Disclaimer: Escaflowne does not belong to me. The plot is mine though.
********************************************************************************
Chapter 2
"I can't believe Migel's really gone." Chesta whispered to the others. They were in their barracks, wide-awake despite the late hour.
"Me neither," Guimel murmured softly, "I always saw Migel as being invincible. He was the best pilot of us all. Even Lord Dilandau thought so. That's why he never yelled at Migel, because Migel always did everything right."
Gatti looked away. Someone sighed.
Flashback, in the throne room
Dilandau could not stand still. He felt blinding rage rip at his heart.
"How DARE he," his silvery hair shook with anger, "Disobey my orders! He was supposed to get out of Freid and join ranks-just who the hell told him to stay and fight?" Dilandau yelled at his kneeling slayers. The dragonslayers kept their faces averted to the floor, knowing from painful experience what Dilandau was capable of during one of his rages. Hopefully they could escape this time with minimal damages to their person.
Dilandau paced back and forth, his boots softly clicking on the hard metallic floor. With no warning he flung a chair against the wall, another shared the same fate. Panting and sweating, the commander of the dragonslayers regarded the kneeling forms of his men. 'Gatti, Chesta, Dalet...they're...nothing compared to you. Why, Migel? Why did you always have to laugh at death?' Dilandau thought miserably. Just as lightning fast, he switched back to the emotions he was most comfortable with: fury and hatred.
"It's Van's fault!" Dilandau spit the name out. "I HATE YOU VAN!! I hate you, you fucking bastard, I'm going to rip out your heart and BURN it in front of your eyes! And then I'm going to chop you to pieces and I'll burn that too!! Van, Van, Van. Why can't you just DIE? I...HATE...you...so...much!..."
End flashback
"Gods," Chesta flopped back onto his bed and buried his face into his pillow. His muffled voice broke the strained silence. "Lord Dilandau really lost it today, huh? Still, I can't imagine dying like that. I mean, being strangled. By a doppleganger. It's so horrible."
Dalet snorted, "What, how do YOU want to die?"
"Just what kind of question is that??" Chesta retorted.
"Death by strangulation?" Dalet drawled, "Drowning? Poison? How about going down in a blaze of glory?" His biting words dripped with sarcasm. His amber eyes glared at the blond-haired slayer.
"Stop it! I don't want to talk about this. Migel's dead!"
"So? There was nothing we could have done about it." Dalet said. But despite his careless, cold words, his voice quivered suspiciously. Migel never did know what he had meant to Dalet. He had been...something of an ideal, and now, it was too late. Dalet cleared his throat roughly. "He made the choice to stay and fight. I don't suppose it ever occurred to him to just let it go...oh, to hell with you Migel! You stubborn son of a bitch." The rest of the slayers kept silent.
"They never found his body. For all we know, those Freidian bastards just dumped him into a common grave."
Chesta really did NOT want to hear anymore.
Dalet spoke again, this time, his voice had returned to a semblance of his normal tone. He sounded almost conversational.
"When we attack Fried, I am going to relish burning the city down with Lord Dilandau. Freid WILL be crushed and it WILL be conquered. And why does it feel like Migel's going to walk through that door any minute now. Migel. Migel Labariel. He died for Zaibach. For master Dilandau. I wonder how the rest of us can ever measure up to that."
**************
When Zaibach's army attacked Freid the next evening, the Cassimey household evacuated, along with many other families, out of the capitol city of Freid. Getting out of Fried was easy, but seeking to return into Asturia was much more difficult...no one but Asturian citizens could seek refuge in that kingdom.
"Name?" The stern looking Asturian guard asked. Marius Cassimey frowned.
"Look here, my name is Lord Marius Cassimey and I'm a personal friend and ambassador of King Aston!"
"And I said NAME!"
Swallowing his pride, Lord Cassimey replied curtly, "This is my wife Lady Asha Cassimey. My daughter Lisette, and my son Rian."
"Who's the other one?" The guard pointed to the sleeping Migel.
"He's...my nephew"
Rian saw the skepticism on the guard's face and quickly came to his father's aid.
"This bloke here's Desral. Des Cassimey." Rian ignored Lisette's incredulous gaze. They both knew that their cousin Desral had been killed nine years ago. Rian continued. "We had this really crazy horse race, see we kind of have this competition between the two of us, and Des fell off his horse and broke his leg. But Mum says it'll be ok--"
The Asturian guard's eyes started to glaze over.
"Right... You're cleared. Welcome back to Asturia."
*************
Three years later....
A crackling fire was burning in the cozy salon at the Cassimey town house in Palas.
"Stop worrying Lizzy, Desral's already passed all the tests." Lord Marius Cassimey told his daughter from his comfortable seat near the fireplace while Lady Asha continued tranquilly at her embroidery. But despite his comforting words, Lisette continued to keep a steadfast vigil at the large windows.
"I'm sure Des was accepted. Today was a mere a formality, you know." Said Lisette's father.
Lisette sighed. "Oh I know. I'm being silly, of course nothing could go wrong. But today IS such an important day for him. Where d'you suppose Des got those nerves of steel? I wish I could be as calm about it as he."
The front door banged open, startling Lisette. In the next moment, Rian came into the room and gave his family an exaggerated bow. Grinning like a dolt, he announced with a flourish, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Her Majesty Queen Millerna's newest Knight Caeli, Desral Cassimey!"
********************************************************************************
A/N: See? I am bad at cliffhangers; hopefully you'll have liked this story enough to read on. Even though this chapter didn't have a lot of Migel in it, I thought it would be interesting to see how Dilandau and the fellow dragonslayers reacted to the news of his "death." And why Dalet? Because he seems like he could very well have both resented and admired Migel since the two were both high among Dilly's favorites, actually my first choice was Gatti-because they were both leader-types. But Dalet's so much more vain. Wow, you're still reading this note, ok! Hey, I can check off Van, Chesta, Dalet, Gatti and Princess Millerna from my list!!
Thank you all SO much for the good reviews for Ch. 1 of "Speak No Evil"--The dragonslayers salute you!!!
********************************************************************************
Chapter 2
"I can't believe Migel's really gone." Chesta whispered to the others. They were in their barracks, wide-awake despite the late hour.
"Me neither," Guimel murmured softly, "I always saw Migel as being invincible. He was the best pilot of us all. Even Lord Dilandau thought so. That's why he never yelled at Migel, because Migel always did everything right."
Gatti looked away. Someone sighed.
Flashback, in the throne room
Dilandau could not stand still. He felt blinding rage rip at his heart.
"How DARE he," his silvery hair shook with anger, "Disobey my orders! He was supposed to get out of Freid and join ranks-just who the hell told him to stay and fight?" Dilandau yelled at his kneeling slayers. The dragonslayers kept their faces averted to the floor, knowing from painful experience what Dilandau was capable of during one of his rages. Hopefully they could escape this time with minimal damages to their person.
Dilandau paced back and forth, his boots softly clicking on the hard metallic floor. With no warning he flung a chair against the wall, another shared the same fate. Panting and sweating, the commander of the dragonslayers regarded the kneeling forms of his men. 'Gatti, Chesta, Dalet...they're...nothing compared to you. Why, Migel? Why did you always have to laugh at death?' Dilandau thought miserably. Just as lightning fast, he switched back to the emotions he was most comfortable with: fury and hatred.
"It's Van's fault!" Dilandau spit the name out. "I HATE YOU VAN!! I hate you, you fucking bastard, I'm going to rip out your heart and BURN it in front of your eyes! And then I'm going to chop you to pieces and I'll burn that too!! Van, Van, Van. Why can't you just DIE? I...HATE...you...so...much!..."
End flashback
"Gods," Chesta flopped back onto his bed and buried his face into his pillow. His muffled voice broke the strained silence. "Lord Dilandau really lost it today, huh? Still, I can't imagine dying like that. I mean, being strangled. By a doppleganger. It's so horrible."
Dalet snorted, "What, how do YOU want to die?"
"Just what kind of question is that??" Chesta retorted.
"Death by strangulation?" Dalet drawled, "Drowning? Poison? How about going down in a blaze of glory?" His biting words dripped with sarcasm. His amber eyes glared at the blond-haired slayer.
"Stop it! I don't want to talk about this. Migel's dead!"
"So? There was nothing we could have done about it." Dalet said. But despite his careless, cold words, his voice quivered suspiciously. Migel never did know what he had meant to Dalet. He had been...something of an ideal, and now, it was too late. Dalet cleared his throat roughly. "He made the choice to stay and fight. I don't suppose it ever occurred to him to just let it go...oh, to hell with you Migel! You stubborn son of a bitch." The rest of the slayers kept silent.
"They never found his body. For all we know, those Freidian bastards just dumped him into a common grave."
Chesta really did NOT want to hear anymore.
Dalet spoke again, this time, his voice had returned to a semblance of his normal tone. He sounded almost conversational.
"When we attack Fried, I am going to relish burning the city down with Lord Dilandau. Freid WILL be crushed and it WILL be conquered. And why does it feel like Migel's going to walk through that door any minute now. Migel. Migel Labariel. He died for Zaibach. For master Dilandau. I wonder how the rest of us can ever measure up to that."
**************
When Zaibach's army attacked Freid the next evening, the Cassimey household evacuated, along with many other families, out of the capitol city of Freid. Getting out of Fried was easy, but seeking to return into Asturia was much more difficult...no one but Asturian citizens could seek refuge in that kingdom.
"Name?" The stern looking Asturian guard asked. Marius Cassimey frowned.
"Look here, my name is Lord Marius Cassimey and I'm a personal friend and ambassador of King Aston!"
"And I said NAME!"
Swallowing his pride, Lord Cassimey replied curtly, "This is my wife Lady Asha Cassimey. My daughter Lisette, and my son Rian."
"Who's the other one?" The guard pointed to the sleeping Migel.
"He's...my nephew"
Rian saw the skepticism on the guard's face and quickly came to his father's aid.
"This bloke here's Desral. Des Cassimey." Rian ignored Lisette's incredulous gaze. They both knew that their cousin Desral had been killed nine years ago. Rian continued. "We had this really crazy horse race, see we kind of have this competition between the two of us, and Des fell off his horse and broke his leg. But Mum says it'll be ok--"
The Asturian guard's eyes started to glaze over.
"Right... You're cleared. Welcome back to Asturia."
*************
Three years later....
A crackling fire was burning in the cozy salon at the Cassimey town house in Palas.
"Stop worrying Lizzy, Desral's already passed all the tests." Lord Marius Cassimey told his daughter from his comfortable seat near the fireplace while Lady Asha continued tranquilly at her embroidery. But despite his comforting words, Lisette continued to keep a steadfast vigil at the large windows.
"I'm sure Des was accepted. Today was a mere a formality, you know." Said Lisette's father.
Lisette sighed. "Oh I know. I'm being silly, of course nothing could go wrong. But today IS such an important day for him. Where d'you suppose Des got those nerves of steel? I wish I could be as calm about it as he."
The front door banged open, startling Lisette. In the next moment, Rian came into the room and gave his family an exaggerated bow. Grinning like a dolt, he announced with a flourish, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Her Majesty Queen Millerna's newest Knight Caeli, Desral Cassimey!"
********************************************************************************
A/N: See? I am bad at cliffhangers; hopefully you'll have liked this story enough to read on. Even though this chapter didn't have a lot of Migel in it, I thought it would be interesting to see how Dilandau and the fellow dragonslayers reacted to the news of his "death." And why Dalet? Because he seems like he could very well have both resented and admired Migel since the two were both high among Dilly's favorites, actually my first choice was Gatti-because they were both leader-types. But Dalet's so much more vain. Wow, you're still reading this note, ok! Hey, I can check off Van, Chesta, Dalet, Gatti and Princess Millerna from my list!!
Thank you all SO much for the good reviews for Ch. 1 of "Speak No Evil"--The dragonslayers salute you!!!