Destroyers of Atlantis part 4 by Stargurl117

Destroyers of Atlantis
Part 4

by Stargurl117

The wind whipped at Van's face and he loved it. He forgot to force himself to hate flying, like he'd done all his life, while trying to convince himself he was perfectly human. It was like he was born to do this.

Hitomi on the other hand, couldn't relax. The tree incident was burned into her mind. That fall hurt so much, and it was prabably less than 10 feet. Even though she refused to open her eyes she guessed they had to be at least 100 feet up before they would reach the fortress. Well a fall like that prabably wouldn't hurt much...her mind tried to reassure her because you&rsquod be dead on impact...it added. "Van are we there yet?" Hitomi sobbed miserably as the wind stung her face.

Van had forgotten all about the fortress, the whole reason they were even up there. Oddly enough it was no where in sight. That can't be right, Van thought looking around. Was it possible Zaibach had the technology to turn their fortresses invisible? No, they couldn't hide a fortress as big as this one and besides Zaibach wanted them to find it. Frustrated, Van looked as the ground. What's that little black dot down there? He thought. He looked at the dot harder. You idiot! You completely missed the damn fortress! Some hero you are! He screamed at himself. "Uhh..Yeah we're almost there...Hitomi?"

"Yes?" she sobbed again.

"Hold on tight," Van said as he folded in his wings.

Hitomi felt a rush of wind as they went straight down, as if they were on an evil possessed elevator from Hell. Hitomi was too stunned to scream as her whole body tingled and was beaten by the wind.

Van made one of his better landings on the steel floor of the Vione. He brought in his long wings, and let his arms drop from the hold they had around Hitomi's waist. She was still clinging to him desperately, her short fingernails were digging through his ripped shirt and into the skin of his back. She sobbed softly as she buried her face into Van's shoulder.

When Van realized she was crying he slowly tried to hug her, but before his arms made it around her slender body she sank to the floor of the Vione. The cold hard metal wasn't nearly as comforting as being next to Van, but she didn&rsquot want comfort. She wanted to break down and cry. She hadn't done that for so long because she was trying to be strong. She just couldn't hold it in any longer. "I want to go home!" Hitomi cried, her voice echoed in the empty Vione full of Guymelefs.

"Hey Hitomi...I know...." Van said soothingly, but Hitomi didn&rsquot want to be soothed.

"No you don't know!" She yelled even louder this time. "You don't know what it's like to have your life almost going your way for once and then to be ripped from your world into to this war-stricken, God-awful place! I want to see my mom! Yukari! Amano! I even want to see my dad and little brother after this place!" Her sobs were completely out of control by now, and her shallow attempts for air were making it hard to make much sense. "I want to-" she gasped for air. "I want to-" She attempted again. "I want to ride an airplane DAMN IT!" she finally finished her sob.

"A what?"

"It's like a leviship, except it's not made from stupid flying rocks!" Hitomi sobbed again.

"Leviships are perfectly practical!" Van stated, starting to get defensive. Then he shook the urge from his head. Now is not the time! He told himself. He kneeled down and grabbed Hitomi by the shoulders. "Hitomi! Now is not the time! We have to find Merle and Escaflowne THEN you can cry all you want, ok?" Hitomi looked like she was about to have another outburst. "Hitomi! If they hear us, they will find us, then they'll kill us so you need to be quiet!" Van hissed.

Hitomi&rsquos lip quivered, her olive eyes filled with shimmering tears. She nodded slightly, Van relaxed a little and smiled slightly as he took his hands off Hitomi&rsquos shoulders.

"WHY DID YOU HAFTA MISS THE DAMN FORTRESS!!?!" She moaned, "If you hadn't missed the fortress we wouldn't have had to do that horrible drop, and I wouldn't have started crying!"

Are all people from the Mystic Moon this impossible?!? First she wants to come then she gets upset over the flight, which she knew was inevitable, then when I try to comfort her she insults me?!? Van screamed in his head.

"And what does it matter if they kill us now or later I'll die here just the same?!?" Hitomi continued.

"BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT!!!!" Van yelled even louder than Hitomi.

Hitomi sniffled. "huh?"

Van got control of his temper and lowered his voice, "That's why I missed the damn fortress," he finished.

Hitomi smiled and whipped the tears from her eyes. She breathed in deeply to try and calm herself. "YES YOU ARE!! She yelled tears beginning to run down her cheeks once more.

Van was mad, it was written on his face. He stood up and unsheathed his sword.

Hitomi watched in shock as daylight reflected off the shinny metal. No, he wouldn't...Would he? I wouldn't annoy him that much...Certainly after spending a lifetime with Merle...

Van threw the sword behind him, letting it skid across the floor, making a horrible noise as it did so. He kneeled to Hitomi's eye level. He looked her straight in the eye. "Hitomi..." In one fluid movement he took her chin in his hand and kissed her. "Stay here." He stood up, turned to pick up the sward and left.

Hitomi heard the heavy metal door of the Vione open and shut. Dazed, and staring at nothing in paticular "Yeah....ok.. sure.." she said quietly in a dazed tone to match her expression.

*****

Van sped down the hallway. Escaflowne wasn't in the Vione. I have to find both Escaflowne and Merle and get out of here before they find Hitomi. Van's mind raced. He ran down the spiral staircase, that he hoped would lead him to the dungeon.

Finally he reached bottom floor. He raced down the long hallway. One of the guards saw him and unsheathed his sword. "Stop where you are!" he warned.

Van didn't have time for this he got out his sword and ran right past the solder, slicing him in half as he did. He used the back of his hand to wipe off the blood from his face as the continued to run down the hall.

Van ran past cell door after cell door, glancing into each one. "Merle! Merle!" he yelled, but there was no answer. "Damn!" Now he had to go look for her. He sighed, turned around and ran back down the hall. He stopped when he got to the bottom of the staircase. I REALLY don't want to do this again, he thought looking the immense staircase up and down. "Oh well, for Merle," He told himself as he started to run up the stairs.

****

Hitomi wasn't aware of the fact that she'd fallen asleep in the Vione or the fact that she was dreaming. All she knew was she was standing in a white space with no actual floor or sky, just a space of white light. All she could feel was her entire body tingle, just like when Van kissed her. "Hello?" Hitomi asked. All she heard was the echo of her own voice. She walked around the space timidly. Suddenly a cruel disturbed chuckle echoed throughout the room. It wasn't Dilladau's laugh this was someone different. "Hello?" Hitomi tried again. The voice got louder as it continued to laugh. Hitomi had to cover ears, it was as if someone was someone was trying to suffocate her with sound.

Suddenly, whatever you would call what Hitomi was standing on, turned into the glass of a mirror. Hitomi found herself staring at her own face.

The space started to rumble then the glass broke, letting Hitomi see a million different pairs of her own green eyes staring up at her. The glass exploded, the shards sliced Hitomi's body as she fell backwards into a black abyss. Even though Hitomi screamed in shock, she knew Van would catch her. He always caught her when she fell, but what was taking him so long?...

****

Merle was tired of sobbing. Her eyes burned from so many tears and her throat ached. She walked to the door and tied to open it. It was unlocked! And although it was heavy, Merle managed to move it enough so she could squeeze through. Well she squeezed through half way, then got stuck.

***

Van was lost. Geez...somehow I managed to find the bedchambers! He thought as he continued down the hallway. His eyes then came across half of a familiar body poking out though a partially open door. "Merle?"

Merle's ears perked up as she stopped struggling. "Van-sama!" she cheered. "I'm stuck!"

Van shrugged and went to help Merle in the doorway. He began to push on the huge door. "What did make this from.... ROCK?!?" he muttered in frustration.

"Van-sama, I don't think you're strong enough!"

"Merle...Push on three...One...two....three!" They both managed to push the door enough for Merle to break free from its hold.

She hugged Van and licked his cheek. "Van-sama! Oh Van-sama! I knew you'd come for me I just knew it!" She ran back into the room and grabbed the silver platter of food. "We don't have to eat bugs tonight!" she added showing him the food.

Van smiled, "Merle do you know where Escaflowne is?" Merle shook her head. "It's ok we'll just have to go find it, C'mon."

They found Escaflowne sitting in the spare Guymelef storage room. What they couldn&rsquot find were the stairs that would take them to the lower level of the room.

"There it is Van-sama!" Merle yelled jumping up and down pointing.

"Yeah but how do we get down there?"

"I know! I know!" Merle exclaimed as she took the platter under one arm and jumped over the railing, grabbed onto a hanging rope and climbed down to the level with Escaflowne. "See Van-sama? It's easy!"

"..If you're a cat...." Van muttered. Van's eyes saw a streak of silver glimmer as a sword gracefully come out from the shadows and pressed its point against Merle's back.

Merle froze with fear as she felt the cold metal poke through her marigold dress. She didn't dare move, even though she wanted to scratch whoever was breathing down her neck. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." they breathed in her ear in a seriously disturbed voice.

Van had no choice but to jump over the railing and hope he landed on his feet. Luckily he did, his sword was out even before his feet touched the metal floor. "Dilandau!" He yelled running toward him. "Leave her out of this! Your fight is with me!"

Dilandau kicked Merle out of his way and corrected his stance, getting ready to fight.

Van ran toward Dilandau placing his sword in both of his gloved hands. He paused for a moment in shock, as he saw his reflection in Dilandau's blood red eyes that were glazed over with the purest of hatred. How can someone hate so much? Van thought, as he heard the metal of the swords clang. Last time he fought Dilandau he got lucky. He didn't want to rely on luck again, so he could only ask himself one question: Am I good enough?
****

Leaving lots of sweet reveiws makes me work faster, so far you guys are amazing me, I had no idea this would become so popular thank you all I say this with all my heart. Happy Easter! ~ Stargurl

ps I know some of you aren't enjoying the love/hate thing Hitomi and Van have going, but don't worry that will change soon! :p