24-Mar-2001/P>
C&C Welcome, as always! ^^
Pairings: 3+4/4+3, 1+2/2+1, 5+M
Warnings: au, shounen ai
Archive: GW Addiction
Title: wa Nan desu ka (Help me!!! Someone out there has to be good with titles!)
(Same day)
Tsunki Unshinau, former King of the country of Unshinau, glared into the face of his captor. Katsudan merely laughed and threw him another bit of bread, which he had to scramble a bit to get to, causing another outburst of cruel laughter from the leader of the Kyugetsu Federation and, now, his own country as well. As he gnawed on the piece of bread, curled into the corner of the throne room dais, he wondered where his son was, anyway. From what he'd been able to gather, they couldn't find him, either lying among the still unburied dead or in the few survivors. Katsudan was also looking for that guard of his, Yuy, but couldn't find him, either. He silently cursed his son for escaping to wherever he was, leaving his father to these... barbarians. He'd done everything for the boy, given him his power and status, and this was how he was repaid? Running off with that guard... The boy didn't even talk to anyone except his son, and that other guard... Barton something or ov! er.
The inadvertent thought of the name caused a strange glee to build within him as he remembered Barton's mother, who'd died giving birth to him. She'd been one of his late wife's Ladies in Waiting, and quite an attractive one at that. And the way she'd cried out his name at orgasm...[1] She'd been a much better lover than his wife had ever been. And he'd always suspected she had another lover before their marriage had been arranged. That thought always displeased him, especially since it was rumored the man had been Manolo Suarez, the popular diplomat from Brazil, a ladies man through and through. Just the thought of his wife with him...[2]
His musings were cut short by the reappearance of Katsudan in front of him, that glint back in his gray eyes.
"Well, king..." He stressed the word contemptuously. "It seems your people have spoken. Another groups of soldiers tried to attack my men today. You'd think they would learn..." He sighed melodramatically. "I told them that they only had so many chances. And their chances are your chances." He leaned forward, breath puffing into Tsunki's face so that he could smell what the man had for lunch. "Your chances are running out," he whispered, then stood up and strode confidently from the room again, leaving the former King quaking in the corner.
Clean, fed, and in dry clothing, Duo Maxwell felt fully awake for the first time in two days. Heero, as well, looked more alert than he had since he'd literally collapsed the day before, although he'd slumped uncharacteristically into the bed and said nothing for hours. Duo leaned his forehead against the cold glass of the window, watching the silent street, a strange contrast to the sun which had shone out an hour ago, banishing the sleet. But the cold stayed... He'd never seen the weather in Unshinau be this temperamental, bright and hot one day, then sleeting and cold the next. As if the earth herself followed the moods and situations of her people, and was weeping for their predicament.
"Heero..." He flicked his eyes to the figure hunched on the bed without moving his head.
"Shiuta, Solo."
"Whatever... Shiuta. What do you know about this Kyugetsu thing?" He moved from the window, tired of watching nothing, to sit beside Heero on the bed, sinking a few inches into the thick covers.
Heero's head turned to face him, the bright blue eyes seeming slightly tortured. "The last I heard, it was four or five countries, some large, some not. Headed by a man named Kyugetsu, whom I don't know much about."
"Did... Did she say who was still alive?" He frowned, thinking of all his friends, the ambassadors and servants both.
"Your father," Heero said pointedly.
"That's what they say. They also say I'm alive, and with them."
"True." Heero turned his gaze back forward, staring at the still life decorating the wood paneled wall.
"You know what I meant, Heero." He looked at Heero, forcing the other boy to meet his gaze, and moved under the thick scarlet blanket, suddenly more aware of the cold than he had been.
"Yes... I do." Heero paused for a moment, shut his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, he slid under the cover, as well, and Duo realized that Heero must have been colder than he himself was. Aware of the sudden speed of his heart - he always played the instigator, even if Heero didn't resist - he scooted the foot or so between them and draped his arms cautiously around the other boy, noticing of the sudden stiffening as well as slow relaxing and that Heero's heart was also beating too fast. He tightened his hold, rested his head on Heero's shoulder, and felt the weight of Heero's arm around his waist as he began speaking again.[3]
"There's no way to be certain..." Heero's voice was low and hoarse, his face half shadowed and too blank. "But they aren't trying for a 'we take over, you rule under our guidelines.' They want absolute power, and won't leave anyone alive who can take that power away from them. Maybe they didn't leave anyone alive, or maybe they saved everyone. There's no way to tell, since we can't even trust their word."
Duo's reply was a simple "Oh" as he mulled silently over Heero's suspicions. It was all he could muster as his heart leapt to his throat at the thought of everyone he knew killed, cruelly disposed of in a mass grave without a proper eulogy or even identification.
"I'm sorry," Heero said, sounding for all the world like he'd never apologized for anything before. There was no reply Duo could think to make, so he simply tightened his hold briefly, relaxing into Heero, glad for at least one thing he could be sure of. When he was younger he used to think he was cursed, that everyone who was close to him would die, or abandon him in some other way. Starting with his parents, and continuing the trend through Solo, the Maxwell Church... Heero seemed the only one who'd stayed with him, the guard a constant shadow from that first, dangerous, encounter. There had been a perverse comfort from the beginning in how Heero had always been there, rarely choosing to show his presence, but Duo had known he'd always remained only a few steps behind. Such that he had eventually agreed to passively accompany Heero back to the castle, his 'true' life, simply because that was where Heero would be. A desperate maneuver, but one he hadn't yet regretted. At l! east, not for the initial reason he'd made it.
And now his father, too, was gone again, as was the comfortable royal life. But still Heero lingered, and now for a different reason, or so Duo hoped. Heero offered a calculating part, one that kept Duo from doing something overly foolish, or even leaving altogether. Someone to complain to, yell out, pour out his grievances when they were too much. Something he would never do with anyone else, for it seemed Heero understood and even empathized, where to most his problems would just be a burden. Someone who knew him, and someone Duo wished he knew better.
It was to these thoughts that the slow, rhythmic beating of Heero's heart and the warmth of his body under Duo's own lulled him gently to sleep, and these same thoughts that haunted his dreams.
She woke slowly, not even knowing how she'd managed to get to sleep in the first place. She was tangled in an ungainly heap, most likely how she'd fallen, and physical and emotional exhaustion had double-teamed her, fairly knocked her unconscious so she could finally rest. She realized as she worked her way into a sitting position that had probably been a good development, for she could now think clearly and move much swifter than she remembered in the panic before she fell asleep.
She started to stumble towards the door, her only guide the dim beam of light filtering through the bottom and sides of the door, but stopped at the reminder of why she'd hidden in the unknown room in the first place. The memory of horrendous screaming mingled with the laughter of the soldiers and the solid, meaty noise of swords meeting with flesh. She shuddered, drew in a gasping breath as she tried to calm herself. She's not deluded herself with visions of grandeur or mercy, knowing any resistance was futile and mercy just as unlikely.[4] So she'd run, convinced herself that the only way she could help was to let the outside know what was happening. Which was part of the truth.
However, none of the sounds of conflict that had been so evident earlier were there, or at least, they weren't audible. She slipped silently into the corridor, blinking at the blinding invasion of light and squeezing herself against the wall in what was probably a vain effort to conceal herself. However, seeing not a solitary soldier patrolling the hallway, she relaxed, and headed in the direction she thought was the way out. She'd been very disoriented, and also hadn't even been in the castle for very long. Her nation had just recently decided to ally itself with Unshinau, a decision they hadn't regretted until now. Despite how despicable their current leader may have been, her encounters with the prince had given her a very high opinion if him, competent, kind, and reasonable, with the kind of personality that drew people to him easily and also inspired great loyalty. Capable officers led their armed forces and, if some of the soldiers she'd seen were a valid example, the! army itself would be quite a formidable, ally. However, the downside to their army was that, due to an extended period of peacetime, most of the soldiers were out of practice, and most had been mustered out. If the time to call on them came, they would need several months at least to get all into the shape she'd seen exemplified in a few.
With a thrill of recognition, she realized that she knew where she was. The doors in front of her should lead to the secondary ballroom, and once she made her way through that she was a short cry away from a passageway that led to a very unfrequented and hopeful unguarded way out.
She opened the door slowly, thankful for the well oiled hinges as she peered inside...
And promptly spun back out, the door making a too loud noise as the it swung open, her hands instinctually going to her mouth in a struggle to fight back the violent gag reflex that rose at the sight within.
Quatre woke slowly, as well, the shocking night and day previous having taken just as heavy a toll on his mind and body. He'd slept heavily, with no recalled dreams. So deeply, in fact, that he couldn't recollect what the situation had been when he'd first fallen under sleep's influence.
He didn't know where he was; there was nothing familiar about the room he was in. Though it was certainly opulent, high walls draped in crimson silk the same shade of the bed's curtains and velvet bedspread, with various other furniture and decorations littering the room in similar or complementary shades.
The first thing he saw was the familiar red-brown hair of that guard he'd been watching for so long, the one who never spoke. 'I must still be dreaming... But - wait' He tensed, suddenly able to dredge up the memory of his last impression of said guard. He backed against the headboard with an audible thump as it impacted with the hall.
The guard's head shot up, the one visible eye, a brilliant green that rivaled the emerald of fresh spring grass, fixing on him.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he commented mildly, in the same toneless voice that Quatre remembered.
"The same way you didn't hurt everyone else in the castle?" Quatre spat back venomously.
The eye widened, hardly noticeably, and it was largely through his uchuu no kokoro that Quatre was able to affect the ripple in the guard's emotions. "I had nothing to do with that," he stated.
"And that's why you're still alive?"
"So are you," the green-eyed young man countered.
He sighed, forcing himself to relax. "Point taken. But if you aren't with them, why are you alive?" He tested his limbs carefully, sliding off the high bed and taking a more thorough look at his surroundings. Posh was an understatement, as every piece of furniture appeared to be made and decorated with the finest materials. However, nothing seemed to be used, the just-bought sheen of brand new items still clinging as if everything had been artfully arranged just for his visit.
"I am with them."
TBC...
Geh. I need to write another part... x.x I was sorta dragging my feet at the end of this one, can you tell?
Notes:
[1] Yes, that was an important detail!! Not just me being a nasty little person... *sweatdrop*
[2] That entire passage is rather important, both for the evidence of the King's character, and because of what you find out
[3] That was totally for you, Akuma! Be happy!
[4] The BORG!
Ryan Harbin
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