I've decided that this isn't going to be a fanfic where the humour is the jokes. The humour in here is basically the notion of what would happen if some Esca characters were thrown into Sailor senshi outfits and given the task of getting rid of the NegaWorld.
This fanfic really follows the Sailor Moon series, jumping from SM, SMR and SMS but it mostly stays on the SM part of the series with a mix of Sailor Moon R.
For this fanfic, it makes it better if you have seen some of the Sailor Moon part of that series, have a little knowledge of certain relationships in Sailor Moon R, and have seen the entire Escaflowne series. Be warned, there are spoilers.
Disclaimer: from now on I am no longer going to state this.
Episode 4:
Sleep of the Dead
"Hitomi! Hitomi!"
Yukari was all jumpy the next morning as she thrust out a newspaper article
from her schoolbag. "Check this out!" she pointed to the headline on the
first page. Her best friend ran her eyes over the words.
In a big bold font,
the headlines read: Teenage Heroines Save Day. It showed a picture of Sailor
Jupiterand Sailor Mystic Moon, trying to defeat Steach. The caption below
it said: Yesterday around 8pm, two female teenagers in strange colorful
outfits calling themselves "sailor senshi" were seen battling what appears
to be a terrible mutated drug addict, who, in her hazy state, began attacking
citizens of Tokyo last night.
"We're like celebrites!"
Yukari beamed. Hitomi smiled and nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, a furry
grey head poked out of Hitomi's schoolbag.
"You may be celebrities,
but you mustn't forget your destiny!" Naria chided.
"Naria, hush!" shushed
Hitomi. "Someone might see you!" Reluctantly, the cat ducked back into
the bag. Hitomi smirked as she remembered the conversation she had had
with Naria the night before...
"No way."
Hitomi's voice was firm.
"Please, Hitomi?"
Naria whimpered.
"No."
"But I'm your cat-guardian.
It's my duty to make sure everything is alright."
"I can't believe
you actually want to come to school with me."
"On Gaia there were
no 'schools' as you call them. The notion intrigues me."
"Lucky you. School
is like hell. We work all day and then usually all night. Then the next
day we repeat that sequence. It's tedious."
"Surely it can't
be that bad!"
"Fine. You can come,
but don't say I didn't warn you."
So there Naria was,
hiding out in Hitomi's schoolbag as she and Yukari waited for the train
to take them to school.
"I wonder how many
other people saw this article?" thought Yukari aloud. Again, Naria made
her appearance.
"No matter what,
you mustn't forget never to reveal your true identities to anyone!"
warned the feline.
"Yeah yeah yeah,"
grumbled Yukari, tucking the cat back into the bag.
"I'm serious!" came
Naria's muffled voice. "If the NegaWorld finds out who you really are,
they can attack you while you sleep! And the NegaWorld could be anyone!"
"Paranoia, paranoia,
everybody's coming to get me...." sang Hitomi jokingly.
That's when the
train arrived to take them to school.
At school, the corridors
were filled with conversations of the two female "Sailor Senshi" who had
saved the day. Who were they in real life? Would they show up again?
Yukari and Hitomi couldn't help but grin as the male population discussed
the attractiveness of the heroines.
At lunch time, they
met up with Amano on the track stands. He had not gone to England as anticipated,
but rather had stayed in Japan. He no longer attended the same school as
Yukari and Hitomi, however, he had moved on to a local college. Nonetheless,
he and Yukari were still together, and he often tried to meet up with them
at the track (nostalgia reasons, he had explained) to eat lunch.
He greeted his girlfriend
with a hearty smooch as Hitomi averted her gaze.
"Good day, Hitomi,"
he smiled at the bun-haired girl. She returned the smile. "Hey, did you
guys see the article in the newspaper today?" he asked. "About those senshi
beating the druggie?"
Yukari and Hitomi
exchanged knowing looks.
Amano pulled out
the article from his pocket. "That Senshi in green is pretty cute." he
added, unaware that he had said it out loud. Yukari hid her red face as
she punched him playfully.
"Hey, what about
me? Aren't I your girlfriend?" he wrapped her in a tight embrace. "Of course,
I only have eyes for you."
Over Amano's shoulder,
Yukari gave her best friend a knowing wink.
I grow weary of your incompetence, Linaddua." Wiseman frowned deeply at the girl with the scar that ran down her right cheek.
"My Lord, forgive me, please. Just give me another chance with the tarot cards!"
Despite his urge to kill her for her failures, Wiseman consented, sending out the 3rd tarot card.
After all, he had chosen Linaddua for a reason.
Hitomi stumbled into
her room in a sleepy daze and plopped down on the bed, laying her bag down
gently beside her.
Naria quickly jumped
out.
"That... by far....
was the most horrendous thing I have ever done." she said shakily, her
eyes wide. She turned to the sandy-haired girl. "I can't believe you actually
do that every day! I wouldn't be able to survive it."
Hitomi chuckled
softly. "I have to go. It's pretty much against the
law not to go to school. But man, that trig lesson
was so boring... I almost fell asleep. And there's another gruelling class
of it tomorrow."
"You have my deepest
of sympathy."
"What, you're not
coming with me?" Hitomi pretended to act surprised.
"Nope. It's too
dangerous. You're on your own."
"Thanks," Hitomi
grumbled before throwing a pillow at the cat.
The silouette gazed out the window at the night sky. There were no stars this evening.
How fitting. he thought bitterly. His heart was still torn by the dreams that continued to invade his sleep.
Van slowly moved away from the window and slid under the covers of his bed, holding the pendant tightly in his palm.
As he lay there, tired but dreading sleep, a familiar rhyme he had heard as a child came to him.
Sleep soundlessly, sleep peacefully,
Sleep the sleep of the dead
Sleep the sleep of wandering clouds
As dreams wisp through your head
Dreams of dancing on the midnight star
Hear the music of the twinkling chime
Dream the dreams of pure hearts and souls
Dreams unaffected by time
Remember every dream you encounter
And no more tears you will shed
Sleep soundlessly, sleep peacefully
Sleep the sleep of the dead
Looking back on the rhyme made him realize how little it made sense, but nonetheless, he soon found himself drifting off to sleep again.
Unfortunately, his slumber was again disrupted by the nightmare.
Dream~
...again, Van watches helplessly as the cloaked figure sends Hitomi plummeting to her death, crying out for the man she loves.
But he can do nothing. The cage he is entrapped in cannot be broken, and he sheds bitter tears and yells Hitomi's name over and over again, but to no avail.
The shadow laughs maniacally, enjoying Van's immense pain. As he continues to laugh, the scene around Van fades into darkness.
Van brushes away his tears.
"Where am I?" he asks the dark world. His own voice echoes back. He turns around to examine where he is.
That's when he sees the light.
It's a very faint light, but it's a light nonetheless. Van hesitates for a moment and remembers the last thing that Balgas said to him before he went off to slay the dragon as part of the rite to become king:
"Lord Van, if you ever find yourself in a dark place, just go to the light at the end of the tunnel"
So that's what Van does.
As he appraoches it, the light grows both in brightness and in size. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Van steps through. What he sees shocks him.
"It's... it's the Fanelian forest..." he breathes. He hasn't yet noticed the figure leaning against one of the larger trees.
"Van," says the man gently, making his presence known. Van's eyes widen at the sight of him.
"B...Brother?" he asks weakly.
"It's me, Van." the green-haired man assures. Van steps closer, feeling his eyes water ever so slightly. He wants to hug his brother, it's been so long since Folken's disappearance, reappearance, and death. But Van's male ego gets in the way of his gesture so he simply holds his ground.
"You have changed a great deal, my brother." says Folken warmly. "In both aspects."
Van has changed. He is no longer the more or less short 15 year old from the year before. He has gained a good 8 inches to his previous height of 5'4, and his voice has deepened a little. A sleeveless red shirt, much like his previous one, hangs off his shoulders and he still wears the beige pants. His muscles have become more toned from all the training he has done... not because he needs to fight, but because he needs to get his mind off her...
"This is still a dream?" Van finally finds his voice.
"Yes. But fortunately, it is not a nightmare like the one you had earlier."
Van raises his brow at the comment. It appeares that his brother knows about the threat of Hitomi's death.
"Van, you must defeat the cloaked figure," Folken says firmly. "He is more powerful than you realize. When he tells you he will take Hitomi's life if you two become close, he truly means it. he has the capability to destroy everyone on Gaia, if he wants. But he won't. He enjoys toying with people. Especially you, Van. He takes a particular interest in you. And your soulmate."
"Why is he targeting us?"
"I'm really not sure, my brother." He pauses for a moment. "But like i mentioned, you can overcome him."
"How??" Van nearly screams it.
"With this." From behind his back Folken pulls out a thin object. It glimmers in the light and Van is blinded for a moment. His brother holds the item out to him, and he takes it.
"I can defeat him with this?" Van is quite skeptic.
"Yes. That thing holds more power than you can imagine. With it, you will become stronger and gain new abilites that can be used against the shadow figure."
"But..."
Folken interrupts him to continue. "In order to defeat him, you must first defeat the dark forces that he is acquanted with... my brother, your destiny is more important than ever before. The shadow figure will take over our wolrd as well as the Mystic Moon unless you don't help in the fight against him and his forces..."
The dream goes on, with Folken explaining to Van more about his destiny. Eventually, the dream comes to an end...
~
Van woke up, eyes wide.
"I can.... defeat him..." he whispered, the truth just hitting him. Then reality struck him and he slumped down in sadness.
"Get a grip, Fanel." he told himself. "It was only a dream.. a dream to ease the pain of the nightma--" but he stopped. He pulled his hand out from under his blanket and saw a slender white object... the one that Folken had given him.
A smile crossed Van's lips. "So it's true." gingerly, he put the object on his nighttable and closed his eyes. For the first time in weeks, he slept the sleep of the dead, with the thought of destroying the Shadowfigure and being with Hitomi embedded in his mind.
When Van arrived at the dining table the next morning, Allen was already there. As soon as Van seated himself across from his comrade, servants crowded around him like bees to honey.
"More piscuss?"
"Try some juice, King Van."
"More eggs, Lord Van?"
They scurried about with trays of food. Van grew weary of all the attention so he dismissed them. Allen, who had remained quite during the chaotic serving, spoke.
"Good morning, your Highness." he said in a neary mocking tone. He knew that Van didn't like the royal title. But his face quickly turned serious. "How did you sleep?"
Van instantly recognized the underlying meaning.
"Quite well, actually." he replied. He was about to relay his dream but his words were interrupted by a high-pitched noise.
"Lord Vaaaaan!" squealed Merle, dashing into the room. She greeted the young king with a large hug before noticing the other person seated at the table.
"Oh!" she said, her eyes widening. She scampered up to Allen with a big grin on her face. "Sir Allen," she said as she curtsied. Allen took her hand and kissed it lightly, as any respectable Knight Caeli would have done.
Merle, unused to the attention, blushed and let out a giggle.
"I see you've stayed true to your reputation, Allen Schezar," smirked Van from the end of the table.
"You're just jealous," chided Merle, giving the raven-haired man a wink. Van couldn't think of a good comeback so he didn't answer.
"So Merle, how have you been?" Allen asked, wanting to change the subject. "My how you've grown!"
It was true, she had. No longer was she the childish cat who had been pining for Van. The yellow dress was gone, replaced by an orange on that was far more flattering.
"Thank you Allen, I'm doing fine." they began to chatter for a while as Van ate his breakfast silently.
The conversation soon came to an end as Allen rose to leave.
"I should probably get properly dressed," he explained simply. He bowed and left, heading for his room.
Allen was adjusting his Caeli outfit in front of the mirror when he heard the rap on the door.
"Enter," he commanded. He wasn't surprised to see Van's head appear from the doorway in the
reflection of the mirror. "I was wondering whether or not you would show up, Your Majesty." Allen
could see the young king cringe at the added title. The knight turned to face him. "So, you didn't have
the reoccurring dream?"
Van leaned against the wall, his arms crossed in a stubborn manner. "Yes and no." he replied.
"Yes and no?"
Van nodded. "I still had the dream...I still watched helplessly as Hitomi..." he let his voice trail off
but continued. "At the end of that sequence, I came to a tunnel. At the end was a light. When I reached it, I encountered Folken, my brother. He told me that I could defeat this shadowy figure who invades my sleep and threatens Hitomi's life."
"How?"
"With this," Van pulled out the object that Folken had given him. "My brother told me to use this 'tool' to become more powerful in order to fulfill my destiny and kill this cloaked monster." he explained as he passed the object to Allen.
Allen examined the slender object carefully. The light of the sun bounced off it brilliantly . After a long moment, the knight Caeli spoke.
"Is it.... yours?" he asked hesitantly. Van's face darkened.
"It's mine," he confirmed. "My brother gave it to me, so it's mine, but not in the way you were thinking." his voice was cold.
"I apologize, Van. I didn't mean to--" Van held up his hands to halt him.
"Just forget it." gingerly, Van, took back the object and headed for the door. He paused at the exit.
"Hey Allen?"
"Yes?"
"How about meeting me in the forest behind the castle for a swords match?" he suggested snidely. "Who knows," he added. "Maybe you've improved enough to beat me." He left the room.
"Still the same arrogant kid," Allen muttered. He walked over to his bed for his sword and was quite surprised to find a strange object there. It was shiny and smoothe, with little bits of orange and gold on it. To Allen, it looked like some sort of strange stick. Cautiously, he picked it up.
"What the--" Suddenly, a bright blue pillar of light surrounded him.