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Memories Of A Feather: Hitomi has a nice dream of being with Allen on Earth, which turns a bit sour when Millerna appears in it. Hitomi falls, and is caught by a winged Van. A glimpse of Van's mother. The Crusade skims treetops. Inside, Allen and his crew are discussing their course and tactics the gist of which is that they will get to Freid while avoiding the Zaibach. Eries Aston talks seriously to her younger sister Millerna. Millerna declares her love for Allen and says goodbye. Hitomi has a vision of angels & falling in which she is caught by Van. Hitomi finds herself standing on the Fanelia palace roof with Merle, watching as a much younger Van sprouts wings and leaps off. Exiled Fanelian knights talk about Balgus. A view of Van's mother standing in what appears to be a very shallow lake. Balgus draws his sword and makes to attack the 'Atlantean' but is restrained by Goau. Goau and Varie meet in the middle of the 'lake'; it seems that she already knows his name. Hitomi viewing this scene thinks that 'these are Van's mother and father'. A birth scene at the Fanelian palace; 'it's a boy, a healthy boy'. The boy is named Van. The boy Van who is trying his wings falls. His mother sprouts wings and swoops up to grab him, tells him not to cry. Goau dies, Folken is designated heir. On the back of Escaflowne Hitomi thanks Van for telling her his story. Merle is the only other to have admired his wings. The Zaibach ruler looks through his telescope, complaining that his vision is in chaos, covered by the shadow of the dragon. Escaflowne is in a forest. Hitomi asks Van where he is going from here. Under a gap in the tree cover, she warns him to wait. Zaibach mecha are flying overhead. Unfortunately they spot a glint from Escaflowne's armour and descend into the forest. Hitomi shouts warnings as Van tries to find out where the enemy are. 'What are they doing?' Dilandau says. Through his optics he gets a glimpse of Hitomi pointing directly at him. Van runs Escaflowne towards the river, and once there tells Hitomi and Merle to jump off quickly. Hitomi leads Merle out of the way. Van's plan becomes evident as the Zaibach mechas' camouflage is defeated by the river water. However, Van gets the worst of a 5 to 1 battle, till Allen arrives in his mecha. He and Van are doing well till Allen sees metal strands flying towards Hitomi and, distracted by this, receives a serious wound. Folken has been watching from a Zaibach flying fort. He speaks to Dilandau, who breaks off and ascends. Allen lies wounded on the Crusade. Hitomi thinks it's her fault. Princess Millerna enters the cabin and discovers to her dismay that Allen is wounded. The mole-man produces a doctor-bag. It turns out that Millerna has some medical skills, and she conducts a proper operation to patch up his wounds. Hitomi hopes that Allen will recover. The Blue-Eyed Prince: The medical operation aboard the Crusade is completed. An audience takes place in the throne-room of Freid Province. The young boy with the coronet is Prince Chid, Millerna's nephew, the son of her oldest sister Marlene, who died three years ago. He is usually addressed as "prince". From his sickbed, Allen delivers a warning about the Zaibach. Folken and Dilandau discuss the flight of the company and Escaflowne to Freid,and the fact that one of Dilandau's youths is a prisoner. At the Freid Palace, Millerna gives Hitomi her bag back and makes friendly overtures, much to the latter's surprise. The fruit of the Folken / Dilandau discussion is evident as Dilandau drops a cyborg shinobi (ninja) onto the roof of a flying vehicle. Van, Hitomi & Merle are talking in the palace courtyard. Hitomi is explaining how her power of finding things works. Meanwhile the shinobi has caught one of Prince Chid's aides and is absorbing his spirit, prior to impersonating him. Meanwhile Hitomi continues her explanation, which develops into a demonstration as Merle, bored, offers herself as a test subject and challenges Hitomi to spot her. Once Merle has hidden, Hitomi is able to point to her immediately. Typically, Merle seems to dispute whether the result was worth fussing over. At any rate, Chid thinks the game is fun and wants his fortune told. The shinobi hypnotises Boris, the officer of the guard to gain access to a young Zaibach officer, Miguel. The shinobi greets Miguel and they talk about "that strange girl" and agree to thoroughly slander Allen & Co. It appears that Miguel was captured after being 'spotted' by Hitomi during the mecha battle in the forest. The shinobi de-hypnotizes Boris, the officer of the guard who, now accompanied by Prince Chid, takes in all the lies. The accusation is that Allen is plotting a surprise attack to abolish the Freid province and incorporate it into Astoria. Allen, Hitomi & co are promptly surrounded and arrested. Miguel is freed and loses no time in regaining control of his captured guymelef. The watching shinobi pronounces this satisfactory. Van is still free, and promptly attacks the Zaibach guymelef in Escaflowne. Miguel assumes that with Hitomi locked up, Van will be unable to pentrate his opponent's camouflage. However Van, possibly aided by Hitomi's instruction, senses his opponent's position and makes a destructive counterstrike, destroying Miguel's guymelef. As Miguel stumbles out, he is dragged into a doorway and strangled by the shinobi. Escaflowne is seized with grappling hooks and immobilized. Allen talks to the Prince through the cell bars; it seems that the Prince's faith in Allen is somewhat restored as a result. |
