Remember how the last three chapters were actually supposed to be one big
thing? Well, this chapter 'Deathlessly' is also the first of a trilogy
that was originally written as one painfully long chapter. 'Halcyon Days'
(original title) is the second sub-section of this trilogy and 'Tears of
Time' is the last, and also the official ending to Book I.
Hope you liked the last chapter - the end of it was supposed to be the
climax. Yep, the idea of putting a sex scene at the climax is weird, but I
tried really hard to make it sound romantic and poetic, instead of lusty
and all round yuck! The remaining chapters are pretty much follow-ups, but
they explain a few things and introduce new elements which will lead to
Book Two. There are some nice moments, though slower, so bear with me.
Happy flying - mind your wings in the wind!
XI. Deathlessly Does it exist though, Time the destroyer? When will it shatter the tower on the resting hill?.
Are we such tremblingly breakable Things as destiny tries to pretend? Does childhood's promise, deep, unmistakable Down in the roots, then, later, end?.
We, though we wax but for waning, Fill none the less for remaining Powers a celestial need. R.M. Rilke
The crimson might of Atlantis burst gloriously into the receiving universe that opened its arms to welcome a metamorphosis. Skeins and strands of cosmic light wove out of two separate galaxies and leapt towards each other. The bands of light embraced mutually and their parent galaxies trailed behind, also ready to merge as the lovers have. Then, there was a chromatic dance of lights as the two galaxies swam together in the black, starry sea. They wove into each other, intertwining the bands of red light, until they became one single galaxy, shaped like a heart, with two separate nucleus that beat as one.
The interweaving grew more intense and ecstatic and the whole figure of enamored and mutually animating encircling revealed dimensions upon dimensions of existence: the pattern of the universe. But at the center of this merged galaxy, the pattern was not complex as expected, but simple, for at the very heart of the galaxy, time and space cease to exist. Time can be turned back, space can be manipulated, and destiny itself created anew. Life and death are irrelevant to the infinite and eternal lights. Love alone lives in the heart of the intertwined twain. Love is the Iris: the Goddess of Rainbows, the blue-yellow blossom of trinity, the color of the eyes.the Hitomi. ....
The phenomenon of physical union overtook Van and Hitomi. To be naked yet warm, to wander through celestial pastures before death, made life the great victor. They felt exhausted and though they expected the sky to be bright, the apocalyptic colors had died back into the east and the heavens entered blackness. Was it really night or was it death? They felt calm about either so they crept into each other's arms and sleep came like petals that fell before the hand touched the branch.
A little red light lingered, near the zenith. But ere long, their world entered an undimensioned, impenetrable darkness. There was no moon above, no stars shining. It was the real Night. But out of the absolute black vacancy there came a warmth, sweet-scented and comforting. In the dark the world had no limit and the boundaries were the length and width of their combined bodies. The veritable Night enwrapped them like a blanket and dispersed all death.
The dark was nothingness for Van - he felt nothing and thought nothing. He lay on nothing and gave up the attempt to navigate. Suddenly, he felt something undulating against him. It had the dry feel and rustling sound of grass in the wind. The smell of woods after rain came to him out of the night. With these invading senses, he extended his arm. What he felt was not the stony prison walls but soft vegetation. With his aching hands, he gripped and pulled.
At once, he found himself on firm ground, no longer floating in nothingness. A birdsong broke in upon his mind. Being accustomed to the dark, he opened his eyes cautiously. Garish sunlight stung him. He dimly perceived that he was lying, chest-down, in some field filled with grass and flowers. The prison had vanished. When he regained his full vision, he blinked and saw clearly: the Fanelian royal tombs lay a few feet away from him.
He ventured to get up on one elbow. His bewildered and tearful eyes feasted upon the emerald cedars, the marble tombs, the golden patches of sunlight and the encircling birds. "The dell.my Empyrean." He saw Reality and thought it was either a vivid dream or a beautiful death.
A gentle zephyr blew and he felt a bit chilly. Noticing he had absolutely no clothes on, he quickly pulled on his pants. Then he saw Hitomi sleeping calmly beside him. Cautiously, he placed his trembling fingers on her neck to feel her pulse. Right when he touched her, she shuffled and opened her eyes. He fell back in relief.
"That tickles, Van." She sat up with a bright smile. She reached for his hand but seeing his tortured and petrified expression, she realized her environment for the first time. "Oh my.isn't this Fanelia? How.how did we get here? Could it be that." she covered her mouth in daunt but afterwards she thought that if death really was thus, it was pleasant and real. The boundless bliss and liberation of last night, the beauty of Fanelia, all served as premonitions of heaven.
Van responded to her perplexed gaze by saying dryly, "If we have been executed and we died, somewhat unconsciously, then I guess.this afterlife is not so bad. We're back in Fanelia, in a way." He helped her put on her clothes then they stood back against back in the heart of the dell.
Hitomi noticed the relic lying on the ground so she picked it up and returned it to her pocket. She unwound the pendant from her hand and placed it around Van's neck. "Van, do you think we should explore the rest of this place?" She gazed up at his peering eyes, which looked more mystic than ever.
He nodded and started off. Before they passed the stout trees that guard the entrance, he chanced to glance back at the corner where Escaflowne usually stood. That's strange, he thought to himself, Escaflowne is not there. Maybe it's in the caves. He ignored the mystery and went on.
Down the bowered and fragrant garden path, Hitomi thought she had received new senses. The beauty of Fanelia was beyond terrestrial sight, smell or sound. There was a prodigality of sweetness in the air and she felt intoxicated by nature as she had been on Serenus. Van too was somewhat eased by the russet path flecked with innumerable golden pools. He looked up through the trees and saw patches of a pure blue sky that shaded to violet or pink at the top. After the battles, the evacuation and prison, he could hardly remember his birthplace as being thus beautiful. But then he recalled something, "I nearly forgot.the execution.Orion!" he exclaimed and darted forth in anxiety, leaving Hitomi calling after him.
He sped up every muscle in his body and ran down the path. When he finally emerged into the edge of the garden, a remarkable scene met his eyes. The castle garden was not filled with dying soldiers as before. There was a profusion of lustrous green, mingled with the sweet pink and yellow of the blossoms. The unstained castle walls gleamed in the sunlight. Above the castle, the young sky bloomed into a great fan like a peacock's tail. A morning wind gently lifted the hair off his forehead.
But what made the garden a heaven was the view of Selena and Orion standing by the glistening fountain. She was picking flowers as he playfully danced around her and drew her into his arms. In their happiness, they did not notice the two figures who observed them in solemn silence.
Van inhaled then stepped forth intrepidly towards the couple. As Orion was tickling Selena, they in their rapture seemed creatures of paradise, far removed form the transience and misery of the world beneath. Van marched swiftly up to Orion, secured him by the shoulders then pressed his hand forcefully against Orion's heart.
The hysterical laughter ceased and the merriment faded to a stupor. "Van, you're back!" Orion yelled excitedly then smirked. "Hey! This is no way to greet your best friend and your brother. You're pressing too hard, it hurts!" he pushed off Van's arms and gave him a hug. "Ah, ha ha ha, old boy. Good to see you again! And this is."
Just as Orion was about to go to Hitomi, Van restrained him and an expression of myth and tragedy shadowed his pale countenance. "Why are our hearts still beating?"
Orion and Selena stared. "Oh, hell, I don't know," Orion shrugged, "Could it be because we're alive?"
Van stepped back and shouted. "What do you mean? I thought Basante killed you! What about Basram's attack on Asturia and Freid? And the Fireans? Surely you remember the griffin. And Selena, you.you." she fluttered her lovely lashes in confusion. "Hitomi," he turned to her with a plea, "What do you think is going on?"
"Ah!" Orion threw up his arms and strode to Hitomi suavely. "So this must be the enchanting Lady Hitomi whom my pal here has pined over since for ever!" he kissed her hand then knelt down, pressing her palm on his heart. "My! You are an extraordinary one! Surpassed only by my Selena, of course. Well, no wonder Van fantasizes every night. Ouch!" Orion felt a sharp kick on his back. "Okay, okay, I won't tell her. But anyways, it is my utmost honor to finally meet you and to welcome you back to emerald Fanelia."
Before Hitomi could form a coherent line of thought, Selena stepped in front of her and curtsied charmingly. "Lady Hitomi, I am Selena Schezar. My brother says you were good friends during the war. He and Van have told me so many wonderful things about you," she held Hitomi's hands. "I have waited for this happy moment for a long time."
Hitomi softly withdrew her hands and went to stand by Van. "Selena, Orion, I don't understand this, we've already met before. It's been at least three weeks. How come you guys seem to have no memory of it? I can't explain this."
Selena's eyes saddened a little in perplexity then she went over and held Van's arm affectionately. "Van, I'm sure you two do not mean to frighten us with these extraordinary remarks. You must be weary from your journey. Perhaps a nice lunch and a nap will make you feel better. I understand that weather on the Mystic Moon can be rather sultry, as to induce dizziness."
Van held her tight by the shoulders and gazed at her fiercely. "No, Selena, you don't understand. We're not hallucinating. Just minutes ago, we were on Gaea, in a prison cell in Basram. Basante put us there. We were to be executed. Orion had already died. You tried to save him, so did Allen, but everyone failed. I don't understand why you don't know any of this. Where's Allen, Nestor, and Merle?"
Orion wedged in between Van and Selena and pushed Van down onto a bench. "Okay, now listen up, Fanel!" Orion crossed his arms authoritatively. "Don't scare us like this. I don't know what planet you got drunk on, but here's the thing, the truth," he turned and winked at Hitomi. "First, we have never met Lady Hitomi before. If we did, it must have been in a dream. Second, Asturia and Freid are fine. King Allen is coming tomorrow morning, so you can ask him and freak him out too. Third, you don't know this, but President Basante passed away a week ago. His son is the leader now and as you know, he's in love with Princess Eries, so I very much doubt that he'll be killing any of us soon. Fourth," he touched his own neck, "I really don't recall being killed. See, my head is still on my neck. And well, you two don't look dead to me. Bleh!" Orion stuck his tongue out at Van and made a clown face. "So are you still delirious?"
A fierce silence encroached upon Van so he looked away crossly. Indeed he could not ignore his own reason and sensations, which told him his present state was not death or heaven, but living, breathing reality.
"Well, forget it," Orion broke the stillness. "Maybe you'll figure it out later. But today, we need to celebrate your birthday. The big two zero! Woo-whoo!" Orion started jumping up and down.
Van remained cold and motionless. "What do you mean? I just had my birthday not long ago. What day is today?"
Orion stopped and stared. "Hello! Today is White, 12th Moon, Year of the Emerald Star, 5ADW. This, if you'll recall, is your birthday. You've been gone for nearly a color. Have you lost all sense of time?"
As an argument was impending, Selena stepped in. "Orion! Please! Van, wherever you were with Lady Hitomi, there was probably a different passage of time than on Gaea. Maybe if you wait a few days, the time zones might intersect again, and we won't be confused anymore. Until then, you should rest."
Hitomi came up and whispered to Van. "She's right. We will figure it out later. Just be content that we're not in any imminent danger, nor in death for that matter."
After some hesitation, Van smiled and took Hitomi's hand. "Of course, how can I not be glad that a war never occurred? Okay," he shrugged, "is it time for a meal?" As the two girls advanced towards the castle, the two young men remained behind.
Orion gave a wacky howl and slung his arm casually on Van's shoulder. "Hope you feel better soon, bro. Food will be good for you."
"Wait," Van thought of something at once. "You called me brother, so does that mean we made the blood pact before I left?"
"Yeah," Orion widened his eyes and nodded like a child. "Duh! Remember, last year, when Merle fell from the tree house and I dived after her and discovered I had draconian wings, flap, flap," he used his arms to imitate the movement of wings. "Oh, for crying out loud, Van! How could you forget such a momentous event of my life? Thanks a lot," Orion pretended to turn away in anger.
Van pulled him back. "Okay, okay! Would you quit acting this way? I remember alright? I remember how you save Merle, and saved me from.being the last draconian on Gaea."
"That's more like it," he tussled Van's hair. "Say, I have to ask," Orion snickered quirkily and inched closer to whisper. "You've been gone for quite a while, you must have had a chance to get lucky," Orion winked slyly and nudged Van.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Van rolled his eyes and walked away.
"Oh, come on, Van, tell me! You can trust me! Who am I going to tell? Allen? Selena? Merle? Nestor?" Van turned around and gave him a don't- you-dare look. "I'm just kidding. Come on! You told me so much and now when you've actually bonded with your love, you're not going to tell me?"
Van turned around and sighed in annoyance. He closed his eyes briefly and when he reopened them there was a glow, which immediately gave Orion the satisfactory answer.
"Way to go!" Orion slapped him on the back. "I knew it! Ha ha. So you're the first out of the two of us. Of course, you can't beat Allen," he chuckled. "But tell me, how was it?" Orion rubbed his palms together voraciously.
"Stop it!" Van grunted and headed off again. "Can we please talk about something else?"
Orion caught up to him and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, calm down! Right, I forgot to tell you, Merle and I got you a present. You know how we've been digging diamonds in the caves," Van turned but soon the incredulity was swallowed by the familiarity of astonishment he has experienced so often. "Well, we found a really special diamond. I'll give it to you later. You see, it's not exactly for you, but when you see it you'll know what to do with it, I hope."
Thus the two brothers re-entered their home, in emerald Fanelia. Their souls have suffered, in time and space, consciously and unconsciously. But they do not stifle, for beneath their mutability, they possessed constancy. Union and reunion are no longer indubitable or spurious. The brotherhood holds. It may be that life would pale and vanish and reappear all in one heartbeat, but it lives on. Nothing passes that will not come again. ....
Merle's vivacious remarks and Orion's small mischief gave the midday meal a light-hearted glow. No sense of strangeness inhabited the atmosphere. Van dismissed the whole conflict with Branimir as a tempestuous nightmare. This state of bliss is the true Reality. Because Hitomi had already been back in Fanelia once, during that 'dream' of the past month, everything had warmth of familiarity, a sense of home at once sad and passionate.
After lunch, Van hurried with Nestor and Orion to meet Dryden by the caves behind the castle. The king was determined to learn a new history of the diamond caves, the same way that he had re-learned Orion's miraculous discovery of his draconian blood. Everything had been metamorphosed. History is only half-real. Therefore the past no longer remained just the past, but present and future all together. Time has fully bloomed.
When Hitomi entered the guest quarters next to the royal chambers, she found that her backpack was there also. As she laid out her things, Merle pranced in and began explaining the geography of Gaea: Valasia, Etolia, Asopia and Asgard. Hitomi looked up with a blank gaze. A sense of deja-vu overcame her. Hadn't Merle told me this before, when I first returned to Fanelia?
She blinked with a lapse of focus then understood it: the time zones have already met and will forever mingle. Smiling, Hitomi flung herself into a chair. "So Merle, any love interests?" Thus the past conversation took a new place in the present, but nevertheless retained its self-same content and emotions.
After Merle left, Hitomi returned to her bag and once again selected the most cherished possessions. The relic was already in her pocket, where it always is. She added the two photos, and was surprised by the Twin Souls card which she thought she had given to Selena. Before leaving the room, she threw off her watch, for it had stopped ticking.
Once again, she snuck into Van's room next door, except this time, she knew where everything was. She simply sat down at his desk and opened the same book she had been reading before. Strangely, the bookmark was where she had left it.
A gentle knock came from the door. Immediately, the past flooded into the present. Hitomi knew it was Selena on the other side of the door; she knew it not out of visionary fortune telling, but out of living experience, an unmistakable reality that lives twice. Intrepidly, she opened the door and beheld Selena, brimful of the Schezar serenity.
The minute by minute replay of the past scene was both excruciating and hilarious. This sense of knowing what will be said and done the next second was unlike having visions. It was liberating, and in some ways intoxicating, a truer conviction that Love rises above time. Hitomi let herself commingle with the scene and naturally uttered the same things she had said to Selena before.
Free from past and future, Selena talked on with her everlasting grace. She spoke of being Dilandau, confessed to Hitomi about having liked Van and lastly revealed her growing love for Orion. This Selena, saved from the agony of a destroyed homeland, possessed a face of royal beauty and not of misery. Though she was still shadowed by memories of Dilandau, she was at peace. Whatever she spoke of, her heart would fixate on it with all tenacity and hope. She was slightly different from the Selena Hitomi had already known, but the soul was the same. Hitomi could still see the young woman who burst into the courtroom with a sword, valiantly defending her love. As Selena shyly talked of Orion, Hitomi noticed an unearthly calm in her. It was a calm that no storm would ever succeed. Its unearthliness may be due to the lack of melancholy hope she had seen before. It might have been profound seriousness or immortality. But no, Hitomi concluded that it means a lifetime of friendship.
At the end of their conversation, Hitomi once again gave Selena the Twin Souls card and inspirited her with hopes of evil-cleansing Love. Selena left with a newfound assurance and Hitomi returned to the book. While she was immersed in contemplations of the philosopher king, Van suddenly burst in with a confounded look on his face.
"Hitomi," he came up to her, "Escaflowne.it's disappeared."
"What do you mean?" she threw down the book and stood up.
"It just vanished, I can't find it anywhere," his tone was somewhat mysterious, either of panic or relief. "Orion says I took it with me when I went to find you. But that's just not possible. I went to Serenus by the pillar of light. Escaflowne never even left Gaea. No one has seen it since my departure."
"So it's gone.forever?"
Van looked away for a moment then turned back to her and held up the pendant. "Try it, Hitomi,"
She received the visionary stone with her palm then suspended it from its golden chain. As in her previous volitional visions, she surrendered the present time and space, and allowed all to fade into the darkness, leaving behind only herself with the hanging pendant. But the darkness remained vacant and silent, producing nothing except anxiety. She prolonged her search for two more minutes but the pendant never swung and Escaflowne's absence only seemed more pressing. Hitomi relented. She fell back into a chair and let the pendant drape on her side.
"I tried, Van," she said with regret and disconsolation. "I tried really hard to find Escaflowne, but I couldn't see anything. That power.the force of visions I've felt since five years ago, it's just.gone. It completely vanished, like Escaflowne."
Van made no reply and simply stood, looking out the window. The impeccable brightness of the outside world seemed incongruous with their confusion. During the following hour, they remained in stillness and ruminated on everything that has happened. They recalled Serenus, Gaea and all the characters they've met and all the labyrinths they've gone through. In the memory there was doubt, sadness and an elusive, affectionate longing, much like how a poet remembers a distant and lovely dream that will always capture his moonlit soul.
Eventually, Van yawned - Hitomi had never seen him do so - and stretched out his arms. A wave of relaxation washed over him and he became more suited for the blissful Fanelia in which they found themselves. He picked up Hitomi's hand and led her into the hall. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
Without a word, Van walked on and proceeded down to that great glass door situated near the world conference room. He noiselessly opened the ornate stained glass entrance, framed with mahogany, and invited Hitomi to enter first. She stepped in and parted the willow curtain that veiled the entrance. A picturesque domain of lush leaves and tender blossoms rushed to her eyes. "My God, Van! This place is so beautiful, I've never been here before."
"It's the arboretum," he closed the doors and gestured for her to walk in further. "Nestor thought we should have some plants inside the castle, so we built this. Mother and Folken would have liked this a lot," he looked up and patted the firm bark of a slender plant. "This is a good tree. Just go in and look around."
Hitomi followed the pebble stone path that meandered in between the shrubs and she occasionally bent down to inhale the fragrance of some glorious flower that seemed content in its small existence. A soothing air blanketed the arboretum and it infused life with a freshness that cleansed the universal fatality. The sound of trickling water came from behind. She turned around and saw Van bent over, with one arm behind his back, watering the plants. She smiled at the sight then asked, "Do you come here often?"
"Whenever I can. I use it for studying or just relaxing. When important visitors come, I usually invite them in. Orion and Merle used to play hide- and-seek in here. They even camped overnight here once. It was adventure of the week." Hitomi laughed. Van tenderly smoothed the surface of some leaves with his thumb and looked up, "Come on, I want to show you something."
They reached the edge of the wooded verdure and entered an open sitting area, where wick chairs and table were settled beside large antique urns and statues. Beyond the area was a full-wall of immaculate glass window that lent the most generous view of the resplendent kingdom. Hitomi stepped forward and covered her mouth in awe. "This place.this view.it's breathtaking, Van."
He grinned, "It is nice, isn't it? But this is not all," he then led her aside to a glass box that was cradled in between two trees. A mystic plant, with no blossom, grew inside it, like a queen on her throne. "This is called amaranth. The ambassador of Asopia gave it to me as a present. It was cultivated by botanical specialists so it's not grown in nature." He lifted the glass lid and caressed the deep green leaves. "This color is special. But that's not the exciting part. See, this plant lasts extremely long, up to three decades. And when it dies, a blood-red flower blooms, that's the real beauty. I can't wait to see it. It truly lives only after its death."
Hitomi tilted her head curiously. "That's so strange. I've never seem a plant like this. A flower that grows from the ashes of its leaves, hmmm.you know, there's a plant called amaranth in a myth on the Mystic Moon. It's also a red blossom and it grows in the underworld where heroes go after death."
"Really? So Gaea and the Mystic Moon do share certain things," Van closed the box and went to sit down by the window. "It's the flower of immortality, I guess. You know, Hitomi, I feel that through everything that's happened, I've lived, died and reborn many times in one lifetime. It's like I'm immortal already."
She knelt down beside him and placed her head on his knee. "I feel so too. We can be immortal together. It's weird though, if you count the days, we've only known each other for five years. That's definitely too short."
He threw his head back and eased into the cushion. "Hey, Hitomi, do you remember when we first met?"
"Yes!" she laughed a little. "I ran into you on the track and you pushed me to the ground," she snarled jokingly. "Then there was that awful dragon, which I saved you from! You didn't even admit I helped you," she glanced up sideways at him and feigned indignation.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and thank you!" he smiled. "There, I said it. You saved me then, you saved me later and you always will. I saved you too, so we're even. But don't forget, you did slap me that time," he bent over and peered at her.
"Oh my goodness," Hitomi jumped suddenly and fidgeted. "I forgot to tell you! Remember when we first came back from Serenus and I had a private talk with Folken? Guess what he told me? He said that my kiss with Allen on that bridge was completely induced by Dornkirk's machine. This means I was never meant to be with Allen. All the sadness you've endured," she reached up and touched the cheek she slapped so long ago. "I'm so sorry about all that."
Van smiled sheepishly and pulled her onto his lap. "Well, it seems the past is always reforming itself. In a good way, of course. Just wish I had known earlier. I wouldn't have been so stupid then." For a moment, they both looked out as far as the cliffs beyond Fidell. Life bustled all over the peaceful kingdom guarded by the dragons. Van finally said, "I think that this state we're in right now, this present or past, is definitely not heaven. It's a potential past, one we could have lived but didn't. They say we were gone for a color, but for us, we stayed in Serenus for no more than two days. This means there are parts of this past we cannot recall because we never lived them."
Hitomi looked at him attentively then nodded. "You're right. It is a potential past, just like how my fortune telling used to call up one potential fate out of the many unforetold futures. But the strange thing is, there are some things from the two time zones that are the same while other things have changed."
"I know what you mean. I just had a little talk with Nestor. It seems Gaea is in total peace, there are no signs of danger. Basante is dead and his son is now president and he's likely to become Allen's brother-in-law, provided that Princess Eries will give up the convent for him. I'm still triumvir," here he sighed slightly, "Orion is duke which means we made the blood pact before I left. He also discovered his draconian blood already. Then there are the diamond caves, etc."
"This means.the good things have stayed and the bad occurrences we saw in the other past have been erased!"
"Yes, I suppose. This is the ideal past and present. That explains why Escaflowne, the God of War, is no longer needed.I wonder if this really means we'll be free from the blood of war." The last phrase was remembered with a sense of uncertainty but also of triumph that convinced them both that the past is behind them.
They returned to their view and sat together in rumination of this emerald kingdom. They both comprehended that war and suffering are not inevitable. Hitomi closed her eyes and wanted to apprehend Truth with the last visionary power left in her. What she saw was not some apocalyptic scene yet it was the most magnificent of all: she saw the image of her and Van holding a baby in their arms. That is the ultimate Truth. She reopened her eyes and gazed upon the land that will be her home for the rest of her life.
Dornkirk was wrong: destiny is not the fundamental force of the universe. Love is. Love alone creates. ....
At dinner, they celebrated Van's twentieth birthday. Later, a hilarious scene arose over Van's neat table manners in comparison with Orion's and Merle's. Each accused the other of eccentricity, and amusing quarrels broke out. Orion's gregariousness was satisfied, whiled Hitomi received a spectacular insight into daily life at the Fanelian court. Selena even meticulously introduced her to the Gaean dishes that were served. Sulkiness had been chased out of Van, but the timid awkwardness, which Hitomi adores to see in him, remains. Whenever someone praised his leadership, he would make a grimace and fixate on his plate. Upon seeing this, a sense of home that Hitomi had felt estranged from, came back to her and she wanted to cry. Van's shy grin made her want to let out the intermingling of joy and woe, like when the lonely wanderer sets eyes upon home at last.
In the evening, while Van worked with Nestor and Orion on political issues, Hitomi retired to her room and went to bed early. After turning and tossing on the foreign bed, she daintily went out and slipped into Van's bed. After a few hours of revitalizing rest, she heard the cracking of the door, and she peeked one eye open. From the corner of her eye, she spied Van walking in with wet hair and nothing on except a towel around his waist. His feet dragged heavily on the wooden floor and there was a look of stupefied exhaustion on his face. Hitomi wanted to laugh but she restrained and closed her eyes.
When Van entered the bed chamber and saw Hitomi, he halted in surprise. She lay softly asleep, her body curved like a breeze-swept wave on a summer's day. He tiptoed closer and bent over. She was turned towards the open window, outside which the moon rolled stupendously in the vaulting heavens. Van assumed she was fast asleep, so he gently pulled the quilt up higher and tucked her in. Then he stood watching her and celebrated this vision of Hitomi, exactly like how he saw her in the future. He fell asleep sitting on the ground beside her. ....
The following morning, Fanelia saw a trickle of April rain, streaming down to awaken and nourish the dormant soil that slept beneath the wintry wind. Hitomi swung her arm around to the other side of the bed and noticed it was cold. Though the day was young, and the air was damp from the night, Van was already busy.
She stretched and slipped out of bed to put on a jacket. She went over to the washing basin and examined herself in the small mirror. A pallor was evident on her face and it betrayed a discomfort which she had not seen till now. It might have been due to the elusive dream last night. Tears threatened to rush out as she tried to recall the dream: she dreamt her mother came to tell her to be happy with the man she loves. She also said that her little brother is still alive. Hitomi could remember no more. She rubbed her cheeks to get a rosy hue and despite a queasy feeling in her stomach, she went out.
Serenity smoothed over the halls and the laughter of Merle and Vianne were no longer heard in the stillness of morning. Hitomi proceeded slowly down the stairs. But when she approached the guest quarters below, the quiet was broken by a string of conversation taking place adjacent to her. She paused then went closer to the source until she discerned one of the voices as Van's. He talked with a new day's calm but in the speed there was a streak of impatience and anxiety even. Intrigued, Hitomi went up to the door and peeked through the crack accidentally left open.
She saw Van sitting on the edge of a bed, hands on his knees, and mixing his words with intermittent sighs. ".is serious. I suggest you talk to her before going to Freid or doing anything rash. You mustn't let the feelings of your youth get in the way. I hate to see the two of you like this. I know Hitomi's reading was right. You are the right man for her."
The other person, who had been pacing around, then appeared within Hitomi's range of vision. She immediately recognized the long blond hair, tied in the back, and the pensive charm. "Look, she has already expressed her sentiments regarding the issue. My problem is that I don't know if I should just ignore her and go to Chid, and tell him he's not an orphan anymore. You know, when I saw him during the war, so noble.the way he helped us.and I looked into his eyes, I just. But heavens! I can't just ignore what Millerna will say!" Allen suddenly went to the cabinet and took out a bottle of vino. He gulped down a little but Van quickly grabbed it away.
"For crying out loud, Allen, you should calm down. Didn't you use to tell me that? Think clearly. Don't you think you've been through enough with Millerna? You should just talk it over with her and if she agrees, you two should go to Freid together."
"It's just so hard," Allen broke out and disappeared beyond the crack in the door. "She'll think I'm trying to replace our dead child with Chid, or that I want a lingering remembrance of my love with Marlene. It's just so awkward. Maybe she should be with Dryden."
Both men sighed. "You know, Allen, this is so unlike you. You were always the rational one out of the two of us. I know you'll find the right path as you always have. You just have to give her and yourself a chance."
"I just.I suppose you are right, Van. The last time I felt this confused was regarding my father. But now I really don't know about love anymore. I know that Hitomi's reading five years ago said that I'm the right man for Millerna. I love her, I really do, but why is this so hard?"
Nothing else was heard except the opening of the bottle. Hitomi tiptoed away, careful not to creak the floor planks. Anxiety for her two old friends and the sense of guilt she always felt about her Tarot readings, invaded her once again. She wearily went down to the morning room and there encountered Selena talking with Millerna.
Spirited and graceful even in the morning, Selena quickly went over and held Hitomi's hands. "I hope you slept well last night. I know a new bed can feel quite strange, but good thing Van's by your side," Selena glowed with a girlish pink but immediately quieted down to the solemnity befitting a duchess. "I believe the queen wants a few words with you. I'll go check on the kitchen," she bowed her head to Millerna then left the room.
Hitomi took a deep breath and approached the seat at the head of the table. A thin ray of sunlight shot aslant through the window and landed softly on Millerna's delicate face. Hitomi detected beneath the young queen's poise a hint of weariness. Millerna looked up with royal authority and almost superiority, but the few wrinkles between her fair brows betrayed an inner turmoil.
"Well, Hitomi, it seems you and Van have hung on. Of course, it was not so in the beginning. Let's hope things don't get back to the way they were before the destiny war ended. Sit down."
Hitomi looked at her with friendliness despite her subtle animosity. "Millerna, about Allen."
"Don't worry," she held up her pale palm, "I will not ask you to do any more readings. The last has been confusing enough. It is simply the matter about."
"I know.it's about Chid." Before Millerna overcame her shock about Hitomi's knowledge, the latter went on. "I know what you want to speak to me about, and my answer is this: my reading five years ago was right all along, I know it is. The right man for you is Allen, not Dryden or anyone else. And Allen loves you more than he loved Marlene or.me. Is this so hard to believe?" Millerna looked away. "Try to understand his grief, because the pain is yours too. You both lost a child and Marlene."
As a half-present smile appeared on Millerna's face, the door opened and in came the two kings. A frozen moment of indecision reigned. But at last, Hitomi hastily went over and pulled Van outside, forcing the other two to engage in the bonding they've yearned for yet so long avoided. After the doors closed behind them, Hitomi lay her arm on Van's and they strolled down the hall. At first they detected no sounds from the morning room, but there followed a string of incoherent shouts. The angst released, the emotions controlled, and the desired peace eventually came. As Van and Hitomi walked further away, they could still hear the lovely echo of amorous whispers and apologetic reconciliation. What was almost lost was regained, because faith had triumphed over doubt.
That afternoon, the king and queen of Asturia boarded the Crusade, and flew to the dukedom of Freid.
During their absence, Hitomi, Selena, Merle and Vianne spent a day of amusement and discovery in the bazaar by the canal. But Van did not go along. After lunch, he mysteriously whispered something to Orion and the two men proceeded to Van's study. With an uneasiness at once unspeakable and forbidding, Van nevertheless set out to fulfill what he had decided upon in the morning. The brotherhood blood pact which bound him to Orion made it imperative. Over a bottle of vino, Van disclosed everything. He narrated the fantastic adventures from his travels in time, to Serenus and Aleph, to Branimir, Seraphine and Basante. In a few long breaths, he unleashed the ineluctable and drew another person into the abyss of Time.
Orion gaped. Then his eyes blinked and his face became contorted as if in a spasm. Van could not make out exactly what emotions had overcome Orion. He was despaired, frightened, perplexed or insensible. The combination was labyrinthine in itself and Van began to fear that he had made a mistake by telling him such a story.
But suddenly, Orion began laughing. "Oh, goodness! In all the heavens! Van, that happened to us? Oh my! Whoo-hoo! I can't believe it! Even though I can't remember any of it and in a sense, I've never even experienced it, I dare say it's the best adventure of our lives!" He became increasingly vociferous and he clutched Van fervently. "Thank you, my brother!"
"Orion, are you, are you okay?"
"Okay? I've never felt better! Now that's life!" In a burst of energy, he ran onto the balcony, unfurled his white wings that have rarely shone in the sun, and leapt off.
From the bazaar, the girls heard excited yells made in the name of truth. They looked up and saw a shimmering cascade of snowy plumes. Children ran up vivaciously and twirled with their arms wide open. Selena reached out and caught a feather, which she pressed affectionately to her heart.
~ End of Part XI ~
XI. Deathlessly Does it exist though, Time the destroyer? When will it shatter the tower on the resting hill?.
Are we such tremblingly breakable Things as destiny tries to pretend? Does childhood's promise, deep, unmistakable Down in the roots, then, later, end?.
We, though we wax but for waning, Fill none the less for remaining Powers a celestial need. R.M. Rilke
The crimson might of Atlantis burst gloriously into the receiving universe that opened its arms to welcome a metamorphosis. Skeins and strands of cosmic light wove out of two separate galaxies and leapt towards each other. The bands of light embraced mutually and their parent galaxies trailed behind, also ready to merge as the lovers have. Then, there was a chromatic dance of lights as the two galaxies swam together in the black, starry sea. They wove into each other, intertwining the bands of red light, until they became one single galaxy, shaped like a heart, with two separate nucleus that beat as one.
The interweaving grew more intense and ecstatic and the whole figure of enamored and mutually animating encircling revealed dimensions upon dimensions of existence: the pattern of the universe. But at the center of this merged galaxy, the pattern was not complex as expected, but simple, for at the very heart of the galaxy, time and space cease to exist. Time can be turned back, space can be manipulated, and destiny itself created anew. Life and death are irrelevant to the infinite and eternal lights. Love alone lives in the heart of the intertwined twain. Love is the Iris: the Goddess of Rainbows, the blue-yellow blossom of trinity, the color of the eyes.the Hitomi. ....
The phenomenon of physical union overtook Van and Hitomi. To be naked yet warm, to wander through celestial pastures before death, made life the great victor. They felt exhausted and though they expected the sky to be bright, the apocalyptic colors had died back into the east and the heavens entered blackness. Was it really night or was it death? They felt calm about either so they crept into each other's arms and sleep came like petals that fell before the hand touched the branch.
A little red light lingered, near the zenith. But ere long, their world entered an undimensioned, impenetrable darkness. There was no moon above, no stars shining. It was the real Night. But out of the absolute black vacancy there came a warmth, sweet-scented and comforting. In the dark the world had no limit and the boundaries were the length and width of their combined bodies. The veritable Night enwrapped them like a blanket and dispersed all death.
The dark was nothingness for Van - he felt nothing and thought nothing. He lay on nothing and gave up the attempt to navigate. Suddenly, he felt something undulating against him. It had the dry feel and rustling sound of grass in the wind. The smell of woods after rain came to him out of the night. With these invading senses, he extended his arm. What he felt was not the stony prison walls but soft vegetation. With his aching hands, he gripped and pulled.
At once, he found himself on firm ground, no longer floating in nothingness. A birdsong broke in upon his mind. Being accustomed to the dark, he opened his eyes cautiously. Garish sunlight stung him. He dimly perceived that he was lying, chest-down, in some field filled with grass and flowers. The prison had vanished. When he regained his full vision, he blinked and saw clearly: the Fanelian royal tombs lay a few feet away from him.
He ventured to get up on one elbow. His bewildered and tearful eyes feasted upon the emerald cedars, the marble tombs, the golden patches of sunlight and the encircling birds. "The dell.my Empyrean." He saw Reality and thought it was either a vivid dream or a beautiful death.
A gentle zephyr blew and he felt a bit chilly. Noticing he had absolutely no clothes on, he quickly pulled on his pants. Then he saw Hitomi sleeping calmly beside him. Cautiously, he placed his trembling fingers on her neck to feel her pulse. Right when he touched her, she shuffled and opened her eyes. He fell back in relief.
"That tickles, Van." She sat up with a bright smile. She reached for his hand but seeing his tortured and petrified expression, she realized her environment for the first time. "Oh my.isn't this Fanelia? How.how did we get here? Could it be that." she covered her mouth in daunt but afterwards she thought that if death really was thus, it was pleasant and real. The boundless bliss and liberation of last night, the beauty of Fanelia, all served as premonitions of heaven.
Van responded to her perplexed gaze by saying dryly, "If we have been executed and we died, somewhat unconsciously, then I guess.this afterlife is not so bad. We're back in Fanelia, in a way." He helped her put on her clothes then they stood back against back in the heart of the dell.
Hitomi noticed the relic lying on the ground so she picked it up and returned it to her pocket. She unwound the pendant from her hand and placed it around Van's neck. "Van, do you think we should explore the rest of this place?" She gazed up at his peering eyes, which looked more mystic than ever.
He nodded and started off. Before they passed the stout trees that guard the entrance, he chanced to glance back at the corner where Escaflowne usually stood. That's strange, he thought to himself, Escaflowne is not there. Maybe it's in the caves. He ignored the mystery and went on.
Down the bowered and fragrant garden path, Hitomi thought she had received new senses. The beauty of Fanelia was beyond terrestrial sight, smell or sound. There was a prodigality of sweetness in the air and she felt intoxicated by nature as she had been on Serenus. Van too was somewhat eased by the russet path flecked with innumerable golden pools. He looked up through the trees and saw patches of a pure blue sky that shaded to violet or pink at the top. After the battles, the evacuation and prison, he could hardly remember his birthplace as being thus beautiful. But then he recalled something, "I nearly forgot.the execution.Orion!" he exclaimed and darted forth in anxiety, leaving Hitomi calling after him.
He sped up every muscle in his body and ran down the path. When he finally emerged into the edge of the garden, a remarkable scene met his eyes. The castle garden was not filled with dying soldiers as before. There was a profusion of lustrous green, mingled with the sweet pink and yellow of the blossoms. The unstained castle walls gleamed in the sunlight. Above the castle, the young sky bloomed into a great fan like a peacock's tail. A morning wind gently lifted the hair off his forehead.
But what made the garden a heaven was the view of Selena and Orion standing by the glistening fountain. She was picking flowers as he playfully danced around her and drew her into his arms. In their happiness, they did not notice the two figures who observed them in solemn silence.
Van inhaled then stepped forth intrepidly towards the couple. As Orion was tickling Selena, they in their rapture seemed creatures of paradise, far removed form the transience and misery of the world beneath. Van marched swiftly up to Orion, secured him by the shoulders then pressed his hand forcefully against Orion's heart.
The hysterical laughter ceased and the merriment faded to a stupor. "Van, you're back!" Orion yelled excitedly then smirked. "Hey! This is no way to greet your best friend and your brother. You're pressing too hard, it hurts!" he pushed off Van's arms and gave him a hug. "Ah, ha ha ha, old boy. Good to see you again! And this is."
Just as Orion was about to go to Hitomi, Van restrained him and an expression of myth and tragedy shadowed his pale countenance. "Why are our hearts still beating?"
Orion and Selena stared. "Oh, hell, I don't know," Orion shrugged, "Could it be because we're alive?"
Van stepped back and shouted. "What do you mean? I thought Basante killed you! What about Basram's attack on Asturia and Freid? And the Fireans? Surely you remember the griffin. And Selena, you.you." she fluttered her lovely lashes in confusion. "Hitomi," he turned to her with a plea, "What do you think is going on?"
"Ah!" Orion threw up his arms and strode to Hitomi suavely. "So this must be the enchanting Lady Hitomi whom my pal here has pined over since for ever!" he kissed her hand then knelt down, pressing her palm on his heart. "My! You are an extraordinary one! Surpassed only by my Selena, of course. Well, no wonder Van fantasizes every night. Ouch!" Orion felt a sharp kick on his back. "Okay, okay, I won't tell her. But anyways, it is my utmost honor to finally meet you and to welcome you back to emerald Fanelia."
Before Hitomi could form a coherent line of thought, Selena stepped in front of her and curtsied charmingly. "Lady Hitomi, I am Selena Schezar. My brother says you were good friends during the war. He and Van have told me so many wonderful things about you," she held Hitomi's hands. "I have waited for this happy moment for a long time."
Hitomi softly withdrew her hands and went to stand by Van. "Selena, Orion, I don't understand this, we've already met before. It's been at least three weeks. How come you guys seem to have no memory of it? I can't explain this."
Selena's eyes saddened a little in perplexity then she went over and held Van's arm affectionately. "Van, I'm sure you two do not mean to frighten us with these extraordinary remarks. You must be weary from your journey. Perhaps a nice lunch and a nap will make you feel better. I understand that weather on the Mystic Moon can be rather sultry, as to induce dizziness."
Van held her tight by the shoulders and gazed at her fiercely. "No, Selena, you don't understand. We're not hallucinating. Just minutes ago, we were on Gaea, in a prison cell in Basram. Basante put us there. We were to be executed. Orion had already died. You tried to save him, so did Allen, but everyone failed. I don't understand why you don't know any of this. Where's Allen, Nestor, and Merle?"
Orion wedged in between Van and Selena and pushed Van down onto a bench. "Okay, now listen up, Fanel!" Orion crossed his arms authoritatively. "Don't scare us like this. I don't know what planet you got drunk on, but here's the thing, the truth," he turned and winked at Hitomi. "First, we have never met Lady Hitomi before. If we did, it must have been in a dream. Second, Asturia and Freid are fine. King Allen is coming tomorrow morning, so you can ask him and freak him out too. Third, you don't know this, but President Basante passed away a week ago. His son is the leader now and as you know, he's in love with Princess Eries, so I very much doubt that he'll be killing any of us soon. Fourth," he touched his own neck, "I really don't recall being killed. See, my head is still on my neck. And well, you two don't look dead to me. Bleh!" Orion stuck his tongue out at Van and made a clown face. "So are you still delirious?"
A fierce silence encroached upon Van so he looked away crossly. Indeed he could not ignore his own reason and sensations, which told him his present state was not death or heaven, but living, breathing reality.
"Well, forget it," Orion broke the stillness. "Maybe you'll figure it out later. But today, we need to celebrate your birthday. The big two zero! Woo-whoo!" Orion started jumping up and down.
Van remained cold and motionless. "What do you mean? I just had my birthday not long ago. What day is today?"
Orion stopped and stared. "Hello! Today is White, 12th Moon, Year of the Emerald Star, 5ADW. This, if you'll recall, is your birthday. You've been gone for nearly a color. Have you lost all sense of time?"
As an argument was impending, Selena stepped in. "Orion! Please! Van, wherever you were with Lady Hitomi, there was probably a different passage of time than on Gaea. Maybe if you wait a few days, the time zones might intersect again, and we won't be confused anymore. Until then, you should rest."
Hitomi came up and whispered to Van. "She's right. We will figure it out later. Just be content that we're not in any imminent danger, nor in death for that matter."
After some hesitation, Van smiled and took Hitomi's hand. "Of course, how can I not be glad that a war never occurred? Okay," he shrugged, "is it time for a meal?" As the two girls advanced towards the castle, the two young men remained behind.
Orion gave a wacky howl and slung his arm casually on Van's shoulder. "Hope you feel better soon, bro. Food will be good for you."
"Wait," Van thought of something at once. "You called me brother, so does that mean we made the blood pact before I left?"
"Yeah," Orion widened his eyes and nodded like a child. "Duh! Remember, last year, when Merle fell from the tree house and I dived after her and discovered I had draconian wings, flap, flap," he used his arms to imitate the movement of wings. "Oh, for crying out loud, Van! How could you forget such a momentous event of my life? Thanks a lot," Orion pretended to turn away in anger.
Van pulled him back. "Okay, okay! Would you quit acting this way? I remember alright? I remember how you save Merle, and saved me from.being the last draconian on Gaea."
"That's more like it," he tussled Van's hair. "Say, I have to ask," Orion snickered quirkily and inched closer to whisper. "You've been gone for quite a while, you must have had a chance to get lucky," Orion winked slyly and nudged Van.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Van rolled his eyes and walked away.
"Oh, come on, Van, tell me! You can trust me! Who am I going to tell? Allen? Selena? Merle? Nestor?" Van turned around and gave him a don't- you-dare look. "I'm just kidding. Come on! You told me so much and now when you've actually bonded with your love, you're not going to tell me?"
Van turned around and sighed in annoyance. He closed his eyes briefly and when he reopened them there was a glow, which immediately gave Orion the satisfactory answer.
"Way to go!" Orion slapped him on the back. "I knew it! Ha ha. So you're the first out of the two of us. Of course, you can't beat Allen," he chuckled. "But tell me, how was it?" Orion rubbed his palms together voraciously.
"Stop it!" Van grunted and headed off again. "Can we please talk about something else?"
Orion caught up to him and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, calm down! Right, I forgot to tell you, Merle and I got you a present. You know how we've been digging diamonds in the caves," Van turned but soon the incredulity was swallowed by the familiarity of astonishment he has experienced so often. "Well, we found a really special diamond. I'll give it to you later. You see, it's not exactly for you, but when you see it you'll know what to do with it, I hope."
Thus the two brothers re-entered their home, in emerald Fanelia. Their souls have suffered, in time and space, consciously and unconsciously. But they do not stifle, for beneath their mutability, they possessed constancy. Union and reunion are no longer indubitable or spurious. The brotherhood holds. It may be that life would pale and vanish and reappear all in one heartbeat, but it lives on. Nothing passes that will not come again. ....
Merle's vivacious remarks and Orion's small mischief gave the midday meal a light-hearted glow. No sense of strangeness inhabited the atmosphere. Van dismissed the whole conflict with Branimir as a tempestuous nightmare. This state of bliss is the true Reality. Because Hitomi had already been back in Fanelia once, during that 'dream' of the past month, everything had warmth of familiarity, a sense of home at once sad and passionate.
After lunch, Van hurried with Nestor and Orion to meet Dryden by the caves behind the castle. The king was determined to learn a new history of the diamond caves, the same way that he had re-learned Orion's miraculous discovery of his draconian blood. Everything had been metamorphosed. History is only half-real. Therefore the past no longer remained just the past, but present and future all together. Time has fully bloomed.
When Hitomi entered the guest quarters next to the royal chambers, she found that her backpack was there also. As she laid out her things, Merle pranced in and began explaining the geography of Gaea: Valasia, Etolia, Asopia and Asgard. Hitomi looked up with a blank gaze. A sense of deja-vu overcame her. Hadn't Merle told me this before, when I first returned to Fanelia?
She blinked with a lapse of focus then understood it: the time zones have already met and will forever mingle. Smiling, Hitomi flung herself into a chair. "So Merle, any love interests?" Thus the past conversation took a new place in the present, but nevertheless retained its self-same content and emotions.
After Merle left, Hitomi returned to her bag and once again selected the most cherished possessions. The relic was already in her pocket, where it always is. She added the two photos, and was surprised by the Twin Souls card which she thought she had given to Selena. Before leaving the room, she threw off her watch, for it had stopped ticking.
Once again, she snuck into Van's room next door, except this time, she knew where everything was. She simply sat down at his desk and opened the same book she had been reading before. Strangely, the bookmark was where she had left it.
A gentle knock came from the door. Immediately, the past flooded into the present. Hitomi knew it was Selena on the other side of the door; she knew it not out of visionary fortune telling, but out of living experience, an unmistakable reality that lives twice. Intrepidly, she opened the door and beheld Selena, brimful of the Schezar serenity.
The minute by minute replay of the past scene was both excruciating and hilarious. This sense of knowing what will be said and done the next second was unlike having visions. It was liberating, and in some ways intoxicating, a truer conviction that Love rises above time. Hitomi let herself commingle with the scene and naturally uttered the same things she had said to Selena before.
Free from past and future, Selena talked on with her everlasting grace. She spoke of being Dilandau, confessed to Hitomi about having liked Van and lastly revealed her growing love for Orion. This Selena, saved from the agony of a destroyed homeland, possessed a face of royal beauty and not of misery. Though she was still shadowed by memories of Dilandau, she was at peace. Whatever she spoke of, her heart would fixate on it with all tenacity and hope. She was slightly different from the Selena Hitomi had already known, but the soul was the same. Hitomi could still see the young woman who burst into the courtroom with a sword, valiantly defending her love. As Selena shyly talked of Orion, Hitomi noticed an unearthly calm in her. It was a calm that no storm would ever succeed. Its unearthliness may be due to the lack of melancholy hope she had seen before. It might have been profound seriousness or immortality. But no, Hitomi concluded that it means a lifetime of friendship.
At the end of their conversation, Hitomi once again gave Selena the Twin Souls card and inspirited her with hopes of evil-cleansing Love. Selena left with a newfound assurance and Hitomi returned to the book. While she was immersed in contemplations of the philosopher king, Van suddenly burst in with a confounded look on his face.
"Hitomi," he came up to her, "Escaflowne.it's disappeared."
"What do you mean?" she threw down the book and stood up.
"It just vanished, I can't find it anywhere," his tone was somewhat mysterious, either of panic or relief. "Orion says I took it with me when I went to find you. But that's just not possible. I went to Serenus by the pillar of light. Escaflowne never even left Gaea. No one has seen it since my departure."
"So it's gone.forever?"
Van looked away for a moment then turned back to her and held up the pendant. "Try it, Hitomi,"
She received the visionary stone with her palm then suspended it from its golden chain. As in her previous volitional visions, she surrendered the present time and space, and allowed all to fade into the darkness, leaving behind only herself with the hanging pendant. But the darkness remained vacant and silent, producing nothing except anxiety. She prolonged her search for two more minutes but the pendant never swung and Escaflowne's absence only seemed more pressing. Hitomi relented. She fell back into a chair and let the pendant drape on her side.
"I tried, Van," she said with regret and disconsolation. "I tried really hard to find Escaflowne, but I couldn't see anything. That power.the force of visions I've felt since five years ago, it's just.gone. It completely vanished, like Escaflowne."
Van made no reply and simply stood, looking out the window. The impeccable brightness of the outside world seemed incongruous with their confusion. During the following hour, they remained in stillness and ruminated on everything that has happened. They recalled Serenus, Gaea and all the characters they've met and all the labyrinths they've gone through. In the memory there was doubt, sadness and an elusive, affectionate longing, much like how a poet remembers a distant and lovely dream that will always capture his moonlit soul.
Eventually, Van yawned - Hitomi had never seen him do so - and stretched out his arms. A wave of relaxation washed over him and he became more suited for the blissful Fanelia in which they found themselves. He picked up Hitomi's hand and led her into the hall. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
Without a word, Van walked on and proceeded down to that great glass door situated near the world conference room. He noiselessly opened the ornate stained glass entrance, framed with mahogany, and invited Hitomi to enter first. She stepped in and parted the willow curtain that veiled the entrance. A picturesque domain of lush leaves and tender blossoms rushed to her eyes. "My God, Van! This place is so beautiful, I've never been here before."
"It's the arboretum," he closed the doors and gestured for her to walk in further. "Nestor thought we should have some plants inside the castle, so we built this. Mother and Folken would have liked this a lot," he looked up and patted the firm bark of a slender plant. "This is a good tree. Just go in and look around."
Hitomi followed the pebble stone path that meandered in between the shrubs and she occasionally bent down to inhale the fragrance of some glorious flower that seemed content in its small existence. A soothing air blanketed the arboretum and it infused life with a freshness that cleansed the universal fatality. The sound of trickling water came from behind. She turned around and saw Van bent over, with one arm behind his back, watering the plants. She smiled at the sight then asked, "Do you come here often?"
"Whenever I can. I use it for studying or just relaxing. When important visitors come, I usually invite them in. Orion and Merle used to play hide- and-seek in here. They even camped overnight here once. It was adventure of the week." Hitomi laughed. Van tenderly smoothed the surface of some leaves with his thumb and looked up, "Come on, I want to show you something."
They reached the edge of the wooded verdure and entered an open sitting area, where wick chairs and table were settled beside large antique urns and statues. Beyond the area was a full-wall of immaculate glass window that lent the most generous view of the resplendent kingdom. Hitomi stepped forward and covered her mouth in awe. "This place.this view.it's breathtaking, Van."
He grinned, "It is nice, isn't it? But this is not all," he then led her aside to a glass box that was cradled in between two trees. A mystic plant, with no blossom, grew inside it, like a queen on her throne. "This is called amaranth. The ambassador of Asopia gave it to me as a present. It was cultivated by botanical specialists so it's not grown in nature." He lifted the glass lid and caressed the deep green leaves. "This color is special. But that's not the exciting part. See, this plant lasts extremely long, up to three decades. And when it dies, a blood-red flower blooms, that's the real beauty. I can't wait to see it. It truly lives only after its death."
Hitomi tilted her head curiously. "That's so strange. I've never seem a plant like this. A flower that grows from the ashes of its leaves, hmmm.you know, there's a plant called amaranth in a myth on the Mystic Moon. It's also a red blossom and it grows in the underworld where heroes go after death."
"Really? So Gaea and the Mystic Moon do share certain things," Van closed the box and went to sit down by the window. "It's the flower of immortality, I guess. You know, Hitomi, I feel that through everything that's happened, I've lived, died and reborn many times in one lifetime. It's like I'm immortal already."
She knelt down beside him and placed her head on his knee. "I feel so too. We can be immortal together. It's weird though, if you count the days, we've only known each other for five years. That's definitely too short."
He threw his head back and eased into the cushion. "Hey, Hitomi, do you remember when we first met?"
"Yes!" she laughed a little. "I ran into you on the track and you pushed me to the ground," she snarled jokingly. "Then there was that awful dragon, which I saved you from! You didn't even admit I helped you," she glanced up sideways at him and feigned indignation.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and thank you!" he smiled. "There, I said it. You saved me then, you saved me later and you always will. I saved you too, so we're even. But don't forget, you did slap me that time," he bent over and peered at her.
"Oh my goodness," Hitomi jumped suddenly and fidgeted. "I forgot to tell you! Remember when we first came back from Serenus and I had a private talk with Folken? Guess what he told me? He said that my kiss with Allen on that bridge was completely induced by Dornkirk's machine. This means I was never meant to be with Allen. All the sadness you've endured," she reached up and touched the cheek she slapped so long ago. "I'm so sorry about all that."
Van smiled sheepishly and pulled her onto his lap. "Well, it seems the past is always reforming itself. In a good way, of course. Just wish I had known earlier. I wouldn't have been so stupid then." For a moment, they both looked out as far as the cliffs beyond Fidell. Life bustled all over the peaceful kingdom guarded by the dragons. Van finally said, "I think that this state we're in right now, this present or past, is definitely not heaven. It's a potential past, one we could have lived but didn't. They say we were gone for a color, but for us, we stayed in Serenus for no more than two days. This means there are parts of this past we cannot recall because we never lived them."
Hitomi looked at him attentively then nodded. "You're right. It is a potential past, just like how my fortune telling used to call up one potential fate out of the many unforetold futures. But the strange thing is, there are some things from the two time zones that are the same while other things have changed."
"I know what you mean. I just had a little talk with Nestor. It seems Gaea is in total peace, there are no signs of danger. Basante is dead and his son is now president and he's likely to become Allen's brother-in-law, provided that Princess Eries will give up the convent for him. I'm still triumvir," here he sighed slightly, "Orion is duke which means we made the blood pact before I left. He also discovered his draconian blood already. Then there are the diamond caves, etc."
"This means.the good things have stayed and the bad occurrences we saw in the other past have been erased!"
"Yes, I suppose. This is the ideal past and present. That explains why Escaflowne, the God of War, is no longer needed.I wonder if this really means we'll be free from the blood of war." The last phrase was remembered with a sense of uncertainty but also of triumph that convinced them both that the past is behind them.
They returned to their view and sat together in rumination of this emerald kingdom. They both comprehended that war and suffering are not inevitable. Hitomi closed her eyes and wanted to apprehend Truth with the last visionary power left in her. What she saw was not some apocalyptic scene yet it was the most magnificent of all: she saw the image of her and Van holding a baby in their arms. That is the ultimate Truth. She reopened her eyes and gazed upon the land that will be her home for the rest of her life.
Dornkirk was wrong: destiny is not the fundamental force of the universe. Love is. Love alone creates. ....
At dinner, they celebrated Van's twentieth birthday. Later, a hilarious scene arose over Van's neat table manners in comparison with Orion's and Merle's. Each accused the other of eccentricity, and amusing quarrels broke out. Orion's gregariousness was satisfied, whiled Hitomi received a spectacular insight into daily life at the Fanelian court. Selena even meticulously introduced her to the Gaean dishes that were served. Sulkiness had been chased out of Van, but the timid awkwardness, which Hitomi adores to see in him, remains. Whenever someone praised his leadership, he would make a grimace and fixate on his plate. Upon seeing this, a sense of home that Hitomi had felt estranged from, came back to her and she wanted to cry. Van's shy grin made her want to let out the intermingling of joy and woe, like when the lonely wanderer sets eyes upon home at last.
In the evening, while Van worked with Nestor and Orion on political issues, Hitomi retired to her room and went to bed early. After turning and tossing on the foreign bed, she daintily went out and slipped into Van's bed. After a few hours of revitalizing rest, she heard the cracking of the door, and she peeked one eye open. From the corner of her eye, she spied Van walking in with wet hair and nothing on except a towel around his waist. His feet dragged heavily on the wooden floor and there was a look of stupefied exhaustion on his face. Hitomi wanted to laugh but she restrained and closed her eyes.
When Van entered the bed chamber and saw Hitomi, he halted in surprise. She lay softly asleep, her body curved like a breeze-swept wave on a summer's day. He tiptoed closer and bent over. She was turned towards the open window, outside which the moon rolled stupendously in the vaulting heavens. Van assumed she was fast asleep, so he gently pulled the quilt up higher and tucked her in. Then he stood watching her and celebrated this vision of Hitomi, exactly like how he saw her in the future. He fell asleep sitting on the ground beside her. ....
The following morning, Fanelia saw a trickle of April rain, streaming down to awaken and nourish the dormant soil that slept beneath the wintry wind. Hitomi swung her arm around to the other side of the bed and noticed it was cold. Though the day was young, and the air was damp from the night, Van was already busy.
She stretched and slipped out of bed to put on a jacket. She went over to the washing basin and examined herself in the small mirror. A pallor was evident on her face and it betrayed a discomfort which she had not seen till now. It might have been due to the elusive dream last night. Tears threatened to rush out as she tried to recall the dream: she dreamt her mother came to tell her to be happy with the man she loves. She also said that her little brother is still alive. Hitomi could remember no more. She rubbed her cheeks to get a rosy hue and despite a queasy feeling in her stomach, she went out.
Serenity smoothed over the halls and the laughter of Merle and Vianne were no longer heard in the stillness of morning. Hitomi proceeded slowly down the stairs. But when she approached the guest quarters below, the quiet was broken by a string of conversation taking place adjacent to her. She paused then went closer to the source until she discerned one of the voices as Van's. He talked with a new day's calm but in the speed there was a streak of impatience and anxiety even. Intrigued, Hitomi went up to the door and peeked through the crack accidentally left open.
She saw Van sitting on the edge of a bed, hands on his knees, and mixing his words with intermittent sighs. ".is serious. I suggest you talk to her before going to Freid or doing anything rash. You mustn't let the feelings of your youth get in the way. I hate to see the two of you like this. I know Hitomi's reading was right. You are the right man for her."
The other person, who had been pacing around, then appeared within Hitomi's range of vision. She immediately recognized the long blond hair, tied in the back, and the pensive charm. "Look, she has already expressed her sentiments regarding the issue. My problem is that I don't know if I should just ignore her and go to Chid, and tell him he's not an orphan anymore. You know, when I saw him during the war, so noble.the way he helped us.and I looked into his eyes, I just. But heavens! I can't just ignore what Millerna will say!" Allen suddenly went to the cabinet and took out a bottle of vino. He gulped down a little but Van quickly grabbed it away.
"For crying out loud, Allen, you should calm down. Didn't you use to tell me that? Think clearly. Don't you think you've been through enough with Millerna? You should just talk it over with her and if she agrees, you two should go to Freid together."
"It's just so hard," Allen broke out and disappeared beyond the crack in the door. "She'll think I'm trying to replace our dead child with Chid, or that I want a lingering remembrance of my love with Marlene. It's just so awkward. Maybe she should be with Dryden."
Both men sighed. "You know, Allen, this is so unlike you. You were always the rational one out of the two of us. I know you'll find the right path as you always have. You just have to give her and yourself a chance."
"I just.I suppose you are right, Van. The last time I felt this confused was regarding my father. But now I really don't know about love anymore. I know that Hitomi's reading five years ago said that I'm the right man for Millerna. I love her, I really do, but why is this so hard?"
Nothing else was heard except the opening of the bottle. Hitomi tiptoed away, careful not to creak the floor planks. Anxiety for her two old friends and the sense of guilt she always felt about her Tarot readings, invaded her once again. She wearily went down to the morning room and there encountered Selena talking with Millerna.
Spirited and graceful even in the morning, Selena quickly went over and held Hitomi's hands. "I hope you slept well last night. I know a new bed can feel quite strange, but good thing Van's by your side," Selena glowed with a girlish pink but immediately quieted down to the solemnity befitting a duchess. "I believe the queen wants a few words with you. I'll go check on the kitchen," she bowed her head to Millerna then left the room.
Hitomi took a deep breath and approached the seat at the head of the table. A thin ray of sunlight shot aslant through the window and landed softly on Millerna's delicate face. Hitomi detected beneath the young queen's poise a hint of weariness. Millerna looked up with royal authority and almost superiority, but the few wrinkles between her fair brows betrayed an inner turmoil.
"Well, Hitomi, it seems you and Van have hung on. Of course, it was not so in the beginning. Let's hope things don't get back to the way they were before the destiny war ended. Sit down."
Hitomi looked at her with friendliness despite her subtle animosity. "Millerna, about Allen."
"Don't worry," she held up her pale palm, "I will not ask you to do any more readings. The last has been confusing enough. It is simply the matter about."
"I know.it's about Chid." Before Millerna overcame her shock about Hitomi's knowledge, the latter went on. "I know what you want to speak to me about, and my answer is this: my reading five years ago was right all along, I know it is. The right man for you is Allen, not Dryden or anyone else. And Allen loves you more than he loved Marlene or.me. Is this so hard to believe?" Millerna looked away. "Try to understand his grief, because the pain is yours too. You both lost a child and Marlene."
As a half-present smile appeared on Millerna's face, the door opened and in came the two kings. A frozen moment of indecision reigned. But at last, Hitomi hastily went over and pulled Van outside, forcing the other two to engage in the bonding they've yearned for yet so long avoided. After the doors closed behind them, Hitomi lay her arm on Van's and they strolled down the hall. At first they detected no sounds from the morning room, but there followed a string of incoherent shouts. The angst released, the emotions controlled, and the desired peace eventually came. As Van and Hitomi walked further away, they could still hear the lovely echo of amorous whispers and apologetic reconciliation. What was almost lost was regained, because faith had triumphed over doubt.
That afternoon, the king and queen of Asturia boarded the Crusade, and flew to the dukedom of Freid.
During their absence, Hitomi, Selena, Merle and Vianne spent a day of amusement and discovery in the bazaar by the canal. But Van did not go along. After lunch, he mysteriously whispered something to Orion and the two men proceeded to Van's study. With an uneasiness at once unspeakable and forbidding, Van nevertheless set out to fulfill what he had decided upon in the morning. The brotherhood blood pact which bound him to Orion made it imperative. Over a bottle of vino, Van disclosed everything. He narrated the fantastic adventures from his travels in time, to Serenus and Aleph, to Branimir, Seraphine and Basante. In a few long breaths, he unleashed the ineluctable and drew another person into the abyss of Time.
Orion gaped. Then his eyes blinked and his face became contorted as if in a spasm. Van could not make out exactly what emotions had overcome Orion. He was despaired, frightened, perplexed or insensible. The combination was labyrinthine in itself and Van began to fear that he had made a mistake by telling him such a story.
But suddenly, Orion began laughing. "Oh, goodness! In all the heavens! Van, that happened to us? Oh my! Whoo-hoo! I can't believe it! Even though I can't remember any of it and in a sense, I've never even experienced it, I dare say it's the best adventure of our lives!" He became increasingly vociferous and he clutched Van fervently. "Thank you, my brother!"
"Orion, are you, are you okay?"
"Okay? I've never felt better! Now that's life!" In a burst of energy, he ran onto the balcony, unfurled his white wings that have rarely shone in the sun, and leapt off.
From the bazaar, the girls heard excited yells made in the name of truth. They looked up and saw a shimmering cascade of snowy plumes. Children ran up vivaciously and twirled with their arms wide open. Selena reached out and caught a feather, which she pressed affectionately to her heart.
~ End of Part XI ~