Escaflowne ~ A Vision Reborn (26)

Escaflowne ~ A Vision Reborn (26)

Stories…one now and one then…

*~A White Rose Petal~*

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A/N: ::Cough, cough:: I've still got a head cold…and had to live through school with it…oh the agony! ::cough, cough::

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Summary:

What IS a Presel anyway? There are no more in the village…Hitomi is one, and Jin was educated about them…what could Hitomi be? What could Jin know? Why did Hitomi's mother want her to find Virginia…or Jin anyway…?

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The two women looked at each other. Their job here was done and now all they had to do was meet the ones who were killed by the blazing flames in the hall. Varie's wings were not out anymore but she was slightly sore from them being out and picking up the spirits of the dead body that was being burned.

"I thought I was supposed to be dead." She said flatly, "Why do I still feel pain?" She turned to her sensei who glared lightly at her.

"What is hurting Varie?" Varie was about to say her wings but she knew, oddly that it wasn't.

"I don't know what hurts sensei, there's a burning sensation and it feels like something is pounding around me at the same time but it's not my wings!" She told the other woman who nodded her head.

"I see…ever wonder that it might be a family members pain that you are feeling?" She asked her. "A…son maybe?" Varie turned her head over to the other woman as fast as she could, there was a shocked expression on her face and her eyes were opened wide.

"VAN?!" She said finally. All she got from her sensei was a small nod and they kept moving forward until they heard voices coming from the white hall.

"I see that our guests are already here…" The older woman said as they walked into the white hall.

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"What do you mean 'you are a Presel'?!" Hitomi asked with a strength that she did not know her strength possessed. Jin sighed and pulled on the chains that bound her wrists. She closed her eyes, as if doing some hard thinking. She opened her eyes again and stared at Hitomi.

"Close your eyes, I'm going to tell you a story." She finally said in a voice that Hitomi wouldn't dare argue with. "A few years ago…

*(* Jin's Story *)*

A small girl was running to the edge of a lake and looking around it. Everything there seemed normal, except for the girl. She was wearing a light blue dress and had long black hair that was curled into ringlets. Hitomi could clearly see that this girl was a princess, but luckily for her, not Wanda, just from looking in the girl's eyes. 'How can I see the pictures so clearly in my mind?' Hitomi thought. After she closed her eyes, Jin started to tell the story in a talking voice, but soon she started to sing lightly. The girls knew everything in that forest, knew what everything was and, if she was taught what certain plants and animals were, was able to say what they were. One day, the girl was walking barefoot around the lake when she heard a voice singing. She wanted to know what it was and listen to it even closer. She searched for the voice day on end to know prevail. She went to her mother, the queen at the time, who told her to go and find the lords and ladies of the court. They would know what to do. She went and asked everyone there. Anyone who she could get attention long enough to ask. Only a few would listen, but they only told her that they did not know, and to go and play with their daughters or sons. She would smile, though not a real one, at them and leave. She cried after every time she did not get an answer that she wanted, and that was every time. Until… Hitomi's eyes snapped open.

"Until what?" She asked. "Until what?!" Jin looked at her with glazed eyes.

"Be PAITIENT!" She said. She felt a little sorry for it but it was hard to remember the full story sometimes. Hitomi nodded a little bit and then closed her eyes to listen to more of the story…

Until…she was crying in the wood, the trees surrounding her like an overprotective fort years after the war had been won, there was no need for it. She knew it would make no difference whether anybody saw her or not. There would be some who would come and try to calm her down, but none would be able to help her understand the voices she was hearing. She brought her head up quickly when she heard the snapping of twigs behind her.

"Huh? Who-who goes there?" she asked from where the sounds came. Slowly, an old man with a battered cane came out of the brush with his hands up in mock surrender. He bowed to her slightly. She nodded her head to him and her tears started to lessen but they still came.

"May I ask her highness what is wrong?" He asked her. She nodded her head a little bit and sniffed.

"A few days ago…I heard voices singing…SINGING!" She emphasized the word, "and I tried to find who was singing such a beautiful song…walking around the forest, I couldn't find anything. I went to my mother and took her advice of asking the lords and ladies of the court but all they said is that I shouldn't worry and that I should make friends with their children or grandchildren or so forth!" She said. The old man shook his head yet again.

"I see." Was all he said. The girl sat still, waiting for him to say something, or say that this is no matter of hers that she needs to be thinking about. But he didn't. All he did was sit down by her. "Now tell me child, where did you hear these voices?" He asked her. She was about to say the part of the forest she was in…but was she in the forest? Or did she just dream it all?

"I-I think I dreamed the whole thing…" She whispered, her eyes were zoned out and the old man chuckled lightly.

"Maybe it was telling you something that you needed to know." He said. The girl shook her head lightly.

"How did you know that, that would be the answer to my problem?" She asked him. He laughed again.

"You won't believe me!" He said sadly. The girl pouted and he sighed, "I suppose I could…" he mumbled. "Last night, I saw a flash of light and I saw you crying, then things changed and I saw you sleeping, then I went into that dream where you heard the singing, and then, I saw what you were doing right that instant when I saw the flash of light. You were walking away from the hall with tears on your face. A sad looking princess you were…" He told her. Her eyes snapped open.

"You saw all of that in a flash of light?!" She asked him. He nodded his head. She was about to tell him that she needed to get home when she remembered something. "What is your name?" She asked him. He turned to look at her quietly, as he always did everything.

"You, your majesty, may call me, Presel." She nodded her head. She looked the other way when she saw a rabbit come out of the bush near by.

"Good bye, Presel." She told him. She got no answer. "Presel?" She asked again. She turned around and gasped. The old man was no longer there…

*(* End of format that way *)*

"A few days after that, a body was found dead in the forest. The princess asked if she could glance at the body, she saw that it was him, Presel. He was lying dead and his skin went from peach to a pale blue. The princess knew that it was Presel though. She saw a small piece of paper on the ground and picked it up. There was nothing written on it. She went to one of the lords and asked for a quill who gladly gave her one. She wrote 'You will always be remembered in thy heart as well thy land.' She put it in his cold hand and made it into a fist. Years later when she became queen, she said that anybody with the gift that her dear friend had, would be called a Presel as she called the people her people when they were in groups." Hitomi looked confused.

"What does this have to do with being a Presel?" She asked. Jin smiled weakly at her.

"Everything." She told her. "Everything in that story…"

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A/N: MY HANDS ARE GOING TO FALL OFF!! I WROTE THIS IN 20 MINUTES OR LESS!!! I Think I deserve a hand…lol, anyway, I hoped that you guys liked this and…tata!! ~AWRP