Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Thinking About Forever ❯ waking to a new ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or any of its characters or places but I do own my own original characters that I have made up. So don't sue me and please… don't use any of my characters without my permission or any of my plot (which really hasn't begun yet but this is for later. Just in case. Okay bub bye.

Thinking About Forever

Chapter two

As the light took up the gangs a dark figure watched from the shadows with an evil twisted smile. Its eyes glowed red and it laughed as the dark shadow darted up into the sky and followed the light.

Black. Total darkness.

Crimson eyes. Glowing. Veronica shivered.

'Who are you?'

'I am your nightmare, princess.' Deep and rolling, a voice full of power. Light reflected off pearly white teeth.

And fangs.

It approached her. She felt it moving.

'What did you call me?'

'Princess…'

'Why?'

'You will remember soon enough.' It smiled maliciously and laughed.

'Wha…?'

Her head swam. Fuzzy white dots appeared and sparkled before her eyes as she slowly opened them.

The red head blinked.

That mere movement caused her to wince in pain. Ouch. What had happened? She asked herself mentally as she looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling above her head. There was an ugly yellow stain from a constant source of dripping water that marred the plaster into a slightly flaking state. Veronica rolled to her side so she was facing the wall.

Okay so there was a ceiling above her head. That she could tell, ugh…and she could also guess that the room had been used before by the slight odor wafting around it. There were walls, plain white walls, totally bare. She was in a bed, a WHOLE bed that was quite comfortable actually except from that one spring that was poking at her back. She definitely didn't recognize anything of her own or of the gangs, well…except for the clothes that she had been wearing during the attack. But shouldn't they be on her body?

She turned on her other side and looked around some more. Ah yes, she had escaped the torture of the bed spring of pain. Heh.

There was the door, across from the bed. There was table with a glass of water on it and a chair by her bed. The red head blinked as she stared into the crystalline water, her mouth gone dry. She reached out for the water. Veronica was so thirsty for some reason. At that exact moment there was a jingle of keys and a really loud creak and…

The door opened.

"Oh you're awake." Veronica looked over at the sound of the friendly but slightly surprised voice. Her eyes immediately took in the teen's features, sizing him up and assuming strength, just in case he was an attacker…or a rapist or something. There, in the doorway, stood a blonde boy, maybe about her age, with blue eyes and an innocently friendly smile. It didn't look like he could hurt a fly. But he was wearing the strangest outfit; it looked like blue armor or something and he had a sword in his belt that swung at his hip. A sword was definitely not innocent. Maybe appearances really are only skin deep.

"Where am I? Where are my friends?" Veronica sat up quickly, not noticing if anything felt strange. The blanket fell away from her upper body. She got no response from him but she did notice that his stare was on her chest. And then his cheeks became as red as a rose and he looked away. Veronica blinked and then looked down.

Big mistake.

The red-head screeched and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. A flush made its way up her neck and flared across her cheeks in a lovely shade of scarlet.

"WHY AREN'T I WEARING CLOTHES!?!" Veronica yelled. Two other boys her age ran in with hands on the hilts of their swords ready to defend in case she attacked. One had light brown hair and blue eyes, the same armor as the blond, and the other was blond with parted bangs and blue eyes.

"What was that, Shesta?" The brunette asked. The blond boy shifted uneasily, stuttering his mumbled responses till the red receded to a light pink.

"She sat up in bed and didn't notice she had no clothes on. Then she screamed." The blond boy, Shesta, said. Both of the other boys blinked. Another boy with shoulder length brown hair poked his head in.

"Did I hear something about some girl not having clothes on?" Instantly Veronicas green eyes zoomed in on him in the most menacing glare that a naked girl could muster up. And quite frankly, that was one hell of a glare.

"If I ever get my clothes back and I get out of this bed you will be the first to die and then the blond boy who saw me will go." Veronica growled out. All four of the guys looked at her as she glared, clutching the sheets to her chest. They all looked back at each other.

"Maybe we should inform Lord Folken and Lord Dilandau that she is awake." The blond with parted bangs said. The light brown haired one nodded and so did the Shesta boy. The long haired brunette stepped into the door way.

"Actually Lord Folken sent me to tell you that when she wakes up she is to be brought to Lord Dilandau and Lord Folken in the 'throne' room. So just give her the clothes she had been wearing before and let's go. It's almost lunch." At the mention of lunch Veronica's stomach growled. She looked down at it and shushed it. They all nodded and the one brunette left. The blond with parted bangs and the light brown haired one merely stepped out of the room and turned to guard the room.

Shesta walked across the room and picked up her clothes from off the chair. He stepped to the bed and Veronica scooted away to the other side. He placed them on the bed with a smile.

"I'm sorry I saw anything. I really didn't mean to." He said before leaving and closing the door. No doubt he was on the other side waiting for her to be finished. Veronica grabbed her clothes and looked around for any hidden cameras. She still had no idea where she was, where her friends were, or what these guys wanted. Who knows what kinds of perverts were around, watching her every move.

That thought kind of scared Veronica.

Satisfied that there were no cameras, Veronica changed into her underwear and club clothes; her low-cut baggy jeans, the belly shirt that laced up at the bottom that was low cut, and the worn combat boots. Her earrings, choker, bracelets, and belly ring were all still there. They hadn't taken anything, at least nothing she noticed.

She stood from the bed after lacing up her boots and opened the door. The boys looked surprised to see her in the tight shirt that showed off her curves and the silver belly ring with the metallic purple beads at the end. It glittered in the low light. All of them blinked. She heard a low wolf whistle from behind her and a "damn sweetheart." Upon hearing that she swung around and right hooked whoever was behind her in the jaw. The long haired brunette fell against the wall in surprise as his head snapped to the side.

"Whistle again and I'll kick you where the sun don't shine, sweetheart." She growled out. Veronica strained the word 'sweetheart' ominously. Behind her the other guys snickered.

"Good going Dalet. Didn't think she could and would do that, did you?" The light haired brunette said.

"Shut up, Miguel." Veronica turned back to the other boys.

"Let's just go where ever I'm supposed to go so I can find out where the hell I am and where my friends and sister are." Veronica said, feeling the beginning of a headache. She grimaced as the dull throbbing from before started to worsen.

Boy, she could tell that the day was beginning to go from bad to worse.

"Fine then, let's go. Follow us." The one that she had heard as Miguel said. All four of them had suddenly boxed her in and they were heading down. The whole boxed in thing made her nervous. Each time one of them happened to brush against her she would push or slap the arm away from her. She had too many memories of being cornered between bunches of guys with weapons to be comfortable in this situation.

In the back right corner of the box formation was the brunette she had socked in the jaw. He was still rubbing his jawbone, making sure it was still in place, and at the same time he kept throwing her dark looks. Shesta was looking uneasily at Dalet from the back left corner. The brunette however ignored the looks and now muttered incoherent things that sounded quite dark. She did, though, manage to catch the words bitch, whore, stupid female, and lousy. And as they passed down more corridors, a few that had other boys dressed in the same outfit as the four surrounding her who gave her looks, she became more fed up and annoyed by his dark muttering.

Finally they arrived in front of a large set of doors. Two soldiers were outside it, standing like statues, which turned and one slipped his hand into some kind of panel next to one door and the doors opened. Veronica nearly jumped back at the quick slide the doors made. Miguel looked back at her and arched an eyebrow at her reaction before they headed in.

Inside, the four boys went to the right and stood perfectly straight before a large chair. It was too dark for her to see, but she could tell that there was someone sitting there with a glass of liquid. But she was left standing by the doors and jumped as they slid shut. Turning around she gave the doors a look, as if she could make them feel her curiosity and surprise and cautiousness. Then Veronica turned back to survey the sparsely decorated room. A long table and chairs was to her left, in front of her was the stone looking chair with a lion like thing posed behind it and two young men standing on either side of the chair, and to her right there was a lot of shadow. And something moved in the shadow. She stared hard at it. What was it?

"Well, well… you're finally up, girl." Her head snapped back to the chair. That annoyingly mocking voice was something that gave her the chills. Already she felt resentment for the male voice that spoke like he was somehow so much better than her. Veronica narrowed her eyes in his direction. She saw the man stand up from the chair and put his glass down on a small table beside the chair. He took a step forward.

Now she caught a glimpse of his mocking garnet eyes. He looked down his nose at her with the highest air of prickdom that screamed: 'I'm an asshole, Beware!'

"Hm? Speak, girl, I asked your name. Stop staring like some kind of halfwit." She heard the Dalet boy snicker from the corner of the boys group. She growled with a glare.

"My name is none of your business." She spoke looking up at his taller figure with angry emerald eyes.

"You'll have yourself dragged down to the dungeon sooner than later if you don't tell me who you are and where you came from." He took another step closer. His armor was similar to the other boys, except it was blood red instead of blue.

"Dilandau, if you use that kind of language on her she won't speak. I can guarantee it." Another male voice spoke from the shadows. A slightly older man immerged, maybe in his twenties, cloaked in black with a teardrop tattooed under one of his brownish-mahogany colored eyes. She gave him an exceptionally cautious glance. The rude boy in red snorted.

"Well if she knew her place like a good little woman then I wouldn't be having a problem with her."

"A good little woman? Who the hell do you think you are? I don't have to take this kind of BS from anyone, least of all you." Veronica snapped at the silver haired boy with crimson eyes. His eyes came right back on her and pinned her with a menacing glare.

"What did you say?" He growled.

"You heard me, buck-o. I've lived my whole life without listening to what anybody had to say, if I choose not to. I'm not gonna start now." She gave him her tough look that betrayed none of the fright she was feeling at the sight of his angry blood red eyes. Even the four boys that had led her in looked surprised and maybe even a little afraid.

The guy, who she had heard as Dilandau, approached her menacingly, his intent to kill quiet obvious. "Is that so?" He growled out, stopping in front of her. She took a deep breath and looked up at him completely unafraid, at least on the outside. She glared back at him.

"Yeah." She said defiantly. She saw his hand twitch, ready to grab the weapon at his belt. She silently gulped.

"I should teach you your place, wench." He said. Then he smirked. "I'll put you in so much pain you'll wish you were dead. And then, if your body is still intact, maybe I'll make you nice little bed warmer." Veronica felt her eyebrow twitch as her eyes hardened further before smirking. She would play his little game.

"Me...your bed warmer? Ha! You wish, snob." She laughed, before the red head grinned evilly. "Oh, go kiss a mirror, pretty boy. Maybe if you wish hard enough the mirror will make you look more like a man and less like a girl. You can only be one or the other, you know." She was smirking even though now he looked completely pissed. He apparently couldn't handle someone who could play the game of insults.

Her eyes flickered to the tall, dark, and creepy man who had emerged from shadow. He had been watching the whole seen and now he cracked a smile before a short burst of laughter came from him. Dilandau looked over with the most evil of all glares and the four guys were looking at the man wide eyed. He clapped.

"Very good…" He gave her a questioning look. She took a breath before finally deciding he was better than the silver haired one.

"Veronica." She said. He smiled.

"Very good Veronica. I haven't seen something this amusing in quiet some time. Let alone someone go head to head with Dilandau in a game of wits and insult. You were very good at hiding that you were terrified of Dilandau." He said walking forward. His cape like thing swooshed against the floor as he came forward. She blinked at him.

"How did you…?"

"You don't seem to realize that when you became frightened your hands shook, so you put them behind your back." He said. She took her hands from behind her back, which she didn't realize she had put behind her.

"Wow I didn't notice." Veronica said astonished while looking down at her hands, completely forgetting the angry boy before her. His enraged growl alerted her to his presence and she then stepped back as a fist made its way towards her. She ducked out of habit, slid down into a split, with one leg between his legs and then twirled the other leg around, tripping him, rolling onto her stomach like a seal, and then kicking up into a handstand.

This was all done in self-defense without her even realizing it.

When she got back up, the Dilandau boy was on the floor growling up at her, four boys were staring at her in shock, and the tall, dark guy was actually looking a little surprised. She blinked.

"Whoops. Never try to hit me. I go into a sort of self-defense mode without realizing it." Veronica said as a matter-o-fact. "You can even ask my friend Derek, he's had first hand experience." The tall guy twitched the corners of his lips up. He looked like a man with a plan in mind.

"Veronica what would you like to do, now?" He asked. She looked at him weirdly.

"Well I'd kinda like to find out where my friends and sister are."

"There was a group that arrived here with you. They are down in the so called dungeon. It's more like a holding block with barred cells." He said. She nodded.

"I have to get them. Then we should probably get home, the runts are probably really scared and alone." Veronica said.

"Runts?"

"I'll explain later." The red head started towards the door. She looked back at him with a questioning look. "Well, aren't you going to show me where my friends are?" She asked. He nodded and opened the door. They began walking leaving a very angry Dilandau behind them who had just stood with the help of Miguel. He muttered darkly as the doors shut.

They went down a series of passages and stairs. Veronica looked up at him as they walked.

"So I've been meaning to ask two things. One, what's your name. And two, where are we?" Veronica asked.

"My name is Folken Stratago and we are on the Vione flying above the Fanelian forests. What's your full name and where do you come from?" Folken asked. She blinked.

"Veronica Aura Le Fay and I'm from a dirty neighborhood in New York." She said. She looked up at him confused. "But I've never heard of Fanelia."

"As have I never heard of this New York." She blinked.

"Never?"

"Never."

"How? Everyone knows about New York. It's like the center of crime and interesting things in America."

"Never heard of America either."

"What?! What planet are you from?"

"This one."

"Apparently not if you don't know about America either."

"Maybe you're the one from another planet." He said looking out the window up into the night sky.

"Now you're talking crazy."

"Maybe you're from the Mystic Moon."

"M-Mystic what?" Veronica stopped completely to look at him. He pointed up into the sky from out the window. She walked over and looked out and came to see the most surprising think she had ever witnessed. "Holy shit…the earth is in sky."

She had gone into a sort of shocked state. Folken waved his good hand in front of her face after a few minuets of her just standing there staring at the sky. A few times, without realizing it, she swatted Folkens hand away and mumbled a few incoherent words.

Veronica was at, not only a loss for words, but also a loss for any thought process that could logically explain what was going on. Her mind kept going: 'This is not earth, this is not the place you belong, no wonder the people are strange' over and over. She suddenly felt lost and afraid. She had no explanation for the feeling of subtle joy she felt nor would she bother to think about it for a while.

"What is wrong Veronica?" Folken asked, he didn't sound that worried but it still sounded like he wanted to know what was with her mindless state.

She pointed up at the 'Mystic Moon' blindly while giving him a bewildered look. "I come from there. That's the earth…and it's in the sky. I think…I'm gonna…have a…mental breakdown…right now." Veronica wavered on her feet. Folken steadied her with one hand on her shoulder.

"You come from the Mystic Moon?"

"Yes, if that's what you call it, I come from the Mystic Moon." Veronica said. Her headache had reached a blinding maximum. She brought her hand up to cover her face. He "hm'ed…" and looked like he was thinking about what would be done with her next. Maybe he thought she was crazy. Maybe he'd put her down in the holding cells and treat her cruelly.

Maybe he'd believe her and want her to join this ship he called the Vione.

She looked up at him as saw that the last thought was a good possibility. He definitely didn't look like he thought she was crazy and he didn't look like he wanted to though her in a cell. He actually looked, strangely enough, pleased.

She blinked.

He turned back towards the direction they had been originally heading. "Come with me." Folken said. She followed him.

"Where?"

"To get your friends."

"Then what?"

"I'd like you to join the ranks here. Have any fighting abilities?"

"I've lived the tough streets since I can remember. You have to fight to survive."

"Good. We'll train you and you can become a part of this ships staff, possibly a DragonSlayer."

The red head blinked. She was confused by didn't bother asking. No doubt she would find out what he was talking about later.

They finally came to the holding area. In one cell were all her friends being guarded by two young men. Veronica rushed to the bars.

"Guys!" She said happily. Tasha looked up.

"Veronica?"

"Veronica!" Derek rushed to the bars and grabbed a hold of her hands. "I was so worried for you. Did they do anything to you? I'll kill them if they did." Tasha pushed Derek aside.

"Veronica, you have to do something. They won't allow us to have any medical treatment. Timothy got sick from the open wound he had from the last fight. They wouldn't treat him." Tasha said angrily, glaring at the guards. Folken turned towards the guards who bowed.

"Lord Folken. Is this one to join the rest?" The one guard asked. Folken shook his head.

"They are all to come with me. Let them out at once." Folken said. The guard jumped to attention with a "yes sir" and opened the lock. The doors slid away. Derek was the first to jump out and grab Veronica in a huge hug. Tasha and Jacob came out helping Timothy, who looked quiet sick and pale and Garret limped out behind them.

"Where are Victoria and Lucan?"

"Not here. When I first came-to in this cell I noticed they weren't here." Tasha said. Veronica looked quite displeased as she stared at the group. She turned toward Folken.

"When we first arrived here was there another red headed girl that looked like me or a big, as in muscular, teenage boy with like dark ashy colored hair?" The red head asked. Folken shook his head.

"No there wasn't. It was only you and this group that was found." He said. Veronica muttered curses that would make a drunken sailor blush before muttering something to Tasha…who then promptly burst out laughing. The brunette looked at Derek and started laughing even harder, though still trying to keep a grip on the injured Timothy.

"What? What is it?" He asked dumbly. Veronica smiled.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Derek-dear." She giggled at his stupefied expression. She turned back to Folken suddenly. "I need to get my group medically up-to-date and healed. Then we will do what you want in return. What was it? Become Dragonslayers?" Veronica asked completely serious and devoid of the previous humor.

Business mode: On.

Folken nodded to the redhead and turned up the stairs. "Right this way." They continued behind him. He turned back to Veronica quickly with a smirk. "You might want to explain to your friends about your location situation." He said before continuing up. Veronica blinked and then turned towards her friends.

"I have something to explain to you that I don't wholly believe myself…"

~Owari