~Remember I don't own Escaflowne or its characters!~
~Okay this chapter really doesn't hold much importance. It just here to
signify the visions. The next chapter will give the actually explanation
for Hitomi returning alive!~
~Hope you enjoy it!~









The Fate of Two Worlds
By Angel_Wings

Chapter 29 ~ Road of Death

~Crusade~
Hitomi stood a mist her love one's with tears in her eyes. Glancing around
at all the familiar faces that were pleading for answers the angel began
with her story beginning right after her death.....


~Flashback~
The seeress knew she was dead, but where she was she had no clue. She was
falling through a dark chasm. In fact she truly didn't know even if she was
even falling for it was so dark she couldn't even see her hand before her
face. It seemed like she was falling....

Her heart was pounding..... her hair and clothes fluttered in the rush of
air.... her stomach was twisting into knots..... and her breathe locked in
her throat.... She struggled to fly, but she no longer held wings so she
plunge deeper into the blackness although she did everything she could to
stop her fast descent....

Hitomi felt as though their was another presence there..... like someone
was watching her.... studying her.....

"Hello?" the angel shouted into the void. No answer echoed back sending a
dark chill down her spine. She knew there was someone out there..... She
felt it..... Again the girl tried, "Is someone out there?"

No answer came so she tried to ignore the disturbing feeling and tried to
figure out the situation. If she had just died where was she?.....
Hell?.... No..... there would have been a lake of fire..... and this was
definitely not heaven!.... So where was she?.....

"You are in 'Judgement'....." replied a rich voice....

Hitomi's head snapped in every direction as she cried, "What?!"

The voice hadn't sounded like it had come from any direction, yet it
sounded like it had come from every direction. Strange.....

"You are in 'Judgement'....." repeated the voice....

The angel woman let herself fall no longer caring..... Why should she fight
the inevitable?..... Taking a deep breath the girl whispered quietly as sad
tears twinkled, "What's 'Judgement'?....."

The presence spoke through the darkness as though it knew everything,
"'Judgement' is the place between life and death. The place where one is
judged before entering the afterlife....."

Emerald tears trailed through the darkness behind the seeress as she spoke,
"I feel like I'm falling..... Does that mean I am going to Hell?...."

She felt her heart drop even before the answer cried out. Her fate seemed
already decided by her and now with her falling through the darkness she
felt it was proof.

The voice was kind and gentle as it spoke softly in the blackness, "No,
young one.... It is not time for you yet....."

The girl frowned as she fell through the air. That didn't make since. She
was dead, wasn't she?!.... If this wasn't death, then what was?!....
Glancing around for the speaker in vain Hitomi said, "What are you
saying?.... I 'have' died..... so what is my fate? Heaven or Hell?...."

The seeress could have sworn the darkness had smiled,..... but that was
impossible..... Wasn't it?....

With a sigh the voice replied, "Oh, young angel.... You are wise beyond
your years,.... but it is not time for this discussion just yet.... First I
must show you something...."

The 'Angel of Gaea' frowned again, "What do you wish to show me?"

Chuckling softly the voice said, "You'll will see shortly...."

Before the girl could say a word a blinding light overtook her tossing into
an old vision....


~Vision~
Hitomi stood in complete darkness. She was positioned upon the darkness as
though there was an invisible floor beneath her. Although she saw no one
she felt the awareness of billions of lives. Where were they? It was almost
like she had went blind. "What is this vision about?" she wondered
confused, " I don't see anything." As if in reply, she heard a million
screams above her head. She swirled around and turned to the sky of the
darkness. A large world hung within the air, but she could barely make it
out for on its surface she could see thousands of faces flashing like
ghosts. Each face was screaming or crying in utter terror and after a few
seconds would be replace with another face. From old women to young
children faces floated on the world's skin. From each person on the world
she felt their emotions. If it was fear, pain, or concern. She felt it all
and it was so strong that she got dizzy from it. Her hands clasped over her
ears trying to drown out the screams and cries. She begged it to stop to no
prevail. It grew so loud she thought her eardrums would bust. Falling to
her knees she gave a final cry, "STOP!" Suddenly all the faces and
screaming vanished from the sky leaving the world by itself. As soon as the
silence came though a red fire exploded throughout the world causing it to
become fiery pieces flying every which way. Suddenly the lives she had felt
from the people ceased all together. Her emerald eyes widen in horror at
the destruction and devastation. One of the fireballs came straight towards
Hitomi, and the girl screamed in fear.
~End of Vision~


Hitomi had to blinked several times to refocus her mind as the presence
spoke. Its voice sounded like it had spoken right in her ear, "Do you know
this image, young one?"

The girl let her face go towards what she thought was the direction of the
bottom of the dark pit letting the rush lift her hair as she said, "Yes....
I have seen it several times....."

"Yes... you have...." came the voice as it continued, "Do you know what it
signifies?"

The seeress nodded, "Yes.... the destruction of Gaea...."

"Good..." the being chuckled, "You interpret things well, young one, but
there still much more to see....."

Again the world was thrown into whiteness as Hitomi plunged into another
vision....


~Vision~
A sudden blue streak of light fell from the sky next to Leon. The two
watched as a young girl stood before Allen's father. "Grandmother...."
Hitomi whispered. A small red tear-drop was exchanged between Leon's and
Hitomi's grandmother's hand. The young girl and man spoke to each other so
low that neither Van, nor Hitomi could hear what was said between the two.
The blue light reappeared and the young girl was swept up back into the sky
while Leon was left staring at her leaving form. As soon as her figure
vanished the world became dark.

Hitomi and Van could still see each other clear as day, but they couldn't
see anything else. Even the ground they knew they were standing on was not
visible to their eyes. A confused frown appeared on the honey haired girl.
She had already seen the exchange of the pendant between her grandmother
and Allen's father before. What was so important? Nothing had changed in
the scene except they spoke, but she couldn't even understand them.
~End of Vision~


"Now tell me of this one...." commanded the voice.

The angel woman could have refused, but she did not wish to be mean to the
unknown being although she had no idea who it was and quietly replied, "I
am not sure what it means..... Their voices were so low that I could not
hear there words....."

The darkness was quiet for a moment deciding whether to tell her the
meaning or let her figure it out. Finally it decided to give her a
challenge, "If you must know what they said the man, known as Leon, said to
passed this down to your granddaughter when the time is right, for she is
the one destined. Your grandmother said 'I will fulfill my duties and
protect her until then'.... Now can you tell me the meaning?"

The girl nodded slowly, "Yes, Leon gave the pendant to my grandmother to
hand down to me because he somehow discovered I was the 'Angel'. My
grandmother gave me the pendant many years later. Strange how clear the
visions seemed to me after to death.... yet I am still confused...."

"Do not worry, young one...." explained the invisible person, "Once I have
finished here I will tell you all you need to know,.... but first let us
look upon another of the images...."

With those words another vision followed....


~Vision~
Hitomi was kneeling in the dark abyss. Screams of people suffering filled
the air, but there were no signs of life. Such pain.....such suffering.....
Hitomi couldn't take it. She covered her ears, but the screams didn't grow
fainter, they grew louder! The cries were echoing throughout her mind.
"Leave me be!" screamed the girl, "Please, STOP!!!" Suddenly the darkness
was quiet. Not a sound could be heard by her pale ears. The silence seemed
worse than the screams. She was alone....alone in the darkness.
"Someone....is someone there? Someone please! I don't want to be alone!"
She leapt to her feet and began to run. Her soul beg for someone.....
anyone. To be alone was worse than death. She ran with no destination, only
with the wish for companionship. The darkness did not want it though. It
fought to keep her from seeing the ones she loved. She could feel the
darkness try to swallow her . Dark shadow like chains grabbed at her, but
she ran faster escaping the clutches. "Leave me alone!" The silence became
deafening. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!"

She was suddenly no longer in the black pit, but at an open field. A
draconian woman with long brown hair stands in the center of the grassy
plane. A white dress that she wears is in ribbons with blood and dirt
staining every inch of it. Her wings were no longer there; only two bloody
nubs of pink and white feathers remained. Pain and torture had obviously
fallen heavily on this wretched woman. She falls to her knees as tears
streams down her face. "No more...." she shouts at the sky in an angry
plead, "No more will my people suffer." Her tears drip down her chin and
neck sweeping into the cloth of her rags. A bright red light flashes across
the field and earth cracking can be heard all around. Then as fast as the
image had appeared it disappeared sending Hitomi back into the dark
blackness.

Hitomi was again kneeling, but there were no screams or cries. Only a
single voice from an unknown source. No, not one voice...., but two that
spoke in union. Both were female voices that were vaguely familiar.

"Legend speaks.... a shadow of death..... will fall over a creation.....
fire.....brimstone..... death......destruction.....devastation......
tears......bloody hands....."

Without even thinking Hitomi looked down at her hands. They were stained
with blood. Her eyes grew wide and her hands shook in fear. She stood up
and tried to wipe away the blood on her clothes, but the blood just grew
thicker. Pink feathers littered the ground around her causing her eyes to
widen even more. The feathers were soaked in blood resulting them to turn
pink. Her ears picked up on the sound of someone crying. Emerald tears fell
to the ground as Hitomi spotted the lone being amongst the flames. His
raven hair was matted in sweat and blood and his ruby eyes cried tears of
sorrow. His sword laid on the ground nearby smeared in someone's blood. It
was at that moment Hitomi noticed the body in Van's arms. His shirt was
soaked in the figure's blood from cradling the person close. Hitomi
desperately tried to see the figure's face, but before she had a chance the
fire's flames leaped higher piercing the scorched sky and enveloped both
Van and the unknown person. Fire and brimstone..... death and
destruction.....rotting flesh.....the smell of blood....screams of pain....
Hitomi looked back down at her bloody hands and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
~End of Vision~


This time the girl did not wait for the voice to ask her what the vision
had meant. Letting the images replay in her mind the angel replied, "The
darkness signifies the time I would confront Kusari.... when I would be in
chains....."

The vastness nodded and asked, "What else?"

Images of the old queen went past her emerald eyes as her voice echoed in
the darkness, "It was the time when Queen Iris died in bringing forth the
Mystic Moon...."

Again the blackness nodded and asked, "What else?"

Van a mist the flames played again in her mind, "It showed when I would die
in Van's arms...."

Again a nod as the presence proclaimed, "One final thing...."

Glancing down at her pale hands the girl thought of blood smeared over
them. She could barely see her palms in the darkness, but to look at them
she thought of the dark liquid once again staining her skin. Shuddering she
replied, "My bloody hands signified when I would kill for the first
time.... and my heart would grow cold....."

A gentle chuckled played in the rush of air as Hitomi continued to plunge
downwards, "Yes.... you are very wise..... I never doubted that....."

The girl glanced around her in no particular direction in curiosity.
Speaking with a sweet voice she said, "You know so much..... Who are--?"

Her few words were quickly cut off by the unknown being, "Be still, young
one.... The time for that has not come..... There is still more for you to
see....."

*Flash*


~Vision~
Blackness surrounded Hitomi as she found herself in a place she had never
wanted to remember again. The dead was walking everywhere and screams of
pain and anguish followed in their wake. They were the color of gray while
Hitomi was full of color and life. They marched in endless lines of pairs.
Chains of black shadows swirled around their ankles and wrists. Hitomi
walked between a pair of lines and stared at the walking ghosts. There was
no end to the lines. She could not see the beginning or end of either line.
If she could have peered over the heads of the lines she would have seen
endless lines that marched past the horizon. The ground was of bare dry
earth that was cracked that brought dust to rise at each step taken from
the deceased.

Out of the blue, Hitomi began to recognize faces among the crowd. A boy
from her math class walked by in deep distress, not even noticing her. A
girl that she knew from her track team marched the dead walk nearby. Faces
all over the place were of the people she had left behind on her world.
Hitomi began running down the line checking faces. Every so often a face
would appear that she recognized. She came to halt as she saw a face she
had not expected. Hitomi could only stare at Yukari's sullen face that held
dark rings under her eyes. The clothes she wore were so torn apart that
Hitomi couldn't even tell what they had been before. Stained blood matted
the material causing it to hug her limp body. Blood was smeared across her
face in a deadly sense.

"Yukari?! Yukari!" Hitomi shouted helplessly. Hitomi tried to grab the
girl's shoulder in hope of stopping her walk, but her hand passed through
her best friend. The girl continued to walk with the chained souls of the
dead, but Hitomi did not follow. Her emerald eyes brimmed with tears as she
watched her friend disappear on the horizon. Her eyes swept over the crowd
and she spotted something that caused her heart to stop.

Her father was limping down the line with his hand clenching the hand of a
bloody boy of about six years old which she immediately recognized as her
brother. The middle aged man was covered in dry blood and clothes were
tattered like Yukari's. Her young brother was identical to her two love
ones. "Dad.....Mamoru.....no...." she whispered as they passed by her.
Again she tried to grab a shoulder, but her hand slipped through the body
of her younger brother causing a flood of tears to fall. They disappeared
into the horizon just like Yukari into a cloud of dust and death.

Hitomi turned around, not wanting to see any more, but she became faced to
face with a brunette boy covered in wounds that sprouted blood. "Amano...."
she whispered as he trudged pass her. She couldn't believe this was
happening. All her love ones were in the land of the dead. Dead.....No.
Hitomi couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it.

A figure appeared next to Hitomi and she jumped at the sudden appearance of
another living being. It was her mother. She was in a tattered dress
stained with her blood. Even though the woman was dead a small hue of color
still flowed over her. Gray colors swirled with faded rainbow hues. They
flowed over the woman like a film that could not be touched. The colors
were forever shifting and churning. A endless battle was fought between the
colors. Each trying to overtake the other. It was obvious, however, that
the gray would in the end swallow up the rainbow. Hitomi turned her
attention back to her mother. The dead woman stared at Hitomi with hurt in
her eyes.

"Mother...." Hitomi whispered painfully. Tears sprang into her mother's
eyes as she answered with a word that sounded bitter on her tongue.

"Hitomi"

"Mother what happen to you.....Yukari...Mamoru and dad.....who did this?!"
Hitomi cried through her blurred vision of tears.

"You...." her mother whispered harshly, her eyes cold.

"Me?" Hitomi muttered confused as ever, "But I couldn't have--" Her
mother's hands grabbed Hitomi's pale fingers cutting the girl off from her
question. Her mother's nails dug into Hitomi's flesh and Hitomi wince from
the pain.

"Hitomi....why didn't you help us?! How could you kill us like that?! You
mourn us, but it was because of you we are here! You did this to us." With
those last words the woman yanked away her hands and ran into the crowd of
the dead forever to live in a place that was best described as Hell.

"Mother, wait!" Hitomi shouted after the disappearing form. She brought up
her hand reaching out to her. Her emerald eyes grew wide when she saw the
blood on her hand. Her mother must have left it there when she held
Hitomi's hands. Hitomi desperately tried to rub the blood away, but it only
grew thicker. Suddenly red rain poured down from the sky on to her covering
her from head to toe in the disgusting liquid. Hitomi was now in the dark
abyss soaked in the blood of the dead. Her hands ran over her body trying
to some how get rid of the hideous feature, but only in vain. She fell to
her knees and screamed a blood curdling scream that rang throughout the
empty blackness.
~End of Vision~


The being waited for the answer of this image as the girl contemplated the
scene, but none came. The angel woman couldn't quite grasp the meaning.
Filled with guilt in her voice the girl replied, "I do not know.... At
least I don't think I know....."

Sighing contently the vastness spoke, "It shows the death of your
people.... It was a warning that your world would soon come to your end and
your people would die...."

Hitomi frowned a little, "Then why did my mother seemed to be bitter with
me?"

The blackness smiled down at her wisdom. She was so intelligent for her
age. Most people would have thought nothing of the anger in the mother's
voice. With a proud hint mingling in the vocals the darkness replied, "It
was to scare you.... to make you see that something dire would occur and
that you had to fix the problem.... and if you didn't your people would
forever hate you....."

Bitterly the girl whispered, "It did its job then..... I did what I had
to....." The being watched several crystal drops fall from the angel's eyes
of forest green. His heart went out for her. He did not like to see the
young angel in such pain.

Quietly the vastness said, "Come...... another image awaits....."

*Flash*


~Vision~
A mirror stood before Hitomi, but instead of her reflection she saw
Celena's. Celena stood with a sad smile on her face. Hitomi couldn't
understand. Just then the glass began to crack. Celena didn't even move as
the crack went across the center of the mirror. The crack spread across the
surface and divided several times. Suddenly the glass shattered completely.
Hitomi's arms flew in front of her face to protect her, but she didn't feel
any glass pierce her skin. Slowly she let her arms withdraw from her face
and she gasped. The shards were floating in mid-air like diamonds in the
sky. Hitomi was about to touch one when suddenly a face formed on it. Her
fingers automatically flew from the piece of glass as the face smiled
evilly. A young man with short silver hair laughed insanely.

"Dilandua!" Hitomi cried. Suddenly all the other glass pieces held his face
laughing menacingly at the poor woman scaring her half to death.
~End of Vision~


The woman felt the rush of air again hit her face and the familiar presence
of the unknown being nearby, "That one showed that Dilandau still tormented
Celena's life.... I felt so sorry for her....."

The being stared at her with a smile, "Your heart is warm like a flame,
young one..... and as gentle as a cloud..... One of your only desires is to
help others....."

Guilt washed over the seeress's bloody face as she whispered, "I am not
worthy of your praise....."

Smiling sadly for the angel the vastness took the girl into another
vision....

*Flash*


~Vision~
Hitomi was flying from a bird's eye view. High in the sky she soared,
flying through the clouds when suddenly she dove towards the earth's
surface. She flew just a few feet above the ground and passing by her
people in a rush. She only got glimpses of people, but the moment she
passed them she felt their emotions and heard their thoughts.


A woman held her baby child, "No! Their bombing us!!!"


A man in a business suit running with his briefcase, "I can't escape it!"


Children in a playground. "Wow....."

"I'm scared......."

"I wanna go home!"


Hitomi passed by so many people their thoughts and emotions became a jumble
and unreadable. Soon she found herself at the track field standing by her
two closes friends. Amano and Yukari were in a warm embrace as they looked
towards the wave of light coming at them. The roaring wind tugged at them,
but they didn't seem to notice. Yukari placed her head on Amano's shoulder
sighing contently. Hitomi felt no fear from them, no sense of panic. She
felt only love and devotion between her two best friends. Hitomi couldn't
help, but cry as the two held each other.

Amano hugged his fiancé closed and spoke into her hair, "We will forever be
together. Even in the afterlife. I pledge my soul to you, Yukari. Even if
it only for this short moment."

The red head turned her eyes to his and whispered, "And I pledge my soul to
you, Amano. Even though we are to die here I can't help, but be at peace
with you at this moment." The two grew closer and kissed tenderly in each
other's arms as the light consumed them.

Hitomi pulled away from the blinding scene and streaked across yards before
coming to a halt at her family's house. Her father was holding Hitomi's
little brother in his arms as Hitomi's mother stood just in front of them.
They were watching the sea of light come flooding toward them.

"Daddy, I'm scared...." the boy clung to his father's shirt frightened.
Hitomi watched as her father hugged the small boy tightly to his chest. His
fatherly hands rubbed his back trying to comfort his son.

"Shhhhhh....." he whispered in his son's ear, "I'm right here......
Everything will be alright......" Even as the man spoke the words Hitomi
could tell he knew that everything wasn't going to be alright. She felt her
heart drop for her family and wished she could do something about it.

Hitomi turned away from her father and brother and saw her mother staring
at the moon. No, she was staring past the moon where Gaea hung invisible to
all eyes. Hitomi a feeling of sadness and guilt fill her mother's heart and
she wondered why?

"Hitomi....." her mother whispered into the roaring winds, "I'm sorry I
never told you. Please forgive. Protect our homelands and the power of our
people. Fulfill your destiny and follow your heart for it will lead you
down the 'true' path."

Hitomi watched as her father hugged his wife while still holding their son.
They stayed in that embrace, not even flinching as the light blinded them
and swallowed them in an instance.

Hitomi's view pulled away and she stood in the stars watching her world
above her. A billion screams came to her ears from her world causing Her to
cover her ears. Then, just like in her vision, the cries ceased into a
deadly silence. The red light swallowed her planet.... her world..... her
home..... her friends and family..... her people..... in the blink of an
eye before exploding into fiery balls of flames.
~End of Vision~


"What of this image?" asked the presence to the angel.

The girl felt herself growing lost in the flow of the fall as she replied,
"It showed the people who were closest to me dying when my world.... my
former world was destroyed...."

A small nod came from the being as a bright light formed in the distance
below them. Sort of like light at the end of a tunnel. Hitomi started at
the sudden light and asked, "What's that?"

Ignoring the question the vastness said, "It is time to tell you everything
that is needed for you to know, young one..... It is time for you to see
Heaven....."

The angel woman gasped at the last word just as she was thrown through the
whiteness.....







~Okay.... okay this chapter really was not important and really wasn't
interesting, but I had to do it just incase somebody got confused with the
visions. I think I made everything pretty clear, but just to make sure I
made this chapter.~
~The next chapter is going to explain Hitomi returning to life. I promise!~
~Last time I said the next chapter would be in 1-3 days, but I did it in no
time. Well I meant chapter 30, not this chapter so you're going to have to
wait. Sorry!~
~Please review! Although their is really nothing to review in this
chapter.....:)~