21-December-2001
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam Wing characters, nor am I making
any money from this. The ideas of a Confessor and a Mord-Sith are
from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels. Many of the names of the
monsters and locations are from the online game of EverQuest. All of
this is done without permission.
Warnings: AU, Fantasy, Dark, Angst, Shounen-ai, and (of course)
Violence
Pairings: 1+2 3+4
Archive: Ask and you shall receive
"Duo?" Quatre called, as he entered the Confessor's private rooms. It had been three days since Heero and Duo had returned from Timorous Deep and since then Erudin had been in complete turmoil. The citizens of Golgatha had been notified that they had a new Emperor and were making their way to the capitol to pay homage. The large city had suffered heavy damage during Borxx's magical attack; now the influx of people made the chaotic situation even worse. And Heero bore the brunt of it.
The moment the young Emperor returned to the city, he had been accosted with all sorts of issues; it seemed he was expected to solve every problem within a hundred mile radius. For the most part, he bore it stoically, but his temper was shorter than ever. The only person he would welcome into his presence without reservation was Duo.
The Mord-Sith were always by his side, keeping anyone from getting too close. To their dismay, he had confiscated their Agiels. They were not overly happy with this decision, nor were they inclined to agree with his tendencies to dismiss them on a regular basis, when he wanted to be alone with his former team members. Heero had noticed that the Mord-Sith were actually beginning to argue with him on matters of his personal safety. They sensed he was not inclined to torture them if they voiced their opinions and, because of this, their loyalty was assured. They took their new liberties very seriously.
Heero had sent Quatre to fetch Duo. Of all the inhabitants of the Palace, the only person he could not contact directly via the Throne was the Confessor. Even Quatre had a hard time finding Duo from time to time. His Locate spell worked on Duo, but unless Duo wished to be found, Quatre would be walking for hours tracking down the elusive young man. Luckily, today Duo seemed to be staying in a single location.
"I-I-I'm in h-h-here," Duo answered from the bathing area.
The blond mage frowned as he made his way to the large, lavishly decorated bathing room. In a medium sized pool, which was sunk into the middle of the floor, Duo was sitting up to his chin in the water, shaking like a leaf.
"Duo? What's wrong?" Quatre rushed to the side of the pool and knelt down, looking with concern into the large violet eyes. "Are you sick?"
Duo shook his head, his heavy braid made ripples in the water as it swished from side to side. Quatre could see that the Confessor had his knees drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, as if he were trying to warm himself. This was not right; it was a typically steamy afternoon in Erudin.
"If you're not sick, what's the matter?" Quatre reached over to feel Duo's forehead to see if he was running a temperature. To his amazement, Duo felt cold. Frowning, the young mage tested the temperature of the water. "Duo! That's ice-cold! What are you trying to do? Freeze to death?" Quatre scolded the braided young man.
Again, Duo shook his head, but was shivering too hard to form a coherent answer.
Quatre pressed his lips together. "Get out of there, now!" he ordered. "Your lips are blue."
"They a-a-aren't the only things," Duo muttered as he obediently reached for a towel on the side of the pool and stiffly rose to his feet. Quatre heard the comment but was too busy rubbing some warmth back into Duo's body with the towel to catch the meaning. He cast a warming spell on the towel to help.
The air was very hot in the late afternoon, and Duo warmed up quickly. As he dressed, Quatre walked over to shut the door and locked it. After all they had been through, the blond mage was not going to let Duo get away without an explanation. "Ok, why were you taking a cold bath?" he grilled.
Duo sat on the edge of his bed, looking resigned as he started to unravel the sopping braid. "It's the only thing that does any good, Quatre," he answered, toweling the heavy chestnut mane.
Duo's earlier comment came back to him. "Duo?" Quatre left the question hanging in the air for a few seconds. Duo looked at him steadily from under his lashes, daring him to ask. Quatre licked his lips and tried to phrase it as delicately as possible. "Were you…um…trying to get rid of…" he trailed off, blushing scarlet.
Duo smirked at Quatre's discomfort. Seeing this, Quatre ruefully shook his head and smiled. They were both adults, he decided. They could talk about this. He just hoped his face wasn't going to be beet red through the whole conversation.
"I'll take that as a yes," Quatre said. "So you are telling me that you and Heero haven't…done it yet?" he asked, knowing it was damn well none of his business, but he couldn't stop himself.
Stretching out on his bed with his wet hair hanging over the side and trailing on the floor, Duo looked at the ceiling. "No, we haven't," he replied. "But that's not…"
Quatre interrupted before he could finish his thought. "Why not? Heero loves you, and you want to be with him, right?" Quatre asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Seeing Duo nod, the blond mage continued. "Haven't you ever been with a guy before?"
Now it was Duo's turn to blush. "No," he admitted, "I haven't, but that's not..." Again he didn't get the chance to finish because Quatre had jumped back into the conversation.
"Is it a matter of mechanics? If you have any questions, just ask. Trowa and I have pretty much figured out everything there is to know. There is this one way that you just won't believe, but believe me, it's so incredible," and proceeded to relate in fine details said incredible way, talking faster and faster as he warmed to his topic.
Duo's violet eyes grew bigger and bigger as he listened to Quatre. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore. "Quatre, you're not helping!" he hollered as he curled into a ball on his side. His previous problem was starting to come back with a vengeance.
Quatre broke off in mid-description. "Huh?" he questioned, concern in his large blue eyes.
Sighing, Duo propped his head up with his hand so he could look at Quatre. "What do you know about how a Confessor's power works?" he asked.
The blond shrugged. "Just what you told me, that you restrain it at all times until you chose to release it."
Nodding, Duo grimaced. "Yeah, but there is one time I release it unintentionally. It happens during sex." He studied the pattern of the bedspread with great interest.
Quatre thought about it for a few beats. "You mean that when you achieve orgasm, you release your power as well?"
Having never heard it put quite so clinically, Duo looked back up at Quatre. "Yep, that is exactly what happens. You see my problem?"
"Not really," Quatre admitted. "Heero isn't affected by your power, so what's the trouble?"
"Think, Quatre. What happens when I use my power now?" Duo rolled back onto his back, staring at the ceiling.
Quatre thought about it some more, then realization struck him. "Oh," he said, then "Oh!" once again as what Duo was telling him sunk in. "Oh wow. That's rough," he sympathized. "And you can't even…" He made a gesture with his hand.
Scrubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, Duo shook his head. "Nope, not even that. It really sucks. Really. It does. You understand now? If Heero and I were to get together, I won't be able to stop myself and the gods only know what will cross the Barrier the next time." He slammed a fist onto the bed in frustration.
"What does Heero say?" Quatre wanted to know.
Drawing a long breath and letting it out, Duo shrugged. "Heero is completely understanding. He says it isn't about sex. It's my choice. He is willing to take the risk. But I'm not. He told me about Borxx. What if what comes through next is stronger than her? I am not willing to put Heero in danger because of me. But," he paused, and then went on. "It's so damned hard! No pun intended." He glanced at Quatre out of the corner of his eye. "I can't get him out of my head. I think about him constantly, Quatre. There are times he looks at me, and I just feel, oh, I can't describe it. And when he touches me, its like," he stopped, frustrated at not being able to put his feelings into words. Finally he shook his head. "I have never felt like this before, about anyone. Its like Heero is the Confessor, instead of me."
Quatre nodded, understanding completely. "What are you going to do?" he asked.
Rolling his eyes, Duo sat up abruptly, his wet hair cascading down around his shoulders. "My list of options is pretty short, don't you think? I can either live the rest of my life in an ice-cold bath going slowly insane from unfulfilled need, or I can try to fix what I did, and hope that I can survive it. Either way, I'm screwed. One way figuratively, the other, literally. And between you, me and the bedpost here, I am really hoping it's the latter."
Quatre opened his mouth to comment, did a delayed double take, closed it, and then opened it again. "When are you going to tell Heero?" he asked.
"Tell me what?" Heero questioned from the opened door. Quatre fell off the bed with a surprised curse that Duo would have bet money on that the blond didn't know. He sat there on the floor trying to get his heart started once again. To his disgust, Duo hadn't even flinched.
"Hiding from Dorothy again?" the Confessor smirked.
Heero declined to answer, opting instead to walk over to the bed and perch on the edge. He fixed a hard stare at Duo, who merely grinned evilly from under his damp bangs. "Tell me what?" Heero repeated firmly, his cobalt eyes as sharp as a blade. Reaching over to take Duo's hand, he pulled the Confessor close to him so they were almost nose-to-nose. Unable to resist, Duo reached over and gave Heero a peck on the nose.
Quatre, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, beat a hasty retreat and quietly let himself out, closing the door behind him. He had been sure he had locked that door. Shrugging to himself, he set off in search of Trowa and Wufei. They needed to be ready.
"Tell me what?" Heero persisted. Duo had known he would never distract Heero, but it was fun to try.
Sitting back, Duo held Heero's gaze firmly with his own. "I want to go to the Barrier and try to fix it."
Heero didn't react as the seconds dragged by. Duo forced himself to wait patiently. He looked down to their clasped hands. He was still getting used to Heero touching him. Duo hoped it was something he could enjoy for a very long time. Looking back up at Heero's face, he tried to read Heero's mind. But the neutral features and the razor sharp gaze gave nothing away. Finally Heero spoke.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" he asked. Not even his voice held any emotion.
Swallowing, Duo nodded. It was hard to meet Heero's gaze when he looked at Duo like that, but the Confessor was determined not to back down.
"When?" the dark-haired Emperor asked, still giving nothing away.
"No time like the present," Duo said with a grin. "Unless you have something going on right now that you need to do?" he asked. Now that he said it aloud, a small thrill of fear wriggled in his stomach and suddenly he found himself hoping that Heero did have something else to do.
Heero shook his head. "I'm not busy right now."
Duo drew a deep breath. "All right."
"We are going with you," a cool voice announced.
Duo leapt high in the air at the intrusion. Heero didn't flinch as he looked over at their audience. He scowled at Quatre, Trowa and Wufei, standing just inside the door. And beside them were Une, and Dorothy, wearing their red leathers. All of them were wearing expressions of grim determination.
"No," Heero said, but even before the word had left his mouth, Une stepped forward.
"We ARE going, my lord. You do not know what dangers the Barrier may hold. You may not be able to fight the monsters alone." Une said, her gaze diamond hard. "We want to do this for the sake of the people of the empire and the rest of the world."
Beside her, Dorothy nodded.
Heero studied their faces for a long moment. Then he nodded once. "Very well. But you do not interfere unless I say so, understood?"
Once again, they nodded, smiling slightly in relief that they'd gotten their way.
Heero stood up, turned and looked at Duo, who returned his look. Duo's heart was hammering in his chest, and his mouth was dry. He was scared. But when Heero looked at him, it gave him the courage he needed.
"Let's go."
Gating to the Barrier was uneventful. But even for those who had seen it before, it was stunning. For long minutes they just gazed at the giant rolling waves of light, not saying a word. Then Heero shifted and cleared his throat.
"Are you ready?" he asked softly.
Duo was grateful that Heero did not ask if he would change his mind, because if that were the case, Duo wasn't sure if he could go through with it. As it was, all he could do was nod.
"We are here if you need us, " Quatre reminded gently.
The Confessor flashed a slight smile in gratitude. Then, as if obeying some unspoken signal, the others stepped back, leaving Duo alone.
Drawing a deep breath, Duo studied the irregularity in the wall of light before him. The huge patch of white that was his own power, marred the Barrier and seemed to glow to his eyes, as if beckoning to him. It belonged to him, it was him.
It's time, Duo thought.
As if in slow motion, he stepped forward. Reaching out, he pressed his hand against the blemish in the Barrier. He could feel what could only be interpreted as pain rippling under the seething of his own magic as it continued to slowly and inexorably rend the wall of light. It was time to end the pain, to put right the damage he had wrought three years ago. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the magic inside him, and released it.
Silent thunder split the air. The wall seemed to flinch at the impact of the Wild magic. Then the white layer that had burrowed deep into the Barrier flared and began to retract. Inch by inch, like the tide retreating from the sand, the Wild magic returned to where it belonged. To him.
And as the magic returned to the Confessor, so did the memories.
Duo knew that by doing this, by putting things right, it was time to pay. It was time to pay for Bitterroot. He had paid three years ago, was paying for it now, and would continue to pay until he drew his last breath. Seventy five thousand souls had screamed in agony under his magic, and their screams echoed in the chambers of his power as he had summoned their destruction.
The Golgathan army, innocent by deed, had died under his power. There had been no retreat for them on the plains that day. Nor was there any for him now. He could not retreat. He had been pushed to this moment like a stag driven to rocky cliffs by hounds. And the price was being paid now.
Like the rush of a great, white tidal wave, the memories came crashing down, tearing at him, and ripping him apart. Dimly, he was aware that he was screaming, along with the thousands of beings he had torn asunder that day, three years ago. And still the memories came. On and on, the images washed over him, threatening to drown him.
And as he drowned in the memories of Bitterroot, a voice whispered through the chaos that was engulfing his mind. Clutching at it like a life preserver, the whisper held the terrible pain at bay. It surrounded him, shielded him, warmly protected him as the torrent of terrible destruction continued to wash over him.
"I will be there for you, always."
Heero?
Of course it was Heero. Heero had promised to be there for him, and in a way he was. The memories of Heero were there, what the young man meant to Duo. And that memory was as much a barrier against the onslaught of horror as the Barrier itself was to their realm.
Duo smiled as darkness rose up to claim him.
Heero was running up to the Confessor even as he slumped to the ground at the base of the Barrier. The others were hard on his heels.
"Duo!" He gathered the slender body in his arms and brushed some of the chestnut bangs away. Duo's face was white and his breath was coming in quick gasps. It was obvious he was unconscious.
Quatre and Wufei were studying the Barrier. "Did he do it?" the blademaster asked in a low tone.
"I think so," Quatre answered as he stepped right up to the Barrier and inspected it. There was no trace of the Wild magic embedded in the wall. But a huge, jagged gap had appeared in its place.
"That's the break," Une said, coming to stand on the other side of Quatre.
Dorothy looked down at Heero, still holding Duo. "I hate to break up this touching scene, but it would probably be a good idea to fix this now, before we get more company." There was only a little sarcasm in her voice.
Heero glared at her, but she merely stared back patiently. The young Emperor nodded. Handing Duo to Trowa, he stood up. "Stand back," he ordered.
They all moved back, giving him plenty of room. Heero closed his eyes, drew a deep breath and sought the Throne's power, drawing it to him. Letting instinct guide his actions, the young Emperor opened his eyes…and froze, staring at the Barrier in horror. He heard gasps from behind him, but he didn't turn, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the Barrier, because it had changed.
The Barrier was turning red.
A deep red like life's blood pouring from a mortal wound.
‘What is it?' Heero demanded the Throne.
For a few heartbeats, there was no answer. Then, the Throne spoke in his mind.
‘It is the faceless one…Cazic Thule,' was the quiet reply. Heero got the distinct impression of solemnity from the Throne and it sent of chill through his heart, but he ignored it. Cazic Thule was an enemy that needed to be killed, nothing more.
‘What type of monster is it?' he asked, shifting his stance to ready for battle. ‘Caster or fighter?'
‘Cazic Thule is not technically a monster,' the Throne said and Heero's eyes narrowed.
‘What is it then?' he asked. The red was flowing down the Barrier in rivers now, spilling out into the dark space that was the ground.
‘A god,'
End Part 15
TBC
(:./annabell/sith15)
