Chapter 11: The Mystic Valley



As her sapphire blue eyes fluttered open weakly, Iris couldn't help but want to vomit. "Good morning sleepy head." Millerna sang while her friend desperately tried to control her stomach.

"Aw, I think she has a hang over." Melody stated sarcastically and in a child-like voice. Iris moaned and laid back down in her bed. "do ya want some whisky?" Melody grinned and held up the bottle which was only a quatre full.

"Put it away . . ."Iris mumbled as she pulled the blanket over her head.

"Hey Iris,"

"What Merle?"

"Do you remember anything that happened last night?" Iris was silent for a moment or too before she answered no.

"So you don't remember the dare that Millerna dared you?" Melody said in a sly tone. Iris tried to remember but the pervious night was nothing but a huge blur. All she could remember was all the booze she drank.

"No . . .what was it?"

"So you don't remember making out with Dryden?" Iris bolted upright as soon as Melody finished speaking.

"I what!?!"

"You two were all over each other! I must say, I never thought you had it in you." Melody said with a smirk. Iris fell backwards and pulled the pillow out from under her and placed it over her face.

"Why are you acting like you're embarrassed?" Merle asked.

"Because . . .I can't face him anymore now that I've done 'that'! It's going to be so awkward!"

"Oh stop being such a big baby Iris! Sure it 'could' be awkward but that'll only happen if you 'want' it to be awkward." Iris sighed and loosened her grip on the pillow. Melody, of course, grabbed the pillow and flung it across the room. "Now get off of your lazy ass and get ready. Breakfast is gonna be served in ten minutes."



For the entire course of the meal Iris kept her eyes on her food. She didn't dare to look up. She was afraid of making eye contact with Dryden. *I probably sucked at kissing last night or he probably thinks I'm easy now and will try to take advantage of me or something!*

After breakfast they all gathered in meeting room and listened to Dryden read another entre in the journal. Iris watched Allen carefully and waited patiently to see him explode. Everyone was sensing that it'd happen eventually. " . . .If I get there, all the mysteries of Atlantis will be solved. Then, I should be able to see that girl again. If I could see her, I could-"

"That's it!" Allen shouted interrupting Dryden. His sudden outburst was a shock to everyone but not so much Iris and Melody. The two had been waiting for this moment. As Allen went to leave Dryden stoped him.

"Are you running away Allen? Trivial things like this can disturb a Knight of Cali. How interesting." he raised an eyebrow in amusement. Iris suppressed her urge to burst out laughing. However one look from Millerna was all she needed. She was glaring daggers at both Iris and Melody.

"You know what Dryden, I don't think you and I are going be good friends." Allen spat bitterly over his shoulder.

Dryden smiled triumphantly. "That's fine. I don't either." Allen just ignored him and left.

"Dryden, that was really rude." Hitomi said with narrow eyes as she went to follow Allen.

"Ah, so another woman hates me." he sighed and opened the journal once again and continued to read.



It wasn't much longer after Allen's little outburst that everyone was gathered in the bridge of the Crusade. Anticipation was getting everyone feeling on the edge of their seats as they lowly made it through the thick vale of fog to the clearing ahead. When they broke though the fog, much to their surprise they say nothing but a deserted land of snow capped mountains.

"Is that the Mystic Valley?" Melody asked feeling and looking unsure.

"There's nothing there . . ."Van added. Dryden opened the journal for some sort of answer but all he found was two pages were missing.

"It can't be . . .this is impossible!?" Merle turned around to him and asked what was wrong. "A page has been torn out . . ."

"Sarge! A Ziabach floating fortress has been spotted!"one of the crew members shouted.

Before they could prepare for an attack, the two soldiers that had attacked them before they started their journey were unleashed once again. They flew straight for the Crusade and at the last possible moment, they changed direction and flew upwards. Iris shut her eyes in fear of what she was expecting to happen. However, her eyes shot open when she heard Melody speak.

"What the fuck . . ." Melody muttered under her breath as she saw a faint pillar of light descend from the sky and surround the airship. Iris tried to keep her eyes open but the brightness of the light forced them close.

"The rudders are working!" someone yelled.

"The lift gage is maxed out!" another shouted.

When the light faded away, below them they saw the ruins of what was once a city. "That's . . ." Van began as he looked in awe.

" . . .the Mystic Valley . . ."Allen finished.

"Ah, yes, it's the lost capital of Atlantis!" Dryden remarked excitedly.

"So that's the-" Hitomi never got to finish speaking. In the blink of an eye, she was gone. Allen saw this stepped where she was, confusion written on his face.

"Hitomi!" he shouted before it happened to him. Van shoved Merle away stepped forward as well only to have the same thing happen.

"Lord Van!" Merle cried as she rushed to where he once was. However, she didn't disappear as she was hoping. Dryden put his hand to his head in frustration. Nothing was making any sense whatsoever.

"Iris."

"Yes Mel."

"Where did they go?"

"I have no clue." the two friends stood in shock and utter confusion.

"There! I see Hitomi down there!" Reeden shouted as he looked up from the periscope. Gaddes then landed the Crusade and mostly everyone got off and ran to where Hitomi was. She was standing before a large monument with Atlantian writing on it.

"Hitomi!" Merle shouted. "Hitomi! Where's Lord Van!?!" she demanded. Hitomi shrugged off the cat girl and walked closer to the monument.

"That's a monument with the characters of Atlantis... I'm sure... this is the Mystic Valley, the ruins of Atlantis." Dryden inquired as he looked more closely at the writing.

"Can you read it?" Iris asked while moving closer as well.

" 'New Galactic Era, 13th Moon.' " Hitomi spoke in a monotone voice as she took a step towards the monument.

"You can understand it?" Dryden asked in astonishment.

" 'We are the descendants of Atlantis, the people known as the Draconians. We were born in the capital of Atlantis which lay on the Mystic Moon.' " The only people who didn't seem surprised were Iris, Ian and Melody.

"T-the Mystic Moon?! The Atlantians were people from the Mystic Moon?!"

"Why is that surprising?" Melody asked Dryden. However, Iris firmly slammed her foot down on Melody's. "Ow! What was that for!?!"

"What was what for?" Iris asked.

"You just-"

" 'Her power become great . . . . . .and her people fit to surpass the gods was not enough. They constructed a horrible machine. Transforming human thought into energy, it made them omniscient and omnipotent. They sprouted wings upon their backs, and even changed their shape. However . . .their powerful wish brought forth a new world in the heavens, Gaea. This was the wish of Atlantis: "We wish to our everlasting regret . . . . . .that our foolish mistakes may never again be repeated." Gaea, a beautiful world embraced by the heavens, loved by the water and cradled by the land.' "

"The power of their thoughts created Gaea? A machine that can transform human thought into energy? That's the mystery of Atlantis?" Dryden inquired while running a hand through his thick, chestnut brown hair.

"No way did that happen! Plato never mentioned anything about them having wings!"

"Mel, I think we should just go along with this. There is no real proof any ways that Plato's stories were 100% accurate."the conversation caught the attention of Dryden who was standing not too far away.

"Who's Plato?" Iris's eye widened. She began to panic wondering how to explain.

"Well Plato was a guy who went to Atlantis on Ear-"

"Legend says that he travelled to the Mystic Moon and went to Atlantis. But in his recordings he never mentioned them having wings." Iris interrupted. *God that was close!* she thought with a sigh. Melody looked at her friend confused and pulled her away from the others.

"Why do you keep on hurting me and interrupting me?" she asked in a low voice.

"Because they don't know that you or I are from Earth and they don't know what Earth is! They call it the Mystic Moon, the cursed place. So for now on don't say a thing about Earth." Iris replied trying to remain calm.

"Okay well you should have told me that earlier cuz I think you broke some of my toes." Iris rolled her eyes and grinned.

"You're such a baby!" she said and shoved her friend lightly.

"Oh, I'm the baby? Well I wasn't the one who would cry or complain every time about how my legs hurt whenever we went to the mall!"

"I have weak legs, I can't help it . . ."

"Are you two alright?" Millerna asked as she noticed their strange behaviour.

"We're fine Millerna!" Iris called back as she and Melody turned to go back to the group.

"Hey Iris, where's those two other guys, you know Van and Allen. Where'd they go?"

"According to Hitomi they're both in there." Millerna answered and gestured to the monument.

"In there? How?" Iris wondered aloud.

"Oh Hitomi, can you do something?" Merle asked. Hitomi looked to the cat girl and held her pendent out towards the monument.

"Please . . .send Van back, and Allen, and the rest of us too." she paused and opened her eyes. There was a pause and then she spoke again. "My wishes do that? I'm the one who-" she stopped again. A look of guilt was slowly etching on her face. "What? But I was just." Iris and Melody looked at each other and only wondered what was going on. "I did that?" *has she lost her mind talking to herself?* Iris wondered. "It's all my fault . . ."

From the corner of his eye, Ian saw Allen appear out of no where. "A-Allen?!" he stuttered. Gaddes looked at Ian who was looking towards the fountain.

"Commander!" he shouted and most of the group followed him as he ran towards Allen. The only people who stayed put were Hitomi and Merle. "Good to see you safe sir."

"Thank goodness you made it back!" Millerna said with that face she always wore when she was with or around Allen.

"Was it Hitomi?" Iris wanted to laugh at Millerna but she didn't. She could only admire how her friend was able to hide her anger and disappointment.

The ground began to shake and tremble. Iris lost her footing and began to fall backwards. Dryden, only naturally, caught her and held her until the shaking ceased. Iris blushed a bright pink as flash backs of what happened back on the Crusade that one night.

"Ziabach guymelefs!" Ian shouted in alarm as the two guymelefs that tried to attack them before appeared in the Mystic Valley. After the two guymelefs landed the Escaflowne appeared behind them. All of the appearing and disappearing was beginning to get to Iris as she tried to figure out how they kept on doing that.

"None of this makes any sense!" Iris exclaimed as she ran both her hands through her hair.

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Everything! The whole guymelefs and Allen appearing out of no where thing." she replied to Dryden who stood to her right.

"Lord Van!" Merle shouted with excitement. Van and the other two guymelef pilots exchanged words with each other. When Van took out his sword and extended it to full length, the other two pilots seemed more then startled. As he lifted the sword above his head, a blue pillar of light fell down from the gateway and surrounded everyone.

When Iris finally opened her yes again, they weren't in the Mystic Valley. Well they were but they were no longer in the ruins of Atlantis. "The Mystic Valley . . .it's vanished!" Allen exclaimed.

As the cockpit to the Escaflowne opened, Merle ran towards it shouting Van's name. He seemed to ignore her and keep his attention of the sky. Hitomi also looked to the sky and saw what he saw, his mother. "It's Van's mother . . ." Merle's ears perked up at Hitomi's words.

"Huh? Where!?" she asked as she looked around.

"Mother!" Van shouted as she disappeared before him. However, a small ball of green light emanating from an orb floated down to Van. He grabbed it and looked at it with surprise. It began to glow brighter and it seemed that the energist of the Escaflowne reacted with it as well.



A/N: boy was that long to write! I thought it'd never end! lol, well hoped you enjoyed and please review people. I need to know what you think!



~e*c~