Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ The Oracle of the Phantasmalore ❯ A Light in the Sky ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: patternblue 
Van needs some time alone to think about his upcoming arranged marriage. His thoughts drift to Hitomi, and suddenly a pillar of light shines down on Gaea.
Anime/Manga: Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.22.2009 | Updated On: 10.22.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 163 | Status: Work In Progress
Van needs some time alone to think about his upcoming arranged marriage. His thoughts drift to Hitomi, and suddenly a pillar of light shines down on Gaea.
Anime/Manga: Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.22.2009 | Updated On: 10.22.2009 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 163 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: The world of Gaea, Van Fanel and Merle are owned by the original creators of The Vision of Escaflowne series.
Chapter 1: A Light in the Sky
It was the dead of night. The twin moons hung in the sky bearing their full glow upon Fanelia and in a clearing where a fresh water pool sparkled in the thick warm summer darkness, a man stood.
His sturdy figure strong against the light of the moons he stared skyward. His eyes reflected back a certain sadness, the sadness of knowing too much of the world for one still in his youth, still in his prime. The man sighed, dropping his head into his strong hand and pushing back his loose raven hair in one smooth motion. He clambered onto a large white rock glistening in the moonlight and settled himself comfortably. Reaching under his cloak he retrieved a leather pouch and uncapped the spout. Taking a quick swig, he shook his head sharply and coughed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Good stuff.” He cracked hoarsely. He plopped the pouch down beside him on the rock and let out a huff. He rubbed his face in thought which quickly turned to scratching as his new beard was itching him something awful. As a king it was important for him to live the old adage 'a real man has hair on his back, hair on his chest, hair on his face,' but so far his five-day shadow had done little but irritate him. Anyway, it would be grown in good and proper by the time his bride-to-be and her entourage showed up.
Van wondered how he managed to have the strength to return as King reuniting his people and rebuilding Fanelia, but somehow still bend to the old fashioned laws of the advising council. He’d pretty much left them to do their bureaucratic bullshit while he took over the important stuff like supervising the new city plans and giving pep talks to the weary Fanelians. In the meantime the old men had decided he needed to get cracking on producing future kings and took it upon themselves to choose a “suitable” queen. Some snooty self-righteous bitch from Calcaris. Not that Van had been given a chance to actually meet this girl – and she was just a girl, 14 no less – but everyone knew that Calcarisians were all snooty self-righteous bitches. They started more holy wars than any other nation, with “the word” from their crazy three-headed goddess to rationalize every single one. It made Calcaris a very unpopular country with few allies, despite their rich resources. Perhaps it was not so surprising that Calcaris sent aid to Fanelia when they began reconstruction, and perhaps it was no surprise that the old men of the advising council had decided that Calcaris’ fourth princess was the ideal candidate to be Fanelia’s future queen. Now they’d have Fanelia on their side, and Van was not looking forward to putting out someone else’s fires.
This wasn’t how Van thought his life was going to turn out. After all the adventures he’d had just a few years ago, after everything he’d seen and done, and now he was going to be just another one of those guys trapped in a loveless marriage getting the life sucked out of him.
“Van-samaaa!” two furry arms wrapped around his neck.
“Merle keep it down! You’ll wake the whole city!” Van chuckled. Merle grabbed his liquor pouch and helped herself to a slurp. She tossed it aside, sputtering.
“I can’t help it, I’m just so glad I found you. When I saw you weren’t in your room I was so worried! You can’t go out without telling anyone!” She scolded.
“And just what were you doing in my room in the middle of the night?” Merle put on her best saucy face.
“I was gonna offer you my body and my undying love!” Merle’s jokes were more awkward than funny lately. She squirmed a little, then smirked tensely.
“Seriously, I had a bad dream that I couldn’t find you and I just had to go see you. Then when I went to go check you really were gone!”
“Ah, so your dream came true my little fortune teller.” Van teased and reached over to rough up her hair. Merle saw a sad twinge in his eye then, only for a second, and he looked away into the distance. Merle decided to change the subject.
“So my big hairy king,” she said, hanging an arm around his neck buddy-style and pinching his prickly chin with the other hand, “Soon enough we’ll see what misses Van is going to be like.”
“Yeah...”
Merle searched her mind hopelessly for something else witty to say but gave up and stared at the moons. After a few minutes of awkward silence she said,
“You really miss her don’t you? Even after all these years.” Van was silent, his strong square jaw clenched and his shaggy hair hid the look in his eye. Merle gave up and gave him a weak hug before trudging quietly away back toward the palace.
If only she had stayed. No religion, no law, no man on Gaea would have stopped him from choosing her as his bride if only she had stayed with him. He would have proposed right away if...
A flash in the distance cut through his thoughts. A pillar of light streaked down from the sky somewhere ahead in the dark forest.
“Hitomi!”
Van bolted from the rock, running at full tilt. He ran it through his mind; how far was it? Memorize the location, look at it! How far?
It was gone an instant later. He kept on, vaulting into the brush, scraggly tree branches catching at his clothes and holding him back from her. His powerful arms splintered the frail wood and he scrambled through the thick woods ripping his cloak off and leaving it behind. He trod on, breathing hard now and clamouring over fallen trees and stumps.
Was it this way? Or...
“Hitomi!” he shouted, hoping to hear that soft voice cry his name back in the darkness.
Nothing.
“Hitomi!” again. He looked around, helpless and blind in the deep woods. He groaned with frustration, grabbing a hank of his hair and cursing. He pressed on, slower now, wondering if he was just seeing things. He looked down at his clothes, his shirt ripped to shreds with red scratches and cuts all over his chest and back. He stumbled into a clearing at last able to get his bearings. He breathed deeply and looked up at the Mystic Moon.
That did just happen, right?
Something like a sigh made him snap like a cat, his breath caught in his throat. Then from the corner of his eye a glimpse of something blue in the gully. His heart pounded in his ears, he felt like he was running ten steps for every one taken.
Then he was standing over her. His stomach knotted up like he was going to puke.
Chapter 1: A Light in the Sky
It was the dead of night. The twin moons hung in the sky bearing their full glow upon Fanelia and in a clearing where a fresh water pool sparkled in the thick warm summer darkness, a man stood.
His sturdy figure strong against the light of the moons he stared skyward. His eyes reflected back a certain sadness, the sadness of knowing too much of the world for one still in his youth, still in his prime. The man sighed, dropping his head into his strong hand and pushing back his loose raven hair in one smooth motion. He clambered onto a large white rock glistening in the moonlight and settled himself comfortably. Reaching under his cloak he retrieved a leather pouch and uncapped the spout. Taking a quick swig, he shook his head sharply and coughed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Good stuff.” He cracked hoarsely. He plopped the pouch down beside him on the rock and let out a huff. He rubbed his face in thought which quickly turned to scratching as his new beard was itching him something awful. As a king it was important for him to live the old adage 'a real man has hair on his back, hair on his chest, hair on his face,' but so far his five-day shadow had done little but irritate him. Anyway, it would be grown in good and proper by the time his bride-to-be and her entourage showed up.
Van wondered how he managed to have the strength to return as King reuniting his people and rebuilding Fanelia, but somehow still bend to the old fashioned laws of the advising council. He’d pretty much left them to do their bureaucratic bullshit while he took over the important stuff like supervising the new city plans and giving pep talks to the weary Fanelians. In the meantime the old men had decided he needed to get cracking on producing future kings and took it upon themselves to choose a “suitable” queen. Some snooty self-righteous bitch from Calcaris. Not that Van had been given a chance to actually meet this girl – and she was just a girl, 14 no less – but everyone knew that Calcarisians were all snooty self-righteous bitches. They started more holy wars than any other nation, with “the word” from their crazy three-headed goddess to rationalize every single one. It made Calcaris a very unpopular country with few allies, despite their rich resources. Perhaps it was not so surprising that Calcaris sent aid to Fanelia when they began reconstruction, and perhaps it was no surprise that the old men of the advising council had decided that Calcaris’ fourth princess was the ideal candidate to be Fanelia’s future queen. Now they’d have Fanelia on their side, and Van was not looking forward to putting out someone else’s fires.
This wasn’t how Van thought his life was going to turn out. After all the adventures he’d had just a few years ago, after everything he’d seen and done, and now he was going to be just another one of those guys trapped in a loveless marriage getting the life sucked out of him.
“Van-samaaa!” two furry arms wrapped around his neck.
“Merle keep it down! You’ll wake the whole city!” Van chuckled. Merle grabbed his liquor pouch and helped herself to a slurp. She tossed it aside, sputtering.
“I can’t help it, I’m just so glad I found you. When I saw you weren’t in your room I was so worried! You can’t go out without telling anyone!” She scolded.
“And just what were you doing in my room in the middle of the night?” Merle put on her best saucy face.
“I was gonna offer you my body and my undying love!” Merle’s jokes were more awkward than funny lately. She squirmed a little, then smirked tensely.
“Seriously, I had a bad dream that I couldn’t find you and I just had to go see you. Then when I went to go check you really were gone!”
“Ah, so your dream came true my little fortune teller.” Van teased and reached over to rough up her hair. Merle saw a sad twinge in his eye then, only for a second, and he looked away into the distance. Merle decided to change the subject.
“So my big hairy king,” she said, hanging an arm around his neck buddy-style and pinching his prickly chin with the other hand, “Soon enough we’ll see what misses Van is going to be like.”
“Yeah...”
Merle searched her mind hopelessly for something else witty to say but gave up and stared at the moons. After a few minutes of awkward silence she said,
“You really miss her don’t you? Even after all these years.” Van was silent, his strong square jaw clenched and his shaggy hair hid the look in his eye. Merle gave up and gave him a weak hug before trudging quietly away back toward the palace.
If only she had stayed. No religion, no law, no man on Gaea would have stopped him from choosing her as his bride if only she had stayed with him. He would have proposed right away if...
A flash in the distance cut through his thoughts. A pillar of light streaked down from the sky somewhere ahead in the dark forest.
“Hitomi!”
Van bolted from the rock, running at full tilt. He ran it through his mind; how far was it? Memorize the location, look at it! How far?
It was gone an instant later. He kept on, vaulting into the brush, scraggly tree branches catching at his clothes and holding him back from her. His powerful arms splintered the frail wood and he scrambled through the thick woods ripping his cloak off and leaving it behind. He trod on, breathing hard now and clamouring over fallen trees and stumps.
Was it this way? Or...
“Hitomi!” he shouted, hoping to hear that soft voice cry his name back in the darkness.
Nothing.
“Hitomi!” again. He looked around, helpless and blind in the deep woods. He groaned with frustration, grabbing a hank of his hair and cursing. He pressed on, slower now, wondering if he was just seeing things. He looked down at his clothes, his shirt ripped to shreds with red scratches and cuts all over his chest and back. He stumbled into a clearing at last able to get his bearings. He breathed deeply and looked up at the Mystic Moon.
That did just happen, right?
Something like a sigh made him snap like a cat, his breath caught in his throat. Then from the corner of his eye a glimpse of something blue in the gully. His heart pounded in his ears, he felt like he was running ten steps for every one taken.
Then he was standing over her. His stomach knotted up like he was going to puke.