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Dear Brother

Vision of Escaflowne fanfiction

A series of letters between Dallet and his twin brother, an apprentice madoushi.

Dear bro,

I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this place is! I know you’re going to lecture me about it all being classified, but if I don’t tell someone, I’m going to burst! We’re on the flagship! Can you believe it!? It’s huge! Seriously huge! We’re talking the size of the north wing of the Academy huge! I’ve already gotten lost twice if you can believe it...stop smirking you ass. At least I’m doing better than Guimel, remember him? The little mouthy guy from the Academy? The one who looks like a sheep is trying to mate with his head? He’s here, and he got lost once on the way to the cafeteria that we actually had to send out a search party. We found him down by the engine room and waaay out of bounds. Ever try to sneak your way through a heavily guarded floating fortress when you can barely tell left from right without being seen? It’s not fun.

Oh sure, you’d have just sweet talked your way out of there like always. That still drives me nuts by the way. There’s no way you got through the Academy with a perfect disciplinary record. I know you, you social deviant!

Anyway, We have our own little wing on the Vione. There’s barracks, a conference room, a gym and a small lounge. Gatti has already decided that the lounge is going to be just for us. Anyone else who gets added onto the team is going to have to find their own place to relax. This is ours dammit!

Things really aren’t what I expected here. I mean, the fortress is amazing, state of the art everything, and the Strategos... he’s sort of mind bogglingly terrifying. No one should be that tall... or that gloomy. I’m also pretty sure he can read minds. When he looks at you, I swear he’s looking right through you... also, he’s really good at finding and confiscating any illicit material being brought on board. Pretty sure he’s not human.

Oh! I have a partner now! His name is Shesta and he’s sort of weird. He comes from a small border village where they worship some stupid rock and think that you can trap a spirit in a piece of hair or cloth. He’s a cute kid, but ugh, he’s sort of like cousin Tansin. I swear that there’s no way he’s ever going to become a soldier. Don’t get me wrong, he’s really sweet, but the other day I caught him in a restricted area feeding bloody birds or all things!! I think his brain might be a little broken.

So how’s the Science Academy? Did you get a cloak yet? Do I have to call you sir? Can you throw fireballs? Viole says that Madoushi can do that sort of thing... course... I think Viole’s mom drank a bit too much when she was pregnant with him...he’s not quite right in the head.

Dammit, lights out. Write back!

Dearest Moron,

What part of classified fails to breach that thick brick you call a skull? If your message had been intercepted, you’d have been summarily dismissed from service and likely sent to a work camp. Not to mention, Mother would have gutted you like a pig and danced on your entrails! For future letters, I am enclosing a cipher for a code we will use. Do try to follow it, I did my best to keep it simple so as not to strain you too badly.

In all honesty though, I do miss you and am glad that things are going well. In answer to your questions. No, I do not have a cloak yet. Yes, you call me sir, not that you will ever bother to even though I’M the one with the noble title (I point out for the fiftieth time this colour) and as for your final question.... that’s classified.

Don’t tease your roommate. I know you still will because you’re an ass, but do try to understand that the border towns have... unusual beliefs, but it doesn’t pay to discount them too lightly. I’ve seen many strange and un-explainable things, try not to piss off powers you don’t understand. If you can’t quite grasp that concept, simply remember the time you pulled the tail of father’s horse. Picture that in your mind then multiply it by a factor of ten. Also, there’s nothing wrong with feeding birds. I happen to like them.

Just so you know, the Strategos CAN read minds. How do you think he always has an answer for everything and is never surprised? The man is a genius and you should always give him your utmost respect. I’d suggest several books that he’s written, but I know you won’t bother reading them since they don’t involve heaving breasts and accompanying pictures. That was NOT a thinly veiled suggestion for you to draw said pictures in one of his books. If I hear of you doing that I WILL report you, you philistine.

Now for the important bit, and fuck being classified information. Tell me about your damn captain!! You know that’s the only reason I told you that you could write to me. What’s he like? Is he really as good as the stories? Is he really as gorgeous as they say? I hope you know that I expect an autograph or something for my birthday which I might remind you is coming up shortly.

I wield the forces of Time and Space. It’s important to appease me at all costs.

Dear Wielder of the Forces of Time and Space,

Mother said that some of the older apprentices locked you and two others in the storage closet for the night. Bet those fireball throwing skills really would have come in handy.

I know, I know, I’m not using your stupid code. It was dumb and paranoid and I’m not indulging in your cloak and dagger fantasies. Be glad that I’m taking the time to even write to you and yes, my handwriting is particularly bad because I’m so tired that I can barely hold a pen.

Your precious beautiful dream captain is a nightmare made flesh. Seriously. I’m pretty sure that he’s actually trying to kill some of us. We’re up two hours before dawn doing stretches and warm ups, then he has us running laps around the Vione until someone pukes. I’m not being sarcastic at all. Shesta’s thrown up twice, Viole and I once, poor Guimel has thrown up three times. Miguel, Gatti and Ryuun haven’t yet, but I still hold out hope.

The worst thing is that the Captain runs right along with us, making us all keep up to him and the pale assed bastard doesn’t even break a damn sweat!!! Then, after we’re all trying to not have heart attacks from sheer exhaustion, he has us spar! It’s supposed to be something about instinct over intellect, that our bodies are supposed to know how to react even when our minds have shut down. It sounds like utter bullshit compared to what our instructors at the academy taught us, but seeing the guy fight....

I’ve never seen anything like it. When he moves, it’s like trying to watch the wind during a storm. He just tears through his opponents and the guy has no concept of mercy. All of us have spent time in the infirmary already and I’m pretty sure that I’m permanently going to be various bruise colours for the rest of my life.

It’s tricky being on his team. He’s a stickler for rules... only, they’re not the usual rules we were taught in the Academy. He has his own set, and you follow them above all others unless you want to be kissing the floor. The problem is... I don’t think he really has permission for these new rules, because we keep getting in trouble with the other units... and the Strategos, and pretty much every other unit on the fortress. Still, as crazy as it sounds, I’d rather have the Strategos made at me than Captain Albatou.

Stop daydreaming about him. He’d eat you alive and pick his teeth with your bones.

As for the rest of the team, we’re forging bonds of brotherhood in our joined suffering.

Gatti- He’s an arrogant know-it-all ass. You’d probably like him. The guy has no sense of humour at all and I’m pretty sure his face is an elaborate mask of some sort because I’ve never seen him so much as have a single expression. He’s brilliant though and never seems to lose his cool, believe me, we’ve all tried to rattle him.

Shesta-I amend my initial impression. He’s nuts. But it’s a fun nuts. I’m positive that he actually enjoys annoying the Captain and so far he holds he record for the most times knocked out. The guy is stubborn and fearless, even if he is a little weird. He’s also got a huge crush on the Captain and I swear he just acts up for the attention.

Guimel- he’s suicidal, that’s all I can figure. He is second place for most times knocked out and I’m pretty sure he’s only still on the team cause the guy fights like a cornered rat. He’s a vicious little monster and snarky, but he’s decent enough when the Captain isn’t around. My gidaru is on him trying to stab the Captain in his sleep before the week is out.

Miguel- Arrogant, snide, uppity... you’d think he was a noble, but he’s from some northern village I’ve never heard of. He’s like you in the fact that he’s always studying something boring and then explaining it at length to the rest of us. I think he’s trying to impress the Captain, but so far it’s not working. He and Gatti are at the top of the team so far and always competing against each other, it’s sort of fun to watch. They’re either going to kill each other, or fuck by the end of the colour... we have a betting pool going.

Viole- I like him. He’s crazy in a good way and knows not to prod the damn dragon of a captain. I’d prefer to have him as my partner rather than Shesta seeing as how we enjoy hanging out, but I can sort of see the logic behind the selection. Viole and I like to just hang out, smuggle in the odd illicit shadowgraph (Which somehow the captain ALWAYS finds) and explore the ship. He looks like a girl, which was sort of creepy at first, but really... everyone on the team is... pretty. Am I pretty? Ugh, talk about an identity crisis. I always considered myself to be roguishly handsome. Viole says that all I’m missing is some padding on the chest and I could have a field day with the infantry guys. Ugh... mental images. STOP LAUGHING!

Ryuun- he’s a stick in the mud. Rules rules rules. I swear that he reads rule books when he’s taking a crap. Granted, he’s never in trouble and he tends to keep Viole (his partner) more or less on task... no small feat by the way. Sometimes he’s not so bad, he did cover for me one night when he caught me coming back to the barracks after hours... He’s a good fighter and really has a head for strategy. I sort of feel sorry for him when the Captain has us free spar when exhausted, he tends to get his ass handed to him, but anytime we’re doing any strategy based training, he’s incredible.

Anyone of note on your end? I mean, other than the losers you got locked in the closet with? I hope you at least had a little fun to kill the time. When do you get an actual assignment? Do you guys do any crazy experiments? Can you summon draconians or anything cool like that?

Dear Pervert,

No, I did NOT “have a little fun” during that debacle and who told you about that anyway? I won’t get an actual assignment until I complete my apprenticeship thesis and am selected by a Master to work under them. Yes, I am working on one and don’t worry, I won’t bore you by telling you about it, but it IS fascinating and uses words far too large for you to properly comprehend.

As for crazy experiments... there have been a few. We learned (the hard way) that combining varidium with Alurium ore then adding heat as opposed to cold will turn your hair a rather shocking shade of pink. Yes yes, laugh while you can. My hair will grow our but you dear brother will always be a moron. We did have one bad accident though, a young woman was badly burned by some acids during one of our experiments and from what I’ve heard, she might never recover.

I’m sure you’ve seen your share of battle wounds already, but watching someone’s skin melt off their bones... smelling it... I’m a firm believer in following proper safety procedure now, no matter how boring and tedious. We all are. It sort of makes me wonder if the instructors had arranged for the accident to happen as an object lesson. I know... it sounds like my usual paranoia... but sometimes you hear things... odd rumours and what not that make you rather reluctant to wander the halls late at night or poke around in places you shouldn’t.

I honestly don’t know what you’re complaining about really with your training. I’d kill to be in your shoes and you damn well know it. So you’re sweating and are all bruised. Cry me a damn river. You’re training under the brightest Captain in Zaibach history and part of an elite unit that will likely be pivotal in the glorious future of our Empire. You’re going to learn how to pilot a guymelef! For that alone I’d do anything to experience even just once. Remember how lucky you are and think of me stuck reading dusty tomes and fiddling with disgusting ingredients which might very well melt me to pudding if I blink at the wrong time. Which of us do you think is more hard done by?

Seriously though, you need to stay out of trouble. Don’t put your position at risk just for a few laughs of a roll beneath the sheets. If you get any of those ladies with child you’ll be discharged, not to mention what your Captain will do to you. I’ve been hearing stories about his temper. (This in no way lessens how much I worship him mind you and I still expect that autograph, but I’ll settle for a lock of hair. Remember that you love me.)

I’m glad you’re getting along with your team, you were always the shy one out of the two of us. It seems so odd that destiny deemed that I’d be the intellectual while you’d be the big bold warrior. Just because I could never completely bow to fate’s whim, I’ve enclosed a book I think you’ll enjoy on advanced mechanical theory. You likely won’t find this on your ship’s library... that is IF it even has one, but it’s part of our reading curriculum and I thought of you when I saw it. Are you still building things? Maybe you should spend your spare time doing that rather than plundering young maidens, it will likely advance your career much more effectively.

Lastly NO!!! I have not summoned any draconians!! What sort of idiot would want one of those things lurking about!??! What part of hideously cursed being have you failed to understand!??! Ugh, they blew up their damn world you idiot. I don’t want them on this one.

Read the damn book. I WILL quiz you.

Dear Brother,

I almost died today...

The Captain tried to kill me.

Ever been executed for gross negligence? Ask me how!

Gatti got promoted to second in command... he saved my life today.