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Visions of the Mystic Moon
By Kiki Smith
Chapter Ten
Dilandau stared back in silence. The fair-haired man quirked his eyebrows.
'Why are you apprehensive?' he asked. 'You can trust me, Dilandau.'
That was the precise question, Dilandau thought grimly. The only person he'd ever trusted was Emperor Dornkirk and that had been a mistake, it seemed. The idea that he would trust this strange man, who clearly didn't believe him and thought him to be insane, was really laughable.
But being outright hostile would gain him nothing, he realized. It would be better to play along for a while, let them think that he was reforming, that he was believing their incredulous tales. So that they would let him go from this blasted place and leave him alone.
'I don't remember much' he said eventually. 'It's all blurry...'
Stenson regarded him for a moment, before writing something in his notebook. 'Is that so? Then please tell me everything that you remember.'
Dilandau wanted to glare at him, but he forced himself to keep an impassionate expression. He really didn't want to end up tied to the bed again and he knew that resistance would only lead him in that direction. Instead of launching himself at the doctor for his disbelieving tone, he remained in his chair, looking at his hands.
'It was a different world from here' he said in a bored voice. 'I could see the Moon and the Earth' he remembered to use this idiot term rather than call this place what he used to on Gaea - to maintain his illusion. 'There was a war. I was a soldier – a high-ranked one – on one of the sides.'
'Aren't you too young to be an officer?' Stenson asked suddenly. Dilandau momentarily forgot himself and lost his temper.
'It's not a matter of age, but of skill!' he snarled.
'I see' said Stenson calmly, though he obviously didn't. 'Go on. What was the purpose of that war?'
Dilandau forced himself to cool down.
'My country, Zaibach, lies in unforgiving land' he said sourly. 'The soil does not provide us with enough crops to feed our people. Therefore Emperor Dornkirk, having turned Zaibach from poverty to technological power, wanted to gain land for his people.'
He was surprised to see Stenson nod thoughtfully. 'It seems that Gaea has not moved from the feudal era' he remarked.
'What?'
'Oh, sorry' he grinned. 'You obviously haven't learned any history, so can't possibly know... You see, some few hundred years ago people on Earth were like people on your Gaea...There were kings and emperors and the most valuable thing a man could have was land.'
Dilandau shook his head. 'The most valuable things are energists' he said matter-of-factly.
'Energists?' Stenson asked, curious. 'What are those?'
Dilandau belatedly realized that the doctor had made him forget his initial purpose and manipulated him. He gritted his teeth, but knew he would have to answer.
'Hearts of dragons. We use them to get energy to run aircrafts and guymelefs.'
'Interesting' said Stenson, his eyebrows raised. 'Actually, it's really fascinating. Could you tell me more about those guymelefs?'
Dilandau barely stifled his rising anger. 'Well' he began, faking uncertainity. 'I remember I piloted one, but it feels like a dream now... The memories of Gaea are becoming more and more distant.'
Stenson looked at him for a long while before smiling. 'All right. I won't pressure you to remember then.'
Inside, Dilandau smirked triumphantly, but outsied he gave the man a grateful nod. 'Thank you.'
Their session carried on for another half hour before Daisuke came to escort him back to his room.
Bemused, Yukari put the phone away and turned the volume up on her CD recorder. A familiar L'Arc-en-Ciel song filled her ears and she smiled, feeling content and relaxed.
She was lying on her small, one-person bed filled with her collection of colourful cushions, carefully arranged so that they created a comfortable nest. The rest of the room was similarly stuffed with things – the pale yellow walls were barely visible from underneath the myriad of posters. Members of Glay, Dir en Grey, X and L'Arc-en-Ciel to name a few stared at her with their heavily made-up eyes, the last thing she saw when she went to sleep and the first when she woke up. The dark wooden furniture barely held all of her books – most of them foreign classics – and her single and favourite manga – Hana Yori Dango by Yoko Kamio, which she had been collecting for nearly three years now. Doumyoji, the main male character, was her absolute favourite and she had a picture of him stuck to the wall just above her desk.
Tsukasa Doumyoji was the ultimate bad-boy. He was tall and handsome in a somewhat unconventional way – his hair was really weird - he was unbelievably rich and had so much influence that he controlled the entire school without any effort. Together with three of his childhood friends he formed a group called the F4, which terrorised the students. He was cruel and arrogant, had a flaming temper and thought everybody was below him – but there was something about him that drew the heroine, Tsukushi Makino, and made her fall in love with him. Maybe it was the little-boy complex, or the strenght of his feelings for her, or his surprising moral codex and the way he followed it without deviation.
Yukari didn't know what it was that made her like him so much, but she never forgot that he was just a fictional character and real-life bad-boys were probably people she should avoid rather than fall for. She'd followed this rule her entire life. Up till now.
Well, she couldn't really say that she was in love. Or even infatuated for that matter. She was, however, very much drawn and attracted to the very person she knew she shouldn't. If she wanted to trust Hitomi's words – and they seemed quite probable – Dilandau Albatou was not your typical bad-boy. He went way beyond bullying, rock-listening, hair-dyeing or even shop-lifting.
She wasn't sure that he could even be compared to Doumyoji.
But knowing this didn't help matters at all. Everytime she saw him her heart fluttered madly in her chest and the sight of his face, hair and posture always made her want to stare. She liked this feeling of excitement and giddiness his presence caused in her. She hadn't felt this way since Amano-senpai two years ago and she wasn't about to let it go. It was a beautiful thing to be cherished, not discarded.
To hell with consequences.
A doorbell rang. Yukari shot to her feet and ran down the stairs to let Hitomi in. Her best friend's hair was dishelved, as if she'd been running.
'Come in' Yukari said with a smile.
'I hope I'm not interrupting anything' Hitomi muttered apologetically.
'Don't worry. Mum's asleep upstairs, so we have to be quiet, but other than that you know that you're always welcome.'
Hitomi grinned. 'Thanks.'
They went to Yukari's room and the redhead closed the door carefully. 'Now' she said, turning to Hitomi. 'What is it?'
The blonde looked at her for a moment, then sat down on the bed, took out a yellow envelope out of her bag and gave it to her.
Yukari took it, a bit bewildered, and glanced inside. It was a piece of parchment with something in a weird language written on it in black ink.
'What's this?' she asked, giving it back to Hitomi.
'It's a letter to Van' she answered grimly. 'From Celena.'
It took her a second to comprehend. 'Celena? You mean, Allen's sister? That girl who turned into Dilandau?'
Hitomi nodded.
'Well, what does it say?' Yukari asked impatiently. 'You can read it, right?'
'I can' Hitomi said before unfolding the letter and reading it out loud.
When she finished, the only sound in the room was another j-rock song.
'Good Lord' said Yukari after a moment. 'Does that mean that he really...'
'Yes.'
'And Mrs Yamashita's son...' she trailed off, suddenly struck by a thought. 'I've got to give it to him. He has the right to know.'
Hitomi sighed. 'I know... That's why I stole it from Van and brought it to you. I know he must know... but I'm worried that when he does he'll try to find Van...'
'He'll know that Van's on Earth when he reads it' Yukari realized. 'But he can't go out of the hospital at the moment – they're guarding him...'
'But he won't be there forever, will he?' Hitomi pressed. 'You can't tell him where you got the letter. If he doesn't know where to look, he'll never find him. Where do the Yamashitas live?'
Yukari bit her lip. 'I don't know... Probably somewhere in Tokyo. I'd have to ask...'
'So there's a chance they'll never see each other. Of course if you stop going to him.'
Yukari felt a sharp pang in her belly, but she didn't show it to Hitomi. 'Right.'
'Good' said Hitomi. 'I've got to go... My dad's been nagging me about how I'm never home anymore... I can't even begin to wonder how I'm ever going to tell him about Van...'
'Hitomi?'
'Yes?'
'Are you happy with him?'
Hitomi suddenly looked shy. 'You mean with Van? I... I am in love with him' she said with a grin. 'I think he loves me too... And when he's not around all I do is think about him...'
Yukari grinned. 'That's love, all right, you silly airhead.'
'I resent that!'
Yukari laughed along with her best friend, but deep down she couldn't shake the feeling of dread at the thought that one day that warm, excited fluttering would be gone, along with Dilandau.
The thing that woke her on Thursday, though, was not the crying of a child or a normal sound of the house. There was someone outside.
A bit panicked, Kaede shot out of bed and, glancing at her clock – it read six minutes past three – carefully went to the window. Barely moving the curtain, she looked outside.
What she saw made her stare. A strange white light was coming from the backyard, in the shape of... Of wings.
She blinked, trying to clear her sleepy eyes, but when she looked again, it had disappeared.
Bemused, she went back to sleep.
He jerked, startled by the sudden yell and looked up. Mrs Nakamura was standing several meters away, her back to him and her eyes fixed on something on the ground. Frowning, he stood up from where he'd been kneeling and went over to her.
'Yes? What is it?'
She didn't answer, pointing at the ground instead. He followed her gaze and audibly gasped.
The grass was covered with feathers.
His feathers.
'This is really odd' came Mrs Nakamura's voice, as if through a haze. 'What kind of a bird would leave such beautiful feathers?'
She crouched and picked one of them, a particularly pretty flight-feather, and twirled it in her hand.
'Maybe a goose?' she asked, turning to him. 'What do you think?'
'A... A goose?' he stammered.
'Yes' Mrs Nakamura nodded, her expression bewildered. 'I've never seen a goose in this neighbourhood, though... Most extraordinary...'
He could only nod dumbly, hoping she wouldn't notice his strange behaviour.
'You know, I swear I saw something last night' she remarked conversationally. 'Something woke me up, you know. I wake up quite easily. Remember that, in case you'd like to sneak around the house at night' she shot him a meaningful glance. 'Anyway. I woke up and I swear that I saw something with big white wings right over here. It must have left the feathers... But it was way too big to be a goose...'
All of the blood must have flown out of his face. 'Maybe' he ventured tentatively. 'Maybe sleepiness made you exaggerate its size, Madam?'
She turned to him sharply. 'Are you saying that I imagined it?'
He held up his hands. 'Of course not, I was merely...'
'No matter' she cut him off. 'Now, go grab a rake and clear it up. Even if they're pretty, I don't want them lying around.'
She went towards the group of playing children, all the time twirling his feather between the forefinger and thumb of her right hand.
Van watched her go, both relieved and mortified. When he'd gone out flying last night to get rid of his stress and the bad energy that had been gnawing at him ever since he read Celena's letter, he never realized that someone might see him.
He had to be more careful with what he did. People discovering that he was a Draconian here had different implications than on Gaea. Yes, he'd be feared and probably called a demon, but on Gaea they at least knew he existed. Here on the Mystic Moon, according to Hitomi, people had never seen sentient beings other than humans.
And to be seen by Mrs Nakamura! It was a good thing she was uncertain at what it was exactly that she'd seen, but it was sheer luck that his little escapade didn't result in graver consequences than clearing up his own mess.
He quickly found a rake and started on his job. The feathers, glistening with dew and blindingly white against the dark green, red and mouldy brown of fallen leaves, were everywhere. From a logical point of view, there shouldn't be so many of them here, because if he lost them all in one night he wouldn't have any left. His wings, however, defied the laws of logic. Technically, they weren't even his own flesh, per say. They were rather a manifestation of his heritage, some kind of a magical imprint of his ancestors' power. He operated them with the use of his will, not his muscles and even though they appeared corporal they could vanish into nothingness. Losing feathers was the one thing he'd never mastered completely. They fell out on their own and there were new ones immediatelly growing in the vacant places. His personal theory of this phenomenon was that since he was only a half-Draconian, the amount of magic in his blood was not enough to keep the feathers from falling. Folken had the same problem, but their mother, to his knowledge, had never lost a single one of hers.
Sighing, he gathered them up in a pile, together with the leaves. Then he returned to what he'd been doing before – which meant fixing the fence. There were several other things Mrs Nakamura gave him to do during the morning and he would be busy until Hitomi came after her school.
Hitomi. A warm feeling spread over his mind. Hitomi, the girl who loved him.
He spent the entire day with a goofy grin, attracting Mrs Nakamura's attention, though the old woman didn't ask him about it.
When Hitomi came, before they could disappear to spend some time alone, Mrs Nakamura ordered them to do the laundry. Glancing at each other in amusement, they complied.
After half an hour of working either chatting about their respective days or in companionable silence, Hitomi asked him a question.
'Van?'
'Yes?' he looked at her, his arms elbow deep in water.
She was staring at her hands and seemed nervous. 'You know, I've been meaning to ask you... It's been really bothering me...'
He straightened, a bit worried. 'What is it?'
She suddenly looked him in the eyes. 'Why did we stop seeing each other whenever we wanted? I tried and tried, but you never appeared.'
His heart fell and it didn't stop until it reached the ground.
Doctor Frank Stenson ran a hand through his blond hair before stuffing it into his pocket.
'The little bugger's gotten smart' he said with a smirk. 'He tried to make me think he was forgetting about his hallucinations.'
Doctor Maeda quirked his eyebrows. 'Really? I didn't think he had it in him'
'Well, he's quite an intelligent psycho' Frank laughed. 'Though hardly a gifted actor.'
'What's your diagnosis, then?'
'Schizophrenia, what else?' he shrugged. 'The boy's got it real hard. He told me they used dragon hearts as sources of energy. Great imagination... He'd be a brilliant fantasy writer.'
Maeda chuckled with appreciaction. 'What about the girl?'
'Oh, her' Frank shook his head in dismissal. 'She's making it all up. Probably to gain attention. Certainly nothing to worry about. About Mr Yamashita, though...'
'Yes?'
'I'd like to have him moved to a mental clinic. He needs constant supervision. I have a feeling that if he got his hands on a sword, he'd try using it and get hurt in the process.'
'You know his parents don't have the money to send him to your place, don't you?'
Frank sighed. 'Too bad. He'd have to do with a public facility... From what he'd told me it'll still be better than what he's used to. This Gaea world of his sounds awfully medieval.'
They laughed as they walked, unaware that their conversation hadn't been exactly private.
The thought seemed both preposterous and far too probable.
She hadn't planned on eavesdropping, really. Well, maybe this was not entirely true, as she had immediatelly followed Doctors Maeda and Stenson when she'd noticed them talking, even though she'd seen them only by chance. She had been innocently – well, not so much, actually, considering her destination – walking down a corridor and they had just happened by, not even bothering to lower their voices.
What she heard made her stomach clench.
She wondered why it had never occured to her that they might think he needed psychiatric treatment. He certainly met all of the requirements of an asylum patient.
She should have realized that they were keeping him in the hospital for far too long for someone who was completely healthy. Observation period notwithstanding.
Something had to be done. She'd have to call Mrs Yamashita and tell her both about the letter and about the Doctors' conspiracy and the two of them would have to think of something to prevent it from happening. After all he'd been through, Dilandau deserved peace, and not at a mental clinic.
But first, she had to give the letter to him. She had no idea how he would react to its contents and, to be completely honest, she was a bit afraid. She didn't know what to expect of him. Would he blow up in a fit of rage? Would he attack her as the bearer of bad news? Would he stay silent? Or would he do something completely different? How could she know? She'd only talked to him twice.
She felt embarrassed at obsessing over a guy she barely even knew.
The journey to his room was uneventful. Fortunately she didn't encounter either of the Doctors and slipped into the room unnoticed.
He was standing with his back to the door, staring out the window. The lights were out.
When she entered, he turned around, his hand immediatelly travelling to grasp a sword that wasn't there.
'Oh, it's you' he spat, glaring. 'How about knocking?'
There it was. The fluttering that shouldn't be there. Not when he was regarding her as if she was a being classified barely above a bug.
'Sorry' she mumbled, momentarily distracted, before gathering her wits. 'Why are you sitting in the dark?'
'Because I like it, obviously. What do you want?' he asked when she switched on the lamp.
'I brought you something.'
His eyebrows travelled upwards. 'You brought me something? Well, what is it?'
She bristled, indignant. 'Something important, you arsehole.'
'What did you just call me?' he hissed.
She laughed. 'What, do you have problems with your hearing? I called you a hole in the arse, which you are, by the way. You should be thanking me for going all the way to bring it to you.'
'You - !'
He walked over to her and she felt a bit frightened. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bait him this way. Just when he was about to say something else, she fished for the letter from her bag.
'Here' she said. 'I think you will find this very interesting.'
He frowned. 'What is it?'
'A letter' she answered impatiently. 'It'll probably answer a lot of your questions.'
'Questions?' he drawled. 'Who is it from, anyway?'
She looked at him for a moment before delivering the bomb.
'It's from Celena.'
Just as she'd expected, his facial features went through a complete change from slightly bored to extremely shocked.
She reached out, handing him the envelope.
And when he took the parchment from her and looked at it, she watched his eyes move along the words and read the message she had already memorized.
If you are reading this, you are already there, in that strange world that overlooks ours and shines so mysteriously... I almost envy you... To be able to see it all, to see that place of secrets and mysteries...
I am sorry, for I have allowed myself to be poetic, and this is certainly not the place nor time. This letter is not a mere well-wishing message, telling you that I shall miss you and wish you all the best on your journey. No, this letter has a far more important mission.
I hope you like your farewell present, but I am certain that you are curious about those documents I enclosed in the box. You see, this is the documentation of my life, so to speak, and the life of another, a person that has been entwined with my destiny for nearly ten years.
Yes, I believe you know of whom I speak.
When I had been kidnapped by Zaibach soldiers, I had been terrified. Even more so when they gave me to the magicians – those men were the vilest creatures I had ever met at that point, and, to be honest, they still are. The experiment went quickly – they had already practiced on other children and were sure of what they were doing. In one frightening moment I was pushed deep into my subconscious and another person was put in my place. I was no longer in control of my body – I could not move, speak or feel, but I was still there. I was aware of the boy's presence, but he didn't feel me. I could hear his thoughts, see and hear what was happening outside... But I could not communicate. I tried in vain, I cried and screamed, but he never heard me. But I heard him.
And he was frightened, scared of where he was and missed his family. His name was Keiji and he was from the Mystic Moon, the place where you are now.
The magicians gave him a new name and a new life. They trained him mercilessly until he forgot who he was before and became Dilandau, the ruthless, evil Dragon Slayer, their star soldier. I witnessed the change, the building of a high stone wall dividing his consciousness from the memories and his real self. But the wall had cracks and I, the only one that knew him, knew it would crumble one day, and Dilandau would merge with Keiji and create a whole being.
There were times when I managed to get through, but he then was pushed aside, I do not know where, probably to the same place that I occupied when the magicians used the fate-altering machine to squash me. He had memories of me when I was five, but nothing else. No awareness of my being there, in the same body as he.
Then I pushed through one last time and there were no magicians to right it, so I finally stayed in command of my body and he... he was trapped in mine like I used to. I thought I would live with him forever in my subconsciousness.
But then Zaibach was destroyed and the magicians taken to prison... I was able to obtain the documentary that had been done concerning our 'experiment'. You can see for yourself, but I will make a summary here, including my own observations.
The magicians could not create a spirit out of nothing – it was against the nature. They had to steal one from another person. Their twisted minds would not be satisfied with a random spirit, so they searched carefully for the perfect candidate. I do not know how they managed to do that, but they found him. Keiji Yamashita, aged five, a little boy from the Mystic Moon, an albino, different from his family and other children, an intelligent boy with a powerful mind. So they used the fate-altering machine to orchestrate an accident and stole his spirit, leaving his body in a coma-like state there, on the Mystic Moon. And then bound his spirit to my own. They used a stone, a blood-red ruby, to symbollise his eyes, as the carrier of the bond. Once the ruby was destroyed, our spirits would disconnect and his would return to his body. Provided that there was enough energy between our two worlds to let him through. Otherwise he would just float about, unaware and ghost-like.
I suspect you already know what happened. I found the documents a year ago and since then have been waiting for the best moment to release him. I wouldn't condemn him to the life of a constant ghost, that is why I chose to wait. Your journey to the Mystic Moon should provide the necessary energy and I shall destroy the ruby right before you go. If I am right, then his spirit should return to his body at once. And I hope that is the case with all my heart.
I am writing to you about all of this because I have a favour to ask of you. I know you had been enemies, but I ask that you put that aside and find him. Give him this letter and help him adjust if it is necessary. I beg of you. He has been a part of me for so many years and I have come to love him, yet I cannot help him anymore.
I hope you are not too angry with me for asking this... But I cannot do nothing.
I wish you all the best in your new life. Please give my greetings to Hitomi. And if we are not destined to meet again, farewell.
Your friend,
Celena Schezar
Concerning Yukari and her interests – seeing as Vision of Escaflowne the anime was broadcasted in 1997, the action of this story of mine should be placed, accordingly, in 1999. This means that all of the mentioned jrock bands had already existed for quite some time before that. This is also true for the manga Hana Yori Dango, which started in 1992 and finally ended (with 36 volumes and an extra) in 2003. In 1999, Yukari would have been after seeing the anime series, which had been broadcasted in 1996. ::waves to fellow HYD lovers:D
One last thing – I always wondered why Van lost so many of his feathers, so I came up with this silly explanation xD
I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please leave reviews:D
Love ya,
Kiki Smith
