Title: before the dawn
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: General
Length: 500ish words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Ascot and Caldina, between part one and two.
Summary: “Where would you want to be, if you could be anywhere at all?”

oOo


"Where would you want to be, if you could be anywhere at all?" Ascot asked, suddenly, lying on his back on the roof of the castle and staring up at the bewildering multitude of stars. He'd never known there were so many - without a Pillar, the stars seemed to have doubled. Even though Cephiro herself was slowly crumbling about the edges, probably half the size she had been; if he stood up the damage was obvious. From here, though, all he could see was endless stars.

Caldina was flopped next to him, hands behind her head. "Anywhere?"

"Anywhere but here," Ascot said, waving a hand at - everything. The castle, the slowly diminishing land beyond it, the fear and the guilt and the urge to do better, to fix it all.

"Hmm." Caldina, tapped one foot, the small charms on her anklet chiming softly with the motion. "I'd like to take you to see Chizeta, one day. I think you'd like the parks," she said, and flicked a hand in the air above them. A soft image grew in the air between them and the stars, a wide wooded park, strange creatures peering out from trees and bushes and tumbling flower-covered vines. "Plus I've still got some stuff back where I used to live. If no one's thrown it out, anyway. But…" she snapped her fingers, and the image vanished. "There's a lot out there, you know?"

"Not really," Ascot said, looking wistfully up. "Maybe out there… there must be somewhere my friends won't frighten people."

Caldina reached across and ruffled his hair, making his hat fall off; Ascot yelped, and wriggled away, snatching it back.

"What're you stealing my hat for!?"

"Your friends aren't scaring everyone here, kid. Or hadn't you noticed? There's a bunch of LaFarga's people who say hi to them as well as to you, and I don't think that creepy old mage who's teaching you magic knows how to be scared of anything. Even the end of the world only seems to have pissed him off."

"The Guru is not a creepy old mage!" Ascot told her, not daring to respond to the rest of that. He'd thought, maybe, people had been getting less tense, but he hadn't let himself believe…

Eyeing him, Caldina raised her eyebrows over-dramatically. "He looks like a kid and he's holding this whole place together even while he sleeps, he's - terrifying. Though I guess that would have described Miss Pillar just as easily as him. This place is so weird." She paused for a moment. "And all your friends are terrifying. But they've, you know. Got good hearts, and all that. People'll learn, just give them time, and don't let them make you feel bad."

Ascot flopped back on the roof again. The stars were so far away, and so small, and made him feel tiny. It was reassuring, that there was something out there beyond Cephiro, but… "If we have time," he said, finally.

Caldina's hand thumped into his shoulder. "You think the Guru's going to be giving up easily? Or LaFarga, or any of the Guards? You'll have time. Maybe once things are fixed here, we'll go wander other places, too. But you'll be able to come home afterwards, if you want to."

"You really think so?" Ascot asked, voice small.

"I do," Caldina told him, firmly. "And isn't that what matters, in this nonsense land of yours? Now shut up, and maybe I'll tell you about some of the other places we could visit when we're done here."

He lay back, and let Caldina's illusory illustrations wash over him, and let himself hope.