From: [email protected]
Date: Mon Dec 18, 2000 10:01am
Subject: The End! Escaflowne:Leavetakings Ch 16 - 17
And here's the final part!
Page 16 (Red Sky) (a.k.a. The Peace Talks- we had to get 'em over
with sometime!)
By: Chris McVey
Dilandau Albatou lay curled in a ball on in one corner of the room he
was confined to. He peered out from underneath an arm at his
surroundings: grey stone walls, hardwood floor, no windows, one
table, one chair, one washbasin and water closet. A single lamp
running on a tiny chip of energist shed bluish light from the
tabletop. He heard the knocking come again: tap-tap-tap-tap. Then,
a voice: "Mealtime! Dilandau, are you there?" *Yes! It isn't Allen!
* Dilandau stayed curled up and moaned once. "Dilandau, are you
alright? I'm coming in." Dilandau held back a grin. *Yes, yes, do
that! Come in!* His heart beat faster as a key clattered into the
lock and turned. A guard entered, Dilandau did not
move. "Dilandau?" The guard sounded worried. He put the meal tray
down, reached behind him... and closed the door. Dilandau, curled in
fake catatonia, was coiled like a spring. He sprung. The knife in
his hand shot out, the guard gasped. The blade was lodged in his
temple, blood spurted and he immediately fell. Dilandau grinned: he
knew how to kill a person /very/ quickly. He sat down next to his
victim, and searched for keys. "You were not exactly the brightest
candle in the church, were you?" he whispered mirthfully. The crazy
Allen Schezar and the Kanaphrans, how could they /think/ that they
could hold a man like Dilandau Albatou? It was escape or die, as he
had told his dragon-slayers. He had only been waiting. Now the keys
were in his hand, as was the guard's broad sword. *Now is as good of
a time as any!* He gathered his strength...unlocked his door, and
bolted! He felt adrenaline rush. He was in a castle
hallway...Guards! Two, in his way. He stabbed at one as they
started in surprise, rushed on. Down a corridor. Go left or right?
Right! A servant screamed as he ran past. Dead end! But...
a doorway! Damn, an armed man! Dilandau ran the man through before
he could react. He ran and ran, faster and faster, through the maze
of a castle... soon shouts of alarm echoed through it and he knew
time was short. He ran on, outwards, towards the sound of rain. A
window! He had found his exit route. Outside it was a dark and
stormy night. He raised his sword, he was going to smash the
window. Suddenly, he stopped himself. *No... too much noise.* That
was odd, usually he acted on every impulse. He pushed the window
open and swiftly leaped out into the rainy night- and down a few
stories. He braced himself... WHAM! The impact threw him
down, /hard/, and lay in a pool of liquefying mud and grass.
*I'm free...* He lay in pain, panting. Was it over already? So
quick... unbelievably quick. He did not move, only lay panting and
feeling what he guessed was a broken rib or two. *But I'm free!
They cannot hold me! Stupid little fools.* He rolled over as he
heard the sounds of guards in emergency mode above, over the rain's
pattering. He knew they could not see him, he wore a black cloak.
He was cold, and drew the cloak up tighter- then winced. *What can I
do now? Damn, I didn't think past escaping. Zaibach is near... I
know they want me back.* Yet, for some reason, he did not want to go
to Zaibach yet. *I want... what do I want?* He thought. *I want...
to kill Van Fanel and the girl from the Mystic Moon. Yes, that is
what I want.* He lay, his breathing slowing back down now. Youth
and having been reengineered into a super soldier by Sorcerers made
him resilient, but he had fallen a long way. *I want a guymelef...
to do battle with the Escaflowne again. Zaibach can wait.* He had
made his decision. *Does that make me a defector, like Folken was?
Folken... that man went to work for the enemy, brought about
Zaibach's fall. I only want to kill our greatest enemies by myself!
No, I am not like Folken.* Lying still in a mud puddle, he was now
shivering. He did not want to move, his broken rib hurt... but,
suddenly, he remembered something. *Folken...yes...when he defected
he went to...!* The insane youth smiled and rain ran down his
lips. *Well, now I know where I will get my guymelef. General
Adelphos, the new head of Zaibach, was my old boss. He'll
understand. I have to get my vengeance before I can come back to
them.* Guymelefs, Zaibach, war. In the most impossible of
circumstances, Dilandau stayed focused on these things. He had been
prisoner in a strange land, and now was lost there. Allen Schezar
said that Dilandau was his sister. Zaibach had fallen, and he
remembered nothing. Jajuka and all his Dragon Slayers and everyone
he ever knew were dead. All this, and his mind still focused on
Guymelefs, Zaibach, war. He lay in the mud for a few more minutes,
recovering. Then, he got up and wandered into town to look for
passage to Fanelia.
Deep beneath the earth, in the most secret of all places on Gaea, the
Castle of the Deceptants stirred. A few hundred souls roamed,
talked, and ate, shaped in their true form-- the form most of them
almost never showed. It was wondrous and terrifying, to be unmasked
and among one's own for the first time in one's life. But in the
most inner sanctum, the Elder was not happy. He was the most high
and sacred to his entire bleeding, war-cursed race. He had not
transformed or stolen a soul for over two hundred years, nor had he
seen war since his youth. He lived a life of luxury. He sat in his
dark throne, in his own dark room, and fretted and pondered.
"Elder-sama?" The kneeling messenger before him spoke
nervously. The Elder would not respond. He continued to ponder.
The news that had been brought to him was bad. It was one of their
spies, and he was in trouble. One of their best placed ones. The
Elder knew of the spite heaped upon his race by humans, and of the
sad fate it created. "You live in war, die in war..." he had sat,
stone faced, and repeated that phrase to hundreds of newly created
Deceptants in his years. Most of them had now died in war. The
Elder was defiant. The Elder was angry. The Elder was not content!
And, the Elder would drag those slow, stupid, evil humans and
beastmen down to Hell with him, to war with him, for their cruelty.
Beastmen... the worst. Outcasts among men, gaining a trickle more
acceptance by being cruel to worse outcasts. *Bastard children...*.
Now his plans were nearing completion. They had required a certain
set of Atlantian jewelry, which was being collected. They had
required a destructive force to exist that was strong enough to bring
death, death in war, to all of Gaea. Basram now had the energist
bomb. He remembered the holy light of vengeance that he had heard
described vaporizing Asturian and Zaibachi alike. And he had spies
rooted deep, deep in every country on Gaea. They would bring war...
the heads of all Zaibach and Asturia, and many top people in Basram,
and now Daedalus... though he needed more in Basram since it was a
republic.
But there was one other key country that he needed, and its king was
one of Gaea's most wily guerrillas. It had been hard... but the
Elder had gotten someone near him. One Deceptant. One spy, one
precious little spy to bear the weight of pulling a country he didn't
even rule into war. But he was good. He was strong. He had
spirit. The Elder glared, and trembled. How could any fate, even
cursed, be so cruel? The one most precious, keystone spy was in
danger. And who had put him there? *Oh, why, oh why? Oh God, I
will pay you back for this! * A deceptant. Kor, a stupid, short
sighted, idealistic, na�ve runt excuse for A DECEPTANT! The
messenger flinched as he watched his Liege ponder and grow more and
more enraged. Kor, and Zongi, and a few others, had been seduced by
Dornkirk's fate-changing doctrine. They were plagued by cursed fate;
here was a man who said he changed fate. Their loyalty was not to
their clan, their Elder, their race, or to their curse, but to
Zaibach. To the promise of a happy destiny for all. Kor had not
wanted the Deceptants to make Gaea destroy itself. He wanted Zaibach
to take it over, and recreate their fate redirector, and take away
the curse that Kor was too cowardly to accept! And Kor... Kor ratted
out the Elder's best spy, to Zaibach's allies, the Assassin's guild.
Now, none other than the Black Hammer -a man who seven Deceptants had
been sent to take over, all of whom were killed- was after the
Elder's precious keystone spy. If Kor had not already been dead, the
Elder would have sent for him to be captured, brought back, and
tortured. *If only our spy had made himself a little harder to
spot. He always had a romantic streak in him. I told him that I was
the Elder and he would have to leave romantic notions behind... but
he would not.*
The Elder calmed himself. The messenger spoke again. "Elder-sama?"
The Elder did not open his eyes.
"Tell the Dispatcher General. We shall back our spy up, whatever it
takes. Send eight of our best, in two teams."
That was all that the Elder said. He had sent eight young Deceptants
to follow their fate by dying in war, unless a miracle occurred for
one of them. War... it was a place that the Elder barely remembered,
but he did not care. As the messenger bowed and ran off, the Elder
went back to his meditation, by himself on his dark throne in his own
dark room.
"Father!?" Merle was in shock. She stared, speechless, at the man
called Manus.
"Yes...I'm your father. I've been searching for you for years.
After dedicating my life to finding you, I just did."
Merle still could only stare. Her... father? It was impossible!
How could someone say that to her! He was dead. He was dead! "My
father died when I was a kitten! You can't be him!"
"Merle... " He was looking as deeply as he could into her
eyes. "Please trust me. I'm Manus, your father. I'm not dead."
"You lie! It's impossible! If you're my dad, then where
have you BEEN for all these years? And I saw the soldiers... I saw
the hunters! They caught you and Mother, and I had to run and..."
(Had she just said "you" when referring to her father in the past???)
"/No/. Believe me. I got away, Merle, I escaped. Your mother
died... there was nothing I could do to save her. I thought you were
dead too. I thought that for years and years and years. I didn't
find out that you were alive until a few years ago, and I searched
and I searched. Don't you understand? You're my long-lost
daughter. You are the person I thought that I had lost forever, that
I have wanted nothing more than to see, for the past few years of my
life." Manus's blue cat-eyes shimmered.
Could it be true? Merle had taken in too much too quickly. She was
crying, trembling. In front of her was a man who said that he was
her father. She had been trying so, so hard to /accept/ the fact
that her parents were gone for her whole life. Now, this man
reopened old scars. But, what... Oh God, what if it was true? She
wanted it to be. She wanted it to be so badly... This had all come
up in less than two minutes. She was filled... she was overrun with
turbulent emotions. As the sobs became stronger, she collapsed. She
collapsed into Manus's arms, felt him hold her like a precious thing,
like something he had searched for to love for the last few years of
his life. Then, she felt his furred chest shudder and a trickle of
his tears down the back of her neck.
Allen Borealis' rose eyes shimmered as he watched the scene. He
knew, it had to be true. This Manus was her father. He could not
say it though, firstly so as not to interrupt this tender moment but
also because Merle needed to realize it herself. He left the doorway
and closed the door to their room behind him, heading up to check on
the half-dead magician.
______________________________________________________________________
__
King Seith frowned: he was upset at this new development. "Do we
know where he escaped to? How did he get out?"
The captain of the guards' eyes told Seith that he had known one of
the dead men. "It was through a window, King Seith. He killed his
guard, and he got out of his room. Then he ran like a madman through
the castle until he found a window. He jumped, and somehow he
recovered from the fall before we found where he had landed."
"Figures he would run like a madman. Dilandau /is/ a madman." He
rubbed his forehead. "Well, yet another development I don't like.
My luck seems to be..." *On the other hand... what's not to like
about it?* In that instant, Allen Schezar ran in. He had a very
intense look on his face, maybe pained. *Yes, there is him I
suppose. Damn!*
"Pharaoh Seith! Dilandau-"
"I /know/ what happened, Allen. And no, he has not been found. We
checked the city and the entire castle. You aren't the only person
here who was hurt, you know. He killed two people, with families,
and injured one more."
Allen felt anger, but let it go. Seith obviously was not very intent
on finding Allen's sister, which meant Allen would be hard pressed to
get her back. "I'm very sorry for what happened to them, Pharaoh.
But, please! We must try to find him again. I have sworn to protect
my sister. She is the only family I have left and nothing in the
world means as much to me as she does."
Seith was glaring inside. Whether Allen had meant to or not, he had
just implied that he would leave his new position as a warrior of
Kanaphra in order to save his sister. Family before country... Allen
seemed unusually liberal for an Asturian. But, Seith needed Allen.
What was one to do? "Very well, I will give you aid in finding
Dilandau once he resurfaces." "Allen, you know Dilandau as well as I
do, he /will/ resurface."
Allen accepted that. It was true, Dilandau was not the type who
blended in. "Thank you Pharaoh. I am grateful. I hope that we can
find him as soon as possible."
Seith hmm'ed back. "In the meantime I have government business to
attend to. Van Fanel is returning to neutral Fanelia to hold peace
talks between the nations. He wants to prevent war." *And I fully
intend to /look/ like I am cooperating. Unfortunately that also
means leaving my Sasha here...* "I need a good escort, it would be
good if you were on it. There is no danger, just prestige. Also, I
expect to be able to get your Sherezade back from Asturia. I would
hate to waste a master guymelef pilot in my army, after all." He
casually did not ask Allen if he wanted to go.
Allen replied simply: "Yes Pharaoh Seith." He bowed and left.
Terra bit her lower lip. She tried not to shiver or to cry, but it
took a different kind of exertion than she was used to. She was
locked in a pitch dark basement under a home in the waterfront slums
of what she would swear was Venice if everyone didn't speak Japanese
and there weren't giant mechanical suits of armor working the
docks! *Damn it Hitomi...* Terra shut her eyes tightly and held
back tears one more time. Too much, too much to take in... "No!"
She said it aloud. *I am a martial artist and I will not be taken
down or thrown off by my f---ed up circumstances.* She lay back to
collect her thoughts. *What has happened? My drunk Ex tried to
shoot me, and shot my best friend -who I now hate- and a great big
light blinded me and I was all of a sudden in the another world where
the Earth and Moon appear together in the sky, which is kind of weird
since we can't really see any other planet from Earth! Hitomi says
it's /normal/, this is some other world called Gaea. We were
attacked, but we won the fight. The light come back and
Hitomi /abandoned/ me in distress. Merle the /talking cat/ takes me
to Venice, and we meet a /real wizard/. He says he's from Earth
too. We tried to break up a slave auction to save the cat's friend.
It worked, but they caught me. A man in black with a magic healing
bracelet who never talks dragged me here. His friends tried to ask
me a bunch of stupid questions like "Where are you from?" and "Who
sent you?", and I wouldn't tell them so they locked me in the
basement.* It still wasn't making any sense to Terra. What was she
doing here? It had to be a dream... *No, this is no dream. It's
real all right. Which means, all these years of science have been
wrong and psychics and magic really do exist. I've been /teleported/
to another world, a magic one.* That, Terra could relate to, she had
read a few fantasy books. As she sat back upright she began to
meditate, breathing slowly and deeply in through her nose and out
through her mouth. Her mind slowly focused and cleared, but with her
eyes closed she did not see what the rats and spiders with her in the
pure dark saw: faint violet light shimmering in her earrings.
An entourage of people and melefs, led by Fanelia's four new Generals
greeted Van Fanel as he stepped off of the Mystic. They bowed and he
replied. He had returned to his homeland of Fanelia, after having
left alone on an impulse to help the mysterious Sasha. He inhaled
the earthy smell of his land, looked out at forest and field, stream
and sky. *I'm home.*
The lead general greeted him: "We are pleased to see you again after
your unexpected leavetaking, Van-sama."
Van returned the formality. "It's good to be home, Sorum. I trust
all is well."
"Yes, your majesty."
Van felt it, he really was home. Here were his people, his
government, and army. He was a King again. And he had a plan, too.
He would lead this nation to save the world. "Fanelians, I have news
for you all. You know that we are isolated from the outside world
here, for the most part. I have been to the outside world recently
and there is a gathering storm. The spectre of war is once again
haunting Gaea as it did two years ago and once again the danger is
vast. Basram's energist bomb has brought animosity between the
former Allied Powers, and they appear to be preparing to do
battle."
The entourage was not overly stricken by the news. Another general
replied: "How can this affect Fanelia? Why would anyone attack? The
only things we have are Escaflowne and a few dragu-energists- but
Kanaphra has more energists and all of ours are in dragons!"
"This is not about defending ourselves, it is about Gaea. We are
neutral territory in a world where that is a rare commodity, and we
will bring the nations here to negotiate. There will not be another
war. Not when only two years have passed since the greatest conflict
in history." *Hitomi would hate it if that happened. She taught me,
war is terrible. She would be proud of me.*
Van's various counselors and his four generals exchanged
glances. "Actually, Van-sama..." Sorum appeared a little
embarrassed. "The first move has been made. Basram, dragging
Asturia along with it, approached us for just that purpose five days
ago." Van started in surprise. "We told them that we would wait for
your return, but it seemed unlikely that their request would be
granted. Now it seems that we spoke hastily."
*Basram... approached /us/ first!?* Van would never have expected
that. But, maybe now it would look less like the negotiations were
all his idea. He answered, putting his most monarchial face back
on. "We will accept their request for a summit in Fanelia and invite
all nations... even Zaibach." Zaibach would not go over well with
Fanelia, but it had to be in on it. "I'll address the people once we
have made plans with the nations." His plan for peace was now in
motion. But he was not the only one to come to Fanelia in that time,
and some of the others had no interest in peace.
Dilandau smiled warmly as he entered Fanelia again. Part of
it was still in ruins, his legacy. *Shesta burned that... Darret did
that...* It was a rare nostalgia trip for a seventeen-year-old
madman. From the junk freighter he had ridden here from Kanaphra he
saw the most likely landing spot for someone landing a flying
guymelef who wasn't experienced at using one. It was a short brown
mesa against the side of the valley of Fanelia, which thankfully was
still in ruins thanks to Gatti. *That's where Folken would have
gone...* He walked fast.
No one in the streets recognized him, even the few guards he
passed. Just another Fanelian hidden in a mud caked black cloak.
Soon he reached the mesa, and took a trail up the side of the valley
to get on top from behind it. Nothing left, just half burned old
buildings that were too cut off for a diminished population to want
to restore.
He didn't have to search for long before he found what he was looking
for.
"Teiring! Oh I am so glad to see you! You are still in good
condition, even with only half a roof for two years. Zaibach
craftsmanship is the best; better than Ispano!" He hugged the leg of
the green and grey streamlined guymelef that Eriya had once used. It
even looked like a cat. His memory was right! When the Vione went
down, Naria and Eriya died and Folken took Eriya's Teiring to
Fanelia... where everyone forgot about it. *Naria, Eriya...* He
remembered, they had trained together: three elite fighters. He was
the best, could've taken them both on if it weren't for their cursed
luck. *But their guymelefs were first class, so fast and
maneuverable and they could fly like regular falcons. And I love the
hair!* He checked the guymelef: armor, crima claws, claws, energist
(only one!), jets, controls, internal machinery. He'd known that it
had no stealth mantle- not that those had ever done him much good-
but he was disappointed to find that it didn't have a flame-thrower!
*That was my favorite weapon! These crima claws don't have enough
energy to superheat!* "Stupid Folken's design!" He kicked the
Teiring's foot. *Well... a fire-less guymelef is better than no
guymelef. I'll fix it up to run again, it won't take long. Then I
will kill Van and the girl from the Mystic Moon and go back to
Zaibach. I am back.* He grinned. *It's true, isn't it? I really
am back!*
Outside the castle of Kanaphra it was another cloudy night.
The Black Hammer- or rather Geard Lendau- sat cloaked in the dark
waiting. Soon his trained ears detected the approach of his contact
from Zaibach. A second black cloaked figure crept out from the night
shadows. "Hammer?" a deep male voice whispered.
"Yeah, it's me. I got new plans and I need you guys's help."
"More changes? Why?"
"Cause things keep changing and the clan's in a pinch. Look,
Dilandau escaped. I slipped him a weapon- did he go back to Zaibach
like you wanted?"
"No. If he escaped he must've run off."
*Damn.* Getting Dilandau back had been the Hammer's
job. "So that leaves me with just the job of a simple killing- this
Anthony, right?"
"Yes. Kor said so, we don't know why."
"Whatever. Look, I know you want the Heart of Darkness and
those man sized stealth mantles too. You want a strong assassin's
guild for allies cause Adelphos says "war's coming, no doubt about
it" and your army isn't strong as other peoples' are since half the
world gangbanged Zaibach two years ago. I'll take out Anthony for
you, but don't pretend it wouldn't be in your interests to fix up the
Great Assassin anyway. Well, Anthony isn't here anymore, he left.
He's on secret errands for the Pharaoh. Van Fanel went back to his
country. Seith and Allen left today for the Fanelia summit. That
leaves this place open. So here's what I need from you: the help of
one Alseides that's got a stealth mantle and a good pilot, and a
week. I put the details in this letter here. Got it?"
The contact whispered. "You have demanded much and given
little back."
"Just trust me. Things aren't starting well, I know, but you
know my reputation."
. "Yes. I will take this back to Zaibach and see that
you get what you need. But I want /results/."
"You'll get them."
(Fanelia, a week later.)
Van watched as a Daedalusian counselor ship approached from
the north into Fanelia. An important country, it was between Basram
and Asturia and it was not biased (It didn't like either one!) There
were already Representatives of Basram and Asturia (oddly enough,
Princess Eries herself had left Asturia to come...), along with Duke
Sid of Freid and an ambassador from Chezario. He concentrated and
released the nervousness that had built up again. *I hope the talks
go well. Oh Hitomi, I don't want more war. You said that when
countries on your world had a weapon like the energist bomb but
poisonous, this kind of diplomacy was all that saved the Mystic Moon
from destruction. Please guide me, Hitomi, even though you're far
away please guide me.* He walked down to meet the new Ambassador.
At the port the large Spartan looking craft from Daedalus had
landed. A group of troops in the standard military brown greatcoats
marched out and formed two lines flanking the exit ramp, stood at
attention. A fat, penguin looking man waddled out, huffing and
puffing. He wore a dress uniform, black instead of brown and
fastened with brass buttons down the middle instead of over by one
shoulder. "I am Ambassador Eugen Tonz representing Lieutenant
General Vosovich the Third of Daedalus." he said pompously. Van led
him to his accommodations in the palace. On the way to his next
meeting, with Duke Sid, Eries Aston stopped him. Van was surprised,
Eries looked urgent. She spoke to him. "King Van, I had to get you
alone. I have to talk to you about something, and I don't trust most
of the other countries with it. Listen, something foul is afoot in
Asturia. I know this much: King Aston has not been himself since
before the Zaibach War, and now he seems hard bent on going to war
again with Basram and their energist bombs! There is a dispute over
what to do with the weapon, but I know that there is more to it then
that. And, your friend Merle is in Asturia."
Van's heart leaped. "Merle! I have missed her so much- is
she all right?"
"I do not know, but she is involved in foul doings. She is
with friends, strangers who I heard little about. Apparently she met
Millerna, my sister. They were last seen returning from the
waterfront. Some say there was a slave auction there! A slave
auction in Asturia! Millerna returned to the palace in a huff, went
to angrily confront father..." Eries' breathing was heavy, her eyes
shimmered. "She has not been seen since.'
Van's heart now plummeted like a shot bird. *Something is
very wrong in Asturia.* "Oh no..."
"Father says that she had to leave to see Dryden but I know
he lies to me. I fear something terrible has happened. I persuaded
father to let me come here as a negotiator but I really wanted to go
for help. Please Van Fanel- I knew your brother and I trust you."
She did not care that she had mentioned knowing Folken. "I know of
your psychic abilities, and your skill as politician and warrior. I
will do what I can as Ambassador but I do not rule. For Merle's sake
and Millerna's, help my father and Asturia."
(That Night)
Dilandau quivered with anticipation. Working in secret with
stolen tools, he had made the Teiring ready. The hair was now
pyrotechnic red, the armor a bit less dirty and far less rusted. The
sky was a deepening blue, the forest dark. He could just walk out,
if he wanted. *Folken told me when I first came here that I should
let the dragon slayers lead because my anger and fear would draw
dragons. Hope he was wrong, I saw a huge brown one eating a pig from
the airship. It was near where I'm going.* Where he was going was
to a place to train. He wanted to learn about using this new
guymelef, to get back in his zone, regain the fine edge on his
piloting skills that he had lost to madness and then to time. He
could not yet attack Fanelia. Escaflowne would be too much for him
now. He would go to the border of two nearby countries that got
along badly, and raid both. They wouldn't be able to catch him if
they were arguing with each other. Those two countries also needed
to be relatively low-tech and easy to evade- not like Basram or
Kanaphra. He had chosen Asturia and Daedalus. He climbed into the
control chamber and felt the guymelef take hold of his body. *Ahh, I
haven't felt that in years!* He was so happy to be back in the
saddle after so long. The ultra-light guymelef was unbelievably
responsive as he stood up and walked- *Good. Good Guymelef!*
Dilandau walked until he was away from the city, then snapped into
flight mode and rose into the sky. He looked down from high up in
the air, felt another nostalgic sensation. *I always heard that
these things were fast...hmm...* He turned up the jets- and suddenly
was rocketing across the sky ten times faster than ever
before. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHA HA HA HA!"
Below, several keen pairs of wolf eyes watched as the
guymelef shot away through the sky. The oblivious pilot still
thought he had gone undetected. He was dead wrong.
At the huge round table that had been put into the Fanelian
throne room for the summit, sovereigns and ambassadors from all the
local region of Gaea sat. There was Princess Eries of Asturia, Duke
Sid of Freid, Pharaoh Seith of Kanaphra. Next to him was Allen,
winning Seith major prestige points. To everyone but the Government
of Asturia and a few others, he was still an honorable hero. There
was also King Adelphos of Zaibach (not one of the most popular
presences), Emperor Xian Ti of Ezgardia, Ambassador Ruth of Chezario,
Senator Straul of Basram, Ambassador Eugen of Daedalus, and the
arbitrator King Van Fanel of Fanelia. Van stood and cleared his
throat to begin the proceedings, suddenly the background chatter was
gone. He pushed Merle and Millerna out of his mind for later. *God,
don't let me make a mistake now.* The formal blue robe he wore hid
nervous sweat. Sweet words from Hitomi echoed in his memory: "I
believe in you, Van." He took a deep breath and began his speech.
"Honorable ladies and gentlemen of the nations of Gaea, I
welcome you to my country in the name of peace. Two years ago we
were all hurt by a vast war between the nations. It ended with the
use of a doomsday device: the energist bomb. The destruction caused
by that weapon alone was more than some past wars have caused
altogether. Now the existence of that bomb has brought about a
dispute that could cause an even worse war only two years later. We
do not want that war. We do not want to make Gaea into a land of
meaningless chaos. I implore you all, as heads of state and
ambassadors, to work out a plan to resolve the energist bomb dispute
without war. Remember that the most important thing, above all
others, is peace." He sat down, a brief round of applause followed.
Then, the serious faces around the table turned to the woman from
Basram, Senator Straul, to make the next speech and present the views
of Basram. Van listened to the speech, and the one after, and the
one after. Nations presented their views and needs one after another
until the Daedalusian next to Van made the last speech. Basically,
Basram wanted to keep the bomb and build more of them. Asturia and
Zaibach strongly wanted to get rid of the bomb. Zaibach also wanted
to stop paying war reparations, but only Ezgardia and Daedalus might
be willing to let them. Eries said that King Aston might be
convinced as well. No one trusted Seith at first, but the presence
of Allen and his charming diplomacy soon won him respect. The
tension between Asturia and Basram was so strong that it seemed
impossible for them to discuss anything. Van continued to arbitrate
as the polite but heated conference continued all through the day.
As the hours passed, Van thought he was making progress. He learned
that Daedalus could ease the tension between Asturia and Basram, but
seemed reluctant to do so. Also, Zaibach and Asturia seemed to have
increasingly common interests, but nobody wanted to mention it.
Seith sat smiling and contributed little, but shrewdly absorbed every
word. Duke Sid, thank goodness for him! The wise child seemed able
to understand and defuse any issue, and no one could bear to call him
wrong. Van kept noticing Sid and Allen speaking privately (they sat
next to each other). The day dragged on, it was "Against our
interests" this and "You must understand" that. Finally the first
day's discussion was over, and Van dismissed the dignitaries. As
they all left, he let out a tired sigh and slumped back in his chair.
"Excellent work, Van Fanel." Eries stood behind him. "I
know from political experience, we have made progress today. At this
rate we will have no war. You are quite an effective young King."
With Eries' words, Merle and Millerna flashed back into his
mind. "Thank you for saying so, Princess. You were good too." *You
were good too! What a dumb thing to say to a princess! Oh, well.
My brain is tired.*
"There seems to be someone here to see you, Van. He is... a
wolf.
Van sat up wide awake. "Wolf!?" *If one of them is here it
must be an urgent message. Could it be about Merle and Millerna?*
He turned to face clan leader Ruhm.
"Hello, Van. Some collection you got here... Hello Eries, I
believe we've met."
"Ruhm, it is good to see you again. What brings you to the
middle of town? Is there an emergency?"
"I think so, but for someone else. Probably someone you had
in your meeting today. Remember when you and Folken reunited here
two years back?"
"Yes. Yes I do..." Memories touched Van's mind.
"Well... he came here by guymelef."
"Guymelef?" That was right, he had seen Eriya's ultra-light
guymelef rise from Folken's sinking Flying fortress. Folken must
have gone straight to Fanelia in it. So then... "What happened to
that guymelef, anyway?"
"That's the thing. The kid who wrecked Fanelia in the
beginning of the war, Dilandau- he came back here and got it. He
just left."
"WHAT!? /Dilandau/ was in Fanelia!? No, it can't be! He's
locked up in Kanaphra!" Van could not believe it.
"No, not anymore anyway. Sorry we didn't catch him at first,
but he doesn't smell very much and he was dressed normally. We only
found out when the guymelef got up and started walking through the
forest."
"Dilandau..." This was bad. If anyone could bring out chaos
and discord in a critical time, it was he. "Someone get Seith and
Allen down here fast!"
A few minutes later, Allen dashed into the room followed by
King Seith. "Van! News of Dilandau?"
"Allen, I didn't even know he had escaped. Ruhm says he came
here, took Eriya's guymelef that Folken left here, and flew away."
"No! We must've been so close. Eriya's guymelef... I never
thought of that but it must have been here all along. Dilandau...
he's now on the loose /and/ he has a guymelef."
"How did he escape?" Van asked.
Seith answered. "His guard just made a mistake. That was
all it took. He ran away and we didn't know where. Now we do.
Only, now he's gone somewhere else again." Seith was getting
increasingly annoyed with the kid who was harder to control than had
been expected. Fortunately Allen was more than willing to take on
the problem himself.
"I wish you had told me Seith."
"I wish you had told him too!" said Allen.
Seith was angered. "I can't very well just go running off to
give the latest news about everything to everyone I know. Besides,
what were the odds of him just /finding/ an abandoned prototype
guymelef in the middle of Fanelia?"
Allen hmm'ed. At any rate we'll know in a few days where he
went- just ask the diplomats whose country is having reports of
attacks."
"You're serious, Allen?"
"Yes. Yes I am."
They discussed the situation a little more, then left for the
night. Ruhm stopped Van one more time to mention something. "Van
your diplomats- there's something not right about a few of them. The
Zaibachi and the Daedalusian and I'm not sure about a couple of
others, since it is normal for foreigners to smell funny. But they
don't smell human."
Geard Landau stood in a watchtower parapet on the
west face of the Kanaphran palace. It was dusk. He held a small
resonant communicator in his hand.
"Still don't see you, no haze or distortion anywhere. Give
me a landmark."
On the other end, the pilot of a cloaked Alseides answered
back. "I'm behind a big clump of scrub brush... ah, this one is
mostly yellow from my side. There's a big rock, some dirt."
Geard grumbled. "Give it up." He scanned the area of the
hill where his contact was supposed to be standing. "Okay, just give
me a sign. No one'll see."
"But-"
"Shut up an do it."
A flicker of light from the Alseides' search scope showed him
where it was. No one else seemed to notice. "Got your position,
it's okay. Jump in and cloak again fast when I tell you. It'll be a
few minutes." Geard walked back to his servant quarters and opened
the dresser. Inside were his personal effects: another short sword,
more daggers and poisoned needles, and a firebomb like the one he had
used in Palas to re awaken Dilandau. Along with those were two black
cloaks: his own, and the man-sized stealth mantle he had worked so
hard to steal. He felt so satisfied with himself: half his grand
plan had already succeeded. He changed clothes and he became The
Black Hammer again. *Time for phase two.* He grinned in
anticipation and activated his mantle.
In the castle's halls, he felt amazement. */No one can see
me!/* He stared at people; they did not notice. The mantle really
worked, he was invisible! But now it was time for business. The
pilot couldn't wait forever. He went to the furthest possible place
from the Heart of Darkness's garage: the storehouses. It was dark
and musty inside, the vast silos and storerooms were filled with food
and various things. He planted the bomb with a two-minute timer.
Sprinting, and clutching his mantle around him, he ran to the other
corner of the castle. The stall for the captured Heart of Darkness
was under heavy guard. He slipped in a side door silently and
waited. It was a stone room, four guards and two oil lights and one
priceless assassin guymelef on a bench. The giant doors on the front
of the stall were locked shut. Side doors and windows were mostly
closed as well. Soon he heard it: a roaring blast. The guards all
seemed to panic, they ran to see what the sound had been... across
the vast castle orange fire raged in their stores. They stared,
aghast, but would not leave their posts. *That's okay, I only needed
a distraction.* Clambering invisibly up on the Heart of Darkness, he
picked the huge locks of the shackles at its wrists, waist, and feet.
It took a few minutes, the fire went on raging. He called on his
communicator.
"Pilot, NOW!"
"Yes sir!" The Alseides' stealth mantle fell from around its
shoulders. It snapped into flying mode and made a long fast and
shallow jump over the wall. Some one noticed and sounded the
alarms. "ENEMY ATTACK, ENEMY ATTACK!" called a guard. Too bad the
alarm had already been sounded, for the fire. The Alseides landed,
moving towards the fire. As soon as it was cloaked it turned,
heading for the garage as fast as it could. The guard guymelefs all
headed to where it had landed, and found nothing.
"I'm coming your way!" the pilot said through the
communicator. The Hammer was fast as lightning, he pulled off his
stealth cloak and was almost instantly behind the guards. Three
poison needles flew from his hand, two guards collapsed gurgling.
The other two whirled around, the Hammer's swords were already out.
He stabbed one in the face as he parried a blow from the other, then
held the last guard's sword off and sliced him. They were all
still. He hadn't made too much noise, good.
The communicator spoke. "I'm at the door."
"Open it."
With a dramatic flourish the pilot tossed his mantle open in
the front and stuck out an arm. Five crima claws shot out like
lightning bolts, the doors burst inward. The Alseides ran into the
stall.
"DAMN! The guards are coming! They must've seen you from
behind." (What would a stealth mantle that was open in the front
look like from behind, anyway?)
The Alseides turned, and fired three spikes. The lead guard
melef fell, pierced, and came crashing down.
"NO! No time for that, get the Heart!"
Now the Zaibach guymelef turned and extended its claws less
forcefully. Ten of them whirled and wrapped around the Heart of
Darkness, retracted so that the Alseides' fists were at the Heart's
sides. The guards were coming... As the Alseides hauled the light
Ispano guymelef up and into its arms, the Hammer clambered nimbly up
to hang on from under the stealth mantle frame at the shoulder.
Carrying a large weight, the guymelef ran, with great effort, out of
the stall. "HAYAKU! Hurry up!" The Black Hammer was exhilarated
and scared, the guards were almost there as the Alseides snapped
into flying mode. *We're gonna make it.* But no, they couldn't lift
off! Jet engines roared at over redline speed and they hovered
across the ground, too heavy to fly. "The guards are here! Do
something damn it!" But while carrying another guymelef, the weapons
were unusable. They hovered slowly sideways, picking up speed
slowly, trying to evade. The lead guard was there! It chased them,
raising a huge axe to split the Alseides- but it hadn't quite caught
them yet. Feet slammed the ground and engines raged as they chased
each other parallel to the castle walls. It was going to catch
them. But, no, they were lifting! Slowly the Alseides was rising,
meter by meter, further off the ground. The guard, sensing its last
chance, swung its massive axe. It swished through the air and buried
itself in the earth. "We made it! Hot damn!" The Hammer was
cheering as they barely cleared the wall, with a mob of melefs
chasing at full speed. With a guymelef in its arms and a master
assassin in one shoulder, the Alseides finally rose into the air.
Six of the pursuing guards had lifted off as well. The pilot
shouted, "No! Their guymelefs can fly too!" With a loud crash an
arrow, or rather a bolt, from one of the guards' forearm launchers
hit the back of the shoulder that the Hammer clung to. The guymelef
pitched. They were now high in the night sky, a fall would mean
death. Another crash and the Alseides twisted sideways. Leaks from
the bolts trailed drips of liquid metal. If the wind had not been
blowing the bolts back they would've torn into the armor like skewers
in meat.
The Black Hammer shouted over the wind, "Pilot, can you do
anything? We will be shot down!"
"The wind is with us, it's unlikely that we'll be
shot down..."
"Eventually we will! Can't you use any weapons!?" But, the
crima claws were all wrapped around Heart of Darkness. The guardian
guymelefs were still gaining. CRASH, CRASH. The damage would soon
become serious.
The pilot's voice came again. "WAIT! I have an idea!" He
turned the Heart around in his arms so that it was parallel to his
own guymelef. Then the left fist's crima claws unraveled one at a
time and wrapped around behind both guymelefs like twine. They were
now lashed together. The right arm was free.
Pointing one arm behind him, the pilot saw that the castle
was now far off and only the six guardians in pursuit remained. Then
he fired. An orange stream of fire roared out of his fist. The
rushing wind was with this attack, and carried it back with force
rather than resisting it. Two guards pulled back as their guymelefs
burned, trailing smoke as the fire died out in the wind. Another,
wider spray and only two guards were left in pursuit. CRASH, another
bolt. They were not giving up.
"Now they have made a Zaibachi soldier angry!" The guymelef lost
altitude as more and more power went into superheating the crima
claws. The energists in the shoulders glowed, the Hammer shielded
his eyes from the heat. Then ROAAAR, a yellow white tornado exploded
out behind the Alseides. Both Kanaphrans were caught in the inferno,
and went down. One barely recovered enough to crash land, the other
smashed into the earth with a deep /thud/ and a puff of smoke and
sparks. They were home free.
When the Alseides finally landed, heavily damaged and overtaxed, they
were in the dry mountains in the far south of Kanaphra. A hired
caravan controlled by the guild was waiting in a hidden spot for
their return. When the Assassins with the caravan saw the Black
Hammer a riding a Zaibach guymelef holding the Heart of Darkness, a
round of proud grins went around. They landed roughly, due to the
serious damage: THUD. Dripping liquid metal spattered and pooled in
the high desert dust. The crima claws around the Alseides and the
Heart untangled with a hiss of energy and heat, and the Alseides let
the Great Assassin down to rest on the ground. Three guild members
walked out to greet the Hammer as he dropped down.
"Congratulations, you have reclaimed your honor."
The Black Hammer gave a proud look. "Yes. Yes I did! And I got
something else for us, too." *They're gonna just /love/ this!* He
took the stealth mantle at his shoulders and pulled it around him.
Inside he flipped a little switch on a box connected to the mantle
around his hip.
Shocked gasps resounded. "He...he disappeared!" Then someone in a
more solemn voice: "Then its true. The man sized stealth mantle
exists."
"This could be the ruination of the guild."
The Hammer poked his head back out. "I already confirmed its
existence, you know. It's just that now we actually have one."
"Hammer, what will we do?"
"What will become of us? We rely on stealth like no other people on
Gaea."
The Hammer glanced to the resting Alseides. "We'll discuss that
later, some things should be kept secret." A chorus of realization
and agreement went around the other three Assassins. "Pilot? You
earned a reward. That was some damn good piloting back there."
The cockpit of the damaged Alseides opened, and a tall middle aged
woman stepped out. The three Assassins gasped in surprise, but not
the Hammer. He'd been guessing that this pilot was female since they
escaped; fighting style was an excellent gender indicator. "I'll
need repairs as well if I'm going to get back to Zaibach. I'm
leaking fluid and the engines are worn out."
She was direct. Good. The Hammer agreed to her demands, and gave
her a bonus of seven thousand for a job well done. It was worth it.
He looked at the Heart of Darkness and the stolen stealth mantle he
wore. *It was more than worth it. Much, much more.*
______________________________________________________________________
__
The second day's negotiations opened. Things went slowly again, but
they were definitely getting somewhere. Eries agreed to give
Sherezade to Kanaphra in trade for two Kanaphran guymelefs and a bit
of energist. *How will that go over with King Aston, I wonder? Oh
well, she's an empowered ambassador so it's a done deal now.* Van
noticed that the two diplomats that Ruhm had pointed out, Adelphos
and Eugen, did seem to be unusually confrontative and un-helpful. "I
lived through one energist bomb! Zaibach is not afraid, you do
realize that, Basram?" "Daedalus is a military nation and we are not
here to play mediator between Asturia and Basram! That's your job,
King of Fanelia." "We have an abundant military, actually, and we
still possess one thousand of the Alseides class, not three hundred.
And there is no problem with the new simplified Hadeades, either. We
are quite secure and require no alliance with you Chezario." "We
have more than enough metals and plenty of energist- and you really
don't own all that market anyway you know. Stop trying to make trade
agreements with me!" They could almost be trying /not/ to avoid
war... but that was impossible. Anyway, like Ruhm said, foreigners
smelled funny anyway. (But then, why had they been fooled by
Dilandau? He was Asturian/Zaibachi.) Van worried more as he
continued to conduct the talks, because he could not yet go to Merle
and Millerna and because Dilandau was out there, and Hitomi was gone
and he was still not safe from war despite how well the summit was
going. *Hitomi.*
Owen awoke to see Allen Borealis looking down at him. He smelled
game fowl soup. "Welcome back, magician. How do you feel?"
Owen sighed. "Rotten. My chi must be lower than the ocean
floor." Owen felt good, he had managed to translate the analogy into
Japanese. His mind was undamaged. "You must be Allen, the man we
were trying to save."
"Yes I am. Thank you for saving me. You gave it all you
had, and you didn't even know me. I'm touched"
"You're welcome. I am trying to get back to the
Mystic...uh...Mystic Moon. Merle said you would help."
Allen guessed that Owen must not be very good at speaking
common. "I only know a little about it- the girl from the Mystic
Moon would be able to help us. Unfortunately she was caught. I'm
afraid we have no way of rescuing her, as this nation's police force
and government are not to be trusted. We leave for Kanaphra as soon
as you and Merle recover."
The Magician sat bolt upright. "What's wrong with Merle?"
"Relax and lie back, you are weak. Merle is in a difficult
emotional period, as she has just been reunited with her long lost
father. But, she is making progress. She does at least believe that
he is her father, now." *Ironic- the ring that killed my father
almost seems to have brought hers back to life. Atlantis's power
works in odd ways.* "In the meantime, rest up."
"Mmmm." Owen accepted the game fowl soup, laden with
holistic healing herbs. Soon he and Merle would be ready again, to
set back off on the adventure that would, maybe, bring him back
home.
It was the fourth day of negotiations and all was well. The
uncooperative people were outnumbered, and it seemed to Van that
tension was at a low point. He decided to ask the question.
"I deeply regret having to tell you this, but it seems that
there has been a most unfortunate occurrence in Kanaphra and
Fanelia." He was using his most royal tone. "Serena Schezar wa-
/is/ the sister of Allen Schezar, who is here today." He pointed to
Allen. "She is also the alter ego of the infamous Dilandau Albatou.
She recently changed back into him, after she witnessed a fire-
bombing. She was imprisoned, but unfortunately escaped. Using a
guymelef found abandoned in Fanelian ruins he has gone away and we do
not know where he went." He saw a spark of realization, almost
delight, in the Daedalusian. Then it turned to anger. *Uh oh.* "If
anyone has any idea of where he may-"
"Shut /up/!" It was Eugen.
"Excuse me?"
"Do not try to cover yourself with formality. You let a
madman have a guymelef, from /your/ country. Now he is attacking
mine! You are responsible."
*So that's where he went... Daedalus.* "We deeply regret it,
we would like to help catch-"
"SHUT UP!" The Daedalusian had thrown the excessive
politeness of negotiation to the wind, using righteous anger as an
excuse. *Now I get it...* Van thought. *He's trying to sabotage
the talks. I just gave him the perfect chance.* "We did not know
who this mysterious raider was until now, but it has become obvious.
He uses a grey and green guymelef which is very light and fast, with
exceptional flying abilities, no?"
"That's the one." Van felt sick. His summit was in danger.
*Hitomi! Help! I need your wisdom and clairvoyance and...* But
Hitomi was millions of miles away.
Allen jumped in. "It isn't Van's fault, Dilandau is mad and
cannot-"
Adelphos took the chance to join in. "Then are you accusing
Zaibach? Do you call it our fault, say that we created a monster?
Daedalus, do you blame us?"
"Certainly not." Eugen and Adelphos nodded to each other in
agreement.
*They're helping each other!* Van's mind reeled.
Adelphos continued. "Allen, that is an insult. I was
Dilandau Albatou's commander, I know that he is harmless but needs to
be /strictly controlled/. Allen, you obviously are not capable of
this."
Allen was in utter shock. He was too much of a gentleman to
expect this kind of political treachery. "But..."
Adelphos concluded. "Nor was your careless brother, Van
Fanel."
He wanted to shout to leave Folken out of this. No, he
wanted to take out his sword and the warrior half of his personality
that now slept and-
But he restrained himself. "Zaibach, Daedalus, we are here for
peace. Are you trying to start a war?" Suddenly the two realized
that all eyes were on them. They had tried for too much, too
quickly. They backed off.
Eugen made one last attempt. "I take offense, naturally, at
your offer of help against a lone madman. It does not become a world
power such as Daedalus, to be offered help by a small country. I
intend to bring some of our best troops here to be shown, since the
rest of this counsel would question the strength of Daedalus if we
did not answer such a statement."
Van let him have that much. He had kept order... for now.
He wondered how many other diplomats really wished for war, but were
being less obvious than Eugen and Adelphos. And, what on /Gaea/
could those two idiots be up to? How could they profit from mass
destruction? His mind went back to Ruhm, who had said that they did
not smell quite human... but Van knew of no race that longed for
war. *Merle, Millerna...* It had been a long time since Eries told
him about them, and he had been too busy to go do anything. She was
sick with worry, but hiding it. He knew. So was he.
Dilandau sat by his Teiring guymelef in the woods of inland
Asturia. He had just attacked his third target across the border
with Daedalus, another defenseless one. It was fun but it lacked a
certain something. Not just fire, either. *I want to attack
something that will fight back! I want combat, battle...* Zaibach,
guymelefs, war. *I'm near a town, which is near an outpost. I'll
take it tomorrow.* He had made his plan. Now his mind wandered to
other things... like his stomach. He realized, there was nothing to
eat. *Have to go find something... oh well, no rest for the wicked.*
He walked through the forest by himself, keeping an eye out. The
green trees made a dappled pattern of sunlight on the loamy forest
floor. A cool breeze whispered in the leaves. Birds singing,
babbling brooks, skittering animals, the slow walk... It was not
long before his mind became becalmed. The rage and the rush,
Zaibach, guymelefs, and war, all faded. The peace of the woods had
sneaked up on him, and made him feel so... so...
So Serene.
"Terra? Time to talk to us. Get outta the basement." Terra heard
the rough voice come down from the opened door that was too bright to
look at. "The boss wants to see you." She pulled herself up,
feigning weakness. In fact, she'd been working out for days in the
basement. She went to go talk to this boss, whoever it was.
Up above they were in a small, smelly, dank, empty wooden
house to go with its small, smelly, dank, empty basement. A little
daylight filtered in through the dilapidated wood, and she heard
ocean outside. There were three men. Two wore the standard dirty
clothes and had warlike tattoos. One was the man in black. She felt
fear again, she was on their terms all the way if it came to a
fight. Stranger in a strange land with no staff.
At last the man in black spoke. His voice was low and rough,
menacing. "My name is Garufo Darth. You're Terra. You have
something I want." He walked toward her. *Direct son of a bitch,
isn't he?* Terra didn't move. Garufo walked up and took the
earrings out of Terra's ears. She winced in pain but didn't resist,
yet. Garufo moved into the center of the room. He took off the
bracelet he was wearing, tossed it on the floor. He walked up to the
wall, facing it, and tossed the earrings carelessly behind him.
*What the hell is he doing?*
The other two men gasped in surprise, the earrings had landed
within the circle of the bracelet. *He did all this to show off his
good aim?* Garufo walked, still stone-faced, over to where the three
accessories lay on the ground. "Excellent." He turned to
Terra. "Give those to me." He pointed to the earrings.
"Huh?" She didn't get it, he already had them.
"Just do it. Give them to me." He sounded increasingly
imperious.
"But... you took them!"
"GIVE them to me!" Terra jumped with his shout.
She was scared. "Look, you're just confusing me. You've
already got them."
He sighed sharply in frustration. "Not good enough. I
cannot take them. You must willingly give them to me."
Terra still did not understand. "How..................?"
The man's eyes darkened, the other two men took up
intimidating positions beside him. But, he gave in. "Very well, I
will explain. Years ago, in the employ of a man named Dornkirk I
learned of a set of powerful jewelry from the lost continent of
Atlantis. They are mysterious, their properties are uncertain. But
they are powerful. I have decided to collect all the pieces. My
bracelet is part, it has the power to heal. Your earrings and my
bracelet are attracted by fate. That proves they are parts of the
set." He held up an earring next to the bracelet. It did not move
toward it. "Fate does not act as gravity or electromagnetism and
attract by a physical force. It attracts by the results of random
chance. The earrings just /happened/ to land in the bracelet. I
just happened to be there when you fell from the sky into the
forest. Other properties of this set of artifacts are that they are
ineffectual and can even be cursed if one does not know their
powers. I will diagnose these earrings' power. Also, they must be
given by the owner and cannot be stolen. You will give these
earrings to me, /willingly/."
Terra's heart leaped. *I have a card to play!* She gave the
man in black her most coquettish little look. "Suppose I don't?"
Garufo's eyes were now as hard and dark as onyx. "My
associates will hurt you." He did not specify any further.
Terra gulped. She was scared to death... but if she gave
those earrings up she gave up everything. She knew they could not
kill her, even if she lost the fight. If they did, she would not be
able to give her earrings to this man. She steeled herself. "No."
Garufo's heart sank. *Damn. I was so damn close, now she
will be difficult. There are so few that I know the location of,
only hers and mine and the King of Fanelia's pendant of Atlantis- not
unique except for the fact that it is connected to this set. It seems
that they are all inaccessible.* But his determination stayed with
him. "You two. Take her down and hurt her." The two hired bounty
hunters chuckled and grinned evilly and smacked their fists into
their palms, and backed the girl from the Mystic Moon down the
stairs. Silently, Garufo hoped that they could take her on. She was
strong... but overconfident. She was in over her head. If she did
not lose this fight, then it would happen in another fight sooner or
later.
(An inn on the Daedalus side of the Daedalusian/Asturian border)
A door creaked as Serena Schezar walked in. A wave of smell hit her
as she entered: human body odor and alcohol. In the terrible crowd,
she felt anxious and endangered. She had entered because she was
lost, and wanted to find people... but now she was pained. Her gaze
darted nervously around the dank tavern with the sounds of laughing,
fighting, and flirting. *How did I get here? I was wandering, found
a town. Did I walk in here?* Drunkenness pervaded the air. Drunken
madness seemed somehow familiar, and it scared her. "Allen? Allen?
Allen? Brother-sama?" She called and saw him nowhere. She was
getting more and more agitated and she needed to find a comforting
person somewhere. As her mind reeled and her eyes swept the room,
she suddenly noticed the cutest creature she'd ever seen sitting away
from the crowd. He was humanoid, but had cute little black eyes like
a stuffed animal, and he was furry. She smiled. On closer
inspection, he had big soft leathery wings and ears and little fangs
like Merle. He looked very much like a brown catman, until one
noticed the neatly folded wings. She noticed he wore the long brown
greatcoat of a soldier of Daedalus. She had been around soldiers
(mostly Allen) all her life. She walked over to where the stuffed
animal looking young man sat.
Ser Murucielago was sitting alone at a table with a drink. He was a
Daedalusian soldier, ranked a Private First Class. He wore a long
brown greatcoat, all the way down to his boots. It fastened over by
one shoulder instead of in the middle, giving a more uniform-like
look. By his drink was his grey cap, and at his side a plain
straight sword. He was a bat. Rather, he was a beastman with the
features of a bat. He was lean yet exceptionally well muscled. His
face had pointy features, especially his nose, and his large ears.
His whole body wore a thick and very short coat of brown fur. At his
back were two folded soft and leathery wings. They came through back
of the coat, they were not retractable. Unlike a bat, he had arms as
well as wings. In the corner of one bright black eye, he noticed a
new person wander into the inn. It was a young woman. He turned,
curious as always, to look at her. She wore a white shirt and black
silk pants, Asturian design. She was lean and strong, like him. Her
hair was somewhat short and her sapphire blue eyes
seemed...agitated. They continually played around the room, as if
she expected danger. She flinched when a man near her burst out
laughing. *How unfortunate, she seems a bit neurotic. Traumatic
experience, perhaps? Too bad that such a pretty...* He stopped
himself. With an effort, he pulled his gaze and sonar away from
her. He had to put her out of his mind. It was almost certain that
she would ridicule him, that she would disrespect or even hate and
fear him. He was a beastman, an outcast. She, like nine in ten
girls he saw, was human. *Better to save myself the disappointment,
they all dislike me. Even my own fellow soldiers, and especially my
commander... he's a brown-noser to that fat pompous warmonger Eugen.
Those ones are conservative militarists, but really all humans feel
that way about me. Leave her out of my mind.* He was sad. He had
never met a batwoman who he liked and who liked him. He hadn't even
been to Fupui caves, his race's ancestral home, since he joined the
army six years ago at the age of was twelve. *She is so pretty, and
seems pained... but forget her.*
Serena tapped Ser on the shoulder. "Hi!" She greeted him. Ser was
very surprised. *This human girl, is coming over to talk to me?* He
replied: "Hello, ma'am." That made her giggle. The girl was still
looking at him like he was a cute and curious thing. Under his fur
he blushed a little. "May I... buy you a drink?"
She thought for a moment, nodded, and sat down. She was
still looking at him like something cute and curious. "Are you a
bat?"
She was up front about curiosity, he liked that. Smiling
pleasantly, he answered directly. "Actually I'm a batman. I can fly
and see with sound."
The girl seemed to accept that. "What's your name?"
"Ser. My name is Ser Murucielago. What's yours?"
"Serena."
He didn't inquire any further. "Well, what can I get you to
drink? What would you like?"
She sat for a moment and thought. "I don't know." She was
giving him that funny smile again.
Ser's impression that this girl was kind of weird was getting
stronger. *That's okay. I'm kind of weird too. What kind of drink,
now? She looks sweet... how about mead?* He bought the girl a
mead.
As she sipped it, her eyes lit up. "It's good. What's it called
again?"
"Mead."
"Tastes like honey."
Ser smiled. "That's what it is. Mead is wine made with honey."
Serena smiled as she drank the mead. Then she suddenly looked
up. "Ser, I'm starving. Can you get me something to eat?"
Over dinner they told about themselves. Serena had been wandering in
the woods, where she guessed she lived. (She guessed?) She found
the town and wandered into the tavern. She didn't like crowds and
she though Ser was cute, so she decided to come talk to him. *Yes!
She thinks I'm "cute!" Not dirty or scary or "slimy" or any of the
other things bats are usually called.* Serena was hesitant to tell
any more about her past and Ser knew better than to push it. He told
of how he had joined the Daedalusian army at the age of twelve when
the threat of Zaibach first appeared. The army was viciously racist,
he was an outcast. However, he was a master with a spear and could
echolocate the invisible guymelefs and fly. So, he stayed. He was
never promoted until his heroism in the final battle with Zaibach,
but he hung on. No one thought a beastman, especially a scary ugly
bat, could make it in their high and proud army. The army that ruled
the country with an iron fist. But, he hung on. He had to, because
his country needed defending and as every young Daedalusian was
taught in school, the state and the group were infinitely more
important than any individual. Now his special skills, and those of
his custom built flying guymelef Griffin, were needed. (He had the
Griffin because the guymelef builders liked him. The educated always
seemed to be less prejudiced... well, almost always.) A mysterious
person in an unidentified Zaibach-built guymelef was raiding from
across the Asturian border. The Asturians were sitting on their rear
ends doing nothing, and Daedalus couldn't search for him without
setting off a war. So, they needed a great defense. He had a great
record, so... why was she looking so nervous? "Serena, what's making
you nervous?"
"I don't know. Something about that raider."
"What?"
"I don't know."
Strange girl. So strange, and mysterious, and intriguing. He
listened to her talk about Asturia and her forest. After a while,
she asked him about Griffin.
"Did you say you had a guymelef?"
"Oh, yeah, I did. It's a custom... I've got friends in the factory."
"That's great. I love guymelefs."
"You /do/?" *A sweet young lady like this thinks guymelefs are
great? Wow!*
"Yes. I like them a lot. What's yours like?"
Ser was taken aback. "Well... it's extra fast and strong at the
expense of armor. Guymelefs can always cut through each others'
armor easily anyway. It can fly, and it's got a spear."
Serena was smiling; her eyes took on a peculiar reddish glint. "That
sounds really nice. It sounds like Sherezade."
"Sherezade? Allen Schezar of Ast- I mean of Kanaphra's Sherezade?
That thing's a legend! What do you know about it?"
"Oh... I, um, I just heard a lot about it. That's all." She was
blushing. *Why won't I mention Allen to him? That's strange.*
Ser had an idea. "You know, I'm keeping Griffin in a barn around
here. You see, the fort's garage was full before it was reinforced.
Would you like to go check it out?"
"Wow! Sugoi, great, that would be wonderful."
Ser gave a sly smile. "There's one catch, though. It's a long
ways... we'll have to fly."
Serena just smiled back. There was that funny red glint again.
______________________________________________________________________
__
Garufo Darth sat in his waterfront shack with his two hirelings, and
Anthony. Anthony had arrived only a little earlier, and scared the
hell out of the hirelings. He was a king's guardian and they were
outlaws. Also they were still worn out from the few rounds they'd
gone with the girl from the Mystic Moon (though she was not in much
better shape, having held on against two grown men who were top
bounty hunters.) Garufo could care less about all three of them.
Garufo had expected Anthony. They had important business to
discuss.
"You two. This is not for your ears. Leave the room." They
obeyed.
He turned to Anthony. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
Anthony was uncharacteristically solemn. "Yes it has. But, I can't
stay. I need the girl from the Mystic Moon /now/."
"What!? Anthony! I worked long and hard to get her, and I need
those earrings. We need those earrings! They're a piece of the set."
Anthony gave a sigh. "Oh my. That does complicate things, doesn't
it?"
"I have to keep her here until she willingly gives them to me. It
will take a long systematic effort; her will is iron."
"That kind of time is unaffordable. There is bad news coming from
Kanaphra and Pharaoh Seith will be quite angry. He needs this
mission to succeed! He is a guerilla, and holds dear to his heart
the principle of knowing oneself before knowing the enemy. I have
been trying for a long time to get him to believe that war would be a
good thing for him and Kanaphra, and I've managed to keep him
thinking that he's actually doing this on his own. That's a big
accomplishment, Garufo! I won't throw it away because he thinks that
Kanaphra does not have enough strength to come out on top. I have to
take her to home."
"But we need that set of jewelry, it is a part of the plan!"
They were at an impasse. Silence stood for a moment in time, as they
faced each other. Finally Garufo spoke. "Anthony, why won't you
bring us both to Kanaphra? I'll get it from her over there. Those
two men I sent out are just hirelings, I'll leave them here. The
slavers' guild lets me travel as I like."
Anthony's ears pricked up. "Yes...that way we both win. All right,
let's get you two onto my flying ship. It's in the harbor."
"What, NOW?"
"There's no time like the present."
Garufo sniffed. "All right then. Now."
"For the cause, Garufo." Anthony was still somber. Was he really
sure about this?
"For the Elder."
"Yeah... yeah, for the Elder."
In a farm field several miles from the town, by the forest, Ser
glided down out of the air carrying Serena. The ground was rushing
past; he swung his legs down under him and folded his spread wings.
He landed running in the grass and slowed down, putting Serena down.
She was laughing for joy.
"That was unbelievably fun! Oh, the view..." She looked at him. "I
think bats are great. You've got to take me flying again sometime."
Ser felt proud. *She thinks bats are great!* "Come on, it's inside
there." He pointed to an old wooden barn.
Serena was still laughing and panting as she ran in through the
door. There it was, in the back of the empty building. "Wow..."
Before her was the shadow of a kneeling guymelef. Its steel armor
plates were mostly rectangular, its shape rather boxy altogether.
For some reason she remembered the all guymelefs of Daedalus were
like that. It held in one arm a large spear, leaning on it as it
knelt. The arms and legs were fairly thin and the bulged shoulders
only rose up a bit. Its head was boxy, like the rest of it, and
looked a lot like a samurai's helmet. Behind hung the shadow of a
cloak. It gave the impression of great speed and power. However...
what was it about this guymelef... that made her uneasy? She
stared. Ser came in the door from behind her, noticed her admiring
his Guymelef. He smiled.
"Like it?"
No answer. *It's... it's...*
"Here, we need better light." He went over to a big oil lamp to
light it.
Serena stared. In the dark, all she could see about it was
shadows... rusty looking shadows, and- *That's it!*
Ser was lighting the lamp. She screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!!"
It was too late. Oil sputtered and burst into flame, shedding waves
of light over his red guymelef.
Ser whirled with inhuman quickness to face Serena. "What? What's
wrong?" But she only stared. The anxious look that had been with
her as she entered the tavern was back, times ten... a hundred...a
thousand...
*Red... red guymelef...* "NOOOOOOO!!!" She hid her face and bolted
for the door.
"Serena!" Ser ran for the door. When he looked outside, he saw
nothing. He heard Serena crashing away through the forest; she was
already gone from the field. He did not give chase, because he could
hear her screaming: "Shesta! Gatti! Darret! Where are you!?" Ser
was stunned. "Serena..." *She left. She ran away screaming... the
first person to ever like me ran away screaming.* Ser fell to his
knees.
In a secret place, the Assassins' guild met. Such gatherings
were rare, as the danger was great. They had discussed the hiding of
the Heart of Darkness, and the plans to get Zaibach to fill up their
repair fund for it. It was now time for the Assassins to make their
plans regarding man sized stealth mantles. In a dark room in a slum,
dozens of people sat around randomly throughout the room. They
mostly wore normal, everyday clothes although all had well-concealed
lethal weapons. The Black Hammer stood up in the middle of the room
and cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Let's get down to business. Is there anyone who
doesn't know about how these things work?"
There were several affirmative voices. "Okay, here goes.
It's a cloth cape, made from some special fibers that'll carry light
real fast. When you put a chip of energist in, and hit the button,
it'll take the light from whatever's behind from or in front, or the
side or whatever, an send it back out the other side like nothing
ever happened. It's really good! Every if you run around, it'll just
make a little wavery distortion like on a hot day, and people think
it's nothing. It's especially good in the dark."
A worried murmur ran around the room. Everyone knew what
this meant. An important man with a bow and arrow addressed
him: "Black Hammer, we have all heard about them and we know what
this means to us. What can we do?"
Hammer had a response ready for him. "I know just what to
do. These things aren't exactly out on the open market yet. As far
as I know only Kanaphra and maybe Zaibach have them. I'm guessing
most countries don't even know about them. We got one, we can be
first on the ball."
"With just /one/?" A disagreeable murmur went around the
room.
The Hammer kept his cool. "Nope. We're gonna study this
one."
A woman in dark blood red spoke to him. "We aren't
scientists, we're killers. It would take a Zaibachi scientist to
reverse engineer these crazy things."
This was where the Hammer revealed his plot. "You're right,
we aren't Zaibach scientists. But I know someone who is. He was a
sorcerer, and he did a lot of work with the original guymelef-sized
stealth mantles."
The whole room suddenly got excited. This was what the
Hammer had been looking for, a big reaction. The man with the bow
and arrow spoke up again. "Who is he, and where is he?"
"He's with our friends in the Slavers' guild. Usually hangs
out in Asturia, but I dunno where he is right now. Anyway, we'll
find him- it's what we're good at. His name is Garufo Darth."
Shrouded in forest shade under the dark blue sky of the time
before dawn, the Teiring knelt motionless in a stand of trees. Its
dirty grey and green body was perfectly camouflaged, the long shock
of crimson hair was only a ruddy shadow. Inside, Dilandau eyed the
Daedalusian fort through his search scope. *Three hundred
meters...they don't even see me... who /needs/ stealth mantles!* He
had waited for nearly an hour, seen only two small melefs and one
guymelef. He could attack at literally any time he wanted. He had
goosebumps and butterflies in his stomach as he salivated over the
wide, squat stone castle. Partly, he anticipated the thrill of
destruction; destruction in a giant machine killing all enemies... he
hadn't felt it in so long. But, he was also nervous. The
butterflies in his stomach tasted bitter, he tasted bile along with
the blood. Perhaps, it was just that he was alone... *What's wrong
with me now? I've been /craving/ this moment!* He was frustrated by
the inchoate sense of trepidation in his guts. With a glare, he
pushed it aside. *I'll /tear/ them all /down/, I'll /kill/ them,
I'll /love/ it... I was /born/ to!!!* He flared his energist, with a
brilliant pink light and a shimmering sound. He warmed the Teiring
up. He stood, feeling tons of weight shift with smooth, fast
responsiveness. *Good guymelef!* "Now," he whispered, "I attack."
Inside the fortress, Ser walked out of his barracks toward
the mess hall across the chill morning in the fortress square. He
couldn't shake the memory of the brown haired girl, he'd seen her
over and over in his dreams. *Why did she have to run off? I
thought she said she /liked/ guymelefs!* He felt glum. *A missing
crush -that's what she is, a crush- and bad feelings when Dilandau
Albatou is raiding the area I guard! Just the distraction I need.*
He had learned who the mystery raider was last night. *Dilandau...*
A bit of cold leaked into his greatcoat with the thought. He
shivered. Ser knew he was good, but Dilandau was legendary! *The
threat of my distracting emotions,* he thought, *Is serious and not
to be taken lightly. If I cannot concentrate on my duty instead of
my personal life, like a good soldier, bad things could happen.* For
a moment a contempt for the machine in which he was an outcast cog
slipped into his mind. He squashed it, as he had been taught to.
*It is my fate, my destiny. Everyone knows it's evil to go against
your destiny. It would only cause suffering...* Suddenly he was
shaken awake out of his sleepy train of thought by shouts from a
watchtower. He turned. No, /screams/ from a watchtower.
"GUYMELEF! GUYMELEF! FLYING IN FAST! FLYING IN FAST!" The
lookout was terrified. Ser felt himself momentarily paralyzed.
*Dilandau... NOW? No!* He heard jet engines, and knew that it was
true. *I could die. I could really die! In five minutes, will
there be a me or not? Ser, or no Ser?*
"Run for cover!" He shouted. He headed for a small building. Then,
from behind the fortress walls, he heard a terrible crash. Then came
a grating, earsplitting sound of metal on stone. He winced, his
hypersensitive ears hurt. It was followed by a horrible crumbling as
a section of the wall fell. In front of him, the fiercest looking
guymelef he had ever seen had just torn down a wall of granite and
mortar several feet thick. The insane laugh that haunted the dreams
of veterans echoed across the fortress' interior.
"I'll kill you all! HA ha ha ha ha ha!" Six razor sharp tendrils
lashed out from the Teiring's raised arms and the mess hall that Ser
had been headed for was torn down. The laugh turned into a banshee's
cry as Dilandau killed fleeing soldiers. The armory building was
next, he kicked it into rubble. Ser stared out from behind the
building in horror, less sure of his "cover" now. A melef with a
great sword was rushing the Teiring! *It's Kal... one of my few
friends...* The thick, boxy melef was towered over by Dilandau's
full-sized guymelef, but it charged on. *No...* "NO!!!" The
Teiring raised an arm toward Kal's melef. Dilandau's crazed voice
came from it: "Shi-ne! Die, midget!" Three crima claws shot
out. "Kal!" Ser watched Kal attempt to block the crima claws, as
Allen Schezar and Van Fanel were said to have done. But, Kal was not
a master swordsman. The claws hit and pierced. Without even a
scream the melef collapsed in mid-charge.
"Kal...no!" With Ser's anger, his instinct and training
kicked in. His glaring black eyes burned. Now only one thought was
in his head: *Go get Griffin.* With a leap he spread his wings and
took to the sky, headed for the barn three kilometers away where
Griffin was kept.
Dilandau was high. His adrenaline-soaked body felt alive, alive in
killing. He had just beaten his first melef opponent since the
battle of Zaibach two years ago! His maniacal laugh
resounded. "Thank you, little melef!" The Teiring was incredible,
it was so fast and maneuverable he couldn't believe it. If it
weren't for the lack of a flame-thrower, it would've been
even /better/ than Alseides. "Good, good guymelef!" He noticed the
melef's large sword, it would be a short sword to his guymelef. He
picked it up in his hand. He turned it over. *Nice looking. I
always wanted to try one, but I never had a guymelef with hands
before.* The ruined mess hall caught his eye- it was burning! The
cookfires must have spread. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Moero, moero! Burn,
burn!" he called. Orange waves rolled over the stone and wooden
rubble.
*What's that?!* Some loud noise behind him. He whirled to see a
full sized guymelef aiming a drawn longbow at him. "No!" He threw
his arms out in front of him and crima claw metal burst into shield
shapes. An arrow made from a tree trunk /thwacked/ into the one
shield, barely stopped by the edge of it. *That was close!* The
archer melef was far off, Dilandau ran at him. He was drawing
again. *He knows he can get off another shot before I reach him, he
isn't drawing that sword yet. He hasn't fought a Zaibach guymelef
before, has he!* Three crima claws shot out from the Teiring's left
arm, flew far out, and struck deep into the archer's left flank. It
fell to one knee as Dilandau leaned great weight on the claws,
leaping as high and far as he could go into the air and throwing his
sword arm high. He fell, harder and harder, toward the enemy. He
brought his sword down with all his strength, for a instant came a
terrible SLAM/screeech/ sound as the tremendous force behind the
blade ripped it through tons of steel. The pilot screamed and
screamed, as his guymelef collapsed around him It was cut in half
from shoulder to hip.
"Oh! Oh! /Wrists/!" He held his new sword high. *That's how Allen
and Van were so much better with a blade, they had /wrists/! This
thing is great!* It also had hilt guards, which might have been
exceedingly useful in his last battle with Van. He saw another
melef, this one holding a spear, and a cluster of soldiers who had
not run and hidden like the others. It was coming for him. Dilandau
raised his right arm, held the sword out of the way, and fired.
Crima claws rushed away at his last opponent. Blood spattered as
they transfixed the control chamber, and the melef came crashing down
on some of the soldiers. *That's it! I beat 'em all! The next
outpost is far away, reinforcements will not arrive for a while. I
can stay a little longer.* With a casualness that was almost lazy,
Dilandau went back to tearing down the fort.
It was no more than three minutes later when he heard jet engines.
*Reinforcements already! Wow! I heard that Daedalus was efficient,
but this is ridiculous.* With a burst of jet power he leaped over
the walls out into the open field around the fort. Open space was
good. In the sky he saw his opponent... a single guymelef flying
towards him. It was lean and boxy, with broad steel fixed wings
extending from its back. Between them were two huge jets. Its legs
were joined into one, like a flying Alseides, but with two smaller
wings extending in a V at the ankles to steer with. It looked
familiar... it was red. The nervousness and bile from before the
attack came back to Dilandau. *What is it about this one? Is it
because it's the same color as my old one?* He was sweating. The
other guymelef's legs separated and the little wings retracted. It
swung its legs under it and landed hard. Then, the big wings folded
and retracted into its back along with the engines. A dark green
cape that had been retracted in flying mode flapped out over its
back. It seemed so much more like he'd seen it before, it scared
him, where had he seen it, what was it?! It held a large spear out
in from of it, and the pilot yelled a challenge.
"Dilandau Albatou! I won't let you destroy this fortress! I won't
let you kill my people! Get away from my country now or prepare to
die!"
That /voice/! Something about it was affecting Dilandau
profoundly. "Wh...Who are you?" He was trembling.
"I'm Ser Murucielago, soldier of Daedalus!'
That /name/! It was driving him mad. "WHO ARE YOU!" Dilandau threw
three claws out at him. *Get away get away get away...* To
Dilandau's shocked horror, the new opponent swung his long spear and
blocked the crima claws. *No...* "NO!!!" *Only Van and Allen can
do that, and they use swords! No one's ever done it with a spear!*
His heart was beating wildly and his mind reeling. *He's doing this
to me, he's making my mind betray me again!* The Guymelef
charged. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! HOW DO I KNOW YOU!?" He fired both
sets of crima claws at once. Again it was no good, the spearsman
took advantage of his weapon's length and swung it in a wide arc to
block all six claws! He was charging, getting closer, closer...
Dilandau barely remembered to dodge. He leaped sideways to avoid the
spear-point, and took a sword swing at the enemy. But, the enemy
swung the butt of its spear around with the force of the charge. The
Teiring was hit hard in the chest and thrown back. Dilandau barely
managed to keep his footing. Now the enemy was making spear thrusts,
keeping him off balance dodging. This was bad... he had to do
something! "I told you... to GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" He whipped some
claws around the spear and pushed it out of the way. Then he darted
it, slashing. He cleaved through the light armor of a shoulder and
one of the enemy's arms fell off. A shout of anger came from the
cockpit. *Now I have you... whoever you were!" Dilandau raised his
sword to finish this enemy off, but- it had broken its spear free
with one arm, moved back, and it was holding him off again. Dilandau
was in disbelief. "No...you can't be... this isn't happening! Why
do you make me afraid?!" He snapped into flying mode and backed
off. He was trying to catch his breath. *Who... how...why?* For
some reason pictures of those wretched flying mice, the bats, kept
appearing in his mind.
Ser was panting inside of Griffin. *I'm doing it... I can't believe
I'm actually doing this! I am holding my own against Dilandau
Albatou himself! I lost one arm, but still.* A good distance from
him, the Zaibach guymelef stood still. A voice came: "Who are
you!? How do I know you!? How are you doing this to me!? WHY AM I
LOSING MY MIND!?" The Teiring raised its arms. Ser gasped. *Can I
block with one arm?* Six metal tentacles shot out in a wide spread
at different angles. Dilandau's voice called, "Block that!" Ser
echo-tracked the oncoming projectiles, following their exact position
and vector. With a shout he swung the spear in from of his control
chamber, blocking the two that would have killed him. Four spikes
tore into Griffin's legs, pelvis and lower torso. Tortured metal and
machinery screeched. Dilandau laughed. Ser felt Griffin's legs
wobble unstably. *Damn!* There was only one desperate thing left to
do, or else he would lose the duel for sure. He charged. Dilandau
seemed taken aback. "What? What's he doing!?" Ser heard broken
joints scream their structural distress and air hiss- Griffin was
barely holding together as he ran. The Teiring, with lightning
speed, dodged. Ser turned after it at a torturous angle, leaning to
stay pointed at his enemy. He heard a shudder, he was sure his
guymelef would fall. But it did not. Dilandau was suddenly stuck;
Ser was charging him and he couldn't get out of the way. He tried to
back up, but his momentum was in a different direction. Mounds of
earth were torn up. Then, Griffin's spear slammed through the
Teiring's left shoulder. The left crima claws wilted, melted, flowed
away. The Teiring was thrown to the ground, with Dilandau screaming
bloody murder. *I got him!* Ser was disbelieving. In a battle mad
trance, he tried for just one more hit that would end it. *Almost,
so close...* He raised his spear to stab the fallen enemy- and in
doing so, left himself open. The right arm went up, aimed right at
Griffin's control chamber. *Damn it!* Ser tried to dodge.
Griffin's legs buckled. Three crima claws tore into the side of the
control chamber, the half-dodge was the only thing that saved Ser's
life. He felt burning metal slash across his left hip, and heard a
sickening sizzle. As Griffin fell, he closed his eyes tight shut,
ready for the killing blow. None came. He looked, and the Teiring
was scrambling away! "AAAAUUGH! GET AWAY, AWAY, AWAY!" Dilandau
had lost his mind again. He snapped his guymelef into flying mode,
and rocketed away towards the forest.
Minutes later, Ser still lay in his fallen guymelef's control
chamber. He was panting and bleeding. He was vaguely aware of
voices... the soldiers from the fort, he realized. "Ser, Ser, are
you alright?"
"Bat, speak! Are you alive?"
"You saved us! Please be alive..."
He pushed a button and Griffin's control chamber opened. He looked
around. When thew saw him moving a round of applause broke out.
Cheers resounded, and Ser was pulled out of the control chamber, and
carried back to the damaged fortress by a grateful crowd. Many
congratulations were directed to him, but only one thought was in his
head. "Serena... wherever you are...I did it."
Back in the forest, Dilandau lay in a mental tornado on the
ground. *Who was that? His voice, that guymelef...* He lay for a
few more minutes at the foot of his damaged Teiring. He tried to
sort out what had happened... something about that one warrior had
set off the insanity that he thought he had learned to control.
*Violle, Guimel, Migel, Gatti... NO.* He sat upright. They were
dead. They were gone. He had to collect his thoughts. He had to
focus. Zaibach, guymelefs, war. He stood. *I had a psychotic
episode while trying to raid an outpost. That's all. I'll get past
it. Whoever that was, I'll just kill him.* He turned his attention
to the damaged Teiring behind him. *He messed it up. No more left
crima claws at all. Good thing he didn't hit the tanks for internal
propellant liquid metal.* Now, what to do about it? Well, he could
not do much without going back to Zaibach. He was not going back to
Zaibach yet. All he could hope was to get some use out of the left
arm by putting the short sword into it. Or... waiiiit, there /was/
something he could do! The power routed to the left crima claws from
the energist- he could re-route it to the right side! That meant...
he grinned evilly. Double power on the right. Enough power to
superheat. *My flame-thrower!* He gathered his tools and went to
work.
(Fanelia, Two days after Dilandau's Raid)
Allen Schezar awoke with a dreadful premonition. He knew that
something awful was going to happen. Today was the day when
Daedalus's military would be giving a demonstration. It had seemed a
small concession, but now he saw the tension it was creating. He
wished Van had taken a firmer stand against those who wanted the
summit to fail. Diplomats watched accuracy demonstrations by archers
and archer melefs, sword fighting demonstrations, spear fighting
demonstrations, and a show of the Gigas class guymelef. Eugen
eventually decided that he had proven Daedalus's strength, and
everyone went back inside. Allen still had the bad feeling.
When they returned to the peace talks, Pharaoh Seith was the first to
speak. He wore a bitter and angry expression. "Van, I received some
unpleasant news from my homeland. While you were leading us in a
game of tail chasing and rhetoric, people back in my homeland have
taken real action. It was the Assassins' guild. They took an Ispano
guymelef from me and a valuable piece of technology. Also, my Sasha
is still comatose."
The group murmured. Seith went on. "Look, Van, I want peace too,
but we're hear doing nothing while the world around us comes crashing
down. If we really cared about our countries, would we be here?" A
chorus of agreements followed.
Van tried to respond. "Seith, I'm sorry about what happened, but
we've got to keep the peace. Have you all forgotten the horrors of
war, only two years after Gaea's greatest war ever?"
Eugen chimed in. "We are not afraid to face those horrors, for the
glory of our nations. If you are, Van Fanel, I suspect it is because
you know that Fanelia is weak."
Now it was Adelphos's turn. "You know that another war would mean
the end for Fanelia. You brought us here out of self interest in a
shrewd political ploy to stave off the inevitable for your pathetic
country."
"Fanelia has Escaflowne!" Van was insulted and angry.
"Nevertheless."
Allen realized, Van had been thrown off. By defending himself,
rather than trying to keep order, he had turned this into Fanelia's
summit. No country could feel justified in being brought together
with its enemies for another, smaller nation's good. Things were
beginning to collapse. Soon the diplomats were at each others'
proverbial throats.
"We'll destroy you if it comes to an all-out fight, do not threaten
me!"
"Ezgaldia is /not/ backward and we have a great army."
"Asturia is not a country you can bully, Straul!"
Even Sid, Van and Eries were forced to try only to defend
themselves. Lines of alliance were formed and broken, and one slap
fight broke out between Straul and Ruth. By the day's end, Allen
knew it was over.
The politicians walked back to their quarters. It was probable that
they would never meet again. As Allen headed for Kanaphra's rooms, a
strange person accosted him. It was a bat, a beastman, on one
crutch. Allen recognized him from the Daedalusian demonstration team,
though he had been sidelined. "Allen Schezar, I presume? I am most
honored to meet you."
Allen was taken aback. He did not expect friendliness from a
Daedalusian, they were all militarists. Nor did he expect good looks
from a bat. "Ah... yes. My name is Allen. What can I do for you?"
"Probably nothing, I'm afraid. But, maybe a lot. She seemed to get
uncomfortable when I mentioned you, after she mentioned Sherezade..."
"She? Who is she?"
"A girl I met on the Asturian border, the first girl ever to like
me. Her name was Serena."
Van was distraught. *Hitomi, I failed you ...war will return. Oh,
why?* General Sorum walked up to him, to console and seek decisions.
"I know it must be difficult, Van-sama."
"Why do they want war? Seith, Eugen, Adelphos... I trusted Seith!
Who could be behind this, who on Gaea would want war?"
"I do not know, Van sama."
"I feel I have failed in such a great way... I can't stand the
culpability. Hitomi hated war. I hate war."
"War is a fact of life, Van-sama."
"No! I have been in war, seen it, felt it, smelled it, drunk of its
bloody vitriol. I have had war in me filling me up from my feet up
to my soul. Sorum, I HATE WAR."
Sorum bowed his head. "Yes, Van-sama. I hate war too. We all hate
war. But it is coming. We tried to stop it and could not. Now we
must prepare."
Van sighed so, so deeply as he tried to accept that. *If Hitomi had
been here... where are you Hitomi? Merle? Millerna?* In a shaky
voice, he discussed plans with Sorum and the other Generals. "We've
been exporting a lot of food, maybe we can afford a few more
guymelefs. All we have now is six warrior types, three industrial
farm tractor types, and the random hope that a dragon may attack an
invader."
"Yes. However, there is Escaflowne."
"No. No, I am not ready to re awaken the God of War yet. To do that
would be to give up in the greatest way possible. War is not here
yet! In fact, War will not come for quite some time now. I am sure
that many more things will happen before it does."
"Van-sama, please listen to reason. We must show a deterring force
now. Besides, you may need it when you go to try to rescue Merle and
Millerna from Asturia."
He sighed, considering that. "Generals, leave me. I will help plan
tomorrow."
They obeyed and left him alone. He rose and walked towards his
chambers, the sadness and pain of war weighing on him. He heard
conversation as he passed Basram's chambers. "......is that we do
not know where a weak point to invade through is. The old plan was
to attack Asturia by sea. However, the port is now run using
industrial guymelefs. There is no data on how good they are in
combat."
"I see. You don't know the power of the dockside."
They were making war plans. Van did not care. He walked on. Next
he passed Freid's chambers, and heard emotional voices from inside.
He stopped.
Sid was speaking to his advisor, repressing tears. "Kaja, I'll lead
us into war to defend out nation... just like father did. Let's call
the Ispano, we'll fix Chafaris. I'll learn to pilot it and I'll
protect us."
Something about that touched Van's soul. A ten-year-old boy was
willing to heroically defend his country from war, when his father
had sacrificed his life to do so. It was so tragically courageous.
Sid was afraid, but he would do it anyway. A nerve in Van snapped.
Old words from Valgus returned: "Break away from the sadness of war
with your bloody hands, Van-sama!" His mind jumped to the fire-
dragon's energist from his first hunt. He had kept in a vault, since
he put Escaflowne to sleep.
The politician King Van of Fanelia went away, and the warrior Van
Fanel returned. His red eyes burned with fury and power. A tear
rolled down his cheek for Sid. He sprinted back the way he came.
Chapter 17 (Culture Shock)
-By Kim Kondratieff
Allen Schezar stood shock-still for a moment at hearing the
bat's words. How can he�? Another thought replaced that
instantly. He
doesn't know Serena is Dilandau. The swordsman racked his brain
for
the beastman's name. Ser. It's Ser Murucielago.
Allen struggled to maintain composure as he looked down at
the batman from his considerably greater height. "Ser
Murucielago,
correct?" A nod. "Ser�" Allen sighed. "Serena is my
sister�and she is
also Dilandau."
The batman's jaw dropped, his eyes going rounder. "How? How
can that be?" Momentary guilt for having stabbed Dilandau's
guymelef
during the border skirmish flooded Ser. If I've hurt
him�her�ack! If
I've hurt her, I'll never forgive myself� Dilandau's
sudden
strangeness during the fight also became painfully clear. I drove him
off, because he is�was�IS Serena and he knew me and� The
irony of it
all was agonizingly evident.
Allen watched the batman struggle with his feelings much in
the same way Allen had when the realization his hated enemy Dilandau
Albatou and his beloved sister Serena were the same person. After a
moment, Ser seemed to regain temporary composure and Allen began to
tell the other of how Serena came to be Dilandau....
~*~*~
Van hugged the precious energist close to his chest as he
raced towards the grove where Escaflowne lay dormant. Branches
whipped across his face and clawed at his clothing as he stumbled,
half-blinded by tears, to the foot of the great white guymelef.
Swiftly, the young king scaled the face of his guymelef to stand by
the great crystal, which awaited an energist. Oh, Escaflowne,
it's
been two years�please, please be the same�
Van drew a dagger from a belt-sheath and sliced the palm of
his hand open, dribbling blood across the energist, then shoving it
into the crystal, which rose up almost gleefully to surround his
hand. Unbeknownst to Van, in his grief-blinded, half-mad state, the
energist he had taken was NOT the one he had removed from Escaflowne
two years previous, but the green energist his mother had given him.
Now, sometimes, magic can use loopholes as sneakily as a lawyer, and
since the energist was one taken from a dead dragon�or Dragon in
this
case��
Escaflowne came to life, and Van never noticed his mistake�
never even had time, because as he clutched Hitomi's pendant to
his
chest, he began to wish�and the glow of the two energists
outshone
the sun as once again, the Absolute Fortunate Zone fell upon Gaea.
Oh, Hitomi, Hitomi! Why can we not be together and END this war?
And a great column of light descended on Van.
~*~*~
In that very instant, every thinking being on Gaea was
granted its heart's deepest desire. War erupted, igniting nations
like wildfire as they began to clash and fight with one another along
all the borderlands of Fanelia.
Through chance-or fate- Garufo Darth, Anthony, and the Black
Hammer all bumped into each other as the former were preparing to
leave Asturia for Kanaphra.
Somewhere deep in the heart of what once was Zaibach, a
former Zaibachi clerk discovered a miscalculation that, when
corrected, put enough money in the secret Zaibachi treasuries to fund
the repair of the Heart of Darkness. Excited, the clerk began to
write a letter to the head of the Assassin's Guild.
Terra, in a moment of her guards' inattention, managed to
escape them. She ran blindly away, looking for some sort of safety. A
Heavenly Knight, one Cassius, had decided that morning to take a walk
along the waterfront. Terra crashed into him and suddenly spilled out
her entire story to him. Momentarily surprised, Cassius reacted on
instinct when the two mercenary bounty hunters came pounding after
Terra, pell-mell. He drew his sword and slew them both.
Owen abruptly found himself caught in a column of bright
light. Eh? He thought as the column swept him up, then he had no more
time for thoughts. The last thing he saw was Allen Borealis'
shocked
face, and then the light blinded him.
Dilandau nearly overloaded the energist in his Teiring as he
flew the guymelef at top speed towards Fanelia. Something was pulling
him there, but he had no idea what. His frustration grew dangerously
as he tried to discover the cause of the nameless pull. So blinded
was he by it, he didn't notice the way the Teiring began
faltering in
flight�and then it was too late; he was already headed straight
towards the stunned Allen Schezar and Ser in an uncontrolled dive he
couldn't pull out of. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Allen and Ser, for their part, reacted swiftly when the saw
the Zaibachi guymelef about to smash them into nonexistence. Both
turned and ran�or flew, in Ser's case, since he could not
run� as
fast as they could in the opposite direction of the crashing guymelef.
Through a twist of fate, Dilandau managed to get enough power
to reverse the Teiring's thrust, hard. His uncontrolled dive
turned
into a slightly more controlled crash�and as soon as he was down,
he
spotted Ser and Allen. And then he started feeling funny.
Ser landed, wincing, next to Allen as both turned to watch
the Teiring's pilot emerge from the cockpit of the downed
guymelef. "Serena!" both shouted, and immediately reversed
their
decision to retreat. Moments later, Allen was holding a crying Serena
in his arms, while Ser watched, half-jealous. In that instant, a
column of light enveloped the three of them and dragged them all off,
skyward.
~*~*~
Allen Borealis blinked in utmost confusion, staring at the
spot where Owen had so recently lain. A big column of light?! It
seemed so improbable. He shrugged, not happy to have to disturb Merle
and Manus' family moment, but they did need to know of this most
recent development. Turning on one foot, the rose-eyed man strode
downstairs.
"Merle? Manus?" he called out, trying to get their attention.
Manus
looked up from his armful of hiccuping Merle, his blue eyes piercing.
"Yes?" the catman asked of Allen, seeming unperturbed by the
interruption.
Allen took a deep breath, knowing this would sound strange. "Owen
just disappeared in a big blue column of light."
Merle's ears went forward and the catgirl hiccuped once more
before pulling her face from her father's chest fur and looking
at
Allen, round-eyed. She blinked once or twice, then opened her mouth
as if to speak, when a rapid pounding on the door caused the three to
turn their heads. "Come in!" Allen called.
The innkeeper's boy burst in, panting. "War!" he gasped
out. "You'd better run; they're coming to round up the
foreigners!"
Two blue sets of eyes and one rose one stared at the boy with
differing levels of astonishment, disbelief, and shock. Allen was the
first to break his gaze, grabbing Manus and Merle's wrists, his
strength making him unresistable. "Come on, we can take the back
way!"
"Back way?" Merle asked, befuddled, "There's no back
way�"
"I'll MAKE one! Come on!"
~*~*~
It seemed like an eternity of light for the five travelers.
Brightness spun then about and carried them toward Earth swifter than
thought. Forever and a few seconds after they left Gaea, the column
of light deposited them in the middle of Los Angles, California,
Earth. Right in the middle of Interstate 5. During rush hour.
Horns blared and the one-finger salute was given to the five
as hardened LA commuters swerved through the lanes to avoid them. All
reacted instinctively; Owen stared in shock for a moment, then ran
through three lanes of traffic to stand on the left-hand shoulder,
barely missing becoming road-pizza and searching frantically for a
call-box.
Van and Allen drew their swords, dropping into a fighting
stance and standing side-by-side against the oncoming traffic. Serena
screamed fearfully, clinging to an equally frightened and trembling
Ser.
And, as is normal when their commute is interrupted by
anything, the commuters continued honking, swerving, and flipping the
finger. One of the flippers got too close to Allen when he did
so�and
abruptly his hand was lying on the road, middle finger still
extended. The injured driver screamed, his car swerving across all
the lanes of traffic before crashing into the center divide. Cars
began to slow down as their drivers stopped to get a look at the
crash. Pretty soon, 5 looked like a parking lot.
Owen ran back across all the lanes of traffic,
shouting. "Come ON! We need to get out of here!" In his haste, he had
forgotten to speak in Japanese. The blank looks Allen and Van gave
him immediately informed him of his mistake. Owen repeated himself in
Japanese, his urgency forcing the words to the forefront of his mind,
instead of the opposite.
Van took the initiative, weaving his way through the traffic
with Owen and the other three Gaeans following. Owen's body was on
autopilot as he planned feverishly, completely oblivious to the
shouting, honking drivers. Disguises. We need disguises. Especially
for the bat�where are we going to get the money? I used mine for
tinder when I thought I'd never get off Gaea� Well, now he WAS
off
Gaea, and he desperately needed money. Magic tricks�I know a
little
slight of hand, maybe with that and a little REAL magic I can get a
bit of change or something�it's probably too much to count on one
of
the others to have some sort of skill to get us money�
Allen question of "Where next?" woke Owen from his thoughts.
Owen shook his head, setting his plans aside for later. Let's get out
of here, first. Before the cops show up� it felt criminal to Owen
to
think that, for some reason. "That way," Owen said, point towards a
nearby off-ramp. I don't think I could explain a pair of medieval
Japanese-speaking swordsmen and a bat to the police�besides, how
could I explain my travelling with them, when I don't even know their
names?
"Um," said Owen, feeling even more like an idiot as the
bizarre party trooped down the right shoulder of the off ramp. "I
don't think any of us have been introduced�what ARE your names?"
A round of introductions ensued, ending up with Owen learning
that he was in the presence of three participants in the major war on
Gaea of two years ago, and also of Serena's little "problem." By that
time, the five were hopelessly lost somewhere in downtown LA. "She
WHAT?!" Owen had shouted at Allen.
The blond swordsman at looked at Owen quizzically, as if the
would-be magician had questioned the weather. Owen heaved a heartfelt
sigh. "Look, Allen, I know that people like your sister and Ser are,
well�used to, on Gaea, but here on Earth, EVERYONE'S human. No
beast-
people, no�people like your sister. None." Not entirely the
truth,
considering some of the people who lived in LA, but close enough.
Ser's look of abject misery at the stares he was receiving
from those who passed the group of Gaeans by brought Owen back to the
subject of getting disguises. "Anyway, we need disguises. And we
don't have any money."
Allen, too, noticed the stares Ser was getting, and when the
swordsman next had a chance, he took off his heavy, blue coat and
offered it to Ser. The batman took the too-long coat graciously,
draping it over his head so that it hid his ears, face and wings, the
sleeves falling over his hands to hide them. Strange looking, but a
lot less so than Ser himself.
"Will this do, for money?" the batman offered after he had
gotten the coat settled comfortably around him. He had a handful of
Daedalusian silver coins in his hand.
Owen stared at the coins for a moment. The group had come to
a dead stop, not really noticing that this wasn't the best of
neighborhoods to be flashing a small fortune in silver coins. "It
could�are those solid silver?"
Ser looked puzzled. "Why wouldn't they be?" Obviously, Gaeans
hadn't thought of plating metals of lesser value with those of
greater in making their coins. At least, they hadn't wherever Ser
came from.
Owen nodded in satisfaction. Here were his disguises. "Yes,
then those will do." He took the coins, not noticing the looks of the
street people who saw the brief exchange.
"Pawn shop, pawn shop�" Owen muttered to himself. "Ah! Pawn
shop!" One loomed right above them, the neon "Open" sign on the door
flickering uncertainly, as if it wasn't sure whether it wanted to be
on or not.
"Stay here," Owen said absently, starting towards the pawn
shop. Allen and Van both had their hands on the hilts of their
blades, realizing the danger that Owen was unconsciously putting them
all in. Or maybe they weren't truly in danger; this was unfamiliar
turf for the swordsman and the young king. But their instincts told
them that the looks the gathering street people were giving them were
not simple curiosity.
Ser, too, seemed worried by this development, staring out
from under his improvised hood, a slight frown on his face. Serena
seemed oblivious to it all, watching a gum wrapper skid across the
ground with interest in her eyes. She reached out the catch the shiny
piece of paper as it skittered across the toes of her boots�and a
pale, unfamiliar hand caught hers.
Surprised, she looked up at the stranger holding her wrist.
He was a middle-aged white man, unremarkable except for the fact he
wore a custom-tailored business suit in what was obviously a bad
neighborhood. Serena wasn't aware of the differences; as far as she
was concerned, the rags of the street people and the man's dark suit
could have come from the same tailor.
Serena tried to get her wrist away from the man, more
interested in the windblown gum wrapper than anything this man could
offer her. He tightened his grip, smiling like a shark that knows it
just caught its next meal napping. "Hey, little lady, why don't you
come to my place�I can give you plenty of pretty shinies to play
with�" he said in a soft, dangerous tenor voice.
Serena couldn't understand the words, but an old instinct
caught the danger in it. She tugged on her wrist harder, the man's
manner unnerving her. "Please, sir, let me go�" she said
plaintively
in Common.
The man cocked his head to one side, listening, then flashed
his shark-smile again. "Oh, so you want to go with your friends?" he
asked, also in Japanese, motioning to Allen, Van, and Ser who had
drifted a little away from Serena and the man accosting her.
Surprised this man knew Common, Serena stuttered a
little. "Yes, please, sir�"
The man didn't let her go. Instead, he took her chin gently
in his other hand and tilted her face up so that she was forced to
look directly into his eyes. "Funny, you don't look Asian�and
such
lovely blue eyes, too�"
Serena had had enough of this man, and his touching her made
her feel funny, in a bad way. "Let me GO!" she shouted, tugging hard
on her wrist and trying to kick the man at the same time. Thoughts of
blood and death started filling her mind.
The man's smooth manner disappeared. "I don't THINK so, you
little�what?! Your eyes are changing color!"
Dilandau brought his other hand around, punching the man in
the face. "Get your hands OFF of me, you lecherous bastard!"
The man brought a hand to his bleeding nose, his eyes going
wide as he realized the innocent little girl he had been trying to
kidnap had turned into a wild-eyed young man who looked as if he was
about to kill the pedophile.
Allen, Van, and Ser looked up at the shout, recognizing
Dilandau's voice. "Dilandau!" Allen shouted, drawing his sword as he
ran to his sister's side. Van and Ser weren't far behind.
Dilandau whirled around, seeing his old enemies running at
him, Allen with his sword drawn. Convinced he was dead if he stood
where he was, Dilandau whirled around and ran off, screaming. "Get
the hell away from me!"
"Dilandau, no!" Allen shouted, echoed by Ser. Both ran after
the fleeing madman, Van in tow. The pedophile, confused and hurt,
moved off at a brisk pace.
Owen, completely oblivious to the madness outside, walked out
of the pawn shop with a fistful of twenty dollar bills. "Hey,
everyone�where did you all go?!"
He caught a last, fleeting glimpse of Van disappearing down
the street and ran after him, shouting. "Hey, wait up!"
~*~*~
Dilandau's breath rasped harshly in his throat as he threw a
frantic glance back over his shoulder. Allen was still behind him,
but not too close. Damn! I can't keep running forever�where to
hide?
The silver-haired madman threw glances to his left and right.
Nothing presented itself�but wait! There, to the right, an alley!
Dilandau put on an extra burst of speed and dove down the alley,
startling a little old bag lady into running out into the street.
Dilandau stood at the opening of the dark alley, panting and
squinting at the blackness before him. Got to hide, got to hide�
there! He dove behind a Dumpster, treading on something that squished
underneath his boots. Crouching in the fetid darkness, Dilandau
looked about his place of tenuous safety. Disgusting�but it will
do.
Footsteps from the alley alerted Dilandau that his pursuers
were close. He held his breath, then let it out, taking another.
Silent. Be silent!
"Dilandau?" someone called. Then, "Serena? Are you there?" It
was Allen.
Dilandau felt the familiar fog of being Serena closing around
his mind. No! I'm not going to give in this time! He didn't realize
he had shouted his thought aloud until another voice spoke. "He's
there! Behind that!" That voice! It was tantalizingly familiar, but
to recognize, Dilandau would need to give in to being Serena. I. Am.
Not. Giving. UP!
"Shi-NE!" Dilandau shouted, leaping out of hiding and bowling
a surprised Ser over. The bat! Him! He beat me! With an inarticulate
shout of rage, Dilandau grabbed Ser by the throat and began shaking
the lighter batman violently. "Die, you slimy winged RAT!"
Choking, Ser clawed at Dilandau's hands, trying to
speak. "Dilandau�Serena! Remember�me! I'm�SER!"
Serena dropped Ser, falling to her knees and sobbing. I hurt
Ser! I hurt him! I was going to kill him! What kind of monster am I?
Ser was confused, but it didn't stop him from trying to
comfort the crying Serena. "Shh, Serena, I'm okay�see, you didn't
hurt me!" Badly, Ser added to himself, knowing he wouldn't be able to
talk in a few days. I think she's going to continue killing me by
pieces if we don't stop this!
Allen and Van watched with bemusement, Allen's tempered by a
slight amount of jealousy. She listened to him, someone she barely
knows, but wouldn't listen to me, her BROTHER. No matter, Serena was
back, and she needed comforting. Allen's instincts as her brother
overwhelmed his jealousy.
Owen huffed up behind them, dragging his right foot slightly.
He had been tripped by the bag lady who ran out into the street, and
he was mortally certain that not only was his ankle sprained, the
woman had taken one of his twenty dollar bills. "What�happened?"
he
asked from behind Van, still panting. Allen was kneeling beside his
sister, talking to her softly and trying to get her to calm down.
Van turned around to look at Owen, slightly contemptuous and
maybe a little angry with Owen for having gotten them into this
situation. "Something caused Serena to revert to Dilandau back there.
She nearly killed Ser before she changed back."
Powers above and below! Owen swore. What ARE we going to do
with her?
Get disguises FIRST, the voice of reason within Owen
suggested. Then try and find somewhere to stay.
~*~*~
Not much more than three hours after the incident in the
alley, Owen and the Gaeans had their disguises and were slowly making
their way down the street. Owen, having received a scathing chewing
out from both Allen and Van for his carelessness, was playing
lookout, watching for anyone suspicious lurking about in the shadows.
Allen was carrying the rest of the money, on the basis that he would
be the most capable of catching a pickpocket in the act than Owen.
"We need to have a place to stay," Owen had told the others.
Van had shook his head angrily.
"We need to find Hitomi, first. She can get us back to Gaea,
and she's fluent in Common," the young king had said heatedly. Owen
was convinced Van just wanted to be contradictory. As they argued,
Allen could tell that there was little love lost between the two, and
now, more than ever, he needed to set aside his own grudges against
Van and play mediator.
"Van is right, Owen. It is more important that we find Hitomi
than find somewhere to stay. Besides, why waste our hard-won money on
some place to live in if we will only be on Earth for a night, at the
most?" Allen had tried to be as calm and controlled as he could,
soothing the hurt feelings and anger of both Van and Owen.
Owen had sighed, seeing the odds were stacked against
him. "Okay, then, if this Hitomi was the one I saw in the column of
light on Gaea, then she's hurt. Badly. She must be in a hospital, and
probably one around here."
"Can you lead us to this "hospital", then?" Van had asked,
still angry, even more so now that Allen had interfered. Again.
Owen had heaved another sigh, "Yes. Let me go find a
phonebook�"
That had taken place an hour ago. Now, night was falling, and
the five were still trudging towards the nearest hospital. Owen
looked up and stopped the others. "We're here. Let me do the
talking�"
All five went inside. While Owen went to the reception desk,
the others milled about the lobby.
"Um, hello�?" Owen asked the reception nurse. She looked up
at him and smiled tiredly. Must have been a long day, Owen thought.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asked.
"Um, yes�have you admitted one Hitomi Kanzaki in the past few
days?" Owen asked nervously, fidgeting.
The nurse looked down at her computer and began typing. "Can
you spell the last name?"
Owen obliged. "K-a-n-z-a�"
The nurse cut him off. "Yes, we have. Gunshot wound to the
leg."
Owen flinched; even hearing about others being wounded was
enough to make him do that. "Is she okay?" he asked worriedly.
"She's fine. Are you a relative?"
"Uh, yes," Owen lied. "I haven't seen my, uh, niece in ages!"
The nurse looked up at Owen again, a frown tugging at the
corners of her mouth and her brow furrowed. "Visiting hours are
almost over. You'll have to hurry." The nurse pointed. "Just down
that hallway, first room on the left."
Owen thanked the nurse and walked briskly back to confer with
the Gaeans. "Come on, we don't have all that much time�"
The five followed the nurse's directions dutifully, arriving
at Hitomi's room shortly. Owen poked his head in first. "She's
asleep, I think�" But the noise awoke the dozing Hitomi.
Looking up, she could see two very familiar faces behind the
unfamiliar Owen. "Van? Allen?" she called out, barely daring to hope.
"Hitomi?" Van asked, his voice catching. The young king
shouldered by Owen and ran to Hitomi's side, reaching down to catch
her in a tight embrace.
"Van, I thought I would never see you again�" Hitomi
whispered.
Van looked grim. "And I you, Hitomi�but there's war on Gaea
again�and nothing to stop Basram from using their energist
bombs�"
Hitomi paled. "Oh�no�"
Again, these files are agailable at:
http://kuskus.org/ibun/project/lt/
Anyone that submits a chapter has to keep in mind that I'll butcher
it for re-editing ^.^;; Please submit to Robert Geiger at [
[email protected] ].
- Kus Kus
http://kuskus.org/