Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Return To Innocence ❯ Yes, My Queen ( Chapter 11 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 11: Yes, My Queen

There was this dizzying sensation throughout her body, like she was weightless or flying. She felt that she was being ushered somewhere, and the feeling of urgency came harold of this upcoming place. She looked around herself. There were mountains ahead of her and some to both sides; the ground was bare and lifeless. What you would expect for a dessert like terrain. She felt that she knew this place, like she had been there before. Strange.

She looked forward again, now seeing a bright light in the distance. A red light, flickering. The closer she came to this place, she could discern the hazy shapes to be buildings of an alien sort. They seemed familiar, but nothing like the cube like buildings of home. They seemed almost...archaic, maybe even otherworldly in apperance.

And fire.

These strange buildings were engulfed in fire, the light from the dancing flames flooded throughout the night sky.

Now she was hovering over the city. In the streets she could see soldiers running from the flames, running over the bodies of what she could only assume to be the former inhabitants of this city. It was a horrible sight to behold. She could even hear the screams of those who were dying, either by flame or sword. The air was thick with heat and smoke. That too, she supposed, was enough to smother someone. Off in the distance she could hear a cracking. Again, this sound was familiar, it sounded like joints cracking. And then came the wind, distracting her from finding the source of that sound. It was a cool wind, soothing almost.

Suddenly her attention was strangely drawn to the street below her, and even though smoke was blowing up into her face in billowing black clouds, she could still see the scene enfolding below her. In the middle of the street, amidst the bodies and the broken, smoldering stone, was a woman. She was just slowly making her way down the street. And if that wasn't bizarre enough in its own right, upon looking behind this woman, she could see that the fires were dying down. Their lively, licking tongues were quickly being quenched by an unknown force, and that 'force', she suspected, was the woman with the dark red hair.


Hitomi opened her eyes to a pale sky and the rhythm of a running horse underneath her. She suddenly jerked her body forward in alarm, absoluetly aware that she wasn't home, but quickly running through the rugged terrain of a canyon pass. She had moved so quickly without thought, that she nearly fell of of her steed. She yelped, both at the thought of falling to the rocky, uneven ground, and when she realized that an arm was wrapping around her own shoulders, righting her on the beast again.

"Be careful. I wouldn't want you to fall and hurt yourself now."

She whipped her head around to meet a pare of pale blue eyes, full of concern yet slightly amused. Her mouth gaped at the tattoo on his forehead. Like blood. All of the past night's events flooded her mind and she instantly remembered this young man to be her savior. He had been the one to save her from the water's edge, but who was he really? And where was he taking her?

"Who-who are you?" she stuttered, whispering for her throat was still sore and her mouth dry. The young man smiled and looked into her eyes briefly while saying,

"My name is Chesta." he looked up, steering the animal they were riding. Hitomi faced forward again, slightly leaning back into Chesta's chest, his arm around her stomach so as to prevent her from falling. She felt safe enough with him. "What is your name?" he asked quietly in her ear.

"Hitomi. Hitomi Kanzaki."

"What a beautiful name. It suits you."

Hitomi could feel her cheeks grow warm, even against the cool wind that was whipping at her face. She narrowed her eyes, the wind making her eyes water slightly. She looked around again, the rock walls were decreasing in height, and she could now see more of the sky. It was early morning she guessed by the rapidly fading stars and the growing yellow light to her left. The sun.

"Chesta, where are you taking me?" she asked.

Chesta took in a breath, collecting his thoughts.

"I'm taking you to Necron, to Queen Fresia. She is expecting you."

"And where are we now?" for some reason she couldn't help but ask questions. She felt an overwhelming sense of deja-vu, but couldn't quite place it. She knew she had been here before, but her memory was clouded at the moment.

"We are now passing through the Nescer Moutains. We'll be able to see the city in just a few moments."

Hitomi let the information sink in, but it was Chesta that she was paying attention to. His close proximity and his breath in her ear made her heart flutter. She had the urge to turn around and look at his face again, but her thoughts were interrupted by his voice once again in her ear.

"There," he pointed at the horizon. "That is the city of Necron."

Hitomi followed his pointing finger and saw the growing skyline of a city. Again there was a strange sensations that she had been here before. In the dim early morning light, she could see the strange buildings growing on the horizon.

Fire. Smoke.

Hitomi shook her head. The images of a great fire quickly fading away with that simple motion. It was beautiful with the slow sunbeams inching their way up the stone surfaces. It looked almost like something out of a fairytale if it weren't for the tarnished look the buildings had.

They were rapidly appraoching the city limits and then entered just as fast. There was no one in the streets, obviously because it was early; save for a few soldiers at their different posts. Chesta guided the horse through the winding city streets and up to another set of gates. These ones were huge, white, almost like marble, and effortlessly smooth.

"This is the palace gates." Chesta informed her. Then the solid doors opened slowly, hardly making a sound. Chesta stirred the animal back into motion and they were running up the path inside. They ran up to a large staircase and Chesta, in one motion it seemed, removed his arm from around Hitomi's body and swun himself off of the beast. Hitomi, for some reason, felt like she was missing something when he wasn't close to her.

She looked down at him, he smiled back at her, extending his hand. She shakily reached for hit, grasping onto it. Then she looked at him, questioningly. He chuckled.

"Just lift your leg over," She did so. "Good. Now here, take my other hand, yes, and now jump down." She jumped, though her landing was off, for she was unsure of herself. Chesta quickly caught her before she fell. She looked up into his clear eyes and smiled. He smiled back.

"I guess that's the second time today that I've saved you from falling." All Hitomi could do was smile and nod. He straightened both of them up, and took her hand, turning aorund to lead her up the stairs. "Come with me."

He lead her through a set of large doors, like the large stone gates almost, and through several dark hallways. There was something not quite right about this place. It felt of wrongdoings and a few times, Hitomi could swear that she smelt something burnt or burning. Her suspicions were building with every step. The only thing she felt she could trust in was Chesta.

Finaly they came upon another pair of doors, though this one was heavily guarded. Chesta gripped her hand once again and pulled her closer to him. His posture stiffened and immediately Hitomi felt the air around him change. She assumed that this was the soldier side of the kind young man.

"I am here to see Queen Fresia. I have brought the woman as she commanded." Even Chesta's voice took on a different tone; one of authority.

Hitomi was suddenly wary of Chesta. He had been commanded to find her and bring her back? What was going on? Almost in answer to her internal fears, Chesta lightly squeezed her hand, and oddly enough, she was put at ease. She fought the urge to smile.

The four guards looked at him skeptically, then looking Hitomi over, their approving sneers unnerved Hitomi considerably. Then one - one of the larger men and most likely the 'leader' - stepped forward slightly and spoke.

"We are not aware of this alleged command from Her Majesty, therefore you are not to be admitted into her prescence."

Hitomi saw Chesta's eyes narrow in frustration, and he was about to say something in return when the guard who had spoken suddenly froze, his hands flying to his neck, clawing at the unseen attacker.

Hitomi saw a flash of a lithe cloaked figure and the hand that was gripping at this mans throat. Then the vision was gone and a low, hissing voice came.

"Don't be sso ignorant, Tahni. Chessta is ssecond in command to General Albatou and your ssuperior." The soldier's brow was beading with sweat as his skin slowly began to turn a sickly blue. He was suffocating.

"Zongi!" a thundering voice boomed, seeming to come from every direction at once. "Leave him be. Please, escort the captain and our guest into my throne room."

A displeased hissing was heard and then the guard was violently thrown against the wall with a hard crack of both armor and bone. The man rolled onto his side, gasping greedily for air. But what was most astonishing was that only inches from where the quard had been thrown from, a shadowy figure materialized . He was abnormally tall and thin, and was entirely covered from head to toe in a midnight blue robe, the hood covering his head and a cloth of some kind covering his face save for his eyes. They were green and reptilian in appearance. They were frightening to look at, but somehow Hitomi couldn't help herself from staring into them. What she did manage was to take an instinctive step backward.

"Come with me." said the serpentine voice. And the figure assumedly to be Zongi, turned and walked to the large doors, which swung open effortlessly at his approach as if by someone's command.

Inside was a long corridor, lined by collosal pillars and decorative lamps on both sides. It was relatively dark, but the light gave a cozy, warm glow, though this did not offset the feeling Hitomi had of something terribly wrong being there, and it was getting worse with each step.

They continued to follow Zongi down the dimly lit corridor, Chesta still holding on to Hitomi's hand, until they came upon yet another set of doors.

What is it with all these doors, it's like these people have something to hide, Hitomi thought.

These doors opened in the same flawless manner that all the others had, and they were lead through. The light was tremendously bright, of course, the sun was shining right through the enormous windows directly in front of them, nearly blinding them. Zongi adjusted his hood to shade his eyes, Chesta squinted, and Hitomi raised her hand to her forehead, shading her eyes as well from the bright morning sun.

"Good morning." came the voice, its origins coming from somewhere in the light. It was distinctly feminine.

Hitomi tried to look ahead, into the light, and amidst the blinding yellow, there was a hint of something there. Hitomi quickly shut her eyes for they were burning with the intensity of the sun.

"Captain," the voice uttered. Chesta lifted his head, squinting still, his full attention on the blurred presence in front of them. "You have done well. You have brought the Wing Goddess as I commanded."

Chesta bowed his head to accept this praise. "I live to serve you my Queen."

Hitomi heard a small laugh, and when she looked up she could see a pair of fiery red eyes looking back at her. Then the voice spoke again.

"Wing Goddess, does the light bother you?"

"Yes. Yes, it does." Hitomi whispered, unsure of whether or not it was proper to be so honest. Chesta looed at her oddly. Was she the only one who had heard the voice speak just now?

Suddenly there was the loud screech of metal being pulled across metal and looking on amazedly, Hitomi watched as the immense windows were slowly being covered by equally large drapes, seemingly by themselves for she couldn't see anyone pulling them shut. Once all natural outside light was consumed, the odd company was left in the shadowed silence of a lamp lit room.

Hitomi looked up to where she had seen the red eyes and found a woman sitting on a throne. Her fair skin and flaming red hair shone fiercely in the lamp light, and immediately struck at Hitomi's heart and soul.

Her.

It was the woman from her dreams. The woman made of fire and the cold words she had spoken.

...'Now you die.'...

And the woman walking amongst the burning city, quelling the flames. It was her.

Hitomi screamed horribly and tried to run, but Zongi caught her arm and flung her around to face the woman. His vice-like grip on her arms made Hitomi wince. She could feel her skin bruise. Hitomi felt tears welling in her eyes. Then the words hit her, like a tidal wave, and she spoke them without even knowing why.

"You are no 'Queen', Fresia. You are nothing but The Destroyer. You are wildfire; everything you touch turns to ash."

Hitomi gasped. What had she just said? Now she felt the tears roll down her cheeks. She had no idea how the words had left her mouth but she knew that she would pay dearly for them.

The woman laughed.

"Do not be mistaken, Wing Goddess, for I Am Queen. And as Queen I plan to take Gaea and bring peace to her burned and scarred lands."

The woman, Fresia, stood up from her throne and walked toward them. Chesta immediately knelt on one knee, bowing his head. Hitomi felt Zongi bow his own hooded head behind her, but she stood firm, not flinching, no matter how afraid she felt inside or how telling the tears in her eyes were. Fresia stood directly in front of Hitomi, smiling at the girl.

"Please, Wing Goddess," she touched the jewel hanging around her neck, then touched her fingers to Hitomi's forehead. Hitomi did nothing for she was frozen with fear. Then Fresia smiled. "Please help me bring peace to Gaea once and for all." She pulled her hand back and looked in to Hitomi's eyes for an answer.

Hitomi blinked and her body relaxed. She nodded.

"Yes, my Queen. I will help you."



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A/N: I took some liberties with Zongi's character. I gave him a slightly new look and an obviously new ability; invisibility. Nifty, eh? hehehe. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Please, reviews highly appreciated.
~Tabitha