Yeah, ff.net is back up!!! Now you can all read my story again. I really need your reviews to get me motivated to write faster. I hope you like what's been going on. Hopefully all of you have had a chance to read chapters 8 and 9 too. I put them up while ff.net was down so I'm not sure if anyone got a chance to read it. NEway, I'm getting to the climactic part of my story and then I will finally get to write the fluffy parts. Yeah fluff!! Gotta go get writing. TTFN, Emily
Traditions
Chapter 10: Announcements
Hitomi stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked awful. Her hair was a mess of tangles and her eyes were all red and puffy from crying. The beautiful lavender dress that she was wearing was now dusty and wrinkly. There were streaks on her cheeks from her tears and the mascara that Millerna had helped her put on back in Asturia. She didn't want to go to dinner and face Van and his new lover, especially when she was looking like this. All she really wanted to do was mope and maybe cry a bit more. 'No. I can't do that right now,' thought Hitomi as she began brushing her sandy brown hair. 'There will be plenty of time for me to feel sorry for myself after I stop Kimera and save Merle…and…Argh!!! Why won't this tangle come out?!!' Hitomi was having quite the struggle with the knot in her hair and didn't even notice Allen come in.
"Here let me help you with that."
"Allen…I…" started Hitomi as Allen took the brush from her hand.
"I figured as much that you wouldn't be ready yet, so I came to help."
Hitomi smiled and blushed slightly. Allen was such a good friend. He always knew what to say to make Hitomi feel better. She couldn't tell him about her dream/vision. He would try and stop Kimera by himself being the knight that he is and most likely get hurt, something that Hitomi did not want to happen. Allen had finally found happiness with Eries and reuinted with his sister. He had a life full of joy waiting for him unlike her. She had left her life on the Mystic Moon behind thinking that this was where she belonged but she was wrong. It seemed like she didn't belong anywhere, so it didn't really matter if she died. Hitomi had decided; stopping Kimera and protecting Fanelia would be her mission.
"There," said Allen as he put the final touches on Hitomi's hair. Hitomi looked at herself in the mirror and was amazed to see what Allen had done. Not only did he successfully remove the knots from her hair without ripping it out but he had also braided her hair nicely into a bun.
"Do you like it?" Allen asked in his calm, relaxing voice as he spun Hitomi around to face him.
Hitomi smiled. "I love it. I've never been able to do something like this before. You must've had a lot of practice," teased Hitomi with a sly grin on her face now.
"Are you implying what I think you're implying, Miss Kanzaki?" inquired Allen playing along with Hitomi.
"Well, I was merely pointing out the fact that you have such luscious blonde hair and Eries also has long beautiful silver hair that you two must know a lot of grooming tips," giggled Hitomi as she tried not to burst out laughing.
"Are you saying that I'm vain?" replied Allen in a sarcastically offended tone of voice. He was glad that Hitomi was in good spirits again…at least for now. When Hitomi sees how intimate Van and Kimera are she will definitely not take it well.
"Of course not," Hitomi replied as she ran out of comebacks. It was obvious that Allen had won this little debate so Hitomi tried to change the subject. "Well enough of this already. I still need to decide what to wear."
Allen laughed. This was the Hitomi he knew and was glad to see her back. "Well, I'm no expert but I don't think the one that you're wearing right now will be suitable for dinner," he said as he went to his thinking pose, placing his hand underneath his chin. "And, not to mention those mascara streaks on your face. Why don't you go and wash your face and put on your make-up and whatever else you women do to get ready while I peruse through the closet to see what you have?"
Hitomi complied and walked to the washroom at the back of the room. She didn't really notice before, but this room seemed very familiar. The way that it was set up, the color scheme, everything just seemed to scream Merle. 'Could this be Merle's room?' The thought brought tears to her eyes. 'How could anyone be so power hungry as to control someone else's mind?' More tears came to Hitomi's eyes but she didn't shed them. 'No! No, I won't cry. I have to be strong. I have to be strong so that I can save the people that I love…even if they don't love me back.' Hitomi wiped the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand and proceeded to get a facecloth to wash her face.
Meanwhile back in the bedroom, Allen was having the time of his life going through all of the clothes Hitomi had brought to Fanelia. Megumi had already hung them all in the closet so he didn't actually have to go through the bags. Dress after dress Allen looked at making comments to himself.
"What was Millerna thinking with all these ruffles? Well, isn't this a seductive little number? Too bad it's not appropriate right now. We'll just have to save it for later (A/N: Heh heh, I can't wait for Hitomi to wear this dress!). Hmm, this looks kind of nice. Revealing but not too revealing. Let's put you in the maybe pile. No. No. No. Brown? Why would anyone make a brown dress? Hey, what's this?"
By this time, Allen had reached the back of the closet and had just spotted an entirely different set of clothes. They were less fancy and a bit smaller. Then he saw it. It was Merle's dress from Millerna's wedding party. The closet was full of Merle's clothes. How could anyone not know or see that this room belonged to someone? Allen scanned the room. It was completely empty of personal belongings. He walked to the dresser and opened the drawers. They were locked. No doubt to hide that this was Merle's room.
"I don't think there are any dresses in there," teased Hitomi as she came around the corner. She looked refreshed and magnificent with a light touch of blush on her cheeks and a bit of lip-gloss. Hitomi wasn't much of a make-up person. She preferred the natural look and had put up quite a fight with Millerna in Asturia earlier that morning.
"Just checking for accessories," replied Allen concealing his true intentions. Hitomi was finally feeling better and he didn't want her to start crying again if he told her his suspicions.
"I don't want to wear something that isn't mine."
"Alright. Well, here's the maybe pile," Allen pointed to the bed. "Just between you and me, Millerna has got really weird taste. What's with the puffy sleeves and ruffles?"
Hitomi walked over to the bed where Allen had pointed to as she answered his question, "I like the ruffles and sleeves. They make the dress more elegant and fancy. Anyway, the sleeves aren't that puffy and there aren't that many ruffles. You're exaggerating. I would never agree to wear something that tacky. Allen, there's only one dress here."
"Well, only one of them was suitable for tonight."
"Out of all the dresses in the closet, you could only find one suitable dress. Just one."
"Yes. Now go put it on. It's almost time for dinner."
Hitomi picked up the dress. "I guess I can wear this," she said as she scrunched up her face."
"Come on now."
"OK, OK! Sheesh, don't get your panties in a bunch!" Hitomi laughed after realizing what she had just said to the Knight of Caeli.
"What?!" shouted Allen in confusion.
A few minutes later Hitomi stepped out of the washroom in the dress that Allen had chosen. She looked breathtaking. The dress was entirely made of a dark magenta silk that felt smooth and soft to the touch. It was sleeveless with a high collar and had golden trimming along the hemline, which accented a gold oriental pattern embroidered on the bodice that wrapped around Hitomi's body snugly. The dress then hung freely from Hitomi's hips and just barely touched the ground.
"So, how do I look?" asked Hitomi as she twirled around to let Allen see the entire dress.
"You look absolutely marvelous. It would be an honour for me, Allen Schezar, Knight of Caeli, to escort you to dinner, my lady." Hitomi blushed as Allen knelt down on one knee and kissed her hand. "Shall we?" Allen stood up and offered Hitomi his left arm.
"We shall," whispered Hitomi shyly as she took Allen's arm. "OK, let's get this over with."
As they walked towards the door, Allen warned Hitomi of what she was about to see. "Hitomi, I remind you to brace yourself for something extremely nauseating."
"I know. I've already prepared myself for the worst things I can ever think of." Hitomi smiled at Allen to show him that she was ready. Allen returned her smile and they began their stroll to the Banquet Hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inside the Banquet Hall, everyone was already seated and was waiting for Allen and Hitomi arrived. Everyone from the council and their spouses were quietly chatting amongst themselves except for Lord Finnegan. He had fallen ill recently and preferred to have his dinner in his chambers. This was a strange request coming from one of Fanelia's most respected advisors. In all of his years of service, since Van's father was king, Lord Finnigan had never confined himself to his room. He was always up and about making sure that all was running smoothly and that there were no hidden plans to overthrow the king. However, no one really seemed to recognize this as odd behaviour.
When Allen and Hitomi entered the Banquet Hall, everyone stood up as usual to greet them except for Van and Kimera but this was not visible due to the number of people standing. 'OK, Hitomi. This is it. Stay calm. Deep breaths. Avoid eye contact with Van. All will be fine,' she reassured herself as she and Allen proceeded to their seats next to the King. Hitomi abruptly came to a halt. Her stomach twisted and turned in revulsion and disgust at the image in front of her eyes. She had already braced herself for something like this but she never imagined it could be so sickening.
Kimera was wearing a low cut, clingy black dress and sitting on Van's lap feeding him! And, the worst part of all was the fact that Van, who was in his usual attire, was laughing and enjoying himself. Hitomi felt her legs turn to jelly and the tears rush to her eyes. She was on the verge of bawling her eyes out on the floor when Allen took her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Hitomi looked up to see Allen with a comforting and determined look on his face. He tugged on her hand and led her to the seat next to his; she followed hesitantly and sat down.
"Sorry we didn't wait for you Allen," said Van as he helped Kimera off of his lap and into the chair opposite of Hitomi.
"That's alright, Van. If anything it was our fault for taking so long to get ready," replied Allen as he glanced over to see how Hitomi was holding up. She was staring at her hands that were tightly clenched on her dress.
"That's quite right, Sir Allen Schezar. Van needs his strength so we mustn't keep him waiting now should we?" added Kimera in her annoyingly sweet voice as she fed Van another piece of bread, which he gobbled up quickly to kiss her fingertips.
Hitomi's grip on her dress tightened at the sound of this revolting public display of affection. She didn't need to see what was going on to know that it would make her retch. If it weren't for the bunch of silk in her hands she surely would have dug her nails into her palms.
"Alright, everyone," announced Van as he got the attention of all the dinner guests by tapping his spoon on his wineglass. "Now that everyone is here, we may start the feast."
Dinner went by quickly and Hitomi had successfully managed to avoid eye contact with everyone except Allen, who kept staring at her until she looked back. He wanted to make sure that she was going to be able to get through the evening without a crying outburst. All throughout dinner, the furthest the Hitomi's eyes ever drifted towards was to the top edge of her plate that she kept quite empty. Her stomach was still churning and she didn't want to aggravate it anymore with food.
When dessert arrived, an array of delectable sweets and pastries were placed in front of the dinner guests. There were chocolate petit fours, cream puffs, a nummy looking mocha coffeecake, and a huge assortment of cookies and pudding. In addition to the recognizable sweets, there were a variety of Fanelian pastries and fruits. Everything looked so delicious, but Hitomi wasn't exactly in the mood for anything sweet. She had had her fill of sweetness today after witnessing the displays of affection between Van and that witch. Looking at the plate of fruits, Hitomi recognized one. It was a piscus; a very bitter and sour fruit which she remembered Van giving her to try to cheer her up during her first stay on Gaea. 'How ironic to see you here when I'm feeling miserable? What the hell?! At least your taste will take my mind off of things for a while,' she thought as she reached for the piece of yellow fruit. Just as she was about to touch the piscus, another hand grabbed hers.
Hitomi pulled back at the touch of this person's hand, which sent an electric shock through her body. She looked up to see that it was Van and instantly turned bright red.
"I…I'm…I'm sorry," was all that Hitomi could manage to stutter as she found herself lost in Van's chocolate brown eyes. They seemed so familiar yet so distant.
Van hesitated to pull his hand away from Hitomi's. There was something about this girl that intrigued him. "That's alright. You go on ahead and have the piscus. I don't know any other people other than myself that eat it, but I will gladly share it with you, Haruka." With that, Van picked up the piece of piscus and gave it to Hitomi. She accepted it and smiled at him, never once breaking her gaze into his eyes.
From across the table, Kimera watched the interaction between Van and Hitomi. Her eyes narrowed into two tiny slits when Van smiled back at Hitomi. There was something suspicious about this girl that bothered her and she needed to get rid of her before she interfered with everything.
"You know," Kimera started, "ladies don't eat piscus. It's more of a man's fruit," interjected Kimera in a really bitchy tone of voice. Hitomi looked at her with anger in her eyes.
"Well, I admire the girl that can eat a piscus. It shows a strong will and a brave heart," Van replied to Kimera's comment as he took a bite of piscus and turned his attention to Hitomi.
Hitomi looked back to Van and began eating her own piece of piscus. It felt nice to have Van defend her again. 'Ha ha. Take that bitch!!!' laughed Hitomi on the inside.
After Van had finished his piscus, he took Kimera's hand and whispered something in her ear that made her smile from ear to ear. The two of them stood up. "OK, everyone. Can I get your attention please? I have an announcement to make before we all head off to our own activities." Everyone in the room became quiet and directed their attention to where Van and Kimera were standing hand in hand. "As we all know, a kingdom must have a King, a Queen, and an heir. Well, as King of Fanelia, I am very pleased to announce that I have asked Kimera to be my Queen and the mother of my child (A/N: That made me sick just typing it out let alone actually imagining it. Yuk!!!), and she has said yes." There was a loud cheer coming from Van's audience as he kissed his fianceé.
Hitomi's heart shattered at what she just heard. It was true that her heart was already broken but to hear about the engagement smashed the remaining halves of her heart into a million pieces. Her heart and her head ached, as did her stomach. Allen came to her side to comfort her but she pushed him away.
"I just want to be alone!" yelled Hitomi as she ran out of the Banquet Hall and out into the garden. Allen sighed and watched as Hitomi's figure disappeared out into the night. Van saw all of this and walked over to where Hitomi left Allen standing followed closely by Kimera.
"Is everything alright, Allen? Why did Haruka storm off like that?" asked Van concerned.
"I told her she shouldn't have eaten that piscus," smirked Kimera but was quickly silenced by a look from Van.
"Yes. She's a little touchy about engagements and weddings. You see she was hurt deeply by the man she loved and she still hasn't fully recovered from it yet. Seeing how happy the two of you are together probably just brought back some painful memories," answered Allen hoping that Hitomi would be all right by herself out in the garden.
"Aren't you going to go after her?" inquired Van as he looked out to where Hitomi had ran off to. It was obvious that Van was very concerned about Hitomi but he didn't know why. Why would he care so much about Allen's new conquest?
"I think it would be best to give her some time alone to sort things out," responded Allen as he too directed his attention out to the path into the garden. 'Hitomi, please be strong. I know you can get through this.'
"Well, I'm going to bed," said Kimera interrupting the silence. "Van, aren't you going to say good night?"
"Yeah, I'll be up in a minute," retorted Van in a distracted tone.
Anger flared in Kimera's blue eyes as she stormed out of the Banquet Hall. Who the hell was this girl, Haruka, and why did she have such an effect on Van? She would definitely cause problems therefore she needed to be eliminated. 'It wouldn't be strange if a foreigner such as Haruka never returned from her trip into the woods. Or even better yet, a poor defenceless girl might get mauled and ripped to pieces by some beasts out in the woods. Getting rid of this Haruka is easier than I thought. Mwahahahaha!' A devilish grin crept across Kimera's face as she entered her chambers to prepare for that night's task.