Disclaimer: I didn't own anything in the last ten chapters…I didn't own anything in the last five chapters…What makes you think this chapter is any different? I don't own anything!

To all who reviewed: This is a proud moment for me! I had finally broken the 100 review milestone! I'M SO HAPPY! (hands out cake!) Thanks for all your comments: D

PS. I have given up on how the correct way to spell "Austuria/Asturia/Austria" I know the way I was spelling it at first was WAY wrong…Austria IS a country near Germany in Europe…my bad…If you see any of these, you know what I'm talking about. (maybe, one day, I'll go back and change them)

Chapter Sixteen

Hitomi's eyes kept looking at Shina, even though the rest of her body shook. She forced herself to calm down. It was her…All this time…Merle was…A new thought blasted through her head. Merle! Where's Merle? What did she do to her?

The more she stared at Shina, the brighter her blue eyes got. There's something about those eyes…that face…Hitomi's eyes narrowed. The sunken eyes…the dry and wrinkled skin…The blood…It's as if…she's a corpse.

Although Hitomi's head was buzzing with thoughts, Van's remained still. He only had one thought. I will kill her…
Her blood
…she will pay for her sins …His fingers curled around the handle of his sword. The blood from the people he had killed and the ones he was close enough to was dripping off him and his sword onto the floor. The sound reminded Hitomi of a leaky faucet.

Shina kept her feet rooted in the ground for the moment as she stared at Van's face. "What's the matter, love? Don't you recognize me?" She asked, breaking the silence. "Does this look more familiar?" And in an instant, Shina's face looked normal again.

Too normal.

Van clenched his jaw, feeling distracted. "I don't care what you look like. Why are you doing this?"

She completely ignored him. "Well, I figure that this'll look more familiar…no one seems to realize it's me when I look as old as I am…No one looks this good," she paused, bringing her hand to her face, "when they are over a century old, do they?"

"What?" Hitomi breathed.

"Just what are you?" Van glared.

Shina brought a hand to her pendant. "I thought that this would give it away…"

Van's eyes went wide for a second, before resuming his stoic look. "No. You can't be from…It was never black!" The grip on his sword, hanging by his side, got tighter.

She sighed. "Oh, come now…Did you ever stop to think exactly who was making wishes conflict with one another? Honestly, the Atlantians were golden…They would never even think to wish misfortune on one another…" Shina paused with a laugh. "But I did…And, oh, what fun that was. All it took was one lie to get everything in motion. Beautiful, really…"

"Why!" Hitomi screamed, after being silent for too long. Her heart pounded in her chest. "Why did you do that?"

"You know," Shina paused thoughtfully, "I don't know. Maybe it is just in my blood. I like to watch things go 'boom.'" She giggled. "I like to watch suffering…I like to put people in their place.

"Those Atlantians thought that they were superior…Thinking that they had all the power, all the knowledge about everything…Well, those 'wishing' pendants destroyed their perfect place and their perfect lives. They so easily turned on one another, proving that they were no good than the animals that they kept in their homes. All of them deserved to fall to pieces just as their poor civilization did. I thought it was rather funny as I watched it…"

"Shut-up!" Van cried. "I will not let you talk about my people that way!"

"Oh?" Shina walked forward, "And what will you do to stop me?"

"I'll cut off those lips of yours."

"Van!" Hitomi gasped. She had never seen him this angry before. It still scared her that he was capable of doing such things…The Van she remembered from her first visit on Gaea, hated to fight.

Shina laughed. "You wouldn't dare lay a finger on me…" The both took a step towards each other with Van brushing off Hitomi's hands to hold him back.

"No! Van!" She begged. I don't want to see you like this…

Van stared at her. "Let go." Hitomi chilled at his words and his face. It was so rigid and tense. His eyes…they were…different.

"You have no right to touch me…" Shina continued, not taking Van seriously.

"Why are you doing this?" He took another step forward, ready to strike with his sword.

"You have no right to know …"

There's something…Something…She racked her mind with anything that could tell her what made her feel so edgy towards his eyes and why Shina's last line was familiar…
You have no right to touch me
…possessed…
Leave
Her heart stopped. Why did I remember that? I'm not supposed to remember anything…The pink pendant glowed brightly, but no one paid attention to it except Hitomi. She closed her eyes. What are you trying to tell me? Bits and pieces of something started to come back.

Under her closed eyelids…

…The blue eye appeared with a voice. That's…It's—It's Shina! The girl from the visions! Those were the first words she said to me! I remember! Focusing her mind on the darkness, she saw feathers, red ones, a sword, hands, falling rocks and the pendant with a heartbeat all in a flash. They were muddled together to make a strange jumbled vision These are them! My visions! They're back!

She tried to focus on one, but it continued to play as one jumbled mess. Shina's voice triggered something in her head…It was the first time I heard the vision speak…Before…everything happened… Trembling, Hitomi stood. Her head hurt with the explosion of all the suppressed visions. She looked up to see Van and Shina standing close to one another.

"V—Van!" Hitomi tried to explain to him that everything had come back, but he didn't turn around to her voice. "Van, please!" Still, no response. She then remembered his eyes…and the last time they were like that. He's possessed…He can't hear me…

So she watched the two of them square off…sort of. They're on the same side now…Hitomi got close to Van to pull him away, to get both of them out of there, but he stopped her in her tracks with one look.

"Don't take another step Hitomi…"

"Why…?" Fear made her step back a little.

"This doesn't concern you…" Hitomi stayed in her spot, not wanting to figure out what Van would do to her in this state if she disobeyed him. She wished she hadn't dropped her sword…at least then she could of protected herself a bit just to drag him away from Shina. Dammit…Her eyes scanned the room for any sort of weapon to no avail. The only thing close would be the wooden planks scattered on the floor.

"That's a good girl…" He mumbled before turning his attentions back to Shina. Van smiled crookedly. "Tell me what you did and I swear, I'll go easy on you."

She laughed, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Oh, Van. I only did what was necessary. People who do not have anything important to say deserve…well, to quote you, to have their lips cut off. It seems that no one would tell me how to work your personal machine…"

Hitomi looked over to the body on the floor in the corner. She noticed that his lips were not the only things cut off. His face was nothing but a red mess. She couldn't tell in the poor light whether or not the man's skin had been peeled off. She was asking for Esca…Oh God…Oh God…The same sickening feeling in her stomach came back as the stench of death hung in the air.

Through the confusion in her mind, Hitomi managed to shout, "What did you do to Merle?" If she's capable of this without any weapons…She trailed off her thoughts, not wanting to go any further.

Hitomi looked over at Van to see a change in his eyes at the mention of Merle. At Shina's silence, Van growled. "What did you do to her, you bitch!"

Shina inspected her hands, marveling at the dark patches of dried and fresh blood. It appeared as if she could tell whether or not she had killed someone in particular just by examining the blood there. "Why would I want to get that feline's blood on my hands? She would contaminate my perfection!"

"Where is she?"

She titled her head. "Hopefully, with a katana in her mouth. I always wanted her to swallow her words."

"No!" Hitomi cried. Maybe this'll make him get out of here… "V—Van! We need to find her!"

As Shina took another step, Van's eyes changed again. No!…Van! Fight it! Please! "I'm not through with her…" He mumbled.

And the creature smiled.

They stepped closer to each other. Just to the point of touching.

And Van could only watch.

He started to get that same cold feeling all over his body again. What's going…? Oh no…No! Move away! His body ignored his mind. No! Move!

No place to go, my love…She placed a hand on his shoulder and Van chilled all over. He breathed loudly through clenched teeth. "Tell me why…" Van's mouth twitched, as it was being frozen but still trying to talk.

"Because I already made two worlds become destroyed…and three times is a charm, is it not?" She paused, trailing her hand along his arm. Hitomi's stomach felt even worse as she watched the bloody hand move, staining his skin. "This human race does not deserve to exist. I merely do them a favour: I destroy them before they have a chance to destroy one another. Usually, I am undetected," she shot Hitomi a glare, "but, I guess I can not be lucky all the time…

"Although people can see me as a bad, little girl, all I really am is a…a fixer of sorts. When your cart is broken, a carpenter comes to you. When humans get out of line, I come to them. No one told me to do this, I just do it out of the kindness of my heart."

"No! That's not right! Humans are not all bad!" Hitomi shouted, stopping Shina. "There is good in the world! You…You just need to look closely."

"Foolish girl. They are just selfish, cruel and primitive. I am just helping them get a new start…"

"No! No!" Hitomi repeated. "You're wrong! You do not do this because you need to! You do it because you want to! You want people to get hurt! You want every single last person of the human race to die because you want to! You didn't like the Atlantians because you were jealous!"

"But, I am Atlantian. Why would I be jealous of my own people?"

"You are not an angel, Shina." Hitomi frowned. With Shina's silence, she knew she was right. She can't be a 'fixer'… "You have one thing straight, though. No Atlantian would turn against the other. You couldn't have been Atlantian…You were not of their world…Which one did you have to kill to get that pendant?"

Shina frowned and snarled at Hitomi. "This pendant is mine!"

"That's a lie!" She cried. Hitomi held out her own pendant, flush with pink light. "No Atlantian would have their pendant turn that way! They were good and pure…You were the one who made everything go bad. You were the one that made them fall from grace. You made every other human race follow suit! Stop lying, Shina!

Shina looked back at Van, who hadn't moved. So very cold… "Is it still a lie, when part of it is true?"

Van's mouth opened slightly to utter one word. "No." Hitomi's heart fell. His eyes…Please, fight Van! "Van! No!"

"Do you think I'm a liar Van?" Shina leaned in close to his ear as if to keep the question between him and her, but she said it loud enough for Hitomi to hear.

"…No…" He repeated. So cold…

"Do you doubt me, my love?" Shina kissed his ear. "Tell me what I want to hear…"

Van's mind was freaking out. He could barely feel himself. It was as if he was disconnected from his body. I have no control…He wanted to scream, to tell Hitomi to get away…

But it seemed that he couldn't.

With his eyes, he saw the room from a different perspective. He saw himself, standing there with Shina in front of him and Hitomi off to the side shouting something that he couldn't hear…after all, Shina had touched his ears. He was no longer a part of his body. This can't be happening…The visions…

Van struggled against invisible bonds that would not give. He pulled and pushed until his muscles burned. He glanced at Hitomi. It is too late for me. Even though he didn't exactly know what would happen when Shina kissed him, he knew it would have to do with Hitomi falling…
And no angel was there to save her

"No…"

"That's a good boy…" Shina smiled and lightly pecked him on the lips. Hitomi watched, eyes wide from beside them, as Van kissed her back. A hand was brought to her mouth to quiet a gasp. This isn't right…He's…possessed…

NO! Van screamed. He pulled and pushed against his bonds. No! NO!

As Shina pulled away, Hitomi saw Van's eyes. He's gone…They were clouded…more clouded than she could remember. Her sorrow leapt to concern when Van started to cough.
Choke
He collapsed to his knees in a matter of seconds as his coughing got worse. His arms wrapped around his shaking torso as he tried desperately to take in a breath.

But it seemed that he couldn't.

Air was continuously forced out of him in pained coughs. Van realized this feeling from one of his first visions with Shina. My throat…Hands moved from his stomach to his neck, clawing at it. No…G—Gods, no!

"Van!" Hitomi started to run to his side when she noticed Shina's pendant glowing. It didn't allow her to move. No! NO! "What are you doing to him? Stop it!"

Shina's mask disappeared and Hitomi was facing the corpse with its blue eyes glowing. "I like to put people in their place." Van's struggles got weaker as he spit up blood at Shina's feet. "All Atlantians deserve to be put in their place…"

Suddenly, Van stopped making noise. The whites of his eyes showed underneath the shadow of his black hair. "NO! VAN!" Hitomi screamed, her pendant glowing so brightly that the pink turned white. "V—VAN!" The power of her abilities shot out and engulfed her body. I will not let you fade away!

Hitomi! Van thought as he watched her from his body again. I'm back…He felt his throat relax a bit as the hold from Shina had slightly decreased. The bonds were gone. He wasn't strong enough to stand, but he turned his head in her direction. "Hi…Hi…tomi…"

Her face was in deep concentration as the pendant floated in front of her, shining brilliantly from the emotions that exploded from within her heart.

She saw his eyes turn back to normal again. Van! Fight it! Please! I can't keep this up much longer!

Expend your power until there is nothing left…foolish human…Those with power never seem to use it properly…Shina watched in amazement as Hitomi's pink and white light illuminated the room. She knew that soon enough, the mortal would tire and then, she could resume with everything.

She was right. This Mystic Moon woman is making things more exciting.

Van felt his heart leap in his chest. Yes! Hitomi! His arms could move again. His lungs were working…The pendant was releasing him from her. Shina's influence was gone…As soon as he started to try and stand up, the feelings returned.

Just as she predicted, the pendant's glow started to fade. Hitomi's face was weakening as her eyes opened with sadness. I can't…I couldn't…Although the glow was steady, it got dimmer. "N—No!…Van…" She sobbed. Hitomi could not do it…not even with the power of Atlantis.

She crumbled into a heap on the floor. The pendant's outburst had sent her own body energy down. Bringing her head up, with her hair stuck to her face, she found that Van was still facing her, eyes full of concern and hope. Like normal…

"Pity." Shina interrupted the silence. "This is almost making my heart break in two. Almost."

"You don't have a heart, you bitch!" Hitomi shouted, sitting up on shaky limbs.

"Now, now…" Shina wagged her bloodied hand at her. "No need for such bad language. Am I right, my king?" She peered down at Van who had turned his head back to her. Fine lines of blood were trickling down his chin through the sides of his mouth.

His eyes tightened in a frown and his body lurched forward, getting him up on one knee. "…N—N—No-o…" Van choked out. "You—You…" He tried to finish, but he was losing control fast. Whatever energy Hitomi had given him through the pendant was dwindling quickly.

Shina knelt down to get to his level. She held his chin in his hand, studying his blood flow from his mouth. "Pardon, my love?"

"N…N…" Van's mouth was becoming frozen again. Hitomi…get…a—away…Go!

"Speak up. Your loyal subjects want to hear you." Shina mocked, moving his head this way and that with a flick of her wrist.

The bonds had returned, and Van was feeling detached again. No…N—No…He pulled and pushed against them until he broke out into a cold sweat. His body was trembling erratically as he tried to break free from her grasp.

Hitomi watched, praying and wishing that he wins. Fight Van! I—I can't…

In the deep valleys of Van's mind where he was currently residing, he mustered up every ounce of strength left in his body. All or—or nothing…Although detached, he sent whatever energy he could gather to his body to give Hitomi a warning.

Van pictured the energy, the adrenaline he gets when his wings sprout from his back. Just like in the vision, the energy pushed him forward enough to reach his body. "Hi…Hitomi…" He called, weakly.

Her green eyes met his with a feeling in them that he couldn't decipher. Worry, maybe? Fear? Astonishment?

Get…a—away fr—from me…Van felt it. It was too late for him. He was gone. So cold…

With his last breath, he stared right at her and shouted to her in his loudest voice.

"RUN!"

His message echoed on the walls, nearly drowning out the sounds of the battle outside the room. As the words left his lips, his head was thrown back and he moaned in pain. Shina's nails dug into his skin as the power of her own pendant sent the last Atlantian to where he belonged.

At her feet.

Hitomi's heart pounded in her ears. No…No…Van! VAN! But she wasn't stupid. She rose to her wobbly feet and staggered backward. With one last look at Van's state, Hitomi turned around and ran out the side door—the one where she saw Van practice a few days before. She took a quick turn to the left, avoiding the tiny fires and dodging bodies on the ground.

Her pace quickened. Hitomi was afraid of what he would do to her under Shina's care if he found her. Seeing a dead solider with a sword protruding from his body, she slowed down. Praying to God to forgive her for disrespecting the dead, she pulled the sword out of the man and watched as the body toppled over. I need to be protected…

Green eyes looked behind her from the way she came. His scream fell to her ears and tears came to her eyes…Van… I need to move…I need to run…Holding the sword, she took a right.

Van's body had finally stopped resisting; it had stopped jerking and twisting and shaking. It was finally ready for use. Those Atlantians…Throwing my people out of our home and taking it for there own. Everything that they care about will be destroyed…just like Atlantis…and just like Gaea. Say goodbye, Van…Shina's face returned to the mask. "Stand up."

The body stood. The only sound was its sword scraping the floor.

Shina walked around it; inspecting it. "Do you doubt me, my love?"

"No…"

"Will you disobey me?" She looked at his darkened eyes, knowing the answer.

"No…"

"Do you love me, my king?"

A pause. "…Yes."

Oh, perfect Atlantian…Look what I can do to you… "Will you let her live?"

There was a hesitation, but the answer came quickly after. "No…"

Shina chuckled. "Will you let any of the blood stay in her?"

"No…"

The creature smiled at Van's body. "Blood…You like it, don't you?" The hand gripped his sword tightly before answering her question.
Her blood
"…Yes…"
You like it don't you?
"…Yes…"
Yes…

0.0

wow.

Um…hope you liked that chapter?

I wrote it in one day…it all came to me. Everything fit into place. I'm so happy:D I finally figured it out. 3 I know it was a tad confusing with Shina screwing up her side of the story. But, whatever Hitomi concluded was true. FYI, Shina did destroy another world before Atlantis…

You know the asteroid belt that separates the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) from the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn…and the rest)? Yeah, those rocky remains are what's left of the mysterious planet. (I read that in a book once…scary stuff)

Basically, Shina just doesn't like the angels from Atlantis (where Van's mom was from) and decides that it's her duty to make sure that they know they are nothing.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! I really hope that you enjoyed the whole explanation scene! Was I clear? And, I hope you liked the random scene of Hitomi trying to save Van...that came to me last second...Oh no! Watch out Hitomi!

PLEASE REVIEW!