You Don't Need a Heartbeat to Follow Your Heart
Chapter 5 -- Resigning
By Threshie (who's so scatterbrained she forgot to note this for two chapters before this one.... -.-;; Oooya...)
AN: Wow, I've sure taken my sweet time on this update... (Sweatdrop) Sorry, guys! Car troubles kept me from my computer for awhile. I'm glad you all liked Chapter 4 (and here I thought you'd all think it was a lame transition chapter...LOL...) Well, here's Dilandau-sama's plan in action--enjoy! Oh, yeah, and I don't own Escaflowne, no da!
Shesta tried his best to look serious as he walked down the cold, dim halls of the Vione. It was a difficult thing to do with Dilandau's plan still fresh in his mind. I sure hope Folken-sama buys it, otherwise he'll just demand to know what's going on, the blonde boy thought as he gave an intentionally timid knock on the Strategos' large black door.
"Enter," Folken's deep voice called, and Shesta carefully composed a rather panicked expression before obeying. He mussed up his hair a bit, got a wide-eyed look halfway between shock and nervousness and inched inside, staring down at the toes of his blue boots. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Folken's mop of green hair--he was sitting at the documents table. "A Dragon Slayer," he noted, looking a bit surprised that one of the boys would come speak to him directly. "Do you have a message from Dilandau?"
Shesta knew he was further surprised that it wasn't Gatti, as the taller boy always handled messages. "N-no, Sir," he answered meekly, trying very hard not to smile. So far, so good...
Folken blinked. Sitting the papers he'd been studying aside, he left the table and came over to stand beside Shesta. His height was all the more intimidating close up, and the blonde boy fidgeted a little bit. "If you have no message from your commander...why are you here?"
"I-it's about Dilandau-sama, Sir," Shesta answered, adding a fairly decent false tremor to his voice. Think of something scary, he told himself, trying his best to maintain an uneasy expression. Uhh...Dilandau-sama when he's angry? Well, that's scary, but it happens so often I'm used to it...
Folken crossed his metal dragon arm over his real one, raising an eyebrow. "If Dilandau had anything to say, he would have sent a message with you," he pointed out skeptically.
"W-well, he doesn't know I'm here..." Shesta answered, very quietly. He was rather proud when he noticed that Folken had to lean down a little to hear him. Something scary, something scary... An image of a large, bloated dragon about to breathe fire on him drifted into his mind. Instead of frightening him, it almost made the blonde boy smile, which wasn't good. Ooookay, no dragons...
Folken, meanwhile, was frowning. "I believe you owe me some sort of explanation for this visit," he intoned, looking down his nose at the Dragon Slayer. He probably didn't know he was doing it, though, since he did have a fairly long nose--maybe he had to do that all of the time.
Come on...something really scary... "Folken-sama," Shesta summed up the courage to stare the Strategos straight in the eye and lie, "I-I'm not sure what to do, is all... Dilandau-sama...something's wrong with him..." Allen Schezar...now there's something scary! A look of horror crossed his face.
"Wrong?" Folken blinked, probably perplexed at the freaked-out expression that the blonde boy suddenly had. Carefully, he asked, "How do you mean?"
Shesta sighed. "You...won't tell Dilandau-sama that I was the one who told you...will you?"
Folken frowned, "It's something I disapprove of, then? Tell me."
"D..Dilandau-sama's decided to become a pacifist, Sir." Shesta wished there were some way to capture the hilarious expression on the green-haired man's face. Folken wore a look somewhere between shock and bemusement. Slowly, just once, he blinked. Finally, after what seemed like five minutes, he raised his real hand and pointed in the Dragon Slayer's general direction.
"You....I don't think I...heard you correctly."
"Dilandau-sama's decided to become a pacifist, Sir," Shesta repeated carefully, sighing. "I just thought that I should inform you because he plans not to give you any notice at all...h-he's going to order the Dragon Slayers to all resign from Zaibach, and then do the same immediately afterward."
"Dilandau...resign?" Folken looked like someone had just told him that the Mystic Moon was really made of cheese. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he told the blonde boy, "I'll go speak to him directly." He started to head out the door, then evidently it finally occurred to him that he had no idea where an insane (well, more insane than usual, anyway) Dilandau might be. Turning, he ordered Shesta, "Take me to Dilandau immediately."
Saluting, Shesta hurriedly led him out the door. Phew...I made it through my part of the plan, he thought with relief. That was actually kind of fun. Now, I only hope everything goes well with Dilandau-sama's and everyone else's parts.
Viole sighed, glancing at Dallet again. Dilandau had left the brown-haired boy in his care while the rest of the Dragon Slayers and him went and hopefully lured the Madoushi out of hiding. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that Viole could do for Dallet except talk to him, and Dallet had never been much of a conversationalist.
Neither have I, Viole thought unhappily, listening as a solitary pair of footsteps passed by outside the door. They were still inside the Dragon Slayers' quarters, where they had all concocted the strange plan earlier. Dallet was in no shape to move, and besides, if anyone saw him they'd realize he was supposed to be dead right now.
The subject of the Slayer's thoughts gave a shallow little sigh, dragging tired lilac eyes open to stare up at him. "Viole...?"
"Yes?" The purple-haired slayer forced a smile to his face, glancing over. Dallet was still lying on the floor--Viole had offered to help him sit up, or even just to bring him a pillow, but the brown-haired boy claimed he was as comfortable as he could be at the moment. Judging from the cold metal he was laying on, it must have been pretty uncomfortable, but Viole let him have his way.
And now the brown-haired boy was watching him. "Do you...think that D...Dilandau-sama's plan will work? Folken--sama's...hard to fool..."
"True..." Viole's smile felt a little less forced, as he recalled Dilandau's words from their little meeting before. Pacifists, indeed... "But if anybody can pull this off and actually make Folken-sama believe it, it would be Dilandau-sama."
"B-but..." Dallet trailed off, wincing. The wincing turned to almost choking, and he squeezed his eyes tightly closed, pressing a hand to his heart. Viole tugged one of his purple curls uncomfortably, knowing that there wasn't really anything he could do to make his friend feel better. Thankfully, the bursts of pain always seemed to be short. As with the ones before it, this one ended quickly.
"Maybe you shouldn't be talking," Viole suggested tentatively when it had passed. "I think it makes it get worse..."
"No..." The brown-haired boy sighed faintly, "I....I think they messed up....their experiment. I think....even if I just lay here.....I-I'd still be hurting..."
"Dilandau-sama will find them," Viole assured him. "Then they'll never hurt anybody again...and you won't have to suffer anymore for the sake of their twisted experiments."
"It's....partly my own fault, you know..." Dallet shuddered, squeezing at his heart again. Viole wanted to wince just watching him...
"You didn't do anything to deserve this," he countered unhappily, "You died for Dilandau-sama, and any of us would have done that without a second thought!"
"But....I-I chose...to come back. I...chose....to put you all through all of this...." Dallet whispered, and Viole was surprised at the tears in his voice.
"But you just wanted to keep us from blaming ourselves for your death!" He protested, feeling a bit tearful himself. The Madoushi put him through this horrible experience and he's saying it's his fault?
"Yes...." There was a short silence, and Viole was beginning to worry a little, when Dallet finally added, "But....would it have....hurt less to leave will enough alone...?"
"Dallet, I'm glad you came back," he said seriously, "I think that if you hadn't, Dilandau-sama would be blaming himself for what happened. Yes, you chose to come back, and yes, we're in a difficult situation at the moment, but that doesn't make it all your fault. The Madoushi were going to try and resurrect you whether you helped them or not! How do you know it wouldn't have worked if you didn't come back willingly?"
"But I did..."
"But you didn't maliciously," Viole pointed out, frowning. Dallet looked at him sadly, and the purple-haired boy noticed again how very pale he was. His lilac eyes seemed like jewels set in ivory...it was fair, in a frightening way.
"But it's still hurting people," he whispered.
As Folken and Shesta neared the door to Dilandau's throne room, the sound of voices drifted to their ears. The blonde boy opened the double doors only a crack, peering inside with wide eyes. Dilandau-sama never mentioned this, he thought curiously, noting that the rest of the Dragon Slayers (Viole and Dallet being the exceptions, of course) were all seated in a circle on the throne room's vast floor. Seated cross-legged and dressed in only the leather pants and short blue undershirts that were usually hidden by armor.
Dilandau sat similarly clothed as part of the ring--other than the color of his purple undershirt, there was no distinction in rank between the boys at the moment. All of them had their eyes closed, and had peaceful or sad expressions on their faces.
Whispering through the silence of the room like a breeze, Dilandau's voice captured the two eavesdroppers where they stood.
"In the stillness of the crying dawn," the silver-haired boy sang gently, "Tearful like the storm outside..."
Migel's lower voice joined his, as they nearly whispered out, "I cradle your memories...to my heart."
The others' voices faded away, and Gatti, who was to the left of Migel, sang the next part in a surprisingly emotional voice. "I'm too afraid that I can't go on, afraid of what pain I'll find..."
And in joined Guimel to Gatti's left. "I feel I just can't let you die...I'd fall apart."
"Stay please...don't go...don't just leave me your tears upon the window..." The soft raising of the whole circle's voices surprised Shesta out of the trance he'd fallen into. Wow...if Folken-sama doesn't think this is an obvious enough display of out-of-characterness for Dilandau-sama, I don't think we'll ever convince him, he thought, as Folken reached forward to push the doors open.
"Dilandau!" He called, sounding annoyed. When the silver-haired boy looked up in surprise, he asked plainly, "What are you doing?"
Dilandau offered a sad little smile in reply. Standing, he told the circle of Dragon Slayers gently, "Please carry on without me--I have to speak with Folken-sama." A bunch of solemn nods and murmurs of agreement answered him, and he came over to Folken smiling a little. While he was doing this, Shesta was thinking to himself that that was the first time he'd ever heard Dilandau called Folken the respectful 'sama', rank or no rank.
"Trying to heal some wounded hearts," Dilandau murmured when they were standing over near the doors. Shesta listened on the other side, peering through the open crack in what he hoped was an inconspicuous manner.
Folken blinked, uttering a very un-Folken-like word: "Huh?"
"You asked me what I was doing," Dilandau explained with a slight smile. "I was just answering your question."
Folken frowned. Warily, he said, "I...hear that you plan to resign from Zaibach."
Dilandau's face brightened, "That's right--but first I'm freeing all of the Dragon Slayers of their slavery here."
"Slavery?" Folken raised an eyebrow, "As far as I know they are perfectly willing to obey the orders given to them, even with their own lives at stake."
"Yes..." Dilandau sighed, glancing down at the polished floor with an honestly sad expression. "Folken-sama...carrying out orders for Zaibach is how we all lost Dallet. I never want to go through that again." He looked up at the green-haired man with tears shimmering in his pale red eyes, as he whispered, "I don't want any of us to go through that again. If I'd only realized sooner what horrors I was committing...was commanding them to commit...than Dallet may not have had to sacrifice his life to teach me."
Folken sighed. "I knew from watching you when you returned that you were all disturbed by the death of a fellow Dragon Slayer. However, death is something everyone in a military organization should be prepared for--you can't let your career be ruined by the death of one man under your command." Dilandau shook his head, smiling sadly.
"You just haven't lost your own Dallet yet." He swiped at his eyes, sighing. "A-anyway, I don't want to get upset all over again--it'd just upset them," he glanced at the Dragon Slayers, who still sat singing softly, "And I've done them enough harm already. Folken-sama." He met the tall man's garnet eyes seriously, "I am resigning from Zaibach--there is no way that you could turn me back into the horrible creature I was before, and I don't want you to try." His eyes softened, as he added, "Please."
Folken, Shesta noted with satisfaction, seemed to be unable to decide whether to stare in open-mouthed shock or laugh at the strangeness of it all. Both would have been very bizarre actions for him, so the blonde boy was glad when he did neither.
Instead, the green-haired man just sighed.
"Dilandau," he said just as seriously, "If you leave Zaibach, you have no career or place to go. What do you plan to do with yourself and all of these Dragon Slayers if you really leave?"
"Oh, we've already sat down and democratically agreed on that," Dilandau brightened again, ignoring Folken's strange look at the 'democratically'. "After leaving Zaibach, we'll all travel to a small rural mountain village--perhaps in Freid--where we'll become gentle vegetarians! We'll grow our own lettuce and herbs, and of course we'll have plenty enough to help feed our furry little friends in the forest nearby." He sighed happily at the thought, eyes acquiring a dreamy, faraway look.
This time, Folken did stare in shock, though he managed to keep his jaw from dropping open.
"V...vegetarian?" He asked weakly, "You?" Dilandau went back to teary-eyed mode, hanging his head as if ashamed.
"Yes...I've already hurt so many poor animals that I couldn't live with myself if I kept eating meat..."
Folken scraped together what minescule bits of composure he had left and said tiredly, "Please, please tell me that this is some kind of joke."
Dilandau blinked, looking up.
"Why?" He asked seriously. "Don't you like furry woodland animals?"
Folken sighed gloomily, "I haven't met many." Growing serious, he said testily, "If you mean what you say, though, then you won't like the news I have for you."
"What kind of news?" Dilandau raised an eyebrow.
"New orders, to be more accurate." Folken frowned, "Dornkirk-sama has recently sent me the word that you and your Dragon Slayers are ordered to advance on Basram. Is your resolution to resign so firm that you will refuse these orders outright?"
The silver-haired boy's eyes flashed with some strong emotion. "I'll be frank with you, Folken-sama. I want no more to do with violence...and neither do my Dragon Slayers."
Sighhing, Folken murmured, "I had a feeling that your opinion wouldn't change. Excuse me, then, while I go locate some soldiers to carry out Dornkirk-sama's will..." He turned and headed for the door, a troubled frown on his face. "Thank you for mentioning this," he told Shesta, who still stood outside the door.
Shesta nodded. Folken was about to go, but a thought occurred to him. Turning back, he asked the blonde boy a bit hesitantly, "Will...will you actually follow Dilandau when he quits Zaibach and...does everything else he said he'd do?"
Shesta glanced at the door and smiled inwardly. Hook, line and sinker...
"We Dragon Slayers have all pledged our lives to Dilandau-sama, not to Zaibach," he told Folken matter-of-factly. "So, if our fate is to quit the military and become goat-herders in Freid, living off of the land and eventually marrying wolfgirls and having some really strange-looking children, then we'll gladly follow him there."
Folken tried to imagine Dilandau as a goat-herder and failed miserably. "Wasn't it...vegetarian gardeners?" He asked. Shesta opened his mouth to speak, but the green-haired man sighed, raising a hand to silence him. "Nevermind, it doesn't really matter anyway," he said tiredly.
The blonde boy watched his retreating back as he wandered gloomily away. This will bring the Madoushi here for a visit for sure, he thought a bit worriedly. Dilandau-sama...I hope he knows what he's doing. I never thought he'd do this much just for Dallet...I wonder if he also wants revenge on the sorcerers for himself...?
"Hah!" Shesta jumped at the loud voice right next to his ear. Turning, he saw a grinning Dilandau leaning his head out of the door. The albino boy gave a rather demented giggle, commenting, "Did you see his face? I think he was about to faint!"
"Y-yes, Dilandau-sama," Shesta smiled nervously, feeling very transparent. It was a good thing Dilandau wasn't telepathic.... Nonsense, Shesta, he told himself in what was supposed to be a reassuring tone, If he heard half of what you thought, he'd have killed you by now!
Dilandau grinned, snagging his Slayer by the arm and dragging him into the throne room. "And now it's all in Folken's hands!" Another decidedly unpacifistic giggle filled the air as the door slammed shut, and Shesta hoped that Folken wasn't still within earshot.
End Chapter 5
Heartbeat Akugi! Volume 4
Akugi #7
Shesta: "Folken-sama..." (Lying blatantly) "I-I'm not sure what to do, is all... Dilandau-sama...something's wrong with him..." (Thinks of Allen; faints dead away)
THUD.
Folken: (Blinks) "Dilandau should really let them get a full hour of sleep once in awhile..."
Akugi #8
Dilandau: (Singing) "In the stillness of the crying dawn...Tearful like the storm outside..."
Dragon Slayers in circle: (Strained, slightly pained smiles, trying not to get out of character)
Folken: (Clamps his hands over his ears) "Dilandau! Good LORD, your singing voice is AWFUL! What are you DOING?! Keep it up and we'll all be DEAF! (Annd where did you get those CHEESY song lyrics?)"
Akugi #9
Dallet: "I...chose....to put you all through all of--to put you all of you all through all of---all--ARGH!"
Viole: (Pats his head, smiling sweetly) "Yeah, I think it's an ackward line, too...."
Akugi #10
Gatti: "I'm too afraid that I can't go on, afraid of what pain I'll find..."
Guimel: (Teary eyes, missing his cue entirely) "Th...that was beautiful...." (Sob)
Everybody Else: (Sweatdrop)
AN: Okies, well, now Dilandau's plan is in action. Will it work? Will the Dragon Slayers be dragged away for mental readjustment, too? ;; Let's hope not... If you would review this chapter, I'd be very happy. Did any of you guess what Dilandau's plan was before you read this? I hope it wasn't too predictable, LOL... Or too cheesy, for that matter...oya. (Major sweatdroppage) I guess it is what it is. At any rate, C'ya next chapter.