Disclaimer: Tenkuu no Escaflowne is property of Bandai and Sunrise, all rights reserved. I am in no way affiliated with these companies, or any legal proceedings concerning Tenkuu no Escaflowne. This story has been written purely out of enjoyment, and is not intended to make a profit, steal ideas, or offend anybody. Any similarities between my work and anyone else's is purely coincidental. "Behind Blue Eyes" song lyrics are property of Limp Bizkit, all rights reserved.

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"Anywhere" -- Chapter 4: Behind Blue Eyes

By The Last Princess of Hyrule

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"No one knows what it's like,
To be mistreated,
To be defeated,
Behind blue eyes,
No one knows how to say,
That they're sorry,
And don't worry,
I'm not telling lies . . ."
-Limp Bizkit, "Behind Blue Eyes"

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"Hitomi!" Folken called. "Look down there!" He pointed to the right.

The sun was setting on the left, and Hitomi had no trouble seeing the city spread out across the open land beneath them. They were far away from the forested Floresta Mountains, borne by an eastern wind current. Hitomi had consulted her pendant three times since they took off that afternoon, and each time it had indicated that they were traveling in the right direction.

"What is that?" she shouted, trying to carry her voice over the rushing air.

"It's Tenue, the capitol of Egzardia, I'm sure of it. See that palace?" He tried to show her where to look, but Hitomi had no trouble spotting it. From overhead, she saw that it was in the shape of a giant crescent moon, with a copper roof ablaze in the sunset. "It's the only one like it on all Gaea, and only found in Tenue. That's where we must be."

What a strange looking place, Hitomi mused. She wondered for a moment what kind of bizarre architect would think to design a palace in the shape of a moon.

"Do you want to stop here?" Folken asked. He pulled the left cord a little, and the Escaflowne circled above Tenue in a wide loop.

Hitomi took off her pendant and swung it, holding the chain so tightly to keep it from blowing away that her knuckles turned white. The stone pointed against the rushing wind directly at the moon palace.

"Yes, let's go!" she yelled.

Folken banked sharper left, and the Dragon descended. This time, however, the gradual descent was not upsetting at all, and they landed gently in an upright position.

Hitomi grabbed her bag and leapt to the ground. They had landed near a dirt road a mile or so outside the city to avoid confrontation. A white, dragon-shaped guymelef was one of those things that made people look twice.

But where to hide such a huge guymelef? Hitomi looked around. Though there weren't any unusually large windmills outside Tenue like there were outside Palas, there was a large barn. "Can you hide Escaflowne in there?" She pointed out the location to Folken.

He nodded in agreement. The Dragon returned to its original guymelef shape, and headed toward the barn. Hitomi ran after it. The barn was almost completely empty, save for a lot of straw and pigeon droppings--the perfect hiding place except for one thing.

Hitomi looked dubiously at the Escaflowne, then at the barn ceiling. "I don't think it's going to fit!" she yelled up to Folken. "The roof's too low!"

"It'll fit!" called Folken. The Escaflowne bent into a crouch, and Folken maneuvered it carefully inside. The guymelef fit perfectly into the barn, and Folken hadn't even dented the doorway. He climbed out of the cockpit and left the barn with a satisfied smirk.

Hitomi scowled gamely for a moment, but then remembered something. "Wait, shouldn't you take the energist out?"

Folken, who was already on the road, stopped and turned back to her. "Why?"

"If someone comes by and tries to steal Escaflowne, wouldn't it be better if the energist wasn't there to power it?"

"No one without the right blood will even be able to open Escaflowne, much less pilot it," Folken explained. "Van and I are the only ones left." Hitomi caught up with him, and they started walking down the road toward the city. "Even if Van knows Escaflowne is gone by now, he won't be searching for it in Egzardia. He'll think I took it to Zaibach."

"Isn't that bad?" asked Hitomi.

"Only if he tries to go to Zaibach to look for it."

"Will he?"

"I doubt it. Van may be hot-headed and rash sometimes, but he isn't that stupid."

Hitomi bit her lip, her eyes traveling up the road to a small stone cottage that seemed to mark the outskirts of the city. "So, if no one can steal Escaflowne anyway, why should you have to hide it?"

"You don't want to attract attention, do you?"

"Oh. Good point."

For a couple minutes they walked in silence, until they reached the stone house. That was about when Hitomi noticed she was walking alone. She stopped and looked back. Folken was standing off the road in the house's shadow.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked, walking back to him feeling slightly confused.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"If you want to remain unnoticed, it wouldn't be good for you to be seen with me," said Folken. "Zaibach has always been very involved with Egzardia, and I've been to Tenue several times to meet with King Ezara."

His gaze traveled from her to the road leading out behind her. "Besides, now that you're here, you shouldn't need my help anymore. Egzardia has very different ideas about fashion and dress than most of Gaea. You should have no trouble blending in, as long as you don't tell anyone who you are."

Hitomi frowned, and a little worry crease appeared on her forehead. The thought of being alone in a strange place was suddenly very frightening. It was a feeling she hadn't stopped to consider much on her way out of the palace the night before, but now it was quite disconcerting.

"What will you do then?" she asked. "If you don't come with me, I mean."

Folken shrugged. "I don't know exactly, but I'll find something."

Find something, something to make him stay so I won't be alone. The thought popped into Hitomi's mind before she realized it, but the more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded. She looked over her shoulder at the place where the road crested the hill leading down into the city sprawl. Maybe what I'm looking for is somewhere in there.

"Wait right here," she said. "I'll be right back, I promise." Without waiting for his response, Hitomi turned and ran up the path into the city.

The first thing she noticed as she reached the top of the hill was that Tenue looked a lot like Palas. The streets were paved with snug-fitting stones, and lined on either side by shops and houses made of clean white plaster. Even here, so far outside the city's center, the streets were active, filled with merchants and stalls. Decorative flags, colorful awnings, and bright draperies covered everything in sight.

It was the people, however, that had the greatest impact on Hitomi. It wasn't so much the people themselves that shocked her, but their clothes. Walking into Tenue was like walking into a fashion exposé; there were so many people in so many strange styles. Men in colorful tunics and robes, women in men's trousers and short skirts like Hitomi's. They walked around without seeming to notice that what they wore wasn't seen anywhere else on Gaea.

As she got used to her surroundings, Hitomi started browsing through the stalls filled with everything from food, to herbs, to clothes, and even children's toys. She walked several feet past a stand stocked with traveling cloaks when it hit her.

Wait . . . that's it! She pivoted around and hurried back.

"Welcome," called the stall owner, who was preoccupied with other customers and didn't turn around. "Try on whatever you like. I'll be with you in a minute."

Hitomi looked up at the cloaks, which were hanging in rows on several racks above her. There was a wide variety of styles, ranging from a simple traveler's cloak to an ostentatious red one, which was likely to be bought by a wealthy noble with no fashion sense. Hitomi picked through the cloaks with the expertise of a girl who had spent a lot of time in the clothing section of the Shibuya shopping district near her home.

When the other customers left, the merchant turned back to Hitomi, who was already holding a black cloak out at arm's reach to examine its length. He was a short, round-faced man who wore a hideous plumed hat, and as odd as it seemed, he had a knack for fashion.

"That's a fine one," he commented, "but it looks like it might be too big for you. Here, let me help you find a smaller size." He reached out to take the cloak, but Hitomi held it away.

"No, thank you, but I think I like this one."

"All right, then are you sure you want that color? I believe there's an earthen green in here somewhere that would look wonderful with those clothes you're wearing."

"No, I'll keep the black one." Suddenly conscious of her appearance, Hitomi looked down at her school uniform, then back at the merchant. "Is there something wrong with my clothes?" she asked, biting her lip. After what she'd seen, she had hoped they wouldn't stand out so much among the odd styles in Tenue.

"Oh no, no, no," he assured her, waving his hands in self-defense. "They're lovely. I've just never seen anything like them before. Where did you get them?"

"Uh, new style in Palas," Hitomi lied hastily, feeling her cheeks grow warm. "Very new.

"Ah," said the merchant. Hitomi could tell he was impressed. "So they've finally started to loosen their old conservative ways, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." She decided to change the subject. "So, how much for this?" She held the cloak up to the counter for the merchant to inspect.

"Normally I charge forty gidaru for something of that quality, but for you I'll make it thirty-five." He smiled.

"Why?"

"For telling me about your clothes. That was a very nice thing, it was. Most people hate it when I ask."

"No, no," said Hitomi. "But I don't think I have that much money." More to the point, she didn't have any money, save for a few hundred yen left in her bag from lunch at school one day, which did her no good. Even if she somehow figured out how many yen to the gidaru or vice versa, she would never be able to convince the stall owner to take the money without him becoming suspicious. And it had never occurred to her to ask Folken for money.

"If you don't have any money, I can't sell you that cloak," he said.

"Could I give you something else for it?" Hitomi asked, starting to feel desperate.

"Well, what do you have? I'm willing to trade, as long as you have something worth the price."

Hitomi unzipped her duffle bag and dumped its contents onto the counter. A mass of schoolbooks, class notes, and other junk spilled out. The merchant's eyes went wide.

"What is all this?" he asked in astonishment.

"It's all I have. Please tell me if any of that is worth that," she said, indicating first to her junk, then at the cloak.

He started rummaging through her things. The merchant pushed aside the books and notes without notice, but examined her other belongings with interest. "What's this?" he asked, picking up her pager.

"It's, uh, a pager."

He gave her a confused look.

"You, um, you wear it," Hitomi tried to lie. "It's like a pendant. See, you loop a chain through this hole"--she pointed to the key ring--"and it's a necklace."

"What do all these buttons do?" He pressed one.

Immediately, the pager started beeping loudly, catching the attention of everyone within several feet of the stall. Hitomi swiped it out of his hands and turned it off before it caused a major commotion.

"What was that?"

"Umm . . . it's, uh . . . magic."

"Magic?"

"Yeah. If you press that button, it makes noise."

"What's the point?"

"It, ah, drives away evil spirits."

The merchant looked thoughtful. "Really? How useful."

Hitomi somehow managed not to sigh with relief.

"Well, I think those clothes there," he said, indicating her track uniform, "and this, ah, 'pager' are worth the cloak."

Hitomi felt a sudden pang of regret at thought of losing her uniform. "Isn't there something else you can take beside this?" She scooped her track clothes back toward her.

"You don't have much here," said the merchant. "These clothes are a mess, and they're hardly worth anything to begin with. A magic pendant that drives away spirits is useful, but you could probably buy a nicer one somewhere else for fifteen gidaru. I'm actually making you a good bargain."

Hitomi sighed. He was probably right. The next stand owner with the right cloak might not be willing to barter for her things. This was probably her best, not to mention only, chance to get what she needed.

"All right." She held out her hand. "It's a deal."

The merchant's face brightened as he took her hand and shook it enthusiastically. "Very nice doing business with you, my lady. Very nice indeed." He folded her track clothes, gently placing them and the pager behind the counter as Hitomi scooped the rest of her things back into her bag. "And a good evening to you."

Hitomi forced a smile as she picked up the cloak and left. She felt almost guilty about giving up her pager and clothes. They were some of the only things she had left to remind her of home. As she walked out of Tenue lost in melancholy memories, she didn't hear the rampant whispers around her.

"I hear the king finally signed an alliance with Asturia."

"This afternoon, I know."

"Does this mean we're going to war?"

"They say the prince plans to lead one of the armies to the battle front."

"He's so young. It must be devastating for the king."

"I'll pray for their safe return."

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When Hitomi arrived back at the stone cottage at the edge of town, she found that Folken was still there, sitting in the shadows against the wall, his head bent forward. The sad thoughts vanished from her mind as she hurried over to him, finding when she reached him that he was asleep.

"Folken, wake up." Hitomi knelt down beside him.

"Mmm . . ." He stirred, slowly opening his eyes and focusing on her. "Hitomi . . ." he said incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"I said I'd be back. Here." She handed him the cloak. "This is for you."

"What is it?" Folken stood up and unfolded it.

"It's so you can come with me," said Hitomi, getting to her feet. "If you still want to, that is."

He studied her for a minute. "How did you get this?"

"I bought it from a merchant in Tenue. I didn't have any money, so I traded him my pager and track clothes." Her eyebrows knitted together. "Why? Is something wrong with it?"

Folken swung it over his shoulders and fastened it in front. It was a perfect fit; she had gauged his size well. "It's Fanelian."

Hitomi was still puzzled. "What's so great about that?"

Folken pulled the hood over his head. "Can't you tell?"

"Tell what? Am I supposed to be seeing something special here? It just looks like a regular old cloak to me."

"If you met someone wearing this kind of cloak, you shouldn't be able to see who was truly beneath it--only what they wanted you to see."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's working? I still see you."

Folken didn't answer.

Hitomi shrugged. "Well, it still disguises you enough so that no one will recognize you, so let's go."

Together, they followed the path into Tenue. Hitomi hummed an unfamiliar tune as she walked, looking much more relaxed, but Folken's thoughts filled with worry. A person with a Fanelian cloak could use its power to project a selected image from his mind to mask himself, causing everyone who saw him to see that image instead. Hitomi should have seen Van, the image Folken had been projecting, instead of himself.

Like all magical items, it had an exception: a person in tune with the wearer's heart could see through the masking image. If Hitomi is . . . Folken pushed the thought out of his mind before it had fully formed. Hitomi couldn't be that person, because for him, such a person didn't exist.

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"So by the morning's light,
We'll be halfway to anywhere,
Where love is more than just your name . . ."
-Evanescence, "Anywhere"

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TO BE CONTINUED . . .

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Notes: Gidaru, according to the Escaflowne Compendium at , is what the currency of Gaea is called.