A New Beginning - Chapter 12

Van woke up to the dripping sound of water. He stared at the ceiling of where he lay now. Nothing but mounds of dried magma. He noticed he wasn't inside Escaflowne anymore, and popped up immediately. Blood surged back to his brain, and the headache hit him. He groaned as he rubbed his temples with his palms. Although the room was dark and unlit, he was lying in a beautifully carved rock bed which dents in, with what seems to be cotton or soft material of some kind lying in a pile in the dent, serving as a comfortable mattress. No bedpost, but lace curtains hanging around him, spiraling its way from the bed. For decoration purposes, assumingly.

That dragon…It did this? Quite impossible…God, this headache is affecting my thinking. Someone saved me… Hitomi, where are you? Wait, where am I? He could see nothing of his surroundings, sense nothing at all. Except for a smell, the scent of a dragon. What happened to Escaflowne? Groping around, he decides to explore his boundaries. A quaking of the floor informs him that the arriver was a dragon after all. After a few moments, the shaking stopped. Preparing himself for any battle to come up, he jumps when a human body robed in white came into his view, and simply stated, "So you have awaken. The Master wishes to speak with you." Still suspicious, he halfheartedly walked with the man to the person to which he was referring. Wait…where's my sword? How can I defend myself without a sword? He swore under his breath and prayed he still remembered the hand-to-hand combat Vargas had taught him when he was a child, before teaching him the skill of blade. Before he even knew where he was going, the man wasn't there anymore, and he was in a huge room of stone, darkly lit. Reminds me of the prison room of the Vionne. He thought there was something not right here…those drapes…the walls…nothing unusual. Oh yeah, he was about to meet someone… He took a step. Suddenly the thought struck him that that step could've been fatal. He reminded himself mentally to be cautious at all times.

A minor sound to his left alerted him, and he immediately got in his best defensive post. Where did she come out from?! A woman in a long white robe was perched on a chair near the windowsill, back facing him. The body shape looked strangely…distant and familiar. She had beautiful wings. They were silver, and shone like the moonlight glimmering through the window. The fragrance of fresh-plucked blossoms…the hair of golden brown…the slender shoulders… A slideshow of images flashed through his mind, and as Van waited for his brain to calm and the woman to speak, she got up from the chair. And turned around. Damn, the face was hidden by shadows, thanks to the dark room…walking closer, closer, closer…

And she touched him, gently, on his face.

Should I attack? Then again, if the woman were to hurt him she would have done so. He can see nothing but her smile. And her beautiful wings, glamorous and perfect. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Van…how have you been? Where is jikei?"

No…it isn't…it couldn't be…after all this time? Hahaoya? He subconsciously spoke his thoughts out, and the woman responded with a "Yes."

"How could it be, after all these years? Vargas was sent to search for you, but no one could find you—"

"—because the dragons had rescued me."

"Rescued? What do you mean rescued? They're dragons, they're vicious and dangerous!"

She smiled. "We are of the dragons. You, me—we have the Draconian blood. That's why humans fear our kind so."

His eyes widened for a moment, and he bowed his head low in defeat. Silence. He could feel her eyes on him. She seems so familiar, yet unfamiliar. She became something she wasn't in what he saw as Mother before. And finally he's come to remember it – he's Draconian.

"Come, there is someone waiting for you. I sent one of our people to search for you; you turned out to be easier to find that expected. Follow me."

He looked up absently just enough to see her long robe dragging on the floor, and walked behind her. If he wasn't careful, he could've stepped on them. Wouldn't that be interesting. The door opened and closed automatically, to his surprise. She had disappeared before he even knew it. But he was fine with it--he needed time to take in what she told him, and accept it. Accept it as part of who he is, his heritage and origin.

He was on the perch of a balcony. A girl dressed in a uniform--blue uniform--short brown hair and tall skinny structure…

"HITOMI!" He ran toward her and she turned slightly and smiled. He hugged her, pulling her off her feet. She laughed and responded with a I-could-use-some-air look on her face. I guess that'll be his apology there, she thought. He placed her down and regained his composure. Silence. His mind definitely wasn't though. Questions…he ended the silence with the first question that found him.

"How did you end up here?" A reasonable choice.

"It's a very long story…I've been having visions…" How do you tell a guy his mom told his girlfriend to run away from him so that destiny can unite them again? Not to mention the part where some guy had been living in his garden, and stalked her to kill her? "Your…" Do they use the word mom or mother here? "…mother has been giving me visions, which is why I ran from the castle. Van, something will happen. Or already has happened. Your mo…ther had to have you stay in an anonymous place." She stopped to wait for a comment. None. "Therefore she had to make me make you run after me." Van started walking very slowly, almost stiffly to the edge of the balcony, to the stone pillars which held the railing of the balcony up. Looking out, the moons were bright and round. Bright…that is a bad omen. Gaea is yet in adversity. Hitomi walked up next to him and stared into his face. He looked up back at her, and simply said, "I left Allen in charge of Fanelia."

Hitomi's mouth dropped open. When did Allen come to play a part in this? I thought he was still in Asturia! "We should tell your mother!" Turning back around, she disappeared into…wherever he came from. He hesitatingly followed her, eyeing his surroundings one more time.

*****

[Asturia] Millerna walked down the hall toward the grand hall to the king's room, namely her father. She knocks on the doors, and the servant answers, greeting her politely with a bow. "Princess, maybe you can help. His Majesty hasn't talked all morning, and has been muttering blankly about an attack…he's not usually like this." Millerna waved him off with a simple gesture, and acknowledging the command, the servant left the room, leaving just Millerna and him.

"Good morning, Father." She walked over to the bed where he sat with his head down. He looked up and greeted her as usual. What's so unusual about this? Nothing's wrong… There must be something wrong with the servant. Gotta switch the guy. Just to make sure, she had to ask.

"Are you alright?" She put her hand on his forehead. Nope, no temperature. Normal. Her father laughed and looked up at her. "Why are you worrying about me? I'm old, but I'm not gonna die yet. Is something wrong?" The worried look on her face calmed, and she smiled again. "Don't say such things. Okay, I guess I'll leave you to change." Millerna got up and walked to the door, and he heard a click of the lock. His face changed from expressionless to a cynical smirk. After a few minutes of silence, a female voice in his head speaks. "Attack Fanelia, full troop 25,000 at midnight." The smirk on his face widened into an almost sadistic full grin.

"Yes mistress."