Hitomi tried to talk herself into staying unconscious, so she wouldn't have to face reality, but it was no use. Her arms were sore and her head hurt. Hitomi opened her eyes and found herself against the wall and in chains. Immediately she started spitting at the memory of Dilandau's lips on hers. Yuck! What the hell was he thinking? Hi, you're my prisoner, now kiss me! She tried to stand, but couldn't. She sighed in frustration.
Well this is just great! She thought. I can't believe Dilandau is alive? I wonder if Celena is all right? Did he bring me here on purpose? He acted like he was almost expecting me. No, that's not possible. The storm must have done something when Van and I were trying to return, and lucky me landed on Dilandau's doorstep. I wonder where Van landed? Well, I'm not going to be little miss hopeless, no sir, I'm going to get myself out of here! That's right, you can't lock up Hitomi Kanzaki and get away with it! And as soon as I get these chains off, ohhh… watch out!
Hitomi shook her head. I must be loosing it! But… sooner or later they're going to have take me out of these, and if I'm ready…yes, it might work! While an idea formed in her head, Hitomi started to shiver. Oh great, as if I didn't have enough problems already. Hitomi started to feel feverish.
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Van, Allen, and Merle had left as soon as the ship was ready and headed for Palas, the capital of Asturia. Van briefly explained to a worried chamberlain that they were going to Asturia on some urgent business and that they shouldn't worry. Besides, he was King, and no one could stop him. A small crew piloted the ship Exes. Everyone tried to catch a bit of sleep before they got to Palas, but Van was up all night, tossing and turning. He couldn't stop worrying about Hitomi. Almost every hour he tried to find her with the pendant, but nothing ever came up. Where was she?
They arrived in Palas a couple hours after dawn and took a carriage into the city, which was already bustling with activity. The marketplace had opened and early morning shoppers were out. It was a cool, quiet, and rather peaceful morning. Eventually, they rode through the palace gates. The palace grounds were beautiful this time of year. All the greenery was carefully attended to, so the grounds were breathtaking. They entered the marble palace and were shown to a comfortable waiting room while a servant went to find the King and Queen.
Not to long afterwards, a beautiful woman, in a long, sleeveless, blue dress entered the room. She had long, blonde hair and a calm demeanor. "Van, Allen, Merle! It's so good to see you again! What brings you here?" She asked.
"Millerna, it's good to see you again." Van said. Millerna came over and hugged them all and then sat them back down.
"Dryden should be here soon. He's probably in the library." Millerna and Dryden were happily married and now the rightful rulers of Asturia. Not too long after Hitomi left, Dryden came back and won Millerna's heart, just like he said he would. They now had a two year old son named Cleff. They chatted about the weather and politics until Dryden came in.
"Well, this is certainly a surprise!" Dryden said as he entered. He was back to his comfortable style of loose robes and his hair up. He didn't have the usual stubby facial face like he used to, something Millerna made him give up. He pushed his glasses up as he greeted them all. Then, they got down to business. Van told them about his brief trip to earth and how he and Hitomi had been separated. Millerna and Dryden listened in awe. It's about time, thought Millerna.
"Hmm, you were right to come to me, Allen." Dryden began. "It just so happens I've been building a machine from old parts I smuggled out of Zaibach that should be able to do just that. It's kind of a hobby of mine. It's running, but I haven't really had anything to test it to see if it really works. Hopefully it will work. Let's go to the workshop. Everyone followed Dryden outside into a workshop he had set up. It wasn't a huge place, but it held lots of gadgets, tools, and spare parts. Two men were working in the shop, one was looking at some papers and the other was fiddling with a machine.
"Hey, Dryden! We were just about to come find you! Opps, sorry, we didn't notice you brought guests." The two gentlemen stood up and bowed towards Millerna. "Your Majesty." Then they noticed Van and bowed to him. "King Van, it's an honor to meet you."
"Everyone, these are my fellow inventors, Rod and Todd Gilson. We've been working together on little projects for years. They're the best inventors in the kingdom. Rod, Todd, this is Van Fanel, Merle Fanel, and Allen Schezar." Rod and Todd were brothers, both tall and with short, dark hair. They were wearing brown pants, white t-shirts, and greasy aprons. Rod looked a little older than Todd, by about 5 years.
"Well, I don't know if we're the best, but we work hard." Todd said, a little embarrassed at the praise.
"Nonsense, now tell me boys, what are you so excited about?"
"Some unusual readings were recorded last night by the Cleff200. We thought it might be an interdimensional portal, but we wanted you to look at the data."
"Hmm, I wouldn't be surprised at all, considering Van activated some last night." Dryden said as he looked over the paper.
"Really?" Rod said as he looked at Van. Van nodded. "That means it does work!"
"Don't get too excited yet." Dryden said. "Let's use this data to see if we can pinpoint where the portal started and ended." The three of them quickly went to work, either working on the Cleff200 or doing hand calculations. The others quietly watched in anticipation. A few minutes later, Dryden pulled out a large map of Gaea and spread it over the workbench. "Okay boys, what do you have?"
Rod and Todd came over and started measuring distances. The two of them both marked the same spot in Fanelia. "This is where the first portal was activated, according to our calculations."
"Hey! That's where we were last night!" Merle yelled excitedly.
"Then the readings get weaker, but it was headed toward the Phantom Moon." Rod looked up and got conformation by a nod from Van.
"Alright, now it gets confusing. I don't understand these readings." Todd said. "A signal originated from the Phantom Moon, but then… I don't understand?" Rod took the papers Todd had been looking at and studied them for a couple of minutes.
"Hey, these readings right here are very similar to these readings." Rod said as he pointed to two different spots on his paper. "Okay, the portal started on the Phantom Moon and the power level is normal. Then, the level dramatically increased and our readings are all mucked up. I don't know what happened. Why would the level suddenly increase?"
"Could it have been the thunder storm?" Allen asked.
"I don't think so. We've been studying all the data we have on these portals, and as far as we can tell, no atmospheric conditions can affect them."
"Check the original data again." Dryden said. "But this time, look for another, separate signal." Rod and Todd went back and looked over the data. Soon, Todd spoke up. "Hey, I think this is what we're looking for." Dryden came over and looked. He took the numbers and did a few calculations and then came back to the map. He measured out some distances and marked a spot on the map. "A second portal was initiated from this spot around the same time that Van tried to come back."
Everyone looked and gasped. "Zaibach?"
"How is this possible? What are you saying?" Van asked.
"It looks like someone in Zaibach activated their own portal around the same time Van activated his on the Phantom Moon. According to these readings, they merged for a couple of seconds and then split again."
"One of them went back to this spot." Said Rod as he pointed at the marker in Fanelia.
"And one of them went back here." Said Todd as he pointed to the mark Dryden had just made in Zaibach.
"This wasn't an accident." Dryden said. "There are too many factors involved that would make this a coincidence. Someone in Zaibach has a machine that caused this. My guess is that they intended to kidnap Hitomi. It's the only thing that makes sense."
"Who in Zaibach would do that?" Van asked frantically. Everyone was silent with worry.
"I'll be right back." Dryden said suddenly.
"Where are you going?" asked Millerna as he left the laboratory.
"I need to get a message out to one of my, er…contacts. He might be able to give us some information about what's going on in Zaibach. You all should go in and get some breakfast. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"But-" Van started.
"It's okay, Lord Van. Dryden's right. We haven't eaten since dinner last night. Let him go do what he needs to do."
Van sighed and followed Merle and everyone out as they headed back in to the palace.
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Don't get sick. Don't get sick. Don't get sick. Hitomi was repeating that over and over in her head. She could feel herself weakening and she knew she had to be strong if the time ever presented itself for her to go through with her plan. Hitomi heard some footsteps coming down the hall. She held her breath. They stopped in front of her door and could make out three voices. The door was unlocked and started to open. Okay, this is it, she thought. She quickly slumped and tried to look as pathetic and weak as possible.
A guard came in and walked over to her. Hitomi moaned as if she were in pain, or scared, or both, and tried to cower away.
"Okay girlee, time to go."
He inserted a key into her chains and started to unlock them.
Wait for it…wait for it…NOW!
As soon as her arms were free, she kicked out with her leg and knocked the guard off his feet. She then scrambled over and punched him in the face and hard as she could. Between the fall and the punch she had managed to knock him out. Yes!
"What's going on in there?" The two other guards rushed in the room and one was immediately hit by a spinning, jumping sidekick. As the other looked over in confusion at his now moaning-on-the-floor partner, he was hit in the balls by a vicious kick. As he doubled over, a fist met his face in an uppercut hit. He fell over, unconscious.
Hitomi fished the keys off the first guard and then quickly left the room, locking it behind her. She ran down the hallway as quietly as she could. It was pretty dark and she couldn't make out where she was going. She followed the walls and managed to stay out of sight. She kept ducking in to rooms, trying to find a way to get out, but she wasn't getting anywhere!
I just need find the right door! I'm going to be missed soon. Hitomi continued onward. She stumbled through the maze of hallways and rooms for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only ten minutes. Oh, come on! I don't have much time left! Hitomi pushed aside panic as she realized her fever was getting worse. She had started sweating and shivering and felt herself getting even weaker. Just keep going! As she walked down another dark corridor, she began to hear some muffled voices. She froze, thinking she was about to get caught, but it wasn't coming from around the corner, it was coming through the wall. She carefully leaned against it, near a crack, and listened.
"… is the report sir." A voice said.
"Hmmm…excellent! Everything is going according to plan. Finally, after all this time, I will have my revenge!" Hitomi recognized the voice as Dilandau's.
"I don't understand." Said another deeper voice. "You could have attacked Fanelia long ago. Why did you wait this long?"
"Haven't you been paying attention?" Dilandau answered almost calmly. "I want the ULTIMATE revenge on Van Fanel. I plan on killing the most precious person to him while he watches. And then, we'll burn all of Fanelia…again. HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Ahh, yes, you mean that girl from the Mystic Moon you captured. I see your point. King Van will be so distraught and blind with rage and depression, that destroying Fanelia shouldn't be very hard. Good work."
"Thanks, I thought you'd like it. I just can't decide if I should burn Asturia on the way to or from Fanelia. Decisions, decisions. Now, where are those guys with that girl already?"
Hitomi slowly backed away from the wall, fear climbing up her spine. He can't! I have to warn Van! I have to get myself out of here! Hitomi had no doubt in her mind that Dilandau would follow through with his twisted plan. As Hitomi made her way around the corner, and away from that particular room, she suddenly couldn't tell if she was walking up or down. The walls started to spin. Oh no, she thought. The fever was in full effect. Hitomi tried to continue, but she couldn't, the spinning and sickly feeling wouldn't pass. With her last ounce of strength drained, Hitomi collapsed to the floor and passed out.