Chapter Four: Bound by Fate

*Angel speaking! This seems to be my most popular story. Anyone care to explain? Is it because the series was so popular? Do tell. I like all of your reviews. There very encouraging! Escaflowne is one of my favourite animation, and I do own the series! I must tell you they were hard to find, but I found them. The movie was great too. I love the music by Yoko Kanno. I know I'm taking up some of your reading time. So if you want you can skip all this and just read the story.

@}------- Angel Fergie -------{@ Thanks Again!!

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It was dawn and Hitomi and Van finally reached Palace. Hitomi was exhausted from the long journey so he could understand her wanting to sleep. She fell asleep awhile ago. Van didn't feel like waking her so he let her sleep. He liked being with Hitomi like this. He missed her very much and having her this close again brought joy to his heart once again. He almost forgot what joy felt like.

Van got to the front steps of the chateau where he was suppose to meet the others. He slowly got off the horse so that her wouldn't wake Hitomi. Van pick her up and headed inside.

"Van! It's nice to see you again, and Hitomi too" Allen said.

"I need to use a room for Hitomi. She exhausted from the journey" Van said going into the chateau . Allen lead him to a spare room and Van layed Hitomi to rest.

"I could of picked you up in the Crusade. It would of made the journey easier" Allen said leading Van to the meeting room.

"It was faster this way."

"Van you look different. I must be because Hitomi's back. Am I right?"

"I've missed her a lot. It's nice to see her again, but I wish it would of been under better circumstances."

They both entered the meeting room where everyone was waiting.

Old friends were there Dryden, Millerna, Sheid, Allen, Gaddes and Ruhm. Also some new friends were there Adama Eshe, Rig Vieta, and the new king of Zaibach Lamire. Zaibach was one of the countries that changed it's names. The new name of Zaibach is Hitokan.

"So what's this important information that you have to give to us?" Millerna asked.

"It has to do with the fate of both Gaea and the Mystic Moon" Van said. He explain the whole situation about what has happened this far. He inform them about their new enemy that he had encountered.

Hitomi was dreaming of her standing on the overhang of a cliff. The wind was blowing through her hair. The air started to get warmer and Hitomi looked down. It was Fanalia, and it was burning! Was this a vision of the past or maybe the future? Hitomi looked up into the sky at the Earth. The Earth was falling into Gaea. Hitomi suddenly fell from the cliffs edge. Plummeting towards the ground she suddenly grew wings and flew. There was a light in the distance. Hitomi was drawn towards it. When she reached the light she woke up from her dream in a cold sweat. "No that can't be our fate! What was that light?" Hitomi asked herself.

Hitomi looked around. It appeared that she was in a bedroom but the last thing she remember was being on a horse with Van. Hitomi figured that they were in Palace. She got up and opened the window. The cold breeze touched her face. It felt pleasant compared to the hot breeze she was accustomed to. She looked out of the window and that confirmed that she was in Palace.

Palace was falling apart like Earth. The ground was cracked and buildings had fallen over. Hitomi walked out of the room and looked around. She spotted a palace guard and walked up to him. "Do you know where Van is?" Hitomi asked.

"Lord Van is in a meeting down the hall. It's the large the room with red doors" he explained.

Hitomi walked up to the doors, and walked inside. Hitomi looked around and everyone appeared to be sitting down. Hitomi walked up to the table and all eyes redirected towards her.

"Hitomi! It's been a long time since we last saw you" Millerna said getting up and giving her a hug. Hitomi noticed the large ring on her finger. Millerna caught her looking at it. "Me and Dryden got re-married" Millerna explained.

"It's nice to see you all again, but I wish it were under better conditions" Hitomi said as she took a seat at the table.

"So this is the Hitomi I've heard so much about. It's nice to finally meet you. My name is Lamire. I am King of Hitokan formerly known as Zaibach " King Lamire said.

Shin stood with Reed in an abandon mansion. The whole village seemed to be abandoned. Reed explain that some villages were abandon during the great war. Shin decided that it would be a prefect place to set up base.

"These are all the men you could find?" Shin said at the pathetic bunch.

"There are more coming. All together well have about five hundred men" Reed said.

"We need more! Where are those weapons you spoke of? Lets just break some men out of prisons. They probably want to repay society as much as I want to" Shin said.

"The weapons are here. Under this mansion. There is a underground cavern where I put them out of harms way. Use them as you see fit. There are 1000 guymelef units, 100 tanks, 10 floating fortresses, and much more. I've been collecting them for a long time now for such a battle. I've also collected construction plans for a various amount of weapons that have never had a chance to be put to good use" Reed said sitting down taking another drink of his wine.

"Sounds like you've got everything planned out. Do you have a map of Gaea?" Shin asked sitting opposite Reed. Reed pulled out the map and placed it on the table.

"Godeshen seems to be the closest city to us. Lets attack them first and gather as many men as we can there. Do your men know how to work the guymelef units?" Shin inquired.

"Yes. Most of these men have been in battle with them before. They others have been training for a month now. We also just got word that some sorcerers will be join us too" Reed explained with a smirk on his face.

"Everything seems to be falling into place perfectly. We'll start our strike tomorrow when it gets dark. They'll never expect us coming. Inform the men to be ready by my command" Shin said getting up and walking out onto the balcony. He looked at the Earth that shone high in the sky.

The meeting was over. The word was to be spread that Gaea should be prepared for war. Hitomi was standing out on the balcony over looking the city. She didn't want another war. The last war she lost too many friends like Falcon, Nariya, Eriya, Balgus and many more. She didn't want to loose any more friends.

"A penny for you thoughts?" Allen asked as he walked towards. He stood beside her. "You look like you've got a lot on your mind. Want me to take the world off you shoulders for a bit?" he said smiling at Hitomi.

Hitomi was thankful for Allen's interruption. It got her mind off of all the things going on. She let out a loud sigh. "You don't know how good it is too see you all again. I was beginning to miss you guys back home. So I heard you found you sister Celina. I was happy to hear that" Hitomi said leaning against the railing.

"Van must of told you. I must tell you that he missed you everyday since you left. He hasn't been himself for the past couple of months, but when I saw him walk in with you in his arms. There was a glow about him" Allen said.

Hitomi blushed as she looked at Allen and noticed that his hair was cut up to his shoulders. "You cut your hair" Hitomi said.

"Yeah. It was getting too long, and it was time for a change. You don't seem to have changed one bit Hitomi" Allen said pushing his hair behind his ear.

For some reason Hitomi felt like she finally come home after a long vacation. Her mom would be furious that she left again. She wondered what her friends and family were doing now. She hoped that they were safe.

Hitomi didn't know that the fate of both worlds lied in her hands, and the hands of another. Will her powers grow strong enough to save the world in time? Wait and see...