Love can Change You 16
A/N: When we last left off, it was one big cliffhanger. Dalet had led the rescue party into a library instead of the exit. Now Refina, everyone's favourite evil bitch, is facing Hitomi, Dilandau, and the Dragonslayers with a squad of guards. Will our heroes get out of this alive? Or will Hitomi and Dilandau's new found be strangled due to lack of participants? Find out.on Escaflowne!
Hitomi had been angry before. Hell, ever since she joined Zaibach she'd been getting a lot easier to piss off! But now, she was choking on her own rage as she stared in hate at that smirking bitch.
Refina wore long khaki pants and a black leather top. Glove-covered hands held a wickedly curved sword, and the look in her eyes said that she wanted to use it.
You could say that she was dressed to kill.
"Now," Refina purred, "Who gets to die first? Will it be the ever- faithful Chesta?" Her sword pointed at the blond Dragonslayer. "Or maybe the bumbling Dalet?" Now it pointed at said Slayer. "Or maybe even the fearless Dilandau?" Dilandau growled.
"Bite me, bitch!"
Refina laughed. "No, I'll leave that to your slutty little psychic girl."
Hitomi stretched a hand to her sword, and didn't say anything.
Chesta suddenly smiled. "Of course you realise that those guards of yours are no match for us. We could take them out easily."
Chesta was knocked down by the sword hilt to his head. Dalet barely had time to yell before he was kicked in the groin and fainted. Even before he hit the floor, Miguel doubled over with a fist to the gut. In two seconds, three of Dilandau's best soldiers lay on the ground, two of them barely conscious, the other totally out of it. Refina yawned and stretched her hands above her head.
"Maybe you could have won." Refina said. "But now the question's pointless, hmm? Thanks anyway. That was a good workout."
Dilandau was quivering with barely contained violence. Refina saw this. "Don't do anything stupid!" She snapped. "I took out them, I can take out you!"
Dilandau slowly forced his hand away from his sword. "What do you want?"
Refina rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to repeat it? Revenge!" She pointed at Hitomi. "She humiliated me, so I'm going to kill her and everything she cares about! And don't tell me I'm crazy! You said the exact same thing about Van!"
"Yeah, but I already admitted that I'm crazy!"
Refina shrugged. "Okay, so I'm crazy. That's just a technicality." She shook her head. "Any last words?"
"Yes."
Refina looked at Hitomi askance.
Hitomi's eyes flashed and her lips curved in a smile. "I say that you are a coward. You always say how great a swords-woman you are? Prove it. Fight me. Alone". Her voice took on a mocking tone. "Well? Aren't you a good fighter? Or are you just full of shit? Your father was wrong, you know. You don't have it in you."
Refina's hiss sounded like the dragon Hitomi had killed. "Kill Dilandau!"
The palace guards lunged forward, and the psycho met them halfway.
Grinning, Refina beckoned to Hitomi, and ran through the door. As she followed, Hitomi smiled. It worked. Dilandau could take those guys by himself. Now it was just her and Refina.
***
Outside the castle, the battle still raged. With its new weapons, the Vione had gained control of the air, and was now firing Folken's new weapons, 'torpedoes', onto the battlefield below.
Despite the aid from above, however, the Dragonslayers were being steadily pushed back by overwhelming numbers of Asturian guymelefs. All of their stealth cloaks had overloaded, and few 'melefs had not taken damage.
Ryoun had decided to emulate Dilandau, and was using his flame- thrower to its maximum use.
Guimel was in flight mode, soaring through the battle at great speed, striking then running.
Viole had used his Crima claws to hook onto an opponent and was using him to block attacks.
And Gatti was still going strong. With his scimitars out, he attacked, and attacked, and attacked, and attacked, and at-
His Alseides was struck in his secondary energist, and the suit stopped working. The guymelef seized up and slowly toppled over backwards. The same fate befell the rest of his command. One after another, their energists were destroyed and they were overcome.
As Gatti lay on his back, awaiting death, one thought crept through his mind. 'I'm sorry, Naria.' He thought.
Then the Asturian's shouts of victory changed to cries of alarm. Puzzled, Gatti looked through the slats of his visor and saw a very strange sight.
Freid leva-ships were landing nearby and were depositing troops and weapons.
Gatti turned on his mech-to-ship comlink and was relieved when it worked.
"Yes?" Folken's voice responded.
"Lord Folken?"
"What is it Gatti?"
"What the hell is going on?"
Gatti could almost see Folken smile. "Well, last night Duke Freid called me. It seems that his men found money on the assassins' bodies. Imagine his surprise when it was identified as Asturian currency. The Duke was understandably outraged. And when I asked him if he could back us up on this raid, he agreed willingly." He chuckled. "I always knew that Asturian arrogance would get them into trouble someday. I'm just surprised that it didn't come sooner. Either way, you boys can take a rest now."
"Aye sir!" Gatti switched to inter-melef communication. "Listen up boys and girls! Stand down and rest. The Freidians will take it from here."
"Can we trust them?"
"We don't have much choice, now do we?"
Before the other guy could reply, Gatti switched over to Naria's frequency. "Are you alright?" He nearly leaped through the roof of his 'melef when she answered him.
"I've been better, but I'll live. Thanks for asking."
"I'm glad to hear it." Gatti then switched his seat to recliner mode. Lord Dilandau let his troops modify their weapons as long as they paid for it. He hadn't been too thrilled about the recliner, but he let it stay. Just like he let Dalet keep his beer-dispensing machine.
The Dragonslayer leaned back and was asleep instantly.
***
Dilandau ducked a slash to his head and thrust out. He smiled at the impact and pulled away, twisting to avoid a swing at his leg. A third opponent came at him from the side, and Dilandau tripped him. He threw himself back and parried three blows at once, but had to jump to keep away from the other three.
'Outnumbered, outgunned, and no visible hope of winning. Now THIS is a fight!'
Now Dilandau went on the offensive, thrusting and cutting murderously. His opponents fell back frantically. One of them wasn't quick enough and fell to the general's bloodstained blade.
When he stopped, Dilandau took stock of his surroundings. Two of the guards had been killed, and the other three were circling him warily. It still didn't look good. Time to change tactics.
Screaming like a banshee, Dilandau back-flipped over the head of the guard behind him. He landed on a bookshelf and laughed.
"What's the matter? Can't kill one lousy enemy?" He was cut off as one of the guards threw a book at him. He twisted to avoid the missile and fell off the shelf.
With the wind knocked out of him, Dilandau instinctively rolled. A sword split the floor where his head had been. He flipped himself back onto his feet, a nearly lost his sword to an upswing. Instead, he was merely gashed along his left arm.
Hissing with fury, Dilandau attacked the man who had cut him mercilessly. The guard coolly parried Dilandau's strokes and counterattacked with a mind-boggling series of cuts and reverse cuts.
The words 'He's good' passed through Dilandau's mind. Getting frustrated, he jumped a blow at his legs and landed on the sword, jarring it from his opponent's hand.
With incredible presence of mind, the man hurled a dagger at Dilandau, stopping his charge. Then he pulled back, allowing his other three comrades to go at him.
With the tough guy backing off, Dilandau stepped back too, recovering his breath.
The three men at the front waited. Dilandau waited too, with growing impatience. What the hell were they doing? Suddenly, he remembered his fight with Hitomi. She had waited just like this. And it was at a time when he was hurt. He put two and two together and came to a conclusion.
These bastards were waiting for to faint from blood loss!
Dilandau knew then that he couldn't afford to wait this out. His armour was already soaked with blood where that son of a bitch had cut him. He had to end this soon.
'Remember, if you die, it will hurt Hitomi.' THAT got him going!
Screaming, Dilandau thrust forward, making the other fighters scatter. The he lunged after one who stumbled. The poor bastard was dead before he knew what hit him.
Another guard capitalised on Dilandau's distraction and threw a book at him before attacking.
The book caught Dilandau in the leg. He hissed in pain before the guard attacked, and was hard-pressed to defend himself.
Parry. Lunge. Cut. Thrust, cut, slash, thrust. The two fighters advanced and retreated with the flow of the battle. When they broke away, they circled each other, warily eyeing the opposing blade.
The third guard tried to jump Dilandau from behind and lost his head for his idiocy. When the other guy came at him again, Dilandau cut off his sword arm. He didn't have time to feel pain, however, because Dilandau then ran him through.
That left only the really good fighter guy. Dilandau decided to refer to him as 'the Bastard'.
The Bastard had regained his sword and was taller and more muscular than Dilandau. He also was fresher and unhurt. This was not good.
Dilandau would not wait for the first move, not when he was so hurt. He attacked, but not recklessly like he usually did. He sensed that that would be disastrous against such an enemy.
Instead, Dilandau took his time. He probed the Bastard's defences with quick surgical shots, testing for a weakness. He didn't find any.
Now the Bastard went on the offensive. And he didn't hold anything back. It was all Dilandau could do to hold the steel blade of his sword steady against the strikes of his opponent.
On and on the battle raged. Shelves were knocked over, spilling their contents over the floor, and tables were smashed, or used as shields for either fighter.
Eventually, Dilandau was drained of strength. He could barely lift his sword and fought like a robot. Lift, block, strike, and fall back. Over and over again this happened, until finally, he tripped over a fallen book.
The Bastard grinned victoriously. Refina would pay him well for this! He raised his blade. A sword struck him in the side.
Dilandau looked up to see the strangest sight he had ever seen. Van Fanel was defending Dilandau Albatou, from an Asturian soldier, who was in the pay of a Zaibach assassin.
Van held his blade with two hands as the man struggled to his feet, blood dripping from the wound in his side. His eyes flashed and he attacked the king.
A moment later, a head flew across the room, and a headless body collapsed to the floor.
Van sheathed his sword and turned to look at Dilandau. The pyro returned the stare. Neither said a word. After a minute, a feminine voice broke their staring match.
"For God's sake Van! Are you just going to stand there while he bleeds to death?!"
Blushing, Van stepped aside, making way for the princess Millerna. She knelt down next to Dilandau, and pulled a wad of cloth and some wine from her bag. She poured some wine onto a cloth and washed the wound in his shoulder. After that, she bandaged him up.
While this was going on, Dilandau finally broke the ice. Turning to Van, he said, "You're about the last person I'd have expected to help me!"
Van nodded. "Two weeks ago, I'd agree with you. But now you're with Hitomi." He sighed. "And I couldn't bring myself to kill someone Hitomi loves."
Dilandau smacked himself in the head. "Okay, Folken and the others knowing is one thing. But you finding out is just too much!"
"Don't blame me! Those two told me." Van pointed to Merle and Millerna who shrugged.
"You kissed her right in front of me. Can you blame me for finding out?"
Dilandau smacked himself again.
While Dilandau was swearing, Van asked, "So, are you still going to try to kill me?"
Instantly, Dilandau shut up and scowled. "No", He said finally. "But not because of this! I made a promise to Hitomi that I wouldn't kill you!"
Van nodded. "Alright, I can live with that."
Millerna stood up. "There. You're finished. Your shoulder's tied up, and if you leave that alone, the bleeding will stop shortly."
Merle stuck her head in the door. "Now come on! We have to catch up with Hitomi!"
Dilandau frowned. "Hey! I captured you on the Vione! What are you doing here?"
Merle squeaked and ducked behind the door again.
***
Hitomi stood on the roof of the castle, wind-tousled hair blowing in her face. She pushed it aside and glared at Refina. She had been the one to lead her here, and here was where they would fight.
Refina grinned evilly and drew her sword. "So this is it. The final showdown. Any last words?"
Hitomi smiled psychotically. "Yes. I am going to kill you." The she pulled out her own sword, the pommel shining in the late afternoon sun.
Time seemed to slow for both fighters. There was no rooftop, no city, and not even any sky. There was only Hitomi and Refina.
Then they charged.
A/N: I am getting cruel with these cliffhangers. Well you heard it! Next chapter Hitomi and Refina finally fight to the death. No more side tracks. So tune in next time: On Escaflowne!
Review!
A/N: When we last left off, it was one big cliffhanger. Dalet had led the rescue party into a library instead of the exit. Now Refina, everyone's favourite evil bitch, is facing Hitomi, Dilandau, and the Dragonslayers with a squad of guards. Will our heroes get out of this alive? Or will Hitomi and Dilandau's new found be strangled due to lack of participants? Find out.on Escaflowne!
Hitomi had been angry before. Hell, ever since she joined Zaibach she'd been getting a lot easier to piss off! But now, she was choking on her own rage as she stared in hate at that smirking bitch.
Refina wore long khaki pants and a black leather top. Glove-covered hands held a wickedly curved sword, and the look in her eyes said that she wanted to use it.
You could say that she was dressed to kill.
"Now," Refina purred, "Who gets to die first? Will it be the ever- faithful Chesta?" Her sword pointed at the blond Dragonslayer. "Or maybe the bumbling Dalet?" Now it pointed at said Slayer. "Or maybe even the fearless Dilandau?" Dilandau growled.
"Bite me, bitch!"
Refina laughed. "No, I'll leave that to your slutty little psychic girl."
Hitomi stretched a hand to her sword, and didn't say anything.
Chesta suddenly smiled. "Of course you realise that those guards of yours are no match for us. We could take them out easily."
Chesta was knocked down by the sword hilt to his head. Dalet barely had time to yell before he was kicked in the groin and fainted. Even before he hit the floor, Miguel doubled over with a fist to the gut. In two seconds, three of Dilandau's best soldiers lay on the ground, two of them barely conscious, the other totally out of it. Refina yawned and stretched her hands above her head.
"Maybe you could have won." Refina said. "But now the question's pointless, hmm? Thanks anyway. That was a good workout."
Dilandau was quivering with barely contained violence. Refina saw this. "Don't do anything stupid!" She snapped. "I took out them, I can take out you!"
Dilandau slowly forced his hand away from his sword. "What do you want?"
Refina rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to repeat it? Revenge!" She pointed at Hitomi. "She humiliated me, so I'm going to kill her and everything she cares about! And don't tell me I'm crazy! You said the exact same thing about Van!"
"Yeah, but I already admitted that I'm crazy!"
Refina shrugged. "Okay, so I'm crazy. That's just a technicality." She shook her head. "Any last words?"
"Yes."
Refina looked at Hitomi askance.
Hitomi's eyes flashed and her lips curved in a smile. "I say that you are a coward. You always say how great a swords-woman you are? Prove it. Fight me. Alone". Her voice took on a mocking tone. "Well? Aren't you a good fighter? Or are you just full of shit? Your father was wrong, you know. You don't have it in you."
Refina's hiss sounded like the dragon Hitomi had killed. "Kill Dilandau!"
The palace guards lunged forward, and the psycho met them halfway.
Grinning, Refina beckoned to Hitomi, and ran through the door. As she followed, Hitomi smiled. It worked. Dilandau could take those guys by himself. Now it was just her and Refina.
***
Outside the castle, the battle still raged. With its new weapons, the Vione had gained control of the air, and was now firing Folken's new weapons, 'torpedoes', onto the battlefield below.
Despite the aid from above, however, the Dragonslayers were being steadily pushed back by overwhelming numbers of Asturian guymelefs. All of their stealth cloaks had overloaded, and few 'melefs had not taken damage.
Ryoun had decided to emulate Dilandau, and was using his flame- thrower to its maximum use.
Guimel was in flight mode, soaring through the battle at great speed, striking then running.
Viole had used his Crima claws to hook onto an opponent and was using him to block attacks.
And Gatti was still going strong. With his scimitars out, he attacked, and attacked, and attacked, and attacked, and at-
His Alseides was struck in his secondary energist, and the suit stopped working. The guymelef seized up and slowly toppled over backwards. The same fate befell the rest of his command. One after another, their energists were destroyed and they were overcome.
As Gatti lay on his back, awaiting death, one thought crept through his mind. 'I'm sorry, Naria.' He thought.
Then the Asturian's shouts of victory changed to cries of alarm. Puzzled, Gatti looked through the slats of his visor and saw a very strange sight.
Freid leva-ships were landing nearby and were depositing troops and weapons.
Gatti turned on his mech-to-ship comlink and was relieved when it worked.
"Yes?" Folken's voice responded.
"Lord Folken?"
"What is it Gatti?"
"What the hell is going on?"
Gatti could almost see Folken smile. "Well, last night Duke Freid called me. It seems that his men found money on the assassins' bodies. Imagine his surprise when it was identified as Asturian currency. The Duke was understandably outraged. And when I asked him if he could back us up on this raid, he agreed willingly." He chuckled. "I always knew that Asturian arrogance would get them into trouble someday. I'm just surprised that it didn't come sooner. Either way, you boys can take a rest now."
"Aye sir!" Gatti switched to inter-melef communication. "Listen up boys and girls! Stand down and rest. The Freidians will take it from here."
"Can we trust them?"
"We don't have much choice, now do we?"
Before the other guy could reply, Gatti switched over to Naria's frequency. "Are you alright?" He nearly leaped through the roof of his 'melef when she answered him.
"I've been better, but I'll live. Thanks for asking."
"I'm glad to hear it." Gatti then switched his seat to recliner mode. Lord Dilandau let his troops modify their weapons as long as they paid for it. He hadn't been too thrilled about the recliner, but he let it stay. Just like he let Dalet keep his beer-dispensing machine.
The Dragonslayer leaned back and was asleep instantly.
***
Dilandau ducked a slash to his head and thrust out. He smiled at the impact and pulled away, twisting to avoid a swing at his leg. A third opponent came at him from the side, and Dilandau tripped him. He threw himself back and parried three blows at once, but had to jump to keep away from the other three.
'Outnumbered, outgunned, and no visible hope of winning. Now THIS is a fight!'
Now Dilandau went on the offensive, thrusting and cutting murderously. His opponents fell back frantically. One of them wasn't quick enough and fell to the general's bloodstained blade.
When he stopped, Dilandau took stock of his surroundings. Two of the guards had been killed, and the other three were circling him warily. It still didn't look good. Time to change tactics.
Screaming like a banshee, Dilandau back-flipped over the head of the guard behind him. He landed on a bookshelf and laughed.
"What's the matter? Can't kill one lousy enemy?" He was cut off as one of the guards threw a book at him. He twisted to avoid the missile and fell off the shelf.
With the wind knocked out of him, Dilandau instinctively rolled. A sword split the floor where his head had been. He flipped himself back onto his feet, a nearly lost his sword to an upswing. Instead, he was merely gashed along his left arm.
Hissing with fury, Dilandau attacked the man who had cut him mercilessly. The guard coolly parried Dilandau's strokes and counterattacked with a mind-boggling series of cuts and reverse cuts.
The words 'He's good' passed through Dilandau's mind. Getting frustrated, he jumped a blow at his legs and landed on the sword, jarring it from his opponent's hand.
With incredible presence of mind, the man hurled a dagger at Dilandau, stopping his charge. Then he pulled back, allowing his other three comrades to go at him.
With the tough guy backing off, Dilandau stepped back too, recovering his breath.
The three men at the front waited. Dilandau waited too, with growing impatience. What the hell were they doing? Suddenly, he remembered his fight with Hitomi. She had waited just like this. And it was at a time when he was hurt. He put two and two together and came to a conclusion.
These bastards were waiting for to faint from blood loss!
Dilandau knew then that he couldn't afford to wait this out. His armour was already soaked with blood where that son of a bitch had cut him. He had to end this soon.
'Remember, if you die, it will hurt Hitomi.' THAT got him going!
Screaming, Dilandau thrust forward, making the other fighters scatter. The he lunged after one who stumbled. The poor bastard was dead before he knew what hit him.
Another guard capitalised on Dilandau's distraction and threw a book at him before attacking.
The book caught Dilandau in the leg. He hissed in pain before the guard attacked, and was hard-pressed to defend himself.
Parry. Lunge. Cut. Thrust, cut, slash, thrust. The two fighters advanced and retreated with the flow of the battle. When they broke away, they circled each other, warily eyeing the opposing blade.
The third guard tried to jump Dilandau from behind and lost his head for his idiocy. When the other guy came at him again, Dilandau cut off his sword arm. He didn't have time to feel pain, however, because Dilandau then ran him through.
That left only the really good fighter guy. Dilandau decided to refer to him as 'the Bastard'.
The Bastard had regained his sword and was taller and more muscular than Dilandau. He also was fresher and unhurt. This was not good.
Dilandau would not wait for the first move, not when he was so hurt. He attacked, but not recklessly like he usually did. He sensed that that would be disastrous against such an enemy.
Instead, Dilandau took his time. He probed the Bastard's defences with quick surgical shots, testing for a weakness. He didn't find any.
Now the Bastard went on the offensive. And he didn't hold anything back. It was all Dilandau could do to hold the steel blade of his sword steady against the strikes of his opponent.
On and on the battle raged. Shelves were knocked over, spilling their contents over the floor, and tables were smashed, or used as shields for either fighter.
Eventually, Dilandau was drained of strength. He could barely lift his sword and fought like a robot. Lift, block, strike, and fall back. Over and over again this happened, until finally, he tripped over a fallen book.
The Bastard grinned victoriously. Refina would pay him well for this! He raised his blade. A sword struck him in the side.
Dilandau looked up to see the strangest sight he had ever seen. Van Fanel was defending Dilandau Albatou, from an Asturian soldier, who was in the pay of a Zaibach assassin.
Van held his blade with two hands as the man struggled to his feet, blood dripping from the wound in his side. His eyes flashed and he attacked the king.
A moment later, a head flew across the room, and a headless body collapsed to the floor.
Van sheathed his sword and turned to look at Dilandau. The pyro returned the stare. Neither said a word. After a minute, a feminine voice broke their staring match.
"For God's sake Van! Are you just going to stand there while he bleeds to death?!"
Blushing, Van stepped aside, making way for the princess Millerna. She knelt down next to Dilandau, and pulled a wad of cloth and some wine from her bag. She poured some wine onto a cloth and washed the wound in his shoulder. After that, she bandaged him up.
While this was going on, Dilandau finally broke the ice. Turning to Van, he said, "You're about the last person I'd have expected to help me!"
Van nodded. "Two weeks ago, I'd agree with you. But now you're with Hitomi." He sighed. "And I couldn't bring myself to kill someone Hitomi loves."
Dilandau smacked himself in the head. "Okay, Folken and the others knowing is one thing. But you finding out is just too much!"
"Don't blame me! Those two told me." Van pointed to Merle and Millerna who shrugged.
"You kissed her right in front of me. Can you blame me for finding out?"
Dilandau smacked himself again.
While Dilandau was swearing, Van asked, "So, are you still going to try to kill me?"
Instantly, Dilandau shut up and scowled. "No", He said finally. "But not because of this! I made a promise to Hitomi that I wouldn't kill you!"
Van nodded. "Alright, I can live with that."
Millerna stood up. "There. You're finished. Your shoulder's tied up, and if you leave that alone, the bleeding will stop shortly."
Merle stuck her head in the door. "Now come on! We have to catch up with Hitomi!"
Dilandau frowned. "Hey! I captured you on the Vione! What are you doing here?"
Merle squeaked and ducked behind the door again.
***
Hitomi stood on the roof of the castle, wind-tousled hair blowing in her face. She pushed it aside and glared at Refina. She had been the one to lead her here, and here was where they would fight.
Refina grinned evilly and drew her sword. "So this is it. The final showdown. Any last words?"
Hitomi smiled psychotically. "Yes. I am going to kill you." The she pulled out her own sword, the pommel shining in the late afternoon sun.
Time seemed to slow for both fighters. There was no rooftop, no city, and not even any sky. There was only Hitomi and Refina.
Then they charged.
A/N: I am getting cruel with these cliffhangers. Well you heard it! Next chapter Hitomi and Refina finally fight to the death. No more side tracks. So tune in next time: On Escaflowne!
Review!