AN: I've had this story in the works for a while now, I wasn't even planning on posting it. However, after some careful consideration I thought that it would be a good idea. I've written a story for Escaflowne before, but that didn't turn out so good. However, I believe that this one is better written, and a tiny bit more believable than the last one I wrote. The title is a bit iffy and it might change, but for now this is what I have to work with. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only own Arathnia, and the characters from there. I do not own Escaflowne, even though I wish I did.
Full Summary: Hitomi Kanzaki knew she was anything but an ordinary teenager. She possessed an unusual ability. She could see into the future. As her strange ability begins to evolve, she is haunted by images of her true love. Problem is, he lives in an entirely different world. A world called Gaea. Where the earth and the moon share the night sky. In this world, he is a king, and their love had saved Gaea from destruction. Now nearly four years later, she finder herself transported back to Gaea along with her best friend Yukari Uchida. With Van and her fiends by her side, they encounter new friends, old friends, and the most vile and sinister of enemies. In this world full of such anger and hatred,, can two easily swayed human hearts truly make a difference? Or is Gaea doomed to a world of destruction and mayhem?
* mark dream sequences.
The Past, Future, and Somewhere in Between
Chapter 1 ~ Strange, yet Familiar
three years had passed since the girl from the mystic moon left the strange land called Gaea, and returned to her homeland. Three years since Hitomi Kanzaki had left Van Fanel standing alone in that clearing in Fanelia. Alone on that strange world called Gaea. The world created by an ancient Atlantian wish. For Hitomi, Gaea was a place of wonder and mystery, and was full of beauty. It was the same, yet entirely different from Earth. Every once in a while, Hitomi would see the raven haired king that she had grown very attached to during her long stay. The man she had realized she loved. To her, he never changed. However, she felt that she herself had changed. Her light brown hair had grown longer so that it now slipped down just past her shoulders. Her body had also matured quite a bit, as well as her uncanny ability to see into the future. Yes, Hitomi Kanzaki had changed, but not too much to be anyone but herself as she always has been. Definitely not as much as she anticipated Van Slanzar de Fanel, the king of Fanelia had. A lot can happen in three years.
It was a brisk and soundless night on the rural planet called Earth. Something seemed tranquil about it. It was almost too quiet. However, this night, the girl tossed and turned in her queen sized bed in the compact room in the small house that belonged to her parents. The eighteen year old looked tortured in her sleep, uneasy, like she was dreaming something not quite as peaceful as usual.
*She was running, running from what? For that, Hitomi was unsure. All that she was aware of was that she was running. Then she saw it, Fanelia. It was just a beautiful as it has been when she had first arrived on Gaea, lush, beautiful, and thriving. Unexpectedly, the sky became dark, shadows flowing over the sky as it turned an angry shade of red. The dark shadows settled over Fanelia's capitol like ink poured into the bowl of water. Spreading the inky blackness throughout the serene countryside. Hitomi's heart pounded in her chest filling her with fear and dread. She took off running once more. Her bare feet beat against the naked cobblestone roads. It did not take long for the brown haired girl to reach the castle even though she was on foot.
"Van!" She cried running down the long ans seemingly endless corridors, the fear in her heart causing her to panic. "Van where are you?" She cried again finding the king no where she had looked.
"Hitomi," She heard the young king's voice call.
She ran towards his voice. Her legs throbbed painfully by the amount, and at the stain caused by her constant running, but she didn't care. She did her best to ignore the pain and push forward in her stride. She bursts through the large double doors of what appeared to be some sort of office, or study.
Van Fanel stood in the dim candle light. This time, to her surprise, he had changed. His hair was worn in the same shaggy fashion, the raven locks shading his eyes. He was more muscular than he has been when she had left, and he was a bit taller as well. On his left arm, strange markings were tattooed onto his bicep that he had definitely had not possessed before. He must have obtained them some time after her departure from Gaea.
"Van," She sighed with relief, her stance relaxing a bit as her eyes fell upon her old friend.
Van looked at her, his wine colored eyes staring at her through the veil of his black hair. He appeared much older than his mere eighteen years. There was much sadness in his eyes. "Hitomi, you must not come back to Gaea," He told her looking away his eyes traveling to the stone floor. His gaze refused to meet with hers.
"Van what's going on?" She cried attempting to move closer to him. However, she got no closer to him. He actually seemed to move farther away from her.
"Don't come back to Gaea Hitomi. It's for your own good," He looked up at her again his gaze finally meeting hers, "Don't," She could see the pain in his eyes as he said those words.
"Van!" She cried to him as he faded into the darkness. The ground beneath her feet crumbled away, and against she was falling into a dark abyss. Only this time, no angel appeared to save her as she fell. *
Hitomi woke with a start. She bolted upright on her bed breathing heavily. Her hand was placed over her pounding heartbeat. Sweat rolled down her face, which she wiped off, as well as the sweat collecting on her brow. She took deep calming breath trying her return her heartbeat to normal.
'What could this mean?' She thought to herself.
She threw off her tangled blankets, and stretched her cramped muscles. She rose to her feet, noticing the throbbing pain from her dream remained within the muscles. Se found this odd, but shrugged it off as her mind playing tricks on her. She wandered over to her bedroom window, and sat down on the edge seat. "Why don't you want me to come back?" She asked looking up at the starry night sky. The thought puzzled her.
Hitomi yawned loudly in an attempt to stifle the sleep threatening to take over her body. She had not been able to sleep after she had woken up late from her dream the night before. Needless to say, she was dead on her feet. Her usual walk to the station in order to get to school seemed at least five times longer than usually was. This only made her and her body even more tired. When she finally arrived at the station, she plopped her exhausted body down on the nearest bench. She leaned against the track bag she used as a school bag and leaned her head against the semi-soft object. In only seconds it seemed, her best friend Yukari Uchida ran up to her in her usual bubbly fashion. Yukari always had been a morning person.
"Hitomi!" She greeted with a smiled, which then faded upon the inspection of her exhausted best friend. "God, you look like hell," She remarked abruptly.
Hitomi groaned, " Oh man," She ran a hand through her tousled brown locks messing them up further in an attempt to smooth them out. She had not done much to time them that morning, "I hate this," She groaned again leaning back against the uncomfortable steel bench.
"Hate what?" Yukari probed curiously. She was dying to know the origin of her friend's recent string of strange and erratic behavior. She placed her own bag at her feet and sat down beside the exhausted girl.
Hitomi sighed at the persistence of her friend. She was indeed surprised that the red head had not noticed the giant dark circles under her beautifully green eyes. "I haven't been sleeping well," She told her, hoping that her friend would probe no further than that. She definitely did not feel like explaining herself to her today.
"Why?" She demanded almost immediately after Hitomi has closed her mouth.
She sighed again, stifling a yawn. She was not going to get away with one of her half-assed excuses today. "You know that place I told you about, Gaea?" She said quietly to her friend so that they did not draw attention to themselves. Yukari nodded remembering the interesting place Hitomi had spoken of a few times. "Well, I've been having strange dreams about it. About that that boy I told you about. I have this bad feeling that something bad is going to happen," She explained, worry etched onto her narrow face.
Yukari rolled her eyes. It was just like her friend to come up with something strange thanks to her over active imagination. He stood and helped her friend onto her feet. "Hitomi, you and your wild stories. You really need to find a boyfriend," She stated pulling her towards the platform, "I'm sure there are plenty of guys..."
*Hitomi once again found herself on that black plain that seemed to only exist in her dreams. She took a few cautious steps into the darkness, and it was ripped away from under he feet. She found herself in the remnants of the Zaibach Empire. It had fallen into a state of ruin from it's previous, rather impressive, glory. Her eyes fell upon the cloaked figure standing in the middle of the barren land. Even from the distance Hitomi stood, she could see that the figure was a woman. Her hooded cloak was a deep royal blue color, however, it was not the same color that adorned the Asturian royals. The woman turned, and she noticed the foreign golden armor that hugged her body. It was armor that Hitomi had never seen before, on Gaea, or on Earth. Her hair was a deep golden color , and her eyes were a beautiful shade of violet that seemed as though it could pierce through your very soul. She looked sadly at Hitomi, then her eyes fell to the ground. Hitomi noticed a tombstone laid mere meters from the blonde's feet. However, as soon as the image popped up, it had vanished. Before the scene has faded, she had caught the first letter on the tombstone. It was a C.
"Wait!" Hitomi cried running after the fading image on the girl. "Who are you?" She looked around at the darkness and sighed. It was no use.
Again, the darkness was ripped away and replaced by another image. She once again found herself in Fanelia. The dark shadow still hung ominously above the capitol, giving it a sinister feel. Hitomi shuttered. It made the whole scene uncomfortable. She took a single step forward and the scenery ran past her until she once again found herself back inside the castle. It was the library she had seen in her last dream, or vision. Whatever you would call them. Her eyes were drawn to Van, who looked solemnly at his feet. His raven colored hair shielding his eyes from view once more. His lips were drawn into a tight line.
"You understand, don't you Van Fanel," An older female voice commented from the shadows somewhere beside Van. It seemed to echo throughout the whole room making it difficult for her to pinpoint the origin.
Van nodded once, "Of course your majesty," He said with a slight bow. His lips tightening back into that tight line.
"Good boy. You're very wise my young king," She responded slinking out of the shadows. She gently stroked his face from his ear down to his chin.
Hitomi finally caught a glimpse of the mysterious woman. It was definitely not the woman from the last scene. She appeared to be in her late twenties, or early thirties. Her hair was ebony, as dark as night, and cascaded down past her shoulders in waves. Her eyes were the coldest shade of blue she had ever seen. Her slim fingers were covered in jewels and a beautifully jewel silver crown rested a top of the perfectly groomed curls. She was wearing the same royal blue cloak over her narrow shoulders as the golden haired girl had. She slowly sauntered away from the king and left the library without saying another word. An eerie smile placed on her face.
She watched as Van fell down to his knees, tears welled up in the wine colored depths of his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling, "Please, don't make me do this father, please," He pleaded his voice breaking as he spoke. She could here him beginning to sob.
"Do what Van?" She asked watching him begin to cry as the scene in front of her began to fade. "No wait!" She cried running after the vision, but it proved futile. "Van!" She screamed.*
Her eyes flew open, adjusting to the drastic change in lighting rather quickly. She looked around and saw about thirty angry faces staring right back at her. She blushed furiously, she had fallen asleep in physics class again. Her face reddened even more when she had realized that she had screamed Van's name in the middle of the classroom where everyone could here her. She sank down in the very uncomfortable plastic chair wishing that she could just disappear and escape the embarrassment of the situation.
Her teacher cleared his throat loudly, ", I apologize if my lesson is boring you, however please refrain from napping in my classroom. Keep your sleeping, and your strange dreams at home," He said glaring at the young girl.
Hitomi's cheeks turned even redder, if that were even possible at this point. She nodded in response, "Yes sir," She said quickly. She picked up her text book and practically shoved her nose into it hiding her embarrassment. 'Why me?' She mentally asked the so called omnipresent God.
Hitomi hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders as she headed back home from her arduous day at school. She normally enjoyed the long walk home, however, the lack of sleep the night before put a damper on that one. Also, she was skipping out on track today, because of her extreme lack of energy. She had already explained herself to Yukari, and her friend didn't seem to be upset with her for this. The girl sighed and looked up at the sky. It was a warm and clear day. There was not a cloud in sight. It was not until her dreams returned that she had really began to miss Van, and all of her friends on Gaea. Sometimes she'd find herself on the school field at lunch just enjoying the sweet smell. Van's smell. She sighed again, and found herself longing to be with the young king once more. Longing to be by his side, and longing to be back on Gaea.
She snapped out of her stupor when someone gently tapped on her shoulder. It was then that she had realized that she had stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk. She shook her head and turned to come face to face with Yukari. She smiled resuming her slow and leisurely walking pace. "Hey Yukari," She greeted as her friend fell into step with her.
Yukari smiled back, "I was wondering if you wanted to sleep over at my house tonight?" She asked tucking her long red hair behind her her ears. "Maybe I can get your mind off of those crazy dreams you've been having," She commented honestly.
Hitomi's smile faded a bit. She didn't want to forget about her dreams at all. They were her only link to Gaea, and Van. No matter how strange, scary, or sad they may be, she didn't want them to disappear just yet. Not until she had some idea of what was going on. However, she smiled at her best friend. "Sure, that would be great."
Yukari grinned crossing her thin arms behind her back. "Do you think that you could bring your tarot cards?" She hinted with hope in her brown eyes.
Hitomi smiled remembering her old and faithful tarot cards. "Actually I will," She said unexpectedly. "I've been wanting to try this new deck I bought a while back. I haven't used them yet." She had not preformed a tarot reading since she had returned to Gaea. Maybe it was time to start up again. They just may come in handy.
Yukari's frin transformed into a happy smile. "Alright, I'll be the first to try them. I want you to do a reading on me and Amano. Be at my house around seven ok Hitomi?" She said walking quite a bit ahead of her best friend.
Hitomi smiled at her friend's buoyant mood. "You know I will."
With that said, Yukari took off towards her house. Hitomi lived a good fifteen to twenty minute walk to Yukari's. However, her friend's departure once again left the her alone with her thoughts. She pictured Van clearly in her mind. His unruly black hair, wine colored eyes and she could not forget those beautiful wings he possessed. She found herself smiling as she continued her journey home. She picked up her pace and a small skip was added to her step as she pictured Van the whole way home.
When Hitomi finally did reach home after her long and detoured adventure home, she found her mother washing a sink load of dishes. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied up into a bun, and she wore an apron over her front where water had obviously splashed onto her. She smiled at the image. Her mother was always busy doing something.
"Hey mom," She greeted, removing her shoes from her feet and placing them on the mat beside the door.
Hitomi's mom smiled, "Hi baby, how was school?" She asked drying her hands off on her apron.
"It was ok, boring as usual," She replied placing her backpack on one of the kitchen chairs. She would never mention herself sleeping in class to her mother. She would be very disappointed in her.
She rolled her eyes, "Hitomi school is very important," She reminded her daughter, disapproving of her negative attitude.
"I know mom," Hitomi replied rolling her eyes as well. "Will it be ok if I stay at Yukari's tonight?" She asked hopefully, tactfully changing the subject. She would rather not get lectured on the importance of school and how it would benefit her in her adult life.
Her mother was silent for a moment. "That should be fine, as long as you two both go to school tomorrow," She stated firmly pointing a finger in emphasis at her oldest child. "I expect you to set a good example for your brother."
She smiled, "Of course mom. Thanks," She replied grabbing her backpack and running into her bedroom.
Hitomi threw her backpack onto the floor, and practically slammed the door behind her. She had not slept over at Yukari's in ages. She pulled another duffel bag out of her closet not wanting to use her school bag for the sleepover. It often smelt musky due to the sweat on her track clothes. She chucked the bag onto her bed. She put a couple of changes of clothes, as well as her school uniform, which she had changed out of before leaving school. She also put in some undergarments and her antique looking hairbrush. She threw in her leather bound journal, her black sketch book, and her small leather travel bag. After Gaea she had taken up the hobby of drawing, she often drew scenes from Gaea, or the people she knew and loved, as well as the amazing suites of armor called guymelefs.
Finally, she opened her drawer of her desk and removed the wooden box that held her new tarot cards. Her other ones remained wrapped in silk beside them. She had kept this drawer locked for almost two years. She smiled fondly at the memories that her old deck held. Her eyes fell upon the large white feather that laid at the bottom of her drawer beside her amethyst crystal. She removed the feather and ran the soft plume across her palm. She smiled fondly and placed the item in her bag along with her amethyst crystal. Amethyst was supposed to aid bad dreams. The box container her two decks of tarot cards went into the bag as well filling her with new hope.
She left her bedroom and gathered her toothbrush, and an extra pair of shoes. She added those to her bag and closed it. She stopped for a moment and stared at her locked drawer. She opened it once more and notices that one of her old tarot cards remained sitting alone on the bottom. She picked it up and turned it over to find herself gazing at the Ace of Serpents. It was Van's card. She smiled removing the card and tucking it into the front pocket of her jacket. She laid her jack on top of the duffel bag, and sat down on the soft mattress. She was definitely ready for the long night to come. She was finally ready to tell Yukari the truth, the whole truth, and show her the evidence. Yes, this would be an interesting night indeed.