She turned back to the board with her pencil and continued to draw. She then realized that the desk was vacant, so she walked over to it and sat down. She looked at the paper that Gatti had been writing. It was written in Japanese. She could read it quite well, but she couldn't understand it.
"I wouldn't read Gatti's poetry if I were you." Said Dalet. "It's romantic. It'll rot out your brain." He said. "I happen to like romantic poetry," She said, a little offended. "It's in Japanese, so it's not like I understand most of it. I can read it, though." She said. "Okay, what's the title say?" He said in a boyish tone.
"Yakusoku Wa Iranai." She read. "Not need promises?" She said, confused. "Oh, that? He's writing a song or something. He says it's too high for him to sing, but he says he's writing it anyways." Guimel explained, and then went back to the chess-like game with Dalet. She gently placed the paper aside, and put down hers and continued to draw.
It was late into the night when Dilandau finally returned to the room. He looked half-dead with exhaustion, and he sat in his chair, not noticing the sleeping girl who'd fallen asleep at the desk just yet. All the others had long since gone to their quarters, and he sat there for a few moments to gather his wits before he went to his. When Gabrielle sneezed, he startled. He looked around the room, and saw her asleep at the desk, her head in her arms. He sighed to himself. Why couldn't one of the others simply have given her someplace to sleep? Now he was going to have to send for an extra bed for her to sleep on. All he wanted was to just go to sleep! He lifted himself from his chair, and walked over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She didn't wake. Great, this is all I need. A deep sleeper. Joy. He said to himself, and he poked her again.
"Nnn..." She mumbled. "Hey, get up." He said to her. "Gnah?" She said as she opened her eyes. "Go 'way." She said, already half asleep again. He sighed again, and slid his arms underneath her kneejoints and shoulders, and he lifted her up. She stirred, but didn't wake. She lifted her arm and held his shoulder. He took a step forward, and then another, and he slowly walked to the other end of the room, opening the door with his foot. He kicked it wide open so that he could pass through, and he walked down the hallway to the stairs. He was glad he only had to walk down one flight.
He eventually came to the doors of his quarters, and he opened them with one hand, bracing her with the other. He stepped in and shut the door. He stepped forwards and laid her on the bed. He thought of picking her up and putting her on the floor, like he would have done, had she been anyone else. I can't believe this. I'm going to sleep on the floor, aren't I? He thought. He looked at her again. Yes, yes I am. He walked over to the closet door and opened it, taking out the extra blankets he had for the winter.
He spread one on the ground and folded it in half. He put the other on the ground next to where he was going to lie down. He walked over to the next room which served as a bathroom and he fixed himself up before going to bed. He knew he had to stay 'decent' since there was a girl in the room, so he wore his housecoat to bed. He lay on the folded blanket, and pulled the other over him. He reminded himself he had only five hours to sleep, as he had to get up at four. He sighed in his defeat, and he was falling asleep before he even lay his head down.
He awoke in the middle of his sleep, like he usually did, but not from the usual nightmares. It was from a dream that was quickly fading from his grasp. All he knew was that he had dreamt about the past, and she was there. I saw her... In the past... But... Where? He hardly had time to finish his thought before he was asleep again.
At four, his internal clock awoke him, and he cursed it. He had to go and meet the others; No doubt they had been alerted of the mission as well. They had to go searching for that damned White Dragon again. After they got back, he and Gabrielle were to go and see the Scientists. A bitter taste filled the back of his throat, but he knew there wasn't really anything there. If they did something to him, well, that didn't matter. But if they did something to Gabrielle, he was going to kill them. That is, if they didn't strap him to a table and mess with his mind like they usually did.
They always messed with his mind to the point of breaking, and then when he tried to fight them off and get them to stop, they stuck him with needles that made him lethargic and stupid, and then they messed with him some more. He had nightmares about it all the time. He'd gradually accepted the nightmares as part of his life, and so he simply was used to waking up in a cold sweat every two hours of sleep. He got that peculiar feeling that he had to protect Gabrielle again for some reason. He didn't want Gabrielle to end up like him, afraid to have emotions, and so messed up inside that he felt he wasn't truly human anymore. He didn't want that for her. He wanted her to get out of here before they messed her up, too. They knew about her visions, and they'd pumped him full of so much drugs that he told them about it. He felt he'd betrayed her, and he hated himself and the world for making him do it.
He got a strange feeling in his chest when he thought about her, and he didn't know what it was. He had been told ever since he was little that he wasn't supposed to care for other people and that he was bad for doing it. He wanted so much just to be gentle with her, but he didn't know what to do or say. All he knew was that he'd known her before, and that they had made him forget her. He wanted to get his memory back from them. He wanted her to remember him, so he had to get her memory back, too. But how could he do it alone? Maybe there was something that could make him remember... And something that would make her remember, too. He tried to piece everything together; Tried to get just a scrap of memory back. Because he knew, that underneath all of those foggy grey layers of lost memory, there was something. Had he but the key!
He finally stood, and he saw her asleep on his bed. That funny feeling inside his chest grew bigger. He knelt by the bedside, watching her. She was breathing deep and regularly, showing that she was still fast asleep. "I wish I knew what was wrong with me." He said quietly, even though he knew she was a long way away from hearing him. "I wish you could tell me." He lowered his voice to a whisper.
He needed to wake her up. He touched her hand, and he got a flash! It was hot as the sun, and an overwhelming feeling of sadness and despair took him over. That strange pulsing feeling in his back that he'd felt in the hangar came back with a vengeance. It was like the effect of electricity, being in that he couldn't let go. He eventually pulled his hand back, as the feeling in his back and the strange vision was becoming more than he could bear. He stayed kneeling at the bedside.
He finally got up enough courage and touched her again, with one finger, trying to wake her up. The feeling in his back came back, but more more of a dull pounding this time, as if he had a heart in his back. He shook her shoulder. "Gabrielle, wake up. Come on, wake up. We have to go," He said. He shook her again, and she stirred. She opened her blue eyes, and she startled at being so close to someone's face. "Ah!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing? Lord Dilandau?" She asked, pulling herself away from him. "Trying to wake you up," He said. "And please, when we're not around the Dragonslayers, you can just call me Dilandau." He said, and she nodded slowly. "Excuse me," He said. "But I must go get dressed." He said, and she nodded. He tightened his housecoat before he stood, just in case.
She turned around and looked at the wall. He had a very large room, and she was sure she'd never get anything nearly as big or nice as this. The walls were a dark green, with a beige trim at the bottom and the ceiling. He had very few decorations, except for a crystal vase with a rose in it and a wine rack with several bottles. On the small table by the bed, there was a type of light, a glass, and the gold headband thing he always wore. She picked it up, as the small jewel on it intrigued her.
She was careful not to get fingerprints on it, in case he got mad at her. She watched the light play on the polished gold, and the way the light went inside the little jewel. The jewel was a soft lilac colour, and it made the light that touched it go white in wavy patterns. Small minds are amused by small things, She said to herself in her mind, and she smiled.
"Where's my headband?" She heard him ask himself, and without turning around, she swung her arm around, the thing dangling off of her finger. "Thank you." He said, and took it from her. She fiddled with her fingers, crossing and uncrossing them as she sat cross-legged on the bed. She started to sing very quietly a song that was old on her world, but Dilandau had never heard it before. The song was 'Have You Ever' by Brandy. She got to the point where she couldn't remember the words to it anymore without listening to the song, so she trailed off and began to hum the tune instead. She wondered when she'd get her CD player back from Gatti. She wanted to listen to music, but there wasn't anything here she knew of.
"What song is that?" Dilandau asked her. "Oh! Um... It's called 'Have You Ever' by a singer called Brandy." She said. "You know any other songs?" He asked. "Oh, tons." She said. "I like your voice," He complimented, which was strange for him. "Thank you." She said, shyly. "Will you sing again?' He asked her. "Um, well... I don't know I mean-" She started, but he cut her off. "Remember, I'm a higher rank than you, I can order you to sing if I want to."
She smiled and laughed quietly. "What do you want me to sing?" She asked, and then it occurred to her that she probably did know any of the songs he'd want her to sing. "Something you like to sing. Pick something pretty." He said. "What about you? Do you sing?" She asked him. He looked at her. "I sing about as on-key as a dying rooster. I never sing. Now you sing, because you can."
She searched her memory for a song that she knew fully. She could come up with only one at that given moment. It was a song she'd heard long ago in a language she didn't understand, but she'd memorized it as a small child. She began to sing it, and he sat down in a chair, quiet and still as she sang, like the beast calmed by the dove. When she was finished, he sat in silence for a moment.
"Well, you have to get ready, because we're going on a mission to capture the White Dragon." Said Dilandau. "Okay." She said, and she stood and passed him to go into the bathroom.
Something inside him didn't want Gabrielle to come on the mission with him. Part of him was afraid for her safety. He remembered it was his decision to take her back to the base with him. He thought it was the best thing for him to do, because she probably would have died out there in the forest, been eaten by one of the dragons that infested Fanelia's forests, or been captured by the White Dragon himself.
He decided that when the time came for them to chase the White Dragon, he'd send Gabrielle to circle behind them and scout. That way, she'd be safer than if she was in the front lines. He wished she could have learned how to use her weapons properly, but he had confidence that she'd learn quickly. After all, she could successfully fly a mech only three minutes after it had been deployed, and she had deployed it herself! He could, however, not allow her to come... But that would show the others and her that he was afraid for her, and it would make her feel incapable. It would also cause him to be the butt of their little inside jokes for the next while.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Gabrielle's shapely form stepped out, her hair freshly combed and her face washed. "Okay, so what do we do?" She asked in a brave voice. It made his heart ache to think that the Scientists might want to break her spirit as they had done to him. "Just... Follow me." He said, and he stood and went to the door.
In the Dragonslayer's 'lair,' Dilandau briefed them on the situation, and explained, without a note of emotion, that they were to destroy a small town closeby to attract the White Dragon's attention. When he showed up, they were to persue and capture him. Gabrielle was shocked. She had to be responsible for an entire town's death? That could be hundreds of people! He went on to explain that when they returned, whether they failed or not, they were to report back to the room as soon as they had docked.
Gabrielle trudged off towards the hangar, lagging behind the others. Dilandau stopped. "Why aren't you running? You're slowing us down." He said, and if she didn't know better, she would have thought that just maybe, he'd had a note of concern in his voice. "I'm sorry, my Lord. Please, go ahead without me. I just have to get it through my head that I have to kill people today, that's all." She said. She looked back up at him, and she had tears in her eyes. "Do I really have to kill them, Dilandau?" She asked. "Yes, Gabrielle. You really have to kill them." He said. She had watery eyes, but she blinked back her tears and said nothing further. She just kept a blank mask on her face.
He wanted to hold her then, to comfort her, but he held himself back. He just looked back at her as he ran to the hangar with the others. She heard them suit up, and they waited for her, even though she had told them to go without her. She climbed into the Libreia.
Password? The computer asked. "Canada." She replied. Welcome, Fox Leonhart. It replied. She pulled the Libreia out of it's dock, and she proceeded to the end of the line. She watched as the others leapt off of the massive ship, one after the other. Guimel was the last to jump. She jumped off the edge of the bay last. "Interior flight control," She muttered. Acknowledged. The computer replied, and as the mecha thrusted up into the air, and the visual unit enclosed about her head, and before the radio turned on, she said, "Forgive me, O Souls of the Damned."
"I wouldn't read Gatti's poetry if I were you." Said Dalet. "It's romantic. It'll rot out your brain." He said. "I happen to like romantic poetry," She said, a little offended. "It's in Japanese, so it's not like I understand most of it. I can read it, though." She said. "Okay, what's the title say?" He said in a boyish tone.
"Yakusoku Wa Iranai." She read. "Not need promises?" She said, confused. "Oh, that? He's writing a song or something. He says it's too high for him to sing, but he says he's writing it anyways." Guimel explained, and then went back to the chess-like game with Dalet. She gently placed the paper aside, and put down hers and continued to draw.
It was late into the night when Dilandau finally returned to the room. He looked half-dead with exhaustion, and he sat in his chair, not noticing the sleeping girl who'd fallen asleep at the desk just yet. All the others had long since gone to their quarters, and he sat there for a few moments to gather his wits before he went to his. When Gabrielle sneezed, he startled. He looked around the room, and saw her asleep at the desk, her head in her arms. He sighed to himself. Why couldn't one of the others simply have given her someplace to sleep? Now he was going to have to send for an extra bed for her to sleep on. All he wanted was to just go to sleep! He lifted himself from his chair, and walked over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She didn't wake. Great, this is all I need. A deep sleeper. Joy. He said to himself, and he poked her again.
"Nnn..." She mumbled. "Hey, get up." He said to her. "Gnah?" She said as she opened her eyes. "Go 'way." She said, already half asleep again. He sighed again, and slid his arms underneath her kneejoints and shoulders, and he lifted her up. She stirred, but didn't wake. She lifted her arm and held his shoulder. He took a step forward, and then another, and he slowly walked to the other end of the room, opening the door with his foot. He kicked it wide open so that he could pass through, and he walked down the hallway to the stairs. He was glad he only had to walk down one flight.
He eventually came to the doors of his quarters, and he opened them with one hand, bracing her with the other. He stepped in and shut the door. He stepped forwards and laid her on the bed. He thought of picking her up and putting her on the floor, like he would have done, had she been anyone else. I can't believe this. I'm going to sleep on the floor, aren't I? He thought. He looked at her again. Yes, yes I am. He walked over to the closet door and opened it, taking out the extra blankets he had for the winter.
He spread one on the ground and folded it in half. He put the other on the ground next to where he was going to lie down. He walked over to the next room which served as a bathroom and he fixed himself up before going to bed. He knew he had to stay 'decent' since there was a girl in the room, so he wore his housecoat to bed. He lay on the folded blanket, and pulled the other over him. He reminded himself he had only five hours to sleep, as he had to get up at four. He sighed in his defeat, and he was falling asleep before he even lay his head down.
He awoke in the middle of his sleep, like he usually did, but not from the usual nightmares. It was from a dream that was quickly fading from his grasp. All he knew was that he had dreamt about the past, and she was there. I saw her... In the past... But... Where? He hardly had time to finish his thought before he was asleep again.
At four, his internal clock awoke him, and he cursed it. He had to go and meet the others; No doubt they had been alerted of the mission as well. They had to go searching for that damned White Dragon again. After they got back, he and Gabrielle were to go and see the Scientists. A bitter taste filled the back of his throat, but he knew there wasn't really anything there. If they did something to him, well, that didn't matter. But if they did something to Gabrielle, he was going to kill them. That is, if they didn't strap him to a table and mess with his mind like they usually did.
They always messed with his mind to the point of breaking, and then when he tried to fight them off and get them to stop, they stuck him with needles that made him lethargic and stupid, and then they messed with him some more. He had nightmares about it all the time. He'd gradually accepted the nightmares as part of his life, and so he simply was used to waking up in a cold sweat every two hours of sleep. He got that peculiar feeling that he had to protect Gabrielle again for some reason. He didn't want Gabrielle to end up like him, afraid to have emotions, and so messed up inside that he felt he wasn't truly human anymore. He didn't want that for her. He wanted her to get out of here before they messed her up, too. They knew about her visions, and they'd pumped him full of so much drugs that he told them about it. He felt he'd betrayed her, and he hated himself and the world for making him do it.
He got a strange feeling in his chest when he thought about her, and he didn't know what it was. He had been told ever since he was little that he wasn't supposed to care for other people and that he was bad for doing it. He wanted so much just to be gentle with her, but he didn't know what to do or say. All he knew was that he'd known her before, and that they had made him forget her. He wanted to get his memory back from them. He wanted her to remember him, so he had to get her memory back, too. But how could he do it alone? Maybe there was something that could make him remember... And something that would make her remember, too. He tried to piece everything together; Tried to get just a scrap of memory back. Because he knew, that underneath all of those foggy grey layers of lost memory, there was something. Had he but the key!
He finally stood, and he saw her asleep on his bed. That funny feeling inside his chest grew bigger. He knelt by the bedside, watching her. She was breathing deep and regularly, showing that she was still fast asleep. "I wish I knew what was wrong with me." He said quietly, even though he knew she was a long way away from hearing him. "I wish you could tell me." He lowered his voice to a whisper.
He needed to wake her up. He touched her hand, and he got a flash! It was hot as the sun, and an overwhelming feeling of sadness and despair took him over. That strange pulsing feeling in his back that he'd felt in the hangar came back with a vengeance. It was like the effect of electricity, being in that he couldn't let go. He eventually pulled his hand back, as the feeling in his back and the strange vision was becoming more than he could bear. He stayed kneeling at the bedside.
He finally got up enough courage and touched her again, with one finger, trying to wake her up. The feeling in his back came back, but more more of a dull pounding this time, as if he had a heart in his back. He shook her shoulder. "Gabrielle, wake up. Come on, wake up. We have to go," He said. He shook her again, and she stirred. She opened her blue eyes, and she startled at being so close to someone's face. "Ah!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing? Lord Dilandau?" She asked, pulling herself away from him. "Trying to wake you up," He said. "And please, when we're not around the Dragonslayers, you can just call me Dilandau." He said, and she nodded slowly. "Excuse me," He said. "But I must go get dressed." He said, and she nodded. He tightened his housecoat before he stood, just in case.
She turned around and looked at the wall. He had a very large room, and she was sure she'd never get anything nearly as big or nice as this. The walls were a dark green, with a beige trim at the bottom and the ceiling. He had very few decorations, except for a crystal vase with a rose in it and a wine rack with several bottles. On the small table by the bed, there was a type of light, a glass, and the gold headband thing he always wore. She picked it up, as the small jewel on it intrigued her.
She was careful not to get fingerprints on it, in case he got mad at her. She watched the light play on the polished gold, and the way the light went inside the little jewel. The jewel was a soft lilac colour, and it made the light that touched it go white in wavy patterns. Small minds are amused by small things, She said to herself in her mind, and she smiled.
"Where's my headband?" She heard him ask himself, and without turning around, she swung her arm around, the thing dangling off of her finger. "Thank you." He said, and took it from her. She fiddled with her fingers, crossing and uncrossing them as she sat cross-legged on the bed. She started to sing very quietly a song that was old on her world, but Dilandau had never heard it before. The song was 'Have You Ever' by Brandy. She got to the point where she couldn't remember the words to it anymore without listening to the song, so she trailed off and began to hum the tune instead. She wondered when she'd get her CD player back from Gatti. She wanted to listen to music, but there wasn't anything here she knew of.
"What song is that?" Dilandau asked her. "Oh! Um... It's called 'Have You Ever' by a singer called Brandy." She said. "You know any other songs?" He asked. "Oh, tons." She said. "I like your voice," He complimented, which was strange for him. "Thank you." She said, shyly. "Will you sing again?' He asked her. "Um, well... I don't know I mean-" She started, but he cut her off. "Remember, I'm a higher rank than you, I can order you to sing if I want to."
She smiled and laughed quietly. "What do you want me to sing?" She asked, and then it occurred to her that she probably did know any of the songs he'd want her to sing. "Something you like to sing. Pick something pretty." He said. "What about you? Do you sing?" She asked him. He looked at her. "I sing about as on-key as a dying rooster. I never sing. Now you sing, because you can."
She searched her memory for a song that she knew fully. She could come up with only one at that given moment. It was a song she'd heard long ago in a language she didn't understand, but she'd memorized it as a small child. She began to sing it, and he sat down in a chair, quiet and still as she sang, like the beast calmed by the dove. When she was finished, he sat in silence for a moment.
"Well, you have to get ready, because we're going on a mission to capture the White Dragon." Said Dilandau. "Okay." She said, and she stood and passed him to go into the bathroom.
Something inside him didn't want Gabrielle to come on the mission with him. Part of him was afraid for her safety. He remembered it was his decision to take her back to the base with him. He thought it was the best thing for him to do, because she probably would have died out there in the forest, been eaten by one of the dragons that infested Fanelia's forests, or been captured by the White Dragon himself.
He decided that when the time came for them to chase the White Dragon, he'd send Gabrielle to circle behind them and scout. That way, she'd be safer than if she was in the front lines. He wished she could have learned how to use her weapons properly, but he had confidence that she'd learn quickly. After all, she could successfully fly a mech only three minutes after it had been deployed, and she had deployed it herself! He could, however, not allow her to come... But that would show the others and her that he was afraid for her, and it would make her feel incapable. It would also cause him to be the butt of their little inside jokes for the next while.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Gabrielle's shapely form stepped out, her hair freshly combed and her face washed. "Okay, so what do we do?" She asked in a brave voice. It made his heart ache to think that the Scientists might want to break her spirit as they had done to him. "Just... Follow me." He said, and he stood and went to the door.
In the Dragonslayer's 'lair,' Dilandau briefed them on the situation, and explained, without a note of emotion, that they were to destroy a small town closeby to attract the White Dragon's attention. When he showed up, they were to persue and capture him. Gabrielle was shocked. She had to be responsible for an entire town's death? That could be hundreds of people! He went on to explain that when they returned, whether they failed or not, they were to report back to the room as soon as they had docked.
Gabrielle trudged off towards the hangar, lagging behind the others. Dilandau stopped. "Why aren't you running? You're slowing us down." He said, and if she didn't know better, she would have thought that just maybe, he'd had a note of concern in his voice. "I'm sorry, my Lord. Please, go ahead without me. I just have to get it through my head that I have to kill people today, that's all." She said. She looked back up at him, and she had tears in her eyes. "Do I really have to kill them, Dilandau?" She asked. "Yes, Gabrielle. You really have to kill them." He said. She had watery eyes, but she blinked back her tears and said nothing further. She just kept a blank mask on her face.
He wanted to hold her then, to comfort her, but he held himself back. He just looked back at her as he ran to the hangar with the others. She heard them suit up, and they waited for her, even though she had told them to go without her. She climbed into the Libreia.
Password? The computer asked. "Canada." She replied. Welcome, Fox Leonhart. It replied. She pulled the Libreia out of it's dock, and she proceeded to the end of the line. She watched as the others leapt off of the massive ship, one after the other. Guimel was the last to jump. She jumped off the edge of the bay last. "Interior flight control," She muttered. Acknowledged. The computer replied, and as the mecha thrusted up into the air, and the visual unit enclosed about her head, and before the radio turned on, she said, "Forgive me, O Souls of the Damned."