Title: The other side of the world
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: General
Length: 1000ish
Content notes: None
Author notes: stand-alone bit of post-au. Title mangled from Fleetwood Mac
Summary: The first time anyone actually realised something was wrong with the time differential between between Cephiro and Tokyo was the day the girls leapt from the sun of a July afternoon into the reception hall, only to find it full of nothing by shadows.

oOo

Looking back, there were numerous hints they should have caught onto. But the first time anyone actually realised something was wrong with the time differential between between Cephiro and Tokyo was the day the girls leapt from the sun of a July afternoon into the reception hall, only to find it full of nothing by shadows.

This room wasn't just for their occasional leaps from another world, it was for everyone transporting themselves into or out of the castle - the one place the shields were usually porous. Therefore there were usually a few people waiting for friends or business contacts, and at least one of the Guard on patrol - as well as lights. There were no windows - they were too deep in the castle (something which Fuu kept muttering about the issues with, from a defence point of view. As did LaFarga. But apparently, due to complicated magical reasons, this room - right above the anchor to the castle - was the easiest to keep open to outside while also being able to lock it down if need be). There was a light well, which should be letting sunlight echo down into the room through a faceted crystal in the centre of the ceiling, but there was only the faintest glow coming from it.

The three of them stood very still for a moment, clinging to each other's hands, before Hikaru freed hers to call a candle-like flame into being, cupping it in her palms and letting it show them the room.

"…Well, this is odd," Fuu murmured.

Umi clung to her hand still, staring at the darkness. "Odd? This is like a zombie-apocalypse movie! What's happened?"

"Nothing feels wrong," Hikaru murmured, staring about. "Just… asleep?"

"Did someone sleeping-beauty the castle?" Umi demanded, poking Fuu on the shoulder. "Hey, if Ferio pricked his finger on a spinning wheel, you're the one who has to kiss him."

Fuu flushed slightly, but frowned at her. "I believe Hikaru means it feels like it is night-time, not that the world has been put to sleep."

"Yes. There's about six hours the room is shut off, isn't there?"

"From eleven at night to five in the morning," Umi said, frowning back at her. "But the room can't be shielded off, we just transported into it!"

"Would the shields actually stop the last Pillar from entering Cephiro?" Fuu asked, and both of them looked at Hikaru - who shrugged.

"Well, everyone who loves Cephiro is the Pillar now, so that means the shields wouldn't stop anyone. But maybe it's because we came from another world, instead of through Cephiro?"

Umi turned and headed for the doors, moving fast - the room was kind of creepy with all the dancing shadows thrown by Hikaru's handful of flames. "One way to find out! Clef should know. Or, if he doesn't, he needs to work it out, or else there's a huge hole in Castle security."

"But if the shields are in place, how can we leave the room?" Fuu asked, at the same time as Hikaru said "But won't Clef be asleep?"

Umi had the same answer for both of them. "If he is asleep, I bet this'll wake him up," she said, and chucked a tiny water spell at the firmly-shut doors.

As soon as the dragon hit the door and splashed apart, light rippled out and away from it in all directions, washing over the door and the walls and spreading over the room - which did at least light it up. The next thing that happened was Clef appearing beside her in a flurry of light, still in his robes, blinking in confusion.

"See? He wasn't asleep," Umi said, looking back at Fuu and Hikaru.

"I wasn't - Umi, it's past midnight! Why are you trying to set off the Castle alarms? To wake me up?"

"It's not midnight, it's two in the afternoon!" Umi told him. "Why is it dark!?"

"Because it's midnight!"

Fuu stepped forward before the conversation could devolve further. "There seems to be something… unsynchronised, in the connection between our worlds. Would it be best to go somewhere else and discuss what may have happened? Or should we go home and return another time, and let you sleep?"

"But we didn't realise it was going to be night in Cephiro right now, so how can we avoid coming at night next time?" Umi pointed out. "Plus, Clef wasn't asleep."

"I wasn't asleep, but I wasn't planning on facing multi-dimensional time-slips before bed," Clef muttered. "No, it's fine - come with me, I can at least let you have a cup of tea, and see if we can work out what has happened." He set his hand on the door and the ripples of light faded away, leaving them back in the soft dark as the doors opened, but there were periodic lights along the corridors outside.

"If Umi set the alarms off, do we need to tell anyone it was just us?" Hikaru asked, as they followed him out.

Clef shook his head. "She only rattled me. The main alarms haven't gone off yet."

"Because her intent was to get your attention?"

"And because I'm still the one supporting most of the shields," Clef muttered, not looking at them. He led them down the corridor, and up the tower to his study.

Umi glanced back as the doors closed. "…Does this make us a security hazard?"

"You always have been a security hazard," Clef said, shooting a grin over his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out."

oOo