The scream from Master Clef's room shook the entire palace and from each room ran one of his friends. They pounded on the door until they heard his voice from the room say "Please. Go away. I will come out in a moment." All his friends turned to look at each other and walked away from the door and down the hallway to the main hall. They had just settled in when the doors opened. In the light filled doorway, stood Master Clef. Or was it? The man standing there looked like Master Clef, if Master Clef looked 20 instead of 12. The man in the door began striding towards the group, but as they shrunk back from his form, he stopped in the middle of the hall.

"I am Clef. You must believe me." he began. The group looked at him closely. The man was about 5'11, had whitish-purple hair, aqua eyes, wore a blue tunic, a bejewled white robe with blue and gold accents, and on his forehead there was a headdress with a horn on it and two pieces of gold hanging from it framing his face. In his right hand, he held a staff that appeared to be about 7 feet tall and had a carved head on the top inlaid with magic jewels. This man looked alot like Clef...If Clef was 20.

"If you are Clef, prove it to us!" said Umi and began her water-dragon spell.

"CRESTA!" he shouted and a shield formed around him and blocked the attack. He stood still as the others looked closely at him. Umi was about to prepare another attack when Ascot put his hand on her forearm.

"Stop Umi. This *is* Master Clef. I can see it in his eyes."

The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement, but still stood back from the older Clef.

Lantis spoke first. "Master Clef. Can you tell us what has happened to you?" Lantis looked at his friend almost at eye level now, though he still had to look down a little. Just not to the point that he almost had to look at his own shoes.

"I have had a dream." Clef began. "No, it was more of an insight...or a revalation." Clef closed his eyes and began relating the story of the dream. However, he did not want anyone to know of his *destiny*. He wanted her all to himself.

"The person who made me who I am now did so to give me more power. The spirit that holds Cefiro together, literrally, has been lost. The one who controls the earth of Cefiro has to be found or the world will literally tear itself apart. We have to go on a quest to find her through the land. And I am to reside like this until we find her." Clef stopped. He realized that he had told them that the spirit was a she. He hoped they didn't suspect anything. He had to be strong and confident. He was to be the leader on this mission. He couldn't be drawn by his desire for her.

"Before we go, I must give you armor again." He raised his arm and said incanted his gift spell. The girls were given the same armor they had been given during the search for the pillar. "There. You have armor." He leaned against his staff.

Lantis and Hikaru both looked closely at the Master Sorcerer. It was strange, seeing him in this form. Even Hikaru had to admit that in the form he had now, he was quite handsome. She wondered how Umi was taking it...and Presia. "Clef, we will find her. If we can find her and save Cefiro, then we will have done another duty as Magic Knights!" Hikaru was pleased that she got another chance to fight for her surrogate world.

"Yes Hikaru-san. We will fight to save Cefiro together." Fuu had finally broken her silence. She walked to face Clef and stood right in front of him. "And we will find her for you, Clef-san." she whispered so that none of her comerades could hear her.