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~Fate & Swordplay~

A Gaia World Fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own the story of Escaflowne or any of the characters involved with Escaflowne, and while some of the characters may be mentioned in the fanfic, most of the plot is truly based off of the world of Gaia. This is why it is a Gaia World fanfic and not an Escaflowne Fanfic. Also, the title of this chapter should have nothing to do with the book The Art of War written by Sun Tzu.

Author's Note: I'm really sad that no one's reading my work! It made me so happy that I was doing so well writing it, and now I don't get appreciated! Anyway. R&R, C&C.

Chapter Three:

The Art of War

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"It's a commonality, battle can occur over an small breathing space," Lemei continued. It was her first day as Akari's advisor and her skills were ripening, beginning to show. It was almost like Akari had known that Lemei was going to be a good advisor.

"So, the war's over land?" Akari asked. Every event that he had experienced in the war had pointed to something else, something besides land.

"Land, water, even air, you'd never know where Carnele would strike next, or who for that instance." Lemei smiled, laughing at her own joke. "But of course, it has to be about land. Land is equal to power, power to land. The more land you own, the more powerful you are."

"And you learned all this when?" Akari asked. Lemei glared at him, about to hit his head so hard he wouldn't be able to she the sky, but Akari recoiled back as Lemei was about t hit him.

"I'm surprised you wouldn't know it. Everyone has their own philosophies," Lemei added, brushing off Akari's comment.

"Did I miss something? Since when were you talking about philosophies?" Akari said, continuing his tricks. This time Lemei didn't draw back, she hit Akari, picking up a heavy book to hit him on the head. But Akari took the book from her and started looking at the cover. Claustrophobia: How to deal the title read. "I've never imagined your reading list to be quite like this." Lemei had a confused look upon her face. Akari turned the book around, showing Lemei the title. "Prefer wide-open spaces?" he asked.

"It's not even my book. Do you want to talk about the war strategies or sit and rot?" she asked. Akari shook his head. "I have all the strategies I could hope for. Maybe this is enough to last through the war. If not," Akari shrugged, "I have a back-up plan."

"Then why'd you need me?" Lemei asked.

"You're an advisor. I always need someone to tell me if I'm crazy or not," Akari explained. "Everyone needs to know if they are insane."

~ ~

"So what does he want anyway?" Duke Tren Yamair asked. Akari stood by his side as they walked to the throne room.

"You advisor, your real advisor, was the first one to see him. I haven't really met the travelers yet, but your advisor says he's not from here, not from this country. He says he wants to talk to you, wants an audience," Akari explained.

Tren shrugged. "Seems fair enough. Why are you so worried about him?" They turned the corridor into the throne room.

"See for yourself what he has to say," was all Akari had to explain.

The Duke sat down on the throne as Zuirem approached him. "I hope, for your benefit that you accept the proposition I have for you." The Duke urged him on. "Firstly, my name is Zuirem, and I am from the elite group called the Zihld." Everyone in the room except for Zuirem had a look of complete shock on their face. "You know what the Zihld is, the main points of the so-called fairy tales you tell the children, but I can tell you that I am from the Zihld council."

"How can you be from the Zihld when the civilization died off a century ago?" Tren asked, raising his eyebrows.

"How can a great civilization die in one hundred years after it has been thriving for four hundred? You can't just press a button and watch the genocide take place, this rumor has been circulating without and foundation evidence," Zuirem explained. He stuck out his hand, palm up towards the Duke. "You see here," Zuirem indicated, pointing at his wrist. "This is the mark of all Zihld members, council or not."

There was a gasp among to crowd as Zuirem continued. "So I've been called hear to over look the war, as a, well, precaution in the case that any unusual events might occur." Zuirem smiled.

The Duke began to understand what Zuirem was proving, and what he's place was. "Ah, yes, precautions, you can't be too careful. I'll welcome you then, here in Melaso. It seems your story proves truthful."

"That is because it is truth," Zuirem corrected, nodding back at the Duke, "Sire."

~ ~

"So you're telling me that the Zihld, the all-mighty Zihld gets in the way of our war as well?" Lemei said with a bit of sarcasm.

Akari nodded. "After all of these years of hiding, the Zihld finally comes out to the rest of the world."

"And we thought they had died out in the past century, they were all but a fairy tale," Lemei mumbled to herself. It was already beginning sunset, the sky was darkening, the sun was setting rays of dancing red and gold over the sky. The next day would be the start of the conference with the surrounding countries. "I have a bad feeling about tomorrow. Something's going to happen." Her gaze fell upon the floor. "I can just feel it."

There was a moment of silence before Akari spoke. "I'm not sure what we can do. If we wait and find out what it is, than it will be deadly, but if we are cautious, they'll think we are crazy."

"'They call the most sane crazy,'" Lemei quoted. "I can only hope that whatever it is won't be fatal."

"Yes, yes, this I hope for as well," Akari agreed. "I feel it too, we're too gullible sitting around here, but our peace agreement with the other countries says that we are not to make the first move. We either wait for the army to defeat us, or we move into battle," Akari explained, plotting out the situation that was laid before them.

"There is one way to win, one to lose," Lemei pointed out, smiling bravely.

"Hardly, there are many ways to win, and many to lose. I just hope that we pick the right choice, what ever it adds up to," Akari corrected. "It's all left in the lord Duke's hands, I can trust he makes the right decision."

"My brother never makes the right decision, what makes you think--" Lemei started, but she stopped when she had realized what she had just said. Her head turned away from him towards the window in Akari's small office. Akari said nothing, neither did Lemei. Her face was bright red with embarrassment.

Lemei knew that she was no longer the Duke's sister. She had been exiled from the royal family by him only yesterday. It took a while, but Lemei finally stormed out of the room, embarrassment and defeat had shown in her eyes, her face white with shock over what she had just said.

~ ~

"So what's your place here?" Akari asked Zuirem. It was the first time that they had met. The capital , Melaso didn't get a lot of visitors, but the few were welcomed.

"You can just think of me as a spectator." Zuirem smiled at his own comment. Akari looked confused, but he shrugged it off. "So who's this Lemei I've been hearing about? Zuirem asked.

"The Duke doesn't talk about her often, maybe not at all." He paused for a moment, convincing himself not to get into that conversation. "She's my advisor."

"You're advisor? But she's younger than you." Zuirem seemed to go against Akari's desicion.

"Exactly, it was all in the plan," Akari explained.

"So, does that imply that she means a lot to you?" Zuirem questioned.

Akari looked off into the distance. "You could say that."

~ ~

"So what you're telling me is that they're planning for another attack?" the Duke asked.

"Yes, my Lord Duke. This is a war isn't it?" Akari explained.

"Another attack, I see. So, what, this puts us on defense? We should be attacking them not getting attacked."

"Well, we are fighting them off. And our forces are still far above a minimum. I believe the best tactic for us is to wait until the Emperial Army's forces dwindle down to nothing. That would be a perfect time to strike," Akari explained.

Tren nodded. "Yes, yes, I believe your are correct in your knowledge. From what I have heard and seen, our forces are not fading, but then again how can we know that Carnele's forces are staying up their as well?" he asked.

"This can be answered in a simple explination," Akari started, "Firstly, the Emperial Army has to walk the distance to our palace. This is something that have not done. They must be tired. It is a long distance."

"Ah, yes, I see now. We should wait then, until we can use the ultimate tactic for advancement. Then we strike them down and win the war in our defense," Tren agreed.

"Yes, my Lord Duke."

~ ~

Lemei sat on her bed, staring blankly at the wall. She hardly blinked, trying to keep contact with the white wall, or whatever she was looking at. But finally Lemei gave in and held her hands in her face before walking over to the balcony.

It was almost night, it was dusk. Lemei looked out across the landscape, looking at the trees for any signs of human life digging around there. She sighed and turned back towards her bed, trying to forget what she had said early.

The assasin hung below the balcony, slowing creeping up it as Lemei turned around. His mission was to capture her so that the Duke would have to get a ransom. The Duke's sister, what else would do? He silentely lept up on the balcony, putting his hand on her mouth. Lemei did not scream, though. She was still, very still.

No! Their going to capture me. Ransom. No, a failed attempt, Lemei thought. She stayed still. I have to take it, as a drawback. Akari can do fine without me. I have to take it.

Lemei slowly took a knife out of her pocket, but she accendentally cut herself on it. The assasin had already seen her. He took the the knife out of her hands, slaming it on the table. It stood point-down in the table with the fresh blood on it's side. The assasin took off with her, going back over the balcony.

He landed with Lemei, tied her hands together, gagged her, and lifted her on his horse before setting himself on it as well. The horse took of in a westward direction.

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Akari knocked on Lemei's door. "Lemei?" he said softly. There was no answer. "I know you're really upset over what you said, but you shouldn't sit in your room all day." There still was no answer. "Damnit! Why aren't you answering!" he yelled, barging into the room. Lemei wasn't there. Akari looked around, wondering where she could've went. I've already look everywhere, what's the point in searcing again. Akari sighed. I know she can play jokes sometimes, but even she said that hiding sickened her.

He turned his attention to the table, the one with the knife pretruding from it. A strange curiostity came over him. Akari stepped towards it, letting his hand fall on the grip of the knife. He took it out of the table and looked at the one side, the turned it over, looking at the other. One of Lemei's. Akari then noticed the blood. Her's? Where did you go Lemei? Where did you go?

Akari set the knife down on the table, walking towards the open balcony. He turned to shut the doors that looked out to the night sky. There was a peice of torn fabric on the balcony. Akari walked out towards it, picking it up. Hers? Why am I finding clues of yours, Lemei? What are you telling me? Akari pondered. He looked over the balcony to the ground below. If she would've fallen, it wouldn't've hurt horrible, it wasn't a long drop. Or a high climb.

What would you be doing climbing up this wall only an experianced... the thought left his mind mid sentence as he dropped the peice of fabric and jumped off the balcony.

Akari landed in a crouch, one hand landed softly on te ground. The dirt was turned here. He stoode up, getting a better veiw of what was a hoove print in the dirt. Horses, under her balcony?

Akari walked back into the castle. The night was beginning to be longer than it was expected.

~ ~

"It's not mandatory, there are other things that matter first," the Duke explained. Akari stood before him.

"You can't just give up like this, she's you goddamn sister!" Akari yelled. When would this duke get it through his puny brain?

"She's not my sister. She's not my responsiblity. She got herself into this mess, she gets herself out," the Duke replied. It was amazing how he was still calm after 15 minutes of this.

"She's still your sister in blood. After all these years, and you can't pay any respect to her?" Akari said calmly.

"She's not my sister! She never was!" Tren yelled, his face growing red with rage. "Never in blood was she my sister!"

"Explain."

"I was the only child born in my family. My mother found her when she was three, that was when the old wars were still around. She was in pretty bad condition. We adopted her, kept her safe," Tren clarified.

"She never knew." Akari shook his head. There was a moment of silence while they Akari contimplated over the given peice of history. "We still have a situation. Either I'm going after her or you are."

"I can't leave, neither can you," Tren said.

"Why? Why can't I just go save someone for once?" Akari asked.

"You have a responsiblity!" Tren yelled. "You leave your responsiblity. Either it's one person or one hundred that dies. Which would it rather be?"

Akari looked back at him. "I have assistants. Put one of them in charge. They're trained properly. I need to go after her!"

"You love her, don't you?" the Duke asked.

"This isn't about love! It's about getting back my advisor!" Akari shouted. He was getting angry with the current situation. It was already night, the moon high in the sky.

"You know very well what I mean. Love is a very dangerous thing. If you want to go get yourself killed, then I'd be pleased to let you."

"I might as well along the way. All I know is that she's coming back, alive." Akari stormed out of the office, making his way to his horse.

~ ~

Zuirem looked out towards the west. He lay in the grass on a hill not far from the castle. His thoughts set on his current status. First of all, the emperor of Carnele thought that he came from Ziabach as a mercenary. He laughed. "Ha! Ziabach, who ever goes to that place anymore?" he said silently. Emperor Resime was counting on him to look over the current predicament at Melaso, make reports and such. What little they know.

Secondly, the Duke of Melaso thought he came from the secret society of the Zihld. He laughed again. That civilization died off years ago. I'm only glad that my intellegence and reading paid off. He was in charge of the whole war. He could make it go either way.

Zuirem pondered over this decision. Give my strength to Melaso and I become a hero and the war ends. Give my strength to the Carnele Empire and I get supiriority, I'm a vilen and the war ends. Keep playing my roles and I rule over both of them. Zuirem laughed. "I love my job," he said.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of hoves coming from the castle. He stood up, looking in the direction that they were coming from. A dark figure rode off towards the road, west. It seems like everyone's going west these days, at least from this country, Zuirem thought. He laid back down on the grass and laughed more.

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