A/N: Well, time for Folken's chapter. Yes, Folken. I changed my mind about some of the people and decided that I should do Folken because I included him in Chesta's chapter anyways.

So, this little piece of work may take longer than I anticipated, as a few things have come up in my life outside of the computer and they need to be dealt with. I will finish, don't worry; it may just take some extra time to get it done but I will.

Also, I still haven't exactly decided how to end this, so ideas will be very much appreciated.

I put that in bold seeing as no one reads A/Ns anymore…-sigh.-

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I have a headache…

This throbbing in my temples is steadily getting worse. That boy…I'll never be able to get him to act properly. Between burning down every town we pass or forgetting our treaties and going after Escaflowne without permit…

Lord, my headache is beginning to get worse.

Today was supposed to be a nice and simple day; wake up, investigate my arm and make sure all is well, come to the bridge and wait for Dilandau to wake up from his hangover induced sleep. He drinks far too much for a 15 year old.

Everything got worse when I sent someone to wake the brat up and lo and behold…he's gone. I was hoping that Chesta and the others would be able to find him somewhere on the Vione, even though I knew it was a lost cause. His Alseides was gone from the hanger by twilight. I never had a chance to catch him.

I hate how he just disappears like this. Especially when he's needed here. He seems to forget that he has other duties to attend to, other than just catching Van. He may have been trained to deal with this; however he still has things he needs to deal with here.

I close my eyes tightly, groaning silently while holding my head. This is just not good. I can think of so many possibilities and horrendous outcomes that make me want to duck my head underwater and allow myself to drown.

I have been attempting to teach the young general some patience; however it seems to be failing miserably.

Looking out onto the darkening horizon I can make out the faint wisps of impending storm clouds. This does not bode well for Dilandau, should he get caught in the rain that is. These melefs may be advanced, but even the most advanced technology can't stand up against the elements for long.

"Try communicating with him again," I order and wait for the inevitable outcome.

"Sir, there's still no response," the man replies and I can feel a spike in my already throbbing head.

'Relax; he'll turn up soon enough,' I tell myself mentally and close my eyes for a moment. A nice deep inhale, slow exhale through the nose, and I'm ready to sort out my thoughts on this little escapade of his.

First thing he could be doing is spying.

'But if he were merely spying, he could've sent Chesta like he did last time, or any other of the Dragonslayers,' the other half of my mind replies.

Alright, then…he could be attacking some poor defenseless village to vent some anger.

'If he had been venting anger he would be throwing a tantrum in his room or beating on the Dragonslayers.'

He could be hunting down Escaflowne on foot.

'Possibly, but knowing how Dilandau can't go without his flamethrower in battle he wouldn't have been gone so long.'

Why did we give him that flame thrower, anyways?

'It seemed like a good idea at the time; no one else had a weapon such as that and it's always good to have the advantage in battle.'

Hmph…he could be at the local brothel, like last time.

'Don't remind me of that incident.'

It's still a possibility. Maybe he's just enjoying the scenery?

I can't stop myself before I let out a faint laugh. Dilandau? Enjoying the scenery? Now that's hilarious. The only thing he enjoys about scenery is destroying it. Completely. Down to smoldering orange embers and grey ashes.

"Folken-sama?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"We still have no reply, sir."

I nod faintly, rubbing my temple slowly and willing this headache to go away. I really wish that Dilandau would just show up already. Reprimanding him would do no good, and would be a complete waste of time; however I'll end up doing it anyways.

I wonder about his mind sometimes. Well, all the time. His seemingly unnatural fixation on capturing my brother is rather…odd. Of course, it's his duty, and he is a very loyal general to Emperor Dornkirk. Not to mention, capturing the Escaflowne and bringing it to our esteemed emperor would secure his name in the books for the rest of time. He's well known now, but should he catch the Escaflowne he would be everywhere and he would have more power than he does now.

My mind trails over to my brother and the unavoidable thoughts on my destroyed county. Or my former country…at least…

I know my brother had past the rite to ascend to the throne; the slaying of the dragon, else none of us would be where we are now. Even so, the most important part of this is the girl. The one Van had been holding, according to the Dragonslayers, and the one who made that strange column of bright light.

I have no way to explain that light as it was never mentioned in the scrolls or by my father. Maybe it was something to do with the Escaflowne, more so than the girl?

I falter in my thoughts and I know a look of shock just passed over my face.

Absolutely not. That is not the reason…she is not the reason for his disappearance. He wouldn't try and murder a young woman in cold blood…would he?

I can't even begin to describe the dread that has just filled me. Dilandau has a horrendous temper and after the incident with his face, Van, a sword, and that girl he was hell bent on revenge. But even he has some codes to abide by; as do we all.

I hear the doors slide open and the familiar sound of clicking boots and know that it's one of the 'Slayers, returning from the futile hunt for Dilandau.

"We've tried to bring up the voice link, but there's nothing. Whatever he's doing, he doesn't want to be bothered. He better not be burning down another town; we can't afford more smooth talking cover ups with our newest allies," I tell the Slayer, who turned out to be Chesta. The young soldier didn't need to say anything; I already knew.

"He'll return before the rain…you know how much he hates the rain," I finish and Chesta nods, bows and disappears again.

Turning back to the view I let out a small, nearly inaudible, sigh and hold my throbbing head. The rain is here, or about to be at least. The mystic moon is covered by the thick storm clouds and the world is shrouded in darkness.

Yes, Dilandau will return soon; he hates the rain. Almost with a passion.

I wait a little while longer, maybe 20 miets, and I smirk when the door slides open again and the cocky saunter belonging to Dilandau reaches my ears. I truly wish I could lock him up in a dungeon or something, just to keep him out of trouble so I can have a moment's peace. I feel like I'm forty and raising a 3 year old.

"Alright, Folken, what did you want to see me about?" Dilandau asks and I turn to him, scanning his face for any stray signs that he was up to no good.

"Follow me, Dilandau, I have some questions to ask you and then I'll tell you of our treaty, again. You seemed far too drunk last night to actually remember anything I said."

Dilandau smirks in that annoying way, but follows me nonetheless towards my study. I wish that he had grown up with political discipline, however he was merely taught the art of war; not the art of political tactics. I suppose that would be why I was sent here; to cover up for Dilandau's foolish mistakes with my superior smooth-talking skills.

It doesn't take long to reach my study, nor for us to settle with a glass of wine. I keep the wine bottle close to me, behind my desk, as I do not want a repeat of last night.

"Dilandau, where have you been?" I cut straight to the point and watch as a grin appears on the devil's face.

"What would it matter to you, Folken? Surely whatever you told me of the treaty last night couldn't have been so important."

"That would be where you're wrong, Dilandau. This treaty is important and you must abide by it! We can't afford to have you go around, destroying town after town; we're supposed to be working inconspicuously. If you destroy every village, town and city we won't be able to act properly. People will rally against us and we'll be in a completely one-sided war before you can finish your glass of wine. We must play our cards correctly; one mess up can lead to the loss of far more than we can replace."

"Relax, Folken, I wasn't destroying anything. If anything, I was creating something. A small something that may help us in the long run…if not…well we have other methods to fall back on," Dilandau replies casually, already halfway through his wine glass.

I haven't touched my wine yet, and I probably won't until he leaves. Very rarely do I drink more than one glass a day, but today may be an exception. And he still hasn't answered the original question.

"You're side-stepping the question, Dilandau. Where were you?"

I watch as a strange grin comes to his face. He had said he was creating something, a small something, but what could that something be? Surely he couldn't have come up with a plan to break down the country from the inside out…that's far too clever for him.

For some reason the thought of that young girl comes to mind again. I don't know her name, nor do I know what she looks like; but the idea of the girl from the mystic moon brings me to wonder if he had been…

Oh no…

Absolutely not.

"Dilandau, please tell me you didn't…"

"Nothing like that, Folken, I can assure you of that much," he states before I can finish my question and I sigh faintly.

"Well? Are you going to tell me what you were doing?" I ask and he chuckles faintly, finishes the rest of his wine and stands. He takes the familiar stance with a hand on his hip while the other hangs limply from his body.

"I was enjoying the scenery."

And then he's gone. The door slides shut again and I'm left staring at the door, mouth slightly agape.

Quickly, I grab the glass of wine and down it quickly. It won't help my headache at all, but right now…that headache is nothing compared to the shock that just filled my mind.

He had been enjoying the scenery.

Gods in the heavens, please, give me the strength I need to continue living.

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A/N: Well, there we go. Not as long as I hoped it would be, but hopefully it's good enough. Up next…

Allen.

Thanks to those who reviewed!

Also, thanks to the other 200 hundred something people that read. If you don't like it...oops. Oh well. I appreciate my reviewers so much! You get holiday cookies! Whee!

-Disappears to watch more Christmas-y movies.-