The night went by as it usually did, slowly. Most people can not tell how slowly the night passes, but in his dream, Dilandau felt every moment of it. Perhaps the clock on the wall was right, it read 10:00. Dilandau had gone to bed at 9:30. The night was passing very slowly indeed.
Dilandau was broken from his short foray of thought by the voice of the judge, "Do you have any more witnesses, Prosecutor?" he asked Folken lazily.
"Yes, your honor." Folken said, "I call Dragonslayer Shesta to the stand."
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it plowed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than the target ever showed or shone.
Robert Frost- "The Soldier"
"Can you state your name for the court?" Folken asked the thin young man as he sat down.
"Yes." Shesta said, "My name's Shesta." He shifted nervously in his chair.
"You were a soldier under Dilandau, right?" Folken asked.
"Yes." The blonde head nodded.
"And how did he treat you?" Folken asked kindly.
Shesta trembled, but with a valiant effort, met Folken's eyes, "He was very brutal. Towards me and the other weaker boys. He hit us almost constantly."
Folken nodded, "Hmmm." he said.
"I mean," Shesta started loudly, "I thought it was because we weren't trying, but even when we tried harder, even when we started to be great soldiers, He still hit us!" Shesta buried his face in his hands.
Folken made a clucking sound with his tongue, "It's all right, son… Now… It's OK." he said.
Shesta sniffed, "He was never supportive of us. He never told us we were doing well. He only berated us, and hit us. We all knew he HATED us." he hadn't taken his head out of his hands. But the muffled lines that he spoke cut straight into Dilandau.
Dilandau stood up, ignoring a warning glance from his lawyer. He fixed his gaze on Shesta, who was staring at him through a curtain of tears, and though the entire rest of the courtroom was staring mildly at him as well, he paid them no mind.
"Mr. Schezar…" warned the judge.
"You're lying." Dilandau said in a scratchy voice, "You're lying." He repeated, his voice clearer, "That's a LIE!"
The judge rapped his gavel against the counter, "Mr. Schezar! If you don't settle down, I'll put you in chains for contempt of-"
"Yeah." Shesta interrupted suddenly, ignoring the judge, who stared indignantly at him, "I lied…" surprisingly, he was smiling. It was a strange smile, one without pity, "He didn't hate us."
"Your honor…" started Zongi, "Perjury…?"
But the judge shook his head, still staring at Shesta, amazed at his audacity. Perjury was obviously no matter in this case.
Shesta continued, "He didn't hate us…" he said angrily, "But he may as well have for what he did to us."
Folken was eager to regain the control of the situation, "What did he do?"
"He killed us. He told us to go out there, then he stood back and just watched us die." Shesta seemed angry enough to spit.
Dilandau saw this… this thing masquerading as Shesta, and he didn't know what to think. As he sat back in a horrified awe at the enmity radiating from one of the kindest of his Dragonslayers, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and jumped.
"Death changes us all…" whispered Zongi's cold voice. The scent came strong and Dilandau resisted the urge to hold his nose.
"He can't be the same… person." Dilandau replied, shaken, "He's so angry."
"Don't worry. Trust me. I can show the jury the kind of person he was, and his feeling for you then."
Dilandau wasn't sure he'd be able to believe that. The Shesta that was stared hungrily at him, his eyes predatory.
Folken interposed himself between Shesta and Dilandau, drawing Shesta's attention back to him, "What happened, exactly, on the day you died?" he asked brusquely.
Shesta gave him a petulant look, but sighed and began to recount his version of what had happened, "Dilandau told us to suit up, while we were all eating breakfast that morning. We did, we always did what he told us to." he said bitterly, "So when we finally faced the dragon, he started to just slice through everyone. First it was Guimel, then Gatty over there. So, at that point, Dilandau must have realized that since the dragon had already killed two of his high-ranking officers in the first thirty seconds of the battle, that maybe we had underestimated him." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"So what did you do then?" Folken prompted, obviously unimpressed by Shesta's animosity and somewhat annoyed that he had to deal with such a difficult witness.
"He told us to turn on our stealth cloaks. But after a moment, the dragon saw through them, and he started to kill everyone again. It was probably a few moments later that I saw that Dilandau and I were the only ones left. I thought that maybe, just maybe he would get into the battle instead of just standing there and panting and sweating and shaking… But no. That was when I died." Shesta crossed his arms and stared Dilandau down once more.
"So." Folken said, relieved that he was nearly finished, "Because Dilandau was negligent in ordering you to that battle, and because of the fact that he didn't fight, you were killed?"
Shesta nodded, and the smile on his face twisted.
"No further questions." Folken said, turning away from the judge with a slightly bored expression and unconsciously brushing off his trailing sleeve.
Zongi gave Dilandau a glance, filled with import. Dilandau frowned back at him, not understanding the meaning of the gaze.
"Do you wish to cross-examine the witness?" the judge asked.
"Yes, sir, just one moment while I confer with my client." Zongi said, and then he leaned down to speak with Dilandau.
Dilandau felt the resurgence of the scent of the Doppleganger coming towards him along with the face, and the strange expression upon it. He was abruptly afraid that the creature would use its power on him.
"I can't tell you how important this is, Dilandau." the creature said, its face earnest, "I mean…" he paused, looking torn, "Look. I won't let anything happen to you, all right? It's very important that you trust me."
Dilandau felt that there was yet again something underneath the outer meaning, something that he wasn't understanding. He tried to plumb the depths of Zongi's great eyes, but came up with nothing. He glanced over at Shesta, who hadn't ceased with his hungry smile.
"You have to trust me." Zongi said again.
Dilandau, though he wasn't sure what it meant, nodded, "All right." he said nervously, "I'll leave it to you."
The doppelganger smiled, "Good." he said, "Good." he repeated once more. He stood and faced the judge, "I'm ready, your honor."
"Carry on, Defense." the judge said, rubbing his temple.
"Shesta, was it?" Zongi asked, walking out onto the floor.
Shesta nodded.
"Of course. How could I forget?" he asked, smiling, "Now, you said that Dilandau hurt you, correct?"
Shesta flicked his teeth with his thumb, affecting boredom, "Yeah." he said, "Every day."
"He hit you every day?"
"No." Shesta said, "But he told us how useless and pathetic we were every day that he didn't hit us." He gazed mildly at the lawyer.
"So…" Zongi hesitated, "Let's talk about the day you died. I wasn't there, how many people were there?"
Shesta's face perked up, as if he was interested in where this was going, "Thirteen, not counting him," he said, gesturing toward Dilandau.
"Let the record show that the witness pointed to the defendant, please." Zongi said offhandedly, "So, how was your formation, exactly?" he asked, "How were you situated around the dragon?"
Shesta looked thoughtful, "Well, we were situated in a circle around him, then in waves. There were three waves."
"And you were in the last wave, along with Dilandau, right?"
"Yes." Shesta said nervously, "I was."
"The last wave to fight, correct, the wave that was going to finally kill the dragon if the other waves didn't succeed, right?"
Shesta shifted in his chair, "That's what was said…" he said.
"Dilandau liked that kind of formation, right? He liked to have the best soldiers fight last so that if the other waves failed, there was always a backup." Zongi said.
Dilandau was for a moment amazed. It wasn't necessarily the most effective strategy, trying to explain away his cowardice using battle tactics, but it was quite inventive of him. He was impressed that Zongi knew so much about him, and was using it in such a way.
It could have been his imagination, but as Dilandau thought such a compliment, he thought he saw Zongi glance at him with a glint in his eye.
He walked around the witness box a few times, and with each pass Shesta seemed to become more nervous. It seemed that Zongi was about to deal the final blow.
"So… Shesta, you say you were the last to die, right?" he finally said.
Guardedly, Shesta replied, "Yes…"
"So, what exactly happened?" Zongi said, his face seeming unnaturally kind.
Shesta frowned nervously, and then went ahead, "I was distracted, sort of, looking around, trying to see where he was…"
"Where who was?" the lawyer asked.
"The dragon." Shesta clarified, "And then suddenly, he was in front of me, and the sword was in me, and then…" he shivered uncontrollably for a moment, but got himself under control, "I tasted blood, and then… I died."
Zongi nodded, "You know, Shesta, there's such a thing as lying by omission."
"Huh?" Shesta said, seeming like he was genuinely confused.
"In other words, there's one thing you left out of your account." Zongi said.
Shesta said nothing, merely giving Zongi a confused and somewhat quizzical look.
"Could you tell me, please, what were your last words?" Zongi said.
"They were… I was calling for Lord Dilandau…" the young man said, as if he was only just realizing he had.
"Lord Dilandau, now is it?" Zongi said.
"Yeah.." Shesta said, and his fingertips brushed his lips, as if he was trying to make sure he had said it.
"One last question, Master Shesta. When you called out for Dilandau, why did you do it?" Zongi said, his face shining.
Shesta still seemed completely amazed, surprised by this recovered memory, "I… I was afraid. We were all gone, and we couldn't protect him. I was afraid that he'd die." he looked up at Zongi, his eyes shining with tears.
"No further questions," And Zongi went back to his seat.
Dazed, Shesta was led back to his seat by the bailiff. Dilandau was somewhat surprised to note that the other Dragonslayers did little more than move aside so that he could sit back down, even Gatty. Perhaps he wasn't as bad off as he thought.
As Shesta sat back down, Dilandau turned to Zongi, unable to dampen his amazement, "How did you know that?" he asked slowly, "How in the world did you know that?" his voice almost rose to an audible range, he could not keep it down.
Zongi merely smiled a very secretive smile, "Trust can do some amazing things." he replied, settling down into his chair.
Outside the room, there was a general mumble of consensus.
"He must be beginning to trust his lawyer a great amount." Gaze said thoughtfully, and perhaps with a bit of revulsion.
Shy sighed wearily, "Yes, this time he broke through our illusion."
True put a hand on Shy's shoulder, "We will continue." he said stolidly.
"This next witness will be more difficult to combat, I think." Care said, setting his will to the task.
"Let us keep our resolve." Last said supportively, "We will succeed, even this shows us that we will. It behooves us to be patient, we have been for a very long while."
So they tightened their circle, freeing their minds to sit in the middle of it and watch… Watch for the breakthrough they knew would come: Their chance to change Dilandau's life once again.
Author's Note: YAY! Happy birthday to me!! It's my birthday today, June 17, 2003, and I thought I'd update this as a present to myself! And to all of you, of course. I expect love for this! Anyhow, my braces feel better, and I've got Chapter 8 all planned, you'll see. Anyhow, I hope you all liked this chapter!
And here's the people who liked the last chapter! (Not too many, since I updateyd so fast…)
Eboni: I know it was harsh, but I wanted it to be that way. The people who are in charge of this trial want to shock Dilandau, and test his will. Later on you'll see why, of course. I know, I know… But it'll all even out in the end.. As for Zongi's lawyering abilities, it's all me. Thanks!! Actually, it's the result of me putting a tragic flaw in each testimony, for Zongi to exploit. Also the result of watching too much Law and Order. Gundam Wing mangas are great. I love Episode Zero. You should read Magic Knight Rayearth, it is so excellent…
Etowato: Really? You think that?? I dunno, I haven't read many Dilandau fanfictions, other than the ones written by the people on Fate's Toy, so I'm a bit sheltered. I just write Dilandau as a character the way I see him, and the way he's changed since The Soul of the Creation. It's just the way the character is, and I can't see seeing him any other way.
Feye Morgan: Hi! Ok, fine, her review makes up for your pitiable lack of review-ness. But I wanna see mucho mucho reviews for this chapter!! And her fave character is Moleman?? Hmm… That's…. different. But I suppose I can't knock anyone's preferences. He sure is an interesting old fellow, that Moleman… ^-^