"Miraala?" Naoko whispered. "But, he can't!"

"He can, Naoko. And he will." Gatti replied, his eyes concerned. "There's no way to stop him when he's set his mind on something."

"There has to be some way. If I have to kill him myself, I'll stop him." Naoko growled softly. Fury gripped her throat and tightened her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. As Gatti stared, her eyes narrowed to slits and she curled her hands into fists. He had never seen Naoko this angry, and fervently hoped he never would again.

"Hey, Nao, Lord Dillandau is calling for you." Migel said from the doorway. He blinked uncertainly as Naoko glared at him. "Uh, something wrong?"

"There is nothing wrong." Naoko snapped, biting off each word. She pushed past him, and stalked down towards Dillandau's room. She pushed the door open and strode into the room.

"What do you want now?" Naoko said, struggling to keep her face calm. Dillandau scowled at her.

"Watch your tongue, Nao. Couldn't you have gotten dressed first?" Naoko looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing her nightclothes. It was only because they were so baggy on her slender frame that she hadn't been found out. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at Dillandau.

"I didn't have a chance."

"I have a mission for you, Nao." Dillandau replied, idly flipping a dagger in his hand. "I've decided Miraala is displeasing. I want you to go down there and kill the king. Then, we'll destroy it." He looked at her with a faint smile on his face; a smug, self-satisfied smirk. It was only with great effort that Naoko didn't grab the dagger out of his hand and kill him with it. Everything became clear: Dillandau was purposely sending her to kill her own king to test her loyalty. If she refused, she would die. And Miraala's people would have no chance.

"Alright, Dillandau. When do I go?" As Nao assumed the expression of blank indifference she usually had when around Dillandau, she noticed the faint flicker of surprise in his eyes. Inwardly, she snorted derisively. The silly fool had thought she would refuse.

"Uh, you go... tonight." Dillandau replied, quickly regaining his indifference. He casually offered the dagger to her, hilt first, and watched her out of the corner of his eye. Naoko calmly took the dagger and slid it into the sheath on her belt.

"I'll leave right away." She said.

"Take this comm. Contact us immediately when Miraala's king is dead." Dillandau handed her the small device and turned his back. Naoko slipped silently out of the room and down to her own. Both Gatti and Migel were gone.

Naoko smiled grimly. Dillandau wouldn't get away with this. Though it was a given she would die for this, she would save her friends. She swiftly changed into her Slayer uniform, and looked sadly down at the picture of her parents she had brought with her and hidden in her pack. With a sigh, she carefully wrapped it in her clothes and left the pack there. She would have no need of it now.

She had been told to meet Folken in the guymelaf area, where he would give her the guymelaf she was to use. As she slipped silently into the enormous room, she saw Folken standing in front of a guymelaf draped in shadows. She walked up to him.

"Dillandau has informed you of what you have to do?" Folken asked quietly. There was a strange expression in his eyes, which would have warned Naoko if she had been paying attention. The expression was the one of power that came with knowing someone else's secrets. But Naoko was too busy trying to look unconcerned at what she had to do.

"Of course." Naoko replied indifferently. She lightly fingered the dagger at her waist.

"I'll be taking you down to Miraala, in the guymelaf. Dillandau decided there was no point in you using a guymelaf seeing as you'll be traveling on foot most of the way." Folken turned and climbed into the guymelaf, then extended the arm for Naoko to climb onto. Naoko settled herself and clutched the metal tightly as they dropped out of the flying fortress.



Naoko padded down the thickly carpeted hallway of Yolanda's home in Miraala. Folken had dropped her off at the city gates and she had immediately come here to warn her friend. She quietly inched the door open and strode over to the bed. Yolanda had her face buried in the pillow and looked so peaceful Naoko almost hated to wake her. Gently, she shook Yolanda's shoulder.

"Yola. Yola, wake up." She whispered. Yolanda opened her eyes sleepily, then sat bolt upright, almost knocking Naoko backwards.

"Naoko!? What on Gaea are you doing here?" Yolanda whispered, her voice low and hoarse.

"Dillandau sent me to kill Miraala's king, and then he's going to destroy the city. You have to get out of here, Yola. Warn everyone you can, and get them out of here as fast as you can." Naoko said swiftly. "I have to go warn the king."

"Be careful, Naoko. I'll get as many people as I can out of here." Yolanda promised, hugging Naoko tightly. Naoko hugged her back then, wiping her eyes surreptitiously, she turned and left the house again.


Within the hour, she was at the gates of the palace. She grabbed one of the bars of the iron fence and started to pull herself up. There were spikes at the top of the fence, and Naoko carefully eased herself over them. Hanging from the top of the fence, she let herself go, then rolled as soon as she hit the ground. Coming up in a crouch, she listened breathlessly for any evidence she'd been discovered. The grounds were dead silent; a silence which Naoko found ominous. Resolving to be extra careful, she swiftly ran through the shadows and up to the wall underneath the king's window. It was open.

Naoko looked thoughtfully at the open window, then circled around the great palace and climbed up the ivy there. The window next to the ivy was shut, but unlocked. She easily pushed it open.

Dropping to the ground below the window, Naoko listened carefully. There was still no sound. She glanced around the room she was in. It looked like she was in the king's study. If she remembered the layout of the palace from her visit with Dillandau and Folken a few weeks earlier, the king's bedroom was four doors down.

Naoko pulled the dagger out of her belt just in case, then opened the study door. There were two guards in the corridor, one at either end, but they were both slumped against the wall, asleep. Naoko shook her head. If she had really come to kill the king, it would've been far too easy.

She slipped down the hallway and stopped outside the king's door. All she could hear from inside was deep snoring. With a wry smirk, Naoko pushed the door open and strode towards the king's inner chambers. To her surprise, there were no guards at all in the entire suite. Naoko put her dagger back in her belt and crept over to the king's bed.

As she put her hand out to shake the king, an arm encircled her waist, pinning her arms, and jerked her back. A hand covered her mouth before she could even take a breath to scream.

"Traitor." Dillandau's voice hissed in her ear. "Folken said you would betray us, but I didn't believe him, Nao." He dragged Naoko backwards, into the shadows more as the king shifted. Naoko took the opportunity to throw her weight back against him, pushing him off-balance. Dillandau stumbled, and his grip loosened slightly around Naoko's waist. Naoko hooked her foot around his knee and threw her weight against him again. Dillandau lost his balance completely and fell to the ground, but he didn't loosen his grip on Naoko, and she fell with him. His hand dropped away from Naoko's mouth.

"I didn't betray you!" Naoko hissed back, struggling to get away.

"Liar! Folken saw you go to that girl's house, saw you leave, and then she left with a boy. Saw her warn people in the other houses! You betrayed the Zaibach Empire, and the punishment is instant death." Before Naoko could react, he'd grabbed the dagger from her belt and pressed it to her throat. Naoko froze. The cold steel pressed deeper to her throat, and the warm trickle of blood ran down her neck. Naoko moaned deep in her throat and closed her eyes, certain that she was about to die. To her immense surprise, Dillandau didn't press the dagger further. Naoko suddenly wondered if she had been wrong, if Dillandau hadn't been testing her loyalty but just giving a special mission to her. One he thought she would be glad to do.

"I trusted you, Nao." Dillandau whispered, his hand shaking. "I thought you were loyal to Zaibach. I thought you were my friend. You were the only one out of my Slayers who actually showed spirit; the only one who didn't jump like a rabbit when I looked at them. That's what I liked about you." He sounded tired, and hurt. "Now, you betrayed me. I should kill you, but I can't bring myself to. But I know Folken can, and will." His voice hardened and he dragged Naoko to her feet.

"Loyal to Zaibach??" Naoko whispered, her voice breaking. "They killed my parents and my cousin. I had no family left! And then you send me against my king. You expected me to just kill him, but I couldn't! I only joined the Slayers so I could-" Naoko stopped suddenly, realizing what she had almost said. Dillandau shook her roughly.

"Could what, Nao? Could kill me? Could exact your revenge against the Zaibach Empire?" he said bitterly. "Folken was right about you." Naoko stared at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

"I loved them, Dillandau! And I could do nothing but watch as you murdered them, you with your great guymelaf that can cloak, you with your horrible insanity! Could only watch as you cut my mother's throat, as your guymelaf destroyed my father's house." Her voice dropped so much Dillandau could barely hear her. "As you forced my cousin to tell you where the rest of us were, just before you killed him. After promising him he could go free and take me, his little cousin, with him."

Dillandau stared at her in horror. Finally, he spoke, a single word that destroyed all of Naoko's hopes. He spoke her true name.

"Naoko..."