Title: The Fanels - Varia
Author: Ashley
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or any of the characters therein. But you knew that. I hope. But I do own this story and the course it takes.
Dedication: Again, this goes to anyone who takes the time to say anything. Thanks!
A special thanks to Charlotte, mystic wolf, and Kat for their help with the names and age.
We'll say Alecs (pronounced like Alex) is short for Allen Crusade Schezar the IX, and they just took a couple letters from each of his names for his nickname.
Chapter Three
~*~*~*~*~*
As Varia struggled, the hands clenched tighter and tighter around her throat. She could feel herself losing her grip on reality, or whatever this world was. Her head was pounding, a firm thumping she felt throughout her entire body. The hands she had raised to fight off her attacker fell to her sides, as she no longer had the strength to keep them up.
She could feel herself drifting away, moving towards someplace warmer than this icy world. Someplace . . . safer. Happier.
As suddenly as she had been pulled from the real world, she slipped back into it. Her hands slipped to her throat as she coughed so hard it brought tears to her eyes. She could hear voices talking, some shouting, and all sounding worried and scared. The rasping of her own breathing drowned their words out, but she didn't care. All she knew was that she was back, no longer alone.
Alecs had dropped his sword at the first shouts from the crowd. As the noise grew louder instead of dying down, he turned to the point where it seemed to be coming from. As he watched, he saw his father moving quickly toward a group of people standing around something on the ground. From this distance he couldn't see anything but a swirl of skirts.
He was already moving toward the group when he saw his sister Emmy look up. As soon as he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks, he broke into a run. He was by her side in moments.
Some vague portion of his mind noted that Kenny and Drake Fanel were standing beside his father at the same as he recognized the prone figure. Varia Fanel was a familiar sight around his sister and cousins whenever the families got together. Seeing her now, pale and coughing, hands pressed to her throat, made his heart thump into double time. He could feel his adrenalin surge as he looked around to try and locate whatever danger there might be.
Emmy was on her knees, supporting Varia's back as she struggled to sit up. Drake and Kenny dropped down beside the two, making sure their sister was all right. Allen was the first to speak, urging the crowd to step back, telling them that everything was okay now. His natural authority went a long way in making everyone obey.
"What happened?" Kenny was asking in a low voice. Varia shook her head, still rubbing her throat. It was Romy who answered him.
"One second, we were all just walking along. The next thing I know, Varia just kind of sagged. She had a death grip on my arm, and we kept calling her name, but she didn't react. Then it sounded like she was choking, but we couldn't see anything wrong." Her voice trembled with leftover fear, and her hands were twisting in the fabric of her dress.
"Let's get her inside, out of the sun," Allen said. Her brothers moved, one to each side, and helped her stand. She wobbled a little, then straightened. Alecs walked slightly behind them, one hand moving to touch his sister's arm. Emmy turned to face him, forcing a little smile, then leaned against him. This was a testament to her uncertainty. For the usually independent Emmy to express a need for comfort meant she was shaken.
As the small group made their way back into the castle, they were all quiet. Allen led the way directly to the large, homey library. Soon after, each was settled in one of the room's many chairs. Varia was, as was to be expected, the center of attention. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, and she seemed to be the only one with the answer.
She obviously knew this, but it was still awhile before she began. "I was just standing there, talking with you guys," she motioned to Emmy, Romy, and Lorna. "All of a sudden, I got this weak feeling in my knees and everything started to go black. Then I . . . felt like I was in this room. It was . . . cold, and dark. I could hear a voice calling me . . . making me want to come closer. But before I could go to it, there were these hands . . . around my throat . . . choking me. They were so tight. I couldn't breathe. Then I woke up."
Everyone was silent for a long moment before Kenny spoke, carefully choosing his words. "It sounds like you fainted. Maybe because of all the excitement."
Varia was about to contradict him, to point out that she had never fainted from excitement, and that there was more to it than that when she saw the expression his face. Carefully hidden behind the look of concern was one of warning. He knew that something was going on, but he wanted to wait until later to bring it up. Varia didn't really agree with his decision, but she trusted his judgment.
A subtle look passed between the Fanel siblings. They would definitely talk about this as soon as they had the chance.
"But how did you get the marks on your neck?" Lorna asked, pointing to the vividly coloring bruises ringing Varia's throat. Varia thought quickly, trying to come up with a logical explanation. One came to her in a flash of inspiration.
"I guess the sensation was just so real that when I was trying to fight off the hands in my daydream, I must have accidentally hurt myself. I mean, I could have sworn there was really someone there, trying to strangle me. I would have done anything to try and get away."
This seemed to satisfy everyone in the room. It was decided that Varia would spend the rest of the morning in bed, resting up from whatever had caused her to faint. Normally, she would have protested. But this time, she was actually looking forward to having a few moments alone. She wanted to think over what had happened, and write everything down so that she wouldn't forget any of the details.
Something was happening to her, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it before anything worse occurred.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I've been working on three stories at once, and because of family matters and the holidays, I've gotten off my writing schedule. So you may notice it will take a little longer to update again, until I'm back on track. But I do intend to keep all the stories going for as long as you guys want to read them.
Author: Ashley
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or any of the characters therein. But you knew that. I hope. But I do own this story and the course it takes.
Dedication: Again, this goes to anyone who takes the time to say anything. Thanks!
A special thanks to Charlotte, mystic wolf, and Kat for their help with the names and age.
We'll say Alecs (pronounced like Alex) is short for Allen Crusade Schezar the IX, and they just took a couple letters from each of his names for his nickname.
Chapter Three
~*~*~*~*~*
As Varia struggled, the hands clenched tighter and tighter around her throat. She could feel herself losing her grip on reality, or whatever this world was. Her head was pounding, a firm thumping she felt throughout her entire body. The hands she had raised to fight off her attacker fell to her sides, as she no longer had the strength to keep them up.
She could feel herself drifting away, moving towards someplace warmer than this icy world. Someplace . . . safer. Happier.
As suddenly as she had been pulled from the real world, she slipped back into it. Her hands slipped to her throat as she coughed so hard it brought tears to her eyes. She could hear voices talking, some shouting, and all sounding worried and scared. The rasping of her own breathing drowned their words out, but she didn't care. All she knew was that she was back, no longer alone.
Alecs had dropped his sword at the first shouts from the crowd. As the noise grew louder instead of dying down, he turned to the point where it seemed to be coming from. As he watched, he saw his father moving quickly toward a group of people standing around something on the ground. From this distance he couldn't see anything but a swirl of skirts.
He was already moving toward the group when he saw his sister Emmy look up. As soon as he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks, he broke into a run. He was by her side in moments.
Some vague portion of his mind noted that Kenny and Drake Fanel were standing beside his father at the same as he recognized the prone figure. Varia Fanel was a familiar sight around his sister and cousins whenever the families got together. Seeing her now, pale and coughing, hands pressed to her throat, made his heart thump into double time. He could feel his adrenalin surge as he looked around to try and locate whatever danger there might be.
Emmy was on her knees, supporting Varia's back as she struggled to sit up. Drake and Kenny dropped down beside the two, making sure their sister was all right. Allen was the first to speak, urging the crowd to step back, telling them that everything was okay now. His natural authority went a long way in making everyone obey.
"What happened?" Kenny was asking in a low voice. Varia shook her head, still rubbing her throat. It was Romy who answered him.
"One second, we were all just walking along. The next thing I know, Varia just kind of sagged. She had a death grip on my arm, and we kept calling her name, but she didn't react. Then it sounded like she was choking, but we couldn't see anything wrong." Her voice trembled with leftover fear, and her hands were twisting in the fabric of her dress.
"Let's get her inside, out of the sun," Allen said. Her brothers moved, one to each side, and helped her stand. She wobbled a little, then straightened. Alecs walked slightly behind them, one hand moving to touch his sister's arm. Emmy turned to face him, forcing a little smile, then leaned against him. This was a testament to her uncertainty. For the usually independent Emmy to express a need for comfort meant she was shaken.
As the small group made their way back into the castle, they were all quiet. Allen led the way directly to the large, homey library. Soon after, each was settled in one of the room's many chairs. Varia was, as was to be expected, the center of attention. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, and she seemed to be the only one with the answer.
She obviously knew this, but it was still awhile before she began. "I was just standing there, talking with you guys," she motioned to Emmy, Romy, and Lorna. "All of a sudden, I got this weak feeling in my knees and everything started to go black. Then I . . . felt like I was in this room. It was . . . cold, and dark. I could hear a voice calling me . . . making me want to come closer. But before I could go to it, there were these hands . . . around my throat . . . choking me. They were so tight. I couldn't breathe. Then I woke up."
Everyone was silent for a long moment before Kenny spoke, carefully choosing his words. "It sounds like you fainted. Maybe because of all the excitement."
Varia was about to contradict him, to point out that she had never fainted from excitement, and that there was more to it than that when she saw the expression his face. Carefully hidden behind the look of concern was one of warning. He knew that something was going on, but he wanted to wait until later to bring it up. Varia didn't really agree with his decision, but she trusted his judgment.
A subtle look passed between the Fanel siblings. They would definitely talk about this as soon as they had the chance.
"But how did you get the marks on your neck?" Lorna asked, pointing to the vividly coloring bruises ringing Varia's throat. Varia thought quickly, trying to come up with a logical explanation. One came to her in a flash of inspiration.
"I guess the sensation was just so real that when I was trying to fight off the hands in my daydream, I must have accidentally hurt myself. I mean, I could have sworn there was really someone there, trying to strangle me. I would have done anything to try and get away."
This seemed to satisfy everyone in the room. It was decided that Varia would spend the rest of the morning in bed, resting up from whatever had caused her to faint. Normally, she would have protested. But this time, she was actually looking forward to having a few moments alone. She wanted to think over what had happened, and write everything down so that she wouldn't forget any of the details.
Something was happening to her, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it before anything worse occurred.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I've been working on three stories at once, and because of family matters and the holidays, I've gotten off my writing schedule. So you may notice it will take a little longer to update again, until I'm back on track. But I do intend to keep all the stories going for as long as you guys want to read them.
