18 Dec 1999
Hello, mina -
Here's the sequel to "Kingdom of Glass", about the fall of the Sank Kingdom in A.C. 182. It tells what happened to Prince Milliard that evening, after the fighting has stopped. I also take a stab at providing the method for how Zechs Merqusie got his name. (It's just a possibility - don't shoot for it not being canon!)
This contains no shonen-ai or yaoi material *ml falls over* but is extremely angst-ridden.
As always, comment and constructive criticism are welcomed gladly.
ja ne -
kumiko
DISCLAIMER: All Gundam Wing characters are property of Sunrise, Bandai Visuals, Sotsu Agency, and Asahi TV. This work is not written for profit, but for entertainment purposes only.
Author's Notes: Exile occurs in A.C. 182, the evening of the day the Sank Kingdom was attacked and destroyed. It's the sequel to "Kingdom of Glass" (which should be read before this piece) and is my hypothesis of what would have happened to Prince Milliard after the fighting stopped. It's also one possibility for how Prince Milliard got his other name - Zechs Merquise.
Key for punctuation:
"..." - character dialogue
/.../ - character thoughts
He had walked for miles, seeking out the roads that looked familiar, now and then hiding in the bushes and trees by the roadside to avoid being seen by Federation soldiers, still prowling the hills. He was hungry, thirsty, and wracked with a feeling of overwhelming fatigue. Surely he knew this group of trees - this stone fence. Darlian's home must be just around that next curve.
And so, as the sun went down on the bloodiest day in the history of the Sank Kingdom, a small boy, half-dead from thirst and exhaustion, stumbled up to the front door of Minister Darlian's house and rang the bell.
/I'll just rest here for a moment/ he thought as he leaned against the cold stone wall of the house. /It will be so nice to see Relena... to know she's safe... I want to feel safe, too.../
The door opened and a servant looked out fearfully. Milliard stood as tall as he could and began to ask for Darlian but was cut off by the servant's scream as she saw his face. He had forgotten that it was covered with blood. Waving at her frantically to be quiet, he asked to see the Minister. The servant girl backed away, eying him nervously and told him to wait there.
/No one knows who I am... will the minister? Well, it doesn't matter - the only important thing is the help he can give me.../
The door opened again and Minister Darlian stood there, the soft, warm light of candles and a fire spilling over him into the chilly dusk. He took one look at the boy standing on his steps and his face went white. "M- Milliard! You're alive! Thank Go-" And then he seemed to notice the blood on the boy's face." Are... are you.. all right... Milliard?" He began to put an arm out to touch the bloody cheeks and then stopped and looked around the front of the house furtively. "Come in, this way." He grabbed Milliard's arm and pulled him through the entryway, moving quickly through the house. He didn't stop until they were outside again, this time in a small courtyard in back of the manor.
Milliard was confused. Questions needed to be asked and answered.
"Where is my sister - is she with you? Is she all right? I want to see her -"
Darlian put up his hands. "She's sleeping, Milliard -let's not wake her. She needs that rest, it's been a horrible day for her."
Milliard looked steadily at the man. "It's been a horrible day for everyone in my father's kingdom. Did you know they killed him?"
Darlian's face went white. "I... I knew ... they took him away. I was in the little room beyond his office when they came. I heard them take him and then there was an explosion in the west wing - and your mother..." The aide looked down at the ground, miserably. "Your mother - I knew she couldn't have survived that blast..."
Milliard felt something in him stir, something angry that he couldn't quite make sense of. His voice rose a little. "They killed him. They brought him into the Hall and put a gun to his head. I was there - and I tried to stop the soldier who was holding the gun, but another one shot him. They shot him down like a dog, right there in front of me..." He was trying so hard not to cry. He needed someone to care, someone older, who would stand up and fight with him on this, but Darlian was acting - strangely.
"I'm so sorry, Milliard..." the man said softly, looking into the young prince's eyes. Then, more to himself than the boy with him he whispered, "My King..."
The little prince himself was confused. /Why is he acting like this? Why isn't he angry at them? He sounds like he's given up - that there's nothing we can do... I can't let that happen, for Relena, for all those people I saw.../
"Darlian, you have to help me. We need to do something about what they did to us! Other people have to know. Or, at least we need to get the people together and make them leave our city... our country. We have to do at least that! I need your help! Please!"
But Darlian was, maddeningly, shaking his head. "There's nothing *to* do, Milliard. Nothing that will bring anything you want back. Not your mother or father, not our lives of peace... They've taken away all that."
"Are you saying you won't help me?" Milliard asked his voice full of bewilderment. "You won't help even to force them to give us the city back? I don't understand... why, Darlian? Why won't you help me?"
The older man was crying, his hands in front of his face. He shook his head several times. "I'm a pacifist, Milliard - just as your father was. I can't advise people to take up arms. We just have to live with this..." his voice trailed off.
Milliard was angry, so angry he wanted to shake the man in front of him. "Don't you *care?* Aren't you *angry* at them for doing what they did? Are you just going to let them get away with it??" He stepped forward, his blue eyes on fire, a small fist curled in front of him. "You *have* to help me, Darlian! You're one of the few left alive! I can't do this without a grown-up, I need your help... please..." And with this last work, he got down on his knees in front of the man who had been his father's closest aide. "Please, Darlian," he whispered hoarsely, "I'm begging you... please help me..."
The man whirled around, turning his back to Milliard and shutting his eyes tight. The tears streamed down his face as he spoke. "Your highness, please - get up... I can't take the sight of you that way! I've done all I could do in rescuing your sister. I swear to you that I'll raise her well - she'll never want for anything. I love her as my own daughter - only please, don't ask me again... don't ask me again..."
Milliard, still on his knees, could not believe what he was hearing. The one man with the most connections inside and outside the Kingdom, the man who was his father's closet advisor and a dear friend, was not going to help. He was simply not... going... to help..." His young mind struggled with the enormity of that thought and gave up trying to understand it, the despair flooding him like a wave. Slowly, very slowly, he stood and said in a very small voice, "Will you take me in, too? With my sister? Can... can I stay with you...? I don't have anyplace else to go..."
Darlian turned towards him and sadly shook his head. "I'm afraid that would be too dangerous for your sister, Prince Milliard. You're too well known - you look too much like your father. If you were here, someone would notice, and not only your life, but your sister's would be in danger. I'm... I'm very, very sorry, Milliard, but you can't stay here."
Milliard blinked several times. He would be a danger? To Relena? No! He would never knowingly put her life at risk, never. And yet - he looked off into the hazy night sky and tried to speak but nothing would come. The same kinds of thoughts that had followed him to this house came up again to beat him. /It's all my fault. Darlian knows that... he knows it was me and that's why he doesn't want me... he knows I let them all die and he can't bear to see my face... So I was right, it really was me...What a horrible, horrible person I am. To have let my mother, all those people, and my father - die.../
He bowed his head in shame. "Where... where can I go?" he whispered softly, not even expecting an answer.
Darlian watched the young boy crumple against himself. He wanted to help, really he did, but he's put his entire family in danger, just for the Princess. He couldn't risk that by taking in the Prince as well. But the Prince was older, and a boy, and well - he could fend for himself much., much more easily. Still - there was *something* perhaps...
He spoke again, this time with more energy. "Wait here, your highness, let me tell them I'll be gone."
Milliard stood, head still bowed, thinking of his home, his father, trying to get himself to believe, to accept that they were both gone. It just wasn't possible - yet.
Darlian stepped back out. "I'll walk you over to the house down the road, They're simple people, and not suspicious to the soldiers. They can hide you until a safe place is arranged for you. Come along."
Milliard turned to follow him and then remembered Relena. He felt a moment of panic. "But - but what about Relena? I want to see her before I go! To... to say... goodbye." Every ounce of energy was going towards holding back tears now. He had lost his home and his mother. He had lost his dear King and father whom he loved more than anyone else in the world. And now he was about to lose his little sister as well. He had to say goodbye to her. He didn't want her thinking he'd abandoned her... He turned back towards the house.
Darlian blocked his way. "No, Milliard! I can't let you. If she sees you, she may not want to stay here and may put herself at risk to get to you. Besides, she's accepted it. We already told her -"
Milliard's head snapped up. "You told her what?" he asked in an incredulous voice.
Darlian couldn't meet his eye. "That you and your mother and father have gone to heaven. And that she's our little girl now. She's finally calm now - don't spoil that for her... If we're lucky, she'll forget that she wasn't ours to begin with... That's the best we can hope for now."
He looked at the boy, his Prince, and at the anguished look on the beautiful face, so like his father's. The he murmured, "You'll need a new name, sire. How old are you right now?"
Milliard forced himself to look up at the aide. "I'm six - sir."
"Six," sighed Darlian. "All right, then - from here on people will know you as Zechs. And we'll use my grandmother's maiden name - Merquise." He stared at the young royal and swallowed hard. "You're not Prince Milliard Peacecraft of Sank anymore, do you understand me? You're Zechs - Zechs Merquise."
"I'm Zechs Merquise..." Milliard echoed softly, and then turned to follow Darlian out of the courtyard and into the black night of another existence.
owari
(:./kumiko/bblood3)
