Dilandau paced back and forth back at the base. There was a knock at the door, and Dilandau picked up one of the four empty wine bottles. Even the red wine couldn't numb his pain. He flipped the bottle over and over with one hand as he stood still. "Come in." He snapped.
Chesta softly stepped in, bowing deeply. "What!?" Dilandau practically screeched. The anger was practically consuming him. He felt like acid was sitting inside him, eating him up. "S-sir. We cannot t-track the White Dragon, S-sir. No news of her." He stammered. "You think I don't know that already!? My Gabrielle is gone, and that son of a bitch took her from me! God dammit! Leave me alone! I know I can't track the dragon until we get new sightings! Speaking of sightings, get out of mine! Now!" He yelled, and hurled the wine bottle straight at Chesta. Chesta shut the door just as the bottle smashed into pieces.
He was sleepless. What had those barbarians done to her? That filthy Fanelian piece of garbage! He thought over and over how he would kill that pilot. Slice off that boy's wings, run him through with the sword. Maybe I'll rip out his heart so fast he doesn't realize it and make him watch it beat it's last few times before he dies. Maybe I'll cut off his white wings and have them plucked and roasted and make him eat them. Maybe I'll just cut off his head. How dare he... He'll pay for this dearly. If he's done anything to Gabrielle... I'll do something so bad... So bad... So bad I haven't even thought of it yet.
Then, he curled up into a ball on his chair and hated the boy some more. He then began to hate the fact he'd never told Gabrielle how he felt... Hated the fact he had so many chances but had never been able to put them into words. Now he felt he could put them all into three. He rested his forehead on his knees. Three, and he'd never realized before that he felt that way. But he knew now. She was right. The Libreia was right. He did just 'know.' He felt it inside him. The fact that her presence was gone hurt him. He couldn't just go down to her quarters and see her there, drawing, perhaps singing. He worried about where she was, and what they were going to do to her. They'd kill her, wouldn't they? Or torture her?
He wanted her here, safe. He felt a certain emptiness inside, and he knew that only she could complete him. He felt so alone and broken, so lost and dead to everyone else. He could almost hear her voice, asking him what was wrong. He could almost hear her laughing, or singing, or talking with a cheerful tone. He could just about feel her there with him, her soft touch and her wavy hair. He opened his eyes, and she was standing there.
There she was, and she had her arms open to him. She was smiling, happy at the sight of him. "Dilandau! It's you!" She exclaimed happily. Before he even knew it, he was up out of the chair, and he reached for her. She vanished. She was right there. Right there. He grasped the air where she had stood only a second before. Nothing but air. It was only his broken mind playing tricks on him again, like it constantly had done before she had come into his life.
The despair washed over him like a massive wave, crushing everything. His vision grew blurry and watery, and he knelt down to the ground. She wasn't there. He could still hear the echoes of her voice, still feel the warmth of her flesh. Gone. His shoulders shook in a spasmic sob, and he held his head in his cold hands. All alone in the torture of night.
Vaughn had long ago left the room, and she had just about fallen sleep, sitting cross-legged with her head leaning against the wall. She was at that stage where she was not dreaming, but she could see images on the backs of her eyelids. She was poked. She drew in a sharp breath of surprise, and was completely awake.
"Did I scare you, lady? You look sad, lady." Said a childish, high pitched voice. Indeed, Gabrielle did look sad. She could not deny that. "Why don't you talk, lady? You can talk to me, lady. I won't say anything to those naughty boys outside!" Merle said and giggled. Gabrielle smiled very softly. Perhaps she could make a friend with this cat-girl.
"Ban-Sama still has your sword," Merle said. "Ban-Sama isn't married." She said irrelevantly. Merle's mind tended to wander often to different subjects. "Allen says that you're pretty. He says that 'No doubtedly, that squadron leader will come after her, Vaughn. You have to keep her under special watch.' I listen to them, lady." She said, and when she said what Allen had, she lowered her voice and puffed out her chest, trying to act like Allen. Gabrielle couldn't help but smile. Her thoughts turned back to the fact that she was scared and alone, and her smile vanished. "You should smile, lady." Merle said.
Merle sat back and cocked her head to one side. "You sleep here tonight, lady?" She asked. "Please, my name is Fox. And yes, I am sleeping here for as long as I'm useful to Vaughn. Then I suppose he'll dispose of me." She said hollowly. "That's not your real name. I can tell." Merle said with childish reason. "Onamae wa?" She asked in rapid Japanese. Gabrielle looked up and met her gaze. "Don't tell them my real name, okay?" She asked the cat-girl. "I promise," She said. "My name is Gabrielle." She said. Merle studied her for a few moments. "I like you." She said, and she got up. "Byebye. I'll talk to you later." She said, and left, closing the door.
Merle scampered out into the night on the ship, when she almost skipped along right into Allen. He looked down at the little pink-haired cat-girl. "What did she say, Merle?" He asked from his tall height, his long, straight, shining blonde hair falling about his shoulders almost like a river of gold. "Nothing. She didn't talk to me." She lied with a straight face, her sharp green cat-like eyes burning into his starkly blue ones. Allen knelt down and took one of the little girl's hands. "Merle, you know I don't like it when you lie." He said. Merle scoffed at him. "Why would I lie to you? She didn't say anything." She said, her nose upturned to him. Allen smiled and shook his head and walked off, his back turned to Merle, who was making faces at him as he walked towards the door in which Gabrielle was contained.
She had curled up against the wall and was silent, her mind as black and empty as the dark expanse of night all around the ship. Allen walked in, and she didn't even seem to notice, although she was completely aware of his presence. Allen sat down at the desk in Vaugn's room, looking at her as she stared blankly at the floorboards.
"Speak. What is your name? Where were you going with the rest of your squad in Fanelian territory?" Allen asked in a commanding voice. Gabrielle stayed just as silent as a softly coloured stone sitting on a table. Allen waited a moment. "Answer me!" He commanded, and she still said nothing.
"You are unwise to refuse to talk." He said, and leaned back in the chair. While still staring at the floor, her words formulated slowly in her mouth as she spoke them.
"I take commands only from my squadron leader. I am not about to answer you, and I will die in your attempts to extract information from me before I utter a single syllable." She said, and slowly, she turned her head to let her blue eyes gaze in his with the most fiery emotion she could accurately display. If looks could kill, he would have fallen over dead. "Not exactly the most reasonable of types, are we?" he asked. "I don't know about you, but I know I'm not." She spat, and returned to staring at the wall.
"You enjoy your sleep while you can. I'll be back here in the morning." He assured her coldly. "I hate to inflict pain upon such a beauteous creature such as yourself, but, if I must..." He said, and stood up. "Bring it." She said sharply, staring evilly at him. He walked out of the room.
She leaned against the wall and prayed that the rest of the Dragonslayers and Dilandau would try to get her out of here. She eventually drifted off into that state where sounds seem unusually loud and images play about on the backs of eyelids, but are not dreams.
One image seemed to continually return to Gabrielle. It was one of Dilandau, of course. He was holding his sword and he had his beautiful ebony wings spread, the light playing about on the black feathers, making some look blue. He would smile warmly at her and offer his hand. She longed to take his hand and disappear with him, but she felt as if she couldn't move. Of course, it was only because he really wasn't there, and she was really asleep.
A while after she had fallen sound asleep, her body slumped gently against the wall, curled in the corner, Vaughn walked into the room. He ran a gloved hand through his spiky black hair and sighed. He felt sorry for this girl for some reason. Perhaps it was just that; Fox, she was a pretty girl. Hitomi should meet this girl. He thought. Hitomi could tell about this girl using her tarot cards.
He washed his face and took off his shirt, lying on the cot that served as a bed. He gazed at her as the candlelight flickered. She twitched gently in her sleep, a slow expression of fear taking over her features, but she stayed asleep. He watched her with half-closed eyes for a while. She began to cry in her sleep. She murmered a word in her sleep, but didn't wake. She said the word again, and he recognized it as a name. He couldn't make it out clearly, though. She eventually fell silent again, and Vaughn drifted off to sleep.
Dilandau couldn't sleep. He stared blankly at the wall. He tried to sleep, but he was so innerly awake that he seemed to have a continual flow of adrenaline in his system. That was the way it always used to be, except he usually could sleep. He had just not been used to this insane feeling of strength and the will to kill ever since she had been here. He'd been worrying about Gabrielle ever since she'd been gone.
He eventually got up off his chair and walked out of the hallway, searching for a way to vent his frustration and anxiety. He walked down a long hallway, hating that it was still night. He wanted to get out of here, go track her before her trail went cold.
The images of that cursed White Dragon flying away from him made him angry. The Libreia, standing motionless, empty. The Libreia. It had to be carried back by the Dragonslayers. He remembered vaguely giving the order to the others. If he could talk to the Libreia, maybe it- she would know where Gabrielle was.
He practically flew to the hangar and was there before he even really realized it. He silently walked into the dead quiet room full of mechas, and went searching in the dark. He came across his squad's row and walked down it, looking for the Libreia.
He came across her. 'She' was in stasus, charging as usual. He touched her pointed beak-like nose. Her heat sensors indicated something was there. Her eye shutters swiveled as they opened in a circular manner, and the red eyes focused forward on him. The eyes glowed their beautiful ruby red as the systems came online. She was just like a human waking up from sleep.
Yes, Commander Dilandau? She said, her voice lowered to adjust to the quietness around them. "Libreia, I need to know whether you are capable of tracking Gabrielle." He said. In what means? She asked. "Location. I need to know where she is, and if she's still alive." He said. The Libreia raised her head slightly. She is alive. She is asleep right now. She doesn't know where she is.She is very scared, but she doesn't show it to her captors. Only shows silence. She won't speak, no matter how much they hurt her. She won't speak for fear of disappointing you. The Libreia was silent for a moment, and her red eyes dimmed slightly with the effort. She cries out for you in her dreams. She said finally, and her eyes returned to their normal brightness. I can track her. She said.
"Where is she, Libreia?" He asked, almost begging. One moment, please. Tracking in progress... And the mecha was silent. Dilandau waited, still touching the tip of the Libreia's sharp beak. She is on an airship, model number Z-128, Asturian in origin. She is in the cabins on the second level, sleeping in the top right corner of room 28. Ship is anchored. Co-ordinates sector 130, division 10. Stationary on a mountain peak. She said. Dilandau calculated where that was on the world map he'd memorized. "God, that's far..." He said to himself. Yes it is. The Libreia added.
"Did they hurt her?" He asked. No. Libreia responded. She is having a nightmare. The Libreia said flatly. She has stopped crying in her sleep. She added. "Can you tell what she is dreaming about?" He asked. Not in detail. Just that she was having a nightmare. She said. Most likely she was dreaming you wouldn't come for her. She said. "I will. I won't rest until she is back." That's stupid. You need sleep. Take drugs if you can't sleep. You can't be a walking zombie if you're going to rescue her. She said. Dilandau felt frustrated. He knew exactly where she was, yet he couldn't go to her. "I can't sleep, and I won't take drugs." He said stubbornly, his arms crossed.
The Libreia lifted one of her massive talon-like three digit hands and tapped him on the head. Her blow was so incredibly weak by her standards, but she had calculated it so that it would be just hard enough. Dilandau's arms uncrossed limply, his eyes rolled up in his head, he swayed gently for a moment, and then he fell over. Her curved metal claw was there to catch him. She lay him down on the ground gently, put him on his side, and pushed him so that he would be comfortable. Sleep well, commander. You have a busy day tomorrow. She said, and returned to stasus. Although the only onlooker was a small mouse, it would have sworn, had it been able to talk, that the massive red metal dragon seemed to be smiling.
Early in the morning, Allen woke Gabrielle. He brought her food, but she didn't touch it, and only drank from the vial of water he'd brought her. She was ravenously hungry, but she dare not eat whatever these foods were. They might be laced with poison. She watched him warily.
She put down the empty vial, and stared at him hollowly. "Please, just tell us what we want to know, and I won't hurt you." Allen finally said, and at the sound of his voice, Gabrielle almost startled. She stayed silent. Allen sighed. "Please, come on, my Pretty Flower." He said persuasively charming. She was immune to him. "I am not yours." She said icily. "And I will never be." "All right, then. Tell me, who your leader is or I will be forced to hurt you." He said. She said nothing. He shook his head, and slapped her across the face.
"It will take more than that." She spat. "Fine." He said darkly. "I can do more. You will not eat until you speak." He said. "I can deal with that." She said. "I'll be dead soon anyways. You'll end up killing me before I say anything, and my squad won't come for me. I'll just sit here and die." She said stiffly. He withdrew a small knife and slashed her shoulder. A line appeared on her skin through the cut fabric, and then it grew wider and red as she began to bleed. She withstood the sting easily, staring him in the eye. He cut her again, and she still did nothing more than breathe in a little deeper when he cut her.
"So, you have someone back at that base?" Allen asked slyly. "What kind of a question is that!?" She retorted. "I ask questions around here, you!" He barked, and reluctantly cut her again. She had three horizontal marks on her shoulder, all of which were bleeding a lot. "Come on, answer! It's not a hard question." He said. He held up the knife again, which now had her blood dripping from it. "I don't understand why you want to know this." She said flatly.
"Because I want to know. There's no way you can't have someone. I'll bet you want to see them again, don't you?" He asked, almost soothingly. "That's no business of yours." She growled. He held the knife underneath her throat, right by her jugular, and she felt the sharp knifepoint driving into her. She could feel the knife moving slightly with the pulsing of her blood flow.
"You won't kill me now." She said with a tired smile. "You haven't got anything out of me yet. It would be stupid to kill me." She hissed. Allen knew she was right. "You'll never see the one you love back there." He said. "I've come to terms with that. Let's not go there." She growled. He noticed she had tears in her eyes. "I'll let you go if you tell me what we want to know. I'll tell Zaibach we have you and we'll leave you somewhere easy for them to find. Then you can return to whoever it is." He said to her, trying to get her to talk. "He wouldn't want me if I betrayed him." She said back, her blue eyes sad with despair.
"Who is it? Let's see... You were with that group... Hmm... The one named Chesta, perhaps? How about Dalet? Is that him?" He asked, poking her with the knife. She said nothing, her eyes glassy as she tried to ignore him. "No? How about Guimel? ... No, eh? Migel? Gatti? Which one?" He insisted, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She fought back her tears. She'd never see any of them again. The only people she knew here, and she'd never see them. "Hah! You don't mean to tell me you have affections for that maniacal tyrant? That pathetic excuse for a leader!?" He said, with an evil grin on his face. She snapped her gaze back to his, and the firey anger burned.
"Never, ever insult Dilandau like that, you honourless coward! How dare you!" She screeched, and she smacked him as hard as she could. It left a red hand print on his face. "Hah!" He laughed bitterly. "That ... Thing could never feel emotions. He's simply programmed to kill. You love him, and you will forever love alone." He said, and she fought back her tears harder. She wouldn't cry in front of this man. "It doesn't matter anyways. You'll never see him again, because once I have what I want out of you, I'll kill you." He said. "Too bad for you, pretty thing. You will eventually break." He told her.
"Allen, give it a rest." Vaughn said. Allen hadn't realized Vaughn was in the room. "Just leave her alone for now." He said firmly. Allen shot Vaughn a glance, but he complied and left. Once he had gone, Gabrielle cried. She was bleeding still, and the pain mixed with the knowledge that she was going to die here made her cry. She didn't seem to notice Vaughn was still there.
"Hey," He said softly. "Don't cry." He said, and she looked up at him. She shrank away from him, sure that he was going to hurt her, too. "Please stop crying." He asked of her again. "You need to clean your wounds, or they'll get infected." He said. Vaughn recognized the name Fox had been crying out. Dilandau. He remembered. He went and got a wet cloth and a dry one and returned to her. He flipped out a knife, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the stinging cut. He only cut off the blood-soaked arms of her uniform, putting them aside. He put the blade back in the knife, and put it back away on his belt. He took the wet cloth and wiped her cut shoulders.
She winced at the touch, but the cold water felt good. He then took one of the dry cloths and bandaged up her shoulder. He cleaned the other one, and did the same. "Thank you." She said quietly.
"Yeah. There's someone I want you to meet." He said, and he beckoned for her to stand up. She did so shakily, and stood behind him. She shivered from the cold of the mountain outside.
"Hitomi!" Vaughn called. "Coming!" Replied a female voice. A few moments later, a girl with short brown hair, and wearing a Japanese sailor-type school uniform came up to them. "Yes?" She asked. "This is the soldier we caught yesterday," Vaughn said, and the girl named Hitomi looked at Gabrielle. Gabrielle looked away shyly and sadly. "I see. Hello." Hitomi said. "She doesn't talk much." Vaughn explained. "She's the pilot of the Red Dragon you found out about. I need you to do a reading for her." He explained to Hitomi, and she nodded. "Okay. What's her name?" Hitomi asked. "Fo-" Gabrielle cut him off. "Gabrielle. My name is Gabrielle." She said.
"That's a nice name," Hitomi said in a friendly tone. "She's a member of Zaibach's forces?" Hitomi asked Vaughn. "Yes, she is. I've heard rumours that another girl fell from the sky and Zaibach captured her. I think this is her." He said, and Hitomi looked surprised and curious. "I did." Gabrielle said.
"Well, my cards are back in my room. Come with me and I'll do the reading." She said, and she turned and began to walk. Gabrielle followed behind Vaughn. hey came up to small room just a moment later and Hitomi opened the door. They walked in, and Hitomi motioned to chairs nearby a table. She pulled out a pack of Tarot cards and prepared them.
Gabrielle was very silent and she curled up as small as she could while she was sitting in the chair. Hitomi dealt the cards and read and interpreted them in near silence, sometimes whispering the names of the cards and trying to figure out their possible meanings.
"She does come from the Mystic Moon like I do, and yet she does not. It says here in the cards that she was not born on the Mystic Moon. She-" Hitomi was cut off. Her eyes glazed over, and she had a vision.
She was standing on a lush green field, and the clouds above her were swirling around and changing colours. She looked up, and there was a figure in the blinding light. At first she thought it was Vaughn because he had wings, but as the figure drew closer, she saw it was not. He landed, flaring his black wings as he spilled the air from them. He seemed not to be able to see her. She turned, and there was a sudden shift in scenes.
Against a pure black, there were Gabrielle and that black-winged boy that she'd seen just a moment before. He was being held back by dark figures whispering to him, and on his side there were flames. He looked hesitant and confused. Gabrielle was standing gracefully on the other side, and she had shining glossy white wings. Gabrielle was held in light, and she had her arm extended to the boy across from her. She sensed their fear and longing as if it were her own. All of a sudden, the tall boy managed to break free and run towards Gabrielle, and he had just about reached her when a white dragon burst in from nowhere and picked up Gabrielle, flying away with her in it's clutches. The dragon was not mechanized, it was real, with all it's rippling muscles and dragon splendour.
The tall boy called after her in a silent scream, but was left standing alone. The light that had been on Gabrielle's side disappeared, even as he desperately tried to chase it. The flames and darkness closed about him, and Hitomi felt the boy's overpowering sense of defeat, failure and fear. Also, his unstoppable hatred for the white dragon and his determination to get Gabrielle back at any cost.
She snapped back to reality, and back to Vaughn and Gabrielle's concerned faces. "I- I just had a vision. That's all." She said. "A-as I was saying. You'll meet someone who can tell you everything that happened. There was some major memory loss involved, between both you and... Someone else. It wasn't natural memory loss, of course. Someone made it happen. Gabrielle, you need to get back. Vaughn, we have to let her go." Hitomi said, almost in a panicked voice.
"We can't. The Zaibach forces will only corrupt and hurt her more." Vaughn replied. "Vaughn, the Red Dragon must be set free. It says so in the cards." She said, in defense. "Exactly. Set free. Giving her back to the Zaibach forces is not setting her free." He said. "Please, Vaughn. We have to let her go. It's important. Please, give her back to that boy. It's the only thing he wants, and he'll stop at nothing to get her back, even if it kills himself in the process." She said. "What boy?" Vaughn asked, and Hitomi was just about to describe the boy in her visions when Allen knocked at the door.
"Vaughn! The Zaibach forces are on the move. Towards the Royal City!" He said, and Vaughn stood up immediately, and was gone with Allen, leaving Gabrielle and Hitomi standing there.
"Gabrielle, you have to get back to that boy." She said. "What does he look like?" Gabrielle asked, sure that she already knew. "Tall, slim, pale, silver hair, I think." Hitomi replied. "Dilandau!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "You have to get back to him as soon as you can. He'll die if you don't." She said. "What do you mean, 'he'll die if I don't?'" Gabrielle asked, shocked. "He won't stop trying to get you back, even if it kills him. And it will eventually, because he'll do it without any rest, and eventually, Vaughn or Allen will catch and kill him. Unless, of course, you get back to him in time." Hitomi explained.
And so it went for days. Vaughn refused to let Gabrielle go, and Allen kept trying to question her, each time inflicting more pain upon her. He did it in vain, because Gabrielle kept her strong silence. Dilandau doggedly followed them, destroying everything in his path, and constantly staying one step behind. Gabrielle did not eat. She only drank water, and only if anyone else but Allen brought it. Gabrielle lost weight, but still, she did not eat.
Eventually, Vaughn force-fed her, as he could see there was no other way to get her to eat. She struggled weakly, but eventually she did eat, under his watchful eye. She wasn't anorexic, so she didn't purge the food from her system, but she still refused to eat unless she was force-fed. Gabrielle overheard Vaughn and Allen talking in another room late one night.
"Alright. I think we've tired him out enough. He almost didn't make it last time. I say we bring Gabrielle as bait, and then we kill Dilandau." She recognized Allen's voice. "I still don't think this is right. All he wants is Gabrielle back. Damn, he's said it enough times to us, and he hasn't attacked us unless we attacked him first. The readings did say that she should be given back." Vaughn said, the voice of reason. "Vaughn, we want this war to end. He's a key officer. He has to be eliminated." Allen said gruffly. "This is war." He added. "Fine. We bring Gabrielle." Vaughn sighed.
Chesta softly stepped in, bowing deeply. "What!?" Dilandau practically screeched. The anger was practically consuming him. He felt like acid was sitting inside him, eating him up. "S-sir. We cannot t-track the White Dragon, S-sir. No news of her." He stammered. "You think I don't know that already!? My Gabrielle is gone, and that son of a bitch took her from me! God dammit! Leave me alone! I know I can't track the dragon until we get new sightings! Speaking of sightings, get out of mine! Now!" He yelled, and hurled the wine bottle straight at Chesta. Chesta shut the door just as the bottle smashed into pieces.
He was sleepless. What had those barbarians done to her? That filthy Fanelian piece of garbage! He thought over and over how he would kill that pilot. Slice off that boy's wings, run him through with the sword. Maybe I'll rip out his heart so fast he doesn't realize it and make him watch it beat it's last few times before he dies. Maybe I'll cut off his white wings and have them plucked and roasted and make him eat them. Maybe I'll just cut off his head. How dare he... He'll pay for this dearly. If he's done anything to Gabrielle... I'll do something so bad... So bad... So bad I haven't even thought of it yet.
Then, he curled up into a ball on his chair and hated the boy some more. He then began to hate the fact he'd never told Gabrielle how he felt... Hated the fact he had so many chances but had never been able to put them into words. Now he felt he could put them all into three. He rested his forehead on his knees. Three, and he'd never realized before that he felt that way. But he knew now. She was right. The Libreia was right. He did just 'know.' He felt it inside him. The fact that her presence was gone hurt him. He couldn't just go down to her quarters and see her there, drawing, perhaps singing. He worried about where she was, and what they were going to do to her. They'd kill her, wouldn't they? Or torture her?
He wanted her here, safe. He felt a certain emptiness inside, and he knew that only she could complete him. He felt so alone and broken, so lost and dead to everyone else. He could almost hear her voice, asking him what was wrong. He could almost hear her laughing, or singing, or talking with a cheerful tone. He could just about feel her there with him, her soft touch and her wavy hair. He opened his eyes, and she was standing there.
There she was, and she had her arms open to him. She was smiling, happy at the sight of him. "Dilandau! It's you!" She exclaimed happily. Before he even knew it, he was up out of the chair, and he reached for her. She vanished. She was right there. Right there. He grasped the air where she had stood only a second before. Nothing but air. It was only his broken mind playing tricks on him again, like it constantly had done before she had come into his life.
The despair washed over him like a massive wave, crushing everything. His vision grew blurry and watery, and he knelt down to the ground. She wasn't there. He could still hear the echoes of her voice, still feel the warmth of her flesh. Gone. His shoulders shook in a spasmic sob, and he held his head in his cold hands. All alone in the torture of night.
Vaughn had long ago left the room, and she had just about fallen sleep, sitting cross-legged with her head leaning against the wall. She was at that stage where she was not dreaming, but she could see images on the backs of her eyelids. She was poked. She drew in a sharp breath of surprise, and was completely awake.
"Did I scare you, lady? You look sad, lady." Said a childish, high pitched voice. Indeed, Gabrielle did look sad. She could not deny that. "Why don't you talk, lady? You can talk to me, lady. I won't say anything to those naughty boys outside!" Merle said and giggled. Gabrielle smiled very softly. Perhaps she could make a friend with this cat-girl.
"Ban-Sama still has your sword," Merle said. "Ban-Sama isn't married." She said irrelevantly. Merle's mind tended to wander often to different subjects. "Allen says that you're pretty. He says that 'No doubtedly, that squadron leader will come after her, Vaughn. You have to keep her under special watch.' I listen to them, lady." She said, and when she said what Allen had, she lowered her voice and puffed out her chest, trying to act like Allen. Gabrielle couldn't help but smile. Her thoughts turned back to the fact that she was scared and alone, and her smile vanished. "You should smile, lady." Merle said.
Merle sat back and cocked her head to one side. "You sleep here tonight, lady?" She asked. "Please, my name is Fox. And yes, I am sleeping here for as long as I'm useful to Vaughn. Then I suppose he'll dispose of me." She said hollowly. "That's not your real name. I can tell." Merle said with childish reason. "Onamae wa?" She asked in rapid Japanese. Gabrielle looked up and met her gaze. "Don't tell them my real name, okay?" She asked the cat-girl. "I promise," She said. "My name is Gabrielle." She said. Merle studied her for a few moments. "I like you." She said, and she got up. "Byebye. I'll talk to you later." She said, and left, closing the door.
Merle scampered out into the night on the ship, when she almost skipped along right into Allen. He looked down at the little pink-haired cat-girl. "What did she say, Merle?" He asked from his tall height, his long, straight, shining blonde hair falling about his shoulders almost like a river of gold. "Nothing. She didn't talk to me." She lied with a straight face, her sharp green cat-like eyes burning into his starkly blue ones. Allen knelt down and took one of the little girl's hands. "Merle, you know I don't like it when you lie." He said. Merle scoffed at him. "Why would I lie to you? She didn't say anything." She said, her nose upturned to him. Allen smiled and shook his head and walked off, his back turned to Merle, who was making faces at him as he walked towards the door in which Gabrielle was contained.
She had curled up against the wall and was silent, her mind as black and empty as the dark expanse of night all around the ship. Allen walked in, and she didn't even seem to notice, although she was completely aware of his presence. Allen sat down at the desk in Vaugn's room, looking at her as she stared blankly at the floorboards.
"Speak. What is your name? Where were you going with the rest of your squad in Fanelian territory?" Allen asked in a commanding voice. Gabrielle stayed just as silent as a softly coloured stone sitting on a table. Allen waited a moment. "Answer me!" He commanded, and she still said nothing.
"You are unwise to refuse to talk." He said, and leaned back in the chair. While still staring at the floor, her words formulated slowly in her mouth as she spoke them.
"I take commands only from my squadron leader. I am not about to answer you, and I will die in your attempts to extract information from me before I utter a single syllable." She said, and slowly, she turned her head to let her blue eyes gaze in his with the most fiery emotion she could accurately display. If looks could kill, he would have fallen over dead. "Not exactly the most reasonable of types, are we?" he asked. "I don't know about you, but I know I'm not." She spat, and returned to staring at the wall.
"You enjoy your sleep while you can. I'll be back here in the morning." He assured her coldly. "I hate to inflict pain upon such a beauteous creature such as yourself, but, if I must..." He said, and stood up. "Bring it." She said sharply, staring evilly at him. He walked out of the room.
She leaned against the wall and prayed that the rest of the Dragonslayers and Dilandau would try to get her out of here. She eventually drifted off into that state where sounds seem unusually loud and images play about on the backs of eyelids, but are not dreams.
One image seemed to continually return to Gabrielle. It was one of Dilandau, of course. He was holding his sword and he had his beautiful ebony wings spread, the light playing about on the black feathers, making some look blue. He would smile warmly at her and offer his hand. She longed to take his hand and disappear with him, but she felt as if she couldn't move. Of course, it was only because he really wasn't there, and she was really asleep.
A while after she had fallen sound asleep, her body slumped gently against the wall, curled in the corner, Vaughn walked into the room. He ran a gloved hand through his spiky black hair and sighed. He felt sorry for this girl for some reason. Perhaps it was just that; Fox, she was a pretty girl. Hitomi should meet this girl. He thought. Hitomi could tell about this girl using her tarot cards.
He washed his face and took off his shirt, lying on the cot that served as a bed. He gazed at her as the candlelight flickered. She twitched gently in her sleep, a slow expression of fear taking over her features, but she stayed asleep. He watched her with half-closed eyes for a while. She began to cry in her sleep. She murmered a word in her sleep, but didn't wake. She said the word again, and he recognized it as a name. He couldn't make it out clearly, though. She eventually fell silent again, and Vaughn drifted off to sleep.
Dilandau couldn't sleep. He stared blankly at the wall. He tried to sleep, but he was so innerly awake that he seemed to have a continual flow of adrenaline in his system. That was the way it always used to be, except he usually could sleep. He had just not been used to this insane feeling of strength and the will to kill ever since she had been here. He'd been worrying about Gabrielle ever since she'd been gone.
He eventually got up off his chair and walked out of the hallway, searching for a way to vent his frustration and anxiety. He walked down a long hallway, hating that it was still night. He wanted to get out of here, go track her before her trail went cold.
The images of that cursed White Dragon flying away from him made him angry. The Libreia, standing motionless, empty. The Libreia. It had to be carried back by the Dragonslayers. He remembered vaguely giving the order to the others. If he could talk to the Libreia, maybe it- she would know where Gabrielle was.
He practically flew to the hangar and was there before he even really realized it. He silently walked into the dead quiet room full of mechas, and went searching in the dark. He came across his squad's row and walked down it, looking for the Libreia.
He came across her. 'She' was in stasus, charging as usual. He touched her pointed beak-like nose. Her heat sensors indicated something was there. Her eye shutters swiveled as they opened in a circular manner, and the red eyes focused forward on him. The eyes glowed their beautiful ruby red as the systems came online. She was just like a human waking up from sleep.
Yes, Commander Dilandau? She said, her voice lowered to adjust to the quietness around them. "Libreia, I need to know whether you are capable of tracking Gabrielle." He said. In what means? She asked. "Location. I need to know where she is, and if she's still alive." He said. The Libreia raised her head slightly. She is alive. She is asleep right now. She doesn't know where she is.She is very scared, but she doesn't show it to her captors. Only shows silence. She won't speak, no matter how much they hurt her. She won't speak for fear of disappointing you. The Libreia was silent for a moment, and her red eyes dimmed slightly with the effort. She cries out for you in her dreams. She said finally, and her eyes returned to their normal brightness. I can track her. She said.
"Where is she, Libreia?" He asked, almost begging. One moment, please. Tracking in progress... And the mecha was silent. Dilandau waited, still touching the tip of the Libreia's sharp beak. She is on an airship, model number Z-128, Asturian in origin. She is in the cabins on the second level, sleeping in the top right corner of room 28. Ship is anchored. Co-ordinates sector 130, division 10. Stationary on a mountain peak. She said. Dilandau calculated where that was on the world map he'd memorized. "God, that's far..." He said to himself. Yes it is. The Libreia added.
"Did they hurt her?" He asked. No. Libreia responded. She is having a nightmare. The Libreia said flatly. She has stopped crying in her sleep. She added. "Can you tell what she is dreaming about?" He asked. Not in detail. Just that she was having a nightmare. She said. Most likely she was dreaming you wouldn't come for her. She said. "I will. I won't rest until she is back." That's stupid. You need sleep. Take drugs if you can't sleep. You can't be a walking zombie if you're going to rescue her. She said. Dilandau felt frustrated. He knew exactly where she was, yet he couldn't go to her. "I can't sleep, and I won't take drugs." He said stubbornly, his arms crossed.
The Libreia lifted one of her massive talon-like three digit hands and tapped him on the head. Her blow was so incredibly weak by her standards, but she had calculated it so that it would be just hard enough. Dilandau's arms uncrossed limply, his eyes rolled up in his head, he swayed gently for a moment, and then he fell over. Her curved metal claw was there to catch him. She lay him down on the ground gently, put him on his side, and pushed him so that he would be comfortable. Sleep well, commander. You have a busy day tomorrow. She said, and returned to stasus. Although the only onlooker was a small mouse, it would have sworn, had it been able to talk, that the massive red metal dragon seemed to be smiling.
Early in the morning, Allen woke Gabrielle. He brought her food, but she didn't touch it, and only drank from the vial of water he'd brought her. She was ravenously hungry, but she dare not eat whatever these foods were. They might be laced with poison. She watched him warily.
She put down the empty vial, and stared at him hollowly. "Please, just tell us what we want to know, and I won't hurt you." Allen finally said, and at the sound of his voice, Gabrielle almost startled. She stayed silent. Allen sighed. "Please, come on, my Pretty Flower." He said persuasively charming. She was immune to him. "I am not yours." She said icily. "And I will never be." "All right, then. Tell me, who your leader is or I will be forced to hurt you." He said. She said nothing. He shook his head, and slapped her across the face.
"It will take more than that." She spat. "Fine." He said darkly. "I can do more. You will not eat until you speak." He said. "I can deal with that." She said. "I'll be dead soon anyways. You'll end up killing me before I say anything, and my squad won't come for me. I'll just sit here and die." She said stiffly. He withdrew a small knife and slashed her shoulder. A line appeared on her skin through the cut fabric, and then it grew wider and red as she began to bleed. She withstood the sting easily, staring him in the eye. He cut her again, and she still did nothing more than breathe in a little deeper when he cut her.
"So, you have someone back at that base?" Allen asked slyly. "What kind of a question is that!?" She retorted. "I ask questions around here, you!" He barked, and reluctantly cut her again. She had three horizontal marks on her shoulder, all of which were bleeding a lot. "Come on, answer! It's not a hard question." He said. He held up the knife again, which now had her blood dripping from it. "I don't understand why you want to know this." She said flatly.
"Because I want to know. There's no way you can't have someone. I'll bet you want to see them again, don't you?" He asked, almost soothingly. "That's no business of yours." She growled. He held the knife underneath her throat, right by her jugular, and she felt the sharp knifepoint driving into her. She could feel the knife moving slightly with the pulsing of her blood flow.
"You won't kill me now." She said with a tired smile. "You haven't got anything out of me yet. It would be stupid to kill me." She hissed. Allen knew she was right. "You'll never see the one you love back there." He said. "I've come to terms with that. Let's not go there." She growled. He noticed she had tears in her eyes. "I'll let you go if you tell me what we want to know. I'll tell Zaibach we have you and we'll leave you somewhere easy for them to find. Then you can return to whoever it is." He said to her, trying to get her to talk. "He wouldn't want me if I betrayed him." She said back, her blue eyes sad with despair.
"Who is it? Let's see... You were with that group... Hmm... The one named Chesta, perhaps? How about Dalet? Is that him?" He asked, poking her with the knife. She said nothing, her eyes glassy as she tried to ignore him. "No? How about Guimel? ... No, eh? Migel? Gatti? Which one?" He insisted, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She fought back her tears. She'd never see any of them again. The only people she knew here, and she'd never see them. "Hah! You don't mean to tell me you have affections for that maniacal tyrant? That pathetic excuse for a leader!?" He said, with an evil grin on his face. She snapped her gaze back to his, and the firey anger burned.
"Never, ever insult Dilandau like that, you honourless coward! How dare you!" She screeched, and she smacked him as hard as she could. It left a red hand print on his face. "Hah!" He laughed bitterly. "That ... Thing could never feel emotions. He's simply programmed to kill. You love him, and you will forever love alone." He said, and she fought back her tears harder. She wouldn't cry in front of this man. "It doesn't matter anyways. You'll never see him again, because once I have what I want out of you, I'll kill you." He said. "Too bad for you, pretty thing. You will eventually break." He told her.
"Allen, give it a rest." Vaughn said. Allen hadn't realized Vaughn was in the room. "Just leave her alone for now." He said firmly. Allen shot Vaughn a glance, but he complied and left. Once he had gone, Gabrielle cried. She was bleeding still, and the pain mixed with the knowledge that she was going to die here made her cry. She didn't seem to notice Vaughn was still there.
"Hey," He said softly. "Don't cry." He said, and she looked up at him. She shrank away from him, sure that he was going to hurt her, too. "Please stop crying." He asked of her again. "You need to clean your wounds, or they'll get infected." He said. Vaughn recognized the name Fox had been crying out. Dilandau. He remembered. He went and got a wet cloth and a dry one and returned to her. He flipped out a knife, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the stinging cut. He only cut off the blood-soaked arms of her uniform, putting them aside. He put the blade back in the knife, and put it back away on his belt. He took the wet cloth and wiped her cut shoulders.
She winced at the touch, but the cold water felt good. He then took one of the dry cloths and bandaged up her shoulder. He cleaned the other one, and did the same. "Thank you." She said quietly.
"Yeah. There's someone I want you to meet." He said, and he beckoned for her to stand up. She did so shakily, and stood behind him. She shivered from the cold of the mountain outside.
"Hitomi!" Vaughn called. "Coming!" Replied a female voice. A few moments later, a girl with short brown hair, and wearing a Japanese sailor-type school uniform came up to them. "Yes?" She asked. "This is the soldier we caught yesterday," Vaughn said, and the girl named Hitomi looked at Gabrielle. Gabrielle looked away shyly and sadly. "I see. Hello." Hitomi said. "She doesn't talk much." Vaughn explained. "She's the pilot of the Red Dragon you found out about. I need you to do a reading for her." He explained to Hitomi, and she nodded. "Okay. What's her name?" Hitomi asked. "Fo-" Gabrielle cut him off. "Gabrielle. My name is Gabrielle." She said.
"That's a nice name," Hitomi said in a friendly tone. "She's a member of Zaibach's forces?" Hitomi asked Vaughn. "Yes, she is. I've heard rumours that another girl fell from the sky and Zaibach captured her. I think this is her." He said, and Hitomi looked surprised and curious. "I did." Gabrielle said.
"Well, my cards are back in my room. Come with me and I'll do the reading." She said, and she turned and began to walk. Gabrielle followed behind Vaughn. hey came up to small room just a moment later and Hitomi opened the door. They walked in, and Hitomi motioned to chairs nearby a table. She pulled out a pack of Tarot cards and prepared them.
Gabrielle was very silent and she curled up as small as she could while she was sitting in the chair. Hitomi dealt the cards and read and interpreted them in near silence, sometimes whispering the names of the cards and trying to figure out their possible meanings.
"She does come from the Mystic Moon like I do, and yet she does not. It says here in the cards that she was not born on the Mystic Moon. She-" Hitomi was cut off. Her eyes glazed over, and she had a vision.
She was standing on a lush green field, and the clouds above her were swirling around and changing colours. She looked up, and there was a figure in the blinding light. At first she thought it was Vaughn because he had wings, but as the figure drew closer, she saw it was not. He landed, flaring his black wings as he spilled the air from them. He seemed not to be able to see her. She turned, and there was a sudden shift in scenes.
Against a pure black, there were Gabrielle and that black-winged boy that she'd seen just a moment before. He was being held back by dark figures whispering to him, and on his side there were flames. He looked hesitant and confused. Gabrielle was standing gracefully on the other side, and she had shining glossy white wings. Gabrielle was held in light, and she had her arm extended to the boy across from her. She sensed their fear and longing as if it were her own. All of a sudden, the tall boy managed to break free and run towards Gabrielle, and he had just about reached her when a white dragon burst in from nowhere and picked up Gabrielle, flying away with her in it's clutches. The dragon was not mechanized, it was real, with all it's rippling muscles and dragon splendour.
The tall boy called after her in a silent scream, but was left standing alone. The light that had been on Gabrielle's side disappeared, even as he desperately tried to chase it. The flames and darkness closed about him, and Hitomi felt the boy's overpowering sense of defeat, failure and fear. Also, his unstoppable hatred for the white dragon and his determination to get Gabrielle back at any cost.
She snapped back to reality, and back to Vaughn and Gabrielle's concerned faces. "I- I just had a vision. That's all." She said. "A-as I was saying. You'll meet someone who can tell you everything that happened. There was some major memory loss involved, between both you and... Someone else. It wasn't natural memory loss, of course. Someone made it happen. Gabrielle, you need to get back. Vaughn, we have to let her go." Hitomi said, almost in a panicked voice.
"We can't. The Zaibach forces will only corrupt and hurt her more." Vaughn replied. "Vaughn, the Red Dragon must be set free. It says so in the cards." She said, in defense. "Exactly. Set free. Giving her back to the Zaibach forces is not setting her free." He said. "Please, Vaughn. We have to let her go. It's important. Please, give her back to that boy. It's the only thing he wants, and he'll stop at nothing to get her back, even if it kills himself in the process." She said. "What boy?" Vaughn asked, and Hitomi was just about to describe the boy in her visions when Allen knocked at the door.
"Vaughn! The Zaibach forces are on the move. Towards the Royal City!" He said, and Vaughn stood up immediately, and was gone with Allen, leaving Gabrielle and Hitomi standing there.
"Gabrielle, you have to get back to that boy." She said. "What does he look like?" Gabrielle asked, sure that she already knew. "Tall, slim, pale, silver hair, I think." Hitomi replied. "Dilandau!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "You have to get back to him as soon as you can. He'll die if you don't." She said. "What do you mean, 'he'll die if I don't?'" Gabrielle asked, shocked. "He won't stop trying to get you back, even if it kills him. And it will eventually, because he'll do it without any rest, and eventually, Vaughn or Allen will catch and kill him. Unless, of course, you get back to him in time." Hitomi explained.
And so it went for days. Vaughn refused to let Gabrielle go, and Allen kept trying to question her, each time inflicting more pain upon her. He did it in vain, because Gabrielle kept her strong silence. Dilandau doggedly followed them, destroying everything in his path, and constantly staying one step behind. Gabrielle did not eat. She only drank water, and only if anyone else but Allen brought it. Gabrielle lost weight, but still, she did not eat.
Eventually, Vaughn force-fed her, as he could see there was no other way to get her to eat. She struggled weakly, but eventually she did eat, under his watchful eye. She wasn't anorexic, so she didn't purge the food from her system, but she still refused to eat unless she was force-fed. Gabrielle overheard Vaughn and Allen talking in another room late one night.
"Alright. I think we've tired him out enough. He almost didn't make it last time. I say we bring Gabrielle as bait, and then we kill Dilandau." She recognized Allen's voice. "I still don't think this is right. All he wants is Gabrielle back. Damn, he's said it enough times to us, and he hasn't attacked us unless we attacked him first. The readings did say that she should be given back." Vaughn said, the voice of reason. "Vaughn, we want this war to end. He's a key officer. He has to be eliminated." Allen said gruffly. "This is war." He added. "Fine. We bring Gabrielle." Vaughn sighed.