Missing Something
Chapter 2 -- Pale Eyes Watching
By SlayerLove
SL: Yay, another chapter! I know that last chapter seemed fairly standard, with no plot elements you haven't already seen before. Now that the story's ball is rolling, so to speak, here comes the original stuff! I don't own Escaflowne, by the way. Enjoy!
Later that day, Dilandau was torn between fuming and despairing. He had sent the Dragon Slayers out to search everywhere he could think of on the Vione, and had been checking places all over the flying fortress himself all day, and still no sign of Gatti. What, did he abandon the military and run off with some other ex-soldier? The albino captain thought, gritting his teeth. As much as their last conversation had hurt, the thought of Gatti leaving him for someone else hurt worse...but with their relationship in tatters, what reason did the blonde really have to stay? What the hell am I supposed to do? Dilandau wondered, frowning at the ranks of Dragon Slayers whom had assembled in his throne room, their latest search proving as fruitless as the ones before.
"Where haven't we checked?" He asked at last; his voice seemed overly loud, with the solemn silence in the room. The Dragon Slayers glanced at one another uncertainly, before Shesta finally stepped forward.
"We...haven't checked the Guymelef bays yet, Sir," the blonde boy admitted softly. "I did check with the people on the bridge, though--no 'melefs, Alseides or otherwise, have left the bays since the day before yesterday. Because he couldn't have possibly left that way, we didn't check them in favor of more likely places." Dilandau frowned; the Guymelefs that had been deployed from the bays the day before yesterday had been him and the Dragon Slayers, out for a pre-sunrise training session. Gatti had been so sweet that day...Dilandau's heart still did a little flop-flip at the way the blonde had smiled at him before they had both climbed into their Alseides. Had that smile been pretend? Had he misinterpreted the emotion he thought he saw there? Love should have an off switch, the albino thought, feeling a little throb in his chest at the unhappy thoughts.
"We'll check in the Guymelef bays, then--there are only so many places he could be on this ship," he forced steel into his voice, trying to conceal his inner worries behind an angry tone. The Dragon Slayers, for all the strength he always showed them, must have known that something was wrong--if one of them had gone missing, he was be mad as hell, not searching frantically for them. Well, alright...he would search frantically for them then be mad as hell at them. But they didn't know that, since no Dragon Slayer had really ever gone missing before.
Saluting, the small army heeded the 'we' he had said and waited for him to head for the door before following. He did so, sweatdropping a little as he realized it must have looked ridiculous to have so many of them trailing behind him. He turned abruptly, and some of the boys behind him had to lean backward so as to avoid a collision.
"Dalet, Shesta, Guimel, Migel and Viole, come with me," he frowned, "Everyone else, go check the places we've already checked again." With much saluting and a chorus of 'Yes, Sir!'s, the Dragon Slayers behind them scattered in all direction. The five boys he had named followed him out the door and down the hallway. Dilandau said nothing during the walk to the bays. This is the last stone left unturned, he kept reminding himself. If he's not in the bays, we've checked everywhere, and...he could be gone for good. He refused to let himself think about that possibility anymore--at least, not in the presence of other people, because surely it would show on his face. He had to be prepared for the possibility, though...
When they reached the bays, the hallway seemed too still. Glancing up and down the insanely long path, Dilandau realized that the place was deserted. That's not right...the bays are always bustling! What the hell is going on? Is everybody going missing?
A low rumbling sound echoed off of the walls, shattering the thick silence. Instantly wary, Dilandau placed a hand on the hilt of his katana, crimson eyes narrowing. It came from the bays...I'm sure it did. More rumbling noises and blowing came, loud breathing, now quite obviously eminating from the enormous nearby door leading into the bays. Abruptly, a 'whumph' echoed off of the bays' door--something was bumping into it. Something large.
The Dragon Slayers all glanced either at their captain or at the door. They were silent, but it was easy to tell from their expressions that they were waiting for him to tell them what to do. Frowning, Dilandau held up one gloved hand to signal that they hang back for a moment. He crept up to the door, himself, wishing that there was some way to see inside without opening it fully. I shouldn't open it, really, he thought, frustrated. It could be something that will get loose on the ship and cause a lot of trouble. It could even be a dragon! He hadn't thought of that. Perhaps one of the many external bay doors had been left open, and a dragon had flown inside. Now that he had some identity to relate to the creature, it didn't seem nearly as intimidating to open the door and see what it looked like--his unit was called the Dragon Slayers for a reason, after all. They could handle any of the reptilian beasts, he was sure.
On that note of certainty, he punched the open code into the large bays' door and watched cautiously as it slid open, hydraulics hissing as if in warning. Another rumble came from the room's inhabitant, and before Dilandau quite perceived what it was, he knew at least that something enormous was turning toward the door. It lurked behind one of the Alseides units that hung there in the hangar, a strange and massive creature with bumpy blackish green skin. What the hell...? The albino's eyes widened--this was no dragon. It wasn't anything he'd ever seen before, either.
The thing was almost humanoid in shape, with two powerfully-built arms and five thick fingers on each immense hand. It was slightly larger than the Alseides beside it, and seemed strangely similar in body shape; its head was relatively small compared to its body, sunken down on a nearly non-existant neck between two hugely overbuilt shoulders that rippled with muscles beneath the dark, pebbly skin. Its feet were enormous, as well, with five clawed toes protruding from them, long legs that got thinner near the top, and a slender waist framed on either end by muscular thighs and a broad chest to match the huge shoulders. Tiny, beady green eyes with slitted pupils were set into its undersized head, and below them a jagged slit opened there, crooked teeth poking out as it made a loud rumbling growl.
Turning, the creature matched eyes with Dilandau, who was for the briefest moment too startled to respond. It's a monster! There's nothing like this thing on Gaea--where did it come from? Are the halls outside and the bays all empty because it ate everybody? A brief little pause. ...Should we kill it? Before he could decide on that, though, the creature made a deafening sound like a roar and started towards him. With such long legs, it moved crazily fast--Dilandau barely had time to dart out of the bay and into the hall before it was where he had been standing. Loud, whiffling breaths came, and the Dragon Slayers wisely retreated further down the hall along with their captain when an enormous clawed hand reached out into the hall and scrabbled around. It's too big to get out, Dilandau realized, still a bit stunned.
"Dilandau-sama?" The albino was tugged away from his observations by Shesta's soft voice. The blonde's big blue eyes were full of concern, as he peered up at his captain and asked again, "Are you okay? It didn't hurt you, did it?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Dilandau answered with a frown, not taking his eyes off of the clawed hand that had ceased to search the hall. A low, mournful cry echoed down the hall, and the hand withdrew. This isn't my problem, dammit... Turning, he told the Dragon Slayers shortly, "Stay here and watch it--do not get close to it." With that, he started off down the hallway at a brisk pace.
"Dilandau-sama!" He recognized the voice as Migel's. "Where are you going, Sir?"
Without turning around, he picked up his pace. "To talk to the Strategos--I'm going to find out what the hell is going on around here!"
"Folken!" Dilandau growled, pounding on the door to the man's study. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you now, dammit--it's important!"
"Come in, by all means," the Strategos' low voice drifted to his ears. Not needing further encouragement, the albino practically tore the door down, rushing inside and slamming it behind him. Immediately, he shivered--it was cold in there, very cold. He wouldn't have put it past Folken, knowing of the Vione's energy management problems, to turn down the thermostat of his office ten degrees or so.
"Folken, do you have any idea what's inside our Guymelef bays!"
Raising an eyebrow, Folken answered calmly, "Guymelefs would be a good presumption."
"Besides those!" Dilandau scowled. Not waiting for an answer, he elaborated, "There's a monster in there, some huge blackish thing. It tried to get me when I opened the door, but it couldn't fit through into the hallway! Why is it there?"
"...I wasn't aware of its presence until you informed me," the Strategos blinked, maroon eyes focused on the paper he had apparently been reading through when Dilandau had arrived. "Are you sure that it isn't some animal, a dragon or other flying creature, that could have somehow gotten in?"
"Do you think that I, captain of the Dragon Slayers, would be unable to recognize a damned dragon? This thing is unnatural--it's humanoid," Dilandau gritted his teeth, slapping both palms down on the desk and setting several of Folken's inkwells to jumping half an inch. "If you don't know about it, who put it there! Can we get in our Guymelefs and kill it? You're in charge of the damned ship, you must know something!"
"I'm afraid not," Folken glanced upward and shot him a meaningful look; why, Dilandau wasn't sure. The younger of the two clenched his teeth to keep them from chattering--why was it so cold in there? "Seeing as I have no idea why or how it is there, for the moment I must insist that you do not attempt to kill it. I'll get the Madoushi on the job," he didn't seem to notice how the captain stiffened at mention of Zaibach's sorcerers as he added pointedly, "Unnatural creatures seem to be prevelent in their work, so they would know how best to deal with it. Stay away from the bays and continue your search for Leiutenant Commander Gatti elsewhere until it is dealt with."
Oh, so that's how things are going to be, are they? 'This's a problem for the adults, Dilandau, so run along and play somewhere safer'? Like hell! Orders or no orders, I'm going right back down to those bays, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this whole mess! Determined as he was, he knew that disagreeing with Folken would only get him in trouble--and, perhaps, result in him being watched more closely than usual. He couldn't have that if he wanted to get down to the bays again--what if Gatti had been in there, and this big monster had hurt him, or was keeping him trapped somewhere? I won't allow that! He's my Dragon Slayer, and I say that he should be with the rest of the unit!
With these thoughts going through his head, it was fairly easy for him to look adequately frustrated as he asked Folken through gritted teeth, "And what if Gatti's in the bays?" I would never usually accept such an order so easily--I can't make it look like I'm agreeing wholeheartedly or anything, or he might get suspicious.
"If he is, I am sure that he has enough sense to get inside one of the Guymelefs or hide in some nook where it can't reach him," Folken answered coolly, evidently unconcerned with the youth's angry state--Dilandau was angry an awful lot, so he supposed that people were used to it, but it was a tad frustrating that people were beginning to stop taking his feelings of frustration seriously. Didn't they know that he had reasons for being angry? Likely, they couldn't give a damn. With a tired little sigh, Folken allowed, "I'll have the Madoushi check into the whole creature business promptly--once it has been removed, you may look for Gatti in the bays. Until then, search elsewhere."
"Fine," Dilandau hissed, doing his best to look horribly frustrated over the Strategos saying exactly what he'd wanted to hear. Without another word, he turned and stomped out the door, slamming it behind him. Dammit...we dont know why it's there, Folken doesn't know why it's there, and now the Madoushi are going to be mixed up in it too? We've searched the whole ship--Gatti has to be in the bays if he's still onboard at all. If he's in there, I have to find him...I have to get to him before it hurts him! He hurried back toward the bays--now, the argument they'd had seemed silly and small. Now the only thing that mattered was getting Gatti back alive and unharmed.
As soon as the door slammed shut, Folken sighed, resting his forehead on one palm. From the shadows in the room, the head Madoushi, Talize, seemed to glide rather than walk. He paused beside Folken's desk.
"Wonderful performance, Strategos," he murmured in monotone, pale teal eyes sliding over to regard the green-haired man sidelong. His voice sounded as detached and lifeless as his facial expression--though he was human in form, there was no twinge of humanity in his inflection or mannerisms.
"You of all people should know your own subject," the Strategos answered evenly, not looking up. "I didn't tell him that it was an experiment of yours, but he doesn't need to hear it from me to know."
"We have tested his mind extensively," Talize droned, pale gaze drifting carelessly toward the closed door. "He is not psychic--he cannot know. And, with your order to stay away from the bays, he will not find out."
"Perhaps not," Folken answered, his voice as cold as the air in the room, "Perhaps so. I suggest that you finish with your experiment, Talize--the bays cannot be vacant for you forever."
"Of course." Talize's pale eyes peered at him, an unspoken threat in them--Dilandau was not to be told the truth while Folken thought that the Madoushi weren't watching. "Of course..."
--End Chapter 2
SL: Yatta, Chapter 2 and the plot's a-thickenin':Smiles: I was trying to take a less stereotypical slant by making the Madoushi sort of like Zaibach's mafia--if they want something done, they'll coerce even a high-ranking individual like Folken into doing it. And where is Gatti? Next chapter, you'll find out... Review, pretty please :Snuggly squishy shiny-puppy-eyed chibi look at you: Thanks so much for reading:Heart:
