Iris sat at the breakfast table, scooping her spoon through her porridge and swirling it around. She wondered if the slayers were getting fed. Well, she didn't care if Gatti was fed, she supposed, grinning, but the others should be. She wondered if she would be allowed to visit them. She wanted to check on them, just to see if they were being treated fairly.
'What's fairly? They destroyed your country and killed your mother and your people. Don't forget that.'
"How could I?" Iris sighed sadly.
"What's wrong, sis? Don't 'cha like your porridge? I ate mine all up all ready. I liked it lots. They put berries in mine!" Eric said, licking his fingers.
"Eric, you are an absolute mess. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
Iris stood from the table and bowed to the royalty at the opposite end. "I'm going to clean up my messy brother, here," she said, and the king smiled down at Eric. "Would that be all right, your majesty?"
"Of course, Princess Iris. You are a guest, not a prisoner," Iris winced a bit at that, but the king took no notice. "You may go where you please, when you please. Within reason, of course."
"Of course," Iris said, curtsying again, and wondering what was considered 'within reason'. "Thank you your majesty."
"We'll see you tonight then? At dinner." The king said, rising and blotting a napkin across his large mouth.
"Yes, highness. Come on, Eric." Iris left the banquet hall and into the kitchen. There she net the, er, kindly maid from that morning.
"Is there anything I can help you with, miss?" she asked, looking down her nose at Iris and Eric.
Iris sighed. She was really getting annoyed with this attitude that the maid gave them. "We'll manage." She said, smiling coldly when the woman 'hmphed' and walked away.
"Holy hell, what is up her-"
"Eric!" Iris warned, claming a wet washcloth over his mouth. "Where on Gaea did you learn to talk like that?"
"I…heard…mph…Viole say it once…" Eric answered as Iris scrubbed his face clean, then reached for his hands.
"Well, never repeat it again, understood?" Iris said, grabbing his chin in a motherly manner and looking him in the eye sternly.
"Sorry…" Eric mumbled and let her finish washing his sticky hands.
"You are forgiven." Iris said lightly.
"Iris?"
"Yes?"
"Could we go and see Viole maybe? I kinda miss him."
Iris smiled to herself. Perfect excuse. "Sure, Eric. I wanted to see them myself. Let's find them, shall we? But, you'll have to be very quiet, all right?"
"Yeah, ok. But why?"
"Because…" Iris stumbled. "It's…the king's naptime now."
"But it's morning! He just got up!" Eric pointed out.
"Well, the king is a very busy man so he gets tired a lot, I suppose. Now hush up and follow me." Iris grabbed Eric's now clean hand and pulled him out of the kitchen and down a long hallway.
Dungeon, dungeon, where is the dungeon? Iris asked to herself as she pulled Eric down numerous hallways and staircases.
"Iris?"
"What?"
"Do you know where we're going at all?" Eric asked.
Perceptive little kid. "Of course I do."
"Then why have we pasted that big painting three times?"
Iris sighed.
"Let's try that staircase there." Eric pointed.
Iris hadn't even seen that one. "All right. Down we go." Iris grabbed a torch off of the wall and followed the dark staircase all the way to the bottom. "Bingo," she said quietly as her torch lit up cells on the far side of the room. The dark, damp smell of dungeons wafted her way, and Iris wrinkled her nose.
"Where are they at?" Eric whispered.
"I don't know, we'll just have to look." With that, Iris started down the rows of cells, shivering a bit at the sight of bones and still human forms in some of them as she held her torch to each cell. Finally, she heard voices, and thought she recognized them. "Miguel?" she called out carefully.
Miguel's ears pricked up, and all the other slayers went quiet. The other slayers glared at him, motioning for him to keep his mouth shut when they recognized her voice.
"Chesta?" Iris called out.
Chesta looked down, keeping his mouth in a firm line.
Iris passed a cell and thought she saw many still shapes in it. She held up her torch and squinted into the cell, recognizing at last the faces of the slayers. "Here you are! Didn't you hear me calling? I was trying to find which cell you were all-" Iris trailed off, seeing the looks she was getting from them. Understanding fell on her like ice water, and she sighed. "Ah. I see. You're all angry with me, is that it?"
"Why would we be angry? You only got us cramped up here in this godforsaken dungeon, with our Captain who know where, getting who-knows-what done to him. I don't know why we can't all still be the best of friends." Gatti spat, standing and walking towards her.
His eyes were cold, almost as cold as Dilandau's could be. "You think I planned this, don't you?" Iris asked quietly.
"What, you didn't plan to jump out of your melef and run screaming towards the castle, begging for help? It just kinda happened?" Gatti scoffed.
"I know that happens to me all the time," Dalet sneered sarcastically.
"I didn't plan to involve you all like this. I didn't want this to happen. All I wanted was to get to safety. You all would have gone free. This is the last thing I wanted to happen. I swear it." Iris said. Inside her head, there was a battle going on. 'Why are you explaining yourself to them? You own them nothing. They are the enemy. They deserve this.'
"Right. Get out of here, princess. These dungeons are much to dirty and smelly for your type." Gatti pushed away from the bars and turned his back on her, walking away.
"Where's Viole?" Eric piped up, not seeing his friend in the dark cell.
"Who knows? He could be in another cell, dying, bleeding to death. Hey, he could all ready be dead for all we know. The same with Dilandau-sama." Gatti raised his shoulders angrily.
"W-what do you mean, bleeding?" Eric asked in a small voice.
"He got the shit beat out of him by the damn Freid soldiers. He's probably a goner."
"Y-you're wrong. That's impossible." Eric stuttered, his lip beginning to quiver.
"Oh it' more than possible, it's probable. I saw him. He wasn't looking like he was ready to jump up and go dancing anytime soon." Gatti laughed a bit insanely.
"Gods, Gatti. Don't talk about him like that. He's our friend." Chesta said quietly.
"Past tense, my friend, for he's undoubtedly only Death's friend now." Gatti chuckled again.
"Stop it!" Eric cried out. "Viole is fine! He can't be hurt! He's invincible! He told me himself that he was!"
"Eric, hush…" Iris tried to comfort the boy, but she shoved her away.
"What a load of shit. There is no such thing as 'invincible', kid. Best you learn that now." Gatti crouched down close to where Eric was, outside of the bars, and whispered. "You're buddy is probably pushing up daisies by now. And it's all your sister's fucking fault."
Eric's face crumpled, and he began to cry at this. Iris struck her foot against the cell's bars, knocking Gatti, who'd been resting his head against the bars, smiling a bit sadistically at Eric, back onto his haunches.
"You bitch," Gatti sneered and moved fast towards her. He reached his arms between the cell bars and grabbed for her.
Iris grabbed Eric and pulled him back, and all Gatti got was a bit of the material from her dress. He growled in anger and lashed at her again, but could reach no farther. He swore and kicked the cell's bars. Iris just watched him, amazed at how he'd changed in only a few days. He was ruthless, he was barely human.
Gatti spat at her before backing away from the bars. He hit her in the face, and Iris closed her eyes. She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her face clean while Gatti smiled at her.
"I'm glad you are in that barred box, Gatti." Iris said, her voice cold and emotionless. "That's exactly where animals like you belong."
Iris grabbed Eric's hand and pulled him away from the cell, and away from Gatti's jeering laughter. Eric cried quietly as Iris walked without knowing where she'd end up. Eric pulled on Iris's arm after a bit. She looked down at his tear-streaked face and felt her heart melt.
"What is it, honey?" Iris asked, wiping his face dry with her skirt.
"Can we…find Viole, Iris? Please? I want to see him." Eric hiccuped and tried his best to stop crying.
"We can try, Eric. But I have no idea where they would keep an injured prisoner."
"Why don't we ask someone?"
"Well, they might not want us visiting them, Eric. They might believe him to be dangerous."
"Viole is not dangerous!" Eric cried indignantly. "He'd never hurt me or you."
"Eric, I believe you." Iris said, trying to calm the boy by gently skimming his wet cheek with her fingers. "But the king and his men may not." Iris sighed and knelt in front of him, taking his arms in her hands. "Eric, Viole may be your friend, but he is still the enemy. Do you understand that?" Iris asked, berating herself for trying to explain what she disregarded by having feelings for Dilandau.
"He's not the enemy! He never did anything wrong." Eric told Iris, shaking his head.
"Well, yes he did, honey. Don't you remember what happened to our home? To Rolowen?"
"He didn't do that," Eric said, the asked quietly. "Did he?"
Iris nodded sadly. "He helped. All the dragonslayers did. I'm sure he didn't mean anything personal," Iris said quickly as Eric's face began to crumple. "He was ordered to do it. He had no choice."
Eric's tears ran silently down his pale face as this all sank in. "Why didn't he tell me, then? Why didn't he…" Eric lowered his eyebrows angrily and shook out of Iris's grasp. "He lied." He said sadly, then took off down the dark hallway.
"Eric! Eric, come back!" Iris stood and tried to jog after him, but he was all ready out of her sight. She sighed and closed her eyes. It wasn't fair. He was so young, why did he have to be put through this?
Iris walked slowly down the dark and damp hallway, trailing her fingers over the cool stone wall. He fingers touched wood suddenly, and Iris looked to her side to see a door. There was a barred window at the top of the large door, and Iris stood on her tiptoes to look in. She saw a table of some sort, and two nurses blocked her sight to see who lay on it. Her heart beat a bit harder, thinking that perhaps she'd found Dilandau at last.
She silently told the nurses to bloody move out of her way, and narrowed her eyes in frustration when they didn't heed her silent command. She heard their voices whispering softly, and she strained her ears to try and listen.
"Seems to still be drugged," one of the nurses observed.
"Yes, but shouldn't he be coming out of it buy now? The last drug was administered almost seven hours ago."
"Yes, good point," one of the nurses narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, looking into the patient's dazed eyes and listening to his slow and measured breathing. She waved her hand in font of his face, and even (*shiver*) slapped his cheeks a few times to see if she could get a reaction. The patient merely blinked once, very slowly, and went back to his distant stare.
The nurse sighed and shrugged. "Perhaps he was just extremely susceptible to the drug, because he is still out of it."
"Am I?"
Iris gasped at the male voice and then the world seemed to turn upside down.
The reaction was immediate. The nurses both scrambled to tie his limbs down and one grabbed a needle that was set on a tray beside his restraining table. Dilandau kicked the table away, sending the syringe and the drug crashing to the floor, shattering the drug and breaking the needle off of the syringe.
He smiled smugly at the two nurses who stood in shock, staring at him. He shrugged. "Oops," He sprung off of the table then, taking down one of the nurses and banging her head against the floor, immediately knocking her unconscious. The other nurse ran for the door and Iris jumped back. The door flew open and banged against the hallway's wall, knocking the only torch out of it's holder and plunging the entire scene into darkness. Iris gasped and kept herself flattened against the wall, trying to control her breathing and keep quiet.
Iris felt the nurse try and rush past her, but heard dark chuckling and the nurse's scream as she was pulled back into the room. There was a sickening crack as Dilandau snapped the nurse's neck, then a dull thud as he dropped her lifeless body to the floor.
Iris placed a hand to her mouth and tried not to gag. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would soon explode. She strained her and stayed very still, trying not to make a noise. She heard nothing after several minutes of waiting, and eased herself away from the wall, widening her eyes and begging them to adjust to the complete darkness that she was submerged in. She held an unsteady arm out in front of her as she pushed away from the wall, feeling blindly for anything that was in her path.
She felt something.
Iris had barely opened her mouth to gasp when her wrist was seized and she was pulled roughly against a body. Her arms were pinned between her and the body in front of her. A hand descended on her mouth and muffled her cry of surprise.
"Hush, now princess. Can't have you giving away my secret." The man lifted his hand from Iris's mouth.
"Dilandau," Iris said quietly. "What are you-"
"I'm leaving. My slayers and I are leaving, and you, Princess, are our ticket out." Dilandau smirked at her look of shock. He pushed her around, wrenching an arm painfully behind her back. "Let's move."
Iris winced as pain flashed through her arm as it was bent past its normal angle. "Dilandau, don't do this. You don't need me. You proved that in that room, with the nurses. You are perfectly capable of escaping this place on your own. Please…"
Dilandau smirked behind her, and tightened his grip on her arm. "Keep your mouth shut, Princess. I can't listen for guards with you pleading like that."
Iris heard the smile in his voice, and stayed quiet, biding her time. He'd be relaxed in a second, she just had to wait until she felt his hand loosen just a bit…NOW!
Iris threw her elbow back into Dilandau's stomach as soon as his grip had lightened up enough to allow her that movement. Dilandau grunted and doubled over. Iris whirled around and kicked her leg out, taking Dilandau's out from under him.
She ran then. She ran like hell. Down the dark passageways and past the cells, listening to Dilandau's laughter the entire way. Feelings or not, she refused to be taken back to the Vionne.
Dilandau chuckled as he got to his feet, rubbing the spot in his ribs that would no doubt be black and blue by morning. "So," he said, still smiling. "Now I know where Miguel learned that move." He continued down the passageway, every sense alert. He stopped and pressed himself against the stone wall when he heard voices. He stopped his breathing, and listened for the direction from which they were coming. He recognized them. His slayers.
Dilandau pulled away from the wall and looked around the corner cautiously. 'No guards?' he thought, then smirked and shook his head. 'Freid is about to learn a lesson about underestimating a Zaibach warlord.'
Dilandau jogged past a few cells, and stopped next to the one his slayers occupied.
"Shut up, Dalet," Dilandau heard Chesta hiss. "Didn't you hear that? Someone is coming."
"Well it isn't like our plan is that great anyway. We should discuss it with the damn guard, ask him for his advice." Dalet rolled his eyes sarcastically and went to the front of the cell, looking out and shouting. "Excuse me? Mister guard? We need some advice over here. We were wondering if it would be better to try and escape through the ventilation system and risk being chopped up by the huge metal fans, or to-"
Dilandau kicked the cell bars and knocked Dalet back, shutting him up. "Gods, Dalet. Where in Dragonslayer training did you learn to be such a fucking moron?" he hissed.
Dalet blinked, then stared. "D-Dilandau-sama?"
"So, the moron thing comes and goes? On your feet." Dilandau ordered and Dalet scrambled to right himself. "Shut up, all of you." Dilandau said when the slayers began to ask if he was all right. They quieted immediately and stood straight in a line, all of them at attention. Dilandau smirked at this, pleased by their recognition of his authority even in this situation. He looked them over, then narrowed his eyes. "Where's Viole?"
"We, we don't know sir. We haven't seen him since we were captured." Chesta reported quietly.
Dilandau swore. Of course it couldn't have been an easy rescue, he thought bitterly. Gods forbid they all be in one spot.
"Do you know if he's alive?" Dilandau asked quickly, remembering the condition he was in during the battle.
"No, sir." Chesta said, lowering his eyes.
Dilandau nodded curtly and appeared to be thinking something over. He bent down and removed the dagger from its sheath in his boot. "Take notes, boys," he said. "Lesson one, breaking out of a cell." Dilandau slammed the tip of his dagger into the lock on the cell and turned it, forcing the dagger in a slow circle. "Freidian metal is soft," Dilandau said, grunting as he continued to turn his dagger. The metal of the lock screeched and made the most awful grinding noises. A few slayers winced while others just gritted their teeth.
The lock on the cell suddenly popped open, and the cell door swung free. The slayers stood, amazed, and watched dumbly as Dilandau yanked his dagger from the door and blew the metal shavings off of it. He wiped it on the leg of his leather pants, and then returned it to its sheath in his boot. "Lesson two," he continued as the slayers finally snapped out of it and filed out of the cell. He stepped to Dalet and backhanded the brunette swiftly. "Don't act like a dumbass when planning an escape." Dalet reeled a bit, but Miguel caught his arm and Dalet righted himself, his hand under his bleeding nose. Dilandau sneered at him once more, then lead the way out of the dungeon. "Let's go."
*~*~*~*~*
Eric ran until he was completely lost in the dark passages that ran underneath of the Freidian castle. Tears streamed from his big green eyes as he stopped and tried to catch his breath.
"Viole can't be dead," he whimpered, wiping his nose ferociously. "He's invincible."
Eric leaned against the wall behind him, and sighed. The wall, however, turned out to be a door, and it swung open, leaving Eric stunned and on his back. Eric coughed and rolled over onto his stomach. Mumbling something about stupid hidden doors and old castles, he stood and brushed his little body off.
He looked up into the dim room, and squinted at what he saw. A table, a lot of tables. He saw a body lying on the table closest to him. Eric blinked and walked closer in his youthful innocence. His eyes focused on the nearest table and widened as he got closer. The body on the table was breathing in short, painful gasps. Eric got closer, walking slowly, his little heart beating rapidly. He knew it was a man by the sounds he was making; a man in a lot of pain.
"V-Viole?" Eric whispered, hoping. He rounded the table and got close to the man's face.
Eric screamed.
The man's face was missing. In its place was a black charred mess. Eric covered his mouth and backed away from the body, trying not to gag. The man just continued to moan unconsciously. He gasped again when he heard a voice call his name from across the room.
"E-Eric? That…that you, buddy?" a weak voice rasped.
"Viole?" Eric whispered, still shaken.
"Yeah, I'm…ugn…over here…"
Eric walked quickly towards the table that the voice came from. His little hands covered his mouth again when he saw his friend. "Viole," Eric cried. "Gods, your face…"
Viole had a gash above his let eyebrow that was still seeping a bit. His right cheek was blue and green with a large bruise, and his bottom lip was split and bloodied.
Viole smiled a bit. "If you think my…my face is bad, you should see…ugn…see the rest of me."
Eric smiled and came closer to the table. "You're alive! I knew you wouldn't die! I knew it! You're invincible, just like you said."
"Invincible," Viole sighed. "Damn straight."
"Gatti said you were dead," Eric mumbled.
"Gatti is an asshole."
"You swear too much," Eric said, smiling as he remembered their last conversation like this.
Viole grinned and winced as he opened his eyes. "You complain too much."
Eric laughed. "I'm happy you're not dead."
"Yeah, well that makes two of us, buddy."
"More than two," a voice came from across the hall.
Viole stiffened immediately, recognizing the voice. "Dilandau-sama," he whispered.
"It's so hard to find good soldiers these days, it would have been a pain for me to search for a replacement." Dilandau walked over to Viole and smirked.
Viole closed his eyes and sighed. Dilandau was there, and everything would be all right now. "I'm sorry, Dilandau-sama," Viole began.
"Save your breath, Viole. From the looks of you you're going to need your energy." Dilandau's red eyes scanned the area for guards, then sighed. "All right, Viole. I need you to get up. We're leaving."
"The others…" Viole started.
"They are waiting for us outside the castle. C'mon, sit up."
"He's hurt," Eric protested, finding his voice.
"I can see that," Dilandau grated out through his teeth, his patience not at its highest level right now, meaning her had less than none. But Viole was all ready moving. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that his eyes would not betray him in front of his master and shed tears.
"Now turn towards me," Dilandau instructed. He turned around, his back to Viole. "Get on."
Viole's cheeks flamed red. "I'll walk, Dilandau-sama. You don't have to carry-"
"Your left leg is broken, Viole. You cannot walk fast enough to suit me. Now get on my back before I change my mind and leave you behind." It was an empty threat, Dilandau knew, for he'd never leave one of his own behind, but Viole got the message and slid off of the table and on to Dilandau's back. Dilandau held him under his legs, and headed for the door.
"Hey! Where are you going with him?" Eric called. "You can't just take him! Bring him back!" Eric began to pursue Dilandau, and Dilandau smiled as he heard the annoying little brat's footsteps behind him.
Perfect.
Viole hung on, his arms loosely around his captain's neck. He would have felt extremely touched by Dilandau's actions if he hadn't been in so much pain. He gritted his teeth and fought not to whimper with each step that Dilandau took.
Dilandau shook his silver bangs from his face and looked around the corner cautiously. Seeing no one, he hurried down the passage and finally saw daylight at the end of it. The slayers had found a weak spot in the stone wall there, and had knocked out the stones in order to escape. Dilandau ducked low through the hole so Viole wouldn't be hit, and looked over his shoulder to make sure Eric was still following them. Sure enough, there he was, padding along behind them with a determined look on his small face.
Dilandau rolled his eyes and chuckled. Viole hissed at Eric to leave, but Dilandau tightened his grip on one of Viole's legs, and Viole hesitated, and just ignored Eric, wondering what his Captain had in mind.
"Dilandau-sama!" he heard a slayer hiss quietly. He turned his head and saw Gatti motioning him inside of one of the melef hangers on the castle grounds.
Looking quickly from side to side, Dilandau jogged towards the hanger and ducked inside. While Miguel and Refina collected Viole off of his back, Dilandau surveyed the hanger. Seven melefs. Some of the slayers would have to double up, and it was obvious Viole couldn't drive one in his condition.
You can't just leave her…
That damn voice was the absolute last thing he needed right now.
What are you doing? Just when you finally let yourself care-
"Shut the fuck up, I don't need this or you. I have your goddamned body now, so leave me alone! I will never be a weak female again. Get out of my head! I have to think…" Dilandau took a deep breath and began to pace. He'd gotten himself and his slayers out of the dungeon, and out of the castle. But they were still on castle grounds. He knew it wouldn't be long before their absence was discovered and guards began to pour in left and right. They'd be outnumbered fifty-to-one in seconds.
He glanced at the guymelefs, scoffing at their uselessness and out-of-date technology. They couldn't even fly, so unless everyone in Freid dropped dead in about five minutes and they could all just walk out of here in the melefs, they were useless to him.
He needed time, a hostage; he needed Iris. But she'd slipped from his hands. He had Eric, that was almost as good, but only if Iris knew he was here, surely she'd be looking for him.
Or you.
"What?" Dilandau growled.
She may be looking for you.
"Why the hell would she look for me?" Dilandau sighed.
She cares for you.
"Right," Dilandau scoffed. "And that's why she ran from me, after just about breaking two of my ribs."
She was scared…and so are you.
Dilandau was silent for a moment. There was no point in lying, she was in his goddamned head, so she knew what he was feeling. "I don't know if I can get them out of here," he said quietly, his fist curled tight and resting against his mouth.
You can Dilandau. You're strong, be strong.
"How? What do I do? The guards will be here any fucking minute, and we can't escape in those damn antique melefs. I need more time, I can't plan like this." For a moment, anyone who would have looked in on Dilandau at that exact moment would have seen the true teenage boy that he was. He was scared, unsure, and lost. He felt so alone and out of control.
He was terrified and it angered the hell out of him, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"What's he doing?" Miguel whispered to Chesta as he looked at Dilandau.
"Planning. He always talks aloud while he's planning. Haven't you noticed that? He's working everything out. He'll have our orders in no time. Let's go check on Viole." Chesta turned Miguel away from Dilandau, wanting his Captain to have his privacy.
Dilandau suddenly stiffened and stood up straight. His ears homed in on the area in and around the hanger.
Footsteps. About fifteen or so people. Dilandau sighed and shut his eyes for a brief moment.
So, the Freidian imbeciles had finally noticed.
"Swords," Dilandau called, alerting the slayers to the oncoming attack.
The sound of metal drawing from metal filled the hanger as the dragonslayers prepared for battle.
"This is it, boys," Dilandau said, positioning himself in front of all his slayers. "We win and we go free, we lose and we die. Zaibach soldiers will never be prisoners twice. Understood?"
A quiet chorus of "Yes Dilandau-sama's" reached his ears and he tightened his grip on his sword.
The door to the hanger opened, and the world exploded into battle cries and clashing swords.
