Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Touched by Darkness ❯ Dark fusion ( Chapter 2 )

I just want to say, that both Folken and Balgus are alive in this fic, as I think it will add more drama to the story.

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"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!? AND HOW DARE YOU COME IN MY CAMP!?!?" Dilandau snorted at the woman. Miguel decided to risk his life and spoke up in her defence.

"Sir…I brought her here. I was with Gatti and saw her unconscious in the desert, and she looked seriously injured, sir. We could heal her wounds then release her, or just let her die out there if you wish….sir…." Miguel was, indeed very brave to talk to Dilandau like he did, which was precisely why he was chosen to be a dragon slayer. Pity they weren't all like him.

Streaming steam out of his ears… Flaring nostrils… Flaring bogies… "WHAT WOUNDS!? I DON'T SEE ANY WOUND!!!"

"Sir, just listen…" They went silent, and listened, and the woman's breathing sounded somewhat irregular, as if she was finding it difficult to breath. She was wheezing. A sign that something is wrong. Every time she took a breath she shivered. She looked like she was having a fit, thrashing about on the makeshift bed. Miguel was wondered if the might fall apart by the time she wakes. IF she wakes. Dilandau, having now calmed down abit, also saw some blood on her forehead, and noticed that it leaked into her eye.

"Get a healer; I don't want a disease to spread." Dilandau spat. He was still huffing and puffing, but didn't act like he was ready to eat someone alive.

"Yes sir." Miguel was relieved; maybe she could even help them when she got better. They may be older and stronger, but they were still men after all, and the cook they had was very bad. Whilst living in the desert for the past 6 months, everyone learnt how to do mundane things that the maids back in Zaibach usually did; like making their own beds and washing the dishes. He hoped that things would change now she was here. And they will…

Dilandau looked at the woman with a sideways glance, not realising he was edging closer to her as well. He's never seen someone like her before; women always wore dresses, not trousers. Some of her hair stuck to her face because of sweat. She wasn't moving now, but was still wheezing. The woman seems to breathing painfully, but at the same time the wheezing sound lessened. Maybe she was getting better? He was curious; how can someone be seriously injured, when they're only apparent injury is so small? Dilandau didn't get it. Then again, he was no healer. The healer…. Miguel should be back by now with one, so where was he? Pondering, Dilandau failed to notice that the woman had suddenly become silent. And she had stopped moving. By this point he had already sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at her. Even the noisy insects outside the tent were quiet. Usually, they still make a racket, make it day or night. Dilandau, absorbed in his thoughts, was oblivious to the fact that her eyelids were beginning to flicker open, and she started to move her head. Maybe it was due to his weird start in life, or because he was raised by men without any female presence, that lead to his fierce nature, one without a heart? One… without love? Most people have two parents…. but he had none. Maybe because of this, Dilandau moved his face closer to hers, so close that their noses were nearly touching…. Suddenly, her eyessnapped open, and focused on his so sharply that he was knocked back mentally, and before he knew what was going on she had sat up in bed, and grabbed his throat with one hand, choking him. She was surprisingly strong for a woman.

"Got a death wish!? How fast would you like to die boy!?" Boy… Dilandau hated being called a boy. He was a young man! And she should know who he is… she is so going to pay for this…

He yanked his sword out of its sheath to kill her, but then both his arms went numb from the shoulders downwards. She gave him a triumphant smile. A sweet smile full of evil, like poisonous honey. Alluring, but deadly. Then she marched him five feet across the tent with ease. Right to the other side. The woman stood, and put her free hand to her forehead; a light glowed from it, and he saw with his very eyes…. the blood disappeared. She was breathing normally too. Infact, she looked stronger and rejuvenated, even though no healer had yet seen to her and she hadn't drunk any water.

Dilandau yelled at the top of his voice. "DEMON!!! GUARDS!!! GUAAAAAAAARDS!!!"

"Demon? I prefer to be called a Sorceress… I must thank you for getting me out of the sun… but that wouldn't have killed me anyway, only delaying my resurrection." She said slyly, blinking at him the way women do, causing him to gulp. She loved to play games. Death, games that is.

"SOCERESS!? BUT I THOUGHT THEY DON'T EXIST!?!?" Dilandau was trying to back away, but the tent wouldn't let him run any further.

"What a foolish, foolish little boy…..tsk tsk tsk…. didn't your mother teach you anything?" She mocked him by shaking her head from side to side, her long hair doing the same thing.

"Then again," She spoke in a sing-song manner "Maybe YOU'RE the demon, because you weren't exactly BORN into this world, were you? Those sorcerers changed an innocent girl to get you…. you are only their experiment, in the grand scheme that never came true…"

"Who are you?" Came a soft voice. Dilandau scrambled to his feet. Never had he been so glad to see Stratagos. Takara dusted off her suit of armour; it was like theirs but designed to fit a woman's body, black in colour, and had a matt finish to it. Dilandau caught himself staring at her gleaming long dark hair. A sudden feeling of danger about Takara entered his mind, his consciousness warning him she was trouble. She must be abit older than him, but he also got the impression she knew more than she let on, as Takara proved by relaying his past to him. It could well be because of the lack of women in his bizarre life, that he is unaware of the different "types" of women. She stood with a confidant posture when answering Stratagos, looking at him with unwavering eye contact.

"Takara. Leader of The Labyrinth, and- "

"Daughter of the Dark Lord." Folken finished off. He was smiling. But it didn't quite reach his eyes. Why was he smiling?

"You surprise me, majesty," Majesty? Then she did an odd thing - she bowed. Looking up, she finished by saying, "Prince of Fanelia; first -borne and traitor to your own country."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?!?" Screamed Dilandau. For some reason, these two knew about each other's pasts, but he didn't, and was becoming more and more infuriated as a result.

"Staying here and listening will do you good Dilandau; think of it as further training to being a commander. Takara could become a vital ally." Folken seemed oddly certain about this Takara. Dilandau was determined to find out why.

"To buy me, is to buy death Folken. Speak before I kill you." She showed her true colours, but only some. Takara was careful not to let them know too much about her, other than her world since Stratagos already knows that much. He can't know anymore… Takara might be a woman, and Dilandau thinks she's weak and feeble, but Folken knows Takara is serious. She's like the female version of him; mysterious and sea-deep with secrets.

Folken didn't hesitate to answer. "The Labyrinth, is an ancient world; it is a prison, a living hell for the inhabitants. Life goes on, people are born and bred there, they die there, and no one escapes or lives to be thirty. The rebels survive but only just, their numbers already decreasing. Their forces are already weakening. Just tell me; if the record about your world is 20'000 years old, just older than Emperor Dornkirk; how old are you?"

Takara seized his mechanical arm, and Dilandau saw Folken's face twitch in pain - eventually his whole face showed the extent of the pain. "Stratagos, never ask a woman that question." Then she let him go, flexing her hands and making her fingers crack. The sound ricocheted off the walls in the room.

. " But I'm impressed. I didn't think news about my world would reach beyond our realm. Tell me about your system, then; what are those flying machines outside?" Takara peered out the door, curious about the guymelefs. So she conjured up a table and three chairs, and sat, Folken and Takara discussing the ways of Zaibach, while Dilandau was still confused at why he didn't kill her when he had the chance, because if this gets out, he'd be very humiliated. Beaten by a woman…. He'd never be able to live it down. Gatti and Miguel came rushing in the middle of the discussion, without a healer…Good, thought Dilandau…this "Takara" can heal herself…

"Sir! I've bad got news!! T-the nomads you told me to find? Well…..there aren't any!!! They're all dead!!!"

"That's because I killed them all." Everyone looked at her. Did she really just say that?

"And another thing sir; we have news that a thief in Fanelia is causing havoc, yelling at people, threatening to hurt them if they got in his way and is looking for a woman named Takara……"