Episode 13: Consciousness
The city was dark and crowded. The buildings were holding on like the last hope of an apocalyptic metropolis, green glowing lights on the weary stone walls and dry gray dirt filling the cracks in the slate plated street. There was a cold ocean wind moving swiftly down the night-shrouded alleys, kicking the silt out of the grout to create a dirty fog that hung waist high about the travelers as they elbowed through the damp and nasty crowd. Ayen could feel the filth in her shoes and caking her legs as she was pulled between people, connected to her father by the hand. Her free hand clutched a cloak about her head to disguise her Fanelian dress and Asturian eyes. She was deathly afraid of loosing hold of him. "Daddy!"
Seguir pulled her up to his side, a similar cloak across his shoulders. She grabbed tighter to his hand. "Don't worry, Ayen. We're almost there."
A stranger bumped into her and she looked up to find a wolf-man, the green lamplight shining brightly off his eyes. "Ahh!"
"Shh!" He squeezed her hand and she pulled tight to his arm. "Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you."
The fourteen-year-old followed as he waded through the strange people. The wind desert-cold, fluttered her clothes and froze her ankles. As promised, they soon arrived at an old, broken down building, showing greater shambles than the others around it and set back in the shadows. One window at the top left flickered on and off, casting a pallid green glow on the wall in pattern less flashings. She knew at first glance that she didn't want to go in, but was being lead by her father out of the wind and hoard of dusty strangers so she relied on trust and the blessed assurance that she was leaving the street. Inside seemed nearly as dingy as the outside minus the wind. The short she'd witnessed on the second floor affected all the central power lights. It looked lie a green, thunder less lighting storm was raging outside, causing the room to alternate between pale green illumination and darkness with the exception of one candle lamp that remained lighted throughout the flashing. Seguir took down his hood and approached the gruff-looking man behind the counter that extended from the near wall. The man looked up from under his bushy eyebrows. "What do you want?"
"We'd like lodging." Seguir answered.
The gruff man looked down at Ayen and she felt sick. He spoke again. "How long?"
"That's undecided as yet." Seguir answered.
One of the hairy eyebrows went up. "You talk real fancy. What's your name?"
"Valence." He answered. Ayen's green eyes edged up to his face. He'd come prepared with an alias. "Pascinian Valence."
"Local?" The man guessed. Seguir nodded slowly. The man sifted through a drawer. "Never have guessed. You don't look Zaibachian."
"We've been abroad." Seguir answered shortly.
The clerk put a key and chain on the tabletop and shoved it toward Seguir. "B4 upstairs. I'll expect pay in the morning."
"Thank you." The bronze haired man took the key and walked to the stairs with Ayen still tightly held. She watched the deskman until they were out of sight on the top floor. The second story was dark and stricken with the same disease of light as the lower and the exterior. Seguir found their door and juggled the key in one hand so that he wouldn't have to loose contact with his daughter until they were safely inside. There was a thud and the sound of breaking glass in the door beside her. Ayen let out a squeak and hid behind his back. A dark alcoholic smelling liquid pooled under the door and leaked into the hall. She could see it in the flashings of the lights inside the room. Seguir got their door open. "Come on."
Inside, there were two beds in varied states of disrepair. The blankets had stains on them from what looked like food and dirty water. There was a sink in the corner and the mirror on the dressing table was cracked. Ayen's nausea was tripled at the sight. They turned on the overhead light to find the same short in effect. Seguir turned it off.
"Light the lamp on the wall, Ayen. I can't stand these lights anymore." She walked over and did as she was told, not wanting to complain about her disgust, but kept her face taught and her mouth shut. The thought of sleeping here was revolting. He tore off his cloak and let his shoulders sag. "I'm sorry about the state of this place, but they'll never think to find us here. Knowing Trapan, he'll avoid searching places he figures we'll find uncomfortable." Ayen folded her hands and sighed in the light of the lamp. He walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm really sorry. I know this looks bad, but we've got to get through it if we want to stay alive."
"I realize that." She said. "Its just so-"
He took off her cloak. "Why don't' you get some rest? We haven't been able to have any for a while." He glanced to the bed, and then gave her the cloak back. "And sleep on this, who knows what diseases you'll catch from that thing." He moved off to make his own bad.
She looked up. "Daddy?"
He turned. "Yes?"
"I'm glad you're here with me."
He smiled a little to her. "I'm glad you're with me too." She lay down on her cloak, her head in the hood and he did the same on the other mattress. The lamp was put out and they were left in the dark with the sound of a restless dirty street and the neighbors.
Ayen turned away from the window and looked to her father who was lost in the dark despite the periodic green lighting. "I love you."
"I love you too, Ayen."
And with that, she was able to close her eyes and the place where she was at was not all that bad.
* Escaflowne *
"So what you're telling me is-" Dryden appealed, "that you had a dream and then began to find connections between your friends on Earth and us here in Gaea."
"Yes, no wait –no" Hitomi answered. "I found the connections before I had the dream."
"Before?" He leaned forward.
She nodded. "Yes, I ran into all of you before I even had the dream with my double in it."
"She was in your dream!?" Van cried. He hadn't heard the whole story either, and was very interested in this point.
Dryden stayed him by raising his hand. "Hold on, we'll get to that in a minute. Let me get the time frame down."
"I had the dream a week after, and I knew that Van was in trouble." Hitomi continued. "But I didn't have my Atlantis pendant, so I couldn't get back to Gaea. So I came up with the idea that if I found Yosu –" She looked to him and her eyes stuck, "-I would have an idea of what to do."
"And when she went looking for him, she found all of us." Jiai smiled. "I mean, she already knew me and Yukari and Amano, but she didn't make the connection."
"No pun intended." Daiji grinned.
A half-smile hit Dryden's face to. "Right."
"But when she got us all together we teleported here and ended up in Asturia." Amano continued.
"That's where we learned about Seguir and Haman and their plot against the queen." Yukari said.
"Wait a sec –" Dryden interrupted. "There's a plot now? And are we talking about the same Haman? The one who was vizier to King Aston with Dad?"
Millerna nodded. Koneko looked confused. "Wait? Who's your dad?"
"Meiden was my father." Dryden answered.
"Did we see him in Asturia?" Yukari asked, looking at Hitomi.
Allen answered instead. "You couldn't have. He passed away coming up on three months ago."
Concern struck many present, feeling that they already knew Dryden through Daiji, who himself looked up in alarm. Meiden's son sighed and shrugged slightly. "Its past. Its just something else to get over."
"That's rough." Daiji sympathized.
Millerna was stricken. "I'm sorry! I should have sent a card or something! I'm horrible."
"I guess that makes us even." Dryden said. "But anyway, you were telling a story –"
"Oh! Right!" Hitomi took up again. "We regrouped with Millerna and Allen and decided we had to come help Van. So we snuck out of the palace and flew to Fanelia."
"But we had some problems." Allen added. "We had mechanical difficulties and had to stop in Chesario where we met with Gadess's cousin and his family."
"Philos and Botheia helped us out a lot and flew us to Fanelia where we snuck into the palace, got Van and Merle and left." Jiai said.
"Needless to say it wasn't THAT simple." Daiji said. "It took a lot of work and a lot of planning, and a lot of stuff went wrong, but we managed anyway."
"When we went back to Chesario," Hitomi continued, "we were attacked and forced to run away. That was when we came looking for you."
"To see if I had answers to questions." Dryden concluded.
"That's right."
"Okay." Dryden mediated. "Now tell me about this connection thing. What's its origin?"
"We don't know how or why we are connected." Yosu answered. "All we know is that we all have experienced some tie to our double and that it influences the way we think and behave."
"I haven't noticed an influence like that." Koneko said.
"I have." Jiai volunteered. "When Millerna was sad, I felt very sad. And I sometimes get gut feelings about people or places."
"Millerna? Do you have these feelings related to her?" Dryden asked.
Millerna thought. "I don't know. I have been happier lately, but that may just be because I'm with all of you. I haven't noted any oddities in myself."
"I can feel you really strong sometimes." Daiji said to his double next to him. "Only just recently has it really shown. Actually, last night was when I consciously noticed it for the first time."
"Really?" Dryden found this fascinating. "What prompted it do you think?"
"Last night was the first time I actually got "Connected"" Daiji explained. "The process concerned is, you see, that one of us relaxes ourselves and allows Hitomi to use us as a doorway to one of you. When we are connected sometimes we experience sights or sounds or emotions concerning the other end… or a combination. When I was connected, I could see through your eyes and feel what you felt. After it was over, I couldn't shake it off. I hope I'm not divulging any secrets but when you and I were connected, I could really feel your sadness. I mean it got me really depressed and I stayed depressed until we met up with you. I had never felt you so strongly before."
"You left out one important point." Millerna interrupted. "You passed out."
Dryden's eyebrows spiked, stretching a bruise around one of his eyes. "What?"
"He passed out this morning for no good reason." Jiai answered.
"For how long?" Dryden asked, growing suspicious.
"A couple hours about." Amano answered. "About as – "
"About as long as me?" Dryden pressed.
Amano comprehended. "That's right."
"And before I lost consciousness, I remember feeling like I was being assaulted." Daiji recalled. Everyone looked intently at him. "Like I was being beaten."
"That sounds very familiar." Van said, looking to Dryden.
The merchant nodded. "Were there any of these sort of occurrences in anyone else?"
"I already told you about how I felt sad." Jiai said.
"But when I connected you, Jiai, the image I saw was in the evening." Hitomi said. "When you felt it was in the morning."
"More time skewing." Yosu observed. "So I guess the whole thing is not exactly synchronized."
"How can we expect it to be?" Yukari asked.
"How can we set rules on anything concerning this anomaly when we cannot even determine that it is?" Dryden set. "Right now, my suggestion is not to pool information as would typically be the case in a situation like this, but for us to take it one mystery at a time." He got up and stood in the middle of the circle, his broad shoulders and robed layers giving the illusion of immense size. He lessened the effect by drawing back the side of his green over cloak and putting a hand on one hip. "Add as you have something to add, but this is what I'm theorizing from what I've gotten so far." Everyone paid attention, Hitomi staring hopefully. Maybe now the problem would be solved. Dryden began to speak. "Now, apart from time and order of events, I have observed some details about all of this and all of you that I think are important. For instance, there is one of you for every one of us. You applied the term 'connection' and suggested that these associations were developed by some untold stimulus. But that would leave the questions of what stimulated it and why."
Allen cleared his throat and got the group's attention. He bent over with his elbows on his knees and his golden hair falling over his shoulders. His hands clasped and he looked up trying to achieve a knowledgeable look. His eyes flitted to Yukari, Hitomi and Millerna, then came back to Yukari before focusing up on Dryden. "I have a feeling it has something to do with Atlantis."
Dryden became intrigued. "Really? And what brought you to that conclusion?"
"Several things." He answered. "Firstly, Hitomi was having visions concerning the Draconians and her pendant."
"Visions?" Dryden pressed. "What were they?"
Hitomi sorted through the list of visions that she thought she might share. There were a couple that she didn't think would be appropriate at this time. The reoccurring image of the melefs and the little girl would open a whole new can of worms and saving it for a later time would be a good idea. "I had one about Van's wings being crushed and another about the pendant being snapped from his neck."
"Was –" Van had a misty expression. "Was that the one with your double in it?"
Hitomi nodded.
Allen got them back to the subject. "Secondly, the pendant is, in essence, used in each connection."
"That's right." Jiai nodded. "She always puts her hand over her heart."
"I can feel the pendant as if its there," Hitomi confirmed, "and sometimes I can feel it flare up if something happens or is going to happen."
"And thirdly," Allen finished, his voice hinting that this was the most important of all. "The men that attacked your ship were Draconians." Dryden was stunned. Allen stared intently. "I know for a fact that two of the three who took the bridge were Draconians. I saw their wings."
"So did I." Yosu said, sounding uneasy.
"The leader was a Draconian." Van announced a touch of anger in his voice. "HE saved himself by flying up and meeting his Guymelef." He growled to himself. "A draconian working for Zaibach…" He remembered fighting the Maginot back in Kataphygio. The man in the Stallion melef has told him that he was the same as they were… it was true after all. His fist clenched. Folken came to mind. Unbeknownst to him, Hitomi was growing more and more concerned for him as the moments passed and with it the discussion which continued without them.
Yosu leaned forward. "What does this mean?"
Dryden had his chin in one hand. "Very interesting. What this means is that I may be able to help you after all. Atlantis is my field of specialty. I'm actually writing a book –"
"Yeah, I saw some." Daiji interrupted. "Deep stuff."
"Thanks." He smiled. "Now t hen, with Atlantis in mind, tell me about this double of Hitomi's. She seems to play some integral part."
"Fakey Hitomi?" Merle asked, straightening from her seat on the floor. "I can tell you about her! She wasn't Hitomi at all! Well, she was sorta I guess, but I know it wasn't REALLY her. She had longer hair and different kinda clothes, and a different way of talking –" She bit one finger as she reordered her thoughts. "She was normal! That's it! Fakey Hitomi wasn't weird like Real Hitomi!"
"Hey!" Hitomi protested. Merle flitted her tail and sniggered.
"Fakey Hitomi is a Gaean." Dryden stated. "Real Hitomi is an Earther."
"But Neko isn't that different from me." Merle said.
"Yeah! We're buds!" Koneko grinned.
"Some of the doubles are very close." Hitomi said. "Jiai and Millerna for example, and Van and Yosu and You and Daiji. Your personalities are very close, almost indistinguishable, like you're the same person."
"Hitomi's double had me convinced that she was Hitomi." Van admitted. "She had me completely under her spell, even to the point of letting her have the pendant back. And living in my own house…"
"She locked me up." Merle said.
"You never told us how you got in that dungeon Merle." Millerna recalled. "What happened?"
Merle looked important. "Well, I knew Fakey Hitomi wasn't the real deal all along! But Lord Van couldn't see it, so I tried to show him."
"Ooooh! Lemme guess!" Koneko interrupted. She put on her sleuthing grin. "Fakey Hitomi suspected you were going to foil her plot for world domination so she nabbed you and locked you up to keep you from telling."
Merle nodded. "That's right! She told the Jailer that Lord Van told her to, but I knew he didn't really! He loves me!" She jumped up and threw herself across the room to land on the king. "Lord Van!"
Van smiled. "I'm sorry, Merle."
"Its alright now, Lord Van!" She said, licking his cheek.
Dryden put both hands on his hips and sighed. Hitomi spoke up quietly, she'd been thinking on the topic of her double ever since Van brought it up. Now she felt like she had something she needed to say. "I met my double." The others turned to her, noting the reserve in her voice. Van was aghast. "In Van's palace, she spoke to me. She told me…She told me that everything was my fault. She said that I was coldhearted because I still did this even though I knew how she felt. Then she said…'What kind of person am I?' Not about me…. about herself. I didn't understand – I didn't think I was feeling anyone's feelings except my own. But I'm not so sure anymore. I was really panicked coming out of the castle, and I remember I was scared of…. I was thinking about death – I was scared someone was going to die. I thought it was Van, so I went back for him. Was I feeling her feeling or was I feeling something that was mine? I don't know. It makes me scared to think that I might be basing what I do or think on something that isn't really me."
Yosu felt a lump catch in his throat. He wanted to tell her that he knew what she meant. He was experiencing the same difficulty with his connection, but glanced to Van and held his tongue. They were still wary of each other. Dryden began making sense of it. "So she knew you two were doubles and that you have an emotional connection even though you'd never met or spoken with her before, and she would have no knowledge of the situation."
"That means that whoever she's working for knew about the Atlantis doubles beforehand." Jiai said.
Dryden turned on her suddenly. "What did you say!?"
Jiai jumped, her eyes glued wide. Millerna sated next to her giggled slightly at the look on her face. The dark haired girl recovered and repeated herself with a slight stutter. "Wh-Whoever she's working for knew about the Atlantis doubles."
"That's right, we didn't tell you about our theory on the global conspiracy!" Yukari cried. "We've decided that instead of being separate isolated incidents, Haman and Seguir are working for someone with Hitomi's double working there too. That's why they didn't want us to get from Asturia to Fanelia."
That apparently wasn't what had gotten Dryden's attention. He hurried over to a wall of bookshelves behind Amano and Yukari's heads. The twins and Celena were building a tower out of them in the corner. Dryden started skimming the spines. "That's a very interesting theory but I think we should come back to that. I thought I had something around here…"
Daiji stood up. "Can I help?"
"Nah, I think I've got it –" he backed up and looked down the shelf, the kneeled next to Celena to look at their blocks. Allen turned to watch, but Dryden got up and left them alone. HE bit his lip and scanned the rest of the room. "I could have sown –" the he brightened. "Aha!" He scooted behind Allen's chair to the mantle and took one thick volume out from under a lamp. "I knew it was here!" He spoke as he flipped his tinted lenses up and leafed through chunks of pages. "I have tons of book son legend but I think there are only two publications that have this story in them." He fixed his glasses and read aloud. "Upon the awakening of Draconian failure in the Mystic Lunar civilization, the Dragon Gods created anew and double the birth of their treasured endeavor to the hidden skies of their abandoned home. As the cycles became mirrored and Gaea became the new Mystic land where Atlantis transplanted and an exacted recurrence ensued from the stem of the ancient beginnings."
"What the heck!?!" Koneko cried.
"Yeah, could you translate that for us?" Yukari asked.
Dryden handed the book down to Daiji, whose hand was waiting for it. "The meaning is pretty simple. It states the legend of Gaea's creation. The Draconians, the Dragon Gods," he looked to the 16-year-old Fanelian, "Van's people, they were the ones that ruled the Mystic Moon…er…Earth. Some scholars believe they created Earth – this one for instance believes that, but I others say they didn't. I don't think they did, because they are mortal creatures and how could they survive without a planet to live on? It doesn't make a lot of sense. But that's beside the point. The fact, or, the legend as we know to be fact, is that the Draconians attained control of the power of wishes and used that ability, that "magic" if you will, to give themselves wings, make great technological advancements, and, ultimately, distort destiny." He looked specifically to Hitomi who suddenly wanted to disappear. "Unfortunately, their meddling with the world on Earth changed things unfavorably for them. War, death, destruction, despair…these were the things that the Draconians couldn't bear to live with and couldn't change. So they abandoned Earth and created Gaea as a clean slate to try again at another Utopia."
"But this isn't perfect." Jiai said, then caught herself. "No offense."
Dryden laughed to himself. "None taken. Needless to say, the definition of Utopia as someplace and no place still applies. The world of the Draconians ceased to exist long long ago and since then Gaea has continued down the same path as Earth, full of war and violence, but also very prosperous. It goes either way. Of course, we natives have heard this story before. Many times. And those present have lived it not too long ago when Dornkirk, or what was his name from Earth?"
He looked to Hitomi again, then around at the others. The brunette realized that she was the most appropriate one to answer and did so quickly, after a pause. "N-Newton. Isaac Newton."
"That's right, Isaac." Dryden said.
"That was in my father's diary." Allen recalled.
"Dornkirk was trying to use the Power of Atlantis and a Fate Redirecting machine to change the future in his favor. The last time we were all together, we were set to mount an attack against him and restore peace. Mission accomplished, we are now here with a new problem and a new enemy." Dryden cleared his throat. "But that's in every book. What's so special about this specific author and this specific volume is the inclusion of some choice words." He took up the book again. "Doubles, mirrored, exacted, recurrence…"
"Hey! Doubles!" Koneko cried.
Dryden nodded and the volume went back on the mantle. Hitomi watched the pairs of doubles exchange glances; Jiai and Millerna with amazement, Koneko and Merle with accomplishment, Van and Yosu with suspicion, Amano and Allen with regard and Dryden and Daiji with a certain smugness that one would acquire when sharing a secret. She looked to Yukari who was busy putting pieces together. Dryden stepped forward and spoke again. "Exactly. Now, I've read this many times, and before now this meant nothing but an interesting selection of diction, but if you'll bear with me, I think I'm string to see a picture of what we're looking at." Everyone waited anxiously for his explanation. He took off his glasses and flipped the lenses back down as he began. "We know that Earth came first. Everyone lived on Earth long ago, Draconians included, until war and everything. It was then that the Draconians made another planet, Gaea, according to this, an exact copy of Earth." He gestured to Daiji. "Now, this is a very attractive man…"
"Why thank you." Daiji said in a smuggish tone.
Dryden grinned. "You're welcome. He reminds me of someone I know very well. There is no denying that our faces are the same. Our eyes are the same. You yourselves have admitted to me tat the two of us are alike in every way imaginable from how we look to how we act and what we say. To quote you… we are nearly identical. Well, lets suppose that we are identical – " Hitomi's eyes widened. "I think that when the Draconians copied Earth, they copied its fate as well. That's the clean slate – they wanted to change it, and they did, but at the same time, the same fate was going through its cycles in both locations, bringing forth war, death and destruction for both planets. But suppose in the blueprints for Gaea, the blueprints for its people have been copied too, so that the same people are born on each of the planets sometimes to different parents and on different years under different names, but still, they are all born." Everyone gasped. Dryden began his closing argument. "Daiji and I look the same because we are the same. Carbon copies from two worlds that were never supposed to mingle. All the details are not explained but that is my theory, and what I can see about all of t his." Everyone was in stunned silence at the sense he was making. He moved to sit back down next to Daiji but Millerna called him.
"Psst!" She whispered and beckoned. "Over here." Dryden looked to Daiji and spiked his eyebrows. His double winked with a 'go get 'em' smile and Dryden moseyed over to sit with his arm around the queen. Allen began to speak but lost his train of thought at the look on the blonde's face.
Yukari offered the first supporting evidence. "That would explain why we all reminded Hitomi of a Gaean before the problems with her double started. If we 'developed' connections suddenly, we would not have resembled anyone beforehand."
"That also explains why Gaea and Earth ore so much alike." Jiai said.
"But wait." Amano interrupted. "That means every living person on Earth has an exact replica walking around on Gaea!"
"And visa versa." Dryden said.
"That's creepy." Millerna muttered.
"So then – " Van seemed hopeful, "that would mean that there is a Folken – and a Mother and a Father existing on the Mystic Moon at this moment?"
Hitomi felt tears in her eyes at the hope he'd found as Dryden answered affirmatively. "Theoretically."
"The same for Eythymia and her parents, too?" Merle asked. He nodded.
Allen was lost in his own head and Yukari stared at him, concerned. Amano put one hand on her shoulder and she covered it with her own. He drew a conclusion. "Hitomi's double must have read that book and figured it out."
"Or maybe her boss told her." Jiai suggested.
"What I don't understand then is why we all feel your emotions but you don't feel ours." Yosu spoke.
"That is a good question." Dryden admitted.
Millerna had an idea. "Maybe its because Hitomi patched them through!" Hitomi froze. "You know, because she connected them using the 'pendant', they were tied closer to us."
"That's a very good idea!" Dryden cried. "Atlantis is the root of everything! It's the stuff that split us all apart in the first place, maybe it's helping us get closer to being the same person!"
"And if Hitomi's double has the pendant, that explains how she can still 'use' it!" Yukari added. "The Power of Atlantis used that connection."
"I hadn't had true visions until the one where she took the pendant." Hitomi recalled. "Since she's had it, I have visions nearly daily."
Van leaned in again. "Daily!?!"
"This is incredible!" Dryden cried. "It's all coming together! It's astounding!" Millerna beamed at his smile and scooted closer, loving his excitability and enthusiasm.
Amano spoke again, tightening his grip on his girlfriend's shoulder. "But that also means that Yu could be connected to anyone, not just someone important to our adventure."
Hitomi's shoulders sank. "Oh, that's right."
"You don't know who she is?" Dryden asked.
"No." Jiai answered. "And we need to find out because the connection makes her have arrests where she blacks out and stops breathing."
Dryden's eyebrows went up. "Really?"
"Yeah," Daiji said. "And they're totally spontaneous, too. And sometimes painfully inconvenient."
Dryden raised one eyebrow but Hitomi began presenting evidence instead of clarification. "Her first attack was on Earth, when I connected Amano. She could see Allen through him and then nearly blacked out." Yukari blushed a little and stared at the floor as they talked about her. "The second attack was in the dining room of the palace at Palas. That was when I realized that it was related to connections. The third one was in Van's palace while she, Jiai, and Daiji were in the throne room pretending to be delegates."
"Ahh." Dryden understood. "Inconvenient."
Hitomi kept speaking. "When I touched her, I could see an image much like when I connected the others. In the visions, she was older with wavy hair that was a lighter color. And she passed out every time on a balcony. That was when the visions went black."
"I always feel like I'm falling out of myself." Yukari said. "I can only come back when I hear Amano call my name."
"I'm afraid that her double is very sick." Hitomi concluded. "And that we should find her soon."
Dryden leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. Millerna threaded her arm through his as he became an analyst again. "It sounds like we have enough clues. If we can put it all together, we can figure it out."
"The connection has to be really strong because it happens without my help." Hitomi said.
"Alright, then what triggers it?" Dryden asked.
"The first was seeing Allen in Amano in the living room. The second, when we were going introduced to Allen and Celena. The third was when I was staring at Hitomi's double." Yukari said. She clung to Amano, afraid that remembered might send her under again.
"Hold on." Koneko spoke up. "I see a pattern!"
Yosu looked to her. "What is that?"
"Two of the three have to do with Allen!" Koneko observed.
"And Fakey Allen is the only one that brings her back." Merle added.
Dryden nodded. "That's a good point. Did Allen have anything to do with the third one?"
"Well," She reflected and followed her train of thought to the point where she passed out. "Yes, actually. I remembered the time in the living room before I went under."
Allen stared intently as Dryden continued to offer support. "So Allen has to do with every time you have an attack."
"That means that whoever she is, she's close to Allen." Daiji concluded.
"And you always 'lapse into death'." Dryden repeated.
Yukari nodded.
"Did you say the woman in your vision was blonde, Hitomi?" Dryden pressed.
"No, but – " Hitomi filed through her rolodex of past visions. "I think she was."
Dryden closed his yes. "I think I know."
Allen gasped hollowly, his blue eyes wide and quaking. Millerna stared at him and received her own inspiration. It chilled her to the bone, her eyes watching and her hands trembling, she tore her eyes from the knight to Yukari and was convinced. One look and it was now so obvious – why hadn't she seen it before? She stood. "I know who you are!" Everyone turned except Allen, who was rigid. Millerna looked at him, her heart breaking in her throat. "And Allen, so do you." His eyes began to tremble even more violently. "And I'm so sorry." The onlookers glanced between them, Amano and Yukari especially. The man could feel a cold sense of dread well up within him. Millerna hung her head and turned to lock eyes with Yukari, whose brown eyes had begun to look green-blue like Jiai's. "Yukari – you are my sister." She gulped. "Marlene."
Hitomi gasped. "But! But Marlene is – "
"Dead." Allen stated, a sob suppressed in the back of his throat. "Marlene is dead."
Reality was sinking in now. Yukari felt the wind knocked out of her and she fell back against Amano, on the verge of an attack then and there. Jiai reached up and took Millerna's hand. Dryden took the other one. Millerna used his to wipe her eyes and sit down. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Allen! This must have been so hard. I can't believe I didn't see it. I feel – I'm mourning her all over again." She turned to bury her head in Dryden's shoulder and he put his arm back around her. Allen stood up and left the room.
Hitomi felt tears in her own eyes as she watched him go. "Allen!"
"Big Brother?" Celena asked. She looked around at everyone. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Amano assured. "Nothing that can be helped." Everyone sat uneasily as Millerna cried; feeling like it was inappropriate to say anything. The queen finally took her hand from Jiai and removed herself from Dryden's grip, standing to leave.
"I'm holding us up." She sniffled. "You all continue – I'll – I'll go outside and calm down." Dryden moved to get up and follow but she stopped him. "You need to stay. You're important to the conversation." She tried to smile at him. "I'll - I'll be alright. It'll only take a minute." With that, she excused herself.
Everyone sat in silence, exchanging glances. Jiai sniffled. Yukari sighed exhaustedly and looked up at Amano, who was sad with Allen's sadness. She broke the uneasy quiet. "I'm dead."
The rest jumped as the connotations sank in. Hitomi whirled on her. "No you're not, Yukari!"
"Does this mean – since Gaea and Earth have the same fate – that I'm going to die young?"
Amano panicked, she could feel his hand shaking on her shoulder. "Yu, no! I won't let you! You cant!"
"Marlene died of illness." Dryden said solemnly. "I don't know how to answer you."
"Time is skewed." Jiai cried. "Maybe fate isn't exact! We didn't just have a big war for global domination on Earth!"
"Yeah," Yosu said without the hope a positive answer would carry, "we had two."
Jiai's heart sank.
"But no," Hitomi said, "we have a chance. World War One and World War Two happened a long time ago, but World War One and World War Two are happening here now! This is the second one, and it didn't happen twenty years apart like it did on Earth. Maybe, hopefully, Yukari's time will come when she's old! And then it wouldn't matter!"
Yukari sighed again.
"So what do we do now?" Yosu asked.
"We need to find who is pulling the strings." Dryden said. "Who is the head of your global conspiracy?"
"Then where do we go?" Hitomi asked. "Back to Fanelia? Asturia?"
"The men we just clashed with were definitely Zaibachian." Van said. He frowned. "The same country…"
"What did they want anyway?" Yosu asked. "They were unprovoked, why did they attack?"
Dryden took a minute, the whole thing still heavy on his mind "They wanted to know about the Power of Atlantis." His eyes were glazed. "What it was and how it worked. They were more than just curious. They were aggressive and determined to get what they wanted as if it was for some ultimate goal. But I could sense the motivations behind their questions. I didn't tell them anything, and I told myself I'd die before I would. It would be corroborating with the enemy and betraying all of you." Then a little more quietly. "It would be running away again."
Amano didn't know what he meant, but could feel the significance. Be bolstered up his pride. "Well, we won't be scared off that easy! They've got twice as many of us to deal with this time around and we'll murder 'em! Where do we go next? Zaibach? Well lets get moving!"
Dryden took heart. Van sprang up. "We'll do it again! Zaibach won't conquer the world again, not now and not ever! Someone run and tell Gadess we're headed for Zaibach!"
"I'll do it!" Hakai volunteered, anxious to run around with an objective. Amano nodded and the boy took off.
Hitomi stood as well, slowly, with one fist over her heart. "We need to find the leader. The leader will bring all the answers out and I have a feeling, will bring down everything like a house of cards if he should fall. Eries, Millerna's sister, lives in Zaibach. Maybe she can help us find clues."
"A peaceful trip!?!" Jiai cried, amazedly. "That sounds good for a change!"
"That means we have some idle time." Dryden said, standing. "You all should move into the extra rooms. There are eleven of you here; I think there are rooms for you all. I don't visit the guest part much. If needs be you can double up."
"Hah!" Koneko cried. "Double up! Good one!"
Yosu groaned.
Dryden moved to the door. "I'm going to find Millerna – and Allen – to tell them what we've decided. Wander around if you'd like. The place is yours while you're here."
Koneko's face turned catlike. "I like it when they say that."
"Thanks Dryden!" Yukari grinned, feeling better now that the meeting was over. The redhead turned to Daiji. "I like him."
"Me too." He answered. "Well, I'm going exploring! Got to see how 'I' live after all!"
"Yeah, right." Amano said, flatly.
* Escaflowne *
Millerna's sobbing had calmed down. The weight that came with Marlene was one she pulled from several angles. Not only was she young and beautiful, Marlene had been her oldest sister; the one she'd always looked up to and wanted to be like. Marriage and then death had taken her role model away from her forever. Then there was Allen. When she found out about he and Marlene, and then Chid, their illegitimate son, it had been too much. Too hurtful. She wandered the halls of Dryden's ship trying to subdue her memories and doubts. She happened upon Allen seated in a side room.
At fist the Queen did not want to disturb him. Out of courtesy and selfish cause, she nursed no desire to confront him, but there was no denying that she had been in love with this man. Seeing the face he wore now reminded her of the night she'd caught him in the portrait room and he told her that their love was a lie. And it was. She could see now how much he was still in love with Marlene. She realized again how close Yukari had been to him all this time and how hard he must have fought to show no emotion. She knocked on the open door. "Allen?"
His head moved, the blond hair in his face moving out of his eyes. He took a deep breath and paid her no attention.
Millerna came into the room. "You knew all along didn't you?"
He paused a long time. "Yes I did." He breathed shakily. "I couldn't miss that resemblance."
"I know how you must feel. Losing someone you love is very hard. I know. But if we stick together…" his head moved a little and she faltered, "…maybe… we can get through it."
He looked up, one blue eye visible through the long hair. "What are you saying?"
She came over next to him, kneeling on the ground so that they were nearly eye-to-eye. "I mean that we don't have to be in love to need each other. I still care about you, Allen, and I miss Marlene too. If we can help each other, we'll both feel better, don't you think?"
He straightened, something of a shock on him, and combed his hair back behind one ear. "Millerna?"
She looked up, her eyes red from her own crying. "Can we be friends?"
He pulled his lips tight, then let his chin dip and nodded slowly. She took a little comfort in it, straightened up on her knees and gave him a hug around the neck. A hug that took him a couple seconds to return, and when he did, it was weak and tense. She leaned her head into his, hoping to relax him a bit. He closed his eyes and let his rest lightly on hers.
Dryden was watching from the doorway.
Millerna noticed him peeking around the frame and froze. She let go of Allen and got to her feet. "Dryden – "
Allen pulled his posture up and watched the merchant as he came into the room, his hands clasped behind his back. Dryden looked at him and to Millerna's relief, wasn't angry or jealous. He actually seemed a little sad himself, reminding her of their conversation in the library. Dryden unclasped hi hands and spoke in sullen tones. "I'm sorry to disturb you like this, but I wanted to let the two of you know that the meeting is over."
"And…" Allen pried, dryly.
"We're headed to Zaibach." Dryden answered.
Millerna took at start. "Zaibach!?!"
"We thought we'd pick up some clues. And your sister may be able to help." He told her. "And considering. It is the center of the last ordeal. Even if they are not related, the goals of both campaigns are the same. Maybe there is some sort of link." Allen turned to stare at the floor; Dryden tried to cheer up a bit. "So for now, we've got some time to kill. Spend it as you will, the place is yours. I'm headed to the bridge to see how Gadess and crew are doing." He nodded his head to them. "Excuse me."
Millerna stepped forward and took his arm as he was leaving. He grinned a little to her, her presence reassuring. She turned back to the seated knight. "Remember what I said, alright? You don't have to live this alone." Allen watched t heir backs as the two of them left. She was officially beyond his reach; she would not come back to him now and pick up where they left off. But he brought that on himself he supposed, and he couldn't walk with a crutch forever.
"Why can't I be happy?"
* Escaflowne *
Just inside the line of the Ventrag Mountains, five Guymelefs stood undisturbed on a plateau. Their pilots were prowling around, each responding to the defeat in a different way. Vector was nearby, unmoved, his rock-solidness was one that was unaffected by anything other than orders and impulses. He waited, watching his captain mostly, and alert to his mood. Prestress sat sharpening his sword. It was unbloody, keeping his balance level. He was content with how things had turned. Resultant however, was restless. "I can't believe we retreated! I could have won! I could have taken that prissy girlyman out so fast – I can't believe you made us run away!"
Virial sat silent on the leg of his stallion, the pegasus kneeling as a horse would with its wings folded. The leader gave his 19-year-old subordinate no notice and sat deep in thought. He was rerunning the events in his head. Torsion tried to hide her concern, but kept glancing back over her shoulder as she worked on the repairs of her own craft. She kept thinking about their conversation the night before in the woods, and how she'd reacted when she saw him falling. Why had she been so afraid he would die even when she knew he had wings that would save him? It wasn't because she was concerned about him revealing the fact that he was a draconian, and she knew for sure that it wasn't because she was worried about getting paid, even thought before today that would have been her excuse. No, it was something different, something deeper, something she felt ashamed of. She twisted around inside of herself and tried to focus on her work.
Resultant turned on his commander. "What happened!?! You pulled us out when you knew we could win! You were scared off by WHAT!?! A bunch of humans!?"
Virial was brooding, but turned his lavender eyes to look on his inferior. The 27-year-old's pride was battered and the walls of his protective shell were weak. It had been the last thing in his mind to throw out his wings, each feather wearing a secret of his and every beat a sledgehammer to his comfortable automation. Sitting with a stricken and recovering heart he did not have the patience to deal with Resultant just then. "The time will come for the Eyes. We have many commissions. The Merchant and information gathering was but one. We will try again at a more preferable time." His mechanics were a little shaky in their performance.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Resultant cried. "Are you weak!? What do you mean 'try again'!? We could have taken them then! We could take them now!"
"You weren't able to see the halls of that ship, boy!" Virial said, reminding the young man of his inexperience. "We lost presumably half our troop in that place. We were not prepared for a fight. Factually, no fight should have occurred. As long as Atlantis is still at large we cannot lean things favorably."
"I was doing it!" Resultant cried. "There was only one real frighten among them! The three of us could have taken out the whole lot! Its because you went first that we ran away at all!"
"Shut up, Resultant!" Torsion cried.
His blue eyes shot sharply to her as she turned with her teeth grated. "Shut your whining! Virial knows what he's doing!"
"What do you care!?" Resultant shouted back. "You get paid either way! My revenge was robbed! I deserve some answers!"
"You don't deserve anything but to get slapped around!" Torsion shouted back. "Your power trip is all you care about! You don't know anything about strategy, planning or priority! Commander's right, getting Atlantis is the first thing! We'll go after the Eyes and the information after we accomplish that! That's the way it has to be so shut up and leave him alone!"
"If you weren't a woman, I'd kill you for that!" He growled. "You don't have an angle unless you just recently picked one up! I joined this group to see my enemies paid and the Draconians restored. If being a member of this troop will stop me from doing that then I quit!"
"You'll get your chance!" Virial snapped, suppressed anger raising his decibel and silencing them all. Even Vector and Prestress looked up as Virial stood, the brown hair on his head and face making him look much older and seasoned than he actually was. The commander stepped forward and Resultant backed a step up, suddenly sensing the disregard he'd been paying to Virial's authority. The leader stopped and glared at him, his face hard. "The order will be restored and all who stand in the way will be crushed. It will happen, Captain, in fate's time. You will have to bide yours and lick your wounds until then. This is the only way anything you desire will even be put into affect."
Resultant bowed quickly. "Yes sir. I understand." He looked to Torsion who was still fuming. "Its just that she's really sexy when she's mad."
Virial narrowed his eyes menacingly, but called over to the others. "Vector!"
The juggernaut was at immediate attention, not that he ever left it. "Yes sir."
"Take Prestress and Resultant and find the others. They should be near if they escaped the ship. Bring them back to report to me here. We'll take off tomorrow morning."
"Yes sir." Vector nodded. Prestress sheathed his sword and climbed up the leg of his Guymelef.
Resultant paused, bordering on a look of suspicion. "Why isn't Torsion coming?"
"She needs to repair her melef." Virial said, pointedly, then turned his back and stepped slowly toward his stallion melef ending any discussion. Resultant snarled to himself and followed the other two.
Torsion waited until the three Maginot had taken off before making any movement. She set her tools down in the rift of the left shoulder and looked to her commander. He was standing still and silent, staring at the ground near Trapan's suit. She could see in the way that he held his shoulders that he had his back muscles clenched. She figured out his thoughts. He regretted revealing his wings to the enemy. She was compelled to speak to him, and clambered down to the ground; feeling a bizarre anxiety arise. The commander's head turned slightly as she approached. "Commander?"
He said nothing, one hand clenching and unclenching, trying to arrive at some sort of equilibrium where his own pain and concern were smothered or forgotten in exchange for his well-oiled mechanics. "Yes."
"Commander, I –" She faltered. She would feel a lot more comfortable if she let out her wings, but she sense that this was not the time. She swallowed hard. "I truly believe in your judgment." She said finally. "I don't put my faith in a lot, but I wanted you to know that I believe in you." He turned slowly, she could see his lavender eye focus on her from a profile and was suddenly vulnerable.
Virial's voice was flat. "Why?"
"Why?" She was confused and a little angry. After all she was trying to be helpful, and it was seldom that she cared enough to pay attention to anyone.
"Why did you want me to know that?"
"Well…" she stopped, this question unexpected, "because…" trying to figure out an answer was difficult on short notice since she first had to analyze it for herself, "because…" she recalled his words to her and found the power in them not only similarly applicable, but loaded with the connotations that she wanted to convey, "because you're not alone."
He turned fully around to her and she breathed heavily. He blinked slowly, the commander gear jarring loose and stalling all of his well-regulated systems. "Torsion? Are you saying that out of reverence as a captain?" She pulled her lips tighter and shook her head, not sure of which Virial she was talking to, the one she had been taking orders from or the one that she met in the woods the night before. She hoped it was the latter; she had a … particular feeling… for the latter. He took another step toward her. "Then what?" She felt her eyes sting, becoming uncharacteristically emotional. She tried to shake it off but her read her and his uniformity finally fell through entirely. Without realization or even conscious effort his powder-white wings emerged, throwing off his shoulder armor, which clanked when it hit the ground. She jumped and looked up at him with watering eyes. He didn't know what had happened and looked back at his feathers with the same look of panic as one would wear if caught writing a love letter. She shoved her armor off as well and released her coiled tension in a flurry of plumage. He looked at her wings, withholding breath.
"I –" she felt so much more at ease like this and reveled in the lack of boundaries for a moment before turning a romantic eye on him. "I like your wings. They suit you. You look majestic with them out like that."
He searched his heart, words still difficult. They were always difficult. She could see it and it almost made him cute to her, much better than some brash young egotist with cocky lines and half-witted response for everything. The commander swept his wings out of sight and closed his eyes for a second. "They have no power in them. I have no pride in them except the hope that when the order is restored they will be… accepted. Commonplace. No. That they will be… un-special." He grumbled to himself. "That's not even a word." He looked to her and was shocked into speechlessness again at the understanding look on her face.
She shook the blonde hair out of her face. "I like them now."
His eyes looked as young as they really were in that moment, and she could have sworn that he was blushing under his dusty brown beard. "You… are to beautiful… to be loved by anyone else…"
It was her turn to be shocked. He had used 'love' in his well-chosen statement. "Virial."
"Glaucus is my real name." He stated. She leveled her eyebrows on him. "It is my given name, the one that my draconian mother gave me. I prefer it, but my father refused to address me by anything other than my Zaibachian surname. Draconians only bear one name. Most don't know I have a first one."
She understood; she'd been going by her first name since she learned the Draconian way and was honored to be able to address him in the manner that his family would in a new and perfect world. "Glaucus… I like it. With those eyes, you look more like a Glaucus than a Virial to me."
He blushed even harder, she giggled to herself to see him so deeply in his own feelings and not behind some protective shell. He came over next to her. "You know, I, I didn't choose to make you captain because of this…" He panicked a second. "I mean, I knew it, but that's not why I… what I mean to say is…"
She put her hand in his. "I understand, don't worry about it." His eyebrows rose to her and she full out laughed at his astonishment. "I love you like this! You're such a cute guy when you're not worried about what people think of you! When you're 'Commander Virial' you seem a million years old with a schedule and an iron fist!"
"I do worry about what you think of me." He answered. "If I didn't worry about it then I wouldn't be sitting here with white wings and stuttering… and using bad grammar." She laughed again and he actually smiled, even as he tried not to. "Tori, do you even know what to think of me?"
"I know this." Torsion said, raising their arms and showing him their clasped hands. "I know that I think I'm in love with Glaucus. Even enough that I can see him through Virial. And that when we stand side by side in a world where Draconians once again are free, I'm not going to hesitate to tell everybody about it, and the two of us are going to walk around the Mystic city day in and day out with big white wings and no twisting or layering or whatever!"
He relaxed, perhaps for the first time in his entire life. "That is a magical dream."
"Do you want it too?"
He nodded. "If we can make it a reality. It would be the desire of my heart." He looked to her and she was staring starry-eyed into him.
"I love you."
Her lips were craving a kiss. He desired to answer their call. The two of them leaned in slowly, each wanting to make the move, but frozen in the prospect of the other's returned emotion. Both had released their wings, both had thrown down their barriers, all that was left was this to complete the love-struck transformation they were meant to make.
Inches away they heard a voice. "Commander Virial!"
They jumped, pulled apart, sucked in their wings and dashed back to previous occupations. Glaucus gave his head one good shake to re-align his clockwork and re-gathered his layered facade into the cold, emotion-less machine. Torsion was less adept at this and climbed back into the lap of her ship to get busy on repairs and hide her face. It didn't help when the owner of the voice appeared around the corner of the suit. Areolar was appalled when he arrived and stared at his Commander "What's going on here!?!"
"Do not demand, Captain." Virial regarded. "You saw nothing other than business."
"I saw wings!" He cried. "I two pairs of wings out in the open! We can't show off our wings for no reason! Someone could see! I thought you knew about that! Who else was it!?" His eye shot up to the other captain. "TORSION!?!"
She smacked her head against the metal of her suit in punishment. The situation had just quadrupled in severity. The last person she wanted to catch her making advances on her boss was her older brother. "Yes?"
"What were – " Areolar looked back and forth between them "you were – what is – Torsion! I demand an explanation for this!"
She stormed to the edge of the Maginot knee and shouted down to him. "I don't have to EXPLAIN anything to you! But since you're asking, we were talking about the last battle we just had! It didn't turn out very well! The Commander himself nearly died in it!"
Areolar was only angrier to have her yelling at him. "And what does that have to do with wings!?"
"I always let my wings out when I'm relaxed!"
"Then what about him!?!" An accusing finger was thrown at Virial. Torsion didn't give the commander even the slightest glance.
"He was telling me to stop! He knows how dangerous it is to have your wings out in a place like this! He was showing me how obvious a full wingspan can be! For heaven's sake Areolar, I'm not a baby I can take care of myself!"
"Sir!?" Areolar turned to Virial who was replacing his shoulder armor with indifference. He waited for his story, severely critical and ready to snap.
Virial's voice was cool and undeterred. "I don't believe it is your place, Captain, to demand anything from me. Insubordination is a serious offense, I suggest you calm down and rephrase your statement before you find yourself in over your head."
Areolar stretched his neck and straightened up. "Sir. Trapan sends word the he is leaving Fanelia and we are to meet him en route to Zaibach."
Virial gave him an icy glance. "That is your official report?"
"Official sir." Areolar assured with a hidden snarl.
Virial swept back to the Tamarack. "Then once the other captains return, we will depart. It should be in a couple hours. Where is the Congruency?"
"Over the hill." Areolar answered. "I stopped when I saw the melefs."
"We'll load the Maginot onto it and Torsion will finish repairing it then." The Commander stated. He turned his remark into an order. "Go fetch it captain."
This time Areolar's snarl was visible and malcontent as the Errander stomped off through the high grass, his blond hair like tongues of yellow flame rising from his building hatred and outrage.
To be continued….
