Disclaimer:
I do not own Escaflowne or any of its characters. This is just a fanfic written by a fan for fans. So enjoy reading it! Do not steal or plagiarize my story. This is my work and it may suck, but it's still my work. If you need to do anything with my story other than read it, please email me at busyizzy801@yahoo.com and ask for permission. Thank you.
Chapter Three - Viole
CLANG!! CLANG!! The sound of metal being hammered echoed through the shop. Viole wiped off his sweat with his dirty hands. A dark smudge - from his hands - appeared on his forehead. He put down his hammer, standing up and stretching. Behind him was a green Guymelef. Viole jumped off of the shoulder of the Guymelef he was clinging to and looked enviously towards the Guymelef. 'All I can do is fix Guymelefs. I don't own one, or pilot one …' his thoughts were interrupted by a hand gently tugging on his shirt.
Looking down, he saw a little girl - his sister. "Viole, you're working too hard." His sister said cheerfully. She lightly tossed her head back as her bangs fell into her light green eyes. Her light brown curls swept through the air as she held out a cup of water to Viole. "Here, drink." She smiled as Viole accepted the cold water.
"Thanks." He fervently chugged down the water as another drop of sweat dropped down on his forehead. "It's very refreshing, thanks." He gave back the now-empty cup back to his sister.
His sister giggled. "Viole, look at your forehead!"
Viole touched his forehead in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
His sister took out a handkerchief. She reached out and wiped off the dirt from Viole's face. She stepped back, giggled again and then said with satisfaction, "Okay, your face is clean now." She sighed a happy and contented sigh, then looked around at the shop. "Where's Papa?"
"He went out somewhere. Don't know why." Viole answered. Sighing, he picked up the hammer again.
"For the business?"
Viole smiled at his little sister, curiously looking around at the store. "Yeah, probably."
His sister looked around again. "We don't need any more business. As it is, Papa's already one of the best Guymelef mechanics of Zaibach. Everyone wants Papa to either make or fix their Guymelefs and …"
"True … but you know Papa." Viole remarked. He looked down at the hammer he was holding, then, suddenly dropped it. Viole looked back up at the Guymelef he was fixing. "You know, I really wish I could pilot a Guymelef. Fixing them is alright but … what I really want to do is to actually have one. A Guymelef that I could call mine. I've seen thousands of different Guymelefs, but I never have owned one myself. If I did have one, I would train all day, and win …"
His sister giggled. "Viole, you're always daydreaming about Guymelefs. Papa doesn't like it when you think like that." She carefully brushed away some dust on the floor with her feet, then sat down. "Keep working. I like to watch you when you work." She grinned at him. He grinned back.
'Well, back to work.' Viole thought. Picking up the hammer, he focused his attention back to the Guymelef. He studied the Guymelef for a minute, looking for the area that needed to be forged by the hammer. When he found the spot, he prepared to swing down at that spot when he heard a voice cut through his concentration.
"I demand service here." Viole turned around towards the unfamiliar voice. His little sister was still sitting on the floor, her head turned towards the entrance of the shop. Viole jumped down from the Guymelef. 'Who would that be?' Viole asked himself curiously.
When approaching the door, he found himself facing a tall man '… about the same age as himself' Viole commented. The tall man was wearing a distinguished uniform. He had piercing red eyes and grayish-silverish hair. Viole noted he was carrying a sword and wore armor. 'He's a soldier - and not just a soldier. He's an officer of some kind.' Viole could denote this because of the way the man carried himself - forward and confidently.
The tall man noticed Viole approaching him. "You there …" he asked Viole, pointing at him. "Where's your master?"
Viole stiffened at the word 'master'. "Are you asking for my father?" he asked bluntly.
The man gave a piercing glare at Viole. Viole stared back at him unwaveringly. The man's hand seemed to twitch. "Very well, then. Where is your father?"
Viole tossed his head. "He's not here."
"Nani?" the man asked.
Viole sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you?" The man scowled. "He's …" Viole paused. "… not …" Viole paused again. When he opened his mouth to finish his sentence, the man cut in.
"Impudent, insolent boy." The man said abruptly. "So, then, where is the man?"
When Viole answered with silence, the man gave Viole a disdainful look. "Answer me."
"I don't know. Meanwhile, I'm handling the business." He looked down at his feet, then, looked back up again. "I can fix all kinds of Guymelefs."
The man suddenly looked interestingly at Viole. "Do you like … fixing Guymelefs?" he asked.
Viole bit his lip. 'It's alright.' He told himself. 'I mean, it's not that bad. Not as great as actually piloting one, though … ' He answered hesitantly with a nod.
"Ah. Have you ever piloted one?" The man asked thoughtfully.
Viole opened his mouth to answer, then, turned away his head in shame. 'I've beening with Guymelefs my entire life and I haven't even rode one. Pathetic …' he thought. The man was staring intensely at Viole. His cold red eyes glittered as he examined Viole. He seemed to cast a dark shadow over Viole. Viole shivered.
"No?" The man answered his own question after an awkward moment of silence. The man raised his eyebrows in disapproval but smiled a twisted smile. His eyes grew thoughtful - though they had not lost any of its coldness.
Viole felt himself growing red. "Errr, um … well, you're kindof right …" Viole bit his lip. 'What am I doing? This is business we're talking about. Ask him what's he's here for." Viole ordered himself. "What … what do you want?"
"Hmmmm …" the man answered. He was looking Viole up and down.
Viole started to walk away. "If you didn't want anything, why bother a working man?"
"I want you to fix my Guymelef." The man suddenly said abruptly. "Can you do it?"
Viole stammered. "Yes. I think I can."
The man looked at Viole again. "My Guymelef is outside. It's a red Alseides. I trust you to be finished with it by tomorrow morning."
Viole gaped at the man. "Tomorrow morning? You do understand that our shop has other customers and …"
"What I understand is that this shop is here to fix Guymelefs. My Guymelef needs to be fixed. You can see the logic of my words, can't you?" The man coolly interrupted. He had a dangerous glint in his eye. "You do understand, don't you?" Viole bit his lip and nodded. "Good, I don't accept incompetence." The man started walking away.
"Will you be here personally to pick up your Guymelef?" Viole asked bluntly.
The man stopped walking. "Yes."
"Who are you?" Viole asked curiously.
The man turned around. He gave Viole a smirk. "Dilandau Albatou." With that, the man walked out of the store."
Viole stared after him. "There's something strange about that guy - that Dilandau figure." Viole told himself.
"What's so strange funny?" a voice softly asked behind Viole.
Viole sighed, then turned around. It was his little sister. "I don't know. Nothing … I guess. There's just … something about that man. I don't know what yet."
*******************
"How the hell does that man handle his Guymelef?" Viole murmured to himself as he set upon the task of fixing the Guymelef. Staring at the damaged Guymelef, he sighed. "That's gonna take all night to fix." He shook his head in frustration. He'd been hoping to get a full night's sleep that night.
"What's wrong?" a voice softly asked.
Viole yawned, turning around. It was his little sister again. He smiled warmly at her. "Just work," he paused. "… as usual."
His little sister smiled, giggling. "So, what else is new?" Then, she looked at Viole with a worrying eye. "Are you okay?" As Viole nodded, she studied his face. Pausing, she announced, "I don't believe you."
Viole smiled again. He could feel his eyes drooping with exhaustion from all the work earlier that day. "I have to work." He yawned again. He noticed his little sister eyeing him worriedly so he reassured her, "Don't worry, I'll be fine, okay?"
"Okay." Viole's little sister turned to go when she suddenly ran up to Viole, throwing her arms around him. "You should get some rest. Get some rest. I don't want you to get sick. I don't want you to fall over and die like …" she sniffed between her words. "… like Mama!"
Viole looked down at his little sister with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
His little sister nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Please, Viole. Can't you rest? You look so pale and thin."
Viole sharply turned away. "You sound like my mother." He said curtly.
The girl wiped her tears away. "I can't believe you said that!" she yelled. "I just don't want to lose you like I lost Mother."
"You weren't the only one who lost her!" Viole screamed. His sister jumped back at Viole's sudden loss of temper.
"I'm …" Viole's sister looked at Viole. "I'm sorry." She managed to whisper before running off. Viole could hear her soft crying as the sound of running footsteps slowly faded out.
Viole angrily kicked at the red Alseides next to him. 'Why did I lose my temper? After all, she was only trying to help …' Frustrated, he sat down on the cold bare floor. He bit his lip as his mind wondered off, 'Mama … mama, I miss you. Come back, mama!' Viole stared blankly at the ceiling. "Mama …" he whispered. "Come back."
A sudden clang woke Viole from his thoughts. It was his sister. His sister had dropped a hammer on the floor accidentally. When she saw Viole awake, she forced a smile. Then, she saw Viole staring at her dirtied hands and at the hammer lying on the floor. A wide sheepish smile spread across her face.
"I'm …" she whispered. "I'm sorry for waking you up." She struggled to pick up the heavy hammer lying on the floor.
Viole raced over to help his sister. "It's alright." When his eyes met hers, they smiled. "Whatever were you thinking of?" asked Viole, gesturing to the hammer in his hands.
His sister bit her lip. "Well, you were tired and grouchy about having to do work. When I came back a while ago, you were sleeping. I thought you should get some sleep so I let you sleep. But, I didn't want you flustered over your work so I thought I should do some of it for you."
Viole looked sternly at his sister. "This is dangerous, do you know that?" His sister looked down at the floor. Viole sighed. "Well, since you already started, want to help me finish fixing this Guymelef?"
The girl stared at Viole. She opened her mouth to talk but no words came out. A smile broke across her face as she happily nodded, too happy for words.
"Okay, well, I'll do the hard part and you can help me with the little parts, okay?" Viole didn't wait for his sister to answer. He walked briskly to the red Alseides. "First order of business. This is supposed to be finished by tomorrow morning. Now, you stand over there and …" Viole instructed his sister. He shouted instructions to her over the loud clanging of the hammer as he busily worked to finish fixing the red Alseides belonging to the man called Dilandau Albatou.
I wrote this 2 years ago. But I never bothered putting it up cuz I hoped to get in some more edits and whatnot. Well, THAT idea failed. Soooo, just putting it up for the hell of it. So I can continue with Miguel cuz I started with it 2 years ago and never finished. Note, I didn't even read this chapter through. Nope, cuz if I did, I'd be tempted to fix up some stuff and … I won't ever put this up then. @_@
Sorry for the delay. *sweatdrop* ^^;; I luv ya all? ^^;;;
