THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE

In a shaft of light, Hitomi and the prince Van tranports to the world of Gaea, where Earth is known only as the "Mystic Moon" in the nightly expanse. Van returns to the capital of his country Fanelia to be coronated after obtaining the Energist crystal from the dragon. During the coronation rite, the Zaibach empire launches an invasion with Guymelef Alseides mecha, and Van must retrieve at his mentor Balgus's bidding Escaflowne, the legendary god of protection of Fanelia.

Hitomi and Van find themselves separated and lost in the neighboring country of Asturia, where a handsome knight save Hitomi from a thief and apparent lecher. Allen's haunting resemblance to Amano does little to alleviate Hitomi's confusion, specially after Van and Allen challenge each other to a duel not once, but twice...

Once again, Hitomi sees a disturbing vision, this time of Allen's fort engulfed in flames. Van reunites with his attendant catgirl Merle after she escaped Fanelia's fiery destruction, but both she and Hitomi fall ill. Both eventually recover, but then Hitomi's vision of a Zaibach invasion comes true at the hands of a devilish youthful commander named Dilandau...

After his capture by Dilandau and the Dragon Slayers, Van is imprisoned aboard the Zaibach floating fortress Vione. Here, the Zaibach strategist Folken reveals his identity to Van and attempts to invite him into the folds of the empire. Fortunately, Hitomi uses her dowsing abilities to discover the Vione, and the crew of Allen's ship Crusade mount a rescue operation...

After the successful rescue, Hitomi and Van's party seek refuge in Paras, Allen's home and the capital of Asturia. However, the Zaibach forces and their entreaties to King Aston upstage their entrance. (Zaibach and Asturia have a non-aggression pact.) Folken meets with Van to offer a personal entreaty to join the Zaibach cause. Meanwhile, Dilandau attempts to avenge the grevious facial scar Van inflicted...

After a gladiatorial fight to ascertain the legendary power of the Ispano-built Guymelef Escaflowne, King Aston invite omi and Van's party into the royal palace. The king is about to marry off his third daughter Millerna to a noble merchant's son, but Hitomi is shocked by the not-so-discrete kiss between Millerna and Allen. Meanwhile, agents hoping to lure Escaflowne out into the open seize the opportunity to capture Hitomi...

Hitomi, Van, and his attendant Merle are forced to depart from Paras in the wake of the devastation Dilandau caused. Allen is imprisoned for having abetted them, and Millerna learns that the Zaibach forces intend to invade Freid. As Millerna attempts to free Allen to warn Freid, Hitomi's party tries to disrupt the operations of a Zaibach Energist quarry. The ensuing events forces one of them to reveal a closely guarded secret....

A feather from Van invoke visions of the past for Hitomi, who sees the courtship of Van's parents and his early childhood. The Dragon Slayers pursue and confront the Escaflowne, and Allen appears as if by Hitomi's prayers to assist. Unfortunately, Allen sacrifices himself to protect Hitomi from a deflected liquid metal attack. Millerna appears in time to operate with her nascent medical skills on Allen's wounds...

After Millerna successfully nurses Allen's wounds, the party turns towards Freid, the kingdom where her deceased eldest sister Marlene married into the royal family. Here, they meet Marlene's son Prince Chid, a blue-eyed innocent who still remembers stories his mother recounted of the peerless knight Allen...

Suspicion of treachery falls on Hitomi and the rest of the party, and chameleon-like Zaibach operator Zongi (disguised as a Freid Praktu high priest) is sent to pry open her mind. During the ordeal, Hitomi reveals her origins from the Mystic Moon, but visions of Zongi's own past intervenes -- as well as a prophesy of death that send omi into a deathlike trance...

Hitomi's party exonerate themselves, and Duke Freid (the ruler of Freid who just returned) grants them an audience at his palace. With their input, Freid prepares for the imminent Zaibach invasion. Meanwhile, Millerna discovers a secret door in her sister Marlene's music box. It reveals a diary -- a diary recounting Millerna and Allen's past...