Notes: This was a bitch to write. Bad story! Bad! I tried to make this go along with the show, but I'm not sure if I succeeded. I'm slaughtering the plot somewhere around episodes 15 and 16 here, if you were interested in seeing how it matches up with the actual show.
Many many thanks to everyone who reviewed so far. Thank you for nagging me into writing more! I love you all!! I'm a sucker for feedback. On with the story.
How Not to Plan for a Trip
(or: Why asking "How can life possibly get worse?" is a bad idea)
Gadeth watched Allen from around a corner. Yes, things were bad. Anything that could reduce the boss to sulking on the ground... He didn't want to think what the men would do if they found out about all this. Their loyalty had been stretched thinly as of late, and the last thing they needed to do is lose confidence in Allen.
The shipped suddenly rocked violently, almost throwing Gadeth to the ground as well.
"Boss! Boss!" a man ran up screaming, "It's Zaibach! They're attacking!"
Dryden was in his study once again, having given up searching for Allen and instead taking a Zen like approach of having Allen come to him. Besides, he was utterly engrossed in Leon's journal. He was an interesting guy. Plus any opportunity to find out about his boyfriend's family was hardly a bad thing. Dryden cackled to himself. "I've got it! I've got it!" He declared aloud, "Just as I thought, all the mysteries lie in the Mystic Valley!" He then broke into wild laughter, the whole time completely oblivious to the battle going on outside.
"That was tough!" Dryden declared cheerfully, having gathered the whole gang together, still obnoxiously ignoring the fact there had been any sort of battle involving leopard twins in the recent past. "It took a while to figure out that it's written in the language of the Mystic Moon!"
Hitomi was involved in quietly wishing Dryden would stop using exclamation points so often, when the words "Mystic Moon" hit her. Oh geez, what had she done this time? Oh, he's talking about the language in the journal. Note to self: get more sleep. "Mystic Moon?" she asked vaguely.
"Young Master," that Mr. Rat interrupted, "enough is enough! Zaibach has their eyes on you! No good will come of this!" he squeaked, clutching his abacus protectively to his chest, fez balancing worriedly on his head.
Well *DUH*, I could have told you that, Hitomi thought.
"Go home," Dryden stated firmly. Huh? "I've decided to go to the Mystic Valley," he smirked, snapping the book shut, "Take this ship back to Palas."
Oh great, now he's stealing my stuff, Allen groaned mentally. All Hitomi saw was him not wanting to go, and quickly misinterpreted it.
"WHAT?" Mr. Rat panicked, "How I am supposed to explain it to the master if I return without you or any cargo?"
"I'll write him a note," Dryden explained. Mr. Rat looked about to faint. "If you tell him I'm with Princess Millerna it'll be okay."
Okay, now he's dragging the Princess along too. What is he up to? Allen wondered.
"Dryden!" Millerna protested, "I..."
"You're coming, Allen is, after all..." Dryden reasoned to her.
"Why should I go?" asked Allen, irritable. After all, you seem to be avoiding me, and there's no reason for us all to drag ourselves into an even bigger mess...
"Because you have to," Dryden informed him. "Your father threw away his home, his fortune, and his family to find the Mystic Valley. It's a famous story in Asturia. Heck, even I know it."
Allen was now pissed. You care more about the stupid valley than me huh? Nooo... you couldn't say, 'You have to come because I love you' and ohmygod where did that come from?
"I want to go too," Van chimed in, "the Mystic Valley is the homeland of the Draconians, I want to see the source of the blood that flows in my veins. And the bond between that land and Escaflowne."
"Well, damn," Dryden commented, expressing the general feel of the conversation, "Is it just fate that's brought together all these people that are tied by the Mystic Valley?"
"Let's see here. Pack light, that's the ticket. Okay, just grab a couple books about Atlantis, stick in the journal, and maybe some clean clothes, Mother always said have clean clothes on trips, never know what's going to happen, well on this one *anything* could, Mother's always right I suppose. Okay, now let's head over to the Crusade before Mr. Rat shows up again to talk me out of it. Not that he could. We're going to the Mystic Valley, no matter what..."
Allen stood outside Dryden's study, listening to the other man ramble on to himself while packing to leave. Allen was waiting to officially announce that he was mad and Not Talking to Dryden. He felt he needn't explain this, because Dryden's insistence on dragging up painful family memories should have been more than obvious to the general populace and his, Allen's, anger at the situation was duly justified.
Oh course, a tiny subsection of his mind perked up, you should at least talk to him first since you've been avoiding him ever since you ran off from the make out session and went to take a cold shower... At that point it was silenced by the rest of Allen's brain beating it into submission. That part was always causing trouble, needed to be taught a lesson yes indeed...
"Now just head over the Crusade, hi Allen, you're looking nice today, and we're off to the Mystic Valley," Dryden rambled on some more, commenting on Allen as if he was a standard piece of the scenery. Allen started in surprise, half from the compliment, half from the subsequent dismissal, before coming to his senses.
"I'm not talking to you," the knight stated firmly, while his mind hog-tied the tiny lovesick subsection squeaking that Dryden was looking good too, very kissable, so why don't they do just that?
"Really? It would seem you just did. What's the matter? You've haven't been avoiding me or something, have you, because I've been hard pressed to find you. Though that should be significantly easier on your smaller ship. Mind if we discuss this while walking, I'm sure the others are expecting us to show up soon."
"I'm mad at you, you know," Allen added. He'd forgotten how talking to Dryden threw him off his feet. "You dragging up this stupid history, completely unconcerned for how I fell about it all." God, I sound like a whiny girl, tiny brain subsection, having been restrained but never gagged, commented.
"Well, how do you feel about this?" Dryden stopped abruptly, causing Allen who had been following him closely at his heels to bang into him. Dryden whirled around a peered over his glasses directly into Allen's eyes. Allen stared back, brain cells too busy fighting with each other to form a coherent answer. "You're cute when you're all irritated, did you know that?" Dryden added, finding the temptation to do so irresistible.
"I... I... I don't like it... erm..." Allen mumbled. Pull yourself together! his brain snapped. Kiss him! Kiss him! the not so tiny and growing subsection chanted.
Dryden's expression softened, and he said sweetly, "I'm sure your father didn't hate you. He shouldn't of run off on you like that, but what's done is done. You can't do anything about what happened in the past, so you just have to try to move on with your life and make the best of it."
The subsection of Allen's brain swooned, then grabbed control of Allen's bodily function and kissed Dryden deeply, finding it highly offensive that their was any space between them. The rest of Allen's brain shrieked various things but found the tables turned as it was now beat into submission. They kissed.
"I'm still mad at you," Allen mumbled when the broke apart due to need of oxygen. Dryden snorted, then kissed the other man again. Allen was more agreeable when he was being kissed (and thusly not using his mouth for other purposes, like talking).
And all was nearly right in their little dot on the map of the world.
Okay, let's take stock of the situation, shall we? Gadeth thought to himself. We are now on the run from Zaibach, who wants to kill us, looking for a place that may or may not exist, on a continent that's supposed to be cursed, and we are heading their across a sea that's nitorious for killing every sailor that tries to cross it. Plus, we ourselves are a group of dysfunctional people who all seem caught up in complex love polygons and have long, complicated family histories that are coming back to haunt us. Oh, and did I mention Zaibach's trying to kill us? See, things aren't all that bad. We're all be fine. Once we figure out what we're doing, but that's not my place. Let the others worry about the fact we appear to be doomed. Just go along with it.
Gadeth stared into space for a moment, trying to calm down. As he did so he saw Allen and Dryden board the Crusade, the latter beating off that rat guy who was desperately clinging to him. Gadeth blinked, noticed that Allen looked amused, and almost happy. This was a good sign, they were saved! He knew all those broken mirrors were just a fluke. And that black cat, who kept running under ladders. And that creepy Hitomi girl mumbling, "Doom... Death... Destruction..." All flukes. They meant nothing. Nothing at all.
Fate snickered. "Shut up," Gadeth muttered.
"What do I want? Oh what do I want?" Merle wondered aloud as she lounged on a pile of clothes in the Guymelf hanger. "Van-sama covered in honey tied to my bed? That would me nice. A cut of his profits for the next twenty years? Tempting, tempting. I could pay to repair Fanielia and then Van-sama would be in debt to me and realize that I was a wonderful person and he loved me not that freaky bobby haired girl from the Mystic Moon." *pause* "But I think I'll stick with the Van covered in honey..."
And so, the cast that seemed to be increasingly like Jerry Springer guests with each passing moment boarded the airship Crusade and set out for the cursed continent of Asgard, unaware of what challenged lay ahead. For at that very moment, the dark forces of Zaibach were intent on following...
"Folken-sama! Can we go to Asgard too?" Eriya pleaded, doing her catgirl best to have puppy dog eyes.
"We want to beat up those stupid people that keep beating us and capture your brother for you!" Naria added with a cheery hopefulness.
"Pleeeeeeaaasssssssseee???" they both finished together. Folken sweatdropped.
Yep, definitely evil.
Many many thanks to everyone who reviewed so far. Thank you for nagging me into writing more! I love you all!! I'm a sucker for feedback. On with the story.
How Not to Plan for a Trip
(or: Why asking "How can life possibly get worse?" is a bad idea)
Gadeth watched Allen from around a corner. Yes, things were bad. Anything that could reduce the boss to sulking on the ground... He didn't want to think what the men would do if they found out about all this. Their loyalty had been stretched thinly as of late, and the last thing they needed to do is lose confidence in Allen.
The shipped suddenly rocked violently, almost throwing Gadeth to the ground as well.
"Boss! Boss!" a man ran up screaming, "It's Zaibach! They're attacking!"
Dryden was in his study once again, having given up searching for Allen and instead taking a Zen like approach of having Allen come to him. Besides, he was utterly engrossed in Leon's journal. He was an interesting guy. Plus any opportunity to find out about his boyfriend's family was hardly a bad thing. Dryden cackled to himself. "I've got it! I've got it!" He declared aloud, "Just as I thought, all the mysteries lie in the Mystic Valley!" He then broke into wild laughter, the whole time completely oblivious to the battle going on outside.
"That was tough!" Dryden declared cheerfully, having gathered the whole gang together, still obnoxiously ignoring the fact there had been any sort of battle involving leopard twins in the recent past. "It took a while to figure out that it's written in the language of the Mystic Moon!"
Hitomi was involved in quietly wishing Dryden would stop using exclamation points so often, when the words "Mystic Moon" hit her. Oh geez, what had she done this time? Oh, he's talking about the language in the journal. Note to self: get more sleep. "Mystic Moon?" she asked vaguely.
"Young Master," that Mr. Rat interrupted, "enough is enough! Zaibach has their eyes on you! No good will come of this!" he squeaked, clutching his abacus protectively to his chest, fez balancing worriedly on his head.
Well *DUH*, I could have told you that, Hitomi thought.
"Go home," Dryden stated firmly. Huh? "I've decided to go to the Mystic Valley," he smirked, snapping the book shut, "Take this ship back to Palas."
Oh great, now he's stealing my stuff, Allen groaned mentally. All Hitomi saw was him not wanting to go, and quickly misinterpreted it.
"WHAT?" Mr. Rat panicked, "How I am supposed to explain it to the master if I return without you or any cargo?"
"I'll write him a note," Dryden explained. Mr. Rat looked about to faint. "If you tell him I'm with Princess Millerna it'll be okay."
Okay, now he's dragging the Princess along too. What is he up to? Allen wondered.
"Dryden!" Millerna protested, "I..."
"You're coming, Allen is, after all..." Dryden reasoned to her.
"Why should I go?" asked Allen, irritable. After all, you seem to be avoiding me, and there's no reason for us all to drag ourselves into an even bigger mess...
"Because you have to," Dryden informed him. "Your father threw away his home, his fortune, and his family to find the Mystic Valley. It's a famous story in Asturia. Heck, even I know it."
Allen was now pissed. You care more about the stupid valley than me huh? Nooo... you couldn't say, 'You have to come because I love you' and ohmygod where did that come from?
"I want to go too," Van chimed in, "the Mystic Valley is the homeland of the Draconians, I want to see the source of the blood that flows in my veins. And the bond between that land and Escaflowne."
"Well, damn," Dryden commented, expressing the general feel of the conversation, "Is it just fate that's brought together all these people that are tied by the Mystic Valley?"
"Let's see here. Pack light, that's the ticket. Okay, just grab a couple books about Atlantis, stick in the journal, and maybe some clean clothes, Mother always said have clean clothes on trips, never know what's going to happen, well on this one *anything* could, Mother's always right I suppose. Okay, now let's head over to the Crusade before Mr. Rat shows up again to talk me out of it. Not that he could. We're going to the Mystic Valley, no matter what..."
Allen stood outside Dryden's study, listening to the other man ramble on to himself while packing to leave. Allen was waiting to officially announce that he was mad and Not Talking to Dryden. He felt he needn't explain this, because Dryden's insistence on dragging up painful family memories should have been more than obvious to the general populace and his, Allen's, anger at the situation was duly justified.
Oh course, a tiny subsection of his mind perked up, you should at least talk to him first since you've been avoiding him ever since you ran off from the make out session and went to take a cold shower... At that point it was silenced by the rest of Allen's brain beating it into submission. That part was always causing trouble, needed to be taught a lesson yes indeed...
"Now just head over the Crusade, hi Allen, you're looking nice today, and we're off to the Mystic Valley," Dryden rambled on some more, commenting on Allen as if he was a standard piece of the scenery. Allen started in surprise, half from the compliment, half from the subsequent dismissal, before coming to his senses.
"I'm not talking to you," the knight stated firmly, while his mind hog-tied the tiny lovesick subsection squeaking that Dryden was looking good too, very kissable, so why don't they do just that?
"Really? It would seem you just did. What's the matter? You've haven't been avoiding me or something, have you, because I've been hard pressed to find you. Though that should be significantly easier on your smaller ship. Mind if we discuss this while walking, I'm sure the others are expecting us to show up soon."
"I'm mad at you, you know," Allen added. He'd forgotten how talking to Dryden threw him off his feet. "You dragging up this stupid history, completely unconcerned for how I fell about it all." God, I sound like a whiny girl, tiny brain subsection, having been restrained but never gagged, commented.
"Well, how do you feel about this?" Dryden stopped abruptly, causing Allen who had been following him closely at his heels to bang into him. Dryden whirled around a peered over his glasses directly into Allen's eyes. Allen stared back, brain cells too busy fighting with each other to form a coherent answer. "You're cute when you're all irritated, did you know that?" Dryden added, finding the temptation to do so irresistible.
"I... I... I don't like it... erm..." Allen mumbled. Pull yourself together! his brain snapped. Kiss him! Kiss him! the not so tiny and growing subsection chanted.
Dryden's expression softened, and he said sweetly, "I'm sure your father didn't hate you. He shouldn't of run off on you like that, but what's done is done. You can't do anything about what happened in the past, so you just have to try to move on with your life and make the best of it."
The subsection of Allen's brain swooned, then grabbed control of Allen's bodily function and kissed Dryden deeply, finding it highly offensive that their was any space between them. The rest of Allen's brain shrieked various things but found the tables turned as it was now beat into submission. They kissed.
"I'm still mad at you," Allen mumbled when the broke apart due to need of oxygen. Dryden snorted, then kissed the other man again. Allen was more agreeable when he was being kissed (and thusly not using his mouth for other purposes, like talking).
And all was nearly right in their little dot on the map of the world.
Okay, let's take stock of the situation, shall we? Gadeth thought to himself. We are now on the run from Zaibach, who wants to kill us, looking for a place that may or may not exist, on a continent that's supposed to be cursed, and we are heading their across a sea that's nitorious for killing every sailor that tries to cross it. Plus, we ourselves are a group of dysfunctional people who all seem caught up in complex love polygons and have long, complicated family histories that are coming back to haunt us. Oh, and did I mention Zaibach's trying to kill us? See, things aren't all that bad. We're all be fine. Once we figure out what we're doing, but that's not my place. Let the others worry about the fact we appear to be doomed. Just go along with it.
Gadeth stared into space for a moment, trying to calm down. As he did so he saw Allen and Dryden board the Crusade, the latter beating off that rat guy who was desperately clinging to him. Gadeth blinked, noticed that Allen looked amused, and almost happy. This was a good sign, they were saved! He knew all those broken mirrors were just a fluke. And that black cat, who kept running under ladders. And that creepy Hitomi girl mumbling, "Doom... Death... Destruction..." All flukes. They meant nothing. Nothing at all.
Fate snickered. "Shut up," Gadeth muttered.
"What do I want? Oh what do I want?" Merle wondered aloud as she lounged on a pile of clothes in the Guymelf hanger. "Van-sama covered in honey tied to my bed? That would me nice. A cut of his profits for the next twenty years? Tempting, tempting. I could pay to repair Fanielia and then Van-sama would be in debt to me and realize that I was a wonderful person and he loved me not that freaky bobby haired girl from the Mystic Moon." *pause* "But I think I'll stick with the Van covered in honey..."
And so, the cast that seemed to be increasingly like Jerry Springer guests with each passing moment boarded the airship Crusade and set out for the cursed continent of Asgard, unaware of what challenged lay ahead. For at that very moment, the dark forces of Zaibach were intent on following...
"Folken-sama! Can we go to Asgard too?" Eriya pleaded, doing her catgirl best to have puppy dog eyes.
"We want to beat up those stupid people that keep beating us and capture your brother for you!" Naria added with a cheery hopefulness.
"Pleeeeeeaaasssssssseee???" they both finished together. Folken sweatdropped.
Yep, definitely evil.