Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Escaflowne…The characters may be the same, but the plot is my own doing!

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Chapter Eight

A gentle knock on the door was the only sound in Van's room. He was currently lying on his bed, resting. "Your majesty?" A timid voice called from the hallway. "The meal is ready."

"Thank you." Van mumbled, rising slowly from the bed. Running a hand through his hair, he fixed his shirt and left his room. I better tell Hitomi…She's probably still in the bath. I haven't heard Merle talking since she went into her room…which means that she's still in her room…

Walking down the corridors to the guests' chambers, he smelled lunch. It was familiar to him…not like that 'cereal' Hitomi had given him the morning before…it smelled so good. We're probably having vegetable soup with some fresh meat from the farms. He mused as he tried to pick out what was being cooked. It feels good to be here.

Hitomi's door was shut, so Van knocked. "Hitomi?" He turned the knob and opened the door slowly. "Are you dressed?" Placing a hand over his eyes, just in case she wasn't, he poked his head through the entrance. "Lunch is ready, Hitomi…"

He realized that the room was completely silent. "Hitomi?" Moving his fingers, he glanced around the room in which Hitomi was not standing in. In fact, her dress clothes that Merle laid out for her were still on the bed, untouched. She IS still in the bath…

Van moved to the door of her washroom. He knocked again. "Hitomi?"

No response. No sound…

"Hitomi?" He called again, knocking and talking a bit louder. She must of fallen asleep in the bath. "Lunch is ready."

No response. No movement…

"Hitomi?" Van frowned. He pounded a fist on the door. "Hey! Hitomi!" Still getting no response from the opposite side, he talked louder. "Lunch is ready, Hitomi! Come on!"

When silence followed yet again, worry began to set in. "Come on! Hitomi! Wake up! Lunch is going to get cold!" He found himself yelling. "Hitomi! Are you in there?" What if she'd gone home? What if—
She won't wake up
--she's not here? Van tried the handle. Obviously, the door was locked. What if something happened? What if she…drowned? As the last thought passed through his head, he decided quickly on what his next action would be.

"Hitomi? I'm going to come in there. I don't know if you can hear this, but I'm coming in. Okay? Hitomi? Come on! Answer me! HITOMI!" He was practically punching the door. If that didn't wake her up…I don't know what will…

Still, no response. No life.

"Hitomi, I'm coming in!" Something in his mind told him to rush in there as soon as possible. He followed his gut instinct and pushed his shoulder into the door roughly. The weak lock snapped after only three tries. The door slammed into the adjacent wall with a loud bang, enough to wake the dead. It rattled back, but Van held the door open.

Covering his eyes again, Van called out again. "Hitomi…My eyes are closed, don't worry. Hitomi?" He was still getting no answer. "Hitomi?" Part of him knew he would have to open his eyes…but the other part still wanted to protect Hitomi's privacy, even though he had technically burst into the washroom without her consent WHILE she was in the tub.

But what if she's hurt? You can't help her if you can't see her! "Hitomi…" Moving his hand away, he regretted the action instantly.

Hitomi's head was under the water. Oh Gods…

He didn't think twice. Van rushed to the side of the tub and saw Hitomi's floating hair and body under the surface. Only small bubbles came out of her mouth.

"HITOMI!" Thrusting his hands in the tub, water came out with a splash. He tried to grab on to her, but he just couldn't…No! Come on! He frantically moved his hands under the water, hoping to connect.

But he just couldn't.

"Please, Hitomi!" Suddenly, he stopped moving. This isn't right…Van noticed that the water was getting cloudier by the second and that Hitomi's body was fading from view. No! Hitomi! Hold on! He moved his arms, now elbow deep in the water, towards her, but still got nothing. Where is she? Is she even here?

The water was now very dark. Van could not see through it anymore. But what he could see chilled him.

The water was red.
Blood
Eyes wide, he removed his arms from the bathtub. Watching as he lifted them out, he noticed that they were covered in blood…Not a single patch of his tan skin was visible under the thick coat of red. He was shaking…trembling all over.

Van watched as the blood dripped onto the floor with a splat. He fell back and moved away from the tub, his eyes not leaving his arms. Who's blood is this?
Her blood
No…
You like it, don't you?
No…
Yes…

It won't let me go! Hitomi thought, staring at the fading blue eye. No! She could feel consciousness leaving her slowly. Her head was hurting and it felt as if her chest was going to explode. Everything was burning. But the power of It kept the hands on her, not letting her get relief.

The tub was too deep. She kept falling with the bloody hands keeping a firm grip on her. Please…God…It hurts so much…Hitomi's failing vision could still see that she was sinking in a bath of blood. Who's blood is this?
Your blood
No…No, it isn't! Hitomi began to struggle again against the hands. Let me go! Let me go NOW! She screwed her eyes shut and focused all her remaining energy on pulling free. They did not let up. She kept trying. She thrashed her arms, kicked and twisted…Even though movement made everything hurt more…Her lungs were burning up. Her brain wanted sleep. No! Suddenly, her body stilled. She had nothing left.

She listened to her brain. She stopped for the last time. I can't win…

Hitomi closed her eyes and wished for sleep. But something would not let her. Under her eyelids, she saw the pendant…glowing…brighter and brighter. It pierced the darkness and refused her from eternal rest.

Blinded by the light, she opened her eyes to see the pendant around her neck, pushing all the blood away with its pink glow. Let go of me NOW! The light flooded all around her in beams of shining light, disintegrating the hands into nothing. Hitomi pushed herself upwards to break the surface of the water.

The pink light helped her…It lifted her towards the light. It illuminated the tub; all the blood was gone. Nothing was left. The top of the water seemed so far away. Please…Please…Hitomi pushed her tired and hurting body up. The pink light was hurting her eyes. Closing them, in the darkness of her closed eyelids stood a figure…

…the one with the blue eyes was angry again.

But right now, Hitomi could care less. If that thing didn't want her there, she was happy to leave. I'll find my answers another way…The light from the pendant destroyed the image of the thing just like it did with the bloody hands.

After what seemed like forever, Hitomi felt cool air touch the top of her head. God…Yes… The pendant lifted her up quickly, and Hitomi sucked in the biggest breath of fresh air with a gurgling sound. Her lungs were thankful and nothing seemed to hurt anymore. Water was being thrown everywhere.

But right now, Hitomi could care less. She wanted out of this tub as soon as possible!

Before she could get up, she immediately began to cough up the water that she inhaled. Hitomi pulled her knees to her chest. They felt like dead-weights, but they moved to the intended destination. She placed her head on her knees and tried to steady her breathing. Oh God…Oh God…What happened down there? I almost…But the pendant…It appeared around my neck…to help me…But Van is the one who wears it…How could it--?

Hitomi moved a shaky hand to her neck. She felt the thin chain there, but still could not believe it until she felt the familiar sphere. How could it do this…? Moving her eyes downward, she saw that the water was water again: clear and clean. She then finalized her confused thoughts. The pendant really did come to me. She placed it in the palm of her hand above the water and it glowed.

Caught up in her own thoughts, Hitomi barely registered the hand that was laid on her shoulder minutes later. "…Hitomi…?"

She freaked. The bloody hands are back to take me… "Let go of me, NOW!"
You have no right to touch me
Hitomi swung her hands around to push off the offending hand. She screamed as loudly as her tired lungs to allow her to until the hand was off. She heard steps moving backwards…away from her.

But she did not hear the door close shut. "Leave." She whispered.

No sound of footsteps.

"LEAVE!" She shouted. Hitomi did not look up to see Van exit quickly, but she could care less who it was…as long as they left her alone.

Van was breathing hard. He slammed the door to the washroom and the entrance door shut. Standing close to it, Van slid down until he reached the floor. Hitomi…He sighed and rested his head on his knees. What happened in there?

He saw Hitomi's head break the surface of the water. It was so unexpected…he froze. He saw her struggle with breath…he froze. How could I just watch her…?

He also noticed that she had the pendant around her neck. Van touched his bare neck. How did that happen?

When he had walked over to her, he must have scared her. Oh Gods…What happened to her? What did she see? Moving his head up and away from his knees, he leaned it against the door with a thud. He brought his hands to his face and noticed that the blood was gone.

His hands were wet, though. But it was just water. The whole time? Van could not believe it. He knew he saw blood. It must have been something Hitomi saw too. The vision she had had blood in it…and then I saw it too…Why is there always blood? Who is going to die?

Something creaked in the room in front of him. Van snapped his head to attention which stopped all thoughts of the vision. What was that? An intruder?

He heard the sound again. Louder.

Van got up slowly, trying not to make a sound. He had one hand on the hilt of his sword and one on the wall for support. Looking straight ahead, he noticed that a door was being opened. An unwelcome guest?

He hid behind the closest vase and watched. He heard footsteps. They were walking fast. They have somewhere to go…Van thought, amused. He sneaked a glance behind the vase and noticed that their back was towards him. Never turn your back on your enemy…

With quick pace, Van sneaked up behind the intruder. No one told me of another person staying here…He grabbed onto their shoulder—
A force, unknown to nature, sent her wrist backward
--and spun the intruder around. He pushed the woman into the nearby wall with both hands roughly. All his pent up frustration and anger went into his attack. She gasped in response. The vase that he was hiding behind rocked back and forth from the force of her body banging into the wall.

"What are you doing here!" Van narrowed his eyes at the woman. She did not speak; obviously shaken up by the surprise attack. He glared at her for the prolonged silence. "Answer me! Do not think that because you are a woman that I will not kill you."

Van noticed the woman's blue eyes dart from his sword back to his face. "You are trespassing without consent."

"My Lord." The woman said quietly. "Your advisors have welcomed me here. They did not inform you of my arrival?"

Van gave her a quizzical look, but did not loosen his grip on her shoulders. "Who are you?"

The woman swallowed. "I am Princess Shina of Yoshidaria."

He looked her over. She did look familiar to him…He didn't recognize her until she said her name. She was indeed who she said she was. He could never forget those blue eyes and the radical white hair. Van had visited her land in talks of imports and exports and their alliance.

But it did not mean that he did not trust her.

He removed his hands from her shoulders and Shina moved herself away from the wall. Van bowed. "My apologizes."

Shina just nodded. "They should have told you. I did not mean to startle you." She smoothed her white hair out. "I'm sorry."

Van said nothing. "Where are you going?"

"To lunch." Shina whispered. "Oh…Maybe—Maybe that's when they were going to tell you…about me…"

"I see." Van looked at the exit door to the guest chambers. Those advisors…I could have killed this woman if I hadn't asked for her name…

"Would you like to…escort me down there? I'm still quite unfamiliar with this place…" She said, adverting his eyes. "You are going the same way, are you not?"

Van glanced at Hitomi's door. He was not going to leave her…"No. I'm not. I'll send a maid to help you there. Alright?" Van did not look at Shina.

"Oh. Okay…" She said quietly.

"Just wait outside the doors here. The maid will arrive shortly." Van turned and walked towards Hitomi's door. He knew that the maid was cleaning the rooms now…he would ask her soon. He glanced behind him to look at Shina for the second time. "My apologizes again, Princess…"

Before he closed the door to Hitomi's room, he called out to her again. "Tell my advisors that I will not be joining them for lunch. But I will have a word with them later on…"

"Yes, Lord Van. I will." Van shut the door and heard Shina exit. He noticed that Hitomi's room was still empty. The clean clothes were still not touched. She's still in the bath…?

Van knocked on the washroom door. "Hitomi?" He said quietly. "Are you in there? Are you okay?" He leaned his head against the door. "Please tell me that you're okay…"

He knocked again, lighter. What is going on today? I leave for not even a week and already I'm lost in my own castle. "Hitomi?" He whispered again.

Van felt the door move away from his body, so he stood up straight. He looked through the open door to see Hitomi standing there with a long, blue, thick cotton sheet wrapped numerous times around her…It went from her armpits down to her knees. Her hair was wet and matted to her head and neck and the little rivulets of water running down her legs and arms pooled at her feet.

Without warning, she ran over and hugged him. Her body was only partially dry, so Van knew that his clothes were going to be soaked. In the quietness of the room, he heard her mumble, "I'm sorry Van…"

Van hugged her back. "What happened?" He pulled away from her to hear her answer clearly. But the terror that was visible in her red, puffy eyes told him that she was not going to answer him. He didn't want her to cry again. "No…It's okay…Tell me when you want to."

"I will…" She sobbed quietly on his shoulder. They stood there, holding on to each other. Van realized that if anyone were to walk in…they'd be quite surprised to see that he was hugging a half-naked woman. Hitomi also realized their awkward position and blushed slightly.

But, right now, neither of them could care less. They had more important things on their minds.

"Princess Shina?" Many of the advisors stood to acknowledge her presence. They waited for her to take a seat. One of the oldest advisors smiled. "Where is Lord Van?"

Shina looked at her plate of soup and bread. "He will not be joining us."

Merle jumped up from her place at the table. "Why not? Where is he?"

"He is in the guest chambers…I think…That's the last place I saw him. Lord Van said that he had to finish something…" She explained, not looking up at the feline.

The advisors murmured amongst themselves. A young man spoke next. "You and his majesty have spoken?"

"Yes. But he did not know who I was and thought I was an intruder." Shina mumbled. "He is going to speak to all of you later on today about the lack of communication." She fiddled with the bracelets on her arms. The group was left silent.

"When are you going to tell him about the wedding arrangements?" She asked, smirking underneath her fallen hair. "I do not think he should be left in the dark any longer."

That is when Merle got up and left the table. "Merle! Please, sit! Your lunch will get cold. Lord Van values your presence."

"Clean your ears. Lord Van will not be joining us, so I'm going." She left in a huff. Wedding? Lord Van is going to marry her? Oh no! But he's in love with Hitomi!

"Merle!" One of the advisors called out to her.

"I'm not hungry!"

And the creature smiled further.

"There were all these hands….bloody hands…and they held me down…" Hitomi whispered, retelling the story to Van. Bloody hands…Will I be the one to hold her down? He thought.

"I saw the pendant…and it helped me break free from everything. The hands…and the thing with the glowing eye." She went silent after that. "That's all I remember…" Hitomi felt as if her brain was underwater. Every detail that she experienced moments earlier were all hazed. Why can't I remember? Even the colours of the visions seemed to be dulled. What she remembered as blood remained black in her memory, not red.

"Van?" Hitomi asked, looking at him. He had been awfully quiet. "Did you see anything?"

"I saw bloody hands." He replied. "I tried to fish you out of the water, but my hands got covered in blood."

Hitomi looked away. Oh God…The bloody hands were going to take me…

"Hitomi…There's always an element of blood in our visions…" Van mumbled. He paused then, trying to find a way to word his conclusion. Slowly, he added, "I think someone is going to die…"

"Van!" Hitomi gasped. "Do…Do you have any idea who?"

You. Van stared at the washroom. "No…No I don't Hitomi."

Hitomi lay down on the bed. "What does this all mean?" Tears began to fall.

"What's wrong?" Van asked, lying down beside her.

"What if we don't figure it out in time? What if it succeeds?" She whispered.

"No! No, stop it!" Van pulled her back up in a sitting position and shook her. "We just have to think. All we have so far is that there IS someone pulling the strings…and there's going to be some sort of war or bloodbath…So…"

"…what does that someone want?" Hitomi finished for him. "What would they want that would start a war over?"

Van looked at her for a long time, but then looked away. He bit his lip. "It may want you, Hitomi…with your powers."

"Van, I gave up fortune-telling a long time ago…" She started.

"It doesn't matter. You made that pendant relocate itself from me to you. That is power…You have all these visions that are showing us that someone's plan. That is power…" He paused again. He folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward.

Van pursed his lips together. His next words pained him. "…I think it wants to silence you, Hitomi…"

(blank stare) 0.0 Wow. I had no idea it was going to come out like this….

Well, Van has finally met up with Shina. I don't think he's going to be happy that he's arranged to be married…(woot! That scene is gonna be fun to write up!)

Merle already dislikes Shina…

Van and Hitomi are making some progress on the visions….Or are they? Hmmm….

Hope you all enjoyed this!

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