Another Vision of Escaflowne

Another Vision of Escaflowne

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply regarding Tenkuu no Escaflowne. The following is an Original Escaflowne fanfiction / fanart. The story, new characters and events are our own creation. Any resemblance with any other fanwork is purely coincidental.

Author : Celena

Editor: Bellsandy

Illustrator: Bellsandy

~~ Delight in the Experience : http://bellsandi.tripod.com/AVE/index.html ~~

~~ Immerse yourself in the Experience : here ~~

Episode III

The first Vision

It was the end of the afternoon in Fanelia and families were starting to gather for the evening meal. Even though the sun was still up, the air was getting cool and the children were invited by their parents to come inside.

Merle was in the castle, walking along the wide, stoned corridors with imposing windows on one side, allowing a view over the city of Fanelia and the horizon beyond with the setting sun and rising moons in the sky. Lead by her olfactory senses she was heading for the kitchens for dinner when she heard her lord's chambermaid Lyla speaking with her brother Lyle, known as one of Van's council members.

"He said not to worry, I assure you." she was saying softly, looking at the ground. Her long curly silver-blue hair coming down on each side of her tanned face.

"What do you mean not to worry? He's missing for crying out loud!" Lyle hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

"Who's missing?" asked Merle approaching them, her ears twitching, as they were always when Merle's curiosity had the better of her.

"Uh... Merle!" greeted Lyle smiling.

He was a tall man, the youngest of the council and becoming close friends with Van. His long silver-violet hair was combed into a fine braid that reached his belt. His eyes were a soft blue and his skin tanned. He was wearing the usual robe for the council members, a long, green and black tunic with a leather belt.

Merle liked Lyle a lot. He was one of the few that were honestly nice to her. Not just being kind because of her relationship with Van. Many people of the court did not like having a low race cat-girl among them and only tolerated her because of King Van's affection for her. Merle hated having to endure their hard stares all the time, but staying close to Van was the most important thing to her and it made the daily difficulties diminish.

As soon as Merle noticed Lyle's smile, she feared the worst. Her senses told her that Lyle was trying to hide something.

"Lyle, where's Lord Van?" she asked, refraining her panic.

"The King left for the evening, he shall return shortly." Lyle answered, eyeing his sister not to say a word.

"Where did he go?" asked Merle with a frown.

"We… I don't know Merle." Lyle answered defeated by her sad eyes. "He told Lyla he'd be back before morning" he added.

He then turned to his sister and lectured her for not coming to tell him sooner. As a distressed Lyla tried her best to justify herself, Merle looked up to the Mystic Moon through one of the many windows of the corridor, the devastated expression on her face revealed too well her worries.

"Lord Van…" she whispered.

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You could no longer see the blue of the sky nor the sun over Hitomi's high school. The air was warm though, and as a bird soared high above, a brilliant pillar of light appeared from beyond, right in the middle of the school's track field, deposing gently a young man, with dark raven hair and fiery eyes.

When Van touched the ground, the pillar lifted away, showering him with a shimmering dust. Van looked around with satisfaction, he could not ask for a better landing spot. There was only to wait for Hitomi. Bringing his fists to his waist, he realized something was terribly wrong. He had brought along his sword! He remembered Hitomi's shock when she had first seen him, the first time he had come, and she had told him afterwards that swords weren't common weapons on the Mystic Moon.

He looked around swiftly and sighed in relief that no one was there. He dashed to the end of the track, in the opposite direction of the school and leaped over the high metal fence. He hid among the large trees that were on the other side. He quickly unbuckled his belt and withdrew his sword and it's sheath. He climbed up one of the trees and solidly attached his sword with the help of his belt to a large tree branch.

"There, no one shall find it here." he thought, pleased with himself.

Soundtrack : For Lovers only

Song : The Vision of Escaflowne

At that moment, he heard the school bell proclaiming the end of classes. Van jumped to the ground and stayed crouched. His heart began to pound as students wearing uniforms like Hitomi's started to emerge from the different entrances of the school. He spotted men and women, laughing and shouting and speaking a language he could not understand.

Most were leaving the school but some were gathering along the track field, wearing long sleeved coats and pants, taking them off, uncovering a running ensemble that Van recognized since Hitomi used to wear the same sort of running gear when she trained on Gaea. Van thought it showed way to much skin, but folks on this planet did not seem to mind. After a few minutes, all the runners were getting warmed up.

Van could here his heart thudding in his ears, but he could still hear the soft raindrops starting to come down on the leafs around him. He did not get wet though, there wasn't enough drizzle and the trees were protecting him. Suddenly, an older man, probably their mentor, clapped his hands and ordered them into two groups: Men and Women. Van realized Hitomi had to be in the women's group, but he could not see her at all. He began to worry but calmed himself down as he recognized an impatient looking girl that looked very much like Hitomi's friend when he had came the first time. Yes, he was sure it was her.

She was looking back at the school. She was wearing her school uniform and looked distressed.

"Bet you're waiting for someone… you have to be waiting for someone!" he thought.

The men got into racing position and this made the girl very upset. She kept glancing at the school, waiting for, Van hoped, Hitomi. A sharp BANG was heard and the men were off, running rapidly around the track, one easily surpassing the others in speed. Van recognized him too.

"Amano." he said aloud for Hitomi had spoken of him at times.

Then his heart sank. What if she still had feelings for this Amano and became his? Since he and Hitomi were apart, why would she not? Van shook those ideas away, knowing he was getting cold feet about asking her to the ball.

As Amano won the race, Van heard her voice. Her precious, sweet voice, calling out to… Yukari! That was her name, he remembered now, hearing Hitomi repeat the name as she was rushing along the staircase leading to the track. At her sight, Van forgot he didn't want to reveal himself before most of the students had left the schoolyard and jumped up and clung to the fence, watching Hitomi undress through the iron squares of the fence. No one had noticed him, with luck. And all of Van's attention was directed to Hitomi and Hitomi alone. She was hurrying to undress, tossing her shoes aside, Yukari helping her to strip from her coat and pants.

Hitomi then rapidly put on her track shoes. The other women were already taking position on the track field and Hitomi rushed to their side, taking position as well. She looked as attractive as she did when she had left Fanelia a couple months ago. Her white shirt was already a little wet from the sweat of her run to the track, her bangs were pasted on her forehead due to the increasing pour but she didn't seem to care. She looked… happy. But Van didn't bother with that detail, he was too busy admiring Hitomi, even though she was many meters away…

The familiar BANG resonated in the air and the women vaulted upward, sprinting to the finish line. Even if they were running very fast, it all seemed to be in slow motion for Van. He admired Hitomi, there was a glare of determination in her eyes, and she did not seem to mind the drops of rain sliding down her cheeks. Her white shirt was getting wetter because of the increasing rain and it was allowing her curves to show just a little more. Her pink shorts exposed long, muscular legs; their long strides were carrying her to the lead of the racers, allowing her to arrive at the finish line first.

Van snapped out of his reverie and glanced around to assure himself he hadn't attracted too much attention. He then backed away, and rested against the nearest trunk behind him exhaling some air he hadn't realized he was keeping. Her companions who seemed to be felicitating her for the run were surrounding Hitomi. Yukari and Amano approached her as well and the last took her in his arms, razing her and twirling her in the air while the others were laughing. Van winced but didn't move.

The faint rain suddenly developed into a genuine shower, falling severely upon the people under it. The students started shouting, picking up their things and heading for cover. Amano put Hitomi down and started running as well. Passing near Yukari, he lifted her in his arms and took her along with him. The view pleased Van, slowly acknowledging that perhaps, Yukari and Amano were together… Amano turned and Yukari yelled to Hitomi, who was the last on the track field now, but Hitomi didn't move. Amano continued towards the school, halting only once he and Yukari were under its shelter. They cried to Hitomi but she was completely ignoring them, her face to the sky, her arms open, she seemed to enjoy the torrent. She turned around slowly in circles and stopped after a few turns, facing Van.

"This is it." he thought, leaping over the fence, and approaching her.

He hadn't walked half the distance separating them, his clothes and hair were entirely drenched. Hitomi, as if she had sensed his presence, dropped her arms down to her side and slowly brought her gaze to his.

"Van…" she whispered softly.

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The school bell had just rung and students were coming out of their classes and in the corridor heading for their lockers. The end of the school year was near and you could feel the energy in the air. Hitomi, after saluting her teacher, headed for her locker as well. Walking along the many corridors to her locker, students greeted her, some asking her for a tarot reading later on.

"I already told you, I gave up readings!" she answered them with a smile, knowing they were tempting her just to see if she would change her mind about it.

Arriving at her locker, she opened it and set her books on the shelf.

"Hitomi! What are you still doing here?" she heard one of her friends asking her from behind. "Yukari is going to get you for this!"

"Get me for what?" asked Hitomi turning around.

"You forgot the track meet!" her schoolmate replied.

Hitomi gazed at the short black hair girl and answered. "No I didn't it's only in half an hour!"

"You mean to tell me you didn't hear it on the intercom? They announced at lunchtime that the track team was allowed to finish earlier to get ready for the training right after school, due to the bad weather coming up."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Hitomi, closing the door to her locker and running for the gym. "Thank you!" she shouted at her back.

Once in the gym, Hitomi sprinted for the girl's locker room and entered it. She headed straight for her locker and opened its door quickly. She hurried into her pink shorts and white shirt. She then put on her jogging pants and her track team coat. She closed the locker's door and sat on a bench to tie her shoelaces. At that moment, she was suddenly surrounded in darkness. Hitomi recognized the feeling immediately. She looked around but couldn't see anything and her eyes just didn't seem to adjust to the blackness.

She heard a woman's voice calling her name:

"Hitomi don't!"

She looked around but couldn't see anyone.

"Please don't!" the voice pleaded again.

Then, the girl's locker room immediately reappeared to her. She looked around "Who said that?" she asked confused, but she got no answer. Hitomi frowned, but she had no time to think about it, she had to get to the track.

She ran all the way there, bumping into some students on the way, begging for forgiveness every time. Past the doors of the school, she heard a gunshot.

"Oh no! I sure hope that was the boys start and not the girls…"

She dashed for the track field, not feeling the small drops of rain on her face, and when she was near enough to be heard, called out to Yukari.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Yukari nagged. "You keep doing that to me! Don't you understand you get me in trouble every time?"

As she was speaking, she was helping Hitomi to strip from her coat and jogging pants. "The men have already run Hitomi, hurry!" she added.

Hitomi put on her track shoes and rapidly joined the other women on the track. She kneeled down and concentrated. As all became black again, a vision of Van, looking terribly sad, appeared before her but only in a sudden flash and it quickly vanished. Hitomi gazed in front of her, trying to brush the image away and decided to give it all she had.

The start was given by a huge BANG and they were off! Hitomi visualized her goal and she swiftly gained the lead. In a matter of seconds, she had crossed the finish line, first.

The team coach approached her "Congratulations Kanzaki, you've reached a new record…" with that, he showed her her time. Hitomi opened her eyes wide. The time was incredible! Her friends surrounded her, cheering her for her record.

"Hitomi! You were just plain FANTASTIC!" Amano shouted, raising her and twirling her in the air while the others were laughing.

"Yes, Hitomi, you were simply outrageous out there!" added Yukari, wiping away a raindrop from her nose.

The faint rain suddenly developed into a genuine shower, falling severely upon the people under it. The students started shouting, picking up their things and heading for cover. Amano put Hitomi down and started running as well. Passing near Yukari, he lifted her in his arms and took her along with him. Hitomi watched her companions flee but she couldn't move. Sure she was able to feel the stormy shower over her head and shoulders, but for some unknown reason, it felt good. It was as if all her troubles and fears for the inevitable future were washed away with the severe pour.

Amano turned and Yukari yelled to Hitomi, who was the last on the track field now, but Hitomi didn't move. She lifted her face to the sky and closed her eyes. Hitomi smiled to the rain, raising her arms in the air and welcoming the refreshing water on her cheeks. Her clothes were rapidly completely soaked and she started to turn around slowly in circles while Amano continued towards the school, halting only once he and Yukari were under it's shelter.

They cried out to Hitomi but she was completely ignoring them. She felt free. Free of torments, free of war, free of a boring society on Earth, free of the loneliness that had started eating her up when she had taken the decision about Van. But, stopping her twirl, an image of him, on the track field with her crossed her mind. She realized she wasn't alone. She slowly, knowingly, sensing his presence, dropped her arms down to her side and slowly brought her gaze to his.

"Van…" she whispered softly.

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