Event Year: 1996

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…

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.

One fateful day, high school sprinter Hitomi Kanzaki experiences a disturbing vision of another world and discovers from her best friend that Amano (the track team star she has a crush on) is about to go abroad. On an impulse, she asks him the next day for her first kiss — if she can sprint 100 meters in thirteen seconds. But then, a young warrior prince and a dragon appears before Hitomi during the run ….

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…