Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mark of a Goddess ❯ The Doppelganger ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four

The Doppelganger

 

After racing through Dryden's mansion soaking wet and barefoot, Hitomi and Van found themselves in the shower in their suite. The water was so warm and it felt so good compared to the fountain that when Hitomi got out, she practically glowed. This was way better than high school - way better.

 

When Hitomi got out of the fountain, her mind was so clear that she could use her hands like a couple of water guns. Van was just as good. Dryden couldn't stop smiling.

 

“I told you two to pay attention to Van and Hitomi and look at them. They're amazing! Now for pity sake, everyone - take a break. I haven't seen my woman all day and she's probably lonely without me. Lunch was supposed to be served twenty minutes ago, so please go eat. I'll lock up, and I don't want to catch any of you anywhere near this place until tomorrow.”

 

Hitomi and Van didn't need to be told twice, both of them were freezing. Hitomi picked up her clothes and clutched them in her arms as she tiptoed across the carpet. Van rushed after her. They were making a mess.

 

Now that they were in their suite, Van lit the fire in the grate for Hitomi and hung back in the bathroom for a moment. Hitomi was lying on the bed in her housecoat thinking about her attempt to transform into Celena. She still wasn't entirely sure what had gone wrong. It was clear that transforming into someone else was something she was able to do, so why did she have a hard time? She asked Van about it when he came back into the room.

 

He leaned against the wall, with his arms across his bare chest, thinking. “Well, I would say that Celena would be a hard first person to try. You only met her that one time. Why don't you try someone you know a little better - like your mother or Marlene?”

 

“I suppose I could try something like that. I guess I'll try Marlene,” Hitomi said, pulling the towel out of her hair and laying down flat on her back. “Hey Van, will you go into the bathroom while I see if I can get it to work? I'll call for you if I need you.”

 

“Okay,” he said, looking reluctant, but he went into the bathroom and shut the door.

 

Hitomi closed her eyes like she did before and focused on her sister's looks. Marlene's eyes weren't as green as Hitomi's - much closer to blue. Here, it was tempting for Hitomi to think of her failure when she tried to turn into Celena, but Hitomi concentrated on Marlene. She remembered her fairer hair and how long and curly it was. It was really thick and strong. Hitomi focused on the sizes of her sister's clothes and the way she applied eyeliner. Marlene's shoe size was one size smaller than Hitomi's, so she concentrated on that. Marlene wore pink lip-gloss with sparkles in it, and she wore a perfume that smelled like lavender. The last thing Hitomi remembered was the way Marlene laughed when she was really happy, and after that Hitomi felt daring enough to open her eyes and try to get up.

 

When Hitomi swung her legs to the floor and sat up, she didn't feel nauseated. It was bazaar, but she felt distinctly bored. She got up and went to a mirror that was hanging in the room and took a look at her reflection. Hitomi blinked - Marlene was gazing back at her. She had definitely been able to do it, but she didn't feel any special excitement about it. Her mind told her that she should feel excited, but instead she felt bored, and she noticed that she needed to reapply her lipstick. Hitomi looked around the room confusedly. When had she, Hitomi, ever cared if she was wearing lipstick? That was something Marlene cared about, though.

 

Hitomi took a step away from the mirror. This was weird, but she had to show Van that she was successful. She went to the bathroom door and clicked it open as quietly as possible.

 

Van was standing with his back to the door, both of his hands were on his hips, and Hitomi noticed that he still hadn't put on his shirt yet, but her reaction to Van without his shirt on was different than her usual one. Hitomi had seen Van shirtless hundreds of times and though it was exciting it wasn't this exciting. Why was she so embarrassed, so shy, so … like a teenager? Hitomi put a hand to her mouth. It had to be because she had taken on Marlene's appearance and thus, her reaction as well.

 

Hitomi forced herself … quite literally forced herself to go up to Van and put her arms around him, but it was so hard and her hands shook so much.

 

“Did you get it to work?” he asked casually as he kissed one of her hands and then turned around to see her. When their eyes met, his reaction was intense. He backed away from her so quickly that he fell into the tub. “HOLY CRAP!” he exclaimed, looking at her with eyes as wide as TV screens.

 

Hitomi went to the mirror - she was still wearing the bathrobe. Her hair was long like Marlene's and when she touched it, it felt much different than her own hair, like a wig, except that it was firmly attached to her skull. She smiled at her reflection, but the mannerisms weren't Marlene's and it looked all wrong - they were Hitomi's. She looked down at the robe. “It seems like I can't change clothes, just my body, so if I ever do this, I'd better be prepared to fit into the clothes I'm wearing with the new body I select.”

 

Van lifted himself out of the tub. “I'll say. I'm really impressed, Hitomi. Wow!”

 

Hitomi looked back at him and noticed that she still felt distinctly uncomfortable. “Van, go put a shirt on, for pity sake!”

 

“Why?” he asked, looking perplexed.

 

“Because, Marlene isn't used to seeing you … like this, and she doesn't exactly like it. My face is on fire, isn't it? I feel like I'm blushing so hot I could heat the room.”

 

Van didn't need a further explanation and dashed into the dressing room to get a new shirt. “Sorry,” he said, coming back and adjusting the collar on the shirt he put on. “I didn't realize that you adopted their personality, too.”

 

Hitomi gulped. “I don't think I exactly adopt their personality. I can do what I want. There's no way Marlene would have thought to put her arms around you like I did when I came into the room. She wouldn't have done it. The whole time I was doing it, I was really distressed. It's just that I felt how she would have felt in that situation … I think. I'll have to try this more.”

 

“Do you know anything new that you wouldn't normally know?” Van asked.

 

“Like what?”

 

“I don't know, like what happened after you left home?”

 

“No. I don't think so. This is all really weird. My voice doesn't sound like mine, and I have the urge to say different things.”

 

“Like what?” Van asked.

 

“I don't know. I'm not sure how to explain it. I need to try this with someone less hormonal. I'm going to change back into myself. I've had enough of this,” Hitomi said as she went back into the bedroom to change.

 

Van politely stayed in the bathroom.

 

***

 

The next day, when Hitomi and Van came down to breakfast, it was clear that something had happened. The atmosphere at the table was distinctly cold. It didn't take Hitomi five seconds to realize that Dryden had had it out with Naria and Eriya. Everyone was eating like they were only paying lip service to the meal. Hitomi felt like one wrong word spoken would amount in an explosion, so she didn't say anything besides a quick `good morning' before sitting down to eat.

 

Selphie got up first and left without saying a word - not even to Dryden. Hitomi wanted to run after her, but if she did, there was nothing that she could say to the girl to comfort her. And even so, Hitomi had no clue what exactly had happened.

 

When it came time for them to go to the training gym together, once again Dryden hung out in the library while the rest of them went in to practice. Hitomi wanted to ask what had happened, but refrained. She didn't think that Naria and Eriya would want to talk to her. Eventually, she thought she'd hear about it from Dryden.

 

Naria and Eriya were practicing quick draws when Dryden came in with the holsters. He actually helped Naria put hers on. Hitomi thought she saw him whispering something into her ear, but she couldn't be sure. He touched Eriya's cheek, too, before he went back into the library.

 

“I'm sick of this crap,” Eriya spat noisily after Dryden left. “It was easier to fight Van. How is a gun going to help me?”

 

Van was bouncing his pistol on the back of his hand like it was a hacky sack. “Don't get so discouraged,” he said, snatching it out of the air and pointing the barrel at Eriya's head with such speed that if he'd pulled the trigger, he definitely would have killed her. “Discovering these things on your own is slow. I want to drop the gun entirely and try snapping my fingers, but I feel like if I do that I'll call up fire and I won't learn anything new. The same goes for you.”

 

Eriya threw her gun at Van's head in frustration.

 

Van ducked. “You shouldn't throw things,” he said, reprimanding her for her bad manners.

 

“Fight me, Van!” she challenged.

 

“Want to try fire again?”

 

“I'm angry and I want to get good with it,” she answered.

 

Van took off his gun holster and sat it down in the corner before preparing to box Eriya. Eriya had come to the training gym prepared today. She was wearing track gear.

 

Hitomi watched them spar, but she didn't have the same options for training as they did. She had already trained with ice and considered herself good enough with it. There was a limit to how much screwing around she could do before she felt bored. Besides ice, she had water as an element, and she considered getting under the fountain again to meditate, but it was an unusually cold day that November morning and the last thing Hitomi wanted was to chill herself to the bone like that. Lastly, Dryden said that she probably had darkness as her final element. She thought about that. That didn't sound like an element that you practiced with in the training gym. She wasn't sure if she even understood the application of an element like that. Darkness? Darkness did what? The only answer she was able to come up with was that darkness hides things, which is very useful in its own way, but she wasn't about to start experimenting with it with Naria and Eriya there.

 

She tiptoed into the library to talk to Dryden. She wanted to know what happened with Naria and Eriya and she thought there was a pretty good chance he would simply tell her if she asked.

 

Dryden was crouched down in front of one of the boxes. When Hitomi came in, Dryden stood up, his legs looking unusually long in the fitted pants he was wearing. “Hi, Hitomi. I'm still looking for Akira's logbook. I haven't been able to find it, but I'm sure it's here somewhere.”

 

“There's no rush, really,” Hitomi said, wrapping her grey sweater around her waist tighter. She sat down in one of the chairs and said, “I really wanted to ask you what happened with Naria and Eriya. They seem really angry with you.”

 

“They are,” he confessed.

 

“What happened?”

 

Dryden exhaled an angry breath, “I didn't do anything to them. I promise.”

 

“Okay, I believe you. So what happened?”

 

“Last night after everyone went to bed, they snuck into my room. They were expecting to find me alone in the bed …”

 

“And Selphie was with you?” Hitomi blurted.

 

Dryden scowled at her, “You know that Selphie has her own bedroom. She doesn't sleep with me - I don't sleep with her. Our relationship isn't like that. It's hard on me,” he said quieter. “But our relationship isn't like that. Anyway, they were expecting to find me in my bed and I wasn't there. I was in the downstairs study on the phone with the butler. I told you before that my business needs me. Well, it's my father's corporation and the board of trustees wants me to come back and work for them full time like I'm supposed to. I originally told them that I wouldn't be back to work before Christmas, but the board refuses to see things my way and they are after me to come back sooner. Among other things I'm the vice president in charge of external relations and advertising. This might sound cocky, but I'm really good at it, and my temporary replacement is floundering in my shoes.”

 

“I don't think that sounds cocky, Dryden. You would be good at public relations.”

 

“Thanks Hitomi. I really am exceptional at it. So, lately, besides procrastinating giving the executive committee a proper answer, I have been working on the latest advertising campaign in my spare moments. I used to do it at school as well, but … well, you shouldn't have to be burdened with all my problems. When Naria and Eriya found my room empty, they burst into Selphie's room to see if I was with her and they scared the living daylights out of her. She came rushing to my study, because she knew that's where I was - she knows about my problems. She was absolutely hysterical and she begged me to put her on a plane to Naples because she couldn't stand being here for another second.”

 

“How did you convince her to stay?” Hitomi asked, totally dumbfounded.

 

“I didn't,” Dryden said, looking defeated and falling into a chair. “She's planning to stay for one more week and if I can't pull through for her then she's leaving … forever.”

 

“What does she want you to do?”

 

Dryden looked around the room like it was a desolate wasteland with no water in sight. “I can't do it … what she wants. I can't do it. I need more time than a week. But I understand, and if she has to go then she has to go.”

 

“You'd let her?” Hitomi exclaimed, surprised that he was willing to give up so easily. “You love her, don't you? It's not okay to just let her go, is it?”

 

Dryden put his hands together and looked at Hitomi. “It would probably be better if she left, not because I don't want her or because I don't love her, but because … I'm not ready for her yet. If she left, someday I'd get her back.”

 

There was a gasp at the door, and Hitomi and Dryden looked up to see Naria standing at the door. She lingered at the doorway for a second, not looking anything like a wounded female. Her eyes shimmered like poisonous blue fire - directed exactly at Dryden's heart - and then she turned away. She disappeared into the training gym and didn't look back.

 

“Was that bad?” Hitomi asked Dryden quietly after she was sure that Naria was well out of earshot.

 

“It's okay. I had it out with both of them last night. They know that I'm not going to marry either of them or start up a contract. Besides, even though they seem really hot to get a contract up and running, neither of them really want to have children right now. What they really want is a full-scale romance and they thought that at least one of them could have one with me, but that isn't possible. I'm never going to enter into a contract with a Tarot user. There's no need. We need new blood and I'm the key to all that, because it's believed that I can have children with a regular human, so I'm lucky. I get to have my choice of a companion. So that's all there is to it. But, they know where they stand after the fiasco last night. They know that they can stay here and train as long as they like, and that I'll help them, but there's no way I'm changing my mind about having one of them become my woman. They're fine women and all that, but they're not for me,” Dryden said, sounding determined.

 

Hitomi nodded, but she wasn't a hundred percent sure she understood Dryden. He sounded like Van, saying that he and Selphie needed to be apart, and for what reason? Hitomi didn't understand.

 

***

 

Later that night, Hitomi and Van were in the training gym alone. Van had dressed her up in his clothes back in their room and hauled her down to the training gym.

 

“What's all this?” she asked, as she stood opposite him, alone in the huge hall. For a second, she thought that he was going to propose that they learn how to use darkness together.

 

When he suddenly said, “Hitomi, I'd like to see if you can turn into me.”

 

“Why?” she asked, suddenly alarmed. Turning into a guy sounded too weird, too invasive, and like something she had no desire to do.

 

“I think this might be why you're more powerful than all of us. If you can turn into me and use all my Tarot abilities, then that would easily explain why Dryden says that you're the second toughest Tarot user ever born. Come on, give it a try.”

 

Hitomi balked, “I'm a little uncomfortable with this, Van. Please don't make me.”

 

He looked disappointed, but he said, “I won't force you. I just thought it would be interesting.” Van moved to leave the gym, but Hitomi stopped him.

 

“Wait, okay, I see where you're going with this, but something funny might happen. I felt wretched when I tried to turn into Celena, so please keep an eye on me.”

 

He agreed.

 

Hitomi lay down on the tile and did the exercise she now thought of as standard to change her body into someone else. First, his eyes were brown, a deep sherry colour. Then she thought about the way his hair was cut and the colour of it. Then she thought about his height and his shoulders, his knuckles and his nose. This was different than the other times. She knew a lot more about Van's body than she knew about anyone else's and the rest of him was coming into focus so fast for her she almost gagged like she was drowning. When she thought of his voice, she knew she had it, and so much faster than what happened when she tried to transform into Marlene.

 

Van helped her up when she was finished, and looked at her carefully. “Is that really what I look like?”

 

“I guess,” Hitomi said. The emotions she felt when she wore Van's body were much different than when she had worn Marlene's. It felt like he was so emotionally charged that he was going to bust out of his skin. Hitomi had no way of guessing before how passionate and empowered Van was about getting revenge on Folken. Now she knew for sure how dead serious he was. It was scary for her to feel this bloodthirsty. She had never felt this strongly about anything when she was herself and the rush of feeling was overpowering her.

 

“Hitomi,” Van asked, “What's wrong?”

 

“I just … didn't realize … that you … wanted … to kill Folken … this much,” she said with his voice, choking and coughing at the same time.

 

“You feel what I feel, eh?” he asked, pounding on her back with his palm to help her with the coughing. “Let's get your mind off that, though I admit that this situation is extremely weird. Try to think about fire and see if you can call it up,” he suggested when she pulled herself together.

 

Hitomi tried to think of how to call up fire, and it came to her so fast. It was like she'd known how to do it for years. She extended his hand and snapped his fingers and brought up a flame just like he had when he had done the demonstration for Naria and Eriya.

 

“Wow …” he said, looking astounded … and completely creeped out, even though he wouldn't admit it. His eyebrow was twitching.

 

She let the fire die and hoped that Van would finish his experiment soon. She didn't like how he looked at her, because it wasn't like he was looking at her, but like he was looking at himself … he was looking at himself. This difference in her was definitely going to take some time to adjust to.

 

“Do you want me to try air?” she asked.

 

“No,” he said immediately. “There's no way I want you to try something as dangerous as that. I'm just thinking. You can use water and ice because you've already learned how to use them, but what about something else that I have that you don't?”

 

“There's earth, lightning, light and darkness, but none of those will work,” she said.

 

“How do you know?” Van asked.

 

“Because you don't know how to use them,” Hitomi answered. “Besides, this is weird. Your arms are longer than mine and so are your legs.” She started walking in circles around him. “It doesn't feel exactly natural, but it feels familiar.”

 

“Hmm … it really will take some getting used to.”

 

“Are you done checking me out? Can I change back?” she asked, coming up beside Van and putting his arm around him.

 

Van jumped back at her touch. “Yes! You can change back.”

 

“What's going on in here?” Dryden asked, coming in. “Whoa!” he said when he saw two Van's standing side by side. “You were able to do it. Good for you.”

 

“Do you know which one of us is the real Van?” Van asked.

 

Dryden stared. “I'd guess it's you,” he said pointing to Van. “That one isn't wearing any shoes. But otherwise, I probably wouldn't have known.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. So, were you two able to discover anything interesting?”

 

“Watch me!” Hitomi said, suddenly getting the urge to show off - was this how Van felt? She breathed hard and called up a little column of fire. “I bet I can even do better than this, but I don't want to cause too much damage.” Hitomi guessed that she didn't expect Dryden to be very interested, but he was exceptionally impressed.

 

His eyes were wide as he watched her play with the fire. “So, I see. That's why you're so powerful. You can turn into anyone and use their powers; because there's no way you have fire otherwise. Unbelievable!”

 

Van was holding his forehead and shaking his head, “Turn back already, Hitomi. Even though we learned a lot through this little experiment, I don't think I want to see you do this again. It's unsettling.”

 

Hitomi closed her eyes and remained standing this time. She went through the doors in her mind to turn herself back into herself - her eyes, her hair, her height, her body, her voice - and when she opened her eyes, she looked like herself again.

 

“That was fast,” Dryden said, sounding pleased.

 

“What does the transformation look like from your perspective?” Hitomi asked Dryden and Van. She had never seen it.

 

“Well, first your hair changed colour and then it grew, and then I blinked and you looked like yourself. It was really fast,” Dryden said.

 

“Yeah, it was like that,” Van agreed.

 

“Here, Hitomi. I found Akira's logbook. I looked at it at least five times before I finally figured out that this was her log. It's titled funny. Most of them are titled with whatever their official Tarot name was, so I was looking for a book called `The Changeling', but there was nothing like that. I started opening the books when I got impatient and found it. It's called `Reoccurring Dream'. Interesting, huh?”

 

“Yeah,” Hitomi said, taking the slim purple book from him. This was something she definitely wanted to read. “Thanks for finding it for me, Dryden.”

 

“You're welcome. Oh, and I wanted to ask you. Have either of you seen Naria and Eriya?”

 

Both Van and Hitomi shook their heads.

 

“Hmm … are you guys done for the night, because I'd like to lock up now, if that's all right?”

 

“That's fine,” Van said, taking hold of Hitomi's elbow and ushering her out of the gym. It didn't take a genius to recognize that Van wasn't taking Hitomi's transformation well. It looked like it bothered him a lot. He was touching her to remind himself what she was really like.

 

Dryden turned off the lights and came out of the west wing of the mansion with them. As soon as the three of them were back in the main part of the house, one of the maids was buzzing on all the intercoms looking for Master Dryden.

 

Dryden grabbed one of the intercoms on the wall and pressed the button that allowed him to talk. “I'm here,” he said. “What is it?”

 

“Master Dryden, I just found a note from Miss Naria and Miss Eriya in their room. They said they went to a concert in the city.”

 

“Oh, is that all? Does the note say when they're coming back?” Dryden asked, sounding calm.

 

“No, but Master, they say they've gone to The Voltage Room,” the girl's voice squealed.