Okay, okay, I'll quit writing all of those annoying one-shots and get back to the real stuff! And yes, my brain is now out of yaoiland since the science fair, when I was quite bored and went on a little Dilandau x Celena writing binge. And yes, strangely enough, I like Dilandau x Celena more than Dilandau x Hitomi. So please don't ask why I'm writing the latter. I don't know myself.

Oh yes, and just to brag a little since no one at school seems to care, I won the Regional Science Fair in my category! W00T! And no, I won't tell you my project or what state I live in, since you could probably figure out exactly who I am and where I live from that. But anyway… W00T!

IMPORTANT: Chapters 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 were each merged together, forming one chapter per pair. Chapter 7 (Now 4) was untouched. I did this to raise the word/chapter ratio and hopefully attract some new reviewers. Thank you all for putting up with my oft-idiotic musings. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Damn lawyers… I don't own Escaflowne, okay? Sheesh, get a life. Other than stalking me to see if I slip up. Sigh. The things people stoop to these days… Shakes head. Wanders off.

-

Last time: Hitomi gasped aloud as she was flung out of her vision and was greeted by a terrifying sight – As she had witnessed Elis' past, the fight between Dilandau and the Zaibachian spy had progressed. Features set in a grim expression, Dilandau had pinned his opponent to the ground and now held his sword point to the elder man's throat.

Scarlet eyes narrowing suddenly and a wicked smirk growing on his face, the Dragonslayer pulled his blade back for the final strike.

"Dilandau, DON'T!"

Chapter 5: Interrogate Satan

-

The silver head whipped around to catch a glimpse of the speaker. Who the hell was interfering with his kill? Crimson eyes narrowed to mere bloody slits.

Large, innocent green orbs and short honey hair filled his vision.

"H-Hitomi?" His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates just as rapidly as they had narrowed. The glinting blade trembled a bit in his wavering hands. What had happened? What was he doing? The albino grew more and more confused and worried with each second it took for the seer to reach him. As if to deny his confusion, his knuckles reflexively whitened around the blade's scarlet hilt.

"Dilandau!" Soft arms encircled his neck from behind as her warm breath caressed his ear.

"Are you okay?" He slowly released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Was he okay? Like I have any standard for 'okay'. Came the sarcastic retort from the depths of his mind. The ex-captain brushed it aside.

"Yeah…" The reply was shakier than he had intended. Was it too late to say 'Oops'?

To his great relief, however, he felt her comfortable weight slip off his shoulders and he straightened. Ignoring the brisk morning breeze sweeping in from the lightening east, he steadied his blade once more and held it firmly at Elis' throat. How he knew exactly where or how to place it was beyond him. All he knew, and all he cared to know, was that he could place it. The brown-haired Zaibachian wasn't getting away without answering a few questions.

"D… Dilandau…? What are you doing?" Hitomi's voice echoed uncertainly from his side. Damn. He really needed her support for this. He had no clue as to what he was doing.

"I'm getting some answers."

---

"Ugh…"

A lean brown-headed boy landed lightly on the ground with a soft clink of tools. Hot damn, but it had been a long, sweaty two weeks. He suddenly found himself immeasurably grateful for his training with the guymelef technicians. He could never have repaired his beloved mecha without those skills.

Damn, but had he ever mentioned that he loved this thing? He stepped over to the gargantuan blue shin plate and patted it affectionately. Okay, so maybe it wasn't the greatest patch job he'd ever seen, but it was good for a first try. At least his baby worked now. Which was a vast improvement from the wreck that bastard had made of it. He wished his could say that his left leg had healed as nicely. Ah well, it had eased up some lately, and the doctor had said that he would stop limping within another week or two, right?

Goosebumps raised upon his once-warm tan flesh as the frigid breeze snapped him out of his self-pity. Suddenly realizing where he was, he stepped into the newborn sunshine for the first time in nearly two weeks, covering his exit as he left. The concealing vines were swiftly tugged over the cave's entrance with a barely a rustle. He paused a moment to make a few minor adjustments to the foliage's arrangement… There!

The young mechanic stepped back a moment, ocean blue eyes sparkling as he appraised his handiwork. No matter how hard the wind blew now, no one would ever find his precious 'Melef. Perfect. With a final nod of approval, he gathered his tools and sword belt and began the fifteen minute trek back to his cabin. Why he had bothered to stay in the cave when his home was so conveniently close escaped him entirely, but it didn't matter now, he supposed. The blue-eyed boy grinned at the familiar slap of the scabbard on his thigh as he slipped into the dense, tangled boughs of the forest. It would be great to sleep in a real, fluffy bed again…

---

"ANSWER ME!" The infuriated shriek pierced the stillness of the woods, startling several ravens from their nests.

In all of his jaded life, Elis the not-woodsman had never been so frightened. He had survived the streets of Zaibach's capital of Zurien, stared down Sorcerers, and infiltrated the innermost circles of the most dangerous dignitaries from nearly every country on Gaea, but now, staring into the blazing red eyes of Dilandau Albatou, he realized that all of those experiences had just been practice for the real test. And he was failing miserably. Elis nearly drew blood from his lip in a desperate attempt to keep from quailing under those twin flaming suns. Needless to say, this was bad.

Oh shit. The understatement was so ridiculous that he nearly laughed aloud. Nearly. To actually do so would likely have gotten him killed.

"I'll say this ONE MORE TIME," The last three syllables were dictated with a painstaking deliberation, "Where. Are. We. Now?"

"F-Freid. About five miles from the ruins of Godashim, near the small village of Sikano." Damn. Now his lip really was bleeding. Elis' large pink tongue ventured out of its sanctuary to lick off the velvety droplet that his hand dared not. Sadly, it could do nothing for the long stream of blood meandering its way through the jungle of his unkempt beard. But then again, the spy hadn't exactly anticipated a blow from the sword's blade, now had he?

"Good," Came the sickeningly sweet reply, "Now we're getting somewhere." A vicious smirk. At close range, Elis could swear the boy had fangs. "Stay out of his way," His guide told him, gesturing to the sparring albino, "Around here, Albatou has a reputation for looking for fights. He's pretty volatile." Elis vaguely recalled receiving the warning during his first tour of the Vione. 'Volatile' my ass. Try 'psychotic sadist'. He thought sarcastically, watching his captor glancing longingly at the blood on the bared blade. What the hell was he going to do with that, exactly…? By the gleaming insanity in the ex-commander's eyes, Elis had the sinking feeling that the maniac would actually lick it off, just like in the plays. Utterly revolted at his own train of thought, he barely suppressed a shudder.

---

Dimly, Dilandau realized that he should probably hop off his little cloud and get back to actually interrogating the prisoner, instead of just tormenting him. However, the psychotic, controlling, side of him whined back that it was having too much fun, and finding himself somehow unable to deny that claim, the albino was forced to sit back and watch his own vicious actions from a safe distance. However, Hitomi fixed this particular problem for him.

"Dilandau…? What are you doing?" The grass rustled softly about her sneakers as she slipped to his side.

His ruby gaze snapped over to his companion, forcibly shaking him from Cloud Nine. "Getting information." The response came out slightly quicker and more robotic than he had intended.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She looked ready to feel his forehead for a temperature or something. How the hell he knew this he didn't know, but shoved the observation into the rapidly growing pile of information for later review. At the moment, it was obtaining intelligence, not musing over mindless fancies, was his objective. Intelligence? Ugh… Not again He really needed to work on his focus.

"Who do you work for?"

"The Sorcerers of Zaibach. I thought you knew that already."

"I do. I just wanted to hear it from your own mouth. It solidifies my conclusions."

"Next question; Why are you here and why did you try to attack me?"

The spy almost seemed to cringe at this. Was he afraid of something? Elis hadn't looked Dilandau in the eye since the beginning of the interrogation, but now his gaze was slipping off to the side, as if nervous or frightened. The captive's attention was brought back to Dilandau by yet another chill breeze flowing down from the pastel sky.

"I… Can't answer that."

"What? Why?"

"They… They'll kill me if they find out I told you."

"Then don't let them find out."

"I've already failed in my mission to recapture you. They'll kill me for failure… Or worse." The spy shuddered slightly in terror, but Dilandau suddenly realized that the comment wasn't an errant slip of the tongue. Was Elis trying to give him information in a manner that a hidden Sorcerer wouldn't pick up on? Catching on, he responded in kind, pointedly not mentioning the older man's mission.

" 'Or worse'. What do you mean by that?"

"I… Really can't explain that one. And I don't think that you really want to know."

"No, this is important. Tell me."

"You really want to know?"

The albino experienced a sickening moment of internal vertigo, but it passes quickly. Regardless of what it was, he wanted to know. For his sake and Hitomi's, he had to. "Yes." The words flowed so easily from his mouth, but what revelation would the answer bring?

"You of all people should know. You're one of them."

Dilandau gasped, expressive ruby eyes widening. He felt the tidal wave of a vision crash against his mind, but was too late to hold it at bay. Something told him that this wouldn't be like the earlier, quickly-forgotten flashbacks. Distantly, he heard his sword clatter to the ground as he quickly followed it, blackness edging his fading vision. Then, it was gone entirely and his world was left in blackness.

---

It began with a slow drip, like a water droplet from one of Zaibach's new faucets.

-

End Chapter

Hopefully this chapter was a little better than the last since I reread some of my older (and strangely better, since I was half asleep while writing it) and was inspired to bring the writing quality of this fic to greater heights. That, and I'm trying to take Cyn's superb advice. Thanks Cyn! You rock!

Oh yeah, and while you're at it, please check out my other two one-shots. One's a little poem-fic that I'm incredibly proud of and have been reading to everyone I bump into. Seriously. It used to be on the Holocaust (I'm finding that I write amazing poetry on that, strangely), and it would simply make my day if you took about 5 minutes of your time to read and review it. I would be really, REALLY happy. No matter what you have to say about it. Thanks!

Hope you enjoyed! 'Till next chapter, farewell!

Aurah

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