Date. 07.01.2003
Time. 11.20 pm
Music. "Riot Coming Soon" by Radar Rose
Chapter 19
Copyright. I don't own Escaflowne. Enough said.
Author's Notes. Now that it is summer and I'm gainfully unemployed, I have found plenty of time to work on PDC. I'm still struggling with writer's block, but hopefully, it'll fade away as I get closer to the end. Plus, I'm a little occupied by my next collaboration project: "My Big Fat Elvish Wedding" starring Aragorn and Arwen. Keep a lookout for an all action figure picture show coming to your computer soon _
The Vision of Escaflowne. Parvulus de Crepuscid
Chapter 19. Come Down the Ancients
* * *
Hitomi ached all over. Her legs, her arms, her head, her heart, her soul. Everything felt like it had been probed, prodded, and torn apart. Seeing the small girl to her left made her hope that Sellie was faring better than she. She would not wish this upon her worst enemy.
Wait a minute. Yes. Yes, she would. She'd wish this upon Ashira.
The younger woman looked physically exhausted, but so full of energy and life at the same time. The beam of light that engulfed her had retracted back into the energist, leaving Ashira breathing hard and staggering in her posture. Hitomi wondered if she would able to have the strength to push her off of the pillar and into the lava pit below.
But as Ashira opened her eyes to look around in wonder, the ground began to shake violently. Both Hitomi and Sellie were thrown from their circles aggressively, neither of them having the strength to hold themselves up.
Hitomi landed harshly on her side, almost knocking the air out of her lungs. She remained there for a moment, trying to regain some of her might back before she even attempted taking Ashira on.
"Mom!"
The cry for help made Hitomi jolt from her rest. She worriedly looked around for Sellie, but could not find her anywhere.
"Mom!"
She was over the edge… she thought. She crawled over to see the black-haired girl clinging onto a protruding stone for her life. Her feet tried mercilessly to gain some leverage, but it was useless. The pillar that they were on was ancient; every time she'd try digging her foot into the rock, it would crumble and fall down into the lava pit.
"Mom, help! Please!"
Hitomi hesitated. Although she stood up to Ashira and told her what she believed in, she still uncertain about this girl being her daughter. But a tremendous feeling took over her and she reached out for the girl's hand desperately. "C'mon, take it!"
Sellie looked at it as if it were going to bite her. "I… I can't!"
Hitomi stretched her arm as far as she could. "You must! Trust me, I'll catch you!"
Sellie stared at her, then slowly, she began to move her right hand from the stone. Carefully, she inched it up to where Hitomi's hand was, her fingers brushing against hers. With all of her remaining might, she pulled herself up the rock and grabbed onto her mother's hand. Hitomi caught her in a firm grasp, and the instant their skin made contact, she Saw things once more in her mind:
She was no longer on a pillar in the middle of a collapsing Mexican temple. She found herself suddenly in what appeared to be a medieval Japan-type world. Or that's what it seemed like to her. The building structures reminded her of the old temples she'd seen in her high school history books, but they were also unfamiliar to her.
In a flash, she was in a garden, surrounded by exotic flowers and plants. It was before dawn, she could tell. The sky was lightening, but it hadn't lost the nighttime appeal. Before her eyes was a gazebo, built with intricate designs in the light-colored wood. She blinked, and a woman appeared before her. She was short in stature, but looked as though she was an older version of Sellie, her tumbling black locks knotted with wild flowers and ivy. Hitomi blinked again and the woman was gone with a deer replacing her.
Another flash. This time, she was out on a sunny courtyard by a fountain. Something fuzzy ran past her and she followed the motion. She managed to catch two small children running to a woman with open-arms. Well, at first glance, she looked like a woman. Hitomi observed the woman's face when she knelt down and hugged the children. To her surprise, she had the features of a cat and of a woman at the same time. Large feline ears stuck out of her reddish hair and a long striped tail twitched underneath the sundress that she wore. Hitomi was so intrigued by this cat-woman that she hadn't even noticed the children having tails as well.
Flash. Gone were the cat people and the bright courtyard that they were playing on. She found herself in a dark room on a vast bed, sheets entangled about her and the comforter halfway off in a jumbled heap. Candles adorned the walls, flickering on objects in the vicinity. As her eyes adapted to the darkness, she soon became conscience that all she wore was a light cotton nightgown and that a man's naked arm was draped lazily about her waist. She shifted slightly to see mussed-up dark hair hidden in the cradle of her neck, feeling his lips upon her flushed skin. She followed his arm to see a gold ring upon his finger that matched the one that she wore.
"Meant to be."
Flash. She was still in bed, but sunlight was pouring in through the windows. Her bed was much smaller than the large one her previous vision showed her, almost as if she was in a hospital bed. She felt pain in the lower portion of her body and sweat dripping down her face, but she ignored it. Instead, her full attention was solely upon the small bundle of blankets she held in her arms. That dark-haired man was sitting partially on the bed, peeking within the folds to reveal a beautiful baby's face inside. The baby looked back at her with wide, curious eyes. Her own eyes. In that moment, she could feel all the love she had for this baby, this small little girl that was born of her and Van.
Van… Allen… Celena… Gaddes… Gaea… Mystic Moon… Tarn… Ashira… The Power of Atlantis…
Sellie.
She remembered. She remembered about her two lives: on Earth and on Gaea. She remembered her purpose.
She remembered who she was.
"Sellie!" Hitomi grabbed her daughter with her other hand and pulled upwards. Sellie released the rock she was still holding onto and grasped the edge of the pillar to help pull herself up. But as she was almost to the top, she caught Ashira glaring back at them with a horrible smirk on her face. Another tremor shook them, knocking the outer triangle ring loose and sending them both falling down to the lava.
Hitomi had not let go of Sellie's hand. With amazing efforts of energy that she didn't realize she still had, she released her Draconian wings from their hiding place and spread them wide. She immediately felt the scorching burning from the lava below, but she didn't care. She had to get Sellie to safety.
She pulled the girl into her body and held her in a firm embrace. Fighting the drafts of heat, flame, and the falling debris, she struggled to ascend higher to the oculus above and out of harm's way.
A large rock fell towards them. Hitomi barely had enough time to dodge it before it fell into the lava, but not enough to escape its splash. Several large drops of the molten rock splattered all over her left wing. She screamed out in pain and faltered in flight, but still kept hold of Sellie in her arms. Tears streaming down her face, she flapped as hard as she could, trying desperately to pay no heed to the burning wounds. With her last ounce of strength, they landed onto the pillar in a collapsed heap.
Sellie immediately wiggled her way out of Hitomi's possession and began to tend her mother's wounds. They were bad. The lava had burnt through her white feathers and left angry red burns near the base of the wing. Hitomi was breathing hard, but she able to lift her head and smile at Sellie.
"I… remember you," she murmured.
It took a moment for her to process what Hitomi had just said. It didn't seem like the thing to say when someone just received life-threatening injuries. But it was soon evident that it dawned on her for Sellie's happiness appeared on her face almost instantly. She hugged her mother tightly, joyful that she had found her alive and was able to return the embrace.
Hitomi stroked her hair, not caring for a moment that her wing could be permanently damaged for the rest of her life… not caring for a moment that the pillar was still unstable and deteriorating… not carrying that they might not leave this Temple alive. "Sellie… my beautiful Sellie…"
"Awwww… isn't this disgustingly touching?" Ashira quipped. "What a wonderful reunion between mother and daughter."
Hitomi, with some help from Sellie, stood up and looked grimly at the younger woman. "You took me away from her," she snapped back.
"Ah, I'm guessing that you got your memory back," Ashira noticed. "Too bad."
"Ashira," Hitomi said. "You must give me the Power of Atlantis. You were not meant to have it."
"Pity," Ashira sighed. "After all that trouble too…"
"Do you not understand?" Sellie cried. "You aren't supposed to be its host. Because of you, Gaea is being destroyed as we speak!"
Hitomi looked at her strangely, surprised by her daughter's sudden outburst.
"My dear girl," Ashira said snidely. "Do you really think I want that pathetic world? Each and every culture there is centuries behind what the Mystic Moon inhabitants have already created. Flying machines, communications, computers, and most of all… weapons… mass destruction weapons."
As she spoke, Hitomi's stomach sank as she realized what Ashira was getting to.
"You want Earth?" she whispered.
Ashira smiled. "You have no idea what you left behind."
Hitomi staggered, the pain from her wing slowly overwhelming her. "Yes, I do. I left my mother and brother and friends. Though the people of Earth may have technology far more advanced than Gaea, they are still the same as those people on Gaea."
"If I can control the Mystic Moon, I'll be invincible," Ashira said proudly. "I can feel the Power flowing through my veins. I can feel both of your pulses fluctuating and spiking because of your fear. I feel more alive now than I have felt in years. With this, there'll be no stopping me."
"Yes, there will be," Hitomi replied softly. "Gaea and Earth are linked together. They are balanced. If something happens to Earth, Gaea will soon fall. And the same will occur if Gaea becomes unbalanced."
"Enough!" Ashira shouted. "I'm done with you. And your daughter." With this said, she clenched her fists.
Hitomi stood tall, her once-happy features now tired and sad staring right back at Ashira. She only broke her gaze to see that Sellie had grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"You both dare to stand up to me?" Ashira asked, her eyes glowing madly. "You and who else?"
As she raised her hand to deliver the fatal attack, Hitomi and Sellie closed their eyes and awaited it.
But whatever Ashira planned, it never came.
* * *
The first thing that Sellie noticed was that the howling wind had ceased almost immediately. The pillar beneath her feet that had been trembling violently stopped. She chanced it and opened her eyes to see what had happened.
To her amazement, the column of fire that had encircled the three of them had frozen. Embers that had wafted from its source floated in mid-air, still threatening to burn anyone.
She quickly squeezed Hitomi's hand again. "Mom! Look!"
Hitomi glanced around, confused to what she saw. "How did this…" she began.
Even Ashira was puzzled.
"How did you do this?!" she shrieked. "You have no power! I have it! I have it all! No one can stop me! How did you do this?!"
"She didn't put a stop to all of your conjurings, dear Ashira," a loud male voice announced. "I did."
Sellie whipped her head around to see a tall shadowed figure joining them on the pillar who was not there a moment ago.
He's the one from my vision… she thought. The one who will help us.
Ashira screamed. She blasted lethal energy, what she had meant to shoot at Hitomi and Sellie, but the stranger merely deflected it. Angered even more, she fabricated a giant energy ball and threw it at him. Once more, it had no effect on him.
As Ashira launched attack after attack at the mystery man, she grew weaker. Her body had not yet adjusted to the new addition of Power added, so it was draining her of her life force. Soon, she was on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
The man simply stood there, watching her in the shadows. Cautious, Sellie took a step forward. "I've seen you before…" she said. "In a dream."
The man stepped forward, revealing his face to her. He was neither young nor old. Though his skin had no wrinkles in it, his eyes revealed his wisdom beyond the ages. His scruffy red hair fell into his eyes, somewhat like her father's did. He wore red robes with a matching sash over his shoulder.
He knelt down before Sellie and smiled at her. "You knew me before your dream, child," he said softly. His voice felt familiar to her. "Don't you remember?"
It was there. The stranger's name. It was there… on the tip of her tongue. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Here. Look into my eyes," he replied. "For eyes are mirrors into the soul and they always speak the truth."
As Sellie looked into the man's eyes, a well-known feeling washed over her like a warm summer breeze. Though she had no idea how in the world it was possible, how he was able to stand before her like this, she knew who he was.
"Dralion?"
He smiled wider. "There. That wasn't so hard now, was it?"
Sellie felt relief, confusion, and alarm running throughout her all at once. She didn't know whether or not to be afraid of him or run into his arms and give him a hug.
His arms. He was human.
"You're Dralion." She simply stated it, not asking if it were true.
"That's right."
"But… you're not… a drag--"
Dralion held his hand up to stop her. "Yes, I know," he said. "Thought it would be a bit easier if I looked like this."
She smiled again, overwhelmed that he was there, standing in front of her. But another realization hit her and she stopped smiling. "You're dead," she said flatly.
He sighed. "Yes, that too." He looked up at her mother, who had no clue of what was going on. "And you must be the lovely Hitomi that your husband, your daughter, and your friends have been searching for."
"Uh… yes, I guess I am," Hitomi managed to cough out a reply. "Ummm, I'm grateful for everything that you've done--" she gestured to the motionless atmosphere, "--but why exactly are you here?"
Dralion returned his gaze back to Sellie. "I'm here to bring my soul mate back with me," he replied.
Sellie's heart leapt. It seemed like so long ago when he had told her the story about his soul mate that she had almost forgotten it. What was her name? Aerin? She was the Queen of Fanelia at one point and Sellie was her descendent.
She was always somewhat curious about this Aerin-and-Dralion situation. Plus, she always felt odd whenever Dralion stared into her. Just like the way that Dralion was looking at her now. Why was he really sent to protect her… she asked herself. Could she be the one?
Dralion must have seen the gears in her mind working because he stood to his feet. "You remember me telling you the story about Aerin, right, Sellie?"
She nodded. "You said that she'd come back to you at some point," she said, recalling the tale.
"It was partially because of my involvement with her that I lived for so long," he said. "It was also partially because of you as well. Did you ever think that both of your fates were linked to one another? That all of our fates were linked?" He stood up and walked over to Ashira, who was now on her side, helpless. "Why is Ashira always attacking you and your family? Did you ever wonder why that her target was only the House of Fanel?"
Sellie had pondered that question throughout her adventure during the past few days. Why her family? Ashira had no quarrel with anyone else but the Fanels, yet Sellie was sure that her parents never did anything to her that earned that kind of revenge.
Then it dawned on her what Dralion was really saying. Why he was speaking about Ashira.
Sellie was not Aerin reborn as she thought she was.
"Ashira is Aerin," she concluded.
"Aerin has been going through her lives seeking revenge," Dralion continued, gently lifting Ashira into his lap. "She never wanted to live with the Fanelian king, but still, she was married off to him without choice in the matter. It almost killed her that she was forced to be with one man, but in reality, her heart belonged to something that wasn't even of her species. She was cursed with this hate for the man, or rather, the blood that condemned her to lead out that life, sleep with him, and bear his children. It made her lose her mind and somehow, this cursed her for all of her lives.
"I was to remain asleep and hidden until I was called upon to protect and help you, Sellie. I hoped that by the time my task was fulfilled, I'd be able to go to the resting land and find my beloved. But when Gaea had awakened me and told me there was a slight change in plans, or rather 'fate', I knew that Aerin had something to do with it.
"Was it just chance that I was sent to defend the descendant of the Fanelian king, whose veins ran with the very blood that Aerin was cursed to loathe? Being in such close contact with that Fanelian bloodline had to of triggered Ashira somehow, bringing out the hate that was buried deep within. Not only was I supposed to protect you, but I was supposed to pacify Aerin in Ashira."
He stroked Ashira's cheek with his forefinger. The young woman still made no response to his touching her; she still muttered something under her breath and stared off into space.
"I still don't understand," Sellie said, thinking over carefully what Dralion had just told her. "Ashira targeted my mother more than she did me or my father. Mom doesn't have Fanelian blood in her."
"True, she doesn't," Dralion replied, still keeping his attention on Ashira. "But she was the most precious thing to your father. Ashira's instincts was to take her away from him, knowing that it would hurt him the most. Plus, she is Fanelia's Queen, Aerin's position. She and Hitomi have a connection there." He adjusted his position underneath Ashira. "Now, it is time to set things right, to pass the Power of Atlantis onto you, Hitomi."
Hitomi still looked uncertain. "Why here?" she asked. "I don't understand why we are on Earth right now. If the passage connecting Gaea to Earth was supposedly closed, why is there a temple deep in Central America that is related to Atlantis?"
"I'm a little vague of how Ashira found out about the Temple's existence, but I was briefly filled in on why it was settled here," Dralion replied. "I am aware that here on Earth, the existence of Atlantis is no more than just a legend, am I correct?"
Hitomi nodded. "I did research about Atlantis once I got back to Earth the first time," she said. "Plato wrote about the island in his works, but it was never proved that it truly existed at one point. But no one on Earth knows about the creation of Gaea except for my family and a few of my friends."
"It did exist once, and the Atlanteans had the capabilities to travel at phenomenal speeds all over the world," Dralion continued. "That is how explorers and researchers here have never been able to pinpoint the true location. The original location does not exist anymore, and there is evidence all over Earth.
"One Atlantean representative traveled here and conversed with the Mayans. Determined to spread the knowledge and wisdom that his people knew, the Atlantean taught the Mayans about astrology, which they soon became obsessed with. It has never truly been explained how the Mayans knew about the existence of several planets in this solar system, nor how they knew the length of an Earth year almost exactly.
The Mayans revered the Atlantean as a god. His wisdom and knowledge spread throughout the other cultures. The Aztecs called him Quetzalcoatl, but we would know him better as…"
"…Kukulkan," Sellie finished.
Dralion smiled at her. "This temple is dedicated to him. Kukulkan had specifics about its structure, for he somehow knew that a day like this would happen. Perhaps his people prophesized it." He looked down at Ashira. "But before we transfer the Power, we must find out how she knew of this place." He moved himself out from underneath Ashira and settled down just in front of her. Staring deeply into her eyes for a moment, he then called to her in a gentle but commanding voice. "Ashira."
Ashira was at once responsive to his voice, and she returned the gaze back into his own eyes. "Yes…" she replied softly underneath his hypnosis.
Dralion did not break contact with her. "Ashira, how did you know about this Temple?" he asked.
"My mother," she answered in the same simple voice. "My mother was a Draconian. She passed on the history of her people and her family onto me. Before I teamed up with Sekhmet when I was young, she told me the legend of Kukulkan… my ancestor."
"You're related to Kukulkan?" Hitomi asked.
"Yes," Ashira replied. "Mother informed me about this temple, and its purpose. But now I am all alone. Mother is gone. Sekhmet is gone. Tarn is gone. I have no one."
"Ashira," Dralion said. "You know that is not true. You know that you will always have me and you know who I am. I know that you are tired and weary. But I would like to speak to Aerin. Will you let me speak to her?"
Ashira, at first, made no reply to Dralion's request. A tear ran down her cheek but she made no attempt to wipe it away. "Yes," she whispered and blinked her eyes.
Within that simple blink, Ashira's entire personality disappeared just before Hitomi, Sellie, and Dralion. Her placid features melted away into a trembling young woman who obviously did not recognize her surroundings. Her eyes darted at the motionless firewall still encircling them.
"Where am I?" she asked loudly, the tone in her voice different and her words had a slight accent. She looked at Hitomi and Sellie. "Who are you?"
"Aerin," Dralion said. "I know its been a long time, but do you recognize me?"
Aerin, formerly Ashira, looked at Dralion for a lengthy time, then a smile slowly spread across her blank face. "Of course, my Dragonlord," she said. "I could recognize you anywhere." Her smile melted away. "But I do not understand what is occurring here. I do not recognize this place, nor these people. And you are human."
"Yes, I am," Dralion replied. "But appearances mean nothing on the outside when the truth lies within, does it not?"
She nodded in agreement. "Of course." She stared at him, her eyes welling with happiness. "It seems like an eternity since I have last seen you, Dralion," she said, touching his face with her fingers. "I feel like a great weight has been lifted from me now that you are here with me."
"For always, dearest. It has been far too long." Dralion's hand went to Aerin/Ashira's that still lingered on his cheek and brought both of them down to his lap. "My love," he began, his voice sounding troubled. "It is time for you to come back with me. You have been wandering all over the world without direction filled with unrest. And now, it is my purpose to bring you home. So you can be at peace."
"Home?" Aerin repeated. "Anywhere with you is home."
Dralion leaned in and kissed her deeply. Aerin's hand wound itself around his neck and pulled him into her embrace more. But Dralion broke the connection and looked up to Hitomi and Sellie.
"There is one thing that must be done before we go, my love," he said to Aerin. "You have something of hers -- " He nodded to Hitomi. " -- and I'm sure she'd like it back."
He pulled Aerin to her feet and she looked at Hitomi and Sellie at great length. "Yes," she said. "My former self took away this possession that is only meant for you."
Hitomi swallowed, then nodded, not knowing exactly what to make of these two people. "Uh, yes. Both of our worlds will be destroyed if I don't get the Power back."
"Aerin, this woman is the Queen of Fanelia, as you once were," Dralion explained. "And this girl is her daughter, the only heir to the throne."
Aerin's face grew distorted as soon as Dralion mentioned "Fanelia." Sellie was afraid that she'd do something terrible now that she knew their true identities.
But her features grew soft and she smiled. "Am I assuming that it was not a forced marriage?" she asked.
"No," Hitomi said firmly. "I love my husband and my daughter beyond all things."
Aerin stared hard at her with Ashira's cool blue eyes. "Good," she said finally. "I hope that because of this love of yours will be more than what my marriage to my King will ever be."
Sellie eased. Hitomi sighed. Dralion gestured to the circles surrounding the still-glowing energist.
"Beloved, if you would be so kind as to stand here and put your hand on the energist," he said. "Hitomi, please stand in the larger circle and do the same as Aerin. Sellie, stand back here with me."
Hitomi took her place in the circle and gave Sellie a reassuring smile. Then, following Dralion's requests, she and Aerin placed their hands firmly upon the energist.
It was amazing to be a witness and watch the transfer of Power leave Aerin's body, travel through the dragon heartstone, then enter Hitomi's. As the wind whipped around the two women, Sellie saw the veins underneath her mother's skin glow a brilliant pink. She did not look like she was in pain, but it seemed as the intake of the Power was overwhelming her system. Aerin appeared completely exhausted.
And then, it was over. Sellie remembered the removal being much longer, but then again, she was apart of it that time. The energist ceased to glow and both Hitomi and Aerin stumbled slightly.
Sellie ran over and held her mother to her feet while Dralion seized Aerin.
"Is it in there?" Sellie whispered. Hitomi nodded.
"It is done then," Dralion said to them. "The Power of Atlantis is now in your control, Hitomi. Lead Fanelia and Gaea to the peace that they deserve."
"We will," Hitomi put her arm around Sellie and smiled at her, though she looked very tired.
Dralion lifted Aerin into his arms and held her tightly. "Oh, and Sellie?" he said.
"Hmmm?"
"Use those wings of yours whenever you can."
With those words, Dralion and Aerin began disappeared in a divine light, leaving Hitomi and Sellie behind on the pedestal.
The still wall of fire began to rotate in a roar around them once more, as the stationary rocks in midair began to fall.
"We've gotta get out of here, Mom," Sellie said as a large portion of the ceiling by the oculus cracked. "This temple isn't going to hold much longer."
Hitomi reached over and took the dull energist from its base and held Sellie tightly to her.
"C'mon," she said as the energist and Sellie's pendant began to glow simultaneously. "Let's go grab your father."
* * *
It had only been seconds since Allen had punched Tarn when Van noticed that the light Celena had spotted was glowing even more brightly. And it was no longer a brilliant pink, but a whitish blue blaze.
"What's going on!?" Gaddes shouted over the thunderous fire. Van only smiled. He could recognize that light anywhere.
Suddenly, the liquid wall of fire broke above them and the intense light shot out of it. Appearing to have a mind of its own, it circled above their heads for a moment and descend towards them.
"Van! Look out!" Celena shouted.
"It's alright!" he managed to shout back as the light swept over and he became apart of it.
The beam also grabbed Celena, Allen, and Gaddes before they had any time to protest, then shot straight upwards out of the Temple and towards the large rip in the sky, back to their homes on Gaea.
The impact of the bright light's departure destroyed the already-crumbling Temple. Tarn had just managed to regain conscious due to the intense heat only in time to see a large portion of the ceiling cave in and fall on top of him. He could do nothing but scream as the stones crushed him to death.
* * *
For those people on Earth who saw the beam of light for about ten minutes that day could also see a different kind of phenomenon as well. The scientists at NASA and other space-oriented programs managed to capture many high resolution pictures of the vast tear in the sky over Mexico, but could not explain why there appeared to be another planet inside of it. They calculated that if such a planet existed, it would be just beyond the gravity of the moon and its orbit somewhere between Earth and Venus. Newspapers screamed headlines such as "Doomsday Upon Us!" with pictures of the occurrence underneath on the front page.
The special secret governments, having no choice, released false information to the press and passed it off for a hoax, explaining that it had something to do with northern lights casting a reflection of Earth and that the light was actually a burning weather balloon.
There were, however, a few on Earth who didn't believe the lie. They had heard the story of Gaea long ago and briefly saw it in the sky before the rip sealed itself up and the "phantom planet" disappeared.
A phone call was made, informing others to be patient and wait, for this might have been a sign from someone lost to them so long ago.
to be continued…
* * *
* 08.05.2003 UPDATE * So yeah. Sorry its been so long but I have been working almost non-stop at the Orange County Fair. I've been doing pretty much 15 hour shifts each day for three weeks. Not much fun, but I've had time to plan out the remaining last two chapters of PDC. And it will definitely be two more chapters after this one. Hopefully, this installment will appease your appetites whilst I work on the others. I'm leaving for New York in a few weeks, so I'll be bringing the laptop around to type up the end. Sadness!
Time. 11.20 pm
Music. "Riot Coming Soon" by Radar Rose
Chapter 19
Copyright. I don't own Escaflowne. Enough said.
Author's Notes. Now that it is summer and I'm gainfully unemployed, I have found plenty of time to work on PDC. I'm still struggling with writer's block, but hopefully, it'll fade away as I get closer to the end. Plus, I'm a little occupied by my next collaboration project: "My Big Fat Elvish Wedding" starring Aragorn and Arwen. Keep a lookout for an all action figure picture show coming to your computer soon _
The Vision of Escaflowne. Parvulus de Crepuscid
Chapter 19. Come Down the Ancients
* * *
Hitomi ached all over. Her legs, her arms, her head, her heart, her soul. Everything felt like it had been probed, prodded, and torn apart. Seeing the small girl to her left made her hope that Sellie was faring better than she. She would not wish this upon her worst enemy.
Wait a minute. Yes. Yes, she would. She'd wish this upon Ashira.
The younger woman looked physically exhausted, but so full of energy and life at the same time. The beam of light that engulfed her had retracted back into the energist, leaving Ashira breathing hard and staggering in her posture. Hitomi wondered if she would able to have the strength to push her off of the pillar and into the lava pit below.
But as Ashira opened her eyes to look around in wonder, the ground began to shake violently. Both Hitomi and Sellie were thrown from their circles aggressively, neither of them having the strength to hold themselves up.
Hitomi landed harshly on her side, almost knocking the air out of her lungs. She remained there for a moment, trying to regain some of her might back before she even attempted taking Ashira on.
"Mom!"
The cry for help made Hitomi jolt from her rest. She worriedly looked around for Sellie, but could not find her anywhere.
"Mom!"
She was over the edge… she thought. She crawled over to see the black-haired girl clinging onto a protruding stone for her life. Her feet tried mercilessly to gain some leverage, but it was useless. The pillar that they were on was ancient; every time she'd try digging her foot into the rock, it would crumble and fall down into the lava pit.
"Mom, help! Please!"
Hitomi hesitated. Although she stood up to Ashira and told her what she believed in, she still uncertain about this girl being her daughter. But a tremendous feeling took over her and she reached out for the girl's hand desperately. "C'mon, take it!"
Sellie looked at it as if it were going to bite her. "I… I can't!"
Hitomi stretched her arm as far as she could. "You must! Trust me, I'll catch you!"
Sellie stared at her, then slowly, she began to move her right hand from the stone. Carefully, she inched it up to where Hitomi's hand was, her fingers brushing against hers. With all of her remaining might, she pulled herself up the rock and grabbed onto her mother's hand. Hitomi caught her in a firm grasp, and the instant their skin made contact, she Saw things once more in her mind:
She was no longer on a pillar in the middle of a collapsing Mexican temple. She found herself suddenly in what appeared to be a medieval Japan-type world. Or that's what it seemed like to her. The building structures reminded her of the old temples she'd seen in her high school history books, but they were also unfamiliar to her.
In a flash, she was in a garden, surrounded by exotic flowers and plants. It was before dawn, she could tell. The sky was lightening, but it hadn't lost the nighttime appeal. Before her eyes was a gazebo, built with intricate designs in the light-colored wood. She blinked, and a woman appeared before her. She was short in stature, but looked as though she was an older version of Sellie, her tumbling black locks knotted with wild flowers and ivy. Hitomi blinked again and the woman was gone with a deer replacing her.
Another flash. This time, she was out on a sunny courtyard by a fountain. Something fuzzy ran past her and she followed the motion. She managed to catch two small children running to a woman with open-arms. Well, at first glance, she looked like a woman. Hitomi observed the woman's face when she knelt down and hugged the children. To her surprise, she had the features of a cat and of a woman at the same time. Large feline ears stuck out of her reddish hair and a long striped tail twitched underneath the sundress that she wore. Hitomi was so intrigued by this cat-woman that she hadn't even noticed the children having tails as well.
Flash. Gone were the cat people and the bright courtyard that they were playing on. She found herself in a dark room on a vast bed, sheets entangled about her and the comforter halfway off in a jumbled heap. Candles adorned the walls, flickering on objects in the vicinity. As her eyes adapted to the darkness, she soon became conscience that all she wore was a light cotton nightgown and that a man's naked arm was draped lazily about her waist. She shifted slightly to see mussed-up dark hair hidden in the cradle of her neck, feeling his lips upon her flushed skin. She followed his arm to see a gold ring upon his finger that matched the one that she wore.
"Meant to be."
Flash. She was still in bed, but sunlight was pouring in through the windows. Her bed was much smaller than the large one her previous vision showed her, almost as if she was in a hospital bed. She felt pain in the lower portion of her body and sweat dripping down her face, but she ignored it. Instead, her full attention was solely upon the small bundle of blankets she held in her arms. That dark-haired man was sitting partially on the bed, peeking within the folds to reveal a beautiful baby's face inside. The baby looked back at her with wide, curious eyes. Her own eyes. In that moment, she could feel all the love she had for this baby, this small little girl that was born of her and Van.
Van… Allen… Celena… Gaddes… Gaea… Mystic Moon… Tarn… Ashira… The Power of Atlantis…
Sellie.
She remembered. She remembered about her two lives: on Earth and on Gaea. She remembered her purpose.
She remembered who she was.
"Sellie!" Hitomi grabbed her daughter with her other hand and pulled upwards. Sellie released the rock she was still holding onto and grasped the edge of the pillar to help pull herself up. But as she was almost to the top, she caught Ashira glaring back at them with a horrible smirk on her face. Another tremor shook them, knocking the outer triangle ring loose and sending them both falling down to the lava.
Hitomi had not let go of Sellie's hand. With amazing efforts of energy that she didn't realize she still had, she released her Draconian wings from their hiding place and spread them wide. She immediately felt the scorching burning from the lava below, but she didn't care. She had to get Sellie to safety.
She pulled the girl into her body and held her in a firm embrace. Fighting the drafts of heat, flame, and the falling debris, she struggled to ascend higher to the oculus above and out of harm's way.
A large rock fell towards them. Hitomi barely had enough time to dodge it before it fell into the lava, but not enough to escape its splash. Several large drops of the molten rock splattered all over her left wing. She screamed out in pain and faltered in flight, but still kept hold of Sellie in her arms. Tears streaming down her face, she flapped as hard as she could, trying desperately to pay no heed to the burning wounds. With her last ounce of strength, they landed onto the pillar in a collapsed heap.
Sellie immediately wiggled her way out of Hitomi's possession and began to tend her mother's wounds. They were bad. The lava had burnt through her white feathers and left angry red burns near the base of the wing. Hitomi was breathing hard, but she able to lift her head and smile at Sellie.
"I… remember you," she murmured.
It took a moment for her to process what Hitomi had just said. It didn't seem like the thing to say when someone just received life-threatening injuries. But it was soon evident that it dawned on her for Sellie's happiness appeared on her face almost instantly. She hugged her mother tightly, joyful that she had found her alive and was able to return the embrace.
Hitomi stroked her hair, not caring for a moment that her wing could be permanently damaged for the rest of her life… not caring for a moment that the pillar was still unstable and deteriorating… not carrying that they might not leave this Temple alive. "Sellie… my beautiful Sellie…"
"Awwww… isn't this disgustingly touching?" Ashira quipped. "What a wonderful reunion between mother and daughter."
Hitomi, with some help from Sellie, stood up and looked grimly at the younger woman. "You took me away from her," she snapped back.
"Ah, I'm guessing that you got your memory back," Ashira noticed. "Too bad."
"Ashira," Hitomi said. "You must give me the Power of Atlantis. You were not meant to have it."
"Pity," Ashira sighed. "After all that trouble too…"
"Do you not understand?" Sellie cried. "You aren't supposed to be its host. Because of you, Gaea is being destroyed as we speak!"
Hitomi looked at her strangely, surprised by her daughter's sudden outburst.
"My dear girl," Ashira said snidely. "Do you really think I want that pathetic world? Each and every culture there is centuries behind what the Mystic Moon inhabitants have already created. Flying machines, communications, computers, and most of all… weapons… mass destruction weapons."
As she spoke, Hitomi's stomach sank as she realized what Ashira was getting to.
"You want Earth?" she whispered.
Ashira smiled. "You have no idea what you left behind."
Hitomi staggered, the pain from her wing slowly overwhelming her. "Yes, I do. I left my mother and brother and friends. Though the people of Earth may have technology far more advanced than Gaea, they are still the same as those people on Gaea."
"If I can control the Mystic Moon, I'll be invincible," Ashira said proudly. "I can feel the Power flowing through my veins. I can feel both of your pulses fluctuating and spiking because of your fear. I feel more alive now than I have felt in years. With this, there'll be no stopping me."
"Yes, there will be," Hitomi replied softly. "Gaea and Earth are linked together. They are balanced. If something happens to Earth, Gaea will soon fall. And the same will occur if Gaea becomes unbalanced."
"Enough!" Ashira shouted. "I'm done with you. And your daughter." With this said, she clenched her fists.
Hitomi stood tall, her once-happy features now tired and sad staring right back at Ashira. She only broke her gaze to see that Sellie had grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
"You both dare to stand up to me?" Ashira asked, her eyes glowing madly. "You and who else?"
As she raised her hand to deliver the fatal attack, Hitomi and Sellie closed their eyes and awaited it.
But whatever Ashira planned, it never came.
* * *
The first thing that Sellie noticed was that the howling wind had ceased almost immediately. The pillar beneath her feet that had been trembling violently stopped. She chanced it and opened her eyes to see what had happened.
To her amazement, the column of fire that had encircled the three of them had frozen. Embers that had wafted from its source floated in mid-air, still threatening to burn anyone.
She quickly squeezed Hitomi's hand again. "Mom! Look!"
Hitomi glanced around, confused to what she saw. "How did this…" she began.
Even Ashira was puzzled.
"How did you do this?!" she shrieked. "You have no power! I have it! I have it all! No one can stop me! How did you do this?!"
"She didn't put a stop to all of your conjurings, dear Ashira," a loud male voice announced. "I did."
Sellie whipped her head around to see a tall shadowed figure joining them on the pillar who was not there a moment ago.
He's the one from my vision… she thought. The one who will help us.
Ashira screamed. She blasted lethal energy, what she had meant to shoot at Hitomi and Sellie, but the stranger merely deflected it. Angered even more, she fabricated a giant energy ball and threw it at him. Once more, it had no effect on him.
As Ashira launched attack after attack at the mystery man, she grew weaker. Her body had not yet adjusted to the new addition of Power added, so it was draining her of her life force. Soon, she was on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
The man simply stood there, watching her in the shadows. Cautious, Sellie took a step forward. "I've seen you before…" she said. "In a dream."
The man stepped forward, revealing his face to her. He was neither young nor old. Though his skin had no wrinkles in it, his eyes revealed his wisdom beyond the ages. His scruffy red hair fell into his eyes, somewhat like her father's did. He wore red robes with a matching sash over his shoulder.
He knelt down before Sellie and smiled at her. "You knew me before your dream, child," he said softly. His voice felt familiar to her. "Don't you remember?"
It was there. The stranger's name. It was there… on the tip of her tongue. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Here. Look into my eyes," he replied. "For eyes are mirrors into the soul and they always speak the truth."
As Sellie looked into the man's eyes, a well-known feeling washed over her like a warm summer breeze. Though she had no idea how in the world it was possible, how he was able to stand before her like this, she knew who he was.
"Dralion?"
He smiled wider. "There. That wasn't so hard now, was it?"
Sellie felt relief, confusion, and alarm running throughout her all at once. She didn't know whether or not to be afraid of him or run into his arms and give him a hug.
His arms. He was human.
"You're Dralion." She simply stated it, not asking if it were true.
"That's right."
"But… you're not… a drag--"
Dralion held his hand up to stop her. "Yes, I know," he said. "Thought it would be a bit easier if I looked like this."
She smiled again, overwhelmed that he was there, standing in front of her. But another realization hit her and she stopped smiling. "You're dead," she said flatly.
He sighed. "Yes, that too." He looked up at her mother, who had no clue of what was going on. "And you must be the lovely Hitomi that your husband, your daughter, and your friends have been searching for."
"Uh… yes, I guess I am," Hitomi managed to cough out a reply. "Ummm, I'm grateful for everything that you've done--" she gestured to the motionless atmosphere, "--but why exactly are you here?"
Dralion returned his gaze back to Sellie. "I'm here to bring my soul mate back with me," he replied.
Sellie's heart leapt. It seemed like so long ago when he had told her the story about his soul mate that she had almost forgotten it. What was her name? Aerin? She was the Queen of Fanelia at one point and Sellie was her descendent.
She was always somewhat curious about this Aerin-and-Dralion situation. Plus, she always felt odd whenever Dralion stared into her. Just like the way that Dralion was looking at her now. Why was he really sent to protect her… she asked herself. Could she be the one?
Dralion must have seen the gears in her mind working because he stood to his feet. "You remember me telling you the story about Aerin, right, Sellie?"
She nodded. "You said that she'd come back to you at some point," she said, recalling the tale.
"It was partially because of my involvement with her that I lived for so long," he said. "It was also partially because of you as well. Did you ever think that both of your fates were linked to one another? That all of our fates were linked?" He stood up and walked over to Ashira, who was now on her side, helpless. "Why is Ashira always attacking you and your family? Did you ever wonder why that her target was only the House of Fanel?"
Sellie had pondered that question throughout her adventure during the past few days. Why her family? Ashira had no quarrel with anyone else but the Fanels, yet Sellie was sure that her parents never did anything to her that earned that kind of revenge.
Then it dawned on her what Dralion was really saying. Why he was speaking about Ashira.
Sellie was not Aerin reborn as she thought she was.
"Ashira is Aerin," she concluded.
"Aerin has been going through her lives seeking revenge," Dralion continued, gently lifting Ashira into his lap. "She never wanted to live with the Fanelian king, but still, she was married off to him without choice in the matter. It almost killed her that she was forced to be with one man, but in reality, her heart belonged to something that wasn't even of her species. She was cursed with this hate for the man, or rather, the blood that condemned her to lead out that life, sleep with him, and bear his children. It made her lose her mind and somehow, this cursed her for all of her lives.
"I was to remain asleep and hidden until I was called upon to protect and help you, Sellie. I hoped that by the time my task was fulfilled, I'd be able to go to the resting land and find my beloved. But when Gaea had awakened me and told me there was a slight change in plans, or rather 'fate', I knew that Aerin had something to do with it.
"Was it just chance that I was sent to defend the descendant of the Fanelian king, whose veins ran with the very blood that Aerin was cursed to loathe? Being in such close contact with that Fanelian bloodline had to of triggered Ashira somehow, bringing out the hate that was buried deep within. Not only was I supposed to protect you, but I was supposed to pacify Aerin in Ashira."
He stroked Ashira's cheek with his forefinger. The young woman still made no response to his touching her; she still muttered something under her breath and stared off into space.
"I still don't understand," Sellie said, thinking over carefully what Dralion had just told her. "Ashira targeted my mother more than she did me or my father. Mom doesn't have Fanelian blood in her."
"True, she doesn't," Dralion replied, still keeping his attention on Ashira. "But she was the most precious thing to your father. Ashira's instincts was to take her away from him, knowing that it would hurt him the most. Plus, she is Fanelia's Queen, Aerin's position. She and Hitomi have a connection there." He adjusted his position underneath Ashira. "Now, it is time to set things right, to pass the Power of Atlantis onto you, Hitomi."
Hitomi still looked uncertain. "Why here?" she asked. "I don't understand why we are on Earth right now. If the passage connecting Gaea to Earth was supposedly closed, why is there a temple deep in Central America that is related to Atlantis?"
"I'm a little vague of how Ashira found out about the Temple's existence, but I was briefly filled in on why it was settled here," Dralion replied. "I am aware that here on Earth, the existence of Atlantis is no more than just a legend, am I correct?"
Hitomi nodded. "I did research about Atlantis once I got back to Earth the first time," she said. "Plato wrote about the island in his works, but it was never proved that it truly existed at one point. But no one on Earth knows about the creation of Gaea except for my family and a few of my friends."
"It did exist once, and the Atlanteans had the capabilities to travel at phenomenal speeds all over the world," Dralion continued. "That is how explorers and researchers here have never been able to pinpoint the true location. The original location does not exist anymore, and there is evidence all over Earth.
"One Atlantean representative traveled here and conversed with the Mayans. Determined to spread the knowledge and wisdom that his people knew, the Atlantean taught the Mayans about astrology, which they soon became obsessed with. It has never truly been explained how the Mayans knew about the existence of several planets in this solar system, nor how they knew the length of an Earth year almost exactly.
The Mayans revered the Atlantean as a god. His wisdom and knowledge spread throughout the other cultures. The Aztecs called him Quetzalcoatl, but we would know him better as…"
"…Kukulkan," Sellie finished.
Dralion smiled at her. "This temple is dedicated to him. Kukulkan had specifics about its structure, for he somehow knew that a day like this would happen. Perhaps his people prophesized it." He looked down at Ashira. "But before we transfer the Power, we must find out how she knew of this place." He moved himself out from underneath Ashira and settled down just in front of her. Staring deeply into her eyes for a moment, he then called to her in a gentle but commanding voice. "Ashira."
Ashira was at once responsive to his voice, and she returned the gaze back into his own eyes. "Yes…" she replied softly underneath his hypnosis.
Dralion did not break contact with her. "Ashira, how did you know about this Temple?" he asked.
"My mother," she answered in the same simple voice. "My mother was a Draconian. She passed on the history of her people and her family onto me. Before I teamed up with Sekhmet when I was young, she told me the legend of Kukulkan… my ancestor."
"You're related to Kukulkan?" Hitomi asked.
"Yes," Ashira replied. "Mother informed me about this temple, and its purpose. But now I am all alone. Mother is gone. Sekhmet is gone. Tarn is gone. I have no one."
"Ashira," Dralion said. "You know that is not true. You know that you will always have me and you know who I am. I know that you are tired and weary. But I would like to speak to Aerin. Will you let me speak to her?"
Ashira, at first, made no reply to Dralion's request. A tear ran down her cheek but she made no attempt to wipe it away. "Yes," she whispered and blinked her eyes.
Within that simple blink, Ashira's entire personality disappeared just before Hitomi, Sellie, and Dralion. Her placid features melted away into a trembling young woman who obviously did not recognize her surroundings. Her eyes darted at the motionless firewall still encircling them.
"Where am I?" she asked loudly, the tone in her voice different and her words had a slight accent. She looked at Hitomi and Sellie. "Who are you?"
"Aerin," Dralion said. "I know its been a long time, but do you recognize me?"
Aerin, formerly Ashira, looked at Dralion for a lengthy time, then a smile slowly spread across her blank face. "Of course, my Dragonlord," she said. "I could recognize you anywhere." Her smile melted away. "But I do not understand what is occurring here. I do not recognize this place, nor these people. And you are human."
"Yes, I am," Dralion replied. "But appearances mean nothing on the outside when the truth lies within, does it not?"
She nodded in agreement. "Of course." She stared at him, her eyes welling with happiness. "It seems like an eternity since I have last seen you, Dralion," she said, touching his face with her fingers. "I feel like a great weight has been lifted from me now that you are here with me."
"For always, dearest. It has been far too long." Dralion's hand went to Aerin/Ashira's that still lingered on his cheek and brought both of them down to his lap. "My love," he began, his voice sounding troubled. "It is time for you to come back with me. You have been wandering all over the world without direction filled with unrest. And now, it is my purpose to bring you home. So you can be at peace."
"Home?" Aerin repeated. "Anywhere with you is home."
Dralion leaned in and kissed her deeply. Aerin's hand wound itself around his neck and pulled him into her embrace more. But Dralion broke the connection and looked up to Hitomi and Sellie.
"There is one thing that must be done before we go, my love," he said to Aerin. "You have something of hers -- " He nodded to Hitomi. " -- and I'm sure she'd like it back."
He pulled Aerin to her feet and she looked at Hitomi and Sellie at great length. "Yes," she said. "My former self took away this possession that is only meant for you."
Hitomi swallowed, then nodded, not knowing exactly what to make of these two people. "Uh, yes. Both of our worlds will be destroyed if I don't get the Power back."
"Aerin, this woman is the Queen of Fanelia, as you once were," Dralion explained. "And this girl is her daughter, the only heir to the throne."
Aerin's face grew distorted as soon as Dralion mentioned "Fanelia." Sellie was afraid that she'd do something terrible now that she knew their true identities.
But her features grew soft and she smiled. "Am I assuming that it was not a forced marriage?" she asked.
"No," Hitomi said firmly. "I love my husband and my daughter beyond all things."
Aerin stared hard at her with Ashira's cool blue eyes. "Good," she said finally. "I hope that because of this love of yours will be more than what my marriage to my King will ever be."
Sellie eased. Hitomi sighed. Dralion gestured to the circles surrounding the still-glowing energist.
"Beloved, if you would be so kind as to stand here and put your hand on the energist," he said. "Hitomi, please stand in the larger circle and do the same as Aerin. Sellie, stand back here with me."
Hitomi took her place in the circle and gave Sellie a reassuring smile. Then, following Dralion's requests, she and Aerin placed their hands firmly upon the energist.
It was amazing to be a witness and watch the transfer of Power leave Aerin's body, travel through the dragon heartstone, then enter Hitomi's. As the wind whipped around the two women, Sellie saw the veins underneath her mother's skin glow a brilliant pink. She did not look like she was in pain, but it seemed as the intake of the Power was overwhelming her system. Aerin appeared completely exhausted.
And then, it was over. Sellie remembered the removal being much longer, but then again, she was apart of it that time. The energist ceased to glow and both Hitomi and Aerin stumbled slightly.
Sellie ran over and held her mother to her feet while Dralion seized Aerin.
"Is it in there?" Sellie whispered. Hitomi nodded.
"It is done then," Dralion said to them. "The Power of Atlantis is now in your control, Hitomi. Lead Fanelia and Gaea to the peace that they deserve."
"We will," Hitomi put her arm around Sellie and smiled at her, though she looked very tired.
Dralion lifted Aerin into his arms and held her tightly. "Oh, and Sellie?" he said.
"Hmmm?"
"Use those wings of yours whenever you can."
With those words, Dralion and Aerin began disappeared in a divine light, leaving Hitomi and Sellie behind on the pedestal.
The still wall of fire began to rotate in a roar around them once more, as the stationary rocks in midair began to fall.
"We've gotta get out of here, Mom," Sellie said as a large portion of the ceiling by the oculus cracked. "This temple isn't going to hold much longer."
Hitomi reached over and took the dull energist from its base and held Sellie tightly to her.
"C'mon," she said as the energist and Sellie's pendant began to glow simultaneously. "Let's go grab your father."
* * *
It had only been seconds since Allen had punched Tarn when Van noticed that the light Celena had spotted was glowing even more brightly. And it was no longer a brilliant pink, but a whitish blue blaze.
"What's going on!?" Gaddes shouted over the thunderous fire. Van only smiled. He could recognize that light anywhere.
Suddenly, the liquid wall of fire broke above them and the intense light shot out of it. Appearing to have a mind of its own, it circled above their heads for a moment and descend towards them.
"Van! Look out!" Celena shouted.
"It's alright!" he managed to shout back as the light swept over and he became apart of it.
The beam also grabbed Celena, Allen, and Gaddes before they had any time to protest, then shot straight upwards out of the Temple and towards the large rip in the sky, back to their homes on Gaea.
The impact of the bright light's departure destroyed the already-crumbling Temple. Tarn had just managed to regain conscious due to the intense heat only in time to see a large portion of the ceiling cave in and fall on top of him. He could do nothing but scream as the stones crushed him to death.
* * *
For those people on Earth who saw the beam of light for about ten minutes that day could also see a different kind of phenomenon as well. The scientists at NASA and other space-oriented programs managed to capture many high resolution pictures of the vast tear in the sky over Mexico, but could not explain why there appeared to be another planet inside of it. They calculated that if such a planet existed, it would be just beyond the gravity of the moon and its orbit somewhere between Earth and Venus. Newspapers screamed headlines such as "Doomsday Upon Us!" with pictures of the occurrence underneath on the front page.
The special secret governments, having no choice, released false information to the press and passed it off for a hoax, explaining that it had something to do with northern lights casting a reflection of Earth and that the light was actually a burning weather balloon.
There were, however, a few on Earth who didn't believe the lie. They had heard the story of Gaea long ago and briefly saw it in the sky before the rip sealed itself up and the "phantom planet" disappeared.
A phone call was made, informing others to be patient and wait, for this might have been a sign from someone lost to them so long ago.
to be continued…
* * *
* 08.05.2003 UPDATE * So yeah. Sorry its been so long but I have been working almost non-stop at the Orange County Fair. I've been doing pretty much 15 hour shifts each day for three weeks. Not much fun, but I've had time to plan out the remaining last two chapters of PDC. And it will definitely be two more chapters after this one. Hopefully, this installment will appease your appetites whilst I work on the others. I'm leaving for New York in a few weeks, so I'll be bringing the laptop around to type up the end. Sadness!
