Inside These Walls
Crimson
A/N: HELLO!!! My beloved(s)!! Here is chapter three!!! It's been too long since I released the last chapter, you know? The title has really nothing to do with the story, but…but…oh well. ^^;
Disclaimer: Fine, I'll confess I kidnapped Dilly but that doesn't mean I own him. He belongs to Sunrise. By the way, Sunrise when do you expect to pay the ransom on this lovely boy ^_^?
"Fine. You can stay." He told me. I was so excited, that I leapt up, and hugged him. He blinked with much curiousity. "What's with the sudden change of heart, Mei?" I let go of him shakily. "I guess I just really, really want to stay. You don't understand a princess' pain." Dilandau crossed his arms. "Well don't think you can boss us around, because I'M the leader!" I nodded solemnly. "Yeah yeah…but thank you so much, anyway, Dilandau!" He glared at me. "You forgot 'sama'." I rolled my eyes at him. "Are you…ever in a good mood?" He lowered his glare. "I have no time for your antics, Mei. Stop playing around, you are lucky enough that I am letting you live." He paused, then seemed to ease up a bit, as he was talking to me. "Well, anyway…if you are staying here, you are going to have to bunk with a group of dragonslayers." I blinked, surprised, and didn't exactly take him seriously at first. "Well…I want to be with um…Gatti, Chesta, and Migel…if that's okay." Dilandau still stood, with his arms tightly crossed. "That's almost perfect. They all share a room, but there is one more dragonslayer other than those three. His name is Dallet." I cocked my head to the side. "Is he nice…?" Dilandau looked at me, and…smiled. "He is vain, snobby, arrogant, and a womanizer." I heaved a sigh of unhappiness. "Oh great…just when I thought things were going perfectly." Dilandau put his hands on his hips. "Things are never perfect. Make due with what you have, Mei. Oh, and if you don't want to be found, I recommend changing your name…Kisei was nice." With that, he walked out the door. "Wait!" Dilandau paused and faced me. "What do you want now?" I looked down to my lap, then back up at him. "Where is my room..?" He walked out the door. "Look for room number five. That should be yours. Oh, and too bad about your face…you deserved it though."
I carried my tired self out of the infirmary, and began to stumble through the halls of the fortress. Very much to my luck, room number five was just across the hallway. The door was closed, so I knocked. "Hang on a minute!" Was heard through the door. Gatti opened it hastily, then looked up at my face and recognized me. His face was as red as Dilandau's eyes. "Um…Mei -hime! Hello! What are you doing here?" I smiled at him, "This is where I'm staying. I got accepted!" He still looked embarrassed. "That's great news, Mei-hime." I put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head. "What's with all this 'hime hime hime' stuff? From now on, I'm just Mei, or if you prefer, Kisei." I then paused. "Do you mind if I come in?" Gatti shook his head. "Oh, no no! Please do come in!" The moment I walked in, they all stared at me. The only faces I recognized, were Chesta's, and of course Gatti's. A boy with maroon-brown hair looked at me, and grinned slyly. 'This must be Dallet.' I thought to myself. The other boy wore a somewhat shocked expression…one that said, "Oh My God…the girl I am infatuated with has just come to my room, and said she is living with me." Boys are so predictable. I walked in, and being the somewhat proper person I am, I bowed slightly, and said a silenced, "Hello." How they were acting, was not helping feel like I fit in much…or at all for that matter.
I stood in the middle of the room, for what felt like forever. I was looking around, and taking in the scenery. It was nothing like my palace, of course, but it would do. There were five small cots, which were about two feet apart from each other, lined up in a row. One of them was especially dusty. "Well…I guess that is my bed." I giggled slightly, trying to cover up my disgust. I walked over to the small cot, took of the blanket, and dusted it out. It was no goose down blanket, but I was not disappointed, after all this was supposed to be of my benefit. I sat on the bed, which was the antithesis of comfortable. "Well…" I began, deciding to break the silence. "I guess I'll say a little bit about myself, if you guys don't mind." I paused and nervously played with my hands. "Well…err…I'm fifteen rotations of the Phantom Moon, I am a princess, or…was a princess, as you all may know. Well…anyway, um…I love fencing, and I'm a sucker for romantic stuff!" Dallet smirked, "Thanks for letting me know how to win you over." He then flipped his hair. "I'm pretty sexy, huh?" I looked at him strangely. My stomach almost dropped. I was so uncomfortable, living in this room, but I have no right to complain, after all, it was better than palace life.
I laid back on the cot, throwing my shoe in the air, and then catching it. Chesta finally broke the uneasy silence. "So…why don't we all introduce ourselves to Miss Mei?" I blushed. The boy who was in a corner, staring out the window waved slightly. "Hi, I'm Migel…" He then shied away, turning his red face to the side. Chesta smiled a cheeky smile, "I think you know me, Miss Mei. You know…Chesta." I giggled, "What's with all of this 'Miss' stuff. I'm just a normal girl now." Chesta cocked his head to the side. "Oh, I'm sorry…I'll try to stop. I'm just so used to calling you 'Miss'." The maroon haired boy was the next to introduce himself. "Hi, gorgeous. My name is Dallet. You know, I'm available, if you are looking for someone that matches your beauty." I blushed. "Um…okay." Gatti was the last one to introduce himself. "You know me as well, Mei." He paused and smiled. "I hope you are comfortable living with us. If Dallet hits on you again, just give him a good smack." Dallet shot a glare at Gatti, and stuck his tongue out. "Not that you are great with the ladies, Gatti! You suck!" I laughed heartily, perhaps this wasn't as bad as one may think…
Time passed somewhat slowly, but nightfall came. "Well…we best get ready for dinner." I jumped up. "What am I going to wear?" Dallet smirked. "I can take you down to the 'boutique'." I blinked with curiousity. "You have a boutique…? That's kind of strange." Dallet nodded. "I go down there all the time!" Gatti smirked. "Yeah…because whenever he goes down there, he dresses up like a woman, and tries to flirt with us." Dallet blushed. "I DO NOT!! THAT IS NOT FUNNY, GATTI!!!" I laughed more. "Well, can one of you lead me down to the boutique, then?" I asked. "Who do you want to take you?" Chesta asked. I smiled, "I can't choose just one of you! You guys are all too nice!" Gatti scoffed. "Yeah…except for Dallet." Dallet rolled his eyes. "You guys fight like brothers!" I said, giggling. So all of us walked down many annoying flights of stairs, and finally entered the boutique. It was dark, messy, and clothes were sprawled about all over the place. I flung many clothes behind me, in a desperate attempt to find the perfect outfit to wear, for our dinner. Then I found it, a beautiful red silk kimono, with black embroidered flowers on the bottom, the waist bow was also black, with small tassels coming down from it. This kimono was simply…perfect.
We ran up the flights of stairs hurriedly. I looked behind myself, to see if the dragonslayers were still following, they were, of course, but as I was running and looking backward, I ran smack into something – or somebody with a thud. "Ow! That hurt!" I said, then I saw exactly who I ran into…him. "Damn woman! Watch where you are running!" Dilandau got up, glaring at the dragonslayers, and I. "What are you doing out here? Why aren't you getting ready for dinner?" Gatti stepped forward. "Well…Dilandau-sama, we were looking for an appropriate outfit for Mei-" Dilandau slapped him. "You should have been ready earlier! You are all foolish." I looked up at Dilandau in a sort of wonderment. "Geez…do you expect us to be perfect?" I said, still sitting on the floor. Dilandau appeared to be thinking. "Well, actually I would expect nothing else from my dragonslayers, but perfection." I finally got up. "…but I'm not a dragonslayer…and instead of slapping me, you slapped Gatti. He didn't even do anything!" Dilandau smiled. "I guess if you don't want to follow my orders, you can go back to your own home…I know you just love it there." I clenched my fists. "You are heartless." He walked off. "Perhaps I am. What a shame." The dragonslayers and I finally reached our room. I went into the bathroom, and changed into the kimono.
I walked out of the bathroom, wearing the kimono. "Can somebody help me tie this? It's kind of hard to reach." Dallet happily walked forward. "I would be happy to tie your bow." He smiled and hummed quietly as he tied it. "There, I'm done. Do I get a kiss now?" I smiled at him, and pinched his cheek. "Nope, but thanks for tying my bow." I then pinned my hair up in a bun, and we walked down to the dinner hall. As we walked down, I began talking to Gatti. "I'm nervous! Everyone is going to make fun of me! They are going to throw their potatoes at me…" Gatti laughed. "Why would they do that to such a pretty girl?" I blushed, embarrassed. "Don't worry, the rest of the dragonslayers are like us." I clung to his arm, and hid behind him. "That's what I'm afraid of!" Dallet frowned at Gatti. "You can cling to me, Mei." I let go of Gatti quickly, for I didn't even really notice I was still clinging to him. "Sorry, Gatti." He smiled. "That's okay. I didn't mind really."
We reached the mess hall. It was almost barren, except for a large wooden table, with many wooden chairs. Only one of the dragonslayers was there. He had curly, blondish hair, and was reading a book. He looked up at us. "Hey, that's a girl! Or is it…Dallet again?" Dallet blushed. "I do NOT dress up like a girl!" He yelled. I smiled. "No, I'm a girl. My name is Mei-shi Marden." He looked somewhat confused. "Marden? That sounds vaguely familiar." Migel finally spoke. "God, Sheep! I can't believe you don't remember her!" The blonde blinked. "Should I?" He then paused to roll his eyes, "I'm not a sheep, Migel. I'll get a haircut sooner or later." Migel smiled. That was the first time I had really seen him smile. "This is the princess of Marden. I can't believe you don't recognize her!" The blonde laughed. "Oh yeah! I remember you now!" He put out one of his hands, and I shook it. "My name is Guimel. It's very nice to meet you." I smiled, and let go of his hand. "…but if you are a princess…why are you here? Don't mind my asking, please." I was caught somewhat off-guard. "Um…I'm here, because I don't like to be a princess…I guess." Guimel nodded. "Maybe Dallet can take your place…" Dallet was steaming with anger. "GAH! I'm not a cross-dresser!!!"
All of the dragonslayers eventually gathered at the table. All of them asking questions. It was a bit annoying, but they all seemed nice enough. Our dinner was served as soon as Dilandau sat at the head of the table. I looked down at my plate…runny potatoes…something that looked kind of like meat…and carrots…'Geez…we aren't senior citizens!' I thought to myself. I sat with my hands in my lap. Gatti nudged my arm. "You have to eat something, hime…you don't want to get Dilandau annoyed." I nodded, having a sinking sensation in my stomach. I picked up my fork very slowly, poked the potatoes, got a small amount on my fork, opened my mouth, and ate it. These were not the best potatoes, at all. I spent the rest of dinner moving my 'food' around my plate, and taking bites every now and then. By the time dinner was over, there was still a large proportion left on my plate. Everyone went up to their rooms full and satisfied…I just went up to mine, craving palace food.
A/N: Yeah…celebration. That chapter was rather bland. Sorry…the next one will be better, I promise! ~~~Mel