Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness Falls ❯ Chapter 5: Slip to Truth ( Chapter 5 )

Author's Note:

Caerné: Okay, I shouldn't be updating today. I really should wait until next Saturday, but I just can't. MdnitePrncez is going to kill me! Wait, she can't! Ha! It's good to be her beta reader! Hehe. Oh, yeah. Must say thank you to Feye Morgan! So glad you like the fic. Knowing someone likes the fic, makes neglecting my history term paper to write another chapter worth it. I should probably explain something about Hitomi and Alex, too. See on of the things that bothered me about Hitomi was that she always depended on others to save her ass and all. I hate that. So, in this fic she can save her own sorry ass. That's why we made her a slayer. I just hate weak women in general. And for Alex. Well, she's just a moody bitch who doesn't like new people tramping on her territory. But she gets better. You'll see. Okay, I think that about does it. Now on with the lovely chapter!

Chapter 5~~Slip to Truth

To say Alex had a "normal" house would have been a lie. The house was inspired by the medieval manors that dot the European countryside. It had two wings of hewn stone and countless secret passageways. The west wing was two stories and contained the main kitchen and the servants living quarters. The roof of the west wing was designed into a miniature garden with access limited to the third floor of the east wing. The east wing was double the size of the west wing and housed the bedrooms, rec rooms, and entertaining halls. All the rooms with the exception of the bedrooms were designed in the medieval style. The bedrooms each had their own theme ranging from art deco, Greco-roman, Arabian nights, and various others.

The girls' arrived at Alex's house around 4:30 that afternoon. Hitomi was awestruck at the grandeur of it all. She hadn't seen anything like it, not even the palaces in Gaea could compare. Serena didn't notice. She had been here too many times to care and she knew her way around pretty well.

"I think Joseph is back from vacation. He's supposed to come back today, but I am not sure when," Alex said as she led them through the intricately carved wooden front doors into the foyer.

"Joseph?" Hitomi asked while looking around at the muted and oppressive nature of the various rooms.

"Yes, he's the head butler," Alex replied nonchalantly.

"You have a butler?!"

Alex laughed. "You don't think I can take care of all this do you?" Alex asked as her hands motioned in the general direction of the rooms around them.

"You saw my cooking skills. Do you honestly think I have any homemaking skills?" Alex said with a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Touché," Hitomi replied. "How big is this place? I mean, can you get lost in here?"

The three were walking down a well-lit corridor with armor standing at attention alongside. "Yeah, I suppose you could get lost. I mean, there's 15 guest rooms, all located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the east wing. The billiards room, parlor, dining hall, offices, library, sitting area, and dance hall are all on the first floor. The rec room, lounge, and fitness room are all on the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor only has 4 bedrooms, one of which is mine. The west wing is the kitchen, the servants quarters, and next to the kitchen is the indoor pool."

They reached the end of the corridor were a large tapestry of a beautiful and foreign tree hung from floor to ceiling, which was 9 feet high. Alex ran her hand along the stones on the right side of the tapestry and pressed a stone lightly. It slid up, revealing an elevator panel. Alex pushed the up button and moved the tapestry out of the way to reveal an elevator door.

"I want your house," Hitomi stated.

"So do I," Serena piped in. "You should see the pool, Hitomi. She has an indoor and outdoor pool. She even has a hidden Jacuzzi grotto on the roof."

"You'll see that later," Alex said. "But first, let's get you to your rooms. Serena gets the beach themed one because she'll pout if she doesn't get it."

"Hey! I don't do that," Serena pouted.

"See my point? Anyway, that leaves the Arabian theme and the blue and white room."

"My room at Willow-chan's is in the Arabian theme, so I think I'll go with the blue and white room," Hitomi replied. "Oh, my God! I forgot to call Willow-chan and tell her where I am! Can I use your phone?"

"Sure. Use the one in my room. Her numbers on speed-dial 1," Alex laughed. Serena's eyes widened and she punched Alex in the arm. Alex winced. "What?" she yelled out. A moments pause and she realized her mistake, "Oh, crap!"

"Why is here number on speed-dial?" Hitomi asked suspiciously.

"Um, uh…Why don't you call her already? I am sure she's worried about you," Alex said sheepishly, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

"Okay, but I want an explanation later," Hitomi said as she entered Alex's room and dialed Willow.

Serena turned to Alex and smacked her on the arm. "Why did you do that?" she hissed.

"It's not like I did that on purpose! It was a slip, I swear," Alex cried.

"Yeah, well, now we have to tell her!"

"Tell me what?" Hitomi broke in, startling the two bickering girls.

"Um, well, how about we go into the lounge and Serena will explain everything," Alex answered.

"Me? Why me? You're the one who brought it up!" Serena protested.

"You know, I don't care who explains it, but somebody better tell me and fast before I get angry!" Hitomi scolded.

"Fine, we'll go to the lounge. I think you'll need to sit down," Alex led them to a room across the hall. They entered a large room with windows on one side and a wooden door in the center that led to the garden. The room was decorated simply with plush couches and chairs designed specially for the room. Tapestries decorated every wall and wooden chandeliers with thick hand made candles hung from the ceilings and walls. Alex motioned for Hitomi to sit. Both Serena and Alex sat opposite Hitomi.

"Okay, how can we say this? Um, well, uh…," Serena stuttered. Alex rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Aah! Just say it already!" Alex yelled out. Serena just stared at Alex blankly. "Fine," Alex continued as she turned to Hitomi. "Hitomi, you're a Vampire Slayer; a Chosen One. Your job is to go out every night and kill vampires, demons, and save the world and shit. Was that so hard, Serena?"

Serena crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Yeah, well, you could have found a softer way to tell her instead of being so damn blunt."

"Hey, bluntness works."

"You're kidding me, right?" Hitomi said in disbelief. "I am not a Vampire Slayer. Vampires don't exist! They're just fairytales people tell to scare kids at Halloween."

Serena pulled one of the chopsticks from her hair and threw it at Hitomi's head. With instincts unknown to her, Hitomi caught the knife a mere half inch from her face. Studying the blade for a second, Hitomi then tossed it back at Serena with an accuracy she had no idea she possessed. Serena plucked the thin blade from the air and placed it back into her bun.

"Believe us now?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, I guess so,…What else can I supposedly do?" Hitomi asked with interest.

Alex smiled slightly. "Well, you have super strength, a natural affinity for weapons, you can sense most demons, run really fast, jump high, and some of us have prophetic dreams or visions. The dreams are rather unpleasant and can be exceedingly annoying, not to mention they're often cryptic and only hint at what is about to happen. At least, that's my experience with them. Serena doesn't have the visions like I do. Instead, she can read people. Like she could read through your eyes that you were a slayer, she could sense within your essence the power you hold inside."

"If only Van could be here to see this," Hitomi wondered aloud.

"Who's Van?" Serena cocked her eyebrow. Hitomi blushed and looked at her hands.

"Do you want to know why my parents sent me away?" Hitomi asked softly. The others perked up and leaned forward. Receiving a nod from the two, she continued.

"Well, I was sent here because I disappeared for two months. During those two months, I was on a planet that orbits Earth like the moon does here and it can't be seen from earth. Both the earth and the moon, however, can be seen from Gaea. I met Van when he came to Earth to finish a rite of kingship, which was to slay a dragon. I helped him slay the dragon by a vision I had. In the vision I saw when it was about to kill him--"

"I knew it! I knew it! She is a seeress!" exclaimed Serena excitedly. "Oh, sorry." She apologized.

Hitomi told them everything about Gaea. The people, the places, the wars, she left nothing out. She told them about Dilandau and the experiments performed by Ziabach on him. She told them about her feelings for Van and how she almost blew her chances of being with him. She told them how they won the war and prevented the power of Atlantis from returning. "Van sent me back here because I wanted to come back. I wish I hadn't," Hitomi finished off softly.

"But if you didn't come back, than you wouldn't have met us," Serena comforted.

"Yeah, and you wouldn't be jealous of my house." Hitomi smiled at Alex and Serena, grateful she was lucky enough to find such friends on her first day.

"You said that Dilandau was experimented on, what happened to him?" Serena asked.

"The former leader of Ziabach wanted to create the ultimate warrior," Hitomi answered. "His Sorcerers kidnapped a child and did horrible things to her. They used Fate Alteration to change her into an emotionless, insane monster. She became Dilandau."

"Who was the girl?" Alex asked with interest.

"Um, she was Allen's sister," Hitomi answered.

"What happened to Dilandau?"

"Well, when Dilandau-san was dying, he started to change back into Allen-kun's sister. As he was changing, a blinding white light surrounded him, er, her and forced them to split into two separate people. When the light vanished, Allen-kun's sister was gone and an unconscious but alive Dilandau-san was left behind." Hitomi paused. "Serena-san, I think you're Allen-kun's sister."

"What? Where do you get this from?" Serena asked in shock.

"Well, you kind of look like a mix of Dilandau-san and Allen-kun. And you have her name, Serena Schezar."

"I don't believe you," Serena replied haughtily.

"No, no, this explains a lot. The vanity, the whining, the air-headness. Doesn't explain the clumsiness but, eh, cant get 'em all . I think you're right Hitomi," Alex said with a smile. Serena smacked Alex on her arm.

"Hitomi is right," a voice arose from the doorway. "Serena, you are Allen's sister and Dilandau's other half."

"Willow-chan! How long have you been standing there and what are you doing here?" Hitomi asked.

"I heard nothing I didn't already know," Willow replied as she walked in and sat in a chair between the girls. "And I am here because I brought some of your things over, Hitomi."

"Oh, okay."

"I think I have some explaining to do," Willow volunteered. And so she began her tale of everything that happened in her past. Buffy and Dawn sacrificed themselves to save the world when Glory opened the portal to return to her world. Faith returned and picked up where Buffy left off until her death in a car accident the year before. Giles went back to England with his credentials and degrees reinstated by the Watchers Council. And Xander joined the military and was currently stationed in Okinawa. She also told them about her little stint as Evil Willow and all the powers she still possessed.

"Now, to explain the whole Dilandau, Serena split thing. You have to understand that the Watchers Council has a lot of power. I am not sure how much, but I know it's a lot. They knew that Serena was destined to be a slayer and that she needed to be separate from Dilandau. She would never be the dominant personality otherwise. So they separated them and brought Serena to Earth. They gave her false memories just like they did for when they created Dawn." Willow finished her explanation and let what she said sink in.

"But, what about on Gaea? Did they give them false memories, too?" Serena asked.

"I don't think they needed to. But I am not sure of what their involvement on Gaea was or is," Willow answered.

"Willow, what if my parents change their minds and want me to come back?" Hitomi asked.

"That won't happen," Willow said flatly.

"Why?"

"It just won't happen," Willow said, finality echoing her voice. Hitomi locked eyes with Willow and pushed her luck even more.

"Why?" Hitomi's tone no longer even hinted that it was a question; it was, rather, a demand. Willow sighed and gave in.

"You truly want to know?" Willow asked warily. Hitomi nodded slightly.

"It won't happen because the Watcher's Council won't let it happen," Willow explained. "You see, one of the things about being a slayer is that you have to stay near the Hellmouth. Yes, you can leave when you want. But if you don't come back, they will not hesitate to…bring in a new slayer."

"So, what's the big deal about that?" Hitomi asked.

"The only way a slayer can be replaced is if the last slayer dies," Serena jumped in.

"But that doesn't explain how the Watcher's Council can keep my parents from bringing me back," Hitomi insisted.

"There are still some things the WC doesn't trust me with," Willow finished. "And that is one of them. If they told me, then I would tell you. They would probably kill you if they found out that you all knew as much as I've told you, let alone how they operate."

"Well, wasn't that depressing?" Alex sat back glumly. "Hey, let's go patrolling! I have a sudden urge to kill something."

Serena rolled her eyes and sighed. "You'll never change, will you, Alex?"

"Why should I?" Alex asked, wide-eyed. Hitomi and Willow laughed at the two friends.

"I guess, I should let you three go and save Merideth again. Have fun." Willow stood up and left them alone. After supplying Hitomi with a few weapons of choice, Serena and Alex dragged her out of the room and into the night to do some vampire hunting.