A/N: Geez, I don't know why last time I upoloaded this chap, it all came in one bug paragraph…. so sorry 'bout that, enjoy!
Chapter 18: Elements of Blood
"…and to thine own self be true."
~ Hamlet (I think…*shrugs*)
"Well, well, look who decided to grace themselves with their presence this morning…" Dilandau drawled dangerously, "Did you two enjoy a pleasant evening together?" His words brought not only a sarcastic smile to his own lips but to a few of his men as well. Some small chuckles met this comment to, all unspoken ways of them saying, 'Go Miguel, he got some.' Coupled with a knowing look. How disgusting. To think of your little sister in such a lecherous manner.
Dilandau sat leaning on his elbow cushioned by plush red velvet, a beautiful red, but not a tantalizing as his eyes. His near perfect face smirked at them amusedly, what little tale would they bring for him today? The problems with the guymelefs seemed an effective cover-up… but what was the true tale? "You realize that we expect the truth from you, I can't believe that one of my guymelefs has malfunctioned." His voice held the air of a spoiled heir, used to getting the best, and getting his way…in a sense Dilandau was very much the part of that.
Behind the throne a tiny crack of light illuminated his features, peering through deep blue curtains, heavy enough to shut out the gods themselves. In front, a blood red carpet ran to the door opposite his position. Jezabel wasn't sure if the carpet was red simply because Dilandau like the color, or it was to hide the number of people he had slain before him. She didn't want to find out.
On either side the Dragonslayers lined this tapestry on the ground, as Miguel and Jez stood waiting judgment.
"You might want to believe that, Lord Dilandau, because it is the truth." She rose her voice to address the rest of the company, "And I know what all of you are thinking, but let me tell you my honor is intact, and it will not be carelessly thrown away." Her gaze narrowed onto Dilandau's, "You should know that." Her words barely uttered stung him deeply, and shocked his company.
A girl had refused Lord Dilandau's advances, and he had not taken her by brute force?
Demons glittered where eyes should have been in the monster's face, how dare she make him look like a fool, in front of his men!
Cooly, Jezabel stared back daring him to strike her to regain his pride. "Go ahead, hit me. You've never hesitated before." She growled. Though only a whisper it seemed echo endlessly over the stonewalls, and in the minds of everyone.
She shouldn't have dared him; a raised hand was the last thing she remembered before the stinging pain of his slap graced her face. The force sent colliding into Miguel, who caught her in strong arms. A cool liquid flowed down by her lip, blood. "Are you satisfied now Lord Dilandau? Your bruised pride is intact, and I am merely a conversation piece for dinner tonight, is that what you wanted? Is it?"
The Dragonslayers gawked at her. Most men cowered at the mention of Lord Dilandau's name, and here she was openly contradicting him! He wasn't even fazing her.
"Well, if you won't give us the true story, then we'll have it from Miguel, his loyalties have always been strong." The demon eyes flickered to the man supporting Jezabel. "Tell us Miguel, and tell us the truth."
'You mean what you want to hear…' Jezabel thought, but held her tongue, she was finally able to stand on her own, and though she didn't show it, that blow fazed her more than she would admit. Here was a test, did he love her? Would he lie to save face, or speak the truth and gain him a new level of peace, one only to be found through the gates of love?
A second can feel like an eternity, as time has ways of manipulating the currant of it's stream, here it was no different…"Yes, sir. What Jezabel said is true. The guymelef did malfunction due to a seal cracking and allowing the boosters to become wet. Her honor is intact, we did nothing of the sort, and if I were to lie than I would not be the man she thinks I am, or the man I know myself to be… " His head bowed in respect.
Inwardly, Jezabel gasped, he did love her…he truly did. A pure, white love that everyone searches for, but few ever obtain. 'Thank you, Miguel… thank you…'
"Jezabel! You're back!" She whirled around dropping the brown package onto the bed before being assaulted with a friendly hug from Eva. "What's in the box?" She looked down, at the parcel resting on the plush covers of the bed.
"I was just about to find out."
"Sorry," Eva shrugged sheepishly, "I'm just glad to see you…" A smile lit up her face illuminating her eyes. Jez swore that if her eyes got any brighter those green orbs would shoot out lightning bolts. "Well?"
"I'm getting it." She finished ripping open the package and a golden chain tumbled into her hands. No, dog-tags.
"Jezabel Gylynn…" Eva read, "Well, if you die, at least we can I.D. you."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, why are you so bouncy this morning?" Jezabel asked slipping the chain over her head.
"Oh, no reason…"
"Really?" Jez muttered her voice laced with suspicion. "I don't believe it."
"That's the truth!" Eva retorted with an indignant tone. It was interesting to see the usually bubbly blonde in a near miffed state, her features didn't seem cut out for it. "Tell me, how was your night?" Eva smirked turning the tables.
Jezabel's tone was brisk she had been through this one too many times to deal with it again. "My guymelef had some minor problems, therefore we were detained."
"You don't need to be so uptight about it all, you can tell me what happened, I'm not a male."
"That's the problem I have with females."
Eva gave her a quizzical look.
"They have to be so emotional, men are much more straightforward. It makes things easier for everyone."
"You're telling me." Eva let out a breath of relief, "Everyone tells me that I need to be more understanding, and emotional, and not so hard and…"
"Blah, blah, blah." Jez finished.
"Exactly."
"I'm going to be extremely out of character in saying this, maybe a bit of a hypocrite, but don't change a thing, you're perfect as is." Crumpling the remains of her gift Jezabel threw it into a wastebasket. "I should be going, training starts soon. I'll see you later."
Opening the doors of the training room she was greeted by the usual sight. Men paired off dueling each other, others testing out the newly installed obstacle course. And standing in the middle of it all was a man clad in red. Dilandau.
'What is he doing here?' she thought with contempt. He rarely came to oversee their training, other than the occasional test to see how their skills were improving. After this morning's escapade, she truly did not feel like encountering him again. But, the room was large, perhaps she could avoid him. Her blade needed to be taken care of, yesterday's training had given it a few dents too many.
Lining the walls were wheels meant for sharpening the weapons, Jez placed herself in front of one of these and set to work, joyfully unaware of the pressures of life here. With very spark and dent smoothed out so did a hurtful memory. It was like therapy in a way. She pumped her feet harder to get the wheel up to speed. However her bliss was to be short lived, she could feel Dilandau behind her, his presence was not one to be ignored.
Charismatic, that was the word. Bitterness melted away to be replaced with the deep current of respect she held for him. Who could not love the monster?
"You should take better care of your equipment." He commented.
"Yes, Lord Dilandau."
"I trust you received my package?"
"Yes, Lord Dilandau, thank you."
"With any luck you won't be needing those in the future. Zaibach has lined up a series of battles in which you will be participating. Kana Askara as well. That is why I will be overseeing your training from now on. Follow me."
Jezabel re-sheathed her sword and followed him out the door to a smaller training arena where Kana stood expectantly.
"You both have excelled rapidly." He began. His voice flowing like black velvet, "And today, we begin your new life. From now on your life will be as I dictate, and it will be hell. Not that I haven't done that already," he mused, "Not only will you be training with swords but you will learn the subtle art of hand-to-hand combat. As I'm sure my Dragonslayers have informed you the Zaibach ball is only a few weeks away, and during this celebration you will receive the rank of Dragonslayer. Provided you don't bungle this opportunity."
"Yes, Lord Dilandau."
"Thank you, Lord Dilandau."
"Good. Shall we begin?" It was more a statement then it was a question. "Jezabel, how about an assessment of your skills. I want to see how well you do in your natural state of combat."
She nodded her head, and walked to the center of the mat where she stood waiting. Hands in front of her ready to slash like daggers, the weight of her body resting on her back heel so as to improve her balance and reflex time. She smiled inwardly, hand-to-hand was her area of expertise, and had she stayed on the Mystic Moon for a few months more she would have received her black belt.
Dilandau threw a punch at her, the fight began...
With controlled motions Jezabel blocked him easily, her training with the sword had rapidly improved her reflexes, more than even she had realized.
He advanced again, Jez didn't deflect this one, rather she seized his wrist, and flipped him onto the floor.
Contrasting with the dark mat, his eyes gleamed with anger, thirsting for revenge. The blooded orbs…orbs that scared most people senseless, those who didn't already cower at the sound of his name. But Jez stared down at him calmly waiting for his next move. She would not defeat him, not someone that was two levels below him. Lips curling to reveal gleaming white teeth, he sprung to his feet, only to crouch down delivering a sweeping kick to Jez's ankles. He expected her to trip and fall. That was the expected, he forgot a key rule of combat, 'Expect the unexpected…'
When Jezabel had felt her feet begin to slide out from under her, she reacted with a back handspring, neatly cuffing Dilandau under the chin with the toe of her boot.
His blood was boiling now. Impressed by her skill, but undaunted the demon attacked again, without mercy. In many ways he was like a berserk, but instead of needing blood to fuel his insanity, all he needed was a battle. Even a small training fight would suffice if necessary. How long had it been since his last great war? Well, that had been the Destiny War, the battles following had only been meager child's play, good for training, and experience, but lacking the intensity of a real clash. It had been too long, much too long.
He tasted blood in his mouth, her little kick packed a large punch. Time to show her why he was a general, and her commander, yes, this would be fun…it always was.
Jezabel watched to change flow over him from her crouched position on the floor. She saw him sit back up, slowly, intentionally, every movement calculated, like a lion. A small trickle of blood escaped out of the corner of his cheek, his eyes glowed with a frenzy she had never seen before, it was like he was possessed. His eyes locked onto hers. Then, they both leapt at each other.
They attacked again and again without mercy, dodging and delivering, in a whirl of punches and kicks. Without warning Dilandau's blows became much more violent and harder to avert. She had thought a victory would have been hers, but if he kept this up, it surely wasn't. To her dismay he did keep it up, and now she was pinned to the floor, with his hand slowly cutting off her air supply. Jezabel tried to break free, but Dilandau, was much stronger than she was, so she struggled in vain.
Already Jez was becoming lightheaded, and woozy. Those eyes swimming before her. Bearing down without mercy, reveling in her pain, the eyes of a monster. Like it or not she was drifting into unconsciousness…
'No, not now…I…'
Somewhere, in the inky darkness swirling around her a voice called out to her, "Are you just going to give up. Simply because he over-powers you? It is not strength of the body, but strength of the heart and mind. The body does what the mind says…" It was the voice of her master, the one who had trained her from the beginning.
'I will never surrender!' her mind screamed.
But it wasn't the shout of her mind that woke her. It was the scream of…Dilandau? Jez sat up massaging her sore throat, wincing slightly as the blood rushed to her head. When her vision cleared she saw the cowering form of her commander holding his hand, the palm covered in red boils. The glove had been removed to inspect the damage, Jez looked away at the sight. Had she done that?
The silver-haired general glared at her, a stream of curses pouring from his mouth, but Jezabel heard none of them. 'Did I…No, how could I have?'
Kana had disappeared, but the reason soon became apparent as Folken entered the room.
'It must have been me…but, how…?'
"I'm sorry. Lord Dilandau…" Jez stammered.
"Sorry! Yes, you will be sorry." With his good hand he struck her across the face…hard. The spot was already tender, and instantly it began to swell.
"That's enough Dilandau!" Folken had finally reached the pair, followed by an anxious Kana. "Now will someone kindly explain what has happened her."
Dilandau did the honors, using some rather colorful language when referring to Jezabel. Folken absorbed all of this calmly, analyzing the scene before him. Stooping down his picked up two pebbles on the mat. "Element stones." he muttered, "Jezabel where did you find these?"
Her hand flew into her pocket, the pebbles she had picked up from lasts night trip were no longer in her pockets. "I found them at an Atlantian ruin yesterday."
He switched his gaze to Dilandau who was cowering on the floor. His breathing was shaky.
Concerned Jezabel crept up to inspect the damage she had done.
"Stay away from me, monster." He ordered, he teeth tightly clenched. His whole being was shaking violently, steam began to pour off the injured limb. Every muscle was tensed trying to dull the pain.
Jezabel watched in agony, she couldn't stand to see him like this. The usual imposing figure had been reduced to a simple child begging on its knees. His voice was starting to become higher, and he seemed to be visibly shrinking.
"Dilandau, I'm sorry!" Jez couldn't stop the tears now. Monster or not, Dilandau was her commander, and to see him in such a state was too much to bear.
Folken, who had been watching all this from a distance made a move that was either very wise or very stupid. He grabbed Dilandau's hand and thrust it under Jez's bowed head so her tears would land on it.
One was all it took. One tear. It fell onto his outstretched hand and iced over on contact. His hand was now caked in ice, but a moment later it shattered to the ground.
Kana gawked, Jez was dumbfounded, Dilandau back to his normal self looked somewhere between confused and pissed, and Folken looked rather pleased with himself.
The boils had been healed, leaving no trace that they had been there to begin with.
"Now that has been taken care of, Jezabel I would like you to come with me." Anticipating Dilandau's response Folken quickly cut in, "She will come with me, and that is final. When I know more I may tell you."
"You damn better tell me what the fuck is going on!"
"In good time Dilandau, in good time. Jezabel." He motioned and she followed him out the door."
A/n: Wow, I finally finished a chappie! And I know I said their was going to be fluff in here, but I decided to move to a later point in the story. So, if you don't like fluff, here's a break, if you do, there's some coming. okies. Well, do I have any curious people out there? hmm? I should have the next one up in a week or so, give or take. I just hit a lazy streak…upps… hee hee hee. but no worrys cuz I'm back, so blah blah woof woof! (quote from Dark Angel) Well R&R! (more reviews, and I might just update sooner ^_~ )
Ciao!
Ice Eyes