Episode 18: Truthfulness
"I am yours!" Seguir shouted from the doorway of the Pravada. Van stared, his blackish hair blowing across his face and his hands gripping Escaflowne's reins. He'd come with passion pumping, ready for a fight but was now faced with a strong but visibly worn enemy, his hands raised in the air and his deep emerald eyes staring consciously and determinedly back at him. This had to be some kind of trick.
Allen leaned over Paile's station for a closer look. "What's happening down there?"
"They've stopped sir!" Reeden reported. "It looks like he's surrendering!"
"Surrender!?" Dilandau cried, unpleased.
Hakai didn't quite understand. "C'mon Van! Attack him already!"
Dilandau came off the window and crossed his arms. "Stupid Fanel! What a waste of time."
Merle and Koneko just stood with their faces pressed against the window, Merle's ears fanned as wide as she could get them to pick up any sound.
On a separate balcony Jiai, who was previously searching for Millerna, had run into Dryden and Daiji instead. They had a better view anyway. Jiai leaned on the banister next to Daiji, her wavy dark brown hair moving in the cold mountain air. "Is he? Giving up?"
Daiji nodded. "Seems so."
"Easy fight." Dryden said with a mirrored look of surprise. "My kinda battle."
Jiai leaned around Daiji to the master of the household. "What do we do now?"
Dryden frowned. "I'd say bring him in… but Van looks ready to kill him."
Jiai meddled with her hands in front of her chest: a very Millerna-esque action. "Oh, I hope not."
Daiji looked down to her as she wrung her fingers, then put his hand out to stop her. "Lets head up to the bridge, maybe Allen knows more about what's going on."
Yosu was not totally oblivious but he was trying his best to be. He was sitting in Van's place, holding the hand of a comatose Hitomi. He had a strange feeling running up and down his spine like something was wrong. He sensed it was Van and Escaflowne so he tried to ignore it. He wanted nothing to do with his double just then.
Van frowned deeply, one eyebrow twitching, and shouted at Seguir. "Who have you brought with you!? Who sent you!?"
"I came alone!" Seguir called. "I've left the Faction! And I have information from the inside that I wish to share with you!"
"Share!? The enemy? Share!?" Van was having a hard time dropping his confrontational attitude and refused to believe him. His mind was too full of past offenses. "You chased us out of Asturia! You sold the palace to the Enemy!"
"I regret anything I've done!" Seguir replied. "I have nothing to do with Trapan anymore! I'm ready and willing to offer anything I know to you – " Van looked at him skeptically, sensing a turn in his tone as if there were strings attached to his pitch. The suspicion was soon confirmed. "But I have one request!"
"No Deal!" Van snapped. "I won't bargain with you!"
"I only ask for sanctuary!" Seguir answered. "I have no where to go and no one to fight for! Admission to your side would be my favored choice!"
"I still can't believe you!" Van challenged. "Not after all that you have done to us!"
Millerna and Yukari had watched the confrontation from their balcony and ran up onto the bridge when they heard the exchange. The Queen grabbed Allen's arm. "Is it really Seguir!? My captain of the guard!?"
"Yes." Allen nodded. "He's asking for sanctuary and has offered himself as a prisoner."
"Are you going to take him?" Yukari asked.
Allen leveled his eyebrows. "No, we wont, if Van and I are thinking the same way. Its not worth the risk."
"But you've got to!" Yukari said, firmly. Allen was surprised at her demand, the 16-year-old's brown eyes flaring as if they each had their own corona. "Better to have him in check and locked up than roaming around out there on his own knowing where we are and where we're going!"
"Yukari, you don't know what you are saying…" Allen assured her, sounding big brotherly, "you don't understand the situation. He could be booby trapped, tracked… he could be a spy. Taking him on board could be dangerous."
"Or he could be telling the truth!" Yukari said, frowning. "For crying out loud! Why can't you trust anybody!?" Allen was speechless at that.
"I want you to take him on board!" Millerna cried. "I want to ask him questions – ask him why he's turned against my family when he's been so loyal and kind to us!"
"Millerna – " Allen began in protest but was interrupted.
"Do what she says!" Dryden, Daiji and Jiai had just entered and the man of the house was sounding serious.
Allen turned a disapproving eye on him. "You don't know what could happen!"
"I know what could happen." Dryden responded. "I'm fully capable of logic and reason. I say we bring him aboard. He has information whether he shares it willingly or not."
"This isn't one of your logic puzzles." Allen answered. "We're dealing with reality here."
"I know what could happen and I say do it anyway!" Dryden snapped back.
Allen put his hands on his hips. "If you're ordering this because Millerna wants it, then you are basing your decisions on something irrelevant. We're still dealing with the last time you pulled one of these!"
Millerna whirled on him. "Allen!"
Daiji sensed the sting of the knight's words and put a hand on Dryden's shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. You're the one with the conviction, back it up. You're just as qualified as he is."
Dryden's bushy brown eyebrows set in a look of authority, something Allen and Millerna were not expecting. When he spoke again, his voice was steady and grave. Very powerful. "We are bringing him aboard. It is my ship, it is my responsibility, it is my call. Do what I say."
The native merchant crewmen, including Llave, watched intently. The Crusaders were studying the two men as well, waiting at peak interest to see how their boss would respond. Dryden was the commander. Allen had no choice but to back down. He turned, fuming, and yelled to van out an open window panel. "Take him! Bring him in the Hangar!"
Van turned, outraged. "WHAT!?"
Allen glanced quickly back to Dryden then snarled a little. "Just do it!"
Seguir sighed. After all that… he was in.
The whole assembly minus Yosu and Hitomi were gathered in the docking bay when the Pravada landed. Escaflowne swooped in on canvas wings and Van leapt from its back to confront their captive. The beautiful olive-colored machine rested on one knee, its limbs being chained as soon as possible, binding its great strength and history to the merchant ship. Seguir stepped out and down to them with his hands still in the air. He was met by sword points. The defensive line was headed by Allen, who looked disgusted with the very sight of him. "What are you doing here?"
Seguir felt guilty receiving such a glare, and avoided the malice-laced question as best he could, sounding a little awkward. "You remember me, Sir Allen? I remember you from the palace, and I'm glad you've been here to take care of the Queen." He searched the heads in the crowd quickly and found Millerna standing with Jiai. He smiled and nodded to her. "I'm glad to see that you're all right, your majesty. I tried my best to serve you both then and now… believe me."
"Don't talk to her!" Van roared. "Answer the question! Why are you here!? Is it for Millerna? Did you come to take her or something!?"
"No, never." Seguir insisted. Millerna could not help but have her heart soften on him. She picked up a tangible honesty from him, and the look he had given her seemed to show genuine relief. Yukari's prediction that he was telling the truth seemed to be coming true. She walked around the group, watching him and, perhaps on instinct found herself with Dryden. He took her hand while she wasn't looking and she was suddenly distracted by a warm gummy feeling.
Seguir weighed his options haphazardly and decided to level. He tried to look as convincing as he could. "I know you have identified me as a traitor. And I guess this doesn't look good, but I'm telling the truth when I say that I'm not a part of your enemy anymore."
"Not anymore?" Dryden asked, staring over the lenses of his glasses. "What changed your mind?"
"They murdered all I loved." He answered bluntly, his voice hard. Dryden found some common ground in his tone.
Allen and Van seemed to have some kind of pride riding on this. The knight glared at him. "How can we believe you?"
Van nodded. "What proof do you have that you no longer work for them?"
"I'll tell you everything I know." Seguir answered. "And I'll help you in any way I can. Past that, I'm afraid that's my only proof. That and the fact that I am here. I've surrendered myself and my Guymelef and stand here defenseless with your swords pointed at me."
"If you have no ties now," Daiji asked, "what tied you before?"
"My daughter." He answered, a pang of pain in his voice. The events of that bitter night before were still too fresh. "She was the Eyes' double. I was in it to keep them from hurting her. That failed miserably. Even though we escaped they still killed her." He reached down to the sword at his side. Gadess and Amano reached for the swords at their belts as well as Allen and Van pressed more fiercely toward him. The man stepped back, alarmed, but removed the sheath anyway, holding the covered blade out in front of him. "This proves that Ayen was the Eye's double who lived in the palace." He turned to Van. "Your Highness, this is yours."
When Van didn't move, the weapon was tossed to him. He caught it in one hand, recognizing the weight of it immediately. A quick check of the Fanelian crest on its handle confirmed it was his. He stared at Seguir with a new sense of suspicion and outrage. "Hitomi's Double!?"
"You're daughter is Hitomi's double from Fanelia!?" Jiai cried in shock.
Merle glanced around. "Fakey Hitomi?"
"And you said she'd been killed?" Dryden pried. "When?"
"Last night." Seguir answered. "Tragically…. Horribly."
The threat of Seguir was all but forgotten as everyone exchanged insightful glances. Yukari grabbed Amano's arm, causing his hand to come off the handle of his borrowed sword. "I told you! I knew her double died! I knew that was it!"
Seguir grew concerned. "What's happened!?"
"Hitomi passed out at the same time." Millerna determined. "That has to be the cause!"
"The Eyes!?" Seguir cried frantically. "-Hitomi- There's something wrong with Hitomi!?"
"Stay out of it!" Van snapped at him.
Seguir became angry as well. "I want to see her! Where is she!?"
Allen had a new burst of defensive grit and stepped up to bar his way. "You wont go anywhere near her, Nadeje!"
Seguir begged him. "She's my daughter! I could help! Let me see her, please!"
"No!" Van roared.
"Why not!?" Dryden offered, shouting as well. "How else are we going to fix her!?"
"Dryden!?!" Amano shouted appalled.
Allen fumed. "Now you're going too far, Fassa! I can't let you cross that line!"
At this point the merchant was tired of being told what he couldn't do. "Just give it a chance! How can we say 'no' when we've got no other plan!?"
Daiji had his back. "We gotta exhaust all options!"
"I wont let you!" Van said, his threat blanketing all of them. "We'll find another way!"
"What if there isn't one." Dryden insisted.
"Yeah," Yukari agreed. "You called her, Van and that didn't work. Yosu called her and we all called her and that didn't work either! Maybe she needs someone from THIS side of the connection to bring her back!"
"No!" Allen stood firm.
Jiai grabbed for Millerna. "Allen! Why?"
Yukari had had enough talk. She stormed up to Seguir and grabbed his muddy sleeve. "Come on, we'll take you to her!"
Allen nearly exploded. "Yukari! Get away from him!"
Koneko joined her. "Yeah, Mister, this way!"
Merle was hesitant with a look to Van, but followed. "Neko!?"
Allen flew out after them, hissing in Dryden's face as he passed. "You'll pay if something happens to her!"
"I guess I will." Was the reply, he rooted himself to the spot and watched as the others moved passed.
Millerna tugged his hand and urged him along. "Dryden, come on."
Allen caught up with Gadess and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm going to cut them off, keep your blade on Nadeje! Don't let him do anything!"
"Right Boss."
"I don't like this." Van snarled. "As a matter of fact, I hate it."
The whole group arrived at Hitomi's room like a mob. Yosu jumped up from his chair when they burst inside. He looked to Seguir, then to Koneko and Yukari, his brown eyes frantic. "Who's this!? What's going on here!?"
Koneko grabbed her brother's arm and steered him clear. "Its okay. Don't freak out like Van did."
Yosu proceeded to freak out. "Neko!?! What!? What's going on!?!"
Van tried to push past Amano in the doorway but got stuck. "Yosu! Don't let him near her!"
Seguir noticed none of this. His eyes were on the girl lying on the bed. Her hair was short and light brown, and her clothing was strange, but the shape of her face, even down to the way her eyelid fell over her closed eyes screamed the name of his daughter. The man strode long-legged from the gaggle and sat in Yosu's abandoned chair. He grabbed up her hand, no longer noticing Hitomi at all but only feeling Ayen's fingers in his grip. At his touch, she gasped.
Hitomi had been falling away from warmth and light for a day, plagued by images, sounds and devastating fear that she did not understand. For a time she could hear Van call her name, but she couldn't reach him. After a while the sound had petered out and left nothing but a hollow echo that even now was dissipating in the void of her fall. She gasped as she saw a point of light appear at a distance above her, the white speck the most foreign thing she had ever encountered. Her eyes widened and it stung them. Still she reached out for the light hoping somehow it would stop her fall. "Help! Who's there!? Van!?" The light grew and she saw another cascade of images pass before her eyes. A girl with her face riding a sea of Vans, black wings on her back and the Atlantis pendant in her hand. Asturia and the black melef grabbing the little girl from her mother. The swipe of a sword that ended life. Suddenly the point of light rushed closer and took the form of a man – a burly faceless man with broad wings – coming down for her. She snatched back her hand, still plummeting to no end, but afraid of this phantom she had seen in her dreams. "No! Don't come near! No!" But he sped like a bullet, his muscular arms coming around to grab her and his wings slicing downwards into her darkness. Hitomi screamed as he closed in, hair whipping about a featureless face, and covered her head with her arms. But as she waited for impact the man slowed, his incredible wingspan catching air and floating him down underneath her. She felt his arms come gently, even lovingly under her knees and around her shoulders. He was warm and safe, the white feathers extending like a blanket around her. She relaxed her tightened eyes and eased into his chest. The darkness began to fade away and when she opened her eyes again, everything was blurry, but bright and new as well.
The group had silenced and now stared at her. Her eyes opened slowly, and began to regain their familiar shine. She was in Seguir's arms, just like the vision; her head supported by his arm and her hand clutching tightly to the green of his mud-stained uniform. Her mind came into focus and she realized where she was. Even in the arms of a stranger she could feel an overpowering emotion. Her heart began to beat very fast and her cheeks reddened with one look to his face. "Wh-Who…" But a name was sticking in the back of her mind and her lip trembled as she offered it to the bronze hair and emerald eyes above her. "Daddy?"
Yosu and Van exchanged a sharp glance, but Seguir's face smiled warmly. It seemed to the girl in his grip that he had been healed. "Welcome back to life, Ayen."
Escaflowne
Trapan swept from the throne room, a shroud of black in the torchlight. He had left Lyse, the newly conquered king of Zaibach, bound to his place of honor by the spears of his own personal guard. The irony was both amusing and concerning. The young man under siege was suffering so much more alive than he ever would have been dead. But alas, he never went back on his word, even if it was conflicting with his conscience. His new Tool, or so the King had been dubbed, had just been through a dauntless lecture on what he should and should not do now that he was working for the Faction. It had taken all day, but they had hit most of the basics: do everything the resident Draconian resistance member told him to and do not let the country know that the Faction dictates your every move. It was a simple and affective plan. The question now was who should he leave in charge of his own birth country? Gambero and Haman had each had prominent positions in their respective governments before Trapan had arrived, but no one man among his winged army bore a leadership role in Zaibach except for his Machine, who was, as he recalled, recently deceased. No matter. He had others. The Errander was an option, or should he call him Mutineer? Upon further consideration, perhaps some personal investigation was in order.
Speaking of the devil, himself, Areolar came marching at him from around the corner. Trapan held up his hand to dismiss the soldiers at his right and left and waited as the man of the hour, the new commander of the Zaibachian detachment, stopped in front of him and tried to tamp down his frustration with a salute and a scowl. "Sir! Over half my executive staff is missing! Prestress and Vector never reported to briefs and Torsion has vanished from the infirmary without a trace!"
Trapan was amused and watched the commander steam like a teakettle under his red captain's armor. With a hissing laugh he raised a hand. "Calm yourself, Mutineer, let frustrations such as these pass for now." He narrowed his eyes and locked them with the Commanders. "What is it you truly desire?"
Areolar's own eyes contracted as tightly as the beetle-specks of his superior's. "What I desire?"
"You waste energy on convictions for your underlings." Trapan informed him. "All rules aside, if you had absolute power, what is it that you desire for your ambition to produce?"
Areolar's eyes took on a light that they had never had before, the possibilities of absolute power and accomplishing anything making his head spin. Still he realized that this was a test and answered his leader strongly. "I wish for the reawakening of the true world order. The one fate desired from the start. I'll see the master race take precedence over the weak races of Gaea."
"You say you wish this." Trapan noted. "Your diction precedes your destiny, but would you carry out this task with the same fervor as I have seen you use against obstacles in the past?" One eyebrow arched and Areolar caught his meaning. He had dispatched his greatest obstacle only hours before.
He smirked, thinking back on his deed with smugness. "What use is there for a fallen god? I'll do whatever I have to to see my vision through."
"It may require everything before the end." Trapan announced. Underneath his cloak the jewels on his sword flashed. "You will lead my winged army, Mutineer, as my new second in command. The position has just recently been vacated as I've just decided to place my old second in charge of Zaibach, and my Machine… well… he met with your sword. You are to leave your Zaibachian army here to keep our grip tight and use my personal Guymelef, the Tamarak, to find what its previous loaner failed to obtain." Trapan brought an arm out from is robes, the priceless Atlantican pendant dangling down from his hand and shining with a brilliance that almost hinted pain within its pink heart. Areolar stared at it in shock. This was the power of Atlantis, the key to all their plans and source of their success. Trapan regarded it with kudos for himself. "We must find how Atlantis works, we have the relic of Fried from the Scientist's reign, and the key to the device here in my hand, but the knowledge of how to contort fate is still beyond us. The Eyes may know, but the Merchant knows more. They also have Escaflowne, the Ispano Melef created for Gaea with the blood of a Draconian flowing inside of it." He gave the pendant a jerk and watched as it ticked off second after second. Areolar was completely absorbed with it. As it swung, a desire was growing in his heart to reach out and take it from Trapan. Trapan's coal eyes held no ember. "We have been long delayed to the Master's. He has left his Safehouse. In the Friedian Mountains by now. He senses our position. I will meet him North. In his Mystic City." Areolar watched with horror as the pendant moved back inside Trapan's black shroud, the heavy material smothering all light within him. His brown eyes shot up to meet the face of the snake-like man. "Mutineer, you will leave east. Follow the Eyes and their party. Do not concern yourself with defectors or fallen Heroes. Fate is still in our hands. They will return to the new order as gods, willingly and by their own paths." He moved a hand to his sword. "The Master has foreseen it."
"Yes sir." Areolar answered, automatically. He was dismissed and with a turn of his heel he was gone.
Escaflowne
Hitomi was practically normal now that Seguir was there. She was back to her old self and appeared to be suffering no physical side effects. The rest of he party had elbowed into her room to revel in her miraculous recovery. Van had claimed her, holding her hand and keeping his arm around her shoulder. He continued to watch Yosu out of the corner of his eyes. Jiai, Millerna and Yukari were battling for space on the floor in front of her with the cat girls just behind. Amano stood, nearly glowing with relief and pleasure. Allen was elated as well, but he refused to release himself to the moment and focused intently on Seguir. The prisoner was not accepted as a welcome group member by a long shot, but Hitomi would not let him leave her side. She had the 35-year-old within arms reach from the moment she awoke, even to the point of abandoning Yosu to the wall. The Earther was not pleased, and Seguir felt out of place. He received loving and awestruck glances from his daughter's double, but various degrees of distress and suspicion from the others. He kept his eyes on the floor as much as he could.
"Hitomi are you sure you're alright?" Millerna asked for the ump-teenth time.
"I'm fine." Hitomi said, flustered by all the attention.
"What was it like?" Koneko asked.
"Was it like when it happens to me?" Yukari asked. "Like you were falling into a black hole?"
"Yeah." Hitomi nodded, meekly.
"Were you scared!?" Merle asked in wonderment.
"I guess so…" Hitomi replied.
"I was scared!" Jiai said. "I'm so happy you're okay Hitomi!"
Hitomi's smile betrayed a hint of sadness that Allen caught immediately. "What's wrong, Hitomi? You don't seem at ease."
Van shot his critically analytical brown eyes to the Asturian on the other side of his girlfriend. "Is it him?"
"No, no." Hitomi assured, pointedly. "No, Seguir's fine! Seguir's good."
Van was less than convinced. Suru leaned forward. "Then what's wrong?"
"I just feel – " She narrowed her eyes " – like part of me is missing." Seguir looked up to her again. "I don't feel as much as I used to. I'm neutral. I'm having a hard time feeling happy or scared or anything. If I were a color… I'd be dull. Everything lacks the life it used to have."
Millerna looked up to her captain of the guard and saw him staring at Hitomi with a conflicted and impassioned gaze. She felt heartsick to think was what going on behind those eyes. "It is your daughter isn't it?" Seguir looked to her, becoming a little better when he met compassion on her face. "Hitomi's feeling the death of her double."
"I think that too." Dryden agreed.
Daiji nodded. "Personally, I feel Dryden strong enough as it is. If he were to suddenly dissapear –" He looked to his double intensely, "- It'd be like I was loosing half of my soul or something."
Jiai suddenly panicked and crawled to Millerna's side. "It's true! I feel the same way!"
"I get Allen waves every now and then." Amano said, less than thrilled. "And we don't even like each other." Allen snorted at that.
Yukari put her hand on Hitomi's knee and the two of them met eyes. "Its not so bad being only yourself, Hitomi. I'm alright, I don't feel like I'm always lukewarm. I bet it's just like taking off your coat or your shoes… you're cold for a little while, but you get used to it."
"I hope you're right." Hitomi sighed. "But I hope you're wrong too. Deep down, I'm sad that she died. I only got to see her once in real life. I would liked to have been her friend if things were different."
"Ayen would have felt the same." Seguir said, sadly. "If things were different."
"Ayen?" Hitomi asked. "That was her name? It's a pretty name."
"Why did Fakey Hitomi die?" Merle asked.
Millerna gasped. "Merle! That's an awful question!"
"No I want to know the answer." Allen said offensively. "That and others; like why you betrayed your country."
"And why Hitomi's dou – Ayen played me for a fool in my own palace!" Van added.
"And who are you working for and what do they want." Amano added.
"And why they're so interested in the Power of Atlantis." Dryden said stiffly.
Millerna and Hitomi both seemed defensive but Seguir hung his head. "I promised if you let me on your ship I would tell you everything, and I will." He shifted in seat. "But it is a long story and it might take a while."
"I got time." Daiji said.
Hitomi focused on Seguir's face, searching him. Van disliked how strangely she'd turned her attention to the man and tightened his grip on her shoulder. It broke her concentration. Seguir paused with his fingers laced. He stared as his thumbs tapped together. "I guess I should start from the beginning. The very beginning. I don't know how much all of you know – I'm aware of some are probably more educated than others but – " he scanned from Dryden to Van and was given a start by the young king's glare, "-but – I – back in ancient times Gaea was ruled by a powerful race of angelic beings called Draconians…"
This was old news, but Millerna was fascinated. "We know about the Draconians from the last war, but how do you know?"
"I am one." He answered.
Everyone stopped and exchanged glances with various people. Van jumped to his feet. "No you're not! I don't believe it!"
Hitomi was appalled at his violent reaction. "VAN!?"
"First the invaders on the ship and now you!" His eyebrow was twitching, the sense of betrayal growing ever stronger. "Show me your wings!" He put a hand to the royal sword at his belt. "SHOW ME!"
"Alright." Seguir complied, calmly, coming to stand as well. He was nearly a foot taller than Van, and reached up to unfasten the decorative Asturian shoulder clasps with a little slouch in his stance. "If you promise not to kill me."
"Stand down Van." Dryden said.
The king shot him a nasty look and tightened his hold on the handle. The black fell down off Seguir's shirt. There were two rectangular holes in the lower layer through which Hitomi could see his toned back, his skin was still muddy from the night's storm. He turned and looked to her before doing any more. "I'm sorry if I hit you, Perda always said my wingspan was dangerous." Fluidly and immaculately his wings spread: a bouquet of white feathers Hitomi watched enraptured as the clouds of white grew and expanded to fill the entire room, their purity gathering all light into them as if desiring to regain the sunlit sky. His bronze hair and green eyes shone like starlight as the feathers arched up, unblemished with either mud or blood from the events of the night. Everyone stared in wonder and adoration as the glow faded and he relaxed, letting them droop a little to bray his current mood. "Well?"
"He's one alright." Merle 'ooo'ed.
Koneko's amber eyes were sparkling. "I want some!"
Dryden whistled form the back of the room. "Very impressive!"
"Thank you." He said with indifference. He swept one in a shrug. "They've been nothing but a curse to me so far."
"How so?" Millerna asked.
"I'll tell in a minute." He answered. "But if you're all convinced, I'd rather put them away." He swept them behind his back. "They're a little to white for me right now."
Allen was speechless so his double appealed to Van. "Content?"
Van growled and sat back down in a huff. Hitomi withdrew from his displeasure.
The younger members of the audience were sorry to see Seguir's wings go away. Even Dilandau was captivated by them.. In moments the Asturian was re-buttoning his shirt and retaking his seat. "I'm from a long line of Draconians extending back even to Atlantis itself. My wife Perda was also a Draconian."
"Then that means that Fakey Hitomi was one too!" Merle cried.
"That's right." Seguir replied. "We all lived in Palas like normal citizens, never showing anyone our secret and perfectly happy." He smiled to himself. "That was the way life should be; beautiful and loving. Ayen went to school in town. Perda had started a book club. I was head of the palace guard, happy in my work. With my wages I could afford luxuries and while we were at peace I was home enough that we could spend a lot of time together." He looked up to Hitomi with a grin. "Sometimes for holiday we would take trips to the mountains where no one could see us and we'd fly." The memory seemed sweet and he closed his eyes. "Ah Perda was gorgeous when she was flying. Just like a real angel. And Ayen was a piece of heaven. She had trouble learning to fly I remember, she inherited her mother's dainty wings and couldn't get any lift. I guess its good to have them as broad as mine when it comes to stuff like that."
The audience listened patiently, many of them forgetting for the moment how much they had distrusted him. He seemed so genuine.
"I guess it was one of these vacations that started the whole mess. Draconians are scattered all over the place… most don't even know there are others nearby because its an unwritten rule that we should keep our wings a secret. So when six months ago I let slip my vacation plans to go to the mountains to Haman I didn't think it would be a big deal, but he kept pressing me and pressing me for what we were planning to do out in the middle of nowhere. I thought it was strange… and I didn't want to give anything away… since for all I knew my family were the only Draconians in the area and I certainly didn't know HE was one…"
"Haman's a Draconian too!?!" Millerna cried.
Seguir rubbed his face. "Yeah."
"Did you find you out?" Yukari asked.
Seguir nodded. "He figured it out himself somehow. Once he learned we were Draconians it was as if we'd joined some secret society. He invited himself over to meet Perda and Ayen the day before we left and again when we got back. He was particularly interested in Ayen…" He looked now to Millerna. "No offense, your majesty, but I never liked him. He's double handed. And I discouraged him from getting to friendly with my daughter. Perda could look after herself, but Ayen was only fourteen. I wouldn't want anything to…happen…" He swallowed hard. "Haman started it all. It was he who brought the Faction to the palace."
"The Faction?" Allen asked.
Seguir nodded again. "They're an underground resistance group made of Draconians. They are led by a mysterious head called the Master and are trying to bring Draconians back into power over Gaea. The field martial is an evil man named Trapan. It was he who killed Ayen."
"Does this 'Master' have a name?" Dryden, asked.
"I'm sure he does." Seguir answered. "But I couldn't tell it to you. Trapan is the only one who ever speaks to him. Somehow he must be in direct communication with the Master because he always seems to know what the Master's next move is. Either that or he takes his own liberties with his orders."
Jiai was captivated by the story. "What do you mean by that!?"
Seguir looked gently on her, recognizing his young queen in her face. "Trapan has killed a lot of people." He looked down again at his hands. "Many of whom were innocent but in the way. If the Master is a Draconian with any sense of who the Draconians were, he wouldn't slaughter humans like meat."
"Well, go on." Yukari prompted. "Go on with the story! The Faction came to Asturia… then what?"
"Yes." Seguir resumed. "Trapan must have found that Haman was a god and recruited him into the Faction. I bet it wasn't hard to do, Lis is smart but he's power hungry and quite literally blind when it comes to selfish gain. He'd jump off a bridge if he thought it'd get him a promotion. He didn't sell me out right away which surprises me, more than likely he was afraid of the competition. In any case Trapan didn't come knocking on my door looking for me."
"Who did he want?" Koneko asked.
Seguir found the story easier to tell with all of them so deeply engrossed in it. Merle, Koneko and Suru were staring wide-eyed anticipating every word. He answered with a little pause. "Trapan must have told him that they were looking for the Eyes' double. Haman recognized who they needed, considering that Ayen matched Hitomi's description perfectly. He chose a day when he knew I would be tied up at the palace and came for her."
Hitomi gasped, a memory was surfacing in her mind. It was a memory that was not her own. She covered her mouth to keep from being noticed and tried to focus on Van's hand on her knee. She was afraid she was going to have another Yukari episode as she watched images from a foreign past dance across her closed eyelids. Seguir's voice narrated it all.
Hitomi found herself in a simple Asturian house wearing a nice Asturian dress. Her hair was in Ayen's favorite style; hanging in front of her face and down her back to mid spine. A woman with brown hair was working over by the stove, her locks pulled u pin a half bun. She paused in her chore and turned to Hitomi, a breathtaking gleam in her ash-blue eyes. "Are you going to finish, Ayen or stand there and daydream all day?"
Hitomi gasped as the image of the cloaked woman flashed into sight, a red sky stretching behind her shrouded face. A little too smoothly the figure faded back to the kind woman smiling at her. Hitomi noticed that she'd been standing before a half-set table with a plate in her hand.
"Finish setting the table and make sure to wash up, okay? I want to have dinner ready before your father gets home. He's been working late all week and I want everything to be relaxed, ready and completely absent of stress for him when he gets here."
Hitomi placed the dish in its spot. 'That must be Perda.' She looked back and stared at the woman as she hummed through her work. 'And I must be Ayen. This is Ayen's memory! That means she's my mother!' Taking a second for closer inspection, Hitomi realized that, while beautiful, Perda didn't seem familiar as the double of someone she knew from Earth. What became familiar however was her vision of a mother and child running hand in hand from attacking melefs. Hitomi could almost see Perda burst into a flurry of feathers before her. She fell back against the wall and stared fear-stricken at the housewife. The gurgling, nauseating sense of grave reality slowly oozed through her stomach. This was her vision, what she was living right now. She'd see it all for what it was… and she already knew the ending. "Oh no."
Perda turned to her daughter, oblivious to how soon the end of her life truly was. "What's wrong, Ayen? Is something the matter?"
"N-No, I – " Hitomi tried to stammer out an excuse but was halted when a knock came at the door.
Perda turned toward it, wiping her hands on the apron that was hanging on the wall instead of down her front. "Is that Seguir already? Its awful early." She gave her hands a final wipe on the hips of her dress and headed out of the kitchen to answer it. She touched Ayen's shoulder as she passed. "What if he's gotten a break. Wouldn't that be fabulous!? Maybe he can stay home tomorrow and we can take our first picnic or something? That'd be fun!" The knock came again and she laughed at herself. "I guess I should answer the door before I make plans."
Hitomi's blood ran cold. She watched as the woman approached the door, the world seeming to warp into slow motion as Hitomi's mind searched the deepest darkest chasms for what could be behind it. A Guymelef? A red-starched sky and a field of cracked earth? The silhouette of a dying city braced against a bloody sunset? Perda's hand was on the knob and with a twist she pulled it slowly open. The memory began to turn toward the surreal. An otherworldly white light poured in through the crack in the door, the creaking hinges seemed to deafen her to all but the voices inside her head. She could swear she heard a hissing sound in those hinges, and as the portal expanded a black shadow cut a frightening figure, cutting the light and poised like a hooded cobra about to strike.
Hitomi was suddenly thrown back into her own symbolic pit of darkness. The world around her that was Ayen's memory was left behind along with what felt like her stomach and her sense of direction. She suddenly felt as if she was falling, her hair again short and her school uniform whipping rapidly about her body as if caught in a dizzying descent. Her pendant rose up off her chest, its presence unexplained but significant as she watched it swell with otherworldly power and explode about her in pink light. She reached out with arms and legs to stop her fall but there was nothing to find. Instead she was subjected to a stream of images like a slideshow of Ayen's memories. She saw a dark shadow looming and steering as she cowered below it. She saw Seguir smiling in radiance at the top of the world, his shining wings catching a breeze and the golden light of a sunset. She saw Perda comforting her at a time when she was small and had scraped her knee.
There were Guymelefs stomping across a fire-scorched plain. There was a rush and Hitomi felt the invigorating and strictly Draconian sensation of bottled energy in her body, her back tense and craving release. There was a gush and flow as feathers shot from her back, wings arching up and spreading her awareness six feet behind her. She could control them as limbs, she could feel muscle attached to them, and instinctively she tried to use them to catch wind and stop her fall. Her eyes were closed tight as she fell back first into oblivion, tears rising up off her face, taken by the speed. Senses told her she was loosing feathers and as she opened her green wind-watering eyes she saw that they were black, tracing a trail of descent upward into a skyless night.
In an instant she was on the ground, being carried out of Fanelia by a sea of warrior Vans. She looked at each face, all identical and set with a fiery look that seemed ready for killing. A hand reached out and tore the Atlantis pendant from her neck with a snap.
Now she faced a new memory: suspended in air she was faced with the iron image of a Guymelef, its head in the shape of an Earthen horse. Trapan was standing on its head, wings too pure for his heart extended on either side of him. A cleama claw glinted in the arm of his melef and slashed down toward her. She covered her face and could hear the echoes of Seguir's voice "Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!"
She felt the world pause as the man's voice filtered in from real-time, narrating still the story that she was witnessing firsthand. "Haman sent Trapan to my house after Ayen while Haman kept me busy at the Palace. Perda must have sensed his evil…she and Ayen ran…"
Hitomi was darting through the woods now, Ayen's dress caught up in her legs. The brown-red bangs in her eyes and Perda ahead, leading and holding her tightly by the hand. "Hurry, Ayen, hurry!"
"M-Mom!" Ayen stammered, rocked by the footfalls.
"We're going to the castle!" Perda said quickly over her shoulder. "Seguir can use the guards! I won't let that man get you, I promise!"
Hitomi's heart was beating fast in the sprint and in the moment. She could feel Ayen's adrenaline taking control of her, yet she felt herself thinking; how many times had she seen this? The mother and the child? How many times had she seen its outcome? How many times had she awoken with this heartbeat in her throat and the ghastly sense of fate clawing away in her mind.
No escape.
She turned over her shoulder and looked back as they ran, fearful that the sky above them would be ablaze and an army of mechanical men would be closing in fast. She watched as an obsidian melef, stallion headed and all-too familiar, rose above the treetops. Ayen screamed.
Perda turned quickly, her ashen eyes contracting as she saw the machine move toward them. A pair of Maginot appeared at one and eleven o'clock. Perda came to a stop and stared, she tugged at her daughter's hand. "Wings, Ayen!"
Hitomi turned quickly to her, a pang of cold terror accompanying the revisited image of the end of her mother's life. "I wont leave you here!"
"I'm coming with you!" Perda released her own dragon wings, the feathers lie silk arching among the wave of her umber hair. Hitomi gasped before the same rushing feeling overcame her again and the memory of Ayen released her wings as well. This time hers were white, and with a great leap she took off from the ground, feeling a great cushion of air propel her. Perda joined her on the wind, the two of them rising rapidly upward as their enemies closed in around them.
From inside his cockpit, Trapan sneered. "Gods! We have gods here!" A cleama claw formed from the right arm, causing the pipes and modified tubes to pulse within the ancient forearm, its armor burned and scarred by the technology added beyond the intention of the Ispano.
Perda rose slowly along Hitomi's left-hand side. The teenager tried to gain altitude but was having a difficult time, her dainty wings too small for the rapid ascent she needed. Suddenly Trapan's claw split the air, Perda batted away from her and down into the dirt of the nearby street with a crack and a cloud of dust. Hitomi turned and screamed, tears streaming from her eyes. "Mom!!!!"
One of the Maginot reached out its hydraulic hand and grabbed the 14-year-old as she stared down. Hitomi felt her wings being bent against her back as the hand closed in a fist around her. One arm was pinned to the side, the other left to claw and shove at the machine. She turned to stare at the faceless grate of the Maginot, a nameless enemy tightening its hold on her.
Perda trembled, shoving herself from the ground to focus upward. Her immaculate wing was broken and drooped at a sickening angle from her back, her face was bloody from impact wounds. "Ayen!?!"
Hitomi turned back and reached out to her. "Mom!!!"
The Tamarak loomed back into the scene. "What a painful exchange." Trapan was sniggering behind his grille. "A Young girl in so much pain… what kind of god would I be if I did not remedy her?" The claw flashed and grew into a blade, shining in the sunlight. The melef aimed and fired, piercing the broken woman with the lance. Her death was instant.
"MOM!!!" Ayen cried, her agony streaking her cheeks and her emerald eyes contracting tightly as the bloody stream was returned to the Tamarack's modified arm. Ayen's heart was breaking and Hitomi could feel every heartstring snap in her chest. The painful smashing of her wings was forgotten and they vanished back into her back. The fist began to carry her away.
Hitomi began to thrash, rapt with panic and fear. "No!" She tried to shove herself out of the metal grip, just like in her dreams, but as always it was in vain. She screamed louder and louder as her desperation mounted.
No Escape! No Escape!
Suddenly she opened her eyes and spotted the form of a muscular man, wings broad and strong, a torn shirt blowing about his knees from the belt of his Asturian uniform. It was Seguir. It was her father.
"I found them overcome…" his voice narrated. "I found Perda dead in the street, and a nameless evil carrying my only daughter away from me. I was acting without thinking, my wings had appeared in a fit of emotion and only focusing on getting Ayen back, I shot for her…"
Down he came, like a torpedo. Ayen was shocked beyond reason, seeing him come at deadly speed. She threw her free arm up to brace for impact. Hitomi flashed back to the many visions she'd had of this figure coming toward her and the fear she had felt. As she felt his arms come up under her and the strength in that grip she realized it was not of him but of the situation. With adrenaline-fueled strength he pried the fingers apart with his feet as he took Ayen up against his chest. She took to his bare neck as tight as she could and with a mighty sweep of his wings they shot away. Trapan spotted them, a speck of white against the mountainous backdrop. He threw up his modified arm and a stream of liquid metal raced after them.
Hitomi felt an icy stream of it snake around her waist. It raced its way up between them, binding Seguir across the chest and roping around his shoulders to form a viney net. With a powerful surge they were thrust apart, the gray stream splitting down the middle and reeling them back toward the Tamarak and its sniggering pilot.
Hitomi reached with every shred of hope toward Seguir, their hands yards away from each other but their eyes matched with pleading looks and their hearts wishing as hard as they could for fate to save them. Ayen's fingers raked air as she called "Daddy!" with the same earnestness. There was no way her arm alone would cross the gap.
She felt a warm hand take hers, its fingers closing around her twitching hand with a familiar, reassuring strength. When she looked up she was back in her room and the real Seguir had her hand cloaked in his. As he looked at her she noted how much older and tired he looked than in the memories. "Hitomi? Are you okay?"
Her lip was trembling. Van was holding tightly to her shoulders. Apparently in her venture she'd reached to Seguir for real and found her hand on his knee. Everyone else watched her closely. Dilandau's eyes began to ache and he turned away.
"I saw it…" She stared intently into his emerald eyes, the desires of her last moments as Ayen, the desires of the last moments of Ayen's life, beating strong in her heart. "I saw everything! I was just there! As you spoke I remembered… I – " She broke from Van's grip and lunged to throw herself around her father, sobbing. Seguir took her up with alarm, but could smell his daughter near his head and lost all apprehension. Hitomi tightened her arms around him, weeping bitterly into his muddiness. "It was terrible! It was terrible!!! I watched her die and you came but he caught us… It was awful, I was so scared! I was…" She broke down into him, releasing all she and Ayen's pooled emotions.
Van was not pleased, but didn't make a move. Everyone else was quiet in the awkward moment. Allen uncrossed his arms again, pouting. Daiji shifted weight and leaned back against the wall. "Apparently that melancholy of hers is solved."
Yukari had her hands pressed over her mouth, running over the events of his story. He'd stopped telling right after his plunge for Ayen. Only Hitomi knew the outcome and she lie crying against him. The redhead took a hold of her boyfriend. "Oh my gosh, you were attacked in your own home!?"
Amano nodded. "Attacked, but you arrived just in time to save her… you were her hero."
Seguir's eyes took on a look of pain that swam with deeply wounded tears. "Please, don't call me that."
Both Millerna and Jiai had tears running down their faces. Merle leaned forward and repositioned her tail beneath her. "So.. what happened next?"
"Yeah, " Koneko seconded, "did you get caught?"
"Trapan caught us." Seguir answered. "He caught us with his cleama claw and pulled us apart."
Merle jumped up. "Holy cow! Did he hurt you!?"
Yukari frowned. "You mean more than he already had?"
"He hurt us, but not like you think." Seguir said. "He needed Ayen because she was Hitomi's double, but he kept me alive because I was a Draconian and put me to work in the palace while he flew Ayen away in his ship. It hurt me more than I can say to know that Ayen was at the mercy of that man."
"This Trapan dude sounds cool." Hakai said from the corner by Yosu. He turned to his 16-year-old double. "Yeah Dil? You think I'm right."
Dilandau growled, rubbing his temples, his teeth clenched. "Shut up, kid, I don't care."
Hakai was struck dumb and did as he said.
Seguir bowed his head, becoming steely. "He's not 'cool' in any way." Hitomi slumped off him and returned to Van who turned her head to his shoulder with one gloved hand. Seguir stared gravely at the blond boy. "He is a maniacal leader who sees himself superior to everyone, even other Draconians. When he kills he claims that it is out of concern for the victims welfare, seeing them better off dead than in pain, but I don't think he can even conceive the feelings of others. Its purely his desire that drives him, nothing or no one else."
Dilandau hissed from the wall. "Lucky."
"He thought he was above other Draconians?" Koneko cried. "Was he anything special? I get the idea he didn't deserve it."
"Didn't you say he was the only one who spoke to your 'Master'?" Dryden recalled. "Perhaps he was special."
"No, he was nothing." Seguir explained. "Yes he was the only one to speak to the master but even then he only called him 'The Master'. No one, not even Haman or Gambero knew the Master's real name. Truthfully, we were never really sure who were members of the Faction unless we met face to face. Trapan never used anyone's true names. He always referred to members with pseudonyms or attribute titles. He could lecture you about who among his ranks were warriors and who were idiots and you would never know exactly who he was referring to unless you were in the room with them when he addressed them. And his smile was devious… you felt insulted at the sight of him." Seguir grimaced. "He was detestable… that's all I can say about him."
"What did you call people?" Merle asked, confused and curious. "A psuedo-whatis?"
"He gave them fake names." Yukari explained.
"What kind of names?" Koneko pried.
"Let me see…" Seguir searched for an example and found the room full of them. Half this group had been spoken of by Trapan. It was almost alarming in that moment to realize who he was sharing space with. "Hitomi… Hitomi was 'The Eyes' because of her abilities in the past." His eye moved from her to Van. "Van's blood made him the 'Dragon King' or just 'Dragon' if he is being referred to as possessor of Escaflowne." He found Millerna and smiled at her. "You were the 'Child Queen' because of your age." His eye then traced its way across the floor to Merle. "You were simply 'the cat'."
"Hey! I'm not a pet or anything!" Merle protested.
Seguir looked to Allen next. "Sir Allen, you were 'The Knight', and Mr. Fassa, you were 'The Merchant'."
Dryden was astounded. "I'm surprised I even came up."
"Mostly when he talked about information gathering." Seguir answered. "I don't know if you are aware, but that brain you have is valuable. You have researched Atlantis more thoroughly than any other person alive at present. You might be as important to the Master's plan as Hitomi or Lord Van. I don't know what lengths Trapan will go to to get all of you, or at least to get what he wants from you."
Dryden thumbed the scab on his cheek. "I've got an idea."
"But if he told everyone about these plans – " Millerna fretted, "then we have an army trying to find us!"
"Not necessarily," Seguir said, reassuringly, to her. "I was at least somewhat in the know about al of you from working so close to you. I figured out for myself your true identities. There are varying degrees of intelligence among his ranks, I don't know how many could put the pieces together, and the general soldiers for the most part had no idea who or what he was talking about. Especially if they were unaware of all you went through half a year ago. And even though Haman and I worked closely together we could only piece together a portion of it. And we didn't have much connection with other Factionaries to pool information. I guess that was part of Trapan's plan as well."
"So Trapan called everyone by names and spoke in riddles." Yosu reviewed. "And he wants to rule the world."
Hitomi wiped her eyes and spoke into Van's shirt. "That's not right. No ruler would harass his subjects like that…"
"What kind of dictatorship would we have if a selfish totalitarian took over Gaea!?!" Allen cried. "It'd be a slave state!"
"It'd be a massacre." Seguir clarified. "Trapan will kill anyone in his way to make it to the top, and probably anyone else who doesn't seem to be benefiting from his reign."
"I don't care if it's about Draconians or Humans or what –" Koneko announced, "you can't kill the people you rule. Who would you rule then? No one's gonna like him if he operates like that, and it sounds like then he'll just end up killing everybody."
"That's a good point." Amano agreed.
Hakai slumped against the wall. "That's a stupid plan."
"So okay," Jiai prompted, "Trapan took you and Ayen, what then?"
Seguir returned telling. "As I said, he wanted to use Ayen for his plan to get Hitomi's pendant. He made me continue my work at the palace in order to try and sway Millerna closer to the Faction."
Allen growled from his place in the crowd. Millerna looked back to him over her shoulder. Seguir waited until he could make eye contact with her before continuing. "I did the best I could, your highness. I tried hard to be as inconspicuous a glitch in their design as possible while still foiling Trapan's plans."
"Why not just blow the whole thing wide open?" Yosu asked.
"My hands were sort of bound." Seguir answered. "Trapan told me that if I did anything wrong he would punish Ayen in my place. I couldn't let that happen."
Koneko's amber eyes were wide. "What did you do instead!?"
Seguir found her charming and directed his answer down to she and her friends on the floor. "Well, to start, I told Haman that I was the only one Trapan would talk to. That way Haman wouldn't hear our orders directly from the source. I made it a habit to distort them just enough so that they would fall through. For example, Trapan reported that the forces in Zaibach needed strengthening so he instructed us to make King Aston send a group of soldiers…conveniently any Draconians we could find…to Zaibach so they could join the Faction. Instead of telling Haman that, I told him that we were supposed to help the King find a reason to send forces to Zaibach. I knew that if Haman came to the ill king's side and said 'We need this now' Aston would more than likely agree. Instead, by trying to lead conversation the King said 'no' and Trapan did not get his forces. Sometimes my tactics worked, but not always, and by the time all of you arrived, the Faction had doubled its size and its strength. I watched Millerna like a hawk, intent to keep her safe from Trapan, and snuck around behind Haman's back to provide escapes and safety points for her."
"We caught you and the old guy talking in the library." Koneko reported. "Suru and me. You were talking about how we weren't supposed to get to Fanelia."
"You girls were there!?" Seguir cried, astonished. "You must be very good spies – I had no idea you were there." Koneko swelled with pride.
"But we did escape from Asturia." Millerna said.
Seguir nodded. "I focused the guards on the interior and pulled most of the forces out of the levi-ship dock so you had less of a chance of getting caught. Unfortunately the direct orders were for all the ships to be secured. Haman took care of that so I-"
"You undid the locks!" Hitomi cried. Van jumped at her voice in his ear and stared at her. She pointed. "You gave us that chance to escape by making sure the locks weren't all secure on the Crusade! That was you!"
"That's right." Seguir answered. "I figured that since Sir Allen was with you you would probably end up taking his ship."
"But you chased us out of Asturia in that melef!" Allen accused. "Why do that if you were on our side the whole time?"
"I was being summoned to Fanelia anyway." Seguir answered. "I purposely passed your ship when you left for Chesario. Unfortunately I paid the price for that."
Millerna was concerned. "What did they do!?"
"Trapan considered the fact that I didn't follow you, that you got out of Asturia at all, a failure on my part. He punished me by not letting me see Ayen even as we stood in the same room."
"That's right, Fakey Hitomi was living at the palace then." Merle recalled. "Was she following Trapan's orders the whole time?"
"Yes, he needed her to infiltrate the Palace in Fanelia and get the Power of Atlantis for him. After being held prisoner on his flagship for some time she was sent to Lord Van pretending to be Hitomi. She actually did get the pendant… if all had gone according to plan she would probably still be working there, although Trapan more than likely would have taken the pendant for himself by now."
"I remember that time." Van scowled, still smarting from the deceit. "I was so easily fooled – why couldn't I see?"
"It was easy, Van!" Hitomi said, taking his hand. It was the first real sign of affection she'd shown since waking from her coma. "She and I were the same person! How were you supposed to know that it wasn't me, especially if she claimed to be?" He diverted his eyes and she squeezed his hand. "Don't be mad at yourself. I'm not mad at you."
"What do you mean you were the same person?" Seguir asked.
"We think the doubles are a result of copying everything from Earth." Daiji told him. "That includes its fate and its people. Everyone born on Gaea is also born on Earth."
Seguir creased his brow. "I'm not sure about that hypothesis."
"Do you know a more accurate account of it?" Dryden asked, hopefully. "We are just theorizing here, anything you know for sure would be more than welcome."
"No, I don't have a better explanation." Seguir said. "There were stores passed down in my family line about Doubling and how for everyone alive on Gaea an echo exists on the Mystic Moon, but copying fate…that's a bizarre idea."
"If you think about who we're talking about its not impossible." Dryden noted. "The Draconians did create Gaea and they also knew how to manipulate fate. Whose to say they couldn't copy it?"
"Lets debate about this later." Yosu prompted. "I'm still waiting for the part where you had nothing to do with Trapan anymore."
"Actually, I was almost there." Seguir resumed. "After meeting and getting reprimanded by Trapan I decided that I wasn't going to stand for it anymore. I snuck through the palace, found Ayen and we left. She took Atlantis and Van's sword with her."
"Why?" Suru asked.
"I think she just forgot to take the pendant off, but she took Van's sword to remember him by." He looked to the king. "No matter how you feel about my Ayen or your Hitomi, Ayen loved you Lord Van. She was very sorry to hurt you, but she had no choice. She was facing the same thing I was: if she did anything wrong then Trapan would punish me. We were lucky to escape with our lives in the chaos you created in your escape and headed for Deidlas." He took a deep breath. "We weren't in Deidlas very long before Trapan's task-force found us. Four Maginot and Trapan's personal melef – the black on with the beast-head – found us hiding in the woods. We fled to the Ventrags and then to Zaibach, knowing they were looking for us."
Amano looked back over his shoulder to Dryden. "I bet that was when they attacked you." The Merchant was not looking pleased with the tragic memories.
"You all arrived then in Zaibach," Seguir said, "just as Trapan's forces did. Ayen and I tried to escape in the Pravada but Trapan cornered us in his black melef, the same one he used to attack my home and my wife, the same one he sent after us when we escaped. It was with that melef that he snatched Ayen from me and killed her." Hitomi gasped, seeing the event pass at top speed before her eyes. A melef, the sky, the ground, the claw, her wings, the Pravada standing on one side of her and the obsidian monster with the earthen horse's head on the other. She tried to steady her fall with wings catching the pollution of a crumbling city. "He stole the pendant and threw her into the air, then swatted her out of the sky." Hitomi could feel her wings breaking, she could feel her body cleaving, the last moment of life s pent reaching, desiring, wishing to return to the shape of her father's Guymelef just beyond her grasp.
The girl shuddered and felt herself begin to fall gain, back into the darkness that seen earlier that day. She clung to Van and he steadied her, forcing the gathering black fog from her tortured mind. Van pulled her into an embrace. "Its' okay, Hitomi. You're you. You're alive and you've got me, okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Seguir was quiet, staring at his hands. The others waited for Hitomi to calm down. Seguir's face seemed much older than 35-years. "After that he expected me to rejoin the Faction willingly. But I'll never go back. Trapan has done too much to me and my family to expect me to rejoin. That's why I came here. I want to fight him if that is what you're doing. And I want to protect Hitomi and Millerna. Hitomi is all I have of Ayen, if you permit me, I promise to see you through to the end."
Hitomi was ready to take him at his word, but the administrative party for the most part was still skeptical. Allen made the first move. "I think we need to talk this over. Dryden…" he turned to the head of the house, "do you have a dungeon or something in this place?"
Jiai and Hitomi cried out. "Dungeon!?"
"That's too harsh!" Millerna agreed.
"I don't have a dungeon." Dryden told him with a twang of disgust on the final word. "It's not often that a PEACEFUL ship would have a DUNGEON."
"You at least have a brig." Allen shot him. "Every ship should have a brig."
"I'm not in the practice of putting my staff behind bars." Dryden replied. "No, I have no brig, if you want to lock him up, lock him in his room. There's an extra one on this deck, he can have that."
Allen was aghast but snapped his head around, his long blond hair flopping over his shoulder. "Fine, call someone to take him away and lock him in your plush guest room if that is how you want to treat a potentially dangerous person."
"I'll take him." Hitomi volunteered. She stood and Van gaped at her as if she was being a martyr.
"Hitomi!?!"
"Come on, Mr. Nadeje," Hitomi beckoned, not sure exactly what to call the father of her double. He stood and followed her out, threading through the dense crowd to get to the door. Allen gave him an acid glare with pinpoint eyes. Amano and Yosu watched him with different degrees of suspicion. He felt like he was on trial – on trial and already convicted – and shrunk down a little. Hitomi avoided all the negativity in the many pairs of eyes. Daiji and Dryden were by the door and had to move so that Hitomi could get at the handle. Seguir looked up and received a nod from the merchant that gave him a little more reassurance. Once he and Hitomi were outside the door, he felt like the boundaries of the universe had just expanded back to normal size after being constricted into an 8 by 10 foot space.
"Hitomi?"
She topped, turning slowly to face him, feeling strange.
He let his shoulders sag. "I wanted to say, well, I guess…I should start by saying I'm sorry." She looked up to him, recognizing the family resemblance in his eyes. "I'm sorry Ayen died. I – I know its been hard on you."
"It's been hard on you." She told him. "You don't have to apologize."
He bowed his head deeper. "I have much more to apologize for, but I won't trouble you with that. I'll speak it to the night, maybe Ayen will hear me."
Hitomi looked to the floor, her eyes dancing with more tears and the corners red.
He looked up again. "And I apologize in advance, if I ever call you Ayen, or ask you things she would know or appeal to you as I would her, or it I ever expect from you the same I would from her. Just so that If I ever do, remember I'm sorry."
Hitomi wiped her eyes on her sleeve and tamed a quivering lip before saying anything. "Your- Your room is over here." She led him to the end of the hall and opened the door. "They – They're really nice, you'll like them."
"Thank you." He said, weakly and entered, waiting for her to lock it behind him.
Instead she hung onto the door, peering in through the frame. "You can call me Ayen if you feel like you need to." He looked up with a gasp at her pooling eyes. "…and, when I felt like I wanted to speak to the night, there was an observation deck on the Crusade that was perfect. I'm sure a ship this size would have something like that."
"Hitomi?" He stepped toward her and she came out from behind the door.
"Can I stay here with you?" She asked. "I don't wan to go back where they'll just fight about whether or not you're telling the truth. I know you are. I saw the whole thing and I –" She paused. "I'm not strong enough to fight with everyone. I'm so tired of hearing everyone arguing over me, about me, about you – Please, can I stay here with you?"
He smiled, relieved and blessed, and welcomed her in with arms open toward her. "Of course, Ayen, of course."
She flew in and hugged his chest, feeling a little less empty and one sided in his embrace.
"What do you mean 'Do I have a Dungeon'!?!" Dryden cried. "Does your ship have a dungeon!?"
"It has a brig." Allen replied. "Just in case we pick up any stow-aways or wandering criminals. What would you do if a thief were suddenly on your ship? Cut off his hands?"
"Definitely not!" He replied. "I'd turn him into the local authorities – I'm sure they have Dungeons – while he's on board I'll put him under guard. If he's really dangerous I'll lock him in a closet or something. Its not like he's going to jump overboard. Not everyone is bloodthirsty. Especially Nadeje."
"So you believe him?" Amano asked.
"Yes, I believe him." Dryden said calmly. "I believe that he's been an unwilling part of something we need to become experts at. He seems more than willing to help and I'm ready to let him." He looked back to Allen. "Heaven knows, if he is telling the truth and there's a winged army hunting for us we'll need all the help we can get."
"What if he's a mole?" Van proposed. "He told a fantastic story but he still could be lying."
"Hitomi was convinced." Yosu pointed out, receiving a sharp look from Van. "She apparently has more evidence in her head than we do though."
"I now Seguir." Millerna added, standing. "And I couldn't believe it when we found he had betrayed us. His loyalty was always warm and unfailing to my father and myself. I find it much easier to believe that he is trying to help us than trying to hurt us."
"But you have a bias as well." Yukari pointed out. "Its all confirmation bias. Half of us want him to be bad so we interpret his evidence as such. What we need to do is to distance ourselves from our opinions and focus on the facts."
"Maybe we should take a vote." Jiai suggested.
"The good side would win." Daiji stated. "It seems like Van and Allen are the only ones convinced that he's a spy."
"I'm not set on either side." Yosu reported. "But that's because I want more proof. He had Van's sword – and an explanation for Hitomi's episode. What else proves that he's credible?"
"The lock thing." Koneko recalled. "And his story of his wife and stuff. I think that's convincing."
"And Hitomi's proof too." Merle said in addition. "She had Fakey Hitomi memories or something going on. Memories don't lie."
"I agree with her." Yukari announced.
"He hasn't been entirely honest with us in the past." Allen pointed out. "He never told us he was a Draconian while he was Captain of the Guard."
"But I can understand that." Millerna said. "I'm sure Van understands about being a Draconian – It's meant to be kept secret."
"That's true." Van agreed, grumbling. 'My mother always told me to keep my wings hidden, even as a child."
"Past, Present, whatever." Amano spoke. "I think what's beginning to sway me is that he's shared a ton of info already, even to the point of telling us who our enemy is and where he's going. IF he can help us, maybe we can stop this before Trapan comes to power."
"But is there really a Trapan and a Master?" Allen asked. "Or is it just a ploy?"
"The soldiers who attacked this ship two days ago were Draconians." Van announced. "I saw them fly into Egzardia when they retreated."
"There seems to be more favorable than unfavorable evidence…" Yosu summed up, "…but I still don't know…"
"Holy crap people!" Dilandau shouted from his spot on the wall where he'd been nursing his migraine through the whole meeting. "Would you all just SHUT UP!?! You want an answer, here it is: This guy surrendered himself to you, gave you proof of his story, spent all afternoon droning on and on on that sickening emotional load of crap, then walked out of here like some kinda convict when he hasn't done a single thing to any of you! He brought the moon girl back to life! He ratted out his entire species! I'll list more but we were all there… While you all chew on this for the next five days like I know you will, you should notice that Hitomi is out there alone with him and nobody even thought it was a bad idea! Listen to your frickin' subconscious people! Honestly! That 'confirmation bias' spiel is bullcrap, you're just so stubborn and stupid you like to hear yourselves talk and bore me to death! Make up your minds and trust the guy already! Even if he's lying he's telling you more than you know and there's enough obvious truth in it to at least draw some conclusions! And do it fast before I kill myself!" He sank down against the wall and returned to rubbing his temples.
Everyone else stared at him with blinking astonishment. Daiji pointed. "I agree with him."
Dryden nodded. "I second that."
"You're joking me!" Van cried. "You're with HIM!?! With DILANDAU!?!"
"There came a growl from the figure on the floor. "Eat crap Fanel."
"He's the only impartial person here and he's obviously right." Dryden told him.
"Well, Jiai, Yukari, Koneko, Merle and I were going to trust Seguir anyway." Millerna stated. "What about you undecideds? Do you agree with Dilandau?"
"I definitely do." Amano answered. "It's a good point and sounds like a good plan."
"I don't like where it came from." Allen reported, wondering then why did didn't have his sister back yet.
"While I agree with Allen, I agree with the rest of you as well." Van concluded. "But I'm keeping a tight guard on him to make sure he's not poking around where he doesn't belong."
"I'll live with that." Yosu agreed.
"Allen?" Millerna pleaded with her big blue eyes.
The knight kept his arms crossed and diverted his gaze, but he finally consented when eh realized dissenting would only be losing. "Fine but I still don't trust him. I'll never trust anyone who was ever affiliated with the enemy."
"What about Folken?" Millerna asked. Van's head snapped up. "Folken defected last time and helped us."
"For the record, I never completely trusted him either." Allen replied.
Van relaxed again, then forked himself up out of his seat. "I'm going after Hitomi, and I'll unlock Nadeje from his room. Now that we trust him."
"I'm starved!" Merle cried. "When's dinner!?"
"Yeah, we haven't eaten a real meal on board such an extravagant ship yet!" Jiai cried with blooming optimism.
"That'd be kinda hard…" Amano said, tentatively.
Daiji fingered his Raybans and completed the sentence, "…the crew is kinda preoccupied."
Hakai huffed from across the room. "-being dead!"
Daiji gave him an armored glance. "I as trying to avoid that."
Jiai recalled how depressed Dryden would get when the subject would surface. "Oh, that's right," she looked ashamed, "I'm sorry."
Dryden tried to shrug it off. "Its okay…" He cleared his throat. "I rarely use the dining hall anyway. We don't need to be served. How about I just show you all where the kitchen is and we declare it open season?"
"A smorgasbord!?" Koneko cried. "Awesome!"
"Point the way!" Merle agreed excitedly.
"Okay." Dryden agreed, positive energy refreshing. "Follow me."
The group marched out of Hitomi's room in remarkably high spirits considering the mood they were in when they'd entered. Van broke off to visit the open door at the end of the deck and rescue Hitomi from guard duty. AS he approached, he heard laughing and the voices of the girl and the prisoner speaking pleasantly together. The king paused in the shadow of the wall and listened.
"So, how did you and Ayen's mother meet?"
"Perda? Perda was working in her uncle's bookstore. I took a trip with some friends to her part of town one weekend and there she was."
"You mean you didn't even know she was a Draconian when you met her!?!"
"No, all I knew was that she was the most striking woman I ever met."
"Oh, that's so cute! Was it love at first sight!? Did she like you back?"
"I don't see how." He laughed to himself. "I was eighteen and my friends were jerks."
Hitomi gasped. "What did they do?"
He sounded embarrassed, laughing a little. "Well, uh… heh.. we were teenagers…"
Hitomi was only more anxious to hear. "Come on! What did you do!?"
"Well, we – and we were just kids – but we swapped a couple of books that had… inappropriate… illustrations into the gardening and flowers section. Then we waited for old ladies to come and find them." Hitomi was laughing. Seguir sounded like he was trying to keep himself from laughing as well. "It was an immature thing to do… but…"
"I can't even imagine you doing something like that!"
"It was a long time ago."
"What did Perda do?"
"Nothing to us, but old ladies kept complaining to her. It was her uncle that ran us out of the store."
"So you actually got some old ladies!?!"
"Yeah, yeah we planted five books and got four customers before we were evicted. Perda took a lot of trips into the erotic section to reorganize the store."
"So that' show you met? Through a practical joke?"
"Well, it gave her a reason to notice me in town a week later."
Van used this opportunity to care his throat and enter, causing the two of them to look up form the floor. Van was surprised to find them sitting on the rug with their backs against the foot of the bed. Hitomi had taken her shoes off and now balled up a little, pulling on her socks when she saw him. "Van?" Seguir stood when the king entered. The sixteen year old was amazed at the man's sense of duty. It seemed like a defector and a traitor would show little respect to a monarch twenty years his junior. Van relaxed his posture as Hitomi stepped back into her shoes. "Is the meeting over? What… what did they decide?"
"We are going downstairs to find food." Van told her, deliberately not answering the question. The scene was causing mixed responses in him. "Nadeje, if you're hungry you can come."
Hitomi felt a weight disappearing from her shoulders and a wide smile broke her face. "Really!? You mean it!?! Its okay if he comes!?"
Van nodded, trying to be stern but finding her unbridled joy contagious and cheating a smile. "We talked it over and decided that keeping him prisoner wouldn't do us any good."
"That's awesome!" She jumped and hugged Seguir. "I'm so happy!" he was smiling, too, the threat of a hostile life aboard the ship now removed from his sights. Hitomi came off of him and turned her glowing eyes on her boyfriend. "VAN!" She ran and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you!"
"Hitomi." He pulled his arms up around her in reflex, but was soon awash with the pleasure of having her embrace him. She kissed his cheek, a model of cheer and bliss. Then grabbed Seguir's hand ad drug him back out into the hall.
"Hurry! Let's catch up! Come on, Van, let's go find everybody! I'm so happy I can't wait for them all to get to know you! This is the best thing ever!"
To be continued…
