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S L A Y E R X

Chapter Two

Only for Tonight

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"A dueling competition?" Dalet looked at Gatti in confusion.

"Yeah, they're giving away tickets to the winners!"

"No kidding," Dalet looked ahead of Gatti, searching for where they were holding it. He blinked a couple of times, but then he spotted a huge crowd, gathered by a stage, or a platform of some sort. Gatti turned around, and the both of them stared at the platform, ideas running inside of their heads.

"Wanna go for it?" Gatti grinned. Dalet looked at Gatti.

"Really? Are you sure?"

Gatti twirled his sword.

"Why not?"

Dalet looked at his sword—well, it could be hardly called a sword, since it was so big and so wide and hilt was wrapped in red rope and was huge as well, Dalet carried it on his shoulder. A gold, protruding design ran from the bottom and up the blade.

"I think you should probably enter…I mean," Dalet motioned to his sword.

"Oh," Gatti laughed, "right."

So, thinking that I would lose, I began to think to myself… "If we win, what happens then?" Of course, I wasn't really thinking of the consequences. One thing lead to another, and I found myself competing for a mere four hours in luxury, just to know what it felt like to be a noble.

Well, hey, it didn't matter right? I'd just return home to my normal life in the slums, I used to think.

But do you remember when I was telling you about the smile and the eyes that I could never forget? Even after she was gone?

That's what I mean.

"There's a line?"

"Maybe," Gatti shrugged. He looked, standing on his tip-toes and looking above the crowd.

Yeah, there's a line, he thought. Gatti watched the competition. After the challenger was defeated, the man would boast about how he was the finest swordsman in all of Gaea, in which Dalet and Gatti would both raise their eyebrows in suspicion.

"Is he really gambling those tickets just so he can show off?" Gatti asked Dalet incredulously.

"Yes," answered Dalet, "and he's in for a rude awakening."

Gatti looked over at Dalet, who stood, looking up at the cocky man, bowing low to the audience just as he had beaten his recent opponent. Dalet put on a half-grin. Gatti turned his attention up front as well.

"He's pretty good," Gatti said after a silence. Dalet nodded in silent agreement. Gatti began to stare over at Dalet again. He looked at his eyeballs moving in little movements very quickly. Dalet was studying the moves of the one gambling the tickets. Gatti looked again at how he fought.

Within seconds, the opponent was down. Dalet put a hand on his hip and cocked his head.

"Next!" the man laughed, putting his hand in the air, "Is that the lot of you? How pathetic!"

"Those are some nice tickets," boomed Dalet. The crowd looked over at the boy that had spoken. Gatti jumped.

"I-I didn't think you were actually gonna do it," Gatti stared at him. Dalet walked forward.

"Sword?" Dalet spoke quickly. A blade was tossed to him. He caught it, twirling it some before putting it down in front of him.

"Are those tickets real? Or just a fraud?" Dalet asked him, in front of the crowd. Gatti smacked his forehead.

"Oh geeeeeezzz…" Gatti smacked his forehead, tightly shutting his eyes, and peeking one open.

The man waved the tickets up, almost carefree. Dalet followed them with a watchful eye.

"Oh, they're real, alright."

"Great," Dalet responded with a smile. He pointed his sword forward and gave a cue, signaling that he was ready for the duel. The man came at him, sword held high. Dalet blocked, fending off his blow, and signal handedly knocking the sword from his grip.

The man watched in horror as he watched his blade fly gracefully onto the ground, just below the platform. For a while, the man starred down at the sword and then back up at Dalet, in horror. Dalet put down the sword that had been given to him and raised his other hand, in motion for him to hand over the tickets.

"Oh nice," Gatti started to applaud, along with other members of the audience.

The man blinked a few times, and his mouth turned into a nervous smile.

"Ahehehehe…" he began to back up. Dalet frowned.

"Hey. Give me those tickets," Dalet's eyes bore into his. The man growled.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!"

Dalet's face became angered. The man jumped off the platform and the audience gasped. Dalet immediately took after the fleeing man. Gatti joined in, running after him.

"HEY!" Dalet yelled, "COME BACK HERE!"

The man took off, flying through the crowds of many. Gatti took off from Dalet, going down an alleyway away from the city. Dalet looked at Gatti running down the other way and returned his focus to tackling the man who had run away with his rightfully won tickets.

It was then that out of nowhere, Gatti came jumping out of one of the alleyways in front, right in front of the man, who jumped, scared silly. He turned around, faced with the angry face of Dalet. Gatti drew his sword and put it up to his neck.

The two of them were drawing quite a crowd. Dalet held out his hand.

"Give. Me. Those. Tickets."

Hand fidgeting and shaking uncontrollably, he plopped the tickets in Dalet's hand and took off, screaming. The audience around them paused for a minute, sinking in what had just happened. Then, they erupted into cheers and applause. Dalet took a bow and waved. Gatti shrugged, smiling.

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"WHOA."

Gatti looked up at the noble manor the ball was held at. Looking around him, he was surrounded by beautiful woman dressed in silk, men in fine clothing on their arms. Some carried parasols, others carried fans.

I think I saw her in the crowd. Yeah, that was it. I saw her in the crowd right before Dalet and I entered. In was interesting; I don't really think I gave it much thought until I saw her later. But there she was; Amber eyes, raven hair and all.

Dalet walked forward a few steps, following the crowd when there was room to move forward. Gatti, while waiting, let his eyes wander upwards. The night sky was shining brightly with the moon hanging from the mystic moon. For a while, he starred in awe at the beauty of it all, blocking out the mass of chatter that he was immersed in at the time.

When the crowd finally began to diminish, Gatti and Dalet were able to walk forward freely without stopping.

That's when I saw her.

It was suddenly that girl with thigh-length, raven-black hair passed them, carrying a pink parasol surrounded by black lace at the edges. Gatti, however, only caught the back of her dress. The train extended about a yard, or so. The lower back of her dress was propped up, and covered with pink silk, little black bows going straight down the middle.

"Hey," Dalet nudged Gatti, who shook his head and began to follow him into the manor.

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The inside of the manor was beautiful. The lighting was gorgeous; the ceiling held three, crystal chandeliers, all going in a straight row. The walls of the manor had glass windows, all along the top side. Everyone was dressed in beautiful silk dresses and formal tuxedo-like suits.

"This…this is great," muttered Gatti.

"What now?"

"I don't know…get drunk?"

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Somehow in that time, Gatti and Dalet were separated. Gatti didn't know when, but they were. All of the sudden, he looked over and noticed that Dalet was gone, probably somewhere else in the huge manor. He craned his neck over the huge crowd, trying to find him.

Sighing and having no luck, he grabbed a drink from the tray of the passing waiter and walked through to a less crowded spot, drinking the wind in one gulp, hand holding a now-empty cup.

"Isn't she beautiful?"

"What a beautiful young lady."

Gatti turned his head to the old man and woman talking amongst themselves. They were looking forward in a general direction.

"That dress is just gorgeous," the woman whispered.

"She must come from a rich family," the man assumed. Gatti furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Who were they talking about?

At the time, there were many people who were dressed in pretty silk gowns and such. To be honest, I had never seen a silk dress in person. Only in books. I felt out of place…like it truly showed I was a poor boy or stole goods from the market.

When I looked in that general direction, she radiated. I saw her again.

Her back was turned, and she was holding a wine glass; her parasol was folded in and she carried it placidly under her arm. Gatti couldn't take his eyes off of her. He watched as her arm came up and she sipped her wine glass, putting it back down again. A waiter came by, nodding at her. She bowed and graciously handed her parasol over so he could hold it for her.

She stood, alone and looked up to the ceiling, in while had been covered with crystal clear windows. Gatti turned his gaze to somewhere in the general direction of the crowd.

"Maybe I shouldn't get drunk," he mumbled, putting his empty wine glass on an empty tray. Time passed slowly when you weren't doing anything.

It was then that Gatti's eyes fell upon the orchestra playing light-hearted, happy dance music.

"Hehehe," a voice giggled, "What are you looking at?"

It took long for the sudden voice to register. Gatti looked down on the source of the voice.

The raven-haired girl smiled at him, awaiting for an answer. Dumbfounded, Gatti gapped, searching for one.

"The-the o-orchestra," he stuttered.

"Hehe, me too. For a minute, you looked a little lost."

Gatti smiled nervously.

"N-no, not at all!"

"Hey, do you want to dance with me?"

"…Um…I…"

"Oh, c'mon!"

"I…I don't know how…"

The girl exploded into laughter.

"You don't? I can teach you!"

She reached forward, grasping his hand tightly and pulling him onto the dance floor, the girl giggling all the way. Gatti stumbled along with her, unaware of what was just happening and what had just happened.

It happened too fast. I wish I could spend that moment forever instead of talking like a dumbass. There are so many things I would have changed. So many…

She put his hand on her hip, and grasped the other with her hand, holding it in the air in a typical waltz position. She rested her hand on his shoulder and smiled widely at him.

"Now you just have to go in time with the music," she grinned, "Ready? I'll lead."

"Right…" Gatti blinked, "You do that."

She took a step and Gatti followed, tensely gripped her hip and her hand.

"Just relax," she grinned, "Okay, so we're going to try to form a triangle with our feet."

"Um…how about just a line?"

Her amber eyes glittered with happiness.

"That's not fun!"

"Uh—'

"C'mon!"

She yanked him forward into a three step, Gatti stumbling on every move, careful not to step on her feet. Couples around them danced so neatly and in step; Gatti was struggling just a bit with that.

"Hmmm…how about a square?"

"Or a line…"

Gatti caught on much easier. His feet began to move in time with hers, and the girl grinned, knowing that she had done her job. Gatti grinned a little. Raven hair fell in her face as they danced merrily on the floor, forgetting the time. The dance stopped, and then ended close to each other, the girl staring straight up at him. She looked up, admiring the night sky.

"You're a natural," she whispered.

Dalet gapped from afar in the crowd.

"...What the hell?"

Almost dropping his wine glass before setting it on the tray, he starred that sight of the girl in Gatti's arms. Something pushed him from behind. Dalet fell forward before glaring back at whatever at pushed him.

Soldiers had penetrated the ball, looking around. Some had appeared on the other end of the dance floor. Gatti looked around, curiously.

"I wonder what they're doing here…"

The girl looked at the soldiers incredulously, then began to look around the crowd. Gatti stared at her.

"Are you okay? All of the sudden, you…"

"I…I've got to leave…it was nice dancing with you!" she bowed, smiling weakly and running, grabbing her parasol from the confused waiter and disappearing into the crowds. Gatti turned around, looking around her.

"Wait!" he called out. The girl whizzed passed Dalet, who grabbed her wrist. The girl panicked, looking at him with a fierce face.

"Let GO of me!" she growled. Dalet blinked. He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who are you? What's your name?"

"That's NONE of your BUSINESS! I DEMAND YOU RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She smacked him across the face. Gatti gapped at the sight that had just been displayed. Dalet had grabbed her wrist and didn't let her go until she told him who she was.

"RAPE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "RAAAAAAAAAAPE!!"

Dalet let go immediately and was bombarded by rude stares, some of the people muttering, "Oh, what a dirty man!", "How disgusting!", or "Pervert!"

Dalet growled.

"What are you all starring at!?"

Gatti smacked his forehead.

"Nice going, now everyone things you're a pervert," he grumbled, and began to walk over to Dalet who was beginning to walk away, holding his cheek. Catching up with Dalet he turned, facing him.

"What was that about?"

"She smacked me! The little bitch smacked me!"

"She's not a bitch, Dalet, you didn't exactly ask her nicely!"

"But she smacked me! And she called me a rapist!"

"You wouldn't let go of her wrist," Gatti stared, "You should've let her go."

"Don't let them get away!"

A group of soldiers scattered everywhere, disrupting the ball. The orchestra had stopped, and a large portion of the people had left. Gatti blinked, and then dangled his head, his middle finger and thumb massaging his eyes.

"Shit, what a night."

"What are these soldiers doing here?" Dalet asked quietly.

And even though through everything that had happened, I didn't really care. Her amber-eyes were engraved in my mind. Her voice echoing in my head, refusing to let it go. I didn't even catch her name. I was angry at myself. But I didn't know any better. Hell, I didn't even know why the soldiers came in the first place.

I knew at that point in time that I would probably never see her again, and it was just best for me to forget that I had ever seen her.

…

Yeah. My thoughts exactly.

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I had actually walked home that night. Dalet…I think he went to buy food with the little money he had and return to the small house that we owned. I was on my own that night. It was silent walking home. The alleyways were empty, except for the merchants that began to pack up from their daily work.

Who are you, I asked myself, What was your name?

I never thought they'd be answered.

But I was wrong.

I was very wrong.

Gatti walked down the alleyway to his house, stepping in mild puddles and looking down as he walked.

He put his head up, looking straight ahead.

There, in front of him, was a lump in the alleyway of some sort. He cocked his head. Something was lying in the alleyway. He walked faster, trying to get a glimpse of what is was that he was seeing.

As her drew closer, a body formed. A body was lying in the middle of the alleyway. His eyes widened. Gatti ran forward, almost tripping. He dropped down next to the body. Ironically, the body had long, raven-black hair.

His heart pounded. He shook the body.

"Hey…hey, are you alright? Wake up," he said. The body didn't move. Gatti lifted it into his arms, cupping his arm around the shoulders. The face rolled onto Gatti's chest. Gatti's jaw dropped.

The girl that he had danced with had been lying there.

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A/N: Hello everyone! The next chapter to Esca: AU has been posted, much delay, I know. I've been kind of busy, but you'll see why if you read my A/N on the latest chapter. Things have been a little hectic! XP

I only got one review, and that makes me sad… Please review! Gatti doesn't like it when people ignore him!

-reviews-

Macky: Thanks for reviewing, as you were the only soul who felt pity. XD The next chapter's up, so go and send a review for that one and this one, too. Thanks! :D

Please review! T-T Read Esca: AU and then read this, pleeeeeease! T-T

FMB

Happy Halloween!