Chapter 23 – Miriallia
A/N: ENJOY!
He slipped quickly into a dark corner; blending into the shadows perfectly. Cautiously, he peeked at the heavily guarded corridor. He unconsciously tightened his hold on the gun he had. His free hand flew to the pouch situated at his hip. His fingers worked soundlessly around the clasp and skimmed over the cool surface of the ammo he carried. He pondered vaguely whether to leave the clasp unlocked. The sound of footsteps around the corner made him swerve sharply back into the safety the shadows had to offer. A knife-holding kunoichi passed by without looking into the shadows. He let out a sigh of relief. That was way too close for comfort… The kunoichi turned sharply and stared suspiciously at his hiding place. Damn. He cursed in his head. The kunoichi readied her knives and stalked over to his hiding place to investigate. Goddamn this! He steadied his hand and aimed at the forehead of the kunoichi. Should he shoot? Or should he wait for Lady Luck to smile at him?
Sweat began to form at his forehead as he listened to his own heartbeat pounding at his ears. The kunoichi approached closer to his hiding place. Shit. He cursed as he aimed once again for her forehead. At such a short distance, the bullet would definitely meet its target. A yell from a distant away wrenched the kunoichi's attention from investigating his hiding place. Dearka smirked when the kunoichi let out an irritated huff. Some other time lady. Some other time. He taunted inwardly. He secured his hold on the gun before groping at his pants pocket for a small container. He fiddled with the container for a while and managed to take out the night-vision lens. He peeked over the corner and saw a bunch of kunoichis gathered a good twenty feet away from him. Quickly, Dearka ducked into the corner opposite of him. Now, he had a clear view of the kunoichis… Not to mention this closer hiding place enabled him to hear what they were talking about.
A gasp. Dearka felt his curiosity spike. Perhaps one of them recognised a fallen comrade? Recognised… Miriallia! His suspicion was confirmed when a shaky whisper was heard.
"Miriallia… Why? Why didn't Marionette kill her?" asked the shaky voice.
"She said something about her being a useful tool." recalled another.
"Maybe she is using Miriallia against Cagalli! They are after all good friends… after the rest of their group died, they became closer…" a sad voice speculated. Dearka felt his eyebrows arch. They actually sound… sad?
"Marionette won't like it if we let her escape… After all, she has Master as her captive… We must obey her wishes if we don't want him killed…" an angered growl drifted to his ears. There was a slight clang of metal against metal before someone sighed and asked them to return to their posts. Dearka felt the air in his gut come out of him in a whoosh. They were doing this to protect their Master? Dearka focused on the main objective he was being here; to destroy their weaponry storehouse and save Miriallia in the midst of it. Dearka scanned the area and found that there was at least thirty kunoichis in the vicinity. Not including those in the storehouse. Damn. Dearka thought. He needed a distraction… A distraction… Yeah! The bombs he planted along the corridors would come in handy! His right hand fished out the small remote he was given. His thumb pressed down onto the button and on cue a series of explosions sounded in the mansion. Dearka heard several gasps, shuffling of feet and someone calling out orders.
"The bastard bombed the weaponry room!" Dearka heard one of them yell angrily. Weaponry room? But I… The sneaky bitch! He thought darkly. He did come across a library on his way here but never did he suspect that their weapons were stashed in a library… He had unexpectedly completed his first objective and now, all he has to do was to save Miriallia. He scanned the area once more; to his delight, there were nine kunoichis left… Easy. He browsed through the contents of his other pouch located at his belt. Grenade… Cyanide gas bombs… Small darts… Powder… Knockout gas! Bingo! Holding his handkerchief (which magically appeared) to his nose and mouth, he sprayed the knockout gas into the air. Due to the fact that it was colourless and odourless, the kunoichis never realized that there was knockout gas in the air until they fell unconscious to the world for the next two hours. Dearka scanned the area before leaping out from his hiding place and leaving a few bombs at the corridor he saw the kunoichis used to run to the library. If any were to come back, he would make sure none would get to him and Miriallia.
Dearka looked about frantically; his blood pounding in his ears and his lungs burning with a need for fresh air. He decided to wait for another fifteen minutes before removing his handkerchief from his mouth and nose. He could not risk getting knocked out could he? His violet eyes ran along every nook and cranny of the area. Until they fell onto the trash bags lying nearby. Maybe… Whoa! Lady Luck sure is favouring me today! Dearka mused in his head. IN the midst of the smelly trash, lay Miriallia still unconscious; dried blood ran from her forehead to her chin, her mouth gagged and her limbs bound. And by the looks of it, she would surely get bruises and a nice headache from the head blow. Even in this situation, Dearka still thought that she looks lovely… Her auburn hair all around her head in a slightly ruffled manner not to mention the slight frown set upon her pale-complexioned face made her look without doubt like a… he paused to find the correct words… A fallen angel? Bah! He was never praised for his vocabulary anyway… Dearka waved off his thoughts and proceeded to untie the unconscious woman from her confines.
Dearka was careful with Miriallia, afraid to aggravate her wounds. Despite him being gentle, she still stirred.
"De… Dearka?" her voice came out weak and slightly raspy.
"Yeah?" his reply came almost immediately. Miriallia tensed as she tried to speak her next sentence. Her dry throat was making things hard for her. Dearka brought a bottle of water to her lips; which Miriallia drank gratefully.
"Where are the others? Oh god! I have to tell Cagalli of Marionette's plot to kill her! I've got to… Urgh…" the rest of her answer came out as a hiss of pain.
Miriallia clutched to her head in agony before looking up to Dearka pleadingly, "Bring me to her… please…" Miriallia added.
A/N: R&R…