Date. 01.28.2003
Time. 2.46 pm
Music. Soundtrack to Rent.
Chapter 16
Copyright. I do not own the Vision of Escaflowne or any of its characters. Just my own.
Author's Notes. Alright. I'm obsessed with Rent at the moment. The traveling show came here last weekend for one night and my roommate and I went to see it. We had kind of crappy seats, but this couple during the intermission gave us their seats, about 10 rows from the front!! Some people can be so nice. Anyhow, on with the show.
The Vision of Escaflowne. Parvulus de Crepuscid
Chapter 16. Another Day
* * *
The first thing that Sellie could recognize was that she was wet. Her eyes were still closed and she knew that she wasn't traveling anymore, but she didn't know where she was. Someplace wet, I guess… she thought, then had to smile. Even her thoughts were sarcastic.
As she lay a few moments more, other senses began to fill her mind. She was on her back in grass… long, wild grass that clung to her bare skin. She opened her eyes to gray skies above, raindrops splattering on her face. That explains being wet… she thought.
She inhaled deeply, and the scent that filled her nostrils was foreign. This place she was at was nothing like the Fanelian palace that she had just left. It seemed more… feral.
She sat up, her dark hair plastered to her face. She was alone in the midst of a jungle. Had that pillar of light only brought her? Or had it cast her some place else, lost somewhere on Gaea or the Mystic Moon? She had sensed other presences with her as she was lifted higher into the dawning sky.
Sellie propped her elbows onto her knees and held her head in her hands. She breathed deep. She could feel her portion of the Power of Atlantis flowing through her, its electricity still sparking after the trip she just took in the light column. It was growing stronger ever since it had been reawakened only a little while before.
On awkward legs, she stood and scanned her surroundings. The lush greenery of ferns and vegetation only came up to her shoulders. It did not seem to be a jungle, but the humidity of the climate was definitely high. She had landed on what seemed to be a man-made footpath, one that had been somewhat overgrown during the years of un-use. She sighed and decided to follow it, figuring that it had to lead somewhere.
She hadn't traveled more than a hundred yards when she suddenly heard someone calling her.
"Sellie!"
She whirled around to see her father, alive and well, charging through the shrubbery towards her. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.
"Thank the gods you're alright!" he said as he lifted her off her feet. "I was so afraid that I'd lost you."
"Lost me? I should be the one that's more worried," she cried. She pulled away and Van set her down. "How are you feeling?"
Van gave her a quick grin before grabbing her hand. "I feel fine," he replied as he pulled her towards where she assumed the others had landed.
"Then you know about Dralion, right?"
The grin faded. "I was somewhere… else," he said solemnly. "There wasn't anything. It's hard to explain. And I felt like I was waiting for something. Then suddenly, he was there. Not there in a sense that I could see him, but I could feel his presence." He swallowed. "He told me that it wasn't my time yet… and that you still needed me."
Sellie squeezed his hand. "I didn't know what he was doing until it was too late. But he was right. I do still need you."
Van looked down at his daughter, and at that moment, she had changed. An older Sellie stood next to him, wearing regal Fanelian dress and looking wiser, dignified, and elegant. Her sparkling green eyes made her look even more like Hitomi, filled with the mysteries of the universe. This is Sellie when she takes over Fanelia… he realized. This is when she is Queen.
But he blinked and his 13-year-old daughter once again replaced her elder counterpart, her drenched clothing clinging to her small frame instead of a luxurious gown. She would always be his little girl. From now until forever.
He smiled. "Let's go find the others," he said.
* * *
It had turned out that Van, Allen, Celena, and Gaddes had remained together when they had landed on the Mystic Moon, or more specifically, the Yucatán. Everyone but Van had their sword drawn ("Thank the gods that Gaea also managed to send along our weapons as well!" Celena said too cheerfully). The rain finally stopped, and soon Sellie could feel the water evaporating from her skin.
The group was relying on her. They couldn't waste the precious moments they had, since Hitomi had said that Time on the Mystic Moon and Gaea weren't synced. However, that didn't mean that Ashira could appear at any instant. The sun could be rising on Gaea as they stood in the jungle area, contemplating on their next move.
While Van and Allen were trying to figure out where the Temple was, Sellie felt a warming sensation on her chest. She reached down her blouse and dug out her mother's pendant, which was glowing dimly. Slipping it off of her neck, she held it in her palm and showed it to her father.
"What does this mean?" she asked.
Breaking away from his argument with the Knight Caeli, Van glanced down at the familiar necklace that he once carried himself. He took it from her, letting it dangle so the pendant swung freely.
"The first time Hitomi came to Gaea," he explained. "She wore this pendant and used it to dowse. It would glow when it reacted to something." As he spoke, the stone's luminance faded.
"Why do you think it stopped glowing now?" she pointed out.
He hesitated. "Because neither Hitomi or I are its masters anymore," he said thoughtfully. "You are." He motioned his hand to hold out hers. As she cautiously opened her palm, he let the pink stone fall into the middle of it. As soon as it made contact with her skin, it began to faintly shine again.
"Didn't Gaea say something about Sellie being the only one to find Hitomi once we got here?" Celena asked.
"Yes," Van answered, his eyes never leaving Sellie's confused face. "She's the only one that can use the pendant to dowse."
"Dowse?!" she repeated. "You expect me to learn how to do that when we don't have any time?!"
"I don't expect you to learn anything, Sellie," he replied. "You inherited the same capabilities from Hitomi. If she can get me to use the pendant, you most certainly can. And you are the only one who can do it. I can't sense her anymore, but you have a blood connection."
She studied him, sensing different emotions that he was subtly projecting: impatience, fear, and hope. Most of all, hope. He did not have to say anything verbally; his eyes said everything. If she would not attempt to use the pendant, then Hitomi would be lost to them. They were stuck on a strange world with no known direction of where to travel.
"What do I have to do?" she asked after her examination.
He motioned for her to hold her hand out and let the stone dangle much like he did earlier. "Close your eyes and concentrate on Hitomi. Focus on the little details that bring back memories. Imagine her face in front of yours and see the pendant swing before you."
Sellie did what he described. She focused on whenever Hitomi would sing to her before she went to bed. She focused on her faint scent, her laugh, her smile. Van, Allen, Celena, and Gaddes disappeared from her view and all that surrounded her was darkness. She could see the stationary necklace before her, but nothing else. Time seemed to pass at such an incredibly slow rate that she was getting devastated and frustrated.
C'mon, you stupid thing… move! she mentally yelled at it.
now, now, sellie… don't let your temper get the best of you…
At the sound of the voice, Sellie lost all awareness of the dangling pendant and strained to hear more of the familiarness.
"Mom?" she whispered softly.
As soon as the simple word left her lips, the recognizable form of Hitomi appeared before her eyes, wearing her white linen dress that rippled in the invisible wind. Other images bombarded her, memories of old that Sellie could still see in her mind's eye. But Hitomi remained the main focal point.
"Mom," she said, her voice shaking. "We don't have much time. Where are you?"
what do you mean, "where am i?" Hitomi said, although her mouth did not move. i am with you… i am always with you…
"That doesn't help me much, Mom," Sellie replied with a touch of annoyance.
how does that not help?
"Because we're here on the Mystic Moon looking for you!" she shouted. "We don't have much time!"
time is redundant here… besides, i gave you the clue of where to find me…
"What, that you're with me?"
yes…
"Yeah, you and I are here… HERE!" Sellie gestured to the blackness surrounding them to emphasize her point. "We're here, but this is only in my mind, not in the real world."
yes… and i am here with you… look for me here…
Sellie looked at her mother much how she had previously looked at Van. She was telling her that she was here with her. That she should look for her here. But what did that have to do with anything? Hitomi was in some temple, probably chained up as a specimen for Ashira's torturing.
Suddenly, it hit her. Van had mentioned before, as it had been brought up several times in the past couple of days.
Blood.
Hitomi was here with her because she was in her blood. Hitomi was here because she made up half of Sellie as Van made up her other half.
Hitomi was a part of her.
Sellie's revelation must have been obvious since the ghostly apparition of Hitomi smiled.
seems like you've got it all figured out…
"I have to look within myself to find you?"
yes… dowsing isn't always about searching fate… it's about searching your heart… that's where you'll find me…
With that in mind, Sellie closed her eyes once more and rummaged around herself, seeking some sort of similar connection. And there it was. A golden strand that led directly to her heart, pulsing with what she could only imagine was love. There were infinite other strands all linked with her, each one different from the next. As she followed the strand, she could hear her mother's voice:
these strands represent someone that you have had a connection with… whether being a family member, a friend, or someone that you have met only for a day… we are all linked to one another… this is what you use to find someone you have lost… anyone can do it… it just takes practice… but for us with the blood of atlantis running through our veins, it is a little more simple…
Keeping this in mind, Sellie clung to the thread, feeling herself growing closer and closer to her mother. She began to feel her presence in one general direction… west… but it wasn't definite.
come and find me, sellie… you now know where…
And just like that, a flash signified that she found her… she knew where Hitomi was. The pendant swung sharply towards her left: west.
She knew where the Temple of Kukulkan was.
* * *
The loud rumble of thunder made the Twins clutch onto Merle with their sharp tiny claws. She had to bite her lip as their nails dug into her flesh, but made no attempt to restrain them.
Only twenty minutes before, she stood next to a lifeless Van, only to have him come back from the dead and disappear from her arms in a pillar of light. So had everyone else. Then, that oddly familiar woman told her to go back to the palace, knowing that Van, Sellie, and the others were safe somewhere else.
Merle was terrified. She had no idea what was occurring… why her best friend left in that beam… why the Goddess of Gaea was in Escaflowne's clearing… and why Cassian soldiers were attacking Fanelia. As soon as the woman mentioned her children, her heart panicked. Were they in danger?
She sprinted down the slight hill and towards the back door opening to the castle. Her attendants took Sulae and Rani underneath her room down to the emergency shelter. Ever since the attacks when Van took the throne and when Hitomi came back seven years later, he and the castle architects designed a portion of the dungeon into an area where people could flee to in case there were more strikes. Small windows were placed close to the ceiling to let in some light, but because of her cat-vision, Merle did not need the faint light to see her three servants huddled in the far corner. She rushed down the stairs and ran to them on all fours. Rani was the first to squirm out of the safety that the women provided, Sulae closely following her sister. She was relieved to feel her children in her arms once more, remembering their recognizable weight. She hugged them tightly and gave her silent thanks to her attendants and to the gods.
And that's when the storm struck.
Sulae screamed when the first bolt cracked and charged the air, burying her wet face into her mother's chest. Rani, always being the calm one of the Twins, shook with fear.
They sense something… Merle thought as she tried to remain cool and collected. Hell, I sense something too…
The storm came out of nowhere. When she had run back inside, the sun was just about to rise and the sky was clear. Now, lightning made contact with ground with the loud crash of thunder sounding immediately. It was focused on Fanelia and striking much more than normal.
Flashes illuminated the small room as the lightning repeatedly hit the ground. Merle's instincts were telling her to stay here with her kittens and her attendants, but her curiosity was driving her mad. Why had this storm come? Something was eating away at her that it had something to do with Van, Hitomi, Sellie, and the Goddess of Gaea.
But what was it? Why was her gut telling her that the world was going to end?
* * *
"She's over there!" Sellie's eyes flew open as her hand shot up and pointed towards her left. Her sudden outburst surprised the others, since she had been silent for about five minutes, concentrating hard on dowsing.
"Are you sure?" Van asked, relieved that she had come back. There were times that Hitomi's power had sucked her into her subconscious and he was afraid she was gone forever.
Sellie nodded. "I saw her. She helped me."
"How far in that direction?" Allen asked.
"Not really far. Maybe a couple of miles," she replied. "Gaea couldn't place us right by the Temple because it would draw too much attention. But we have to hurry."
"You're right," Gaddes said. "Who knows how much of a time-window we have if Ashira isn't there. She could just pop in at any moment."
"Well, lets go then," Celena proposed. She looked back at Sellie. "Are you ready to lead the way?"
Sellie widened her eyes, but returned to her more calm complexion. "Yes." She clutched the pendant firmly in her fist and trekked her way in the direction she pointed at moments before. Van glanced at Allen with uncertainty, then followed his daughter.
* * *
Several times, Sellie would stop, hold out the pendant, close her eyes and dowse to make sure that they were still on the same path. The countless minutes seemed to pass by like eternity as they slowly made their way to the Temple.
Then, they saw it; the Temple of Kukulkan looming over the verdant jungle brush like a sitting giant. Its ancient stones seemed to still be intact, though its crumbling corners made Van a little wary of its stability. Its pyramidal shape was more square-cut, unlike the more-smooth ones he had heard about off in the far east and read about in Gaean history texts.
"We have to remain cautious," Allen whispered. "Nothing rash. We don't know what Ashira has done or will do with Hitomi once she realizes we're here."
Van glared at Allen. He could have just said "Van, don't do anything stupid" with that statement. But he remained silent and ducked down below the bush line, motioning for the rest to follow his motion.
"We're going to have to go around the entire Temple to see if there is any activity going on," he said hushed. "Keep low and try not to make much noise. There's no telling who is here."
They moved in unison to the left, slowly circling the structure. Van would poke his head out slightly, or part some of the large leaves to see if anything was happening, then report back negatively and keep progressing.
They had been walking about the perimeter of the Temple for a good twenty minutes when Van told them to halt and hush. He crept forward and looked through the leaves once more, then motioned for Allen and Gaddes to take a glimpse as well.
"What is it?" Celena whispered, glancing over at Sellie to give her reassurance.
"It's a tent," Gaddes responded. "There's a camp set-up over at the base of the Temple, but it doesn't look like there's any activity."
Sellie closed her eyes and focused her energy on the pendant, just like her mother showed her in her dream world. She searched for her, but furrowed her brows in disappointment.
"She's not over there," she murmured. "But she's in the area."
"Where?" Van asked urgently.
"I don't know!" she replied, raising her voice slightly. "I'm having some troubles visualizing her."
"Hmmm…" he thought aloud. "Maybe she's being hidden by Ashira or something."
"No, wait," Sellie held up her hand, her eyes staring forward, but it seemed that she wasn't actually *looking* at something. "I feel something… in that direction." She clutched the pendant tightly and began to run off in the bushes.
"Sellie!" Van hissed. "Get back here!" He tried chasing after the girl, but because of his much larger size, he was quickly stuck in the brush. "Sellie!"
* * *
She hadn't realized that no one was following her, or *could* follow her. She easily slipped through the jungle bush that surrounded the Temple due to her smaller physique, concentrating fully on her senses on where Hitomi was. She was on the hot track.
Mom… where are you? she thought.
She should have paid more attention to her walking and where she placed her feet. But when she set her mind to something, she would give it her all. So when she tripped, she stumbled and fell hard.
Her hands went flying forward into the muddy floor, still thick after the recent rain. It splashed and plastered her face with the foul ooze. She had been smart enough to hold tight onto the pendant; otherwise, it would have been lost.
Feeling embarrassed, she laughed a little as she pushed herself back up into a sitting position, rubbing her muddy hands on her pants and tried to clean a moderate amount off of her face.
But those soft giggles ceased when she noticed that no one had offered their help or asked if she was alright. That's odd… she thought.
She slowly turned around, hoping to see her father with his arms crossed, but trying so hard not laugh at her clumsiness.
Instead, she saw a pile of bodies.
They were the reason why she tripped.
Her stomach automatically retched in reaction. She attempted to keep what little was in her stomach already down. The last time she had eaten was probably at some point during the flight to Cassia after Allen and the crew had retrieved her, Van, and Dralion.
She slid herself further away from the rotting corpses. The rank smell filled the area, and her stomach was threatening to heave again.
Get out of there! her mind screamed. She struggled to rise to her feet and run, but she kept slipping in the mud.
"Dad!" she cried out, trying to maybe alert him of where she was. "DAD!"
Her eyes were morbidly focused on the bodies, fearing and hoping that they were not going to come to life and attack her. So she hadn't noticed in her backing up that she had run into a tree.
Or, at least, what she *thought* was a tree. Not until a hand clamped over her mouth. She whirled around and looked into the face of her captor.
* * *
"Do you think she went this way?" Celena asked. Their group had split and each chose a potential direction that Sellie went, but still remained in speaking distance.
"Look for footprints in the mud," Gaddes suggested. "The rain wouldn't have washed it away, so tracking her will hopefully be easier. Sellie!"
As his three friends cried out her name, Van knelt on one knee and touched the damp earth. Though he was trained to be a hunter along with his many other skills, he felt that there was still so much more for him to learn. He was looking for the obvious signs that she had been here, but there was so much more beyond just visual evidence.
It had been only five minutes since she'd disappeared, but that was five more minutes that they had to waste looking for Hitomi as well. Sellie should have known better to take off like that.
And that's when he saw it. Off to his left and hidden behind a large tropical leaf was a small imprint left in the fresh mud. A footprint.
"Over here!" he shouted. He pushed back the leaf and soon discovered another one, followed by another.
He pushed himself off of the ground and trailed the small prints. They were wide apart; she was definitely running. Come on, Sellie… where are you?
Van's legs began to get tangled in the brush. He unsheathed his sword and cut through the snarls. "Hold up!" he said back to the group. "Let me just clear a path and…"
His voice dropped before he could finish his sentence. Celena approached him and looked curiously at his dismayed face. "Van, what is it?" she asked. He didn't reply to her, but pointed into the direction he was staring at.
A pile of bodies, three of them, lay rotting in the wet mud.
Celena's hand instantly went to cover her mouth and she averted her eyes away from the scene. Gaddes embraced her and tried to hide her away from the horror.
"How long do you think they've been here?" Van asked Allen.
The Knight Caeli knelt, but kept his distance. "A week, maybe more," he said. "You can't really tell because of this world's climate. But you can see this one has been gnawed on by something." He pointed to the missing leg, but soon, looked inquisitively at one of corpses' chests. "This one is definitely a man. But look here…" He grabbed a long stick and held open his torn shirt. "There seems to be a handprint burnt into his skin. It looks like that's what killed him."
"Someone with powers…" Van said aloud. "Ashira."
"Most likely, it was her," Allen concurred. "That campsite was probably theirs."
Van's eyes left the bodies to the mud behind them. It was obvious that Sellie had come this way. The mud had been disturbed by a person.
"Sellie saw this," he muttered. This was exactly what he *didn't* want for her. A life of dismay, a life of destruction, a life of death. He walked around the pile and observed it. "She must have tripped over them, saw them, and crawled in the mud to get away." He moved some more. "Here, she stops." He paused. "A second person intercepted her and forcibly pushed her in that direction."
Celena glanced at Van. He was trying so hard to hold back his emotions. "Van…" she whispered.
"We have to find her," he said flatly. "Whoever this second person is, pulled Sellie back towards that camp we found." He tightened his grip on his sword's hilt and walked towards the base camp.
Allen grabbed his arm. "Van…" he warned.
Van whirled around and glared at him. "What?!" he snarled.
The older man just looked at him, seeing the anger and anguish in his eyes. He hesitated, and let go of his arm.
"Let's go."
Swords drawn, they retraced their steps back to where Sellie departed them in the first place. Van made no means of stopping and surveying the area before he broke through the jungle and into the clearing surrounding the Temple.
They had rounded the corner to the side where the tent was located and immediately stopped.
There was Sellie, standing in front of it's entrance, her eyes wide and fearful. But it wasn't her expression that tore Van's heart. For Sellie was held captive with a blade pointing into her neck, her mouth covered by her kidnapper's hand. And her large green eyes matched her captor's cold and fierce ones.
Because they belonged to Hitomi.
to be continued…
* * *
Gah! Sorry it took so long to come out with this chapter, but I've had so much to do. Finals are upon me, and I didn't think that I would be able to cough out this chapter before I left for spring break. But I've had a short break and got it out! YAY! Just don't know when the next few will be coming out.
Chapter title comes from "No Day But Today" from Rent.
Another time, another place
Another rhyme, a warm embrace
Another dance, another way
Another chance, another day
Time. 2.46 pm
Music. Soundtrack to Rent.
Chapter 16
Copyright. I do not own the Vision of Escaflowne or any of its characters. Just my own.
Author's Notes. Alright. I'm obsessed with Rent at the moment. The traveling show came here last weekend for one night and my roommate and I went to see it. We had kind of crappy seats, but this couple during the intermission gave us their seats, about 10 rows from the front!! Some people can be so nice. Anyhow, on with the show.
The Vision of Escaflowne. Parvulus de Crepuscid
Chapter 16. Another Day
* * *
The first thing that Sellie could recognize was that she was wet. Her eyes were still closed and she knew that she wasn't traveling anymore, but she didn't know where she was. Someplace wet, I guess… she thought, then had to smile. Even her thoughts were sarcastic.
As she lay a few moments more, other senses began to fill her mind. She was on her back in grass… long, wild grass that clung to her bare skin. She opened her eyes to gray skies above, raindrops splattering on her face. That explains being wet… she thought.
She inhaled deeply, and the scent that filled her nostrils was foreign. This place she was at was nothing like the Fanelian palace that she had just left. It seemed more… feral.
She sat up, her dark hair plastered to her face. She was alone in the midst of a jungle. Had that pillar of light only brought her? Or had it cast her some place else, lost somewhere on Gaea or the Mystic Moon? She had sensed other presences with her as she was lifted higher into the dawning sky.
Sellie propped her elbows onto her knees and held her head in her hands. She breathed deep. She could feel her portion of the Power of Atlantis flowing through her, its electricity still sparking after the trip she just took in the light column. It was growing stronger ever since it had been reawakened only a little while before.
On awkward legs, she stood and scanned her surroundings. The lush greenery of ferns and vegetation only came up to her shoulders. It did not seem to be a jungle, but the humidity of the climate was definitely high. She had landed on what seemed to be a man-made footpath, one that had been somewhat overgrown during the years of un-use. She sighed and decided to follow it, figuring that it had to lead somewhere.
She hadn't traveled more than a hundred yards when she suddenly heard someone calling her.
"Sellie!"
She whirled around to see her father, alive and well, charging through the shrubbery towards her. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.
"Thank the gods you're alright!" he said as he lifted her off her feet. "I was so afraid that I'd lost you."
"Lost me? I should be the one that's more worried," she cried. She pulled away and Van set her down. "How are you feeling?"
Van gave her a quick grin before grabbing her hand. "I feel fine," he replied as he pulled her towards where she assumed the others had landed.
"Then you know about Dralion, right?"
The grin faded. "I was somewhere… else," he said solemnly. "There wasn't anything. It's hard to explain. And I felt like I was waiting for something. Then suddenly, he was there. Not there in a sense that I could see him, but I could feel his presence." He swallowed. "He told me that it wasn't my time yet… and that you still needed me."
Sellie squeezed his hand. "I didn't know what he was doing until it was too late. But he was right. I do still need you."
Van looked down at his daughter, and at that moment, she had changed. An older Sellie stood next to him, wearing regal Fanelian dress and looking wiser, dignified, and elegant. Her sparkling green eyes made her look even more like Hitomi, filled with the mysteries of the universe. This is Sellie when she takes over Fanelia… he realized. This is when she is Queen.
But he blinked and his 13-year-old daughter once again replaced her elder counterpart, her drenched clothing clinging to her small frame instead of a luxurious gown. She would always be his little girl. From now until forever.
He smiled. "Let's go find the others," he said.
* * *
It had turned out that Van, Allen, Celena, and Gaddes had remained together when they had landed on the Mystic Moon, or more specifically, the Yucatán. Everyone but Van had their sword drawn ("Thank the gods that Gaea also managed to send along our weapons as well!" Celena said too cheerfully). The rain finally stopped, and soon Sellie could feel the water evaporating from her skin.
The group was relying on her. They couldn't waste the precious moments they had, since Hitomi had said that Time on the Mystic Moon and Gaea weren't synced. However, that didn't mean that Ashira could appear at any instant. The sun could be rising on Gaea as they stood in the jungle area, contemplating on their next move.
While Van and Allen were trying to figure out where the Temple was, Sellie felt a warming sensation on her chest. She reached down her blouse and dug out her mother's pendant, which was glowing dimly. Slipping it off of her neck, she held it in her palm and showed it to her father.
"What does this mean?" she asked.
Breaking away from his argument with the Knight Caeli, Van glanced down at the familiar necklace that he once carried himself. He took it from her, letting it dangle so the pendant swung freely.
"The first time Hitomi came to Gaea," he explained. "She wore this pendant and used it to dowse. It would glow when it reacted to something." As he spoke, the stone's luminance faded.
"Why do you think it stopped glowing now?" she pointed out.
He hesitated. "Because neither Hitomi or I are its masters anymore," he said thoughtfully. "You are." He motioned his hand to hold out hers. As she cautiously opened her palm, he let the pink stone fall into the middle of it. As soon as it made contact with her skin, it began to faintly shine again.
"Didn't Gaea say something about Sellie being the only one to find Hitomi once we got here?" Celena asked.
"Yes," Van answered, his eyes never leaving Sellie's confused face. "She's the only one that can use the pendant to dowse."
"Dowse?!" she repeated. "You expect me to learn how to do that when we don't have any time?!"
"I don't expect you to learn anything, Sellie," he replied. "You inherited the same capabilities from Hitomi. If she can get me to use the pendant, you most certainly can. And you are the only one who can do it. I can't sense her anymore, but you have a blood connection."
She studied him, sensing different emotions that he was subtly projecting: impatience, fear, and hope. Most of all, hope. He did not have to say anything verbally; his eyes said everything. If she would not attempt to use the pendant, then Hitomi would be lost to them. They were stuck on a strange world with no known direction of where to travel.
"What do I have to do?" she asked after her examination.
He motioned for her to hold her hand out and let the stone dangle much like he did earlier. "Close your eyes and concentrate on Hitomi. Focus on the little details that bring back memories. Imagine her face in front of yours and see the pendant swing before you."
Sellie did what he described. She focused on whenever Hitomi would sing to her before she went to bed. She focused on her faint scent, her laugh, her smile. Van, Allen, Celena, and Gaddes disappeared from her view and all that surrounded her was darkness. She could see the stationary necklace before her, but nothing else. Time seemed to pass at such an incredibly slow rate that she was getting devastated and frustrated.
C'mon, you stupid thing… move! she mentally yelled at it.
now, now, sellie… don't let your temper get the best of you…
At the sound of the voice, Sellie lost all awareness of the dangling pendant and strained to hear more of the familiarness.
"Mom?" she whispered softly.
As soon as the simple word left her lips, the recognizable form of Hitomi appeared before her eyes, wearing her white linen dress that rippled in the invisible wind. Other images bombarded her, memories of old that Sellie could still see in her mind's eye. But Hitomi remained the main focal point.
"Mom," she said, her voice shaking. "We don't have much time. Where are you?"
what do you mean, "where am i?" Hitomi said, although her mouth did not move. i am with you… i am always with you…
"That doesn't help me much, Mom," Sellie replied with a touch of annoyance.
how does that not help?
"Because we're here on the Mystic Moon looking for you!" she shouted. "We don't have much time!"
time is redundant here… besides, i gave you the clue of where to find me…
"What, that you're with me?"
yes…
"Yeah, you and I are here… HERE!" Sellie gestured to the blackness surrounding them to emphasize her point. "We're here, but this is only in my mind, not in the real world."
yes… and i am here with you… look for me here…
Sellie looked at her mother much how she had previously looked at Van. She was telling her that she was here with her. That she should look for her here. But what did that have to do with anything? Hitomi was in some temple, probably chained up as a specimen for Ashira's torturing.
Suddenly, it hit her. Van had mentioned before, as it had been brought up several times in the past couple of days.
Blood.
Hitomi was here with her because she was in her blood. Hitomi was here because she made up half of Sellie as Van made up her other half.
Hitomi was a part of her.
Sellie's revelation must have been obvious since the ghostly apparition of Hitomi smiled.
seems like you've got it all figured out…
"I have to look within myself to find you?"
yes… dowsing isn't always about searching fate… it's about searching your heart… that's where you'll find me…
With that in mind, Sellie closed her eyes once more and rummaged around herself, seeking some sort of similar connection. And there it was. A golden strand that led directly to her heart, pulsing with what she could only imagine was love. There were infinite other strands all linked with her, each one different from the next. As she followed the strand, she could hear her mother's voice:
these strands represent someone that you have had a connection with… whether being a family member, a friend, or someone that you have met only for a day… we are all linked to one another… this is what you use to find someone you have lost… anyone can do it… it just takes practice… but for us with the blood of atlantis running through our veins, it is a little more simple…
Keeping this in mind, Sellie clung to the thread, feeling herself growing closer and closer to her mother. She began to feel her presence in one general direction… west… but it wasn't definite.
come and find me, sellie… you now know where…
And just like that, a flash signified that she found her… she knew where Hitomi was. The pendant swung sharply towards her left: west.
She knew where the Temple of Kukulkan was.
* * *
The loud rumble of thunder made the Twins clutch onto Merle with their sharp tiny claws. She had to bite her lip as their nails dug into her flesh, but made no attempt to restrain them.
Only twenty minutes before, she stood next to a lifeless Van, only to have him come back from the dead and disappear from her arms in a pillar of light. So had everyone else. Then, that oddly familiar woman told her to go back to the palace, knowing that Van, Sellie, and the others were safe somewhere else.
Merle was terrified. She had no idea what was occurring… why her best friend left in that beam… why the Goddess of Gaea was in Escaflowne's clearing… and why Cassian soldiers were attacking Fanelia. As soon as the woman mentioned her children, her heart panicked. Were they in danger?
She sprinted down the slight hill and towards the back door opening to the castle. Her attendants took Sulae and Rani underneath her room down to the emergency shelter. Ever since the attacks when Van took the throne and when Hitomi came back seven years later, he and the castle architects designed a portion of the dungeon into an area where people could flee to in case there were more strikes. Small windows were placed close to the ceiling to let in some light, but because of her cat-vision, Merle did not need the faint light to see her three servants huddled in the far corner. She rushed down the stairs and ran to them on all fours. Rani was the first to squirm out of the safety that the women provided, Sulae closely following her sister. She was relieved to feel her children in her arms once more, remembering their recognizable weight. She hugged them tightly and gave her silent thanks to her attendants and to the gods.
And that's when the storm struck.
Sulae screamed when the first bolt cracked and charged the air, burying her wet face into her mother's chest. Rani, always being the calm one of the Twins, shook with fear.
They sense something… Merle thought as she tried to remain cool and collected. Hell, I sense something too…
The storm came out of nowhere. When she had run back inside, the sun was just about to rise and the sky was clear. Now, lightning made contact with ground with the loud crash of thunder sounding immediately. It was focused on Fanelia and striking much more than normal.
Flashes illuminated the small room as the lightning repeatedly hit the ground. Merle's instincts were telling her to stay here with her kittens and her attendants, but her curiosity was driving her mad. Why had this storm come? Something was eating away at her that it had something to do with Van, Hitomi, Sellie, and the Goddess of Gaea.
But what was it? Why was her gut telling her that the world was going to end?
* * *
"She's over there!" Sellie's eyes flew open as her hand shot up and pointed towards her left. Her sudden outburst surprised the others, since she had been silent for about five minutes, concentrating hard on dowsing.
"Are you sure?" Van asked, relieved that she had come back. There were times that Hitomi's power had sucked her into her subconscious and he was afraid she was gone forever.
Sellie nodded. "I saw her. She helped me."
"How far in that direction?" Allen asked.
"Not really far. Maybe a couple of miles," she replied. "Gaea couldn't place us right by the Temple because it would draw too much attention. But we have to hurry."
"You're right," Gaddes said. "Who knows how much of a time-window we have if Ashira isn't there. She could just pop in at any moment."
"Well, lets go then," Celena proposed. She looked back at Sellie. "Are you ready to lead the way?"
Sellie widened her eyes, but returned to her more calm complexion. "Yes." She clutched the pendant firmly in her fist and trekked her way in the direction she pointed at moments before. Van glanced at Allen with uncertainty, then followed his daughter.
* * *
Several times, Sellie would stop, hold out the pendant, close her eyes and dowse to make sure that they were still on the same path. The countless minutes seemed to pass by like eternity as they slowly made their way to the Temple.
Then, they saw it; the Temple of Kukulkan looming over the verdant jungle brush like a sitting giant. Its ancient stones seemed to still be intact, though its crumbling corners made Van a little wary of its stability. Its pyramidal shape was more square-cut, unlike the more-smooth ones he had heard about off in the far east and read about in Gaean history texts.
"We have to remain cautious," Allen whispered. "Nothing rash. We don't know what Ashira has done or will do with Hitomi once she realizes we're here."
Van glared at Allen. He could have just said "Van, don't do anything stupid" with that statement. But he remained silent and ducked down below the bush line, motioning for the rest to follow his motion.
"We're going to have to go around the entire Temple to see if there is any activity going on," he said hushed. "Keep low and try not to make much noise. There's no telling who is here."
They moved in unison to the left, slowly circling the structure. Van would poke his head out slightly, or part some of the large leaves to see if anything was happening, then report back negatively and keep progressing.
They had been walking about the perimeter of the Temple for a good twenty minutes when Van told them to halt and hush. He crept forward and looked through the leaves once more, then motioned for Allen and Gaddes to take a glimpse as well.
"What is it?" Celena whispered, glancing over at Sellie to give her reassurance.
"It's a tent," Gaddes responded. "There's a camp set-up over at the base of the Temple, but it doesn't look like there's any activity."
Sellie closed her eyes and focused her energy on the pendant, just like her mother showed her in her dream world. She searched for her, but furrowed her brows in disappointment.
"She's not over there," she murmured. "But she's in the area."
"Where?" Van asked urgently.
"I don't know!" she replied, raising her voice slightly. "I'm having some troubles visualizing her."
"Hmmm…" he thought aloud. "Maybe she's being hidden by Ashira or something."
"No, wait," Sellie held up her hand, her eyes staring forward, but it seemed that she wasn't actually *looking* at something. "I feel something… in that direction." She clutched the pendant tightly and began to run off in the bushes.
"Sellie!" Van hissed. "Get back here!" He tried chasing after the girl, but because of his much larger size, he was quickly stuck in the brush. "Sellie!"
* * *
She hadn't realized that no one was following her, or *could* follow her. She easily slipped through the jungle bush that surrounded the Temple due to her smaller physique, concentrating fully on her senses on where Hitomi was. She was on the hot track.
Mom… where are you? she thought.
She should have paid more attention to her walking and where she placed her feet. But when she set her mind to something, she would give it her all. So when she tripped, she stumbled and fell hard.
Her hands went flying forward into the muddy floor, still thick after the recent rain. It splashed and plastered her face with the foul ooze. She had been smart enough to hold tight onto the pendant; otherwise, it would have been lost.
Feeling embarrassed, she laughed a little as she pushed herself back up into a sitting position, rubbing her muddy hands on her pants and tried to clean a moderate amount off of her face.
But those soft giggles ceased when she noticed that no one had offered their help or asked if she was alright. That's odd… she thought.
She slowly turned around, hoping to see her father with his arms crossed, but trying so hard not laugh at her clumsiness.
Instead, she saw a pile of bodies.
They were the reason why she tripped.
Her stomach automatically retched in reaction. She attempted to keep what little was in her stomach already down. The last time she had eaten was probably at some point during the flight to Cassia after Allen and the crew had retrieved her, Van, and Dralion.
She slid herself further away from the rotting corpses. The rank smell filled the area, and her stomach was threatening to heave again.
Get out of there! her mind screamed. She struggled to rise to her feet and run, but she kept slipping in the mud.
"Dad!" she cried out, trying to maybe alert him of where she was. "DAD!"
Her eyes were morbidly focused on the bodies, fearing and hoping that they were not going to come to life and attack her. So she hadn't noticed in her backing up that she had run into a tree.
Or, at least, what she *thought* was a tree. Not until a hand clamped over her mouth. She whirled around and looked into the face of her captor.
* * *
"Do you think she went this way?" Celena asked. Their group had split and each chose a potential direction that Sellie went, but still remained in speaking distance.
"Look for footprints in the mud," Gaddes suggested. "The rain wouldn't have washed it away, so tracking her will hopefully be easier. Sellie!"
As his three friends cried out her name, Van knelt on one knee and touched the damp earth. Though he was trained to be a hunter along with his many other skills, he felt that there was still so much more for him to learn. He was looking for the obvious signs that she had been here, but there was so much more beyond just visual evidence.
It had been only five minutes since she'd disappeared, but that was five more minutes that they had to waste looking for Hitomi as well. Sellie should have known better to take off like that.
And that's when he saw it. Off to his left and hidden behind a large tropical leaf was a small imprint left in the fresh mud. A footprint.
"Over here!" he shouted. He pushed back the leaf and soon discovered another one, followed by another.
He pushed himself off of the ground and trailed the small prints. They were wide apart; she was definitely running. Come on, Sellie… where are you?
Van's legs began to get tangled in the brush. He unsheathed his sword and cut through the snarls. "Hold up!" he said back to the group. "Let me just clear a path and…"
His voice dropped before he could finish his sentence. Celena approached him and looked curiously at his dismayed face. "Van, what is it?" she asked. He didn't reply to her, but pointed into the direction he was staring at.
A pile of bodies, three of them, lay rotting in the wet mud.
Celena's hand instantly went to cover her mouth and she averted her eyes away from the scene. Gaddes embraced her and tried to hide her away from the horror.
"How long do you think they've been here?" Van asked Allen.
The Knight Caeli knelt, but kept his distance. "A week, maybe more," he said. "You can't really tell because of this world's climate. But you can see this one has been gnawed on by something." He pointed to the missing leg, but soon, looked inquisitively at one of corpses' chests. "This one is definitely a man. But look here…" He grabbed a long stick and held open his torn shirt. "There seems to be a handprint burnt into his skin. It looks like that's what killed him."
"Someone with powers…" Van said aloud. "Ashira."
"Most likely, it was her," Allen concurred. "That campsite was probably theirs."
Van's eyes left the bodies to the mud behind them. It was obvious that Sellie had come this way. The mud had been disturbed by a person.
"Sellie saw this," he muttered. This was exactly what he *didn't* want for her. A life of dismay, a life of destruction, a life of death. He walked around the pile and observed it. "She must have tripped over them, saw them, and crawled in the mud to get away." He moved some more. "Here, she stops." He paused. "A second person intercepted her and forcibly pushed her in that direction."
Celena glanced at Van. He was trying so hard to hold back his emotions. "Van…" she whispered.
"We have to find her," he said flatly. "Whoever this second person is, pulled Sellie back towards that camp we found." He tightened his grip on his sword's hilt and walked towards the base camp.
Allen grabbed his arm. "Van…" he warned.
Van whirled around and glared at him. "What?!" he snarled.
The older man just looked at him, seeing the anger and anguish in his eyes. He hesitated, and let go of his arm.
"Let's go."
Swords drawn, they retraced their steps back to where Sellie departed them in the first place. Van made no means of stopping and surveying the area before he broke through the jungle and into the clearing surrounding the Temple.
They had rounded the corner to the side where the tent was located and immediately stopped.
There was Sellie, standing in front of it's entrance, her eyes wide and fearful. But it wasn't her expression that tore Van's heart. For Sellie was held captive with a blade pointing into her neck, her mouth covered by her kidnapper's hand. And her large green eyes matched her captor's cold and fierce ones.
Because they belonged to Hitomi.
to be continued…
* * *
Gah! Sorry it took so long to come out with this chapter, but I've had so much to do. Finals are upon me, and I didn't think that I would be able to cough out this chapter before I left for spring break. But I've had a short break and got it out! YAY! Just don't know when the next few will be coming out.
Chapter title comes from "No Day But Today" from Rent.
Another time, another place
Another rhyme, a warm embrace
Another dance, another way
Another chance, another day
