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The Gallant Swordsman: Hitomi and Van are taken away from the burning Fanelia in a column of light. The light brings them down in a forest by a river, but they are seperated before landing. Van does not know the place where the light brought them, but he is certain they are still on Gaea. Hitomi, alone in this new, strange place, holds out her pendant and hopes that it will show her the way. Instead she is accosted by a strange man who saw Van and Hitomi land and has taken a liking to her pendant. She screams out for help! Van hears her and runs in the direction of her voice. Hitomi's cries are also heard by another. A handsome, young man with an owl appears from a small craft on the river and with one swift punch halts her attacker. He goes to check on Hitomi. When Hitomi looks at his face, she sees that he looks just like Amano, but with long blond hair not shoulder length brown hair. Traumatized and thinking he is Amano, Hitomi clings to him sobbing. She then passes out. Her mysterious rescuer picks her up and turns to leave when Van arrives. Van demands that he releases Hitomi and prepares to attack. The man warns Van not to draw his sword, but Van doesn't listen. After placing Hitomi on the ground, the man easily avoids Van's lunge and trounces him soundly. He ponders what he should do with Van and Hitomi as he looks at Van's sword. Hitomi awakens from a dream about Amano with the man who looks just like him sitting next to her. She finds herself lying in a bed in a room full of strange men. Hitomi is devastated that she is not really back home with Amano and begins to cry. The man, who introduces himself as Allen Schezar, a knight of the kingdom of Astoria, tries to reassures her by telling her he will make sure nothing happens to her. Van, who has also just awakened, is then brought into the room. The next morning, Van tells a slightly incredulous Allen, all that has happened to them and where Hitomi is from. Van then asks Allen to return Escaflowne so that he can return to Fanelia. Allen then informs a shocked Van that Fanelia has been completely destroyed. At that moment, a strange flying fortress arrives, unexpectedly, at the Astorian fort. Flying down from it are mechanisms that Hitomi realizes are the same as those which attacked Fanelia. The visitors are members of the Zaibach Empire, an ally of Astoria, though it is plain Allen doesn't particularly care for them. Allen meets with the empire's representative, Dilandau Albatou. Dilandau informs Allen that he has come to replenish their supplies, but he also asks if Allen or his men have seen a strange guymelef in the area. Allen tells him he has not. Abruptly, Van, followed by a worried Hitomi, comes in glaring at the people who destroyed his kingdom. However, it is not Van's blatant hostility that Dilandau takes notice of, but rather Hitomi and her strange appearance. Allen intervenes by saying Hitomi is his new lover and gently kissing her on the cheek. This results in shocked faces all around and successfully diverts Dilandau's attention. Hitomi begins thinking Allen may be the angel she saw in her first dream. To keep them safe, and to keep Van from running away, Allen puts Hitomi and Van in a locked room with no windows. They are not there long when they have a rather strange visitor. Up through the floor comes the man who had attacked Hitomi the previous day! He apparently took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the wrong place. Van "persuades" the "mole-man", as he calls himself, to take them to where the fort's Guymelefs are stored, guessing, correctly, that Escaflowne will be there. In spite of Hitomi's protestations, Van intends to return to Fanelia. Allen, who had discovered that Van and Hitomi were missing, stops Van from leaving in his own Guymelef, Scherazade. Allen challenges Van to a duel. Van gladly accepts, but Allen defeats him. Though Allen does find Van an unexpectedly good opponent. After, the duel, Hitomi has another vision. She tells Allen that he and his men must leave because they are going to be attacked. The Diabolical Adonis: Hitomi tries to convince Allen that he and his men must flee because of the vision she had of an attack. Allen is skeptical and tells Hitomi she should rest. At that moment, one of Allen's men rides up yelling about intruders! But it is not an attack, another of Allen's men approaches with a bound captive thrown over the back of his horse. Van recognizes the captive before the horseman even reaches them. It's Merle! She is battered and worn, but very happy to see Van. She tells him that everything in Fanelia was burned to the ground. All the survivors scattered. Merle had been searching for him ever since the attack. She passes out from exhaustion. Hitomi has a vision of Fanelia burning and faints. Allen catches her and realizes she has a fever. They take the two girls to a room so they can rest. Hitomi and Allen talk as he applies a damp cloth to her forehead for her fever. She worries about how her family must be reacting back home and Allen tells her a bit about his family. His mother died when he was a boy, when his younger sister disappeared. Though she was never found, Allen is certain that his sister is still alive. He tells Hitomi that his sister would be about her age. Meanwhile, Van is tending Merle's scratches. He discovers a small seed in one of her wounds. Apparently he recognizes it because it prompts him to seek out the Mole-man, who is currently being "detained" by Allen. Van asks the Mole-man if he has a specific type of herb, which, not suprisingly given all the other junk he carries around, the Mole-man does. Van takes the herbs and begins crushing them. He tells the Mole-man that it is something his brother taught him. Back up in the room, Hitomi and Merle are now alone and the atmosphere is a bit tense as they examine each other from across the room. Suddenly, Hitomi has a another vision of approaching danger. It is disrupted however, by the Mole-man's unexpected appearance in front of her. Hitomi screams and the Mole-man jumps back, landing at Van's feet, who has just returned with what is apparently medicine. Van sits down beside Merle and gently applies it to her scratches, which makes her quite happy. Hitomi watches this with both curiosity, about where the medicine came from, and consternation, because Merle is gloating about being cared for by Van. She is surprised when Van approaches her bed and, without warning or explanation, pulls back the covers! Hitomi starts to yell at him, until she feels him applying the medicine to a cut on her leg. He tells her that certain seeds from the forest can cause a fever if they get in a wound, the medicine treats the infection. Hitomi seems touched by his consideration, when she suddenly senses the arrival of the enemy. Dilandau leads his troops in attacking the castle with his usual enthusiasm, gleefully burning everything in site. A habit the commander of the flying fortress, Folken, finds a bit excessive. Dilandau reasons that after everything is burned, they'll easily be able to pull the so-called "dragon" their leader Dornkirk is searching for from the rubble. Allen had been expecting Dilandau to attack and had prepared his men for an evacuation. Van rushes to Allen and asks him to return Escaflowne so he can fight the invaders. Allen tells Van that his guymelef is aboard his ship the Crusade because they are leaving. This angers Van, he doesn't understand how Allen can just leave after what the enemy has done. Van wants revenge for what was done to his kingdom and he is perfectly willing to give up his life to get it. Allen tells him that recklessly choosing death isn't courage, a samurai's life is meant to be dedicated to preserving the lives of others. Van is chastised by his words and willingly goes with Allen. Meanwhile, Hitomi and Merle are taken to Allen's ship the Crusade by his first mate . Hitomi asks where Allen is and Merle wants to know where Van is. Gadeth assures the girls that they will be joining them soon. Outside the fort, Dilandau and his troops are waiting for the fires to subside so they can sift through the wreckage. Folken mentions to Dilandau that it is highly unlikely that Allen was not expecting his attack and he should probably consider the fact that in all likelihood the Astorians are escaping through some alternate route. The waterfall near the fort, for example. Dilandau immediately heads for the waterfall, just in time to see Allen, with Van in the hand of Scherazade, jump from a cliff as the Crusade emerges from the waterfall below. The Scherazade lands on the Crusade, and it appears they have successfully escaped, until they see that Dilandau is right behind them. Unlike most common guymelefs, the Zaibach guymelefs can fly, but they are unable to fight when in flight mode, which is why they proceed to land on the Crusade as well. After putting Van down, Allen immediately engages them in battle. Hitomi, Merle and Allen's crew watch nervously from the bridge of the Crusade. Dilandau battles with Allen as his troops cripple the ship in order to stop it. Remembering Allen's words regarding protecting the lives of others, Van determinedly heads for Escaflowne. Van climbs into Escaflowne and dives from the hull of the Crusade. To everyone's suprise, the guymelef proceeds to transform into the shape of a dragon, Van riding atop it, steering with a control-harness. Dilandau sees the transformation and realizes that this is the "dragon" Dornkirk had been speaking of. He and his troops take off after Van. This is, of course, exactly what Van wanted them to do. He flies as fast as he can to get the enemy as far from the Crusade as possible. Back in the Crusade, Merle and Hitomi tell Gadeth they have to go after Van, but the Crusade has been damaged and would never be able to catch up. |
