A/N are at the end of this chapter!

Chapter 7

When Sora met up with General Folken at the command station of the Flying Fortress, she quickly noticed that he was even quieter and lost in thought than usual.

Folken stared through the glass panes of the large windows, stoically observing the city of Palas which lay peacefully beneath them.

"Soon, there'll be nothing at all…", he murmured and closed his expressive, red eyes.

"Lord Folken, are you perfectly sure about all of this?" Sora whispered as she stepped beside him, her pale blue eyes resting on his tired face. They slowly filled with deep sorrow while observing him. Her gaze wandered over his aristocratic face, taking note of the dark circles under his eyes and otherwise exhausted features. Sora knew that he rarely got enough sleep anymore and if he did, nightmares haunted his mind, preventing a much-needed, restful slumber.

Folken opened his eyes again and glanced at her. A wry smile appeared on his face and his fingertips brushed her cheek in a feather-like touch. "Seeing you, I'm almost tempted to change my mind but it has to be this way. Violence is spreading all over Gaea like a festering wound, becoming only worse as time passes. It is impossible for her children to retain the natural order any more. Gaea must burn so she can be born anew."

Tears were collecting in the corner of Sora's eyes but she wouldn't allow them to fall. After a long look into her eyes, Folken strode away, across the bridge towards the alchemy laboratory.

Sora was left behind in a sullen mood. Why was Folken suffering so badly? What had happened to him before they met, that fate felt the need to vex his very soul?

Folken had not asked her to accompany him to the laboratory so she stayed behind, deep in thought. After a while, Sora recognized the clicking of heels under fast strides. A very familiar sound she feared more than anything, which made her turn around quickly in hopes that her sensitive ears had, for once, failed her. To her disappointment, they had not. Her worst nightmare was back on the fortress.

"Ah, there she is. General's Folken's little sweetheart…"

His voice was cold like ice and instantly caused her to shiver in horror. Dilandau's blood-red eyes made Sora freeze where she stood. She was quite unsure what to do while he roughly pushed her back against the glass window. Once again she noticed that his body was that of a man, while his voice and face still held feminine characteristics.

The soldier in the red armor leaned forward and whispered into her ear, his cold breath brushing her neck in the process. "It would be so much fun to push you into the depth beneath us to send you to the dark place you belong in, scum."

Sora felt his teeth at her throat, threatening to break the skin before he snapped them together and grinned. Her eyes were closed tightly and her whole body trembled with fear. Hopefully, someone would walk in on them any moment and interrupt, effectively rescuing her from his grasp before he decided to do something terrible to her. Dilandau knew that Folken nearly watched his every move and didn't tolerate this behavior towards Sora but in some instances, such as at this moment, it seemed that the soldier didn't give a damn about that.

He grabbed her chin roughly which forced her to open her eyes. Seeing the horror in them intensified his grotesque grin and feeling of satisfaction.

Very abruptly, his next move was stopped by a gentle, quiet voice echoing through the command station.

"Commander Dilandau!"

"What is it, Jajuka? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

When his cold fingers released Sora's chin, her knees felt like giving out any moment and her face relaxed in pure relief. Dilandau turned away, glaring at the other soldier who had now reached his side.

"General Folken wishes for us to witness the experiment. The alchemists have already prepared everything and are awaiting us."

Shrill, maniacal laughter escaped the lips of the monster in front of her. "Fantastic! This will be an exciting spectacle. I'm curious about what they've prepared for that whore." That said, he confidently strode towards the exit but before leaving the bridge he glanced back at the silver-haired woman to send her a last, horrific grin. "Certainly this is of interest to you too, isn't it? Seeing another girl going through hell for your beloved General's vision. How many girls are already dead by now? Ten? Or even twenty?"

Sora averted her gaze to the floor near her feet and fought back tears once more. "She's the One. Lord Folken and I are sure of it! It was incredibly difficult to find her and almost impossible to get her." Her words were barely audible but a maniacal laughter answered regardless. The sharp sound of clicking boot heels vanished from the command station and left Sora in her despair.

With a quiet sob, she finally let her tears flow freely. Her thoughts wandered to the many unfortunate girls whose lives had been snuffed out and to those few who hadn't died but were left with a shattered mind, sentenced to live out the rest of their days like that in this cruel world Gaea was. Sora prayed to every single God she knew. She begged them to spare Hitomi of such a fate and prayed that the blonde woman truly was the One. The One they had been searching for so long. The upcoming experimental procedure was pure torture and she could only hope that this woman was made to survive it without serious damage of any kind.

Rough hands ripped Hitomi from her deep slumber. They grabbed her firmly while loud noises in the hallway outside her room accompanied the commotion.

"Wha… what is happening?" She cried in fear, unsuccessfully attempting to break away from the soldier who was holding her much too firmly.

"Shut up and do as you are told." His harsh answer suppressed any words of protest forming Hitomi's mouth. Her body went rigid when she looked at the man's pale face and focused on eyes which held two different-colored irises.

She only dared to ask, "Where are you taking me?", while the soldier and two other men carelessly pushed her through the dimly-lit hallways towards a yet unknown destination. Where was that kind woman? The one who had been with Hitomi before she fell asleep. Somehow, she had a feeling that the silver-haired mystical creature was the only one here who was on her side, even though just barely.

While desperately scanning the surroundings behind every corner they rounded, Hitomi progressively began to panic more and more. Sora was nowhere to be seen and this concerned her substantially. At present, nothing remained anymore of Hitomi's normally strong and confident behavior. The only thing on her mind was her desire to escape and hide.

The worst thing about her situation was that she had no clue what they were going to do with her. Somehow, she appeared to be important to that General, even though she didn't quite grasp the entire story about the Escaflowne at all. All Hitomi knew was that this so-called Guymelef needed a soul to fully awaken but what did this have to do with her?

The soldiers roughly pushed her along even more hallways and up several flights of stairs until they reached an inconspicuous-looking door which lead into something like a laboratory. Holding her in a firm grip, they entered and the sound of the closing door behind them brought Hitomi firmly back to reality. There was no escaping from here.

Her knees began to tremble but Hitomi commanded herself to quickly get a grip. Instead of continuing to panic even more, which wouldn't help her the least bit in this situation, she began to slowly observe the large room they now were in. A large group of men clothed in long, black coats with high collars was not far from her. In the back of her mind, she noticed that the collars must be so tight it almost strangled them. The majority of the strange-looking men were quite old and mostly bald. While she scanned their appearance, Hitomi noticed the showy red armor of the soldier who had harassed Sora in the hallway the night before.

Returning her stare with a malicious smile, he bit down on his lip until crimson blood trickled down the pale skin of his chin.

Hitomi frowned in discomfort at this display of insanity and averted her gaze to instead rest on the dog-man behind the soldier. While Dilandau was clearly out of mind the junin, by contrast, was gentle-looking and kind and she briefly wondered what business he had with the sort of man standing in front him.

General Folken's cold voice interrupted her thoughts and brought her attention to him.

"Hitomi…," he called out to her and motioned for her to come closer. "Now we will finally see if Escaflowne has hidden away inside of you. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter."

For a short moment, she felt like laughing at him. Cooperation? It didn't appear that she had a choice in this matter, given the armed soldiers circling her.

Folken lead Hitomi to an odd-looking machine with several control panels featuring numerous buttons, toggles, and switches whose purpose completely eluded her. She glanced to a row of large pillars which were connected to these panels. They were made from glass and seemed to be holding a translucent liquid with a green tint.

"What is all of this?" She timidly asked, her stomach was knotted in anxiety and anticipation which caused her voice to tremble with fear. Despite her intent to remain calm and refrain from panicking, she slowly felt herself succumbing to that state again.

"This machine is going to split off the part of your soul which holds the Escaflowne. By doing so, I hope that the Goddess of War will materialize here in our Fortress to fulfill Gaea's destiny."

Folken pushed Hitomi into the waiting arms of two alchemists, who ripped the clothes off her slender frame without care.

"What… no! Stop that! Please, no!" Hitomi cried in horror and attempted to shake their hands off, only to be slapped straight across the face by another soldier. The hard smack caused her ears to ring and black spots to appear in front of her eyes.

Hitomi only registered that she was now completely naked as the men pushed her inside the only empty pillar. She didn't know how they had opened it because her fingers weren't able to find so much as a crack once it enclosed her.

All noises and voices around her were suddenly muffled. The black dots in her view slowly went away while she still blinked rapidly to rid herself of the dizziness which clouded her mind.

All of a sudden, her feet touched something wet and she immediately tried to identify what it was. Her eyes widened in shock when she felt an alien liquid quickly gaining on height around her feet. Within seconds it reached her knees and finally, panic filled her faster than the rising liquid filled the pillar. They were going to drown her and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Hitomi began to scream. She absolutely didn't want to die in the hands of the crazy Zaibachian General!

On reflex, she desperately started to hammer against the glass, hoping against all odds that it would shatter. Tears were beginning to stream down her face as she sobbed unabashedly. The liquid was rising higher and higher, now already lapping up around her torso. The skin on her knuckles split under the sheer intensity of being slammed against the glass, staining it red in some spots. Hitomi slowly but surely realized that she was doomed.

Through her tear-blurred vision, she finally spotted the silver-haired woman in the background of the room and she began to direct her screams at her. "Sora! Please, help me! …Sora!"

The water now reached her throat, her salty tears mingling with it there.

When Sora saw the fear and panic in Hitomi's eyes, her resolve to continue assisting General Folken with his cause began to falter. She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes. Sora couldn't stand seeing Hitomi suffer and hated herself for being the coward she was. She hadn't helped any of them, though she could have easily done so. Due to this, all of them had suffered and many died. Sora once more prayed to all the Gods to have mercy and for Hitomi to survive. Then, she finally made a decision. She would give her everything to get the girl out of here and somewhere safe, wherever that was going to be.

Hitomi surrendered herself to the cruel situation she was in when the liquid reached her mouth and filled her nostrils shortly thereafter. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate. Her lungs soon began to burn, screaming for air. Her head throbbed wildly due to the lack of oxygen. She wasn't able to stand it in any longer and opened her mouth to breathe the liquid in…

…and, against all odds, was able to breathe freely.

Her eyes opened, widened in shock. How could that be?

While pondering just how she was able to gain oxygen out of the liquid, Hitomi noticed the alchemists working at the control panel in front of her pillar. They were pushing combinations of buttons and wildly adjusting other settings on it while, in the background, the other pillars filled with different liquids began to glow in a strange, blue light.

Again, she was only able to await what was in store for her now, the anxiety threatening to get the best of her.

Two more pillars directly next to hers began to glow and it was only a matter of time for hers to be activated.

Then, there was only searing pain and her world turned black.

Sora heard Hitomi scream in agony even through the thick glass and liquid and watched the woman's body convulse inside the pillar. Electricity coursed through Hitomi's muscles, veins and mind when it began to split off the pieces of Escaflowne's soul from hers.

The silver-haired woman averted her gaze from the horrific scene and began to quietly sing her song, determined to help Hitomi bear the pain.

"Win chent a lotica
En vai tu ri
Si lo ta

Fin dein a loluca
Si katigura neuver
Floreria for chesti
Si entina..."

Sitting in her darkened room, the Red Madame stared at a pink pendant dangling from her hand. Muffled voices from some of her girls in the hallway permeated through the closed door while she was focusing intently on the necklace in front of her. By looking at it, her thoughts wandered, inevitably, to Hitomi who had been her greatest treasure for the past years.

A deep sigh escaped her full lips. She had been right to finally sell Hitomi to the General after he had asked her to do so countless times. Hitomi's betrayal regarding the Abaharaki man had finally convinced her to do so. Nonetheless, the rate of patrons visiting the brothel had dropped a bit since the blonde was gone. It wasn't something that made her worry too much, nor would it compel her to attempt getting her back but there was a perceptible difference without Hitomi around.

The blonde girl's aura made her more exotic and mysterious than the others. What it was exactly, she couldn't define but what the Red Madame definitely knew was that under her care the young, orphaned girl had developed into a graceful creature whose beauty was unparalleled and sought after by many men.

It was precisely this mysterious aura which enchanted the men and occasional women visiting her establishment as soon as their eyes fell upon pure looking Hitomi.

Still watching the pink pendant intently, the Red Madame revisited the day she had taken little Hitomi with her. The matron had given her the pendant after she had ushered the girl into her carriage. "This was the only thing in her possession when she was brought here," the old woman explained and placed it in the Red Madame's open palm.

Hitomi had never asked for it, perhaps having forgotten about it, so she had decided to keep it. It indeed was a fascinating pendant. Sometimes the stone almost seemed to be alive on the inside, the pink color moving in swirls. If the Red Madame concentrated hard enough, she was able to notice a strange whisper in the air. Though it was so quiet that is was nearly impossible to make out, it was undeniably there.

Now, an unexplainable feeling of sorrow and loneliness reverberated in her heart while the Red Madame gazed upon it. She couldn't explain this emotion and while pondering this, she nearly didn't notice that the pendant was beginning to move slowly in a perfect rhythm. With every second, it swung from side to side, without an outside force acting upon it.

She stared at it, puzzled, unsure about whether to discard it in shock or to keep it. How could this be? She hadn't moved so much as a finger while holding it. Just as she ended this thought, the stone began to pulse in a dim, blue light. It gradually changed in color and intensity with every passing second until the pendant shone in a light so bright it nearly blinded her… only to finally disappear in a small pillar of blue light. It seemed like the decision was not destined to be hers.

Baffled, she sunk deep into her chair, staring at her now empty hand. What in all of Gaea had just happened…?

Van and Fiore had been sneaking along the shadows of the narrow alleys for some time already. They were only slowly getting to the area Fiore had strategically selected for their spiel and by now feared that they wouldn't make it in time.

The sun was already low in the sky, drowning the city of Palas in a soft, orange glow.

With worry in his eyes, Van stared into the sky and for a second he imagined seeing a strange flicker between the clouds. He shook his head while the drowsiness of the afternoon heat clung to him stubbornly.

"There they are!" Fiore hissed in front of him. "Ready for our show?"

Van had only time to nod before he was grabbed roughly by the collar and pulled out into the main street, directly into the path of a marching troop of Zaibachian soldiers. He cried out loudly as Fiore pushed him to the ground by a fistful of his hair and angled Van's arm in an unnatural way to prevent him from escaping.

The Zaibachians instantly came to a halt.

Van's head hit the cobblestones rather harshly. He'd make sure Fiore would pay for that later. Clenching his teeth, he spit at the feet of the Zaibachian soldier who loomed above him with a smirk on his lips.

"Now now! What have we here?" He asked while staring at Fiore, wariness in his attentive, grey eyes.

"I hear there's a bounty on his head, so pay up!" A wry smile was on Fiore's lips when he pushed Van further into the dirt by placing his foot on Van's back.

Van fought back a bit, partly for show and partly because Fiore was being very convincing. He eased his mind by thinking about how in a real fight Fiore wouldn't stand a chance against him.

The Zaibachian soldier motioned for two of his comrades to collect the man on the ground while reaching for a small coin purse on his belt.

"Nice job. Here's your money. Now piss off before I change my mind and kill you."

Quickly scurrying away and into the protective network of narrow alleys once more, Fiore watched them from afar as they took Van with them. He was shoved in between the group of soldiers, wrists now tied together tightly by thick ropes.

Fiore frowned. That somehow had been way too easy. A sickening feeling spread in his stomach while watching the soldiers retreat with Van.

Van walked with them, barely fighting to escape. The blades of his daggers were warm in his boots as his blood boiled in his veins, screaming at him to kill them all right here and now. On the outside, however, he kept fairly calm and trained his eyes onto the ground to hide the hatred burning in them.

Oh, how he would love to just kill them… his thoughts then wandered to the woman in the fortress and eventually to his brother. His eyes narrowed at once. Him, he would most definitely kill. With or without getting more information about Dryden's prophecy.

He made a mental pact with himself while being taken to a small leviship where they locked him in a completely empty chamber.

Not much later they took off the ground, hopefully en route to the flying fortress where the woman was being held captive.

A/N:

Finally, it's done. This chapter was especially hard for me to translate; can't say why, though... my hair turned grey by now xD

Therefore, thank you again 40four for your precious and brilliant editing! It's always fascinating to see how you're able to turn my average writing into something like this! *deep bow*

And: Thank you all for your kind reviews so far! I often read them to motivate myself while I'm writing (and I'm still fighting with Chapter 12... I really need 40four's muse :) ).