From: Kit Reece  [email protected]
Date: Fri Mar 19, 1999 00:09am
Subject: Esca Contin. Let's just say Part Three


Hi! Sorry about this taking so long, my disk was warped and my awesome
father managed to recover some of it during Spring Break.
Warning: This part is not very good and was written in a rush.

DISCLAIMER IN PART ONE

The Ever-Popular Esca Continuation Fic Part...Three.
By: Kitt Reece

(Summary so far: Gaea is in trouble again due to a stone/crystal shard
that may give an enemy enormous power, blah-blah-blah. Hitomi is taken
via our fav. light to Gaea where she meets Van and co. They are all
moving to Dryden's airship to discuss things...)
*******************

To Hitomi, the inside of Dryden's airship was much larger than she
remembered.  As they entered the great metallic hull through the back
hatch she felt a rush of cool air and the memories assuaged her.  
Terrible memories, memories of pain and fear and blood�. And some of
relief as well.  Of escape.

The soft pad of her treads next to the even softer leather "thwack" of
Van's boots held her interest as she tried to shake off the times she
remembered.

-�Cold metal. Blood. The smell, the sticky feeling as her hands
grasped the red on red blur before her�-

-�Holding Merle in desperation as they listened to the unearthly
screams from the low pallet, watching Allan's shining hair getting
streaked with red as he threw himself onto Van so he wouldn't destroy
himself�.-

She shivered and Van tightened his arm around her.  He felt it too,
his own memories dark and pain filled.  Such pain�.
They passed the hanger where he vaguely remembered setting Escaflowne
down before blackness. The blackness had consumed him, then a brief
glimpse of light, pain ripping through him as he glanced and saw the
freedom the sky would offer, and the battle still in progress - he had
to fight.  Another moment of harsh agony and then he had crashed
backwards, unable to hold himself upright with the weight protruding
from his back�
A glimpse of red and strange creatures; he was hearing horrible
screaming�his own.
And finally he remembered when Millerna's gentle hands had unwrapped
the bandages from around his head, the light filtering in, and his
first sight of Hitomi.  And Merle attacking him in all of her furry
love.

All of these memories and emotions passed in only a few seconds, and
presently they turned a corner, Dryden leading them a little further
until they came to a large study.  A lightweight, oblong table, and
the ten chairs surrounding it predominantly occupied the room; books,
as with seemingly every other room, lined the walls. 

Their host motioned to the chairs, waiting until they all made
themselves comfortable before seating himself.  He tented his hands in
front of his face, his glasses glimmering over the tops of them and
waited with a thoughtful expression on his face.
As the intellectual leader of the group sat silent, so did the rest of
the party.  Each squirmed, it seemed to Hitomi, a little uncomfortably
in their seat.  She glanced around the table noting each person's
worry and her eyes lingered last on Van seated next to her.  He was
obviously nervous too, but his worry seemed to stem from a different
source and his hands were unconsciously clenched.  She'd have to ask
him about it later.
For now, she decided to get some answers.

"Why are you all here?"  It was blunt, yes, but she needed to know at
least a fraction of what was going on.  "You're all together again, in
the middle of...of...wherever this is."

"I witnessed some...strange...activities in this region, near the
border of Freid," Dryden supplied readily enough. "I wrote letters to
each explaining what I saw and King Van arranged for us all to meet
here.

Hitomi looked to Van in surprise, and all was quiet again.

Finally, Millerna broke the silence with a calm voice.  
"Dryden-san, would you please explain to the group exactly what you
saw?"

His hands dropped to the table and he nodded.  
"I was trading with a Master Sartas; fruits for metal ore�he was in
charge of the operation of which we are speaking.  As we traded, my
curiosity was piqued by the fact that his huge contingent of
'miners,'" he paused, indicating they were most likely slaves, "and
guards with attire nearly identical to Zaibach stripped random patches
of forest while leaving veins of profitable metal ore untouched.  I
questioned this and was none-to-politely told to mind my own business.
 So, after I had finished my trading, I moved the ship away,
researched the topic, and in some distress wrote the letters that you
all received.  "

He stopped, and everyone looked to him to explain more.  Everyone,
that is, except for Van.  Dryden glanced sidelong at the young King
before continuing.

"They are, I'm nearly positive, searching for the remaining shard of
Atlantis on Gaea.  To further the explanation I gave in the letter,"
he sighed, "The Ryuujin people of Atlantis harnessed, in essence, the
power of wishing to provide them with everything they needed in life.
The best guess is they did so by using a focal point tuned into their
collective thoughts; a rock of intricate scientific design with a
crystalline lattice structure complex enough to encompose all of the
power and energy required. When Atlantis was destroyed, the "stone"
shattered like a crystal. And, according to legend and every text I've
looked at, two of the larger shards fell to Gaea to be drawn into the
earth and buried.  Dornkirk discovered one, I'm not sure how, and then
used it in the fate-altering device, subsequently destroying it. The
one remaining shard could be used for a similar purpose if found."

Allan broke in.
"Dryden-san, Zaibach and all of its allies know your name if not your
face. Why would they trade with you, then let you discover something
like this?"

The Merchant Fatisma swiveled to face Van directly, pinning him in his
gaze.

Van,for his part, had been staring darkly at the table-top and keeping
a stiff jaw during the re-telling.

"I wasn't sure until now, but I believe King Fanel may be better
suited to explain that than I am," Dryden said directly.

Van looked up uneasily, and Hitomi noticed his cold features with
worry. He was about to relate something he didn't like, and she feared
she wouldn't either.
"Dryden-" he began hoarsely. "You don't think..."

The table remained silent and all eyes were upon him. 

He licked his lips and cautiously began. 
"The legend runs that the shard of Atlantis is directly connected to
every Ryuujin descendant on Gaea," he paused, "Once in contact with
it,they can control its power to their own advantage or destroy the
shard entirely. However, only a Ryuujin descendant can destroy it, and
to my knowldge, I'm the only one alive. It's quite possible there are
more,possibly in hiding somewhere, but finding them would be a
difficult process."   
A dark bang fell further over his eyes and he slowly continued.  
"They were probably frank with their information because they knew we
would all get involved. And if I was involved,...they were probably
hoping to use me to activate the shard now that-,...now that Folken is
gone."

The eyes ringing the table had widened considerably with this
statement, but now Allan narrowed his in disbelief.
"You said, both of you, that most of your information comes from
legend. How can you be sure they're looking for the shard. Maybe this
was just a plot to get us all in the same place and then eliminate us?"
He opened his mouth as if to continue when a small murmur drew
everyone's attention faster than anything could.

"No,..." 
As everyone turned to him, they could see his eyes glinting and
burning with a strange fire beneath black hair.
"It's true...I can feel it," Van admitted oddly. 
His irises swirled slightly as he narrowed them. 
"I can feel the shard,-here-,in this area. It feels as if it's pulling
me," he finished softly, bringing his clenched fists to meet his eyes
near the table surface. It felt as if his heartbeat was moving towards
something...something that was calling him. He hadn't wanted to admit
it, hadn't wanted to believe.... But he couldn't deny it forever. The
power was incredible....

A gentle hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present.
Everyone was still staring at him, most with concerned expressions:
Dryden with an odd look, Hitomi with a worried one.
"Sorry," he mouthed to her.
She smiled wanly in return.

The table remained silent for another minute as all processed this
startling information. Finally Allan stirred, "So what are we going to
do about it?"

Dryden pursed his lips in thought.

"The shard is, I think we can safely say, a very powerful and
potentially dangerous tool in -anyone's- hands."

"I agree," Van interjected emphatically, the liveliest he had been
throughout the discussion. "Whatever happens, we have to find it first."

Allan's clear voice rang out across the table again.
"How? And suppose they want us to find it�after all, how exactly -do-
you 'activate' this shard, Van?"

Brimstone eyes stared unnervingly at the knight from under raven hair. 
"I don't know," he admitted. "But if we find it first, I -do- know how
to destroy it," he finished somewhat savagely. 

Hitomi found herself a little worried; the entire matter had Van
uptight and acting strange. 
He continued. "We have to find it�before they do."
 
A previously silent Millerna sat up in her chair a little. "I agree.
My father, King Aston, sent me in his stead to investigate and if
necessary protect Austuria at all costs. If whoever is masterminding
this recovers that stone, it could quite possibly be the greatest
threat since Dornkirk and his machine, or maybe even worse."

Allan folded his hands on the table quietly. "True....We destroyed the
first Fate Directing Machine, albeit with a terrible war. Do you think
they intend to build another?"
No-one answered, all pushing back memories of the horrifying times
that still lingered too close. The only sound was the swish of Merle's
tail against her chair back.

Then, Dryden: quietly, controlled. 
"Tomorrow, if everyone is in agreeance, we search for that shard and
find it first."

"Wait," a soft voice called out as all nodded. "Zaibach has been
searching for months. What makes you think we can find it? And if they
know we're coming, the logical choice is to follow us and let us lead
them right to it." 

Dryden again thought for a moment about how to answer Serena, but her
brother took the initiative.
"In answer to your second statement, they probably didn't expect us so
soon, and compared to us their supplies are limited, creating their
necessity for sticking close to Base Camp. Also, if they do attack us,
they're attacking the most powerful countries of Gaea combined."
Although not entirely comfortable with their current plan, Allan had
to agree it was the best they could do. 
"And to your former question, if I'm guessing correctly, we have an
advantage they don't...." 

As he turned his head, so did all the others in the room to peer at
the sullen King of Fanelia questioningly. "Alright Van, how well can
you 'feel' this crystal?"

To some surprise, a wry smile turned up the corner of his mouth. "I
think I can narrow our search area down quite a bit. We can split into
teams to be less obvious and set up a search pattern in the area I
specify."

"What about conflicts? Or their spies?"  Serena questioned.  "If this
is Zaibach, they'll be careful, but won't hesitate to get what they
want at a high price."

Merle perked up and cheekily chimed in. "Why don't you tell us abo-
*mmph*!"
A newly re-aroused Van silenced her with a glove. The last thing they
needed right now was for Serena to awaken her memories as
Dilandau...and her hatred of Van.

"If we split up, they'll have a harder time following us...and I think
if we're quiet we can slip in through the forest away from their camp.
Leave the airship out where no-on will find it, or somewhere obvious
as a decoy," he supplied. "It's a risk we have to take." He didn't
mention that if he was right, the enemy would concentrate solely on
himself and his search alone, instead glancing around the table.

"Agreed." Dryden pushed back his chair. "I think we can settle any
minor details tomorrow morning.  As for now, everyone has a chance to
catch up," he looked to Hitomi. "And eat," he looked to Merle. "The
kitchen, or food storage bay, is straight down the hall to the left."
His half-smile fell again onto the cat girl. "Feel free to give my
attendant fits of terror."

The others pushed back their chairs and rose as well, some of the
tension already draining from the atmosphere. Hitomi's stomach
growled; she'd forgotten about dinner with her parents and Yukari.
...Her parents...Yukari...by now they'd have the police searching for
her. That is, if time still worked the way it should.... Best not to
worry about that, though.
She had plenty of worries right here, right now.

Turning to Van, stiff at her side, she tugged at the same style of
sleeveless shirt he always wore. "I'm hungry," she mentioned. As he
faced her, she was pleased to see him visibly relax. He was about to
reply when Dryden stepped up to them.
"Excuse me Van,... may I speak with you for a moment?"

Hitomi gave him an understanding glance before nodding and following
the others out the door to the kitchen. "I'll wait for you there," she
smiled.
Under the surface however, her emotions were in turmoil. The entire
matter was dangerous and unnerving, but in different ways than she
expected from such an escapade.
And Van was acting strangely, as if he were fighting a constant battle
within himself. Could it be the shard? How close -was- he to that
thing, anyway?
She resolutely vowed to find out.

As for Dryden and Van, as soon as the others had left the room, the
Merchant closed the door and perched on the table corner, staring
intently at the young man over the rims of his glasses.
Van remained nervously standing, fingering the sword at his hip and
disliking the feeling of being an animal under observation. 
"What is it, Dryden?"

The Merchant twisted his lips. "I think you know," he answered
quietly. "Why didn't you tell them?"

"Tell them what?"

Dryden got up and began pacing. "Why didn't you tell them the whole
truth, -what little there is of it?" He spun at the end of the room.
"That crystal, stone, - can only be destroyed by a  -full blooded-
Ryuujin, and only then with great harm to the Ryuujin. For someone of
half-descent," he paused glaring, "the Shard's destruction would mean
an imminent, incredibly painful death."
He began pacing again. "Now if I remember correctly, -you- have a
Gaean father. When exactly were you going to let Hitomi and the others
in on just how much destroying this shard would cost you? Or did you
plan on informing us at all?"

Van's mouth had slacked open and stayed that way. His voice was
feeble. "I...I didn't want to hurt-"

"And your death won't?!"

He tried again, a little stronger this time. "I will...I will tell
them. But if it comes down to it,  I don't want anyone trying to stop
me from destroying the Stone. Because if they activate that shard...
...Dryden...it's more powerful than any of you realize."

Abruptly he ended his pacing and came up to Van, leaning close to peer
into the unusually bright eyes. "Illuminate me." 

*End Part Three*
************************
*Please write me about this!!*
I only received -one- reply to the first two parts! (Thanks Bambi.) 
Sorry about all the rotton spacing, my recovered file was screwed up
too, and I had to fix everything by a painstaking process.
Kitt


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