Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Wings ❯ Beginings ( Chapter 1 )

Wings

By nekochan614

Authors' Note: I do not own Escaflowne, but I did have ideas on how the series could continue, (*grins evilly from behind the computer screen*). Escaflowne is actually owned by its creator Shoji Kawamori and anyone else who worked on the series who have not been mentioned. Thanks to all who helped me proof read this and thank you to all who reviewed it as well… Comments are always appreciated. By the way, this is under massive construction and will change on an irregular basis, dependent on my schedule of work, school and stress…

Rating: NC-17

If you are underage, do not read this. I take no responsibility for irresponsible underage readers.

Warnings: This story contains explicit scenes of rape, sex, and violence… read at your own risk

Chapter One - A Beginning

Hitomi sighed, tired from everything. It had been too long since she had seen him and she just could not make herself move on. It seemed that he had stolen her heart and she could not retrieve it.

"It's been seven years," she muttered to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror. She was not the fifteen-year-old girl he knew anymore, she had grown up. But Hitomi did not see the changes that had occurred over the last few years.

Since her time in Gaea, she had tried to get her life back on track. She had continued to run as she had before, throwing herself into her schoolwork, and taking other extra-curricular activities. For some strange reason, when she had returned she had felt the need to learn martial arts, archery and sword fighting. She did not know why, but her parents endorsed the decision, thinking that learning self-defense was a good thing for a girl. Hitomi had thrown herself into everything else but thinking about him, however he was never too far from her thoughts, a constant plague. He was in her fantasies, her dreams, and she knew in the beginning that he was thinking about her, for she felt him, even talked to him a few times. But he was always busy. He was off doing things and never had time for her. She had learned that the hard way in the second and third year of their separation. She would contact him to talk, and he would either be too busy to talk to her, or too tired. So she gave up, thinking that he really did not care for her, that their relationship had just been in her mind, like everything else. She had almost given up on her tarot cards, but like everything else she had started, she felt the need to increase her mental abilities. Now she was not just a fortuneteller, she was also very empathic, and was working on her telepathy. She no longer really needed to worry, for she could control the visions, or so she thought.

Hitomi looked once more into the mirror and sighed. "You look fantastic, Hitomi," a female voice rang out, disrupting her thoughts.

Hitomi whirled around to stare at her long time best friend and confidant, Yukari, and Yukari's boyfriend of almost three years, Amano. Yukari was dressed in black leather pants that tied up the sides, a black leather bodice, black leather bracers and a black collar. Amano was dressed in tight brown leather pants and a loose green long-sleeved shirt.

"You two look great. You'll be a hit at the frat party tonight," Hitomi said when she saw them.

"You don't look to shabby yourself," Yukari pronounced. "Look at you, all decked out in medieval styles and those wings… you look like an angel."

Hitomi blushes and looked back into the mirror behind her dorm room door. "An angel," she whispered wistfully, her thoughts migrating back to her angel.

"Hey Hitomi! Snap out of it," Amano snapped his fingers in front of her face causing her to blink a few times and shake her head.

"You are thinking about him aren't you?" Yukari asked softly.

Hitomi nodded slightly. "I just can't stop thinking about him… the way he smiled, the way he talked, the way he moved. He is like a plague on my mind." She turned back to the mirror to check her appearance. She was dressed in a blue and gold velvet corseted bodice with a low cut square neck, long full black silk skirts, embroidered with pictures of Gaea in gold thread; leaving her arms bare. Her now waist-long hair was up in a twist of curls, braids and colorful ribbons save a few curled tendrils bouncing around her face. The most impressive thing about her outfit was the pair of white angel wings, carefully inserted into slits in the back of the bodice. The angel wings were very reminiscent to his, which was exactly why she was wearing them this time, she wanted for this one night to feel close to him again. "Just once more I'd like to be with Van, have him hold me, even if it were just for one night," she said wistfully.

Yukari walks up behind her and gives her a squeeze. "You will soon, Hitomi, you'll be happy soon."

"I hope you're right, Yukari"

Amano smiled and offered an arm to both girls. "We are going to be late if we don't get going."

Both girls giggled as they each took an arm and Amano escorted them both out of their bland college dorm room to his car.

When they arrived at the house, the graduation party was already in full swing, the large fraternity house ablaze with lights and decorations commending the end of the year bash. They walked through the front door to be greeted by some friends, friends that dragged Yukari and Amano into the party immediately, and both of them threw themselves into it whole-heartedly. They loved this, and the attention Yukari's outfit brought. Hitomi just wanted to fade into the wall, but tonight, she looked unforgettably beautiful. Being naturally tall and thin, the dress she wore highlighted her stature and her endowment, something most people never noticed, the wings did not help the matter either, and they were rather obvious. After about an hour, Hitomi was bored and tired of telling guys to get lost. She walked outside to get some air, carefully removing the wings and throwing them away, they were just annoying her. Breathing in the crisp, warm June night air deeply, she sat down on a patch of dewy grass in a far, shadowy corner of the backyard to get away from it all, knees pulled up to her chest, tired and lonely. She stared up at the clear sky wistfully, not noticing the large, muscular classmate that was walking up to her.

A voice broke through her reverie, "Hey, sweetness." The voice was sugary, yet hard, almost violent. Looking up to the face of a guy she met before, a guy from one of her martial arts classes. She shivered involuntarily at the violence she heard in his voice. "It looks like you were a fox all along and was just hiding it under those gi and hakama," the guy sneered. "Well we could all drool over your legs, but a pretty pair of legs ain't everything."

Her voice was strong and sure as she spoke, "What do you want, Adam?" She stood up slowly and almost instinctively took a defensive stance; her legs separated comfortably, her right leg bent in front and to the right of her center of balance, and her left foot on a forty five degree angle in the rear left of her center.

"Why fox, haven't you figured that out yet?" Adam sneered. "I want that hot body of yours. You look fantastic, especially dripping with sweat."

Hitomi balked, knowing that she was in trouble this time. Adam was strong and she knew it, one of the best in her class. He lunged in a standard attack, with a punch directed at her solar plexus. He missed, as she blocked his punch to the side. He lashed out again with an open handed jab to her neck, which she also blocked. Then he recklessly attacked her, lunging at her with his shoulder, as a football player would attack the opposite team, but surprisingly, he stayed on his feet. This move shocked her, and although she tried to defend herself from his vicious attack, she was no match for this kind of attack. At that moment she realized that Adam had much more training than she realized, and not necessarily in the martial arts. They fought for a few more minutes until he broke through her defensive stance and knocked her on the ground, knocking the wind from her lungs as he threw his weight on top of her, effectively pinning her to the ground. Hitomi heard a few ribs crack. Even with all the intensive training she had done over the last seven years, she was unable to free herself, her arms pinned painfully beneath her, her legs tangled in her skirts. She could not even scream; he was too quick to gag her with his hand and she had no breath to do so. She tried biting him, but to no avail. He just laughed as his hands roved over her violently struggling body.

`Some one help me, please,' Hitomi pleaded to herself. His hands roved insolently over her sweaty struggling body, one hand gripping her breast painfully, bringing tears to her eyes as she continued to struggle and plead for help to herself.

He took a handkerchief from his pocket and whispered in her ear. "We don't want anyone to hear us now do we, Hitomi dear?" He tied the handkerchief in her mouth, effectively gagging her. Grasping her wrists painfully in one hand, he pulled them roughly above her head, nearly dislocating both of her shoulders, causing tears of pain to leak out of her eyes. His other hand grabbed at the collar of the dress and powerfully ripped downwards, ripping the entire dress from neck to hem, leaving only scraps behind. He pulled her up by her wrists and pushed her up against a tree letting his hands rove painfully over her bared breasts, where he squeezed them, and then pinched her nipples till her eyes watered and she whimpered in pain. His hands moved down to touch the skin of her thigh, and she heard an obvious zip. His hand pawed at her entrance, his fingers repeatedly plunging in painfully. She felt the guy rip her legs apart and then he rammed into her, her body arcing in pain as he ripped through her.

`Oh god, someone please help me, I wish that someone would help me,' she thought. Suddenly another pain racked through her, even though her lower body was already numb from the pain. The pain was between her shoulder blades, but she did not know the cause. A single red feather fluttered down into her field of view as she was drawn into a vision. `Oh god, not now, not a vision now,' she thought as tears streamed down her face. Images flashed in her gaze, her and Van happy, curiously both with white wings. Images of her father and mother, her father with wings, standing next to Van's parents and someone talking indistinctly about a prophesy of a girl who would save Gaea twice. Then everything went black.

Meanwhile a blue light flashed from the sky, unnoticed by most at the party, except for two. A winged angel flew down quickly pulling Adam off of Hitomi as he cried out her name. Screaming out his rage, he punched Adam in the face, breaking his nose, and then punched him in the stomach. Drawing his sword, he brought the sword pummel down hard on his head, knocking him to the ground. The angel slammed the tip of the sword into the ground and kicked him a few more times, before grabbing a dagger out of his boot, ramming the tip into Adam's unprotected genitals while Adam watched, eyes wide with pain and horror. The angel screamed his anger as he grabbed his sword hilt and swung the flat of the blade against the side of Adam's head, knocking him unconscious. The angel breathed heavily, trying to get his anger under control.

Kneeling next to her in the wet grass, he gulped, his anger fading, almost heartbroken that someone would attack her, but more shocked at the sight of Hitomi with these dark stained white wings draped over her bared, broken body, similar to his own. Gingerly he ventured his hand out to touch the one of feathers of the wing. Gasping, he was pulled into a vision, just as Hitomi had all those years ago. Images swirled in his vision, Hitomi's grandmother and mother, Hitomi's father, an Atlantean, being pulled up from Gaea and deposited on Earth, bits and pieces from her childhood. He also felt her loneliness from the last seven years, her love for him, her feeling of abandonment. He saw her training, the way she threw herself into martial arts and kendo, and her wanting to run from her memories of love that seemed to disappear once she had left Gaea.

Yukari and Amano had heard a scream and saw the flash of light and ran outside to see what had happened, only to see the angel, his wings extended upward in the air, gasping for breath as he leaned over Hitomi's prone form. Yukari touched him roughly on his bare left shoulder, pulling him roughly away from Hitomi, breaking him out of the vision. "Get away from her…" she hissed.

He whipped around, ready to fight the intruder, and blinked when he saw a female grasping his shoulder. "Huh?" he said, his anger and surprise fading.

Yukari gasped at the sight of him, recoiling her hand instantly as she recognized him suddenly from Hitomi's descriptions. "You're him, aren't you?" Yukari asked.

"I'm who?" the angel asked shocked and confused.

Yukari looked around, only to see a prone figure lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. Recognizing him as Adam, Yukari realized what happened and gasped in shock.

"You're Van, I recognize you from her descriptions," Yukari replied. "That black spiky hair, those brown eyes, that build, those wings. I vaguely remember you too, from that day on the track." She shook her head as if to clear the images of what Adam did from her mind. She whispered, "How could he do that to her?"

The angel had a pained look in his eyes as he looked down. "Yeah, I'm Van. Who are you?" Van asked softly.

"I'm Yukari, your Majesty," Yukari replied. Pointing to Amano she continued, "and this is Amano. We've been Hitomi's friends for a long time. She told us all about you, when she had no one else to talk to. She's been really lonely with out you. Hey wait…. I can understand you! How is that possible?"

Van shrugged, "I have no idea." He looked over at Hitomi and paused, swallowing hard. "I know I haven't really had time with the all of the reconstruction. I am the king, but that does not excuse the fact that I ignored her all this time. Gods, I am stupid…" His voice trailed off as his words got stuck in his throat, a tear rolling down his face. He gingerly touched the wings, the slight movement causing Hitomi to moan in pain. He carefully withdrew his hand and took a better look at her back. Looking down at his hand, he saw that his hand was wet. Rubbing his fingers together, he smelled his hand, smelling the distinct coppery odor of blood. He cursed, "Shimatta! We have to get her out of here!"

Yukari and Amano were confused. "Why?" Amano asked.

"Because she's bleeding."

Their eyes widened in shock. "Bleeding from what?" Amano asked.

"From her wings, I think," came the reply.

"Wings," Yukari said confused. She continued simply, "Van, those wings are fake, she had them made to look like yours."

He held out his blood-coated fingers to them. "Then explain the blood coating them, and the blood oozing from her shoulder blades."

Yukari and Amano's eyes widened in shock, "B… b… but how?" Yukari asked softly.

"Her father was from Gaea, he was an Atlantean, I think."

"How do you know that?" Yukari asked.

"When I touched one her feathers, I had what I can only describe as a vision. It was strange." Van gently lifted Hitomi off the ground, cradling her in his arms, one wing draped over her bare, bleeding, and bruised body, the other draped over his arm, the tip sweeping the ground.

Hitomi struggled to open her eyes. Opening them slightly she whispered softly, "My angel came to rescue me." She reached with a hand to touch Van's wings, but the pain was too much for her to bear, sending her back into darkness.

Limp in his arms again, a tear fell from Van's eye. "Oh god, what did he do to you?" Van asked softly as her looked at her limp, bare and bleeding body. Gripping her with a soft touch, he turned to face Yukari and Amano. "I'm going to take her home, she needs help, and that is not something that anyone on the Mystic Moon will be able to understand. They do not know about our kind."

"Only if you take us with you," Yukari said forcefully.

"Why do you want to go to a place like Gaea?" Van asked.

Amano spoke this time. "Because, Hitomi always spoke so fondly of it. Plus we all are on break, our jobs don't start till January for all of us, that is if Hitomi even plans on going now, which, somehow, I highly doubt she's going to want to." Amano paused for a second, then continued harshly. "Van, Hitomi's life was never the same after she met you, and these last seven years were hard on her. She lost both of her parents and her brother to a fire right after she got back from Gaea. She has nothing but us here. God knows how many times she has needed you and you were never around. She only finished high school because Yukari and I pleaded with her to finish what she started. She threw herself into her work and her extra-curricular activities just so she wouldn't think about you. Her family's death didn't hit as hard as you abandoning her. Do you honestly think she wants to stay in a place that holds nothing but bad memories?"

Van was shocked. He never knew it was so hard for her. He had felt the separation too, but he was always wrapped up in something so he never really had time to think about it. Even when he had a moment's peace, he spent it remembering her smile, and the way she felt in his arms as they flew through the sky. It had felt so right then, they had both been so young, but so sure of themselves. He looked down at her and whispered, "I am so sorry, Hitomi. I never knew." Looking up at Yukari and Amano, "are you two sure about this?"

Yukari replied, "I am going for her, she needs all of us now. I am not going to abandon her now. Plus, I don't want to stay here on Earth; I never really liked it here. The only thing that keeps me here is this dolt. Plus, I need and want some adventure and excitement."

They all smiled slightly, the absurdity of Yukari's comment about Amano broke through the seriousness they all felt.

Yukari continued softly, "She is going to need us after what has happened."

Van looked up at both of them seriously. "If you come with me I cannot guarantee that you will be able to come back, and I cannot guarantee that this trip will be safe at all. Gaea is a dangerous place, and it is not likely that you two would blend in very well. Hitomi's life was in danger too many times to count; her abilities are prized on Gaea as a tool to conquer the planet. Are you sure you want to leave your homes behind?"

Yukari and Amano both nod, both thinking the same thing, but only Amano spoke his thoughts. "College is over. There really isn't anything left for all of us. Yukari and I have been living alone for a long time. Yukari's parents are never around, never cared about her. They were just drunk assholes. They were never a huge issue in her life. When Yukari moved in with me, her parents threw some money in her direction and said have a good life. My parents, well…" Amano sighed. "I love my parents dearly, but they knew it was time for me to move on. They felt that I needed to grow with out their help. They had told me last year to get my own place, which I had done with Yukari. I'll miss them, but Hitomi is more important than them."

"Then you are sure you want to do this?"

Both of them nodded. Van swallowed, gripped the pendant, and then made his wish, his wish for all four of them to go to Gaea, to go to his castle in Fanelia. The column of light came down and claimed all four of them. Soft blue light caressed their skin as they flew towards the heavens.

*****

A pair of green eyes snapped open, glittering in the dark, and a smile formed on the lips. "The seal has been broken," the shadowed face murmured, pleased.

*****

Hitomi opened her eyes to find herself laying painfully on her stomach on something soft. Lifting herself gently up onto her elbows, she winced in pain as she flexed her back. She looked around the room, and saw that she was on a huge four-poster bed covered in a soft blue comforter, and that the large paned window to her right opened to a black-railed, blue-curtained balcony. The floor was covered with what looked like a blue carpet, and the walls covered with some sheer royal blue silk, embroidered with what looked like a Gaean legend. She looked to the left of her, and she saw him, shirtless, in a chair sleeping, his right arm draped over his chest, his left hanging to the floor, his wings draped over the arm of the soft chair, seemingly exhausted. She attempted to raise herself up onto her arms again, only to feel intense pain lance through her entire body. Lying back down onto her stomach, she looked over her shoulder, seeing for the first time the blood stained wings protruding from her back, her back covered in a white bandage, her bodice had been replaced with white bandages, her European medieval style skirts replaced with a pair of soft tan pants. She touched a red feather softly, trying not to move, only to be drawn up into the same vision from before, and then fainted.

Her eyes fluttered open sometime later, to find herself looking into Van's brown eyes, his hand gently running over her tousled hair. Not knowing where she was or how she got there, she looked him over, to see him only in his tan pants. She noticed how much he had grown and the new definition to his muscles, developed from the hours of work he put into to rebuilding Fanelia. She smiled a tiny bit as she looked at her love; his physic even more enchanting than it was seven years ago, his body more muscularly developed and more handsome than she remembered. She smiled a bit more before speaking. "I am on Gaea, aren't I?"

Van nodded. "You called for me. I felt your need." He closed his eyes for a second, as if to compose himself, before continuing. "You were in trouble, you called the light column for me and I came."

"Your wings," she whispered.

"Yeah, in my haste to get to you, the fastest way was to fly."

"What happened?"

"When I found you, you had these wings. I didn't know what was going on, but I felt it. When I touched a feather… something happened, something that can only be described as having a vision. It was the same as when the pendant swings, pointing out the guymelef positions." He paused, unsure of himself.

Hitomi looked at him, a tear falling from her eye. "Van, please, I need to know," she said softly. "What did you see?"

Van leaned down and gently wiped the tear away. "I saw your family… your father, an Atlantean. I felt your loneliness, your pain. Hitomi… I am so sorry… I never meant to hurt you."

Hitomi smiled a bit, "Van…"

Van put a finger to her lips. "Hitomi, I never wanted this, I was always busy. I never wanted you to feel alone." He wove his hand into her hair; the other arm lifted her off her stomach to a sitting position, where he then sat next to her on the bed. "Hitomi…"

Hitomi cut him off. "You are here now, when I needed you most, that's what counts."

"Hitomi…" he whispered, and drew her gently into his arms, careful of the many bruises and cuts on her body that she had not seen yet. He whispered into her ear saying something he regretted not saying earlier, though he knew now was really not the time. "Hitomi… I love you."

Hitomi pulled back from him, to stare into his eyes, a tear falling from her eye. Her joy and love for him was evident in her eyes, though she did not know how to respond. "Van… I…" she stammered.

He placed a finger on her lips stalling her rushed rambles. "Shhh, Hitomi, I know already."

"How…"

"Your feather, I felt it," He tipped her face up with a finger beneath her chin, so she was staring into his eyes. He leaned down till he was scant inches from her lips. His eyes snapped up to hers, as if asking her permission. Hitomi was the one to close the distance separating them, their lips meeting in their first, soft, sweet kiss.

A soft cough broke the kiss. Looking up, Van and Hitomi saw Yukari and Amano standing in the doorway. "It's about damn time you two," Yukari said smiling.

Hitomi jerked away from Van, only to wince in pain. Van set a hand on her shoulder, to steady her.

"Hitomi, your wings… Your back is still tender. Maybe you should retract them, it may help you to heal."

"Um… Van… how do I?"

Van blanked. "Um… I don't really know… I just do. How about we try something. Take my hands."

Hitomi placed her hands gently in his. Van continued. "Now concentrate on making them shrink. Try to follow what I do."

Concentrating together, Van ordered his wings to shrink back into his shoulders. Hitomi tried, but to no avail. The wings refused to retract.

Breaking their concentration, Hitomi sighed with frustration. "Van, I can't do this. It's just not working."

"You have to try harder, Hitomi. It's not that hard."

"Van… I just can't."

Yukari piped in. "Van, don't be so damn hard on her. She's new to this, she doesn't really know what she doing."

"I do not need your opinion, Yukari. She can do it if she tries," Van said tartly.

"Van!" Hitomi scolded. "That was rude."

Van blushed. "Yukari…"

"Hey it's okay, Van, you're frustrated. It's understandable. Amano and I will get out of here so you two have some privacy; we just came to tell you that some people are here to see you. I think they said their names were Milerna, Dryden, and Allen. They are looking for you…he has some kinda pressing business from Asturia, I think," Yukari replied.

"Thanks, Yukari. Tell them that I will meet him in my council chambers in a little while," Van replied curtly. He continued, "After I help Hitomi with her wings. But do us all a favor, under no circumstances should anyone know about Hitomi's wings. For her protection, understand?"

"Yes, your Majesty," Yukari and Amano replied in unison.

"Then maybe you two want to do some training with some of the samurai outside. They can help you to protect yourselves from danger."

Amano spoke, "Your highness, with all do respect, we already have some previous training. It was one of our extra-curricular activities we did as a group. We are all really good at martial arts, but Hitomi on the other hand, she's great at kendo as well. She kinda just threw herself into it, and she's fantastic."

Hitomi blushed prettily as Van looked at her. "I am adequate."

"Hitomi, you've been studying aikido and karate. Don't be so modest. You can kick ass." Yukari said.

Hitomi blushed a deeper red, turning her face away from Van, as he stroked her cheek. "So later, when you are feeling better, we can see how good you are, hmmm?"

Yukari and Amano realized that they were really not needed here, and gracefully ducked out of the room, waving to Hitomi and Van.

Van leaned his forehead against Hitomi's as the door closed behind Yukari and Amano. He said tenderly, "how about we try this again?"

Hitomi nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. Unable to retract the wings, Hitomi began to get frustrated again. Feeling her frustration, Van tried to send her the feeling he had every time he retracted his wings, but to no avail. In his frustration, he dropped her hands and grabbed her face and kissed her hard.

Hitomi's eyes widen as she felt his lips on hers. Closing her eyes again, she leaned into him, into the kiss. As he kissed her, feeling her melt against him, he softened the kiss. Their tongues danced together as the kiss became more passionate. Feeling his love for her, she relaxed more, unconsciously reaching into his mind for the information needed. Finding what she needed, she retracted her wings; the dry, blood-stained white feathers dissolving painfully into her shoulder blades, making her arc her back in agony, and her world go white in pain. She collapsed against him, blood oozing from her back in two angled, inch-wide, eight inch-long, jagged lines.

Van gently laid her down and placed a light sheet over her body. He gently stroked her hair as she slept, watching over her carefully. He pulled a red shirt from a dresser and pulled it over his head.

The door opened softly, revealing Merle's face. "Van-sama, I heard that Hitomi was hurt." Merle entered the room quietly, revealing her now grown body. Merle had grown in to a beautiful cat-woman, tall, sleek and beautiful. Her figure was clad in a very Gaean outfit, tight red bodice and a long red and white flowing skirt. The outfit matched her long red hair.

"Aa, Merle, but she is healing now, she should be fine later tonight."

"Allen and Milerna are here to see you."

"Aa, I know."

"They want to see you Van-sama, they say it's important."

"Do they know about Hitomi?"

"No, I was told not to say anything."

"Good. It is better that no one knows that she is here until she is better."

"What happened to her?"

"Nothing you should concern yourself with, Merle."

"Aa, Van-sama." Merle replied a bit dejectedly. Merle exited the room just as quietly as she had entered.

Van placed a gentle kiss into Hitomi's tousled hair, smoothing it away from her face, before standing up and leaving the room quietly, closing the door with a gentle click.

Van walked away from Hitomi's room, down the hall, and disappeared. Merle peeked out from behind the column that she was hiding from. "Throughout all those years you never saw me, Van-sama," she whispered. "Now that she's back, you still do not see me. Why can you not see that I was in love with you?" Her eyes hardened with anger. She looked at Hitomi's door and opened it softly. Still whispering, she spoke to the unconscious girl lying prone on the bed. "I am sorry, Hitomi. As much as I respect you, as much as I like you, I cannot help but be jealous of how you stole Van-sama's heart. How did you do that? How could you do that to me? I will get my revenge, for I will never be able to mend my broken heart."

*****

Van walked into the conference room to be greeted by Milerna, Queen of Asturia; Dryden, her husband; Allen, the Heavenly Knight; and Celena, Allen's little sister. "What brings you to Fanelia, Your Majesty?" Van asked as he sat down.

"We have some pressing news we need to discuss in private…Dryden, Allen, Celena, if you would excuse us?" Milerna said.

"I will assume, your Majesty, that you will join me for our customary duel after your meeting with Milerna?" Allen asked him.

"Of course… Allen… we have some new guests who may want to train with you… if you do not mind?" Van replied.

"Not a problem, a few fresh recruits would be an interesting distraction."

"Go easy on them, Allen… they are not from this area."

Allen raised an eyebrow and nodded, took Celena by the hand, and then walked out of the room to head down to the courtyard to train with Van's troops.

"Dryden, before you take your leave, I would like to know how trade is these days." Van asked.

"Good. Trade is better than it has ever been since the Great War. Fanelia is one of the top trade countries now. It is amazing how much Fanelia has grown," Dryden replied.

Van blushed a bit and nodded his thanks. Dryden nodded his head and stood and left the room. When the door closed, Van looked up.

"Milerna, how is life treating you?" Van asked.

"Well enough. Leading a country is difficult, as you well know. Dryden makes a good husband, as well as a good lover. I love the way he touches…" her voice trailed off as she blushed. She cleared her throat and continued. "Our son is doing well. But he is not around enough to satisfy me; he is always off orchestrating some fantastic trade while I am stuck in the castle. Allen is occupying me when Dryden is off trading elsewhere."

"And Allen agrees with this arrangement?"

"He does not have a choice. If he does not comply, then he will lose everything he has. What about you? How is Hitomi?"

"Hitomi…" he murmured. "Can we not talk about her right now?"

"Van…" Her voice trailed off as Van interrupted her.

"So, Milerna, what is really on your mind?" Van asked.

She sighed, but spoke, "Zaibach is on the move. From what my spies in Zaibach tell me, they are building new guymelefs. By all reports, they will be stronger, faster, and more agile. It was reported that the invisibility cloaks have been improved, as have the weapons systems. It seems they may be integrating Ispano guymelef technology."

Van balked and his jaw dropped. "That will make them harder to fight. Who is leading them?"

"Unknown, although judging by the types of improvements, it is suspected that Dilandau is behind it, but how can he be? Celena is still under Allen's protection. He has not said anything about her being unstable or reverting, nor has she seemed unstable at any point, at least as far as I have seen."

Van thought about this carefully. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Not to my knowledge" came the reply. "But you have not really answered my question."

He sighed, and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Hitomi… Hitomi is here."

"Here?" she asked incredulously.

He stared at the table silently.

"Van what are you not telling me?" Milerna demanded.

"She was hurt; it is too hard to explain. She needs a doctor."

Milerna nodded, and stood as Van did. Van led her out of the conference room and upstairs to where Hitomi was resting quietly on her stomach. Milerna gasped when she saw her.

"The poor girl," Milerna breathed. "What happened to her?"

"No."

"Van, tell me while I examine her." Milerna insisted as she began to cut the bandages off of Hitomi's back to inspect the wounds on her back and her ribs.

He sighed in defeat. "Yesterday, when I was just about finished for the day…was getting ready to get some sleep. I was in here, thinking about her, when I felt her fear. I felt her; she was in trouble. So I did the only thing I could… I flew. I flew out of this window and up, up to the Mystic Moon to her. I felt the blue column of light come and claim me and took me to her. When I saw her…" he paused here, his voice cracking as he chocked on his tears. "She was being attacked. Then I felt her pain, one I had never felt before, and then another. I watched as wings exploded from her back and I saw a feather float down in front of her tear-streaked face. I think she had a vision, and then I was close enough to reach her. So I pulled her attacker off of her and beat him till he blacked out. Beat him for he had no right to touch her."

"Touch her, Van?" Milerna asked softly as she bandaged Hitomi's back.

Van ignored her question and continued. "Then I went to her, I touched one of her feathers, and it was coated in blood." He paused for a second, thinking. "I had a vision when I touched that feather, at least I think I was a vision. Hitomi's father was an Atlantean like my mother. Two heirs from two really old bloodlines I think. I am not really sure. She has been through too much over these last years; she has been so lonely. Apparently, she learned to fight." He smiled a bit at that.

Milerna explained Hitomi's condition to Van carefully. She had three bruised ribs and various cuts and bruises on her body, not to mention the jagged cuts on her back, where her wings exploded through bone, muscle and skin. Then she asked the question that was plaguing her. "Touch her, Van?" Milerna asked again, wanting to know what he meant.

"She was raped, Milerna," Van said softly, almost too softly to hear. He walked over to the balcony as tears slowly slid from his eyes.

"Do you want me to…" she asked just as softly.

He nodded jerkily. "Please… see if she is ok… make sure that she is not…" his voice trailed off as he succumbed to his tears.

Milerna silently complied with Van's wishes, as he cried silently. From below, Yukari, Amano, and Allen, could all see him, noting the he was upset. Yukari and Amano looked at each other then excused them selves to go comfort Van. Allen narrowed his eyes, and trailed after the two strangers, to see what was going on.

Milerna finished up and carefully dressed Hitomi in one of Van's red shirts and tan pants. She walked over to him and gently laid a hand on his back. "Van…" she started softly. "She will be all right, I promise…" She paused for a second, thinking. Then she continued softly "Does she know?"

"Know what?" Hitomi asked softly as she opened her eyes and sitting up. "What am I supposed to know?"

Van turned at the sound of Hitomi's voice, and walked over to her, wiping the tears from his face with his hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked her, sitting down next to her.

"I'm sore, my back, my ribs, and my head hurt. I feel as though I've been run over by a truck." Hitomi said with a laugh.

"A truck?" Milerna asked, raising an eyebrow delicately.

"Never mind," Hitomi replied. "It's just a thing we say." She paused, and then asked. "How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Van asked quietly.

She shook her head. "I remember going to the graduation party. I had this idea to go as an Atlantean, not that anyone on Earth would recognize it as that, and all they would see is that I was dressed in garb as we call it. It was reminiscence of old renaissance clothing with wings. But I got rid of the wings when I went outside to stare out at the stars. Then remnants of a dream, maybe a vision, then nothing."

"A vision?" Van asked

"Aa... My parents… my father was an Atlantean. Let me start from the beginning. Two of the oldest Atlantean families were to be joined in marriage. But neither my father nor your mother Van wanted this. So they made a deal with the elders, they would find love. I think the elders actually did not want our parents to marry, something about a prophecy. A girl would save Gaea using the power of Atlantis. Anyway, your mother found love with your father and had two children. My father found it when he traveled to Earth and met my mother. He knew after that that he would never go back to Gaea. He had two children, my younger brother and I. There was a picture of my father with his wings out, I remember it, but I always thought that they were just part of the costume. My parents were very happy. But a fire took them away soon after I got back. I think my father suspected that I had come to Gaea when I disappeared, it's in my blood, but I never told them about what happened here."

Van nodded, "That's it? That's all you remember?"

A soft knock on the door went unnoticed, but the door opened slowly and softly.

Hitomi nodded, and asked, "Am I supposed to remember anything else?"

Van stammered, but a soft voice from the vicinity of the door spoke. "You were attacked, Hitomi."

Hitomi looked up in disbelief to see Yukari, Amano and Allen in the doorway. "What? What did you say?" Hitomi asked softly.

"Adam raped you," Amano said just as softly.

Hitomi shook her head. "You are kidding, right?" She smiled, thinking that they were joking; and looked at Yukari, Amano, and Milerna in turn, then finally turned to face Van. The looks that they all gave her, the look on Van's face, the looks of despair and rage, those looks made her smile fade from her face. She shook her head again and whispered, "Please tell me that it isn't true. Van…"

Van lowered his head and whispered, "Its true, Hitomi, I was there… when I found you he was…" His voice cracked with emotion. He continued, "I felt your pain." His lower lip quivered and a tear rolled down his cheek. "I couldn't fly fast enough to save you from that asshole."

"No…" she whispered, and buried her head in her hands. "No, it can't be, it can't!" she screamed. Her mind raced with the possibility, but she just could not wrap her mind around it. "You're lying! You have to be… It can't be! I would have defeated him! There isn't any way… I won't believe it!" She scrambled painfully to her feet as Van tried to restrain her. She punched him in the solar plexus, and then took up a back stance, her mind blinded to the sharp pain in her side. Van doubled over in pain as she hit him again in the stomach. She took off in the opposite direction running and dove off the balcony railing, forcing her wings to explode from her back, ripping out a good chunk of the back of her shirt, and shakily flying off into the woods surrounding Fanelia, leaving drops of blood splattered on the white floor of the balcony.

Everyone else in the room was stunned at Hitomi. Her normally calm demeanor changed in a matter of seconds. Allen however showed the most shock out of all of them. "Van…" he started slowly. "How could you let him do that to her?" he asked.

"I didn't have a choice, Allen," he began slowly, brokenly. "I wasn't there."

"If you loved her you would have been there, you should have been there," he replied with anger.

Van seethed at Allen's words. "There is something called being on a different world…"

Allen cut him off, "You should have been there to protect her!"

"Shimatta! I don't have time for this! You are in my way, Allen!" Van roughly pushed Allen out of the way and took the same route Hitomi had just minutes before, diving off the balcony to try to follow her.

Allen secretly smiled and licked his lips. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving the others to stare at his back in confusion.

"What the hell was that all about?" Amano asked.

"I have no idea," Milerna replied. "I do not think I have ever seen Allen act that way. Unless…" Her voice trailed off as she sunk into deep thought.

"Unless what?" Yukari demanded.

"Unless Allen is actually in love with Hitomi. I did not think he could possibly be in love with her, at least not after Marlene."

Milerna looked up at Yukari and Amano. "Wait a minute, who are you?" she demanded.

"Hitomi's friends, her best friends." Yukari replied. Amano simply nodded.

Amano held out his hand. "I'm Amano, from Earth. And this impudent girl is Yukari, my girlfriend."

Milerna took his hand and shook it. "I am Milerna, Queen of Asturia."

Amano smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard. Now if the two of you would stop staring at each other like you are going to bite the other's head off, we can figure out what to do about this whole mess sanely."

*****

Hitomi fled to the forest and touched down in the middle of a tall, but sturdy tree. She sat down on a huge branch and let her wings droop over one side as she hugged her knees to her chest, holding the tattered remains of her torn shirt to her, since the action of her wings extending had ripped out the middle of the back of the shirt. Looking around at the green canopy of leaves and branches, she tried to breathe, only to have it catch in her throat as she winced in pain. She then let the tears come, and let them stream down her face in hot rivers.

Van followed Hitomi carefully, not wanting to scare her into running off again, but the sound of her tears was like a dagger in his heart. When her tears had subsided a bit and she seemed to calm down, he touched down next to her on the branch and sat down quietly next to her.

"Hitomi… I…" he started. He swallowed audibly. "I'm sorry. I wasn't there in time."

"Just go away, Van…" she bit out.

"Hitomi… you cant just stay out here by yourself all night…" he replied.

"Van, I'm warning you. Just go away!"

He roughly grabbed her by the arms and shook her hard. "I will not leave you here like this. I just got you back; I am not about to lose you again to some kind of self-inflicted guilt."

Hitomi slapped him hard across the face, hard enough to make his face snap to the side.

"Hitomi, stop it!" he yelled at her. He shook her hard again. "Hitomi, it was not your fault!"

Hitomi pulled away from him and looked up at him strangely; then blinked and it seemed that her anger cracked and faded. "It's not your fault, Van, it's mine. I just wasn't strong enough." Hitomi whispered back, her voice cracking.

"It is not your fault" Van insisted. "The guy was twice the size of you, and, according to Yukari, had been studying martial arts for longer than you had."

She swallowed, "It's not that… I have been able to take him before. You see Adam was a bit obsessed with me. He had asked me out a few times, and when I refused, he got angry. He joined one of my martial arts classes and I figured he was there just to learn. He was good, very good. But I was always able to beat him in a sparring match because I knew his weak spots. I shouldn't have been overcome like that so easily." "I think he took you by surprise. From what I saw when I got there… he had you pinned pretty good… I don't think anyone could have broken that hold he had on you. Add in your shock…" his voice trailed off as he stared at her.

She breathed in deeply and hugged her knees closer to her chest. "I still should have…"

Van interrupted her. "Hitomi, there was nothing you could have done. He will never do that again to any one I promise you. He is no longer able to."

Hitomi looked up into his intense eye with shock. "Van, what did you do?" she asked quietly.

"I gave him what he deserved for hurting you, for hurting any woman like that." He scratched his head a bit. "I kind of hurt him a lot. And put a slice where…" his voice trailed off as he blushed.

Hitomi giggled a bit. "You cut through his…"

"Kind of… and he wont be able to talk for a while. I think I cracked his vocal chords and a few ribs."

Hitomi smiled a bit. "Oh, Van…"

Van blushed and scratched his head again, looking down. Then he looked up at her seriously. "I would have done, given anything to have been there in time to stop him."

"What happens if I'm pregnant?" she asked quietly.

"It can't happen. Milerna took care of that already," he said just as quietly.

"Oh."

"Hitomi, we thought it would be for the best this way. Being raped is bad enough; imagine being pregnant too. I didn't think that you would be very happy like that."

"I know you are right, Van, and I thank you."

Hitomi leaned her head against his shoulder while Van wrapped an arm comfortingly around her. Some time later he asked "Hitomi… you know I love you, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"I was wondering something…" he paused for a second, then continued, his voice shaking a bit. "I was wondering if you were going to stay this time."

"I don't think I'll ever go back to Earth," Hitomi whispered. "I don't have any place there anymore, and I think I've known that since my parents were killed."

Van visibly relaxed and pressed a soft kiss into her tangled hair. He shifted his weight to look at her, taking her hand in his. He touched her cheek gently with the tips of his fingers of his other hand.

"I love you so much, Hitomi."

He leaned into her, and gently claimed her lips with his own. The kiss deepened, their tongues dancing with each other, both tasting the other. Van slowly drew away and looked at her. Her eyes fluttered open as he looked at her, his eyes memorizing her features, the seductive way her lips looked, red and slightly swollen from his kiss. His hand flattened on her flushed cheek, letting his thumb rub lightly over her lips. She tilted her head at the slight pressure, her eyes fluttering closed again. He let his hand slide into her tangled hair as he leaned forward and kissed her again.

The world spun for Hitomi as they kissed. She leaned into him, her arms snaked up around his neck and she melted into him. He broke the kiss again and whispered, "we should be getting back, and it's getting late."

She nodded slightly and stretched her back out to flex the muscles, wincing as pain lanced through her rib cage and back.

Van noticed her pain and blood immediately. "Maybe I should carry you back."

"Van, does it hurt you to extend you wings?"

"Not really."

"Then why…"

"Milerna thinks that since you are from the Mystic Moon, you are not really equipped to have wings, and since you have never used them before, they had to rip through muscle and skin tissue, causing you pain," he replied simply.

"I guess I will just have to get used to them." Hitomi retracted her wings; the process much easier than it was just a few hours ago, now that she knew what she was doing. She shivered involuntarily, as if some great evil was close, but she just dismissed it as her imagination.

"Are you cold?"

Hitomi shook her head. Van nodded and held out his hand to her, which she took, allowing herself to be scooped up into his arms. He launched off the tree branch, exploding through the leafy canopy and allowed his wings to spread to catch the wind and they soared off into the direction of the castle, both oblivious to the pair of eyes that watched them.

Allen blinked after Hitomi and Van had left the vicinity. He looked down at his hand, at the red drips on his hand. He lifted his hand up to his mouth where he licked up Hitomi's blood absently and sneered. "So the seer truly is an Atlantean and is staying on Gaea. This may be better than I had expected. I could use her powers and her blood for my plan." His expression hardened. "But that king is in the way. How dare he take her from me? She is mine; she should be mine. She belonged to me first."

A soft rustle in the brush caused Allen to whirl around to see Celena standing knee deep in the brush. "What do you want, Celena?" he asked harshly, looking her over. Her shapely body was garbed in a loose blue shirt and white pants and she was holding a small bouquet of wild flowers in her hand.

"I was worried about you, oniisama," she replied meekly. "What were you talking about just now?"

Allen smiled. "It is none of your concern Celena. By the way I meant to ask you how you were feeling."

"I am doing better, oniisama" she replied softly. "The monster inside is almost gone so Milerna tells me and I am grateful. I am a bit worried about you, oniisama, you seem… I do not know."

Allen's gaze snapped to her face. "Gone? That isn't good."

Celena looked up at her brother shocked. "What are you saying, oniisama?"

Allen merely smiled and began walking purposefully towards his sister.

"You are frightening me, Allen." Celena shivered, feeling as if she was living a dream, some thing dark she could not quite remember. A deep sense of foreboding and déjà vu raced through her. The bouquet of flowers slipped from her fingers.

Allen walked up to her till he was standing really close to her, staring down at her. He lifted a hand and gently petted her silver hair. "You should be afraid, Celena, very afraid. I fear I no longer need you. You see I don't need a quivering, simple girl. I need that bloodthirsty genius you call a monster." He grabbed her chin roughly and stared into her eyes intently. "Come to me, Dilandau" he whispered.

Celena quivered in fear, her normally calm and honorable brother showing a side of him she never remembered seeing before.

"Mmm… fear…" he licked his lips, then backhanded her across her face. "You know you are no longer needed, Celena." He hit her again. "Call him, Celena, and this will stop"

A voice laughed maniacally in her head, a voice she had heard many times before but tried vainly to silence, and she shivered again in fear. This voice scared her, and the feeling of déjà vu only intensified. She shook her head as Allen petted her hair. "Then we will have to do this the hard way," he said as his fist slammed into her stomach. She gasped as she dropped to her knees

"I would rather not have to hurt you too much Celena." The voice in her head kept laughing as Allen hauled her up by her hair. It kept whispering to let it out. Celena tried to fight the voice, but she was getting to weak.

Allen drove his fist into her stomach again. "You have no choice Celena," he said simply.

"I am your sister, Allen, how could you do this to me?" She asked. "Your sister!"

"You are a tool, harboring a consciousness inside that I need."

"How could you, Allen? You are enjoying tormenting me aren't you?"

"Of course. I need you to be angry to bring him out."

She swallowed, and asked quietly, "Demo, what about the code, the code of the Heavenly Knights? Don't you care about that?" She desperately tried to think of something… anything that might stop him.

Allen just smiled as he dropped her unceremoniously to the ground.

Celena tried to scramble to her feet. `Oniisama, please stop' she thought. Allen merely smiled as he felt her anger rise. He slowly leaned down and wrapped his hands around her throat. She clenched her fists in anger and thrashed in his hold as tears slipped from her eyes.

Allen slowly squeezed the life out of her as she squirmed. As she began to turn blue, he withdrew his hands and watched as her form changed from that of a woman to that of a man, and her eyes to blood red.

He waited a moment then stood up and fixed himself. The young boy stood up slowly, staring, head cocked, at Allen. Allen smiled, "Hello, Dilandau, welcome back to Gaea."