Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Burn it Black ❯ Captured ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any esca thing's in here. only the parnassus's and artemis are the ones i own. so back off. the esca ppl are owned to bandai and sunrise and i will not stand in their way of esca-ownership! I also don't own the title as it is owned by the record label of injected and the scorpion king soundtrack. Ha! now u can't say i put a disclaimer!

A/N: konichewa, minna-san! here's another fic by me. hope it goes places! I names Artemisia after the artist. anyway, it's a dilly romance and this is just all about Artemisia Parnassus, the person he would love. it takes place before the Zaibach empire turns to crap and u have to imagine Ispanian's as the Hispanics of our world. Nevermind Ispanian's being androids made by the Atlantians! well, carry on...

Through my victims eye's, they see the beauty
They feel the pain with every drop of blood

::Artemisia::

I looked from her balcony at the country of Ispano, it's emporium filled with customers, trying to barter and buy items off each other. Carriages carrying pompous aristocrats wove through the crowds as male nobles walked amongst the subliminal crowds, seemingly trying to gain attention.

Under the intense heat of the sun, the women wore light blouses with short sleeves and I noticed they all were of slightly tinted whites and pinks. The men wore loose fitting pants with tunics or short sleeved shirts. The crowds moved slowly from the morass of heat and in everyone's mind, they prayed for a breeze.

Today was going to be a long day as I guessed and I wasn't anticipating any of it. With the heat of the sun baking my olive complexion of skin and producing perspiration, I loathed every hour of the day. I withdrew from the balcony and walked back into my bedroom to change.

Blouses, skirts and pants, all of soft fabric were thrown around my bedroom. I was deciding what to wear to go for one of my family's outings, which occurred every eighth moon afternoon, meaning today. I loved these outings, as it gave me some sort of freedom and I was able to be myself, except I was never allowed to reveal my true identity and name: Lady Artemisia Parnassus.

I finally chose a suitable outfit; a light cerulean blouse with a white skirt without any layers. I wore an ivory coloured band to cover my tattoo on my inner forearm: a sparrow with a blue eye, the symbol of Parnassus. I came from a long line of Ispanian assassins, with only one objection; to live and let die. Unlike my father, brother and my late sister were all very skilled in the art of murder, I was emotional and after each of my kills, I would be in psychological turmoil and my family hated me for that weakness.

My family (Parnassus) was a family of noble operations. Dating back to the birth of Ispano, the first Parnassus's were Generals of the Zaibach army when they established an army and always fought well and never let any of their enemies live. Until one of the Parnassus's decided to marry his fragile Fanelian mistress and when they bore a child, our blood become 'tainted.' One person of every other generation would effect emotionally after each kill.

With their honourable and noble background, behind all the bloodshed, my family was very wealthy. We were notorious for our assassinations of our countrie's enimies and always used a pseudonym by Cervantes to keep our identities safe. After that, our lifeline was up. Being a hunter of mostly physically fit enimies, age caught up to us and slows us down. Yes, even assassins age. After we've seen over thirty-five Red's, our bodies didn't catch up to age. When a Parnassus reached that age, they would just take care of the young assassins. To the people of Gaea, my family was just another aristocratic family they knew nothing about.

Since I turned fifteen, last month, I adopted the name Lady before my first name. It was under the Ispanian law that such noble families such as her own adopt the name Lady for the females when they turned fifteen and Lord for the males when they turned fifteen. With the families experience in fighting and homicide we always aided the Armed Guards of Zaibach and Ispano, which were both allies.

To my family's disdain, I reacted emotionally to my killings, yet I always managed to recover and carry them out with expertise. My mother always told me that I hunted and killed my victims with honour and that I should be proud. I never perceived it as hunting, it was primarily because of my physical appearance.

I have shoulder length wavy hair with the colours of raven feathers and natural rouge highlights. I also have fair olive skin, silky smooth to the touch, like many of the northern Ispanians. Like many of my ancestors, I had long, slender legs and a thin figure. My hands were long and delicate with long fingernails, which could kill a person almost immediately. I inherited what most consider an attractive face from my female D'Amicio ancestors. I have a straight and slim nose, intriguing amethyst orbs, full lips, an average chin and eyebrows with perfect arches. For an hour of the day, I would do a series of exercises such as push-ups, running, aerobics and martial arts to keep my thin frame.

My mother and the few friends I have always told me that I have external beauty, a gift from the Goddess Gaia and that that doesn't lure my victims. However, I believed I lured my victims to their death and I hated everything about beauty because of that. For once, I would like to assassinate someone by not luring them to me because of my beauty.

As Artemis left her home with her family, she looked at the crowded streets and sighed. The heat was intense and Artemis regretted wearing a skirt. Like many of the nobles of Ispano, she was allowed to wear pants yet she had to stay within Ispano if she wore them.

Her family was beginning to weave further in the crowd as she block the sunlight with her hand. Artemis couldn't really get a clear view of them and used her sense of her surroundings to guide her through the marketplace. As she walked around the emporium, in search of her family, she stopped to look at flowers. Thinking about her deceased sister Evangelina, she decided she would buy some flowers for her grave at the cemetery. I could always meet my family back at the house, Artemis thought. She picked gorgeous white carnations and roses, her favourite flowers and purchased them. Her sister never had a favourite as she wasn't very emotional yet her body was found with her holding a white carnation. Artemis chose a rose for remembrance, as that was what it symbolized.

As the sun waned in sunlight, Artemis could see clearly now and looked for her family. She walked off to the right of the walkway and tried to avoid people with large parcels. As some males stared at her, she just put a questioned look on her face and squinted her nose to make her look foolish. This didn't seem to work as they bowed down to where she was and everyone else in the bazaar did the same. Artemis looked confused and kept on walking.

"Do you consider me inferior, Lady?" asked a baritone voice she didn't recognize.

Artemis turned around and found herself staring into diabolical garnet eyes. She didn't recognize him and offended, she slapped him! "Yes, with manners like that!"

Huge mistake. He was seething. Artemis tried to look at him with innocence, yet he was too overwhelmed with fervent anger to notice. "No one ever treats Lord Dialdau-sama that way!"

Dilandau! She remembered as she dropped the rose. Lord Dilandau Albatou, or Dilandau-sama, as he preferred was the leader of the dragonslayers and was known for torturing people who disobeyed him and she knew he was at no mercy to her. He obviously didn't know who she was, as she never attended meetings with the Zaibach Generals.

"Dalet, Chesta, take her to the Vione, we'll teach her how to obey!" The two young men who apparently were Dalet and Chesta looked about her age and grabbed her as Dilandau instructed.

Artemis pulled herself out of their grasp and stomped up to Dilandau. "Perhaps you don't recognize me, Dilandau, I am the daughter of Migu--" she was cut short as Dilandau pushed Dalet and Chesta to the ground and put his arm over her collarbones and pulled her down.

"I frankly don't give a damn who you are! No one, not even my superiors ever does that to me!" He let her go and as she regained her balance and as she did, he slapped her on the right cheek. Hard. Artemis took the pain in, as she had a good threshold as her right cheek was throbbing.

"Why, did you use them as a human shield to protect you, coward?" Artemis needed a chance to get back at him. She knew that the one thing the people of the Zaibach Empire hated was cowardice and dishonour.

Artemis had made a spectacle of herself and knew her family wasn't around as they would try to reason with Dilandau. Like that would work! This had made him really angry, even angrier than he was when she slapped him.

"One more word out of that mouth of yours and I'll make you a human shield!" Dilandau was almost spitting into her face. He threw her on the ground and motioned for Gatti and Dalet to pick her up. They did as was told and dropped her off a few steps later. Dilandau slapped them at their incompetence and picked Artemis up himself, who was light in his arms, heading towards the famed Vione, one of Zaibach's floating fortresses.

A/N: yeah, i know the whole thing was a little weird. but i had to get them together sumhow! about her family abandoning her, they kinda didn't mean to, they just thought she was with them. just pretend they've just noticed she was gone. this is just my first attempt at a dilly romance, so sorry if there are sum errors! I'm also going to change the title. it's either burn it black or sumthing that symbolizes luv. wut should it be? newayz, until next time, ja ne!