Oct. 2002

(Author Notes are at the end)

DISCLAIMER: Escaflowne and all it's characters are (sadly) not owned by me (all I own are the Schwarz boys ::grins:: and I'm very satisfied with that). The plot and additional characters are copywritten to me, however. Read on.

ALL I NEED

By Youjibaracuda

~*~One~*~

Irishiko looked up into the night sky at the orbs hanging amid the glow of stars.

She often could be found gazing heavenwards into the Gaean sky, a sort of glaze coming over her eyes, lost in her own thoughts.

"Iri-sama!" a slender young man of about twenty four called to his boss. He stopped abruptly when he found her staring up at the moons again.

He had often found her this way, just looking up at the sky for hours at a time, as if longing for something that she found there. It was rumored that her grandmother had come from the Mystic Moon, though no one had ever been sure.

Irishiko continued to look up at the sky when she addressed her second in command, "Were you going to tell me something, Ero, or are you planning to stand there like an idiot?"

Ero's eyes narrowed, but he smiled good-naturedly. "I was coming to let you know that everything is ready for us to leave for Zaibach as soon as you give the word."

She nodded, "We should leave immediately then. We have promises to keep."

"We'll have to stop somewhere else first, though," Ero commented.

"Yes, we still have a certain someone to pick up, don't we?" his leader responded.

"We can be in Fanelia within a day, and could be in Zaibach in about another day or so," Ero informed her.

Irishiko, Ero, and the rest of the Akarui Kon were located on the outskirts of Cesario, near the Basram border. It would take anyone else over a week to travel to Fanelia and then to Zaibach, but there was no one who knew how to travel around Gaea better than Ero. He could cut traveling time in half, which made him an integral part of Irishiko's strategy.

At the age of twenty two, Irishiko Maeo had formed the Akarui Kon (more commonly known as the Akan), a group of strangers fighting for the same cause: justice. The corruption that seemed to overrun Gaea after the War of Fate made for poverty almost everywhere and the corruption was unspeakably evident.

The Akan formed in order to bring justice and a bit of hope to those who were less fortunate. However, their less than conventional methods had them branded as pirates, and therefore, outlaws.

Though the members of the Akan came and went over the years, the number remained the same: ten. Irishiko had always been the leader of their group, and currently the Akan consisted of six men and four women, each having various skills and personalities that made their operations successful.

Ero had joined them five years earlier at the age of nineteen. A fiery redhead, he quickly gained the respect and trust of Irishiko. His superior skills in the strategy as well as his knowledge of Gaean kingdoms and geography had helped the Akan be incredibly successful. He wasn't too bad with a crossbow either.

The other members were strong and with exceptional gifts only exceeded by their passion to see justice done.

Of all the Akarui Kon, however, the most mysterious of them all was their leader.

The twenty-nine year old woman had no origins that anyone was sure of. Her long chestnut hair and piercing green eyes, she looked like she could have been a noble of some kind. Her skills with a sword proved otherwise, though, as well as her hard, almost hatred for the nobility system. She despised it and the way that it enslaved those who were in it.

She was a strong woman, outwardly cold and harsh, business-like and determined. She always got what she sought after and dared anyone to defy her. The reality was that Irishiko was truly had a kind and generous heart, though only those of the Akan ever got to see it.

She could be often found gazing at the sky, seeming to be baring an incredible secret inside that only she could carry.

She had that far off look now, as her eyes continued focused on the Mystic Moon.

"You really want to go there, don't you?" Ero asked her.

"No, it's not that," his companion answered absent mindedly. "I'm just wondering about it. What life is like…how things would have been if…" she trailed off.

Irishiko shook her head, snapping out of her trance, "Anyway, it's just something I think about."

"There's got to be a way to get there," Ero continued. "Maybe, you could ask the king of Fanelia. After all, he was there, you know."

"Hn," was all Irishiko said in response. She began to walk towards the horses, ready for them to get under way.

Yes, if anyone knew how to get to the Mystic Moon, it would be Van Fanel.

~*~*~

TBC…

Baracuda here. I realize that this is a new story, but since I'm in the process of revamping "Awakening…" I can't update it…see the next chapter is very important, and I don't want to put it out yet….so in order to keep FS from murdering me, I'm posting two chapters of this story I began a while ago…

Thanks, and please Review!

--Youjibaracuda

"There's not much money in the revenge business. I just do this to pay the bills."

---Inego, The Princess Bride