The Common Cure
DISCLAIMER: "The Vision of Escaflowne" is not and never will be mine. Otherwise, Folken and Eries would have been together.
NOTE: As promised, here is the sequel to "Too Precious a Prize", posted on Eries' birthday. It's another funny attempt of mine to fuse Fairy Tales and Folken/Eries. This time, some other characters get involved as well. This isn't set directly after "Too Precious a Prize" but during the part of the series where Folken sought asylum in Asturia. Much has happened since the obstacle course, and there is still much that will happen now that Folken and Eries are together again. I must warn you that it's very cheesy.
Enjoy.
I wrote this on paper first because I did not have my computer for more than a week. It turned out longer than I expected and since I don't have time to finish typing it all in one day, I will split this story into short chapters. My schedule's still pretty hectic but I will try to post the chapters up as soon as I can. I'm aiming for posting one chapter a day. I hope I can manage that. It won't be a very long story so don't worry. Please bear with me. Thank you.
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I
Hitomi had been initially reluctant to meddle in yet another couple's potential romance. The last time she had done this no less than war and destruction had ensued.
But there were two forces on this occasion that finally convinced her to intervene. First, there was the powerful vision she had that this might actually work (and her lack of self-interested motives in this case.) And second was Merle's insistence that Hitomi help her in this task. And as the girl from the Mystic Moon knew only too well, when the cat girl was determined to do something, it was nearly impossible to refuse her.
For Merle had been plagued with visions of her own. She had had persistent dreams in which twin cat-girls seemed to communicate to her from beyond the grave. Hitomi guessed that this was a unique (though slightly creepy) affinity shared by all members of that species. Naria and Eria had urged the kitten to do whatever it took to save their beloved Lord Folken. And though reluctant to divulge details at first, they eventually admitted that the only way to save his life was for him to be kissed by Princess Eries. It had been clear that the twins had not been pleased with such a solution but their desire to save their master had overpowered any petty and girly romantic inclinations.
Hitomi's vision had also been of Eries kissing Folken and his black wings turning white again. That was encouragement and confirmation enough of the validity of this claim. The two girls didn't bother trying to figure out how this whole idea came to be (although Hitomi's memory of Mystic Moon fairy tales gave her some clues.) There was nothing to be lost in trying, they both agreed.
They were determined to save Folken because the two girls knew that for all his stubbornness, Van would be deeply saddened if he lost his brother again. After some deliberation, however, the girls decided not to let Van in on their efforts. He was still too blinded by his anger towards his brother. And to tell anyone else would be troublesome, at best.
So Merle and Hitomi contrived to make this life-saving kiss happen. They exhausted their wily imaginations to engineer scenarios for the two to possibly fall in love. They had both sense that there must be some attraction between the former Zaibach Strategos and the Asturian princess because the two often spoke to each other for long periods and spent much time together. Hitomi was not surprised. She could see that their habits and temperaments suited each other and somehow she was anxious to help one Asturian princess have a happy love life. Besides, surely her vision and Merle's dreams would not have named Eries if she wasn't truly the one who could save Folken. But getting them together proved to be more challenging than expected.
The two girls tried everything they could think of to make Folken and Eries' paths cross as often as possible. They decided it was best to divide and conquer so Hitomi would take care of Eries while Merle would deal with Folken. And how they worked!
Each girl would (not so subtly) extol the virtues of the princess or former prince to the other in attempts to make them fall. Folken and Eries listened to these praises in amusement, always aware that the girls were probably up to something. But though the victims had their suspicions, they remained silent about the matter. They would find out eventually anyway.
So the charade continued, with many "coincidental" meetings in the palace gardens, rendez-vous at certain moonlit balconies, or Hitomi or Merle suddenly leaving the two alone in some rooms. But all this was to no avail. Both Folken and Eries were too shy, reserved, and proper to act on the feelings that were growing more and more obvious. For a time, it seemed that the two girls' quest was a lost cause.
In desperation, Hitomi and Merle agreed that even an accidental kiss would suffice. And so they tried their utmost to literally have Eries fall into Folken's arms. Various methods of greasing floors, pushing, shoving, and other actions were employed. After a particularly embarrassing and clumsy attempt involving Eries almost spraining her ankle as Folken caught her, the two victims decided the enough was enough. They had been amused by Merle and Hitomi's antics until then but the times were far too serious for them to be playing childish games.
The girls were confronted by the stern adults and after much grave staring and prodding, Merle and Hitomi were forced to reveal their motives.