Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Angel ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11

Dilandau leaped at Angel his sword out to attack. Angel made a clumsy block and jumped back. Okay, she thought. He's obviously better with a sword than I am. Being taller gives him an advantage. But…that armour must weigh a ton! If I can just get him to tire out then I can win. Angel, sticking to her plan, dodged Dilandau's next attack.

"Stop dodging!" Dilandau cried. "Fight me!"

Finding that she was getting close to the circle of Dragonslayers Angel decided to switch tactics. Instead of dodging the next attack she blocked and pushed Dilandau away. As he was recovering from the push she jumped into the air, flipped around and landed behind him.

"Gymnastics come in handy." She smirked as she saw the surprised look on Dilandau's face. Being the star of the school gymnastics team had some advantages; she was quicker than Dilandau, who was tiring faster.

The fight continued on for a while in this same way. Whenever Dilandau attacked Angel would dodge using some gymnastic move. Somewhere along the way Angel dropped her sword, but when she saw Dilandau start to tire she went into a dive roll and swept it up. She made a clumsy attack and knocked the sword out of his hands.

"I win." She declared as she levelled her sword at Dilandau's throat.

"You fought dirty." Dilandau said as he pushed her sword away. "I like that. If you weren't a girl you might be worthy to be a Dragonslayer."

"What's wrong with me being a girl?" Angel shrieked.

"You don't have the strength to fight. And anyway," Dilandau smirked. "Women should stay home and look after the children. Men fight."

"Oh!" Angel cried. "That is so not true! Girls can be just as strong as guys! Even better! I might not be the best with a sword, but with training I could be pretty good. And I am strong. I beat practically every guy who ever challenged me and…I don't have any children to look after. If I'm going to stay here I might as well have something to do."

"She's right." Folken walked through the circle of boys. "Naria and Eriya do quite well in battle."

"Folken, she's a girl. She won't be able to keep up with the others." Dilandau said.

"I can too!" Angel shot back. She turned to Folken. "I know you probably won't want me to fight, but…I need something to do. I don't have to fight. Even just training would give me someway to occupy my time." She looked at her brother with puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"

Folken looked away. "Even as a kid you could always get whatever you wanted." He sighed. "Fine."

"Yay!" Angel wrapped her arms around Folken. "Thank you!" Inside she was thinking, I'm not even here for a day and I can already talk him into whatever I want.

"Folken!" Dilandau stared at the older man. "You can't be serious."

"Dilandau." Folken's gaze hardened. "Let Angel practise with your Dragonslayers for the duration of her stay. Train her with a sword while you're at it. I'd prefer that she knew how to protect herself if she's attacked. "

"But-"

"That's an order, Dilandau."

"Fine." Dilandau growled. Her turned to the gathered boys. "What are you staring at? Get out! Free Day." He stalked out of the room and down the hall, grumbling to himself the whole way.

"Well," Folken turned to the Slayers. "You heard him, Free Day. Do what you want. Chesta!" The boy ran over. "Show Angel everything she needs to know."

"Yes sir." Chesta saluted as Folken walked away. He turned to Angel. "So…what do you want to see first?"

"How `bout…bathrooms?" Angel asked. "Something I'll need to need the location of."

"Sure, follow me." Chesta led her back to the barracks. He stopped in front of the door across from their own. Chesta pushed it open and held it for Angel. "This is our bathroom."

Five showers lined the far wall, three toilets on one side and two toilets and three sinks the other.

"There are other's like this one on each level and ones without showers on the top and main levels." Chesta said. "You can probably shower here, the other guys and I can use one of the other bathrooms."

"Great." Angel looked around the room. "I don't think I want to share showers with a bunch of guys."

"I promise that the guys won't come in here if you're here." Chesta held the door open for Angel and followed her out. "What else do you want to see?"

"What do you think I need to see?"

"Well…you've seen the barracks, bathroom and training hall, so…how about the mess hall and rest room?"

"Lead the way." As Chesta led Angel through more halls, she noticed that they had yet to go up or down stairs. "Hey, Chesta?"

"Yes?"

"Why is everything on this floor?"

"Oh, this is the Dragonslayers level. The other's have their own levels."

"How many other's are there?"

"Well," Chesta thought. "The crew has their own level. So do people like Lord Folken, strategists and the like. And the rest of the Red Copper Army is on the ship too."

"The Red Copper Army? There's more than one?" Angel questioned.

"Yes. There's the Green Copper Army, led by General Helio Eides, the Black Iron Army led by General Zodia Quu and the White Silver Army led by General Getin Gus. And, of course there's the Red Copper Army, led by General Adelphos Gein. That's us."

"Wow," Angel said impressed. "That's a lot of armies."

"Yes," Chesta stopped in front of a door. "Here. This is the rest room. This is where we come on Free Days and in our free time."

He pushed open the door and let Angel enter. Most of the other Dragonslayers were already in the room. Some were lounging on the black sofas or chairs and some were playing pool on the table off to one side. The boys Angel was staying with were playing poker at a table along the same wall as the door.

"Hi, guys." Chesta said as he walked up to them.

"Hey Chesta, Angel." Gatti said, glancing up from his cards. "How're you doing?"

"Fine." Chesta said. "How's the game going?"

"Awful." Guimel moaned.

"That's only because you're loosing." Miguel laughed.

"What're you two doing here?" Gatti asked.

"I'm showing Angel around." Chesta replied. "We're headed to the mess hall next if you want to come."

"Sure." Guimel put his cards down on the table.

"Hey!" Dalet cried, only just noticing the two new arrivals. "I was winning!"

"Come on. We're going to the mess hall."

"Really, great! It's way too long until dinner. Maybe we can get some food off the cooks." Dalet put his own cards down. "Let's go."

"Wait a sec." Angel grabbed Dalet's shoulder. "What do you mean dinner? It was only seven thirty when I left Earth. What time is it here?"

"It's three o'clock." Dalet said looking at Angel as if she was crazy.

"What?" Angel looked at her watch. It did say three o'clock. "How can it be so late?"

"You were out for along time." Gatti said.

"I really slept that long?" Angel wondered. She looked at her watch and shrugged. "Okay, let's go."

"We'll have to finish the tour later." Chesta said as the teens left the room. "We'll probably be in the mess hall until dinner."

"That's okay."

The six teens ran down the hall and down two flights of stairs before they reached a set of large doors. Dalet burst inside and Angel saw the largest room she had ever seen. It had five large tables, each sitting from eighteen to forty. The far wall was covered with windows that gave Angel a clear view of the sky.

Dalet ran straight for another door to the right wall. He burst inside with the others following.

The room turned out to be the kitchen. It was about half the size of the mess hall with counters and cupboards lining two walls. Sinks covered the third and a large oven took up the far right corner, an icebox the left. Mice-men ran between the counters, oven and icebox preparing food. A large woman stood in the middle of the room snapping orders at the mice-men.

Angel stopped in the doorway, staring at the woman. She reminded Angel of the woman from her dream. The glare the woman sent Dalet was all too familiar.

"Dalet!" The woman snapped. "I don't have time for you. Go back to your training."

"It's a Free Day, Margrette." Gatti said as the rest of the group joined Dalet.

"Margrette!?" Angel cried. Is this the same Margrette as in my dream? She thought.

Margrette looked at Angel and immediately saw her silver hair. "Angel?" She whispered. Her eyes hardened as she looked to the boys. "Boys, if this is a joke it's not funny."

"This is no joke, ma'am." Guimel said. "According to Lord Folken this is his sister Angel."

"Oh, Angel!" Margrette swept Angel up in a hug. "Where have you been all these years?"

"Earth," Angel choked out. "Or the Mystic Moon."

"The Mystic Moon! It must have been horrible!"

"Actually-"

"Be quiet. Let me look at you." She held Angel out at arms length and smiled as she saw Angel's hair. "You let your hair grow! I always told you it would look beautiful long."

"Okay, if you say so." Angel said, not really knowing what Margrette was talking about.

"But, your clothes." Margrette shook her head. "A lady does not wear pants. And that jacket…it's too large."

"I like wearing pants and I'm the smallest person on my team. Even the smallest jacket they have is to big." Angel said, pulling out of Margrette's grasp. "Now, Dalet was saying something about food…"

"Yeah!" Dalet jumped in. "We're starving. Do you have any food you can give us?"

"No. All the food here is for tonight. Even with everyone cooking…I don't think we'll have enough." A wicked gleam came into Margrette's eye. "Chesta…you can cook. Why don't you help? The rest of you boys can help as well."

"No way." Miguel said. "You know I can't cook."

"I can help." Angel volunteered.

"You can't cook." Margrette said

"Actually I can. I cook all the time and got an A+ in Cooking."

"A+?" Gatti raised an eyebrow questionably.

"The highest mark possible." Angel quickly explained.

"Well, if you're that good…" Margrette trailed off as Angel and Chesta looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. "Fine." She pushed the six teens towards one of the counters and rattled off items for them to prepare. "Get to work."