The Arbiter of Gaia
Disclaim: Vision of Escaflowne does not belong to me, not the story, and not the characters. I only incorporate aspect of the movie, manga, anime theme, and few twist of my own imagination which belongs to me. My inspirations are from its soundtracks and elements from its plot. Any reference to real world is coincidences.
Author Note: Portion of Escaflowne's universe would be change, like names. For example, Van is not a proper name, but I will inter-changeably use between he's full name and switch in future chapters. Any confusion will be briefly explained at end of chapters with notes.
Chapter One: Most Unluckiest Day
For most people, a unique once-in-a-lifetime occurrence is a rare event. For others, it's almost a routine. When extraordinary things start to happen to otherwise normal people with alarming frequency, they are called Coincidence?
Lunch break at high school grounds is not the best place to sleep but neither are chatty class room where student use their free time to catching up on gossips. At the back there is a close off courtyard where Hitomi Kanzaki loved to spend this spare time.
The feeling of weightlessness you get from sleep was gone. Instead, replace with tone of weight press down by gravity, securing her to Earth; her home planet.
Hitomi sat up from the wooden bench, blinking to adjust to lighting of her environment. Her head snap towards the tentative sounds of students. She relaxes her nerves and settled back down on her spot under the canopy of trees, surveying her environment more closely from there.
Their voices pass over her head. There was a flicker of recognized on their face and moment of confusions before one of them left and her friend excuse herself.
"Hey," The friend announced herself to Hitomi. "You're isolating yourself again." She chid, which Hitomi sigh dejectedly for being found. Yukari set down to join her on the bench to her right.
Hitomi kept her eyes close, and breath out tiredly a respond, "I was sleeping."
"You've been sleeping a lot." Yukari started their discussion, attempted a joke too. "It's cause of your pesky brother, right? Must be annoying to have a little brother."
"No, he hardly bothers me."
"Oh." Yukari pause, had expect Hitomi to supply more detail but she didn't. "Been raining a lot and this heat- God, am I glad we're out of the stuffy building."
"Yeah."
"How did you do on pop quiz? Oh man, I think I failed." She sheepishly put it, trying to once again ignite the conversation.
"A decent pass." Hitomi admitted, her hand reach for a leaf and pluck it out for distraction. Some time ago, she had rouse up to sit and turn to face the girl. Then the main question arrived, the reason Yukari had sought her and Hitomi to avoid her made her breath hitch.
"You know, Hitomi... the teams lost another match yesterday."
"I've heard." Her voice was steady despite her nervousness inside. Hitomi absentminded play with a spine of the leave between her finger tips. However, it was slap out of her grasps by Yukari, flapping in to the wind.
Yukari fume at her friend's lack of attention, but console herself and apologies. She went back to her seat later, unable to bear to look at Hitomi's hurt face. An odd silence settled around Yukari's talkative form.
She saw through Yukari motive with each topic she kept switching between, since start of their conversation. It's was just the matter of correct incision.
She easily slipped in to her natural role that is of a 'concern friend' worry about the well fair of her friend's behaviour. "Why did you drop out?"
"I'm not cut out for it..." Hitomi clumsily worded, momentarily forgetting her own additional shock, but the palm still sting.
"Like all the other teams you joint." Yukari than proceed to tick off each of her finger to number them out loud: "Archery, Drama, Baseball, Tennis, Swim, Literary Club." She held them up to Hitomi's face to proudly declare, "That's six. Six teams you joint and drop off. Seven if you include this one. You join most school's extra-school activity then drop out later after making in the team. People don't suddenly drop out for any reason."
Yukari frown, her feet scuffle some dirt on the concrete floor. "You seem to enjoy track and that was the longest you stayed compare all the rest of the clubs. I was so thrill for you." She smile briefly, and was up on her feet a second later to empathise her determination. "As the manager of the team-" Shake heading to deny her last claim. "No... as a friend, I want to know. Hitomi."
The courtyard was quiet again, Hitomi merely stare at her.
"Hitomi?"
"Yukari," Hitomi's stern voice challenges her, acting relatively calm at her fret friends. "Why are we arguing? The team will be fine, give them a chance."
Yukari expression deflated, her face fluster anger, but Hitomi had already turned her head around to look at other students in the yard. They were peers from her class division jeering at jokes; some guys laugh with him while smutting nonsense should couldn't clearly here.
Yukari stomp in front of her line of vision, blocking what ever Hitomi was looking at. "Hey! Are you even listening?" Her eyes searched in concern at Hitomi. "Tell me what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry; it just felt like a waist of time. I see no fun in it anymore." Hitomi lied out of impulse, unable to put up with Yukari attitude anymore. Her green eyes no longer roam the grounds of their school, but at Yukari haunting figure with her feet tapping impatiently. Unlike her friend, Hitomi crease her own voice a couple notch down almost dangerously soundly angry because she was aware of people watching their quarrel and didn't want the attention.
Yukari detect Hitomi's hostile voice, and becoming quieter. But she was still persistence in getting Hitomi to confine her trust on her. "You always have such a sad face."
"Come join me and Amano-sempia again, when we use to spend time together." Yukari proposed. Determine and not deter, Yukari grab her friends hands, dragging Hitomi to the nearest double doors. Hitomi regrettably followed.
"You started it." The annoy remark led herself being pulled harder by her dear friend, Yukari who wasn't dampen atmosphere. Hitomi fumble with her steps to fit Yukari hurry pace so not to tumble dangerously down the concrete stairs leading up to roof where most students spend their brake.
Fences surrounded the perimeter, closing unsafe parts. Yukari gave a polite wave to her group of friend at the far corner, promptly join in the discussion. Yukari's nit-close friends realize they were being watched by Hitomi, so they all turn. However, Amano waved at her when she came to sit by him. For a time, she watch the chitchat, but didn't precipitate. They were Yukari's friends and not her, so natural Hitomi felt like she was intruding. She could even said today was rotten, and nothing good could ever come out of it.
And nothing did. Subway riding was only means for Hitomi to get home as did rest of Japan population who rely on its service. The suddenly inconvenient of not having one made it apparent of how much she depends on it and everyone who happens to be on the same train.
The intercom above them announces an accident has occurred. They advise the customer to take another route and sort forth. There were a few groans of passengers at the displeasured. Hitomi however stares out the window apathetically at sight of Tokyo. Its tall buildings glimmer at the last sun's rays.
The train rattle to a stopped, filled out with crowed of people pushing and shoving on the terminal platform. She sat a moment longer on the plushy seat, waiting to be the last one to leave.
Doors slid close behind her, and the train whizzed away with a gusted that flapped her tied up hair. This turn of events didn't put her down as she had thought because it was just one less stop from her usual station. So, she decided to walk the rest of the way home. Beside, she wasn't fond arriving home early and took the longer route home sounds like good idea.
Step outside from the Tokyo's bullet-train station, Hitomi yelp at the cool evening air. She rubbed her arms to warm herself up before starting her strolled. A couple block into her walk, she let herself soak in the setting sun across the city. Hitomi thought about taking cram school to pass time now that she is starting her 2nd year of high school, which was easily forgotten upon a familiar sight.
The bridge, an overpass for cars to zoom through and citizens to walk across.
Hitomi quickly scale the stairs of the bridge that suspend over a busy lane and drop her duff-bag. She looked to her right then left, verified that no one was on the line with her.
"Perfect," Hitomi smiled at thought of having it all for herself without pesky friends to bother you.
She leaned over the edge to stare at cars whizzing below her then at the city sky lines, and tip her toes for better view. Her pendent she always wore swung freely by the wind back and forth, back and forth undisputedly.
On the 41st complete rotations a beep sound singling the time from her wristwatch. Quick glance, it flashes neon blue with the time: 6:00pm.
Stretching her arms and legs, Hitomi presume her course to her home shortly. Taking one more glimpse of peaceful Tokyo over her shoulder, and prepare to walked rest of length of the strip.
On her 8th step and 88th swung of the pendent, same time she was thinking what was for dinner tonight, the ground shook violent. In Japan, earthquakes happen often because it sits on the pacific Ring of Fire. She wasn't surprise, what shock her more is how easily she lost her footing.
Hitomi toppled over off the bridge, nearly missing the handle rim to grab hold. There was no chance of surviving the fall with just scratch and bruises. Sound of cars skittering and peoples' screams were block out by her panic.
'Am I goona die?' Nothing particular flashing in my mind when she pounder on those words. The thought that she had nothing to think about in her dying moments made her frown deepen and frighten.
"But I don't want to die!" Hitomi scream out, close her eyes tight for the impact of her head on tarp pave road. The rush of wind pounded against her skull. She could feel the flutter of her cloths being tugged and pulled from falling. The ground behind her tear opened.
Clocked at 92nd of the pendent's swing, the crumbling world slowed down around her bit by bit. Birds, which had perch on structures, flutter above her with slow beat wings.
Her pendent pulse with rouge-pink light playing along with a song being sang inside it in an ancient tongue. A foreign language which wasn't understandable became comprehensible by each draw out second, growing stronger and vibrant each high notes struck. While the choir relapses, her whole being began to be sucked into the red stone. Arm and legs were twisted and warped strangely without pain. Everything until nothing was left of her exploded into sparks with a pop.
Streets revert back to its regular course of chaos; a tremble than complete stillness. In its wakes afterwards were overturn cars and devastation of structures like the rest of the city.
Days after natural disaster, families file in missing person case, like the Kanzaki family. They were just as dismayed as anyone else who lost a child, relative, and friends. Many suspect Hitomi case was just a suicide base on record of her dropping in and out of teams when nothing turn up, because how peer and facility inaccurate describe her lack of social life. It was a popular occurrences among the youth, which authority pushed her parents to accept given the evidence when the family refused to let go. Otherwise, she was lost among the uncover victims in the Earthquake. Not out of cruelty, but authority were working on recovering than to search for one distinct person.
Two weeks and half later upon the discovering of her stolen bag, the case was reopen as homicide. Polices interrogate the subject, but no leads and never found her body. Case was close another two weeks soon after. Pharisaic team conclude their report as unsolved case.
No one ever talk or mention of Kanzaki Hitomi again. It was after all news to fill talk before replace it with newer news. If she did know the circumstance surrounding her death, she would hate those people, given up so easy and label her just another girl that died tragically. Unfortunate, what she'll go through for next couple months in another dimensional side of Earth was even horrible. A place where you see Earth and moon in the sky called, Gaia.
On my unluckiest days, something happened, but would I call this a coincidence too?
That doesn't sound right. If today didn't conjured, everything and anything afterward would never happen.
Author Note: reference (chapter & fact)
1. "sempia" = upper class man
2. "Gakushū juku" (cram school) is popular activity after school to help students with school.
3. "Ring of Fire" is an active area where tonic plates are contently moving movements under the pacific oceans, rubbing together causes great tremor or eruptions.
4. Soundtrack used during Tokyo earthquake sequences: "Escaflowne- Into GAEA"
5. NAME CHANGED: Gaea - Gaia
Gaia in Greek means earth-mother. Reasons for the change will be more apparent in future chapters.
*Please review, any comment would be appreciated. I'm opting for anything; flames, criticize, praise, ect.