Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Persephone ❯ Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, the characters, these are copyrighted by their original creators. (I actually don't own the Greek mythology either. Go figure, ne?)

---------------------
Persephone: Chapter 5
by Katrina Kadabra

Hitomi awoke bright and early the next day. She couldn't help it. Van's change of demeanor the previous night had made her curious, and she found herself wanting to know more about him. Not because she actually cared about him, she reminded herself. But there was just something about the way he told his story to her that night that made her wonder if perhaps he wasn't as cold-hearted as he seemed to let on. In either case, it gave her something to do aside from sitting alone all day.

"What's this about?" Van asked skeptically when Hitomi not only joined him for breakfast, but also took the seat next to him.

"What's what about?" Hitomi asked. She had thought her first move might have been a little too obvious, and apparently, she was right.

"Sitting next to me at breakfast? You hardly ever come out of your room, much less to see me." Hitomi shrugged.

"Well, I figured I might as well do something other than sit around all day, I was starting to get bored."

"Oh, is that so?" Van asked. Hitomi could tell by his tone of voice that he probably didn't buy her story completely, but in any case, he didn't press the issue either. "Tell you what, after I'm done meeting with Hermes today, I'll take you for a stroll through the Elysian fields. How about that?" Hitomi pondered over the possibility and supposed it couldn't be so bad.

"Alright," she agreed. "I'll be waiting for you."

Meanwhile, Allen had been telling his friend Theseus of his romantic encounter with Hitomi. Allen was as light as a feather, but Theseus wasn't as overjoyed as he was.

"Back up a second. You're telling me you've fallen in love with who?"

"Hitomi," Allen told him. "She's…"

"I know who she is. Have you lost your mind?"

"No, why? What's wrong with her?" Allen still hadn't picked up on what Theseus was trying to say. All he knew was that he couldn't bear to never see her again, and any other details were insignificant. Theseus, however, was much more sensible and could foresee that this affection of Allen's would point him straight to trouble.

"What's wrong with her? Have you lost every speck of common sense you've ever had? She's the Queen of the Dead!"

"That doesn't matter," Allen answered.

"It does if you're Van," Theseus warned.

"She doesn't like him," Allen informed him. Theseus was ready to slap himself in the face. It seemed that nothing he could say or do would help Allen return to reality.

"Even if that's true, who's to say she likes you anymore? I haven't heard any stories of her begging you not to leave yet." Theseus had made a good point. Allen wasn't sure how Hitomi felt about him, but Theseus' comment had made him all the more determined to find out. The obstacle now was how to go about doing it. Allen might have very well returned to the underworld a third time if it wasn't for a sudden tragedy that stuck without warning.

Prior to his meeting with Hitomi, Allen had already proposed to another girl, as everyone was hoping he would. In truth, he had had little interest in her from the start, but had also been pressured into a relationship by many of his friends. They all agreed it wasn't good for a hero of his stature to spend the rest of his life mourning for his deceased family. He needed to start again. Allen decided to keep quiet until he knew for sure what Hitomi's feelings were for him. One afternoon when he stopped by to visit her, the two of them decided to take a stroll downtown to visit some friends. However, there was a river they needed to cross almost directly in front of the house. Allen offered to carry her across, but she complained that her beautiful new dress might get wet.

The centaur guarding the river saw their predicament and offered to carry Allen's girl across for him. The two of them agreed, and Nessus scooped her up into his arms and began to carry her across. Soon, however, he heard screams when Nessus had made it halfway to the opposite bank. The centaur was attacking her. In his usual hero reflexes, Allen grabbed one of his arrows and shot Nessus down. Before Allen's girl returned to him, Nessus asked to speak with her. He said his blood was a remedy for Allen, should he ever have his eyes on another woman. All she had to do was get Allen to touch it. She was not one for blood but had noticed Allen did seem a bit light headed that morning and was not about to take chances. She called for Allen to go on ahead, and that she would meet up with him later. Allen agreed, oblivious to her motive. After Allen had gone, she gathered some of Nessus' blood and stashed it away before she rejoined Allen.

Within a few days, Allen had forgotten all about the incident with Nessus, which was much more than what could've been said for his bride-to-be. The wedding was in two days, and Allen was still clearly distracted by something, or rather as she suspected, someone. He could very easily get caught staring into space, obviously deep in thought, for hours on end, only to return to reality and claim that he was "just thinking". She sat debating with herself for quite sometime. Surely it was wrong of her to suspect Allen of cheating on her, but what else was she to think? He had seemed constantly distracted lately, and she wanted nothing to get in the way of their wedding plans. At last, she made her decision. Taking the cloak Allen was to wear to day of the wedding she dipped it into the centaurs' blood she had stored and left it there to soak during the night.

The walk through the Elysian Fields was... pleasant, if Hitomi was forced to put a word to it. As they made their way through the paths, Hitomi tried asking Van some more questions about his life, but he was completely silent. If she asked about the flowers they saw growing along the path, he might stop and point their names out to her. But he still wasn't willing to show anymore of himself than he had to.

"Maybe I'm getting too hopeful..." Hitomi thought. "Maybe that night was just a fluke or something, and I'm trying to make light of my situation by pretending there's another side to Van that simply isn't there." She glanced up into his eyes. They still looked so dark and cold. Hitomi shook her head. Who was she kidding? Van was the guardian of the underworld, not some prince hidden by the darkness. His cold heart would never kindle a real love her, and she would not allow hers to do anything of the like either. So she told herself.

The next day, while Hitomi was content to recline in her solitude, Allen went out to party with some friends. He became somewhat drunk and by the time he made it home, he was beat. Not bothering to wash up, he went straight to bed, where he crashed out almost immediately, unknowing of what awaited him the next day.

However, during the night, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, spoke to him to him in a dream.

"Listen to me, Allen," Athena instructed him. "Your father Zeus has been asking for you. He wants you to taste of the nectar and ambrosia and become one of the immortals."

"How could I leave now?" Allen asked. "My wedding is tomorrow."

"That marriage is doomed to failure and will, in fact, be your end. When you killed the centaur Nessus, he told your bride his blood would renew your love for her. She knows you have feelings for someone else. She has already soaked your cloak in the blood and prepared it for tomorrow. But to touch that cloak would kill you instantly. Listen to reason. Come with me." Allen was shocked, but agreed without much need for persuasion. Not only would he be free of his obligations to this wedding he didn't even want, he had finally found a way to meet his beloved Hitomi again. He was awoken to see Athena standing next to him, nectar and ambrosia in her hands. That very night, Allen joined his father on Atlantis.