Ollen70: This has taken forever to write. Part of that is because I just started a new job that required me to move out of my house and into an apartment complex for the summer, and it's taken me awhile to get back up and running again. Thanks a million to Macky, Shearre, and Rai Dorian for giving me the reviews that sustain me. You guys are the best.
To Shearre: I was really wondering if someone might mention the lack of big picture' moments, as you pointed out. Part of that was on purpose - due to Hitomi's ability to influence fate, the rise of the new empire wasn't viewed in the eyes of most nations as a threat. It's only perceived that way by Merle because she has Hitomi's pendant. At least that's what I was shooting for. Who knows if I came anywhere close? I'm still kind of new to this whole writing' thing, so I tend to leave huge gaping holes in my plots more often than not.
Disclaimer: I don't own the visions of Escaflowne. I mean no disrespect to its creators by writing this.
Chapter Fourteen - - What do we become?
Allen Schezar, her dear brother, engaged her at once. His guymelef was as vast and as well-built as her own, giving neither of them a clear advantage. Serena wished for a vain moment that she might have been able to watch him fight before now, and judge his capability. Her memories of him assured her that this battle would be a tremendously difficult one.
Taking two steps forward, she deactivated her Chlima claw and drew the emblazoned long sword that was strapped across her guymelef's back. Allen was on her almost before she had freed it. Parrying his first savage thrust took nearly all of her agility, though her sharp riposte obviously tasked his skill as well.
Backward and forward they went, traversing the rolling slope of the hillside but never gaining or losing more than a meter or two of altitude. Above them, one of the telescopic devices burst into bluish flame and toppled to one side with a deafening crash, scattering soldiers in its wake.
This was the only battle that mattered, the silent testing of skill and thought that burned between the two of them. He didn't even know who she was, save that the sight of her had drawn him. Lig Vieta the doppleganger, one of the three legendary swordsman of Gaea, could not have paid higher tribute to her. Upon spotting her, Allen could not deny her. She was in control.
Transporting her blade neatly to one side, Allen went in for a short thrust. It was such a brief, almost unnoticed move that she batted it away awkwardly, knowing at once that her defenses were now compromised. His sword, broader and heavier than hers, came in through the opening, totally exploiting her momentary weakness. Without another thought, she flung open the shield of her guymelef and stared defiantly out at him, achieving the desired effect. His blade stopped stock-still, quivering only inches away from her body.
It was her only conceivable opportunity. In his moment of disbelief, she swung her armored fist into the left side of his war machine. The metal resounded with a brilliant, bell-like tone, and though it held, the face-shield deactivated and he was thrown like a doll outward into the swirling air. She closed her fist around him and he fell limply against the massive fingers, the impact tearing him out of consciousness.
Collect his guymelef! She called to the nearest Asgard soldiers. See that it is taken to my fortress. If I detect any damage on it, you'll wish we'd lost this battle.
Handing Allen off to several of the ground soldiers, she waited to make certain they headed in the direction of her floating fortress, suspended and hidden above the layer of clouds. She wished that she could see to his safe passage personally, but duty to the empire overruled any lesser concern.
x x x x x x x x x x x x
Merle steadied herself, while the battle raged ever more hotly around her. The inevitable was taking place, as she was certain it would. Despite the cries of the wounded and the raging scream of the battle itself, she held a surprising sense of calm within her.
The avant garde of Fanelia was very definitely being driven back. Already two of the six telescopic devices were burning ruins, and the lines on the hill's western spur were slowly being outflanked. Merle stood her ground, battling as effectively as she knew how against the guymelefs that breached the defenses of the hill around her. The bulk of the Zaibach force was still below, nearly obscuring the floor of the valley.
Stealth cloaks weren't much of an issue any more, since the falling snow gave no lie to the position of any guymelef, and in the half light, it was likely the enemy troops were having as hard a time seeing their targets as were the defenders. Above, though it was obvious they were there, the floating fortresses that were the trademarks of Zaibach were impossible to make out.
The sight of the person headed toward her, barely visible in the control chamber of her golden guymelef, made Merle's breath catch painfully. Though this woman wore veils and fine silks that shimmered and traded place in the rising wind, it was a face that Merle couldn't forget. Until just now, she never would have believed that she might someday want to.
So you're here.
You've been expecting us. You know I came for, Merle. Hitomi's face was carved of ice. The Asgard empire's future relies on that pendant.
Asgard? What do you mean Asgard?' This is Zaibach, if I ever saw it.
Zaibach is dead. I killed it myself.
What did you do to Van? At this, Hitomi finally seemed mildly surprised. Merle herself wasn't expecting to call it out so bluntly, but the time for subtlety had long passed. All that waited between them now were answers, and those would be far fewer than the questions that were even now still building. I know you did something. Tell me what you did!
For a long moment, Merle was certain that she wouldn't be answered. Hitomi stared directly at her, giving away absolutely nothing. Merle knew that her own eyes were giving less. Any civility between them now was completely feigned; this was war and both of them knew it.
What happened between Van and I was a personal matter. It doesn't have anything to do with you. I came here to retrieve something of mine, something that you have, Merle. Give it back to me.
Merle missed Hitomi. Not this pale, convoluted mistake that wore her face, but the real Hitomi, the Hitomi that was kind and caring, horrified over the loss of any life - horrified with herself, even, when she learned the effects of her tarot readings and her wishes on the fabric of Fate. This new apparition had none of those values. As much alike as they looked to the untrained eye, they were well and truly separate. No two creatures could be more different.
What happened to you? What the hell did you do to yourself?!
A low laugh made Merle's skin crawl. I knew you'd agree, She said, though it didn't feel like the words were meant for Merle. I wouldn't expect any faith from you.
Drawing backward, Merle brought her guymelef into a defensive stance. I'm not giving you anything. Just turn around and go, or I'll kill you.
You've never killed anyone, Merle. You won't start with me. Don't you remember... when we were friends...? The voice was suddenly intensely innocent, holding none of the darkness that filled the empress's face.
I don't know who you are, Merle told her, the shakiness flooding out of her voice, replaced by stark and unnatural confidence. I've never seen you before in my life.
You don't know me? Hitomi parroted. I, Merle, I am the Empress of the Asgard, the new Queen of the Sun and the Moon. I, who wear the crowns of Chesario and of Baslam, of Menrias and of old Desria. I, who have not been defeated nor turned aside...
I don't know who you are, Merle said again. That person doesn't exist. There is no Asgard Empire. None of this is supposed to exist.
Denial can't help you now, Merle. Just give me what I came for. I'll even bring Van back to you when this is over, if that's what you want. He abandoned you, didn't he? Don't you want him back? Just give me the pendant... The crooning, dangerous tone, like poisoned wine, made Merle feel physically ill when she heard it. Hitomi, for all her differences, was supposed to be her friend. None of this was right.
How many people have you killed, Hitomi? Think you can start with me? That's what it'll cost you. I'm not going to give you anything...
Hitomi didn't answer. The sword she drew was a broad, curved creation that was a scimitar in spite of itself. Its cutting edge was fluted and deadly, waiting with the same fatal expectation of its owner. Merle drew the sword at the side of her own guymelef. Its blade was of a more traditional design, a long sword rather than a katana or falchion or claymore.
The two guymelefs circled each-other, suddenly alone on the barren, snowy field. The air was so filled with falling whiteness that Merle could barely make out the golden war machine in front of her, but it didn't matter. She could feel the presence of her enemy.
This is your last chance, Merle! Give it to me, and I promise you, everything will be over. Fanelia will be spared. No one from Asgard will ever threaten your kingdom. I'll bring Van back to you...
What was wrong here? In her mind, Merle could still see Hitomi - the Hitomi who'd held her when Van was nearly being torn apart as the Ispano repaired his guymelef. The Hitomi who went after Van, rescued him from his own death, from the curse of the lost Dragon Slayers. Why had this happened? What had changed, leading Hitomi to be willing to kill her now?
There was no going back. Merle could read that, as if it were written in the woven fabric of the air. This confrontation was bound to be the definition of all things - the end of all things. All around her, time seemed to slow. There was a pulsing at her neck, and a resounding pound from the golden guymelef of the one who had betrayed her, and beyond that, nothing was real.
A great blast came from the chest of Hitomi's guymelef, roaring angrily and twisting like rising heat through the air, scattering the snow before it like leaves before a raging gale. At the same moment, Merle let her mind go. The pendant glowed brighter and brighter, each pulse tripling its lucence.The light was neither green nor red, but a soft and crystalline blue.
Where it came from and why, Merle didn't know, nor did she care. The glow was blinding, growing in wrath and springing free of the pendant. It raced across the field, toward the empress and her guymelef. The world took one deep breath, nothing more, and then the two powers collided.
x x x x x x x x x x x x
Merle woke slowly. Unlike the usual period of waking, there was a cold, hazy film over her, keeping her from clearly recognizing anything at first. Things swam and changed before her eyes, all at once solidifying with a glaring intensity that almost made her sick.
A man gazed into her face. His long, blonde hair fell in a dizzying cascade, prompting her already addled mind to determine that she was lying down and he was leaning over her. He held something under her nose, something that made her cough weakly every time she tried to breathe. Smiling faintly, the man drew his hand away.
I'm glad to see you're still with us, milady. It wasn't Allen, and she was disappointed. His outline was strikingly similar to that of the knight of heaven, but when her eyes cleared, she recognized the young brigadier who had accompanied them at the head of the party.
Some thought you wouldn't recover, though we are all glad they were wrong. He held a goblet of water to her lips, lifting her up off of some sort of bed or pallet so she could drink from it properly. Almost sputtering under the liquid, she slammed her hand to her chest, seeking frantically for the silver chain as realization sunk into her like the goading point of a blade.
was all she heard. The knight said something else, but it didn't matter. Had Hitomi spared her out of pity, out of some remembrance of what used to be, or was it out of contempt? Was she meant to live now only to dwell in her largest failure? Zaibach... or Asgard... now had the pendant and the ties to the fate of Gaea.
...toward the east after you fell, milady, the brigadier was saying. We were spared, but only if we pledged not to follow, nor to seek retribution of any kind. The lady of Asgard told us Fanelia would not be troubled by our armies again.
I don't know that I trust Hitomi's word any more than I would have trusted Folken's, She murmured, attempting to sit up further. The throbbing in her head defeated her instantly, and she sunk with a small whimper back into the folds of the bed below her.
What happened to the armies? Is anyone else alive? She dreaded the answer he might give, but it was something she had to know.
Nearly every soldier is accounted for... His pause opened her eyes.
Who is missing? Who? Tell me! Pain or no, she rose to her feet without a moment's hesitation. The man balked, pushing hair out of his face. Where is Allen?
They've... they taken him. That was one of the conditions of our...
Prepare my guymelef.
Didn't you hear me?!
x x x x x x x x x x x x
There was sunlight above the clouds, shining through the vaulted oriels of
the Sores, the floating fortress built exclusively for Serena. She waited patiently, while the small army of soldiers and sorcerer's apprentices scuttled back and forth on the lower decks of the command bay. Occasionally they called up to her regarding the status of their progress, which wasn't especially marked.
The Empress's decision to storm Fanelia on foot to retrieve the key of fate was, in retrospect, a wise one. The floating fortresses moved slowly in the winter snows, since they had to maintain a great enough altitude to stay above the clouds, or else risk taking damage in the storms or, worse yet, being seen by the nations who were not under the spell of the destiny prognostication engine.
Because of the not-yet-fully-understood blast that had rendered most of the Fanelian avant garde and a good many of the Asgard men unconscious, the destiny engine didn't seem to be working as effectively as before. Other kings might order an attack, and the Empress was explicit in her order that they were not to be delayed until the entire army was positioned in the mountains west of the Duchy of Fried.
Of course, Serena only kept half a mind on all of this. The most gripping focus, for her, lay in the infirmaries twelve decks below her, still sleeping after the heavy doses of sedatives he'd been given. Allen Schezar was with her now, giving promise to the Asgard empire that was beyond what they had right to expect. Once he was with her, there would be no end to their power.
Ollen70: This is not the end, even though I promised it was going to be. There will be at least one, and perhaps two more chapters after this one. I was about to finish everything up, but the potential for this to keep going was there. Who was I to deny it? Anyway, thanks for being so patient with me. If it weren't for you, my terrific readers, this would still be a one-shot, like it was supposed to be.