"ROYALTY NO MORE"

By

Sakura Courage Solo

Chapter Seven

"Journey to the Mystic Moon"

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Van yawned lazily as he awakened to the morning sun streaming in through the window and warming his face.He opened his garnet red eyes and looked around a bit before sitting up and stretchin.He had been laid up for 3 days now under Sakura's care and was feeling much better.

"I owe that girl..."

He said to himself as he rose from the bed,changing out of his bedclothes and changing into his day clothes.Sakura stepped in just as he was done changing.

"Well,it looks like someone's feeling better."

She told Van with a smile.He smiled back and said,

"Yeah,thanks to you,Sakura.I really appreciate you looking out for me and everything.Not to mention saving my life before."

"Hey,what are best friends for?Besides,you saved my life before.Now it was my turn to save yours."

Van smiled again and said,

"You're too good.Thanks,Sakura."

Sakura nodded and opened her mouth to speak,but there was suddenly a knock at the door.She turned to Van.

"I'll get it.We don't want you being seen until your hair is dyed silver again,otherwise you might get recognized."

She told him,her hair still pink and in two ponytails,as she started towards the door,Van giving a nod and going into the bathroom to give his hair color a quick change.

Sakura came to the door as the knock could be heard again.

"I'm coming,I'm coming!"

She called,opening the door to see a certain blonde headed knight of Caeli standing there.

"Oh,Sir Allen.Good morning."

She greeted,feeling a sweatdrop form on the back of her head as she gave a slight bow.Allen took her hand after she raised up and kissed the back of it in a very gentleman-like manner.

"Good morning to you too,Miss Faith."

He said with a smile.

"How is Sir Chance feeling this morning?"

Sakura blinked,then answered,

"Um,he's much better.He's taking a shower at the moment."

"That's good.I was becoming worried."

Allen then closed the door behind himself,sort of looking around,which Sakura did'nt take as a good sign.Allen then turned to her and said,

"Now then,might I have a word with you 'Princess'?"

Sakura face faulted,then shaking her head anime style and said,

"H-huh?Oh,you must be mistaken.I'm simply a mercenary.I'm no Princess..."

"Oh,really?"

Allen said,looking to Sakura's sword on the table before reaching over and drawing it from it's red and silver sheathe.He then smirked at the emblem on the base of the blade where it met the hilt.

"Well then,why does your sword sport the Royal Seal of Rasa,the Princess of which just happened to run away several weeks ago."

Sakura's aqua eyes darted from side to side as she tried to think of an excuse.

"Well,you see...I found that sword.Out in the woods.I liked it and decide to keep it,since my old sword was getting pretty banged up..."

Allen could'nt help but smirk at her feeble attempts at throwing him off.He then reached over and picked up Van's sword,pulling it from the green and gold sheathe to see the emblem of Gaea on the blade.He then turned to Sakura.

"Then tell me why the Royal Seal of Gaea is on Chance's sword,the Prince of which who just happened to run away at the same time as Rasa's Princess."

Sakura felt a lump of saliva form in her throat and she looked to Allen.

"We both found the sword at the same time.I was keeping the red one and so Chance decided he'd keep the green one."

"A likely story..."

Allen said,reaching forward and pulling down th neckling of her shirt just far enough to see the Royal Seal of Rasa emblazoned onto her skin.

"Princess Sakura."

Sakura pulled back,slapping Allen's hand away.Allen simply chuckled and gripped her wrist.

"You're not getting away this time,Princess.I have my men surrounding the area.Your Vulcan Speed powers won't help you this time."

Sakura growled and bought her fist up into Allen's stomach,making him let go of her other wrist and double over.She ran towards the bathroom,where Van was just coming out with his newly dyed,silver hair.He looked to Sakura.

"What's got you so pumped?"

Sakura grabbed his arm and said,

"Van,we have to go,now!Allen figured us out and he has men surrounding the area!"

Van's eyes grew wide as he grabbed his sword and tied it to his side,Sakura following suit.

Allen was up by now though and grabbed Van from behind,holding his hands behind his back with an arm around his neck.

"There's no way you two are getting away this time!"

Allen yelled just before Van threw all of his top weight forward and down,throwing Allen off and onto the floor.He looked to Sakura.

"Let's go."

He said.Sakura nodded and they ran upstairs,Van opening up the large,bedroom window and taking Sakura into his arms.

"Here we go.Hang on tight."

Sakura nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck,holding on as Van spread his angelic,white wings and took off.The soldiers below were astounded at this,but nevertheless did their duty as Knights of Caeli and worked with the situation,firing arrows up into the air.

"I can't believe they'd actually fire at us!"

Sakura yelled as Van had to maneuver from side to side to keep from getting hit and agreed,

"Tell me about it...I thought they wanted us back alive for goodness sake!"

Then,disaster struck.One of the arrows hit it's mark,implanting itself into Van's wing and causing him to yell out in pain,going into a steep dive.

"Van,pull up!"

Sakura cried,hanging on tighter.But try as he might,Van could'nt move his injured wing for where the arrow had hit.It was completely useless.He managed to make a smooth landing though,landing on his feet as he came to the ground.They both sighed with relief as Sakura set her own feet onto the ground,standing up from Van's arms.

"Too close..."

She said with a sigh,then looking back as she heard the voices of the Caeli Knights,who were in hot pursuit of them.

"Uh-oh..."

"We're in trouble..."

Van muttered as the Knights burst into view.Sakura grabbed Van's wrist and said,

"Hang onto your Underwear!"

She accelarated with that,taking off into the forest at top speed as she held Van's wrist tight,whom was flying like a kite behind her because of the awesome speed.

But as Sakura ran,the soldiers had apparently been ready for this too,as she suddenly flew forward and to the groun due to a trip wire strung tightly between two trees.Van landed on top of her and grunted,getting off.

"Sakura,you okay?"

He asked,helping her up.She nodded and said,

"Yeah,I think I'm...ah!"

She cringed,faultering down some and picking up one foot,rubbing her ankle.Van got down and gave it a quick look over.

"It looks like you twisted it when you fell..."

He told her as he stood back up.Sakura sighed.

"But if I can't run,my speed's no good!"

"And if I can't move my wing,I can't fly...they really disabled us."

Sakura nodded.

"We can't give up though.We can't let them take us back to Gaea and Rasa!"

"I know...we have to figure out some way to..."

That's when Van looked to the side,noticing what looked like some sort of an ancient temple.Just above the door of which stood a statue of what looked like an Angel,but Van knew it to be a Draconian.Sakura followed his gaze and her jaw dropped.

"Van..."

She began.Van nodded.

"I know.Come on.I have an idea."

He said,picking her up into his arms and running swiftly inside the temple,stopping and letting his eyes adjust to the sudden cover of darkness before continuing forward.

Sakura looked back over his shoulder as she heard the Knights closing in,though she could'nt yet see them.

"Van,the Knights..."

"I know...just calm down.This is our only shot at getting out of this mess."

Van told her,kneeling down in front of another Draconian statue,this one built into a shrine.He held Sakura a bit tighter and dipped his head down,closing his eyes.

"Winged ancestors of Draconian Blood,please hear my cry.We are in danger and need your help.Please take us to a safer place!I beg of you winged ancestors!Send us away from this place!"

It was with those words that a pillar of bright,white light descended down into the temple and upon them through a round hole in the roof,lifting them effortlessly up off the floor and up into the sky...

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Sakura grunted,being the first to come around as she looked up into a night sky,seeing the moon and...GAEA?!?!Okay,this was getting out of hand.She sat sraight up from where she laid in the grass,looking about.She had found herself in another wooded area,but it definately was NOT the forest outside of Fried.

"Oh,boy...I think we might be in more trouble than we were before Van.Van?Van!"

She looked around frantically,not seeing him anywhere.Apparently,they had been dropped in two different places.

"I'd better find him on the triple..."

She said to herself,standing and limping forward on her injured ankle.

"Van,I hope you're okay..."

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Van turned over in the soft grass as he came around a little,but refused to fully awaken and laid there,being quite tired from what had recently occured.

He then felt what had begun his awakening before.It felt like someone was poking him in the face with a twig.He opened his eyes and pushed the twig away,looking upon the person who was poking him with it.

The person was a young girl about Van's age with short,honey brown hair and big,green eyes.She wore a white T-shirt and pink running short,along with a pair of running shoes.Van sat up and continued to look at her as she looked right back at him.

"H-hi..."

The girl said,waving her hand.Van did the same.

"Hi."

"Um...why were you on the ground like that?And...why do you have wings?And...what's your name?"

She asked curiously.Van could'nt help but smile at this and said,

"My name's Van.Van Fanel.And as for your other questions,I..."

Van then looked up into the night sky,noticing that he was looking at Gaea instead of the Mystic Moon.

"Uh-oh..."

He muttered.

"I know I said I wanted to go to the Mystic Moon..."

He said to himself in realization of where he was.

"But I never thought I actually would!"

The girl blinked at him curiously,wondering what in the world he was talking about as he tried to get himself together.He then turned to her and tried to keep his cool,so as not to get her into a tizzy.

"Uhhh...so...what's your name?"

He asked,as it was the only thing he could think of to say at the moment after being hit with a sack of bricks that literally screamed 'you're not on Gaea anymore!'.

This girl smiled a little and replied,

"Hitomi.Hitomi Kanzaki."

"Hitomi..."

Van repeated after her,never having heard a name like this before.Then,a thought suddenly struck him and he said,

"Wait a minute...Sakura!She was in that pillar of light,too!I have to find her!"

He stood up,feeling some pain in his body from where he had been slammed into the ground.Hitomi gotup as well and said,

"Sakura must be a friend of yours,right?I'll help you find her.What does she look like?"

Van started to say she had blonde hair,but then remembered it was pink now and replied,

"She has this long,pink hair tied on both sides,and these unmistakable aqua eyes.You really can't miss her."

Hitomi nodded.

"All right."

She then looked at Van's wing.

"Geez,you're hurt.Come on.I'll get Yukari to fix that up and me and Amano'll look for Sakura."

"Yukari?Amano?"

"They're friends of mine.Come on."

Hitomi tugged Van's wrist as she started walking.He was hesitant at first,but soon followed her.

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It was'nt long later that Hitomi had led Van out into the woods and to a tree house out by a creek.She helped showed him inside,where another,red-headed girl and a cinnamon haired young man sat,playing some type of video game.Van was'nt sure what to think of what was going on,and had no idea about the video game.

"Yukari!Amano!Turn the Gamecube off,we need some help here!"

Hitomi said,sitting Van down on the bottom matress of one of the bunk beds.It was actually pretty well equipped for a tree house.

Yukari and Amano turned around,dropping the control pads when they laid eyes on Van.

"Hitomi,you brought an Angel here?!"

Yukari screeched in over-excitement.Hitomi sweatdropped,but then shook her head to regain her composure.

"Does'nt matter.His wing's hurt and he needs help."

She told Yukari,then looking to Amano.

"He has a friend out there that we need to find.She may be hurt too.Amano,will you help me find her?"

Amano nodded,a little dazed at the sudden occurences.

Yukari did'nt waste any time pulling the first aid kit out from under the bed and starting on Van's wing as Hitomi and Amano made a quick exit down the fireman pole that was built in next to the ladder.Van sighed as he watched them.

"I hope they find her..."

He said to himself just before feeling a blazing pain in his wounded wing.

"Argh!Hey,what the heck are you doing over there?!"

Van yelled at Yukari.She fwapped him suddenly with a nearby pillow and said,

"Oh,calm down you big baby!I have to put alcohol in it to kill the germs!Geez,for an Angel,you sure can't take much!"

"I'm not an Angel,I'm Draconian!"

"You're still a baby..."

They both sort of growled at each other.It was easy to see that Van and Yukari were'nt getting along right off the bat.

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"Hitomi,over here!"

Amano yelled some time later to his friend as he looked to the unconcious figure that laid on the ground before him.

Hitomi burst through the foliage at top speed,coming to a screeching halt.

"What is it Amano?"

She asked as Amano pointed to the person on the ground.

"I think I found her.Looks like she's had a rough time out here."

Hitomi nodded.

"Let's get her back to the treehouse..."

"Right."

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End Chapter 7

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Now,to my loyal reviewers for my first Escaflowne ficcie...

To Hikari88,

Hehe.That was coincidence with CrystalDolphin tho.Big coincidence.lol.Glad U think it's developing well.This chappie was choppy methinks,but next one will B better.^^

To CrystalDolphin88,

Hikari is your nickname?Geez,even more coincidence!Hehe!And,glad U liked the twist end at the end of the last chapter with Sakura being Vulcanian.A little idea i've been wanting to use for some time now ever since I got a Gamecube and Sonic Adventure DX:Director's Cut for my birthday.^^