Episode 11: Weakness
"I've got to admit, I'm a little nervous – "
"Don't wuss out on us, Daiji."
"It's okay, this is really sort of routine, now." Hitomi reassured. Daiji was the only one sitting with the rest of the party standing around him. He felt more than awkward, sort of on display.
"It's not like I'm going to run away." Daiji replied. "Its just that I'm the only one of you who's never done this before – and I've seen how being connected affects Yu…"
Yukari tried to sound reassuring. "Think of me as a special case, Daiji."
"It's not scary at all." Jiai told him. "I was the first one, and I'm okay. It actually made me feel a lot closer to Millerna."
"I do want to get to know Dryden."
"Just get it done already!" Hakai shouted. "Geez!"
"Okay, lets do it." Hitomi stepped toward him. "Is everybody ready?"
Gadess and Allen had out the atlas and signaled that they were 'go'. The other Gaeans paid close attention to pick up any clues hidden in Daiji's report. All eyes were set on the 21-year-old in the chair.
"I feel like I'm going into surgery!" Daiji fretted.
"Pretend you are." Hitomi advised. She knelt next to the chair. "I'm going to need you to totally relax."
"Oh great." He said, her advice apparently not helping.
Jiai and Millerna learned forward and Hitomi took his hand. Daiji swallowed a lump in his throat. She brought one hand to where she wished her pendant hung, breathed and closed her eyes. "Alright, shut your eyes, relax, and think about Dryden. I'm going to try and coax him out, then make sure you tell us everything you see or hear while it happens."
He took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Here goes." She could feel the pendant-point warm up under her hand and knew that the connection was ready, and she knew what would make it pick up the other end. "Millerna, say his name."
Millerna started, she had never witnessed one of these 'connections' and apart from worry and interest, she never expected to be a part of it. She looked to Jiai and Yukari on either side of her, then followed Hitomi's instruction, her heart beating fast. "D-Dryden."
Hitomi gasped, it was as if a door had been thrown open and an intense string of images rushed in. She could see a dark room. A glass of wine. A chair. A window. A library. Millerna. Mountains. The sun. It was a stream of images like a train of thought, moving erratically and at high speed. As she watched, they slowed and settled into a dark, empty room. She was trying to figure out what she was seeing when Dryden's voice entered. Daiji was receiving his own side of the experience.
"The world has not set truth according to Draconians. The fate of the world can be manipulated by the desires of its people. If this world was fact then we all have cause to despair. There is no goal to head toward because every path changes beneath your feet. Any previously conceived truth or falsity can switch their pledge in an instant, making what we've based our lives on right one minute and wrong the next. What have we to live for when every decision we make whips our horizons around before us, making us dizzy and confused until we finally collapse?"
"What is that?" Van asked.
"Writing." Daiji answered. "Someone's writing this down. Writing a book I think. I don't know why."
"What else do you see?" Allen asked.
Hitomi listened with her ears, but saw against her eyelids more concepts being to float in. She was a prairie looking landscape stretch out from another mountain range. Unlike the violet stone of the Adynatons bordering Asturia, Chesario, and Fanelia, these were a gritty brown with green rising in spires up their faces. "Mountains."
Everyone's heads snapped to her. Gadess straightened from where he was crouched over the maps. "What was that?"
"Brown mountains, with grass… or trees or something on them."
"Those sound like the Ventrags." Van said.
Merle's ears rose. "The mountains out behind Fanelia!?!"
There was a flipping of pages as Gadess and Allen scrambled through the Atlas. Allen shoved his long hair out of the way and jabbed a finger down. "The Ventrags start in Fanelia and run southeast past Egzardia separating Fried and Zaibach."
"So that's the area?" Amano asked.
"We need something else." Allen said. "Daiji, do you see anything else?"
"Well, it's a desk. I feel – lonely…"
"Can you see any papers on it?" Allen pressed.
"Hold on." Daiji's head sank a little. Millerna watched his face, the dimples fading as the corners of his mouth dropped to paint a picture of drear. He stretched his shoulders back and returned to the task. "I see some handwritten stuff. There's a book. And a wineglass, it's full, but the bottle's half empty. Its not a tidy place in the least. There's one that's printed. I'll try to get a good look at it…" Everyone hung on for word on his discovery while Hitomi kneeled with her hand clenched around his. In her eyes and Dryden's head, she saw Millerna wearing angelic Draconian wings.
Van's fists were shaking, his patience worn thin. "Come on!"
"There's a form. A contract maybe, sticking out from under his papers. There's a date on the top… it says.. Indigo? I think? Indigo 20-somethingth moon? I don't understand."
"The twentieth was three days ago!" Millerna cried.
"That document is recent." Allen reasoned. "Does it have any names on it? Places?"
"I'm trying, cut me some slack here." Daiji snapped.
"Don't break his concentration!" Jiai warned. Allen smirked and put his hands on his hips.
"There are some words underneath, but they're weird." Daiji reported it looks like Liu Biao?"
"Wasn't Biao Daiji's fake name?" Koneko asked.
"That's Egzardian!" Merle observed. "There are tons of Egzardian with Biao in their names!"
"But that's a person." Gadess pointed out. "That doesn't give us anything concrete."
"There's more." Daiji reported. "Three words: Shi Qu De."
Gadess returned to the map book and Allen began pondering. "Shi Qu De… another Egzardian name…"
Hitomi had lost all attention to the conversation now. She was taken in by the thoughts. She'd never actually seen into a person's mind before, and knowing that this was Dryden's made her concerned. Troubling pictures welled up. She was re-witnessing the war, with people dying and structures collapsing. She didn't notice that Daiji had stopped speaking as the image or Millerna crying flashed past, and Guymelefs moving in… then the image of Palas as a silhouette, the spires of the castle visible as the sky flushed red. A flame-color that made her blood run cold.
Endless sky. Endless red. No escape.
She was in her own vision now – running from the Guymelefs. She could see ahead of her, the woman and the girl with the frightened eyes. The lead melef, shining black, stepped over Hitomi's head. She couldn't run fast enough. She watched as the hand reached down to grab the girl… and kill the woman…
With a scream, Hitomi released Daiji's hand and fell backwards to the floor. A stab ran up Daiji's spine and his eyes snapped open. "Wha – Whatthe!?!"
Van fell down with her. "Hitomi!?!"
She took a couple deep breaths, the vision repeating a couple times as she stared with her eyes stung open. No escape. No escape. Van hugged her tight as she began to blink again, the crowd not knowing what to do. Hitomi's eyes refocused and she looked up into Van's face. Her rescue was there.
"Hitomi?"
"Van – " she realized that she'd pulled the plug on Daiji and straightened up. "what happened? Did we find out all we had to?"
"Are you sure you're alright?" Allen pressed.
"I'm okay – just confused." She answered. "Do you know where we have to go?"
"Boss!"" Gadess cried from inside the atlas. "Boss! There's a town called Shi Qu De right along the mountains on the mountains on the northern tip of Egzardia!"
"You're sure!?" Allen cried, rushing to look.
"Right there, boos." Gadess moved aside to let the captain see. Allen checked the chart and came up with a look of triumph on his face.
"Allen?" Millerna pressed.
"He's in Egzardia headed south!" Allen announced. "I predict he'll probably be at the town of Fa Xian by morning."
"How can you tell that?" Amano asked.
"I know what kind of ship he owns, and the Ventrag Mountains only border Egzardia on the far western side. All variables accounted for, this is the most approximate guess we would dream to make." He turned to his first officer. "Gadess, go direct Kio toward Fa Xian, Egzardia. If we have no more flight problems, we should be there by noon tomorrow."
"Yes sir!" Gadess replied, gladly, and strode out.
Van helped Hitomi back to her feet. "Are you sure you're alright? You scared us pretty bad."
"She scared you!?!" Daiji cried, standing up and rubbing his neck. "I was deep inside another person and got snapped out like a cheap thrill ride. I think I've got whiplash!"
"I'm sorry Daiji." Hitomi apologized.
"Its okay, Hitomi." He assured. "I'm just glad I could get us that destination. Plus I think I was getting a tad too attached to Dryden."
"What did you see?" Millerna probed.
"Not much in the way of sight." He assured. "It was mostly emotion."
"And – " she paused, "what did you feel?"
"I felt," he responded, "that I should save THAT information for him to tell you himself if he really wants you to know." He suddenly sank into a saddened stare. "If you…if you all are finished with me, I'm going to take some time out –" he set his eyes and put his hands in his pockets as he headed for the door. "I need some time – "
Jiai became concerned. "Daiji – " But he was gone.
Millerna put a hand on her shoulder. Hakai uncrossed his arms. "That was it!?! Snore! I thought this was going to be exciting!" He ran out. "I'm gonna find Su, she'll do something fun."
Amano sighed. "I should follow him."
"Keep him away from Celena." Allen ordered. "I don't want her with him."
"It's nearly 12, Allen," Yukari said. "Why don't you put her to bed? Hakai deserves to have some fun, too. Plus Celena needs rest, I'm sure. That way the twins can do what they want."
"We'll go get her!" Koneko volunteered.
Merle jumped up. "Yeah! We'll go get Celena and take her to her room! She probably wants the company. She hasn't been right all night."
"Maybe she'll want to learn our marble game!" The 12-year-old brightened.
"Yeah!"
Allen watched as the two girls left, and headed after them with his head bowed. "I should check on the bridge."
"Lets go, Yukari." Amano said, finally, putting his arm around her. "I want to be with you for a while, is that okay?"
"That's fine." She agreed. She could sense in his manner that something was bothering him, and walked out with him. All that were left were Hitomi, Van, Millerna, and Jiai.
Hitomi looked at the floor, trying to comprehend the vision. Was it just the sight of war that triggered it? Or did Dryden have something to do with this reoccurring dream? At least now she could identify the city as Pales. Millerna interrupted her thoughts. "Hitomi?"
She looked up, Van's hands on her shoulders. "Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?" The queen proposed. She cast her blue eyes to Van and Jiai. "Its sort of private." Hitomi didn't want to let Van leave, but she could tell that her friend needed her, so she nodded, although her heart was not entirely in it. Millerna asked the other two. "Could you go please?" Jiai nodded and moved out. Van kissed Hitomi's temple and followed. He glanced back just before leaving to make sure that she was okay. As the door closed, Millerna grew greatly uncomfortable.
Hitomi tried to dismiss her own problems for the moment, shutting her eyes tight and shaking out her head. When she looked up again, she was fractionally more personable and ready to talk. "So what did you want to ask me, Millerna?"
"well…" Millerna clasped her hands together. Now that it was time to tell, she was nervous and doubtful.
"What did you want to ask me, Millerna?" Hitomi charged, feeling betrayed since the queen had sent Van away and now didn't even have anything to say. "What's so important and private that you have to tell me!?!"
"I want to know what made you scream!" Millerna cried, then caught herself and turned away. Hitomi realized she'd upset her and prepared an apology.
"Millerna, I –"
"I wanted to know why you were frightened." She said, meekly from her corner, her heart beating to break and her eyes threatening to tear. "You were in Dryden's mind – what – " Hitomi stepped back, astonished, " – what's wrong with him? I was concerned – there's something wrong isn't there? If there is, I want to know. I want to know if he's alright."
"Millerna – " She thought she was misunderstanding. Why was Millerna acting like this?
"I –" This was very hard for the 16-year-old. Until then, she hadn't truly even admitted it to herself. "I think I love him, Hitomi." The brunette's jaw dropped as she stared at Millerna's golden head. The girl continued speaking. "I've thought of no one else since Allen. The more I thought about him, the more I could feel it – It's been a long time since I've even said his name out loud to anyone. I feel so… confined. And after talking to Botheia about love – I was nearly certain." She turned around, her blue eyes pleading. "That's why I have to know! What's wrong with him, Hitomi!?! What's wrong with Dryden!?"
Hitomi faltered. She had no answer ready. Millerna didn't know anything about her reoccurring vision, and she didn't know what it had to do with the current situation. "It's sort of complicated – "
"Tell me!" She begged.
"I don't know if he's in trouble or not." She answered. "What made me scream was more random – I don't know what Dryden –"
"Is he okay?" She asked again.
Hitomi looked up and considered the look in Millerna's eyes. She was sincerely worried, and Hitomi didn't want to hurt her. She walked up and put her hands on her shoulders. The two of them had been going through the same thing at the same time; she with Van and Millerna with Dryden. Hitomi knew all too well what it felt like to be separated from the person she loved and being concerned about their safety. "Don't worry, Millerna. What I saw in there was Dryden's thoughts." Millerna tightened her face in preparation for bad news but Hitomi smiled at her. "And he thought a lot about you."
Her eyebrows rose. She whispered. "Really?"
Hitomi remembered the image of Millerna as an angel and smiled more. "Really. I know he thinks about you, Millerna. In a good way. He probably misses you as much as you miss him."
Millerna looked like she was going to cry, but her heart was swelling. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. "Thank you, Hitomi." She managed a smile. "Please don't tell anyone about this okay? Especially Allen. I don't want him to know."
"I promise." She assured, and gave Millerna a hug, which served as healing waters for both of them.
Kio had the helm pointed toward Egzardia. He turned back to Allen. "If we go straight, we'll have to pass over Fanelia, Boss. Do you want me to detour a little?"
"Stick to the mountains until you hit southern Egzardia." Allen instructed. "And get us going as fast as we can. We can't forget that those Guymelefs are still out there hunting us and that all of Asturia is up in arms."
"Right Boss." Kio replied.
"Teo!" Gadess called to the errand-boy. "Run and tell Katz to kick up the steam! The propellers need to be at the max!"
"Right!" Teo dashed off, passing \Van, who was entering as he left the doorway. Allen turned and noted the king.
"How's Hitomi?"
"She'll be fine." Van replied. "She had a scare, but that's all I think."
"I'm glad." Allen said. "The last thing I want is for her to be in trouble too. There is already too much to think about at once."
"You just worry about your sister." Van replied. "I'll look after Hitomi."
Allen squared up his shoulders, then moved toward the door, himself. "I should get Celena in bed. She needs sleep, and it's already late. Gadess? I can trust you with the bridge?"
"I've got it, Boss."
The 21-year-old moved past the Draconian without looking at him. "Good night. Van." Van watched him go with a slight glare, then stepped up to oversee the cockpit.
Celena was down in the same room with Suru. Hakai had found them and was ranting. Allen could hear his voice down the hall. "C'mon, Su! Lets go do something! I'm dyin' here!"
"Celena wants to sit."
"Then let her sit! She doesn't have to come! Let's go, huh? Let's go!"
Allen stood in the doorway for a moment, watching to see what would happen. Celena was staring at her hands in her lap. "I'm scared, Suru. I'm scared of nightmares."
"What's she going on about!?!" Hakai cried.
"I'm scared of what I'll see. I know he wants to see it over again. He always does." She said. "I don't know who he is."
"Celena!" Koneko and Merle finally appeared. The pigtailed blonde edged in under Allen's arm. "S'cuse me, Cap'n. Celena!"
Celena looked up. Noticing both Allen and the two clones, but doing little more than stare at them. Merle scampered up on all fours, but sat on her ankles to talk to the girl. "We're going to take you up to your room."
"Yeah, Its time to go to sleep." Koneko added.
"I don't want to go to sleep." Celena said again.
"Then we'll have a slumber party!" Koneko cried. "It'll be fun! We can play truth or dare and tell secrets and ghost stories!"
"I'm scared to sleep." Celena said, her voice small.
"Okay, maybe no ghost stories." Merle shrugged. She twitched her tail and grabbed the 16-year-old's arm. "Come on! Don't be a baby!"
"Big Brother!?!" Celena cried as she was dragged off her chair and toward the door. She looked to him and he could see that she was truly afraid and considered what she'd seen that day; the Guymelefs, the fire, the death of her friend Eythymia and her family. He expected it to be a rough night for her, but she had to rest. Perhaps having the two girls would help.
He leaned one arm against the frame of the door, and gave her an unexpected answer, at least on her part. "I know, Celena,, but you need rest too. I don't need you sick in the middle of all this."
"But Brother!" She pleaded.
"You don't have to sleep yet." He assured her. "Just go with Koneko and Merle and sit up in your room for a while. Maybe you'll go to sleep when you feel better."
Celena stopped fighting. "Okay."
"I want to have a slumber party, too." Suru said.
Hakai started fuming. "But you were gonna do something with ME!!!"
Koneko and Merle ignored him. They pulled Celena out room and up the hall. "Come on! Come on! We're gonna stay up all night! By the time you go to sleep, you'll be too tired to have nightmares!" Allen let them pass him and watched as Koneko, Merle, and Suru accompanied her toward his private bedchamber. Hakai took off after them.
"Hey! You can't leave without me!"
"Stop right there!" Allen charged.
Hakai turned back with a scowl. "What!?!"
"I don't want you going near her!" Allen stated, stepping away from the wall and standing straight. "Leave Celena alone."
"You can't tell me what to do! You're not Amano! So shut up or I'll make you, hairboy!" Allen's hand flashed to his sword, but Hakai had taken off down after the girls and disappeared. Allen loosened his grip on the hilt and realized what he'd done.
"Was I going to draw my sword? Against a boy?" He dropped his shoulders and his hands, and leaned into the wall, his back hitting it with a thud in the dark empty space. "At what point did I change so much? I don't remember-."
Amano was feeling weird, too. Yukari clung to his arm as they walked the halls. He sighed, his blue eyes dull in the moonlight. Yukari was growing more concerned, and looked up at him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He answered, monochromatically, his tones as gray as the walls. "I guess."
"No, your not, what got you feeling like this all of a sudden? Was it this afternoon?"
"Perhaps." He said.
She leaned on his arm. "I feel really bad about that too, but what can we do about it? What happened happened, and while we can be sad about the lives that were lost, there is no way that we can change it. We've got to just… move on." She looked up at him again, his expression unchanged. "Don't you think so?"
"Hmmm." His reply was neither a 'yes' nor a 'no'.
"There's more to it isn't there?" She asked. "Something about what happened just now. You were fine before the whole thing with Daiji."
"I don't know what it is, Yu." He said, sorrowfully. "I feel like I've lost something. Or someone. I mean, I 'm sad about Philos, Botheia and Eythymia, but I didn't know them as well – I feel like I've lost someone closer than that. I guess I feel alone is my problem. That's it. I feel alone."
Yukari stopped him and turned him to face her. Her brown eyes looking up into his very seriously. She had her hands on his arms. "You're not alone, Amano. There are a lot of people here with you who call you their friend."
"I know, but I can't help this feeling." He answered. "I feel like I've got no one to talk to. It's the kind of feeling when you're getting ready to cry and you know there's no one to turn to because nobody cares. That's exactly how it is."
She reached up and touched his cheek, moving aside his brownish hair. "Well, you can stop now. You've got me."
"Yukari."
"I care, Amano." She said. "I care a lot about you and how you feel. You can cry on me, and I'll make you feel better. I hate to see you sad."
Emotion invaded his eyes as she moved her hand across his face, around the back of his head and through his hair. She tugged slightly on his neck, coaxing his face toward hers. He bent down and kissed her, her warmth and love moving into him and relieving his troubled heart. She held her eyes closed, one hand on his arm and the other still behind his head. With the kiss, he'd moved his hands up to her shoulders and they stood in at bath of moonlight, holding it. When they separated, then took her hands. She looked up and thought his eyes looked bluer. He smiled and she smiled back, glad to know that she'd made him feel better. He put his arms around her shoulders and she hugged him around the waist as they started walking again. "I love you, Yukari."
"You mean everything to me, Amano, remember that."
He tightened his girlfriend to his side. The hallway was empty and they could tell it was late. He finally spoke. "I was supposed to be looking for Hakai."
"He can take care of himself. Lets just walk like this for a while."
"Okay."
Yosu had spent a long time on the observation deck. He felt weary, and was headed back to his room. He halfway expected everyone to be asleep already, but when he looked in, there was no one. Jiai was coming down the corridor. "Oh! Yosu!"
Yosu turned. "Where is everybody?"
"We were all upstairs." She answered. "Hitomi connected Daiji so now we know where to find Dryden. Then he left. I thought he might be here."
"He's not." Yosu said. "Why do you want to find him?"
"Well," She clasped her hands, "he just seemed really sad and I thought, maybe, I should check on him."
"He's sad, huh?" Yosu said. "the connection made him sad? I wonder if Dryden is like Van?" Jiai creased her brow, not understanding, but Yosu didn't go into detail, he just turned pointedly to her. "Don't find him, Jiai. Let him alone if he wants."
"But," she was discouraged by his manner, "but what if he needs someone to talk to."
"Sometimes people don't want to talk." Yosu said, his mind was thinking selfishly. He knew he didn't want to share what he was feeling then – jealousy, guilt, confusion – and his tone had an absoluteness that suggested a personal angle. He moved to enter the room. "Talking sometimes makes it worse." He disappeared and swung the door shut behind him. "Night Jiai."
"Goodnight." She said and was answered by the click of the door. She considered what he'd said. She still really wanted to go find Daiji and see how he was doing, but she didn't want to do what Yosu said and make it worse. Weighing the risk with her own feelings, she finally went into her own room and lie down on her cot. She was very much torn, but finally slipped into an uneasy sleep.
Daiji'd taken up his turn at the observation deck. His eyes were heavy, but his heart was the most. He felt like he'd hit rock bottom in a black pit. His hair fell down by his eyes like blinders so that he could only see a tunnel in front of him. He leaned on the banister and puffed at his wavy bangs with a sigh. "I've got no reason to be this depressed! I swear!" He sighed again. "There's got to be something wrong with me." He ran back through all that had happened recently that could have spurred this change in him. It was pointless; he already knew that the fault was Dryden's. "I must have picked it up from him when we were connected." He slumped down to his knees and leaned against the banister with his mouth against his crossed arms. "Man, the poor guy – does he really feel this way? All the time? I guess so, since he's the only one on that huge ship of his. I'm glad we're going to find him, I gotta change this. If he and I are so much alike, then he must hate it like this too. I owe him that much. I mean, I always say I'm ready for anything, but I've never been more ready than I am to feel better. It's exhausting being this depressed. Dryden really needs a friend or something. This loneliness is eating him up." He closed his heavy eyelids and relaxed into the pain he could not shake, thinking of his double like he'd known him for years.
Koneko yawned into her pillow. "Okay, Merle, truth or dare?"
"Dare!" The cat girl challenged, her eyes shifty.
"Okay." Koneko straightened; the same mischievous look on her face. "I dare you to – " She scanned the room with her auburn eyes, then grinned, receiving the wickedest of ideas. "To kiss Hakai!"
The only male's red dyes opened as wide as they could get and his face blanched white. His sights ventured to Merle, who was eyeing him like she would a puff pastry, licking her canines. His mouth stretched slowly tight across is face as she leaned closer and closer, one eyebrow quirked. "Hakai….."
He jumped up. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She crouched like the cat she was, then bounded after him as he took off running around Allen's bedroom. Hakai was fleeing a plague. "AAAAHHHH! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!"
"Get back here you chicken!" Merle cried, extreme amusement lacing the insult.
He skidded to a stop and whirled around, flaming with anger. "What did you call me!?!"
"Chicken!" She sang as she sailed through the air and crushed him into the floor with her arms flung out.
Hakai realized quickly that she was on top of him and reacted. "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!" All four of his limbs scrambled like a crab's to slide his twelve-year-old self out from under her and back into sprinting.
Merle snapped her fingers. "Rats! Nearly got him!"
"AAAHHHHHHH!"
She took up pursuit again, grinning ever more. "Get back here!"
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Koneko, Suru, and Celena watched, the oldest girl giggling uncontrollably and Koneko rolling on the floor with laughter. Suru called over as Hakai leapt onto the bed, his escape wobbling dangerously but anxiously as he sloshed his way across its unstable surface. "Be careful Hakai!"
"Careful my Butt!"
"Aha!" Merle cried as a conqueror, bounding onto the bed after him. "I'll get you now! You can't escape me!" The boy stopped in the corner and began to jump up and down, the mattress bowing under his weight, the covers scrunching about his ankles, and the pillows bounding into the air with every impact. The cat felt her balance failing and clawed into the mattress to keep from falling off. "Whoa! No fair!" Hakai continued bouncing and she turned crafty. "Oh, so that's how you wanna play it, huh?" She started to bounce up and down herself and Hakai began to lead her in circles. "I'll get you yet!"
The bed was taking a royal beating as the two pulverized it in circuits. Koneko took a good look at the action and arrived at a conclusion. "Hey! Wait a minute! I wanna bounce!" She clambered up and over to the bed.
"Me too!" Suru grinned. She grabbed Celena's hand. "Come on! Let's have fun!"
Celena looked from her to the ruckus, then put Eythymia's doll, Leptelepitos, down on her pillow so that she could stand and follow. Soon the whole party was jumping on Allen's bed.
"Wahoo!" Koneko cheered. "I'm a rocket ship!"
"Wee!" Merle joined. "I'm a bird!"
"I'm a bomber!" Hakai announced. "Kaboom!"
"I'm a Butterfly!" Suru grinned, holding her double's hand. "Celena? What are you?"
"I'm – " She thought for a second. "I'm, I'm a Shooting Star!"
"Wow! That's great!" Koneko smiled. "I didn't think of that one!"
"I'm a bomber! I conquer you all!" Hakai cried. "I can beat the bird! I can beat the Butterfly! I'll blow up the rocket ship before you even take off!"
"You can't beat Celena so hah!" Koneko shot back.
"Yeah!" Merle hissed. "Burn you!"
"Burn me!?!" Hakai cried. "You're a bird!"
"No I'm Escaflowne!" Merle announced. "And Lord Van's gonna kick your butt!"
"He doesn't scare me!" Hakai retorted.
"I'll show you!" Merle threatened. "I still owe you that kiss!"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Hakai quickly returned to his circles and the five of them began a Carollian Caucus Race around the bed bouncing like giddly little armatures on their first moonwalk. As they went around and around, Suru got her fot caught in a pile of covers and flopped over onto her face. Celena, Koneko, Hakai and Merle fell like dominoes in that order, building a dogpile on top of her. The cat girl finally completed her dare and gave Hakai a kiss while he was down. His face twisted in disgust. "BLECK!"
"Victory for Escaflowne!" Merle cheered.
"Okay," Koneko said, looking up from halfway down the pile. "Your turn!"
"Hmm…" Merle sat cross-legged on Hakai's back. "Okay, Celena, truth or dare?"
Celena carefully weighed her options. "- - truth."
"Okay, which one on this ship is the cutest guy?" Merle asked.
Celena's face reddened immediately and she shrank back. "I don't want to tell."
"Come on, Celena, its okay." Suru encouraged. "It's a game."
Koneko and Merle leaned down to hear. "Come on, Celena!"
"Um…" She looked around at them all, and finally peeped. "Van."
Koneko broke into a wide grin. "Van!?! Wahoo!"
"Hey! You can't have Lord Van! Lord Van is mine!" Merle cried.
"You mean he's Hitomi's" Koneko corrected.
Merle stood up on top of them all. "He said he loved me so he's still mine! I claim him!"
"I didn't mean to make you mad!" Celena fretted.
"I'm not mad at you" Merle announced. "I just felt the need to proclaim to the world that I own Lord Van."
Hakai was fuming and suddenly began thrashing, wobbling the whole tower of people. "GET OFF OF ME!!!"
"Whoa! Wahhah!" Merle fell backwards off the bed. The minue he was fee, he leapt up off of all the girls and darted across the room.
"All you talk about is girl stuff!"
"What's wrong, Hakai?" Koneko asked. "Afraid you're gonna get cooties?"
"No!" Hakai shot back.
Koneko wiggled her fingers at him. "Cooties! Cooties!"
"Cooties aren't real!" Hakai said snidely.
"I don't know – " Merle said, her tail twitching. "You can never tell until you actually get them!"
"Everybody Tackle Hakai!" Koneko cried.
"No!" The boy yelled as the girls all advanced on him. "Why are you always after me!?!"
* Escaflowne *
Trapan stood in his chamber as Areolar, Virial's fifth captain, stepped in with a new set of soldiers. The young man saluted and bowed in jerking motions to the man in black, his flame-like blond hair bobbing slightly. He straightened and stared steadily into the face before him. Trapan leaned in, he seemed to recognize this young man from somewhere. The dark figure acknowledged him with the usual greeting to strangers. "What is this?"
"I am Captain Areolar of Commander Virial's detachment corps."
"Ah." Trapan brightened immediately. "The Machine! I know no how you serve me. Detachment corps? So you are the Errander."
"I and a handful of Virial's men complete tasks that the commander cannot complete personally." Areolar clarified.
"Errander." Trapan finalized. "And what have you returned to Fanelia for?"
"I just finished placing Atlantican sentries in Asturia. I heard that the Commander and the body of his forces headed north in different parties. I wanted to leave him a note that I am taking this detachment and heading south to Zaibach to attain control there."
"Hm." Trapan eased back. "Zaibach is a big country with many people in its capital city."
"That is why we need sentries." Areolar said quickly.
"I am heading south soon, myself." Trapan informed him. "We are vacating Fanelia for the safehouse of the Master." Areolar looked enraged but this was in consideration of his ill preparation. Trapan read him with an eyebrow quirk. "My suggestion would be that you leave the men you have with you here and rendezvous with the Machine up north. He doesn't know of my movements here. Tell him to meet me between here and the safehouse…. He has already summoned the rest of your fellow soldiers to him north northeast of here. You will meet him and tell him of my actions." He touched the hilt of his sword. The pink glowed brilliantly for a moment. He closed his eyes and paused as his fingers bathed in it under his cloak. "Then we will all head to Zaibach."
"Yes sir!" Areolar saluted. "I will disembark Fanelia." He bowed again quickly and signaled his men to remain as he headed off for the hangar and the Congruency.
* Escaflowne *
Hitomi pulled the covers tighter around her neck and balled up in her cot. She could see Millerna's shoulders moving with breath in the dark. She hoped her friend was having sweet dreams. Yukari was on the floor by the door, already asleep, and Jiai had been out for hours. The rest of the girls were probably asleep by now, too. It had to be nearly four in the morning. She hadn't checked on the boys, but she felt like they were all settled. Actually, her feeling was the she was the only one awake on the whole ship. She felt alone and troubled, like she was in danger or in hiding, afraid of being caught. It was upsetting. She lay in the dark of her room and waited for conclusion: whether the feeling was going to go away or she finally was going to be caught by the unnamed assailant concealed in the darkness. Then the danger would be real. The resolution came in a different form. She heard footsteps in the night and the easing of a door on its hinges. She sat up and uncovered her legs, hearing the door close again as quietly as it could. The door wasn't hers, so it had to be the guys'. She heard boot steps move up the hall past their room. "Allen –" Hitomi decided to investigate. At the very least, she definitely wasn't sleeping. She wanted to know why the captain was up this early, remembering that he had barely gotten any rest since this whole adventure began. She stepped over Yukari and out into the hall, following the sound of his footfalls.
Ahead, Allen stopped, hearing stocking feet behind him. H waited around a corner until Hitomi appeared. She jumped and stifled a squeak in surprise. He looked down at her, his blue eyes catching the moonlight. "Hitomi? What are you doing up?"
She took a deep breath and regathered herself. "I heard you leave and wanted to know where you were going. I hope you don't mind."
He stepped back and sighed with exhaustion. "I suppose I don't. I'm just going to check on Celena. I get worried when I'm not the one to tuck her in."
"I can understand." Hitomi consoled, remembering his sister's freak attacks. "I'm concerned about her, too. She seems like a very nice person, and she's been robbed of so much."
"She has." Allen agreed. "And is saddens me."
"You really have a heart, Allen." Hitomi told him. "I still care about you. So does Millerna. We want you to be happy, and I know that Celena loves you very much."
"Thank you, Hitomi." Allen accepted, blinking slowly. "Sometimes I need to hear those things…"
Fire. Wind. Melefs. Screaming. Fire. Wind. Houses. People – Flying – Screaming. Fire. Flying. Melefs. Flame – Shooting – Melefs. Smoke. Ember – Ash. BlackRedYellowWhite. FireWindLaughingLaughingLaughing.
Kataphygio burned in a brighter light than it had the previous day. The houses and people disintegrating before Guymelefs as they sloshed through ankle-high debris, kicking embers in a flurry about their knees. The sight was seen from the ground, from the sky, from a building's roof, from the cockpit of a melef, from the inside of the embers, heat and ash flurrying, and from behind closed eyes. The whole adventure was ten times worse in Celena's dreams.
The Laughter was loving it.
Down below, three shining people: Eythymia, Philos, and Botheia: cowered helplessly. Eythymia's eyes seemed to take in the world, embers swirling in them. A fountain of fire blew them apart. She could see the bodies.
Celena sat straight up in bed, the room dark and her four friends asleep on the floor around her. They remained so, for the pain of tonight's nightmares was more intense than any other she'd yet experienced. It crippled her so that she could not scream, move, or even faint. Her body trembled all over as her hair bristled back and her eyes flashed.
Blue. A Purpleish. Red Violet. Blue. Red. Blue. Red. Blue. Red.
Red.
She lifted her hands in terror and pain slowly and unsteadily. As she did, her skin blanched, not in terror, but in actual pigment, becoming pale. The waviness of her hair became silvery steel. The innocence left her sixteen-year-old eyes, leaving them razor sharp. Still there was pain. Pain that ripped gashes in her head and cut connections, rewiring them, unearthing concealed memories and burying others. Arrows firing all over her brain.
His brain.
Dilandau got his hands to his head, covering his ears the way Celena had in times before, trying to block out the stabbing and the fear. He was afraid. He was confused, but his throat was tight and all that escaped was a strangled sound. He clutched at his sharply arching bangs. Quickly he jumped to his feet on the bed, Celena's green travel dress a foreign body hanging around his knees. A scar left by the visit of someone else. His eyes clamped tight and his teeth clenched in the final moments of the splitting pain. Swiftly it retreated, leaving him numb but free. The young man dropped his arms slowly to his sides. His eyes swept the dark corners of the captain's quarters. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing there, but he was determined not to stay. He had business. He stepped a bare foot onto the covers intending to head for the door. 'What is this place? How did I get here? Am I a prisoner? I remember… not long ago… a room… and the knight… Allen Scheazar!" He growled. "I remember now. I was fighting. Allen Schezar… I was beaten back – then Jajuka –' Another intruding stab of pain hit his head and he flinched. The memory of his guardian beast man, sacrificed for his life on the battlefield, made him sad and angry. His brow furrowed. 'I'll get that Allen Schezar! Van! I'll have revenge for Jajuka! And the others – my Dragonslayers! I'll just find the hanger, grab my Oreides and get out of this place! Maybe I'll burn it down on my way out!' The thought pleased him. 'HeeHee…Burn it down… I like that.' He noticed the feeling of loose material around his legs and looked down. "Ack!" He bit his lip. Although straightforward and unrestrained to a fault, he didn't want to give up his freedom the minute he had it back. He glanced to the snoozing bodies then returned to despising the dress. 'What the heck is this!?! Why is it that I always end up in one of these!? Dangit!' He tugged it quickly over his head and flung it across the room. 'Sick' Luckily, Celena was in the habit of wearing shorts underneath her dress. Dilandau's attention was turned immediately back to the door. A cunning sneer seized him. "HmHm! Now I'm out of here!" He bounded off the bed and dashed to the door, grabbing the handle, throwing it open, and exiting at high speed. The commotion caused the room to stir.
Allen and Hitomi were just coming up the hall when they spotted the pale boy hesitate outside Celena's bedroom door. Hitomi's eyes gaped as she gasped. She couldn't believe who it was. "Allen!!!!"
Allen's face contorted into a look of both fury and disbelief. He clenched his teeth and growled. "You!"
Dilandau whirled around, his eyes locking with the knight's and a similar look of rage painting itself there. "Allen Schezar!!!"
Allen stepped forward, is fists raised. "Give back my sister, demon!"
"I'll show you who's the demon!" Dilandau shot back. "You'll see some demonics before long! All of you insects are going to pop and burn when I come after you!"
Allen was swelling with sheer hatred. Automatically his hand grasped his sword and this time he didn't hesitate. The blade unsheathed and caught the light. Hitomi was frozen in shock. Dilandau took a step backward. He realized that he was getting ready to fight an armed swordsman with nothing more than a pair of tight shorts. He took a fraction of a second to check sense, then turned tail and ran for his life. Allen charged after him. "Get back here, Albatou!"
Hitomi took off running after both of them. Watching the mass of Allen's hair, her mind raced. Celena had changed back into Dilandau! Hitomi thought that she had been healed at that final battle when Jajuka had been killed. He'd died to bring her back. Allen's love had secured it. This must have been the result of Celena's attacks. It all made sense now. The nightmares caused by 'Dilandauic' thoughts. Allen knew this happened and that was why he would drop everything and run to his sister's side when she began screaming. He was keeping her from changing.
Dilandau turned into a side room and searched frantically for an escape or a hiding place. There was a window at the back, a white carpet of moonlight leading him to the exit. His grin twitched and he dashed over, flinging out the pane, leaving the frame empty like a doorway. Retreat was cowardice and weakness, but he'd be back. Leaving was worlds better than staying at any cost. He stuck one foot out the window.
"Stop!" Allen cried. Standing in the doorway to the room, the sight replaced his anger with cold terror.
Dilandau shot him an iron gaze. "Why should I?"
"You'll be killed!" Allen informed.
"And that matters why to you?" Dilandau coughed back. "It seems to me that If I stay I'll be killed anyway, you just want the pleasure of doing it yourself."
Allen stepped back, then realized Dilandau was regarding his drawn sword. That body had more than one mind in it; Allen was stricken with a deadly fear of his own hand. He flung the blade away from him and it clattered loudly across the floor, sliding to a stop by the wall.
Dilandau raised one silver eyebrow at him. "What are you trying to pull, Schezar?"
"I'm not trying to pull anything." He insisted. "I'm unarmed! Come away from that window!"
Hitomi figured out the meaning behind his actions and joined with him. "Yes, Dilandau! We don't want you to get hurt!"
"Why a sudden concern for my welfare?" He hissed.
"You're holding my sister hostage in that body." Allen told him. "I won't hurt you as long as that is true, and I will keep you from hurting yourself as well."
"So that's the game." Dilandau replied. "You want something from me! Well tough luck, I'm not giving you crap!" He leaned further out the frame. "Suckers!"
"No!" Hitomi cried.
"Don't!" Allen bade in earnest, stepping forward.
But Dilandau stopped right there. Another person had appeared in the room. One twelve years old with blonde hair and red yes. He and Dilandau stared intently at each other from the frames of two different exits. Each, seeing the other framed in their retreat, abandoned them and came into the room. Allen and Hitomi could do nothing but watch. Hakai reached up and touched the scar stretching down his double's face. The sixteen year old stepped back from his hand. "What the?"
"-heck" Hakai finished. "You're me aren't you?"
"Looks it." Dilandau agreed. "I don't know how."
"It's the whole connection thing." Hakai told him. "You're mine. Just like Suru is Celena's."
"Celena - ?" Dilandau's tongue stuck on the name, he felt a pang in his head that caused a convulsion. He stepped further away and turned his back.
Hakai's eyebrow rose in true Dilandau form. "What's wrong?"
"Something – Something –" His red eye shot to Allen. "Nothing! Nothing is wrong!"
"Nothing's wrong my butt!" Hakai spat. "You've got one of Celena's headaches!" The name caused another stab and he balled tighter with his teeth clenched. Allen stared. Hitomi could feel the pendant point at her heart begin to glow. Hakai stomped over and grabbed Dilandau's arm with a jerk. The 16-year-old's head popped out of his hand and turned sharply to the 12-year-old. Hakai bared his teeth and shouted at him. "What are you doing!?! You're not scared of a headache! You shouldn't ball up like t hat! Where's your pride, dangit!?!" Dilandau tried to yank his arm free, but the boy held tight, his identically sparking eyes focused on him. "If its not passion its not power! How dare you be weak!"
Dilandau's shock turned to a scowl. "Get off me, Kid! How dare you accuse me of that! I am NOT WEAK!!"
"You're running away!" Hakai shouted back. "How the heck is that not weak!"
"It's – " Dilandau's eye was twitching. "It's –" Suru came in from down the hall but made no sound as she peered in the door at her brother and his double. Eythymia's doll was held tight to her chest, Suru trying to protect the delicateness of its name. The boy's excuse was finally organized. "It was strategy! That's right! Strategy! I was coming back! I was gonna come back and kill you all! All of you! That's not Weak! Hah!"
"Yeah it is." Hakai shouted back. Allen and Hitomi stared in absolute bewilderment. Hakai continued preaching. "You come back with a bigger gun and kill everyone off with no reason. That isn't power, it's stupid. You're like a little girl!"
He drew back and Allen's eyebrows spiked. Dilandau had his hands back over his ears. "No! Don't call me that!"
"You ARE a little girl!" Allen told him, taking action. "You're a sixteen year old girl named Celena Schezar!"
"AHHH!" His face tightened up and he bared his teeth at Celena's brother. "Shut up! I hate you! The sight of you gives me a headache!"
"Celena?" Suru came into the room, her eyes bright blue and held wide. "Is that Celena?"
"No!" Hakai answered.
Dilandau doubled over at the sight and sound of Hakai's twin. "AAAHHHHH!"
Suru hugged Leptelepitos close. "Why's he screaming?"
Allen concentrated on Dilandau. "Celena!"
"That's her, Suru!" Hitomi told her. She recalled what had happened in Chesario when Celena and Suru had been alone when an attack hit. Suru had brought her back. Hitomi spied an opportunity she couldn't pass up if they wanted to get Celena back. "Suru! Call out her name! Bring Celena out from inside him!"
"Don don't!" Hakai protested. "He's not Celena!"
"He is!" Allen cried.
"You didn't see the transformation!" Hitomi said. "Dilandau is Celena! He is a side effect of the fate-redirection process Dornkirk used on her! He's not who she is. We need to bring her back!" She looked to the girl. "Suru!"
"Su Don't!" Hakai shouted.
Suru looked around, bewildered, not knowing who to listen two. Who was right and who was wrong? Allen cast a glare at her. "Do it, Suru! Please! Celena doesn't deserve this pain and torture!"
Suru bowed her head and looked at the doll in her hands. She became composed and chose a course of action. Turning her eyes to Dilandau, she caught his gaze. Her eyes burned him with a fire he was afraid of. He couldn't control it; it seared inside his head, rewiring it. Those eyes were like his, but someone else's. They were young, innocent, caring, and very blue. So blue. Suru held Leppy up between them and furrowed her brow. "Eythymia loves you, Celena! She died but she wants you back! I love you too, Celena! So does Allen and Hitomi! Hakai even loves you, Celena! You see Leppy's face – half of it is burned. You are the smiling part. The part that was meant to be seen! Come back where you are loved and wanted and needed! Here is where you belong! Come out of that dark blackness that has concealed you inside! Return to the light of life and reality! Come back and play with us, Celena! Come and be happy!" Her exorcism still held a childish mind. The wooden doll stared with one eye at Dilandau. "Com and play with me and Eythymia! You can't go now when we all have fun here together!"
Dilandau
stared at the girl, then stared at the doll. The wooden body was blackened from
the massacre at Kataphygio, its cloth hair and tail brittle and broken on one
side of the body. Its face was half
scorched, but the unscarred side was smiling.
Cheer through pain. Delicate
Eythymia was eaten by a fire that wasn't fun.
A fire that wasn't pleasing. He
could feel a deep ragged pain rip him apart from indeed. He fell down to his knees, trying to hold
back screams of fear and pain that were signs of weakness. A weakness that was overpowering him grew
from his heart. Something deep wanted
to surrender to it. For if he would
rest in the assurance of helplessness, then her brother would protect her and
take care of her. She would be safe if
she could only just hide in the safety of her brother's shadow. There was not stifling it. The weak's assurance and the strong's
defiance became mingled and indistinguishable.
The tortured mind finally released the pent up emotion.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The four present stared on, Suru with the doll still extended as the youth screamed and cowered, his eyes flashing and his skin channeling waves of color. His silver hair lost its rigidity and began to crimp and loosen. His shape changed, the bare back curving to that of a girl's and shaking, anatomy melting and warping as the sandy wisps of hair fell forward through twitching fingers over two baby blue eyes. Celena's pains dulled, her screaming stopped and she fell unconscious to the floor.
*
The echoes of screams from inside barely reached the night wind as it carried a chill across the hull of the Crusade. The bitter cold was not one that would cause Daiji to stir. The man just wrapped his arms tighter around his chest and pulled his legs up closer as he leaned against the observation deck wall. Moonlight soaked the area, but his face was in shadow, his brown bangs a mess in front of his closed eyes. He'd fallen asleep outside with the landscape and the stars. Something about travel had made him feel better, but still he sat far from the edge and the passing of the hills. Why go inside where it was warm? Why go back to the others when, even surrounded by people, he still felt so utterly alone.
To be Continued…
