Disclaimer: Don't. Own. Escaflowne.

Chapter 7: Moonlight Swim

Just as the captain fainted, all the sorcerers and other random soldiers and sailors aboard came running. The sorcerers looked quite banged up, obviously from their earlier scuffle with the crazed commander.

Dilandau was quickly hustled back into the room and Cevena saw Chesta carry the unconscious blond woman back onto the beach and leave her there. After all this was done, people suddenly began to notice that Cevena was there again.

"Miss Fanel! You should not be out here!!" The men cried as if scandalized. Cevena coughed again, her throat still feeling crushed. "Thanks for noticing." She muttered as they roughly escorted her back into her little plain cabin. There was a great shuddering as the ship's motors started again and began to push off the little inlet.

There was a knock at her door. "Come in." She croaked. Chesta stepped into the room. "Miss Fanel, you should not have gone out there. Our lord was very dangerous and unstable at that moment. He nearly killed you and we would not have been able to stop him." In his hands he held a towel and a change of clothes. Something was different about him. Cevena gasped aloud, "Chesta, you sound almost like a normal person!" Chesta looked puzzled. "Oh never mind.you were just so.mechanical before!" Chesta nodded slowly, "Yes, I feel different too, Lord Dilandau...he brings back memories."

Cevena gratefully took the towel and attempted to dry herself off. Chesta suddenly looked uncomfortable. He almost looked like he wanted to blush. "Umm, I shall be outside.shout if you need anything; we are on route back to Zaibach. Good night." He stammered and then stepped out, closing the door firmly behind him.

Cevena would have been amused but she was still fuming and trembling with her encounter with the deranged lunatic that they called Dilandau. "That f*ing CREEP!" She exclaimed in her head. I would like to beat the crap out of that guy.even if it isn't really his fault that he's INSANE." She shuddered again when she thought back to that moment when his hands were wrapped around her throat. "He has got MAJOR issues against my parents.I do NOT want to run into him again!" Was her final thought as she flopped onto her bed, too tired to even change out her drenched clothing.
******************************************* The cabin was rocking crazily, shaking violently side to side. Cevena all but flew off her bed onto her butt. She was losing count of the number of times she'd fallen on her ass since she got here. Her door flew open. The storm seemed to have stopped, but why was the boat rocking so crazily?? Chesta quickly explained it, to her horror. "Our stealth cloak has malfunctioned and now the Asturian guard is hard on our tails! They are trying to get into firing range and there might be a battle, please stay in your room!" Oh shit. Was all that Cevena could think. But before she could get her thoughts in order to reply, Chesta had already left. A huge crash shook the whole room. Cevena tumbled to the ground. Her butt was going to look like a grape if she got through all of this alive. Then she heard a soldier scream, "They are boarding! I repeat, they are boarding! All men to defensive positions!"

Cevena's heart began to pound. What had she gotten herself into?! So much for a quick penetration and extraction! Anxiously she felt around the door handle for some kind of lock. There was none. She scanned the room for something she could move against it. She went for the bed, pulling with all her might, it didn't budge. Dammit! She grunted. As she turned to go for the desk, the door flew open, banging into the wall. Somehow she doubted that it was the quiet Chesta, or even that crazy rabid bastard. And she was right. A huge man the size of a grizzly and even uglier than one, stood outlined in the door way. His dark beady eyes lighted on her face, or rather her body. "This search and destroy mission that we got hired for gets better and better!" He rumbled like a joyful avalanche. He started for her.

In that split second Cevena thought of a move she had seen in one of those dinosaur movies when the hero is trying to escape the t-rex. Well, she certainly had her t-rex here. "Here goes nothing." she thought dizzily and then she dove through the gap between the man's legs and tucked into a somersault. The man was so surprised that he just stood there blankly for a few seconds. By then Cevena was out the door and running her fastest out on the deck.

The fighting was furious outside. It didn't look good. The Austurian soldiers outnumbered the Zaibach soldiers five to one. But she could see blue figures of the Dragon Slayers, neatly organized and lethal, making quick work of the soldiers they faced.

A flash of silver caught Cevena's eye. The albino captain stood against the back railing fighting with a mercenary soldier. He was shouting orders to the slayers even as he fought. Cevena blinked in amazement, she was starting to see what Folken meant about needing this guy.

"Where are you going little green-eyes? We haven't had any fun yet." A menacing voice rumbled. Cevena whipped around, and there was Mr. Grizzly glowering down on her. "Shit, shit, shit." A huge meaty hand reached for her but it was a fraction too late. Cevena was already running for the only protection she thought she could get. As much as she hated to admit it, her chances with the insane and unstable Dilandau were better than this over-sized perverted ogre. She ran towards him as the captain drove his sword into the enemy. Cevena gulped. "They gave him a SWORD?" She thought wildly. "Well here goes nothing."

"Hey!" She cried, unable to think of anything else to say in this ludicrous situation. Red eyes flashed up. "Little giiirrll!! You can run, but you can't hide!!" Grizzly was hot on her heels. Cevena's temper flared up, she shouted back at him as she ran. "Oh, puh-lease! Of all the clichéd things to say, you stupid fat-@$$!" Grizzly made an unintelligible nose that fittingly sounded like a roar. Dilandau watched her, the unnerving red eyes following her rapid progress. Cevena thought she could read a mixture of amusement, contempt, deep scorn and.. Fear. At least that's what she thought she could read. Desperately she cried out again. "Hey! Don't just stand there! HELP ME!!"

And then he laughed. It was all Cevena could do not to go running and screaming down back towards Grizzly. That laugh was the ugliest sound she'd ever heard in her life. Her knees trembled so much they threatened to collapse under her. "Why are you laughing?? You still as psycho as you were before?!" Her heart seemed to be pounding in her lungs. She was beginning to think she'd made a huge mistake.

Dilandau laughed again, then spoke at last. He sounded quite sane to her, which is what made it so much more terrifying. "I recognize you now. In the.state I was in before, I was confused. I could see them both in your face. The two people I despise most in this world combined into one. How.convenient. I do have to thank you, girl. You have given me a way to make the Dragon and his Mystic Moon b*tch pay." That wretched laugh again.

Cevena screeched to a stop. She had made a big mistake. There was about 50 metres between her and the albino. "Dammnit!" She thought miserably. "I'm going to either die a horrible slow death at the hands of that sadistic psycho, or get raped by a freaken ogre who probably doesn't even know one plus one."

Once again, anger flared into her blood. Grizzly was taking his time to get her. This was a boat after all; there wasn't anywhere she could really go.

She was the niece of Folken Fanel, and the Strategos controlled Dilandau. That should count for something.

"You're such a little baby!" She screamed at the commander. "Oh no! Your face got a little cut; I can't believe that's the lame reason why you started this whole intense hatred/revenge shit! Gawd, you're like a sissy little girl.wait a sec.oops.you are a girl aren't you?"

"Damn, that was not cool, Cevena." She thought frantically.

If she thought the eyes were scary before, they were birthday candles compared to the inferno now.

"What did you say to me, B*TCH?!" The sword rose up slowly with the insult. Dilandau paused.and then shook his head and chuckled. "I have learnt a few things from the past fiasco.blinding hatred is a dangerous emotion. Nonetheless, I will carve you up right here.skin you alive." He giggled with glee at that.

And if reading her thoughts he continued. "And that asinine Strategos isn't here to stop me. Not that he ever really could, once I had my mind set." He moved with cat-like grace into a charging position.

Just as Cevena thought she was done for, either by the albino or the mercenary, a miracle happened. Two Asturian mercenaries charged the commander at once. Immediately she turned and scanned for the ugly giant, but she saw that Chesta and Miguel were double teaming him.

Her attention was drawn back to the silver-haired boy. Damn he could fight, but the guards were about four times his side and he was hard pressed, squished against the railing. His only advantage would be his agility, if he continued to be hindered like he was, he would be unable to win against the two brutes. They would soon overwhelm him.

"Ha! Serves him right!" Cevena thought triumphantly, "I hope they skin HIM alive! That CREEP!" But her conscience quickly pricked at her. Her father HAD killed all his men. That must have been something unbearable for the captain. But then again, it was his fault for provoking her dad. It was just plain weird thinking of her dad as a kind and warrior. Her dad.

For some strange reason, if he were here at this very moment, she didn't think her father would just stand back and watch Dilandau die.

"Ugh, what am I thinking?!" She thought, smacking her head. "This is making me crazy!" She said aloud. But she had decided. As unhinged as this Dilandau was, she couldn't just let him die. As she thought once again, "it's not his fault he's totally deranged."

She ran towards the three furiously struggling men. She wanted to throw up and then run away and hide, but instead she threw up her arms and waved at the Asturian mercenaries. "Yoo-hoo! You want a piece of this???" She stuck out her ass at them. The older mercenary ignored her completely, but the younger one turned his head a bit.

"Score!" Cevena thought wildly. "I guess my charms aren't to bad." She came back to herself in a snap. What was she doing?! Did she WANT to be raped?

The young mercenary's hesitation cost him his life. Dilandau's unforgiving blade slashed him in the throat. Instantly, the older man doubled his efforts. The soldier had his blade pressed hard against Dilandau's, veins bulging out on the both of them. Cevena could practically see sparks.

Then a third mercenary came charging. Dilandau was too absorbed defending off the old seasoned soldier. "He doesn't see him!" Cevena thought frantically. She opened her mouth to scream a warning, but no sound came out. The third man raised his sword, ready to cleave the albino in two.

Everything went into slow motion as if time was made of honey. In a massive feat of manoeuvring, Dilandau kicked the old soldier hard in the stomach. At the same time, he twisted his body and sword arm around to block the incoming blade.

It sounded like a thunderclap when the two blades met. Cevena jumped in shock. It was Dilandau's desperate twisted position that was to blame for what happened next.

He was unbalanced and when he met the blow, it knocked him back. Already pressed far too tightly against the back railing: up and over the top he went.

The following scream and splash echoed in Cevena's brain.

A/N: Phew. That was tiring! Whatcha think? Nebody?