| Kings and Traitors Chapter 12: Forgotten ~~~ AN: sorry about the really long wait. I�ve been kinda busy lately and I�ve had a lot on my mind���and I�ve developed and addiction to Final Fantasy IX ^__^;;���..anywayz, on with the story: Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne. ~~~ Van prodded at the makeshift campfire with a tree branch. The night was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of crickets to break the silence. Yukari was sleeping under a tree nearby, while Merle and Tiger has gone off to look for food. That just left Van and Hitomi. He looked across the fire at her, the troubled features f her face illuminated slightly in the firelight. �What�s wrong?� Hitomi jumped, her train of thought broken. �What were you thinking about?� Van asked, concerned. �The legend Merle told us before�what happened? What does it mean? Could it be the spell failed? Did we really stop him? Or have we just delayed him? And what about the part with the dragon�s heart?� ��I don�t know. But what�s been bugging me is how did we get here without your pendant?� Hitomi�s hand went unconsciously to her neck to grasp at air. �My pendant�I had completely forgotten�Van�do you know what this means? I can�t go back�I can�t go home�� ~~~ �The spell may have failed, but it is still salvageable. I won�t lose to them. Not after all I�ve done. They will die and I will recover the final piece of the Heart Stone and then I will have won�� Erebos muttered hysterically to himself. Then he phased out with a shimmer of air and was gone. �I�m coming�� ~~~ ��Hitomi?� Silence. ��Umm�Hitomi, don�t you like being here? I don�t want to be mean or anything, but, well, do you really want to go home that bad?� More silence. ��Hitomi?� He glanced over at her just in time to see a tear trickle down the side of her face. �Oh, Van�Of course I like being here�It�s just�It�s just that�� she began to cry again. �Hitomi? What�s wrong? C�mon, you can tell me,� Van said as he moved around the campfire to sit next to her. �It�s just that�no matter where I go, I�ll always be homesick�whenever I�m here I�ll always miss my mom and dad and my friends and my home, but whenever I�m there I�ll miss you.� She turned her face away from so he wouldn�t see her tears. �Sometimes it seems that there�s nowhere where I can be happy�� she whispered. �Hitomi�� He could see how much this was hurting her and he wished desperately that he could do something, anything, to help. Suddenly, Erebos appeared out of nowhere. ~~~ ...Suddenly, Erebos appeared out of nowhere. �So you want to go back, do you? Well, that makes my job so much easier, doesn�t it?� Erebos sneered. Van stood slowly, moving in front of Hitomi to try to protect her. �You really think you can keep her from me, don't you?� Erebos laughed sinisterly, then closed his eyes and began muttering words to a spell under his breath. Van stepped towards Erebos, reaching for his sword. �Van!!!� Hitomi screamed. Van whirled around to face Hitomi, who was being enveloped by a crimson light. �Van!! Help!!� �Hitomi!!!!� Slowly, Hitomi began to disappear. Van ran back to Hitomi. She reached out to him, tears streaming down her face, her mouth yelling out his name yet no sound was made. �Hitomi!!! No!!!! Don�t leave me!!!� Van screamed as he reached out to her�but his hand passed right through her, distorting her frozen image like smoke in the wind. Van turned slowly, anger burning in his eyes. �What have you done with her?!� �I sent her home. And I took the time to cast a spell to erase all her memories of this place and everyone here, to make things a little more...interesting, I suppose�and, of course, to prevent her from ever trying to get back here. She is the only one besides me who knows how to use the Heart Stone, so naturally she had to be disposed of. You�re lucky I decided to let her live,� Erebos said with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. �Bring her back!!!!� Van shouted, beyond rage. �Tsk, tsk, tsk. I thought you wanted her to be happy.� �I�� Van was at a loss for words. He wanted Hitomi to be happy�didn�t he? Of course. Now she would finally get the chance to live a normal life, where he never came into her world, never brought her back to his, and never got involved in a war that changed everything. He did want her to be happy�even if he was miserable because of it������.right? Erebos smirked as Van slumped to his knees, a look of utter confusion covering his face. �Well, I guess I�d better be going now�pity, I thought it would be more challenging�oh, well. You can�t have everything I guess�till next time, Van.� And with that, he disappeared. Van stood slowly, a look of grim resolve set on his face as he brushed away the lone tear that had found its way down his cheek. �Hitomi�I hope you�ll be happy with your new life�����������.goodbye.� ~~~ Hitomi woke to the sound of her alarm clock�s incessant buzzing. She groaned, burying her head under her pillow. But alas, the fabric just couldn�t seem to drown out one of the most annoying sounds in the universe. So she threw the pillow at it. *beep�beep�beep�be-~CRASH~ * Hitomi smiled and closed her eyes. �beep� �Aaughhhhh!!!! Fine! I�m awake!!!!!!!� She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went to get ready for another boring day of school. ~~~ �Hitomi! Hurry or we�re going to be late!!� called Yukari from Hitomi�s front porch. (AN: Yes, plot hole, I know� -_- so let�s just say that Hitomi was sent back to another timeline or something where Yukari had never gone to Gaia with her, k?�either that or Yukari has an evil twin that we don�t know about�O_o) �Alright, alright! I�m coming!� she called back, grabbing her gym bag and heading towards the door. She paused in the doorway, looking back. She had the strangest feeling, like she was forgetting something�but not just something like a binder or a homework assignment�no, this seemed like it was something important� She shook her head. Whatever it was, it would come back to her. ~~~ Hitomi wandered around, trying to figure out where she was. She felt like she knew this place somehow, like she had been here before. She heard a sound. She turned. It sounded like the clanging of swords. She searched for where the sound was coming from, but she couldn�t quite see�it was like some sort of smoke or fog was blocking her vision. She stepped forward and immediately the fog began to clear. Before her she saw two metal giants. They were sword fighting. The bluish-gray one, the one with the face like a knight�s helmet, seemed to be winning, thought the white one, with the strange pink crystal where it�s heart would be, seemed to be holding his own, even if just barely. �Why doesn�t this seem strange to me? I mean, it should, shouldn�t it?� she wondered. ��hundred�boss ta--�first swing.� Yelled a broken voice from somewhere beyond the fog. �That voice�have I heard it somewhere before?� �Two hu-�red!� �-ey, some-�bet on�kid.� ��ain�t tha-�stupid!� The white one blocked a few more near-fatal blows when suddenly the gray one, sword forgotten, punched it in the �heart�. The white one fell to its knees as the gray one prepared to deliver the final blow when- It blocked it again! But the gray one retaliated with a burst of strength and sent the white one flying onto its back. Gray�s sword was at its throat in a flash. �That�s enough.� Came a voice, oddly non-garbled, from within the gray one. �Come out of your Guymelef peacefully.� Just then the white one�s chest-plate opened up with a rush of steam and- �?!�I know him!� �I lost! Balgus, I�m sorry.� �I�ve seen him before�I�ve met him, I know I have�I just don�t know who he is�I should know this�� Hitomi fell to her knees, clutching her head. �Is this what I�m forgetting?� Suddenly she noticed a pink light out of the corner of her eye. She turned, looking directly into Escaflowne�s chest plate. As she stared into the crystal depths, the world around her turned red and the ground beneath her started to crumble� �Wha-?� �and she fell. �No!!! What�s happening?! �and why does this seem so familiar�?� A white light flashed in the sky above her. A mysterious figure with gorgeous white angel wings swooped down and caught her hand then there was another flash of light--- ~~~ ---�Huh? Where am I�?� She looked around, recognizing her school track. She was in her gym clothes, preparing to run. Amano and Yukari were standing on the sidelines watching and the stadium lights were on. She saw Yukari�s mouth move but there was no sound. Suddenly, she started running. She didn�t know why, either. It was like her legs were moving on their own and she was only a spectator. As she ran, a pillar of light appeared, carrying a white metal dragon and�him� She found she wasn�t surprised by this either, she was�happy? She leapt towards him and he grabbed her hand, pulling her onto the mechanical dragon�s back beside him� �and back into the light--- ~~~ ---�I-I think I�m starting to remember now�his name is Van, isn�t it?�� Hitomi looked around. She couldn�t quite tell where she was�it looked like an open field�but everything was red�like blood. She turned and saw behind her the metal giant, or Guymelef as the one voice had called it, laying behind her. But instead of being white� �it was pitch black. An overwhelming sense of dread came over her. This had happened before. She knew it had. These visions she was seeing�they were memories. And she knew in her heart that this particular memory was one she wished she wouldn�t remember�and she didn�t even know what it was. Her feet started moving forward without her consent. �No, stop�I don�t want to see�I know I don�t�� As she reached the frozen Guymelef she reached out to touch it�but her hand passed right through. The black of the guymelef swirled around her like a ghost, choking her. She screamed. And opened her eyes� ~~~ �only to see the face of a giant snake glaring at her. ��giv-�.kiss, Nina.� Came a once again garbled voice. The snake slithered up to her, wrapping itself around her until its head was resting on her shoulder. Her heart was pounding�she wasn�t sure if she�d ever been this scared in her life� �Someone help! Anyone!!� There was a shout from behind the snakes owner�it was Van, looking ready to kill. And then came another flash of light.-- ~~~ --She was falling again�sliding head first, cutting herself on the jagged rock. She quickly reconsidered what she thought was the scariest moment in her life�then the rock ended. She was falling. There was another flash of bright light above her�the angel came down, and she finally saw his face. �Van�?�-- ~~~ --Hitomi stood in the middle of an empty field, nothing but dead grass could be seen for miles. Burnt grass. The sky was completely covered by black clouds�so thick she couldn�t tell if it was night or day. An ice-cold breeze suddenly swept past her. She shivered. Suddenly something swept below the clouds. It was Van riding the mechanical dragon! And it was being pursued by�a giant black hawk? No, it was some sort of black cloud, so black it seemed to swallow the light from everything around it. Just looking at it gave her the chills. It shot a spear of energy at Escaflowne. Van swerved, trying to dodge it� Hitomi saw another black hawk-cloud charging at Van. It shot a spear at him, too, so fast he had no chance of dodging it. �NOO!! Van, behind you!! VAN!!!�-- ~~~ ��this is why I have to remember, isn�t it�?� ~~~ --�Van!! Look out above!!!!� The dragon�s tail came down like a guillotine, barely missing Van and crushing his armor instead.-- ~~~ '�I have to be there to warn him, don�t I?� ~~~ -- �My mother and father were both killed when I was very young. With Fanelia burned and Balgus dead, Merle�s about the only family I have left�� -- ~~~ '�I�m remembering.� ~~~ -- �Are you just going to run away?! After what they did to your men?! And you call yourself a samurai?! I won�t run. I�ll never turn my back on my enemy and run away!�-- ~~~ 'Van, Merle, Allen, Escaflowne�I remember�� ~~~ --�Not showing yourself during a battle is what�s cowardly, wouldn�t you say?!�-- ~~~ 'I have to go back�I have to be there to help them�� ~~~ --�A bunch of cards can�t tell you your fortune.�-- ~~~ '�I�m going back�I don�t know how but I�ll find a way�even��..�even if it�s a one way trip.� ~~~ AN: WOHOO!!!!!!!! ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!! Let�s see�just a few more finishing touches left ^___^ Btw, this is probably gonna b my longest chapter EVER!!! x.X �...in fact, I think it already is� O_o |