What would happen if a magic knight chickens out or dies in Cephiro?

[Antoinette Veronica]

There is this thing that I have been thinking about for a long time and had discussed with certain members.

If a magic knight got killed, would he or she disappear off the face of the Earth too? Or could he or she got sent back to Earth and get on with his or her normal life?

It is explicitly said a magic knight could not leave unless he or she saves Cephiro, that is, kill the Pillar. But what if the knights still chickens out?

[suzanami]

I'm pretty sure if they die, they die.  Like, it's not like they're walking the astral plane and their real bodies are still on Earth.  So I think the consequences of dying would be, well, dying.

It'd suck so bad if one of them chickened out.  Whoa.  Because I'd bet that two of them together aren't strong enough against the Pillar.  So they would all be stuck in Cephiro while the country crumbled around them and eventually was destroyed.

Now THAT'D be a good dark!fic...  Hmm.

[Antoinette Veronica]

ARGHHHHHHHH!  That is too unfair! For the earthlings who die in Cephiro to solve another planet's problems!
But I guess even if one knight remains, the knight could still kill the Pillar though, or that Pillar might just get himself or herself killed without a fight, assuming they did not go mad like Emeraude.

[suzanami]

ARGHHHHHHHH!  That is too unfair! For the earthlings who die in Cephiro to solve another planet's problems!

That's something that I've always loved about Rayearth, that makes it a good story that hurts our hearts sometimes.

The whole immense unfairness of everything.  It's unfair that the Pillar can only think about Cephiro.  It's unfair to the loved ones of the Pillar (siblings like Ferio, potential lovers like Zagato, and even friends like Umi and Fuu in Hikaru's case).  It's unfair to the Magic Knights who are summoned, to not only be forced to take on this mission or else never return home, but to also force them to execute someone to fulfill that mission.  SO MUCH UNFAIRNESS.  And the series talks about how unfair it is, and I especially like how the discussion's handled in the manga.

But Hikaru fixed things up quite a bit, didn't she?  About time, too.