Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne. I'm getting really irritated, by these annoying disclaimers. Doesn't anyone know that we, authors/authoress, do not own any of the anime but own the fans merchandise? Also… gomen… but I lost inspiration for this chapter so expect it to suck aight?
Thanks: Max-san, Kodoku, Enzeru no Yami, Unknown Wisdom, Tennyo Angel 711, silver_sea_star, and any reviewers I forgot to mention.
Warning: Profanity. Also, this fic will be extremely boring due to a lot of dialogue and lack of actions. So if you don't want to read, you're free to go. Grammar Skills: Poor.
The Recruits
"Where the hell are we going?" exclaims 'Lenaf' his arms cross his chest in an angry manner, after realizing that they were lost. Hitomi sighs and leans back against the black cushion seat, "Lenaf… calm down. We're going to meet the person who owns the JDA and other world-renown corporations." Her lips set in a firm tug. Lenaf raises an eyebrow, his arrogant attitude getting the better of him, he opens his mouth, "Why should I go there? Aren't we sufficient enough to track down a single girl, who happens to be my girlfriend, (Lenaf is just trying to irk Hitomi with the term girlfriend.)?"
The taxi casually turns around the curb and stops at a bus stand. "There you go Ma'am, just as you said. The Tarkio bus stand, that'll be 189 yen." He mutters in a deep American (to be more specific, Brooklyn) accent. Hitomi digs into her over coat and pulls out a couple of bills and gruffly hands it towards the man. Quickly stepping out of the musky and stinking taxi, Hitomi grabs Lenaf's arm and drags him out of the taxi. "We're here." she murmurs at the sight of the desolated bus stand. His eyes blaze over the scene, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, he steps back.
"Where the hell are we, Hitomi?" Lenaf mutters under his breath, cool air rushes outwards as he talks. Removing his sunglasses, he takes another look at the scenario. Hitomi steps back and lets out a roaring chuckle. Sandy brown tresses extends downwards onto the cement sidewalk, emerald eyes changes into a murky gray. Lenaf turns his head immediately towards Hitomi, and steps back.
"Boo! Lenaf is a little wittle scary cat isn't he?" She exclaims in an amusing chuckle. Her nails extends, her face begins to contort. Lenaf continues to step back; he moves his hand over towards the hilt of his sword. 'Hitomi's face was stripped of any feminine beauty; instead it was replaced by a hideous green-horned monster. Nostrils flares out with steam, any traces of a girl were nowhere to be found, brown markings scars its face. Reaching backwards, its arms forms into a knife-like object. Bringing its arms down, it grins sinisterly.
"You conniving son of a bitch!" exclaims Lenaf, fury evident in his face. 'Rule No. 1 of PrOjEcT Gaea: Don't trust anyone.'
***
A middle-aged man stood at the laboratory, russet tresses fell forwards concealing his eyes. A white laboratory jacket hung on his broad shoulders, a checklist held in his hand. He peers through the glass paned window. His eyebrows furrowing at the sight before him, a pale girl lay on a stretcher. Sandy tresses were cropped short; her eyes were permanently shut. Her body remains motionless. The man lifts his hand and places it onto the glass window. "Hitomi (Surprise?) … I'm sorry." He mutters raggedly. The girl remains motionless despite the constant ringing of the phone.
Hastily walking towards the constant ringing of the phone, he picks up only to be greeted by his employer's voice. "Touya Kanzaki, I'm going over there to check on the girl." Yoshiro says casually through the phone. "Affirmative." Touya responds, his brown-rimmed glasses fell forward onto his nose; pushing it upwards he hung up. Turning the doorknob, he enters the room.
"Hitomi… strange. You were always the strong one, Mamoru always looked up towards you. Until that one day, you began to show something strange. It was that day you were forced into a coma, and it was that day my life was cursed! It's your entire fault!!! Now I work for that adamant bastard, Yoshiro!!! He wants me to collect your 'psychic' power!" He exclaims in a foul temper, his nostrils flares. He flips his bangs away, revealing olive eyes, however if one were to look into the eyes they would find nothing of anger except remorse, pity, and doubt. 'Hitomi' could not listen to anything; the world was mute to her.
Taking a deep gulp of air to replenish his lungs, he glances towards the visual monitor. "Let's see… heart beat regular, breathing regular, brain waves irregular??" he exclaims, his eyes widening at the screen. However, the waves quickly became normal, to his frustration. Sighing, he walks out of the room, rubbing his neck to relax his tension. "It's your fault Kino, for giving birth to Hitomi and Mamoru then dying leaving them in my charge!!!" he bangs his fist onto the table, tears leaking out from his eyes. "Why???" he shouts in a loud tone, he had no assistant; basically no one worked in the building. He was the only one who worked and lived in the building, him alone.
"I hope you're not like that towards Hitomi." A voice murmurs softly, traces of amusement were evident. Quickly, Touya turns his head and looks towards the speaker. "Konnichi Wa… Yoshiro." He mutters, and points towards the empty room. "I assume that you want to see her of course?" Yoshiro nods in response.
"I'll leave you alone of course." Touya says in a rhetorical manner, and walks out of the building, a cup of fresh java clutched tightly.
***
"I can't… believe we lost… the damn plane!!! We'll never figure out who the hell is the emperor!!!" exclaims Nella in an angry manner, his fist clutches tightly in anger. Relli stood behind him, her hands rubbing his back in a soothing manner. Ned stood in the background, his hand rubbing his chin in a thinking position. "DAMN WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!!!" Nella exclaims again, his eyebrow furrowing in anger.
"Calm down. It's too irrational to charge in all of a sudden, with no plan at all." Ned murmurs his arm propped under his chin still in a thinking manner. Relli sighs, her attempt at making everyone calm was ineffective.
"What are we going to do then?" She murmurs softly, trying to not cause any more tension. An eerie figure steps out of the shadows of the airport, his eyes and hair were conceal by the brim of his fawn-color cap. A black sleek t-shirt with a red-outlined word that read: Death conceals his well atone body; ebony jeans were pulled tightly around his waist. Tan skin reaches upwards and plants his hand on Relli's shoulder. She lets out a yelp in fright and quickly turns, her eyes boring into the incoming intruder.
"I heard that you are Relli, Ned, and Nella. You seem to need some help." the enigmatic intruder, mutters his eyes and hair still hidden from any incoming views. Ned quickly runs towards the intruder and made a grab for his cap, but bizarrely the attacked person made a quick swerve towards the right and stuck out his foot forcing Ned towards his foot. However due to that move, his hat fell downwards.
Burgundy tresses fell forward, teal eyes peer at them, only to receive shocking looks from them. "Hey Relli, Ned, and Nella… long time no see?" he murmurs sheepishly, as he runs his fingers through his coarse hair nervously. At first, all of them sent him death glare, but quickly they lighten up and ran towards him, burying him in a tender hug. (Yes-quite OOC)
"Mamoru… why did you fake your death?" Nella ask all of a sudden, his voice quiet and brash at the same time. (Weird combination?) The person named 'Mamoru' turns his head away, and murmurs a few words, which sounded relatively, like, 'I had to do it'. Grabbing him roughly by the shoulders, Nell forced Mamoru's eyes to focus upon him.
"I had to do it, for Hitomi's sake! GODDAMMIT! Why did she have to end up being in the coma!!! She was my best friend, and for kami's sake she was independent, brilliant, and special!!! Why did she end up acquiring that dang psychic power!!! I would have gladly gone in her place, but no, I fucking had to leave home to respond to the damn letter, she told me that I should go after my dreams of course!! It was just like her always!!! But when I left, she had that accident which caused her to be in a coma, and my fucking father took her to the damn emperor in order to collect her psychic power!!!" he exclaims in words of fury, tears rapidly leaking down his cheeks, Relli slowly reaches over to wipes the tears, but was stopped by his hands, and shook his head motioning that he did not want any sympathy.
"Listen… we're all fighting for someone's sake. I'm fighting for Eries' and Marlene's sake, they're both captives of the emperor, hun." Murmurs Relli in sympathy.
"Yeh she's right, we're all fighting for someone. I'm fighting for my father, it seems he mysteriously died one day. I figure it was that corrupted emperor, I can't wait till I get my bare hands on his throat." Ned says in a determine voice, he wanted revenge for what they did.
"I'm fighting for Celena, my sister. She was brainwashed a year ago to work under the emperor in his exclusive special army. She was special too, she had the ability to run as fast as what are those creatures again? OH yes… cheetahs." Nella says in a thoughtful manner, they were all trying to cheer Mamoru up.
"I understand. I have valuable information for you, however you can't tell the Rampant & Co. about this, and also you can't tell them that I'm alive." He murmurs, silently glancing around the area for any suspicious sign of a character. "We assure you, we won't." Their whispers harmonized in a single response. Mamoru nods and for the first time in his 14 years of life, he reveal a pearly white smile.
***
'Someone… help me…' A small brief image of a boy with ebony hair flashes vibrantly in front of her. A mixture of claret and hazel peers at her curiously; she forms a tiny smile on her lips. However, he instantly disappears, 'No… help me please… I'm lost… Don't leave me…' she murmurs softly. Strangely enough the boy who disappear had heard what she said…
***
Lenaf swore he heard something in his mind, turning his head back towards the ugly creature. He removes his katana from the scabbard, "Hey ugly… want a piece of this, then come get me!" he exclaims in a taunting manner, jumping backwards he leans against the bus stand's post. The creature growls in mock anger, bowing his head down he shook his finger in a warning manner. Touching one of the brown scars thoughtfully, he began glowing in a rapid color of yellow. In an instant the bus stand was dissolved, Lenaf leapt back his eyes widening, 'So that's his true power, I can't let him touch one of his scars.'
"You lost this… Lenaf. Under Yoshiro's command you are good as dead, accept that fate!" exclaims the beast, with that said, he bends his head and charges forward. Lenaf seeing what the creature intends to do, he removes his shade, revealing his eyes for the first time. Running towards it (the creature), he jumps upwards performing a mid-air somersault. "Ooo… should I be scare of this trick?" Mocked the creature, he stops and his fingers slowly rises towards his scars.
"I'm not going to permit you to do that." Lenaf mutters softly, with that he lands with a thud on the ground and sent out an array of ice shards. The shards pierce the creature's fingers, jumping back and howling in anger, he glares at Lenaf, and slowly his other hand reaches over to touch his scars once again. Immediately seeing Yoshiro's henchman, making a reach for one of his scars, he jumps upwards again. Nimbly jumping, he spreads out his arm in an awkward position and sends out a powerful blizzard storm upon it.
Stuck in the blizzard storm, he instantly reaches over to touch his head scar, glowing yet again, his eyes grows acquainted to the harsh ice, spotting a figure by the distant he calls upon the power of the spirits to demolish the figure. The spirits accustom by the demands made by the creature, materialize in front of the object and obliterate it quickly. Lenaf seeing the building next to him destroy, smirks. Wrapping his trench coat around him, he charges through the blizzard, his katana firmly in his hand.
"Goodbye." He shouts in a shrill war cry, he slams his blade into the creature's chest, not stopping there. He executes an up thrust, causing the creature to shriek in terror, dying right on the spot. Lenaf lets out an emotionless yet maniac laugh, he would annihilate the world of this horrible terror. He promised on Vargas' (Balgus) grave, that he would do just that. However, a voice echo once more through his head, ignoring it once again, he turns away.
***
Yoshiro took a composed step through the door, his platinum hair swinging riotously around. Stopping at a doctor swivel chair, he pulls it out of the nook. Letting out a sigh, he drags it over towards the stretcher and sits on it. "Hitomi, isn't it? Well… I heard your voice calling. What are you trying to tell me for kami's sake?" he mutters in agitation, placing his hand in the girl's hand. He took a glance at her pastel complexion, "Hitomi… you must have been in the prime of your life, when you fell into this coma. How I wish I could still be that naïve. I'm sorry for manipulating you. See, if I'm able to attain your abilities, I'll be able to stop this war. You do want that don't you?" He murmurs as he absentmindedly stroke Hitomi's face.
'I'm sorry for manipulating you. See, if I'm able to attain your abilities, I'll be able to stop this war. You do want that don't you?' Those words rung thoroughly in her mind, clutching her knees she shook, "No I won't allow you to do so. Even though you cannot hear me, I know your intentions are to harness my powers so you can defeat your enemies." Cried a 14-year-old (In reality she's 18, 14 was when she had the accident and when she was placed in the coma). She once again felt herself go unconscious as she fell into the abyss of darkness.
"Emperor Yoshiro Kaze, I am sorry to interrupt you in your private time alone, but I just came from the airport along with the captive." A growl was heard as the girl was tossed carelessly towards Yoshiro.
Merle was hastily tossed onto the stretcher and strapped tightly. Turning her head slowly she glances at the pallid girl, "Who are you?" she murmurs softly. She had seen a picture of the girl before from one of Van's sketch, even though Van denied that he has a knack for sketching. A ray gun or whatever it was call was pointed towards her in a strange manner. "HEY WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME?" she exclaims, as she began to thrash around.
"I'm simply turning you back to your original form, as a catgirl of course." Yoshiro says rather casually, placing on goggles on both him and Natsu, he adjusts the ray gun to fit his needs. "Now hold still… or else, the effects would be quite harmful. For example, you might turn into a hockey puck or what are those things? Oh yes… snails." Traces of amusement and intimidating her were evident through his gestures. Without giving her a warning, he quickly flicks on the switch. A blinding white light erupts from the ray gun and propels forward towards Merle.
A scream was heard in a second, Merle's head flung backwards in a surprisingly fast rate, her whole body was smeared in a halo. In an instant, where ears of human form should have been was cat-like ears. Her whole entire body was cover in a bronze colored fur. On her buttocks, a swift and feminine tail was formed; fingers became bound together as they formed claws. Her nose was transformed into a crimson-colored dot. Everything was changing… she was turning into a cat-like figure except her form was still human. However, strangely the straps had loosen and she was in mid-air, rapidly changing.
Natsu could only watch in awe-struck as he watched the transformation of Meruru. He wanted to scream and break free of his shock, but he couldn't… he was stuck in a trance. Meruru continue her wails in an attempt to make Natsu stop the ray. HELP ME!!! The words were flashing around her body; Natsu however turned his head away finally. "Yoshiro stop it." The words had barely left his mouth for Yoshiro had silenced him with a smack on his head. The smack, which looked like it lacked power, forced Natsu into a state of peace. (Saying that he fainted).
Scream after screams occurred after one another. You would think that by now Hitomi would wake up, but she was still resting peacefully except for the fact that her brain waves were reacting to their surroundings. Luckily, Yoshiro had not notice, and continue the procedure of changing Meruru. Unexpectedly, the door next to Yoshiro flapped open causing him to stop the ray and bang against the evergreen wall. A figure stepped into the entrance of the room. "Yoshiro-sama I have come with news."
Shaking his head out of the depths of unconsciousness, Yoshiro stood and wiped the grime that had filth his suit. With a piercing glare at the newcomer he mutters, "What do you want?" The figure or the lack of figure responded with a cool tone, "Remember you had sent me to kill one of the members of PrOjEcT Gaea?" Yoshiro nodded again, this time his eyes flicker with interest rather than the dull look that they always held. The figure looked at him sheepishly and rubbed his head, "Well, I, erm, he defeated me." With a quick snap the figure fell dead as Yoshiro's hand return back to place.
"Argh… how I despise sending green monsters from 789." A scowl formed in his mouth as he spoke the words. He heard the sound of a groan, and snapping his head towards the source, he glanced at the image of Merle. With a quick stroll he grasped her by the collar and hurl her onto the stretcher, within a few moments he had strapped her onto the stretcher quickly. "Stop fighting the ray affects, or you'll get yourself even more hurt than you all ready are." Prying her mouth open, he tried his best to avoid the fangs and quickly pop the sedative in, but instead he got pricked by the fang and cursed as he dropped the sedative into her mouth. At first, Merle was trying to spit the sedative out, but as she found herself feeling more and more of the ray's affect upon her body, she had no choice but to swallow.
The room seemed vibrant for a few seconds, before everything ceased and became black.
***
He was standing there in the middle of a happy joyous day, just waiting, for the day that his life would come to an end… wishing that it were all gone. The tinted emerald eyes that he once held were fading away into a mere nothingness. He was cursed, forcing himself to hide his face from the public… for the fear of being discovered. Every emotion that he once held was gone. The plain colorless wall only contributes the fact that everything was gone in his life and the only thing that kept him awake was the view from the window.
The black trench coat was hung on the rack by the white wall. The floor was a solid gray color, giving the room an exotic look of yin/yang and in between. The man or boy, if you could consider him that, was just facing out the window.
***
Lenaf was running across the desolated streets, he need to get back to his apartment and call the Rampant & Co. to file the report that one of their agents were missing. They would probably cut the funds of the PrOjEcT, but he didn't care. He had enough money to suffice him for a lifetime. With quick maneuvers he was able to scramble across the rooftops and glance at the surroundings. Removing the black shades from his pocket he places it on and removed his black trench coat. Walking casually he sat on the rim of building and glanced downwards. There was nothing, but darkness. Smirking to himself, he pointed his fingers downwards onto the ground as ice sprang from the point of his finger, within a few moments an ice slide was formed. Calculating the distance from the building to the ground, Lenaf cautiously took a step towards the ice slide. Within a few minutes he was sliding down the slide, an impish smile planted on his face.
He eventually landed on the ground; the joy of riding down the slide was still fresh on his face. It was not even winter and all ready he was praying that it would snow so that he can use his powers whenever he wanted and nobody would be suspicious. Well, first problem was to get rid of the ice slide, then file the report, then find Dilandau. 'Well, maybe I should get a blowtorch? No wait!' Within a few seconds he had smacked his head for being an idiot, placing his fingers on the ice he began to suck the energy that the ice was emitting. It took approximately 7 minutes for the ice slide to evaporate into Lenaf's energy source. With a smirk, he ran down the alleyway and onto the busy metropolis road.
Lenaf began waving his fingers up and down trying his best to hail a taxi, which he eventually did. It was the same cab driver from before! He was going to be sick… "Ugh…" he mutters as he climbed into the backseat of the cab and told the driver the address. As soon as he had shut the door, the taxi was racing down the street leaving Lenaf clinging onto the armrest. They arrived there in what seemed to be half a minute; Lenaf's face had contorted into an awkward shade of green. "That'll be 20 yen." The driver said rather brusquely, Lenaf only held his breath as he handed the driver 20 yen and scramble out of the cab. The aftermath of the cab drive was shown as Lenaf vomit onto the tree.
A grumble erupted from Lenaf's stomach as he sheepishly rubbed his head. Quickly pushing open the main lobby door, he ran up the stairs (Due to the elevator being slow as molasses). Reaching his apartment, he inserts the key and twisted the knob. With a silent laugh, he slammed the door shut and walked towards the kitchen. He despised it when his stomach would growl and scream for attention. Cautiously opening the fridge he glanced inside at the food content, apparently there were only eggs, leftover sushi with fungi, a carton of milk, and some roasted Mandarin duck. "Not much of a choice." He mutters as he ruffles his ebony tresses.
Bending down over the kitchen counter he had spotted a bag of rice, and some strange machinery. He was too accustomed to Meruru doing the cooking, but now it was his turn. Placing on the "I AM THE BRILLIANT CHEF, FEAR ME!" apron around his body, he removed his shades. "Now to get to work…" He began pulling the bag of rice out from under the counter, and began scooping up 2 cup full of rice and poured into the small bowl. Walking over towards the sink he filled the bowl with water and began washing the rice, after 3 minutes of washing it he dumped the water and filled it this time with a fresh amount of water. Again he dumped the water to get rid of anymore waste, but he poured the rice into the rice-cooking machine. Turning the knob, a considerate amount of water poured into the bowl and he dumped it into the rice-cooking machine. Smirking at his accomplishment, he pushed the covering over the machine.
He opens the fridge down again and threw away the rotten sushi and got out 2 eggs and the Mandarin duck. Opening the pantry door, he glanced around and spotted a frying pan and a saucepan. Placing the remnants of the duck onto the saucepan, he opens the oven door and placed the duck in. He quickly cracked the eggs and made scramble eggs. Within 15 minutes (fast cooking) the whole entire meal was done, however one minor thing… the rice was burnt and so was the Mandarin duck. Groaning he picked away at the duck and rice and swallow it all, at least the eggs were still good. After wolfing down the meal, he went over towards the computer and turned it.
"Enter, your name." The speaker by the computer rang. "Computerized Modem." Lenaf responded. An e-mail icon appeared on the screen, clicking on it he quickly typed in Gaean code that one of the Rampant & Co. agent was kidnapped. "Akiko HAL." The computer screen flashed off. Sighing, he went back to the kitchen to retrieve his trench coat and shades, which he left carelessly on the counter. Now… to find where 'Hitomi' had hid Dilandau and Belinda.
Walking out of the apartment, he locked the door. His next-door neighbors appeared out of the room, the smell of alcohol filled his nose. Suddenly, realizing that the female with fiery auburn hair he patiently tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me, but do you know where Hitomi Kanzaki lives? I'm suppose to deliver a package to her." Lenaf ask in his best polite tone. The female eyed him suspiciously at first, but her boyfriend seemed to decrease her suspicious level. "Well yes. The directions are simple, once you walk out of this building go left and walk down 3 blocks, then make a right and walk 2 blocks and then make a left." The female answers. Nodding curtly, he ran out of the area leaving bewilder faces behind. "BY THE WAY IT'S ON THE 5Cth floor!" exclaimed both of them.
He ran down the blocks as the female had said, and within a few minutes he had arrived at the apartment building. Pushing open the lobby door, he looked towards the right and saw the letter C. Walking that side, he ran up the stairs, not wanting to waste any valuable time, and arrived at the 5th floor quickly. However, somebody else was there. "Hello Fanel, or shall I call you Lenaf?" Lenaf's heart stopped, as he stared at the figure in disbelief. "Fol-Fol-k-ken?" the words stutter out.
~~~ End of Chapter 3 ~~~
Who is this mysterious boy? Why was Van surprised to see Folken? Will Hitomi ever wake up from her coma? Will Merle be ok? Is Natsu really who he says he is? And what is Mamoru trying to reveal?
A/N: Anyhow, so how was it? Please leave feedback! Sorry it took so long for me to post, I was having trouble with this chapter and well I erm… was working on my other ficcies ^^; Gomen nasai. Heh, I'll try to get Chapter 4 up by December, due to school. Oh well, e-mail me for any questions at leyawater@hotmail.com, I would be glad to answer any questions. Also, thanks to everyone for being supportive and patient!
Ja,
~*~*l Water Dragon l*~*~