Chapter 6
"I need to find her, Dryden. If I find her, I will find him!"
In the meantime, Van had come back to Dryden's' house and told them everything he had overheard before. Even Fiore was there this time, taking his usual spot in the background and listening quietly to the ongoing conversation between his companions.
"If what you say is true, your brother has probably been interested in her for a really long time already. Therefore it's possible that she is vital to his mission in a way we don't know yet. In this case, I'm agreeing with you. We need to rescue her in order to find out what part she is meant to play here. One problem though…we don't have a clue how to find her." Dryden ended his long-winded summary.
His head was braced on the palm of his hands while he diverted his gaze to the large map in front of him. It nearly covered the entire wooden table and depicted the city of Pallas, including its outskirts.
Van raked impatient fingers through his raven black hair and sank into the chair next to Dryden, exhaustion clearly visible in his garnet eyes. He was tired and frustrated. Thanks to their inexperience with search and rescue missions, they had discussed the whole thing without avail.
Perhaps it was mental exhaustion but Van was at the point where desperation threatened to get the best of him. No matter what all he had attempted in the past, his brother was always out of reach and one step ahead of them. Van closed his eyes and massaged his aching temples.
Merles' pitiful glance went unnoticed.
"Van, we'll find Folken no matter what. I know it…", she whispered softly and gazed towards Fiore in expectation.
"I know a way to get into Zaibach's hideout. Probably even their Flying Fortress which is unreachable on foot." Fiore's soothing baritone filled the otherwise silent room and the eyes of a certain feline softened a bit at his tone. So the man had formed a plan in his head during the past few hours after all.
A tired gaze out of Van's deep, red eyes found him with a glint of new hope before it was diverted to Dryden.
"Dryden, what do you think? How much time is left?", Vans' voice echoed quietly through the room.
Dryden straightened back up in his chair, his eyes trained on the ceiling.
"As if I'd know. Zaibach's plans are really a mystery at the moment. Their activities in the conquered countries are near zero, but Pallas is being heavily controlled lately – without the king being aware, of course – and who knows what they are up to next." The brown-haired man frowned and grabbed his chin in deep thought.
"If I might interject here. We've detected a pattern when it comes to Zaibachians infiltrating Pallas. As far as I'm aware, the next squad will arrive tomorrow in the late afternoon. If we can follow the soldiers back out of Pallas, we just may be able to get to the Flying Fortress. I have a strong hunch that Folken will be there. It could work, in theory at least." Fiore explained with a quite sincere tone while looking into Van' expectant eyes.
"Well, that sounds fairly promising, don't you think Dryden?" Replied Van, full of hope and with a careful smile on his lips.
"Now wait a minute," Dryden intervened, "have you even considered how you intend to follow the soldiers and how exactly to get into the Flying Fortress without being seen? Besides, I really don't think that you can simply stroll into Folken's Fortress, rescue the girl and get away without a proper plan in place or any help at all. Or do you already have one of which we aren't privy to yet?"
Van rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.
"I'll just have to think of something when I get there," he then mumbled after a brief hesitation.
Merle shook her head in disbelief.
"Dryden's right, Van. We need a solid plan, otherwise, you can just hand yourself over on a silver platter immediately."
That last comment made Fiore's ears prick up. "You know, that's actually not a bad idea," he murmured quietly.
"Excuse me, what?!" Merle cried in desperation and shot him a quite flabbergasted look. "You wouldn't seriously consider doing that, would you?"
The man winced at her voice, which progressively transitioned from shock to anger while her impeaching gaze weighed heavily on him. Nevertheless, he dared to nod.
"You're right. If Zaibach got ahold of Van, they would gladly take him into Folken's Fortress."
"What makes you so sure about that? They might just as well decide to execute him in the streets as an example. He's a member of the Abaharaki after all. They hate us. Have you forgotten about that?! We can't be sure that they will even bring him into the fortress!" Merle sauntered up to Fiore but then abruptly pushed him hard against the wall behind his back. "That stupid plan is pure insanity! Simply foolish! For Gaea's sake, even I can't think of the right words for how idiotic that idea of yours really is!"
Her furious tirade was cut short by Van's sobering voice and hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from poor Fiore.
"Merle, calm down. That's enough." She shot him a hurt look, but it went by unnoticed again. Instead, Van's gaze was fixed at Fiore. "Let's do it. Just tell me when and where."
"Van...," Dryden got up and carefully walked towards him. "How are we supposed to get you out of the Fortress if anything goes wrong in there?"
Dryden only earned a sly grin from Van.
"Don't worry about that. Being under pressure makes me creative?"
"You're all insane," Merle whispered in the background, pure horror written all over her face. "All of this for some woman you don't even know, without being certain it will even get you to Folken? I don't understand you anymore Van. Why do you always have to be so reckless?"
Only now Van turned around to study Merle's face and saw the glittering tears in her clear, blue eyes. Van did understand what she was so afraid of. She had been like that ever since he had found her a long time ago but he also knew that now was not the right time.
"Please understand, Merle. This is the best chance I've ever had to get to my brother, don't you see that? It's the moment we've all been working for these past months!"
The cat-girl closed her eyes in sorrow, her ears flat on her head. "Fine. You're right but this whole so-called plan is a suicide mission if you ask me."
With these harsh words spoken, she left the room. Fiore followed her form with a bit of regret in his eyes. "Merle's concerns aren't baseless," he then spoke. "We'll have to work on some more details before it's time to go out there. We've got a long night ahead of us..."
Dryden and Van nodded in unison. With that said, they surrounded the table once more, finally effectively working on a plan to rescue the mysterious woman and to get to Van's brother in the process.
She was floating in complete darkness. Ever so slowly, the scent of wet dirt reached her nostrils, along with something pungent, similar to the odor of metal.
Hitomi knew that she had smelled it several times before but wasn't able to place it just yet. Her eyes still remained closed and she dared not to open them.
In the distance, she heard something crackling and then all of sudden felt scorching heat. Her feet reached the ground slowly, the soil underneath her toes felt strangely hot. Fearful of what could be in front of her, she finally opened her eyes only when the stench began to cause a feeling of nausea.
What her eyes landed on then, left her in consternation.
Lifeless bodies, bathed in dark crimson blood. Like a morbid river, it searched its way across the wet earth and pooled around the corpses. In some spots bright flames burned animatedly, disseminating the smell of rotten, burnt flesh.
Hitomi found herself in a stupor, unable to move or even look away. Then she saw something in the background far away. It was gigantic and blacker than the sky at night's darkest hour.
Hitomi's chest tightened watching it just from this distance.
"That's the Escaflowne."
Her heart skipped a beat when General Folken appeared next to her out of nowhere.
"Escaflowne...?" She breathed uneasily.
"Yes." Folken gazed towards the black colossus. "She's a Guymelef - a war machine - and of great importance to our mission. She is the most crucial facilitator of Gaea's perfect future and destiny."
His words were causing a funny feeling inside of Hitomi. Escaflowne...? Something tingled in her mind, though she was sure that she had never heard of it before in her life.
"She is the Goddess of War. Whoever commands her, has the power to seal Gaea's destiny. Ultimate downfall or reincarnation. Death or life. However…", Folken stopped and looked towards the black giant "… she hasn't fully awakened yet. Even we don't know where she is hidden at the moment. It's up to you to fulfill your role as destined by fate."
While he spoke, he glanced at the frightened woman next to him, who stared at him wide-eyed and horror evident in her eyes.
"Why me? I'm nobody special…," she asked perplexed, eyes darting carefully to the Escaflowne once more. Suddenly she felt an ice cold aura, dark magic residing in it, invade her body and soul. It happened slowly but she could clearly feel it's undeniable power. The steel-blue eyes of the Escaflowne kept piercing her with their intensity during the process and when Hitomi's eyes flashed in distress, the Guymelef bend her mighty knee in an obsequious gesture and sank to the ground. The action sent a chill down Hitomi's spine. Escaflowne clearly was waiting for something or someone? Was she waiting for her?
"The mighty Goddess of War needs her soul and pilot to be able to judge our fate. Right now it's our top priority to find her soul and to give it back to her." Rust-red eyes were locked on Hitomi's face, her features turning noticeably more anxious by the minute.
A soul? Why on Gaea did the Escaflowne need a soul? She was just a mechanical suit, after all.
"What does this all have to do with me? I still don't know what you want from me!" Hitomi averted her gaze to the soiled earth beneath her feet.
"That's what I thought."
The General snipped his fingers, causing the scenery to disappear and the dark room from before came back into focus. The woman's eyes were filled with relief while she slowly sank to the ground, utterly exhausted.
"Sora, please bring her back to her room. I'll take care of everything in the meantime until she's ready."
Pale-blue eyes rested on Hitomi's weary figure before Sora carefully drew closer to her.
"Come with me, poor girl…," she then whispered in a soothing voice and reached for Hitomi's shaky hand. Her head felt like it was about to explode any moment and everything around her was fuzzy, threatening to disappear like fog.
Hitomi gripped Sora's hand as tightly as she could and scrambled to her feet so she could follow her out of the eerie room and back into her small chamber. When they finally reached the tiny cot, Hitomi collapsed on it in sheer exhaustion and closed her eyes.
"Do you have a headache?" Sora asked with honest concern and stared at her inquisitively.
Hitomi opened her eyes a bit and nodded carefully. "Yes, it hurts so badly."
Upon hearing this, Sora sat down on the bed and began to softly massage Hitomi's temples, holding her head in her hands. Several moments later the woman's strained features slowly relaxed, a soft sigh escaping her lips when she leaned a little bit more into Sora's cool, soothing hands. Hitomi couldn't ignore the feeling that this mysterious woman was trustworthy despite her allegiance.
"The headache will soon be over. Those visions are incredibly exhausting in the beginning. You've already had one before, haven't you?" Sora added in a low voice, eyeing the woman in front of her suspiciously.
"I'm not sure. It felt more like a very lucid dream. I think I saw something that already happened but the violence scared me the most. When I woke up, I was covered in blood…"
While answering Hitomi's voice quieted to a bare whisper and faded into nothing at the end. The soft massage had lulled her into a healing sleep.
Sora continued her gentle ministrations for a few minutes longer. After she cast a last look at the woman who was now in a deep slumber, she rose and left the room quietly. She knew what lay ahead of Hitomi and she truly regretted it. This woman had an aura about her that was so very different from all the others before her and not only because of her ability to see the visions, like herself.
General Folken had searched high and low to find women who could possibly harbor the soul of the Escaflowne. Sora was the key to finding them through her magic and she helped him willingly. It was her debt to him for saving her from a terrible fate.
Nevertheless, she didn't completely understand all of Folken's motives and moves. He had caused so much and sorrow to so many people over the last years she was unable to remember it all. Now more often than ever, she asked herself whether all the sacrifices were truly worth it. Then again, without him, she would have been dead and buried for a very long time already.
With a deep sigh, she stared out of a small window in the hallway. The soft morning glow was fighting the dark of the night, the first sunrays already appearing at the horizon. This certainly was her favorite hour because she loved the silence and the vulnerability of the sky during the dawn of a new day.
Allen paced the length of his room in the Shezar mansion. Zaibach had claimed his sister, Celena, again yesterday so he had nobody to confide to. Not that it was really necessary but he couldn't deny the fact that it was calming for him to hear her thoughts about anything that troubled him.
The Zaibach General had bought Hitomi and he had no idea why. What did he want with her? What really upset him most was that he hadn't been informed about it by General Folken. Instead, Hitomi's friend, Mina, had come to the front of his door this very morning, informing him about the events.
What was it with this woman? There was nothing special about her apart from her flawless beauty but that alone couldn't be the reason. So what did the General need her for? It certainly wasn't for his personal pleasure. Mina had told him that Folken had negotiated with the Red Madame for a long time before she finally had given in to Folken's demands. The reason for it all frustrated him even more. How was it possible that Hitomi had dealt with the Abaharaki behind his back? She had even managed to cover one of these dirty rebels while he had been with her!
His fist slammed down on a small, wooden table, the throbbing ache not even reaching his furious mind at all. Allen ran his long fingers through his long, blonde hair in an attempt to calm himself. It barely worked. It bothered him immensely that he had missed so many important details. He hated that everybody had been playing games right in front of his eyes without him even taking notice. He simply hated losing control.
Hitomi had fooled him. She had fooled him. Allen clenched his teeth and a dangerous growl escaped his throat, his blue eyes burning with a cold, intense fury.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! The last weeks were crazy (and there's no end in sight...), so I didnt' have the time to translate anything. I hope you'll forgive me ;)
Thank you again to 40four for the great editing and to the reviewers of the last chapter!