Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ When Escaflowne Rescued Trilladen ❯ Folken's Return ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven: Folken's Return

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The evening brought the two moons to light as silent witness to Hitomi's terrifying nightmare. While she slept in Van's arms, violence and bloodshed tainted her vision. She was tied to a large ancient tree. Bigger than any she had ever seen before. The bark was black and gnarly. The massive trunk was as wide as the palace courtyard. And she was pinned to it by a red energy beam.

She looked around trying to find Van. Her breathing was rapid and short, as if her lungs were constricted. She looked down to see what held her so firmly in place. It looked like a laser beam that curved around her form. Her arms were raised up and her feet were spread apart on the ground. She noticed a roundness to her belly and realized she was very heavy with child. She cried out Van's name. Tears stung her eyes as a red cloaked figure approached her.

As if fear alone could make her press more closely to the trunk of the tree she somehow impossibly managed to shrink back as the demonic figure approached. She saw his bony face and caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were soulless. She screamed loudly. Where was Van?

From behind his back he exposed a gold gilded curved blade and pressed it to her abdomen. He was going to cut her open and take her baby! She screamed in agony as he did just that. A small baby girl, not yet breathing, covered in white filmy birth tissue was held upside down with one leg. Her umbilical chord was bleeding out were he had cut it with the knife. The red cloaked demon slapped the child's buttocks and the infant cried out in protest. He lifted the blade high over the baby's head...

Hitomi released a piercing scream as her nightmare imprisoned her in a half-conscious state of anguish and terror. Van awoke, startled and afraid from her scream and immediately tried to shake her awake. Still in the throws of her torment she opened her eyes to see Van looking down into her eyes, completely worried. She threw her arms around him as her body was racked with sobs that erupted from the core of her being.

Relieved at least to see that she was awake, he gently rocked her in his arms and tried to soothe her with his whispers of reassurance. She couldn't calm down for quite awhile.

She put her hands on her stomach and prayed to God that she wasn't pregnant. She closed her eyes and let Van rock her as she whimpered. She wept copiously for hours as Van held her close, his concern for her mounting with each passing minute. He asked her what she had dreamed, but she wouldn't answer. She couldn't even speak of such depravity and inhumanity. It would surely be unlucky to describe out loud what she had seen. Serious foreboding enveloped her heart as she took the vision to be a warning.

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The next morning brought an edgy excitement to the capital of Fanelia. Before the sun rose yellow in the sky, a monumentally huge flying fortress was hovering above giving off a low buzzing noise. The immensity of it startled most that first saw it. However, there would be least four females to dread its arrival.

Edwina woke up in her bed, but didn't feel rested. The sharing of her life force to Allen had probably taken two decades off of her life span. With dark circles outlining her purple eyes she stumbled out of bed feeling too week to go to the great hall to share in the morning's breakfast with her friends.

As if she were going to throw up, Edwina was bent forward reaching out to the bedpost for support with one hand as the other one held her stomach. She collapsed onto the bed and rested. She would need to convalesce for a few days for her strength to return. She covered back up and fell back to sleep.

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Merle got up out of bed rubbing the sleep and dried tears from her eyes as she went through her simple morning routine of cat stretching, yawning, and scratching. She was famished, she realized, so she quickly washed and dressed herself in a simple blue frock that complimented her coloring. She put on ear wraps and clipped them to a matching tiara made of a simple gold design that offset the blue frock to perfection. Her heart may be in shambles, but she wasn't going to reveal any part of those feelings to anyone ever.

When she left her private chambers she was greeted by Yukari and Amano at the top of the grand staircase that led down to the great hall where every palace dweller ate meals.

"You look beautiful today, Merle! I love that dress, it's perfect for your complexion." Yukari praised her.

Amano joined in "You look utterly enchanting. Yukari is right, that dress and your jewelry make you look like a princess."

He gave her a brotherly hug as Yukari went to her other side and joined arms with her as they descended the stairs gracefully. When they reached the bottom they noticed how everyone seemed agitated. No one seemed interested in sitting down to eat breakfast.

"I wonder what the scuttlebutt is all about." Amano said. "Everyone is standing around looking like gossiping old women."

The two women nodded in mutual curiosity. As they approached some friendly soldiers that Amano trained with they heard the news. Yukari's heart plummeted to dungeon levels of despair as she listened to Siam ramble on about the flying fortress that brought back Fanelia's disgraced prince Folken, now derisively known as the dark angel of destruction.

Van and Hitomi were the only ones seated to eat. A grim look on Van's face revealed his contempt for the situation. He plainly ignored everyone and gobbled eggs and steak. Hitomi tried to nibble her toast, but her heart wasn't into it. They both looked extremely tired and troubled.

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