Fainted from fear, he thought.
He set the boy down on the metallic floor and kneeled by his side. He stared at the boy. Caleb was his name. His hair was soft and cut short and a large pair of glasses, speckled with rain, consealed his beauty with their frames. Kiteal removed them gently and set them aside. The boy stirred restlessly. A small sound escaped from his lips.
"Caleb?" Kiteal said softly.
The boy squinted up at Kiteal and his eyes became wide.
"C-Candice?" he struggled to sit up and Kiteal helped him.
"I am afraid that that is not truly my name. I am Kiteal. I apologize for deceiving you, but I am afraid that it was necissary."
Kiteal stood and watched with amusement as Caleb stared at the machine he had been set near with saucer eyes, but grimaced as he looked down at the muddy clothing he still wore.
"If you do not mind I must change out of this clothing. I imagine that you will want to do the same."
Caleb nodded shyly. Kiteal tossed him a pair of black pants and a white shirt before changing out of the dirty skirt and cardigan. He turned to find Caleb staring at him in the same way he had stared at the machine a few moments ago. Kiteal did not blame him. His breasts were bare and it was obvious by the bulge in his underclothing, that he was not simply a girl.
He quickly clothed himself, binding his breasts, and went back to the frightened boy, who seemed to have forgotten his own clothing.
"I know you must be confused. I was an experiment of my father's. He wanted to create a person of both genders, functional both ways. He later used other techniques to achieve this," Kiteal smiled kindly at Caleb. "Now, you must change. I am sure those muddy clothes are not entirely comfortable."
Celena hadn't slept well for days. She covered the darkness under her eyes with powder. Her brother would have every doctor on Gaea come to examine her if he knew that something was wrong. But she knew that a doctor couldn't help her her with this.
Her dreams were haunted by his face. She didn't know who he was, but she had a feeling that he did. She knew that Dilandau was still in her somewhere, but seldom did his memories come as vividly as they did in these dreams. He was beautiful, this young man that haunted her. She knew that he was dead, and had been for a while. She felt rage deep inside her when she thought of his death, but did not know how he died.
She would close her eyes and he was there. His eyes were fiery and more alive than those of anyone she had ever known. His eyebrows were thin arches of soft brown. His lips were smooth and tinted pink. She would feel herself reach out to him. She could even see her hands (or maybe Diladau's) near his cheek. But when she would touch him, he was gone and she would awake in tears. She would lay and sob for hours, not knowing why. When she fell asleep again, he was there again and the cycle continued.
She didn't try the fourth night. She staring at the ceiling glowing blue and silver where the light of the moon touched it. She searched her memory, a task that frightened her. She pushed through the thin barrier between Dilandau's memories and her own. She was flooded by half coherant thoughts and terrible pain. She swam thought the maddness trying to find that face. The face that lived behind her eyes and teased her with his memory.
Who ARE you? She screamed in her mind-voice.
Everything went quiet. The thoughts vanished and the pain deminished. He appeared before her, floating above the bed.
He slowly decended until he was lying on top of her. He whispered in her ear.
Migel.
She awoke screaming and sobbing loudly. Alan was by her side in moments.
Dryden awoke to darkness and frowned. He was waking up earlier and earlier. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep defiantly, but there was nothing he could do but groggily stumble to his desk and grab a book. He had no idea why, but he had had the unsatiable need to read latly, more than usual. And it was always the oddest volume that he could find.
This one was about Zaibach. He had found some pittful looking documents where the ruins of the flying fortress has fallen. This was one of the less water damaged. It had been found in a small case of metal. It had been locked and was hell to pick, but he had managed it. All to find nothing but a short journal with strange writing in it. Nothing else. Very unlike Zaibach.
He pulled out the notes he had taken while trying to decipher the book's strange dialect and contined to make his way through the journal, treading along at a rather slow pace. The next time he looked up, daylight was filtering into his window. He sighed heavily and went back to his translation. As he read it over his eyes became wide and his jaw dropped a little.
"This has got to be a dream," he muttered to himself.
He read it again, and then again before snapping the book closed and jumping out of his chair.
"Time to meet up with some old friends!"
The sun was in the middle of the sky before Merle came out of her room. She slinked through the halls and hopped onto a window sill.
A cool breeze was blowing. Perhaps a good sign. Maybe Van-sama would be in a better mood.
"But what do I care?" she moaned aloud, "He'll still be stuck on Hitomi.
She hopped back off the sill and sauntered down the hall.
The loud sound of running footsteps was suddenly fast approaching behind her. She turned just in time to be smacked into by a little boy.
"W-Who...What?...When?" she questioned as she pushed him off of her.
"V-Van-sama wants you to go see him right now!"
"Well, where is he?"
The boy pointed out a nearby window. A huge trade ship sat not too far away.
"Dryden?" she pondered aloud as she ran full speed toward the door.
"I thought you might want t come along with us, Merle." Van said distantly.
"That's right! This might be quite interesting." Dryden added, "We might be able to find out more about Celena's little problem and some other things about Zaibach as well."
Merle grabbed Van's arm and held it tight. "If Van's going, I am!"
"I don't exactly understand." Van said, "What exactly is this all about? And why is it so important that I come along? I don't like leaving Fanelia.
"Can't you just trust me?" Dryden grinned, "Nah, I wouldn't either. Okay, It's a feeling I have."
"A feeling?"
"As much as I wish it were, something about all of this doesn't feel finished. This book might be proof of that very thing."
"You're dragging me to Austuria on a hunch? Is that what you're saying?"
"You'll understand when I tell you what's in this book."
"Well...tell me now then."
"Can't."
"Why?"
"You'll see."
Van sighed heavily and walked away from Dryden with Merle still attatched to his arm, and sat down near a window to look out at his kingdom as they flew off to Austeria.
