Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne the TV series nor do I own the movie A Girl in Gaia.
______________________________________________________________
*It just can't be Dilandau, it just can't be.* Van denied in his thoughts. *It's impossible that he could be here. But it doesn't matter, we have to destroy that storehouse.* He thought as Escaflowne dodged another metal claw.
Allen, who was still trying to recover from shock, looked down and found Celena still fighting the enemy with his men. *How can it be? How could that pilot possibly be Dilandau if Celena is down there? What kind of sorcery is this? No time to think about that now. At least I know that I won't be attacking my own sister.* Allen was about to charge at the red guymelef when a blue guymelef came out of no where to block Allen's charge.
"I will not let you kill Lord Dilandau." Came a voice from the blue guymelef, and behind it were two more blue guymelefs.
*That voice. It sounds familiar. This is Chesta, one of Dilandau's men. But this can't be, Van killed them all years ago. How could they have all come back from the dead? They can't be real, this must be some kind of a trick.* Allen thought as he rammed Chesta's guymelef. Of course Chesta got back up and tried to strike Allen but only to end up having it blocked. *Then again, they seem real enough to me.*
Meanwhile, Van was fiercely fighting Dilandau. He couldn't fly because even though flight had gave him an advantage against the other men he had fought before, that man didn't have the same training or as big of a thirst for destruction and battle as Dilandau. Besides, Dilandau was also much faster so Van didn't have the precious seconds he needed in order to transform Escaflowne. And since Dilandau was the opponent, Escaflowne would have lower defense and less protection against Alseides' metal claw attack. [AN: Do I sound like someone from Gundam Wing or is that just me?] Then the red guymelef went invisible with its stealth cloak. *That trick won't help you. You would think by now you would know that those stealth cloaks can't hide you from me.* Hitomi's pendant started swinging in his mind. Memories of Dilandau flashed by. *Come on, where are you?* Suddenly the same invisible force that pushed him away before, knocked him away again. *What the? Why wasn't I able to detect him attacking? Van questioned in his mind as he was blocking the metal claws from piercing Escaflowne.
_*x*_
*Hmmm…it looks like Van is in trouble. Oh well, no loss for an impostor. Dilandau, now he is a different matter. But still, he will meet his end soon as will his little partner. The question is how did they manage to come to this time? Only I knew how to activate the gate. Well Mother also knew how. I wish you were still around.* The figure who had been watching the battle from the tree wiped the tears away from their eyes. *We will meet again soon, dear Mikomi.*
_*x*_
"Lord Dilandau, you are to fall back." A voice came through the com in Dilandau's guymelef."
"No way. I am having too much fun."
"That is an order."
"Without my help, you wouldn't have the strength or the manpower you needed."
"Trust me on this one. It is very crucial that you turn back now. You will have others to destroy later."
"It's not destruction I'm after, it's revenge. Destruction is just the bonus."
"You have the wrong man. He isn't the one you are after. Can't you see the difference?"
"Oh I see the difference all right. That's the fun of it. He can't fight me like his other can."
There was a sigh on the other end. "Very well Lord Dilandau. You leave me no choice. I am going to send you back."
"Wait! We had a deal."
"Yes, and I have kept my end of the bargain. Without me, your strength would be meaningless."
"Very well." Dilandau turned his guymelef towards Escaflowne. "You were lucky this time Van. But I will be back, back for my revenge."
"Come back here!" Van yelled as he was turning Escaflowne into its dragon form. But nothing happened. Nothing except for the fact that Van felt something was pushing down on Escaflowne and himself. "What? Why isn't it working?"
"Van."
Van turned and opened his visor. "Allen, did you see the other guym___"
"Guymelefs. Yes, I did see them. I thought Dilandau and the three Dragonslayers were all just a decoy in order to catch us off guard."
"But how could they have all come back? All of them except Celena are supposed to be dead. But there's another mystery. When they took off and I tried to follow, I couldn't for some reason. I suddenly felt so heavy and Escaflowne wouldn't transform. It felt exactly like the time when we were battling the Intensified Luck soldiers."
"Allen!"
Allen turned his head to find Celena running towards Scharezar. She was looking a little worse for the wear. Celena had a few bruises and scratches all over her body. Her hair was disheveled, there were some holes and rips in her clothes, and her face was smudged with dirt. Other than all that, she was perfectly fine though didn't seem to think so. "Celena! What happened to you? I knew it, I knew it was too dangerous for you to come."
"Allen, it's nothing to worry about. So I got a few broken blood vessels [AN: Which are also called bruises for all of you who do not know.] and some tiny scratches. That's natural in a fight. It's nothing to get all strung up about."
"But Cele__"
"Look Brother. Some of your men look much worse than I do, to say the least. We are in the middle of a battlefield, after all. It's only expected that I'd get hurt. Besides, they are not serious injuries. So stop worrying about me, and save your worries for later okay. Now come on, let's go home."
"Boss! Boss!"
Running across the battlefield was Allen's men. Scharezar opened up and Allen jumped out. "What is it, Kio?"
"Commander, because of the damage caused, I don't think the Crusade can make it in here. It's too narrow." Gaddes replied.
"All right then. Van, myself, and the others who are piloting guymelefs will go to the edge of the forest and meet the rest of you there. That okay with you Van?"
"Sure Allen." Van agreed.
"Okay then, let's get a move on."
_*x*_
"I still don't see why you had to call me back so soon." Dilandau said angrily as he strolled into the room.
"Because Dilandau, the target we are after wasn't there."
"And just what is so important about this person?"
"Let's just say they aren't your average human." The man explained.
"So what? Neither are all the people who are descendants of the Dragon race." Dilandau shot back a bit miffed
"Yes, well that's only half of their bloodline."
"So the thing that makes them so special is the other half of their bloodline?"
"You could say that. Besides, it will be all worth it once they are captured."
"He better be worth it."
"She actually." The man corrected.
"We are after a girl! Not another one!" Dilandau's eyes went wide open.
"Oh so you do remember the special guest we had years ago."
"Of course I do. If it wasn't for that girl, we could have been able to crush the Abaharaki rebels." Dilandau screamed.
"Yes, but Tsubasa No Kami is no longer around so we need the next best thing."
"And that would be?"
The man turned to Dilandau and smirked maliciously. "Why her daughter of course."
_*x*_
"I still can't understand how they could have came back."
"Neither can I Van."
Silence filled the air. Van sighed. His mind began to wander as he continued to move Escaflowne. *First that girl and now this. But why now? Why is everything revolving back to the Destiny War…to Hitomi?*
"Van?"
"Yes Allen?"
"Is there something bothering you?" [AN: Aren't I turning everyone into Van's psychiatrist?]
"Why do you say that?"
"Trust me, I know something must be wrong. And by what I can guess, does it have anything to do with a pillar of light?"
"So you saw it too."
"Of course."
"Well you see, the person that was transported here wasn't exactly who I was expecting. To tell you the truth, I had found__"
"Van!" came a voice from in front of them.
"What the?" Van turned to find a girl running towards them. *It can't be.*
___________________________________________________________________
Now aren't I evil? So, who is the girl running towards them? Who is the daughter of Tsubasa No Kami? I will only tell if you readers out there will review.
**In the movie Dilandau does not die, all he and some of the Dragonslayers do is ride away in the end. The term 'Dragon race' in the movie refers to Draconian race. The reason why Dilandau was miffed was because in the movie he was half Dragon or in other words half Draconian.
