-.:Twilight of Escaflowne:.-
Chapter 3
Confusion
My sleep was filled with dreams. There were so many different scenes meshed together that it was more like a collage than a dream. One dream consisted of a battlefield. Perhaps this one was the most memorable as it was so clear, it was almost as if I was actually there. There was so much carnage and blood, that my stomach was heaving at the sight. Many bodies were so mutilated that you couldn't tell that they were actually human.
When you looked beyond the pile of dead bodies, the sky was an ominous red and the clouds were black. It was very eerie. The whole field was cast in darkness even though you could see the sun directly overhead. The sun wasn't even its normal brightness though, either. It was a red orb in the sky, barely shining through a thick layer of dust and smoke. The moon was right next to it. I was surprised to see that it was visible in plain daylight. It was quite large, too, as if it was on a collision course with Gaea. It was al so confusing. I began to wonder if I was even on Gaea. Then I noticed yet another orb in the sky that looked just like Gaea, and I knew then that I wasn't on Gaea, but a strange new land that was a desert wasteland of rotting corpses.
Then I heard yelling and charging in the distance. I squinted my eyes to see a cloud of dust rising on the horizon. I heard horses neighing and swords clashing. I guess the fight wasn't over. There was something else too. They had the figures of men and where also fighting amongst one another. The weird thing is that they were huge! They looked like giant, armored men. Robots perhaps? Was I in the future where man's wars were fought in robots now?
I'll tell ya, this dream was just getting weirder and weirder by the second. Before I could think too much about it, the scene changed to a forest; what was it with me and forests lately!?
This forest was different, though. It seemed older, more ancient. It was as if the trees themselves were watching me. Speaking of trees, these ones were the biggest trees I had ever scene in my life! They rivaled the redwood forest back home!!!
I could hear beards up in the canopy, and was that a rodent scuttling in the bush?
Then I heard singing. It was the most beautiful singing I had heard in my entire life.
Win dain a lotica
En val tu ri
Si lo ta
Fin dein a loluca
En dragu a sei lain
Vi fa-ru les shutai am
En riga-lint
I found myself drawn to the music. I couldn't understand a word; it was in some other language that I wasn't familiar with. But it was so enchanting.
I began walking in the direction the music was coming from without even realizing it. It was as if it was calling me, pulling the inner strings to my soul…
Win chent a lotica
En val turi
Silota
Fin dein a loluca
Si katigura neuver
Floreria for chesti
Si entina
I didn't even know how long I had been walking. I had lost all track of time. It was just me, and that beautiful music, and I had to find its source.
Lalala... Fontina Blu Cent
De cravi esca letisimo
Lalala... De quantian
La finde reve
As I was walking, I noticed a small clearing in the forest. I could tell that it was where the music was coming from. I was still too far away to see who was the beholder of the magical voice, but I could see that it was hardly a clearing in the forest and the only reason I could see it now was due to a small beam of light that broke through the forest's thick canopy.
As I neared it, I could see that standing in the middle of the light was a woman and a dog. No. A wolf; that thing was far too huge to be a dog. They were facing in a different direction to where I couldn't make out her face, but I could see that the dog was sitting at her side. It was so huge, that sitting it was almost taller than she was! There was no hostility and I could tell that she wasn't in danger as her hand was resting lovingly on the dogs back and they were leaning against each other.
Win dain a lotica
En vai tu ri
Si lo ta
Fin dein a loluca
En dragu a sei lain
Vi fa-ru les shutai am
En riga-lint
The singing stopped, and I desperately picked up my pace to reach the spot where the woman and the wolf had been. I needed to hear that song again. When I broke through the last ring of trees into the clearing, though, they were gone, not a trace of them left.
And once more, the scene changed. This time I was in a city, or what appeared to be a city, a city from ancient times that is. The streets were made of cobblestone, and the houses were simple, made from rock and clay, and very close together.
It was dark, and it appeared that I was in a back alley. I didn't know which way to go, or what I was supposed to see or do here, so I just started walking.
I was just about to turn a corner when I heard voices. They were hushed voices, but I can tell that it was a man and a woman. I decided to stay hidden, as I didn't know if they could see me or not.
Ever since I came to Fanelia, all I've wanted to do is sleep, and when I do sleep, my dreams are vivid. I have always been able to understand my dreams and they were very clear in my childhood, but they were also realistic.
As of late, my dreams have been fantastic, but they have been so vivid, it's been hard to tell that they were dreams and not reality. Not to mention that they were pretty farfetched to be true.
I peeked around the corner to see the whispering figures. It was dark and the only thing I could see were their silhouettes from the light of the moon. They wore hooded cloaks that hid their faces and their bodies from sight. I was close enough to hear bits of what they were saying.
"…don't leave…"
"…my father…this isn't right…forbidden…"
"…I know…I don't care…I must see you again…"
"…get caught…they'll kill us…forbidden…"
"…there must be a way…I'll find it…what's that?!"
"…footsteps?...can't be seen!..."
"…meet me again…behind the castle…have a plan…"
"…I trust you...want to be with you…"
"…hurry….before they see us…I love you…"
"…I love you…"
I had a hard time fitting together what little I could hear. I heard footsteps coming towards us and saw the couple hastily embrace then run off in opposite directions.
The scene changed. It appeared that I was on a street in front of houses built into a Cliffside. The buildings seemed to go as high as the eye could see, and at the very top of the cliff was a huge tree. The walls of the buildings were covered in vines and the city was filled with trees and gardens.
Was I in Babylon?
It was a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in sight and when I looked out over what seemed to be a terrace, the most glorious sight beheld me.
I looked out over a vast city. This one appeared to be from the same time period, except the architecture was more magnificent. The city seemed to be on a cliff or landmass that looked out over the ocean, as the very edge of the city abruptly ended and I can imagine that the sea was a sudden drop below.
But that wasn't what held my attention. In the sky were people! And they had wings like angels! Ok, now I know I'm dreaming.
Everywhere I looked these angels flew in the sky above the city. They were beautiful, and this place was so serene. I wanted to leap from the wall and join them in flight. The thought was so intriguing, that I was in the motions of doing so when the scene changed yet again.
I was in a room, with one of the angels. The room was dark, and I cold only see the person's wings as they gave off their own light. He? Was huddled in a corner, sitting with his knees up to his chest. He was rocking back in forth as if he was having some kind of nervous reaction or anxiety attack.
Then his body started convulsing, and he cried out. His wings expanded outward, and his muscles twitched. He was heavily perspiring all over his body, and he threw his head back and wailed. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and veins popped out from his neck and forehead. His wings began to dismantle into a flurry of feathers, and he covered his face with his hands and cried out some more.
It was obvious that he was in deep pain, and I didn't know what to do or how to help him. I was at a complete loss, and utterly confused. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be ok, but I knew that my words couldn't reach him.
By now, his wings had completely disappeared, and he just crouched in the corner, breathing heavily, his cries ceased. He caught his breath and just sat there completely still. His face was still in his hands, and I just stood there, staring at him, lost for what to do.
Suddenly, his body went rigid, and he looked up in my direction. What I saw chilled me to the core of my being. It was a single, blood red eye that peered up at me through his hands and his dark, shaggy bangs. He stared so long that I was sure he was looking at me. I could see his deep black pupil, and his eye held my gaze to where I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. It was such a vivid color of crimson, and so deep, but then it his eye began to go completely black, as if his pupil was bleeding into the rest of his eye. All the while, it continued to stare at me until it was completely black.
I had chills going up and down my spine, and the hair on the back of my neck told me to run, but for some reason, my feet were glued to the spot. Suddenly he lunged at me, so quick that I couldn't react, and then everything went black.
VvvV
AN: Tell me what you think ^^ I completely re-did this chapter if you hadn't noticed. The original chapter is still here though. I just combined it with chapter 2 to make it a little longer and more interesting. Also, I don't think there are going to be very many changes to chapters 4 through 9, and 10 isn't going to change at all. So it's not going to take me very long to revise these chapters (hopefully) and I'll have chapter 11 up for you possibly before the end of June or the beginning of July.
As always, thanks so much to my wonderful reviewers. I can't express enough that you guys are what makes this all worth it.
Read and review and I'll see you in the next chapters.
Ja Ne
TEE