A/N: I read way too much fantasy stuff. -_- But oh well. It does give me great inspiration. Anyways, I'm really glad you all like my fic! ^^ And for all the people that are wonder, I'm a total V/H supporter. But, I will add my own twists and turns in the fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. It belongs to Sunrise or whatever. So please, don't sue!




Wings of Destiny: Book One

Spirits of Atlantis




Chapter III

Reunion of Lovers




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Slowly, the sun began to set and evening started to rise. Two moons hung in the sky, waiting for the sun to completely set over the hills. Van walked out of the dining room and headed down the hall. Thoughts rampaged around in his head.

Van shook his head. Merle's right, thought the young King, I really do need some rest. Although he didn't know why, but the image of a golden blonde girl kept popping back into his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make her disappear.

"She's a world away Fanel," Van muttered to himself, "So why do you keep thinking about her? She's probably moved on already."

The raven haired King sighed to himself. It has been two longs years since he last saw Hitomi. At first, her presence still lingered with him. But as time passed, he couldn't sense her anymore. It was almost as if someone was blocking them. It was hard to explain, but he had a feeling that Hitomi had already found someone new.

Over the years, he kept himself busy by working. But now that Fanelia was rebuilt and strong, he really didn't have anything to worry about anymore. And now, past memories started to catch up to him.

Well, you were the one that sent her back, came the annoying voice of his conscious. "It's not like she would be happy here," he muttered, "She belongs to a different world."

The young King sighed as he looked out an open window. The bright Mystic Moon shined above Gaea. The feeling of not being able to see Hitomi was killing him. But then again, if she was here, things would turn out.......different.

The gentle sound of footsteps came near him, but Van didn't pay any attention to them. He still focused his thoughts on the Mystic Moon hanging in the sky.

"Van!" came the sudden call of a voice. Van turned. His ruby red eyes widened in surprise. Her hair, her face, her body, it was more adult, but he was sure of it. It was Her. The one and only one that he loved so dear.

"Hitomi?" whispered Van. The blonde girl nodded with a smile. Tears streamed down her procaine face. She's here you idiot! So do something you fool, shouted his conscious.

At first, Van didn't move, then slowly and steadily, he walked toward the emerald-eyed girl. Tears continued to fall from her cheek, but she was smiling. Van lifted his hand about to touch her face, then stopped.

"You're not a dream are you?" he whispered the question. She shook her head, her eyes continued to stare at him. Slowly, Van placed his hand on her cheek, gently brushing away her tears. His hand ran down her cheek and through her hair.

"I thought I'd never see you again," whispered Hitomi. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, her head resting on his head. Van held Hitomi tightly, hoping that this moment would last forever. "I've missed you so much Hitomi," smiled Van.

"Ahem," came a voice that interrupted their precious moment. Both Van and Hitomi parted and looked toward where the voice came from. Aria slowly walked out of the darkness, a small smirk plastered on her face.

"I guess this was the friend Hitomi told me about," she said. Hitomi blushed crimson. Van stared at Aria. "You two know each other?" he asked.

Aria gave a nod of her head. "Yes," answered Hitomi, "Aria was the one that brought me here." The redheaded girl gave small smile. "I'm sorry if I interrupted this reunion," she said, "But I've never really seen Lord Van that happy to see anyone." Now it was Van's turn to blush.

"So, would anyone care to give me a little insight on how you know each other?" questioned Aria. But before anyone could answer, Aria's eyes narrowed and she placed her hand on the handle of her sword. She walked to the window and looked out.

"What is it?" asked Van. Though Aria gave no answer, Hitomi could feel something was very wrong. "Something's coming," answered Aria in a stoic tone. Her navy blue eyes focused to the front gate, "It's almost here. I can feel it."

Suddenly Hitomi felt very light head. Her eyes glazed over as her body went limp. "Hitomi!" cried Van as he caught her from falling. "What's wrong?" questioned Aria as she looked at Hitomi. "I think she's having a vision," answered Van.

Her body was weak and her head placed toward the ground. Hitomi slowly opened her mouth to speak.

Three millenniums of a turn, will bring about the Darkness once more. Souls unkept will arise from the ashes, and the dark one will be reborn. The Key will be found, and the seven great powers will be unleashed. Death will reign, and Darkness will seize the universe.

As she gained back consciousness, Hitomi let out a moan as she steadied herself. "W-what happened?" questioned the young girl. Aria looked at Hitomi wide-eyed. "Do you know what you just said Hitomi?" said Aria, "Do you remember?"

Hitomi looked to Van then to Aria and shook her head. "Are you alright Hitomi?" asked Van worriedly. Hitomi smiled at him. "I'm fine," she answered. Aria still looked skeptically at the young girl. But suddenly, they were interrupted as the sound of screams and crackle of fire came from the front gate. Shouts and cries came from the outside. "We're under attack! Get the guymelefs out there! We're under attack!"

All three figures turned toward the window. "What is going on?" questioned Van. Could this have something to do with my dream? thought Hitomi.

Aria's eyes narrow angrily. "Ellen, where the hell are you?" she whispered to herself. She suddenly turned and headed down toward the guymelef storage house, her hand tightly grasped on her sword.

"Aria! Where are you going?" shouted Van. But the red-haired girl didn't answer, and kept walking. Hitomi looked at Aria as she disappeared from sight. "She's going to fight them," stated Van.

Van turned to Hitomi. "I'm going after her," said Van, "She can't fight them all on her own." Hitomi nodded in understanding. "Be careful," she said. Van brushed his hand across her cheek and nodded. The raven-haired boy turned and ran after the crimson haired girl.

And now, Hitomi stood alone. Suddenly, the light image of a black hooded figure appeared in front of Hitomi. The hooded figure turned toward Hitomi, their face covered by the hood. "Go after the boy," said the figure, "Go after him or he'll be in grave danger." And with that, the figure faded, and Hitomi was once again left alone.

That's the same voice that spoke to me on Earth, thought Hitomi. If the voice was able to direct her back to Gaea, then Hitomi believed its warning. The emerald-eyed girl hesitated for a second, then ran after Van and Aria.

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With one mighty blow, the gleaming sword of the Escaflowne slashed its enemy in half. I'm sorry brother, muttered Van in his head, I know I promised not to use Escaflowne again, but if I don't, Fanelia is going to be destroyed.

The powerful guymelef cut another opponent in half. The enemy was very peculiar. There were 10 in total, but they moved swift and fast. It was as it they weren't being piloted by humans at all. And they were terribly hard to keep up with.

The enemy reminded Van very much of the guymelefs that Zaibach has. Except they where a shade of pure night black, and they didn't have a stealth cloak. But they had the same weapons; the liquid metal Crim Claw.

A deep red guymelef with a ruby crested sword charged at one of the black guymelef and tore it in half. Aria sat inside the red guymelef as she gasped for air. Three, thought the warrior, Three down and the other seven are impossible to keep up with.

The black guymelefs ignored the fact that three of their comrades were destroyed and keep on destroying everything around them. Blue fire rose all around the front of the country, and it advanced slowly toward the castle.

Van charged at one of the guymelefs and missed, knocking into a building. "Argh," cried the young King, "There so fast." All the other Fanelian guymelefs were destroyed or sent to the castle to protect the civilians, who all stayed inside the castle. So all that was left were Van's Escaflowne and Aria's Aileron to fend of the enemy.

"Don't bother attacking them Van!" shouted Aria as she defended a building from a Crim Claw, "Just defend. Don't attack. They're too fast for us. I don't think they even have pilots!" Aria tried to slash one of the guymelefs, but they dodged easily. What the hell is it with these guymelefs? thought the redhead.

The two guymelefs did their best to defeat the enemy, but they were very powerful. The seven remaining black guymelefs slowly proceeded toward the castle. As Aria attacked one of the black guymelef, its Crim Claw attacked and cut off one of Aileron's arms.

"Aria, are you okay!?" shouted Van as he tried to fend of the others. With the sword still in its hand Aileron continued to fight without it's other arm. It attack and destroyed one of the black guymelefs. "I'm fine now," shouted back Aria.

"Van! Behind you!" shouted Hitomi. The blonde girl raced toward the Escaflowne. As Van turned around, he saw that a pair of metal Crim Claw was coming quickly toward him. And there was not place for him to run.




TBC

Another cliffhanger. Wow, three in a row. Never done that before. ^^ Anyways, whatcha think? Is it good, is it good? I know this is a really bad place to end it off, but it was screaming in my face for me to end it like that. So how could I say no. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill him. Whether he gets injured really really badly, I still don't know yet. So, please review everyone! The more review I get, the easier it is for me to write. ^^

I'd like to thank the following people: AyanamiChan, Anata, Ryan M, and Kristy. ^^ Thanx for reading my fic!

And I'd also like to thank FritzyLuna, STC, Isy Okolo and Atashi Komastsu for reading my fic more than once. ^^ Arigato!