---{//Merging.of.Worlds//}--- Options

[Shiidou Hikaru]

(OOC: I'm really sorry for my absence everyone, hopefully this will continue okay)

With apprehension at first Umi watched as Hikaru communed telepathically with her mashin Rayearth. She was unable to hear their thoughts but Umi had the utmost respect for her friend and Rayearth and did not interfere. However, Umi's eyes grew wide with surprise at the great call of Rayearth -

?Don me now, O Great Fire Knight; Warrior 'till the end of Time itself!?

As Hikaru vanished from sight to become one with Rayearth, Umi could only whisper to herself "Hi ... Hikaru ... no ... you mustn't!" as dread filled her heart. Umi knew all too well that if Hikaru were faced with a choice to save others or herself, that Hikaru wouldn't hesitate to lay down her life for those she loved. And as Rayearth grew to his immense mashin size, teeth and claws glittering with escudo, Umi feared the worst - that this was it, Hikaru was to head out to die in battle, to go down to a glorious and honorable end. For a moment Umi just stood stunned until another familiar voice echoed in her ear, a voice both gentle and infused with great power

"Umi-sama ..." Ceres called to her telepathically

Umi blinked a couple times and shook the fuzzness from her head and answered "Ceres."

"Do not fear for the safety of the Fire Knight. My brother will protect her and fight for her without fail against any opponent." Ceres reassured his mistress.

"But Hikaru ... she is so weak ... how can she do this? How can she fight?" Umi asked Ceres, trying to acquire his confidence. Ceres answered immediately

"Physical strength is unimportant. The strength of the Fire Knight's spirit is all that is needed, and the strength of her spirit is great. Rayearth can do all the rest so trust her Umi-sama, and trust Rayearth." and at that Umi took a deep breath. Mentally slapping herself in the face a few times, Umi shook off her feelings of fear and dread.

"I've been foolish Ceres and I am sorry for my hesitation. After all this time I should know better than to mistrust you or Rayearth ... and most of all Hikaru." She finally acknowledged and felt a rather unpleasant sense of disgust at her own unfounded doubts and fears. Again Umi joined with Ceres and searched for the presence of Hikaru within Rayearth and as always she found them. "I'm so sorry Hikaru, I'm sorry that I doubted you and doubted Rayearth too. But now I know that as long as you're together, you'll be as strong as you've always been. We'll destroy these monsters and find Fuu and save this world, just like we did before in Cephiro!" And with that, Umi and Ceres joined beside Rayearth and Hikaru and began to help them mow down the rising tide of hideous creatures pouring into the streets of Tokyo from everywhere.

Through the wonders of electronic communications in modern Tokyo, the entire city was now in panic. Utter chaos ensued everywhere Umi looked. Traffic was gridlocked as thousand of people abandoned their cars and fled on foot. At twenty stories elevation, Umi looked into the windows of office buildings and could see people running around screaming in terror as they saw what was happening outside. It was then that Umi remembered the monsters of Cephiro. Cephiro was a land of the will and that monsters were created by the will of the people and right now the will of the people in Tokyo was ...

"This is not good ..." was all that Umi could think of at the moment.

[Itena]

Hikaru knew what to do. She had no idea how, but she knew that a certain sword swing could turn into an aggressive slash with Rayearth's claws. With the right angle of a stab, her Guardian could bite the flesh of her opponent. It's as if the knowledge had been directly transferred into her mind, therefore she was confident in her strokes. She could still feel her injuries, but that's never stopped her before. It was almost like her very self was split into two; one half was in full shape, fighting as confidently as ever, and the other was aware of the pain that racked her body. And, strangely enough, none of her movements irritated her wounds.

'Rayearth, how is this possible?...'

'Thou art not using thine physical strength, Hikaru. Thine heart is all that is needed. For I hath long ago accepted thine strength of heart, and with that strength I shall fight.'

'Rayearth...' And with that, the Magic Knight returned to the chaos of battle with strong feelings of gratefulness and hope. With each stroke that she used to smite her enemies, she felt more and more like her former energetic self.

After a short while, Hikaru felt the presence of Umi; and as she heard what she had to say, her trademark smile spread on her face. "Mm! Thank you, Umi-chan. Let's save everyone together!" Her confidence soared up even higher, and she felt like she could take on anything. Taking her sword, she continued the extermination of these projections of fear. Projections of fear... Hikaru took a second to look at the panicked bystanders, and her quick mind quickly connected the two together. Like Umi, the Fire Knight became concerned of the situation at hand. How were they supposed to calm down an entire city?

She was soon broken out of her train of thought, though, as the battle continued forth. She looked at what her foe was... and was blown out of her mind. It's size around the same as the Mashins', it's green scales of a spiky nature, it's fire-breathing breath...

"Go...gojira?"

Taking a few clawed steps back in slight confusion, Hikaru suddenly tripped and made Rayearth fall on his regal butt. Taking a look to see what had tripped her, the red-haired girl stared in bewilderment as she saw another familiar face. A thick, grey walking wall with hands, legs and a pair of glaring eyes was blowing a raspberry. A Nurikabe was blowing her a raspberry.


(ooc: Sorry it's not that great/big of a post, and Gojira is the original japanese name for Godzilla.)

[Shiidou Hikaru]

Without a clear plan of action to deal with the source of the monsters - the fear generated by millions of panicking people in the city of Tokyo - Umi slogged through the massive onslaught of monsters. Tokyo by itself had many times the population of the whole world of Cephiro, so that alone was enough to cause alarm. However the panic would not stay confined to Tokyo for long if the situation did not reach a conclusion soon. However, Umi was at a loss ... "What are we going to do?" she asked herself and Hikaru too. "Whether we destroy these monsters or not, fear will spread ... to the rest of Japan ... maybe to the rest of the world!" Umi realized with fear. In all of the time she had spent in Cephiro, Umi had always concentrated on saving the world of Cephiro rather than her own. But now that Tokyo was being threatened and the possibility of the earth as she knew it being destroyed loomed before her, Umi felt particularly distressed, however ...

"I cannot let myself give in to fear. This ismy world this time, but it is no different from Cephiro, my objective is the same." Umi thought and calmed her fears. Again she buried the great dragon sword to its hilt into the throng of monsters and with a single stroke, carved through dozens of them leaving their fragments to disintegrate in its wake. Just then she noticed a new type of monster bearing down on her. It let out a harsh, grating shriek like metal on stone. "What ... is that ... ? Gojira? But how? How is that possible??" Umi questioned in bewilderment as another, even more bizarre monster appeared - a giant Nurikabe puzzle with arms and legs approached Hikaru and Rayearth and started making obscene gestures at them.

"Oh no ... this is Japan ... the land of Nurikabe, Sudoku, Gojira, Pokemon and Dragonball Z ... !!" Umi's mind suddenly went wild thinking of the possibilites as she engaged the Gojira monster. Like sumo wrestlers, Ceres and Gojira grappled each other around each other's necks and began to push very hard against each other. While Umi wasn't in direct combat herself, her mind was one with Ceres at all times so she felt every sense, every movement that Ceres did. "Uggh ..." Umi winced as she felt the strangulating grip of Gojira around her neck. Even though Umi had never trained as a sumo wrestler, she had seen enough of it on TV to understand how it worked and she certainly wasn't afraid of a fight. The pain made her adrenalin surge and Umi increased her grip on Gojira. "Grrr ... there's no way you're going to beat me!" she said to her opponent and shoved hard, pushing Gojira back a little. The pavement of the city street ground up like beach sand beneath the feet of the great Gojira beast and Ceres. This made footing tricky as Umi fished around with Ceres' feet to find something strong to push against. Eventually she found the stone base of an older office block and knew what she had to do.

"People in Japan ... watch too many ... movies! Arrgh!" Umi grunted as she pushed the head of Ceres low into the chest of Gojira. The beast shrieked loudly as Umi continued to push underneath Gojira, eventually hoisting it upon the shoulders of Ceres. Gojira thrashed wildly as Umi and Ceres turned and with a mighty effort "Eeeyaaaaaaahhh!!" tossed the Gojira monster a full city block back in the direction they had come. It landed with a thunderous crash that caused the ground to shudder as if it was an earthquake. But just like the other monsters it just vanished upon defeat.

As Umi panted and tried to catch her breath from the great battle of strength, an unusual sound came to her ears. Looking down Umi saw that a small crowd of people had emerged from the building in front of her and the were clapping their hands. They were applauding her defeat of Gojira and Umi was utterly amazed. "Oh my goodness, it's so dangerous to be out here, but ... they came anyways, and they are happy that I won." Then an inspiration came suddenly to Umi and she teleported down to the sidewalk and stood before her fans. Her sudden appearance shocked the small crowd and their applause ceased immediately. Without saying a word Umi bowed low before them, not in the traditional Japanese custom of showing respect, but in the manner of a stage actress thanking her audience. They all seemed to recognize this and began to clap their hands again. Then one man, an older fellow in a business suit got the nerve to walk up to Umi and thank her personally

"Thank you very much ma'am for what you did, for saving us from that monster." however he continued "But who ... what ... are you?" he asked as he looked up and down at Umi in her Magic Knight's Armor. "I've never seen anything like you before ..."

With a pleasant smile Umi answered him, "I am the Sea Knight, a Magic Knight of Cephiro." Umi knew that she had no time to give a full detailed explanation of what she was, so Umi kept things simple. "I have been sent here because these difficulties in Tokyo were foreseen by us and I am here with my fellow Knight, the Fire Knight ..." Umi gestured to where Hikaru and Rayearth were still fighting the full onslaught as Umi played diplomat "... to defend the city of Tokyo against these terrible apparitions."

"Apparitions ... ?" Someone else in the crowd asked

"Yes." Umi answered. "These creatures invading the city are not organisms, they are not normal beasts. Their substance is generated by the feelings of fear and terror of the people in this city" Umi explained to them. The crowd immediately began to twitter amongst themselves over what Umi had said. They would soon realize the magnitude of the situation so Umi stopped them: "Please! Everyone!" and they returned their attention to her. "While I can fight these monsters for a long time, it would be futile because I need your help too."

"Our help? What can we do against these horrible things?" the older fellow in the suit asked her.

"You, and everyone in the city can stop the monsters from appearing in the first place. Calm must be restored, the peace must be returned to the city. Once everyone no longer has fear in their hearts, no longer will the monsters appear. Therefore I need all of you to help me. Use your phones or computers or whatever you have to to tell everyone you know to calm down and not be afraid. Then tell them to pass the word on to everyone they know. You must hurry, you must restore calm as soon as possible. Any monsters already loose in streets, the Fire Knight and myself will destroy, but all of you must make sure that no more monsters are spawned by fear! Like I defeated the Gojira, all of you can defeat your fears" Umi instructed them.

The suited fellow responded like a company CEO might. "I understand Sea Knight-sama." then he turned to the crowd and instructed "You heard her, get to it everyone while the phones still work!" and like rats before the daylight, the crowd of people quickly scurried back into the building to carry out Umi's orders. Then the suited man turned back to Umi "Tokyo Telecom will do everything we can to carry out your request ma'am." Then he bowed politely to Umi, turned and went inside himself.

"Wow, a telecommunications company" Umi mused to herself. "Fortune seems to be turning to our favor at last Ceres. I only hope that they succeed in getting the word out." Umi thought to her mashin as she teleported back into her place inside Ceres.

[Itena]

Hikaru wanted to join Umi down to the floor when she had gone to meet their unlikely audience, but she knew she wasn't capable of doing that-- If she did, then she probably would be rendered unconscious; so she instead continued her battle with the monsters.

Dissipating her opponent(it was a large, red pok?mon; but she couldn't remember the name...), she turned to see her next opponent, to find a huge, white missile heading straight for her. Her eyes widening, she realized she couldn't dodge it, so she prepared herself for the impact, crossing her arms in front of her in instinct. But when it hit her, she couldn't feel anything, she could only a roar of pain emitting from Rayearth. Eyes widening, she realized she wasn't the least bit hurt from the missile.

"Rayearth...Rayearth took the hit, but I'm..."

Rayearth protected her from the attack too? He got hurt, but not her? Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears as she felt a mixed feeling between gratefulness and frustration.

"Rayearth, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that you had to get hurt because of me," she said, her tears finally rolling down her cheeks.

There was a silence for a few seconds, then Rayearth replied,"I am thine Mashin, thy Guardian. It is only natural; therefore grieve not, for I shan't perish."

Hikaru nodded silently, wiping the tears off her face, and just as Umi returned to Ceres, started to fight off the enemies once more. When she got a chance to do so, she asked Umi, "What did you say to that group of people? Were you able to warn them?"

((ooc: sorry it's so short TT^TT))

[Faye]

[OOC: You guys sound like you need a Fuu. I wouldn't mind helping out and RPing her, if you all are fine with that. If not, then don't mind this post. Just asking before assuming it's all good with everyone.]

[Shiidou Hikaru]

((OOC: Yes, poor Hikaru-chan is really in dire need right now. If you've read all the way through then you know that it would be great to have Fuu-chan show up soon Faye-san. Currently she is available to be played, but please sign up in the active characters list - http://www.henheart.com/rayearth/forum/ind...p?showtopic=124 I'm sorry to be a bother about that, but I need to keep one player per character please, thankies. ))

[Faye]

Fuu guarded against the attack and piloted Windom into a counterattack. She couldn't help but think back to how she had gotten into this mess in the first place.

Fuu walked through the mall, looking for gifts for her two best friends. She had decided on a designer outfit for Umi. The shirt hung low on one side and had a design of bubble all around it in various shades of blue. The bottoms were white capris with a special stitching in blue thread that travelled up each leg. A pair of white canvas shoes came with the purchase and Fuu had an artist sitting on the fountain in the center of the mall design the shoes with blue designs, similar to those on the shirt. A hat completed the ensemble and was to be worn off to the side. For Hikaru, she decided on the lasted action movie, toys for Hikari, and small pendant necklace. The pendent was in a teardrop shape and a deep red.

Fuu sighed deeply as she sat on a bench, her bags off to the side. She licked at her ice cream cone as she watched people walk by. America had been quite an experience. She couldn't wait to get home and tell Hikaru and Umi about her experience. 'We have to come here together one day,' she swore to herself as she finished off the small cone.

Suddenly, directly across from where she sat and people walked back and forth, a creature appeared. It stood on all fours and was a pale green. It's head was contorted so that it looked like someone twisted it's face like they would a wet towel. The face looked like it could have possible resembled that of a lion at one point. Fuu cleaned her glasses and gazed at the creature. It still stood there, staring back at her. People walked by as though nothing was amiss. Without giving warning, the creature leap toward Fuu. The Wind Knight clutched her bags as she ran in the opposite direction. 'Monsters on Earth?' she thought as she made her way to the parking garage.

No sooner had she reached the area did the creature jump in front of her, head reared for an attack. Thinking quickly, Fuu held a hand in front of her and shouted her intent. "Emerald Tornado!" A gale of winds rushed from her as the monster was pushed back and into a blue Honda Civic. She placed her purchases off to the side as she drew her weapon, angling herself to attack. The creature lunged again and she was able to dodge underneath it. As the creature leap over her, she spun her body. Using the momentum from her twirl, Fuu swung her sword downward at the monster.

The creature shrieked before falling in a mass of it's own yellow blood. The blonde collapsed on her knees and looked around. She returned her sword to its place and got up. 'There must be something wrong in Cephiro,' she reasoned. She gathered her things and returned to the apartment she was staying in. Suddenly, she was overcome with an intense feeling of hurt. "Hikaru-san, Umi-san..." she muttered. Her friends needed help and Fuu swore she was going to be there.

A scream brought Fuu back to her senses as people bagan filing out on the streets, looking for safety. From her window, she could see more monsters on the streets, terrorizing people. She opened her window just as a creature was about to attack a group of girls. She dug deep inside of herself as she called forth the magic. "Guardian Wind," she cried, protecting the girls as the monster rushed against her barrier. She rushed outside and faced the monster, once again drawing her sword. This creature, however, was much faster than the last as it sliced through her left thigh. She cried out in agony and quickly put all her weight on her right leg. The monster turned and readied another attack as Fuu took the defensive.

"Winds of Abdonishment!" The creature was suddenly held in it's place directly above the Wind Knight. Fuu swung her large sword at the beast, splitting the monster in two. Leaning against her weapon, she limped over to the awestruck girls. "Are you alright?" The girls nodded dumbly and stared as Fuu sighed in relief. "Healing Winds." Slowly, the wound on her leg stitched itself back up and color returned to the knights face. The girls fled and Fuu turned to look at the chaos before her. "What is going on?"

'It seems that something is amiss here as well,' came a reply from deep within Fuu. 'Windom!' she exclaimed mentally. 'Yes, Magic Knight, it is I. I told you I would be with you, you need only call upon me.' Thoughts of what the mashin said earlier rang through Fuu's head. 'When you said something was amiss here as well, do you mean the Hikaru-san and Umi-san are in trouble?'

Windom was silent for a moment before replying. 'There is trouble in thine world. The other Magic Knights are fighting similar foes back in Tokyo. I am told by Rayearth that the Fire Knight has been seriously wounded.'

Fuu's face fell and she almost burst into tears. When her friends needed her most, she was unable to be there. She needed to see them. The Wind Knight looked around her and saw destruction. People were crying out for help and she was the only one who could. 'Windom, is Hika- the Fire Knight alone?'

'None of you are ever alone. Rayearth is with her, as well as Ceres and the Sea Knight.' Fuu nodded her head. It would pain her, but these people needed help also. "Come to me, Windom!"

Almost immediately, Fuu was looking out through her mashin's eyes. It always amazed her at how her mind melded with Windom's whenever they were united. Quickly, Fuu made short work of the minor creatures littering the streets. It wasn't until she was preparing to leave in order to help her friends that she realizes she was going to be preoccupied. A mecha stood in her way and brandished a sword against her. "A Gundam?" she gasped as the robot made it's way toward the knight.

"Who do you fight for?" the pilot asked through a speaker system.

Fuu thought a moment before answering, Windom projecting her voice. "I fight for the people of Cephiro and Earth." A cheer rang all around her as people started coming out of hiding areas to see the battle.

"Then you shall perish!" the voice exclaimed, sending gun fire at civilians standing to Fuu's left. She was just able to get a shield up for them when the gundam attacked. Windom was able to guard from the inital attack, but from the follow up and Fuu doubled over as the mecha punched her in the gut. Gasping for breath, Fuu was able to push her opponent away with a spell while she composed herself.

Again and again swords collided, the mecha to preoccupied with his opponent to be able to attack helpless civilians. Dodging one swing from the machine, the Wind Knight was able to immobilize its sword arm with one of her spells. Taking her opponents shock as her opportunity, Fuu lunged and pierced the middle of the gundam with her sword. The machine went haywire and exploded as the pilot, a man with flowing blonde hair, was ejected from the cockpit. Cheers sprang up from every direction as Fuu stared. The monsters off the streets were slowly fading. Addressing the people through Windom again, she spoke. "People of Earth, I am a Magic Knight of Cephiro. I beseech you, please find shelter. The creatures you see around you are fading and soon will be no more. Fear not and rejoice knowing that the Magic Knights will help you in any way they can. I must leave to help my fellow knights. And do not worry, there is nothing to fear."

That said, Fuu flew off into the sky. 'That was a convincing speech.' She sighed and smiled. 'It felt like the right thing to say. Let's go to Tokyo. How fast can we get there?' Windom made a deep noise that reverberated throughout the mashin. If mashins could chuckle, it would sound as such. 'I am the Windom, Mashin of the Skies. We will arrive shortly.'

Suddenly, the world around Fuu seemed to whirl past as first land, then sea sailed below her. Suddenly, they were in Tokyo, which wasn't in much better shape than Los Angelos back in America. Fuu sailed over the skyscrapers and buildings, searching for her friends. As she rounded a building, she spotted them, fighting creatures both from Cephiro and human creation. Tears welled in her eyes as she saw her two friends alive.

"Hikaru-san! Umi-san!"

[OOC: Hope that's okay. Battle scenes aren't my forte so I hope it was alright. Also, I can't figure out the text color for the life of me. The button doesn't work and green wasn't working. I may have been doing it wrong though.]

[Shiidou Hikaru]

((OOC: Okies, I made the text all green for you Faye-san. Sometimes the text color thing doesn't work for some reason. It might have something to do with java scripts I think. ))

Almost immediately after Umi had resumed fighting, she noticed that the numbers of monsters coming towards her and Hikaru had started to diminish. "Good for you, people of Tokyo! We can't lose if we fight together!" she said with confidence. Umi's triumph was short lived however as a heavy force pushed her and Ceres from behind. They lurched forward slightly, but the attack didn't seem very sharp or brutal, just heavy. "Arrgh!" Umi scowled and spun around with her sword, engaging her attacker ... sort of ...

"What the ... ?" she exclaimed in surprise as her sword failed to encounter a solid body as it slowed and stopped its motion. In fact as soon as Umi began to spin around she had noticed that her movements weren't feeling quite right and now she saw why. The monster attacking her was nothing more than a giant mound of transparent lime-green goo. It had stuck to her and Ceres' back like tar and when Umi had spun around to attack she had inadvertently wrapped herself and Ceres in the great mass of protoplasm. The monster had no face or mouth and made no sounds, but as Umi tried to withdraw her sword from the creature's body, the monster's mass came too and soon began smother Umi and Ceres.

"Oh no, this is really bad! I ... I can't get free! It's swallowing me!!" Umi cried out as she tried not to panic. Almost totally immobilized Umi could no longer fight with her weapon, however she could still cast spells. The first was one of her favorites - "Dragon of Water!!" Umi shouted and immediately the Water Dragon began to burst forth from her left hand. At first the monster of green tarry ooze didn't seem to notice that the inside of its body was now filling up with a rapidly growing ball of water created by Umi's spell. Larger, and larger it got ... "Maybe this monster will explode into bits if I use enough power?" Umi thought and continued to concentrate.

The formless mass did seem to possess some intellegence no matter how improbable and realized that there was a problem. In response it opened up a cavity in one side of its transparent green body which allowed the huge ball of water inside itself to pour out into the streets around it. For a few minutes the streets of Tokyo resembled Venice, Italy as the torrents of water escaped in every direction, down every street, to slowly drain away. The unperturbed goo monster seemed to not take notice as it went back to its business of swallowing the Sea Knight.

Umi on the other hand was quite distressed "The Dragon of Water didn't work at all! Now ... now what do I do Ceres?" But like the goo monster, Ceres also seemed to be his usual unperturbed self - "Freeze it ... with ice magic Umi-sama" he answered her. Umi was a little surprised at the answer and asked "But won't that freeze us too?" however Ceres didn't reply. Despite her apprehension, Umi knew in her heart that Ceres would never lead her astray and that there must be something else to Ceres' plan that she didn't yet realize. With that Umi proceeded and cast - "Ice Shard Attack!!

Immediately great shards of ice began to rain down from the sky on the green goo monster and Umi too. The shards penetrated deep into the creature's body and unlike with the Water Dragon attack, Umi could feel the monster shudder and vibrate almost as if it were reacting to the pain of being stabbed by the shards. Continuously, Umi's attack showered the creature until it was completely buried in the ice. Inside the monster Umi could feel the temperature starting to drop. Soon she could see the monster's mass of transparent green goo begin to crystallize and freeze solid. It was working, Umi could feel the creature's movements cease, but as she had feared, Umi could feel the monster's frozen body trapping her within the its ice.

She felt very cold now and even though she had ceased the Ice Shard Attack spell, Umi knew that it would be a long time before all of the frozen mass around her would thaw out. Umi's hands and feet started to go numb and she realized that she was going to need help ... "Ceres? Please ... help ... Hikaru ... I need ..." but her mind started to go black " ... Hikaru ... Fuu ..." were her last thoughts and Umi's mind swam in darkness ...

[Itena]

((ooc: The green blob monster reminds me of the Flubber movie. XD lol))

Hikaru looked around her, the vast population of monsters clearing up and degrading; her eyes shone and her lips stretched into a happy smile. She knew that she could count on everyone to face their fears; after all, Hikaru had decided to trust in everyone. If she could believe in Cephiro, then she could believe in Tokyo. She faced the next opponents with a confidence familiar to her.

As she slashed through yet another foe, she suddenly swerved her head when she heard the cry of Umi. Turning around, however, made her brain kind of stop for a moment.

"Uh...what?!" Hikaru exclaimed. A lime-green mass of gelatinous substance that was somehow a monster. This was almost as weird as that monster back in Cephiro that she fought... the monster being a mere pillar of light that sniffed out blood.

Taking Rayearth's escudo-molded claws, she tested out the green mass by swiping at it, and coming to a conclusion that it wouldn't do much except pull her in as well. Staring at Umi inside the gelatinous mass, she called her friend's name, trying to think of what to do.

"Hikaru-san! Umi-san!"

Hikaru turned Rayearth's large wolfish head up, and was overjoyed to see Windam flying down towards them. Despite the situation, she smiled a smile of relief, and her eyes widened sparkled as she saw her friend again.

"Fuu-chan! You're here!"

Hikaru suddenly felt something under her feet, consequently returning her attention back to the ground. Water. She could feel Rayearth's emotion of tension grow slightly as the floor of Tokyo flooded. He was the Fire Mashin, after all; Hikaru assumed it was natural for one made of fire to be slightly uncomfortable around a lot of water. Turning her crimson orbs towards Umi once again, she was surprised to find Umi trying to freeze the goo monster.

'But wait, wouldn't that freeze Umi-chan too?' she thought in alarm.

'Hikaru!'

Thanks to Rayearth's quick warning, Hikaru pivoted just in time to defend herself against the fangs of yet another monster. A large snake this time, it's greyish-turquoise skin reflecting the skies. It's bright amber orbs narrowed at the Mashin of Fire, then it's body proceeded to coil itself around Rayearth, much like a boa constrictor would. At this, Hikaru became angry. She had to help Umi, this monster was in the way!

"Umi-chan!" she screamed as she tried ever so hard to wriggle herself out of the death-squeeze. When Umi became unconscious, a feeling of absolute rage made it's way into Hikaru's heart. Clenching her teeth tightly, she let out a yell which became a mighty roar from Rayearth, and Hikaru let the fires of her very soul dance. Rayearth's mane of flames burned with the utmost intensity, and the Mashin began to glow an aura of red.

The large snake didn't know what hit it. It was as if one dropped down a grenade upon the snake, as a wave of intense, hot flames destroyed the giant boa and other smaller monsters in nearby range. Rayearth's very essence seemed to be only of flames, it's pupil-less red eyes glowing with a brightness that reflected Hikaru's very heart and spirit. The entire scene was quite the spectacle.

Hikaru walked slowly towards the crystallized transparent where Umi was encased in, and as Rayearth seemed to be engulfed with flames, it was rather easy to melt and evaporate the former goo monster and save Umi from the cold prison. As Selece collapsed into the paws of Rayearth, the fires immediately died down, and Hikaru found herself very tired from using so much magic. The part of her that felt the pain of her injuries seemed to gain more of Hikaru's awareness, but she ignored it. Instead, she used the best of Rayearth's warmth to help Umi recover until Fuu could heal her. "Umi-chan..." she said in a tone of relief; Fuu-chan's appearance brought a sense of new comfort and confidence. Now, the three of them were united.

[Shiidou Hikaru]

Into the darkness Umi went. It didn't really feel like a swimming or falling sensation, it was more like a complete loss of sensory perception or more accurately - a state of non-existence were there was actually nothing to perceive. Slowly, she had become increasingly distressed but the effects didn't last long and suddenly Umi found herself standing on a raised stone platform or dais. A dim, reddish light, like that of a darkroom, shone around her, but when Umi looked around she could not locate its source. The place she was in had no walls or floor or ceiling or if it did they were so far away as to vanish in the distance. Umi heard no sound of any kind, the air was still as death and only her cloak rustled gently as Umi turned about to view her surroundings.

"Where ... am I? What is this place?" Umi whispered under her breath, but her voice was if she had spoken plainly so deep was the silence around her. "Am I ... dead?" she asked herself nervously.

The reply that came nearly made Umi shriek with surprise. "No." answered the calm and unemotional voice of Ceres. It must have taken Ceres a few moments longer to arrive, but now he also stood in the dimly lighted place with his master, the Sea Knight.

"Ceres! Thank goodness!" Umi responded with relief but quickly returned to her previous musings. "Ceres ... where am I? What is this place?"

"This is my dimension. This is the place where I and my brother Mashins have resided for all eternity." He answered as knowledgeable as always, but didn't elaborate further. However Umi knew that she could get more information from Ceres simply by asking him more questions.

"But, I am not a Mashin Ceres. Why am I here with you? Did something bad happen to me?" Umi asked, eager to understand her situation.

Ceres didn't answer right away, apparently he needed to give some thought to what he would say next so that his mistress to understand. "You are the Sea Knight Umi-sama. You are master of the elements of water and ice and thus you are granted immunity to all effects of any of their magics." Ceres told her at first.

"I see. So that is how you knew I wouldn't be harmed by the freezing." Umi realized.

"Yes, that is correct. And by freezing you have become ice itself and thus you have become as one with your element. You now exist as ice, or more precisely you exist as ice in the mortal realm. However your being remains intact here in our dimension, in our realm of the eternal." Ceres finished.

Umi looked down and rubbed her chin, puzzled. She was only 15 years old so the concept of eternal unending eons of time was a bit challenging for her even though Ceres seemed rather unimpressed with the concept. Unsure of what to ask next, Umi kept going with this idea "So you and Rayearth and Windom have lived in this place forever?"

"Yes." Ceres answered succinctly.

"But ..." she started, but Umi quickly lost what she was going to say. Maybe Ceres and the other Mashins thought this was a normal way to live, but linear time was the only existence that made sense to Umi. Eventually she gave up trying to comprehend eternity in this dim place and asked about going home. "Ceres, I can't just stay here. Hikaru is in trouble, she needs me. The are still problems in Tokyo, my world. I still have work to do there. how do I get back?"

After a minute of silence, Ceres answered "We cannot go back."

Umi stepped back, stunned. With a look of shock Umi stammered "W-what? What do you mean? Ceres! Why can't I go back?"

"Through force of our own will, neither of us can go back. I cannot leave this place unless I am summoned by you, my master. And likewise, as long as you remain as one with the element of ice in the mortal realm, you must remain here in the realm of the eternal. We can't return to your world by our own choosing." Ceres explained.

However Umi soon realized "So if I eventually thaw out, I will be able to go back to Tokyo again Ceres?"

As plain as ever Ceres answered "Yes."

That was all that Umi needed to hear. A wave of relief washed over her and erased her mounting anxiety. Ceres was a nice enough friend, but the thought of losing everyone and everything she had ever known and spending an eternity trapped in the mashin's dark realm had worried Umi greatly. But now it was just a matter of time before she could return.

"I suppose even if no one does anything to get me out, the natural climate would melt that mountain of ice in a few days. I shouldn't have to stay here too long then." Umi reassured herself.

But Ceres added "It is hard to say because time has no meaning here."

However before Umi had enough time to think on that, the dim light of the mashin's dimension vanished once again into the darkness of non-existence. Umi knew that her time to return had come. The first thing that she felt was the piercing needles of ice penetrating every cell of her body. Frozen, she wasn't able to cry out, but Umi soon felt the sensation lessen as she warmed up again. The frost and ice fell from her eyes as she opened them slowly to see the brightness of the sun again, but what was even more welcome was the sight of Rayearth who was holding her, warming her up as Windom looked on. Umi closed her eyes again and for the first time since this whole ordeal had started she felt a great sense of peace to know that the three Magic Knights had been reunited once more.

[Itena]

((OOC: Don't give up, RP! I refuse to let you die!! *clings onto thread*))

[Yuki Fukurou]

Trowa Shinto was sitting outside in the small gardens outside his house when he heard the radio go off about monsters attacking Tokyo.

'Bakamono? Sou na baka na,' he thought. A strange wind then blew as soon as he said this, and the next thing he knew, a mark appeared on his right arm. Looking at the mark, it resembled that of a phoenix feather.

'Odd. I don't remember this appearing,' he thought again.

Next door, Lacus Torino also felt that strange wind and a glowing mark appeared on her right arm, resembling that of a eagle talon.

'Strange...I've never seen this before,' she thought. She then looked over the brick wall and saw Trowa sitting down.

"Hey...did you feel that wind?" she asked.

"Sure did. What do you think is going on?" he asked.

"Not sure," she replied.

"There's been reports of monsters attacking Tokyo. Think it has something to do with this?" he asked.

"Hard to say. Think it's some sort of joke?" she asked.

"It's no joke," said a voice. It was a male.

Trowa looked on the tree nearby the fence and saw an old man hooded and cloaked in a gray robe.

"Who are you?" asked Lacus.

"Those symbols on your arms are your elemental spirits waiting to be released. There is another world at work at the moment in Tokyo fighting off these enemies that you both have just heard about," said the old man.

"I presume you're like a magus of some sort and that you're also from a different world," guessed Trowa.

"That would be correct. The question remains now whether you are willing to accept your destinies and take a step into a larger world," said the magus.

"First...what's your name exactly?" asked Trowa.

"My name is Kenjin, young one," said the magus, introducing himself.

"Trowa...what do you think?" asked Lacus.

"There's no way the military would be able to understand mysticism at all or what is going on at the moment. We should aid those that are currently fighting this foe, even if it means getting close to being exposed," answered Trowa.

"Well...you're quite the risk taker," joked Lacus.

"Then...I will lead you to where the battle is taking place," said Kenjin. Reciting a small chant, a green magic circle enveloped the two, teleporting them to where the battle was currently taking place.

What they saw surprised them both. Creatures resembling closely to monsters from movies to the unknown were everywhere. There were two robotic figures that resembled that of knights with mythical creatures as part of the armor, presumably their guardians.

When Trowa and Lacus looked around, the city was practically being close to overrun and the magus was no where to be seen.

"Great. Now what?" asked Trowa.

'Listen carefully to what I say and repeat after me. These are the access words to awaken the spirits within you. "Elemental spirit within me, listen to my voice and awaken. Harken to me as I call out thy name."

They both repeated the exact words and then the rest came with surprising fluidity.

"Fire within me, Raieous!" shouted Trowa.

"Wind encircle me, Seria!" shouted Lacus.

The elements surrounded them as the armor appeared on them. Trowa's armor resembled that of a phoenix, while Lacus' armor resemble that of an eagle. On their left and right wrists were bracelets which had a gem that signified their element.

"Now...call out your element spirit," instructed Kenjin.

"Ruby Phoenix!" called out Trowa.

"Emerald Eagle!" called out Lacus.

Once summoned, they donned the spirit which then transformed into a mecha formed version of their spirit.

Trowa's weapon was a very light sword, while Lacus' was a bow and arrow. Trowa then turned to Lacus, who then nodded back to him, as if she understood.

Trowa then looked to the fire mecha on his left and said, "Looks like you guys could use a hand."

(OOC: I know it's been a while and all but...mind if I join in the fray?)

[Itena]

((OOC: yay! though it's gonna take me a while to try and get around Faye-chan's absense and lack of post. Please give me a bit to rp))

[Itena]

Suddenly, Hikaru found herself in company with two more Mashin.... or something of the sort. Normally, she would of been completely confused at this new fact, but she was too tired and battle-worn to really feel surprised at that moment. She just nodded with a small smile and accepted them as companions... she would most likely have a reaction later.

Rayearth himself, noting the presence of the Wind Knight, returned himself to his true form, as Fuu wouldn't be able to heal Hikaru if he stayed in his Protective Mode. Expecting an immediate healing, this Rayearth, Guardian of Fire and Regal Spirit that resides in the Volcano, let His guard down.

But Fuu hadn't started her spell yet, and Hikaru felt all the pain return with full force. Her hands trembled and she suddenly lost her ability to hold Selece in her arms. In fact, she lost the ability to stay up and so therefore fell face forward towards the ground. Dizziness, Pain, Fever and Nausea once again took over her consciousness.

'No, not now... I have to... protect everyone...!' was her last thought as she receded into the blackness of her mind.

((OOC: Yeah, sorry, that's the best I could do with the limitations I had ;; ))

[Yuki Fukurou]

Trowa and Lacus both found themselves in the presence of a 5 headed beast whose main body almost took most of the space that several tall buildings had against each other right in front of them.

Lacus was a bit surprised with the sheer size and the amount of heads the beast had.

"That's going to be tricky to take down," said Lacus.

"Don't worry Lacus, where there's a will, there's a way," said Trowa. "Let's double team it."

"Good idea," said Lacus.

Both of them began going in an intertwining formation trying to confuse the 5 heads, yet the one in the middle started shooting out yellow balls of energy resembling thunder or lightning trying to hit either one of them.

"Heads up, incoming!" shouted Trowa.

Lacus responded back by firing several arrows at the projectiles, resulting in a explosion from each one. Trowa then took the initiative and went into the smoke to try and confuse the beast. The creature still kept firing at Lacus, while the other heads tried to find Trowa. Suddenly, Trowa came out in a spiral of flames about to make an attack on one of the heads, yet was blocked by the first and fourth head which simultaneously fired fire and dark energy projectiles at him. Trowa managed to deflect most of them with his sword, before taking to the air again to dodge the heads from grabbing him with their mouths.

'This is going to take a while,' he thought.