Chapter 8 - Reunion
Early the next morning, search parties from the Crusade set out to look for Allen and Mina. Hitomi and Merle stayed on the Crusade. Hitomi had wanted to try to use her powers to locate Allen. Unfortunately, both attempts had no results. Search parties slowly started returning to the ship late in the afternoon with no good news to report. Hitomi was mentally and physically exhausted from using her powers so she had gone off to bed to rest. Merle was still in disbelief and kept to herself. Van, who had been out with the search parties, ended up in the cargo bay and started his practicing again.
"You don't charge aggressively enough...." Van remembered Allen telling him. Van smiled at the memory but then was angry.
Why did they have to die? He thought. Why couldn't I save them?
Van stopped and let his sword arm fall. He glanced out the window. It would be dark in about hour. Van looked around and spotted Sherazade in the back. It looked dark and ancient. It probably won't be used again, thought Van. He sighed.
"LORD VAN!!!!!!!!" Shouted Merle as she came running in. She was grinning and crying at the same time.
"What is it Merle?!" Van asked as she ran into him.
"THEY'RE ALIVE! THEY'RE ALIVE! ALLEN AND MINA ARE ALIVE!" She started tugging at his shirt, pulling him along.
"What!? How?" Van asked stunned.
"We've got to go the bridge. There is a man there who says he knows were Allen and Mina are and that THEY'RE ALIVE!" Merle let go and ran out.
"Hey, wait for me!" Van yelled as he re-sheathed his sword and started running after her.
How is this possible? Van thought. Can it be true? Are they really alive?
As Van was running down the corridors, a door opened and Hitomi walked out, still half asleep.
"What's going on?" She yawned.
Van ran up and grabbed her arm.
"Merle says someone found Allen and Mina, alive!"
"WHAT!"
"Come on!" Van said pulling her along.
Hitomi was wide-awake now. They ran straight to the bridge. Inside they found Gaddess and the others. They were surrounding an old man who was wearing a long, gray robe. They all stepped aside when Van came forward.
"Ah, the young King." The old man said as he bowed towards Van.
"Do I know you sir?" Van asked.
"No, but my brothers and I have heard of the young king of Fanelia. We make sure we know what happens in the world around us, even if we chose to live apart from it."
Van looked rather puzzled.
"The common folk call us the Druids, Your Majesty. My name is Lucarc and I have come to deliver a message. A Knight of Caeli and a young girl from the Mystic Moon are currently staying with us during their recovery."
Everyone started talking at once.
"You mean Allen and Mina?"
"Where are they?"
"What happened? Are they okay?"
Lucarc just held up and hand and everyone was still.
"We found your friends washed up on our shores. They were both unconscious, but alive. We took them in and cared for them. We could tell the young man was a knight and I was sent to notify the proper authorities. I came across a group of young men from this ship and told them my tale, then they brought me here. I don't know what happened to your friends, but I suppose you can ask them yourselves. I'm to show you the way."
"We'll leave right away and take the horses." Van said.
Hitomi, Merle, and Gaddess, with big smiles on, all nodded and headed after Van.
********** ********
It was a happy reunion for everyone. Van and the others met Mina and Allen waiting for them outside the forest the Druid had told them about. It was night, but overhead the moon was almost full, giving off a warm light. Merle ran up and gave Mina and Allen a big hug. Van and Gaddess each gave Allen a reassuring pat on the back. Van then introduced Hitomi to Mina. They were each shy at first, but soon they were talking about Earth, school, and their adventures on Gaea. During all this, Mina and Allen quickly explained to them what had happened. The happy party slowly made their way back to the Crusade. Allen and Mina shared a horse, Van and Hitomi, and Merle and Gaddess shared another.
Once inside, Allen insisted everyone get some rest, especially Mina, since she was still very weak. She didn't argue; she barely had enough strength to walk. Allen escorted her to her room, prepared her medicine for her, and helped her into bed. And before he left, he gave her a gentle kiss.
******* ******
Since the Crusade was still grounded, Hitomi and Van took a walk outside.
It was a crisp, warm night, and Hitomi was incredibly happy.
"Oh Van, I still can't believe Allen and Mina are alive! And Mina, she's so fun! It's wonderful to be able to talk to someone from Earth while on Gaea. And a Sailor Scout! Wow! I thought they were just roomers!"
Van watched Hitomi as she excitedly rambled on. She was flushed from all the excitement and had a wonderful glow about her. He moved closer and took her hand in his. She quickly looked over and blushed. A smile slowly crept onto her face. She squeezed his hand back. They roamed the hills for a while longer until they stopped to admire the ocean view. It was a beautiful sight. The night sky, full of stars, the mystic moon hanging in the sky like a blue marble, the moon with it's soft glow, the soothing noise of the ocean, and the gentle night breeze.
"Hitomi?" Van whispered.
"Yes Van." She lifted her head from his shoulder. (She was leaning on him while they watched the view.)
"When you left a year ago, there was something that I wish I had done..." He turned to face her. He slowly leaned over and kissed her. Hitomi wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, passionately.
"Hitomi..." Van said as he eventually pulled away, "why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry...I'm just so happy Van." Hitomi said with a giggle/sob.
Van laughed and kissed her again.
************* ************
Late into the next morning, everyone met in the war room again as the Crusade set sail and headed off.
"Did anything happen while we were gone?" Allen asked Van. He glanced over to look at Mina. She was sitting comfortably in a chair, eating some fruit, while paying attention. Remarkably, she was a lot stronger after a good night's sleep, thanks to the medicine the Druids gave her. She smiled at him. He smiled back.
"Nothing, along the lines of Adellus if that's what you mean."
"The next thing to do is to FIND Adellus." Mina said. "I hate to think how strong she is now, but HOW do we find her?"
Everyone was quiet, but then Hitomi spoke up.
"Well, I've been thinking. Remember when you were captured Van? Allen let me use my powers to find your location on a map. What if I try that for Adellus?"
Van looked at Allen and they shared a puzzled look.
"But, you knew me then and had something of mine. You don't know Adellus and we don't have anything of hers."
"Right, but Mina knows her, and from what I've heard, she's can sense creatures from the Neg...Negaver...whatever. With her help, I'm sure we can locate Adellus's base.
"I guess it's worth a try." Allen said. He went over to a drawer to look for a map of the continent.
"Er...what do I have to do?" Mina asked.
"It's easy." Hitomi said. "All you have to do is hold the pendant with me like this...." Van removed the pendant from his neck and handed it to Hitomi. She demonstrated was she would do.
"Let me guide the pendant. All you have to do is focus on Adellus. Try to remember what she looks like, sounds like, and most importantly the feeling you get when you're around her."
Allen came over with a map and spread it on the table. Hitomi sat across from Mina. Mina placed her hands on top of Hitomi's and closed her eyes. She started thinking about Adellus.
They all watched as the pendant slowly rocked back and forth. Hitomi guided it along the map. Soon, they could see the pendant start to softly glow. Both the girls appeared to be in a trance. Allen watched the pendant. He could have sworn it looked orange there for a second.
Everyone was silent as they continued to watch.
Suddenly, the pendant swung violently in a circle. Allen gasped as he saw where it had stopped. At that moment, Hitomi's eyes flew wide open.
"SHE'S RIGHT ON TOP OF US!" She yelled.
Half a second later, something hit the Crusade. Everyone was knocked off his or her feet. Allen ran to the window. He saw a guymellef, an old dragon slayer, attacking the ship. The others ran over to the window.
"What is that?!" Mina yelled.
"Look, it's that witch again!" Merle yelled, pointing higher.
Sure enough, there was Adellus, flying/floating alongside the guymellef. She was sending dark blasts at the Crusade. The Crusade shook each time she blasted it.
"A Zaibach guymellef!" Allen yelled.
"Adellus!" Mina yelled.
They both ran off.
"Hey wait!" yelled Merle.
"No Merle, you and Hitomi stay here. Everyone else with me." Van said as he and the others ran off. Merle and Hitomi looked out the window. The Crusade was smoking and was making an emergency landing. They hit the ground with a thud, and then all was silent.
"Oh Lord Van...." Merle whined.
************ *************
Mina and Allen had been running through the corridors together when the ship went down. They stumbled as the ship came to a halt. They started running again, but Allen suddenly ducked into another hallway. As Mina slowed down to yell out to him a hole was suddenly blasted in the hallway ahead of her. A Gockipa beast jumped in.
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
Sailor Venus ran at the Gockipa.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
Her beam hit the beast and it was smashed against the wall. It didn't move. Mina ran onwards and jumped out the hole.
It took her eyes a second to adjust to the bright sunlight, but when they did she saw chaos all around her. Soldiers wearing blue and black armor (Zaibach) were attacking the ship. One came charging at Sailor Venus with a sword. She jumped high in to the air and landed behind him and gave him a swift Sailor V kick. More came at her, but she used a combination of judo and trickery to fend them off. She could see the others start to come out and fight along with her. Van was there. He was amazing. Mina didn't know anything about sword fighting but he was good. Where was Allen?
"Well Sailor Venus, I didn't expect to see you here." A high raspy voice said.
Sailor Venus twirled around. Adellus saw slowly descending to the ground a ways from her.
"You're obviously not too smart if you think you can get rid of a Sailor Scout with a stupid trap. I guess all you have for brains is dog food." Sailor Venus snapped back.
Adellus was now on the ground. Her eyes flared red.
"I told you the next time we met I'd be stronger, and I am. Not only have I drained more human energy, but I've used my powers to enslaved these humans." Adellus said as she waved her arm towards the Zaibach soldiers. Sailor Venus now noticed that the soldiers had a blue glow to their eyes.
"They now follow MY orders and I want you and your friends destroyed!"
"Well, you have to go through me first witch!"
Adellus through a dark blast at Sailor Venus, but Sailor Venus jumped and rolled aside. Mina through a love-chain at her, but Adellus dogged it. They went on like this for a couple minutes, each throwing magic and avoiding the others. Then they ran at each other. Mina was ready to grab Adellus when Adellus ducked and punched her in the stomach. Mina fell down.
"HA! I told you I was stronger!" Adellus laughed.
Mina pivoted on her knees and faced Adellus.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM..."
Adellus could tell Sailor Venus was about to throw her beam so she started to fly back and prepared to dodge.
"...SHOWER!"
"WHAT!" Adellus yelled at as hundreds of tiny beams shot from Sailor Venus. They surrounded Adellus and collapsed on her like a child catching a firefly.
"Agghh!" Adellus screamed as she fell to the ground, hurt.
"Oh yeah!" Sailor Venus said as she got over and walked over to Adellus, "Well I'm smarter!"
Adellus glared at Venus with glowing red eyes. But then an evil smile crept to her face. Her eyes started glowing blue. Only at the last minute did Venus realize she was calling her slaves. A shadow fell over the two of them.
Venus looked up to see the giant machine that had been attacking the ship was coming for her and it had it's giant sword drawn and was ready to strike.
"Try to stop that, Sailor brat!" Adellus said as she laughed and vanished.
NOTE: Finally! Chapter 8 is done. I'm soooooo sorry this took so long to write, but I've had a crazy week. I want to thank everyone who has written me a review or an email. They really mean a lot to me. It makes ME happy to know that someone likes my story and that it makes THEM happy. Just so you know, in a few days I will be moving this story to the Escaflowne pages, instead of the crossovers, so look for it there! Once again, thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Early the next morning, search parties from the Crusade set out to look for Allen and Mina. Hitomi and Merle stayed on the Crusade. Hitomi had wanted to try to use her powers to locate Allen. Unfortunately, both attempts had no results. Search parties slowly started returning to the ship late in the afternoon with no good news to report. Hitomi was mentally and physically exhausted from using her powers so she had gone off to bed to rest. Merle was still in disbelief and kept to herself. Van, who had been out with the search parties, ended up in the cargo bay and started his practicing again.
"You don't charge aggressively enough...." Van remembered Allen telling him. Van smiled at the memory but then was angry.
Why did they have to die? He thought. Why couldn't I save them?
Van stopped and let his sword arm fall. He glanced out the window. It would be dark in about hour. Van looked around and spotted Sherazade in the back. It looked dark and ancient. It probably won't be used again, thought Van. He sighed.
"LORD VAN!!!!!!!!" Shouted Merle as she came running in. She was grinning and crying at the same time.
"What is it Merle?!" Van asked as she ran into him.
"THEY'RE ALIVE! THEY'RE ALIVE! ALLEN AND MINA ARE ALIVE!" She started tugging at his shirt, pulling him along.
"What!? How?" Van asked stunned.
"We've got to go the bridge. There is a man there who says he knows were Allen and Mina are and that THEY'RE ALIVE!" Merle let go and ran out.
"Hey, wait for me!" Van yelled as he re-sheathed his sword and started running after her.
How is this possible? Van thought. Can it be true? Are they really alive?
As Van was running down the corridors, a door opened and Hitomi walked out, still half asleep.
"What's going on?" She yawned.
Van ran up and grabbed her arm.
"Merle says someone found Allen and Mina, alive!"
"WHAT!"
"Come on!" Van said pulling her along.
Hitomi was wide-awake now. They ran straight to the bridge. Inside they found Gaddess and the others. They were surrounding an old man who was wearing a long, gray robe. They all stepped aside when Van came forward.
"Ah, the young King." The old man said as he bowed towards Van.
"Do I know you sir?" Van asked.
"No, but my brothers and I have heard of the young king of Fanelia. We make sure we know what happens in the world around us, even if we chose to live apart from it."
Van looked rather puzzled.
"The common folk call us the Druids, Your Majesty. My name is Lucarc and I have come to deliver a message. A Knight of Caeli and a young girl from the Mystic Moon are currently staying with us during their recovery."
Everyone started talking at once.
"You mean Allen and Mina?"
"Where are they?"
"What happened? Are they okay?"
Lucarc just held up and hand and everyone was still.
"We found your friends washed up on our shores. They were both unconscious, but alive. We took them in and cared for them. We could tell the young man was a knight and I was sent to notify the proper authorities. I came across a group of young men from this ship and told them my tale, then they brought me here. I don't know what happened to your friends, but I suppose you can ask them yourselves. I'm to show you the way."
"We'll leave right away and take the horses." Van said.
Hitomi, Merle, and Gaddess, with big smiles on, all nodded and headed after Van.
********** ********
It was a happy reunion for everyone. Van and the others met Mina and Allen waiting for them outside the forest the Druid had told them about. It was night, but overhead the moon was almost full, giving off a warm light. Merle ran up and gave Mina and Allen a big hug. Van and Gaddess each gave Allen a reassuring pat on the back. Van then introduced Hitomi to Mina. They were each shy at first, but soon they were talking about Earth, school, and their adventures on Gaea. During all this, Mina and Allen quickly explained to them what had happened. The happy party slowly made their way back to the Crusade. Allen and Mina shared a horse, Van and Hitomi, and Merle and Gaddess shared another.
Once inside, Allen insisted everyone get some rest, especially Mina, since she was still very weak. She didn't argue; she barely had enough strength to walk. Allen escorted her to her room, prepared her medicine for her, and helped her into bed. And before he left, he gave her a gentle kiss.
******* ******
Since the Crusade was still grounded, Hitomi and Van took a walk outside.
It was a crisp, warm night, and Hitomi was incredibly happy.
"Oh Van, I still can't believe Allen and Mina are alive! And Mina, she's so fun! It's wonderful to be able to talk to someone from Earth while on Gaea. And a Sailor Scout! Wow! I thought they were just roomers!"
Van watched Hitomi as she excitedly rambled on. She was flushed from all the excitement and had a wonderful glow about her. He moved closer and took her hand in his. She quickly looked over and blushed. A smile slowly crept onto her face. She squeezed his hand back. They roamed the hills for a while longer until they stopped to admire the ocean view. It was a beautiful sight. The night sky, full of stars, the mystic moon hanging in the sky like a blue marble, the moon with it's soft glow, the soothing noise of the ocean, and the gentle night breeze.
"Hitomi?" Van whispered.
"Yes Van." She lifted her head from his shoulder. (She was leaning on him while they watched the view.)
"When you left a year ago, there was something that I wish I had done..." He turned to face her. He slowly leaned over and kissed her. Hitomi wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, passionately.
"Hitomi..." Van said as he eventually pulled away, "why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry...I'm just so happy Van." Hitomi said with a giggle/sob.
Van laughed and kissed her again.
************* ************
Late into the next morning, everyone met in the war room again as the Crusade set sail and headed off.
"Did anything happen while we were gone?" Allen asked Van. He glanced over to look at Mina. She was sitting comfortably in a chair, eating some fruit, while paying attention. Remarkably, she was a lot stronger after a good night's sleep, thanks to the medicine the Druids gave her. She smiled at him. He smiled back.
"Nothing, along the lines of Adellus if that's what you mean."
"The next thing to do is to FIND Adellus." Mina said. "I hate to think how strong she is now, but HOW do we find her?"
Everyone was quiet, but then Hitomi spoke up.
"Well, I've been thinking. Remember when you were captured Van? Allen let me use my powers to find your location on a map. What if I try that for Adellus?"
Van looked at Allen and they shared a puzzled look.
"But, you knew me then and had something of mine. You don't know Adellus and we don't have anything of hers."
"Right, but Mina knows her, and from what I've heard, she's can sense creatures from the Neg...Negaver...whatever. With her help, I'm sure we can locate Adellus's base.
"I guess it's worth a try." Allen said. He went over to a drawer to look for a map of the continent.
"Er...what do I have to do?" Mina asked.
"It's easy." Hitomi said. "All you have to do is hold the pendant with me like this...." Van removed the pendant from his neck and handed it to Hitomi. She demonstrated was she would do.
"Let me guide the pendant. All you have to do is focus on Adellus. Try to remember what she looks like, sounds like, and most importantly the feeling you get when you're around her."
Allen came over with a map and spread it on the table. Hitomi sat across from Mina. Mina placed her hands on top of Hitomi's and closed her eyes. She started thinking about Adellus.
They all watched as the pendant slowly rocked back and forth. Hitomi guided it along the map. Soon, they could see the pendant start to softly glow. Both the girls appeared to be in a trance. Allen watched the pendant. He could have sworn it looked orange there for a second.
Everyone was silent as they continued to watch.
Suddenly, the pendant swung violently in a circle. Allen gasped as he saw where it had stopped. At that moment, Hitomi's eyes flew wide open.
"SHE'S RIGHT ON TOP OF US!" She yelled.
Half a second later, something hit the Crusade. Everyone was knocked off his or her feet. Allen ran to the window. He saw a guymellef, an old dragon slayer, attacking the ship. The others ran over to the window.
"What is that?!" Mina yelled.
"Look, it's that witch again!" Merle yelled, pointing higher.
Sure enough, there was Adellus, flying/floating alongside the guymellef. She was sending dark blasts at the Crusade. The Crusade shook each time she blasted it.
"A Zaibach guymellef!" Allen yelled.
"Adellus!" Mina yelled.
They both ran off.
"Hey wait!" yelled Merle.
"No Merle, you and Hitomi stay here. Everyone else with me." Van said as he and the others ran off. Merle and Hitomi looked out the window. The Crusade was smoking and was making an emergency landing. They hit the ground with a thud, and then all was silent.
"Oh Lord Van...." Merle whined.
************ *************
Mina and Allen had been running through the corridors together when the ship went down. They stumbled as the ship came to a halt. They started running again, but Allen suddenly ducked into another hallway. As Mina slowed down to yell out to him a hole was suddenly blasted in the hallway ahead of her. A Gockipa beast jumped in.
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
Sailor Venus ran at the Gockipa.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
Her beam hit the beast and it was smashed against the wall. It didn't move. Mina ran onwards and jumped out the hole.
It took her eyes a second to adjust to the bright sunlight, but when they did she saw chaos all around her. Soldiers wearing blue and black armor (Zaibach) were attacking the ship. One came charging at Sailor Venus with a sword. She jumped high in to the air and landed behind him and gave him a swift Sailor V kick. More came at her, but she used a combination of judo and trickery to fend them off. She could see the others start to come out and fight along with her. Van was there. He was amazing. Mina didn't know anything about sword fighting but he was good. Where was Allen?
"Well Sailor Venus, I didn't expect to see you here." A high raspy voice said.
Sailor Venus twirled around. Adellus saw slowly descending to the ground a ways from her.
"You're obviously not too smart if you think you can get rid of a Sailor Scout with a stupid trap. I guess all you have for brains is dog food." Sailor Venus snapped back.
Adellus was now on the ground. Her eyes flared red.
"I told you the next time we met I'd be stronger, and I am. Not only have I drained more human energy, but I've used my powers to enslaved these humans." Adellus said as she waved her arm towards the Zaibach soldiers. Sailor Venus now noticed that the soldiers had a blue glow to their eyes.
"They now follow MY orders and I want you and your friends destroyed!"
"Well, you have to go through me first witch!"
Adellus through a dark blast at Sailor Venus, but Sailor Venus jumped and rolled aside. Mina through a love-chain at her, but Adellus dogged it. They went on like this for a couple minutes, each throwing magic and avoiding the others. Then they ran at each other. Mina was ready to grab Adellus when Adellus ducked and punched her in the stomach. Mina fell down.
"HA! I told you I was stronger!" Adellus laughed.
Mina pivoted on her knees and faced Adellus.
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM..."
Adellus could tell Sailor Venus was about to throw her beam so she started to fly back and prepared to dodge.
"...SHOWER!"
"WHAT!" Adellus yelled at as hundreds of tiny beams shot from Sailor Venus. They surrounded Adellus and collapsed on her like a child catching a firefly.
"Agghh!" Adellus screamed as she fell to the ground, hurt.
"Oh yeah!" Sailor Venus said as she got over and walked over to Adellus, "Well I'm smarter!"
Adellus glared at Venus with glowing red eyes. But then an evil smile crept to her face. Her eyes started glowing blue. Only at the last minute did Venus realize she was calling her slaves. A shadow fell over the two of them.
Venus looked up to see the giant machine that had been attacking the ship was coming for her and it had it's giant sword drawn and was ready to strike.
"Try to stop that, Sailor brat!" Adellus said as she laughed and vanished.
NOTE: Finally! Chapter 8 is done. I'm soooooo sorry this took so long to write, but I've had a crazy week. I want to thank everyone who has written me a review or an email. They really mean a lot to me. It makes ME happy to know that someone likes my story and that it makes THEM happy. Just so you know, in a few days I will be moving this story to the Escaflowne pages, instead of the crossovers, so look for it there! Once again, thank you thank you thank you thank you!