Chapter 11
"Hitomi." Van crept up behind Hitomi as she peaked out around a corner. She turned back to him, her eyes still dancing in that strange way that was actually starting to freighten him. "What are you planning on doing... before I get Escaflowne."
She smiled now, and brought a finger to her mouth calling for his silence. Then she turned, gave a small nod in Kaiomi's direction who was just behind them, and stepped out around the corner. Van felt Josceline tense at his side just as he found himself doing.
The result of her action was instant. There was a call from one of the Celestials and they moved forward, already knowing of her being missing.
For a moment, all the Celestial Gates seemed frozen, daggers drawn, then, one by one, they slumped to the ground, drobbing their weapons to the stone floor. The sound ringing off the walls.
Hitomi moved forward past them as if nothing happened.
Van and Josceline stepped out into the corridor after her, staring around at the apparently unconscious Celestials. Van nudged one in the side with his boot, looking up at Hitomi in sheer shock when the man didn't move.
"What did you do to them?"
She turned then, looking at them as if nothing happened at all, watching as Josceline bent down and plucked a pair of daggers from one of the Celestial's hands, his face contorted to one of near disgust. Kaiomi walked right past the scene to Hitomi's side, looking, just as Hitomi, as if nothing happened.
"They're just asleep, Van."
"How?" He walked up to her, stepping over a blonde man's head as he went.
Kaiomi turned and began to walk down the corridor. "We have to keep going, questions later."
Hitomi watched as Josceline looked up from his fellow Celestials to his brother, glaring feriously at his back. She tried to smile reassuringly at Van but found she was unable to. Instead, she mustered a small sigh. "I'll explain later." She put her finger to her lips, signifying they should be quiet again, and turned to follow Kaiomi down the corridor.
They didn't encounter much after that... it seemed Kaiomi knew exactly where he was going. At one point, he warned them to be quiet crossing one of the rooms. As he passed, the open door leading into the library, they could hear talking within, and the shadows cast from Celestials as they moved about the candlelit room.
Van was growing steadily more and more edgy. Following along in Hitomi's wake, all the while keeping his eyes on Josceline's brother's back, waiting for the Celestial to give some sign of his alliegance to the king... but none came.
The warm air, spiked with the ocean's salty smell barraded them when the turned a final corner and came to balcony that connected with the ballroom. Van watched as Hitomi instantly relaxed, stepping ahead of them to peer up at the dark sky before turning to him expectantly. When she saw his hesitant movement forwards, she frowned and came to him, placing a tanned hand carefully on his arm. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
He shook his head, passing a quick look to Josceline as he stepped over to the balcony.
Josceline, reading into the look, quickly moved next to her, passing anxious glances back into the palace, and untrustworthy glares at his brother. Hitomi seemed not to have noticed, turned, and watched as Van braced himself against the railings of the balcony, staring intently over the harbour.
She longed to move closer to him, to reassure him again, but held back. Her heart racing with adreneline. From the flight out of the palace, or the fact Escaflowne would be coming out again, she was not sure. She didn't like the later though... fearing that she was changing too much to be any good. She didn't want Van to fight, she didn't want him hurt again. But part of her was saying it was necessary.
She looked past Van out towards the harbour, hoping to see a glimpse of Dryden's ship. But there was none. Apparently they were hiding around the corner of the bay, beyond the rocking and sandy shoreline. She felt tired and weak, an excursion from using her magic after so long. It had been laying dorment within her all along, but using so much at once was exhausting.
Josceline seemed to have sensed this, as he suddenly spoke, placing a hand on the small of her back. He wasn't looking at her, still not taking his eyes off of his brother and the balcony door, but turned his head downward as he to properly hear her response. "Are you alright?"
She shook her head. "I used too much magic."
When he did look at her then, his look was worried, frieghtened for her... but the look only increased in intensity when a voice from behind them made them both tense up.
"My dear, Queen..." Damis stepped out from the shadows of the doorway, a sinister smirk marring his pale features. "Thought you could escape without having to face me did you?" He gaze fell over her before turning to Kaiomi. "I knew I could not trust a Seer."
Kaiomi scowled, his eyes flashing dangerously, and stepped in front of his brother and Hitomi. "You are not the rightful ruler."
Damis did not comment to this, only raised an arm, palm towards him, that sick grin still on his face. Hitomi felt the hair at the back of her neck rise, and just as she let out a gasp, a flash of light blinded them momentarily and something much like lightning struck the older Celestial. He collapsed to the balcony floor, clutching his stomach, a little way off from where he was last standing.
Josceline had pushed both him and Hitomi out of the way of the attack, his daggers drawn as his eyes, for the first time, showed anything but contempt for his brother. He looked like he wanted to step in, to stop the king, but Hitomi's protection was a higher priority at the moment. Hitomi made a small noise that sounded like a sob as the King stepped forwards again. Standing over the Celestial, he lifted his arm again.
Again, the same thing happened. But instead of getting shot backwards, Kaiomi seemed to get plunged into the ground by the force of the attack. The tiles of the balcony shattering around him, spiderweb cracks lining the floor they stood on.
Hitomi went to move forward, but Josceline held her back, a pained expression on his face.
"Hitomi." Van was at her side now, having abandoned his attempt at calling Escaflowne.
She turned to him, tears in her eyes. "Don't stop Van, it's our only way out now."
Hesitantly, eyes on the king, he turned and went back to the balcony.
But Damis seemed not to notice. He was too busy bending over the Celestial, laughing as Kaiomi struggled too move, but was obviously finding it very hard. He was bleeding a lot, and his eyes were struggling to open against the pain he was feeling.
"Stop!" Hitomi screamed, trying to pull away from Josceline again. The king turned to her, smiled, then attacked Kaiomi once more.
It all seemed to happen much too fast. Just as they heard a sound off to the distance, echoing across the harbour, and Van gave a small noise of relief, Hitomi was pulled back by Josceline who went instantly to his brother's side.
Damis, grinning evilly, raised a hand in Josceline's direction...
There a was loud bang that carried over the entire palace, possibly even over the entire city as Hitomi stepped in front of the blast which bounced off of a spot just in front of her as if hitting an invisible wall. The electric sort of bolts shifted off, hitting the roof causing a good portion overhanging the balcony to collapse.
Hitomi collapsed to the ground, shaking, and nearly unconscious well Josceline pulled her hastily away from the shocked Damis.
Van pulled away from the balcony again, instinctively drawing his sword from his side, completely forgetting that it wasn't his own sword with the royal crest of Fanalia emblazed on the hilt.
This sword felt foreign in his hands, but was, to his surprise, suddenly very light. It seemed to carry him towards the king, and with a swift movement, he made a slashing movement towards the king.
The king cried out as a blade of magic flung from the sword, hitting him direction on the shoulder. And as the light faded, he looked down at his lifeless arm laying on the ground beside him, blood pouring heavily from it and his shoulder, mixing with the blood of Kaiomi on the ground. His face was white with fury when he turned to look at Van and the sword.
"That's what you came to the castle for!" He turned to Hitomi. His cold green eyes alive with raw fury. She stood shakily with the help of Joscline and backed away from him in fear. "The sword!"
His eyes fell back on Van again, but he was turning away, just as a mechanical dragon pulled up alongside the balcony, crumbling the stone railing as it seemed to wait for it's passengers.
Van hopped on quickly, turning as a large amount of Celestial swarmed onto the balcony behind their king, looking at the dissasterous scene with both shock and disgust. The king's arm was still pouring blood onto the ground and he looked paler then ever.
"Hitomi." Josceline whispered frantically to her, half carrying her towards her machine and Van, keeping his eyes on the Celestials who were moving forward now.
But the king put out his remaining arm, looking odd doing it, almost bent double, pale, his face contorted with pain now. "Leave them." He tried to straighten as the reached Escaflowne now, Hitomi watching him carefully as she was lifted by the Celestial onto the dragon's back, settling herself at Van's feet. "I will her soon again." His voice was cracked, but it didn't keep Hitomi from getting goosebumps.
Josceline jumped on behind Van, passing one last look at his brother on the ground before resultly turning away from it all.
Damis continued to watch the group fly off, ignoring the Celestials as the rushed forward, some picking up Kaiomi to carry him off, the others coming caustiously to the king's side.
"Your Majesty... your arm."
But he pushed them off, ignoring their looks of pure horror at the side of his damaged body. Then, throwing his head back, he began to laugh.
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AN: not a long chapter. I hate this chapter... that is why I made everything happened so fast. I was stuck on it for some reason, writers block, and I just wanted to get through it so I could move on.
Next chapter will be better I promise