ACG: Hello! Please read, enjoy, and review! This chapter is dedicated to all you silent readers out there! I know there's no Hitomi as of yet…but I swear it will be in the next one. All of this stuff keeps cropping up. ;_;

Disclaimer: Done by Shesta…???

Shesta: *comes out in gangster clothes, big baggy pants and a hat turned sideways, coughs nervously and walks up to a microphone and starts rapping*

"Yo yo yo, tis the story,

Of the Slayers in their glory,

They freakin' whipped Allen's hide,

All dem 'lil kids cried.

ACG don't own,

Da show Escaflowne, clown,

Celena, Folken, or Van,

Or Lord Dilandau, man,

Hitomi or Duke Chid,

And Lord Dilandau can't read!

Lord Dilandau can't read!"

Dilandau: "Nani!? You freak! I know how to read!" *jumps onstage and starts throttling Shesta*

Shesta: "Forgive *hack* me!!"

ACG: "I really don't know how to rap. ;_; …and I don't own Escaflowne…"

Second Destiny By Another Cat Girl

Chapter 16

Allen Schezar looked every inch the King of Asturia. His blonde hair was newly brushed and glowed in the soft lamplight against his immaculate blue surcoat. He nodded sagely to his advisors, assuring them once again that he was and always would be in total control of any situation he was in.

One of the advisors who had so recently been stuffy toward the knight Caeli tried to suck up to the king now. "Those Zaibach scum! I still can't believe that they would kidnap a princess of the Asturian household! No excuses they offer can be enough for such an insulting gesture!"

Another man lifted a finger. "Zaibach has gone too far. They have refused to even communicate with Asturia and now they attack Palas? What can Emperor Folken be thinking?"

"They don't even bother to keep their evil plans secret! This is obviously meant to make Asturia take offense!"

Allen looked concerned and crossed his hands in front of him. "It is true that Zaibach has refused to communicate with us. Emperor Folken cannot be pacified. We may have no choice but to go to war with them."

A high-ranking officer in the Asturian army stood up suddenly. "If that is the case, then the armies of Asturia will follow you into battle, my king! We are not afraid of Zaibach!"

The king faked a touched look. "I thank you. If war comes, we will protect our homeland against all threat of Zaibach attack."

He paused and forced himself to look sorrowful so more officers in the army would believe him. "I only hope against all hope that my Celena is unharmed." Allen smiled sadly. "Celena was to have a ball in her honor next week on her birthday. I am still holding it for her and I am inviting Zaibach. I want to see if that fool Folken can show his face in good Asturian company after what he has done to my sister." His expression changed to one of slight revenge.

The courtiers looked appeased by this notion and murmuring began to flow around the huge room.

"If Folken comes, it would be the perfect time to confront him with his crimes!"

"Yes! Folken will pay for insulting Asturia!"

"Maybe this time he will be dignified enough to insult us openly!"

"No! We need to discuss the war with the emperor! There isn't any real reason to create a conflict!"

This last came from an elderly man who trusted the new king as far as he could throw him. It just seemed so convenient that communication with Zaibach had suddenly halted with Allen becoming king. He had spoken loudly so far against the possibilities of conflict.

A brash young army official jumped up and slammed his hands down on the table. "What about Zaibach's unprovoked attack against Palas? They kidnapped the sister of the king of Asturia! They must answer for what they've done. If Folken's answer isn't satisfactory, then we will have no choice but to go to war."

"I agree," the old man said. "But there's no reason for us not to try one more time to pacify them. I propose we send ambassadors to Zaibach again. It can't hurt and we haven't had any diplomats reach the capital so far. I can't believe that war is necessary until at least this small measure is taken."

Other conservative thinkers in the room applauded. A young man said thoughtfully, "That is a wonderful idea. There is nothing to lose."

Allen nodded. "Yes, I suppose we could do that, but it is the last chance for Zaibach to answer the entreaties of Asturia. If they don't return my sister to me, I will be very angry."

*~*~*

Allen later stood in his chamber with his ratty accomplice Merlot. "Acting. What a useful tool."

Merlot nodded. "I told you it would help."

Allen frowned at his tone, but let it go. The king smiled ruthlessly. "Oh, and have that uppity old man that supports peace disposed of. He is starting to get in my way."

Merlot returned his grin. "Of course, your majesty."

*~*~*~*~*

Gatti and Shesta were standing guard outside Dilandau's room. The Vione II had arrived in Zaibach the day before. The Dragonslayers had realized that Dilandau would never rest properly to recover from his ordeal, so Folken had them give him a shot to keep him asleep. Dilandau had slept like a dead man for days and Folken grimly promised the Dragonslayers that Dilandau would have one nasty headache when he woke up in a matter of hours.

Shesta sighed loudly. "He's going to kill us, isn't he?"

Gatti winced. "Please don't remind me. I want to enjoy my last moments ."

The blonde man leaned back against the wall. "That one girl's still asleep, isn't she?"

Gatti looked over at him. "Celena? Yeah, she's been sleeping like Dilandau but without the medication." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Hey, why do you care?"

Shesta blushed, but the hall was dark and Gatti didn't see. "I don't care!"

"Right…"

*~*

Dilandau played with little toys on the floor of the big library. He looked up at his mother and she smiled down at him lovingly before turning back to read her book. Abruptly, the door burst open and strange robed men pierced the tranquility of the room.

"By order of Emperor Dornkirk, you are to be taken under the control of the madoushi!"

Figures in dark cloaks surrounded the mother and her child.

"No! You can't do this!" his mother screamed.

The men took hold of Dilandau and he struggled against them in vain. "Mother!"

The madoushi started to drag Dilandau's mother away from him.

Dilandau screamed. "Mother! Wait! What's going to happen to you!?"

His mother was crying. "Dilandau, I love you! Remember that I love you!"

*~*~*

Dilandau opened his eyes and fought the pain and sorrow that the dream summoned. "Mother?" ~A memory? A dream?~

He sensed that something wasn't right besides the strange dream. Dilandau felt that he had been in bed for entirely too long. He sat up and tried in vain to see through the pitch-dark chamber. He felt for the katana he always kept near him and didn't find it. Dilandau stood up cautiously, felt for the door to his tiny room and swung it open, hitting whoever stood outside with a loud bashing sound. Dilandau leapt outside and punched the first face that he could make out in the dim lighting.

"What's going on?" he muttered and squinted down through the dark at the two figures on the ground.

"Shesta? Gatti? What in Gaea are you doing outside my room?"

The two unfortunate Dragonslayers kneeled down and bowed their heads. Gatti dared to speak. "Forgive us, Lord Dilandau. We were guarding your door because Lord Folken gave you a shot to help you sleep."

Dilandau frowned. "How long was I asleep?"

Gatti's face grew pale. "For…two days."

"What?" Dilandau's eye twitched. "You've kept me asleep that long without even asking me!?"

Shesta cringed and bowed down even more. "Please forgive us, Lord Dilandau. Lord Folken said it was for your own good."

A resounding slap sounded in the small hallway. "I'll kill Folken! No one tells me what to do!" He smirked. "Today we're all going to train, so get moving!"

Shesta and Gatti started to run in the direction of the huge Zaibach training facility.

Dilandau didn't go after them right away. He needed some time to think.

*~*

Shesta turned to his friend. "How did I know he wouldn't follow the doctor's orders?"

Gatti shrugged. "At least he's back to his old self."

Shesta gave a huge sigh and started to pick up speed. "Great."

Gatti laughed.

*~*~*~*~*

Celena, five years old again, wandered through the darkened rooms of the flying fortress, crying softly. She ran away from the bad men again, although she knew in her little heart that they would find her eventually.

"Why were they so mean to Jajuka? Why do they have to be so mean? I want my mommy…" She sniffled against her hand and stopped short as she came upon a figure in the corridor ahead.

"Who are you?" she asked warily. It might be one of those scary men in the black cloaks.

The figure started, turning and she suddenly saw that it was a boy, not a monster or anything scary like that. She sighed with relief.

"Who are you!?" the boy said with false bravery. The small girl noticed that he looked the same as her. He had white hair and was just as small as she was.

Celena smiled at him shyly. "My name is Celena. What's yours?"

The boy stared at her for a second, then put his hands on his hips and tried to look nonchalant. "I am Prince Dilandau, son of Duke Kishtan of Romen."

The girl's eyes went wide. "Are you really a prince? That's amazing! I've never met a prince before!"

Dilandau smiled at the praise and looked down at her approvingly. "Of course you wouldn't have."

Celena smiled innocently. "No, not a prince, but I've met two princesses once! I don't really remember it, though."

Dilandau looked around at the dark, scary hallway and rubbed his eyes. "How did you get in here?"

Celena's bright eyes dimmed a little at being reminded of the bad things that were happening to her. She started to sniffle again. "I don't know! I want to go home! I'm not supposed to be here!"

Dilandau looked sad. "I'm not supposed to be here, either! My father was going to take me hunting!"

Celena wiped her eyes and looked at him. "What's hunting?"

Dilandau brightened up at the thought of telling someone about one of his favorite things. "Well, it's only the funnest thing to do in the whole world! You take a bow and arrow…" The boy moved his hands as if he held a bow. "And then you see a little animal…" Dilandau pretended to sight along the invisible bow at a target. "And then you shoot it!" He let his right arm go slack as he let the invisible arrow fly.

Celena looked amazed and put her hands over her mouth. "Doesn't that hurt the animal?"

Dilandau shook his head. "Not much, 'cause it's dead right away. Then you take it and you cook it and you eat it!" He rubbed his belly, and then he put his arms behind his head casually and looked over at her. "And guess what?"

"What?"

Dilandau smiled mischievously. "Girls aren't allowed to hunt!"

Celena frowned and wrung her hands. "Not fair! I wanna' hunt!"

Dilandau went absolutely still and stared down the dark hall. Celena stopped talking and looked fearfully in the direction he was facing.

"What is it, Dilandau?" she asked and tried to stay as still as she could. She could faintly hear some echoing footsteps far away.

"It's the madoushi." Dilandau started walking the direction opposite the sound and Celena followed quickly.

"What's a madoushi?" the silver haired girl said, glancing fearfully behind her. Was it a big monster making those noises?

Dilandau looked over his shoulder at her and walked faster. "You know those big people in the black clothes?"

She nodded.

"Those are madoushi. My father told me never to trust them."

Celena started to cry again. "I hate them! They're so mean!"

Dilandau began to walk faster. Celena started to cry more and she stopped walking. "I wanna' go home!" She kneeled down on the cold metal and hugged herself.

Dilandau noticed she wasn't following him anymore and came back. He nervously patted her head and held out his hand. "It'll be alright, Celena. I'm not going back with the madoushi again, so you can stay with me."

Celena sniffled and looked back down the hall where the 'madoushi' was. She stood up and took his hand. They rushed down the dark hallway.

Celena couldn't tell where she was going. They were running so fast that everything was a big gray blur. Suddenly, a dark shape took form and she screamed. It was a madoushi!

The mean-looking bald man looked down at the children and grabbed them both by their collars. Celena made half-hearted attempts to break free, but gave up and started to cry. Dilandau bit and punched the madoushi until the sorcerer held him out by the throat to choke him.

"Dilandau!" Celena screamed.

"Ah," the madoushi sighed. "The prodigal children have returned to us."

*~*~*~*~*

"Dilandau! No!" Celena sat up in bed, breathing heavily. The ghostly fingers of the dream still touched her mind. A dark cloak and a strange boy still traced the edges of her memory.

A small breeze came through an open window to her left and sunlight floated in the air in front of her nose, the little dust motes sparkling. It took her a few fuzzy minutes to realize she was not in the medical wing in Palas. Celena had a pang of fear. She had no idea where she was.

She frowned and scooted to the edge of the bed, not really knowing what to do. The door to the room popped open and an old man entered, startling her.

"My dear, I'm so glad to see you've woken up!" The man squinted through his spectacles at her. He set down the breakfast tray by her and started shuffling through his pockets. "Folken told me to give you this right when you woke up." He pulled a sealed envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. "He said it would explain everything and that if you had any questions you should go talk to him."

Celena shook her head in confusion. "Wait, who? Who are you?"

"My name is Epiton. If the letter doesn't explain everything, you should go find Folken. He will explain everything to you." Epiton winked in an extremely conspicuous way.

Celena smiled back at the strange old man, amused and reasonably assured that he was trustworthy. "Okay, I guess. Can you tell me where I am, then?"

"Oh, you're in the capital of Zaibach, missy. And don't be afraid. No one is going to harm you here." He patted her on the arm and left.

"Zaibach?" she asked, but Epiton didn't answer. She took the letter and turned it to open it. When she saw the seal she forgot all about the old man.

"Jajuka?" The seal was undoubtedly his. She ripped it open and started to read, recognizing the beast-man's unmistakable handwriting:

Dearest Celena,

I hope this letter finds you well. I assume that when you read this you will be safe in the Zaibach Empire. Allen Schezar is bent on waging war with Zaibach, even though Asturia would have no hope of winning and I am glad you are no longer here in the middle of it.

I will tell you a little about your past, since you can't seem to remember any of it. When you were a little girl you were kidnapped by the evil sorcerers of the Zaibach Empire. You were made one of their experiments and they gave you the same destiny as a boy from one of the royal Zaibach houses. Both of your bodies fused together and for years you were a dormant part of the man named Dilandau, a general of the Zaibach Empire and the leader of the Dragonslayers. At the end of the Destiny War, Dilandau transformed back into the body you have inhabited in Palas for the past three years. The ring that I gave you a few weeks ago wasn't your mother's. It was a device that made sure Dilandau wouldn't resurface. For some reason it didn't work well and I am reduced to taking the measures I am now.

Dilandau is Allen's enemy and because of that, Allen has been frantically afraid of you changing back into Dilandau. Allen has been trying to marry you off to someone so Dilandau wouldn't come back and try to kill him. Instead of caring for you, Celena, he feared Dilandau too much to keep you around. He is a drunk, woman-chasing lunatic who is going to pull all of Gaea into war. There was no place for you in his heart. He cared about you long ago, but his feelings for you have been consumed by his fear and superstition.

I have been in contact with Lord Folken and asked him to help me. He wanted Dilandau back as an asset to the Zaibach Army and I asked him to spare you. He agreed to let you stay in Zaibach with his blessing once you were separated from Dilandau.

I am finally going to return to my homeland, Celena. Don't worry about me. I have no love for the Zaibach Empire and I have no desire to go back, although I have no doubts about your safety there.

You are safe now, Celena, and I can finally be at peace when I think of you. Please, start a new life in Zaibach. Let all memory of your evil brother fade. Good luck. I wish you the best with all my heart. I will think of you often.

With love,

Jajuka

Celena stopped reading after the second paragraph, not knowing what to make of it. ~What in the world is happening to me? Can this be the truth? Jajuka never lied to me…but this is really far-fetched.~

She read the whole thing. ~It seems to fit together, and it would explain a lot. I never did those things that happened to Merlot. It was all this 'Dilandau'.~ A memory stirred within her of two young crimson eyes staring earnestly into hers. ~Was that dream that I had a memory?~

"I guess all I can do is talk to Dilandau and this Folken person about it," she whispered to herself. "I wonder who Folken is?"

She stood up and got dressed in a pale blue dress that was hanging on a chair by her bed that was obviously for her. Celena ravenously ate the plate of food and set out to search for Dilandau.

*~*~*~*~*

ACG: I know that the Asturian courtiers are really anti-war, but I changed that, alright? Okay, I am really trying hard to characterize all of the people correctly. I had the thought that Folken would be the type to hide his feelings if he liked a girl, so that is where I'm going with it. He likes her, but he WON'T say it…not now, at least. Dilandau is much, much harder for me to write about. I'll just apologize for botching him now and try my hardest. His personality will change slightly because he is regaining his childhood memories. That was one of the things that made him psycho in the first place. (He was such a cute little kid!) Of course, people, he is not going to stop being Dilandau, but maybe he will talk to people more…making him easier to write. Okay? Okay!

Anime Obsessed Raye: Kill off Celena? How sad! That would be so tragic for Folken-sama! I hate sad endings…but that one might not be a bad idea… Muahahahahahaha!

Bahamut Epyon: Dilly and Folky…Mmmmm…I like Dilly bars…thanks for reading my story!

Nihongo: ^_^ Allen (Amano) keeps walking around our school with his glorious hair flowing freely in the freakin' moonlight! Maybe he should wear a hat…thank you for reading my crazy story, cousin. I swear I'll get on with it…in the next four chapters or so…

Ryuko: *blushes* ^_^ Oh, thank you! I'm getting better, then! That makes me feel so good, you have no idea… I swear I'll be careful if I pair Dilandau up with anyone *coughhitomicough*. Thank you for trusting my writing ability…now I'll do better! Uh, Chid was 12, cause I read somewhere that he was like 9 when the series went on. Good luck on chapter 2! I'm sure it'll be great!

Feye Morgan: Yay! Thank you! Your reviews! They are awesome! They make me feel like I'm doing good things instead of botching it. Hitomi/Dilandau…heh heh heh. I already have a plan! Celena/Folken sounds like a really cute coupling to me, but so does Hitomi/Folken…remember the dragon episode at the end when he was trying to keep her quiet? That was one of my favorite parts. That and when they were talking by the fountain. They could be a really cute couple, if she wasn't so short…Did you like the lying Allen part in this chapter? *shakes head* That liar!

Blue Demon: *laughes* Hitomi's coming in later! I'm sorry, but I keep putting her off…oh, well. Having the story longer kind of makes it more believable!

esca chick: O_o You did a dance! *laughs* Oh man that was funny…Yes, now that they are two people the story is getting interesting and the poor Dragonslayers are having a rough time dealing with Dilandau-sama…oh, well.

Macky: I'm glad the Chid part was believable! More politics, just for you. And the Folkeny/Celena romance is getting started (even though she hasn't really 'met' him yet) I'm sure she'll find him hot beyond belief!