Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Paths of Destiny ❯ Voices of Terror ( Prologue )

The barren plain stretched forth endlessly, dotted by cracks and sparse patches of grass which remained the only sign that life had ever existed in this hostile wasteland. The sky boiled above with clouds whirling around as if controlled from above. Deafening winds whipped around as the girl stood serenely, uncomprehendingly, amidst the chaos around her.

The girl's attention was caught by the sound of chanting behind her. Recognising the vague strain of song, she turned towards the source. A lone feather seemed to hang in the air before her, seemingly untouched by the winds around it. Reaching out to touch it, the girl's hand was stung by some unseen force.

Withdrawing sharply, she recoiled in horror as blood began to drip from the end of the feather in a steady flow. Cold laughter pealed around her as an image formed in the sky of a young woman chanting some peculiar, beautiful song, flanked by a tall man in dark robes holding some kind of glimmering blue orb depicting a strange white armour. The song grew to a deafening crescendo of horrifying beauty as the laughter threatened to overwhelm the girl. Suddenly seeming to care, she pressed her hands over her ears and screamed...

The girl woke with a start. The room around her was filled with wind tearing through the curtains of her bedroom window. The same cold laughter filled the air, as the strange voice cried out in anger "Wing Goddess! Your fate draws close NOW!"

Suddenly the wind dropped. The maelstrom of possessions fell suddenly to the floor, and the cacophonic laughter grew silent. Only a snatch of song remained, trailing off to a whisper. The voice of the songstress then spoke almost silently in a haunting verse:

An Angel of Light, with an armour of power

His Disciple, of strength hitherto unknown

The Knight, adored by many, though loved by no-one

A Mirror, who both sides of the world can be shown

The Healer, still yet needed although in great peril

The Fox, once in shadows, revealed by the sun

The Goddess, who shapes all the paths that are taken

The Caster, of these the yet unknowing one

The Pillar, tall-standing, and solid as stone

Completing the cycle, and forming a whole

These all must be brought to the Heavenly City

Lest destiny shatter, and futures yet fall.

The voice faded away softly into nothingness, a snatch of a melody whisked away in a breeze. The girl began sobbing almost uncontrollably, clutching her duvet between her hands in an attempt to steady herself. For Hitomi Kanzaki already knew that the vision was not some freak occurrence - for this was a vision of Escaflowne, and the world of Gaea was once again placed in jeopardy. But how could she ever face returning to the world she left behind when she said goodbye to the one person she ever loved, when her returning would almost certainly bring disaster to everything she held dear?