Chapter 9
Hitomi got into a fighting stance. The guards stepped back. They didn't know what to make of it. A girl? Fighting all of them at once?
One soldier stepped forward and raised his sword. Hitomi slashed at his blade, breaking it in two. She hit the man's head with the hilt of her sword and the soldier fell unconscious. Kero tossed two men to the wall with his mouth. The men backed away.
" We have to get to Millerna and the others!" Hitomi shouted, just as the hallway lighted up in
flames.
" Get over!" Kero shouted from the other side of the flames. Hitomi braced herself, then jumped
over. The ceiling on that section collapsed, and Hitomi threw herself forward.
" Run!" Kero shouted. Flames blew up behind them. Hitomi got to her feet and ran, staff in hand, in the direction of Millerna's room.
" Millerna!" She shouted, thrusting open the door. There was no one inside. Hitomi rushed past. She ran into someone, someone cloaked...
" Card Mistress!" The sorceress cried. " Come with me," She took Hitomi by the hand, and guided her smoothly and quietly out of the flames, without even having to run. Hitomi looked around her, confused.
" Lorenil." She acknowledged, finally recognizing who her savior was.
" We don't have much time." Lorenil answered, hood still on her head, but her eyes flashed from the
light of the fire. " Your friends had created special crystals to protect them from the Phoenix. It
might prove useful later, but for now Hilderna is planning to steal them. Comi had summoned past
prisoners of torture that were enslaved by Hilderna to help them capture the child. Shirin is going to
try something else, but for now you must come with me."
Hitomi nodded. Lorenil turned around and looked about her.
" Follow me." She said.
" You tortured your captives." Syaoran said quietly, trying to get his trembling under control. " You
captured them, tortured them until they went mad. Then you drove them to their deaths and trapped
their souls."
Hilderna cocked an eyebrow. " Do I hear a tone of accusation in that little speech, Little
Gold Eyes?"
" Ah, tis no accusation. It wouldn't help in this case, would it?" Syaoran slowly relaxed, studying
Hilderna more and more, and his trembling ceased. " 'Tis merely a statement. But I do wonder," He
poked at one of the spirits, who growled in response, but Syaoran was no longer fazed.
She admitted it, Syaoran thought to himself. She was stupid enough to trap the souls of those she tormented. God, what a moron.
" If these souls are really loyal to you," He looked at Hilderna, and began wording carefully so the souls would hear. " After humiliating them with whips and brands, scarring them and their names, drinking their blood and flesh, roasting their heart...ah, what wonderful servants!"
He wasn't really sure if that was what Hilderna did, but it did make the spirits uncomfortable. Did Hilderna really do that to them? They looked at themselves. They no longer have a form. Perhaps it was Hilderna's doing. Their enslaver. Their captor.
" What do you really want, Hilderna? Surely you cannot want me, because the Dark Phoenix does. What do you get out of this?" Syaoran asked.
" I need you to send to Syaoran whatever vision you see." Lorenil instructed Hitomi as they walked
down the hall. Shouts were heard from a long distance to the right. Lorenil continued to head
forward. " Syaoran will need it."
They headed down the stairs.
" Where are we going?" Hitomi asked.
" To the dungeons." Lorenil answered. Hitomi felt a chill run down her spine. As they walked the
sorceress lighted up the hallway. Hitomi looked around. There were many cells, tight and dark, with
bones scattered, but they were piled into heaps.
" You dare talk back to me?" Hilderna shouted as she kicked the man in the mouth. Then she
calmed down.
" I know something that will tame you, my dog," she chuckled. Waving a man over, she handed
him a knife.
" Cut him. Make him tell me what those secrets are. If he keeps on denying he knows it, cut one
scoop from the bottom, and each time he denies cut one deeper, closer and closer to his stomach.
Stop not till he reveals..."
Hitomi cringed. She stared at Lorenil. Lorenil nodded. Hitomi began to concentrate.
Syaoran, Syaoran, I have something to show you...
Syaoran blinked. As he listened to the words carefully he recognized it.
" Seems like two worlds share the same kind of tortures." He looked around for the poor man. He was only a blob of shadow now, with blood oozing out. " I know an Empress of China who used that type of torture. Oh, she was a good Empress, but a bad soul. Do you know what became of her in the end?"
Hilderna recognized the man. She also recognized the torture.
" She did a lot of worse things." Syaoran answered. " And her spirit began reliving it, but those cuts, those brands, they were on her own ' body'. Maybe I can cast one of those."
" Come little boy." Hilderna laughed. Behind her back she held a poisonous dagger. The five year
old smiled and ran over to her. Hilderna patted the child's head, then drove the blade into the
boy's head...
" Not such a good mother I see." Syaoran studied a smaller wraith. " Come here, little one."
The wraith blinked, then floated over. Syaoran touched its shapeless hand and a child formed, pale like an albino. On top of its head the child had a deep cut that still bled.
Hilderna stepped back. She was going to end this nonsense.
" Comi, give order." She commanded.
Comi bowed his head and began to hum. The spirits stirred uneasily.
To the others, it seemed that Syaoran flashed. And flash he did, as if the sun had suddenly lighted and went out. It was a bright flash, retina burning, painful and quick. The spirits moaned in response.
" Spirits of the dead! Hear ye! Hear ye!"
Just then, the flames from the other hall spread to Syaoran's side. The guards cried out in terror. Comi and Hilderna looked back in alarm. There were shrieks.
" Cerene!" Allen cried, " The princess!"
Syaoran threw his hand out. The flames grew higher and crashed on to Hilderna. There was a muffled scream, and Comi stared at the spirits.
Normally the dead would have helped, but the wraiths were motionless, simply watching, surrounding Syaoran in a still circle and observing the flames.
Syaoran uttered something, but through the crackle of the flames the words could not be made out. The wraiths lunged forward. Yue shot an arrow and Allen and Van drew their swords. Syaoran charged through the flames as the black shadows engulfed the priest, the princess, and the guards. Yue took Allen.
" Use your wings!" The guardian cried to Van. " They will save you," He spread his own and flapped. The flames blew out. Van did the same, and the two angels rose into the air. Syaoran was nowhere to be seen.
" My sister! And the Princess!" Allen shouted to Yue as more wood and doors crumbled from
being burned so long.
" They're that way," Yue dove, the hall not suitable for flying. Van followed.
Millerna shrieked as more ceiling and wood fell down near her. The guards were running
around in chaos. Cerene and the princess held on to each other for dear life as candles on the
ceiling crashed down.
" The crystals!" Someone shouted, and Millerna turned to look. One winged figure dove back where he came while two others, one underneath the other, fluttered towards the broken and collapsing ceiling. The ceiling crashed, and the girls could feel arms around them and pushing them back. Shouts and more flames poisoned the air. Black shadows wove around the room, taking the life of each man they touched, but surprisingly avoiding Allen and Yue.
" Where's Van?" Millerna shouted over the catastrophe,
" He went to get the Water Crystals!"Allen shouted back, as they crashed through one of the
windows and onto the burning grass outside.
Kero backed off. This is ridiculous! He could stand flames, but not things falling all over
the place! Where is Hitomi?
" Kerberus!" He heard someone shout, and made out the figure of Van, with his wings spread behind him, running towards him.
" Get the Water crystals in that room!" The young lord shouted, and Kero went through the flames and looked around. What water crystals?
Van leaped through the flames, his trousers burnt black.
" The books! The crystals! Over there!" Van cried as he grabbed one pile. Kero looked over. There
were twenty blue crystals in a crystal bowl. Water is blue, or at least it's drawn to be that way, so-
" Ah, I don't think so." Said a voice, just as Kero grabbed the bowl in his mouth. One crystal skittered over to Van's feet. They both looked up.
It was him. That blonde hair, those flaming eyes. It was the Dark phoenix, with all his menace and darkness. This was the being that destroyed Syaoran's life. This was the being that can destroy all of Gaea with a flick of his hand. And they were face to face with it. Alone.
Van took a step back, his books falling over. One of the books lighted up in flame.
" Give me those books." The Dark Phoenix was well aware of their use.
Van froze. What could he do?
The Dark Phoenix smiled. " Give me those books like a good boy. Or," His hand rose and a ball of fire began to form, " Things will begin to get hot."
" Lorenil!"
The sorceress turned around. " Zad!"
Zad ran up, wiping his hair and panting. " Hurry, the dungeon is about to collapse! I think Hilderna's dead, I'm not sure, but you two have to get out! Card Mistress! Come with me!" The sorceror grabbed Hitomi's hand and dragged her out. Hitomi followed, dazed, but her heart was racing. She noticed that the halls were filled with guards either fighting each other or fighting cloaked magicians and priests. The castle was filled with fire.
" What about Millerna? And Cerene?" Hitomi shouted.
" They're taken care of," Zad answered, and he opened the door. A gust of wind blew in, small
enough to make the fires grow bigger. They rushed out.
Lorenil made it out just as the ceiling collapsed from the dungeons. She looked up and saw one window. But she didn't really see what was inside, only felt its power.
" Iie." She whispered. " Syaoran..."
Syaoran looked around. " Escaflowne..." He reached out and gestured. " I know as long as
you are safe your other will be fine, but you must stay safe. He has the crystals...you must hear me,
for once at least!"
The tall thing sat as still as the metallic stone it was made of. It made no movement.
" Escaflowne!" Syaoran whipped around just as flames began consuming the floors. " Escaflowne! Onegai!"
But only Van could make the tall thing move. Syaoran sighed, then an idea came to him. Didn't he enter the armor once? Sure, the wires and everything were too big, but at least he was able to make it move, even if it was a little, before Van and Allen had stopped him.
He leaped onto the lap of Escaflowne and touched the gem. The armor opened and he went inside, fighting down the claustrophobia that was beginning to build.
For Van, He thought, If Escaflowne were dead he would be too... He felt everything connect to him. Shifting his leg, he made Escaflowne stand up.
Didn't Van make Escaflowne a dragon? Perhaps he could do that. Syaoran blinked. But how?
But without knowing it the armor folded down around him and he was grabbing the dragon by the reins. Escaflowne gave a terrible screech and they crashed through the wall just as the flames hit where Escaflowne was once seated. The dragon sailed through the air and Syaoran made it go down, and the dragon thing landed, turning back into an armor. Syaoran hesitated, then freed himself.
" If Van gets out of this," Syaoran thought out loud, " I'll punish him for this. I am never going in that thing again!"
By nature, as a warrior, Van began looking around him, above him, below him, to think of
some tool he could use to defend himself. His eyes fell upon the crystal.
Dropping to his knees he grabbed the crystal and thrusted his hand out, holding on to the jewel. The crystals, all of them, began glowing brightly.
The Dark Phoenix screeched, and it was a piercing and terrible screech. He thrusted his hands out and his flames began to die. The ground beneath their feet split from the shriek of the great Phoenix facing his main weakness. Fires rose around the spirit in vain to protect himself and the Dark Phoenix spread his great wings and became a great black bird. The being unleashed a giant wind and both Kero, Van, and the books and crystals were thrown into the flames. But water made the flames sizzle out just as the castle began to crumble, and the Dark Phoenix vanished, without a trace.
Van shook his head to clear his senses. One book was burnt black. All the others were only burnt slightly. Kero still had some crystals in his mouth-all the rest were gone. Van gathered up the books and Kero gathered the crystals and they made it outside just as the entire castle collapsed in flames, ignoring the cries and the wails of the poor guards and their families behind them.
As the dust piled in the air a great gush of wind forced Van and Kero forward. Allen, Yue, Millerna, Cerene, Hitomi and all the sorcerors felt it and the force of it made all of their bodies fly in the air and crash onto the ground. The wind passed, but they remained on the grass, pools of blood developing around their fallen bodies.
Morning.
The sun was shining, but no birds were chirping, and the air was filled with smoke. A lone child ran down the hill from where a tall armor stood and looked amongst the ruins.
" Escaflowne!" He called despairingly, " Sakura? Allen? Yue! Kero?" He looked around, sobbing slightly, whimpers escaping him as he flipped fallen bodies over to look at the dead faces, only to step over them and flip more. Blood was all over his arms and clothes. His eyes were wild with fear and apprehension. He looked up. There were several more on the grass. Was it them?
" Escaflowne?' he called. " Hitomi?"
He ran over and recognized one pair of wings. Shaking the body gently, he sobbed.
" Yue?"
No answer. The guardian did not move.
Syaoran whimpered, sobbing, and moved to the next one. He stopped for a moment.
" ...clean to the bone..."
" Sakura?" He pushed Hitomi, then jumped over her body and shook Allen. None of them gave any response.
He stood up, sobbing. " I thought saving Escaflowne would..." He began crying. " I lost them. I lost them again. Just like I lost..."
A groan.
Syaoran whipped around and ran over to a pair of wings. " Escaflowne?"
Van shifted slightly. " Syaoran," He whispered.
Syaoran began laughing through his tears. " It's okay, as long as you're alive, hold on," He placed his hands over Van's bruised body and let his energy flow into Van. Van felt the pain ease and strength running in his blood. He sat up slowly.
" Oh my god," Syaoran wept in joy, too glad to despair over the loss of the others. " I didn't lose
everyone. I didn't lose everyone. I didnt-"
" Shhh..." Van held out his arms and gathered the child to him. " It's okay..."
Some groans, and one body shifted over.
" Oww..." Kero groaned. " That hurts. What happened?"
Yue curled up and got to his knees, looking around, dazed.
Syaoran inhaled and ran to one guardian, then to the other, hugging them like crazy. He
didn't bother healing them this time because he was so busy crying.
" I thought I lost both of you, I thought I lost everyone, and-I was so scared-"
" It's alright," Yue said comfortingly. " I think we're all alright. We were far from a lot of the
destruction, since we were out of the fort."
Syaoran blinked, and crawled over to Hitomi, who was nearby. He placed his hands over her and his body shimmered and glowed softly, unlike the other night when he was flashing. Hitomi moaned. The child crawled over to the next one, in his excitement not even looking at the Card Mistress. Before he could heal Lorenil he suddenly dropped and lay like a dead thing.
" What happened?" Van started and ran over to the child.
" He exhausted himself." Yue answered. The guardian looked at the suddenly unconscious boy in
Van's arms. Millerna, Cerene, and Hitomi got up and looked around them.
" Oh my god..." Millerna breathed. " It's all in ruins..."
" What happened to the Dark Phoenix?" Allen asked, rubbing his head.
" He's gone." Van explained what happened.
" Iie." Yue shook his head. " That was what happened before, according to Syaoran. The Dark
Phoenix cannot be just destroyed by simple amulets. He's probably severely weakened and only
fled like the coward that he was."
" But he was beginning to turn to ash."
" Haven't you heard of those stories about Phoenixes?" Hitomi answered. " As long as every bit of
that ash was together, the Phoenix can be reborn from the flames. As far as I can tell, there was fire
everywhere. Maybe the Dark Phoenix was able to reassemble himself, even though the ritual wasn't
appropriate."
" So you're saying that he's still here."
" I can feel his presence." Kero answered in his gruff voice, and lied down next to the other
guardian.
Yue looked up. " Hai, he's still around. Whatever happened to him, he's still here. It's dangerous here, we have to take Syaoran somewhere else. Allen, take the girls and Syaoran over to the woods over there. Hitomi, keep your cards ready. Van, Kero and I will go look around for any surviving sorcerors that might help us."
The walls had crumbled from the fire. Pale bodies with burnt robes lied everywhere, body
parts no longer bleeding. There was still smoke from some of the ruins, and a heated blaze in small
areas.
Van looked around him. The scene reminded him of those times five years ago, when he was trapped in the memory of Atlantis. The memory of Draconians flying in the sky, and dissolving into ashes as the flames rose to consume them. Shuddering, a fear taking hold of his heart, he unconsciously reached out and found Yue's hand.
The Moon Guardian was startled and looked back at the young king. Noting the dazed look in his eyes, Yue's cold eyes softened and he gave Van a reassuring squeeze. He knew the young man thought of himself as a fellow Draconian and from Syaoran's accounts, perhaps Van had thought of the memories of before, where all the fellow angels died in that devastating fire and flame.
Yue was not a Draconian. But if it pleased Van to believe it, Yue had no problem with that.
Syaoran had definetely come to the right place. Gaea had experienced so much that Syaoran should feel quite at home here in a world of understanding. But Yue knew that Gaea was no place for a child to be cured. Earth...Earth had a light giddiness to it. Everything was bright and natural. Here there was a gloom that reflects a time when there was once joy, but that joy was all but a memory. The people on Gaea had the knowledge of dark times, and those dark times will forever taint whatever happiness there may be.
It's no place for a child. Yue swallowed. Hai. Syaoran came to the right place. Here he could pour his despair out without fear of being ignored or laughed at. But in the end, someone has to take him home. Someone has to give him a life. Life on Earth.
There was one man still breathing. Yue bent down and took the sorceror into his arms. The man opened his hazel eyes and stared at him.
" Who are you?" He asked deliriously. Yue sighed. Millerna's a doctor, but he's not. He spread his
wings.
" I'll be back." He told the others, and gave one great flap.
" Iie, you're not going to heal anyone. I'll do it." Millerna snapped. Syaoran pouted and sat back,
leaning into Allen's embrace.
" Where's Escaflowne?" Syaoran asked. " How come he's not back yet?"
It was the fifth time the boy asked that, but none of the adults complained because they could tell the child was restless and worried. None of them could get use to the name " Escaflowne", they addressed him as Van for so long. Indeed, Hitomi didn't even know when and why Syaoran suddenly started calling Van Escaflowne. He even called her Sakura at times. He repeatedly inquired about Chid every time Kero flew by or Yue. Van often handed those he found to Yue, so they never saw him.
Was Chid alive? Syaoran was anxious.
" Where's Chid?" He asked as Yue came back. " Is this him?"
" Iie." Yue answered, but there was a gentle smile on his face. " Don't worry. Van's got him. Chid is
fine-just buried under some rubble for some time. Look, Van's coming."
" Escaflowne!" Syaoran called. Van started at the name and landed, unsure. Chid hopped out of his
arms and ran towards Syaoran.
" Are you alright?" Chid asked.
" You're asking me?!" Syaoran cried, incredulous. " I wasn't the one buried under the rubble!"
There was a huge explosion. The group cringed.
Kero ran up. " That's the last one. The whole city's blown up."
" We managed to rescue around forty eight, at least." Yue said quietly.
" The Phoenix is reborn. With so little fire!" Syaoran breathed, amazed. " How is that possible?
And with water crystals!"
" We have to get away." Yue answered.
" Get Escaflowne." Syaoran said to Van. " We'll leave riding on it."
Minutes later they were sailing through the air.