Hey everyone! Thanks again for the reviews and everything, I really appreciated it! Also once again I have to thank my editors, Lady Marmalade and my new editor, Newmy. Thanks out to my friends as well. I will not update this story for roughly a month because I will be gone to the cottage that doesn't have computer access, let alone Internet access. Sorry for the long wait. I knew I would be gone so I wrote this super long chapter. Sorry, but I'll have another chapter up in September! Thanks! Oh yeah, special thanks to mysisterisasquijumfor your tip on the dividers. Bye!
The Power Within - Chapter 2
Hitomi stood there, staring at Van with both shock and surprise. She now realized that Yukari had been right about Van's feelings for her. He felt the same way about her as she felt for him. Slowly, she could feel herself start to hold her breath.
It was then when she realized that they were standing really close together. Surely if anyone came up on the roof and saw them standing there that close together, they would think that they were doing more than talking. What should she do now? What should she say to him? She had every intention of staying with him when she had first arrived on Gaea, and that had not changed but what were they going to do now? Where were she and Van in this relationship? Thought Hitomi as she puzzled over what she should say and do.
It seemed like forever to Hitomi before she figured out just what to say. "Van, I will stay with you as long as you want me to but…" Trailed off Hitomi's voice as Merle quickly came up behind Hitomi and Van.
"So what are you g…", said Merle before she gasped. Van had let go of Hitomi's shoulders and stepped back as soon as he realized Merle was there but it had been too late. Merle had seen everything that had been going on. Including the look that was in Van's eyes. It was the loving look that Van only had when he was with Hitomi.
Merle looked straight at Van and Hitomi. "Should I leave you two alone so you two can do some more smooching?" teased Merle in a playful voice.
"No, we weren't!" retorted Hitomi in an angry and yet playful voice as she began to walk toward Merle.
"Sure you weren't. You know there is someone here visiting that would really like to see you. It's Milerna. I'll just tell her that you're too busy hugging and kissing Lord Van to come and see her right now, she'll understand," jested Merle as she began to run. Of course, Hitomi was running close behind her.
"You will not!" yelled Hitomi even though she knew that Merle was just trying to irritate her. The race between Htiomi and Merle was on and no one knew who would win.
Slowly, Van began to follow the two fun-loving girls before he was interrupted by one of his servants. The servant was a young boy of about fourteen years old and he had messy dirty blond hair and was short for his age.
"Captain Boren, do you have the extra spies set in place in Fanelia? We must make sure that you're correct in assuming that the rascal king, who rules that puny country, brings the girl. We can't really afford mistakes."
"If I may say so, my Queen, the spies are already in place. There is no doubt; the king will bring the girl. I don't think we need to take so many extra precautions. Everything is pretty assured anyways." replied captain Boren in an ignorant voice. Captain was a short and stocky man; he had a big burly black beard. Overall, some could say he was unkempt at best. His hair was thick with grease and his teeth, or what he had left of them was yellow.
"You forget your place you insignificant slug!" yelled Queen Nola in a furious voice. "You forget that besides being queen, I am a sorcerer and could crush you according to my will!" At that Queen Nola moved her hand and pointed at Captain Boren. Suddenly Captain Boren started choking and his hands immediately went his throat. He quickly fell to his knees gasping.
As quickly as Captain Boren's choking fit came, it left. He began to bow to Queen Nola, "Queen Nola, the Magnificent and Eternal, I apologize for my insolence, you were right as always. I should have known all along, your Magnificence," grovelled Captain Boren.
"That's more like it, I pay you to follow orders, not to think", Queen Nola pointed at every servant in the room. "I will not stand insolence. Use that as an example; if any one of you pulls a stunt like Captain Boren here, you will suffer a much worse fate than he. Use this as a warning," said Queen Nola menacingly.
Every servant in the room looked at Queen Nola with a kind of quiet horror in their eyes. All of them were too frightened to cross her. She was a spoiled brat who was used to getting her own way. Every day of her life she had had someone grovelling at her feet following her orders. Naturally, she had grown selfish and dependent on others.
Nola went over to her private quarters. Her private quarters held gold, jewels and riches galore. "It would be any girl's dream to accumulate all of these riches, to have both servants and handsome wealthy bachelors throwing themselves at their feet," concluded Nola as she walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room.
The mirror was gold and encrusted with diamonds and jewels alike. The mirror was worth the same amount as a fair sized estate. Nola looked into the mirror at herself. She saw her very pale white skin and long beautiful raven black hair that reached down to her waist. She wore a light blue dress that accentuated her curves. Her eyes were a striking pale blue.
She looked deeply into the mirror looking for imperfections though she could find none. I am beautiful aren't I? She thought to herself. Then she thought of all she owned and found that she wanted more. She remembered growing up as child, growing up amongst the nobles in the Zaibach Empire.
Her father had been one of the highest leaders in Zaibach. Nola had gotten everything she had ever asked for but the very thing that she had desired most: a friend. Over the years she had learnt that she could force other people to be her friends. Her father had never truly loved her; to him she was just some ignorant little whelp that he had fathered. He had always looked down on her.
Well she was about to show her father! She wasn't just a spoiled brat! She was about to rule over all of Gaea and be the supreme ruler! The only good thing that her father had done for her is when her father had given her up for experimentation. Nola had hated the idea at the time but that was until they had given her the power to reach and take over other people's minds. Of course, that had had its downsides, like she could not take over certain minds. Some minds seem to have a certain block against her to stop her from working her way in. She could not wait to be able to have everyone begging at her feet.
"My sweet, soon we will be the rulers of this world but not quite yet. You must wait." Nola turned and stared at her partner Rygen. Rygen was a tall, pale dashing young man. He was handsome with his beautiful icy blue eyes. His medium length hair was black as coal and he had been beginning to grow a moustache. He was in his mid twenties and already rich beyond his wildest dreams.
"My sweet, could you remind me why we need the dumb stupid girl? Don't we have enough soldiers already to take over most of Gaea? Plus, I could easily take over more minds and force them to fight with us so why do we need the girl?" asked Nola in a frustrated voice.
"Don't be stupid! We don't have near enough armies to be able to take over all of Gaea. We may have ten thousand guymelefs and many other foot soldiers but the rest of Gaea has far superior numbers than us. Our numbers have greatly dwindled since Zaibach was destroyed. We are not near ready for a full – out war yet, even with the numbers of soldiers that join New Zaibach everyday, it would be no point. War would be suicide. We will have to take Gaea country by country and force the survivors to join us. We're going to need the girl's power to do that. We need her because she has the power to influence fate. Once she's on our side, whether she likes it or not she'll make sure fate goes our way. Plus, she has pretty good connections – the King of Fanelia, the princess of Asturia, the duke of Freid, they'll probably make some deals to keep her safe," said Rygen in a matter of fact voice.
"And how do you suppose you'll get her to work for us?" questioned Nola mockingly.
"Well our dream is to reunite all the countries of Gaea into one big country. She'll probably agree to join us without fighting too much after I tell her our intentions. I mean no more wars, just everyone working together. It would be excellent wouldn't it? And if she still doesn't see it our way after I tell her that, there are other things that can be done," remarked Rygen slyly as a malicious smile crept onto his face.
"Excuse me your Highness, but there is messenger here who requests your presence. Should I tell him your coming or tell him you're busy? He's waiting for you in the throne room," said the young servant. Deep respect for the king burned in his eyes.
"Is it urgent?" demanded Van.
"No, I don't believe it is. I think it is an invitation. It is a message from Asturia, your majesty," responded the servant mildly.
"Tell the messenger that I will receive him in a moment," replied Van. The servant gave a quick bow and hurried down to the awaiting messenger.
"Lord Van!" screamed Merle loudly as she ran up to him. "Are you going to come with Hitomi and me to visit Milerna?" asked Merle obnoxiously.
"No, I have business to attend to right now, but you two have fun," articulated Van dully as he began to walk down and toward the throne room.
When Van arrived in the throne room there was a man standing in the corner of the room. He definitely wore the Asturian livery. Van walked slowly to his comfortable throne and sat down and then bid the messenger to come forward.
The messenger had long brown hair, and was well groomed. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. When Van bid him to come forward he slowly walked toward Van and knelt in front of him.
"What is your message from Asturia?" asked Van politely and patiently. He had been expecting the invitation to the annual celebration celebrating Zaibach's destruction for a while now.
"I am here on behalf of King Aston. You are invited to join King Aston in celebrating the destruction of Zaibach. He asks that you bring a companion to the celebration that is to be held one week from now in Asturia," read the messenger.
Van nodded, "I will be joining King Aston at the celebration, you are dismissed," said Van confidently.
"Thank you, you're majesty," the messenger stood up and walked away quietly.
Unbeknownst to anyone in the throne room, a spy perched silently behind a secret passageway. He had been listening in carefully and was pleased to find that Van had received that message.
Now the second part of the job would be just as simple as the first, he had to make sure that Van would bring the girl to Asturia. He kept his ear close to the door so he could hear every word spoken. After Van brought the girl to Asturia, the last part of his mission would be to track the girl.
The spy smirked as he listened in on the conversations going on inside of the throne room. This was the easiest job he had ever pulled and for the amount of money he was getting paid, he would never have to work again in his life.
Merle and Hitomi walked excitedly up to the room where Milerna was staying. They were both giggling like schoolgirls after chasing one another for at least a half an hour. It seemed to Hitomi that she and Merle were now friends. Something was different about Merle since the last time that Hitomi had been there, but Hitomi was not sure what it was.
Merle quickly knocked on Milerna's door and the two girls waited to be let in. It was only a moment before a tall brown haired maid walked out. She was at least forty years old and looked completely tired out for the day. She wore here hair in a tight bun that rather suited her face because she looked as if she did not smile a lot.
"May I help you?" asked the maid sourly.
"Tell Milerna that Merle and a very old friend are here to see her," piped up Merle quickly. The maid walked back inside the room quickly and repeated the message to Milerna in her stern and grouchy voice.
"A very old friend, who in the world could that be?" Milerna asked herself out loud. "Let them in," said Milerna in a commanding voice. Milerna sat in a chair staring at the fire waiting for her guests to come in.
Hitomi and Merle walked in slowly and watched as Milerna almost fell out of her chair as soon as she saw Hitomi. As soon as she recovered, she ran over to Hitomi and hugged her.
"I thought you were back on the mystic moon!" cried Milerna as she stopped hugging her friend and began staring at her in awe.
"I was," said Hitomi cheerfully, "but I decided that I wanted to come back and stay on Gaea." Hastily Milerna gave Hitomi a glance that told Hitomi that Milerna wanted to know more about why she had come back to Gaea.
"Come, let's sit by the fireplace and then we can talk some more," said Milerna who rushed quickly back to her seat and sat down. Merle and Hitomi quickly followed, both taking nice comfortable chairs beside Milerna.
"Would any of you like anything to drink?" asked Milerna politely. Both Merle and Hitomi shook their heads. "Harelda, could you please get me a cup of herbal tea?"
"Yes, your highness," replied Harelda, the grumpy brown haired maid as she began to hurry down to the kitchens to get the tea.
"So Hitomi," said Milerna slyly, "why did you come back from Mystic Moon anyways?"
"Because she wanted to be with Lord Van! Everyone knows she's in love with Lord Van! I just can't figure out why they just don't get married," piped Merle as she began to use her nail file.
"Shut up, Merle!" said Hitomi loudly as she began to blush furiously and look down at her feet.
"Oh so it is true," announced Milerna in an understanding voice. "I was pretty sure that was going to be the reason."
"Okay, enough about my life. Have you found anyone yet?" questioned Hitomi to Milerna as she tried to get the conversation off of she and Van.
"Yeah, oh he is wonderful, he's kind, gentle and caring. Simply the best man I've ever met, well besides Allen of course." Milerna cleared her throat nervously. "He's also an earl and I'm completely in love with him."
"That's great! Good for you!" replied Hitomi. "I'm glad Dryden and you were able to make an understanding before you both completely ruined your lives. So how is Dryden anyway?"
"I don't hear about him all that often. I receive letters from him from time to time. The last time I received a letter from him it said that his business was doing excellent. He was making money hand over foot," recollected Milerna.
"I'm glad to hear it," said Hitomi.
"Just like a merchant to only think of money," snickered Merle. All three girls began to laugh. They kept on reminiscing like that for many hours. It was midnight before she next looked at her watch.
"We better get going Merle, it's getting late," said Hitomi sadly. They were all sad as they walked toward the door. Hitomi put her hand on the door when she remembered something.
"Milerna could I borrow some clothes from you? I forgot to bring any when I came here," said Hitomi hopefully.
"Yeah, sure, no problem," Milerna said kindly.
"Why don't we go shopping for clothes? We need to go shopping for a dress for you anyway Hitomi. You could come too, if you want to Milerna," proposed Merle.
"Yeah sure! It'll be fun--a big shopping trip with the girls!" said Milerna excitedly.
"Wait, wait hold on a minute here. Why do we have to go shopping for me, Merle? Besides, I don't have any money," curiously asked Hitomi.
"Are you dumb? There will be, in all likelihood an invitation for Lord Van to go to Asturia to celebrate the destruction of Zaibach. He'll bring you with him for sure. Lord Van will always pay for everything you get," said Merle slyly.
"How do you know that he'll bring me? He could always choose someone else to go with, besides why would Van pay for what I get?"
"Because he will bring you and because you're probably going to be here for a very, very long time," articulated Merle. Hitomi just began to blush profusely.
"So it's set then, we're going shopping," said Milerna happily. Hitomi and Merle nodded as they walked off to their rooms.
The next morning Hitomi woke up to find a maid standing at the foot of her bed. "Wha… what are you doing? Who are you?" asked Hitomi sleepily.
"Oh, I'm here to inform you that Lord Van and his counsellors are waiting for you in the dining room and that the Princess Milerna has sent a dress for you to wear today. So anyway, is it true that you can tell the future and the past? Did you really go with the king on the long adventure? Are you really from the Mystic Moon? What's it like up there? Do people from there all dress like you?" quickly asked the maid.
"Wait, hold on a minute, what's your name? Where'd you hear all this?" tiredly asked Hitomi as she began to crawl out of bed.
"Oh dearie me, I can't believe I forgot to tell you, I'm Maid Marian. I'll be waiting on you while I'm here. It's all gossip that has been spread around Gaea. Lord knows that King Van was in love with a woman from the Mystic Moon, so I just assumed it was you." replied Maid Marian as Hitomi began to blush a dark red.
"No, no… I'm not Lord Van's lover," Is that true? Well at least I think I'm not…," Hitomi thought unsurely. "Umm, yes I am from the Mystic Moon. I used to be able to tell the past and the future but I don't do it anymore. It's a lot different on the Mystic Moon than here and finally some people dress like me but not all. There are a lot of different fashions of dress on the Mystic Moon," exhaustedly replied Hitomi.
"Ahh I see, I was just curious," said Maid Marian. "But you forgot to answer one question. Are you or are you not the woman from the Mystic Moon who came to Gaea with Lord Van and went on the journey to destroy Zaibach with him?" prodded Maid Marian as Hitomi felt herself blush even redder.
"Ahh yes, I am," finally replied Hitomi as she felt he face go yet again a few shades redder.
"So you are the one who all the stories are about. Unless of course there was another woman from the Mystic Moon on Gaea, was there?" questioned Maid Marian.
"No… I don't believe so. I'm probably the one those stories you heard were about," surrendered Hitomi as she realized there was no way to get out of admitting that is was her, the stories were about.
"You're pretty famous here," replied Maid Marian triumphantly.
"Obviously," grumbled Hitomi sarcastically as a smile began to appear on Maid Marian's face.
"Well anyway, the dress is over there in the closet and you better hurry up because Lord Van and the councillors are waiting for you," said Maid Marian as she exited the room.
Hitomi rushed and got ready for breakfast and then ran out the door. Nothing significant happened that morning until right after lunch when Hitomi decided to go and look for Van. Confidently, Hitomi walked out into the gardens to continue her search for Van. She had not had time the day before to ask Van where they were in this relationship or how he really felt about her. She was going to ask him when Merle had burst in on them. Knowingly Hitomi had checked the stables, the roof and the guymelef hold before she decided to check the gardens.
"Van! Van!" shouted Hitomi into the seeming empty garden. The flowers there were all different types that she had never seen back on Earth. "Gaea is so different from earth…," concluded Hitomi after a few moments at staring at the beautiful gardens. Blue, pink, purple and red flowers sprouted up everywhere. There was a great fountain in the middle of it all that depicted a knight fighting a large dragon. Not only were there flowers in the gardens, but shrubbery and trees too. It was then when Hitomi heard Van's voice but he was not alone. He was talking to some female. Hitomi did not know why but her first reaction was to hide behind some bushes, which was exactly what she did.
"Van," said a woman with a whiney voice. "You should take me to the celebration in Asturia. I heard it's an absolutely beautiful place," came that whiney and shrilly voice again.
"It is a beautiful place," replied Van in a bored voice. It was then when Van and his companion stepped into Hitomi's view. Her jaw clenched as she caught site of the woman he was with. The woman had latched herself to his arm. "She looks cozy… too cozy," thought Hitomi unpleasantly. The woman had long striking beautiful blond hair that reached to the middle of her back, and bright beautiful blue eyes. She also had a flawless face and figure, that made Hitomi dislike the woman even further. Her dress was blue and had a very low neckline.
She analyzed the woman critically. "Who does she think she is? Rapunzel? And I mean look at her face! My face could look flawless and beautiful too if I used tubs and tubs of make up every morning. Her real face is probably ugly and full of acne. Look at her dress! Geez, if that doesn't just say ' I crave attention!'" snickered Hitomi bitterly as she watched the path from behind the large tree. She could feel herself begin to scowl at the woman who was all cozy with Van. Suddenly, someone ran up at Hitomi from behind. Automatically Hitomi screamed as she looked behind her and saw a pair of big cat eyes staring right back at her. Merle was grinning.
"Hitomi!" yelled Van as he forced the woman to let go of him and grabbed for his sword hilt. He immediately began to walk toward the bush Hitomi was hiding in with a serious and yet extremely worried look on his face.
She had no choice, Hitomi realized; I have to reveal my hiding spot to him. At that Hitomi stood up.
"Hi… Hitomi is everything all right?" Van asked while he seemed relieved to see Hitomi safe. "What are you doing here?"
"Uhhhhh….," stammered Hitomi. "I'm fine! Merle and I was just playing a game you see!" lied Hitomi.
"Don't you mean you were spying on Lord Van?" snickered Merle.
"Shut up!" whispered Hitomi as she purposely stepped hard on Merle's foot. As a result Merle jumped up from out of the bushes. "You see this game we were playing is called…" stammered Hitomi as she searched her mind for another lie. She used the first game that popped into her mind. "Hide and seek, it's one of my favourite games from the Mystic Moon." Hitomi then got a good look at the woman Van was with. The woman obviously looked angered at Hitomi's intrusion. "In the game Merle had to count to one hundred and then she had to go and look for me."
"And you see I screamed because I didn't think that Merle was even close to finding me. So she kinda popped out of no where and startled me so I screamed," that was partly the truth. "I'm sorry if I scared you, I had no idea you were there."
"Liar," grumbled Merle.
"That's all right," replied Van with a relieved tone in his voice. "Hitomi," Van said in a nervous voice. "I didn't get time to ask you this before but would you be interested in going to Asturia with me to celebrate the destruction of Zaibach?" The woman beside Van glowered, stared and gave Hitomi the most hateful envious look that she had ever seen in her life. Secretly Hitomi was smiling to herself.
"Told you," said Merle in a teasing voice.
"I'd love to go Van," replied Hitomi smiling as the woman kept on giving her the hateful look.
"Good," said Van stiffly. "Well we're leaving the day after tomorrow. I gave Merle some money to buy some new clothes for you." Hitomi turned and saw Merle with a large grin on her face. "So that was how she knew Van was going to ask me," thought Hitomi. "Uhhh…well I better be going," announced Van as he began to walk off toward the castle. The woman followed Van into the castle, this time not so cosily.
"Van is the most sought after bachelor on Gaea because not only because he is rich and royalty but he's also young, handsome, well respected and a war hero. Women have been pursuing him ever since the end of the war. That woman he was with was Princess Madelia. She has been pursuing him for over two years now. I wish all the stupid women would just give up and leave Van alone and realize that he's taken. It'll be a while before that spoiled rotten princess pursues him again after this defeat," said Merle hotly. Hitomi could feel her face turn to crimson.
The rest of the day past uneventfully and Hitomi went to bed looking forward to the shopping with Merle and Milerna the next day. She was really excited. One thing troubled her sleep though, something that Merle had said. Hitomi recalled Merle telling her about the ladies who had been pursuing Van. The thing that had startled her was when Merle had said that Van was taken. "Does that really mean that Van and I are dating?" puzzled Hitomi as she tried to go to sleep.