05-Mar-2002
Twisted Fortune - An Escaflowne Fanfiction
By Bonnejeanne and Nixers
Contact: bonnejeanne@yahoo.com and nixerchan@aol.com
Warnings: Spoilers
Notes: Set a little over one year after Vision of Escaflowne's end.
Chapter Thirteen - Revolution and Revelation (cont)
Part 29
A few wrong turns and a few helpful sets of directions later Serena had found the quarters of the castle. Her eyes were drawn immediately to the door at the end, the one Merle had dragged her to before the meeting in the study.
Laid neatly outside of the doorway was the change of clothes she had worn coming in, folded carefully. She paused a moment, running her hand over the glossy smooth material before gathering up all the garments and straightening up.
Serena knocked lightly on the door. "Are you decent?"
After a moment there was a muffled sound that could have been soft laughter or something else. Then, "Serena?"
She pushed open the door, deciding that was as good of an invitation as any. She closed the door behind her with one hand, pretending to be affronted. "Do so many other beautiful women visit you?" she teased.
Van was standing at the window, looking down into the courtyard, dressed in a robe that seemed to have been made for someone else - it trailed a little on the floor. His hair was damp and clean. He turned quickly, smiling, his expression a little sleepy or maybe just unfocused.
"Not so many," he said. His face was smooth as if it had never been marked.
Serena deposited the uniform on a simple chair before sitting on the edge of the low bed. "I think your sister adopted me today," she said.
Van came over and knelt at her feet, sliding his arms around her waist and laying his head in her lap. He nodded. "Merle has a big heart," he said softly. Tension seemed to leak out of him slowly, not quite all of it but his shoulders relaxed visibly as he rested there.
"Must run in the family," she replied, running her fingers through his dark hair, stroking the smooth locks in a soothing manner.
Closing his eyes, he rested, content, until something seemed to make his body jerk just slightly. Even then his head stayed down.
She frowned slightly, her hand trailing across the now smooth cheek. "What's wrong?"
He took a breath and rubbed his other cheek against her thigh. "Nothing," he said, slightly muffled. "It's almost over anyway."
Her hands had paused, tensed when she had realized the source of the distress before she seemed to relax again. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked quietly.
His arms tightened around her waist and he lifted his head finally, shaking it. He smiled, still with that sleepy or unfocused expression. "It's not bad. This is nothing to the first time. Nothing to worry about." He looked at her as if renewing himself a little in her eyes. "Mmm... Allen? You talked with Allen?"
She nodded, a little wry quirk to her lips appearing. "I can't help but get this guilty suspicion that between the two of us, this was the best that could have happened. He was very agreeable, more himself. Or at least the one that everyone else sees."
Van nodded, watching her expression. "He was trying to prevent something... now that it's happened, he doesn't have to try any more."
"Unless there is more I don't know, no harm seemed to come from... that event. It feels different, but better, not so hazy and surreal," she answered.
Smiling again, Van reached up and tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. "You were afraid," he said quietly. "Now you don't seem to be afraid any more. That helps me."
She caught his hand and brushed his knuckles across her lips. "It helps you?" she murmured the question.
"It helps me. I wanted to protect you from whatever made you afraid," he answered, his cheeks flushing slight at her gesture. "You seemed to be afraid of... him. You're not any more."
She shook her head. "I was never afraid of him, I didn't even know.... I was scared of all the things I didn't know, and people's reactions to those unknowns." She laughed a bit at that, more a soft expellation of air than a real sound. "Ever really want to know something, but really not want to know it?"
Van thought a moment, and then put his head back down in her lap. "Yes."
Her hand returned again to smoothing the stubbornly wild hair. "Maybe that's the connection. That first one that was there," she said slowly. "We were both afraid of someone who we were and weren't."
She could feel him smile against her lap. "That's not what I wanted to know and didn't. That was about my brother, about Folken. Who I always believed was dead. But yes, I was afraid of myself when we met. I guess I still am."
She stopped again, and Van could feel a renewed tension beneath him. "Van?" she asked.
He lifted his head, searching her eyes. "Yes, love?"
"That story that Dryden had, it was about Escaflowne." She said that with a certainty, not seeing any other explanation for its presence or the somber mood of the room when she had entered. "The purpose to defend against distortions of fate, and destroy them... I think that's the words." She frowned again, trying to phrase the questions and concerns, but failing.
He nodded. "It was about Escaflowne. And other things. My mother..." He shrugged one shoulder, the robe slipping off it a bit. "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing rational," she said, shaking her head. She slipped off the edge of the bed and next to him, leaning comfortably into the arms still around her. "Probably doesn't matter."
He looked seriously into her eyes. "If you feel it... it probably does. I won't... I won't let her harm you. Or him. Is that it?"
There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded. There was something else, but she couldn't quite put it into words. Her face cleared as she pushed the matter aside in her mind. "You don't have to worry about me," she said. One finger tapped the pendant still resting on the outside of her tunic. "It's meant to keep me safe."
Van tilted his head, memories suddenly flashing through his mind and suddenly he stood up, bringing her with him. The thought was nebulous, undefined, and something seemed to try and put distance between himself and it, but he pushed towards it, his arms tightening around her shoulders.
Confusion stilled her for a few moments before she melted into the embrace, nuzzling her face into his shoulder and bringing her own arms around him.
He sighed, leaning his cheek into her hair and taking a breath full of her clean sweet smell. "The dragon," he said, his voice throbbing a little with remembered tension, and subsequent, much more recent regret.
"I never could understand why... why the Phantom Moon. Why I went there... why the dragon came there... it... It brought me there..."
His fingers stroked her hair gently. "It brought me to the pendant," he said, his voice soft with something close to wonder.
He could feel her arms tightening around him, and hear a tone of regret in her voice. "A shame my father gave it away, I'd have liked to have met you sooner."
He tightened his arms around her, kissing her cap of soft curls. He shook his head, not yet able to see beyond the one thought, holding onto it as if something might try and nudge it away from him. "Without the dragon... it never would have come back to Gaea," he murmured.
She stiffened slightly before returning in as soft a tone. "Without my father, it would have never left."
Van shook his head, and leaned back to look down into her eyes. "Don't blame him... yet. Dornkirk... touched many lives, most of them unknowing."
The name caused a familiar half recollecting confusion, but it washed away just as quickly. She leaned closer to Van again. "It would be nice if we could stay here."
He looked down and smiled. "I hope we can, one day soon."
"Mmm," she replied. After a few moments she pulled away just enough to meet Van's eyes. "If there's never to be another energist for it, what are you going to do with Escaflowne? Pretty as it is, it would make for a tacky lawn decoration."
He grinned slightly. Feeling greatly daring, he quickly stole a kiss. Then he took a breath to answer her question. "I don't know yet, what to do with her. I think... I don't know. Perhaps... the answer is waiting in the woods."
"Could visit Gimpy," she offered, a half smile curving her lips. "But he didn't seem like much of a conversationalist."
Van smiled back but nodded quite serious. "Perhaps it's all in how you listen."
"Then, I'd have to say," She returned the stolen kiss with on of her own, fingers trailing along the opening of his robe. "That you are the only person who can hold a conversation by staring."
He lifted a shoulder and simply smiled again.
Her hand reached up and cupped his cheek, her head tilted as she looked at him thoughtfully. "You've changed too, you know. You are happier than you were."
He nodded, turning to kiss her palm. "You," he said simply. "That's why."
"No, it could have been much worse, I think," she said, her mind slipping down another path when he made the declaration. "Something that happened, that you did, made the difference. It had nothing to do with me."
"I don't understand," he said simply. He gazed into her eyes, quietly reveling in the warmth generated by the meeting of their bodies.
"Neither do I," she admitted. "Things are still random." She offered the last with a helpless shrug.
He smiled reassuringly. "Then they are. It doesn't matter."
"I can be content with that," she murmured. She managed to give the aura of snuggling with the king even from the awkwardness of standing, her arms draped loosely around his neck.
He picked her up easily and carried her to the bed, crawling up beside her. "We don't have a lot of time," he said, regret tinged with an odd kind of peace in his voice. "Is there anything you want to do? Or talk about? Or anything?"
Her brows furrowed a moment before an impish look crinkled her face again. "Not much, so we should make the best of it, ne?" She leaned forward at that and captured his lips with hers.
He smiled into the kiss and pulled her against him, laying back. Losing every tiny bit of concern and care, he immersed in the kiss, giving himself to her with the caress, and coaxing, accepting the same from her. Everything around them faded away for a while.
Eventually, and with reluctance, she broke the lingering kiss with flushed cheeks. She tucked her head down, resting fully against his chest, half curled there with every sign of contentment. One of her hands found his, and traced patterns along the lines of his palm. "I like this better than talk," she said quietly. "Conversations are never as nice."
He nodded silently, letting his fingers sift through her hair and stroke down the length of her back. "I love you," he said conversationally. "With all my heart and soul."
"It's a good thing," she said. Her eyes were closed as she leaned into gentle caress along her back. "Because I love you. And I'm told, I'm very persistent."
He nodded again. "You are." He continued to stroke her back gently, taking time to breathe in her scent again, like it was something akin to water in the throat of a thirsty desert traveler.
She opened her eyes just slightly at that, pressing her lips tenderly against his before settling back again. "How long before we go... back," she asked, feeling strange talking about going back to places she couldn't remember being.
He glanced at the window, gauging the angle of the sun. "Soon," he said. "The repairs are finished. We've done almost everything we said we were going to."
"You'd know, I'd guess," she said without any particular emotion behind it. One hand briefly found the opening of his robe and trailed fingers across the now smooth chest beneath. "There's one more thing, I promised Allen I'd visit him and the Crusade before we left. The new one with the sharp tongue is quite the mystery," she said. "When oniisan left, he had That Look again."
Van's eyebrows rose but he didn't ask for clarification. "I have something I want to give to Dryden," he said mildly. "Do you prefer to go alone?"
"If you are headed that way I'll follow you around a while," she said with a smile.
Van snorted softly, then kissed the tip of her nose. "I'd rather have you next to me," he reminded her. Then with a sigh he sat up, getting up and going to a chest for clothes. "I notice you seem comfortable in my brother's pants."
She shot him a too innocent look. "Would you rather me get into yours?"
He threw a rather rakish smile over his shoulder as he dropped the robe and pulled out fresh clothes. "Of course!"
She grinned at that, then glanced towards the real source of her change of attire. "Mm, now that I think of it, I'll need something to bundle those. If his clothes are any indication, he'll look downright silly in mine." She shrugged a bit at that, "Too short."
Pulling on pants and a shirt, Van ran a hand absently through his hair. "Neither of you have anything to be ashamed of, out of them, anyway."
She grinned again at that, her tone again playful, "I *have* mentioned that you are a pervert right?"
He ducked his head, his cheeks coloring. "Hn," he mumbled.
She got up and crossed the short distance, again wrapping her arms around his shoulders casually. "That's all right. I can't say that I don't enjoy it," she said.
He looked at her, a smile tugging at his lips. "Oh," he managed. "Then, I guess it's okay."
"Mmm," she agreed. She took another lingering kiss before drawing back, hesitating a moment before picking up the clothes that she had brought in and wrapping them around each other into a makeshift, if carriable package. She stopped at the doorway, an exaggeratedly thoughtful look on her face. "So... would following you around at your side be more acceptable?"
He nodded. He picked up a satchel which had been brought from Escaflowne when they arrived. He joined her and took her hand, leaving the room.
By the time Dryden had returned to the study, some of the staff had been in and cleaned away the food, extra tables and other things, without touching the books and papers.
For once, the merchant forwent the well-used desk and papers to sit at the far more comfortable couch, a strange sense of relaxation coming from the idea that Van was back in the kingdom. Nevermind the problems still surrounding or that the stay was temporary, for now it was to be enjoyed while more pressing thoughts could afford to be pushed aside.
He leaned back in the cushions and folded his hands behind his head, almost unconsciously leaving room beside him for Merle. Only a week of routine had started to ingrain new, slightly more comfortable, habits.
The catgirl curled at his side, closing her eyes for a quick nap, something he hadn't seen her do much lately.
There was a light tap on the door, which then opened. Van's head peeked in. He saw the empty desk chair and started to duck back out.
Dryden caught his eye with a quiet wave and managed to stand and cross the room without disturbing the napping catgirl. With a glance behind him again, he closed the door softly, joining Van and Serena in the empty hallway.
"Van, my Lady," he said, tones still low. He gave Van a half shrug. "I meant to visit you, but it looks like you are a step ahead of me these days."
Van smiled slightly, but his eyes searched Dryden's from under the dark strands of hair.
Van lifted the satchel at his side and handed it to Dryden. "We were in Basram," he said simply. "There was a renegade Zaibach sorcerer there, the one responsible for the energist bomb. He seemed to be interested in Fanelia," Van's eyes darkened as he explained. "He said some odd things but I didn't really find out what it was all about. I got these from his library. I brought them to you."
"The messenger you sent hinted a bit at the location, among other things. You both look about to leave already, I won't keep you long, but I hope to trade stories when you get back," Dryden said, glancing from Serena's bundle back down to the satchel, with a bit of surprise hefted the small case, eyebrow raising at the weight. "Just papers? I will see what I can make of them."
Van smiled. "I know you will make sense of them," he said, his tone showing a warm confidence and admiration for the merchant scholar. "If anyone on Gaea can. It might... it might have a bearing on what you showed me earlier," he said, and shrugged uncertainly.
"If it does, I'm wishing for better news," Dryden said earnestly, frowning just a little. "I regretted giving you that as a homecoming, but perhaps somehow to recompensate, there's quite a favoritism right now for the earth dragons, even some of the loudest hunters have thrown down their weapons."
Van nodded and smiled slightly. He placed a brief hand on Dryden's shoulder. "I regret that you've had to worry about all this. But I'm grateful," he ducked his head slightly knowing he didn't have time to say everything he wanted to the man who had accepted the keeping of his country.
The other man clasped Van on the shoulder. "As pointless as telling you to be careful is," he said, returning to a more familiar light teasing, "I'm going to do it anyway."
Van simply nodded. "How's Merle?"
"Sleeping," he replied with a slight smile. "She's been more my guardian than I've been hers," he said wryly.
Van looked into Dryden's eyes, searching them for a moment. Then he nodded and dropped his gaze.
Dryden stepped back again, letting his hand drop, and inclined his head at Serena, who'd watched the brief conversation in silence. "I'll let you go," he said with only the faintest note of reluctance, and opened the door to the study behind him.
Van smiled very slightly. "We'll be back, Dryden-sama. I won't leave you shouldering this for much longer."
The merchant returned Van's expression with a half smile of his own. "Start with formalities and I *will* arrange for the next royal engagement to require that awful armor."
Van grinned shyly in response and nodded. "Till later then."
"Til then," Dryden replied with a nod, and disappeared back into the room quietly. He placed the satchel on the desk, atop of the other work and papers requiring attention there. With another glance at the small catgirl still curled on the couch, he smiled quietly, before opening the clasps on the satchel.
Outside, Serena left the spot she'd occupied against the wall and slid back up to Van's side as the door to the study closed. "He seems pretty worried," she said in quiet tones that carried only as far as the boy next to her.
Van's hand reached out and captured hers automatically. He nodded. "He's a smart man, he doesn't worry for no reason," he said. His expression softened into one of affection for the merchant prince. "I owe him my life from once before. The first time Escaflowne was badly damaged... he paid a king's ransom to the Ispano to have her repaired. He didn't even know me at the time."
"Sounds a touch impulsive, but I can't complain. I say I owe him too then," she said, leaning into Van for a moment. "To Allen next then?"
Van nodded, squeezing her hand slightly, trying to repress a smile that wanted to creep onto his face for no reason other than that he was standing there with her.
It was more than likely that Van's explanation in the courtyard was overheard by some worker at the palace, for the mood as they passed through the hallways was a little subdued and the greetings and comments held the colorings of wellwishings.
The sun was being tickled by the tops of the great trees in the distance by the time they had reached the palace gates, giving the landscape deeper pools of shadows and a golden red hue tinting every surface that the dwindling rays touched. The crowds were sparse, most those in the courtyard were walking with the hurried purpose of one expecting soft coverlets and a warm meal at their destination.
It was easy then to spot the single figure walking with a much different pace, approaching with an almost visible hesitancy. The blues and golds of the man's uniform marked him as the Knight that had spoken out earlier that day, but he looked surprisingly worse for the wear since the king or Serena had seen him last. A distance away, he bowed.
"Fanelia," Kaerin began. "My regrets, I did not mean to offend with my words earlier." The Knight straightened, and there was something subtle in his stance that said it was not as regretted as was implied.
Van continued towards the young knight, stopping when they were in more intimate range. He did not release the slender hand he held so easily in his. His eyes met Kaerin's directly. "I'm not used to hearing such words," he said simply. "Except from one. They surprised me. You seem to have some familiarity with my guymelef, but I did not remember you in the war. And she has been sleeping from that time to this."
"My role was small, as my country forbade the Knights' interference. A policy which I have regretted. But it is a rare person who does not know of your guymelef in some sense." Kaerin shook his head, remembering the events of his brief stay in the country. "Though I am inclined to think that she has not slept as deeply as she might. Or the white lady is prone to sleep walking."
Van titled his head slightly. "Only when her energist is removed does she truly sleep," he said. He waited to see if the knight was going to explain his odd comments or take his leave. Something tickled at the back of his mind and he glanced at Serena with an undefined question in his eyes.
Serena returned the gaze with a tilt of her head, before looking back at the Knight, the expression of puzzling something out clear on her features.
In the meantime, the Knight seemed to discard the line of conversation with another shake of his head. "But I did not come to you to speak of that. My business with you is brief, if you would perhaps indulge me, sir?"
Van glanced again at Serena since they were on her errand. He sensed that there was something up here. A younger Van might not have taken the time, but he'd lived through too many things lately to be blind to the nuances.
She caught the glance and gave a nod with the slightest shrug of her shoulders, then blinked in surprise as the Knight bowed quickly to her with a murmur of thanks, before returning his gaze to the young king.
"I've been charged with delivering a message to you." Kaerin explained. "I meant to give it to you after the tourney in Pallas, but circumstance intervened I'm afraid." With that he produced a small, folded parchment. The message bore the marks of wear and travel, as well as the seal of a priestess of the Freid region. He looked at the worn state of it a bit apologetically before offering it. "It was a year since it was penned, but I was asked not to seek you out until now by the sender."
Van blinked and his eyes fell to the letter. He nodded and accepted it into his hand.
Breaking the seal, he read the words penned there.
O-Fanelia,
They say those who follow Fate--walk blindly, those who lead Fate--find blood, but those who control Fate--fly on the wings of their own wishes.
Dragon-blooded, demon-touched--there have been visions of you, of the beginnings borne from the end that never was. To move to the future, the present is needed to be rid of the past, but to know how? There is a story here of a barren kingdom called Zaibach and how dragon and how guymelef made it so.
To listen, come to the land of the child-king, find Freya.
To lay rest the demon who blooded Freid's fields, killer, and dragon so often sought.
~F.T.~
Before Van could look up, Kaerin had taken another step back, head inclined downwards and masking a schooled and impassive expression. The only sign of his unease was the gloved hand resting at his swordbelt.
Van read the note carefully, as he had read the paper Dryden had given him. His eyes darkened toward the end, and he closed them for a moment, before handing the note silently to Serena.
She skimmed the note, tilting her head at the strange wording of it before glancing up at Kaerin a bit warily. "The F I can figure out, but the T?"
"Tomant, the message is from my sister." Kaerin replied.
Serena gave Kaerin a sharp glance at the name, something about it struck a cord of recognition in her. Frowning faintly, she passed the cryptic letter back to Van, her mind still working over the words. The timing of it seemed strange to her but she didn't comment.
"So, she asks a favor while calling him a killer," she said, her eyes darker. She glanced quickly at Van before locking gazes with the Knight.
Van took her hand again, just for a moment. "It's a true statement," he said quietly.
"I know nothing of its contents, I was asked only to give it to him." Kaerin said flatly, gaze still downwards and carefully nuetral, though the hand at his side had curled with tension.
Van took the letter and handed it, open to Kaerin. "Do you want to see what your sister writes?"
Kaerin glanced up at last, his eyes meeting the king's with a wariness imbedded in them. He took the letter back with reluctance and read it, pursing his lips slightly. After a moment he sighed, looking a little weary. "She had been touched since... the war. But while she may not make sense, she hasn't been wrong often," He nodded slightly as if to himself. "My errand is complete," he said, and seemed to pause before looking at Van again, his gaze the same even stare of earlier. "If you wish, I will be returning to Freid, I can take to her a reply."
Van took the letter back and tucked it into his tunic. He shrugged. "I'll come if I can. I have something to do first, and I can't leave my country for much longer," his eyes unfocused for a moment. The words in the letter brought that field back to his memory. "I'd gladly lay rest that demon if I could do so, and not betray my people's need for a king," he said softly, almost as if he was speaking to himself.
The lack of satisfaction fueled a deep running frustration in the Knight. "You still talk as if the choice isn't there," he said, voice a little rough. Not waiting for the king's response, he half turned and bowed to Serena before turning his back, his hand now clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword with repressed emotion.
Van watched the young knight, his eyes shadowed. "Who was it?" he asked softly, only just loud enough to catch Kaerin's ear.
Kaerin stopped, a slight jerk as if he'd been struck by the quiet words. "My brother," he replied, looking over his shoulder, the expression was balanced on the edge of bitterness and anger. Giving in to the latter emotion, he smiled, looking down. "A Dragonslayer."
Van closed his eyes, nodding. It had been teasing around his mind since reading the letter. The field and what happened there. For a moment something sucked at him. A memory of a far distant place, under a tree, where he crouched watching for the world to fall apart in fire around him. A memory of a colorless field where shadows drew him among them.
The words had a similar reaction on Serena, she gazed at the Knight with unfocused eyes. "Chesta, his name was Chesta." she said softly, her voice breaking lightly and she clutched at the bundle she held.
Van heard the words and his eyes focused on her face. He grew very still, waiting for whatever might be coming. It never occurred to him to defend his actions. He accepted the darkness that Kaerin's anger and grief called from inside him. In truth, he'd never had any means of defense against it.
Kaerin nodded to Serena, his face free of any hints of surprise at her recognition. His gaze lightened as he regarded the pale woman. "I find I owe a debt to you, my lady. Word may travel slow, but if needs arise, do not hesitate if you need my assistance for any task," he ducked his head respectfully, before turning a cooler look at Van.
Serena returned the salute with a puzzled look. She hesitated a moment before the only possible source of that debt could be occurred to her. Her eyes cleared and she returned the nod. "I'll keep it in mind," she murmured in reply.
Instead of questioning, she looked from the Knight back to where Van stood motionless. That same numb feeling that came after Kaerin's declaration returned. /Space, I just need to think,/ she convinced herself. Quietly she seemed to gather herself up and slipped past both. "If you gentlemen would excuse me," she murmured.
Van let her go, his eyes following her with naked emotion, shielded only by a brief ducking to let dark hair fall over his eyes.
"Perhaps you'll get a chance to lay the demon to rest," he murmured to Kaerin softly, before bowing ever so slightly.
"Me? No, helping you seems to be my sister's wish." Kaerin replied curtly.
Van looked up, meeting Kaerin's eyes and his expression was somehow completely readable to the young knight. When he spoke of laying the demon to rest, he was referring to his own death.
Kaerin bowed his head slightly. "That is your choice," he said quietly, replying more to his own insight than anything, "But not my place. You spared my life and pulled the blow that would have taken it. As much as has passed, I cannot think little of that."
Van's eyes followed Serena and he smiled suddenly, the expression moving his face only. "Thanks for your offer of service to Serena Schezar. I think... she will not need it for long, she strengthens. And he can take care of himself. But it eases me. Farewell, Kaerin Tomant. I won't ask you to forgive me for things that have happened. I don't have the right."
He moved to follow in the direction Serena had gone, not hurrying, just following, his step much less energetic that when they had first seen the young knight.
Kaerin shook his head, and began walking in the other direction. "To have asked would have held more insult than you think," he said, hand still on the hilt and knowing that the words would never reach the king. Frustration hurried his pace to the stables. For a reason he couldn't begin to grasp, completing the task he'd been waiting a year for didn't relieve anything, just increase the sense of urgency.
Serena walked aimlessly, unconsciously heading in the direction of the airfield she'd seen from above. The woman took no notice of the greetings or hails of those who passed and recognized her from being at their king's side. The words were as if from a foreign language, meaningless syllables that entered the ear without regard for comprehension. She could vaguely recall returning a nod or two. She only half remembered recognizing the Crusade II or sitting down outside of it, the clothes she had taken cradled in her lap, and her gaze was listless.
Through all the vaguarity that surrounding what was going on around her, memories too vivid flashed behind her eyes. /Don't sleep too deeply,/ her own voice, a dream that was only a day away. Would it be the same tonight? This discontentment, this other life appeared now, and she didn't know how to stop it. It wasn't passing like all the others times in the past year.
More murmurs, above her, concern. She picked out her name amongst the unintelligible babble of language, but didn't reply. She wasn't sure she could.
Allen heard the call from one of the crew and came down, seeing Serena sitting below the ship. His neck prickled. He jumped down and knelt beside her, and then looked around, ordering the men who were around to vacate the area.
Van came out onto the edge of the airfield and saw the blond swordsman kneeling and took off running towards the spot.
Almost too slowly, Serena raised a hand, running her fingertips along the side of her brother's face as if testing his solidity. The hand dropped and the faint lines of a struggle cross her face. "Allen," she said finally, in the tones of someone answering a question.
Allen nodded, watching her face. "Something's wrong... Serena?"
She nodded once, eyes still wide. "He was a mechanic. Wrote home a lot, used to spend nearly all his pay on getting messengers to two kingdoms. Liked philosophy, but was better with machines. I shouldn't know, but I can't help it. I shouldn't know this," her face darkened as she scowled, concentration furrowing it. The effort paid off a little, her eyes seemed to clear a little and he focused on Allen, one hand reached out to hold his arm. "I left him behind, I shouldn't have. Not him, but him, Van, not Chesta. Where's Van?"
Van had crossed the space and knelt at her other side quickly. "Here," he said quietly.
Allen threw Van a look but kept his silence.
"Mmm good," she said, visibly relaxing. After a moment she frowned again and sighed, holding her head in her hands, wearily. "Not my memory," she reasserted to no one in particular.
Van almost hesitantly placed a hand on her back and stroked it gently. "It's all right," he said in a low, reassuring voice
"It's never been *all* right," she protested, a slight growl to her voice.
Van sighed and nodded. "Sorry," he said softly. His hand fell away.
Allen felt the hand on his arm tighten almost convulsively when Van drew back.
Allen looked sharply at Van and then looked again. There was something very wrong with the young king, something almost as troubled in his eyes as those of Serena. He didn't spare the time to wonder about it, simply lanced the other with his gaze.
Van crouched in front of Serena and slowly took her hands, alert for any sign of drawing back.
The contact seemed to have the opposite effect. Long, pale fingers curled around his, and Serena's face seemed to clear immediately. Inch by inch whatever had gripped her seemed to pass, until blue eyes opened, looking around with a sudden, if confused, clarity.
Van looked into those eyes, trying to mask his own inner troubling. Feeling her respond to his presence did ease the dull sawing of guilt and grief inside him.
Serena looked from the face of her lover to that of her brother and back, shaking off the persistent disorientation. Where... A quick glance behind Allen solved the question. "I'm sorry," she said, grimacing. It wasn't the right thing to say, but it was the only thing that came to mind.
Van smiled very slightly. He gently but firmly pulled her to her feet. Allen got up at the same time, looking from one of the to the other with a frown.
She caught sight of her brother's frown and mustered up a grin. "I'm okay onii-chan. I think it's over..." she looked at both of them a second. "How long...?"
Van shook his head. "A few moments," he looked at her closely. "How do you feel?"
"It wasn't bad. I'm all right, just a little... off I guess," she reassured him.
Van nodded. "We have to go soon. If you still want to come with me."
Serena blinked at that, giving Van a startled look. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
He smiled, but it was kind of a tightening of lips over teeth more than a smile. "Nothing," he shrugged. "Do you remember talking with Kaerin?"
She tilted her head and nodded. "He was turning to leave.... and you said something." She fell silent after that, an image of short blonde hair and blue eyes taking the place for a brief second before disappearing. She shook it off. "Just that, then oniisan, and hands."
Van swallowed and nodded.
Allen looked from one to the other. "Kaerin. I see."
Serena glanced at her brother, a grin brightening her face briefly. "You're getting That Look again," she said lightly.
Allen smiled. "I think I'd like to find the young knight. Which direction did he go?"
"Freid," Serena supplied. "Well, eventually I think." She glanced at Van quickly.
Van nodded and jerked his head in the general direction of where Kaerin had been headed.
Allen nodded. He kissed Serena on the cheek. "Sounds like you might not have time for the tour..." he said with a slight inquiry.
Her face flushed slightly. "You know, when I promised to bother you, I didn't mean this," she gave him a half smile and a shrug, still not taking her hands from Van's. "You don't mind?"
"Mind?" Allen said, and shook his head. "No, of course not. It's just a delay, isn't it?" I'll be bringing you back from Zaibach on the Crusade. You'll have time to become better aquainted with her then."
She nodded hesitantly, her eyes falling again on the clothes she had brought. An impulse demanded her attention. She freed one hand to brush aside her bangs. "Do you have a sword the Crusade can spare... there wasn't one when... well.. when I woke up," she asked quietly.
Allen glanced at Van who simply looked back, and then nodded. He turned and called something up to Gaddes, asking him to send someone down with his second best.
Gaddes gave the Captain a look that clearly said he thought the blond man had lost it. He gave and elaborate shrug and went to find the blade himself. A few moments later the first mate had reappeared taking the ladder down two rungs at a time. With a nod to the small gathering, he handed the long sword to Allen.
Allen unsheathed the blade and examined it quickly. His second best would have been many men's pride and joy. He nodded and sheathed it and handed it, not without a slight frown of concern, to Serena.
"Thank you," she said, holding the sheath a little tentatively. "I'm not expecting to use it," she tried to reassure him. "It's just in case."
Allen smiled and shrugged. He glanced at Van and suddenly realized what had been bothering him about the king since he arrived. He did not however choose to comment on it.
She fidgeted slightly in the silence of the three men around her. Focusing on Gaddes she shot him a grin. "He was right after all. All healed," she said happily.
Gaddes returned the comment with a snort. "It wasn't much," he shrugged. "Kept trying to tell everyone that," he added, grinning lopsidedly.
Allen threw the sergeant a look.
Van simply waited another moment and then said, "Let's go," softly.
Serena looked at Van a moment before nodding. She put the sword down on the pile beside her and gave Allen a hug. "Meet you soon," she promised.
Allen held her for a moment as if reluctant to let go, then he released her. "Soon then," he said, nodding.
She stood on the tips of her toes and gave Gaddes a quick kiss on the cheek before picking up the clothes and sword. With a small, almost self conscious smile at everyone, she stepped back, seeming to fall naturally back at the young king's side.
Van reached out after only a slight hesitation and enclosed her fingers in his. "Soon be over," he murmured, but to her or himself was not clear.
She gave Van a sideways look, something feeling off, had felt, just a little stronger now. She simply made a noncommittal "Mmm" not inclined to argue, or really aware if there was anything to argue about.
Their path took them eventually to the courtyard, and across it to the Sanctuary. The building had a single guard posted, and Van dismissed him calmly. Then he led her inside. The interior was deserted, the smiths having finished some time before. Light filled the space, falling on the seated guymelef at the back.
Serena stepped aside and against the wall near the doors. Putting down her burden, she crossed her arms and looked up at the guymelef sourly. The recent news hadn't done anything to lighten her natural disposition for it.
Van didn't look up at the dragon god. His eyes were down, tension oozing from his body like perspiration in a sudden heat. He went to a place in the floor and pressed the mosaic, and a slot opened, a small pillar rising from the floor, with a red faceted ball of crystal perched in it.
He lifted the energist in his hand and stared at it for a moment.
"I killed them all," he said softly, his eyes focused on the red depths. The words seemed to come from no where.
Serena lost her dour expression at the words, fading into a concern and resonance of something she only half remembered. "We can still go on the Crusade.... I don't think Allen's left," she offered softly.
He almost smiled. "I'll still be a killer no matter which way we go," he said. "You should know everything. What I've done... I'm afraid when you know it all... it will matter. It should matter."
She watched him silently for a long moment. "Maybe," she said, looking down. "I could ask him when I sleep for the rest. Would that make me as guilty then, to remember why it is people are scared of me, or what I must have done?"
Van shook his head, throat constricting. "I don't know," he managed to whisper. "It doesn't matter to me any more. I can't see what I am... it gets clear and then, things come back..."
She slid down the wall to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees. Propping her chin up, she looks at him evenly, the vaguest hints of a smile tugging the corners of her lips. "Funny, I have the same problem," she said. "When you put it like that."
Van turned at that and went to kneel before her, still holding the energist in one hand. "If you... when you... if you hate me... " he shook his head, unable to finish the thought. Suddenly he took her hand and pulled it to his lips. "Whole or not at all, you promised," he whispered.
She blinked at him, not remembering the promise, but clasped his hand with one of hers, lifting her head. "Does... he hate you?" she asked quietly, frowning around the word hate. Despite his fears, she couldn't imagine it somehow. She was almost certain she would feel something so strong.
He dropped his eyes. "I don't... know... I... no... not any more... but I don't know why..."
"No way of knowing I guess," she said. After a moment, she reached out with her other hand and put her fingers under his chin, gently lifting his gaze to hers. "Whatever just happened.... I don't feel any differently, Van."
He pressed her hand against his cheek. "I do," he said softly, barely above a whisper. "I feel like justice is waiting in Freid."
"You are going to go to it... aren't you?" she asked, dropping her hand slowly back to her knees.
His eyes closed. "If... yes. Wouldn't... wouldn't he want that? Justice for his... I... " he tightened his grip on the energist, feeling the faceted edges cut into his palm.
She stared at him a moment, brows drawn together, and biting her lower lip. She shifted to her knees and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Van in place of an answer.
He leaned into her, his body tense enough to tremble slightly. He was torn between the need to keep all this away from her and the stronger compulsion not to let walls of silence move between them. He slowly worked to master his emotions. They didn't have the time for this.
There was a soft patter of blood, as a thin line of the fluid trailed down from his palm, to gather at the knuckles until falling, a single drop to the ground. Serena scowled at that, a slight look of alarm creeping into her eyes. "Don't..." she said, instinctively reaching to take the energist from him, to keep the wounds from inadvertently getting any deeper.
He jerked his hand back, suddenly afraid that she would be hurt. He opened his fingers, looking into the depths of the red crystal, feeling his pulse beat loudly in his ears. "Don't worry," he said, without knowing why. "She can't bleed."
Serena looked at Van blankly a moment before shooting a glare at the guymelef behind him. "It's not *her* I care about." She snapped, before her expression lightened quickly again. "I'd tell her to go rust, but..."
Van sighed, smiling slightly, finding a small piece of something he could rest in, in her eyes. He leaned back and got to his feet.
"Basram first," he said, "To get your Alseides. Then Zaibach. To finish this."
She nodded once, using the wall behind her to push herself back to her feet. "It's enough of a plan for me."
He reached out with his free hand and took one of hers, kissing the back, then the palm.
Then he turned to the guymelef. Moving to it, he jumped up, and extended his hand towards the red gem. His hand moved into it as if it were thick fluid. Something seemed to suck and pull at his hand as he drew it out, leaving the energist behind.
He looked over his shoulder at Serena and said, "In the courtyard." Then the cockpit opened and he jumped into it, settling as it closed around him.
Serena gathered her things and quickly followed the instructions. She moved back a good distance before fishing a wide belt from her clothes hurriedly, wrapping it around herself and then affixing her brother's sword to it. One distraction dealt with, she glanced back at the doorways with a touch of irrational trepidation.
The huge doors opened and the guymelef emerged, moving almost gracefully. It seemed to pick up something of Van's movement, though it was so large and heavy.
The mecha paused in the courtyard and then transformed to the dragon form. From its back, Van gestured, and knelt on one knee to offer her a hand up.
Without hesitation, her hand grasped his gloved one, and she used it to scale the side of the white dragon. She settled herself in the hollow in front of Van, putting her things down first, away from the winds. Then, giving Van's hand one last squeeze, she found the leather straps and wrapped them around her wrists carefully and gave him a nod.
In moments, they were airborne.
As the winds picked up, the higher and faster the dragon climbed, Serena closed her eyes and leaned back against Van's legs, taking a little comfort from the warmth there and from the renewed pulse of the pendant at her neck.
THE END OF PART 29!