I was ready to go. I had all the stuff I needed to survive a week at band camp. I had packed the night before and had literally thrown stuff in a suitcase at the last minute. The one thing I was worried about was how well I was going to get along with the other people in my dorm. Even that didn't worry me too much. I've been told that I'm an easy person to talk to, as well as listen to. I'm also told that I'm fairly pretty. People seem to think that helps in friendships. I had already said goodbye to my family and I was just looking around the place, when my necklace, which was a small silver turtle clutching a green ball and had done nothing weird before, started glowing. This was weird enough. Worse yet was the green light that shot down from the sky and surrounded me. Before i could call for help or anything, I was being lifted up, away from everything. Then the light faded and I was standing in the middle of the forest. Okay... I thought. 'What just happened to me?' I said to no one. I got the sudden urge to run, but when I tried I found I was weighed down with my bags. Oh well, I thought, at least I'll have something to do. So I pulled out my walkman and turned it on to 'Butterfly High'. I knew all the words, so I sang as i walked, and sometimes ran, to nowhere. After i had been 'moving' for about ten minutes, a boy stepped out in front of me so I stopped to see who it was. He was wearing red and black leather and armor, and he looked like he was about 15 years old, one older than me. He had silver hair and the weirdest colored eyes i had ever seen. He was hot. He had this weird looking grin on his face that messed up his features. He said something, but of course, I couldn't hear him over 'Last Resort'. I looked at him a little while longer and kept walking. He looked at me as if he expected me to do something, but I just kept walking. His expression quickly turned to anger, so I stopped and took off my headphones. 'What?' I asked 'I said, who are you?' was his reply. 'And just why should i tell you?' I didn't know this guy. Why should I tell him anything? 'Because I can slit your throat four times before you hit the ground' 'Oh, wow. Is that supposed to scare me? How many times do you think you can slit my throat before I tell you anything?' Just so you know, I'm not phased by much. 'Fine then' he said as he pulled out his sword. I had to admit, the way he looked like he couldn't care less what happened to me would have scared a lot of other people. 'Fine then' I said, mocking his tone. 'I'll tell ya who I am...' he smiled triumphantly. 'But you first' 'Dilandau Albatou, leader of the Dragon Slayers, warriors of Zaibach.' Of course, non of this made sense to me. 'Thanks' I said, and put my headphones back on. I didn't want to walk anymore, so I just sat down against a tree. As I hoped he would, Dilandau looked annoyed put his sword back in its sheath, and walked up to me. When he got close enough, I kicked him um..... there, and while he was recovering, I grabbed his sword and put it up to his throat. 'What the hell do you want with me??' Even though he hadn't said anything, he had called me an annoying little girl with his look, and people who do that regret it very much. 'I just wanna know who you are!' he replied, in a slightly higher-than-normal voice. 'Fine! My name is Jessica, and as far as I know, I'm in a forest, your name's Dilandau, there's some place called Zaibach around here somewhere, and I don't know why I'm here! Satisfied?' I was now very mad, at him, myself this creepy place I was in. 'No' he said bluntly. I sighed, and put more pressure on the blade. 'Now, you have two choices, you can tell me where I am, and why I'm here, if you know, or, we'll see how many times I can slit your throat before you hit the ground' I smiled maliciously and put still more pressure on the blade. He looked surprised before he answered. ' You're on Gae, and you were called here by Emperor Dornkirk's sorcerers, and I was sent to bring you back to the vione.' I went into a string of very colorful curses that I'm not at liberty to mention right now because I don't know who my readers are:). I'll just say they were colorful enough to make Dilandau look suprised. 'Well isn't this a fine load of crap?! Where can i find a place to stay where nobody'll kill me?' I still had the sword to the guy's neck. 'If you come with me, I can give you a place to stay' he replied. 'Lead the way!' I said cheerfully, with the sword still to him. I grabbed my bags, and as I did, I felt him grab my hand, and throw the sword away. He pulled my arm up behind my back and pulled hard. 'What made you think that you could beat me?' he hissed in my ear. 'The fact that I did' I replied. He pulled harder and I stuffed down the urge to scream or cry. 'You, little girl, are coming with me' he said. 'Does it look like I have much of a choice?' I laughed. 'Besides, I probably would have come anyway, so quit with the arm' He let me go and shoved me towards my bags, and I nearly fell over. 'Come on.' he ordered. 'Touchy, touchy' I muttered under my breath. 'No, I just don't like annoying little girls who won't shut up when I tell them to.' 'But you haven't told me to yet' Now I was getting annoying. 'Shut up!' he snarled. By then we had walked into a clearing that held a very large machine of some sort that looked like it could be piloted by a person. Dilandau took my bags from me and moved to the back of the machine. When he came back to the front he climbed to the top and held out a hand to help me up. Like I needed it. I climbed up on my own and rolled my eyes at him. 'Get it' he said. So I did. And my heart sank. The cockpit of the machine was very cramped, even for one person. But two? I let out a moan and tried to find the spot farthest from the 'driver's seat'. Dilandau climbed in not looking at all happy about the arrangements either, and sat down. In order for both of us to fit, I had to put my head on His shoulder, and our legs occasionally became entangled. We took off, and i had the time of my life! Whatever it was I was in would have made a very good roller coaster ride. About ten minutes later, we reached the vione, which was a floating fortress, and landed in the hanger with a thud. Dilandau opened the cockpit and jumped out, but before he could even offer his hand to help me down, I jumped and landed in front of a group of boys about Dilandau's age who were all dressed in armor like his, only it was blue where Dilandau's was red. I relaxed a little. These guys looked very clueless and nervous. That meant they could be used to my advantage. My guess was if I played my cards right, they would all be madly in love with me at the end of at least one day. Now that we were in full light, Dilandau, who was back from getting my bags, and the other boys could see me fully. I have to say that Dilandau nearly dropped my bags. So I put on my headphones and listened for a couple of seconds to 'Break' my favorite song on the cd. Then I started looking at the guys standing in front of me. I had already decided to be careful with Dilandau, but these other guys looked stupid enough to use. I walked up to the first one who was the best looking in the group. He had shoulder length hair, and seemed unable to get over me. 'Get over it, fly boy' I said. He looked confused so I kept on walking. The next guy was the next best looking of the group. He looked like he had a bit more sense than the others. 'Humph' I said. I continued this until I got to the last boy in line. He was looking straight at Dilandau, like he expected him to do something. Then I noticed his terrible excuse for a hair cut and fought to keep from bursting out laughing. 'Hello, all. I'm Jessica. So, was up?' They all looked even more confused if it was possible. 'Never mind' Dilandau snapped out of the trance first. 'Miguel, show Jessica her room.' The guy who I thought looked the best stepped up and got one of my bags, so I got the other and followed him out into a corridor. 'What are those huge, cool looking things that would scare the crap outta most people?' I was trying to break the silence. It was almost unearthly. Then again, I wasn't on Earth. Miguel smiled and said 'Those are called guymelefs. The one Dilandau-sama brought you back in is and Oreades. The rest of the Slayers all have Alseides' 'Oh' I said. 'What are the other guy's name's?' 'The one that was on my left was Dalet, after him it was Gatti, Guimel, Viole, and Chesta.' We turned down another hall, and he led me to a door on the right. 'Here's where you'll be staying for now. One of the Slayers will come and get you for dinner.' 'Thanks!' I called after him as he turned to go. I looked around the room and decided it wasn't all that bad, I mean, all I needed was a bed, a bathroom, and a mirror, and those were all there. I forgot to mention, but I also had my instrument with me for band, but I'm sure if I told you what it was you wouldn't have the faintest idea of what it looks like, so I'll just say it's an oboe. And if you don't know what that is look it up. I thought a little practice wouldn't hurt, so long as the idiots in this place didn't go wacko over it. So I took out my oboe and put it together, and decided to play my contest music after I warmed up. By the time I was playing my contest music, the closed door was jammed with slayers until Dilandau came along and wanted to know what all the 'racket' was. I didn't know if he was referring to me or the noise the slayers were making, so I kept playing. Eventually, he got to the door and got it open, because, i supposed, he had the keys. Well he saw it was me and heard what I was playing before he saw it, otherwise he would have asked what it was instead of listening. When I finished that piece, and before any one could do anything else, I went into a slower, chilling piece that made me shiver every time I played it, I loved playing it. When I was done, I decided that was enough and started to put my oboe away. When I go to the middle section of the thing, I was almost suprised to hear light applause coming from Miguel. Soon enough, the rest of the slayers joined in, and I was suprised to see Dilandau clapping right along with them. I started blushing, and smiled warmly at everyone. When they stopped and everyone had left, talking about my strange talent, and only Dilandau was left, he walked into my room and sat down in one of the two chairs. 'What is that thing?' he asked. 'It's called an oboe. Before I got here, I was about to go to a band camp, where a lot of student musicians get together for a week, and learn from a lot of different teachers. Unless, your planet is extremely weird, I'll guess that you people have heard of music, right? The other slayers seemed suprised enough at it.' 'Yes, we do have music here, only we don't get to hear much because we're so busy doing other things' was his reply. 'So, why exactly did you bring me here?' ' I don't know, but Folken can tell you, and you'll meet him tonight, after dinner' That reminded me that I hadn't had anything to eat since yesterday. 'When is dinner?' 'One of the slayers will come and get you when it's time. And please, put on something more appropriate for meeting the Emperor, he is highly respected.' 'Whatever' I said as he left. What exactly did he mean, 'more appropriate'? Blue jean flares and a pink top aren't good enough for the emperor? Oh well, it'll be fun enough to see this guy grovel at some one else's feet. about an hour later, Dalet came to get me looking very smug. My guess was that he had won a coin toss or something. He took me to the dining hall where the rest of the slayers were standing and waiting for Dilandau to come in and sit down. When he did, nobody sat down until he had, so I thought, might as well play by the rules 'till it's safe to break them. Dilandau finished eating first, and sat there stroking his cheek, saying something under his breath that sounded like ' I'll get you for this Van...' I looked closer at his cheek and noticed or the first time the scar that was there. That didn't surprise me all too much, because if a guy goes around swinging a sword at anyone he meets, like me, he's bound to get hurt sometime or another. What did surprise me was that the scar looked like it ws about a year old. And he was still upset over it? What a moron! He was still upset over a scar?! I was filling with anger, I was trying to control it, but it wasn't working. I started twitching. Miguel, who was sitting to my left, noticed. 'Is something wrong Jessica?' he asked. 'No' I answered in a very forced voice. I swear, if he says chiku on more time, I'm gonna lose it! 'chiku....' Dilandau muttered, stroking the scar again. That was it, I was mad at him for being an moron. And when I'm mad i have to let it run it's course. I can't stop it. 'Would you SHUT UP with the stupid scar already!!!!' I yelled, slamming my fists onto the table and knocking over the nearest glasses. Everyone stopped moving. Gatti had a forkful of food halfway to his mouth. 'What.......did you....just tell me?' Dilandau asked, sounding dangerous. So? ' I said, shut up with the stupid scar. It looks more than a year old, and if you're still upset over it well big deal! So what if this Van person 'ruined your beautiful face'! It's a stupid scar! And I swear, if i hear you say chiku one...more.... time' I emphasized each word with a pound on the table 'I will kick you cry-baby scrawny little ass myself! And you know I can. And, in case you haven't noticed, Mister High-and-Mighty, I have a scar on my beautiful face too! And just below my eye, too! At least you have some honor in your scar, you got it in battle, from what it sounds like. I was bit by some dog, that wouldn't know any better. Now, since I'm done, and everyone else is as dead as a doornail, will someone please come back to life long enough to get me to my room?' I was still a little pissed off, but not nearly as bad as two minutes before. Dilandau got up himself and if looks could kill, I'd be six feet under. I didn't care. So what if looked mean. That's the point, he looked mean. When we got to my room, he followed me in and shut the door. I stood up tall for the first time since we had met, and I realized that I was only about an inch shorter than he was. He walked over to me and reached up to slap me, but his hand was stopped by another.

PART 2

Dilandau had been about to slap me when someone else's hand grabbed his and stopped it. 'Now, now, Dilandau, we musn't scare our guest' This guy was creepier than even Dilandau. He was really tall, he had blue spiky hair, and the hand that he grabbed Dilandau's with was a metal one. He was wearing a long black cloak that reached all the way down to his feet. If anyone could scare me, it'd be him. 'Please change into something more appropriate. I will come back in ten minutes to take you to meet the emperor. Come on Dilandau, let's leave her alone' He took Dilandau's arm and pulled him out of the room, all the while Dilandau looking furious. I decided to change just my shirt, because it was sleeveless. So I put on a black one that reached down to my elbows. I thought that was good enough. I waited, reading, for the freaky guy to come and get me. 'Are you ready to go?' I hadn't realized he had come into the room. I almost jumped. 'Yes. Can we go now? I was getting very bored' 'Follow me.' he said. So we walked to a large room with a big screen in it that was dark except for a white line in the middle. Dilandau was waiting and looking annoyed as usual. Great. I haven't done anything and he's already mad at me. Folken went to a...... thing in the middle of the room and pressed a button or something. Almost imediately, the screen showed static and started popping and fizzing. I got into a corner of the room so I'd be as far away from everything as possible. On the screen some old guy popped up and I felt like I was gonna puke! I mean this guy was ugly! Anyway, I looked over at Dilandau and much to my surprise he was on his knees with his nose to the floor! I tried to stop but i couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing. Soon enough I was doubled over and clutching my sides. I heard someone clear their throat so I stopped. I still had tears in my eyes though. 'I am Emperor Dornkirk' said the screen. 'Obvious' I replied. 'Why is that?' asked Folken. 'Cuz. Who else would mister High-and-mighty over here bow down to?' Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dilandau looking very mad indeed. Score! 'Is your name Jessica?' the screen was looking impatient. 'Ya.' 'We have called you here to help us defeat Hitomi and the Dragon, her protector.' 'How can I help, I mean, I'm not very special' I said after a couple of seconds. 'We are not sure, but or machines tell us that you are indeed special in some way. We will find out how very shortly. Folken, arrange a fight between one of the Slayers and this girl. If she fights Dilandau, I'm afraid she probably won't survive. We shall see why our sorcerers summoned her.' The screen went blank. ' Hey! That's not fair! I don't know how to fight. If you want me to help you'd better not kill me first. I'm not much help dead.' Dilandau walked up and took my arm. 'Nobody cares about little girls around here' he practically snarled. I hate it when he calls me that! I hate that everyone here thinks I'm a little girl! I hate that freak on the screen, Emperor Dumb Ass or something! If I could get my hands on a sword, I'd kill everyone i could until someone, which would probably be Dilandau, brought me down. I pulled my arm out of his hand. 'Don't touch me!' I screamed. 'If you touch my again i swear, i will rip your head off with my bear hands!' They'd better be careful, I thought, I was pissed again. Dilandau looked startled that I had escaped his grasp. Then he looked mad very quickly. 'You actually think that you can beat me.....' he burst out laughing. At me. Big, mistake. 'I do think i can kick your ass. I'd rather die than help you.' 'Don't talk to me that way, I might just get angry' he said dangerously as he pulled out his sword. 'I don't care! Bring it on!' I yelled. 'This is gonna be fun!' He muttered. He charged and I jumped out of the way easily. What was really weird is that the whole fighting thing felt so right, like I was meant to do it. When I was out of his way, I dropped down and kicked out with my legs and hit his knees, always the first to go. I must have misjudged my strength because I kicked so hard that he actually fell over! When he was down, he landed on his back, I was there in a flash! I put my knee on his neck and pushed down. He couldn't breathe. 'Never get me mad' I hissed. I wasn't even breathing hard. *gag* said Dilandau. So I eased up the pressure. Not before grabbing his sword. I switched so fast I hardly knew what I was doing. It was instinct or something. '..............'said Dilandau. 'In case you were wondering, I just kicked your ass in about one second. I can see why your little sorcerers brought me to this freaking planet. Don't screw with me again, or you'll end up hurt.' I finally let him up and tossed back his sword. Of course he was still looking like the retard of the world, so he didn't catch it. I actually noticed Folken for once, and he was looking pretty happy about things. Their little Emperor would be ecstatic. 'Come with me' said Folken. So I followed him to what I hoped would be more guys to take my anger out on, but he just took me to my room. 'A Slayer will get you in the morning to take you to breakfast.' And he left. I was really tired, cuz the kind of anger I go through is very tiring. So I plopped onto the bed and fell instantly asleep. --------------------------------------- I woke up at six thirty, by my clock, but why I don't know. I never wake up early. At seven some sort of alarm went off through the whole vione and at about seven fifteen, Dalet came and took me to breakfast. For some reason, I was sitting on Dilandau's right instead of three seats down. Guess word of the take-down had spread. It couldn't be called a fight because he hadn't done anything. I smiled to myself. At least I wouldn't have to take anymore shit from anyone. Breakfast was the typical army gruel, and I wasn't too happy, even though I never ate it that often. Predictably, Dilandau got the largest portion, while the rest of the Slayers got pretty small servings. After breakfast was training, so everyone, me included, flocked to a good sized room, and Guimel handed me a sword not looking too happy. I was getting angry again. Everyone picked someone to fight with and lucky me, I was the only one without a partner. The only other Slayer left was Miguel. 'Dilandua-sama, do I have to fight Jessica? I mean, I don't want her to get hurt' said Miguel. That made me even madder. Dilandau grinned evilly cuz he knew what was in store and answered, 'Yes, you do. I want to see how good she is with a sword.' Miguel reluctantly walked up and slowly pulled out his sword. While he did, I pulled out mine and tested the weight. It was too heavy for me, but that meant I would move slower and actually give him a chance. I didn't really get into a fighting position because I didn't know much about fighting. Miguel just stood there like he wanted me to do something. 'Well?' I said. 'Ladies first' he grinned. 'Your funeral.' I charged a bit slow and gave him time to block, to see how good he was. I didn't even notice that all the other fighting had stopped, so the Slayers could see how good I was. Miguel looked like he thought he was actually going to win. It was my turn to grin. This time I let him charge, and I blocked it very easily. I attacked a little harder than before and he had a little trouble blocking. I decided to make him pay for underestimating me. so I attacked and cut his right shoulder. I was making the fight last because I wanted to. He attacked with more strength, and I ducked at the last second and shot to his back and put the blade to his neck. 'Don't want me to get hurt huh?' I said, taunting him. I let him go and stared defiantly at the others. 'Does anyone else here think they can beat me?' I challenged. Dalet stepped up. I charged and he blocked, with difficulty, then I attacked and he put up his sword to stop it, but the tip of the sword stopped half an inch away from his eye. The whole fight has lasted about half a second. To my surprise the next person to step up was Dilandau. I was a bit worried about him, because I had gotten a lucky shot last time, and that was without a sword. I had just started learning to use it. I didn't think I would get lucky. 'Let's see if you got any better or worse' he smiled. I grimaced and he smiled wider. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and took my fighting stance as he took his. He charged and I jumped out of the way and attacked from behind him, but he was fast enough to stop it. Now I had a feel for his speed and his strength, but I didn't think he was trying too hard. I attacked, he blocked, he attacked I blocked, and so on for about twenty minutes. I was getting a little tired. But not much. He attacked and I blocked, not putting forward all my effort until I had to put a foot back, then I really pressed. And he started going back. Then I dropped so suddenly that he fell forward, so I rolled to my back, put a foot on his chest and flipped him over my head. I jumped up and charged just as he was getting up and he barely had time to block. Our swords locked and I kept pushing with the surge of strength I felt and got him to a wall. He looked suprised at how hard I hit him against it. 'You're stronger than I thought' he said. 'Well your in for a big surprise' I grinned. He pushed me back and I tripped! I hadn't realized he had put his foot behind mine. He flung himself down as I got up and pushed me back onto the floor. Then he pulled out is dagger and put it up to my neck. Somehow my sword had clattered through the line of slayers. 'Crap' I muttered. 'Don't' ever underestimate me. Cross me, and you'll go crying to your momma.' He didn't seem too happy that I had lasted so long. He got up and finally noticed the long slash on his chest that I didn't even know I had given him. Along with one other small cut on his arm, it was pretty shallow, so that meant he had blocked but I had gotten through. He looked infuriated and stormed out of the training room. Then I felt something trickle down my arm. Sweat? No way. There was a rather deep cut down my arm, about six inches long and two deep. No wonder he had won! I thought. The blood had started seeping into my glove by now. Terrific. And it was on my sword arm. Great. I made my way out of the room, hoping nobody would notice my arm, thinking someone probably would. Nobody did. So I walked out half relieved, half mad. Just my luck Dilandau was just outside the door. 'Oh, agh' I said. My arm was really starting to hurt, but I wasn't gonna let him know. 'What? Scared that I might not let you off so easy next time?' he mocked. I glared at him. 'No.' Was all I said. I had my hurt arm turned away from him so he couldn't see it. I was getting dizzy. By now the blood was dripping to the floor. He noticed. 'Your arm...' was all I heard before everything slid out of focus. I dropped my sword and grabbed my arm right before I lost my balance and dropped to one knee. I forced my eyes to focus and tried to stand. That didn't work for too long. My legs felt like jello and I dropped back to the floor. I closed my eyes to ease the pain of the light. I felt him pick me up much to my disgust. My head rolled around too much and I blacked out. I was just glad I hadn't lost my breakfast.

PART 3

I woke up about four hours later and I was laying on a hospital type bed in a very dull room with a lot of machines and instruments. My first thought was 'why I am i here?' Then I remembered the fight and my hand flew to my arm. It was heavily bandaged and there was a thin line of blood showing through where the worst of the cut was. That was freaky. Someone had cut the sleeve off my shirt and so I was still in my clothes but some of the top of the sleeve was bloody. Viole was sleeping in a chair near the door. I guessed that I had woken up early than expected. I sat up and my head started spinning. I got up and walked as quietly as I could to the door. I was in a hall I didn't recognize. I decided right was the best way to go and started walking. I came to a door that looked a lot like mine so i opened it. I it was not my room. It was Dilandau's. I groaned before I had to lean against the door frame. My legs weren't gonna hold me much longer. Dilandau was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room and was sharpening a little dagger he had. He was wearing a red tank top and tight black pants. 'He's hot' I thought. He looked suprised when he saw me and got up and walked over before realizing I was in his room. 'What are you doing here?' he asked. 'I thought this was my room' I answered. 'Well it's not so get out.' He pushed me back from the door and i almost lost my balance before I hit the other side of the hall. It was all my legs could take so I slid down and sat on the floor. 'You women are so weak.' I felt a rush of adrenaline at his words from my anger. This blocked out my pain so i stood up before he could reach down and pick me up. 'I'm only a women because I'm too good to be a man' I almost whispered in my fiercest voice. 'And if you have a problem with that tell someone else cuz I don't care enough to listen.' I turned to walk away but before I had taken two steps he had grabbed my bad arm just below the cut and i had to hide a wince of pain. 'You take that back!' he snarled. 'No' I said simply. He squeezed harder and I had to bite back a scream. He dragged me very forcefully into the room. When I was in he shut the door with his free hand and then let me go. I didn't try to run knowing he would catch me. Eventually. What he did next almost suprised me. He pulled back the blanket at the foot of his bed to reveal a sword, smaller than his, and a set of armor that looked suspiciously like the Slayer's armor. It had black shoulder guards instead of red like Dilandau's or blue like the Slayer's. Why I have no idea. Dilandau stood there looking at me for some reason. 'What?' I asked. 'Welcome to the Slayers' was all he said. 'Why? I mean, I know I beat some of the Slayers, but why is that a reason to join?' I didn't know if it was smart to do this or not. 'Because, you almost beat me in a fight and you beat every other slayer, so that means you're on the same level as me. But I wouldn't let them give you a red uniform like mine. Training is everyday in the morning and again in the afternoon. Rest time for an hour between lunch and afternoon training. Wake up at seven, be in the hall for breakfast by seven thirty. One of the Slayers will show you around. That's all, so take your sword and uniform and get out.' I was shocked. 'Same level as him? Whoa.' That was a surprise. I knew i was good, but that good? Then I came back to my senses. Which were shaky at the moment. 'You expect me to fight in this condition? You must be crazy. Wait, I forgot. You are crazy. And by the way, you have to treat me like an equal now, playboy, so no more kicking around.' That had done. He was mad. He slapped me so hard that I had to take a step back. 'I already told never to touch me again!' I screamed. Now I was mad. And if you can recall, that's not good. I lunged for my sword and flung the sheath off as I charged Dilandau. He had his sword out in a flash! He blocked my charge, and remembering my wound, let go of the sword with one hand and hit the wound with it. That's all it took to drain my strength. I had to use it all to hold back my scream of rage and pain. He seemed disappointed that i hadn't shown any sign of pain aside from a wince. I kept my sword up despite my pain, but Dilandau pushed me up against a wall. Now he smiled evilly. 'I like to see you in pain. It makes me feel so....superior.' He drawled as he put his face about an inch from mine. The only thing I had on my mind was controlling my pain, so I didn't think of what he could do to me. So I was suprised to feel his lips push up against mine. Even more to my surprise, his eyes were closed like he actually like it! I pushed on my sword to get him off, but I was still to weak. I felt his lips smile. He finally pulled back, and I gave him my coldest look. 'Why did you do that?' I whispered. 'Because I could, and I just may do it again' he said before he moved closer. I turned my head so he couldn't kiss me again. I kept looking into his eyes to see if he really had a reason for kissing me. I only saw loneliness and rage. Also to try to freak him out. 'I just wish he would leave me alone! I'll play hard to get and if he keeps it up for a week, I'll give in' I thought. So I put the look of 'you can't scare me' on my face to see what he would do. Well I guess he couldn't read facial expressions very well cuz he didn't do anything except study my face. Then it struck me. I was just kissed by a VERY hot guy! Score! He leaned in again to kiss me, and I didn't move so he would think I had given in, and so I could play this to my advantage. When he did kiss me, he put his hand up on my shoulder for some reason, so I took my chance and pushed as hard as I could against his sword. He backed off and twisted his sword around until mine flew out of my hands. Uh-oh I thought. He threw his after it and stood there looking at me. 'Now why do have to make this so hard? I just want to play around' he smiled 'playfully'. 'Because that's exactly what I don't want.' I replied. 'Why are you so offended?' be asked. 'Because that wasn't a very good kiss' I replied as a challenge, knowing what he would say and what I would have to do, and loving it. 'What, like you could do any better?' he chuckled. 'Yeah. Wanna see?' 'Bring it on.' Instead of saying anything, i stepped forward and put my lips on his, gently, unlike him. He put an arm around my waist, so I put a hand on his shoulder. The kiss probably lasted about two seconds, but it felt like an eternity. When he started to pull away, I leaned forward but he pulled away too fast. I looked at him expectantly. 'That wasn't much of a kiss' he sneered. 'I hate you!' I screamed before whirling and running out the door. I went right and it didn't take long to find my room. I stomped in and slammed the door so hard that a few things rolled off the dresser in my room. 'I hate him! I just wish I could fly away!' I thought. 'I hate this place so much it's not even funny!' Suddenly I heard this weird popping sound in my back, like my bones were shifting. Then the worst pain ever! It was so sudden that I couldn't control the screams that tore from my throat. My legs gave way and I sank to the cold floor on my knees. It felt like something was splitting the skin of my back and slicing through my shirt! Then something exploded from back and I saw white feathers and the remnants of my shirt float to the floor. I stared in confusion as a feather landed on my wound and started to glow. Then all pain left the cut. It was healed. I looked in the mirror and did a double take before my jaw dropped in disbelief at what i saw. I HAD WINGS. Unconsciously, they flapped and my torso was lifted some. I flapped a few more times and I was standing up. Then I noticed the remains of my shirt scattered all over the floor, so I found one of my open-backed halter tops and put it on. I was still puzzling over the fact that I had wings half a minute later when Dalet opened the door to see why I was screaming and stopped dead. He got so pale that he looked close to death and his jaw dropped in disbelief. The next person to see me was Miguel. He turned bright red for some unknown reason. I was a bit cramped in my room because my wings were so big, so I concentrated on getting them back in my back. I heard the shifting and popping and grimaced at the pain nowhere near as bad as before. The wings molted all their feathers and melted back into my back just before Dilandau came to the door. 'What's going on?' he asked innocently 'and why are there feathers on the floor?' I looked pleadingly at the Slayers and shook my head. 'One of my pillows um.... broke.' I answered. Dilandau looked suspicious but didn't say anything. 'Dalet and Miguel were just passing by and saw' I went on. Dilandau still looked skeptical, but he left anyway. I breathed a sigh of relief. 'Did you know you had wings?' asked Dalet. He looked half excited, half confused, and it was an interesting look. 'No. I think I'm gonna keep this from Dilandau until I feel he'll be really freaked out when he sees them. I love freaking him out. By the way, I'm part of the Slayers now. You know how I kinda beat you right?' They nodded agreement. 'Well, I have as much authority as Dilandau now.' They looked surprised. 'But I don't want any of this 'Yes your worship' crap. I'll let Dilandau do all the talking. I'm just in it for the fighting. You can call me whatever you want, just not Jessica-sama or anything like that, okay? That's my first and probably last order. Let the other Slayers now for me, okay?' I smiled to let them know the 'no hard feelings' thing so they wouldn't feel bad. They looked relieved. 'Someone has to show me around this place or I'll be lost in five minutes.' When they looked hopeful, I said,'Send Chesta. He needs a break from worshiping Dilandau, and I think I'll have to rub in the 'no worshiping' rule. I'll try to keep my dignity by not laughing. You can go, if you want. If you see Dilandau, send him here, I need to talk to him. Bye' I said as they left. When they had, I sat down a,little shakily, on my bed. I had wings? Where did I get them? And since when do people have wings anyway? I was gonna have to ask someone about this. Just then Dilandau walked in, without knocking of course. 'What?' he asked rudely. 'When do I start training in a guymelef and do I get one?' I asked flat out. 'You start training tomorrow. I'll teach you to use the melef in the afternoon training. You'll get a melef after I think you're good enough.' 'Will I get Oreades or Alseides?' 'Probably Oreades if you're good enough, Alseides if you're not.' he said simply. 'Okay, I have one more question. Does anyone on this planet have wings?' He looked a bit surprised at this question before he answered. 'Yes. The Draconians. They are said to bring a curse upon anyone who sees one.' Oh-boy, I thought. Now I knew why Dalet had paled. And possibly why Miguel had turned red as a ripe tomato. 'Thanks. That's all I needed' I said. And he left. Little did I know that I would soon find out exactly why I had wings, and the answers to several other mysteries in my new life. It would take a long time since I had to figure out my dreams. They were terrifying.

PART 4

(note: this is a dream sequence and i'll let u know when it's not!) I was flying over the land, at first i thought I was just running but then I realized that I was really flying. Below me was an army, dressed in nothing but black. Their banner was a black dragon on a blood red background. I looked in behind me and saw a great, white city in the distance. I turned midair and flew quickly toward it. When I got there, I saw more people, but they were in white and blue, and many of them had gold armor and carried gold and silver swords. I then realized that I was one of them. I heard a man with a rough voice shout an order and the armored flyers grouped under a very large, round tree. I followed. The general, as I assumed, wore black clothes, and carried a different sword than the other fighters. He had given the order. He started speaking to us, the fighters, about the battle strategy. We were to fly above the clouds with a scout below ready to give a signal. When this signal was given, a group of a hundred fighters were to plummet down, swords at the ready, into the enemy. Hopefully, this surprise tactic would work. More legions would follow afterward. We were divided into these legions. I was in the first. This told me that I was one of the better fighters. The general was in our group. of the hundreds of fighters, about a sixth of them were women. Once again, I was one of them. We were told to be ready in fifteen minutes. The scene faded. Now, I was flying over the clouds. A young man, about sixteen years old, flew through the clouds and told us now was the time. The legion turned around, then folded its many wings and plummeted through the clouds. We went silently to further surprise the enemy, but when we were almost upon them, a cry of alarm went up in the enemy ranks. The cry spread through the whole army, and they turned in confusion to meet us, but they were too slow. I found myself at the front of our lines, being faster, and my sword was plunging into the backs of the enemy, and hitting away instinctively thrust up swords. Again, the scene faded. One of my wings was crumpled. My arm was bloody and I was surrounded by dead bodies. The faint sounds of war and the dying drifted to my ears. My sword trembled in response, but I had done enough. The weapon was covered in blood, along with my hands, but I didn't know if it was mine. I heard a moan to my left and turned my head to see what it was. A fallen Draconian lay mortally wounded. One of his wings had been hacked to a stub, and he was holding his stomach closed. Blood dripped from his mouth as his dying eyes gave a plea to mine. I limped over and knelt next to him. He pushed his sword toward me and said 'Take..... my sword. .........You must ....... continue the ......... line of........... the warrior ....Draconian......Do not....... let the sword...........fall into the wrong..........hands....... It has powers..............unknown to any...............save the owner.................I was the last............... after my father.............he told me............the legend..............I consider this any honor.................Catriona...........I know your true............name............you know...........what you must do..........Jessica..................' What I knew I had to do horrified me, but I would not let the warrior down. I stood, and held up my sword to plunge it into his heart, but began to tremble. I sank down to my knees, but my sword still found its way to the fallen warrior's heart. His eyes looked almost satisfied, as if death was only a new game, as their color faded. I closed his eyes and stood. I looked closer and realized that his bloodstained tunic was black. I screamed. (note: this is the end of the dream sequence!) I was still screaming when I sat blot upright in my bed. I was drenched in a cold sweat and my covers were on the floor. 'What is happening to me??' I thought. 'Is that were I got my fighting instincts? Is that why I have wings? That must have been Atlantis. But was it here? Or on Earth? Maybe that's how the Atlantis on Earth was destroyed. But who had a battlement with a black dragon? I never read anything in history about an army with that symbol.' I glanced at my clock and it read four in the morning. 'Great' I thought. 'Just what I need. Nightmares for a wake up call.' I decided not to sleep again and got dressed. I put on my armor from the waist down, and a halter top for a shirt. I picked up my sword and walked out into the hall. I went to the guymelef hangar, since it was the biggest room in the place. I got on a level where I could drop out of the vione easily. I concentrated and heard the popping and cracking of my wings. The pain wasn't as bad as the first time, and my wings exploded from my back. I climbed over the rail and hung on as I started flapping my wings. I didn't want to over work them too fast. I flew over the rail and landed back on the platform. My wings didn't hurt yet. I smiled. I decided to try something a little more extensive, so I flew up and around the melef hangar until I found Dilandau's. His was the only Oreades in the place, so I decided to check it out. I opened the melef and climbed in. The cockpit was much roomier than with two people, but I was a little uncomfortable with my over-sized wings. I got back out and closed the cockpit. My wings still weren't sore, so I flew back to the platform where I first was and landed. I thought trying something that might really stress my wings wouldn't hurt. So I made sure my sword was securely in place, folded my wings, and jumped out of the vione. When I thought I had gone far enough, I opened my wings to check my fall, and glided around for a little while. I looked up and there was another person with wings flying toward me! He gestured that we should land so I followed him. We had landed near some sort of encampment because I could hear voices not too far away. 'Who are you?' the guy asked. 'My name's Jessica. And I'm a Dragon Slayer. Who are you?' I asked. 'That's not what I meant' he said,'Why do you have wings?' 'I guess because I have ancestors who are Draconians. I don't really know. I was trying them out.' 'I'm Van, king of Fanelia, which was destroyed by Zaibach. My mother was a Draconian.' He looked sad when he answered. I guess I could understand. 'You said you were with Zaibach?' he questioned. 'I suppose. I was just made a Slayer yesterday.' 'Well, I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions, but, why? You look like someone from the mystic moon.' 'I really don't know. There isn't another girl in the group.' 'I think I hear someone coming, lose the wings.' So I concentrated on 'losing the wings', I felt them lose all their feathers and melt into my back. Mine had just dissapeared when another guy walked into the clearing. He was really tall, about three inches over me, and had blonde hair to the middle of his back. He was wearing a uniform that looked a lot like a dress, but before I made the assumption that he was a cross dresser, I noticed his sword. No playboy here. 'Van?' he asked looking worried as he noticed my Slayer uniform. 'Hey, if you guys are worried about me telling them anything, don't. I wouldn't tell them jack shit about you guys or anything. Attack them for all I care. I need to fight someone to test my skill. But I won't kill any of your guys, I'll just knock em' out so it looks real for Zaibach.' I hoped this would reassure them. Of course, half of it wasn't true. 'Allen, she's a Draconian and 'dropped in'.' He looked sincere enough. 'Um....Van? Could you tell only trustworthy people about me? I don't want all of Gae to know about me.' 'Allen's a knight of Asturia. He's very trustworthy, don't worry.' This didn't help much. 'We'll give you a place to stay until your wing heals. And I'll make sure no one sees them' Allen said. Then he smiled thoughtfully. 'You said you wanted to fight someone to test your skill? Would you like to test your skill here?' I thought about this and realized he wanted to fight me. 'I think so' I answered. I tested my sword, since I had only used it once or twice. As I did, I studied the length of his arm and decided that I had the advantage of reach. 'Yes.' 'Van, if you'll step back...?' he asked. He pulled out his sword and we got ready to fight. I noticed that his sword was a little shorter than mine which could be considered long, and I had even more advantage of reach. He probably had the advantage of strength, and I couldn't tell about speed. The way had held the hilt of his sword as he had walked up suggested that he was always ready to fight. He probably thought he could beat me. He didn't know how good I really was, so I decided I had the advantage there, he would go soft until he had a feel for my strength and speed, and he wouldn't try too hard anyway because I'm a girl and I'm not supposed to have a sword anyway. Jerk. We got into the fighting positions and I let him charge first, all the while having a worried look on my face. My judgment had been correct, he was going easy on me. I thought it best to give him a run for his money. I blocked the charge by putting my sword up just right to make the two swords lock at the hilt. He pushed, so I pushed. He pushed harder, so I pushed harder. Then I put out a burst of strength and made Allen take a step back. So while he was gaining his balance again, I used the trick Dilandau had and twisted my sword around and shoved his into the ground since I couldn't get it out of his hands. Then I put my foot on it to keep him from picking it up and neatly kicked him in the chin. His head snapped back but nothing more. I had used the foot holding down his sword, so he recovered. As soon as we were back in our fighting positions, I charged him and he blocked. I did a wide swinging attack, and he jumped back to avoid it, but he didn't move fast enough and I sliced open his shirt at the stomach, barely scratching the skin. He looked surprised. He attacked and I had a little trouble blocking. I guessed that he had stopped being nice and had used his usual strength. This went on for about ten minutes before the deciding move. Allen seemed to be tiring faster than I expected, but I still felt fresh. I thought another little Dilandau move would finish the fight. I was getting bored. So the next time he charged, I did the sword lock trick again and let his sword some very close to my face so he would think he was winning. 'You know, you're pretty good' I said. 'Pretty good?' he asked. 'Yeah. But not good enough' I answered. And with that, I used another burst of strength to get him to trip. Well, the move went wrong. He stepped back first with the foot mine was behind and dragged my foot with his. He still fell, but my foot was still pulled forward, so I was forced to do a split. I pulled up out of the split and cart wheeled over to him and landed with my feet at his sides and the tip of my sword at his neck. It was so close, that if he had gulped, it would have pierced his skin. But the fight wasn't real, so I stood and offered a hand to help him up. He took it and let me haul him up. 'You're good' I heard Van say. I had forgotten about him. 'Why do you say that?' I asked. 'Because no one has beaten me since my master Balgus' Allen said. This surprised me. 'Well, you can go on being the best, I'll stick to trying to beat Dilandau. Shall we get back? Wherever back may be?' so we walked to the camp. Most of the People in the camp were men, as I expected. I just hoped they would stay away from me. There were a few women and a girl that looked like a cat person. When she saw us she screamed 'Lord Vaaaan!', ran over and nearly tackled Van. Then when he managed to get her off, she eyed me suspiciously. 'Lord Van? Who is she?' she asked rudely. 'She's just a visitor. She won't be here for long. Jessica? This Merle.' I offered my hand for her to shake. Her eyes narrowed. I rolled mine and dropped my hand. 'Breakfast should be ready soon.' Van said. We walked to a large open area where five collapsable tables had been set up for everyone to sit at. I thought the yawning men and the mention of breakfast was odd until I remembered how early I had waken up. I took a seat where I wanted and didn't really care who sat near me. A man with black hair, closer to blue, spoke with Allen for a few minutes, glancing at me a few times, and sat down next to me. He smiled at me in a friendly way, and took a gulp of whatever was in his goblet. I knew every move he made, but didn't let him know I was watching him. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he did, I heard an odd noise behind me. I put my gloved hand over his mouth to keep him quiet before I drew my sword. I jumped up, spun around and blocked the attack that may have taken the man's head off. Everything seemed to stop as the other men heard the swords clang together. The attacker didn't draw back or try to attack again, so I just kept pushing him towards the edge of the camp. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Van take out his sword and prepare to charge. 'Don't move' I told Dalet. I swung around and blocked the guy's charge. He looked puzzled when I stopped him. he said. 'Stop. Don't attack. Go back to your breakfast and hold off your men. I will take care of the Slayer. He only attacked out of worry for me.' With that, I shoved him back and whirled back to Dalet. I grabbed the back of his collar and hauled him off to the woods. 'What took you so long??' I asked, infuriated. 'Nobody looks for a commanding officer if they're late. but when you didn't show up after thirty minutes, I was sent to search for you' he answered helplessly. 'Lead me to your guymelef. I really need to get back.' We walked for about ten minutes before we came to a clearing where Dalet's Alseides was. 'Um.........there's not much room' he said, blushing the whole time. 'S'okay. I've been through this before with less interesting people' I said. Not many people get duller than Dilandau. We got in the melef and prepared to fly back. I just hoped that I could get just as mad at Dilandau as he would be at me.

PART 5

(note: this is at van's camp, it's just not in any one's perspective) Van was so shocked that he didn't move for a few seconds. When he snapped back into reality, he called off the men who had started to go after Jessica. Allen walked up. 'Why did you call off those men? Didn't you realize that both of them were Ziabach soldiers? They might tell their leader about our attack' Allen said angrily. 'She said to call them off. Allen?' he asked. 'What?' answered Allen, irritated. 'Why is your shirt slit open? You're bleeding!' This would have to stop, Van thought. I have been surprised enough for a week. 'Huh?' Allen looked down at his shirt and he was bleeding. 'I thought she only slit my shirt.' It was his turn to be surprised. 'What was her name again?' Van asked. 'Jessica' Allen answered. 'I think I've read that name before.' 'How? she's from the Mystic Moon.' 'Wan't Jessica some famous Draconian warrior? It's legend that she was the possessor of Gonturan, the Diamond Sword. It could cut anything. Let's ask Dryden. He knows about that stuff.' So they walked over to the tent where Dryden was staying. When they got inside, Dryden was 'buried' in a very old, very thick book. 'Ahem.....Dryden?' Van asked cautiously. 'Wha......? Yes?' Dryden answered. 'Do you know anything about a Draconian warrior named Jessica? Or the Diamond Sword?' Van said hopefully. 'Let me see......' he said as he started flipping the pages of his book. 'Ah........yes. She was a famous warrior of Atlantis. She was sometimes known as the Black Dragon. She was said to have destroyed the Black army single handidly. She received the Diamond sword from the general Zofus, who died in battle defending the capitol of Atlantis. She was known for her fighting and flying skills, and fought only to defend and for justice. Her beauty was well known. The sword chooses the owner, and only one worthy can hold it. The owner finds the next owner at the end of their life. The true owner is revealed by a mark that appears when fighting is introduced to them. The mark has never been recorded, so I don't know what it looks like. Jessica was her true name, her more commonly used was Catriona. It was considered a real honor to be named for her, but her real name was never given to a child. Variations were used, but never the true name. The only way the name Jessica would appear again, was if the great warrior came back to life, beauty and the skills of fighting, flying, and justice incarnate. Or if a direct descendant worthy of it had the name. Why do you want to know?' he asked, finishing his little speech. Allen and Van looked at each other, sharing worried glances. Van said,'A Draconian girl named Jessica just left the camp.' ----------------------------------------------- (note: it's back in Jessica's view, and sorry, i have to do this, dun, dun, dun!) It was very cramped in Dalet's melef, but I didn't mind. Dalet seemed very aware of the fact that we were so cramped that I was almost sitting on his lap. It didn't take long to get to the vione. When we got there, Dilandau was waiting as I guessed, and his pose was like an angry parent waiting for the guilty child. My barely calmed anger flared again. 'Hurry' I said in a venomous whisper to Dalet. He really couldn't, but I didn't care. We landed and Dalet got out first. The rest of the Slayers were there and I guessed Dilandau wanted a public trial. He was smiling. I felt like I was of fire! I mean I couldn't control my quick anger. I jumped down from the melef. And stood there shaking, trying to control my face and my mouth. 'Where have you been?' Dilandau asked. 'Getting away from you' I said in the venomous whisper. 'Since I can't hit or berate an equal officer, you are dismissed' he said, casually. 'Since I am an equal officer, you can't dismiss me, either' I snarled. I hoped I was at least freaking him out, not doing what he says and all. 'You aren't. You haven't proved it yet.' he sneered, apparently ready for this. I was so angry I felt like I could burn the place down. Instead of answering him, I jumped back into the melef but didn't shut the cockpit. I put up one Crima claw, and extended it about three feet right into Dilandau's face. 'Don't ever, talk to me like that again' I snarled. 'If you do, well, let's just say you might not live to regret it.' I left the guymelef in that position and jumped out. The Crima claw was so close to his face that it was pressing into the skin of his nose, but not piercing it. Now I smiled. I whipped out my sword and cut the claw short, about a hair's width from Dilandau's nose. The removed piece fell to the floor at his feet as I pressed my sword into his throat. 'I'll say this now, so none of you have to go through the same thing. I expect to be treated with respect, but if you grovel, you will suffer the same fate. If he lives past a week, Dilandau will do all the ordering around, and I will keep him in line. I have as much authority as him, but I will use it only for Ziabach. One more thing, as Dalet can tell you, Van's forces are planning an attack. When, I don't know, and why, I don't know. They seem to be in search of something. I'll do my best, and I expect the same from you, to keep whatever they're looking for out of their hands.' I let my sword drop. Dilandau glared at me and I glared back, and the slightest edge of fear entered his eyes. 'Dismissed' I said, not taking my eyes from his. My hair was covering my face some because of the wind, so I couldn't see him all too clearly, but I kept me eyes locked on his. When the other Slayers had left, he turned away from me and looked out at the world below the vione. He pulled something out of his pocket and looked at it before turning back to me. It was a rose. My anger diminished to almost nothing and I noticed that his eyes weren't as harsh as before. He threw the rose over his shoulder and out of the hangar. I made a decision. 'What are you doing?' I asked. 'Why do you care?' Dilandau asked. Instead of answering, I gave him the 'cuz maybe I like you' look. 'Want to try something?' I asked. 'What?' 'You have to trust me' was my answer. 'I guess.....' As he said this I walked up to him and concentrated on my wings. They exploded from my back and Dilandau looked very surprised. 'Just trust me' I said. I floated up and put down my hand for him to grab. He took it and I pulled him up into my arms, to hold him better. I flew out over the rail of the platform and folded my wings some to drop. I went down about fifty feet before I pulled back up. Then a very interesting thought entered my mind. I let go of Dilandau until he was only holding my hand. I flew back up towards the vione and let go. It was so sudden that Dilandau let go too. Much to my surprise, he started screaming. I rolled my eyes. After two or three seconds, I folded my wings and dove after him. I caught up with him very quickly and grabbed him from the back around his waist. I stretched my wings to their fullest extent and pulled up, feeling the shock of wind resistance. His eyes were wide with shock and he gripped my arm so tightly it felt like it was going to fall off. I guess he had too much dignity to scream at me yet. I flapped my powerful wings and flew back up to the vione. Luckily I got back to the platform before my wings started hurting. I thought another trip around the hangar would help so I flew up to the top of the room and hovered there for a few minutes after letting Dilandau down. I folded my wings and dove toward him. When I was about two feet from his face, I pulled back and his hair was blown around by the force of the air. I landed gently and looked at Dilandau until I decided that there wasn't any shock on his face anymore. What he said next really surprised me. 'Whoa' he said quietly. 'Just don't drop me like that again. That was a little terrifying' he said. 'Okay. I just wanted to see your reaction.' 'I could use this to my advantage....' he started. Before he finished, I cut him off. 'Your advantage? I'll only use my wings to the advantage of Ziabach, not just you' I was able to control my anger. I cooled and said,'When do I start guymelef training?'I asked. 'Today. During afternoon training. Be here five minutes after training starts' he answered. 'Thanks' I said as I walked away. By now, my wings had melted into my back. When I got into my room, I laid down on my bed for a little while. About and hour later, I looked at my clock and decided it was five minutes before afternoon training. I got up and walked to the guymelef hanger and waited for Dilandau. He got there about three minutes after me. He pointed to one of the melefs, and I got inside. He told me not to close the cockpit. He stood on the the huge shoulder of the melef and told me how the melef worked, and what was what in the cockpit and what it did. He told me the basics of the Crima claw, which came with a flamethrower. 'Sweet!' I thought. After about and hour, he said to get to the regular training and do some work. When I got to the practice room, everyone but Dalet was fighting, since there were five Slayers. He saw me walk in and his face brightened before he saw Dilandau and stood at attention. The rest of the Slayers did too. 'Stop that' I said. The Slayers looked confused, as well as Dilandau. 'I won't let you do that. It isn't right to let someone rule your life so much. And if anyone objects, they can answer to me or Dilandau' I smiled mischievously at the look on Dilandau's face. 'Get back to your fighting' I finished. For once, they understood. I went up to Dalet with a questioning look on my face. His answer was a smile as he pulled out his sword. I pulled out mine too and we got in our fighting stances. He charged first and I blocked easily. I attacked, but he blocked. He attacked I dodged, and while he ws recovering, I attacked and slashed his stomach. I didn't want him to get too hurt, so the slash was shallow. We went on fighting for a surprising five minutes before I knocked the sword from his hands. 'You're getting better' I said. 'Thanks' he answered. 'Good fight' he said, putting out his hand for me to grab. I did and gripped it strongly. 'Good fight' I repeated. We dropped hands and Dalet left the room. I went back to mine and sat down for a little while. Someone knocked on my door about half an hour later. 'Come in' I said because I didn't want to get up. It was Dalet. 'Hey' he said. I sat up so we could talk. 'Everyone else is training' he said. 'Still?' I asked. 'Do they ever stop?' We laughed at this exasperated statement. 'So do the Slayers do anything other than train? I mean, what are you training for?' 'Well, I guess for the final battle between us and the forces behind the Dragon' he sat down next to me as he said this. 'Dilandau-sam-sorry' he said as he corrected himself. 'Dilandau thinks that we amount to nothing until we can beat him, at least Folken. But then, we'll never battle him because Dilandau thinks we're not good enough to' he finished. He looked thoughtful in a worried sort of way. 'He never talks to any of us except to give us orders. He screams at night sometimes, but when we try to do something for him, he punishes us. Most of the time, whatever we do upsets Dilandau, and he usually slaps us. He always slaps Gatti because he gives us the news, and it always seems to be bad' he said. 'I guess he's never heard of the phrase 'don't kill the messenger'' I said to try and cheer him up. He only smiled. We stared into each other's eyes and Dalet leaned forward and kissed me. My eyes closed and he put his arms around me. I put my arms around his neck. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it felt like an eternity. Dalet finally pulled back and gently lifted my arms from his neck. I studied his face and he studied mine. I leaned forward and hugged him, unexpected tears coming to my eyes as the realization of what had happened to me finally came into focus. I silently cried on his shoulder as he held me gently, stroking my hair. I was able to control my tears, at last, and I sat up again. 'Thank you' I whispered. 'For what?' Dalet asked. 'For everything' I answered. And with that he got up and walked to the door. He stood there for a second and looked back at me. I met his gaze and smiled. He left. I really needed to calm my nerves, so I got up and headed to the melef hangar. I jumped out of the vione and fell a long time. My wings exploded from my back and I opened them to stop my fall. I flew back up some and glided around for about ten minutes before heading back. I got back into the vione and Dilandau was in the hangar, but his back was toward me. I quietly landed a platform behind him and listened to what he was saying. 'What is wrong with me?' he asked himself. Then his voice changed, and he sounded like a seven year old boy. 'Don't leave me alone!' it pleaded. Dilandau covered his mouth to stop the sound, but I still heard it. He was crying. I floated up and landed just behind him. For some reason, I wrapped my wings around him to soothe him. He gasped and stopped crying. He turned and faced me, so I opened my wings a little to let him. I knew my face was calm and serene, yet strong. Tears came to his eyes, and he clung to me like the uncomforted child inside him. I let him and I hugged him back. Suddenly the vione shook, like it had been hit from the outside. Dilandau was thrown out of the fortress and I dove after him. I swooped under him, caught him, and flew back into the vione. I set Dilandau down at the door and landed. As I started running, I drew my sword, I knew there was trouble. I heard a noise behind me and turned to look. There were battling melefs in the hangar! 'Dilandau! The hangar!' I yelled as I turned and faced a group of men led by the man whose life I had saved at Van's camp. By now, my wings had disappeared, but there was a trail of feathers leading to me. Oh well. The group was almost to me. I readied myself for combat, but before I charged them, I saw the rest of the Slayers run to the hangar, unnoticed by the group of about ten men. I charged one of them and saw a sword lash toward another. 'Dilandau' my mind said. I kicked the man in the head and effectively knocked him out. I drew blood from the back of the next man's head when I knocked him out. We got through group shortly, and ran to the hangar. There were four battling melefs; two Slayers and two who I guessed were Van and Allen. We arrived just in time to see Van plunge his sword into the melef cockpit piloted my a tiring Slayer. The bloodcurdling scream that followed froze my heart. It was Dalet.

PART 6

Dalet was gone. It took a minute for me to realize it, because I didn't want to. The scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. 'DAAAAALLLLLLEEEEEETTT!!!!!!!NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Van turned his attention toward Miguel, who was holding off Allen. I jumped into the closest melef which happened to be a black Oreades. Mine. I was moving before the cockpit could close. I jumped (in the melef), landed on my hands and managed to kick Van and get him to notice me. 'You'll pay for that' I snarled, amazingly calm. 'Who are you?' he asked. 'That doesn't matter!' I screamed as I charged. Remember, I only know what's what in the melef. Not how to use it. Van blocked and quickly destroyed the energist of the melef. Why should I care? I opened the cockpit and jumped towards Van's melef. My wings exploded from my back and I flew up to face him in his melef. 'Come out and fight like a true Draconian!' I screamed. 'You!' he gasped. 'Get out here!' I didn't really expect him too, but I was consumed in grief. To my surprise, he did come out. He drew his sword, cautiously I noticed, as his wings sprouted from his back, ripping his shirt to shreds. With a powerful sweep of my wings, I flew forward, doing a midair charge. When our swords locked, I pushed down and folded my wings when I was over him. My weight made us plummet, and he couldn't stop the fall. When I had pushed him out of the vione, I opened my wings and left him with a slash on his chest. I flew back into the fortress to help Miguel, but Van's group had gotten what they wanted and were retreating. I roared my rage and folded my wings to finish with Van. He had recovered and flew up to meet me. I flipped back up to attack with my feet, like a hawk diving for its prey. I kicked aside his upraised sword with one foot, and smashed into his chest with the other. I pushed him down again, but he recovered and flew above me. I flipped over again and blocked his attack as I fell. When I opened my wings to stop plummeting, my feet brushed the tree tops. With a powerful downsweep of my wings, I charged back up to Van. I hit his sword away, slashed his bare chest, and kicked him in the jaw by doing a backflip midair. 'Put away your sword' I said as I sheathed mine. 'Why?' he asked cautiously. 'You don't want to kill me, and I don't want to kill you, though you deserve it' was my answer. He saw my reason and sheathed his sword. He folded his wings and plummeted down to me. I dodged him neatly and grabbed one of his wings. He screamed in surprise and pain as I beat back up, pulling him with me. Then I let him go and he tried to fly back up, but his wing wouldn't work. I dove down after him and grabbed his hand to stop him from falling, straining every muscle in my wings. His feet brushed the ground, but I wouldn't let him go. I flew back up about thirty feet and used it to my advantage. 'What do you want from Zaibach?' I asked. 'I won't tell you' Van said. 'You have to' I said with the venomous whisper again. His eyes widened in fear and surprise when he realized what I was talking about. 'I can't hold you up forever' I said. He sighed before answering. 'You are a warrior at heart. We attacked in hopes of capturing you for our use, and so we could take the Diamond Sword Gonturan. You are the ancestor of the great legend Catriona, also called the Black Dragon, more commonly called Jessica.' I was so surprised by this that I nearly dropped him. I let myself drift down about ten feet, then dropped him. I heard a sickening crunch when he hit the ground and almost smiled. I landed with a foot on his chest and drew my sword. 'This.. is for Ziabach..' i said, and I slashed his cheek diagonally. 'This... is for me..' I slashed the opposite way and across the other cut. 'And this...' I said, as I placed the tip of the sword at his temple, above the crossing point of the slashes. 'is for Dalet' I whispered as I drew the tip of the sword down slowly until it touched his jaw. The pattern was an X with a line through the middle. The fear and pain in his eyes would have stopped anyone else. 'Remember Van. Never forget who did this to you. Three meanings, three cuts. Loyalty, justice, and truth. Never forget, Van, never forget' I said before I saw him glance behind me. I whirled, but didn't get my sword up fast enough. Allen slashed my leg. I gasped at the pain. My wings began loosing their feathers slowly, since it was also unconsciously. I looked at the cut in my pants. I ran from almost the top of my thigh to and inch above my knee. I fell to my knees and glared at Allen. Then I smiled despite the pain. 'So, you want to be marked too, huh?' I grinned evilly. Forgetting my pain, I jumped up and kicked him hard in the jaw with my bad leg. With the flat of my blade, I hit his stumbling feet from under him and put my foot on his throat. 'Loyalty, justice, and truth' I said, slashing his cheek with each word. 'How are you going to get any girls without your prettyboy looks? Awww, poor Allen, I would like him if he wasn't a crossdresser' I sneered in a high voice. 'You've had your chance. You blew it. You now have two choices. You either have to kill me, or spend the rest of your lives looking over your shoulder, watching for me. Because I swear, if you make one more move against Ziabach..........I'll hunt you down and destroy your lives. Personally!' I promised before I felt a thunk on the back of my neck. If it hadn't been for my leg, I wouldn't have been out, but since I was sliced up pretty bad, I was out. ------------------------------------------------ I woke up again and it was dark. I looked around the tent in the dim light of the fire about ten feet away from me and guessed this one was larger than the others. There was a large sleeping shadow at the front of the tent. My guess was Allen. I wondered why I was here, but when I moved to get up and felt the pain in my leg, I remembered everything. 'Dalet' my mind whispered. I hugged myself despite my pain to try to make the pain in my heart go away. 'At least the last thing I had said to him was thank you' I thought. I never shed any tears over him, but 'those who love the most don't have any tears to cry' in my opinion. Then I remembered how he died and the hatred, boiling like fire, overtook and multiplied the pain of my soul. 'I'll never forgive him!' my mind screamed. I stood up, wincing in pain, and carefully stepped over Allen. When I felt his hand grab my ankle, I wasn't all too surprised. 'I'm a light sleeper' he explained. 'I know' I said. Instead of answering, he just gripped my ankle tighter and pulled. I hobbled back over to my bed and sat down. 'You really shouldn't strain it like that' I heard Allen say. 'And just why should you care? You caused it. All of a sudden you're worried about me when you slice me up like a holiday ham?' I accused in his general direction. 'I told Van you wouldn't cooperate' 'You got that right! At every chance I get, I'm gonna ruin it for you' I said. 'I wanna be alone' 'Riiiight' he said sarcastically. 'I wanna work on my sword. I heard Van does that too. I'll go with him. He's probably up anyway' 'Wait a minute. I gotta go with you to find Van' 'Now I have to be guarded like a queen? You've GOT to be joking' I said. 'We don't want you getting away. You're important to the past and future of the Draconians. You're also important to Van. He never new much about his mother of his father. You have to help us' Instead of answering I just stood up and waited for him to. We walked out and I saw a flash of sword to the right. I went toward it. Sure enough, there was Van, through the trees in a moonlit clearing. 'Go' I told Allen. He hesitated and when I looked at him he turned and went back to his tent. I watched Van while I waited for my leg to stop throbbing. I pulled out my sword, putting my fingers on the sides of the blade to keep it quiet as I unsheathed it. He held his sword out in front of him, so still that he looked like a statue. He pulled the sword back, slow and steady, staring at an unseen foe. The sword glittered, like it had been shaken so minutely that the eye couldn't see it. Suddenly, his eyes widened in fear at what he could see, but I couldn't. The sword fell and he fingered the bandage that was over his cheek. 'Why?' I heard him whisper. I walked around to his back and waited. He tried again, and when he pulled his sword back, I stepped out into the clearing. He swung around so suddenly that I thought anyone worse than me would have gasped, and stopped, still as stone again, with the tip of his sword right over my heart. I didn't flinch. 'Huh?' he asked when he realized who I was. I guess I looked really different, in the moonlight, my shirt and hair blowing in the light breeze, my sword in my hand at my side. I lifted my empty hand and pushed the tip of the sword down. 'I didn't come here to fight' I said. 'I only came to have peace of mind. Please don't take the only thing that I have left from me' I asked. I slowly raised me sword and held it out in front of me, stiff and still as stone. I closed my eyes to concentrate on holding it that way. I pulled it back and lifted it, with the side of the blade facing my face. I opened my eyes, having cleared my mind, and turned the sword, blade faced out, in the same, quick precise movement. I attacked in a wide, down swinging motion and brought the sword back up to my face, taking it one move at a time. I attacked again in a downward ark, meant for the removal of heads. The next attack I did after bringing the sword back up to my face was a thrust, but before I could finish the move, the scene of the hangar flashed in my eyes and I saw Van plunge his sword into the melef and heard Dalet's scream followed my mine. I snapped. I dropped my sword and the pain in my leg and all over my body became real again. I dropped to my knees and gasped for air, sitting on the ground. I picked up my sword again and sat looking at it. I couldn't take it anymore. My wings burst from my back and I was flying away before Van could notice. I sailed quickly away from the clearing, memorizing how it looked so I could find my way back. The moon and starlit night was calming and I flew instinctively towards the left. Some unknown force drew me back towards the vione. I turned away from it. They wouldn't care. The only one who did care was Dalet, and he's gone, I thought bitterly. In the distance, I saw the shimmer of water and flew towards it. I landed at the water's edge and gazed at the reflection of the stars. I stood up and floated over the shallows. I had sheathed my sword during the flight, and took it out again. I slashed at the water with all my control, and watched the ripples drift away from me. I plucked a feather from one of my wings and set it on the tip of my sword. I held the sword steady to keep the feather from falling. The breeze lifted and the feather floated away. I dipped my sword into the water, drew it back up quickly, and sliced the droplets in two. My necklace started to glow and I felt and odd burning sensation on my stomach, about an inch above my pants. I looked at it in confusion as a black, blue and silver mark appeared there. When the burning stopped, there was a tattoo on my stomach. A sliver sword with a black diamond hilt was twined in the claws of a black dragon with silver wings and blue eyes. Then a real arm band materialized on my arm. It was rather large and was silver, studded with blue and black diamonds. It was a two inch thick piece of silver, twisted so the two ends got thinner and created a spiral that joined in one, pure white diamond. The armband appeared on my sword arm, and the tattoo on the right side of my torso. Then I understood. Van had said something about a diamond sword right? Well, the tattoo and arm band where covered in diamonds. I heard the flapping of wings and turned to see Van standing on the opposite shore of the small lake. He had a long package in his hands. I flew over and landed next to him. He kept looking out over the water for a few minutes before he spoke. 'This was where my father met my mother' he said. His eyes were full of distant memories. 'You're lucky you know' I said. He turned and looked at me. 'We're both lucky to have had parents who cared for us as much s they did. Some people never met their parents. We're lucky we had any at all' I explained. 'You wouldn't know' he said bitterly. 'You're parents didn't die when you were barely old enough to fully understand their love' His eyes were full of pain. 'Yes I do' I said. 'My father died when I was eight. He wasn't there when I did good in school, he wasn't there when I did good in music, and he'll never be at my wedding to walk me down the isle and give me away to the man I love' I was glad I could control my tears. 'I don't know if he really died. He just dissappeared. Nobody wanted to look for him after a year. I was heartbroken. But my grief was nothing compared to my mother's. She couldn't say his name without breaking down for months afterward' I let the tears roll down my cheeks now. 'I'll never forget the last thing I said to him. 'Bye dad. See you this afternoon!'' The scene was burned into the back of my head, and kept playing like a broken record, along with the scene of Dalet dying. I let myself cry, for my dad, for my mom, for everyone who deserved it. Van hesistantly hugged me to try and comfort me, but that only made the fact that I may never see my family again worse. For some reason, that thought stopped my tears, 'Stop that' I told myself. 'Crying won't do you any good. It won't get you back home, it won't bring dad or Dalet back, it won't heal your leg, it won't solve your problems, so stop.' I stiffened when I realized Van was hugging me, but I forced myself to relax. Then he noticed the arm band. 'What is that?' he asked. 'It's an arm band. I don't know where it came from, it just, appeared. I think it has something to do with the diamond sword because it's covered in diamonds, just like the tattoo' I answered. 'What tattoo?' he asked. 'This one' I said, lifting my shirt a little so he could see. It had darkened some since it had appeared, and the blues had turned to a shade of midnight, the silvers glittering like the diamonds they resembled. 'The mark......' Van trailed off. 'What?' 'Dryden told us about a mark that would appear on the person meant to hold the Diamond sword. That must be the mark' he answered. He held up the package he held. 'Only the true owner can touch it bare skinned. The sword chooses the worthy one' he said. I took the packaged, removed the cloth covering it, and gasped. It was the sword on the tattoo, The Diamond sword, Gonturan. The deadly looking weapon was long for a sword, and lighter than a man's. It was meant for a woman's hands, I thought. The handle was studded with one, very large, black diamond, surrounded in a pattern of smaller blue and white diamonds; white, white, blue, white, blue, blue, and so on. I looked closely at the blade and saw the tiny black diamonds which had been painstakingly placed, one by one, down the whole length of the blade. This sword is worth a lot, I thought. On the hilt, just above the blade, there was a name engraved in the silver: Jessica. I turned the blade over, and the other side read: The Black Dragon. 'This is a sword made before Gae itself was born!' I gasped. I finally took the sword by the hilt and lifted it from the cloth, letting it drop to the ground. The sword sang as I swung it through the air. One of the feathers from my wings drifted down and landed on the blade, close to the hilt. I watched, amazed, as the feather glowed pure white, and the blade pure black, true as the diamonds laid in it. I knew that when that happened, I had made a pact with the sword of legend. No one else would or could touch this sword until my death, when I named a successor for the sword that it deemed worthy. The only person who would next get this sword was going to be a Draconian. The fine steel, diamond edged, blade was meant for use in the air. The feather had melted into the blade, and a new diamond lay in the blade, this one pure black. I understood that each diamond stood for each owner, who had to give a part of themselves to use the blade. 'This sword was meant for me'

um.......it's long. sorry. I think i may have put to much fierceness in jessica. whadya think? tragic heroine? o, here's a hint bout dalet: i'll see him again^_^. well, gotta jet! write and tell me what you think! dilly_freak7_7@hotmail.com