Shattered
Return to Fanelia
Hitomi moaned and rolled back to her side. Fresh blood leaked to stain her shirt and the ground surrounding her body. Van delicately touched the side of her cheek, pulling his fingers away as her face crumpled into fearsome pain.
"What… happened to you?" he murmured. She gave no answer, only tilted backward slightly, turning her cheek away from his hand. Her hair was much longer than he remembered and her skin tanner. She had filled out sometime over the five years that they were apart. Her hands were long and delicate, her entire body lengthy and beautiful. Her clothing and skin was dotted with blood from numerous tiny cuts given by the bushes and the larger wound somewhere on her back. Van's hand crept slowly downward to examine the source of the blood.
Hitomi released an animalistic cry and lunged away. The movement caused her incredible anguish, obviously and prominently displayed upon her features. Van immediately gave up his quest. His heart strangled itself, turning and tearing, shattering at the pathetic sight of this girl, once the love of his life.
"Hitomi… gods, come back with me… please, let me take care of you…" Van's voice shook with the powerful emotions coursing through his body. He wanted to cradle her in his arms like a little child and whisper consoling comforts into her fragile ears. But she winced away from every attempt to touch her. Van crawled toward her body, his eyes begging.
"Tell me what happened to you. Who did this to you? Where is your family? What has happened here? Who can I go to? What is the matter, Hitomi? Please…" A quiet descended on the turmoil around him. He felt the two of them were isolated within this busy park, not two people huddled in a bush, hiding from the world's eyes.
"Van… you… are you a dream?" Hitomi's voice hardly amounted to even a whisper. Van was forced to bend down until his ear nearly touched her lips, just to understand the begging words falling from her mouth like tears.
"No… I'm no dream. I'm here, Hitomi. Oh, gods, what's wrong with you?" No answer. Nothing made any sense.
The Fanelian King landed here on Earth just a day ago, into a world who hated him for his Draconian heritage. No one understood him here, except for this beautiful girl who could not speak. Something terrible occurred here – but what? What scarred Hitomi like this, damaging her mind so completely that she couldn't even recognize Van as part of reality? His throat constricted painfully as he watched her struggle to comprehend his existence.
"I… they…" she began, her eyes filling tears. As her voice trailed off, her features turned back toward the wet earth, resuming that same vacant, painful stare. Van shivered and forced himself to calm down and focus on helping Hitomi and discovering what happened to her later.
"Hitomi… come with me… to Fanelia. Let me… let me take care of you," he murmured, unsure if she could even comprehend what he was saying. She continued concentrating on the ground beside her cheek, nearly unaware of him.
A long silence passed as the two of them huddled in the bush. Finally, she tilted her head and met his eyes for a brief moment. The fleeting connection passed and she struggled to sit up. Van reached for her, but hesitated when he saw her begin to flinch away. For several painful seconds, he watched Hitomi; her auburn hair trailing around her, eyes squinted in pain, slowly force herself upward.
"I… take me away… this… painful…" she rocked slightly as if some force was nudging her back and forth playfully. "It… are you… are you real? Not a dream?"
Van felt unfamiliar frustration building up within him. Of course he was real, couldn't she tell that? Just his being her should be enough to reassure her of that fact.
But as quickly as his emotions rolled to anger, they flipped straight back to concern and confusion. Utter confusion. Something was deadly wrong here… Van wished he could only understand. The blood, her face – there was a long story here that he needed to know.
He reached for her again, unable to stop himself. She cried out and lurched backwards, falling from her precarious upright posture. Hitomi's head impacted the ground with a soft thud, muffled by Van's anguished outburst.
Her eyes were still half-open after her body settled uncomfortably on the ground, but they were vacant, staring into the vague world beyond Van's sight. He murmured incoherent phrases, trying to get her to acknowledge his presence – even if only to again call him a dream, a figment of her imagination.
When she didn't immediately reawaken, Van noticed the seeping of the blood from beneath her back. Somehow she was still bleeding. As if she still had blood within her, after all this! Van moaned in confusion and left her lying on the cool, hard ground, digging his way from the rough bushes to search out help.
As soon as the Fanelian King emerged from the foliage, Van was struck at the normality even this crazy world continued on. Here was Hitomi, perhaps the most innocent and darling of all women on the Mystic Moon, lying helplessly beneath a bush. And yet, no one rushed up to him – no one even realized that she was here. Van was aghast at the people who meandered past him with a relaxed, bored look on their faces, tending to their everyday lives without a care in the world for poor Hitomi.
He moved swiftly as soon as his muscles relinquished their power to his control again. Van plunged toward the lake, gathering water in his cupped hands and, ignoring the strange looks the strolling people gave him, ducked back into the bushes and splashed the cool water on Hitomi's face. When there was no reaction from her stoic face, Van returned to the lake for more water.
Finally, she began to stir, coming slowly back to life. Van bent over her, frantically scanning her face, waiting for her to open her eyes again. When she did, tears stung her cheeks and pattered to the cold, hard ground. Van slowly reached for her, trying to avoid her pained back. At first she was resisted his arms, but eventually leaned onto his shoulder and just cried.
The beautiful girl seemed so young and vulnerable in his arms, sobbing so hard that her whole body shook. Somehow, Van could feel a small portion of her pain, throbbing inside his chest agonizingly. Finally he mustered up enough bravery to speak again when she slowed her crying.
"Hitomi… Please, I don't know what went on here, but I want to take you away from all of it. Come back to Fanelia with me now. Please, Hitomi."
She looked up slowly, breathing heavily. It was as if she just saw Van for the first time. Her fingers gently traced against his cheek. He felt her pain burning against his chest. The pendant was hot and his skin ached under its pressure. She started to shake her head, but then halted, as if the confusion he read on her face was too excruciating for her to continue under.
"I… don't…" she mumbled. Van leaned closer to her and this time she didn't shrink away.
"Hitomi, please come with me. What could be keeping you here? Whatever happened to you…? I would just… please, please come."
She stared through his pleading body and saw something far beyond Van's begging eyes. A long time passed as he held her upright. The birds swooped slowly overhead, making long and lazy turns through the maze of branches. A squirrel chattered close by, hugging tree trunks as it scampered about, content in its business. Van could hear children laughing somewhere in this distance and the calming thrum of regular conversation nearby. His chest was smeared with blood and grass around them was stained darkly. Hitomi looked tired and confused, unable to choose Van or whatever was left for her here, in this scattered life.
A meandering wind found them and her slight body shivered. Van moved to hold her closer to him, so he could act as a shield as they sat there in the confusing silence, but Hitomi remained steadfastly where she was, peering into the great depths around her, her mind achingly turning around her choices.
"There's no one… no one left," she whispered. Van was stunned at the broken cracks in her voice as she sniffled and coughed hard enough to shake her entire body.
"I'm… alone…"
Van shook his head and touched her hair with his fingers. He couldn't imagine anything to say to his poor, shocked Hitomi. He wanted to clutch her against him and reassure her. But, she seemed so far gone and confused that nothing so simple would be able to reach her. For a few short moments, they sat together on the bloody ground and waited.
Van was unsure what they waited for. Only that it was necessary he was quiet and just held Hitomi. She sorted slowly through everything that had happened, ignoring the painful details and skipping over the realities of the situation as smoothly as she could. Van glanced upward, past the trees, to the great blue sky looming above the two of them. Then he felt a change in the tiny creature his arms enclosed. He felt a tiny spark of strength within her, and the pendant ceased burning as painfully.
"Okay," was her only reply. Van needed no other urging as he struggled to his feet and tried to lift her with him. She could not seem to stand, however, surrounding by blood and her own images of destruction, Hitomi was empty and exhausted. She could feel the ebb and flow of the black tide within her mind, waiting to sweep her away. Looking at Van, this dream, this construct her suffering had created to sooth her; she could imagine nothing easier than falling asleep forever, in his arms.
The slow undulation of the grasses around her looked so comforting. She stretched her arms toward Van's apparition. He bent to her, carefully trying to guide her up. Her heavy body was unable to leave the soft support of the grass. Van finally reached for the dull pendant's glow and pictured the beautiful city of Fanelia in his mind.
Van remembered the beautiful stream that ran just a short walk outside of his castle, its twists and turns beneath the trees. He pictured the clearing with the large rock overhanging the water that he enjoyed visiting so very much. And with this image burned into his mind, he wrapped himself around Hitomi and begged the pendant to send them there.
A warm light engulfed the two of them. Hitomi cried out in some shock or pain that made Van wince. The two of them slowly lifted from the spongy ground. Around them, Van could see the strange peoples of this world pointing and exclaiming with shock at the transportation of the couple.
Finally, they receded past the Earth and into the Heavens. Van squeezed his eyes shut and held Hitomi that much tighter. When he again dared to peer around them, he felt his feet stumble underneath of him, trying to support his weight as they were gently landed on Gaia.
Hitomi stared around with wide eyes from the ground where she now occupied clean grass. The soft whisper of the stream enticed her gaze and she rewarded it with a hand, half-lifted from the ground. Unable to understand the changes in the world around her, Hitomi finally succumbed to the extreme lack of blood and exhaustion and allowed the bleak darkness to enclose her once more.
Van allowed his body to be Hitomi's pillow for a short time. She would not reawaken and he knew her injuries, whatever they were, must be quite severe. Though he reached the water and sprinkled it against her face, Hitomi remained in a torturous repose.
The King of Fanelia wiggled his way out from underneath the dead weight of Hitomi's body. He slowly inched his arms beneath her back and legs. With his strength summoned and his heart pounding loudly in his ears, Van lifted Hitomi and released his wings.
The spectacle was incredible, though only the trees stood to witness it. Feathers scattered across the ground and reddened from Van's bloody chest as they fell. Hitomi's body, battered and torn, hung limply from Van's strong arms. Then he looked to the sky and pushed off as best he could manage.
The beginning of the flight was difficult. Carrying so much weight on top of his own, plus their continued use in the last few days, gave Van's wings plenty to complain of. But he forced them to lift the couple into the sky and glided roughly back to his home.
Advisors and others stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the spectacle wobbling through the sky. Van rarely, if ever, allowed any to view his fantastic wings, and the descent from above was nothing near graceful.
Guards rushed in to help the king, seeing blood smeared across both he and the lady. They were both quickly ushered inside. Milan, the ever trustworthy advisor, beckoned Van to come away with him and explain, but Van had no time for him. He refused to leave Hitomi's side, only allowing to be led away when they examined her wounds.
He rejoined her bedside a short time later, scrubbed quickly clean and changed into clothes slightly more suitable to his reputation. The court advisors were scrambling to control the wild rumors with the incredible story Van had given them.
He sat there, on the edge of Hitomi's bed, and stared down at her pale, drawn face. She remained in her darkness, content to be spirited away from pain and terror. Van touched her cheek and gently stroked the end of her chin. The blood had been cleaned from her body and her clothes had been changed into a soft, clinging material that shifted with her as she breathed.
"What happened to you?" Van whispered to the form curled under the warm blankets. He finally stood and pulled a chair near to her bedside. His body contorted itself into a comfortable position and he gently took her hand in his own, awaiting patiently for her to return to this world.
Author's Notes: Sorry that this chapter has taken so very long to appear. College is… well, college. I'm happy here, though, and I just wish I had a little more time to write. Anyway, I will finish this story, eventually, so! There's something to count on.
E-mail me if you would like to be notified each time the story is updated at This chapter took an insanely long time to write. Hope it came out decently. :P I'm just happy I can write about them together now. Yay!
Crystal Twilight: I just couldn't imagine anyone like Van wandering around in our world without some kind of crazy adventure. Plus, I love the wings. So… well, don't you think he's quite like an angel?
Pure hope: Sorry this update took so long! She's okay… sorta! But we'll have to find out later how okay she really is and will become, eh:D