Seer and the Dragon King

VII

The morning light peaked through the curtains of the room right into Hitomi's eyes. She rolled over onto her side only to fall from the bed and onto the floor. Shooting up straight and rigid she looked around the room, she knew the bed she had been in hadn't been hers, almost terrified of where she had ended up sleeping the rest of the afternoon and the night. She was still in the ex-queen-to-be's room and she was still in the castle. The curse was still clinging to her and everyone else. Hitomi rubbed her eyes and managed to get her hand on the bed before pushing herself to stand. As she gazed over the top of the sheets, her eyes followed a tan gloved hand up to a tanned forearm. Once again Van was merely wearing a simple shirt, not something that a royal from Zaibach would wear. She remembered hearing of the straw royals of Zaibach and they luxurious clothing from the girls in the village before her sight became apparent. Still she had never seen Van in anything remotely royal like. Slowly her eyes found their way to his face, what she was expecting was a glare of great proportions. Instead, the royal just gave her a contemplative look. He didn't ask her what she was doing there, but he didn't turn his gaze from her. Maybe the room was too painful for him to gaze upon. For a moment she wondered if Celena had been the woman who had bedded in the room until she left.

"Folken showed me this room. He said it was important," Hitomi babbled on. She watched Van's face slightly afraid that he would transform into a disciplinarian or worse that mocking man who made her feel little. "The room that is, that was what he called important not why he showed me the room. He only showed it to me so we could talk in private. I- I am sorry that I intruded," she finished off her rambling feeling even worse than she started. The King probably thought her even more demented from her fall to the floor or even more insulting from her inability to even speak to him. He merely gave a small chuckle before sitting down on the bed.

"Folken told me where he had left you here," he admitted, "right after the entire castle was up in arms about your disappearance. Still, I did find you sleeping on the settee and it didn't look comfortable." He stopped talking and for once since she had seen him in the room Van didn't look at her instead his eyes were glued to his lap. Hitomi settled herself onto the bedding and awaited him to continue, yet when Van remained tongue tied she couldn't help but lean forward and ask him.

"Did you move me to the bed?" she said tentatively. He seemed uneasy with the way their conversation was going, but Hitomi wanted to know if he had taken it upon himself to place her in a better sleeping arrangement. Maybe she was a little wrong about her first assumption of him. Van seemed to be a little red when he looked up, but he merely cleared his throat and nodded. Hitomi gave him a smile, feeling the heat on her face as well. "Thank you." She turned her gaze to her hands and waited for the two options available either the king would leave her to her silence or he would speak again. When he didn't move Hitomi snuck a glance upwards towards him. He had kept his eyes averted, but he was rolling the material of his own tunic between his thumb and forefinger. A nervous motion, Hitomi wondered. Van cleared his throat and his eyes immediately settled on hers.

"I was about to check on the village merely to make rounds. You seem like you've been wanting to get out of here for at least a little while, would you care to accompany me?" he asked. Hitomi was sure there was something different in his tone, but she wasn't particularly sure what the difference was. She knew she didn't know him enough to really know every nuance in his voice. He could be plotting to kick her out of the world before she could even hear about the curse or he could be just trying to be nice to her after days of being an ass. Hitomi sucked in a breath, she'd have to jump sometime.

"I'd like to see the village again. I vaguely remember it from when I first came here," she admitted, and as she thought about it Hitomi felt as if her arrival had been months ago bordering on years. A small smile seemed to curve over Van's lips and he gave a short nod.

"I'll let you get dressed and I'll tell Millerna to pack us two lunches then," he said. Hitomi bobbed her head in agreement. She wondered if she could find her way back to her room from there but Van stopped her. "There are dresses in here that you can borrow." And with that he quickly popped off the bed and walked out of the room. He was kind of an oddity. Hitomi walked towards the large armoire. She swung the doors open only to see a half dozen dresses fit for a queen. It should've been obvious that those would be the type of clothing in such a room, still she even with the dresses that had been set out for her with magic she had never quite had anything so grand as most of the dresses before her. She assumed that due to her dwindling connection to the magic there would no longer be a dress laid out for her out of nowhere. As Hitomi reached for one of the lesser ornate dresses, the cloth moved away from her twisting out of her grip until her hands landed on a light green dress somewhat like the first one she had. The fabric seemed to pull towards her, and Hitomi mused that maybe the magic hadn't completely forsaken her. She didn't know how much the idea of the magic leaving her had scared her until she felt the relief settling in her body. As she put the dress on, Hitomi felt obligated to help the magic of the castle fit the dress to her. The dress cinched at her waist giving her the appearance of an actual feminine figure. Hitomi for once felt somewhat pretty. Dragging her hand along the dress she clung to the feel of the fabric over her palm.

Hitomi shook her head, she should stop admiring the clothing. Van's good nature his kindness probably wouldn't last; kindness rarely did. She forced herself to walk out of the ex-queen-to-be's room and right into Millerna. Despite seeing Millerna's corpse like visage every single morning since she arrived, Hitomi still felt like her heart stuttered in a brief moment of fear, and she hated herself for it. The people of the castle had been nothing but extremely nice to her as she lived there. Yukari had even confided into her about her past, Millerna had fed her, and Dryden had been nothing but kind. Despite all of that, their appearances chilled her deep within every morning when they were at their worst. They were good people, better than anyone she'd ever met in her short lifetime.

"So there you are," Millerna chirped. Her voice was too happy and lively to come from her cracked and bloody lips. Hitomi blinked noting that despite the probable pain that Millerna was in she was smiling broadly and in her hands was a small plate of cheeses, cured meats, and slices of delectable fruits. The same plate the Hitomi was sure Millerna often brought to Van. "These are for you, seeing as you missed breakfast and supper. We were all worried, but here you are and," Millerna trailed off. She lacked the brightness in her eyes, but Hitomi was near positive that if she had this conversation closer to nightfall Millerna's eyes would've been gleaming with life. Hitomi picked up a few of the salted meats and cheeses with one hand while piling the fruits in her other. "Take what you want, you and the king are going to have a satchel filled with these so don't worry!" she chirped again. Hitomi blinked trying to figure out what had Millerna in such a good mood. Most of the time she was fluttering around the kitchen with a scowl on her face over something Dryden did or she was being motherly and worrying about everything. Hitomi popped in a piece of the meat, slowly chewing it as Millerna seemed to watch her with avid fascination. While she had never really felt out of sorts with Millerna before, but having her watch her eat made Hitomi feel uneasy.

"I haven't lost appetite," she said quietly. Millerna seemed to realize what she was doing as she looked down sheepishly and shook her head.

"That's good. Now the King should be in the main hall," she spoke mostly to the floor. Hitomi nodded slowly, finishing her small meal.

"All right. I'll go see him now," she agreed. Millerna was being odd and so was Van, but at least it was a really good change with Van, Millerna just worried her. She had never seen her so jumpy and happy, and in her condition it made Hitomi wonder if their bones were brittle and easily broken too? She shook her head, she didn't want to think about what could happen to the people, not right then.

Hitomi moved as quickly as she could and soon she found herself in the main foyer staring at Van's back. His head was slightly bent as he tied the sword hilt to his belt, but he looked more like a mythical warrior. One of the men of the old stories that the wise women and men would whisper into the ears of wide eyed children. It was to fill them with dreams of heroes even as Ziabach stole away every hope they could ever manage. They were free as long as the big bad Empire didn't want something from them.

Then there was Van with his strong back his wide shoulders and stance of a warrior he would be a good visual hero for the children back in her home, not some much in person unless he had a lot of personality hiding underneath his snarky, cocky, and just overall slightly unpleasant attitude.

"Ready?" Van asked. Hitomi hadn't even noticed that he was looking at her. She tried to stifle her blushing but the redness came over her face nonetheless. His eyes seemed to latch onto her dress before they slowly traveled up to her face, and there they stood staring at each other for at least a few heartbeats.

"Yes," Hitomi replied quietly, breaking the silence. Maybe she shouldn't have picked the green dress or let the magic pick the green dress for her. For all she knew the green dress was Celena's favorite. She ran her palm over it again, the fabric felt wonderful still, but Van was still staring at her like he was trying to find answers. Shaking her head, Hitomi continued on towards him. Van seemed to snap out of his daze of staring in her direction as she got nearer. He cleared his throat. Part of her wondered what he was going to say if he was about to make a sly comment about her choice of clothing, but instead there was a faint pinkish hue to his face and he immediately clamped his mouth shut. "Are you ready?" she asked. The pink hue turned a little more red and his lips thinned.

"Yes, of course," he started. Van held out a hand awaiting for her to put hers in it, "You must be at least a little careful, while there aren't as many people rushing about, you can get lost in the village." His warning sounded greatly important, and part of her was trying to remember what the animalistic man had told her when she first arrived. Her memory kept stalling out on that particular aspect. She didn't ask why he was taking her out to the village if he thought it was too dangerous. Instead she hooked her hand around his arm, gripping his bicep and allowed him to lead her out of the castle.

The second fresh hair hit her nose Hitomi sucked in a deep, long breath. There was moisture in the air, but as she glanced upwards there were no clouds in the sky. It was bright and sunny, but not too warm. A decent breeze found its way to her before lazily trailing off somewhere else. When she had frist traipsed into castle she hadn't paid much attention to the surrounding village except that it had seemed incredibly deserted. Her eyes swept over the area taking in everything while Van lead her through the beautiful, yet untouched village. Unlike most of the people who were walking about right then in the corpse like forms, the place itself looked like nothing bad had ever really happened there. It was pristine, strangely pristine at that. Leaning her head towards Van she moved to ask him a question when he turn his head. Their noses collided just before his lips brushed against her cheek. Hitomi snapped back and Van took at least four steps back away from her, his hand hovering over his nose. Hitomi didn't even know if she should cup her cheek or her nose at first, but she went with the slightly pained cartilage.

"Sorry," she said, "I was about to ask a question." One thing she didn't want the King to think was that she had been about to come onto him. As attractive as he was he'd yet shown that he wasn't a total and complete ass most of the time and plus he was cursed and dragging everyone else down with him. From what little she knew it wasn't as if Van was the innocent being punished. Shaking her head Hitomi locked eyes with the King again. "I just wanted to know why the village looks so nice." In her mind it should be shambles, or at least it shouldn't look like it had never been touched by human or nature. During the day even the castle looked lived in. It was only at night when it seemed to be too clean. Van shrugged, a very unkingly move, but Hitomi just watched his face.

"I don't know why, but this is how it is now," he answered honestly. Hitomi tried to hide the smile that came over her face, he was still talking to her almost freely. As they walked along the street Hitomi began to note that there were more people walking about the village than she had known had been in the castle. They were obviously not the same people she saw walking along the corridors of the castle, but they still suffered from the curse as well. Hitomi looked to Van trying to gauge his expression, but as his jaw clenched and his eyes hardened she knew that asking about those people would probably be the quickest way to get him to shut down on her. "They were my soldiers. The ones who didn't die on battle," Van seemed to start talking out of nowhere. Hitomi tried to keep her shock off of her face. She hadn't expected him to actually tell her anything if she didn't pry at it. Still if he was going to talk she wasn't going to interrupt him. Instead, Hitomi tried to give him her most encouraging smile. He didn't look at her.

Back at the castle, Dryden was still trying to figure out what exactly got Millerna humming. She had been happier ever since Hitomi had arrived and they had some hope again, but after yesterday's revelation where Millerna stated afterwards that she wanted the girl to be happy above their happiness he was expecting a sulking princess who would pour her time over the warm fire as she made the meals. Instead he was watching as Millerna seemed to dance around the kitchen area a smile on her face despite the stinging he knew she was feeling from keeping that wide grin.

"Millerna," he started to say, but when she whirled around she grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him towards her.

"The King requested that Hitomi walk the village with him!" she spoke excitedly. Dryden felt for a moment as if he were let into some secret female privilege of gossip and relationships. "Do you know what this means?" she asked. Dryden knew exactly what Millerna thought it meant, but before he could mention the ulterior motive the King could harbor Millerna gave a joyful squeal. "It means he might want her to stay for himself and she'll be more likely to break the curse!" Dryden kept quiet for a few moments, he didn't have the heart to drag his Lovely Princess back to reality, she'd do that for herself soon enough. Millerna gave off a huff and narrowed her eyes.

"I know that it could be just a ruse so he can convince her to leave and never return, but I am trying to be optimistic, especially after Yukari reminded us of the past. Just because she only knows of herself and a couple other girls doesn't mean when she tells us these stories that we don't remember every face of every single one of those girls who walked through those castles walls!" Millerna snapped. Her happiness evaporated quickly as she pressed her pointer finger hard against his chest. He was use to her anger and her frustration, he'd had to deal with it for so many years it was almost second nature to take her face in his hands and press a kiss to her furrowed brows. Just like it was almost like clockwork for her body to then start its slow decent into relaxation back into him.

"I know you want it to work this time. We all do, and we all have wanted it to work, but like you said not too many nights ago we don't have a time limit we can wait forever and still be fine in the end. It'll hurt but it'll be okay," he tried to comfort, but with a future bleak either way it was hard for even him to find the beauty in the outcomes. Millerna sniffled against his shoulder burying her face against it.

"But will the world wait for us?" she asked. It was a heavy weighted question, and they both knew it. The only glimpses of the outside world they had ever gotten was the glimpses from the girls who wound up in Fanelia for a little while. Still most of them didn't know much and neither he nor Millerna had ever gotten the guts to ask about Asturia. What had become of their home? Had their homeland become a crippled country bowing to Ziabach's will or had it been completely dismantled. Dryden dragged a hand through her stringy hair, if it had been night he would be able to feel the thick strands of her usually luscious hair, he ached for it to be night. To him Millerna would always be beautiful, but during the day as the curse took its toll and the sunlight hid nothing he knew she would rather stay cooped up in the kitchen without a way to leave. Yet at night she was vibrant in more ways than just her looks.

"We'll hope for it, Millerna, that's all we can do," he assured her. His Asturian Princess didn't respond to him verbally, instead she tightened her grip on him seeming to soak up any comfort her could give her. He could give her this, he could give her comfort and warmth, even when part of him worried that she still held Allen on a pedestal. He wouldn't mention it, not right then but part of him still was sure that one of the reasons she hid away while she felt so ugly was due to her having a lesser chance of running into Allen. He also knows he shouldn't worry too much, Millerna had stayed by his side more and more over the years.

Millerna pulled back from his embrace only to press a kiss to his cheek, yet after she pulled away fully and went back to preparing the lunch. Dryden stood in the kitchen watching her again. She was no longer grinning and dancing around, but she isn't sulking either and that Dryden can be glad for. Yet, as she moved he couldn''t help but feel a little bad for dimming the light she had earlier. Taking in a breath, he gritted his teeth he was going to dive into the world of the king's love life just for her.

"So, he's taking Hitomi to the village. Do you think he's going to give the speech over how he rules this land of ghosts and maybe she can too?" he asked. Millerna's back stiffened before she turned to look at him curiously. Her brows found their way closer to the jewel the rested between them than the lids the usually resided over. Eventually she gave him a knowing smirk.

"Or maybe he's telling her of how adorable their children will be?" she suggested, her lips quirked even further upward. Dryden opened his mouth to add on to the ridiculous statement when Millerna nearly flounced over to him and pressed her boney fingers against his lips. There was some semblance of a sparkle in her eyes before she gave him a softer sweeter smile.

"I know what you were doing, and thank you," she whispered before pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth.

Hitomi followed dutifully after Van as he walked about the village seeming to keep patrol and looking for something she wasn't quite sure what. They had been silent since his admittance and she couldn't quite form the words she wanted to say to break the silence. Instead she had just watched and followed him move amongst the ghostly building and emaciated people. Van seemed to try not to look at the buildings too closely and the people even less. Finally, deciding to comment on some of the odd flowers placed on the buildings Hitomi open her mouth and pulled in a breath, yet as she did a sharp pain pressed hard at her temple. Her feet refused to move any further, and pain blossomed in her shoulder as she crashed hard against the wall of one of the building. Lights flickered before her eyes, before her body gave the falling sensation. Once more she was pulled into a vision, yet unlike most of the times she was going to have someone notice her odd behavior.

Once she opened her eyes to the vision, Hitomi knew quite soon that she had never really been in the area before. Instead of having some sort of inkling or idea of where she could be, Hitomi could only see the unfamiliar landscape before her. It wasn't until something moved to her right that she knew where to look, or what was important enough that she needed to see. It was the man with wings. He stood tall in the shadows with his wings unfurled, and her breath stilled in her chest at the sight. He was magnificent. Even with his face completely shielded, Hitomi felt slightly dazed while gazing upon him. For a moment she felt like some of the young girls in her old village whom had done more than their fair share of giggling at the boys herding the animals. The man moved as if to walk out of the shadows and finally reveal his appearance, yet right as the sun tried to reveal his features he took to the sky with one strong jump.

His wings snapped in the air taking his weight with grace Hitomi had seen many times with the large eagles. Tilting her head back Hitomi shielded her eyes from the unrelenting glare of the sun, and for a moment she allowed herself to forget that she was in a vision. Instead she tried her hardest to just enjoy the sights. Still with every vision she was to either see the past, the future, or some symbolic moment that would stay muddy and unclear until it was too late. Hitomi especially hated the unclear visions. Just as the winged-man flew over the treetops they burst into flames. The man didn't seem to notice as the fire tried to reach for him, to pull him down to the ground jealous of his ability to fly.

Hitomi felt the heat of the fires against her skin, but she refused to take her eyes from the man with wings. Screams of rage soon began to join in with the crackling of the fire, but still it wasn't until a quick rustle of clothing to her left that she looked away. There she saw a figure in white drenched in red pick up a long sharp spear before hurling it towards the figure in flight. The figure screamed something at the winged-man, which Hitomi couldn't decipher. Not until it was screamed again.

"Pain of others shall be the pain of your own!" Hitomi snapped her head back towards the winged man only to see him continue his flight even with the spear embedded into some part of his body. The world continued to burst into flames as he flew over it. The vision ended almost as abruptly as it began. Hitomi could feel gloved hands on her face and as her eyesight cleared she saw Van crouched before her, his face hard with worry. Blinking a few more times, Hitomi allowed the rest of the senses to come back. Her shoulder throbbed a bit from the hit and her head ache a little, however, she made it through the vision without any signs of pain from the fires. She kept her eyes on her unblemished skin, just to make sure she didn't have to look at Van. He wasn't going to understand even if they knew about her visions nor had an inkling towards what exactly had happened. She was sure if she kept her eyes stuck on anywhere but him, he couldn't ask.

"Hitomi, what happened?" he asked. His hands moved to touch her face, and she quickly shied away from the touch. The second anyone ever found out about her gift they turned against her seeing her only as the freak she knew she was. She sucked in a deep breath twisted her body away from the king and towards the building. At first she didn't think Van was going to waste his time on trying to coax her into speaking, but she was wrong. The king's strong, gloved hands gripped at her waist and pulled her towards him. Hitomi's other shoulder collided with his chest and she gave off a grunt, a very unlady like grunt at that. Even though the King held little interest towards her, Hitomi couldn't help the slight coloration of her face. "What was that?" he continued to prod. What she assumed to be some variation of concern colored his voice. "Hitomi," he breathed her name, and somehow that became the trigger. She looked up her eyes taking in the furrows of his brows and the worry on his face.

"I have visions," she whispered her eyes unwilling to leave his face as she admitted the truth. Her bottom lip threatened to tremble, but she sucked in a breath and held back. There was nothing to be sad about if the Dragon King couldn't accept that she was a freak then to hell with him. His brows lowered as he seemed to take in the information, part of her wondered if back in his time if her kind were welcome. Van rocked back on his heels and looked at her with somber eyes.

"So, how did you manage to fall into Fanelia when you're such an important asset? If we'd had a Seer in our employment," Van drifted off his eyes fastening on the ground near her bare knee. Apparently at some point her dress had decided to bunch up around her waist causing the lower half of her legs to show. As Hitomi reached to the dress down, Van gripped the fabric and rubbed it between his forefinger and thumb as he thought. "It wouldn't have happened. I would've been able to, to stop. At least I think I would if I knew what was ahead of me. Then no one would be hurt and I would be long dead with some ancestor on the throne," he spoke mostly to himself, but Hitomi couldn't help but to listen to him. They were words that she knew she wasn't supposed to hear, yet she still leaned forward slightly trying to hear the words he wasn't saying. For a moment she cursed her abilities sporadic timing. If there was to be anytime that she would wish to jump into a memory it would be right then. "Why aren't there more people after you?" he asked, shaking himself from his thoughts and as he did his lifted his head. The noses almost met harshly once more, but instead merely brushed against each other.

Hitomi stared at his face, and felt the heat rush into her own. She wasn't going to lick her lips no matter how dry and chapped they felt, instead she pull back from his magnetism. Casting a look back down to her knee and his hand still holding the fabric she sucked in a breath.

"There were people after me. That's why I got into here. I fell. I got pulled in. I don't know, but Ziabach found out that I was a seer and they wanted me," Hitomi spoke. It felt disjointed as she tried to tell him. Van gave a huff and when she settled her eyes back on him, she noticed he was looking up at the blue sky.

"Of course they would want you. They at least back then knew the goodness of having a seer. So you're from Ziabach?" he asked. For a moment, just one breath Hitomi wondered why out of nowhere he seemed far more interested in her and who she was. His face was no longer near hers, so she didn't feel the burn of embarrassment as she licked her lips.

"No, I told you, I'm from a village that Ziabach doesn't own, but it isn't exactly free either. I was requested to be given to the army so they would spare the village when their paths crossed. I don't think my people understood what a gift Ziabach saw me as," she whispered. It was hard to tell the story. It was hard to feel the bitterness rise up her throat again and begin to clog it with anger.

"How long?" Van asked. He released her clothing and shifted his attention back fully to her. Hitomi didn't have to ask what exactly he meant but his question how long. Touching her short cropped hair she twirled a finger around the strands.

"Five moon cycles. That's how long I was trapped with them," Hitomi answered and stared right into his eyes as she did.