-63-
The talker looked as though he was about to charge at Kerenai. She pulled out her sword just enough so that he could see that she had it. He hesitated for a moment, and then attacked. He swung a punch directly at her head with the brass knuckles. She ducked under it and gave him a swift punch into his big stomach. He doubled over and she took her sword blunt of the and knocked him out.
The nine other bruits seemed a little startled, but their surprise turned into contempt, and they all charged at her at the same time, except one, who stood back for a little bit.
Kerenai tried her best not to hit any of them with the blade of her sword. After all, they were not at war. She knocked down one. Two. Five. Six. One of them was giving her a little trouble. He had a long staff. Finally, she cut the staff in half with her sword. But while she was unguarded, he punched her in the face. The other was about to try to strangle her with his nunchucks right after she was hit, but she elbowed him in the chest and brought her head back quickly to hit him in the head. He fell down.
She continued fighting the one with the now-short staff, and tried to look around to find the tenth guy, but he was missing. It hit her that the one guy missing was the one she thought might give her trouble. That made her very nervous. Maybe it took too much of her attention, because the man she was fighting had laid two more blows with the splintering staff. Her focus returned to him and she decked him, taking him to the floor with a broken nose.
She looked around her to find the tenth man, but she couldn't see him. It was like he had disappeared. Suddenly and silently, a firey-haired man attacked her from behind. He had been lurking in the shadows. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her backwards. Then he grabbed her hand and forced it behind her back until the hand dropped the sword. She screamed in pain. "Listen, missy. I've been watching you fight. You're very good," Kerenai was trying to struggle out of his grip, but he pulled her hair harder. "You need to stay focused, though. I could easily snap your neck right now for doing that to my men, but I won't. It would be a waste of talent. What's your name, girl?"
"Kanzaki Hitomi, the girl from the Mystic Moon, you bastard!" Kerenai spit in the ginger man's face. Her hair was pulled very hard for that. So hard, she collapsed to her knees. "Note to self: cut hair" she thought.
"What's your name, girl? Before your pretty little nose gets broken."
"Kerenai. Kerenai Ritoka!" she screamed in pain. "Note to self: practice self-discipline" she thought.
"Just as I guessed. The Knight Caeli. What an honor. You are very easy to torture, Ritoka-san. You should practice self-discipline. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is D'Artagnan. You may call me D'Artagnan."
Kerenai rolled her eyes. What was with this guy? "Nice to meet ya, D'Artagnan," she said condescendingly. "What kind of a name is D'Artagnan, anyway?"
"Oh, why, Kerenai, it's French. For you see, I am a Frenchman."
"French? Where's French? I've never heard of that kingdom."
"Oh, why, Kerenai, that is because France is on the Mystic Moon." He loosened his grip on her. She struggled free and picked up her sword, facing him. She hadn't met with much resistance from him this time, as though he was letting her go. "Farewell, Kerenai. We WILL meet again," and with that, he disappeared back into the shadows.
"Kerenai!" she turned to the source of the voice. It was Shiro. He was running towards her, soaking wet. The rain was finally starting to let up now. "Are you okay? You're bleeding!"
Kerenai touched her hand to her forehead. She was bleeding. A lot. Her shin was bleeding, too. She could see her shin because her entire dress was shredded. She thought that a few of her fingers were broken, too. Those guys had really hard heads. "I should be okay. I'm just cold."
Sure enough, she was shivering. She was so cold that her fingers were almost blue. Her hands couldn't hold the sword anymore, and it fell to the ground. Then, slowly, she fainted. Shiro caught her. He picked up her bag and sword and slung them over his shoulder. Then he picked Kerenai up and started running towards the palace.
-64-
"Where is everybody?" The palace was abandoned, it seemed, at dinner that evening. It was just Van, Merelu, and Hiroki. "Chu-ni, I expected him to go off and not be at dinner. But Allen, Serena, and Kerenai? They know that they should be here. And where is Shiro? He's never been this late for dinner. That boy…" Just then, Shiro, soaking wet, came bursting into the dining hall. He was drenched in blood, but it did not look like it was his own. In his arms was what looked like a rag doll. Shiro was panting. He had been running.
"Oto-san! Get the doctor! She's bleeding!" Van was flabbergasted. He didn't know what to say. Luckily, Hiroki was there.
"Take her to your room, it's the closest, and put her on your bed. Elevate her head, and cover her with blankets." Shiro ran to his room. "Van, call the doctor. Merelu, come with me." Van came to his senses and ran off to get the doctor. Merelu and Hiroki followed behind Shiro to his room.
"Okay, Shiro and I are going to leave the room. Merelu, take all her clothes off. She's wet and soaked with blood. Her temperature is dropping. She'll die if she doesn't warm up." Hiroki reached out to Shiro to lead him out of the room, but Shiro pulled away.
"I'm not leaving her. If she dies, it's my fault. She got lost. I…I…" Merelu had started to take Kerenai's clothes off. Shiro turned beet red. "I…I think I'll wait outside," and he rushed out of the room.
-66-
"Well, she's got pneumonia, and I've gotten the bleeding to stop for now. She's still unconscience. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't wake up until Tuesday. She suffered some serious blows to the head. What happened to her, exactly?" The doctor looked a little concerned. There wasn't much you could do for pneumonia, except pray.
"She got attacked by some men. They seemed to be in worse shape than her, though. Is she going to be okay, Doctor?" Shiro was worried. She had to be okay. She just had to be.
The doctor smiled, mostly to make Shiro stop worrying. "If she gets through the pneumonia, she'll be fine. You have to keep blankets on her, and keep the fireplace stoked. You can't move her, either. Not just yet. You'll have to find another room to sleep in for now, Shiro-miya. Oh, and change the dressings on her shoulder, shin, the back of her head, her forehead, and her hip twice daily. I left rubbing alcohol and gauze on the bedside table. Don't worry, though, I'm sure she'll be fine." The doctor didn't know if she'd be fine, though. She looked as though she might be developing an infection on her hip. That plus the pneumonia and the amount of blood she lost, he didn't know if she'd even make it through the night. He wasn't going to tell that poor boy that, though.
Shiro was standing in a warm field. He was near the sea. He could smell the salt air. When he turned around to look at his surroundings, he realized that he was actually in a graveyard, not a field. He looked a little more. He was not the only one there. There was a woman and a man talking. The man looked very familiar, like Allen-san! He didn't know who the woman was, though. And before one of the graves, a girl about his age was kneeling. She didn't seem to be praying, though. She was looking at a butterfly. She reached out her hand and grabbed it. When she let go, the ground remains of the butterfly floated away in the wind. She giggled. Shiro was suddenly very scared by this girl. Then, a strange thing began to happen. She screamed in pain. The scenery changed at the same rate that her body changed. Shiro and the "girl" were in Fanelia, and the "girl" was a very sadistic-looking man! Then Shiro watched the "girl" fight a redheaded young man. They dueled as Fanelia turned into a bonfire. Shiro was screaming at them to stop, but no noise was coming out. Then, the battle gained three more people; Kerenai, Van, and now Shiro were fighting the "girl". They looked like they were going to beat the "girl", when Allen-san stepped directly in front of an oncoming sword with his hands stretched out to protect the "girl". He was almost cut in half, but he didn't get away without being killed. The "girl" changed back and ran to him, screaming, "ONIICHAN!!!"
Then Shiro woke up.
"Do shite? Do shite? These dreams? What do they mean?" Shiro was practically going crazy. Why was he having these dreams, or illusions, or visions, or whatever you wanted to call them? The much more important question was what they meant. He couldn't keep them to himself any longer. He had to tell someone. He had this feeling as though if he didn't tell someone, and do something, then something very bad was going to happen. He should tell someone he trusted. Kerenai? No, she was still unconscious. Van? Don't think so. Allen-san? Nah, he might get upset because he died in the dream. Merelu! Of course! Merelu was sweet and understanding! Even if she didn't have any answers for him, she'd ask someone else for him. Like that time that Shiro broke the window with the royal sword that he "borrowed," he told Merelu and she broke it to Van gently so that he didn't get into too much trouble. Merelu was the perfect person to tell! She wasn't even in the dream! Shiro put on some clothes. He checked the clock. 1:24am. He sighed and ran out of the room to go tell Merelu right away.
"No! No, it can't be! You can't be! Only Hitomi had…It's happening all over again. Now that everyone's back together, it's happening again!" Merelu looked shocked with terror. Shiro didn't think that ANYONE would ever react to a dream this way! He didn't even know what she was talking about. She was definitely overreacting! Even if it was going to come true, he hadn't even told her about the second dream, the one that he had tonight. "Oh, Shiro! I'm so sorry this had to happen to you! I guess it would make sense, though. You were Hitomi's son, and you were both from the…" Merelu caught herself. She almost told Shiro that he was from the Mystic Moon! How horrible! But this was worse! How could this happen? She had to warn Van! Poor Shiro! The suffering that Hitomi went through, he was going to go through, too. "Shiro, honey, we need to tell your father! It's really important! You are going to be having more and more of these dreams! You're going to see horrible, horrible things! I'm so sorry you'll have to suffer! I know that your mother never wanted you to suffer like she did!" Merelu was crying. She ran to Shiro and squeezed him tight. What in the world was she talking about? Shiro? Suffering? What did that have to do with a dream? He needed to tell her about tonight's dream, though. It was too important.
"Merelu?" She looked up. "Merelu, I had another dream tonight. This one scarred me so much that I had to tell you. I think that you should sit down."
"Dilandau No! Not Dilandau! She CAN'T change back! No! He can't get loose! No! No! Shiro, do you have any idea what this means!?" Shiro looked down at the floor. "Shiro, the world as we know it will be no more! That pyro in your dream is the guy who tried to kill Allen, Hitomi, and me and was set on destroying your father! If he hadn't changed back, I don't know if your father, Allen, or Serena would be alive now! He caused all the fires in Asturia during the Great War! Fanelia was destroyed at this guy's hand! He is PURE evil! He can't get loose! We have to do something!" Just then, they heard a blood-curdling scream from down the hall. It came from Shiro's room. From Kerenai.
"Help me! No! Help! Shiro!" Kerenai was either in pain or scared shitless, Shiro couldn't tell which. He was running as quickly as he could towards where Kerenai was before the cry for help ended.
Shiro ran into the room. "Ah! Stay away! No!" Over Kerenai's bed was a handsome young man. It was D'Artagnan.
Shiro gasped. It was the guy from his dream! Shiro drew his sword and signaled Merelu to stay behind him. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" Shiro sounded angry. That was because he was angry. This guy was scaring Kerenai and making her suffer! How dare he? The man placed his hand on his sword as a sort of threat.
"Don't be rash, boy. If you fight me, I will kill you. Don't worry, I won't hurt milady, I'm here to see how she's doing. I feel so horrible about what happened." He hung his head, then he turned to Kerenai, who still looked like she had seen a ghost. "My dear lady, I am truly sorry. A true gentleman should never treat a lady with anything less than the utmost respect." Van and Hiroki ran into the room, just as D'Artagnan got on his knee and took Kerenai's hand. "Mademoiselle, you are truly the most amazing swordswoman I have ever met. I deeply admire you." He leant his head in and kissed her hand. Kerenai's eyes widened even more, if that was even possible. Then, before anyone could even react, D'Artagnan jumped up, tipped his hat, and leaped out the open window. Van, Shiro, and Hiroki ran to the window to see where he went, but all they saw was black.
Kerenai was shaking. Shiro noticed this and ran to her side. "Are you okay? What's the matter?" Shiro went to Kerenai's hand. There was a handkerchief in it.
"That was…that was the man who…who lead the guys who attacked me. He's the one who…the one who beat me, but let me go. He's…he's…I don't know, I don't know whether to love him or hate him. He's…" Kerenai looked down at the embroidered handkerchief in her hand. "Thank. I'm sorry for screaming and waking you up, but I was really scared. Thank you."
"Dilandau, until you calm down, I can't let you do anything! You need to calm down. I won't let you eat, Dilandau." Dilandau, who had been squirming like a chicken with its head cut off, now sat smiling knowingly at Allen.
"Where are we? This doesn't look like Asturia's holding cell. Where did you take me to? Tell me you blonde bastard!" Dilandau was looking a little stressed.
"Well, we're in Fanelia." Allen didn't want to lie to his sister. Even if it was her alternate personality.
"Fanelia? But Fanelia was destroyed. I burnt it to the ground. It was fun, don't you remember, girlie-boy?" Dilandau smiled snidely at Allen. He didn't seem to mind.
"They rebuilt, Dilandau. It has been a very long time. It's been years. Fanelia is prosperous again." Allen said.
Dilandau thought for a minute. He didn't remember years passing by. All he remembered was Jajuka dying. Jajuka. He was killed by that bastard! Lord Folken's brother! That son of a bitch, Van, the king of…yes! The king of …Fanelia! How perfect! Sweet revenge at last!
Dilandau had flashes. He couldn't quite explain them, though. It started after Jajuka died. He would suddenly find himself in some girlie bedroom with Allen, that bastard. It was probably Allen's room. Dilandau had always guessed that Allen was really a woman! He would talk to Allen for somewhere between half an hour and five hours. Then, Allen would force a funny drink down his throat and that was it. He couldn't remember ANYTHING in between. He didn't even dream! It would almost scare him, but Dilandau wasn't scared of anything.
What in the world? Chu-ni was grabbing his ears as he fell to his knees. What was that noise? It wasn't so much an annoying or loud noise, as it had surprised him, and the source was directly outside the door. He recovered and stood up. It was like a siren. It was really weird. He wondered what it meant. He stopped looking through Merelu's sock drawer and went to see what all the commotion was about.
As Chu-ni slipped unnoticed into the hallway, he was in "stealth mode" now, he noticed that all the elders, samurai, and advisors of Fanelia were running towards the Main Hall. He still had no clue what the problem was, so he snuck to the Main Hall, too.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We have what seems to be an emergency." Hiroki was addressing the crowd of VIPs. "You all have been informed, a long time ago, of the 'visions' of Jo-o Hitomi Fanel during the Great War. We have all been aware of this and dreading that another person from...," Hiroki stumbled over his words, "would fall victim to these 'visions'. Miya Shiro has informed O-Sama, Merelu-sama, Kerenai-sama, and myself that he has been having 'dreams' very similar in description to Hitomi-sama's 'visions'." The crowd bustled. They seemed VERY concerned. Chu-ni didn't understand what the big deal was. "Because of his 'dream', Fanelia is now in a state of emergency. Please, proceed to the Dining Hall, where you will be briefed. As you might assume, this is HIGHLY confidential information, and you are not to speak of this to anyone. It could endanger their lives and the lives of all those in Fanelia.
Allen's head shot up. The siren. He should go to the Main Hall to see what the problem is, but he couldn't leave Dilandau. And he definitely couldn't bring him along.
"What's the matter, pretty boy? Mamma callin'?" Dilandau was being nasty, so Allen decided that it was time to give him the pill. It would take another fifteen minutes for it to take full effect, so he'd still miss the briefing. He could talk to Van later about it.
"Dilandau, it's time for your pill." Allen reached into his right pocket and took out four red pills and a large blue pill. With his left hand, Allen took one of the red pills and put it into a glass of water. The water made some crackling noises until lit made a loud 'pop' and a little gust of red smoke rose over Dilandau, who was struggling to get free. Allen grabbed Dilandau's jaw and poured the concoction down the back of his throat. Allen then stood back and waited. He waited for almost fifteen minutes until Dilandau screamed in agony at which point he ran to him and unstrapped Dilandau, who was now changing back into Serena. Suddenly, whoever it was in the chair stopped. Stopped moving, stopped screaming. It looked up slowly. To Allen's great surprise, he was staring into Dilandau's scarred face. Allen screamed at the top of his lungs for someone to help him as he fell back into his chair. When he turned back to look at Dilandau, he didn't see him. Instead of his evil face, he saw Serena's very confused face.
"What's the matter, oniichan?"
Chu-ni couldn't get into the Dining Hall. Partly because Hiroki and Van were standing at the only unlocked entrance. Also, from past experience, Chu-ni knew that the Dining Hall was built so that you could not hear what was going on inside the Dining Hall without being inside the Dining Hall. But that didn't discourage Chu-ni. He could find some way in!
Chu-ni emerged from his hiding place. He started down the stairs and then jumped the banister, sliding down a column that was conveniently next to the staircase. He started to walk towards the back exit to the Dining Hall, when he saw a mouse. Instantly, he was mesmerized and followed the mouse, forgetting about his plans to get into the Dining Hall. The mouse ran along the side of a wall until it got to its hole. Chu-ni snapped out of the trance when the mouse disappeared into the hole. He wasn't quite sure where he was, but he heard a very curious thing: People talking inside the mouse hole. Chu-ni bent over and looked into the hole to see if he was imagining it all, or if there was some kind of a logical explanation for the sound, although, he couldn't think of one. When he looked in, Chu-ni expected to see a mouse home, whatever that may look like. Instead, Chu-ni realized that it wasn't a mouse hole at all! It was a tunnel in the wall that led directly to the Dining Hall! The best part was that Chu-ni could clearly understand what the people were saying in there! It was perfect! Chu-ni lye down on the floor so he was comfortable as Hiroki closed the doors and continued with his speech.
Shiro listened to what Hiroki had to say even though he had heard it all before, hoping that he'd explain something in his speech. Kerenai was doing the same thing. Neither of them had any idea what these 'visions' that Hiroki mentioned were. He said that Hitomi had something to do with them. The Great War also seemed to have been greatly effected by them, too. But they were never mentioned in any history book either of them had ever read. Hiroki also kept mentioning the pendant that Shiro was wearing around his neck. The one that his mother had gotten from her grandmother. Shiro and Kerenai didn't understand its significance. There was one more thing that they were unclear about. Dilandau. Who was he? He seemed to be a pretty awful guy. He destroyed Fanelia, killed Van's master, destroyed an outpost in Asturia, destroyed Fried, and was intent on killing Van, Allen, Merelu, Hitomi, and some other people. He also 'started the Great War', but who the hell was he? Where was he? Wouldn't he be dead? Or in prison? Or something? If he had been so important, why hadn't either of them heard of him? And how come all the other people in the room seemed to understand?
Van looked over at Shiro and regretted suddenly never telling him any of this stuff. He knew that it would be harder to tell Shiro this stuff now, then it would have been years ago. After the briefing, he would sit and have a nice talk with him. Maybe, he could tell him bits and pieces to soften the blow. Suddenly, Van felt very old. How old was he, anyway? 32? Really? Damn, he was really old! He still couldn't believe that Shiro was 15! He couldn't believe that Hitomi had been dead for ten years. Hitomi. He missed Hitomi.
"And, so in conclusion, I would like you all to monitor Allen Schezar and Serena Schezar closely. They are in serious danger and their lives may be at stake. However, do not be obvious, and do not let on as to what has happened. Just act like everything's normal. Thank you. Good night." Hiroki sat down. It was really tiring to talk to so may people for so long.
Shiro was thinking about what Hiroki was saying about the pendant. How it was the link to Atlantis. He still couldn't figure it out. Why? Why this pendant? It was pretty, and it was his mother's, so he cherished it, but what was the big deal? Sure, it could swing once every second and everything, but that wasn't too useful a talent. What did that have to do with Hitomi?
He put his hand on his mouth and whispered softly, "Oka-san…" He took his hand off of his mouth and placed it onto the pendant.
The hallway he was standing in with all the other people in it, quickly disappeared and Shiro found himself in a strange land. All around him, he saw strange towers, quick bug-like coaches, and lots of people who were dressed funny. He saw lots of young girls that were wearing clothes like the ones that were hanging in his closet. The ones that Hitomi used to wear during the Great War. Shiro looked up at the sky. It was nighttime. But when Shiro looked closer, all he saw was the moon. He didn't see the Mystic Moon! What scared him, though, was that this place seemed so familiar to him.
He saw his mother. There she was, Hitomi, marching down the street! She looked very strange. She was wearing a very strange outfit and was carrying a bag of some sort. She looked very tired and unhappy. When he looked closer, Shiro realized that there was some fruit in the bag. There were other things too, but he didn't know what they were. He watched her struggle with the bag as she tried to open a door to one of the tower. No one stopped to help her.
Then he was inside a strange room. He knew the room! Almost like it was his room! There was someone asleep in the bed, but he couldn't see their face. His mother came into the room. She bent over and kissed the sleeper on the forehead. Shiro was a little confused by all this. The sleeper seemed to have woken up. He sat up and Shiro could finally see his face. It was him! It was Shiro when he was young! He was so surprised that he almost fainted! The younger version of himself was talking to Hitomi about something that Shiro found very interesting. Then the boy put his hands on his mother's pendant and a ray of light surrounded the two of them.
Then, Shiro was left in the dark. Then the blackness surrounded him. Getting closer and closer. There was a crack of red in the black. Shiro was so relieved, until he saw what that red was, as the black fell to the ground. It was blood! Shiro looked down, to find that he was drenched in blood. He looked around. He was watching that battle with Dilandau again. But, it was hard to explain; it was like he was two places at once, because as he watched the battle, he also saw Kerenai and the redhead. And just as Allen sliced in half again, the redhead kissed Kerenai. Then it all stopped with a scream. It was Shiro's voice. He heard the scream, but he didn't remember screaming, as he fell to the ground. Unconscious.
"Shiro? Shiro! Wake up! Shiro?! Shiro?!?" Kerenai, Van, Hiroki, and Merelu were surrounding Shiro. "Shiro? What happened? Do shite? Shiro?" Kerenai screamed. Then she turned to Hiroki and shook him. "What are these 'visions'? Explain the whole thing to me now, very slowly." She drew her sword and stood up. She put the tip of her sword to Hiroki's neck. "Tell me what's happening to Shiro, or I'll slash your neck right here." Hiroki swallowed very hard.
"Okay, okay. I'll explain." Kerenai sheathed her sword. "Help me with his legs first." The two of them carried Shiro to his room.
"Start talkin'." Kerenai said as they laid Shiro onto his bed.
Hiroki, who seemed very nervous, started to explain. "Well, as you know, Shiro's mother was Hitomi Fanel. Otherwise known as Kanzaki Hitomi. Though many people know what I'm about to tell you, they do not speak of it, to anyone, ever. Kanzaki Hitomi seemed to appear out of nowhere just before the Great War started. And just after the war, she disappeared for two years until she returned to Fanelia for about thirty-four hours, and then disappeared again for another five years. When she returned, she had a child with her. That child was Shiro. She married Van-sama and then announced the new miya. The fact that there was a child just made the subject more delicate. Van never wanted Shiro to have to know or worry about this, but Hitomi and Shiro were and are from the Mystic Moon."
Kerenai didn't know how to react. That was just so absurd. She looked down at Shiro. She thought she'd see Shiro, the miya from the Mystic Moon, still unconscious, lying on the bed. Instead, though, she saw Shiro, his eyes wide open. A look of panic on his face. Kerenai gasped. How much had he heard? Obviously, enough, because he ran out of the room in anger and frustration.
Kerenai stood up to go after Shiro, but Hiroki grabbed her arm. Kerenai turned around to see what the problem was, and Hiroki just shook his head 'no'. Kerenai sat back down. "There's a lot more for me to tell you. And don't worry. He'll be okay. He just needs to be alone for a while." Through the windows, Kerenai could see that the sun was coming up. At least he wasn't out in the dark. "Well, during the Great War, Hitomi had these…ano…'things'…which we now call 'visions'. These visions were sights of the future or the past. She couldn't explain exactly what they were, but they were usually very graphic views of battles or people dying. Obviously, she had a mental breakdown of sorts. The things that she saw were traumatic. For instance, she said that she saw Van-sama die at least three times. The weird thing about these predictions she made was that she said that on the Mystic Moon, she had never had any special powers! Also, I assume you know who Dornkirk of Zaibach was. Do you?" Kerenai nodded. She was having trouble understanding all this, but she was trying. "Well, he, as Van, Hitomi, Merelu, Allen, and the others eventually found out, was from the Mystic Moon as well! He also claimed to be over three hundred! After doing some research and surveying people with amazing abilities, we found that residents of the Mystic Moon, although they may have been normal people back on 'Earth', as they call it, have at least one magical power when on Gaea. It may take a while to develop, but they all have at least one. And it tends to be that they inherit powers from their parents. These 'dreams' that Shiro has had recently are his first taste of what's to come." Kerenai sat back. All this was a little difficult to understand, or believe for that matter. She had so many questions.
"What's so important about the pendant though?"
Hiroki understood how many questions she had. He had just as many when he first was told this. "Well, you've heard of Atlantis, right? Well, the Atlanteans had the Fate Altering Machine. That's what destroyed all of Atlantis. You've heard all this in school, right? The Atlanteans used special pendants, made out of the same stuff as draco-energists, that somehow worked with the Fate Altering Machine like a key of sorts. When they created Gaea, and created the mighty, majestic dragon, they gave that gentle beast a key to the Fate Altering Machine, if it were ever recreated, because they were cousins of the Draconians. Don't worry, that's still a little confusing to me, too. But here is where it gets VERY confusing. Was it Allen's grandmother ran away with Hitomi's father? Or was it? Ano…Van? Why don't you explain this part?"
Van nodded. He thought that Hiroki had done a great job so far. What was even better was that everything that he had told Kerenai, he hadn't been there first hand. He had heard all this from Merelu, Hitomi, and himself. "Sure, Hiroki. Well, Allen's father was fascinated by Atlantis. He had also had dreams of a girl. Really confusing. Blahdee blahdee blah. Okay, so he left home to go look for the secret of Atlantis. Big disgrace to his family, so don't mention this to Allen unless you want to pick a fight." Van looked at Kerenai. She had a weird look on her face as though Van had insulted her. He thought that it was her pride about fighting, and went on. "Well, when he got there, he met the girl. She was from the Mystic Moon. It was all very mysterious. Okay, now, she disappeared after a few hours. He trekked on. He found Atlantis. He found everything. He's really happy, etc., etc. Here's where it gets interesting. Zaibach murdered him. They wanted his notebook, in which he wrote the secret of Atlantis. However, he's ripped out the page that they need. So they drop the book and leave him dying in the snow. The girl reappears. He's sad, she's sad. He realizes that there was another purpose for why he had come. He knows that he loves his wife. He asks the girl to give the book to his wife. It gets transported back to Asturia. We now think that the girl transported it there. Before she disappeared again, he gives her a pendant from Atlantis."
Kerenai did not look very confused any more. She was fuming. She was definitely angry about something. Then, just as the anger had arrived on her face, the confusion came back. "Then how did Shiro get the pendant? It doesn't make sense!"
Van smiled. "That's the thing. The girl was Hitomi's grandmother. Because of Dornkirk's studies of fate, it is now hypothesized that Allen's father left home so that Hitomi could come to Gaea. You see, her travel here was all linked to the pendant in one way or another. When Hitomi died, I wanted Shiro to have the pendant. She would've liked that. A connection to his birthplace, sort of."
The Mystic Moon? The Mystic Moon?! He came from that horrid place? It made a little sense. Maybe that was the place in that…that…dream? Was that one of those 'visions' that Hiroki had been talking about? And what about the conversation in the 'vision'? Why didn't he know about his father? But what did that mean? Did his father abandon his mother? Were his parents married before he was born? None of it made any sense. Someone would've told him! Someone would've said something! Why hadn't his father?
Shiro felt dizzy and queasy. He was outside now. He was in the woods. He heard the sound of those coaches from the 'vision'. They were on all sides of him. Then the woods disappeared. The coaches were whizzing by him faster than anything he'd ever seen before! They looked like they would hit him. Then, out of nowhere, his mother appeared. "Shiro! Honey, what were you doing in the middle of the street? There are too many cars! You could get hurt." Shiro looked down. He was young again. Maybe four or five. Hitomi picked him up. She carefully started to go back across the busy street. But she looked the wrong way at one point. A 'car' came quickly from the right. Hitomi saw it, but too late. Her legs came out from under her. Shiro fell onto the top of the 'car'. He crawled down. Some people were taking his mother away. "No! My son! Shiro! Shiro, come here! Come here!" Shiro ran towards his mother, but she disappeared. Shiro found himself running straight for a tree. He couldn't stop in time and hit his head against the tree. That knocked him out.
D'Artagnan was very confused. This guy had seemed to be a smart kid before. "Who the hell is so stupid to run into a tree?" D'Artagnan shrugged. He picked Shiro up and slung him over his shoulder. He couldn't just leave him laying there, could he? He started home as he adjusted Shiro's weight on his shoulder.
-81-
"Just one more question." Hiroki nodded. He was surprised that there was only one. "Who is Dilandau?" Kerenai asked.
Hiroki turned to Van. "You wanna take this one?" Hiroki knew that Van was very particular about what information he wanted certain people to know and other people could know more. Instead of being stupid and possibly telling Kerenai more than he was supposed to, he decided that it was advisable to let Van handle this question.
"Well, Dilandau was an evil man. That's just about the gist of it. However, Serena, Allen's sister was kidnapped as a small child by Zaibach." Kerenai's face was pale. This did not seem to be more amazing, horrifying news than the other news she had already heard. "They conducted experiments on her. Fate Altering Experiments. To make a long story short, Serena is Dilandau. Serena is nice and good. Dilandau is bad and evil. Neither is aware of the other's existence, and we all intend to keep it that way. So, NEVER mention this to anyone. This information, more than any other information, could cause the destruction of Gaea! Kerenai, do you have any more questions?" Kerenai shook her head. "Well, if ever you have any questions, feel free to ask any time. Okay? I'll be happy to answer any you might have." Van smiled. "Now, why don't you go see how Shiro is? He's probably on his way to his mother's grave. He could use a friend right now." Kerenai nodded. She stood up and walked towards the door. Then she stopped and turned around.
"Arigatou. Ano, Van-sama?"
Van looked up. "Nani?"
"If you have any questions about my past, I'll try to answer them when I get back. I think that there are some things in my past you need to know, though." Van was slightly confused by what she said, but let her go. She ran out of the room.
Merelu, who had been quiet this whole time was crying. When Hiroki and Van noticed this, they ran over to her and asked her what the matter was. "It sure did take you long enough to notice me crying," she muttered under her breath. "Watashi…watashi wa…I don't want Allen to die!" she screamed as she fell into Hiroki's chest, sobbing. Hiroki patted her on the head as he and Van exchanged worried glances.