Ok. I couldn't resist posting a little "appetizer" for the new chapters.

Sakura Shinguji-Albatou and JadeGoddess: Thanks again! The question is not what Dilandau has planned for Morgreth. The question is what does Morgreth have planned for Dilandau? This is a dangerous guy, after all. ::evil laughter::

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Chapter 9: The Magician, Reversed

[Aboard the Vione]

Dilandau stormed into the infirmary and felt the hair stick out on his neck. He didn't understand why. Morgreth was unconscious on the cot. A bottle of purplish liquid was to the right of his cot. //Probably a sedative// thought Albatou.

Then he noticed Arashi's men. They seemed...frozen. They weren't breathing. Every fiber of his being told him to leave. The doors slid shut and locked, leaving Jajuka outside.

Dilandau heard a voice hiss inside his mind. //So, you wish to learn the truth, Dilandau?// It coiled in his mind like a dark, slimy tentacle. He found that his body was moving towards Morgreth's cot, even though he did not will it to do so. He tried to speak, but he couldn't. //What the hell is going on?//

A heartless chuckle reverberated through his mind like dead leaves. A hand choked the youth's throat. He felt as if his life was oozing out of him and into Morgreth's hand. Everything went black.

A sharp slap brought Dilandau back to his senses. Only problem was that he was now in Morgreth's body.

Morgreth (inside of Dilandau's young body) reached over and picked up a scalpel. He toyed with it. "I wonder what it would be like to dissect a Sorcerer?" he hissed.

Dilandau tried o move, but found his hands and arms restrained to the table.

Morgreth looked down on him and chuckled. "Perfect symmetry. This is where we started after all."

"Coward!" Dilandau replied from Morgreth's old body. "Why didn't you try your little mind game before?"

"Because Strategos Folken was there."

Dilandau laughed uncontrollably through the old Sorcerer's body. "So his brain is bigger than yours after all!"

Morgreth slapped him several times. "He isn't here now. When Dornkirk learns how successful this experiment was, and when he sees it in light of Folken's treason, I will be named as Strategos."

"Even I'm not that cocky, and I know not to underestimate Strategos," retorted Dilandau.

Something banged against the door several times. Then silence. The door started to shimmer.

//Dilandau//

The boy inside of Morgreth's body recognized it. //Folken! Dear gods, help me! I'm s...//

//Dilandau?//

Morgreth leaned his newly acquired body over the table and increased the dosage of anesthetic flowing into the body on the table. "We'll have none of that, I'm afraid."

----To Be Continued----

Notes: Made some alterations to Ch. 8 to fit this better. And yes...Folken does have a plan... ^_~