Date. 07.25.2001
Time. 12.57 am
Music. Speakers are still broken
Chapter 9
Copyright. I don't own the Vision of Escaflowne or any of its characters, yadda, yadda, yadda...
Author's Notes. Whew! I'm back from a wonderful time in the Arizona desert at the Hopi Reservation. I worked on a rooftop for a week and I had tar everywhere, even in my hair. Ewww. But I'm okay, and back to work on the story. I want to thank everyone that has written me reviews and written me reviews more than once. It really makes me happy to see people enjoying this. At first, I was writing this out for a friend (my Esca counterpart) but she told me to put it on the Net. This story is dedicated to my dearest friend Rei (-- hehe... you know who you are). Another thing: back in... um... I don't know what chapter, Van and Hitomi did not hop on the bad foot and do the bad thing. They just slept together (meaning, they really did sleep). Nothing's wrong with that. Anyhoo, on with the show!
The Vision of Escaflowne. Rota Fortunae
Chapter 9. Where the Lion Weeps
* * *
Van gaped in horror as the floating fortress disappeared from his view, leaving him the sight of the glowing Mystic Moon and the smaller globe. All memories of that which happened before left his mind: the proposal of marriage to Ashira, the betrayal, the attack on Fanelia. Only one thing remained fresh, one thing he focused upon: Hitomi. She had been taken away from him once more; this time, by force. Panicked, he ran towards the cliff overlooking the city to fly after her.
"No, Van! Wait!" a voice cried. Van hesitated, still wishing he had leapt off the edge of the palace rather than to listen to what Allen had to say.
The Caeli Knight leapt of his Guymelef and ran to his side. "You can't follow her that way," he said. "You'd be too slow."
"Then what do you suggest!?" Van bellowed, his eyes full of rage. "Each moment we're here talking, the further they're getting away!"
"Calm down, Van!" Allen shouted back. "I'm thinking what's the best for Hitomi right now. You need to take Escaflowne."
Van's pain in his tired face eased. "I'm sorry," he said, staring blankly to the ground. "This is all my fault." He sunk to his knees, collapsing on a broken piece of wall.
"They tricked all of us," Allen agreed. "But what was it that she was after? Certainly not you, correct?"
"Ashira wanted the pendant that Hitomi gave to me," he sighed. "I don't know why." He glanced at Kyia, who knelt by her father's still body and covered it with her apron. Her soft sobs echoed off the remaining walls of the castle. "Please take her. She's in my custody now. I want her to be safe."
The Knight nodded. He took the girl's hand as Celena and the others arrived to the destroyed courtyard.
"My gods," Merle murmured, her hand covering her mouth. "What happened? Where's Hitomi?"
Van winced at her name. "They took her," he mumbled. He turned once more to Allen. "What of the people in the city?"
"Many were able to escape out the city walls," he reported. "Some Guymelefs were then posted there, but most of the attacks were mainly at the palace."
At me, Van thought. "What of those that couldn't escape?"
"I can take maybe three hundred people in the Crusade, three-fifty if they're bunched together." He pointed to two other leviships. "The remaining nobles said that they could take some as well."
"Good," Van said. "Take everyone you can and go to Palas. They'll be safe there."
"You know you have the aide of Asturia whenever you need it, Van," Millerna said, calmly. "Our army is at your command if you wish."
"I thank you, My Lady," he bowed to her. "But I want to keep as many soldiers alive as possible right now. I'll come to you if I need the help." He rose to his feet and began to run towards the family memorial glade. The staying survivors of the attack stood silently and watched their young king leave, their hearts full of pain, awe, and hope.
* * *
As his heart beat uncontrollably, Van's mind raced as his legs carried him through the quiet glade. It must be the pendant, he thought. I had it first, and that's when she went after me. Because I had it. And then I gave it to Hitomi because I wanted her to be safe...
He shook his head clear. I have to focus. Will they do anything to her? She did nothing wrong. It's all my fault.
He remained in deep thought that he did not realize he reached his destination. Three tall white marble monuments towered over him, giving an uneasy feeling throughout his body. This is no time to get frightened about ghosts, he shuttered. He bowed before each one, lingering on the last.
"I am sorry, Folken," he apologized. "I know you wanted to see a future without the aide of Escaflowne. But if I do nothing, then Fanelia won't have a future." He reached inside the cut groove of the tombstone and retrieved the drag-energist he had placed there a few moments after Hitomi left all those years ago. He jogged to his right, standing before the ancient Guymelef, which remained on one knee. He leaped up, placing the energist into the sleeping dragon's jeweled heart.
At first, Escaflowne did not react. Van panicked whether or not he had put the dragon to sleep in the correct procedure. However, a few moments later, the salmon colored stone glowed a brighter shade of pink, then dulled, only to leave a heart beating behind. The cockpit eased open, gas escaping it as the door lowered. Van knocked some ivy away and seated himself into the familiar position. He let the door close and the visor clamp shut over his eyes. He sighed, then moved his legs, letting his motions move the Guymelef's massive metal legs as well. Each step tore more vines away from its body, making it easier to walk.
After making his way to the clearing before the monuments, Van pulled the two cords at his fingertips. Air pressure was released, gasps escaping from the chest area. He could feel the body transforming around him, the legs molding together to form the tail, other appendages appearing from within. Suddenly, cool night air touched his face as he stood on the back ridge. He pulled the cord handles towards him, motioning for Escaflowne to take flight.
I just hope I can reach you in time, Hitomi.
* * *
The floating fortress had already entered a new country before Van had even pursued to re-awaken Escaflowne. The structure and power of each Guymelef, leviship, and floating fortress of Zaibach had undergone some renovations. The new model could move faster than any other made.
Of course, Hitomi didn't know any of that, being chained in the prisoner holder area.
The Guymelef, now capable of using the invisibility cloak airborne, flew with Hitomi to the new floating fortress. There, it docked, and she was dropped from the Crima Claw to the cold metal floor. Four guards, dressed in the black armor suits she had seen earlier, pointed long spears towards her chest.
"Well, well," a mocking voice echoed in the docking bay. "This is so much better than what I had expected."
Hitomi turned to see Ashira, now wearing the same armor as the men, making her way to where she stood. Her golden hair, tied back save for a few loose strands, fell down her back. She tapped a dagger across her neck with an evil gleam in her eye, piercing hard into Hitomi's emerald ones.
"How's the cheek, hon?" she asked sweetly. "I hope I didn't hurt you that bad yesterday when I barged in on your 'romantic escape.'"
"Nothing happened," Hitomi replied angrily. "If it's any of your business, I couldn't bare it if we spent another moment apart. So we stayed together for the entire night, just sleeping."
Ashira stared at her, trying to size her up. She seemed to receive disgusted looks each time she gave her a cold glance.
"I don't understand it," she finally said. "I don't see what Van sees in you that he doesn't see in me. I mean, I'm exactly like him, and you're so... normal."
"There's more to it than that," Hitomi retorted in a whisper.
Ashira laughed. "Really? You must tell me one of these days... if you're still alive."
She began to pace the metal scaffolding, with each step slapping the dagger's blade on her gloved hand in beat with her own steps. "I am an expert swordsman... or 'woman' I should say. I can throw daggers on target. And I'm pretty handy with a crossbow and other types of weapons. Whatever I choose to use on you, it should be fun." She smirked.
Hitomi looked at her. "What do you plan to do with me, then?"
Ashira walked to her other side and began to play with the pendant clasp around her neck. "Not sure yet," she replied. "I don't know if I should hold you hostage and then kill you in front of Van. Or if I should just kill you here and now. One way or another, you are dead." She snapped the chain off her neck.
"Put her away into a holding cell," she commanded the guards. "Until I figure out what I want to do with her."
And that's where she sat ever since. Sitting in the holding cell, shackled at her wrists. The cold iron cut into her skin, leaving behind trickles of blood. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she could see other prisoners, some most likely dead, and others about to die. Her cellmate was merely a skeleton with pieces of cloth hanging off the bones. A few rats ran back and forth between the bars, carrying human flesh in their yellow-stained teeth.
So this is the end, isn't it, she thought. Eaten alive by rats and carried off to some hole? She lowered her head, trying not to cry.
* * *
He had already flown straight for five hours and still no sight of Zaibach. Or should there be a sight of them? They might have their invisibility cloak on.
He settled Escaflowne at a gliding altitude and shut his eyes, focusing on the pendant's image. He was still rusty from not using the technique of unveiling hidden objects, but he had to try. The pendant in his mind's eye swung back and forth, but nothing lay beyond it, only darkness.
"Damn it!" he cursed. But seeing the pendant gave him another idea.
A memory flashed within his mind. Back to a few days ago when he and Hitomi sat on the bench, trying to rekindle their psychic link to one another. She had said that all it needed was building back to the strength it once had.
He closed his eyes once more, focusing this time on her face. Her always cheerful face with sparkling green eyes and a radiant smile. As he did so, he reached down in the depths inside him, searching for that connection. He found it, though faint, but still usable.
Hitomi... he called.
* * *
Hours must have passed her by, for when she awoke, the floating fortress was no longer moving. She didn't know exactly what time it was, having left her watch behind at the dorm room when she and Naoko attended the Halloween party. She shuttered at the thought of that night. At least I'm as far away from him as possible, she thought with a dry smile appearing on her lips.
She gazed upward to see a young man standing guard outside of her cell. A torchlight flickered on his face, revealing the tiredness in his eyes. Hitomi stared at him, remaining still and unmoving. He must be a new guy or something, she thought. He can't stay awake for really long.
After about half-hour, the guard yawned loudly and moved from her sight of view. She sighed, happy only for her privacy.
Hitomi...
She bolted upright, suddenly awake and aware of the voice that called to her. She could feel the psychic energy surrounding voice carrying her name. It wasn't the mystical one that spoke to her in her dreams. No, this one was familiar.
"Van?" she whispered. "Where are you? I can't see you."
She could sense his fear as she strained to hear each word he uttered.
I don't have much time, Hitomi... I don't know how long I can keep this up. What's your location right now?
"I'm in a holding cell right now," she said. "Ashira's planning what she wants to do with me."
Where's the floating fortress?
"I don't know, but we've stopped moving." She inched her way closer to the barred window. "Let me describe where we are from the outside."
Having great difficulty, she managed to take a peak of what her outside world looked like. "Okay," she reported. "I see... it's really foggy and misty in her. Lots of water... it looks like we're right by a waterfall or something."
Waterfall... What does it look like?
"I can see more clearly. We're in a deep canyon. At the end of it is the waterfall, cascading from different rocks. It's huge, but it almost looks like a..."
A lion?
"Yes! A giant lion that's crying water from its eyes. That's what's making the waterfall."
Where the lions weep...
"Huh?"
You must be at the Weeping Lion waterfall... It's deep within a canyon that leads out to the ocean...
"I can almost smell the saltwater."
I have to let go now, love... I can't hold on anymore...
"Be careful, Van," she said, a tear trickling down her cheek.
I should be there by dawn...
"Then I will see you at dawn."
Good-bye... the voice faded into the nothingness.
"Good-bye, Van," she murmured.
"Did you say something?" the harsh voice of the guard caught her.
"Nothing."
* * *
The Weeping Lion. A perfect place for a Zaibach floating fortress to hide. No one patrols that area anymore and it's out of jurisdiction for anyone else. I hope they won't move before I get there.
* * *
The first rays of the dawning sun brightened the landscape. Van, tired and weary from his sleepless night's travel, found it welcoming.
But what he found even more welcoming was the crevasse in the rock, the canyon.
Pulling the reins of Escaflowne slightly, he dove down into the mists created by the pounding water spilling over the rocks. He flew across several times before he realized the truth: he was alone in this canyon.
Or was he? Zaibach could have fooled him again by shrouding itself in the cloak. He pictured the mental image of the pendant once more, letting it swing back and forth to reveal its hiding place.
The floating fortress now glided silently over the coastline, remaining hidden from simple eyes to see.
But Van could see it. Somehow, the image that the pendant revealed to him was burned into the back of his mind, enabling him to see past the cloak and onto its true form.
He flew Escaflowne straight at the fortress, almost as if he were to crash into it. However, at the last possible moment, he reared the dragon so that the Guymelef landed onto the outer hull with a clang, attaching its claws into the iron skin.
Satisfied that the Guymelef would not budge from its resting-place, he climbed up the dragon's great neck to the window above it. He drew his sword and smashed the pane, carefully sliding in over the jagged pieces of broken glass.
* * *
"What's that damn noise!?" Ashira screamed at the bridge crew of the floating fortress. A resounding alarm blared throughout the entire upper level.
"It looks like we have a break in at Section 2, Level 17, My Lady," one of the ship's guards spoke.
"That's where the prisoner cell..." Ashira broke off. "This should be fun. I've never hunted a person inside my own fortress before." She grabbed a crossbow hanging from the wall and pulled her sword from its sheath.
"Let's go!" she yelled at a few men.
* * *
Now fully inside the floating fortress, Van could hear the blaring alarm announcing his arrival. Great, he thought angrily. This will just make it even worse. He pulled out his sword just in case he met any "interference."
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see several cells surrounding him. What luck! he gave out a mental cry. I landed in the holding cell area.
"Hitomi!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the mostly empty cells.
"Van?" a barely audible sound replied.
"Where are you?" he called back.
"I'm over here!" her voice shouted, this time louder than before.
He began to chase after the sound, calling her sometimes to follow her voice. However, the echoes and the many cells threw him off. He chose to use the pendant instead.
There she was, huddled by a wall, chained with shackles at her wrists. She was in the furthest cell away from him. He opened his eyes and ran towards her holding place.
"Oh, Van!" she cried, her eyes wet with tears as he found her inside.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, grabbing the bars of the large wooden door. "I told you to stay somewhere safe and you ran out. You could've been killed!"
She stared hard at him. Could he be falling back to the Van I once knew him as? "I wasn't thinking," she retorted.
He smiled at her. "Like me, huh?"
It took a moment for her to realize that he wasn't truly mad at her for leaving her designated area to save him. She never told him of the vision she had.
He dug his sword blade deep into the lock and moved it around, listening closely for the unlocking mechanism. After he heard the faint "click", he swung the door open and embraced her as she sat on the cold, dirty floor.
"I don't have any keys for the locks right now," he said as he unhooked the heavy chains from the ceiling above. The guards can remove the chains and attach them to anything else without unlocking the shackles around the prisoner. "But as soon as we get to Asturia, we'll find you the best locksmith to take them off." He grabbed her manacled wrist and pulled her out of the cell.
They ran down the passage, hearing the jeers or cheers of the remaining prisoners screaming at them. The toxic smell of rotting food and flesh overwhelmed Hitomi, making her feel faint. As she slowed down, the prisoners would grab her ankles. Van kicked their hands away and urged her on.
At last, they reached the broken window that Van had destroyed. He helped Hitomi out first, easing her down onto Escaflowne's dragon-neck. She slid down each metal vertebrae carefully, ensuring that it would not scrape her skin. She reached the seat first, hanging onto the soft leather bench as Van joined her. He grabbed the rein cords and pulled towards him. Escaflowne pushed off the wall and became horizontal once more. She slid her slender arms around his waist, holding tightly. He motioned for the dragon to sneak away silently from the floating fortress.
"It looks like we got away," Van breathed finally.
"Not bloody likely!" a female voice screamed at him. He glanced upwards to see Ashira, red with anger and hatred, standing at the window they were just at.
"Shit!" he hissed, insisting Escaflowne into a downward spiral dive. Hitomi tightened her grip.
* * *
"They're getting away, My Lady!" a guard shouted at her.
"Not quite," she said calmly. "Hand me the Black Arrow."
The guard, holding her quiver of bolts, pulled the raven-colored one and placed it in her hand.
"I told you not to mess with me," she growled, as she loaded the bolt into the crossbow, aimed, and released.
* * *
"I think we can beat them if we fly down into the gorge," Van pointed out. "It's narrow enough that their floating fortress can't get inside." They now flew over the crystal blue ocean, heading back towards the mainland and the mouth of the canyon.
"Just a few more seconds and we'll be..." he stopped, her a gasp escape Hitomi from behind. Something stung his shoulder as it flew past him. A black arrow? He felt Hitomi's grip sinking away from him as she fell over the side of Escaflowne, headed for the jagged rocks below.
"No!" he shouted, ripping off his shirt and using his own wings instead. He pinned them to his side, free-falling until he caught up to Hitomi, then spread them far out to slow down. Her breathing was erratic, coughing hoarsely sometimes. He managed to land onto the beach just to the right of the canyon's entrance and laid her down on the sun-warm sand.
A gaping hole, large enough for a man's finger to fit, opened up Hitomi's left shoulder. Dark blood leaked from the wound, already staining the white grains of sand of the beach. Her face, though etched with fear, had a look of peace about it.
She smiled at him when he looked down on her, frightened and scared of what was to come. She drew a finger along his face, up towards his eye to wipe away a tear that had already formed. Her eyes seemed to say "it will be all right."
But then those eyes closed, and she ceased to breathe, leaving Van alone on the beach.
to be continued...
* * *
I'm really sorry to leave you all hanging like that! Please don't hit me with hate mail! I love her, too. I am Hitomi (according to some friends cuz I have the same hair and eyes and other similarities). But you just have to wait to see what happens next. The next one should be out in a week and that one, my friends, will explain a LOT of things. Thank you.
PS. This chapter is named from AI. I absolutely loved that movie. I cried so hard. But anyhoo, that's where it comes from.
Time. 12.57 am
Music. Speakers are still broken
Chapter 9
Copyright. I don't own the Vision of Escaflowne or any of its characters, yadda, yadda, yadda...
Author's Notes. Whew! I'm back from a wonderful time in the Arizona desert at the Hopi Reservation. I worked on a rooftop for a week and I had tar everywhere, even in my hair. Ewww. But I'm okay, and back to work on the story. I want to thank everyone that has written me reviews and written me reviews more than once. It really makes me happy to see people enjoying this. At first, I was writing this out for a friend (my Esca counterpart) but she told me to put it on the Net. This story is dedicated to my dearest friend Rei (-- hehe... you know who you are). Another thing: back in... um... I don't know what chapter, Van and Hitomi did not hop on the bad foot and do the bad thing. They just slept together (meaning, they really did sleep). Nothing's wrong with that. Anyhoo, on with the show!
The Vision of Escaflowne. Rota Fortunae
Chapter 9. Where the Lion Weeps
* * *
Van gaped in horror as the floating fortress disappeared from his view, leaving him the sight of the glowing Mystic Moon and the smaller globe. All memories of that which happened before left his mind: the proposal of marriage to Ashira, the betrayal, the attack on Fanelia. Only one thing remained fresh, one thing he focused upon: Hitomi. She had been taken away from him once more; this time, by force. Panicked, he ran towards the cliff overlooking the city to fly after her.
"No, Van! Wait!" a voice cried. Van hesitated, still wishing he had leapt off the edge of the palace rather than to listen to what Allen had to say.
The Caeli Knight leapt of his Guymelef and ran to his side. "You can't follow her that way," he said. "You'd be too slow."
"Then what do you suggest!?" Van bellowed, his eyes full of rage. "Each moment we're here talking, the further they're getting away!"
"Calm down, Van!" Allen shouted back. "I'm thinking what's the best for Hitomi right now. You need to take Escaflowne."
Van's pain in his tired face eased. "I'm sorry," he said, staring blankly to the ground. "This is all my fault." He sunk to his knees, collapsing on a broken piece of wall.
"They tricked all of us," Allen agreed. "But what was it that she was after? Certainly not you, correct?"
"Ashira wanted the pendant that Hitomi gave to me," he sighed. "I don't know why." He glanced at Kyia, who knelt by her father's still body and covered it with her apron. Her soft sobs echoed off the remaining walls of the castle. "Please take her. She's in my custody now. I want her to be safe."
The Knight nodded. He took the girl's hand as Celena and the others arrived to the destroyed courtyard.
"My gods," Merle murmured, her hand covering her mouth. "What happened? Where's Hitomi?"
Van winced at her name. "They took her," he mumbled. He turned once more to Allen. "What of the people in the city?"
"Many were able to escape out the city walls," he reported. "Some Guymelefs were then posted there, but most of the attacks were mainly at the palace."
At me, Van thought. "What of those that couldn't escape?"
"I can take maybe three hundred people in the Crusade, three-fifty if they're bunched together." He pointed to two other leviships. "The remaining nobles said that they could take some as well."
"Good," Van said. "Take everyone you can and go to Palas. They'll be safe there."
"You know you have the aide of Asturia whenever you need it, Van," Millerna said, calmly. "Our army is at your command if you wish."
"I thank you, My Lady," he bowed to her. "But I want to keep as many soldiers alive as possible right now. I'll come to you if I need the help." He rose to his feet and began to run towards the family memorial glade. The staying survivors of the attack stood silently and watched their young king leave, their hearts full of pain, awe, and hope.
* * *
As his heart beat uncontrollably, Van's mind raced as his legs carried him through the quiet glade. It must be the pendant, he thought. I had it first, and that's when she went after me. Because I had it. And then I gave it to Hitomi because I wanted her to be safe...
He shook his head clear. I have to focus. Will they do anything to her? She did nothing wrong. It's all my fault.
He remained in deep thought that he did not realize he reached his destination. Three tall white marble monuments towered over him, giving an uneasy feeling throughout his body. This is no time to get frightened about ghosts, he shuttered. He bowed before each one, lingering on the last.
"I am sorry, Folken," he apologized. "I know you wanted to see a future without the aide of Escaflowne. But if I do nothing, then Fanelia won't have a future." He reached inside the cut groove of the tombstone and retrieved the drag-energist he had placed there a few moments after Hitomi left all those years ago. He jogged to his right, standing before the ancient Guymelef, which remained on one knee. He leaped up, placing the energist into the sleeping dragon's jeweled heart.
At first, Escaflowne did not react. Van panicked whether or not he had put the dragon to sleep in the correct procedure. However, a few moments later, the salmon colored stone glowed a brighter shade of pink, then dulled, only to leave a heart beating behind. The cockpit eased open, gas escaping it as the door lowered. Van knocked some ivy away and seated himself into the familiar position. He let the door close and the visor clamp shut over his eyes. He sighed, then moved his legs, letting his motions move the Guymelef's massive metal legs as well. Each step tore more vines away from its body, making it easier to walk.
After making his way to the clearing before the monuments, Van pulled the two cords at his fingertips. Air pressure was released, gasps escaping from the chest area. He could feel the body transforming around him, the legs molding together to form the tail, other appendages appearing from within. Suddenly, cool night air touched his face as he stood on the back ridge. He pulled the cord handles towards him, motioning for Escaflowne to take flight.
I just hope I can reach you in time, Hitomi.
* * *
The floating fortress had already entered a new country before Van had even pursued to re-awaken Escaflowne. The structure and power of each Guymelef, leviship, and floating fortress of Zaibach had undergone some renovations. The new model could move faster than any other made.
Of course, Hitomi didn't know any of that, being chained in the prisoner holder area.
The Guymelef, now capable of using the invisibility cloak airborne, flew with Hitomi to the new floating fortress. There, it docked, and she was dropped from the Crima Claw to the cold metal floor. Four guards, dressed in the black armor suits she had seen earlier, pointed long spears towards her chest.
"Well, well," a mocking voice echoed in the docking bay. "This is so much better than what I had expected."
Hitomi turned to see Ashira, now wearing the same armor as the men, making her way to where she stood. Her golden hair, tied back save for a few loose strands, fell down her back. She tapped a dagger across her neck with an evil gleam in her eye, piercing hard into Hitomi's emerald ones.
"How's the cheek, hon?" she asked sweetly. "I hope I didn't hurt you that bad yesterday when I barged in on your 'romantic escape.'"
"Nothing happened," Hitomi replied angrily. "If it's any of your business, I couldn't bare it if we spent another moment apart. So we stayed together for the entire night, just sleeping."
Ashira stared at her, trying to size her up. She seemed to receive disgusted looks each time she gave her a cold glance.
"I don't understand it," she finally said. "I don't see what Van sees in you that he doesn't see in me. I mean, I'm exactly like him, and you're so... normal."
"There's more to it than that," Hitomi retorted in a whisper.
Ashira laughed. "Really? You must tell me one of these days... if you're still alive."
She began to pace the metal scaffolding, with each step slapping the dagger's blade on her gloved hand in beat with her own steps. "I am an expert swordsman... or 'woman' I should say. I can throw daggers on target. And I'm pretty handy with a crossbow and other types of weapons. Whatever I choose to use on you, it should be fun." She smirked.
Hitomi looked at her. "What do you plan to do with me, then?"
Ashira walked to her other side and began to play with the pendant clasp around her neck. "Not sure yet," she replied. "I don't know if I should hold you hostage and then kill you in front of Van. Or if I should just kill you here and now. One way or another, you are dead." She snapped the chain off her neck.
"Put her away into a holding cell," she commanded the guards. "Until I figure out what I want to do with her."
And that's where she sat ever since. Sitting in the holding cell, shackled at her wrists. The cold iron cut into her skin, leaving behind trickles of blood. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she could see other prisoners, some most likely dead, and others about to die. Her cellmate was merely a skeleton with pieces of cloth hanging off the bones. A few rats ran back and forth between the bars, carrying human flesh in their yellow-stained teeth.
So this is the end, isn't it, she thought. Eaten alive by rats and carried off to some hole? She lowered her head, trying not to cry.
* * *
He had already flown straight for five hours and still no sight of Zaibach. Or should there be a sight of them? They might have their invisibility cloak on.
He settled Escaflowne at a gliding altitude and shut his eyes, focusing on the pendant's image. He was still rusty from not using the technique of unveiling hidden objects, but he had to try. The pendant in his mind's eye swung back and forth, but nothing lay beyond it, only darkness.
"Damn it!" he cursed. But seeing the pendant gave him another idea.
A memory flashed within his mind. Back to a few days ago when he and Hitomi sat on the bench, trying to rekindle their psychic link to one another. She had said that all it needed was building back to the strength it once had.
He closed his eyes once more, focusing this time on her face. Her always cheerful face with sparkling green eyes and a radiant smile. As he did so, he reached down in the depths inside him, searching for that connection. He found it, though faint, but still usable.
Hitomi... he called.
* * *
Hours must have passed her by, for when she awoke, the floating fortress was no longer moving. She didn't know exactly what time it was, having left her watch behind at the dorm room when she and Naoko attended the Halloween party. She shuttered at the thought of that night. At least I'm as far away from him as possible, she thought with a dry smile appearing on her lips.
She gazed upward to see a young man standing guard outside of her cell. A torchlight flickered on his face, revealing the tiredness in his eyes. Hitomi stared at him, remaining still and unmoving. He must be a new guy or something, she thought. He can't stay awake for really long.
After about half-hour, the guard yawned loudly and moved from her sight of view. She sighed, happy only for her privacy.
Hitomi...
She bolted upright, suddenly awake and aware of the voice that called to her. She could feel the psychic energy surrounding voice carrying her name. It wasn't the mystical one that spoke to her in her dreams. No, this one was familiar.
"Van?" she whispered. "Where are you? I can't see you."
She could sense his fear as she strained to hear each word he uttered.
I don't have much time, Hitomi... I don't know how long I can keep this up. What's your location right now?
"I'm in a holding cell right now," she said. "Ashira's planning what she wants to do with me."
Where's the floating fortress?
"I don't know, but we've stopped moving." She inched her way closer to the barred window. "Let me describe where we are from the outside."
Having great difficulty, she managed to take a peak of what her outside world looked like. "Okay," she reported. "I see... it's really foggy and misty in her. Lots of water... it looks like we're right by a waterfall or something."
Waterfall... What does it look like?
"I can see more clearly. We're in a deep canyon. At the end of it is the waterfall, cascading from different rocks. It's huge, but it almost looks like a..."
A lion?
"Yes! A giant lion that's crying water from its eyes. That's what's making the waterfall."
Where the lions weep...
"Huh?"
You must be at the Weeping Lion waterfall... It's deep within a canyon that leads out to the ocean...
"I can almost smell the saltwater."
I have to let go now, love... I can't hold on anymore...
"Be careful, Van," she said, a tear trickling down her cheek.
I should be there by dawn...
"Then I will see you at dawn."
Good-bye... the voice faded into the nothingness.
"Good-bye, Van," she murmured.
"Did you say something?" the harsh voice of the guard caught her.
"Nothing."
* * *
The Weeping Lion. A perfect place for a Zaibach floating fortress to hide. No one patrols that area anymore and it's out of jurisdiction for anyone else. I hope they won't move before I get there.
* * *
The first rays of the dawning sun brightened the landscape. Van, tired and weary from his sleepless night's travel, found it welcoming.
But what he found even more welcoming was the crevasse in the rock, the canyon.
Pulling the reins of Escaflowne slightly, he dove down into the mists created by the pounding water spilling over the rocks. He flew across several times before he realized the truth: he was alone in this canyon.
Or was he? Zaibach could have fooled him again by shrouding itself in the cloak. He pictured the mental image of the pendant once more, letting it swing back and forth to reveal its hiding place.
The floating fortress now glided silently over the coastline, remaining hidden from simple eyes to see.
But Van could see it. Somehow, the image that the pendant revealed to him was burned into the back of his mind, enabling him to see past the cloak and onto its true form.
He flew Escaflowne straight at the fortress, almost as if he were to crash into it. However, at the last possible moment, he reared the dragon so that the Guymelef landed onto the outer hull with a clang, attaching its claws into the iron skin.
Satisfied that the Guymelef would not budge from its resting-place, he climbed up the dragon's great neck to the window above it. He drew his sword and smashed the pane, carefully sliding in over the jagged pieces of broken glass.
* * *
"What's that damn noise!?" Ashira screamed at the bridge crew of the floating fortress. A resounding alarm blared throughout the entire upper level.
"It looks like we have a break in at Section 2, Level 17, My Lady," one of the ship's guards spoke.
"That's where the prisoner cell..." Ashira broke off. "This should be fun. I've never hunted a person inside my own fortress before." She grabbed a crossbow hanging from the wall and pulled her sword from its sheath.
"Let's go!" she yelled at a few men.
* * *
Now fully inside the floating fortress, Van could hear the blaring alarm announcing his arrival. Great, he thought angrily. This will just make it even worse. He pulled out his sword just in case he met any "interference."
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see several cells surrounding him. What luck! he gave out a mental cry. I landed in the holding cell area.
"Hitomi!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the mostly empty cells.
"Van?" a barely audible sound replied.
"Where are you?" he called back.
"I'm over here!" her voice shouted, this time louder than before.
He began to chase after the sound, calling her sometimes to follow her voice. However, the echoes and the many cells threw him off. He chose to use the pendant instead.
There she was, huddled by a wall, chained with shackles at her wrists. She was in the furthest cell away from him. He opened his eyes and ran towards her holding place.
"Oh, Van!" she cried, her eyes wet with tears as he found her inside.
"What were you thinking?" he asked, grabbing the bars of the large wooden door. "I told you to stay somewhere safe and you ran out. You could've been killed!"
She stared hard at him. Could he be falling back to the Van I once knew him as? "I wasn't thinking," she retorted.
He smiled at her. "Like me, huh?"
It took a moment for her to realize that he wasn't truly mad at her for leaving her designated area to save him. She never told him of the vision she had.
He dug his sword blade deep into the lock and moved it around, listening closely for the unlocking mechanism. After he heard the faint "click", he swung the door open and embraced her as she sat on the cold, dirty floor.
"I don't have any keys for the locks right now," he said as he unhooked the heavy chains from the ceiling above. The guards can remove the chains and attach them to anything else without unlocking the shackles around the prisoner. "But as soon as we get to Asturia, we'll find you the best locksmith to take them off." He grabbed her manacled wrist and pulled her out of the cell.
They ran down the passage, hearing the jeers or cheers of the remaining prisoners screaming at them. The toxic smell of rotting food and flesh overwhelmed Hitomi, making her feel faint. As she slowed down, the prisoners would grab her ankles. Van kicked their hands away and urged her on.
At last, they reached the broken window that Van had destroyed. He helped Hitomi out first, easing her down onto Escaflowne's dragon-neck. She slid down each metal vertebrae carefully, ensuring that it would not scrape her skin. She reached the seat first, hanging onto the soft leather bench as Van joined her. He grabbed the rein cords and pulled towards him. Escaflowne pushed off the wall and became horizontal once more. She slid her slender arms around his waist, holding tightly. He motioned for the dragon to sneak away silently from the floating fortress.
"It looks like we got away," Van breathed finally.
"Not bloody likely!" a female voice screamed at him. He glanced upwards to see Ashira, red with anger and hatred, standing at the window they were just at.
"Shit!" he hissed, insisting Escaflowne into a downward spiral dive. Hitomi tightened her grip.
* * *
"They're getting away, My Lady!" a guard shouted at her.
"Not quite," she said calmly. "Hand me the Black Arrow."
The guard, holding her quiver of bolts, pulled the raven-colored one and placed it in her hand.
"I told you not to mess with me," she growled, as she loaded the bolt into the crossbow, aimed, and released.
* * *
"I think we can beat them if we fly down into the gorge," Van pointed out. "It's narrow enough that their floating fortress can't get inside." They now flew over the crystal blue ocean, heading back towards the mainland and the mouth of the canyon.
"Just a few more seconds and we'll be..." he stopped, her a gasp escape Hitomi from behind. Something stung his shoulder as it flew past him. A black arrow? He felt Hitomi's grip sinking away from him as she fell over the side of Escaflowne, headed for the jagged rocks below.
"No!" he shouted, ripping off his shirt and using his own wings instead. He pinned them to his side, free-falling until he caught up to Hitomi, then spread them far out to slow down. Her breathing was erratic, coughing hoarsely sometimes. He managed to land onto the beach just to the right of the canyon's entrance and laid her down on the sun-warm sand.
A gaping hole, large enough for a man's finger to fit, opened up Hitomi's left shoulder. Dark blood leaked from the wound, already staining the white grains of sand of the beach. Her face, though etched with fear, had a look of peace about it.
She smiled at him when he looked down on her, frightened and scared of what was to come. She drew a finger along his face, up towards his eye to wipe away a tear that had already formed. Her eyes seemed to say "it will be all right."
But then those eyes closed, and she ceased to breathe, leaving Van alone on the beach.
to be continued...
* * *
I'm really sorry to leave you all hanging like that! Please don't hit me with hate mail! I love her, too. I am Hitomi (according to some friends cuz I have the same hair and eyes and other similarities). But you just have to wait to see what happens next. The next one should be out in a week and that one, my friends, will explain a LOT of things. Thank you.
PS. This chapter is named from AI. I absolutely loved that movie. I cried so hard. But anyhoo, that's where it comes from.