Hitomi, Merle and Princess Astrid entered the ship followed by Gaddes and Allen. Van went to the cargo bay, where he loaded Escaflowne.
"Allen, let's make a run for it. There were Zaibach guymelefs following us," Hitomi told him.
"Just as soon as Van loads Escaflowne we'll leave." he told her.
Hitomi looked around with a worried look. Where could they go? It was like a dead end. Her premonitions did not reveal anything new. She needed a set of Tarot cards. They would reveal more. What was there to do? And what did Zaibach want from them? What did they have that Zaibach wanted?" Hitomi broke off from the group. She needed another vision. This wasn't making any sense. There were so many questions, and so little answers.
"Help me, where do we have to go from here?" she asked her pendant.
The pendant started to glow brightly, but it did nothing. It didn't point to anywhere. It was just glowing.
"Ooh, you're not help," Hitomi growled.
"Oh no," thought Hitomi. "Millerna and Dryden." She ran over to the place where the crew was gathering.
"... Zaibach forces started attacking all countries unaligned to them." she heard the man say.
"Set a course for Asturia immediately," Hitomi heard Allen say.
"What's wrong?" Hitomi asked.
"Zaibach forces have attacked Asturia. I got reports that the castle's been completely levelled, and that most of the country is devastated." Allen told her.
"You're worried about Millerna and you sister aren't you?" Hitomi asked.
"Yeah, but mostly about Celena. I know that Dryden sent Millerna to a safe haven once he heard of the threat."
"How is Celena?" Hitomi asked.
"Well, she was at a convent for four years, trying to get rid of her alternate personality, Dilandau. The sisters there helped her a little, but Celena still had trouble with him. They said that they must exorcise her, and sent her to a Sorcerer. She's been spending the last three years at the convent trying to recover from the shock she felt. She's never been quite the same," Allen said sadly.
"She's ok, Allen," Hitomi said putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I hope so."
Just then, Merle and Astrid came in.
"Hitomi, there you are," Merle exclaimed.
"Yeah, are you two all right?" Hitomi asked.
"Just fine. Hello Allen," Astrid said in a charming voice.
"Hello Princess Astrid." Allen replied.
"Don't worry. Your sister is ok. She's still alive," Astrid told him.
"How do you know?" Allen asked suspiciously.
"I'm a telepath. I can feel Celena's unique life force. She's still alive." Astrid smiled.
Hitomi looked at them darkly. No one could tell them anything, and now Asturia had fallen. What next? She needed to talk to Van. He would know what to do.
"I'm going to go look for Van," Hitomi said and left.
She left them and went looking for Van. It had been quite some time since she had seen him. She looked at her watch. It had been a full hour and Van had not come out of the cargo bay. Something was not right. Hitomi walked around the small corridors of the ship. There had been some changes to it, but the main structure was still intact. She found her way to the cargo bay. Hitomi opened the door and stepped in. The lights were dim, and she couldn't see where she was going. She hit a crate.
"Ouch," Hitomi cried. "Who put that there?"
"Be careful, you might hurt yourself," she heard a voice. Then the lights came on.
"Van, there you are. I've been looking all over for you!" Hitomi exclaimed.
"I just needed some time alone," Van said quietly.
"Zaibach has attacked Asturia. We're heading there now," she informed him.
"Another country scorched by those merciless guymelefs. So much blood is on their hands Hitomi. The blood of Asturia, and Fanelia, and soon, the blood of the entire planet." Van took a deep breath. He looked down at his feet.
"We can rebuild Fanelia again, Van, all is not lost. It will be better than before," Hitomi said hugging him tightly.
"It's not about what we can do. It's about what I did. I wasted eight years trying to make my country better. For what? So it can be destroyed again?" Van asked, his voice trembling with pain.
"Oh Van, I'm so sorry, but I can promise you, they'll pay. They'll pay for destroying our country." Hitomi said kissing him lightly.
"Hitomi, but why? What I can't understand is why?" Van asked.
"They want us. Me and you. That's all that I could tell from my visions. I couldn't find out any more."
"What do we have that Zaibach wants?" Van asked.
"Well, I have my pendant, but that's not it. It can't be. Why didn't they attack before I was here?" Hitomi asked herself.
"I don't know. There's something not quite right about all this," Van said.
"We'll figure it out. As long as we think we can, we will." Hitomi hugged Van again.
He hugged her back, and held her into a protective embrace for a while. He was almost at the end of his wits before she came in. Somehow, she had managed to soothe his spirit again. Van swore never to let those Zaibach devils get her. She was that which he must protect, at all costs. Van let Hitomi go. He could see that both of them were feeling better. He guessed that this is what it meant to be married, and share the pain with someone else.
"I know one thing," he said after a while. "Escaflowne and I won't go down without a fight." Van said, his jaw gripping tightly.
"I won't let you," Hitomi said. "As long as we're together, we have a fighting chance." Van kissed her again. She looked extremely beautiful in her weird clothes.
"Lord Van! Hitomi! Are you there?" they heard Merle call.
"Yeah, in here Merle," Van answered.
Merle came in.
"Where have you been? We're in Asturia!" she told them.
"Already?" Hitomi asked surprised. "It's been only a few minutes since I left."
"Ha! It's been 3 hours. People were wondering where you were," Merle laughed. "Now come on, we must check the castle for survivors, and fetch Lady Celena." Merle said.
Van and Hitomi followed Merle. The ship had already landed by the time they got to the hull. Allen and his crew were already on the ground, searching the castle ruins for survivors.
Hitomi jumped down, and was assaulted by the horrible sight. The ground was scorched, and the castle had been levelled. It seemed as if the walls had melted all of a sudden. There was not a tree to be seen in miles, and scorched bodies were present everywhere. Hitomi clasped her hand around her mouth to keep the contents of her stomach in their rightful place.
"What caused this?" she asked a man that stood nearby.
"It seems like Zaibach was experimenting a new type of guymelef. The scorcher kind." the man told her.
"They HAVE turned to merciless slayers," Hitomi whispered in horror.
She then left to go search the ruins for survivors, like everyone else.
"Over here! Over here, I found something," Gaddes yelled after a while.
Everyone ran over to see Gaddes' discovery. It was Dryden.
"Is he still alive?" Merle asked
"Barely. A piece of ceiling fell on him. He has internal injuries," Astrid stated.
"We must get him to a healer fast." Hitomi came in.
"Too late. He doesn't have much more to live. There isn't a healer within miles." Allen told them.
"Wait, he's coming around," Merle observed.
"Millerna, did Millerna get out?" Dryden asked weakly.
"We haven't found her. She must have." Allen told him.
"Who is this?" he asked confused.
"It's Allen Schezar. Majesty, where did Millerna go?" Allen asked urgently.
"I...sent...her to Freid when I heard the threat was coming." Dryden told them.
"Quick. Somebody prepare him for a trip. I can fly him to Freid quickly with Escaflowne," Van said.
"He might not make it Van," Astrid told him. "He needs a healer."
"Millerna is a healer. She of all people should be able to save him," Van said and ran over to the ship.
"Van, be careful," Hitomi told him.
"No problem. Meet you all in Freid," Van told them.
A few minutes later, Van and Escaflowne came out of the cargo bay. Turning Escaflowne into a dragon, Van helped load the injured Dryden it. Making sure Dryden wouldn't fall off, Van took off to Freid.
"Let's hope he makes it in time," Hitomi whispered.
"Come on Hitomi, let's go look for Celena," Merle, who was standing beside her said.
"Sure." Hitomi said absently.
The search continued, but no sign of Celena. Allen was getting more and more depressed. You could see by the way his shoulders sagged that he had lost all hope of finding his sister.
"Don't worry. She's alive and close by," Astrid told him.
"Hmm... your predictions haven't been right so far. Why should this one be?" he asked full of sarcasm.
"Just have a little patience. Your sister will come to you," Astrid said gently.
"Yeah, whatever." Allen said and turned around. "I promised her I'd never leave her alone," Allen muttered to himself. He had a very pained look on his face.
Just then, one of his men brought out two women from behind some ruins.
"Sir, I caught them trying to get away," he called out.
"Celena!" Allen exclaimed when he saw his sister emerge from the ruins.
"Brother," Celena said and ran over to him.
Allen hugged his sister tightly. "I thought I lost you again," he told her.
"Eh, boss, what should we do with this wench?" the man asked.
"Oh please let her go!" Celena exclaimed. "She's Priestess Eunice. She came to help me when the fighting broke out," Celena exclaimed.
"Unhand me you beast." the woman said and walked away proudly. "You wouldn't know how to treat a woman, if you were given lessons by one, much less a Priestess. Savage animal," she exclaimed appalled and walked away.
"Celena, how good to see you again," Merle came running towards the skinny blonde woman.
"And how are you Merle?" Celena quietly asked.
"Very well. I want you to meet someone. Hitomi, get here!" Merle called out to her friend.
"Hello Celena, nice to meet you," Hitomi said when she got close enough for Celena to hear her.
"This is the queen of Fanelia, Hitomi," Merle told Celena.
"Hello Hitomi." Celena said.
As Hitomi approached Celena, she noticed something weird happening. It was like a yellow aura was surrounding this mysterious woman. She looked so frail, and yet Hitomi sensed something more to Yet Celena was still struggling with herself. It was almost like Celena was her. It was almost like her life energy was drawn from her. battling with death to stay alive.
"Hello Celena, was the attack as horrible as we heard?" Hitomi asked.
"Yes, it was loud, and there were a lot of guymelefs. I don't think anyone except us survived." she told Hitomi.
"Come on, let's get inside, it's getting dark," Allen suggested. He led them all back to the Crusade.
Everyone went inside, since it was now full night. Their search concluded that Asturia was completely fried. It was now a dead country. There would be a lot of work for Dryden and Millerna to complete when they got back. That is if Dryden survived.
Hitomi was sitting in a dark corner. She should have left with Van. Without him, Hitomi felt insecure. She knew that they must not separate. It was the crucial point in her vision. Yet if he didn't take Dryden to Freid, Millerna would have been left a widow.
"Come back Van," Hitomi sighed. "I feel afraid without you." she thought.
"There you are, I thought you might like some dinner," Celena said quietly.
Hitomi looked up, and saw her smiling. That aura she saw around Celena was a little stronger now.
"Thank you," Hitomi whispered and took the bowl from her extended hands.
Hitomi's hands touched Celena's for just an instant, but a powerful vision hit Hitomi.
She could see Celena as Dilandau. Her lost childhood, the experiments. The way Dornkirk used her. She felt all her grief and pain. Then Hitomi saw Celena's awakening. She was Dilandau no more, yet she was Celena no more. No matter how much she tried to deny it, Celena still retained the awful memories of Dilandau. Next in Hitomi's vision came the years of her neo identity. She went to the convent, and there the sisters tried to make her at peace with herself. They could not, and they sent her to this sorcerer. He was supposed to try to make her feel better. But.... there was something wrong. Hitomi could see it. He did something to Celena. He made her forget, and he did something to her. He locked away the memories, or did he? That's when the vision ended.
Hitomi could see no more. She was left with the feeling that something was missing. Something was wrong in Celena's world. Hitomi felt that that's why her aura was so weak. That man stole something from Celena. Something essential in her life.
The dim candle light brushed gently past Hitomi's face, softening her tired features. She grabbed her knees and pondered at the message of the vision she just had. "What could be missing in Celena?" Hitomi thought.