VII. The God of War

It's plain

The half-dead dragon was her thought,

That every morning rose again

And dug its claws and shrieked and fought.

W.B. Yeats

Valorick and Endymion descended the Blue Mountains with weary steps. Memories of a love brought moribund potentials that might soon manifest in the world. Without returning to the palace for breakfast, the two boys headed straight to the Nerya Caves.

Meandering their way through the dark tunnels, they entered their secret guymelef storehouse, and once again unveiled Escavlon, the reincarnation of Escaflowne. Valorick ran his hands across the steel exterior of the colossus. "I know Escavlon will be great. When I remembered Persephone, it was almost as if I could sense Escavlon as well, which means that it will play a part in the future. Our efforts have not been in vain."

"Try not to think so much about it, Val. We know very little about Persephone, it's best to be cautious, I'm certain your parents would say the same."

"Of course they would. They'd even oppose it, like they would oppose Escavlon." He sighed.

"Not necessarily. There may come a time when a god of war, such as Escaflowne was, will be needed again. Here," Endymion handed a piece of paper to Valorick. "This is a picture of 'The Eye of the Dragon'."

Valorick was enlivened by the depiction of a resplendent, crimson jewel that once beat inside the breast of a legendary dragon. "This….this is the energist your father talked about. But isn't it housed in the temple of Ara protected by the warriors of Cesario?"

Endymion then brought out another sheet, with a map on it. "There, Ara, the Eye of the Dragon," he pointed to a dot that is situated exactly where an eye would be on the dragon-shaped continent of Valasia.

"What do you plan to do with this map?" Valorick suddenly jolted. "Endy, you don't mean to go there and steal the energist?"

Endymion calmly folded the sheets and secured them in his pocket. "Val, there are certain necessities that require great risk and sacrifice, surely you must know that. I can't explain it to you, but please believe me that this is necessary. That energist is the soul of Escavlon, I know it. Without it, Escavlon will not be able to fulfill its greatest potentials, and if Escavlon does not come alive, who knows what would become of our future. My father would agree."

"Do you mean to say that danger is imminent?" Valorick pulled a cover over the guymelef. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Ever since Aleph, and Persephone's appearance, we've all sensed that something is coming. And that deathliness I felt when I remembered her….that's as much a part of the future as it was a part of the past."

"So you see, Val, we have to do this. I will go alone, so it does not arouse as much suspicion, I will ride to Cesario and take the energist from the temple!"

Valorick rushed up to Endymion and seized him by the shoulders. "I won't allow you to do that! It's too dangerous, Endy, you will never outfight the warriors of Cesario! We have to let our parents know!"

"No!" Endymion pushed away Valorick's hands. "For once, I will be daring, Val. I have to be, for everyone's sake. You have to let me go! I believe that my purpose is just, and for that reason, I will gain the energist without being harmed."

Valorick relented a little, "I'll think about it." He stood up and ran his hands along the rugged surface of the diamond chamber. "Why is it that nothing good in our lives lasts as long as these diamonds?

…………………………………………………

After the sudden deluge that irrigated the arid lands of Fanelia, the heat returned again. Trains of silk curtains waved by the open palace windows, so that from afar, it looked as if the whole castle has grown wings and were ready to take flight.

After breakfast, Van walked Allen to the leviship that was departing for Palas. The two friends stood in solemn concern for each other's safety. Allen handed his bags to Gaddes, and turned to Van. "I'm worried, Van. I feel as if there's something foul in the air. We've been in battles so many times, so we cannot take such intuitions lightly."

"I know. I had not expected it to happen so soon. A part of me wanted to believe that the tragedies associated with Atlantis would never return. I had hoped that the past would be forever behind us. But it's not…. Ever since Aleph, Hitomi and I have understood that we must be prepared again."

Allen patted Van on the back. "Be careful, my friend. There are more at stake this time. Our families must be protected. Speaking of which, are you going to visit Griffon today?"

Van sighed. "Yes. You know how it's always been with him…we're so ambivalent, sometimes we don't even feel like his parents anymore."

Allen chuckled. "I know how you feel, that is how I am with Amadis sometimes. But Griffon is different from everyone else, you have to have patience, which, as we know, you have very little of!"

Van glared at Allen then laughed a little. "My patience has greatly increased over the years. With Griffon, we will try all we can. My deepest fear is that he is somehow connected with Atlantis. There's just this suspicion that he is…I don't know why."

"I agree. I would not rule out the possibility."

"Well, Allen, it has been a pleasure having you here," the two friends shook hands. "Thanks for coming and helping us handle these problems."

"I'm afraid I was not much help. As you've witnessed, those battle skills have gotten a little rusty."

Van laughed. "Perhaps we should take the lack of battle experience as a good sign!"

Soon, Allen boarded the leviship. Van stood on the ground and watched the vessel take into the air and head west, beyond the Blue Mountains, where the sunshine gives way to mist.

……………………………………..

After seeing Allen off, Van returned to the castle, and found Orion in the West Wing, hulling out a large luggage from the storage space.

"Honestly," Orion heaved, "Does Griffon actually need that many clothes?"

"Stop talking and hurry up!"

"My, my, what vexes the king on this sultry day?" Orion pushed the leather travelling box through the door and began to help Van fold the chaotic pile of clothes lying on the ground.

"Nothing much really, perhaps just paranoia. There is a bizarre feeling inside me." What is it that makes for such terrifying premonitions, Van thought?

Orion sighed and put aside the shirts. "I don't blame you for feeling so. I don't think any of us escapes that sense of dread whenever the thought of Griffon emerges. Such tragedy, to be quite frank, I mean his birth. But he is your son nonetheless."

"Precisely the reason why I am anguished!" Van abandoned the folding task and paced the room cross-armed. "Imagine the very idea that your own child is evil! My blood flows in his veins, Hitomi's blood flows in his veins, yet look at how he loathes us! Is this the way family should treat each other? How can he possibly be the fruit of love, the sibling of Val and Hermione?"

Orion pressed firmly on Van's shoulder and pushed him into a chair. "Now calm down. Firstly, broken families are hardly unusual. It's not as if I have a wonderful relationship with my birth mother, the whore who abandoned me. Second, there is no telling whether he is something more than your son."

"What do you mean by that?"

Orion wriggled his nose. "Nothing is permanent, not even identity."

…………………………………………….

In the Eastern Wing of the castle, the little dragon flitted down the empty hall. Bumping occasionally against the wooden beams and walls, it found its way into the chamber with the Fanelian crest upon the door. Minutes after the little creature disappeared from the hall, Hermione came running. "Eskie! Eskie!" She called.

She followed the trail of shimmering dust that the dragon left behind, and arrived at her parents' room. She found her pet curled on the bed, its dazzling wings shielding its tired eyes. "Oh, Eskie! All this flying must have exhausted you!"

Hermione sat on the bed and caressed the creature. Then, her eyes fell on a deck of cards sitting on the bedside table. Never able to resist curiosity, she carefully picked up the deck. "Ra-Maat cards…" She recalled her mother telling her about these cards, which contained powers similar to those of the Tarot.

Hermione scrutinized the picture of a gaunt figure, holding a sceptre, and seated upon a throne, his face eerily green. A word at the bottom of the picture – Osiris. As Hermione pronounced the name to herself, her attention was utterly seized by the card, as if the figure, no longer an unknown god, was an extension of someone she knew intimately. The little dragon suddenly made a whimpering sound; Hermione jolted.

The cards scattered onto the ground. She quickly knelt down to pick them up, and realized that one card alone was facing upward, while the others faced down. It was the card of the Phoenix. Hermione gasped – it was as if a balloon had expanded inside her. It was at once revelatory and fatal, like a world growing inside her, threatening to engulf her being. She took the feeling as a sign of newfound power, a power that is somehow related to the Phoenix. She thought she had discovered her own Atlantis Within.

At that point, Valorick came in. "Hermione, there you are! We've been looking for you. It's time to head to Fidell, so hurry up and meet us in the Morning Room."

"Val?" Hermione looked up with a pallid face.

"What's wrong?"

"What's Griffon like?"

Valorick hesitated, "He's…different."

"Why didn't mom and dad let me meet him until now?"

"Well, I suppose they didn't want you to be frightened. He's not like anyone else. But don't worry; he can't hurt you. You'll just be looking at him from a distance."

"He gave you that scar, didn't he? The one you used to have on your shoulder? What happened?"

Valorick gently touched the place where the scar was before Persephone had healed it. "Yeah…He just suddenly jumped up and ran at me with a dagger. I don't know why…then afterwards, they shut him away."

"I see," Hermione got up, and placed the cards down. She tenderly scooped the white dragon into her arms and walked up to Valorick. "I suppose I better go see for myself."

"And don't forget," Valorick sighed, "He is still our brother."

Valorick walked out, and Hermione followed. Before she left, she stole one last glance at the Phoenix card, and saw that the red of the bird's wings blazed inauspiciously in the shadow of the room.

…………………………………………….

When Van entered the Morning Room, he found the family assembled and ready to head to the asylum in Fidell. Orion had already prepared the carriages, Hitomi and Celena had packed lunch, and the children, along with Amadis and Persephone, carried boxes of clothing that were prepared for Griffon.

Van noticed an unsettling discomfort in everyone's demeanour. "Come on, then, is everyone ready? We should get going." Everyone nodded and remained silent, motioning slowly towards the door. As they walked down the hall, Van turned to Persephone, "You mustn't be frightened. Griffon is somewhat of an oddity in our family, but he should not be of harm to you."

"King Van, I'm very grateful that you have allowed me to come with you on this visit." Persephone glanced over at Valorick, who was busy loading the boxes onto the carriage. "I must admit I am curious to see what Prince Valorick's brother is like, even if he is ill. I want to see if there is anything I can do to help."

Van sighed. "We appreciate your kindness, but unfortunately, there probably isn't much you can do. We have asked the best doctors, and even magicians, in Gaea, to help Griffon, but they have all failed. We don't even know what his condition really is. It's just a mystery we have to accept."

"It must be hard, Your Majesty, to have a son who cannot live with you."

Van smiled sadly, "Yes, yes, it is."

Under the descending heat, the caravan proceeded through Palladium, along the canal, and ascended the hill out of Dragon's Valley and into Fidell. Concealed as ordinary citizens seated inside an unattractive vehicle, the royal family did not attract much attention from the public. In fact, not many Fanelians knew that the patient in ward 303 was the son of the king.

The caravan arrived at a picturesque building, surrounded by freshly cut grass. The exterior, with smooth lines and sunlit cedar wood, betrayed none of the darkness that lay within. All was quiet in the area, and very few citizens lived in the vicinity. The caravan went around to the back of the building, where a man in a white robe greeted the royal family.

"Your Majesty," the doctor bowed to Van. "Everything is prepared. Please follow me."

Van gestured to everyone, and they silently followed him into the building. The hallways were whitewashed, and polished almost to a gleam. The floor was impeccable, with tiles of ivory and the occasional pink. The hall led to a round gallery, with a magnificent stained-glass dome high above, transforming the white sunlight into a kaleidoscope of a thousand colours. Faint screams could be heard in the distance.

At that point, the doctor turned to the royal family and whispered. "I apologize, but I am afraid that not everyone is allowed into the central section, there are simply too many of you. I have to ask a few people to remain behind."

Without a word, Orion slumped down onto the couch next to an artificial tree. "This is as far as I go, Van. I'll stay here and admire the sacrilege that is this…dome."

Celena handed the boxes of food and clothes to Hitomi. "I think I will stay here with him. Endy, come," she patted on the seat next to hers. "We'll wait here."

Endymion looked over at Valorick. "Mother, I'd rather not. I think I want to go with Val."

Before Celena made a reply, Orion stopped her. "Let him go."

Van looked at Orion, and then followed the guide down another white hall. They passed five heavily guarded gates, walked across an outdoor court, and into what was known as the Core. Here, the screams became more pronounced.

Hermione and Persephone huddled closely to Valorick, and behind them walked Endymion, with Amadis making obscene jokes in his ears. Hitomi walked alone, a few paces behind the rest, and sauntered almost frightfully towards the room at the end of the hall. She looked ahead, and saw Van's back facing her, his steps calm and steady. Yet she knew, even from his shadow, the quavering that occupied his heart at that moment.

608 steps, she counted in her head. Six-hundred-and-eight steps from the last gate to the door of Room 303.

Persephone peered suspiciously at the open doors that they passed down the long corridor. Nothing and no one was behind those doors. She whispered to Valorick, "I thought this was a hospital, where are all the patients?"

Valorick looked around to make sure his parents were not within hearing range. "My father does not believe in the hospitalization of those who have troubled minds and souls. Most of them have been moved to the coast, where their conditions have been improved using a method called compassion relief. Griffon was not susceptible to such treatment, and he has remained a danger to those who tried to take care of him. This facility houses him alone."

As the group neared the door, the screams ceased, and two guards came out and stood vigilantly by a metal gate. The doctor turned to everyone, "I must ask you to remain as quiet as you can, since noise often irritates him. I will now take you into an inner chamber, an observation space where you will be able to see the patient. However, you will not be able to make physical contact. Your Majesties, if you require closer proximity, that can be arranged, but only for no more than three individuals at a time."

"I understand," Van said. He looked behind him, and saw Hitomi huddled behind the group. "Hitomi, come," he held out his hand. She gazed wistfully at him, and walked over, taking his hand. "Hitomi," Van whispered to her, "I know you're frightened. But remember, he is still our son."

The black gate opened. Everyone walked inside and found themselves inside a bright chamber, with a large glass wall in front. Nothing was visible on the other side of the glass, for it was veiled by a white curtain. They were seated in two rows, in front of the curtain, as if awaiting the commencement of a show. Van and Hitomi remained standing before a door in the glass wall.

The tension mounted. Hermione clasped Valorick's hand. Amadis alone seemed unaffected, and sat polishing the hilt of his dagger.

The curtain was drawn. On the other side was a wall, made of what the doctor called titanium. In between the glass wall and the titanium wall was a narrow corridor, and that was where Van and Hitomi entered. The titanium wall, the spectators soon learned, was a gate as well, for it began to be lifted off the ground. Behind it was another transparent barrier, with a slit in the middle where a person's arms could reach through. When the titanium gate was fully removed, it revealed a white room – inside, cowered on the bed, was a little black figure.

Hitomi knelt down next to the slit in the wall, and reached her arm through. "Gr-Gr-Griffon? Mommy is here. Father is here too, and we brought your little sister, Hermione. You've never met her. Griffon?"

No response and no movement.

Van knelt down beside Hitomi. "Griffon, won't you like to meet your little sister?"

Complete stillness.

Van stood up and went back into the glass chamber, and held his hand out to Hermione, who stubbornly clung onto Valorick. At that moment, a sudden jolt and a scream.

Griffon had jumped up from his bed, and had tried to seize Hitomi's arm. She let out a heinous scream and withdrew her arm. Van ran to her side, and stared back at the grotesque and tortured visage that breathed heavily on the pane.

Hermione, Persephone and Amadis, all of whom had never met Griffon, gasped in horror. What they beheld was a bare semblance of a man, his only thread to humanity being his supposed relation to the royal family. He was almost deformed, his body bent and shrivelled by his illness, and his face contorted with a thousand menaces and miseries. As he banged savagely on the wall, and roared at the weeping Hitomi, all the darkness seemed to have closed in on the beholders. All the mysteries of the hidden monsters, of the bewitched wilderness, all of that was no longer fascinating, for they had before them, a dream of the devil.

At that point, a guard came up to them, and informed them that Griffon was unable to see them, for the glass wall would appear as a mirror on his side.

The howling subsided, and gave way to what Persephone was surprised to find as eloquence. Griffon's voice was coarse, but refined and steady. He talked straight into the opening in the wall and addressed his parents. "Mother…" he hissed, "Mother…What…have…you…done? The gods laugh at us, mother. What have you created? Look!" he threw open his arms and gestured at himself. "What have you done? You have created…a nothing!"

Hitomi wept violently. "Griffon, whatever do you mean? You are my son! I never meant for it to be this way."

Van held Hitomi and stared at the patient vindictively, "You are not to speak to your own mother that way."

Griffon, however, ignored his parents. He turned instead to the mirror facing him. As he started intensely at his own reflection, he seemed to be able to see beyond the mirror, and into the eyes of those who sat behind it. Hermione frightfully ran to the corner, and hid behind Endymion. Valorick alone stood up and moved closer, as if he and Griffon stared into each other's eyes.

"Amleth…" Griffon whispered under his breath. What gripped Valorick had always been the thought of his brother's humanity, and the knowledge of his own intimate kinship with that dark and passionate abomination. The two young men stared intensely at each other in motionless contempt, as if no barrier had obstructed their vision.

The silence was breached. Griffon began howling and leaping, making horrid faces at his parents, and trying to escape through the gap in the hall. He raised a pandemonium in his little cell, maiming himself by ramming the walls and biting his own flesh. Hitomi tried to go forward to touch him, but Van restrained her. Guards came in and inserted long bayonet-like rods into the cell, to try to pacify him. Seeing this, Hitomi hysterically tried to stop them.

Wanting to help his father, Valorick quickly went through the door, and into the corridor. The doctor entered and tried to drag Valorick out. The chaotic movements of Griffon, the hospital staff, Van, Hitomi, and Valorick soon resulted in an entanglement. The doctor attempted to inject a serum into Griffon, but had accidentally wounded one of the guards.

Griffon began to scream. "Amleth!" he yelled. "Amleth! Amleth! Why did you leave me?" Howling thus, he reached for Valorick.

In an attempt to rescue his mother from the grasp of danger, Valorick ended up in Griffon's grip, with a dagger-like nail held up to his throat. Panic ensued, during which Van and the guards tried in vain to loosen Griffon's grip, while Hitomi watched in helpless horror. Desperate to help with the situation, Persephone and Amadis rushed into the corridor.

At first, Griffon paid no particular attention to the two strangers who stepped in front of his cell. But as soon as Persephone succeeded in releasing Valorick from peril, Griffon set his eyes on her for the first time. A gauze seemed to have been lifted off his gloomy face. As he stared intently at her, everyone fell silent, and observed the bizarre change in him: he straightened his back, seemed to have grown taller, and his eyes beamed with a self-reassurance that was previously unknown to the shrivelled and repulsive creature.

"Griffon?" Hitomi went up to him and asked, but he paid her no attention. His eyes remained fixed on, and mesmerized by, Persephone, who looked back at him with an equally elusive gaze.

Slowly, Griffon transferred his eyes onto Amadis, who looked at him with bewilderment and disdain. Amadis sneered at Griffon then walked back into the glass chamber.

"So I see. What a pity he hates his own father," Griffon said, and then returned his attention to Persephone.

Valorick stepped in between Griffon and Persephone. "Do you two know each other? Persephone, he seems to recognize you."

She hesitated a little then shook her head. "No, I do not think I have met him either on my homeland, or here on Gaea."

"Your homeland?" Griffon asked. "You mean Serenus." Everyone gasped.

"How did you know?" Persephone asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" Valorick asked. "No one has told you about that. You're not even supposed to know Persephone."

"Oh, but I do know her, Valorick," Griffon laughed.

Van stepped forth. "Griffon, I do not know what kind of game you are playing here. But you should stop. Can't you see how you're upsetting your mother!"

Griffon leered at Van and Hitomi, "I do not need the likes of you to command me, Vannius."

At the sound of that name, Van fell back against the wall. Hitomi shrieked and clasped his hand. "Wh-what?" Van whispered. "What did you call me?"

"Don't act so shocked," Griffon said, "It is unbecoming of a king. I have come to my senses, all because of her," he gestured towards Persephone. "Everything is clear now."

"Griffon, stop this nonsense!" Van yelled.

Griffon laughed. "You know as well as I do that Griffon is not my real name. So stop pretending, Vannius. I can tell you that this time, I will not be vanquished so easily, for I will have her," he reached out for Persephone, but Valorick obstructed his path. "Well, little dragon, neither you nor your sister, the little phoenix, can redirect fate. Especially not you, who is bound to make the fatal error as you are destined to."

Hermione, who stood behind the glass wall, screamed upon hearing Griffon address her as the phoenix; he could not possible have known the symbol on the card she had read. Panicking, she ran out of the room, pass the guards, and down the long corridor. Endymion, who witnessed everything in silence, followed her out.

Trembling, Van stood up, and helped Hitomi out the room. They did not pay a last glance to Griffon, who stared at them maliciously. Valorick and Persephone remained standing before the frightful patient. All of Persephone's mysterious and benevolent Atlantean powers could not seem to assuage Griffon's darkness, a darkness that seemed to glow with a grey twilight and to effuse black smoke.

Valorick looked deeply at Griffon, and he saw Griffon's soul – he saw the disgust, the longing to escape, the destructiveness, the hate. He knew at that moment, that Griffon was much more than his brother.

Valorick gripped Persephone's hand and turned to leave. Griffon called after him.

"Valorick! If you were man enough, if you were, even in the slightest bit, more worthy than your father, you will admit that you feel response to the darkness you see in me. In that uproar, you heard yourself! I know you did! I know you have the suspicion that you too will one day end up staring at massive ruins and bottomless abysses, into which you have just thrown those whom you love!"

Valorick stopped by the threshold of the door and halted without turning around. "Griffon, or whoever you think you are, I am nothing like you, and I never will be." He then took Persephone's hand and left. Only Griffon's hysterical laughter could be heard echoing down the hall.

When Valorick and Persephone arrived at the dome, they saw Orion sitting alone, waiting for them. Everyone else had already boarded the caravan.

"I heard what happened," Orion said. "Looks like Atlantis is back again. That place is unsinkable! Miss Persephone, I fear you are intractably connected with this entire mess, you might not be able to return to your homeland anytime soon."

"Yes, I have had that suspicion," she said with resignation. "This Griffon…he seems like a difficult person to understand. I must admit I have never met anyone like him."

Orion gestured for Valorick and Persephone to lead the way back to the caravan. "Persephone, you've mentioned before that your homeland was ravaged by the Fireans. They have a leader named Branimir, do they not? Have you ever seen this leader?"

"No," Persephone frowned. "For a time, my father believed that Branimir was just a figurehead, and that the Fireans were what are known as mercenaries who traverse space in search of valuables. Of course, Serenus held nothing save its natural beauty, which is now in ruins."

"The Fireans may not have been after treasures," Valorick speculated. "It might have been something small. Perhaps even a person."

"But to answer your question, milord," Persephone said, "I have no knowledge of Branimir. I doubt he even exists."

Orion frowned. "I see. I will pass the information onto Van. Let's join the others now."

………………………………………….

On the way back to the palace, everyone remained silent. It was mutually assumed that language would only be a detriment to the horror that it failed to convey.

Dinner at the palace was swiftly finished, after which everyone proceeded to their own quarters. Hitomi retired to bed early, shaken by the thought that her son had been transformed into her enemy. The last words she said to Van before falling asleep was, "I now know what Griffon meant when he asked me what I have done. I have given birth to him, do you realize that, Van?"

Van sat on the couch by the bed, and looked anxiously at his beloved. Since the glowing of the pendant a few days ago, he has sensed the ineluctability of change. Atlantis is destiny. The past continually returned, and he knew that in many lives to come, he would still be living in the shadow of Vannius. Even if he should one day leave Gaea, lose his wings, and lose the pendant, he would still be that self-same draconian who died in the hands of the Fireans.

As Hitomi slept, Van read Stars and the Mystic Moon. He once again tried to understand the significance that the constellation of Orion bore to the people of the Mystic Moon. As his hands ran across a picture of the triangle surrounding a central flame, the pendant glowed brilliantly, outshining the weak candlelight. "The Hearth of Creation," he whispered to himself.

Anxious for a walk, Van exited the room quietly, and went down to the quarters of his children. Valorick was already asleep in his bed, his hands holding onto a folded piece of paper, which in fact contained a sketch of Escavlon. When Van went into Hermione's room, she sat up in the dark and called for him.

"Hermione, why aren't you asleep?"

"I couldn't sleep, daddy." She cuddled up to him. "I just keep seeing Griffon in my head. Is he really our brother?"

Van sighed. "He is. You are born of the same parents, Hermione. I know how hard this must be for you. It's difficult for all of us. But we are here for you, and you don't have to go through any of this alone."

"You know, daddy, today I looked at that deck of cards next to where you and mommy sleep."

"Oh?"

"Yes, and I saw a card with a phoenix bird on it. It affected me somehow. Then later, when we were at the asylum, Griffon called me the phoenix, I wonder if that had anything to do with the card. How could he possibly have known that I looked at that particular card?"

Van squinted uneasily. He vaguely began to remember how, fifteen years ago, Hitomi had received the vision of a dragon and a phoenix encircling the massive structure known as Stonehenge. He had not thought about such mysteries for so long, and at that moment, they descended like demons around the head of his lovely daughter. Van realized how infinitely young Hermione was in the universe.

"Sweetheart," he whispered to her, "There are many things in the universe which must go unexplained. We cannot always pry after them. We can only work with what we do know. You'll understand one day. Now go to sleep, don't think about Griffon. Whatever comes, I'll be here to protect you."

Hermione looked up at her father anxiously. "I know, daddy. But I also know that you're scared as well. I saw how horrified you were when Griffon called you that name. Val was so scared too."

Van smiled. "You are so perceptive, little one, and here I am thinking that I've always been good at hiding my fears."

"But mommy has always told me it's ok to be scared."

"She's right, it is ok. Now go to sleep," Van tucked her into bed, and kissed her on the forehead.

As he walked out the door, he turned to take one last look at Hermione, and seemed to have seen red, fiery wings imposed upon her image. He then feared that not only himself and Hitomi, but their children as well, are involved in the eternal tragedy of Atlantis.

Heading towards Orion's quarters on the western wing of the palace, Van heard the song of larks from outside the open windows. He remembered how years ago, Hitomi and he had heard the same strange music, and taken it to be an abstraction of ambivalence, a sign that the eventual fate is neither a tragedy nor a comedy.

Just as Van was about to continue on his walk, he heard the hurried steps of several people. He then saw Orion running towards him with a few attendants.

"Bad news, Van!" Orion shouted.

The group arrived, panting and distraught. One of the messengers eventually managed to say, "Word just arrived from the asylum. Prince Griffon has escaped."

Van stood dumbfounded, staring at the messenger then at Orion. "How is that possible? All those gates…"

"Precisely my sentiment," Orion said. "But the more worrisome problem is the fact that he is on the loose, and nowhere to be found. I've already ordered our troops to do a search. My guess is he will head either to sea or to the mountains."

"No…"Van said with an eerie certainty. "He is heading here."

Immediately, Van and Orion headed down to the armoury, and distributed the weapons among the gathered soldiers. The palace fortress was to be fortified, and all entrances guarded. Such precaution had not been taken except in times of war.

To the soldiers, it may have seemed puzzling that the king should take such action against his own son. But Van knew, since that afternoon in the asylum, that it was no longer his son rampaging across the country, and closing in on the palace. It was the Atlantean scourge, who so long ago had killed countless draconians in search for the power of Atlantis.

The silence of the Fanelian night had been broken by the bellowing commands, the striking of hammers, and the sharpening of weapons, sounding all over the courtyard of the castle. Citizens in the vicinity have been awakened, and have taken precautions of their own. Inside the castle, Endymion, Amadis and Valorick have dressed and were ready to join the guards. Celena, along with some maids, had illumined all the hallways and corners with torches, and had surveyed every room of the castle. Hermione alone slept soundly through the midnight din.

A scream came from the palace.

All the noise ceased for one second, then surged up again as everyone tried to ascertain the source of the hideous cry. Van looked anxiously up at the window behind which his family slept. Then he saw Celena running out of the palace.

"Van!" she shouted. "The scream…I think it came from your quarters!"

Instantaneously, Van gripped his sword and ran inside. As he approached his quarters, the hallway began to dim, and the outside noise could not be heard. When he stood outside the door, it was almost completely dark. His only light was the silver gleam of his sharpened blade.

He groped in the dark, and found that the door was slightly ajar. Nothing could be heard from inside. He crept in silently, passed the sitting area and stood on the threshold of the bedroom. There he beheld a sight that benumbed even the most tenacious of his fibres.

There was Griffon on the bed, pinning Hitomi down with his body, one hand muffling her mouth, and the other tearing off her clothes. Hitomi struggled listlessly, her arms jerking weakly against his descending weight.

Enraged, Van raised his sword and charged at Griffon. But just when the blade was about to come down on his head, Griffon raised one hand and stopped the blade. The hand did not bleed. Griffon pulled the sword by the blade, and through it out onto the balcony. Van could only gasp in horror. The only other person who was impervious to the blade was the shepherd on Serenus.

Griffon laughed. "Shocked, Vannius? It would appear that your instincts have weakened. You should have anticipated my arrival." His eyes gleamed devilishly in the darkness. "Sit down over there."

Van glared back at him obstinately. "I do not take orders from the likes of you. This is my castle, my country, my world!"

"Well, well, well, listen to your arrogance. You make it sound as if I have impinged upon your territory. But Vannius, if you remember correctly, it was you who stole everything from me! She was supposed to be mine, the power of Atlantis was supposed to be mine!"

"It is too late now, Branimir," Van shuddered as he pronounced that name. "A few millennia too late."

"I'm glad you still remember the name, Vannius. I knew I have never been far from your mind. And no, it is never too late. Time does not exist for beings such as us. Now sit! Perhaps this will prompt you to obey." Branimir held a knife to Hitomi's throat.

Reluctantly, Van sat down on a chair in the corner of the room.

Branimir chuckled. "Now, isn't this a lovely family reunion?" he stuffed a piece of cloth into Hitomi's mouth and continued to weigh down on her. "Since my identity is no longer a mystery, I shall be plain with you. It must be noted that before today, I had no awareness I was anything else other than the wretched and unloved son of a selfish monarch. But when I saw them, when I saw Persephone and Amadis, it all became clear."

Van frowned. "Is this all because of Seraphine? Are they Seraphine's children?"

Branimir seemed not to have heard Van's questions. "I knew then that my imprisonment can no longer continue, that I had to fight on. This time, I will not lose."

Van sneered. "You have lost an ancient war, what makes you think this time it will be any different?"

"This time, I will tell you, Vannius, this time, the power of Atlantis is mine! Besides, you no longer have Escaflowne. I will find it."

"Don't be ludicrous, such notions are laughable even for you! How is a soulless being such as you capable of feeling the power of Atlantis? And how are you to pilot Escaflowne, even if you do find it?"

"You see, Vannius, my joke on you is that fact that you and your little whore here have actually given birth to my reincarnated body. Ironically, your bond has made my triumph possible." He suddenly gripped Hitomi by the waist and she whimpered. "It's all so ironic, isn't it? Cuckolded by my own father! Slain by your own son!"

As Van sat staring at the black abomination that was hurting Hitomi, he realized with horror that Branimir just might achieve what he claimed he will. All the cacophony outside seemed to be drowned out by the single thought that everything belonged to Branimir. And in turn, he belonged to the dark possibility that perhaps Atlantis should never have been created, and perhaps none of them should ever have been born into the universe. Branimir was nothingness at its most terrifying, and for that reason, he needed a corporeal body; he needed to be seen. He was like a vast blackness, unbounded and without centre, and diabolic love filled every crevice of his being.

Van stood up and walked towards the bed. "Branimir, I will fight you, even if it takes another millennium. Now let her go."

Branimir looked at Van with what appeared like admiration. He slowly released his hold on Hitomi and got up off the bed. With his gaze still fixed on Van, he edged towards the balcony. "Vannius, mark my words, I will destroy the Hearth of Creation." Then, he leapt off the balcony.

Van quickly ran to Hitomi's side, and held her in his arms. She lay speechlessly. The only motion she made was towards the pendant that was burning blood red against Van's pallid skin.

Orion came in soon after. He had in fact stood outside the door the whole time, absorbing every word. He closed the balcony door for Van and Hitomi, and then left them to their pretended rest.

For the remainder of the night, the palace was restless. The guards still attempted to strengthen the security, even with the knowledge that their first attempt had been futile. Torches and candles blazed in every room, and the inhabitants took every frightful shadow to be an embodiment of their attacker.

Valorick and Endymion had taken refuge in the arboretum. They held vigilance by a candle and looked out at Fanelia through the large window. They had just learned of the occurrence in the royal chamber.

"It has begun," Valorick said.

"What has?"

"The descent. Remember I told you I had a dream where Fanelia was in ruins? Well, this is what it feels like. We are heading for that ruin."

"Don't say such a thing, Val! That is only your fear talking."

"What else am I supposed to think?" Valorick shouted. "It is Branimir, the same demon that we have heard of in those stories! And he was born as my brother! Endy, how ever am I supposed to make sense of all this? And what's more, I wish I didn't have these feelings for Persephone at such a time. I know that these feelings will only worsen the situation."

Endymion sighed. "I don't know, Val, I don't know what to do either. But perhaps love will be something positive in such chaos."

"Yes, or it might be something fatal."

"I know your pain, but try to remember him as your brother."

"He is not my brother and I see nothing of myself in him!" Valorick yelled

Endymion remained silent.

"I can't forgive him now," Valorick cried, "Not when I've learned the horrifying truth that he is my father's archenemy reincarnated from some past life. I just can't forgive him! What a ridiculous notion, isn't it? Even as I try not to believe it, I must, for it is the perfect excuse, the excuse for hate…"

As soon as he uttered those words, he heard an echo in his head, the trembling voice of an old man, warning him of the danger in not forgiving. The fate of the world rests on your decision. He also remembered his dream of Persephone, and realized the irony of a love that was born amidst chaos. Could it be, Valorick thought, that my inability to forgive him will one day lead to our demise?

He ignored the possibly, and lay down on the ground. A dormant amaranth plant stood beside him. Valorick intuited that even as beauty and joy can die and be reborn, so too can the immortal night that lurked beyond every evening star.

………………………………………

The morning was shaded with deathliness, as the entire city seemed to have been steeped in fear and exhaustion. The market was not as lively as usual, and the citizens no longer tread the cobblestone roads with expectation of a fruitful day.

The palace halls were filled with smoke of the extinguished candles. Many attendants had fallen asleep unwillingly due to extreme fatigue. Endymion fell asleep while guarding over Hermione; Valorick slept in the arboretum, Amadis in Valorick's bed, and Celena in the morning room.

Van had very little rest. He woke up and looked for the healer, who stabilized Hitomi's condition with potent remedies. She lay unconscious on the bed, and he sat beside her for hours, staring vacantly at her gaunt face.

He got up and walked to his desk, on which lay a picture of the constellation of Orion. He then remembered Branimir's last words. The Hearth of Creation, what part does it play in the history of Atlantis?

Orion walked into the room, worn and agitated. "Van, is everything okay?"

"Orion, I don't think that is a valid question at this point."

"You're quite right." Orion sighed, then sat down on the desk next to Van. He looked at Van with the prophetic certainty he always had before he said something revealing.

"Van," Orion said, "You had a dream about Escaflowne last night, didn't you?"

"Yes…how did you know?"

"And about fire?"

"Yes," Van looked at him suspiciously.

"I had a dream too."

"About what?"

"Ice."

End of Part VII