Blades here.I apologize greatly for the delay in this update. Feel free to flay me.

Wings also here, don't flay her. There won't be a fic otherwise. ^^

As she watched him kneel in front of the Emperor,his head bowed low, she couldn't help but pity the Fanelian prince. There was a tension to his shoulder, a quivering in his ki of emotions that made her pity him. She had an idle, stray thought as she smoothed the wrinkles of the purple furisode kimono that the emperor insisted she wear when the court was gathered. She shook her head. Her old mentor would stone her if she ever knew of such a forbidden thought.

The prince stood slowly, moving with more of the liquid grace of a trained warrior rather then the smooth grace that was inherent in most royalty.

It was only to be expected, she supposed, since it was their military prowess that Fanelia had been most widelyknown for.

To think that Dornkirk could reduce Fanelia to nothing more than this. To think that he would put the heir in such a position that he would agree to submit to Zaibach's rule for the sake of his people. Her emerald eyes softened. If only her emperor would show such compassionto hispeople.

Then the prince raised his head as he regarded the emperor, his eyes only briefly flicking over to where she stood at her lord's side before dismissing her completely.

For the briefest of moments their eyes met, and she was stunned by the passion she saw burning there.

His service to the court that he had accepted to save his people would kill him, she realized. She allowed that forbidden thought to settle into her consciousness.

He would be better off dead.

He gave a curt bow as General Albatou appeared at his side. Before the prince turned to follow her old friend out of the throne room, his eyes rested on her and she was painfully aware of the curiosity that burned there.

She tried very hard to ignore the strange quivering of excitement at the appraising look.

His gaze lingered on her form, travelling down the length of her body in a manner that was hardly proper, before he swept past the general and down towards the threshold.

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling. It appeared that it would be some time before the emperor and his Sorcerers would succeed in breaking this man.

XXX

He leant on the railing with a slight sigh, eyes fixed past his vaporous breath as he watched the open air drama unfold.

And to his own considerable surprise he was impressed.

Folken Fanel, the master of all antiquities usually scoffed at the idea of imagining what the 'past' was like. There was plenty of evidence to show exactly what it was like, so why was there a need for imagination?

But for some reason this piece of theatre marking the opening of the exhibition actually seemed enjoyable on a historical level.

The costumes were remarkably accurate for the era, unlike the recent TV dramatisation which in his own mind seemed more like a complete warp of what was accepted historical fact. His wife however had loved the low cut dresses and heaving bosoms, despite his exasperated response that women of the court did not dress like prostitutes of the current age. Even his most junior assistant had ridiculed that, saying it was a slap in the face for true historical evidence.

And for that matter, where was she?

His wife had gone shopping, wanting to enjoy the town whilst she was here and stay out of the dismal frost. The twins were on either side of him, eyeing up all the male actors, as usual. Apparently a man who was shirtless in the bitter cold was an act of bravery to them, therefore making him extremely attractive. And the males on his team were feeling unwell from the local cuisine and in their rooms, or as Hitomi put it suffering from major hangovers and too embarrassed to say anything.

That said, where had she got to?

Hitomi had been the one to drag them all here – him – here saying it would be interesting to see a different cultural take on the famous legendary tale. She had even laughed at the twins' drooling as the actors came out onto the steps. But at some point she had left their group and slipped away from the crowds. She was small he pondered, would it be possible for her to be trampled?

He shook his head, sighing as he recognized her.

Hitomi Kanzaki may have been the smallest member of their team, but she was by far the least vulnerable. He could recall only weeks ago in Daedalus, within a mass grave site, the boys yelling in fright at a scorpion that fell out of a set of human ribs, which Hitomi then picked up, by the tail, flinging it up and out of the trench. She was no pushover by any means.

So trampling was out.

But what did that leave?

He wasn't left with his thoughts for long as he heard a loud voice over the crowd, "Folken!" Followed by a blur of pink hair?

Swiftly followed by a young female throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around him; the force making him sway on the spot. He smiled gently and ruffled her now dyed hair and asked as she lifted her head up.

"Pink, Merle? Pink?" She grinned and shrugged,

"I got bored of blue and this looks so much better." She poked him viciously, and accused,

"You haven't been home in months and the first thing you say to me when I see you is about my hair?"

He laughed generously and hugged her properly this time, with less shock in his system. "It's good to see you too little sister." She grinned, nodding.

"Totally! Guess who else is here?" she said even more excited, turning back to the crowd she had appeared from. Folken noticed that the people nearest to them were staring. And with his blue tinged hair and Merle's pink, he could understand why.

His eyes scanned the crowd for whomever Merle had come with and saw with a smirk a disgruntled man with messy raven hair and narrowed brown eyes. He saw Merle's hand wave in front of his face as she bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to attract his little brother's attention. The messy raven hair turned a few times, whipped in several directions by the winds before his full face turned towards them and saw his siblings watching him.

He gestured back and without any haste made his way fluidly through the crowd with unrestrained ease, though his face showed his annoyance.

But Van was always easily riled by anything, he thought amusedly.

That was why he was the archaeologist and Van was now the head of the family corporation. Van got angry and made demands, getting things amended, Folken wanted to find out the why, how, and where. This, of course was not material for the CEO of a global business, but his parents hadn't minded, which had been a good thing for both brothers or at least in his eyes.

"Hey," was the sole word from his brother's mouth.

Merle reached over to her more stoic brother and clung to his arm, exclaiming happily. "See! I told you he'd be here! Aren't I amazing?"

The corners of the dark haired Fanel family member's mouth twitched upwards and he nodded, replying.

"Yes Merle, you're amazing," in his most commonly sardonic tone.

He nodded to Folken "We thought you'd be here for the opening ceremony so we…"

"Decided to surprise you and see the prodigal member of our family!" Merle chipped in, still bouncing on the balls of her feet, even though it was bitingly cold.

Folken smiled at the love radiating from his youngest sibling. He was grateful to her that she didn't feel resentment towards him for running off with his wife all those years ago. He didn't know what he could say for his brother's feelings, and he wasn't sure whether it was entirely a good thing.

"About time!" Came another loud, exasperated voice over the crowd as a man with startling long blond hair appeared in front of them followed by another blonde, this time female.

"Allen," Van acknowledged, his gaze transferred from his brother to the actors on the steps, to Folken's surprise.

"Oh isn't it romantic." The female sighed forlornly, looking at the action on the steps before she turned to Folken and smiled,

"Folken! It's lovely to see you again." She bowed slightly to him, and he returned the gestured,

"The same with you Millerna," he swivelled slightly to the taller blonde, "Allen." He inclined his head to Allen, who nodded in turn.

"Where's your lovely wife?" Allen asked genially, then frowning as he heard Van snort in amusement as Folken smiled tiredly and murmured.

"She prefers the indoor heating of shopping centres to this apparently."

"Oh!" Merle complained, turning briefly from watching the performance. "I wanted to see Sora!"

"I do love this story!" Millerna murmured, clasping her hands together excitedly, as the shirtless male gestured with his fake sword and the female on stage simpered in return.

"Ugh, what is it with girls and men with swords?" came another female voice. The group turned to see the newcomer. The twins giggled at the possible innuendo.

Folken had only just turned to back to the performance out on the steps of the museum and blinked at the almost magical reappearance of his junior assistant, who grinned back at him.

"Where did you go?" he demanded, aware that his family were staring at the scoffing figure. Hitomi smiled and thrust out a steaming paper bag,

"Pork Buns!" she answered chirpily, seemingly absorbed by the food, but noticing his annoyance she continued. "I could smell them all the way from over here, and the performance was getting a bit too lovey-dovey for my taste so I went for some. Want one?" she offered, and sighed as he shook his head, turning back to the performance.

He watched as she leant on the railing and offered some of the food to the twins who eagerly moved to either side of her, accepted the food, and whispered critiques of the actor's six-pack to Hitomi's apparent amusement. But he could see in her stance she seemed uneasy somehow, so he stepped forward and ruffled the green woolly hat on her head.

"Next time you disappear, tell someone first." He muttered. "You could get lost here." He was startled by the broad smile that appeared on her face as she turned round.

Only then did he notice that her eyes were red—from the cold? He wasn't the only one to be surprised by the gesture as he heard someone else inhale rapidly.

He saw from the corner of his eye that Allen's gaze seemed locked onto his assistant's smile. Hitomi turned back round as the male actor spoke aloud.

"I will protect you Lady Seeress. Even unto death."

Once again Hitomi stiffened at the lines smoothly delivered by the actor as he gazed heatedly at his female counterpart.

"Don't like the romance 'Tomi?" Naria asked the girl in between her and her twin, slinging an arm round her, pouting teasingly. Hitomi rolled her eyes, but was unable to defend herself as Eryia cut across.

"Well, she's never properly experienced it, so she's bound to scoff."

Hitomi sighed. "That not why I'm scoffing."

"Oh?"

"Then why?" The twins asked in conjunction.

Even Folken knew to be wary when Naria and Eryia pulled their double act, but Hitomi seemed distracted somehow.

"I just don't think Escaflowne, the legendary warrior would be such a—flirt." She sighed as both females burst into giggles.

"Well I wouldn't mind if Mr. Shirtless down there cranked up the charisma with me any day." Naria said silkily, her eyes almost burning into the male actor's defined back.

"And anyway, is there any historical proof that Escaflowne wasn't a skirt-chaser? Hmm?" Eryia tagged from the other side.

The whole group, seemingly drawn to the three girls' conversation, paused. Folken saw that even his brother had his eyes trained on his assistant's woolly hat and the tendrils of hair that escaped it. They waited for the seemingly helpless response, but caught a cool, leisurely retort.

"That's easy." Hitomi answered, her eyes now glued to the theatre piece, acting as if she had properly answered the question. "He had no children." She placed her cards on the table and tilted her head in what Folken recognised as a sign of triumph for her.

Naria and Eriya tilted their heads in unison as they regarded Hitomi. The younger woman ignored the looks, keeping her attention riveted on the play.

On stage, a woman with glaringly fake blond hair latched onto the arm of the shirtless Escaflowne, pressing her ample bosom against the man's arm. Folken could still see the tension in the way Hitomi tried to lean over the railing in a show of nonchalance. There was a crinkle as Hitomi tightened her grip on the bag of pork buns.

He shook his head slightly, not entirely sure what to make of his junior's assistant strange behavior.

Of course, it wasn't as if anyone could ever accuse her of being normal. She didn't share the twins' obsession with the eye candy of the opposite sex, and there had always been—especially in the past couple of years—something a little off about her behavior.

Out of all of his students, Hitomi had probably done the most extensive research on the history of Zaibach in general, and the Era of Science in particular. The Era of Science...words most commonly associated with Emperor Dornkirk's reign of suppression. For all that he had utterly destroyed so many nations, the emperor had pioneered some of the most innovative technological advances at the time.

Within the past few months his youngest assistant had been devoting a staggering amount of hours to whatever projects that he had about Zaibach, and the ones that centred around separating fact from fiction with the legend of Escaflowne seemed to be particularly fascinating to her.

His own pondering towards his assistant was cut short as Naria threw back her head and laughed so loudly the actors on the steps turned to the loud noise.

The blatantly false wig on the actress swung perilously towards the ground as every neck in the area involuntarily twisted towards the musical sound. Folken noticed that unlike the males in the crowd and apparently the one on stage focusing on Naria, Hitomi had raised an eyebrow and was munching calmly on a steaming bun.

The actors and crowd quickly returned to the theatre piece, despite Escaflowne's gaze swivelling towards the silver haired twin and smirking at her occasionally over the head of the actress he was meant to be seducing.

"Well?" Eryia asked, aware that her twin hadn't just laughed to create attention. Naria grinned back at her.

Folken watched as the elder twin then leaned in close to Hitomi, an arm slung across the shorter girl's shoulder as she surreptitiously snuck a bun from the half open paper bag. He didn't have to strain to hear her comment,

"So the God of War didn't have a brood of children bearing his name? How do we know he wasn't with every girl around and left them reminders? They wouldn't be official."

"Yeah, if he was anything like the hottie down there…," Eryia gestured with her hand, swiping the half eaten bun from her twin, "I'd be surprised Escaflowne didn't have his own harem."

"Ne, it was a belief in those days to have relations with a woman before a battle, for luck and possibly an heir in case of problems in battle…"

"Think about all those battles…"

"And all that…" Naria was stopped by Folken coughing loudly.

She turned to her boss, a question in her now docile expression. Folken paid her no attention as his eyes were fixed on the paper bag of steaming cuisine. Or rather the fingers wrapped round them, turning blue from something other than the temperature he presumed.

Fingers, that were curled so tightly around the paper that they seemed to be pressing into the pork buns that remained untouched. Hitomi's form was deceptively relaxed but her expression was carefully blank. She seemed to be watching the play but something about her eyes seemed...distant. As if she wasn't quite registering the way the buxom actress was nearly grinding against the half naked actor.

Folken stopped his study of his assistant whom, even though he hated favoritism, he had to admit was one of the most valuable assets to his team, despite being the youngest member. The cherry of the team, as the twins liked to say.

The blue-haired professor turned his attention back to the stage. Hitomi had been right in saying that it would be an experience. While Sora had dragged him to countless productions of the tragic legend, this was probably the most...carnal production that he had ever seen. From the way stage was set up, to the costumes and even the way the play was scripted it spoke of an accuracy that the current Zaibach government tried to dismiss.

Still it seemed as if this particular scene was more decadent then evidence suggested, and it was rather surprising, considering it was a short walk across the bridge until one would reach the border checkpoints to Zaibach.

Folken's gaze turned to the western front and the imposing valleys that signalled the natural and political boundary between the rest of Gaea and Zaibach. 1,000 years on from the tyrannical reign of Emperor Dornkirk and Zaibach still held a sense of separation from the rest of Gaea.

For Folken Fanel, Professor of Archaeology – specified field Zaibach in the Era of Science; the country held a mysterious quality to him. As if there were secrets to still be found surrounding the Emperor. Even though there were written records abound, Folken's professional mind told him archaeological evidence was equally or more important.

For him, the tomb of Emperor Dornkirk was equivalent to the Holy Grail of Asgard or more important.

But not in the sense it was for other scholars. His Basram counterparts irked him tremendously in that they would probably loot the tomb like their bandit ancestors or see the money signs rolling and nothing else. He wanted to discover the tomb, to feel how it felt all those years ago, to feel the awe that an entire continent once held for just one man.

And the tiny voice that sounded oddly like his most junior assistant's told him how close he was to the border. How easy it would be to cross it. And then he could dig wherever he pleased.

His imaginary discovery of the Tomb complete with wearing a western, leather hat and Sora in khaki hotpants was cut short by a loud cry from another of his female assistants. However it wasn't one of the twins kicking up a fuss.

And surprisingly the crowd paid no attention to the high pitched cry as his split eyed gazed revealed the couple on stage were pushing the boundaries of what was considered publically acceptable.

He watched as Hitomi whirled round, hissing.

"What do you think…"

Folken saw Hitomi stop mid-rant at whomever had attempted to take a pork bun as the bag was clasped tightly behind her back. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction as another of his friends appeared.

Dilandau wasn't that good looking was he? His surprise rose as Hitomi dropped her precious and well-guarded food to jump at the silver haired man.

"Dilly!"

Folken could only raise an eyebrow as Hitomi nearly dropped her precious bag of food in order to launch herself at the silver-haired man that had appeared behind her. He grimaced. Dilandau Albatou had probably one of the more brilliant minds that he had ever had the pleasure of working with, though that pleasure seemed oddly masochistic at times.

At age 23, the young Asturian had already obtained a Masters in a dual major of history and archaeology.

While it was rare to achieve a degree in the amount of time it took most students to achieve a bachelor's it wasn't impossible. By the time he was 25, the youngest son of a family that was famous for its ruthless politicians, had achieved a doctorate in the same field with a specialization in battle reconstruction and ancient weaponry. He now worked as an associate professor, and assisted Folken with his own classes and projects while juggling the demanding projects from Gaea's Historical Society.

If he remembered correctly, Dilandau was currently supposed to be working on the construction of an exhibit on the Massacre of the Fortuna Temple that was to take place at the border between Asturia and Fried next month. Yet, here he was tagging along for, as the young Albatou termed it, a "dig in the sandbox".

Hitomi's face brightened considerably as Dilandau quite literally lifted her off of her feet and into what could only be described as a bear hug.

He hadn't been aware that the two were acquainted.

Out of the corner of his eyes, the archaeologist watched his brother step forward, something in his dark expression slightly strangled. If Folken didn't know better he would almost have hazarded a guess that Van was…jealous?

"Ow!"

He turned his head just in time to see Hitomi cuff the man's head as she jumped back down to her feet.

"What the hell was that for Hitomi?"

"Don't man handle me like that."

"Aw, Hitomi, don't be like that! I haven't seen you in forever. "

Van stepped to Folken's side, raking a hand through his unruly locks as he did so, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Dilandau!"

"Dilandau?"

Folken faced Hitomi originally to hear her shriek, then felt his neck twinge painfully as he whipped round to hear a male voice the other side of him echo. He groaned as his neck turned back again as Hitomi growled.

"You made me drop my buns!"

The twins were among the people that snorted in amusement at that comment.

He strained to see in the other direction as his brother seemed to mimic his toddler habit of standing behind him, peeking out from one side to covertly watch what was going on in front of his brother.

At the other end of his line of sight he saw Dilandau smirk and comment. "Really? They look perfect from where I'm standing."

Folken cringed at the blatant remark and waited for the sound of Hitomi's hand to reach his ears.

Once again, the trend of surprises continued as Hitomi's anger extended only to a hand gesture and turning back to the theatrical piece on the sweeping steps of the museum. He noticed Dilandau smirk at Hitomi's gesture before stepping forward slightly to ruffle her hat, causing a few more stray wisps of hair to fall from under her hat. She gestured negligently at him, pork buns forgotten as her eyes focused or seemed to on the actors who were, well…

"Ooh! Free porn!" Came the voice of Dilandau, with a strangely childlike gleefulness to it. Van snorted at the comment and Folken watched as Dilandau turned to the source of the noise and his eyes widened.

The look in the silver-haired professor's eyes were down right evil, and Folken was sincerely beginning to regret that he had agreed to letting the addition to the group when the head of the department had approached him with the request. If he had known who it was he never would have agreed.

Silently, his rust colored eyes fairly gleaming with evil intent, Dilandau left Hitomi's side and walked over towards Folken's younger brother. Merle was watching the silver haired man warily but it seemed that whatever it was she had gleaned from the man's intent she decided that it didn't pose too much of a threat and flounced over to join Hitomi's side. He felt another wave of trepidation at the two women who were so close in age, standing side by side. His little sister cocked her head to her side and studied Hitomi with her usual unnerving stare.

Strangely enough Hitomi, who seemed to be taking note of everything around her lately, took no notice of it. Then her lips quirked up into something that could almost be considered a smirk, and he could only wonder at it.

This was only moments before Van let out a scream that sounded very much like a strangled cat.

The archaeologist could only stare, his eyes wide, as he took in the scene that was causing quite a few of the surrounding tourists to stop and gawk at it.

Dilandau was currently draping his entire form over Van's upper body, with his head nuzzling Van's cheek in a mocking display of affection. Folken's younger brother was currently trying to extract himself from said hold while trying to touch the Albatou as little as possible.

Needless to say he wasn't succeeding very much.

Letting out an irritated sigh he brought his fingers up to his temples, trying to bring some sort of ease to the headache that he could already feel building.

I knew this wasn't a good idea.

Review Responses:

Inda - thanks! Muhahaha. Another victim.

thepinkmartini - thank you! Yeah the confusion was intentional. here's your development. Ku, ku, ku.

Lil' Dinky - Thanks! We're glad you did. Sorry for the wait! Arigatou gozaimasu.

mysisterisasquijum - Thanks. Glad you enjoyed. Hope you liked our work this chapter ^^

InLuvWidVan - lol, Escaflowne's your favourite character? Now why did you have to go and tell us that. You know telling me who your favorite is just brings out the worse in me. You got lucky. Wings will limit the amount of torture that I can inflict on him. Le sigh.

Tanwen Whitefire - psychic are we? Thanks for patiently waiting. Ku, ku, ku. Excellent. Thanks for being so patient. ^^

effervesernce—I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Most of the plot is courtesy of Wing's warped mind. ^^ Shh! Don't tell her I said that! Thanks! Yes we wanted to try something different. And Escaflowne's death is a secret ^.~

Hey thanks for reading. reviewers get naughty pics of dilandau?

Me thinks me be channeling Dilandau a tad too much. I think we need to keep you away from Anime Villains Anonymous meetings, you're getting too many bad habits! Nooo!!!

"Do not display objects of desire, so that the people's hearts shall not be disturbed." – Daodejing, Laozi

Reviews are much appreciated.