Title: Whenever I Call You Friend
Anime: Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
Author: mizamiko
Rating of Chapter: PG

Whenever I call you Friend: Chapter 3 Interlude 3

 

*****Zazu*****

    *When will those two ever get their relationship straightened out? * I wondered for the nth time as I watched them through the spell.

    The two had been dancing around each other for the past eight months. It was like the time between, when Eagle told Lantis and when Lantis said yes. The only exception was that Eagle was the one who kept away then. He was the one who felt he needed some space, some objectivity. He felt he was the one who needed to readjust his understanding of their relationship.

    Now, it seemed like Lantis was the one who was readjusting, the one doing the thinking. The one asking what they were to each other.

    I broke off from my line of thoughts when I heard the soft, almost inaudible sigh of the old Yil. I grinned impishly at that thought. "Old Yil" is that short, kid like being, who plays adviser to the hashira of Cephiro.

    "Would you rather they start confessing of things that they are not sure off themselves?" I asked from beside the pillar I had been leaning on.

    Really now.

    "I guess your right. Maybe I expect too much." Shorty answered.

    I left my place beside the pillar and went towards where he stood. I practically towered over the Old Yil. I really appreciated the fact that I have grown more these last few years. Now I was almost as tall as Ascot. Man! It felt good.

    "Their best friends, Guru Clef, closer to each other than to anyone else that I know off. But don't expect too much." I said. And it was the truth. They were closer to each other than to anyone else. Much closer than I could ever imagine either of them could ever be, to anyone.

    Geo had commented on this once. He had said:

    *"Eagle is intelligent, skilled, and dangerous. But he isn't just about that. He was also about a pair of ambers, sweet, gentle, naïve at times and incredibly helpless. Traits that had many women following him. Traits that caught Lantis' attention and held him there. Lantis is like a wild animal caught by a pair of Halogen lights. The only difference is that this is something more dangerous. Escaping with his life is the least of Lantis' concerns.

    Lantis is also a very intelligent, skilled, and dangerous person. He is one of the few who I know who is at times better than Eagle in such things. His good point is that he's comforting, understanding, and steadfast. Eagle needs that. Now lets see    how well they can dance. This will be one long waltz, or a fox-trot."*

    "I know, but I don't understand what's happening. Everything was fine between the three of them. Then suddenly everything changed. I was hoping that Lantis would reveal something in this conversation." Guru Clef returned brows creased in worry.

    " He did. Much more than I have ever seen him. Hikaru did quite a job on him. He shows some sort of emotion now. But that scene was priceless. I'm glad I was here to see it."

    Yes. The scene had been precious. Lantis had shown what was behind his mask. But it became priceless when Eagles' mask slipped. They were meant to be together. They were twin blades cast from a single ore. One as sharp as the other. The only difference was that they were tempered by different smiths. Both blades were hidden from view. One in a dark, cold sheath, made of cold metal, the other in an ornate scabbard of beads and inlays. Whether being together meant as close friends or as something more, I had no idea.

    "What did you see that I did not? There was nothing out of the ordinary in their exchange." He spoke out surprised.

    With perfect timing, my wrist communiqué sounded. And had I time to laugh, or the inclination, I would have. The look of dismay was far too apparent in the Supreme Yils face.

    "I am needed down at the docking area." I said, suppressing, with great difficulty, the giggle that came to my lips. " I'll be seeing you then Clef."

    "No! Wait! Zazu!"

    "They'll work it out by themselves, Clef." I answered as I walked away. I couldn't face him anymore without bursting into laughter. "All they need is time and space. "

    " Later." I said.

    Damn Eagle. He's to blame for this. I was exposed to his silliness far too early in life. Geo had the same problem, at times, only he was older and has learned to curb it. Lantis was not afflicted the same way, since he met Eagle far too late in life.

    When I reached a safe enough distance from the throne room, all hell broke loose. I was doubled over in laughter. Guru Clef, no matter how dignified, looked far too funny.

    Imagine a ten-year-old kid with lavender hair, carrying the silly head-like staff. Really, I didn't mean to be cruel. But Eagles irrepressible humor was in overdrive. True that I had, in some ways, inherited Eagles sense of honor, sense of duty, and sense of responsibility. At the very least, I try to live by them. But more than that, he also left in me a way of looking at the world differently. He showed me the difference between looking with the eyes of one that is institutionalized. And looking with my own eyes. This lesson had set me apart from my peers. To look at the world and not be fettered by agreeing with everyone's way of seeing things. It taught me how to laugh at things, no matter how bad it was. It taught me to see the silliness of the world and laugh at it.

    Unfortunately, it also meant I get a laughing fit whenever something silly happens. A blessing and a curse, that was Eagles heritage.

    As the giggle feast died down, I noticed that the Old Yil was standing by himself beside the window. Unnoticed, I crept closer.

    A sad, forlorn look was etched on his pale youthful face.

    It was an expression that betrayed him. It was a look that bespoke of many cares. Every year in his seven hundred plus age seemed to weigh him down. For all my laughter at his appearance and expense, he was still the Supreme Yil. He carried the weight of responsibility over Cephiro.

    Hikaru Shidou may be the Pillar, the chosen one, but Guru Clef was still the chief adviser. The man who guided everyone, oversaw everything, and generally held the castle and the people in some sort of order. Hikaru and the Magical Knights were this worlds heroes. They were praised and were the ones that hope resided in. But personally, this lone man, and a few others, were as deserving of praise as they. They were the unsung heroes.

    It is not that I do not appreciate all that Hikaru has done. On the contrary, I am grateful for everything. But there are times when this least noticed, or at times, least liked of servants, must be given notice. Hikaru was still too young. She was the perfect figurehead. She was someone whom everyone could believe in. A symbol of hope and new life. The image of courage and strength. I say, let them worship and love her. But let no one forget those who rebuilt this world. Those that sank to their knees and still got up, those that fought the creatures of fear to defend those who fear while also fearing themselves. They deserved to be recognized. Her pain no matter how great was no greater than what Clef felt. She felt she was the one responsible for the princess's death. And yet she barely knew Emeraude. Clef brought her up and taught her all he knew. The responsibility for her life was his. Yet he was the one who guided the knights to fulfill the Princesses wish. He may not have been the one who plunged the blade but it was he who prepared everything for the event. If anyone should hurt, it would be him.

    "Cephiro." He uttered, under his breath.

    "I hope we can see this one through." I heard him whisper. Then, slowly, a cold grimness filled his face, wiping away all traces of the boy in the youthful features. Then in a harsh vehemence that I have never heard him use, he spoke. "We'll see this tempest through. No matter what it takes."

    With this he turned and left.

    I have never seen him this way, not that I have known him for that long. But still, this was not the calm, collect, incredibly lovable, Guru Clef we knew and loved.

    I shook myself out of my introspection.

    I was needed at the docking area. I had delayed long enough.

    As I walked through the long empty halls of the Castle, once again a feeling of dread touched me. It was a lot like a cold finger touching the base of my spine. It sent a shiver through my body and set my hairs stand on end. This was not the first time that this warning came. It was becoming a frequent visitor the last few days. Like alarm klaxons, it was practically screaming at my ear. Eagle had always told me to trust these sudden tell tale signs.

    Something was about to happen. Something big, and soon.

    I grit my teeth and sped up my pace. Once again, I wished that I had Eagles incredible amount of Mental Energy. I did not wish to have his ability to "see", or even to read the thoughts of others. All that I wanted to have was to have a firmer grip of what I had.

    As I entered the docking area, a sudden surge of power slammed against me. It was a pure, untempered energy. I gritted my teeth as I staggered to raise myself from the floor. I adjusted my sight to see the threads of energy around me and found them in total disarray.

    It was rare for me to feel this amount of raw power controlled unconsciously. All that I have met, with this much energy, had at least some sort of control. But this plain "free energy" given out had no taint of inhibition.

    I edged closer to the source of this intolerable waste of ability.

    "Well, if it isn't little Zazu Torque." He said, as he came within sight.

    I looked at him and wondered. *How in the world does he know my name?*

    "Don't you remember?"

    "Please don't pick on my thought. It is not polite."

    "Hump! You sound just like my brother."

    "Excuse me?" I said surprised.

    "Well cousin how's the life of a commander?"

*** End Interlude 3_3 ***

Disclaimers: All characters belonged to their original creator, CLAMP, I just commandeered some of the characters for a night out into my own demented world.

Note : Thanks to the UAWC or SW for reading through this particularly long version of the third installment. Thanks to Cleo-chan for checking out the first part of this installment.

**** May 1, 1999****