Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond the Moon ❯ The Red-Eyed General ( Chapter 6 )

Well.. there's a lot of.. Dilly-oddness and Van/Hitomi fluffiness.. ........enjoy. I am not responsible. *scurries out of the room*

Beyond the Moon

Six

Hitomi tried to scream, but her throat seemed unable to work. Dilandau's eyebrows lowered, and a sadistic grin spread across his face, his white teeth bared beneath taut lips. He walked towards the stunned woman, his smirk growing wider as she began to step back out of the room.

Dilandau walked past Hitomi, slamming the door and putting his arm against it. She turned around, looking for some route of escape, but found none. The windows were closed and the only door was barred by a very malevolent Dilandau.

"Ah.. the bitch from the Mystic Moon has decided to return after all? Where's your precious Van?" he asked, voice slurring into a deep, menacing tone. He began to walk towards her, eyes narrowing, his pupils dilating into wide, red irises. Hitomi didn't respond; she grabbed her hand, which had started trembling at her side.

Must not panic, she thought frantically. If I panic, he wins. Hitomi stopped backing up, and her actions were met with a halt in the ex-general's advance. She narrowed her eyes and leaned her head in, scowling.

"Great job pointing out that fact. I think we all missed it," she replied, her voice cracking a bit, but not losing any of its sting. Dilandau's eyes widened considerably. Hitomi had learned a few things during college about dealing with overbearing people, and the boldness she had gained while on the debate team came flooding to her in a bright rush of adrenaline. She smirked back at him, straightening herself up.

"What do you want with me now? Zaibach's defeated, all your men are dead. What possible gain can you get? With one scream, both Allen and Van could be in here whipping your ass to kingdom come!" Hitomi cried at Dilandau, swinging her arm for emphasis. She saw the fury rising in his face, brimming at his now bulging eyes and the vein pulsing in his forehead.

Hitomi decided she had gone too far when a drip of blood trickled down his lip from the spot where he embedded his teeth in the red flesh. She let out a nervous "heh..." when he took a large step towards her, the sound of his foot colliding with the floor resounding in her ears.

And that was when Hitomi noticed the sword at his side. Dilandau already had one hand fastened around the hilt, murder clearly written across his pale white face. She shivered, resisting the unimaginable urge to step back. "Bitch," he said in a low, deadly voice. "I'm going to finally get my revenge on you." Taking another step towards her, Dilandau's nose now hovered inches from her forehead.

I won't scream, I won't scream, Hitomi repeated to herself, clenching her eyes. When no further movement came, she slowly lifted her eyelids and glanced up.

Dilandau stood, eyes fixated ahead. His hand slowly dropped from the sword to his side. His mouth hung slightly open, his eyelids fluttering.

"No!" he cried suddenly, tripping backwards. Hitomi jumped, taking the opportunity to dart across the room towards the two chairs arranged facing each other. Dilandau grabbed his head with his hands, the sound of his teeth slamming into each other repeatedly echoing in Hitomi's ears. She grabbed one of the wooden chairs, lifting it off the floor a few inches.

"But.. Celena..! You got.. the whole.. morning!" he quieted down, slowly releasing his hands from his temples. His eyes wandered around the room as he spoke, apparently to no one. He seemed to have forgotten about Hitomi's presence. She used it to her advantage and crept up to a wall on the other side of the room, which hid her slightly from the deranged man.

"I know.. Well.. Can we talk later tonight? I was just about to kill that bitch.. I don't care what her name is!" he began to speak louder, his voice becoming irritated. Hitomi blinked in confusion, sliding up closer to the wall.

"Fine, but only if you save some of those garlic rolls for me," Dilandau conceded, sighing. Hitomi peered around the corner, watching the tall, silver-haired man. He closed his eyes, and began to melt.

Hitomi blinked. His face began to change slightly, his hair becoming a soft white color. His figure shifted beneath the heavy black jacket, his broad shoulders shrinking and his chest jutting out slightly.

"Hitomi?" came a calm, familiar voice. Still not convinced, Hitomi ducked back behind the wall. "Hitomi!" Celena cried, jumping around the corner, a large smile on her face. "Sorry about Dilly here.. He's got problems, as Brother puts it." Hitomi stared, eyes widening. Celena's gaze drifted somewhere else, and she flicked a strand of hair out of her face. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, before suddenly returning to smile at Hitomi.

"I hope Allen and Jajuka left some dinner for us. I'm starving!" she said excitedly, grabbing Hitomi's hand. The shorter, brown-haired woman blinked as she was dragged out of the room and bounced down the hall towards the kitchen.

***

Celena pushed the door of the small dining room open, dragging me in tow. We were greeted with the faces of Allen, Van, and the furry Jajuka. Allen was polishing his sword, while Van sipped on some kind of tea. Jajuka lay stretched out on his chair, rocking back and forth. I was still unsure about the dog-man, so I kept clear and took a seat beside Van. He and Allen sat around a small table by the fireplace on the far side of the room. Another table leaned against the wall a few feet away, and Celena sat down across from Jajuka. He removed his furry feet from the table, smiling at her.

"How are you feeling, Hitomi?" Van asked, setting his mug of hot tea on the table. At least it wasn't vino. I yawned a bit, still feeling unnerved from my run-in with Dilandau. From the look on Allen's face, I decided I should bring up the matter with Van later in private. The knight looked tired, sliding his sword into its sheath and setting it on the ground beside his chair. He turned, staring absently into the fire. I felt sorry for him, being as lonely as he was. True, he had his sister, but I knew from experience that being without that special person, there would always be a void in his heart. I sighed and directed my attention back to Van.

"Fine. I just needed some time to think," I said, shrugging. Van put his arm over my shoulders, scooting my chair towards him with one foot. I looked at him in surprise, a bit confused. First, he didn't want to show affection, and now he was making clear moves on me? I frowned a bit. It was obvious he was just showing his superiority over Allen, as usual. The knight, in his best interest, ignored the whole exchange completely and sat back in his chair. I pulled away from Van and reached for one of the strange Gaean fruits I had become addicted to all those long days in Palas years ago, slicing the top off with a small knife.

Jajuka and Celena broke the silence, talking about some random thing I began to tune out. Celena would go on about some animal she saw that day, and Jajuka would ask her if she drew it with her new special leads. They went on like that for what seemed like hours, until I realized I was lying with my head on Van's chest, his arms wrapped around me. My eyes were slowly closing, and I ignored the bit of drool going down my chin.

"What did Dilandau say when you talked to him?" The off-hand comment by Jajuka brought me out of my cat-nap. Van was fast asleep, his chin resting on my head. With as little movement as possible, I trained my hearing to the conversation going on a few feet away.

"Hitomi walked in when he was in control. He scared her, I think. I yelled at him, but he's still angry about it. What happened? Why is Dilly always so angry, especially now that these neat people are visiting Brother?" Celena asked, her voice going into a slightly higher pitch. It was obvious that Dilandau's opposite personality caused her a great deal of upsetting. Jajuka sighed, and my peephole beneath Van's arm allowed me the sight of Jajuka putting a paw on Celena's hand. He smiled comfortingly at her.

"Just try to stay in control until they leave. Do you remember when I told you about when Dilandau was a general in Zaibach? He fought Van and Hitomi. Dilandau was a little... irrational, Lady Celena," the dog man replied, leaning back in his chair again. Celena sighed.

"I wish he could just be nice," she lamented. "I wish we could have our own bodies, and then he could always be with me, and we could play games and there would be no more fighting! And I could tell him not to be mad at Hitomi!" Celena said desperately. Jajuka smiled at her in pity.

"That could never be," he replied. Celena looked down, then stood. Pushing in her chair, Jajuka stood up and led her to her room to retire.

I sighed, patting Van on the arm. He slowly opened one eye. "What?" he asked groggily. I smiled and pecked him lightly on the cheek. He quickly woke up.

"It's time for bed," I said, getting out of his lap. Van rubbed his eyes, yawning. Allen seemed to have disappeared, probably unnerved by Van and I. I sighed and, taking Van's arm in mine, we walked down the hall to our rooms.

When we arrived at his, I entered into his room with him. Raising an eyebrow, Van flopped onto his bed, back up.

"Celena.. Dilandau.. you know that.. that they're switching bodies?" Van looked at me out of the corner of his eye, bading me continue. "I walked in on when Dilandau was in control. He almost killed me." Van sat up, accidentally, hitting his forehead on the frame of his bed. I extended a hand to him, but he batted it away and got up.

"That... Dilandau's supposed to be dead! Gone! When we allowed Celena to return with Allen, he assured us that Dilandau was gone forever!" Van cried, pacing the room. I almost wished I hadn't told him. Now what would he do? Get angry at Allen? I wasn't even sure if the knight knew about the whole thing. If Merle hadn't known, it must have happened recently.

"Van, calm down. I think Dilandau's re-emergence happened only in the past few months. There's no need to be worked up yet," I assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Van nodded, taking a seat, putting his head in his hands. "He's not a threat."

"You should go to bed. It's late, and we should rise early to talk to Allen," Van instructed me, taking my hand off his shoulder and holding it in his. I blushed slightly, and he kissed me softly on the nose. While I was stunned, he led me out the door, to my room, pushed me inside and left.

He's not a threat. How could I be so sure? He had a sword, he had Celena's knowledge, and he knew I was there.. he even knew where I slept! What if he took control during the night and killed us in our sleep? My worries began to build up as I got into my nightgown, finally slipping into the cold blankets of my bed.

I lay in my bed, my eyes unable to close despite the fact I had been half asleep not long before. I fidgeted and tossed and turned, but to no avail. Finally, I got up, slinking out of my room and down the hall.

I knocked on Van's door, and when I got no reply, I slowly entered. He was curled up in bed, wearing no shirt. His mouth was open, a bit of drool dribbling down the side of his mouth. If he was that fast asleep already, I couldn't imagine how long I had been lying awake. I poked him lightly, causing him to open one eye.

"Van?" I asked quietly. He merely blinked.

"Wha-?" he muttered groggily. I smiled.

"Can.. can I stay here tonight? Please? It.. it just scares me knowing that Dilandau is on the loose," I said, silencing my trembling hand. Van smiled at me and nodded, getting out of bed. I climbed in, pulling the blankets close around me, as he slithered back in. He wore a pair of long, black, felt pants, which felt good against my skin as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in closer. I sighed, my back resting in the soft muscles of his chest. Van was asleep in no time, the sound of his shallow breathing and slowly beating heart lulling me to sleep.

***

Hitomi slowly opened her eyes. She felt oddly warm and comfortable; she could see an amber light streaming in through the window, and almost jumped out of her skin when a strong hand clenched around her waist. She lowered her eyelids, remembering the night before, and snuggled deeper into Van's soft, bare chest. All she knew was that she was still alive, so Dilandau must have been under control.

Hitomi sighed, closing her eyes again. She felt a soft chin nuzzling her head. "Did you sleep well?" came a low, groggy voice. Hitomi smiled to herself.

"Warm and safe," she replied, snuggling deeper into his arms. Van removed one hand from her waist, causing her to whine. He put a finger on her lips and reached down, pulling the strewn blankets up and around her face, and snuggling beneath them.

Hitomi lay like that for some time, listening to Van's breath shallow out as he fell back to sleep. She knew that someone would be in to wake him up in no time, but decided to enjoy it while she could.

"Lord Van! Allen requests your audience-" the attendant paused, taking in the sight before her. The king of Fanelia lay, the strange woman wrapped in his arms. They slept soundly, the soft sunlight just beginning to pour into the room highlighting the peaceful expressions on their faces. The attendant sighed deeply, and smiling like a schoolgirl, hiked up her skirt and left, slowly closing the door behind her.

"Where is Lord Van?" Allen asked, taking a bite out of his morning biscuit, smoothing back a lock of his long, blonde hair. The attendant smiled and bowed.

"I think he and the Lady Hitomi had a rough night. They are sleeping. You can wake them yourself, if you'd like, but I certainly would be guilty for it for the rest of my short life," she replied, bowing again. She then flicked a strand of hair out of her face, and smiling dreamily, shuffled out of the room. Allen blinked, his dropped biscuit clanking on his plate. Sighing, the knight rubbed his eyes and got up, his eyes set on taking a stroll in the morning light rather than bothering his two sleeping friends. As Dryden had always told him: Business can always come last.