This is a forward on behalf of Elsa Bibat, because it didn't make it
when she tried sending it. Any comments may be made public on the FFML,
or sent to her at aerolbj@i-next.net
Just DON'T send them to me! I'm not the author!
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Disclaimer:
Tenkuu no Escaflowne is owned by Bandai Entertainment.
All licenses belong to the proper people. This is used
without permission.
This disclaimer also applies to several intellectual
properties referred to in the text. Please be guided
accordingly.
This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit given. No
part may be reproduced for monetary gain without permission
from the author.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Conversations With Starlight
A Dances Set to the Music of Time Vignette
by Elsa Bibat
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
999,999 BCE:
The patriarch of House Fanel looked on in wonder at
his guest after it had discarded the bulky encounter suit
that it had used for the majority of its time with him. The
Old One presented itself to him when the colony ships where
about to leave and had proven itself a boon companion in
the long voyage towards the Periphery.
"You're...you're..." The white-haired old man
dithered as he tried to voice his mind.
"Expectations are always shattered." The voice was
strangely melodic. Crenis was having difficulty equating it
with the distorted voice that had always seemed to boom
from the hulking encounter suit.
"You are one of us!" The statement came out in a
surprised exclamation. It was quite true. It was no 'it',
but rather a 'she'. A rather beautiful and young 'she' at
that, a fine example of a Draconian at her prime. Auburn
hair framed a beautiful face, while magnificent wings were
folded at her back. She was rather on the short side,
nothing like the hulking size of her encounter suit.
"I _look_ like one of you. It is important that I be
as unobtrusive as possible for the rest of my stay." The
being before him brushed away a stray lock of auburn hair.
Crenis chuckled lightly in response.
"Old friend, if you think looking like that is being
unobtrusive then I worry what you would look like if you
were trying to get noticed."
Her gentle smile was not exactly appropriate for her
answer. "I would manifest my true self and drive you all mad
with a glimpse of eternity."
"Er..." The old man blinked, not knowing how to answer.
Groping for a safe topic to cover his faux pas, he noted what
she had said earlier.
"Your stay? You will be leaving us? I thought the Lady-"
"You and your people are just one of many, Crenis. And
the Lady did a great wrong by binding us to you, she could
only do so much. The Defiance is scattered across the Periphery
like shattered glass. The Lady could not risk it like Hari
Seldon and only have one Foundation."
"Eh...who is this Hari Seldon and his Foundation?"
Crenis was a Royal Historian and he had not heard of anything
that had threatened humanity like what the Defiance faced.
The Old One looked at him. Her face was slightly
troubled. "A name from a story to be..."
She turned to look at her encounter suit, her gaze
held a tinge of worry. "I had forgotten what it is to be
free, old friend. Past, present and future tumbling through
the mind. Even shattered as I am by the Lady's working..."
A smile lit upon her lips as Crenis heard her sing
words of a song unknown to him. "There's no time for us.
There's no place for us. What is this thing that builds our
dreams, yet slips away from us."
His old friend looked at him with sad eyes. "It is a
terrible, terrible thing to be one of the things you call
gods, Crenis."
She sighed and shook her head. "Already I see the
eternal present. I had gotten used to your mortal invention
of Time it seems."
"Old One, I know we of the Empire of Man are great,
but I would not hazard to say that we invented Time."
"Ah, the arrogant assumptions as always." The woman
before him smiled. "I thought I had destroyed such assumptions
in your mind. When I say 'mortal', I say all that is sentient
and live and die. You are creatures in need of Time, so you
made it. As a philosopher will say, Time only exists so that
things do not happen all at once."
"The seals over me have been broken and the Eternal
Present roars inside my thoughts. For me there is no Past
nor Future, there is only now. It will help greatly in what
we need to do."
"And what is that, Old One?"
"The Defiance will face many trials and many pains.
It is a painfully long and tortuous path before your people.
A few guideposts are in order. The setting up of these
guideposts are my doing. My otherselves will be doing the
other tasks, for they have been cast into the river of
mortality by the lady and they are cursed to be born and
reborn across the stars. I set the signs and they will
show the way."
Creniws considered this and nodded in agreement. "You
will be meeting the Council then?"
"No, old friend. _You_ will be the one who will be
meeting the Council. I will be showing you what is needed
during my stay and once that is done the stars will be my
destination."
Crenis shook his head in disbelief "How will you
travel? All the ships have been grounded-"
He was interrupted as his companion exploded into a
pillar of light. It was horrifyingly beautiful, the
eternal beauty of the universe made manifest, a swirling
galaxy in miniature. Cold light disturbing in its power
and its implications. Of worlds and worlds and unending
histories in all their glorious variations. The vision
took him to the knife-edge of sanity.
That was where the voice whisper-boomed into his
ears, heart and mind. It was the delicate lover's caress
and the whip of the overseer.
"i Am tHe sTaRs. ThE UnIvErSe MaDe MaNiFeSt. tHiS
iS wHaT tHe lAdY wAnTs fOr yOu aLl. In ThE EnD."
The harshest and most painful way to achieve
Enlightenment is always the easiest.
Then the endless moment was over and before him was
the beautiful young woman that had taken off the encounter
suit.
"I understand now." He whispered in awe.
"Not totally but one day you will."
Crenis smiled. "Yes. I think I will."
He looked at the encounter suit. "It seem you will not
be needing it anymore."
"Yes."
"Then it seems I won't be calling you Kosh anymore.
Where did you pick up that name, anyway?"
"It is a name I have heard...will hear of... it is
from the future and the past and the present. I thought
it would be appropriate."
"I assume that you will be using a new name then?"
"Of course."
"Then what will it be, old friend."
The woman smiled lightly.
"Another name from the Eternal Present. I would like
to be called Belldandy."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Author's Notes:
Well, added another series to the 'Dances' sequence. ^_^
Escaflowne is cool, plus the background for it spans
the right amount of time for sticking things in my timeline.
The technical inclusion of OMG! and Babylon 5 via
'Belldandy'/'Kosh' is another cute thing I've always thought
of. Besides, the Old One of the Present is a bit of a joker.
Personally, I think it would have been cooler to have Belldandy
in that Kosh outfit. ^_^
***********************************************************
* *
* DANCES SET TO THE MUSIC OF TIME *
* An Epic History of Humanity *
* From The Age of Silver *
* To The Age of Crystal *
* And Beyond *
* *
* http://rakhal.com/florestica/elsa-bibat/index.html *
* *
* Other fanfiction by the same author: *
* http://rakhal.com/florestica/elsa-bibat/index.html *
* *
* Kindly archived by Larry F and *
* The Lost Library of Florestica: *
* http://rakhal.com/florestica/ *
* *
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