* * * * *
  
  Hikaru fought to stay awake. On either side of her lay
Umi and Fuu. Umi's arm was draped over Hikaru. She looked at
her Water Knight with affection. Umi was the demonstrative
one, always quick to provide comfort through her touch. She
turned to look at Fuu. Although in very close proximity to
her, she kept to herself. Both of them were sleeping
peacefully. Hikaru longed to be in that state also. But she
couldn't. She had to wait for the cloaked stranger who
appeared to her the other night.

  Hikaru raised her head a bit and strained to see the
digital face of Fuu's clock on the desk. It read 1:45am. She
allowed her head to drop back down and yawned mightily.
Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a while--

  --with a start Hikaru sat up and flung open her eyes again
only to be greeted by the bright blueness of the sky. She
had to quickly avert her gaze and blocked the brightness
with an arm. After blinking a few times, Hikaru lowered her
arm and looked around her.

  She was in Cephiro again! Turning her head from side to
side, she examined the meadow she was sitting down on. It
was the same meadow, or at least it looked like it. Finally,
Hikaru realized that she was dreaming again. Slowly, she
stood. Just like in the previous dream, she was in her
flannel nightgown and she was barefooted.

  *Now where was that village?* Hikaru turned towards the
direction where she thought the village was. Suddenly, she
heard a rustle behind her. Whirling around, she
instinctively adopted a defense stance only to be surprised
by what she saw just a few meters in front of her. It was
the cloaked stranger!

  The stranger pulled back his hood to reveal the face of a
wizened old man. He was smiling gently at her. Slowly, he
dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Princess."

  "Please." Hikaru said tentatively, causing the man to
look up at her. Slowly, with much effort, the man pulled
himself up using his gnarled staff and faced her. "W-who are
you?"

  "My name is Malor. I know you have many questions,
Princess. I will endeavor to answer all your questions. But
first, please know that even now as we speak you are in
danger."

  "What kind of danger?" Hikaru asked, suddenly tensing.
  
  "There are beings who have access to awesome
technological powers," Malor answered, his mien taking on a
deathly seriousness. "They are here on Earth with the
intention of abducting the Magic Knights."

  "What!?"
  
  "Yes, Princess," Malor said, nodding slowly, confirming
her worst nightmare.

  "But why?" Hikaru's fist were clenched at her side.
  
  Malor shook his head slowly. "I am not sure, Princess.
But you have to be careful. I cannot help you for I am now
at the foot of Mount Asama."

  "Is that where you live?"
  
  "Yes, Princess. Even if I were close by, I'm afraid I am
not of much use to you."

  Hikaru nodded slowly at this, her eyes directed at the
space between them. She certainly didn't want to endanger
this old man. She looked up at Malor. "Malor, how is it you
know about the Magic Knights?"

  At this Malor smiled. "I was once a Magic Knight myself."
  
  Hikaru smiled brightly, pleasantly surprised. "You were?
Wow!" For a while, the redhead was speechless. "How is it
you can do magic? Were you the Pillar?"

  Malor laughed heartily. "No, young Princess. I was not
the Pillar. As for magic, well, there is magic here on Earth
too, you know. You become sensitive to it over time and then
learn to harness it. Nevertheless, my powers are nowhere
near yours, Princess. Or, for that matter, the other two
Knights."

  Hikaru blushed at the compliment. She was about to make a
comment when she suddenly noticed Malor looking over her
head, his brows furrowed. "What is it Malor?"

  "Princess," Malor said with some urgency. "You must wake
now!"

  "Malor--"
  
  "Now, Princess. Now!" Malor jumped to his feet and
without ceremony, grabbed Hikaru's arm and pulled her up as
well. Malor glared at the Princess who seemed to still be
dazed. "You and your friends are in--

  --*danger*!" Hikaru bolted upright. For a second, she was
disoriented and wondered why it was dark. Then she
remembered she was in Fuu's room.

  "Hikaru." Umi mumbled, very reluctantly opening her eyes.
The arm she had draped over Hikaru was so suddenly flung
aside that it woke her. Hikaru noticing that her blue-haired
friend was already awake began nudging her blonde friend
this time.

  "Fuu!" Hikaru fought to keep her voice down without
removing the urgency. "Fuu, wake up!"

  Umi, sensing the tension in her petite friend, began to
come to complete wakefulness. Fuu also woke and sat up,
rubbing the sleep from eyes. "What is it Miss Hikaru?"

  "Get your gloves, quickly!" Hikaru said as she eased out
of the bed and walked on tiptoes. Her whole being alert and
attuned to her environment. She turned to look back at her
friends to make sure that they were getting their gloves. In
two seconds, both Umi and Fuu were on either side of their
leader, their gauntlets already over their left hands. They
were crouched down facing the door.

  "What's going on?" Umi whispered without taking her eyes
off the door.

  "There are men in the house." Hikaru whispered back.
  
  "Oh no! My sister, Kuu!" Fuu was about to rise in an
attempt to head out the door towards her elder sister but
Hikaru's hand on her forearm stayed her.

  "Just stay calm, Fuu," the redhead said firmly.
  
  Fuu's eyes were wide as saucers. "But--"
  
  "--I won't let anything happen to Kuu." Hikaru looked
hard into Fuu's green eyes, trying to project her confidence
to the Wind Knight. "Trust me."

  Fuu blinked and began nodding her head vigorously,
anxious to trust her leader. Hikaru turned back to face the
door and took a deep breath. *Think, Shidou, think!*
                              
                          * * * * *
                              
  There were in fact, ten men in the Hououji residence. All
of them wore completely black clothing. Each of them wore a
black ski hood over his head, with holes for the eyes and
mouth. Three of them, including the leader, were armed with
Glocks while the rest had katanas and tantos. In spite of
what they were wearing that night, none of them were ninjas.
However, each one of them was a martial artist in his own
right, able to wield both katana and tanto with deadly
skill.

  After one of them defeated the lock on the front door,
they moved stealthily into the living room, fanning out into
strategic areas throughout the house. All the lights were of
course out not only because they were really switched off
for the night, but also because they had already cut out the
power leading to the house.

  The leader, together with two others, already had their
guns out and cocked. Using his left hand, he gestured to the
other seven to break up and head in two different
directions. Because the mission had been hastily put
together, they had no idea as to the layout of the house.
Therefore, they had to play everything by ear. That was
okay, the leader thought, since they were all professionals.
Despite Tanaka's warning to not underestimate the three
fourteen-year-old girls they were supposed to kidnap, the
leader couldn't stop himself from being confident about the
mission.

  Within a minute, the two groups returned to the leader
and silently communicated the fact that there were no
bedrooms in the ground floor. The leader nodded slowly at
this and then looked up. Using his left hand again, he
gestured to the rest of the team that they should head up
the stairs into the second floor. With him in the lead, they
moved cautiously up to the second floor. Upon reaching the
top, he gestured to the left and then again to the right.
Immediately, the group broke into two once more, one
searching the left side and the other the right. The leader
himself headed straight. He could already glimpse a bedroom
door up ahead.

                          * * * * *
  
  "Kuu!"
  
  Kuu stirred and waved a hand in front of her face as if
warding away an annoying insect.

  "Kuu! Wake up!"
  
  Kuu bolted upright, suddenly awake but not clearly
knowing why.

  "Kuu! Can you hear me?"
  
  Her eyes widened with fright. "W-who's there?" She
instinctively brought up the sheets up to her neck. "Hikaru?
Is that you?"

  "Yes, it's me Hikaru--"
  
  "Where are you? I don't see--"
  
  "There's no time for that Kuu. There are men in the
house!"

  "Men in the house?" Kuu's brows furrowed, unable to
comprehend the situation at all.

  "Is your door locked?"
  
  Kuu shook her head, still not realizing that the voice
she was hearing was in her head.

  "Kuu. Is. Your. Door. Locked?"
  
  The older girl looked around her, starting to realize
that there was no one in the room with her. *How is Hikaru
talking to me?*

  "It's called telepathy. KUU! Answer my question!"
  
  "No, I don't keep my door--"
  
  "Then lock it! Do it quietly but quickly."
  
  "Okay," Kuu whispered back. She slowly peeled off the
covers and planted her feet silently on the floor.
*Telepathy? Hikaru can do telepathy?* As she crept to her
door, several thoughts were churning around in her confused
mind. *What in Kami is going*--

  Suddenly, to Kuu's absolute horror, the doorknob began to
twist. Like a deer caught in the headlights of an onrushing
car, she found herself rooted right where she was and could
only stare as the door slowly opened. The first thing she
saw was a small, dark, rectangular object followed by a
fist. When she realized it was the barrel of a gun, she
gasped.

  The person holding the gun must have heard the sound
because the door was suddenly flung open. Before Kuu could
do anything, the person was upon her. As she opened her
mouth to scream, she felt a vise-like grip on her neck that
stifled whatever sound she would have made.

  With wide, frightened eyes, she looked up at her
assailant. It was a man.

  "Shhhhh," the man whispered and then leered. While
keeping his tight grip on her neck, he positioned himself
behind her. She then felt the cold barrel of the gun touch
the right side of her head. Finally, the man whispered hotly
into her ear. "Move."

                          * * * * *
  
  The three Knights were poised to go outside and meet the
threat head on. All three had their armors on and their
swords out. Hikaru's sword, though, was on her left hand.
Both Umi and Fuu were surprised to note that Fire Knight's
armor was different from what they were used to. It was
so.matured.

  "On my count," Hikaru projected her voice to the minds of
the two other Knights. "One.two.three! Flame arrow!" A huge
gout of fire exploded from the Fire Knight's outstretched
right hand and rushed towards the door. In less than a
second, there was an enormous hole where Fuu's bedroom door
used to be. There appeared to be men just outside the
entrance. These were thrown all the way back and down to the
living room, already unconscious before they even hit the
floor one story below.

  The three Magic Knights rushed out of the bedroom through
the impromptu orifice only to be met with five men all clad
in black with equally black katanas drawn. Both sets of
combatants immediately engaged and a raging sword battled
ensued. Hikaru engaged two of the assailants; Fuu had two
while Umi took on one.

  Fuu could not fully concentrate on her battle. So
desperate was she to locate her sister. In an effort to be
rid of them quickly, she attempted to parry two lethal
slices aimed at her with one block. One of them, however,
was too quick, changed direction and connected, cutting a
gash on the Wind Knight's left arm.

  "Aaaaaah!" Fuu screamed in pain and distress.
  
  "Fuu!" Umi cried her friend's name in the split second
she turned to see Fuu's plight. She turned back to her
opponent and narrowed her eyes. "You bastard!" She locked
swords with the man, holding both their swords above their
heads. Umi could see from the eyes of the assailant that he
was surprised by Umi's strength. Here he was, a full-grown
man easily weighing almost twice more, and he couldn't bring
his sword to bear. With a sweet smile, Umi brought her knee
up hard, hitting him on the groin. With a loud groan
followed by a shudder, the man's eyes went into his sockets
and keeled over.

  Umi spun towards Fuu who was up against the wall,
desperately parrying and blocking the strikes of her two
attackers. She could see that the blonde girl was cut in two
more places. As she rushed forward to aid her friend, a blur
of red swept past her.

  "Hiiiiyaaa!" Hikaru leapt high up in the air, surprising
Fuu's attackers. The two made the mistake of looking up.
This gave Fuu the opportunity to stab her sword in the right
arm of one of her attackers. As the man screamed and dropped
his sword, Fuu turned to see whether Hikaru had gotten the
other one. True enough, the other attacker was already
without his sword and down on his knee. A well-placed kick
by Hikaru on the chin threw the man over the railing,
crashing down on the living room to join his other
companions.

  Fuu was about to smile at the Fire Knight when a shot
rang out. Fuu's head snapped towards the origin of the
sound. There, another black clad man held a gun aimed at
Hikaru. *Oh no!* She immediately realized two things: the
first was that Hikaru would not have enough time to dodge
the bullet, and second she was the closest to Hikaru.

  With one more look at the projectile, Fuu dismissed her
sword, which immediately disappeared into the gem of her
gauntlet, and dove towards the Fire Knight in a race against
death. *Why is everything moving in slow motion!?* She saw
Hikaru whirl and her shocked expression as she realized that
a silver death was rushing towards her. In that split
second, Hikaru turned to face another object rushing towards
her in the form of her best friend.

  It was Fuu who collided with Hikaru first, effectively
tackling the latter to the floor. The bullet whizzed past
the former, just a millimeter away from the nape of her
neck. Everything was still moving so slow. Fuu had time to
look past her to see the bullet continue on its
course.towards Umi! "Umi!"

  Time had also slowed from Umi's perception and she had no
trouble seeing the bullet move towards her at what should be
indiscernible speed. She gracefully twisted to the side,
pushing her left shoulder back to allow the bullet to
harmlessly pass by. She was amazed at the fact that she
could track the movement of the bullet with her eyes. She
didn't bother to watch the bullet once it past her, knowing
that the only thing it will hit was the far wall behind her.

  At that point, time seemed to restore itself. Just as she
heard the bullet that barely missed her ricochet off the
wall, Umi turned to face the shooter. Even though hooded,
she could clearly see the shocked expression on his face.
She knew that if she didn't act quickly, the shock would be
replaced with a determination to shoot again. She raised her
hand up and cried out her spell. "Sapphire whirlwind!" She
stretched her arm out, pointing her hand towards the
shooter. Immediately, a surge of wind and water sprang out
of her hand and began buffeting the man senseless and
eventually pushing him over the railing as well.

  "Don't move!"
  
  Umi spun to face the new threat only to be taken aback by
what she saw. There were two more gunmen. One held Kuu while
the other had his gun alternately aimed at Umi, and Fuu and
Hikaru who were on the floor. Kuu's eyes were bulging in
fear of her predicament and shock by what she just
witnessed.

  "Well, well," said the man holding Kuu hostage. "That was
very impressive. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see
it with my own eyes." The man smiled and then all of a
sudden turned deadly serious. He turned to Umi. "Drop your
sword," the man said, and then cocked his head towards his
hostage. "Or she dies." Umi glanced at Fuu and Hikaru who
were slowly disentangling themselves but otherwise remained
on the floor.

  "Do it, Umi," Hikaru said aloud. Umi lowered her sword
and then distinctly heard her leader's voice in her mind.
"You take the man holding Kuu. Fuu, protect your sister.
I'll take the other shooter. We attack on my count.
One.two.three!"

  "Winds of protection!"
  
  "Water dragon!"
  
  "Flame arrow!"
  
  Translucent power spiralled out from Fuu's hand towards
her sister, effectively encasing her in a dome that seemed
to be made out of swirling air. At that very moment, the man
holding Kuu was pushed away. This sufficiently surprised him
but out of reflex, was still able to fire his gun. The man
would never know what happened to the bullet aimed at his
hostage's head because a force of water crashed into him and
pushed him back, lifting him off the ground like he was
nothing more than paper, ultimately slamming him against the
wall.

  His other gun-wielding companion fared worse. He, too,
had fired his gun. The bullet that had just escaped the
barrel was immediately engulfed by a wall of white-hot flame
that rushed to meet it, instantly disintegrating it. The man
attempted to dodge but it was too late.

  Hikaru rushed to his side and dropped to one knee. He was
twitching from the pain. His body was blackened in several
areas from severe burns. The man seemed to be trying to say
something until, with one last heave, his chest rose, fell
and with no more than a gasp, he died. "Oh no," Hikaru
whispered silently. "What have I done?" Her eyes were still
locked at the dead man's wide open ones, frozen with shock.

  For a second, both Fuu and Umi were rooted were they
stood until the latter nudged the former. "Fuu, take care of
your sister. I'll take care of Hikaru."

  Fuu nodded mutely and walked towards her sister who had
long since fainted from the excitement. She checked her to
make sure that she was not injured. Apparently, her shield
protected her from the bullet that would have surely killed
her. She picked her up, cradling her sister's head in her
arms. Fuu looked up to see how Umi was doing. She knew that
Hikaru was devastated by what happened.

  Umi had gathered Hikaru in her arms. Hikaru's eyes were
still wide open as she allowed herself to be embraced. With
one hand, Umi reached out and gently closed the eyes of the
man who would no longer harm another. Having accomplished
the grisly task, she brought her arm around her friend once
more to fully embrace her.

  "Hikaru," Umi said gently. "It was either him or us. You
had no choice."

  "I know Umi," Hikaru replied, as she wiped away the tears
in her eyes with her hand. Slowly she pulled back and looked
at Umi squarely. "I'm okay, really. It's just that you never
get used to taking someone's life." She turned to Fuu. "Hey
Fuu. Are you okay?"

  "I'm okay, Miss Hikaru," Fuu said cheerily. "Nothing that
my 'Winds of healing' can't cure." She looked down her
sister. "I'm worried about Kuu though."

  "She's not hurt is she?" Umi asked.
  
  "Not that I can see, Miss Umi. Although I think she's in
shock. What do we tell her?" The last question was addressed
to Hikaru.

  The Fire Knight gazed into Fuu's eyes. "We'll have to
tell her the truth."

  "Is that wise?"
  
  Hikaru nodded slowly. "Yes. Eventually, we will have to
tell everyone. Kuu, my brothers," she looked at Umi. "Your
parents."

  Umi's eyes widened at that but then slowly nodded. "I
guess you're right. Their lives are all in danger now
because of us."

  In the distance the wailing of police sirens could be
heard. The three perked and then looked at each other. "Oh
no, what do we tell them?" Umi asked referring to the
police.

  Hikaru's brows furrowed in deep thought. She sighed. "I'm
not prepared to answer their questions." She looked at her
friends in turn. "Let's go to Cephiro." The two looked at
each other before turning back to their leader, slowly
nodding their agreement.

  "What about--" Fuu began.
  
  "We're taking her Fuu." With that, Hikaru stood and
stretched her hand in front of her. In a second a bright
light appeared, momentarily blinding them. When the light
subsided, a simmering oval portal appeared, its sides
crackling with energy. Hikaru turned around, walked towards
Fuu and promptly picked up Kuu in her arms.

  "Miss Hikaru! I can carry her," insisted Fuu.
  
  "You're wounded. I can carry her," the redhead said
simply. She turned once more and then headed straight into
the portal, disappearing into the vortex that would take
them to Cephiro. Umi followed shortly after. Fuu took one
more look around her home and sighed. She faced the portal
and stepped through it.

  At that moment, the erstwhile leader of the failed
kidnapping opened his eyes. His eyes widened as he saw the
back of one of the girls he was supposed to kidnap disappear
through a doorway that seemed to be crackling with
electrical energy, and whose center was filled with an
iridescent liquid-like substance. Finally, the doorway
itself disappeared, collapsing into itself. His last
thought, just before entering oblivion again, was how he was
going to explain this to Tanaka.

                          * * * * *
  
  Lam lowered the special "binoculars" he was using to
watch the battle. All four of them were equipped with them.
The device, which Lam smuggled into Earth, was able to "see"
through walls by instantaneously creating images in real-
time based on infrared and motion signatures.

  "A very impressive display of fighting skill and power,"
Lam said stoically. He glanced at the person beside him who
apparently could not summon the will to show the same kind
of detachment. "Don't you think Rogo?"

  For his part, Rogo was totally unsuccessful in hiding his
amazement. "Those three girls were magnificent!" He said
breathlessly, lowering his binoculars as well. The two
others with them were simply nodding. The display they had
just witness had rendered them speechless.

  After a minute, the four saw a bright flash in the house.
Within another minute, it disappeared. Lam once again turned
to look at Rogo. "I suppose that was the wormhole you were
talking about." It was a statement. Rogo could only nod
mutely.

  "It seems they are quite formidable. From my studies of
humans, I don't believe it's normal for them to possess the
kind of speed and power we saw just now. Being able to dodge
a projectile traveling that fast." Lam trailed off, the
meaning already clear to his companions. "And yet," he
continued. "I already know what their weakness is."

  Rogo looked at Lam, frowning. "What weakness? I did not
see anything that we can effectively counter."

  Lam was careful not to sound condescending to Rogo. He
needed his support. "They value the lives of their fellow
humans." Lam watched for Rogo's expression. He saw his
companion's eyes widen with realization. Finally, Rogo
smiled.

  All four looked down as the police finally arrived.
"Well, we've seen everything that needs to be seen." With
that, the four moved stealthily away from the edge of the
roof and disappeared into the night.

                          * * * * *
                              
  Lantis was atop his magical black steed trotting towards
a village called Thespa located south of the palace as part
of his scheduled rounds. He slowed down when he discerned a
soft but steady beeping. He reined in his black steed and
reached behind him to retrieve his magic sword. True enough,
the gem on the sword's hilt was blinking steadily. Lantis
looked up towards the castle and smiled. He felt butterflies
in his stomach as he realized the significance of the
blinking gem. The Pillar has returned.

  Turning his steed around, he galloped towards the palace.
                              
                          * * * * *
                              
  The gem on Clef's magic staff began blinking as well.
Although not as exuberant as Lantis', Clef smiled
nevertheless in anticipation of seeing the Pillar once
again. He turned towards his companion.

  "What is it Master Mage?" Presea, the Master Smith of
Cephiro, asked, noting the mage's expression.

  "The Pillar has returned."
  
  "Really?" Obvious pleasure registered on the armorer's
face.

  "Come," the mage said. "Let us meet them."

--------------------
NEXT:
Chapter 6 - Return to Cephiro

--------------------
DISCLAIMER:
Magic Knight Rayearth and all the characters in that
anime/manga are properties of CLAMP.  These are used here
without permission.


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