Chapter 8 Escaflowne, Sora's Hometown.

The gates were enormous, big enough to hide the kingdom itself when a few meters in front of it. It was made with metal painted in black with gold circles. At the center of it resembled a turtle, painted in silver. A thunderous voice spoke from the gates. Sakura woke up while Stephanie was looking at the black mable walls with white lines that seemed to be writings that she can't understand but it looks similar to kanji, Japanese writing.

"Who goes there?" asked the voice.
"I am Sora, an Escaflownian and son of Baldur, I came from the forest to harvest apples!" replied Sora.

The voice did not speak anymore and opened the gates, however, no one was there. Sora ordered his horse to move on with his whip.

"I believe you have some business with the Priestess." Chii said, smiling to Syaoran.
"Uh.. how did you..?" Syaoran replied.
"As you were telling us the story of how Sacae was attacked, it seemed that your goal was to meet the Priestess and ask for justice." Fai answered, looking at the tower in the middle of many buildings.

Sakura while rising from Syaoran's laps looked at Chii, who was smiling at her. She doesn't get the look that Chii was making.
"Don't worry, it will come soon." Chii said, with a friendly grin.
"Huh? What will?" asked Sakura.
"Oh, you'll see." then Chii stepped off the carriage of Sora, after Fai, leaving Sakura confused.

"Let's meet at the Inn later." Fai said, giving a wave to them as Sora ordered his horse to move. Chii did the same.

"So, you were about to talk to the Priestess, huh? Don't worry, she's a sweetheart." Sora said, smiling. "My friend works for her, well, sort of. She's the Lady in Waiting. Meaning she will be the one next to the Priestess when she dies, though I hope she doesn't!" Sora said, with happiness painted on his face.
"I will go there with you to greet her." Sora said with a slight blush. Stephanie smiled at the sight of this.

The apples on Sora's carriage bounced as they took a bumpy road, leading to a huge castle.
"Escaflowne is the central city of Genbu. Everything takes place here. Since Genbu is located at the west of Garderobe, the climate here is very fair, regarding the fact that Genbu specializes on earth, we never have flash floods and our forests are abundant." Sora said with a grin.

"Oh, that's nice. By the way, I forgot to ask you guys where did you come from. Mind telling me?" Stephanie said, smiling to Syaoran and Sakura.

"Oh, okay. Sacae is found here in Genbu, conquering the rest of the plains after the forest. We can be considered traditional, or native but we are not. Anyways, Sacae is just a field in Genbu, a town to be precise. The largest town in Garderobe." Syaoran answered.

"We specialize on earth as well, since we're part of the earth kingdom." Sakura added.
"Oh I see." Stephanie replied.

They passed by buildings that are very inviting and courteous at the first look, friendly people and then a huge castle.

"That is the Alice Academy. Everyone in Garderobe who has special powers called "Alice" attend this school to enhance their powers." Sora explained when he saw Stephanie's look of interest.
"Oh, okay. At the sound of Alice, I thought she was a vain person who created this school." she replied, smiling.

They again, passed by a huge temple, smaller than Alice Academy.

"This is the guild of Earth benders. They train here and hold meetings." Sora said.

They headed to the east. The apples bounced as they took a bumpy road. The road was made with gravel. Sora ordered his horse to stop, and they stopped by a shop.

"Good Morning, Urahara!" Sora greeted.
"Ah, good morning to you too, Sora." replied the man named Urahara.
"I have some apples for you!" Sora replied smiling.
"Really? Why thank you. Please put them on the box near the door." Urahara said.
"Oh, okay!" Sora replied happily, carrying his apples with the others' help. "Oh, you seem to have new friends!" Urahara said, entering the room through the sliding door. He was a tall slim man wearing a hat and loose kimono, the one for the males, and he wore traditional Japanese slippers. He had long hair, longer by a little to Syaoran's.
"Ah, yes. This is Syaoran, Sakura and Stephanie. We met at the forest!" Sora replied.
"Pleasure to meet you!" the three of them said.
"Well, they seem to look like Sacaeans." Urahara said.
"Yes, they are." Sora answered.

Sora finished giving Urahara the apples and explained that they have something urgent to say to the Priestess. They all said goodbye to Urahara, with him saying Good Luck to them and they left for the Main Castle.