Disclaimer
I own this
plot and the characters that are not from the original Vision of Escaflowne
series. However, I do NOT own my
faithful reviewer Sage nor do I own the characters that are not from my own
musings. Sage's name is used without
her permission as of yet, so I'm begging not to be sued because of that. Anyway, read onward!…
~*Prologue*~
The sounds
of various mechanical tools echoed throughout the customized hangar-warehouse. In the midst of the mess of metal and
workers, three men calmly walked. All
three were very tall men and had masculinely square jaws. One of the men had wavy brown hair tied in a
ponytail, wore small round sunglasses, and wore plain brown robes despite his
station as King of East Austuria.
Another man donned radiantly golden blonde waist-length hair, and could
easily be identified as the King of West Austuria by the small golden crest
with "WA" on it that was located just below his collar of royal blue. And yet another man, slightly taller than
the first but shorter than the second, differed; what with his short raven
locks and somewhat rough appearance.
"Woah,
Gaddes," the first spoke as he glanced down at a sheet of blueprints set on a
simple wooden table. "You've really
outdone yourself this time."
"Yes,"
agreed the second. "You've come a long
way from the Crusade."
Gaddes
grinned. "If you two think the designs
are awesome, you'll faint when I show you what else I have up my sleeves." He turned to face the first man. "Dryden, you're a man of intellect; what
does a human have that an object does not?"
Dryden
rubbed his chin in supposed pondering.
"Well," he began, "there is a theory that humans and sometimes other
living creatures—depending on one's beliefs—have souls and objects do not."
Gaddes
shook his head. "Not anymore!" He pulled out a strange technological
contraption, punched several keys and buttons, and suddenly a miniaturized
display of a young woman appeared.
Gaddes gestured to the graphic, and explained, "This is going to be the
soul of my latest creation!"
The second
man gasped. "What are you saying?"
Gaddes
grinned at his friend's awe. "I'm
saying that this airship will have a soul, Allen, and this little lady is
it. Of course, she'll be life-size when
I finish creating her."
"Why
doesn't she have any details to her yet?" Dryden asked. "She doesn't have hair, eyes, skin color…you
know what I mean."
Gaddes
shrugged. "I couldn't make up my
mind." He paused, then his eyes lit
up. "Say, why don't you guys help me?"
Allen and
Dryden looked at each other, and with nods they consented.
Gaddes
cracked his knuckles, then settled his fingers on the keys and buttons of his
contraption. "So," he began, "let's
start with hair. Color?"
"How about
red?" Allen suggested.
"No!"
Dryden protested. "I don't think we're
aiming for flashy here. Perhaps
something more subtle like a dirty blonde?"
"Hey!"
Gaddes exclaimed. "I will not have the
word 'dirty' associated with a woman that's practically my daughter!"
"Well then,
is there such a color as honey blonde?" Dryden asked.
"I don't
think so," Allen answered. "Honey tones
are more on the brown side of the color spectrum, so how about honey brown?"
Dryden
nodded his consent, and Gaddes punched several keys. "Honey brown it is. Now
for the length of the hair."
Allen
voiced his opinion first. "I think her
hair should be long and wavy."
"No way!"
Dryden practically yelled. "She's got to
have a functional style; she's an AIRSHIP for crying out loud! It's got to be something that doesn't get in
her way."
"I see your
point," said Allen.
Silence
reigned for a few moments, then Gaddes spoke.
"Well, I want her to have a look that's kind of unusual. You know, make her kind of exotic and new,
but not too much. How about a layered
chin to mouth length?"
"That's
certainly original," Allen remarked somewhat bitterly. "I still say she should have longer hair."
"That's
only because you have long hair!" Dryden spat.
"I think Gaddes's idea was good.
After all, I can't say I've ever seen a Gaean woman sporting a 'do like
that. It would make her different in a
good way."
Allen waved
his hand idly, obviously trying to morph himself into indifference.
Gaddes
snickered. "Well then, layered chin to
mouth it is," he announced proudly as he punched a longer sequence of
keys. "Skin tone?"
"Tan but
not too tan," Dryden and Allen said simultaneously.
Gaddes
chuckled. "I think I know what you want." He tapped away at even more keys. "Done.
Now for eye color."
"Violet,"
Dryden suggested.
"No, violet
wouldn't look right with honey brown hair," Allen contradicted. "A dark shade of brown, perhaps?"
Dryden
shook his head. "Nah. We're going for the subtly exotic look,
remember?" His shoulders fell. "But I honestly have no ideas."
"I know!"
Gaddes exclaimed. "Green! Her eyes can be green!"
"Yes!"
Allen agreed enthusiastically. "Emerald
green would be simply stunning!"
Dryden
nodded vehemently, obviously liking the suggestion.
Gaddes
punched a few keys, then proudly declared, "All of her design schematics are
complete. Let's see the finished
product, shall we?" Without waiting for
his friends' answers, he refreshed the miniaturized graphic in order to display
the alterations.
And the
result was stunning.
Allen
cat-called. "Man, she's nice looking!"
"Hey now,
keep your filthy royal paws off of my daughter!" Gaddes ordered, half seriously
and half in jest.
Dryden
chuckled. "So, what are you going to
call this 'daughter' of yours?"
"Well, I've
already named the ship Escaflowne," Gaddes answered. "I guess we should call her Escaflowne as well. King Van'll probably give her a nickname;
you know how he is with things that he becomes attached to."
Allen
outright laughed. "You don't think Van
will fall for her, do you? I mean,
she's a total babe. I'd fall for her if
I wasn't already a married man!"
Dryden
stuck his index finger in the air.
"That goes for me as well," he confessed rather meekly.
"I'm glad
you find my pride and joy so attractive, but neither of you are worthy of her!"
Gaddes exclaimed. Idiots, he
chastised his friends to himself mentally, didn't you even wonder why I made
the soul a woman and not a man?
~*Chapter One: The Gift*~
APPROXIMATELY 6 MONTHS LATER
The crowd
of Fanelians that were gathered in the Square applauded loudly as they made a
pathway for their king, King Van Slanzar de Fanel. Today was his twentieth birthday, and right now he was making his
way to the rather large gift that was sitting in the fields outside of the
kingdom's gates. The gift was so
mammoth and gargantuan that he had a theory on what it was, but of course one
never truly knows when the gift is from both East and West Austuria let alone
covered by an enormous royal blue, gold, and white—the royal colors of Entire
Austuria—tarp.
The crowd
followed Van as he walked through Fanelia's gates and into the surrounding
fields. Within seconds he was reaching his
hands out to untie the giant red cord, but the glare off of a card that was
attached caught his attention. He
opened it, immediately recognizing Millerna's bubbly handwriting. "Dearest King Van," it
read, "All of us from Austuria wanted to wish you a happy 20th! My brother-in-law Allen as well as my
husband Dryden supervised the building of this. And, you'll be happy to know, it was designed and built by none
other than Gaddes and his associates.
That means it's top of the line and state of the art! Enjoy! "
Van
smiled. Then, realizing he was still
being watched, he decided it was time to unveil his huge gift. He tugged gently but firmly on the red cord,
thus making the tarp fall away to reveal what was underneath.
All who
were present promptly gasped, including Van.
In a
nutshell, the gift was a multi-purpose airship. It would operate in the sky or in the sea, though not on
land. It was painted the royal colors
of Fanelia which were navy blue, brassy gold, and white. The smaller section at the bottom as well as
the outer ceiling of the dome between the wings were the sections painted navy
blue. Right beneath the navy blue was a
thick stripe of brassy gold, and the rest of the craft—including the wings—was
white, except for the emerald green lettering of Escaflowne on each side
above the wings. The entire craft was
sleek and aerodynamically designed, obvious trademarks of Gaddes: the
world-famous airship designer. He had
once worked on making levi-ships—his most famous being the Crusade and the
Crusade II—, but three years ago he was the lucky lad to discover how to make a
craft that did not require levistones; instead requiring an energist-based
liquid as propellant. As Balgus was to
swordsmanship, Gaddes was to airships.
Van looked
over the gift again with awe. I
can't believe this is mine, he commented to himself. I have a ship made by Gaddes… His thoughts were interrupted as his
Ambassador to All Kingdoms (Merle) bounded up gleefully to him. "Van-sama!" she exclaimed, heaving a thick
booklet into his arms. "How do you like
it? Pretty vessel, don't you
think?" Not waiting for his response,
she continued, "Anyhow, that," gesturing to the booklet, "is an abridged
instruction manual. I read a few pages
and it's pretty easy to understand.
Celena and Dilandau Schezar wrote it."
Van nodded,
accepting this information. He took a
moment to look over his shoulder, noticing that the crowd was dispersing now
that the general celebration hour for his birthday had passed. Facing forward again, he walked underneath
the body of the airship until he was standing below the navy blue smaller
section which he quickly deduced was the entrance. His reddish brown eyes scanned the area looking for a way to actually
open the entrance; but instead of locating a latch of some sort, he discovered
a small circular hole that narrowed down into a point. Fingering it, he inquired, "What's this
for?"
Merle
brushed an errant strand of pink behind her feline ear. "How the heck should I know? You're the one with the manual."
Van blushed
slightly. "Right…." He opened the manual and immediately flipped
back to the index, scanning for anything having to do with entering the
airship. After a few moments, he
mumbled, "Here it is; page 12." After
flipping to the aforementioned page, he read Dilandau's strange handwriting, "To enter
Escaflowne, first you need to get the pendant.
What pendant, you ask? It's this
pretty little necklace thing with a pinky red jewel and a gold chain. Pretty easily identified; it should be in a
white envelope…oh heck, Celena's better at this than I am. Fine,
I'll do it then. The pendant is
essentially the key to Escaflowne, and we made it into a necklace so that you
can keep it where you can see it at all times.
It reduces the chance of it getting stolen. Anyway, the pendant should be in a white envelope taped
underneath one of the wings. It's kind
of hard to see because it blends in so well."
After
reading this information, Van carefully felt along the undersides of the wings. In a matter of seconds he located the white
envelope, and hastily opened it.
Indeed, there was the pendant, and he lifted it up to show Merle. "It says that this is the key," he
explained.
Merle's
cerulean eyes lit up. "Well then, open
the door, Van-sama! I want to have a
peek inside!" she exclaimed as she glomped him.
Van allowed
himself a small smile. "Sure. I want to see it too." Walking back towards the entrance and
assuming that the pendant fit in the little hole he found earlier, he stuck it
in there. Immediately the small square
opening opened, allowing Van and Merle to climb inside Escaflowne.
Once the
two were inside, Van felt along the walls for a light switch of some sort. Finding one, he pressed it, lighting up the
first deck of the airship which was basically just a moderately sized
rectangular room.
"Van-sama?"
Merle asked.
"Yeah?" Van
answered.
She pointed
to a green switch next to the switch that turned on the lights. "What does that do?"
For a
moment Van considered leafing through the instruction manual to find out; but
you, dear reader, know how men never read directions unless it is of dire
need. Thus, Van voiced, "Let's find
out." With a nimble finger, he flipped
the switch upward and awaited the result.
At first,
nothing happened and both Van and Merle were beginning to assume that the green
switch had no purpose. But then, and
bright bluish white light appeared. The
light flickered a bit, and finally it revealed its product. Van gasped, and Merle stood wide-eyed.
There,
standing before them, was a young woman!
Van looked
over her, noting that she had a strange style of honey brown hair and bright
emerald green eyes. At first she looked
like she was afraid, but then she extended her hand kindly. "Hello there. You must be King Van!
Father told me about you," she spoke with a smile.
"Who are
you?" Van asked, cutting right to the chase.
The woman
looked a little crestfallen when he didn't shake her hand, but she smiled
anyway. She was about to answer, but
Merle cut her off. "He said 'who are
you?'! Answer Van-sama!"
Under
normal circumstances, the woman knew that she would have retorted, but 'Father'
had told her to be good for King Van.
So, still smiling, she answered, "Father always called me Escaflowne."
Airship Escaflowne
By: Persephone of Abydos