Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Born Of The Moon ❯ Escalator To Hell ( Chapter 7 )

Born Of The Moon

Chapter VII

Escalator To Hell

Judging by the expression on Folken's face as I looked at him, I had to of screamed quite loudly. I noticed that my breathing was heavy, but I couldn't get enough in when I tried. And why was my face wet?

"Hitomi, please lay back down." he gently pushed me back down to the bed by my shoulder. "Your fever is still high."

I could see him rinsing a cloth in a bowl of water.

"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked as he rested the freezing cloth on my forehead. "You were tossing violently in your sleep."

For some reason I couldn't find the words to answer his question. I could only stare at his appearance. He wore a black sleeveless shirt that somewhat resembled Van's old red shirt. It had gold colored ties and I could just see the waist of his black pants. I could also see a thick strap of leather that no doubt had a sword attached to it.

He removed the now warm cloth from my forehead and rinsed it again. As I tried to take in a deep breath I realized that I was having trouble breathing.

"Folken, my throat . . . it's hard to breathe. Why?"

"It's the medicine for your fever. It won't affect your breathing for much longer. Just don't do anything to excite yourself."

He took the cloth again and began to dab my face, neck and collarbone with it. I could actually feel a bit of the coldness the cloth held as he wet my neck.

"That feels good." I sighed. It felt like the cold water was boiling and evaporating on my skin. "Please, don't stop."

Smiling, he left the cloth on my forehead again. "The redness in your face seems to be fading. I think the medication is starting to work. You should be feeling better very soon."

I used my little strength to look around. There were many shelves of books across from the bed I was in. They looked very old, like books that magicians would use.

As my respiration became more regular and I could take in deep breaths without choking, I sat myself up and asked him what kind of books they were.

"They're spell books that old magicians that used to work in the marketplace used. Some have little tricks in them, say to amuse children with. Others have powerful spells and magic within them."

Although I could breathe again, that didn't help the strong fever I still had. My head became overwhelmed with a fuzzy feeling and I fell back down to the bed. I knew that as I saw spots that I had to sleep a little longer. I didn't argue when Folken stated such.

"I'll leave you now and return in an hour. Rest well, Hitomi."

I was more than certain that he'd let me sleep for more than an hour. I just hoped that this sleep was free of dreams.

The sleep I had had to of been the greatest and most peaceful I had experienced in a very long time. When I woke up, I could hear the soft patting of rain on the window above me, and I jumped as a flash of lightning lit up the entire room and a clap of thunder shook the entire house. I couldn't help but whimper and pull the covers over my head; so I was a little jumpy. It wasn't like a thunderstorm was helping much!

"Hitomi, are you awake now?" Folken's voice sounded to be coming from across the room. I removed the covers from my head and found him sitting at a desk, writing something.

"Unfortunately." I felt my forehead. "But I think my fever's gone."

"I'm glad." He caught my attention as he dripped red wax onto an envelope. I got up and watched as he pressed a golden ring he wore on his right index finger onto the drying wax. It left the imprint of the majestic looking dragon.

"Wow, that must've cost a fortune, Folken." I picked up the letter and read whom it was made out to. "Who's Tarren?"

Folken picked up a few more letters and took the one he had just sealed. "Tarren is a merchant from Asturia. He lived in the Floresta Mountains for a long period of time but some of the angry townspeople were trying to drive out all of the feline people, such as Naria and Eriya's parents." I saw the sadness in his dark eyes as he paused. "He had always harvested the rare plants that thrived in the Floresta Mountains. Lots were for magic. That's actually how I got to know him well as a friend. I would need some of those roots quite often. Just in the past while though, no one's really heard from him, so I'm sending him this letter."

Growing up on earth, you never hear much about roots being used in medicine, never mind magic. "What did you make from them?"

As Folken stood up, I decided to follow him. "Oh, mostly for medicines and healing liquids." We were now in the parallel room which had a shelf full of bottles with different colored liquids inside. "Like this one." He said, pulling off a rather small bottle from the tallest shelf. The liquid inside was white and not very translucent. "This is the one I used to cure your fever."

Removing the cork, he gestured for me to smell it, so I did. "Oh my god!" I pulled myself away as quickly as possible. "That smells really bad! How come I didn't smell it when I woke up earlier?"

Folken laughed quite a bit at my disgusted face. He replied as he re-corked the bottle. "That's because it had already sunken into your skin by that time. The smell disappears after that."

Another large clap of thunder made me jump. "Dammit! I hate it when it does that!"

I took a few deeps breaths and began to walk around. Folken seemed to be living in a forest somewhere. Could it have been in Fanelia?

"Folken, do we happen to be in Fanelia?"

"I'm sorry, but no. We're about an hours time away if we were to be on horseback."

My heart fell a little. We couldn't travel in rain, so I guessed waiting was in my schedule.

"I know you're anxious to see Van again. We'll eat something now and as soon as the storm lets up, we'll head to Fanelia."

"Really?!" I exclaimed, sounding a little more happier than I would've liked. "I mean, really, Folken?"

Taking two small bottles from a lower shelf, he guided me to a set table. "Yes, really, Hitomi. I have two horses in my stable outside."

I let out a happy sigh as I sat down. Soon I'd be able to see Van! It wouldn't be a vision or a dream either. This would be the real thing.

As we ate, I told him about some things that had happened to me in the past couple of years.

"I've seen you a few times on your planet. You've always looked sad and like you were missing something. Was that something Van?"

The only thing that made me wonder was the aspect of him watching me. I had never sensed his presence with me before. "When did you visit me?"

"Only in your dreams. If you ever remember going over the events that happened in your day in a dream, that would be a night that I'd be trying to speak with you." He offered me a glass of red wine. "Do you drink wine?"

I laughed as he handed it to me. "Not often, but I guess I have a good enough reason to celebrate!"

Folken poured himself a glass and offered me a toast. "To the girl from the Mystic Moon, the savior of Gaea, and that she will find true love in her soul mate soon."

I gave him a twisted smile as we clinked our glasses together. "Thank you."

If there's one thing I have to say about the wine on Gaea, it's that, compared to the wine on earth, this wine is much sweeter and the alcohol is much less detectable. That was mostly the reason why I became drunk at dinner with King Aston, Princess Millerna, Princess Aries, Lord Meiden, Allen and Van. As I reflected on that the next day, I was so embarrassed. Ah well. I guess I had to act like a normal teenager sometime while I was there. No harm in getting a large buzz on some nice foreign wine!

"Folken, this wine is so tasty. Wine on earth sucks compared to this stuff."

One of his eyebrows raised ever so slowly. "Sucks?"

Darn. Too bad he wasn't educated in the everyday vocabulary of the average teenager. Well, average teenager from earth anyway.

"Sucks . . . god how to explain this word . . . Uhm, well okay." I got up and chose a random book from the shelf. "Say you didn't like this book. If someone asked you how it was, you could say it sucked."

Folken didn't seem to be paying attention to my explanation. Instead, he was staring out the window. "The rain has stopped. I know how much you would like to see Van again. Would you like to saddle the horses?"

"Yes!"

No, you couldn't tell that I was excited at all. Not even when you considered the fact that I had saddled my horse in record time, no, you would've never known.

"This way, Hitomi." Folken said as he mounted his horse. His was a light brown stallion with a long mane that was a few hues darker, along with its tail. Mine was white with a mane and tail mixed with white and brown.

"Do they have names, Folken?" I asked as we entered the forest.

"Yes actually, they do. The one you ride is named Belubelu. Mine is Narunaru. You can call her Belu if you want for short though."

I became a little hesitant. "After Naria and Eriya?"

Folken slowed his horse. "How did you know their real names?"

"Oh. Just in . . . a vision I had while I was with Naria." I slowed to Folken's pace. "I also saw their parents after they were killed and burned in the Floresta Mountains. It was . . . horrible."

He nodded in agreement. "I'd rather talk about something else now though."

I nodded, but nothing to talk about came to mind, so we spent some time in silence. It was nice to see the scenery on Gaea, and to hear all the exotic animals. The forest had that smell to it, similar to the smell of Fanelia, except now it was dewy. God how I love that smell.

"I have a question for you. What made you bring me back to Gaea? I didn't know you could speak with me either."

"Just in dreams, Hitomi. I only visited you that day in Tokyo because I didn't know where you were. You see, yes, I am able to speak with you through the use of magic, but I can't predict where you are at that moment. I can only assume by the strength of your activeness I can feel. I felt that you were quite fatigued and I could only think that you were resting. I'm sorry for not waiting for a more obvious time."

"No, it's okay. No one really noticed anyway."

"What about that man you were with?" He laughed, gently nudging Naru in the side. I copied his action and we both sped up a little. "What about him Folken?" I asked with a large grin on my face.

"Well, what did he say about what happened? I could sense his presence with you the entire time."

"Man, there's no fooling you. I'd hate to see what would happen when someone lied to you when you knew the truth." I continued to laugh once again. Yes, I was super-gitty now. This was the kind of mood I needed to be in before going to Gaea. "Well, Yuhan read about my being on Gaea. I wrote it all out as a story. Then I told him it really happened and he believed me. He was the only one too."

"I'm sorry to hear it." Folken said, his voice quiet. "It must've been very annoying to tell someone in trust and then have them not believe you."

"You have no idea." I laughed sarcastically. "But, he believed me and stayed with me until you came for me, thank god, and . . . Oh my god! It's Fanelia!" I screamed as I saw the castle gates. I swiftly kicked Belu in the sides and we began to gallop towards Fanelia. I couldn't believe I was really here. After all this time, here I was, in Fanelia.

When I finally reached the gates, I had to patiently wait for Folken. Two minutes seemed like an hour.

"Good Morning, Lord Folken. Are you here on business once again?" One of the guards asked. God! I had no time for small talk now!

"Yes, and I have also brought a guest, Lady Hitomi, along with me. Could I ask that she be escorted to the castle to see King Van? He and she are good . . . friends." Folken winked at me after his last comment. The guard gave me an odd look.

"Of course."

"Hitomi," Folken began before I left. "If you wish to come back with me, meet me here at sundown."

I nodded as the gates closed behind us and he headed off on his own way.

Oh my god. Oh. My. God. No, I wasn't becoming panicked as we got closer and closer to the castle. I wouldn't have called my breathing close to hyperventilating, no, not in the least. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest though. My hands were becoming sweaty on the reigns as well. Ok, no pressure.

The same guard led me through the confusing brick maze that was the castle. Many old paintings decorated the walls and dark colored floor rugs were everywhere. It was a beautiful castle, I'd have to say. It was much more elegant than the previous time I had visited.

"Lord Van's room it at the end of this corridor. Please, enjoy your visit."

"I will!" I chirped, skipping down the hall to Van's room.

I must've stood outside that door for a good fifteen minutes. Again, that feeling of everything being rushed came back, but it was now at a standstill. Every second felt like a minute. About an hour and fifteen minutes ago I was sitting at a table calmly with Folken, drinking some good Gaean wine. Now I stood outside King Van Fanel's bedroom doors. I noticed that there was a full length mirror to my left. I checked my appearance. The top I wore was slightly creased, but nothing to worry about. My pants were uncuffed at the bottom and were hanging over my sneakers. Maybe my attire was the reason that guard had stared oddly at me. Wait, that had to be the reason. No one dressed like me here.

"Ok, no time like the present." I whispered to myself as I ran my hand through my hair. Just as I moved to turn the doorknob, I was overcome with a horrible feeling. A violent shiver ran down my spine and I pulled back my hand. Was Van in some kind of danger? Was he hurt? Was something bad happening right now?

I slowly opened the large wooden door and poked my head inside. What I saw wretched both my heart and my stomach simultaneously and with the same intensity. I thought I was going to be sick on the spot.

I saw my King, Van Fanel, laying on his royal bed in the middle of the room, the silk red covers hanging at different lengths off of the side of the frame. Van was laying there with his shirt off and his wings spread and underneath him, a woman lay clad in her undergarments. Her hair was long, curly and dark brown just like the woman's I had seen in the vision I had. I couldn't see the color of her eyes because they were closed, along with Van's. They were kissing wildly, both oblivious to my presence. I began to see spots in my vision. I saw them began to shift as I stifled a hurt gasp of air. The woman seemed to hear as she opened her eyes. She gasped and pulled the covers up to hide herself. Van looked in my direction and when his eyes reached mine, he paled somewhat.

"H-Hitomi . . . I-"

"No." I said, now using the door to stable myself. As he began to approach me, I took one step back for every step he took forward. Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall now. My world had been shattered by him, and I didn't understand why he had broken his vow of love. I only knew one thing.

"I hate you, Van . . . hate you . . ."

~*~

TA DAA. Please Review!

Important Note from E.A.; I have bad news to inform you all of! *sniff* I will be computer-less for July and August! *kicks random object across the room in fit of rage* I'm quite mad but I'll try not to leave you all hanging with this chapter cause I know waiting two months for the chapter after this would be quite...cruel...:D I'll try to upload any chance I get! Thanks and bye!

*Elemental Angel*