She is the Loa of the wind. She is called upon in times of serious illness or when there is need for sudden and dramatic change. She is often portrayed as a mighty warrior or soldier. She is a fierce and powerful Loa, that when upset, can call great windstorms and tornadoes. Her symbol is the tornado, her colors are oranges and reds, her food is a female goat's meat.
"YOU!?!" An outraged female voice called out to me as soon as I exited the small pavilion. I sighed, knowing without looking who it was.
I waved to Catherine half-heartedly. "Hi Ojosan. Can you have that guy put down my boss?"
"Boss?!" Howard twisted around as much as he was allowed and crossed his arms. That in itself was pretty impressive considering that he was suspended at least a foot off the ground by a fist full of Hawaiian shirt. "After all I do for him, the best he can come up with is Boss?"
With the straightest face and the drollest voice possible, I leaned back against the outer wall of the pavilion and said, "Well, I can't very well tell them about our torrid moonlight affairs."
The lanky guy holding Howard dropped him as if that tacky shirt had burned him. The reactions from everyone were simply precious, from pale faces to discreet coughs. Hell, even Heero was looking at me with wide eyes, well for the split second for it took to snap his usual expression firmly in place.
I, of course, taking all this in, burst out laughing. Howard joined me a split second later in more of a bemused shoulder shaking chuckle. I don't know whether I gained my sick sense of humor from him or vice versa, but I /do/ know that at least, once upon a time, one of us were sane.
It probably wasn't as funny as it seemed at the time, but after yesterday and this morning, I was coiled like a wire. Given a choice between laughing or crying, I'll always take the former.
"Baka," Heero said, shaking his head at both of us.
"Estupido!" Catherine said at nearly the same time.
"Oh god! Not both of you." I said between hiccups for air. I was about to burst into another fit of laughter, I could feel it welling at the pit of my stomach.
That all changed when I got a look, I mean a real look, at the guy who was holding Howard in mid air a few moments ago.
Maybe a pissed-off Catharine took up all my attention, maybe I could feel Heero behind me, maybe I was blinded by Howard's damned shirt, either way, I lost all humor as the guy with the green eyes and the weird haircut stepped straight out of my dream and into reality.
"Is this the guy?" Emerald eyes, dead of all expression pinned me under their gaze. Catherine nodded to the man, her posture and eyes softening immediately.
"Kid you okay?" Howard had long since recovered from his own mirth and was looking at me with concern. I just gulped and nodded. How the hell was I supposed to tell him that I was fighting down the urge to tell this stranger that he was a lousy kisser?
The limp lips in question took a purposeful step forward. There wasn't any malice in his eyes, just emotionless determination. Even Heero, I call him cold all the time, but really, there's an intensity vibrating just underneath the surface. It goes off like a cobalt supernova behind his eyes every now and then.
But this... I suppose this scared me a bit more than rage or hatred. I could deal with those.
To my utter shock, my view of the man was blocked by a green tank top as Heero slid between the two of us, a gun leveled in a protective sweep. (I couldn't help but wince and hide Deathscythe behind my back after seeing the angry looking bruise forming on Heero's shoulder. I knew it would be gone by tomorrow <we were always fast healers> but that didn't help my guilt complex.)
"Heero?" I asked uncertainly. I always knew he had a protective streak, but it was usually focused on the annoying but almighty Relena instead of myself.
"Mr. Maxwell," Rhar, Queen Catherine was back in control. She had stepped between the man and Heero. It was starting to seem like a weird game of leapfrog to me. "Will you please do me the favor of telling your friend to put down the semi automatic weapon." She gave the words a sardonic and amused tone, making every syllable count. "None of us are armed," she added more soothingly to Heero.
I didn't figure it would help the situation to mention that the tall boy could probably do plenty of damage without a weapon. He just struck me as the type. Or that I could easily picture Catherine wielding only a rolling pin, surrounded by mass destruction. God help the colony if she and Hilde ever got together. No, strike that, I'd need a hell of a lot more help than the colony would.
"Do you know these people?" Heero asked without turning. Still, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was addressing.
"Yeah, the gal who looks like she's about to either redecorate or demolish. That's Catherine ... um... " I fell short trying to think of her last name. I shrugged deciding it wasn't important. "The other guy..."
"Is my brother, Trowa." Catherine interjected. I blinked a bit. From how they acted around each other, it seemed closer. Shows you can't always tell. "I think I mentioned him to you before."
"We've met, kinda." I said thoughtlessly. Like I said before, babbling without running it through a few neurons. I got a surprised look from Catherine, but I didn't think much of it. If Trowa did more than flick his eyes toward me, it escaped notice completely.
I laid my hand on Heero's shoulder (the unbruised one). He tensed up for a second before putting the gun back to wherever he pulled it from. Don't ask me! I don't know how he does it, and I'm not inclined to ask.
"You didn't come to the Festival last night." Catherine said flatly. There was no room for denial even if I was inclined to start lying.
"I TRIED to tell you, Ojosan, I had things to do today. But you stormed off before I could say a word edgewise. Some guys DO have plans for their Saturday nights."
"Breaking and entering, looting, destruction of property?" One eyebrow was raised.
"Everyone has different ideas of fun." I grinned at her, ignoring Howard's indignant huffing.
"What are you doing here anyway? The doors were impassable," Heero asked.
"This is OUR home. And did it ever occur to you that the doors you so thoughtfully turned to scrap metal was not the only way in?"
"We were kind of hoping otherwise... this place is dangerous," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Well, well. He does have some common sense," she said sourly.
"Amazing isn't it?" Heero said dryly.
"OI!" I glared at Heero's back. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?"
He turned half towards me and smirked. "Alliances shift."
"Traitor," I mumbled under my breath. "Howard, you still love me, ne?"
"It depends kid, what's this about going to the Festival on my time again?" Okay, it was officially make Duo squirm day. I stuck out my tongue at him.
"I didn't! She just said she had some stuff to tell me." I blinked having forgotten that little tidbit in the little sniping war. "That's right! While I'm here, what was so important?"
Catherine was giving me a square eyed look. If she was a cat her ears would be flat against her skull, and her tail would be lashing like no tomorrow. As it was, her anger was just shown in a twitching eyebrow and in her tiny fists balled up at her sides so tightly they were shaking.
"Are you even capable of staying on one subject for even five minutes?" she finally half-screamed at me. Sometimes, even I marvel at my stunning way with women.
"Not that I'm aware of." I replied cheerfully.
"Fine!" She took a moment to visibly calm herself down. "Come with me. I meant to tell you about this place anyway." She shot a glare at Howard and I. "Although, I didn't expect you to make such an entrance," she sighed. "The rest of the troupe will be here soon. I'll introduce you later. Then you can set about fixing what you broke."
I snapped to attention and gave Catherine an exaggerated military salute with my free hand. She returned it with a smirk and one finger. Heh, there was hope for her yet.
Howard walked at my side, his sandals making smacking noises on the hard packed paths, Heero and Trowa hovered side by side behind Catherine and I. This uneasy, walking truce ambled through the pathways of the small mini village. Some parts we had wandered through earlier, some was new. What seemed haphazard and unused, on closer examination and some explanation, was revealed to be engineered that way.
The greenery we noticed upon entering in particular was stunning up close. What seemed to be a tangle of randomly growing plants were highly cultivated rows of unbelievably precious fruits and vegetables.
"If we can't hide it," Trowa explained, "the next best thing is to make it look useless." I couldn't fault the logic.
The tour was nice, but I didn't see the point. Not one to keep things to myself, I pointed this out.
"So why here? What's the point of this place? I assume it means something besides real estate value." I asked. I kicked a stone into the air, and watched it drift back down to the ground. Saa, I'm easily amused by little things.
Catherine stopped for a moment and looked me straight in the eyes. I was always uncomfortable under that kind of scrutiny, but I didn't back off. I'm still rather proud of that. "Maybe you aren't the fool you pretend to be," she finally said.
"I'm glad somebody thinks so," I muttered under my breath. "I mean if I get called baka one more time I'm going to start believing it." I snuck a glance at Heero, but he didn't seem to notice my rather blunt and pointed comment. In fact, his face was blank. Sigh.
He and this Trowa guy seemed to excel in silent conversation. I got the feeling at least a dozen exchanges and "comments" were passed behind our backs.
Between those two, it was almost my sacred duty to make noise.
Even Howard was quiet for god's sake. (I can't say I blame him much, here we were, walking around with the owners of a mindboggling valuable bit of land that we had spent a good deal of the night stripping of valuables. It's kind of like breaking into a mansion, nicking all the silverware, then setting down to have a nice cup of tea with the master of house.)
"Nevermind." She sighed, cutting me off mid mental (and verbal) rant. "This way." She took us directly back towards the pavilion that Heero and I spent the night at. I didn't mind. We had to go back here anyway for the backpacks. I hoped the siblings wouldn't think to search them. I know, immoral me, but still a living is a living.
I spared another glance at the decorated tree squatting in the center of the pavilion before settling down against the trunk. Catherine looked like she was about to say something about that, but seemed to change her mind with a sigh.
"To start with how much do you know about the war?" she asked, I couldn't help smirking.
"Quite a bit ojosan." More than I ever wanted to, I added to myself.
"Humor me," she said flatly.
I glanced at Heero and he just shrugged at me. That usually translated into "Do what you want." in Heero-ese.
I sighed, folding my arms behind my head as I looked up at her-no past her. "What do you want? It was a civil war. Things had been tough since the isolation 'bout a century ago. You know, low supply and high demand when it came to food and water. Lots of time for resentment between the "haves" and the "have nots" to build up. The Winner Corporation broke the camels back by confiscating all the rest of the resources in the name of conservation."
I stared up into the crown of the tree, trying not to remember what I was describing. "Things went from bad to worse, and we nearly wiped ourselves off the face of the colony. Some moron finally decided that a beam cannon would be a great way of ending the war early. Yeah smart move there. And ZAP! flash boiled the colony's lake and water supply. Then, everyone was too busy trying to surviving to think about offing each other.
"Good enough for you?" I finished, tearing my eyes away from the tree's boughs and looked at the others. Catherine and Trowa seemed satisfied. Heero looked like he'd rather be elsewhere and Howard was just looking at me sharply. So I left a bit out? I just shrugged at the old man. They didn't need to know anything more.
"Yes, more than I expected actually. All most people know was that there was a lot of fighting a few years ago. So at least I can skip the lessons." I rolled my eyes at her tone and leaned back again. "Two things started from that war, the Festival and this place."
"The Festival?" I asked.
"The Festival was created about 50 years ago by a a very powerful Voodou woman. I assume you know something about Voodou." I shrugged. It was more common than the catholic frock that I donned, but it wasn't something I paid much attention to. "She was only known as The Mambo but her powers were undisputed. She brought the religion and belief to L2. It was small then, but by the time of the war's end, the Festival became almost a national holiday."
"Hope in a party?" I let all my doubt fill my voice.
"It's not just a party," Trowa interjected. I jumped a little in my seat. I had forgotten the guy was there.
"Let me put it this way. You know a bit about physics, si?" I nodded. It would have been hard for me not to pick up a little. "Well, what happens when too much water builds up behind a dam with no relief?"
"The water either builds up above the dam walls and flows around, or the dam busts." Simple.
"Well, think of the situation like that. Everything getting pent up so much, just ready to explode. The Festival takes a bit that energy and lets it run wild harmlessly, kind of like level controls on the dam."
"Sounds like a temporary solution to me." I never could resist a hypothetical argument. "Why not just get rid of the problem, the dam."
"If the water level were at the point of cracking the dam, what do you think that simply blowing up the dam would do? It would wipe away everything below it that depended on the water." All her bracelets jingled and rattled as she swept her arms around to emphasize her point.
"So better to let it crack on its own?" I countered.
"No, it's better to move out from under the dam's shadow."
I blinked. "Now you've lost me ojosan." Mind you, I understood the technicalities of the analogy, but how they related to the colony? There WAS no place to go that the Winner Corporation, or the number of noble families supporting them, didn't have complete influence over.
"There's no where else to go," Heero said pointedly. It's a scary day when Heero and I start thinking alike.
"We have other ideals here," Catherine said proudly. "We figure if we can start the flow again, even just trading with other colonies in the L2 cluster, everyone will benefit."
"There's a tiiinnnnnnnnyyyy little problem with that, miss," Howard finally piped up. "Like, there are no shuttles, and no way left of building them."
"That's right. You don't know where you are do you?" That condescending tone again. Grr, Just when I was warming back up to her. "You are sitting in the middle of the only intact refinery left on the colony capable of making gundamium alloys."
"Erk?" I fell off the root I was perched on. I was speechless. Literally, I couldn't force a word past the constriction in my throat. Howard had that look on his face. That "I've almost figured on the puzzle, just gimmie the pieces" look. Letting him near gundamium might either be the best thing possible or the worst disaster.
Heero had no such problems with speech as I did. "This is worse than we thought. We have to get rid of this whole place."
"WHAT!?" Catherine and I yelled at the same time, although probably for different reasons.
"It is the only efficient way of keeping another civil war from breaking out," he elaborated. "A secret like this can't be kept for long."
"This is everything we are," If Catherine got any angrier she would have been glowing. "This is our hope, our religion, our way of life, and you, child of Oya, are no one to judge us." She glared down at Heero, matching him icy stare for heated passion. Neither seemed to be giving in. "Nor should you want to stop us, we are looking for a way to prevent another war peacefully."
"If we found this place, anyone can."
"I don't believe in coincidences. Duo didn't show up at the Festival, the first day of the rite of change, so he appears right in the source and heart of everything. Your presence here I doubt is an accident either. Oya is strong in you, and she is as rare as the Marassa."
"Can we not talk about the Marassa please?" I asked. I was getting irritable.
She pegged me with a curious glance. "Why?"
"Can we not talk about that either?"
"Actually, I wouldn't mind knowing." I looked at Howard, somewhere in the lukewarm waters between cold shock and steaming outrage. "Well, kid, I figure anything that /you/ wont talk about has to be important. I mean, you talk about everything else."
Heero gave a snort that was somewhere near laughter. I would have been proud of him if I wasn't so busy spluttering.
I was actually planning on asking Hilde later in private. She would know, and besides, its not that I didn't trust my present company, I just didn't trust exactly one half of said company. I would have told the two other H's of my life later. Honest.
I was getting prepared to make a distraction to dodge the questions, when a distraction happened to me.
I had less warning this time. I wasn't even expecting it when I went under for the second time this week. Oh well, at least I was already prone this time...
TBC
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