Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mark of a Goddess ❯ The Night of the Dragon Slayers ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

The Night of the Dragon Slayers

 

Sleep is a delicate state. It's especially delicate to a young woman with a lot weighing down on her mind. Hitomi tossed and turned, but she couldn't rest. Van was lying beside her. He slept with a clean conscience. He hadn't done anything wrong … yet. He was sleeping on his stomach and the dim light from the window was bright enough for her to see his moon tattoo on his back. It was like nothing was bothering him. He was always strong and confident in his convictions. Hitomi told herself that she was the same as him. She hadn't done anything wrong … but if she hadn't done anything wrong than why did her heart feel so heavy?

 

It had only been earlier that day that she had read Akira's log book, and she was still rolling around what she had learned in her head.

 

Hitomi hadn't thought much about Akira when she was alive. Hitomi had been sorrier about her death than anything, but so much about Aunt Akira had been a mystery. It was probably only the suddenness of her death that bothered Hitomi. Car accidents always broke everyone up, because they were so senseless. Now that the truth about her personality and feelings had come to light, Hitomi wasn't sure if she knew everything about the night Akira had died. She was an experienced racer - how could she have died in a car accident? On the other hand, maybe it was because she was an experienced racer that she had died in a car accident. It didn't matter. Regardless of whether it was Akira's fault or not didn't matter to Hitomi. She was certain Akira had not done it intentionally.

 

Hitomi felt a great swell of pity sting her heart over her lost friend. Akira had loved her, more than Hitomi ever realized.

 

It seemed that there was only one other person in this world that Akira cared for and who cared for her - Folken. She and Folken had been the only people Akira bothered to speak about in her logbook that would be passed down from generation to generation. There had been no one else in this world that mattered enough to her - not even her own sister. It didn't matter to Hitomi that Akira had Dominic with her since she was ten. Only having one person close to you like that seemed awfully lonely to Hitomi. Dominic was not someone who could give full support to a woman. To Hitomi, if he could not touch Akira than he could not support her. So, that left Hitomi thinking about Folken again. Although Akira loved both her and Folken, she could not stay close to either of them. Instead, she chose to live lonely, because of the Tarot user code.

 

It seemed like a trap that all Tarot users fell into.

 

Hitomi looked at Van in the darkness.

 

That trap seemed to be lying beside her. The only person who would stay with Hitomi through her long life was Van. For the first time, the reality of Hitomi's immortality really sunk into her heart. She felt like she was running through the rain. The chill of her thoughts seemed to sink to her bones. She had not faced it before, but Akira's life forced her to think about it, even though she didn't want to. What would happen to her when Van died? Dryden thought that Van would die eventually. Beautiful, charismatic, willful Van would age and die before her eyes - as well as every other person she had ever met, and she could not go with them.

 

These melancholy thoughts wracked her body and soul for hours. Everything always seems scarier and less certain in the darkness, especially when you don't feel comfortable waking the person next to you to talk about what's bothering you. It was worse for Hitomi than if she had been alone.

 

It was three o'clock in the morning and she still wasn't able to sleep. In this state of fear and tension, Hitomi finally reasoned herself down to recognizing two problems. The first problem was that Van would not be fit to live with if he was allowed to take his revenge on Folken. The second problem was that she would not be fit to live with if Folken, the only other person Akira loved, was killed.

 

Ah, the irony. Hitomi was realizing more and more that she and Van were going to have a fight in the near future about Folken's fate. She hadn't told Van that she was going to be a stumbling block on the path to his ultimate goal. That was what she decided under the waterfall. That was the truth of her promise to herself. She was going to turn herself into Van's worst enemy. It was miserable to have to fight with the one person who could accompany her through her life, but Van had to be protected from his rashness - even if he didn't like it. Well, she wouldn't let the conflict between them come to blows. In a physical fight against Van, she could never win, but there were other ways of fighting and she couldn't be too honourable if she was going to be successful. She would have to prepare a cage for him if he insisted on going too far. She'd have to give it some thought. Trapping Van could be complicated.

 

So, there Hitomi was at three o'clock in the morning wide away and thinking hard, when she heard a sound. It was a creaking sound - one she had not heard many times since her arrival at Dryden's mansion. Someone was opening the front gate.

 

Curious, Hitomi sprung from her bed. She left her bedroom and went down the hall. There was a view of the drive from the second floor by Selphie's room. At first, Hitomi couldn't see anything. She thought that maybe Dryden had a reason and left in the middle of the night. The gate might have been opening to let him out rather than to let someone in, but she had to make sure. She squinted in the darkness and she thought she saw something. There were people, lots of people coming toward the mansion. Hitomi stood frozen in front of the window. What was going on? She couldn't see anyone clearly from across the snow. It was too dark and they were still too far away. She braced herself and was determined not to freak out until she understood what was going on. Then one by one the lights came on, everyone who was coming up the snow scraped driveway was carrying a torch.

 

Dilandau and the Dragon Slayers were coming. They were finally coming … to take Celena back.

 

Hitomi turned around and started hammering on the bedroom doors - except Selphie's. She banged on Allen's door. “Allen - get up! The Dragon Slayers are here. Gaddes! Get up! The Dragon Slayers …”

 

She was about to bang on her and Van's door, but he was already out in the hall. He hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on. “What's going on, Hitomi?”

 

“The Dragon Slayers are here - look out that window!” Hitomi hollered, pointing towards the hall window. “Dryden!” she yelled, banging on his door as well.

 

Apparently Dryden was sleeping light because Hitomi didn't get to bang on his door more than twice before he opened it. Even though the situation was dangerous, Hitomi was instantly relieved that when Dryden pulled open his door and revealed that he was dressed. At least he was wearing a white T-shirt with his striped pajama bottoms.

 

He rushed to the window and stood beside Van, looking at the advancing torches. “Wow! The Dragon Slayers really have that many people?” he exclaimed.

 

Van put his hand on his hip impatiently. “Of course they do. What did you think? I guess now is the time to show us what this mansion of yours can do,” Van said, looking interested.

 

“Are you serious? You're a guest in my home and you're going to let your enemies - not mine - trash it?” Dryden said, literally laughing at the situation.

 

Van gave Dryden a dirty look. “And I thought you were going to show us something really cool. Not the right circumstances for you to help out?” he muttered.

 

Dryden smiled cheerfully and touched his nose as if to say that Van hit the point right on the head.

 

“Fine,” Van said. “I'll go out and stop them.”

 

By this time Allen and Gaddes were surfacing from their rooms, looking surprisingly alert. Both of them were fully dressed. Gaddes was even carrying his winter coat.

 

“Okay everyone,” Van said, standing proud in his boxers. “Here's what we're going to do. Hitomi and I will go out the front doors and meet them. Dryden, you go protect Celena and Eries. Allen, and Gaddes, you two wake up Selphie and the servants. Call the police and tell them what's happening. Okay everyone?” he said authoritatively.

 

Dryden nodded and headed off down the stairs towards Celena's room like a shot.

 

“Wait!” Allen shouted. “This arrangement makes no sense. Why are you taking Hitomi out there with you? I should be the one out there to meet them - I'm the one who wants to get Dil…”

 

“Allen, shut the hell up!” Dryden hollered from the stairwell. Apparently, he hadn't made it all the way down the stairs and just his head was visible from where he stood. “Van knows what he's doing and I'm leaving my woman in your care in order to protect your sister. You'd better take good care of Selphie. Just do what Van tells you to do. There's no time for squabbling.”

 

“That's another thing. Shouldn't I be the one to take care of Celena?” Allen asked furiously.

 

“Gaddes,” Van said, looking past Allen at his friend. “Please take care of everything. I can't wait any longer. I need to get outside. Come on, Hitomi - let's go. Allen, I'll talk to you later,” Van stated firmly before he turned away. It sounded like a threat.

 

Van went back into the bedroom and pulled on his clothes. Hitomi rushed after him and did the same. She was forcing herself to remember how well she'd behaved in the kitchen that time when she fought those guys in The Voltage Room, so that she wouldn't panic now. This couldn't be as bad at that. No matter how many people the Dragon Slayers had with them, if they had Van on their side, then they couldn't lose. Hitomi's faith in Van was that strong.

 

Hitomi grabbed her coat and rushed down the stairs before Van. Her boots had zippers up the sides, whereas he had to lace his boots, so she beat him. She left her hands bare, but put a toque on her head while she looked out the front windows. It was bleeding cold outside.

 

Dilandau was in the front. He wasn't carrying a torch, but there were two guys standing next to him that were each carrying one. It made him easy to see. His face was like stone. Hitomi didn't know exactly what they were planning, but this was horrible.

 

“He must be counting on me not being violent enough to kill anyone tonight since he's gutsy enough to bring so many people here. He must be planning to use his own people as hostages, or at least to stop me from going berserk. Sans that time at their hospital, he knows I don't operate well in crowds,” Van said, joining Hitomi by the window and taking in the scene. “Well, we'll show him, won't we?”

 

“What are we going to do?” Hitomi asked, unsure of his plan.

 

“We're going to go out and meet them,” Van said bravely, swinging the front door open and stepping into the night. “Come on, Hitomi,” he said, reaching for her hand. “This is our chance to do something together. I can use ice too now, so there's no need to hurt any of these people with anything more dangerous than a little frostbite. We just need to convince the mob that fighting us for Dilandau's sake would be dangerous and stupid. Dilandau probably won't give up, so all we have to do is keep him here and entertained until the cops make it here. It should be a piece of cake - hardly exciting enough to merit getting out of bed at three a.m.”

 

Hitomi took his hand and smiled at him. Van really knew how to take the reins of any situation. It made her proud of him. It made her want to be with him. He wasn't wearing gloves either and his hands were warm.

 

“Let's do this!” Hitomi said brightly and they walked down the stairs together.

 

Dilandau signaled to the main group of Dragon Slayers to stay where they were. Then he and his two buddies walked the rest of the way to meet Hitomi and Van face to face. It seemed he wanted to talk. As he approached them he looked perfect. Dilandau was a handsome guy and seeing him always rattled Hitomi. It had to be because of her past feelings for him, but tonight it seemed worse than usual. His appearance was affecting her more than when she saw him at The Voltage Room last. Hmm … when she saw him at The Voltage Room last …

 

“What do you want?” Van asked coolly, sounding as though it didn't matter to him that Dilandau had made such a show of coming with all his followers. He was one hundred percent indifferent.

 

Dilandau smirked, also looking confident. There was a familiar sneer on his lips. “I'm here to take Celena back,” he said simply.

 

“And you thought that if you just showed up here, I'd give her to you? Come on, give me a little credit,” Van mocked.

 

Dilandau's eyes narrowed. “If you refuse, we'll burn down your friend's mansion. The guard at the gate has already been taken care of.”

 

“What did you do to him?” Van demanded, finally starting to sound provoked.

 

Hitomi's head was cocked to the side. There was something wrong with this conversation. She wasn't sure, but she thought that Dilandau's voice didn't sound right. It didn't sound right at all. This conversation was too straightforward for Dilly. He liked to play games. He never said anything directly … and his voice sounded funny. Those times when she met those fake Van's at The Voltage Room, none of them had ever spoken. Could it be…

 

“Don't get your panties in a twist, Mr. Fanel. We just treated the guard to a short nap, but if you don't give me Celena, I could easily arrange for him to nap on a more permanent basis,” Dilandau drawled.

 

Then Hitomi was sure. There was no way this was actually Dilandau. It had to be a trick of Folken's, like when she thought Van was kissing her neck on the dance floor that one time and it was really Dilandau. Hitomi looked around frantically. The real Dilandau had to be here somewhere. There was no way he'd leave the task of getting Celena back to his friends in the Dragon Slayers. This was something he'd be personally involved it. Then she got what was happening. They weren't planning on burning down Dryden's house at all. They were planning to distract Van and her while Dilandau went and quietly took Celena back straight from her room. This was all a distraction.

She looked at Van. She wasn't sure how well Van got to know Dilandau during the time period he was getting blood transfusions from him. Maybe Van didn't know Dilandau very well. Maybe he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the real thing and a fake. She thought for one second to see if there was a way that she could alert Van to the true state of things, but she knew there wasn't time.

 

“Well, I'm not giving you Celena,” Van said between set teeth.

 

Hitomi grabbed the sleeve of his coat just to get his attention and then she turned and ran back into the mansion with all due speed. “Take care of the rest, Van. I love you!”

 

She made it to the house and bolted the door before running as hard as she could towards Celena and Eries' rooms. They were not near the front of the house - in fact they were at the other end down a very long corridor. Hitomi ran, wet snow covered boots and everything. She was positive that she was right. Dilandau was not attacking the front door, but Celena's room directly.

 

When Hitomi made it to their rooms, the doors were open and the rooms were empty. However, one window in Celena's room was wide open. The wind was blowing the curtains. Hitomi rushed to it and saw that everyone was outside. Dilandau was there, holding Celena by the throat. He had a gun pointed to her head. Dryden and Eries were trying to talk him out of doing something stupid.

 

“She's sick!” Eries was yelling - her voice desperate and full of tears. “Please don't move her!”

 

“Stay away!” Dilandua barked desperately. When Hitomi saw him she couldn't believe he was the same person. His eyes were huge and so bloodshot that they looked completely red with no whites. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind and the gun in his hand was faltering. Celena looked terrified and so ill that it was amazing she was still on her feet.

 

It seemed that Dryden was too late. Dilandau had probably attacked the room while Van had been giving them instructions. Dang it!

 

Hitomi wasn't sure if Dilandau or Celena saw her at the window, but she had to do something. She leaned against the wall by the window and tried to think of what she could do. Her elemental abilities seemed totally useless in a situation like this. What good would a water gun or an ice crystal do in a situation like this?

 

At that exact second there was a large CRACK that seemed to shutter through every part of the house, even making the bricks themselves tremble.

 

What the heck was that? Was that Van's pyrotechnics? She thought that he wasn't going to use fire.

 

Hitomi moved the curtain and took a peek outside. Dilandau, Dryden and Eries were all staring at the house. Celena was looking at the sky, but then she seemed to lose her strength. She passed out. Was Dilandau strong enough to carry her without her help in his current state? Hitomi doubted it. If he made a slow retreat than maybe he would be easier to get. He was trying to ease Celena into a different position. He couldn't keep her out of the snow and point his gun threateningly at the same time. He would have to let her fall into the snow, or he would have to put away his gun. It looked like he was trying to pick Celena up instead of threaten Dryden and Eries.

 

This was her chance!

 

Hitomi felt the beat of her heart and jumped out of the window. As she ran towards Dilandau she felt the wind across her face and the thunder in her chest - her ice mittens were forming on her hands. She didn't think she stood a chance of winning, but at least she could give Dryden an opening to nab Celena. Dilandau was kneeling now, as he held Celena in his arms, he tried to rouse her using his voice.

 

“Come on! Wake up!” he called, speaking unusually gently for a monster. However, he looked up when he heard Hitomi's footfalls, and his expression changed completely. The characteristic sneer was ripe on his lips.

 

Hitomi saw no reason to hesitate. This might be her only chance.

 

It was dim, but the orange light from the city lit her way as she took the most aggressive stance she could think of. He was in the middle of raising his gun when she arrived beside him. She lifted her foot and connected it with his head. At least she thought it connected. The force of her kick was enough to knock him into the snow. The feeling in her foot let her know that she hadn't landed the blow she wanted. He had used his gun to block. It had taken most of the impact.

 

Celena and Dilandau both lay in the snow, but Hitomi couldn't take the time to try to pull Celena away from him.

 

“Dryden!” she screamed, winding up to kick Dilandau again. “Take Celena! Hurry!”

 

Hitomi was aiming for Dilandau's gun-hand, but he let go of Celena with his left hand and grabbed Hitomi's ankle in mid-swing, pulling her into the ankle-deep snow. It was cold, but Hitomi was glad she was enough of a distraction to give Dryden that chance to save Celena.

 

“You bitch!” Dilandau screeched, turning his attention to Dryden who was bent over to pull Celena up. What a hero! Dryden hadn't even stopped long enough to put a coat on. The wind was ruffling his thin white shirt around his chest.

 

Hitomi was pushing herself to her feet, but she wasn't as fast as Dilandau.

 

“Give her back or I'll kill you!” Dilandau hollered. He was standing now and pointing his gun at Dryden's head.

 

Dryden's didn't immediately comply. His eyes were steady as he stared back at Dilandau. There was no trace of fear on his face - nothing. But the gun still made him hesitate and Celena was slipping from his arms. She was sliding back into the snow.

 

Hitomi ground her teeth together! She couldn't let that lunatic hurt Dryden - precious Dryden. She stepped between Dryden and Dilandau. She took her ice glove and punched Dilandau's fist with it. She didn't want to hurt him. She just wanted to get his attention, and to get that horrid gun out of his dangerous hands.

 

“You're fighting me!” she said, challenging him.

 

His gun fell into the snow.

 

Dilandau shook his head and took a step back. He was holding his right hand with his left in a manner that was unlike him. It was then that Hitomi realized that she had really hurt him - above and beyond her expectations. He was wearing tight black leather gloves, but Hitomi had no idea how much she hurt him with that punch, until he reacted. He was biting his lip and holding back.

 

Hitomi looked at her hands. The crystals on her knuckles were long and sharp, made tougher by her desperate attitude. She hadn't noticed how cruel they had become, because her hands didn't even feel cold.

 

Dryden was fast and he gathered Celena in his arms and pulled her away from Hitomi and Dilandau.

 

Dilandau shook his head slightly as he recovered from the punch. “I don't have time for you, bitch!” he spat. Even in the half light Hitomi could see the vermillion droplets of his blood slipping between his fingers. She had cut right through the leather. “Get out of my way! She's the only one I love. How could you possibly understand?”

 

There was an odd feeling in Hitomi stomach. She felt like it was going to turn over. The blood on his fingers was coming faster now. Hitomi was having flashbacks of the time when she stabbed Miguel and she was having a hard time steadying her nerves. “If you can't take me, then there's no way you can take Van,” she said, her breath escaping from her lips in a white vapour.

 

“Right,” Dilandau said, reaching into his coat pocket.

 

Did he have a knife or another gun, Hitomi wondered as she tried to prepare herself for his attack. What was he going to do? Damn it. Even with Dilandau in his current state, he was friggin' strong. She didn't have enough experience fighting to manage with this. She was going to have to do a big attack, like the first time she summoned her power, but before she unleashed something like that, she had to make sure that Dryden had taken Celena and Eries back into the mansion.

 

The wind was blowing in her ear and she wouldn't have been able to hear Dryden if he was shouting at her. But then a sound came on the wind. It was like a gym whistle that made everyone stop playing. Dilandau's ears perked up and he was listening intently as well. When he recognized it, his eyes popped open.

 

It was a siren.

 

Hitomi turned and looked towards the front of the house. She could see the police cruiser lights on the road, and something else she hadn't exactly expected. Dryden's mansion was definitely on fire. The blaze was lighting up the night sky and turning it yellow.

 

In that second that her attention was directed away from Dilandau, he grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth and nose with something. It smelt … black.

 

Hitomi fell limp and only felt the cold of the snow on her knees before fading into oblivion.