 After a volume essentially based in Asturia, we get a volume that's essentially based in Freid - and life isn't getting any easier for Hitomi and the others. There's no fun in a life on the run, and when the young child temporarily in charge of Freid falls for a Zaibach infiltrator, it marks the journey getting even worse...
9 - Memories of a Feather
Hitomi's had two major shocks in quick succession - being rescued by Van, complete with wings & thereby fulfilling the vision she's been seeing for a while; and the message her pager has received from Amano. The first is a surprise on several levels, the second a reminder of the homeworld she's been forced to leave behind, and together they leave her in a conflicted state of mind. Revealing his wings is a major issue for Van, too - winged humans have always been despised, forcing him to keep his true nature hidden. Now that his secret is out, will Hitomi see him in a different light? Allen, meanwhile, is heading for Freid, hoping to find a way to thwart the Empire's impending invasion, unaware that Millerna has turned her back on her family and position and is trying to follow him...
10 - The Blue-Eyed Prince
While Allen lies injured in his quarters, his ship continues its journey towards Freid. Millerna's arrival is a good thing for two reasons: one, she has the ability to help Allen's recovery, and two, she'll make gaining an audience at Freid's royal court that much easier. Sure enough, on their arrival they're quickly taken to the royal palace, where it's discovered that young Prince Chid, a child by any measure, is now in charge of the country. Fortunately, Chid holds Allen ("Gaea's greatest swordsman") in very high regard, and so his warning of Zaibach's imminent invasion is taken seriously - and Freid have a few tricks up their sleeves. Folken is aware of this, though, and has planned a little surprise of his own...
11 - Prophecy of Death
Allen and his men, including Hitomi, are now in the cells beneath the royal palace and facing interrogation at the hands of "Plaktu". The idea is that, under Plaktu's power of hypnotic suggestion, the truth will be fairly easy to obtain - but then the doppleganger isn't likely to go around telling the truth. Hitomi is next to be subjected to questioning, and her interrogator has a deep interest in how she's been able to determine things she shouldn't know by using her pendant. One touch of the pendant, though, and the doppleganger's true form - and Plaktu's murder - is revealed...
It really is turning into a country-to-country hop - from Fanelia, to Asturia, and now to Freid, with chaos and mayhem following Van and Hitomi every step of the way. In this case, the Empire are being a little underhand, by using a Doppleganger to infiltrate the Freid royal court and mislead the young and impressionable Prince Chid into believing that his visitors are more dangerous than they really are. It makes for a bit of a change from the usual up-front guymelef action, and it's actually quite a good change of pace - the doppleganger carries a real sense of threat about him, and thanks to the acknowledged abilities of the person he's replaced he's in a position to do real damage.
What he doesn't count on is Hitomi, whose latent abilities very nearly blow his cover and leave him frankly terrified. That a teenage girl from the Mystic Moon could turn out to be so dangerous is, frankly, a surprise, and does get you wondering about just what Hitomi's true abilities are - there's clearly something going on beneath the surface, and being on Gaea seems to be bringing her abilities ever more to the surface. Colour me curious about just where that little plotline will lead us.
Where this volume falls down a little is with Prince Chid, who's a little young to be portrayed as being "the one in charge" without any sort of backup, and whose advisers are a little too eager to take the word of one man when it comes to landing Allen and the others in trouble. Yes, it's a bit silly to complain about unbelievable things when we're talking about a mysterious world that should be visible from Earth and yet isn't, but just on the human level the kid doesn't work as a leader. But as failings go, it's one that I've had to dig to find - for the most part, this is a volume that's just simply enjoyable to watch. Roll on the next volume.
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