"Clef....." whispered a melodic voice as his eyes struggled to open. "Master Clef......." His eyes opened to see a fuzzy form of green and red. "Oh thank heaven you're awake!" As his vision cleared he saw a bright and cheery face with large green eyes framed by *long* violet-red hair.

"Eme-chan!" he whispered softly as a tear clouded his vision once again.

"Oh...Clef.....Please, don't cry." Emerria wiped his cheek of the tear "You brought me back! That's all that matters." She hugged him gently.

Clef looked around at the valley....or what was left of it. The walls of the valley had been reduced to rubble and he could see the blue and green land of Cefiro. To his right, were three Magic Knights looking anxiously towards him. And in front of him, remained the scepter with a form of green energy pulsing at its core.

"Emerria....what about......" he began, though he had to stop to catch his breath. As he paused, he looked at her closely and noticed that something was missing from her appearance. "Eme-chan...your tiara?"

"Well......" she started, but looked over her shoulder at the form of light in the scepter. "Maybe she can explain it better."

The form pulsed with a celestial laughter. "Clef...Emerria is a normal person now. She has none of my power. That tiara was beacon that I needed to have. An outlet...I could ascess my power through that but only through her. Now, I have all my power back, and she no longer has any. We are truly seperate."

Looking from the spirit to Emerria, Clef smiled. "I suppose that means I get to be the teacher now, hmm?"

Emerria stared at him. "I don't get it....." she sighed as she stood and helped him to his feet.

"Don't worry about it." Clef looked around to the Magic Knights. "Why don't we go back to the palace and tell everyone that we saved the world, again."

"It's finished?" asked Umi expectantly.

"It's finished...." echoed the voice through the planet.

"Where is everyone..." said Hikaru as Fyula glided into the palace and set down on the floor of the entry bay. The halls were totally silent as the five friends walked through them. The sounds of their boots echoed quietly throughout the hall and a whoosh could be heard as Clef and Emerria's robes trailed on the ground. The Madoshi walked tall as he led the four girls behind him towards the main hall, and the Magic Knights walked comfortably through the imposing suroundings. However, Emerria timidly walked through the hall like a child on its first day of school. Suddenly, as they approached the large swinging doors to the main hall, they opened with a large boom.

When the light cleared, a bouncy figure clothed in very little bounded up to Hikaru and gave her a huge hug. "OH HIKARU!! I was so worried!!"

"Caldina!" squealed the small girl trapped in Caldina's arms. The pink-haired dancer let go and moved on to the other two Magic Knights. Not noticing Emerria, she walked up to Clef and grabbed his hand and dragged him into the hall.

"Master Clef! You have to come and tell us all what happened!!" Caldina said as they all were pulled into the hall where Lantis (with the ever-present Primera), Presia, Lafarga, and Ascot waited. Clef was shoved in front of his friends trying to maintain the little dignity that he still had.

"Master Clef!" said Lantis in his baritone voice. "We are increasingly curious as to how this crisis was resolved."

Clef cleared his throat and stepped away to reveal a very shy Emerria timidly hiding behind Clef's now permanently tall frame. "My friends, this is the cause for our celebration. This person is the reason that Cefiro has found its last piece." Clef smiled at the trembling girl facing all these very important people. "She *was* what the earth was missing.

"She *was* what was missing?" said Presia with a semi-strangled voice. "If she was missing, why is she with you still?"

The three Magic Knights perked up. "He brought her back!" said Hikaru enthusiastically. As she bounced exitedly both Clef and Emerria's faces began to burn.

"She gave up her life to save Cefiro and he brought her back from the dead." said Fuu solemnly. Clef and Emerria's faces burned even redder.

"Yeah! He loves her!" said Umi with a devilish smile. With that Clef did something he hadn't done in weeks. *SMACK!!"* Umi reeled from the impact of Clef's staff against her skull.

"For some reason, that made me feel alot better." he said to no one in particular.

The group laughed as Umi realed from the hit. "WHADDA YOU DO THAT FOR!!!" she screamed as she smacked him on the back. He fell over and looked evily at Umi who was standing over him. "I think I liked you better when you were little." she said half mockingly. "At least then I could tower over you!"

The other people in the room laughed, even Emerria, but she was a little overwhelmed by Clef's companions. "Um...Does anyone want to tell me who each of you are?" she said softly amidst the laughter.

Clef looked guiltily over to Emerria. "Oh, I almost forgot." he said with a regained air of diginity. "Eme-chan, this is Lantis," pointing to the large man in black next to Hikaru, "Prince Ferrio," as her eyes followed his hand to the man next to Fuu, "Caldina you met in the hall..sort of.., Ascot is the one hiding behind Umi, Presia, and Lafarga." Clef looked over to Lantis again and saw Primera fluttering angrily. "Oh yes..the pixie on Lantis's shoulder is Primera."

Emerria looked at her present company with utmost respect. "I never thought I would find myself here." she said dazedly as she looked each of them over. "All of you are so distinguished!"

Presia looked at the girl and smiled softly. "Emerria, I am sure that all of us will become fast friends. You are distinguished yourself." All in the hall nodded their heads.

Clef looked at the group of people that had gathered here. No longer did he feel that something was missing from his heart. He felt as if he could come back and not look at the gathered friends with a jelousy based on a part of him that was missing. He had found the person that held him together.

Back to the Library
On to the Epilogue