Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Escaflowne, and all its goodness, belongs to some guy or company that I don't actually know the name of…
To all who reviewed: WAH! Thank you! I see I have a few new followers! Woah! I'm so happy you all commented! It makes me giddy on the inside. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! If I had more time, I would write out a personal response to every chapter reviewer…but, exams! WAH!
Chapter Twenty SevenHe was there. It was dark. And in front of him was a very dark pendant.
It wasn't black.
But it was close enough.
He felt like he was falling, but he was perfectly still. And all he could do was stare at the pendant in front of him. But, he wasn't really staring. It was as if his eyes could not look in any other direction. Nothing felt right in this place.
He just watched it.
Waiting.
Open your eyes, Van.
Van tried to move his body to the direction of where the sound was coming from, but he couldn't. The noise was out of place as it had been silent for a long time. Who's there?
Look at me.
In an instant, he recognized who was speaking. No! Go away!
Look at me!
He saw two bright blue orbs in front of him and he backed away. No matter how much pressure he used to squeeze his eyes shut, he still saw them. It wasn't too long before he felt the invisible bonds to appear and hold him down. The blue eyes looked at him.
Waiting.
No! Don't! Stop! The world around him spun, as the eyes and the pendant got closer to him. Everything began to shift and Van got very dizzy. His head began to hurt. Along with every other part of his body. No! Please! He tried to push up against the bonds that Shina had made, but it only made the pain increase.
He wanted to get out; he didn't want to be Shina's puppet. She's g—going to kill m—me…Stop it! The pendant was continuously getting darker as the bonds became stronger and the eyes became brighter.
Look at me!
The pain intensified to an intolerable level. Every single nerve in his body registered pain back to his brain. S—Shina…STOP!
Open your eyes, Van.
He screamed.
"Why isn't there any of that white smoke anymore?" Hitomi peered into Van's room for the second time in two days. He didn't look any better since the first time she saw him, but she figured that if the sleep-inducing haze was being lifted, it had to mean that they were going to wake him up. It was something good.
"Everyone has to get up sometime, my dear." Her nurse, who Hitomi later came to realize, was named Matsushita, responded solemnly. "They can not keep him sleeping forever. That smoke has its own share of side effects too. If you're under it too long without any breaks your muscles become too weak and fatigued to move…
"Your digestive track falls asleep and loses function; with a locked jaw, vomiting is not in his best interest…And, if you're under it long enough, your brain does not get sufficient oxygen and that stops functioning all together…"
"Oh…" Hitomi nodded, keeping her eye on Van. Her arms were still bandaged and were itchy and her wrist was still in its cast. Although she was in some pain, she knew it was nothing compared to others she had seen…Like Millerna…and Allen…and Merle…She watched more of the nurses and doctors begin to cloud around him. Waiting. What are they doing? What are they waiting for?
It was a few minutes until all the white smoke was channeled out of the room. Everyone put their hands on his body, palm down, to keep his sleeping form still. They also fastened black straps of material around his body. Why are they restraining—?
Hitomi's eyes opened in shock and let a loud gasp. As if on cue, Van's body surged upwards against the hands and the straps trying to hold him down. It was so sudden and unexpected to her, yet everyone else was prepared for it. W—What? His body shook and twisted from underneath all of his restraints and his mouth, unable to produce sound because it was locked shut, was partially opened to show that he was screaming.
In pain.
In silence.
Oh Van…Van! Hitomi could not take her eyes off him. It made her sick to see him like that, but at least he was awake. Once he was awake, he could get better… But he doesn't know that he is awake…He can't see…he can't communicate…he can't really touch anything…he can't interact with his environment…
She watched nervously as Van's body continued to twitch and spasm. He shook the entire cot such that even more people had to come over. One doctor was talking, or shouting into his ear, but Hitomi figured that he wasn't paying attention. The pain is too much for him…He's under too much stress! You're going to kill him like this! He'll go into shock! Stop it!
"Stop it! STOP IT!" Hitomi screamed and pounded on the door, even though her wrist and arms did not allow much movement. Matsushita pulled her away from the little viewing window, but Hitomi just yelled louder and tried to tell the doctors to let Van go back to sleep again. The way his body contorted to the pain he felt was making her stomach twist and her eyes tear up. "No! NO! Let him sleep! You're killing him!"
"Milady! Come now! They know what they are doing!" Matsushita managed to get Hitomi back into her mobile seat and pushed on her shoulders from the front. "His majesty needs to wake up!"
"He doesn't know that he's awake! He's in pain! Can't you—Can't you do something to help him?" Hitomi began to choke on her sobs. Although she couldn't see Van anymore, the image kept replaying in her mind. The way his back arched painfully…The way his ribs showed on his skin…The way his legs tried to bend…The way new blood seeped into the white bandages…Oh God…Oh God…He's opening his wounds again!
"We have the best medicinal area on the west side. They need to make him calm down. It's just the initial stress…" Matsushita explained to the frantic Hitomi.
"It's not working! He's killing himself! He's confused and doesn't know where he is! He doesn't know the voices he's hearing! Make them stop!" Hitomi yelled back at her, fighting the hands that kept her in her seat. "No! Let me go! I need to tell them!"
Before Hitomi could protest anymore, she felt something warm against her chest. T—The pendant…Looking down, she saw it. Shining—
Glowing
—lightly around her neck. Noticing the glowing gem as well, Matsushita gave Hitomi a confused look. "What, it glows too? What kind of trinket do you have there?"
Hitomi did not answer her and kept staring at the pendant. It's glowing…Why? Why hasn't it glowed before this? Is it Van's consciousness affecting it? If he's conscious, I have to contact him!
Taking a deep breath in, Hitomi pushed her tired powers into the pendant and tried to reach Van. It was a long shot, she knew, but right now, it was her only idea. Van…Van! I need you to calm down…She shut her eyes and exhaled a shaky breath and waited until they connected again.
The pendant turned a slightly darker colour as Hitomi pushed its powers. Please…Van…Calm down…As she sat there, she felt something. I need you to calm down…You are in a hospital…The people are trying to help you…Please, Van!
Matsushita watched her patient somewhat fall into a light sleep. "What are you doing girl? What kind of black magic are you performing?"
Hitomi felt herself in a weightless void. It was something that she had never felt before when they used to communicate; it felt less welcoming and more frightening. She floated around for a while, repeating her message she hoped reached him. Calm down…You are in a safe place, Van…It's me, Hitomi…Please, I need you do calm down…
Matsushita stood up and backed away from Hitomi's mobile chair, afraid of her. What is she doing with that thing? Spinning around, she saw the scene from inside his majesty's room. Doctors were getting frustrated with Van's lack of realization that he was awake. She knew that soon, they would put him back to sleep again.
And try again tomorrow.
No matter how hard Hitomi tried to concentrate, Van's body did not stop from convulsing. Please Van! Calm down! Her brows knit in frustration. He wasn't listening to her. There was something blocking her call to him. Van! Please relax! It was something that she couldn't identify but it was very familiar. It feels so…
Cold
…dark…What is going on? Van! PLEASE! You need to calm down!
The pendant's light got brighter as it tried to reach him. Hitomi could hear the struggle going on in his room and her desperation to help him increase.
But it seemed like it couldn't.
Van continued to push up dangerously against the hands in extreme pain. Please! P—Please, calm down! Hitomi felt her energy weaken. Even though she's gone…she still haunts him…
"Milady! Stop this nonsense now!" Matsushita shouted at her. Hitomi's eyes suddenly opened and the pendant stopped. I can't reach him…
The doctors in Van's room had decided to go to the next course of action. It was taking too long. He wasn't fully awake; if they kept this up, he would die from the stress. Since he wasn't responding to them, they grabbed another herb, crushed it and burned it to make another sleeping remedy. "Quickly! Quickly!" The head doctor cried as they held him.
The smoke was starting to rise—this time it was blue in colour—and they forced him to inhale it which would put him in another pain-free sleep. The sleep would not be as long as the first, but it would be enough time for him to calm down and for the doctors to regroup. Van's body began to slow and his movements became more languid as the blue smoke made the pain stop and drowsiness set in.
The doctors knew that if Lord Van did not respond to them soon and wake up, treatment could not begin and his life would be lost. They waited until Van's body stopped moving completely before they began to file out of the room. The doctors were unhappy that they were unsuccessful at bringing the King of Fanelia back to reality; but, tomorrow was another day to try.
Hitomi blinked tiredly. "I want to go back to my room now." She stated slowly. Her nurse, taking one last look and the under-control body Van Fanel, nodded and quickly brought Hitomi back to her room.
"Maybe later, we can visit your other friends, hmm?" Matsushita offered, trying to be cheerful to her patient. I wish she did not have to witness that…
Hitomi blinked again but did not answer her. She was tired, usually so, and all she wanted was to sleep again. There was something wrong in that place where Van was…his subconscious was not like it used to be…Dark…Very dark…She had heard the voice of the creature in his head and it chilled her to the bone. Oh…Van…
"This is the worst birthday ever!" Merle shouted unhappily from her cot. "Here I am, expecting cake and my favourite foods and all I'm getting is water and soup broth! I don't even like soup! Especially this kind! I tell them I want fish and they give me...they give me….Oh! I don't even know what it is! But I don't like it!"
Hitomi had to laugh. She had to. It seemed that one of her friends was completely back to her old self. Merle was on a strict all-liquid diet since she had not eaten for most of the time she was a prisoner. The doctors explained that eating solid food too quickly after having none at all would make her vomit and not get any nutrients out of it anyway. She had to start off slow and gradually make her way back to her regular eating habits.
"Hitomi! Don't you DARE start laughing at me! This is not a laughing matter! Stop it!" Merle cried from her cot, glaring at her. "This is not funny. I'm supposed to be treated like a birthday girl! Not a sick person!"
"M—Merle!" Hitomi tried to control her laughter. "Come on, you aren't the best in health. You know that. You're just supposed to take it easy."
"Last time I checked, 'taking it easy' didn't mean to stop eating cake! It's my birthday, for goodness sake!" She cried. From all the noise, a nurse had come in to check on her.
"Milady…What is all the ruckus?" A man's voice questioned. When Hitomi looked up, she noticed that her friend's nurse was a tall, good-looking male with dark brown eyes, brown hair and pale skin.
"Stop calling me, 'milady'! I have a name, you—!" Merle began to shout, turning her anger on him.
"—Sorry, sorry." He apologized, smiling. "Merle, what's the matter?"
"This food!"
"Well, you know that I can't change that."
"Just because I know that doesn't mean that I can't complain about it! Gods! You Toganians are so…so…AH! You see? I have no energy to think of a good name for you people!"
The nurse rolled his eyes at her. "You could put that mouth of yours to rest, you know. Some other patients are trying to get some sleep. You're so loud."
"Excuse me?" Merle's eye twitched. Hitomi began to laugh again. "Did you—? Did you just tell me, politely, to shut up?"
The nurse grinned broadly. "If you have the right to complain about me as a person and my abilities, I can at least complain about your mouth and its abilities." Checking to make sure that her other injuries were under control, he left, before Merle could retort.
"That—That—! Can you believe that? How could he just—? I mean, he—!" Merle growled in frustration. "I HATE him, so much."
"You don't mean that."
"Oh, yes I do. Trust me." Merle scoffed, folding her arms carefully across her chest. Her shoulders were still sore and her body, overall, was achy. But it was manageable.
And not as bad as the others.
"He's doing a good job, isn't he?"
"Yeah…so? He doesn't have to be a jerk about it. Stupid Kiyoshi…I hate him."
Hitomi smiled, but decided against telling Merle that her nurse liked her. She would have a fit if I said that. Even if it is a joke… "What the heck are you smiling at?"
"Nothing, Merle. Just relax. You're giving me a headache."
"Oh! You too now? What is this?" Merle sank back in her cot, smiling. There was a pause as the laughter died down. Becoming as serious as she could get, Merle turned to Hitomi. "Do you know how the others are doing?"
Meeting her eyes, Hitomi responded quickly. "I haven't seen Allen or Millerna…or Chid…and whoever else is in here. Matsushita thinks that you guys are the only ones that I know and she doesn't know where the others are. Well, she knows where Allen and Millerna are, but she says that I can't go and see them."
Merle nodded slowly. "They haven't found Yuki yet."
Hitomi's heart was squeezed tightly as Merle continued. "Millerna and Allen are together in another room because they're classified under another category. Millerna's suffering from a depression because of Yuki's absence…I forget what Kiyoshi called it when I asked him."
"That's why Matsushita won't let me see them…"
"Yeah, they're more of the mentally and emotionally wounded patients…I think they're two floors up." Merle stopped for a second to take in a shaky breath. "I hope they're okay…I haven't been allowed out of my room but I know that they're devastated…Millerna especially. I can feel it; they're always crying…"
Green eyes looked down at Merle's cot and stared at her bony legs. Her fur was growing back and it wouldn't be long until the meat on her legs returned too. It wasn't a second later that tears filled her eyes again. Dammit…Why did this have to happen for?
"Hitomi?" Merle called out hesitantly. Reaching over, she placed a furry paw on her hands and gave her the best smile she could muster at the moment. "We're all going to be fine."
Before Hitomi could answer her, Kiyoshi came back into the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but Merle you have to take your medicine again."
"Again? But I just took it a few hours ago when Hitomi first came in!"
"Yeah…and now, you have to take it again." Her nurse grinned. "I'm sure that you're familiar with the idea of taking medicine on a rotating time frame, right? You know, like, once every three hours?"
"Bite me." Merle's eye twitched again.
"I would, but that wouldn't be very hygienic. I mean, I don't know where you've been."
"For someone who works in a hospital, you sure know how make someone feel good." Sarcastic Merle was back and she was taking her shots on Kiyoshi again. The mood changed abruptly and Hitomi wiped out her tears.
"I guess I better go." Hitomi pushed back on the floor with her feet to roll her wheelchair back. Matsushita, who was talking to another doctor a few feet away, saw this and came to Hitomi's side. "Time to leave?"
"Yes." Hitomi nodded. "I'll come back Merle."
"You better." Merle threatened. Turning back to Kiyoshi, Hitomi only heard the next few lines of their battles of wit. "You don't know where I've been, do you? Well, I'll tell you something, mister, I'm probably a lot cleaner than you!"
"Merle, even if I was to bite you, my teeth would go right through your skinny arms."
"Well, why don't you feed me more food then, wise guy? I've had it up to here with you and your…."
Once the conversation of Merle and Kiyoshi was no longer reached by their ears, Hitomi piped up. "Matsushita…? Can we…?"
Her nurse sighed. "If you wish."
"B—But…I want to go inside. I want to see him." Hitomi pressed. She had been trying to persuade her nurse into letting her go inside Van's room for the past few days but she refused; only letting her stay outside the doors when the doctors tried to wake him.
"Milady, you know I can't do that."
Hitomi turned to face her as she wheeled her around towards the hallway of Van's room. "If I'm in that room, I can make him wake up. He doesn't know anyone…If he hears a familiar voice, he'll listen to it!"
Matsushita sighed at her patient's logic. "The voices of the doctors are getting mighty familiar to him…This will be the fourth attempt at waking him."
"No…No, not like that. I mean a voice that he can distinguish…That he has a name for. Please, I need to be there with him." Hitomi pleaded, desperate. She had no idea if her idea would actually work, but she usually made good assumptions.
Her only response was a loud sigh from Matsushita. She did not say anything as they rolled along and when they finally reached his room, Matsushita helped her up and brought her close to the door. "Can you stand alone, milady?"
Testing her balance by letting go of Matsushita's arms, Hitomi nodded. "I think so…" It feels like it's been so long since I've stood or walked on my own…
"Good." And with that, her nurse left her at Van's door. Hitomi looked around, confused. "Matsushita! Where are you—?" She began to ask in a hushed voice, but before she could finish, she realized what her nurse had done. "Thank you…"
Slowly pushing open the doors to Van's room, Hitomi walked in and immediately, all the eyes of the doctors and nurses were on her. "Excuse me, but what are you doing here?" One asked, angrily. They had just fanned out all the blue smoke and were preparing for their fourth attempt; they did not have the time to stop for interruptions.
"You are not allowed to be in here. No visitors for his majesty, Lord Van." Another retorted, coming towards her.
"I'm here to help…" Hitomi responded in a small voice. She walked in, using various objects in the room to support her weight as she moved. Three women, each a different species of animal, came near her to escort her out. "No…please…I can wake him. He knows my voice…"
The nurses paused, looking back at the doctors. The oldest one, the head doctor, shook his head. "Let her stay here. Milady, do not get in our way…Do not interfere, understand?"
"Yes…May I talk to him?" Hitomi nodded, fully aware that she was not welcome. The doctor who had spoken to her frowned but nodded anyway. Feeling hope rise into her heart, the pendant began to glow again. Van…I'm here…I will be here when you wake up…
Van could feel it.
He was in that weird place again.
He knew that every time he felt this place, his entire body would flare up with pain. To him, it was understandable to hate this place and wish to be brought back to wherever he was before.
But this time, it was different.
There was something else there.
Who's there? Van called out, trying to move around. Of course, he couldn't do that; just like all the other times he had been here. A different voice answered him this time, however.
Van…I need you to be calm…
Why? Trying his best to find the source of the extremely familiar voice, Van moved his head from side to side. That's when the pain returned. It started in his eyes, and then moved down to his jaw, ribcage and arms. His body buckled under the burning sensations and the aches the pain was delivering to him.
An anguished cry escaped his lips, but he did not hear it. He heard something else. He heard a lot of different voices yelling and screaming instead. Please! Stop it! Stop this!
Van…I need you to stay as calm as you can…
Who are you? What do you want? Van could not place the voice. There was too much going on.
You're in the hospital…You're safe…You need to wake up…
The feeling of a thousand blades being dragged everywhere on his body hit him hard. STOP! STOP IT! He tried to shut his eyes tighter to not feel Shina's effects, but it made even more pain.
Please, Van…I need you to relax…Deep breaths…
He saw the pendant, glowing with a nice pink hue appear out of nowhere are hover in front of him. …H—Hitomi? The weird place began to feel weirder.
Because feeling was the only thing he could go by.
The voices were still yelling at him; he did not understand what they were saying. But there was that one voice…That one voice that he could understand perfectly. He did not know what was happening or why…The pain was intense. Incoherent sounds echoed around him. There was something trying to keep him in place. It scared him. He did not understand.
But that one voice…
He listened.
WAYOH.
Hope you all liked it!
My exams are finally over! They went well (hopefully) and I'm so glad that summer's here. :D
Authoress' Note: Wow. I just realized that Millerna and Dryden should have gotten married this entire time (don't laugh; I haven't watched the series since last year)…In fact, Dryden hasn't even been IN my story…neither has Celena……OH NO. Major inconsistencies with the show! I wanna keep this story as close as I can to the original so that it follows like a real sequel. What should I do guys? Should I leave it? Or, go back and change things. I could make it that Dryden AND Millerna get married and that Allen is the godfather of Yuki or something…It would keep everything together…
I need input. I want to make it as close as the series as possible…Should I go back and change it? Write your input in your review please! I'd really appreciate it. I know that they (Allen, Millerna, Dryden etc.) don't really have much of an impact in the story, but, I want to make it as realistic as possible.
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