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BACK TO NOWHERE by: bluegreen13
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chapter eight: dragons and princessess
“Your highness!” Davin said to the king. “Fanelia is under attack!” “Lord Van!” Merle barged into the room. “I know Merle, Davin told me,” Van said. “We must hurry!” Merle said. “Escaflowne!” “Tell all the samurais to protect Fanelia. Tell everyone!” Van thundered. Merle looked worried. Escaflowne. . . They must get to its resting place quickly. “Who is attacking Merle. Who dares attack Fanelia?!” Van cried. They were hurrying now. And then they saw him. On Dracaena. “Dilandau!” Van gasped. They heard the evil and sinister laugh of Dilandau Albatou. One of their enemies during the Great War. “Celena!” Merle cried. “Hello my little Fanelian king!” he crooned. “I see you and your little catgirl have grown! Where’s your Escaflowne?” He laughed again. A laugh that seemed to warn them that he wasn’t the same as before. He had not grown. He looked the same as he used to. (Yes, he looked like a pretty little boy who, with one look, you can tell is really vain-->sorry Dilandau fanatics!) “Celena!” Merle repeated. “Your sweet Celena is gone little catwoman!” he laughed. “She is gone from this body! This is my own. I am separated from her now! And that makes me even more powerful!” Van glared at him. He was flying low on his guymelf. “Do you like Dracaena? He’s a pretty, huh?” he laughed, touching the scar that Van had given him some years back during the Great War. “Dracaena?” Van repeated softly to himself. “I’m not going to let you get to your precious Escaflowne, your Highness,” he said the last word sarcastically. “Let’s see you try and get past me.” “Father!” he heard someone say. It was Kale. “Kale!” he cried. “Go and get Escaflowne. You are skilled with any other guymelf and I think you can handle Escaflowne now!” “E-e-e-escaflowne?” he stammered. Dilandau kept on laughing. “You want that puny little boy to handle your guymelf?” “He is older than me when I first piloted Escaflowne,” Van said in monotone. “But how about you father?” Kale questioned. “Don’t ask Kale! Just go! You’re Fanelia’s only hope!” --- Dilandau was aiming for Van and for Merle. Not for him. That was probably because Dilandau did not know him and just probably thought that he was of no threat. But that was where he was wrong. His father had trained him all his life for this day. For the day that he will finally get to pilot the legendary guymelf, Escaflowne. “Megumi,” he started. He expected to see the girl behind him. He was going to tell her to hide. But she was not there. “Megumi?!” he cried. Now what. The girl was gone. Should he look for her or head to Escaflowne? He could never forgive himself if something happened to her. But he couldn’t forgive himself either if something happened to his father. Or to Fanelia. “Shayla, stay here,” he ordered the little fairy. “Stay.” --- Megumi stared at the big white “thingy”^ in front of her. “It’s called a guymelf, Megumi,” she muttered to herself. She didn’t know how she knew, she just did. She had a way of knowing things that no one tells her. Just like she knew that Hiroki Izawa was not her real father. She took a knife out and cut herself^. She knew what to do. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to awaken Escaflowne. With a blood pact. “Megumi!” she heard someone cry out behind her. “What are you doing?!” She turned around. It was Prince Kale. “I am waking Escaflowne,” she said matter-of-factly. “Are you crazy?! You cannot do that! Only those of royal blood can!” Kale was frantic, she knew. “Watch me,” she said simply. And so he did. He watched her awaken Escaflowne. He was surprised. “But-but,” he didn’t know what reasonable explanation there was. Megumi knew Kale was surprised. But he didn’t know that she too was of royal blood. That she was the daughter of Van Slanzar de Fanel, king of Fanelia. --- Kale headed to his father again, where he knew Megumi had also headed. When he arrived, Escaflowne was already battling Dracaena. “She’s good,” he whispered. Megumi seemed to know exactly what she was doing. “And she had probably never even ridden a guymelf her entire life,” he whispered. Like a lot more of other stuff, Megumi knew exactly what to do even though no one told her. And it wasn’t a disability that she had her father’s reflexes, his way of controlling Escaflowne. “Kale is good,” Shayla whispered. Kale heard this certain comment and realized that they did not know who was in Escaflowne. “That’s not me, Shayla,” he said. “Kale!” Van exclaimed in surprise. “Kale, if you are here. . .” Merles trailed off. “Then who. . .?” “That’s Megumi.” Shayla, Merle and Van were so shocked that for a minute or so, they weren’t able to say anything. “Megumi?” --- Van looked at Escaflowne and Dracaena battling. “Megumi?” he repeated. Every piece was falling into place. Van knew that only one of royal blood could awaken and pilot Escaflowne. If Megumi could, then. . . “Megumi is my daughter!” he exclaimed. Merle, Shayla and Kale were as stunned as he was. “Daughter?” Van didn’t answer. She just looked at Escaflowne. All of the other guymelfs^ with Dilandau and Dracaena were battling the samurais and their guymelfs. Van felt helpless. He had no guymelf. No Escaflowne. And he just stood there, watching as his daughter battled Dilandau Albatou. Dilandau. Dilandau who didn’t seem to age. Dilandau who looked as young and as strong as he did before. Unlike Van, who looked old and tired. He longed to be able to battle again. But he knew he wouldn’t. He would never ride or pilot Escaflowne again. Ever. --- With one last blow of the sword, Megumi knew she had beaten Dilandau. Dilandau and his own Hispanic guymelf. One he called Dracaena. She had beaten him. But only for the time being. She watched as Dilandau gave the signal to retreat. She watched as they flew away. She got off Escaflowne just to see 4 pairs of eyes look at her intently. Van, Kale and Merle. “Your highness,” she whispered. “My daughter!” Van hugged her so tight that she could almost not breathe. She knew her father wasn’t one to show emotions. Her mother told her that. And she was surprised that he hugged her, if only in front of Merle and Kale. But it also felt good. It felt good to be in the arms of a loving father. Someone who knew cared for you. The last time she felt this kind of hug was the day before Hiroki had died. “Otou-sama,” she whispered back. They both knew that Merle, Shayla and Kale were both watching them with intense confusion. But they didn’t mind. They were in each other’s arms, father and daughter. --- The castle wasn’t that harmed. It was in pretty good condition. Only a few houses in town were in bad shape. But those could easily be repaired. Davin walked on. He had been assigned to see to any major damages around the castle. Walking along the hallway, he heard someone crying. It was a girl. He searched for where the noise was coming from. He reached a dark corner of the hallway and realized that the sobbing had stopped. “Who are you?” a meek little voice asked. He saw that it was Princess Keesha Fassa. “Princess,” he said. “Who are you?” “My name is Davin Meize, youngest samurai of Fanelia,” he answered. The girl broke out into sobs again. He sat don beside her. “Don’t cry princess,” he said, putting his arms around her. “Don’t cry.” The petite little princess looked so frail. So fragile. He acted as if with one wrong move, he could break her into pieces. He let her cry her fears out on his shirt. Inspecting the palace could come later. Princess Keesha needed a shoulder. --- Kale was shocked to find out that Megumi was her sister. He didn’t expect that. No, she really was not her sister, he wasn’t the king’s true son, but did he need to act around Megumi as if she was his sister? Because he did not want to. She could be his friend, but for some reason not a sister. “Do they expect me to love her as a sister?” he mused. They were all having a little feast that night. To honor Megumi. From Kale’s view, she looked a bit flushed. “She doesn’t like all the attention being given her,” he realized. He watched as his father took of the pendant on his neck. “Take this, Megumi Izawa of the Mystic Moon,” he beamed at her. “It was your mother’s and therefore, I think you should have it.” Megumi bowed her head as the king placed the necklace on her neck. Kale was happy for her. But he was still afraid. Dilandau and his men could attack anytime soon. But then, that was why they did not have such a huge feast. Everyone was still cautious about the happenings earlier. There had just been so much happening that day all at the same time. He did not like parties very much. He felt suffocated. He went out of the palace and into the garden. “I’ll take a walk,” he decided. He hadn’t been gone out for so long (around 10-15 minutes) when he came across the place where he and Keesha had talked that afternoon. *Where is Keesha?* he wondered. But he didn’t ponder over that question very much. She was probably resting. And besides, he saw Megumi there, sitting alone. “Can I sit here?” he asked Megumi. She nodded. He noticed that he had a faraway look on her face. “I’m sorry about last night,” he blurted out. “That was okay. I’m sorry too,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you wanted to be alone.” They sat together in silence. They didn’t know what to say, but Kale certainly felt enlightened. “There you are!” Shayla cried behind them. She forced herself in between the two of them. Though she was so small that it hardly made a difference. Kale stared at Megumi. He knew it was rude to do so but he can’t help himself. She was fingering the necklace Van had given her. “Are you thinking about your mother?” he asked. “Yes,” Megumi said sadly. “I never knew my mother. I only knew Van. I was adopted, did they tell you that?” She nodded. Kale was surprised at himself. He was being very talkative. He wasn’t usually like this. He was usually the one people needed to pry out a word or two out of. And yet now, he was the one who trying to get the girl to talk. Shayla noticed this and flew right in front of his face. “Do you want to go back to the party Prince Kale?” she asked. “Um, no thanks.” Then she flew in front of Megumi. “The guest of honor should be at her party don’t you think?’ she said demandingly. “Um, yes, you’re right. I guess I’ll see you later.” Kale watched as she walked away. She really did miss her mother. Her usual happy face was molded into a more serious one and he could tell that she was in a lot of thoughts. --- “Don’t leave,” Keesha whispered to Davin. She was tired and had a slight fever. Davin had watched as they treated her. She did not want him to leave. “Please stay,” she said again. Davin knew he could not refuse her. Such a sweet-tempered face. So amiable. “Please stay,” she repeated. “I will,” he said softly, sitting down beside her bed. She fell asleep with her hands on his. * * * * * Hitomi sighed. It has been a few days now since Megumi had left. She had told Megumi’s friends not to worry about her. She was fine. But she never exactly mentioned where she was exactly. But she could sense worry in Megumi’s friends. They were genuinely worried about her. “Van,” she whispered to herself that night. “Keep our daughter safe. Oh Megumi.” If only she could talk to them! She longed to go back to Fanelia. Back to Gaea. But she knew that it was her daughter needed there, not her. She didn’t know if she was ever going back there, but she knew that it wasn’t yet time if she ever was. She sighed. She missed her daughter. Almost everything was gone from her now. She had only Yukari left. Her mother was so far away and she did not know what was going on. Yukari knew what was happening, and she was worried. She was the only comfort Hitomi felt those past few days. * * * * * “Why did you fail?” she asked him sternly. “I am sorry my lady,” Dilandau apologized. She dismissed her with her hand. --- Why did he felt obliged to follow every single order she gave him> Maybe it was because it was she who gave him this life again. But he had never been as attracted to any woman as he was towards her. This was the first time. * * * * * Van entered Megumi’s room. She was fast asleep and he saw her as his own fostered son did when he entered her room a few nights ago, with her face illuminated by the moonlight. “You look so much like your mother,” he whispered softly, tucking a lost strand of hair behind an ear. She saw a picture beside her bed. It was propped up by her books. It was her picture with her mother. “Oh Hitomi,” Van picked up the picture. They looked so much like each other, only of different ages. “When are you coming back here?” he asked the picture. He placed that down and sighed. He bent down to kiss Megumi on the cheek. “I promise to take care of her,” he said to no one. But the statement was directed to Hitomi. Hitomi, seeress of the Mystic Moon. To be continued. . .
notes:
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