*-A/N: Finally. the much awaited chapter ten! Woot woot! For joy, for
happiness.. *goes all 'love and peace' like a la Vash from Trigun* Okay
then. Let the madness commence!
Disclaimer: I hate these things. Uh, I don't own Escaflowne. ... I think..
TEN
"Woah! It's a little, midget type dude, duuuuuude!" said Van quietly, looking at the tiny boy sitting regally on the throne. Allen shot Van a glare.
"You're being disrespectful," he snapped. Van shut his trap, but then immediately opened it again.
"Dude! It's not like you're his dad." Van muttered, swaying slightly. That's right kids.. Van had gotten too close to some guymelef glue that Dryden had been applying to Escaflowne, and was consequentially very high, with even poorer judgement than normal. Twisted.
"... You'll disgrace us," replied Allen. Van glared. Lord knew he was old enough to be the little midget-dude's dad. Sick.
"Van, do us a favor and shut up," said Hitomi, who was walking on Van's right. "You'll get us kicked out of Freid!"
"Sheesh. No need to get your panties in a twist." Hitomi only glared.
"Hello! I welcome you to Freid on behalf of my father, who is out of the country at the moment," said the young duke, once they were in ear shot. "It's nice to see you again, Aunt Millerna."
"Certainly speaks like a diplomat," said Van, astounded at the small child's vocabulary.
"St!" Allen and Hitomi hissed. Cinderella dug her heel into Van's big toe, and Van bit down a yelp.
"It's nice to see you too, Chid," said Millerna in reply. The little boy stood up and made his way over to where the company was kneeling, a pint sized sword at his side. He motioned for them to stand. And when they did so, only reached Van's waist.
"Who are you?" he asked in child like innocence.
"He's.. Van, from the Mystic Moon," said Hitomi, speaking up before Van could open his mouth.
"Idiot extrodinare," muttered Cinderella so softly that only Van could hear. He kicked her in the heel, and she let out a tiny yelp, covered by a cough. Chid smiled.
"Really? You must be tired. I'll have the servants show you to your rooms," he said, and gave his aunt a hug. "Will you join me for dinner?" he asked Millerna hopefully.
"Of course," she said, and the party was led along by a servant, Chid trailing along behind in typical innocence.
"Woo! This is a really really nice palace," said Van, staring upwards. "You're lucky to live here."
"Thank you," said Chit. Merle coughed, and Van turned around and glared.
"Got a problem? Or just coughing up a hairball, furball?" he asked. Merle buried her claws in his arm, and Cinderella came along with a paper fan and swatted them apart.
"Shut it, Van," she snapped, and then turned, smiling, to Chid.
"You'll have to excuse him," she said sweetly. "He's got issues. He hit his head the other day and hasn't really been the same since."
"Shall we have the physicians take a look at it?" Chid asked in concern, looking up at Cinderella with wide eyed innocence.
"He'll be fine.. Eventually," Cinderella said. Hitomi gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. Van turned to face her, walking backwards.
"Was that a giggle, your highness?" he asked with a wolfish grin. Hitomi put her hand in front of her mouth, trying to hide a smile. Van grinned even larger.
"Come on, let's see the pretty queen's smile!" he said.
"Van, you're going to ram straight into something if you keep walking like that," Hitomi said. Van ignored her and instead tried to pry her hand away from her face.
"Please???? I want to see you smile!" he said, having rarely seen the queen even crack a grin at a joke. "OUCH!" he yelled as he ran into a large pillar with a loud thud.
"Shit!" He yelled, and then used some very inappropriate language. Cinderella put her hand over Chid's right ear, while Millerna clapped hers over Chid's left.
"Van, there are innocent e-a-r-s in our presence," said Allen with a chuckle. Dryden, who had said nearly nothing since they entered the palace, nodded.
"He's right, you know," he said, and Van could just see a tiny glaze in his eyes.
"Aha!" Van cried. "You got high off that glue, too!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Dryden vaguely, and then ran into another pillar. Chid giggled, Merle hissed, and Allen, Hitomi, Cinderella and Millerna sighed.
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
"SO, these were the queen's rooms?" Hitomi asked Millerna. The princess nodded, her perfect blonde curls bouncing flawlessly up and down.
"Yes. The duke had these rooms designed especially for her. Van, be careful," Millerna added. The crazy boy hopped away from the vase he had been inspecting, and instead sat down at a dresser. Hitomi sighed and turned back to Millerna, who was walking out of the rooms.
"Van, are you coming?" asked Hitomi. She turned around, and saw Van tucking something hastily into his shirt.
"Yeah," he said, his voice high and squeaky..
"Van, what's that?" Hitomi asked suspiciously. Van looked around nervously.
"N-nothing."
"I'll have your head if you're stealing," said Hitomi with a glare.
"Look, I'll tell you later, okay?" Van asked. Hitomi sighed, nodded curtly, and then followed Millerna out of the room, checking that Van was behind her and making sure that he wasn't misbehaving himself.
"Oh, Van," said Millerna. "Allen mentioned something about training today. How does that sound to you?"
"Good," said Van dazedly, obviously off in la la land.
"Great. I'll lead you to the field."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Hitomi sat in the stands surrounding the training arena and watched the two swordsmen below her. Hitomi hated to admit it, but Van was improving with suprising rapidity. Already muscles were defining below his shirt and he was excellent enough to rival men who had been training for years. Hitomi tried not to think about how much she admired him, about how strong he was in comparison to she, who was weak. about many of the emotions stirring within her in a depressing turmoil of confusion, but it was useless. Hitomi knew that she'd have to sort out her feelings eventually, figure out just what it was that was inside of her, making her heart flutter at the worst possible moments- like now. Allen lunged towards Van, striking at him with his sword, looking intent on killing Van. But the boy from the mystic moon leapt aside with suprising grace, with an air of almost mockery. Hitomi watched silently as Van and Allen danced in circled around each other, striking, parrying, feinting, and dodging. Finally, first blood was drawn. Allen clutched his arm and looked up in shock as Van smirked at him, beckoning him forward. The fight grew faster, more furious, but finally the two had to call it to a halt. Hitomi sauntered down onto the field, looking at the two men who were both bleeding slightly and sweating like pigs.
"We need to get those cuts bandaged up," Hitomi said to them, cautiously edging away from Allen. He may not have showed any sexual inclinations since she had returned from the Vione, but that didn't mean that she trusted him yet. It took all of Hitomi's willpower to place Van between herself and Allen as a shield, the way she had been doing so inconspicuously lately.
"I'll have Millerna look over my cuts," said Allen, and Hitomi nodded, leading Van away.
"I'll have Millerna look over my cuts," said Van in a high pitched voice, and then snorted. "Honestly. Probably just an excuse to try to get into bed with her.. Hey, is anything wrong?" he asked Hitomi, who was leading him away by the wrist at a quick pace, a dazed look in her eyes.
"What? No," said Hitomi, those feelings stirring up in her again. But she continued leading Van back to the palace, letting him chatter.
"And I swear he looked like he was about to cry when I cut him in the arm," said Van. Hitomi stopped him outside the palace doors.
"You bleed on the tiles in there and I'll kill you, you got it?" Hitomi asked him. Van nodded, and they entered the palace, Van dashing along with his hands over his cuts through the marble hallways. Going through, they passed Cinderella, who only smirked at Van and his many injuries before continuing her saunter down the hallway, threatening random servants just to see what they'd do.
"Heh, that looks like fun." said Van with a grin as Cinderella stood over a poor shaking maid, shaking her fist. Hitomi snorted.
"It's pointless," she said, opening the door to Van's chamber for him.
"Am I still not allowed to bleed?" Van asked as Hitomi sent a maid for water, herbs, and strips of cloth. Hitomi turned to face him, and decided she didn't like the grin on his face. Not one bit. There was a funny stirring feeling in her stomach, and Hitomi willed herself not to blush, gulp, or show any sighs of discomfort.
"You can bleed in here.. I just didn't want you to leave a trail of blood on the marble. I can clean this up myself," Hitomi said, and Van began stripping off his armor. Hitomi looked away as he pulled off his shirt, and thanked the maid who returned with the water and white strips of cloth. Hitomi felt Van's eyes on her as she crushed the herbs into the water and sat down next to him.
"Where did you learn to heal?" Van asked her curiously.
"My mother. This might sting a little," Hitomi said, dipping one strip of cloth in the water, soaking it a bit and applying it to Van's upper arm. He cringed, but did nothing else as Hitomi cleaned the injury, wiped away the blood and bound the cut carefully. She proceeded to this to the cut on his other arm, but stopped when she saw the last cut on his right leg.
"Ahm." Hitomi said, blushing a little. "Your leg."
"Yeah. It's bleeding," said Van, obviously equally embarrassed. "Turn around."
"Okay," said Hitomi, tearing her eyes away from the injury on his thighs and turning around, looking at the wall and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, turning pink as she heard "ziiip" and the rustle of fabric.
"Okay, you can turn back around," said Van. He was sitting on the bed with the blanket over his lap, whit the edges of what appeared to be shorts with chickens on them peeking out form underneath. Hitomi made an indistinct noise in her throat, quickly washed and bound Van's led, and straightened up, a radiant pink, and faced the back wall again as Van put his pants back on.
'How humiliating.' Hitomi thought to herself, but smiled a bit and then mentally smacked herself.
"Well, I, um," Hitomi said once Van had finished re-dressing. "I should. ah. go."
"Yes, um." said Van, obviously as embarrassed about the whole situation as Hitomi. "Go. Right."
"Uh, okay.. I'll. um.. Go... then.." Said Hitomi uncomfortably, but did not budge. She stared at Van for a moment, and then finally turned and walked out of the room.
"Wait, Hitomi!" Van called just before she had reached the door. Hitomi turned around.
"Uh. well.. Um.." Van obviously had trouble spitting out what was on his mind. Hitomi didn't really blame him. "Do you think Allen purposely cut his leg just to take his pants off in front of Millerna?" Hitomi gave a forced laugh.
"Yeah, he probably did." she said, and then turned to leave again, her heart sinking for an unknown reason.
"Wait.." Van said again as Hitomi put her hand on the doorknob.
"Yes?" Hitomi turned around. Maybe.
"Thanks."
"Oh." said Hitomi, the sinking feeling intensified. "You're welcome." and with that awkward situation finished with, she left, face the color of the setting sun.
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
The young Fanelian queen was awoken late in the night to the rough feel of a man's hands on her body. She let out a yelp and jumped up on her bed, reaching blindly for her sword in the dark. But her sword was gone.
"Who are you," she asked, backing over the fluffy mattress, clinging to one of the bed poles in the far corner, away from the stranger.
"I've been informed to take you to the dungeon." came a rough voice that sent chills down Hitomi's spine. She gulped nervously.
"That doesn't give you the right to molest me," she said, her voice shaking as memories flooded back to her. The guard let out a low laugh.
"I've got the right to do what I want to you, as long as I deliver you to the dungeons in one piece." The guard lunged for the queen again, and Hitomi let out a yelp.
"You're dealing with the queen of Fanelia here," she yelled, but before she could do anything, the guard had roughly grabbed her and pinned her down, letting out a 'heh heh.' Hitomi let out a loud, shrill scream and began to blindly punch in the dark.
"You little bitch," cursed the guard.
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Van sat in the dark, lonely cell, listening to the voices of his friends. He could hear the voices of Merle and Allen in once cell, Dryden and Cinderella in another, and Millerna in her own private cell. Van knew that he was supposed to be stuck with Hitomi, but she had not yet been thrown in. Maybe she had escaped. Van highly doubted it- he had felt her scream in his bones not ten minutes ago. He was worried about the queen. She had a dark past, and who knew how this would affect her now.
"Stay in there, you little bitch, and don't ever come near me again," said the rough voice of a guard as Van's cell door clanged open. Hitomi was thrown roughly on top of him, and she let out a choked sob. The door slammed shut, and Hitomi scrambled away from Van, into the opposite corner.
"Don't... don't touch me.." She whimpered. "Don't come near me!"
"Hitomi? Are you alright?" Asked Van, now deeply concerned for her safety and welfare. She was crying, her entire body racking with sobs. Van slowly crawled towards her, not wanting to alarm her or traumatize her more than she already was. But to his surprise, Hitomi flew, crying into his arms. She was half naked, only the flimsy fabric of a white backless halter top and her panties covering her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked as she clutched at his shirt. She choked out a sob and shook her head against his chest.
"No. Van, keep him away from me," she cried. Van rubbed comforting circles on her back and her crying slowly subsided, but did not vanish. Carefully, Van removed his red tee shirt and slipped it over Hitomi's shoulders. It was too large for her, and the bottom of the shirt fell to mid thigh, but it was warm, covering, and better than nothing.
"Thanks," she sniffed, still clinging to him, her hands cold on the warm flesh of his chest. "Don't let him come back," she said quietly, her nails digging into his skin. Van ignored the pain, wishing only that she could transfer all her problems to his shoulders. Maybe, if he hadn't come to Gaia, these things would never have happened. Or, maybe they would have been worse.
"I won't let him touch you.. Don't worry," he said, holding Hitomi tight to him. She continued to cry softly, but slowly drifted off to sleep. Van felt anger, anger at the idiots who did this to her, and angry at himself for not being able to protect her from the pain. The damp cold of the dungeons sunk through his skin and into his bones, but Van didn't care. His whole entity was burning with hot flames of anger, coursing through his veins. All through the night, Van clung to the sleeping figure of Hitomi, who occasionally let out a cry, a whimper, or shed a tear. Time passed quickly, and yet excruciatingly slow for Van, and each time Hitomi cried out, his heart would break a thousand times. After an eternity, the dim light of dawn streamed weakly in to the dungeon, and it too seemed as breakable as the poor girl that Van was holding tight to for all he was worth. Slowly, the others began to awaken and talk quietly, and at one point Allen called out to Van .
"How is she?" he said. Van edged his way to the bars, Hitomi still in his arms.
"Not too good," Van said. "No thanks to you." He peeked out through the bars and saw Allen looking back at him from two cells down.
"I've already tried to explain. There was something inside me. I couldn't control what I was doing. But then when Zaibach came, it just vanished. I'll understand if she never forgives me. And I swear I'll kill that guard."
"You know," said Dryden, popping his head out from the bars of his cell. "I read about something like this once. Sorcerers cast a spell on a strong man in the hopes that their enemy would turn against him. It was reported that he said that there was a demon inside of him, forcing him to do things he could not control."
"And Zaibach has sorcerers," came Cinderella's ever-composed voice in the cell next to Van's. "Maybe they cast that spell on Allen."
"But what about the guard?" asked Millerna from the fourth cell down.
"I don't care," growled Merle. "I'll kill him for hurting the lady Hitomi."
"Shut up, all of you," Van said ad Hitomi began to groan and stir. "She's waking up."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Merle could hear Van comforting Hitomi two cells away. She ached to help her queen out, but she couldn't. It hurt Merle that when her surrogate sister was in need, she could do nothing to comfort Hitomi, the only person who really cared about her. After Merle's village had been burned down, Hitomi had been the one to convince her parents that the girl had to stay at the castle, with her. Ever since that day, Merle had been completely devoted, never swaying from her mistress' footsteps. Merle's ears sank as she heard Hitomi let out a dry sob. Merle's ears could pick out much more than human ears, and it was almost as if she was there in their cell, listening to everything that was going on within.
"Shh," Van was saying. "It's okay, Hitomi. He's gone now."
"Van, please, don't let him come back."
"Don't worry. I won't let him touch you." Then, Merle's ears picked up a new noise. Footsteps.
"Chid?" called Millerna from the next cell down. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I'm sorry, Auntie, but our allay, Zaibach, has requested that we jail you for treason."
"We've done nothing," said Allen, coming up to the bars and pushing Merle aside. The cat girl growled, but one look from Allen told her that now was not the time. Chid walked to stand in front of their cell, and looked up at Allen with sad eyes.
"My mother always told me storied about you, Allen Schezar. I always wanted to be like you. How could you and Aunt Millerna have committed such a crime?"
"We're innocent!" Yelled Van. "The only thing we did was defend ourselves from mindless slaughter by Zaibach forces! How is that treason? Look at what your guards did to Hitomi, a queen! Their crimes deserve imprisonment, not ours," screamed Van, and Merle could distinctly hear the sound of Hitomi's weeping.
"Isn't there a way you could question us?" asked Dryden from Merle's left.
"There is a priest, Plaktu, on the way here," said Chid. "I could allow him to question you. He can tell if you're lying."
"Would you give us the honor of being questioned, then?" asked Cinderella dryly. Chid looked to her, his big eyes sad, and then nodded.
"Yes. I will send for him the moment he arrives," Chid said. Cinderella nodded, and Merle came up to the bars of her cell.
"Prince Chid? I have a single favor to ask of you," she said softly and sadly. Chid turned to her, and took in her drooping ears and dispirited expression.
"Yes, Lady Merle?" he asked, cocking his head slightly.
"Bring some clothes for the Lady Hitomi. It's cold down here, and I think the guards took what few scraps of cloth she had covering her in the first place." Chids eyes widened.
"It will be done."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Hitomi slid Van's shirt off and grabbed the long black tunic. She shamefacedly threw the red tee shirt to Van and pulled on the tunic. Van had politely averted his eyes, but caught his shirt and slipped it over his head as Hitomi pulled on the pair of fencing pants. Maybe not the most.. Normal outfit, but you could move in it without having to worry about your underclothes showing, and it was fairly comfortable so Hitomi wasn't complaining. The queen took the tan sash and used it as a belt, tying it around her waist to ensure that her tunic didn't get in the way. She then turned to face Van, who was staring at the cell wall.
"Are you done yet?" he asked her.
"Yes," she said quietly, greatly exhausted by the trauma of the past night. She did her best to keep the tears at bay. She was tired of being weak. Why was it that Van could always unlock her deep, dark, secrets, and make her feel so vulnerable? Hitomi was not quick to trust, and didn't like anyone, not even Merle, having easy access to her feelings. But Van knew exactly the buttons to push to get her to unwillingly open up. Part of Hitomi had been afraid that Van would take advantage of her when she had been thrown, mostly naked, into the cell, but now she knew otherwise, that Van would never do such a thing. Hitomi crawled into the far corner of the cell, wanting to be alone with her thoughts, and Van, sensing that now was not a good time, did not follow. Instead, he made his way to the bars of the cell and began conversing with Dryden in whispers. Then came the clang of a door, and footsteps. Van jerked away from the cell door as though he had been shocked, and Hitomi made her way over to him.
"I was going to pick the lock on our cell, but there's not enough time," he said as Chid came to a halt in front of Van and Hitomi. One of the guards smirked at Hitomi, letting out a loud 'heh heh.' Hitomi crawled to the corner of the cell where the sewage pit was, and vomited, feeling sickened. She then crawled back over to Van, and clung to him.
"Please. help." she whispered to him, hiding behind his strong form.
"I won't let them touch you, don't worry," he replied. Hitomi only clung to the fabric of his shirt.
"Plaktu is here," said Chid. "Are you ready for questioning?" he asked. Van turned around to Hitomi.
"Take this," she whispered, removing the pendant and handing it to Van. "You saved us with it once, please, save us all again." Van nodded and clasped it around his throat.
"I'm ready," Van said, tucking it below his shirt. Suddenly, he doubled over in pain. Hitomi crawled towards him.
"Van? Are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand on his back. He was shuddering, his hands against his temples. But at her touch, he relaxed.
"I'm.. I'm fine," he said shakily, standing up and making his way to the door of the cell.
"Lead me to your priest," he said. "I am ready."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
A/N: I know, melodramatic and a very cliché ending, but, hey. Don't complain! It took me forever to get this thing written. . caffeine is my friend at two a.m. *nod nod* But, anyways, I've got a huge case of writer's block. So, I'm sorry my dear fans, but as soon as I get to the entire ispano sequence (which I was hoping to get to in chapter 10 but it looks like it won't be at least until chapter 12 . ;) I'm taking a B R E A K. Good news for you, though... I have a three day weekend! That means.. More chapters! Hurrah hurrah!... okay. And, also, if you're against that entire "really horny guard thing," deal with it, okay? This fic isn't going to be all fluffy puppies and rainbow ponies. O_O did I just SAY that? Oh well. At least it's a good excuse for FLUFF! And, plus, it actually did have a point.. THE ZAIBACH SORCERERS ARE GOING TO KILL US ALL!!!!!!! . right. No more fruit loops for me!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO:
Dariel: Dude, Van always does something stupid. *whistles and shoves Van voodoo doll behind back* heh heh.. Okay. I know that you'll love what's going to be coming up later in the story. Fuffishly fluffishly fluffiness. Haa! And it's okay that you kind of scared me. being shocked out of ones mind is healthy, upon occasion..
Naria: oh, thanks. I'm afraid that I'm kind of bad at typing...
Feye Morgan: Yes! Lets go steal Escaflowne from Bandai!!! *pulls on black cape and begins dashing around, cackling* Oh, and I'm also really glad that you think the story fits together that well.. Hahaha! Come on Fred, lets go wreak havoc!
Aeka-himme: Heh heh. I wouldn't mind that Hitomi plushie.. I've been looking for the various character plushies all over Ebay, heh heh ^^ Hooray for plushies! I'm really very happy that you like the story, because I worked very very hard on it. *hides "How to write a V/H fanfic" behind back* ^^; eh heh heh... Okay. I'll post lotsa lotsa updates on the entire "Van" thing in my final A/N, okieday? ^^ and I might have to resort to a Van plushie, but, oh well. And, as a parting comment, I unfortunately and very aware how teenage boys minds work, seeing as I have more guy friends than girls.. *glares at a group of insane guys talking about shirtless chicks* and, yes, Van is rather odd, but I modeled him after my "dear friend Shawn," who gives me chocolate whenever I give him a hug o_O;;;; rrright then.. I'm sorry they cut off your review for chapter eight. *passes you an Escaflowne lollypop* ^^ hope this makes you feel better!
CinderellaxVan: Hooray for hyper! Double Hooray for alter egoes! Except when they get obnoxious and start arguing, but, the hell! And breaking V/H moments are fun.. *cackle* haaaaa! This chapter was loaded with V/H, though.. *evil cackle* feel the pain! And Van/Celena is a REALLY WEIRD PAIRING. I read some of that once.. O_O me after reading Van/Celena. 'tis muchly frightening.. shutting up now..
FINAL A/N: Finally, we got to chapter ten! Hurray me! But its already Sunday and stupid FF.net wouldn't let me update on Valentines day.. *gets C4 and slowly creeps towards ff.net cackling evilly* heh heh heh. Okay. Van update. Still haven't met the guy, though Mr. Latin class has decided to introduce us.. Fun stuff. I think I'll go along with it just to see where it winds out. Fun! Okay, really, nothing new in that area, but it's still an entertaining prospect. *cackle* hee hee! Ar. Okay.
o_O I'll be seeing you guys later. I'm getting yelled at for slacking...
~Azure
Disclaimer: I hate these things. Uh, I don't own Escaflowne. ... I think..
TEN
"Woah! It's a little, midget type dude, duuuuuude!" said Van quietly, looking at the tiny boy sitting regally on the throne. Allen shot Van a glare.
"You're being disrespectful," he snapped. Van shut his trap, but then immediately opened it again.
"Dude! It's not like you're his dad." Van muttered, swaying slightly. That's right kids.. Van had gotten too close to some guymelef glue that Dryden had been applying to Escaflowne, and was consequentially very high, with even poorer judgement than normal. Twisted.
"... You'll disgrace us," replied Allen. Van glared. Lord knew he was old enough to be the little midget-dude's dad. Sick.
"Van, do us a favor and shut up," said Hitomi, who was walking on Van's right. "You'll get us kicked out of Freid!"
"Sheesh. No need to get your panties in a twist." Hitomi only glared.
"Hello! I welcome you to Freid on behalf of my father, who is out of the country at the moment," said the young duke, once they were in ear shot. "It's nice to see you again, Aunt Millerna."
"Certainly speaks like a diplomat," said Van, astounded at the small child's vocabulary.
"St!" Allen and Hitomi hissed. Cinderella dug her heel into Van's big toe, and Van bit down a yelp.
"It's nice to see you too, Chid," said Millerna in reply. The little boy stood up and made his way over to where the company was kneeling, a pint sized sword at his side. He motioned for them to stand. And when they did so, only reached Van's waist.
"Who are you?" he asked in child like innocence.
"He's.. Van, from the Mystic Moon," said Hitomi, speaking up before Van could open his mouth.
"Idiot extrodinare," muttered Cinderella so softly that only Van could hear. He kicked her in the heel, and she let out a tiny yelp, covered by a cough. Chid smiled.
"Really? You must be tired. I'll have the servants show you to your rooms," he said, and gave his aunt a hug. "Will you join me for dinner?" he asked Millerna hopefully.
"Of course," she said, and the party was led along by a servant, Chid trailing along behind in typical innocence.
"Woo! This is a really really nice palace," said Van, staring upwards. "You're lucky to live here."
"Thank you," said Chit. Merle coughed, and Van turned around and glared.
"Got a problem? Or just coughing up a hairball, furball?" he asked. Merle buried her claws in his arm, and Cinderella came along with a paper fan and swatted them apart.
"Shut it, Van," she snapped, and then turned, smiling, to Chid.
"You'll have to excuse him," she said sweetly. "He's got issues. He hit his head the other day and hasn't really been the same since."
"Shall we have the physicians take a look at it?" Chid asked in concern, looking up at Cinderella with wide eyed innocence.
"He'll be fine.. Eventually," Cinderella said. Hitomi gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. Van turned to face her, walking backwards.
"Was that a giggle, your highness?" he asked with a wolfish grin. Hitomi put her hand in front of her mouth, trying to hide a smile. Van grinned even larger.
"Come on, let's see the pretty queen's smile!" he said.
"Van, you're going to ram straight into something if you keep walking like that," Hitomi said. Van ignored her and instead tried to pry her hand away from her face.
"Please???? I want to see you smile!" he said, having rarely seen the queen even crack a grin at a joke. "OUCH!" he yelled as he ran into a large pillar with a loud thud.
"Shit!" He yelled, and then used some very inappropriate language. Cinderella put her hand over Chid's right ear, while Millerna clapped hers over Chid's left.
"Van, there are innocent e-a-r-s in our presence," said Allen with a chuckle. Dryden, who had said nearly nothing since they entered the palace, nodded.
"He's right, you know," he said, and Van could just see a tiny glaze in his eyes.
"Aha!" Van cried. "You got high off that glue, too!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Dryden vaguely, and then ran into another pillar. Chid giggled, Merle hissed, and Allen, Hitomi, Cinderella and Millerna sighed.
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
"SO, these were the queen's rooms?" Hitomi asked Millerna. The princess nodded, her perfect blonde curls bouncing flawlessly up and down.
"Yes. The duke had these rooms designed especially for her. Van, be careful," Millerna added. The crazy boy hopped away from the vase he had been inspecting, and instead sat down at a dresser. Hitomi sighed and turned back to Millerna, who was walking out of the rooms.
"Van, are you coming?" asked Hitomi. She turned around, and saw Van tucking something hastily into his shirt.
"Yeah," he said, his voice high and squeaky..
"Van, what's that?" Hitomi asked suspiciously. Van looked around nervously.
"N-nothing."
"I'll have your head if you're stealing," said Hitomi with a glare.
"Look, I'll tell you later, okay?" Van asked. Hitomi sighed, nodded curtly, and then followed Millerna out of the room, checking that Van was behind her and making sure that he wasn't misbehaving himself.
"Oh, Van," said Millerna. "Allen mentioned something about training today. How does that sound to you?"
"Good," said Van dazedly, obviously off in la la land.
"Great. I'll lead you to the field."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Hitomi sat in the stands surrounding the training arena and watched the two swordsmen below her. Hitomi hated to admit it, but Van was improving with suprising rapidity. Already muscles were defining below his shirt and he was excellent enough to rival men who had been training for years. Hitomi tried not to think about how much she admired him, about how strong he was in comparison to she, who was weak. about many of the emotions stirring within her in a depressing turmoil of confusion, but it was useless. Hitomi knew that she'd have to sort out her feelings eventually, figure out just what it was that was inside of her, making her heart flutter at the worst possible moments- like now. Allen lunged towards Van, striking at him with his sword, looking intent on killing Van. But the boy from the mystic moon leapt aside with suprising grace, with an air of almost mockery. Hitomi watched silently as Van and Allen danced in circled around each other, striking, parrying, feinting, and dodging. Finally, first blood was drawn. Allen clutched his arm and looked up in shock as Van smirked at him, beckoning him forward. The fight grew faster, more furious, but finally the two had to call it to a halt. Hitomi sauntered down onto the field, looking at the two men who were both bleeding slightly and sweating like pigs.
"We need to get those cuts bandaged up," Hitomi said to them, cautiously edging away from Allen. He may not have showed any sexual inclinations since she had returned from the Vione, but that didn't mean that she trusted him yet. It took all of Hitomi's willpower to place Van between herself and Allen as a shield, the way she had been doing so inconspicuously lately.
"I'll have Millerna look over my cuts," said Allen, and Hitomi nodded, leading Van away.
"I'll have Millerna look over my cuts," said Van in a high pitched voice, and then snorted. "Honestly. Probably just an excuse to try to get into bed with her.. Hey, is anything wrong?" he asked Hitomi, who was leading him away by the wrist at a quick pace, a dazed look in her eyes.
"What? No," said Hitomi, those feelings stirring up in her again. But she continued leading Van back to the palace, letting him chatter.
"And I swear he looked like he was about to cry when I cut him in the arm," said Van. Hitomi stopped him outside the palace doors.
"You bleed on the tiles in there and I'll kill you, you got it?" Hitomi asked him. Van nodded, and they entered the palace, Van dashing along with his hands over his cuts through the marble hallways. Going through, they passed Cinderella, who only smirked at Van and his many injuries before continuing her saunter down the hallway, threatening random servants just to see what they'd do.
"Heh, that looks like fun." said Van with a grin as Cinderella stood over a poor shaking maid, shaking her fist. Hitomi snorted.
"It's pointless," she said, opening the door to Van's chamber for him.
"Am I still not allowed to bleed?" Van asked as Hitomi sent a maid for water, herbs, and strips of cloth. Hitomi turned to face him, and decided she didn't like the grin on his face. Not one bit. There was a funny stirring feeling in her stomach, and Hitomi willed herself not to blush, gulp, or show any sighs of discomfort.
"You can bleed in here.. I just didn't want you to leave a trail of blood on the marble. I can clean this up myself," Hitomi said, and Van began stripping off his armor. Hitomi looked away as he pulled off his shirt, and thanked the maid who returned with the water and white strips of cloth. Hitomi felt Van's eyes on her as she crushed the herbs into the water and sat down next to him.
"Where did you learn to heal?" Van asked her curiously.
"My mother. This might sting a little," Hitomi said, dipping one strip of cloth in the water, soaking it a bit and applying it to Van's upper arm. He cringed, but did nothing else as Hitomi cleaned the injury, wiped away the blood and bound the cut carefully. She proceeded to this to the cut on his other arm, but stopped when she saw the last cut on his right leg.
"Ahm." Hitomi said, blushing a little. "Your leg."
"Yeah. It's bleeding," said Van, obviously equally embarrassed. "Turn around."
"Okay," said Hitomi, tearing her eyes away from the injury on his thighs and turning around, looking at the wall and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, turning pink as she heard "ziiip" and the rustle of fabric.
"Okay, you can turn back around," said Van. He was sitting on the bed with the blanket over his lap, whit the edges of what appeared to be shorts with chickens on them peeking out form underneath. Hitomi made an indistinct noise in her throat, quickly washed and bound Van's led, and straightened up, a radiant pink, and faced the back wall again as Van put his pants back on.
'How humiliating.' Hitomi thought to herself, but smiled a bit and then mentally smacked herself.
"Well, I, um," Hitomi said once Van had finished re-dressing. "I should. ah. go."
"Yes, um." said Van, obviously as embarrassed about the whole situation as Hitomi. "Go. Right."
"Uh, okay.. I'll. um.. Go... then.." Said Hitomi uncomfortably, but did not budge. She stared at Van for a moment, and then finally turned and walked out of the room.
"Wait, Hitomi!" Van called just before she had reached the door. Hitomi turned around.
"Uh. well.. Um.." Van obviously had trouble spitting out what was on his mind. Hitomi didn't really blame him. "Do you think Allen purposely cut his leg just to take his pants off in front of Millerna?" Hitomi gave a forced laugh.
"Yeah, he probably did." she said, and then turned to leave again, her heart sinking for an unknown reason.
"Wait.." Van said again as Hitomi put her hand on the doorknob.
"Yes?" Hitomi turned around. Maybe.
"Thanks."
"Oh." said Hitomi, the sinking feeling intensified. "You're welcome." and with that awkward situation finished with, she left, face the color of the setting sun.
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
The young Fanelian queen was awoken late in the night to the rough feel of a man's hands on her body. She let out a yelp and jumped up on her bed, reaching blindly for her sword in the dark. But her sword was gone.
"Who are you," she asked, backing over the fluffy mattress, clinging to one of the bed poles in the far corner, away from the stranger.
"I've been informed to take you to the dungeon." came a rough voice that sent chills down Hitomi's spine. She gulped nervously.
"That doesn't give you the right to molest me," she said, her voice shaking as memories flooded back to her. The guard let out a low laugh.
"I've got the right to do what I want to you, as long as I deliver you to the dungeons in one piece." The guard lunged for the queen again, and Hitomi let out a yelp.
"You're dealing with the queen of Fanelia here," she yelled, but before she could do anything, the guard had roughly grabbed her and pinned her down, letting out a 'heh heh.' Hitomi let out a loud, shrill scream and began to blindly punch in the dark.
"You little bitch," cursed the guard.
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Van sat in the dark, lonely cell, listening to the voices of his friends. He could hear the voices of Merle and Allen in once cell, Dryden and Cinderella in another, and Millerna in her own private cell. Van knew that he was supposed to be stuck with Hitomi, but she had not yet been thrown in. Maybe she had escaped. Van highly doubted it- he had felt her scream in his bones not ten minutes ago. He was worried about the queen. She had a dark past, and who knew how this would affect her now.
"Stay in there, you little bitch, and don't ever come near me again," said the rough voice of a guard as Van's cell door clanged open. Hitomi was thrown roughly on top of him, and she let out a choked sob. The door slammed shut, and Hitomi scrambled away from Van, into the opposite corner.
"Don't... don't touch me.." She whimpered. "Don't come near me!"
"Hitomi? Are you alright?" Asked Van, now deeply concerned for her safety and welfare. She was crying, her entire body racking with sobs. Van slowly crawled towards her, not wanting to alarm her or traumatize her more than she already was. But to his surprise, Hitomi flew, crying into his arms. She was half naked, only the flimsy fabric of a white backless halter top and her panties covering her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked as she clutched at his shirt. She choked out a sob and shook her head against his chest.
"No. Van, keep him away from me," she cried. Van rubbed comforting circles on her back and her crying slowly subsided, but did not vanish. Carefully, Van removed his red tee shirt and slipped it over Hitomi's shoulders. It was too large for her, and the bottom of the shirt fell to mid thigh, but it was warm, covering, and better than nothing.
"Thanks," she sniffed, still clinging to him, her hands cold on the warm flesh of his chest. "Don't let him come back," she said quietly, her nails digging into his skin. Van ignored the pain, wishing only that she could transfer all her problems to his shoulders. Maybe, if he hadn't come to Gaia, these things would never have happened. Or, maybe they would have been worse.
"I won't let him touch you.. Don't worry," he said, holding Hitomi tight to him. She continued to cry softly, but slowly drifted off to sleep. Van felt anger, anger at the idiots who did this to her, and angry at himself for not being able to protect her from the pain. The damp cold of the dungeons sunk through his skin and into his bones, but Van didn't care. His whole entity was burning with hot flames of anger, coursing through his veins. All through the night, Van clung to the sleeping figure of Hitomi, who occasionally let out a cry, a whimper, or shed a tear. Time passed quickly, and yet excruciatingly slow for Van, and each time Hitomi cried out, his heart would break a thousand times. After an eternity, the dim light of dawn streamed weakly in to the dungeon, and it too seemed as breakable as the poor girl that Van was holding tight to for all he was worth. Slowly, the others began to awaken and talk quietly, and at one point Allen called out to Van .
"How is she?" he said. Van edged his way to the bars, Hitomi still in his arms.
"Not too good," Van said. "No thanks to you." He peeked out through the bars and saw Allen looking back at him from two cells down.
"I've already tried to explain. There was something inside me. I couldn't control what I was doing. But then when Zaibach came, it just vanished. I'll understand if she never forgives me. And I swear I'll kill that guard."
"You know," said Dryden, popping his head out from the bars of his cell. "I read about something like this once. Sorcerers cast a spell on a strong man in the hopes that their enemy would turn against him. It was reported that he said that there was a demon inside of him, forcing him to do things he could not control."
"And Zaibach has sorcerers," came Cinderella's ever-composed voice in the cell next to Van's. "Maybe they cast that spell on Allen."
"But what about the guard?" asked Millerna from the fourth cell down.
"I don't care," growled Merle. "I'll kill him for hurting the lady Hitomi."
"Shut up, all of you," Van said ad Hitomi began to groan and stir. "She's waking up."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Merle could hear Van comforting Hitomi two cells away. She ached to help her queen out, but she couldn't. It hurt Merle that when her surrogate sister was in need, she could do nothing to comfort Hitomi, the only person who really cared about her. After Merle's village had been burned down, Hitomi had been the one to convince her parents that the girl had to stay at the castle, with her. Ever since that day, Merle had been completely devoted, never swaying from her mistress' footsteps. Merle's ears sank as she heard Hitomi let out a dry sob. Merle's ears could pick out much more than human ears, and it was almost as if she was there in their cell, listening to everything that was going on within.
"Shh," Van was saying. "It's okay, Hitomi. He's gone now."
"Van, please, don't let him come back."
"Don't worry. I won't let him touch you." Then, Merle's ears picked up a new noise. Footsteps.
"Chid?" called Millerna from the next cell down. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I'm sorry, Auntie, but our allay, Zaibach, has requested that we jail you for treason."
"We've done nothing," said Allen, coming up to the bars and pushing Merle aside. The cat girl growled, but one look from Allen told her that now was not the time. Chid walked to stand in front of their cell, and looked up at Allen with sad eyes.
"My mother always told me storied about you, Allen Schezar. I always wanted to be like you. How could you and Aunt Millerna have committed such a crime?"
"We're innocent!" Yelled Van. "The only thing we did was defend ourselves from mindless slaughter by Zaibach forces! How is that treason? Look at what your guards did to Hitomi, a queen! Their crimes deserve imprisonment, not ours," screamed Van, and Merle could distinctly hear the sound of Hitomi's weeping.
"Isn't there a way you could question us?" asked Dryden from Merle's left.
"There is a priest, Plaktu, on the way here," said Chid. "I could allow him to question you. He can tell if you're lying."
"Would you give us the honor of being questioned, then?" asked Cinderella dryly. Chid looked to her, his big eyes sad, and then nodded.
"Yes. I will send for him the moment he arrives," Chid said. Cinderella nodded, and Merle came up to the bars of her cell.
"Prince Chid? I have a single favor to ask of you," she said softly and sadly. Chid turned to her, and took in her drooping ears and dispirited expression.
"Yes, Lady Merle?" he asked, cocking his head slightly.
"Bring some clothes for the Lady Hitomi. It's cold down here, and I think the guards took what few scraps of cloth she had covering her in the first place." Chids eyes widened.
"It will be done."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
Hitomi slid Van's shirt off and grabbed the long black tunic. She shamefacedly threw the red tee shirt to Van and pulled on the tunic. Van had politely averted his eyes, but caught his shirt and slipped it over his head as Hitomi pulled on the pair of fencing pants. Maybe not the most.. Normal outfit, but you could move in it without having to worry about your underclothes showing, and it was fairly comfortable so Hitomi wasn't complaining. The queen took the tan sash and used it as a belt, tying it around her waist to ensure that her tunic didn't get in the way. She then turned to face Van, who was staring at the cell wall.
"Are you done yet?" he asked her.
"Yes," she said quietly, greatly exhausted by the trauma of the past night. She did her best to keep the tears at bay. She was tired of being weak. Why was it that Van could always unlock her deep, dark, secrets, and make her feel so vulnerable? Hitomi was not quick to trust, and didn't like anyone, not even Merle, having easy access to her feelings. But Van knew exactly the buttons to push to get her to unwillingly open up. Part of Hitomi had been afraid that Van would take advantage of her when she had been thrown, mostly naked, into the cell, but now she knew otherwise, that Van would never do such a thing. Hitomi crawled into the far corner of the cell, wanting to be alone with her thoughts, and Van, sensing that now was not a good time, did not follow. Instead, he made his way to the bars of the cell and began conversing with Dryden in whispers. Then came the clang of a door, and footsteps. Van jerked away from the cell door as though he had been shocked, and Hitomi made her way over to him.
"I was going to pick the lock on our cell, but there's not enough time," he said as Chid came to a halt in front of Van and Hitomi. One of the guards smirked at Hitomi, letting out a loud 'heh heh.' Hitomi crawled to the corner of the cell where the sewage pit was, and vomited, feeling sickened. She then crawled back over to Van, and clung to him.
"Please. help." she whispered to him, hiding behind his strong form.
"I won't let them touch you, don't worry," he replied. Hitomi only clung to the fabric of his shirt.
"Plaktu is here," said Chid. "Are you ready for questioning?" he asked. Van turned around to Hitomi.
"Take this," she whispered, removing the pendant and handing it to Van. "You saved us with it once, please, save us all again." Van nodded and clasped it around his throat.
"I'm ready," Van said, tucking it below his shirt. Suddenly, he doubled over in pain. Hitomi crawled towards him.
"Van? Are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand on his back. He was shuddering, his hands against his temples. But at her touch, he relaxed.
"I'm.. I'm fine," he said shakily, standing up and making his way to the door of the cell.
"Lead me to your priest," he said. "I am ready."
.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.
A/N: I know, melodramatic and a very cliché ending, but, hey. Don't complain! It took me forever to get this thing written. . caffeine is my friend at two a.m. *nod nod* But, anyways, I've got a huge case of writer's block. So, I'm sorry my dear fans, but as soon as I get to the entire ispano sequence (which I was hoping to get to in chapter 10 but it looks like it won't be at least until chapter 12 . ;) I'm taking a B R E A K. Good news for you, though... I have a three day weekend! That means.. More chapters! Hurrah hurrah!... okay. And, also, if you're against that entire "really horny guard thing," deal with it, okay? This fic isn't going to be all fluffy puppies and rainbow ponies. O_O did I just SAY that? Oh well. At least it's a good excuse for FLUFF! And, plus, it actually did have a point.. THE ZAIBACH SORCERERS ARE GOING TO KILL US ALL!!!!!!! . right. No more fruit loops for me!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO:
Dariel: Dude, Van always does something stupid. *whistles and shoves Van voodoo doll behind back* heh heh.. Okay. I know that you'll love what's going to be coming up later in the story. Fuffishly fluffishly fluffiness. Haa! And it's okay that you kind of scared me. being shocked out of ones mind is healthy, upon occasion..
Naria: oh, thanks. I'm afraid that I'm kind of bad at typing...
Feye Morgan: Yes! Lets go steal Escaflowne from Bandai!!! *pulls on black cape and begins dashing around, cackling* Oh, and I'm also really glad that you think the story fits together that well.. Hahaha! Come on Fred, lets go wreak havoc!
Aeka-himme: Heh heh. I wouldn't mind that Hitomi plushie.. I've been looking for the various character plushies all over Ebay, heh heh ^^ Hooray for plushies! I'm really very happy that you like the story, because I worked very very hard on it. *hides "How to write a V/H fanfic" behind back* ^^; eh heh heh... Okay. I'll post lotsa lotsa updates on the entire "Van" thing in my final A/N, okieday? ^^ and I might have to resort to a Van plushie, but, oh well. And, as a parting comment, I unfortunately and very aware how teenage boys minds work, seeing as I have more guy friends than girls.. *glares at a group of insane guys talking about shirtless chicks* and, yes, Van is rather odd, but I modeled him after my "dear friend Shawn," who gives me chocolate whenever I give him a hug o_O;;;; rrright then.. I'm sorry they cut off your review for chapter eight. *passes you an Escaflowne lollypop* ^^ hope this makes you feel better!
CinderellaxVan: Hooray for hyper! Double Hooray for alter egoes! Except when they get obnoxious and start arguing, but, the hell! And breaking V/H moments are fun.. *cackle* haaaaa! This chapter was loaded with V/H, though.. *evil cackle* feel the pain! And Van/Celena is a REALLY WEIRD PAIRING. I read some of that once.. O_O me after reading Van/Celena. 'tis muchly frightening.. shutting up now..
FINAL A/N: Finally, we got to chapter ten! Hurray me! But its already Sunday and stupid FF.net wouldn't let me update on Valentines day.. *gets C4 and slowly creeps towards ff.net cackling evilly* heh heh heh. Okay. Van update. Still haven't met the guy, though Mr. Latin class has decided to introduce us.. Fun stuff. I think I'll go along with it just to see where it winds out. Fun! Okay, really, nothing new in that area, but it's still an entertaining prospect. *cackle* hee hee! Ar. Okay.
o_O I'll be seeing you guys later. I'm getting yelled at for slacking...
~Azure
