Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mark of a Goddess ❯ Earth Bound ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

Earth Bound

 

When Hitomi woke up, amazingly, she was in her own bed in Dryden's mansion. Van was sitting beside her holding the back of her hand to his cheek.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes large with hurt and concern.

Hitomi felt her body. She didn't feel hurt. Normally, her hands were frostbitten after calling up her ice mittens for as long as she had the night before, but this time they looked completely unharmed. She thought it was a sign that she was getting better with them.

“I think so …” she said slowly, shaking her head sickly. “Dilly got me with something, didn't he? What was it? Chloroform?”

“Yeah, it was chloroform,” Van admitted. He got up from the chair and pulled the covers off of Hitomi, just enough for him to get under the blanket with her. He pulled her so that she lay down with her head on his chest and his arm around her hip. “I didn't know what he'd used, but the police confirmed it when they got here. They wanted to take you to the hospital, but I wouldn't let them. Even though I said that you were fine and didn't need to go, I was really worried about you. I'm so glad you're safe.” He squeezed her to him tightly. He kissed her hair and hugged her closely again.

“What happened?” she asked him, impatient for information. “Did we win?”

“Oh yes,” he said in his deepest voice. “And it's all thanks to you. If you hadn't realized that the guy I was fighting at the front was just a diversion, then Dilandau would have made away with Celena for sure. That's what Dryden thinks anyway. He says Dilandau was already out the window with Celena when he got there. Those Dragon Slayers are crazy bastards though. Did you realize they used a cannon on me?”

“A cannon?” Hitomi blurted, suddenly sitting upright. “Like a barrel and a giant ball with a fuse … a cannon?”

Van nodded. “It was sort of home made, but I'll give this to them - it worked.”

Hitomi instantly started feeling his ribs. “They didn't get you did they?” she asked, grabbing him.

“Stop that,” he commanded sillily, grabbing her hands. “It tickles. No, of course they didn't get me with it, but they did get to knock a giant hole in the manse. Set the place on fire too. Luckily, I stopped the fire before the fire department was called. It would have been a giant pain in the butt if they had showed up as well as the police.”

“What happened to the Dragon Slayers and the guard they took hostage?” Hitomi asked.

“Most of them ran off when the police showed up. Apparently, they were expecting to have to make a hasty get-away with so many people. I think the police only arrested five or six out of that huge procession that came up the front driveway.” Van shrugged, “Dilandau got away as well. Oh, and it didn't look like they were actually planning to do anything terrible to the guard. They just tied him up and left him. I think they expected us to call the police, and they wanted to limit the amount of trouble they got into.”

“Well … then, how was I saved?”

Van was slowly shaking his head. “That guy is so weird.”

“Dryden saved me?” Hitomi asked with raised, interested, eyebrows.

Van nodded. “Yeah. He said that you intervened and knocked Dilandau's gun out of his hand, giving him the perfect chance to get Celena back into the house. He said that Celena was barely on the floor before he had to turn around and threaten Dilandau with his own gun to shove off.”

“Yeah, that all sounds pretty normal - for us. So, why is he weird?”

Van screwed up his face in discomfort, “Because he was going to let you beat Dilandau to a bloody pulp. That was Plan A. Plan B was to try to use the gun and the sirens to scare him away.” Here Van abruptly stopped.

“What was Plan C?”

“I have no bleeding clue. When I asked him he said it was a secret, and heck, I don't want to know. I'm just glad that he was able to save you. Dilandau was obviously trying to kidnap you. Folken probably asked him to try to get you, or me, or something - I don't know. They probably still want my blood, or maybe they want your blood. The thing is that I thought that the only reason they were attacking tonight was to try to take Celena back, but since Dilandau tried to take you too, I think there's more to this. What is Folken thinking? What does he still want with you if he's got Naria and Eriya, and he knows that you're my wife? I can't figure it out. They can't want you for their disgusting little experiments. Your symbol is not an animal. The only thing I can see as a possibility is that they are trying to use you to get to me, but they should be done with me by now. But I'll tell you; I've had it, Hitomi. From now on my training has to be way more serious. Folken can't be allowed to just do what he wants. From today on, I'm doubling the amount of time I spend in the training gym and library. Instead of six hours a day - I'm going to do twelve.”

Hitomi gaped. “Is that really necessary?” she asked nervously. If Van worked that hard, she'd have to work even harder to be able to beat him. Yeah, Dilandau had tried to kidnap her. Maybe Folken requested it and maybe he didn't. It could have been Dornkirk instead. Hitomi just wouldn't believe on Van's word that Folken had always the criminal mastermind behind everything. And there was always the possibility that the whole thing had been Dilandau's idea from the start. He might have been trying to use her as a bargaining chip to get Celena back.

“I'll do whatever it takes. I won't take anymore of this crap. I was locked up and bled - kept away from my new wife - in order to meet his conditions. No more patience and definitely no forgiveness. This is beyond personal. I've got to kill him or I'll never be able to relax.”

Hitomi frowned. She couldn't help it. How was she going to beat Van if he was this dedicated?

Van stopped his tirade and looked into her eyes. “I'm sorry, Hitomi. I shouldn't have said that much. I know you don't like me talking about that, and you've been through a lot tonight.”

“It's okay,” she lied. “Is that everything that happened?”

“I think so. Dryden is still downstairs talking to the police. Eventually, you'll probably have to talk to them, too. Do you want to talk to them now, or would you rather we pretended that you're still out like a light, so that you don't have to answer questions until later?”

“Later,” Hitomi said emphatically. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain everything to the police. But she shifted her position a little, so that it might have seemed like she was trying to get up.

“Hey,” Van said, holding her tightly. “I didn't give you permission to go,” he said playfully.

“Oh?” Hitomi questioned, raising her eyebrows.

“I haven't finished telling you how amazing you were,” he said, touching her bottom lip with his finger. “I'll have to start at the beginning, and so it might take me a very long time to finish.”

 

***

 

Sometime later, Hitomi and Van were downstairs sitting at the dinning room table with everybody, except Celena who was resting on Allen's bed. They were all having lunch together.

“She can't stay here,” Allen declared noisily, speaking of Celena.

“Didn't we prove we could protect her?” Van asked, looking more annoyed with Allen than he'd ever looked before.

“That's hardly the point. The Dragon Slayers know where she is now. Dilandau will certainly come back and I don't care what powers you have, it might not go so well next time,” Allen said.

Van was rolling his eyes and looking disgusted. He had already told Hitomi that Allen was pissed off about being left out of the fight like a civilian. He and Van were supposed to be best friends and Van hadn't explained that Dryden and Hitomi were both Tarot users. Van didn't really trust Allen anymore and it could never be shown more clearly than in a crisis. Instead of trusting his friend, he'd sent him to go look after the servants and Dryden's girlfriend. Allen was angry at this obvious dismissal and Hitomi couldn't figure out if she thought he was justified or not. Maybe he needed an explanation, but if he couldn't be trusted, then he couldn't be trusted with the real reason for the setup. Right now he was lashing out at Van, and Van wasn't going to do a thing to ease Allen's mind. He was just going to let Allen stay angry as long as he wanted. It wasn't Van's style to reassure.

Naturally, Dryden came to the rescue. “I agree,” he said loudly, taking everyone at the table by surprise.

“What?” Allen asked, looking shocked.

“Just what I said. I agree completely that Celena shouldn't stay here. It's unthinkable, really. Instead, I think she needs to be moved again - to a much safer place.”

“What place could be safer than here?” Hitomi interrupted. She was totally confused.

Dryden looked like he had thought of a great scheme and that he was delighted to be able to share it. “I was thinking that the move needs to be more drastic than simply moving her to another place in the city. She obviously needs to be moved out of the country.”

“Out of the country! Who's going to pay for that” Allen exclaimed.

“I will, of course,” Dryden said smoothly.

“Where's she going to go?” Allen asked, looking like he was going to pop right out of his chair.

“I was thinking she could go to the Fassa main house. It's in Spain - Madrid, actually. I haven't been there often, but I can't think of anyone better to help in this situation then my family butler. He's a genius and I know he would be the best person to not only make sure that Celena was as comfortable as possible, but also to employ a whole army - if necessary - to protect her. That's the best solution I can think up.”

“Do you really think that's a good idea?” Allen asked, sounding skeptical.

“It's a fabulous idea. Dilandau can scarcely move his entire clan of little mutant minions to Spain in order to chase her. He doesn't have resources like that, and you must have realized by now that only Dilandau is interested in getting Celena back. The higher-ups in the Zaibach group don't care about her at all. Their focus is still Van; so basically, I think she'll be safe as long as she's separated from The Dragon. Do you catch my meaning?”

Allen looked sullen. He wasn't going to fight with Dryden when he made that much sense. Instead, he scoffed.

“What's your plan exactly, Dryden?” Van continued, putting his elbows on the table and leaning forward like he was ready to deal a hand of poker.

“I know you don't want to leave the city, because you still want to have it out with Folken. I wasn't going to suggest that you leave. I'll give you the codes to the west wing, and I'll take Celena, Eries, Gaddes and Allen (if he's willing) to Madrid for their protection. You and I will fix the mansion this afternoon and the rest of us can start the trip by flying to New York tonight,” Dryden said.

“We're going to fix the mansion today?” Van said, looking unconvinced.

“For a big strong dragon like you, it shouldn't take any time at all,” Dryden said, winking.

Van gave him a sideways glance that clearly showed his disgust, “I'll sic Hitomi on you if you keep hitting on me like that, Dryden. It's freaking creepy.”

“I'm not hitting on you,” Dryden said off-handedly.

“No, you're too hetero for that, but you're definitely making fun of me.”

“Is that worse?” Dryden laughed.

Van eyed Dryden, “Maybe.”

“So it would be better if I were hitting on you?” Amusement covered every part of Dryden's face.

Van shook his head, “No! Shut up! Why are you always so weird?”

“I just wanted to let you know how much I love you before we leave tonight. Oh, and Allen, thank you for helping Selphie, even though you didn't want to. It was definitely appreciated. To show my gratitude, you can even sit next to her on the plane,” Dryden said, turning his attention towards Allen.

“How come you get to decide whether or not I'm going? I'm not going anywhere. I said that I'd get even with Dilandau for what he did to Celena, and I'm going to. Who ever heard of forcing a woman to carry your child? He definitely needs to be taught a lesson …”

“And you're he proper person?” Dryden interrupted.

“Yes, I am,” Allen said boldly. Every line in his body indicated that he thought he was right.

“Well, when I leave here tonight, I will no longer be the master of this house. So, if you want to stay here, you'll have to have Van's permission, okay?” Dryden said, returning to his meal and taking a drink.

Van had been speaking much less than Dryden, so his meat and pasta were long gone. Now he was finishing what was left in his water glass.

Allen was looking at him expectedly, but Van did not turn his head.

“Well?” Allen asked impatiently.

“I'll have to think about it. You still haven't agreed to my conditions, even though it's been two days. Personally, I think you should focus on protecting Celena and go with Dryden to Madrid, but I would understand if your need for vengeance is beyond that. If I were you, I would have a hard time trusting that she would be okay if I wasn't there to protect her myself. Celena isn't strong like Hitomi. In fact, she's more delicate now than anyone. At the risk of your disapproval, I'd say that she needs you a lot more than you need to beat the crap out of Dilandau.” Van paused. He appeared to be thinking. When he continued he said, “Do what you want, but if you stay here, I may not let you participate in any of the fights that may or may not happen. If the mansion is attacked again because Dilandau still thinks Celena is here, then the job I'd give you the second time around would be no different. I would still send you to protect the servants and to call the police. Hitomi would still be the person I'd take with me to the front lines.”

“Why?” Allen demanded, looking completely livid.

“Because, you idiot,” Van said, looking at Allen with eyes that spoke volumes about gentleness. “She's my wife.”

Allen's jaw dropped to the floor, and for a moment he could not speak, he was so astounded.

Gaddes had a better presence of mind and although he had not spoken much at the luncheon table he leaned across and shook hands with Van, congratulating him on his marriage.

“Thanks,” Van said pleasantly to Gaddes.

Hitomi was smiling brightly when Gaddes shook hands with her as well. It was such a relief, such a happy pleasure not to have to keep it a secret from anyone anymore, and the look on Allen's face was almost worth all the trouble she had to go through to keep it a secret.

“Do you have anything to add?” Van suddenly asked, looking squarely at Allen.

Allen was still collecting himself. He was swallowing a lump in his throat. “She's your sister,” he said quietly.

“What?” Van questioned, looking at Allen quizzically. “Trust me, she's not my sister.”

“No, Marlene is your sister-in-law. That's why you were so pissed off. She's part of your family now. Your family has always been so messed up, so now you finally have people to go to and they are …”

“Be quiet, Allen,” Van said, taking the water pitcher and refilling his glass. He leaned back in his chair so that it was only resting on its back two legs. With one arm over the back, he took a long drink from his glass while he regarded his friend. “It's not like that at all. Hitomi's parents don't even know she is married. Didn't you go to her home as her date while I was gone? If they knew that she was already married to me, do you think they would have welcomed you?”
“You were already married then?” Allen gaped.

“Obviously Hitomi's the girl I got my moon tattoo over,” Van said in his heavy deep voice.

Hitomi's heart was skipping beats all over the place. Listening to Van's explanation as to what happened was … indescribably wonderful. She wouldn't have missed this for the world. Van was so cool!

“Why do you think I always wanted to be the one to watch Dilandau at the club?” Van continued. “She was there dancing with him and I wanted to watch her.”

“So you always knew it was Hitomi?” Allen asked.

“Always,” Van said, and he said the word like he was making a promise. His eyes met Hitomi's for an instant, and in that second she felt his love for her swelling in her chest. “Anyways, believe it or not, but Hitomi is like me. Her symbol is the moon and she's the only woman in my generation more powerful than me. You think I'm undefeatable, but that little girl - she can take me down.” Here Van looked at Allen and dared him to say one more word about why he would make a better partner than Hitomi.

Allen stood with his mouth slack.

When it didn't look like Allen was going to say anything, Van started talking again. “But, you're misunderstanding if you think the reason I'm standing up for Marlene is because she's Hitomi's sister. That isn't the reason. You pity me too much because you know my background. I'm just tired of involving people in our fight who have no real reason to participate. Back when there were so many members of the Abaharaki, I believed that everyone was there because they had a reason to be there - like Merle. What reason does Eries have?” Van said looking at Eries.

Everyone at that table, besides Selphie and Dryden, knew that Eries did not join the Abaharaki because something bad happened to her, but only because she was interested in Allen, so no one said anything to challenge Van.

Dryden only looked interested at the turn the conversation was taking.

“So,” Van went on. “You may stay if you like, but I don't recommend it. I may not let you do anything.”

“You think you have that much control over the situation?” Allen asked, finally regaining some of his poise. “That much control over what I'll do?”

“I don't care what you do,” Van said indifferently. “I've always trusted you to be in charge of your own destiny, and that doesn't change with this. I've offered you and Celena whatever help I can give you. It's unfortunate that most of it is through Dryden. I wish I could be more helpful, but right now, he's more resourceful than me, so I can't be too proud over whether or not I'll accept his help since it's for your benefit. And mine, too. I don't deny it. I've named my conditions - they haven't changed, so it's up to you whether or not you want to accept them,” Van said, finishing his water and setting it down on the table. He pushed his chair back the rest of the way and directed his conversation towards Dryden. “Are you about finished? I don't know what you've got in mind when it comes to fixing the manse, but it doesn't matter. I'll help.”

Dryden swallowed the last of his meat and stood up. “Hitomi, too. This is something she's not going to want to miss. Everyone else, please go pack your things,” Dryden said. Then he pulled Selphie aside and from the occasional English word Hitomi could tell that he was asking her to arrange for their flight. She nodded obediently and headed out of the room with steady long strides. It was too bad she was stuck in a place like this. Hitomi felt sure that she was an amazing person in Italy. She was handicapped here.

Everyone was filing out of the room when Allen said suddenly, “I'll do what you want, Van.”

Hitomi's head snapped around. She couldn't believe that he'd really said it.

“I have to make sure that he never comes after Celena again. I don't want her to live afraid that he'll show up again. Never again! So, for that, I'll accept your help and meet your conditions.”

“Excellent,” Van said over his shoulder. “I'll arrange for Marlene to come to the manse tomorrow in order for you to break up with her - for the time being at least. You haven't spoken to her since that day Hitomi interrupted you, right?”

“Right,” Allen muttered miserably. His eyes looked instantly dark and despondent, even though his eyes were so blue.

 

***

 

Dryden took Van and Hitomi into the corner room on the second floor that had been smashed by the cannon ball the Dragon Slayers fired at the mansion. It was a sitting room - right beside Selphie's bedroom. Before they came, Dryden advised Van and Hitomi to dress as though they were going to be working outside and both of them showed up bundled up like marshmallow men. Dryden stood in a tailored black leather jacket laughing at them.

“Did you think we were going to be out here for hours?” he asking, slapping the side of his leg with his bare hand. He hadn't even bothered to put gloves on.

“You said to dress warmly,” Van reminded him. He looked especially annoyed. He really didn't like being laughed at and Dryden took way too many opportunities.

“Yeah, because I knew it would be cold in here,” Dryden said, indicating the massive hole in the wall, and the burnt walls. “I didn't want you to show up without a coat is all. Anyway, I told you that this mansion was built by my father and that he mixed his blood in with the mortar during the construction?”

“Yes,” Hitomi said. She was very interested in what Dryden was going to tell them.

“Because I'm his son, I can use the abilities the mansion has. If the Dragon Slayers had actually entered the house, I could have done anything from killing every last one of them with a wave of my hand, to making them all so confused that they couldn't find the entryway while standing in the front hall, to simply throwing them out like what Folken did with us at The Voltage Room. I could have done something with Dilandau, if too, if I'd made it to Celena's bedroom before he made it out the window with her. I was sorely disappointed about that. Oh well, no point dwelling on the past. Anyway, here's what I want to do,” Dryden said, pulling what looking like a letter opener from inside his jacket pocket. At least, it looked like a letter opener to Hitomi. It was a jewel-encrusted dagger. Dryden put the blade in his hand and turned the handle towards Van. “Take it,” Dryden ordered.

Van looked at it. “That's your father's knife that you said he used to prick himself with when he put his blood in the construction of a building, right?”

Dryden nodded.

“What do you want me to do with that?” Van asked, his eyebrows pulled together in a solid black line.

Dryden bonked Van on the side of the head with the handle. “Idiot. I told Allen that you'd be the master of this mansion by tonight. What did you think I meant? Since we've got this crack in the foundation we have a chance to add some more wishes to my father's extensive list. Don't you think?”

Van touched his head with his hand, recovering from the smack Dryden had given him. His gloves were mechanic's gloves. They were the kind that were missing the fingertips and the mitten-tops Velcroed to the back of his hand. “Well, what did you have in mind?”

“You should wish that you were the master of this house. That should give you all the access and privileges that I enjoy. Then once the magic has accepted you, you can wish that the building would repair itself. It'll be good practice, and you'll be able to protect this place properly in my absence. Not only that, but maybe you can really make a protection pendant for Hitomi after this,” Dryden said, looking serious and encouraging.

Van took the knife from him and walked towards the crack, where the wind was blowing. Dryden and Hitomi followed him quickly. Hitomi wanted to see what was involved.

“Can you give me step-by-step instructions, Dryden? Or is that too much?” Van asked, looking over the edge of the hole like he was looking over a balcony. There were broken bricks that had fallen into the snow below them.

“For this … I can,” Dryden said, taking out a leaflet and holding it in his hand. He didn't open it as Hitomi expected him to. He was always consulting books, but instead of reading from the pages, he stood and said what Van was supposed to do without looking at a single word. “Cut your finger, or your arm. It shouldn't be too hard on you since you heal. Go ahead - do it. When your blood flows, drop it onto the smashed mortar. It may seem unusual, but try to cover as much area with your blood as you can. Concentrate as hard as you can on your wish to be master of the house. You can even say the words out loud if you want to.”

“How will we know that it worked?” Hitomi asked, hugging herself and not looking forward to Van spilling his own blood. This was the only way that had been mentioned thus far on how to master earth as an element, so she had to stay quiet. From what Dryden said, it sounded like he could have just wished that the mansion would be repaired himself and it would have been. Instead, he was giving Van a chance to use a difficult element. It was really very kind of Dryden.

“Van will know when it has worked. The house will speak to him and tell him that he's been accepted,” Dryden said.

“The house will `speak' to him? That sounds too weird,” Hitomi said.

“No, it's not,” Dryden said, looking at Van. “Only Van will hear its words though. Go on, Van.”

Van took the knife in his right hand and hesitated. His fingers shook. He looked like he had never cut himself before. He took a calming breath and quickly sliced a light cut through all four of his fingers. His palm was open and with the pain of it, Van reacted by crushing his fingers together. Then he did what Dryden told him to do. He let his blood splash onto the rubble and brick scattered on the floor of the damaged room.

“I wish this place were mine,” he said out loud as his blood fell. “I wish I were its master. I wish I could command it.” Then he repeated his words again, “I wish this place were mine.”

Soon he was chanting and sweat was breaking out on his forehead.

Dryden looked on with serious eyes. This was very serious business - Hitomi could tell, and Van wasn't having an easy time of it. The other elements had come so easy to him, compared to this. This looked like torture, and it was dragging on minute after minute. There was no change. He was simply suffering.

Van began shouting his chant. He was having a hard time standing. He would fall to his knees in a moment.

Hitomi moved to go to him, but Dryden held her back, shaking his head, but he didn't say a word or give an explanation.

“Serve me!” Van growled.

Hitomi jumped.

His voice sounded all wrong - he sounded like an animal. What was going on?

Then Van abruptly straightened and opened his eyes. He let the dagger fall out of his hand onto the floor and he let his head hang backwards. “It must be a very different experience to try to make a wish with an object that hasn't already got wishes attached to it,” Van said apathetically, looking at Dryden.

“Yes,” he said. “I imagine it is.”

“You didn't tell me I'd have to argue with the power of your father's wishes. Talk about obsessive. He doesn't like sharing his things.”

“No, he probably doesn't, but I'm sure his wishes were secondary to the power of your will. Isn't that right?” Dryden said. It seemed to Hitomi that he was seeking to learn as much as he could from this situation.

“Who could refuse me?” Van said, sounding out of breath.

Dryden smiled, and Hitomi was going to rush Van, but Dryden held her back again. “Now wish that the mansion was repaired.”

Van looked dizzy, but he said, “I wish the mansion looked the way it used to.”

Hitomi was startled when that material on the floor began to move and when she saw the rocks that had fallen into the snow floating outside the gap in the wall. After the initial movement, things moved almost too fast to see. Everything was fixed as though by magic. Soon, not only was the paint on the walls the way it had been before, but the room had also reached normal room temperature.

“Good job, Van,” Dryden complimented, as he let Hitomi go, so she could embrace Van.

Van hugged her closely while she praised him at being able to do something so hard on his first try.

“Ahem,” Dryden said, interrupting. “There's something else I want to talk to you two about,” Dryden said uneasily.

“What?” Van asked, obviously surprised to see uncertainty in The Lover.

“I know I said that I would take everyone to Madrid, but that's only partly true. I mean, I do plan to accompany everyone to the castle, but after that, I'm going to leave them there,” he said, looking extremely nervous about what he was about to confess.

“Are you going to come back here?” Hitomi asked, hoping that he would come back. Hitomi had been feeling sorry that he was leaving. She would really miss him.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “In one sense, I'm like Van. I don't think that the Zaibach group should be allowed to keep doing whatever they want. I wasn't sure before, but when I saw all those kids lined up outside, I decided that I couldn't be passive any longer, even though it's my nature to wait and see if things will naturally align themselves. I don't think that's going to happen this time, and I can't stand to see children get a thirst for blood. The Devil has to be stopped … and I'm not the one to do it. So, I'm meeting my mother at the castle. Together, we're going to go find The Sun God and see if there is anything he can do.”

Van nodded understandingly. “Good luck to you, Dryden. That's definitely a worthy cause.” He patted Dryden on the back as Dryden was faltering on his feet.

Dryden was always like this when he talked about The Sun God. Hitomi couldn't understand why he was so afraid. Dryden said that there was a rumour about him that he could read a person's thoughts and tell the colour of their heart. His abilities didn't sound that scary to Hitomi. Sure you'd feel a little naked while talking to him, but asking him for help couldn't be that bad.

 

***

 

Everyone made his or her preparations to leave. Hitomi went and helped Eries pack up her and Celena's things. Eries was very excited to be going to New York and then to London and then to Madrid. She had never been traveling before and she was thrilled to be able to see new places. She was also excited to be going with Gaddes. Eries didn't have to say she was happy that Allen was staying behind. She seemed to think it was natural for her to be accompanying Celena as her guardian, and went with the flow instead of questioning Dryden. Hitomi was glad about that. It made things much easier.

Hitomi stuck her head into Celena's room. She wanted to say something to her as well, but Celena was sleeping and Eries begged her not to wake her up. The night before had been really hard on her.

Hitomi also went and hugged Selphie, telling her as well as she could that she was happy to have met her and that she looked forward to the time that they would see each other again. Selphie seemed pleased to be leaving, though. A cloud of unease seemed to leave her and now she looked almost as cheerful as she did when Hitomi had first met her.

After Hitomi spoke to Selphie, she thought she was done saying special farewells when Dryden invited her into his downstairs study for a chat. Hitomi couldn't figure out what he wanted to talk about with her so privately.

He pulled out a chair for her and beckoned for her to sit down. “I've been thinking,” he said, sitting down in the chair next to her rather than sitting further away from her behind the desk. “Would it be okay if we spoke frankly for a few minutes?”

“Frankly?” Hitomi asked, laughing softly. “Aren't you always frank?”

He smiled patiently, and then said, “Well, could we speak seriously, then? I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“What? Of course you can say whatever you've got on your mind, Dryden. We're good friends and I trust you,” she said warmly, thinking of how far they'd come since when she first saw him in homeroom.

“When was your last period?” he asked suddenly.

Hitomi's eyes burst open wide. “What's wrong with you?” she asked suddenly. “That's none of your business.” She even stood up from her chair.

Dryden took hold of her hand gently and brought her eyes back down to meet his. “Try to pretend that I'm your doctor, Kanzaki,” he said, using his old sentimental name for her. He hadn't used it since Van told everyone that she was a Fanel.

Hitomi saw the concern for her in his eyes and she sat back down.

“Have you had one since Van got back?” Dryden asked softly.

“Yes,” Hitomi said.

“Have you two been using a contraceptive?”

Normally Hitomi wouldn't have felt appropriate talking about these things with anyone, but Dryden's expression seemed to take down her barriers, and she felt like answering him. “Yes,” she said.

“I've been thinking about why things went so badly that first time you tried to transform into Celena and why it didn't work. I know you and Van dismissed the situation as a write-off because it was your first time trying, but I don't think that's the reason why you weren't able to complete the transformation.”

“You don't?”

“No, I think the reason you weren't able to do it is because you are able to transform into any one person you've ever seen, not into any two people you've ever seen. You couldn't transform into her because right now her body houses two people.”

Hitomi nodded. That made perfect sense.

“I'll talk about that a little more later. The other thing I've been thinking of is that it is written in my books that The Sun God does not bleed. His body is immortal and he has stopped bleeding. The fact that you are still having your period indicates that you are not yet immortal, and also the reason … why I think …” He stopped and looked at Hitomi, like he was hoping that she would realize what he had already figured out.

“I'm not sure I understand,” she said, trying to comprehend what he was trying to convey.

“I don't know when, but I think that once you achieve immortality, you will immediately stop bleeding.”

“So I'm not immortal yet?” Hitomi asked.

“You stopped aging when you got your Tarot symbol. That's the first half. The second half would be your blood stopping, and thus …” Dryden said, pausing again with a serious look that Hitomi couldn't interpret.

He was clearly unhappy about having to talk to her about this, so she tried to reason it out herself without asking direct questions. He talked about her period, then he talked about how she couldn't be two people, and then he talked about her blood. The idea cemented its self in her brain and then she said it out loud, “You couldn't have been more obvious, Dryden. I'm sorry that I'm an idiot and didn't get what you were implying. You don't think Van and I will be able to have children, do you?”

He shook his head sadly, “No, I don't think you'll be able to have children.”

“Could I do it before I became immortal?” Hitomi questioned quickly.

“I don't know,” he said, getting up from the chair and drawing her into his arms. “I'm so sorry, Kanzaki. I'm always the one who has to say these terrible things to you.”

“No, Dryden,” she said, holding onto his forearms. “There's no need to be sorry. These things are not your fault. You are my friend, and I know you wouldn't tell me something like this unless you studied it very carefully first. This is what you've been doing in the library, isn't it? Studying known facts to make sure that you weren't telling me false information?”

“Yeah,” he admitted.

“So, I'm useless to Van as a contract bound Tarot user,” she said weakly. She didn't know if Van would be disappointed or not. “Wait! You haven't told Van this, have you?”

“No,” Dryden said seriously, “My loyalty lies with you. You know that.”

“Then please, don't tell him! Let me tell him in my own way,” she begged.

“I had no intention of telling him,” Dryden said easily. “I just wanted to be able to talk to you about this before I left. I hope everything will go smoothly, but if it turns out that we don't see each other for years, I didn't want you to be disappointed about not getting pregnant month after month if you were trying.”

“Thank you,” Hitomi said, hugging him. Then she backed off to ask him her next question. “For years?”

“I don't know how long it will take to find The Sun God. I'll have my mother with me, so it probably won't be that hard. She's good at this sort of thing. I'll try to get back as soon as I can.”

“All right,” Hitomi said, nodding. “So, I have another question for you. Do you think Van and I should throw out the contraceptives and try to have children now, since we may not be able to once I really become the Goddess?”

“That's up to you. Maybe that's the best plan, but maybe not. That's a decision you and Van will have to make together.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Thanks for looking after me so carefully.”

Hitomi said goodbye to Dryden then, and she thought she might cry as she left the room. He really was like her long lost brother. She had to focus on losing Dryden, because if she concentrated on her other losses, she wouldn't be able to make it to her bedroom without collapsing. Being herself was starting to cost her a lot more than she had been willing to give.