Vision of Escaflowne: Silent Attack

by Shadow Chaser

The mysteries of Gaia are nothing new to Hitomi Kanzaki as she returns into war and chaos, but the mysteries of Van's past are catching up to haunt them all. The truth will be told of the Draconians and their fate.

1. Part 1

Vision of Escaflowne: Silent Attack

By: Shadow Chaser

Timeframe: Three years after the end of Escaflowne, something unknown and deadly has put every single kingdom in the world of Gaia on alert.  Calling Hitomi Kanazaki back to the world from the Mystic Moon (Earth), she is their only defense against this killer of humans and humanoid alike.

Author's Note: I did not watch the Escaflowne movie.  I only based this fic off of the subbed version of Escaflowne.  Though I think the dubbing of it is pretty good with the exception of a few things that I don't really like in there (mind you, like Allen's American voice; and how the cut the poor episodes to pieces…).  Escaflowne and all characters do not belong to me; they belong to Emotion, Sunrise Inc.  East Rali, Gyei von Colewrich, Scina Abira, Gerowyn Chambers, King Abira, and Letkus Astian belong to me…if you want to use them ask me.  Also, copy righted by Lucasbooks/Lucasfilm and Michael A. Stackpole is Scina's type of fighting style. (I took it from I, Jedi - by Michael A. Stackpole).  Another fighting style is the Gatotsu Stance and its various forms.  Those are copyrighted by whoever owns Rurouni Kenshin.  I just used it cause I needed some type of fighting skill for East.  I like to thank Sephy for proofreading this fic for me…bunches of hugs to you Sephy!  Started: 9/20/00.  Completed: 8/19/01.

Characters:

Van Slanzar de Fanel - king of Fanelia - pilot of Escaflowne

Allen Crusade Schezar - knight of Asturia - pilot of Scherazade

Hitomi Kanazaki - high school senior - prophetess

Merle - cat woman - thief and spy

Gyei von Colewrich - knight of Fanelia - pilot of Tiberian

East Rali - knight of Draconia - rare full Atlantean

Scina Abira - Crown Princess of Perid

Millernia Aston - Queen of Asturia

Dryden Fassa - King of Asturia

Gerowyn Chambers - Lord of Fanelia - one of the 8 advisors to Van

Letkus Astian - knight of Fanelia - one of the 8 advisors to Van

Unknown Terms:

Camose - a cross between a horse and a camel…well, at least that's what its supposed to be

Story:

Chapter One - Gaia's Prayer

It was so cool out, a rare time during these summers, a young man with ashen, coal black hair that covered his eyes partially thought.  He stared out into the distance, watching the waning glow of the sun dip down, signaling another night in the land of Gaia, moreover in the kingdom of Fanelia.  Fanelia, how long has it been…almost three years, almost three years since he and a handful of people defeated the malevolent Zaibach Empire.  Three years since the death of his brother Folken; three years since he said goodbye to a girl that he had come to deeply care for.

"King Van," a rumbling deep bass voice said behind him, startling him from his thoughts.  Van Slanzar de Fanel turned around, his red-black cape swirling behind him as it was draped over his clothes.

"Yes, what is it Gyei?" Van asked, a bit annoyed.  He had specifically told no one to disturb him while he was here on the balcony of his palace.  But if Gyei, his chief commander of his forces was here, then it had to be very important.  Gyei von Colewrich was a long time associate of his, more like a contact for him in the various kingdoms that dotted the planet of Gaia.  He was Van's eyes and ears, but now, Gyei had returned to lead Van's loyal soldiers, even though Van could lead them quite well himself.

"Your Highness, there's something that is unusual in the region of the Wandering Earth, my spies had discovered this," Gyei said in a grave voice and Van took the small beige parchment from his hands.  He unrolled the parchment and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"No…who could have…" Van started then trailed off as he kept looking at the parchment.

"Its true Your Majesty…all of Gaia might be in a deep predicament," the knight of Fanelia said giving Van a grim look.  "We might not be able to stop it if it happens," he whispered and Van nodded slightly.

"Did you inform all the other kingdoms about this?" Van asked, rolling the parchment up and he gripped the middle of it, as if his life depended on it.  He was boiling angry on the inside, but he didn't show it on his features because he didn't need to show one of his loyal knights that he was worried and angry.

"No, not yet-" Gyei started but Van cut him off.

"I'll inform them myself.  Get my Camose ready by tomorrow dawn, I'll be leaving then," Van ordered.

"But Sire, who will accompany you?" Gyei asked worried for his king's safety.

"I'll only take you with me, tell Lord Gerowyn Chambers to remain as head advisor until I return.  He is the one I trust most out of all the eight advisors that the peasants elected," Van said and Gyei tried to suppress a chuckle.

"I assume you don't like those other 'old bastards and geezers' that you so often called them.  Very unwise to call them that King Van, but I will do as you command," Gyei said and thumped his chest as a salute to Van.

Van watched him leave the clanking of his armor echoed down the long halls of the castle.  He turned back around and faced the darkened skies; the parchment still gripped tightly to his hand.  Whatever that thing was in the Wandering Earth area, it was definitely after something.  Van hoped that it wasn't his Escaflowne…but if the thing was after his Guymelef, then he would have to do something drastic…something that might even cost him his life.

"Hitomi…you're the one that could protect us, protect me.  I can protect you…but…" Van sighed as he reached from his neck for a silvery necklace chain that hung on the inside of his clothes.  He pulled it out and glanced at the pinkish bulb that hung on the end of the necklace.  She had given it to him, saying that she had to go back to her world, and he could remember her by this.  I wish I could see you again Hitomi, only even for a second, Van thought watching the thing swing in his hand like a pendulum.  He breathed out another sigh and stuck the thing back underneath his shirt.  First thing first, he had to warn the other kingdoms and hopefully form an alliance of some sort with them.

                                    *                      *                      *

A young petite cat-like girl watched the young king from her room window in one of the higher areas of the castle.  She saw him talk with Gyei von Colewrich; then the knight left, leaving Van alone again.  Merle wouldn't admit it, but she felt something for the young king…she wished that they were more than just friends, but she knew that Hitomi Kanazaki, the girl from the Mystic Moon was in Van's heart.  She was nothing more than a dear friend, perhaps a sister to the king.

"Dammit Hitomi, you had to keep Van to yourself, but…" Merle whispered then fell silent as she thought of all the time Van and her used to play around the palace.  Even Van's now deceased older brother Folken played with them.  It was the happiest times of her life, but Merle realized that Hitomi needed a chance, a chance that she the cat girl got for fourteen years.

With that thought, Merle realized that she too missed the young prophetess, it was three years since she had gone back to her world, the Mystic Moon, and Merle missed the times they fought with each other, the time they stuck through thick and thin.  Hitomi, why can't you come back? Merle wondered as she saw Van walk into the castle.

Her instincts told her to go and talk to Van, but she kept quiet.  She didn't want to bother him right this moment; maybe he needed time alone.  I'll talk to him tomorrow, Merle promised herself as she crawled into her bed that was in her lavish room, draperies flaunting every edge of the room.  She was grateful that Van treated her like a princess, even though most of the others treated her like dirt.  Van was the only one that cared for her…

                                    *                      *                      *

Wake up; wake up, a soft voice whispered into Van's ear.  Van slowly opened his eyes to see the glowing image of his mother, kneeling beside him.  He saw bits of green mixed with earth brown dirt.  Van suddenly sat up as he realized something was wrong with this picture.  "Where am I?" Van asked, watching his mother guardedly.  He didn't like anything that was out of place, and he didn't really trust that this spirit was his mother.

"You in the dream plane, this you see is what used to be Atlantis," his mother, Varie said, her voice soft and melodic.

"Dream plane…" Van echoed, then glanced at her, his eyes narrowed, "why bring me here?"

"I sensed that you had an internal conflict with yourself for sometime," Varie said, opening her soft white wings to their full span and she fluttered a few inches off the ground.

"What conflict?  I don't even have any," Van scoffed, still not wanting to admit his feelings for the girl from the Mystic Moon.  He didn't like people that wanted to pry into his feelings.

"You do, Van Slanzar de Fanel a son of the Draconians-you just don't want anyone to know.  You feel something for Hitomi Kanazaki the prophetess from the Mystic Moon, our home planet.  Look…" Varie said and waved a hand in the air.  A small portal what looked to be like a viewing portal appeared out of thin air in the dream plane.

Van watched as the Mystic Moon zoomed all the way down towards a red-white oval thing.  He realized that it was the track that he had arrived on top of when he was slaying the dragon, three years ago.  He saw Hitomi, readying her self on the track.  A young woman was there, cheering her on.  There were other runners on the red-white track; suddenly there was a banging sound and Van saw Hitomi shoot off like a frog on a lily pad.  She ran, her face showing concentration.  He silently cheered her on, wanting her to win, when suddenly the image changed to what looked like a room with lots of desks.

"Why did you change that?" Van asked as he watched an old man walk up to the front of the room and began to say things about histories and that such.  Van saw Hitomi, looking out of the window, her gaze far away.  He saw her scribble something on her paper and suddenly recoiled in shock as he saw on her paper, a very detailed drawing of his Escaflowne.  She misses me, he realized as the truth dawned on him, and she couldn't come back to his world without a link.

"You have to take care of her, she's the one that could save this world," Varie said then suddenly there was a bright flash and Van shielded his eyes.

When he reopened them, he found himself lying on his bed, staring at the curving designs of his ceiling.  He sat up, running a hand through his raven black hair and blinked his red eyes against the fading images of his dream.  It was so vivid, was it real; did Hitomi really miss him?

There was a soft knocking to his door and Gyei's gruff voice came through the other side of it, "My King, if we are to leave, now is the time before anyone notices.  I've already told the guards where we are headed so they will not alert anyone."

"Give me a minute," Van replied back and got out of his bed.  He looked over to his formal 'kingly' uniform but rejected the idea of wearing it.  He glanced to his rust red shirt and pants and decided that they were the right outfit for him to wear when meeting the other kings.  He had to show them that he meant business and needed their help.

Changing out of his nightclothes and putting his pants on, Van looked at himself in a mirror, the pink bulb of the pendant hanging in the middle of his bare chest.  He concentrated for a moment then white wings spread out from his back, growing to their full size.  Those were his link to his past; they were also the same wings that saved Hitomi on more than one occasion.

Focus, Van chided himself as his wings vanished back into his back and he pulled over his red shirt, feeling the familiar fabric cling to him.  He grabbed the parchment and his sword.  It was the same sword that had killed many people, but it was also a line of defense and it had the royal marker of his ascension if he needed the proof.

He opened the door and nodded to Gyei, who was dressed in his armor.  "Where's our first report going to be?" Van asked as both of them walked quietly out of the castle and towards the stables where the Camose were.

"The Kingdom of Asturia, King Dryden Fassa and Queen Millernia Aston," Gyei replied and Van nodded.  Convincing them wasn't going to be so hard, but it might take some work.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Lord Van?  Lord Van!" Merle's voice echoed through the deep recesses of the castle.  She ran from one room to the other and then skidded to a stop as she recognized one of the council members.

"Sir Astian!  Sir!" Merle called bringing the young man's head around to face her.

"What is it child?" the knight Sir Letkus Astian asked, a bit impatient with the foreign girl.  He didn't know why King Van would keep such a despicable and horrid looking alien around.  If he was a close advisor and Van was a bit more reluctant to listen, then the cat girl would be gone already.

"Do you know where is King Van?" Merle asked, her eyes worried with plea.

"He left this morning with pressing business, he won't return for a few days.  Until then you'll do yourself good by staying out of our way," Astian said in a snide voice.

Merle watched the knight walk off and stuck her tongue out behind his back.  "Hmph," she sniffed as she spun around and walked towards the courtyard.  Why did Lord Van leave without her knowledge?  Was it something that Sir von Colewrich talked with him last night about?  Was it because he found something?

Now don't worry Merle, Hitomi's voice echoed in her head and Merle jolted up as she glanced around wildly.  "Hitomi?" Merle whispered looking around from her position in the courtyard bench.  But only wind answered her, blowing their cool breeze, ruffling her pink hair.

"Lord Van, please be safe, I sense something wrong," Merle whispered glanced down towards the brown ground, her feet tracing a few circles.

                                    *                      *                      *

It was uproar, Lord Gerowyn Chambers decided as he watched the various council members besides him and Sir Astian shouted their protests at him.  King Van had pressing business for what reason he was not told, but it was finally good to be rid of him for a while, only if it was a few days.  The kingdom didn't need this young man to rule them; he wasn't even fit even though he was of Draconian descent, those abominations, and also the son of former King Goau de Fanel.

"Is this what you were hoping for Lord Chambers?" Letkus Astian asked, leaning down from where he stood.

"Well, I was expecting something like this, but this is even better than I thought," Gerowyn replied, glancing at the talk blue haired man.  Many said that Astian looked a lot like Folken Lakur de Fanel, the late brother of the young king.  The eerie resemblance even caught Gerowyn off guard as he thought he was looking at Folken instead of Letkus Astian.

"So, when do we make our move?" Astian asked standing back up and looking at the rest of the six council members shout at each other.

"Not yet, Astian, not yet.  We first have to play our cards carefully, and then get rid of the people who might be loyal to Van de Fanel.  Finally we'll take some of them hostage then demand where the guymelef Escaflowne is.  I want that suit, it was destined to become mine, not part of the Fanel line," Gerowyn explained, grinding his teeth together as he thought up all the ways he could kill the young king.

"Yes sire as you wish.  Right now we have to get the rest of them to follow," Astian replied and walked away from Gerowyn.  He took a seat next to fellow council member Trayest.

"Gentlemen, I understand that you wonder why has our king gone…" Gerowyn started in a loud clear voice that cut through all the chatter.

                                    *                      *                      *

Chapter Two - Girl of the Mystic Moon or Gaia?

"Hitomi?  Hitomi?" Yukari Uchida shook the shoulder of a girl with strawberry blonde hair and sleepy green eyes.

"Uh…what?" Hitomi Kanazaki asked, glancing up at her best friend.  She blinked her eyes to clear away the sleepiness and realized that she had fallen asleep on the lunch table.  Oh great, I'm a senior and yet I fall asleep, Hitomi thought to herself as Yukari laughed.

"You obviously were dreaming about something good, cause you were murmuring a name 'Van' or something like that in your dreams.  Was it that same Van you told me about when you came back from the column flash of light?" Yukari pried, as Hitomi looked a bit downcast.

"Yes…" Hitomi whispered hesitantly, "I miss him so much."  She hugged herself as an odd chill ran all over her.  "Every day for these last three years since I came back, I feel as if I was missing a part of myself.  I denied it at first that I was in love with him, but that feeling became stronger," she blurted out then shut up.

"It's okay," Yukari comforted her friend and Hitomi laughed a bit sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for piling all this on you Yukari.  Ever since Amano left for America, things haven't been the same has it," Hitomi said, smiling weakly.

"Yeah, but you still excel in track," Yukari agreed then the bell for the school over rang and Yukari giggled.  "Well, now Miss Super-track-star, time to get changed and prepare yourself for the trials."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow at her best friend's mood and ran a hand through her short hair.  She knew that Yukari was really in love with Amano, yet she seemed to be in a good mood.  I must have hit something that she doesn't want to talk about.  "Yeah I guess your right," Hitomi finally agreed and stood up from her seat.  She tossed her brown bag lunch into the trashcan and picked up her blue-green bag.  It was the same old bag that had followed her when she went to Gaia and back, the same bag that Van had seen.  Van what are you doing now? Hitomi wondered looking at the clear blue sky.

"Hello!  Earth to Hitomi!" Yukari's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry Yukari.  Meet you on the track!" Hitomi called out as she jogged away from her friend and headed towards the girls' locker room.

                                    *                      *                      *

Hitomi glanced at herself in the mirror and reached for her necklace, but only encountered her chest bones, nothing, no silver thing hanging from her neck.  She remembered that she had given the pendant to Van before she had left Gaia for the last time, telling him that he could remember her by the pendant.

"The pendant, my connection to Gaia…gone," Hitomi sighed as she sat down on the bench in the locker room.  She still could tell the future from her dreams, but even her Tarot cards were gone, lost somewhere.  I've given up on fortune telling, but those dreams still stay.  Suddenly she doubled over in pain. 

Flash!

She saw numerous guymelefs marching towards the kingdom of Fanelia, intent on destroying it like it was three years ago.  A man with blue hair that resembled Folken de Fanel stood on one of the shoulders of the black guymelefs.  But suddenly she saw the Scherazade, Escaflowne and an army of other guymelefs opposing those in black.  Then there was another flash and Hitomi saw Van, drenched in his own blood, fighting off an unseen opponent.  He was dying, loosing a battle; Hitomi suddenly recoiled as she saw Van fall to the ground, dead.  His outstretched limp hand held something in it…her pendant.

Flash!

"Oh my God," Hitomi whispered as she kneeled on the cold hard concrete ground.  "Not again, not again," she whispered as she saw a swirl of blackness, then the ground rushing up to her.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Hitomi!" Yukari's worried voice pierced into her foggy consciousness and she opened her eyes slowly to see her best friend's concerned gaze.  "Hitomi are you all right?  The others said that they found you in here.  You've been out for about five hours," Yukari spilled.

"Huh?  Its night already?" Hitomi questioned puzzled.  She glanced around and saw that she was in the nurse's office.  Her family was also gathered around and they seemed to be relieved.

"Yes Hitomi dear, do you want to go home now?" her mother asked brushing a lock of her hair out of her face.  Hitomi blinked a bit as she felt tears creep up to her eyes.  "Why are you crying dear?"

"I don't know why…" Hitomi whispered then rubbed the tears away with the sleeve of her track outfit.  "Um…not yet, I want to practice my laps before I go, Yukari will stay with me, you can go home," Hitomi answered, not too confident of her own voice.  She didn't know why tears suddenly burst into her eyes, maybe because it was her prophecy…  She watched her as her family left and Yukari looked at her with serious brown eyes.

"You had a vision," she stated flatly.

"Yes I did, and it was about Van," Hitomi agreed sitting up.

"Does it mean you're going back to Gaia?"

"I don't think so because of the pendant.  I gave it to Van remember?" Hitomi reminded her.

"But it is weird that you'd be having premonitions of him."

"Yeah, weird…"

                                    *                      *                      *

Hitomi put the vision in the back of her mind as she looked at the lit track lanes before her eyes, the darkness of night just crawling at the edges where the light didn't shine.  She needed to concentrate and make a good score on her run, she had to or else she wouldn't make the varsity team this year.

"Run, focus, run, focus," Hitomi repeated the chant to herself as she warmed up and placed her feet on the running block.  She crouched down and waited for Yukari to start her run.

"Ready!"

She tensed.

"Set!"

She stuck all her weight on her pushing foot just like Amano had taught her.

"Go!"

Hitomi dashed from the running block, her hands flying up and down her sides as she kept her gaze even.  She glared on ahead on the curve of the track lines.  She flew down the track and saw Yukari in the distance, cheering her on.  Hitomi grinned a bit then suddenly felt paralyzed.  She saw a blue light surrounding her, trapping her within its embrace.  Not again, Hitomi realized the familiar blue light.  She glanced frantically at Yukari who had a surprised look on her face.

"Yukari! Tell my parents where I've gone!" Hitomi shouted to her best friend as she flew up with the column of the blue light.  The last thing she saw was the planet of Gaia, rushing up her, and then it was blackness.

                                    *                      *                      *

Chapter Three - Alliances and Enemies

Van knelt down on one knee keeping his gaze always on King Dryden then stood up slowly.  He stood with his hands on his sides and sensed that Gyei was also patient in waiting for the new king to speak to them.

"King Van de Fanel of Fanelia, Sir Gyei von Colewrich, what brings you here to the kingdom of Astoria?" Dryden asked, his manner regal and formal.  Van knew that without the scribes and other people around, the king would not act so formal, so precise.  But then again, the king was never regal or formal even with those people around.

"Sir, I bring urgent news that my knight here has discovered," Van said slowly and handed one of the attendants the parchment, which was given to Dryden.  "The Wandering Earth where the former Zaibach Empire used to reside in is developing something sinister.  My knights tell me that they could not even fathom what was building in the Wandering Earth, but they did discover that it could destroy all of Gaia.  I am here to ask you for a military alliance that we may stop this 'plague' from spreading all over our planet," Van asked.  He didn't like all those formal words he had to use, but this was a court with a few people that opposed him and he had to be careful with his choice of words.

He waited, his eyes moving only slightly to look at his surroundings.  There were numerous people, some peasants and a few children were running around, but most had awed expressions on their faces as he had made his announcement.  He noticed a long blonde haired man with an oval face that struck out his bright blue eyes, standing behind a few of the peasants, his expression was grim.  Allen Schezar…Van recognized the playboy knight.  Though he looked as if he could be a weak knight, Van knew the power and honor behind those looks; Allen was a good friend, an ally, someone he could trust.

"King Van, what you're saying is that you think this thing…could be 'alive' some how?" Queen Millernia interrupted the silence.

"Yes Queen," Van agreed, and noticed a sort of smile tugging on King Dryden's lips.  He didn't like that hint, it meant that something was going on that made Dryden think that this was a funny situation or it was just something…

"Councilmen, please escort everyone out into the outer rooms, King Van, Sir von Colewrich, my Queen, and Sir Allen Schezar need to discuss this alone," Dryden suddenly spoke up.

Van realized that Dryden had already made up his mind about the situation…he smiled inwardly, the young king was just playing around…much like he used to.  He waited for all the others to file out before approaching Dryden, more at ease without all the courtiers and servants around.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Sire, is King Dryden always like that?" Van heard Gyei questioned as they mounted their Camose.  He laughed lightly at Gyei's comment.  Everyone who had met Dryden always reacted in some odd fashion.

"Yes he is…he's a good man for those traits," Van reassured his knight as they galloped out of Astoria's gates and towards the kingdom of Perid.

"Traits?  Being bossy, arrogant, and saying that he's smarter than most of us…you call those good traits?  Sire, have you lost your mind?" Gyei exclaimed and Van laughed, something rare for him.

"Gyei…no I have not lost it.  I'm serious, Dryden is more than what meets the eye and what more than the mouth could say," Van said and rode ahead of him.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gyei shake his head, still not convinced.

                                    *                      *                      *

Merle pinched her heels on her Camose's flank moving it to a fast walk.  She approached the gate and glanced at the guards guarding the gate to Fanelia.

"Halt!  Who are you and where are you headed," one of the guards said in a gruff voice startling her.

"Uh…Merle sir.  I want to know where did Lord Van head to," Merle said, and recognized the guard as one of the Allen Schezar's men who had come with Van to rebuild Fanelia, one of the few in the kingdom that respected her for what and who she was.

"Oh Merle…well, Van doesn't want anyone to know…" the guard started looking around hesitantly.

"Oh please, I just want-" Merle started.

"Oh all right…fine.  He went to Asturia, should be back in a few days," the guard gave in and Merle grinned happily.

"Thank you!  Thank you!" she said and kicked her Camose into a gallop, leaving the gates of Fanelia and headed out towards the distant country of Asturia.  If I keep at it, hopefully I can make it to Asturia in before nightfalls…I just hope that Lord Van is still there.  There's something-fishy going on in the palace and he needs to be warned, Merle thought with determination as her Camose kept at a canter/gallop pace.

                                    *                      *                      *

Millernia glanced around at the pretty surroundings of one of the exquisite courtyards that dotted the palace.  Van had come just at the right time, something was bothering her and Hitomi's tarot cards sometimes glowed in her room, warning danger and that sort.  She wished that the girl were here, here so that she could maybe find out what was the problem.

"Hitomi, you're probably enjoying yourself right now on the Mystic Moon, doing whatever activities you enjoy," Millernia sighed as she shuffled a bit in her long flowing dress.  The clear beads to her snow-white dress sparkled as they hit the sunlight streaming into the courtyard.  She didn't really like dresses and preferred to be in a combat suit or something, but as peace was settling, and she was Queen, she had to wear dresses.

"They're not that bad once you get used to them," Dryden's voice said from above and Millernia looked up to her husband's face, his eyes sparkled slightly in the shadows where the sun did not shine.

"Dryden…" Millernia whispered as he took a seat next to her.

"You're also worried about Hitomi aren't you my dear," Dryden asked placing a comforting had on her pale shoulder.

"Yes…I'm also worried about the Wandering Earth.  Van's visit to warn us wasn't a coincidence.  The tarot cards that Hitomi left behind were acting up quite a bit, something that I've never seen before.  The death card kept appearing up from the deck, glowing in my face," Millernia explained shuddering a bit as chills ran up and down her arms.  She felt Dryden take her into his arms and she leaned against his strong form.

"Don't worry Millernia, we'll try to stop this from happening," Dryden comforted her.

"Ahem," there was a clearing of a throat, rather loudly, and both turned around to see Allen Schezar, standing near the edge of the courtyard.

"Yes, Allen, what is it?" Dryden asked, slightly annoyed at the knight.  He didn't like anyone barging in on his private moments with his wife since they rarely got any time together with the political outwork that Dryden had to oversee.

Allen opened his mouth to speak when suddenly a blue column of light flashed into the middle of the courtyard, startling both Dryden and Millernia.  They stepped back as something materialized in the middle of the courtyard.  When the blue light faded a young girl dressed in an oddly familiar uniform was lying there, her blue-green bag resting beside her.

"Hitomi!" Allen cried out kneeling down besides the unconscious girl and cradling her head in his lap.  He stroked her hair out of her closed eyes and Millernia could see almost tears spring to the corners of his eyes.

"Allen, move a bit, I have to see if she is all right," Millernia said, shoving the knight a bit as she laid the young teen on the ground.  She checked her pulse and found that it was strong.  Peering into one of her eyes, she saw that they were okay.  "She all right, just unconscious," Millernia said as Dryden and Allen looked over her shoulder.

"Allen take Hitomi to the West Wing guest room.  We're going to let her rest there," Dryden ordered and Allen nodded, bending down and scooping Hitomi gently off the ground.

"I'll go with him to make sure she is okay," Millernia said and followed Allen.

                                    *                      *                      *

Lord Gerowyn Chambers paced around one of the darkened halls of the palace.  He had not received any new orders from his chief commander, which puzzled him.  Something was wrong, very wrong.  If King Abira didn't say anything…then he would have to start the take over himself.  "It has to be done now, or else we won't get this chance," Gerowyn hissed to himself, punching his left fist into the palm of his right hand.

"Lord Chambers, the council are all done away with," Astian's mellow voice said from the shadows of the darkened hall.

Gerowyn jumped around in surprise and almost had a heart attack as he thought he saw Folken de Fanel back from the dead.  He shook his head to clear out that image and reminded himself that it was only Letkus Astian.  "Did you inject the serum into their wines?" he asked.

"Yes sir.  They should be convulsing and thrashing about in their last moments of death.  Post analysis will show that all of them had too much to drink and hemorrhaging of the livers and stomach caused their death," Astian replied grimly and Gerowyn smiled to himself.

"Excellent," he said, rubbing his hands together, "what about that cat-girl?  Is she dead?"

"No sir, she is not to be found anywhere within the palace or the city," Astian replied and Gerowyn felt anger boil up from deep within himself.

"Damn you!  She's the one that is closest to Van himself!  She could be a potential problem and you let her escape?  Summon the guards from the gate, I want to speak with them," Gerowyn ordered and left the hall, his long blue-black cape billowing around him.

                                    *                      *                      *

Hitomi opened her eyes slowly, seeing everything as a blanket of fuzz.  She blinked a couple of times clearing her vision and realized that she was staring up at a wooden ceiling filled with patterns on the wood.  She glanced downwards and saw a light blue-white blanket covering her.  She glanced over to her right to see a woman she had never thought she see again.  "Millernia," Hitomi whispered softly, startling the young woman from her sleep.

"Hitomi!  You're awake!" Millernia exclaimed and hugged Hitomi who returned the hug slowly.

"Uh, Millernia, it is you…" Hitomi said as both parted.  She sat up on her bed and looked at the pretty young lady tears filling her eyes.

"Yes its me…and you are really back from the Mystic Moon," Millernia exclaimed and Hitomi felt suddenly all giddy as if Millernia was a friend that she had never seen since she was young.

"We missed you," a soft baritone voice said from the doorway brining Hitomi's eyes to Allen Schezar.

"Allen…" Hitomi whispered then suddenly found herself wrapped tightly in his embrace.  She returned the hug and felt a gentle kiss from Allen that traced her right ear.  "Allen…I…I missed you," she whispered into his ear.

"I know…nothing has been the same since you left Gaia to return to the Mystic Moon; sure there's peace and all but its been…dull," Allen replied trying to make the situation less strained.  He released her and stepped back, looking at her fondly.  She had grown into a beautiful young lady, but those eyes still held a spark of fierceness and kindness he had last seen three years ago.

"Where's Van, and Merle?" Hitomi asked looking around for any sign of the King of Fanelia or the cat-girl.

"Um…Hitomi, Van's going around Gaia warning them about something in the Wandering Earth.  Merle's in Fanelia," Millernia explained and Hitomi's eyes widened as she remembered her prophecy.

"No…I have to warn him, that's why I came back.  The Wandering Earth, they are the problem…I have to warn him about the dangers," Hitomi blurted out.  She glanced at Allen who had a concerned look on his face.

"Hitomi, you should get some rest…" Allen started the trailed off as the room suddenly got dark on its own and phantom wind became to swirl everything around, papers and light objects.

"My cards!" Hitomi gasped as her familiar Tarot cards added to the small tornado that was forming in the room.  She watched in horror as a card appeared in the middle of tornado, the Death card.

"What the hell is this?" Allen said as he and Millernia stood next to Hitomi, shielding their eyes with their hands.

Hitomi watched as the Death card spun around a few times then dissolved forming a moving picture.  She saw a raging battlefield with guymelefs parts strewn about along with human ones.  Fires blazed through the area consuming everything.  Then suddenly a liquid shadow moved into the view followed by another.  There was a small figure on top of one of the shadows and she hopped down.  Hitomi couldn't make her face out since it was blurry but she saw Allen and Van draw their swords out.  She could see the others backing away in fear, but both stood their ground.

Suddenly the mini tornado stopped and everything fell to the ground.  The room became light again and Hitomi shuddered slightly.  "Was…that?" she started.

"Death…Allen and Van in the same picture," Millernia said numbly.

"It won't happen," Allen said snapping Hitomi out of her daze.  She glanced at him and saw determination etched onto his face.  "My Queen, permission to head to the Wandering Earth with the Crusade to investigate King Van's findings?" Allen asked Millernia who had a very quiet expression on her face.

"Queen?" Hitomi whispered as she watched Millernia's expression.

"Granted," Millernia said after a moment's hesitation.  Hitomi realized that Millernia still liked Allen even though she concluded that Millernia was married to Dryden after she had left Gaia three years ago.

"Hitomi would you assist us in this search?" Allen turned to Hitomi who had a confused look in her eyes.

"Yes…I guess," Hitomi agreed hoping that Allen could fill her in on all the details for this 'search'.

"You're not going without me, I want to know what's going on with Lord Van," a voice spoke up from the window and Merle's head popped in.

"Merle!" Hitomi exclaimed so glad to see the cat-girl even though they were slight rivals.  She hugged the cat-girl as Merle pounced into the room gracefully.

"Hitomi, you came back!" Merle started before giving her a narrowed eye; "do you have anything to do with Lord Van?"

"Um…yes, I guess.  But I have to warn him," Hitomi explained and suddenly held her hands up in protest as Merle's eyes blazed with fury and hints of jealousy.

"So you're still after him like the foreign girl you are," Merle snorted with contempt and spun around, her back facing Hitomi, her tail swishing the floor.

Hitomi sighed in frustration, "Merle, come on…can't we just look for Van together, I mean like we used to three years ago?"  She noticed that Allen had a neutral expression on his face while Millernia was trying not to laugh.

"Oh…fine," Merle agreed and turned around giving Hitomi a grin.

Hitomi returned the smile then turned to Allen, "Allen when is the Crusade ready to leave?"

"In about twenty minutes.  We're headed to the Wandering Earth," Allen replied evermore the honorable soldier.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Look out!"

"Hey!  Watch where you point that thing!  I'm a cat-girl walking here!"

"Ahh!  Stop poking my eye out!"

Allen sighed as he tried to keep the noise of his crew moving about on the Crusade, preparing it for its voyage to the Wandering Earth.  After working with them for so many years, they were still the same old crew; the same old salts.

"Man, us old farts are still around, lugging our tubs of lard around," Gaddes commented and Allen raised an eyebrow at his comrade's comment.

"Didn't know that we were getting old," Allen countered, startling Gaddes.

"What?  Oh sir!  Sorry, I didn't know you overheard," Gaddes started, trying to cover up what he said.

"Its okay Gaddes, we're not getting younger by any day…but…" Allen said trailing off as he spotted Hitomi chatting away with Millernia, the two of them walking slowly towards the Crusade.  She looked like an angel, the fact that if she had wings like Van did, then she would be an angel.

Quiet, she loves Van, but cares for you like a brother; Allen shut up the voice inside him.  But you do still feel something for her; the voice countered back and Allen gritted his teeth.  Yes, he still did harbor some feelings towards the young girl, no woman, but…

"Allen?  What are you frowning about?" Hitomi's quiet voice spoke up from his side, startling him.

"Huh?  Oh, Hitomi," Allen stated glancing at her, "nothing, just thinking of the past."

"Oh…" Hitomi said, suddenly quiet and Allen wondered if she was thinking of the same things he was.  "Well," she started brightly; "the crew's ready for take off Captain."

Allen nodded slightly distracted.  He glanced down at Millernia who had a sad, yet hopeful look on her face as she stood a bit away from the Crusade.  Allen saluted to her before taking Hitomi's hand and leading her to the bridge of the massive flying ship.

"Sir!  The Crusade is prepped and ready for your command," Gaddes announced saluting to Allen as he walked onto the bridge.

"Let's go," Allen ordered, "unfurl the sails and cast off."  He glanced at Hitomi who had a worried look on her face.  "Don't worry Hitomi, whatever is at the Wandering Stones we'll find and get to the bottom of it.  Van will be safe for the time being, don't worry," Allen assured her.  He saw her nodded, still a bit distracted.  What feelings do I still harbor to her…?

                                    *                      *                      *

Chapter Four - Forbidden Warnings

Lord Chambers looked at himself in a full-length mirror, twisting a bit to see his perfect form, hidden underneath all those rich clothes.  He wasn't at all the tallest, but he was tall.  He had the perfect image of a knight or a man that had been working out.  Black-brown hair that was closely shaved stood in small spikes on his head, accenting his deep blue eyes.  It gave him a rakish air, pleasing to most of the women of the court.  He wasn't as old as most of the former councilmen were, only in his late twenties.  And not to add to the fact that he was a killer machine.  He turned around and faced a person with a bloody face that was held by two guards.  Gerowyn walked slowly over to the man and knelt down on eye level.  "Such a pity that you could not restrain that cat-girl," Gerowyn said softly before standing up and backing away a bit.

"King Van will return and he will take his rightful kingdom back from you, you dominatrix," the person said, spitting a bit of blood out of his mouth.

Gerowyn sighed as he watched the guard struggle against the two iron grips his arms were pinned in.  He flipped a part of his red-black cape back and drew out a wicked looking long sword.  Its blade was normal as any other sword, but the handle looked as if it was made out of reptile skins and the stingers of scorpions.  He turned the blade as it glistened underneath the lamplight of the throne room.  The room was fairly empty save for a few guards who were loyal to him, the prisoner and himself.

Gerowyn's eyes suddenly flashed and he spun around quickly, jabbing his sword into the prisoner's stomach.  He smiled cruelly as the prisoner gasped a bit, trickles of blood flowing from his opened mouth, his wide eyes and his nose.  Gerowyn twisted the sword in his hand a bit; another gasp of pain came from the hapless prisoner.

"Lord Chambers," Astian's voice echoed throughout the room and Gerowyn looked up from his torture to see the blue haired man walk towards him.

Gerowyn sighed, annoyed.  He was having a good time slowly killing the prisoner when Letkus had to interrupt him.  "What is it?" Gerowyn asked, letting his annoyance flow through in his words.

"My Lord, we have received word from our spy in Perid, King Van has arrived there," Astian said in a grave voice and Gerowyn felt a hint of a smile tug at his lips.

"Good, excellent.  Tell the Princess to do whatever she can to keep him there, also tell the King to stall him.  We must accelerate our plans," Gerowyn purred, his low baritone voice jumping one octave.

"But there's also a problem," Letkus started and Gerowyn narrowed his eyes at his tone, "our spy on the Crusade has informed that Allen Schezar is approaching the Wandering Earth…"

Gerowyn noticed that the normally cool headed knight was hesitating on his words.  "Get on with it!  What could be so bad that will ruin everything?" he demanded the knight.

"The girl from the Mystic Moon is with him, her powers increased ten-fold last time she was here.  If she were to get wind of Fanelia's situation or give it to King Van, then our plans could be shattered in an instant," Astian explained and Gerowyn eye's blazed with fury at the news.

"What?  How did she get here?  Have the spy kill her immediately!" Gerowyn shouted, startling the guards who stood upright.  "No wait," Gerowyn stopped Astian in his tracks as he thought of something, "she could be of use to us.  I want to see how much power she has accumulated over these three years…if she returns to Fanelia, we will test her."

"Yes my Lord.  As you wish," Astian replied then turned around to leave his blue-black cloak swishing behind him, revealing some of his black armor and one of his two clawed hands.

Gerowyn bowed his head a bit as the rhythmical tapping of the knight's footsteps faded away.  What could be at the Wandering Earth that would lead Allen Schezar to there? He wondered then glanced at the still conscious prisoner who was gasping, a pool of deep crimson blood around him.  He walked over to the prisoner and pulled his sword out of him.  The rasping sound of flesh and bone against the metal of the sword echoed throughout the room.

He took a small white cloth and wiped his sword blade, turning the cloth into red while the blade was pure silver.  Gerowyn sighed and sheathed the sword; turning around he waved his hand at the guards.  "Toss him to the dogs, he won't survive for less than a few days with that kind of wound," he growled before walking away.  He heard the sounds of the prisoner still struggling as the guards dragged him to the outside door.  That girl has to be stopped…one way or the other.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Well sir, the Wandering Earth…it still gives me the creeps," Gaddes said as the Crusade hovered over the place where the Zaibach Empire used to reside.

"Do a scan search, I want any data on anything unusual," Allen ordered, watching some of the monitors of his ship.  A couple of years back technicians had discovered ways of locating things and can so call scan the region making it easier to spot any enemies from long distances.  "Hitomi, can you spot anything with your eyes?" Allen asked.

Silence answered him.

Allen glanced at Hitomi frowning.  He then recoiled a bit as he saw that she was as pale as a ghost.  "Hitomi!  What's wrong?" Allen asked, coming over to the girl.  He glanced at her and saw that her eyes were focused on a certain part in the pit of the Wandering Earth.

"Moving shadows," Hitomi whispered and Allen looked at her confused.  He noticed that most of the crew was looking at her as if she had gone insane or something.  "Moving shadows…guymelefs…black liquid shadows," Hitomi whispered again trembling a bit.  Allen took her into his arms and pressed her tightly against him, trying to comfort her.

"Shh," he said in a soothing voice, "its okay Hitomi…" Allen could feel her trembling right down to his skin.  He glanced at Gaddes who had a worried look on his face.  "Gaddes, scan that area where Hitomi was saying," Allen ordered the blue haired man.

"Sure thing boss," Gaddes replied leaning over one of the monitors and twisting a knob.  "Oh my…" Gaddes suddenly exclaimed and Allen saw his face turn ashen.

"What?  What is it?" Allen demanded.

"Allen…there's…there's…there's something a-alive down there," Gaddes managed to get out, "the monitors are showing that their energist readings are off the scale, almost like a machine that has no control whatsoever."

"Hnn," Allen muttered glancing down as he kept a hand resting on Hitomi's head, "all right, collect as much information as you can.  I don't know if they have sensors or not, but I don't want stay here for long.  We'll head back to Asturia with the information for King Dryden."

"Fire…Fanelia," Hitomi whispered suddenly and Allen glanced back down at her just in time to see her collapse.

"Hitomi!" Allen exclaimed suddenly worried about the girl.  He placed a hand on her forehead and it felt hot.  She has a fever…over exertion of herself from her travels or something else?  Allen wondered.  He looked at Gaddes who had recovered from his initial shock, "Gaddes, take us away, I think this place is influencing Hitomi."

"Aye sir," Gaddes replied and Allen could hear the evident relief in his second-in-command's voice.  He turned around and carried Hitomi gently off of the bridge and placed her into an empty secluded room.  "Rest Hitomi, save your strength," Allen whispered as the girl moaned a bit from the effects of the fever.  He stroked her hair out of her face before standing up from her bedside and left the room, closing the door behind him.

                                    *                      *                      *

Van knelt down on one knee as he finished with his little 'speech' to the King of Perid, Berion Abira.  He wondered if the king would agree just like Asturia did, but since their shaky alliance, he wasn't too sure.  Perid used to one of the kingdoms that was under Zaibach's control and even started to build their guymelefs for them.  After Zaibach was destroyed they had nowhere to turn to, so they started guerrilla attacks on other kingdoms.  Only a few months ago was Fanelia able to reach a treaty and form an alliance with the war-hungry kingdom.

"King Van of Fanelia," King Abira started and Van looked up to the old king.  Wisps of a thick white beard hung down the old king's face, giving him an equivalent look of a mountain goat.  "Have you actually confirmed what your knight tells you so?  I mean he might just even lead you out of your kingdom on a wild goose chase," Abira said in a frank voice and out of the corner of his eye Van saw Gyei bristle a bit at the comment.

"King Abira, Sir von Colewrich is my loyal soldier, he would not lead me to false rumors," Van replied, shooting a glance to Gyei to tell him to quell his anger down.

"Ah, but there could be a chance that these rumors are false," Abira countered tugging his beard thoughtfully.  "Still…" the king hesitated.

Van narrowed his eyes slightly.  He didn't like the calculating look on the old king's face; it made him think that there was something behind all this.  "King Abira, do you wish time to think over your decision?" Van asked.

"Yes, that would be good.  Give me two days to confer with my council.  If you would not mind, your knight and you could stay in the palace until then," Abira agreed and Van noticed that he agreed too hastily.

Something's wrong here, Van thought as he stood up and bowed to the king, keeping his eyes on level with the king's throughout the bow.  "I will wait your decision in two days King Abira," Van said in a monotone voice.

"Good, let my servants lead your to the rooms prepared for you," Abira said and Van followed two young men, just shy a few years of his age, out of the throne room.

"Your majesty, I don't like this…" Gyei whispered into his ear as they walked down some lit hallways.

"We'll discuss the matter later Gyei," Van warned his friend, telling him that there might be spies around even though they were away from the throne room.  What's Abira planning?  He knows about the strong alliance we have with Asturia…he's even afraid of Asturia's military, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to invade Fanelia, Van wondered as he kept a hand on the butt of his sword, his senses telling him to be alert.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Curses, he knows we're up to something," King Abira muttered as he paced around a long wooden table, his ten advisors all sitting around it.  He scratched at his white beard, fingering the end of it as he walked around.

"Your Majesty, this King Van might know more than he shows.  We should find out all information regarding this Wandering Earth before disposing of him.  If he is right about some mysterious life-force coming to attack us, then we should be prepared," one advisor spoke up.

"What?" Abira shouted, facing the advisor his eyes blazing with rage, "and leave Fanelia alone now?  No!  Those things where the Wandering Earth collects are probably false rumors."

"Then why explain his sudden arrival?" the advisor countered the shut his mouth up as he realized that it was not good to contradict the king.

"So…you're in league with him," Abira smirked, glaring at the advisor; "guards take him away to the gallows."  He watched as the hapless advisor was dragged from the room.  "Now, gentlemen, if you have any further objections, please raise a hand," Abira started and looked around, but didn't see any hands, "good."

"Sire, Lord Chambers has started the take over of Fanelia and he sent these orders to you.  He says for you to stall King Van as long as you can, also your daughter may have use in this," one of the advisors spoke up, his light blue hair shining a tint in the torch light of the council room.

"My daughter?  Scina?  What does she have to do with this?" Abira demanded, narrowing his old eyes.

"Father…I may be able to convince King Van to stay here longer," a young voice spoke up from the doors of the council room.

Abira watched as a girl who was fairly tall with long raven black hair that almost measured to her ankles walked him, her oval face pale against her hair, but they accented her large yellow-gold eyes.  It gave her a look of a weak girl, but Abira knew the strength behind those arms and lithe frame hidden underneath a white dress.  "Scina," Abira started addressing the young woman, "what are you doing here.  I told you many times before that my council meetings have nothing to do with you."

"Father, I heard today that King Van of Fanelia came, bearing grave news.  You have a problem, you want to take over Fanelia, yet you don't want the young king to interfere or get wind of your plans.  I can dispose of him easily with my skills," Scina offered and Abira rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"Sire, I suggest we do as the lady says, she may be our ace hole," the light blue haired advisor spoke up again.

"Hnn," Abira mumbled then straightened up, "Scina, you have my permission to dispose of the king.  Just don't let his knight find out about this."

"As you wish father," the raven-haired girl replied bowing.  She then turned around and left the room, her footsteps making no sound on the stone floor.  Abira watched her leave then turned to face his council members once again, minus one councilman.

                                    *                      *                      *

Merle watched the gray landscape of the desert move by in a fast pace as the Crusade flew towards the capital of Asturia.  She had heard that Hitomi had collapsed from whatever they found at the Wandering Earth.  Suits that girl right, she can't even hold her own after being transported here, Merle sniffed looking up at the stars then back down at the gray ground.  She blinked her eyes as she saw something in the distance.  "What the…" Merle started as she saw the thing in the distance as a person lying flat on the ground, and what seemed to be a Camose near by.  "Sir Allen!"  Merle yelled, "There's something alive down there!  Looks like a person and a Camose!"

"What?" Allen reply came from the cockpit of the ship and Merle grabbed onto the railing she was leaning on for dear life as all power was cut from the ship, instantaneously stopping it.

She squeaked out protest as she felt the air to her lungs knocked out of her as she was pressed against the side of the ship.  "Sir Allen!"  Merle managed to call out, after regaining her breath.

"What is it Merle?" Allen asked approaching her.  Merle pointed down towards the distant figure and saw that Allen narrowed his eyes.

"Get someone down there, I think that person's wounded," Allen ordered and Merle watched as a few people got off the ship and ran towards the person.  She saw Allen lower the ship to the ground and walked towards the interior where the hanger bay for the guymelefs were.

Merle hesitated a bit before heading down towards the hanger bay herself.  When she got there she gasped a bit at what she saw.  It was the same guard that had told her where Lord Van was, but this time he was covered in blood and a large oozing wound penetrated his stomach.

"Kiron, what happened?" she heard Allen ask as he held the guard in his arms.

"S-Sir…A-Allen," she heard the guard speak and Merle slowly approached.

"Who…did this to you?" Merle asked softly, afraid that any sudden movements would hurt her friend.

"L-Lord…C-Ch-Chambers," the guard replied and Merle's eyes widened at the news.  She knew that Chambers would never hurt him like that…but…

"Kiron…why?" Merle asked and could see that the man was going fast with his kind of wound.

"Fanelia…H-He w-wants…to…c-conquer it.  Warn…warn…K-King Van…trap," the guard struggled with his words before he slumped over in Allen's arms, dead.

Merle resisted the urge to scream out loud at the sight of her friend dead.  "No," she whispered hanging her head, "Lord Van…Fanelia."  She glanced back up, tears streaking her face.  She angrily swiped at them and promised not to cry.

"Gaddes," Allen started and Merle could hear his voice was rough with emotion, "I don't like this, but wake Hitomi; we have to warn Van.  And she's the only one that could pinpoint his location."

Merle felt a flare of jealousy that replaced her sorrow as she was reminded of Hitomi's special powers.  I should be the one that could save Van, Merle thought angrily, not Hitomi.  She glanced back at Kiron who was laid gently on the floor; I have to warn Lord Van.

                                    *                      *                      *

Hitomi felt groggy as she made her way to the meeting room aboard the Crusade.  She didn't know why she was summoned there, but she had a feeling that it was very important.  She opened the door to the room and came in upon the crew of the Crusade all faces looking grimmer than usual.  She noticed that Merle had a pinched anger look on her face while Allen was more sullen than usual.  "What happened?" Hitomi asked as she stepped in.

"Hitomi, we need your help.  You found Van before with your pendant, now we need your powers again to find him," Allen spoke slowly and Hitomi looked puzzled.

"Is something the matter?  Is Van in trouble?" Hitomi asked fearing the worst for the one she loved and missed.

"He might not be in trouble, but his kingdom will be," Allen said in a cryptic voice then sighed, "we've received news that Fanelia could be conquered and we have to warn Van."

"Fanelia…burned to the ground like it had before," Hitomi whispered glancing down to the floor then back up.  She hardened her eyes and looked straight at Allen, "What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.

"Since the pendant is most likely with Van, you don't have a way of finding him, but if you could concentrate hard enough you might be able to generalize his location," Allen said and Hitomi nodded a bit.  She was a bit surprised that Van had kept the pendant she had given to him, with him.  She almost expected him to leave it underneath something or maybe just keep it in a safe.

"All right I'll try, but I can't have any distractions," Hitomi replied and saw Allen wave his hand to shoo the rest of the crew out, only leaving Gaddes, Merle, him, and her in the room.  It was almost eerie, as if this was a repeat of what had happen three years ago when they tried to find Van, except this time, there was nothing that Hitomi could use to help her.

A few minutes later she found herself seated, the skin-map rolled out in front of her, this time more detail was added to the map.  She breathed in and out, trying to relax herself and closed her eyes as the candles flickered, sending shadows all over the skin-map.  Hitomi retreated to the deep recesses of her mind, concentrating on Van's image, smell, feeling, words, and presence.  She could feel her hands moving to their own accord as they traveled over the map.  There were light spots, dots of happiness in the part that was marked Asturia, but that was also masked in a bit of concern.  She felt fear spike through the region of Fanelia, followed by a wave of greed, lust, and power.

Hitomi tried to stick those awful feelings away from her as she concentrated harder, seeing through her mind's eye as she passed the Wandering Earth.  She shuddered a bit, as the dark presence seemed stronger than before where the Wandering Earth collected.  It was very soon, very soon that those dark things were going to be awake and ready to attack.  No, can't concentrate on that, I have to find Van, Hitomi thought as she brushed the dark presence away from her, and rebuilt the image of Van she had in her mind as she kept her eyes closed.  She burrowed further into her mind and suddenly she snapped her eyes open as she saw something…

Flash!

He was alone in a room, after talking with a knight that seemed to be his aide.  She watched as he stared out of the window, into the stars.  She saw that he held her pendant in his hand, fingering it unconsciously.  She saw him get up and walk out of his room, heading to the gardens.  He sat there, his gaze lost in deep thought.  Suddenly a figure whirled into view and Hitomi saw that the figure was a girl, about her height.  She had long raven black hair that was clipped into a half braid, the wind whipping her hair into her face, giving her a mysterious look.  Hitomi noticed that something was wrong; her eyes were glowing erratically, almost as if they were like a predator hunting…

Flash!

She saw him wrap his hands around the girl, drawing her closer to him as they kissed with passion and almost ferocity.  Hitomi felt her anguish pour out as she saw him like this…she didn't like it at all.  Suddenly there was a gleam and she saw her reach behind her, Van unaware of anything, and drew out a glittering knife, keeping it low.  No!  Van! Hitomi tried to shout as the vision exploded and shattered to a million pieces.

Flash!

Hitomi found herself back in the room where she was looking at the skin-map.  She noticed that Merle had a blank look on her face, while Allen's had worry written all over.  Hitomi glanced down at the map and saw that her hands had stopped moving over the map and they seemed to glow a bit underneath whatever they were on top of.  She lifted them away and saw that it was marked as the region of Perid, near the outlying edges of Asturia's boarders and also of the Wandering Earth.

"Hitomi, are you okay?" Allen's voice penetrated her foggy mind, brining her back to reality.

"He's in Perid," Hitomi whispered as she found that her hands lost their glow and they were shaking uncontrollably.  "He…" Hitomi started when she felt Allen's hands resting on her and looked across the table to see him smile a bit, though it was a sad smile.

"Its okay Hitomi, we're here for you.  Tell us what you saw," Allen prodded gently and Hitomi took a deep breath, forcing her hands to stop shaking.  She still felt slightly embarrassed by Allen's display of affection, but she knew that Allen did not feel any jealousy towards Van, the person she was in love with.

"You seemed pretty scared, care to share?" Merle's voice asked from her side and Hitomi noted that there was an overlaying of contempt hidden in the cat-girl's voice.

Hitomi hesitated and wondered if she should tell them about her vision of Van kissing another girl.  It made her boil on the inside but she also felt scared when that girl lifted a knife and Van wasn't even aware of it.  "I saw Van, in a garden…then something flashed into view and a knife was drawn.  Van wasn't even aware of it," Hitomi started the shut her mouth as she saw that Allen had a grim look on his face.

"You said that he was in Perid right?" Allen asked and Hitomi nodded.  "Damn, this makes things worst.  Astoria was at war with the Peridians a few months after you left, and we're still at war with them, though they haven't attacked recently.  They know the Crusade and they know me, so if we just fly in there, there is a sure chance we'll be taken as prisoners," Allen explained and Hitomi frowned.

"Then how about we just go as ambassadors of peace?" she suggested, and looked at Gaddes who shrugged.

"Yeah, that's a good idea little lady, but I heard that the King of Perid was looking for the girl from the Mystic Moon shortly after you left," Gaddes explained as he detached himself from the wooden post he was leaning against.  "We can't risk this ship or the guymelefs on board, including the boss's Scherazade," he continued and Hitomi frowned.

"Then what do we do?  How can we alert Van?" Hitomi asked looking around.  Her gaze settled on Merle and she thought up of an idea.

"Hey!" Merle cried out, as she grew nervous with Hitomi's thoughtful look on her.

"Merle, how good are you in stealing things and being stealthy?" Hitomi asked the cat-girl who had a suspicious look on her face.

"Never got caught by the palace guards, not even once," Merle declared a proud look on her face.  She snapped up, as the suspicious look returned to her features.

"Oh, I think I know where Hitomi's going with this," Allen interrupted and looked at Merle.  "Merle do you think you could sneak into the palace of Perid and warn Van?  Hitomi would accompany you, since I think she can pinpoint Van's location in the palace," Allen asked gently and Hitomi could see the cat-girl soften up a bit.

"Um…I guess I can, but only if Hitomi stays on the outside, if I have her following me in, then who knows what'll happen if we get caught," Merle agreed and Hitomi nodded.

"Good, then lets head to Perid and get Van," Allen said standing up from his chair, his owl flying from its wooden perch to Allen's shoulder.

                                    *                      *                      *

Chapter Five - Impending Danger

Scina brushed her long raven black hair as she sat in front of a mirror.  The torch light in her room flickered as a light breeze blew in from her open windows to her chambers.  She picked up a milky white clip and gathered her hair up in a half braid.  Snapping the white clip against her hair she looked at herself in the mirror.  Her golden-yellow eyes returned her stare and Scina glanced at something on her desk that was next to the mirror.  She picked it up and stuck it in the back of her white dress, hiding it underneath all the folds of the dress.

"Mistress, where are you going?" one of her servants asked as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"I'll be back later, just going to visit someone," Scina replied her husky alto voice echoing throughout her room.  She left, heading down one of the long halls in the palace.  She walked past the gardens when something in the corner of her eye made her stop.  Scina saw the young king of Fanelia sitting on one of the stone benches in the garden, a wistful look on his face as he stared at the stars and the Mystic Moon.  She approached slowly, so not to startle the young man.

"King Van?" Scina asked in a soft voice bringing the king's head around to face her.

"May I ask who are you?" Van replied and Scina noted that he was really well mannered.

She blushed a bit and bowed her head slightly in respect, "Princess Scina Abira."  She raised her eyes and looked at him; she felt drawn to him as if he had some kind of magnet on him.

"Ah, forgive me Princess if I intruded into your garden, I'll leave now," she saw him make a move but raised a hand and stepped forward a bit to stop him.

"No, wait, Your Highness.  You're not intruding, I was wondering why you were out here, that's all," Scina said hastily as she approached him and motioned him to sit down, "you had a wistful look on your face?  Could it be someone you were thinking about?"

"No…" Van replied and Scina heard hesitation in his voice.

"If you want to share with me, then I am willing to listen," Scina pried gently, taking one of his gloved hands into her own.  She was surprised at herself for this sudden gesture and saw in his face that he too was also surprised.  "Oh…um…sorry," Scina said a bit flustered and released his hand.

He shrugged a bit, and turned his face a bit away from her, but she could see that he was blushing.  "I was just thinking about another girl I used to love, but…she…I guess she won't come back," he started hesitantly.

"Oh…how awful.  Did she leave you for another?" Scina asked and suddenly recoiled a bit as he faced her, his eyes blazing with anger.

"How could you say that…" the young king started but Scina saw that he realized he was talking to the Princess of Perid.  "Sorry for my reaction…it's just that…" he apologized and Scina smiled a bit.

"Its okay Your Highness, I know how you feel," Scina replied then shivered a bit as a cold breeze passed by.  She felt an arm around her and herself being pulled close to a warm body.  Scina looked with surprise at Van who held her close.

"Its chilly out, you should have had a shawl or something," she heard his rumbling baritone voice as she leaned against him.

"I'm perfectly fine with you here," Scina whispered under her breath then glanced at Van, "do you want me to tell you my story…about my only love that went away?"

"Only if you feel up to it," the king replied and Scina sighed, her eyes tracing his jaw line and neck.

"I was around fourteen when I met with this incredibly handsome young man.  He was one of Zaibach's commanders…having this light blue hair that was long to his shoulders.  He was around twenty-four years old and it seemed that many respected him for his tactical genius.  He came to Perid on a usual mission for my father's report on the guymelefs we were constructing for them.  I was against the construction, but my father wanted all that power.  I was playing in the garden when he and my father walked by.  I saw them look at me and heard my father comment that I was headstrong and probably ill willed.  But the Zaibach official knelt down next to me and asked me a few questions.  It was then that I realized that I was in love with him.  I saw him again and again when he came for my father's report, a few months later I found out that he had been reassigned next to Dornkirk himself.  I felt elated for his position, but yet, I could not see him anymore.  When the war was raging on, and near the end of it I heard from some traders that the blue haired man that I had fallen in love with had died during battle.  I was devastated…" Scina said then hesitated a bit.

"But he died in battle like a knight," she heard Van trying to comfort her as tears fell down her eyes.

"I don't really remember his name, but I do remember that there was one word that people usually called him…Strategos…" Scina whispered then felt Van stiffen a bit.  "What?  Is something the matter?" she asked looking at him with worry.

"Nothing…" the king replied and Scina looked at him oddly.  The young king seemed so open yet so reclusive at the same time.

                                    *                      *                      *

Van listened as the Princess told her story…it was in a way like his, except Hitomi came from another world, the Mystic Moon to be precise.  Her arrival to this world was by pure accident, then she suddenly left during the middle of the war, but Van had felt the urge to go and take her back…it was the first time that he realized that he missed her.  She was like a link to him something he could not afford to lose.  But after the war, Hitomi said that she wanted to go back to her world…and just left him, giving him the pendant as a reminder of her.

Now this Princess, she was almost like him in some way.  He stiffened a bit as he heard his deceased brother's assumed last name.  Strategos…my brother met this young Princess? Van wondered as he replied to the Princess's inquiry, "Nothing…"

"I'm sorry for pouring out all this to you…but…" the princess started and Van shook his head slightly.

"No, its okay.  It looks like you've been holding this to your heart for a long time," he said looking down at her.  She looked pretty under the shade of the moonlight, her golden-yellow eyes glowing as if there was a current of power running through her veins.  Her black hair shone a bit, giving her a mysterious look.  Van's eyes traced her oval face, her jaw-line and her soft lips…before his mind even registered what he was doing, Van was kissing the Princess with passion.

He pulled her close as both stood up and felt her response to his kiss.  He closed his eyes savoring her taste…then suddenly felt something in the back of his mind warning him of impending danger.  Suddenly pain flashed in his head and he heard Hitomi's voice cry out in his mind…No! Van!  He snapped his eyes open and pushed away from the Princess violently as he staggered back a bit blinking.  He realized that he was breathing hard for whatever reason he could not understand.

"What?  What's the matter?" Scina's voice penetrated through his hazy mind as he shook his head a bit.  He glanced at her and felt something evil radiating from her.

"Stay away," he said, his own voice sounding harsh to his ears.  That evil was resonating like a pulse of a heartbeat…and it was coming from her direction.

"Your Majesty…perhaps…" Scina started and Van shook his head violently.

"No…I'm…sorry, Princess.  I'll take leave now," Van replied in a most polite manner he could muster up and brushed past her, looking at the ground.  Out of the corner of his eye he could see something-silvery flash in the back of her dress and frowned a bit.  What did she have behind her? Van wondered as he staggered back to his room in the castle.

"I take it you found something…" Gyei's voice said from the shadows of his room as Van closed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it.

Van nodded numbly, trying to calm his breathing.  "Something's not right here…" he whispered as he met Gyei's hard gaze.  Something wasn't right; Van knew that for sure.

                                    *                      *                      *

Scina sat down in one of the many chairs that were in the council room.  All the councilmen had left, adjourning for the night to finish whatever they were going to do, or cook up some scheme to displace her father from the throne.  It was the same thing every night and day.  She angrily pulled the milky white clip from her hair, letting her hair flow freely as she slammed the clip to the table top, making a few guards jump, but it didn't make her father jump.

"I see that you failed," her father's voice said and Scina couldn't hear any emotions in it.  Which meant that either her father was furious, or disappointed…she rather have him furious than disappointed.

"Something was probing us, I felt it…it could be the girl from the Mystic Moon you were babbling about for days after the war.  She might be back in this world.  I felt her probe just before I had the chance to kill King Van," Scina spat out, banging a fist on the table, making some of the silverware and plates jump a bit into the air.

"You would like to vent out your anger," Abira observed carefully and Scina nodded a bit.  She watched as he snapped his fingers and a guard came over…Scina noted that the guard was totally oblivious to what was going to happen next.

Scina stood up, and unzipped her white dress, letting it pool to the ground next to her chair.  She saw some of the guards', stationed around the interior of the council chamber, eyes light up as they saw she was wearing a close fitting blood red-black body suit, her combat outfit.  She walked over to a wall and pulled a sword from its place on the wall.  Scina glanced at the silvery sword and slashed a few times with it, a whirling sound filling the air.  She smiled cruelly as she hefted the sword and walked over to the guard who was also instructed to draw out his sword.

"Let me see how much your skills have improved daughter," Abira said and Scina saluted him with her sword.

She glanced at the lone guard who stood in a battle ready position.  "Did he get any powder?" Scina asked looking at one of the servants who was standing next to her father.

"Yes ma'am…"ki" powder for your opponent this time, Your Highness," the servant replied and Scina nodded curtly.

She turned back to the soldier who looked highly nervous.  "Your name soldier," Scina demanded, twirling her sword around.

"C-Crion…A-Adams," the young man replied nervously, "um, what's that stuff the old hag just put on me?"

"You have the ability to destroy my father once and for all, but you'll have to get through me first, so your move, Crion," Scina said in the deadly quite voice and place her left foot in back of her, her right one lightly in front of her.  She grabbed her sword with two hands and pointed the tip of the sharp sword on the ground, enabling her to make a triangle cut easily if the opponent wasn't too careful.  It was her trademark fighting style; she called it the Anazati Slewing Stance.

"M-Move?" the man replied, and Scina sighed a bit in frustration.

"How about this…" she started then raised her right hand and pointed it palm faced at the soldier.  She smiled as she felt her power transfer to her hand and her eyes glowed.  A small ball of blue-white energy shot out from her palm and towards Crion who had a shocked look on his face.  She huffed a bit and narrowed her eyes in anger, "Put your damn hand up and concentrate on an energy you idiot!"

She watched as the soldier quickly did as she ordered and grinned a bit as another energy ball, this time orange-white shot from his palm and intercepted hers.  Scina shielded her eyes, as the blast of the two energy balls impacting each other was hot and bright.  She didn't wait until the blast die down as she charged at the soldier, her sword drawn and ready to strike.  She slashed at the soldier and met resistance as he drew out his sword and blocked her blow.

Scina stepped back a few and pointed her sword in a downward position.  She narrowed her eyes and watched as he moved towards her slowly like a predator hunting its prey.  This guy's good, Scina thought to herself as she brought her sword up again defending an overhead blow.  She grinned a bit then faltered as she realized that she had left her stomach open to attack and stumbled back as the air left her; punched out by the soldier.  She watched the soldier smile a bit and advance.  Scina hefted her sword with one hand and charged, slashing at him.  She watched carefully as he blocked all her blows, and suddenly found a window of opportunity as she locked him in an 'x' grip, her leg wrapped around one of his, ready to dump him to the ground and jab her sword into his throat.  She threw him to the ground and fired a "ki" blast at him, but he rolled away from her trap and Scina gritted her teeth in anger.

"Enough games, this is where I kill you," Scina spat out, advancing on the soldier.  Her hair blew in different directions as her eyes glowed with fierce intensity, almost to the point where they turned a bright white.  She moved quickly ducking under his overhead cut and jabbed her elbow into his stomach, forcing him to back into a wall.  She then brought her free hand up and held his neck against the wall.  Her left knee kicked him in the groin area, making him drop the sword.  She then threw him up into the air and stabbed him in the heart as he dropped to the ground.  Blood gushed from his fatal wound and Scina pulled out her sword and turned away from the lifeless body.  She walked back to the table where her father was sitting, a calm look on his face.

"He almost had you there, daughter," her father spoke up in a grave voice.

"No worry, he wasn't a match for my powers and skills," Scina replied arrogantly then looked up to see two pairs of eyes hidden in the shadows watching her.  Spies, most likely here to warn Van, Scina concluded as she reverted her gaze back to her father.

"There will be another chance to kill the king.  But I have to rest now, tomorrow I'll have to get those wings from that damned abomination," King Abira said and Scina nodded.

"Yes father," she replied standing up and bowed to him.  She then spun around and left the room.  As soon as the door closed behind her she turned her footsteps towards where she had seen those eyes.  Whoever they were, they were going to be in some serious trouble when she found them.

                                    *                      *                      *

Chapter Six- Warnings of Danger

Merle was seriously spooked as she and Hitomi approached the gates to the capital of Perid.  The place looked so dark and creepy this late at night.  She held onto Hitomi's arm in a death grip as the two of them stopped in front of the gates.

"Halt!  Who goes there?" one of the guards standing on the tall sentry tower that over looked the gates called down to them.

"My grandmother and I were out all day picking the wild fruits, we didn't realize the time and just made it back here.  But she along the way hurt her leg.  Please let us in so I can find a doctor for her leg," Merle spoke up in the best pleading voice she could muster up without letting her fear flow through.  She silently jabbed Hitomi who was hidden underneath a cloak and hunched over to speak a little.

"Ohh…my poor aching foot…" Hitomi said in a crackling voice and Merle thought that she was too into the part.

"Well, okay I guess you could come in, but hurry, there's been reports that something's creepy going on," the same guard spoke again and motioned to someone Merle could not see in the shadows.  She grinned slightly as the gates cracked open and she walked in with Hitomi in tow.  Looking around Merle saw that there was a straight path that led to the palace and started to follow when Hitomi spoke up beside her.

"Now dear, remember my house is this way," the old voice Hitomi had tried to put on cracked with force and Merle felt her left arm strongly tugged in the left direction.  She narrowed her eyes at the brown cloak Hitomi was hidden in as they moved to the left and into the shadows.

"What do you think you're doing?  The castle was on a direct path!" Merle hissed to the girl as soon as they were out of the guards' sight and hearing range.

"Merle, the guards were watching us, if you didn't stick to your part then we would have been caught there.  Now lets go to the castle the long way, we'll try to avoid the guards this way by taking the back streets," Hitomi explained returning to her normal voice and Merle gave her a dark look.

"Fine, Miss I-Know-The-Direction, lead on," Merle snipped at her then grumbled under her breath, "just hope you don't get us caught."  She followed the girl deep into the capital.

                                    *                      *                      *

Hitomi knew that she would have to rely on her own instincts and her special powers to get them to the castle through the back streets of the musty, and mostly dirty capital.  She suspected that the king only lavished in his own goods, not even caring for the citizens of the town; as she saw some of the grungy people walking around searching for scraps of food to eat.  It was like some of the parts of Tokyo she had seen before…but this one seemed worst.

"Miss, food for me?" a voice spoke up beside her and Hitomi looked into a wrinkled, brown spotted face that was only skin and bones.

"Uh…sorry ma'am…I have nothing on me," Hitomi started when the old woman grabbed onto her sleeve and Hitomi shivered a bit as she felt bones instead of life hands on her right wrist.  "Let me go!" Hitomi said more forcefully and shook the old crone off.

"Uh, H-Hitomi," Merle's scared voice said and she turned to what the cat-girl was looking at.  She gasped as she saw more than ten bone-like starving people walking towards them, their hands outstretched as if they wanted to eat them or something.

"Merle," Hitomi said her heart beating very fast with fear.

"Yeah?" Merle's scared voice replied and Hitomi felt her hand grab hers in an effort to calm herself down.

"Run," Hitomi ordered and she forced her legs to move as they were rooted to the ground in fear.  She dragged Merle along until they were a few feet away from the bone-people before the cat-girl found her own legs and ran quickly.  Hitomi ran along side the girl as both plowed their way through the dark streets when suddenly Hitomi skidded to a stop as a looming vine covered wall was before them.

"Um, which way now Hitomi?" Merle asked and Hitomi noted that the cat-girl was slightly out of breath, either from being so scared or they had run so far.

"This looks like the castle wall, window up there!" Hitomi pointed out and looked at Merle who had an even look on her face.

"You can climb right?" Merle asked and Hitomi nodded.  She had a bit of climbing lessons to strengthen her leg muscles during her track and field practices.  They had helped for her long jump and marathon runs.

She put one of her feet into a secure vine holding and hoisted herself up after Merle.  Climbing with ease she reached halfway before she glanced down to see that the street they were on was covered with those bone-people.  "Um, Merle, hurry it up, we might have company," Hitomi hissed at the cat-girl who was climbing in a slow way.

"Yes ma'am," Merle's reply came down and Hitomi couldn't decide whether it was sarcasm or respect; but the cat-girl did climb a little faster.

As soon as Hitomi felt her hand touch the window she breathed a sigh of relief.  The window was medium size in comparison to how many stories they were up from the ground floor.  She climbed in and looked around the room they had climbed into.

"Nice weapons," Merle commented as Hitomi saw many different kinds of swords, bayonets, clubs, axes, guns, and…

"Drag-energists?" Hitomi asked, puzzled as she went over to a pile of purple-pink energists, which were glowing with power, creating a night light of some sort in the room.  She went over and touched one; it felt warm as if it wanted her to hold it…as if it was alive in some way.

"Um…Hitomi…your eyes…" Merle's voice spoke up behind her and Hitomi glanced at a mirror that was next to the drag-energists.  She recoiled as she saw that her eyes were glowing faintly.

"Uh…" Hitomi started taking her hand away from the energist and her eyes returned to their normal color.

"I don't think that was normal…" Merle commented as she looked over Hitomi's shoulder at the energists, which seemed to glow in a happy way.  "I think they like you," she added on.

"Huh?  I thought energists were not alive, just a power source," Hitomi asked looking at the energists.

"Well, um…might as well take one and ask Van or Allen later on," Merle suggested and Hitomi nodded a bit.

"Okay, I guess," she agreed, hesitating a bit.  She took one from the small pile and placed it in a small bag that she had brought along that was hidden underneath her brown cloak.  It glowed a bit, the light shining through her bag, before the light died down.  Looking back at the pile she saw that the other drag-energists also had stopped glowing their purple-pink color.

Suddenly there was a noise coming from outside of the room that sounded like two people fighting with swords and Hitomi saw Merle peek outside.  "Whoa…who's the lady fighting the guard?" Merle said and Hitomi crept out to where Merle was looking from a balcony down to a torch lit room with a long table and one medium aged man sitting on one end of the table, watching a girl with raven black hair fighting a guard.

Hitomi closed her eyes as she saw the girl kill the guard and tried not to throw up at the bloody mess the girl left behind.  She opened her eyes and returned her gaze to the girl and found that she was looking at them, her golden-yellow eyes narrowed with suspicion.  Uh oh…Hitomi thought as she realized that they were spotted, but her fear turned to puzzlement as she saw that the girl did not alert any of the guards, just walk out of the room after talking with the person who was her father.  "Merle, lets go find Van before that girl gets to us.  I got a bad resonating feeling from that girl," Hitomi whispered to Merle who nodded slightly.

Hitomi followed the cat-girl who was using the shadows to her every advantage and Hitomi admired Merle's skills to blend in with the darkness, making her a formidable opponent if she was a soldier.  They walked along the darkened hallways, one torchlight shining the way every twenty steps or so.

"So…who do we have here?" a husky alto voice said from the darkness and Hitomi bit back a gasp as the same girl who killed the guard appeared before them, her sword drawn and glistening in the torch light.  Her eyes showed pure malice and Hitomi could feel evil resonating from her light a heartbeat, almost like what she had felt back at the Wandering Earth.

"Um…" Merle started when there was a heavy footstep that fell behind them.

"Ah, there are those two I ordered to come with me, you two ladies don't know your directions do you," a gruff voice said and Hitomi turned around to see a man dressed in Fanelia armor, his shoulder length brown hair tied behind his head, a half smile pulling along the sides of his squarish jaw.

"Sir von Colewrich, do you know these two?" the girl asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course, they were the ones I sent from Fanelia to provide me with the latest information so that King Van can keep to date about his country's business, Princess Scina.  But these two have a habit of taking the shadows and usually end up where they aren't supposed to sometimes.  My apologies," the man called Colewrich said and Hitomi was suddenly grateful of an ally.  She watched as the Princess of Perid walked away, anger evident in her steps.

"Gyei!" Merle cried out as soon as the Princess's steps faded away.  Hitomi watched with a raised eyebrow as the cat-girl launched herself in a big bear hug with the knight.

"Merle, what in blazes are you doing here?  I thought I told no one to tell you where King Van was," the knight said then looked at Hitomi who blushed a bit.  "Who is this young lady?"

"Hitomi, Hitomi Kanazaki, sir," Hitomi said in a formal voice bowing a bit.

"The Hitomi that King Van was talking about ever since the Great War?  The girl from the Mystic Moon?  Then this is no coincidence, you must be here for something important," Gyei concluded and Hitomi noted that this man was a fast thinker.

"Yes sir, something very important that concerns Fanelia and the Wandering Earth," Hitomi stated in a grave voice.

                                    *                      *                      *

Allen watched through binoculars as Hitomi and Merle disappeared into the city of Perid.  The Crusade had settled down in the dense forests near the walled city, undetected by the dark night.

"Boss?  What now?  I mean with Merle and Hitomi in the city, what do we do?" Gaddes spoke up beside him as he set the binoculars down on the wooden railing.

"Waiting would be a long time, since they have to make their way past the sentry guards and actually find Van himself to deliver the message, also who knows if they might be caught," Allen mumbled mostly to himself as he answered Gaddes' question.  He sighed and looked at the stars that were partially hidden by the thick foliage then back at the city.  "If they aren't back by tomorrow dawn, I'll head in with a few others and talk to King Abira.  I'll make it a peace talk so he doesn't get hostile, but if you see any mirror flashing trouble, you'll have to bring the Crusade in.  Hopefully Hitomi and Merle will get the idea," Allen explained looking at the city's faint lights.

"Why do I get the feeling something's gonna go wrong?" Gaddes said and Allen laughed a bit.

"Don't tell me that you're believing those old wives tales again," Allen laughed, grinning at his second-in-command.

"You do ever since Hitomi came and left, you have been listening to them," Gaddes replied in a calm voice and Allen stopped laughing.

"I know…its just that," he hesitated, "I don't really know what I'll do if we have to battle it out with Perid.  I can't risk either Merle or Hitomi."

"Hopefully they'll know what to do if something drastic happens.  They're smart," Gaddes reassured him and Allen nodded absently.  He silently prayed to whatever gods there was to keep everything all right, he did not want to throw anyone back into a war.

                                    *                      *                      *

Van sat on the ledge to his room's window, a long drop to the soft earth below him, but Van wasn't worried.  He could just fly, and not even worry about himself falling.  But he could also be spotted and branded as an abomination.  It's a twisted history that's got everyone thinking that Draconians are evil, Van thought as he rested his gloved hands on the handle of his sword which was standing up on end.

It was a history that he had lived through, with the Great War just shy of igniting again since Asturia was already at war with the Peridians.  It was pathetic to him that people would still be fighting.  He did not want to involve his country, but if what was true at the Wandering Earth, then he would have to rally up his men again and defend Fanelia from burning again.  He kept staring out into the darkened landscape, not really paying attention to anything until he heard a soft knocking to his door.

"King Van, I brought information you need to know," Gyei's voice spoke up, muffled by the wooden door.

"Come in then," Van sighed, not really wanting to talk to anyone.  Not after his little fiasco with the Princess of Perid.  She had an evil aura around her, making her something dangerous; he had felt that through Hitomi's teachings.  Hitomi, Van shook his head a bit, she wouldn't be coming back, she was gone from this world, and her only connection was hanging around his neck.

"Lord Van!" Merle's voice echoed throughout the room and Van whipped his head towards the door to see Merle bound through and running up to him, a joyful look on her face.

He caught her in a hug, almost tipping himself over from the ledge as she threw her full weight on him.  "Merle, what are you doing here?" Van asked after releasing Merle who was smiling.

"We went to the Wandering Earth to check out your information, and its true-" Merle started before Van cut her off.

"Who's we?" Van asked, shaking his head a bit as he got off of the ledge.

"Allen, the crew of the Crusade, me, and Hitomi," Merle started and Van stiffened a bit at the mention of Hitomi's name.

"Van…" a voice he thought he'd never hear again spoke up behind Gyei and Van looked up past Merle to see Hitomi, dressed in her school uniform, her hair still short, but a bit longer.  She had grown a bit taller too, Van noticed, and she looked…beautiful? A small voice spoke in the back of his mind.  He clamped down on that part as he took into the fact that Hitomi was here, right now in front of him.

"…Hitomi…" Van started before he found his mouth dry from the lack of moisture.  He couldn't believe it, not one bit at all, she was back…

"I think we better go…" he distantly heard Merle speak up as he kept his gaze on Hitomi who looked equally surprised.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Merle tiptoe out, dragging Gyei with her and shutting the door behind them.

As soon as the door shut Van turned his gaze away from Hitomi and stared out into the blanket of black night.  He glanced a bit at Hitomi who was staring down at her sneakers.  "I thought you couldn't come back…" Van said softly as he turned back to look at the star-dotted skyline.  He reached into his shirt and pulled out the pink orb that was hanging from his neck and lifted it up to look at it for a moment before putting it back underneath his shirt.

"Me neither…but…I missed you Van…I guess that's why I came back," he heard Hitomi say and Van sighed a bit.  He turned around to face her.

Walking over to her he tipped her chin up from the ground, looking into her bright green eyes.  He could see faint hints of red appear on her cheeks and Van fought a grin from appearing on his face.  She was still the same old Hitomi he knew, but…  Van bent down and kissed her lightly on her lips.  He felt her response and pulled away a few seconds after; looking into her eyes he whispered, "I missed you too Hitomi."

"Van…I-I…" he saw her fumble for words and nodded a bit.

"I also know that you just didn't come back here to see me, something's wrong isn't it, Hitomi?" Van asked as he placed a comforting arm around her.  She felt so fragile and she looked scared for a few moments.  "What's wrong Hitomi?" Van asked searching her scared expression for an answer.

"I-I…I saw you die Van, in another of my visions, I came back to prevent that from happening," she said in a soft voice and Van frowned a bit.  "I didn't want to lose you," Hitomi continued and Van pulled her closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I won't die if you are with me," Van replied determination etched in his voice.

"There's more Van…Fanelia…Merle told me that your head advisor, Gerowyn Chambers is preparing to take it over in your absence," Hitomi said after a few minutes of silence and Van stiffened a bit.

"Its true Van, we intercepted Kiron Pia after our little side-trip to where the Wandering Earth collects," Merle spoke up from the doorway and Van glanced at her, his eyes narrowed in slightly contained anger.

"Kiron Pia, isn't he one of Allen's men?" Van asked, searching his memory for the bright young man.

"Yes, one of the gate guards.  Chambers injured him fatally and he was only able to deliver the message…" Merle said, trying not to break down as she leaned against the frame of the door.

Van was silent for a few minutes, boiling angry on the inside.  How could Chambers betray him like that?  After he had been his most trusted advisor since he rebuilt Fanelia.  What motives did Chambers have for turning on him and taking over Fanelia?  This is so messed up; Van thought as he clenched a fist then released it.  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep his rising temper down.  "Okay…" Van started before Gyei interrupted him.

"My Lord, King Abira requests your attendance right now," Gyei spoke up, appearing next to Merle and Van raised an eyebrow.

"Now?  At this hour?" Van asked and Gyei nodded.

"All right," Van decided, "Merle…you and Hitomi get back to Allen and tell him that as soon as I'm done with Abira, we'll rendezvous on the outskirts of the Peridian kingdom.  I'll have to tell Abira that something's come up in Fanelia so I can get out."

"King Van, if Abira asks where did you get information, do not tell them about Lady Merle or Lady Hitomi.  I had a bad feeling about the Princess…she made me feel uncomfortable," Gyei interjected and Van nodded sagely.

"There's something wrong with the Princess…she seems to have a more darker persona than most people," Van muttered mostly to himself before looking at Gyei, Merle, and Hitomi.  "Gyei, show them one of the hidden passages out of the castle.  I'll be going to Abira.  Do it quick so he doesn't suspect anything," Van ordered and gave a brief nod to Merle and Hitomi before brushing past Gyei and headed down to the throne room.

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Chapter Seven - East of Atlantis

A guard met him at the door to the throne room, and Van waited patiently for the king to admit him.  He was slightly confused about why did King Abira called him at this time of the night; any normal Gaian would be asleep, but the King seemed to have suffered insomnia or something of that nature.  Suddenly a piercing wailing sound emerged, muffled by the heavy wooden doors and Van narrowed his eyes.  "What was that?" he asked one of the guards by the door.

"There was a thief whom we caught a few days back.  She seemed to have a unique mark on her…some said that she was Draconian.  King Abira is now paying her back for her robbery," one of the guard snidely replied and Van raised an eyebrow at the guard's comment on the thief being Draconian.

"Weren't all the Draconians killed when they destroyed Atlantis?" Van asked, keeping his voice neutral and cautious.

"Seems this one's been hiding…such a pretty little thing," another guard replied, then shrugged, "I guess the King wouldn't mind if you looked in."  He opened the massive door a crack and Van slipped in.

It was dark around the edges of the throne room, but a bright light shone down in the middle of it, showing Abira and a few of his advisors.  Van held his breath in surprise as he saw a crumpled figure in the middle of the red carpet that led to Abira's chair.  The figure was half-naked and blood ran all over her bare back, signs that she had been tortured.

"Ah, King Van…you came just in time," Abira suddenly spoke up and Van glanced at the King who motioned him forward.  He cautiously stepped from the shadows and towards Abira; something told him that he had to keep his guard up.  Van walked slowly up towards the King, then stopped in front of him at a respectable distance and knelt down.  The girl was a few feet away from him, her ragged breath echoing throughout the room.

"King Abira, you called me for an urgent message?" Van asked, as he shot glances at the girl.  He saw her return his gaze and pain filled her eyes, but underneath that pain he saw that they were warrior's eyes.  She was suffering more than she had too, Van thought, as he felt sorry for her.  Whatever crime this girl committed, it was not worth her having whipped bloodied.

"Yes," Abira's commanding voice brought him back to what the king was saying.  "I've received a courier message from Fanelia.  He says that you are to return to Fanelia immediately because of some foreign affairs of state," Abira said dryly and Van narrowed his eyes suspiciously.  There was something else Abira wasn't telling him, and Van suspected that the middle-aged king knew more than he was giving on.  Does Abira know about Fanelia being taken over? Van wondered as he nodded.

"I am sorry for cutting this visit short.  But--" Van was cut off as Abira shook his head.

"I also called you here because of my decision.  The Peridian kingdom will not help you on this…quest…" Abira spoke, stroking his beard in a calculating way that Van did not like at all.

"…I understand," Van finally replied.  He was confused as to why he felt relieved by Abira's decision not to help him and the Astorians.  He bowed his head again then got up and turned around to walk out of the throne room.

"Wait, King Van," Abira's commanding tone brought him to a halt and he turned back around.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Van asked, puzzled.  He seemed to get more puzzled as things kept happening…something was up, usually he wouldn't be this puzzled and Hitomi's teachings weren't telling him anything.

"King Van…what do you think of this creature here in my throne carpet?" Abira gestured to the girl who was curled up in a fetal position, occasionally moaning in pain from her whip wounds.

"She had a lot of spirit," Van said then added, "What crime did she commit to deserve this punishment?"

"Oh, she did not commit any crime, she is my slave girl…but I can give her to you as a present…" Abira hinted, his voice sly as a fox.

Van shook his head slightly, his coal black hair swishing against his eyes.  "No thank you Your Highness," he replied politely.

"I insist," Abira said more forcefully and Van tilted his head a fraction.  What did Abira have to gain to give her to him?  He didn't want her as a slave girl; she looked too young…plus he wasn't one of those kings that fantasized over perverted dreams and goals to find out how many illegal offspring he could have with slave women.

"Thank you, King Abira," Van replied through clenched teeth.  A guard came over and picked up the girl like a sack of grain and followed Van out of the throne room.  The guard followed Van all the way out to where Gyei was holding their Camose ready.  Van shook his head a no, silencing whatever question Gyei had about their third party member.

The guard left the girl with Gyei who precariously held her against him and both men rode out of Perid.  As soon as Van had left the gates, he felt the darkness that had been nibbling on the edge of his mind wear off.  There was something dangerous in the kingdom and Van had never felt so relieved in his life.

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Allen ran his blue-eyed gaze through the dark blue night.  He glanced at Hitomi and Merle who were next to him on the bridge of the Crusade.  "You sure that Van will meet us?" Allen asked, trying to see any sign of the young king in the pitch-blackness.

"Of course…Lord Van wouldn't go back on a promise," Merle said indignantly, but Allen could hear an overlaying tone of worry.  That same worry was also on his mind and he suspected that it was especially prominent on Hitomi's mind.

It was about three hours since a knight named Gyei von Colewrich brought Hitomi and Merle to the ship.  Allen had heard a lot about Colewrich and his exploits.  He had heard that Colewrich had defeated many of the wild Abadons that roamed the dark forests near the kingdom of Freid.  Allen smiled faintly, as he thought about the young king of Freid.  Freid was so secluded; no one could get into the mountainous kingdom.  He was glad though, because Prince Chid didn't need to get involved in another war-he was too young to see the horrors yet again.

"Sir!  Two approaching Camose…it's the King!" Gaddes's voice came from the communication tube that ran throughout the Crusade.

Allen flicked the returning call cap off of the tube and spoke into it, "Gaddes, have them get on board then prep the engine room for fast departure.  I don't want anyone to follow us."

"Roger that sir."

Allen nodded slightly to himself then glanced at Hitomi and Merle, but they weren't on the bridge.  Out of the corner of his eyes, Allen saw the flick of Merle's tail disappearing through the door to the main hall that led to the hanger bay.  He raised an eyebrow at the two girls…they were just so jumpy.  What did really happen while they contacted Van, Allen wondered; usually they weren't so jumpy, with the exception of Merle occasionally.  Something must have happened to keep both of them on this kind of edge.  Allen sighed a bit then followed out the door to see Van, for the first time since the King had come to Astoria to warn them about the Wandering Earth.

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The scene that greeted Allen's eyes wasn't one of which he had expected.  His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he saw the young king lift himself off of his Camose with such weariness that it made him look like as if he had internal injures of sorts.  What was the real surprise was what Van and his knight had brought on board the Crusade with them.  A young girl, Allen thought as his blue eyes narrowed slightly as he saw that the girl was half-naked, her body mostly covered in a blanket and she looked dazed and half-conscious.

"Van!" Hitomi's worried voice interrupted Allen from his musings and he watched as the girl run up the Van and looked him over, concern in her green eyes.

"Lord Van!" Merle's high voice came from behind him and Allen saw the cat-girl brush past him, flying down the flight of stairs and engulfed Van in a bear hug.  "Lord Gyei!"  Merle said with equal enthusiasm and released Van to hug the knight who had a sort of bewildered look on his face.

"…Merle?" Gyei was saying as Allen proceeded down the stairs and approached Van.  He nodded briefly to the King and noticed that his eyes seemed a bit haunted as if he had some odd encounters of his own since Allen saw him back in Astoria.  "I take it that the Peridians didn't want an alliance," Allen hazard a guess even though he was pretty sure of the answer.

"No," Van replied and Allen could hear relief evident in his voice.  He wrinkled his eyebrows in an attempt to figure out why Van was relieved that the Peridians' answer made him so glad.  Some on the corner of Allen's eyes brought his eyes to look at the Camose, restlessly pawing the metal floor.  Suddenly there was a soft moan coming from one of the Camose and Allen noted that both Gyei and Van perked up as if they remembered something.

He watched as Gyei eased Merle's arms off of him and the knight went over to his Camose and picked the girl off of the animal like a person plucking a feather.  He was about to open his mouth to ask about the girl when Merle's jumped in, her voice in a suspicious tone.

"What is that?" the cat-girl asked, her eyes narrowed and her tail twitching in a hostile manner.  Allen looked around him and saw that the rest of his crew had also come down and all of them looked a bit wary at the girl in Gyei's arms.  Hitomi had a neutral expression on her face, but Allen could tell that she looked slightly hurt.  He returned his gaze back to the young king and waited for an explanation.

                                    *                      *                      *

Van felt Hitomi's arms around his neck and shoulders drop away slowly and he glanced back at her.  She looked hurt and Van couldn't blame her.  But seeing her like that made his heart ache all over his ribcage and he didn't want that hurt look in her eyes.

"Looks like the King picked up a whore after negotiations…" a loud whisper came from one of Allen's crew and Van flinched a little.

"She's not a whore," he said in a low soft voice.  He took a deep breath and released it before looking straight at Hitomi and continued, "Negotiations didn't go as planned and Abira insisted I take her as a gift of some sort.  But she isn't a whore because of her eyes.  Behind her pain…she's a warrior of great caliber."  He turned to face Allen; "She's going to need some medical attention.  Abira was whipping her badly before he stopped and we talked."

Van turned back to Hitomi and saw hints of understanding in her eyes, but he privately made a promise to himself that he would talk to her later when the girl was dealt with.  But right now, he had a lot to tell Allen and the rest.  They would need to be prepared for war if necessary.  "Allen…" Van started before the knight of Cali raised a white-gloved hand telling him to stop.

"We've got a lot to talk about Van.  My men can take care of the girl," Allen said and Van nodded slightly.  He followed Allen up the flight of stairs when he stopped suddenly and glanced back to see Hitomi shaking her head slightly.  Her face said that she wasn't going to go with them…she already knew what Allen was going to talk about and Van had a feeling that she didn't want to be near him at the moment.  He turned back around and followed Allen.

                                    *                      *                      *

Hitomi watched Van leave, Merle scampering behind him as she always did.  She had an inkling on what they were going to talk about, but the urge to go visit that young woman that was semi-conscious was too great.  When Van had said that the girl was a great warrior of caliber, she had a flash of insight from her small psychic powers.  She had seen Atlantis with the winged-people again, then two young girls standing together in the face of Atlantis burning.  One had gray hair with red eyes, while the other had shimmery light blue hair and hauntingly dark blue eyes.  The girl with red eyes had yellow-white wings, while the dark blue-eyed girl had light blue-white wings.

The flash of insight had ended in less than a second and it left her slightly reeling.  "Could she be another survivor of Atlantis?" Hitomi whispered then glanced around and realized that she was the only one left in the hanger bay; all of the other crewmen had gone back to their posts.

Hitomi ran up the flight of stairs and to the bridge.  When she got there she glanced around for Gaddes.  Spotting him, she went up to him and asked, "Gaddes, do you know where the girl was put?"

"Um…lessee…the lower bunk room, two rooms to the right of the briefing room," Gaddes replied and Hitomi nodded a thanks before going down stairs.  She quickly walked towards the girl's room and knocked softly on the door.

"Come in," a scared voice whispered and Hitomi opened the door softly then stepped in, and closed the door behind her.  When she glanced around, she sucked in a breath of surprise.  The whole room was dimly lit, and the girl was sitting on the bunk bed of the room, her knees pulled up to her chest and she looked terrified.

"What's the matter?" Hitomi asked tentatively walking slowly towards the girl.  She stopped as the girl shrank back at her advance.  "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Hitomi tried to reassure her, "my name is Hitomi Kanazaki.  What's yours?"

"…East…East Rali," the girl whispered hesitantly as Hitomi sat on the edge of her bed.

"Nice name…mind that I turn on the light a bit more?" Hitomi asked and the girl shook her head a no.  Hitomi reached over to a dial and turned it a bit, making the room a bit brighter.  Now she had a real good look at East.  She was a slender girl, very tall to say the least; probably almost as tall as Allen.  She was the young girl from her vision, the one with shimmery light blue hair and dark blue eyes.

"…What…what do you want?" the girl asked hesitantly, shaking a bit in fear.

Hitomi looked at her with sad eyes; the girl was fearful…she had been through so much, Hitomi thought as she shook her head slightly.  "I don't want anything, I just want to get to know you better.  You're among friends now.  Don't worry, we won't hurt you," she said gently as she reached out and took one of East's slender, shaking hands and clasped it between her own.  She looked at East with friendly eyes until she felt the shaking stop, then she released her hand.

East turned away from her and Hitomi stifled a gasp, but none too successfully.  Scars lacerated her back; some darkened to show that they were old whip marks, while others were bright red, recent whip marks.  "What happened to you?" she whispered, horrified at the sight of East's back.

"I was King Abira's personal slave girl…caught by his men a few years back.  Before then I was searching in the woods of every kingdom for my nephew…" she drew in a deep breath then released it.

Hitomi looked at her in wonderment as she spoke.  This girl…woman…she's older than she looks…but how could that be, she couldn't be more than in her early teens, maybe later, Hitomi thought as she nodded slightly for East to continue.

"My older sister told me that her child was all alone in the world, no one left in her family to take care of him.  My sister wanted me to find him, but she didn't tell me specifically where he would be located.  All she said was, 'look for those of the energists,'" East turned back around and stared at Hitomi with her dark blue eyes, "later, I felt my sister died a few days later from grief; I felt it through a psychic link we had with each other."  Hitomi saw that she was hesitating and reached out and touched her shoulder.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Hitomi gently patted her shoulder.

"No," East's voice broke as she swallowed a couple of times, "Abira's men found me a few weeks after, and they brought me to King Abira-"

"Why did they capture you?"

"Because…I'm…Draconian…"

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