"I don’t know what to do," she sobbed. "I don’t want Cephiro to vanish nor do I want Tokyo. I have no idea how I can help this land…"
Hikaru collapsed to the marble ground with her hand still on the rail. Lantis appeared in the doorway and looked at Hikaru. Her fiery red hair seemed to have lost its glow and he couldn’t bear to see her so sad.
"This is how she must have been after her first visit to Cephiro," he thought to himself, remembering the tragic end that had come to his brother and Princess Emeraude.
Lantis had not been in Cephiro went Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu were first summoned. He had run away to Autozam where he tried to forget about Cephiro and his brother’s, Zagato, love for the princess, which he knew would end in tears. It was there that he became close friends with Eagle Vision. Eagle and him had a very strong bond that no one could break. That is until Lantis felt the death of his brother and returned to Cephiro to prevent another pillar from being born. He hoped to become the next pillar so that he could abolish the system. He did not want anyone to have to suffer the way that Zagato and Princess Emeraude did. Then he found Hikaru, the spunky girl who had changed his view of the world. He remembered the tears in her eyes when she had apologized for killing Zagato, those same tears streaming down her face now. When it was discovered that she was the next pillar, Lantis had feared that the same disaster that had befallen his brother would once again happen. For he was in love with Hikaru and, at the end of it all, she had told him that she loved him in return.
"Hikaru," Lantis whispered kneeling down next to her. "Stop with all the tears, it is so unlike you to cry like this."
"I know," Hikaru managed to gasp between tears. "It’s just that I am so afraid. I don’t know why any of this is happening. I don’t even know why Umi, Fuu, and I were summoned here in the first place. You don’t know how happy I was to see you out my window. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I would be able to be with you and not have to worry about anything ever again. I was scared that I was going to go off to college and…"
Hikaru hesitated. Lantis helped her to her feet and looked down at her. Hikaru looked at the ground and held her hands in tight fists, tears still streaming down her face.
"And what?" Lantis asked.
"And…and…forget you…"Hikaru cried hiding her face in her hands. "I was afraid that I was going to forget about Cephiro and everyone here. I was afraid that it was just going to seem like a dream to me and that none of it actually happened."
"Hikaru…"Lantis laughed wrapping his black cape around her tiny body. "Cephiro will always be a part of you. While you may forget about its existence, those memories will never leave you. No one here will ever forget you, Hikaru. Cephiro is a part of you, and you are a part of Cephiro."
Hikaru looked up at Lantis and managed a smile. Lantis had changed so much since the last time she was in Cephiro. He was not as unemotional and stiff as he had been, not to mention that he was talking a lot more. She had changed too. She wasn’t the same young 15 year old that he had first meet. She was a young woman now with a whole new outlook on the world. Hikaru held his cape over her shoulders and looked out into the brilliant blue skies of Cephiro, a land that had become her second home.
"It is so beautiful…"she whispered.
Lantis put one hand around Hikaru’s waist and brought her closer to him. Hikaru took her gaze off the sky and into his intense blue eyes. Slowly, Lantis leaned down until he was only inches away from Hikaru’s face. Hikaru wrapped her arm that was not holding the cap around Lantis’ neck and stood on her tiptoes until her lips brushed against his. Lantis tightened his grip around her waist and brought her closer and the two closed their eyes, enjoying their first kiss.
*****
"So, it is worse than I thought," Clef sighed leaning on his staff.
"I am afraid so," Lafarga replied. "Autozam and Chizeta have confirmed that they are also experiencing the same difficulties as Cephiro."
"This is certainly is odd," Noon exclaimed running his fingers through his long silver hair. "I did not imagine that other worlds would experience the same events as Cephiro."
"Neither did I," Clef replied. "I think it is time to send a message to Autozam, Chizeta, and Fauren. We must all meet and discuss the present issues. Perhaps one of them will have an answer."
"I hope that you are right," Lafarga said looking down at the floor. "I don’t know what we can do to save Cephiro. We don’t even know who is behind all this."
"Perhaps…"Noon quickly cut himself off and Lafarga gave him an odd look. "Oh never mind, I am sure that it is nothing."
Lafarga stared at Noon for several minutes and did not hear a word that Clef was saying. He hadn’t liked Noon from the moment that he appeared in Cephiro. There was just something about him that didn’t seem right. Lafarga had noticed that he looked very much like Clef. He had tried to convince Clef not to allow Noon to become a member of the palace guard. He just had a gut feeling that Noon was harboring a dark secret. Noon noticed that Lafarga was staring at him and gave him a sly look and a wink. Lafarga growled.
"Is there something the matter?" Clef asked.
"No…nothing," Lafarga replied keeping an eye on Noon. "If you will excuse me."
Lafarga turned and left the throne room, shutting the door behind him. Lafarga walked down the hallway until he was knocked to the group by an over enthusiastic Caldina.
"HELLO!" she laughed kissed him on the cheek.
"Caldina…"Lafarga sighed standing. "I am really not in the mood."
"Oh really," Caldina giggled blocking his path. "What is bothering you?"
"It’s that Noon character. There is something about him that I just don’t trust. I think he knows who is behind this whole thing…"
Caldina wrapped her arms around Lafarga’s neck and kissed him. Lafarga placed his hands on her waist. Slowly she pulled away and gave Lafarga a seductive look and walked towards her chamber. She turned at the door and winked. Lafarga smiled. He knew that Caldina was trying to help him forget his worries about Noon, but the lingering feeling of pending doom still hung over his head like a black rain cloud.
*****
Nova stood on a rocky ledge overlooking the Castle of Cephiro. He skintight black body suit glistened in the sunlight as her hair gently blew back and forth with the breeze. The two other girls stood on either side of her and followed her gaze towards the castle.
"Is this not the same spot that the Magic Knights first stood on when they first arrived in Cephiro?" asked the one with blond hair as she adjusted her glasses.
"Yep," smiled the other running her fingers through her long blue hair. "This is where it all began…and where it is all going to end."
"I say we just go down there and kill them quickly," cackled the blond reaching for her bow. "They would never know what hit them."
"No Astral!" shouted Nova. "When we do kill them I want it to be slow and painful. I want them to realize the mistake they made by coming back to Cephiro."
Astral turned in a huff and jumped into the branches of a tree. She crossed her arms and looked down at the other two girls.
"I think that the quicker we get it done the better," she growled.
"Astral, stop acting like such a child," sighed the blue haired girl. "It is only going to take us longer if you act like this."
"Stellar is right you know!" Nova growled back. "I want to see their blood flow just as much as you do! Don’t make me come up there and get you because I am not going to ask you again!"
"Come on, I dare you to attack me!" shouted Astral aiming her bow at Nova. "You know that you can’t do this without me!"
"Well just have to see about that!" Nova replied grabbing her light swords. "It would probably be better if you were gone anyway!"
"WATER DRAGON!" Stellar cried pointing towards Nova and Astral. The attack hit both girls and caused Astral to fall out of the tree. "I’ll kill both of you if you keep this up. Then I’ll be the only one to taste their blood."
Nova and Astral slowly stood and looked at Stellar. Nova looked back at the castle and then back at the other two girls.
"No, I have waited to long to kill Hikaru," she snarled I am going to be the one to kill her."
"I get Fuu," laughed Astral.
"Just leave that spoiled Umi to me," Stellar giggled holding her sword in the light.
"Besides," Nova laughed. "We already have another shadow in the castle. This shadow is a very powerful one at that."
"I know," Stellar replied looking at the castle with a seductive look on her face. "He is going to play a key role before the end."
The three girls laughed among themselves. They were so wrapped up in their plans and lust for blood that they didn’t notice the sound made by a space ship in the sky as it sailed towards the Castle of Cephiro.
*****
"The people from Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren have arrived," Presea called.
"We’d better go and meet them," Clef smiled beckoning everyone to follow him.
Umi and Fuu ran to catch up to Clef while Hikaru lingered behind. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to see the newly arrived guests. It had been Eagle Vision of Autozam who sacrificed his life to save her own during the final battles of her last visit to Cephiro. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to face those memories again. She watched as Umi hugged the two princesses of Chizeta, Tatra and Tarta, huge smiles across their faces. Fuu politely bowed to the now Empress Aska of Fahren who quickly jumped on Fuu and hugged her tightly. Sanyun smiled and blushed as Aska introduced him as her boyfriend while Chanan, the chief cabinet member of Fahren and mentor of Aska, looked on. Hikaru watched as Geo Metro, the tall and muscular subcommander of the NSX, walked off the ship and greeted Lantis. Geo had been one of Eagle’s best friends so it was no wonder that him and Lantis got along well. Zazu Torque, the chief mechanic of the NSX, run off and joined Geo in greeting Lantis. Hikaru softly smiled and decided that she should at least go and talk to them, they had been kind to her while Eagle had captured her and brought her on board. Just then another figure got off the NSX. He was tall and with dusty blond hair and piercing eyes that looked so sad. Lantis looked at the figure and then over at Hikaru. She ran up to him and stopped just in front of him. She reached out her hand and touched the metal headpiece on his forehead that she knew so well.
"Eagle…" she whispered.
He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Hikaru’s hug.
"I can’t believe it," she cried tears streaming down her face. "I can’t believe it is really you…"
"I am afraid that you have me mistaken with someone else," the boy replied putting his hands on Hikaru’s shoulders and gently pushing her away. "I am not Eagle. My name is Hawk Vision of Autozam."
Hikaru backed away and looked at Hawk Vision. He looked exactly like Eagle. Lantis came up and stood behind her. Everyone was looking at Hikaru and Hawk.
"Okay, this is just too creepy," Umi sighed. "As if Cephiro couldn’t get any weirder, here comes an Eagle look alike. Let me guess…you are his long lost twin brother?"
"Well, I wouldn’t say that I am his ‘long lost,’" Hawk gently smiled. "I am just his twin brother." Hawk looked at Hikaru. "You must be Miss Shidou, Eagle has told me so much about you."
Hikaru took another step back and stepped right onto Lantis’ foot. She stumbled put Lantis steadied her.
"Eagle never told me that he had a brother," Lantis replied looking from Hawk over to Geo and Zazu.
"He didn’t tell us either," Geo replied. "But it makes sense now that I think about it. Eagle was deathly sick after all and a lot of the time he needed to sleep. There was no way that he could have been such a strong commander if he slept all the time. Eagle and Hawk would switch off doing the everyday tasks that Eagle had to do. They didn’t tell anyone that he had a twin so that everyone would think that he wasn’t as sick as he really was."
"It was my brother’s last wish to come to Cephiro," Hawk explained looking back at Hikaru. "He wanted to go not only for the pillar system, but to be able to say good bye to his best friend, Lantis."
"Eagle and I said our good byes the day that I left," Lantis said.
"Was it really Eagle that you said good bye to?" Hawk laughed looking at Lantis. "My brother knew that something was bothering you, but he was far to sick to go and talk to you. Instead, he sent me to see what was wrong. When you told me that you would be returning to Cephiro, I knew that it should not be me talking to you, but Eagle. I told Eagle everything that you told me. He knew that you had gone to destroy the pillar system. It was then that he decided that he had to go, to see if maybe he could become the pillar and to say good bye to you. But, something happened to him while he was here. He meet someone that he hadn’t counted on…"Hawk shifted his gaze to Hikaru. "He found someone else that he thought was worth dying for. Eagle sent me messages every night talking about what was going on. Every one talked about a beautiful red haired girl who was one of the Legendary Magic Knights of Cephiro. He knew that Lantis was falling in love with her and it furthered his want to become the pillar. Eagle knew that Hikaru could be the next pillar, he sensed it the first time that he met you in battle. He feared that the same fate that met Zagato would happen again if Hikaru became the pillar."
Hikaru looked up and Lantis who had his eyes fixated on Hawk. She looked around and saw Umi and Fuu who had tears in their eyes. Geo and Zazu were looking at the ground. Clef just looked at Hikaru and mouthed the words "I’m sorry." She knew at that moment that Clef had known. He knew that Eagle had a twin brother, he knew everything. Lafarga held Caldina’s hand and Ascot just looked up at the sky. Mokona jumped into Hikaru’s arms and puued softly.
"Eagle sacrificed himself for the happiness of the two people he loved the most," Hawk finished.
*****
Mokona bounced down the long hallway alone. He reached an empty room with the three symbols of Rayearth, Windam, and Selece on the walls. The jewel on his forehead once again turned gold. A while light engulfed Mokona and he vanished. He reappeared in the alternate universe where the Manshin slept. He softly landed on the ground and hopped up to the three giant guardians. They slowly turned their giant metal heads down to look at Mokona. They each took a knee and bowed to the tiny creature. Mokona’s face turned from its usual carefree look to one of the up-most seriousness. The gem on his forehead was still gold.
"You will have to chose," Rayearth’s voice echoed.