Author's Notes- A big thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I love it. Make sure you check out my website!

The Journey of Escaflowne: Book One

Chapter Two

"Hitomi. My name's Hitomi."

The couple's argument came to a halt with Lester puffing his chest out superiorly.

"I told ya she aint deaf."

With that comment he strode proudly from the room the curtain swishing closed in his wake. Magna approached Hitomi for the second time, and the seeress didn't retreat from her.

"My name's Magna. And that oaf who jus' left is my husband Lesternine, but you just call him Lester 'til the time comes when ya really wanna drive him up the wall," she chortled and then gave a wink. The beads in her hair rattled as she shook slightly. Okay, so the woman was a bit loony. She could deal with loony. As long as said loony person had no weapon.

Hitomi squeaked when some clothes were shoved into her limp arms. She stared at them in something akin to horror. They were the ugliest bright green she had ever seen and probably ever would see. And it was HUGE.

Magna stood in front of her expectantly, arms crossed. After Hitomi stared blankly back at her for a good minute she snapped, "Don't by shy, darlin'! You aint got nothing I don't have. And I am a professional doctor, ya know."

Wrinkled hands tugged off her shirt and Hitomi tried to cover herself, her cheeks aflame. This psychopath was taking her cloths! The woman began muttering about proper attire and how indecent she looked with her legs bear for all of Gaea to see. Her outfit was not proper for a lady. Well, there went her shorts and socks! Umph!

She opened her eyes and all Hitomi could see was green.

"A lil' help would be appreciated if ya don't mind!"

She obediently began shimmying the dress down her body and poked her head out the top. Numb fingers did the tie around her neck clumsily. Magna stepped back to give her a look over after smoothing out the resisting creases. A beaming smile lit her face. Obviously she approved.

"Yur a vision."

Oh the irony.

"Here, see fer yourself."

Hitomi accepted the wooden mirror and angled it to see the outfit. Yuck! She looked like a walking cucumber! Correction, a walking cucumber with mold. "It's…It's…There're no words. But I-"

"I knew you's like it. Now how bout somethin' to eat?"

How could she possibly eat? These people weren't sane!

"Now wait a minute! I have a few questions that need to be answered. Like…Who are you people? Where am I? How did I get here? How long have I been sleeping…"

The old woman pressed a hand to her head and said, "Darlin', you makin' my head spin. One question at a time. And relax before ya pass out. You was awfully sick."

"About that, where'd you find me? I was in the middle of nowhere."

"Honey, what you call the middle of nowhere, I call home. You was just a wing (mile) away from here when my son stumbled upon ya when he was chasin' after a lose goat. You is mighty lucky he found you."

Hitomi nodded and moved on to her next question as Magna settled herself on a rug. "Where exactly is 'here'?"

"You're in Casanada, a village in the north of the Great Barron. We is about 350 wings from the Glaive Mountains."

Hitomi moaned in frustration. What the hell was the Great Barron? And how was she supposed to know where the Glaive Mountains were? She asked, "We are in Gaea, right?"

Magna frowned and touched the back of her hand to Hitomi's forehead. "You must still be runnin' a fever, darlin'. Of course we're in Gaea. Where else would we be?" She threw her arms up into the air. "The Mystic Moon?" She got a good chuckle out of that and missed Hitomi's nervous expression. The thought had crossed her mind.

"Listen, I just need you to tell me where I am. What country are we in?"

"There aint any countries in the Great Barron, just tribes and villages. Are you sure you're feelin' all right?"

Hitomi took a deep breath trying to keep her frustration in check. "How do you get to Fanelia from here?"

Magna got a thoughtful look on her face as though she was thinking real deeply. "No, I aint ever heard of a Fanelia."

"Austuria?"

"Austuria…LESTER!"

The robust man reentered the room looking cross for being yelled at. These people were so…bizarre. Would she ever get to Fanalia? Oh, Van.

"What now, Woman?"

"You know where Austuria is?"

"Yeah, course I know where it is. It's over a thousand wings that way."

Hitomi sweat dropped. Great. So she could just set off walking for sine thousand miles 'that way'. Just great. Okay, this next question was probably pushing it. "How many years has it been since the war ended?" She had no idea if time on Gaea flowed faster or slower than time on Earth. She had only been able to communicate with Van twice after returning to her home and since then nothing had come of their bond.

Immediately the mood in the small room changed as it became very dark. A somber look passed between the older pair, and they both looked very serious. Finally Magna spoke up.

"Darlin', the war ended almost 100 years ago."

"…"

"WHAT? Th-that's IMPOSSIBLE! I've only been gone for FOUR years!"

"Oh, Lester, it must be that fever comin' back. The poor dear's crazy."

"I'll say."

Hitomi sprung to her feet, and the adrenaline flowing through her veins kept her upright.

100 years…that would mean…

"Are you trying to tell ME that it's been a hundred years since Zaiboch was defeated and the Destiny War was won?"

Lester's eyebrows furrowed. "Destiny War? What are you babblin' about? I don't know about any Destiny War but I do know that the United Territories' Civil War ended 100 years ago in favor of the Tri-union."

Hitomi shook her head in confusion. A headache was starting to form. Obviously they had no idea. She was frustrated with herself for not knowing any of this when she had been on Gaea for well over a month. "United Territories' Civil War? I've never heard of a Tri-union."

Lester spoke up unsurely. "Ya know, now that ya mention it. I do believe I 'member somehin' bout a war few years back." His eyes lit up as the memory resurfaced. "Yeah! Jakle Smine told me bout it when he passed through in that fancy shmancy caravan of his. He went on bout how it wasn't good for business and that Basram had jacked up their border patrol…"

"Basram! You know where Basram is?" Hitomi questioned. She had sat back down when her legs had started shaking and couldn't gather the energy to stand back up. But she had flown over Basram on the way to the Mystic Valley. Surely someone there would know the way to Fanelia! Then she could see Merle, Allen, Gaddesse, Millerna, Dryden, and…Van.

"Sure I know where Basram is! It's on the east side of the Cursed Valley, which is at the foot of the Glaive Mountains. Why? You aint plannin' on goin there are ya? Cause that is one mighty long trip."

"Do you mean the Mystic Valley?"

Lester shrugged and replied, "It's all the same, I s'pose. But you askin' a lot of questions. You sure ya not some sort of spy?"

He leaned in close to the girl and gave her an evil eye. She scowled back at him with her hands on her hips. "I am not a spy." The two stayed locked in a stare down until he blinked and reluctantly backed down. At that moment Magna, who had left a few minutes ago, returned with a bowl of steaming food. Whatever it was smelled absolutely delicious and her stomach rumbled in agreement. Hitomi blushed at her reaction and Magna chuckled as red stained the girl's cheeks.

"Not braggin' or nothin', but I make a mean vegetable stew."

Hitomi gratefully accepted the bowl and spoon and dug in. As she slurped and chewed, Lester and Magna left to eat their own dinner saying that they would be back later to answer any more questions she might have had.

Her thoughts began to drift to the events that brought her back to Gaea. A shiver ran up her spine. Things had not gone well after she arrived home for the second time. Hitomi had explained her adventures on Gaea to her family and to Yukari. Their reactions varied. Her little brother Kazuo had just brushed it off as some sort of excuse for running away so she wouldn't get in trouble. But Hitomi had expected that kind of reaction from the then 12 year old. It was her parents' responses that had been…disturbing.

At first her father had just shaken his head and dismissed it as a ploy for attention. But after she kept insisting it was the truth he began to become angry. She had been gone for almost two months and Naoko (her father) wanted a reason why.

And then there was her mother. Her mother was the worst. By the time Hitomi had finished the explanation of her disappearance her mother had gone silent and withdrew into herself. Inside she knew that her daughter spoke the truth, that Hitomi wasn't lying. After all, her mother had spoke of a similar experience about a man she fell in love with from a different world. But Taka wasn't willing to believe that her little girl had done those incredible things and went through those terrible ordeals. So she sat on the sidelines in denial as Naoko sent Hitomi to therapist after therapist. But the results were always the same. Hitomi knew that she really went to another world and wouldn't say otherwise, not even to please the doctors. To stubborn she supposed.

After the fourth psychiatrist, Hitomi became emotionally drained defending her reasoning week after week. She began to resent her father and mother and attempted to avoid interaction with them at the best of her abilities. Kazuo managed to do the same to her. Their parents had gotten it into his head that Hitomi was mentally unstable, and to a little boy that meant one thing. His sister was insane.

In response to this, Hitomi had discovered that life away from home was less painful. She threw herself into track and school and gave it her everything. But no matter how many late nights she spent at the library or how many early mornings she spent running, the winged king from another world was never far from her mind. In fact she became so absorbed in her sprinting, school work, and Gaea it was as if nothing else existed.

If it hadn't been for Yukari her social life would have been nonexistent. The redhead always made sure Hitomi went to all of the track parties, and the two went roller skating, had a movie marathon, or played laser tag at least once a month. And while she enjoyed the time she spent with Yukari, the redhead was a constant reminder of what she left behind.

Love.

Yukari was head over heels in love with Amano. Hitomi could always tell when the girl had just talked to her beau on the phone because she would be positively glowing. There was no mistaking the two were soul mates when they had a four-year long distant relationship and the flame never went out. As soon as Amano had returned from England a year ago he had proposed, and Yukari, of course, said yes.

Hitomi knew that it was unreasonable for her to be jealous, but standing by the alter watching her two best friends promise themselves to each other had made her green with envy. After the ceremony she couldn't help picturing her own wedding to an invisible groom. Yes, he was invisible. After four years of not seeing or talking to Van, Hitomi had given up on ever meeting him again and tried to move on. Oh, it wasn't easy to do by any means. She went out with a couple of guys in high school but neither of them could hold a candle to Van's strength, dependability, or his faith in her. No one could sweep her off her feet like he did and take her on wild adventures through the clouds.

Every day she regretted not telling Van how she felt and wondered if he loved her as much as she did him. But as she said, she had (in one way or another) moved on. She would never forget him or stop loving him, but she had to look to the future like she was sure he was doing. But now, being back here on Gaea seemed to change everything. She felt somehow replenished and free again. And Van was here on this very planet, but miles away…

Hitomi's spoon hit wood and she realized she had finished the stew. And as if Magna could read minds, the aged woman came to take the dish away.

Magana dropped the bowl and spoon into a basin and scrubbed it down. "I see ya enjoyed it. Well that's good, cause will be haven' it again for breakfast tomorra. And afterwards I'll show you around the village and we can decide what to do with ya. But right now ya need to rest. So g'night, sleep tight, and don' let the bed bugs bite."

"Bedbugs?" she asked, but the woman was already gone and the lantern had been extinguished, leaving her in dark silence.

End Chapter Two