Chapter 4: Chaos

"Emma!" Brodie shouted and ran to her friend's aid. "Dude, what's wrong?" Emma stared at the ground almost mindlessly. What was it she just saw? A vision of the future? She closed her eyes for a moment and shook off the thought. Please don't be…her mind begged. She didn't want to see any more people die.

"What's the matter Emma?" She raised her head to meet with a set of blue eyes full of concern. "Emma?" Allen repeated.

"Everything's gonna burn. I saw it. The invisible things that attacked Fanelia are gonna attack the fort!"

"What? Again?" Myranda looked in disbelief. She had heard her friend's exact same words before. I guess my whole dream will come true. No…Emma and Brodie will…

Allen Took Emma's hands in his own and helped her to her feet. "Perhaps seeing two guymelefs fight was too much for you." Emma shot him a look of horror mixed with disbelief. Had he not heard a single word that she had said? She instantly pulled her hands out of his and backed away, shaking her head.

"It wasn't 'too' much for me. I've seen a lot worse things in my life. This wasn't too much!" She barked at him. "I saw it. Those things are gonna attack. You don't stand a chance against them."

"Em-" Allen began but was quickly cut off.

"Fine, believe what you want. But don't come crying to me when it does happen!" With that said Emma ran off. Allen went to follow but was stopped abruptly by Myranda who had grabbed him by his white, puffy sleeve.

"Leave her alone." She growled before looking to Brodie and telling her to follow Emma. Brodie nodded and tried her best to catch up to her friend. Myranda let go of Allen's arm and glared at him. "You may not believe her but we do. Especially me." Allen was lost for words. These women are strange, he thought, no woman on Gaea would ever raise their voice like that. They really aren't of this world…

"Boss!" A soldier on horseback yelled as he approached the knight.

"What is it Teo?"

"We caught someone suspicious out in the forest." Teo answered.

The suspicious prisoner turned out to be none other than Merle, Van's long time companion. She gave Van the devastating news of Fanelia's condition. Everything had been destroyed. Fanelia was no more. Van held the cat in a tight embrace. Merle was now all he had left.

"Emma!" Brodie shouted through the corridor. Where the hell is she? "Emma!" she yelled again. "Em-"She stopped as her mosey green eyes caught Emma's figure. She was sitting on a bed in a rather empty looking room. Her head was tilted towards the sky, looking out the window at the two moons. Brodie entered the room quietly and sat beside her friend.

"I want to go home." Emma sighed and relaxed her tense shoulders. Brodie placed her arm around her shoulders for some comfort.

"I know…I want to go back too."

"Brodie, you said you had a dream about this place too right?" Brodie nodded in response. "What happened in you dream?" Emma leaned onto her friend and rested her head on Brodie's shoulder.

"Well…I don't remember much but I do remember seeing Fanelia being destroyed. I also remember seeing Myranda falling and-"

"A winged guy saves her." Emma finished. Brodie stiffened and raised her brows. "What else Brodie?"

She shook her head slightly and tried to remember more of it. "I dreamt that you were-" She paused for a moment. Should she tell Emma what she really did see? That she saw her being captured by strange creatures?

"I was?"

I wont, she already has a lot to worry about, she decided. "You were walking away from me. You didn't say anything and just walked away." She looked at her friend was saddened eyes. I'm sorry… Emma turned to face Brodie and pulled her into a light embrace. A sad smile crept to Brodie's lips. She wished this, Gaea, was just a dream. The future was looking grim and the fate of her friends didn't look so good either.

Breaking the silence, a soft knock came from the door. Brodie opened her eyes and turned her head to see who it was. "Lunch is being served in the mess hall now if you're hungry." Gaddes informed.

Brodie looked to Emma and asked, "You wanna go eat?" Emma shook her head. "Do you think you'll be fine here alone? Cuz I'm kinda hungry."

"Just go, I'll be okay." Emma answered, pulling away from the embrace.

"You sure?" Emma nodded. "Alright, if you say so." Brodie got from her spot and followed Gaddes.

Emma laid back on the bed, looking back up at the sky. Home…she though.

Allen walked through the fort in solitude. He felt a bit of guilt for the way he treated Emma. But how was he to know how to deal with what she was saying? Fortune-tellers were a rare thing on Gaea and woman like Emma, Myranda and Brodie we even more rare. He wanted to find her and apologize; he was a knight after all.

Myranda walked slowly through the empty corridor. Nothing in this world makes sense…she thought. Well it did, but, not much. Her mind kept wandering back to her dream. She could remember so clearly. There was a city engulfed in flames; Fanelia. Brodie was whisked away by a strange cloaked figure. Emma was also capture by strange cloaked figures as well. In her dream there was nothing she could do to help them. Then even she almost fell to her own death. She was saved by a winged man.

The dream didn't get any better after that. She may have been saved but there was plenty of turmoil still to come. She witnessed other cities crumble to the ground as they became battlefields to an unknown war. She feared the most for her friends' safety. She couldn't bear the thought of losing them. They were her family, or the closest thing she had ever come to knowing as family. She shook away the painful memories of her past and picked up her pace.

Allen came to a halt as he spotted Emma lying peacefully on a cot. The sun beamed through the small window, creating a sort of golden aura around Emma. He paused at the doorway for a moment before entering the room.

The light footsteps of his boots brought Emma back to her senses. She turned her head to see whom it was. When she saw Allen approaching, she turned her head away from him. She was still angry at him for making her feel like a child.

"I just want to apologize about earlier." Allen spoke in a soft tone. Emma simply rolled her eyes as she tried to ignore his presence. Allen sighed and sat down of the edge of the small bed. "You have to understand Emma that people with your sort of ability aren't very common here on Gaea."

"Do you think I care?" Emma spat at him. "Just go. I want to be alone."

Allen didn't move. His eyes stayed transfixed on the blonde. He was drawn in by her mysterious nature. Also, he couldn't just leave a woman when she was feeling down. It would have been un-knightly of him. "You miss your homeland." He concluded. He noticed she was staring up the sky for quite some time.

"Yes." Emma replied simply. She missed everything. Even the things she thought she wouldn't miss. She missed hearing her mother yell at her for not cleaning the kitchen, she missed debating with her father about politics, she even missed fighting with her older brother over minuscule things. She missed it all. "I miss them all…"

Myranda grabbed a plate of food and sat beside Brodie in the mess hall. The food didn't look too appealing but food was food. Brodie didn't care about the strange taste, she was hungry. Myranda however ate her meal slowly. Getting use to this food wont be easy, Myranda thought as she played with her food.

"Where's Emma?" Myranda asked.

"Sleeping I think. I found her after she ran off. She just wants to be alone."

"Brodie…"Myranda began. She wanted to talk to her friend about their dreams, see if there were any connections.

"Yea?"

"You had a dream about this place right?" Brodie nodded as she ate another spoon full of the green mushy food from her plate. "Did you see anything about Emma?" Brodie nodded again and swallowed her food.

"Yea, Emma got captured by some people. You were falling-"

"Yea I know, and some guy saves me." She paused before continuing. "Did anything happen to you in your dream?" Brodie chewed her food slowly as she thought hard about the dream. She couldn't quite remember.

"I think…someone grabbed me…Then I woke up." Myranda looked back at her food. So we will be separated…but when?

Allen rode his white stallion around the fort as he observed the preparations for battle. "Looks like you believe he old wives' tales too, commander."

Allen looked over his shoulder to face Gaddes, his right hand man. "What makes you say that?"

"These emergency combat preparations for one. What that girl from the Mystic Moon said has you worried, huh?" Allen looked away and gazed off into the horizon.

"What has me worried is Dilandau. His eyes, they thirst for blood and have a crazed gleam to them."

Gaddes's eyes widened. "You don't think Ziabach's—gonna attack us, do you?"

"They know the Escaflowne is here. That's why they showed up. When they do attack, they'll come at us to wipe us out." Allen clenched his fist to suppress his anger.

"They'd go that far?"

"I wouldn't put it past them. No survivors means no witnesses." Allen looked over his should again to face Gaddes. "Prep the crusade."

"Yes sir!" With that said Gaddes rode off in a hurry. When will you attack Dilandau?

Emma, after lying on the cot for quite a few hours, finally decided to find her friends. She wandered the halls unsure of where she was going. I should have left with Brodie. I'm completely lost. She sighed heavily as she continued to walk. An open door gave her a bit of hope. She crossed her fingers as she approached the door. Even if they aren't there maybe someone can help me.

She peered into the room. No sign of Myranda or Brodie. There was, however someone sitting on the bed. Emma raised a brow as she quickly looked the young girl over. Is that Merle? When did she get here?

"Can I help you?" The young cat-girl spat.

"Uh….um…do you know where my friends might be?" she asked nervously. Merle sat there silently, her eyes examining the foreigner. What weird clothes… "I take that as a no…" Emma said, slowly backing out of the room.

"Emma!"

Emma jumped at the sound of her name and turned on her heel. "Myranda!" her voice squeaked. "Don't do that!" she scolded and hit her friend on the shoulder. "Where the hell have you been?"

Brodie walked down the dimly lit hallways. Myranda had gone off to look for Emma. They would later meet up in their temporary living quarters. The air was dead silent. You could hear a pin drop if one was to be dropped. The eerie silence made Brodie feel uncomfortable. She looked over her shoulder; behind her was still just an empty hall. Okay, no need to get freaked out. There's nothing there.

She continued on her way but stopped abruptly. Something way coming. She could sense it. Her heart began to quicken its beat. "Hello?" she called. All that she got was her own echo. She took a step forward and stopped again. Her eyes widened as images began flashing through her mind. The fort was engulfed in flames. The cries of the soldiers falling to an unknown enemy filled her ears. No! Her eyes snapped shut. She didn't want to see it.

Cautiously she opened her eyes. It was gone. The images she saw had left her. Was…was that what Emma saw? She ran down the hall way as fast as she could in her heeled boots. She could feel the enemy's presence. They were very close.

Just as she reached for the doorknob to their room, the ground began to tremble. "They're here…" she said to herself before opening the door.

Myranda and Emma sat cosily on the cot in their room. Van had shown up and things became quite awkward so the two left the room where Merle was. Now they sat waiting for Brodie to show.

"So when did Merle get here? I thought she was in Fanelia."

"She escaped and searched for Van. She was found this afternoon just after you ran off. Fanelia was completely destroyed…"The two fell silent as they reminisced of their short time in Fanelia. Such a sad end to a beautiful little country. Myranda's eyes widened, she could feel the enemy's presence. "They're-" she stopped as the door opened. Brodie stood in the doorway, her breathing was slightly laboured.

Not too long after Brodie entered the room, Gaddes showed up. The enemy had begun its attack. The fort wouldn't stand a chance against such a power army. Their only choice was to flee. Gaddes led the three girls to an underground cave located beneath the fort. Brodie looked in awe at the strange ship before her.

"What is it…?" She wondered aloud as she and her friends boarded.

"This is the levi ship Crusade." Gaddes answered.

"Levi ship?" Emma repeated, she too was mesmerized by the strange ship.

"It uses levi stones to keep it afloat." The response came from a familiar voice.

"This thing floats?" Brodie said in amazement. "Awesome!" Merle raised a brow.

"You've never seen a levi ship before?" Brodie shook her head in response to the cat's question. "I'm glad I don't live on the Mystic Moon, you're probably all old fashioned I bet."

Emma's lip twitched at the comment. How wrong she was. "Actually, our technology is far more advanced than this. We have a different version of your levi ships. They're called airplanes. Although they look quite different than this. They also don't use stone to keep them in the air…" Emma explained. She enjoyed being a bit of a-know-it-all, even if she didn't know it all.

Merle stuck her tongue out and turned on her heel to face away from the girls. She looked around the bridge of the ship and noticed someone missing, someone whom was of extreme importance to her. "Where's Lord Van?" she asked worried.

"We'll meet up with the boss and the king shortly." Gaddess answered while checking the gages. "Weight Anchor!" he yelled. Another one the crew repeated the order. "Sail out!" and with that said, the air ship took flight.

A/N: I know, it's been like FOREVER and I'm really sorry. I've been in such a writing rut, busy with school, had my heart broken, got into yet another fight with a friend so yea…..BUT life is starting to look up. For how long? I don't know. Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter The next chapter is when things start to change and move away from the original story/plot.