sun on their skin once more and since they weren't underwater anymore, they could travel without the dome.
As they soared through the sky, taking in the fresh air and the gentle breeze, they all sat back and relaxed. However, once their journey had lasted longer than expected, the humans aboard the vessel started getting restless.
"I wonder where we're headed?" Hikaru asked.
"To where Princess Emeraude is imprisoned of course!"
"Pupupupuu!" Mokona shook its head.
"I agree with Mokona," Hotaru spoke up. "I don't feel like we are done with the Mashins yet."
"Why do you think that?" Hikaru asked.
"Well… did you not find it weird just how blue it was?" Hotaru pointed out, trying to make his explanation sound natural. "I thought that the Mashin would be something related to all of you. But Selece was like… tailor made for Miss Sea Dragon over there."
"Don't go giving me weird nicknames," Umi Ryuuzaki glared at him.
Fuu thought about it for a moment, staring at the sky while leaning back, "That does seem a bit strange. Are you suggesting there might be one for each of us?"
"Well not for me, but there could definitely be two more for us to find," Hotaru pointed out.
"Oh, come on! Are you telling me we are only a third of the way there?" Umi asked, not wanting to think about it.
"It would make sense," Hikaru admitted, feeling a bit uneasy. "I still feel like we are not quite yet Magic Knights. Even Selece said so himself."
Coming to terms with the journey ahead, Umi smiled widely, "We're certainly getting closer every day! Armor! Weapons! We even have a Mashin now! Ahahahahahahaha!"
Still suffering from lack of sleep, Hotaru covered his ears, "Please control your laughter, you are giving me a headache."
As their craft continued flying forward, Hikaru could see the peak of a crystal peek from behind the clouds. As its full size came into view, it was like an iceberg up in the sky.
"Look!"
As everyone paid attention to it, the clouds parted ways, revealing a floating island in the sky. The top side of the island was covered in lush grass, some bushes and a large quantity of massive crystals jutting out of the ground.
"It's that floating mountain we saw when we first came to Cephiro," Umi remembered.
"I wonder if the next shrine is located there?" Fuu pondered.
"Mokona, hurry!" Hikaru requested.
As they headed closer, Hotaru scratched his head. Had they truly reached the next Mashin shrine so quickly? He remembered there being several episodes between each Mashin that they found. It wasn't until the sky and the clouds around them turned dark, that he could start remembering snippets of what was to come.
"Nani?!" Hikaru gasped.
I did not remember him choosing such a perfect opportunity to strike… We're sitting ducks!
A lightning bolt struck down upon them from the sky, almost knocking the winged saucer over.
"Hey, what's going on, Mokona!" Umi demanded to know.
"Pupuu pupupu puu!" Mokona chirped, flapping its ears with a worried look.
"Everyone!" Fuu yelled, pointing forward towards the mountain.
A gargantuan dark shadow was cast between them and the floating island. This shadow quickly turned opaquer, until it resembled a solid image of a dark cloaked figure. It was a tall man with long black hair, wearing a dark gray suit of armor with wide sharp pauldrons, a spiky crown, and dark purple gems all over it. Everything below the shoulders was covered in a black cloak.
"Who are you?" Hikaru demanded to know.
The gigantic figure looked down upon them, smiling like a gentleman. With a deep, smooth, and polite voice, the giant figure introduced himself.
"I am High Priest Zagato. Fledgling Magic Knights, I'm surprised you've come this far. I commend you…"
Everyone on board Mokona's vessel was on edge at the sudden appearance of the final boss. They were all trying to figure out what he was going to do, but they soon received their answer.
"…but this is the end," the giant figure promised and pointed an armored finger in their direction.
"Tungsten Defense!"
It was only at the very last moment that Hotaru was able to summon his spear and point it directly into the air. Lightning crackled all over them once again, until a powerful bolt of electricity struck down directly, but was drawn to Hotaru's spear.
Due to Tungsten Defense's heat resistance, he did not suffer burns from the attack, but his muscles still cramped up. It was only through sheer willpower and premeditated movements that Hotaru was able to throw the spear into the air. Despite this, Hotaru was still knocked out by the short contact with the lightning bolt and fell onto his back on the vehicle.
"Hotaru!" the girls screamed, worried his heart may have stopped.
Zagato furrowed his brow slightly upon seeing this, "You truly are defiant as they say."
Without losing his cool, Zagato called down another lightning bolt, this one striking its mark. The Magic Knights screamed out in pain as the entire vessel was being electrocuted. With none of them able to defend themselves anymore, Zagato expected to soon see their burnt-up corpses falling from the sky. But instead, a light bright enough to overshadow his lightning bolt shone, before the Magic Knights and their vehicle disappeared.
Watching through the water mirror, Zagato squinted his eyes angrily, as the target he had struck with lightning vanished. In its place was nothing but a cloud of stardust that gently spread throughout the sky. Just as it seemed that it was about to dissipate into nothingness, a blinding bright ball of light appeared in the middle of the view.
Zagato had to cover his eyes with his cloak so as not to lose his sight. As he did so, he could hear the sound of cracking glass, after which the water mirror shattered to a thousand pieces. Having been showered in glass shards, Zagato pulled away his cloak, staring at his broken magic item. While he was still trying to get over everything that had happened, it was clear to him only one person could be responsible for all this.
At the very deepest watery depths of the crystal fortress, Princess Emeraude was panting heavily. The young blonde girl in a white dress, splayed out atop a vast pink rose, was clutching at her chest. She had used more power than she had expected, but she knew it had to be done. She was glad that the bodyguard of the Magic Knight's had protected them, otherwise she would not have had the time to transport four people.
As she was gathering her strength, a familiar dark figure projected itself into her prison. The tall figure of Zagato towered over the short princess, looking down at her with a stern and disappointed gaze.
"You saved the Magic Knights," Zagato berated her, as if accusing her of cheating.
"Stop this… Stop this already!" Emeraude begged her High Priest. "I don't want anyone else to be sacrificed!"
The two former figureheads of Cephiro stared at each other for a long time, with Zagato barely showing a hint of humanity. In return, Emeraude's deep blue eyes were trembling as she tried to hold back the tears. This continued on for a long time, with only the nearby air bubbles giving off a sound.
Eventually, Zagato's stern demeanor cracked, "You know exactly how much I am willing to sacrifice. But more importantly, tell me who that man is! Who did you bring into this world together with the Magic Knights?"
Emeraude was taken aback by this question and remained silent for a while, before eventually answering, "…I do not know."
Author's Afterword: I feel like episode 10 is the opposite of episode 7, and yet just as exhausting to write for. While this is the finale for the first half of the first season, and our heroes find the first Rune God, very little actually happens. The shrine is reached, the Rune God is found, there is a giant monster battle, armor evolves, the end. With the way the same lines of dialogue are repeated like 3 – 5 times, I feel like the team adapting this part of the adventure was having the same problem I was.
I actually went ahead and added the beginning of episode 11 to the end of this chapter, to fill things out. Plus, it gives more space for something else to happen at the start of the next chapter.
Overall, I feel like I could have done more with this chapter, but they are things better reserved for the next three chapters. Everyone's favorite Chizetan dancer is about to make their debut!
As always, reviews are welcomed and appreciated. Thank you to TheMotivatedOne for your review!