Such great reviews! Thank you everyone! Things will start to wrap up and sorry for the confusion on the dream Hitomi had. But everything will come together in time. Oh and sorry for the wait. I was at the best amusement park in the world for a week. CEDAR POINT! Let's just say its tradition in the family to go every year and we live so close to it that we go every year... but that's all I'm going to say! And yes I did go on the new coaster! Top Thrill Dragster! I waited three hours but it was worth it! If anyone has gone on it or been to Cedar Point, give me a shout out. Now I give you chapter 20!

To Feye Morgan: Bwahahahaha! You're on the right track in what you said on the sorcerers... but I'm just going to keep my mouth shut now...

Disclaimer: I'm starting to dream about this crap cause I write it so often! For goodness sake! I don't own Escaflowne... it doesn't belong to me!

Dilandau raised his head and looked at the girl in his arms. She smiled sweetly at him, showing he wasn't going to get slapped, and she put her arms around his waist, nuzzling her head against his stomach and deeply inhaling his scent. Both felt content and drifted off to a deep slumber.

Chapter 20: How Can This Be Happening?

But in that deep slumber, the serenity of the outside world deceives even the most perceptive. The world of memories and nightmares came to haunt the peacefulness of the two once again, making a night of rest impossible. No one would expect what was to come though. Even if the images were shown to them sooner, no one could prepare for what fate had in store...

Both Hitomi and Dilandau were still lying on the bed in each other's arms, but stirred restlessly. In that world of oblivion, Hitomi found herself in the same position as she was in her last dream... strapped down on a cold metal table with hands and legs bound down. Once again, the men in black cloaks surrounded her, but their gaze did not hold on her for long. It was averted to her side, but she couldn't tell what was going on. She heard a person screaming her name, and then one of the sorcerers started to talk, but every word came out in a murmur.

But as she tried to open her mouth to speak, her brain started to feel like it was going haywire. Before anything more could happen though, everything went black and the dream abruptly ended before anything more could be seen. Dilandau jerked awake causing Hitomi to do the same, but what they saw when they opened their eyes both shocked and frightened them.

All the sorcerers were standing around Hitomi's bed, looming there, waiting... but before either had time to react to what was going on, Hitomi was grabbed roughly from behind and was pulled off the bed. She struggled against the men and tried anything to get away from them, but it was useless. Dilandau had also been grabbed, but he was being held back more than anything.

"Hitomi!" he yelled. "No! Damnit! Don't touch her!"

But all of his yelling was in vain. Dilandau was frantically trying to shake off the weak sorcerers to get to Hitomi, but Hitomi saw a syringe being pulled out of one of the sorcerers' cloaks. It took a few men to hold Dilandau in one spot while the sorcerer jabbed the needle into his bare arm.

The effects were almost immediate and Dilandau felt his strength start to leave him. He fell to his knees as a few thoughts raced through his head. 'They had a sedative... damnit, why do they want Hitomi?'

His vision blurred and the last thing he saw was her worried face and her fading voice frantically calling out his name. He tried to get his words out in more than a whisper. "I... I'm sor... sorry... Hitomi..."

With the drug taking over, he collapsed onto the ground unconscious. Hitomi looked towards Dilandau's limp form and back at the sorcerers holding her. Using all the energy she had left inside, she tried to free herself from their grasp, but they only held on tighter.

She looked back at Dilandau and started to scream, "Dilandau! No! What did you do to him! Let me go!"

But her screaming was cut short when a hand from behind covered her mouth. A sorcerer was holding each of her arms and her feet had already been tied together. The person that kept their hand over Hitomi's mouth brought himself closer to her ear. With a raspy voice he whispered these words directly into her ear. "We have plans for you, my dear Hitomi."

Before she could comprehend what was going on, her head was jerked to the side and a searing pain ripped through her neck and traveled throughout to her head. An unknown liquid filled her veins and soon brought her to unconsciousness along with Dilandau.

One of the stronger sorcerers then picked her up into his arms and carried her out of the bedroom door, following behind several others. The last to leave were the two sorcerers that were dragging Dilandau across the floor by his arms. The door shut heavily as the room cleared of every person there.

No one knew what was happening while on the Vione, the Dragonslayers wondered where their commander was and Masumi questioned where her friend had disappeared. But unknown to many, in the lower levels of the Vione a secret laboratory lay hidden from any wandering people.

The sorcerers had arrived in this hidden area and were soon ready to begin their experiment. Hitomi had been laid on a cold metal table, her arms strapped perpendicular to her body and her feet were secured in place by leather straps. The sleeves on her shirt had been torn off and her boots and pants were stripped from her body. Ever so slowly, the effects of the drugs started to wear off. Hitomi's sedative had less strength, so she was the first to start coming around. Her mind was fuzzy and thinking straight was quite impossible. The sensitivity of her skin felt the hard cool surface beneath her body, and as she inhaled, the smell of her surroundings sent her mind into full alert. One word came to mind. Chemicals. It was the same as her dreams... and this is what she feared.

Afraid to open her eyes, Hitomi lay on the table praying that it was all just a dream, but when she remembered the site of the sorcerers before her eyes when she woke up next to Dilandau, she came to a frightening conclusion. This wasn't a dream... it was real...

But a voice coming from right next to her roused her from her thoughts. "We know you're awake... why don't you just open your eyes and stop trying to hide?"

Hitomi refused to do anything the sorcerers told her, but when she felt the table she was laying on suddenly move, her eyes shot open. The world spun for a few seconds until her vision maintained its focus and found that she was moving to a vertical position. As she looked around, she noticed the room wasn't that big but it was extremely dark. Machinery and liquids of all sorts lay throughout the area, but as her eyes scanned, one figure caught her eye.

"Folken!" Hitomi screamed. It was Folken... but he was lying on the ground unconscious, a little blood running from a cut on his head. There was glass scattered around him that of which looked like the remains of a beaker. "What did you do to him!?" she yelled this time at the sorcerers.

They looked at each other and one of them stepped forward towards Hitomi. He smiled cynically at her and gave off a soft chuckle. "Folken tried to stop us in our plans. He was going to ruin everything and was going to try to save you... but we got to him first."

As she looked at him in horror and glanced at Folken again, her mind screamed in despair. 'No... this can't be happening... why is this happening? Why?!'

"What do you want?" Hitomi asked them, trying to keep the waver in her voice down.

"We will tell you in time... but first we have to wait for our other specimen to wake up."

Before Hitomi could question what the old sorcerer just said, she saw a figure with silver hair being dragged across the ground by a few men. They dragged him to where Hitomi stand and threw him onto a table right next to hers. He was strapped down exactly how they had Hitomi and then reclined him up. She looked over to him and saw he was still not in the real world. His head hung because only his arms and legs were secured, but that was soon to be changed.

A sorcerer, also know as Heikurou, walked over to him and grabbed his forehead, forcing it back against the back of the table very harshly. Dilandau's head made contact with the metal and as soon as it did, his eyes squinted shut in pain and surprise, but he did not wake up. A few slaps echoed throughout the space surrounding them, and slowly Dilandau opened his eyes, almost as if knowing what to expect.

What he didn't expect was to hear Hitomi's voice, "Please stop it!" she shouted in his direction.

His eyes shot open upon hearing her voice, but their eyes did not meet for Hitomi was following Heikurou, who was now walking towards her. He stood directly in front of her and raised his hand, sending it flying across her cheek. Hitomi's head flung to the side from the blow, letting out a slight gasp as it happened.

The man that just slapped her then started to shout right in her face. "You will not speak unless told to! Do you understand?!"

Hitomi looked right back at his face, and spit on it. It landed right in his eye, making him become even more infuriated than before. The sorcerer wiped the liquid from his face rather quickly and glared down at Hitomi, but she stared straight back.

"You will be more obedient once we are done with you wench!" and with another raise of his hand, Hitomi's cheek was struck once again, but this time it was with much more force and caused blood to run down the side of her mouth. She held strong and didn't let a sound escape her throat, but she felt the tears threatening to run. Then for the first time, she noticed a low growl coming from the other side of her. Hitomi turned her head to find Dilandau now wide-awake, and glaring at the sorcerer who had just slapped her. Their gazes met for a split second until another sorcerer broke their stare.

"And I see the failed one has decided to join us. How have you been Dilandau? Miss us much?" a younger sorcerer by the name of Daijirou taunted him.

Dilandau glared at him while Hitomi looked at him with much confusion. 'Did they just call Dilandau the failed one? Has he dealt with these people before?'

The sorcerers laughed some more as they watched Dilandau struggle against his bonds. They all knew that this was the last place he ever wanted to be, but his efforts to free himself would all go in vain.

One of the eldest of the sorcerers then spoke. "Don't waste your energy Dilandau... you were one of our first experiments in the past. We have no more use of you, neither are we going to waste our time on trying to perfect you."

"What do you mean?" Dilandau growled.

"When we first found you, we thought you would have been the perfect candidate for our experimentation. (AN: Remember Dilandau is never Celena... I'm changing his past, so he never was a girl and is not a sibling of Allen's.) Your parents died in an attack and all of the survivors were taken in, the men and boys were recruited in the Zaibach army, the women were given other jobs. You would have been trained in the army... but we saw something in you... a fire you could say... a passionate fire of war and battle. This and your lively spirit brought us to choose you. We altered your mind so that you would feel no emotion whatsoever when in a battle, and held no sympathy for anyone. At first you seemed to be flawless... our testing had been successful. You trained day and night with your sword and guymelef, mastering them both. We gave you command of the elite Dragonslayers and you led them to destroy Fanelia. But from there, you started to go on a downfall. Your emotions started to resurface. You went ballistic during battles and got scared when fighting the Dragon. (Aka- Van) When one of the Dragonslayers would get hit or injured, you cared for their well-being. That is why you are a failed experiment! None of those emotions were supposed to be felt ever again! You were going to lead Zaibach to victory! We were going to win the war!" he stopped to calm himself down and started to talk again.

"We almost lost hope in you Dilandau... that is until we got a reading on a new energy on Gaea. We were ordered by Dornkirk to obtain the source of this energy, but failed every time an attempt was made. I'm sure you know what we are talking about... right Hitomi?" he directed his talk to her.

She looked puzzled for a moment until realization hit her. That time she was kidnapped out of her room... and that other time during Millerna and Dryden's wedding... they had demanded she be given to them. But that was Folken who ordered her to go with them... wasn't it?

"Why did I hear Folken's voice at the wedding ordering them to hand me over when Folken tried to stop you anyways?" Hitomi asked them.

"Folken was just following Dornkirk's orders. He never questioned them until he found out the real reason why we needed you."

Another sorcerer interrupted him, "We were just planning on killing Dilandau... but then he just happened to stumble into you after a battle. Everything was just fine until the Dragon came and rescued you. We kept Dilandau alive so he could bring you back... but even he didn't need to do that. You came crawling back right into our arms. For a while we just watched and observed you, and soon enough we were convinced you would not fail like our other product.

"Your psychic powers were great and your spirit was full of life and vigor. Now the time has come where you will lead Zaibach to triumph in this war! We will intervene with fate and conquer all of Gaea! You will use your powers to aid us in our battles and you will fight like Dilandau once did."

"I'll never be a pawn in this war! I'll never help you in your conquest!" Hitomi shouted.

All the sorcerers then smiled very cynically, a few giving off soft chuckles. "Dear, dear Hitomi... you didn't think we would just ask you if you would agree to do it on your own free will... did you? We knew you wouldn't do it willingly... but didn't you hear us when we were talking about our dear little Dilandau?" the sorcerer then walked up to Dilandau, gave him a quick glance, and turned his gaze back on Hitomi. "We altered his mind because we knew he would not just become an emotionless soldier on his own free will, and he had too many painful past memories that needed to be erased. Then we chemically altered his brain so emotions would not come ever in his life.

"But as you can see... his feelings started to show gradually. Then when you came into our midst, his solid emotionless exterior started to crack very slowly every day. In time, he finally beat down everything we did to him. The last emotional barrier he had to break was that of love... and you were the one who broke it. Now he is a normal human."

Hitomi turned her gaze towards Dilandau, who was now also staring into her green eyes. As she looked into his fiery red eyes, her thoughts then became centered only on him. His eyes showed gentleness and fear for her, but lingering among many newfound emotions, there was one that stood out among all the rest. His gaze shone with one of love.

Then the sorcerer's last words echoed in her mind... 'The last emotional barrier he had break was that of love... and you were the one who broke it...'

'Does that mean that Dilandau is... in love with me?' After Hitomi thought about it, everything made sense to her. His emotions were showing little by little towards her... he didn't know what love was. That was until their kiss just last night... after that moment, all barriers were shattered. Not until she reflected on the thought some more did another realization dawn on her own feelings. 'Not only did Dilandau grow emotionally... but I did as well... Dilandau is in love with me... and I'm... I'm in love with him...'

Once Hitomi dawned upon this, it felt as if she was completed... someone loved her and she knew it was pure... she thought she felt this way for Allen and Van... but those feelings were not true to herself. The love she thought she had for others was not true to her heart. None of them ever felt like this.

Just as Hitomi was getting lost in her feelings and thoughts, the sorcerers' voices brought her back to reality. Love was wonderful... but now in their clutches, every happy thought vanished and anything felt hopeless.

'Why does everything have to end here?!' Hitomi yelled to herself.

Tears once again terrorized her eyes as she tried to hold them back. Many of the sorcerers had gone back to what they were previously doing, now ignoring the two lovers. A few tears did escape from Hitomi's eyes, but she was unable to wipe them away. Dilandau saw her staring at the ground, trying to hide her face. He was angry with himself for not being able to protect her, but he also felt no hope in their situation. He didn't want to comfort her, because he didn't think everything would be all right. Getting one's hopes up will only lead to more disappointment in the end.

Footsteps then snapped his gaze from her form to look at all the men now walking towards Hitomi's saddened form. Once they nearly surrounded her, she lifted her head up to inspect what was transcending only to look more frightened. Hitomi looked to Dilandau probably for the last time. Their gazes caught and one of the sorcerers noticed them.

"Don't worry Dilandau," his acid sounding voice taunted. "You'll be able to see and hear everything that is happening to Hitomi... it will be nearly the same thing you went through..."

Dilandau cringed at the thought. His past... it was so painful... it was hell itself... many times the pain was so severe that he wished he would die right there... but his body refused. Now Hitomi would go through the same thing he went through all those years ago.

Someone hit a lever, and Hitomi's table reclined back so she was lying down again. Hitomi never took her eyes off Dilandau while everything was going on... just holding onto his gaze... it gave her comfort and strength, but she knew none of that would matter once the sorcerers started to pump her with chemicals.

Machines were heard as they began to run, lights flickered here and there, and the aged chemical smell of the room intensified. Even with every distraction, Hitomi and Dilandau never broke their gaze. The final moment then came. A long thick needle connected to a tube was drawn by one of the men.

Hitomi's eyes suddenly closed tightly in pain as her whole body forced against the restraints. Her teeth clenched as she felt the cold liquid of mind-altering chemicals enter her veins. Hitomi's body lowered in temperature and the needle was removed from her arm. But nothing could prepare her for the pain that would follow. Her head was pushed to the side... another needle entering her neck. This time a loud scream erupted from their victim. The needle was taken out almost as quickly as it had been put in and the sorcerers backed away a little, watching her fight the drugs, even thought they all knew it would be in vain in the end.

Hitomi's body continued to jerk and pull against the straps on her arms and legs. She screamed every few seconds, her eyes squeezed shut as tears of pain fell. Hitomi fought all she could to keep control of her mind and thoughts, but the drugs started to take over.

Dilandau watched Hitomi the whole time, reliving the pain in his own body as memories of his experience haunted him once again. His heart cried out to her as he watched her writhing on the table, her screams pierced his heart.

'If I ever get my hands on those sorcerers, they will die a most painful death to pay for all the pain they caused Hitomi and me.' Dilandau growled to himself.

But as Hitomi's fighting continued, her energy started to dissipate, and her struggle became less violent. Soon, all of her control would be lost, and she would become a slave for Zaibach.

But one might come to thinking... were the sorcerers really altering fate? Or was this what fate had intended to happen all along? Some may never know... but then fate has to finish what it started, does it not? So where fate may be altered, it may not have been thought of to be altered till the very end...

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Bwahahahaha! Cliffhanger! But I promise, it's the last one in this story! You bet! The last chapter is next!! I can't believe it! It's ending already! I have a question for all you readers out there. Who wants alternate endings? I will write a sad ending, because you know, every story doesn't always have a happy ending. But then following it, I will have a happy ending for all those out there that like to have that warm fuzzy feeling inside. ( I have both endings pretty much planned out and I'll try to get them written ASAP. But then I'm doing credits for all those who have reviewed so far... so that may take a while. Anyways... please tell me in your review if you wish to have a sad and happy ending. They will be posted as different chapters but they will be posted at the same time so you can read them simultaneously. Thanks everyone! Please R&R!