Chapter Three: Evil Emerges from the Innocent
"Van, why are they so mad?" Hitomi questioned as she stood there frightened by Allen's cold gaze. "What has happened while I was gone?" Van looked at her sorrowfully with his reddish brown eyes as he turned to her. "Please, I must know what has happened!"
"Hitomi, I was engaged to marry Celina two years ago by the Council of Fanelia because I had not chosen a queen; my three years had run out. Allen left Asturia to join Celina because Millerna and Dryden renewed their vows. I've tried not to grow close to Celina, but I'm afraid to say that I do have feelings for her. I love you, Hitomi, more than anyone. I don't love and never will love Celina enough to marry her. Not when I still have your love," the draconian stated with all seriousness. Not a bit of it sounded phony or untrue.
She looked to Allen for his reply. He sighed as he admitted, "After you left and Celina was somewhat back to normal, I started to watch over her and I then began to lose Millerna's love for me. Celina left for Fanelia to meet Van and I remained in Palas in which I planned to revive our love, but Dryden returned and said to her that he was ready to settle down. She remarried Dryden two years ago, the same year Celina and Van were betrothed. I had no reason to stay in Asturia so I came to Fanelia and became a samurai in Van's army." He glanced back at Celina sorrowfully then the doors swung open and there entered the King and Queen of Asturia. "Dryden, Millerna, why are you here?"
"The wedding's in a couple of days, Allen! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Millerna cheered as she walked over and hugged Celina. "It's been ages, Celina! My how you've grown! You're going to make an elegant queen!" She glanced over at Hitomi with a puzzled expression. "Have we met?"
"Millerna, it's me Hitomi," Hitomi stated with a smile seeming happy to see the blonde queen. "It's good to see you! How have you been?"
"Hitomi, but how? Did you come for the wedding? No! Celina, Allen, Van?!" she gasped then turned to Dryden then glanced over at Van. "Are you not going to get married?" He gaze sifted over to Hitomi. "Hitomi, Van brought you here to marry you in Celina's place, did he not?" Hitomi nodded slightly feeling awful as Millerna looked at Celina in pity for the trial she was enduring. "Celina, this must be horrible for you. Van, why'd you do that?! Hitomi belongs on the Mystic Moon not here, understand?"
"No, you don't understand! She belongs here with me, Millerna! Hitomi came here with me on her own free will. I wouldn't have left if I hadn't heard her call out for me!" he defended then his eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. He turned to face Hitomi's puzzlement. "I heard you call me.?"
"But how did you do that? I mean, I wasn't actually yelling out to you or anything; I was thinking it after I had a vision with you talking Allen. I had finally realized where I belonged, Gaea," she conferred aloud then looked up at Van with a smile on her face. "I wanted to return to Gaea to be with you, but the cards said that I couldn't leave yet you could come for me and you did."
"Liar!" shouted young woman from behind Dryden and Millerna. They all faced the speaker to see it was Merle. She stomped towards Hitomi and glared at her every step of the way. "You stupid girl, you don't know what you want and never will. Remember when you couldn't decide between Allen and Lord Van?! You can't decide on one thing, you have to have it all!" Hitomi was shocked by what the strange cat was saying.
"Who are you and how can you even talk about like that, huh?" Hitomi ordered as she walked over to the cat girl completely clueless to whom she was speaking to. 'She looks like Naria and Eriya!' Once she was face to face with the cat, her eyes widened as she realized she had overlooked her. "Merle, is that you? You look so much older."
"Humph, stupid girl! You just realized who I am? You always were clueless! Why don't you just go home? If I can't have Lord Van's love, I'd rather see him with Lady Celina than someone like you!" she snapped back.
"Merle, stop it! That's my future queen you're talking to!" Van scolded as he stepped between them. "In fact, you have no right whatsoever!" Merle looked at him with a hurt expression then turned away. Van couldn't believe he yelled at her like that, but it was too late to take anything back now.
"This is all too confusing!" Dryden stated as he held his head. "Maybe we should all calm down and sit together to discuss the matter thoroughly. It doesn't do us any good to be biting off one another's head, does it? We have no right to tell Van who he should and shouldn't marry or whether Hitomi should or shouldn't be here, right?" Everyone nodded lightly. "Well, at least you all have agreed to something."
Celina's eyes sparked red again. She closed her eyes and shook her head lightly as she said, "I've decided that Van should do whatever he wants. I just want him to be happy and if that means marrying Hitomi then I'm all for it, you see? Hitomi, take care of him for me, okay?" Van smiles lightly as she leaves the room. After being out of their sight, she starts to run for her room. She slams the doors and opens her eyes to reveal the crimson redness of her irises. "What's happening to me? Ah!" Her pupils grow small and she holds herself as she screams out in agony.
"Celina is a brave girl," Dryden stated. "She really does love you doesn't she, Lord Van?" Van remains silent. "If that's how you want to be then fine, but maybe you should patch things up with her and think about what you really want, okay?" The young king nods as he looks to Hitomi and receives an urging nod from her. He walks out of the room to go find Celina.
He walks down the hall and stops at her bedroom door then knocks lightly. No answer. "Celina, are you in there?" he questions through the door to receive only silence. He turns the knob and pushes the unlocked door open. His eyes widened at the sight of long locks of blonde hair along with a pair of sheers (a.k.a. scissors) and the shredded clothing on the floor. "Celina, where are you?!" Clothes were thrown from out of the closet so Van drew his sword and approached slowly. The closet doors slammed shut by a shadowed character. "Who goes there and what have you done with Celina you bastard?!" As the man steps into the light, Van's eyes widened at the sight of the young silver haired man before him in a pair of leather pants and a white boyishly frilled long sleeved shirt. "Dilandau, but how?!"
"Hello, Van, King of all Fanelia! Did you miss me? I've been dreaming for a long time now and finally my dreams will come true!" Dilandau smirked as he pulled a sword from its sheath.
"How'd you get a sword?" Van growled.
"Why that girl grabbed one for me on the way in of course!" he replied slyly. "I may have been sleeping, but I haven't thought of nothing else except how I was going to kill you! Ha, ha!" He charged towards Van and swung his sword at him. Van blocked as he did the next and the next swing that Dilandau threw at him. "I hate you, I hate you! Why won't you just die?!" He pushed Van back and glared at him coldly. "It looks like I'll have to wait another day Van Fanel!" Allen, Millerna, Dryden, Merle, and Hitomi flocked into the room as Dilandau jumped through the window.
Van ran over to the shattered window to see Dilandau fall to a lower roof then make his way down to the streets and start to run for the forests. Some guards ran over to where the shattered glass was laying. They looked up at their king peering from the window. "Go! Find Dilandau you fools!" Van shouted as he pointed in the direction of the Dragon Forest. They looked at one another then nodded as they took off for the wood. "Dilandau, you coward!" He turned to Allen and gave him a sorrowful look. "Dilandau is back, Allen! Celina has somehow been engulfed by his darkness once again. Damn, of all things!"
"Celina must have been vulnerable when she became upset about your actions, Van! You caused all this!" Allen stated harshly as he drew his sword. "This is entirely your fault!" He started to charge at Van then Hitomi stepped in his path. He stopped and glared down at her. "Hitomi, out of my way!"
"I want to do a reading on Celina right now, Allen! I'm thinking that Dilandau wanted to remain dormant in her until the wedding so that he could kill Van. So, when he saw failure was at hand he broke lose! I'm also thinking he did the same thing when Van was about to kill him five years ago. He saw the opportunity to save his own skin so while you distracted Van, he had Celina emerge from his darkness and remained dormant 'til now, but why did he stay that way for so long?" Hitomi suggested then became lost in what she was getting at.
"Hitomi, that can't be!" Allen scolded. "Celina isn't apart of that monster anymore!"
"Allen, I'm thinking that Celina doesn't even exist alone anymore. Dilandau will always be apart of her and always will be stronger as well," she replied. "We've got to think this through, okay?" Allen remained silent. "Now I must do a reading on Celina to see what kind of situation we have here. Van, I must go retrieve my tarot cards."
"Van, you killed my men including Jajuka! You'll pay for that with your life, Van Fanel! You'll see!" Dilandau murmured aloud at the edge of the forest overlooking the city of Fanelia. "Damn you." He turned and walked into the forest of the dragons.
"So, what do the cards say, Hitomi?" Van questioned as he glanced over her shoulder to see what cards had been put into play. "What's wrong, Hitomi?" Her face had nothing, but fear in it as she had done often five years ago.
"It's Dilandau, Van! Celina and Dilandau never separated, see? This card shows that he went into hiding and allowed her to become close to you so that he could kill when the time was right as shown with the death card here. Huh, oh no! This card here reveals that a great war will start once again! Van, Dilandau will lead that army. This all has happened so fast, why? Why can I see it now?" she questioned after she had only stated what only half the cards even meant. Her eyes shook as visions ran through her head.
"Hitomi, that can't be! Celina is too strong to allow that monster take over her again, isn't she? She'll pull through again!" Allen questioned demanding a response.
"Allen, Dilandau allowed her to surface. She would have remained under his control if he hadn't done so five years ago. He was just saving his own neck, don't you see that?" Hitomi stated then silence filled the room. Allen dropped his head and thought about what was happening. Van was also left in shock. If Hitomi hadn't come and ruined Dilandau's plan then after he married Celina, he could have been killed by him in his sleep. "What does it all mean?"