~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mad About Umi
"Is this Cephiro?" Fuu wondered.
"We're back! We're back on Cephiro!" Hikaru gushed. "I don't believe it!"
"Hey, as happy was we are to be back, there better be something to catch us or we won't be able to enjoy it for long!" Umi replied. As she spoke, they landed--ker-plud!--on the back of a giant green fish.
"Not Fyula?" Hikaru asked. She listened to the fish for a moment. "Oh! This is Neon, Fyula's son!"
"What on earth is going on?!" Hayase demanded. The three girls turned around to see that they were not alone.
"Huh? What's he doing here?" Fuu wanted to know.
"Yeah, last time it was only us they summoned!" Hikaru said, turning to look at Umi's fiancé. "How did you get here?" she asked.
"That's what I want to know!" Hayase replied, clinging to Neon's back for dear life.
"Hayase, I am breaking our engagement," Umi announced. She tore the million-dollar ring off her finger and threw it as far away as she could.
"Umi--you know how much that ring was worth!?" gasped Hayase.
"I don't give a damn! I can't stand you!" Umi was quite a sight, broiling with anger in her white wedding dress. Hikaru and Fuu looked beautiful but not all that comfortable in their bridesmaid dresses of matching design--but Hikaru's was pink, Fuu's pale green.
"Well, good," Hayase replied. "I didn't want to marry you either." He looked down and gulped. "Someone pinch me." Umi pinched him hard enough to give him a bruise. "Hey, you didn't have to pinch me that hard!" he complained.
"There. Now you see you're not dreaming," his ex-fiancée replied with sarcastic sympathy.
"Up ahead--a palace?!" Fuu gasped. Everyone looked forward to see what she was talking about.
The palace of Cephiro was glittering with light, and they could make out figures waiting for them. "All right!" Hikaru cheered.
"I want to go home!" Hayase wailed.
"Shut up!" Umi replied, slapping him across the face. He lifted a hand to his cheek, where a red mark was already forming.
"We're landing!" Hikaru announced, as the people on the ground ran up to meet Neon's passengers.
"Welcome back!" Presea announced, engulfing Hikaru and Fuu in a big hug while Umi and Hayase continued to bicker.
"Presea!" Hikaru said happily. "I've missed you so much!"
"My, how you girls have grown!" Presea replied.
"Yeah," Fuu replied. "It has been five years, after all."
"Five years isn't so much here on Cephiro," Clef replied. "It's so nice to see you all again."
"Ahh..." Hayase looked down at his shoes. "What's going on here?"
"Yeah, why'd he come with us?" Umi whined.
"Huh? Someone came other than the Magic Knights?" Clef looked Hayase over. "Who are you?"
"I'm Kawakami Hayase, of Tokyo. Who on Earth are you?"
"No one--but on Cephiro, I'm known as Guru Clef."
Hayase fainted.
"Ferio--" Fuu ran back towards the palace to where someone lay sprawled in the grass. She fell to her knees beside him, taking his hand in hers. The others followed her.
"Fuu-chan..." Ferio smiled, but his breathing was heavy and his face slick with sweat.
"What's happened to him?" demanded Fuu, looking to Presea and Clef for an answer.
"He summoned you," Clef explained.
"How--I thought--" Fuu began, confused.
"He is of Pillar blood, though not as strong as an actual Pillar, so it took a lot out of him."
Fuu looked up at the Guru, confused. "Pillar blood?"
"Ferio is Emeraude's brother," he told her. "He's very brave. The exertion of summoning you could've killed him."
"And you let him try, knowing it could kill him?!" Fuu shouted. "How could you?"
"I'll be all right," Ferio replied softly. "Just let me rest awhile." His eyes closed, and Fuu squeezed his hand.
"Give him a few hours, he'll be all right," Clef told her. Fuu nodded, but didn't get up.
"Emeraude's brother..." she said softly. "That would make him a prince, wouldn't it?"
"You didn't know?" Presea began. Fuu's face told her the answer. "I guess he wouldn't have wanted to tell anyone, huh?" Presea mused.
"Huh?"
"Oh, nothing..." Presea turned to Hikaru and Umi and smiled. "So, why are you all dressed up?"
"Umi was going to get married, but you saved us just in time," Hikaru replied. "Hayase was going to be her husband."
"The man who just fainted over there?"
"That's the guy. I don't see why he came along, though." Umi frowned.
"The only one who could tell you that is currently unconscious," Clef replied, pointing to Ferio. "You'll have to ask him when he wakes up."
"Um, Clef," Hikaru said softly. "Why were we summoned?"
"It's a long story," Clef replied.
"Well, then tell it," Hikaru said, sitting down in front of him for story-time. "We can't do anything if we don't know!"
Clef smiled. "You may be older, but you're still just a girl at heart," he said. Hikaru frowned.
"You really think so?"
"He means you're cute," Umi whispered, and Hikaru was happy again.
"Well, anyway, Emeraude's been dead for five years, but yet no one knows what to do," Clef told them. "Normally a new pillar is chosen while the old one is alive--or so we thought. No one alive now remembers."
"No one? There aren't any records or anything?" Umi wondered. Clef shook his head.
"Just a few references to something called the Crystalline Cathedral," he told them. "The words seem to react with Ferio, but he can't tell us why, other than it has something to do with the Pillars."
"Where is this Cathedral?" Hikaru asked.
"No one has any idea!" He threw up his hands. "All Ferio said was, 'I'll know it when I see it.' Hogwash! What good will that do if we don't even know where to look?"
Ferio's eyes opened, but he looked past Fuu at something distant only his eyes could see. "It's...calling me..." he said softly.
"What is? What's calling you?" Fuu wondered.
Ferio blinked. "I saw the Cathedral again," he said, any sign of his previous distance gone.
"You saw the cathedral?!" Clef ran over to join them. "How? Where?"
"In a dream," Ferio replied. He rubbed his head, sitting up. "I think I nearly lost myself..."
"What do you mean?" Fuu wondered, concerned.
"I dunno. It was like I forgot Ferio for a moment, and just--I saw the Cathedral, and my energy came back."
Clef had a barrage of questions for him, but Ferio was vague in his answers, only half-listening. Finally he had have enough.
"Damnit, Clef, I'm a swordsman, not a lab rat! I'm not just some specimen for you to examine!" he shouted. "Come on, Fuu. This autopsy can wait 'til I'm dead." He led Fuu into the palace, muttering to himself about the absurdity of it all.
*
Umi wandered down the hallways of the palace somewhat aimlessly, beginning to feel fatigued by the weight of her dress. The train looked a little bedragged, but Hikaru had been right about her hair--there was enough hair spray there that it still looked pristine. And altogether, her dress wasn't in that bad of shape--not like she had anything else to wear.
Her meandering led her to a hall of beautiful paintings and sculptures, which she became so engrossed in she didn't hear someone come up beside her.
"Getting married, Umi?"
"Thankfully not," Umi replied. "Had we not been summoned, I would've been Mrs. Kawakami Hayase now, perish the thought." She shuddered at what a near miss it had been.
"You still look...lovely," Ascot said, choosing not to tell her how long he had followed her merely watching before he got up the nerve to speak. Knowing how he stalked her might make her feel a bit odd, even though he meant nothing malicious. "Amazingly so."
Umi blushed. "I...thank you," she told him. "You are Ascot--right?"
Ascot nodded.
"You've grown up."
"As have you," Ascot pointed out.
"I guess." She sighed and looked down. "You don't look so bad yourself, though you do like to hide behind that hair, don't you?" She brushed aside his bangs with her hand so she could she see his eyes. "Much better."
Now Ascot was blushing. "I prefer to hide, thank you," he said. Umi shrugged.
"To each his own," she said, looking at another painting. "All these portraits of Cephirans but not one Pillar," Umi sighed. "I wonder..."
"The Pillars won't let themselves be painted," Ascot explained.
"Why?"
"Because it interfered with something, I think. I wouldn't know, really." He looked away.
"It's all right, Ascot," Umi told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "At least, I think so." He wouldn't look at her. "What's wrong?"
"You...were going to get married..." he murmured.
"No, it's not like that! It was my parents' idea, really," she explained hastily. "And I assumed I'd never come here again, so I didn't care."
Ascot dared to hope again. "And why did you want to come back here?"
"Because the man for me is here." She grinned and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "And I think he knows who he is," she added, staring into them. Ascot blushed a fiery red.
"Umi...I..."
"We're not leaving until we have some sort of destination--would you meet me here tomorrow at noon?"
"For a date?" Ascot wondered, not believing his ears. Umi nodded.
"That's right!" she replied, and kissed his cheek.
Ascot watched her leave, his hand to his cheek. Then, when she was a safe distance away, he followed--just to make sure she got to her room all right...
*
"Isn't this a pretty place?" Ferio said softly, as they came into a glassed-in garden. It was huge, twice the size of any garden she'd ever seen, even those that weren't enclosed. Flowers like none Fuu had ever seen were in bloom, and there was a waterfall softly pouring into a stream crossed by a quaint wooden bridge. The grass was as soft as carpet, and the walkways were outlined with stones that seemed to have a faint glow in the evening light. "I was afraid they might've changed it since I left."
"Why would they change something so beautiful?" Fuu breathed, trying to absorb everything.
Ferio laughed. "This is just one of the smaller gardens," he said. "It was my favorite, but hardly anyone ever came here but me."
"This is a small garden?!" Fuu gasped.
"Yeah. The grand garden is ten times this size, at least. You can get lost in it. I used to, but Emeraude could always find me. She liked this garden, too. I suppose that's why it's still here." His tone was rough, as if he were on the edge of tears.
"Ferio, I'm sorry--"
"Don't be," he replied quickly. "You did what you had to. She wished for death."
There was a long silence between them. "Ferio...I think you owe me an explanation."
Ferio sighed. "Where do I begin?"
"You're Emeraude's brother?" Fuu prompted.
"Yes. My first memories are of her taking care of me--she's several hundred years older than me, you know."
"How old are you?"
"Two-hundred eighty-seven," he replied.
"What?!?" Fuu gasped, shocked.
"By your standards, barely out of my teens," he added quickly. "People age much more slowly on Cephiro."
"Oh." Fuu said, looking rather sad. Ferio brushed a hand across her cheek.
"What's wrong?"
"You make my lifetime sound so...short," she replied, eyes shining with unshed tears.
"As long as you're here, Cephiran aging applies to you, too," he reassured her. "And your being on Earth these five years has given you a chance to kind of--catch up, I guess," he added, smiling.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you're not just a child any more," he replied. "Well, not that you were really that much of a child before, but there's not doubt you've grown up...and yet, you're still the same."
"You haven't changed...much," she added as an afterthought. "Except for all this Pillar stuff."
"Emeraude never really got a chance to explain it to me," Ferio said. "She didn't want to burden me with it if my blood was not strong enough for me to be made Pillar anyway, and when I finally found out, I--I rebelled." His eyes were closed, recalling a time almost a hundred years ago that he had tried to forget.
"What did you find out?" Fuu wondered.
"We were in this very garden," Ferio began. "I came in here and found her meditating, so I watched, being as quiet as I could. She stood up, as if in a dream, and looked at me, though I'm sure she couldn't have known I was there. Her eyes..." He shuddered. "Her eyes looked like she was gone. My sister was gone, and there was some sort of power there I didn't understand. It was like she was looking right through me. She told me that someone had told her she must start teaching me." He looked at the ground. "But I knew I couldn't do what she did, and I told her so. She apologized, and said it wasn't for myself I must know, but for someone else. All this time she just stared at me, or whoever it was behind those eyes was staring at me. I couldn't stand it. I ran away."
"Ferio-san..."
"I'm all right, Fuu. It was a long time ago. But now...I almost find myself wishing that I had listened."
*
"Do you think the princess is in that castle, Camaro?" Camry asked as they came up upon a huge palace.
"That's what I'm willing to wager," Camaro replied, steering the Stratus in for a closer look. "Take a look over there, will you?" He pointed to a figure making her way through on of the many palace gardens. Her white dress made her easy to spot against the dark ground.
"Oh, she's beautiful! The most beautiful lady I've ever seen!" Camry breathed.
"And look at that dress. Only a princess would wear something like that." Camaro smiled venomously, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "And no one else is around. This'll be child's play."
They landed the Stratus a good distance away before coming back to find the princess, who luckily had not yet left the garden.
"Hey, you there!" Camry shouted. His brother clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Who the hell are you?" Umi replied sassily. They didn't answer, just grabbed her by the arms.
"You're coming back with us, Princess," Camaro sneered.
"I won't let you do that to her!" a man yelled, popping out from behind a rock. He pointed at them, ready to throw a spell.
"Ascot, no!" Umi yelled, but it was too late. Camaro threw something back at him, something that exploded loudly in a cloud of white. Umi heard him scream, then fall silent. She looked away, tears stinging her eyes.
"No, oh god, no..." she whispered. That couldn't have just happened...Ascot couldn't...no...
Umi didn't fight them as they took her away. She didn't have the heart left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part Two