Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Drown in the Sunset ❯ Dilandau and the Human Archive ( Chapter 1 )

Drown in the Sunset

 

Disclaimer: To my utter distress and chagrin, I do not own Tenkuu no Escaflowne nor any of its characters. However, one consolation remains that I own the original characters in this fic.

 

I sincerely hope that you enjoy this first chapter. I'm still testing the waters. Hopefully, it will be as enjoyable to you to read as it was for me to write. Any comments and suggestions are welcome. Reviews will also be greatly appreciated. Thanks…..:)

 

Chapter One: Dilandau and the Human Archive

 

“Dilandau,” Folken whispered as he placed his organic hand upon the surface of a globe that was in the room. He remembered the image that this name evoked in his mind. Mussed silver hair, fiery red eyes, menacing smiles, an uncontrollable temper and a determination to disregard orders. Full of biting sarcasm and an astute fascination with fire. That was the Dilandau he had always known. But what information could he possibly offer the people who had asked him about the boy that could satiate their curiosity and desire for truth. He looked around in despair at the anxious faces, all focused on him and on what he had to say. Pale moonlight filtered from the window into that dark room in the Asturian palace. Even he, Strategos Folken, no, Folken Lacour de Fanel, was at a loss when it came to this subject.

 

Allen Schezar, the valiant Knight Caeli of Asturia was looking intently at Folken, waiting for an answer. He was getting quite impatient, which surprised even him for it was not in his nature to be so reckless and impetuous. But he needed to know the truth. Why had Celena transformed into that murderous psychopath at the graveyard? Who was he? He needed to know what had really happened to his beloved sister these past ten years. And the only key to that would be Folken for was he not the Strategos of Zaibach? Surely, he must know something of the mystery behind all this madness. Allen also knew that Dilandau was under Folken's command. He must know something. The other expectant faces were those of Dryden, Millerna and Aries. As a scholar, Dryden was also curious about such a unique turn of events. Ever since I joined this group, my life seems to be getting more exciting and now I am plunged into a mystery that I must get to the bottom of, at least, if only to satisfy my thirst for knowledge, the merchant thought to himself. But something tells me that there's more to this story than meets the eye. I'm quite elated.

 

Poor Allen, Princess Millerna thought. What a terrible thing to have finally found his lost sister only to lose her again, and in such incomprehensible circumstances too! Eries was equally anxious to know the truth, as she had stood beside Allen on that fateful day and witnessed the unbelievable transformation of Celena at the graveyard. What was the truth? Who was that enigmatic personality? And what had really happened to Celena these past ten years? They all wished to know.

 

And it was hard to disappoint all these expectant people. “I am sorry,” Folken said despondently. “But I know very little about him. I know nothing of his past. But I am very certain that he is under the control of the Sorcerers.”

 

“Sorcerers?” Allen exclaimed, demanding a more detailed answer.

 

“Yes,” Folken replied calmly, “Zaibach scientists directly under Emperor Dornkirk. They have performed experiments to test the Emperors theories and to validate his findings on Fate Alteration and the existence of fate particles and such.” He had a fleeting vision of tall, menacing figures in ebony cloaks, cruel faces with even more malicious intentions. These heartless beings who tortured and destroyed, who toyed with life and crushed all hope. And he used to be one of them. He silently scoffed at the thought. Never, Folken thought angrily, I was never like them no matter what. I was never that heartless. Never.

He continued his explanation. “It is said that they used kidnapped children on which to perform their many experiments.” A collective gasp was heard from the two princesses. Dryden looked simply appalled. And Allen was livid.

 

“Kidnapped children??” he cried in outrage.

 

It was true and it pained him to have to say this, especially to one who had lost his very own sister to the wickedness of fate and to those vile sorcerers but Folken could not deny them what little information he could possibly offer. If he had lost his beloved brother Van in such a way, he would be suffering just as much. But he was lucky, Van was safe, and he did not have to endure such pain. But this unfortunate Knight Caeli had to.

 

“You mean, that Celena was….and now, she's…” Allen said hesitantly. He simply could not bring himself to complete that sentence. He was too afraid to say out loud what his heart already knew. It was tearing him apart. How could this be? What had he ever done to deserve such a punishment? What had Celena, poor sweet, gentle Celena, ever done to deserve such a fate? He was desolate and depressed. Folken looked at him in despair, unable to offer any form of consolation. Dryden laid a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and the two princesses of Asturia looked down quietly.

 

There was a deafening silence, each not wanting to interrupt the silent mourning of Allen Schezar for his sister. However, the stillness was shattered by Folken who began to speak in a hushed tone.

 

“There would be someone else who would be able to confirm or disprove our suspicions about Dilandau and your sister's identity, hopefully the latter,” he said, seemingly to himself. But it's impossible, she must have perished with the Vione. But what if she had survived? At this point, the former Fanelian prince seemed to be lost in thought, with his brows knitted across his forehead.

 

“What are you talking about?” Dryden inquired, eager to try to turn the conversation away from such a distasteful subject, in an attempt to distract the others. Allen, Millerna and Aries looked at Folken curiously, -wondering what he could have to say.

 

“Dilandau had a constant companion, who had been with him since childhood. She too was a product of the sorcerers' dealings but not to the extent that Dilandau had experienced. She most probably knows more about him than anyone else and were she here, she might offer some real closure,” Folken said.

 

“But who is she?” Allen piped up, intrigued by the brief description and encouraged by the fact that there was someone else who could possibly deny the truth he had just heard. Perhaps this person knew something more and could offer some comfort and closure.

 

Folken sighed in remembrance of that sorrowful creature. “She was a result of an experiment in order to harness the powers of the human memory.”

 

“What do you mean, the powers of the human memory? What could they possibly achieve by doing so?” Dryden demanded impatiently.

 

“A great deal, a very great deal if you must know. Now I suggest you stop interrupting me in order that I might articulate more about her,” Folken said quietly.

 

“But what is her name?” Millerna asked. She was quite curious about what this being was like as a person and not as an experiment or a mystery. She seemed to be a friend of Dilandau, if anything, his only real friend but who was she.

 

“She was known as Zaibach's human archive a few years back. She was named Rhonas Eiren,” Folken replied. Seeing as all eyes were focused intently on him and on what he had to say, he continued. “About ten years ago, the Zaibach scientists wanted to zero in on the potential power of the human mind, particularly the human memory, to become a storehouse of knowledge and information. It is a fact well known that some people are capable of remembering and storing large masses of information in their minds and that was not even using their brains to the fullest extent. If they were able to credit this feat to certain bodily functions and control the extent of human memory, they would be able to encode and store worlds of knowledge and valuable information in the mind of one subject. And they would program the subject's cerebral functions so as to make any part of the vast information within the subject's mind readily available. If they succeeded, then they would have saved on so many resources such as scrolls and paper on which they write down information as well as keeping vast libraries and rooms for storing all this information. They would have all these in a compact form, that of a human being who was utilizing his mind and memory's potential to the fullest. Added to that, since humans were still fallible, the sorcerers decided to take extra precautions to make sure that their “device” was flawless and would not be affected by the troublesome elements of human emotions.

 

They were able to succeed in this venture with a young girl who had an immense mental capacity. They enhanced this by adding and installing wires and devices connected to her medulla oblongata and various points of her cerebral cortex in order that she could readily absorb information and give out information at will. The procedure was tedious and extremely painful for the subject but since she was on sedatives most of the time and some of her emotional functions had been disabled, she endured it without screaming or as much as a tear flowing down her cheek.”

 

At this point, Folken's audience experienced a world of different emotions all at once. The two princesses looked absolutely scandalized by what they had just heard and Millerna was already close to tears. Dryden looked thoughtful and to some extent sad. Allen simply sat with a blank stare at space, so affected was he by such a mortifying description of pain. Folken had paused in an attempt to collect himself. Recounting such a life, such a sad, terrible passage of suffering to suffering, it was weakening even him. He continued.

 

“They also installed and developed an apparatus in her right arm that enabled her to exhibit particular events which were stowed in her memory by simply placing her arm on a flat surface. Wires that were directly connected to her brain, eyes, spinal cord and nervous system would then facilitate a transfer of imagery onto the surface. With her, one could revisit past battles to try and study strategies and develop better tactics. One could also view experiments and procedures at various stages all amassed in the memory of one person. She was one of Zaibach's greatest and most precious tool. At that time, she was considered the Sorcerers' most unparalleled success.”

 

“Was?” Allen interjected. “And what has become of her now?”

 

Folken paused and remembered. Rhonas Eiren. Crimson eyes that held so much pain. Raven hair that fell to her waist and a hauntingly beautiful face that concealed a deeply tortured psyche. Her pain was only matched by that of Dilandau himself. Both subjects of the Sorcerers' meddling. Broken children, lost children. And yet, they had shed no tears.

 

“Lord Folken? Are you alright?”

 

Folken shook himself and brushed away painful memories. “I apologize for my distraction. Now let me continue. Although she was a notable achievement in higher technology, she was still a human being and not immortal. So it was then that the sorcerers began to build a duplicate of Rhonas Eiren but instead of using another human subject, they were building a machine. They merely needed to test their theories on her and discover the particular functions of the mind which facilitated a storing of vast masses of knowledge and information. They also needed a replacement that was more efficient and less risky.”

 

“Risky? Efficient? Did something go wrong with Rhonas Eiren?” Dryden asked suddenly, with a wary look in his eye.

 

Folken closed his eyes and a troubled expression filled his pale face. “Apparently, this happened right about the time when they also experimented on Dilandau, in an attempt to create the perfect soldier. I am not very acquainted with the details but during one of the ongoing procedures being performed on Rhonas Eiren. Something, they say a terrible sight, triggered her emotional functions and her consciousness as a child, an individual was reawakened. You have to understand that prior to this, all that she had seen, all the information stored in her mind, she could not really remember what they were. As a person, she knew nothing of what was going on except for the fact that she was enduring great unimaginable pain. But during that split second, something cracked. All the mental and emotional barriers that the sorcerers had built inside her came crashing down and she began to really feel pain and reactions started coming so quickly that they almost didn't know what was to be done to her. She was screaming wildly, in hysterics and they had to sedate her several times before anything could stop her. After all, she was just a child. Such horrors as what has been done to her must never be done on any child.

 

They discarded her soon after they had built a better replacement, a machine which was much more efficient and not swayed by human emotions. This device is what Zaibach is currently using as an archive of all significant information. Somehow they were able to transfer the knowledge stored in her memory to the machine because they had already figured out how a vast memory works. She was thrown out of the headquarters as an obsolete tool of no further use to the Empire. And it was then that Dilandau found her.

 

They were both 6 years of age at that time and Dilandau was not the vicious bloodthirsty captain that you all know. They were both still children. He was surprised to find another child in that huge ebony prison of darkness and they both came to an understanding. She became his constant companion. Since she was of no particular importance, the Sorcerers let her stay with Dilandau. But soon, they were able to find another use for Rhonas Eiren.

 

Since she was always at his side and the apparatus on her arm was still functioning well, the Sorcerers' used her to keep tabs on their other subject. So in order to be able to stay with him, every so often she would have to use her absorbing apparatus to check on Dilandau's health, state-of-mind and so on. It was a harmless task and both were soon used to it. And that was how things were until late.”

 

“Well, if she was his closest companion, why did we never see her in any of the battles Dilandau had engaged in?” declared Allen.

 

“She was non-combatant and stayed mostly on the Vione, awaiting Dilandau's return from every battle, besides she had other more specific duties assigned her by me and her other superiors” Folken replied.

 

“Sounds to me that she was his girlfriend or something,” Dryden commented dryly. “After all, if you've been together for that long a time, how can something not develop between them.”

 

And for the first time in that tense evening, Folken smiled and gave a soft chuckle. “It may well be as you say but I'd first like you to imagine Dilandau ever sharing such a relationship with any other person.”

 

“I'd surely like to see if that freak is capable of ever caring about someone else,” Allen said with a snort. Just the thought of that merciless fighter nurturing a real relationship with anyone seemed laughable.

 

“Rhonas Eiren also isn't an ordinary girl,” Folken continued, “The experiments left considerable effects on her. Either her emotional capacity hasn't really developed yet or she never shows any emotions at all. It's hard to tell.”

 

“Fire and ice, an interesting combination,” Dryden smiled.

 

“Dryden, I hardly think that this is the proper occasion for such pleasantries,” Millerna scolded.

 

“My sincerest apologies, then, Princess,” he smiled.

 

“Ch, trust a fool like you to make light of a serious situation,” Allen scoffed. But despite this he was relieved that the atmosphere had become less tense. Still, all of them still wanted to learn more about this enigmatic Rhonas Eiren.

 

“It seems to me that she's just a regular nutcase like Dilandau himself if they've known each other for long, they both must be as crazy,” Dryden remarked dryly.

 

“I would think, Dryden.” Folken muttered, “That if you had endured all the torment and agony that they had, with the sorcerers toying with their souls, you wouldn't be so calm and sane.”

 

Hearing this, Dryden opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. Folken gave him a grave glance.

 

“And why do you know so much about her if you know so little of Captain Albatou, Lord Folken?” inquired Eries who had hardly spoken a word the entire evening. Instantly the others turned to look at Folken with earnest expressions and some even wary.

 

Folken smiles slowly. “Would you be surprised to hear Dilandau told me all this?”

 

“Well, that is something,” commented Dryden while the others sported rather incredulous expressions on their faces.

 

“Whenever he does talk, he tells me about his only partner and real friend. Not with any detectable sign of fondness, mind you, however knowing Dilandau, one would never expect any outward show of emotion. Besides, most of the time he would complain about the incompetence of his unit and how he wished his men were half as able as Rhonas Eiren whom he couldn't even command because they were both under the sorcerers' orders and her purpose was already laid out.”

 

“And what about her, does she talk about him much?” asked a curious Millerna. These kind of things were of great interest to her, even in the midst of a war, her girlish sensibilities were still quite strong.

 

“On the few occasions that I've spoken to her casually, without consulting her storehouse of knowledge, I've deduced just this much. She has the same fondness for Dilandau as he has for her. They never speak of it, they never show any emotions, no smiling, no holding hands but one gets the feeling that they get along quite extraordinarily well. And yet, though I know all this, I still know surprisingly little about her as well. She is an enigma whom only Dilandau seems to fully comprehend.”

 

“Well where is she now?”

 

Folken looked out into the moonlit city. “The last I saw of her was in the Vione, which as you know was destroyed and sunk by my younger brother Van. She probably perished with it.”

 

“What?” everyone said in unison.

 

“So this whole conversation was pointless then?” Dryden said with irritation. “What a waste of our time.”

 

“Not necessarily,” Folken said quietly. “Though I said that, something tells me that she survived and that she's here in Palas. Somewhere.”

 

“Well, I don't put too much faith in your gut feelings, Strategos,” Allen exclaimed.

 

Dryden rubbed his chin and then looked up at them. “Well, if what you say is true, Lord Folken. Princess Eries, Princess Millerna, weren't any survivors stranded at the harbor at all?”

 

“If there were any survivors from the formidable Zaibach floating fortress,” replied Aeries, “then they were certainly thrown in the dungeons.”

 

“That's right, sister,and ”Millerna chimed in.“Then there is still a chance that we might find her!”

 

“Please give us a description of what Rhonas Eiren looks like, Lord Folken,” Allen requested.

 

Folken nodded, “A girl the same age as Princess Millerna, slightly taller with silken, serpentine ebony tresses that reach her waist, crimson eyes and with a hauntingly beautiful face. Expect to see her right arm covered because she wouldn't want anyone to notice the apparatus installed in it. If you'd seen her, you'd never forget her. A lot like Dilandau. Distinctive. I shall accompany you in your search so that I may properly identify her.”

 

“Very well, now let's get to it,” Allen cried eagerly as he exited the room. Dryden followed right behind him. He too was keen on meeting this human archive. The two princesses took their leave of Lord Folken and he was left alone in the room.

 

He contemplated the turn of events and glanced absent-mindedly at the moonlight. Then he stood up and walked towards the door. Now, he thought, Allen Schezar you will find your truth. And with a swish of his cloak, he was out the door as well.

 

In the hallway, he was able to catch up with the Knight Caeli and the merchant. They walked in silence for the first few moments and then Allen turned to him and said, “I'd just like to know what makes you so sure about her surviving the destruction of the floating fortress. It seems to me from what you've told us that she was pretty battered as a child and that she is non-combatant, so what are the realistic chances that she is still out there?”

 

“Well, Sir Allen,” Folken replied coolly, “Rhonas Eiren was only considered non-combatant in the aspect that she did not engage in battle. However, growing up in the midst of the training of the Zaibach army and frequenting the company of Zaibach's elite fighting force and its magnificent captain, some of the survival techniques and fortitude certainly rubbed off on her.”

 

Allen took this bit of information in stride and was for the moment satisfied. She sounds just as dangerous as that vicious soldier but then she's our only link to him at this moment, he brushed other thoughts away. Their task now was to find Rhonas Eiren and elicit some answers about Dilandau.

 

“And besides,” Folken added, “she won't die so easily.”