Love can Change You 15
A/N: Give me an honest opinion: have I been ending in cliff hangars a lot recently?
This chapter could get a little out of hand sex-wise, so please don't get offended.
Yesterday, Millerna and Merle found the Mole man who agreed to help them rescue Hitomi. But time is ticking away, as Allen prepares to meet the attack on Palas. The Vione is in position, but as they launch, will they be able to save Hitomi?
The blue and red Alseides guymelefs swooped down onto the city of Palas. The Vione loomed above the castle like thunderstorm about to be set loose. One group of guymelefs headed straight for the ground. Landing, they immediately went into stealth mode and formed swords of crima. They formed a line as the Asturian guard rushed toward them.
Gatti stared straight ahead. He was scared as hell. Not for himself, but for Naria and Hitomi, and all his friends. He was in charge of this delaying action, so if they were all killed it would be his fault. At least that was how he saw it.
"Gatti. Are you alright?"
The Dragonslayer blinked at the voice over his comlink. "I'm fine. Though I don't think you should have come."
Naria laughed. "Please! I can take care of myself. And don't say anything about me getting killed. I have a reason to live."
Gatti was curious. "Really? What?"
The cat girl laughed. "What do you think, goof ball? You of course".
In spite of the impending battle, the charging enemy troops, and the fear that he would get them all killed, Gatti smiled. "Thanks."
"Anytime".
His attention returned to the battle, and cried out "Attack!" Then he charged.
***
Hitomi had settled on a plan of sorts. When Allen came for her, she would kill him.
Not a very good plan, she admitted to herself. But it had a chance. She could use the chain as a weapon. 'It really was stupid of them not to tie my hands and feet.' She thought.
So she waited.
Her patience was rewarded. She heard a loud squeak from the rusty door and got ready. As soon as Allen came close enough, she would wrap her chain around his neck and strangle him.
Allen Schezar stepped into the room. His blue eyes watched Hitomi, who stared back at him. He walked forward, slowly, eyes never leaving hers, stopping five feet from her.
Hitomi suppressed the desire to shiver, and gripped her chain firmly. 'Closer' she pleaded. 'Closer. Closer!'
Allen took another step.
Hitomi surged up from the ground, chain extended. But faster then her eye could see, Allen dodged left, grabbing the chain as he did so. Twisting it from her hands, he wrapped it around her neck and squeezed.
Hitomi was blinded by pain. She couldn't breath! She blacked out.
***
Dilandau, Chesta, Dalet, and Miguel flew just behind the main flight. They landed along the side of the castle and immediately exited their guymelefs. Running for cover, the small group hid behind a tall pillar. Dilandau peered at the brewing battle.
"Wait for an opportunity. When the guards are distracted, then we move out."
Chesta nodded and drew his sword. "I think now would be an appropriate time. The Asturians are fighting Gatti and the boys."
Dalet looked grim. "They won't be able to keep that up for long. They're outnumbered three to one."
"All the more reason to get going. Move it!" Dilandau rushed forward, running into the castle. His men followed him.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" It seemed that not all the guards had joned the fight. Five of them now drew their swords and attacked.
Dilandau ran past the first one, leaving him for Chesta. He took on the next two with glee.
Both sides fought valiantly, but from the start the castle guards were overmatched. Chesta ran his through, Dalet caught his with a well-placed backstroke, and Miguel slammed his fist into the third's face. Dilandau simply beheaded the two he fought. Even before their headless bodies hit the ground, he was running on, the slayers following.
A passing servant turned a corner and found herself slammed up against a wall with a dagger at her throat. Dilandau hissed, "Where are the dungeons?" Frightened, she pointed a shaky finger and was dropped on the ground.
The general kept moving.
***
Hitomi woke groggily. She was cold. This woke her even more. Cold air was where it should not be! She lurched to her feet and glared at the smirking knight. "What did you do to me?!"
Allen waved casually. "Nothing really. I just.sedated you, so I could remove your clothes."
Hitomi didn't bother looking at her naked body. "You sick bastard."
"Oh calm down! I didn't do anything to you. I was waiting for you to wake up." Allen smiled. "I wanted to hear you scream."
He thrust a hand out, catching her bare breast. Hitomi smacked it away, already flushing with fury. "I'll kill you!" She lunged at Allen, fists flailing.
After a short but doomed scuffle, Allen pinned Hitomi's arms beneath his own. He forced her onto the floor, and when she spit in his eye, he clamped her mouth shut with his lips. One hand undid his pants, and for an instant, he let go to take them off.
Hitomi took that opportunity and fought like mad. She managed to scratch open his face before Allen slapped her again. "You're a she-devil, aren't you?" He whispered into her ear. He kneaded her breasts, and Hitomi was suddenly terrified.
This happened before. In Palas, the day Folken had saved her from the rapist. Only it looked like no one was coming this time.
Allen kissed her again, brutally, as he finally got his pants down. He raised himself off of her, his member more threatening than an iron spear.
"I've dreamed of this moment Hitomi." Allen purred. "Now you will feel my dream. It'll make you scream. Scream for me Hitomi. Scream. I want to hear you scream!"
THWACK!
Allen's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.
Hitomi pushed his comatose form off of her and was greeted by a bizarre sight. Millerna stood over the body of Allen, wielding Mr. Mole's bag of junk. Her face was pale, but her eyes were dignified and resolute. Mr. Mole himself was at the door wringing his hands, and Merle peeped out from behind him.
The princess reached down a hand. "Are you alright?"
Hitomi took that hand. "Thanks to you guys." She looked at Mr. Mole. "Wanna keep your eyes elsewhere?" He blushed and turned quickly.
Hitomi got dressed in record time, just in time to receive new visitors.
"Hitomi!" The four commando slayers, with Dilandau at their head, ran into the room.
"Dilandau", Hitomi cried before being enfolded in a hug. The pyro refused to let go, even when Chesta, Dalet, and Miguel tried to welcome her back.
"I thought I'd lost you forever." Dilandau whispered, his face buried in his love's neck. "I was so scared."
"Hey, no problem. I'll be around for a while yet. Don't worry." Hitomi said. Then she whispered so that only he could hear, "I love you."
Merle was in tears at this point. It was so happy! Dalet noticed the two pretty women for the first time.
"Hey pretty girls! What're your names?"
SLAP!
SLAP!
Miguel laughed. "Seems you're losing your touch Dalet!" Chesta was too busy laughing to say anything, and Dalet flushed.
All this commotion brought the two lovers back to reality. Dilandau pulled back and unbuckled something from his belt. "I believe you left this in Freid?"
Hitomi gasped. "You remembered my sword! Thank you!" She took the energist blade and kissed Dilandau chastely on the cheek. He actually blushed, and turned and ran back up the stairs. His troops followed, grinning.
Hitomi was about to follow when she turned to her friends. "Are you guys coming?"
Merle and Millerna looked at each other and nodded. They followed after Hitomi, and Mr. Mole headed off along one of the prison tunnels.
***
Gatti saw the blow coming and ducked, only to have to block another. He did that, but took a hit in the energist for his pains. His systems started losing power, and his stealth cloak deactivated. Every Asturian 'melef could see him now!
Things were hopeless. He should retreat. But he couldn't bring himself to abandon Lord Dilandau and the others.
A cry came from the left and his heart jumped in his throat. Naria! He ran to her damaged teiring and slashed apart the soldier she fought. "Naria! Are you alright?"
"Yeah.I think so. But I'm leaking crima. I'll have to switch to weapon two." So said, a steel blade extended from each of her arms, and she stood. Gatti was relieved.
"I'm not letting you go, you know."
"I wouldn't want you to."
Heartened, Gatti turned to the Asturians who sought to take the cat girl's life. Crima flowed from each arm forming a pair of wicked scimitars. Now he was mad!
***
It seemed that the guards had woken up to the intruders.
Enemy soldiers were popping up all over the place. If they stopped to fight them, they just gave others the chance to catch up. If they passed them by, then they had guards on their tail. It was an interesting question.
Heavy boots clomped through the hallways as the whole group ran. Millerna and Merle followed, albeit more slowly, and they tried to delay any troops they ran into. Who would suspect two innocent young women of helping criminals escape from certain death?
They were delaying one such group of guards when Van came.
***
Millerna glared at the backs of the two soldiers as they ran in the opposite direction that Hitomi and the guys had gone. "When I'm queen, the first thing that I'm doing is hiring new guards. This is too easy!"
"Uh, I think that the simplicity is over."
Millerna turned and stared at where Merle looked. Her jaw dropped open and she made a sound in the back of her throat.
Van stood before them, eyes deader than ever and his mouth a straight line of cruelty. The young king stared intently at the two.
He spoke, voice cold and dead. "Now, what would two young women be doing alone in a combat zone?"
The two young women didn't say anything.
Then Van stepped forward. "Where did the Dragonslayers go?" His voice warned them against lying to him and dared them to make a wrong move.
Millerna dared. She stood her ground and Merle hid behind the princess. "Those guards are after them. Follow them. She stifled a cry of pain as Van grabbed her arm in a grip of steel. "You are lying to me. Where are they?"
Millerna gritted her teeth against the pain. "I don't know." She cried out as her arm was twisted up behind her back. She turned her head to look into his eyes. They were as ice.
"Where did the Dragonslayers go Millerna? Tell me where they went. Now". Van squeezed her wrist tighter. Tears formed in her eyes and Millerna simply refused to answer.
"If you don't tell me, you will likely be killed for treason." The king warned. Millerna shook her head. "Then so be it".
Angry, Van threw her against the wall, making the princess cry out. "I want the truth. Where are they? Tell me where they are!"
Millerna was getting angry. "You want truth? Fine! Here's some truth for you. Something is seriously wrong with you Van. The real Van wouldn't be trying to hurt me! He wouldn't be trying to hurt Hitomi!"
Van froze and, for an instant, looked like his old self again. "What?" He asked. Then his eyes changed back to ice, and he advanced on Millerna.
Then, like a blinding flash, Merle figured it out. 'If that stuff he was injected with changed him so much, but he still felt something when Millerna yelled at him, then it can't be his real personality! It's just a cover up! We have to make him remember, we have to remind him of things from the past!' Aloud, she said, "Van! You're king of Fanelia! You inherited the position when your brother failed the rite of dragon slaying!"
Van stopped with his hand around Millerna's throat. The princess picked up on what Merle was doing. "Allen Schezar wanted to capture Hitomi. He wanted to use her as a weapon."
Van looked into Millerna's eyes. His own eyes were shifting between good and evil, kindness and cruelty. "He.did." He murmured, almost to himself.
"I'm your sister!" Merle shouted. "Do you remember the time we went swimming with Folken and we swiped his clothes so he had to walk home naked?"
Van smiled briefly. "He was so mad." He felt his head gingerly.
'He's almost cured!' Merle grinned. "Remember? Hitomi loved you."
Later after she thought about it, Merle could understand why Van reacted so badly to that one. The formula had been introduced to make Van believe that Hitomi hated him, and wanted him to hurt. So, obviously, mentioning how she had loved him was a bad idea. Van's eyes went harder then diamonds and he grabbed Millerna's throat again, squeezing hard.
Millerna choked and desperately played her final card. "Zaibach destroyed your country!"
Van dropped Millerna, and clutched his head. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor, gasping for breath. She watched him apprehensively. Minutes passed by and there was no change. Suddenly he raised his head and blinked.
"Millerna? Merle? What's going on? Where am I?" Van then fell over again as the cat girl glomped him at once. "Whoa! Easy there!"
"Lord Van! You're alright!" Merle cried. "I'm so glad you're well again!"
Van was puzzled. "Why wouldn't I be well?" He tried to stand up but nearly fell over again. Millerna caught him and supported his weight.
"Take it easy. The struggle in your brain must have left your body as weak as a kitten."
"Hey!"
"Metaphorically speaking of course".
Van blinked again. "What are you talking about? Struggle in my mind? The last thing I remember is.being jumped in my room."
Merle nodded. "That was Refina." Seeing Van's puzzled expression, she waved it off. "I'll explain later. Suffice to say, you were injected with some stuff that screwed up your mind."
"You mean like fate alteration?"
Millerna nodded. "Exactly".
Van scowled. "So I was Zaibach's pawn. I have much to atone for."
The princess grabbed his hand and started pulling him down the hall. "You can start by helping Hitomi get out alive." Suddenly it was Van doing the pulling.
***
"We're almost there guys!" Dalet shouted. "I remember this hallway!"
Several guards were on their tail, and they had to keep running. Hitomi was getting seriously tired. 'I'm a sprinter, not a cross-country racer!'
Dilandau, staying by her side, saw the look in her eyes. "Don't worry. When we get back to the Vione you'll be able to sleep all you want!"
Hitomi's eyes lit up. "I'd kiss you, but then our 'friends' would catch up. Then where would we be?" Dilandau laughed.
"Nowhere good".
A cry of triumph came from Dalet as they came to a door. He threw it open and rushed out into the open air, followed by the others.
There was no open air, no fighting guymelefs, and no way to get back to the Vione.
"Dalet? Where did you take us?" Dilandau asked calmly.
"Uh, it looks like a library."
For the first time in a while, Dilandau slapped Dalet, while Hitomi, Chesta, and Miguel groaned. "You idiot! You led us down the wrong corridor!"
"Not really".
The group spun swords out. They found themselves face to face with six palace guards. In the lead, was Refina.
The bitch grinned a grin that would show up a crocodile. "I think this is the right place."
A/N: Buh, duh, duh! Next chapter, is the fight with Refina! I've really got to stop ending in cliffhangers. Thanks for all your praise. I've almost got 100 reviews! See you next time! On Escaflowne!
A/N: Give me an honest opinion: have I been ending in cliff hangars a lot recently?
This chapter could get a little out of hand sex-wise, so please don't get offended.
Yesterday, Millerna and Merle found the Mole man who agreed to help them rescue Hitomi. But time is ticking away, as Allen prepares to meet the attack on Palas. The Vione is in position, but as they launch, will they be able to save Hitomi?
The blue and red Alseides guymelefs swooped down onto the city of Palas. The Vione loomed above the castle like thunderstorm about to be set loose. One group of guymelefs headed straight for the ground. Landing, they immediately went into stealth mode and formed swords of crima. They formed a line as the Asturian guard rushed toward them.
Gatti stared straight ahead. He was scared as hell. Not for himself, but for Naria and Hitomi, and all his friends. He was in charge of this delaying action, so if they were all killed it would be his fault. At least that was how he saw it.
"Gatti. Are you alright?"
The Dragonslayer blinked at the voice over his comlink. "I'm fine. Though I don't think you should have come."
Naria laughed. "Please! I can take care of myself. And don't say anything about me getting killed. I have a reason to live."
Gatti was curious. "Really? What?"
The cat girl laughed. "What do you think, goof ball? You of course".
In spite of the impending battle, the charging enemy troops, and the fear that he would get them all killed, Gatti smiled. "Thanks."
"Anytime".
His attention returned to the battle, and cried out "Attack!" Then he charged.
***
Hitomi had settled on a plan of sorts. When Allen came for her, she would kill him.
Not a very good plan, she admitted to herself. But it had a chance. She could use the chain as a weapon. 'It really was stupid of them not to tie my hands and feet.' She thought.
So she waited.
Her patience was rewarded. She heard a loud squeak from the rusty door and got ready. As soon as Allen came close enough, she would wrap her chain around his neck and strangle him.
Allen Schezar stepped into the room. His blue eyes watched Hitomi, who stared back at him. He walked forward, slowly, eyes never leaving hers, stopping five feet from her.
Hitomi suppressed the desire to shiver, and gripped her chain firmly. 'Closer' she pleaded. 'Closer. Closer!'
Allen took another step.
Hitomi surged up from the ground, chain extended. But faster then her eye could see, Allen dodged left, grabbing the chain as he did so. Twisting it from her hands, he wrapped it around her neck and squeezed.
Hitomi was blinded by pain. She couldn't breath! She blacked out.
***
Dilandau, Chesta, Dalet, and Miguel flew just behind the main flight. They landed along the side of the castle and immediately exited their guymelefs. Running for cover, the small group hid behind a tall pillar. Dilandau peered at the brewing battle.
"Wait for an opportunity. When the guards are distracted, then we move out."
Chesta nodded and drew his sword. "I think now would be an appropriate time. The Asturians are fighting Gatti and the boys."
Dalet looked grim. "They won't be able to keep that up for long. They're outnumbered three to one."
"All the more reason to get going. Move it!" Dilandau rushed forward, running into the castle. His men followed him.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" It seemed that not all the guards had joned the fight. Five of them now drew their swords and attacked.
Dilandau ran past the first one, leaving him for Chesta. He took on the next two with glee.
Both sides fought valiantly, but from the start the castle guards were overmatched. Chesta ran his through, Dalet caught his with a well-placed backstroke, and Miguel slammed his fist into the third's face. Dilandau simply beheaded the two he fought. Even before their headless bodies hit the ground, he was running on, the slayers following.
A passing servant turned a corner and found herself slammed up against a wall with a dagger at her throat. Dilandau hissed, "Where are the dungeons?" Frightened, she pointed a shaky finger and was dropped on the ground.
The general kept moving.
***
Hitomi woke groggily. She was cold. This woke her even more. Cold air was where it should not be! She lurched to her feet and glared at the smirking knight. "What did you do to me?!"
Allen waved casually. "Nothing really. I just.sedated you, so I could remove your clothes."
Hitomi didn't bother looking at her naked body. "You sick bastard."
"Oh calm down! I didn't do anything to you. I was waiting for you to wake up." Allen smiled. "I wanted to hear you scream."
He thrust a hand out, catching her bare breast. Hitomi smacked it away, already flushing with fury. "I'll kill you!" She lunged at Allen, fists flailing.
After a short but doomed scuffle, Allen pinned Hitomi's arms beneath his own. He forced her onto the floor, and when she spit in his eye, he clamped her mouth shut with his lips. One hand undid his pants, and for an instant, he let go to take them off.
Hitomi took that opportunity and fought like mad. She managed to scratch open his face before Allen slapped her again. "You're a she-devil, aren't you?" He whispered into her ear. He kneaded her breasts, and Hitomi was suddenly terrified.
This happened before. In Palas, the day Folken had saved her from the rapist. Only it looked like no one was coming this time.
Allen kissed her again, brutally, as he finally got his pants down. He raised himself off of her, his member more threatening than an iron spear.
"I've dreamed of this moment Hitomi." Allen purred. "Now you will feel my dream. It'll make you scream. Scream for me Hitomi. Scream. I want to hear you scream!"
THWACK!
Allen's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.
Hitomi pushed his comatose form off of her and was greeted by a bizarre sight. Millerna stood over the body of Allen, wielding Mr. Mole's bag of junk. Her face was pale, but her eyes were dignified and resolute. Mr. Mole himself was at the door wringing his hands, and Merle peeped out from behind him.
The princess reached down a hand. "Are you alright?"
Hitomi took that hand. "Thanks to you guys." She looked at Mr. Mole. "Wanna keep your eyes elsewhere?" He blushed and turned quickly.
Hitomi got dressed in record time, just in time to receive new visitors.
"Hitomi!" The four commando slayers, with Dilandau at their head, ran into the room.
"Dilandau", Hitomi cried before being enfolded in a hug. The pyro refused to let go, even when Chesta, Dalet, and Miguel tried to welcome her back.
"I thought I'd lost you forever." Dilandau whispered, his face buried in his love's neck. "I was so scared."
"Hey, no problem. I'll be around for a while yet. Don't worry." Hitomi said. Then she whispered so that only he could hear, "I love you."
Merle was in tears at this point. It was so happy! Dalet noticed the two pretty women for the first time.
"Hey pretty girls! What're your names?"
SLAP!
SLAP!
Miguel laughed. "Seems you're losing your touch Dalet!" Chesta was too busy laughing to say anything, and Dalet flushed.
All this commotion brought the two lovers back to reality. Dilandau pulled back and unbuckled something from his belt. "I believe you left this in Freid?"
Hitomi gasped. "You remembered my sword! Thank you!" She took the energist blade and kissed Dilandau chastely on the cheek. He actually blushed, and turned and ran back up the stairs. His troops followed, grinning.
Hitomi was about to follow when she turned to her friends. "Are you guys coming?"
Merle and Millerna looked at each other and nodded. They followed after Hitomi, and Mr. Mole headed off along one of the prison tunnels.
***
Gatti saw the blow coming and ducked, only to have to block another. He did that, but took a hit in the energist for his pains. His systems started losing power, and his stealth cloak deactivated. Every Asturian 'melef could see him now!
Things were hopeless. He should retreat. But he couldn't bring himself to abandon Lord Dilandau and the others.
A cry came from the left and his heart jumped in his throat. Naria! He ran to her damaged teiring and slashed apart the soldier she fought. "Naria! Are you alright?"
"Yeah.I think so. But I'm leaking crima. I'll have to switch to weapon two." So said, a steel blade extended from each of her arms, and she stood. Gatti was relieved.
"I'm not letting you go, you know."
"I wouldn't want you to."
Heartened, Gatti turned to the Asturians who sought to take the cat girl's life. Crima flowed from each arm forming a pair of wicked scimitars. Now he was mad!
***
It seemed that the guards had woken up to the intruders.
Enemy soldiers were popping up all over the place. If they stopped to fight them, they just gave others the chance to catch up. If they passed them by, then they had guards on their tail. It was an interesting question.
Heavy boots clomped through the hallways as the whole group ran. Millerna and Merle followed, albeit more slowly, and they tried to delay any troops they ran into. Who would suspect two innocent young women of helping criminals escape from certain death?
They were delaying one such group of guards when Van came.
***
Millerna glared at the backs of the two soldiers as they ran in the opposite direction that Hitomi and the guys had gone. "When I'm queen, the first thing that I'm doing is hiring new guards. This is too easy!"
"Uh, I think that the simplicity is over."
Millerna turned and stared at where Merle looked. Her jaw dropped open and she made a sound in the back of her throat.
Van stood before them, eyes deader than ever and his mouth a straight line of cruelty. The young king stared intently at the two.
He spoke, voice cold and dead. "Now, what would two young women be doing alone in a combat zone?"
The two young women didn't say anything.
Then Van stepped forward. "Where did the Dragonslayers go?" His voice warned them against lying to him and dared them to make a wrong move.
Millerna dared. She stood her ground and Merle hid behind the princess. "Those guards are after them. Follow them. She stifled a cry of pain as Van grabbed her arm in a grip of steel. "You are lying to me. Where are they?"
Millerna gritted her teeth against the pain. "I don't know." She cried out as her arm was twisted up behind her back. She turned her head to look into his eyes. They were as ice.
"Where did the Dragonslayers go Millerna? Tell me where they went. Now". Van squeezed her wrist tighter. Tears formed in her eyes and Millerna simply refused to answer.
"If you don't tell me, you will likely be killed for treason." The king warned. Millerna shook her head. "Then so be it".
Angry, Van threw her against the wall, making the princess cry out. "I want the truth. Where are they? Tell me where they are!"
Millerna was getting angry. "You want truth? Fine! Here's some truth for you. Something is seriously wrong with you Van. The real Van wouldn't be trying to hurt me! He wouldn't be trying to hurt Hitomi!"
Van froze and, for an instant, looked like his old self again. "What?" He asked. Then his eyes changed back to ice, and he advanced on Millerna.
Then, like a blinding flash, Merle figured it out. 'If that stuff he was injected with changed him so much, but he still felt something when Millerna yelled at him, then it can't be his real personality! It's just a cover up! We have to make him remember, we have to remind him of things from the past!' Aloud, she said, "Van! You're king of Fanelia! You inherited the position when your brother failed the rite of dragon slaying!"
Van stopped with his hand around Millerna's throat. The princess picked up on what Merle was doing. "Allen Schezar wanted to capture Hitomi. He wanted to use her as a weapon."
Van looked into Millerna's eyes. His own eyes were shifting between good and evil, kindness and cruelty. "He.did." He murmured, almost to himself.
"I'm your sister!" Merle shouted. "Do you remember the time we went swimming with Folken and we swiped his clothes so he had to walk home naked?"
Van smiled briefly. "He was so mad." He felt his head gingerly.
'He's almost cured!' Merle grinned. "Remember? Hitomi loved you."
Later after she thought about it, Merle could understand why Van reacted so badly to that one. The formula had been introduced to make Van believe that Hitomi hated him, and wanted him to hurt. So, obviously, mentioning how she had loved him was a bad idea. Van's eyes went harder then diamonds and he grabbed Millerna's throat again, squeezing hard.
Millerna choked and desperately played her final card. "Zaibach destroyed your country!"
Van dropped Millerna, and clutched his head. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor, gasping for breath. She watched him apprehensively. Minutes passed by and there was no change. Suddenly he raised his head and blinked.
"Millerna? Merle? What's going on? Where am I?" Van then fell over again as the cat girl glomped him at once. "Whoa! Easy there!"
"Lord Van! You're alright!" Merle cried. "I'm so glad you're well again!"
Van was puzzled. "Why wouldn't I be well?" He tried to stand up but nearly fell over again. Millerna caught him and supported his weight.
"Take it easy. The struggle in your brain must have left your body as weak as a kitten."
"Hey!"
"Metaphorically speaking of course".
Van blinked again. "What are you talking about? Struggle in my mind? The last thing I remember is.being jumped in my room."
Merle nodded. "That was Refina." Seeing Van's puzzled expression, she waved it off. "I'll explain later. Suffice to say, you were injected with some stuff that screwed up your mind."
"You mean like fate alteration?"
Millerna nodded. "Exactly".
Van scowled. "So I was Zaibach's pawn. I have much to atone for."
The princess grabbed his hand and started pulling him down the hall. "You can start by helping Hitomi get out alive." Suddenly it was Van doing the pulling.
***
"We're almost there guys!" Dalet shouted. "I remember this hallway!"
Several guards were on their tail, and they had to keep running. Hitomi was getting seriously tired. 'I'm a sprinter, not a cross-country racer!'
Dilandau, staying by her side, saw the look in her eyes. "Don't worry. When we get back to the Vione you'll be able to sleep all you want!"
Hitomi's eyes lit up. "I'd kiss you, but then our 'friends' would catch up. Then where would we be?" Dilandau laughed.
"Nowhere good".
A cry of triumph came from Dalet as they came to a door. He threw it open and rushed out into the open air, followed by the others.
There was no open air, no fighting guymelefs, and no way to get back to the Vione.
"Dalet? Where did you take us?" Dilandau asked calmly.
"Uh, it looks like a library."
For the first time in a while, Dilandau slapped Dalet, while Hitomi, Chesta, and Miguel groaned. "You idiot! You led us down the wrong corridor!"
"Not really".
The group spun swords out. They found themselves face to face with six palace guards. In the lead, was Refina.
The bitch grinned a grin that would show up a crocodile. "I think this is the right place."
A/N: Buh, duh, duh! Next chapter, is the fight with Refina! I've really got to stop ending in cliffhangers. Thanks for all your praise. I've almost got 100 reviews! See you next time! On Escaflowne!