I'm going to do something I haven't done in any other chapter, and I
haven't the foggiest idea why: thank all those who reviewed. It really
means the world to me, and I'm rather surprised at my own lack of gratitude
(or at least show of). Thank you thank you, they make my day.
Disclaimer: Don't own Escaflowne, etc. Jessica drinks her own pee and should thusly be reprimanded, etc.
On with the show!
----~----------~--------~
And Now, Ladies and Gents: I Give You the King of Fanalia
-------~----------~-------
Ava released a Crima claw and flung a catapult through the air. They had attacked the Asturian Castle, which was now burning, people scattered and running, trying to fuel their feeble counter-attack against the Dragonslayers. "Smash everything! Set it on fire! Smoke out Escaflowne!" Dilandau's manic voice shouted in their ears. It was no secret to the Dragonslayers that they were after Escaflowne, but it was becoming a bit of a bother to find it; it was nowhere to be seen. Ava scanned the scene before her once more for the Escaflowne, while Dilandau kept shouting to himself over the comm.. ("Burn, Burn!") Folken's smooth voice entered the frequency. "This is foolish. How long are you going to resort to senseless slaughter?" "This is the surest was to destroy any evidence," Dilandau panted. "All we have to do now is capture Escaflowne once it's smoked out. Folken's tired voice rang out once more. "Do you think that Allen Shezar would do something as foolish as allowing himself be herded by a fire?" "What are you getting at?" Dilandau demanded cautiously. "The waterfall at the cliff behind the castle. They say that birds build nests behind waterfalls to prevent them from being attacked." Dilandau, grasping the concept, swore. "They're behind the castle!" he shouted to the Dragonslayers.
---~---~----~----
Once Dilandau had the waterfall epiphany, the battle between the two sides grew evermore tense. Van Fanel, king of Fanalia, had left the Crusade via his Guymelef, which, coincidentally, had the flying form of a Dragon. Realizing that this was the 'Dragon' Dornkirk was so bent up on, Dilandau ordered the Dragonslayers after him.
The Dragonslayers dropped neatly to the ground and initiated their stealth cloaks. Dilandau toyed with Escaflowne for a while, before emerging. "Gotcha. You set yourself up as a decoy to let the others escape, I bet. I can't stand that heroic crap!" he hissed, and struck Van. "I hate it!" he shouted pummeling Escaflowne. It fell to it's knees. Ava looked on, unimpressed. He was down already? Suddenly Folken's silky voice crackled in the ears of the Dragonslayers. "Are you trying to kill him, Dilandau? I thought I told you he was to be captured alive." Dilandau shot back smugly. "I was just having a little fun, Strategos."
--~-- Ava, Dallet, Chesta and Miguel patrolled around the Vionne. They had captured Escaflowne and Van Fanel, and hid themselves in a Levistone air field in a deep ravine. They flew about, casually, to search and destroy. It was useless, Ava thought. They wouldn't find them here.
--~---~ --~---~
A few hours later, Ava was alone in her room. Suddenly, Dilandau pushed open the door and strode in. Ava, lying on the bed in a tank top and shorts, didn't look up, but continued reading a rather large, leather-bound book.
"-Look Miguel, I told you. I'll pierce your nipple tomorrow, just go see Fol-" she had looked up and seen him. "Oh. Excuse me Sir. I thought you were someone else." Her cheeks turned a little red. "Obviously," he drawled, as he leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "Nipples?" she smiled awkwardly. "It's what he wanted.."
"Be that as it may, You're going to interrogate the prisoner," he started. Ava hrumphed. How about saying please?"
"He's in the interrogation room. Folken drugged him, so he'll be out for a while. But you need to do it as soon as he's awake, while he's still malleable. And it turns out that Fanel is Folken's brother." Ava was shocked. Folken had a brother? If that's true, then why isn't he the King of Fanalia? And why the hell is he with Zaibach? But before she could voice any of this, Dilandau went on:
"Folken wants him to join Zaibach, and he said that you're to use-" Dilandau coughed "any means necessary." Ava sighed. Clearly, He meant use her "Girlish charms" and even seduce, if necessary. Folken bashfully taught them about this kind of thing in her training sessions with Naria and Eriya, but it was all theory. She'd never tried it before. Dilandau was watching her impatiently. "Yes, Dilandau-sama." She said.
--~--~--
Van stayed out for a long time. Ava was getting impatient. She stood in the shadows, watching the figure who was bound to a metal device, shaped like a reclining chair, much like the ones that they had on earth, at what was it called? The dentist.
Ava considered the man strapped in the center of the dark room, directly under the only light. It turned out he was actually pretty close to her age, from what she could tell. And he was fairly good looking, in the lost puppy kind of way. It would make her job much easier, so she was thankful for that. She still didn't think that she should be doing this, however. True, she kind of knew what she was doing in theory, but she had never been one to really use her femininity as a weapon. She grew up in isolation, and was then thrown into the army in a squadron of teenage boys. Sure, there was sexual tension, but she was still just one of the guys, cursing and belching and blowing stuff up right along with them.
Van moaned softly and came to, opening his eyes. Ava watched as he blinked to focus, and noticed the restraints. He looked frightened. Ava chuckled, and his eyes darted around into the darkness.
"Who's there?" he said. "Brother?" "Brother?" Ava thought. "This guy's more doped up than I thought." She stepped out of the shadows slowly, smirking.
"Fanel," she said.
"Who are you?" Van asked, wide-eyed.
"Who am I?" Ava repeated. "I am a dream, a figment in your imagination. I am an omen." She said, strolling around him slowly, inwardly gagging at the cheesiness. She unzipped her jacket and let it fall off her shoulders to the floor, before turning to face him. He was goggling at her. She sat down next to him, letting her fingers graze his arm. "Join us," she breathed. "I know the conflict within you. You're lonely. Join us and you will be with your brother always, as it was meant to be." She could see the struggle within Van. That was good, her words were hitting home. "You'll never have to worry again. Don't you want all the pain to go away?" she said, a trace of a seductive smile on her face, brushing a lock of raven hair out of his confused, puppy dog eyes. "We can make all the hurting stop." She whispered softly into his ear. He smelled vaguely of field grass.
"N-no." he said, strangled. Ava put on a mock pout. Frankly, she didn't give a rat's ass what this guy did, but she knew she had to try.
"Aw," she said, climbing onto the recliner until she was straddling him, "Please? It would make Folken-sama happy. and me happy." she said, inches from his face. It was plain to see that Van was delirious, and he was fighting to clear his head and make sense of what was going on. "Just say yes." she breathed, lips tickling his neck. Van was looking frantic now, as if he wanted to say yes, but couldn't remember why he shouldn't, although he knew there was a reason why not. Something caught Ava's attention over Van's head. She peered into the darkness, squinting. It was Dilandau, watching. He was looking at Van something of a mixture both amusement, and malice. Ava turned red. He saw her parading around like a succubus, acting skanky.
"H-Hitomi..: Van sputtered suddenly, as if he finally recalled something he had been trying hard to remember. Huh? Ava thought, and sat up. Then she heard Allen Shezar's voice in her head: "She's my new lover. I found her in the east. Her name is Hitomi." It was that short haired girl with the sailor uniform. Did Van like this girl? Before she could react, Van shouted her name again. "Hitomi! HITOMI!!" He yelled. Ava jumped down, watching Van's unfocused eyes dart around. "HELP! Brother!." Van yelled. He had broken out into a cold sweat, and suddenly screamed out with great magnitude, and then was silent. He had passed out again. Ava looked up at Dilandau. He shrugged, and motioned for her to follow. She picked her jacket off the floor and followed him outside, closing the door behind her.
"Hmm. You failed," he said, although he didn't look all that mad. Just amused. Ava frowned, embarrassed. Dilandau smirked. " I didn't know Folken taught you how to take your clothes off and straddle people." Ava turned pink.
"I've never done that before. I could've had him." She said to a spot on the floor, as she zipped up her armor.
"Hm. No matter. It's Folken's problem. And-" he stopped, and looked like he wasn't quite sure how to go on, "you did alright."
If Ava didn't know any better, she'd say that sounded like a compliment.
---~----~
For the third time that evening, Guimel managed to impale himself with a dart.
Ava could see him with his wounded digit thrust in his mouth, but no less enjoying the merriment of playing darts, in a bar, while drunk. Ava, on the other hand, was sitting safely at the large, crude wooden table with the rest of the Dragonslayers. They had promptly decided that, after a mission well-done, they all deserved a reward, especially if in drunken-partying form, and had therefore filed out of the Vionne, Guymelef after Guymelef, and had infiltrated the nearest pub.
The nearest pub, as it turned out, reminded Ava of something right out of a pirate movie she had seen on earth. The high ceilings with antique-looking (and filthy) tapestries, large wooden tables resembling something would encounter at the butcher, high backed chairs and lit by torches. As well as bar wenches. Lots of them.
Ava sat, elbows on the table and running her finger along the edge of her half-empty mug. The others were carrying on a rather loud and animated conversation about God-knows-what, but Ava sat in silence, looking into her beer. It wasn't that she was not enjoying the festivities, but heavy drinking at a fast rate had always led her downward, and she got lethargic and introverted, and fast. She blinked once, hard. The grain in the table was swirling.
Standing up, then recovering from a stagger, she was suddenly stiflingly hot. She quickly peeled off her Armor, but kept her sword scabbard strapped securely to her waist. Then she smirked. Nothing makes a good mix like booze and sharp weaponry. Clad now only in her blue tank top from the waist up, she pushed through the crowd to the restrooms.
'Is there even a girl's room in here?' she muttered to herself after strongly discouraging a pass from a much older, much drunker man.
After safely finding and using the washroom, she entered the crowded bar again. From across the room, she spotted a busty server lean in close beside Dilandau, the top of her breasts grazing his shoulder as she set a full pitcher on the table. Faces close, he turned and gazed at her, the corners of his mouth turned up in a sultry smile. She winked back.
Suddenly finding herself slightly sober, Ava pushed her way once more through the crowd, only being careful to pass by the bar wench and deliberately elbowing her hard, causing her to drop a tray of empty glasses. When she reached her seat, she gulped down the full beer in front of Miguel ("Hey!"). She poured herself another, and slouched over her drink. Suddenly Guimel was pulling her up excitedly.
"Hey! Hey, Ava, I got a GREAT idea. I dare you to.." And he whispered, or certainly what Guimel though was whispering, into her ear. She broke into an evil grin. She certainly was drunk enough.
Guimel dragged her onto a small, levitated platform. They murmured something to the greasy chap sitting in the corner behind odd-looking equipment, he nodded, and she stepped forward to the front of the platform, facing the rest of the bar. Guimel stayed back and was stamping his foot with glee.
A sexy, heavy beat sounded up from behind her. The music had started. Giggling slightly and swaying on the spot, she watched the rest of the occupants grow quiet and watch her with mild interest. She heard a whistle somewhere in the back.
She started rocking slightly with the beat, and cleared her throat:
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
With renewed confidence, she started swaying her hips and dancing with more fervor.
Listen to me baby, hear every word I say
No one can love you the way I do
'Cause they don't know how to love you my way
Somebody made a cat-call, to which she responded by grinding her hips seductively and moving with various other tantalizing and provocative dance movies. Seeing those Britney Spears music videos was paying off.
You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the morning
Fever all through the night
As she sang and taunted the ranging testosterone, she glanced at the Dragonslayers, and was met with fourteen mouths hanging wide-open in astonishment. Most surprisingly, so was Dilandau's.
---~----~--- The next morning, or afternoon, rather, Ava dragged herself out of bed to tackle the mother-of-all hangovers. She was in for it now, she had over- slept. Swaggering over to her bath-kit, she grabbed her stuff and headed for a much-needed shower.
Now cleaned and feeling significantly better, Ava, now in uniform, was making her way through the corridors towards the Cafeteria when she heard the alarm sound.
---~--~---~
Ava rushed into the anchorage just in time to see the Crusade sail off. Dilandau was walking unsteadily near the door, among all the dead soldiers. He was alone. Ava approached cautiously. Dilandau seemed to be dazed.he was mumbling and holding his hand to his face. Ava drew nearer, stepping over the bodies of the fallen.
"Dilandau-sama." she stopped short. Blood was leaking out from under his fingers, down his face and arm. She rushed over. "Dilandau-sama! Are you alright? What happened?" At first he ignored her.
"How. How dare you. My face." he murmured softly in disbelief. His eyes came back into focus and he looked at her. "What?" he said, though not rudely. Just confused.
'What happened?" Ava repeated. Dilandau blinked and looked at his bloody hands. He was swiftly filled with rage.
"How dare he! How dare he mangle me like this and escape! I hate him!" he screamed, kicking a dead soldier. Ava watched with morbid disbelief, but Dilandau was still again, head downcast in livid defeat. Ava knew she was overstepping her boundaries, but she approached him anyway, touching his shoulder gently. He flinched, but he didn't slap her, which was more than she expected.
---~----~
Dilandau sat on the countertop in the locker room. Ava stood in from of him, liberally applying disinfectant fluid to a clean cloth. She carefully, and very cautiously brought it to the wound. Dilandau jumped back form the touch like a stuck pig and slapped her.
"Ow! That hurt!" Dilandau spat. Ava ignored the dull sting in her cheek and suppressed the urge to say things one shouldn't express to a commanding officer.
"It will only sting for a moment, and if we don't look after it, it will get infected or scar," This had the effect Ava was hoping for, for Dilandau appeared to consider that.
"Fine, then. But be gentle." Ava bit back a perverse, juvenile comment and once again dabbed the cut.
"You might need sutures. Perhaps you should go see the Madoshi, Lord Dilandau."
"No!" She shot out unexpectedly, then recovered himself. "No. I'm not going to them. For anything." Ava snorted.
"I don't blame you. They're creepy. Have you ever noticed their fascination with children? That's just..creepy." Ava meant it to be a joke, but it didn't have the desired effect on Dilandau. Instead he just looked deeply disturbed. Ava took that as a sign that it was time to shut up. She worked in silence for a few more minutes, applying a bandage to the cut and clearing the dried blood off his sleeve. It was not an uncomfortable silence; Dilandau was looking off into space pensively, which wasn't unordinary, and Ava continued playing doctor. At last, she put the bottles of fluids in the cabinet, signifying they were finished.
Dilandau was looking at her now, with that intense, piercing gaze that only he possessed. His face was mere inches from hers, but she didn't dare move. She could feel the neat radiating off his skin and smell the Vino on his light breath over the vinegar small of the disinfectant. His breath rustled a few strands of her hair. Then quite suddenly, he jumped down from the counter and walked away.
--------~---------~--------~--------~----------~
That was a fun one to write. Please R 'n' R, it makes me ever so happy. Please check out my site. It's got Illustrations from above story, and I updated it today. www.geocities.com/silverchair_fanatik/fanart.htm
NEXT CHAPTER: The Dragonslayers go on a trip, Something happens to Dilandau and they must find the culprit, and Ava gets into serious, bad-news trouble.
Disclaimer: Don't own Escaflowne, etc. Jessica drinks her own pee and should thusly be reprimanded, etc.
On with the show!
----~----------~--------~
And Now, Ladies and Gents: I Give You the King of Fanalia
-------~----------~-------
Ava released a Crima claw and flung a catapult through the air. They had attacked the Asturian Castle, which was now burning, people scattered and running, trying to fuel their feeble counter-attack against the Dragonslayers. "Smash everything! Set it on fire! Smoke out Escaflowne!" Dilandau's manic voice shouted in their ears. It was no secret to the Dragonslayers that they were after Escaflowne, but it was becoming a bit of a bother to find it; it was nowhere to be seen. Ava scanned the scene before her once more for the Escaflowne, while Dilandau kept shouting to himself over the comm.. ("Burn, Burn!") Folken's smooth voice entered the frequency. "This is foolish. How long are you going to resort to senseless slaughter?" "This is the surest was to destroy any evidence," Dilandau panted. "All we have to do now is capture Escaflowne once it's smoked out. Folken's tired voice rang out once more. "Do you think that Allen Shezar would do something as foolish as allowing himself be herded by a fire?" "What are you getting at?" Dilandau demanded cautiously. "The waterfall at the cliff behind the castle. They say that birds build nests behind waterfalls to prevent them from being attacked." Dilandau, grasping the concept, swore. "They're behind the castle!" he shouted to the Dragonslayers.
---~---~----~----
Once Dilandau had the waterfall epiphany, the battle between the two sides grew evermore tense. Van Fanel, king of Fanalia, had left the Crusade via his Guymelef, which, coincidentally, had the flying form of a Dragon. Realizing that this was the 'Dragon' Dornkirk was so bent up on, Dilandau ordered the Dragonslayers after him.
The Dragonslayers dropped neatly to the ground and initiated their stealth cloaks. Dilandau toyed with Escaflowne for a while, before emerging. "Gotcha. You set yourself up as a decoy to let the others escape, I bet. I can't stand that heroic crap!" he hissed, and struck Van. "I hate it!" he shouted pummeling Escaflowne. It fell to it's knees. Ava looked on, unimpressed. He was down already? Suddenly Folken's silky voice crackled in the ears of the Dragonslayers. "Are you trying to kill him, Dilandau? I thought I told you he was to be captured alive." Dilandau shot back smugly. "I was just having a little fun, Strategos."
--~-- Ava, Dallet, Chesta and Miguel patrolled around the Vionne. They had captured Escaflowne and Van Fanel, and hid themselves in a Levistone air field in a deep ravine. They flew about, casually, to search and destroy. It was useless, Ava thought. They wouldn't find them here.
--~---~ --~---~
A few hours later, Ava was alone in her room. Suddenly, Dilandau pushed open the door and strode in. Ava, lying on the bed in a tank top and shorts, didn't look up, but continued reading a rather large, leather-bound book.
"-Look Miguel, I told you. I'll pierce your nipple tomorrow, just go see Fol-" she had looked up and seen him. "Oh. Excuse me Sir. I thought you were someone else." Her cheeks turned a little red. "Obviously," he drawled, as he leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "Nipples?" she smiled awkwardly. "It's what he wanted.."
"Be that as it may, You're going to interrogate the prisoner," he started. Ava hrumphed. How about saying please?"
"He's in the interrogation room. Folken drugged him, so he'll be out for a while. But you need to do it as soon as he's awake, while he's still malleable. And it turns out that Fanel is Folken's brother." Ava was shocked. Folken had a brother? If that's true, then why isn't he the King of Fanalia? And why the hell is he with Zaibach? But before she could voice any of this, Dilandau went on:
"Folken wants him to join Zaibach, and he said that you're to use-" Dilandau coughed "any means necessary." Ava sighed. Clearly, He meant use her "Girlish charms" and even seduce, if necessary. Folken bashfully taught them about this kind of thing in her training sessions with Naria and Eriya, but it was all theory. She'd never tried it before. Dilandau was watching her impatiently. "Yes, Dilandau-sama." She said.
--~--~--
Van stayed out for a long time. Ava was getting impatient. She stood in the shadows, watching the figure who was bound to a metal device, shaped like a reclining chair, much like the ones that they had on earth, at what was it called? The dentist.
Ava considered the man strapped in the center of the dark room, directly under the only light. It turned out he was actually pretty close to her age, from what she could tell. And he was fairly good looking, in the lost puppy kind of way. It would make her job much easier, so she was thankful for that. She still didn't think that she should be doing this, however. True, she kind of knew what she was doing in theory, but she had never been one to really use her femininity as a weapon. She grew up in isolation, and was then thrown into the army in a squadron of teenage boys. Sure, there was sexual tension, but she was still just one of the guys, cursing and belching and blowing stuff up right along with them.
Van moaned softly and came to, opening his eyes. Ava watched as he blinked to focus, and noticed the restraints. He looked frightened. Ava chuckled, and his eyes darted around into the darkness.
"Who's there?" he said. "Brother?" "Brother?" Ava thought. "This guy's more doped up than I thought." She stepped out of the shadows slowly, smirking.
"Fanel," she said.
"Who are you?" Van asked, wide-eyed.
"Who am I?" Ava repeated. "I am a dream, a figment in your imagination. I am an omen." She said, strolling around him slowly, inwardly gagging at the cheesiness. She unzipped her jacket and let it fall off her shoulders to the floor, before turning to face him. He was goggling at her. She sat down next to him, letting her fingers graze his arm. "Join us," she breathed. "I know the conflict within you. You're lonely. Join us and you will be with your brother always, as it was meant to be." She could see the struggle within Van. That was good, her words were hitting home. "You'll never have to worry again. Don't you want all the pain to go away?" she said, a trace of a seductive smile on her face, brushing a lock of raven hair out of his confused, puppy dog eyes. "We can make all the hurting stop." She whispered softly into his ear. He smelled vaguely of field grass.
"N-no." he said, strangled. Ava put on a mock pout. Frankly, she didn't give a rat's ass what this guy did, but she knew she had to try.
"Aw," she said, climbing onto the recliner until she was straddling him, "Please? It would make Folken-sama happy. and me happy." she said, inches from his face. It was plain to see that Van was delirious, and he was fighting to clear his head and make sense of what was going on. "Just say yes." she breathed, lips tickling his neck. Van was looking frantic now, as if he wanted to say yes, but couldn't remember why he shouldn't, although he knew there was a reason why not. Something caught Ava's attention over Van's head. She peered into the darkness, squinting. It was Dilandau, watching. He was looking at Van something of a mixture both amusement, and malice. Ava turned red. He saw her parading around like a succubus, acting skanky.
"H-Hitomi..: Van sputtered suddenly, as if he finally recalled something he had been trying hard to remember. Huh? Ava thought, and sat up. Then she heard Allen Shezar's voice in her head: "She's my new lover. I found her in the east. Her name is Hitomi." It was that short haired girl with the sailor uniform. Did Van like this girl? Before she could react, Van shouted her name again. "Hitomi! HITOMI!!" He yelled. Ava jumped down, watching Van's unfocused eyes dart around. "HELP! Brother!." Van yelled. He had broken out into a cold sweat, and suddenly screamed out with great magnitude, and then was silent. He had passed out again. Ava looked up at Dilandau. He shrugged, and motioned for her to follow. She picked her jacket off the floor and followed him outside, closing the door behind her.
"Hmm. You failed," he said, although he didn't look all that mad. Just amused. Ava frowned, embarrassed. Dilandau smirked. " I didn't know Folken taught you how to take your clothes off and straddle people." Ava turned pink.
"I've never done that before. I could've had him." She said to a spot on the floor, as she zipped up her armor.
"Hm. No matter. It's Folken's problem. And-" he stopped, and looked like he wasn't quite sure how to go on, "you did alright."
If Ava didn't know any better, she'd say that sounded like a compliment.
---~----~
For the third time that evening, Guimel managed to impale himself with a dart.
Ava could see him with his wounded digit thrust in his mouth, but no less enjoying the merriment of playing darts, in a bar, while drunk. Ava, on the other hand, was sitting safely at the large, crude wooden table with the rest of the Dragonslayers. They had promptly decided that, after a mission well-done, they all deserved a reward, especially if in drunken-partying form, and had therefore filed out of the Vionne, Guymelef after Guymelef, and had infiltrated the nearest pub.
The nearest pub, as it turned out, reminded Ava of something right out of a pirate movie she had seen on earth. The high ceilings with antique-looking (and filthy) tapestries, large wooden tables resembling something would encounter at the butcher, high backed chairs and lit by torches. As well as bar wenches. Lots of them.
Ava sat, elbows on the table and running her finger along the edge of her half-empty mug. The others were carrying on a rather loud and animated conversation about God-knows-what, but Ava sat in silence, looking into her beer. It wasn't that she was not enjoying the festivities, but heavy drinking at a fast rate had always led her downward, and she got lethargic and introverted, and fast. She blinked once, hard. The grain in the table was swirling.
Standing up, then recovering from a stagger, she was suddenly stiflingly hot. She quickly peeled off her Armor, but kept her sword scabbard strapped securely to her waist. Then she smirked. Nothing makes a good mix like booze and sharp weaponry. Clad now only in her blue tank top from the waist up, she pushed through the crowd to the restrooms.
'Is there even a girl's room in here?' she muttered to herself after strongly discouraging a pass from a much older, much drunker man.
After safely finding and using the washroom, she entered the crowded bar again. From across the room, she spotted a busty server lean in close beside Dilandau, the top of her breasts grazing his shoulder as she set a full pitcher on the table. Faces close, he turned and gazed at her, the corners of his mouth turned up in a sultry smile. She winked back.
Suddenly finding herself slightly sober, Ava pushed her way once more through the crowd, only being careful to pass by the bar wench and deliberately elbowing her hard, causing her to drop a tray of empty glasses. When she reached her seat, she gulped down the full beer in front of Miguel ("Hey!"). She poured herself another, and slouched over her drink. Suddenly Guimel was pulling her up excitedly.
"Hey! Hey, Ava, I got a GREAT idea. I dare you to.." And he whispered, or certainly what Guimel though was whispering, into her ear. She broke into an evil grin. She certainly was drunk enough.
Guimel dragged her onto a small, levitated platform. They murmured something to the greasy chap sitting in the corner behind odd-looking equipment, he nodded, and she stepped forward to the front of the platform, facing the rest of the bar. Guimel stayed back and was stamping his foot with glee.
A sexy, heavy beat sounded up from behind her. The music had started. Giggling slightly and swaying on the spot, she watched the rest of the occupants grow quiet and watch her with mild interest. She heard a whistle somewhere in the back.
She started rocking slightly with the beat, and cleared her throat:
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
With renewed confidence, she started swaying her hips and dancing with more fervor.
Listen to me baby, hear every word I say
No one can love you the way I do
'Cause they don't know how to love you my way
Somebody made a cat-call, to which she responded by grinding her hips seductively and moving with various other tantalizing and provocative dance movies. Seeing those Britney Spears music videos was paying off.
You give me fever, when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the morning
Fever all through the night
As she sang and taunted the ranging testosterone, she glanced at the Dragonslayers, and was met with fourteen mouths hanging wide-open in astonishment. Most surprisingly, so was Dilandau's.
---~----~--- The next morning, or afternoon, rather, Ava dragged herself out of bed to tackle the mother-of-all hangovers. She was in for it now, she had over- slept. Swaggering over to her bath-kit, she grabbed her stuff and headed for a much-needed shower.
Now cleaned and feeling significantly better, Ava, now in uniform, was making her way through the corridors towards the Cafeteria when she heard the alarm sound.
---~--~---~
Ava rushed into the anchorage just in time to see the Crusade sail off. Dilandau was walking unsteadily near the door, among all the dead soldiers. He was alone. Ava approached cautiously. Dilandau seemed to be dazed.he was mumbling and holding his hand to his face. Ava drew nearer, stepping over the bodies of the fallen.
"Dilandau-sama." she stopped short. Blood was leaking out from under his fingers, down his face and arm. She rushed over. "Dilandau-sama! Are you alright? What happened?" At first he ignored her.
"How. How dare you. My face." he murmured softly in disbelief. His eyes came back into focus and he looked at her. "What?" he said, though not rudely. Just confused.
'What happened?" Ava repeated. Dilandau blinked and looked at his bloody hands. He was swiftly filled with rage.
"How dare he! How dare he mangle me like this and escape! I hate him!" he screamed, kicking a dead soldier. Ava watched with morbid disbelief, but Dilandau was still again, head downcast in livid defeat. Ava knew she was overstepping her boundaries, but she approached him anyway, touching his shoulder gently. He flinched, but he didn't slap her, which was more than she expected.
---~----~
Dilandau sat on the countertop in the locker room. Ava stood in from of him, liberally applying disinfectant fluid to a clean cloth. She carefully, and very cautiously brought it to the wound. Dilandau jumped back form the touch like a stuck pig and slapped her.
"Ow! That hurt!" Dilandau spat. Ava ignored the dull sting in her cheek and suppressed the urge to say things one shouldn't express to a commanding officer.
"It will only sting for a moment, and if we don't look after it, it will get infected or scar," This had the effect Ava was hoping for, for Dilandau appeared to consider that.
"Fine, then. But be gentle." Ava bit back a perverse, juvenile comment and once again dabbed the cut.
"You might need sutures. Perhaps you should go see the Madoshi, Lord Dilandau."
"No!" She shot out unexpectedly, then recovered himself. "No. I'm not going to them. For anything." Ava snorted.
"I don't blame you. They're creepy. Have you ever noticed their fascination with children? That's just..creepy." Ava meant it to be a joke, but it didn't have the desired effect on Dilandau. Instead he just looked deeply disturbed. Ava took that as a sign that it was time to shut up. She worked in silence for a few more minutes, applying a bandage to the cut and clearing the dried blood off his sleeve. It was not an uncomfortable silence; Dilandau was looking off into space pensively, which wasn't unordinary, and Ava continued playing doctor. At last, she put the bottles of fluids in the cabinet, signifying they were finished.
Dilandau was looking at her now, with that intense, piercing gaze that only he possessed. His face was mere inches from hers, but she didn't dare move. She could feel the neat radiating off his skin and smell the Vino on his light breath over the vinegar small of the disinfectant. His breath rustled a few strands of her hair. Then quite suddenly, he jumped down from the counter and walked away.
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That was a fun one to write. Please R 'n' R, it makes me ever so happy. Please check out my site. It's got Illustrations from above story, and I updated it today. www.geocities.com/silverchair_fanatik/fanart.htm
NEXT CHAPTER: The Dragonslayers go on a trip, Something happens to Dilandau and they must find the culprit, and Ava gets into serious, bad-news trouble.