::Going over this again reminds me how stiff I was when I wrote it o.O Everything had to fit into the timeline of world presented in the anime! (note the many references in this chapter) Nowadays my fics usually deviate so far from the originals they are barely recognizable! Okay, 'nuff said there.
Thank-you to my reviewers! I love you!::
For the next few days Van mostly slept. In his waking hours he went over the finished plans for the wall with a new architect and let his advisors inform him on how Fanalia was doing. Years after the war, and they were only about half done with the reconstruction. He wasn't about to tell Hitomi that her return from the Mystic Moon, or Earth as she called it, couldn't have come at a better time. For deep in the remains of what had been the Zaibach Empire there remained a fraction of the power unleashed from the Fate Alteration Machine built by the Zaibach Emperor, Dornkirk.
That remnant was a blue energist, which granted wishes to all who held it. He'd searched his dreams and done countless hours of research to try and find out how to isolate and, if not destroy, permanently contain that power. While Hitomi had revealed that wishes could come true, this energist granted any person's slightest whim. Who owned the power was a mystery, one Van hoped Hitomi would be able to solve. He was hesitant to ask her when she visited him, because he didn't want her to think he was using her like during the Zaibach War.
When his leg was strong enough to walk on again, he went to pay a visit to his guests. The doctor said he'd seen the group from the Mystic Moon heading for the back garden. Van dressed and found Hitomi showing Escaflowne to her family. He hung back in the shadows a moment to examine them.
Mrs. Kanzaki was shorter than her daughter by a few inches, and her husband almost a foot taller than she. He was tall, as tall as Van, but with less muscle and more stomach. Her younger brother, Yoii or Yosi? he couldn't remember the name, was as tall as she, but looked about Merle's age. They all had the same, light brown hair except for her mother, whose hair was slightly darker. Hitomi had green eyes like her mom. Her brother and father had brown eyes. Their new clothes suited them, and he couldn't help but carefully examine every inch of Hitomi.
She'd grown taller, and was more muscular than before. She'd let her hair grow down to her shoulders, and it was tightly braided. He liked the change, but there was an almost sad look in her eyes as she gazed up at Escaflowne. When he came out into the open, she spotted him immediately. She rushed over and gave him a hug, but he wanted more than just a hug. She pulled back and waved her family forward. He didn't miss the measuring looks her father gave him, or her brother's dancing eyes. Even if her parents weren't sure yet, her brother sure had a clue.
"Mom, Dad, Yoii, this is Van Fanel, King of Fanalia." Hitomi stayed next to Van, worried about his being out and about already. Maybe Draconians healed faster than normal people... She didn't want him to fall and get hurt if he got dizzy.
Van smiled and offered the hand attached to the uninjured arm. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said, shaking their hands. They stood around and made small talk, rather difficult when one isn't even from the same planet as their guests, but they shared stories. He was starting to tire, but didn't want to say anything, fearing Mr. Kanzaki might see him a weakling. That wouldn't help the young king if he wanted to try to get Hitomi to marry him.
Before he could politely excuse himself, Hitomi said, "Why don't we head back? Lunch will be served soon and Yoii can't afford to miss meals." Her brother chuckled and led the way back to the castle, her parents behind him, letting Hitomi and Van take the rear.
Van tried to keep up with them, but Hitomi kept holding him back, taking his arm and forcing him to slow down. Then, they were alone. Van stopped and Hitomi stopped with him. He looked down at her, and raised a hand to her cheek. "You've certainly changed," he said. Hitomi's knees felt week. Why did he have to stare at her like that? He leaned down as she tilted her head up and they kissed gently.
Hitomi tried to back up, blushing pink, but Van didn't let her, and instead kissed her again. They arrived at the castle several minutes after Hitomi's parents with their arms around each other, but those who noticed just associated it with Van's health. At lunch, the conversation was definitely energetic, with Merle and Hitomi snapping at each other from opposite sides of the table. The verbal war was a source of great entertainment for Hitomi's brother, who laughed every time the two stopped talking and just glared at each other.
When the meal was finished, Merle stood up and said, "Well Hitomi, you'd better head back to the Mystic Moon before you start getting those visions again, or you'll be stuck here for the next war, too!" and stomped off. Hitomi looked at Van in surprise.
"What was that about another war?" she asked him. Van rested his elbows on the table and leaned his chin on his hands.
"Well, I was hoping you'd have more time to settle in, but now is as good a time as any," he said. Hitomi leaned forward, and Van noticed her parents and brother did the same. "When we destroyed the Fate Alteration Machine, some of the power attached itself to an energist. That energist has been granting the wishes, or really just the wants, of the current holder. It's been messing up everything. People spontaneously disappear, weeks of work can fall apart overnight, and guymelefs have been seen gathering in Gous."
"Gous? Where's that?" Hitomi asked.
"It was part of the Zaibach Empire, one of the new countries formed after the Zaibach War," he said. "We don't know who's doing it! We can't even figure out where! Dryden—I'm sure you remember him—has looked up everything in print even remotely related, and can't find anything to suggest how to stop it. I can't find anything either, except for an old method of blocking unwanted power." Van looked Hitomi in the eye. "That's why I was out there when I was attacked. The wall being built uses special stones to form an astral shield against whatever you want. In our case, greedy wishes."
Hitomi seemed to know where this was going. "And you want me to dowse for the power's location."
Van looked at the table. "I know you hate to use your powers, but I've tried and can't get anything." He didn't dare to hope. Van looked up.
She was looking thoughtful. "I don't see what harm dowsing would do, but if you find out where it is, what next?"
This part he knew well. "Austuria, Basram, Freid; the Gous king, Kasan Balli, and Fanalia would join forces to see what we can do against the power to try and stop it. We'll either destroy or imprison it. Sending it elsewhere isn't an option, and the chaos these wishes are inducing on Gaea will destroy it as surely as the machine could."
Hitomi sat back and stared at her lap, thinking. Then she looked at Van and said, "I'll try." He took off the pendent and held it out to her. Hitomi swallowed and took it. The pink stone glowed for a moment, then returned to normal. Van led them to the map room and spread out the most detailed one of Gous he could find. Hitomi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She swung the pendent once to the side, and then let it keep swinging over the map, trying to feel the power she and Van had stopped from destroying their planet.
His planet, she thought to herself, correcting that wayward thought. Then she concentrated on the power again. It was like a sick feeling in her stomach, humid and sticky, like the death smoke that had turned Escaflowne black during the war. There! She opened her eyes to see the pendent had stopped swinging and was pointing strait down at a point on the map. "There, the power is there," she said. Van looked at the map.
"Hmm, that's in the Dune desert. Not a friendly place for invaders, the people there were pretty much overlooked by Zaibach because they don't have an army. It's enough for them to just stay alive." Van studied the map further and marked the spot with a red drop. The sound of the ink hitting the paper sent Hitomi spiraling into darkness.
Then a picture formed before her. She was standing on a beach, staring across the water. It was sunny and warm, but as she watched the water turn red, foaming as it hit the rocks at the beaches end. Then the sky turned red, and the beach, and everything else! No, one thing wasn't. The pendent was held out before her, and it wasn't red, it was still pink on its gold chain. Then she saw another hand holding a pendent identical to hers but blue, and another hand holding a green, and another holding a yellow, and another holding a white. The pendants all glowed, then the vision was gone.
Hitomi woke up lying on the floor, her head in her mother's lap. Someone was stroking her hair back from her face. She sat up. "Hitomi! Don't sit up so fast! You just feinted," her mother said. Hitomi shook her head and looked up to lock gazes with Van.
"I had a vision," she said. Her mother gasped. "I was standing on a beach somewhere, but everything was red! Then I saw the pendant in my hand, the only non-red thing for miles. Then I saw four more hands, with four more pendants, each a different color." She stood up, and said, "What could it mean?"
Van was frowning. "I don't know, but you were definitely out of it for a while. I'll send messengers out to deliver the information about the power's location to our allies."
Hitomi looked up suddenly from her deep thoughts and asked, "How's everyone doing? I totally forgot to ask about them. Could I send letters to Duke Chid and Millerna? And how's Alan and his sister doing?"
Van smiled and said, "I can send your letters with the messengers, just write them quickly so I can send the messengers out." Hitomi beamed at him and rushed out of the map room to start her letters. Her parents and brother stared after her.
"Who were all those people she was talking about?" Yoii asked Van. The king pointed to a large map of Gaea hanging on the wall.
"This is the Duchy of Freid, Duke Chid is the ruler there. Princess Millerna is the youngest—and only surviving daughter of—King Aston of Austuria. Sir Alan is a Knight of Caeli from Austuria. His sister, Selena, is Hitomi's age. Selena suffered at the hands of Zaibach's sorcerers since she was a young child and was reunited with Alan after the war."
Hitomi's parents seemed surprised their daughter had such powerful friends like Van and other royalty. Later that afternoon, Hitomi tracked Van down and gave him the letters. "Here," she said as she dropped them on his desk. He looked up from the paper he'd been reading, startled.
"Oh, Hitomi," he said, and he yawned and stretched. "Hmm," he said. "What time is it?"
She looked around and saw the clock on the mantel, "Almost dinner time. With your leg we'd better start down now." Van shook his head and started to read the paper again. "Why not? You can't skip meals and work long hours if you're to heal, you know."
Van looked up. "I usually have breakfast and dinner brought up here. Merle always makes me go downstairs for midday, but I need to get work done." His eyes sparkled and he smiled at her. "Of course, I wouldn't begrudge the company."
Hitomi sat down and said, "All right, but only to make sure you actually eat something and don't let it sit there." Van stood suddenly and went to a bookcase. He removed a relatively new book and handed it to her.
"Here, this will keep you occupied until the food comes." Hitomi opened the cover and gasped. "It's all in the language of Mystic Moon, and I can't read it." He then placed a pot of ink and several sheets of paper in front of her on the desk. "For notes."
She made herself comfortable in her seat and started reading. It was strange, how the mysteriously curled and slashed writing actually made sense. Even if it was a copy, it felt like the words were being whispered into her mind as she read.
The book was about Atlantis' culture. It was fascinating, and she forgot about taking notes at first, the whispering voice urging her to read more. Halfway through the voice started talking about a certain jewelry maker. This famous artisan could carve anything, it was said he even succeeded in carving the elements. The completion of a certain set of necklaces coincided with Atlantis' destruction.
She was so deeply engrossed in the book that she didn't notice the footman who brought in the food. Van had to cover the page she was reading with his hand to make her stop and eat. "And you were worried I would forget," he said. Hitomi wasn't really listening, still in a sort of daze from reading. Her mind was buzzing while she ate, and Van watched her carefully as she resumed her study of the text. Hitomi retained enough control over her own mind to remember to take notes, on the necklaces in particular. When she finished reading, she started writing in earnest, almost copying the chapter on the jewelry of Atlantis word for word. Her mother looked in to see if Van knew where Hitomi was, but stopped herself, seeing Hitomi sitting right in front of him, both working in companionable silence.
The hours ticked by, and gradually Hitomi's hand slowed and stopped. Van happened to look up from his own notes and numbers, to see her sleeping soundly on top of her papers. With a little smile, he stood and put away his notebook. Then he carefully slipped her pile of notes from under her and looked them over, impressed. Van tucked them away in a drawer with the book and picked her up. He winced a bit as the scar on his leg pulled. Draconians heal quickly, but that doesn't keep the wounds from reopening, he reminded himself. Carefully, he carried Hitomi down the stairs to her room.
Van lay her on the sheets and tucked her in. He stood there for a moment, watching her sleep. Then, he leaned down and gave her a light kiss like she'd given him while he lay abed, and slipped out of the room. A sleepy smile crossed Hitomi's face as she sighed, wiggling deeper into the sheets.
The next morning, Van sent out the messengers. For about a week, he and Hitomi went over ancient documents and old friends. Hitomi got a quick lesson on Gaea, learning the different races and different countries. She wondered why Van thought this information was important for her to know, but decided he must be expecting her to accompany him in matters of state. The dreamer turns politic, Hitomi thought during one such lesson, What a joke.
It was another week before they got any word from Fanalia's allies. The first to respond was Freid. Chid sent one of his most trusted advisors with the formal response to Van's information and a personal note to Hitomi. Chid was glad Hitomi had returned, and was hoping to be able to meet her person soon. He had just celebrated his eleventh birthday, and the sixth year of his reign. Freid was still rebuilding, and he said they would have finished sooner had it not been for the bothersome interruptions caused by the wishes.
Only a day later, Hitomi and Van got a surprise visit from Alan and his sister Selena. Hitomi saw them disembark from the carriage and almost flew down the steps. "Alan!" she cried and he caught her a grin on his face. "How are you two doing?" she asked when he set her back on her feet.
Selena smiled shyly. "I've learned much in the past six years, Lady Hitomi, and have heard much about you. It's an honor," she curtsied. Hitomi blushed and said the honor was hers. "I hope to get to know you better while we're here," Selena said. Then Hitomi remembered Selena was her age, a little over twenty-one. Suddenly Hitomi felt very old, and sobered a bit, then she turned and walked beside the two siblings as they climbed the steps to the door where everyone waited.
They were at the base of the steps when Alan said, "Hitomi, I'm glad to see you doing well, but I must say, seeing you now makes me wish we had married." Thankfully, no one besides Selena seemed to hear the comment, but Hitomi later caught Yoii giving Alan searching looks which made her wonder.
She introduced her parents and brother. Selena had certainly matured since Hitomi had last seen her. Selena had a developed tact, common sense, and was no longer the lost child she had been. Her maturity rivaled Merle's, who didn't have the excuse of being someone else for ten years.
Lunch involved a larger gathering than before, Van noticed. In only a month the number of people who ate at the table had gone from two to eight. The conversation was certainly more interesting, and the atmosphere around the castle seemed to pick up a more cheerful feel. Maybe it was the guests, and maybe it was just seeing Hitomi again.
Oh, how he loved her. Did she truly understand how much he adored her, admired her? She was so strong, never letting Merle get the upper hand, and still as brave as she'd been during the war. If anything, her looks had improved over the years. She was taller, physically stronger, and had matured in more than just behavior. It just never seemed like there was a proper time and place to say or do anything about it. Sure, there was the occasional spark, like in the woods that one time. And not to forget the kisses in the hallway, the study, and the secret ones they gave each other when they thought the other was asleep. Their relationship would be doomed, however, if neither of them said anything.
Late that night, Hitomi lay awake. She couldn't get Van out of her head! Wherever she looked, eyes open or shut, she saw his face. The soft brown eyes, stubborn mouth, thick black hair, and the look in his eyes was one of quiet hurt. No matter how she tried, the eyes never left her. Was it a vision? No, those were usually over quickly, this was all her fault. What had she done to make him so sad to look at her? She loved Van deeply, and missed him when she wasn't with him. There was something about him that made her feel safe, something more than the security she'd felt when with Alan. It was as if her heart still beat with his from when they'd caused Escaflowne to rise up and free them from Dornkirk.
Frustrated with herself and her inability to sleep, Hitomi rose and dressed. She walked past sleepy guards and through the back gate to the garden, which led to the forest beyond. Hitomi knew it wasn't safe, but Gaea had been at peace for so long she didn't feel as scared as she had during the war. For a few minutes she aimlessly wondered, not knowing where she was going, until she happened upon a clearing in the trees. There was moonlight dusting the scene, and she saw someone standing in the center, staring up at the sky.
Hitomi looked up in the same direction and saw Earth above her. She stepped into the clearing to get a better look, then froze when the person standing in the middle turned.
"Hitomi?" Van said. She sighed with relief and joined him, looking up at the stars.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked. Gazing at the blue Earth hanging above them like a warped disco ball.
Van looked at her face, so intent in her study of her home world. "Yes it is," he said. Then he gently turned her head so she was looking straight at him and asked, "Hitomi, will you marry me?"
Hitomi felt her breath catch. Only once or twice had she actually ever dreamed about marrying Van, what it would be like. Then she'd always chide herself for giving in to such hopeless thoughts. Now, however, he was actually offering it. For real.
"I…" Hitomi said.
Van's face fell. "It's Okay, you don't have to answer now. I figured you'd probably want some time to think it over."
Hitomi gasped and rested her hand on his arm. "Oh Van, I didn't mean that! It's just… I didn't let myself hope that you still loved me as much as I love you." Van looked at her in surprise. She felt her eyes water, "Of course I'll marry you. I'd be proud to."
She didn't need to say any more. Van took her in his arms and they kissed with a desperation they had not allowed themselves to show until then. They just stood in each other's embrace for a few minutes afterwards, telling themselves that they weren't dreaming, that it was really happening. Then they returned to the castle together, arm in arm.
They decided it was probably best not to make the engagement public yet, they didn't even tell Merle or Hitomi's parents. In the next week, all of the other nations sent back replies. They varied from demands of how Van knew Hitomi's dowsing worked, to questions of when their next meeting should be. Van decided that a council of representatives from each country should be the guiding force for any course of action taken against this rogue power. Naturally, the response to this was, where? So Van offered to host the conference in Fanalia.
In the weeks after their engagement, people started to notice a slight change in the king's general manner. He was more cheerful, more relaxed. He and Hitomi began to have breakfast together in his study before starting on their separate duties. How he had managed to do it, Hitomi couldn't fathom, but she gradually became in charge of domestic duties around the castle. She got lessons in general management from the housekeeper, a kind woman well into her sixties and deserving a comfy retirement. Hitomi learned how to arrange the day's meals, how to handle a banquet as opposed to a party or quiet get-together, and what kind of schedule the usual chores were done on.
To Hitomi, it was exhilarating. She was no longer the fifth wheel, but a real participant in life at the castle. Merle didn't show any reluctance in handing over the duties of hostess that Van had been preparing her for. She did, however, resent the amount of time the two spent together. Merle was the first to notice how Van and Hitomi acted around each other. How on occasion either one was known to sort of lose track of the conversation and just smile at some unseen fantasy.
Hitomi and Van had just finished breakfast in the study and were working on the number of chickens that should be plucked for the conference, when Merle burst in and shut the door behind her. They looked up at her in surprise. "Okay you two, what's going on?" Merle demanded. Van and Hitomi looked at each other in dismay. "Well? Are you going to let me in on your little secret?"
Van looked at Hitomi, then at Merle. "Hitomi and I are going to get married."
At first Merle didn't move, she just stood in front of the door with her face in the same suspicious scowl it had been in since she'd walked in. Then she slumped over a bit, as if she were a marionette with her arm and head strings cut. "You're joking," Van and Hitomi shook their heads. "Why didn't you tell me!" she cried.
Hitomi made shushing noises and said, "Keep it down! We didn't want anybody to know yet."
"We decided it would be best to announce it at the conference, and at the same time extend an invitation to the respective rulers who'd be interested in attending," Van said.
Merle stared at them and squeaked, "You're serious aren't you?" The two sitting at the desk nodded. "Yikes! I can't wait to see their faces!" Merle said and she leapt out the door.
Hitomi turned to Van, "Do you suppose she'll tell anybody?"
Van looked up, "And ruin the surprise? I think not. Merle loves secrets." Then they went on to discuss the necessities for the conference.
Three months after Hitomi's arrival on Gaea, people started to arrive for the conference. To almost everyone's surprise, the rulers of the allied nations came to represent themselves instead of sending someone else. "They feel that they can't trust anyone else to correctly represent them and their ideas at a meeting of this kind of importance. We are talking about the future of the planet," Van told Hitomi when King Aston of Austuria arrived. To Hitomi's great delight, Millerna and her husband Dryden accompanied the king. The three of them caught up on things in one of the drawing rooms near the council chamber where the meeting would be held.
Duke Chid of Freid joined them there that afternoon, sharing stories following Hitomi's return to Earth and the rebuilding of Freid. Then, as dinner drew near, Chid said, "Oh yes, Lady Hitomi, I found something among my mother's things while overlooking the restoration of the castle." He held out a hand and said, "It reminded me of your pendent." Before Hitomi could snatch her hand back, he dropped a necklace set with a yellow stone onto her palm. The second the gold chain finished the decent from Chid's hand to hers, the vision overtook her.
It was the same as before, but clearer this time. The beach, sky, everything was red like blood. Then she saw her pendant in her hand, and the blue, and the green, and the yellow, and the white. Then the vision was gone and the concerned face of Millerna was hovering over her own. "I really wish they wouldn't do that," Hitomi muttered.
Millerna looked at Hitomi with a frown and said, "A vision?" Hitomi nodded. "What of?" Hitomi described it to her and the others as she had to Van and her family before.
"Hmm," said Dryden. He was a curious man by nature, and Hitomi had intrigued him from the beginning with her powers during the Zaibach War. "It seems to me that the other pendants you saw in your dream must have some sort of role in what's going on, otherwise, why would you see them?" He sat back and folded his arms. "If only we knew where the others were."
Hitomi nodded with the others, then stopped. "Wait a minute, I read about four pendants carved out of the elements by a craftsman in Atlantis." The others looked at her. "It was a book written in that language of theirs that Van asked me to read. He can't, so I took notes on it. I wonder where they went?"
Dryden leaned forward. "Did it mention if the pendants had any special properties like your own? Or where they may be found?"
She frowned. "No, that chapter ended with the destruction of Atlantis, but I do know that they were created as a single set. Presumably that means they're connected somehow, but it didn't say anything about them having any special abilities."
Chid's eyes were wide. "Wow, I didn't know it was from Atlantis. Father gave it to Mother when they were married." Then his face lit up. "Maybe I can find something at Fortuna Temple! The power of Atlantis is sealed there, maybe there's some reference to these pendants that we just never noticed before."
Dryden looked interested. "Hmm, maybe so. Hey, why don't you tell me about the temple. I've never had a chance to see it, and I hear it's quite spectacular." He and Chid left Millerna and Hitomi in the drawing room alone. Millerna watched them go and turned to Hitomi.
"So, how are things between you and Van going?" she asked. It was an innocent enough question, but Hitomi knew what she really meant.
"We decided our feelings for each other are mutual, and that's as far as I care to say at the moment," she smiled.
Millerna looked up at Hitomi, who was now a couple of inches taller, "Oh please! I know you two, and something has definitely changed since I saw you together last." Still, Hitomi refused to say more, and they went on to discuss other things.