Here is the next chapter. Just a warning, this one is fairly dark and intense. Poor Van…

Disclaimer: I don't own Esca…WAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

A moment later, Merle and a few of Van's advisors rushed in to see what had upset their king so. Merle's eyes widened as she looked at Van. He stood rigid in front of his desk, his knuckles white as they gripped the table, and his chair lay knocked to the floor behind him. His breathing was shaky, and his entire body seemed to tremble. His eyes, though, were the most haunting. They looked panicked and wild, almost as though there was a touch of madness overtaking them. Merle shivered at his disturbing appearance, which seemed more intense, closer to insanity then he had even been after he had slaughtered the Dragon Slayers.

Van did not seem to even register their presence. He just stood, as rigid and immobile as a statue. Suddenly, he seemed to snap, and he spun towards the door, running out it and down the hall, shoving aside Merle and the advisors without so much as a second thought. He dashed toward a door at the end that opened up to a balcony. After Merle and the others had recovered, they took off after him, bewildered over what could have cause such a change in their gentle king. Merle had almost caught up to him, when he unceremoniously threw open the doors and bolted out across the balcony, jumping over the fence at the far end. As he did so, his magnificent white wings shot from his back, ripping his neglected shirt to tatters.

Van was deaf to Merle and his advisors calling out to him from the balcony as he shot into the sky, one single-minded thought driving him. He had to get to the Mystic Moon, to Hitomi, somehow. As he climbed into the sky, he hoped and waited for the blue pillar of light to appear that would take him to her. No matter how high he flew, however, it never appeared. He refused to relent, flying as high into the atmosphere as his wings would carry him. The air thinned around him and turned bitter cold against his bare skin as he pressed toward the glowing Mystic Moon that completely dominated his now blurring vision. His skin was clammy and he was struggling to breath, but he refused to surrender.

Merle and the advisors watch in horror as Van fought with the sky for nearly half an hour. At first, he managed to reach an astounding height, becoming naught but a speck in the sky to those below, but eventually his wings could no longer carry him forward, and he fought to hold his position. He refused to yield even as his body approached hypothermia, his wings began to gather ice, and his lungs nearly collapsed. Finally, though, his body could take no more. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he blacked out. His body plunged towards the ground, as Merle and the others watched in terror. Merle climbed down from the balcony and began to run to where it looked like Van would hit. As the ground rushed up to meet him, Van regained consciousness enough to attempt to slow himself down to land, but, though he did decrease his speed, it was not enough, and he hit the ground with a loud thud, before rolling in a mass of limbs a few feet from where he hit. As Merle ran through the trees towards the clearing he had landed in, she could hear the distinct, disturbing sound of bone cracking, causing her to wince.

The sight which met Merle's eyes as she entered the clearing caused her to stop dead. Van had somehow managed to land in a kneeling position about twenty feet away from her. He was covered in dirt, scratches and blood, and his skin seemed to carry a blue hue. His wings hung limp to the ground, ice still glistening from a few patches that it had yet to melt from, and the lower part of his right arm was bent in an unnatural angle, clearly broken. Van was panting and shuddering, but it was not from the pain. He was numb to it. After a moment, Merle realized he was crying. A soft, heart wrenching sound wafted through the air to her ears.

"Hitomi," he whispered, pleadingly, brokenly. "Hitomi," he called again and again in no more than a hopeless whisper. In a last desperate attempt he screamed, "Hitomi!", before the pain finally over took him, and he crumpled forward, unconscious. Merle, rushed over a caught him just before he hit the ground. Cradling him in her arms, her eyes stinging with tears, she whispered to his deaf ears, "Oh Van-sama, what happened?"

After first, everything around Van was enveloped in an all consuming darkness, and he could not seem to grasp onto any particular thought. Then suddenly, a pair of bright green eyes and a head of soft blonde hair flashed across his mind's eye. All the panic rushed back to him as he screamed out her name, jolting up right. The second that he did, spasms of intense pain shot through his body, almost causing him to vomit. He refused to lie back down though. He had to reach her.

"Your majesty, you must lay down. You are in no condition to be up." Van's vision finally began to focus on the room, his room. It took him but a moment to find the owner of the voice, a doctor who now stood beside his bed, immensely concerned.

"No," Van began to protest, wincing as his voice cracked, dry and raspy. The doctor stopped him from continuing.

"I know you are concerned, your majesty, but you can do nothing in your current condition. You have already almost killed yourself. It is a miracle that you are as well off as you are." He gestured towards Van. Van took this moment to look down at his battered body. He had bandages wrapped around his torso, and his arm was in a sling. Scratches and bruises decorated every part of his body.

The doctor continued, "Probably at least three broken ribs and broken arm, not to mention that you had reach the first stages of hypothermia. It is a miracle there was to damage to you internal organs." He sighed, "Please, you majesty, just rest." With that, he laid a hand on each of Van's shoulders to push him back down. Van was too weak and exhausted to resist. As he lay on the bed, the doctor asked him one question, "Your majesty, what happened?"

Van did not respond, merely turned his head to the side and squeezed his eyes shut fighting back the tears and the pain in his heart that far surpassed any physical pain. The doctor did not push for an answer, but rather, sat back in his chair and allowed his patient to rest. When the doctor's attention was no longer on him, a solitary tear found its way out from under his clenched eyelids and trailed down his cheek.

Van was not so easily subdued, though. Throughout the next week, he attempt twice more to reach the Mystic Moon, each time pushing his body into further regression. Finally, his spirit reached the level of brokenness that already overcame his body. He could do nothing. No matter how hard he tried, he could not reach her. No matter how strong his desire to protect her, he could not be there for her.

Merle watched Van quietly as he lay in his bed, gazing out the window at the Mystic Moon with hollow, empty eyes. His was broken and defeated. Merle's heart ached to seem him so lost. Merle crawled beside him on the bed carefully.

"Van-sama?" she queried cautiously. After a moment, the bed began to shake softly underneath her. Van was crying.

"I can't do anything, Merle," he murmured, his voice devoid of life. He was a defeated and broken man. Merle's heart swelled with sympathy for him, but she kept quiet, just listening to him. "I can't save her. I can't even talk to her. I claimed I would protect her, yet I cannot even get to her." His voice cracked, and it was a moment before he continued. When he did, his voice was tight with emotion. "Why did I let her leave, Merle? Why did I ever let her out of my sight? I love her so dearly. I don't know what I'll do if…" He could not continue the thought, and his entire body began to shudder under the strength of his broken weeping. Merle just sat beside him all night long, a comforting presence to help stave off the overwhelming loneliness and hopelessness that wanted to consume him.

Over the next couple of weeks, his body gradually healed, but his heart and spirit remained just a broken, if not more so. Van sunk into a dangerous depression, barely registering anything around him. His eyes held a soulless look that unnerved all who tried to speak with him. Though he was not aware of it, Fanalia was slowly beginning to fall apart under the apparent loss of the king they had so respected and loved.

Merle finally could not take it anymore. She knew he was hurting, but Fanalia was going to collapse on itself if she did not do something soon. Few had realized until now just how much they relied on the constant presence and encouragement of their strong, kind king.

It was not that difficult to find Van. He was sitting on the roof above his room, hugging his knees to himself, and watching the Mystic Moon hover in the sky. This was what he did almost constantly the last few days. Merle sighed, crawled over, and sat down next to him. He did nothing to acknowledge her presence. Merle started gently.

"Van-sama, I know you are sad and hurting, but you can't forget that you are a king. Fanalia needs you. It will fall apart if you don't do something soon." He did not react. She kept going, a bit more urgently.

"You have a responsibility to your people that comes before all personal matters. Have you forgotten that? What happened to the great, self-sacrificing king that you once were?" Still, there was no response. Merle was beginning to get angry.

"Van-sama! You really need to snap out of this! This is not the real you! This is not the great king of Fanalia! Do you really think that this is what Hitomi would want?!" The last comment seemed to cause him to cringe and pull tighter into himself, but there was still no change. Merle finally lost her temper and slapped him. They both sat, stunned for a moment. Then Van finally turned to look at her, eyes wide with shock. Merle made a final plea.

"Please, Van-sama, do not let the Fanalia that both you and Hitomi loved so much be lost because of this." That was enough. Van's eyes gained a more shielded, solemn look.

"You are right, Merle. I am sorry, I worried you so much. I will not fail Fanalia as I have Hitomi." With that, he rose and offered her a hand up. "Come, there is much work to be done." With that, they continued down together towards his advisors and the work that awaited them.

From that moment on, Van was guarded and serious. He worked hard and poured all he could into Fanalia, but his heart was closed off to everyone, even Merle. Van's heart was shattered, his spirit quenched, but he trudge on despite all, for the sake to the kingdom that trusted him.

Well, there it is. I pity Van. I am such a cruel author. Well R&R please! Reviews Updates!