Everything has been planned and just needs to be typed. This story has come together very nicely, if I may say so myself. Personally, I can't wait to tell it. You go, imagination!
I've been heavily at work on this, touching Rutilus here and there, but hopefully I'll have something for that coming this week. I have had the fortunate opportunity to bounce some ideas off a friend and she's helped a ton with poking that particularly fickle muse awake.
But in the mean time, this one isn't too shabby. Check it out for yourself and I'll see you at the bottom. :)
"…message from that mouse-bastard… thinks he's the…"
Her brain had fallen into a computerized reboot, complete with a humanoid system's update that took several seconds to load.
"The man said she… never mind how much. She doesn't… woman… stupid, don't you think?"
Groaning quietly, she finally registered the frigid stale air that snaked to her very bones.
"Why are you…? I never cared… in the first place. He did have us catch a cute one though. Wonder if I can have some free time with her after she's interrogated?"
"I don't see any problem as long as you keep her quiet. Unfortunately, I'm sure she'll be executed once they get information out of her. You probably won't have enough time to do much."
"It won't take long."
Moving her body a little, she gasped lightly as several hard pebbles pressed roughly into the sensitive skin on her face and chin. To join that discomfort, a jolt of white-hot pain streaked through the back of her skull like a flare, inflicting waves of violent nausea that crashed like continuous oceanic surf in her head. Attempting to move her right hand to assess the damage to her skull, Hitomi's sore green eyes snapped open to see only darkness. Thick dizziness rushed hot in her vision and she swallowed the copious, vile fluid that coated the back of her throat.
"Yukari…?" Her voice sounded so weak; creaky, to her pulsating eardrums. It echoed faintly as if she was surrounded in a metal room- and with no reply. If her friend was in here with her, then she was probably out cold. Or maybe Hitomi was alone? There was no way of knowing for sure.
She yanked on her wrists again and let out a small whimper of pain as something thick and sharp clawed at her tender skin. Her fingers twisted and she felt an icy hard metal in-between her palms. She was tied to a pipe of some sort. The darkness voided any hope of her eyes adjusting to the room. It was pitched black. And frightfully cold.
"I can't believe Heep went through with it." Hitomi jumped, finally registering the voices outside her strange prison. "Honestly, I'm surprised the little guy had it in him."
"He's a rat. It's bred in his bones to be a devious little prick."
Think. She blinked slowly through the obscure darkness, trying to clear both it and the fog that encroached on the sides of her blind eyes. I'm in the dark somewhere. There are voices outside. I don't recognize them. She attempted to sit up slowly, but another ferocious flood of nausea made her press her face back into the pebble-incrusted floor. Okay, new plan. Not moving. With a deep breath, she tried to calm her swirling stomach and the growing knots of fear that angrily twisted her organs. Her trapped arms began to quake. Green eyes dancing in the darkness, she kept blinking; wishing fervently the black would recede just a little for her.
"So, she's from Austuria?"
One of them snorted a laugh. "That's right! Austurian. I bet she doesn't have any information at all and Heep's just gonna waste the big man's time interrogating her. Hopefully, the little smart-ass will get a well-deserved bullet in his smug face when they find she has nothing. Wanna make a bet on how long the interrogation is going to last? I say five minutes."
"Is that counting before or after she's executed?"
"Dude, before! I'm still hoping to get me a piece of that when they are done with her."
"I'm betting an hour or two. Heepie said she knew things. Things only the boss should know."
"Well, whatever it is, I can't complain. If she's Austurian, Fanelian, or from the crazy nomadic people with spikes on their faces - I'm a fan of variety."
"You're a fan of everything with an adequate bra-size."
It was an ice-cold shockwave the moment her jumbled brain finally put her current situation together. She had been taken. The painful throb in the back of her scalp served as a welcome gift from her kidnappers. She was tied up and stuffed somewhere with guards making sure she didn't escape. It sounded like she was going to be questioned… and then killed.
"Yukari?" Hitomi's voice was a little more than a shaky whisper. After the precious name bounced around only once in the frigid room, it fell unanswered. Her struggling mind reeled with the unsolvable questions: How long had she been out? Had Yukari been taken as well? Where was she exactly? Inside some kind of box? What would they ask her? Why did they want her? What was she to them? And, most importantly of all, who were these people?
The voices were male, whispering through deep throats that made it very easy to hear through the ringing silence. They were really placing bets on how long an interrogation would last? Interrogation about what?
Sit up. Hitomi gritted her teeth at the slab of panic and fear. Sit up, you idiot. Sit up! Shifting her curled legs slowly, she tried to lift her face off the rocking ground. The black world swirled like a roller-coaster, but at least she wasn't scraping her face anymore. Fatigued, she leaned heavily against what she could assume to be a cold metal box. The bone-chilling cold inflicted a terrible tremble in her arms and legs.
"I wonder how long they are going to have us stand here. She's not going anywhere."
"We will stand here as long as they order us to."
"I wonder if she's awake."
"Do not open that hatch."
"Man, chill, I just want another look at her. I barely got to see that figure in her thick coat when they carried her in. I bet she's a curvy one." A clinking jingle of keys rang softly muffled. Hitomi's heart clenched and she pulled her legs up to her chest for protection. Something hard pressed into her lower stomach under her jacket and she felt another spike of panic.
Her father's journal! They hadn't found it on her yet. Whoever they were certainly would find it if they searched her. The excited man outside sounded like he was ready to begin that process. Wishing she could hold the book in her arms, Hitomi tried to draw strength from the little remnant of her father.
She couldn't let them take this away from her.
"You're breaking orders! You should put those keys away!"
"Just one look, man! I gotta have something to hold me off until they are done with her."
The other man sighed very loudly through a whistling nose. "If you get caught with it open, don't rope me into it. You're the one the head honcho gave the keys to, so I'm off the hook."
"Yeah, yeah, calm down. I told you I was just going to look, right?"
Something in front of her snapped with a solid click. A loud grating screech made her teeth grit at the thorn-stabbing pain that rocked her head sickeningly. It was opening from the bottom like a hatch-backed freight truck. The minor illumination that flooded the room still burned her sensitive eyes, but at last she could see where she was. The room she was in was hardly big enough for her to fit. Filled with towering metallic boxes and strange barrels, she was tucked in the corner with a small, one-man crate carrier pressing her into the cold, rigid, tin wall. Tugging on her hands fruitlessly, she breathed shakily at the raw skin on her wrists. She was tied to the carrier and it was weighed down by those same heavy metal boxes. There was no way she could pull herself free and escape.
Wishing she could shield her watering eyes, she squinted as the thick hatch continued to heavily grade against the tin walls - and she finally saw the faces of her kidnappers. The man who was opening the light-proofed door smiled with a shadowed face. Her green orbs widened further as she focused on the multi-green uniform he was wearing. The lightning insignia on his right chest glinted like a living nightmare. The despairing terror that rocked her made her stomach hurl. Leaning over between her tied wrists, she finally vomited.
"Not the sexiest thing I've ever seen, but she'd definitely do." As she choked up more sour bile, she barely registered the Zaibachian guard making motions to enter her half-lit prison. "I don't know if I can wait, man. She's even crying."
"Dude, you're sick." Came the other low voice of the other man behind him. Tilting her head through the gap in her arms with tears streaming down her cheeks, she saw the disapproving frown of his comrade. "She even barfed on her lap. You have to touch it to get in her pants."
"I can handle dirty."
"I thought you were going to wait till after she's interrogated?"
"What if I never get another chance? You're right. They'll probably kill her as soon as they are done."
Tucking her face inside her trapped arms, she began to weep softly.
Two noiseless swishes, a loud thud, and a "what the hell?" followed by another immediate swishing thud caused Hitomi to press herself even further against the metal storage that was serving as her prison cell. Keeping her eyes continually buried in the crook of her elbow, she felt a strange warm wetness dampening her shoes and pants. Looking up sharply, she let out a wild cry, pressed her back as far into the cold tin wall as possible, and covered her face again. The green-cladded man - who had just finished climbing inside - had fallen forward, blood spilling briskly from his severed neck. His head rolled further from the carrier and hit a thick barrel with a sickening bump. As the iron stench of blood washed over her and the lukewarm, black liquid soaked more of her pants, she gagged again, nothing to vomit, but enough to be sick about.
Light steps tapped gently up on the tin floor and she heard the quiet shaaaalink of a sword either being drawn or sheathed. She could feel the stare like a silent shadow.
She couldn't lift her head.
She was paralyzed.
Biting her lip so hard it bled, she waited for the end. Whatever had decapitated that soldier was with her now. Walking casually forward as if it could wait forever before putting an end to her pathetic life.
It stood now.
Right in front of her.
Dad... wherever you are. I love you. Hitomi thought bracing herself for the inevitable blow. Clenching her fists, she waited.
And waited.
And waited.
More blood drenched her pants, right to her very skin. Suddenly, she felt a warm finger press on the back of her neck. Glancing up quickly at the touch, the last thing she registered before the darkness took her consciousness was a tattered baseball cap.
The first thing to sneak in through her oblivion was the smell.
Like a meadow. Only with a bit more of a wild side. A forest, maybe? Nah, not that wild. This was more contained, yet it was still – in its own way – free. Breathing a little deeper, she turned from her side to her back and a sharp pain shot from the back of her skull as the pressure hit it. A whimpering groan combined with a gag woke her completely as she rolled back to her side; the waves of nausea hitting full force on her empty stomach. Clamping her trembling fingers over her mouth, she leaned over the side of the strange, ragged bed she was lying on.
"Throw up if you can. It will not help the head, but maybe the stomach will settle."
She froze, her green eyes popping open immediately. She knew that voice… that accent. The flash of soulful eyes ripped into her memory.
Zipping her rocking vision forward, she saw the navy-capped man leaning easily against a hole-filled wood-paneled wall near a door that was hanging off its hinges. Flipping her eyes around the room, she scanned the torn small room for some sign of familiarity. Her breath became shorter as the realization hit her and the panic slowly set in. The man – who watched her with the ease of a large cat watching its prey - was still in his torn pants, but his jacket was gone. Standing in a loose gray t-shirt, his tan arms were crossed, his face shadowed by the bill of his cap. Glancing at the floor, she spied a loose board of wood lying on the ground between them and scrambled down off the bed to grab it. Her legs tangled in the thin blankets and she ended up tossing herself ungracefully to the floor. Pulling up to her hands and knees with black and white stars winking happily in her eyes, she grabbled blindly for the makeshift weapon, tightened her weak grip, and held it pointed at where she thought he might be.
"I am more to the left." The man's voice held a bemused tone. It increased her anger - and her terror.
Shaking her head to clear her blurred eyesight, she choked out, "Don't come near me! I'll beat you within an inch of your life!"
"What a fearsome warrior." The sarcasm burned.
"I want out!"
"You may want to cover yourself first."
"W-what?" Through her fog, she glanced down to see her legs bare all the way to her pink underwear. Only her thin white t-shirt covered what was left of her dignity. Sucking in her breath, she had only begun to let forth her scream of horror when the man was instantly right in front of her, forcing her injured head against the mattress of the bed; his warm palm affixed to her open lips. His other hand grasped the upraised wooden board, wrenched it out of her fingers, and tossed it over his shoulder where it clacked uselessly out of her reach. Green eyes wide with panic, she struggled against his hold, but he caught her firmly. Her exposed legs hopelessly pinned by his knees and calves.
"Stop-struggling," he hissed between his teeth as she tried to shake him off with her free hands.
Her fingers lashed out to his face, knocking his cap off his dark head. A prick of light brown eyes dashed with hints of red flickered into her; causing the unexpected wave of sadness and pity that momentarily froze her actions. His jaw was in a stern line; the tan skin of his face lined with simmering annoyance. He took her shocked moment to pin her hands together over her head.
That woke her.
She fought with all her might against his grip; trying to free her hands. The raw skin from before flickered sore pain in her wrists and enveloped her brain with a wide-scale terror.
"Be-calm!"
Fighting against him with everything she had, she slid further down the side of the bed, her wounded skull hitting the mattress periodically with her struggles. She tried to bite his palm, but it was clamped so hard on her mouth, she was seeing black streaks in her vision from the throbbing agony in her head.
"You-are-going-to-hurt-yourself," he hissed shifting to straddle her stomach and stop her rocking hips. She slipped all the way to the floor and her wounded head collided painfully with the floor. Heat raced to her face as a shrill ringing in her ears blacked out her vision and her sense of awareness for a few seconds. Through her delirium, she continued to lift her hands to fight him while also fighting for consciousness. He trapped her fingers above her head once more, pushing them into the wooden ground. He leaned to her face and she blinked drearily.
"Do not scream. Your clothes are being washed by my servant. You had blood all over you. That is the reason you are not clothed properly. There is nothing to be afraid of here." He whispered the words fiercely, staring fully into her foggy orbs. His face was an inch from hers. She saw the bags of weariness under his bright eyes and her panic simmered. Noticing her attempts at catching her escaping breaths, he leaned away slowly, but still held her mouth and hands captive. "I will not harm you. You have my promise. Do not scream." He released her arms and mouth.
She groaned while a drilling spike of agony washed over her, sucked in a deep breath, and groggily asked, "Where am I? Who are you? What happened to those people? Did you kill them? Where's Yukari? Why did you-"
His leaned forward to cover her mouth again, this time a lot more gently. "You are in the house of Chordata, my most trusted servant and friend. She lives not far from Fanelia's borders, in-between Arzaz and the Felucca Plantation in the Dragoon Forest. You are safe." He released her mouth again. Hitomi's eyes locked on him just as he flicked his mahogany gaze on her. As their eyes met, the flash of pity returned full force in her stomach. His face was stern, strong, trained. But his eyes…
Those eyes…
"Where's Yukari?" She blurted out. A wave of dizziness made her break eye contact with him and she swallowed the pain down between clenched teeth. She was really starting to regret fighting him. He still sat on her, holding her legs still. More blood rushed to her face: this time for a completely different reason.
This was quite the awkward position.
"What happened to my friend? Is she here?"
"Chordata has found your friend's location. She is still in the custody with the Fanelian Police Department." His expression gave a flash of regret before switching to guarded neutrality. "I am not sure if she is in danger with them or not. They will question her, without a doubt, but it will be proven quickly that she knows nothing."
"What do you mean, 'question'? She's with the police? She didn't do anything. They can't take her without some kind of warrant!"
The man exhaled slowly. "Zaibach tried to take you. Why not your friend as well?"
"Are you saying she's kidnapped because of me?" Yukari's smiling face floated from her memories and she felt her eyes burn from tears.
"She is in custody with the Fanelian Police. They will not kill her unless they decide she has information worthy for the Zaibach Elite. If they can prove she knows nothing, then she will survive."
"How could this have happened? I was just here to continue my research."
"Very controversial research," the man remarked in a voice pitched lower than normal. It vibrated her stomach and set chills down her spine. Hitomi opened her mouth, but her brain focused with the word 'research'. Reflexively glanced down at her t-shirt, her heart squeezed in horror. "My journal! It was in my coat when I was in that metal place! Where is it? I have to have it-"
The man pointed a simple thumb to the door. "It is safe downstairs. I have been looking over it."
The rage at his blunt invasion of privacy made her want to start struggling again. "Get off of me!" She growled. Obviously taken back by her rampant mood swings, he complied; lifting his body elegantly with his athletic legs, and practically floating into a cross-legged place right beside her prone body. She pushed herself up despite her brain protesting loudly against her movements. Bracing herself with her hands, she shot him the best glare she had in her arsenal.
"How could you just read it!? That is private and personal and… and… you just invaded-"
"It is an astounding piece of work. No wonder you were so knowledgeable during the tour. Even the sketches of the Escaflowne were exquisite."
Hitomi's livid speech halted with the unexpected showering flattery.
"Do you know why Zaibach wanted you dead?" he asked.
"I-I..." She floundered, her brain jumbled for more reasons than one.
"You are strange. I never expected to find someone, who not only believes, but has dug for the truth and found actual answers. More than I have ever found. But you obviously do not realize how much danger you put yourself in. Your friend might be released, but Zaibach will be hunting for you." The short-haired girl's back straightened with anger, but he wasn't done. "Your knowledge about Balgus, about… the royal family… it is surprising. I wondered why that little mouse-man did not have you taken when you first stepped into the Winged Palace." He let out a deep breath, his lips twitching upward. "And you stupidly travel to Fanelia and wave your discoveries to the world like a proud banner. You obliviousness almost got both you and your friend killed today."
"Who are you to say-"
"Who am I? I am the reason you are still alive." His mouth pressed into the straight line with disapproval. "So far, you have attacked me, yelled at me, and made me wonder if I made the right decision bringing you here."
Hitomi bowed her head slightly with a burning rush of shame. "I… I guess I should thank you for that."
"No need. I saved you for my own purposes."
"What purposes?" She asked with a twitching eyebrow. His comment brushed away every ounce of shame she had and replaced it with irritation.
"Your book. The journal as you called it. I had to know what was inside."
"So, you spared my life only because of my research." Her voice betrayed her annoyance. The man's mahogany eyes narrowed.
"You are angry even though it should be a relief to you that I stepped in and saved you regardless if it was for the journal or not."
She crossed her arms with a huff. "Well, you'll be disappointed to know I didn't do any of the initial research anyways. Probably should have just left me to die."
He shook his head, "You know too much to be unimportant. I have noticed the differences in writing styles in the journal. I suspected as much. Who is the other writer?"
"My father's. The journal belonged to him. I'm just continuing it."
"So, it is your father..." He raised a finger to his lips and tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"My father told me his research was the most important thing he'd ever do in his life. You could say he abandoned his family for it." The man remained silent, so Hitomi continued. "He was gone a lot when I was younger, but he wrote to me often. Mom and him had divorced by then. His letters came from everywhere: Guitoma, Freud, even as far as across the Hissing Sea. I've studied his notes during that particular voyage and I think he was trying to find the last Atlantian civilization. He must have put himself through so much danger and stress, but he always wrote to me..." she faltered a bit, looking away from the man's studious eyes. "Father's last letter came from the very heart of Zaibach's capital city: Dorn. It was several months after that, his journal arrived in the mail with no return address. There has been no word from him for twelve years."
"That is not helpful..." He murmured to himself.
She hardly heard him, pushed by her confession. "I hated him for a long time after the letters stopped. I finally took courage and read through his journal. Reading his writing... it changed me. I decided to continue his legacy. He was on to something. Something that was more than what it seemed."
"Zaibach must have found where he was hiding and took him. He is dead then," the tan man announced bluntly. Her sore head bent and she focused blankly at her bare legs, which were still spread on the wooden floor. She shivered, feeling a cold rush up and down her back.
"Just like they took me?"
"Just like they took you."
"You really think he's dead."
"Why would they keep him alive to tell tales? They were going to kill you to ensure their treachery continued."
"But you killed them."
"To save your life."
"Why?"
"I have explained why."
She pressed her lips as another rise of frustrated anger churned in her already sour stomach. "I asked the right questions in the wrong place? Is that why?"
"Yes." His brow furrowed slightly and he continued to tap his tan finger to his chin thoughtfully; those mahogany eyes regarded her with a solemn examination like she was a delicate puzzle which he could only solve with his mind. "After thirteen years, four months, and twenty days…" He whispered under his breath.
"What?"
"You must rest," the man announced suddenly, his eyes sparking with quick thoughts. She wished she could see inside his head. Whoever this man was, he was interested in her journal and didn't want her dead. Judging from the situation she'd been in before, this wasn't necessarily a frying pan into the fire scenario.
Actually, he was determined to protect her. That was a definite plus.
With a short nod as if finally coming to an agreement on a heavily inner-debated subject, he gestured to the bed behind her. "You will meet Chordata later. She is taking care of covering our tracks, so we cannot be followed. Your pants will be ready in about an hour. Take that time to sleep. I imagine you are still exhausted."
She was, but that didn't mean she was done with questions.
"Let me ask something." She stated simply, her green eyes narrowing studiously on his tan face. His eyebrows raised a fraction underneath his long hair.
"What is your name?"
The stranger's features lit up for a fraction, but the expression was gone in the second that it had come. "Names are of little importance."
"They aren't to me." She countered quickly. "You know all about my family and research. Now tell me something about you. It's not fair you get all the mystery."
He was still and quiet, contemplating. Finally he murmured, "There are some people in this world who believe with solid proof in their hands. There are others who believe with blind faith. Which one of those are you?"
Swallowing down a mix of wonderment and apprehension, she replied, "Both. It depends on the thing you are speaking about. But what does this have to do with-"
"What do you know of magic?"
She shook her head, still curious and fearful of where this conversation was headed. "Magic is extinct. Died with the last of the dragons centuries ago."
The man closed his eyes and sighed. "I thought maybe you would believe, but I guess not. You so readily denounced the Zaibachian Archives, I just assumed-"
"Believe what?" she interrupted with irritation. "I don't get what I'm supposed to believe here. You are speaking in riddles and about magic. I just asked a simple question. What is your name?"
"Chordata is the descendant of one of my very best childhood friends. I can only believe it was destiny that led her to me that day."
"Descendant?" She whispered the word, her green eyes wide with complete confusion.
The right corner of his mouth curved. Leaning to the left, he plucked his navy cap from the dirty floor and tucked it back on his head. "I was found in an alleyway in Fanelia, burning with fever. Chordata came to me and took care of me. She believed every word I told her." Hitomi remained quiet, the words tangling up her tongue. "This." The man reached down for the golden necklace tucked underneath his shirt. "This is what I meant by 'magic'." Lifting the necklace up over his neck, she saw a simple pink pendant hanging beautifully on the chain. He held it out for her.
"Nice necklace."
"It's the Escaflowne."
The seconds clicked by audibly as she processed.
"WHAT!" Hitomi yelped, scooting away from the man so that her back hit the bed. Climbing up into the ragged blankets, she pressed herself against the wooden-paneled wall and gasped heavily. "The Escaflowne! You're crazy! You are just plain crazy! This whole thing has gotten crazy! Give me my pants! I'm out!"
"It is the truth." The man stood slowly, everything graceful like a cat. It was then Hitomi could sense the dangerously lethal vibe coming from his smooth movements. He was so confident of every footfall, as if he'd calculated this moment so long and hard he could predict every irrational reaction from her. The memory of the headless corpse made her nausea burn her throat with bile. He took three steps closer to her and her heart jumped into a sporadic rhythm. Grabbing the blankets, she pulled them over her legs to her chest in a fruitless attempt at protection. He stopped; his eyes bright underneath the shadowy cap. "I woke in the alleyway. The stone was in my hand." He glanced down at the necklace; the golden chain dangling delicately from his tan fingers. "The Escaflowne and the Energist I had harvested for my dragon ritual had merged into one. Chordata thought I had lost my mind. But I knew what had happened. It was old magic. Magic that decided to save my life for reasons I have yet to discover. And in return, I saved you because you are my key to those reasons. I can feel it."
Her mouth was open, but she had no words. Her trembling fists clenched hard on the blankets. She was dreaming. That's it. Total dream. She'd wake up tomorrow and realize the pain in her skull was because she'd fallen out of bed sometime in the night and hit it on the ground. She'd awaken to Yukari grumbling safely in her hotel bed beside her. This entire messed up world would be behind her; dissipated into a faint nightmare that's she'd only recall on occasion.
The man swallowed and held out the pendant to her. "Touch it."
"I don't..."
"You will have my name and the proof to go with it. Just touch it."
Hesitantly, with shaking fingers, she reached out with her left hand to the small piece of jewelry that swung in lazy circles in the air. Her pointer finger tapped the small pink stone.
And it was gone. The room, the man with the cap, the bed she sat on, everything had been whisked away with a sickening swirl. And in its place, the world settled into a large round chamber. Looking up at the circular platform in the middle of the room, Hitomi saw a huge metallic oval hanging from the top of the ceiling. It was beginning to open like an egg as small beams of light burst from visible cracks. A young dark-haired man stood before it, his back straight, but his legs noticeably trembling. He thrusted something clenched in his right hand above his head. A loud explosion rocked the chamber and made her gasp in fear. The long columns quaked as yet another blast burst open a huge hole in the left side of the room. Turning back to the young man, scared for his safety, her stomach dropped into her knees.
The Escaflowne hissed as it landed with a trembling shake on the platform in front of the boy. The metal creaked, kneeling before him submissively. The boy reached back to yank something from a pedestal almost as tall as he was. A long sword scraped out of the top of the stone. Turning back to the huge white monster, he backed away and took a running leap onto the Guymelef's beautifully sculpted thigh. He plunged his right fist into the power core jewel and the Escaflowne let out another terrifying hiss.
The ceiling shook. The heat scorched her throat. Another eruption of violent rock and marble blasted the left wall completely apart. Paralyzed only to watch, she saw the boy bravely clamoring into the open cock-pit of the Escaflowne. As it shut him inside with release of steam, he swung the Guymelef's huge arm to release the hatch on its massive sword attached to its back.
She could practically taste the sting of death that surrounded the country. Distant wails of death rang like the explosions. Something caught her eye to the left and, as if in slow motion, she turned back to the cracked wall and let out a unheard scream. A mechanical arm floated visibly in the air from just outside the crack. It was pointed directly at the boy, a shimmering void surrounding it from behind.
Invisible enemies.
Stealth-cloak technology.
Hitomi could see it. The fury of flames that would protrude from the mouth of the arm and doom the boy to a fiery grave. Her burning eyes didn't catch a large man entering the chamber until he leapt like a bear defending her cub. His massive sword crunched through metal and gears; slicing the hidden Guymelef's arm completely off.
"Balgus, no!" She heard the boy scream from the Escaflowne. The white Dragon Armor took a thundering step forward.
"Take the Escaflowne and flee, Your Majesty! You must! I will buy you time!" The man's deep voice roared out through the continued blasts. The chamber was coming apart. As the warrior launched himself yet again to the invisibly enemy and plunged his weapon inside the cock-pit of the Guymelef, it burst with a silver metallic liquid, which bubbled and hissed. Another tremor rocked. The columns at the back collapsed. The older man – still perched on his fallen adversary looked to his left suddenly as another crumbling gap appeared in the walls.
The man's large, strong body was knocked away as easily as a tossed doll. The penetrating metal shot burrowed deep into his scarred face. As he fell, she vaguely heard the boy's scream of rage and agony. This was too much. Why was she seeing this?
Wanting to cover her ears from his cries, wanting to escape this horror she was witnessing, she still couldn't stop herself from watching the beautiful Guymelef take several more stumbling steps off the platform, its long red cape billowing in the fiery breeze. Another bursting shake, more rocks and marble crumbled to the ground. The chamber was about to collapse.
A sparking smell of ozone instantly sizzled with the poisonous vapors of the raging fires. She joined her scream with the boy as a large beam of light blasted into the chamber like a thunderbolt and landed with a ferocious illumination all around the boy and his Guymelef. She had to cover her eyes from the sheer brightness and it still burned her underneath her eyelids.
And then it fizzled out, the world grew dark behind her closed eyes. Opening them swiftly, her heart pounded with the falling debris.
The boy and the Escaflowne were gone.
And only a small echo from the boy's screams remained.
She felt like she was being pulled out of a thick liquid, her body yanked violently backwards. The vision swirled with a sickening mix of colors before settling into the wood-paneled room she'd left. The pendant suspended near her fingers, her green eyes immediately filling with burning tears.
"Do you know who I am?" The man stood with his feet planted firmly on the ground. His eyes shadowed by his cap. She stared up at him, several tears escaped down her cheek, and nodded.
"Do you believe me now?"
She nodded again.
"Escaflowne has shown you the truth. I have been trying to search for the answers about why I survived, why I was taken here, to this time of all places, but I… I realized long ago I cannot do this alone. When I saw you, I just knew." He lowered the pendant to his side and swallowed visibly. Then the man lifted his other hand and whipped the cap off his head. Her breath caught.
"Will you help me?"
He dropped to his knee so unexpectedly she let out a small squeal and pressed her back into the wall once more. As he bowed his head, his shaggy black locks draped to covered his face. She looked him over. The knees in his pants were worn with wear and tear. His t-shirt was slightly untucked and wrinkled. She saw a brown stain on the side of his pants and remembered the two men he killed to save her.
And yet he bowed to her with the grace of a prince.
No, a king.
"I will." The words escaped her throat without another thought. His head raised back up to her quickly and the side of his lip curled again.
There were many things that had happened to her since she had awaken from her hotel bed. Many events she couldn't explain even if she tried. So much information had been tossed in the air, and even without the help of her damaged skull, she'd probably still have issues understanding it all with perfect clarity.
But there was one thing she understood without any doubt in her mind. She understood why the feelings of pity and sadness were so strong every time she looked at this man.
"I will help you, Van Slanzar de Fanel."
So... be honest, who didn't see that coming? No seriously, I'm actually curious because I tried to make it not too obvious, but I feel like it so totally was. Maybe that's just me. Whatever, cat's out of the bag now - or so the cliche goes.
Like I said at the top, this story is all planned and its a pretty good one. I hope you guys like it because I think its got some potential to be pretty great. A lot of mysteries are coming your way, so be excited. There is a song tied to this story if any of you want to get a glimpse at what I'm listening to when I write. It's 2-1 by Imogen Heap. You might even recognize a couple of words from the song in the story. It's fantastic.
Well, better get back to Rutilus.
Thank you for reading. I would love to know your thoughts...? ;)
blue...