He finally came across a cave with hieroglyphs. He stopped to read what it
said. "Two countries and cultures that were once combined now lay as far
apart as the two worlds themselves. To be combined can either bring
destruction or prosperity to two worlds. However, the two worlds will
remain apart, with one having no knowledge of the other. It will all seem
but myth." He read out loud. It made the words seem more real than they
were. Earth and Gaia were but the same. "How did Gaia get here though?" He
knew the meaning of the Greek word Gaia was Earth and Uranus was heaven.
There were rocks that were out of place all over the place. Vanel had stepped over the large ones and the little ones had been kicked out of the way. That was until 15 minutes later he stepped on a rock that slid from its spot causing him to disappear into a......
- - - Tramie- thank you for being the very best editor I could ask for this story.
Twilight hacker- I'm glad you liked the mix of cultures here. Egypt and Greece are absolutely fascinating to study. The best part about is I think anyways is that there are some of the myths legends that interconnect in one way or another.
Chapter 11
The world all around him was black and the ground wasn't as hard as he expected it to be. It was soft, as if he were in a bed of feathers. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was in a cave, that was all his mind could register. His back hurt too.
"Don't move." A soft voice said to him. "You took quite a fall, you know."
Vanel opened his eyes to see a familiar looking person. He just couldn't quite place her. "Oooooohhhhhhhhhh....." came his long groan.
A hand pushed him back down when he tried to sit up. "I should have known that you were going to be stubborn about this."
"Who are you?"
"You'll know soon enough. There hasn't been anyone in these tunnels for a long time. What were you doing in them?" The girl said.
"I found the cave while I was exploring the woods." He remembered the dragons telling him that there would be some tests for him to pass. He also didn't think that the dragons wanted anyone to know about them.
"Who are you?"
Vanel groaned and laid his head down on whatever he had been resting on. "My name is Van." He replied.
"Isn't that the name of the King of Fanelia?"
"Yeah, my mother really liked the King at one time." Still does. He thought, but didn't say it out loud.
"I heard that he is a really good king."
"Seems that way." He tried to sit up again.
"No, don't........." She stopped when he pushed himself to a sitting position.
Vanel looked all around him. "Where are we?" He had been laid on a low bed that was about six feet long. He wasn't lying on a mattress, but on a pile of blankets that acted as one. The room was bare, dark, and dank. The only source of light here was the lamp that she carried with her.
"We're a hundred feet under ground." She answered.
The girl lifted the kerosene lamp to reveal a soft pale face with cerulean green eyes and long blond hair. She was considerably calm, considering her living conditions. It was her eyes that were the most captivating, though. He hadn't seen that color anywhere around here. In fact, he hadn't seen that color on Earth either.
He didn't get to say anything else to her before he heard a noise in the tunnels. "Stay quiet." She warned before going out into the halls.
He couldn't see anything going on. There was some kind of marching coming down the hall. A distant rhythmic sound that seemed to have everyone in step with one another. It left a gentle rumbling running, that you could feel even under the pile of blankets. There was a shadow in the wall that could be seen in his spot that was well hidden, evidently, from them.
The figures passed without as much as a sound, other than that of the marching feet. "What was that?" He asked the girl when she came back into the room.
"That was our group coming back from another one of their little excursions." She was vague about it. She didn't say anything else before she produced a familiar looking robe that he was supposed to wear. "When you get out of this bed you have to wear this."
"Why?" He could see in his head these robed figures attacking his mother at home, as well as here on Gaea. He remembered his panic at the visions that left not but urgent feelings that made him want to protect his mother even more. It was still there, but he knew that his 'otousan' would take good care of her. He didn't know why. He had been the only male to ever take care of his mother. She had never let another man near her after.......
He grimaced at the thought of that one man even trying to get near her. That was only because of work, though. She had to work with the man as part of her job. Needless to say, the man didn't get very far. He had the pulp beat out of him.
"What's wrong?" He hadn't realized that the woman had been observing his face.
"Nothing." He shivered before pushing himself up and was working on getting out of the bed.
"You should not be getting out of bed."
"I am. You have no say in this." He said as he felt a breeze that he shouldn't. He looked down to see that he didn't have a shirt on. The girl had turned her back to him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm.........."
"Who did my bandages, if you're so shy?" He asked her grinning. It had been a while since he had gotten this reaction from any girl.
"I did."
Vanel chuckled. "So it's okay when I'm asleep but it's not when I'm awake?"
She turned around to say something, but ended up saying, "Don't move."
"Milady, the Princess requires your services." A guard stood at the door.
"Yes, thank you." The language sounded familiar to him. It surprised him that he could understand the language and yet again he really didn't. He wondered who he was that he understood his halting use of the current Gaean language. His mother had taught him some evidently, when she would sing some of the Gaean songs to him as a child, and continued to do so as he had grown. He wondered why he never understood the language, but he would know the words meaning and she told him. He even remembered singing them in the talent show. Most of the teachers and students thought that it was just some foreign language that he was singing in. Come to think of it, he did as well. After all, his mother was a diplomat. It wasn't as if he wouldn't end up learning things of other cultures.
Vanel couldn't stay still any longer. He had to get out of this bed and do something. He glanced disgusted at the robe that he was to wear while walking about. All he could think about was the fact that whoever was wearing that robe was the one that was out to hurt his mother. The last fact that ran through his head made him thrust his arm inside the right side of the robe.
Inside the chamber, to which she was called, the blond woman stood. "What have you been doing? You're late."
"I'm sorry majesty. I slept in." The lie sounded dry and hollow to her lips, but it was all she could do to not say that she had been helping someone that had been wandering in the caves. It was an unbelievable and improbable thing to ever happen to her living in these caves. There was more to it than would probably ever be known, but then she felt that there was an important reason behind it. Why was he here? She had asked herself repeatedly when she had found him and dressed his wound.
"Fine. We'll be having a dinner for some guests that I'm expecting. I need you to start making arrangements. " She informed her.
"Majesty, if you don't mind my asking, what kind of party are we preparing for?"
"The return of a queen." The answer was silent, almost.
-At the Fanelian Palace-
Merle had just finished sending the maids away from her chambers when she heard her kittens running down the hall. "You three get back here!" She called through the hall. She knew where they were headed.
She followed her kittens while the palace servants smiled indulgently at her. They knew it was hard enough to keep them back when they wanted to do something. Waking up Lord Van was the privilege of the century that the kids enjoyed most. No one ever dared to wake him up because then you would have the mewling of a bunch of sad little ones to deal with.
Merle reached her kittens just as they reached Van's door. "Come on. Let's leave them alone."
"No! No, we want to wake him up now!" They chorused together, each with perfect precision.
Merle sighed in defeat. She knew that they would do it. Of all the things that she had been able to discipline them on, this is the one that she hadn't been able to stop in the last year. They were only a summer old in human years. So they were still technically kittens, but she knew in her heart that they had grown up a while back.
The little ones cheered when they heard her sigh of resignation. That was when they just barged into the room to find that Lady Hitomi was cuddled on top of Lord Van and they were completely covered up.
Merle could only smile when she saw her babies jump on the sleeping pair with a little too much enthusiasm. While Van groaned at the morning ritual of the three, Hitomi was trying to huddle closer to him. She could be heard grunting at them, but that wasn't enough for them. "Come on. It's time to get up." They continued jumping.
"Okay we're getting up." Van consented pulling Hitomi closer to him. "You just have to let us get dressed."
"Okay." They skipped out of the room happily.
"You two take your time. I know that you won't get to spend that much time with each other later." She looked pointedly at the couple before she left the room.
"We better get up if we're going to get anything done today." Hitomi started to try to push herself away from him.
"You mean that you didn't enjoy the games last night?" He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.
"What games?" She put on an innocent face just for his benefit. "I wasn't playing games, were you?"
"I did." He answered. He took a glance to the window to make sure that the shutters were closed. "I especially enjoyed playing......." He pulled her closer to give her a sound kiss.
Hitomi pushed herself off of him. "Aren't you supposed to be behaving yourself?"
"Who wants to be on their best royal behavior?" He gave a courtly bow before he grabbed a pillow and started chasing her around the room with it.
"Van?" She stepped back and away from him.
"Yes my dear." He answered in just as a courtly voice but with the most mischievous look in his eyes than she had ever seen even on her son.
"You wouldn't be starting something would you?" She cautioned toward the bed hoping to get a pillow. She didn't get there before he started hitting her with the pillow. She ran trying to get away from him all the while being able ot make a desperate grab for something that she could use against him. She didn't look to see what she had gotten.
They ran around the room trying to get away from the other one as one gained on the other and turned around and started chasing the other. There were feathers all over the room when they looked around the room. Hitomi looked at what she had picked up to fight against Van. A blanket was the thing that she had grabbed. She grinned. She didn't have to look to know that he had started chasing her again. She went toward the bed falling on her back when she got there with her arms in front of her. He landed on top of her and she wrapped the blanket around him as well.
A maid opened the door her eyes going as wide as saucers when she saw the two playing under the covers. "I'm sorry." She murmured over and over her face as red as it could get. She closed the door and left the two to get ready for the day.
"Hitomi, isn't Vanel supposed to be back yet?"
She closed her eyes as if to close out the entire galaxy floating around them. Van waited in baited silence as the world around them almost stopped. The wind stood still until she opened her eyes. "His test has begun." She answered giving him no other words.
"You're not worried about him?"
"Yes I am, but I know him. I know that he is alright." She answered once more.
-Vanel-
Vanel took one of the torches that lit this passageway. He followed his instincts that told him to go into the southeast tunnel. There was a latch on the tunnel where he touched the wall. It opened to a............
- - - That's the end of this chapter. Tell me what you think of the chapter. I had a request for fluff. I hope this is good. There won't be any room for fluff. At least any appropriate places for Van and Hitomi anyways.
There were rocks that were out of place all over the place. Vanel had stepped over the large ones and the little ones had been kicked out of the way. That was until 15 minutes later he stepped on a rock that slid from its spot causing him to disappear into a......
- - - Tramie- thank you for being the very best editor I could ask for this story.
Twilight hacker- I'm glad you liked the mix of cultures here. Egypt and Greece are absolutely fascinating to study. The best part about is I think anyways is that there are some of the myths legends that interconnect in one way or another.
Chapter 11
The world all around him was black and the ground wasn't as hard as he expected it to be. It was soft, as if he were in a bed of feathers. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was in a cave, that was all his mind could register. His back hurt too.
"Don't move." A soft voice said to him. "You took quite a fall, you know."
Vanel opened his eyes to see a familiar looking person. He just couldn't quite place her. "Oooooohhhhhhhhhh....." came his long groan.
A hand pushed him back down when he tried to sit up. "I should have known that you were going to be stubborn about this."
"Who are you?"
"You'll know soon enough. There hasn't been anyone in these tunnels for a long time. What were you doing in them?" The girl said.
"I found the cave while I was exploring the woods." He remembered the dragons telling him that there would be some tests for him to pass. He also didn't think that the dragons wanted anyone to know about them.
"Who are you?"
Vanel groaned and laid his head down on whatever he had been resting on. "My name is Van." He replied.
"Isn't that the name of the King of Fanelia?"
"Yeah, my mother really liked the King at one time." Still does. He thought, but didn't say it out loud.
"I heard that he is a really good king."
"Seems that way." He tried to sit up again.
"No, don't........." She stopped when he pushed himself to a sitting position.
Vanel looked all around him. "Where are we?" He had been laid on a low bed that was about six feet long. He wasn't lying on a mattress, but on a pile of blankets that acted as one. The room was bare, dark, and dank. The only source of light here was the lamp that she carried with her.
"We're a hundred feet under ground." She answered.
The girl lifted the kerosene lamp to reveal a soft pale face with cerulean green eyes and long blond hair. She was considerably calm, considering her living conditions. It was her eyes that were the most captivating, though. He hadn't seen that color anywhere around here. In fact, he hadn't seen that color on Earth either.
He didn't get to say anything else to her before he heard a noise in the tunnels. "Stay quiet." She warned before going out into the halls.
He couldn't see anything going on. There was some kind of marching coming down the hall. A distant rhythmic sound that seemed to have everyone in step with one another. It left a gentle rumbling running, that you could feel even under the pile of blankets. There was a shadow in the wall that could be seen in his spot that was well hidden, evidently, from them.
The figures passed without as much as a sound, other than that of the marching feet. "What was that?" He asked the girl when she came back into the room.
"That was our group coming back from another one of their little excursions." She was vague about it. She didn't say anything else before she produced a familiar looking robe that he was supposed to wear. "When you get out of this bed you have to wear this."
"Why?" He could see in his head these robed figures attacking his mother at home, as well as here on Gaea. He remembered his panic at the visions that left not but urgent feelings that made him want to protect his mother even more. It was still there, but he knew that his 'otousan' would take good care of her. He didn't know why. He had been the only male to ever take care of his mother. She had never let another man near her after.......
He grimaced at the thought of that one man even trying to get near her. That was only because of work, though. She had to work with the man as part of her job. Needless to say, the man didn't get very far. He had the pulp beat out of him.
"What's wrong?" He hadn't realized that the woman had been observing his face.
"Nothing." He shivered before pushing himself up and was working on getting out of the bed.
"You should not be getting out of bed."
"I am. You have no say in this." He said as he felt a breeze that he shouldn't. He looked down to see that he didn't have a shirt on. The girl had turned her back to him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm.........."
"Who did my bandages, if you're so shy?" He asked her grinning. It had been a while since he had gotten this reaction from any girl.
"I did."
Vanel chuckled. "So it's okay when I'm asleep but it's not when I'm awake?"
She turned around to say something, but ended up saying, "Don't move."
"Milady, the Princess requires your services." A guard stood at the door.
"Yes, thank you." The language sounded familiar to him. It surprised him that he could understand the language and yet again he really didn't. He wondered who he was that he understood his halting use of the current Gaean language. His mother had taught him some evidently, when she would sing some of the Gaean songs to him as a child, and continued to do so as he had grown. He wondered why he never understood the language, but he would know the words meaning and she told him. He even remembered singing them in the talent show. Most of the teachers and students thought that it was just some foreign language that he was singing in. Come to think of it, he did as well. After all, his mother was a diplomat. It wasn't as if he wouldn't end up learning things of other cultures.
Vanel couldn't stay still any longer. He had to get out of this bed and do something. He glanced disgusted at the robe that he was to wear while walking about. All he could think about was the fact that whoever was wearing that robe was the one that was out to hurt his mother. The last fact that ran through his head made him thrust his arm inside the right side of the robe.
Inside the chamber, to which she was called, the blond woman stood. "What have you been doing? You're late."
"I'm sorry majesty. I slept in." The lie sounded dry and hollow to her lips, but it was all she could do to not say that she had been helping someone that had been wandering in the caves. It was an unbelievable and improbable thing to ever happen to her living in these caves. There was more to it than would probably ever be known, but then she felt that there was an important reason behind it. Why was he here? She had asked herself repeatedly when she had found him and dressed his wound.
"Fine. We'll be having a dinner for some guests that I'm expecting. I need you to start making arrangements. " She informed her.
"Majesty, if you don't mind my asking, what kind of party are we preparing for?"
"The return of a queen." The answer was silent, almost.
-At the Fanelian Palace-
Merle had just finished sending the maids away from her chambers when she heard her kittens running down the hall. "You three get back here!" She called through the hall. She knew where they were headed.
She followed her kittens while the palace servants smiled indulgently at her. They knew it was hard enough to keep them back when they wanted to do something. Waking up Lord Van was the privilege of the century that the kids enjoyed most. No one ever dared to wake him up because then you would have the mewling of a bunch of sad little ones to deal with.
Merle reached her kittens just as they reached Van's door. "Come on. Let's leave them alone."
"No! No, we want to wake him up now!" They chorused together, each with perfect precision.
Merle sighed in defeat. She knew that they would do it. Of all the things that she had been able to discipline them on, this is the one that she hadn't been able to stop in the last year. They were only a summer old in human years. So they were still technically kittens, but she knew in her heart that they had grown up a while back.
The little ones cheered when they heard her sigh of resignation. That was when they just barged into the room to find that Lady Hitomi was cuddled on top of Lord Van and they were completely covered up.
Merle could only smile when she saw her babies jump on the sleeping pair with a little too much enthusiasm. While Van groaned at the morning ritual of the three, Hitomi was trying to huddle closer to him. She could be heard grunting at them, but that wasn't enough for them. "Come on. It's time to get up." They continued jumping.
"Okay we're getting up." Van consented pulling Hitomi closer to him. "You just have to let us get dressed."
"Okay." They skipped out of the room happily.
"You two take your time. I know that you won't get to spend that much time with each other later." She looked pointedly at the couple before she left the room.
"We better get up if we're going to get anything done today." Hitomi started to try to push herself away from him.
"You mean that you didn't enjoy the games last night?" He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.
"What games?" She put on an innocent face just for his benefit. "I wasn't playing games, were you?"
"I did." He answered. He took a glance to the window to make sure that the shutters were closed. "I especially enjoyed playing......." He pulled her closer to give her a sound kiss.
Hitomi pushed herself off of him. "Aren't you supposed to be behaving yourself?"
"Who wants to be on their best royal behavior?" He gave a courtly bow before he grabbed a pillow and started chasing her around the room with it.
"Van?" She stepped back and away from him.
"Yes my dear." He answered in just as a courtly voice but with the most mischievous look in his eyes than she had ever seen even on her son.
"You wouldn't be starting something would you?" She cautioned toward the bed hoping to get a pillow. She didn't get there before he started hitting her with the pillow. She ran trying to get away from him all the while being able ot make a desperate grab for something that she could use against him. She didn't look to see what she had gotten.
They ran around the room trying to get away from the other one as one gained on the other and turned around and started chasing the other. There were feathers all over the room when they looked around the room. Hitomi looked at what she had picked up to fight against Van. A blanket was the thing that she had grabbed. She grinned. She didn't have to look to know that he had started chasing her again. She went toward the bed falling on her back when she got there with her arms in front of her. He landed on top of her and she wrapped the blanket around him as well.
A maid opened the door her eyes going as wide as saucers when she saw the two playing under the covers. "I'm sorry." She murmured over and over her face as red as it could get. She closed the door and left the two to get ready for the day.
"Hitomi, isn't Vanel supposed to be back yet?"
She closed her eyes as if to close out the entire galaxy floating around them. Van waited in baited silence as the world around them almost stopped. The wind stood still until she opened her eyes. "His test has begun." She answered giving him no other words.
"You're not worried about him?"
"Yes I am, but I know him. I know that he is alright." She answered once more.
-Vanel-
Vanel took one of the torches that lit this passageway. He followed his instincts that told him to go into the southeast tunnel. There was a latch on the tunnel where he touched the wall. It opened to a............
- - - That's the end of this chapter. Tell me what you think of the chapter. I had a request for fluff. I hope this is good. There won't be any room for fluff. At least any appropriate places for Van and Hitomi anyways.