Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Ayashi no Kijutsu ❯ three: to open the box ( Chapter 3 )

Hidden plans seemed to be unraveled bit by bit, as Hitomi, Touya, and Aya continue to talk about what has happened and their situation. An attack from unknown forces seems to affirm the thought that something important is to happen very soon. The story continues to reveal itself as secrets are being whispered in the air.

And this is how one of the greatest secrets in humanity was uncovered...

AYASHI NO KIJUTSU
(Eerie Magic)
Chapter Three: To Open the Box

"Is he going to be okay?" Hitomi looked over Aya's shoulder to watch Aya and Touya dress the baby's wound carefully.

"Yes," Aya sighed in relief, "it's just a scratch. And that guy didn't seem to have dropped the baby."

"He didn't," Hitomi responded quickly, "the baby slid to the floor after the guy went down."

"It's all right then," Touya said, "As long as Aki is okay."

"What if," Hitomi said carefully, "another attack happens soon?"

"We'll be very careful from now on then," Aya replied, "We should be all right as long as Touya is here. But I must say, you were impressive too."

Hitomi smiled wryly, "I suppose one would learn something after going through a world war on a strange planet."

"Let us," Touya interrupted, "leave the talking for later. We're going to have to clean up this mess before we talk. And figure out something to explain to your parents."

The two girls eyed the blood, bullets, broken things, and most of all, the dead corpses lying on the ground, and realized that Touya was right.

---

The destinies of two lives
The story of two worlds
The fate of three races
Depend on this

---

"Eh?" Yuuhi sweat dropped, "You need me for what?"

"To help us with the cleaning up of something messy," the voice over the phone explained patiently.

"..." Yuuhi sighed, "whatever it is, I guess I can help. Why can't you tell me now again?"

"We're afraid that someone might be listening in or something."

"... do people really wire-tap people's phones to listen in on secrets?"

"..." Aya sighed, "We have to be careful," she explained.

"..." Yuuhi walked to his room, "I'll be coming in a few minutes. Give me the address."

---

This story I tell you
This song I sing
This tale so sweet
This future bright

---

"The heritage of Draconians was always a simple one," the elderly woman told Van, "We try to keep with a simple life, even though some were still proud. Many people could never get over how sophisticated and advanced our technology used to be, and still held on to the belief that one day they will acquire once again that 'magic,' as they like to call it."

"Then how do your group feel on this matter?" Van said.

"We don't care about the technology," the woman said, "We know that we did not cause our destruction directly. We would never do so. We just want to know what caused it. And if someone intentionally did so, we want revenge."

---

So I sing this melody
This song I write
A beautiful tune
Will tell you the story

---

"Sugoi!" Yuuhi sweat dropped, "Why is there so much..."

"Blood?" Hitomi said sarcastically, with a bloodied cloth in her hand, "It's so hard to see the blood, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry about it, Hitomi," Aya said, "If I could prevent it, I would've."

"I was just kidding," Hitomi laughed, "Can you clean this cloth? It's dirty." She picked up a clean towel and continued cleaning blood off everything.

"So..." Yuuhi sighed, "You can tell me what happened while I start cleaning. Where do you want me to start?"

"Hm..." Aya looked around the room, "Start by picking up the bullet shells. We already," she counted off these things on her fingers, "burned the bodies at an empty field nearby---that took a while since we had to hide the bodies on the way there---and mopped up most of the blood. Now, we still have to figure out what to say to your mother, Kanzaki-san."

---

One to begin it all
One to End it
Both to bring forth
A magnificent union

---

"The next attack we give them must be subtle and secretive. We must not allow them to track us down. We have to maintain a low profile for this to work," he said to a squad of assassins, "Remember. Your job this time is not to kill, but to capture. The future of humanity depends on you. May the kami watch over you."

---

The secrets of the past
Now will be revealed
Listen to the whispers
How they tell the past

---

"Moom," Hitomi sighed in exasperation, "I have to go live with Aya-san and Touya-san! It's not safe for anyone for me to be here!"

"No. I can understand what happened today, because your grandmother told me to expect such happenings sooner or later. It's a shock, yes, but it was not unexpected. But I won't allow my daughter to go live with other people---no offense to you, Mikage-san and Touya-san, as you insist that I call you---while I don't know what danger may be waiting for her!"

"Mom," Hitomi held her mother's hands, "Please understand our situation. We need to figure this out and somehow solve whatever problem is here for us to discover. This is going to be dangerous. And I don't want to Otou-san, Onii-chan, and you to get hurt. Please?"

Her mother sighed, and she didn't speak for a long time.

"I guess I have no choice but to let you go, then," she said, at last.

---

"Hurry! Hurry!
The forces are gathering!"
For what they did not know
And could not tell who

---

"Well," an amazingly beautiful woman said, "What was your intention behind this new plan of attack? What have the men been ordered to capture?"

"The two heavenly maidens, of course."

"...." the woman narrowed her eyes, "Treat them well."

"Don't make me grow suspicious of where your true loyalties lie, Felicia," the man replied.

"Of course my loyalties lie with man."

"Yet you have Tennyo blood within you."

"I have more human blood than heavenly blood."

"True, I suppose. Well, just do your duty and let others take care of theirs."

"Hai."

---

Things are starting
The era begins
As the final fight
For this universe adjourns

---

"I hope you don't mind staying here with us."

"Aya! Touya! You're here!" a pretty voice said.

Hitomi turned around. It was that woman who had found her. The one who started everything.

"Hello, Kanzaki-san," she smiled.

"How do you do," it was not a question. Hitomi, for some reason, was a little intimidated by this woman, even though she knew this woman was on her side.

"I'm glad you're staying with us again," Suzumi began.

"Aya-san! Kiritari-sensei!"

"Shouta!" Aya laughed happily and gave the young boy a big hug.

"Kiritari-sensei is here, too!" Shouta smiled at Touya with respect.

"I told you," Touya smiled too, "to call me Touya."

"Haiii!" Shouta's eyes sparkled with joy, "Toouya-san!"

"So," Yuuhi's familiar voice said, "You're back to stay."

"It's best," Aya smiled simply, "that we all stay together at this important time. This may change everything for our family."

"Eh, 'Nee-san," Yuuhi inquired, "Has Otou-san found any useful information on Atlantis yet?"

"Yes," Suzumi replied, "But I haven't had time to look through it. Why don't you all settle down, and I can give you the information."

"Better yet," a man appeared, "I'll tell them myself."

"Otou-san!" Yuuhi yelled in shock.

---

Remember now
As it is important
That you keep this a secret
That no one should find it

---

"So do you have any idea as to who might've caused the great destruction?" Van inquired.

There was a long, awkward silence, "Yes," she said at last, "I firmly believe that... that the Tennyo caused our destruction."

"The Tennyo? But your leader said---"

"My leader doesn't believe that the Tennyo would do something like that. They were created to be perfect women. Perfect and loyal. But I do. I believe that something must've gone wrong. This is why I am still alive. I want to see their extinction. And I think I will. I can feel it in my bones. Something is going to happen."

---

To open the box
Secrets of history
Magic of mystery
Magic of life

---

"There's a legendary object," Aogiri said, "that is said to have been created by the Atlanteans who had gone to heaven---which we think is what is known as Gaea right now." And he sat, silent for a while, wondering at the marvels of such creations.

"What is the object, and why was it created?" Yuuhi felt stupid, but it had to be asked. His father was just sitting there.

"It is," the man replied slowly, "a box. A simple wooden box, shielded from the weathering of time by magic. It is said to be placed in an alternate universe, where it is the only matter existing there. In it is the story of Atlantis. It tells the story of Atlantis so that people of the future may know their mistake. This is all the legend says. But over the years, this legend has ceased to exist."

"Why is this box stored in someplace we can't get then? Is there a way to get this box?"

"The box was placed there because of a prophecy. One that tells about someone special. This person can summon the box with a said prayer. And only this person can. And this person, with another, will do something great with the knowledge of the box."

He sat quietly for another moment, and then continued, very quietly.

"This box can only be summoned," he said in a low voice, and everyone leaned closer to hear, "by one who has Tennyo blood. One who has Tennyo blood but does not have the soul of their original Tennyo ancestor. One who doesn't have a Tennyo existence in them, awaken or asleep. Every C-Genoma has some sort of a sleeping or awakened Tennyo memory in their blood. Except," he lowered his voice still more, "one."

"Aya!" Yuuhi whispered in shock fiercely.

"Yes. Aya's Tennyo---Ceres---has already left her body! Aya is able to summon the box. More than that, this tells us something."

"That she has a destiny that she must complete as the one of those two mentioned in the box!" Hitomi whispered in awe.

A Word To the Reader About This Chapter
Thanks a bunch for reading. And I must, of course, give credits to Richard, who gave me information on details from the Escaflowne TV series as I have not seen the whole thing quite yet. Thanks a lot. The legend of the box mentioned in here is not a true legend. I made it up. But the Atlanteans did seem like they WOULD do something like this, as they must've learned something from all this destruction.

Author's Random Ramblings:
Ugh. My parents confiscated my anime collection, so I don't have my Ayashi episodes to refer to. So I might start making informational mistakes as I don't quite remember all the details from the original series. -_- Damn.

Ah well. Speaking of that, I must remember to thank Edwin again---he agreed to hide my manga collection for a while at his house. *whew* I was kind of getting scared of the idea of hiding that stack of mangas from my parents. Muchos gracias (ugh. I'm getting brainwashed by my Spanish teacher. I'm Asian dammit.) Edwin.

Ah well. Can't wait for Lake Arrowhead. I'll tell you all how that went (it is now February 16th, 10:12 p.m.).

(A week later)

Lake Arrowhead was fun. Lots of fun. I wanna go again but can't---I'm not gonna be in this orchestra next year. Oh well. *shrug*

Ugh. Must finish the rest of this chapter.

Ramblings About the Process of Writing This Chapter...
... I started early on this chapter due to a rush of ideas for little details and phrases I can use. I don't know. I guess watching all that Noir at once was very inspirational (Noir, by the way, was a good series. The ending was a bit sad though... but Mireille was so very right. "[The world is full of darkness], that's why we seek light," I think she said at the end...). I have been informed that the original Escaflowne cast did know about Gaia's origination! Argh. Well... treat this like an alternate reality fanfic then. Because it now is.

Overall Notes:
1. The original Escaflowne series did mention Atlantis. In fact, according to Richard, there were a few episodes dedicated to explaining it. This is an alternate reality fanfic---I don't think the past changes the current course of events so much unless it caused, directly or indirectly, what is happening now.
2. The layout, location, technology, history, and theory of Atlantis and its interaction with other places in the world is from The Atlantis Blue Print, a facinating book by Colin Wilson and Rand Flem-ath, even if I don't agree with their theories on the Christian aspects of their analysis. It's a great book. I spent ages reading it for this fanfic.
3. Escaflowne belong to... I don't remember---I think it was Bandai. But Ayashi no Ceres belongs to Watase-sensei.