Chapter two:

In Memoriam Semper

"Line up, LINE UP, you bunch of useless, pathetic nitwits! LINE UP!!"

The newest addition of the army swiftly lined up in front of the man who would be their captain for the many upcoming years of their lives. With feigned frowns plastered on their faces, they stood next to each other in messy rows, desperately trying to stand straight and motionless in the freezing coldness of the afternoon, while the captain walked slowly across each and every man in the rows.

Sometimes he nodded approvingly at the sight of a young, strong man, sometimes he grunted when he saw a short, chubby soldier but mostly he just looked at them with a fierce glare, demanding their respect with one look of his eyes. And if he didn't demand their respect with his eyes, he surely did with his powerful posture. The captain was a tall, muscular man who could probably beat every single one of the new soldiers to pulp if he wanted to. The iron of his coat of mail rattled with each step he took, his leather boots collided potently with the frozen earth and his brown cloak swished vehemently by the sharp, icy gust of the winter wind and his long sword occasionally clashed against his armored thigh. It was an impressive sight indeed, and the captain knew it all too well.

But suddenly, when he reached the middle of the row, the captain stopped in front of a perfectly motionless and straight-standing soldier. The fact that he stood correctly as the only one in his row was startling, but the appearance of the man was also quite unusual. Under the hood of his cloak, he wore a white kerchief that covered almost his entire face, accept for the area of his clear blue eyes that he meticulously kept bare.

The captain surveyed him with a raised eyebrow and he noticed there was more unusual about this soldier. He was remarkably short… shorter than any man in his row. And though he wore his armor, the captain could also see that he was a very scrawny man. A young man, doubtlessly. Perhaps even a teenager that was not fully-grown yet. Damn! The captain sighed; why did they always saddle him with little teenage boys who just crawled from their mother's lap. The commanders must have a wicked sense of humor.

"Hood… Kerchief… Off… Now…" The captain barked crisply, causing the strange soldier to slightly jump up. When the blue eyes met the captain's grey orbs, the owner of the latter eyes saw a flash of panic in the crystal clear eyes of the boy and his assumption was confirmed; another momma's boy who could hardly carry a sword, let alone lashing it towards an opponent. What the hell did the commanders think he was, a nanny?

But to his surprise, the boy opened his mouth and he spoke for the first time in a rasp but high voice.

"With all due respect, sir, but I can't…" He uttered the words insecurely as many soldiers in the row now aimed their shocked gaze at the short and hooded boy. He certainly didn't make a good first impression…

"What?" The captain asked menacingly as he moved his head closer to the boy.

"I can't, sir." He repeated.

"And why's that?"

The boy looked down and seemed to look for words on the ground. After a while he spoke again, this time even softer than before so that not everybody could hear him.

"I have a disease, sir. A bacteria that's, uh… slowly eating my face. It's very contagious. The doctors told me my face can't be exposed to anyone, for the danger of infection."

The suspicious captain looked at the young soldier for a while, trying to read the truth from his face. But when the boy looked at him with pleading eyes, he snorted grumpily and he walked on with big steps. After all, why would someone look at him with such a desperate look in one's eyes if he didn't speak the truth? He would let the boy cover his face, he didn't want a nasty bacteria that could eat his face away.

After he scoured across all the rows he turned around to the soldiers and held the speech he always gave to the newest addition.

"Alright, you bunch of no-good weaklings… I'd like to say that you are already heroes by coming up here. I'd like to say that it takes great courage to make the step and fight for your country. I'd like to say I honour this courage and that from this moment on, I will hold you as my equal. But that would be big bull shit, coming straight from the unfortunate oracle's mouth. Perhaps that's how it works in politics, but it ain't work that way in here. You are nothing but a sorry excuse for a man. You want to change that? You want my respect? Fine, then put your ass to work. Devote yourself to your training, obey my every order, and fight as if your life's depending on it. You have come here to 'defend the homeland'… then take your oaths now! But mind you, soon you will have to fulfill them. And you had better be ready when that time comes!"

She was woken up by the blinding sunlight that invaded her room and caressed her skin, kissing her awake. She slowly opened her eyes but closed them immediately when the rays of light reached her orbs. With a grunt, she eventually pushed the sheets aside and rose her head from the pillows. She hurled her legs over edge of her queen-sized bed and letting her feet dangle just above the carpeted floor she let out a long yawn. She saw that she was, again, not wearing the veil. 'Must have been the Praetorian… of course', she thought as another yawn escaped her mouth.

With puffy eyes and a sleepy mind she thought about the dream she just had. It had been another flashback, this time about her in the training camp. She couldn't remember much of the dream, but one thing kept on jumping into her mind.

"Eating my face… Can't believe he fell for that." She muttered as she slowly rose from her bed and made her way to the bathroom in small, sauntering steps. As she strolled forward she turned her head to the side of the room he always hid. The darkness had disappeared entirely and having no place to hide, he was gone, like every morning when she woke up. A small smile crept on her face as she thought she finally had her privacy… at least for a short while, the maids of the King would come to her room to dress her in about half an hour.

What she did not know was that just outside her bedroom, on her balcony, the dreaded Praetorian was still there, watching her as she made her way to the bathroom.

As she thought she was alone, she slowly let the broad collar of her nightgown slide over her shoulders, until the top of the cloth fell across her back, leaving it bare for prying eyes to see. She didn't know it were indeed prying eyes that saw her back. When he saw the ivory skin, glowing in the rays of the invading sunlight, the Praetorian could not help but swallow deeply, reminding himself that he was laying eyes on something that he was not allowed to see. Nonetheless, he didn't avert his eyes, as if a spell caused him to keep on watching.

Videl entered the bathroom, unknowingly shielding her body from his eyes as she walked around the corner to the bathtub. He heard her open the tab and now more than ever he cursed the presence of a wall between them.

The next twenty minutes she remained in the bathroom and sweet perfumes and scents of lotions reached his nostrils. He almost gave in to the desire to just call her name softly, ever so softly, but loud enough for her to hear. She would then burst into the room with the shining red-silk bathrobe cladding her body freely and she would look around the room and search for him while she yelled and scolded at him. Oh, she would be so fiery, so gorgeous, so enchanting.

But no… No, this time he would let her be. She hardly had any privacy and he could imagine that she would eventually hate his presence in this room, even though she had grown so attached to him.

Because attached to him she was. In the beginning she feared him and his presence. She pleaded him to leave her alone. But how could he, guarding her was his job. But she grew accustomed to him and forgot her fear. She sneered at him, yelled at him, scolded at him… and then, she took the step towards the darkness. He would never forget that moment.

She entered his territory and though he would not readily admit it, he had no idea what to do. But she challenged him to come closer and eventually, he gave in to the challenge… it was not quite what she expected.

"You challenging me?" He suddenly whispered in her ear, making her freeze to her spot. He chuckled and he moved closer to her, while he heard her breathe rapidly. He smelled her hair and his heart began to race; he had never been this close to her.

"Well?" He whispered on her hair as he began to caress her bare shoulder.

She cleared her throat as she leaned closer to him. A smirk crawled up to his lips; so she was stubborn… not willingly defeated.

"I have to admit… I didn't think you had the guts." She said slowly and with a slightly seductive tone. Another challenge…

"However…" She began as she turned around to face him, even though she couldn't see him in the darkness. "You're still a coward."

"Oh?" He said while he gently tugged a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, want to know why?" She was so close to him right now. He noticed that his chest touched her breasts and he genuinely cursed himself for wearing hard armor.

"Tell me." He whispered as he leaned even closer to her. He could now feel the hot, sweet breath on his face. He saw her smile in the darkness and she brought her mouth to his ear.

"Would you follow me to the light?" She whispered back, tickling his ear with her breath. By now she pulled away from him and she walked to her side of the room… to the bed that was lightened up by the pale moonlight. She whirled around one more time and looked at him (or at least where she thought he was) cockily.

"Well?" She mocked with her hands on her hips.

But he remained in the darkness and he let out a growl of frustration. He couldn't follow her to the light. It would reveal him.

"Guess not… aren't you tough!" He heard her say sarcastically. It was the final word that was spoken that night.

He sighed as he thought back to that. It had happened almost two months ago. And since that night, she entered the darkness frequently. Whether it was to challenge him to reveal himself, or as a thrill, or as a comfort or just because she felt like it.

After a while, he saw her exit the bathroom with the red robe loosely around her body. He watched her put on her white make-up; she was turning into the Ivory Lady again. She was almost done when a key was turned in the lock of the door. The opening door revealed a Saiyan maid that would help her to dress. She dressed Videl into a blue and white kimono, with a simple pattern of lilac flowers on the hem, until the maid spoke.

"The King requests you to join him for breakfast."

Videl turned her head towards the maid and looked with her with a startled frown.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

The maid shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

"Forgive me, I don't know."

With a thoughtful expression on her face, Videl looked at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. She wondered why the King would invite her for breakfast. Usually, her breakfast was brought to her room.

She was watching it absently, before she realized what she was looking at and she whirled around to look at the doors that led to her balcony.

Did she really see what she just saw?

Did she see a…

"…tail?" She whispered.

Without thinking she walked towards the doors that led to the balcony and went through them. But there was nobody there. She turned her gaze to the right and to the left, hoping to find him. Because she realized then that what she had seen had seen in the mirror was the tail of the Praetorian. He wasn't there though… he was gone again. She was about to watch over the banister when she heard the maid calling for her from inside of her room.

"The King… he's waiting for you." She had said.

Videl sighed in exasperation. Reluctantly she turned around but before she went inside again she looked over her shoulder.

'Praetorian… It was him. It definitely was him.'