Chapter Seven
Folken awoke to find himself in an unfamiliar bed. As his eyes focused, he could see that Van now hovered at his bedside.
"Van…………………?" Folken asked, weakly.
"Folken!" Van said, startled, yet very relieved that his brother had finally awakened.
"So I really did make it." Folken murmured, with a smile, his first in many years.
"Yeah. You really did." Van said, looking decidedly worried about what remained of Folken's right arm.
"It seems that I am going to have to learn how to write again." Folken said, with a rueful smile.
"Seems that way. But take it one step at a time. I don't want to lose my brother a second time." Van said, getting a surprised look from Folken.
"You still think of me as your brother?" Folken asked, stunned.
"You'll always be my brother, Folken. I cannot deny that." Van murmured.
"Thank you, Van." Folken said, touched by his brother's forgiveness of his actions. As the two brothers reconciled, Allen sat in his study, gazing intently at some ancient tomes that had to do with Draconians.
"You're concentrating too hard." Anka said, as she approached him and brushed some strands of unruly blond hair from his eyes.
"How can you tell?" Allen asked, as he sat back and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand.
"Because you're doing what you're doing now and I remember you doing that when you were stationed in the wilderness not so very long ago." Anka said, as she sat down beside him and looked at the book he was looking at before she'd distracted him.
"I guess you are right. You know me too well." Allen said, as he put a bookmark in the book, then set it aside, giving her a ghost of a smile while he did so.
"It's weighing heavily on your mind, isn't it?" Anka asked, concerned when the knight nodded.
"There isn't a moment that I can take my mind off of it. I know what Dornkirk wants, and he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. I can't let him take me, yet I can't keep running, either. What should I do?" Allen asked, as he sighed and put his face in his hands.
"I don't know what to tell you, Allen. This seems to be an unmerciful load of shit that got piled onto your shoulders, and still your load only gets heavier. There's no one here you can really relate to, or vice-versa. Folken and Van are only half Draconian, so they probably won't understand all of what you're going through. And your crew and the ex-DragonSlayers have no clue. I wish I knew how to make things right again, but you know, I am only a cat-woman, after all. Nothing special." Anka said, honestly. Allen looked up at her and wearily nodded.
"I know you can't change the way things have turned out, but it does me good to talk to an old friend. It helps make the burden a little easier to bear." Allen murmured, unaware that Hitomi, Merle, and Millerna were listening from the hallway, weeping as they listened to Allen's tired voice and his heartfelt admittance to Anka on how badly he needed a friend at that time.
"I wish that that vision had never come true! Then he wouldn't have to be going through so much pain!" Hitomi thought, as she and the other two women silently walked away, ashamed for having spied on the sorrowful captain.
Dornkirk smiled when he'd located the Crusade. Finally, he would have the sacrifice he desired.
"Dilandau." Dornkirk snarled.
"Yes, Dornkirk-sama?" Dilandau asked, shakily.
"I want you to go after the Pure Angel. The time has come." Dornkirk said, with an evil glint in his eye.
"Yes. I'll go after the Pure Angel and bring him here." Dilandau replied, before turning and leaving the throne room. No sooner had he gone, when the entire room was bathed in a blood red glow, foreshadowing what was to come.
Author's Note!
Urgh! Very short chapter! I need help! Writer's block has this thing in a stranglehold! If anyone has any ideas as to how the next chapter should go, please e-mail me! Any suggestions would help at this point! Thanks! ^ ^;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Gemini