My second one shot for the Cheval Glass collection. Magic Knight Rayearth - AU and Canon as well.

Enjoy! ^^;

Title: Convoluted (Part I)
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Characters: Lantis/Hikaru
Table: #3
Prompt: #66 - Complicated
Word Count: 2,347
Rating:
Author's Notes: AU love!

You can find the whole thing here. ^^;



They were so close. So close. Tracking spirit prints had indeed proved useful like her brother had suggested and Hikaru was almost too happy to be wary of any possible threat coming from her targets - dangerous fugitives or not. Just a few more hours separated them from this humid warmth and constant rain and if she had to spend another day in this impersonal and clogged place, she swore she would go mad.

Already, they'd had to evade the Mage Guard twice in three days - due to the recent decree of the King that forced all Mages to identify themselves and act like good little lambs under the heel of the imperial court at all times - and she was already starting to feel bone aching pain from suppressing her fire for so long.

The blood in her veins burned to be released and the charms that glittered at her neck, wrists and ears were having a hard time hiding her restless gift...

"Tell me why we're doing this again?"

"Because we're nice people and we want to help other nice people get what they want? Especially if these nice people happen to be important and all-powerful otherworldly creatures who would step on the bodies of humans to get what they want."

"I meant beyond that."

"Because we're nice people and because I'm going to kick you if you don't listen to what I say." Hikaru answered with a smile so fake and saccharine, it made Ferio want to recoil and move away.

The low seats and subtle cleansing spells that Hikaru was using stopped the white smoke and spicy incenses from completely invading, and thus confusing, his sharp senses and Ferio didn't really intend to budge from his comfortable position unless heads started flying...but his mind vividly remembered that incident from a few weeks ago that had involved a similar situation and smile...

Hikaru might've apologized for it, but he was still growing his hair...

"If you do this, Fuu won't have to find out that 'women should stay home and cook and take care of children'."

"You wouldn't..."

"Since when?" She quipped with another easy smile and a flick of her hair.

Ferio paled under his tan, managing to make an admirable imitation of a fish on land, and Hikaru sipped her hot herbal tea, momentarily feeling pity for him...right next to the in-character bit of guilt that came with having to ruthlessly blackmail her friend.

But this was something she had to do...Sierra had demanded a favor of her, something that a non-Elemental like Ferio would never understand, and the blood that bound them together through Satoru demanded that she comply with the terms of their informal arrangement.

Find the two Mages that had dared betray the Northern Tribes, dispose of them with no fuss and return the stolen seer to her temple. Because ever since the she had been taken from her people, the tension had become thick enough to cut with a short sword; going as far as rumors of full-fledged enmities if nothing was done about it soon enough.

And dissension with Were creatures like the Panthera was never good.

Especially those that lived high in the mountains and were said to abide by the ancient laws of blood that their forefathers had laid down hundreds of years ago. They had a good advance amongst other strong races and - usually - that was enough to rattle anyone who was sane enough. Obviously, not the geniuses who had kidnapped a princess of her clan though...

Which was why Presea - an Elemental married to an important Panthera someone whose name she still couldn't remember - had requested her sister's help in handling this matter, without involving humans and other kinds. Sierra had been honor bound to accept, because a refusal would've appeared suspicious between two tribes with such strong ties.

It all came back full circle to why she and her Were companion were hunting these two cowards...

Frankly, Hikaru couldn't understand how anyone could even use the word close to describe two races bound only by a marriage and a blood treaty but that was just her personal opinion. She had never met a Panthera - though she'd heard rumors about the gift that moved restlessly under their skin - and she actually considered Presea to be a close friend...even maybe a sister.

Couldn't be helped. She doubted that Ferio would get her point if she launched into history lessons anyway.

"I swear, I'm going to get you after this, you she-devil fire Mage!" Ferio hissed, hissing the words over the low table with a grin that was all teeth. "You," he bit his tongue and Hikaru tried put up her innocent veneer, both pretending to look out the window as a rowdy couple passed by their booth, flirting like there was no tomorrow.

Just in case the man - a low ranked foot soldier by the light colored symbols painted on his hands - decided to take a better look at her and notice her distinctive hair color. Surreptitiously, she checked and tightened her wards, coaxing her gift to comply with her wishes for just a little more.

It went down but it was not happy. She turned to Ferio

"I am not a she-devil anything. And don't sulk. It's not you."

"I'm not sulking. But if I were to sulk, it would be because you're such a pain. Tell me again, why did I choose to partner up with you?" Ferio retorted, giving her his most ugly look.

Hikaru's laughter was smothered by a shiver of awareness that raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck and turned the inside of her mouth to dust. She clenched her fists and turned to look around restlessly. Someone had just entered her sensory field and whoever this someone was, Hikaru didn't think that it was just a simple customer. Or a simple Mage at that.

She swallowed hesitantly, feeling Ferio's warm hand over hers and his palpable concern at the edge of her mind, and momentarily ignored him in favor of subtly stretching her senses as far as they could go. The darkness of the small tavern was comforting compared to the earlier bolt of electricity that had slid against her skin so blatantly obvious.

Her hesitant prodding was met with an iron defense and an insistent push back. There was no comparison between her investigation and that of the stranger but, oddly enough, there was no pain as her own magic rebound violently and seeped back into her skin with a distinct and masculine added feel to it. For a moment it struggled to get reacquainted with her distinct signature, clawing coldly at the inside of her mind and then, just as quickly as it came, the sensation was washed away by a wave of comforting ice and Hikaru was finally able to breathe properly.

She'd glimpsed a stubborn jaw and dark wisps of hair half-covering a pair of exotic eyes. The shade of a late summer sunset.

She wasn't even aware when she'd managed to snatch her hand back from Ferio's - the imprint of a spiritual burn still fresh on her skin - but coming back to reality found her partner right next to her, coaxing her to breathe in and out, in and out...

Some of the patrons were looking at them like they'd just admitted to eating swamp rats for dinner every night. Ugh

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Hikaru protested, sounding too breathy and frail for her own liking.

"Don't you give me that saint-like speech, Hikaru! I know what I just saw and being close to having a seizure is not what I call fine in any language." She gave him a reproving look and he answered it by shoving the tea in her hands and ordering her to drink it. "Now..." he growled, desert eyes ablaze, "do you want to tell me what that was or should I pull start pulling teeth around this bar to get some answers?"

"You shouldn't worry, really..."

"Let me worry, really!"

She sighed. Well, she'd tried at the very least...

"Someone just brushed the edges of my territory." Hikaru leaned against his shoulder, drawing some vitality from his warmth and the still lukewarm cup in her hands.

"Well, obviously." Ferio added dryly noticing her fine shivers and covering her with his own coat. Fire Mages were so needy when it came to the warmth that kept their magic alive. "And the bastard attacked you so carelessly?" He cracked his knuckles menacingly and smirked, letting the tips of his fangs show just barely, "Did you get a good look at his face so I can pound him good?"

"I didn't get to see his face and he didn't attack me! I was...rude to him. But he didn't hurt me." He just invaded my body a bit but, oh, it wasn't harmful! Hikaru ignored Ferio's strange look and downed her tea completely, feeling like her taste buds were close to shriveling if she didn't do something. Her face was too hot and it was spreading around.

So what if he so happens to be very skilled at invasive play?

The tea nearly came back with a vengeance.

Understanding dawned and Ferio slammed his hands on the table, standing up abruptly. Hikaru almost thought she saw the three shady individuals by the bar take out souldswords. Great...everyone was a Mage these days. If you couldn't be born with it, you bought it from Black Witches. "Shit! You can't have - please don't tell me you went and tried to invade his mental barriers!"

Hikaru blanched. "When you say it like that, you make it sound so bad."

"So bad? So bad?" Ferio hissed throwing some money on the table and pulling her towards the entrance. "You don't just go and invade other people's minds in foreign lands, Hikaru! He had every right to respond with the same coin!"

"Sorry?" She replied, embarrassed despite herself. There'd been no intention to do harm from her and thankfully he hadn't wanted to do her harm.

Even though his magic was still running in her blood.

Ferio, fortunately, didn't seem to notice her flaming face as they mingled with the noisy crowds of the Market. "Yeah? Well we just got lucky this time. And now we're going to get out of here before we totally get busted."

Hikaru hurried to keep up with him. Knowing Ferio, she'd end up dragged three miles before he even realized that she was lagging. "But what about the seer - Emeraude? I thought we were going to gather data the entire afternoon!"

"The girl is not going anywhere, Hikaru." Ferio argued. "But right now, we are; because I don't want to have to meet your new dangerous Mage aquaintance and be forced to beat the shit out of him just to defend your honor."

Hikaru really wanted to say something against that, but the sudden, almost hushed buzz at the edge of her mind had her on alert before she even realized it; and when she unconsciously searched through the multicolored crowds, she found him right away.

Her first thought was that the distance between them was a good, really good, thing. He had very pretty eyes and she would've probably broken her neck trying to look at them. He was easily the tallest man in close vicinity.

And by far the most intense. His gaze was unfaltering and the slate blue color of his eyes was only enhanced by the dark ensemble he was wearing. Sexy was the proper word to describe him; sexy and dangerous and more. The way he was staring at her, the deceivingly relaxed pose...the same electrifying signature from before.

For the second time that day, Hikaru felt like she was chewing on sand.

She felt naked, she felt vulnerable. Something was awakening in her veins and she felt as if she'd die if she looked away.

Ferio abruptly pulled her around a corner and the beautiful stranger disappeared from her sight, leaving Hikaru feeling strangely worn out and cold.

"Hey, you alright?" Ferio threw her a suspicious look over his shoulder and briefly brushed his fingers against her forehead. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He straightened his shoulders and looked around them, alert and watchful. "Did you-?"

"I'm fine." Hikaru smiled forcefully, trying to assuage his worries before he hit the nail on the head and started making assumptions. She needed sleep-something. There was something she wanted and she didn't know what it was. "Must be the after-effects of that spell I tried earlier. Can we go back to the inn now, please? I'm feeling tired."

Ferio sighed - but didn't let his guard down - and Hikaru tried to pretend that she didn't want to go back to that man and...

This wasn't her best day.