Chapter 14 - Every Light

Between Gaea and Earth, there is a dimensional rift. It acts rather like a two-way mirror in some respects. From Gaea, Earth and its moon are clearly visible, but from Earth all that can be seen is a reflection of empty space beyond Gaea. And like a two-way mirror, the rift is double-paned. And in-between the panes, the Ispano dwell. They can see both sides.

Little is known of them. On Earth, they are virtually unknown, save for whispers in rural places of lights in the sky and dragons in the clouds. On Gaea, they are highly sought-after for their Guymelefs, which are sought far and wide for their artistry, their utility, and their intimidation on the field of battle. There are very few Ispano Guymelefs left on Gaea, relics of a bygone age, and they are often obtained at very high cost. Whether the cost in question is monetary or otherwise is always up for negotiation. The Ispano are always willing to make deals. And they do not always make Guymelefs.

"Who's there?" Hitomi called out as the doorknob to her room turned.

She backed up against the bed and quickly looked around the room, trying to find something to defend herself with if it came down to that. She spotted a likely-looking oil lamp, but before she could get to it, the door swung open completely to reveal a very tall man bearing a tea tray, laden with food.

"I hope that I did not disturb you," he said, shutting the door behind him. He set the tray down on the writing desk near the door and then turned, locking the it.

"Paruchi," she said. "You're the man I met in the bar."

He dropped the key in his pocket. "I am pleased you remember my name, Hitomi Kanzaki."

The night before, he had been polite to her. He'd bought her a drink to apologize for his rudeness in interrupting her, and did not comment on Van's behavior. So he was a Sorcerer.

"Are you hungry?" he continued. "I had Minda prepare something for you."

"No," she said, defiantly. Her stomach growled loudly, and he smiled.

"Then I will leave this here, in case you become hungry later. There is also a chamber pot under the bed, which you may use as needed, and a basin of water in the closet, where you may wash."

She shook her head, finding it hard to care about the amenities of her prison. "Last night, some soldiers were arresting me. Why am I here and not in some dungeon?"

Paruchi laughed. It loud and from the diaphragm, and it echoed through the room, confusing Hitomi. Why was he laughing at her situation? What was going on?

His laughter died down, and he looked at her as she stood there, guarded and confused. "You are here because I wanted you here, Girl from the Mystic Moon."

Hitomi stiffened. "But I... how did you...?"

"Your shoes. There really is nothing like them on Gaea."

"Oh," she said, sinking down onto the bed.

How could they have overlooked her such a trivial detail? Her bright white sneakers would have been very visible, even in the darkness of the pub. What a stupid reason to get caught! Feeling lost, she reached up to her neck to clutch at her pendant, but ended up grasping at nothing. She gasped involuntarily. How had she not noticed it was gone before? The familiar weight of it was completely missing from around her neck. Her grandmother's pendant...

"Is something wrong?"

She snapped out of it, and shook her head again. He didn't need to know about her pendant.

"No. Nothing. Wait, actually, there is something wrong. Why did you kidnap me?"

But Paruchi shook is gleaming head and smiled, as if he were interacting with a child. "The business of the Sorcerers would be far too complicated for you to understand. Instead, please enjoy your days with me, while you have them. You will be returned to King Fanel when I am finished with you. Now, please eat something. Your food is getting cold."

Once he finished speaking, he turned his back on her, apparently preparing to leave. As he was fishing in his pocket for the key, however, Hitomi had a flash of insight, recalling the conversation that she'd had with Van the previous night, and the snippets of words that had wafted through her consciousness as she struggled to wake.

She clenched her fists, furrowed her eyebrows, and steeled herself, and with as much force as she could muster, said, "You're keeping me here so you can get your hands on Folken's body. That's it, isn't it?"

Paruchi froze, his hand halfway to the doorknob. Then, slowly, without turning to face her, he lowered it to his side and straightened up.

"Well, you're not going to get it, even if you keep me here. Van will find me, and then we'll talk to the Regent, and you won't have anything!"

Her voice sounded hollow, even to her.

"King Fanel must leave for Asturia in two days, as you well know," Paruchi said, turning back around to face her. "After that, the Regent will have no use for my former colleague's body. And no further use for King Fanel."

Hitomi but her lip and frowned. How did he know that they had to be back for the upcoming summit? "What do you mean by that?"

"That does not matter." He turned from her and put his hand on the doorknob. Then, as an afterthought, added, "I will be back for you at nightfall. Eat your breakfast; it would do neither of us any good if you fainted here."

"You can't just keep me locked up here and not tell me what's going on!"

As he closed the door behind him, Paruchi said, "I believe that is what I am doing. Good day."

"Stop! Come back here!"

Hitomi grabbed the knob as he locked the door and tried to pull it open, but his grip on the handle was firmer than her own. When the tumblers clicked into place, she changed tactics and began and hammering away at the door until his footsteps faded into silence. She swore, and kicked the door frame very hard, which didn't accomplish anything but jamming her big toe.

Hopping on one foot, she made her way over to the bed and collapsed on the soft comforter. She took off her shoe and inspected the toe, which was slightly pink. It wouldn't hurt for long. She frowned at it and then kicked off her other shoe, which flew across the room and hit the wall with a loud thud.

"This is so stupid!" she shouted at the room.

Angry tears began to blur her vision at the thought of her missing pendant, her situation, and her separation from Van when she'd promised to spend what little time left she had on Gaea with him. No, not promised, she corrected herself. Wanted. Worst of all was what else her captivity was going to cost. Now that she was missing, Van would have to choose between her, his brother's body, and his country's future. And she was knew for a fact that he would choose her, in the end.

The guilt it created was a feeling that she didn't much like.

"Hey. Yer Highness. Wake up."

Van stirred in his shallow sleep and opened his eyes to Gaddes, who was standing before him with his arms folded across his chest and a morose expression on his face.

He sat up. "Gaddes. What is it?"

Gaddes scratched his chin and looked out the window as he spoke. "Dryden says that he's going to leave to see the Regent soon. Told me to wake you up."

"Thanks, Gaddes," he swung his leg over the side of the bed and began to pull on his boots. "Did you find anything out about Hitomi?"

Slowly, Gaddes shook his head. "It's weird. No one knows anything about her. Every soldier I talked to either told me to screw off or go back to Asturia, though, so their information probably isn't too good."

"It's too soon after the war for this."

Van stood up and ran his hand through his hair. He could tell that it was messy, but he wasn't in the mood to do anything about it. With this unwelcome news about Hitomi, he couldn't see a point.

Gaddes sighed and cocked his head at Van, frowning a little. "Yeah, but it's just that no one knows anything about her. At all. Not even the crooked bailiffs down at the dungeons. I mean, there are witnesses to the whole thing, but it's weird. Like she didn't get arrested at all."

"Or she's a high-level prisoner," Van replied. His brow darkened and he pushed past Gaddes and into the corridor. "Come on, let's go find Dryden. Once we talk to the Regent, everything will be clear. I promise you that."

Following behind him, Gaddes said, "I hope you're right."

Dryden was in his study, as usual, getting a few papers together at the behest of Mr. Rat, who was so nervous that the young master was off to meet the Regent and former General of the Zaibach Empire that he was close to having a stroke. They convened for a few moments there, speaking of what they could expect from their visit to the Regent, but did not linger for very long. Leaving Gaddes in charge as usual, they boarded their cab and set off for the central structure in Zaibach.

There was some debate, even in the capital, over whether or not the huge, bock-like structure in the middle of the city was a palace. It was often referred to as the palace in conversation among all the social classes, but the fact remained that it was less of a palace and more of a huge complex of laboratories. Some of the more high-ranking Sorcerers even called it the Lab when speaking to each other. However, it also served as the seat of Zaibach's government as well as its military headquarters and central power supply, so calling it a lab was as limiting as calling it a palace. It certainly wasn't a castle, and had never been built along those lines to begin with. It was what it was - the seat of all government, innovation, and power in the Zaibach Empire. The beating heart which was now without that which once made it move.

The once spacious, ornate throne room that had served as Adelphos Gein's office was now transformed into a cramped and chaotic center of operations for the defeated Empire. Already, overstuffed bookshelves lined the walls and every spare chair save for the two in front of his desk was covered in scrolls, books, and extra ink pots. Van's first thought when he saw it was that of disapproval. How could a government be efficiently run in such a mess? Though he was not a meticulously neat person by any means, he could not see himself ever getting anything done constantly surrounded by such clutter, and ached to say something about it. But he held his tongue in the presence of his former enemy.

The Regent was sitting hunched over his large, wooden desk and adding his signature to documents. Gone was the armor that Van had come to expect from a soldier of his rank; instead, he was adorned in a long red set of robes trimmed with gold thread and tied with a scarlet sash, which parted there to reveal a surprisingly plain set of brown trousers and heavy, polished boots. His head was uncovered and his short, graying hair was messy over his prematurely lined face.

"Regent Adelphos," Dryden said, sticking his various folders under his arm and approaching the desk as Van trailed silently behind him.

"Prince Regent Dryden," Adelphos responded without looking up. "Give me a miet, I'm finishing something up."

Van was surprised by the informality of his speech. Even the roughest samurai of Fanelia spoke respectfully to their guests. To treat royalty in such a way was akin to an insult. He glanced at Dryden, expecting to see a mirrored sense of incredulity, but the merchant seemed unruffled as always.

"I've brought King Fanel with me. I trust you received my message?"

"Yes, and his. Sit down, please. Sorry about the mess," he said in clipped tones as he set his paper aside, turned the next sheet over, and began writing something else, the silver tip of his pen flashing in the artificial light.

Without a second thought, Dryden sat down and arranged his folders in his lap. He seemed content to wait there until Adelphos finished whatever it was he was doing, but Van was completely appalled by the Regent's lack of diplomacy, even if they had been at war not even a week ago. The small voice in his head that resembled Hitomi's told him that he was just looking for an excuse to dislike the man, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and sat down, not bothering to disguise the a disapproving frown etched firmly on his face.

After a few more seconds of writing, Adelphos put his pen down, picked up the paper in front of him, and blew on it to dry the ink. Then, satisfied, he stuck it under a piece of blotter paper and turned to his guests.

"You have the payment details?" he asked Dryden, making no apology for keeping them waiting.

Apparently expecting this, Dryden passed the folders he was carrying across to the Regent, who took them, opened them, and glanced over their contents. "You're not done with deliveries yet. You'll be here two more days?"

"Yes, and then I'm afraid we'll have to attend a political summit to discuss what we're going to to with you now that the war's over. Frankly I find the business a bit morbid."

Adelphos closed the folders and threw them on the desk in front of him. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest, frowning hard enough to rival Van's scowl. Then, looking directly at Van, he said, "For some people, utter ruin isn't enough."

The familiar rage surged within him. How did that man dare to speak of ruin when his country was responsible for the destruction of Fanelia?

But his Zaibach is ruined as well, Hitomi's voice reminded him. You have to realize that you aren't the only person in the world to ever suffer. He believes in his country, too.

With effort, Van suppressed his outrage. Now wasn't the time to go off on a tirade about who had suffered the most injustice. Hitomi would tell him that, if she were there.

"We've both seen what war does," he said, returning the Regent's gaze. "It does enough."

A pleased look passed over the Regent's face. "That's right. And now we're both stuck trying to breathe life into our countries with broken bellows and the rest of those Alliance bastards want to take even that away from us."

He's casting us in the same mold, Van thought. He wants something from me.

Van noticed something else as well. So far, he hadn't mentioned Hitomi at all.

After a brief silence, Adelphos reached into the pocket of his robes and removed a medium-sized pouch of money and passed it to Dryden.

"Thank you for the medical supplies. I trust you'll find that all the money's there."

"I trust I will," Dryden replied, without weighing it. "And now that our business is taken care of, I have something else I'd like to discuss with you. It seems that one of our companions has been arrested by your soldiers."

"Then he probably shouldn't have made an ass of himself. What is it, drunken behavior? A lot of foreigners get hauled in over that."

"You mean, you don't know?" Van said.

"I don't keep tabs on every small arrest in the capital. It's a big place."

"It's Hitomi. The Girl from the Mystic Moon."

There was a short pause as Adelphos stared at them, frowning. Van felt his stomach go numb. He didn't know. Oh Gods, he really didn't know.

"I've issued no orders for her arrest. You must be mistaken."

Van made an angry noise in his throat, and then said, "It was one of your citizens who told me! I doubt that they'd mistake the uniform of their own country's military."

"All of our sources agree that she was carried off by two soldiers who made no secret that they were arresting her," Dryden explained, hastily cutting in after Van's outburst.

"She isn't in our dungeons," he replied. "I inspected them this morning. I'll take you on a personal inspection of the dungeons if you don't believe me."

"If you don't have her, then who does?" Van asked.

Adelphos thought for a moment. "Mercenaries, or the man who hired them. Impersonating a soldier is punishable by death but that doesn't stop those who can afford to pay for it."

"So it'll be someone rich," Dryden said, scratching his chin. "Someone high up in the military. A noble."

"Or a Sorcerer."

There was a long moment of silence as they sat and considered the implication of this. If someone wealthy had hired a mercenary to kidnap Hitomi, what could they have wanted her for? What kind of danger was she in now? What if they wouldn't find her before time required them to leave?

"I'll send out a few of my men to search the city," Adelphos said in a deep, slow voice. "It's all we can do for now. But in the meantime, King Fanel, there's something else I'd like to discuss with you. Alone, if you don't mind, Prince Regent."

Nonplussed, Dryden stood up. "I was just going to excuse myself, anyway. Pleasure doing business with you, Regent."

"And you."

"Van. Take care."

He didn't miss the pointed tone of Dryden's comment. It annoyed him that someone who wasn't raised to rule was giving him advice, but he didn't say anything back. The man had gone out of his way to help him, and if there was anything Van respected, it was one person's willingness to help another.

Dryden shut the door behind them, and the two rulers regarded each other, one calculating, and one on guard.

"It's... regrettable what happened to Fanelia. Dilandau was one of my men, but that monster couldn't be controlled. He belonged to the Sorcerers."

Van folded his arms across his chest. "I didn't come here to hear your apologies for burning my country to the ground. You know why I'm here."

There was a beat, and then, "I'll get to the point. You're here for your brother's body."

Van nodded. "Can you give him to me?"

Steepling his fingers, Adelphos regarded Van. "If you've come this far, you must know that I have a price."

He was right. Van knew that it would come to this, and he was quite prepared to negotiate. But Hitomi kept wafting in and out of his thoughts, distorting his mental clarity.

Knowing that it would disadvantage him, Van said, "Will you promise to leave Hitomi out of this?"

The wrinkles on Adlephos' brow deepened. "She will have nothing to do with what passes between us here. This is an agreement between two nations of Gaea, and she isn't of Gaea. You have my word."

A bit of the tension eased from Van's shoulders, but he did not relax entirely. Adelphos still held all the cards.

"Then I'll hear your terms."

Hitomi was glad that she'd eaten the various meals proffered to her by the household staff at the end of the day. So far, Paruchi had drug her across so many corridors that she felt like they were denizens of some vast and unending labyrinth. Already, she was feeling tired out, and she had been sure to eat all of her food, as she always did. Being a runner, she had a good appetite.

They had been walking in silence for a while, as Paruchi was irritated with her for trying to escape so many times. The mercenary he hired to guard her was sporting a red mark to the face where Hitomi had slapped him, but otherwise he remained stoic and watchful. He wasn't about to give her room to escape again. The main reason they were silent, however, was because they had placed a gag over her mouth and tied her hands together after her third escape attempt.

And in the silence, after drawing a blank most of the day, she began to get wisps of Van's feelings. She was pleased she was able to do this without her pendant somehow, but he was tense and worried, and it made her heart ache for him. She wondered if he was able to feel her emotions as well.

Making a mental note to ask him about it when they saw each other again, she angrily thought, Because wewill see each other again.

Finally, they came to a halt outside a silver door with ornate designs on the trim. Paruchi pulled a heavy keyring from one of his inner pockets. Then, he selected a heavy key that was carved with the same kind of symbols that were on the door and slid it into the lock, which opened with a soft click. The guard gave her a shove and she stepped through the doorway after Paruchi, then closed the door behind her, stationing himself outside. For the second time, Hitomi and the Sorcerer were alone together.

He pulled off her gag, put it in his pocket, and said, "The door is reinforced. The guard can be counted on to use brutal force if you manage to open it. Do not try escaping again. I am going to remove your bonds. Hold still."

While he was working at undoing the knots that he'd so angrily tied earlier, Hitomi examined the room they were in. There were no windows. The entire left wall was taken up by a long counter, on which sat a great deal of what looked to her like antique chemistry equipment. There was also a shelf full of books written in a language Hitomi couldn't read and a tall set of closed cabinets. A heavy-looking chair sat near the desk. The shackles on either arm made it look like an instrument of torture. But what interested her the most was the door.

On the opposite wall, there was what looked like a prison door. The bottom half was very solid iron, and the top half was made up of thick iron bars through which Hitomi could see thick shadows.

Is there something in there? she thought, rubbing her newly freed wrists. I feel like I can sense something...

"Sit," he said, indicating the morbid-looking chair. She did so, glancing surreptitiously at the door all the while.

"Is there... someone in there?"

"It's sedated right now. It shouldn't offer any problems," Paruchi replied. He was rummaging through the cabinet as he spoke, and did not look at her.

It? she thought. What was in there? An animal of some kind? Perhaps something that the Sorcerers had modified? She hated to think what could be back there, hidden in the shadows.

"Roll up your sleeve, please."

Hitomi up to see that Paruchi was carrying a short rope in one hand and a long syringe in the other.

Frowning, she asked, "Why? My blood's the same as yours."

"We shall see. Roll up your sleeve, please."

Though she didn't like it, she obeyed, first taking off the robe she was still wearing over her school clothes, and then unbuttoning the sleeve of her blouse and rolling it up past her elbow.

"Thank you. This will only take a few moments."

"Wait! Aren't you going to sterilize it first?"

"Sterilize?" Paruchi responded, his expression quizzical, but interested.

Seeing the look on his face, Hitomi cringed. She should have known from the state of the medical camps that things like germs weren't well understood yet.

"Never mind."

Truth be told, the needle didn't hurt much. Paruchi seemed to be quite experienced at drawing blood. After it was over, he stood up with his full phial and held it up to the light.

"Good," he said. "Good. Wait here. Do not touch anything; I will be back shortly."

She glared at his retreating back as the door closed behind him. Then, holding the small strip of cloth he'd given her to stop the bleeding, she stood up, thankful at least that he hadn't shackled her to the chair, as she expected him to. Unlike most of the people she'd met on Gaea, she couldn't sense much good in him at all.

There was a cough behind her. Whipping around, she saw something moving in the shadows of the prison door.

"Who's there?" she called out.

There was another cough, and then a shuffling sound as something... no, someone, she corrected herself, grabbed the bars on the prison door.

"Estreral. Ispano. Not run."

"Ispano?"

She almost dropped her cloth in shock.This was what Paruchi meant by 'it?' The rest of the Ispano was still hidden in darkness, but his hand was dark green and clawed at the tip. She immediately recalled the night that they had summoned the Ispano to fix Escaflowne. Then, they were all completely covered. Even their faces were covered with light brown leather and huge glasses, some with one lens and others with more lenses than would be needed if the Ispano had only two eyes.

"What is name?" the Ispano asked.

"Hitomi. Hitomi Kanzaki."

"Girl from Mystic Moon. Estreral remembers."

"You were there when Van... when Escafowne was repaired?"

His face was still hidden in shadow, but she could see more of his arm now as she grew accustomed to the dim light. His skin was smooth, but not like a human's. Almost more like snake, or a lizard, but lacking scales.

"There with clan," he agreed.

"How did you get here?"

"Come to assess damage on big machine, Ispano sell to Dornkirk long ago. Life machine, very expensive. Sorcerer catch, drug, imprison," he said, but then dissolved into a fit of coughing.

Pity bloomed in the center of her chest. She took the cloth she was using to staunch her blood and offered it to the Ispano.

"Here, use this. I'm sorry it's a little bloody. It's all I've got at the moment."

She pressed it into his outstretched hand and he pulled it into the darkness. There was a pause in their conversation as he coughed wetly into the cloth.

"Are you okay?" she called out, tentatively. He sounded really bad, like he'd been sick for a long time. What had Paruchi done to him?

"You, Hitomi Kanzaki," he spoke up suddenly, startling her. "Like light. Small light but bright, very strong. You help Estreral get out."

She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you right now. Paruchi is keeping me prisoner, too. Not that I don't want to!" she clarified, shaking her head. "But... it'll be a little while. Do you think you could hold on for a few more days? Until I escape?"

"Estreral will wait," the Ispano agreed. "Not tell Sorcerer. Keep secret."

"I won't," she promised. "I'm sorry I can't do more for you right now."

"Not worry. Every light matter."

The Ispano... no, Estreral handed the strip of cloth back to Hitomi. His blood stood out on the cloth, mingling with her own. It was blue, like a dragon's.

"Thank you," she said, stowing it away in her bra in order to keep it away from Paruchi. It warm and wet against her skin. "I promise I'll come find you. Van and I will get you home."

"Estreral will wait," he repeated. Then, he retreated into the shadows, and was silent.

True to her word, Hitomi didn't say anything to Paruchi when he returned to her. In fact, she stayed so quiet and complacent that Paruchi asked if he had taken too much blood, and ordered Minda to bring Hitomi a large dinner and a piece of cake in order to get her strength back up for tomorrow, when he would be taking more blood to analyze. The health of his subjects was very important to him, he said, while patting her hand.

And as she lay awake that night, she knew what she was going to have to do.