Chapter 6
The Devil*
Flames of the Original Sin
Hiero Fanel's body lay face up, his eyes shut and his front covered with the blood of Fanelia's people. He is asleep, just lying there prone and quietly, the only movement made being the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He's been here for a while, alone, then suddenly his eyes and mouth twitch, and his dreams begin.
~ The Astral Plane ~
Hiero let his eyes groggily open up, a fuzzy image of light browns and peach swirling across his tired lids. There was a wisp of green in he image, then it slowly became clear, and he felt a hand stroking his scarred cheek gently.
"Mother? Mother is that you?" he asked, his voice sounding almost child-like and scared. His mother smiled at him and patted his cheek. "You're finally awake, my darling angel. You must be ill, always passing out like that on us. You really gave your father and I a scare." She said lightly, her eyes glittering like emeralds, the soothing sound of her voice making his smile up at her wistfully.
He tried to focus a bit longer and found they were under the beautiful willow tree in the castle garden, one she read stories to him under as a child and his father taught him the Dragon Bride. It had been a simple family place before his training began, after that it became an escape to memories.
"I guess….I'm sorry for scaring you. I had a terrible dream….that you and father were dead….that Fanelia….was…."he started, but she put her hand to his mouth and shushed him.
"Don't worry so much, your father and I went through a lot of pain too when we were young. You're strong, Hiero, stronger than you give yourself credit….we don't blame you for anything of the past. Is the future you should be concerned with, and those around you. They are your true strength, angel." She coaxed, getting up carefully, gently lowing his head into the grassy ground. Then she began to walk away, smiling gently, but it seemed familiar, a sad and knowing smile from the past.
He felt confused. One moment she said he'd passed out, the next she was saying she knew what he was going through. 'Dream….I'm dreaming. She couldn't know….my mother was murdered by Zaibach, father was too….so Fanelia…really is dead. Why am I dreaming when my people are dead?!' he mind screamed.
His mother halted in her quiet retreat and looked at him in astonishment, as if she'd heard his thoughts. "It is all just a dream you want to live in….but I'm not the one who can tell you that. Your father and I didn't get to know you long enough to understand your pain. You need another for that….if you care to discover this, follow me. If you want to forget reality stay here a sleep forever. I'm sure Alessa and the others will get along without you….for a while." She said crassly.
Hiero got up when Alessa's name was mentioned and ran for her, but she was already running away from him. He sped up, the scene swirling into an electrically charged whirlpool tunnel, but he didn't care. He kept his pace in chasing her, all the way through until a blinding light washed over him.
He found himself standing in a field, one lush with wildflowers even in the night air that graced across it, making it look like a colorful emerald sea. The way the wind blew across the grass made it look so, and the memory was clear to him. He knew where this was even before he turned around, seeing the grave with the beautiful epitaph on it, a bouquet of fresh roses and wildflowers set before it.
In Loving Memory of our Only Son
Hiero Inverse, Who Had Just Begun to Live.
May Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest.
He touched it gently, remembering the one time he'd come here, just to see his home one last time before going after his last mother's sister, Luna Inverse. He was in a memory of Val's true world, where his last parents Lina Inverse and Zelgadis Graywords had lived, and died. Roses had always been his favorite flower, so pristine and richly red, though it reminded him most time of a flower made of silken and sweet blood. The smell was always welcome to the stench of old blood, something he had grown used to over the years, and in Fanelia.
The grave was empty, he couldn't die, but Lina and Zel hadn't known that, nor had they found his remains, only burning the ashes of what remained of some of his clothing he left behind when Luna had impaled him fatally, then tried to blow him apart. He'd teleported away in time, but still, he regretted not telling his past parents his secret of eternal life. It was shallow and cruel to make them think he was dead, but it had to be done, there was no way to avoid. They found out eventually, but he still felt guilty.
"About time you got your sneaky ass in here? We have to talk, Hiero." He heard a crass and tough female voice, one he'd thought he'd never hear again, the voice of Lina Inverse.
He smiled as he turned around, hearing the deep and velvety voice of his past father, Zelgadis Graywords join her, seeing them standing side by side a few feet behind him. "You really need the talking to….it happening again is what you're thinking. That you're cursed to suffer….you're wrong. Everything dies, Hiero, even if you never will. It's no reason to blame yourself. It couldn't be helped, we always kept telling you to stop kicking yourself around for every little thing that went wrong for people." The man said.
In Hiero's mind, Zelgadis was human, complete with pale skin, a dark tunic and clothing, and lavender hair, but his eyes were still perfectly sapphire blue, much like Hiero's were when he was still on Val's world. They both looked very alive, but Zelgadis looked very smug and Lina, she had that death glare she'd taught him to mimic after using it so often on him and his father.
"But I couldn't save everyone….they were after Alessa, Val and myself….for their prophecy of the seven angels. I don't even fully know how it works, it was a worthless slaughtering of innocent people," Hiero spat," Of course it's my fault!"
He had no idea how it happened, but the second he said it, he got punched right into his own false grave, blowing it to pieces with the force of the punch. Lina had done it, with Zelgadis, enough force to break a normal person's face forever, but Hiero wasn't normal. He'd never be normal, but still, it hurt like hell.
He flopped himself up into a sitting position, resting his shaky elbows on the remains of the gravestone, then tried readjusting his jaw painfully. "OW! What the fuck was that for? EEP!"
Lina and Zelgadis got in his face just as suddenly and both looked ready to hit him again. "You're too smart to think that Hiero, don't give us your guilt trip. Even we couldn't have stopped you new uncle and the siren from hell….not every damn thing is your fault. Spying on ladies in the bathhouses and getting caught, that was your fault, blowing up my favorite treasure box with a fireball was your fault!" Lina counted off, then got a triumphant grin on her face," Now becoming the Dynast Graucherra's priest, well, as bad as that was, that wasn't entirely your fault, and no one got hurt over it, and most especially the end of the world wasn't your fault. L-sama was being a greedy bitch and she got Xellas and Deep Sea Dolphin to wreck it. You were the one who killed them, the one who helped the Dynast try and keep the world alive, you even risked everything just to come save us, but our deaths were not your fault. You did your best and that was all anyone could ask of you. You can't do everything at once, you're not responsible for every bad thing you can't stop. That's life, don't you see that, you jellyfish for brains dope!?"
Hiero was incensed, but he took the words in. He didn't like being compared to Gourry, that lame swordsman he tricked into giving him the Sword of Light. That guy gave knew meaning to the word brainless, Gourry having so little a sack of hammers was smarter than him. He really didn't like being called the age-old insult his past mother had given Gourry for his very, very, very, very low I.Q. and poor memory skills, one that lasted all of a minute before he said he didn't understand. He made the real dumb blondes look like geniuses. He showed it too by tackling Lina away from Zel and putting her in one of her own famous headlocks. "I get what you're saying, but never call me jellyfish for brains. I am not Gourry, he never could take a hint."
"I'll call you it every time you go to sleep unless you stop brooding. Be yourself for once in your life, the Hiero not controlled by Delphine, the Hiero that desires love, money, and kicking ass and eating more than his weight in gold! You promise, and you better mean it….or we'll know. We always know, Hiero, hell we always knew when you were fibbing…." Lina spat, grabbing him by his arm and flipping him off her and onto his back hard. His face looked a bit stunned, gritting his teeth from the slight pain caused by the attack, then he smirked at her pleasantly.
"Ok, for you….Mama, and Father….and everyone I still have. I will do it. I won't be a Zelgadis." He quipped, rolling away to avoid Zelgadis' foot. He giggled at his past father's insulted face, but Lina socked her husband in the head, knocking him face first into the grass. "That's the Hiero we all knew and loved. Now go and be the hero you were born to be, just don't pull any sulk crap. Do it for all of us, just LIVE!" Lina crowed, flashing a big grin and her victory sign.
Hiero flashed one right back, and then the light came again, flashing across him as everything around him slowly melted away.
~ Southern Coastal Forest ~
- Lost Woods -
Hiero's body twitched a moment, wet things falling on his face. His face scrunched up and his hands weakly tried to bat the stuff away. It kept coming, soon it was coming down hard and soaking his blood-stained body to the skin. He got his eyes open at long last, finding that it was raining this night, but he was no longer in Fanelia.
He recognized the stars though, the Gaian constellations dazzling his dazzled and wet eyes. Sitting up slowly, Hiero looked about his body. The forest was not the one where Fanelian land dragons roamed naturally, not the one near his homeland. The trees were different, more like palm trees high above, a canopy of glossy emerald leaves and chestnut curved trunks. He was lying in a puddle, and it made him frown miserably.
"Lousy luck…ah well, not like I'll die from pneumonia. Live it up, people keep telling me to do that. Might as well give it a shot, what can really happen to me? I can't die, best to protect the others….once I find them," he sighed, and reached down to grab up his pendant," Guide me, Mother, guide me to some lives."
Hiero shut his eyes after he took his pendant off and held it in front of himself. He concentrate on heartbeats, of faces he'd seen, but as thunder crashes above his head and streak of lightening spiraled into the ground a ways off, his thoughts straining to focus on the pendant. He felt it swing, saw it swing in his mind in a few directions before it stiffened sharply to his right. He waited a moment, just in case it found someone else, but it remained static.
He opened his eyes, letting them widen moment with the power that had aided him, until the pendant fell limp. Hiero put it back around his neck and started off in the direction it had pointed in, shaking his body off a bit the way he'd once adapted to when he lived among the sapphire dragons of his true world, looking like a wet dog shaking off to anyone else. He'd been a wild one then, like a human raised from infancy by animals, the animals being oversized lizards that shot forth frozen breath. It was nice to be cared for once in his eternal life then, having sort of his own family, and he adapted to raw meat, hunting, and even a small dragon trill, but it wasn't like the real dragons. He was always the runt, with the human and velvety voice, not the rough, booming and hissing voice of the great dragon races.
It didn't matter anymore, wherever the dragon tribes were now, the Sapphires, Emeralds, Amethysts, Diamonds, Goldens, Onyxes, Magmas, and all the other dragons he'd sent to another world to survive freely. He knew he'd never see them ever again. He knew that much. Lina and Zelgadis were right, so was Celena, he had to live for the future, not living to regret the past. Alessa and the others mattered now, not his thoughts of blame for himself. It was a hard habit to break, since he'd had 50,000 years to grow used to it. It was a habit that would die hard, but he hoped it would die instead of other people he cared for.
'I hope everyone made it out ok….other than that sea of bloody….goo. The rain washed all of it off, save for the stuff that hasn't already become a part of my clothing. At least my pants are clean,' he thought, then strapped Alessa's bag, which seemed to have followed him here, then cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted," ALESSA!! VAL! MYRNA! AUNT MERLE….for the love of the gods, I'll even settle for ALLEN! LADY MILLERNA! Somebody, if you can hear me, answer me! I don't care how, make some noise. Hello!! Anyone!"
He walked on for what seemed like miles, and he was dead sure the moon and the Mystic Moon had moved halfway across the sky already. He could hear dragons crooning out their love songs to potential mates, much louder than normal. Hiero ignored it and kept calling out, but got nothing in reply.
After another hour, Hiero was about to give up because his throat was killing him from shouting so much, when he saw a clearing several feet away, something sparkling a little ways beyond the trees. He started to run at it, his hand ready to draw his sword the moment he saw trouble. He knew he couldn't die, but it still hurt like hell. Pain wasn't admired by him, he was well aware that both dying and resurrecting hurt. Hiero didn't feel his old attitude of "Let me die" anymore. It felt good to be alive, to use his gifts to help people, and get away with practically anything he wished, that was the best part.
Hiero still wished he'd been born a thief or something fun, not a prince, but he had to deal with it. At least he was loaded and respected, sort of. It was enough to stomach being over-protected and kept in hiding, but he couldn't forgive the "no girls" part. Myrna was ok, but he preferred human women mostly.
He thought of Alessa for moment, how different she seemed to him. Hiero wondered if she was part Gaian or something. Her hair color was unusual for a Mystic Moon girl, at least from the memories he'd gotten from his mother that much remained true. It was a possibility. Dornkirk had been some Mystic Moon man called Isaac Newton or something and even Allen Schezar's father had met his great grandmother a long time ago in the snow mountains of Asgard.
Things from the strange delicately colored Mystic Moon turned up in Gaia too, so why couldn't a Gaian get stuck there and have a life. He recalled the vision he'd had of her father, the man with Alessa's hair color. Perhaps he went to Gaia as a child and was adopted by those that discovered him. He felt it was a possibility, but he didn't want to say it to Alessa's face. She'd lost enough already and been through hell to boot. It was best he concentrated on stopping his estranged uncle after finding his friends.
Hiero let his thoughts drift away gently as the scent of smoke and melting metal filled his nostrils. He ran faster, the clearing bursting out around him, seconds before he came face to face with two Alseides guymelefs.
"What a pile of junk! They've been trashed…." He mumbled, looking a bit put out. He wouldn't have minded running into working ones. A well placed fireball to their energists and he would have knocked them out of their precious power suits. Gaining a new energist wouldn't be so hard, not when he could still hear dragons about.
That wasn't the case, the guymelefs before him were missing the arm sections from the elbow down and all of the knee joints were pulverized. The energist hearts were smashed almost beyond recognition. The energist cores were still leaking a bit, blue-green mist filtering out slowly like snakes. Yet, as he inspected them closer and closer, he saw they were different from each other. The one closest to him was a dark purple color, but looked to already be worn of battle, no shine to it, and it was about a foot shorter than the other one, near as Hiero could tell. The head sections weren't simple to distinguish from the rest of the body.
He'd ridden in guymelefs during his training, but never his Escaflowne. His father had forbidden it until Hiero became king. The normal greenish and brown Fanelian models weren't so bad, but they were rather clumsy and slow, and lacked any kind of decent weaponry worth his time. Spears did little good unless your enemies were at a distance, and with guymelefs, that was nearly never the case.
The other one was gray in color and bulkier, bigger, and the stealth cloak, though freshly torn, was shimmering in the light of the double moons. It looked practically brand new, as if it had not been in battle until this night. The chest portion was open, a cockpit of blood and sinew floating about. He smirked, nothing a piece of armor that was bobbing up and down in the crud, the symbol of Zaibach on the left breastplate section. It was sort of feathery, yet mechanical looking eye attached to more mechanical lines and shapes, more like bad art rather than the simple symbol of Fanelia, a flying dragon's head.
"Zaibach soup," Hiero giggled, sticking his finger inside the much and sniffed at it, then rubbed it across his scarred left cheek," Hope a dragon finds this and slurps you down into hell but good. Suck on that, chum. Heh, I'm a riot…."
Hiero went on snickering and giggling, wondering how painful the Zaibach bastard had died. "Must have been quite a battle to turn him into liquid….liquid? That Sora woman, she turned my people into liquid….did she do this too? Ick…what if that creepy woman is around here….or inside that guymelef, but how could she be. How long was I asleep for? She couldn't have found me, I don't even know where I am." Hiero spouted, then leapt up on the other guymelef, standing in the crater that had been the energist heart.
He drew his sword and started to pry at the weakened chest cover of the Alseides,. It was coming loose rather easily, probably because it was dented so badly. If Sora was inside, he'd kill her, then there would be no prophecy. Then Folken would have nothing but to look forward to Hiero hunting him down and chopping his appendages off one by one for his crimes. There was a bit of blood leaking out, but not much. Whoever was inside was hurt, he couldn't hear the soft moaning, almost a soft voice, but there was a hint of huskiness to it.
Hiero finally was able to pry the messed up front off and gazed into the cockpit warily. His double colored eyes shrank a bit at seeing the owner was still alive, just barely but alive, and it wasn't Sora. It was a young man with short blonde hair, blood leaking from his right side and his arm was broken. There was small pool of blood under him, but it was enough to tell Hiero this boy was dying. The guy was till bleeding and unconscious, but what made it all the more frightening, even as he carefully took the young man in his arms and got him under a tree, was that he knew him.
"Chesta…." Hiero whispered sorrowfully, and started to yank off the bleeding Dragon slayer's armor quickly, reading himself for a mass of healing spells. It was this young man's only hope.
~ Southern Coast ~
- Demon's Teeth Ravine -
Thunk….Thunk….
Alessa winced a bit, a pain erupting in her leg, then her ribs, like something rounded and stiff was prodding her. She didn't want to wake up, she was having such a lovely dream, a picnic with her parents, it was all so nice until the pain started, till the dream began to die.
"Wake up, woman!" said a quite inviting and authoritative voice. It was man, young too, maybe a teenager. It didn't have the enchanting quality of Hiero's voice, it sounded very boyish though, a boy with too much on his mind. It sounded angry, impatient, then the sharp pain came again, a boot kicking her ribs slightly, then shoving at her.
"I said wake up or I will cut your hand off, bitch!" the voice commanded, shoving her so hard the next time's his boot met with her ribs, she rolled away a bit, sputtering as she forced her eyes open.
She quickly glared at the guy, inspecting him as he did the same. He was wearing dark blue armor, very well polished on some parts, but there were a few nicks and singe marks here and there. His eyes were insolent, a deep blue shade, just like his short hair, the sharp bangs stabbing at midair like soft daggers, his skin perfectly creamy, along with a small specs of dirt. He looks like he'd been in a battle, judging from his armor and the bloodied sword he was holding. All she registered was the blood after that, the metal seeming to screech for more. There was also a large deep purple guymelef several feet away, standing like a giant bulky knight with a flowing dark cape.
"I'm awake? What do you want?" she asked quietly. He got an arrogant look on his face, like she'd insulted him. He approached her slowly, flitting his sword a bit, the fresh blood dripping down the metal excitedly. Then he stopped, some of the blood flicking in her face. She looked down at herself, suddenly recalling what had happened before, the light bloodstains and the metallic smell of it bringing it all back. "Where is Fanelia? Where's Hiero? And Val? That woman….how did I get out here?' she started to say, but Migel just sneered at her, lifting his hand up as if to slap her, but thought better of it. His gaze was still like stone, but he looked to be feigning interest.
"I ask the questions, woman. Now, who are you? Are you a native of Fanelia as you have led me to believe? What do you know of the prince?" he asked, impatience forming along the syllables.
She took a breath, looking him dead in the eye and bit her lip. "My name is Alessa Lee Demitrius and no, I'm not a Fanelian and I don't know where the prince….I mean, King Hiero is. This pillar of light picked us all up when that….weirdo woman in white sang everyone into puddles of blood tonight. I don't know where any of the survivors are." She let out calmly, watching his face for the slightest change.
It did change, but his eyes soften, curious and full of pity for a moment, then he just looked a bit unsure. "Are you from the Mystic Moon?" he asked tentatively.
She looked a bit shocked at his words, but slowly nodded. He smiled a bit, putting his sword away and helped her up. "Lord Dilandau said he saw a pillar of light a few days ago….in his dreams. He said it was important, that a new Mystic Moon person was coming to give him something. He didn't tell us what….but he knew you were coming. I'll take you there now….we can't keep him waiting….not now." The young man let out, grabbing her by the wrists, not too roughly, but enough to pinch a bit. She stayed in place and shook her head. This seemed to puzzle him.
"Hiero said that name too, that he had a guymelef with a green energist heart that matches my ring," she stated, and the young man nodded," And I am not going with some strange guy who kicked me awake and pulled a sword on me unless I know his name. So, when the others finds me I can tell them who to beat the crap out of once I'm done with you." With that she yanked her hands away from him and staggered backwards, her eyes fierce. To her disgust, the guy laughed, shaking his head with a coddling smile. "Migel Dima Lavariel, Dragon Slayer, and I only kicked you because I thought you were dead for a while, then you started saying odd things in your sleep. You said his name, Hiero's name, at one point, that's why I started kicking harder. I have to get us back to our hideout immediately. There is no time to waste for you lolling in the realm of dreams, Miss Alessa Lee." Migel spouted condescendingly.
"It's Alessa, and what it so important about getting me and this ring to this Dilandau guy? What's the hurry?" she rasped out, patting on her necklace hard.
"We're dying….of starvation. Our rations have been gone for a month now and we've been forced to live off the animals of this forest. That's why I am out here, another and myself were sent out because we have the only guymelefs left, but we were attacked on our way back. I have some of the food, but most of it was lost in the battle, roasted to ashes. What little I have can extend their lives a bit longer. To make matters worse, I was separated from my comrade, he got caught in an air battle, Alessa. I lost sight of him hours ago. We have to go now, if you please. The longer we debate about this, the longer my comrade fights alone. Now are you coming willingly or do I have to drag you?" Migel said harshly, grabbing her arm with renewed and frightening strength.
She nodded dully, and he took that as being enough and yanked her towards his guymelef. "Where do I sit in that thing?" she asked, but he shook his head, giving off a rather hesitant smile. "I have to carry you, there's no room for two people in any guymelef." He uttered, letting her wrist go as he leapt up into the open cockpit of the Alseides, it closed rather noisily, then began to move as if it were alive. It looked at her, the nub of a head swiveling with the sound of gears and metal grinding, then its handless arm reach out towards her.
She gasped as this liquid metal came out of it, swirling about for a few moment into the shape of a silvery hand. It picked her up swiftly, holding her close to its chest as the head part pulled it. "Try to be quiet….last thing I need is for a woman to give me away to the enemy." He mumbled, and she blew a raspberry at him as the guymelef's cloak whipped about them and the thing lifted off the ground in the blink of an eye, flying them further down the darkened and spiky ravine.
~ Southern Coastal Forest ~
- Lost Woods -
- Chesta's pristine blue-green eyes lolled lazily in his head, the pain in his side not so bad anymore. He tried playing back the events in his head, but it hurt to think. 'Lord Dilandau wouldn't want me to admit pain. I can't…I'm a….Dragon Slayer. Must think….' His mind thrummed out numbly.
- He thought back, remembered the goats he and Migel had found wandering on the in the plains by the mountains that hid their base so well. They had been easy kills, and Chesta had even taken one back so they could save it for later, not wanting to risk the meat spoiling. Then, the enemy had come, Zaibach had ambushed them near the ravine that led to their hidden base. Chesta had thrown his goat at one of them, the one Migel had been fighting, but the other one came after him. They had an aerial battle, Chesta had beaten him off far away from the base, the Lost Woods that were nestled miles and miles away from where Migel still fought.
- Then the Zaibach enemy caught him in the side, slicing through his flesh painfully. He had gone on….despite the pain, Dragon Slayers were to show no weakness, no matter what. He had shown it that last time during the Great War, with Allen Schezar catching him, always losing to Van Fanel, then losing his life to the Fanelian boy king. He'd vowed this time to be smarter and stronger, but it hadn't worked out so well. He managed to beat his enemy to a pulp, but he was beaten badly despite surviving intact. He'd only made himself bleed worse when he tore the enemy's chest plat off his guymelef and created a three-pronged claw with his liquid metal weaponry and turned the shrieking man within into a lake of red.
- His efforts cost him a lot of blood, blood he couldn't afford to lose being so hungry. He hadn't eaten in two days, and the only drink he'd gotten was the rain that had started to fall when his massacred guymelef finally collapsed in a steaming heap. The blood loss made him as weak as a newborn, and made him feel ten times as pathetic. He would die in shame, and Lord Dilandau would be stained with this atrocity to his feared name.
- "Chesta? You feeling better?" said a velvety smooth voice, male and worried. Chesta struggled to comprehend this at the moment. He had never heard this voice before and couldn't quite place it. If he was hearing a new voice, perhaps he had dreamed his victory, perhaps he had been captured. That would anger Lord Dilandau more. He wouldn't know until he opened his eyes.
- He let his eyelids part slowly, his innocent blue eyes gazing up blinking all the way at the crude canopy above him, an amber glow reflecting off the dull metal above and around him. He turned his head to see a warm roaring fire a few feet away, his armor lying under a tree on the opposite side of it, along with his sword. They lacked a single trace of blood on them, only raindrops fell upon them soundlessly.
- Chesta slowly sat himself up, and reached for his injured side, then gasped when he found the wound was gone. He looked down frantically and found it was gone, not a single scratch remained, except on his blousy lavender vest that he and the other Dragon Slayers wore. The rips were small though, slight blood droplets set into the loose threads. What was most important was that he was alive, hungry, but still alive. He looked about himself and found a tree was behind him, and shielding him from the rain were large flat portions of his guymelef, sort of like a metal tent.
- "I thought you were going to sleep the rest of the night away, Chesta. You scared me there for a minute…." The velvety voice sounded again, and an angelic head with short sapphire-blue hair and double colored eyes poked around the guymelef armor tent that was keeping Chesta dry.
- He knew this man, not personally, but he was supposed to anyway. Lord Dilandau has described him to them when they were still being held away by Zaibach, before their leader had freed them and they all escaped their slavery as Zaibach puppets. It was the prince of Fanelia, Hiero Fanel, and the sole heir to the throne of the simple country. Dilandau had made plans for them to kidnap him in a few days or so, depending on Hiero's survival during his dragon slaying task.
- If there had been no ambush earlier, they would all be eating fried goat flesh and he and Migel would have been sent out immediately to Fanelia to wait for the right moment to snatch the boy prince after he was crowned king. Being the king meant he'd bind himself by law to Escaflowne, and Dilandau wanted that and his Ispona model Alseides to fight side by side to tear Folken and his plans apart.
- He started a bit as Hiero walked inside the little space that was keeping Chesta dry and warm and sat in front of him, his back getting dropped on, but he looked rather pleasant about it. The smile was genuine on his face, as if the prince was glad to see him. Chesta found upon further examination that the prince didn't look so good right now, his clothing stained with blood, possibly Chesta's or his prey, and the tips of his boots had mud and blood stuck to them. He was dressed as Chesta remembered his father King Van had when he'd known him, except his shirt was black and his boots looked much like those a Dragon Slayer. There was also a pair or dark gloves hanging from one pocket, stained completely with blood on the parts of the palms he could see.
- What made Chesta uncomfortable was that Hiero's green and blue eyes were staring right into his, not letting up at all, and he was armed with a sword and a dagger, one that looked just like the one Lord Dilandau once carried.
- Chesta's eyes drifted slowly to the dagger, and Hiero noticed. He finally stopped staring and looked at his dagger, then pulled it out. Chesta froze a moment, bracing himself for a fight, but it never came. Hiero simply stood up and walked over to the fire. He stabbed at something the high flames were blocking from Chesta's view, but in a few moments, his nostrils knew what it was.
- Hiero came back with a double handful of cooked meat in his bare hands, which smelled delicious. He felt a slick of drool try and force its way down his chin, but he wiped it away, his eyes dilating wildly for the meat. "Eat up….you need to stuff yourself good after what nearly happened to you, Chesta." Hiero piped, putting the delicious stuff in Chesta's suddenly outstretched hands.
- He didn't care if Hiero was going to poison him, or throw him off his guard, he was too hungry and tired to consider it. Chesta started to feed, the meat welcomed by his dulled taste buds, they longed so much for flavor, for sustenance, just as his body did. He ate it quickly at first, then slowed a bit, not wanting to upset his stomach and make him throw all the wonderful food up on himself. It was unbecoming of Slayer to be a pig, let alone disgrace themselves by being sickly.
- When he finished his meal, he leaned back against the tree comfortably, keeping his eyes on Hiero. The prince was cooking more meat, but not bringing it to Chesta. He was stuffing it in the sack Chesta had dropped during the battle. He had though he'd lost it, and the meat destroyed. He was half right. Hiero was cutting something up that didn't taste like goat, it was tougher and thicker, like roast pig as near as he figured. He hadn't had that in a while, they always burrowed out of reach or something, always running and making them waste time chasing them.
- Goats were easier since they were dumber, they would stand still even when the Slayers themselves uncloaked their guymelefs to attack. Easy prey really, but then he felt a slight stab of jealousy against the prince. He had succeeded in killing animals even their guymelefs couldn't, and in less time he gathered than it had taken to sneak up on goats. Then, a sudden question popped in his head, the glorious food in his belly making his senses more focused.
- "How do you know my name, Prince Hiero?" Chesta asked quietly in his husky and child-like tone. Hiero went on cutting meat off and stuffing Chesta's sack, but turned his eyes slightly to look at him. "Dilandau told me a long time ago. I suspect he told you mine as well. How is he these days?" Hiero said casually, his voice making Chesta feel light. It was so devil may care, as if what was going on didn't effect him in the least.
- "He's well….I will of course, have to take you back to base. We were supposed to kidnap you upon your coronation, but now we can be there to force it." Chesta proclaimed, trying to put some power and authority into his voice, but he was still regaining his strength.
- Hiero laughed lightly, like silver bells and icicles shivering in the wind, almost musical. He stopped the cutting and tied the sack off, revealing it was half his size as he brought it to Chesta. He set it down next to him, then walked off towards Chesta's armor and sword, picked them up and came right back to him. "I was planning on finding him myself, but since you know where he is, I will comply," Hiero said briskly, dropping Chesta's things on the stunned Dragon Slayer's lap," And its not Prince Hiero anymore, I was crowned the King of Fanelia yesterday morning."
- The emphasize his point, he put his dagger away and lifted his sword slightly out of the hilt, showing off the royal symbol of Fanelia on the blade, then put it back. Chesta blinked, then nodded slowly, pulling his cold armor and gloves, and putting his weapon back on his hip. Chest tried getting up, but his legs were too stiff at the moment. Hiero chuckled out of good nature and reached his hand to him. "You'll be in enough trouble when Dilandau finds out your guymelef was ripped apart. I'll be your ticket to avoid a major beating. Seeing how hungry you are, I bet the others are even hungrier. I'll get us there in no time flat. Give me your hand." Hiero said pleasantly, flexing his fingers slightly as a few raindrops dripped down his pale skin.
- Chesta stared at it a moment, and realized that Hiero was right in a way. His comrades were all starving and thirsty, so was Lord Dilandau. Guimel had been too weak to move when they had left, he was sick and sleeping in his bed on the floor, only a parcel of old and torn sheets splayed across the cold metal floor of the abandoned base they used. Dalet was fainting a lot, and Dilandau was always rounding the corner it seemed to slap him awake. Ryuon and Gatti were still strong enough to sand up, but not coherent enough to pilot a guymelef properly. Migel and himself were the only ones aside from Lord Dilandau that could pilot them, but Dilandau stayed behind to watch over the others in case of enemy attack. There had to be someone with enough strength left in their body to fight, and it was to be him.
- Reluctantly, Chesta gave off a small smile and took Hiero's hand in his, but he never felt the to her young man pull, his world going white.
- ~
- "Chesta Nakai Akilion….step forward." Folken's voice rang out coldly.
- Chesta jerked a bit when he saw himself as a boy, maybe eleven years old at best. He remembered this day, his first beating by Folken. That Sora woman was sitting on his throne, looking as sad and listless as she always did. He didn't understand why he was seeing this, why he was actually within the memory. He could almost smell the stale rust and metal stench that floating fortresses had. He could also feel the fear in his younger self, see the tears in his eyes.
- "You're afraid….you did nothing wrong but defend Dilandau against insult. He wanted to make an example out of you for Dilandau being disobedient." Hiero's voice drifted across him. Chesta looked towards the source, and found Hiero looked at him apologetically, as if this made him feel guilty in some way. Chesta was too stunned that Hiero knew how he'd felt or even knew it happened to question the look he was getting.
- "Y…yes, I was. Lord Dilandau refused to take an order and the sorcerers threatened to hurt him. I got to him first and stabbed Kuaro's leg. Then Dilandau slit his throat while the rest of us held him down. We knew the sorcerer meant what he said….we didn't want it to happen….we didn't want to be puppets as Lord Dilandau said we would become if we served Folken." Chesta said quiet, and then winced when he heard his younger self being punched.
- He watched with sorrowful eyes as Folken slapped and punched him, and when younger Chesta finally hit the ground, not crying anymore, Folken kicked him across the room. He heard Hiero growl a bit, like a dragon's growl when it was preparing to attack. Chesta chanced a glance at him and nearly bit his tongue off. Hiero's eyes were rapidly changing color and his teeth were grinding like a wild animal. His eyes went from their exotic blue and green colors to black, purple, green, red, then pitch black, and silver randomly.
- "That's what you get for defying to prophecy, angel of wisdom. I can always replace you with Ryuon, you know, but you're smarter. It'd be a pity to have to eviscerate you for your misbehavior and trade up the powers of the gods for him. Do not force my hands again to teach you respect. Dilandau is no longer in charge….I AM ! Now get out of here and go train, you little wimp." Folken laughed wickedly, turning back towards Sora as younger Chesta moaned and forced himself to stand. The boy walked out, not making a sound.
- The scenery changed into a room, where all the Dragon Slayer boys were huddled. Dilandau was standing on the bed, looking angry and authority, but more angry than anything else as he stared at Chesta's bruised body. Hiero was standing next to the younger memory version of Chesta, while Chesta walked about the others, almost smiling at how innocent and short they'd all been after their rebirths. None of them wore armor, only their dark pants and boots as well as smaller versions of the lavender vest he wore at the moment.
- Guimel and Dalet were attending to his wounds and Gatti was swinging his legs and looking at the floor sadly on the only chair in the room. Ryuon was leaning against the bed near Migel, both with black eyes on their left eyes and bruises on their arms. They'd all been punished, but since Folken felt that Chesta started it by adding to Dilandau's insolence, he was punished the worst. Gatti, Dalet, and Guimel were the only ones left untouched. Dilandau had a bruise from being grabbed by the other sorcerer and there were red marks on his face from being slapped around for killing Kuaro. Dilandau had taken it with pride, spitting in the sorcerers withered face promptly when the hitting stopped.
- They were all still small, but this was the punishment room, as Chesta hatefully recalled. No one knew why they were ever put in there, no one seemed to want to know. Dilandau was bouncing on the bed when he looked at him again, or more accurately trying to stomp on it as hard as he could to trash the room. Their weapons were always taken away before they were shoved inside, but it never stopped their leader from breaking something to take his rage out on something.
- Dilandau had changed being in his own true body, not his mother's, he now had small sympathies for all of them. Seeing them beaten so badly by their tyrant kidnapper enraged him, but not enough to hurt them. He'd still hit them when he got mad, but never when they had been punished. Chesta had to wonder if Hiero had a hand in awakening Dilandau to this new feeling, but why he had done it was a mystery.
- Yet, as Chesta eyes left the others and went to Hiero who looked angry again, his pale fingers slipping through the ghostly forms of the past. "We were locked in here without food or water for a few days whenever we got punished. Folken said it would make us appreciate obeying him. He even took away our true last names we had left behind once joining the Dragon Slayers. I don't know why Folken did it, perhaps it was important." Chesta said, not even knowing why he said it all.
- Hiero looked up, his eyes back to their double color. "I know, I'm in your mind, Chesta. I know everything you know now. You were all, save for Dilandau, born in this room. I can see what you can't recall. I always see such. Call it a gift of curse. I also know that you all conspired together here to escape when you were all old enough to survive beyond this place. Age sixteen, right?" Hiero said casually.
- Chesta nodded, dumbfounded, but then the scene changing interrupted him. They were back in the throne room. Hiero on one side of the room near the throne, looking blankly at the floor and Chesta was by the door, staring at an embraced couple, Folken and Sora. "I remember this….I heard her talk about a weird legend….I was hiding from punishment from him when they came in. I hid….where you are." Chesta gasped, pointing at Hiero. The king of Fanelia nodded and gestured for Chesta to come closer.
- He smiled when he saw his thirteen-year-old self wedged behind the dragon skull throne, looking curious, not scared in the least. His younger self had his head turned slightly, looking through a small hole in the back of the throne, right at Sora and Folken as Folken kissed her deathly pale throat. She didn't respond to it, only kept her eyes gently closed and lay in his sweeping embrace.
- As the two parted the kissing, they seemed to dance gracefully about, Folken never taking his alluring stare off Sora's faintly happy one. "Sora, how long must we wait for the seven angel's destiny to become?" Folken asked casually.
- Sora made a breathless sound and he whirled her once, then twice. "When the time is right and the Mystic Moon pours down the sacred beam of light, the angels will unite." She said quietly, the rhyme within it making both Chesta's twitch frightfully. She sounded as if she didn't care a thing about it, yet they had all suffered great pain because of it.
- "That witch….why can't she say more? I know there are seven angels, but what does it all really accomplish once the Gods of War and Death arrive. What do we need to do to become these angels?" Hiero complained suddenly, the memory fading, leaving him and Hiero alone in the darkness.
- "I don't know, she was always saying strange things, taking extra care that we all stayed alive, beaten, but alive. When we left this place, we tried to kill her, but, Folken and the soldiers came and we had to run for the guymelef hanger. We'd been hoarding up on energists to make this escape in the Alseides guymelef models, but Lord Dilandau found a large red one that looked almost like ours when he separated from us in the escape." Chesta explained.
- Hiero raised a puzzled eyebrow, then thought moment with his eyes shut, and understanding dawned on his face. "He found it by accident. He wanted to kill the last sorcerer to avenge his mother and himself, for the pain. He found him with the Ispona Alseides. He said this after torturing it out of the guy….then chopped him to pieces. If he hadn't found it, you all would still be prisoners on that floating monstrosity. He said it….felt like he was being led there, some force compelled him."
- "Yes, that is correct….though…..Oh…." Chesta said, then stopped, putting on a firm look. Hiero smirked at him, his mouth matching Dilandau's perfectly, and the arrogant, knowing glare pierced Chesta's soul enough to make him back up. "Alseides vanished two day ago….when he put a new energist in it. He wanted a better power source so he killed a Zaibach dragon, not the weak land dragons of Fanelia you'd been forced to hunt to keep it a secret. He performed the blood pact, didn't he? And then the Alseides began to shatter, and then there was nothing." Hiero breathed out, his eyes strangely shocked.
- "How did you….oh, never mind. Yes, but what's wrong? You look almost scared to say it." Chesta said, walking up cautiously towards Hiero and laid a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Because two days ago, I performed the blood pact as well with Escaflowne, and it did the same thing….the prophecy has begun already, the beam of light came, it brought down a young woman, Alessa. And Folken demanded Fanelia surrender myself, her, and Val Schezar or it would be….destroyed. We three are angels too, if he would murder a whole country for only us." Hiero said grimly.
- "Fanelia….was burned again?" Chesta asked. Hiero met with his precious blue-green eyes and shook his head with a sad expression. "Sora….sang a song that turned all of the people listening to….bloody mush. I'd never seen anything like it, such cowardly slaughter. At least you guys bothered coming into Fanelia to destroy it….though you cheated. Becoming invisible is a dirty trick against a country that did nothing to yours." Hiero spat.
- "We were only following orders. There was nothing else left for us but Dilandau and Zaibach. We left our lives behind the moment we put the armor on. It was our way then….but now, we want to crush Zaibach as badly as you….Oh Gods, the other Slayers. I forgot. They're starving!" Chesta gasped. Hiero just smiled, then suddenly, he looked up and listened. Quickly, he back up and ran off, melting through the darkness to leave Chesta stunned and alone.
- "Hiero! HIERO! Ugh…." Chesta shouted, then a wave of weakness hit him, and the light came again.
- ~
- Chesta blinked groggily to find his face slumped against Hiero's chest, but Hiero felt hard as a rock for some reason. He tried pulling his hand free, but Hiero had a death grip on it. Chesta sat up after that and stared into Hiero now lifeless eyes, the color was faintly there, blue irises and green pupils. He was just frozen in place, nothing moved even a breath.
- After waiting a moment, he felt Hiero's grip weaken, and the young king's hand fell to his side. Chesta started to get up when Hiero tackled him and pinned him to the ground, an very familiar, but far more frightening look of pure insanity bleeding across Hiero's face. He wasn't giggling or anything, just looked about ready to take Chesta apart piece by bloody piece.
- "In the temple of knowledge in the continent of eternal darkness, you will answer the questions given to thee. Angel of Wisdom…Angel of….Wisdom….hear the words of the gods. Escape the Demon's teeth, they will collapse upon you all if you do not escape by tomorrow's light. Angel….Angel….I….Chesta…..Oh……Argh…." Hiero was saying, his voice so cold it made Chesta's blood come to a screaming halt, but then Hiero started to twitch and fell over to the side, going into a fetal position, banging the side of his head on the ground.
- "Demon's Teeth…..the base!" Chesta gasped, then started to shake Hiero's body, knowing he had to force the young king out of his spasms fast. Hiero finally unfurled and got himself to sit up, but he was breathing hard and rubbing his temples.
- "Ow….lousy gift hurts when I'm awake. Ugh….thanks for the information though. We have to warn Dilandau and the other's that they'll be attacked. Folken may not want to kill you, yet, but he'll hurt you enough so you'll make easy captures. He'll force the prophecy, we can't let it happen, or….damn….I lost it. Shit….if only I had something of that witch Sora's, I could find out what's going on….what will happen with this damned prophecy." Hiero coughed, then stood up.
- "Guimel…he has something of hers. He attacked her first when we tried to kill her…." Chesta piped, gasping at his sudden eagerness to help. Hiero just smiled and started picking up the sack of meat and the strange colorful bag. Before Chesta could protest, the colorful bag was strapped to his back and the meat sack was put in his arms, the Hiero picked him up almost effortlessly.
- "Hey, it's miles to our base, and a lot of climbing. We won't make it back in time with you carrying me." Chesta yelped, trying to keep steady. Hiero just laughed openly. "For such a smart guy, you don't really have a good memory for important details. We're not walking, we're flying," Hiero smiled, then put a bit of strain on his face, two pristine white angel wings sprouting from his back," I trained this suckers to carry things a lot heavier than you."
- Chesta just stared in awe. He had never really looked at Van Fanel's Draconian wings up close and personal, but now he couldn't help it. He'd forgotten about the wings, after all that had happened he wasn't actually thinking about much than being taken on trip through his own past. The wings were beautiful, white as the purest snow and smelled of lilacs and fresh morning air.
- They fluttered bit, some black stuff hanging from them. It was what remained of Hiero's already bloodied shirt. Now Hiero was bare-chested, his shirt in tatters on the ground, along with the burst of feathers that had come loose from the wings that lay glistening in the on the rain spattered ground. No sooner had Chesta blinked away did Hiero lift off the ground, his wings thrusting them into the air towards the mountains.
- 'At least now Lord Dilandau won't hit me as much, I got the King of Fanelia for him after all. That might make up slightly for losing my guymelef. Now all we have is Migel's. We wouldn't stand a chance even if we had all of our guymelefs….Folken would find a way. I hope we can reach him in time.
- ~ Demon's Teeth Ravine Base ~
- Chesta walked through the halls by the light of the torch he held up. Hiero had gotten him here quiet quickly, and had wasted no time in being defiant to Chesta's wishes. He let Chesta tie him by the wrists and hang him up by them on a wall hook, once used for coats and clothing. Hiero had been quiet the whole time, but had a disappointed look on his face. Chesta couldn't allow him near the other Dragon Slayers, not before alerting Lord Dilandau of his return. They were a few halls away from where the Slayers all resides, Lord Dilandau being in the main, and rather torn up audience chamber sitting on a throne of rubble.
- Hiero didn't want to be left out, but he seemed highly aware of Dilandau's mood swings and grudgingly complied. He was shivering a bit, probably from his lack of having shirt, but other than that he was utterly subservient. He did make Chesta promise to hurry to Dilandau then save the other slayers from starvation with the food and water he had collected for them. It was a simple enough promise, but the sack was all Chesta took, he left the strange colorful bag behind with Hiero, then rushed out of the room to get to his leader.
- He'd grabbed a torch off the wall once he reached their living section and proceeded to walk through as rapidly as he could manage, despite the load he was carrying. After while of this, he saw the first Slayer standing guard by their hall, Dalet. He didn't look so well, but we standing. Gatti was just rounding the corner, his once silver-blonde hair littered with dirt, and frazzled terribly.
- None of them had had a decent bathing in weeks. Dalet normally was the best looking of them, always grooming himself in the past, but now his purplish-brown hair looked like terrible rat's nest attached to a grease and rust smudged face. They all needed to find some water source and bathe heavily. The place had soaps a plenty, but the water didn't pump from the plumbing of the place. Nothing worked, not even the lights.
- As he got closer, they seemed to dully notice them, Dalet's purple eyed, the brown flecks quivering within. His mouth looked shocked, then pleased. He gave a wave and that's when Gatti's own deep blue eyes caught his. He smiled openly, wiping a new streak of rust across his creamy cheek.
- "Chesta, you're all right. Lord Dilandau will be pleased. What happened?" Gatti asked brightly, his gentle and smooth voice making Chesta feel slightly better about the bad part of his news, but not much. "The enemy knocked us near the Lost Woods….my guymelef was….ruined. I couldn't salvage it, but I managed to gain something that might appease Lord Dilandau, other than this food. I have to go now, the sooner I make my report, the sooner we can all eat. Guimel needs it the most, so all of you should assemble in his room, quickly." Chesta let out, then ran past them. He scarcely saw them nod, but heard their quick footfall behind him, then veer off in the opposite direction that he did.
- He saw Migel a few moment later, but he walking into a room with a stern look on his face. He thought he heard a female voice within the room, saying something nasty. Migel started yelling and then the clang of his sword against metal vibrated through the room. Chesta just went on, not bothering to stop for any of the other slayers he saw, until he reached Guimel's room.
- Chesta had to stop, just to make sure the pale minty-green haired boy was still alive. He was about Chesta's height, maybe an inch over, but he always was a bit more aggressive than Chesta was, and a very pig-headed. Women and ugly people were utterly beneath him, he was worse than Dalet sometimes, but he was too arrogant to care about hurting people's feelings in his first life.
- As a Dragon Slayer, he always kept quiet and obedient to Lord Dilandau, but when their leader wasn't around, he was always picking on people for not being as perfect and talented as he was. Then they all died, and things changed. Guimel remembered dying, they all did, that Van Fanel had slaughtered them, but their souls refused to leave, they had to protect Lord Dilandau so he could be free. Death told them the truth about their leader, and that he needed to live.
- Guimel was given his new name and life with all those terrible memories, but he was still a bit arrogant. It wasn't so frequent though anymore, he was more soft-spoken after a while. He found out he wasn't so wonderful or strong as he'd thought. He finally got to see what being small and weak was like, to be beaten like a little slave, which was Lord Dilandau told them they were, and all thanks to the angel prince, their leader had been utterly defiant. They followed him in this, he was all they had, their parents had already long since thought they were dead and were probably all over it.
- Chesta stared painfully at the sweating young man under the sheets. His cheeks were sunken in a bit, and his complexion was a ghastly pale yellow, a sign of malnutrition. Guimel always took small amounts, since he was a klutz with guymelef piloting. He still held nightmares in his mind of his death in his old Alseides. He had been the first one to wreck his getting out for the ravine for their first food search. Now here he lay, dying, weak, and sickly. Chesta pitied the poor youth, more than ever.
- He ran away from it fast to the audience chamber, hoping to the gods that Lord Dilandau was there. Sometimes he vanished on them, and would come back and scare them half to death with his sudden return. He'd say he was patrolling, or surveying the area for anything that would aid them, but he only came back with junk he'd bang his sword on, parts that meant nothing. Chesta didn't like that, to see the defeated look in their leader's eyes. It was utterly unlike him to be sad.
- Lord Dilandau had truly lost more than they did. They had only lost their lives thanks to Dornkirk, but Lord Dilandau had lost his mother, his identity, his innocence, and his sanity all thanks to that man and his perverted freak sorcerers. He had suffered more pain and agony than any of them, but never once in their presence did he show that it effected him emotionally, to sadden him in any way was unheard of.
- Chesta finally reached the large steel doors that led to the audience chamber, and stopped moment to take a breath, then slowly enter the room.
- The room was quiet, and all Chesta truly saw was darkness, but he kept moving inside, slowly. His quick blue-green eyes darted about the dark room, his torch the only guide for them. He heard light sound, like something being stroked very lightly and sigh follow. He heard a shuffling sound ahead of him, and looked towards it. He gasped harshly as a red, armored boot slid suddenly out of the shadows not a few feet away from him.
- He pushed his torchlight forward a bit and the shadows seemed to bleed away from the figure sitting in front of him, the silver shimmer of the young man's hair and deathly crimson armor's sheen reflecting back like living wounds. As his eyes adjusted, he saw Lord Dilandau sitting on his junky throne, his back leaning against the wall, and was stroking his scarred cheek slowly with a little white feather. Chesta knew it was Hiero's, from when the boy prince had tried to save Lord Dilandau from the sorcerers.
- He had told them as much that when he'd been stolen away to the floating castle of Eden that Folken was determined for them to call home that he had found a feather of Hiero's stuck in his hair. He kept it to remember Hiero's words, to remember no matter what, Folken was the enemy.
- Chesta watched his leader a moment, the deliberately gentle stroking of the feather against Dilandau's cheek slowing more still. His blood-red garnet eyes were shut at the moment, his perfect lips a thin line of quiet serenity, a look rare for his face. His hair was different from when he was truly Celena Schezar, his looks far more boyish on his lovely face than when the sorcerers forced his persona on that woman Celena. Gone were the two elongated bangs that his hairstyle once adorned, now his hair all jutted downward with spiky bangs about his head, growing shorter as they reach the back of his head. He looked almost rugged, effortlessly handsome, and even sometimes when the wind blew, the hair blew over his eyes, making his eyes sparkle.
- Chesta was jealous of that, his leader got to change, but they were all the same. He felt it was almost understandable. Lord Dilandau was in his true male form, and there was no going back. He seemed somewhat the same, but his sense of style and attitude were altered slightly. He no longer wore the same armor and clothing he'd had in the past.
- He wore some kind of red shirt under his new crimson armor. The edges of his armor were all embroidered with gold. Lord Dilandau wanted to be seen as living death, to scare the hell out of his enemies before he sent them to the underworld, painfully. He wanted blood to be all they saw blessing him, since it was what he craved. There was a spike on his perfectly molded shoulder armor and armored crimson boots, just on the kneecaps. He even had armor strapped to the shoulder that was perfectly matched to his slender build, going all the way down to the back of his left hand.
- On his wrists and right upper arm he had gold bands, why, only Dilandau knew, but he wanted to be seen as a threat. Chesta felt truly that his patron's eyes did that well enough. He also wore a metal headband of gold that kept his bangs up a bit and out of his eyes, making his face more angelic, but his eyes made him look like the devil, how Lord Dilandau liked it.
- His sword was his own, given back to him by Folken, but the hilt had been replaced by him exclusively with a Drag-energist that was carved into a dragon's shrieking head. As for his hands, he kept them covered in gloves the same color as his armor and shirt, and an odd white sleeveless jacket with dark brown lapels, all kept down with a even darker, slim belt around his waist, locked with a gold dragon-head buckle. He was like the devil in everyone's eyes, and the color of blood drenched him like a symbol of power. It was all Lord Dilandau truly respected, the power, and victory in battle. .
- When Chesta looked at his leader's face again, he started a bit. Those crimson garnet eyes were open, narrowed angrily. He was pressing the feather against his cheek a bit too hard, bending the innocent white length. "Report and stop staring, Chesta. Or I might not be so forgiving this night. Out with it!" Dilandau hissed, pulling the feather away from his face as his mouth became a cruel sneer.
- "I brought food, but, at a price, Lord Dilandau." Chesta said, finally finding his voice, bowing his head. Dilandau seemed to consider it a moment, his eyes looking interested, but a bored sort of interest as he stuffed the feather into an unseen pocket.
- "Then why the hell are you wasting time telling me about it! Feed the men, you moron. Then service your guymelef. You still have a job to do." Dilandau shouted, looking away from Chesta violently.
- "No, Lord Dilandau, I can't, and there is no need to. My guymelef was wrecked in the ambush….I couldn't….Ieeee!!!!" Chesta was saying, then felt the impact of his leader's hand crash across his tender cheek, knocking him halfway across the room.
- "You dare to question me! Then you tell me you ruined our only other guymelef besides Migel's!? I should kill you for this….those two were very important, what kind of Dragon Slayer are you, losing to those Zaibach wimps?! If you lost, why are you not injured!?" Dilandau shouted.
- Chesta whimpered softly, but stayed on the floor and held his face with his free hand, speaking out the first and only word he could come up with as Lord Dilandau raised his hand again. "Hiero!"
- His leader stopped, lowered his hand slowly as his eyes grew wary, curious. "What about the prince?" he asked, still angry. "He found me dying in my guymelef, he saved my life, and willingly came back to the base. He's here right now, tied up in the storage room, sir." Chesta let out, the pain in his face dulling.
- "Truly, he's here? He's alive….with Escaflowne?" Dilandau let out curiously, tilting his head to the side.
- Chesta shook his head. "He came willingly to see you, but Escaflowne….vanished, the same day your Alseides did. Fanelia is dead too….and he's king now. His task happened earlier than anticipated, sir. And he has something very important to discuss with all of us….about Folken."
- Dilandau just nodded, then kicked Chesta in the face. "That's for take so damned long to tell me all that. Gods, feed the men immediately, Guimel first. Now move it! Stop kissing the floor and go!" Dilandau ordered loudly. Chesta picked himself up rapidly and ran out of the room, not daring to look back as he heard Dilandau's insane laughed echoed from the room and leaked out dangerously through the halls, spurring Chesta to move faster, lest have his lord plow through him to see the prisoner.
- ~ Storage Room ~
- Dilandau slowly pushed open the door, peeking one crimson eye through to take in what was before him more carefully. He was always careful, ever since he could remember really, and he was even more careful now being a wanted man all over Zaibach.
- He smirked and pushed the door open all the way. Dilandau could care less about Zaibach, they were all beneath him, all inferior to their own flawed intelligence to what their precious Emperor Folken was really up to. If they only knew he would soon enslave every living person to obey only him, the murderous coward that he was, they'd start a revolution and try and overthrow him. Dilandau wished he had killed him when he'd had the chance, but Folken had cheated, bringing too many soldiers to stop him and his Dragon Slayers from killing Sora.
- Guimel had gotten the closest to killing her, stabbing at her head, but the startling arrival of Folken and his own men made the pale mint-haired boy miss and chop off a length of the witch's hair. Guimel had kept it as a trophy and vowed they'd all come back someday and cut the rest of her into little bloody pieces. Dilandau knew Guimel only said that to save himself from getting slapped, but it was a novel idea. Dilandau smiled to himself, he wanted to get the first cut on the strange woman's pale flesh, to delight in his newborn screams of ultimate hell. Hiero was his guide to that day, which he hoped was soon. Now he had Hiero, the boy who had risked his life to save him nine years ago.
- He stepped up slowly to Hiero, who was hanging by his tied wrists a few inches above the rubbish littered floor. Dilandau looked about the room, noting the strange bag in the corner of the room that had the sword of Fanelia and Celena's dagger both laid out beside it. Dilandau felt a sudden twinge of pain in his heart, the memory of his mother's death, that he caused it. It wasn't his fault, he didn't know being born again would cost his mother her life, so painfully.
- To see Hiero again reminded him so much of that night, the night he tasted the blood of three, his mother's, Hiero's, and then his own, a mixture of sorrow and ecstasy of life. He couldn't forget the tangy coppery taste it had given his senses, but also, he couldn't forget the sadness it infected him with. It helped him understand what was really at stake, his beauty being far from it. He had killed the bastard Garufo for giving him back his scar, but it was an awakening for him, deeply rooted in his brain. He was expendable to Folken, he was a toy in the bastard emperor's sick game, and he didn't like being played with.
- Dilandau was his own master, he decided what he would do and what he wouldn't do. He'd made deathly sure that remained true, and what he had wanted had been given to him, Hiero Fanel, King of Fanelia, the one who could help him destroy Folken and Zaibach forever. His garnet eyes finally settled on the sleeping sapphire-haired youth. Hiero lacked a shirt at the moment, his lithe and slender built torso and arms in full view. He was beautiful for a male, better looking than most his age.
- "Not as beautiful as I am. No one is….he just comes close….yes, close. I wonder how strong he has grown since that night. He killed Paruchi with ease….I could smell his delicious blood from the floor, even before it soiled the bed. Ugh, I wish I could have seen the expression on that bastard's face when he was sliced up. I would treasure it with all those of my other victims." He wondered aloud, putting his gloved hand to Hiero's scarred cheek. Hiero twitched slightly, but didn't rouse, or didn't seem to really.
- Hiero didn't remind Dilandau of his hated past enemy King Van, he reminded him more of the woman from the Mystic Moon. He couldn't grasp her name so well, all he'd ever wanted to do to her was grind her to a pulp. He was somewhat glad he hadn't, lest Hiero never would have saved him from a life of imbecilic slavery. He saw no reason to kill Hiero for his parents' past ills upon Dilandau, for he felt like a kindred spirit with this boy king.
- Dilandau gave the separated scars on Hiero's face, the one on the left side of his nose to the one across his smooth and pale cheek, a gentle stroke, his eyes dilating a bit, wondering silently what had led Hiero to Chesta at all. "How did you know where we are?" Dilandau asked quietly.
- "That's a secret." Said a velvety voice, and Dilandau just stared wide eyed for a moment, his hand frozen on Hiero's face as the young king's double-colored eyes snapped open. When Hiero's dark expression refused to change, Dilandau let his hand drop carefully, eyeing Hiero suspiciously.
- "Why is it a secret? I have you at my mercy." Dilandau said, letting a smirk cross his lips. Hiero matched it perfectly, and in the time it took Dilandau to raise his hand, Hiero swung out of the way and caught an off balanced Dilandau with his legs. Dilandau felt the hold tighten, his cheeks pressed a bit too close for comfort against Hiero's knees. It was a short-lived pressure that went to his shoulders. Hiero had pushed himself off the hook and was untying himself, falling off Dilandau's stunned body with a small laugh.
- "Mercy my ass, you got too close. So sloppy, why don't we just let out what we really feel, like why you wanted me to come here so badly as to plot my kidnapping? All you had to do was ask to get me to come." Hiero said evenly, leaning against the wall just beneath the hook he'd been hanging from a moment before. Dilandau whirled around angrily, his look deepening when he saw Hiero was quiet calm, but smiling. 'Oh no you don't, you won't get me angrier….not enough that I'll make another mistake. Not this time.' he thought, and smirked wickedly at the young king, extending his hand.
- "I want you to aid me in destroying Folken and everyone backing his sick little world domination crap." Dilandau spouted haughtily," You seemed like the perfect person to assist us in this task, not that I need much help."
- Hiero's raised a curious eyebrow, and Dilandau felt he was being mocked. "That's not the only reason, but I will gladly help you and your men kick my uncle's ass to death over and over again. He's given me more than enough excuses to splay him out like a dying fish. He killed most of my people just last night with that woman, Sora." Hiero said pleasantly at first, then ground his teeth at the mention of Sora.
- Dilandau's smile broadened. "Excellent….I can't wait, and yes, there is another reason. I want to challenge you to a duel. Nothing fancy, just a bit of fun, for future brothers in arms. Unless you're afraid." Dilandau let out, giggling slightly as he laid his hand against his scarred cheek.
- Hiero nodded, but he didn't move. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go pick up your sword and fight me!" Dilandau yelled, but still Hiero refused to move. Dilandau went to far as to draw his own sword to egg Hiero on, but still, the young king refused to budge or stop smiling. "Where's the honor in a fight only we will see….and besides, with what telepathy I have, I know you have someone here I would like to retrieve. She's with Migel….you told him to interrogate her, but all he's doing is flirting. Can he hear you from here, I wonder? Chesta said it was only a hall or so away from the living area. He wanted me kept close. The poor thing feared I'd run off and he'd get a beating for wasting your time." Hiero said matter-of-factly.
- Dilandau scoffed at him, ready to dismiss his words, but then he recalled how Hiero had managed to get into his mother's mind and unlocked so much even he couldn't recall. His lips tightened then, his eyes flaring with hate before he shouted, "MIGEL!! GET IN THE STORAGE ROOM NOW!!!! NOW OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!!"
- Dilandau waited a few minutes, ready to run out of the room and drag Migel in by his hair, but then came the rapid sound of boots racing through the halls, someone panting as if he was running out of air. Another minute passed before Migel barreled into the room, leaning forward for a few seconds with his hands on his knees as he gasped for air.
- Dilandau made a sharp sound in his throat that made the tired Migel stand up straight in attention, his hands looking almost glued to his sides and eyes wide and stiff with fear. "Like trained dogs….always ready to bow down pitifully to their masters like life-less toy soldiers…." Hiero's voice let out arrogantly.
- Dilandau wished to retort, but Hiero had a point, rude as it was. His Slayers were trained to fight to the death for him, to give their lives just for him and never show weakness, but all in all, being so dedicated to just him had been their weakness in the past, which had cost all of them their lives. Migel had avoided a grisly death at the cold, demonic hands of Hiero's late father, but to be strangled in a back attack by a filthy doppelganger was an outrage. He smiled openly at the memory or crushing that Zongi to a bloody pulp in his liquid metal grasp, the screaming and crushing of the pitiful creature a bit of solace to the pain of losing his first Slayer in the war.
- "Migel, go and give Hiero Fanel his sword. You are to watch us duel, and only. If you dare to interfere with this, I will kill you myself. Honor is at stake in this….and my own personal pleasure, don't screw it up. Understood!?" Dilandau ordered.
- Migel nodded and bowed, putting on arm across his chest. "Yes, Lord Dilandau."
- Migel was swift in his actions, though Dilandau noticed his Slayer give the young king a dirty look. 'I deal with his flirting with a prisoner crap afterwards. I am entitled to my fun. Let Migel think he's fine with me for now….let him just think it. It's so much better when they don't see it coming.' He thought, getting in fighting stance the moment Hiero took out his kingship sword.
- Hiero went into fighting stand after Migel walked back to the strange colored bag, the smile gone from all but Dilandau's face. Hiero just looked focused, the edge of his silvery blade shimmering in the pale torchlight that lit the room.
- Hiero moved before Dilandau could blink, but he was able to block the swipe perfectly and shove Hiero back with his blade. Hiero was strong, Dilandau had to give him that, but it would be all he'd give him. He let out a war cry and charged at the sapphire-haired prince.
- Hiero's stopped smiling a few seconds before Dilandau's blade began to move forth with his body, then swiftly leapt over his opponent, parrying the blade in mid air. Dilandau's heart soared when he felt a warm trickle land on his hair and slink across his scar. He whirled about quickly ready to deliver another blow when he was knocked back by Hiero's oncoming foot.
- It had really been so sudden that Dilandau staggered back, growling all the way, but kept his grip on his sword. He saw Hiero had been cut after all, a thin and freshly bleeding slash across the bare chest of his opponent. 'Maybe I won't kill him, but I never said anything about friendly injuries….what fun.' He thought whimsically and took another charge at Hiero.
- This time Hiero ducked down and rolled right under Dilandau's silvery blade, and Dilandau let out a woofing sound when the hilt of Hiero's sword crashed into his stomach. Even with his armor on, he felt a great amount of pressure land there. As if a guymelef had backhanded him. He took the pain with pride, and lurched backwards, right into the very wall Hiero had been hanging from.
- In a flash, a sharp pain shot through his sword hand, making him drop it and before he could work to retrieve it, the blade was at his throat. Hiero had defeated him, but Hiero didn't look happy or amused or anything, even as he brought up his own Fanelian blade to the other side of Dilandau's throat, making it look like a giant pair of scissors prepared to decapitate him. Dilandau dared not move, only meeting the gaze of the Fanelian king.
- He heard a slight shuffling a ways off and searched for it for a few moments, spotting Migel approaching them with an angry expression and his own sword drawn. Hiero's own eyes swiveled to the side as Migel got closer, disgust leaking across his perfect features. Dilandau sneered at Migel, which made the young Dragon Slayer stop. Dilandau couldn't shake his head or try and speak, or else he'd get his untouched throat cut up, but his eyes were enough to make his Slayers obey. They knew what awaited them if he looked at them the wrong way.
- "You're pretty good, Dilandau, but this fight wasn't fair. You're not at full strength." Hiero finally said, Dilandau turning his eyes back towards his opponent," And its not time for us to do battle, not yet. You need to think with your heart and soul in a battle, not simply your balls. Being half-starved doesn't help either. We can consider this a draw, until the time comes when you are ready to defeat me."
- When Dilandau didn't answer, Hiero chuckled and slowly pulled the swords away from his tender throat. Dilandau nodded then, a little angry, but glad he was going to get more fights out of Hiero. The young king handed him back his trusted blade then sheathed his own, keeping his gaze fastened gently upon Dilandau's face.
- "Consider that a vow you must keep. I must admit, you're not half bad yourself, very strong and I do like that in allies. Weakness has no place among those that are around me," Dilandau spouted evenly, giving a sharp glare towards Migel, making the young Slayer cringe," And you are in deep shit for flirting with that prisoner!"
- Migel stood at attention, but dared not say a word. Dilandau could see there was fear in his blue eyes, as well as confusion. "Sir? I was merely interrogating Lady Alessa, nothing more."
- Dilandau just stepped right up to him and slapped him, hearing Hiero giggle behind them. "Hiero of Fanelia has the powers of his mother, Migel, so he could predict your actions from here through concentration. Would you call him a liar? If so, perhaps we should ask that woman what you were doing? See who is lying, hmm?"
- Migel turned his reddened face to Dilandau, looking almost defeated as he lowered his eyes slightly and nodded. "I was just curious, Lord Dilandau. She is the only woman we have ever seen in our lives thanks to Folken other than the slaves. She was clean….I was only curious….Iee!" Migel said quietly, yelping when Dilandau slapped him again.
- "That is for daring to lie to my face, Migel, now go collect the woman and bring her to the audience chamber. Get the other Dragon Slayers on your way….we have a lot to discuss now that we finally have Hiero with us. Go, don't you dare make me wait too long!" Dilandau ordered, Migel quickly bowing and running out of the room.
- "Yes, and we have to do it fast. The sun had long since already risen when Chesta and I got here. In the amount of time it took him to get you and for us to duel, it's probably far past the afternoon. The moon may rise in a few hours. We only have little time to escape this death trap." Hiero piped.
- Dilandau gave the Fanelian king a sidelong glance, his eyes interested. "Escape?….Wait, you had a vision before you came here?" Hiero nodded and walked over to the odd bag and dagger, putting them back on his person before stepping up to Dilandau. "Folken knows where you are. The ambush was a test and the floating castle is on its way here now to retrieve the lot of us. He's going to destroy the base regardless, but he will be here by first light tomorrow. We have to leave as soon as possible…." Hiero let out, and Dilandau gave a slight nod.
- "All right then, then I'll race you to the audience chamber. The faster the better, and I could use a few more challenges against you." Dilandau smirked and ran out of the room. Hiero jus laughed behind him and followed at a similar pace.
- ~ Audience Chamber ~
- "I still don't believe it." Was the first thing to come out of Dalet's haughty little mouth, his lavender eyes slanted down angrily.
- Hiero sneered at the brunette Dragon Slayer, but it was short lived when Dilandau's silvery head swiveled right at Dalet, making the expression fall away as if it had never existed. "I believe him, and that's all that matters. I know not to underestimate Folken and his freakish whore, and I certainly understand more spiritual things of the mind since discovering Hiero's mother and Hiero himself. We owe our freedom partially to him, if he had not awakened me to what Folken's plans were, we'd be slaves as well, discarded as soon as we were no longer useful."
- "I believe you both, Lord Dilandau. Lord Hiero has proven to me he has a strange power to predict and change fate as his mother once did." Chesta let out strongly, standing at full attention like all the others. Guimel also nodded as did Gatti and Migel, but Ryuon and Dalet were still not swallowing it. Hiero frowned slight upon being called "Lord," it reminded him of the terrible devotion of Myrna, always calling for him in private as her Safaia-kimi. She never said it in public unless she had something to prove to others. Hiero knew Chesta was only glad that Hiero had saved and spared his life, nothing more, but he still didn't like all the titles he got, whether he deserved them or not.
- Dilandau didn't seem to like the fact Chesta had said it either, a growl sounding from him at that very moment. Hiero was standing right next to Dilandau as the silver-haired general was sitting on his makeshift throne. It was nice being with an old friend, what he fully considered Dilandau to be. They were similar in ways, other than Dilandau's excuse of them both being gorgeous. They both didn't have families anymore, they had wild tempers, fighting made them feel alive, and their be similarity is that they utterly despised every idiot they came across. Hiero was getting to hate Dalet, who kept convincing Ryuon that Hiero's vision was a big joke for the past three hours they'd been talking.
- He was just glad Dilandau's reputation was good enough to finally shut the vain idiot up. From what Hiero got from his mind, Dalet was even more vain that Dilandau was, but dared not let his patron know it or get his beauty slapped to death. Gatti seemed honest enough, a basic nice guy, but one with fighting edge. He was Dilandau's third in command, Chesta being second, even if the guy didn't seem the type to be aggressive. Chesta was pretty close in the way Gatti thought, but not as brave to speak against Dilandau's moments of blind rage and stupidity. Chesta took hits worse than Gatti and Migel did, but Chesta seemed to hold a great mind inside his head. It could come in handy.
- Guimel was very soft-spoken and poor guymelef pilot, more nervous than anything about being in battle again than any of them. Perhaps since he had been the first of Dilandau's favorite Slayers to die violently at his father's hands, Guimel had been the most frightened and taken a long time to bleed out and die. He was also very skinny, probably from too little food. He color was slightly back in his pale yellow cheeks, and with some more good hearty meals, he'd be at full strength like the rest of them.
- Ryuon was quiet too, his long black hair swiveling about his shoulders slightly and icy blue eyes regarding Hiero gently. He had been called by his last name in the past most often, but was an excellent pilot and crossbow sharpshooter in addition to his swordsmanship skills. His cobalt eyes almost seemed hopeful for Hiero, that they could leave this stuffy place. Hiero hadn't been here for but a few hours and it was already getting on his nerves. Dalet was another story, making those cobalt eyes lower and be silent in their pleas.
- Migel had been giving Hiero dirty looks the entire time, as if Hiero had slapped him and not Dilandau. 'Flirt with my friend, will you? Keep your sword in your sheath, pervert.' Hiero thought harshly, his blue and green eyes slowly moving to the person standing next to Migel with a look of bewilderment written all across her face. Alessa had hugged Hiero when she saw him, then quickly pulled away with a small blush. She had immediately looked at the ground to hide her embarrassment, but in a way he was glad she did. Her sudden affection made his face go all red. He was just simply lad to see her, but being so close to such a pretty young woman would make any male feel things at the wrong time.
- She had been giving Migel dirty looks until Hiero began to speak of his vision, now she just went on looking puzzled, and almost afraid of his gift. It made him feel poor inside, but this wasn't the time for a sulking. It was time to escape.
- It took Hiero another hour to finally get the last two stubborn Dragon Slayers to listen to him, and a few screams from Dilandau to shut them up each time the disagreed. He was glad to finally be able to have enough trust from them to abandon the base, but explaining the prophecy Sora and Folken were planning would be a bit harder, and they didn't have time to discuss it just now.
- Dilandau stood up from his throne and looked down the line of his Slayers, then harshly pointed his finger at Chesta, who was at the head of the bowing line. "Stand and state your names and status to our new ally, King Hiero Scorchava de Fanel, and his companion, Lady Alessa Lee Demitrius. We must all know each other well for this journey for vengeance and our honor will be long and hard." Dilandau commanded, then put one hand on his hip and let the other hang at his side lazily. His piercing garnet eyes sparkled a moment with the force of his words, a smirk of insane delight playing across his slim lips.
- Chesta stepped forward first, bowing his head slightly to both Dilandau and Hiero. "Chesta Nakia Akilion**, second in command to Lord Dilandau. Scout-first class."
- Gatti stood up and came forward when Chesta came back and went back into his kneeling bow. "Gatti Derron Maateo^, third in command to Lord Dilandau and his personal messenger." Gatti proclaimed proudly in his husky pleasant voice, sort of a younger version of Allen's voice, not a hint of pride in it, only simplicity and truth. His eyes made Hiero shiver inwardly, they were exactly like Celena's Shezar's stormy blue-gray eyes, his hair nearly the same silvery blonde color as hers was, but more gray.
- Guimel came up next, bowing his pale head gently to them, his green eyes slowly regaining their emerald color from the meal he'd finally been given. "Guimel Dolas Cady***. Dragon Slayer Second Class, battle analyst and soldier."
- After Guimel's form came a sneering Dalet, but the sneer was gone when he reached them, and bowed stiffly. "Dalet Paru Jace^^, Dragon Slayer Second Class, tactician and head mechanic. Ryuon came up after him, his dark hair blowing over his shoulders as he bowed deeply, then raised himself up with his calm cobalt eyes. "Ryuon Ravi Viole^^^. Dragon Slayer Second Class, 1st Class Marksman." He said, his voice young and like water over a rock, full of calm, collected, and refined upbringing. He gave a off a slight smile to them, then evenly stepped back to where he had been bowing.
- Migel was the last Slayer to step up, his eyes showing nothing but defiance towards Hiero before bowing as stiffly as Dalet had, more out of anger of Hiero getting him punished. Hiero just stuck his tongue out at Migel when the blue-eyed brunette raised his head. Migel sneered, letting out his boyish and refined voice. "Migel Dima Lavariel*^, field commander and Dragon Slayer Second Class, Intelligence Officer 1st Class."
- Once that was done, Dilandau looked at Hiero directly. "Dilandau Thani Albatou**^, Dragon Slayer General First Class, Pilot First Class," he said proudly, and Hiero smiled broadly," Now you know us all, though I saw no real reason for these middles names. Folken gave them to us for his own weird reasons."
- "His ridiculous stupidity only makes sense to himself. But still, to him they might be labels for each of you, like mine was for me. My middle name is supposed to mean scorned life, sort of a play on my first name, which means holy. I don't think my parents were in full control of naming me, Sora must have influenced my mother at the time, giving me my label just to taunt me. All the more reason to blow her face off as soon as possible, once we're all ready for Zaibach's destruction," Hiero smirked, then cast his eyes on Alessa, who was fiddling with her necklace," Oh….I almost forgot….Alessa, come here."
- Alessa slowly did so, taking off her necklace. He had to smile, she knew exactly what he was thinking, she remembered his words from the night he shared a vision with her. He just nudged his head towards a curious Dilandau gently, making his eyes sincere. She was doing it again, calming him, making him feel peaceful inside. He liked the feeling.
- He watched quietly as Alessa took the ring off the leather strap and held it out in her hand to Dilandau. He looked at it a moment, then at her, slowly putting his gloved hand over hers to take it. He then looked at Hiero. "It was meant for you and the ancient Ispona Alseides, Dilandau, I feel it. You are a chosen angel, as Alessa, Val, Chesta, and I are, as well as two more of your slayers. Put it on, it is your link to Alseides as my pendant is to Escaflowne." Hiero said evenly.
- Dilandau looked at the ring again, then at Hiero, a small smirk twitching on his curious face. A few seconds more passed before he slid it over his right ring finger. Instantly, it glowed a bright jade, making everyone except Hiero back away and gasp in awe. When it faded, Dilandau was smiling wickedly, giggling to himself. "Interesting." He whispered with dangerous glee.
- Hiero just chuckled a bit, and went to clasp his hand on Dilandau's shoulder but he never made it. The whole base began to shake, parts of the already trashed metal walls cracking and crumbling inward. "Damn, I forgot! Folken's approaching….dammit, we took too long!" Dilandau raged, glaring at Dalet and Ryuon. Hiero yanked Dilandau back from his steps to go beat the two up and shook his head. "We have to go now….you can break their faces later. Being angry is no good when you're a prisoner!" Hiero shouted, dragging Dilandau along and out the room with Alessa close by.
- Dilandau nodded and shot a look back at his slayers as they went out the door. "To Migel's guymelef. Hurry!"
- ~
- The Dragon Slayers were all struggling to stay on their feet as Migel got into his guymelef and activated it. He picked up Dilandau first, then Gatti who was holding Alessa to himself, by Hiero's request. All but Chesta and Guimel grabbed onto the shoulders and legs of the guymelef, holding on for dear life as the metal giant ran to leave the hanger.
- Hiero was keeping up, much to Dilandau's shock, with Guimel and Chesta being dragged along by their hands. He didn't have much time to admire Hiero's strengths as the ceiling was blown off, and Hiero skidded to a halt with the two Slayers. The two fell on him and knocked him over, sending them all rolling into the guymelef's left leg. Dilandau nearly cringed at the audible clang.
- He instead screamed out his rage as he saw the hanger exit was all collapsed and burning, enemy Zaibach Alseides guymelefs pouring out of the floating fortress high above the ravine they were nestle in.
- "We're trapped! Dammit!" Dalet shouted, hanging perilously off of the guymelef's right elbow. The others weren't fairing much better than he was being held in the liquid metal or Gatti and the woman. As the enemy got closer and closer, Dilandau's rage, his want for the deaths of all Zaibach overpowered him. He shook his ring wearing fist at them and shouted," I won't let you win, FOLKEN! I WON'T!!!! YOU'RE ALL DEAD!! Ahhhh!" Dilandau shouted, his garnet pupils shrinking inwardly in his insane rage, his lust for blood aching to be quenched. Then his ring pulsed strongly on his hand, making him look at it. It was glowing even brighter than before, but it was being melded with a bright pink light from the ground. He saw Hiero was staring at his pendant, which was the source of the pink light. The light of their stone began to grow until they were the only colors either of them could see.
- In a flash, as the roar of the enemy guymelefs' engines reached their ears, the pillar of light Dilandau had once seen in Fanelia the day he had burned it so long ago cam down upon them all, and all of his senses spun into oblivion.
- To Be Continued….
- *The Devil card here represents, you guessed it, Dilandau, but also his acceptance of an unwanted situation, such as this prophecy and for his followers' ignorance of the spiritual, and Dilandau's ignorance of his health and his as lack of honing his fighting skills for the battle with Hiero.
- **Nakia Akilion means pure wisdom.
- ^ Derron Maateo means great truth and law.
- *** Dolas Cady means simple happiness.
- ^^ Paru Jace means beautiful and attractive.
- ^^^Ravi means secret.
- *^Dima means powerful warrior.
- **^Thani means death.
Teaser: The birth of the planet Gaia, the battle between the youngest gods against the anti-god that created the void between Earth and Gaia. And ladies, get your drool cups ready for….BISHONEN BATHING 101!!!!
