Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Angel ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

"I'm going to get them for this. I will get them. They are going to pay for this humiliation."

"Miguel, stop grumbling and keep stirring!" Angel called from the counter.

Miguel had been sent to the oven to stir the soup, since he was the worst at cooking. He had already almost burned the meat and potatoes and cut the wrong vegetables. Angel had sent him to stir since that was impossible to mess up, though she kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't.

"Miguel." Gatti laughed as he brought another batch of vegetables over to put in the soup. "You're just mad that you have to wear an apron."

Gatti was right. Margrette had insisted that anyone working at the stove had to wear an apron. Miguel, being the only Dragonslayer working at the stove, was the only one who had to wear an apron.

"Hurry up with that soup." Margrette barked. "It's almost time for dinner."

Angel ran over to the oven, dodging mice-men, and tested the soup. "Perfect!" She cried as she took it off the stove and served it into small bowls.

"Thank you Angel." Margrette called the Dragonslayers over to a corner. "Thank you for your help, but go get cleaned up. Oh, Angel," Margrette pulled Angel into a hug. "I'm so glad you're back. While you were gone…I kept thinking about how mean I was to you. Please forgive me."

"Consider it forgotten." Angel said. Literally.

"Alright. Now," Margrette pushed the teens to the door. "Go change into something nice. This is a special dinner"

"We're going, we're going." Angel turned around and called through the closing door, "Thanks for letting me cook." She turned to the boys. "Okay…I still don't know my way around this place. Can you guys lead my back to the barracks?"

"Sure," Guimel said kindly. "We all have to go there anyway. Follow us."

After a short walk back to the barracks, Angel was rummaging through her bag when she ran into a problem.

"I don't have anything to wear." She complained.

"Typical girl." Dalet laughed.

"I packed for camping," Angel scowled. "Not fancy dinners."

"It's not that fancy." Chesta said. "I looked at the menu while we were cooking and it's not that fancy."

"Will this do?" She pulled out a pair of loose black drawstring pants and a pale blue shirt. "It's the nicest thing I have."

"It'll do…for now." Miguel pulled on his uniform. "Margrette will probably insist that you buy some dresses."

"Oh great." Angel said sarcastically. "Dresses."

"What's wrong with dresses?" Chesta. "That's what all girls wear."

"Not where I'm from." Angel shook her head. "They're almost impossible to do anything in. You can't jump, you can't cross your legs, you have to keep you legs firmly together and you can't do gymnastics in them."

"By the way," Gatti asked. "What are gymnastics?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain, but…you know the flips and rolls I was doing during the fight?" The boys nodded. "That's one part of gymnastics. Flips and rolls are floor exercises. I usually do them to music…like a dance. There's rhythmic gymnastics. There're other types of gymnastics, but I only do rhythmic."

"Doesn't sound so hard." Gatti said.

"Have you ever trained as a gymnast?" Angel raised an eyebrow and Gatti shook his head reluctantly. "Didn't think so. It's harder than you'd think. I can show you tomorrow if you want."

"Sure." Gatti replied.

"Uh, hate to interrupted, but…we're going to be late for dinner."

"What?" Angel shrieked. She dove onto her bed and pulled the curtain/sheets closed. By the time she changed the others were already waiting her. "Okay, lets go!"

As the group walked to the mess hall Angel looked at the boys from the corner of her eyes. They were all wearing black dress pants but had different shirts. Gatti was wearing a dark blue short-sleeved shirt, Chesta had a green long-sleeved shirt on, Miguel was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, Guimel had a yellow shirt with three-quarter length sleeves and Dalet had a purple sleeveless shirt on. Angel couldn't help notice how hot they all were. It had finally sunk in that she would be staying on a ship of hot guys and she was probably the only human girl.

As the boys talked among themselves, Angel's thoughts turned to the grey-haired commander. The first time she had seen him his beauty had awed her. Then she had actually talked to him. Her initial reaction was hate, especially after he had hit her. But now she wasn't so sure. Thinking back, he hadn't even hit her that hard. Certainly not as hard as he had hit Chesta. She had only fallen back because of that shock, not pain or force. And then, after their match he had complimented her, even if he hid it behind an insult. Still, he hadn't even tried to be polite and she hoped she wouldn't run into him at dinner. With the way my day's going I probably will, though. She thought. Especially since probably everyone eats in the mess hall.

As the group neared the mess hall the Slayers grew quiet. By the time they had reached the door they were completely silent. Before Angel could ask why Folken came up and pulled her away.

"I need to talk to you." He said as he led her into the mess hall. "I assume you've already seen the mess hall. Each table is for a level of the ship. Since you are training with the Dragonslayers you can sit with them. However as my sister you can sit with me. Which would you prefer?"

"Well," Angel paused to think. "I'd kinda like to sit with Chesta and the others, but…I don't think I can deal with Dilandau right now. So…can I sit with you?"

"Of course." Folken smiled slightly and showed Angel to her seat. "I'll be making a formal announcement introducing you."

"What?" Angel cried. "I don't have to stand up in front of everyone and give a speech or anything, do I?"

"No, just stand and look beautiful. Speaking of which," he paused and looked at Angel's clothes. "Where did you get those clothes? Don't you have any dresses?"

"What is with everyone and dresses? I don't like them okay?"

"It's fine for now, but you will eventually have to have some dresses."

"Fine…eventually. Now, can we eat?" Angel looked at Folken hopefully. After all…she hadn't eaten since that morning.

"We have to wait for everyone else to arrive." Folken pulled out a chair for Angel. "Have a seat."

"Thanks."

The two sat and waited as the room slowly filled with people. Angel noticed that each table was already covered with food and hungry people filled every available chair. She looked around for the Dragonslayers and found them sitting at the far right table. Seeing Gatti look her way she gave a small wave. He started to wave back but a glare from Dilandau stopped him and he went back to talking with the others.

Angel frowned slightly and looked away. Dilandau was ruining all her fun. She looked at Folken as he stood up.

"May I have your attention?" He called over the talking. Immediately the room was silent. He indicated for Angel to stand. "I would like to introduce Angel, my sister…back from her stay on the Mystic Moon."

A collective gasp was heard throughout the room as everyone started asking questions. Was this girl really Folken's sister? Was she really from the Mystic Moon? Was Folken actually showing emotion? And Smiling?

Folken held up a hand for silence. "There will be plenty of time for questions during my sisters stay here but now…I believe we are all hungry. Let's eat." As soon as Folken sat down everyone in the room started eating and talking.

Oh, great. Angel thought as she looked at her food. Now I'm gonna have people asking me stuff everywhere I go. Oh, well. I guess I can deal. Just come up with one-word answers and they'll eventually go away. She picked up her fork and pushed at a piece of…something. What is this? She leaned to the side and whispered her question to her brother.

Folken raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you help cook it?"

"Not this stuff." She pushed the food to the corner of her plate. "I worked on the vegetables and dessert."

"This," Folken pointed to the food Angel was prodding. "Is dried beef and corn wrapped in bread and the soup is chicken broth. Vegetables and dessert are rarely served but otherwise this is a standard meal on the ship."

"Great." Angel said sarcastically. "I get to eat this every night." She took a small bit of the beef and corn. "At least it doesn't taste bad."

"Margrette is a good cook. I remembered that from Fanelia." Folken saw the questioning look on Angel's face and added, "our homeland. The same place we picked you up."

"Oh," Angel frowned slightly. "Wish I could remember it the way it was before the fire. By the way, why was it on fire?"

Folken lowered his eyes to his plate. "Dilandau can go a bit…overboard sometimes."

"A bit?" Naria joined the conversation. "He burnt the entire place to the ground."

"And he was just supposed to capture Escaflowne." Eriya added. Before Angel could ask she said, "A guymelef. Like what Chesta brought you in with."

"Thanks." Angel smiled at the cat-woman. "So, what's Dilandau's problem?"

"He's a pyro." Naria shrugged as though that explained everything. "I think the only thing he likes more than fire is blood and wine. He spends almost all his time in his room or training. He really needs someone to help him have fun."

"Enough about Dilandau." Folken said, eager to start a new topic. "Tell us about the Mystic Moon."

Angel's smile grew as she told the three everything about her friends and family on Earth. She told them about school and the competition she had been in the day before. The conversation took them through dinner and dessert until Angel was forced to try to find her way back to her room through the throng of people waiting to talk to her.

After wading through the mob, giving only one-word answers, she finally made it back to her room. She stumbled in and flopped down onto her bed, mumbling a hello to her roommates. She flipped onto her back, pulled her bag onto the bed and, after closing the curtain/sheet, changed into a pair of star-printed pyjamas.

"Can I open the curtain?" She called out to the boys.

"Go ahead." Gatti called back.

Angel pulled the curtain back to reveal five nervous boys. They were standing around her bed clad in only their underwear and were staring at her. She looked down at herself and frowned. Looking back to the boys she asked, "Is something wrong?"

The boys shook out of their spell. "No." Miguel said. "It's just…"

"Are you sure you're okay sleeping in here?" Chesta asked.

"Of course I'm sure." Angel replied. "If I wasn't then I wouldn't be here."

"You're absolutely, 100% sure it's okay?" Gatti said.

"I positive." Angel looked at the boys. "Are you guys okay with it?"

"Of course. We don't mind at all. It's just that," Guimel looked down. "We've never had a girl in this room."

"Are you sure you want to live with five teenage boys?" Dalet asked.

Angel laughed. "Don't worry. I've lived in a house with two brothers. You guys can't be any worse than them."

"Well," Chesta still looked uneasy.

"Don't worry." Angel reassured him. "Just go to sleep. I'll be fine."

Chesta sighed. "Alright."

The boys climbed into their beds and the room was soon filled with the sound of their slow breathing

.

Angel pulled the blanket closer and rolled to face the window. Her last thought before she fell into a deep sleep was of her first day in this strange world she was supposed to call home.