Not Beyond Recovery
Disclaimer: None of the characters of Escaflowne belong to me.
Note: Welcome to the final chapter!
Thank you for joining me on this little journey and I hope you enjoy this chapter, the cheesiest one by far but hopefully not annoyingly so. I tried to keep the fluff to a minimum but some of it just came out because sometimes I just can't help myself.
I tried to post everything within a month and I'm glad that I made it just in time. This way, at least, there aren't long delays between each post and the self-imposed schedule always helps to keep me motivated to write more.
More notes and acknowledgments below. Happy reading!
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Eries closed the book and sighed with exasperation. Another dead-end. She placed it on top of the quickly growing pile of volumes on the history of Gaea and the origins of Draconians. The royal library had an extensive collection of knowledge but apparently, not extensive enough. She needed more information.
The industrious princess had little enough sleep as it was but she still spent hours every night searching for answers she wasn't sure she could find. And so far, her efforts had proven fruitless. But she was never one to give up so easily. She was nothing if not determined. Especially when a life was at stake.
There has to be something, she thought, some way to prevent this.
But if a solution did indeed exist, she would not be able to find it on her own. Fortunately, she knew just the person who could help.
A few days later, she walked purposefully into the section of the library where she knew she would find Dryden Fassa, nose deep in a book, taking a break from his duties. Although she did not want to impose on him when he barely had any time to himself, she knew he would understand.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," she said courteously, "but there is something I would like to discuss."
"Princess Eries!" he said in surprise, "it seems you have found my little secret lair."
"Believe me," she said with one of her rare smiles, "this was hardly a secret. I just knew better than to disrupt your few moments of respite from duty."
"I cannot complain about the burdens of duty to you," the young man replied, "I have only had to put up with it fairly recently while you have been dealing with it all your life. I know that you would not come here if this were not important. How can I help you?"
"There is a matter on which I require your expertise," Eries explained, "I understand you have read a great deal on the history of Gaea, particularly that of the Atlantis and its people."
"I hope I can be called an expert," Dryden said modestly, "I've studied what has been available but I must admit that there is not much to work with. Nevertheless, I've made a lot of efforts to expand my collection on that subject so I suppose I know a thing or two about it. What is it in particular that you would like to discuss?"
"Tell me everything you know about Draconians," Eries said simply.
There was a pause as Dryden looked at her from above the spectacles that had slid down his nose slightly.
"Forgive me, but wouldn't it better to get your information directly from the source?" Dryden asked, raising an eyebrow though he was already beginning to account for Eries' interest in the subject, "we have, after all, at least two people with Draconian blood at our disposal."
"Of course," the princess answered dryly, neither her tone nor her expression revealing anything of her true motives, "but I think that there are certain things that even they are unaware of regarding their heritage. I believe that well meaning though she may have been, their mother may have kept a number of things from them, Van in particular. But strange as this sounds, I think even Lord Folken might not be completely aware of certain…particularities of his bloodline. In such cases, I believe an outsider's perspective would be most helpful."
"Hmmm," Dryden said, adjusting his spectacles and rubbing his chin thoughtfully. This whole exchange was becoming more and more intriguing and he was already glad that Princess Eries had interrupted his rest with such an unexpected mission. He was certain that this had something to do with one of the Fanel brothers and he was willing to bet that it wasn't the younger one.
"This is clearly a very important subject to you, Princess Eries," the scholar remarked, growing slightly excited, "and it is a very fascinating topic as well. That's decided, then. I will do whatever is in my power to help you find decipher the mystery of the Draconians."
"Thank you," Eries replied earnestly.
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It was a little less than an hour before the next council session. The meetings had been conducted more frequently as of late because of the worsening situation with Zaibach. The Allies were growing more and more concerned about retaliating and so were constantly discussing the best way to proceed. But all these sessions were leaving less time for the people concerned to rest and properly collect their thoughts. Nevertheless, Lord Folken tried his best to conserve his energy for the next meeting. He had no choice.
"Most of them are speaking on impulse, acting out of fear," he thought sadly, closing his eyes with a sigh, "they do not yet realize that this is even more dangerous than any destructive weapon Zaibach can use against them."
When he opened his eyes, he was faced with a welcome sight. Princess Eries had entered the hall alone and was approaching him purposefully. It had been several days since their conversation had been so abruptly interrupted and he hoped that they would have an opportunity, however brief, to speak. He wasn't sure what he would say, only that he needed to see her again. Fortunately for them, no one else seemed keen to arrive at the venue early.
They greeted each other cordially but there was an urgency about Eries' manner that unsettled Folken. She was keenly aware of the limited time they had for conversation and hoped that it would be enough to say all she needed to say. Before speaking she bowed her head slightly, her eyes staring at the ground, as she struggled to gather her thoughts. Folken watched her with concern but did not press her.
"Forgive the urgency," the princess began formally but with slight nervousness, "but there is something very important I need to ask you."
"What is it?" Folken answered with apprehension.
Finding her nerve, Eries took a deep breath, looked up and met his gaze.
"What happens because of the black wings," she said rather clumsily, unable to broach the subject coherently, "is it certain, absolutely certain?"
Taken aback by the way she had asked the question, Folken stared at her for a moment. He saw the hope in her eyes and he almost folded from so fierce a conviction. He honestly did not mind being overpowered in such a way. Still, he could not lie to her.
"Yes," he replied sadly.
"You hesitated," Eries pointed out with a relief that worried Folken.
"I was merely surprised by the question," he explained.
"Perhaps you have not given it as much thought as you should," she said gravely.
"Believe me, Princess Eries," Folken reassured her with a sad smile, "when one is aware of one's impending death, there is very little else to occupy the mind."
"Forgive me," she said earnestly and as he shook his head to show that he had not been offended, she continued, "but that's not exactly what I meant. I was wondering whether you had ever considered finding a way to fight it, of reversing the effects?"
"Princess Eries," Folken replied sadly, "in some cases, we just have to accept our fate."
"Not exactly what I'd expect a scientist to say," Eries continued obstinately, "surely you have at least considered other options, tested other hypotheses I believe is the term used."
Had the circumstances been less somber, he would have been amused. He could already see that stubbornness ran in the Aston family and even saw some of Millerna's spark in her elder sister.
"I must admit, I haven't given that aspect of my situation a lot of thought," he conceded sincerely, "after everything that has happened, I didn't think I deserved another chance."
"But you don't believe that now," Eries said softly.
"No," he replied, "at least, not as much as I used to."
"Then, I am asking you to consider the possibility that you are not bound to this fate," the princess urged, "that there may still be a way to change it."
He said nothing as he contemplated her words. It was heartening to Eries to see that he was no longer determined to die. She knew that he would still need some convincing but she had come prepared for this.
"I know that you feel that you need to be punished," she said carefully, "but if it is atonement you want, surely there is more you can do if you live rather than …"
She still could not bring herself to say the words and was relieved when Folken nodded at her with understanding.
"And you know now that your brother needs you," she added encouragingly.
"I owe much of that to you," Folken told her gratefully.
"You owe it to your own merit," she protested, "if he did not truly care for you no amount of convincing on my part would have made any difference. He would not want to lose you again."
Painful as it was to say all this, she saw that her words had the desired effect on him. Some of his despair seemed to have been taken away and he was pensive, though in a manner less severe than usual. He had turned his gaze away from her and focused on the ground.
"I think I am beginning to believe that my survival actually matters," he whispered incredulously.
"Don't be a fool," the princess cried with unusual fervor, unable to contain herself, "of course it matters. It matters to you brother and I'm certain my sister values your life as well. And..."
She hesitated for a moment, unsure of how much she ought to reveal. She had already displayed an uncharacteristic amount of emotion but somehow she felt that it was necessary to make him come to his senses, to jolt him to his senses.
He had looked up now and was staring at her intensely as he often did and he seemed to be hanging on her every word. She could not turn back now.
"And it matters to me," Eries continued earnestly, "You matter to me."
It was she who turned away abruptly this time, overwhelmed by her own declaration. She had not planned it so but now the words had been spoken and she found that she had no regrets. But she could not look at him just yet.
So she did not see how his eyes had widened at her words and how his expression had softened significantly. He was incredibly moved and felt that there was no way for him to adequately express his own feelings. He was at a loss and yet they were running out of time. Soon, the other council members would arrive and he would have missed a crucial opportunity.
Hesitantly, he extended his real hand to her and to his relief she took it gently.
"Please do not give up on your life so easily," she said softly.
"I will try," he replied sincerely, "although there is very little chance that I can be saved."
"In some cases a little can go a long way," Eries reassured him.
"You are right, as you always are," he said before adding cautiously, "but even if we consider the possibility of changing my fate, there will always be the chance that we will not be able to. And if in the end, we do not have any choice, I hope that you will accept what will happen."
He held her hand tenderly and to his relief she did not pull away. He knew that she was trying to give him the hope that he had so vehemently denied himself and for this he was grateful. But he also needed to make sure that she would not get too caught up in her hope. She was one of the most reasonable people he had ever met so he knew it that she was unlikely to be overly optimistic. Still, he wanted to protect her from as much pain as he could.
"I am ready to face the truth, no matter what happens," she replied, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
"But," she added defiantly, "I will accept that outcome only when we have exhausted all other possibilities and not a moment before."
Folken stared at her in awe for a few moments before nodding silently. She had proven yet again that she was not to be trifled with and he realized that he was incapable of refusing her. Besides, her determination seemed to be contagious and he discovered that most of his fears and doubts seemed to melt in the face of her firm resolve.
With some of his newfound courage, Folken tenderly raised her hand to his lips.
Hope in the future could be a dangerous thing. But they both knew that nothing worth having was without its risks.
-FIN-
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That's a wrap, folks!
Thank you for reading. I hope you like how it turned out because I really enjoyed writing this. Well, a lot of it was also taxing to write but I guess that's because I sometimes got carried away with my emotions. Nevertheless, I'm rather pleased with how this turned out.
I've ended it here because I wanted to keep the story focused on the theme of the title. Initially, I planned to have it only about Eries helping with Van and Folken's relationship to mirror what happened in "A Perilous Pursuit" with Folken helping with the sisters' relationship. Folken and Eries' development was supposed to be limited to the background but then I felt that it was just right to have some significant progress after ten chapters. I hope it doesn't seem rushed.
And I really enjoyed giving Dryden that little cameo. This story has really come a long way from the original idea by konstantya so I hope you don't mind how it evolved into this. I didn't think I would come this far.
I've ended it here for the moment but there's obviously a lot more to be told. I'm a bit busy at the moment so I won't have time to write a decent sequel (threequel?) to this anytime soon. I've got a bunch of things going on in my life right now that I need to prioritize. When I continue, that will probably be the final story because making this a little trilogy is very appealing to me and it seems just right to tie all the loose ends. It's like the two stories focused on sibling relationships with the point of intersection being Folken and Eries' growing relationship. And if anything, the third part will be about the impact of the improved relationships on the future and how all these elements come together for everyone involved. Something like that.
But I ramble. Sorry. If anyone is interested in a continuation, let me know and I might be motivated to write it sooner rather than later. But for the next month or so, at least, I'll be laying low.
I'd like to thank everyone who has read this story and who has put up with some of my technical difficulties when it came to posting full chapters. Sorry again for any inconvenience that may have caused.
A huge "Thank You!" to Millefiore for reading and reviewing every chapter and for sharing all your thoughts about this pairing. I really appreciate all your feedback and I love discussing the characters with you!
That being said, I'm open to hearing from anyone who has any feedback on the story. I cannot stress enough how much I love receiving reviews so please do not hesitate to let me know what you think of my work.
Thank you again and until the next story!