Boy it's late! (looks at clock) 2am! Augh time for bed! (yawns) well here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it, I know I did.

I just want to say that I do not own the characters from the show, but I do own the characters that the original's meet. You'll understand when you read.

The Vision of Escaflowne ~ The Dracoinian Sphere"

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Maru sat on top of his steed, at the outpost outside of Arnpria, waiting for his messagener to come back and report to him of the situation. But a hour has past and no sign of the messagener has been heard. The citizens of Arnpria peered out at the soldiers surrounding the gates. Thoughts of war, and invasion, swept through the town. For what could have the capital in such an uproar. Maru was getting inpatient as the time went on, what could be taken his scout so long. Then from out of the shadows, a Drazoid leaped in front of Maru's steed, making it rise on it's hind legs. Maru settled the frightened steed, and glared at the Drazoid. {What an ugly creature. I still can't believe Dravo, ordered him to my station} thought Maru. The Drazoid's were part of an ancient race of the Dragons, part human and part dragon. They are a misfortunate race, that were almost wiped out of existence, for their emerald energists.

"What took you so long Lavar!" boomed Maru, as he glared at Lavar.

"Sssorry Maru. I had to back track, ssso they wouldn't sssussspect me." hissed Lavar.

"So what's the word Lavar" asked Maru, as he jumped off his steed.

"There heading thiss way." said Lavar, as he twitched his long green tail in the air. "They will be arriving here sshortly."

"Hmf. Go tell Lord Dravo of the situation, and then report back here. Understood!" ordered Maru.

"Yess." and with that Lavar, disappeared into the shadows once again.

Maru turned around, and started to walk over towards the gate of the city. "Guards!" boomed Maru, the guards all stood to attention, to listen to there orders. "Two men, will arrive here shortly, don't interfere with them when they arrive, but keep an eye on them. When they reach the castle arrest them with all your force, report to me at the castle when everything is in place and they are captured. If they won't cooperate ..... kill them!" and with that Maru entered Arnpria and headed towards the castle.

The guards just watched Maru, walk away in disbelief.

"Man! How hard is it to capture TWO men!" said Guard 1, as he scratched his head.

"Ya I know what you mean. We are the knights of Arnpria, no one can stand up to us!" boomed Guard 3, as he tapped his hand on his swords handle.

"Ya what does he take as for, idiots?" said Guard 2, all the guards started to laugh, and then they all walked over to their post's and stood watch.

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"Awuhh! Come on! Bye me something!!!" whined Merle, as they walked closer to the gates of Arnpria.

"Oh Shutup already! I'll buy you something all right!! Just shutup!!!" yelled Ryu, as he plugged his ears.

"REALLY!? You sure! Oh thank-you Ryu!" chirped Merle, as a huge smile spread across her face. Ryu just rolled his eyes.

As the two of them came closer to the gates, they noticed the guards standing on guard. The guards looked at the two of them suspiciously, but then they just ignored them when they realized that Merle was a female. When Ryu and Merle entered Arnpria, Ryu stopped and turned around and looked at the gate.

"Hmmmm! Something's not right! There waiting for something!" whispered Ryu, as he narrowed his eyes. "But what?"

"What's wrong?" asked Merle, as she popped her head in front of his face. "I thought we were going to get something to eat?" Merle's stomach began to rumble.

"Huh? Oh ya. This way, the restaurant is just over there!" Ryu pointed down the main street, at an old run down bar.

"What! That place is a restaurant!?" stammered Merle, as her mouth dropped down in shock. "Boy, looks can be deceiving in this place all right. Oh well I'm starving! Let's go!!" Merle grabbed Ryu's hand and started to drag him towards the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant

"Hi! How can I help you?" smiled an attractive waitress.

"I'll have? ..... the .... Beefflu, and a glass of Dras Milk" said Ryu, as he folded the wooden menu on the table.

"Okay and you miss? What would you like?" the waitress looked over at Merle, who had a weird expression on her face. "Is something the matter dear?"

Merle looked over at the waitress. "Huh! Oh no nothing's wrong, it's just soo hard to chose, lets see." Merle looked at the menu again. {Man what is this stuff! I never heard of any of these names before. Rases Stew, Burfnet? What is it?} thought Merle, Merle looked over and noticed that Ryu was getting a little mad. "Um I'll take the ........ Drain!" said Merle as she folded the menu up and sat it down on the table.

"Ookay! Your a brave one." said the waitress, Merle looked at her curiously. "And to drink?"

"I'll take what he's having." said Merle with a smile.

"Okay, is that all?" Ryu and Merle nodded, and with that the waitress grabbed the menus and walked off.

"Hey Ryu, whats Drain?" asked Merle.

"Drain? Oh it's a delicacy here, you'll like it don't worry." said Ryu with a smile. Merle just looked at him suspiciously.

A few minutes later

"Okay here you go. Two Dras Milk, a Beefflu for you, and a Drain for you. Enjoy!" said the waitress and then she left.

Merle sniffed her plate, it looked good, and smelled good. She looked over at Ryu who had started to eat. Merle grabbed her fork, and lifted some of the Drain on to it and lifted it to her mouth. Merle chewed it slowly, tasting the flavor in her mouth. {Hmmm! This isn't quit bad.} thought Merle as she shoved another fork full in her mouth. A few customers nearby were watching in disgust as Merle eat, and Ryu started to chuckle to himself. Merle felt embarrassed, and she looked at Ryu. " (gulp) What's wrong, is it something I'm doing?" asked Merle. Ryu shooked his head.

"No it's nothing like that!" said Ryu.

Merle looked down at her plate, and then at Ryu. "Um Ryu? What is this exactly?"

"Raw Dragon's brain." stated Ryu.

Merle's stomach began to turn, and she beeline for the bathroom, knocking over a couple of tables, and breaking some dishes in the process. Ryu started to laugh out loud as he heard Merle puking in the bathroom.

"Um excuse me sir? But you'll have to pay for those dishes that you friend there has broken." said a loud voice.

Ryu turned his gaze to an overly fat muscular chef. "Um right! Let me see!" Ryu scuffled around in his pockets, only to retrieve a few messily coins. "Hah hah! ..... It's seems that I don't have enough money! Isn't that hilarious!? Hah hah!" The chef just glared at Ryu and then at Merle who just walked out of the bathroom.

In the kitchen

"You know this is all YOUR fault!" growled Merle, as she snatched a plate from Ryu and dried it.

"MY FAULT!!! YOUR THE ONE WHO BROOKE THOSE DISHES!!!" yelled Ryu as he splashed Merle with the sink water.

"I don't care WHO did it! Just do the DISHES!!" boomed the chef, from behind them, and then he left the kitchen.

Merle and Ryu, watched the chef disappear from view, while they washed the dishes.

"Is too!" growled Merle.

"Is NOT!!" growled Ryu, as he shoved another plate into Merle's grasp.

"Is too! Is too!" chanted Merle.

"That's it! Take this!" Ryu grabbed some left over food on a plate and flung it Merle, hitting her in the head.

"Hey why you!" yelled Merle, as she too grabbed some food and then chucked it at Ryu.

There was a massive food fight between Merle and Ryu, the cooks and waitress watched in horror, as the two of them demolished the kitchen.

"HEY WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE!!!!!" yelled the chef as he stepped back into the kitchen. "MY KITCHEN!!!!! AUGH!!! GET OUT! GET OUT!!!!!!!" screamed the chef, as he through his fist's up in rage and started to run over to Ryu and Merle, but as he stormed over to them his foot slipped on some food on the ground, and he went skidding on the floor, and rammed into the oven.

Merle and Ryu looked at each other, and started to laugh, at the sight. But then stopped as they noticed the chef starting to stand up.

"Oh oh time to go!!" yelled Ryu, as he jolted for the the kitchen door and beeline it out of the restaurant's front door.

"HEY!!! WAIT FOR ME!!!!" screamed Merle, as she got on all fours and started to run after him.

"HEY COME BACK HERE!!!!" screamed the chef, as he tried to pull himself up, but he slipped again and he fell back down to the ground.

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Allen and Van walked through the woods, heading north as the twins had suggested. Then after half a hour of walking they finally made it to Arnpria.

"Finally were here." said Allen, as they stopped at the edge of the woods.

Van and Allen gazed at city of Arnpria, in awe. Then the guards caught Van's attention. "Huh!? Hey Allen you think the welcoming committee are for us?" chuckled Van, as he nodged Allen in the side.

Allen looked over to the front gates and noticed the three guards. Two of which have snoozed off. "If they are. I can't wait to see what the rest of the guest's look like." Allen and Van chuckled to themselves and then they started to walk over towards Arnpria.

"Hmmm, Hmm, Hmmm, Hmm. Huh? Who are they?" said Guard 1 as he raised his right hand over his eyes. {It's them} "Hey guy's there here!"

"zzzzzzzzzzzzz"

"Hey, WAKE UP!!!" yelled Guard 1, as he picked up some stones and chucked them at the other two.

"Hey why did you do that for?" growled Guard 3.

"There here, now act natural!" snapped Guard 1.

The two guards then noticed the two figures walking towards them. Guard 1 stood at attention, Guard 2 picked his nose, and Guard 3 stared in amazement. When the two men passed them and entered Arnpria. The guards sighed a deep breath.

"Man that was easy, now lets follow them. ..... And stop picking your nose! It's to obvious!!!" said Guard 1, and with that the three guards started to follow Van and Allen into Arnpria.

Van looked over his shoulder and noticed the guards following them. "Allen I think we were suspected to come here." said Van as he turned around.

Allen looked over at Van, and then over at the guards and smiled. "You worried?" snickered Allen.

"Nope. You?" said Van, Allen shook his head. "Well then let's get something to eat." Van noticed an old man walking by them, and stopped him. "Excuse me." The old man stopped and stared at Van. "Do you know where there is a good restaurant?" The old man eyed them suspiciously, and then pointed down the main street, to a run down bar. "Thanx." and with that Van and Allen walked off towards the restaurant.

Van and Allen walked up the old steps to the restaurant and swung open the front doors, and walked in. They looked around the restaurant, noticing flipped over chairs and tables, angry customers, and waitress cleaning up the mess. Allen noticed an empty table and nodged Van in the side. They walked over to the table and sat themselves down. A few seconds later, a young perky waitress came over to them, and handed them some menus.

"Sorry about the mess. We had a small accident with two demi-humans." said the waitress, with a smile. "Is there anything I can get you to drink?"

"No not right now thank-you." smiled Allen.

The young waitress blushed and giggled. "Well, take your time." giggled the waitress, and then she walked off, to help clean up the mess.

Van and Allen gazed at the menus, and then at each other in confusion. Neither one of them had heard of any of these names before, and were dreading on what it was. Van lifted his head up, as he notice an overly fat muscular man walk out of the kitchen. {Must be the chef.} thought Van. He watched the chef, as he grumbled something to the girls, and then apologizing to the customers.

CRASH!!!!!!!

"IS TOO!! IS TOO!!!"

"THAT'S IT!! TAKE THIS!!!"

"HEY WHY YOU!!!!"

CRASH!!!!

"I wonder what's going on in there?" said Van as he watched the chef storm around and walked back into the kitchen.

Allen folded his menu and laid it on the table and looked around. "I don't know but one of those voices sound familiar though."

Van lifted himself out of his chair and started to walk over towards the kitchen door. "Um excuss me miss what's going on in there?" asked Van to a waitress. The waitress turned around from her job, and looked over at the kitchen and then at Van.

"Don't worry, it's probably just the new recruits." said the waitress, as she turned around to finish her job.

"HEY WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE!!! MY KITCHEN!!!! AUGH!! GET OUT!!! GET OUT!!!!" came a loud voice from inside the kitchen.

{What's going on in there?} thought Van as he walked over to the kitchen doors. Allen just sat where he was, watching Van as he investigated. Van was a few feet away from the kitchen door, when they swung open violently, and a young boy wearing the same getup as he had on came brawling through the doors, almost knocking him over.

"Oops! Sorry about that!" said the young boy.

"HEY WAIT FOR ME!!!!" came a feminine voice from the kitchen, the kitchen doors swung open once again and a cat girl came running out on all fours.

THUD!!!!

Van and the cat girl went spiraling to the floor. The young boy stopped where he was and turned around to see the girl and Van, spiraled out on the ground and he growled. The girl struggled to her feet, and then she looked down at the trampled customer. "Van!?"

Van looked up to where he was on the ground. "Merle?" Merle's face lightened up, and Ryu's mouth dropped open.

"Oh Lord Van!!! Your all right!!!" said Merle in a delighted voice, and she leaped on to Van's chest and wrapped her arms around Van's neck. Merle then looked over to where Allen was sitting. "Allen's here too? GREAT! Now we can go home!" chirped Merle, who was now lifting herself off of Van.

"Yes! Finally someone can take that nosense off of my hands!" smirked the boy.

"Oh shutup Ryu!" growled Merle.

When Allen reached Van's side and helped him to his feet, they turned towards the kitchen to hear shouting, screaming, and banging.

"Well I think we out stayed or welcome, we better go." said Ryu, and he turned around to leave.

"I think that's a great idea that I heard from you yet!" giggled Merle, as she grabbed Van's arm and started to drag him out of the restaurant.

"So I see you made a new friend Merle. I should go thank him for helping you." said Van with a smile on his face.

"HIM HELP ME!!!! As if!" huffed Merle.

Allen and Van laughed as they left the restaurant, and stepped out on to the porch where Ryu was standing.

"So. We finally meet." came a loud voice.

Van, Merle, and Allen stopped and looked out to the road, and noticed twelve guards. "Who are they?" asked Allen.

"Maru, and his guards." said Ryu through clenched teeth.

"Maru?" said Merle in a whisper.

"So I see you heard of me boy. Though I'm not surprised." boomed Maru. Van, Allen, and Ryu withdrew there swords. Maru glared at them "Don't even think about it! Unless you want the girl Hoshino to die!" boomed Maru.

Van and Allen's eyes widened. "Where's Hitomi!!!" yelled Van.

"Hitomi? .... Oh you mean the girl Hoshino, so that's her real name. Well don't worry, she won't be harmed, until you drop your weapons and surrender peacefully!" ordered Maru.

Ryu glared at Maru and took a step forward. "No! He's right!" said Allen, as he lifted his arm in front of Ryu. "We surrender." Van lowered his head and tossed his sword to the side, Allen tossed his sword in front of Maru's feet, and Ryu did the same thing.

"Good. Now get them!" smirked Maru, and with that the guards grabbed them and their swords, and then tied there arms behind their backs and led them towards the castle.

"This is all your fault!" growled Ryu to Merle.

"My fault! How can THIS be my fault!" hissed Merle.

"It's ALLWAY'S your fault!! Your bad luck!!!" growled Ryu, Merle glared at Ryu, and tried to get free from the guard that was holding her, but couldn't.

"Be silent you swine!" said the guard holding Ryu, and he shoved him forward in to the ground.

"Ouff! Why you!" yelled Ryu, but he was then lifted off of the ground and was urged to move forward.

The castle loomed over there heads, it was huge. Van stared up at the castle, in a silent stare. {Hitomi. I know your in there, don't worry I'm here. I'll come and save you.} thought Van.

"Hey keep moving!" ordered a guard, and he punched Van in the back. Van looked over and glared at the guard that stumbled backwards, but he turned his head and lowered it, and walked on.

Maru was at the front, and he looked over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. {Pathetic fools. Thinking that they can stand up to us! How pathetic.} thought Maru, as he stopped to the side and watched the pathetic fools that he caught so easily walk by him, and entered the castle. {Not much of a threat! I'm surprised that Baado is so worried about them, they look weak! Finally now we can rid of these fools once and for all!} Maru chuckled to himself, and then he turned around and followed the last guard in to the castle, and the big steel door slammed behind him and locked.

BANG!!!!!

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To Be Continued ....

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I'm taking it that this doesn't look good. Getting caught and all, will they ever escape, and will they ever pay that outstanding restaurant bill? In the next chapter we get a little action between Hitomi and Dravo (does an imitation of a cat purring) Hey, there has to be some fluff in this. Well it's time for bed night night. (yawns as I blow a kiss at the screen)