Plura Ater Nox

Chapter 27

"We must have someone here that speak French…or German…well one of the two languages that little bastard speaks.  Slippery one it seems, I might add." Marcus remarked, as he had just been informed of the find of the two captains.  Currently he sat with them, listening to them outline the latest development.

"He is." Captain Andreas replied.  He sat back.  "I would speak to him, but I don't speak the same dialect of French.  I understand Cajun and Creole, not the traditional tongue."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner, Andreas?!" Captain Stonewall demanded.  "We could have finished interrogating him and got this over with."

"I had a little difficulty understanding him."

"Bloody likely." Marcus smirked.  "It's just an excuse you're making so you can prolong the torture.  You haven't changed any, still the same sadistic bastard you always were."

"Hmn, grim assessment." Captain Andreas replied.

"Maybe because it's the truth?"

"Touché."

"Oh, did I strike a note?!"

"Kill the sarcasm, monk."

"You could be nicer.  Besides, I'm not a monk, I was a priest.  I performed Sunday Morning Mass, as well as daily mass." Marcus retorted, very much enjoying the banter.

"Please stop this.  We can't afford to waste any time.  It's precious and each moment could be spent preparing to have that German dictator's head severed and served on a silver platter to Churchill." Captain Stonewall proclaimed.

"All the allies want that."

"Sir!"  The two captains saluted the general.

Wandering in, General Marshall took a seat at the military conference table.  "I couldn't help but to over hear talk of a German officer being in our custody.  Could one of you enlighten me?"

"The man was a stow-a-way on a merchant ship.  He tried to escape when the merchant ship landed.  He didn't make it and we caught him.  He tried to set us off-guard by speaking French."  Captain Andreas smirked.  "Imagine, the little bastard was trying to say he was a woman."

"Did you two talk to him yet?" General Marshall pressed.

"No, sir." Captain Stonewall replied.

"Perhaps it might be best to get that out of the way before you proceed with any other of your plans.  I want to find out as much as we can.  Anything is helpful.  Don't waste any more time." General Marshall harshly informed the two captains, as he departed to his office.

Standing up, Marcus stated, "I could talk to him."

"But you only speak English and Latin." Captain Stonewall pointed out.

"True."  Marcus nodded, as he left the room.  He felt a chi, a noticeable one.  He wanted to stake it out.  It seemed to have arrived today.  That was half his reason for deciding to go forth with the interrogation; he wanted to freely roam around.

Shortly, he hit ground zero – he located the owner of the chi.  Entering the interrogation room, he gazed around, catching sight of a hunched over figure, with two soldiers on either side.  His eyes travelled to the floor.  There was a bag next to the man.  He arched an eyebrow, wondering why no one confiscated it.  He shrugged it off and whistled.  "You two may step down, I'll take care of questioning."

"Sir!" the two saluted their superior before leaving the room.  The first stop briefly to punch who was thought to be a German officer in the stomach.

Once they left, Marcus wondered over, picking up the bag.  "Open it." He commanded in heavily accented French.

Nodding, Angelique did as told.  She was too scared to say anything.  Dumping out the contents, she looked up at the officer, who looked genuinely surprised.

Marcus blinked.  'Female garments?  A skirt…blouse…' he picked them up, examining them before he looked over at the officer, his eyes widening.  'Nuriko!  It's his…err…her chi I felt.'  He stood back up.  "State your name and from where you hail."

"Angelique St. Pierre.  Je suis de Dunkerque, France."

"Mademoiselle St. Pierre, what was your motive?  Tell me why you're wearing the uniform of our enemy.  Surely you have a reason why." Marcus replied in the same language, taking in hand a blouse, his eyes resting on Angelique's.

"To get away from those awful men.  I didn't want to wind up in a concentration camp…  Or…  Or a death camp." Angelique whispered, keeping her head down.

Marcus had heard of the concentration camps, but the death camps were news to him.  Leaning forward, he asked, "what do you mean?"

"The Germans are getting rid of the Jews.  I heard it from the woman who headed Dunkirk's resistance until it crumbled.  She got the information from a high-ranking German officer, who she had been able to get in good with."

"Thank you.  Mme. St. Pierre, why don't you change and I'll return in a couple of minutes?" Marcus suggested, as he left the room.  He stopped and stood outside the door.

'It seems odd.  If Stonewall and Andreas found her, how could they have missed the fact that she had such a distinct chi, and that she does look like Nuriko?  Have the tensions of war fogged their vision and hope that the Seishi will almost all be on the same side?'  he wondered, knowing that so far only Miboshi was on the side of the Germans – and of course, very living impaired.

Pacing, his thoughts strayed.  He knew that they now had only Suzaku Seishi left to find.  Tamahome.  He was the only one who wasn't amongst them.  Marcus furrowed his brow in deep thought.  He could feel the chi of all the other Suzaku Seishi that had been reincarnated.  He couldn't sense that of Tamahome.  A while back be thought he felt something…  Something that felt like someone who was important was killed.

He paused in his pacing.  'Is it possible that we'll only be the Suzaku six, and that Tamahome was killed?  I did feel what I believe to be his presence.'

Sighing, he knocked on the door, receiving a reply of "oui?".  Once getting a pass-through permission, he pressed forward, re-entering the room.  The difference was certainly remarkable.  She now really did look like a young woman.  Quite a beautiful one.  Suzaku had been kind to the strong seishi.

He nodded.  "Are you more comfortable, Mme. St. Pierre?"

"Oui, monsieur…" she replied, prompting for him to give his name.

"Ah, I'm quite sorry.  I'm Lt. Marcus Faulkner." Marcus took her hand in his and kissed the top, his eyes resting on hers.  He then released it and took a seat across from her.

When he had kissed her hand. Angelique felt herself blush a deep crimson.  It was nice to be treated like a lady again instead of cattle being pushed through the system.  She swallowed, her violet eyes now fixated on Marcus.  'Chichiri.'

"Mme. St. Pierre, what can you tell me about where they are holding post in Dunkirk?"

"They have a strong hold on it and have already suppressed to uprising and three resistance factions that have formed.  Lt. Johann Van Eyke has a strong presence and his men following him blindly."

"Thank you.  You are free to go, Mme. St. Pierre." Marcus informed her.  He stood up and added, "Would you mind accompanying me?  I have a friend and colleague you should meet."  He paused and stared pointedly at her, as if to inform her he knew.  "Nuriko."

"Chichiri…" Angelique replied softly relived and amazed that another one remembered.  He was the first of the Suzaku Seishi she had encountered.  She thought she felt a strong chi from the two men that caught her, but she had been unable to place it, as she had failed to catch sight of their faces.

"How many of the others are around?"

"Besides you, there is Tasuki, Chiriko, Hotohori, Mitsukake and, me." Marcus replied.  He then added, "I'm sure Hotohori will be happy to know you're amongst us again."

"He's here?!"  she gasped out, ecstasy overwhelming her.

"In addition to the six of us, we also have three of the Seiryuu Seishi amongst us.  However, they aren't to be distrusted, they are our allies."

"No, they are amongst the Germans!" Angelique retorted.

"I knew Miboshi was.  And of the others?"

"Tomo is an officer.  I believe Ashitare, based on what I heard, is a member of the Gestapo.  Soi…  Well, she's a turncoat.  She was a friend of mine and head of the resistance ofr Dunkirk, until she became too close to Tomo.  She then turned in others."

Marcus nodded.  He then gestured for her to follow.  "You are going to be in for a bit of a surprise.  Hotohori, or rather Captain Russell Stonewall, is working on a small-scale invasion plan with none other that Nakago.  The man may have been a bastard, but he knows strategy."

Angelique shuddered at the mention of Nakago.

Marcus smiled gently.  "He's nothing to fear when he's on your side."

"How do we know?"

"He hates the Germans and the Japanese.  He's an American captain out for blood, like many others in response to the Empire of Japan's strike on Pearl Harbour."

"That accounts for five.  What about the other two?  And…you made no mention of our seventh Seishi…"

"I think Tamahome may have not been reincarnated, or, he might've been killed.  And the other two Seiryuu Seishi…you'll have to see for yourself."

~~~~

She stood, leaning against the wall, her eyes fixated on him as he worked.  She cleared her throat, as she desired for him to lavish his attention on her at the present.  "Johann?"

He looked up.  He had been hunched over a map of the region.  He had a hunch that the allied forces would try and infiltrate any weakness in his defence.  His strategy was to rotate the location of his men, so that the weak points were reinforced with men who could be moved from their other posts but not sacrifice the security of the strongholds that they kept.

She sauntered over and slipped her around him.  "I could infiltrate a division of the allied forces and lead them here for a slaughtering.  When others see the strength of German forces, they shall back down and stop the bombing, in concession that we are indeed far stronger than they ever shall be."

"You're going to risk that?"

"I can feel a gathering presence.  It's the Seishi.  Many of them are gathering together.  It seems they might be part of an allied plot to invade."

Johann turned and took Aimée in arm. "You're too intelligent to risk wasting your skills over there.  I'd rather you take control of part of my brigade in the event of a pathetic attempt by the allies to try and break through our fortifications."

"I would be honoured." She whispered.  Stepping away, she smoothed down the uniform she wore.  It was a change from what she had been wearing before.  She was now adorned in the German government issued military uniform for women.

She had at first distrusted the Germans.  She had hated and distrusted the lieutenant.  It seemed that her stance was now in reverse and that she had betrayed what she stood for.  Actually, she had been slowly persuaded to join the other side.  Tales of great success lured her in.  Military achievements had always been a point of fascination for her.

Possibly another reason behind her choice could be that she had come to realise that there was no point in fighting a force that was much stronger than you, especially when that force was trying to be nice.  Well, as nice as one reincarnation of Tomo could be.  For joining his side, she received a lift on the ban that had been placed over many others.

Freedom fogged her mind.  It stopped and impeded upon common sense.  It boiled down to being nothing more than a fight; in essence, survival of the fittest by any means possible.  She didn't want to be left behind; she wanted to make it through to the end.

"Excellent, I trust your judgement.  You seemed to earn respect from Nakago for the work you did, so that wagers quite a sum of merit." Johann replied.  His golden eyes then glazed over with fiery hatred.  "And I want that girl captured.  No one escapes from us, no one."

"I'll see to her capture, I can assure you."

~~~~

Requesting for Angelique to wait in the hall, Marcus entered the room where left had left captains Stonewall and Andreas.  The two men were now accompanies by General Marshall, his secretary, Chelsea, her escort Brennan, and the twins, Séamus and Jeremiah.  He cleared his throat.  "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important here."

"You aren't, Marcus." His old and respected friend, General Dwight Marshall replied, as he motioned for the then-monk, now-lieutenant to join the group.  "It was brought to my attention that you were seeing to the interrogation, so I went to our small planning room for the conference.  It seems that Andreas has his head screwed on right, since there is a plan that will work."

"Before he introduces his plan, I have a shocking revelation for all of you." Marcus grimly informed the group.  "It seems that Russell and JC were grossly misinformed, since the lad, or, should I say, lass, they reeled in is the possible farthest thing from a German spy."

"Please, do tell us how Stonewall and I were, as you said, 'grossly misinformed', when indeed we were the ones that found this degenerate?  How can you regress from the fact that this person is a German spy?  He spoke first in German that back-tracked and fired off an excuse in French about being a Jewish girl from Dunkirk?" Captain Andreas demanded.

"Simple, because spoke with her."  Marcus calmly informed the blond captain.  He moved to the door and called, "Mme. St. Pierre, vous pouvez entrer."

Stepping away from the door, he allowed for Angelique to enter the room.  Shyly she pushed her way in, her eyes on the floor.  She didn't know if she would be welcomed or not.  She was also slightly fearful of what could happen next.  She knew she could trust Marcus, but of the others, she hadn't a faintest clue, even though she found some security in being able to sense the chi of all those in the room at the present.

"Stonewall, Andreas here's your German spy." Marcus made a large gesture in the direction of the young woman.  "I would like you to meet Mme. Angelique St. Pierre."

Captain Stonewall all but choked on the water he was drinking, as Captain Andreas looked a little pale in the pallor.  The two men looked at each other.  Indeed it seemed that this was a woman.  That certainly changed things.  They gazed back over.

"Mme. St. Pierre, you showed me what was around your neck, show them." Marcus softly urged Angelique, as she brought her eyes up from the ground.

Reaching into her blouse, Angelique pulled out the small pendant on the end of her slender gold chain.  Holding it up, the pendant caught the light as he hung, swinging back and forth as though caught on the subtlest of gentle breezes.

Standing up, Russell Stonewall walked over and took the hanging gold pendant in hand, studying it.  He arched an eyebrow.  She wore the Star of David around her neck, a strong and universally recognised symbol of the Judaic faith.  He knew of the German hatred of Jewish folk.

"She was telling the truth." he whispered softly as he let the pendant fall from his hand.

Gazing up, Angelique smiled softly.  An exhalation of breath crossed her lips, as she whispered one name, her eyes trained on the man in front of her.  "Hotohori."

"Nuriko…" the captain was utterly astonished.  Suddenly he felt like such a fool.  He should have acted on his natural instincts when he found the girl.  He shouldn't have assumed that the girl was anything but what she said she was.

Bringing a hand to her face, he brushed strands of light violet hair from her fair-skinned face.  He knew she wouldn't understand the very words he was about to say, but she would know what he was trying to communicate to her.  "I'm very sorry about what I did to you earlier, madam.  We have unjustly wronged you.  I hope you can forgive us."

He held her hand as he spoke.  His voice was low so that only she could hear.  When he concluded with a request for forgiveness, he brought her hand to his lips, placing a gentle lingering kiss on the softness that was her skin.  He submissively in deep regret for his actions, kept his eyes down, as he held her hand for a long moment, before he eventually let it gently slide from his grasp.

Waiting for Stonewall to finish for what seemed to be an eternity, JC Andreas stood up, thinking that he too should apologise to the girl for wronging her.  It was more out of obligation, courtesy and a sense of duty more than anything else.  He didn't feel any attachment to the girl, so only felt his apologies should be offered as a way of making amends for an error that breached what he was signed up for – to defend and fight for those who couldn't fight and defend themselves.

Taking his turn, he faced the young woman.  Unlike his British counterpart, Captain Andreas wasn't going to address the young woman in English.  Instead, he elected to speak in Creole, it being the language closest to that of French.  He knew there was a chance that she wouldn't understand, but there would be a chance of less of a language barrier if he utilised his knowledge.

"Je suis très désolé pour ce que nous avons fait à vous, Mme. St. Pierre." The blonde captain, former Seiryuu Seishi, Nakago stated in a soft voice, as he bowed his head, his blue eyes cast to the ground, to show his regret for his actions.  He removed his hand as he faced her.  Holding it in hand, he kept his head bowed, as he awaited her response.

"Vous êtes pardonnés." Angelique replied, relieving the second captain of the guilt and the actions for which he was apologising for.

Looking up, Chelsea squealed in glee.  "Nuriko!"  Bouncing over, the very short secretary of the general stopped in front of her old friend and colleague.  "Welcome back!"

Angelique smiled.  So it would seem that she wasn't the only one reincarnated as a female.  "Chiriko." She nodded.

"Oi, don't bloody ferget 'bout me or shit like that." Brennan called, as he gave a wave to the former Suzaku Seishi Nuriko.  "Oi, gay-boy, remember me?!"  He winked, giving a toothy grin, revealing his ever-present fangs.

"Tasuki." She smiled.  'I don't understand what you're saying, but I'm guessing you're calling me gay and cursing like before.  God bless you, you haven't changed a bit!'

Knowing Marcus spoke French, she turned to him.  "This is everyone that we have accounted for…except for Tamahome…"

"Oui."

"So it seems that the Suzaku Seishi aren't so fortunate after all.  They were all graced with the chance to be reunited." Captain Andreas remarked snidely.

"You want Soi, don't you?  It is not going to happen." Angelique turned to the blonde.  "She found someone else, who is very willing."

"Explain yourself."

"Soi is reincarnated as Aimée Beauregard, the then-head of the resistance headed out in Dunkirk.  Now she is nothing more than a pawn of Lieutenant Johann Van Eyke; former Seiryuu Seishi Tomo."

He said nothing; his expression conveyed no emotion or betrayed any of his thoughts.  Instead, he glowed a menacing blue; a blue aura encompassed him.  'He couldn't get his way last time, so now he's taking what I should have been blessed with…Soi.'