Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Memories ❯ Reunion ( Chapter 8 )

Memories. (revised).

Chapter 8 : Reunion

"How did you know my name?" The woman's eyes were questioning, as if she didn't trust him completely at face value. Her body language told them she was cautious and weary, and not the sort of person who is tricked very easily. There was also an air of grace, or wisdom surrounding the woman, which made her all the more alluring. She looked suspicious at how Allen knew her name; Duo didn't blame her, but something more important was bugging the hell out of him.

"I…don't know- "

"Er…HE-LLLOOOOOO?! Sorry if I'm interrupting, but we have a dangerous person unconscious here!" Duo shouted. He was clearly freaked out by what he just saw, and with good reason; everyone looked at Dilandau, or Celena, as it were. He might have changed back when he fell unconscious, no one knows. Allen was the first to step forward and examine her, to check for certain if it really was Celena. The others kept their distance, watching.

"It's alright," He said to everyone. "We won't be seeing Dilandau for the time being." Allen said in a calm tone of voice, which dampened everyone's nerves. Shiden noticed, that Allen was so gentle with the girl, and so careful, it surprised her to think this was the dangerous swordsman who attacked her just moments before. It made her think, "what else can he do?" and be weary of his intentions.

Shiden stood there, her eyes transfixed at the girl who just morphed from being a girl to a boy and back again. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally started moving, with Allen carrying his sister back to his house. He must be very strong, to be able to carry her all this way, Shiden thought. When they got there, Allen unlocked the doors and his owl came to greet him, hooting at the strangers behind him; he took them all to the living room, and laid Celena on the humungous sofa; the gang just stood or sat around in an awkward silence that hung in the air. Celena came to after half an hour or so since the transformation.

"Allen..." She sounded weak, and tired.

" I'm right here." He said soothingly. "You need to rest." She nodded, and promptly fell asleep. Putting a blanket over his sister, Allen stood and faced them.

" I've got an announcement to make; I am needed in Fanelia tomorrow... " Fanelia. Van. The words made a direct hit to Hitomi's ears, and her mind suddenly came to life and begun listening to what Allen was saying.

"....to discuss an important matter; everyone is welcome to stay here for as long as they wish, or they may come with me to see Fanelia - it's not permanent, only for a few days."

"Fanelia? Oh I've always wanted to see that country!" Shiden exclaimed, as if she already knew all about Fanelia, she went on.

"They say that the fields there are the most beautiful in the whole of Gaea." She was eager to go somewhere, and obviously liked to explore unknown territory. Allen was intrigued by her adventurous nature, because most women aren't like her at all.

"And you're right, miss. Pardon me but, where you the one who killed that dragon today?" Suddenly he stopped talking, mesmerised by her beauty, Allen became speechless again. Abit unusual, particularly for this notorious womaniser. Hitomi was feeling oddly envious…

"Yes, but I didn't kill him alone; Duo here helped me." She indicated to her right with her head, the violet hair shinning in the sun, to where Duo was leaning against the wall. Although she treated them all in the same way, Allen shifted slightly, as if he felt uncomfortable just by hearing this stranger's name, like he was somewhat jealous because he was next to her, and not him. Duo, hands in pockets, was looking at his surroundings, and still seemed to be bewildered by it all.

Flash. A single, white feather floated onto the ground - into a puddle of blood. Hitomi screamed, but nothing happened. No sound was made, and no one heard her. Just then, another feather fell gently on top of the other feather, but it seemed different, somehow. Maybe that's because it's radiating a soft, golden glow.....

(What does it mean?) Hitomi had yet another vision, but this one in particular concerned her a lot.

"Hitomi? You okay?" Duo always seemed to pick up whenever she was feeling down, which she is starting to believe is his gift, and she's also beginning to like him because of it. To her he was like this little Labrador puppy, but with big, blue friendly eyes, and a cute smile that always managed to make her laugh.

"Yeah, I'm fine Duo." Staring at the ground, Hitomi felt abit shy, then the shocking realisation that everyone might have seen her dopey looking face gave her a start, and she glanced around. But no one noticed.

<>The next day<>

Today's such a beautiful day, Shiden thought. The sky is an ice blue colour, with little patches of fluffy white clouds everywhere...then she saw it; there, in the heart of the valley, stood the castle, surrounded by thousands of small houses, which look like tiny dots in the distance. Home. How long has it been? Sixteen years. I've been away for sixteen years. I wonder how everyone's doing? Have they even missed me? And has Folken become King yet? So many questions, seems like it will take forever to answer them all. She snuck a glance at the handsome stranger sat opposite her; his boyish good looks and charm, along with that golden blond hair would probably drive all the women crazy back home. Then he saw her looking at him, and smiled. God! He saw me! Why?! Shiden quickly faced downwards, avoiding his glance. She could feel herself going red, as she felt her face burn with embarrassment and the exciting of being caught. Allen watched her still, as her long hair swung with the wooden cart on the uneven road. The gigantic gates opened as they approached, and everybody perked up; so did the Fanelian people, who were just as excited, if not more so, at the prospect of having strangers in their country. But what the majority of them did do, was point, gawp, stare, and chatter about the strange woman with violet hair, and Shiden felt a little like royalty, lavishing in the attention. A small boy came to speak to Allen, who glanced in Shiden's direction every now and then, sometimes smiling; she often wondered if he even was talking business, or about her. A few minutes later, they went with Allen and followed the small boy towards a square-shaped building, which was built around a huge tree. Strange…

As they went in through the dauntingly tall wooden doors, the gates of Fanelia, Van thought he saw someone familiar from the castle grounds ......Hitomi! But then someone else caught his attention - the woman with striking purple hair. How odd, He thought. Then again, there were lots of different kinds of people on Gaea, and he wondered if she was one of them. When the gates closed, Van jolted to life almost at once, zipping through the castle halls, ran down the stairs, (nearly knocking some people aside in the process) and made his way to his friends through the town. He came to a sudden halt, as he saw the girl who kept his heart captive. The two held each other in a loving embrace, which signified their love for each other; Van dwarfed her so much because of his height, that you can only see abit of her mousy brown hair near his shoulders, but from the side, you can see that Hitomi was nuzzling up to him. Then she looked up at him, their eyes gazing into the other for infinity, each reflecting what they truly wanted to see. She missed him, she also missed his cute face, and the way his hair would flop onto his face; he missed hearing her voice, and just simply being with her lively personality. The Fanelian people cheered and clapped at this happy reunion.

The others who had arrived with Hitomi clapped also, and Shiden was whispering something to Duo; Allen saw them, and felt abit jealous, though he managed to hide it. He was a gentleman, and a knight, and he would live up to it. Being what he was, he had to be polite and generous, because all men of honour and important statures were expected to behave accordingly, so Allen wasn't alone in having a big reputation in terms of recognition. When Van released his hold of Hitomi, she gazed lovingly again at one another, before he took a breath, and went to face everyone present.

Everyone bowed down to the King, but something about that stranger with violet hair caught his eye again.... she wasn't in a dress like women should be, instead she was wearing strange clothes like Hitomi's, but she wasn't wearing a skirt; instead she wore trousers. I wonder why? Van pondered, but he didn't have time to dwell on that, as an advisor quickly came up beside him, and whispered in his ear. It seemed to be something important, as Van's expression changed from being really happy, to a little cute frown as he listened to what his advisor had to say.

Like a true royal, he calmly told them where he had to be, in a sincere manner. " Please excuse me for a moment; my advisor will show you to the waiting room. Call him if you need anything."

And so, he dashed off somewhere, and the gang followed the advisor out of the city, who took them all to a waiting horse-drawn carriage, everyone got on, then set off in the direction of the palace.

<>In the Zaibach Empire…<>

"Is the restoration process complete?" A pair of stern grey spheres stared at a cloaked man opposite him, who was inspecting a large mythril crate, a metal renowned for its magical properties, and covering every inch of the container, were lots of symbols of some kind plastered onto it, and they guessed them to be religious. Whatever it was, must be beyond lethal disposition, something that attracted the sorcerers to it to begin with. Their curiosity, could be Gaea's undoing…

"Yes, he should be waking up any time now."

"I have some doubts; besides it being a Sorcerer's job to investigate and experiment, have we gone too far this time?" One Sorcerer asked another, each passing on the fear of losing their lives.

"Silence! Remember, fate has bestowed him upon us, so it is our duty to revive him, and so we shall have a new leader."

"Why can't we just lead ourselves, and be an independent country-" Asked one of the sorcerer's tentively, but was cut short.

"Welcome, my Lord." At this all four Sorcerer's bowed down to him; their new ruler. He steadied himself, and then rose to his feet. When standing, he was an imposing six foot one inches tall, easily towering over the sorcerers. Looking around, the surroundings were unfamiliar to him, realising this was not the last place he was in; and unknown to his knowledge of the world. At first he was still squinting, but when he fully opened his eyes, they instinctively knew, this is one experiment, is one that should not have happened.

Except it has.

"Who awakened me?" His blood red eyes staring, searching, at each of the four men standing before him, struggling to recognise any of them.

"We did, my Lord. " They bowed to him in respect, and in fear of looking into those evil eyes.

Releasing a spine-chilling laugh, he said; "And I was having 'such' a nice dream." He walked up to a soldier, and an arm shot out from beneath the dark cloak; not daring to watch, the Sorcerer's turned away, just to see it happen in the shadows. Fingers outstretched, it pierced the soldier's stomach, pure black magic pulsating from the hand, and into the man. A lifeless vessel fell to the ground with a 'duff', after a withdrawing hand. He stretched out the hand, which had taken a life moments before, and flexed his fingers, contracting them into a fist, then releasing them, always repeating the same motion over and over....

" L'attesa giusta e vede. La avrò e faccio la sua miniera…" The words just rolled off his tongue, and he had a strong look of certainty in his eyes as he spoke.

"Who, my Lord?" Faro was just thankful he made himself learn this ancient language that was spoken, as the others were looking quite puzzled and scared, in case it involved their deaths.

An evil grin played on his lips, those eyes squinting as the thought was relished. "The maiden from the Mystic Moon."

I hope that this chapter is long enough, and that it gives you an idea to Shiden's personality.

"L'attesa giusta e vede. La avrò e faccio la sua miniera…"

Translation; " Just wait, and see. I will have her, and make her mine." In Italian; just thought I'd make it more interesting. ^_^