From: Kit Reece  [email protected]
Date: Wed Feb 3, 1999 00:13am
Subject: Part One of Esca Continuation


Hi guys!
Umm, after spending a total of five and a half hours trying to type
this during two seperate attempts, my roommate's computer deleted it.
So, here I go again. (Sigh.)

-Untitled Esca Continuation-
Kitt Reece

-Note- I took some creative liberties, as always, so it may not be
that cannon, but....Also, I tried to make it more dramatic, but
occasionally, bad puns, jokes, etc slip in. :) Thanks.

Disclaimer: All characters, likenesses, etc. belong to Sunrise
Pictures, Bandai, and anyone else who owns a legal piece of them. All
nasty track experiences are mine, however. :)

__________________

"Van-sama!"

Van sighed, stretching languidly out in the warm fall sunlight high
upon the castle battlements, feeling his bones creak and pop. He was
-finally- growing;
'Folken, I may just catch up with you yet.'
He cast a meaningful glance and a smile towards the glade where his
brother lay buried before rolling up to kneel near the edge and peered
over the side.
"Merle! I'm up here!"

Sniffing the air, the cat-girl turned her face upwards to the top of
the castle, her bright eyes searching until she spotted him.
"Van-sama, what are you doing up there?"

"Just enjoying the sun, Merle."
'And the quiet,' he silently added.
Deciding to make an un-kingly decision and skip out on paperwork for a
day, he'd roamed the forest outside of the kingdom walls for a while,
visited the small clearing where Escaflowne lay sleeping and Folken
was buried, and finally climbed to the highest part of the castle
intent upon enjoying the last few warm days of the year.
Amusedly, he watched his best friend scamper up next to him, not
bothering to take the stairs as he had, but simply clawing her way up
the rocks that jutted from the castle wall.

"Oh-no, Van-sama," she announced, coming to rest on the stone beside
him. "You're thinking about Hitomi, aren't you?"
Van smiled and shook his head negatively, when in fact a great deal of
his meandering thoughts had been resting on the girl from the
Illusionary Moon.

Merle sighed and licked one of her hands seemingly non-chalantly, but
mischief danced in her eyes as she spoke. "You can't hide it you know.
You really like her, don't you?"

Van chuckled lightly as Merle's tail bristled a little. "Of course I
do...but I really like you too, Merle."
He leaned over to ruffle her hair, but she dodged indignantly. 
"No fair, Van-sama! You're a King, so I can't do that to you!"
Van complied, retracting his hand never knowing just how much Merle
really liked it when someone stroked her head. Or her chin. In some
ways, she was more like a cat than she cared to admit.
"So what brings you up here, my friend?"

With a twitch, Merle suddenly remembered the business at hand,-er-, paw.
"Van-sama! Elisias wants to see you immediately! He asked me to find
you! "

Van's smile faded a bit. It felt so good up here, and he had just been
contemplating releasing his wings up high where he could soak up the
rays, yet be obscured by the tower. But...Elisias was his most trusted
advisor, and would never have called unless it was imperative.
Especially through only Merle.
"Thanks, Merle. I'll be down in a minute."
As she nodded and cautiously picked her way down a turret, a strange
sensation gripped Van's stomach. One he hadn't felt in quite a long
time. Trying to shake it off, he proceeded back down the flight of
stone steps, a less precarious method than Merle's, and re-entered the
dark, musty castle interior.

Entering the High Chamber, one of the largest rooms in the castle, he
searched for the short man with greying hair and bright green eyes. As
he glanced around the empty room wonderingly, a hand came down upon
his shoulder and a gravelly voice spoke.
"King Van, please, I must speak with you immediately...about this."
As Van turned, Elisias held up an unfurled scroll, his eyes
exhibiting...could it be anxiety?

"What," he questioned the kind older man, "What does it say?"

Elisias looked about the room surrepitousely before motioning to a
small room on one side of the massive wooden table used for council
meetings.
Van's stomach flopped at the secrecy as he silently lead the way into
the dusky, dim room, closing the door after Elisias.

"Now, Minister Elisias, what is so important about that scroll, and
how did you come by it?" Ordinarily, the usual court pleasantries
would be exchanged, but the Minister understood his King's need for
haste and so held up the scroll in offer.

Van refrained from tearing it from his advisor's hands, instead
reaching up calmly to accept it. Patience was a difficult trait to
master, especially for the naturally hot-blooded Van, but he was
learning. It was one of his many responsibilities as Fanelia's
leader,...and one he had often envied his older brother's seemingly
easy mastery of.
He scanned the letter, his ruddy brown eyes widening in startled
realization. Quickly, he checked the signature at the bottom, already
sure of who the author would be.

"Dryden," he whispered, the scrawling, elegant handwriting coming to
an end. 

Warily, he turned to his advisor. "Why didn't you tell me of this
sooner?" he questioned.

"The letter just arrived. You were out on your own, your Majesty, and
there was no indication it was anything important until I opened it. I
simply thought..." he trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

Van nodded, comprehension dawning in his eyes. "Thank you. I
understand; you were trying to spare me some of the diplomatic
business that I seem to be less than...patient...with."

Elisias smiled, his visage again kind.
"Of course, if his Majesty would prefer to read -all- of the mail he
receives daily, I'd be happy to-"
Van held up a hand, his own smile flashing briefly before he grew
serious again. "Thank you, but that's quite al right. The main thing
now is to figure out what we're going to do. How we're going to
respond."
He paused. "However, Elisias, this stays between you and I,
understand? I don't want to wake up with a sword at my throat one
night."

Elisias nodded solemnly, placing his hand briefly on Van's shoulder. 
"I understand...and, Van-sama...it's good to see you smile again. I
expect we have Miss Hitomi to thank for that?"

Van turned away, a faint blush coloring his cheeks as he cleared his
throat. "Yes, well...Fanelia is almost rebuilt, and it's only been
about a year and a half since the war. That's something to smile
about, isn't it?"

"Of course, your Majesty. May I inquire, exactly what are you planning
to do about the situation?"

Van turned back to him, his face set in thought. "What are your
thoughts? I think we should arrange a meeting between all of our
allies. Together with them, we could think of a solution that would
avoid angering old enemies or opening new wounds."

Elisias nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Please send messages to Asturia, King Chid of Freid, and
Merchant Fatisma. Ask them to meet in neutral ground; the Vasaf Pass
through the mountains near Fried. And no guards; we can take care of
ourselves, and the less people involved, the better."

As Van stopped speaking, Elisias nodded and bowed a short, customary
bow before turning to leave.

"Oh, and Elisias?" Van called out after him, "I want our best guards
disguised to carry those letters. Tell them to go on horseback and as
fast as they can."
His advisor dipped his head again, looking seriously to his now
unsmiling leader.
"King Van,...if Dryden is correct, I believe it would be in the best
interest-" he trailed off uneasily.

"No. They will not attack myself nor Fanelia, not when they're still
weak. That would mean a full-scale war with us and our allies, and
that possibility is only an option after they've found it."

Elisias agreed in return and took his leave while Van pulled out a
chair and sank with a heavy heart into it. The letter remained loosely
clutched in his glove, and with tight control he lifted it to read it
again, thoroughly this time.
____________

To Esteemed King Aston and Princess' Eries and Millerna of Austuria,
King Fanel of Fanelia, and King Chid of Freid;

I bid you all good day if it is indeed, day when you receive this
message. Unfortunately, I have little time for customary pleasantries
other than that, as I bear news of great importance for you all.
Specifically, as a merchant, there are occasions when I have access to
information that may not be readily available to those in your
position. One such occasion occurred as I was trading in the province
of Katan, on the southern side of the former Zaibachian Empire border.
While bargaining, I noticed a great deal of seemingly widespread and
haphazard mining; great sections of valuable ore lay untouched while
entire strips of worthless ground were razed. I inquired into this and
was succinctly told to leave the subject alone. Suffice it to say they
were looking for a "rock." A very special rock.

My first inclination was that they were survivors of Zaibach and it's
allies, looking for Dragon energists to replenish their supplies, but
I soon dismissed this explanation due to the secrecy involved, and the
fact that most of the land dragons lived north of their position.
After a bit of research into the subject, I soon found another, far
more disturbing possibility that I fear to be true.

It is my belief that a contingent of an unknown or Zaibachian enemy is
currently and feverishly seeking the remaining shards of the Atlantis
Fate Stone.
King Van, I assume you know of that which I am speaking, for the rest
I will explain briefly.
The power of wishing, and therefore Atlantis, was transferred into a
large stone at the center of the city which concentrated all of that
power. When Atlantis was destroyed, the stone, which had strangely
crystalline properties, cleaved into dozens of smaller pieces. Two of
these pieces were said to fall to Gaea; Emperor Dornkirk constructed
the Destiny Altering Machine using one of them and it was destroyed,
but the other has never been recovered. It is my belief that they,
whoever they might be, have a general location and intend to use the
shard in the same manner that Emperor Dornkirk did. Therefore, if you
choose to take action, I wish you luck in stopping this if my
suppositions are correct.

Sincerely,
Merchant Dryden Fatisma
___________________________

Below his signature Van stopped his eyes, letting them rest on the
blank space beneath. His mind was whirling, the strangely familiar
feeling in his stomach intensifying. Only now he thought he recognized
that feeling...
...worry and dread that sometime in the near future he was to risk the
life of someone he loved again.


(End of first mail. Next will bring Hitomi!)

PLEASE E-MAIL ME TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
( kitreece22@y... )

Thanks!

Also, any mis-spellings are apologized for in advance. :)


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