(OOG: This post was written jointly by Arcana, and me. You'll probably see it in the style, but I wanted to mention it. ^_^)

Cold mountain air -- cold compared to the shifting sands behind her -- washed over Myaru in a welcome breeze, reminding her of her short stay in Nisan only weeks before. Stars still spangled the navy sky, but the gray light of imminent dawn tinged the eastern horizon, and the moon was long since set. She was forced to rely on her other senses to 'see' her way to her destination.

And that destination was near. She could hear the unmistakable sounds of a military encampment, complete with gears and mechanics who fondly thought of themselves as stealthy and quiet as they serviced the great machines. It all sounded so similar to a Gebler camp that she could have imagined her own men there, getting ready for another battle, or a purge......

But she avoided the sounds. She knew her prey would be further into the camp, though she couldn't say how. Nothing in the data that bastard had stolen mentioned rank or any other special considerations; only the images, and a nickname.

Elly.

'Elly' wasn't a unique name, really, but the name coupled with such a precise description was damn near impossible to counterfeit. And nobody would know to try -- not even Kyouran. He couldn't know any better than she did when Elly would reappear, or in what form, or where.

Or which of these two girls it really was.

He couldn't know, or something would have happened by now. He had to have noticed Elanore when she fought in the tournament, if at no other time. Her Ether signature had been off the scale. Not recognizable beyond a doubt, but who else would carry such power?

And here, in the middle of the Kislev military, was another Elly, exactly like the one she had left with Ariath in Bledavik. Was there a logical explanation? Or was 'Har finally stepping over the line and trying to skew her perception to its advantage?

So much for fair play.

At least she had memorized the contents of the report before it had disappeared. She knew how to find the girl, what she looked like -- as if that would be hard to recognize! -- and she knew the girl's assignments like the back of her hand. The only trouble she would have would be getting through all the activity of the camp without much notice.

She had clothed herself in a set of robes taken from a Shevat agent after her untimely demise. They fit remarkably well, considering the circumstances, but the role of Shevite was hard for her to slip into, quite aside from the attire. She had never lived in that city; not really. She knew bits of the proper etiquitte, but the details were lost on her. Turning herself into a believable agent might be a challenge she couldn't live up to.

**All those years of study, and you still don't know anything about Shevat's culture? Shameful.**

Myaru's mouth twisted in distaste. **If you have any educated guesses, name them!** The sister was silent, and she shoved the presence to the back of her mind, where she hoped it would stay for the rest of the mission.

----------

It was a mixed blessing, as it always was. Today, Athena wasn't going to be fighting. She would simply be allowed to sit back, be alert, and watch others wage the war. She supposed that she should have been happy. In a way, she was. But in these times, when one man was the difference between winning it all, and losing everything in the world, she wished she could fight all the battles she could. She was sitting on one of the few patches of grass left since the bombardment of the base.

Of course, she had just damaged her gear immensely, and it was still in the docks, getting a new set of legs replaced. The techs figured it would take at least the whole day to finish.

She heard a rustle behind her, and turned around. Standing on the gravel path was Odinnson. He gave Elly a slight smile. "Hey. What's up?"

Elly shrugged and leaned back on her arms. "Nothing."

"I don't believe you."

Elly tried to flash a smile, but failed. "Yeah, I didn't think you would."

Odinnson sat down on the grass beside her and followed her gaze to the distant hills on the horizon. "I don't see why human beings try to shrug each other off all the time. They think that solitude is the best way at times, but all they really want is a friend at their side. It may sound sort of arrogant for me to say this, especially since it's about you, but..."

"No, you're right," Athena declared. She turned an eye toward Odinnson. "I didn't really want you to go and leave me alone... even though I felt like telling you away." She looked at her feet. "Why are we like that? We can never tell anyone what we truly think."

"It's a defense-thing," Odinnson replied. "There's always an inner core inside all of our beings that we hide from others. Why? Because, perhaps, what's in that core is what makes us... us, and by opening it up to others, what you do is threaten your own very sense of identity."

"You make it sound so logical and easy," replied Elly, sitting forward and playing with the soft strands of her hair that fell over her shoulder.

"I believe that the universe in inherently simple, that's all. Of course, I could be totally wrong... but I mean, it's not all that far off from what could be the truth. Those gears down there doing the patrol. Gears. Aren't they amazing? They replicate the movings of a human being. They are powered with gigantic engines, run with ether-fuel, and can do massive amounts of damage. Whoever thought that, once you think about it, a gear is really just a bunch of levers and inclined planes stuck together? Arms and legs... levers. The bolts that fasten them? Screws, which are really just wedges. The engine that combusts the fuel? Run by pistons that are attached to levers. It's the same with humans... we're really complex, based on all the circumstances... but you can trace most everything to a common point. There are two types of people in the universe.... those who are confident in themselves, and those who are not confident in themselves. There is that grey area in between... but that grey area isn't very large. Most people, to put it plainly, aren't confident in themselves. They have low self-esteems. They are afraid to express what they believe. They care about the bad things other people will say about them."

"But isn't it society who brings them up that way?"

Odinnson looked at her. "Is it, Elly? Were you raised to be overly humble, not to brag about your achievements, not to believe in yourself?"

Elly's mind went back to her work in her parent's town. She was learning to run an inn. There was nothing to be proud of. She wanted to visit the mainland... but her parents... She shook her head. "When I was young, there was nothing I did that I was proud of. If I would beat the boys in a foot race, my parents would scold me for not being a proper woman. If I did sparring and boxing, my parents would scold me. If I did something right with the inn, I'd be told to do better... I was met with failure after failure." Elly let go of her hair, and it drifted on the silent winds. "Even now, I don't really feel success..."

Odinnson nodded. "So is it society, just like you say it is?"

Elly nodded. "Partially." She took a breath and bit her lip, but then opened her mouth. "But it's also me, for not believing that what I was doing was okay, and that I shouldn't let my parents influence me." The captain turned her head to Odinnson. "Do you ever feel insecure? I've never known you to be insecure about anything..."

Odinnson looked into her blue eyes. They seemed to look directly into him, able to stare past his own face into the valuable secrets inside. He turned his gaze from them. "No." He lowered his head.

"You're as bad as me," Elly laughed gently. "Tell me. I want to know."

Odinnson grinned. "You don't want to hear, Elly."

"Of course I want to hear."

This brought forth a chuckle from the pilot. "Have you ever been in love, Elly?"

Elly blanched. "Umm, I... don't think so... well, really, I don't know. To be honest, I still feel really young about those things."

Another chuckle. "Sometimes, I think I'm in love. But I don't really know. I want to be honest with myself, but it's... well.... well, it's odd. I don't think I know what love really is."

"Well, you know what? I don't think anyone knows."

Odinnson lifted an eyebrow.

"You really have to... feel it out on these sorts of things, I guess. Does their touch make you feel happy? Do you melt when they look at you? When they call your name? Odinnson, it's nothing I can really tell you. I don't know if I've been in love."

He nodded. "That's what I don't like about myself. I'm never able to sort out what I feel for people. I mistake love and affection... lust and admiration." He gulped. "I don't even know why I'm saying so much about this topic... uhh.. Elly."

"I'm glad you can trust me," she said, lying down on the grass and staring into the sky. "I'm happy that you can talk to me, Odinnson, even if you don't like talking about it."

Odinnson sighed. "Yeah, same here," he said, looking over Elly's stretched body. "You know, maybe, umm, sometime, maybe we should go out and eat or something. When we're on leave or when this is all over..."

"I'd like that."

"Do you remember how we first met, Elly?"

"I spotted you when I was still training for the Second. You had a lot of potential. For some reason, I tended to take in people who didn't know a lot about gears under my wing... Cassandra, and Bellerophon, for example. Captain Achilles, my commanding officer... well, our commanding officer... commended me on the decision to accept you into the group."

"No, not all that technical stuff. I'm just talking about when we were just talking and stuff."

"Oh, you mean the chess game." Elly smiled at the memory.

"The other guys would go with the arm wrestling and stuff. I was beat all the time. I decided to go out and bring in another game." He smiled. "I beat everyone, then you came along."

Elly smiled. "You're not still bitter about that? I seem to remember you being in a bit of disbelief that some jock could beat you in your game."

Odinnson smirked. "No. Not at all, Elly. It's an honour to be beaten by you."

-----------------------------------------------

Myaru could see the two of them talking. Dressed in her Shevat garb, she approached them cautiously, trying to ignore their conversation. There was no mistake; it was her. "Captain Belford? I'd like to speak with you."

Elly tilted her head back to see who it was, then she rose to a sitting position before standing on her feet. Odinnson, behind her, rose as well, standing behind her. It was a Shevat spy. Elly sighed. They had a supposed alliance with Shevat, but to this day, she hadn't seen anything from the city other than a few intelligence reports. The war against Aveh was waged by Kislevians, and only Kislevians. "What?" she asked, not bothering to assume a formal stance.

Myaru ignored the edge in the girl's voice. She was so young, she thought, yet, somehow, she had managed to assume so much responsibility in the army. "I'm here to give you some intelligence reports," she said, hoping her voice was somewhat convincing. In her past, although she was sneaky when she needed to be, she was still not much of an actor.

**Really! You're certainly playing Ariath right as a lover. I didn't know you could be such a good mother.**

"Is something the matter?" Elly asked, inclining her head, noticing that the sky flinched slightly. She had a distinctly feminine voice, and wore a headdress that hid her hair. However, there was something in the eyes that was extremely familiar, as if she recalled them from some other time...

Myaru received the nagging feeling that this girl saw her slight reaction to the voice. "Yes. I'm reporting the movement of..."

"No, I don't want to hear your report," the girl interrupted stubbornly. "Anything you want to say can be said to Colonel Chappins. He's the head of this place. I don't need to hear your message... if the Colonel decides that I need to know of it, he will tell me later."

Headstrong girl, Myaru thought. Just like Sophia. She smirked. "Very well, Captain Belford. Unfortunately for you, this involves the advance on the Bledavik West Steppes. Gebler has a new model of gear, and it cannot be penetrated by ordinary lasers because they have reflective armour, and all electronic targetting computers are rendered useless by their ECM suites..."

"I said..." Elly began, but Odinnson stopped her.

"Captain," he said formally, in front of the newcomer, "The seventh is in danger. We need to dispatch a message right away. I'll go do that right now." He turned to the newcomer, stumbling momentarily on a title. "Miss," he finally said, "Would you like to come with me to the main centre?"

"Captain, you can't simply be so obtuse to ignore an incoming disaster, can you?" Myaru pleaded. "Where is your sense of duty?"

Athena crossed her arms. "Look, I'm not here to talk about duties and ethics. As far as I know, I haven't seen anything that Shevat's done for us to help Kislev. Even after being continually pounded by Gebler gears, I haven't seen any technology or military assistance..."

"Captain Belford, please, let's save this for later. Let's bring her to see Colonel Chappins. I'm sure that you'll agree with my course of action."

Athena took a deep breath and nodded. "Come along," she said, waving her arm. "Stay in front."

They went inside the base and headed to the Colonel's office. They were admitted, and Myaru gave her full report. Fortunately, it was a true report, and she had the evidence, such as photographs and screenshots to back it up.

**Amazing. You're fooling them. How daft has the human race become?**

Myaru did her best not to glare, but she couldn't keep her jaw from clenching. And 'Elly', curse her willful stubborness, caught the slight change of composure with her sharp eyes. She could feel the other woman's suspicion like a very real heat, thick in the air.

**Come on,** she told herself firmly, taking hold of her irritation and pushing it back with the voice of the cursed sister. **Just a few more minutes. They're following me like the Lambs they are. Just a few more minutes, and everything will be as planned.**

If this actually worked...... well, she would be grateful.

Very grateful.