Traditions
Chapter 12: Awakening
Allen awoke with a start at the sound of Van's voice piercing the air. Immediately, he jumped out of bed shoving his sheets aside and ran out the door not even taking the time to put on his robe. Something had happened to the King and he needed to make sure that Van was all right. Running down the hall in his bare feet, Allen noticed that there were no other people hurrying to see what was going on with their King. It was late into the night or early into the morning, depending on your own perception, but why wouldn't any of the servants or guards come to Van's aide when he was heard screaming? What was going on?
Entering Van's bedchamber, Allen was met with a cold breeze that sent a chill along his spine and goose bumps all over his body underneath his blue pyjamas. He looked around and saw no sign of Van. His bed was just a mess of blue silk and the study was empty. Suddenly, Allen spotted a feather float in from the balcony out of the corner of his cerulean blue eyes. Pulling the heavy burgundy velvet curtains to the side, Allen saw the body of an unconscious Van lying on the floor with his wings revealed.
Allen knelt down beside the sleeping king and touched his wings, which immediately drew themselves back into Van's back and all of the feathers disappeared into thin air. The startled Asturian knight then examined Van's body to see if he had been injured but found no trace of a struggle or fight.
"Guards!!!" shouted Allen as he carefully lifted Van back into the room. Instantly, Harlock came running in with his clothes on in total disarray, obviously from putting them on in a hurry.
"What happened to his Majesty?" asked the guard as soon as he saw Van's body draped over Allen's right shoulder.
"I don't know. Just go get the healer," Allen answered as he placed Van's cold and limp body back into his bed.
"Yes sir!" replied Harlock as he turned on his heel and left the room in a sprint.
Van shivered in his slumber as Allen towered over him. 'What happened in here?' thought Allen as he pulled the covers over Van's body.
"Hitomi…" mumbled Van as he pulled the sheets closer to his icy cold body.
'Hitomi?! Does he remember her now? Did something happen to jog his memory? Or worse, did something happen to Hitomi?' A worried look spread over Allen's face as the healer came in with Harlock close at his heels.
"Commander Schezar, did something happen to King Van? Is something a matter? You look pale," commented Makusu, the healer. He was a tall man and just as broad as Allen. Makusu had short dark brown hair and the most amazing hazel eyes. Formerly a soldier in the Fanelian army, Makusu was well known and respected as a great fighter but during the Destiny War he learned to become a healer and had given up fighting. He was now one of Van's personal physicians. Makusu was quite attractive and the few women in Fanelia were often found at his office for the slightest of ailments. In fact, Allen once caught Merle seeking his help for a paper cut. However, he never let it get to his head and was very professional. Actually, Makusu is the main reason that Allen did not allow Celena to move to Fanelia. To Allen, Makusu was just a little too charming; too much like himself when he was younger.
"Makusu, thank you for coming in such a hurry. No, there isn't anything wrong with me. I'm just worried about something. Van doesn't seem to be hurt in any way but I just wanted you to check him over just to make sure."
"Of course. I'm sure there isn't anything wrong but I'll just double check anyway," replied the young doctor with a smile.
Allen began to leave the room but not before he made sure that Harlock would stand guard over Van for the rest of the night. Something strange was happening in the castle and at least this way there was someone to help Van if he needed any. As Allen walked towards his room he suddenly remembered that he didn't know whether or not Hitomi had returned to the castle yet. Quickening his pace, Allen made his way to Hitomi's room instead only to find it empty.
'Damn it!!! Where could she be? I shouldn't have let her run away like that but she wanted to be alone. Maybe she fell asleep somewhere. Wherever she is I need to find her as soon as possible. She's in danger. I can feel it," commanded Allen silently to himself just as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned around hoping to see Hitomi there. It wasn't her.
"What is it, Zachery?" Allen asked the messenger boy in a disappointed tone of voice. Zachery was a young boy, not much older than sixteen; hence he was at least a foot shorter than Allen. His hair was dark like espresso and was neatly spiked on top revealing his innocent charcoal eyes. Looking up to stare directly at Allen, Zachery began speaking.
"I bring a message to you from the platform. Your sister, Lady Celena, and the crew from the Crusade have just arrived and are waiting for you to greet them," stated the slender male as he stood at attention.
"Celena's here!!" exclaimed Allen in complete shock. He had completely forgotten that Celena was coming to join him and Hitomi with the whole mess here. "Thank you, Zachery." The messenger bowed as was turning to leave when Allen stopped him. "Um, Zachery? Have you seen Lady Haruka anywhere tonight?" inquired the Knight as he pointed to Hitomi's room.
"Don't you mean Lady Merle? And, no I haven't seen her. If I remember correctly, she said that she was on a mission and it might take a few days before she returned. That was about a week or so ago," answered Zachery confidently.
"Thank you, Zachery."
"Would you like me to take a message to the platform for your sister?"
"No, I'll go meet them right now."
Zachery bowed to Allen again and walked away leaving Allen dumbfounded. 'Suddenly everyone remembers Merle. This isn't good. That must mean that whatever Zaibach has been planning is nearing its end. I've got to warn everyone and get Celena out of here.' With that last thought, Allen quickly ran to his room to change and immediately headed off to the stables.
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"Hitomi!!!" cried Merle as she shook Hitomi back to reality with what little strength she had left. "Are you OK?"
Hitomi was breathing erratically taking deep breaths and little ones as she tried to regain control of her senses. "I…I… just saw…" Hitomi started but was suddenly cut off by the sound of evil cackling.
"What exactly did you see, oh mighty Seeress of the Mystic Moon, Haruka…no, it's Hitomi isn't it?" asked Kimera sarcastically as she stepped out from the shadows and towards where Hitomi and Merle were. She was no longer wearing the clingy black dress from dinner but instead she was wearing a black bodysuit accentuating her every curve and high-heeled boots. Her long auburn hair was also slicked back tightly into a bun at the back of her head making her look every bit like an assassin. Not to mention the long machete that hung off her belt at her side.
As fast as lightning, Merle was standing in front of Hitomi legs apart, arms stretched out, and tail puffed to protect her. "Stay away from her you evil witch!" growled Merle as she bared her claws ready to attack.
Hitomi hadn't noticed anything that was going on in front of her. She was still in complete shock from what she had just seen in her vision. Her frightened form just sat there clutching the pendant close to her heart.
"Well, well, well. Isn't that cute? The injured kitten trying to protect its friend," mocked Kimera in her annoyingly high-pitched voice. She began to step closer towards the angry feline but Merle didn't flinch a muscle. "Out of my way, furball!!!" yelled the Zaibach sorceress as she pushed Merle out of the way. Merle tried to attack, but due to her weakened state her reflexes were slow and she was easily flung against the nearby wall.
"Merle!!" exclaimed Hitomi as she got to her feet and dashed toward her hurt friend. By now, Hitomi had regained her senses and had placed her necklace back on tucking it into the remnants of her dress so Kimera wouldn't see it. She held poor, injured Merle in her arms crying. "Merle? Speak to me, please?"
"Hitomi…" whispered Merle in between pained gasps of air; her eyes just tiny slits revealing blue. "Don't cry. Van-sama doesn't like it when you cry."
"Oh Merle," uttered Hitomi in between sobs as she pulled Merle's weak body closer to hers.
"Save Van-sama," murmured Merle as unconsciousness claimed her.
"Merle!!!"
"It's about time that cat died," boasted Kimera as she strolled over to stand behind Hitomi leaning against her hand on the table next to her.
"She's not dead!!" shouted an angered Hitomi, her face stained with tears and eyes full of conviction.
"Well, she might as well be with those injuries. It's just a matter of time," answered Kimera in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Van will come. He'll come save Merle and me. I believe in him," Hitomi retorted in a shaky voice. She was lying; she had no idea whether or not Van even remembered her or Merle. It was just a way to try and stall for some time.
"Who? That pathetic excuse for a king? If anything, he's probably dead by now."
"What did you do to Van?!!" Fear ran though Hitomi's entire body at the thought of her beloved being dead. True he was no longer the same Van that she had fallen in love with but she just couldn't bare the thought of him being dead.
"Nothing much. Just a little mind control. Stupid fool. He was so easy to control and manipulate in any way I saw fit. A weak mind really. All of the Fanelians were. I didn't think Van would actually be able to last as long as he had under my control, but the headaches were signs of his brain deteriorating," gloated the witch as she bent her head down to Hitomi's ear. "It doesn't really matter anyway, he was a bad kisser," Kimera whispered sending anger through Hitomi.
"You bitch!!!" shouted Hitomi as she tried to hit Kimera with her balled fists. She completely missed considering Kimera was waiting for it. Instead, Kimera was able to grab Hitomi's wrists lifting her up onto her feet and letting Merle's languid body to slump to the dirt floor.
"Uh, uh, uh. Now it isn't nice to name call," Kimera taunted as she summoned some rope and one of the stools over with her telekinetic powers. Hitomi watched in amazement at the powers this girl possessed as her arms and feet were forcefully tied to the stool and her mouth gagged with another piece of rope. She struggled trying to free herself but that only served to cause more pain on the scratches and cuts that Hitomi got from the forest. Hitomi decided that she should just sit still and think of a rational way to get out of her predicament rather than bleed herself to death.
'Oh my God!! How are we supposed to defeat Kimera if she has such powerful magic? There's no way we could beat her…but there has to be. I can't just give up like this,' thought Hitomi hopelessly as Kimera stood up and began pacing around the shack.
"I knew you were trouble as soon as I laid eyes on you. But, I never imagined the great Hitomi Kanzaki would fall so nicely into my lap. I actually never planned on hunting you down but since you managed to, as I said before, fall nicely into my lap I guess I get to dispose of you just as I have disposed of Van Fanel. Van's the only one that Dilandau-sama really hated. He didn't really say much about you. Oh well," lectured the psycho as she continued to walk back and forth across the wooden prison, interrupting Hitomi's thoughts.
"MMPF FFFMPH!!!" protested Hitomi through her gag.
Kimera stopped her pacing and directed her cold cobalt eyes at Hitomi. An amused look was painted over her face as she continued to ramble. "I suppose you must be wondering why I arranged to get rid of Fanelia's king. Well, let's just keep the story short because I just can't wait to use the Saiod attack on you," continued Kimera as an evil grin formed on her lips and began pacing again. "I needed to kill Van Fanel because you and him took away what I held closest to my heart. You destroyed my Master, my Empire, my destiny, and my Love!!! So, in vengeance, I have now taken away all that Van Fanel holds dear to him. Starting with his dear friend, Merle was it? Followed by his sanity, his kingdom, and now even you. This couldn't have worked out any better than if I planned it."
'God this chick is nuts!! Wait a minute. Why is she telling me all of this? I already know this from the vision I had when I touched the pendant. Does she not know about the pendant's powers to show me the past and the future? Does she only think that I get visions of the future and that's it? She's not that bright if she does. That's it! The pendant is the way to beat her, but how? She most likely doesn't know of its powers or else she would've taken it away from Merle. Or, maybe she doesn't even know that we have the pendant," conversed Hitomi mentally to herself, a ray of hope forming with her realizations.
"Now let's see. What exactly should I do to you? The Saiod attack is definitely the way to go but what am I going to do with your dead body. Hmm," pondered the sorceress as she scratched her head looking up at the ceiling.
Hitomi glared at her. If looks could kill, Kimera would've have been long gone. This bitch had hurt her closest friends and she wasn't going to let her get away with it. She just needed time to figure out what to do but time was definitely not in her hands. Hitomi glanced over at the huddled mass that was Merle. A feeling of joy spread through her body as she saw the feline twitch -- a sign that she was still alive. Hopefully Kimera didn't see. Turning her attention back to Kimera, Hitomi was relived to see that the psychopath was still deep in thought. 'Dilandau was right. She's psychotic!" Hitomi almost choked to death at her own thought. She was agreeing with Dilandau.
"Oh, I know what I'll do. Why didn't I think of this sooner? It's so perfect. Enough room to perform the Saiod attack at full strength even and it even provides the ideal resting place for the Mystic Moon wench. Now all I have to do is get ready," said Kimera to herself as she looked around until she saw Hitomi glaring back at her. "Can't have you causing trouble while I prepare now can we? This should do it," she commented as she reached her hand out for Hitomi's head. Hitomi tried to inch away but Kimera had sat down on the stool making it impossible for Hitomi to escape her clenches. As soon as Kimera's hand touched Hitomi's forehead everything went black.
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Van stirred underneath the warmth of his covers as the visions continued to play in his mind. A look of distress spread across his masculine features of his face as he was forced to relive the painful memories of the last few weeks. He saw himself throwing Hitomi's pendant off the balcony; he saw his desperation when Merle disappeared; he saw the arrival of Kimera and Hitomi; and the most agonizing image of all was watching himself kiss Kimera in front of Hitomi. The look in her emerald eyes was enough to drive pins and needles into his own heart at the horrid display of affection was shown to him. Dream Van closed his eyes tightly in shame and fell to his knees holding his head in his hands.
"Hitomi, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!!" whimpered Van when he suddenly realized that he was no longer watching himself in the past. In fact, he was no longer in the castle but somewhere outside, somewhere in the forest.
Dream Van was now sitting on the ground deep in the woods. Looking around to get his bearings, Van recognized that he was near the dragon's graveyard and saw two, no three shadowy figures moving around the large tree above the gorge. He squinted his coffee coloured eyes and realized that one of the shadows was Hitomi and none other than himself was tying her to the tree trunk. Van ran over to the tree to make sure he was seeing correctly. Why in all of Gaea would he be tying his beloved Hitomi up? He stepped closer and it was true. His own hands were tightening the knots on the ropes that were holding a crying Hitomi prisoner. Her tear stained face pleading his zombie self to save her but to no avail. He only pulled the ropes tighter burning Hitomi's already scratched up flesh and tearing away more silk from her ragged dress. Dream Van tried to stop what his other self was doing but his hand just went through the ropes as if he were nothing but an apparition. He was useless to help his angel.
All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light that blinded Van. He took a few steps back and raised his hands trying to block some of the intense whiteness. After blinking several times, Van was able to see again but he wished that wasn't. Kimera was holding Hitomi's limp body above her head, the sparkling jade eyes now dull and lifeless. With a swift toss, Kimera hurled Hitomi's dead body into the chasm below all the while laughing heinously.
"HITOMI!!!!!" cried dream Van as he tried to run out and protect her but he was dragged back by the dark shadow that had swallowed him up in his previous dream. "Hitomi…" sobbed Van as he heard the sound of dragon bones spear into Hitomi's soft flesh and everything went black.
"Hitomi!!!!" yelled Van as woke up in a cold sweat gasping for air. Harlock came running in.
"Is everything alright, your Majesty?" questioned the shocked guard as he sprinted towards Van's bed. "Are you alright?" asked Harlock with concern on his face as soon as he saw Van's panic stricken look.
"Prepare my horse," answered Van as he jumped out of bed and began to change into his trademark red shirt and khaki pants.
"B…but your Highness."
"Do as you are told!" commanded the King of Fanelia as he buckled his sword around his waist never once looking at the astounded guard.
"Y…yes, Sire," responded the young sentinel as he ran out of the room.
Van ran his hands through his messy raven hair and inhaled deeply to regain his composure. 'I will save you Hitomi. I swear my entire life on it. Nothing will ever hurt you again.' He balled up his fists and closed his eyes. An image of Hitomi appeared before him.
"I promise," he uttered as he walked out the door and began his duty.
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Meanwhile, Allen had just arrived at the platform on horseback and was greeted happily by Celena and the crew of the Crusade. The men were dressed as they usually were but Celena was wearing a very lovely pink dress that came all the way down to the ground. It had very short sleeves, just barely past Celena's shoulders and a square neckline. The skirt of the dress was free flowing but not puffy like Millerna's dresses. It was made entirely of satin and shimmered nicely in the moonlight of the two moons along with her hair which she left down.
"Hello, Brother!!" exclaimed the slim girl as she jumped into Allen's arms giving him a bear hug. "Where's Hitomi?" Allen returned the embrace but the grim look on his face didn't change.
"Yo, Boss," greeted Gaddes as he came out from behind Celena. "Is something the matter?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Hitomi has gone missing and something odd is going on here, which is why I'm asking you to take Celena and the Crusade back to Asturia," Allen responded in his serious tone of voice usually reserved for only when he was in a council meeting discussing war tactics.
"How can there be something wrong? What do you mean Hitomi's missing?" inquired Celena as she let go of her brother. "We just received word of the engagement and Hitomi said that I could be one of her bride's maids."
Allen's look turned from grim to that of sad disappointment. "Van isn't getting married to Hitomi. He's marrying someone else."
"What?" shouted Celena and Gaddes in unison. Celena then stumbled at the shock but Gaddes caught her. A tiny blush formed on Celena's cheeks as she felt Gaddes' strong arms embrace her slender body.
"Are you alright, Lady Celena?" questioned Gaddes as he and Allen helped her to her feet. "I don't think you've fully recovered from when you passed out earlier."
"You passed out?" asked Allen in his brotherly voice as he looked down at his sister. Celena was grateful that they were in the dark or else everyone would have seen the pinkness that her cheeks were turning at the sound of concern in Gaddes' voice. "Celena?"
"Oh. It was just a slight fainting spell, and I thought we agreed not to tell my brother about it," replied a smiling Celena through gritted teeth glaring at Gaddes. "That's enough about me."
"No it isn't, Celena. You must be sick or something so I want you to go back to Asturia and see the healer," instructed Allen.
"I'm perfectly fine and I'm not going anywhere. I'm just exhausted and stressed with planning your wedding, which I think you should be doing. Do you know how frantic Eries is right now? I can't get her to stop pacing back and forth. But that doesn't matter right now," retaliated Celena waving her hand. "Whom exactly is Van Fanel marrying if he isn't marrying Hitomi?" she demanded crossing her arms over her chest.
Allen knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere once Celena had her arms crossed so he told her. "He's marrying some girl named Kimera."
"Kimera?" repeated Celena as her head began to throb. She began rubbing her temples and suddenly collapsed. Gaddes had decided to let the siblings speak privately but as soon as he saw Celena fall, he was there in a flash to catch her. Even Allen was amazed at the speed at which his right hand man came to the aide of his sister.
"Celena?" Allen whispered as he knelt down to touch her cheek. Gaddes slowly lifted Celena's frail body up into his arms.
"I think she's asleep, Boss. She must've been really tired. I don't she slept at all in the last few day or on the way here."
"Thanks for taking care of her, Gaddes. Could you please make sure that she safely gets to bed when you get to Asturia?"
"Of course, Boss," responded the Sarge as he carried the sleeping girl back into the ship to return to Asturia leaving Allen standing on the platform below.
'I've got to stop this before anyone gets hurt…and Eries kills me for not helping with the wedding,' thought Allen as he got back on his horse to begin his search for Hitomi. 'I just hope I'm not too late.'
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Finally I'm done Chapter 12. It took a while to get started but I think it should be an OK chapter. Might be a bit lame at some points but whatever. Chapter 13 is going to be an exciting one since we will finally see the end of Kimera and should be filled chock full of action…as actiony as I can write it that is. Until then, sayonara.