Thank you everyone that reviewed! I can't believe I got so many reviews for
the first chapter... it really got me to writing this chapter sooner than I
planned. Remember the update email list and if you would like to be a part
of it to just tell me so. I'm glad many of you like my version of Beauty
and the Beast so far! Please read on!
Disclaimer: Tale as old as time, disclaimer as old as rhyme, I don't own Escaflowne or anything related to Disney... they own all the movies and ideas and such.
"Well you are not welcome!" and with that he released his grip from Mr. Kanzaki's shirt. He plummeted to the ground and in one swift motion was grabbed again and was no longer falling. The 'angel' flew closer to the door and a few feet above the ground, dropped his captive. The one who the Dragonslayers dare not say anything to landed near his prey and grabbed the back of his shirt, thus dragging him away and out the door. Mr. Kanzaki, who had gotten quite shook up, lay motionless as the demon dragged him away to the prisoner cells in the high tower. It would be days till Hitomi ever found her father, but she would have never expected him to be held prisoner... by a demon.
Chapter 2: Sacrifices
Outside of the Kanzaki residence, there was a crowd of some teenagers. They all chatted amongst themselves and were all circled around the one and only Allen Schezar. Everyone was mildly curious as to what the playboy was planning especially since they were standing outside of Hitomi's residence. Allen pushed his way through the people gathered around him and made his way towards the front door. As he walked across the lawn, the sound of a few girls crying and whining echoed throughout the throng of people.
Three girls all who had blond hair stood together with tearful eyes as they watched the love of their lives going to the home of another woman. The tallest one was very quiet but the youngest couldn't help but shout to Allen.
"Why Allen? Why of all people do you want Hitomi?"
He turned around quickly while flashing a pearly white smile and replied, "Millerna... Hitomi is the only girl for me. She's smart and intriguing, she's beautiful..." at this he paused. "Well... not as beautiful as me... but she is the girl for me. I deserve her..."
The other two girls who appeared to be Millerna's sisters enveloped each other in a comforting and hoping hug. They did not want to loose their Allen, especially to a girl who didn't quite fit in.
Allen puffed out his chest and held his chin up high as he knocked on the door to the front of the house. Hitomi had been reading a book in her favorite chair in the family room when the knock came. The sudden sound snapped her out of her story and she quickly got up to answer the door. When she reached the door, she stood up on her tip-toes to look out the peep hole and instantly fell back a few steps because of what she saw. She gave off a heavy sigh and prepared herself to give the person a quick farewell. Putting on her fakest smile, she opened the door a crack and tried to act surprised when she saw Allen standing on the front stoop of the house. Instead of standing a few feet from the door, he leaned right against the door frame.
"I'm sorry Allen..." Hitomi started to say, "but I'm really busy now... I need to get back to my work so I'll talk to you another day."
Once those last words came from her mouth, she started to shut the door as quick as she could without being as rude as she wanted. Before she could get the door close, a hand flew onto the edge of the door and held it open so as not to be shut fully. The strength was much more than what Hitomi had and easily forced the aperture to become bigger. Hitomi backed away from the door as Allen stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. He started to walk towards her, but Hitomi just kept on backing up.
"Hitomi... this is your lucky day. Today is the day that I confess my love to someone." Allen said very confidently. "And can you guess who that lucky person is?"
"Let me guess..."
"You Hitomi... today we celebrate our love union..."
"Our what?" she asked with much confusion.
Allen continued, "It is the day of our love union... today is the day that you become my girlfriend. You should feel honored Hitomi. You're the luckiest girl in town to get a handsome guy like me."
The whole time Hitomi had been walking away from Allen who kept approaching her. Hitomi started to get uneasy so she made her way back to the front door, walking backwards the entire distance. Allen was feeling rather full of himself by now and he thought he had Hitomi cornered when her back hit the door. Placing both hands against the door on either side of her head, Allen trapped Hitomi.
Hitomi meanwhile was trying to find words to keep him at bay while she fumbled for the door knob. "Allen... I'm flattered... I truly am... but I... I just don't think that I'm ready for such a commitment."
The knob was found and Hitomi turned it in a big hurry for Allen's head kept creeping closer and closer to hers. 'Thank all that's holy for doors that swing open both ways.' Hitomi thought as she leaned back with the door and followed through with it as it swung outside. Allen on the other hand had put all his weight upon the door and in turn lost his balance and ungracefully flew out of the doorway onto the front lawn. The door then slammed behind him and all who were standing waiting for the news looked at him in utter shock. Many were about to ask what happened but the scowl on Allen's face told many to back off. He stomped off, his ego damaged, and his determination rose even more. He would not stop at anything until he had Hitomi as his own...
Hitomi, now safe inside the house with door shut and locked, looked down at the floor and sighed even more heavily than the last. "I should feel honored he says... I'm the luckiest girl in town he claims... why should I feel honored or happy? He didn't even ask me if I liked him! He just claims that today we are going out without a word to me. What a pig headed, self hearted fool!"
Stomping back to her reading spot, she angrily sat down and picked her book back up. "Why can't I be like the girls in the fairy tales? Their lives are full of adventure and wonderful caring men... my life is full of boredom and uncaring boys who still haven't grown up enough to be called men."
She closed her eyes to imagine the life of a character in the stories, but was once again knocked out of her dreaming when the phone rang. Getting up once again but this time more slowly, she walked to the nearest phone which was located on the kitchen wall and picked it up with dread, hoping it wasn't Allen on the other side.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Is this Hitomi Kanzaki?" the voice asked.
"Yes this is... and may I ask who this is?"
"Miss Kanzaki... this is Rio Musaki..." he answered.
"You work with my father correct?" Hitomi inquired for confirmation.
"Yes... so you do remember me. It has been a while. With your father doing all his work at home, I never get to see you or him very often..." Rio seemed to pause for a second but continued on, "Speaking of your father... is he home?"
Shock hit Hitomi like lighting. "No..." she hesitated slightly, "he isn't home. He left for the meeting more than two days ago. I haven't heard from him since he left..."
"I thought maybe he had fallen ill and had to turn back and go back home. A day of leeway is given for everyone attending the meetings in case something happened on the way here so we thought nothing of it when he didn't show the first day, but he still hasn't shown up. Usually the person would have called us to tell us something had come up or something went wrong so they couldn't make it... but no word has come from him. You say you haven't talked to him these past few days?"
Hitomi started to get worried and she was now fidgeting with the phone cord. "No I haven't gotten a call from him since... he usually calls when he arrives to assure me he arrived in one piece... but..."
"We called his cell phone, but it said that he wasn't available. It was like that all day yesterday and today." Mr. Musaki replied.
"My father always keeps his cell phone on... it's never turned off... I don't know why he would have turned it off..."
Confusion invaded her thinking... no thought process came out straight. 'What could have happened?' she thought to herself.
"Hitomi... if you do hear from him, please give us a call. We will just have to move on with business without him. If we do get in contact with him then we will inform you."
"Ok... thank you... goodbye..." and those were the only words that could make it out of Hitomi's mouth before she hung up the phone and shrunk to the floor. This was highly unusual for her father to act this way. First he is days late for the meeting, then his cell phone is off. A call to his only daughter was never made and he has not been heard from since. It was very unusual... almost too unusual for her father.
'Anything could have happened... but what?' she asked herself.
Picking herself up off the floor, Hitomi started to pace back and forth in the kitchen. After a few minutes she realized that pacing wasn't going to do any good. A quick walk out of the kitchen brought her to the coat rack that stood near the front door. Hanging upon it was her leather jacket and motorcycle helmet. Without a second thought, the jacket was lifted off its hook and thrown onto its owner where then gloves from the pockets were pulled out and placed upon her hands. With the navy blue helmet now under her arm, Hitomi grabbed the key off the hook and walked through the door that led to the garage.
By the press of a button, the giant door slowly moved its way up revealing a blood red sunset. The light streamed in and illuminated both bike and owner in shimmering rays of gold. With key now placed in the ignition, she turned it making the power turn on. The helmet was thrown atop her head and buckled under her chin. A flexible leg flew over the leather seat and landed on the opposite side. With the motorcycle now straddled between Hitomi's legs, she kicked up the kickstand, and started the engine up with a press of a button. The engine hummed lightly as it sat in the open garage but when the right handle was twisted, it roared to life. The visor on Hitomi's full face helmet was pushed into place with a quick motion of her hand.
Once ready, Hitomi shifted out of neutral and brought the bike to life. Her feet came off the ground just as she gave the engine its queue to move the bike forward. The sensor on the garage door hit the special sensor on the bike and automatically started to close as Hitomi rode from underneath it. With a quick glance to each side of the road, Hitomi sped off of the driveway and onto the street where the distant cry of the engine could be heard humming its never-ending song.
After riding for over an hour, the sun was just disappearing against the horizon. With no sign of her father's car, she started to worry. The street had gradually turned from concrete to bricks to pebbles and now to dirt. The road was hard to drive upon, but Hitomi didn't turn back just because of its condition. With the last rays of sun still illuminating what they could through the few trees that had sprouted up along the road, Hitomi came to a fork in the road... the same split that Hitomi's father had encountered. The road sign covered in spray-paint was illegible and Hitomi looked for any hints of where her father might have gone. The dirt road did not hide any markings. Pushing up the visor on her helmet, Hitomi's eyes followed the grooves upon the dirt which eventually trailed left. A car had definitely been there... Hitomi knew it had to be her father's.
The visor was slid back to its original place and Hitomi sped off in the direction which the markings led. The forest became denser and with the sun gone, the only light left came from the moon which was barley able to shine through the leaves that grew towards the sun, and the headlight on Hitomi's motorcycle which lit up her surroundings. When she traveled a little further, more tire marks were revealed along the road. Traveling more slowly now, she looked everywhere for any signs of her father. With more twists and turns in the road, the search started to become frantic.
Suddenly Hitomi saw some trees that had been broken and overgrowth that had been disrupted. She came closer to see a sharp turn and many broken branches within the trees. Her heart pounded harshly against her chest as her worst fear played itself in her mind. Mechanically she flipped the kickstand down and swept her leg over the bike to dismount. When both her feet were on the ground, she frantically ran towards the dismembered trees. Just a little ways in from the road, a car, with pieces of it feet away from where it was, sat crunched against a giant tree. The driver's door was hanging barely on its hinges and the windshield was shattered.
Being mindful of the parts scattered throughout the grass, Hitomi quickly made her way to the wreck. She held her breath until she reached the driver's side. Using the light from her motorcycle's headlight, she glanced into the car expecting to see her father's body, unmoving and blood covered, but instead she saw nothing. Relief calmed her nervousness, but there was one question still on her mind.
"Where is he?" she asked aloud. She scanned the remaining area to make sure he wasn't laying somewhere beyond the car and went back to look inside the car. The suitcase was still in the trunk and his briefcase, or what was left of it, was on the floor of the passenger side. His cell phone however was barely a cell phone anymore. The impact causing the whole front of the car to get pushed in had in turn pushed the dashboard into the front seats. Nothing was accessible or in working condition.
'That explains why no one can get a hold of him... his cell phone is destroyed,' she thought to herself.
She quickly exited the forest and walked back towards her bike. Soon enough she was off riding down the winding road. It was only a short time later that she came into view of the enormous castle. Hitomi became so awed with its beauty that she immediately shut off the motorcycle as if it would ruin the image. Once again she put the kickstand down and slowly walked towards the giant gates. While observing the majesty of the mysterious palace, a flutter of cloth caught her eye. Running towards it, she found that it was a piece of her father's shirt.... the same shirt that he was wearing when he left the house more than 2 days ago.
Looking back at the castle through the bars, she knew she would find her father inside. She pushed against the iron gates but the size made them heavy and hard to move. With much exertion, the steel gave way and Hitomi opened a space just large enough to walk though. The black boots she wore clapped upon the walkway and seemed to echo off from the castle. As she walked, she undid the strap on her helmet and pulled it off her head. Shaking out her honey brown hair, she then took off her gloves and placed them into her pockets. The giant doors were finally reached and Hitomi cautiously placed her hands against one.
The door was chillingly cold, and it gave off strange feelings as if it were alive. Deep sorrow radiated from its being and Hitomi was overcome with a want to drive away the strange feeling surrounding the castle. Not bothering to knock, the door opened with no sign of a lock at all. Stepping quickly into the castle and shutting the door behind her, Hitomi quietly entered and walked through the entrance hall.
"Dad?" she cried out softly, "Are you here dad?"
There was no movement anywhere she looked and no noise sounded from any other parts of the castle. All was deathly still... though someone had to be there because of the candles that were lit along the walls to illuminate the dark paths.
She called out again, this time a little louder, "Dad?"
Just down the hall though, there was life... and it was bickering about. "I knew he would be trouble from the moment he stepped foot into this place. I tried to get rid of him, but you had to help him. Let us invite him to stay, let us bandage his wounds, let us do everything without Lord Van's permission!"
Chesta just looked at a frustrated Dilandau from the floor and shrugged his shoulders. "I was being hospitable... calm down... there is nothing we can do now."
Dilandau was about to smack away Chesta's calm demeanor until she heard something. They both looked at each other to see if either had heard the same thing and when they heard someone call out again, the both ran to the source. They peeked out from behind a wall and spotted the intruder. Upon seeing who it was, they gasped, quickly pulling their heads away from the corner of the wall.
Dilandau then grabbed the front of Chesta's shirt and said in pure amazement and joy, "It's a girl!"
Chesta cocked an eyebrow at him. "But you're a girl too..." All too soon, he was cut off with a quick lash of the hand at his cheek.
"I am NOT a girl you idiot! The spell just gave it to me worse than all you and turned my appearance into that of a little girl's. I have and always will be a man at heart!"
Chesta, though his cheek was tinting pink and felt tingly, chuckled to himself. "You'll never be a man unless someone breaks the spell."
"Don't you get it? She's the one! She is the girl who will break the spell!" Dilandau hissed at him.
Finally the revelation came to Chesta as he digested the words. As they stood there listening to the girl another thing hit them.
"She said 'dad'! Do you think the man that we helped is her father?!" Chesta asked excitedly.
Both nodded in agreement at the truth in the question. Dilandau then started to formulate a plan. "We must first bring her to her father without revealing ourselves."
"How are we going to do that?" But before Chesta could even get an answer, the little Dilandau was climbing on top of him till she eventually stood upon his shoulders.
"Now stand still Chesta!" Dilandau demanded from her position above him.
"It's harder than you think!"
"I need to get a candle... move more to the right."
Chesta then scooted his way the best he could without falling towards the nearest candle that sat against the wall. Once they reached it, Dilandau did her best to stretch, but no matter how far, she couldn't reach it. "Chesta... I need you to boost me up. Let me step on your hands so you can lift me higher."
Sighing in disbelief but knowing that Dilandau was serious, put his hands up next to her feet which were still digging into his shoulders. One foot was placed upon Chesta's waiting hand and then he raised his arm enough so that Dilandau could get a good push to get the other foot up. Using the wall for support, Dilandau placed her hands against the stone and waited for Chesta to raise his other arm and lock it. Using much strength, she pushed into Chesta's hand using it to raise her other foot on top of Chesta's locked and ready hand. With both arms now straight and shaking, Chesta mustered all the strength he had left to hold up Dilandau. She, in the meantime, grabbed a hold of a candle holster which was secured to the wall and reached up to grab the candle upon it. Being wary of the dripping wax, her fingers curled around the bottom and pulled.
With candle in hand, Dilandau then whispered his next orders down to Chesta, "Now I'm going to hold onto this candelabra thing on the wall and you are going to let go of my feet. Get the candle from me and I'll just drop down from here."
Chesta gave a grunt of his ok and Dilandau grabbed the metal of the frame with one hand. Chesta let his arms down and quickly came to the side of his friends hanging body. The candle was placed from one hand to the other and as soon as it was out of her hands, Dilandau dropped down onto the floor. She smiled at her handiwork and looked at Chesta. "Suck it up baby... it wasn't that hard... I'm not THAT heavy... am I?"
Chesta just gave her a look that said everything and started to walk away. Dilandau just ran after him.
They found the girl that was wandering about the castle once again and hid themselves the best they could. When she wasn't looking, they would run to another hall or to another stairway. It didn't take long for her to spot their light moving about and as soon as she did find it, she ran after it.
"Hey wait! Please help me!" she shouted.
The light would disappear around each corner and after running and calling after the fading light for several minutes it started to travel up a winding spiral staircase. The climb was long but Hitomi never stopped. When she reached the top, the light had gone totally and the only light left was that of the moon beaming through a hole in the ceiling. Neither yellow of candlelight nor a warm glow of fire... just chilled night wind with white light casting shadows about the small tower.
"Hello?" Hitomi whispered into the darkness.
A slight coughing sounded near her which made Hitomi alert. "Is someone here?"
The coughing lessened and a horse voice called out to her, "Hitomi?"
"Daddy?" Hitomi, in the dim lighting, caught sight of her father's face peering between steel bars. "Daddy it is you!"
She ran towards him and fell to the floor to meet his eyes at his level. "What have they done to you? How long have you been in here?" she asked him. He coughed some more and reached out for her. Grasping his hands, she gasped at their loss of heat, her face showing all concern for him.
"Hitomi... listen to me. You must run from this horrible place! Get out of here quickly before he comes!" he begged her.
"Who will come dad? What are you talking about? I have to get you out of here..."
But before she could try anything to release him, someone grabbed her shoulder and threw her. Her helmet flew from her grasp and clattered further into the tower. She was left in the dark and hurriedly got to her feet. Struggling to see in the dark, a figure of a man could be made out, but just barely.
Her father then shouted out to her once again, "Hitomi run! Leave me here!"
The man that threw Hitomi away from her father then interrupted him. "Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?!"
Hitomi heard the threat in his voice but did not back down to it. She stood up defiantly to him and spoke right back at him. "I came for my father! Let him go! Can't you see he's sick?!"
"He is my prisoner," he stated simply.
"Then let me take his place!" Hitomi shouted at him desperately.
"You! You... you would do that?"
Hitomi thought about it only for a moment and answered him. "Yes... I would take his place."
Mr. Kanzaki then cried out to her, "Hitomi! No! Please don't do this!"
The lord of the castle only snarled at him, "If you take his place, then you must promise that you will stay here... forever."
Hitomi seemed to be getting second thoughts until she said with a little uncertainty, "Step into the light..."
After a slight hesitation, the man stepped towards the light which streamed in through the hole. He ducked his head slightly and until he stepped fully into the light did Hitomi gasp. Piercing red eyes reflected the light fiercely as she gazed upon him. The only thing that made her gasp was the two full size wings coming from his back. Hitomi backed up into the bars of her father's cell and clutched the steel. She turned her head away and closed her eyes tightly until they opened with decision and regret.
She took a few steps towards the demon and looked right into his eyes. With one word, her whole life as she knew it would be changed... whether it be for better or for worse. One simple word escaped her mouth. "Agreed..."
Disclaimer: Tale as old as time, disclaimer as old as rhyme, I don't own Escaflowne or anything related to Disney... they own all the movies and ideas and such.
"Well you are not welcome!" and with that he released his grip from Mr. Kanzaki's shirt. He plummeted to the ground and in one swift motion was grabbed again and was no longer falling. The 'angel' flew closer to the door and a few feet above the ground, dropped his captive. The one who the Dragonslayers dare not say anything to landed near his prey and grabbed the back of his shirt, thus dragging him away and out the door. Mr. Kanzaki, who had gotten quite shook up, lay motionless as the demon dragged him away to the prisoner cells in the high tower. It would be days till Hitomi ever found her father, but she would have never expected him to be held prisoner... by a demon.
Chapter 2: Sacrifices
Outside of the Kanzaki residence, there was a crowd of some teenagers. They all chatted amongst themselves and were all circled around the one and only Allen Schezar. Everyone was mildly curious as to what the playboy was planning especially since they were standing outside of Hitomi's residence. Allen pushed his way through the people gathered around him and made his way towards the front door. As he walked across the lawn, the sound of a few girls crying and whining echoed throughout the throng of people.
Three girls all who had blond hair stood together with tearful eyes as they watched the love of their lives going to the home of another woman. The tallest one was very quiet but the youngest couldn't help but shout to Allen.
"Why Allen? Why of all people do you want Hitomi?"
He turned around quickly while flashing a pearly white smile and replied, "Millerna... Hitomi is the only girl for me. She's smart and intriguing, she's beautiful..." at this he paused. "Well... not as beautiful as me... but she is the girl for me. I deserve her..."
The other two girls who appeared to be Millerna's sisters enveloped each other in a comforting and hoping hug. They did not want to loose their Allen, especially to a girl who didn't quite fit in.
Allen puffed out his chest and held his chin up high as he knocked on the door to the front of the house. Hitomi had been reading a book in her favorite chair in the family room when the knock came. The sudden sound snapped her out of her story and she quickly got up to answer the door. When she reached the door, she stood up on her tip-toes to look out the peep hole and instantly fell back a few steps because of what she saw. She gave off a heavy sigh and prepared herself to give the person a quick farewell. Putting on her fakest smile, she opened the door a crack and tried to act surprised when she saw Allen standing on the front stoop of the house. Instead of standing a few feet from the door, he leaned right against the door frame.
"I'm sorry Allen..." Hitomi started to say, "but I'm really busy now... I need to get back to my work so I'll talk to you another day."
Once those last words came from her mouth, she started to shut the door as quick as she could without being as rude as she wanted. Before she could get the door close, a hand flew onto the edge of the door and held it open so as not to be shut fully. The strength was much more than what Hitomi had and easily forced the aperture to become bigger. Hitomi backed away from the door as Allen stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. He started to walk towards her, but Hitomi just kept on backing up.
"Hitomi... this is your lucky day. Today is the day that I confess my love to someone." Allen said very confidently. "And can you guess who that lucky person is?"
"Let me guess..."
"You Hitomi... today we celebrate our love union..."
"Our what?" she asked with much confusion.
Allen continued, "It is the day of our love union... today is the day that you become my girlfriend. You should feel honored Hitomi. You're the luckiest girl in town to get a handsome guy like me."
The whole time Hitomi had been walking away from Allen who kept approaching her. Hitomi started to get uneasy so she made her way back to the front door, walking backwards the entire distance. Allen was feeling rather full of himself by now and he thought he had Hitomi cornered when her back hit the door. Placing both hands against the door on either side of her head, Allen trapped Hitomi.
Hitomi meanwhile was trying to find words to keep him at bay while she fumbled for the door knob. "Allen... I'm flattered... I truly am... but I... I just don't think that I'm ready for such a commitment."
The knob was found and Hitomi turned it in a big hurry for Allen's head kept creeping closer and closer to hers. 'Thank all that's holy for doors that swing open both ways.' Hitomi thought as she leaned back with the door and followed through with it as it swung outside. Allen on the other hand had put all his weight upon the door and in turn lost his balance and ungracefully flew out of the doorway onto the front lawn. The door then slammed behind him and all who were standing waiting for the news looked at him in utter shock. Many were about to ask what happened but the scowl on Allen's face told many to back off. He stomped off, his ego damaged, and his determination rose even more. He would not stop at anything until he had Hitomi as his own...
Hitomi, now safe inside the house with door shut and locked, looked down at the floor and sighed even more heavily than the last. "I should feel honored he says... I'm the luckiest girl in town he claims... why should I feel honored or happy? He didn't even ask me if I liked him! He just claims that today we are going out without a word to me. What a pig headed, self hearted fool!"
Stomping back to her reading spot, she angrily sat down and picked her book back up. "Why can't I be like the girls in the fairy tales? Their lives are full of adventure and wonderful caring men... my life is full of boredom and uncaring boys who still haven't grown up enough to be called men."
She closed her eyes to imagine the life of a character in the stories, but was once again knocked out of her dreaming when the phone rang. Getting up once again but this time more slowly, she walked to the nearest phone which was located on the kitchen wall and picked it up with dread, hoping it wasn't Allen on the other side.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Is this Hitomi Kanzaki?" the voice asked.
"Yes this is... and may I ask who this is?"
"Miss Kanzaki... this is Rio Musaki..." he answered.
"You work with my father correct?" Hitomi inquired for confirmation.
"Yes... so you do remember me. It has been a while. With your father doing all his work at home, I never get to see you or him very often..." Rio seemed to pause for a second but continued on, "Speaking of your father... is he home?"
Shock hit Hitomi like lighting. "No..." she hesitated slightly, "he isn't home. He left for the meeting more than two days ago. I haven't heard from him since he left..."
"I thought maybe he had fallen ill and had to turn back and go back home. A day of leeway is given for everyone attending the meetings in case something happened on the way here so we thought nothing of it when he didn't show the first day, but he still hasn't shown up. Usually the person would have called us to tell us something had come up or something went wrong so they couldn't make it... but no word has come from him. You say you haven't talked to him these past few days?"
Hitomi started to get worried and she was now fidgeting with the phone cord. "No I haven't gotten a call from him since... he usually calls when he arrives to assure me he arrived in one piece... but..."
"We called his cell phone, but it said that he wasn't available. It was like that all day yesterday and today." Mr. Musaki replied.
"My father always keeps his cell phone on... it's never turned off... I don't know why he would have turned it off..."
Confusion invaded her thinking... no thought process came out straight. 'What could have happened?' she thought to herself.
"Hitomi... if you do hear from him, please give us a call. We will just have to move on with business without him. If we do get in contact with him then we will inform you."
"Ok... thank you... goodbye..." and those were the only words that could make it out of Hitomi's mouth before she hung up the phone and shrunk to the floor. This was highly unusual for her father to act this way. First he is days late for the meeting, then his cell phone is off. A call to his only daughter was never made and he has not been heard from since. It was very unusual... almost too unusual for her father.
'Anything could have happened... but what?' she asked herself.
Picking herself up off the floor, Hitomi started to pace back and forth in the kitchen. After a few minutes she realized that pacing wasn't going to do any good. A quick walk out of the kitchen brought her to the coat rack that stood near the front door. Hanging upon it was her leather jacket and motorcycle helmet. Without a second thought, the jacket was lifted off its hook and thrown onto its owner where then gloves from the pockets were pulled out and placed upon her hands. With the navy blue helmet now under her arm, Hitomi grabbed the key off the hook and walked through the door that led to the garage.
By the press of a button, the giant door slowly moved its way up revealing a blood red sunset. The light streamed in and illuminated both bike and owner in shimmering rays of gold. With key now placed in the ignition, she turned it making the power turn on. The helmet was thrown atop her head and buckled under her chin. A flexible leg flew over the leather seat and landed on the opposite side. With the motorcycle now straddled between Hitomi's legs, she kicked up the kickstand, and started the engine up with a press of a button. The engine hummed lightly as it sat in the open garage but when the right handle was twisted, it roared to life. The visor on Hitomi's full face helmet was pushed into place with a quick motion of her hand.
Once ready, Hitomi shifted out of neutral and brought the bike to life. Her feet came off the ground just as she gave the engine its queue to move the bike forward. The sensor on the garage door hit the special sensor on the bike and automatically started to close as Hitomi rode from underneath it. With a quick glance to each side of the road, Hitomi sped off of the driveway and onto the street where the distant cry of the engine could be heard humming its never-ending song.
After riding for over an hour, the sun was just disappearing against the horizon. With no sign of her father's car, she started to worry. The street had gradually turned from concrete to bricks to pebbles and now to dirt. The road was hard to drive upon, but Hitomi didn't turn back just because of its condition. With the last rays of sun still illuminating what they could through the few trees that had sprouted up along the road, Hitomi came to a fork in the road... the same split that Hitomi's father had encountered. The road sign covered in spray-paint was illegible and Hitomi looked for any hints of where her father might have gone. The dirt road did not hide any markings. Pushing up the visor on her helmet, Hitomi's eyes followed the grooves upon the dirt which eventually trailed left. A car had definitely been there... Hitomi knew it had to be her father's.
The visor was slid back to its original place and Hitomi sped off in the direction which the markings led. The forest became denser and with the sun gone, the only light left came from the moon which was barley able to shine through the leaves that grew towards the sun, and the headlight on Hitomi's motorcycle which lit up her surroundings. When she traveled a little further, more tire marks were revealed along the road. Traveling more slowly now, she looked everywhere for any signs of her father. With more twists and turns in the road, the search started to become frantic.
Suddenly Hitomi saw some trees that had been broken and overgrowth that had been disrupted. She came closer to see a sharp turn and many broken branches within the trees. Her heart pounded harshly against her chest as her worst fear played itself in her mind. Mechanically she flipped the kickstand down and swept her leg over the bike to dismount. When both her feet were on the ground, she frantically ran towards the dismembered trees. Just a little ways in from the road, a car, with pieces of it feet away from where it was, sat crunched against a giant tree. The driver's door was hanging barely on its hinges and the windshield was shattered.
Being mindful of the parts scattered throughout the grass, Hitomi quickly made her way to the wreck. She held her breath until she reached the driver's side. Using the light from her motorcycle's headlight, she glanced into the car expecting to see her father's body, unmoving and blood covered, but instead she saw nothing. Relief calmed her nervousness, but there was one question still on her mind.
"Where is he?" she asked aloud. She scanned the remaining area to make sure he wasn't laying somewhere beyond the car and went back to look inside the car. The suitcase was still in the trunk and his briefcase, or what was left of it, was on the floor of the passenger side. His cell phone however was barely a cell phone anymore. The impact causing the whole front of the car to get pushed in had in turn pushed the dashboard into the front seats. Nothing was accessible or in working condition.
'That explains why no one can get a hold of him... his cell phone is destroyed,' she thought to herself.
She quickly exited the forest and walked back towards her bike. Soon enough she was off riding down the winding road. It was only a short time later that she came into view of the enormous castle. Hitomi became so awed with its beauty that she immediately shut off the motorcycle as if it would ruin the image. Once again she put the kickstand down and slowly walked towards the giant gates. While observing the majesty of the mysterious palace, a flutter of cloth caught her eye. Running towards it, she found that it was a piece of her father's shirt.... the same shirt that he was wearing when he left the house more than 2 days ago.
Looking back at the castle through the bars, she knew she would find her father inside. She pushed against the iron gates but the size made them heavy and hard to move. With much exertion, the steel gave way and Hitomi opened a space just large enough to walk though. The black boots she wore clapped upon the walkway and seemed to echo off from the castle. As she walked, she undid the strap on her helmet and pulled it off her head. Shaking out her honey brown hair, she then took off her gloves and placed them into her pockets. The giant doors were finally reached and Hitomi cautiously placed her hands against one.
The door was chillingly cold, and it gave off strange feelings as if it were alive. Deep sorrow radiated from its being and Hitomi was overcome with a want to drive away the strange feeling surrounding the castle. Not bothering to knock, the door opened with no sign of a lock at all. Stepping quickly into the castle and shutting the door behind her, Hitomi quietly entered and walked through the entrance hall.
"Dad?" she cried out softly, "Are you here dad?"
There was no movement anywhere she looked and no noise sounded from any other parts of the castle. All was deathly still... though someone had to be there because of the candles that were lit along the walls to illuminate the dark paths.
She called out again, this time a little louder, "Dad?"
Just down the hall though, there was life... and it was bickering about. "I knew he would be trouble from the moment he stepped foot into this place. I tried to get rid of him, but you had to help him. Let us invite him to stay, let us bandage his wounds, let us do everything without Lord Van's permission!"
Chesta just looked at a frustrated Dilandau from the floor and shrugged his shoulders. "I was being hospitable... calm down... there is nothing we can do now."
Dilandau was about to smack away Chesta's calm demeanor until she heard something. They both looked at each other to see if either had heard the same thing and when they heard someone call out again, the both ran to the source. They peeked out from behind a wall and spotted the intruder. Upon seeing who it was, they gasped, quickly pulling their heads away from the corner of the wall.
Dilandau then grabbed the front of Chesta's shirt and said in pure amazement and joy, "It's a girl!"
Chesta cocked an eyebrow at him. "But you're a girl too..." All too soon, he was cut off with a quick lash of the hand at his cheek.
"I am NOT a girl you idiot! The spell just gave it to me worse than all you and turned my appearance into that of a little girl's. I have and always will be a man at heart!"
Chesta, though his cheek was tinting pink and felt tingly, chuckled to himself. "You'll never be a man unless someone breaks the spell."
"Don't you get it? She's the one! She is the girl who will break the spell!" Dilandau hissed at him.
Finally the revelation came to Chesta as he digested the words. As they stood there listening to the girl another thing hit them.
"She said 'dad'! Do you think the man that we helped is her father?!" Chesta asked excitedly.
Both nodded in agreement at the truth in the question. Dilandau then started to formulate a plan. "We must first bring her to her father without revealing ourselves."
"How are we going to do that?" But before Chesta could even get an answer, the little Dilandau was climbing on top of him till she eventually stood upon his shoulders.
"Now stand still Chesta!" Dilandau demanded from her position above him.
"It's harder than you think!"
"I need to get a candle... move more to the right."
Chesta then scooted his way the best he could without falling towards the nearest candle that sat against the wall. Once they reached it, Dilandau did her best to stretch, but no matter how far, she couldn't reach it. "Chesta... I need you to boost me up. Let me step on your hands so you can lift me higher."
Sighing in disbelief but knowing that Dilandau was serious, put his hands up next to her feet which were still digging into his shoulders. One foot was placed upon Chesta's waiting hand and then he raised his arm enough so that Dilandau could get a good push to get the other foot up. Using the wall for support, Dilandau placed her hands against the stone and waited for Chesta to raise his other arm and lock it. Using much strength, she pushed into Chesta's hand using it to raise her other foot on top of Chesta's locked and ready hand. With both arms now straight and shaking, Chesta mustered all the strength he had left to hold up Dilandau. She, in the meantime, grabbed a hold of a candle holster which was secured to the wall and reached up to grab the candle upon it. Being wary of the dripping wax, her fingers curled around the bottom and pulled.
With candle in hand, Dilandau then whispered his next orders down to Chesta, "Now I'm going to hold onto this candelabra thing on the wall and you are going to let go of my feet. Get the candle from me and I'll just drop down from here."
Chesta gave a grunt of his ok and Dilandau grabbed the metal of the frame with one hand. Chesta let his arms down and quickly came to the side of his friends hanging body. The candle was placed from one hand to the other and as soon as it was out of her hands, Dilandau dropped down onto the floor. She smiled at her handiwork and looked at Chesta. "Suck it up baby... it wasn't that hard... I'm not THAT heavy... am I?"
Chesta just gave her a look that said everything and started to walk away. Dilandau just ran after him.
They found the girl that was wandering about the castle once again and hid themselves the best they could. When she wasn't looking, they would run to another hall or to another stairway. It didn't take long for her to spot their light moving about and as soon as she did find it, she ran after it.
"Hey wait! Please help me!" she shouted.
The light would disappear around each corner and after running and calling after the fading light for several minutes it started to travel up a winding spiral staircase. The climb was long but Hitomi never stopped. When she reached the top, the light had gone totally and the only light left was that of the moon beaming through a hole in the ceiling. Neither yellow of candlelight nor a warm glow of fire... just chilled night wind with white light casting shadows about the small tower.
"Hello?" Hitomi whispered into the darkness.
A slight coughing sounded near her which made Hitomi alert. "Is someone here?"
The coughing lessened and a horse voice called out to her, "Hitomi?"
"Daddy?" Hitomi, in the dim lighting, caught sight of her father's face peering between steel bars. "Daddy it is you!"
She ran towards him and fell to the floor to meet his eyes at his level. "What have they done to you? How long have you been in here?" she asked him. He coughed some more and reached out for her. Grasping his hands, she gasped at their loss of heat, her face showing all concern for him.
"Hitomi... listen to me. You must run from this horrible place! Get out of here quickly before he comes!" he begged her.
"Who will come dad? What are you talking about? I have to get you out of here..."
But before she could try anything to release him, someone grabbed her shoulder and threw her. Her helmet flew from her grasp and clattered further into the tower. She was left in the dark and hurriedly got to her feet. Struggling to see in the dark, a figure of a man could be made out, but just barely.
Her father then shouted out to her once again, "Hitomi run! Leave me here!"
The man that threw Hitomi away from her father then interrupted him. "Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?!"
Hitomi heard the threat in his voice but did not back down to it. She stood up defiantly to him and spoke right back at him. "I came for my father! Let him go! Can't you see he's sick?!"
"He is my prisoner," he stated simply.
"Then let me take his place!" Hitomi shouted at him desperately.
"You! You... you would do that?"
Hitomi thought about it only for a moment and answered him. "Yes... I would take his place."
Mr. Kanzaki then cried out to her, "Hitomi! No! Please don't do this!"
The lord of the castle only snarled at him, "If you take his place, then you must promise that you will stay here... forever."
Hitomi seemed to be getting second thoughts until she said with a little uncertainty, "Step into the light..."
After a slight hesitation, the man stepped towards the light which streamed in through the hole. He ducked his head slightly and until he stepped fully into the light did Hitomi gasp. Piercing red eyes reflected the light fiercely as she gazed upon him. The only thing that made her gasp was the two full size wings coming from his back. Hitomi backed up into the bars of her father's cell and clutched the steel. She turned her head away and closed her eyes tightly until they opened with decision and regret.
She took a few steps towards the demon and looked right into his eyes. With one word, her whole life as she knew it would be changed... whether it be for better or for worse. One simple word escaped her mouth. "Agreed..."