Author's note: Some more past references in here. I just have to include some little tidbits from the series that I absolutely love. You'll probably recognize Allen's little speech. Sorry this took so long. School, play, graduation, and all, everything piled up in one month. It's a very long chapter, and so I hope it makes up for the wait.



Chapter 13: Revelations



Everything was blurry.

Emilee blinked and slowly two blond and brown spheres materialized into faces. A noise between a groan and a whimper escaped her throat as a wave of dizziness spun the two into a haze.

Hitomi leaned over. "Emilee, what happened?"

Simply staring at the ceiling, her friend answered, "I should be asking you that."

"You have a gash from your shoulder to your elbow. Allen found you passed out at the foot of the ramp."

Emilee touched the bandage and winced. "Did we win?"

Allen spoke from his corner of the room. "After a fashion. Two ships went down, three others were damaged. The rest ran."

She nodded unemotionally.

Hitomi, concerned, touched her hand. "Emilee?"

Emilee pulled away and covered her face. Voice muffled she said, "Please, will you leave me alone for a while?"

Wide – eyed, Hitomi nodded.

When the door shut, Emilee drew her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. Hot tears dampened the sheets as she sobbed. The death and blood came back too clearly. Clinching her fists in the cloth, she ignored the flash of pain from her arm. She deserved it. Looking down at her hands, she was slightly surprised to see clean skin.

"I killed someone." She whispered.

A large, ungloved hand covered both of hers. Startled, Emilee looked up and met Allen's understanding blue eyes. Embarrassed, she turned her head away. "I asked you to leave me alone."

His voice was neutral. "This is why I didn't like the idea of you masquerading as a man."

Angry, Emilee tried to pull away. "So rub it in my face that I couldn't handle it."

Allen firmly kept her hands in her lap. "I don't want to. But now you know that some things are a man's duty. You may be from a world where men and women are given equal opportunities, but some things are meant only for men to do."

Drawing a hand away to wipe her eyes, she took a deep breath. "At home we had movies – shows – about wars and battles. But they weren't real. They make them look real, sometimes disgustingly so. But you can always reassure yourself that they're just pretending. Even the remaking of gory history was a world away."

He was shocked. "You consider this entertainment?"

"Yes." Emilee laughed without mirth. "Entertainment. Despite all out technology and our sciences, we haven't found a cure for bloodlust. Until today I had never seen real violence in person." Her free hand began shaking. "I never even thought about killing."

Allen carefully sat on the edge of the bed. "Nothing I can say will change that. Every time there is a battle, soldiers know they may not come home. But it's our duty to protect our country." Pausing, he reached up to turn her face back towards his. "Emilee, will you trust my judgment on this plan of yours? I know you are a strong woman." He smiled slightly. "Perhaps too strong sometimes; but killing and death is not one of the burdens you should bear."

She gave him a weak smile in return. "I'll probably argue with you anyway."

Allen smiled and brushed a curling lock of hair out of her face. Her breath caught as his fingers lingered against her temple. "I am sorry that you had to cut your hair." He murmured.

She blinked, surprised, and drew back. His smile dimmed. Standing, he turned to the door.

"I don't want anything to happen to you. Hitomi told you a few things about me but some she may have left out for my sake. My past history is full of people I have lost. Fate was kind enough to return my sister, but others…" Deep blue eyes filled with an ancient pain and sorrow. "I will make sure you return from this mission – to be sent back to the Mystic Moon, or for some other destiny set for you here." He picked up the sword leaning next to the door. "Every swordsman must face the consequences of death at one point or another. I've made that choice, Lord Van has, and once our master Balgus did to become one of the best swordsmen on Gaia." Handing it to the hesitant woman, Allen folded her fingers around the sheath. "Find a purpose, a just and honorable reason for your fighting, and it will become bearable."

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Clear blue sky, broken by pure white clouds made a spectacular background for a solemn occasion. In careful single file, Van, Hitomi, Allen, and 'Ben' entered the General's briefing room. The soldiers standing guard by the door immediately marched out behind them, never looking anyone in the face. The General, sitting at a massive desk in the center of the room, stood briskly.

"Thank you for your prompt and effective response to the previous combat. Now I hope you fully realize the danger and importance of my mission."

Van, wearing his laced blue shirt and black pants, stepped out of the line and bowed. "General Alessandro, I hope we have confirmed our dedication, but we are still unclear as to what we're really here for."

The older man nodded. "I know how hard it must have been to come on the word of one who once tried to conquer your homes. I am honored that despite the past, you are here now, willing to fight alongside us."

'Ben' muttered to Allen from the side of his mouth. "He's not answering the question."

Alessandro's dark eyes fixed on the apprentice. 'Ben' flinched but met his gaze steadily. After a moment Alessandro pushed a pad across the desk.

"Here is the reason I have asked for your help. It is along the same lines of why the Duke of Fried asked for your assistance with his country."

Van picked up the pad and scanned it. Allen discreetly observed from behind. His eyes narrowed.

"The war never ended, did it."

Everyone turned to look at Hitomi. She stood quietly to the side, her eyes fixed on the floor.

"The war never ended, it just moved to a different level."

Alessandro nodded slowly. "You are correct, my lady, though I am surprised that such a young woman made such a pointed observation so quickly."

Green eyes lifted to look at the General. "I am Hitomi Kanzaki, the girl from the Mystic Moon."

"The Mystic Moon?"

Again everyone turned. A thin, smoky haired man walked casually out of a dark corner. The familiar collared cloak of a sorcerer draped from wiry shoulders but instead of engulfing his entire body, it was cut open in front to billow out as the man walked.

"Then you are the one the Emperor said could see the future and change his perfect world."

Hitomi shook her head. "I don't try to look anymore."

Alessandro, after an irritated glare at the newcomer, introduced him. "This is my ally among the sorcerers, Drax Onusa."

Drax circled Hitomi with a shrewd gaze. She watched him in surprise as Van took a protective step towards them. Stepping in front of her, the taller man smiled faintly.

"Amazing that such a delicate person like you defied all the research and theories the sorcerers relied on for over a decade. A girl, barely a woman – this is simply amazing. After Dilan I expected never to encounter such an equally unique being."

"Onusa, stop evaluating our guests like they're one of your experiments."

The scientist inclined his head in a light bow. "Forgive me Lady Kanzaki. As one who has spent a lifetime of observing Fate and Destiny, it is hard to stem my curiosity."

The General cleared his throat. "Back to the conflict at hand…"

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Celena woke with cold water running down her neck. She opened her eyes, but could see nothing. The back of her head ached dully. When she touched the throbbing lump it flamed in protest and her hand came away sticky. A wild panic rose in her that she might be blind and it drove her to start feeling her way along the floor. A door opened with a rusty screech, spilling sharp light into the prison. Shielding her eyes, she asked. "Who is it?"

The person who entered did not answer but took her bloodstained hand.

"Hard to believe that once you were the great Dilandau, the feared, honored, and favored one of the Emperor. You make too good a woman."

Celena jerked away. "What are you talking about?" She forced her eyes to adjust.

Silver gaze, black hair, and cold face – somewhere she knew she had seen him before. Then the recent past caught up and she began shaking uncontrollably once more. Another half-memory surfaced, one in which she walked by a barred cell occupied by a small boy who smiled.

"Pretty girl. They're going to change you." Metallic eyes darted from side to side. "Then they will give you to me."

Dilan smiled harshly, reaching out to run his hand through her silver hair. "You are my counterpart."

She yelped and swatted at his hand when he touched the wound. His face did not change as he let her go. "Celena, you and I are bound together through Lord Dornkirk. We will rebuild Zaibach side by side."

Celena's heart shuddered at the name. Her dreams came back. Dreams she had hidden from her brother, muffling her cries in her bedcovers. Nightmares of fire, blood, death, and pain; where people died in masses and a red guymeleph laughed. Abruptly the picture cleared and her dreams, everything Allen had told her – and not told her – made sense. She had been that person, that mad boy who burned city after city. The weight of that knowledge forced Celena to her knees. Triumphantly Dilan stood over her.

"You are Dilandau Albatou. Second after me."

He gently touched her face, leaving a smear of her own blood on her cheek. "It is fitting that you rule beside me."

A fire of nameless anger and hate suddenly kindled within her. Struggling to her feet, she defiantly asked. "Where is Jock?"

"Your street rat friend? He is safe as long as you stand by my side. So are your brother and your other friends."

Celena tossed her head. "My brother is always safe."

"Even when his precious sister is in the hands of one like her? An altered one? A freak?"

"I'm not like that anymore."

"Oh really?" The black head bent close to the silver one. "Tell me – do you not remember what the sorcerers did to you? Do you not remember the pain, the panic, the confusion of what life you lived? Which reality clawed your mind as they stabbed you with those cursed needles?" His voice lowered to a whisper. "Do you not remember the need for revenge on those scientists, on the world, on anything weaker that you could crush?"

With every word, Celena shook violently. She remembered. The fire flared higher in her heart, a now familiar warmth that once she used to revel in. It beckoned to her with insane anger, hate, and sick pleasure at destruction, flooding her veins and nearly consuming her again.

"You see," he smirked, "I know you. I know how you think, what you dream, what you fear, and what lies within the darkest pit of your heart."

It wasn't her – Celena argued with the small piece of mind left untouched. Celena Schezar would not burn entire kingdoms – she could not be Dilandau. The flames hissed back – Oh, but it is true, and you know it. You have lived in denial, lived a fantasy. You ARE Dilandau Albatou.

Dilan watched in delighted fascination as Celena struggled. Cooing softly to her, he smiled, making plans to take back and purge the Empire. Running a finger down the faded scar on the girl's face, he giggled as it melted away and then returned – an elusive butterfly beating against fair, white skin. She was reliving her past he noted. Her half closed eyes flickered rapidly from blue to red. Conversationally, Dilan leaned against the cell wall.

"After a fashion, I think you were luckier than I. You had a life. I am born of nothing but energy. You had a chance for a different Fate, while mine was engineered from the beginning for no real reason other to see weather I could exist." He sighed. "I'll never understand why my Maker never chose me to be the Savior."

Celena managed to turn her head and look him in the eye, anger focusing fractured thoughts on one target. In a strange, dual voice she spat, "G – go, t – to, H – Hell."

Crystal eyes narrowed. "Oh trust me I've been living there for many years. My entire life actually."

With supreme effort, Celena pulled herself to her feet. Tottering weakly, she glared. "I answer to no one."

Dilan watched her with a mix of mocking indulgence and awe. The scare remained on her face, but her eyes still fluxuated wildly.

"I answer to no one. The Maker is dead." The two toned voice hypnotized him. "I – I am alone."

Celena's head jerked back and from her mouth came a tortured scream of two souls.

Dilan bolted from the cell and slammed the door.



Author comment:

I have my final bugs worked out I think. Now it is a matter of time and motivation. Reviews help! Do you like it? Suggestions? Anything?