Dilandau was waiting for her in the shadowy realm of their shared minds. Her silver-haired counterpart stood, wearing his old clothes, which she realized she was wearing too. Guess their minds remembered comfort the same way… but her train of thought was broken as Dilandau glared at her, a sulky look on his face.
"You promised," he reminded her.
"I said I would come out if things got bad,
which they did. Regardless what you think of Allen, you just can't say
things like that to him."
"Why not? It's not my fault he's a lecherous
skirt-chaser with a taste for young princesses."
"You shouldn't bring it up."
"He shouldn't bring up the war!"
"Well…" she paused. "We did do some pretty
awful things."
"So it's we now? Why don't you tell Allen
that?"
"You know Allen. He wouldn't believe me."
"I think he'd understand that your temper
is worse then mine," he glared at her before she surprised him by glaring
back with incredible intensity.
"At least I can control mine," she replied,
her voice cold.
"Oh, right. I forgot. Lady Celena Schezar,
paragon of Asturian womanhood. Lady Schezar, giggling politely at the jokes
of dimwitted court officials. Lady Schezar, dancing with her big brother
at the palace. Too bad no one hears about Lady Schezar, killing butterflies
and smashing wineglasses. You really are something, you know that?"
"At least people don't equate my name with
pure evil. And at least I can leave the house without being chased by a
bloodthirsty mob. And while we're on the subject of wineglasses, who's
the borderline alcoholic, hm?"
Dilandau's eyes flashed and he felt a familiar
urge to slap Celena across the face, to make her stop preaching at him.
He had kept her under control for years, and here she was, picking fights
with him.
"Besides, who was it that interceded on your
behalf so that you could get out to see the world occasionally?"
He bit his tongue in annoyance when she brought
that up. He hated owing anyone anything, but especially this whiny junior
debutante sharing his body. Every time he even started to feel his temper
rising, out she came, lecturing him on right and wrong, mentioning what
he owed her.
"I hate you," he growled.
"How kind of you to say, Lord Albatou," her
voice was controlled and urbane. She sounded like he had just said she
was wearing a lovely dress.
"Why do you even bother to let me come out,
if you're just going to have to give me a…" he stopped mid sentence and
thought it over. His eyes widened and a smirk spread over his face.
"Why, Celena, I didn't know you had it in
you. You heartless bitch!" his voice radiated approval as he stepped
closer to her. "I can't believe I never realized it before… you manipulated
me so perfectly," his voice got a little husky. "This is the most turned
on I've ever been in my life."
He moved a little closer before she stuck
out a hand, stopping him.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're…" he took a deep breath. "You're
terrible. Just awful. And I played along, not even realizing what you were
doing."
She crossed her arms. "Get to the point,
Dilandau. I don't have time for this."
"And I'll bet you thought no one would figure
it out. Celena, you set us all up."
"Set up? How did I do that, pray tell?"
"All of this- letting me out one night a
week, pleading with Allen, being Miss Sweetness and Light on the outside,
and a hellcat on the inside. You convinced me you were doing me a favor,
but you were just using me for your own amusement- setting me against Allen,
against Van even," he stroked his scar. "This… it was your vanity, wasn't
it? Not mine. No, this beautiful face wasn't perfect anymore, and you pushed
me to the edge with your anger over it. All of this was to cure your boredom."
"I'll bet you feel clever for thinking of
that."
"It's the truth, isn't it? What if you had
this scar on your face?" he reached out a finger to trace over her cheek.
"Your lovely angel face. No one suspected that all this time, you were
the demon, not me."
Angrily, she slapped his hand away. "I don't
know what you're talking about."
"And with Allen out of the way for awhile,
you'll be able to do anything you want," mockingly, he kneeled. "Lady Schezar,
I'm your willing slave… let's go raise hell."
Her eyes flashed blue fire as she stared
at the kneeling boy.
"How… how dare you, you impudent,
arrogant, pretentious bastard! How dare you say something
like that to me!"
He looked up at her, red
fire dancing in his eyes. The flames held each other for the longest minute
of their mutual lives… And then, Dilandau laughed. His loud cackles echoed
through Celena's mind, breaking her fury with shock. She sputtered slightly
as the rage that had been keeping her towering over him suddenly collapsed
under his manic glee.
"Wha… What on Gaea are you doing?!" she demanded,
her voice sounding rather flat.
"You," he doubled over in laughter, wrapping
his arms around his stomach. "You fell for it!"
No longer able to support himself on his
knees, he fell to the ground, rolling slightly.
"I fell for what?"
His laughing grew louder, echoing through
her mind, filling her with a sense of a terrific joke that she had somehow
missed the punchline of. She was enraged, but the anger felt different…
no longer was it ice cold fury that built up inside of her, but it was
more exasperated, slightly confused. Her frown deepened. She hated it when
he did this.
"Sweet god of fire, you thought I was serious?
First off, there's no way you could consciously be evil… you just don't
have it in you," a slightly disgusted look crossed his face. "And second,
how could you think for even a moment that I'd be attracted to you? You're
the type that court fops fall for, not real men like…" His tirade was cut
off as Celena slapped him across the face.
One hand flew to his stinging cheek, and
the other shot out to wrap around her neck. Dilandau's eyes blazed as his
fingers tightened on her throat.
"You'll pay for that, bitch," he snarled
at his counterpart. Her throat was so slender, so delicate under his hand.
One good squeeze could snap it in half… if she died in their mind, her
body would be all his. He could be free again. And the insolence she had
shown him was unforgivable. He waited for the feeling of her small hands
clawing at his, her body struggling to free itself, her voice pleading
with him not to kill her, to say she had been wrong, to beg for his forgiveness…
And yet, it would not come. Her face was white, but set firmly. And the
look in her eyes… disappointment mixed with pity. Not a trace of fear.
Quickly, he looked away from those pitying
eyes, letting go. She thought he was no better than an arrogant child,
a bully, with no real strength of his own. She sank to the floor, slowly
rubbing her neck. He watched her, feeling a shadow of shame as her eyes
met his again.
"Stay out of my way, Celena," he said gruffly,
disappearing into the corners of her mind.