Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mark of a Goddess ❯ The Sun God ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter Seventeen

The Sun God

 

Van and Hitomi proceeded from the garage slowly. It had been a long day for both of them, and if Dryden was back with The Sun God, then that meant that it wasn't over yet. Hitomi was feeling overwrought and was extremely tempted to have Van carry her upstairs to bed without seeing Dryden or meeting The Sun God. She was so sore, and tired, and emotionally exhausted, but Dryden came and met them in the corridor on the way in.

“Van, Hitomi,” Dryden said when they came face to face. “How have things been going?” Then he saw Hitomi's bruised face and split lip, “Hitomi! Are you okay?”

She nodded.

Dryden immediately went over to Hitomi's free side, and took her other arm and put it around his shoulder, so that he and Van were both assisting her down the hallway. Hitomi thought it was very sweet of him, because she didn't really need both of them to help her.

“Glad to see you back,” Van said, maneuvering around a leafy plant. “So, did you bring him with you?”

“Yeah, I brought him,” Dryden said, and it might have been Hitomi's imagination, but she thought that Dryden's voice dropped significantly in pitch as he said those words. Then Hitomi remembered again how afraid Dryden had always seemed of The Sun God. She moved to have a look at his face, but he was turned away from her. “He wasn't as hard to find as I thought he was going to be. It was only a matter of waiting for my mother in Madrid, flying back to the coast, and then flying back to the city. She went straight to him like a compass going north.”

“Is your mother here too?” Hitomi asked.

“No,” Dryden said shaking his head. “She said she didn't mind meeting The Sun God, but she didn't want to make a best friend out of him. I think she said she was heading towards the Antarctic. She always goes to the most outlandish places. As for me, I haven't even unpacked a packet of pumpkin seeds yet. We just came in the door ourselves. I only just heard from the housekeeper that no one was at home. So, you guys just barely got back? Obviously, you weren't out on a date. Did you have a run in with the Dragon Slayers?”

“Sort of,” Van said gruffly. “She did.”

“And where were you?” Dryden asked Van accusingly.

Van snorted. “Don't even go there until you hear the details.” Then with a flush on his face he added, “And you won't hear them from me.” He had to be thinking of Hitomi handcuffing him to the bed. He probably didn't want Dryden to know, because then he'd never hear the end of it.

“And what could make my dear Van turn such a touching shade of red?” Dryden joked, reaching over with his free hand and flicking Van's ear.

Van snapped his teeth like he was going to bite Dryden's hand. It was like a dog chomping its teeth shut, but Hitomi interrupted their banter with; “Where is The Sun God now?”

Dryden turned his attention back to Hitomi and answered, “He's in the front sitting room waiting to talk to you two. I was just about to call Van on his cell phone when I met you in the hall. Do you want to go meet him right now?” Dryden asked.

“What's he like?” Hitomi questioned.

“Not what I expected.”

“But you were expecting a child, weren't you? So, how could you be surprised?”

“Come on,” Dryden said, leading them to the front hall. “Once you meet him, you'll understand why I was surprised. Somehow I was expecting a child, but he's not really a child, more of a -”

“Teenager,” a delicate voice finished from inside the front sitting room.

Van froze like the blood in his veins had suddenly become lead.

“What's wrong?” Hitomi asked him.

“Please come in,” the voice invited from beyond the door.

“I'm probably insane, but that sounds exactly like …” Van said, not finishing his thought.

“Like who?” Hitomi prompted.

“Never mind,” Van said, becoming fluid again. “Let's go meet him.”

There was a tapestry curtain hanging over the door to the sitting room. Dryden carefully moved it out of the way before he guided Hitomi and Van into the room. Hitomi was worried whether or not Dryden was comfortable in The Sun God's presence, but he had moved behind her, and she was too curious to get a look at The Sun God herself to turn her head for Dryden.

At first, she didn't see him. The room was furnished with a large sofa with its back to the door with a couple arm chairs and tables facing a grand marble fireplace. The sofa was deep, so she didn't see the top of his pale head at first. But then a young man rose up from his place on the couch and came towards them. The boy was blond, just like the portrait, but when he turned around and faced Hitomi and Van, she realized that he was someone she already recognized.

He looked exactly like Van's old roommate Chid. He looked so much like him that he couldn't be anyone else.

“Chid?” Van asked. He wasn't lost for words.

Chid smiled and came towards the two of them. He looked just like he had when Hitomi first met him in the basement of Van's old home, except that this time he wasn't dressed casually. Instead, he was wearing a black dress suit with a stark white shirt. A couple of his buttons weren't done up at the collar, as he wasn't wearing a tie. Chid's hair was light blond and tousled He was slipping his hands into his pants' pockets carelessly, and looking every inch a billboard advertisement for graduation suits.

He shook hands with Van. “Good to see you again,” he said to both of them.

Apparently, Dryden hadn't come into the room with them, so Chid invited them to sit down and talk to him like he was their host.

“This isn't a trick, is it?” Van asked him once they were seated. “You really joined the Abaharaki and lived in the room across the hall from mine, didn't you?”

Chid smiled again, his features so delicate that he was almost as elegant as a girl. “Of course,” he said. “Did you really think that I would let Dornkirk do whatever he wanted?” When he spoke to Van in longer sentences he spoke with a different voice from the one Hitomi was familiar with. It was the voice of a young man, not quite grown into a tenor, but his way of speaking was different. He clearly had an accent, but Hitomi could not decipher what country he was from. Hitomi wasn't sure, but she thought it made him even cooler.

Van looked at him crookedly, “But you haven't done anything.”

“No,” Chid said, watching Hitomi even though he was speaking to Van. “There was a reason for it. A very good reason, so it's okay for you to relax. Besides keeping an eye on Dornkirk, I also joined your resistance group as an opportunity to meet you and evaluate you, Van.”

Van's eyes narrowed, “And why would you want to do something like that? I seem to remember Dryden telling Hitomi and me something about how you `organize' Tarot users when everyone has gone insane. If that's true, then why are you even talking to me? I haven't done anything wrong.”

“Oh really?” Chid said. A lock of his blond hair fell between his eyes and he regarded Van specifically - almost dangerously.

Their eyes met, and Hitomi wasn't sure what was going to happen. Would Van continue to act rebelliously, or would Chid look away? An uneasy moment passed, but ended when Van faltered under the probing gaze of The Sun God. Hitomi couldn't believe it.

Chid began speaking anew once Van had obviously given up his obstinate attitude. “Hmm …” he said indifferently, “Still so innocent.”

Hitomi wasn't sure if Chid was making fun of Van or what, but she still didn't understand why Van had caved when he wanted to pit himself against Chid and why Dryden was afraid. She didn't understand the cowardice in their averted eyes. She wasn't afraid. She had questions for him, and she was going to ask them without shrinking into her shell.

“I have to ask you something. Did you let the Dragon Slayers capture you last spring?” Hitomi asked, still trying to make sense of everything that was happening.

He laughed. “Yeah. Such a joke! But they wouldn't keep me once they realized that I wasn't normal.”

“What do you mean?” Hitomi asked Chid. She slipped her fingers between Van's and wondered why they was so cold.

“Well, they were going to keep me locked up with Richard, Nick and Jeremy, but that wasn't going to work. They were brainwashing those guys, and they weren't wasting any time. I think they were worried that Van truly would go berserk and somehow get them back by the end of the day, so Dilandau started talking to us about our pasts and trying to find out why each of us were in the Abaharaki,” Chid explained. “They kept us in a room in the basement and Eries was in the room next door. The Dragon Slayers who were with Dilandau didn't want to bother with us guys. They were under orders that we were to be left unharmed because Dilandau's reason for having us was to convince us that the Dragon Slayers weren't to blame for our sorrows and instead it was the Abaharki. However, I must say that Dilandau's thugs didn't say that they were itching to be left alone with Eries. All of them were acting all friendly because it was part of the scheme. Actually, they were going to take us to a resort or a mansion or something to further convince us that they were our friends. Dilandau was telling us our travel plans like we were honoured guests.”

“And you didn't want to go along with it, or to try and rescue those guys?” Hitomi asked.

“Frankly, no,” Chid said. He still looked young and inexperienced, but his words held a level of ruthlessness that surprised Hitomi. It was probably the virgin skin on his cheeks that gave him the appearance of youth, since his blue eyes were as vast as the night sky. However, he didn't frighten her. She didn't understand why Van had suddenly grasped her hand and why he was clenching so tightly. Wasn't he angry with her? But Chid was still talking. “The Dragon Slayer's goal was to destroy the Abaharaki, and Richard, Nick and Jeremy were not going to be hurt. They were going to be fine, and I didn't care if the Abaharaki eventually got disbanded just then. I was much more concerned about Eries. If I didn't do something to help her, she would certainly have been gang raped before morning and I simply could not allow that.”

“Would Dilandau have done that?” Hitomi squeaked. Even thinking about a fate like that made her feel sick to her stomach.

“Dilandau wouldn't have raped her himself. He's not that type. They really weren't kidding when they said that he was a one-woman man. There's no one for him but Celena. In Dilandau's heart, there are only two things: his ego and Celena. And it may surprise you, Hitomi, but his ego is the lesser of the two. He's completely obsessed with her, but he would have allowed his thugs to do whatever they wanted with Eries. Well, I couldn't let that happen. Forget the Abaharaki - Eries was more important. So, I pitched a gigantic fit until they got so fed up with me that they threw me into the room with Eries. They had no plans to treat her like a princess, so now I was in the same boat she was.”

Hitomi shivered. “Then what happened?”

“Well, after they'd gotten Richard, Jeremy and Nick all ready to leave the stadium, Dilandau's thugs finally got their chance to come in and get us. They were practically salivating. By now, it was probably about two or three in the morning. They were taking Eries out. They wanted to take her to a different room, and at first there wasn't anything I could do about it. So, I waited until they left.”

“Then?”

“Once they were gone, I melted the lock on the door and went after them. By the time I got there, they had already cut her hair and bled her a little for their amusement. The Dragon Slayers are very interested in blood, aren't they, Van?”

Van drew his eyebrows together and gave Chid a mildly dirty look. It seemed that he couldn't bring himself to be more natural. Hitomi could tell that he wanted to do something more than just that, but somehow did not have the spirit for it.

“I must admit that it was difficult acting like I wasn't there to rescue her,” Chid said.

“What did you do?”

“I knocked on the door and got one of them to answer. Then I grabbed him by his throat and asked him to ask the others to leave the room,” Chid continued simply.

“And that worked?”

He nodded.

“How is that possible? You look like a kid. How could that guy have taken you seriously?” Hitomi asked.

“I'm sure you have your ways of making people take you seriously, Hitomi. One day, you'll learn mine,” he smiled placidly, and Hitomi noticed how white his teeth were and how cheerful his smile was. It seemed totally unnatural, almost like he was posing for a photo shoot. “Anyway, I got them all out in the hallway and convinced one of them to go back and untie Eries and take us to a new room, where we would be left alone until our `friends' came to get us. They had a sickening table in the room they cut Eries' hair in and I can't go into a room like that.”

“And that's all there was to it?”

“Basically,” he said.

“Well, then why didn't you do something to stop all the crap that has happened since then, if you're so powerful?” Van asked, trying in vain to keep his spite in check.

“There's this funny thing, Van. It's called … I don't have to explain myself to you. Imagine that!” Chid said, not mockingly, but like he was a parent talking to a stubborn child who kept asking why.

Van let go of Hitomi's hand and folded his arms across his chest. He buried his chin into his collarbone and blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. He clearly was not going to ask The Sun God any more questions.

“Okay, Van. I will explain one thing to you. I'm not the kind of God who necessarily stops bad things from happening. Does that satisfy you?”

“Partly,” Van said slowly. “I guess I'm just pissed that you didn't tell us what their plans were if you knew them. You could have told us that they were going to brainwash those guys. Then I wouldn't have gone to The Voltage Room in the first place, because they could have just stayed with the Dragon Slayers.”

“What about Allen? Would you have gone to The Voltage Room if it was just to save Allen? Just one person? What if it was just to save Hitomi?” Chid asked patiently, like he was trying to teach Van a very small lesson in friendship.

Van hesitated. “But if you could see all their plots, then why didn't you tell us what you saw?”

“Who said I could see all their plots? Yes, I understood their plans regarding those Abaharaki boys and Eries, but I don't see everything. I think you have some interesting ideas as to what I'm capable of. I wouldn't have known that those punks wanted to rape Eries if they hadn't been thinking of nothing else, and Dilandau's plan for our boys was clear by what he was saying. Richard and the others wanted to fall for it rather than being beaten up or killed. I thought that you would have an idea as to what I can do because of your wife, but you clearly haven't been paying much attention if you don't understand that I have my limits.”

“Then why are you scaring the hell out of me just by looking at me?” Van shouted, finding his voice for the first time and springing to his feet. It seemed like he had to yell to stop his voice from trembling.

Chid broke eye contact with Van and turned away. It was clear that he was not choosing to talk to Van about this right now. Then he said slowly, “Dragon, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like it if you would leave Hitomi and me alone. I want to talk to her.”

Van looked like he wanted to refuse, but at the last moment he stalked out of the room. As soon as the tapestry fell closed, Chid got up from his place on the opposite chair and came over to Hitomi.

“You're hurt, aren't you?” he asked.

Hitomi nodded and explained how she got hurt at the stadium.

“Folken did, eh?” Chid said, standing directly in front of Hitomi. “Is that so?” he seemed to be thinking very hard about what happened.

“Somehow,” Hitomi said pensively, thinking about everything Dryden had told her about The Sun God. He said that Chid could see through the very soul of a person and read their thoughts and wishes. She was still confused as to why everyone was so afraid. He didn't look any different to her than when she had met him, except that his voice was more cultured. She didn't feel like he was an enemy, but still a friend. She thought that he had made the right choice by choosing to save Eries rather than the boys, and she still remembered how he used to compliment her on her cooking. “I think that Folken isn't completely a bad person,” she said, “not all the way through. There is something about him … I don't know how to explain it. He told me the story of his parents' deaths tonight, but I can't help feeling like he's not rotten to the core, like Van seems to believe. But he's The Sorcerer! He might have been tricking me.”

Chid shook his head slowly, “That's not possible.”

Hitomi looked at Chid carefully. She was trying to analyze him. She had thought before that being in The Sun God's presence would make her a little uncomfortable because of his insight, but Hitomi didn't feel afraid or even like she was transparent. She just felt like she was talking to a Tarot user about a Tarot user problem and that was all.

“No?” Hitomi questioned.

“No,” he said, without any uncertainty in his voice. He said it like it was an absolute fact. “Dryden said that I could take you into his portrait gallery for our conversation, but I don't like how hurt you are. I thought I could stand it, but I can't. It's inappropriate for me to touch you, since you're bound to The Dragon and everything. I have the ability to heal anyone, but I have to lay my hands on their injury. Do I have your permission?”

Hitomi consented.

He instructed her to lie on her back on the couch and Hitomi did what he told her to do, but she was suddenly extremely uncomfortable. She told herself that he was like a doctor, and that she should trust him, even if he did look like the cover of one of Marlene's teen magazines. It was weird for her in other ways too. It was like her health had suddenly become a public matter, and the people who were getting the most information were people Hitomi wouldn't have trusted if she wasn't a Tarot user. Even now, she didn't feel at all comfortable letting Chid examine her. Was he going to try something funny on her?

He brought his face close to hers and looked into her eyes. At first, his proximity frightened Hitomi and her first instinct was to push him away, but when she saw the look in his eyes, it was as though every impulse in her body changed its mind and instead was whispered to her that it was okay for her to trust him. He wasn't like any other Tarot user she had ever met, but was the greatest Tarot user ever born. His eyes were those of a man as old as time itself, and the way his fingers touched her split lip and bruised ribs was the way a tired man touches a baby in his arms; not at all sexual, only healing and caring in a way Hitomi had only imagined belonged to those who nurtured children.

“Chid?” she asked.

“That's not my real name,” he said gently. “It was only my name as long as I was in the Abaharaki. You can call me that if you wish, but I'd rather you called me by my real name when we're alone.”

“What's your real name?” Hitomi asked.

His eyes seemed warmer, though he did not smile. “Nah,” he said, sounding like a kid again. “I'll wait until you can tell it to me. Now,” he took her hand in his and said, “I want to go to the gallery and have a look at my portrait, and I'd like you to come with me.”

Hitomi let him help her to her feet, and then they walked side by side to the west wing of Dryden's mansion. All the pain was gone. She actually felt fit and energetic at the end of such a tiring, complicated day.

Chid opened both the doors to the portrait gallery with a great thrusting of his small shoulders. Then he closed them again with a flourish when Hitomi entered the room.

“I feel like I've waited forever for you,” he said, walking around looking at the different pictures. “It's unfortunate, but I had to wait for Dryden to work up the courage to come find me.”

“Why?”

He didn't answer her question at all, but began talking about something else. “Being with Van was hard for you, wasn't it? Maybe you might even describe it as frustrating. He wanted to wait until you discovered that you were a Tarot user on your own, but you hated doing things his way, didn't you?”

“Yeah,” Hitomi said, thinking back. “Why are Tarot users always so exasperating? Why can't they just say what we are and what we can do instead of isolating themselves and making themselves lonely and miserable? Like Akira and I. Why couldn't she have just told me what I was and how we were connected?”

Chid smiled at her and actually began walking circles around her. “Of course, that seems like the right thing to do. From a normal human perspective, being open seems like the best course. Balgus and Flo should have been open with Van. Akira should have been open with you. Van should have been open with you, but what would you have said if he just came up to you and laid all that information on you?”

“Who knows?” Hitomi answered, not flinching, even though Chid's walking was causing her to turn around in circles so she could look at his face while he walked. “We'll never know how I would react since that's not what happened.”

“True,” Chid smiled and led her to the other end of the room, so he could look at his picture. The picture was the same as before. There was a boy with blond hair and a boy with dark.

“Now, this is a curious rendition,” Chid said as he looked at the picture.

“Dryden told me that it's believed that you were born with dark hair and that when you became The Sun God, your hair turned blond,” Hitomi told.

Chid laughed and his eyes filled with merriment. “That's a lovely tale. It was probably told to him when he was a child so that he wouldn't be so afraid of me, but it didn't make a difference to him. He was still afraid to meet me. Poor Dryden! He was such a sad child. The story is a lie, Hitomi. I was born blond.”

“Then why is there a black haired child in your portrait if it's not you?” Hitomi asked.

“Hitomi,” he said, “I knew that you wouldn't make much progress with Van as your teacher. He's brave, strong, clever and lucky, but I knew that he would not be able to lead you on the correct path. I also knew Dryden would come and find you, because of his symbol; he can't help befriending lonely creatures like you. So, it was a given that he would find you and teach you many things that the Ace of Serpents could not. Then I had to wait for him to become desperate enough to find me. He's hid from me far too long, but I knew he would break and come see me if he involved himself with the mess that's been going on in your corner of the world.”

Hitomi was trying to make sense of Chid's words, but the only thing she could get out of them was that he had reasons for doing everything he did, but they were not evident to her. She would have to learn a lot more about him before she could judge what sort of person he was.

“From here, everything that was important has fallen into place, so now I can move.”

“What do you mean?” Hitomi asked.

Chid looked surprised, but explained for her benefit. “Van showed you the door, Dryden told you where you were going, and now I am going to give you the key and walk through the door with you. You understand, don't you, that if I had shown up at first light, you would not have trusted me. I saw that immediately when I met you and had to allow things to progress in this slow fashion, but it all worked out well. From this point on, I can't be stopped.”

“From doing what?” she asked when he didn't continue.

Chid walked another circle around her and then stopped and said abruptly, “I'm going after Dornkirk. He's done enough, and you're coming with me.”

“I'm coming with you?” Hitomi gasped.

“Yes,” Chid said, looking totally uncompromising. “I will show you the rest of your abilities if you'll come with me tomorrow.” Chid looked at the shiny watch he was wearing on his right wrist. “It's eleven fifty eight now, so I will go meet Dornkirk by eleven o'clock tomorrow morning.”

“That fast?” Hitomi asked, completely aghast.

“Yes. There is no reason to wait. Dryden has arranged a driver for us, and we can go tomorrow to sort Dornkirk out.”

“Is Van coming?”

Chid shook his head. “Van has nothing to do with Dornkirk. He isn't involved and it would be better if it was just the two of us. Van does not want to meet me yet.”

Hitomi frowned. She didn't understand. What did he mean? He and Van had already met. They had been roommates and known each other for months. What did he mean that Van didn't want to `meet' him yet?

“As for Folken,” Chid went on. “I will go meet him a half an hour after I go see Dornkirk. Listen to me very carefully, Hitomi. If I meet Folken tomorrow, I will kill him. It's up to you to decide if you are willing to allow that fate.”

“It's up to me? Why does such a thing belong in my hands? I can't decide if Folken deserves to die for what he did. I can't. That's too much for me!” Hitomi cried, backing away from Chid. She didn't doubt what he said for an instant.

“It's not as complicated as you think,” Chid said, not looking angry or vengeful or anything. “If you choose to warn him that I'm coming at eleven thirty tomorrow morning, then you will save his life. If I meet him, he will die. That's all there is to it.” With that Chid started walking back towards the entrance to the gallery. “Please be ready to go by nine thirty tomorrow morning. I want plenty of time to get to the stadium and to bypass security, so please be ready on time. You don't have to look glamorous. You just have to come with me. Besides, I don't imagine that tonight will be easy for you, but try to bear it as best you can. If you are not awake by nine, I will come and wake you myself. Tomorrow is a day that you cannot be late for.” He opened the door and stood in the frame to say two more words to Hitomi before he disappeared; “Good night.”

And even as he spoke stars seemed to appear around his smile and Hitomi felt that it really was a good night even though, as he said - it wasn't going to be easy for her.