http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/donning1.txt </head><body><pre>The Donning of A Mage's Robe Chapter 1 By Katelyn QueenHikaru@yahoo.com http://sailoralderaan.tripod.com/ This is a fanfic that takes place in the MKR world, but it is not about the Magic Knights. It's about a character I made up all on my own, during the time when corruption was forming when the princess was the pillar and she was in love with Zagato. If you don't want spoilers, I suggest you don't read this!!! Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Magic Knight Rayearth and the characters (minus Karina) belong to CLAMP and are not mine. You don't really have to know a lot about MKR to understand this 'fic. The Cast of Characters: Zagato - the guard of the princess Princess Emeraude - the princess and Pillar of Cephiro. Her will determines everything. Karina - the daughter of a legendary mage, she is almost a better magic user than Alcyone, but her less-exotic looks make her less noticed. Alcyone - Karina's best friend who uses ice magic. She is exotic and pretty and has a habit of twisting people around her little finger. Master Mage Clef - the master mage in Cephiro, and the one who teaches Alcyone magic. Chapter 1 The child - she could hardly be called a woman - stood proudly in front of the large crowd that had gathered in the village as the procession came by to bring the princess - the Pillar of the world - to where she would be formally recognized. One of her guards, the proud Zagato, with his pointy-eared sidekick Inova, followed the procession. He stood in front of her, eyes looking her over suspiciously. "This is the girl that uses magic?" he asked. The thirteen year old looked up at him, and to her he was the most gorgeous creature in all the world. "That is Alcyone," another young girl said, stepping out beside her. "I am Karina. We both use magic, sir." She bowed. "And what a fine sir he is, too," Alcyone commented under her breath, startling her life-long friend. Karina looked at her and saw the dreamy expression in her eyes, the way she twirled her long black hair around one finger, the way her hands moved. Alcyone had a crush on the handsome guard of the princess. Karina was not as lovely as Alcyone, nor was she as tall. With red-gold hair that was sheered at her waist and swished, and bright green eyes, she seemed almost bouncy compared to the girl next to her. She was younger by three months to her best friend. "Come with me," Zagato commanded. Karina rolled her eyes as Alcyone hopped in step right behind the man and smiled fiercely at him, not noticing that his eyes were focused on a certain princess - a princess who was going to become the Pillar of Cephiro. ~~~ This is the story of Alcyone and Karina, one who loved and lost and the other who did not love at all. The story of black and white, and black and red. The story of blinking green and sparkling blue. The story of a princess who loved a man, and a man who loved that princess back...this is the story of Cephiro. ~~~ Karina sat next to the funny old man and smiled up at him. He smiled back. "Are you a mage?" she asked bluntly. "That I am," he answered proudly, "but an old one. The Master Mage will be teaching you and your friend." Karina looked startled that they would recieve such an honor. "Both of us?" she asked timidly. Usually Alcyone was favored by everyone because of her looks and her happy outlook on everything. Karina, the more reserved girl, tended to be overlooked, so she was surprised that both would be chosen. "Why one and not the other?" the old mage asked. "You are Alcyone, are you not?" Karina's face flushed bright red. "I am Karina," she told him. "Who?" "Karina. The other girl who came with Alcyone." She knew that Zagato had taken notice of Alcyone - who didn't, with her pretty locks and her spunky additude? - but to not tell this mage her name while he told him Alcyone's...Karina fumed inside. It was not Alcyone's fault - not at all! Alcyone was clueless that she was so favored by everyone. Karina realized that the Master Mage would probably favor her friend too and felt a bit of spite that she hadn't expected. "You are not Alcyone? I thought the girl who came with you was the girl who was going to help you learn...not also become a mage." Karina was hurt - deeply. She stared at the mage, giving him a glare with her deep green eyes. "Well, you thought wrong," she said coldly, leaving the kitchen area where they had been chatting. ~~~ Alcyone was trying to decide which gown to wear to the pillar ceremony when she heard heavy footsteps in the corridor near the room she shared with Karina. She ran to the door and peeked out, and gave a squeal when she saw Zagato. She quickly ran to the closet and closed it shut so Zagato wouldn't see any of her...essentials...before she went to the door. He was carrying a tea tray fully loaded with goodies and he stopped when he saw her. "Good evening, Miss Alcyone!" he greeted her, not noticing the hearts in her eyes. "What are you doing?" "Tea?" she asked shyly. "Who's it for?" "It was for the princess but she's not taking visitors right now," he said quietly. "So I was taking it back to the kitchen...would you care to have it?" Alcyone barely contained her excitement until she realized that he meant to give her the tea and leave. "I couldn't possibly - it'd be too lonely to have tea alone and Karina isn't getting back until late," she lied, pretending to look in distress. "It's not fun at all to have tea by yourself, you know." "I could join you," Zagato offered, handing her the tea tray, "but I don't have long. The princess is expecting me, Miss Alcyone." "Just call me Alcyone, please..." she told him, clearing off a table and setting the tea upon it. "Is it true that Karina and I will be able to learn much magic here?" She smiled sweetly at him. "Who?" he asked. "Karina. My friend, with the red hair and green eyes." "Oh, that one. Y-yes, you should be able to learn magic," he told her. "Don't worry about it." "Good!" Alcyone giggled. She looked at the black-haired man in front of her with his expressionless eyes and thought how much she would love to love him - to have him love her back. He was so honest, so true, and most definately so single (as far as she knew, anyway ^_^) What nobody, not even Karina, knew, was that Alcyone's mind worked very fast and with a cunning that the best of villians wished for. Right now she was trying to find a way to make a twenty-year-old man fall for a thirteen-year-old girl. The chances were NOT good. "So...Miss Alcyone, what are you good at?" he asked her. "It's nice to have a child around the palace..." 'A CHILD!' Alcyone huffed. 'I am not a child!' To Zagato, she said, "Oh, I enjoy archery, and I love to run and play with ice. I also like magic." Zagato nodded. "Yes, of course. It is wise for mages to start training young. And your friend, your assistant?" he asked. "My assistant?" she asked. She realized that the idea of having an assistant might elevate her in Zagato's eyes and smiled shyly at him. "Oh, Karina! She will be training too, of course, though not so vigorous as I, for she is only my-" the click of the door startled her. "-assistant." "NANI?!" exclaimed a slightly angered voice. Alcyone smiled sweetly at Zagato, who looked surprised at Karina's anger. "You said I was your ASSISTANT?!" Alcyone slowly turned around to face her friend, a guilty expression on her face. "I'll be leaving now," Zagato said quickly, getting up and taking the half-finished tea-tray with him. "Ja ne, Miss Alcyone. Miss Karina." He bowed to both of them and was out the door before Alcyone could say another word to him. She could, however, say another word to Karina. And that's exactly what she did. "You scared him away!!!" she accused with anger. "You knew that I was making a play for Zagato-sama and you scared him away on purpose!!!" "Why in the world would I do that?" Karina asked. "I'm simply mad because you told him that I was your assistant. I thought we were in this together!!!" She looked close to tears. "We ARE!" Alcyone exclaimed. "This doesn't change anything." "Except for the fact that now everybody will think that I'm your assistant. Why did you sayd that, anyway? That was stupid and a falsehood." "I was just trying to..." Alcyone started to cry as she looked at her friend. "Trying to impress that Zagato-baka. I know, I know." "He is NOT a baka!" Alcyone shouted. "He's a hell of a lot nicer than most of the guys in the village!" There was a knock on the door then. Karina went and answered it, and a young servant stood at the door. "Miss Alcyone? Master Mage Clef will see you know." He bowed and left again. Alcyone could almost see the steam coming out of Karina's ears. "Only MISS Alcyone?" she asked quietly, tears forming in her eyes. "What about me? I thought we were going to have equal oppurtunities!!!" "Karina...I will talk to the Master Mage and explain that you are to be trained just like me," Alcyone said in the darkness. She slipped into a pretty dress that brought out her eyes and skipped happily out the door, turning off the light. "Yeah, you will talk to the Master Mage...if Zagato-baka isn't there," Karina muttered. "Oh, the things you will do to impress a guy, my friend." ~~~ The Master Mage took one surprised look at the teen in front of him before turning to Zagato. "She is the one?" he asked quietly. Zagato nodded. "She came with an assistant, her name is Karina," Zagato told him. Master Mage Clef froze. "Karina Adul-Sharabi?" he asked. "I do not know her last name, sir," Zagato told him. "Find out. If so, she is entirely undeserving to be only an assistant to Miss Alcyone," Clef told Zagato. "Huh?" Zagato asked. "Nevermind," Clef shook him away. "Now, Miss Alcyone, please show me some magic." Alcyone knew how important this test was to the future of her magic lessons and concentrated on the moisture in the air, the magic words appearing on her lips as she spoke the words she knew so well. "Ice chariot," she murmured. A thick band of ice swirled from her fingertips and danced around the large open room, twirling itself Zagato and dancing in front of his eyes before it moved toward Clef and did the same for him. The young magic-using girl moved her fingers to make the ice strand move, humming an ancient tune and looking in a daze. Clef was astounded at the girl's power. "You...you have the power to become a great mage, my child. To have learned so much, without any teacher..." he trailed off. "But I had a teacher! My assistant's mother knew a little bit of magic. Not enough to make me an expert but enough so that I knew a little bit." She didn't add that Karina had gone through long hours helping her master the ice chariot spell so that when the procession came her friend would be accepted along with herself. She also didn't mention that Karina could do much harder spells. She didn't want Zagato to pay attention to her friend - only to her. A flash of jealousy rose in her and she got a thought in her mind - the only way to keep Zagato's eyes on her instead of Karina would be to have Karina's magic powers stay dormant. She could not let Karina display her powers for the master mage - no matter what. "Master Mage Clef?" she spoke. "My assistant has something for my village - a letter to my mother. I know she would like to know how I am doing and I was wondering if I could send her back with it?" she asked. Clef nodded. "Send Miss Karina to your village then. But tell her to hasten back, please, for I would like to test her magic as well." Alcyone could already sense a plot in her mind as she left the giant mage's room and quietly headed back toward their room. ~~~ Karina paced - she couldn't help it. She knew that she could best Alcyone in any sort of magic and she knew she was better, but she also didn't like to show off and was gladly waiting her turn to see Master Mage Clef. She really didn't understand how Alcyone became the big student when actually it had been KARINA who was coming to the palace to study magic, with Alcyone along. She had taught Alcyone the ice chariot spell so that her friend could come with her and be seen as potential also. How was she to know that her friend would, as usual, take the spotlight, quite unconciously, and leave the girl who wished with all her heart to be a mage alone in the dark? She heard a click as the door opened and Alcyone slipped in, a dark figure silhouetted in the hallway's light. She closed the door behind her and groped for a light, which Karina supplied with one of her many magic spells. "Master Mage Clef wants a letter sent to mother," Alcyone started without preamble. "Could you please take it?" Karina stepped back a bit. "Isn't he...isn't he going to test me for magic?" she asked shyly. "I was the one who had a purpose in coming, after all..." "Oh, I told him you were quite more marvelous than I," Alcyone lied, feeling bad but knowing that she couldn't allow Karina to steal her spotlight. "He said that you may go take the letter to mother while he trains me to get to your level." "That was quite irresponsible of him," Karina murmured. "He also said that you can be gone as long as you want," Alcyone mumbled. "Because you are so far ahead of me. He says you should go study with a mage in the mountains, until I am ready." She knew this was an outright lie but something inside her told her that it was all right. "Well, where is the letter?" Karina asked sullenly. Alcyone handed it to her and Karina sighed, packing up her things into a compact little case for the rest of the long night. ~~~ The next morning Karina set off for the village where she had just come from, ready to head on into the mountains to recieve her training while Alcyone recieved hers with the Master Mage. In the morning, the whole situation has seemed less ridiculous, after a good night's sleep and a pleasant dream about seeing her mother again. Now, you may right now be thinking that Karina was quite dumb, but in fact she was not. But that, my friends, is another story. Karina continued her walk, down the well-worn village. Back to her home. The question was, would she ever go back to the palace? ~~~ So, what do the critics think? Is it good, bad, needs improvement, really good? ^_~ Email me! 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