~Rose

P.S. You might need some basic Japanese (i.e. Ara, -san, -niisan, etc.)

And…there might be some cussing… ^^;;

Also, I’m trying to write this as CLAMP might write this (Not necessarily the plot; ^^ the style) so some of things might be phrased differently. ^^

P.S.S. This is based on MKR II, so read up!

P.S.S.S. The manga! Not Anime!! ^^ If anyone can send me synopsis (Actually, the script) of the first, second, and third season for Magic Knight Rayearth I and II (The Anime), please do so! If you wish to know about MKR I and/or II, you can contact me, because I know a lot about it ^^; I researched it over the summer. The only things I don’t know that much about is the Anime. The Anime is a little (Actually, a lot) different from the manga. ^_^

P.S.S.S.S.S.S. (I lied.)

P.S.S.S.S.S.S.S. (A reader comes up, tries to kill her with a katana. "YOUUUU….*Beeeeeeppppp* and *Beeeppp* *Beep Beep Beep*) Ughhh…censors! I know, in this story they only say a few words like damn, hell, crap, and maybe shit or bastard and bitch in here, but nothing really bad like f*beep*. (People gasp as they hear Rose’s foul language. The censors write away, scribbling on their little notepads… ^^;;)

IMPORTANT!! There are about six other characters that aren’t introduced in this fanfic! They’re just there. This is because I wondered why Lantis was the only Kailu. I figured he was the only Kailu in Cefiro. So, this is why there are six other Kailu: Adiean, Leiben, Mirilian, Shemasi, and Ychass. They’re from TaireLuna. And two others are women from Chizeta and Fahren: Tuiki and Nako. Tuiki and Nako are there for other reasons (errrmmmm…or is it for no reason?!). Nako is on a journey that women that want to be priestesses from Fahren have to take when they are 11. She has to travel to Chizeta, Autozam, Cefiro, and back to Fahren. This journey is referred to as "The Road of Discipline." Nako has already traveled to Chizeta and Autozam, meaning to the Holy Temple of Fahren that she gained Mentality and Loyalty. When she travels to Cefiro she is supposed to learn Strength of Heart. She is 13.

Tuiki and Nako have known each other for a while. Tuiki is a Chizetian dancer (Like Caldina) and she met Nako in Autozam. Tuiki is much like Tarta and isn’t really that delicate. Nako is peaceful and is a would-be priestess with long black hair (done up in customary Fahrenian hairstyle) and violet eyes. Tuiki is just the opposite. She usually turns to violence as a solution. She has blue eyes and red hair. They have stayed in Cefiro a while, now, and they help with magic when they can. Another thing: Nako is the distant cousin of Asuka, but she doesn’t act like Asuka. That’s why Nako can cast some of the Royal Family of Fahren’s attacks (I just had to add someone in there that used the "Ha!" attack…!! ^_^;;)

Remembrances and thoughts or emphasis are in italics.

Scene changes are *** ***

Spells are in # #

Telepathy (yes…telepathy…I’m a weird person…) are in { }

Memories (like, if a character is thinking back to something) are in << << and if they have a vision of the future >> >>

If an anime action, like a sweatdrop or something, or a "clover" (I’ll take up three lines) V

Are in @ @ ^^; > <

The person/people that’s doing the anime action is in ^ ^ ^

I call one of those serious sweatdrops "u sweatdrops," ok?

Also actions are in * *

Author’s notes are in parentheses or ~ ~.

Subscripts are in [ ]

What would be shown in the anime are in $ $

*** ***

Hikaru woke up in a cold sweat.

<<< <<<
Please save this World...

She looked over at Fuu and Umi and breathed a sigh of relief. They were sleeping, soundly. Mokona was sitting, looking quizzically at her. "Puu?" Hikaru picked him up and said in a low voice, "Hush, Mokona-chan. We don’t want to wake up Umi-chan and Fuu-chan!" She must have woken up Mokona with her thrashing. She sat back, thinking of her dream…or nightmare. It had been so horrible…no sound…just silence. A terrible, forbidding silence. She had seen faces, names, and heard voices, and screams. But, Hikaru hadn’t been able to do anything about it. Nothing. That has to be the worst thing…not being able to do anything…

It was almost morning, so she got dressed and slipped out of the room.

As Hikaru walked down the hall, she heard a voice call out, "Hikaru-sama…" She turned around quickly, "Nani…?" There was no one there. "Hikaru-sama," the voice said again. Then, a door opened and shut quietly behind her. Hikaru turned around, slower this time. "Fuu-chan, Umi-chan?"

"Hikaru-san?"
It was Fuu. Hikaru sighed with relief and smiled, "Ohayo, Fuu-chan!"

Fuu smiled back, "Ohayo, Hikaru-san. Where are you headed to?"
"The Main Hall," Hikaru looked around anxiously, "I…heard some voices in the hall before you came, Fuu-chan. Also…did you…have any dreams lately…?"

Fuu looked at her and said softly, "Have you, Hikaru-san?"

Hikaru paused then nodded hesitantly. "Hai. Strange ones, too." Fuu stopped walking and Hikaru followed suite. "I think we should compare notes, Hikaru-san, to see if we dreamed the same thing," Fuu said slowly.
"Dreamed what?" Fuu and Hikaru turned to see Umi. "Ohayo, Umi-chan," Hikaru said with her usual bright smile.

"Hello, Umi-san. We were discussing about the fact that we both had dreams," Fuu explained.

"Hi Hikaru, Fuu." She looked at them. "You had dreams, too?" Umi asked after a while.

"Corona?" Corona looked over at Fushugga. "Hai?"

~Was that right? Oy… ^^;;;; I’m getting worse and worse at Japanese! "Nashi de sumasu" means "do without," ne? I hope so…^^~

Fushugga laughed and said, "I think I’ll just wait for Fuu-chan,"
Hikaru nodded, "Ok. You sure?"

"Hai."

*** ***

"Teiii…!" Imbaoro tried to get the little silver ball into the hole. "Augghh!" She missed. Big bold letters came across the screen saying, "GAME OVER." Imbaoro wailed, "Waaaaa!! Pachinko no baka!!"

~Pachinko is a Japanese pinball game~

Imbaoro glared at the machine and said, "Tetetei-no-tei!!" and then she kicked it. Corona was sitting on a ledge beside the pinball machine, dangling her legs.

"So what’s eating you?" Imbaoro asked as she joined her. "It’s Fushugga."

Imbaoro heaved a sigh and acknowledged, "I’m worried about her, too, Corona-senpai."

Deca added from her seat in front of a terminal, "I can’t believe the Princess called her away at this time…!"

Corona nodded gloomily. Then a beep came from the terminal. Deca shrugged and answered the hailing signal. "Terminal SK23-OG here, Terminal SK23-OG here, who is this?"
"Hello, Deca."
"Oh!" Deca smiled, "Eagle-kun! Corona-san will be glad. Please hold on for a moment."

The image of Eagle on the monitor nodded. A minute later, Corona took a seat in front of the CRT. "Hi Eagle-ototo!"

"Hi Corona, how come you didn’t come?"
Corona made a face, "Fu—Windstar had to go off and do some hen Fighter stuff so me and Imbaoro are just hanging out, waiting to see if she’ll come back soon."

Imbaoro rolled her eyes and said teasingly, "She’ll probably come around in a couple of days…" She grinned and said amicably, "Hi Eagle-tosutsu. So how’s—"

Zazu suddenly materialized in front of the screen by Eagle, "Hey! You’re Imbaoro, right…? We were beginning to think your shuttle was caught, or something." Imbaoro smiled, "Don’t worry! We’re ok!"

"But," Corona added, "We’re hungry!"

"And thirsty," Imbaoro added. "I sure could use some cooler now." She complained.

~Cooler as in alcohol~

"Ano…where’s Geo-senpai?"

Zazu shrugged, "Probably studying or somethi—" Now Geo materialized. "Hi Corona, Imbaoro. Where’s your Fighter…? I really want to meet her,"
"You mean you want to play love connection with her…!" Zazu said, grinning.

"Hey…!" Geo turned red, "I do not!"
"Yes you do!"
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
~I don’t think CLAMP would have written that.~

The two went to background to continue arguing.

Eagle laughed and said, "Don’t worry; I bet your Fighter will be back soon."
"In a couple of days," Corona said, gloomily. "I guess we’ll have to postpone our shuttle. Maybe in 2-4 weeks or so, we’ll see."

~(I made this up) IMPORTANT: one hour of Autozamian time is: 6 hours Cefiroian time, 4 hours: Chizetian time, and 2 hours: Fahrenian time. So a week is about (time to do some math!!) 28 hours (four hours more than a day…!) Cefiroian time, 42 hours (A little less than two days) Chizetian time, and 84 hours (a little less than 2 days) Fahrenian time. So 2-4 weeks is about 3 days. There are 24 hours per day in all four countries just to make math a little easier for my brain ^^ I am an algebra student, but that doesn’t mean I like math…!~

Eagle nodded, "Oh, ok."
Corona looked crushed, "I’m really sorry, Eagle-ototo…!"
"So am I." He sighed, "I miss you, Corona-oneesan."
"I miss you, too," Corona replied.

"Bye."
"Sayonara."
He signed off, and Corona sat there staring at the screen for a while. "Don’t worry, Corona-senpai," Imbaoro said comfortingly, "When we get on the NSX, we’ll stay for a looongg time!"
Corona regained some of her usual spunk: "Are you sure you just want to visit Zazu?"
Imbaoro blushed, "Ermmmm…that too."

Corona laughed and said, "Come on, let’s go get something to eat."
"Yeah…!! Now you’re making some sense! Cooler, too?"
Corona grinned, "What are you going to give me?"
"An ear-full if you don’t!" Imbaoro giggled. Corona nodded with mock-severity and said, "Nani suru sore towa kankei ga nai sore?!"

~I couldn’t find how to say "does" so now it says "What do that have to do with that?!" but it’s supposed to be "What does that have to do with

that?!" ^^;;;~

*** ***

Fushugga watched everyone watch her. "Umm…Hikaru-chan?"

"Hai?" Hikaru asked immediately.

[Ermm…] "Why don’t you show me the castle?"

Ychass jumped up. *Pap* "Ha! She’s acting suspicious…!!—"

$Everyone facevaults$

"—Why?! You think she wants a tour just because?! She’ll probably plant itsy-bitsy bugs allllll over so Fahren can spy on us!!"

"Y-Ychass!" Hikaru protested, "She wouldn’t do that!"
"How do you know?!"

Fushugga interrupted meekly, "Umm…I just wanted a tour. Do you have an arena?"

Hikaru said thoughtfully, "I don’t know…Clef, do we have an arena?"

Clef roused himself warily and said, "What kind?"

Fushugga shrugged. "A battle arena’s good, but I’d prefer a training arena."

Ychass, shaking with contained anger in the background, yelled, "Doesn’t anyone care that she’s acting suspicious?!?!"
Hikaru said, "Don’t worry, Ychass! She wants to teach us something!!"
[^Ychass^ *Feh* Of course you’re excited…

^Hikaru^ Meow?]

Clef answered, "We have a training arena…"
"Oh!" Fushugga brightened, "Ok, that’s good! Hikaru, why don’t you show me?"

$Hikaru has little cat ears and a tail$

[*SD* Meow?! We have an arena?!

^Fushugga^ *SD and Sweatdop* Ummmmmm…yes, I guess…! Your Guru said so…]

$Everyone has sweatdrops except Hikaru (And Lantis, of course) $

"Uhh…arena…?" Adiean turned towards Clef, "Do you think we should let her get into the arena…?!"
"Ughh…" *Sweatdrop* "I don’t know," Clef replied honestly, "What do you think, Prince?"
[^Ferio^ Huh?

^Clef^ WHAT DO YOU THINK?!

^Ferio^ Oh. Wasn’t really paying attention.]

"Well," Ferio said, "Um…what do you think, Bal?"
"Uhh…" Ascot turned red, "I don’t know, what do you think, Presea?"

"Ermm…Why are you asking me? Caldina…?"

…

"Caldina?!"

[^Caldina^ *fumble* Eh?! *blush*

^Presea^ Were you making out with Lafarga or something?!?!?
^Caldina^ No!!!

^Lafarga^ *dazed*

^Caldina^ No!!!!

^Presea^ Oy…]

~CLAMP would not have written that.~

"Wellllllll…" Caldina shrugged uncomfortably, "I…I…don’t know!!! Hikaru?!"

$Clef has a sweatdrop$

"This is no time to pass around the question!! Prince? What do you think."

"I think," Ferio said after thinking for a few minutes, "That if Fuu trusts her, then she must be pretty trustworthy,"

$Everyone trips (Except Hikaru and Lantis)$ [^Hikaru^ *Cat ears and tail* Oh, yeah!!]

"Fuu’s really smart," Ferio continued.

[^Clef^ Now is no time to praise Fuu! Yes, I agree she is quite intelligent, but, now is not the time!!

^Ferio^ Umm…I can’t help it…

^Hikaru^ *Cat ears and tail^ But Fuu-chan is really, really smart!!

^Ferio^ Yeah!

^Clef^ *trip*]

Fushugga said with a small sweatdrop, "Um…Fuu-chan is very smart, no doubt, but I was just wondering if the training arena was open so I could teach the Knights in there…"

"Ohh!" Ychass nodded, and continued sarcastically, "And cause an accident so that they’re disposed of!!"
"Ychass!" Adiean gave her a warning look, "You can say she’s suspicious, but don’t accuse her of wanting to murder the girls!"

"Yeah," Mirilian added, shyly. Fushugga had noticed that the slight Kailu had not spoken that much, except nod barely when Hikaru introduced her. She looked younger than the other Kailu while the others argued in the background. Fushugga then turned her contemplating gaze towards Lantis, who was standing silent at a corner of the room looking out of the window. That is…Kailu Lantis…Sol Zagato-kun’s younger brother… He lifted his head slightly. Fushugga lowered her glance and inspected her hands that were clasped tightly in her lap. "Fushugga-chan!" Hikaru’s voice interrupted her thoughts, "Fushugga-chan! Are you ok?!" Fushugga gave a small smile, "Hai, Hikaru-chan…" She’s so kawaii…like a little sister… "Hai…arigato…"

Hikaru smiled happily then asked anxiously, "Are you sure? Are you hungry?"

*Hikaru shakes head* "I should have asked earlier!" Hikaru said frowning at her self.

"Hikaru-san! Fushugga-san!"

The two looked towards the door that was slightly open (So did everyone else). Fuu pushed it open a little and came in, "I found a room next to ours, I managed to ask the occupant to move. She was more than happy to move; said that the view wasn’t that satisfactory." She smiled, "You can be right next to our room. It’s really convenient, but she was right; the view isn’t very spectacular…"

"It’s ok, Fuu-chan," Fushugga said standing up, "Arigato…all of you…"

Fuu said, "Umi-san will bring the food to your room, ok?"
"Hai,"

Hikaru jumped up, "Come on, Fuu-chan!! Let’s show Fushugga-chan her new room!!"

Fuu giggled, "Ok!"
And Hikaru grabbed Fushugga’s hand and started out of the room with Fuu leading the way. "You’ll love it! This castle has some pretty neat designs, Fushugga-chan! We’ll show you some of the gardens; they’re really peaceful! And the place where they gather fruit! Umi-chan and Ascot-chan do that sometimes. Ascot has some friends that are different, but they’re really nice!! We’ll introduce you to some of them…and you have to see—"

*Giggle* "Slow down, Hikaru-chan! I didn’t catch all of that!"

As their voices faded, Clef murmured, "That was strange…"

"What, Guru?" Presea asked.

"That girl…Fushugga…I sensed something from her that was different…"

*** ***

Talia glared angrily at the glowing orb that showed Hikaru, Fuu, and Fushugga walking down the hall, "Gyaa…they’re meddling again!!"

"Who, Talia?" The Princess appeared on her floating throne out of the darkness.

"Those…those…KNIGHTS!!"
"Ah," The Princess, her eyes safely covered by the shadows, "The meddlesome Knights…again."

"Hai, Mistress! Please allow me to go and decapitate that Knight before she does something!!"

"Hmm…No."
"Eh?! Majesty?!"

"She amuses me…scurrying about, trying to save them…"

*Small u sweatdrop*

"A…muses…?"

"Yes, Talia."
"B-but, Majesty…! Isn’t she…a threat?"

The Princess smiled thinly, "I have considered all of this, Talia…I suppose you could say she was a threat…she is, after all, a Knight…but she isn’t doing anything now, so let her be."
Talia bowed ~Think of the Negaverse~ and said, "As my Majesty commands." She then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Princess stared at the globe for a moment, then turned away, murmuring, "The time grows nearer…"

*** ***

Hikaru and Fuu left Fushugga in her room and left so she could rest. Fushugga lay on her back on the bed, staring bleakly up at the ceiling.

{Yes.}

{Is there…anything…from the Princess?}

{No. Sleep well, little one…a long period of time lies before us and you will need your strength…}

{I…I can’t sleep.}

{I will help you then, little one.}

Fushugga heard a familiar song fill her head and let it lull her to sleep…

*** ***

Ychass was pacing, now. "I don’t trust her."

"We know," Adiean said wearily, "You said so a gazillion times already."

"I don’t!"
"We know!"
Ychass sighed impatiently and continued pacing.

Hikaru bounded in, "Ok—" [Waaaa!!!]

Ychass grabbed Hikaru by the shoulders and demanded, "Where is she?!?!"

*Whimper* "Her room?"

Mirilian spoke up softly, "Let her go, Ychass…"

Umi, who just happened to come in, exclaimed, "What are you doing, Ychass!?!"

Ychass let go and yelled, "We need to put guards around that Fahrenian’s room!! I’ll go first…!!—"

Hikaru, who was sitting back, dazed, bounced back up and exclaimed, "She needs her privacy, though…! We can’t just put some guards around her room!! Why do we, anyway…?"

Ychass shouted, "Because she’s…"
"Suspicious" everyone in the room besides the Magic Knights and Lantis said with Ychass.

Umi said, fuming, "She’s our friend!!"
"You hardly know her!!!"
"You don’t know her either!!"
"I know her kind!"
"What do you mean ‘her kind?!’"

"I mean—"
Fuu inserted meekly, "Um…prejudice?"
[^Umi^ You tell her, Fuu!
^Fuu^ *SD* Ahaha...]

Hikaru decided to throw in her two cents, "We should at least give her a chance to see what she’s thinking before marking her ‘enemy…!’"

Fuu and Umi both nod in assent.

Lantis disappeared, deciding that staying there wouldn’t be worthwhile.

Hikaru turned serious. "I think that Fushugga really wants to help and if she isn’t really a friend, we…" [^Umi^ *ahem*] "…all know you’ll be one of the first ones to protect us, Ychass."

$Slow mode:

Ychass turns upper body around 180 degrees.

Ychass has body turned,

Ychass whirls around and screams…$
"IT’S TOO DANGEROUS!!!!!!!!"

$Everyone is blown away by Ychass$

Hikaru popped up, *Slightly ruffled cat ears and tail. SD.* "Uhmm…"

"We need to get going," Umi grabbed the platter of food that she had set down on the table with one hand and grabbed Hikaru’s hand with the other. "Come on, Hikaru! Fuu!" Hikaru got power-dragged across the floor and the hall and Fuu ran, close behind.

*** ***

Fushugga was just waking up when she heard a knock on the door. "Hai?" She called from her bed.
"Fushugga-chan! It’s us!"

"Hikaru-chan…?"
Fushugga got up and opened the door. Hikaru bounced in with Fuu following and Umi balancing a tray of food and tea. "Ohayo!" Hikaru said grinning. "Ohayo, Hikaru-chan, Umi-chan, Fuu-chan." Fuu smiled and replied, "Ohayo to you too, Fushugga-san." Umi just nodded and tried to swerve the tray so it wouldn’t spill the tea. "Kyaaa…!! Where should I put this?!" Fushugga showed Umi to the table and smiled, "Arigato, Umi-chan, Fuu-chan, Hikaru-chan…" Umi set down the tray and said, "We’re happy to help!"

Fuu mused, "Elianda-hime…is it possible to contact her?"
Fushugga frowned, "Actually…there is a way, but it takes a lot of my energy."

Fuu nodded, "So, if we have to, we’ll ask you to contact her…but only in an emergency…ne?"

"Hai."

Fuu nodded again. Hikaru asked thoughtfully, "Is there any way we could contact her? By ourselves?"

Fushugga paused then murmured, "There is a way…but…it won’t necessarily work all the time…"
Umi asked, "So…how do we do it?" Fushugga stared at them for a moment then sighed and said, "I left my bag in Autozam."

*** ***

Corona and Imbaoro returned from the food court when the monitor of the terminal started flashing. "Eh…?!" Deca shouted for Imbaoro and Corona to come over. "Look at this!! What’s it doing…?!" Deca stared, frustrated, at the screen. "It’s behaving so badly…!"

Imbaoro muttered, "It can’t behave…"

"Of course it can!" Deca squinted at the monitor, "And this one is behaving badly!"

Corona said, "I don’t think it’s behaving—"

"Ha!" Imbaoro grinned at Deca.

"—Very badly…"

"Ha to you too, miss." Deca said smiling a little bit too wide. Imbaoro groaned.

"—However, I think it’s a…ermm…scrambled message?"

Imbaoro pressed the receive button and Fushugga’s voice came through the speakers. "Corona-chan…Imbaoro-chan…Deca-chan…!"

"Fushugga?!" All three exclaimed.

"Hai, it’s me. I seem to have left my bag in Autozam…I need to give them the medallions!"

Corona said, "How are we going to get it to you?"

"I thought of that. I have had the Magic Knights step out of the room…teleport it here."

Imbaoro asked, "Teleport?" She looked around and said, "I don’t think we have the right equipment…"
"With magic…" Fushugga looked over at Corona. Corona shrugged, "I guess I can do it."
"Ok. Have it here as soon as possible, please."

*** ***

Fushugga smiled as her bag was delivered. {Arigato,} she thought gratefully.

{No problem,} Corona replied with a smile in her voice.

{Thanks…did Eagle-san contact you?}
{Hai. How long are you going to take?}

{I don’t know…they look like quick learners…}

{We’ll be waiting…}
{As will I…you’ll have to come, too, you know.}

{I know.}

{Farewell, my Cailu…}

{Farewell…}

~Ok. You just read that, and thought "Weird!!" Right? Welllll…no, I did not spell Kailu wrong. Cialu (pronounced ‘see-ay-lu") is a foreign word. I can’t tell you what it means, because it’d spoil the fun ^_~! I’ll just let you think that Fushugga and Corona are yaoi for the time being…who knows? They might be! (Only the omnipotent, all-knowing, all-powerful, able-to-change-the-story-with-a-few-minutes-typing fanfic writer knows that!! ^_~) (Everyone thinks, "Wow, she’s so modest!!…not!!")~

Fushugga opened to door and smiled at the three Knights. "You can come in now."

Hikaru bounced in asking, "What is it?"

"I asked my friend to teleport my bag here." Fushugga smiled then said seriously, "I will now put three medallions in your care. Each of you will get a medallion, and it will enable you to be able to contact the Princess…but it will not always work."

"That’s alright," Fuu said, smiling, "It’s better to have some chance of contacting the Princess, than no chance at all!"

"Hai," Umi agreed.

Fushugga withdrew from her bag three medallions: One was gold inset with a ruby. It had fiery, intricate designs around it and had the flame symbol of Rayearth imprinted on it in faint silver. The second on was silver with a sapphire in the center of it. It had wavy designs on it and had the ‘S’ symbol of Selece on it in faint gold. The last one was gold like the first one, with an emerald in it. It had flowing designs on it and the winged symbol of Windam on it in faint silver.

"Mah…they’re lovely!" Hikaru exclaimed.

~No, I did not mean "My…they’re lovely" I meant "Mah…they’re lovely." It’s a Japanese exclamation sort of like "aiyah" in Chinese. (For those non-Chinese speaking personas, basically it’s an expression of wonderment, or amazement. Like "Ohhh…they’re lovely!" or something like that, I guess. ^_^; I’m bad at explaining…aren’t I…!)~

"Hai," Umi said, "They’re very impressive…! Are those the medallions?"

"Yes," Fushugga gently placed the three medallions on the table. "These medallions have magical properties. Do not show them to anyone except the ones you trust or love deeply."

Fuu studied them and asked, "Do we take the ones with our Mashin’s symbols on them?"

"Hai," Fushugga nodded.

"Hey," Umi scrutinized the medallions. "I just noticed something. How did you get our symbols?"

Fushugga got a sweatdrop, "Welllll…" [ahaha…] "Actually, the Princess made them, soooo…I’m not…really sure…" [Oh gee…I don’t…I don’t know!!]

Hikaru picked up the medallion with Rayearth’s symbol on it, "Ok! We’ll leave you alone to eat, then…!!"

Umi and Fuu picked up their medallions as well. "Hai," Fuu said. She bowed and said formally, "Thank you very much for the medallions, Fushugga-san. We will remember your warnings about them not always working." She straightened and stepped back. Umi asked, "So, when do we start training?"

Fushugga thought for a moment, then said, "How about first thing, tomorrow morning?"
The Knights looked at each other, then chorused, "Hai!!"

*** ***

"That…That…GOODY-GOODY!!" Talia went about her chamber, swinging her arms in classic-little-kid-temper-tantrum manner, destroying things. "I hate those Knights! If someone’s a Knight, I hate them!! I hate Knights!!!"

Then, a mocking laughter filled the chamber.

"Kayalite?!"

"But of course," A woman with a libidinous figure appeared, floating in mid-air. "Salutations, Talia."

"What are you doing here?!"
"Well…I saw that you had problems getting rid of the Knights…so I decided to come help you, my friend."

"I’m not your friend!"

~I watched too much Sailor Moon at this point of the fanfic…*drinks some pure caffeine* it wasn’t my fault…it was all that crack…^_- ~

"Hmm…well, ally, then. Anyway…Knight problems?"

"None of your business!" [Hmph!]

"Of course it’s my business…I’m part of the Shadow Dynasty, too, you know."

Talia glared hard at Kayalite. "Kaya, stay out of this!"

"Aww…now don’t be bitter!" Kaya floated down to the floor and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I think we could be a good team, you know."

Talia glared even harder at her. "I don’t. You’re just…just…"

"Being spiteful? Oh, now don’t think that!"

"Why not!"

"We go way back, Talia."

"Yeah, we go way back…all the way back then, we were enemies, too!!"

"So? We can change."

Kaya smiled lewdly, "How about it? Woman to woman. Unity, sister." Her voice practically dripped with honey.

"No way!!"

"Oh?"
"I’d rather work with Mariem!"

"Are you that desperate?"

"Yes!"
"Well…" Kayalite drawled, "Why, if that’s the case, we’ll see who does in the Knights first." She smiled darkly, and disappeared.

Talia fumed for a moment then said tightly to no one, "I’ll get those Knights…you’ll see…"

*** ***

Fushugga stared up at the ceiling. Great. My internal clock’s set at Autozamian time. Now I think it’s 6 PM when it’s midnight…!

She looked around and decided to get up. No use trying to get any sleep…

Fushugga took out a laser sword and activated it. The energy blade jetted up and started to pulse steadily. She did a couple of warm-up strokes, then started practicing her moves.

Backstroke, stab, arc.

Slash, undercut.

Thrice cut, slide under, parry.

{Feeling a little stressed…?}

{Crescient…The Magic Knights…What am I supposed to do?}

{Don’t worry, little one. Calm yourself. You are not thinking clearly.}

Fushugga took a couple of deep breaths and straightened. "OK," she said out loud. "I think I’d better check out the training arena."