Thanks for waiting to read this chapter for so long, sorry it's taking so long to write these chapters, but I have actually and amazingly finished my exams! Yay! Hurray! Hmm...time to get a job, earn some money and bye some cd's.
Thanks for all your reviews, for some reason ff.net won't show them all, it says I have such and such an amount but won't show them so I'm sorry if yours is one of the ones I can't read, if you know yours isn't showing then please resubmit it otherwise we won't know you ever did one ^^! Thanks for your kind words on this story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne
* * *
Hitomi gazed around her at the small room filled with materials and sewing instruments, there wasn't anything to indicate it was an actual shop except the open door and the shutters being open at the front wall where the sounds of a busy city were drifting in.
There were lots of chairs though, piled with rolls of materials, lot's of different fabrics and patterns, but not the usual shop things you'd expect and what she'd seen in Asturia, like dummies, shelves. It was just setting up for business it seemed.
Annabelle's sister, Sara, was busy pulling Hitomi around like a rag doll, in her element it seemed. She looked at lot like her sister but was shorter and had a pretty but less friendly face. This turned out to be a lie though because once they were introduced and Hitomi's 'story' had been spilled out she'd been full of warm words and kindness.
She wasn't kind in her art though, as Annabelle explained, her sister took clothes making to a whole new level and made the best in the city, but, as Sara pointed out, the city wasn't exactly in need of a seamstress at the moment.
"Why not?" Hitomi asked as her waist was pulled around to be measured once more, Sara's hands gently but firmly measuring around her lump, Hitomi saw her eyes take in a burn that was protruding from her sleeve but she said nothing and Hitomi was glad
"Because there's no money in the Kingdom, we're also closed off to most of Gaea" Sara explained, she was around 25 Hitomi guessed, "So no banquets unless it's the royal families birthday or a national celebration, even before the disaster I didn't have much business and I used my skill at a low price to make good quality clothes that would wear well"
"Wow"
"You're too modest" Annabelle pouted, "Hitomi, my sister's 'low price' was low, I'll give you that, but so many people came to her for this price that she still made money"
"Money isn't everything" Sara pointed out, brining the measure away from Hitomi and marking the measures down carefully with ink on a scroll
Annabelle scowled "I know that, I'm just saying even though you were doing 'normal clothes' and using such a low price you were so good you still made money"
"I'm putting the money into shipping from Asturia" Sara smiled at Hitomi "Where are you from? I've never fitted you once and I have nearly the whole cities population coming here at one time or another"
Hitomi waited as someone yelled a greeting from outside and Sara waved back, and then she said, trying to make up a story, "Yes, well, I never used to get fitted, I got...hand me downs"
Sara looked shocked "Hand me downs?"
"Well..."
Annabelle broke in "Poor Hitomi's been mistreated Sara, don't make it any worse"
Hitomi scratched her head, the pit she was helping to dig somehow was getting deeper and deeper. She was about to say something when her head suddenly split in pain. She recognised the feeling at once and began to stumble off the small box she's been standing on.
"Hitomi?" Lissa asked, paling at Hitomi's actions "You look sick, is it morning sickness" she moved forward to help Hitomi
"I need to go back...to the castle" Hitomi gasped, clutching her head and trying to move toward the door
"You're not going anywhere," Sara said sternly, grabbing Hitomi's arm "You can barely stand, what's the matter?"
Hitomi wiped her eyes which were beginning to stream and blur, she sat down suddenly on the floor and held her head with one hand and her stomach with another. The baby was moving around, kicking and moving, Hitomi could almost see the wings moving in there in distress.
The pain was no way as bad as it had been in the night and that meant she had time to getaway from it. But was there anywhere to go? They'd been here and on Earth, they just kept coming.
Hitomi tried to pull herself up but felt to sick to move and just fell back down, oblivious to the three girls concerned voices and their tries to help her. She couldn't listen properly, she had to get away from whatever was coming. And it was coming.
She held her head and cried hard, trying to pull towards the door, off the floor, but the girls didn't understand and were holding her, unsure of what was wrong.
And as the pain worsened Hitomi felt a sense of dread as she knew for certain what was coming.
* * *
"What would you have done if I hadn't been there?"
* * *
Van dropped his drink, his burn had suddenly flared up. Reaching down to pick up his drink under the gaze of Allen, he tried to brush it off, but the imprint was throbbing.
Placing the cup back on the table they were eating at in the castle courtyard Van placed unusual interest in his plate of breakfast. He could feel the eyes of Allen upon him but he could tell Mamoru was tucking into his food from the noises next to him. Van looked at his wrist under the table, the imprint of the hand had flared bright red.
He cursed under his breath and tried to concentrate on his food.
"Something wrong?" Allen asked, masking his concern through a casual remark
Van envied Allen's ability with words for a moment before saying "No"
"Oh really" Allen sipped his water "For a moment there I thought you were in pain"
"Yeah well" Van said, he picked up his cup only to drop it with a sharp flick as his wrist bolted pain up his arm "What's going on?" he snapped loudly, regretting it as all the occupants of the area turned to look at him
Allen's eyes in particular were curious, but Mamoru had looked up to stare before shrugging and putting down another mouthful of egg.
Van rubbed his wrist and removed his riding glove completely, showing Allen quickly before shoving the glove back on quickly. Allen's face was unreadable as he calmly took another sip of water and asked quietly "Where would Hitomi happen to be on this fine morning?"
As a bolt of realisation came through to the King of Fanelia with Allen's words Van got up so quickly his chair fell over before leaping over the dining table and sprinting down the courtyard.
"Van?" Mamoru called after him, Van ignored the call, and he had a horrible feeling building
Racing through the half built, wooden corridors Van bolted for the stairs leading up to the second floor of the castle, the burn throbbing uncomfortably. His room was too far, he thought, running with all the strength he could muster along the halls, yelling an apology or an 'out of the way' order to bystanders along the hallway going about their normal tasks.
Reaching his room he drew his sword and yanked the door open.
Empty. The room was empty. Running to the open window he looked vainly for her below, in case she was out in the grounds, seeing no one. Van drew back into the room, breathing heavily from running and he knew he was getting in an increasing panic. Where was she? She couldn't have strayed too far.
"Hitomi?" he called, checking the library next-door "Hitomi!"
Running back out into the hallway, ignoring the cry of a female servant as he almost ran her through with his sword has he pelted round a bend in the hallway.
Running his fingers around the pendant he never took off, Van stopped for a moment to breathe and to think. Where could she be? She wouldn't leave without telling him...
Would she?
It was still early, where would she go? His head hurt with it all and the almost blinding panic he could feel rising in his throat. Pushing it back down Van called out to a servant that was trying to melt into the wall after his hectic outburst along the first floor of the castle.
"Hey" Van said, "Would you happen to know where the Lady Hitomi has gone?"
The poor woman thought with a sort of terrified look on her face a moment then nodded and said in a small voice "The seamstresses...in the city"
Van nodded briskly and said "Thank you, you may go"
The woman gulped and made her way quickly down the corridor.
Looking over the edge of the wooden rail that ran around one edge of the hall and looked down into a small yard, Van judged the distance below to a table that was suitably positioned underneath the rail. Climbing over the rail he sheathed his sword and dropped below to the table gracefully, not noticing the looks he got from the yards occupants.
Continuing with his dash Van ran through to the gate where the castle drew down onto the road through the city, hearing nothing but his wild breathing in his ears and his desperate thoughts yelling at him 'you've got to find her, she can't be far away, the seamstresses is only a short journey by horse, you'll get there, just concentrate'.
"OUT OF MY WAY" he yelled to the occupants of the road, who wildly scrambled for safety away from their sovereign and if they didn't they were met with a hearty shove by their King "MOVE"
There were too many people on the road, he had to keep slowing to allow them time to move, so instead of waiting he shoved through them yelling to let the crowd know who he was.
"I'm not going to make it..." he breathed as stitch began to settle in his abdomen like a thorn in his side as the burn throbbed painfully "I'm not going to make it...HITOMI!"
* * *
"Don't leave me..."
* * *
Sara, Annabelle and Lissa were busy scrambling for a bucket as Hitomi began to turn green and they managed to catch it as she vomited violently, yelling and crying in pain. They had no clue what was wrong and they were frightened. People in the street had crowded around the open window to see what was the matter.
"Don't just stand there!" Lissa shouted in a 'you disobey you die' voice "GET A HEALER!"
Someone muttered a confirmation and several members of the crowd pushed outwards and away to obey the red head's iron gripped command. The rest stood there with horrified looks on their faces as the sandy blonde yelled and cried and was sick, many people dispersed, convinced a plague had come to the city.
"Don't be ridiculous" Sara commented, wiping beads of sweat from her brow as she held Hitomi and the bucket together "If this is a plague I'm the Duchess of Freid! This isn't normal, Annabelle shut the shutters!"
"It hurts...it hurts!" Hitomi yelped out, grabbing her stomach
"I know, I know, shush" Sara said, feeling Hitomi's stomach with one hand "I wonder if the baby's miscarrying"
"No!" Hitomi tried to scramble up, hysterically crying, but Sara pushed her back firmly as the poor girl
"Done" she heard Annabelle say as the last shutter firmly blocked the crowd's view "I'm going to shut the do~ what...the..." a loud curse sounded through the shop
At her sisters unfinished phrase Sara looked up to face what her sister had just seen. A dark figure was moving through the doorframe. A huge shadowed clock, blocking out the light from outside, a wide brimmed hat shadowing a face that was blocked from view. Not for long, as it moved into the dim shop room the hat fluttered to the floor.
Sara's breath caught in her throat, and she held on to the girl firmly as she began to shudder and shake. Moving the girl behind her Sara felt her breath come short as she stood up to face this new terrifying menace.
The hat hit the floor and in its place was a mask, a white mask, bloody eyes drawn onto a powdered face with a frightening stretch of a toothless mouth painted into the wood. But nothing was holding the mask in place, an empty space behind the mask.
Lissa and Annabelle drew into the corner at this new development and made their way to Hitomi. Sara felt a lump in her throat as she stood before this thing. It felt like a cloud had moved over the sunny day outside and silence had descended on the hustle and bustle of the busy morning.
"Who are you?" she said, she hoped, firmly "What are you doing in my shop"
No answer, it just moved further towards her.
"Keep AWAY!" a screech behind Sara made her whirl to face the paper white face of Hitomi, the green orbs wide and frightened, the girl struggling to stand and face what seemed to be her foe but yelping as her stomach seemed to pain her "I won't LET you!" she yelped in pain and fell to her knees, Annabelle and Lissa running to her aid
Sara had seen enough, stooping to the floor she picked up the box platform Hitomi had been standing on earlier and with a commendable battle yell she hurtled it with all her might at the intruder, expecting him to fall back with the weight.
He didn't, the platform made him almost bend double but he didn't stumble backwards. The platform rolled back heavily to rest near Sara's feet.
The mask fell.
There was nothing behind it.
Sara screamed as the headless clocked body moved forward, only a foot away, she felt sick and light headed, there was nothing she could do. What was it?
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" an iron yell commanded, both Sara and the thing gazed around to the doorway where a new figure was blocking the light
With a wave of sickness Sara thought another one had appeared, but as soon as a little light wrapped it's way around the face her jaw dropped. The King of her country, the hero of the Destiny Wars was standing in the doorway, her doorway, the legendary sword of Fanelia drawn and in his experienced hands.
She heard Lissa and Annabelle, even in the midst of the situation drop to their knees and bow low to their lord. But Sara was in no such position, she had a woman to defend, but what was the King doing here?
"I want you to get out of here" the King said in a low, frighteningly steady voice, the reeked of his position and anger even though it was so quiet "If you take one more move into this shop then I will destroy you right here"
The thing stopped for a moment then ignored his words, taking another step towards Sara.
The King of all Fanelia screamed a battle yell in anger and the thing stopped a moment, distracted, unsure of what to do Sara leapt forward, grabbing the wooden platform that had landed so near and hurled it at the wooden shutters than were placed across the windows. Shattering into thousands of wooden splinters, the wooden shutters fell outwards and sunlight flooded the floor.
The King took his chance and used his sword to rip through and away the clothes of the seemingly demonic apparition. Instantly an ear-bleeding screech ripped the air in two and fragments of wood and cloth littered the floor as if nothing had ever been there in only a few moments.
Sara was left there panting, staring at first the rags on the floor, the King of Fanelia and then her broken windowpanes. She also noticed that Hitomi's noise had quietened and she seemed calm, if unconscious.
Sara looked at the damage then back at her King, suddenly falling to her knees in realisation that he was their ruler and she ought to show respect.
"My Lord...I..." she was still in shock from the attack and the appearance of her King and she couldn't find words to explain the situation
He didn't look bothered though, in fact, he ignored her and moved straight to her back. Sara turned to find him checking Hitomi over for injuries and pulling her up into his arms.
"Silly girl, you should have known better than to leave the palace, look what happened now" he muttered, heaving her weight into his arms, he briskly stood up with his load and looked around at the three kneeling girls and at the room they were in "I shall send men from the castle to repair the damage done to your shop seamstress, it's partly my fault that your establishment was so badly damaged" he turned for the door
"Wait" Sara said, then bowing her head as he looked around, embarrassed she had been so rude "Hitomi...I...well..."
Her King nodded and said, almost she thought, warmly "I thank you for holding out against the demon for so long, not many could have done it, you may well have saved Hitomi's life" he paused, eyeing her carefully "If you wish for a reward..."
Sara hastily broke in with "No my Lord! Never! I wish nothing in return, the men you will send are enough. I only wish...I would like to know how Hitomi is feeling later. We need to finish her fitting"
King Van of Fanelia looked down at the girl in his arms, noticing perhaps for the first time the way her stomach was more obvious than even before "I see, I shall send news along to you of her well-being if it pleases you"
"It does" Sara replied, once more ducking her head "Thank you my Lord"
He nodded and then strode out of the door, carefully, so as not to whack Hitomi's head on the frame.
Sara breathed out a long sigh, as she heard Lissa and Annabelle do also, a demon and her King in one day. Her shop demolished. Falling back on her rear Sara giggled then laughed, she was going to have something to tell her husband tonight. Lissa and Annabelle eyed her strangely then shrugged, they'd had quite enough for today.
"I wonder what that thing was" Annabelle said, poking the pile of rags carefully, as if it might come alive any moment
"Don't know" Lissa replied, wiping her skirts "But my guess is, it's something to do with Hitomi and the King"
"You reckon Hitomi knows the King?" Annabelle gasped
Lissa gave her friend a 'do you ever put two and two together?' look and said slowly "Well we met her in the castle, she came here, the demon attacked and the King showed up. Does that seem like coincidence to you?"
"No" Annabelle said firmly, staring at the space in the doorway where her Lord had stood as if she expected him to reappear there "Wow, I've never seen him close up before, not even at the palace. He's so handsome"
"If you go for that sort of thing" Lissa said, dusting her hands "I much prefer Sir Allen who I HAVE seen around the place, and close-up"
* * *
Hitomi woke up and instantly regretted it, Van was sitting at her bedside scowling at her. She closed her eyes again and worked out that nearly every inch of her ached and that the baby didn't seem much happier as it turned out a loan kick on her. She only needed the sole look to also work out she was back in Van's room at the palace.
"I know you're awake" Van said sternly "Open your eyes and face me"
Hitomi sighed and opened an eye, watching him for a moment, deciding not to push her luck and looked at him straight "What?"
"You know what" he replied, folding his arms "Who said you could go out of the palace?"
Hitomi frowned "I'm not a prisoner Van"
"Well maybe you should be" he shot back "If it'll keep you out of harm's way!"
Hitomi sat up, wincing as a bruise ached and her neck hurt and then said loudly "Well one showed up here didn't it? So maybe harm comes calling!"
Van let out a breath, which sounded like he was letting off stream and then said quietly "You didn't tell any one of us where you'd gone and if I hadn't have come~"
"Why did you come if you didn't know?" Hitomi asked, sitting up opposite it, hands across her stomach
"That doesn't matter" Van snapped, "What were you doing outside the palace?"
Hitomi felt a rising anger and snapped back with "Have you seen me?" she put her hands out for emphasis "I am getting to be the size of a house! My shirt won't button up and this is the only set of clothes I have! I went to get measured for new ones Van!"
"You could have told someone!"
"It was a spur of the moment thing! And look at the size of me, as I said before, it's big! Too big for five months!"
"I noticed! But I don't want you to leave the castle again!"
Hitomi stared at Van, who was glaring back at her in equal measures "You can't keep me locked up Van" Hitomi said quietly
"Why not? If it'll keep you out of trouble!" Van said, balling his fists "Maybe we should learn our lesson from the last trip you had to Gaea which was that you attract trouble Hitomi!"
Hitomi drew herself up indignantly and said, "Thanks for that Van! I think I noticed that WHEN I RAN INTO YOU AT THE RUNNING TRACK!"
Van leaned back at this and then said "Why are you bringing that up, all I said was I don't want you to leave the castle in case one of those things comes when I can't get to you"
"I can look after myself!"
"Obviously not, since when do people come into someone else's bedroom looking for protection if they can look after themselves? Or turn in to a jittering pile of defencelessness if they can look after themselves?" Van said sharply
Hitomi drew a breath and shouted "Well maybe if I'm such a burden I'll go and have this baby at HOME on EARTH with REAL doctors, how would you like that?"
Van seemed to snap as he stood up, pushing the chair over and roared "YOU WILL NOT GO BACK WHEN THOSE...THOSE...SCIENTISTS CAN DO EXPERIMENTS ON MY CHILD!"
Hitomi scrambled up off the bed, drawing herself up to full height and screamed back "WELL WHAT'S THE RATE OF SURVIVAL HERE VAN?" he stared at her "HOW MANY WOMEN LIVE THROUGH CHILDBIRTH ON GAEA, HUH? HOW MANY CHILDREN SURVIVE THEIR FIRST YEAR OF LIFE? COME ON THEN! TELL ME! HOW SAFE AM I HERE?" she pushed him with both hands, her eyes ready to cry over the argument, but she was determined not to, she pushed him again, harder so he stumbled back "Don't you start forbidding me to go home Van" she said quietly "You never know, it may be the safest bet I have"
She looked at him, and grabbed the jacket she'd brought with her from Earth and stumbled out the door, leaving Van to stare only back at where she had been.
* * *
"I've been better"
* * *
So how was that chapter? A little short I know but I wanted to get it out of my system quickly so as not to leave you hanging. Read and review! Peace!
Thanks for all your reviews, for some reason ff.net won't show them all, it says I have such and such an amount but won't show them so I'm sorry if yours is one of the ones I can't read, if you know yours isn't showing then please resubmit it otherwise we won't know you ever did one ^^! Thanks for your kind words on this story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne
* * *
Hitomi gazed around her at the small room filled with materials and sewing instruments, there wasn't anything to indicate it was an actual shop except the open door and the shutters being open at the front wall where the sounds of a busy city were drifting in.
There were lots of chairs though, piled with rolls of materials, lot's of different fabrics and patterns, but not the usual shop things you'd expect and what she'd seen in Asturia, like dummies, shelves. It was just setting up for business it seemed.
Annabelle's sister, Sara, was busy pulling Hitomi around like a rag doll, in her element it seemed. She looked at lot like her sister but was shorter and had a pretty but less friendly face. This turned out to be a lie though because once they were introduced and Hitomi's 'story' had been spilled out she'd been full of warm words and kindness.
She wasn't kind in her art though, as Annabelle explained, her sister took clothes making to a whole new level and made the best in the city, but, as Sara pointed out, the city wasn't exactly in need of a seamstress at the moment.
"Why not?" Hitomi asked as her waist was pulled around to be measured once more, Sara's hands gently but firmly measuring around her lump, Hitomi saw her eyes take in a burn that was protruding from her sleeve but she said nothing and Hitomi was glad
"Because there's no money in the Kingdom, we're also closed off to most of Gaea" Sara explained, she was around 25 Hitomi guessed, "So no banquets unless it's the royal families birthday or a national celebration, even before the disaster I didn't have much business and I used my skill at a low price to make good quality clothes that would wear well"
"Wow"
"You're too modest" Annabelle pouted, "Hitomi, my sister's 'low price' was low, I'll give you that, but so many people came to her for this price that she still made money"
"Money isn't everything" Sara pointed out, brining the measure away from Hitomi and marking the measures down carefully with ink on a scroll
Annabelle scowled "I know that, I'm just saying even though you were doing 'normal clothes' and using such a low price you were so good you still made money"
"I'm putting the money into shipping from Asturia" Sara smiled at Hitomi "Where are you from? I've never fitted you once and I have nearly the whole cities population coming here at one time or another"
Hitomi waited as someone yelled a greeting from outside and Sara waved back, and then she said, trying to make up a story, "Yes, well, I never used to get fitted, I got...hand me downs"
Sara looked shocked "Hand me downs?"
"Well..."
Annabelle broke in "Poor Hitomi's been mistreated Sara, don't make it any worse"
Hitomi scratched her head, the pit she was helping to dig somehow was getting deeper and deeper. She was about to say something when her head suddenly split in pain. She recognised the feeling at once and began to stumble off the small box she's been standing on.
"Hitomi?" Lissa asked, paling at Hitomi's actions "You look sick, is it morning sickness" she moved forward to help Hitomi
"I need to go back...to the castle" Hitomi gasped, clutching her head and trying to move toward the door
"You're not going anywhere," Sara said sternly, grabbing Hitomi's arm "You can barely stand, what's the matter?"
Hitomi wiped her eyes which were beginning to stream and blur, she sat down suddenly on the floor and held her head with one hand and her stomach with another. The baby was moving around, kicking and moving, Hitomi could almost see the wings moving in there in distress.
The pain was no way as bad as it had been in the night and that meant she had time to getaway from it. But was there anywhere to go? They'd been here and on Earth, they just kept coming.
Hitomi tried to pull herself up but felt to sick to move and just fell back down, oblivious to the three girls concerned voices and their tries to help her. She couldn't listen properly, she had to get away from whatever was coming. And it was coming.
She held her head and cried hard, trying to pull towards the door, off the floor, but the girls didn't understand and were holding her, unsure of what was wrong.
And as the pain worsened Hitomi felt a sense of dread as she knew for certain what was coming.
* * *
"What would you have done if I hadn't been there?"
* * *
Van dropped his drink, his burn had suddenly flared up. Reaching down to pick up his drink under the gaze of Allen, he tried to brush it off, but the imprint was throbbing.
Placing the cup back on the table they were eating at in the castle courtyard Van placed unusual interest in his plate of breakfast. He could feel the eyes of Allen upon him but he could tell Mamoru was tucking into his food from the noises next to him. Van looked at his wrist under the table, the imprint of the hand had flared bright red.
He cursed under his breath and tried to concentrate on his food.
"Something wrong?" Allen asked, masking his concern through a casual remark
Van envied Allen's ability with words for a moment before saying "No"
"Oh really" Allen sipped his water "For a moment there I thought you were in pain"
"Yeah well" Van said, he picked up his cup only to drop it with a sharp flick as his wrist bolted pain up his arm "What's going on?" he snapped loudly, regretting it as all the occupants of the area turned to look at him
Allen's eyes in particular were curious, but Mamoru had looked up to stare before shrugging and putting down another mouthful of egg.
Van rubbed his wrist and removed his riding glove completely, showing Allen quickly before shoving the glove back on quickly. Allen's face was unreadable as he calmly took another sip of water and asked quietly "Where would Hitomi happen to be on this fine morning?"
As a bolt of realisation came through to the King of Fanelia with Allen's words Van got up so quickly his chair fell over before leaping over the dining table and sprinting down the courtyard.
"Van?" Mamoru called after him, Van ignored the call, and he had a horrible feeling building
Racing through the half built, wooden corridors Van bolted for the stairs leading up to the second floor of the castle, the burn throbbing uncomfortably. His room was too far, he thought, running with all the strength he could muster along the halls, yelling an apology or an 'out of the way' order to bystanders along the hallway going about their normal tasks.
Reaching his room he drew his sword and yanked the door open.
Empty. The room was empty. Running to the open window he looked vainly for her below, in case she was out in the grounds, seeing no one. Van drew back into the room, breathing heavily from running and he knew he was getting in an increasing panic. Where was she? She couldn't have strayed too far.
"Hitomi?" he called, checking the library next-door "Hitomi!"
Running back out into the hallway, ignoring the cry of a female servant as he almost ran her through with his sword has he pelted round a bend in the hallway.
Running his fingers around the pendant he never took off, Van stopped for a moment to breathe and to think. Where could she be? She wouldn't leave without telling him...
Would she?
It was still early, where would she go? His head hurt with it all and the almost blinding panic he could feel rising in his throat. Pushing it back down Van called out to a servant that was trying to melt into the wall after his hectic outburst along the first floor of the castle.
"Hey" Van said, "Would you happen to know where the Lady Hitomi has gone?"
The poor woman thought with a sort of terrified look on her face a moment then nodded and said in a small voice "The seamstresses...in the city"
Van nodded briskly and said "Thank you, you may go"
The woman gulped and made her way quickly down the corridor.
Looking over the edge of the wooden rail that ran around one edge of the hall and looked down into a small yard, Van judged the distance below to a table that was suitably positioned underneath the rail. Climbing over the rail he sheathed his sword and dropped below to the table gracefully, not noticing the looks he got from the yards occupants.
Continuing with his dash Van ran through to the gate where the castle drew down onto the road through the city, hearing nothing but his wild breathing in his ears and his desperate thoughts yelling at him 'you've got to find her, she can't be far away, the seamstresses is only a short journey by horse, you'll get there, just concentrate'.
"OUT OF MY WAY" he yelled to the occupants of the road, who wildly scrambled for safety away from their sovereign and if they didn't they were met with a hearty shove by their King "MOVE"
There were too many people on the road, he had to keep slowing to allow them time to move, so instead of waiting he shoved through them yelling to let the crowd know who he was.
"I'm not going to make it..." he breathed as stitch began to settle in his abdomen like a thorn in his side as the burn throbbed painfully "I'm not going to make it...HITOMI!"
* * *
"Don't leave me..."
* * *
Sara, Annabelle and Lissa were busy scrambling for a bucket as Hitomi began to turn green and they managed to catch it as she vomited violently, yelling and crying in pain. They had no clue what was wrong and they were frightened. People in the street had crowded around the open window to see what was the matter.
"Don't just stand there!" Lissa shouted in a 'you disobey you die' voice "GET A HEALER!"
Someone muttered a confirmation and several members of the crowd pushed outwards and away to obey the red head's iron gripped command. The rest stood there with horrified looks on their faces as the sandy blonde yelled and cried and was sick, many people dispersed, convinced a plague had come to the city.
"Don't be ridiculous" Sara commented, wiping beads of sweat from her brow as she held Hitomi and the bucket together "If this is a plague I'm the Duchess of Freid! This isn't normal, Annabelle shut the shutters!"
"It hurts...it hurts!" Hitomi yelped out, grabbing her stomach
"I know, I know, shush" Sara said, feeling Hitomi's stomach with one hand "I wonder if the baby's miscarrying"
"No!" Hitomi tried to scramble up, hysterically crying, but Sara pushed her back firmly as the poor girl
"Done" she heard Annabelle say as the last shutter firmly blocked the crowd's view "I'm going to shut the do~ what...the..." a loud curse sounded through the shop
At her sisters unfinished phrase Sara looked up to face what her sister had just seen. A dark figure was moving through the doorframe. A huge shadowed clock, blocking out the light from outside, a wide brimmed hat shadowing a face that was blocked from view. Not for long, as it moved into the dim shop room the hat fluttered to the floor.
Sara's breath caught in her throat, and she held on to the girl firmly as she began to shudder and shake. Moving the girl behind her Sara felt her breath come short as she stood up to face this new terrifying menace.
The hat hit the floor and in its place was a mask, a white mask, bloody eyes drawn onto a powdered face with a frightening stretch of a toothless mouth painted into the wood. But nothing was holding the mask in place, an empty space behind the mask.
Lissa and Annabelle drew into the corner at this new development and made their way to Hitomi. Sara felt a lump in her throat as she stood before this thing. It felt like a cloud had moved over the sunny day outside and silence had descended on the hustle and bustle of the busy morning.
"Who are you?" she said, she hoped, firmly "What are you doing in my shop"
No answer, it just moved further towards her.
"Keep AWAY!" a screech behind Sara made her whirl to face the paper white face of Hitomi, the green orbs wide and frightened, the girl struggling to stand and face what seemed to be her foe but yelping as her stomach seemed to pain her "I won't LET you!" she yelped in pain and fell to her knees, Annabelle and Lissa running to her aid
Sara had seen enough, stooping to the floor she picked up the box platform Hitomi had been standing on earlier and with a commendable battle yell she hurtled it with all her might at the intruder, expecting him to fall back with the weight.
He didn't, the platform made him almost bend double but he didn't stumble backwards. The platform rolled back heavily to rest near Sara's feet.
The mask fell.
There was nothing behind it.
Sara screamed as the headless clocked body moved forward, only a foot away, she felt sick and light headed, there was nothing she could do. What was it?
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" an iron yell commanded, both Sara and the thing gazed around to the doorway where a new figure was blocking the light
With a wave of sickness Sara thought another one had appeared, but as soon as a little light wrapped it's way around the face her jaw dropped. The King of her country, the hero of the Destiny Wars was standing in the doorway, her doorway, the legendary sword of Fanelia drawn and in his experienced hands.
She heard Lissa and Annabelle, even in the midst of the situation drop to their knees and bow low to their lord. But Sara was in no such position, she had a woman to defend, but what was the King doing here?
"I want you to get out of here" the King said in a low, frighteningly steady voice, the reeked of his position and anger even though it was so quiet "If you take one more move into this shop then I will destroy you right here"
The thing stopped for a moment then ignored his words, taking another step towards Sara.
The King of all Fanelia screamed a battle yell in anger and the thing stopped a moment, distracted, unsure of what to do Sara leapt forward, grabbing the wooden platform that had landed so near and hurled it at the wooden shutters than were placed across the windows. Shattering into thousands of wooden splinters, the wooden shutters fell outwards and sunlight flooded the floor.
The King took his chance and used his sword to rip through and away the clothes of the seemingly demonic apparition. Instantly an ear-bleeding screech ripped the air in two and fragments of wood and cloth littered the floor as if nothing had ever been there in only a few moments.
Sara was left there panting, staring at first the rags on the floor, the King of Fanelia and then her broken windowpanes. She also noticed that Hitomi's noise had quietened and she seemed calm, if unconscious.
Sara looked at the damage then back at her King, suddenly falling to her knees in realisation that he was their ruler and she ought to show respect.
"My Lord...I..." she was still in shock from the attack and the appearance of her King and she couldn't find words to explain the situation
He didn't look bothered though, in fact, he ignored her and moved straight to her back. Sara turned to find him checking Hitomi over for injuries and pulling her up into his arms.
"Silly girl, you should have known better than to leave the palace, look what happened now" he muttered, heaving her weight into his arms, he briskly stood up with his load and looked around at the three kneeling girls and at the room they were in "I shall send men from the castle to repair the damage done to your shop seamstress, it's partly my fault that your establishment was so badly damaged" he turned for the door
"Wait" Sara said, then bowing her head as he looked around, embarrassed she had been so rude "Hitomi...I...well..."
Her King nodded and said, almost she thought, warmly "I thank you for holding out against the demon for so long, not many could have done it, you may well have saved Hitomi's life" he paused, eyeing her carefully "If you wish for a reward..."
Sara hastily broke in with "No my Lord! Never! I wish nothing in return, the men you will send are enough. I only wish...I would like to know how Hitomi is feeling later. We need to finish her fitting"
King Van of Fanelia looked down at the girl in his arms, noticing perhaps for the first time the way her stomach was more obvious than even before "I see, I shall send news along to you of her well-being if it pleases you"
"It does" Sara replied, once more ducking her head "Thank you my Lord"
He nodded and then strode out of the door, carefully, so as not to whack Hitomi's head on the frame.
Sara breathed out a long sigh, as she heard Lissa and Annabelle do also, a demon and her King in one day. Her shop demolished. Falling back on her rear Sara giggled then laughed, she was going to have something to tell her husband tonight. Lissa and Annabelle eyed her strangely then shrugged, they'd had quite enough for today.
"I wonder what that thing was" Annabelle said, poking the pile of rags carefully, as if it might come alive any moment
"Don't know" Lissa replied, wiping her skirts "But my guess is, it's something to do with Hitomi and the King"
"You reckon Hitomi knows the King?" Annabelle gasped
Lissa gave her friend a 'do you ever put two and two together?' look and said slowly "Well we met her in the castle, she came here, the demon attacked and the King showed up. Does that seem like coincidence to you?"
"No" Annabelle said firmly, staring at the space in the doorway where her Lord had stood as if she expected him to reappear there "Wow, I've never seen him close up before, not even at the palace. He's so handsome"
"If you go for that sort of thing" Lissa said, dusting her hands "I much prefer Sir Allen who I HAVE seen around the place, and close-up"
* * *
Hitomi woke up and instantly regretted it, Van was sitting at her bedside scowling at her. She closed her eyes again and worked out that nearly every inch of her ached and that the baby didn't seem much happier as it turned out a loan kick on her. She only needed the sole look to also work out she was back in Van's room at the palace.
"I know you're awake" Van said sternly "Open your eyes and face me"
Hitomi sighed and opened an eye, watching him for a moment, deciding not to push her luck and looked at him straight "What?"
"You know what" he replied, folding his arms "Who said you could go out of the palace?"
Hitomi frowned "I'm not a prisoner Van"
"Well maybe you should be" he shot back "If it'll keep you out of harm's way!"
Hitomi sat up, wincing as a bruise ached and her neck hurt and then said loudly "Well one showed up here didn't it? So maybe harm comes calling!"
Van let out a breath, which sounded like he was letting off stream and then said quietly "You didn't tell any one of us where you'd gone and if I hadn't have come~"
"Why did you come if you didn't know?" Hitomi asked, sitting up opposite it, hands across her stomach
"That doesn't matter" Van snapped, "What were you doing outside the palace?"
Hitomi felt a rising anger and snapped back with "Have you seen me?" she put her hands out for emphasis "I am getting to be the size of a house! My shirt won't button up and this is the only set of clothes I have! I went to get measured for new ones Van!"
"You could have told someone!"
"It was a spur of the moment thing! And look at the size of me, as I said before, it's big! Too big for five months!"
"I noticed! But I don't want you to leave the castle again!"
Hitomi stared at Van, who was glaring back at her in equal measures "You can't keep me locked up Van" Hitomi said quietly
"Why not? If it'll keep you out of trouble!" Van said, balling his fists "Maybe we should learn our lesson from the last trip you had to Gaea which was that you attract trouble Hitomi!"
Hitomi drew herself up indignantly and said, "Thanks for that Van! I think I noticed that WHEN I RAN INTO YOU AT THE RUNNING TRACK!"
Van leaned back at this and then said "Why are you bringing that up, all I said was I don't want you to leave the castle in case one of those things comes when I can't get to you"
"I can look after myself!"
"Obviously not, since when do people come into someone else's bedroom looking for protection if they can look after themselves? Or turn in to a jittering pile of defencelessness if they can look after themselves?" Van said sharply
Hitomi drew a breath and shouted "Well maybe if I'm such a burden I'll go and have this baby at HOME on EARTH with REAL doctors, how would you like that?"
Van seemed to snap as he stood up, pushing the chair over and roared "YOU WILL NOT GO BACK WHEN THOSE...THOSE...SCIENTISTS CAN DO EXPERIMENTS ON MY CHILD!"
Hitomi scrambled up off the bed, drawing herself up to full height and screamed back "WELL WHAT'S THE RATE OF SURVIVAL HERE VAN?" he stared at her "HOW MANY WOMEN LIVE THROUGH CHILDBIRTH ON GAEA, HUH? HOW MANY CHILDREN SURVIVE THEIR FIRST YEAR OF LIFE? COME ON THEN! TELL ME! HOW SAFE AM I HERE?" she pushed him with both hands, her eyes ready to cry over the argument, but she was determined not to, she pushed him again, harder so he stumbled back "Don't you start forbidding me to go home Van" she said quietly "You never know, it may be the safest bet I have"
She looked at him, and grabbed the jacket she'd brought with her from Earth and stumbled out the door, leaving Van to stare only back at where she had been.
* * *
"I've been better"
* * *
So how was that chapter? A little short I know but I wanted to get it out of my system quickly so as not to leave you hanging. Read and review! Peace!