~*~ T'is me again! Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the delay on this update. Who would have thought applying to graduate school would be so tedious. Yes, I
said graduate school, meaning I'm about to get out of college soon. Yeah, yeah, I'm old; I know. I'm about to turn 22 in April...gah! I'm almost a quarter of a
century old! Well, here is chapter 14. I hope you guys like it; though I must warn you, it's one of those 'necessary filler chapters,' that must be written in order
for the story to make sense lol. It's not as long as most of the other chapters, so don't worry :). Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews last time! I don't
think I've ever gotten so many at once. I put the reviewer responses at the bottom :) Well, enjoy (I hope ;) ).~*~
Chapter 14
"Allen, I've brought you something to eat. Now, I want you to eat all of it, so you can rebuilt your strength," Millerna bound into the room holding a white tray of food. Allen turned his head to glance at her as she entered. The Princess set the tray down on the floor beside the pallet he laid on and went to open the blinds to let in the setting rays of the sun. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, but still sore," Allen nodded. He glanced dully at the food. He still hadn't regained his appetite, but he hadn't the heart to tell the Princess that. "Where is Hitomi?"
Millerna turned from the window, the expression in her eyes strange...hurt, maybe. "Hitomi? Why, I believe she's outside with Van. Why?"
"Could you get her for me? I need her to do me favor, and tell her to bring her cards."
"You want her to do a reading for you? Why?" Millerna frowned. She moved to kneel beside Allen on the floor. "You're worried about something, aren't you? Is it about my father? Are you afraid he'll be angry at you for leaving Astoria and coming here? Oh Allen, you shouldn't worry about that. Everyone knows you love Astoria more than anyone..."
Allen wanted to roll his eyes. Marlene hadn't talked this much. He was still as he pretended to be listening to the girl. When she was finally finished he smiled at her flirtatiously, "Millerna..." he purred in his sweetest tone.
"Yes, Allen?" Millerna practically glowed.
"Get me Hitomi."
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"Why can't I go?" Viole asked, looking from Gatty to Shesta. "I want to go!"
Gatty shook his head, trying to keep his face neutral, "Shesta needs you here to help him with Lord Dilandau. Dallet can't fight well with his arm like that, so your skill is much needed. Guimel and I will do fine alone. The fewer our numbers, the less chance we have of us getting caught."
Gatty decided not to add that they didn't know what condition Miguel was going to be in and he would prefer to spare Viole from more pain if Miguel was... Gatty touched the boy's shoulder lightly, "It would just be better if you stayed here."
Viole's shoulders slumped in his grasp, and his eyes dimmed a bit, "You think he's dead, don't you?"
"We wouldn't be going in after him if I thought that," Gatty said plainly. "But if he's hurt..."
"I can handle it," Viole insisted. "I just... need to see him, that's all."
"You'll see him when we get back with him," Gatty assured the wavy haired boy.
"Guys...I think he's waking up!" Guimel's voice shook Gatty's attention from Viole and back towards the heart of their small camp where Guimel and Dallet sat looking after Lord Dilandau. Shesta jogged over and dropped to his knees beside the other boys, and Gatty and Viole followed him.
Lord Dilandau shifted in Dallet's lap and moaned softly, his eyelids fluttered rapidly as if they wanted to open. "Come on," Dallet purred, brushing sweaty locks of silver hair from Lord Dilandau's forehead. "Guimel..."
Guimel poured more cool water from his metal canteen onto the undershirt he'd stripped off a few hours after they'd made camp and dabbed Lord Dilandau's face with it. The captain turned his head away from the cold stimulus and mumbled under his breath.
"That's good; wake up..."
"What did they give him?" Shesta was murmuring.
"I don't know...but he's been so sick anything would effect him badly, I bet," Guimel said. He wiped more sweat off of Lord Dilandau's flushed brow. "He's starting to run a fever."
"What if it was some sort of poison?" Viole pulled at his hair.
"The Sorcerers were not out to poison Lord Dilandau. They wanted him for something," Gatty said firmly. "He'll be fine; he just needs to sweat out whatever they pumped into him. Guimel, come on. I don't want to lose the daylight."
"Wouldn't it be better for us to go at night?" Guimel asked, glancing up at Gatty as he wrung water from his shirt.
Gatty shook his head, "No... I want to do this now. Gives Zaibach less time to try to stop us. You think they won't know we'll try to save Miguel? And lets not forget the doppleganger.. I just have a bad feeling, is all. If you don't want to go, I can choose someone else."
Viole perked up, and Gatty grimaced inwardly. He would have no choice but to take Viole. The boy had been so unpredictable as of late, so quiet and somber. He didn't know what Viole might do if Miguel wasn't in good condition. The mission was one that required great stealth; they could afford the chance of someone becoming hysterical on the scene.
"No," Guimel shook his head. "I'll go. The sooner we help Miguel the better. I think he's sweated long enough."
Shesta chuckled as he placed a hand on Lord Dilandau's brow, "I bet the first thing he's going to want to do is take a bath, when he gets back. Remember how he carried on about the filthiness of Schezar's servants and the state of his castle? Imagine Miguel in a dungeon with prisoner guards."
They all had to laugh at that. "You'll find him gagged," Viole snorted. "I wager he had something to say about everything and everyone who came to visit him."
Lets just hope he didn't suffer for his arrogance... Gatty frowned. Gatty and the others found Miguel's manner amusing if not annoying, but an enemy would surely be insulted by Miguel's pride.
Miguel... we're coming.
"Here Shesta," Guimel handed Shesta his damp shirt and stood, stretching. His back popped a few times and he groaned. "Give me a second to put my armor back on, and I'll meet you at the Alseides."
Gatty nodded, already moving in the direction of their stationary guymelefs. The large blue machines knelt in the foliage, looking tall and foreboding. He climbed up the leg of his own, popping open the cockpit and staring inside.
This was stolen property. He was no longer a Zaibach solider, but this was Zaibach equipment. He was not only a deserter but a thief.
He cleared his head of those accusations. He was not a deserter, but a good soldier protecting his commander and doing what he believed was right. He was not a thief... the guymelefs had been a gift from Lord Dilandau. No one was to touch them but Dragonslayers, meaning the Dragonslayers were their rightful owners. Anyone who dared use the guymelefs left aboard the Vione that belonged to the other Slayers would be thieves. Thievery was to be punished by death.
Gatty gritted his teeth as he remembered the anguished cries of dying comrades. The soldiers on the Vione would pay... Zaibach would pay.
"Gatty, I'm ready!" Guimel's voice startled him. "You ok?"
"Yeah," Gatty breathed, then repeated himself in a louder voice so that Guimel could hear him. Yeah... He unclenched his fist and relaxed his jaw. He seated himself in his cockpit and shut the hatch. He turned on his radio and adjusted the frequency so that he could be in communication with Guimel, "Just follow my lead, you remember the plan?"
"Yeah, of course. Don't worry, Gatty. We'll do fine."
"I know."
Did he really?
Well, they were about to find out.
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"You want me to do a reading?" Hitomi's green eyes went wide. Allen smiled in amusement at Hitomi's stunned expression. How did she always manage to look so surprised when someone asked her to do a reading?
"Yes, for the Zaibach prisoner."
"Allen, you don't really believe in that stuff?" Millerna was rolling her eyes and casting wicked looks in Hitomi's direction that she poorly tried to conceal with her lowered lashes.
"Yes," Allen said simply, not turning his head to see Millerna's blush.
Hitomi smiled more in Millerna's direction than Allen's and knelt on the floor beside Allen's pallet, laying out the taro cards. She began to read and explain each card she laid out.
"Danger...conflict...." her fingers moved toward a card with a serpent painted on it. "This suggests tension....and this," she pointed to a card portraying a warrior on his horse, "is the warrior of dragons. It must be Van..."
"Go on," Allen coaxed her. He was grateful these taro card readings of hers didn't take as long as her dowsing.
The next card Hitomi pointed to was... "World...and... Death. A great power is guiding everything towards an end, so that everything can be reborn."
"The end of everything? Is that what Zaibach is after?" Allen was getting a headache. What was wrong with these people? Who in their right mind would want an end to everything? The answer was no one, of course. So basically Hitomi had just proven what Allen already knew, Zaibach was insane.
"And the prisoner," Hitomi said, after watching his face carefully. She flipped a new card from the deck she held in her hands and frowned, "Huh? The spare card?" She dropped her hand so that both Allen and Millerna could see the blank white card she held. "I always take the spare out before I shuffle the deck. How did it get back in here?"
"So why a blank card?" Allen stared at it for a moment before gasping. "Oh no!" The card was blank because there was no one to read for... The prisoner had escaped!
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Miguel grimaced as blood from one of the Freidian soldiers splashed back into his face after he punched him. Wonderful, now he was filthy and bloody. He would have to find a place to bathe before going back to the Vione. He couldn't let any of the other Dragonslayers see him like this, especially not Viole. Gods, he could hear the bad jokes now, and of course, everyone would laugh at the jokes, because they were at Miguel's expense. He looked up at his Alseid and took an assessed its condition on the outside. It wasn't a pretty sight to behold, but it just might get him out of Freid. From outside of the country's borders, he would send out a distress signal.
The freaky doppleganger turned out to trustworthy, and Miguel felt shame for overreacting as he had when it had first come to him. Lord Dilandau would never let Folken send someone untrustworthy after him. He should have realized that earlier. He ran up the stone staircase that led to the hatch of his guymelef.
After popping the hatch, he climbed inside the cockpit, reacquainting himself with the controls. He pulled the switch to shut the hatch and shut his eyes along with it, "Please work."
The engines slowly roared to life and Miguel let out the breath he'd been holding in relief. Carefully, he brought his guymelef to a standing position and shifted the clutch in front of him forward. The heavy metal creaked and groaned as it walked forward like it protested the movements. The Freidian imbeciles hadn't taken good care of his Alseid at all. He'd have to do a little damage to show them just how well he had appreciated their ill treatment of him and his belongings.
He punched through the dingy stone of the wall to escape into the bright sunlight of the day. He squinted a bit before his eyes got used to the light. He hadn't expected it to be daytime. He had wanted to make his break at dusk, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He was lucky he was getting to see the outside of the dungeon while not being led to his public execution at all. He shuddered at the thought of being executed by the dirty hands of the bald Freidian soldiers. He'd sooner find a way to commit suicide than let that happen.
He heard exclamations from below and looked down to see dozens of little bald men scampering about in a panic. He grinned and wiped greasy hair from his eyes. Oh yeah, he needed a bath, badly. He brought the Alseid's heavy arm down on a stone bridge.
Ok, he'd wrecked one wall and one bridge. Was that enough damage? He figured so; it was time to leave. His eyes quickly began to scan the area for an easy exit. Freidian guards were started to come at him with lances and prongs. What hell good did they think those useless things were going to do against him in his guymelef? Stupid...
He gave up looking for a good exit, he was just going to break through another wall; he was getting restless. An escape in the open, in broad daylight, should never be drawn out. His Alseid trudged toward an outer wall, ready to smash through it, when something large, white, and heavy landed directly in his path. The dragon.
Miguel narrowed his eyes. That pervert had a lot of nerve coming to talk to Miguel as he did earlier. Miguel had seen the look in his eyes as the King of Fanelia spoke of about Lord Dilandau. He'd seen other men and women look at his commander in the same way. Lust.
Disgusting.
"Zaibach soldier, surrender and your life will be spared," ordered Van.
Miguel sneered, sure thing, your majesty. After I kill you, now hold still!
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Van watched as the blue Zaibach guymelef went invisible. Damn. He really didn't want to hurt Avenger, but he couldn't just let him escape.... or could he?
He frowned. What was the right thing to do? Avenger was a prisoner of war, by law he should be executed for war crimes. As a monarch and a warrior Van should recapture him, maybe even kill him since he was proving himself to be hostile.
But....
But Avenger couldn't be much older than Van. He was only fighting for his own country's sake. He was... He was one of Dilandau's men.
And there it was.... Dilandau, again. Forget him, Van! Forget him! You'll probably never see him face to face again! What's the use of protecting his man? Avenger would kill Van if he saw an opening...
But...
He still remembered the look in his eyes after Van's sword had sliced his cheek. Van had watched him fall to his knees, clutching his bloodied face. Silver hair still fluttered in the air, slower to reach the ground than the blood. The fallen angel trembled as he choked in horror at the sight of his own blood in a puddle on the floor decorated by silver ringlets.
'Sorry' Van had managed to say. 'I'm so sorry.'
He narrowly avoided being skewed through the belly like a shish-kabob, dammit. His heart had already decided that he wouldn't kill Avenger, but he wasn't trying to be killed by him either. He had to locate him. He focused on Hitomi's teachings. He envisioned the pendant Hitomi wore around her neck, swinging before his face. Concentrate...concentrate... there!
He dodged the arm of liquid metal aimed right for his heart. Avenger wasn't playing around. He would have to knock him down...
But hadn't he tried that technique before and it hadn't worked?
He spied Avenger again; he was charging again and Van prepared himself to take the charge. The damaged blue guymelef rebound off him and collapsed to the ground becoming visible. Van smirked, looked like Avenger was down. He saw the hatch opening and the brown-haired boy climbing out.
Not so fast, Avenger. He took a step toward the fallen guymelef, but was stopped by Freidian soldiers with lances. "Halt, Fanelia!"
"What the..." Van watched helplessly as Avenger faded away in the crowd.
"Van Fanel, you are under arrest for being a traitor to Freid!"
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Guimel frowned as he and Gatty neared the borders of the capitol city wall. "What's going on in there, Gatty?"
"I don't know, looks like some sort of a skirmish," Guimel heard the preoccupied frown in Gatty's voice too. "Maybe this is good. It'll be easier to slip in unnoticed."
"Perhaps...hey look!" Guimel blinked. He stopped his Alseid as he watched another Alseid become visible inside the city walls while doing battle with... he squinted... the dragon! "Gatty, I think Miguel's in his Alseid. We can just get him."
"Unbelievable. You think the doppleganger has anything to do with this?" Gatty asked lightly.
"Maybe, Folken trusts him. Should I alert Miguel we're here. I can press the..."
"No!" Gatty's cry made him cringe. "If you activate any kind of tracking device in here, Zaibach will be onto us."
"Do you really think they care enough to look for us?" Guimel was starting to feel doubtful about Zaibach's wanting to come after them. They were just boys in broken guymelefs. They were no threat to Zaibach.
"Two Madoushi are dead, and we've got Lord Dilandau. Yes, Zaibach is going to come after us. Which is why we're getting Miguel, so he can't be used against us!"
Guimel sighed; he had forgotten about the dead Madoushi. Damn. He frowned deeper... just when had they started using "Zaibach" as a term to label the enemy? Weren't they "Zaibach" not even a day ago? It should feel odd to him to say "Zaibach" and not being referring to himself or allies...but opposition; opposition that would kill them, if they caught them. Opposition that had already killed some of them, he winced.
"Guimel... Miguel's taken some serious damage, and I see him getting out of his Alseid. The King of Fanelia looks a little occupied. Give me a minute to get out of my armor, then I'm going to climb out of my Alseid into the hand of yours. I want you to drop me over the wall. I can blend into the crowd and find Miguel."
Guimel glanced over the wall, into the mad crowd rushing the Escaflowne. He could see no sign of Miguel. "You sure you'll be able to find him in that?"
"I'll have to," Gatty said finally. "I'm coming over; be ready."
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Miguel limped in the dark, clutching at the bleeding gash on his leg. The pain was bad but bearable; Miguel would not be able to fully assess the damage done until he was able to sit. He slipped into the shadows of an alley and watched as Freidian soldiers continued to flock toward's the Fanelian guymelef. Good.
Maybe they'd kill him.
He ducked inside a seemingly empty darkened dwelling and took a seat on the cold stone floor. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light, before he tried to look at his wound. The skin was split badly at the knee just above where the top of his heavy boots began. If that piece of metal had struck him a few inches lower, it would have done no damage, he thought bitterly. As it was, he could tell he was going to need a few stitches. He wouldn't make it far out of Freid on foot at all. He was going to have to find a place to hide out and some medical supplies.
He grimaced at the thought of putting in his own stitches. He wasn't even good at putting them in other people! But he couldn't leave a wound like that open, not if he ever wanted it to heal properly. He would do hasty field stitches and then bear the pain of letting someone else yank them back out and redo them properly.
He removed his overcoat to tear at the undershirt he wore beneath it. It would do him no good to leave a trail of blood everywhere he traveled. Forget that he was starting to feel light headed from loss of blood...
He wound the fabric around his knee, biting back a yelp as he pulled the final knot tight over the damaged area. He shut his eyes for a moment and leaned his head against the cold stone wall. He couldn't stay there, but what would it hurt to take a short nap. His head swam a bit, and he realized he'd taken more of a beating in battle than he'd originally thought. Various nerves in his body were relaying messages of pain to his brain. He hardly noticed the sound of the footsteps nearing him, but he did recognize the smell.
The doppleganger. He glared up at the ugly striped being, "You don't have to help me anymore. I'll get out of here on my own."
"I'm not here to help you..." The creature hissed, and it darted toward him, wrapping its rough putrid hands around his throat. Miguel struggled weakly in its grasp, his head was already spinning from lack of blood, now lack of oxygen was being added into the equation.
Black spots began to dance before his eyes as his lungs burned for air and his throat emitted dry choking noises. Help.... some one....
Suddenly sweet air was being dragged back into his empty lungs. He coughed and choked as he gasped for oxygen. Arms held him steady as he sagged backward and his head lolled forward.
"Miguel? Miguel, are you alright?"
Gatty?
"You're bleeding," Gatty was saying to him. "I see the leg wound you've taken care of; is there any other area I should be cautious of? Miguel?"
"G...Gatty?"
"Yes, it's me; open your eyes."
He had to be dreaming. What in the world could Gatty be doing there? How? He cracked one eye open to see two blue eyes staring back at him intently. Those eyes certainly looked like Gatty's, but that meant nothing with a doppleganger around. He fought futilely within the confines of the arms that held him.
"Calm down Miguel. Tell me if you've been hurt anywhere else. We've got to get out of here. Guimel's waiting for us outside."
Guimel?
Would the doppleganger know of Guimel?
"Vi...ole?"
"He's not with us, Miguel. We left him back at camp. Did you hit your head?" Gentle fingers began probing the back of his scalp.
"I think so...." Miguel uttered roughly. His shaky hands went to his throat, feeling the swelling.
"That's going to bruise nicely," Gatty commented, but Miguel didn't know if he was talking about something he felt on his head or his throat. "Do you think anything's broken?"
"No..." Miguel sighed, finding the strength to open both eyes. A Gatty without uniform held him, his blond hair mused and his expression concerned. Miguel sniffed delicately at the air. His nose still detected the stench of the doppleganger, but it was not coming from the person holding him.
"Doppleganger?"
"Dead," Gatty snarled, then softened his tone again as he brushed soggy brown hair from Miguel's eyes. "We have to move now Miguel. Do you need me to carry you, or can you help me some?"
Miguel blinked a few time, trying to reorient himself with his surroundings. "Um... I think I can help."
The world spun as Gatty grunted and lifted him into a standing position with his body resting upon Gatty's. "Miguel?"
"I...I think...you're...gonna have to carry me, Gatty."
He heard Gatty's soft groan, then felt the himself being slung over his comrade's shoulder. Staring at Gatty's backside was not the way Miguel had planned on spending his afternoon, but it beat being killed by a doppleganger any day. As Gatty moved to leave the dwelling, Miguel caught a glimpse of the white corpse with a bloody hole in its middle, made by a sword. A sword...
So that was what Miguel felt bouncing against his sore knee. He didn't say anything to Gatty about it though. He would endure it. He felt himself being set down on cool concrete, and his back was supported by a stone wall. The chill of it ate through the thin material of his undershirt and he shivered. He opened the eyes he didn't know he had closed again and peered at Gatty, who was looked to be peeping around the corner. "You've certainly made a mess here, Miguel, but it looks like all of the soldiers are taking care of the dragon. If we hurry, I can get us across to the wall without anyone seeing us. I'm going to have to move really fast though... you're not feeling queasy are you?"
Now that he mentioned it...
"Great," Gatty grumbled. Miguel felt himself being gathered up again and tossed over Gatty's shoulder. "Here we go and please try to control your gag reflex."
Easier said...
Suddenly they were shooting across the narrow town square like a shot out of a canon. Gatty was right, the coast seemed clear, but there were a few stragglers who might catch sight of them if they dawdled. They reached the shadows of another alley on the opposite wall. "Guimel should be watching for us. He'll give us a sign or something when he..." Gatty started and Miguel snapped out of his stupor at the appearance of Guimel. The tow-headed boy raised an eyebrow comically at them both. "Eh, you were taking too long Gatty; thought you needed help, and from the looks of this guy...you do. Long time no see, Miguel; how are you feeling?"
"How does he look?" Gatty replied. Miguel groaned, he closed his eyes again. Looking at the world upside down was making him nauseous.
"How did you get in?" Gatty asked Guimel, and Miguel could practically hear the smirk in Guimel's voice.
"Well fearless leader-apparent, I took an easier less dramatic way in than you did. It seems that during Miguel's little rendevous with the dragon, a new door was made in the wall just behind this little hovel. I walked right in."
Miguel could feel Gatty's growl, "And you failed to notice this 'door' before I had you drop me over a wall onto a crumbling walkway and nearly break my neck?"
Guimel answered Gatty's growl with a chuckle. "You wanna double up with Miguel, or you want me to take him?"
"Just show me how to get out of here, Guimel," Gatty instructed in a voice low with annoyance.
"Touchy," Guimel purred. "Follow me."
They were moving again, and Miguel swallowed hard to combat vertigo. He hadn't really eaten anything that had been brought to him in the cell, so if he were to be sick, nothing would come up. Lucky, Gatty.
Lucky... me.
In his odd state of consciousness, as Gatty and Guimel were helping him get situated inside Gatty's Alseid, what had just transpired crystallized. He had been rescued. His teammates, his friends, had come after him and had saved his life.
It occurred to him then, that he really hadn't been expecting an extraction. He had really assumed he was going to be on his own. The doppleganger had been a surprise, and he had thought it was all the help he was going to be offered. He should have known better, and he did know better now.
"Gatty..." Miguel whispered. He listened to Gatty shifting gears and giving quick orders to Guimel through his communicator.
"What Miguel?"
"Thank...you."
The soft whir of an engine starting muffled Gatty's response, but Miguel thought he heard him say, "Your welcome."
Then he lost consciousness.
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His head was pounding and he couldn't stop shaking. It hadn't helped to be informed of the current situation of his Dragonslayers while he was fighting off the aftereffects of whatever the hell the Madoushi had pumped into him that time. Though he was incensed, infuriated, and outraged, he also realized he would be of no use if he let his emotions overpower him. The last of Folken's drugs were leaving his body and he had to do everything he could to keep a clear head.
Gatty and Guimel were bringing Miguel.
Shesta, Viole, Dallet, Gatty, Guimel, and Miguel...
Six out of fifteen.
He flinched as a cold water skin was put against the back of his neck, and he tilted his head slightly forward to rest it on his knees. "Is the pain any less?"
"It's a little better," Dilandau whispered to Shesta. "How long ago did they leave, again?"
"It's been 3 hours. They should be back momentarily, if all went according to plan," Shesta said softly.
As if on cue, the heavy footsteps of two guymelefs trampling over a grassy plain and parting trees, could be heard. "There they are."
"Help me up," Dilandau grunted, raising his head. He watched as two more Alseides knelt beside the three already at rest. The hatches popped open, and Guimel climbed out of one, looking pleased with himself. He gazed down at the crowd below and beamed at seeing Dilandau up, albeit leaning heavily on Shesta for support.
"Lord Dilandau! It's great to see you awake, sir!" He skipped across the legs of his guymelef to Gatty's to assist him with Miguel. Dilandau felt his heart plummet at the sight of Gatty and Guimel handling a dazed Miguel.
Viole gasped beside him and quickly rushed to the guymelefs to climb up and help Gatty and Guimel with their load. "Is he ok?" he was calling as he climbed.
Dallet grumbled to himself. He was feeling worthless without the use of both arms. Dilandau wanted to tell him he could empathize with him when it came to feeling worthless.
"Get off me, Viole," Miguel's voice was groggy but the annoyed arrogance in his tone was clear. As soon the four boys touched the ground, Miguel was pushing away from Viole, who was trying to hug him.
"Miguel! You're ok! You're dirty and you smell, but you're ok!" Viole was cheering, ruffling Miguel's hair.
Guimel laughed and Gatty shook his head. Miguel looked to Dilandau and moved toward him, dropping to one knee, "I am so sorry for being captured my Lord. I await whatever punishment you have to give me."
He lowered his head as Dilandau raised an inquisitive eyebrow and shared a look with the other Slayers. "Miguel?"
"Yes sir?"
"Get your ass up. If you haven't noticed, we're missing more than half of our platoon. I have more pressing matters to deal with other than punishing you, like getting back the rest of my men and getting rid of this headache. We're all pleased that you're back, but you are not the center of this universe, Lavariel. Now go clean up and let someone tend to your wounds."
"Y...yes sir..." Miguel raised his head, blinking in confusion as he looked around. He peered at Dilandau for the first time, fully taking in his condition, and then he took in the state of his fellow Elite. "W...What happened?"
"Viole will tell you," Dilandau said simply. "Gatty, I need you and Shesta to help me."
"Yes sir," Gatty nodded, walking past Miguel who was being guided away by Viole and coming to Dilandau's side.
"We should sit down," Shesta suggested and didn't wait for anyone to agree with him before he started trying to get himself and Dilandau situated on the soft grass below them. Dilandau didn't object to the movement, his body was starting to shake so hard from the strain of standing he was getting motion sickness.
"Did you have any problems with the extraction?" Dilandau asked Gatty.
Gatty shook his head, "It was actually rather easy. Something was going on between the Freidian guards and the King of Fanelia. When we arrived on the scene, the streets were pretty much clear."
Dilandau nodded, "No sightings of the doppleganger?"
Gatty cringed, "Um... actually, sir.... I had to kill it."
"That was Folken's man, Gatty!"
"He was strangling Miguel," Gatty explained himself. "He was going to kill him; I had too."
Dilandau growled softly. Dammit. He knew dopplegangers were not to be trusted, and he hoped Folken would understand why it had to die. "Don't worry about it, Gatty." Dilandau gritted his teeth and braced himself against another wave of pain and nausea. This was getting old.
"Lord Dilandau? What do you need our help with?" Shesta pressed, taking one of Dilandau's cold sweaty palms into his warm ones. "Maybe we should wait until morning, after you've had a chance to get more rest."
Dilandau shook his head, "No, we have to start planning our next move now. I spent a lot of time with Folken in the main control room, learning layouts and battle plans. I know when Zaibach will attack Freid with all they have, and that will be the best time for us to seize the Vione and save the remainder of our unit."
"Lord Dilandau, you want to go back to the Vione? You think they're alive?" Shesta breathed.
Dilandau frowned, feeling despair, failure, and guilt punch him in the belly with brass knuckles. If he'd had anything in his stomach, he would have thrown up then. "I don't know Shesta, and we've got to find that out. I doubt any of them will still be aboard the Vione, if they live...but the Vione is a good source of information on where they might be, and Folken will be around to help us."
"You think he'd still help us? We're traitors..."
"According to what you told me earlier, so is he," Dilandau said. "He'll help us."
"So when is the attack going to be, Lord Dilandau?"
"We have two days if the plans haven't changed, and I doubt that they will."
"Why?" Gatty questioned.
"Because Folken came up with them; he seldom changes anything after its been approved...especially by me."
"He'll be expecting us then?" Shesta asked.
Dilandau nodded, "So lets not disappoint him. We've got to get the Alseides we have in condition to fly and to take on whatever obstacles get in our paths."
"We'll need parts..." Gatty frowned. "...and mechanical knowledge. I know some, and I think Dallet's pretty handy, but I wouldn't trust us."
"So what you're saying is we're going to have to enlist some aid?" Shesta sighed.
"Mmhmm... and I think I may know where we can get it... or rather Dallet might," Gatty rubbed his chin. "Isn't he originally from somewhere near these parts?"
A few tension lines eased themselves out of Dilandau's forehead, "Maybe a few days journey from here on foot, but in an Alseid..."
"Hey Dallet, Dallet come here!" Gatty called to the dark haired boy, as Dilandau smirked, looked like Dilandau was going to be the only useless one here after all.
He sat back on his hands as Dallet joined the small cluster, and Dallet, Shesta, and Gatty went into deep conversation about the night's traveling plans.
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~*~ So, what did you think? I told you it was a "necessary" filler chapter ;). Did you like it, hate it, apathetic towards it...? Let me know, and I'll make the next
one better ;) Please review and take care! ~*~
Reviewer Responses:
Blue Ice 2: Hey, I think you reviewed chapter 13 twice lol. Thanks for both reviews :) So you prefer fluff eh? Lol, well, I'm not a very fluffy writer, but I'll see
what I can do for you about including more "bonding" moments. Thanks for the review!
Kou-Kagerou: My, my, does spell-check EVER hate your name, lol. The funny symbols you might find in some of the chapters comes from me converting
Word Perfect documents to Microsoft Word Documents and vice versa. Over the summer, I used to write on this story at work, and I would save parts of it on
disk and migrate from computer to computer. The files would show up fine when I skimmed them for obvious error, but ff.net, I guess, got confused when I
posted them and decided to add mathematical equations into my chapters. Thanks for the "looking out" lol!
Rita: Thank you for the review:). Things still kinda happen the same in the rest of Esca-land, but the Dragonslayers are getting a new part, and they're gonna shake things up a bit. ;)
Aurebec: Well...I didn't kill Miguel...happy? As for the new suspicious soldier...you'll see more of her in the next chapter. Thank you for reviewing, and you
don't have to make excuses to me lol. Too many cliffhangers? Me?? Nah... You've got me confused with someone else ;).
Nikku: Well now you have it. Miguel is alive! I only had to draw it out for a few chapters, but I never planned on killing him...not yet anyway.
Muhahahahaha! Next chapter you will finally get to see what I've had in store for the Dragonslayers all along. **big evil smile** Thanks for the review!
Deadly Beauty 1: Whoo hoo sugar cookies! Yummy! Thankee! Well, Miguel is alive...for now. Do I get more cookies for that? **bats eyes.** I'm glad you
liked the chapter before, thanks for the review!
Macky: Hey, actually I looked back..and yes you have reviewed me before...but don't let that stop you from doing it again ;). What is the Dragonslayers' next
big career move? Well.... I CAN'T TELL YOU THAT, lol. You'll just have to find out in the next chapter. **big grin** Oh yes and you reckoned
right...Miguel has been kept alive, lol ;).
Feye Morgan: Hehehehehehee! Your reviews are so funny. It's almost like sitting down to read another story. I'm glad you liked that last chapter. I was excited about finally getting out there, but also biting my nails, because the event in the last chapter is what's shaping this story...and if it didn't go over well this whole project crashes and burns. Please excuse this tacky "filler" chapter and I promise the next one will be better :) Take care, update soon, and thanks for reviewing! :)