Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Bloody Hands ❯ Inferno ( Chapter 7 )

"The roof
the roof
the roof is on fire."
--Coal Chamber--

___________________________________________________________________________ ____________

"How'd you like that one? It was just a sort of spur of the moment idea," Gatti said ominously. He rolled over in the air above the bed, holding his stomach (and the blood that covered it) in laughter. He had always had such a rich, sweet, contagious laugh, with his deep boyish voice. Traces of it were still left behind in the scratchy evil voice that echoed throughout the room.

"I'm going to rip yours open!" Gatti roared up at the ceiling, chest swelling up, overpowering him. "I'm going to rip yours open like you ripped mine open!!!" he laughed, and took a deep breath, then let the rage wash over himself again. "I'm going to rip it open and force the insides down your throat!!! I'm going to force your insides down your throat!! Did you hear me?!"

He could no more control himself than he could control the weather. He could no more hold back his emotions than he could hold a thousand elephants charging from behind a door. Here like this, sinking into the heat of the fury of being dead, not being able to eat or sleep or dream or fight in his Guymelef again, he was manacled to his inferno of hate. It burned inside of him and charred his thoughts so that nothing surfaced except that endless blackness.

Celena clutched the shivering Van against her, and Van stared blankly over her shoulder, unable to shut out Gatti's horrible taunting. The world became dim and blurry.

"Van, say something! Tell me what's wrong! VAN! I can't help you if you don't tell me... oh Van, say something!!"

"I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU EAT WHATEVER I FIND INSIDE!! I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU FUCKING EAT IT!!!"

Gatti's throat was starting to burn he'd screamed so furiously, but the idea of the things he was saying added fuel to his fire and he could not stop. The fire took over. The fire took over. The fire took over. It twisted inside of his heart and he felt the flames licking the inside of his skin.

"CELENA!!" Van wailed, squeezing his eyes shut in effort to make Gatti leave them.

"Van, what IS IT?!"

Gatti's laughter faded, and he went limp, dangling carelessly above them. He rolled over again so that his stomach was facing them. The blood and intestines were gone, and his stomach was pale and white save the violet scar that ran from the middle of his chest to his navel. He hung silent a moment, watching Van shaking in Celena's arms, and he felt the fire swelling up inside, so powerful now that he could barely even see straight.

"Dilandau-sama...," Gatti whispered, his gray eyes widened in delight. It wasn't the awed whisper Van had heard from Mercutio, and it wasn't the desperate plea that had come from Dalet. It was as if Gatti were... trying to... call Dilandau out...

"Dilandau-sama... Dilandau-sama... Dilandau-sama...." Gatti chanted deliriously. His reached up, grabbed his own cheeks in his gloved hands, and squeezed.

"SHUT UP!!" Van shouted.

"Gatti..." Celena could feel him in the room, saying her name. His name. His name.

"Dilandau-sama, Dilandau-sama, Dilandau-sama, Dilandau-sama...." Gatti could hear the fire crackling inside of himself.

"NO!!!" Van roared, as loud as he could. But he could feel, deep inside, that he could be no match for whatever was coming for him.

"Dilandau-sama, Dilandau-sama, Dilandau-sama Dilandau-sama Dilandau-sama Dilandau-samaDilandau-samaDilandau-samaDilandau-samaDilandau-samaDILANDAU-S AMADILANDAUSAMADILANDAUSAMADILANDAUSAMA...DILANDAU-SAMAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!"

Celena suddenly arched her back violently, and let out a shriek that sounded more animal that human. Her eyes widened around her blue irises, and she dug her nails into Van's bicep. The room started spinning around her, and she screamed against it.

"MOEROOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The flame that was burning inside of Gatti Aldour exploded into the outside of his body, and the bed burst into bright orange flames. Van pressed Celena against himself in effort to protect her.

"No!!! Oh god, NO!!!"

"Van!! HELP ME, Van!!!" Celena shrieked as her world faded into an oblivion of black.

The heat of the fire traveled up the sheets, burning Van's cheeks, orange and red flames snapping and crackling.

"DILANDAU-SAMA!!!!" Gatti roared over the fire.

"Leave her alone!!!! She's not Dilandau anymore, you bastard!!!" Van shouted back.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHRRRRRRRGGGGGG!!!" Celena's voice was deep and throaty. Her eyes were garnet, reflecting the orange dancing flames inside.

"NO!!! Celena, fight it!!! Fight it, Celena!!!"

"MOCHAEEE!!!!!" she roared with that deep throaty voice, opening her mouth wide, exposing a deep black cavern and gleaming white teeth. The garnet irises almost disappeared in the white of her eyes.

"CELENA!!!" Van shook her violently. "CELENA, FIGHT HIM!!!!"

The flames marched up the sheets, and Van could feel the intense heat at his feet from under the covers. He could see the orange and red dancing behind Celena, almost roaring in its snapping and cracking.

"DILANDAU-SAMA!!!" Gatti screamed from above them, eyes and mouth expanding, blood dripping from his jaw to the white sheets.

"VAN!!! Van!!! I hate YOU!!!!" Celena yelled. She dug her nails deeper into his naked arm.

"No, Celena!! FIGHT HIM!!"

Van grabbed her face in his hands and stared into her eyes desperately, searching for the deep blue that had so comforted him the night before. The albino magenta eyes glared back at him with rage, burning with the fire that surrounded them. Her whole body was like one big fire in itself, almost burning Van's hands as he pressed them against her cheek. He felt her jaw expand again as it all but unhinged to scream again.

"DIE!!!!!!"

Dilandau reached up and slashed furiously at Van's left cheek, digging Celena's nails into his skin, clawing with the rage inside. Something inside of him swelled with pleasure at the feeling, something that was so eerily like Celena's feeling of the night before, feeling Van inside of her. The feeling dug into Van's flesh. Dug and clawed and shrieked, digging, digging, slicing through the skin. Dilandau felt bits of Van's flesh squeezing under Celena's fingernails. He dug them in again, and felt warm blood on the very tips of Celena's fingers.

"Dilandau-sama!!!!" Gatti shrieked again.

"GATTTTIIIII!!!!" The commander called back.

"Dilandau-sama.....," Mercutio said from the foot of the burning bed.

Standing with him were Guimel, Viole, Ryuon, Oric, Zander, Balthazar, Neric, Roran, Anthion, and Wyndigo. They surrounded the bed, standing in the fire, watching Dilandau scream and claw at Van's face.

"dilandau-sama...."
"dilandau-sama"
"dilandau-sama"

"DILANDAU-SAMA!!!!" Gatti screamed with such force that he drew his knees up to his chest as he hung in the air above the flames and the rest of the Dragonslayers.

"NOO!!! Oh, please GOD, CELENA, FIGHT HIM!!!!"

"CHIKU!!!" Dilandau cried, digging clawing at Van's other cheek now. The raven-haired boy didn't even seem to notice his efforts, crying so desperately for the girl who inhabited the body he was using to hurt him. This angered Dilandau. Couldn't he feel it? Couldn't he even feel the pain in his cheeks? Was he clawing at the boy in vain? Couldn't he feel the pain in his cheeks like Dilandau felt the pain in HIS cheek?

Celena fought against him as he dug, crying out, trying to pry her own hands away. Declaring that her body was her own now, and Dilandau couldn't have it any more.

Ha. We'll see about that, won't we? You underestimated my men. You underestimated Gatti and Mercutio. They're not insane. They're just amplified. They're not insane, their spirits just can't handle the sort of fire that's burning inside of them now. Their bodies weren't made to contain the kind of hate that I have. Their bodies aren't able to hold that inferno like MINE IS!!!!

"Ding dong the witch is dead," Mercutio said quietly.

The Dragonslayers laughed, boyish voices echoing in the fire. Gatti grinned, held his arms out toward the figure with two minds battling inside of it, and opened his hands warmly.

"COME ON DILANDAU-SAMA!!! COME ON HOME!!!" he cried.

"Ding dong the witch is dead," Mercutio chanted. He jumped onto the flaming mattress and unsheathed his sword.

"DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD, THE WITCH IS DEAD!!!"

Dilandau threw his head back and laughed. He pushed his nails into Van's skin.

"STOP IT, CELENA!!! I CAN'T MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU, FIGHT HIM!!!" Van cried. His tears leaked into the scratches and stung his cheeks.

"COME ON, DILANDAU-SAMA!! COME BACK TO US!!!!!!!!"

"Celena!! I LOVE YOU!!"

Dilandau dug his fingers in desperately. Celena's mind loomed over his, gaining power, gaining strength, making his world dim.

Get away, bitch, I'm taking over from now on. Get away, bitch, he has to pay for what he's done!

You leave, Dilandau. You're not real anymore. You're not my body anymore. Leave. I love him.

Dilandau screamed violently as Celena's blue eyes were seeing out of his. She settled back into the body, and Dilandau struggled to stay alive.

I've got things to finish, Celena. I've got things to finish!

Leave, Dilandau. Let the Dragonslayers go. Let me go. Leave.

NO!!!!!!!!!!

Celena squeezed her eyes shut against the blurry vision, and opened them up to the face of Van Fanel. His cheeks were bloody from where Dilandau had clawed at him, and his garnet eyes were crying thick wet tears.

"Van...."

"Celena!"

He hugged her against him so tightly that Celena thought he'd squeeze the breath out of her, but she didn't mind. She held him back.

"NO!" Gatti protested hoarsely from the air, writhing as if in agony.

"No, he was there!! He was there, he was there I saw him, I had him, I had him, he was there, he was back!! DILANDAU-SAMAAA!"

The invisible strings tied to Gatti's ankles and wrists snapped, and he suddenly fell out of the air. He collapsed in a mangled heap onto the white sheets, and rolled onto the hardwood floor with a thump that shook the walls. His grief, his wasted anger, that fizzled inferno, made his soul so heavy he could hardly bare it. He curled himself into a fetal position, tried to scream, and found that his voice was simply to worn out. He let out a helpless sound that was hardly even a whisper.

"Dil...ada... sa...ma"

Mercutio fell to his knees on the bed and pulled furiously at his long, lank, messy, brunette bangs. He raised his head and wailed up at the ceiling. It wasn't any certain word, just a horrible, chilling wail. He hugged himself with both arms and tilted his face so far back that the back of his head touched the top of his hunched-over back. The fresh red blood came again, gurgling in his throat as he let out that hideous mourning cry. He coughed, and the crimson liquid spouted up, and then fell on his painted cheek.

"DIL-AN-DAUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Neric roared furiously. He grabbed a handful of military files and slung them across the room. Celena watched in horror as a terrible feeling swelled up in her chest, and a stack of papers flew from the desk in a great 'whoosh'.

"GIVE HIM BACK!!!" Anthion demanded. In the space where the wall facing the bed met the ceiling, dark red blood lined the horizontal corner, and started to run down the wall.

"Haii!!!"

Guimel swung his sword at the feathered pillow that Van's head was resting on, slicing off a few locks of his ebony hair. Feathers spouted up into the air like a fountain. Guimel raised the sword and swung again. Van ducked into Celena's arms, and the pillow was sliced in half.

"Van! What's happening?!" Celena shouted over the noise of destruction that the Dragonslayers were causing.

"They're.... they're pretty pissed," Van said, adding a smirk that was quite odd.

"Van...," Celena held the back of his head with one hand. "I won't let them hurt you, Van."

He smiled ruefully and tried to forget the throbbing pain in both of his cheeks. Arigatou, Celena, but I have to do this on my own.

Roran picked up the chair at Van's desk and slung it across the room. It sailed over the bed and slammed against the wall, next to the door.

Wyndigo ripped the desk drawers out on by one, slinging them across the floor. He reached for the last one, jerked it open and....

there sat gleaming a garnet-colored pendant. Wyndigo picked up delicately and let it swing in front of his face.

"NO!!!!" Van cried suddenly.

"What is it?!"

"He's got the pendant!!" Van slung the sheets away and leapt out of bed. Gatti, still lying on the hardwood, reached out and snatched Van's ankle, jerking him to the floor with one swift, graceful movement. Van grunted as the side of his face slammed against the cold hardness. All of the Dragonslayers had turned to see what had happened when Van had said something about a pendant, and now they were eyeing Wyndigo intently.

"Well?" Zander said impatiently, piercing the silence, "What is it, Wyndigo?"

Wyndigo watched the pretty swinging stone, expecting something to happen, but it just continued to swing slowly, back and forth, back and forth, taunting him. Revealing nothing.

"I don't know," he said, just as impatiently. He consoled the pendant again, and still it didn't answer. But the fact that the necklace meant nothing to him bothered him not. He tossed it up a little, snatched it out of the air, and grinned at Van. The raven-haired king frowned.

"Give it to me, you have no use for it. It... it's just a sentimental sort of thing. Something you wouldn't understand."

Wyndigo raised his blonde eyebrows, cocked his head a little, and grinned the sort of grin that would have been cute had his lips not been smeared with blood.

"What do you think, Gatti?" Wyndigo asked the boy with ash blonde hair, who had assumed the role of their leader now.

"Take it. We'll see what we can make of it," Gatti replied.

With that the Dragonslayers deserted the destroyed room.