[Ranma/MKR][FanFic] A Duet of Pigtails - Part 1

[Libby Thomas]

And now...it begins....

A Duet of Pigtails
Libby Thomas

Based on characters and storylines in Ranma1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi and
Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP

Part One:
Falling Down

Far away, beyond the veil of space and time which kept the universe
in order, there was another dimension, another universe in which reality
operated in a slightly different manner. This universe was more
populated, more explored, and less a mystery to mankind. That did not
make it any less dangerous for its inhabitants. There were at least four
known worlds on which human civilization had taken root, but none of the
four were as important as the world that was the very pillar of the
cosmos.

Cephiro. A world governed by the laws of magic, and until recently,
besieged by countless wars and conflict. A world that had only recently
found peace, though it took the sacrifice of its beloved leader and the
near destruction of the universe itself. It was only due to the courage
and honor of three warriors from beyond the crystal blue skies, that the
world stood today...

...and that King Ferio ruled the kingdom. The current monarch of
the world, he was well-loved by his people, though not to the degree that
his sister Emeraude had been. That was no slight against him, but
instead a celebration of how vital his sister had been to the wellbeing
of the land. In the end, the world had chosen to forget her aberrant
attitudes towards the end of her life, instead embracing the actions put
forth by Magic Knight Commander Shidou Hikaru, the final Pillar of the
land. Her method called for the abolishment of the Pillar system, having
the people of the world responsible for the fate of their world, to mend
it or tear it asunder. The people would thus have the power, not
confined to one soul.

Since the return of the Pillar to her homeworld, the populace was
now having to learn to live in world where finally their will was
rule--but still they learned to do so under the kind-hearted rule of
Ferio and his queen, Wind Knight Houhoji Fuu. The royal couple had
brought a dimension of peace and prosperity to the land, the beasts and
the people living together in perfect harmony. Even the refugees of
Autozam, that dead world, had adjusted to life on Cephiro, and were now
part of their new homeworld. The Autozam hierarchy had become nobles
under the current rule, and though the fact that the tech levels on
Cephiro were far behind that of Autozam (though the Autozamians were
trying to correct this), the unspoiled beauty of the world was something
that made up for it (and the Autozamians were trying to find a way to
preserve that, too).

Life was considered grand on that lush, green planet. And although
there were myriad reasons why the Pax Cephirica existed, many people
agreed that it was due to the nobility, the remaining Magic Knights, and
the well-loved King, Ferio, and his kind heart.

And it was that very kind heart that brought Ferio, along with a
small contingent of men, to the small town of Hiace. Recently, a dark
shadow had been discovered over the small town in the southern part of
the world. Crops were dying, and rivers were drying up, as though the
strange cloud was sucking the life force out of the very world. Worse,
there were reports that spoke of some armed strangers, possibly even an
invading army. Those reports disturbed Ferio mildly, to say the least;
he knew he was on good terms with the neighboring nations, and there had
been no civil unrest in the land since time before time--that sort of
thing being not in the nature of your average Cephiran.

Still, there he was, alongside three of his finest warriors and
friends--the driven Lafarga, the legendary Water Knight Ryuzaki Umi, and
a younger, aristocratic archer named Cabrio--yet his mind was elsewhere.
Admittedly, though he was not the type to daydream, the slight breeze on
the move in the air brought memories to his mind, of his beloved wife,
with her enchanting green eyes and a smile that spoke volumes, despite
her shy demeanor.

((Fuu, how I wish we could be together, my love. The time out here
on the road away from you and the children is sore to my heart, but a
need that must be attended to.)) The slightest smile came to his lips as
he remembered their brief moment between them before he departed on this
mission; her soft, loving kisses always seemed to send jolts of electric
delight up and down his spine. His wife was a perfect lover for him,
knowing him very well. He also knew that he could not be truly the King
of Cephiro were it not for the grace and sensibility of his Queen,
another set of traits that he loved about her. An intellectual, Fuu saw
things in ways her husband did not, both in her role as the Queen and as
the Wind Knight. The exquisite and delightful combination of marriage
and parenthood brought out the best in them, and that wealth was spread
to the people in the form of wise rule.

He was brought out of his reverie by the cursing of Cabrio. The
young man, recently in service of the Cephiro Royal Guard, had risen
through the ranks quickly, becoming a trusted aide of LaFarga's, and
certainly one the King knew he could rely on. An androgynous-looking
male, Cabrio had soft blue hair, and eyes the same deep shade of
reddish-sienna that Hikaru's were. Although delicate looking, the man
was dangerous with a sword and even more lethal with his stock-in-trade,
the longbow; he was reputed throughout Cephiro to be as good as, if not
better than Fuu herself, widely considered to be the world's best archer.
He was currently wearing a simple mail shirt that was colored somewhere
between gray and lavender, and the fact that he was swearing was a sign
of how unnerved the usually even-flowing man was. "Bloody hell! Look
at this place! We're not even near the town, and I can smell the stench
of evil. We should have brought more mages with us, Ferio. Maybe
Caldina, or even Guru Clef!" The young man pointed to a great
blackish-blue cloud in the sky, as though the very air had been bruised.

"And what do you think I am?" a female voice rang out. The annoyed
tones of Lady Ryuuzaki Umi, Water Knight and wife to Lord Lantis, stung
the young man worse than any of his barbed shafts could. "Admittedly I'm
fairly useless," she said, pure venom dripping from each word, "but I
MIGHT be throw at least one spell." She rode on the horse with a look of
plain boredom. Admittedly, she'd much rather have been at home with her
daughter, but one of the Knights had to come, and that usually meant Umi.

"Ease your anger, Umi. I don't think he meant much harm towards
you," Lafarga said, his quiet tones soft and loaded as always. Riding at
the flank of Ferio, he turned to Cabrio and added, "Personally, Cabrio, I
feel you worry too much. We don't need more magic here than our fair
Water Knight can provide; the spells of brute force should be more than
enough!" Ferio, knowing his friend well, caught the undertone of
Lafarga's words. He and Caldina recently had their third child, and did
not want to endanger them by having Caldina at the assault; that also
went for all his friends at the palace.

"Lafarga, you misunderstand me. I have no doubt in our skills at
armaments, whether it be the blades of you, Umi, and Ferio, or my bow.
But there is little our skills can do against that, for that is what I
fear is the cause of the troubles at Hiace!"

Before either Umi or Lafarga could continue, Ferio spoke up.
"Personally, I think you may be right, Cabrio. However, it's far too
late to anything about it other than continue on and hope for the best.
The people there may be in trouble, and I can't allow any of my people to
suffer like that!" With that, he spurred his horse on, heading on
towards the threatened village of Hiace.

It was thus, then to their surprise that the sky suddenly darkened
above them, as the cloud moved with an unnatural speed to blot out the
very sunlight that made the small band of fighters so readied. As the
horses began to grow uneasy from the sudden change in lighting, a
lightning bolt rocketed down from the darkened sky, an unnatural jag of
violet that burnt into the earth before the contingent of twenty. As the
bolt of plasma connected with the terrain, a blinding flash of purple
filled the sky, causing all to shield their eyes from the optical
assault.

When the light cleared once more, three people stood before Ferio's
band. Two men, and one woman, each standing before them, imposing and
yet calm in their composure. One man, thin as a rail with close-cropped
spiky blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, stood, arms crossed over an
armored torso and a severe-cut suit, colored in tan, with a blood-red
cape draped around his shoulder. A short sword hung at his side, ready
to be loosed at a moment's notice. The second man was a small mountain
of muscle, standing above even Lafarga's stature, wearing armor of cobalt
over the same tan clothing that the first wore; a huge, opal-encrusted
sword was strapped to his back. The black in his hair and beard was as
night, but worse was the flicker of rage in his hazel eyes. Last on the
list was the woman, a classic beauty with inviting green eyes and soft
white hair. She wore neither armor, cloak, nor sword, but just the same
garb as the other two; however, the red pulsing aura of energy that
enveloped her showed that this was no dainty maiden. The three, standing
together, made for a trio that spoke of pure danger.

The thin man spoke first, addressing Ferio. "You, I take it, are
going to the town ahead of us, Ferio?"

"That's Your Majesty to you, upstart!" Cabrio snarled. Umi and
Lafarga looked at each other and nodded; Lafarga's hand loosened, ready
to grab for his blade, while Umi called forth a sphere of water the size
of a baseball--a primer for loosing her Aquamancy.

As for Ferio, he said nothing, wondering how the man could have
known who he was; he was not wearing his white clothing denoting his
identity, but instead his old tan and brown woodsman's garb. The accent
in the other's voice was odd, clearly not of this world--or of any of the
others; he was clearly a stranger to this world, and thus could not have
known Ferio's identity. Perhaps, Ferio reasoned, this stranger was a key
to solving the mystery lying ahead at Hiace.

Realizing that it would probably do no good to attempt a ruse, he
leaned forward on his saddle lazily, commenting, "Well, you seem to have
the advantage of me. You know who I am, but I am afraid that I'm not
familiar with you."

The man smiled, not at all friendly. "You don't have to be. I am
Daimler, and these are my associates, Trabant and Passat," indicating the
man and the woman, in turn. "We are the rulers of this world, now, the
ones who will make it pure. You can consider yourselves retired. If you
attempt force, I will have to respond in kind. Make it easy on yourself
and go back from where you came, Ferio."

"So you are the ones responsible for the blight?" Ferio ventured,
feeling insulted by the man's effrontery.

"As I said, since I rule now, it is no longer of your concern." The
man stopped smiling, and this gave his face an even more dangerous look.
"This is your final warning, Ferio. If you do not return the way you
came, I will slay you where you are."

Before Ferio could respond, Lafarga rushed his horse forward,
bellowing, "I doubt it! You have me to face, and I assure you, it will
not be pretty." He unsheathed his blade, readying for a strike at the
enemy now revealed before him.

"Trabant." Daimler spoke once and once only. There was a flash of
blue, and the hulking behemoth disappeared. As Lafarga neared for a
strike, a blast of blue erupted beneath him, flinging rider and horse
skyward. The blast turned out to be a mystical geyser of water,
controlled by the huge swordsman. Upon the return to earth, Lafarga
landed easily and attacked his foe; the horse, not as prepared, landed on
its neck and snapped it instantly, killing the beast. Ignoring the
sorrowful pain that his steed had died in, Lafarga silently promised the
beast justice by planning to run his blade through the large behemoth.

In the meanwhile, Cabrio waited for no attack. He whipped out his
bow and began firing arrow after arrow, choosing as his target the woman
named Passat. To his shock, she was easily outmaneuvering each of his
shots, nimbly dancing around each of his missiles and softly tapping each
with her finger, incinerating each in the process. Finally, she smiled a
grin that could have been construed as inviting, if it wasn't for the
next words she called out: "And now it ends. Fire Ballista!" A
multitude of flaming arrows launched out towards Cabrio, but he was not
as quick as she was. Though he maneuvered to and fro, he managed to
avoid most of them. Unfortunately, however, a few finally hit him, and
he fell, defeated.

Umi bounded from her horse in one smooth move, drawing her rapier
from her gauntlet as she leapt into battle. Searching for an unengaged
target, she immediately noted Cabrio's fall at the hands of his opponent,
and fearing the worst, advanced on the woman, lethal intent in her eyes.
With a vicious scream of "MIZU NO RYUUUUUU!!!" she loosed her Hydrodragon
Blast at Passat, who parried with a shield of flame. The two stopped,
eyeing each other. Passat put her fists together, then pulled them
apart, drawing a line of flame from them. Speaking in a language that
Umi didn't understand yet sounding eerily familiar, that line of fire
became a sword with which the ivory-hair woman thrust at the Water
Knight.

Meanwhile, Ferio, also seeing one of his friends downed, finally
entered the fray, ordering his men into battle. He leapt from his horse,
unholstering his scimitar, and moved to strike out against Daimler, who
had also unsheathed his own blade for the conflict. He had the
confidence that his guardsmen would easily contain the fighting around
them. Had he bothered to turn around, he would have noticed that his own
men were not involved in the fighting.

They were instead being beaten to a pulp by giant golems made of
stone that had leapt from the earth unexpectedly. Those golems in turn,
were being controlled by a small woman dressed similarly to Trabant, her
short forest-green hair and black eyes as cold and impassive as the
burnished coppery color of her chest armor. In one hand, she held a
short rapier, ready to attack should any of the Cephiran Guard break
through her golems; while the other glimmered a bright orange in echo of
the magic she wielded in controlling her creatures.

In the interim, the combat between Lafarga and Trabant ended
immediately. While the two were more than a match when it came to the
skill of the blades, and indeed, it appeared for a moment that Lafarga
would get the better of him, Trabant struck out with his magic.
Instantly, the Cephiran master-at-arms was buffeted by high-pressure
streams of water, slamming into him with the force of a ton. Lafarga
switched from attacking the other swordsman to fighting the torrents of
water swinging his blade to and fro to minimize the damage. And though
he managed to succeed at that, too, he was brought down by a fist to the
back of the head, which crumpled him to the floor.

Umi and the woman named Passat moved in a duel of steam, their
motions, strikes and parries being countered time and time again by the
other. A thrust by Umi was parried by Passat, who immediately snapped
out with a slice that Umi brought up short via a counter swing by her own
rapier. As she did, Passat lashed out with flame magic, screaming,
"Inferno Whip!" As the serpentine stream of fire slashed its way towards
Umi, she countered it with a new spell of her own, a defensive spell
called Amemajirinoyuki Kakuheki. As the blast of flame impacted against
the snowflake-shaped spell ward, Umi then took the time to leap into the
air, cocking her arms back and readied for a powerful, fatal thrust.

As she did this, however, she failed to notice the golem that
wrapped its massive hand around her slender ankles. What she did notice
was a change in trajectory as she was pulled off course and painfully
slammed into the ground. The golem picked her up again, and before it
could toss her around once more as though she were a rag doll, she
managed to blast it to nothingness courtesy of a well-timed Aoi
Tatsumaki. Her relief was short-lived, however, as Passat kicked her
sharply in the side of the head, knocking the Water Knight unconscious.

As for the conflict between Ferio and Daimler, that too was brought
short. All it took was an emerald glow of Daimler's right hand, and a
blast of wind launched Ferio away from his intended target. At the same
time, Daimler brought his sword up over his head and down in a fast arc,
shearing through Ferio's sword, cutting it in half. The broken half fell
and buried itself in the ground, as Ferio, still holding on to the handle
half, slammed into a nearby tree, knocking the wind out of him.

Standing up, he wiped a sliver of blood from his mouth and tossed
the remnants of his sword down, crying, "You'll have to do better than
that, Daimler. I've fought against everything that there was in this
world, and I will continue, no matter what. You. Will. Not. Stop.
Me!"

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ferio," Daimler responded in disinterested
tones. He snapped his fingers and spoke softly, uttering a simple
phrase: "Targa, hither."

A blast of violet once more descended to earth, shredding the
tree--and Ferio underneath it. He screamed in pain as he was
electrocuted, then slumped to the ground in a shaking fit of nerve
impulse overload, his mind mercifully having slipped into unconsciousness
milliseconds earlier. In the crater that was the remains of the tree,
stood a man wearing an indigo version of the same suit everyone else
wore. He wore a cape similar to Daimler's, and in his hands he carried
two short swords. His features, including his shock of dark blue hair
and gray eyes, would be handsome if it wasn't for the malicious sneer
that was plastered into his face. His rail-thin body moved with a lithe
grace as he bent down to check his victim. "He still breathes, Daimler,"
Targa hissed in response. "He is stronger than we guessed."

"Let him live then, Targa. We may have use for him and the others,
who I can guess are also still alive, Jetta?" he commented, directing his
query to the short forest-haired girl.

She was looking over the body of Cabrio. "He suffered a couple of
second degree burns from Passat's attack, but he'll live. As for the
other, he has a couple of chest bruises--Trabant's AquaStrike did the job
nicely--and a concussion from that last punch, but he'll also live. The
Water Knight--" she said, Tapping Umi's unconscious form with her foot,
"--will probably be the first to recover, and since she's the most
dangerous, we'll have to keep a close eye on her. As for the rest of
their army, my Geoslaves tore most of them apart, but I think one
escaped. He'll probably notify the rest of the Cephiro aristocracy and
Presea will be leading an army down here."

"Hah," Trabant scoffed. "This--" pointing at Lafarga, "--is the
Head of the Guard. Do you think that the General of their Army could do
any better against me?"

"From what I understand," Targa said, in a haughty tone, "the one
called Presea is very dangerous. She is the Weaponsmaster of Cephiro, an
expert with any kind of weapon. Unlike where we came from, here that
quality is rare. She is one not to be trifled with."

"Personally," Passat said, leaning on Daimler's shoulder in a
seductive manner, "I'm hoping they'll send that geriatric brat Clef.
He's 700 years old and needs to reach the end of his life. I'll be more
than happy to oblige the gentleman." She formed a fist, and instantly
the red glow of fire magic surrounded it, as though it were a pet eager
to do its master's bidding. "I will burn the little bastard to a crisp,
I swear."

Jetta looked at her associate, shaking her head in disagreement.
"You can be so cruel, Passat, but however, the one we truly have to watch
out for is the queen herself, the Wind Knight. Fuu has a reputation of
fighting against anything to protect this land. Furthermore, knowing her
loved ones are in peril, she may mount an attack of high proportions,
possibly using her Mashin, if it came to that."

"I'm unconcerned," Trabant admitted, polishing his fingernails
against his chest. "We have the Levin mechs that Sharan and Citroen are
building for us. Sharan's the finest scientist we have, and I doubt we
will ever see his like. Furthermore, we have a mage of our own in
Citroen. I would place her up against 'the mighty' Clef any day." He
spread his arms to encompass the area surrounding them. "This is our
finest moment, and our armies must win. Between the Ibizas and our
skybattleship OPEL, we will become the clear victors!"

"But I hear of rumors that you do not," Passat warned. "There is
supposedly a goddess who protects the land, known as the Pillar. If the
need of the world is great enough, the Pillar can easily be summoned."

"A goddess. Hah. Clearly you've been hearing too many wives tales,
Passat." Daimler scoffed at the notion of anything being more poweful
than his forces, nor anything more convincing than his raison du guerre.
"Why waste the time in debate? Clearly they stand no chance against us."
Turning back to Targa, he commented, "Return us to the stronghold. We
have much work to do before we bring this world to its knees."

Nodding once, Targa stabbed the air once with his glowing dagger.
There was the familiar blast of lighting...

...and then they were gone, destination unknown.

~*~

Hours later, a very weary and tired Fuu was done speaking to the
surviving guardsman, who'd barely escaped with his life; it would take
many a healer many a day to totally bring this man to any semblance of
total well-being. He was able to report all that he did before
mercifully slipping into a comatose state. The Queen of Cephiro sighed;
at least someone would be spared the pain of the next few days to come.

As she began to walk out of the infirmary and down towards the grand
hall, her mind was a bitter, tangled mess. ((I thought we'd moved away
from this,)) she thought, trying to keep her mind off the fact that her
husband and best friend were now amongst the missing, and possible
casualties. ((Why now, after we've fought so hard to win a peace here on
this world? Why, after we've risked everything to save this place?))

She wandered the halls, trying to keep a brave front, though most of
the servants had already heard of the events south of the palace. As a
result, Fuu had discarded her both usual comfortable clothing and the
gowns of state, opting for the clearly combatant look of the Wind
Knight's uniform. Always a subtle planner, it was her way of declaring
without outright saying, that Cephiro was now in a state of war.

As she continued down the halls of the grand castle, a voice called
to her. "I know it can't be easy, Fuu, but we are here for you, old
friend."

The blonde turned her head, her lens covered green eyes smiled at
her friends more than her mouth did. "Thank you, Presea, Caldina. I
know it is just as hard for you two." That was all she would mention of
Caldina's husband or Cabrio, who'd recently begun courting the
Weaponsmaster of Cephiro.

"We'll manage," Presea said, tersely. In her gold and silver armor
as General of the Cephiran Army, she looked very regal, the very image of
a Cephiran Valkyrie. Her golden hair was in that ever-familiar topknot
of hers, and she still looked very beautiful. However, her green eyes
were embedded with a worry that the Wind Knight had never seen before,
and her usual quirky humor was almost non-existent today.

"Are you sure? I need you both rested and prepared. Not only
because the world needs you, but more so because you're my friends, and
I'm concerned." This next comment was directed not so much at Presea,
but the woman next to her.

The woman at the side of Presea barely looked at Fuu. Despite her
normally, enchanting, hypnotic beauty, today, she looked...well, as
though the magic had drained from her body, the siren's call having been
halted by deepening sorrow. On any other given day, the girl's garb, an
Arabian-like assortment of silks and lacy, gossamer fabrics would entice
any man to hormonal madness; today, they limped at her side, pathetic and
spent; she looked like she was on day 1002 of the 1001 Arabian nights.
Caldina stared at her queen and close friend, the pain showing in her
dark eyes. Her normally tanned skin somehow looked paler today, and her
rose-hued hair didn't have that usual just-so sheen to it.

Fuu spoke again, directly to her this time. "Caldina, will you be
okay? I need your assistance in this crisis, old friend. If you cannot
lend your talents to this crisis due to your own, I will understand."

Caldina's dark eyes flickered for a second. She then spoke, in that
lilting Chizetam accent that Umi always said somehow reminded her of the
city of Osaka, on her homeworld: "I'll...be okay. You needn't worry
about me, okay? We'll get through this together. There's no choice."

"Good." Fuu breathed a sigh of relief. As much as Presea was
hurting over Cabrio's disappearance, Caldina was in worse shape over the
loss of her husband. "As you said, Caldina--we'll make it through this
together." Her words came out hollow, in her opinion, and she wasn't
sure if she'd said them to console Caldina, Presea, or herself.

Down at the end of the grand hall, a voice broke the relative
silence, as another ran up to the trio, his figure a dashing sight,
resplendent in Cephiran armor. "Presea, the FTOs are ready to launch.
Conventional forces are also ready for deployment." Zazu brushed the
black hair out of his eyes; like Ascot before him, he'd benefited from
enhanced growth; the adult that strode beside them was not the child of
old. "Presea, I tell you, I don't like the idea of using the FTOs. We
have so few of them and it takes a LOOOONNNNGGGG time to build new ones.
If these guys are--"

She cut him off with a piercing glance. "NO. Get those units
airborne, and wait at the outskirts of Hiace. My cavalry will join you
there." She softened her gaze, adding, "I know that the Cephiran
military is more magic based and less tech-based than the old Autozam
forces, but until we find a way to compromise building tech without doing
environmental damage to Cephrio, you'll have to live with what we've
got."

"I understand. Don't worry, we'll get them back." Showing his
pearly whites in that lop-sided grin, he saluted haphazardly and took off
towards his mech. A short flight would get him to the newly-renamed ARK
CEPHIRO, the space cruiser that was once the flagship of Autozam's
military operations.

"He certainly is still impetuous," Fuu said, as she watched the
pilot race into the distance. "I just hope he's right. Stars, if Ferio
is killed, not to mention Lafarga and Cabrio...." She shook her head,
fighting back tears, trying to maintain some sense of calm before she
snapped. "Presea, you're the military expert, but is a full assault on
Hiace the answer? I think we're at a disadvantage without having a full
accounting of the situation!"

Presea fought back tears as her face went into a cold, dispassionate
beauty; the Wind Knight could see that she'd spent hours worrying about
this decision. "The...safety of the kingdom is paramount. We have to
stop whatever's out there. If these people are as powerful as the
messenger said, we have a battle on our hands." For a second, she looked
as though she were about to cry. Then the moment was gone, and General
Presea had returned, Cephiro's Ice Shieldmaiden. "Excuse me, my friends;
I have a war to run, just as you have a kingdom to lead in this crisis.
Lady Caldina, Your Highness," she said in a stiff formal manner to
Caldina and Fuu, respectively, "I shall talk to you two later." With
that, she turned and strode away purposefully; in truth, it was so that
they wouldn't see her tears. She had to be strong, for Cabrio, for
Caldina, for Fuu, for her friends, and for her world. She could fail
them. She couldn't afford to.

Once Presea strode away, Caldina turned to Fuu. "Call her."

Fuu said softly but firmly, "No. We can handle this on our own. I
won't put Hikaru through the emotional stress that bringing her here will
give her. Besides, it's been years. We've no idea if she's still
alive."

"She is, and you know it," Caldina countered. "She's the Pillar.
We would have known if she died. In fact, considering how the land's
doing, I would say it's due to the fact that all is going well in her
life at the moment."

"There is no more Pillar. She abolished it, remember?" Fuu's face
took on a sorrowful look. "You remember when Umi came back to stay?
When she told Lantis and all of us about her pregnancy? And then there's
her daughter, six months after she told us. I love that child as much as
I do my son, but she would be a living reminder to Hikaru of what went
wrong in her relationships with Umi and Lantis." She looked at Caldina
sadly. "Furthermore, I don't think that even she--"

"SHE can. She is the Pillar," Caldina interrupted, not caring about
the breach in protocol. "The Pillar can do whatever she damn well
pleases. Hikaru is the Pillar, whether she likes it or not. It is she
who should rule, not Ferio, since she is the true soul of Cephiro. This
is her responsibility, whether she likes it or not." She calmed down and
said, "Don't get me wrong. Ferio's a very good ruler, and I'm not
advocating anything rash or insane. What I'm saying, is that in the end,
Cephiro is not something Hikaru can walk away from. Whether she says the
people are the Pillar now, as much as she can deny it, SHE is the One
True Pillar, the True Soul of Cephiro. She cannot walk away."

Fuu sighed in resignation. This was something that she did not want
to do, but there was no choice in the matter at all. "I suppose you are
right. Let me go to the tower and ask Clef to send the summoning
signal," she said with a heavy heart, as the queen moved to the spiral
staircase that would lead to the summoning tower. "I hope you're right
about this, Caldina. Just as Umi is, Hikaru's my best friend, and I
would do anything to spare them the pain of what's come between them. I
just wish there was another way." Nothing more to say, Fuu continued on
her journey to Clef's chambers at the top of the spire.

As Caldina watched Fuu walk away, she felt shamed that she'd driven
her close friend and sovereign to this. Sure, this was to protect her
husband and friends, but in doing so, she was risking hurting sweet
Hikaru, a person who deserved nothing but happiness. And the illusionist
could swear that somehow, when the queen completed her conversation with
him, the 700-plus year old Guru would be feeling every year of his age.

~*~

There was a knock at the door. "Guru? May I come in?"

The guru answered. "Of course you may, Your Highness. This is,
after all, your palace. Until, of course, that vile phenomenon you
Terrans call a 'tax audit'."

Fuu smiled at his humor; he always knew when to cheer her up. "The
tax forms are black magic in and of themselves, and the Ministry of
Finance has always been a dark coven, assuredly." She moved into the
room, and he bade her sit. "But that's not why I came up here, my old
friend."

Clef smiled with his eternal smile. "I know why you're up here,
Fuu. And I understand that you want to spare her the pain of seeing
Lantis and Umi married, and with a daughter."

"So much has changed here since the last time we were all together.
We all have children now, and we're certainly more powerful than we were
when we were younger." She looked at him, her eyes pleading for some
other alternative. "Surely, isn't that enough to stop this threat? I'd
spare Hikaru the pain if I could, and if there is any alternative, I'd
like to explore that, first."

He didn't lie to her. "There is no alternative, Fuu. In this case,
it is the Fire Knight, or perhaps even the Pillar herself that can stop
this mess. However, I will make one concession to you."

"And that is?"

"If she is willing to come. The last few times, it was compulsory,
and we pulled you back--although you traveled willingly, you would have
arrived whether you wished to or not. She has the power to breach the
dimensional gates herself, and so we no longer need to summon her.
Simply sending a signal will suffice."

"It still makes me feel dirty, Clef," Fuu whispered. "I feel like
I'm damning my best friends."

"You, Umi, and Hikaru are the Knights. You three were born for
this; furthermore, Hikaru is especially critical since she is Knight
Commander. Furthermore and even more important, Hikaru is the last
Pillar. Although there will be no other, it is still her willpower that
fuels the core of this world. In the end, Hikaru must return to Cephiro.
But I will make the signal optional."

Fuu said, "Thank you." At his nod, she left the room, with a
possibly heavier heart than the one she'd entered in. She knew that
Hikaru, personal feelings aside, would come when innocents were at risk.
But she truly feared what the results of seeing how things had changed
and what effects that would have on the Knight Commander. At best,
Hikaru would be heartbroken. At worst.... Fuu shook her head at that.
It was too uncomfortable to consider.

Disturbed by the whole mess, Fuu returned to the lower parts of the
palace. She had to meet Lantis and the others in the war room. The fact
that she wore her Wind Knight clothing signified her hint that Cephiro
was at war. Now it was time to declare it for real.

~*~

An hour later, a blast of energy tore into the nighttime sky,
destination unknown. The beam, pulsing every so often, changed hues from
red, to blue, to green and back again. Additionally, the beam seemed to
change appearance every now and then: from a blast of energy, to a bolt
of fire, to a column of water, to a tight hurricane, and back. The beam
continued on its path, seeming not so much to transcend for another
world, but more as if it were trying to break the dimensional barrier.

From a location in the Forest of Dominion, south of Hiace, Daimler
and Passat watched the beam streak on into the indigo-blue air. "I don't
like the look of that," Passat snarled. "It could be a distress signal
to their allies on the other two worlds."

"Doubtful. They have no idea what is happening here, and by the
time they do it will be too late. We will be in power, and entrenched.
They will have to fight us and lose, or deal with us."

"Still, it could be worse...and could get worse if we don't do
something about that message," the woman warned. "It could be nothing,
but it's better to cover our backs, than to have to worry about what it
could be, correct?" She leaned on his shoulder. "I personally would
rather have a small decorative blast of energy nullified than to have a
plea for help slip through."

Jetta frowned. "Of course, there is one other answer: they are
calling the Pillar from her haven." Everyone stared at her in disgust.
The old wives' tales of the land were obviously having a pathetic effect
on the young woman. Turning to her comrades, she added, "Why else would
they send such an elegant looking beam of power? It's certainly no
weapons system."

Daimler grunted. Regardless of what the beam meant, Passat was
correct; the problem had to be eliminated, and soon. Even if it was not
a problem, to take a chance with that would be risky, at least; the need
to lessen the chance of Cephiro receiving allied support was tantamount.
His eyes scanned the beam as it continued to streak its way into the
nocturne darkness. If he didn't act soon, the chance to stop the beam
would be lost, and the possibility for furthered conflict could be
inevitable. He continued to look at the sky, seeking some kind of sign.

Epiphany struck him when his eyes descended on one of the
crystalline sky-islands. Airborne mountains of dirt and quartz, these
floating behemoths usually did nothing, save migrate with the clouds in
the sky, a more solid addition to the cirrus and cumulus structure in the
blue sky of this world. At night, they glowed with a barely ambient
light, residue from the billions of shafts of starlight that constantly
bombarded them. Tonight, they would serve a purpose.

He closed his eyes, raised his hand towards the sky, and began to
concentrate. Abruptly, his hand began to emanate a green aura of eldrich
power, the mystical energies swirling and dancing in eddies and vortices
around his hand. He opened his eyes, and in those mirrors of the soul,
the same effect could be seen. He felt nothing happening, no motion or
effect; he poured more power into his spell, and the results showed as
his body became bathed in the same eerie luminescence.

Thousands of feet above, one of the islands began to move. Not the
biggest or the widest, but the one that made the most sense: a small
island, nearly one of the smallest, the one with the clearest crystal.
The island began to glow with a faint hue of the same magic color, and
began to move in a direction not normally associated with Cephiro's
natural wind patterns.

At the last second, the crystal moved into the path of the beam,
neatly intercepting the beam. The prismatic nature of the mountainous
shard began to glow, absorbing the light beam and its arcane sub
energies. The beam's energy slowly began to overload the matrix of the
stone, and within minutes, the floating island began to produce ambient
energy bleed as the crystal began to overload. In the end, the beam was
absorbed by the floating crystal island, which now resembled a miniature
sun. The crystal appeared to have expanded to twice its size...

...then it exploded in a shower of sparks, crystal, and motes of
light, as the remnants of the beam split into two thinner (and
presumably, weaker) shafts of light. One stopped a few meters more from
where the crystal island had been before dissipating in a ripple-like
effect. The second beam went off in another direction before also
stopping in a burst of light similar to a fireworks display. As for the
blasted remains of the crystal island, the burnt and blasted hulk, its
magical crystal gone, began to fall like a slow moving meteor towards the
ground below. If it kept to its present trajectory, Daimler noted, it
would impact against one of the coastal towns, creating a huge crater;
there was little hope that the villagers would be able to clear out of
the blast radius in time.

Oh well, if one wishes to make an omelette....

With the surety that the beams had been nullified, Daimler and Jetta
returned to their campsite. Tomorrow, the bulk of the army of Cephiro
would be moving on the town of Hiace. Once they discovered that it was a
ghost town, they'd begin to return to the palace--and walk right into a
major trap. Daimler smiled; he already had his forces well in hand, but
he wanted to make sure that no one could impede his chances of victory.

He turned to Jetta and Passat. "Ladies, the beam has been weakened,
and I doubt it will reach its intended destination. However, just to be
on the safe side, arrange for Citroen to follow that beam and see where
it ends. This might prove...interesting, and may turn out to be to our
advantage." With a gleam in his eye, he felt that it was time to consult
his personal mentor. He headed back to his personal tent, and the
restricted area which lay within. It was time to consult the oracle, and
see what advice could be gleaned from The Leader.

NEXT CHAPTER:
Part Two: Girl Talk and Pillow Conversations

AUTHOR'S BABBLING:
I'd like to thank my pre-readers for assisting me with the mess that this
has been, and for steering me away from a massive disaster, in some
cases. I hope that you've all enjoyed this, and are looking forward to
the next part!