This is my first Escaflowne fanfic, so please bear with me during this first part. Thank you for coming in to read my story.
Celena does not, I repeat, DOES NOT exist in this fan fic. She may have existed at one point in time, but she flew off into the wild blue yonder and we will probably never hear from her again. And she doesn't exist in Dilandau, either, just to let you doubters know. (Just imagine Dilandau wherever she appears.)
Obviously, this takes place one month after Hitomi returns to Earth. In the meantime, I hope it doesn't drag too much, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Hmm… Let's see… A DH fan making Escaflowne… With VH… Uh, NO! I don't own Escaflowne. (I wish I did, though! TT)
EDIT #2 (2/11/06): Chapter 2, The Ace of Swords, now added to chapter 1 to extend chapter length. Chapters 3 and 4, and 5 and 6, have also been fused. Expect this to be the last chapter combination session I do. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.
Chapter 1: Wiped
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His eyes opened with the slow kind of certainty that foretold intense pain. Dull ruby orbs stared emptily into the cold, metal floor beneath his cheek. He laid there in the bright artificial lighting for what could have been minutes, hours, days, weeks, even years. He didn't care. He didn't care one bit…
Suddenly, reality returned to him. He lifted one impossibly pale, shaking hand and pressed it to the floor. The platinum-haired boy managed to lift the right side of his body a single inch off the ground before collapsing back to the metal floor with a splash.
The otherwise soft noise sliced through the near-tangible silence and seemed to echo off the cold, unfeeling walls for a century. But the surroundings, though artificial and uncomfortable, could not even begin to challenge the pain of the boy's internal struggle.
Another drop of blood fell from the long wound in the boy's chest and joined its brethren on the floor with barely a sound.
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"N… No! Stop it! STOP IT!"
The pale boy's desperate cries grew louder and more frantic with each passing moment. Memories flashed before his unseeing eyes like fluttering moths, sitting by his hand for a moment, then teasingly escaping his grasp. They kept flowing, flowing, flowing off to God knew where. Not that it really mattered where they went. All that mattered was that he didn't have them anymore, and they didn't seem like they'd be coming back any time soon, if ever.
But it wasn't like he had any control over what was happening. It wasn't his fault. He hadn't done anything. It wasn't his fault. But that didn't stop what was happening, and it didn't stop the pain. Not the pain in his heart or the pain in his soulless body.
Memory after memory after memory flashed between his eyes and fluttered away. Viole and Dalet nudging each other lightly at the dinner table, joking. Stiff, snobby Miguel leaping up from his chair at being the butt of some joke. Gatty and Shesta sitting beside their magnificent blue guymelefs, plotting to set Dalet up on a date with a new crush. The surprised look on Guimel's face as Gatty shoved him, fully clothed, into the lake. The six of them hard at practice in the gym, sparring for all they were worth, their commander's secretly proud appraising eye checking over all of their stances. All there one moment, gone the next. All gone.
Drained of both strength and self, Dilandau's ruby eyes slipped closed as the last of his precious memories flitted away like the last lark leaving for winter. The only difference was, this lark would never return for spring.
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Her breath hissed out in small, short pants as she pounded down the hard, packed pavement. Lightly tanned skin glistened with sweat as the girl's heart thumped excitedly in her chest, meters fleeing beneath spiked white running shoes. Then, there was a moment of pregnant silence, then…
Cheers and delighted screeches erupted from the gathered crowd as Hitomi Kanzaki ripped past the finish line.
She gave her teammates a tired, yet triumphant smile as they lifted her away from the coming stampede of onlookers and congratulators. They really were on her side, in more ways than one. Hitomi giggled a bit at the discreet 'rescue' she had received, and was dearly glad for it as the wave of spectators crashed against the other runners.
Though blackness encroached upon her vision, she felt elated nonetheless. She, Hitomi Kanzaki, had won the 100 meter dash and secured the regional championship for Kama-Kita High School. Now the only obstacle that she and her team had to face was Sectionals, and if they won there, they would be granted to rare honor of entering in the National Cup Tournament. She grinned madly to herself, pushing away thoughts of the excruciating training she would undergo. If she was about to pass out from one little run, she definitely needed the exercise!
However, she now found herself thankful for the strength she had gained in Gaea. At least all those days spent running from guymelefs, assassins, crazed emperors, and whatnot had gotten her something useful!
Gaea… Suddenly, the seer stiffened in her comrades' arms, barely having time to register the familiar sensation of a vision before the edging darkness dissolved her conscious sight entirely.
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Shadows. Men in black cloaks were hiding in the darkness, circling like buzzards in the corner of what appeared to be a musty laboratory, after a fashion. Several of them were struggling with the someone – or something – that they surrounded. Attempting to use their superior numbers and positions against the captive, the cloaked men seemed to be herding it toward the center of the room - a room occupied by a sickeningly sterile, smooth table.
Suddenly, the target's thrashing became even more violent, presumably noticing the table for the first time. It wasn't a stranger to it though, judging by the still strangely silent, but frantic, attempts to escape. The shaded sentinels continued herding, unheeding of their captive's desperate efforts to break their circle.
In a swift flurry of activity, a boy broke free and sprinted for the door. He jerked at it roughly, attempting to break the lock on the other side, but to no avail. For all his efforts, a single crack penetrated the permeating silence.
The resounding cracks grew louder and louder, but the red eyed soldier, despite his fear, seemed to realize that he wouldn't manage to break down the door before the gliding shadows stopped him. His struggles, nonetheless, continued unabated.
His strangled half-gasp, half-scream echoed through the dusty room as the needle pierced the pale flesh of his chest. He collapsed into the ravens' waiting sinister arms, and the room fell silent once again.
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Hitomi's eyes snapped open as the vision faded. The madoushi and… Dilandau? The seer shook her head vigorously to clear it. No. It couldn't be. He would never have shown fear like that.
…Where was she?
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Getting a good look at her surroundings for the first time, Hitomi cast her emerald gaze around the room. By the white, sterile and colorless walls, she recognized it as the school's infirmary.
Oh. I'm in the clinic. I must have passed out during my vision. She thought about this for a moment and a delicate frown formed on her rosy lips. This was troubling, the short-haired girl decided. She hadn't had a vision since she had been on Gaea, and had not noticed a reason that she would have one now. Strange…
Gaea. She still missed it. Missed it and Van.
She desperately needed to see Van. True, he "visited" her, but they couldn't really talk through those visits, and it wasn't nearly the same as being with him, hearing his laughter, crying on his shoulder, walking beside him in the castle gardens… None of it was the same. He was literally worlds away from her, and not even their love could breach that distance.
But thinking of Van brought up yet another question. Her vision. Always before in her visions, they had been of him or people that had to do with him. Her vision of Folken's death was a prime example of that.
Wait… That's not quite right. Come to think of it, the man who she felt closest to at the moment was usually the one she had visions about. She had seen Allen's father when she had still had her big crush on him. She had forgotten about Van then. Hitomi hadn't had many visions of Van when she was in love with Allen.
It was the man she was closest to, she decided. She had visions of the man she felt closest to and the people close to them.
But if that were true, why had she had a vision of Dilandau?
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Why did I have a vision of Dilandau?
The question played over and over again in Hitomi's mind like a broken record as she trudged through the empty sidewalks. This was so frustrating. She didn't like Dilandau even one bit! In fact, she was absolutely terrified of him! So… Why did she have a vision of him, of all people? It didn't make any sense! A long, soft sigh escaped her lips as she slipped through her front door, and dragged her exhausted body up the stairs. This is just too much for me…
Enveloped in her thoughts, the seer didn't realize what she was doing until she was seated at her desk, shuffling her deck of Tarot cards.
The emerald-eyed girl paused a moment to consider the stack of cards held in her slender fingers. She had locked these cards in a drawer after she had returned from Gaea. It had been a symbol of closure, putting those cards away, never to be seen again, never to hurt anyone again.
Do I really want to do this? She wondered about that. It was too late to keep the cards in the drawer, but did she need to use them? Did she want to?
It didn't matter. Her shuffling hands had decided for her, and it was too late to turn back now.
The young seer gingerly touched the first card, and, in a sudden burst of resolve, whipped it over onto the desk with a papery smack.
The reversed King of Wands… This card represents the past. It tells of learning new skills, and warns me to be ethical and lack aggression. I suppose that is true. It probably refers to my time on Gaea. I learned so many new things there, and made many new friends, but I was always the one who tried to keep Van and the others from becoming too bloodthirsty and violent. I tried to keep them from going out of control. Lacking aggression and sticking to my morals…
Beginning to fall back into the familiar rhythm, Hitomi flipped the next card to lay beneath the first, just to the left of it.
This is the reversed II of Pentacles. This card stands for the present. The card of… Integrity? I need to be honest with myself and others? That's strange. I thought that by keeping Gaea a secret and not telling anyone… Shouldn't I lack integrity and not have it? Does this means that I will need to use more integrity soon? What for?
Eager for an answer, pale hands slapped another card directly below the first, just to the right of the II of Pentacles.
This card and the next one will be the cards of the future. Wait a minute… The reversed devil? It warns of the past interfering with the future. I need to be open-minded and non-judgmental. This card speaks of uncertainty and a clouded mind. Will I run into someone from my past that I hate? A glimpse of silver hair and crimson eyes flashed through her head before she shook it out of her thoughts. She had to concentrate on the next card.
It's…The upright Ace of Swords? Huh? But…All of the other cards told me to be honest and start over with a blank slate, maybe with something or someone from my past. This is the only upright card in the whole spread. The Ace of Swords tells me that I have a strong spirit and not to… Let my ego get in the way? The way of what
Hitomi froze as she thought about this card in light of the others. This spread…It's the opposite! Each card means what its opposite should mean! An upright card, which should give advice, warns, and a reversed card, which should warn, gives advice. This makes no… What…?
Her eyes snapped into focus on the card in her hand. She had only read the Ace of Swords' title. Her mind had filled in the nonexistent picture.
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End Chapter
Well, I hope you liked it! If any of the cards or spread was a little different from the show, I'm sorry. Basically, I was too lazy to watch Escaflowne again (Yes, I do have the box set) to figure out the spread, so… Yeah. I just used my own Tarot cards and interpretation booklet to do it. I even did a reading and exchanged one of the cards for the Ace of Swords. (This is a very significant card, and if you're reading this, it's something to remember.)
I will be writing more very, very soon. I'm sure you're all excited to see what happens to Dilandau and Hitomi, right? Well, I have some fun things planned for next chapter, so please keep reviewing! (Ha ha, I actually intended to make this chapter longer, but I need to study for midterms. Sorry!) I want at least 4-5+ reviews or I'm probably not going to continue this since it won't be worth your while. As low as 3 reviews are required to make this continue, although 5 is the only sure bet. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!
Aurah
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