Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or Rurouni Kenshin!
What will befall Van now?
Enjoy!
Sunlight shone on the dark-haired boy's face, waking him. He squinted his eyes as he opened them, finding himself to be in a cave, something smooth sliding off his skin as he sat up.
"Have you recovered, sir?"
His eyes widened when he found himself in bed with the sea maiden. As far as he could see, she wasn't wearing anything, but as he thought about it…
He was naked underneath the sheet.
Flushing darkly, he searched for his clothes, but found nothing around him. The mermaid sat up with him, and he found, to his relief, she was wearing a black top, but he didn't know about the lower half of her.
"Is something the matter?"
"Where are my clothes and why aren't you dressed right?"
"Oh. You don't need to worry about me, unless you don't like the feel of fish scales next to your skin."
She pulled the sheet off her, revealing a shimmering gold tail with two sets of tail fins. He stared at it for a second, almost disappointed she wasn't in her other form.
"Where are my clothes?"
"The seawater ruined them, dying them to an unsightly color. But I can easily fix that, if you need new ones."
Waving a hand, the water in front of them formed a blue tunic much like his old one, and pants and boots exactly like the ones he'd previously worn. He yanked the shirt over his head, then turned from her to pull on the pants, leaving the boots where they sat. He then noticed that his pendant and sword were missing.
When he turned back to the mermaid, she had changed to her other form, the top extending into a dress, her legs bare. He was stunned by her beauty, but asked, "Where's my sword and pendant?"
"I kept them hidden so they wouldn't be found by any of the sea creatures that visit me. They like to take human things, but if I'm here, they usually won't bother my belongings."
She held his sword and belt out to him, which he buckled on immediately, but she gazed at the pendant, dangling it before her eyes. "What is this 'pendant', sir? It's unlike any gem I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen every gem there is in this part of the world."
"That is one of a kind, from where I live. It was forged from what my people call a drag energist."
"Drag energist? What does it do?"
"Nothing really, it's just a gem that the girl I loved liked to wear."
The mermaid handed it back to him, blinking a little. "In my experience, every type of jewel and stone has a certain power. That one seems to hold more than even I have seen before, even the Demon gems."
"Demon gems?"
"Yes, I have some of the largest ones ever made. The larger they are, the more power they have. They sink with all the demon ships that are destroyed by pirates. They are made when a demon cries, which isn't often."
She sat next to him and lifted one of his feet. Looking into his eyes for a moment, she slid a black chain over his foot onto his ankle, it constricted so it fit perfectly, a glowing red gem the size of a fifty-cent piece embedded in a pendant on it, tiny ones within the links of the anklet. A/N: They don't really make those coins anymore, but they used to be the largest coins in America, if I remember right. At least an inch across, I believe.
"You're giving this to me?" he asked, gazing at it with wonder.
"I know you aren't a greedy man, so I know you don't seek me for the treasure trove only I know of, or the constant luck I symbolize. If I may ask, what do you want of me?"
He looked down, then murmured, "I just want love again. You're amiable and seem to be interested in me too."
Her eyes shone with interest. "You just want me for…me? Not for my beauty or anything else?"
"No, I was attracted to you because of your personality. Your beauty helps some, but that's not the thing I noticed at first."
A slow smile came to her lips. "Thank you…"
She lifted him up, making him jerk in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"I must return you to your ship. They must think you're dead by now. Oh, and one more thing: never show the gift I gave you to any man. They will covet it the moment they see it. Demon gems are worth more than the purest gems on the surface."
He pulled on his boots before she plunged them into the ocean, holding his breath until they surfaced again, her swimming fast as a dolphin towards the Hitokiri.
I'm starting to go towards the ending of a couple of my fics, although this one has a little more until it's done. After losing all my data, I have to make new fics or try to rewrite the ones I had before shudder that's a nightmare...
I think I might change where this fic is so it might get more reviews, so for those who're reading it on the crossover part of the site, sorry!
Please review!