Disclaimer: I do not own The Vision of Escaflowne or anything related to it. It is the sole property of Studio Sunrise. I own only my own characters. Anyone who tries to sue me shall find themselves running from my den with their tail end smoking.

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Chapter 2: Reunion

Hitomi gazed longingly out her window. Only minutes ago her parents had arrived home and she had been set free from the horrors of baby-sitting her younger brother. She rested her chin in her palms and sighed. Stupid boy…he had interrupted her talk with Van; she enjoyed talking with him. It had been months, and although she had tried to make him feel better by saying it had not been that long, she, too, felt as though it had been decades since they had last seen each other. She traced patterns on the glass with her forefinger. She missed Van so much that, sometimes, it was painful. It did not help that her best friend, Yukari, had a boyfriend….

On sudden impulse, she leaped out of the chair she had been sitting in, crashed through her bedroom door and nearly flew down the steps. She sprinted past the kitchen, where her mother was cleaning up dinner, and banged loudly through the front door, without even bothering to close it behind her.

Mrs. Kanzaki smiled at her daughter knowlingly.

Nearly tripping down the steps, Hitomi ran all the way to the high school, not stopping until she reached the track field, where she had first met Van so many months ago. She collapsed on her hands and knees onto the pavement, panting. Van… She lifted her head to the skies. Although it was cloudy and she could not see it, she knew it was there: Gaea. She did not think anyone else could see it, but she could. She closed her eyes. Van…I wish to see you again. Van… ~Van…~

A flash of blue…and she was gone.

~*~

~Van?~

Van's eyes flew open, and he sat up straight in bed.

~Van? Van!~

~Hitomi?~ Slight warmth on his chest caused him to look down, and he inhaled sharply. The pendant—the pendant Hitomi had given him, the one that had belonged to her grandmother—was glowing brightly. Hitomi… Without a second thought, the raven-haired boy threw off the covers and nearly fell out of bed. Yanking on his boots, he crashed through his bedroom door, wearing only khaki pants. He dashed through the palace halls, oblivious to the queer, puzzled glances he received from the castle staff as he skidded around corners and nearly tripped over numerous humps in the carpet. This had better not be a dream, he thought, gritting his teeth.

He burst through the doors…and proceeded to trip over a wooden beam lying in his path. He let out a hiss as the bare flesh of his shoulder scraped against the wooden porch. Charming work, Fanelia. He yanked a splinter out of his arm, leaving behind a long, thin gash, and winced. Yes, that's right, injure yourself before you see her. At least you know it's not a dream.

~Van? Van, where are you?~ Hitomi's voice broke clearly through his train of thought. The image of her face surfaced in his mind. ~Van? Van!~

"Hitomi," he murmured, staggering to his feet. He subconciously reached up and grasped the pendant firmly in his hands. Squeezing his eyes shut, he mentally pushed as hard as he could at his back. Hitomi…I will find you… Just hold on. With a rush of hair, two enormous white bird wings shot out from between his shoulderblades. With a sigh, Van let his muscles relax. Then, inhaling deeply, he pushed off the ground and soared high into the sky. Where is she? he thought. He closed his eye and focused his thoughts only on her, and felt the chain move as the pendant swung; and then it stopped. Van opened his eyes and found it was pointing left. That's where she is…

~Stay were you are, Hitomi. I'll find you.~

~*~

Queen Alakana stared at the white cat in front of her, horror scribbled in bold across her face. "You must be joking!" she managed to gasp out. "Surely he couldn't…no, he couldn't have! We destroyed the Devil over fifty years ago; my grandfather made sure of that!" She gripped the arms of her throne, her unsheathed claws raking the fragile gold. Even though she was trying to hide it, it was obviously to the trained eye that she was panicking.

Adibah met the queen's eyes with a calm, cool expression that did not fit the occasion. "Your grandfather did destroy the Kalryn's Devil," she said, "but not permanently. Legend has it that it takes more than just the will of a monarch and the strength of an army to defeat a creature as powerful as the Devil." She paused, and her old eyes closed. "Your Majesty, I believe there is something you should know, and I do not understand why your father insisted this be kept from you." She opened her eyes, which still held firmly to calmness. "Your grandfather was not the first monarch to face the Kalryn's Devil, nor was he the first to defeat him."

Queen Alakana's eyes widened, and she stared at the woman before her in utter disbelief. "This…this is a joke, isn't it?" she said weakly. "Do you mean to tell me that the Kalryn's Devil is capable of resurrecting himself?"

Adibah smiled wanly. "In a way, yes. He can be destroyed, but as long as the source of his power still exists, he can always resurrect himself, using that source of power."

"So destroying his source of power will, in turn, destroy him, correct?" the queen said hopefully.

"Yes, but it's impossible to destroy the Devil's source of power," Adibah said, rubbing her temples. "The Devil's source of power is emotion—more specifically, hatred. He feeds off the greed, hatred and remorse of his enemies and uses it against them in battle. The only way your grandfather, and the monarchs before him, defeated the Devil was because they fought, not with hatred for their opponent, but with love and worry for their planet. That love was greater than their hated for the Devil, and that is what defeated him." She sighed. "But as long as emotion of any sort exists, especially hatred, the Devil's soul feeds off that energy, and he can return."

"Then how do we destroy him? And what do these young children have to do with that?" Alakana gestured to the four young people kneeling before her throne.

Adibah glanced at them. "I'm getting to that. Legend has it that the Kalryn's Devil can be annihilated completely, but only by a certain group of individuals known as 'the Seven'. This morning, my crystals informed me the identity of the six individuals who will lead the Devil to the gates of hell, where he belongs. These children who stand before you are four of the seven."

"Who are the other two? Why haven't you summoned them?"

"Because the other two are not of this world," Adibah replied. "In the past, the Devil has fed off hatred and its fellow negative emotions, in an effort to conquer Nya'tory. But this time, greed has consumed him, driving him to want not just this world, but others as well—namely Earth and Gaea. Currently, he is focused on the latter. As you know, Gaea has just suffered through a terrible war; the planet is weak, its armies are weak, and people are too busy recovering from their losses to think to worry about an assault from another planet—a planet they're unaware of the existence of."

"I take it the other two individuals are from Earth and Gaea?" Alakana said.

Adibah nodded. "Both are currently situated on Gaea, if I'm not mistaken. They are also the Devil's next target. You see, the Devil has, apparently, realized something. Hatred and greed may be strong emotions, but they are not the strongest. The strongest emotions are unconditional, and uncontrolled by the mind." She paused and looked pointedly at the queen.

"Love…" Alakana's voice barely rose above a soft whisper. "Love is unconditional, and beyond the control of the mind. And it is the strongest of emotions. It exceeds hatred, for love often conquers hate." Her voice trembled slightly. "Do you mean to tell me that the Devil no longer feeds off hatred, but off love?"

"Yes," the white cat-woman nodded. "And not just any love, but the love that extends beyond the boundaries of two worlds, the love that is so strong that one has to feel it to understand it…the love that is capable of saving an entire planet from destruction…"

~*~

To Be Continued…

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Like it isn't obvious what 'the love that is capable of saving an entire planet' is—or who the lovers are (lol).

Medatsu: Me? A pro? *blushes furiously* Aw shucks, I feel so loved. Thank you! ^_^

fallen-dark-angel: I might as well tell you now, so you're not disappointed later; keep on dreaming (sorry). Though who's to say the Kalryn's Devil won't have the same personality as your dream-evil-guy? ^_~

Thanks a lot to those who reviewed… And to the rest of you… *looks pointedly at "Submit Review" button at bottom of screen*