bChapter 1/b

Standard Disclaimer:
I don't own Escaflowne or any of the characters or anything else copyrighted that I mention in this story.
This was made for non-profit reasons, etc, etc, etc.

Author's Notes:
Please review this story after reading it. Arigatou, minna-san!
Italics are used for inner thoughts.
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The green guymelef was guarding the entrance to the shrine. Dilandau had found it, this was the one Folken sent him to
capture. He slowly made his way up to it and slammed the fist of his red Alseides into the melef's stomach. It was easy to
sneak up on enemies when he had his stealth cloak. Before the operator had time to react, he slammed his fist into it again.
The green guymelef lost its balance and fell to the ground, dropping the sword. This was way too easy for his liking. After
beating it severly several times, he noticed that the guymelef pilot was already knocked unconscious. Wasting no time, he
pulled the bloody, battered body out of the machine. His goal was not to kill but to capture. He had to join up with the rest
of the dragonslayers soon. He realized that he had done more damage to the body than he thought. There was a deep gash under
the lip, blood was flowing from it like a fountain, soaking the entire neck. There were some minor scratches on the forehead.
He looked closer beneath the blood, eyes squinting. The delicate features didn't quite seem like the ones of a man. It was
a girl.

Dalet was the first dragonslayer to venture into the shrine. As he suspected, the dragon was standing there, and was ready
to fight. Invisibility was supposed to give him the upper-hand while fighting, but strangly, the white guymelef seemed to
dodge every crima claw that he shot at it. It was almost like he could see them. He knew the idea was crazy but there was no
other explanation except dumb luck. He even managed to disarm him of his stealth cloak. He was totally exposed. If Chesta
hadn't come in at that exact moment, he would've had him for sure. The favor was returned when Chesta was being attacked by
an old warrior. Dalet managed to save him that time, but his melef was damaged as much as his.
The two dragonslayers were joined by the rest outside of the shrine. The dragon was cornered. It was perfect until a
mysterious white beam appeared infront of them.
"What the..." He heard his friend, Gatti mutter over the intercom.
The white guymelef disappeared under the beam along with a girl with unfamiliar clothes. They were gone.

The female prisoner was placed into a dark room lit only by candlelight, in the Vione. Folken stared at her for a while, she
had been bandaged up by the medics on the ship. She hadn't changed a bit since the ten years they had been apart. She still
had the wavy brown hair and he same adorable face. She looked like she was 10 again when she was asleep, when in reality, she
was 20 years old. He started to prepare the chemical to inject into her.
iSorry Renet, /i he thought to himself, i but this is the only other choice I've got. /i
This chemical was meant to make her lose her memory completely and forever. She would forget everything and everyone, including
him. With the fresh slate, they intended to mold her into a ruthless Zaibach soldier. They planned to do numerous experiments
on her body. They were going to change her identity just like they did for Dilandau. Her fate and personality would be
altered so that she will be able to work cooperatively with Zaibach. He knew inside his mind that if she had a choice, she
would rather die than work for Zaibach. Though, that was not what he wanted. He didn't want to lose her, he couldn't bear to
kill her. He knew that his choice came with some risks. The experiments could be fatal to her body. Though, since the only
other option was to execute her, he decided that it would be better to at least try to save her instead of doing nothing.
Other risks involved her personality. It could be changed completely. She might even turn out even more insane than Dilandau.
Another Dilandau was the last thing he wanted. Then he remembered what had happened to Dilandau, he realized that she could
even change gender. Everything was getting too complicated. His original plans were to capture Van and Van only. It wouldn't
have led up to this if she hadn't got in the way of his plans. She was protective of Van. He could tell that she thought
of him almost like a younger brother. Whenever Folken was trying to capture him, she was always there, defending him. If
Renet was on Zaibach's side, there would be nothing else obstructing the way of getting Van to join him too. He heard
rustling in the corner of the room. She was awake.
iDamn it. Renet, don't make it harder for me than it already is./i
"W- Where am I?" She mumbled softly. Even her voice sounded the same as it did ten years ago.
"You are in the floating fortress of Zaibach." He replied monotonely, setting down the bottle of liquid down on the table.
He turned around to face her.
"Zaibach?" Her eyebrows knitted together to display feelings of anger and frustration. "Van, where's Van? What did you do
with him?!"
"He escaped."
Her tense body relaxed, then tensed up again. "What are you going to do with me?"
He did not reply. She didn't have to know.
"Tell me." Although her voice was small, it sounded commanding and forceful. She looked at his face carefully, looking for
hints in his expressions but found none. She did notice something else though, he had a remarkable likeness to someone she
knew a long time ago. The blue hair, the eyes, she felt like he knew him from somewhere.
The caped figure turned around abruptly when he saw that she was looking at him in a curious fashion.
She stood up from the bed. She had a throbbing headache and it was suddenly accompanied by dizziness. She found support from
the wall. She was not in the right condition to escape.
"Are you alright Renet?" iUgh!/i He clenched his teeth as soon as he realized his mistake.
"How did you- Wh, who are you?" She grasped his arm and tried to turn him around to get a better look at his face. "Folken..."
"No. You're mistaking me for someone else." He said, trying to get a better grip of the situation.
iRenet, stop making it harder for me!/i
She ignored his last comment. "It's you," she mouthed. This was such a shock to her that her voice wouldn't even come out
properly.
He took her warm hand off his metal arm, "Folken Fanel is dead. He died while slaying a dragon."
"Stop denying it. I know who you are..."
He said nothing and looked away.
"Why didn't you return your family, your homeland?" Tears started to well up in her brown eyes as she remembered painful
memories. "Do you even know how much I wept for you when you didn't return? You and Van were the only people I had in Gaea.
And you abandoned me... You said that, after you get the drag-energist that you would be able to send me back to the Mystic
Moon. I thought that you would keep your word." She paused, "But you didn't. After ten years... I'm still here."
Folken was ashamed to think that he forgot about her. He was trying to forget about his life in Fanelia, leaving everything
to work for Zaibach. He purposely chose to forget about her because he knew that he couldn't do anything about it. In the
many years that Folken spent learning about science with Emperor Dornkirk, he had never been able to figure out how to send
a person from the Mystic Moon back.
iPerhaps getting rid of her memories of the Mystic Moon is the best way.../i he wondered, iit will get rid of her
emotional pain. There's nothing else I can do for her now./i
"I'm sorry," he said as he gripped her arm. He took the syringe in his hand and pierced her white skin. She struggled
furiously but he did not let go. When all of the fluid in the syringe was in her body, she collapsed in his arms.
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