Merle was inside one of the many rooms of the refuges that had been built in between the woods in the limits of Kizanka; fidgeting with her dress silently.
"You're nervous aren't you?" Riha asked approaching her.
Merle just nodded.
"Don't be." Riha said. "From what I've heard King Van is a wonderful fighter; Mamoru too is good at it, even if he probably hasn't had as much practice as your king; and Queen Iris isn't bad herself, even if she really doesn't like to fight."
"You seem to care a lot for your queen." Merle commented, trying to take her mind off Van, even if it was for just a couple of minutes.
"Yes. Some say it's just because I'm going to marry her brother." Riha explained. "And that by the looks of it, unless Iris finds a husband before the end of the year she'll have to leave the throne to Mamoru. So some believe I'm nothing more than a fortune and crown hunter. But I do love Mamoru, with all my heart."
Merle nodded, she knew most people didn't believe a single woman to be suitable to rule over a kingdom; it was a foolish thought, but there was nothing they could do about it.
"I believe you." Merle said. "Some times things are like that. They don't believe a woman capable of loving a man if it's not because of his money, or titles, etc."
"Especially when the woman does not has a title." Riha added.
"But I thought you had a title." Merle replied thoughtfully.
"They call me lady, but that's just for fashion." Riha said. "Here in Kizanka, titles are unimportant. Back on Earth none of us had any titles, we were common people, that's why we weren't chosen to be saved by the ship. Iris, as she already said, got to be queen by the gratitude of all the people she saved, we believed her suitable for the role. And my title, well, when she first told us about coming here to save ourselves very few believed her, I was one of the first. You've got to know in Earth we usually don't believe in this kind of things, like fantasy-worlds and magic. And maybe because I was still young, or because I needed so much something to believe in, to hold onto when the end felt so near, I trusted her. And so, when we came here to Gaea they thought I was suitable to become one of the Queen's advisor, the head of them in fact. Even if most of the council don't take me much in consideration, they have to respect me."
Merle nodded.
Suddenly they heard an explosion that shook the earth.
"Arg!" Merle yelled out in despair. "You know what? I can't handle it anymore. I'm going down there to see what's happening. And don't even think about stopping me."
"No, I won't." Riha said. "I'm coming with you. I need to make sure Mamoru is alright."
Merle nodded, understanding what the young woman must be feeling.
And with that they left the refuge and ran into the city again.
.---.
"No!" Iris yelled. "Activate Shields!"
The attack hit them just then. But before the enemy could even celebrate the dust had already settled. Some cough could be heard as the men tried to recover their positions as fast as possible.
"Is everyone ok?" Susumo asked from his place.
"Yes boss!" some of his men answered.
"Any problems?" Mamoru asked in return.
"One of the ships fell down chief, the shield didn't reach in time." One of the soldiers told him. "It was piloted by Kurama."
"Where's he?" Mamoru asked worriedly.
"I'm here sire." A man said from below.
He looked fairly good, just a few scratches and a medium burn in one leg.
"Fert, take him to the infirmary." Mamoru ordered another of his men.
The man nodded and did as he was ordered.
And as the dust finished settling, they could all see the light-blue glowing shield that had settled between both armies.
"I told you we wouldn't go down that easily." Iris said. "For the last time, General Verou, surrender and we can avoid all this; continue and you will surely die."
"I may die." Verou said. "But if it is so, you'll come with me. Attack!"
And that's when all hell unleashed its force.
.---.
Merle and Riha were still running and crossed with Kurama and Fert when they were going to the infirmary. So, with the help of the two girls the four of them ran as fast as possible to the infirmary.
There Yu helped Kurama get onto a bed, and a healer took care of his injuries.
"How are things back there?" Riha asked Kurama.
"They're okay Lady Riha." Kurama answered with the due respect. "It seems the enemy didn't expect some of the inventions we have done. Queen Iris even decided to give them the opportunity to surrender."
"Really?" Merle was impressed.
"Yes." Fert nodded. "Some of them accepted to get on our side. And that man, General Verou, called them traitors and attacked. But Queen Iris ordered the shields to be activated just in time. I was the only one with some injuries, minor ones, because I was slightly out of the reach of the shield." He smiled. "A little miscalculation from my part."
"Is my husband ok?" Yu asked.
"Yes." Kurama nodded. "General Amano is perfectly fine, just as the rest of the men."
Suddenly they could feel more explosions.
"Mamoru!" Riha cried out in panic.
"Susumo!" Yu cried out, and suddenly she collapsed.
"My lady!" the healers immediately ran to her.
"She just fainted." One of the healers finally said aloud.
This brought relief to everyone.
"The shock was just too big." The healer explained. "And in her state it's not good."
"Her state?" Riha asked.
They could all guess what the healer-woman meant with those words.
Suddenly there was a moan, and the queen's lady-in-waiting went back to her senses.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You fainted by the shock." The healer informed her.
"Is Susumo alright?" Yu asked.
"Kurama returned to battle." Fert told her. "And I'm sure General Amano will be alright."
"You have to be more careful." The healer-woman told Yu, offering her a glass of water. "In your state it is not good for you to have such shocks."
Yu didn't answer but drank the water.
"Please, follow my advice." The healer insisted. "You have to relax a bit, too much stress may hurt you and the baby. Lady Yukari."
The woman just nodded, knowing the healer was right.
"Wait a minute." Merle suddenly interrupted. "You said Yukari?"
Yu, Yukari, nodded in silent.
"I know I have heard that name before." Merle said thoughtfully. "Back during the Great War, when Van was talking with…" she stopped as suddenly everything seemed to click in. "Oh for all the spirits!"
"What?" Riha asked confused.
"I've got to reach Lord Van!" Merle cried out, sprinting off. "He's got to know this!"
"What was she talking about?" Riha asked.
"She already noticed." Was all Yukari said, with a slight smile in her lips.
.---.
Meanwhile, the battle went on. Both sides were giving all they had got and it was impossible to guess who would be the winner in the end. Just for a second, all fire stopped, it seemed as if they had all taken a second to recover their breaths.
"We're doing pretty well." Iris murmured to herself as she took a quick look to her people.
Some were injured, and slowly making their way to where the infirmary was located, others had minor injuries and continued fighting, up to the moment their were no deaths to mourn.
"That's a relief." Iris thought aloud. "But if we go on like this, we might end destroying all the kingdom."
And it was true, many of the houses had been turned into ruins, due to the attacks, explosions, and everything.
"We've got to stop them. Now." Iris said.
This time Van could listen to her.
"How do you plan to do that?" he asked Iris.
"You'll see." Iris replied.
And Van could have swore she was smirking as she said this.
"Mamoru! Susumo!" Iris called at them. "Activate the MF now."
Both men understood and nodded. Immediately they took out each a strange device, and pulsed some buttons. At the same time Iris did the same with some controls inside Tenkuu.
A second later Van could feel something strange all around, and immediately after he noticed some of the enemy's ships fell to the ground, others where still floating, useless.
"What have you done!" Verou cried out, half-enraged, half-astonished.
"One of our latest inventions." Iris answered. "The MF is a Magnetic Field, so strong it leaves any electronic machine, useless. So as you can see you have just lost half of your army. Are you ready to surrender, or will you continue this useless battle?"
"I'll never give up!" Verou cried out. "First death!"
"Then so be it." Iris declared.
Van could notice that even though her voice sounded firm, there was something within it, like some hidden pain that was resurfacing.
"I'm not defeated yet!" Verou cried out.
Suddenly a strange robot came out from the main ship, it was almost as tall as Tenkuu and Escaflowne.
"Is that a guymeleth?" Van asked stunned.
"Almost." Iris replied. "I would have never imagined them being able to finish that. It's done under the same lines than Tenkuu, except that while I use a special energy we collect from the sunlight and heat, they use nuclear energy, which is far more dangerous."
"You mean that…" Van didn't like what she seemed to be implying.
"I mean that we must be really careful of that thing." Iris replied.
Suddenly she took a decision. If something happened to that invention of General Verou, if the nuclear energy that was kept inside exploded the result would be just catastrophic.
"Susumo! Mamoru!" Iris called. "Retreat!"
Her order was so sudden, firm and unexpected it took everyone by surprise.
"But…" her brother didn't seem to like the idea at all.
"This is getting far too dangerous." Iris said. "Get everyone out of Kizanka before its too late. It's an order."
Mamoru knew he couldn't disobey a direct order, so he just nodded.
Susumo did likewise, and immediately after all the Kizanka army was retreating.
"You running away already?" Verou asked sarcastically. "But the fun has barely begun!"
He sent some of his soldiers to attack, but using Tenkuu Iris managed to keep them away from her people.
While Van, aboard Escaflowne, battled with the big robot of Verou, which was piloted by a remote control, which meant no one was inside it.
.---.
Merle was still running, trying to get to Van as soon as possible, when she suddenly found herself getting drowned between all the people who was retreating.
"Hey!" she cried out as some pushed her back to the infirmary. "Let me go! I've got to get to Lord Van! I have to tell him what I found out! That I know…"
She stopped herself when she noticed it was impossible to try and reason with those men, so she decided on plan B.
Minutes later, after having hit or scratched a few men she finally had her path clear and ran as fast as she could to find Lord Van, and Queen Iris.
.---.
The battle seemed to go on for what seemed like forever.
Van was really surprised by the skill and ability queen Iris demonstrated; although in her moves and style there was something that made him think of someone else.
Iris was fighting as hard as she could, but it was just too difficult for her, she had never been a fighter, always hating it when her friends fought, if it had been for her she would have run away long ago; but no, she couldn't run, not now, not ever again, not when hundreds of lives, when all her people's lives depended on her.
While she fought she always kept an eye on Escaflowne and its pilot: Van. For some reason she felt that she had to be sure nothing happened to him. Maybe it was because of the fact that he was a king of another country, and was there just to help her, or perhaps there was something else, something she knew perfectly well, but wouldn't dare accept.
In a moment Van felt as his enemy made a slight cut in Escaflowne's shoulder, nothing mayor, although obviously his own body resented it as part of the blood-pact that had been made years ago.
Iris noticed Van's distraction, and immediately could feel what would be following.
"No! Beware!" she cried out hysteric.
"VAN!"
But in Escaflowne's cockpit, his name was heard as if pronounced by someone else's voice, a voice he knew too well.
Van noticed the pendant glowing and at the same time radiating warmth, as if warning him of a danger. And indeed it was.
Van noticed the attack directed to him a second too late.
"NO!" the same voice cried out again.
And, as if it were some kind of mysterious magic, Escaflowne seemed to move on its own, out of the attacker's path. Just in time.
Van fell down hard; gasping for breath; relieved that he hadn't been hit, but at the same time wondering what had saved him, after all, he didn't remember being able to move by himself on time. And just then he noticed the pendant was still glowing.
"This glow…this energy…" Van murmured to himself as he held the chain to which the pendant was attached. "It's just like when Zaibach had Escaflowne, when you helped me move it."
And just then he seemed to understand.
"It is you Hitomi." He said, half-shocked. "This is the proof you're alive, and you're helping me. Like always." He kissed the pendant with a smile. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I will get out of here, for you."
"I know you will."
The same voice answered him, and that seemed to be enough for him. He got back on his feet, back to the fight.
Just then Iris was shaking slightly, she had barely been able to dodge the series of attacks the enemies had sent to her the moment she got distracted with King Van and Escaflowne.
From her place she got to hear Van's words while he fought.
"You'll see Hitomi. We'll be together again."
The young king sounded so sure of himself, it just broke Iris's heart further, knowing he was getting useless hopes.
"I'm so sorry, but I don't think so." Iris whispered, more to herself than to anyone else. "This is how things are supposed to be. Since years ago we were meant to end like this, it's nothing more than our unavoidable destiny."
Just then she took a decision. She had to finish that fight, once and for all.
Van was about to punch his enemy again when he again felt the same force, the one he had concluded was Hitomi's, pulling him away, making him leave the battleground.
"What's happening?" he asked. "Why do you want me to leave?"
He turned around to see Queen Iris surrounded by the rest of the enemies.
"You're lost my lady." General Verou mocked her. "Better accept your defeat."
"Never." Iris replied coldly. "This ends now."
Suddenly her 'guymeleth' seemed to glow a brilliant green.
"What's that?" Verou asked.
"Something's not alright here…" Van murmured, stepping out of Escaflowne.
"Finito!" Iris command was heard in what seemed to be a second of complete silence.
Followed by the most terrible explosion ever heard.
"No!" Van cried out in panic, he clutched the pendant tightly in his hand. "Help her! Get her out of there!"
For just an instant, there was a bright pillar of blue light in the middle of the explosion; a second later it mirrored to a place on the ground just a couple of feet away from Van.
Once the light vanished, Van noticed Queen Iris lying on the ground. He immediately jumped off Escaflowne, and knelt next to her, shaking her lightly.
A moan of pain was the first proof that the young queen was alive, her clothes were a bit toasted, and her face seemed to be covered by the blackness of the smoke and ashes.
"What happened?" Iris asked.
Just then she noticed where she was.
"What am I doing here?" she asked.
"You barely got out from there alive." Van answered.
"Van…" Iris whispered sweetly, then she seemed to get back her senses. "No!"
Van was surprised by her sudden change of attitude.
"This shouldn't have happened." She said standing up as fast as she could. "I should have stayed there, make sure Verou died. And I would have died along with him."
"What!" Van cried out in shock. "You mean you wanted to die?"
"It's my destiny." Iris answered. "To die along with that who caused so much pain."
"Die? You? But why?" Van thought her words to be senseless. How could someone possibly wish for their own death?
"Yes, die, me." Iris answered him. "Because only with my death will all this finish. All this hate, all this pain, all this death."
"Why you?" Van asked, still not getting it.
"Because I'm the cause of all this." Iris answered. "General Verou did all this because of me, and so his grudge and evil won't finish until I'm death."
"There must be another away." Van insisted.
"There may be…" Iris began, but quickly shook her head. "No. I won't risk any more lives. This is the way thing were supposed to be since the beginning. I trust you'll be able to help my brother be a good king."
And before Van could say something, she sprinted off, running right into the chaos of rocks, fire, ashes and dust.
.---.
Merle fell to the ground with a hard thud the moment the earth shook violently.
"No!" she cried out standing again.
Her dress was ripped, almost turned into tatters and she didn't seem to care. There was only one thing in her mind in the moment. And it was to reach Lord Van before it was too late.
"Lord Van!" Merle yelled as she ran with all her energies. "I must reach you in time! You must know…"
.---.
Iris entered with a firm pace into the mess of flames, ruins and metal, a total chaos and destruction. Flames seemed to be closing in around her, as if waiting for the perfect moment to burn her down, but she wasn't afraid, she would never be again. Because she had finally accepted it, the destiny she had come to fulfill, the sins she had to pay for, before all could be left clear; and the judgment she was going to impart to someone she once cared about.
In between the same mass of destruction and death Lord Verou could finally get out the cockpit of his ship. Apparently he was the only one left alive. The rest of his army had died by the explosion, but no, not him; he was strong, and was still alive, and would be until he claimed what he believed to be his, until he proved everyone he wasn't a failure, and that no one was better than him, less of all a stupid little girl.
Just as he was deep in thought he noticed Queen Iris walking slowly nearby. Apparently she too had made it out alive.
"Well. Not for long." Verou murmured as he took a gun out of his pants.
One bullet, that was all he needed and he would get rid of that pest of a queen.
He raised the gun and aimed at the queen. Who cared if he didn't hit straight in the chest? Anyway she would die there and he would win. He had everything ready, and was about to fire when suddenly she raised her head, locking stares with him, and he just froze.
Slowly, Iris made her way to him. She had noticed the gun in his hand, but didn't seem to really care about it.
The gun fell down with a loud metallic noise, as Verou gave a step backwards, in shock.
"No…" he murmured, almost afraid. "It can't be you. It just can't. You're a ghost, a mere ghost that has come to haunt me."
"Am I really?" she asked.
And her mere voice seemed to send goosebumps all through the General's body. It was as if a spell had fallen upon him, he couldn't think clearly anymore.
"I don't think so." Iris added, approaching him even more.
"Stay where you are!" Verou ordered.
Iris, indeed, stopped in her tracks, although she kept gazes locked with Verou.
"You can't be alive, you just can't." Verou insisted.
"Oh, but I am." Iris assured him. "I'm alive, very much alive in fact."
"This can't be. You are dead!" Verou cried out in something that seemed like a mix of rage and panic. "You must be dead! You died that day. When the bomb exploded. You were supposed to die that day."
"You're right." Iris nodded. "I was supposed to die that night, but I didn't. For some reason I was kept at school for an extra class, and didn't make it home in time to die there. You tried very hard, but in the end your plan didn't work, you couldn't kill me."
Verou looked like he wanted to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out his mouth, his throat was way too dry, and no matter how hard he tried, he could tear his eyes apart from Iris's.
"You didn't kill me that day." Iris continued. "Though, you did kill many more people. Innocent people. Kids, adults, women, elders, all of them who knew nothing of your evil wishes against me. They all died because of you."
"Because of you!" Verou finally yelled. "You were supposed to be there. You were supposed to be the one to die!"
"If you wish my death so much, why didn't you go to kill me by your own hand?" Iris asked, as tears stung inside her eyelids. "If you desired my death so much you could have done it by yourself. And then you wouldn't have killed so much innocents." She sniffed, but managed to hold back her tears. "You killed my friends, my neighbors, my family; you killed my parents: Dad, mom…God dammit you killed your own sister!"
Just then, the fire alarms of the nearby buildings seemed to go off, and special devices sent water falling over the fire, trying to settle it.
"It was all your fault!" Verou insisted.
"You bastard!" Iris spat. "How can anyone be as cold-hearted as to kill his own sister, his own family, out of hate for someone that's supposed to be family too."
"You aren't family, and never will!" Verou yelled. "My own mother preferred you above me. I was supposed to be the man, the oldest, the heir, the favorite. And I was until you were born. When she forgot she even had a son and preferred his granddaughter."
"You can't blame me for the mistakes grandma did." Iris replied.
"Yes I can." Verou insisted. "I was his favorite until you appeared. She always said I would be a wonderful man, who would make everyone proud, that I had gifts that would help the people. But once you were born, she forgot all about me. She said you had a great potential, and would one day use your power to help many people, to save a world. She even forgot she had told me something like that to me before."
"That's why you hate me so much?" Iris asked bewildered. "Just because you believe grandma preferred me over you."
"She did." Verou assured. "That's why she didn't care when I enrolled into the army. She cared about nothing but her 'dear granddaughter' the 'Great Seer'. You got all the love I deserved, you took it away from me. And for that I hate you."
Van, who was standing a few feet away from them, was shocked at the revelations. Queen Iris's uncle was behind everything? Because he hated her? It was just too much.
"You can't blame a little girl for being loved by her grandma." Iris said. "And you can't use your hate toward me to shield yourself. For God's sake, you killed your own sister just because of me?"
"She was a part of it." Verou said. "By giving birth to you."
"You're insane!" Iris cried out. "How can you blame a woman for giving birth to a child?"
"I warned her." Verou said. "I told her the dangers she would get into if she had you. And she didn't care. She said that even if she didn't have the same gift she knew you would be able to use it for good. Even mother said you would one day be better than me."
"And that's why you did all this?" Iris asked. "That's why you decided to destroy a whole world? Just to prove you're better than me?"
"Yes." Verou nodded. "And I have done it. I'm stronger than you."
"Oh uncle…" Iris sighed. "Seems you never understood what grandma's real meaning behind her words were."
This seemed to puzzle Verou.
"I was meant to be better than you, stronger in mind and soul." Iris said. "So I could endure being through a terrible war, and help a young prince become king and save his land. You were meant to be strong in body and help everyone back home, not here." She sighed sadly. "We were gifted with the same power, and chosen to use it in a different way. But you made a wrong turn, when you decided to destroy Earth instead of protecting it, you changed my fate too. And so, instead of being able to just go on with my normal life, I had to use my powers again, saving as many people as I could, and without wanting to I again brought to this world, Gaea, problems, as well as to the young man I had the pleasure of see turn into king."
Van was confused at everything said. Did this all meant what he think it did? Queen Iris was talking with such vehemence he believed her. But then that would mean only one thing… He gasped at the mere thought
"It can't be." Verou denied. "It can't be as you say."
"But it is." Iris insisted. "You are the cause of all the pain on Earth, and in a way I'm the cause this pain got to Gaea. So while we're both standing, things won't be at peace."
"You're saying you're willing to die to save a world that isn't even yours?" Verou asked with amusement.
"No." Iris stated. "I'm capable of giving up my life for a world I got to feel like a second home, and for the memory of my former home that lives now here."
She was obviously referring to her people, and to those who had quitted Verou's army just in time to save their lives.
"Then, even if I die, you'll come down with me." Verou said satisfied. "So in the end I'll be the one to win."
Iris didn't answer at this.
Van was almost shaking. He had to do something, and fast; he couldn't just let the queen died, not now not ever.
"This is the end." Iris murmured.
She opened a small crevice in the device she wore around her wrist. Inside was the latest inventions of all. An implosive, it was just as any explosive, but the effect was inwards, so no one else would be damaged.
"Let your soul be at peace…" Iris whispered as she was about to activate the implosive.
"I will be." Verou assured. "With you gone."
In an instant, he had the gun again in his hand. And he fired.
"Good Bye Van…" the words that reached Van's ears by some kind of magic made his heart clench in pain.
"No!"
Van would probably never get to know what kind of force possessed him just then, and he didn't really seemed to care in the moment; He just dashed and pushed Iris to the side, barely in time; as the bullet passed zooming, right behind both of them.
The small implosive slipped off Iris fingers, and out of her reach.
"No!" she cried out in panic.
Things weren't going as planned.
"So your blue prince came to save you." Verou mocked them. "Too bad he won't be able to do so once he's dead."
Again he aimed, this time at Van, and fired.
"No! Van!"
This time the Fanelian prince noticed it was as if both Iris's and Hitomi's voices had mingled, becoming one.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion.
Iris saw Van's sword, it had fallen out of the sheath in the fall. She took it and tugging a bit at her powers, she threw the sword at Verou. And at the same time she threw herself in between Van and the bullet, using her body as a shield.
A gasp, was what sent everything to its normal course.
Van was surprised at seeing Verou pierced by his (Van's) own sword, he coughed, spitting blood, as Van noticed the man was slowly dying.
A moan got Van's attention somewhere nearer him, when someone else was too in pain.
"Iris!" in the moment Van seemed to forget all protocol, it just didn't matter anymore. "What…"
Just then he noticed the crimson stain on Iris's clothes that seemed to grow with each passing second. To prevent the bullet from hitting Van she had stopped it with nothing but her own body, and so she was now bleeding to death.
"In the end…I win…" Verou managed to choke out as he fell, dead.
"Why?" Van asked Iris.
He let himself fall to his knees, holding Iris's bleeding form to him.
"I couldn't let him kill you, it would have been just too much pain for me to bear." Iris replied in a low voice.
Her body began trembling involuntarily. She felt cold, and a numbness in all her muscles, a weakness that was quickly spreading; and she felt tired, too tired. She was dying, and she knew it. And didn't seem to regret the way death came to her.
"I just wish…" she began.
Suddenly Van noticed how, with a great effort, she managed to pull herself upwards, until she was almost the same eye level as him.
Slowly, due to her lack of strength, she managed to take Van's face in her hands, and pulling him lightly towards her, she kissed him, trying to pour all her overwhelming emotions in that single gesture.
Once she broke off and turned to look at him, he couldn't help but stare at her, wondering what was happening, there had been something in that kiss… And then it hit him.
Iris smiled at him lightly, noticing he had finally discovered the truth within her.
Van suddenly noticed it, the feeling of two hearts beating at once.
"So it's true…" he murmured, not quite believing his own heart.
His mind was flooded with thoughts, fears of it all being a lie, but he just knew it wasn't, his heart couldn't be wrong, not this time.
"I love you…" Iris whispered. "Van…"
And she let darkness claim her, as her body fell limply against the man who suddenly noticed the worst change: instead of the beating of two hearts, now he could just feel one.
Ok. For those who were wondering who Queen Iris is truly (and those who had already guessed it), here you have the latest chapter. The story has already been finished, and you're missing two more chapters; so, wait a while more and soon you'll know how this story will end.
Hope you liked the chapter. Don't forget to leave review.
See you on the next update.