~Author's notes~
~linay
Ancient Visions
chapter 4
Van stopped the horse. They were just behind the castle. They had been riding for over two hours and the night was slowly becoming lighter. Van shifted uncomfortably. Though he was happy having Hitomi sleep on his shoulder, her head was starting to feel very heavy. He flexed and unflexed the muscles in his arm and neck, wishing she would move her head to the other side. He sighed. He had taken the longer route so that they could approach the castle from the back, unseen from most of the citizens and guards. He knew that the new leader of the castle samurai, Sayjin, would be annoyed with him for appearing at the castle with an unknown woman. Then again, Van reasoned to himself, Sayjin should be happy that I am arriving with a distinguished guest, the girl from the mystic moon that helped save Gaea. Van sighed again. He steadied the horse and prepared for dismount. He swung one leg off the horse and tried to ease Hitomi gently off. It was a relatively gentle dismount for Hitomi but she still awoke with a jolt, finding herself being carried by Van."WHy are you carrying me?" she asked a little more sharply than she intended to.
"I was just trying to get you off," Van replied.
"You should have woken me," Hitomi replied softly. She said this with the intention of thanking Van but he took it as a reproach.
"Sorry,"he said, gently placing her on her feet. Hitomi began to explain but thought against it. She looked around her. Van had stopped in a little garden just below the castle walls. There were small delicate trees and several stone benches arranged around a stone fountain.
"Is that the new castle?" Hitomi asked, pointing to the large stone building.
"Yes," answered Van, "It looks almost the same as it did before"
"Oh," Hitomi sighed. They were slipping back into uncomfortable conversation. Forcing herself to act, she took Van's hand and led him to the fountain. It was more of a large shallow pool really, with a few fish and a small fountain in the middle. They sat side-by-side on one of the benches. We'll never get anywhere, Hitomi sighed to herself, I guess I'll just have to ask him why. I'll never understand unless I-
"Hitomi," Van cut into her thoughts abruptly, "the reason I stopped communicating with you was...I mean, I stopped here at the fountain because I didn't want to get to the castle before I told you that..."
A sudden sharp high-pitched yell cut into his speech, "Lord Van!!!"
"Is that Merle?! " Hitomi almost yelled excitedly.
"Hitomi wait...I need to warn -" He didn't get much further because the savvy little catgirl had heard the voices and came bounding out of one of the lower castle windows.
"Lord Van!!", Merle screeched, " and Hitomi?" Merle rushed forward and fairly tackled Hitomi and they landed on the grass behind the bench.
"Hitomi!" She purred, licking Hitomi's cheeks.
"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..." Hitomi feigned disgust and pushed the catgirl off, "Merle don't lick me!"
Merle sat up, twitching her ears. "Lord Van," she said breathlessly, "How'd Hitomi get here?"
"I wished for it," Van said calmly, sneaking a look at Hitomi's astonished face. She was gaping at him, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"Awwwwwwwwwww," Merle said slyly, seeing Hitomi blush, "You didn't know that Lord Van missed you? Rrrrrrrr..." Van interrupted Merle by grabbing one of her ears. It was his turn to blush.
Hitomi muttered under her breath, "you wouldn't have known he was missing me." She sighed. What is going on? She got to her feet and brushed the grass off her uniform
Merle stood, planting her hands on her waist, "Everyone's going to want to know where you've been!"
Van grunted in reply. He was worrying about Hitomi. He'd lost his chance to explain himself. How is she going to react? he wondered I've just got to tell her something now otherwise she'll be so hurt. He looked up. Both Merle and Hitomi were watching him, waiting. He steeled himself.
"Hitomi, I", he said, "I missed you very much!"
Hitomi blinked. Merle snickered. Van cursed himself. Not 'i miss you' , 'i love you'. I wanted to say i love you, he scolded himself, why can't I just spit it out
Merle shrugged and said, "we'd better get inside. Breakfast is in 10 minutes. On top of everything, you don't want to be late for breakfast, do you Lord Van?" Merle glanced at Hitomi's anxious face, "Don't worry, you're invited to breakfast too even though you eat too much, right Lord Van?"
Van grunted again. He wasn't sure he wanted Hitomi there, now that he messed up so badly. But he looked at Hitomi's anxious face and knew that hesitance here would make it worse so he said, "Sure, if you're hungry." Damn
As the trio walked into the foyer of the dining hall, they were greeting by a few disaproving looks. A tall stately figure wearing castle samurai armor immediately marched up to them.
"Lord Van," the towering man asked, "You certainly looked disheveled this fine morning. May I ask where you have been?"
"Sayjin," Van replied, ignoring the question, "May I present Hitomi Kanzaki, the seeress from the mystic moon. Hitomi, this is the leader of the castle samurai, Sayjin"
Sayjin, a man with long fair hair and a long beard, bowed to Hitomi. "It is a pleasure to meet the woman who helped save our world. We hope you enjoy your visit with us," he said, adding slight stress on the word 'visit' and glancing at Van who was glancing at Hitomi.
Hitomi smiled nervously and bowed in return. She felt an instant respect for this samurai but somehow she knew he did not appreciate seeing her with Van at that particular moment. Just then another tall man walked up to them haughtily. Hitomi instantly disliked this man.
"And who, may I ask is this,my King?" the man asked pointedly.
"Hitomi Kanzaki, seeress of the mystic moon," the boy king began tiredly, "May I present the Emissary of Basram, Sir Rawlin."
Merle nudged Hitomi and snickered just low enough for Hitomi to hear.
"Why, how lovely!" Rawlin said a little insincerely, "Now let me introduce you to my charge, the youngest princess of the great country of Basram, the princess Shana." He motionned to a small group of nobles talking. A young woman turned towards them. She was elegantly dressed in a simple blue gown. The princess Shana had long flowing black hair and large purplish eyes. She smiled. Hitomi gazed at her in semi-awe. She found her beautiful and wished for her to come to speak with them. Rawlin motionned for her to come. Princess Shana began to glide over to them. Van stiffened slightly but Hitomi wished to meet the beauty. She seemed so sweet.
Just then, the bell for breakfast rang. Van relaxed just a bit. Shana shrugged at Rawlin slightly and turned to head for the main dining room.
Merle nudged Hitomi forward and whispered, "Hitomi you go take my place, I can't eat in there while Sir stupid Rawlin is here because he doesn't like cats!"
"Merle, come on anyway," Hitomi began but Merle shoved her forward and pranced off. Van shrugged and led the way into the royal dining room. Van took his seat at the head of the long table. Rawlin and Sayjin sat nearest him. Several of the castle samurai and a few other nobles were also seated at the table. Hitomi found herself seated several places down from Van. He had seemed reluctant to leave her side but they had been ushered into places quickly. Hitomi looked up to see the softly smiling face of princess Shana who was sitting across from her. Hitomi smiled back shyly. The court began to eat the lush breakfast set before them. The men at the head of the table seemed engaged in an animated discussion so Hitomi turned to her meal, trying to eat slowly.
"If I may ask," A melodic voice interrupted her, "Are you a new visitor?"
Hitomi looked up. Princess Shana was addressing her. "Sort-of" Hitomi replied shyly, "I returned unexpectedly."
"Then I suppose you enjoy this country. I myself find it very nice here," Shana said.
Hitomi smiled, "I'm glad you like it here."
"I thought I wouldn't be comfortable but people here are very sincere and kind," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "It's refreshing because sometimes I don't like being with Sir Rawlin. He's so pompous."
Hitomi giggled. She liked this princess. Shana was so genuinely sweet.
"Sometimes," continued the princess, "he buys me dresses because he doesn't like the ones I have already. Can you imagine? I really can't stand the ones he gets me because they are so...frilly."
"Really?" Hitomi said, wide-eyed, "But your dress right now is perfect!" She looked at the dress. It was so simple, just a long blue gown with no frills. "If I were a princess," Hitomi said, "I would want to wear the same thing!"
Shana blushed. Then said, "You're not a princess? Not that it matters."
"No," Hitomi shook her head, "I'm just a visitor."
They were interrupted by the scraping of chairs. The men at the head of the table were standing to leave the dining hall.
"I suppose breakfast is over," Shana said lightly, "I must go with Sir Rawlin. But I hope to see you again...?"
"Hitomi" Hitomi said.
"Yes, hitomi, I hope to see you again." Shana stood and went to a slightly ruffled looking emissary. They began to leave the dining hall. Hitomi rose and approached Van and Sayjin slowly. Van turned to Hitomi.
"I see you've met the visiting princess," Van said tensely.
"Yes," Hitomi gushed, "And she's a wonderful princess!"
"She should be," Sayjin began cautiously, "for she may be the future queen of Fanelia."
The abrupt announcement caused a tense silence to hang in the air. For Hitomi, the world stopped. She didn't even notice Van sharply rebuking Sayjin. Or Sayjin walking away. All she did was turn slowly to look at the retreating princess. Shana looked back at her and smiled. Hitomi simply watched her through eyes filling with tears. She is wonderful, Hitomi thought, Wonderful and beautiful and a perfect queen probably too. She felt Van uneasily place his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him.
"Is that why you wouldn't communicate with me?" she asked softly.
"Hitomi I-"
"Is that why Van?"
"Yes but-"
"She'll make a perfect queen Van."
Van grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him, "Hitomi I didn't choose this"
A tear spilled over Hitomi's cheek, "Does that make a difference?"
Van looked away. "I.." he began weakly.
Hitomi gently eased herself away from Van and began to walk out of the dining hall. The young king watched her leave. A young messenger boy chose that moment to walk up to the king and deliver a message.
"Lord Van," the boy said, "Allen Schezar, heavenly knight of Asturia, requests an audience with you."
"Does he give a reason?" Van asked weakly.
"Only that he saw a strange light and wishes to speak to you about it."
Van sighed. "Very well, I will meet him in the palace foyer." The boy ran off. Allen is here to see Hitomi Van thought to himself as he proceeded at a slower pace to the foyer.
Meanwhile, Hitomi had found herself on a balcony overlooking the same garden they been in that morning. In all truth, she was lost in the castle. She hadn't known where she wanted to go when she had left Van, only that she couldn't face him. It was there that Rawlin and princess Shana spotted her.
"Ahhh the seeress," began Rawlin in a mocking tone, "and what are we seeing today?"
"Leave us Rawlin," said Shana in a low angry tone. Rawlin smirked and walked away. Shana looked at the young woman who hadn't yet turned to face her. "So you are the girl from the mystic moon." She paused. Hitomi remained silent so she went on, "Rawlin tells me of a romance you and the King of Fanelia once had. Is it true? One never knows if Rawlin is telling the truth." Again, Hitomi remained impassive. Sighing, the princess continued, "I think you must hate me now. I wanted to know if you loved him. True, I don't have much say in the matter. And so far, King Van de Fanel seems to be the least repulsive of my prospective husbands."
At the word 'husband', Hitomi cringed visibly. Shana said slowly, "Forgive me Hitomi of the Mystic Moon."
Hitomi turned slightly to look the other girl in the eye and said softly and deliberately, "There is nothing to forgive."
Shana bowed her head slightly. From above, Merle watched the two girls closely. She was perched on the roof. They are so different, Merle thought to herself, But both so strong-minded. Shana will one day make a perfect queen. But Hitomi... Merle snorted. I still prefer Hitomi. Merle eyed them standing so silently. A pair of opposites she mused, one fair and short-haired, the other dark and long-haired; one strong and bubbly and the other delicate and soft. Merle straightened as the princess Shana turned silently and walked away. Then she jumped down onto the railing of the balcony.
"Hitomeeeeee..." she purred softly, "Want to go for a walk?"
"No thank you Merle," she answered absent-mindedly.
"But Hitomeeeee..."
"Merle," the King's low voice commanded, "leave us."
Merle snorted at the King but jumped back onto the roof and scampered off.
"Why speak harshly to Merle? " Hitomi asked.
"Hitomi, I wish to speak with you," Van said.
"You wish?" Hitomi retorted, "you wish?" She turned to face him. "Why did you wish to bring me here?"
"I thought you were in trouble. I felt something last night -- it was from you wasn't it? There was something you were afraid of...I wanted to protect you."
Hitomi sighed and began to wonder what would have happened if Van had not called her to Gaea. She shuddered. They stared at eachother. Hitomi, remembering the vision, reached out to touch the pendant. It began to glow brightly. Hitomi cried out softly as the glow wrapped itself around her, plunging her into another vision. Van gasped and called out her name but she didn't hear.
Burning. The smell of burning filled her nostrils. No! Hitomi screamed Not this again! She looked up and saw the flying couple again. "No!" Hitomi screamed aloud, "I don't want to see that again!" The woman turned to look at Hitomi and as their green eyes met, the world vanished and she was suddenly face to face with the woman in a black sea. Hitomi looked at her now. It was like looking into a mirror except that the other woman had long hair and a white dress. They faced eachother silently until the woman spoke.
"Save us"
"WHo are you?" Hitomi cried.
In answer, the woman, Mia, reached out and took Hitomi's hand. Wings unfurled from her shoulders and she lifted Hitomi out into a blue sky. Hitomi looked below her. It was the ancient city of Atlantis! As Hitomi watched in horror, she saw a war begin within the city -- angel-like beings fighting eachother. Fire filled the city, turning the sky red. Hitomi shook her head and closed her eyes, "No not again!"
The woman spoke, "Open your eyes." Hitomi refused. "Open your eyes Hitomi"
At the sound of her name Hitomi's eyes snapped open. Below her she saw the couple.
"Wish!" screamed Slanzar, "Wish now!"
The other vision of Mia whipered, "I wish that this memory and pendant be taken to the new world, to help us there and that..." The voice trailed off and the scene faded. The fire was gone. There were now only the quiet ruins of Atlantis. And Mia and Hitomi saw a small dark figure, rummaging through the ruins. The man paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. Hitomi gasped. "Leon!" she called, "Leon Schezar!" Leon, held something up to look at it -- it was the pendant.
"Yes," Mia said, "This is how the pendant came to you. We wished that the ruins would be here to be found. The pendant was found and eventually given to you. But..."
A sudden series of images passed before Hitomi's wide eyes: the dark-haired man, Kasal, dying with the pendant in his hand; Kasal being transported to Gaea. Kasal lying dead somewhere in Gaea.
"The Dragon's Nest," Mia whispered as she began to fade.
"Wait! Who are you?"
Mia only smiled, "Save us."
Hitomi slumped in Van's arms. She had fainted. What did you see Hitomi? Van asked silently. He lifted Hitomi up in his arms, grunting because she seemed heavier when unconscious, and proceeded to take her to one of the guest rooms. As he reached the guest wing of the palace, a sharp voice addressed him.
"Did she have a vision, young king?"
Van turned to look at Sayjin, the castle samurai. "Yes."
The old warrior sighed. "Does this mean trouble for us?"
Van, grateful that Sayjin accepted Hitomi's powers, grunted, "I don't know yet. I will take her to rest now" With that, Van continued to an empty room. As he was about to enter, he saw Shana watching from down the hall. Their eyes met. Shana bowed her head softly as Van nodded and entered the room, laying Hitomi on the bed.
Hitomi awoke to sunlight. She sat up and looked around her. Merle sat at the foot of the bed, licking a paw. She glanced up.
"Baaaahhhhh," Merle sighed, "the sleeping princess awakes!"
Hitomi grinned sheepishly. she looked around her. A figure sat by the window. He slowly got up and sat on the side of the bed. Hitomi seemed taken a back by his presence.
"Hitomi my dear," Allen, the heavenly knight of Asturia said, "Aren't you glad to see me?"
Hitomi smiled broadly and hugged him saying, "Yes Allen, I've missed you too!"
Merle purred softly, "More visitors, Hitomi." Indeed, Van and Sayjin stood in the doorway. Hitomi sat back and looked at Van questioningly but his face was unreadable.
"Are you feeling better now, Hitomi?" Sayjin asked kindly.
"I am fine, thank you," she replied briskly, "But..." Her voice trailed as she recalled her vision. "What is 'dragon's nest'?"
"Where did you learn about that, Hitomi?" Allen asked.
"In my vision," Hitomi answered flatly, "I have to go there."
Her statement was greeted with blank stares.
"You can't go there," Van said shortly.
"I have to - to get the other pendant."
"Another pendant?" Allen asked incredulously, "that would be something we need to find!"
"You can't go," Van repeated.
"Why not?" Hitomi demanded.
"Because it's too dangerous -- it's a small island east of Asturia, filled with all kinds of dragons. I can't protect you there."
"Oh that's right," Hitomi said bitterly, "You have other duties now."
Van stiffened. "It's too dangerous Hitomi"
"I'll take her," Allen volunteered, "I know the area well. And I can protect her. We'll take the Crusade."
Van glared at Allen, who didn't seem to notice. Merle and Sayjin did however. They became tense and silent. "I'll go with Allen," Hitomi spat out vengefully. Instantly she was sorry. Van suddenly deflated. He looked out the window forlornly and sighed. Hitomi wanted to swallow her words but Allen already jumped in, "Right then, I'll prep the crusade." "Very well," Van muttered and marched out.
"Van..." Hitomi whispered. Merle tossed her a dirty look and bounded out the window. Allen strode off to call together the crew of the Crusade. Sayjin stayed standing in the doorway, watching the strange girl clutch at the blanket around her. She is definitly different from other women, he thought to himself.
He raised his voice, "Hitomi, if I may speak with you..."
Hitomi looked up, surprised, "Yes of course."
"I realize how difficult this situation is for you. I know strong feelings exist between the two of you," Sayjin began watching Hitomi turn away, "Understand that even if you cannot be together for the moment, it would kill Lord Van if you were hurt." With that, Sayjin turned and left
Hitomi pondered his comments. She stood and stared out the window. I will go she decided I will go and retrieve the other pendant. She turned on her heel and headed for the Crusade. From outside the window, something rustled. Something invisible laughed. Then a shimmering form lept off the balcony and flew away.
to be continued
Next chapter: on the mission and an unexpected threat....
