So sorry that it's, once again, late! XP although it's very late in my opinion this is my best chap yet! It's also, unfortunately, my last chap. :( But that doesn't stop you from enjoying it while it lasts!
Disclaimer:
LS enters the living room. Dilandau is sitting on the couch in front of the fire place; throwing in some papers and watching them burn.
LS: What are those?
Dilandau: Just some of you legal documents.
LS: No! That was the one that said "I own the rights to Escaflowne!"
Dilandau: You could always stick your hand in the fire and get them out!
LS: That's okay. I just remembered I have plenty of copies of it!
Dilandau: Oh, you mean these? (Throws the rest of the papers in the fire)
LS: Noooooooo! I don't own the rights to Escaflowne! (Sobs)
The Blood Stained Mind of a Blackened Heart: Ch 7 Eternal love
Episode 24
A pillar of light came down in a forest just outside of Asturia. A lone girl wandered through the forest, a pair of glowing red eyes watched her from the darkness. Soon the girl came across a familiar looking house.
Allen sat alone in a dark and almost empty sitting room. He had poured himself a glass of wine that he had no intent of drinking, his owl sat quietly on its perch next to the window.
"Father, I was ready to protect her… protect Hitomi… forever. But she left. For some reason, my heart is calm. I miss her now that she's left, of course. But I'm also happy that she's managed to return to her own world. Perhaps I… perhaps I just saw my sister Celena in Hitomi." Allen looked up to see his father sitting in the chair across from him. Then he faded.
"Father…"
The door creaked open and a young girl stood in the doorway.
"It can't be Celena!" Allen stood up and was about to walk over to Celena when something came crashing through the window. Allen fell to the ground, his owl fluttering madly around the room. He turned over and looked up to see a shadow demon looming over him. It was just as he had described. Pitch black skin and hair, fangs, claws and glowing red eyes.
The creature picked him up by the throat and raised its clawed hand ready to strike when Celena screeched. The creature's attention was immediately turned to her. It threw Allen aside and walked over to Celena. It stopped when it noticed what was around her neck. The creature reached out to it but before it cloud get close enough Allen had picked up a chair and smashed it over the creatures head and knocked it unconscious.
Kaomi opened her eyes. Her head was pounding and she was lying on the floor of a cell.
"Where am I?" Kaomi stood up and noticed Celena standing outside her cell. "Oh, it's you!"
Celena smiled, removed her necklace and handed it to Kaomi. "You wanted to see this."
It was Dilandau's dog tags. "Do you know what these are?"
Celena shook her head. Allen came down the cellar stairs. "Celena, what are you… Oh Kaomi, you're awake! I had a feeling you were the demon that broke into my home last night. Come along Celena." Allen turned and left up the cellar stairs. Celena turned to follow.
"Wait! Take this." Kaomi handed the dog tags back to Celena.
Celena smiled, put the necklace on and followed Allen up the stairs.
The sun set in the background as Celena knelt down at her mother's grave. Allen and Princess Eries stood behind her.
"So she really is Celena."
"Yes. It's been ten years, but I'd recognize my sister Celena anywhere. The poor thing doesn't remember where she's been all this time."
"She's lost her memory?"
A small white butterfly fluttered by Celena's face.
"Van is coming to pick up Kaomi later tonight. Princess Eries. Take care of my sister while I'm away fighting. You're the only one I can ask."
Celena's mouth twisted into a sinister smile and she crushed the small white butterfly.
"Very well. She's the sister of a knight Caeli. I'll take care of her at the palace."
Suddenly Celena let out an agonizing scream.
"Celena. Are you all right Celena!"
But the person at the grave was no longer Celena. Dilandau turned around. "Celena? Where am I? What am I doing here?"
"Are you a doppelganger?"
Dilandau screamed in frustration and confusion. "Jajuka! Jajuka! Jajuka!"
Jajuka threw back his guymelef's cloak to reveal himself.
"What? Princess Eries!" Allen stood in front of the princess to protect her.
"Lord Dilandau!"
"Jajuka!"
"Dilandau…? Wait, Dilandau!" But before Allen could continue Dilandau and Jajuka disappeared.
"Dilandau…" Folken turned to face Allen. "I'm sorry, but I don't know much about his past. But it seems certain that the sorcerers are behind him."
"Sorcerers!"
"Zaibach's scientists who answer only to Dornkirk himself. Rumor has it that, in order to change a person's fate, they performed experiments on live subjects. They used kidnapped children."
"They experimented on people! Celena… Celena, she's…"
"If you want more information you might want to ask Kaomi."
"Kaomi?"
"You might be surprisedabout what she knows."
Allen stumbled down the cellar stairs. Kaomi looked distracted and didn't seem to notice his noisy entrance.
"Kaomi! Kaomi,I need you to tell me everything you know about Dilandau's past!"
"I don't know anything about his past. He never talked about it."
"Think back! You must know something!"
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "That must be Van." Allen went up stairs and let Van in.
"I appreciate you coming over, Van."
"Well it's not like I had a choice. Besides you look a little shaken."
"You wouldn't believe the day I've had! I…" Allen was suddenly cut off by a loud scream.
"That sounded like it came from the cellar!"
"Kaomi!" Allen and Van hurried down the stairs.
Kaomi was on her knees, her hands clenched tightly around the bars, she was trembling, her face was pale and her eyes open wide.
"Don't take me away…" Kaomi let go of the bars and fell back onto the floor. Her eyes still open.
"Kaomi!" Van opened the cell door and went over to Kaomi. "She's not breathing!"
Kaomi stood in darkness. Everything around her was black. Then the black began to fade into cell walls but this was not the cell she was just in. There were no bars. It was all brick except for the bars on the very high up cell window and the window on the wooden door. In the middle of the room was a little blonde girl in a blue dress, crying.
Kaomi soon recognized the girl as herself. Eleven years ago. "Mother…, Father…, Folken…, Van… Where are you?"
"Don't cry!"
She looked up to see a little boy with silvery hair and firey red eyes standing next to her.
He helped her up. "I'm Dilandau and I'll protect you from those mean guards!"
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm Kaomi."
"You must really miss your family."
"Of course! Don't you?"
The young Dilandau walked over to the corner and sat down. "I don't know who my family is."
Kaomi followed him. "I'm sorry."
"I've lived here all my life!"
"Here in this cell?"
"Well, Jajuka takes me out to the garden sometimes."
The cell door creaked open.
"Jajuka!" Dilandau sprang to his feet and ran over to the dog man, grabbed his hand and brought him over to Kaomi. "This is Kaomi!"
Jajuka knelt down. "Hello Kaomi. I'm Jajuka and I'll be taking care of you."
"I want to go home!"
"I know you do and I wish you could but I can't let you go! I'll get in trouble if I do!" Jajuka held her hand and stood up. "How's about I show you the garden."
She nodded and followed him out the door.
Once again the walls faded and it was black. Kaomi then found herself standing in a room with a small field inside of it. The young Kaomi and Dilandau played as Jajuka sat and watched.
Meanwhile Van desperately tried to get Kaomi to breath. "Come on Kaomi! Breath! Breath!"
The young Kaomi and Dilandau now sat under a tree in the middle of the field.
"Dilandau, do you like me?"
"Well I…um…" His face turned red.
The young Kaomi smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I like you too!"
Kaomi stood up and began climbing the tree. "Race ya to the top!"
"Hey! No fair!"
This image faded to black and then back to the cell. Dilandau sat in the corner, alone, impatiently fiddling with things. The young albino was obviously waiting for something.
The door slammed open and Kaomi was thrown in. She landed on her side, got up on her knees and stared bewildered at her hands.
Dilandau stood up and walked over to Kaomi. He looked over her shoulder. "Kaomi?"
Her fingers were clawed and covered in blood. She was crying. "What have I done!"
Kaomi and Dilandau faded and reappeared in the corner, sleeping. It was early morning when the door creaked open. Two guards walked in. One whispered to the other. "Watch out, the boy's a biter!"
"He's not the one I'm worried about!"
One of the guards carefully picked up Kaomi but Dilandau was already awake.
The guard was halfway out the door when Dilandau got up, ran over and bit him on the leg.
"Arrrrgh! Get this brat off me!"
The other guard came over and started to pull Dilandau away. "Let her go!"
Kaomi was now awake she had her feet on the ground and was trying to get away. Dilandau grabbed her hand and they started down the hall but there were more guards coming from that way. Dilandau stopped, put her against the wall and used his own body to shield her. "I won't let you hurt her again!"
Two guards came, grabbed Dilandau and pulled him away. "I won't let you take her away!"
A man in a black cloak came through the small crowd of guards. "Come now." He placed his hands on Kaomi's shoulders and began to lead her away.
"Kaomi!"
Kaomi began to struggle. "Don't take me away! I don't want to go!"
The cloaked man held onto Kaomi by one hand then pulled her back in front of him. He held Kaomi's arms close to her sides and they continued walking.
Kaomi turned her head to look over her shoulder at Dilandau. "I'll never forget you!"
Van stopped pumping Kaomi's chest. He was too weak to go on. Van, Out of breath and drenched in sweat, wrapped his arms around Kaomi. "I'm sorry, Kaomi! I'm sorry! You're not a monster! You're my sister and I love you!"
Kaomi stood in the now empty hall. She could hear a faint voice. "Van!" Kaomi looked up and everything turned black.
Kaomi took a deep breath and began to cough.
"Kaomi, you're alive!"
Kaomi looked up at Van and wrapped her arms around him.
Kaomi awoke the next morning in an unfamiliar room. She must have fallen asleep on the ride back to the palace. Kaomi was about to get out of bed when Princess Millerna burst into the room holding an extravagant dress.
"Good morning! I just thought you might want to have something decent to wear."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Princess Millerna Aston." Millerna placed the dress on the end of the bed.
"Where's Van?"
"He left last night after he dropped you off. He didn't say where he was going."
"Oh. Well, thank you."
"You're welcome." Millerna left the room.
Kaomi changed and opened the curtains. The sun had only started to rise making the sky a collage of reds and oranges. It was a beautiful site but something was missing. Kaomi sat by the window and looked out at the sky. Possibly waiting for something or someone.
A beam of light came down on the battle field bringing with it Van and Hitomi… "No doubt about it… this is Gaea." Only to find them selves surrounded by death and destruction. "What…?"
Episode 25
"It's humiliating… we just couldn't hold in the face of Zaibach's military might… still we must hold this position. We have to hold the line until the alliance's main force arrives. We solders of Ceserio will gladly lay down our lives. However our remaining soldiers are few. If we had the aid of the king of Fanelia, pilot the Ispano guymelef it would surely bolster the troops' morale. Please, see fit to aid us!"
"We'll fight side by side. I, Van Fanel, will lead them onto the battlefield."
"We thank you!"
Suddenly a soldier came running out of one of the tents and over to Van. "Lord Van, there's a message for you from Asturia!" The solider handed Van the paper.
Van's eyes scanned across the page. Van slowly lowered the paper then walked over to one of the soldiers. "I have one favor to ask: take her safely back to Asturia." Van pointed to Hitomi as he said this.
"Very well, a ship will be made ready at once."
"Van, what was the message?"
"It was from Allen. Kaomi has disappeared."
"Van, let me come with you!"
"No. I have a feeling this is my doing."
"Then let me stay here and wait for your return! I might be able to help, Van."
"I know, if you stayed, I'd rely on you. I don't want to use your power for war."
"Van…"
Van watched Hitomi leave then left for Asturia himself.
Van flew over Asturia and the surrounding forest looking for his lost sister. Van had almost searched the whole forest when he spotted someone. Van flew lower, it was Kaomi all right. Van landed Escaflowne in the forest, almost knocking over some of the surrounding trees and ran over to Kaomi.
"Kaomi, what are you doing?"
"Van, this life is certainly luxurious but it's not what I want. I don't want to sit around in a dusty old palace watching other people live their lives! I want adventure, I want excitement, I want the thrill of battle, I want…"
"You're going back to him aren't you!"
"Van, please try to understand. I love him and I couldn't leave him for the world!"
"Kaomi, you're not meant for battle! You're a princess! You're what little family I have left and I wont loose you again especially not to a mad man!"
"How dare you! I may have been born a princess but I was raised a fighter and if that means fighting my own flesh and blood then so be it! It's obvious that Dilandau knows me better that you ever will!"
"Then why isn't he here now?"
Kaomi scowled at Van then turned to leave but before she did leave an invisibility cloak was removed and a red guymelef appeared in front of her. Kaomi looked back at Van with a smug little smile on her face, jumped onto Dilandau's guymelef…
"Kaomi, wait!"
And vanished.
Later, Folken and Hitomi stood in front of a huge machine in Folken's lab.
"You want to help Van?"
"Folken, tell me how to create a pillar of light and go to Zaibach! I'll go see Dornkirk and ask him to stop all this fighting."
"He won't listen. Besides, if you're put in danger it would hurt Van. I should be the one to go to Dornkirk. A wave in tune with the fate alteration engine should be able to direct the pillar of light." Folken looked up at the enormous machine. "That is why I recovered this device from the Vione, I will settle this myself."
"Folken…" Hitomi suddenly had a vision of Folken's death. "No…If he goes to see Dornkirk, he'll die!"
Meanwhile, Dilandau sat in his tent deep in thought. Almost mesmerized.
"Lord Dilandau?" Kaomi's sweet voice brought Dilandau back to reality. "I wish to fight in this battle."
Dilandau stood up. "Are you sure? You know it is entirely your choice?"
"I know that's why I choose to fight…" Kaomi held Dilandau's hand. "By your side."
"Kaomi, how did a beautiful young women like yourself end up with someone like me?"
"Fate…I guess."
"It just felt so sudden. It was out of no where. Like… like…"
"Like you've loved me all your life!"
"Yes!"
"That's because you have! Dilandau, while I was in Allen's cellar I had a vision…"
Over a period of about ten minuets Kaomi described what she had seen in her vision.
"So Dornkirk is responsible for this."
Just then Jajuka came into the tent. "Lord Dilandau. We've been ordered to go with the 32nd division to Galfo."
"Really. It's been a while since we had a great battle… this'll be fun."
The battle raged on into the night with fire, death and destruction around every corner!
Meanwhile, at the palace Hitomi could sense the anger and fury of the battle. "Van…" Hitomi heard her door open and looked back. "Merle?" Merle was sitting on Hitomi's bed and was in tears.
"What's wrong, Merle?"
"Can I stay here? I'm scared! I feel like Lord Van's never coming back! I'm really scared!"
"Believe in him. Van's gonna come back. Right, Merle?"
Back on the battle field one of Asturia's ships dropped their ultimate weapon!
"They actually used it!"
The battle field lit up as everything even rock and metal was either melted or blown away!
The explosion could be seen on the horizon of Asturia and was coming dangerously close to the crusade crew! "Sarge! It's gone off!"
"Kio, get us behind the mountains!"
"Yes sir!"
The bright light faded and Van stood at the edge of the smoking crater. "What happened? There's nothing left…"
Suddenly one of the few remaining Zaibach soldiers leapt from the crater. "Demons! Are you trying to wipe out Zaibach!"
Van struck down the soldier in a single blow.
"Curse you! Curse you all!"
"No, I…"
"Vans… Van's hurting. I have to end the fighting!" Hitomi stood up out of her bed. "Van's hurting!"
"Hitomi!"
Hitomi hurried into Folkens lab. "Folken! Van's hurting I… I want to help him."
Folken smiled. "I knew you'd come."
The sun was just beginning to rise over the hills of the battle field as the war continued, Allen struck down his opponent. "Where's the red guymelef?"
A beam of light came down onto Zaibachs palace. The beam went unnoticed by most of the busy soldiers.
Dilandau and Kaomi walked up to their guymelefs. Dilandau scurried up his Oreades and inside, Kaomi hesitated as if something wasn't right.
"Kaomi?"
Kaomi climbed up and got inside her new Oreades, ready to fight.
Meanwhile in Zaibach palace, "You've come to kill me, correct? Come, kill me. I am the only one here." Dornkirk removed the cloaks protecting the upper half of his body.
Folken drew his sword.
"Folken!"
"Come Folken!"
"Monster!" Folken flew up onto the huge machine which was keeping Dornkirk alive.
"Folken! No!"
Folken sliced into Dornkirks flesh, killing him but in the process his sword hit the side of the machine. Part of the blade broke off and plunged itself deep into Folkens chest. "I see. This is the heart of the fate alteration, where action and reaction are at their most powerful. But the war will end now. May Gaea find true peace…" Folken fell back off the huge Machine and came crashing down on the cold hard concrete floor. "Van…"
"Folken!" Shrieked Hitomi.
At this moment Kaomi felt her thoughts go numb.
Another soldier came up behind her and raised his sword but before he could strike her Jajuka came in to defend her. "Kaomi!"
Kaomi didn't hear him. She wasn't even aware that he had just saved her life. All that she could think about was her brother. "Folken…" She knew, without a doubt that something awful had just taken place. A long forgotten memory, of Folken, from her childhood flashed before her eyes. They were in the market in Fanelia. It was such a happy memory. Kaomi now knew what had happened… "Folken… Folken!"
As Van continued fighting he too felt something was terribly wrong. The soldier Van was fighting fell to the ground. "Brother!" Like Kaomi, Van had brief joyful memory of Folken. "Brother… Brother!"
Episode 26
Emotions ran thick as different cities that formed the alliance were now attacking each other. The war had turned into a free for all.
Kaomi heard Vans scream and turned the corner. There was Van, standing in the middle of the field. Anger and hatred rose within her, she formed a crima blade and began walking towards Van.
"Kaomi! Kaomi, I won't fight you! You're my sister and won't harm you!"
Kaomi stopped. "Well then if you won't fight me… you'll fight a monster!" Her eyes were already glowing red as her entire body turned an unnatural black. She grew fangs and her nails grew into claws. An eerie dark mist surrounded Kaomi's Oreades. "Let's go!" Kaomi charged towards Van with such speed and agility that he was almost thrown completely off guard.
The battle intensified, with each swing of her sword Van could feel his guymelef get pushed back ever so slightly. Van was defending himself by blocking but refused to attack Kaomi.
"Fight back, damn it!"
"I won't harm you!" Finally Van lunged forward and pierced through her Oreades energist chamber, immobilizing it. Van threw her (As gently as possible.) into a near by cliff side. "Are you okay?"
"Van, you cad! When I get my hands on you I'll tear you limb from limb!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
"I've lost sight of lord Dilandau…" said Jajuka as he scanned the area. "I must find him!"
As Van was defending himself against other alliance members Dilandau burst through one of them.
"The red guymelef…"
"I finally found you. I've been looking for you for a long time, Van!"
"Dilandau!"
"Let's do it!" Dilandau fired his crima claws. Van charged towards him as he dodged and blocked the crima claws.
"Nice!" Dilandau swung at Van but Van caught his sword on Dilandau's arm then sliced it off. Dilandau stumbled back slightly before Van sliced off one off his legs, causing him to fall back into the cliff side.
Kaomi scrambled to get out of her Oreades. "Van; if you so much as touch him I'll…I'll…"
Dilandau, once again, fired his crima claws. Van evaded them easily and raised his sword to make his final blow.
"Van, no!" shrieked Kaomi.
Van swung his sword but it was not Dilandau he hit. It was Jajauka, who used himself as a human shield.
"Jajuka!"
"Lord Dilandau! Please, get away! It's all right! It's all right to change back to Celena! Back to that gentle Celena!" Jajuka's guymelef erupted in flames and collapsed to the ground.
"Jajauka…!" Both Dilandau and Kaomi once again felt the pain of loss. Both of them remembered fond memories of a good friend that had stuck by them for years.
The black drained from Kaomi's skin and Dilandau felt his insides turn and his thoughts of hate vanished. "Don't leave me…alone."
With nothing in his way Van charged towards Dilandau. "Now to end this!"
But before Van could finish he was stopped, this time by Allen.
"Allen?"
"Stop, Van! Put away your sword!"
"That guy's obsessed with fighting! By killing him I'm yanking out the source of evil on Gaea by the roots!"
"You're wrong! You won't end people's hatred just by striking down Dilandau!"
"What…? My country was destroyed! How can you understand my grief!"
"You'll have to go through me, Dilandau is my sister!"
"Allen, have you gone crazy!"
"Her crimes are my crimes, even if she was controlled by Zaibach's black magic! Don't hold back! Strike at me! Face me, Van Fanel! I, Allen Schezar, knight caeli, will fight you to the best of my ability!"
Allen and Van began to fight. "You've gotten surprisingly better… I'm glad, Van!"
"You're good… I know you'd be, Allen!"
"I can't believe how good a pilot you've become… you remind me of Balgus!"
"I want to beat him!"
Hitomi and the spirit of Dornkirk could see everything that was going on and were incapable of doing anything about it. "Those youths seem so happy. Their wishes have been granted here in the zone of absolute fortune." proclaimed Dornkirk's spirit.
As Van and Allen continued fighting Kaomi stumbled out of her guymelef. Celena removed the crown from her head and let it slip out of her fingers and onto the ground. Kaomi picked the delicate headgear off the ground and looked up at the young girl dressed in her masters clothing. Something in her memory clicked.
Celena's gaze was locked on to her brother when finally… "Brother…?" Somehow she recognized the knight. "Brother!"
Van and Allen simultaneously stopped fighting and looked down as Kaomi spread her wings, grabbed Celena and proceeded to fly to Zaibach palace. "Brother!"
"Celena!"
Van put his sword away, transformed Escaflowne and flew after them.
Hitomi stood in the palace alone while outside dark clouds gathered in the sky and lightning crashed. Suddenly the fate altering machine started to crack. "Van!"
Kaomi crashed through the machine and flew down one of the corridors, still holding Celena.
Hitomi stood looking down the corridor, still slightly shaken, for a few minuets before Van flew Escaflowne down through the machine. "Hitomi, thank goodness you're okay! Where'd Kaomi go?"
"Somewhere down there." Hitomi pointed down the corridor that Kaomi had just previously flown through.
Hitomi followed Van until they came to another large room that was hidden behind a small door. By the looks of the remains of the broken down door, it had also been locked up pretty tightly. Inside the huge room was a machine similar to that of the fate altering machine. Below it was a platform which looked like it once had something bolted to it.
Nearby Kaomi, still holding onto Celena, was tinkering with one of the many computers.
"Kaomi, what are you doing? We need to get out of here!"
"Van, you know how I was spliced with a demon? Well the same thing happened to Dilandau and Celena! It was done with this machine. Now if I could only find a way to reverse it…"
"We don't have time for that!"
"We've got plenty of time. Now all I need is some of Dilandau's DNA… that's it!" Kaomi reached into her pocket and pulled out a few silvery strands of hair.
"Where'd you get that?"
"I picked it up after you sliced Dilandau's face. Here you go!" Kaomi handed the hairs to Celena and put her in the middle of the platform. "You hold onto those and don't move!"
Celena nodded.
"Now all I need is an energist…" said kaomi as she looked up at the huge machine.
"We could use Escaflowne's."
"No… not powerful enough, plus your blood probably contaminated it. I'll… I'll have to use my own."
"Your own, what do you mean, Kaomi?"
"Shadow demons have energists, like dragons, only ours are much more powerful. This will, of course, be extremely dangerous."
"You can't!"
"I live and die to serve." Kaomi spread her wings and flew into a small opening at the top of the machine. Inside was a platform and on it was a pedestal for holding the energist. As soon as she flew down on the platform the machine lit up. It grew brighter and suddenly a bolt of purple light came down from the machine and onto the platform that Celena was standing on. The bolt was so bright that Van and Hitomi had to cover their eyes and turn away so that they wouldn't go blind.
Hitomi ran over to the platform after the bolt was gone. There were now two bodies lying on it. Dilandau was in his uniform and Kaomi had conveniently left a blanket on one of the computers for Celena.
The machine cracked, Kaomi came crashing through it and plummeted to the ground. Dilandau stood up but, still a little weak, stumbled to the ground and broke Kaomis' fall
"Come on let's go!"
Dilandau picked up Kaomi and followed Van to Escaflowne. Dilandau still despised Van but he also wanted to leave Zaibach as fast as possible.
Dilandau, Kaomi, Van, Hitomi and Celena rode back on Escaflowne. Allen was anxiously waiting, on the battle field, for their arrival. "Celena!" Allen held his long lost sister in his arms. "But wait Dilandau and Celena, I thought…"
"It's a long story, Allen!"
"Well the war's coming to a close so I see no need for us to stay but…"
"But what?"
"What about Dilandau?"
Van looked over at his sister, still unconscious in Dilandau's arms. "He'll come back with me to Fanelia."
"What will I tell the king? He's a criminal and Asturia wants him dead!"
"Well then tell them what they want. Tell them he died in the war."
"What about Fanelia? I'm sure they won't want the man who destroyed their city living with them?"
"Who says they have to know it was him? All they know is that it was Zaibach."
"Are you sure this is what you want, Van?"
"It's not about what I want. It's about what Kaomi needs and Kaomi needs him. Besides I would hate myself if I don't do this for her."
Van, Kaomi, Dilandau, Hitomi and Merle arrived in Fanelia along with most of Fanelia's old residence.
Van stood at what was once the front gate. "Well let's start building!" Van was about to enter along with the rest of the town when he noticed Kaomi and Dilandau back sitting in the field outside of Fanelia.
"Van, come see this!"
Van walked over and smiled when he saw what it was that Kaomi and Dilandau were looking at. It was a tiny little sprout with a violet rose bud at the end, surrounded by a couple of blades of grass.
Years past, the city of Fanelia had been rebuilt and Dilandau built his own city, far away from Fanelia, for his new bride and queen. Hitomi had gone back to earth soon after the war, but she remained in Van's thoughts. Dilandau and Van's relationship improved slightly but were still nowhere close to being friends. Kaomi on the other hand managed to make friends with Allen, Merle and even the shy Celena. Unfortunately two years later Kaomi fell ill from the experimentations that were preformed on her. After a month of bed rest she died, leaving behind her two year old son.
Three years later, a small boy, only about the age of five, knelt down in front of headstone his family cemetery. The boy had silvery hair and dark blue eyes. "Hello mother. I hope you are well where you are. Father says you are in a better place, that makes me happy, but I miss you! Father misses you; he talks about you all the time! I don't remember much about you, but father says you were smart and strong and pretty! The city is getting bigger every day! Someday, when I'm bigger, I'll be the duke! I can't wait! … Father's calling me. Goodbye, mother! Oh and these are for you!" The boy placed a small bundle of roses at the foot of the headstone before turning around slowly and finally… leaving.
LS: If you're reading this, thank you! I appreciate you reading and I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I did writing it for you! I poured my heart and soul into this fanfic; I hope you give it a good review and that you keep reading my work:D
(Hopefully) Coming soon: Escaflowne jr.: Jajuka finds an old photo album, while looking for his squeaky toy, and reminisces with the Dragon slayers about the good old days, when they were only five but still managed to get their butts whooped by "The hero" Van!
