I have had quite a few comments that the chapters are too short. Well I first posted this story on Anime shack, that's why the short chapters. I broke up some parts to make them post within the space allowed. I continued it here, but I will combine them to make the reading more interesting. And since this is my first Fic (I started and finished Spirit Seeker while writing this) it is still a learning process for me. I enjoy writing now and this will not be my last fic. Well on to the story.
Empress Terrial returns to the ones that sent her to Fanilia and the King. And Hitomi is reunited with her friends from Gaea. The Elders of the Cat Folk village have information to share, but Allen finds out more from a single cat girl, then Dryden from the Elders. Van is keeping secrets vital to the Prophecy.
Chapter 19 Friends, confessions, and Revelations
The Bosram Mountains, and close to them concealed from the casual on looker is a floating fortress. It is one of Ziaboch's few remaining fortresses since the war. A convoy ship approaches.
Lord Lawrence: "The Empress has returned to
us. We have the doppelganger in place;
the first plan is already in motion. He
will strike when the time is right."
Empress Terrial enters the room and bows to her
masters, the Three Dark Lords.
Terrial: "I was unable to sway the King, my Lords,
I await your punishment Lord Lawrence."
Lord Lawrence: "Rest easy child, for events have
turned to our favor. We leave now for
Freid to reclaim Dilandau, he will help provide the distraction needed to keep
the dragon from his task."
Terrial: "Dilandau is gone, I have seen what my
Lord has become with my own eyes."
Lord Lawrence: "Wait and see."
Everyone is happy to see Hitomi. It is so good to be with her friends
again. They are all like a second
family to her. After eating Van excuses
himself to check on Escaflowne. It is
just an excuse; he knows if Hitomi is really to feel at ease, she can't do so
if he is always they're waiting for something to happen. Hitomi is finishing up herself when Merle
walks in.
Hitomi: "Merle is that you? You're beautiful!"
If it would be possible for a cat to blush, Merle
does. Everyone starts to laugh. Any oddness Hitomi's friends are feeling at
her changed appearance disappears. Merle raises her head high, walking to her place at the table. As usual she is grooming the back of her
hand.
Merle: "Laugh all you want. I'm beautiful."
Allen reaches over the table, and fingers a lock of
Hitomi's silver hair.
Allen: "I like the hair."
Dryden: "Yeah, Allen it's almost as nice as yours."
Again laughter erupts in the room. Allen though does turn red.
Allen: "Come on Dryden we have things to do."
Allen pushed back his chair, stands, and without
another word, walks out of the room.
Millerna: "Dryden, you'd better go with him."
Dryden stands and bending over places his hand on
his wife's shoulder, he gives her a quick kiss. Millerna reaches up and squeezes his hand. He straitens up and leaves to catch up with
Allen. Millerna sighs.
Millerna: "I always though that I wanted someone to
make me happy, but as it turns out I only found happiness when I realized that
I could make someone else happy."
She is thinking as she speaks, She remembers the
private conversation she had with Folken at the castle in Palas. 'Millerna is standing by the window, water in
the bay outside sparkles in the sunlight, but all that side of the city lay in
ruin. She sighs and lays her head in
her hands. Folken enters the room, but
seeing Millerna says softly "I am sorry for the destruction I have caused here
in your kingdom." Millerna looks up at
him, she has tears brimming in her eyes, "Sorry, this destruction is my fault.
"Your
fault?"
"Yes,
I pushed Hitomi into doing a reading about my marriage. I didn't realize that she had fallen in love
with Allen. So she did the reading, but
she switched the cards. She changed the
destiny so that I would be happy with Dryden instead of waiting for Allen."
The
look in Folken's eyes softens, "Oh, I see." The tears Millerna is trying so hard to control spill from her eyes
unbidden, "Yes now you see. It is my fault."
Folken
looks down at her, this is one wrong he can atone for now. "It's not your fault, Millerna, Hitomi had
to be separated from Van. Dornkirk
ordered it so. I myself preformed the
fate alteration to change the gravity of Hitomi's heart to another. I was able to obtain the DNA samples needed
while Dornkirk had the three them held in Ziaboch, Van, Hitomi and Allen
Schazar. I used Allen to obtain that
end. You see you are not to
blame." Millerna looks up at him
astonished, "But still if I hadn't asked her, no I begged her to read the
cards. I was so unsure how I really felt, but I had found out things about
Allen, and I wanted to know that Dryden would make me happy." Folken does understand, had he not been
secretly sabotaging his own attempts to capture the dragon, for much the same
reason, "If that is what you are seeking you will never find it. You'll find your own happiness when you find
someone that you make happy."
Millerna: "You see Hitomi, in the end Dryden left
me till I was ready for his love. If
you had not of changed the cards back then, changed the destiny, I would never
have married him. Thank you."
Millerna reaches over and hugs Hitomi, both are
laughing and crying.
Millerna: "Yukari and I have spent a lot of time together since her arrival. She's told me a lot about the Mystic Moon
and Its strange customs. You really run
with other girls just to see who can run faster, she called it a race, I would
like to try it sometime, that and ice cream.
Merle: "Well at least you had fun, you didn't have
to baby-sit that husband hungry Empress."
Hitomi: "Who?"
Merle: "The Reigning Empress of Ziaboch. She was after Lord Van."
Yukari: "Merle!"
Hitomi: "That's OK, it has been three years, I
couldn't expect him to just wait for me, I may have never been able to come
back."
Merle: "No Hitomi, He did wait. He waited for you."
Outside the Crusade, two men head to the village,
they are joined by a third.
Amano: "What are we trying to find out here?"
Dryden: "The exact location of Cred would be nice
for starters."
The three approach a guarded hut, the meeting place
of the Elders of the village. The guard
lowers his spear to block the entrance. He points at Dryden and Amano.
Guard: "You two may pass, but your warrior must
remain outside."
Allen realizes at once that his is the only one of
the three that is armed. He steps back
one pace to show the guard, that he has understood, and will not try to
enter. Dryden and Amano enter the hut
leaving Allen outside with the guard. After a time Allen grows tired of waiting, 'What is taking so long in
there?' He decides to walk around a
little to stretch his tired muscles. He
walks a short distance, keeping an eye on the hut in case Dryden and Amano come
out. The cat folk here in the village
are all busy going about the days routines. One cat girl though walks by him, her head down. She looks so sad, Allen can't resist the
urge to make her smile.
Allen: "Why so down little one, it is a beautiful
day out."
The girl looks up seeing Allen smiling at her, she
tries to smile, but ghost of a smile is all she manages.
Kala: "My brother is gone. I think he left with Hitomi, the Dragon."
Allen: "Who?"
Kala: "The beautiful dragon lady with the silver
hair. Nathen brought her to the village
yesterday. He said she had saved his
life. The people are calling her the
dragon goddess, but she's more, and I'm afraid for Nathen, he wouldn't leave
without telling anyone unless he's in trouble. I'm afraid the dragon has him."
Allen: "Why would you be afraid, little one, you
said that your brother was saved by Hitomi, but you are afraid she may have
hurt him. Why?"
The girl lowers her head, even if she tells will
anyone believe her especially a stranger. She is only a child after all.
Allen: "It's ok, I am Allen Schazar a night of
Astoria, and I am sworn to protect beautiful little princesses such as you."
At his remark Kala smiles just a little, but the
tears in her bright eyes threaten to fall. She likes this man, he seems kind, and maybe he really can help find her
brother.
Kala: "Last night I followed Nathen and Hitomi when
they went for a walk. I knew it
was wrong to do it, but I was
curious. They stopped out by the
fields, and when Nathen tried to kiss her, she ran. But than she stopped before she reached the fire. She turned and flew to the trees where I was
hiding. Then it happened, she changed
into the green dragon, it had to be the one everyone is talking about, the one
that killed the bandits in the man village. What if she killed Nathen for kissing her."
Kala is crying now, she is afraid of Hitomi and
scared for her brother. All the stories
of Dragon mere, feeding that fear. Allen can't believe what he is hearing from this girl, yet she's not
lying, Hitomi is the Green Dragon, and Van surly knows it. He reaches down and putting a hand under her
chin, tilts her head up to look at him.
Allen: "Don't worry little princess, your brother
is safe I know this for a fact. He
should have not have let you worry so. There you do have a beautiful smile."
At that Kala does smile.
Dryden and Amano leave the hut of the Elders,
joining Allen outside and all three men head back to the Crusade.
Allen; " Any luck?"
Dryden: "Yes and No. According to the Elders Cred isn't just one place. It is the place a dragon goes to die, only
the dragon knows when and where to go. Most go to dragon graveyards, but not all. The dragon is drawn to its cred by destiny. And it's not likely that the Green Dragon will
tell us where to go is it."
Allen: "Hum, anything else?"
Allen isn't really listening, he is still thinking
about the information he gained from the cat girl in the village. How can this be, and why would Van keep to
himself such vital information.
Amano: "What do you think about the legend the
really old one told us, I wish he could have been more detailed, he seemed to
be leaving parts out, I wonder if he just forgot them."
Dryden: " I got that feeling too, but we were lucky
as it was that they even spoke to outsiders. I'll check the legend against some of the older prophecies; I know I
have seen references to the same thing, both in the book of three and in some
of the other books. One thing that does
bother me is that references to dragons aren't in any of the earliest accounts,
like they didn't exist before a certain point. Ugh! This is all driving me nuts."
Van is in the guymelf bay sharpening Escaflowne's
sword. The repetition of the work
allows him some time to think. Allen enters the bay; he has come looking for
Van to get answers from his friend. Van
looks up at Allen standing before him, and then resumes his work.
Allen: "When were you going to tell us about the
dragon?"
Van is silent, the only indication he has heard
what his friend has said, is a momentary pause in his work.
Allen: "Van look at me. When were you going to tell us about Hitomi, she's not only the
dragon woman, she's the Green Dragon. You had to know."
Van: "What did you want me to say, Allen, the woman
I love, is the dragon that must be extinguished, killed in order to save
Gaea? How do you think everyone would
act, she is scared enough, and she can feel the emotions around her now, she
would have known."
He pauses now, looking up at Allen he continues,
Van: "Last night when I fought the Green Dragon I
hit it with the dragon dust, it changed in the dragon woman we saw at the
village. She fell from the sky. I
almost didn't reach her in time. It
scared me that she might have died. And that was before I knew who she
was. How can Escaflowne kill her, I
love her. I didn't say anything because
Hitomi's not ready, she's scared and she has the memories of the dragon, she
knows what it is doing and is helpless to stop it. Allen, how did you find out?"
Allen: "A girl in the village. Her brother is the one who brought Hitomi to
the village. He's disappeared; my guess
is that he is the same one who confronted you. He's on the ship I'm sure of it."
Van: "The ship, but why?"
Allen: "It's Hitomi, she does that to men, all of
us, we want to help her, to protect her. Even your brother, Folken did."
Van doesn't care for what Allen is saying, but he
knows how it feels to want to protect her, that very feeling had obsessed him
during the war with Ziabach. It is something he remembers all to well.
Van: "Should we search the ship for him?"
Allen: "No, he'll turn up. I have a feeling before this is all over we
may need him. I will send word to the
village that the goddess has chosen him to travel with her as her protector,
that should satisfy them and it will make his little sister proud. Besides I don't want that little girl to not
know what happened to her brother."
Outside the Levi ship a small golden dragonet
circles the ship, unnoticed by those working outside. Goldie is beside himself; he has circled the large ship all
night. He knows his mistress is in
there. He felt her stirring in the
early morning at dawn. But now, much
later, he has become frantic in his need to find her. As a crewman leaves the
ship Goldie can wait no longer, he pushes away his fear and enters the ship
were the man came out. Now he is flying
from room to room, place to place, swooping to miss the humans that are here
and there inside the hallways.
Hitomi has returned to her room to rest, the dragon
dust is still with her making her yawn. Suddenly she stiffens, emotions come rolling at her. She can feel driving need, love and fear.
Hitomi: "Oh no!"
She rushes from the room, no longer tired, and
heads in the direction of the guymelf bay. As she approaches the feelings grow stronger, along with new feelings,
one is annoyance, and the other is sheer amusement. Hitomi enters the bay in time to see her little Goldie darting
and swooping at the owner of all the annoyance, Van. Goldie is chattering loudly at him in a most demanding tone.
Allen: "What did you do to him?"
Van waves his arms in the air, trying to defend
himself from the little creature without harming it.
Van: "I don't know!"
Hitomi: "Goldie!"
The little dragon breaks off his attack and veers
directly toward Hitomi, landing lightly on her shoulder and coiling his tail
around her neck. Now content he nuzzles
her cheek with his head and chirps softly to her.
Hitomi: "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten
you."
She reaches up to scratch behind his ear; the
chirping changes to a soft sound, almost purring. Allen and Van watch the little dragon as he receives all Hitomi's
attention. It is apparent that the
animal loves her. Allen doubles over
laughing as Van turns in his direction.
Allen: "My point has just been proven, he is
protecting her."
I just love Goldie, he is more a friend than a pet,
and has his own part to play. What will
happen next?
Fanilia
