Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ To Mend the Rose ❯ Epxlanations ( Chapter 10 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Feye Morgan 
Dilandau pieces together what had happened to him, and finally explains the confusion of the last chapter. ^^;;
Anime/Manga: Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.12.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.8K | Visits: 222 | Status: Work In Progress
Dilandau pieces together what had happened to him, and finally explains the confusion of the last chapter. ^^;;
Anime/Manga: Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.12.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.8K | Visits: 222 | Status: Work In Progress
Recommendations:
"Cyrano de Escaflowne: the Parody" by Pyro the Demented Fangirl: Oh my god. This story is HILARIOUS! You simply HAVE to read it. ^_^ You don't need to be familiar with Cyrano (I've only seen the Wishbone verson, never read the play, although I plan to). Lots of...interesting...things, like quiche, a DS revolution, and...well...see for yourself. ^_^
Disclaimer:
*tears open Christmas wrapping*
Feye: YAAAAYY! IT'S THE RIGHTS TO ESCAFLOWNE!!! *beams happily*
Sunrise: Um...oops. C'mere, that was a mistake. Stupid overseas mail...*grabs package*
Feye: NOOOOOO!!!!! *sob*
ONWARD!
TO MEND THE ROSE: EXPLANATIONS by Feye Morgan
~*~*~*~
Enmu was smiling and laughing while he and Dilandau traded stories. The white-haired boy was completely trusting. Enmu was a friend. Enmu would help him.
But Enmu began to grow taller all of the sudden. His laughter became more menacing, taunting. His clothes darkened and swirled around him like a cloak.
Madoushi.
Dilandau backed away frantically, and knocked over a small black box, which fell to the floor and shattered like glass. The madoushi swirled away into mist. It was all an illusion. None of it was ever real. As the boy stared into the mist, the faces of his dead Dragonslayers began to form in it.
"No. No. Stop it! Go away!" Dilandau cried. His form began to shake uncontrollably. The mist drew closer, enveloping him. He felt himself fading away...
"Dilandau!"
Dilandau woke, his eyes snapping open, and gazed directly into Van's eyes. The king had his hands on Dilandau's shoulders, and had apparently been shaking him. Seeing that the youth was awake, Van pushed him roughly away.
Dilandau closed his eyes and drew deep, calming breaths. He attempted to put together all that had happened.
~Enmu. How could you?~
But Enmu wasn't real. Just a program conditioned to respond to his mind. All just a lie.
"Dilandau?"
Dilandau opened his eyes. Van was still there, standing beside Allen. Instinctively, the albino surveyed his surroundings. He was in a cell. A comfortable cell, but a cell nonetheless. He was lying on a soft bed, covered with cream sheets. A desk was to his right, a barred window to his left and above him. He noticed the rose petal and his diadem lying on the desk.
Dilandau sat up and looked expectantly at Fanel.
"What just happened, Dilandau?"
"What do you mean, 'what just happened'? My dream or the cottage?" Dilandau snapped back. He was not in a good mood, and his enemy's presence did not help him.
"Both."
Dilandau glared. "It was just a dream. And I don't want to talk about Enmu. Just go away and leave me alone."
"I thought you didn't want to be left alone," Allen said softly.
The youth stared at Allen. "How the hell would you know? Just go AWAY!" he yelled. Then, quietly, "Why won't you just let me be?"
Without waiting for an answer, Dilandau slumped back down, curled up within the sheets, and pulled the pillow over his head.
After a moment, he heard two pairs of footsteps walk away. The cell door creaked open, and closed again. The footsteps receded, leaving Dilandau to his dark thoughts.
~Why must I always get hurt?~
He closed his eyes. The mist filled his thoughts with the Dragonslayers, and all he could see was their faces, long gone.
~*~*~*~
"So," Allen said after a few minutes. "That didn't go well, did it?" The two were walking towards Van's quarters in the Asturian Palace.
"Why did we have to leave?" Van snapped at Allen. "We could have gotten plenty of information from him!"
"Van, did you see his eyes? He was ready to crack."
"He IS cracked, Allen. Or don't you remember the cottage scene?"
Allen rubbed his temples. "I must admit...that -was- disturbing. Whatever information we do get out of him might not be useful in front of the council. The news has already spread that he's completely taken leave of his senses. All of this effort might have been in vain."
Van was silently fuming. He mulled this unfortunate news over in his mind. All of the sudden, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait a minute..."
Allen frowned at him. "What now?"
Van ignored the blonde knight. *The journal. Of course.* Van was remembering a passage in Dilandau's journal from earlier on that day. Something about a frightened child writing that the madoushi 'fiddled with his head and made him see things'.
Made him see things.
"Dilandau isn't insane," Van whispered. "He wasn't hallucinating."
"What on earth are you talking about, Van? You saw as plain as I did that he was talking to air!"
But Van was already running at top speed for his quarters. He burst through the door, and began digging through the papers on his desk. Allen followed close behind.
"Have you gone mad, Van?"
"I know I put them here somewhere...aha!" Van triumphantly grabbed the small stack of parchment. He flipped through, searching for the entry.
"Van, what-"
"Here Allen! Read this!" Van shoved the paper in the knight's face, one tanned finger jabbing forcefully at a paragraph. Allen snatched the paper away and read. His expression changed from annoyance to astonishment as the truth hit him.
"The black box," he said at last.
Van nodded. "I don't know how this all works, but I'll bet he does. I'm going back there right now, and I'm -not- leaving until I get some answers out of him."
~*~*~*~
Dilandau felt himself falling asleep when he heard the door to his cell creak open again. He groaned inwardly.
"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" he growled.
There was no answer. Heavy footsteps approached his bed.
~Wait~ Dilandau thought. ~Those footsteps don't sound like-~
His thought was left unfinished as he was jerked out of his bed by strong hands grabbing his throat and shirt front. He yelled and struggled to free himself, but his captor was too strong. Dilandau looked up into the eyes of a stout Asturian guard. The man glared at the youth, and then slowly smiled.
"I've been meaning to pay you back for some time. I never thought I'd have the chance, though," the guard hissed at Dilandau. The hand on his throat tightened slightly. "You killed two very good friends of mine here in Palas. In fact, you killed a lot of the friends of people around here." The guard shifted to let Dilandau see the four men standing just outside the cell, cracking their knuckles.
"Van and Allen will kill you," Dilandau choked.
The guard laughed. "No, I don't think so. They hate you as much as I do. Especially the king. Even if we're punished," The guard pulled Dilandau closer for emphasis. "It'll be worth it."
The man threw Dilandau into the waiting arms of his companions. Rough hands latched tightly onto the boy's arms. Someone grabbed a fistful of his silver hair. The leader (Dilandau assumed the first man was the head of the group), grinned wickedly and took a step towards him. He stopped when a flicker of gold caught his eye. The man snatched Dilandau's diadem from the desk. He appraised it with a toothy sneer.
"This'll fetch a pretty penny," he smirked. He slipped the jewelry onto his belt. The albino snarled with anger.
~How -dare- he?~
The man glanced at the desk again, just to see if he had missed anything. He frowned. "What's this?"
Dilandau paled when he saw the guard pick up the rose petal.
~Not that!~
"Put that down!" Dilandau snapped, his voice quivering.
The man looked at Dilandau with interest. An ugly grin grew on his face.
"This something special to you?" he sneered. "Who would have thought: the great and feared captain of Zaibach, a flower-lover."
"Just put it down, damn you."
The guard locked eyes with Dilandau, and crushed the dried petal.
Dilandau stood rooted to the spot with shock for one brief moment. The blood drained from his face. His eyes followed the crimson tatters as they fell to the floor.
The next thing his captors knew, they were holding a wildcat.
Dilandau uttered a shrill scream and went into a frenzy. In his rage he barely knew what he was doing. He slashed and bit, kicked and struggled, until his captors, stunned and bruised, let him go. The albino sprinted towards the leader, and tacked him to the ground. The crazed boy screamed curses at the man and landed vicious blows on his jaw.
This didn't last for long, however, before the albino was wrenched off of the guard by his companions. His wind was knocked out by a fist buried in his stomach. The youth doubled over, gasping for breath. A kick to the ribs felled him to the floor. Mist began to creep over his sight as the guards rained blow after blow on his defenseless body. The pain seemed so far away. The mist eveloped him completely, and pulled him into darkness...
~*~*~*~
Van and Allen quickened their pace down the cell block hallway at the unmistakable sound of fighting. Van swore.
*What has he gotten himself into now? Stupid baka can't keep his mouth shut*
The two were appaled at the sight that greeted their eyes when they finally reached Dilandau's cell. Five men had the boy on the ground and were beating the life out of him.
Allen was livid.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" the Caeli Knight roared.
The five men froze and slowly turned. Their faces paled with terror when they saw Allen.
"Get away from him," he hissed, furious. When the men hesitated, still rooted with fear, Allen snapped. "GET OUT!" He drew his katana with one swift motion. The sound of drawn steel freed their legs. The men bolted and ran as fast as they could out of sight.
"They will be punished, Allen," Van said, his voice deadly calm.
"Don't worry about that, Van," the knight said. "I know those five. This will be the last time they cross the line." The two turned attention to their prisoner.
Dilandau was lying very still on the floor. Blood matted his hair. His face and arms were horribly bruised. One wrist was twisted so grotesquely that it could only be broken. His clothes hid the rest of his injuries. Tentatively, Van knelt down beside him and felt at his throat for a pulse. Blood pulsed faintly beneath the king's fingers.
Wordlessly, Van nodded at Allen. The knight sighed with relief, and bent to lift the albino. Dilandau moaned faintly and opened his eyes.
"Don't try to talk," Allen told him. "Just lie still. I've got you."
"Rose..." Dilandau moaned.
"What?" Van peered curiously at Dilandau.
"Rose petal...crushed...rose..." Dilandau sighed and went limp.
"Delirium?" Van offered.
Allen shook his head. "I don't think so. Van, look around. See if you can find the pieces of a crushed rose petal."
Van shook his head resignedly and bent to the floor. Before long he began to pick up several flakes of red from the floor. He studied the small pieces in his hand for a long moment.
"The journal," he said finally. "Tenshi mentioned a rose to Dilandau." He looked up at Allen, and then at Dilandau's still face.
"Let's get him to the medical center."
~*~*~*~
Dilandau woke yet again to find himself lying on a bed. His head throbbed, and there was a terrible sharp pain in his wrist. His ribs ached.
Dilandau groaned when a blonde head poked into his view, followed by a mop of black hair.
"Can't you people just leave me alone?"
Van glared at Dilandau. "We just saved your life."
"Thanks but no thanks."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Van demanded angrily. "You ungrateful wretch!"
"Van, calm down," Allen snapped. "This is not helping any of us." He turned to Dilandau. "Look, I know you're tired and hurting, but we need answers from you."
Dilandau sighed and closed his eyes. "I suppose you're not going to let me rest until I cooperate, is that it?"
Van and Allen looked at each other, and then nodded at Dilandau. "That's right."
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
Van opened his mouth, and then closed it. *Where do I begin? There are so many questions...*
Dilandau growled irritably.
Allen cut in smoothly. "Exactly who are the madoushi?"
Dilandau stiffened slightly. He stared intently at the wall in front of him. "The madoushi are Emperor Dornkirk's pet scientists. The Emperor had a dream of controlling fate to create a perfect future. Through his musings, he decided that there be something that he called "fate particles' in everything. He formed the madoushi to research this concept. They came to the conclusion that these particles did indeed exist. But that wasn't the big news. They also found that these particles could be manipulated.
[AN: I think the fate particles are also called DNA. At least, that and a dose of energy force is what they are in my version]
"This lead to experimentation. Dornkirk needed proof. He needed something to test this concept on. So the Vanished were created. The madoushi stole children and experimented on them. From the moment that they were taken, their memories were wiped, and their identity lost. Test 009. That's what my name was. I never knew the eight before me. They probably died before I was taken.
"They must have wiped my memory after every experiment, because I only remember the last one they did. I fought back much more strongly than they had expected, so I kept my memory, for the most part. Whatever I had forgotten, I soon remembered.
"They would...strap me to a table and inject me with fate-alteration formulas. The pain..." Dilandau swallowed. "It hurt more than you could ever imagine. It felt like...like every bone and fibre in your body was being torn and twisted apart. I blacked out early on, but I could still feel the pain when I was unconscious. I don't know the details of the proceedure."
Dilandau looked at Van and Allen. "You don't seem surprised," he said, half annoyed and half curious.
Van approached Dilandau's beside and handed him a thin stack of worn, old sheets of paper. The albino frowned and tried to sit up. He winced in pain. Van put a hand on the youth's chest and forced him back down.
"You can read lying down, Dilandau."
The albino glared briefly at Van before turning his attention to the papers. The boy visibly stiffened in shock.
Van and Allen maintained a repectful silence as the silver-haired boy read his own journal, and began to recover memories long forgotten.
Some time later, Dilandau slowly lowered the papers and closed his eyes. "I wrote this?" he said. It was not so much a question, but a needed confirmation.
"Yes, Dilandau," Allen answered. "We found it from Dryden. His father had cheated it out of the hands of the madoushi."
"Brave man. Or stupid," Dilandau replied. He sighed.
~Tenshi...I remember now. A little girl with golden hair and the most lovely silver eyes. I remember the day she died... The box. That's where I remember it from. I knew all of this those last few moments in Enmu's cottage, but I couldn't remember -how- I knew...until now~
"Dilandau?" Van's voice broke unpleasantly into his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"We need to know about the person in the cottage you were talking to."
"Enmu? He was an illusion." Dilandau's eyes were still closed.
Van was getting annoyed. "We know that! But we need to know how and why. What the hell was going on in there?"
"Van!" Allen frowned. "Don't let your temper get ahead of you," he hissed.
Dilandau opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling this time.
"Tha madoushi knew that in order to keep me from deserting, they had to selectively erase my memory each time they experimented on me. Their success with this lead to a new idea: what if the mind could be manipulated to see things and have memories that weren't there? Why could they not do the opposite?
"They experimented with this concept on me...and it worked. They were hampered by several limitations, however: they needed a control unit from which to send the signals. The unit had to be within a certain distance of the target to connect with their brain patterns. Also, the only signals that would induce the desired illusion would only work on the victims of a Fate Alteration. Namely, me.
"The madoushi thought on how to use this new knowledge to their advantage. They came up with the idea of using it as a retriever of sorts. A last ditch defense in case an experiment escaped from them. They immediately began to develop smaller control units: more portable and concealable ones. Their plan was to make one so small that they could hide one in my clothing or prized possession. Probably my diadem. But every unit they made that was small enough to suit this purpose turned out defective. Fortunately for myself, I deserted the army before they could come up with a working prototype."
Dilandau paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. He ran his theories once more through the newfound knowledge of the journal. He nodded mentally and continued.
"I would imagine that when I deserted, due to their ineffective mind wipe, the madoushi panicked. They immediately turned to their illusion backup. While they had been working on the control unit, they had refined the program signals to run as an image. A person. More specifically, Enmu. Enmu would, according to the specific target's brain patterns, appear as someone the target would most respect, like, and trust. The idea was that Enmu would either convince the person to return, or would delay them long enough so that the madoushi could locate and capture them.
"It must have seemed at first that I was lost to them for good: the control unit had not yet been miniaturized, much less concealed on my person. Thus, they had no way to use the device on me."
Van cut in. "But then how did Enmu get in the cottage?"
Dilandau shot a glare at the king. "Let me finish. I was getting there, if you'd just keep your trap shut."
Van glowered and opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as Allen dug an elbow into his ribs.
"If I had deserted at any other place, Enmu would not have found me. As it was...they knew that the forest was the only place for me to go. They also knew that a storm was fast approaching, and that I would need to find shelter. As only the madoushi can do, they quickly found out from their contacts that a man had a cottage in the forest, moderately close to where my unit had camped. They also found out that the owner in question was on vacation to Palas. The cottage was deserted.
"It was the perfect opporturnity. One of the madoushi was elected to go down to the forest. He must have found me and, from a distance, turned on the unit. Enmu appeared to me then, manipulated from afar. Enmu lead me to the cottage, where I could find food and shelter. Once I was there, the madoushi figured it was only a matter of time before I was convinced to return, through the aid of subtle persuasiveness, calming mind signals, and vivid dreams." Dilandau paused again. His ribs were beginning to ache from talking too much.
"Dilandau, why did they go through all this trouble if they knew where you were? Why couldn't they just capture you again?"
"Ah, they had thought of that. But, you see, it was too late. I had already rejected their mind control. I was too strong for them to control until they had developed their technology further. Taking me by force would have been fruitless. Their experiments would only have been ineffective, and would have killed me in the end. They didn't want my death. However, if I could be convinced to return to Zaibach willingly, then, I think the plan was to pull some strings, have me pardoned, restore my rank, and set me up with a new squad of Dragonslayers. All the while, they would continue to develop their fate alteration methods. When they were ready, they would simply pluck me away and redo the experiment.
Dilandau shrugged. "So. That was the plan."
Allen leaned forward and rested his head on his hand. "How come it didn't work?"
Dilandau thought for a moment. "There were too many slip ups," he began slowly. "the control unit wasn't perfect, and the madoushi was all too human. Enmu was a bit too knowledgable about science, and a bit too ignorant about the woods. He didn't know how to stack wood, for one. That, and the unit kept having problems. It would malfunction often. Sometimes Enmu would disappear, and suddenly reappear after I'd looked all over the place for him. Once, when I woke up two days ago, Enmu was nowhere to be found. He wasn't in the cottage, nor in the woods. I ran down one of the paths, and ran into-"
"The real owner," Van cut in. "We know. That's how we found you."
Dilandau looked irriated at the interruption, but his expression turned thoughtful, as if this comment had answered a nagging question. He nodded once and continued.
"When I ran back, Enmu was amazingly in the cottage again. He explained his absence by saying that he had taken a quick trip into Palas during the night, for supplies during the storm.
"There were two things wrong with this: firstly, the cottage had already been well-stocked, and secondly, there were no new supplies to be found after Enmu returned."
"There were other clues as well. After I had finished stacking wood for Enmu my first day there, I was heading back to the cottage and saw someone disappearing quickly into the woods. I ran after him, but he was too quick. I found a small piece of wire on the ground. The person had dropped it. I know now that the stranger was the madoushi, and that the wire had been from the control box. He was making repairs on it, probably reprogramming it to be smarter about how to stack wood.
"That wasn't even the biggest clue, though. The most obvious yet most subtle hint was that I had never seen Enmu affect anything physically. I never saw him do work. I never saw him move anything except his clothing, which was part of the illusion. The madoushi did all of this for him when I was out of sight. He never consumed any food or drink. After a long exchange of stories over tea, during which he had taken quite a few sips, I found upon washing the dishes that his teacup was completely full.
"Of course, everything fell together at once when you barged in and announced that I was talking to thin air. The box I smashed was the control unit."
Dilandau stopped, finished for the moment. He looked weary beyond measure. His pale face and hair seemed to almost disappear in the white pillow.
"Is that enough for you now?" he asked tiredly. "Will you leave me alone?"
Van looked at Dilandau intently. "For now," he nodded. "But we still need more information. We need enough to take the madoushi's crimes before the council here at Palas. We need-"
Dilandau closed his eyes, and Allen placed a warning hand on Van's shoulder.
"Are you completely insensitive?" the knight hissed quietly. "He's worn down! Let him be."
Van sighed and nodded reluctantly. His fingers fiddled with a brown wodden box smaller than his palm. He rose from his seat and once again approached the boy's side. He knelt down and placed the box in the palm of Dilandau's usable hand. The silver haired youth frowned.
"What's this?" he shot a questioning look at Van.
"You asked for it when we found you."
Dilandau pushed himself farther up on his pillow to get at better look at the box. He opened it cautiously.
Van had placed all of the carefully gathered rose fragments from the floor in the small container.
Dilandau looked up at the dark-haired king as if he had never seen him before. "Thank you," he whispered.
Van nodded once, and turned away. "Let's go Allen."
Dilandau watched the two leave, and felt a curious sense of comfort rise in his heart. He placed the box reverently on a table next to his bed.
When Dilandau fell asleep, he slept deeply and truly for the first time in his short life.
AN: So? How did you like it??? Does it all make sense now? I'm hoping that if one rereads the previous chapters, all the clues will jump out like neon signs now. I hope. Please please please do remember to review, and tell me what you think of this chapter and my explanation! *sends you a pathetic, pleading look* Please?
And yes, Dilandau -will- be getting his diadem back. ^_^ Think I'd let him permanently lose that?
For those of you who like RPGs and stuff, there's this wonderful little Escaflowne site/group board. It's called "The Story of Escaflowne". Here's the link:
http://groups.msn.com/TheStoryofEscaflowne
It's in need of new members!
"Cyrano de Escaflowne: the Parody" by Pyro the Demented Fangirl: Oh my god. This story is HILARIOUS! You simply HAVE to read it. ^_^ You don't need to be familiar with Cyrano (I've only seen the Wishbone verson, never read the play, although I plan to). Lots of...interesting...things, like quiche, a DS revolution, and...well...see for yourself. ^_^
Disclaimer:
*tears open Christmas wrapping*
Feye: YAAAAYY! IT'S THE RIGHTS TO ESCAFLOWNE!!! *beams happily*
Sunrise: Um...oops. C'mere, that was a mistake. Stupid overseas mail...*grabs package*
Feye: NOOOOOO!!!!! *sob*
ONWARD!
TO MEND THE ROSE: EXPLANATIONS by Feye Morgan
~*~*~*~
Enmu was smiling and laughing while he and Dilandau traded stories. The white-haired boy was completely trusting. Enmu was a friend. Enmu would help him.
But Enmu began to grow taller all of the sudden. His laughter became more menacing, taunting. His clothes darkened and swirled around him like a cloak.
Madoushi.
Dilandau backed away frantically, and knocked over a small black box, which fell to the floor and shattered like glass. The madoushi swirled away into mist. It was all an illusion. None of it was ever real. As the boy stared into the mist, the faces of his dead Dragonslayers began to form in it.
"No. No. Stop it! Go away!" Dilandau cried. His form began to shake uncontrollably. The mist drew closer, enveloping him. He felt himself fading away...
"Dilandau!"
Dilandau woke, his eyes snapping open, and gazed directly into Van's eyes. The king had his hands on Dilandau's shoulders, and had apparently been shaking him. Seeing that the youth was awake, Van pushed him roughly away.
Dilandau closed his eyes and drew deep, calming breaths. He attempted to put together all that had happened.
~Enmu. How could you?~
But Enmu wasn't real. Just a program conditioned to respond to his mind. All just a lie.
"Dilandau?"
Dilandau opened his eyes. Van was still there, standing beside Allen. Instinctively, the albino surveyed his surroundings. He was in a cell. A comfortable cell, but a cell nonetheless. He was lying on a soft bed, covered with cream sheets. A desk was to his right, a barred window to his left and above him. He noticed the rose petal and his diadem lying on the desk.
Dilandau sat up and looked expectantly at Fanel.
"What just happened, Dilandau?"
"What do you mean, 'what just happened'? My dream or the cottage?" Dilandau snapped back. He was not in a good mood, and his enemy's presence did not help him.
"Both."
Dilandau glared. "It was just a dream. And I don't want to talk about Enmu. Just go away and leave me alone."
"I thought you didn't want to be left alone," Allen said softly.
The youth stared at Allen. "How the hell would you know? Just go AWAY!" he yelled. Then, quietly, "Why won't you just let me be?"
Without waiting for an answer, Dilandau slumped back down, curled up within the sheets, and pulled the pillow over his head.
After a moment, he heard two pairs of footsteps walk away. The cell door creaked open, and closed again. The footsteps receded, leaving Dilandau to his dark thoughts.
~Why must I always get hurt?~
He closed his eyes. The mist filled his thoughts with the Dragonslayers, and all he could see was their faces, long gone.
~*~*~*~
"So," Allen said after a few minutes. "That didn't go well, did it?" The two were walking towards Van's quarters in the Asturian Palace.
"Why did we have to leave?" Van snapped at Allen. "We could have gotten plenty of information from him!"
"Van, did you see his eyes? He was ready to crack."
"He IS cracked, Allen. Or don't you remember the cottage scene?"
Allen rubbed his temples. "I must admit...that -was- disturbing. Whatever information we do get out of him might not be useful in front of the council. The news has already spread that he's completely taken leave of his senses. All of this effort might have been in vain."
Van was silently fuming. He mulled this unfortunate news over in his mind. All of the sudden, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait a minute..."
Allen frowned at him. "What now?"
Van ignored the blonde knight. *The journal. Of course.* Van was remembering a passage in Dilandau's journal from earlier on that day. Something about a frightened child writing that the madoushi 'fiddled with his head and made him see things'.
Made him see things.
"Dilandau isn't insane," Van whispered. "He wasn't hallucinating."
"What on earth are you talking about, Van? You saw as plain as I did that he was talking to air!"
But Van was already running at top speed for his quarters. He burst through the door, and began digging through the papers on his desk. Allen followed close behind.
"Have you gone mad, Van?"
"I know I put them here somewhere...aha!" Van triumphantly grabbed the small stack of parchment. He flipped through, searching for the entry.
"Van, what-"
"Here Allen! Read this!" Van shoved the paper in the knight's face, one tanned finger jabbing forcefully at a paragraph. Allen snatched the paper away and read. His expression changed from annoyance to astonishment as the truth hit him.
"The black box," he said at last.
Van nodded. "I don't know how this all works, but I'll bet he does. I'm going back there right now, and I'm -not- leaving until I get some answers out of him."
~*~*~*~
Dilandau felt himself falling asleep when he heard the door to his cell creak open again. He groaned inwardly.
"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" he growled.
There was no answer. Heavy footsteps approached his bed.
~Wait~ Dilandau thought. ~Those footsteps don't sound like-~
His thought was left unfinished as he was jerked out of his bed by strong hands grabbing his throat and shirt front. He yelled and struggled to free himself, but his captor was too strong. Dilandau looked up into the eyes of a stout Asturian guard. The man glared at the youth, and then slowly smiled.
"I've been meaning to pay you back for some time. I never thought I'd have the chance, though," the guard hissed at Dilandau. The hand on his throat tightened slightly. "You killed two very good friends of mine here in Palas. In fact, you killed a lot of the friends of people around here." The guard shifted to let Dilandau see the four men standing just outside the cell, cracking their knuckles.
"Van and Allen will kill you," Dilandau choked.
The guard laughed. "No, I don't think so. They hate you as much as I do. Especially the king. Even if we're punished," The guard pulled Dilandau closer for emphasis. "It'll be worth it."
The man threw Dilandau into the waiting arms of his companions. Rough hands latched tightly onto the boy's arms. Someone grabbed a fistful of his silver hair. The leader (Dilandau assumed the first man was the head of the group), grinned wickedly and took a step towards him. He stopped when a flicker of gold caught his eye. The man snatched Dilandau's diadem from the desk. He appraised it with a toothy sneer.
"This'll fetch a pretty penny," he smirked. He slipped the jewelry onto his belt. The albino snarled with anger.
~How -dare- he?~
The man glanced at the desk again, just to see if he had missed anything. He frowned. "What's this?"
Dilandau paled when he saw the guard pick up the rose petal.
~Not that!~
"Put that down!" Dilandau snapped, his voice quivering.
The man looked at Dilandau with interest. An ugly grin grew on his face.
"This something special to you?" he sneered. "Who would have thought: the great and feared captain of Zaibach, a flower-lover."
"Just put it down, damn you."
The guard locked eyes with Dilandau, and crushed the dried petal.
Dilandau stood rooted to the spot with shock for one brief moment. The blood drained from his face. His eyes followed the crimson tatters as they fell to the floor.
The next thing his captors knew, they were holding a wildcat.
Dilandau uttered a shrill scream and went into a frenzy. In his rage he barely knew what he was doing. He slashed and bit, kicked and struggled, until his captors, stunned and bruised, let him go. The albino sprinted towards the leader, and tacked him to the ground. The crazed boy screamed curses at the man and landed vicious blows on his jaw.
This didn't last for long, however, before the albino was wrenched off of the guard by his companions. His wind was knocked out by a fist buried in his stomach. The youth doubled over, gasping for breath. A kick to the ribs felled him to the floor. Mist began to creep over his sight as the guards rained blow after blow on his defenseless body. The pain seemed so far away. The mist eveloped him completely, and pulled him into darkness...
~*~*~*~
Van and Allen quickened their pace down the cell block hallway at the unmistakable sound of fighting. Van swore.
*What has he gotten himself into now? Stupid baka can't keep his mouth shut*
The two were appaled at the sight that greeted their eyes when they finally reached Dilandau's cell. Five men had the boy on the ground and were beating the life out of him.
Allen was livid.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" the Caeli Knight roared.
The five men froze and slowly turned. Their faces paled with terror when they saw Allen.
"Get away from him," he hissed, furious. When the men hesitated, still rooted with fear, Allen snapped. "GET OUT!" He drew his katana with one swift motion. The sound of drawn steel freed their legs. The men bolted and ran as fast as they could out of sight.
"They will be punished, Allen," Van said, his voice deadly calm.
"Don't worry about that, Van," the knight said. "I know those five. This will be the last time they cross the line." The two turned attention to their prisoner.
Dilandau was lying very still on the floor. Blood matted his hair. His face and arms were horribly bruised. One wrist was twisted so grotesquely that it could only be broken. His clothes hid the rest of his injuries. Tentatively, Van knelt down beside him and felt at his throat for a pulse. Blood pulsed faintly beneath the king's fingers.
Wordlessly, Van nodded at Allen. The knight sighed with relief, and bent to lift the albino. Dilandau moaned faintly and opened his eyes.
"Don't try to talk," Allen told him. "Just lie still. I've got you."
"Rose..." Dilandau moaned.
"What?" Van peered curiously at Dilandau.
"Rose petal...crushed...rose..." Dilandau sighed and went limp.
"Delirium?" Van offered.
Allen shook his head. "I don't think so. Van, look around. See if you can find the pieces of a crushed rose petal."
Van shook his head resignedly and bent to the floor. Before long he began to pick up several flakes of red from the floor. He studied the small pieces in his hand for a long moment.
"The journal," he said finally. "Tenshi mentioned a rose to Dilandau." He looked up at Allen, and then at Dilandau's still face.
"Let's get him to the medical center."
~*~*~*~
Dilandau woke yet again to find himself lying on a bed. His head throbbed, and there was a terrible sharp pain in his wrist. His ribs ached.
Dilandau groaned when a blonde head poked into his view, followed by a mop of black hair.
"Can't you people just leave me alone?"
Van glared at Dilandau. "We just saved your life."
"Thanks but no thanks."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Van demanded angrily. "You ungrateful wretch!"
"Van, calm down," Allen snapped. "This is not helping any of us." He turned to Dilandau. "Look, I know you're tired and hurting, but we need answers from you."
Dilandau sighed and closed his eyes. "I suppose you're not going to let me rest until I cooperate, is that it?"
Van and Allen looked at each other, and then nodded at Dilandau. "That's right."
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
Van opened his mouth, and then closed it. *Where do I begin? There are so many questions...*
Dilandau growled irritably.
Allen cut in smoothly. "Exactly who are the madoushi?"
Dilandau stiffened slightly. He stared intently at the wall in front of him. "The madoushi are Emperor Dornkirk's pet scientists. The Emperor had a dream of controlling fate to create a perfect future. Through his musings, he decided that there be something that he called "fate particles' in everything. He formed the madoushi to research this concept. They came to the conclusion that these particles did indeed exist. But that wasn't the big news. They also found that these particles could be manipulated.
[AN: I think the fate particles are also called DNA. At least, that and a dose of energy force is what they are in my version]
"This lead to experimentation. Dornkirk needed proof. He needed something to test this concept on. So the Vanished were created. The madoushi stole children and experimented on them. From the moment that they were taken, their memories were wiped, and their identity lost. Test 009. That's what my name was. I never knew the eight before me. They probably died before I was taken.
"They must have wiped my memory after every experiment, because I only remember the last one they did. I fought back much more strongly than they had expected, so I kept my memory, for the most part. Whatever I had forgotten, I soon remembered.
"They would...strap me to a table and inject me with fate-alteration formulas. The pain..." Dilandau swallowed. "It hurt more than you could ever imagine. It felt like...like every bone and fibre in your body was being torn and twisted apart. I blacked out early on, but I could still feel the pain when I was unconscious. I don't know the details of the proceedure."
Dilandau looked at Van and Allen. "You don't seem surprised," he said, half annoyed and half curious.
Van approached Dilandau's beside and handed him a thin stack of worn, old sheets of paper. The albino frowned and tried to sit up. He winced in pain. Van put a hand on the youth's chest and forced him back down.
"You can read lying down, Dilandau."
The albino glared briefly at Van before turning his attention to the papers. The boy visibly stiffened in shock.
Van and Allen maintained a repectful silence as the silver-haired boy read his own journal, and began to recover memories long forgotten.
Some time later, Dilandau slowly lowered the papers and closed his eyes. "I wrote this?" he said. It was not so much a question, but a needed confirmation.
"Yes, Dilandau," Allen answered. "We found it from Dryden. His father had cheated it out of the hands of the madoushi."
"Brave man. Or stupid," Dilandau replied. He sighed.
~Tenshi...I remember now. A little girl with golden hair and the most lovely silver eyes. I remember the day she died... The box. That's where I remember it from. I knew all of this those last few moments in Enmu's cottage, but I couldn't remember -how- I knew...until now~
"Dilandau?" Van's voice broke unpleasantly into his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"We need to know about the person in the cottage you were talking to."
"Enmu? He was an illusion." Dilandau's eyes were still closed.
Van was getting annoyed. "We know that! But we need to know how and why. What the hell was going on in there?"
"Van!" Allen frowned. "Don't let your temper get ahead of you," he hissed.
Dilandau opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling this time.
"Tha madoushi knew that in order to keep me from deserting, they had to selectively erase my memory each time they experimented on me. Their success with this lead to a new idea: what if the mind could be manipulated to see things and have memories that weren't there? Why could they not do the opposite?
"They experimented with this concept on me...and it worked. They were hampered by several limitations, however: they needed a control unit from which to send the signals. The unit had to be within a certain distance of the target to connect with their brain patterns. Also, the only signals that would induce the desired illusion would only work on the victims of a Fate Alteration. Namely, me.
"The madoushi thought on how to use this new knowledge to their advantage. They came up with the idea of using it as a retriever of sorts. A last ditch defense in case an experiment escaped from them. They immediately began to develop smaller control units: more portable and concealable ones. Their plan was to make one so small that they could hide one in my clothing or prized possession. Probably my diadem. But every unit they made that was small enough to suit this purpose turned out defective. Fortunately for myself, I deserted the army before they could come up with a working prototype."
Dilandau paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. He ran his theories once more through the newfound knowledge of the journal. He nodded mentally and continued.
"I would imagine that when I deserted, due to their ineffective mind wipe, the madoushi panicked. They immediately turned to their illusion backup. While they had been working on the control unit, they had refined the program signals to run as an image. A person. More specifically, Enmu. Enmu would, according to the specific target's brain patterns, appear as someone the target would most respect, like, and trust. The idea was that Enmu would either convince the person to return, or would delay them long enough so that the madoushi could locate and capture them.
"It must have seemed at first that I was lost to them for good: the control unit had not yet been miniaturized, much less concealed on my person. Thus, they had no way to use the device on me."
Van cut in. "But then how did Enmu get in the cottage?"
Dilandau shot a glare at the king. "Let me finish. I was getting there, if you'd just keep your trap shut."
Van glowered and opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as Allen dug an elbow into his ribs.
"If I had deserted at any other place, Enmu would not have found me. As it was...they knew that the forest was the only place for me to go. They also knew that a storm was fast approaching, and that I would need to find shelter. As only the madoushi can do, they quickly found out from their contacts that a man had a cottage in the forest, moderately close to where my unit had camped. They also found out that the owner in question was on vacation to Palas. The cottage was deserted.
"It was the perfect opporturnity. One of the madoushi was elected to go down to the forest. He must have found me and, from a distance, turned on the unit. Enmu appeared to me then, manipulated from afar. Enmu lead me to the cottage, where I could find food and shelter. Once I was there, the madoushi figured it was only a matter of time before I was convinced to return, through the aid of subtle persuasiveness, calming mind signals, and vivid dreams." Dilandau paused again. His ribs were beginning to ache from talking too much.
"Dilandau, why did they go through all this trouble if they knew where you were? Why couldn't they just capture you again?"
"Ah, they had thought of that. But, you see, it was too late. I had already rejected their mind control. I was too strong for them to control until they had developed their technology further. Taking me by force would have been fruitless. Their experiments would only have been ineffective, and would have killed me in the end. They didn't want my death. However, if I could be convinced to return to Zaibach willingly, then, I think the plan was to pull some strings, have me pardoned, restore my rank, and set me up with a new squad of Dragonslayers. All the while, they would continue to develop their fate alteration methods. When they were ready, they would simply pluck me away and redo the experiment.
Dilandau shrugged. "So. That was the plan."
Allen leaned forward and rested his head on his hand. "How come it didn't work?"
Dilandau thought for a moment. "There were too many slip ups," he began slowly. "the control unit wasn't perfect, and the madoushi was all too human. Enmu was a bit too knowledgable about science, and a bit too ignorant about the woods. He didn't know how to stack wood, for one. That, and the unit kept having problems. It would malfunction often. Sometimes Enmu would disappear, and suddenly reappear after I'd looked all over the place for him. Once, when I woke up two days ago, Enmu was nowhere to be found. He wasn't in the cottage, nor in the woods. I ran down one of the paths, and ran into-"
"The real owner," Van cut in. "We know. That's how we found you."
Dilandau looked irriated at the interruption, but his expression turned thoughtful, as if this comment had answered a nagging question. He nodded once and continued.
"When I ran back, Enmu was amazingly in the cottage again. He explained his absence by saying that he had taken a quick trip into Palas during the night, for supplies during the storm.
"There were two things wrong with this: firstly, the cottage had already been well-stocked, and secondly, there were no new supplies to be found after Enmu returned."
"There were other clues as well. After I had finished stacking wood for Enmu my first day there, I was heading back to the cottage and saw someone disappearing quickly into the woods. I ran after him, but he was too quick. I found a small piece of wire on the ground. The person had dropped it. I know now that the stranger was the madoushi, and that the wire had been from the control box. He was making repairs on it, probably reprogramming it to be smarter about how to stack wood.
"That wasn't even the biggest clue, though. The most obvious yet most subtle hint was that I had never seen Enmu affect anything physically. I never saw him do work. I never saw him move anything except his clothing, which was part of the illusion. The madoushi did all of this for him when I was out of sight. He never consumed any food or drink. After a long exchange of stories over tea, during which he had taken quite a few sips, I found upon washing the dishes that his teacup was completely full.
"Of course, everything fell together at once when you barged in and announced that I was talking to thin air. The box I smashed was the control unit."
Dilandau stopped, finished for the moment. He looked weary beyond measure. His pale face and hair seemed to almost disappear in the white pillow.
"Is that enough for you now?" he asked tiredly. "Will you leave me alone?"
Van looked at Dilandau intently. "For now," he nodded. "But we still need more information. We need enough to take the madoushi's crimes before the council here at Palas. We need-"
Dilandau closed his eyes, and Allen placed a warning hand on Van's shoulder.
"Are you completely insensitive?" the knight hissed quietly. "He's worn down! Let him be."
Van sighed and nodded reluctantly. His fingers fiddled with a brown wodden box smaller than his palm. He rose from his seat and once again approached the boy's side. He knelt down and placed the box in the palm of Dilandau's usable hand. The silver haired youth frowned.
"What's this?" he shot a questioning look at Van.
"You asked for it when we found you."
Dilandau pushed himself farther up on his pillow to get at better look at the box. He opened it cautiously.
Van had placed all of the carefully gathered rose fragments from the floor in the small container.
Dilandau looked up at the dark-haired king as if he had never seen him before. "Thank you," he whispered.
Van nodded once, and turned away. "Let's go Allen."
Dilandau watched the two leave, and felt a curious sense of comfort rise in his heart. He placed the box reverently on a table next to his bed.
When Dilandau fell asleep, he slept deeply and truly for the first time in his short life.
AN: So? How did you like it??? Does it all make sense now? I'm hoping that if one rereads the previous chapters, all the clues will jump out like neon signs now. I hope. Please please please do remember to review, and tell me what you think of this chapter and my explanation! *sends you a pathetic, pleading look* Please?
And yes, Dilandau -will- be getting his diadem back. ^_^ Think I'd let him permanently lose that?
For those of you who like RPGs and stuff, there's this wonderful little Escaflowne site/group board. It's called "The Story of Escaflowne". Here's the link:
http://groups.msn.com/TheStoryofEscaflowne
It's in need of new members!