Chapter 16: Uncovering the Past



All through Setsuna's classes, she couldn't concentrate. The thought of Zaibach being so close scared her. What if they came after her, was her main thought. The day passed quickly and the two levi ships were all over the news that evening. The following morning Setsuna was woken up by Naoko.

"Come on sleepy head, time to get up for school." Setsuna sat up confused. She had figured that school would have been cancelled because of the two "UFO's" that were spotted in the sky the pervious day. "Well come on Setsuna, you can't stay in bed all day." Naoko said as she placed the freshly folded school fuku on the end of the bed and left. Setsuna wearily got out of bed and dressed.

As she walked to school she could see the two floating ships in the sky and wondered what they both had planned. Would they start a war on Earth? Time could only tell. As she walked into the school she got an unusual feeling. Words couldn't describe what she felt. Setsuna then headed to her locker as usual and went straight to class.

Setsuna stayed rather quiet at lunch. Her mind was too focussed on the Vione. Tika snapped Setsuna out of her daze just in time for her to listen in on her friend Ami's conversation.

"Ya well today in Calculus we had two new students which just happen to be cuties!" The girls giggled and Ami continued. "Ya and their names are Gatti and Miguel. I think they're from Europe." Setsuna nearly choked on her sandwich. Ami looked over at her friend confused. "Setsuna, what's wrong?" Setsuna swallowed her food and took a sip of her can of pop.

"What did these guys look like?" she asked her in a serious tone.

"Oh um . . ." she paused. "Hey you see those two guys talking over there." she said as she pointed at the two young men. Setsuna turned and was not surprised at all. It was them, the Dragon Slayers. They're probably here after me, she thought to herself as studied them carefully. The two then looked over at her and she quickly turned around hoping that they didn't see her. "Hey Gatti! Miguel! Come on over!" Ami shouted to them as she waved her hand at them. Setsuna felt very panicked and her friends noticed this.

"Setsuna, what's wrong?" Tika asked concerned.

"I've gotta go." She answered as she got up and ran off.

"You can't go yet. You've got to met these guys." Setsuna turned to Ami with a serious face.

"I've already met them and I don't want to talk to them again." Setsuna turned back around and left. The two boys then approached the girls.

"Hey Ami." Miguel said as he winked at her. Ami blushed slightly. "So who was that girl who just ran off?" He asked as he and Gatti sat down with the other girls.

"Oh that was Setsuna. She said she'd already met you two and that she didn't want to talk to ya ever again." There was an awkward silence in the air.

"What did you guys do to her?" Tika asked them in a defensive way.

"We did nothing. We haven't met her before." Gatti answered.

"Hm, maybe she thought you guys were someone else then." Ami remarked.

"Probably." Miguel replied.



Setsuna walked around the school alone trying to avoid the duo and anyone else from Zaibach. She knew that if they were here then the others would be too and her hypothesis was right. She had seen at least Chesta, Dallet, Violle and Guimel. Prefect, just perfect, she thought to herself. Ami came up from behind her and placed her hand on Setsuna's shoulder causing her friend to jump slightly. Setsuna turned around and to her horror she saw them, Gatti and Miguel.

"What the fuck do you two want?" Setsuna snarled at the two boys. Ami looked at Setsuna in shock.

"We're only following our orders Setsuna." She rolled her eyes.

"And let me guess, your orders are to kidnap me, bring me back to the Vione and force me to fight for Zaibach." Setsuna scoffed.

"Setsuna, what are you talking about?" Ami asked confused.

"Well, it's sorta like that Setsuna except all we're here to do is to bring you back." Gatti replied. Ami looked as confused as ever.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not going back. Not now, not ever." They didn't react at all to her comment. They knew that she would refuse.

"Setsuna, don't make our job any harder than it already is." Miguel said to her in a sort of begging way. The two stepped closer and Setsuna stepped back away from them. As Gatti went to put his hand on her shoulder she pushed it away and ran off. The two then quickly followed Setsuna and left behind a very confused Ami.

Tika walked around the corner of one of the hallways and watched Setsuna run quickly past her then she saw those two guys, Gatti and Miguel follow not too long after. She then came across Ami who was standing in the hallway confuse. "What's going on?" Tika asked.

"I don't have a fucking clue." Ami answered honestly.



Setsuna ran to the outside of the school thinking she had lost the two. She may have lost them but she hadn't lost the other slayers who were hiding in the school. Violle came up from behind her held her arms down as he wrapped his own arms around her upper body. She trashed about hoping that it would cause him to loosen his grip but it did nothing but make him tighten it. She then sudden got a wicked idea. She kicked her leg backwards hitting him in his sensitive area. Instantly he let go and fell to the ground. She ran back into the school not knowing why.

Setsuna ran to her locker for an unknown reason. When she open it she saw something she didn't want to see. Before her eyes was her Dragon Slayer uniform. "Oh fuck," she breathed and quickly shut her locker. She ran back out of the school and making sure she couldn't see any of the slayers. Once she knew the coast was clear, she made a run for it. She ran as fast as her tired legs could take her. As she rounded the corner of her street she bumped into a man. She stumbled backwards then looked up to see who it was.

"A-Allen." She stuttered. He smiled down at her like he always did. Allen led her back to the levi ship Crusade where she found the rest of her friends; Van the young king, Merle his companion, the king and queen of Asturia, and the crew of the Crusade. Millerna took Setsuna to a secluded room where she found her two month old daughter fast asleep. A smile form on Setsuna's face as she picked up her sleeping daughter.

"I'll let you have some time alone with her." Millerna said as she left the room. Setsuna rocked the young child in her arms then layed her back down on the bed.

As she was about to sit down on the bed by her daughter, she heard the crumpling of a paper coming from her shirt pocket. She put her hand into the pocket and pulled out the paper which was neatly folded and addressed to her. She read it over to herself in silence. It was from Folken. In the letter he had told her to look into Gaea's history before she chooses sides.

With that thought in mind, she headed to the small library aboard the Crusade. She skimmed through numerous historical texts that talked about how Gaea came into being to the very present. As she read she found some very interesting information. She closed the book on her lap and returned to her room. She wrapped Dilandra securely in her blanket and peered thought the doorway to see if anyone was around. Lucky for her they were all in the melef bay eating lunch. Setsuna escaped from the levi ship and ran home with Dilandra in her arms.

Once she was home she immediately explained everything to Naoko. She told her everything, not leaving out one single detail. It was a bit unbelievable for Naoko but it did explain quite a bit. "Naoko, please take care of Dilandra until I return ok." Naoko nodded as Setsuna handed to young child over to her. Setsuna looked at her watch and ran back to the school hoping she would make there in time before the last bell went.

Luckily for her she made it back there ten minutes before it would go. Some students were let out early and walked home or to their buses as Setsuna walked up the steps of the school. She went back to her locker and saw the uniform still hanging there along with a note attached.

Setsuna,

if you want to come back to the Vione, you must face me in a duel at 2:33 behind your school.

Dilandau



She grabbed the uniform and sword out of her locker. She knew what she had to do. She shut her locker and headed to the girls change room where she undressed herself and put on her black and gold Dragon Slayer uniform. Memories flooded back to her as put on each piece of the uniform. Tika walked in on Setsuna as she changed and looked at her in shock.

"Setsuna, what are you doing?" She asked confused. Setsuna looked at her friend with a smile.

"I'm going back." She answered simply.

"Back where? To Zaibach or whatever?" Setsuna nodded and smiled. "But I thought you hated them."

"I did until I found out the truth. You see, Zaibach was once a prosperous country until Asturia attacked them hundreds of years ago. The Asturians destroyed their crops and lives. The people of Zaibach use to be peaceful but when the Asturian nobles saw how Zaibach, a small and powerless country, was doing so well they decided to kill them." Tika looked shocked but still confused. The whole Gaea thing had her confused from the start. Setsuna grabbed her belt which had her sheathed sword attached to it and put it on around her waist.

Calmly she walked out of the change room and down the hallway. It was 2:30, she had three minutes to meet up with Dilandau. As she walked down the halls she was given numerous strange looks but she simply ignored them. She walked out to the parking lot behind the school where she saw him waiting for her along with his Dragon Slayers.

"So Setsuna, what's it gonna be? Them or us?" Dilandau asked her as he prepared to draw his sword.

"You." She answered him honestly.

"Well, I don't know if I want you back traitor!" He barked at her. "But, I would be willing to let you back if you show that you're worthy in a duel." Before anymore could be said Setsuna had already drawn her sword.

Crowds of students gathered around to watch. Tika and Ami were among the crowd and could not believe their own eyes. They saw their Setsuna preparing to have a sword fight with a silver haired boy.

Both Setsuna and Dilandau got into their fighting stances. Dilandau was the first to attack but his attack was easily blocked by Setsuna who then counterattacked his attack. Their fight raged on. Both fought to their best and without noticing it were putting on an entertaining show for the other students around.

Setsuna began to notice more hatred in his eyes as they fought. She knew that his blood red eyes were always filled with some sort of hatred but she noticed there was more. "Why do you hate me so much Dilandau?" Setsuna asked him as she blocked another one of his attacks.

"Why? Well first of all you left and second of all you went and got knocked up by that bastard Allen!" Dilandau yelled as he attacked again and Setsuna laughed.

"You thought that I got knocked up by Allen that playboy! Ha! I would never let him touch me the way you did." She blocked his attack and then attack him. "You're the one who knocked me Dilandau." He was left speechless. "I left Zaibach because I was confused but now that I know her history, I don't want to leave ever again." Dilandau didn't know what to say. Setsuna waited for his response which kept her off guard and Dilandau used it to his advantage. He knocked her sword out of her hand and held the tip of his own sword at her neck.