Episode Twenty-Nine: Origins of the Enemy

Escaflowne: Dreams of Destiny

Previously on Escaflowne: Dreams of Destiny

The period of calm that the chosen Four had had was indeed just a veil to mask the fact that the armies of Goshem, mirroring the four Demon armies of the past, were quickly approaching. As they are all pulled into battle, Hitomi is pulled in the sky, and as the pendant flares the inevitable has finally arrived... the Gateway is about to appear.

// ~ * ~ \\

"Hitomi!" Van's shout was barely heard over the din of the battle, the alarm in his voice evident as his fiancée was swept up in the light.

He had not had time to follow her with his eyes, but a sudden flare from above caused him to look up in shock.

Hitomi had wings...

He was broken off from his amazement as a melef, an Oreidies, came hurtling towards him.

If he wanted to be able to protect Hitomi, he would have to get rid of his enemies.

With one quick motion, turning Escaflowne back into the battle mode, Van dropped into battle.

// ~ * ~ \\

"Damn!"

"What is it Fanel, there's no time to stop and complain." Rallin's voice sounded strained through the com-link that was in their guymelefs, but he sounded sarcastic too, even as he swung to meet yet another melef.

"There are more Goshemin guymelefs coming."

"What, did you think Adelphus was going to play fair and seen only enough that we could beat?"

"Your sarcasm is greatly appreciated Rallin."

"I do what I can, Fanel."

"..."

Throughout this entire conversation, both fighters seemed to be handling the guymelefs coming at them with relative ease.

It was at this point that Escaflowne dropped in, Van taking out a line of five melefs in the process.

Kirei suddenly seemed to find his voice again.

"Took you long enough cousin."

It seems that they had failed to look up and see where Hitomi was.

// ~ * ~ \\

The sensation of being suddenly pulled up within a pillar of light, though not unfamiliar to Hitomi, was still just as alarming as it had been five years ago.

So many things had happened, and were happening all at once and though Hitomi wished she could focus on each thing individually...

There was no time, and there was much to be done.

The battle raged below her, and Hitomi knew, inside herself, that if she didn't try to open the Gateway soon, there was going to be bloodshed, more so than had been in previous battles, and even the previous war.

She had to stop that, above all, and the only way to was open the Gateway...

She had so many people to protect, and so many promises that she had to fulfill, that nothing in this world or the next was going to stop Hitomi from doing the one ting that was sure to keep them safe for more than a lifetime.

Closing her eyes, Hitomi again drew out the pendant that was now flared with light.

Varie, I'm going to need your help. It's happening, and I still don't have all the pieces to the puzzle...

Hitomi, unclasping the necklace, held it above her right palm, and with a single movement, the pendant began moving in time.

And without them I don't know what will happen next.

// ~ * ~ \\

Gods, if only Dornkirk could see this!

That foolish old man who Adelphus had been forced to serve under the war, he knew nothing about the honor of battle, what made a soldier one of the most honorable roles in life.

He had so wanted to stop war, but to stop something, you must understand it.

And as powerful and intelligent as Dornkirk was, or even as his men and followers had perceived him to be, he had not understood war.

The reason Zaibach had ever had a chance in the Great War, had had so many soldiers behind it, was that Zaibach had the innovation of technology.

The power to create the floating fortresses, the massive tanks that could obliterate anything it their paths, the guymelefs that had the metal claws, and the ability to fly...

It should have made their armies unstoppable.

Granted, the guymelefs had been the doing of Strategos...

Adelphus' eyes narrowed at that thought.

That traitor...

He was broken out of this train of thought, when the subordinate that had just entered the room spoke a crisp, "Sir!"

Adelphus glared at the young man, but he, it appeared, was one of the few in the Ebony Clan warriors who was not afraid of the General.

And as much as he might want to bash that expression in, he needed the warriors as a reconnaissance team, more than that, as special operatives did, the creme de la creme of Goshem's army.

Even with that, two of his best squadrons had been destroyed...

One in battle, the other at the foolish of suggestion of his own offspring...

Adelphus was not a sentimental person, which, ideally, made him the perfect leader. There had only been one person in his life that he cared for, not out of obligation, but out of...

Love.

He remembered...

/Flashback/

"My name is Mira Kasi. It's nice to meet you..."

"Adelphus. My name is Korin Adelphus. But everyone uses my last name so..."

"May I call you Korin? It's a nice name, and I'd feel odd calling a new friend by their last name."

Adelphus paused. He had never really had a 'friend' before, this was the first time he had been home in years... he had gone to the military camp in Zaibach, and when he returned, he would have a chance at moving up in the ranks - he was already a sergeant, and His Majesty, the Emperor, was considering making him a General...

"Yes. You can call me Korin, Miss Kasi."

"Only if you call me Mira."

Adelphus smiled at her, his first true smile since his parents had died when he was child... and he was now twenty years old.

"Deal."

/End Flashback/

It had been almost twenty years since he had lost her, after only a few years of having her...

/Flashback/

It had only been a year since they had first met, and had married her just a few months before, before his year of rest would end and he would return.

"Are you sure you want me to, Mira? I could always stay..."

She smiled at him softly. "It's your dream, Korin. I could never do that. Besides, you'll visit in another year for the summer, and for the next four years hence that, and then..."

"I'll stay Mira, I promise. Once all this is over, should they have no need of me, I'll come back to you."

"I know you will," she replied. "Now go, before I start bawling and make you feel bad."

This made him smile, and he kissed her one last time, before slinging his pack over his shoulder, and waving goodbye.

/End Flashback/

He had been so glad when he returned home for the brief summer break from training, each year successively moving up into the ranks until he was slated to be one of the leaders of the Four Armies of Zaibach...

And as soon as he knew he would be able to stay, fate had ultimately decided to ruin everything...

/Flashback/

They had been married almost six years now, and Adelphus, for the first time perhaps, in his twenty-six years, felt content.

It seemed that everything was finally right with the world. And Mira's news would, seem, to only make it better...

"Korin, Korin!" her voice was excited, and he couldn't help but grin as he swung her up in his arms.

"Mira? What's wrong? Are you ill? Did the healer say something was wrong?" His voice was beginning to gain a note of panic, which slowly faded as he heard her laugh.

"No nothing is wrong, although the healer did say something interesting..." she smiled at him, her eyes shining, not facing him as she bent to pick something off the floor, "Korin... I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby in seven rotations."

She was met with silence.

"Korin?"

When she turned around, she nearly cried with mirth.

Her husband, the future general of Zaibach, had fainted.

/End Flashback/

***

Too fast.

That was Varie's thought as she suddenly felt the pull that could only signify the release of the power of the keys...

And the Gateway.

And then she had could Hitomi's mental voice, which, under any other circumstances, only Van could hear...

Varie, I'm going to need your help. It's happening, and I still don't have all the pieces to the puzzle...

She had to hurry. There wasn't much time, and suddenly Varie began wishing that her ancestors would've allowed her to tell Hitomi sooner.

***

"We can't keep this up much longer, you two." Van's voice didn't sound strained in the least, but even he, no longer the rash young man he had been in the last war, recognized the fact that even with the power of their melefs, and their skills, there were too many of the enemy for them to beat.

"It's just ironic that we have no way of contacting any of the allies, cousin. Some use that proved to be... and it was such a pain to organize!"

"I hate to tell you this, Fanel, but complaining honestly won't help us right now."

"..."

"My, my, isn't it nice to see the three of you happy and arguing again - in the middle of a battle, too."

"Allen?"

"Schezar?"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

It appeared that in the midst of all their bickering, the Crusade had arrived, on the call of Merle.

Somewhere in Adon, a young cat-woman's voice could be heard muttering, "... leaving me here, what do they take me for? And now they're ARGUING of all things, the least they could do was thank me after calling Asturia..."

***

Despite the battle that continued to rage on just outside the floating fortress, Goshem's leader himself, Adelphus, was still lost in the swirl of memories that had awoken at the thought that he had sent his own child to his death...

Hikeshi Barruchi

No one would think to liken him to Adelphus, since both names had nothing to do with his family, and other than that...

It was rare that the knowledge of his marriage would have traveled far out of the small village on the edges of Zaibach.

It had happened and ended quickly, and suddenly...

/Flashback/

"Will she be okay?" His voice was strained with both fear and anticipation - the child was coming! But Adelphus could hear the cries of pain through the walls and longed to rush in, but he knew he couldn't.

And just as suddenly as he had heard the last scream, there was silence.

Dead silence.

Adelphus could not help but begin to worry. His fears of losing Mira, his wife, may have had foundation.

And gods, did he not want that.

But the silence lasted but a moment, and then there was the cry of a child.

He nearly fainted with relief.

But what had happened to his wife?

He ran into the room, only to be met by the head healer.

"Sir... the child is male, and healthy, but your wife..."

He was overcome with dread.

Mira... she couldn't have...

"What's happened?" his voice was harsh, and as he moved to push pass the woman, she held up a hand. "Tell me!"

"Your wife was having complications from the very beginning of the labor... Sir Adelphus, I'm sorry, but she did not make it. But your son..."

"He is not mine."

"But..."

"Not without her. Give him to the military, they'll raise him."

"But... at least a name for your son."

"Hikeshi Barruchi"

"Barruchi..."

The healer wanted to ask why, but Adelphus had already disappeared.

/End Flashback/

It had been years since he had allowed himself to think like that. Perhaps because in 25 years, he had seen his son, and, failing that, had essentially sent him to his death.

Had he not changed after Mira's death, he might have felt sorrow, perhaps even remorse.

But he did not.

General Korin Adelphus regretted nothing.

Besides...

They were in a war, and he was not about to lose.

"Sir, it appears that the keys have been activated."

One of his subordinates. He must've been lost in thought for quite some time, if they were already at this point.

"Ready the weapon. The seer from the Mystic Moon must not be allowed to open the Gateway."

// ~ * ~ \\

Hi all!

It's been a while, ne? Well this was going to be a lot shorter, but somehow, the idea of explaining Adelphus seemed to make sense...

Don't give me a weird look...

Oh, and sorry for the lack of 'hero' content... the whole Adelphus thing took up 10 pages.

And if this is kind of... bad... I'm sorry. But I'm not going to have a lot of time now that school's started, so I figured I should post this.

Not to mention that CERTAIN people *coughRiverDolphincough* have been asking for this chapter... so... well... here you go!

Oh and the next one will be out as soon as I can manage it.

Bye!

Angelic1090 | 29.08.2001