The Love of A Seeress
Chapter 7: Separate Paths
Today was not the day Millerna was meant to be wed. It was true in the previous timeline, and remains true regardless of who she intended to marry. Destiny is one of the forces that escape human perception but affect everything we do, akin to gravity. It is not to say that every event in a life is predetermined, but that everyone has a purpose. Anything that affects their fulfillment of that purpose was not meant to be, and will only lead to hardship. This lesson and more awaited the young princess as she stood in front of God and country to profess her undying love to Allen Schezar.
Becoming accustomed now to changes in the timeline, Van took this one with little more than a scoff. At least now he won't be after Hitomi, he thought.
Serah leaned closer and whispered to him, "Was Millerna supposed to marry someone else?"
"Yes, the way I remember it, this was to be a political wedding between her and Dryden, a wealthy merchant and son of a friend of the King," Van whispered back, his lips nearly touching her ear. The sensation caused her to shiver and she was unable to concentrate on anything he had just said. "I don't know how she convinced her father to allow this wedding, considering his distrust of Allen."
"Who knows what has happened this time around? Maybe Allen has proven himself worthy."
"Perhaps," Van allowed. It wasn't clear to him what had happened to Dryden. From his limited experience with the King of Asturia, he didn't seem the type to let his daughter marry for love when she could solidify a political allegiance. He had done so with her older sister Marlene, who had been married off to the Duke of Freid. Maybe Dryden just disappeared like Hitomi. Having lost interest in the wedding, he began fiddling with his pendant, dropping Serah's hand in the process.
A woman with an overzealous hat complete with feathers shifted in front of Serah, blocking her view. Even on her tiptoes, she couldn't see anything. Determined to take in the whole ceremony (and no longer holding hands with Van), she decided to find a better vantage point upstairs. Leaning against a stone pillar near the stairs, Van gave her a nod as he watched her go.
He didn't know why, but this marriage made him anxious. Could it be that he felt guilty for holding hands with Serah, while on a quest to save Hitomi? The fact that Millerna had, in one version of events , been ready to spend the rest of her life with Dryden, when it was clear as day that she had been in love with Allen only deepened his sense of culpability. Was he doing the same thing? There was something about Serah that was so familiar. It felt right, holding her hand. In his mind he knew that he loved Hitomi, but, as Serah had warned him, his memories of her were getting more difficult to recall. While all the events were there, it was the little things that escaped him. What color was her hair? He asked himself, distressed that even this small detail was lost. Holding the pendant ever tighter, he tried to visualize Hitomi. Picture what you want to find in your mind. Clear your mind and concentrate as hard as you can. If you focus your thoughts you can find her.
Dodging a bear-like man, Serah climbed the crowded stairs to a viewing gallery. The air was fresher here than down below where many bodies pressed together stifled the breeze. Though all the seats here were taken, she was able to lean against the railing without anyone behind her protesting. The high priest was saying "…children of Asturia, a land blessed with rich wind and water and embraced by both the sun and the moon. This day bears witness to a blessed event…"
In his mind's eye, Van caught a glimpse of a pleated skirt and then a running shoe. Again he remembered Hitomi's voice saying, make the image clear… He pictured her lips poised in a playful pout, and those big blue eyes. He saw the strength in her arms as she notched an arrow, and the bare skin of her hips. When her pink side ponytail came into view, he cursed himself. Hitomi, why isn't this working? Frustrated, he ripped off the pendant, snapping the chain. Balled in his fist, the pendant began to shine, and the pink light escaped between his closed fingers. His hope restored, Van eagerly opened his hand. To his dismay, the pendant was gone, leaving a crumpled tarot card in its place.
The sky darkened, causing Van to look up. A solar eclipse brought the city into a premature twilight. Some shouting above caught Van's attention. As he was trying to figure out what was going on, a woman's scream pierced the air. Fearing for his companion's safety, he headed for the stairs. Several men rushed up the steps ahead of him, and unable to get past them, he instead ran to the front of the crowd, towards the altar. Time stopped as he witnessed someone fall from the gallery overhead.
"No. Serah!" he shouted as he recognized her pink hair. Though he was running flat out, he was too far away. Desperately, he reached out his arms towards her. As Serah was about to make contact with the pavement, a time gate appeared below her. Upon contact, both she and the gate vanished. "Wait!" Seconds too late, Van beat his fists violently against the ground where the time gate had been. He looked up sharply at the railing from which Serah had fallen. Strange faces stared down at him, more surprised than he that the young woman had vanished. Perplexed, he flashed back to Serah's face the instant before she'd disappeared. Had she been smiling?
"What's that?" asked Millerna, having just sealed her marriage to Allen with a kiss. "A solar eclipse?"
"It's an ill omen," worried the high priest.
As two guymelefs advanced on the castle, one of the guards shouted "it's an enemy attack!"
"Zaibach," cursed Allen.
The army guards readied their guymelefs but the defenses were riddled with misfortune. Ballistics malfunctioned. Ropes snapped. Guymelef units fell without cause. Dark clouds were gathering. Allen made a move to his guymelef, Scherazade, but Millerna held him back. Just then lightning struck a nearby tower, and the debris rained down on the royal couple; some pieces larger than the guymelefs that tried to save them. Allen dove to protect Millerna, and was injured when stone slab crushed his ribs and his left arm.
"Allen!" Millerna cried.
The roaring thunderclap that followed the lightning brought Van's attention back to the present. Seeing the royal couple in danger, Van rushed over to them. From above, both luck soldiers watched the chaos ensue.
Millerna had fashioned a tourniquet from the fabric of her wedding dress when Van reached them. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"Van!" Allen shouted, in recognition. And then, seeing the two guymelefs land behind him he warned, "Look out!"
Heeding his warning, Van dove behind the remnants of the fallen tower.
A booming voice cut through the pandemonium. "Attention people of Asturia: we are the Zaibach Intensified Luck Soldiers. I repeat: attention people of Asturia, we are the Zaibach Intensified Luck Soldiers."
"Intensified Luck Soldiers?" questioned Millerna.
"Resistance is futile. We have but one demand. Van Fanel, former King of Fenalia and his guymelef, Escaflowne. If you wish to avoid further misfortune hand over Van Fanel at once."
Shocked, Millerna said, "They're crazy!"
From the ground, Allen reached towards him, "Van, don't listen to them. Stay here and— "
"Be careful, Allen," urged Millerna, concerned that he might injure himself further.
"I understand now," Van said softly, "Without Hitomi here, it's me they want."
"What? What are you talking about?"
Van looked down at the crumpled tarot card in his fist. The lovers. "I thought I could change the world back to the way it was supposed to be. I thought that it would bring back Merle and Hitomi. I thought I could change time, that I could will it to change!"
"What are you saying?" asked Millerna
Van met her eyes and tried express his fear in words; "Millerna, this timeline is all wrong; you were supposed to be marrying Dryden. And Hitomi… she was supposed to be here! But no matter where I go in the timeline, things just keep getting worse. I've changed one destiny for another!"
This confession brought a gasp from Millerna's thoat, as she looked down at her beloved. Was it true that their marriage was not meant to be? Maybe that was why all this turmoil came about. The high priest had said something about ill omens… It pained her heart to think that she and Allen would not get the chance to be together. What destiny awaited her?
Without Serah, the journey through time to save Hitomi felt impossible. So far, every time he had entered the Historia Crux someone had gone missing or died. First it was Hitomi, then Merle, and now Dryden and Serah. Was he conjuring a worse destiny for his friends by travelling through time? Weighted down by responsibility, Van felt as if there was no way out for him. If Zaibach wants me, they can have me. But that doesn't mean I'll come quietly.
"Allen, lend me your guymelef," Van commanded. "I have need of Scherazade."
Struggling to sit up, Allen replied "But Van, where's Escaflowne?"
"Not here, where it matters!" he shouted. "If I can distract the Luck Soldiers and lead them out of the city, then I can retrieve Escaflowne and fight them off. No one else needs to suffer on my account."
"Take it," Allen allowed.
Immediately, Van was running to the abandoned guymelef behind them. Although he tried, the cockpit would not open for him. It looked as though it had been jammed shut when the tower fell. Thinking through his options, it seemed to him there was only one last thing he could try. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders and walked towards the awaiting Zaibach guymelefs.
In the center of the courtyard, Van stopped and spread his arms wide. "I'm the dragon you seek." He shouted, looking up at the floating fortress from which he expected his brother would be watching. "And my name is Van Fanel."
"Van, No!" shouted Millerna.
"If you want me, here I am!" he declared, drawing his sword. "Come and get me!" challenged Van, as wings burst forth from his back. With revenge in his heart for his friends that were now lost to him, Van launched himself from the ground in an attack against the floating fortress itself. A shaft of light shone down on his pure white wings as the fortress moved, ending the eclipse. Sunlight embraced him, and against the gloom of the courtyard, it was as though his features were etched in gold.
Quick as a cat, the silver-haired luck soldier reached out to snatch Van as he flew by, but suddenly she couldn't breathe. Unable to operate her guymelef, Naria exited the cockpit and jumped down to the ground, with her hands encircling her neck. Seeing her sister was in trouble, Eryia also abandoned the fight and joined her on the ground.
"No, sister," hissed Naria through her closed throat. "One of us has to save Lord Folken!"
Agreeing, Eryia was about to re-enter her guymelef when her breath caught in her chest. Her fingers scrambled at her neck as she fought to breathe and she fell back down to the ground next to Naria. The leopard-women aged twenty years in an instant, and seemed as though they were wilting in the sunlight. Unable to fight, they held each other as they looked on in fear as Van reached the floating fortress. "Folken, we love you."
With as slash of his sword, Van broke through the window of the bridge and glass rained down all around him. All personnel scattered at the sight of him. "Folken! Come out and face me like a man!" Van raged. He slashed at the computers on the flight deck, causing the circuitry to fail, but even the warning sirens that signaled a navigation malfunction did not produce his brother from the depths of the fortress. Van left the bridge and sprinted down the corridors, searching every room for Folken. In one such room, Van came upon a lone Zaibach soldier. The man cowered in terror at the sight of his prodigious wings.
"Where's Folken?" he demanded of the soldier with his sword against his jugular.
Trembling, the man pointed behind him to a door. Van nodded and approached it carefully.
A dark room lay beyond the door, with a large screen taking up the majority of the space. From out of the shadows came a figure dressed in black robes. "Van, here I am." Folken revealed his face, making himself a target for Van's righteous sword.
Taking a step into the room with his blade steadily aimed at his brother's heart he asked quietly, "How could you attack Fanelia?" After another step, he asked again, "How could you kill Merle?" When Folken did not respond, Van lunged forward shouting "It's all your fault!" His sword connected with the wall ahead of him, and where Folken had been; only shadows remained.
Behind him, a voice spoke, "Our choices shape who we are, Van." Pivoting, Van found his brother was now leaning against the giant screen, his head bowed. "Sometimes we get caught up in the moment and lose sight of what is more important. But still, the choices we make influence the future regardless of our intentions. Van," he said, looking into his eyes now, "what path will you chose?"
Folken motioned to a time gate that was to the left of the doorway, in another dark corner. Van hadn't noticed it until just now. The tarot card was still in his hand, having held it against the hilt of his sword for motivation to go through with his revenge. But now, Van hesitated. Was it still possible for him to fix the timeline without Serah's help? And what if his time travel caused more of his friends to die? What then? What was more important: protecting the world from his memories or the one he was living in now?
What he was facing was a world without love, where all those he cared about were dead; his brother at his own hands. Unable to imagine living in such a world, Van headed towards the gate. His fury subsided for now, replaced with a desperate hope that he could bring back what he had lost. "Good bye, brother."
"Until we meet again."
To Be Continued…
Author's Note:
Umm the next chapter is only a teaser... I felt like it should be published on its own. You can find it in Games - Final Fantasy XIII-2 section called "The Hands of Time". Not sure if it will make the final cut for the completed story, I guess it depends where I go from here.
Coming up- Van has to decide what he is fighting for, Serah learns that her coming to Gaea was prophesied.
