The Day The Angel Flew (Van's POV)
Wind ruffling my hair, I surveyed the landscape below us. Merle sat in front of me, and Hitomi had her arms around my waist, hanging on as we flew on Escaflowne.
" Where are we, Van?" Hitomi spoke up from the silence that had settled.
" The dragon's graveyard," I replied a bit distractedly. Merle's voice rose in a whine.
" Well, that reading was completely off, this is a dangerous place!" Hitomi stammered an answer.
" But the cards said that this was a good way to travel…" Her voice trailed off, sounding unsure.
" Don't worry. Your reading was right." Now why did I rush to reassure her? She was an annoying girl that loved the knight, Allen Shezar. A dry voice in the back of my mind spoke up. "If she's so annoying, then why do you feel a pang of jealousy whenever you see her with him? Or when you talk about him and Hitomi? Answer that." Successfully, I fought an angry blush.
When we landed, I dropped Merle and Hitomi off. I thought up a plan of attack as Hitomi asked questions about Energists. After answering them, I rushed off, feeling a strange pang at the look of confusion and worry on Hitomi's face. Stop that Van, I thought angrily, just fight. When I swooped in on the miners, I caught them off guard. Destroying the energists in each of the machines that fought me, I knew that I could win and destroy the energist storehouse without getting hurt. I grinned despite myself. Just then a male voice rang out.
" That will be enough! Come out of your guymelef peacefully!" I swung my head around to find the voice, and my heart gave a frightened leap into my throat. Hitomi! She was being held captive, a sword at her neck. I had to protect her! As I got out of the guymelef, I faintly heard her voice.
" I'm sorry." I softened at the sound of her voice. Mentally, I answered her. It's not your fault, Hitomi. I would give up everything to…to protect you. I…I…you mean so much to me, I need to make sure that you're safe from harm. I let the guards bind my hands and tie me to a rope. Two other guards held Hitomi's arms to keep her from escaping. Since Merle wasn't with her, I knew that she managed to get away.
When they whipped me, it hurt a lot, but the look in Hitomi's eyes as she watched helped soften the blow. I let my mind wander to what had happened so far. When I first met Hitomi, I was really rude to her, I had to admit. But still, she helped me. She could have come here and not cared about any of us and just worry about herself, but she didn't. She was constantly putting her life on the line to save others. She was understanding, and lately it had become harder and harder for me not to get lost in those deep green eyes when she talked to him. Perhaps that was the reason that I'm distancing myself from her. I promised to send her home, and I'll keep my promise, no matter how I feel. The man with the pink hair cut through my thoughts, asking a barrage of questions. I closed my eyes, refusing to answer them. It would just put Hitomi into extreme danger. A startling realization came to me. I would do anything for you, Hitomi. I will die for you, to keep you safe. I…I think…no, I know that…I love you, Hitomi Kanzaki. My stomach twisted as the man walked over to Hitomi, a vile green snake on his shoulders. He shrugged.
" What an unreasonable young boy. Let me introduce you to my pet. This is Nina." He knelt before her, hand outstretched with the snake coming forward. I felt a surge of panic and had to bite down on a cry.
" One bite from her and you're dead. Oh but don't worry, she answers only to me. Go on Nina, meet our guest." I could see panic written clearly on Hitomi's face as the snake stretched towards her legs. Unable to bear it, I called out desperately.
" Stop! What are you doing? Leave Hitomi out of this!" The man ignored my pleas, and the snake wound it's way up to Hitomi's shoulders. I could hear her gasp, and I helplessly watched as the snake rose to her face, tongue flickering in and out.
" Go on, Nina, give her a little kiss. Put some love into it." I swear, if she got hurt, I'd kill all of them. Just then, a strange beeping noise filled the air. The guards looked around, confused. Seeing a sword, I kicked it into the air from the guard's back and managed to get it to slice the rope that I was tied to. I quickly killed the two guards by me, ran forward, killed the snake, and disposed of the other two guards. Stepping in front of Hitomi protectively, I started for the pink haired guy. Stepping back, he slid on some loose scrabble and fell off the cliff. When he landed, he was dead.
" Go hide, there's more soldiers coming." Leaving Hitomi standing there, I headed to Escaflowne.
" If I could just destroy that warehouse!" Flying towards the warehouse, my energist started to glow. In puzzlement, I looked towards the warehouse. It was…glowing?
" The energists…they're resonating!" That meant only one thing…just then, and explosion rocked the mining camp. The warehouse had exploded. Escaflowne twisted and turned in the shockwaves, struggling to keep itself in the air, with me in it. On the ground, the earth was cracking up, canyons yawning open. Just then, I heard a piercing scream, then a long yell. That sounded like Hitomi! Looking down, my fear was confirmed. I saw a white and pink blob, which was Hitomi, hurdle over the edge of a precipice. I had to save her! She couldn't die! Another scream filled the air.
" Hitomi! No!" I ripped off my shirt and jumped after her. I just had to reach her! A long kept secret burst out of my back, and I flapped my wings powerfully, diving towards Hitomi, a look of shock on her face. She stretched her hand towards me, eyes wide. Another flap brought my hand over hers, and I flew up over the canyon, picking up Merle along the way. Hitomi fainted, and I flew to a nearby outcropping of rock. After I landed, Merle fell asleep, along with Hitomi, who was still unconscious. I sat down, brooding. Hitomi will hate me now. I'm a Draconian, a destroyer of Atlantis. If she didn't know, then people will tell her, and she'll hate me. I let out a forlorn sigh. I wish…I wished that I had enough courage to tell Hitomi how I felt, but now that she knows about my wings, she'll hate me. Although, when I caught her, she called me an angel. I wonder what an angel is. I guess I'll ask her about it. The metal thing that had beeped was starting up again. I stood, turning my back to Hitomi and Merle. I heard a rustling behind me, and I turned to see Hitomi's back to me, knees drawn to her chest.
" Oh Amanu." Clutching the metal thing in her hands, she started to cry. It tore at my heart, both her tears and her devotion to this Amanu guy. I slowly walked up behind her, and she gave a startled gasp and turned around, looking at my wings. Just then Merle decided to wake up.
" No! Don't look at him! Don't look at Lord Van!" She stood in front of me, but I kept my wings out, immobile, waiting for her judgement. One of my feathers floated into her hands and her pupils dilated. She was having a vision. Since she didn't scream, I took it as a good thing, and lifted her gently onto Escaflowne. After flying for a while, she seemed to finish the vision.
" Van…in my vision, I saw your parents. What happened to them?" Hesitating slightly, I told her everything. I just couldn't seem to keep secrets from her, as evident by my saving her at the mine.
" Thank you for telling me, Van. And about your wings," she broke off, and I looked behind me to see her face. To my surprise, she was blushing faintly.
" Don't worry. Because, honestly, I think…they're beautiful." I smiled, my heart almost bursting with joy. She didn't hate me. I let out a small laugh.
" You and Merle are probably the only ones who would think that." I smiled, knowing what her reaction would be.
" What? You're putting Merle and me on the same level? Huh, very funny." My back to her, I smiled, and we flew off towards Freid.