Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Fantaisie Sign ❯ Everything Is Gone, There's Nothing That I Fear ( Chapter 11 )

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me.

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

---

I woke up the next morning, and, as I expected I would be, I was tired. Very tired. Never ever stay up talking with friends until three in the morning, Edward, okay?

"Schleeeepy schleepy schleepy..." I said, standing up and rubbing my eyes. I gazed at the clock by my bed. "Ungh... ten thirty? The tour and the interview start at nooon.... poor sleepy Edward..."

Stumbling over to the mirror, I took off my nightclothes that I'd hastily put on last night after my new friends left and put on a decent-looking green shirt and a red mini-skirt, an outfit which I was pretty sure I'd look nice in for my interview. Then, I slipped on some white socks, put on my tennis shoes, and headed out the door.

---

"So, you're tired too, Ed?" Kirsten asked. I'd met up with Kirsten at the campus food court, where she was just sitting down to eat breakfast. I didn't see Asada or any of the others with her, though. "I guess staying up so late was a bad idea, huh?"

"Don't worry about it, Kirsten," I said, smiling. "Ed is slooooowly slooooowly waking up!"

"Well, anyway, Asada and Curtis are working out together in the gym. She got up pretty early, but then again, she told me she doesn't really like sleeping, anyway. Piripi is in the arcade doing who knows what, and Kimberly and Sani are probably still sleeping."

"Yikes, are you gonna go wake them up?" I asked Kirsten, not wanting either of them to miss any of the day's events and then not get to go to college because they overslept. That would be terrible!

"I probably should," Kirsten said, sipping from a carton of orange juice. "Then again, I don't think the admissions committee is going to mind them missing the tour. It's just a boring walk through the college... well, that's what I've heard from other people who've taken it, anyway."

"Ed wouldn't call the college boring!" I said. "It's so pretty... with trees, and water, and lots of people, and beautiful buildings, and-"

"It's boring to me, Ed," Kirsten said nonchalantly. "I'm not really interested in the whole 'nature' thing, ya know? But it's okay if you're more interested in it than I am... I'm just giving you my perspective, okay?"

"Ed understands!" I said, trying to be as friendly as possible. Faye-Faye would probably say the same thing, anyway.

"I knew ya would see where I was going with this, Ed!" Kirsten said. "Um... you sure put a lot of brown sugar on those breakfast crépes. Or is that cinnamon?"

"Cinnamon!" I said. Kirsten had been referring to the large stack of crepes that I'd piled on my plate to eat for breakfast, and the large pile of cinnamon on top of them. "Crépes are yummy!"

"I'm more of a cereal person myself," Kirsten said, pouring some milk on a bowl of Callisto Flakes that she'd bought. "But you're really getting into this French culture thing, aren't you?"

"Edward just like crépes," I said, digging into my breakfast. The college's crépes weren't nearly as good as the ones from the Fleur De Trois, and they didn't even have any cherry syrup to put on them! But with the cinnamon, it was still pretty good.

"I wonder if I'll be able to tell everything about a person just by knowing what they eat for breakfast," Kirsten said deviously. "You know, once I get into a psychology class and all."

"I don't know if they teach that sort of thing," I told her. "But if you find out, tell Ed everything you know about people who like crépes!"

"Will do, Edward!" Kirsten said, giving me a thumbs-up. "Hey, look!"

I turned around to see Kimberly and Sani walking toward the food court area. Smiling, I waved toward them.

"Kirsten thought you guys overslept," I told them. "We were gonna come wake you two up!"

"No need for that," Kimberly said, smiling. "What's up, guys?"

"We really talked a lot last night, didn't we?" Sani asked, yawning. I nodded at them.

"Well, that's okay... Ed enjoyed getting to talk to you guys!" I said as they sat down at our table. "Did you already eat breakfast?"

"Yeah," Kimberly nodded. "I fixed myself some pancakes in my dorm."

"And I got a box of cereal," Sani said. "So, Edward, about last night... are your lips still tingling?"

Sani's words immediately brought me back to last night, and Sylvan's kiss and declaration of love for me. Wow, it was only a day ago? I still hadn't really thought about it...

"Um... well, yeah!" I said, stumbling to find a suitable answer. "I still can't believe I kissed an actual French guy."

"Ed, you're so lucky!" Kimberly said. "Remember, though, part of that kiss belongs to us. I mean, we're the ones who made you look all pretty, right?"

Kimberly began giggling, and I knew that she was just saying that to be funny. I began giggling as well.

"Edward doesn't think there's such a thing as a sixth of a kiss, Kimberly," I told her.

"Well, I hope you see him again today... he's probably in class or something, so you won't see him on the tour. But after the interview and all that stuff, you have to go back and see him again!" Kirsten insisted. "Or maybe he'll come to you... bringing flowers, or chocolate, or flowers AND chocolate, or chocolate flowers, or-"

"Don't worry, Kirsten, it'll be Ed's number one priority to visit Sylvan today!" I said. "I can't wait!"

---

After breakfast, we immediately met up with Asada and Piripi outside the food court. I saw Curtis for a second, but he had to leave because he had a class to get to. After he left, the five girls and I began walking toward the administration building.

"We're supposed to meet with the others in the lobby," I said. "That's where the tour's going to start!"

"I don't know why they don't just interview us," Kirsten said. "I mean, we could take tours on our own."

"They want to point out all the important stuff, Kirsten," Piripi said. "Plus, there are a lot of places we can't go on our own... you know, not open to the public."

"I guess that's true," Kirsten said. "Well, as long as they make it interesting..."

"Well, here we are!" Asada said as we walked up the steps to the administration building. She opened the door, and we all walked inside.

The lobby wasn't very crowded, as there were only about ten or twelve other students that were going to be taking the tour, and it was a pretty big lobby. A friendly, neatly-dressed man was also standing in the lobby. I guessed him to be pretty young, probably his late twenties, and by the badge on his shirt I knew that he was a faculty member of some kind, although I couldn't quite make out what the badge read. After about a minute, in which I introduced myself to a few of the other college hopefuls, the man began to speak.

"Bonjour, and welcome to New Parisian Liberty College!" the man said jubilantly. "My name is Bradley LeChec, and I'm the vice director of the administrative committee here at NPL. I'm also here to be your tour director today, and I'll be showing you around, basically taking you everywhere that you're going to want to go once your college experience starts next year. The tour will last approximately an hour and a half, and after the tour is done, I'll be taking you back here so that you can take part in your admissions interviews. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask!"

"I have a question," said a tall young man standing next to me. After Bradley acknowledged him, the young man began to speak. "Have you heard about the recent incidents involving many of the enrolling students at Dejoule Hall?"

"Yes, and those involved in perpetrating those acts were dealt with by the campus authorities, so hopefully there won't be any more incidents of that nature," said Bradley.

"My thoughts exactly," I thought, glad that none of my friends had been harmed.

"Well, if there aren't any more questions, let's begin the tour, shall we?" Bradley said. "Please follow me."

Bradley walked out of the lobby of the administrative building, and all of us followed him. After making the first few stops at the various research centers, empty classrooms, and recreational facilities, we entered a large building with a sign that read "DeGaulle Memorial Fieldhouse" posted above the entrance.

"This is the basketball arena, where our Group 1 team plays its games," Bradley said as we walked through the halls of the building. Posted on the walls were pictures of other basketball stars, and several trophy cases also lined the building.

"I went to a game a couple of days ago," whispered a girl nearby. "They're not really that good."

"I'm usually more into Neo-American college basketball, said a boy next to her. "These French players stink."

"Well, that isn't a very nice thing to say!" I thought, but kept my thoughts to myself. "I just hope Bradley didn't hear you two."

"And here's the court," Bradley said, pushing open a large door in front of us and following us all onto the hardwood floor. I looked around and saw a large scoreboard hanging over our heads, and thousands and thousands of seats spread throughout the arena. "The fieldhouse seats 23,898 people, and this place can get pretty loud during some of the games, believe me!"

"I wouldn't want to sit in one of those seats all the way up there," Asada said to me, pointing toward the very tip-top rows of seats. "You could get a nosebleed sitting up there like that!"

"I know," I said, nodding my head. "Ed doesn't really like watching basketball, though. Playing it is fun, but watching it is kinda boring..."

"I agree," Asada said, smiling at me. We walked around the hardwood floor, having nothing to do because Bradley had given us a five minute break to sit down or look around the arena.

"So, how's everything going with you and Curtis?" I asked, rather curious about Asada's new friend.

"Curtis?" Asada said, a bit nervously. "Oh, um, well...."

"Tell me, tell me!" I said eagerly, not wanting Asada to dodge my question.

"Did I ever tell you that when he's working out, he's absolutely the cutest thing?" Asada said, smirking. "He sat down on the weight bench, and took off his shirt, and he started bench-pressing, and he got all sweaty and... oh, I'm not going to say anything else!"

"Why not?" I said. "Ed can tell you like him..."

"What? Me? Oh, no, no, we're just friends!" Asada said defensively. "I mean, he just broke up with one girlfriend, he's not ready to have another..."

"So you want to be his boyfriend," I said.

"Ed, that's not-"

"Alright, let's get back on the tour," Bradley said loudly. "We've still got a few more places to go, let's hurry up!"

The kids on the tour, as well as Asada and I, walked over to Bradley, who was standing by the entrance to the basketball court. When we had all reached him, he began to speak again.

"Again, if you have any questions about this place, don't hesitate to ask," Bradley said. He received no reply. "No questions? Alright, let's roll."

"Ed, like I said, Curtis and I aren't together yet... but I do like him," Asada said quietly.

"I knew it!" I replied happily. "I knew you two belonged together!"

"Well, I haven't asked him yet..." Asada said.

"Why not?" Piripi asked, turning her head toward us as we left the fieldhouse. "Asada, Curtis so digs you. I just know it!"

"Yeah, Asada... ask him out!" I said. "You won't regret it, Ed promises!"

"Well, okay, okay, I'll ask him out before we leave the college in a few days. See, that's just it, I don't wanna ask him out and then leave him until college starts next year..." Asada said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I guess I hadn't thought about that," I replied. "Well, Ed's sure you guys can work something out..."

"Mm-hmm," Sani said. "And Ed and Sylvan too..."

"Oh geez, Edward really hadn't thought about that! What's Edward going to do when Ed has to leave Sylvan in a few days... that cannot be good at all..."

---

"Well, this is the last stop of our tour!" Bradley said, leading us to a large, domed building. "This is our college's observatory, where we have a telescope so that we can look out to the stars! If you're planning on going into astronomy, you might want to check this out. Normally it's not open to the general public, but today you'll all get to take a quick look into the telescope if you want!"

"Oooh, sounds like fun!" I said, eagerly walking into the building with the others.

"This really could be interesting," Kirsten said. "Eh, maybe this tour's not so bad after all..."

"Told ya," I said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"Okay, okay, Ed, you were right... you get to take the first look inside the telescope," Kirsten said.

"Uh, too late, guys," Kimberly said, pointing toward the small line of about six or seven kids who had lined up to take a look through the telescope. I quickly took my place in line behind them, and pretty soon, it was my turn!

"Ed, what do ya see?" Kirsten said, trying to look into the telescope's viewing lens at the same time as I was, even though it would be impossible to do that.

"Hmm... lots of stars..." I said. "They won't let Edward change the settings to look somewhere else."

Gazing around the viewing area that I could see, I spotted a large bright spot near the upper left corner. Looking closer, I realized what it was.

"It's a supernova!" I said excitedly, having seen one while stargazing with my dad a couple of years back. "It's really bright!"

I stepped aside and let Kirsten peer through the telescope.

"That's pretty cool!" she said. "Now I know why they won't let you change the settings..."

"If someone changed them, you might not be able to see the supernova anymore," Asada said. "Good call."

"It took us quite a while to find that one," Bradley said, standing next to Asada. "One of our seniors found it, actually. Needless to say, he got a good grade that quarter."

"I'll bet!" said one of the other kids. "I've never actually seen a real live supernova before... that was pretty cool."

"Well, has everyone looked into the telescope?" Bradley said. After getting a unanimous 'yes' from everyone in the room, including me, he said a few more words, then led us back to the administrative building to conduct our interviews.

---

Since there were sixteen kids, they split us up into four groups, where each of the groups would be interviewed by a different school official. I was in the group that would be interviewed by the dean of admissions himself, Joliet Depardieu, whom I'd met earlier. As the interviews were conducted, I sat outside the dean's office in the same waiting room that I'd waited in before, with the same mean secretary who had been so rude to me earlier. This time, she didn't say a word to me, which I thought was at least a bit better than having to deal with someone being stern to me. I was the last one to be interviewed, and right now, I was waiting for Kirsten to conclude her interview, which had lasted for about twenty minutes by my count. In all, I'd been waiting for about forty-five minutes to an hour. Finally, Kirsten stepped out of the office and gently shut the door behind her.

"How'd it go?" I whispered, standing up.

"It was interesting," Kirsten replied. "Well, I was interesting, that's what he said. But it's a good interesting, I think, and he said he really liked my test scores, so I probably did well. I guess I'll find out in a couple of days, huh?"

"Couple of days?" I asked inquisitively.

"Yeah, he said we'd be finding out if we were accepted or not in a couple of days," Kirsten told me. "Well, good luck, Ed!"

Kirsten gave me a hug, then walked out of the waiting room.

"Well, here it comes, Ed... get ready," I thought, trying to mentally prepare myself to enter the room. "Remember, no craziness and no third-person and everything will go just swookie!"

I opened the door and entered the office. Depardieu smiled at me as I came in.

"Miss Appledelhi, it's nice to see you again," he said, extending his hand to me. "Would you like to sit down?"

I obliged, and shook his hand as I sat down in a large, comfortable chair across from him at his desk.

"Francoise, have you seen these?" Depardieu asked, pulling a manila folder out of his desk and laying it down on the table. He opened up the folder, and held out several pieces of paper to me, which I immediately knew to be test results. "You got a perfect 3000 on the New Consolidated Aptitude Test, you know."

"I've seen these before," I said, leafing through the papers. "I really didn't expect to do that well... I was shooting for a 2950!"

Depardieu began to chuckle as a smile crept onto my face.

"You blazed through your correspondence courses, and the essays you submitted to us were incredibly well-written," Depardieu said. "My first question to you is this... what drives you to be such a brilliant scholar?"

I stopped to think for a second, and then gave my answer.

"Well, I didn't receive very much education as a little girl, and my father wasn't very supportive of me at first, because my mom died when I was young and he was grieving for quite some time... so I had to learn what I could from all the different sources around me. I taught myself by researching everything I could by computer, and when I was fourteen I began taking the correspondence courses because I knew I wanted to go to college."

"I see.... so you have an intense desire to learn," Depardieu said. "It's refreshing to see a young person like yourself take such a large interest in the world around them. What brings you here, exactly?"

"Well, I want to meet new friends and find out what I'm good at," I said frankly. "Hopefully I'll be able to find myself a career that I want to be in!"

"You mean you haven't thought about a career yet, Francoise?" Depardieu asked, a bit stunned.

"Well, I've thought a little bit, but it's been really hard for me to decide...." I said.

"Is there anything at all you're leaning toward?" Depardieu asked. Again, my mind scanned for something to say. I decided I'd give him the honest answer, as best as I could.

"A few years ago, I traveled with a group of bounty hunters in space for a period of about two months," I said. "Getting to help them out and chase bounties was really exciting for me, and I know that's not exactly a good career path, but... well, it's really the only one I've been interested in!"

"Bounty hunters?" Depardieu asked incredulously.

"Well, it's a really long story..." I said, "but I assure you that I really did learn a lot of things by traveling with them!"

"Tell me, Francoise, has this experience ever made you think about a career in the legal system, or maybe one in aeronautics?"

Well, that was a surprise... it didn't take him very long to link bounty hunting with a couple of reputable career paths... paths that I hadn't really thought of taking before.

"You could become a lawyer, you could work for the ISSP, you could be a spacecraft technician, a spacecraft designer, a police dispatcher... ever thought about any of those careers?" Depardieu asked.

"Well, now that you mention it... not really," I admitted.

"Francoise, what are your other interests?" Depardieu asked me, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

"I've always been really good with computers..." I said. "Programming, repairing, hacking, that sort of thing... ugh, shouldn't have said 'hacking'...."

"Computers, eh?" Depardieu said. "That's a fine career path. But... computer hacking? Like... what kind of hacking? Francoise, you do know that's illegal..."

"I know, I know," I said, beginning to get a bit nervous. "I never mean to do any harm, it's mostly for fun...."

"Well, there is a career in computer hacking," Depardieu said. "Quite a profitable and rewarding one, actually. It ties in with the government... have you ever heard of technological espionage, Francoise?"

"You mean... hacking for the government?" I asked, having heard a bit about it before from Jet-person.

"Yes, that's precisely what I mean," Depardieu said. "Colleges typically don't train in that field, though."

"Well, I want to learn some new skills in college," I said, trying to get the subject off of hacking. "I've pretty much learned all I can about computers..."

"Well, Francoise, there are certainly a multitude of exceptional courses here at NPLC that I promise you will find very rewarding," Depardieu said. "And with a brilliant mind and incredible drive like yours, I know you'll be successful in your endeavors."

"That's very kind of you to say..." I said, a bit flattered. "I'll really take some time to figure out what courses I want to take."

"Well, here's something to help you get started," Depardieu said, handing me a neatly-packaged computer disk. "This informational and interactive video disc has a large number of resources that can help you, Francoise. It will tell you everything you need to know about any course that you might be interested in taking here."

"Thank you, sir," I said as I took the disk.

"Well, that about wraps it up, Miss Appledelhi," Depardieu said, standing up to shake my hand again. I stood up and firmly shook his hand. "If you have any more questions, feel free to come here and talk to me anytime. I'm really looking forward to seeing you here again, Francoise."

"You mean... I made it?" I said, my eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Well, I still have to go through the committee, but I'm 99.99% sure you'll be attending this university next fall," Depardieu said frankly.

"Thank you, sir!" I said, almost ready to jump for joy. "You've made Ed very happy!"

I lifted my hand up to my mouth. Oops...

"Oh, that reminds me," Depardieu said, smiling. "Do you want me to call you Francoise or Edward? Either one is fine with me."

"Um... well, just whatever you'd like, sir!"

"I'll go with Francoise, since it's such a pretty name," Depardieu said. "I've got a cousin named Francoise, you know. Most of your friends call you Edward though, right?"

I nodded.

"Um, Mr. Depardieu... you talked to Kirsten a little while ago, right?" I asked. "How did she do? Is she getting into college too?"

"If I have anything to say about it, yes, your friend will be attending this college too," Depardieu said. "She's a very clever young woman."

"Okay... what about Asada, and Piripi, and Kimberly, and Sani?" I asked quickly, getting a bit ahead of myself.

"Well, I only remember interviewing Kirsten... I'll put a good word in for the others, alright?" Depardieu said. "Don't worry, most of the people invited here eventually get in. We invite only the very best for the interview and the tour. The vast majority of our applicants don't get this opportunity, you know. Only the best and brightest get a direct invitation."

"I see... so that's why there were so few people on the tour," I said. "Well, thank you, this was very enlightening! It was nice talking to you!"

"Nice talking to you too, Francoise," Depardieu said. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you here next fall!"

I waved goodbye to the dean and left the room. Kirsten met me in the secretary's office.

"So, how'd it go?" Kirsten asked.

"It went wonderful!" I told her. "Ed is getting in for sure! Well, 99.99% sure, anyway!"

"That's great!" Kirsten said. "Did he say anything about me?"

"Well...."

"He did?"

"He said you're very very clever and if he has anything to say about it you'll be in, Kirsten-person!"

"Yes!" Kirsten said, pumping her fists into the air. "Alright!"

"If your business is done, you need to leave," said the secretary sternly. Giggling, we both walked out of the room.

---

Kirsten and I met back up with the others in the lobby of Dejoule Hall.

"The guy I talked to says that I've got everything it takes to be an excellent scholar," Asada said proudly. "It must have been all that studying I did in high school!"

"My interviewer was a woman, and she said that I reminded her of her when she was my age," Piripi said. "That's always a good sign, right?"

"I think I talked to the same lady you did, Piripi," Sani said. "She said I'm the best essay writer she's ever seen!"

"Well, my interviewer was a guy, and he said that I'm an excellent dramatist," Kimberly said. "I am so taking theater at this college."

"I think we're all going to get in!" Kirsten said happily. "I just hope we all live in the same dorm."

"Maybe we can be roommates!" I said. "But Ed doesn't want to choose between the five of you..."

"That's okay, we'll draw straws or something so we won't have to choose," Asada said. "That's probably the fair way to do it..."

"Yeah," Sani said, nodding in agreement. "I'm just glad I got to meet so many nice people here..."

"So, Ed, are you gonna go talk to Sylvan now?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah, Ed, you've gotta go talk to him!" Asada said. "And kiss him again!"

"Ed has to go put this disk up right now," I told them, stalling for time. I didn't want to talk to Sylvan again just yet... "Ed will be right back, okay?"

I ran up the stairs to my room and took out my room key. But just before I could get the door open, a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Miss Appledelhi?" said the voice in a heavy, male French accent. I turned around to see a tall, muscular, blonde man in a leather jacket standing behind me. A shorter, balding man was standing next to him.

"May Ed... help you?" I said timidly. The short man nodded. Suddenly, the blonde man's hand clamped over my mouth. I tried to scream, but whatever came out was muffled by the man's large hand. The shorter man took out a plastic riot cuff and fastened my hands behind my back. Then, the man took out a roll of duct tape and tore off a strip.

"Time for you to be quiet," the blonde man said, sliding his hand away from my mouth. Before I could scream, the tape was pressed over my lips. Then, a dark, black bag was placed over my head, and I could feel my legs being bound with tape. "Alright, let's go!"

The two men picked me up and dragged me off. I couldn't see, so I began screaming. I knew that whatever I said would be muffled by the tape, but I knew that if I made as much noise as I could, someone would have to hear me, right? Kirsten, Asada, Piripi, Sani, Sylvan, anyone!

"What's going on? Where are these people taking Edward?"

I struggled in the grip of the two men, but they held me tight, and I could feel myself being carried down the stairs by them. They're walking right down into the lobby! Idiots, they'll be seen! But they must have taken some other route, for as soon as they got down the stairs, I could hear the sound of a door creaking open, and quickening footsteps. Then, the sound of a car trunk opening. Oh, no!

"Get her in there! The boss is gonna be pissed if we don't get her to him right now!" shouted the blonde man. I couldn't see either of them, but I knew both of their voices now. Suddenly, I was dropped onto a carpeted surface, probably the bottom of the trunk. The trunk lid snapped shut over me. Yep, I'm in the trunk.

---

After a few minutes, the car I was in came to a stop, and I could hear the trunk lid being opened. The two men grabbed me from the trunk and carried me a little ways, until I could hear another door opening. The two men pulled me inside and walked some more. By now, I'd stopped struggling. Even if I'd gotten out of the grip of the two men, I was bound, blind, and... no, not helpless. Never helpless. My dad would never, ever let me be helpless. Then, the two men stopped and held me in place. The bag was finally yanked from my head, and, although it took my eyes a second to adjust to the light, I could see perfectly. When I saw the man standing in front of me, I couldn't help but tremble, if only slightly. It's Frémont...

"My, my, my, this is truly a historical day," Frémont said, sneering at me. "The hacker legend, Radical Edward, face-to-face with the Syndicate legend, Cecelle Frémont. Wait... we've met before, haven't we? Yes, we have."

Even though I was scared, I tried my best to look enraged, so Frémont knew he had messed with the wrong space cowgirl. As it turned out, I didn't have to try to look enraged. I already was.

"Now, I have a phonecall to make," Fremont said, walking over to a video phone that was sitting on a table in the corner of the room that we were in. The room was entirely empty except for that table and a videophone, but there really wasn't much room for anything else, except for a light that dangled from the ceiling, casting dim shadows on the bricks of the wall. "Monsieur Mazarin will regret his rudeness earlier today."

"Rudeness?" I thought. "What the..."

"Well, now Sylvan and his mother will have to pay a pretty penny... if they ever want to see you alive again, that is. I know Sylvan does, anyway," Frémont said. That was all I could take. I screamed at Frémont to leave Sylvan alone... or at least I tried to, the tape still distorting my every word. "Sylvan, this is Frémont. I have something that belongs to you."

I couldn't see Sylvan on the videophone, because Frémont stood in front of it, blocking my view. But I could hear him.

"What the hell do you want?" Sylvan shouted. "If this is about today-"

"Ah, ah, ah, that little attitude of yours is why you're in this mess, remember?" Frémont said, an evil glint in his eye. "And now, it's why she's in this mess."

Finally, Frémont stepped aside. The two men who were holding me pushed me in front of the videophone so that Sylvan could see my face.

"Edward!" Sylvan shouted, a look of terror crossing his face. I screamed at him, not caring that he couldn't understand a word I was trying to say.

"Sylvan, don't!" I wanted to tell him "Whatever happened today, I forgive you, don't do anything this sick bastard tells you to do!"

But I was pulled away from the screen as roughly as I had been pulled toward it. Frémont began to speak again.

"Twelve hours, Sylvan, that's all the time you have," Frémont said. "I want one billion wulongs and the deed to the Fantaisie Sign, with a contract for your mother's guaranteed lifetime employment."

"I swear to God, if you harm one hair on her head, you sick son of a-"

"As a French gentlemen, I have serious reservations about striking a woman, especially one who is bound and helpless and who cannot fight back, but rest assured that I will do it if you say one more rude thing to me or to my associates, do I make myself clear?"

Sylvan opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly closed it and nodded his head.

"Good," Frémont said, smiling. "See you in twelve hours."

The videophone shut off. Frémont walked over to me and grinned.

"Well, it looks like Sylvan is very passionate about you," Frémont said. "You're a very, very lucky woman."

As I stared into Frémont's eyes, my intense fear was quickly, quickly overridden by intense rage, swelling inside me. How dare he use me to hurt Sylvan... or his mother... I won't let him use me like this! I won't be a pawn in his sick and twisted game! I'll escape... even if I have to...

With a burst of strength that even I didn't know I was capable of, I writhed free of the two men holding me. Even if I was tied up, I could still kick this guy's butt... I could headbutt him, or dropkick him... but before I could entertain either of those thoughts, Frémont lunged toward me. He drew his crescent-shaped blade and pinned me against the wall. Then, with incredible strength, he slammed the two ends of the blade into the wall itself, the blade stopping a hair's width from my neck. Now, I was paralyzed with fear, my neck pinned to the wall by Fremont's deadly blade. If I flinched even a fraction of an inch, the blade would cut right into my throat. It was then that a single tear, one that I'd been holding in for the past ten minutes, slid down my cheek. As Frémont saw the tear, his lips curled into a devilish grin that resembled a shark who had just sniffed a droplet of blood falling into the ocean. Slowly, he pulled the blade from the wall, and I collapsed to the ground, hopelessly. Frémont leaned down and slowly pulled the piece of tape from my lips.

"Nice try," Frémont said. "Not only lucky, but feisty. Two qualities I admire."

"I won't let you hurt Sylvan..." I said through clenched teeth.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be worried about Sylvan, my dear," Frémont said. He gestured toward the two men, who lifted me up once more. "Take her to her room. Oh, and one more thing. I can tell that the girl still has her maiden's purity, a rarity in some parts of the solar system, even at her young age. No matter what, whether Sylvan comes or does not come, this girl will retain that purity while in our custody, am I understood?"

The two men nodded, then carried me out of the room and down a narrow hallway. They threw me, still bound, into a small, dimly-lit room with absolutely no furniture whatsoever. Then, they locked the door behind them and left me, alone.

"Sylvan..." I said, leaning against the wall. "I promise you, I'll find some way to get out of here... I won't let you lose the Fantaisie Sign because of me... I won't let you get hurt because of me!"

Sylvan...

---

And thus ends the darkest chapter yet! Cecelle Frémont is one evil, evil bastard, ne? Well, there's going to be plenty of excitement for Edward, but next chapter, I'll be switching over to Sylvan's perspective! What did he do that pissed Frémont off so much, anyway? And can he rescue Edward? Or will Ed rescue herself? Find out, same Ed-time, same Ed-channel!