There was awe, of course. It was unmistakable as a Machin Shrine. The air had that same hum of power. The dankness of the cave gave way to a rich, loamy smell as golden as the air. The Machin-high door was a honey brown, trimmed in brilliant gold. The ram motif looked down at at us. I kept expecting it to move.
Hikaru was exultant. She leapt into the air with glee. "We've found the Earth Shrine!" she sang again, throwing her arms up into the air.
"An Earth Shrine," echoed Fuu, resting a knuckle on her chin thoughtfully. "It was an earthquake that led us down here..."
"And a rock monster that we fought just before that," said Umi, as if she had suddenly caught on. I stared at them both, trying to figure out what they were getting at. Hikaru looked as confused. so I didn't feel too bad.
"And the third was made of sand," I added to stall for time while I wracked my brain.Then it hit me."Oh! All things related to the earth and ground! You think it has something to do with Arieon?"
"Maybe he just wanted to be found," offered Hikaru, the optimist. Umi gave her a glare.
"Why attack us so often then?" she snapped. "This is weird."
"you...think the monsters all came from here?" Hikaru looked puzzled and a little upset. "But why? And how would a Machin do that?"
"I don't know," Fuu admitted."But it seems too close to be a coincidence."
Subdued by that thought, I looked up to the door again. An evil machin? One whose power manifested as monsters and earthquakes? I remembered the stories of Zagato and Emeraude, and their lethal Machins. A faint rumbling made us all tense, ready for another quake, but none came.
"Presea...said that the Earth Knight died," I told them."How could a Machin, well,function without a Knight?"
"Then the Knight must still be in it!" Hikaru insisted, looking as distressed as I knew I did.
"That story is ages old," argued Umi. "How could anyone live that long?"
"Cefiro is a world of will,"Fuu reminded us. "Perhaps if she wanted to, with all her heart..."
"And we've come to free her!" Hikaru lit up again. "Let's go!"
She ran up to the door before wecould debate it any further. I still had misgivings. What about the monsters? Would the 4th Knight be a friend to us? Umi looked as doubtful as me,but Fuu only seemed thoughful. Hikaru, with her usual pluckiness,had put shoulder to the door was straining against it. To no one's surprise, it didn't budge.
"There's room for a Machin here," I said. "I'll call up Innova and try." I was glad of any excuse to get inside my armor again. Before they could give me a reason not to, I summoned Innova. His snowy whiteness was undulled by the golden air and he took me inside immediatly, to my relief. A flicker of oneness shivered over me once inside. It should've made me feel better, but I felt an unreasonable fear for him flare up. I didn't want there to be anthing evil to fight. What if he was hurt?
An amused thought from Innova himself quelled my silliness. He could take care of himself quite well. The other three Machin materialized in front of me.
Hikaru and I went to lean into the door. Maybe I'm overreacting,
I told myself. The Knights attacked
The door resisted just long enough for us to wonder if it would ever move, then slowly began to shift. Fuu and Umi lent their strength to either side, and with the four of us, we soon pushed our way into the Shrine room. In the center stood a huge golden creature, much like a ram, but too deer-like. It radiated strength as well as the golden light. As all of the Machin's true forms were, it was beautiful.
It turned it's head to pierce us with it's shining eyes. How anything so graceful could seem at once so powerful, I wasn't sure. It's fleecy coat was a mass of sun-colored curls, looking impossibly soft. The curving horns were a softer buttery color, still seeming to be too exquisite to be as strong as i knew they were. There was a long moment of awe between us.
Then, horrifying after the silence, Arieon threw his head skyward and roared. It was a battle cry of rage and pain and some terrible anguish. I cried out, too, from the shock of it. Weapons broke out among all of us but Hikaru. The ram began a transformation into a huge, spiral-horned Machin. It's feet were like split hooves and it held a weapon like a long-handled axe.
"Wait!WAIT!" screamed Hikaru. "We don't want to fight! We came to free you!"
Arieon arched backwards, as if from some unendurable pain. An image slammed in to my head,as if driven by that axe. Alien emotions flooded me, a killing despair, defeat, and the knowledge that I'd die so far from home. Pain, pain and despair. Trapped here! Trapped and doomed to die never seeing what I cherished most again. I screamed aloud, wanting to curse those who had brought me to this place, this deathtrap, but unable to form the words. Then, Innova was there where the torment had been.
"This is not yours," he told me and I found myself whimpering without cause. The flood of feelings was gone. I could hear Umi gasping and sobs from Hikaru and somewhere I could sense Fuu trembling in silence. It had hit them too. A brilliant flash of light caught my eye and I hadn't even time to draw breath to cry a warning before Arieon had lunged at Hikaru. As usual, she was way out in front of us. Arieon brough his axe in a long scythe-like swing at her, but Rayearth dodged to save her, just as Umi launched her Water Dragon attack at him.
Right, I though, dashing to take a stab at him. Attack him all at once and finish this quickly. I landedwhat I thought was a decent hit on his left shoulder (I hadn't quite the nerve to aim for the heart yet)but he shrugged it off, forcing me back a step. He had absorbed Umi's Water Dragon? My second shock came when I sank into the floor up to my knees. The stone had become soft under me, but I could feel it hardening again. He was going to trap me in it!
A new attack from Fuu made him pause, and in panic, I sent Innova away. My own body's weight wasn't enough to sink me into the floor, so I attempted to scramble onto solid ground on my own feet. I was helped in this by being instantly blasted to the other side of the room by Fuu's power. Innova could stand up to it, but I hadn't a chance. Hikaru quickly landed Rayearth between me and the winds to shield me until I could get back inside Innova.
A stab in 'my' foot made me scream and the floor was suddenly full of spikes. Innova took to the air to spare us more damage. The other three Knights had no choice but to follow. The only flat surface in the floor now was under Arieon's cloven feet.
"We can't land," Fuu sighed."We'll have to fight him from here."
"Well, enough fooling around, then!" Umi snapped."We each take a position a blast him with our strongest spells."
"What about the 4th Knight?" pleaded Hikaru. "What if she really is trapped inside that crazy Machin?"
"Do you think....that thing we felt...came from her and not Arieon himself?" I asked shrieking the last part as we all had to dodge a new attack. "Innova? Can you tell?"
"No," his quiet voice seemed out of place. "The Earth Machin must be subdued." We all scrambled to avoid a few stabbing icicles of metal that came lunging out of the walls at us.
"No fair!" Umi shouted. "He controls metal too??"
"It does come from underground," Fuu said, much too calmly. She was nearest to the wall. "I hear another rumbling. It could be another quake. Watch yourselves."
"I think Umi's plan is the best idea right now," I called. "We've got to get out of here. I don't want those thought we felt to become mine. I don't want to lose and die in this place. Besides, is there any choice?"
"None!" shouted Umi again."Let's finish this!" So, finally, we each took a pointin a various corners. Now nearer the wall myself, I could hear the rumbling Fuu had warned us of. It sounded like rocks sliding, grinding. He could bury us all in here with him....I was distracted from that thought by a blast of lava. I fended that off and prepared myself formy greatest spell. All around, I could feel the intensifying power of the other Knights as we gather up all our wills. We'll collapse this place on our heads, a little voice said. And our bodies will never be found either.
"No doubts," said Innova gently. "Only faith, and the power will come." One by one,the other Knights released their most powerful magics. I heard tears in Hikaru's voice as she did so. Their spells combined into a glowing spiral that screamed into Arieon. I added the howl of the storm to it, sending white and lavender crackled of lightning into the spiral. As my power joined theirs, it ignited into a nuclear explosion that blasted us all back against the different walls of the Shrine as the worldwent white.
Almost at the same time, we all got a mindful of new images again. A girl, our age, with two curly blond ponytails on either side, wearing a brown school uniform. Then she was there in Magic Knight dress. There was a battle between the golden Machin and some shapeless mass of darkness. A snapping sword,and finally, a vision of a mummified body, curled into the fetal position, deep inside Arieon.
That was it! The Knight had died, but her body was still inside the Machin. Arieon was attacking on the last thoughts and feelings of the Earth Knight before she died. He'd been unable to go back to being a Shrine Guardian because her body was still with him, he could take his true form, it seemed, but he would always have her last fears and pains echoing inside him. She had died in despair and he was now forced to live in it, slowly driving him mad. This knowledge shocked us all into hesitation.
Arieon hadn't been destroyed, to my surprise and partial relief. He struggled a bit on the floor and seemed about to rise when the wall beneath Hikaru crumbled and what looked like a giant mole's nose stuck out. After a moment, the whole head shoved through. It was a mole. And Ascot stood on top of its sleek head. He called out to us (Umi first) to see if we were alright, then hopped down to stare in wonder at Arieon.
He had brought one of his monsters to help us. It followed him in, giving us a better look at it. It looked like a gigantic cross between a mole and a centipede. It had a head like a mole, a looooong furry body, and countless little clawed feet along its sides. It was roughly the size of a train. I thought it was cute. Arieon stirred at Ascot's approach, then swung the axe up again. Hikaru and Umi screamed a warning, but the molipede was faster. It charged Arieon, hitting him square in the chest. It slammed a clawed foot in to the golden Machin. Arieon gave a last howl and slumped.
"It's not dead, is it?" I asked, still hating the thought.
"No," Fuu answered. "His eyes are still lit. Thank you, Ascot!"
Ascot shrugged, looking nonchalant. Hikaru beamed out of her Machin and ran to the damaged Arieon. The molipede withdrew its claws, leaving a hole big enough for her to crawl through. Ascot followed her in as we left our armor to approach. After a minute or two, they reappeared, carrying something wrapped in Hikaru's cape.
"The body?" Fuu asked. Ascot nodded. Hikaru was in tears.
"One of us should go inside Arieon,"I said. "And give him a new thought to fill with." I hoped no one would suggest me. I was terrified.
"It should be you," said Innova for all to hear. "You love it here most."
"Yes," Umi gave me a smile. "It's no wonder Arieon tried to attack Cefiro since his Knight died hating it here."
"And you love it here more than any of us," Fuu added,with a smile of her own. I looked from one to the other. They all looked back with smiles. So, feeling very small and afraid, I sighed and crawled up through the hole marring Arieon's chest and into the chamber. I felt his awareness stir. I felt the Earth power in him,heavy and thick and solid, so different from my own wild chaotic lightning magic. His thoughts were hurt, sad, and very, very tired.
Yo u poor thing, I told him, filling my thoughts and heart with all the love I could muster up. It's over now. You can rest. Be happy. Your Knight will come back to you. It'll be better next time, you'll see. Now rest and heal and be glad.
The next thing I knew, I was looking at everyone else again. Arieon had beamed me out and stood back up. The hole in his armor was healed. As I watched, he shifted back to his true Shrine form, never taking his gleaming eyes off of me. Then, the floor hit me in the chin. At least that's what it felt like. The Shrine was moving. We were all tossed around. Ascot was looking thrilled to have Umi cling to him for balance. Fuu had his other arm. Hikaru and I were supported by the molipede, who's velvet pelt I would've been crazy to rub all over if I hadn't been trying to keep my spine from going out the top of my head. Then, it stopped.
We all gathered our composure, straightened clothing, apologized for pinches in haste, and tried to look around. Arieon was back on his shrine. Through the open doors we could see a rocky path. We all ventured out into the sunlight. We were at the base ofa huge cliff of stone. The path led away, to where we could see green again. The Earth Shrine had returned to Cefiro. Behind us, the doors closed. The fight was over for good.
"I'd better take Nachival home," said Ascot, nodding towards the molipede, which I was petting. "I'll see you in the palace." He jumped onto its head and it burried right into the rock with amazing speed, making that rumble we had heard all the way down, mistaking it for a quake. With smiles to each other, we let out Machins take us home.
The celebration that night rivaled any party I had even heard of. Ascot was received like a hero, to his embarrassment. There was feasting and fireworks well into the night. Sometime into it all, I crept off and let Innova take me back to my knoll so I could have a good cry for the poor Earth Knight. I wished I could know what her name was.
"Then, you will," said Innova. I froze in shock as a pair of very human arms wrapped around me from behind. Pale silky hair brushed my cheek and warm breath filled my ear. The softest of kisses was pressed to my throat and a finger wiped away a tear."Wishes can come true, even if it's only in little ways."
A thousand thought went falling over each other in my brain. Did that mean he could only be like this inside the Machin? That was fine with me! It was a start, and the rest I could work out later. I felt a chuckle from him. I wasn't quite brave enough to turn and look him in the face. I didn't want to break the spell, so I only told him that I loved him. What's never really lost doesn't have to found again. To have found this was magic enough.