Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow War ❯ Shadow War 13 ( Chapter 13 )

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

Aristae walked in a world of mists, surrounded by moist, grey clouds. It was cool and damp, like the mountain trails in the early morning. She wasn’t sure where she was or how she had gotten there, but it was peaceful and quiet. She walked without purpose or direction, looking around at the varying shades of grey in mild admiration. A formless beauty hung in the air, without time to shape it. ::What sort of place is this?::
She strolled a bit more, making a series of wide turns and backtracks. No two places looked alike, and nothing was ever familiar. It was that strange feeling of space found only in a dream. ::Am I dreaming?::
A shape formed in the distance, thin and vague, but solid. With no better place to go, Aristae headed towards it. There was a tension in the air that hadn’t been there before, telling her to hurry. She ran through the mists, footfalls heavy and wet against the silvery ground. An uncontrollable fear caught her chest and she sped faster, unable to stop or look back. The figure ahead did not get closer as she ran, but stood like a half formed image from a dream, always through the mist, indistinct and elusive. “Don’t go! Stay where you are!”
But the figure stood stoic in the quiet surroundings, neither moving nor acknowledging her words. Aristae continued to yell other things that made no sense even to her; words that had no meaning, whose origins were alien. As they passed her lips the mist cleared, pushed back to the edge of the colorless horizon. Aristae stood still, breath coming in hard pants. She had run a marathon in the course of a few minutes and was trembling with a mixture fear and apprehension. She was only inches away from him.
He was tall and lean, with a slender neck and pale silver-tinged hair. Wide shoulders held squarely at attention, face looking straight ahead, away from her. From her close vantage she could just see the edge of his thin, straight nose and the curve of his gaunt cheek. She opened her mouth to say something, perhaps to ask his name. She wasn’t sure. Whatever it was died on her lips, as his shoulders slumped and he turned unsteadily to look into her eyes.
Lost, he was lost. His eyes were beautiful, sad gems that gazed through her soul. They asked for help, for forgiveness, but also for solitude. She took a step back in uncertainty, afraid of him and for him at the same time. Every thought she had was at odds with another, and she faltered with no one direction to follow. A step forward followed by a hurried stumble back. What should she do? Where should she go? ::I’m lost, I’m here. I’m scared, but he needs help.::
The decision was made for her as he took a step toward her. His breath caught and he paused, eyes wide and frightened. There was a moment of absolute stillness where thought stopped and the air froze. With something akin to a moan, those sad eyes slid shut and he fell heavily forward, into her awaiting arms.
Aristae’s eyes snapped open without a sound and she lay very still. She could still feel his weight against her, but as the world of mists receded and consciousness dawned, the feeling faded. ::It was a dream:: she thought. ::A very strange dream::. Minutes passed slowly as she stared at the far wall, thinking of the boy in her dream. It had been the first dream she had experienced since her arrival on Gaia, she mused, and she wondered if it had some connection with Selena. ::I will tell Allen of this in the morning::.
As she prepared to go back to sleep, the heavy feeling of another presence descended upon her. The frozen sensation of someone in her room, in the dark, prickled her skin. She didn’t want to move, for fear that whoever it was would see she was awake. It was someone unfamiliar, even frightening, in the room with her.
When the other person shifted their weight, Aristae sat up and turned toward them. “Who’s there?”
There was no response, but Aristae could see Selena’s outline in the far off light of a guard torch. Her champagne hair was disheveled from sleep and she looked tired. “Selena?” she asked uncertainly.
Again, the girl did not respond, but looked straight ahead, as still as stone. Her vacant dark blue eyes seemed to move within their orbs, swirling like the night sea. It was only when they closed that she spoke. Her voice was dark and dry like autumn leaves against a flagstone, her tone chilling. “I am someone dead, come back to life.”
“You are Selena,” Aristae said with certainty. Though they hadn’t been formally introduced, the resemblance was unmistakable.
“I was Selena,” came the cold reply.
“Then you are-” Aristae began.
Selena’s eyes opened sharply, green and glowing in the darkness. “Alive!”
Aristae fled from the room so quickly it made her own head spin. She ran down the hall in an absolute panic, heart beating frantically as her veins pumped rivers of ice. That thing in the room, was no longer Selena. She had witnessed the transformation of the human girl into something very evil and terrifying. ::Allen, Allen, Allen:: was the only thought to run though her head. Only when she reached his door did she stop to look behind her. It wasn’t following her. She could hear nothing except the sound of her own breath and blitzing heart. ::Calm down, relax, it’s not following.:: A single scuffing noise down the hall made her revert back to her former thought.
Aristae began to pound on the heavy wooden door. “Allen! Allen! Allen!!!” She paused, straining to hear anything above her own heavy breathing. A faint green glow at the end of the hall sent a chill racing through her. “Allen, WAKE UP! NOW!”
She didn’t want to cry, but she could feel them behind her eyes - tears of absolute terror ready to show themselves. She opened her mouth to resume her cries, but only a sob escaped. The glow was closer now, brighter. Two eyes, unearthly clear, stared right at her.
The door was too thick, she realized, and her fists too weak. Allen was still asleep and those eyes were coming closer. She had to think, but panic made it all but impossible. As it approached, she backed away from the safety of the door, ready to bolt. “S-Selena?” she stammered, trying to reason.
“I’m not Selena,” it said confidently, a dark little smile upon its lips. “Di-Dilandau?”
It paused, frowning deeply. “Don’t say that name!”
“Are you Dilandau?” She took another step back.
“I am Myself!” it shrieked, lunging forward.
In the depths of his shattered mind, Dilandau knew he would not be alive when Zongi returned. He had cheated death by remaining within Selena and had paid a dear price for it. ::I should have let go:: he thought. ::I will let go::.
A whisper of the mind, almost inaudible, reached to touch the broken soul. “Dilandau. . .”
“I will let go,” he croaked.
“Dilandau. . .”
There was nothing but darkness before her as she ran, not daring to look back even for a moment. She knew it was there, running after her. She could see Selena’s face twisted almost beyond recognition and those cold green eyes, her features framed by tangled blonde hair and her body driven to unnatural madness.
One turn led to another, until Aristae found the staircase leading to a turret. She scrambled up without thinking. Only when she heard the other behind her did she realized her mistake. ::Dead end!::. Once they reached the top there would be nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. She contemplated turning around, trying to push past Selena, back into the twisting halls below, but the growl that echoed to her ears from below made it known that it was not a good idea. Up the spiral stairs they ran, darkness leading to darkness, fear leading the chase. The spiral of stone seemed to go on forever, but for the frantic girl it ended quickly in a cool wash of fresh air.
She had reached the top, and there was nowhere else to go. ::Southern Turret:: Aristae thought. She wasn’t sure of anything at that point, but guessed that was where they were. She clambered for the edge furthest from the stairwell, turning to watch its dark maw. Five echoing steps later, the monster, Selena, had also reached the top. “That was nice. Useless, but nice,” she panted, smiling. It was not a girl’s smile; it was barely human.
“You should leave Selena’s body,” Aristae said quietly, trying to circle far away from the other. Selena watched her with a cat-like intensity, circling toward her.
“It’s not her body any longer,” was the easy reply.
“It IS her body,” Aristae said hotly. “It was never yours, Dilandau!”
“I am NOT Dilandau!” it seethed, eyes glowing like strange embers in an alien fire.
“You are! You are Dilandau!” She needed time to think. Time to figure a way out.
“I am not!” It was angry. That word, that name, was very uncomfortable. “ I killed Dilandau! I killed Selena! There is only Me!” It was a lie, for the job wasn’t truly complete, but there would be no argument now that he was in control of the body. He could finish it at his leisure, after he finished off the girl in front of him. “I’m tired of your petty little game,” he spat. “I don’t even see why you’re such a threat.” There was a long silence between them, punctuated by the chill of the night wind. “But I will not jeopardize my existence because of you!”
A single leap and he was upon her, bending her back over the wall. She could feel his breath- no, Selena’s breath, erroneously sweet against her face. “She’s not dead,” Aristae growled, trying to fight back. There was neither time to stall nor think. It was happening too fast.
Selena’s body was larger than hers, and the best Aristae could do was to push her back a few inches. “It doesn’t matter,” he cooed. “You’ll be with her soon enough.”
::I’m losing:: Aristae thought, feeling her traction release. ::She’s going to push me over:: Images flashed before her eyes, of memories long forgotten; birthdays, school, friends and fights, the ghosts she had seen on her ride, and her dream. The dream she had had less than an hour ago. And, suddenly, those words she had called to the boy with, that alien tongue, came back to her. “Asei a na karai! Asei a na karai! Dilandau!”
A voice echoed within her own mind. ::Help me. I can’t hold on::
Stone crumbled beneath her and she felt herself falling backwards, over the edge. She grabbed upward instinctively, seizing hold of Selena’s hair, but she was still falling. Her stomach lurched at the sensation. ::I don’t want to die!::
Falling. He was falling through empty space. Faster and faster, the wind flew past his body as whispers filled his ears. Promises and lies, words from the past and friends long since dead. ::I’m falling. . .:: he thought. ::Falling into Hell::
Someone pulled his hair, jerking his eyes open. Above him was a girl, dark hair tossing wildly in the wind as her golden eyes burrowed into his soul. Her translucent body loomed above his like an angel of judgment, features stern and cold. She opened her mouth to speak, but didn’t have the chance. All he felt was the icy impact, and all was dark.