Chapter 11: The Watcher
Most of Freid's soldiers and guymelefs were preparing for the upcoming Zaibach invasion in the quickly fading daylight. Monks sat cross-legged chanting to the gods for protection and guidance in the battle to come while the guards had barred the castle gates, and were patrolling the walls, watching over the Freidian country side for any sign of their enemies.
Millerna sat in silence with Allen in his chambers. "Thank you." She said softly to Moleman as he left the room after bringing them something to eat from the kitchens. Her eyes drifted back to the seemingly stoic knight sitting before her, he seemed to be long gone in thought as he looked out the window. Seeing his troubled face, Millerna walked around to his back, and leaning down, placed her head on his strong shoulder in comfort.
"Allen, I don't care about Asturia or Freid. Just…" She said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "As long as you're safe."
She didn't understand, he stayed unmoving in the princesses arms. This place... it brought back old and painful memories. Why was her image bothering him so much now after so many years? Her long pale blond hair, that always flowed in waves down her graceful figure. Her kind, soft, warm eyes... Why didn't anything going his way?
Outside of Allen's room, a very nosy man happily eavesdropped on the pair within, unaware of anything else around him.
Seeing this, Merle took the opportunity to use her cat-like abilities to scare the living crap out of him. "Meow!" Moleman flew back from the door with a yelp of surprise, landing hard on his behind. "Wha'cha think your doing?" Merle questioned, eyeing the man as if he were a mouse, her tail flinging back and forth.
"N-n-n-n-n-nothing." He stuttered.
She only shrugged her furry shoulders before opening the shutter-like door to Allen's room, much to the moleman's horror, but she didn't seem to care. "Hey, Allen." She called into the small room. "Has Hitomi been around here?" The cat asked the blond knight.
"No, I haven't seen her." Came the response from within.
"Oh… ok. Sorry for disturbing you." She called back and with that she walked off, leaving a stunned Moleman sitting by the door.
Picking himself up off the floor, he dusted his robes off before continuing past Allen's door.
"Moleman!" He flinched, slowly turning around he found himself facing a very upset looking knight.
"I-I-I gotta go!" The mole mumbled before turning on his heels and running down the hall, trying to get as far away from the Caeli Knight as he could. They never did have the best of relationships…
Van was walking down the corridors towards the melef store rooms to work on Escaflowne when the Duke of Freid stopped him in the hall. "Fanelia." The Duke called out as he noticed the younger king around the corner.
Stopping, Van turned. "Duke Freid." Van acknowledged the older ruler's approach with a slight bow of his head. The Duke was no longer in his formal attire as he had been during their meeting earlier, but was now wearing a loose white shirt with a royal blue sash across his chest that was tied about at the waist. The causal look did little to lessen his intimidating and royal presence.
"I've been meaning to speak with you alone, Fanelia." The Duke said as he stopped before him.
"Yes?" Van placed his hand on his hip. Although he didn't mind talking to the Duke, he had sent Merle off to find Hitomi to tell her to meet him in the store room. He didn't want to leave Hitomi waiting if she was already there.
"It's about your Lady Hitomi." The Duke started, as he studied the young King's reaction to the name.
'My Lady Hitomi?' Van thought, blinking at the older man.
"I just wanted to congratulate you. She's very beautiful and seems to hold great power." He smiled knowingly. "Although I have not had a chance to talk to her personally as of yet, but do not worry, I understand that you wish to keep the news quite until matters are more in your favor."
"…What are you talking about, Duke Freid?" He asked, a little confused.
"Why, your engagement of course." He said simply.
"My what?" Van asked in astonishment, looking wide eyed at Duke Freid as his heart skipped a beat. "My engagement? Where did you get that idea from?" He asked more calmly after getting over the initial shock. He was at least happy that there was no one else around to hear them at that moment.
Duke Freid frowned slightly. "Well, I've heard some talk..." He said, observing the young King.
Van blushed. He must have heard about the night he'd fallen asleep in Hitomi's room, and about him carrying her down the halls... He looked away in embarrassment.
"Also, she was in your royal colors, and when I passed by her I saw a small band of gold around her finger." The Duke sounded a little unsure of himself now. Even if Van hadn't been a King, it would still have been a very embarrassing mistake to have made.
But the Duke was right, she had been in Fanelian colors... Van hadn't noticed that, but the gold ring? Had she gone and done something behind their backs had she? Or was this just a misunderstanding?
Van smiled despite himself but didn't meet the other man's gaze. "It's alright, I understand. It's a common mistake." He bowed before running off down the hall.
"Damn, this thing's a mess!" Kio exclaimed, as he pushed his file along Escaflowne's sword, sending sparks flying. "You're too rough on this sword, yer Majesty." Kio stopped what he was doing to look at all the nicks and scratches on the blade before glancing back at the King.
"Oh really?" Van asked, looking at the scrawny man curiously.
"You bet." He nodded. "Well, the boss's an't got a scratch on it." Kio said, waving the file at Van to make his point.
"Well excuse me!" The young King snapped. "I'm not as good with a sword as Allen is, ok?"
"Now your just being snarky, yer Majesty." Kio grinned mockingly.
Van looked away.
"Ah…" Gaddess looked between the two, worried that his comrade might have upset the young king. "He's lying. The Commander's sword has got a few nicks in it. Just not as many as yours, yer Majesty." Gaddess assured.
Van was just about to defend himself when Merle's cry interrupted him before he was able to snap back.
"Lord Van!" The young cat girl yelled, throwing her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly has she purred.
Over the cat girl's head, he could see Hitomi, still in her red velvet dress, walk into the room. "Hitomi." Van said cheerfully upon seeing her.
Merle just glared over her shoulder with a small hiss to her rival.
Hitomi ignored her. "You, wanted to see me?" She asked Van, looking at him a little uncertain.
"That's right." Van nodded but a small sparkle on her left hand caught his attention before he could continue. 'The ring…'
Hitomi followed his eyes down to her hand. "Oh." She blushed slightly, holding her hand up so Van could see the small heart shaped ring on her ringer.
His heart dropped at seeing it. Did this really mean…
She twisted the ring around her slender ringer a bit. "My mom gave this to me a few years ago, when I started junior high school. I just found it in my bag when we got back." She explained and Van felt his heart lighten. "I didn't want to risk loosing it. So I figured it would be better if I just wore it."
"Hissss… You should know better then to put it on your ring finger, you know!" Merle scolded her. "Someone might get the wrong idea, and think you're married to Lord Van or something!"
They both blushed at her comment.
"Hitomi," He started, as he watched her move the ring over a finger. "I'd like to ask for your help."
"Oh?" What could he need her help with? Hitomi clasped her hand in front of her as she waited for him to continue.
"I don't want you to go into battle or anything." He faltered as he noticed her slightly confused look. "Well, you see... You can see the future, and can sense where invisible targets are. I was hoping," Van continued, looking away from her bright eyes. "You could use that power to tell us what direction Zaibach's going to attack from."
"That's a great idea, yer Majesty!" Kio piped up from bind him.
"Yeah," Gaddess said, scratching the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "We might be able to scatter them before they attack."
Other crewmen soon joined in. "That little lady will be like a Goddess of Victory!" One men shouted, only to be followed by the joyful cries of the others within the storehouse.
Hitomi looked around with wide eyes. She shook her head, holding her arms tightly to her body. "No…" The whole room went deadly silent at Hitomi's words. "No way." She said a firmer and loader.
Seeing her wild expresses, he grew worried. "H-Hitomi…?" Van asked carefully.
"I-I won't." She stated, her golden hair falling over her eyes, shadowing them and making them unreadable to the young king and the others. "I don't want to see it." Hitomi shook her head. 'No more blood.' "I… I won't be used as some kind of tool!" She shouted at last, glaring sharply at Van.
Taken a back by her sudden outburst, he didn't know that to say. He hadn't meant it like that.
"On earth I was just a normal girl" Everyone listened to her sorrow filled words as her eyes grew bright with tears. "My, my readings were just a little more accurate then other peoples. But… since I came to Gaea, my predictions are becoming so accurate it's scary, and…" She looked down at her shaking hands. "I keep having horrible visions!" She finished. Her head coming up, her bright green eyes pleading for him to understand.
"Hitomi…" He started, he could see the pain in her eyes, and he should have known better then to ask such a thing of her. He'd heard her wake more then once only to cry herself back after her visions. He was sorry, he hadn't meant to hurt her...
"Just stop counting on me!" Her shout caused Van to take a step back. "Don't make me do anymore readings, or see those horrible visions again. Never!" She yelled before turning as her tears fell to the floor. Picking up her dress, she fled from the store house.
"Hitomi!" Van called after her fleeting figure, he made a move to go after but stopped but the cat girl holding his arm.
Unwrapping her arms from around her King, Merle looked to where Hitomi had just gone. "What's her problem?" The cat asked, then stuck her tongue out in Hitomi's direction. When she turned back, she saw Lord Van leaving out the back doors. 'Now where is he going?' She thought as she began to follow.
Hitomi wandered around the Freidian palace for some time after the meeting with Van till she found herself at the palace fountains. She sat down on the steps surrounding a small pool of water, sure that no one would bother her in such an isolated part of the palace grounds. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Hitomi stared into the water as it sparkled with what little light it got from the twin moons in the cloudy night.
"Fortune telling, it was just for fun. So… make it stop, the visions, predictions… Please, make them stop…" She pleaded to no one in particular, burying her face in her dress as pain filled tears ran from her green eyes. Why, since coming to Gaea, had all this started? Why didn't Van understand that she wasn't some kind of tool? She wasn't a tool… it's not right to use a person like that. A War Tool… was that all they thought of her as?
A gloved hand clutched the edge of a nearby doorway, the only thing visible in the faint glow of the torches along the stone walls, its owner still hidden in the shadows. The figure watched the young girl with sorrow filled eyes. He had to do this, if he didn't…
Millerna slowly walked the stone pathways around Freid's palace, the one she had chosen led her into the nearby forest. Although she'd been to Freid many times, she had never been here. She was, however, lost when the grey clouds finally opened up and it started to rain. Luckily she found a cozy, white-washed house nestled in a small clearing just a little further down her path. Seeing the lights within, Millerna entered, seeking shelter from the downpour.
As she walked into the beautifully decorated room, she noticed the Duke standing before a large portrait of her older sister Marlene.
"Excuse me, Duke Freid…" She paused in the doorway, a little surprised to see him there.
He turned and smiled at the young women. "Princess Millerna." He acknowledged. It was remarkable how much she looked like her older sister.
"What is this place?" She asked, walking farther into the large room.
"It is a villa that Marlene used when she was alive." The Duke said, walking over to the glass window, watching the fat rain drops run down its smooth surface. "She used to stay here before she became my wife. I had the building brought here and rebuilt."
"Amazing!" The Princess exclaimed, gazing around the room in wonder. "I remember now, it looks exactly like it did before."
"Yes, exactly the same." He agreed, and with one last look at the painting, he turned to leave. "Feel free to use it during your stay. Marlene would have liked it that way." With that said he left, walking back toward the palace through the rain.
Millerna wandered around the room, looking at the wooden furniture and bookcases, before stopping at her sister's old vanity table.
"Huh, what's this?" She asked herself as she sat down on the cushioned bench. "I remember this!" She smiled happily, as she opened the music box sitting atop the vanity, and listened to the gentle music it played, watching as the little soldier figurines danced to the song.
To Be Continued
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