Here's Part One. I'll send Part two in a sec.

- Valandar the Red



Disclaimer: The characters and situations in Magic
Knights Rayearth belong to CLAMP, their
publisher/producer, and whatever US company is currently
preparing to release the dubbed version in September.
The below fanfic is intended for entertainment, not
profit, so please don't sue me, I have no money.


                 Paladin of Cephiro
            A Fanfic by Valandar the Red


                    Chapter Two
                      Courage

     Michael Lapides stood at the top of Tokyo Tower, just
gazing at the city lights. It was just after sunset, when
the blazing clouds still held on to the fiery light of
Amateresu, yet the dazzling technological kaleidoscope
of neon and incandescent bulbs created new constellations.
He watched the flowing rivers of headlights trace their
ways through urban canyons, and thought about home.
     A bit of a farm boy, Michael was from a small town in
eastern Arkansas, near the Mississippi River, just a few
miles from Memphis, Tennessee. He had spent most of his
life never travelling more than fifty miles from home, and
here he was in Japan. He had signed up for a program at
the University of Memphis, where he would go to Japan, and
help tutor advanced English classes for college students,
while taking classes himself at Tokyo University. He still
had a little trouble with conversational Japanese, though,
and some of the more informal constructions still threw
him for a loop.
     The only other people he saw on the balcony of the
tower were an old couple, maybe almost ninety years old.
They, too, were staring to the west; maybe they were
remembering old sunsets, from their youth. "The fires of
Heaven," he muttered in English. There were some great
sunsets back home, but the magical city below him gave
this one an extra hint of the impossible made possible.
But, it could not last. He had to return to his dorm room.
Pulling his jacket tighter around him, he straightened,
and prepared to leave.
     He was quite unprepared for the bright burst of light
that flashed before he turned around. His eye was drawn to
the heart of it, and he saw three beautiful women. The one
in the center had flaming red hair, tied into a long
braid, and chestnut brown eyes. To her left was a
bespectacled young woman with honey-brown hair, and
gentle, green eyes. On the right, slightly taller than the
other two, was a statuesque beauty with long, straight
blue hair. All three wore some sort of breastplate with
pauldrons, western style shoulder guards, and gems
adorning the armor. Some sort of skirt flowed from under
the breastplate, and their left hands had large gems on
them.
     Wondering if he was hallucinating, Michael looked at
the old couple. They were motionless, and even appeared
slightly grey. There was even a bird hanging near them,
lost in mid-flap. Turning his attention back to the three
women, his eyes grew wide as he heard the redhead speak.
     "Paladin, Cephiro needs you! You must help us!"
     A second light began to glow behind them, rapidly
growing in brilliance. His last thought, before the light
engulfed him was, 'If I am needed, I will go.'

                    ********************

     Wind was whipping past the young man's face, as he
saw a view that took his breath away. Part of it was due
to the fact that he was seeing a whole new world. An
ocean, shining like a million diamonds in the sun, lapped
against a beach of the purest, white sand. Forests larger
than Germany's Black Forest draped the land in a primeval
wonderland, and in the distance, mountains rose like the
fingers of a goddess of Earth, reaching to touch her
lover, the sky. Through it all, were floating plateaus,
untethered from their rocky homes, riding the winds to
uncertain destinations, adorned with crystal crowns.
     Of course, part of what took his breath away was the
fact that he was falling towards said landscape from at
least a couple of miles up. Confused and uncertain, he
arched his back like he saw parachutists do on television,
and hope that it would be enough to survive impact with
the ocean, far below.
     For a half, fleeting second, Michael caught a glimpse
of a huge, light grey shape below him, then the breath was
knocked out of him. Sliding along a warm, dry surface, one
hand reached out, and managed to latch on to something to
stop from sliding off. Glancing over, he saw it was some
sort of diaphanous fin. Pulling himself to his feet, he
saw that he was now standing on the back of a giant,
flying...catfish? Well, almost. At least he wasn't falling
anymore.
     Looking ahead, he saw that his savior was flying
towards a huge crystal spire. It was like a titanic
chandelier, all grace and elegance, too large to be able
to support its own weight on Earth. The dying rays of the
sun refracted off of it, throwing dozens of rainbows
across the land below it. As they drew nearer, he noticed
a balcony large enough for the flying fish, which it was,
of course, heading towards.
     "Wow," he muttered, "whoever sent for me, if I'm
supposed to be this 'Paladin' guy, must use this as some
sort of limo for their off-world guests. Off-world? Yeah,
I guess this can't be Earth. Heh, that's obvious."
     The pulled up from its gentle dive just before
touching down on the balcony. Patting it just behind the
head, Michael said, "Thanks for the save, big fella." He
then slid down its side, to first set foot on Cephiro,
itself.
     "You are quite welcome," came a voice from just
inside the hall that opened on the balcony.
     "Huh?" When the young man turned to see who it was,
the only thing he saw was a boy, no older than eleven or
twelve, in ornate robes and jewelry. He was carrying a
beautifully carved, if abstract, staff. "Um, okay?"
     "Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the Guru,
Clef. I will escort you to the Pillar, and all shall be
explained there." The boy motioned back down the hallway
with his hand and Michael stepped in beside him.
     "You're a guru, huh? As in 'teacher'?"
     "Yes. Why do you ask?"
     "Well, you're...um...awful young to be a teacher,
aren't you?" Michael scratched the back of his head with
one hand as they stepped off towards the hallway's end.
     Clef laughed. "My dear child, I am far older than you
would believe me to be. I am well over seven and a half
centuries old."
     The young man decided to go ahead and take Guru
Clef's word at face value; after all, it wasn't that much
weirder than travelling between worlds, and flying on the
back of a giant catfish. Instead, he looked at the hallway
itself. The walls arched up, meeting in a gentle curve at
least fifteen feet overhead. Eight feet up, or so, along
the walls, cabochon-cut crystals were placed at regular
intervals. These crystals seemed to glow, slightly, as if
the did not merely reflect and refract light, but
generated it on their own.
     "You are quiet, child. What troubles you?" Guru
Clef's voice was older than his body should allow for, yet
still sounded younger than Michael's own.
     "Well...it's just that, when I was, um contacted,
these three women called me a 'paladin'. I'm not too
familiar with the word, outside of roleplaying games, and
a reference in my World Lit classes to the Horn of Roland.
What did they mean?" He glanced down, blushing slightly.
"I mean, in the games, the paladins are usually knights
that are, well, purehearted and true."
     Clef smiled. "As I said, all will be explained
momentarily. We are now just outside the throne room of
the Pillar. You may take a moment to compose yourself, but
only a moment."
     Michael Lapides, world traveler, English tutor, avid
member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and almost
completely confused interdimensional visitor, took a deep
breath. 'This Pillar must be sort of like this world's
King. I'd better be on my best court manners. Heh, if I
made a mistake here, Bearkiller'd have my hide when I show
up to the next SCA event!' Raising his head, and doing his
best to put on a poker face, he nodded.
     The twin doors before him opened onto a vast hall.
Relatively sparse, it did not convey opulence, so much as
serenity. At the far side sat the three women he saw in
the light, back on Earth. Next to the brown-haired girl
sat a man about Michael's age, with a few facial scars,
and a huge, curved sword resting beside them. Beside the
blue-haired girl was another young man, with red hair, and
baggy, almost Arabic clothes, and a puffy hat adorned with
a fuzzy ball on top. And, next to the redhead, was a tall
man, in a black bodysuit and iron-grey armor, with strong
features, and a shock of blonde hair. A large sword was
likewise resting beside him. They were all seated on large
cushions, again like the Eastern nobility would be found
on.
     As Michael started to bow, the redhead shook her
head. "Do not bow to me, Paladin. I am Shidou Hikaru, the
leader of the Magic Knights, and Pillar of Cephiro. Beside
me are my husband, Lantis, and to my left, Ryuzaki Umi and
her...companion, Ascot. To my right, is Hououji Fuu, and
her husband, Ferio. You who will be the Paladin of
Cephiro, may we have your name?"
     "Um...it's Michael Lapides." He squinted at the
Pillar. "Say...what language did you just speak in,
your...um, you Pillarhood?"
She laughed, the tinkling of a glass wind chime. "I
just spoke Japanese, of course. And you may call me
Hikaru."
     "But I'm speaking English, and I heard you in
English, but it didn't sound English." He scratched his
head. "I don't know if I'm making myself clear."
     "It's an effect of the journey," said Clef. "When you
pass through the barrier that separates our worlds, the
language that is your primary one is changed in your mind
to Cephiran. Your thoughts remain your own, but you speak
and understand Cephiran. If you were to return to your
world, the process would reverse itself."
     "Oh."
     "Michael, you have been chosen for a very important
role here. Our world is threatened by a foe that cannot
be harmed by the Magic Knights, and most magics are like-
wise useless against it. As the Paladin, you will be the
only one to stand in its way." Guru Clef stepped back a
bit, and said, "Your garments will not provide you much in
the way of protection. Allow me to provide you with more
suitable raiment."
     With a gesture from the wizard, the young man could
feel his clothing alter. Looking down, he noticed that
he was wearing a dark brown tunic and breeches
combination, with black seven league boots complete with
cuff, ivory bracers on each forearm, and a bronze-trimmed
ivory breastplate. Gems adorned both the bracers and the
breastplate. On the left were dark amber gems, glowing
slightly in the flickering light of the hall. On the right
were golden topaz gems, blazing with yellow fire. And, in
the center of the breastplate, sat a swirling gem,
combining the two into a dance of dark and light.
     "This is the armor of a Paladin. It will protect you,
and serve you well." Clef smiled slightly. "Do you like
it?"
     Michael smiled slightly. "What, no helm?"
     Clef shook his head. "Though your chest and arms are
protected the most, the rest of you is still far tougher,
now. A blow to that head that would have stunned you,
before, only distracts you. A blow that would have killed
you, now will merely stun you." Now, he turned to face
the side of the room. "Presia, will you take him to your
workshop, that he may be able to defend himself?"
     The young man turned to look where Clef was facing,
and his breath caught in his throat. The woman there was
positively breathtaking. She wore a red surcoat, and an
ivory over-tunic, pinned at one shoulder. Her long blonde
hair was pulled into a tight topknot, and her brown eyes
showed both a glint of active intelligence, and the spark
of a mischievous heart. "Of course. That is, until he
returns with his escudo."
     "Umm...escudo?"
     "Come on, Paladin, I'll explain on the way." He
just stood there for a moment, almost hypnotized by the
sound of her voice.
     A gentle shove from Clef's staff started him walking
towards her. "Go on, Michael. We haven't much time."


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