An Escaflowne fanfiction
Perfect Soldier
Part 3
By Mana
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Van looked at the three warriors knelt before him. He had not wanted to go as far as to request help from his neighbouring countries but the situation had drastically took a turn for the worst with the death of Manerva Delione. The citizens couldn't rest or work well knowing the dragons surrounded them. Still the city wasn't fully complete and the interference by the dragons had put a massive halt on further production. His advisors told him that he had to deal with the problem quickly to remain favourable with the people. Ah, the life of a king. He thought sarcastically. They also 'suggested' that he should send a team of hunters to kill the dragons that have caused trouble. Unfortunately the current samurai of Fanelia were all very young men who were still in training, sending them into the forest would be sending them to die. Hence it came and he humbly requested the aid of other countries. He received 4 replies, the representative from Austuria had not yet arrived. No doubt he'll be the same as these three Van sighed pacing in front of the three warriors not sure what to say to them. Bounty hunters He thought with disgust. They had that typical look about them, large build, plenty of scars and. Van tried not to cringe, Pale white eyes. Although the warrior sent from the country of Sezario looked somewhat reliable. He was young and fairly well dressed; Van might have mistaken him as a casual citizen rather than a warrior if it was not for the large scar down his right eye. 'Marcus' he had introduced himself as. He struggled to remember the names of the other two, they spoke more in grunts than in words. One was from the country of Bosram and the other from Norte. Just as Van found the words to speak a young messenger came running down the isle.
"LordVantherepresentativefromAusturiahasjustarrived!" He said quickly in one breath.
Outside the castle Van stood in front of the three warriors prepared to meet the forth from Austuria. He was surprised to see when the carriage came to a halt, that Allen was driving it.
"It's been a while, your majesty." He said gracefully jumping down from the driver's seat.
"Allen, what are you doing here?"
"I have come to escort the Austurian representative" Allen replied bowing "But first there is something I must ask of you Van" He continued dropping the formality and placing his hands on Vans shoulders. Van looked up a little bewildered at Allen's sudden change in tone.
"Of course, Allen. Anything." He lifted his gaze to meet Allen's bright blue orbs. The looked sad he noted.
"Please Van," He started looking down he closed his eyes. "Please, take care of my little sister."
"WHAT!?" Had Van not been the king he probably would have fainted, luckily he had more control over his body and Allen had a sturdy grip on his shoulders. From behind Austuria's heavenly knight he could see the familiar grin of the pyromaniac that destroyed his country. He mentally reminded himself that Celina was different from Dilandau. Celina isn't insane.
"I believe," She said walking towards him. Allen let go of he shoulders and stepped aside. Van was fighting the urge to step back with every step she took forward. "This is the first time we have formally met, lord Van." She stopped before him and gave an elegant curtsied. Van noticed Allen smile with pride as she did this. The three warriors behind Van were looking at their new comrade with a little more than distaste.
"You could say that. Why..." He was at loss of words to finish.
"Think of it as my own personal apology to Fanelia. Besides I have the experience, right. Being the Dragon Slayer and all." One of the buch warriors, the one with the white eyes, seemed to react to this. Van looked to Allen who just shrugged.
"I guess, your right" Van replied, Despite her past Van felt he could trust her a little more than the other three. But just a little. Allen stepped forward and bowed.
"Please excuse my abrupt departure your highness, but I am needed back in Palas" He climbed back into the carriage drives seat and gave Van a grin that said good luck before pulling the rains and disappearing down the road.
"Interesting group you have here, lord Van." Said Celina inspecting the three warriors. "I am Celina Shezar of Palas, Austuria." She stood confidently awaiting further introductions.
"I am Marcus," Said the scarred youth "of Sezario." He bowed. The other two however did not show as much respect, but Celina hadn't expected much.
"Murdoc, Bosram." Grunted the white-eyed warrior. Celina raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Guyran, Norte." Van took a note of their names this time Marcus, Murdoc, Guyran, Celina and myself. I am not looking forward to this!
Van took his four guests into a dimly lit room. There was no furniture save from a large table that centred the room. On it Van unrolled a detailed map of the area surrounding Fanelia. He explained and pointed out the locations that Dragons had been seen acting unnaturally violent.
"Our primary mission is to find out why the Dragons are behaving in this way, for that we need a sample of blood from one of the rampaging dragons."
"Why don't we just wipe them all out" Marcus scoffed tapping a finger on the table. Van ignored him and continued tracing a path through the forest with his finger.
"This is where the forest is thickest. It's likely we'll find many types of dragons here." He looked around at his four warriors and caught Guyran yawning widely. Van rolled his eyes and stood up straight. "Attacks have only happened at night so that is when we shall travel into the forest. Before that you should get some rest. The guards outside shall show you to some quarters." Murdoc grunted something under his breath and kicked the table on his way out followed closely by Guyran. Marcus bowed towards Van and nodded to Celina, who didn't move, on his way out. Van was left alone with Celina, a situation he found very uncomfortable knowing he had send his guards to show the others to their room. She stood looking at the door. Van searched for something to say, anything.
"Heh, what's up with that Marcus guy." Her head dropped and Van could swear she looked sad.
"Adrenomorph," she said quietly.
"Adreno... what?"
"Adrenomorph. The sorcerers of Zaibach used people, including me, in their experiments to find drugs that would make their soldiers stronger. They created Adrenomorph, but after their guinea pig died the experiment was abandoned. Somehow the formula got onto the streets and... Well, we tried to stop it. I can't believe it has spread to Bosram." Van didn't fully understand the concept of drugs killing people Drugs are used as medicines, aren't they? But if Zaibach created it he figured that it couldn't be anything good.
"Is it dangerous?" He asked to clarify his fears.
"Well, only to the person who use's it. It is injected into the eye..." Van squinted as she continued to describe the process "It increases your adrenaline by speeding up the heart, extremely addictive." she concluded. Van felt sick. "We had better watch out for that guy, he could easily turn on us."
"Did you ever use that stuff?" Van asked cautiously.
"Of course not!" She seemed offended but her expression quickly changed "At least I'm pretty sure I didn't, I don't remember." She blinked and looked over to Van with a smile. "It's just not his style."
Van smiled feeling somehow reassured about the trust he could place in Celina.
"I'll show you to your room." With that they both left to rest before the difficult mission they had to set out on that night.
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Disclaimer - Escaflowne, not mine.
C&C appreciated
Jupamana@aol.com
http://www.geocities.com/mana-kun
I got some pic's up on my HP relating to this fic, I'll probably have more soon.
Celina/Cerina/Cerena/Serena/Serina/Selina...Whatever! I like the spelling of Celina, sorry if it bothers anyone. As for her personality I didn't want to make her totally different from Dilandau, hence the hysterical outburst in the previous chapter, so~ I have made her a little mischievous (poor, poor Van-sama). Her memories are a bit all over the place, she'll remember one thing but soon forget it again. She still has Dilandau's commanding presence only less of the glaring and slapping. (Perhaps she was resisting the urge to slap Murdoc, Nyahahaha.)
Dilandau Albatou... He may turn up, he may not :p
Van (Because B and V are the same in Japanese)... I reckon, considering his past with Dilandau and the Dragon Slayers, Celina would really freak him out. It must be hard to be nice to someone who tried to kill you so many times and vice versa.
Marcus...Well can't tell you much about him yet, but I am drawing a pic of him. ^.^ The Sezarian army was mentioned in the great battle of Geia.
Murdoc...Named after one of the Gorillaz, no reason. Bounty Hunter from Bosram another army mentioned during the Great War. Although He spent some time in Zaibach were he got addicted to Adrenomorph. While in Zaibach he found out about the Dragon Slayers, but more on that later. Not too sure about the spelling of Bosram.
Guyran...Uh, quiet Bounty Hunter from Norte. Norte was also mentioned during the Great War but I don't know if it was the name of an army, direction or field.
Bosram general: Head for Norte!
After that they rammed the Crusade so I just made it a country cause I don't think Prince Chid of Freid would send such a nasty looking guy.
Manerva Delione... A character named after me. I really started to like this character after I killed her, I think she had potential. Poor girl was ravaged by a land dragon, but it left enough of her to recognise...Eww~~
Lady Armand... Another chara named after me. This funky Bounty Hunter girl was based on Kendra from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, can you tell. *Bows head in shame* actually most of the chapter is based on one scene between Buffy and Kendra. More on why Celina challenged Armand later in the story. :)