Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Magic Knight Rayearth: Medieval Mystery Series ❯ Goodbye ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter 17

*~*~*~*~*

Slowly Fuu became aware. Aware of breathing, aware of warmth, aware of silence.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a large room, laying in an elaborate, green, four poster bed. A grey light filtered in from the cloud covered sky.

She sat bolt up right, unable to understand why she was here. Had she fallen asleep while doing one of her chores? Would she get in trouble? She stopped as something moved in the shadows of the room.

"You're awake." Ferio smiled as he slowly got up from the seat where he had been sitting. His sword and a bag, lay against the wall.

"Ferio." Fuu said, still a little confused. Had it all been a dream? He had been wounded, but now he was fine...

"Are you all right?" he asked, coming towards her. Fuu checked herself over, only to find she was wearing a very comfortable white cotton night gown. When did she...?

"I...I seem to be fine," she responded at last, "What about yourself?"

"Heh," Ferio chuckled as he sat down beside her, "Everyone's great, thanks to you..."

"To me?" Fuu repeated. So it wasn't a dream, but that meant...

"Fuu," Ferio interrupted her train of thought. She looked up at him, her beautiful green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"I just came here, to say goodbye..." he began slowly, deliberately. "They told me that, by protecting you, I had more than paid back my debt, and that I was free to go..."

Her face froze, sweet lips parted slightly in surprise, eyebrows arched with worry. It drove daggers to his heart.

"It's probably best that you forget about me," he continued, unable to look at her. "We'll probably never see each other again, I mean, I'll be around, but..."

Damn, this was not going well, he was only hurting himself and her more by doing this. He abruptly got up from the bed and went to collect his stuff. Stepping up to the windowsill, he turned to her one last time. "Someone's coming. I'd better go before they see me and send me back to the wood lot." he laughed. "Good luck." he said quietly before being swallowed up by the grey light. "You're strong Fuu, I know you'll be alright."

Fuu sat in her bed, unable to move, unable to feel, unable to understand. Slowly, images flooded her mind of the day they had met.

Flashback, "Look out stupid!"

He had changed her life, showing her what real happiness was, so easily, so selflessly.

Flashback, "I told you, you should take it easy on that ankle. It can't take much more of this."

Sure he was sneaky sometimes, and pretended he didn't care, but inside, she knew he did, he cared very much.

Flashback, "Because I love you, that's why."

Fuu bit her lip and felt her face get hot. He was gone, and she'd never see him...

"Fuu..." Fuu stopped and looked up as Umi came into the room. Her normally bright blue eyes looked solemn and red. Fuu could see she had been crying.

"What's wrong Umi-san? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said as she sat down beside the bed, "I'm glad to see that you're okay too..."

"Oh, you needn't worry about me..." Fuu replied quietly. Umi just looked at her sadly.

"Where...where is Hikaru-san, and Guru Clef?" Fuu asked after a moment.

Umi sighed, as if shifting a great burden on her heart. She didn't look at Fuu as she answered. "They're down in the crypt." a tear slid down her cheek. "Everyone's there. They're all saying goodbye...to..."

She tried to choke back a sob, but gave up after a second.

"Fuu-chan," she cried, the tears flowing freely now. "Presea...Presea's dead."

*~*~*~*~*~*

In the depths of the castle, Presea lay, wrapped in white, her golden hair shimmering in the torchlight.

"Preseaa!" Ascott sobbed again. Caladina rubbed his head and pulled him into the folds of her black dress.

"dsere dsere petit." she whispered, tears falling from her eyes. "She's in a better place now, don't cry."

"She...she looks like she's sleeping...Presea..." Hikaru choked. She wanted to cry, to sob out loud and scream in frustration and sorrow, but she didn't. She had to be strong, because there was someone else who had been hurt far more by Presea's death than her.

He was silent as he sat there, kneeling beside the pale, cold body of the woman he finally knew he loved. He hadn't deserved her, hadn't appreciated her when she had been there. Now that she was gone, the pain was beyond anything he had ever known. Now, even telling her how he felt would be useless. She would never hear him speak the praises she deserved so much. She would never know how her smile, her encouragement, her faith in him had kept him going through the darkest times. Even now...

Slowly Clef pulled her soft, cold hand up to his cheek, letting the hot crystal tears fall upon the delicate skin.

"Presea-san..." Fuu whispered from the door as Umi followed her in, "...but I thought I...I thought everyone was..."

"You're spell saved hundreds of wounded soldiers and civilians alike," Lafarga said in a low voice, "Unfortunatly, at the time, Presea was already..."

He stopped as Caladina squeezed his hand and nodded toward Clef. Like a weary old man, the sorcerer slowly got up to his feet and reached for his staff.

"Come on..." he said in a hollow tone, "It's been a long day, we should all get some food and rest." Slowly he turned around and headed to the door. "We still have a hard battle before us, if we lose heart now..."

The others in the room slowly nodded and began heading for the stairs. Only Umi lingered behind.

"Clef..." she said as he walked by. He turned to her, but she didn't look up at him, her soft blue hair covering most of her face. "I'm sorry." she whispered, "I'm really, really sorry..."

Clef looked at her for a moment before answering. "Don't be," he said slowly, "If anything, I should be thanking you..."

Umi looked up in surprise as a small, sad, tortured smile reached his lips.

"Thank you for this afternoon, Umi." he said, "Presea and I had a wonderful time in the gardens."

She waited until he had left the room before falling on her knees, the tears leaking through fingers and over her hands as she sobbed. "Clef...oh Clef..."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Fuu lay awake that night, staring at the big ceiling of her big room. They had insisted she sleep here, but it made her uncomfortable. She thought she saw things moving in every dark corner, and the wind howled outside, rattling the shudders like old dry bones. Scared, she hugged the covers tighter.

"You mean Zagato is our enemy, AND princess Emerald?" Umi had gasped in disbelief when they had been told about Eterna. "I don't believe it!"

"Why did they do this?" Hikaru had asked, "They're not evil people. Emerald and Zagato, I'm sure there was good in them when I saw them. Why?"

"We don't know much about the box itself. However, if it is as powerful as the legends say, we cannot let it be found." Lafarga's deep voice echoed through her memory.

Ferio, "You're strong Fuu, I know you'll be alright."

Fuu got out of bed and dressed herself. Even though it was the dead of the night, she had to go see it, she had to go see Eterna.

Quietly she crept through the cold stone halls, silent except for the sound of her shoes on the carpet, and the occasional reminder of the storm raging outside.

"I hope Ferio has found a place to stay..." she prayed, grasping the small jeweled com-device in her apron pocket. She reached the chapel and slipped past the sleeping guard by the door. Once inside, her eyes became slowly adjusted to the light.

"Fuu-chan?" someone hissed at her. Fuu jumped as she recognized Hikaru hiding between two pews.

"H-Hikaru-san?" Fuu stammered, "What are you doing here?"

"We thought you were a guard," Whispered Umi, appearing behind another pew.

"Umi-san? You're here as well?"

"Yep," Umi answered. "And it's Umi-chan, you're a magic knight too now remember."

"I uh..."

"Why did you come up here Fuu?" Hikaru asked, bouncing in front of her face.

"I-I," She stammered as she stared into Hikaru's face. "I couldn't sleep."

"You too Fuu?" Umi asked surprised, "that's why Hikaru and I came up here."

Fuu nodded as she walked up to Eterna.

"I just don't understand why Zagato and Emerald would do this." Hikaru sighed coming up beside her. "I met Zagato's brother, and he seemed like a kind person."

"Emerald seemed really nice too," Umi put in, "but Presea, Clef, everyone is hurt right now because of them. It just doesn't make sense..."

"Then perhaps we should go ask them." Fuu said absentmindedly, Umi and Hikaru looked up in surprise.

"How are we supposed to do that Fuu-chan?" Umi asked.

Fuu stared at Eterna for a moment. "In the legend, it says the three girls made a wish so strong Eterna heard it and answered. We should be able to do the same thing if we tried, however..."

"However?" Umi repeated.

"I don't know what inside Eterna is. It could be dangerous..."

"Let's go!" Hikaru said a little too loudly. "If it's the only way to stop them, then we have to try, otherwise..."

"More people might end up like Presea..." Umi finished for her. She smiled. "Shall we try Fuu?"

She held out her jeweled hand above the waters, and Fuu and Hikaru did the same. There was a sudden white glow as their armor appeared upon them, and Eterna erupted into a bubbling cauldron once again, spilling over the sides, revealing three invisible staircases.

The guard woke up with a start and ran inside the room. "Hey!" he yelled, "What are you doing?" The girls barely heard his words as the waters swirled around their heads and entered their ears. A peaceful silence followed, and then nothing.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Wh-where am I?" Hikaru thought as she woke up. The ground was hard and cold. Was this the land inside Eterna?

"Umi-chan, Fuu-chan?" she asked as she sat up. All three of them were there, but exactly where was here? They seemed to be standing on a pillar of stone in a cavern so immense it seemed to have neither walls, ceiling nor any floor besides that on which they stood. It was remarkably silent.

"What? Where's our armor?" Umi gasped as she realized she was wearing her regular clothes. Hikaru and Fuu too had lost their armor, and even more surprising, the Escudo gems were gone.

"Magic Knights..."

They stopped as a deep voice addressed them from the darkness. Warily they peered about...

Suddenly, before each of the girls, a light broke out, blue, green and red. The darkness peeled away slowly, and the three gasped at what they saw before them. They resembled full suits of heavy armor, but their size was so immense! One of them could have easily squashed the castle, and the entire city for that matter. The light stabilized, and the knights realized it was the escudo gems, which emitted the colored rays. In the space between the girls and the mashin, the gems began casting illusions of great beasts. One, a dragon, one a four winged phoenix, and one a wolf with a horn and a mane of fire. The three stared in awe.

"Magic Knights," the fire beast spoke again. "Welcome to our realm. I am the rune beast Rayeath."

"I am the rune beast Celes. You three girls, whom we have chosen to save Cephiro, have arrived here to face your enemy."

"However, you must be tested before you can proceed any further. I, the rune beast Windam, say it must be so."

"You're the beasts engraved on the outside of the fountain." Hikaru said to no one in particular.

Rayearth nodded. "Yes, we are the powers that create and destroy all there is in existence, using the fire of the earth, the water of the oceans, and the wind of the skies. We are as one and separate, forever and never."

The girls stood in silence for a moment.

"Windam," Fuu asked, "what type of test must we pass before we can go on?"

"A test of the heart and will. It will not be easy." The rune beast replied.

"Have you the courage to embark on such a test?" Celes inquired, almost taunting.

Umi took a step forward. "We wouldn't have come here if we weren't. Hikaru, Fuu and I have all made up our minds. We're going to stop Emerald and Zagato from reaching Pandora's Box!"

"Very well," the three rune gods said in unison. A beam of light came forth from the Escudo gems.

"If you have the courage..." said Windam.

"And the will..." added Celes.

"Then step forward into the light." Concluded Rayerth.

The three friends looked at each other, and nodded.

"See ya soon." Umi smiled, and stepped forward.

*~*~*~*~*