Chapter 2 - Tutti (All Together)
Hitomi and Ken landed in an ungraceful heap beside Escaflowne, which was sitting in a great granite throne, and was covered with moss from disuse. A loud banging immediately began to echo around them.
Bong! Dong!
Ken was the first to come to his senses.
"Where on earth-?" he exclaimed loudly, taking in the gigantic quasi-robotic fighting machine.
Bong! Dong!
Hitomi rubbed her eyes. "We're on Gaia, you mean," she said absently.
Bong! Dong!
"What? Gaia?"
Bong! Dong!
"Yeah. Er... It's a hidden planet behind the moon... I'll, um, explain it to you when we get out of here."
Bong! Dong! Crash!
Ken gave her an incredulous look, then sighed, clamping his hands over his ears. "Is it always so loud?"
Bong! Dong!
"Not really. Can't think what-"
Bong! Dong!
"-that could be."
Suddenly the banging ceased, and eerie sort of silence descended.
"Well," said Ken, optimistically. "It stopped. Things can only get better from here."
Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by heavily armoured soldiers, and very sharp-looking swords.
"Ah," said Hitomi, the World Literature graduate. "The use of irony to prove a point."
Sweyn burst into the throne room, feeling almost panicky. As this was a new emotion for him, his face wasn't quite sure how to portray it, leaving him with an expression somewhere between nausea and terror and outright amusement.
"Sweyn, what's... wrong?" asked Van, hesitantly.
"You'll never believe it. An envoy just came from the East Quarter. Someone's tried to steal Escaflowne."
"And they've been caught?"
"Yeah. It was the motion-detecting gong what did them in," he added, smugly.
Van looked amused. "I'll never doubt you again, Sweyn."
"Well, they're on their way here, so you can 'send them to their fate', or something to that effect."
"What fate? We don't even have dungeons! Every good castle has dungeons," he muttered under his breath.
"You could always sentence them to community service..." suggested Sweyn, smirking.
"Look, I thought it was a good idea, okay?"
"Well, at least these are awfully nice heavily-armoured, sword-wielding guards," said Ken, settling himself comfortably against the velvet cushions of the carriage where they were "imprisoned". Hitomi had just finished telling him an abridged version of what had happened the last time she came to Gaia.
She nodded. "It's Van's kingdom. I suspect he doesn't have the heart to treat even hardened criminals badly."
"Yes'm," said the carriage driver. "And them criminals jus' ain't got the 'eart to do nothing too bad in Fanelia. On account of King Van would give them his famous 'I'm very disappointed in you; I thought we'd come so far' speech."
Hitomi laughed. "Van must have really changed since I last saw him. I wish I'd been around to see what he's accomplished."
"Do you know King Van, ma'am?"
"I... yeah... we fought together during the Great War. I was on the Crusade with him, Merle and Allen."
The driver thought about this for a moment.
"...and there are half-animal people..." murmured Ken, who was still ruminating over her story.
"Yes, dear," responded Hitomi.
"Ma'am, you don't by 'ny chance mean King Allen Schezar, d'you?"
"Yea---King! Allen's a king? Of WHAT?!"
"Allen Schezar, the Caeli knight, got hitched with Queen Emilia Saechelle de Renald of Ariaferd. She really likes him. They gots a daughter too, pretty as a picture, Desdemona is."
A little something clamoured for attention in the back of Hitomi's mind but she dismissed it. "I've never heard of Ariaferd. Where is it?"
" 'S a little country on the other side of Lake Fanel. 'Twas burnt down in the War, y'know."
"Of course..."
"...and they think angels are actually devils..." murmured Ken.
"Miss, I don't mean no disrespect, but you seems like an awful nice young girl. What'd you wanna go and steal Escaflowne for?"
Hitomi paused. She was saved from having to explain the precarious situation, when the driver cried out. He stopped the carriage, and jumped out, running towards some unknown destination. He was gone for a couple of minutes, and Hitomi reflected how easy it would be, were they real criminals, to sneak out of the carriage right then.
"What's the matter?" asked Hitomi, when the driver returned.
"Litterbugs," he said, shaking his head mournfully. "There's nothing we hates more in Fanelia than litterbugs."
Hitomi gazed around the city in wonderment, and Ken muttered:
"...and a mad old guy built a giant fate machine..."
Van was sulking. The Elders and the nobles had decided that this would be the ideal time for Calliope to see how Fanelia law worked (which was, essentially, Van talking to the perpetrators in a very disappointed voice until they promised to renounce all wrong-doing out of sheer boredom). And so the Princess had taken Hitomi's seat. Actually, it was the Queen's throne, but Van had always thought of it as Hitomi's. Of course, it was unthinkable that he should say as much, so Van had settled for the political solution and was slumped in his seat, pouting.
The herald blew his trumpet, and Van sat up straight out of shock.
"Hey, Shawn?" he called.
"Yessir?"
"I don't think that's the right song for announcing people..."
Shawn Ogg was Fanelia's border-guard, post office, herald, official jester, and privy-cleaner. He blinked now.
"Sorry, sir. S'only song I know, sir."
"But, Shawn... that's the wedding march, isn't it?"
"Yessir. Mum made me learn it, sir. For Jelianne's wedding, sir."
"Um...right... only, er, I don't know if its quite appropriate, Shawn..."
Hitomi walked into the room, and Merle jabbed Van with her elbow.
"Actually, I think its quite appropriate," she hissed.
"I dunno," said Captain Josief, studying the figures in front of him. "It doesn't seem...entirely right to me. I've never seen anyone do it this way before."
King Ckegaard Immane de Soren shrugged in a sort of half-hearted way. "So it is original. They'll never suspect the attack."
"Sti-ill...."
"Look, I DON'T CARE what you think. JUST FOLLOW ORDERS!"
The captain shrunk down a little in his seat as King Soren towered over him. His eyes drifted to the map of Gaia spread out on the desk between them. It was crisscrossed with arrows, circles, and "X"s.
"But..." he said, hesitantly. "What the point of moving the army in that little arrow shape? It seems totally illogical... why don't we all rush madly at the enemy instead of moving in a little line! And it seems kind of stup-er... imprudent to move in 'X's. And how on Gaia do you expect the men to always keep that little circle formation?"
King Soren smacked his forehead. "Don't be an idiot," he said, rolling his eyes. "If the Great Book of General Tacticus says it, it must work!"
"But... he's dead, isn't he, sir?"
Soren glared. "You're missing the point entirely!"
Van and Calliope looked perfect. Both handsome, sitting tall, side by side, dressed in ceremonial regalia. Every inch the King and Queen of Fanelia. Except, of course, that Van was choking, Merle was sniggering, and Sweyn was making connections very very fast.
"The People Who Were Trying To Steal Escaflowne," said Shawn Ogg, imperially.
"We weren't trying to steal it," said Hitomi. "The blue light tunnel just happened to land us right beside it."
One of the bourgeoisie snorted derisively. "If I had a nickel for every time I'd heard that excuse..."
Van just gave him a bewildered look. "Um......" he said eloquently.
There was a short awkward pause, in which Merle's elbow jabbed into Van's side at least four times.
"Aww, for heavens sake!" she cried at last. "That," she pointed a finger at Hitomi, "is the Great Seeress From The Mystic Moon, Hitomi Kanzaki, and that," she pointed at Ken, "is someone I don't know at all."
"Kentaro Yamata," said Ken, bowing gracefully, just like he'd seen in the latest of the "Kings of Europe" series. Several of the females in the room murmured appreciatively, and Van was suddenly assailed by thoughts along the line "who the hell is that?" and "why, in the name of all that is Draconian, is he with Hitomi?".
Muffled whispers began, which became loud buzzing, then distinct speech, and finally yells across the room to old friends filled the small throne room. Hitomi Kanzaki was finally here. Fanelia was finally going to have a queen. Bumbling Betsy had finally won at nineteen-to-three odds in the horse races. And other important revelations like that...
Van slid off his throne, and went towards Hitomi.
"Hey," he said, with a huge grin on his face.
Hitomi hugged him. "Hey."
"Why are you here?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know that too," said Ken.
"And who is he?" said Van.
"I'd sort of like to know that too," added Ken.
"First question, I have no idea. Second question, Van, meet Kentaro Yamata, as he already said, who goes to college with me. Ken, meet Van Slanzar de Fanel, King of Fanelia, whom I've already told you about."
Sweyn sauntered up beside them, with Merle right behind him.
"Lady Hitomi," he said, kissing her hand with catlike charm and suavity. "I am Sweyn Rezard, Master of the Guild of Architects, and royal best friend and right hand man." He smiled a slow captivating smile, the effect of which was rather spoiled by Merle and Van hitting him on the back of the head.
"Heyyyy!" he said, wounded. "I was being nice!"
Merle held him by the ear, and he grumbled painfully.
"Don't mind Sweyn," said Merle, linking arms with Hitomi. "He's just trying to make me jealous. Which," she added, twisting his ear a bit and earning an "OwOwOwOw!" from her captive, "is not working by the way."
Hitomi grinned. "This is Merle," she said to Ken. "I told you about her too. From the looks of it, she's found herself a boyfriend."
"Why must everyone persist in the belief that we're dating..." said Sweyn.
"...when it so painfully obvious that we're only friends!" finished Merle.
Van, Hitomi, and Ken exchanged friendly grins. Merle and Sweyn look sheepish.
And from behind them Calliope glared at a world which was suddenly rather unfavourable to her cause.
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--- Note that Shawn Ogg does not belong to me, but to the absolutely fantastic Terry Pratchett. For those who have no idea who Terry Pratchett is; bugger off and read the Discworld series.