Ah, everything's coming together...enjoy!

~Obstacles of Destiny~
~*Namida No Sora*~

Hitomi was giving out short, ragged breaths as she felt the cold blade near her heart. The menacing emperor was holding her tight, as if his life depended on her, so there was no room for escape. Even if she could, she would be killed by the blade.

I have to trust Van, she thought.

Van felt like he had forgotten how to breath as he watched Emperor Talonn steady his knife at Hitomi's chest. "Oh, God, Hitomi," he breathed. What was he going to do now?

"Van!" Allan croaked. "The guymeluf reinforcements..."

Van turned away from the emperor for a brief moment to look at the horizon. He saw dark guymelufs shimmering into being, marching towards the battlefield which was already littered with fallen allies, fire and blood. They marched with their victory flag raised up high to the blood-torn sky, a terrifying sight. This is it, he thought, raising his sword.

"Van, what do you think you're doing?!" Allan croaked from his cockpit.
"You're going into suicide mode if you even think of fighting all those guymelufs all at once!" He struggled his guymeluf to its feet. "Let me deal with the guymelufs...go save Hitomi." Allan raised his own sword.

"Allan!" Van shouted. "No!"

He turned to face the young king. "Don't worry. It's alright," he said calmly before facing his enemy.

Van turned hysterically towards Emperor Talonn and Hitomi. "You're never going to get away with this, Talonn!" he shouted. "You've disrupted the peace of Gaia...you're about to commit cold-blood murder...and destroy this world! I won't allow it! I will get you and you will pay the damned price, no matter how high it is!"

The emperor laughed hysterically. "Dragons," he spat. "They never learn."
From behind him, a dark guymeluf rose in flying mode. He looked back and leaped onto the guymeluf, still holding Hitomi hostage against the blade of his dagger. He laughed again. "Let's see whether you can catch me, Dragon! Then we'll know the ture strength in Zaibach technology, Dorkirk's inheritance to all of Gaia!" With that, the guymeluf started to speed away.

"What are you waiting for, Van?" Allan hollered. "Go after him!"

"What about you, Allan?" Van asked.

"Forget after me! Save Hitomi!"

Van growled in fustration before snapping Escaflowne into dragon mode and chasing after Emperor Talonn.

Allan looked ahead, awaiting his heroic death when he saw glimmers in the sky. Stars, he assumed. But then the glimmers got bigger and bigger, when he could see ships instead of stars. Asturia's forces! he thought gleefully. They came to help him!

The dark guymelufs inched closer.

Hurry up, Allan thought. Send the ground troops now...Moments later, Asturia's guymelufs touched down side by side with Allan against the incoming forces. In a distance, he could see Dryden's merchant ship and the Crusade holding a mid-air position with Asturia's main air forces.

The battle officially began.


"Get back here, Talonn, and fight like a man!" Van shouted.

"Didn't you mama ever tell you to call me Emperor?" he shouted back.

The two guymelufs zoomed through the skies, Van in pursuit aboard Escaflowne. The wind was against him, but he didn't care. Hitomi was at the hands of the murderous villian and he needed to save her. He had to. Maybe if I save her, he thought, I might also be able to save myself from all this doubt.

"Van!" Hitomi cried.

"Hitomi! I'm coming!" he shouted.

Emperor Talonn bent down and held the knife closer to her. "Aww, isn't that all sappy and sweet," he mocked outrageously. "The damsel in distress, the Priestess, is waiting for her knight in shining armour, in this case the Dragon, to save her from the bad guy. Well, lemme tell you, this is all such a nice story...only, it ain't gonna have a happy ending!"

Van pushed Escaflowne closer to the guymeluf's side. "C'mon, Escaflowne," he hurried, "keep together. This shouldn't take long." With that, he secured his sheath and sword and leaped onto the other guymeluf and pried Talonn away from Hitomi.

"Van!" she cried, hugging him.

"Are you alright, Hitomi?" he asked gently.

"Yes."

"I'm never letting you go again---"

"You bastard!" Talonn shouted, leaping forward with the dagger.

Instinctively, Van drew out his sword and blocked the attack. Their blades clashed as Van slid out towards a back defensive position infront of Hitomi. The emperor lunged forward again, trying to scar Van, but he blocked and kicked Talonn back.

"You won't win, Talonn," Van said coolly.

He struggled to his feet. "We'll see about---that!" He lunged forward again, catching Van off-guard. Van crashed to the hull of the dark guymeluf, the sun stinging his eyes as Talonn hovered above him, the knife to his throat.

"I see that I come out as victor," he said slyly. "Since my men can't finish the job---I guess I'll have to." He smiled. "I have waited too long for this, Dragon. I finally get to stop my obstacle from getting the the way of my destiny..."

Hitomi couldn't stand there and watch him kill Van. "No!"

Suddenly, she began to shine a brilliant light from her pendant and so did Van for a strange sense as he was enwrapped in the light. It shone so bright that Emperor Talonn jumped back, the light stinging and burning his hand. The dagger dropped to the hull, sizzling hot. Van was in a trance as the light fully recovered whatever was jarred out of him during the fight. He watched; it was all coming from the Priestess, Hitomi.

He struggled to his feet and staggered towards Hitomi. She blinked back to reality, but it was too late to fight; he had a hold of her and was close to the edge of the guymeluf. She whimpered and squirmed, trying to loosen the emperor's grip, but his grip was surprisingly strong, despite the burns.

"I'm afraid you're the source of all this...strength," he said deeply. "If I destroy the source, then the dragon will fall merciless at my feet. Then my destiny would be clear." He smiled cheesily. "You were right after all; you were the obstacle to defeat, and the dragon an extra. Good-bye, little lady, have a nice trip to Hades."

"No, don't---"

He let go.

Hitomi fell helplessly, unable to pry onto anything. "Van!!!!!!!!!"

Van snapped out of the healing to hear Hitomi's screams as the plummetted to Gaia. He snapped his head forward to also see the guymelufs running towards Mount Edga, one of the highest mountains in all of Gaia. He also saw the emperor laughing, unaware of the mountain dead ahead.

Van instinctively leaped onto Escaflowne and dived down after Hitomi.

"Hahahahahaha...now the Dragon, too, shall die," Talonn said, "for no human can survive a fall like so...for I am closer to Heaven now than ever! There is no turning back! Hahahahahahaha!" He turned to see Mount Edga dead ahead, kilometers away. "What the---oh, hell---aaaaggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"

The guymeluf crashed into the mountainside, and the last thing Emperor Talonn thought was; Is love stronger than my destiny?


***So though we cannot know/
If everything glitters and/
Will turn into the gold/
I'm through with waitin'/
And hesitatin/
Why won't you take it?/
This heart of mine***
~"Heart of Mine", Peter Salett


~End of Chapter