Black Dragon
Chapter 2 – Chains
Hey everyone!! Welcome to the second chapter of Black Dragon!! Thank you everyone for their reviews for chapter 1!! They were very much appreciated!!! Arigato minna-san!! Concerning this chapter title, it's actually a song!! Check 'The Vision of Escaflowne – lovers only' soundtrack… its track #10 (except I added a 's' to the word so it would make more sense…. Well I'll do the reviews after the story in the end so this way you can get on with the story!!! Enjoy!!!
Hitomi opened her eyes to the warm spring sunlight drifting into her room, lighting it up brightly. She rubbed her eyes before stretching and pulling her covers over her head again. She carefully opened her eyes and shut them again in the light. Suddenly she saw only white and then black feathers that slowly fell to the floor, tainting it scarlet.
Hitomi snapped open her eyes and pulled off the covers as she glanced around. What was that?? A vision?? I haven't had any of those since I left Gaea seven years ago…
She slipped into slippers as she groggily made her way to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker before making her way back to her room and into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, combing her hair, changed out of her pajamas and such. She walked into the living room of her apartment and pulled aside the curtains letting the sun spill through. Hitomi picked up her coffee as she strode out onto the balcony letting the wind ruffle her hair; she looked down at the city below her. She sadly leaned her elbows on the railing and gazed over Tokyo. She sighed, she lived on the 22nd floor and the view was crystal clear when there wasn't fog. She turned and made her way back into the living room; she stood at the doorway and examined her apartment.
Wood panels covered the floor and a soft couch sat comfortably in the corner staring into a TV. Her kitchen looked so techno; it had a stainless steel counter with multi-colored lights hanging from the ceiling reminding her of the bar across the street. This place was a jail…a cage from keeping her from spreading her wings. Tokyo was a nuisance…damn… all of the earth was a nuisance. She stared up at where Gaea should be and she longed to be with him… with the other half of her heart.
Damn… I'm so weak… Van… where are you? Hitomi sighed as she sunk into her couch. Free me Van… free me from this cage… Hitomi blinked and a single white feather drifted down but when it touched her outstretched hand it was tainted scarlet. Hitomi's eyes widened slightly as she blink again, but this time it was gone…
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes, your majesty… everything is ready the ritual is ready to commence… we only need you to signal the commencement, sire…"
"Good, I'll come right away; you may leave and tell the others... I shall be there shortly…"
"Yes, my lord…"
A dark figure clothed in all black arose from the throne, immediately a female servant came forth.
"This way my lord…"
The room was adorned in silk curtains of black and scarlet that fluttered in a nonexistent wind. The dark figure made his way quietly down the marble stairs to the center of the room that was submerged in dark water. A staff in hand, the woman came to stand next to him, she pulled the hood of the cloak over her head and chanted softly.
The man raised his hands as a black wind enveloped them and when it dissipated there was a long golden staff with a ruby in the center.
"I call upon the mighty powers of the dark one, the god of death come hear my calling… your realm calls upon your aid to assist your servants in the resurrecting of the black dragon… I beg you to hear my plea and appear before me!!" The man bellowed, his strong voice filled the vicinity and echoed through the stairway. The dark water slowly started to move, the man stepped back and onto the stairs pulling back his hood revealing one red eye and one gold…
"We ask you to appear to us now to make it known to the world of Gaea who is the ruler… to you we sacrifice our lives to your cause. I, Kiora, high priestess of the temple of Aistacia… call upon thy powers… come dark one… appear before us!!!" The female shouted as black waters rose to swirl around the priestess, dark leathery wings shot from her back ripping away the fabric of her priestess outfit. She was lifted from the waters and enveloped in black water.
Slowly from the water emerge a dark being whose large wings literally crushed the sides of the room. The being gazed solemnly at the people within the room, his dark scarlet eyes fierce and crimson hair was in a disheveled braid. He flexed his claws before bellowing in a deep voice that rand through the room causing the waters to tremble.
"Who is it that called me?"
The man and his subjects knelt before the dark being and the one clothed in black muttered.
"It is I, my lord that has called you here…"
"For what purpose?"
"I have found a way to resurrect the black dragon… you, from the other realm not in ethereal form but physically."
"Is that so? How is it to be done?" The being crossed his arms.
"We have found a girl with great power, one who has saved Gaea once before from the Mystic Moon… the Tsubasa no Kami…"
"The Wing Goddess?? You have found her?"
"Yes, my lord she inhabits the Mystic Moon, but we have found a way to call her here…"
The dark being looked on in deep silence as his browns were brought together in a frown. The man quivered.
"Do you not like my idea, my lord?"
"You called me forth from the ethereal realm to tell me this? Call me when you have the girl in hand so I can see with my own eyes rather than believing the words that come from your mouth." With that said, the being vanished in a flurry of black wind, the priestess hung in midair for a second longer before plummeting down into the dark waters. The man stood at the foot of the marble staircase his eyes unmoving from the spot where the great demon once was. He turned and his dark cloak whirled about him as he rushed up the stairs. Take this woman to her room and tend to her wounds, he gestured toward the priestess who was unconscious in the water.
"Tomorrow… we shall perform the ceremony…"
"But your majesty… Priestess Kiora can not be healed in time…"
"She will be healed before tomorrow, you see to that…"
The room was dimly lit in an eerie red hue, the smell of incense grew stronger by the minute and smoke clouded everyone's vision slightly stinging their eyes. A tall man strode to the center of the room, oblivious to all the smoke around him. He turned and his luminous eyes, one red and one gold set upon a girl that was swaying slightly as she stood behind him.
"Come forth Kiora…" he called out through the smoke.
"Yes… your majesty…" The girl staggered up beside him wincing in pain.
"Perform the ritual… Kiora…"
"Yes… your… majesty…" The priestess raised her arms into the air as she began to chant softly, a black staff appeared in her hands as black feathery wings burst from her back, she gasped as a spasm of pain coursed through her body.
"Oh god of death, please come aid me, I hereby summon the wing goddess through you, and may the chains of darkness devour her. May the blood I offer to you satisfy your longings, through this blood may she appear before us!!" The priestess' strong voice bellowed through the room as she quietly picked up a dagger made from bone and she silently made a gash on her hand. Blood came forth from the opened wound and spilled out onto a golden dragon whose red eyes then seemed to glow in hunger. As the blood engulfed the golden dragon and into a round basin a pillar of red light shot up into the sky through an opening in the ceiling. The priestess looked up hatefully toward the mystic moon as she grabbed a black cloth to ease the bleeding.
Hitomi leaned her elbow on the railings of her apartment as she gazed out over the city. The place was so artificial… at least Gaea had some green in it and the skies were crisp and clear… here you couldn't see the sky, it was covered so thick in smog. Hitomi sighed. She looked over into her little sanctuary where a calico cat was sleeping gently.
"Merle… you're so lazy…" Hitomi chuckled at the cat and tears formed in her eyes once again. She looked into the sky again.
What is wrong with me? I even miss Merle enough to cry… Hitomi smiled sadly again.
Where are you Van?
As she finished her thoughts she saw a black feather drift down towards her, her eyes widened in surprise as she nervously stretched out a hand to touch it. But as her fingers touched the small feather it disappeared into black dust and a pillar enveloped her in red light, Hitomi panicked at the sudden light-swallowing-thing.
Am I going back?? But wait… why is the light blood red?? What is going on??
Hitomi felt herself being lifted the sensation of being dragged up into the air. As she saw her apartment get smaller and smaller in a blur of red light, black and scarlet chains sprung from nowhere and bond around her, biting into her skin, Hitomi cried out in pain as the chains wrapped around her neck burning in her skin.
What the hell?? This is not how it's supposed to go!! It's supposed to be a nice tingling feeling!! Not me being bound by a thousand chains!! Hitomi struggled against the binds in a futile attempt. She gasped for air that was rapidly becoming an issue; she felt her consciousness slip as she fell into the darkness.
"Van…"
YAY!!!!! - Chapter 2 is finished!!! MWA HA HA HA HA!!! How did you like it everyone?? I hope it was good!! - Well lemme get on with the reviews!!!
Inda: Thank you for reviewing!!! - I hope you liked this chapter!!!!
ChibiHitomi: Yay!!! D thank you for your reviews!! They're much appreciated… I'm terribly sorry for all the cliffies… but aren't they just fun?? ::looks around:: maybe not… but suspense!! SUSPENSE!!! I don't like to see my reviews suffer, per say nor to I enjoy torturing them… it just ends up that way… wait I don't think that really answered anything but… oh-well… Also there shall be SOOO much Allen bashing in this story as well… ((if I could fit him in… he might just be a loner and not be in the story at all…)) - he he he… ::smacks Allen over the head with a cast iron skillet:: Thank you for the review!!! -
GaeaGoddess: Thank you for the review!!! - I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!
Lady Blade WarAngel: Thank you for reviewing!! YAY!!! -
Iceboltmage: Thank you for the review!! It was very much appreciated!!! ::squeals:: so glad you like it!!!
Once again thank you everyone for your reviews!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! Oh… and ::sighs:: now… err… PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! -
Tsubasa (LaVeNdErSaKuRa)
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne… but when I get really rich I'll buy the anime and then I'll make a sequel in which Hitomi does return to Gaea… YAY!!!