Bwahahahaha!! I finally got around to typing this chapter! Folken and Dilandau are about to enter the "House of Mirrors" *shudder* I must tell you all now, I have been to this particular "House of Mirrors" It's not your usual two bit HoM, this was a HoM so large, attendants had to be sent through every so often to pick up stragglers. *shudder* the youngest age allowed in is 13, this HoM was a death trap…I should know…But with my horrific childhood memories aside, lets get on with the fic. Enjoy! (Oh and thanks again Harmony for allowing me to be in your fic!)
Folken at the Fair!
Dilandau was enjoying pestering Folken. He could tell he was putting serious ware on the Stratego's nerves and was determined to break through Folken's defenses. "So Folken," Dilandau began pondering yet another bothersome question for Folken "Exactly how old are you?" Folken sighed, just when he thought Dilandau had run out of childish questions or perhaps grown tired of his game, it started again. "I do not see how that is any of your business" Folken answered wearily "That's what you say to all of my questions Stratego, at first anyway, but in the end I always get my answer" Dilandau said with a cocky grin. The only thing that kept Folken from forcefully removing the grin from Dilandau's face was the fact that they had arrived at their destination, The House of Mirrors.
*Author's Note: Here is a quick layout of this particular HoM. There is one door leading in that one person is let in at a time with five minute intervals between each person. You can't see anything else from the front, but there are stairs leading up to an area where you can look down through two way mirror at the hapless people as they wander aimlessly through a giant maze of mirrors. The interior is rather dark (like you need to be any more confused) There are two possible exits to the maze. Basically you wander and try not to despair every time you run into a mirror. *shudder* Anyways, back to the fic!
"Here we are" Folken announced as he got in line. "Hmph, doesn't look so big to me Stratego" Dilandau announced (Fortunately for Folken, Dilandau had forgotten about his game of annoying questions) Folken could only smile as the line slowly progressed. Folken was first to enter the "ride", he could hear Dilandau complaining about how he would have to wait five minutes before following the Stratego. 'Well, I can't say it has been nice knowing you Dilandau, but it will be such a relief to be rid of you' Folken thought as he quickly made his way through the twists and turns of the HoM. How does Folken know where he is going you ask? He happened to have a handy gadget that produced something akin to a bats sonar, allowing him to find his way through the HoM quickly and efficiently. Folken, as usual, knew what he was doing.
Folken made his way of the HoM and walked back around to the front, happy to see that Dilandau had entered the HoM. The ride attendant in front couldn't believe her eyes, 'That is the guy that just entered the ride a few minutes ago, no it can't be…but how many guys where an outfit like that?' She thought thoroughly confused. Folken headed straight towards the stairs that led to the top of the ride, eager to get a view of the action. "That's it Dilandau, run!" said a girl who was looking over the scaffolding's rail. Folken thought that she looked familiar but didn't dwell on the thought as he looked over the rail. He spotted the boy and almost lost his composure when Dilandau ran into one of the mirrors and took a step back, looking a little dazed, before shaking his fist and moving on. 'He doesn't look to happy' Folken thought with a chuckle as the boy groped around blindly. The sound of Folken laughing caused the girl to look towards him. A smile of sheer joy spread across her face. "Folkie!!" the fan girl yelled as she ran towards the Stratego. Folken had enough time to get a good look at the oncoming girl before she glomped him "Charlotte?"
To say that Dilandau wasn't enjoying himself would be an understatement. He was at the moment seething. "Ow! Damn it!!" He yelled as he ran into yet another mirror "If I run into one more mirror I'll…Ow!!" Once again he found himself pulling away from a large wall of glass. 'grr, Folken you will pay for this' Dilandau growled before calling out "Where are you Stratego?" receiving no answer Dilandau had no choice but to move on. Coming to another dead end Dilandau had reached the end of his rope. "Is anyone here?" he cried as he strained to hear an answer. None came. 'It's almost like I am the only one here…heh…like I'm…alone…' the albino thought to himself as he began to backtrack. The oh-so-wily mirrors got the best of Dilandau once again and he sank to the ground. "Where are you? Chesta? Gatti?" Dilandau muttered looking around, he looked up suddenly "Jajuka? JAJUKA!!!"
Somewhere in the fair two girls walked, suddenly the taller of the two stopped. "What's wrong? Is this about the lack of a decent fish scooping game again?" the shorter girl inquired. "No, I thought I heard…Dilly" the tall girl said looking around "Baka! That's what you always say!" the short girl said exasperated "Everywhere we go Diva, It's Dilly this Dilly that! Come on!" she yelled as she grabbed Diva's shirt collar "But…but…Omi! This time I am sure!!" "You say that every time" Omi growled as she continued to pull Diva behind her.
Well that's all, Not great but I hope not too bad either. Now that we have all the players where I want them I can move on with the story. Next time: Will Folken survive his encounter with Charlotte? Will Dilandau escape the HoM? Will Omi humor Diva and let her search for Dilandau? Maybe!! Until next time. Oh and kids, if you take the time to read this nonsense, take the time to review.
*Note: I do not own Escaflowne…and I don't think owning a bunch of SD key chains of Esca characters count as owning the cast of Escaflowne.