A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I cant seem to figure out how to write this next section. On top of that, finals have started at my school and I haven't had time to write much. But don't worry, I will finish this story. Sorry for the cliffy on that last chapter. Why did I do that? Because I CAN!!! *laughs hysterically* And, why did I make Van marry that stupid idiotic bimbo of a princess? Because I can! *grins evilly* Well, not really. There is a reason why they got married. You'll just have to figure out why in future chapters. Heh heh… Oh, I think I should let you know, that I didn't mean to put that Gaddes is Merle's new love interest. Honestly, I was thinking of a new character altogether. So if you read about Gaddes in the future, don't think about the Gaddes from the Crusade! Oh, there was some confusion when I said that the people of Cyrce only bear female children and that everyone who lives there are women. No, men are not imported into the country, although that would be very funny! This part isn't exactly vital to the story, so I'm going to tell you how it works. The people of Cyrce are all women… mostly. There are a few guys but not many, and they don't actually live there. When a woman wants to have a child, they leave the county and come back to Cyrce when they are pregnant. The people of Cyrce have a stereotype that women are better than men and that they don't need them, which is why they don't have any fathers or brothers. All of the women are warriors but they are also extremely beautiful (kind of like the Amazon women). If you really want to know more about the "evil plot" here is a hint: pay close attention to the royal family's last name "Siren". Then ask yourself, "What is a Siren?" Ok, NO MORE HINTS!!!! I'M GIVING AWAY A VITAL PART OF MY STORY. Maybe I should just shut up and get on with the story before I reveal anything else… Oh yes, here are the responses to my wonderful reviewers!!!!
InuYasha/GF1889: *dodges tomato* OK OK! I'm writing more! And, no, I didn't cheat. I can do whatever I want with my story! *sticks out tongue* Anyway, thanks for reviewing! Enjoy this next chapter.
Sakura: Yea, I know I'm mean. But, oh well, it's fun being mean! *grin* Well, no more stalling, here is the next chapter!
Kat-Tastrophe: Yes! I MUST make Van and Hitomi suffer. Why? Because it's FUN!!!!!! Hee hee… NO NO NO NO YOU CAN'T STEAL MY STORY OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN….somehow. And, yes I do plan to finish this story. I already know exactly how I'm going to end it, it's just getting there is the problem. Oh well, just read!*grin*
Revia: You can't harm me with a silly little fork. Not while I have my handy dandy spoon to protect me. *whips out a spoon* Ha ha, now what are you going to do? Sorry I confused you about the "no men in Cyrce" thing. The whole idea worked in my head. No, they are not imports!!! But that was really funny! Thanks for reviewing. Reviews make me sooooooo happy!!!! *really big grin*
Darkcherry: I'm not a horrible person, I'm a terrible person who likes to torcher (whooooo….can't spell that word) her audience with cliffy's and plot twists. Muahahahah……*gains some composure* How am I supposed to make Hitomi happy when she doesn't even realize what happened, yet. She'll find out in this chapter though. Don't worry. Just read! : )
Japanimejo: Hurray to the survivor fans!!!! I didn't win the necklace in a class. At my school, there is a Japanese Club that meets twice a week. Mostly we just learn some Japanese words and watch/discuss anime. Anyway, a friend of mine, who is also in the club, made up three crossword puzzles: one was English words that you have to translate, one was facts about anime shows, and another was entitled "people you should know." I was the first one to solve the third one. The other two were already won. Yes, I do like fluff stories. I'm sorry if this story doesn't show it, but you're right. I kind of like action/adventure a little better, but a good fluff story is needed every now and then. I don't mind long stories. I just finished this one story that was 42 chapters, I think. But it is sooooo good. It wasn't an Escaflowne fic though. It was a Zelda fic. As for how to make italics work, this is what I do. I go to "File" and click on "Save As" then go to "Save as Type" and click on the arrow, then click on "Web Page." Basically, your saving your story as a Web Page so that when you use italics, they should appear online! I hope that helps. Wow this response is long. No more stalling. Enjoy this next chapter!!!
Kwaii Canadian: *cowers* please don't kill me! There is a reason why they had to get married. Just stay tuned to find out more. Thanks for reviewing, it is what keeps me writing!
CinderellaxVan: Do you realize that you've pretty much given me the entire plot to "Nobody Said It Was Easy"? Ha…I don't know if you did that intentionally but now I know almost EVERYTHING. Muahahahaha…….. And don't you quit writing missy! *glare* or I will haunt you for the rest of my days *more glaring* YOU ARE A GREAT WRITER AND YOU HAVE GREAT STORIES. DON'T YOU DARE STOP!!!!! *even more glaring* Thanks for reading and I hope you like this next chapter!
Disclaimer: Yup! I own Escaflowne. Aren't I so brilliant? *loud coughing in back round* -_-
Chapter Eight: A Late Arrival
Out of all the women dressed in silver for the wedding ceremony, only of them truly wanted to shed tears, but she dared not to. She was one of the few people in that great hall who saw how terribly wrong this marriage was. She had done everything in her power to post-pone this wedding, in order to give King Van enough time to bring the seeress back from the Mystic Moon.
'If only I had gotten the fob of keeping an eye on Van for the past two days. I would have made sure that Van was left undisturbed. I would have given him all the time in the world to summon the seeress. But no…Jane got that job, not I, and now, all is lost… the Sirens now hold all the cards. They have all the keys to unlock the Power of Atlantis once more.'
Phoebe wanted to scream when she heard the priest say, "If anyone here has a reason why these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace." In her mind, she imagined dashing up to the alter and slicing Princess Calypso's neck with her dagger, then forcing Van to go to the Mystic Moon and bring back the seeress.
'There is only one woman in this universe that should marry Van, but she is an entire world away.'
And just like that, the ceremony was over. The hall exploded with cheers as confetti was thrown everywhere. The new King and Queen walked back down the isle together, arms linked, heading for the reception area.
'I've got to find a way to end this…'
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The wedding party that started immediately after the ceremony lasted for hours. People from almost everywhere came to be a part of the huge spectacle. Van wasn't exactly in a "celebrating" mood, so he spent most of the time with Merle. At first, they both just sat at a secluded table, trying to get some privacy, but people kept coming over to try and engage him in conversation. After a while, they both decided to move onto the dance floor, so people would leave him alone. Van and Merle didn't move much, mostly, they just swayed to the beat of the music. All around them were happy couples wrapped in each others arms, dancing merrily. Merle stared at them, enviously.
'It's not fair. They all get to have normal lives. They get to marry whom they chose. Van is the king of all Fanelia, and yet he was forced into this marriage.'
Merle quickly glanced up to look in Van's face. He looked so calm, as if he didn't care that he was forever bound to someone he has never met before tonight. His demeanor was calm, but if you were to look directly into his eyes, you would find nothing. They were empty. 'I've got to get him out of here…'
Merle stopped dancing and took a small step backward. "I want to get some fresh air. You want to come with me?"
"Sure."
Merle wrapped her arm around Van's as they both parted the crowd and headed for the balcony. But before they could reach the door, one of Van's advisors stepped in their way.
"Pardon me, King Van, but don't you think you could at least dance with Queen Calypso once before the night ends?"
"I don't really feel like dancing." Van said stubbornly, as he took a step to the right, trying to go around the man in front of him, but his advisor was more stubborn than he was. Again, he took a step in front of his King.
"You've spent the past hour dancing with Lady Merle here. I don't think one more dance will hurt." Van didn't feel up to an argument, so he detached himself from Merle and said, "Alright. One dance. You stay here Merle. This won't take long."
Van made his way across the dance floor, heading for the direction where he last saw Calypso standing. When Van had made a good distance between him and Merle, she rounded on Van's council member.
"Bastard. You can't seem to give him a break, can you? Not for one minute." Merle was glaring at this man with every fiber of her being. He, however, didn't falter a bit. He only gave her an equal scowl.
"We did give him a break." He said in a harsh tone. "We gave him an entire hour to dance with you. If we didn't want to give him a break, he wouldn't have spent more than a minute with the likes of you." For once, Merle didn't know what to say. Gone were the days when people were prejudice against her kind. But apparently, some people don't know how to rid themselves of bad feelings towards other races. After a while, Merle finally found her voice, although it wasn't more than a whisper.
"How dare you!" The man standing before Merle simply smirked and walked away.
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When Queen Calypso saw Van come across the dance floor, she excused herself from the crowd of people she was talking to. She met him in the middle of the dance floor and stopped walking when they were only a few feet away. She smiled at him, showing off her glittering white teeth.
"About time you asked me to dance."
'About time that brainless oaf of an advisor got rid of that wretched cat girl.' Calypso simply kept her smile on and moved closer to Van. She took one of his hands in hers and the other, she placed on her hip. Slowly, they started dancing to the beat of a slow song. The whole time, Calypso just stared into Van's eyes. Van however, kept his gaze just above her head. Calypso decided to break the silence, forcing Van to actually look at her.
"I realize this marriage was kind of sudden…"
"A little too sudden." Van interrupted.
"…but I think if we give it some time, we could get to know each other."
"This marriage never would have happened if your country hadn't threatened to declare war on Fanelia!" Calypso's smile flickered at this response, and then returned. 'Any other man would be drooling over me by now. Never has a man actually dared to talk back to me. This will be more difficult than I thought…' The song ended and Van broke away from Calypso. He did a soft bow and muttered, "Thank you for the dance." And then walked away, leaving Calypso alone on the dance floor. This didn't hurt Calypso's feelings at all. In fact, this response filled her with anticipation of the upcoming days.
'It's about time I had a challenge. Men are usually very easy to control. But this one is…different. I'm going to enjoy breaking him…'
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"Good evening, your majesty. Mind if I join you?" Van turned his head to see a woman with dark brown hair wearing a silver dress, obviously from Cyrce.
"Go ahead."
The woman approached the railing and leaned against it, keeping plenty of space between them, so not to make anyone uncomfortable. The both of them stared up at the Mystic Moon, its light reflecting off of the woman's dress, giving it an almost magical glow about it.
"The sky is pretty tonight."
"Yes, it is." There was a short pause.
"Normally I would congratulate you on your marriage, but you don't look like someone who wants to be congratulated right now."
Van smiled to himself. "Am I that obvious?"
"No. I just noticed that's all. Then again, if I was forced into a marriage, I wouldn't be too happy either."
Van did a double take. 'So she knows about the arranged marriage.'
Reading his mind, the woman continued speaking. "When ever I come to a new county, I always do my homework. But one thing that caught my attention was the cause of the end of the Great War. It's no secret that it was your love for the seeress that saved all Gaea. So, that makes me wonder if you are really happy with the way this marriage turned out." The woman took a glance over at Van to see him staring at her intently. Normally, this kind of encounter with someone would unnerve him, and he would put a stop to this conversation before it got too personal. But something about this woman told him he could trust her, even though he didn't trust anyone from Cyrce at this point. But Van was about to make an exception to that rule.
"I'll stop if you think I'm prying."
"No, that's alright. It's nice knowing that someone understands. By the way, what's your name?"
"I'm Phoebe." Phoebe held out her hand and Van shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Phoebe."
Phoebe took a step backward and breathed a sigh. "Well, I should be heading back," She started walking to the door but stopped and turned back around. "But if you want some advice, here it is. Forbidden love requires patients. Just believe. She will come back someday." Before Van could respond, Phoebe left to join the crowd indoors. Moments after she left, Merle came outside to join him.
"Hey. Who was that?"
"Phoebe."
"Who?"
"Just some girl from Cyrce who came to the wedding."
"Oh." Merle hesitated before continuing. "So, how are you holding up?"
"Honestly, not too good. I think I'm going to retire early."
"How? Someone will see you if you go upstairs. Unless…" Merle looked up and saw the twinkle in Van's eyes and she smiled. She took his arm and they both walked to the corner of the balcony that hid them from the view of anyone inside. Once the coast was clear, Merle played look-out while Van took off his shirt.
"Coast is clear."
"Thanks Merle." Van stepped onto the railing and arched his back. Out of nowhere, brilliant white wings appeared as Van jumped off and took flight. Merle watched him fly up and over the roof of the castle, heading for his bed room at the opposite end of the building.
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'What are they up to?' Calypso thought as she watched Van and Merle from afar. She watched as they walked to a corner of the balcony when a curtain blocked them from view. After a minute or so, she saw the cat girl emerge and walk back inside…alone. 'Where did Van go?'
Calypso, full of suspicion, walked directly towards Merle. She was almost through the dance floor when Calypso stepped directly in front of the cat girl.
"Hey! Watch where you're…Queen Calypso! I didn't see you…"
"Where is Van?" Calypso interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Merle said as she took a step backwards.
"Where is my husband?"
Merle was seriously offended by the queen's tone but dared not talk back to her. "He went to his room. He was tired." And before the Queen could snap at her any more, she left the ball room. Calypso watched the cat girl storm off, and she let her. After she was out of view, Calypso headed upstairs towards Van's bedroom.
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Van stood on his balcony overlooking all of Fanelia, bathed in the light of the Mystic Moon. Looking up at it only made the pain in his heart increase. He felt as though he had betrayed Hitomi by marring another woman.
'I tried to reach you…believe me…Hitomi…I'm so sorry…'
Van closed his eyes and grabbed the pendent around his neck, holding it close to his heart.
'Hitomi…please forgive me…' All of the sudden, the pendent began to glow brightly. Out in the distance, a pillar of light touched down on Fanelia's fields. Immediately he knew what it meant. Without thinking, Van spread his wings and flew towards the pillar of light. Never before had any creature moved so fast…
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Calypso knocked on the door of the bedroom.
"Van, are you in there?" She turned the door knob and took a step inside and gasped at what she saw. She arrived just in time to see Van take off into the night, heading towards a pillar of blue light.
"Oh, shit."
A/N: *bashes head on keyboard* REALLY… *bash*…BAD… *bash*…CHAPTER!!!!! I am so sorry everyone. No matter what I did to it, this chapter still SUCKED!!!!!! Ahhhhhhh…….*rips hair out* I spent hours trying to make this chapter better, but it didn't work. I'm sorry. I've failed you all *pout*. Regardless of this bad chapter, I do plan on finishing this story (Ha, now Kat-Tastrophe can't steal my story). Hopefully, future chapters will be more interesting and come more quickly. This chapter took forever to write. I hope I didn't lose too much of my audience. Anyway, just REVIEW and make me feel better. PS. If you are tired of waiting for future chapters to be updated, check out my favorite authors/stories. There are some really good ones in there!!! And read stories by CinderellaxVan. She is a REALLY REALLY good writer but she doesn't think so. A lot of her stories inspired me to write this fic!
Love ya sis + bro?……………… and you too Baka!