Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mark of a Goddess ❯ Green-Eyed Angel ( Chapter 18 )

Chapter Eighteen

Green-Eyed Angel

 

It was two o'clock in the morning. Hitomi was lying in bed, looking at the shadows on the ceiling. Van had not come to bed. Hitomi guessed that he was probably in the training gym working off some of his anger. It was probably just as well. If he came to bed angry, he might set the sheets on fire.

Luckily, Hitomi did not meet Van or Allen before she snuck off to bed. She was exhausted and she couldn't bear to have to explain anything more to either of them when her mind was weighed down so heavily with what Folken and Chid had told her.

Time had run out and things were shaping more suddenly than either Hitomi or Van could have anticipated. Van wasn't going to have the opportunity to have his `fair fight' with Folken because The Sun God had decided that it was now or never. Hitomi couldn't bear to tell him Chid's decision about going after Folken himself without the fear that Van would fly in her face again. She hated fighting with Van above all things, so she had avoided him and come to bed on her own.

She was rubbing her temples and going over what Folken and Van had told her about the time Folken shot their parents. Folken thought the gun wasn't loaded. Chid told her that it was impossible for Folken to fool her. Van said Folken would have felt the kick off the shot, and must have re-aimed intentionally to murder his mother as well. What Van said appealed to her sense of logic, but what Folken said appealed to her heart. She wanted to secretly warn Folken that Chid was coming, but if she did that and Van found out … what would become of their marriage? Would Van be able to forgive her for that level of betrayal? Would she have to live the rest of her life alone? But worse than that - did she really want to betray the man she loved best on earth?

If Chid had his way, Van would not be a murderer. Did Chid mean that he would kill Folken himself if he met him the next day? Hitomi didn't want Chid to be a murderer either, but she was starting to become too muddled.

She closed her eyes and tried for the hundredth time to go to sleep. She still had lots of time to decide what she could do, but she couldn't sleep no matter how she positioned herself. She was just as uncomfortable on her side, as she was on her stomach, and as she was on her back. Finally, she lay flat on her back and closed her eyes. She started doing a relaxation exercise that she'd learned in one of her old health classes. First she relaxed her toes, then the ball of her foot, and then the heel. She made it all the way up to her shoulders, focusing on individual body parts and willing all of them to relax, when he heard a sound.

Scratch. Scratch.

It wasn't loud, but light. Maybe it was a creaking chair or bed in another room. Hitomi took a deep breath and continued her exercise. She refused to be one of those women who jumped at every sound simply because her husband wasn't in the room. Besides, the mansion was full of her friends. It was probably nothing.

Scratch. Scratch.

This time it was much louder, but Hitomi couldn't figure out which direction it was coming from. Again, she ignored it.

Scratch. Scratch.

Hitomi opened her eyes. She wasn't sure, but she thought it sounded like it was from the room below her. She was thinking rapidly, trying to remember what room was beneath hers. Was it the dinning room or the downstairs boot room? She wasn't sure, and she didn't have time to figure it out before the sound came again.

Scratch. Scratch.

Hitomi jumped. It sounded like the noise was coming from under her bed. It was like long nails scraping on wood. Hitomi was done pretending that she wasn't afraid. It sounded like there was someone under her bed, running their nails on the wooden slate beneath her. She scrambled to the head of the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest. She sat up and told herself that it had to be her imagination.

Scratch. Scratch.

“I'm being ridiculous. I'm being ridiculous,” Hitomi told herself, clutching her knees. “There's nothing under my bed. I'm just imagining it, because it's past two and there are a lot of things bothering me. There is nothing under my bed.”

Scratch. Dead air.

The second sound didn't come.

Hitomi relaxed her posture. It was probably just one of Dryden's servants doing a chore on the main floor, and now they were finished, so she might as well calm down.

Just then, a shining white hand slipped over Hitomi's bed sheets and grabbed onto the covers with a tight fist.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Hitomi screamed.

“What? You've never seen a ghost before?” a friendly voice said bonking Hitomi on the head with the slim purple book that had been sitting on Hitomi's nightstand.

Hitomi opened one eye, and looked at the owner of that voice. If her eyes weren't deceiving her, then Akira had just hit her over the head with her own logbook.

“Aunt?” Hitomi asked, opening her other eye apprehensively.

“In the flesh,” she said with a wink. “Well, sort of. How have you been adjusting?” Akira asked, sitting down on Hitomi's bed.

Hitomi looked at her. She looked young - really young. Hitomi had never seen her looking this young. She said in her logbook that all ghosts appear to be in their twenties, and indeed Akira seemed only a little older than the kids in Hitomi's school. She was also black and white, just the way she described, with emerald green eyes peering through black lashes. “So, it's true. Ghosts really do look like that.”

“Of course. I had no reason to lie about the afterlife,” Akira said. Her hair was tied up in a long braid that she tossed behind her back as she sat down on the bed.

“Things have not been going very well,” Hitomi answered, feeling compelled to answer her aunt's question for civility's sake. “How about you? Is Dominic … well?” Hitomi asked, struggling to make small talk. She wouldn't have thought it necessary except that her aunt didn't seem like a misty apparition that was going to start wailing at any moment. She just seemed like an ordinary person, and Hitomi felt like she ought to talk to her like she was normal. She might be insulted if Hitomi was discriminating.

“Oh, he's always the same. He's still mad about stuff that happened a couple hundred years ago.”

“Doesn't that get tiresome? Always reminiscing over the same things?” Hitomi asked, still feeling that Dominic couldn't have been any real company for Akira as long as she was alive.

“Well, I love him, so it doesn't matter how he obsesses over his mistakes in life. He'll never be able to give up being a ghost because he'll never stop trying to correct his wrongs … even though it's way too late now.”

“Yeah, he can't change anything because he's not alive anymore, so why does he even hope now?” Hitomi asked quietly. “Shouldn't he have given up already?”

“It's complicated. He's in Hell right now. I'll see him when he gets out,” Akira said and then she laughed when she saw Hitomi's wide-eyed expression. “It's okay. You'll understand it all when you die.”

“Is he usually in Hell?” Hitomi asked, thinking of fiery brimstone and little devils with pitch forks.

Akira shook her head. “No, but he goes in from time to time. It's sort of like a bad mood for spirits. Anyway, it would take too long for me to explain it, and it doesn't make a difference to you anyway. I forgot. You'll never die, so you won't get the guided tour of the afterlife.”

“Thanks for rubbing it in,” Hitomi grumbled. “So, you can just pop up here whenever you feel like it?”

“Not exactly,” Akira said, scratching her nose. “If I could do that than there would be no difference in being dead or alive. I can only do something like coming to visit you on occasion. I can usually only make myself seen by a human once every couple weeks - your time. And it's only because of my abilities when I was a Tarot user. Not too many people can do what I'm doing right now. It's rare, but it is kind of amazing to be a special person even after you die. Death is like the great equalizer. Everyone dies sometime, the rich and the poor alike. So, not many people are unique after death.”

“Oh,” Hitomi said, feeling flat. “Well, then why didn't you come to see me before now?”

“I couldn't,” Akira sighed, rubbing the back of her neck like she was very tired. “I've had stuff to do, but I can come see you now because I'm not your guardian angel.”

“Is that what happens to all dead people? They become guardian angels for people on earth?”

“No,” Akira said matter-of-factly. “I'm someone's guardian angel because I want to be.”

“So, you don't want to be my angel?” Hitomi asked, feeling downcast.

Akira leaned over and rustled Hitomi's hair. “Don't get bent out of shape, Kid. You don't need a guardian angel. If you did, I would be here for you, but you don't. You've got much bigger powers at work for you, so you don't need me. So, don't be sad, okay?”

“Then who?”

“Didn't you read this?” Akira asked, pointing to her logbook. “There are only two people I would go out of my way for, and you're one of them.”

“You're Folken's guardian angel then?” Hitomi asked, understanding who the other person Akira loved was.

“Yes. I want him to be happy. That's why I came tonight: to plead with you to save Folken's life. He can't die. I've almost got him to a place where he can live happily, so please, do what you can for him,” Akira begged, looking extremely serious and sincere.

“What can I do? If you're his guardian angel, then why not just warn him yourself that Chid is coming for him tomorrow?” Hitomi questioned.

“No. I'm his guardian angel, so I can't speak to him directly. Guardian angel work has to be anonymous. Not only that but my ability to talk to living people is really weak too and I can't talk to people on his behalf often. After tonight, I won't be able to speak to another human being for another two weeks. You're the only person I can talk to about this tonight and you have the power to save him.”

“You've spoken to other people about him? Who?”

“Oh, I was really proud of myself for the last thing I did. I told Naria and Eriya that they could find a really hot, single Tarot user at The Voltage Room if they went to his concert. That couldn't have worked out better. Now, he has the chance of having a woman by his side who is his type.”

“Akira! You're the one who did that? Did you really mean to send two Tarot users to join the enemy ranks? Do you have any idea what damage you have done to our cause?” Hitomi snapped.

“I told you before. I am not your guardian angel, Hitomi. I'm looking out for Folken, and I don't believe Naria and Eriya have been of any help to The Devil. Besides, that has nothing to do with what's going to happen tomorrow if you don't choose to save Folken. Please save him,” she asked. She didn't seem at all repentant that she had done something that angered Hitomi, but dead set on getting her message through to her niece.

“Look, I know how you feel, but it's not as simple as you say. He's Van's brother and I don't think I can make this decision without Van's help. If I did exactly what you say, I don't know what the repercussions with Van would be … and I don't think it's right not to talk to Van about this. Van is his brother and the person who was wronged the most by what happened. He was made an orphan, so I'm sorry, but your opinion doesn't matter as much as his does,” Hitomi said, thinking that she sounded very smart.

“So, you're going to leave the decision up to The Dragon!” Akira flamed, standing. “He'll kill him! He's been trying for years and you're just going to give him Folken's flesh on a plate?”

“What?” Hitomi yelled, getting up and looking Akira in the face. “I don't know why this decision has been left to me. If you wanted to save Folken so badly, then why didn't you appear in front of Naria or Eriya and ask them to tell Folken to clear out before Chid gets there tomorrow morning? Why are all of you laying all this on me? I am NOT the person to make this choice!” Hitomi shouted before backing up and pacing around the room like she needed to get out. “Bloody Hell! I have friggin' had it with everyone today. I thought that I knew Folken … even though I didn't know him, I thought that I knew him. I thought that there was something about him … something in him that made him a good person even though Van said that he killed their parents. So, I went tonight to try to find out why he wasn't responsible. It turns out that he was a stupid kid! He was a stupid, evil, angry kid who fired his gun because he was pissed off. I don't know what the punishment for something like that should be. If you ask Van, then he deserves to be executed for it, but even Van doesn't just want him dead. He wants something more from this then just Folken's head. If we could think up a way to give Van what he wants without Folken dying, then that's all well and good, but I can't think of anything. Folken even thinks he deserves to die. I thought about warning him myself, but would Van forgive me for doing something like that? Or even worse, would Folken really take off even if I gave him the warning? He thinks he deserves it. He might just sit and wait for Chid to come and kill him!”

All this time it looked like Akira had been waiting to get a word in, but when Hitomi said that Folken did not want off the hook, she hesitated. She touched her throat and actually sat back down on the bed as though she had been pacified.

“You say that I have the power to save Folken, but that is a load of crap,” Hitomi said forcefully. “I can't save Folken if he doesn't want to be saved. He told me tonight that he was tired of running from a punishment that he deserves. So, I don't know what you want from me. The more I think of this, the only thing I can think of is that Van is the person in trouble here and not Folken at all. He is going to get swallowed up by his feelings for vengeance if something doesn't happen quick to save him … and I don't know what to do for him,” Hitomi said, turning away from Akira and touching her forehead.

“Like Dominic,” Akira said quietly.

“What did you say?” Hitomi said, turning around and confronting her aunt.

“Nothing,” Akira said, waving her hand like she was trying to clear the air around her. “I see that my visit was for nothing. This just isn't going to turn out how I expected. I am always so naïve, Hitomi. I always think that things will work out the way I want them to, and they never do. I'll leave it to you.”

“You're not going now, are you?”

Akira nodded. “Yeah, I was. I can't help Folken, so yeah.”

“But you could help me!” Hitomi said urgently.

“Oh really? How could I do that?” Akira said, her eyes flashing even greener than when she was angry.

“I need you to tell me something,” Hitomi said, thinking back to that last night that she had spent with Aya. “In your logbook, you said that you gave me something - the only thing you had to give. I can't remember what that was. No matter how hard I think, I can't remember. Could you tell me what it was?”

Suddenly Akira smiled a great and sparkling smile. “At least this is something I can do,” she said, reaching behind her and pulling something out of her back pocket. At first, Hitomi wasn't sure what it was, but as Akira brought it further out from behind her, it was obvious. It was a Tarot card and its back was facing Hitomi. It had an intricate diamond pattern, but Akira wasn't flipping it around so that Hitomi could see which card it was. “I'm pretty sure I taught you this,” she said, holding the card between her two fingers and getting up from the bed. “Make sure you don't forget it this time,” she said coyly before winding up and slamming it into Hitomi's forehead. Hitomi's head was thrown back on impact and she was knocked off balance so that she landed flat on her butt.

When Hitomi opened her eyes, Akira was gone, and she was alone in the room again. Hitomi hadn't seen which card it was.

She took to her feet and headed down towards the west wing. It wouldn't be locked up because Van was still training. Hitomi bet that Dryden had a pack of Tarot cards in the library. He had to have one.

Hitomi stumbled in the dark avoiding furniture through the mansion on the way to the portrait gallery. She ran once she was there. There were streams of moonlight coming through the windows which were set between the pictures. Finally, in the library she flicked on one of the lamps and began rummaging through the boxes that Dryden hadn't unpacked yet. There were only books in the first box and in the second. She was getting hot and sweaty from her anxiety. She had to find a deck. Somehow it was the answer to everything.

The boxes were heavy and most of them were stacked, but Dryden had opened all of them in his search for Akira's logbook. When Hitomi had gone through two stacks of boxes, she was getting frustrated and she kicked the last one. Argh! One would think decks of tarot cards would be everywhere in a Tarot user mansion. She kicked the box again.

Then she saw that there were drawers on the table that was holding the lamp. She snapped the top drawer open and found what she was looking for. She whipped the package open and started fumbling through the cards. She saw the cards for the moon, for the lover, and for the fool. No! Those weren't the one she was looking for! She started flipping through them faster and shuffled through the cups and the stones when she found a card that made her heart stop.

Hitomi dropped all the other cards on the floor. In her horror, she didn't even stoop to pick them up. She thought she was going to throw up or drop dead on the spot. Hitomi put a hand to her mouth and felt that her nose was dripping. She had a bloody nose. It didn't matter. A sickening truth had just been revealed to her.

Akira had told her something so important! She had told a child something this important! And what was worse, Hitomi hadn't remembered it after all, even though Akira had gone to such trouble to prepare her for the world of Tarot users. She thought that Akira had taught her nothing.

Truly, this was all she needed to know.

The Sun God was the judgment card.