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...
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?
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.
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.
"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.."
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.
"Van-sama?"
Merle clambered on top of Van's head, and looked down.
"What's wrong with you, Van-sama? Should I get Allen?"
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...
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.
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.
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..
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!?
"Van! Guymelefs approaching! Battle stations!"
Allen's voice flew through the skiff, just as the first enemy Guymelef drew near..
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!
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!"
Xman looked confused.
"Where is it?"
Gaddes stared back at Van incredulously.
"Down the corridor. First door to the left."
A sly grin came to his face. "Say, you're acting weird. Did you and Hitomi... you know, do it?"
"What?! Of course not! Why would you ask that?" X tried to cover his embarassment. Grunting to himself, the teen turned to Gaddes and nodded.
"Alright, i'm going now. Later" X gave a salute and slowly made his way down the corridor. He scowled at his misfortune.
'Shit! The gods must have it out for me!' X smirked.
'Oh well. At least something interesting finally happened to me. I always wanted to have an adventure.'
Shrugging to himself he continued to walk down the dark corridor. In a matter of moments, his life had gone from dull, to an experience he wouldn't be forgetting any time soon.
He didn't know if he should jump for joy, or cry.
OOC: How about freak out and go on a murderous rampage?
Come ON! Someone has to!
IC: And as Van cleared a corner, he came across Escaflowne..
The anime didn't do it justice. The thing was HUGE. Polished white and sitting on a throne, the thing looked every part the Royal mecha it was.
The cockpit was easily visible and open, just inviting Van to step inside...
OOC: Sounds fun Rat, but I think i'll sit this one out. ^_^
IC: Xman looked up at the mecha in awe. It definitely looked impressive. The sheer size of it made him feel that much more insignificant.
He groaned.
'Now how the hell am I supposed to pilot it?' It was not something he was looking forward to doing.
'Well, I guess if there was ever a time for me to do something different in my life, now would be as good a time as any to start. Here goes nothing...' Steeling himself, X climbed up the throne, and situated himself inside the cockpit.
'Now how do I work this thing?'
Very few controls were visible. There were a couple levers that appeared to simply open and close the cockpit, as well as four long holes, just big enough and located perfectly for each of his limbs...
X scratched his head.
'Hmm.... I guess I should stick my arms and legs in these four holes....'
Shrugging, he slid his legs into the slots situated underneath his seat, and then placed his arms in the ones on each side of himself.
'Well, that's done.... What's next?'
There was a loud grinding sounds, as if gears were turning..
The cockpit of Escaflowne suddenly closed, giving Van a vision of what was in front of him through a little visor.
The ground beneath the skiff beckoned...
"Alright, time to get this thing started!"
X looked around to get an idea of where he was.
Hmm.... So...Where is the enemy?
Vans surroundings consisted of:
a) One Hangar. Cables all around. It looked quite futuristic compared to the rest of the skiff.
b) The ground, which was somewhat far away. Noises of battle could be faintly heard from it.
X noticed the cables.
*Wonder what those are for?*
Shrugging to himself, he began to make his way towards the sounds of battle, that could be heard in the distance.
*But first, I have to figure out how to get this thing to move. Can I move normally as if I was in my own body, or do I have to think it? Hmm...... There's only one way to find out.*
X tried to lift his left leg in the air.
And, like it was gods will...
Escaflowne's left leg was *lifted*!
Meanwhile, Allen was in trouble. Three fully equipped Guymelefs was more than even he could handle alone..
*Well... I guess it works like my normal legs do... Okay! It's time to get going!*
His mind made up, he began running towards the area where the battle was taking place.
..and promptly fell out the Skiff, legs kicking furiously in the air..
OOC: I'm pretty high up in the air right Rat? I just want to make sure, so I don't mess up.
OOC: Yes, and falling very quickly.
OOC: Okay, thanks. ^_^;
IC: *Shit! I didn't plan on dying so soon!*
Taking a deep breath, he began to relax, spreading his arms and legs out, shifting his body so it was paralell to the ground.
*I hope this works.... Unfortunately this isn't like the movies....*
As he began to get closer, he aligned his legs beneath himself, so he would land feet first.
*This is really gonna hurt!*
With a loud *CRASH!*, Escaflowne hit the ground.
And utterly refused to move again. The cockpit sprung open, perhaps due to the shock, and the shadow of a Zaibach Guymelef came over Van..
Xman looked up nervously, at the large mecha.
"Umm......I don't suppose you would be willing to talk this over like gentleman would you?"
And the foot CRASHED down...
OOC: Game over! Points: -10/255. Would you like to Restart, Restore, or Quit?
>Quit
C:\Soulriders
And as the life essence of the unfortunate has-been left the world, a blue, metallic glow surrounded all combatatents, lifting them up, changing them...
..almost resetting them...
...and once more, Van woke up on the skiff.
Except, this time, he was himself.
OOC: The point in this shall doubtless be revealed to the rest of you later..