By Hikaru remembers Emeraude’s death and cries. She then sees two shadowy figures in front of her, one of which says Cephiro will now fall into darkness. The figure attacks her causing Hikaru to wake up. She gets up and reminds herself that what happened on Cephiro wasn’t a dream. Her dog Hikari greets her and she wonders who the shadowy figures were. While Hikaru mediates in her family dojo, her brothers wonder why she hasn’t been cheerful lately. While the younger two of the three brothers, Masaru and Kakeru, think some guy was rude to her, the eldest, Satoru, goes to her and asks what’s wrong. When she won’t answer he says it’s fine and that if she wants to rid her doubts by herself she should follow through to the end. Masaru and Kakeru also offer words of support, and Hikaru thanks them. Umi has breakfast with her parents and they ask her what’s wrong. Her father wonders if it’s love and Umi gets embarrassed when her parents start flirting with each other. She leaves and mutters that she wishes the problem was love. Fuu and her older sister Kuu leave for school together. Kuu tells Fuu that their parents are worried about her. Kuu knows something big must have happened and asks if there’s some one who understands Fuu’s troubles. Fuu says she’s going to meet them at Tokyo Tower after school. At the tower, Hikaru watches the sunset.
Umi and Fuu join Hikaru, and Hikaru tells them she’s been having dreams about Cephiro and what happened there. All three share regrets about their part in what happened to Emeraude, and wish to return to Cephiro. They are engulfed by the same light they were before and find themselves falling from the sky. They’re picked up by Clef’s flying fish and realize they’re back in Cephiro. Umi expresses disbelief because Cephiro has become a rocky wasteland. The fish takes them to a crystal castle where they are greeted by Mokona. Mokona leads them further into the castle and they wonder how they ended up in Cephiro since supposedly only the Pillar could summon them. Mokona takes them to Clef, who apologizes to them for what happened. Umi says it’s fine since he must have been in pain too and Hikaru laments not being able to do anything. Clef says that’s wrong and reminds them they granted Emeraude’s wish. He asks why they’re there but they don’t know. He says no one in Cephiro has the ability to summon them since there’s no Pillar. He shows them images of the ruined Cephiro and says without a Pillar the world will disappear. Not only that, but there are invading armies as well. A giant flying battleship approaches the castle and onboard is Eagle Vision who says it’s a perfect time to attack.
The second season begins with a much heavier tone than the first. Killing Emeraude weighs greatly on all three girls and that serves as the basis for characters arcs that are much more interesting than the typical “learn to be a hero and save the world” ones. The girls’ families are all quite supportive (rare to see in anime) but what they went through isn’t something they can share. They get their wish to return to Cephiro but it’s in a worse state than when they left it. The doomsday clock is still ticking, the enemy is at the gate, and there seems to be some dark force in the shadows. The Knights have their work cut out for them this time.
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