Four Souls: Return to Giea
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pAuthor's Note: (The Disclaimer) I don't own Escaflowne. If I did I'd be filthy rich! I sure wish I owned it though, you copy right people are so lucky *sighs*. Any comments I decide to add in are written in parenthesis. I love commentating! Well hope you enjoy.
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pFirst off, lets explain a little background to this story:
Two years after the Gaean war, Hitomi returns to Fanelia via the white light. She is reunited with Van and Merle, who are preparing to leave on a journey to Van's mother Varie's homeland, Lavia. They decide to postpone the trip for a short time to get reacquainted. A week later, Allen receives a message from Van telling him that Hitomi has returned. He and Celena/Dilandau, who is still constantly switching between personalities, decide to join the journey to Varie's home and return the letter. Dalandilu and Van have come to a truce of sorts by now. Millerna and Dryden receive similar letters and agree to join the expedition. They meet in the capital of Austuria, Palas, and depart on the crusade for the small island country of Lavia. As they arrive, our story begins…
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pA lone rider traveled through the forests of Lavia. Shrouded in a dark cloak all that could be seen were the ebony horse, a small black kitten, and a short sword strapped to the traveler's side. The woods were dark and quiet; the only sound that could be heard was the clopping of the horse's hooves. A small ringed hand peaked out from the deep blue cloak. As the rider reached a crossroads he stopped. Hearing a slight rustle of the bushes, the rider turned in the saddle and pulled out a sword. It was shorter than a normal sword, perfect for the small human. Its finely wrought blade projected out of a simple hilt bound in melded silver. The swift movement showed a slight body beneath the cloak and a black leather belt and sheath. Hearing another noise, the rider turned again. He could see dark shapes moving about in the forest, humanoid looking shapes. The horse reared as seven men jumped out in front of it. Trying to get control of the bucking mare, the rider called out, "What do you want?"
The men looked at the rider and cocked their heads confused. They're from the main land, thought the rider. They can't understand me. Speaking up again the rider cried out in the common language, "What do you want with a lone rider?"
p"Come with us and we'll show you!" yelled one of the men. He seemed to be a leader of sorts with scruffy black hair atop his head.
p"Why would I? For all I know you're bandits trying to rob me!" yelled the rider. Another man walked out of the forest, this one dressed like an imperial knight with shiny blond hair falling to his waist, "We are no such thing. Come with us!" he said.
The rider raised the sword higher, ready to defend if necessary. "No!"
p"Allen! What's going on?" yelled another man wearing a red shirt running towards the group, this one more resembling a boy. Behind him was a girl roughly the same age, with short, pale brown hair.
p"We're trying to get help but this person is being very uncooperative!" said the knight called Allen.
p"You did tell him we're looking for help, right?" asked the girl.
p"Well…" said Allen, his stern manner wavering.
p"Baka!" a cat-girl emerged from behind them, annoyed. The first girl walked up to the rider smiling, "Sorry about that," she said, "we're lost. Can you guide us to the nearest city?"
p"Your new here aren't you," said the rider, after regarding the girl quietly with a cold eye. When the girl nodded she replied, "Then I suggest you go home. Port Orian's under siege and the capital's been destroyed. There's nothing here for tourists except the horrors of war," she murmured with a touch of sadness, more to herself than the foreigners. With that the rider threw back her hood to revel a young, dark haired woman. Her brilliant blue eyes glared harshly at them. "If you really want to see, I suppose I can take you to Port Orian, I just left there yesterday. But don't expect to find whatever you're looking for, the city's in ruins."
p"Thank you," said the red shirted boy, "I'd like to see if we could help."
p
pThe band lead the rider through the forest to a large clearing made much smaller by the crusade.
p"What's your name?" asked the girl next to the rider.
p"Lia. Lia-ani," said the rider as they entered the clearing. There Lia saw a small group of people waiting for them, two of which were women. Lia sighed relieved; bandits didn't travel with women unless they were experienced warriors. Lia smirked quietly to herself, as she looked the two women over. It was doubtful either of them could hold a sword, let alone use it.
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p"Lia!" called the girl with sandy hair, whom she had spoken to earlier. Lia swung down off her horse and tied her to the nearest tree, and then she walked over to the campfire where the girl sat. Seated at the fire also were the red shirted boy, the cat-girl and one of the two women she had seen earlier. That boy looks like him she thought.
p"Lia, this is Van, Merle, and Celena. My name's Hitomi. Guys, this is Lia-ani…"
p"Landen," said Lia.
p"Oh, this is Lia-ani Landen," said Hitomi
p"You wouldn't be Van Fanel of Fanelia would you?" asked Lia
p"You've heard of me?" Van gasped, sounding surprised.
p "Most people have by now," said Lia.
p"Oh," realized Van, "Lia-ani, what did you mean when you said the capital has been destroyed? According to legend, the ruling clan should be able to protect the people through some kind of magic, magic only the Dragon Clan can use."
p"Not any more," said Lia, "The dragon clan was wiped out 11 years ago. The phoenix clan is in control, or so they thought until now. Greedy bastards!" said Lia.
p"What!? The phoenix clan is ruling?" yelled Van. Lia looked over the group and decidedly joined their circle by the fire. This could take some explaining.
p"I'll start at the beginning. At the height of the rebellion 11 years ago, King Asgaurd over threw the dragon king and queen and killed the royal family, then went on a massacre until every member of the royal bloodline and everyone who opposed him were dead. The queen managed to get two of her children away before the attack, and rumor still has it that there was a spy who warned them. They were chased out to sea, brought back, and executed publicly, except for the youngest child," said Lia.
p"What happened to the kid?" asked Merle.
p"No one knows. Some say they drowned her out there," said Lia
p"So that's why Lavia has been targeted. Some one knew the Phoenix King wouldn't have the power to defend the kingdom," Van reflected in a subdued voice.
p"They took advantage of our weakness. Since there are no gymelefs in Lavia, the attack is succeeding and we are helpless," said Lia.
p"Who attacked?" asked Van. Lia leaned her forehead on her hand,
p"This is going to sound impossible, but who ever they were, they used Zaibach technology. Even we didn't believe it at first"
p"What!?" yelled Merle, Hitomi and Van together. Lia sighed.
p"The history of Lavia is long and complicated. I'll explain in depth some other time. Now, we all need to get some rest for the road tomorrow," she ended abruptly. She walked away, her mysterious cloak trailing, leaving three very shocked teenagers behind her.
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pThe next morning, Hitomi woke to find Lia already packed and pacing around the camp.
p"Lia! What's wrong?" she asked. Lia stopped, looked up, then sighed and jogged over to her. "What's wrong?" Hitomi asked again.
p"Nothing, I'm just restless," said Lia, shaking her head. The girl frowned at her, wondering about her new acquaintance's sullen mood. Suddenly Hitomi stopped dead as a vision over took her. Through the darkness she watched a small rowboat coming towards her. Inside were a woman and two children, one around ten and the other about six. Emerging behind them was a small fleet of boats. The women looked rather desperate and ravaged with fatigue; a world of fear shone on her children's faces. All three were dressed in ragged clothing, looking to have been very fine and well made at one time, cut low in the back to reveal draconian wings. The woman noticed the fleet and stopped rowing. With a cry of desperation, she took the younger child, a girl, and a square plank of wood and set both afloat on the water. The boy watched and grabbed the small sword at his side. He undid the sword belt and handed both to the girl, then helped his mother push her away. The woman clamped both of her hands over her mouth and screwed her eyes shut in a last surrender of hope, tears streaming fearfully down her cheeks. The boy desperately clung to his mothers skirt as if never to let go of the little security he had ever known. The girl's pathetic cries for her mother rang out through the mist. The fog swallowed her raft as the fleet closed in on the defeated, cowering pair. The scene changed to the small raft washed upon the ocean shore. A woman and a young man, her son perhaps, ran down the bank and picked up the limp, barley- breathing figure of a child. A small silver dragon pendant slid out from the young girl's clothing. The woman saw it and gasped. The girl woke and looked up at them, unaware of her recent ordeal, then said,
p"Where am I?"
p"Poor dear, she can't remember anything," whispered the woman sadly to her son, "even a young dragon clan child can tell where she is in Lavia." The ocean shore dissolved into a distant forest as Hitomi emerged from the vision. She stared at Lia. As she looked hard, two things caught her eye, first Lia's sword. It was the same one the boy gave the young girl in her vision. Second was the silver ornament at Lia's throat. She could not mistake the winged dragon pendant with its tail curled around a multicolored crystal. Had she just seen Lia's past? Hitomi balked at the thought. If that was true, then that would mean that not only was Lia-ani Landen draconian, she was the single heir to the royal family of the dragon clan.
p"Are you ok?" Lia's question snapped Hitomi back to reality.
p"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," she replied unsteadily. Lia looked at her suspiciously for a second, and then glanced away.
p"You better get everyone up, it's at least a days walk and you can't go piloting that levy ship around there either. That is, unless you want to get killed," said Lia
p"Right," Hitomi hurried off to wake as many people as she could, but mostly to get away from Lia's mind-wrenching stare. She could have sworn that Lia had seen exactly what Hitomi had discovered. She came across the first tent, which just so happened to be the one she had shared with Merle. Hitomi shook the cat-girl awake, nearly getting mangled for doing so.
p"What's the big idea!?" Merle yowled sourly.
p"We're leaving as soon as everyone's up; help me make that soon!" Hitomi yelled back. Merle complied, grumbling, and went off to find someone to harass out of bed. The next tent Hitomi found was the one Van and Allen shared. Lucky me, she thought sarcastically. Not wanting any unpleasant sights, she refrained from ripping the blankets off of them and yelled in their ears instead. Lucky for her it seemed to do the trick, until a grumbling Van threw his pillow at her and buried himself under the covers. Allen had managed to wake up however, so Hitomi decided to leave Van to his 'tender' mercies. Next she found Millerna's tent. The only reason she had managed to get a tent alone was because the only other girl in the party changed sexes unpredictably. The rest of the group seemed to have been reasonably woken by Lia and Merle. Gaddes had picked a fight with Lia about having to get all of them up.
p"Well if all of you hadn't been so shy last night we could have worked out who was going then!' yelled Lia.
p"Who was being shy?" asked Gaddes smugly.
p"Will you shut your trap?! The sooner this is done the sooner some of you can get back to sleep!" yelled Lia.
p"What's all the racket?" asked Van, stretching.
p"We need to decide who's going. Not every one is needed and the less people the safer the expedition," said Lia, still annoyed.
p"Well I'm going!" said Van.
p"If he's going so am I," said Merle.
p"Me to," said Hitomi quietly.
p"I'll go to, incase things get out of hand," said Allen.
p"You know I am quite capable of defending my self," said Lia.
p"I assumed, but what about thoughs two?" asked Allen, pointing at Hitomi and Merle. Lia just growled at him.
p"Any one else?"
p"I'm coming," said Dalandilu.
p"Alright, that's just wrong!" said Lia.
p"What?" asked Dalandilu.
p"Never mind, let's go," said Lia, shaking her head and walking towards the forest. The rest ran to catch up.
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pSeveral hours went by before the travelers took a rest. In the shade of a particularly large pine, Lia removed one of her black boots to reveal a series of massive blisters. As she sat there massaging her feet with a grimace Hitomi just couldn't help but notice. She became even more unnerved when Lia removed her hand from the blisters after covering them for several seconds. Some how, with in that small amount of time, they had healed over completely. Lia limped over to the rest of them.
p"We've got a few hours worth of walking ahead of us still, and I'm not one for wasting time," she said particularly looking at and exhausted and whining Merle.
p"You ok Lia?" asked Hitomi.
p"I'm fine, just haven't been walking distances in a while, I mostly ride," said Lia airily. Or fly thought Hitomi.
p"We're ready, let's keep moving," said Allen. The hike did take several more hours, counting a couple rests in between. When they reached the bluff above Port Orian, Lia led them down a narrow tunnel in the ground. Near the ground they found a small-carved staircase, which made travel a bit easier. They came out of the tunnel in a small deserted storage shack.
p"What was that?" asked Merle.
p"The siege escape root," said Lia, grinning. She led them through the deserted streets of the city. The place fit Lia's earlier description; battered building stared down the street, littered with rubble, from their dark windows. Reaching the fort walls, she turned into a small alley, and followed it, until she reached another section of wall. There, she removed the single silver ring from her finger and slid it into an almost invisible hole in the drab stone. A small portion of the wall grounded aside to reveal a hidden passage. Lia beckoned to the others to follow, then crawled through the hole into the darkness.
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pThe dark tunnel ended abruptly with a trap door on the low ceiling. Opening the hatch slightly, Lia took in the chamber above. Satisfied that the room was empty, she climbed out and held up the door for everyone else. They entered a small unimpressive cubical with a single door. Lia unfastened the door a crack, and then swung it open. The mystified travelers followed her through an empty hall until they reached a main corridor. Crouching to the sleek marble tiles Lia peaked around the corner then sank back behind the wall again with a horrified look on her face.
p"What?" whispered Van. Lia peaked around the bend and pointed at a group of young men in uniforms. Both Dalandilu and Van peaked around the corner with her.
p"They must be part of a new Dragon Slayer unit," whispered Dalandilu.
p"What?" asked Allen from behind them.
p"Thoughs are Zibach Dragon Slayer uniforms," said Dalandilu, "Wait a minute! Is that Miguel!?"
p"Who?" asked Van.
p"The Dragon Slayer you two took prisoner two years ago. Isn't he dead?" said Dalandilu.
p"That's not what's bothering me, look at the guy next to him," said Lia.
p"Never seen him before," said Dalandilu, "But he does have an uncanny resemblance to Van."
p"What?!" said Van.
p"That is Jeris Phinlavia, one of the younger Lavian princes," said Lia.
p"A prince? What is he doing here when these people are destroying his country?! And why is he wearing a dragon slayer uniform?" said Allen indignantly.
p"I have no idea," said Lia with disappointment, shaking her head.
p"You know him?" asked Merle.
p"He's the one who gave me this ring," said Lia quietly holding up her left hand. On the middle finger was the ring she had used to open the passage into the fort. Catching on, Merle giggled and was silenced by Lia's glare. "One thing I know for sure. He's not doing this of his own free will. He can't be."
p"How can you be so sure of that?" asked Allen skeptically.
p"Because Jeris has an annoyingly strong sense of duty to his people and his country. They must have messed with his mind some how."
p"It's possible," said Dalandilu, "the sorcerers do have that kind of ability. One of them might have survived the war." Lia focused back on the three seventeen year olds.
p"Jared, General Aloran wants to speak with you," said the boy Dalandilu had called Miguel.
p"Jared?" Lia whispered confused.
p"I'll be up in a minute," said Jared, pushing his floppy dark mop of hair away from his forehead. "Aethan, tell the others to prepare to search the countryside for anyone who could oppose us. Don't kill them unless it's absolutely necessary," he warned.
p"Yes commander," said Aethan mockingly, with a mischievous grin. Aethan and Miguel left abruptly leaving Jared alone.
p"Dalandilu, have you heard of Aloran before?" whispered Van, turning to look at him. Dalandilu's face had gone whiter than usual was contorted in an odd way with his eye twitching.
p"That guy took over my position! And yes I have heard of Aloran!" he snapped as quietly as possible.
p"Let's go back to the cellar room to discuss this. We've been here long enough," said Lia, leading the way back to the room they entered the fort from. Once there Hitomi let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, now we can talk. Dalandilu, who is Aloran?" said Lia.
p"First of all Aloran is no general. He was a sorcerer under Emperor Dornkirk. I don't know much else about him," said Dalandilu sullenly.
p"So some how Jeris must have been captured, probably experimented on and then placed at the head of the dragon slayers," said Lia.
p"Ha, I doubt he'll stay there for long. He has my reputation to live up to," said Dalandilu with a smug grin, stroking the scar on his face.
p"That I can believe," said Lia rolling her eyes, "Dilly, I can't help but ask, does that scar bother you?"
p"What did you call me?!" Dalandilu asked, his voice dangerously low.
p"Ah, just something I thought would be easier to pronounce. So does it?" said Lia nervously laughing.
p"Of course it does," said Dalandilu, glaring at Van, who promptly looked away, whistling innocently.
p
pThe silence gave way to footsteps in the hall outside of them. Lia shot a distressed glance at the others, then threw open the trap door and pushed Hitomi and Merle in first. Dalandilu and Van followed. "Allen go, I can hold them," said Lia impatiently. Allen took one hesitant look at her glittering eyes, and then jumped through the door. The door leading to the hall swung open as Lia unsheathed her short sword. Two boys stepped through, the same two boys they had seen with Jeris. Lia threw them a reckless, maniacal grin, and then jumped through the trap door, locking it behind her. A sword slashed through the thin wooden boards above her. Lia raced along the tunnel at breakneck speed. She tumbled out of the passage, only to hear a loud alarm blaring through the halls. Hitomi saw her and desperately waved her into a small alley. Lia took off for the bluff with the group close behind. Racing up the worn stairs, she thought she sensed a set of gymelefs over head. She threw the hatch open and climbed out. Hitomi and Merle instantly darted towards the woods, Van and Allen drew their swords as they reached the exit and scrambled up after a thoroughly annoyed, sour-faced Dalandilu. The last four took off after the others only to meet four gymelefs blocking their way. Lia and Van ducked away from the leading gymelefs attack. The lead gymelef was black the other three blue.
p"Well at least he didn't steal my color," muttered Dalandilu. The gymelefs stopped and opened to reveal their young pilots; Jared, Aethan, Miguel and one other short and silver-blond haired slayer. The offending dragon slayers jumped out of their gymelefs and circled the wary group.
p"Surrender and you won't be killed," yelled Jared. Dalandilu felt Miguel's stare cutting into him and glared back.
p"If you want us, come get us," replied Lia.
p"Wait, Dala… Lord Dalandilu?" asked Miguel, recognition showing plainly on his face. Aethan glanced at Miguel and then looked back at Dalandilu. Jared ignored them and moved towards Allen who was at the edge of the bluff with his sword drawn. Jared swung at Allen. Allen's sword moved into a clean block that twisted Jared's sword out of his hands and caused him to loose his balance. Jared's arms windmilled desperately and then he tumbled off the cliff. "Jeris!" shrieked Lia after him. She ran to the edge and dove right off with out any show of hesitation. "Lia!" yelled Van, watching her plummet, disbelief on his face. He was about to dive after her when Hitomi caught his arm. Horrified, he watched as Lia fell closer to Jared.
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pLia plunged through the sky. Holding Jared close with one arm, she tore off her cloak (not her shirt) with the other and sprouted draconian wings. Jared's body weighed her down, causing her to crash into a small pathetic bunch of shrubbery. She was slapped back into consciousness by the flat of Jared's blade. Noticing her own sword out of reach she backed into the cliff wall.
p"Jeris? Jeris it's me, Lia. Don't you remember?" Jared cocked an eyebrow.
p"You fool, you're my enemy, so why save me? And who's Jeris?" Lia looked hard at him.
p"You are Jeris. And I saved you because… well, you wouldn't remember I guess," she murmured, looking away. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground. Seeing this, Jared sheathed his sword and gazed at her.
p"Lia? Your name is Lia?"
p"Yes, my name is Lia. Jeris, what did they do to you?"
p"What did who…"
p"What did Aloran do to you?" Jared looked more confused.
p"Aloran saved me and made me leader of the neo-dragon slayers."
p"Jeris, Aloran destroyed your country and kidnapped you!" Jared's face hardened once more and he wiped his sword out of its sheath and pointed it at Lia's neck.
p"I will hear no more of your crazy rantings," he commanded. Then noticing the familiar ring on her finger, he yanked her hand up in confused anger.
p"Where did you get this!?" Lia glared back with just as much fire.
p"You gave it to me the day you left to try to break the siege at the capital! Can't you remember anything about me? About us?" Jeris' eyes flickered with sudden recognition.
p"Oh God…" his eyes scanned the ground. "Oh God what's happening to me," he whimpered, collapsing into a sobbing mess in the dust. "Lia! What's going on? Please help me!" She approached the pathetic figure on the ground, then kneeled beside him and pulled him close.
p"Shh, it's all right now. Your safe."
p
pUp above Miguel had dropped his sword and was now kneeling in front of Dalandilu who was trying to get him to stand up. Aethan just stared at the pair. The fourth slayer had left to bring reinforcements and find Jared, if he was alive. Van had watched the scene below until he was satisfied that the two were both safe. Turning back he glanced at Aethan, walked over, and smacked him on the back.
p"Hey! What's the…"Aethan's words were cut off by Van's glare. Miguel finally stood up and, surprised he hadn't gotten smacked yet, jumped on Dalandilu. Grinning evilly, Dalandilu pulled him off and hugged him back, which surprised Miguel even more. Miguel finally let go and looked around. Shocked by seeing Van and his friends there, he took a step back. Dalandilu grabbed his arm and headed off into the woods to explain. Aethan, confused, followed them. Merle also ditched Van and ran down the escape shaft to find Lia. It wasn't until Allen poked him in the back that he remembered they were still in danger. After telling Hitomi to head back to camp with Dalandilu, he and Allen climbed down the bothole (the escape shaft) after Merle.
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pLia felt rather than saw the gymelefs approach. Five of them circled her and Jeris. The gymelefs' hatches opened to let out their pilots; all dressed in dragon slayer uniforms.
p"Commander! Are you all right?!" yelled the nearest pilot.
p"Better than ever!" Jeris called back. A confused look came over the pilot's face as he considered the situation.
p"You have a prisoner? Good, Aloran still wants to see you. You can hand the rebel over to us."
p"You won't touch her," said Jeris, coldly.
p"Err… what?"
p"I said your to leave her alone"
p"What about this one?" One of the pilots held a hissing and struggling Merle in his gymelef's hand.
p"Merle!" yelled Lia. Jeris pulled her back. A shadowed figure walked towards them. As the figure approached, Lia could make out a man in his thirties wearing a dark cloak around him, despite the days heat. The man gave Lia an annoyed look.
p"Damn you girl, how dare you break my memory spell." Jeris held Lia tighter.
p"What do you want Aloran?" he whispered, his gaze seething with newfound hatred.
p"I see your memory hasn't left you. Good, come with me and bring the girl." Jeris gave General Aloran a glare that would have silenced most people in an instant.
p"I won't let you touch her." Aloran gave a tired sigh.
p"Really Jared, this is only as hard as you make it." Jeris kept silent and hardened his gaze further. "Have it your way. Dragon Slayers, apprehend him." The gymelefs moved forward and forced Lia and Jeris apart.
p"I'm sorry Commander," said the one holding Jeris as he knocked him over the head. The dragon slayers fell back, taking Lia, Merle and Jeris with them.
p
pVan and Allen watched the scene from the cover of the woods. No way! That can't be Jeris, Van thought. He stood up, ready to attack. Allen, always calm, stepped in front of him.
p"Allen! We can't leave them there!"
p"There is no way two of us can win against five gymelefs," Allen said, "We can help them better by staying alive and free." Van sighed in frustration; unfortunately Allen was almost always right about this sort of thing.
p"We should go back to camp and organize a rescue team," he said.
p"Good plan, lets go," Allen replied.
p
pMerle regained consciousness in a dark, cold cell. Next to her, she heard someone breathing heavily. She turned to see Lia, still unconscious. The young man she had seen with Lia was nowhere to be found.
p"Come on! Please wake up!" Merle's shaking and whining brought Lia around with a start.
p"What! Where am I? Where's Jeris?" she yelled, her chest heaving and a cold sweat collecting on her brow as if she had just woken from a nightmare.
p"Quiet!" whispered Merle harshly. Lia took in her surroundings. She would have said they were in the Port dungeon but she felt a strange humming from the floor.
p"Merle? Where are we?" she asked.
p"On a floating fortress, I think." Lia gave Merle a hard look. "At least I think we are…" Merle's voice trailed off meekly. Lia shrugged, accepting the theory.
p"I can't believe they managed to rebuild one of these! More so, I can't believe we're stuck on it!" Merle nudged closer. Peering through the darkness at Lia she saw a small tear trickle down her cheek. Merle placed her paw on Lia's shoulder. Lia looked up startled, then she relaxed. "Thanks, I guess I'm just worried." Lia paused. "You know, you remind me a lot of my foster sister."
p"Foster sister? I thought you had a family."
p"I did until these rebel bastards came along. Still, my family never kept it a secret that I was a foundling. How could I be their child any way? Two humans can't create a draconian child."
p"You're draconian?" Lia nodded. Merle frowned. "Prove it!" Lia sighed, tired that people could never just take her word for it…
p"Very well." She stepped away from the wall and removed the cloak that had been wrapped around her. Pure white wings exploded from her shoulder blades, sending a gentle shower of cloud-like feathers to the dank cell floor. She grimaced as they hit the wall. She should have known the cell wasn't big enough for this! She quickly withdrew the wings. Merle just stared at her quietly.
p"I thought Van-sama and his brother were the only draconians."
p"No, Jeris is one to. Lavia used to be ruled by draconians. It was the one country where we could walk safe. Now the only ones left that we know of are Van, Jeris and I." Merle narrowed her eyes.
p"How did you know Van-sama was?" She looked away and idly scanned the flagstones.
p"I sensed it. The other reason I knew I was a foster child was I had abilities that none of the others had."
p"What kind of abilities?"
p"Oh, you know, sensing odd things, healing exceptionally fast, being a natural healer, that kind of thing." Lia smiled at her, then gave a short mirthless laugh.
p"Besides, whoever my real parents were they obviously didn't care what happened to me. Other wise they wouldn't have left me." Lia felt an icy chill creep down her back the moment the words left her mouth. She shrugged it off with a shudder and walked up to the cell bars. Hearing a shuffling sound in the hall, she took a step back into the safety of the darkness.
p
pThe light on the outer wall brightened as the shuffling came closer. Soon Lia could make out two of the dragon slayers dragging a pathetic lump of something towards her. As they neared she recognized the load.
p"Jeris!" she yelled and banged her arms against the steel bars. One of the slayers looked up and smiled sadly at her. It was Aethan. He must have returned to help them. The second slayer unbolted the cell door and raised his sword as Lia sprang towards him. It was the forth slayer she had seen at the cliff.
p"Let her be Yaren, she's no threat." Aethan sighed as he lifted an unconscious Jeris into her arms. "Go on ahead, I'll finish up here." He commanded. Yaren grinned at him and walked back through the halls. The tall brunet turned to Lia. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help. Lord Dalandilu told Miguel and me the story and I believe him. I may have never met Dilandau, but I trust Miguel's instincts better than my own. I snuck some bandages and such down here, as well as some food and water." When Lia gave him an astonished look he added, "I swore my loyalty to Jared, not Aloran, and Gods strike me if I break my sworn word. Jared was always good to his men, no matter what the others say." Lia gave him a sad smile. It was odd, she thought, to find such an honorable soul among these ruthless killers. She reflected for a moment on their current situation, then asked,
p"Will you join us? When we're free I mean?"
p"I'd be honored my lady," said Aethan, with a courtly bow. "You know, I heard the general talking to some of his men about Jared. Sorry, Jeris. It seems Aloran was using him in some sort of experiment."
p"I figured that… what kind? You mean like the one they did on Dalandilu…" Lia's voice trailed off as she tried not to think of the nightmarish possibilities.
p"No, nothing like that. They weren't trying to alter fate, they were trying to create a stronger warrior. The only thing I will admit to being grateful about in Aloran is the fact that he learned from Dornkirk's mistake. No, he was trying to create a telepathic warrior. Someone who could control a gymelef with his or her thoughts but not have to merge with it."
p"Like Van, except stronger you mean," Merle injected from behind.
p"Exactly. Supposedly, he succeeded with Jeris. The only problem was that to keep him under control, Aloran had to block his memories. Well, I'll leave you be now. Take care of him lady." Aethan left.
p
p"He doesn't have to call me 'lady'," muttered Lia as she turned Jeris onto his back. Seeing the deep cuts she swore and grabbed for the bundle Aethan had left. Inside she found a roll of bandages, some salve, three water canteens, and some food. Merle crawled over to help. Stripping off Jeris' blood soaked and ripped shirt, she took one of the bandages she poured a tiny bit of water on it and used the wet cloth to dab the wounds clean. "What did they do to you," Lia muttered to herself. She felt him tense under her touch. At least he hasn't gone numb, she thought. Satisfied that the wounds were clean enough she began to gently rub the salve on them. Jeris gasped. Checking to she if he was conscious and satisfied that he was still out, she had Merle help her hold him up while she wrapped the clean bandages around his chest and back. Lia propped him up on his side and covered him with her cloak. She sat there staring at him, fear love and pity all reflecting in her eyes at once. Merle watched all of it in silence.
p"You love him don't you?" Lia smiled sadly at her.
p"I'm so hopeless… I've loved him since the day I met him." Merle said nothing and just watched Lia's hand gently caress Jeris' cheek. It must be wonderful to be in love, she thought. She jumped when Lia nudged her, and then took the food she held out. Well, thought Merle, At least I have Van- sama and my friends.
p
pAt that moment, Merle's friends were discussing their next course of action. They had decided to launch an attack on the fortress with their motley group of soldiers and mercenaries. Now the only problem was finding the darn thing! They settled down to wait for their scouts to return with clues as to the whereabouts of the floating fortress.
p
pLia was woken the next morning by the rust grate of the cell door. She sat up as Yaren and two unknown dragon slayers walked into the room. One beckoned her to follow him. She took a step back, and then saw Yaren's reassuring smile. She cautiously moved forward and allowed the two other slayers to tie her hands behind her. Yaren led them out of the dungeon and into a small room where Aloran was waiting. On a small table Lia saw a large set of painful looking tools. (Aloran you are a sick, sick man!) Yaren grimaced as he glanced at her. The two other slayers untied her hands and forced her into the chair in the center of the room. Quietly they tied her to it.
p"Yaren, Owean, Mandan, leave us!" The three dragon slayers left the room. Aloran gave Lia an evil grin and began toying with the small knife in his hand. "You have no idea how much trouble you've caused me girl." His silky voice was dangerously soft. "Personally, I have to wonder how you could have broken that memory charm. No normal child could have done it." Aloran slapped her across the face. Lia remained silent as she glared at him. "What's your name girl?" Lia glared. "Answer me bitch!" he spat. He slapped her again, harder this time. Lia just grinned at him, and found that to be a mistake when the knife he held started pressing against her neck hard enough to draw blood. "You will answer me girl, if you want to live." Lia's grin widened.
p"If you truly want answers than killing me won't solve your problems," she said in a cocky whisper. Aloran's ghost like face contorted and he smacked her again.
p"Wise for your age aren't you? No matter, I'll have my answers!" Lia felt him grip her head, than experienced invisible fingers digging through her mind. She mentally pushed them away, countering the mind-rape. Aloran drew back in shock. "A Master Mage? This young? I hadn't planed on finding…" his voice trailed off as he considered the implications wide eyed. Lia looked down, he had found what she had been trying to hide. She hoped with all her heart he hadn't discovered the name or location of her craft-master. "That's how you broke the spell. I thought it would take a Master to do so. Yaren! Owean! Mandan! Get in here!" The three slayers rushed into the room. Lia was sure they had been eaves dropping. "You have an hour to do with her what you please, then you must bring her back to her cell. I must consider this… now go!" The slayer named Mandan untied her and led her out of the room.
p"So, what are we going to do?" he asked, pushing his curly red hair out of his face.
p"Bring her back to Jared. I'll not be touching his woman," said Yaren. The blond boy named Owean looked at them surprised.
p"But you heard our orders! And any way, Jared's a traitor!"
p"Either you're with us or you're against us Owean! If I hear a peep about this from the other slayers than I won't be held responsible for what happens to you afterwards!" Mandan's bright green eyes glared harshly into Owean's blue-gray ones. Owean looked down.
p"Alright, I'm with you. Far be it from me to harm Jared, even with what's happened. No one deserves to be treated like that, not even a traitor."
p"Good!" Yaren pushed his sliver-blond hair back then looked at Lia with his intense green eyes. "We'll help you out of here, never you worry. Jared earned our trust well." Mandan stayed back to talk with Owean as Yaren led Lia back to the damp cell. As they reached it he handed her a bundle from inside his jacket. "Here, Aethan said to give you this if I could."
p"My thanks," Lia replied as she walked into the cell.
p
pThe Austurian Levi Ship climbed closer to its target. Hopefully, with the stealth technology that had been installed after the war, they'd have the element of surprise long enough to get their people out of there.
p
pAuthor's note: Well? Like? This is my first attempt at a fanfic so please don't be too critical. (Mainly directed towards my editor… Be nice Jade-chan!) Hope you enjoy the series!
p
pAuthor's Note: (The Disclaimer) I don't own Escaflowne. If I did I'd be filthy rich! I sure wish I owned it though, you copy right people are so lucky *sighs*. Any comments I decide to add in are written in parenthesis. I love commentating! Well hope you enjoy.
p
pFirst off, lets explain a little background to this story:
Two years after the Gaean war, Hitomi returns to Fanelia via the white light. She is reunited with Van and Merle, who are preparing to leave on a journey to Van's mother Varie's homeland, Lavia. They decide to postpone the trip for a short time to get reacquainted. A week later, Allen receives a message from Van telling him that Hitomi has returned. He and Celena/Dilandau, who is still constantly switching between personalities, decide to join the journey to Varie's home and return the letter. Dalandilu and Van have come to a truce of sorts by now. Millerna and Dryden receive similar letters and agree to join the expedition. They meet in the capital of Austuria, Palas, and depart on the crusade for the small island country of Lavia. As they arrive, our story begins…
p
pA lone rider traveled through the forests of Lavia. Shrouded in a dark cloak all that could be seen were the ebony horse, a small black kitten, and a short sword strapped to the traveler's side. The woods were dark and quiet; the only sound that could be heard was the clopping of the horse's hooves. A small ringed hand peaked out from the deep blue cloak. As the rider reached a crossroads he stopped. Hearing a slight rustle of the bushes, the rider turned in the saddle and pulled out a sword. It was shorter than a normal sword, perfect for the small human. Its finely wrought blade projected out of a simple hilt bound in melded silver. The swift movement showed a slight body beneath the cloak and a black leather belt and sheath. Hearing another noise, the rider turned again. He could see dark shapes moving about in the forest, humanoid looking shapes. The horse reared as seven men jumped out in front of it. Trying to get control of the bucking mare, the rider called out, "What do you want?"
The men looked at the rider and cocked their heads confused. They're from the main land, thought the rider. They can't understand me. Speaking up again the rider cried out in the common language, "What do you want with a lone rider?"
p"Come with us and we'll show you!" yelled one of the men. He seemed to be a leader of sorts with scruffy black hair atop his head.
p"Why would I? For all I know you're bandits trying to rob me!" yelled the rider. Another man walked out of the forest, this one dressed like an imperial knight with shiny blond hair falling to his waist, "We are no such thing. Come with us!" he said.
The rider raised the sword higher, ready to defend if necessary. "No!"
p"Allen! What's going on?" yelled another man wearing a red shirt running towards the group, this one more resembling a boy. Behind him was a girl roughly the same age, with short, pale brown hair.
p"We're trying to get help but this person is being very uncooperative!" said the knight called Allen.
p"You did tell him we're looking for help, right?" asked the girl.
p"Well…" said Allen, his stern manner wavering.
p"Baka!" a cat-girl emerged from behind them, annoyed. The first girl walked up to the rider smiling, "Sorry about that," she said, "we're lost. Can you guide us to the nearest city?"
p"Your new here aren't you," said the rider, after regarding the girl quietly with a cold eye. When the girl nodded she replied, "Then I suggest you go home. Port Orian's under siege and the capital's been destroyed. There's nothing here for tourists except the horrors of war," she murmured with a touch of sadness, more to herself than the foreigners. With that the rider threw back her hood to revel a young, dark haired woman. Her brilliant blue eyes glared harshly at them. "If you really want to see, I suppose I can take you to Port Orian, I just left there yesterday. But don't expect to find whatever you're looking for, the city's in ruins."
p"Thank you," said the red shirted boy, "I'd like to see if we could help."
p
pThe band lead the rider through the forest to a large clearing made much smaller by the crusade.
p"What's your name?" asked the girl next to the rider.
p"Lia. Lia-ani," said the rider as they entered the clearing. There Lia saw a small group of people waiting for them, two of which were women. Lia sighed relieved; bandits didn't travel with women unless they were experienced warriors. Lia smirked quietly to herself, as she looked the two women over. It was doubtful either of them could hold a sword, let alone use it.
p
p"Lia!" called the girl with sandy hair, whom she had spoken to earlier. Lia swung down off her horse and tied her to the nearest tree, and then she walked over to the campfire where the girl sat. Seated at the fire also were the red shirted boy, the cat-girl and one of the two women she had seen earlier. That boy looks like him she thought.
p"Lia, this is Van, Merle, and Celena. My name's Hitomi. Guys, this is Lia-ani…"
p"Landen," said Lia.
p"Oh, this is Lia-ani Landen," said Hitomi
p"You wouldn't be Van Fanel of Fanelia would you?" asked Lia
p"You've heard of me?" Van gasped, sounding surprised.
p "Most people have by now," said Lia.
p"Oh," realized Van, "Lia-ani, what did you mean when you said the capital has been destroyed? According to legend, the ruling clan should be able to protect the people through some kind of magic, magic only the Dragon Clan can use."
p"Not any more," said Lia, "The dragon clan was wiped out 11 years ago. The phoenix clan is in control, or so they thought until now. Greedy bastards!" said Lia.
p"What!? The phoenix clan is ruling?" yelled Van. Lia looked over the group and decidedly joined their circle by the fire. This could take some explaining.
p"I'll start at the beginning. At the height of the rebellion 11 years ago, King Asgaurd over threw the dragon king and queen and killed the royal family, then went on a massacre until every member of the royal bloodline and everyone who opposed him were dead. The queen managed to get two of her children away before the attack, and rumor still has it that there was a spy who warned them. They were chased out to sea, brought back, and executed publicly, except for the youngest child," said Lia.
p"What happened to the kid?" asked Merle.
p"No one knows. Some say they drowned her out there," said Lia
p"So that's why Lavia has been targeted. Some one knew the Phoenix King wouldn't have the power to defend the kingdom," Van reflected in a subdued voice.
p"They took advantage of our weakness. Since there are no gymelefs in Lavia, the attack is succeeding and we are helpless," said Lia.
p"Who attacked?" asked Van. Lia leaned her forehead on her hand,
p"This is going to sound impossible, but who ever they were, they used Zaibach technology. Even we didn't believe it at first"
p"What!?" yelled Merle, Hitomi and Van together. Lia sighed.
p"The history of Lavia is long and complicated. I'll explain in depth some other time. Now, we all need to get some rest for the road tomorrow," she ended abruptly. She walked away, her mysterious cloak trailing, leaving three very shocked teenagers behind her.
p
pThe next morning, Hitomi woke to find Lia already packed and pacing around the camp.
p"Lia! What's wrong?" she asked. Lia stopped, looked up, then sighed and jogged over to her. "What's wrong?" Hitomi asked again.
p"Nothing, I'm just restless," said Lia, shaking her head. The girl frowned at her, wondering about her new acquaintance's sullen mood. Suddenly Hitomi stopped dead as a vision over took her. Through the darkness she watched a small rowboat coming towards her. Inside were a woman and two children, one around ten and the other about six. Emerging behind them was a small fleet of boats. The women looked rather desperate and ravaged with fatigue; a world of fear shone on her children's faces. All three were dressed in ragged clothing, looking to have been very fine and well made at one time, cut low in the back to reveal draconian wings. The woman noticed the fleet and stopped rowing. With a cry of desperation, she took the younger child, a girl, and a square plank of wood and set both afloat on the water. The boy watched and grabbed the small sword at his side. He undid the sword belt and handed both to the girl, then helped his mother push her away. The woman clamped both of her hands over her mouth and screwed her eyes shut in a last surrender of hope, tears streaming fearfully down her cheeks. The boy desperately clung to his mothers skirt as if never to let go of the little security he had ever known. The girl's pathetic cries for her mother rang out through the mist. The fog swallowed her raft as the fleet closed in on the defeated, cowering pair. The scene changed to the small raft washed upon the ocean shore. A woman and a young man, her son perhaps, ran down the bank and picked up the limp, barley- breathing figure of a child. A small silver dragon pendant slid out from the young girl's clothing. The woman saw it and gasped. The girl woke and looked up at them, unaware of her recent ordeal, then said,
p"Where am I?"
p"Poor dear, she can't remember anything," whispered the woman sadly to her son, "even a young dragon clan child can tell where she is in Lavia." The ocean shore dissolved into a distant forest as Hitomi emerged from the vision. She stared at Lia. As she looked hard, two things caught her eye, first Lia's sword. It was the same one the boy gave the young girl in her vision. Second was the silver ornament at Lia's throat. She could not mistake the winged dragon pendant with its tail curled around a multicolored crystal. Had she just seen Lia's past? Hitomi balked at the thought. If that was true, then that would mean that not only was Lia-ani Landen draconian, she was the single heir to the royal family of the dragon clan.
p"Are you ok?" Lia's question snapped Hitomi back to reality.
p"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," she replied unsteadily. Lia looked at her suspiciously for a second, and then glanced away.
p"You better get everyone up, it's at least a days walk and you can't go piloting that levy ship around there either. That is, unless you want to get killed," said Lia
p"Right," Hitomi hurried off to wake as many people as she could, but mostly to get away from Lia's mind-wrenching stare. She could have sworn that Lia had seen exactly what Hitomi had discovered. She came across the first tent, which just so happened to be the one she had shared with Merle. Hitomi shook the cat-girl awake, nearly getting mangled for doing so.
p"What's the big idea!?" Merle yowled sourly.
p"We're leaving as soon as everyone's up; help me make that soon!" Hitomi yelled back. Merle complied, grumbling, and went off to find someone to harass out of bed. The next tent Hitomi found was the one Van and Allen shared. Lucky me, she thought sarcastically. Not wanting any unpleasant sights, she refrained from ripping the blankets off of them and yelled in their ears instead. Lucky for her it seemed to do the trick, until a grumbling Van threw his pillow at her and buried himself under the covers. Allen had managed to wake up however, so Hitomi decided to leave Van to his 'tender' mercies. Next she found Millerna's tent. The only reason she had managed to get a tent alone was because the only other girl in the party changed sexes unpredictably. The rest of the group seemed to have been reasonably woken by Lia and Merle. Gaddes had picked a fight with Lia about having to get all of them up.
p"Well if all of you hadn't been so shy last night we could have worked out who was going then!' yelled Lia.
p"Who was being shy?" asked Gaddes smugly.
p"Will you shut your trap?! The sooner this is done the sooner some of you can get back to sleep!" yelled Lia.
p"What's all the racket?" asked Van, stretching.
p"We need to decide who's going. Not every one is needed and the less people the safer the expedition," said Lia, still annoyed.
p"Well I'm going!" said Van.
p"If he's going so am I," said Merle.
p"Me to," said Hitomi quietly.
p"I'll go to, incase things get out of hand," said Allen.
p"You know I am quite capable of defending my self," said Lia.
p"I assumed, but what about thoughs two?" asked Allen, pointing at Hitomi and Merle. Lia just growled at him.
p"Any one else?"
p"I'm coming," said Dalandilu.
p"Alright, that's just wrong!" said Lia.
p"What?" asked Dalandilu.
p"Never mind, let's go," said Lia, shaking her head and walking towards the forest. The rest ran to catch up.
p
pSeveral hours went by before the travelers took a rest. In the shade of a particularly large pine, Lia removed one of her black boots to reveal a series of massive blisters. As she sat there massaging her feet with a grimace Hitomi just couldn't help but notice. She became even more unnerved when Lia removed her hand from the blisters after covering them for several seconds. Some how, with in that small amount of time, they had healed over completely. Lia limped over to the rest of them.
p"We've got a few hours worth of walking ahead of us still, and I'm not one for wasting time," she said particularly looking at and exhausted and whining Merle.
p"You ok Lia?" asked Hitomi.
p"I'm fine, just haven't been walking distances in a while, I mostly ride," said Lia airily. Or fly thought Hitomi.
p"We're ready, let's keep moving," said Allen. The hike did take several more hours, counting a couple rests in between. When they reached the bluff above Port Orian, Lia led them down a narrow tunnel in the ground. Near the ground they found a small-carved staircase, which made travel a bit easier. They came out of the tunnel in a small deserted storage shack.
p"What was that?" asked Merle.
p"The siege escape root," said Lia, grinning. She led them through the deserted streets of the city. The place fit Lia's earlier description; battered building stared down the street, littered with rubble, from their dark windows. Reaching the fort walls, she turned into a small alley, and followed it, until she reached another section of wall. There, she removed the single silver ring from her finger and slid it into an almost invisible hole in the drab stone. A small portion of the wall grounded aside to reveal a hidden passage. Lia beckoned to the others to follow, then crawled through the hole into the darkness.
p
pThe dark tunnel ended abruptly with a trap door on the low ceiling. Opening the hatch slightly, Lia took in the chamber above. Satisfied that the room was empty, she climbed out and held up the door for everyone else. They entered a small unimpressive cubical with a single door. Lia unfastened the door a crack, and then swung it open. The mystified travelers followed her through an empty hall until they reached a main corridor. Crouching to the sleek marble tiles Lia peaked around the corner then sank back behind the wall again with a horrified look on her face.
p"What?" whispered Van. Lia peaked around the bend and pointed at a group of young men in uniforms. Both Dalandilu and Van peaked around the corner with her.
p"They must be part of a new Dragon Slayer unit," whispered Dalandilu.
p"What?" asked Allen from behind them.
p"Thoughs are Zibach Dragon Slayer uniforms," said Dalandilu, "Wait a minute! Is that Miguel!?"
p"Who?" asked Van.
p"The Dragon Slayer you two took prisoner two years ago. Isn't he dead?" said Dalandilu.
p"That's not what's bothering me, look at the guy next to him," said Lia.
p"Never seen him before," said Dalandilu, "But he does have an uncanny resemblance to Van."
p"What?!" said Van.
p"That is Jeris Phinlavia, one of the younger Lavian princes," said Lia.
p"A prince? What is he doing here when these people are destroying his country?! And why is he wearing a dragon slayer uniform?" said Allen indignantly.
p"I have no idea," said Lia with disappointment, shaking her head.
p"You know him?" asked Merle.
p"He's the one who gave me this ring," said Lia quietly holding up her left hand. On the middle finger was the ring she had used to open the passage into the fort. Catching on, Merle giggled and was silenced by Lia's glare. "One thing I know for sure. He's not doing this of his own free will. He can't be."
p"How can you be so sure of that?" asked Allen skeptically.
p"Because Jeris has an annoyingly strong sense of duty to his people and his country. They must have messed with his mind some how."
p"It's possible," said Dalandilu, "the sorcerers do have that kind of ability. One of them might have survived the war." Lia focused back on the three seventeen year olds.
p"Jared, General Aloran wants to speak with you," said the boy Dalandilu had called Miguel.
p"Jared?" Lia whispered confused.
p"I'll be up in a minute," said Jared, pushing his floppy dark mop of hair away from his forehead. "Aethan, tell the others to prepare to search the countryside for anyone who could oppose us. Don't kill them unless it's absolutely necessary," he warned.
p"Yes commander," said Aethan mockingly, with a mischievous grin. Aethan and Miguel left abruptly leaving Jared alone.
p"Dalandilu, have you heard of Aloran before?" whispered Van, turning to look at him. Dalandilu's face had gone whiter than usual was contorted in an odd way with his eye twitching.
p"That guy took over my position! And yes I have heard of Aloran!" he snapped as quietly as possible.
p"Let's go back to the cellar room to discuss this. We've been here long enough," said Lia, leading the way back to the room they entered the fort from. Once there Hitomi let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, now we can talk. Dalandilu, who is Aloran?" said Lia.
p"First of all Aloran is no general. He was a sorcerer under Emperor Dornkirk. I don't know much else about him," said Dalandilu sullenly.
p"So some how Jeris must have been captured, probably experimented on and then placed at the head of the dragon slayers," said Lia.
p"Ha, I doubt he'll stay there for long. He has my reputation to live up to," said Dalandilu with a smug grin, stroking the scar on his face.
p"That I can believe," said Lia rolling her eyes, "Dilly, I can't help but ask, does that scar bother you?"
p"What did you call me?!" Dalandilu asked, his voice dangerously low.
p"Ah, just something I thought would be easier to pronounce. So does it?" said Lia nervously laughing.
p"Of course it does," said Dalandilu, glaring at Van, who promptly looked away, whistling innocently.
p
pThe silence gave way to footsteps in the hall outside of them. Lia shot a distressed glance at the others, then threw open the trap door and pushed Hitomi and Merle in first. Dalandilu and Van followed. "Allen go, I can hold them," said Lia impatiently. Allen took one hesitant look at her glittering eyes, and then jumped through the door. The door leading to the hall swung open as Lia unsheathed her short sword. Two boys stepped through, the same two boys they had seen with Jeris. Lia threw them a reckless, maniacal grin, and then jumped through the trap door, locking it behind her. A sword slashed through the thin wooden boards above her. Lia raced along the tunnel at breakneck speed. She tumbled out of the passage, only to hear a loud alarm blaring through the halls. Hitomi saw her and desperately waved her into a small alley. Lia took off for the bluff with the group close behind. Racing up the worn stairs, she thought she sensed a set of gymelefs over head. She threw the hatch open and climbed out. Hitomi and Merle instantly darted towards the woods, Van and Allen drew their swords as they reached the exit and scrambled up after a thoroughly annoyed, sour-faced Dalandilu. The last four took off after the others only to meet four gymelefs blocking their way. Lia and Van ducked away from the leading gymelefs attack. The lead gymelef was black the other three blue.
p"Well at least he didn't steal my color," muttered Dalandilu. The gymelefs stopped and opened to reveal their young pilots; Jared, Aethan, Miguel and one other short and silver-blond haired slayer. The offending dragon slayers jumped out of their gymelefs and circled the wary group.
p"Surrender and you won't be killed," yelled Jared. Dalandilu felt Miguel's stare cutting into him and glared back.
p"If you want us, come get us," replied Lia.
p"Wait, Dala… Lord Dalandilu?" asked Miguel, recognition showing plainly on his face. Aethan glanced at Miguel and then looked back at Dalandilu. Jared ignored them and moved towards Allen who was at the edge of the bluff with his sword drawn. Jared swung at Allen. Allen's sword moved into a clean block that twisted Jared's sword out of his hands and caused him to loose his balance. Jared's arms windmilled desperately and then he tumbled off the cliff. "Jeris!" shrieked Lia after him. She ran to the edge and dove right off with out any show of hesitation. "Lia!" yelled Van, watching her plummet, disbelief on his face. He was about to dive after her when Hitomi caught his arm. Horrified, he watched as Lia fell closer to Jared.
p
pLia plunged through the sky. Holding Jared close with one arm, she tore off her cloak (not her shirt) with the other and sprouted draconian wings. Jared's body weighed her down, causing her to crash into a small pathetic bunch of shrubbery. She was slapped back into consciousness by the flat of Jared's blade. Noticing her own sword out of reach she backed into the cliff wall.
p"Jeris? Jeris it's me, Lia. Don't you remember?" Jared cocked an eyebrow.
p"You fool, you're my enemy, so why save me? And who's Jeris?" Lia looked hard at him.
p"You are Jeris. And I saved you because… well, you wouldn't remember I guess," she murmured, looking away. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground. Seeing this, Jared sheathed his sword and gazed at her.
p"Lia? Your name is Lia?"
p"Yes, my name is Lia. Jeris, what did they do to you?"
p"What did who…"
p"What did Aloran do to you?" Jared looked more confused.
p"Aloran saved me and made me leader of the neo-dragon slayers."
p"Jeris, Aloran destroyed your country and kidnapped you!" Jared's face hardened once more and he wiped his sword out of its sheath and pointed it at Lia's neck.
p"I will hear no more of your crazy rantings," he commanded. Then noticing the familiar ring on her finger, he yanked her hand up in confused anger.
p"Where did you get this!?" Lia glared back with just as much fire.
p"You gave it to me the day you left to try to break the siege at the capital! Can't you remember anything about me? About us?" Jeris' eyes flickered with sudden recognition.
p"Oh God…" his eyes scanned the ground. "Oh God what's happening to me," he whimpered, collapsing into a sobbing mess in the dust. "Lia! What's going on? Please help me!" She approached the pathetic figure on the ground, then kneeled beside him and pulled him close.
p"Shh, it's all right now. Your safe."
p
pUp above Miguel had dropped his sword and was now kneeling in front of Dalandilu who was trying to get him to stand up. Aethan just stared at the pair. The fourth slayer had left to bring reinforcements and find Jared, if he was alive. Van had watched the scene below until he was satisfied that the two were both safe. Turning back he glanced at Aethan, walked over, and smacked him on the back.
p"Hey! What's the…"Aethan's words were cut off by Van's glare. Miguel finally stood up and, surprised he hadn't gotten smacked yet, jumped on Dalandilu. Grinning evilly, Dalandilu pulled him off and hugged him back, which surprised Miguel even more. Miguel finally let go and looked around. Shocked by seeing Van and his friends there, he took a step back. Dalandilu grabbed his arm and headed off into the woods to explain. Aethan, confused, followed them. Merle also ditched Van and ran down the escape shaft to find Lia. It wasn't until Allen poked him in the back that he remembered they were still in danger. After telling Hitomi to head back to camp with Dalandilu, he and Allen climbed down the bothole (the escape shaft) after Merle.
p
pLia felt rather than saw the gymelefs approach. Five of them circled her and Jeris. The gymelefs' hatches opened to let out their pilots; all dressed in dragon slayer uniforms.
p"Commander! Are you all right?!" yelled the nearest pilot.
p"Better than ever!" Jeris called back. A confused look came over the pilot's face as he considered the situation.
p"You have a prisoner? Good, Aloran still wants to see you. You can hand the rebel over to us."
p"You won't touch her," said Jeris, coldly.
p"Err… what?"
p"I said your to leave her alone"
p"What about this one?" One of the pilots held a hissing and struggling Merle in his gymelef's hand.
p"Merle!" yelled Lia. Jeris pulled her back. A shadowed figure walked towards them. As the figure approached, Lia could make out a man in his thirties wearing a dark cloak around him, despite the days heat. The man gave Lia an annoyed look.
p"Damn you girl, how dare you break my memory spell." Jeris held Lia tighter.
p"What do you want Aloran?" he whispered, his gaze seething with newfound hatred.
p"I see your memory hasn't left you. Good, come with me and bring the girl." Jeris gave General Aloran a glare that would have silenced most people in an instant.
p"I won't let you touch her." Aloran gave a tired sigh.
p"Really Jared, this is only as hard as you make it." Jeris kept silent and hardened his gaze further. "Have it your way. Dragon Slayers, apprehend him." The gymelefs moved forward and forced Lia and Jeris apart.
p"I'm sorry Commander," said the one holding Jeris as he knocked him over the head. The dragon slayers fell back, taking Lia, Merle and Jeris with them.
p
pVan and Allen watched the scene from the cover of the woods. No way! That can't be Jeris, Van thought. He stood up, ready to attack. Allen, always calm, stepped in front of him.
p"Allen! We can't leave them there!"
p"There is no way two of us can win against five gymelefs," Allen said, "We can help them better by staying alive and free." Van sighed in frustration; unfortunately Allen was almost always right about this sort of thing.
p"We should go back to camp and organize a rescue team," he said.
p"Good plan, lets go," Allen replied.
p
pMerle regained consciousness in a dark, cold cell. Next to her, she heard someone breathing heavily. She turned to see Lia, still unconscious. The young man she had seen with Lia was nowhere to be found.
p"Come on! Please wake up!" Merle's shaking and whining brought Lia around with a start.
p"What! Where am I? Where's Jeris?" she yelled, her chest heaving and a cold sweat collecting on her brow as if she had just woken from a nightmare.
p"Quiet!" whispered Merle harshly. Lia took in her surroundings. She would have said they were in the Port dungeon but she felt a strange humming from the floor.
p"Merle? Where are we?" she asked.
p"On a floating fortress, I think." Lia gave Merle a hard look. "At least I think we are…" Merle's voice trailed off meekly. Lia shrugged, accepting the theory.
p"I can't believe they managed to rebuild one of these! More so, I can't believe we're stuck on it!" Merle nudged closer. Peering through the darkness at Lia she saw a small tear trickle down her cheek. Merle placed her paw on Lia's shoulder. Lia looked up startled, then she relaxed. "Thanks, I guess I'm just worried." Lia paused. "You know, you remind me a lot of my foster sister."
p"Foster sister? I thought you had a family."
p"I did until these rebel bastards came along. Still, my family never kept it a secret that I was a foundling. How could I be their child any way? Two humans can't create a draconian child."
p"You're draconian?" Lia nodded. Merle frowned. "Prove it!" Lia sighed, tired that people could never just take her word for it…
p"Very well." She stepped away from the wall and removed the cloak that had been wrapped around her. Pure white wings exploded from her shoulder blades, sending a gentle shower of cloud-like feathers to the dank cell floor. She grimaced as they hit the wall. She should have known the cell wasn't big enough for this! She quickly withdrew the wings. Merle just stared at her quietly.
p"I thought Van-sama and his brother were the only draconians."
p"No, Jeris is one to. Lavia used to be ruled by draconians. It was the one country where we could walk safe. Now the only ones left that we know of are Van, Jeris and I." Merle narrowed her eyes.
p"How did you know Van-sama was?" She looked away and idly scanned the flagstones.
p"I sensed it. The other reason I knew I was a foster child was I had abilities that none of the others had."
p"What kind of abilities?"
p"Oh, you know, sensing odd things, healing exceptionally fast, being a natural healer, that kind of thing." Lia smiled at her, then gave a short mirthless laugh.
p"Besides, whoever my real parents were they obviously didn't care what happened to me. Other wise they wouldn't have left me." Lia felt an icy chill creep down her back the moment the words left her mouth. She shrugged it off with a shudder and walked up to the cell bars. Hearing a shuffling sound in the hall, she took a step back into the safety of the darkness.
p
pThe light on the outer wall brightened as the shuffling came closer. Soon Lia could make out two of the dragon slayers dragging a pathetic lump of something towards her. As they neared she recognized the load.
p"Jeris!" she yelled and banged her arms against the steel bars. One of the slayers looked up and smiled sadly at her. It was Aethan. He must have returned to help them. The second slayer unbolted the cell door and raised his sword as Lia sprang towards him. It was the forth slayer she had seen at the cliff.
p"Let her be Yaren, she's no threat." Aethan sighed as he lifted an unconscious Jeris into her arms. "Go on ahead, I'll finish up here." He commanded. Yaren grinned at him and walked back through the halls. The tall brunet turned to Lia. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help. Lord Dalandilu told Miguel and me the story and I believe him. I may have never met Dilandau, but I trust Miguel's instincts better than my own. I snuck some bandages and such down here, as well as some food and water." When Lia gave him an astonished look he added, "I swore my loyalty to Jared, not Aloran, and Gods strike me if I break my sworn word. Jared was always good to his men, no matter what the others say." Lia gave him a sad smile. It was odd, she thought, to find such an honorable soul among these ruthless killers. She reflected for a moment on their current situation, then asked,
p"Will you join us? When we're free I mean?"
p"I'd be honored my lady," said Aethan, with a courtly bow. "You know, I heard the general talking to some of his men about Jared. Sorry, Jeris. It seems Aloran was using him in some sort of experiment."
p"I figured that… what kind? You mean like the one they did on Dalandilu…" Lia's voice trailed off as she tried not to think of the nightmarish possibilities.
p"No, nothing like that. They weren't trying to alter fate, they were trying to create a stronger warrior. The only thing I will admit to being grateful about in Aloran is the fact that he learned from Dornkirk's mistake. No, he was trying to create a telepathic warrior. Someone who could control a gymelef with his or her thoughts but not have to merge with it."
p"Like Van, except stronger you mean," Merle injected from behind.
p"Exactly. Supposedly, he succeeded with Jeris. The only problem was that to keep him under control, Aloran had to block his memories. Well, I'll leave you be now. Take care of him lady." Aethan left.
p
p"He doesn't have to call me 'lady'," muttered Lia as she turned Jeris onto his back. Seeing the deep cuts she swore and grabbed for the bundle Aethan had left. Inside she found a roll of bandages, some salve, three water canteens, and some food. Merle crawled over to help. Stripping off Jeris' blood soaked and ripped shirt, she took one of the bandages she poured a tiny bit of water on it and used the wet cloth to dab the wounds clean. "What did they do to you," Lia muttered to herself. She felt him tense under her touch. At least he hasn't gone numb, she thought. Satisfied that the wounds were clean enough she began to gently rub the salve on them. Jeris gasped. Checking to she if he was conscious and satisfied that he was still out, she had Merle help her hold him up while she wrapped the clean bandages around his chest and back. Lia propped him up on his side and covered him with her cloak. She sat there staring at him, fear love and pity all reflecting in her eyes at once. Merle watched all of it in silence.
p"You love him don't you?" Lia smiled sadly at her.
p"I'm so hopeless… I've loved him since the day I met him." Merle said nothing and just watched Lia's hand gently caress Jeris' cheek. It must be wonderful to be in love, she thought. She jumped when Lia nudged her, and then took the food she held out. Well, thought Merle, At least I have Van- sama and my friends.
p
pAt that moment, Merle's friends were discussing their next course of action. They had decided to launch an attack on the fortress with their motley group of soldiers and mercenaries. Now the only problem was finding the darn thing! They settled down to wait for their scouts to return with clues as to the whereabouts of the floating fortress.
p
pLia was woken the next morning by the rust grate of the cell door. She sat up as Yaren and two unknown dragon slayers walked into the room. One beckoned her to follow him. She took a step back, and then saw Yaren's reassuring smile. She cautiously moved forward and allowed the two other slayers to tie her hands behind her. Yaren led them out of the dungeon and into a small room where Aloran was waiting. On a small table Lia saw a large set of painful looking tools. (Aloran you are a sick, sick man!) Yaren grimaced as he glanced at her. The two other slayers untied her hands and forced her into the chair in the center of the room. Quietly they tied her to it.
p"Yaren, Owean, Mandan, leave us!" The three dragon slayers left the room. Aloran gave Lia an evil grin and began toying with the small knife in his hand. "You have no idea how much trouble you've caused me girl." His silky voice was dangerously soft. "Personally, I have to wonder how you could have broken that memory charm. No normal child could have done it." Aloran slapped her across the face. Lia remained silent as she glared at him. "What's your name girl?" Lia glared. "Answer me bitch!" he spat. He slapped her again, harder this time. Lia just grinned at him, and found that to be a mistake when the knife he held started pressing against her neck hard enough to draw blood. "You will answer me girl, if you want to live." Lia's grin widened.
p"If you truly want answers than killing me won't solve your problems," she said in a cocky whisper. Aloran's ghost like face contorted and he smacked her again.
p"Wise for your age aren't you? No matter, I'll have my answers!" Lia felt him grip her head, than experienced invisible fingers digging through her mind. She mentally pushed them away, countering the mind-rape. Aloran drew back in shock. "A Master Mage? This young? I hadn't planed on finding…" his voice trailed off as he considered the implications wide eyed. Lia looked down, he had found what she had been trying to hide. She hoped with all her heart he hadn't discovered the name or location of her craft-master. "That's how you broke the spell. I thought it would take a Master to do so. Yaren! Owean! Mandan! Get in here!" The three slayers rushed into the room. Lia was sure they had been eaves dropping. "You have an hour to do with her what you please, then you must bring her back to her cell. I must consider this… now go!" The slayer named Mandan untied her and led her out of the room.
p"So, what are we going to do?" he asked, pushing his curly red hair out of his face.
p"Bring her back to Jared. I'll not be touching his woman," said Yaren. The blond boy named Owean looked at them surprised.
p"But you heard our orders! And any way, Jared's a traitor!"
p"Either you're with us or you're against us Owean! If I hear a peep about this from the other slayers than I won't be held responsible for what happens to you afterwards!" Mandan's bright green eyes glared harshly into Owean's blue-gray ones. Owean looked down.
p"Alright, I'm with you. Far be it from me to harm Jared, even with what's happened. No one deserves to be treated like that, not even a traitor."
p"Good!" Yaren pushed his sliver-blond hair back then looked at Lia with his intense green eyes. "We'll help you out of here, never you worry. Jared earned our trust well." Mandan stayed back to talk with Owean as Yaren led Lia back to the damp cell. As they reached it he handed her a bundle from inside his jacket. "Here, Aethan said to give you this if I could."
p"My thanks," Lia replied as she walked into the cell.
p
pThe Austurian Levi Ship climbed closer to its target. Hopefully, with the stealth technology that had been installed after the war, they'd have the element of surprise long enough to get their people out of there.
p
pAuthor's note: Well? Like? This is my first attempt at a fanfic so please don't be too critical. (Mainly directed towards my editor… Be nice Jade-chan!) Hope you enjoy the series!