Van

[Carthrat]

Gaia was in turmoil, and the key to it all slept inside a floating skiff...

Van Fanelia, king of Fanelia, was sleeping. His dreams were filled with nightmares...

Of Escaflowne. Of Folken. Of Dilandau.

And of Hitomi, the mysterious girl from the Mystic Moon...

She was an enigma. She saw things which could not be seen. She could look into the future, and always seemed to see bleakness and evil.

And she seemed to have passed on a little of that to him...

Escaflowne called to him. It was strange, it's allure. He felt both on top of the world and as if he had died when he piloted it...

Escaflownes calling to him grew more intent. Why? It had never been like this before...

Van suddenly realised that he was looking at his body. He wasn't in it.

Escaflowne's calling became quieter, and dissapeared...

Before Van lost all sense of being, he saw that it was calling to some other spirit. Someone had stolen his body.

His scream was lost to the astral winds...

It was, however, what woke his physical body. Who probably noticed that the noise of the Skiff's engines was slightly different to his previous circumstances...

[Kaneda]

Xman was slowly roused from his sleep. Grumbling to himself, he got up from his bed. Standing up, he noticed that something was seriously wrong.

For one, he wasn't in his own bed. He really didn't know where he was. Also, he wasn't wearing his glasses, yet he could see perfectly fine.

What is going on? he pondered to himself.

Quickly gathering his wits, he began to scope out his surroundings.

He seemed to be in a very large room. It was stocked with all kinds of supplies. Many of the items were things he had never seen before. Looking down at himself he noticed something else that surprised him. He had a flat washboard stomach!

"This isn't my body!" he screamed.

He had always wished he could live another life, but he had never actually meant it! He began to panic. Dozens of thoughts ran through his mind.

Trying to calm himself down, he sat down on the bed and tried to analyse the situation.

Wherever he was, from the look of the things he had seen in the room, he obviously wasn't on earth. And if he was in someone else's body then, what happened to the person that originally owned the body? And what happened to his own?

[Carthrat]

The skiff's engines, far from perfect, hit some turbulence, and the ship started shaking a great deal.

Van tripped and fell over his own feet, natural balance lost in the wake of the surprise of a new soul.

Coming face to face with a reflective window, he saw...

A black haired young teenager, wearing a shortsleeved red shirt and black pants.. A long katana was hanging off his belt, and a worried expression was on his somewhat handsome features.

"Van-sama! Van-sama!" came a small, high-pitched voice. The door to the room started to open..

No rest for the wicked.

[Kaneda]

What! my face! I look like Va-

Before X could continue that line of thought he was startled out of his musings by someone calling his name.

"Huh?"

Turning around he saw a strange catgirl running towards him.

[Carthrat]

"Van-sama!"

Before Van had a chance to react, Merle glomped him, and started licking his face in a distinctively cat-like way.

"Van-sama.."

[Kaneda]

X stood ramrod straight as the cat-girl began to lick his face.

"Umm..." He trailed of.

His brain ceased to function. He had never been in a situation like this before, nor did he have much experience with girls at all.

So X just stood there, awkwardly blushing, with an idiotic smile on his face.

[Carthrat]

"Van-sama?"

Merle clambered on top of Van's head, and looked down.

"What's wrong with you, Van-sama? Should I get Allen?"

[Kaneda]

The sound of someone's voice snapped Xman out of his trance.

"What? Oh nothing's wrong Merle. Don't worry about me!" X smiled at Merle nervously.

Damn! i'm in Escaflowne! I better play along for awhile. At least until I get out of this mess...

He didn't know too much about the series save the few episodes shown on fox, before they canceled it. It would be a real challenge to pull off being Van.

He just hoped he wouldn't screw up...

[Carthrat]

Merle seemed to cheer up a bit.

"It's probably just that outsider girl talking to you too much. You should stay away from her!"

Having said that, Merle hopped of Van's head, ran out the door and was gone.

Now that Van's eyes had cleared up, he could see the room in a little more detail. The room was obviously a converted storeroom, as while the bed was the most prominent part, there were still several boxes and crates.

An ornamented sheath lay against the wall, and the sword in it had a crest upon it.

Outside the window, the skiff seemed to be flying at a steady pace over a thickly forested area. To the distance, the sea was visible.

[Kaneda]

When X was again alone in the room, he took some time to get his thoughts together.

Okay, so i'm in Escaflowne. And i'm also Van Fanelia. The best thing to do right now, is to act like Van. No need to let anyone get suspicious.

Xman nodded to himself. With that decision made, he walked over to the window, and looked at the sky. It didn't look all that much different from the one on earth at first glance. It was at that moment that X noticed the Moon. Or rather, the fact that it looked remarkably like the Earth itself!

Oh, I remember now! The people on this planet call earth the Mystic Moon. his eyes widened. Whoa! I've never seen the Earth like this before... X gazed at the Earth in awe.

[Carthrat]

When Van was gazing at the Earth in awe, he also noticed a couple of other things flying past it.

They seemed to be heading straight towards him. While he couldn't make them out entirely, they seemed to be somewhat mecha-shaped..

[Kaneda]

X narrowed his eyes.

Whoa! it's one of those Gaimelf's! His eyebrows raised in realization.

Since i'm Van, I might be able to pilot Escaflowne!
A grin lit Xman's face. After a few minutes of silence, X's grin faded.

Wait a minute! I don't know how to pilot a mech!

Xman's eyes widened in panic.

Shit! Just what have I gotten myself into!?

[Carthrat]

"Van! Guymelefs approaching! Battle stations!"

Allen's voice flew through the skiff, just as the first enemy Guymelef drew near..

[Kaneda]

Xman began to sweat nervously.

Damnit! Just my luck that something like this would happen to me!

He was at a lost of what to do. So he continued to stand there. After a few seconds, he swore to himself and ran off to find Allen.

I hope that I make it through this alive!

[Carthrat]

When Van reached the bridge, Allen wasn't there.

Gaddes was, though, and he looked mildly annoyed.

"Shouldn't you be in Escaflowne already? Allen's already out, and the Guymelefs are almost here!"