Hey, my faithful readers! Sorry about that cliffhanger! Please keep reading!
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Kemen's eyes shot open, startling Merle to death. She was sure that he had been fast asleep.
His eyes focused on hers and he said in soft child's whisper, "Soon. She's coming soon. Tell him." And as if nothing had even happened he smiled and looked absently out the window, waving at the birds.
Merle stood fixed, then let out a yelp when she saw something fall from Kemen's arm. She picked it up. It was a scale, an iridescent scale. In a daze, she caught his arm and turn it. A small path of the shiny scales led up his arm and ended at his flicking cat's ear. But his ear was loosing the fuzz that covered it and small scales were under the peach fur.
Merle repeated softly to herself, "Soon. She's coming soon. Tell him." Kemen could talk. And he had just warned her.
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Van stood, examining the wreckage left behind. This new project had been Allen's idea.
He was trying to build a canal that connected to an Asturian port, so that Fanalia could be connected to an exporting and importing system. According to Allen, it would speed Fanalia's economy immeasurably and strengthen ties with Asturia.
A cloud covered the bright sun and through shadows on the green forest surrounding them. The river they planned to enlarge bubbled and laughed playfully.
Unfortunately, an old land-dragon's nest had been found in a forest next to the newly marked out canal. The dragon who had owned that nest came back to find her territory being invaded, and unfortunately she happened to be a mother with draclings.
The end result was unbelievable. All the land and supplies were either torn apart or burnt, and his men were trying to salvage what they could.
"Captain?" Van beckoned over the man he had appointed to lead this project. He was an older man but was aging too well to tell. The gray that threaded through his brown hair only led to an air of wisdom, instead of age, and his mind was almost as sharp as Healer Aronic's.
"Lord Van! Lord Van! I have to tell you something!" Van looked quickly over his shoulder and saw Merle bounding towards him. 50 yards from reaching him, Healer Aronic caught Merle by her collar.
"Not so fast, young lady!" Merle struggled and squirmed.
"Let me go! I have to talk to Lord Van!" She tried to bite Aronic, and for her efforts got clouted on the head.
" Merle, you need to learn some manners!"
"Lord Van! It's Kemen! He—" Van shook his head.
"Merle, hold on." He shot a repressive look at Aronic.
She nodded, " Come here, young lady, and show me where these old bones can rest. Not so fast! I don't want to sit there. Do you see that tree?" She pointed off in the distance.
Merle put her hand over her eyes and peer into the distance, "No. We're surrounded by trees. Which one?"
" Keep looking until you find it. You'll know the one I want when you find it."
Merle huffed, "Oh, fine! I'll be right back, Lord Van!" Merle bounded off at top speed. Van shot Aronic a grateful look and turned to the Captain. Aronic sighed and sat down with a groan on a piece of torn wood.
"Captain, what…what are…" Van stopped and stared fixed at a point over the man's shoulder.
"Highness?" The captain said rising from his kneeling position in concern. Aronic rose from her seat in worry. The captain turned and couldn't see anything behind him and turned to Aronic. "Milady, what's wrong with King Van?"
Van tensed. A sharp pain pounded in his head. The light around him was blinding.
And he heard her through the pain. The muscles in his legs tensed and released painfully, as if he were running. He couldn't seem to breathe and his vision became unclear. Van's chest constricted painfully.
Faster. Faster. I have to get home NOW! What if I'm too late? I have to get there before Dillandua.
Van saw red cloud his vision. His felt something in his mind begin to stir painfully.
Dillandua is back, and Van---Van isn't here to protect me
Van began to shake in fury. It wasn't true! He would always protect her!
Ziabach had used hostages before to gain my power, what will stop Dillandua from hurting my family?
Van was wracked by a vision of the Vione blocking the sun, Folken ordering that they turn over Hitomi, or else they would destroy Asutria. Hitomi surrendering.
Which means the war… was my responsibility. All of those lives were my responsibility.
No! Hitomi! It's was all a lie! The dragon bared its teeth, snapping in anger. But Hitomi couldn't hear him. She ran so fast that his entire body ached.
And in the end…everything was my fault.
Images flowed so fast past Van's vision he could hardly make them out.
He saw Balgus dead, Allen wounded, Millerna's marriage, Naria and Eyria dead, Folken dead, a child crying, men, so many men, dying terrible deaths during the war, and last one picture lingered.
It was him. When Escaflowne had been mutilated in battle, and he had been slowly bleeding to death. Without the Espano workers, Dryden and Hitomi, he would have never survived.
In the end, in the very end, it was all my fault. The result of my misguided wishes. How could she have been so self-centered?
'IT WASN'T HER FAULT,' the dragon roared. Van felt like he was going to explode! If only she would stop running!
God, she hated herself. How could she have become so self-absorbed without even realizing it? Her family and friends cared about her and were worried about her, but she had ignored them and pushed them all away! Poor Yukari and Amano. She didn't deserve friends like them. Hitomi had pushed them away, lied to them for years, and because of that, Dillandua was going to get them. And her family? She had lied to them, been so absorbed in her own grief----how was it fair that they were going to pay for what she had done? Hitomi had set Dillandua, a murderer, on her family and her friends and it was all her fault.
How many people had lost loved ones, especially in the war she instigated in Gaea? Wasn't it because Dornkirk had wanted her power that he had attack so many innocent people? Had they just refuse to function, when they had lost everything? No! She had watched them help to rebuild everything and start again! And Van? Just because she had left him, did he ignore Fanalia?
What was she thinking? Did she really believe this? She thought that she was to blame for the Great War? It was all wrong! Van hated her for hating herself. These lies made him furious!
The small glimpses she had seem during her visions showed her Fanalia being rebuilt even better than before, more beautiful than before. Would she want Van to put her before his country? No! She loved Fanalia and she had a duty to protect it!
Van's thought's were keeping an endless chant, 'No, no, no, no' These words were poison, seeping into and killing everything they touched. Half-truths killed twice as fast.
Yes, she loved Fanalia, but would she sacrifice herself for people she didn't even know? Just for him? Because he was the leader of this country? The thin line of duty had been crossed.
Even if it meant facing Dillandua alone! Even… Hitomi's thought broke, shattered by unshed tears that held a death-grip on her chest.
Even…even if it meant letting go of Van.
The dragon screamed. And the world seemed to break apart. The air turned black and shattered. The screaming anguish that burst from every fiber of his being was let loose in one howl of tormented agony and blinding, burning rage.
"NO!" Distantly, Van felt himself slump to his knees, chest heaving, and the muscles in his legs still working frantically. Hitomi continued, completely oblivious.
It was terrible, what she was doing to him. If she really loved him, she should be able…able to…able to let him go! So he could find someone else from his world, who could love him… Hitomi's heart screamed it's denial, but she ignored it.
He wasn't in her head anymore. She couldn't feel him at the back of her mind. She didn't think she could bear the thought of hearing the echoes from his head when---when he found…found someone else. But his happiness went before hers. Seeing him happy would be worth anything, right?
Each word stabbed into him like a dagger and splintered into shards of torturous suffering. Van's eyes stared blankly at the ground, while his shoulder heaved. Then Van felt a hand on his shoulder, the chance that the dragon had been waiting.
Aronic screamed and fell back into the captain's arms. Her hand was black, burned and the charred flesh still smoked. She instinctively sent a blue wash of light over the injury and saw the dead flesh slowly come back to life. The pain in her head by far outdistanced the pain in her hands.
"He's—he's lost his mind!"
When the bone-crushing collision came, it felt like Van's heart had stopped. It felt like a guymelef had just flattened him.
His first instinct was to damage anyone who tried to touch her, but this boy would be able to help her, ---because he couldn't.
He thought he was slowly, slowly gaining control…but only until he saw Dillandua.
Then the fire redoubled. All the anguish and pain turned suddenly into hot burning rage. The dragon howled in pure dark joy. There was no control. This enemy would DIE!
Meanwhile Hitomi searched frantically for her family. Her anxiety only fueled the flame. She finally opened the door to her room. She saw Dillandua…and the Dragon took control.