The Aeon and the Star
GoldenEagle

Author's Notes: This is a really long installment. A lot has to happen and I had to introduce a new and complex charector. I'm not sure if I got her down right. I wanted her to be more quite and shy, but I need her to be the way she is, at least in this chapter, because of some stuff that will happen later. Anywho, read and review, please! Sorry if it's boring!

Chapter One

"Well, welcome, Lady Schezar. I'm so glad you could join us," the teacher glances at a clock, "thirty minutes late."

The girl gave the teacher a nasty look while the others giggled. She hated these classes. They were privately tutored with her and four other children of noble birth. Most didn't like her in the class, except a small, mousy haired girl named Caroline. But it didn't matter to the others what she thought, for she was quiet and timid and kind hearted, looking at things deeper than politics and social policies.

"Why, Lady Magnis, is that a new brooch you're wearing?" The girl's voice piped up gently and musically as she sat next to Caroline. Her hair was disheveled and her face was slightly red and had a glow to it, a few beads of sweat on her forehead. Her silver hair fell around her pale face, accenting her eyes, which no one could quite determine whether they were green or blue or a mix between the two. Her dress was slightly rumpled.

The teacher merely huffed and turned back to the board, trying to inconspicuously handle and admire the silver, diamond brooch. "Now, Asturia's and Ispano's peace treaty was going sour and..."

"You know, Evadne, if it weren't for your uncle being who he is, Lady Magnis would have torched you by now." Caroline muttered through slightly parted lips. All she received from her friend was a maniacal grin.

One of the other girl's threw them both a "go to" look and the taller, silver haired girl replied by running her tongue over her teeth and then puckering a few times. The girl huffed and turned back, her curling hair bouncing around her head.

"Evadne..." Caroline muttered disapprovingly.

"What?" She asked, a little too loudly. The teacher glanced over her shoulder, but only sighed when she saw the two girls in a conversation, knowing that if she did anything then the damn Schezar would only cause more trouble.

"Oh, Care, you should of seen the trouble I stirred this morning! I was galloping through the town square so fast, in my red hood, I swear they thought I was a Zaibach!" She smiled with glee when the class was interupted by a heavily armored guard.

"Excuse me. I was sent to gather up the Lady Schezar for a conference." The voice was deep and yet slightly sarcastic. The wrinkles at the edge of the man's mouth told of his age and the many smiles he had given.

"Ah, yes. Two minutes in class and you're off again, I see. Well, go along." Lady Magnis hissed out before turning back to the lesson at hand. Evadne stood quickly, gave a short and clumsy curtsey before practically bolting from the room. She closed the door quickly behind her before giving a loud sigh of relief.

Her pale eyes snapped open when she heard the kind chuckling in front of her. The guard spoke, his raven hair, now stranded with a few grey strands, falling into his kind gaze. "Class that bad, Eva?"

Her eyes got wide as she started. "Hell, yes! My gods, you would of thought I was Dornkirk himself by the way they looked at me! They're all stubborn brats, Gaddeth! Stuck up and rich and... ooh!" She had worked herself into a miniature fit and the older man smiled at her antics. He quieted her with a kiss to the forehead before throwing his arm around her casually and leading them away. "So... What's this about?"

"Hm?" Gaddeth asked, obviously distracted by his own thoughts. Evadne gave him an annoyed look and he snapped into attention, taking his arm from her shoulders. "Ah, yes. Boss sent for you. Said he had to talk to you about some things..." His voice trailed off hesitantly.

"And?"

"Your mother's here." It was all that needed to be said and Evadne replied with a deep frown. Gaddeth noticed this and flinched momentarily at the troubled and hurt expression, but gathered himself as her look was replaced with her general, mocking tone.

"Ah, yes, now I see why you're so distracted, dear friend. Seeing pretty blue eyes? Round breasts? You know, she is my mother. I could always arrange a... get together. Hm?" Her voice was mocking and warm and the soldier immediately forgot her earlier look. Instead his attitude was replaced with one of a slight panic.

"I... I- That's absurd! Lady Evadne, surely you don't think-" He looked at her suddenly, his cheeks a slighter shade of red.

She laughed out loud, a strong laugh, stronger than most noble girls, but still feminine. "You're blushing, Gaddeth! Admit it! Admit it!" She reached forward and tickled him right beneath the ribs and he couldn't help but squirm away, a grin etched his face.

"No- I mean... How did you know?" He asked defensively, a slightly pouty look on his face. The girl laughed in reply.

"You're so cute! It's obvious. Why don't you just court her?"

Gaddeth sighed. "For one, it would be weird... With you and everything. We're friends, you and I, but... Me? Your dad? Ha! Plus, you know Allen. He'd kick my ass."

Evadne frowned deeply. "You know, I wouldn't mind."

"Huh?"

"If you were my dad. I mean, you basically are already. And it's not like mine's coming back anytime soon..." Her voice was pained at the resurfaced knowledge of a father unknown and unseen. "And Uncle Allen..." A growl of frustration uttered from her lips and she stopped dead in her tracks. Gaddeth turned back, surprised. "Allen's always protecting us! Well, I mean, me, since Mum's never around anymore... I don't understand! I feel like he's trying to break me, make me into something I don't want to be!" Her voice was uneven now and the soldier placed an arm around her shoulders in a fatherly embrace, urging her forward once more.

"You know he loves you as his own daughter, Evadne. He can't help but be the way he is. After the Great War-"

"The Great War?! Bah! That was twenty-one years ago, Gaddeth. Twenty-one! He has no excuse for being such a stick in the mud. That's what I say!" The older man chuckled.

"Gods, I can't believe I'm that old. Twenty-one years..." They stopped in their places quickly as they realized they were at the gates of the Schezar estate. "I guess this is it. Good luck." He leaned forward and gave another kiss to her forehead before pulling away.

"Luck, schmuck. I make my own luck." Muttered Evadne, still in a foul temper from her outburst. As Gaddeth started to walk away she called over her shoulder to him while two guards opened the golden gate for her. "Oh, and Gaddeth?" He turned and mentally cringed as he saw the mischievous look on her face. "I'll make sure to tell Mum that you were asking of her!" The soldier's face drained of color and he stepped forward, as if to grab her and tell her to not do so, but she was already bolting through the gate, her musical laughter drifting back to him.

*****************

Evadne trembled a bit, her bottom lip shaking as she tried not to cry, her hands clenched at her side. She stared at the floor as the older woman approached. "Evadne, please don't cry. You know I never intended to hurt you." The silver haired woman wrapped her arms around her daughter.

Allen watched his sister and niece quietly, almost feeling as though he was intruding. But he felt the need to keep a close eye on both of them. Especially the younger of the two. He shrouded himself in thought, his blonde hair falling into his face. Despite his age of forty-two years, he still looked as young as ever. There were a few signs of past pains and fears on his face, but his eyes were still warm. His hair was still a golden and purely enviable. Though he was still a knight for Asturia, he was growing old, and others, mostly young pups, as he put it, were taking up his reputation as their own. After all, Allen Schezar was not to be the only "Heavenly Knight" to ever grace Gaea.

Back to the scene at hand, Celena Schezar's arms were still around her daughter, but the younger girl was stiffly in place, her head to the side, failing at her attempt to hold back tears. Why should she accept this embrace? Her mother runs off for six years and then shows up again, wanting a relationship she had left behind long ago? Despite Evadne's anger and resentment, she still had the little girl who wanted a normal family in her, and, after a few seconds of her stiff response to the embrace, she returned the hug, clinging tightly to her mother and letting out one sob before taking control once more. She pulled back.

"I... I missed you." Evadne's voice was small and she couldn't bring herself to meet her mother's eyes.

"Evadne... You've grown into a beautiful young woman. And strong. I'm so proud of you." Celena smiled, tears in her eyes. Allen interupted the moment quickly, his voice cutting through the magic of the scene brutally.

"Evadne, we need to talk." Celena threw a harsh glance back at her older brother before sighing in defeat and retreating to his side. The fifteen year old girl looked up, a bit of defiance in her eyes. Allen spoke before she could get the snide comment in that he knew she was preparing to make. "You have quite a reputation around here. You know as well as I do that not many of the eligible boys here are interested in you romantically. Your sixteenth birthday is approaching, and in the Schezar tradition, a groom is picked by then." Allen rushed on as he saw the widening of her eyes, the focusing of her gaze, and the clenching of her jaw. "We have found a suitable husband for you. That doesn't mean you need to marry right away, just that you need to promise your hand to him."

Evadne's mouth was agape for a few seconds before she spoke, her voice high and painful in the two adult's ears. "You think... But-" She looked to her mother with a pained look. "This is the only reason you came back? To give my hand away to some stranger before you run off again?" More crystal tears fell from her eyes and she bit her lip, trying to control them.

"Evadne, he's a great man. A relative of King Aston's. He's very handsome and kind and good hearted. He has great accommodations and a good estate. He can take care of you." Celena's voice was slightly pained but well controlled.

"I don't want to be taken care of! I don't! I want to travel the world, see everything that's out there... The only places, other than Asturia, I've visited are Fanelia and Freid." Celena stepped forward as if to comfort her, but she pulled back, her face contorting in pain. "No! I'm not some horse you can send of to breed with 'noble' blood! I won't be chained up to someone's plans! I won't!" With that she turned and ran out, surprising the guards standing outside the large room as she burst out.

The Lady Schezar turned to her brother, her eyes sharp, her hands on her hips. "She's right, Allen. After all, I didn't have to be arranged into a marriage!"

The knight was angered by this, and a bitterness that had built up for a long while, ever since before the Great War, erupted. "Your circumstances were different. Yet, maybe if you had married you wouldn't have ended up with a bastard child."

Allen's head snapped to the side as his younger, and smaller, sister hit him with a force and precision that was abnormal for a noble woman. Yes, she hit him with the accuracy she had held as the infamous Dilandau Albatou. Tears streamed down her face. "If only you knew... Knew what's really happening... But you wouldn't believe me if I told you." A bitter laugh left her lips and Allen's cold gaze softened, a guilt seeping into him.

"I'm sorry, dear sister." He pulled her into an embrace, still reveling in the fact that she was his sister once more, not an apparition, not a madman. "I think... I think I'm a little afraid of her, that's all."

Celena pulled back to look her brother in the eye, a confused look in her gaze. "Afraid of her? Why?"

Allen looked down, his gaze focused on the floor. "You saw her. You saw how she's grown to resemble him. I thought that, when she was younger, that she would grow out of the resemblances. But she has only grown to appear more like him."

The woman's gaze hardened as she understood what he was saying. "Looks are deceiving, dear brother. Surely you know that."

The knight looked back to his sister with a grim expression. "It is more than her looks, Celena. She acts like him, she laughs like him, and her obsession with Zaibach's past is unnerving."

A protective look flashed across Celena's face and she squared her shoulders, ready to stand tall for her only child. "Evadne may be my mistake to some. Even my sin to others. But she will never be my past. She will never be Dilandau Albatou."

Author's Notes: If you haven't caught this, it's been twenty-one years since Hitomi left earth, which would make her thirty-five, Van thirty-six, Allen forty-two (yipes! He sounds old), and so on. It's also been sixteen years since the prologue. Thought ya'll might want to get that straight from the first.