Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
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Episode #10
Bloodshed's Beginning
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The dawn was rising in the pale sky early the next morning. A hundred ships floated in on the horizon. Faint sounds of levistones echoed through the air. In the Souverande, head airship of the dark prince's army, stood Dalvus and his men.
Dalvus stood tall and erect in his place. "As soon as all the ships get here, we will launch the battle's main charge, understood?"
All his soldiers looked at him. "Sir!"
Versis, who was Dalvus's second in command, unsheathed his sword. "All men to your gymelulfs now!"
The ship rang with the clings and clangs of heavy metal boots against cold, stone floors. Versis ran down the hall to the gymelulf hangar — to his own gymelulf, Orbis, named after his father. He switched open the cockpit of Orbis and jumped in. He saw all the other soldiers entering their gymelulfs in a clamour. He clicked a few switches and the hangar door opened with a loud creek!
In a matter of minutes, the sky was filled with the ominous shapes of gymelulfs. They showered the ground and walked forward in a circle as they had planned.
* * * * *
Footsteps, rushed preparations, sharpening gymelulf swords, and ear-splitting shouts flooded Palas. All citizens were safely evacuated into the castle. Amidst all this commotion, Hitomi dashed like a gazelle, looking for Van and Allen.
She spotted a tiny scrap of red against the gray and white scene of soldiers and gymelulfs. She ran towards it and in an instant, took hold of Van's shoulder. He turned to see her, her hands on her knees and gasping for breath.
"Hitomi, what are you doing? You should be in the castle with Merle and everyone else."
"No, Van," Hitomi replied. "I'm going with you. If anything, I can help. I know medicine, I've been learning from Millerna... and I can use my powers to aid the soldiers. Please, don't refuse me."
Van looked at her, her eyes were bright pools of hope. Then, he looked down. "All right... but you have to stay with me on Escaflowne, so I can protect you. Agreed?"
"All right," Hitomi giggled triumphantly.
She watched Van jump onto the re-awakened Escaflowne. He entered the cockpit, and the next thing she knew, she was being lifted by Escaflowne's left hand onto its shoulder, right beside the cockpit.
Escaflowne turned around, looking out at the horizon, now smeared with thousands of little black dots falling to the ground. Van spoke through the grating. "There they are."
"Yes," Hitomi replied anxiously, "and here we go."
Escaflowne changed right from underneath her from gymelulf to dragon. Before she could even fall off the shoulder that was no longer there, Van grabbed her in the crook of his arm and held her. They flew towards the horizon, each second Hitomi wished she was only dreaming. Van looked at her, seeing her uncertainty.
"We'll win, don't worry," he said, kissing her on the cheek.
Hitomi nearly burst into tears as she spoke. "What if... this is the last time I ever see you?! What if you—!"
"No!" Van interjected quickly. "That will not happen!"
'Van,' Hitomi thought. 'You're so brave... and optimistic... but those virtues can blind you from the truth! I hope not.'
They came into sight of some six thousand gymelulfs. The sight made both Hitomi and Van shudder. They couldn't hold this many off until Allen and Astoria's army were here! Not alone! It was hopeless and folly, but they weren't about to give up!
The battlefield was in a basin-like valley, on all sides was a protective cliff wall. The perfect spot for a close combat battle to take place.
Van let out a tremendous war cry and let Escaflowne turn back into a gymelulf, holding Hitomi in its metallic hand as it fell. It gave a thundering thud as its feet hit the ground.
Hitomi coughed out a bit of blood from her mouth. The impact had made the metal hand push in on her and squeeze her ribs a bit, shocking her.
Van saw her cough out the blood and placed her on Escaflowne's shoulder again. He charged a gymelulf, his sword cutting it right through the middle. There was a horrifying scream from inside the cockpit, then the gymelulf disintegrated into dust, a small crimson pool lying on the ground.
Van charged another, sending it flying across the battlefield and landing smack against a cliff. It broke apart, then turned into dust and another pool of crimson slid slowly down the cliff of the valley.
Hitomi watched as one by one, the enemy gymelulfs chose different ways to hit Escaflowne: the rear, the side, the front. None did any good. One gymelulf threw its second weapon, a spear, at Escaflowne's head from the side. Van made Escaflowne duck and watched, fingers crossed, as the tip of the spear severed tiny hairs off the very back of Hitomi's neck! The spear flew across the field, only to impale another enemy gymelulf, leaving Hitomi temporarily paralyzed with fear.
After fifteen more minutes of fighting came and went. Van was exhausted! He had fought all alone for a good twenty minutes, nonstop! He was beginning to make crucial mistakes that, twice, nearly cost Hitomi her life! Now he sat in Escaflowne's cockpit panting for breath. The enemy was standing triumphantly around him, feeling certain that they had won.
He was on the brink of surrendering when a sound of propellers flying right overhead sounded in Van and Hitomi's ears like heaven's trumpets! Allen and the Astorian army dropped from hundreds of airships in the sky, and started taking out the gymelulfs surrounding Escaflowne.
Scherizade put its back to Escaflowne's. Van heard Allen's voice yelling at him. "I can't believe you held them off for so long without help! You are a marvel, Van, a marvel! And with Hitomi's well-being in mind at the same time! With her perched on your shoulder like a bird it must have been hard to make a proper maneuver!"
"Allen!" Van yelled back, over the screams and clashing swords. "I will admit, it wasn't easy!"
Hitomi yelled with joy as she saw Scherizade. "Allen!"
"Hitomi! Good to see you're among the living!" Allen yelled back.
They heard a voice behind them. It was Gaddith, in his gymelulf! "Come on, Sir, Fanelia! The sun already has a head start on us, and we're no where near done the gardening! Look at all the weeds we've got to chop down to size!" Gaddith laughed as he swung his sword and cut an enemy gymelulf's left arm clean off.
Van was suddenly charged by two gymelulfs: one to the front, one to the side. Fanelia's king took a swing at the front assault and split the gymelulf in two from the waste. In the process, he failed to block to assault from the side. A cold sword thrust itself into the cockpit.
Inside Escaflowne, Van could hear Hitomi screaming his name. As he looked out the protective grating, he could see Hitomi's face right up against it, screaming at him if he was all right. Her eyes were up to the rim with tears, and one dropped through the grating onto his cheek.
Despite his wounds, he lifted one hand up to the grating, entwined as many fingers as he could through the it, and felt Hitomi's fingers caress his. Then, he felt everything spin and he fell against the cold machinery behind him.
"Van! Please, wake up! Van!" Hitomi screamed.
Hitomi put her hand against the clear breastplate that protected Escaflowne's energyst. It glowed for an instant, then Van came tumbling out of Escaflowne onto the ground, and the light subsided. Hitomi jumped off Escaflowne and held Van in her arms as if he were her own sweet child. She felt his heartbeat slow to an alarming rate.
'No!' she thought. 'No! Van's dying!' Hitomi screamed out and all gymelulfs and men turned to see her. "NO, HE'S DYING! MY SWEET VAN IS DYING!!!"
Tears streamed down Hitomi's cheeks like burning water! She dared not open her eyes for fear that she would scold them!
All the sudden, the two forgotten pendants around Van and Hitomi's necks began to glow. The beam of light surrounded Hitomi and the unconscious Van, and the whole battlefield. Hitomi's eyes forced themselves open to see all the fighters disappearing into thin air! She and Van, were themselves, disappearing!
There was a bright flash. All she could think of was holding Van close to her. She felt heat against her back, and turned. A huge, flaming pillar fell on her and struck her head! She fell onto Van's chest. All around her swayed into a blue and pink mist...
* * * * *
Van opened his eyes and saw Allen looking down at him. "Where am I?"
"In the infirmary, at Astoria's castle," Allen replied.
"Mmm... How long have I been asleep?" Van asked.
"Nearly five days," Allen smiled. "It's a miracle you're even alive! Your wound was nearly beyond Queen Millerna's strength to heal."
"Millerna cared for me?" Van said in shock.
"Yes, of course, Van. You are her friend. She wouldn't trust anyone else to care for you." Allen turned to a window.
Van looked urgently at Allen. "Where is Hitomi?"
"She—!" Allen stopped, reluctant. He looked down at his boots. "In her room."
Van continued. "I have to see her! She was frightened. I have to tell her I'm fine."
Allen jumped at him and shook him by the shoulders. "You can't!"
"Why not?" Van asked playfully.
"She... She won't hear you." Allen paused. "She is unconscious. A pillar fell on her. I saw it. She was trying to protect you. She looked behind her and — I couldn't stop it! It hit her clear on the head!" Allen put his head on Van's shoulder and began to cry. It took a lot to shake a Knight Kaeli, but this had done it.
Van sat on the bed, in shock. He found it hard to accept what he was being told. Hitomi, unconscious, coma? They didn't fit properly together in his mind. "That... can't be right," he whispered hoarsely.
Allen looked at him with shimmering eyes. "It is. I saw her — the state she was in when the soldiers brought her in. Millerna hasn't said it outright, but I know that inside she believes Hitomi won't ever wake up! Personally, I'd believe the word of a healer rather than the word of an injured and disoriented king. I wish I didn't!"
"H-Hitomi... never... wake up?" Van's eyes began to sparkle.
"I'm sorry...!" Allen said. "I should have watched over her more closely. Maybe, not even have let her come at all!"
"I want to see her," Van said stiffly.
Allen let Van get up. Van moved to a changing curtain in the inner room of his quarters. He came out in his red shirt and tan pants.
Allen led the way to Hitomi's room. As they walked through the hall, they saw many noble families lined up to see her. Among them were the members of the Court of Astoria and many others.
"What's going on?" Van asked.
"Good question," Allen replied.
"The nobility and people of Astoria wish to pay their respects one last time to Hitomi for saving them in the time of the Great War," Lady Aeries explained, walking up to them.
The words 'one last time' made Van's spine quiver with fear. Would Hitomi die in that coma soon? Would she be a bed-confined person for the rest of her life? "Is she dying?"
"No," Aeries replied. "According to my sister, the Queen, there is a two percent chance that she will wake up. If she does not wake up in two weeks' time, she will be buried in the palace's cemetery with our highest honours. She achieved peace, and was a friend to all countries of Gaea in her time, with the exception of Zaibach."
"Only two percent?" Van fell silent. He could almost feel his heart ripping in two beneath his skin and bone!
"You speak as though she were already dead," Allen said quickly, changing the grim subject of 'two percent chance'.
"That's true. But she most likely will never recover," Aeries replied sadly.
Van shoved Aeries and all the people in his way aside. There were many "Ouch, wait your turn!" 's and "Can he do that? How come we can't do that?" 's.
The only light in the room was that of a small stream of sunlight from the nearly-closed curtains and two candles, one on either side of the bed.
Van entered the room. Each person present found their own thoughts, and their own wa to grieve...
Celena sat on a chair beside the bed, silent. Millerna sat in a chair on the other side. Dryden stood behind Millerna's chair, deep in thought. Merle knelt on her knees at the end of the bed in prayer. Ariel stood right up against the bed, clutching Hitomi's right hand with both of hers tiny ones. Pedoru stood beside his sister, his hand on Ariel's shoulder in consolation. And nine-year-old Duke Chid, who Allen explained had just arrived a few days ago, was standing silently beside his aunt's right arm, eyes drawn to the woman in the bed who had once taught him a most valuable lesson.
Van saw the figure that lay in the bed: so still, so beautiful. Even in almost certain death, her beauty shone through like a single beam of light piercing a thick forest's trees. There was a faint mystic look about her. It made her look only that much more beautiful to him. He didn't mind that her hair was messy. He didn't care that her skin was nearly milk white with loss of blood. All that mattered was her heart was still with him. In that still body, was the most generous and bewildering soul Van had ever known!
Allen and Van joined the others. Allen took his place behind Pedoru and Ariel, while Van walked right up to Hitomi's side. He knelt on his knees then took her left hand (mimicking Ariel) and caressed it softly, hoping that one little touch, one sensation, would find its way to her. So she could see just how much he loved her, even if she couldn't return it! He would love her forever and always!
Not a word was uttered that whole day in that dark room. It was as if a spell of silence hung in the air. As if when someone entered that room, they forgot how to speak, or move their mouths. Once, near noon, Van heard Dryden whisper solemnly to himself. "Damn it, Hitomi. You can't leave us, you just can't! We love you so dearly! We need you in our lives."
Van's heart sunk like a rock in the ocean. He knew that Hitomi would never come back. That's the way things went for her. Hitomi always had bad things happening to her, always! It wasn't fair! Why should other people live happy lives when they commit horrible crimes, while this sweet, young girl would be lost! I just wasn't fair!
Many have gone to war in the past and been taken by its evil. It is what war is. But why the innocent, pure, gentle seeress? She didn't deserve this! What had she done to warrant this act? She'd done nothing. Van was sure of it!
'Oh, Hitomi,' Van thought while holding his beloved's hand. 'I will find a way to reach you! I'll bring you back!'
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Episode #10
Bloodshed's Beginning
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The dawn was rising in the pale sky early the next morning. A hundred ships floated in on the horizon. Faint sounds of levistones echoed through the air. In the Souverande, head airship of the dark prince's army, stood Dalvus and his men.
Dalvus stood tall and erect in his place. "As soon as all the ships get here, we will launch the battle's main charge, understood?"
All his soldiers looked at him. "Sir!"
Versis, who was Dalvus's second in command, unsheathed his sword. "All men to your gymelulfs now!"
The ship rang with the clings and clangs of heavy metal boots against cold, stone floors. Versis ran down the hall to the gymelulf hangar — to his own gymelulf, Orbis, named after his father. He switched open the cockpit of Orbis and jumped in. He saw all the other soldiers entering their gymelulfs in a clamour. He clicked a few switches and the hangar door opened with a loud creek!
In a matter of minutes, the sky was filled with the ominous shapes of gymelulfs. They showered the ground and walked forward in a circle as they had planned.
* * * * *
Footsteps, rushed preparations, sharpening gymelulf swords, and ear-splitting shouts flooded Palas. All citizens were safely evacuated into the castle. Amidst all this commotion, Hitomi dashed like a gazelle, looking for Van and Allen.
She spotted a tiny scrap of red against the gray and white scene of soldiers and gymelulfs. She ran towards it and in an instant, took hold of Van's shoulder. He turned to see her, her hands on her knees and gasping for breath.
"Hitomi, what are you doing? You should be in the castle with Merle and everyone else."
"No, Van," Hitomi replied. "I'm going with you. If anything, I can help. I know medicine, I've been learning from Millerna... and I can use my powers to aid the soldiers. Please, don't refuse me."
Van looked at her, her eyes were bright pools of hope. Then, he looked down. "All right... but you have to stay with me on Escaflowne, so I can protect you. Agreed?"
"All right," Hitomi giggled triumphantly.
She watched Van jump onto the re-awakened Escaflowne. He entered the cockpit, and the next thing she knew, she was being lifted by Escaflowne's left hand onto its shoulder, right beside the cockpit.
Escaflowne turned around, looking out at the horizon, now smeared with thousands of little black dots falling to the ground. Van spoke through the grating. "There they are."
"Yes," Hitomi replied anxiously, "and here we go."
Escaflowne changed right from underneath her from gymelulf to dragon. Before she could even fall off the shoulder that was no longer there, Van grabbed her in the crook of his arm and held her. They flew towards the horizon, each second Hitomi wished she was only dreaming. Van looked at her, seeing her uncertainty.
"We'll win, don't worry," he said, kissing her on the cheek.
Hitomi nearly burst into tears as she spoke. "What if... this is the last time I ever see you?! What if you—!"
"No!" Van interjected quickly. "That will not happen!"
'Van,' Hitomi thought. 'You're so brave... and optimistic... but those virtues can blind you from the truth! I hope not.'
They came into sight of some six thousand gymelulfs. The sight made both Hitomi and Van shudder. They couldn't hold this many off until Allen and Astoria's army were here! Not alone! It was hopeless and folly, but they weren't about to give up!
The battlefield was in a basin-like valley, on all sides was a protective cliff wall. The perfect spot for a close combat battle to take place.
Van let out a tremendous war cry and let Escaflowne turn back into a gymelulf, holding Hitomi in its metallic hand as it fell. It gave a thundering thud as its feet hit the ground.
Hitomi coughed out a bit of blood from her mouth. The impact had made the metal hand push in on her and squeeze her ribs a bit, shocking her.
Van saw her cough out the blood and placed her on Escaflowne's shoulder again. He charged a gymelulf, his sword cutting it right through the middle. There was a horrifying scream from inside the cockpit, then the gymelulf disintegrated into dust, a small crimson pool lying on the ground.
Van charged another, sending it flying across the battlefield and landing smack against a cliff. It broke apart, then turned into dust and another pool of crimson slid slowly down the cliff of the valley.
Hitomi watched as one by one, the enemy gymelulfs chose different ways to hit Escaflowne: the rear, the side, the front. None did any good. One gymelulf threw its second weapon, a spear, at Escaflowne's head from the side. Van made Escaflowne duck and watched, fingers crossed, as the tip of the spear severed tiny hairs off the very back of Hitomi's neck! The spear flew across the field, only to impale another enemy gymelulf, leaving Hitomi temporarily paralyzed with fear.
After fifteen more minutes of fighting came and went. Van was exhausted! He had fought all alone for a good twenty minutes, nonstop! He was beginning to make crucial mistakes that, twice, nearly cost Hitomi her life! Now he sat in Escaflowne's cockpit panting for breath. The enemy was standing triumphantly around him, feeling certain that they had won.
He was on the brink of surrendering when a sound of propellers flying right overhead sounded in Van and Hitomi's ears like heaven's trumpets! Allen and the Astorian army dropped from hundreds of airships in the sky, and started taking out the gymelulfs surrounding Escaflowne.
Scherizade put its back to Escaflowne's. Van heard Allen's voice yelling at him. "I can't believe you held them off for so long without help! You are a marvel, Van, a marvel! And with Hitomi's well-being in mind at the same time! With her perched on your shoulder like a bird it must have been hard to make a proper maneuver!"
"Allen!" Van yelled back, over the screams and clashing swords. "I will admit, it wasn't easy!"
Hitomi yelled with joy as she saw Scherizade. "Allen!"
"Hitomi! Good to see you're among the living!" Allen yelled back.
They heard a voice behind them. It was Gaddith, in his gymelulf! "Come on, Sir, Fanelia! The sun already has a head start on us, and we're no where near done the gardening! Look at all the weeds we've got to chop down to size!" Gaddith laughed as he swung his sword and cut an enemy gymelulf's left arm clean off.
Van was suddenly charged by two gymelulfs: one to the front, one to the side. Fanelia's king took a swing at the front assault and split the gymelulf in two from the waste. In the process, he failed to block to assault from the side. A cold sword thrust itself into the cockpit.
Inside Escaflowne, Van could hear Hitomi screaming his name. As he looked out the protective grating, he could see Hitomi's face right up against it, screaming at him if he was all right. Her eyes were up to the rim with tears, and one dropped through the grating onto his cheek.
Despite his wounds, he lifted one hand up to the grating, entwined as many fingers as he could through the it, and felt Hitomi's fingers caress his. Then, he felt everything spin and he fell against the cold machinery behind him.
"Van! Please, wake up! Van!" Hitomi screamed.
Hitomi put her hand against the clear breastplate that protected Escaflowne's energyst. It glowed for an instant, then Van came tumbling out of Escaflowne onto the ground, and the light subsided. Hitomi jumped off Escaflowne and held Van in her arms as if he were her own sweet child. She felt his heartbeat slow to an alarming rate.
'No!' she thought. 'No! Van's dying!' Hitomi screamed out and all gymelulfs and men turned to see her. "NO, HE'S DYING! MY SWEET VAN IS DYING!!!"
Tears streamed down Hitomi's cheeks like burning water! She dared not open her eyes for fear that she would scold them!
All the sudden, the two forgotten pendants around Van and Hitomi's necks began to glow. The beam of light surrounded Hitomi and the unconscious Van, and the whole battlefield. Hitomi's eyes forced themselves open to see all the fighters disappearing into thin air! She and Van, were themselves, disappearing!
There was a bright flash. All she could think of was holding Van close to her. She felt heat against her back, and turned. A huge, flaming pillar fell on her and struck her head! She fell onto Van's chest. All around her swayed into a blue and pink mist...
* * * * *
Van opened his eyes and saw Allen looking down at him. "Where am I?"
"In the infirmary, at Astoria's castle," Allen replied.
"Mmm... How long have I been asleep?" Van asked.
"Nearly five days," Allen smiled. "It's a miracle you're even alive! Your wound was nearly beyond Queen Millerna's strength to heal."
"Millerna cared for me?" Van said in shock.
"Yes, of course, Van. You are her friend. She wouldn't trust anyone else to care for you." Allen turned to a window.
Van looked urgently at Allen. "Where is Hitomi?"
"She—!" Allen stopped, reluctant. He looked down at his boots. "In her room."
Van continued. "I have to see her! She was frightened. I have to tell her I'm fine."
Allen jumped at him and shook him by the shoulders. "You can't!"
"Why not?" Van asked playfully.
"She... She won't hear you." Allen paused. "She is unconscious. A pillar fell on her. I saw it. She was trying to protect you. She looked behind her and — I couldn't stop it! It hit her clear on the head!" Allen put his head on Van's shoulder and began to cry. It took a lot to shake a Knight Kaeli, but this had done it.
Van sat on the bed, in shock. He found it hard to accept what he was being told. Hitomi, unconscious, coma? They didn't fit properly together in his mind. "That... can't be right," he whispered hoarsely.
Allen looked at him with shimmering eyes. "It is. I saw her — the state she was in when the soldiers brought her in. Millerna hasn't said it outright, but I know that inside she believes Hitomi won't ever wake up! Personally, I'd believe the word of a healer rather than the word of an injured and disoriented king. I wish I didn't!"
"H-Hitomi... never... wake up?" Van's eyes began to sparkle.
"I'm sorry...!" Allen said. "I should have watched over her more closely. Maybe, not even have let her come at all!"
"I want to see her," Van said stiffly.
Allen let Van get up. Van moved to a changing curtain in the inner room of his quarters. He came out in his red shirt and tan pants.
Allen led the way to Hitomi's room. As they walked through the hall, they saw many noble families lined up to see her. Among them were the members of the Court of Astoria and many others.
"What's going on?" Van asked.
"Good question," Allen replied.
"The nobility and people of Astoria wish to pay their respects one last time to Hitomi for saving them in the time of the Great War," Lady Aeries explained, walking up to them.
The words 'one last time' made Van's spine quiver with fear. Would Hitomi die in that coma soon? Would she be a bed-confined person for the rest of her life? "Is she dying?"
"No," Aeries replied. "According to my sister, the Queen, there is a two percent chance that she will wake up. If she does not wake up in two weeks' time, she will be buried in the palace's cemetery with our highest honours. She achieved peace, and was a friend to all countries of Gaea in her time, with the exception of Zaibach."
"Only two percent?" Van fell silent. He could almost feel his heart ripping in two beneath his skin and bone!
"You speak as though she were already dead," Allen said quickly, changing the grim subject of 'two percent chance'.
"That's true. But she most likely will never recover," Aeries replied sadly.
Van shoved Aeries and all the people in his way aside. There were many "Ouch, wait your turn!" 's and "Can he do that? How come we can't do that?" 's.
The only light in the room was that of a small stream of sunlight from the nearly-closed curtains and two candles, one on either side of the bed.
Van entered the room. Each person present found their own thoughts, and their own wa to grieve...
Celena sat on a chair beside the bed, silent. Millerna sat in a chair on the other side. Dryden stood behind Millerna's chair, deep in thought. Merle knelt on her knees at the end of the bed in prayer. Ariel stood right up against the bed, clutching Hitomi's right hand with both of hers tiny ones. Pedoru stood beside his sister, his hand on Ariel's shoulder in consolation. And nine-year-old Duke Chid, who Allen explained had just arrived a few days ago, was standing silently beside his aunt's right arm, eyes drawn to the woman in the bed who had once taught him a most valuable lesson.
Van saw the figure that lay in the bed: so still, so beautiful. Even in almost certain death, her beauty shone through like a single beam of light piercing a thick forest's trees. There was a faint mystic look about her. It made her look only that much more beautiful to him. He didn't mind that her hair was messy. He didn't care that her skin was nearly milk white with loss of blood. All that mattered was her heart was still with him. In that still body, was the most generous and bewildering soul Van had ever known!
Allen and Van joined the others. Allen took his place behind Pedoru and Ariel, while Van walked right up to Hitomi's side. He knelt on his knees then took her left hand (mimicking Ariel) and caressed it softly, hoping that one little touch, one sensation, would find its way to her. So she could see just how much he loved her, even if she couldn't return it! He would love her forever and always!
Not a word was uttered that whole day in that dark room. It was as if a spell of silence hung in the air. As if when someone entered that room, they forgot how to speak, or move their mouths. Once, near noon, Van heard Dryden whisper solemnly to himself. "Damn it, Hitomi. You can't leave us, you just can't! We love you so dearly! We need you in our lives."
Van's heart sunk like a rock in the ocean. He knew that Hitomi would never come back. That's the way things went for her. Hitomi always had bad things happening to her, always! It wasn't fair! Why should other people live happy lives when they commit horrible crimes, while this sweet, young girl would be lost! I just wasn't fair!
Many have gone to war in the past and been taken by its evil. It is what war is. But why the innocent, pure, gentle seeress? She didn't deserve this! What had she done to warrant this act? She'd done nothing. Van was sure of it!
'Oh, Hitomi,' Van thought while holding his beloved's hand. 'I will find a way to reach you! I'll bring you back!'
TO BE CONTINUED...