Dilandau rolled over in his bed, plagued by the dream, and his arm fell over the edge of the bed and his hand brushed Iris's cheek. It was enough to wake her from the dream.

Iris gasped and her eyes shot wide open. She felt a sensation against her face, and she reached her hand up to see what it was. Her fingers curled around other fingers, and she quickly released the hand as soon as she realized what it was, and whom it belonged to.

Dilandau's eyes cracked open; he was trained to awaken fully, but to seem still deep in sleep. His senses were wide-awake, however, as he felt feminine hands on his own hand, and on his arm. His arm was slowly and carefully lifted up, and placed back on the bed.

Iris didn't breath until his arm had been replaced, and she was carefully laid back down. And even then she breathed as quietly as possible and kept her eyes and ears open, waiting for any movement or the slightest sound.

She heard one.

Iris inhaled sharply and squeezed her eyes shut. Dilandau's bed creak as he sat up. He swung his legs over the side, and Iris winced, waiting to be stepped on. He stopped, however, and Iris cracked open her eyes slowly. She saw him sitting over her, his arms on the edge of the bed. It was like he was considering her. He shook his head and stepped over her. He picked up his black leather pants and slipped them on over his sleeping shorts. He walked towards the door, and Iris opened her mouth, ready to call out, then thought better of it, remembering his threat earlier in the night. She rolled over then winced at the sharp pain in her wrist. Her hand was completely numb by now, and her wrist was cramping something awful. She rolled over as best as she could, and tried to fall back asleep.

Dilandau walked to the melef bay and leaned against the wall beside the open launching door. The breeze played through his silver hair, and Dilandau took a deep breath of the cool air, trying to clear his head of the dream.

"What the hell was that anyway?" Dilandau ran a hand through his hair and down his face.

"You know very well what it was," An airy voice whispered behind him.

Dilandau turned around, and saw Iris walking towards him. "What the…? How did you get that cuff off?"

"Dilandau…" Iris whispered, raising her hand towards his face.

"What is going on?" Dilandau whispered, confused beyond belief. He saw her touch his face; he knew her hand made contact, yet he didn't feel anything. He raised his own hand to feel hers, and his hand went right through hers. He looked up at her, and she disappeared right in front of his eyes.

Dilandau let out a shaky breath. "What the fuck is going on? What did she do to me? Why can't I get her and that damn dream out of my head?!" Dilandau screamed. He punched the wall of the Vionne. "She knows," he thought. "She's done this. I won't let her get away with it." With that, he took off towards his room, towards Iris, and towards answers.

Eric hummed as he maneuvered the guymelef through the woods. He was very proud of himself. He had remembered everything his Uncle had taught him about melefs; well about his Uncle's melef anyway. This one was a bit more complicated, but he had figured out how to operate the arms, hands, and how to walk. He knew the model had a flight mode, but he hadn't figured out how to operate it yet.

Eric moved the melef through the woods and carefully checked his new friend who he held in the melef's hand. Viole had passed out cold and hadn't moved for about two hours. Eric thought he would get to his sister now. He knew the melef he was in was the same as the one she'd hid away in, only a different color. He figured he'd just backtrack by following the melef's footprints from where they came from, and when Viole woke up, he could take Eric to Iris.

An actual Guymelef. He actually had a real, live guymelef. Eric nearly giggled with delight.

Well, not technically had, Eric supposed. It did belong to Viole. But Eric had it now, because Viole wasn't awake yet. He'd give it back when Viole came around.

Viole moaned quietly and picked that moment to come around. His feet dangled, and it took him a while to get his bearings. He was in a melef hand.

His eyes shot open wide. He snapped his head around, and immediately recognized the melef as his own.

"What the…?!" Viole turned his body in the hand, and tried to get out. The hand held him too tightly for that. Not uncomfortably tight, he wasn't hurt, just safely tight, so he couldn't fall. "Hey! Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my melef?" Viole shouted.

The melef stopped, and the faceplate opened revealing a seven-year-old boy.

"Don'tcha 'member me, Viole? I'm Eric! I'm the brave boy who saved you!" Eric grinned at Viole proudly.

"You have got to be kidding me. Put me down!" Viole ordered.

"Ok, no problem." Eric loosened his grip on Viole, and Viole slid out of the melef's hand.

Viole shouted and grabbed onto the melef's fingers in order to save himself from plummeting to the ground. "I said put me down, not drop me!"

"Oops, sorry." Eric slowly lowered the Alseides' hand and placed Viole on the ground.

Viole sighed and straightened his armor jacket. "All right, out." Viole ordered.

"Are…are you sure you're ok to operate this? I mean, you are injured still."

"Out!" Viole shouted, getting impatient.

"Ok, ok. You don't have to yell at me." Eric whined and climbed out of the Alseides unit.

Viole rolled his eyes and walked up to the kid. "You're lucky I don't kill you for what you did, kid."

"What do you mean? I helped you!" Eric protested, pouting.

"You stole my Alseides unit and almost killed me who-knows how many times while I was unconscious, not to mention almost dropping me to my death." Viole growled.

"That was an accident! I said I was sorry." Eric's lip began to tremble and he looked at his feet.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, kid. Now beat it, and don't ever tell anyone about my Alseides unit or me you hear? If I find out you opened you mouth, I will come back here and kill you." Viole grinned as Eric's eyes went wide. Scaring the kid wouldn't hurt anything, he thought.

Then the kid started sniffling and hiccuping. Viole rolled his eyes. "Now what's your problem? You gonna stand here and cry like a female or are you gonna get like I told you to?"

"It…it's just…*sniff* how am I gonna *hic* find my sister now?" Eric rubbed at his wet eyes.

"How the hell should I know, kid? Look for her." Viole turned to go.

"I was *hic* gonna! But how can I when I don't know where you keep your melefs *sniff?"

Viole stopped. He turned around and narrowed his eyes at Eric. "What did you just say?"

"My sister. She jumped into one of your friend's melefs after our city was destroyed. She said she was going to get revenge. I need to find her!" Eric cried.

"She stowed away in an Alseides?" Viole shouted.

"Yeah. It looked like yours, only it was red." Eric rubbed his eyes again as he began to calm down.

"Red? She stowed away in Dilandau-sama's melef?!" Viole said incredulously.

"The red one. Yeah."

"I have to warn Dilandau-sama," He turned to go, but then changed his mind and grabbed Eric's arm, tugging him along behind. "You're coming with me."

Iris gritted her teeth as she tried to pull her wrist from the semi-loose shackle that held her to Dilandau's bed. It was no use. It was loose, but not big enough to get her hand out without dislocating her thumb. She'd seen it done, but didn't have the stomach to do it to herself.

Iris rolled onto her back and sighed. Perhaps the rest of her arm would just go numb and then she could sleep. Iris closed her eyes.

Eric.

She thought of her brother. How are you? Where are you? Are you safe? Iris squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let them fill with tears. Why was I so irresponsible and naive? What did I truly think I would accomplish?

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Iris sighed out loud.

"I certainly hope you are not talking about me."

Iris's eyes flew open to see Dilandau standing over her. He squatted next to her, his arms draped over his knees as he stared at her.

"Don't flatter yourself." She hissed, and turned away from him.

He grabbed her shoulder and forced her back towards him. "I'm not, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked, feigning annoyance in order to hide her fear of him.

"I'm not stupid. I'm very intelligent. I know what you are and I know what you are trying to do. It won't work."

"Oh? Do tell." Iris rolled onto her side and held her head up with her arm, her other arm draped across her waist.

"You're trying to distract me. You are planting images and ideas in my mind through dreams. You may as well knock it off. Simple distractions like that don't work on me." Dilandau rose and walked around the other side to get into his bed. "Besides," he said, leaning over the side of the bed once he had gotten back under the covers. "You just don't do anything for me."

"What in great mother of Gaea…" Iris trailed off. Mental images? Distractions? The dream! "Wait a minute, are you trying to say you had that dream too?"

"Don't play dumb with me Iris…"

"Dilandau, I don't have any powers. I never have had and never will have. I'm just a plain girl, not a witch. I didn't plant that dream in your head, but, I had it too…" Iris trailed off, blushing at the memory.

Dilandau narrowed his eyes at her. "You lie."

"How would I know about the dream?" Iris argued.

"Because you created it to distract me!" Dilandau stated.

"But, that's impossible. I don't know the first thing about 'creating dreams'! I swear to you that-"

Dilandau scoffed. "Like your word means anything to me."

"But-"

"Shut up. Go to sleep. I'll most likely kill you in the morning."

"But I thought that Folken guy said-"

"What Folken doesn't know won't hurt him."

"He'll notice that I'm not here."

"I'll tell him you ran away."

"You'll be punished," Iris shot back.

"It would be worth it."

"You are an asshole."

Iris heard Dilandau chuckle. "No Iris, I am much worse than that."

*****

The next morning, Iris woke up to a huge headache and someone shaking her shoulder.

"Miss Iris? You have to get up, Dilandau-sama's orders." The young boy's voice said in her ear.

"Dilandau-sama can kiss my-"

"Iris." A deep voice called from the doorway. "You are to get dressed and report to the mess hall immediately. There has been a change in your position. You will be given more information later."

"Was that…?" Iris squinted at the doorway as the man left.

"Folken-sama." The boy informed her. "You'd better get up, Dilandau-sama is in one of his moods this morning, and it's not a good one."

"I truly do not believe he has the ability to be in a good mood. Who are you?" Iris asked when her eyes cleared.

"I'm Chesta. One of Dilandau-sama's dragonslayers." He added proudly.

"You mean one of his little followers," Iris rolled her eyes and sat up.

"We're not only his followers but his soldiers." Chesta argued, leaning over Iris to unshackle her wrist. "It is a very prestigious honor to serve him. And we treat it as such."

"I've noticed. Now, where are these clothes I am supposed to get dressed in?"

"You'll find your uniform in the dorm's closet."

"Uniform? What dorm?" Iris asked, confused.

Chesta smiled. "Follow me."

*****

Earlier that morning…

"She's to be WHAT?!" Dilandau shouted, standing up so fast that he knocked his chair over.

"You heard me, Dilandau. You witnessed her fighting skills first hand. It would be a waste to have her as your servant. Zaibach could make better use of her skills if she joined your dragonslayers. She's not been given a choice in the matter. You haven't either." Folken never looked up from the paperwork he was studying.

"The dragonslayers are MINE to command. I choose them, and I train them. I do not want that princess on my dragonslayers! This is unacceptable!" Dilandau slammed his fist down on Folken's desk, demanding his full attention.

Folken didn't blink an eye. He merely slanted a bored look at Dilandau. "The decision has been made. Deal with it, Dilandau."

Dilandau snarled and broke a chair against the wall before he left.

*****

Dilandau brooded over his breakfast. The other slayers were wary of his mood and stayed quiet, eating their breakfast quickly and trying not to make eye contact with their pissed-off captain.

They looked up, however, when the mess hall door opened, and most of their mouths hung open in shock when they saw Princess Iris walk into the room in full Dragonslayer uniform. Miguel made the mistake of dropping his spoon and received a dirty look from Dilandau as it clattered to the floor.

Iris gulped, and held her head up proudly. While inside, she had never been so scared in her life. She looked everywhere but at Dilandau as she made her way towards an empty table. Just because she was forced to be part of them did not mean she had to like them or befriend them. She refused, as a matter of fact. These people burned down her country and killed her mother, after all.

Dilandau narrowed his eyes and pushed back his chair. If she was going to be in his slayers, she had to learn a few things.

The only sound in the entire room was the sound of Dilandau's footsteps as he made his way over to Iris. Every other slayer in the room was holder their breath, and so was Iris. She knew exactly whose footsteps those were, and that they were coming for her.

"Too good for my slayers, Princess?" Dilandau mocked, stopping directly behind Iris's chair.

Iris stiffened in her chair, sitting up board straight, but she didn't answer.

Dilandau kicked her chair out from under her, sending Iris sprawling to the floor. She caught herself on all fours, and still refused to look at Dilandau.

"That brought you down a couple of levels didn't it, Princess? Now maybe you can be among us non-royalty." Dilandau whispered dangerously.

Iris simply sat up, her hands on her knees, and waited, silent, and still refusing to meet his gaze.

"Get up," Dilandau ordered. "And follow me."

"Where are we-" Iris didn't get the question out when suddenly the back of Dilandau's hand connected with her cheek. Her head snapped sideways and she fell onto her side. Stunned, she held her cheek and stared.

"Don't ever question me. Understand? Now, get up, and follow me." Dilandau turned and walked out of the mess hall. Iris stood, and walked after him, her hand still on her bruised cheek.

He stopped in front of two metal doors, and pushed a red button on the wall. The doors slid apart, and he walked in. Iris followed, looking around as she went.

"This is the training room." Dilandau stated, walking over to the far wall and picking up a sword. He tossed it at her, and she caught it by its scabbard. "If you are going to be a dragonslayer, you must be a master swordsman. And that means you will be spending all of your time here. Training. I won't have any liabilities in my dragonslayers, is that understood?"

Iris nodded.

"I said, is that understood?" Dilandau asked again, grabbing Iris by the neck of her armored jacket and picking her up so her toes dangled on the floor.

"Yes, Dilandau." Iris said quietly.

Dilandau threw her to the ground. "Dilandau-SAMA." He corrected.

Iris winced. "Yes, Dilandau-sama,"

Dilandau stood with his hands on his hips. "I will send a few of my slayers in here to help you learn the training drills. You will follow their instructions to the letter. Understood?"

"Yes, Dilandau-sama."

Dilandau smirked. "Good. A fast learner. You have a week to train. After a week, you will be put through a tournament where you will fight all of my slayers and finally me. If you perform to my satisfaction, then you will live. If I am disappointed, you will not. Is that understood?" Dilandau walked to the doors of the training room and turned before leaving.

"Yes, Dilandau-sama." Iris whispered.

"Good. Training begins immediately. See you in a week, princess." Dilandau smirked as the doors slid shut behind him.

"I am Viole of the Dragon Slayer unit, commanded by Captain Dilandau Albatou." Viole called out his rank and position to the guard at the gate and waited for his clearance.

"Well, well, well. They've been looking for you, son. Welcome back." The gates swung open, and Viole narrowed his eyes. He stopped his guymelef by the guard and turned to look at him.

"Don't call me 'son'." Viole stated, and then brushed his melef's shoulder past the wall and the tower shook. The guard shouted and pitched off headfirst towards the ground. "Oops," Viole grinned.

"What'd ya do that for? He was being nice to you." Eric asked, his eyes wide as he looked at the motionless body of the guard far below.

"What did I tell you about making a sound?" Viole growled.

Eric shrunk back and lowered his head.

Viole maneuvered his melef inside the Zaibach base and jumped out. He made sure Eric was securely tied to the inside of the melef, told him not to make a sound, and walked inside of the center camp.

"What can we do for you, soldier?" A man in green armor asked.

"I need to know the location of the Vionne. I must return to my duties and my Captain."

The man pushed a few buttons, then wrote some numbers on a scrap of paper. "Here you go, these are the closest coordinates of where the Vionne was last. It shouldn't be far from there."

Viole examined the numbers. It wasn't far from the base at all. "Thank you, sir." Viole jogged back outside and climbed back into his melef.

"Where are we going now?" Eric asked.

"To my master, Dilandau-sama. I suggest you hold your tongue in front of him." Viole grinned and switched his melef into flight mode. They took off into the sky.

I'm coming, Dilandau-sama. I'm almost home…

*****

An hour later, Viole docked with the Vionne and jumped out of his melef. He carried a still tied up Eric over his shoulder as he made his way towards Dilandau's throne room, excited and nervous all in one.

"Dilandau-sama, an Alseides unit just docked with the Vionne, sir." Chesta reported, once being given permission to speak.

"An Alseides? Who left without my permission?" Dilandau shouted, sitting up in his throne.

Chesta winced. "N-no one, sir. We believe it may be Viole, sir. He's been missing ever since we destroyed-"

"Viole?" Dilandau said quietly, as a little weight in the back of his mind lifted at the knowledge of his slayer being home safely.

"Yes, Dilandau-sama."

"Bring him here," Dilandau ordered.

"Right away, sir." Chesta bowed then left quickly, running to fulfill his lord's orders.

Viole walked quickly toward his unknown fate.

"This could be good," he reassured himself. "Or this could also be very, very bad."

"Viole!" Chesta jogged down the hallway and jumped on his friend, hugging him and slapping him on the back. "You're back! I'm glad you're safe!"

Viole blushed and tentatively hugged Chesta back. Chesta had always been the most openly affectionate slayer. "Thanks, Ches. I'm glad I'm back safe too." Viole joked.

"I'll ask you what happened and why you're dragging that kid along with you later. Dilandau-sama has asked to see you." Chesta began leading the way towards the throne room.

"Is he pissed?" Viole winced.

"It's hard to tell. At first he seemed relieved when I told him your Alseides had docked."

"Really?" Viole grinned.

Chesta nodded. "But after that, when he told me to bring you to him, he was hard to read."

"He's impossible to read for everyone else. I don't know how you do it Chesta."

They both stopped in front of the door to the throne room.

"Here we are. Good luck, and welcome back." Chesta slapped Viole on the back once more. Then turned and marched away.

Viole took a deep breath. Eric looked up at him. "Why are you so scared of this Sama guy?" he asked.

"Keep your mouth shut or you will find out." Viole straightened his shoulders and walked forward as the door slid open. He knelt about ten steps into the room, forcing Eric to the ground with him. "Dilandau-sama," he almost whispered, straightening but not lifting his eyes.

"Viole." Dilandau stood and walked to a table that was occupied by a bottle of vino and he picked up a glass. He poured himself some vino and stepped down the steps towards Viole. He sipped from the glass, never taking his eyes off Viole. "Well?" he asked, licking his lips.

"My Alseides unit was damaged sir. I was wounded-"

"You still are." Dilandau pointed out, his eyes flickering to the red stain on Viole's shirt.

"I was unconscious for about a day, I believe. I can't remember exactly. When I awoke, I traveled to the nearest Zaibach camp to find the coordinates of the Vionne, sir. I was given them, and now I am here." Viole finished, sweat trickling between his shoulder blades.

"Yes, now you are here. And we are all so happy to have you back." Dilandau's grin dripped with venom as the back of his had flew through the air and connected with Viole's face. "How could you allow yourself to be shot down by those simpletons?" He shouted. "Are you a dragonslayer or are you a moron?"

"A…a d-dragonslayer, sir. It won't happen again." Viole stood up straight again, blinking away the tears the slap had brought immediately to his eyes.

"It had better not." Dilandau sipped from his glass again, and for the first time his eyes rested on the little boy beside Viole. "Who the hell is this?"

"A boy, sir." Viole immediately winced at that.

"No fucking fooling, Viole?" Dilandau shoved Viole to the ground. "I can see that you idiot. Who is he, and why is he here?"

Viole stood up quickly. "He was snooping around my camp when I awoke, sir. He has-"

"I wasn't snooping! I was helping you!" Eric protested.

Viole cuffed him over the head. "I told you to keep your mouth shut." He grated out. "He said he saw someone climb into your Alseides unit, sir. He says a girl climbed into your unit and stowed away inside. Perhaps you had better check-"

"My sister! She's in you melef! You've got to get her out, she'll starve or suffocate or something!" Eric attached himself to Dilandau's leg.

"Get away from Dilandau-sama you little brat!" Viole shouted and tried to pry Eric off of him. "I'm so sorry, sir, I'll take care of this…"

"Enough, Viole!" Dilandau shouted. Dilandau grabbed Eric and squeezed him by his shoulder blade and his collarbone, causing Eric to squeal in pain and release his leg. He grabbed the boy's collar and picked him up, holding him in front of his face. "What is your sister's name, boy?" he hissed.

"I-Iris. Please mister, I can't b-breathe…" Eric choked, his face turning red as Dilandau smiled.

"So, you are the young prince of a destroyed country." Dilandau tossed the coughing and sputtering boy down, still grinning. "Oh my. The game has just gotten a lot more interesting."

"Dilandau-sama?" Viole looked at his leader, wondering what to do.

"Take the boy and lock him up. Then get the necessary repairs to your melef unit and to yourself. I have some things to take care of." Dilandau cackled and walked out of the throne room.

Viole hauled Eric up and over his shoulder. "Let's go twerp."

"Viole?" Eric asked, trembling.

"What?" Viole spat, annoyed.

"Is that guy gonna kill me?"

"How should I know?" Viole dodged the question, feeling a pang of something inside of his gut.

"Will he kill my sister?" the boy asked quietly, his tears wetting Viole's back.

Viole shut his eyes and sighed, continuing on his way to Eric's cell. "I don't know, kid, alright? I just don't know."

Viole ignored the sensation beginning deep inside of him when Eric began to silently cry harder.