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Summary: Duo Maxwell has spent the last sixteen years of his life hunting vampires. They've murdered everyone he has ever loved and his hatred for them runs deeper than even he himself seems to realize. Haunted by the death of someone he's never seen and strange voices that call out to him in his nightmares, Duo outwardly struggles with the expectations of a secret society that believes he is the key to destroying the vampire race. When a mysterious stranger's desperate search for the truth takes them both to the ends of the earth, the two of them soon discover the answer is more unthinkable than either of them could ever imagine. Just who is Heero Yuy?
Author's Note: This story is going to be long. So, if you are here looking for a quick "Duo and Heero meet each other and fall madly in love and have sex every other chapter" fic, then you're in the wrong place. Sorry. A good story takes time and it's worth it...This chapter is kinda the open action teaser.
Warning: Shouen-ai, eventually yaoi (1x2x1, hinted 3+4), blood, cursing and heavy religious tones. Rating reflects later content.
,.•´)•(•.¸ -- Scene change
(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸¸.•´¯•. ,.:¯) -- Unconscious / Dream sequence
Italics -- Past events
'Italics' -- Inner thoughts
,.•´)•(•.¸
Why do we love? What creates this feeling? It comes in many forms - the love of places, things, ideas, times, sounds, colors, people. You don't know exactly why these things are important to you, they just are. Things, you feel like you remember from some other place - some other time. How do you explain it? Some call it our personality, random effects built into our bodies that lack proper explanation. Others say it's the soul, reaching out to things it has encountered in the past, that it tends to hang on to through various lifetimes, while searching for its soulmate - one soul, fractured in half, longing to become one again. This fated meeting can often times be similar to the collision of matter and antimatter, producing a violent explosion that tries to drive them apart. But only those who fight for one another, to love one another, will achieve the ultimate goal of being reunited as one, together in Heaven.
,.•´)•(•.¸
"Fractured Souls"
(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸ The Eternal Flame ¸.•´¯•. ,.:¯)
London: 2005
It was a cool, brisk autumn evening. The sky was still orange where the sun had just set, illuminating the rooftops of the city in a heavenly golden bath of dying light. Stars shone palely above the horizon; the night was eager to come to life. Duo Maxwell put his right boot on the roof's ledge and leaned over for a closer look. The vampires weren't out yet, but it's never long after the sun goes down. Duo, cladded in black, the clothing of the Hunters, blended in perfectly with the night. He straightened up, pulled his hood over his head and pulled the ninja mask up over his mouth, covering everything on his face but his eyes, which were an unnatural shade of vivid violet. His extremely long hair was a subtle reddish brown color that constantly remained braided down his back. He loved his hair long, but it interfered with missions if it wasn't pulled back.
Hunters, highly trained in hand-to-hand combat, carried standard-issue silver stakes. Most also carried a variety of automatic weaponry with silver ammunition, to keep up with modernized times. As the technology changed over the millenniums, so did the methods of slaying the vampires. Duo, not one for conformities (or authority for that matter) carried two short handle scythes, appropriate for someone eager to deal out death to the creatures of darkness. It was not as though he never tried using what he was suppose to use; he could. The scythes, for Duo, held a familiar sentimentality he could not quite put his finger on. The sky was a deep blue now. Street lamps blinked to life along the street below, casting eerie yellow-white spills of light on the blotchy weathered sidewalk. Duo closed his eyes, took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp and soothing night air then slowly exhaled. Concentrating, he allowed his senses to flare out. Suddenly, he caught a faint glimpse of dark power.
Duo grinned wickedly, "Showtime."
The hunter slipped down the fire escape without making a sound. He lightly landed on the pavement and glided out of the alley against the shadows. People walking along the sidewalk took no notice of as he stood propped against the alleywall, watching the bystanders pass. He peered over the street from the alleyway, his amethyst eyes keen on the two male vampires lurking in the alley across the street. They stayed close to the entrance way to the alley preventing Duo from sneaking up on them unseen; his favorite part. Little did they know, this night would be their last. The taller vampire punched the other in the arm, then pointed at something down the sidewalk. Duo did not have to wait long to see what the vampires were looking at. A young woman was walking towards them. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her gaze was fixed firmly on the sidewalk below; clearly following a familiar path to a well traveled destination. She reached the narrow alleyway entrance and did not stand a chance as they overpowered her, dragging her into the darkness.
'That's my cue.'
Duo ran across the street and cut sharply left into the alley. The vampires had the girl cornered and held off the ground by her throat. The vampire holding her leaned in close, inhaling her fresh scent. The woman's hands were prying desperately at the hand over her throat, trying to get loose. "Don't hurt me, please!" she pleaded in a raspy voice, "I'll give you whatever you want! Just, please! Let me go! Please!"
The other vampire let out an amused chuckle. The vampire holding her laughed as well. "I'm afraid," he said smoothly in a dark seductive tone, "it's you I want." He bared his fangs for her to see. As her eyes widened in horror she opened her mouth to scream, but it caught in her throat as the vampire dropped her to the cold pavement and covered her mouth with his hand. "No one's going to hear you babe," he ran his hand through her blonde hair brushing it off her neck, "no one cares."
Duo leaned against the brick wall, his arms were crossed and his head was down slightly, shadowing his face. "You know..." said Duo mockingly, "I wouldn't be doing that if I were you."
Startled, the vampire pulled away from the woman. The other vampire squinted to get a better look at who picked a bad day to play "hero". The streetlight behind Duo casted him in complete darkness. The vampires could only see a slender figure with long hair. "Should have minded your business girl," the vampire replied firmly, "then against, maybe you'd like to join us. I always save room for desert." Duo looked up at the vampire who was advancing towards him steadily - apparently unafraid. Duo pushed himself off the wall, clenching his fist, his knuckles turning white. He hated vampires as much as he hated being called a girl.
Duo stepped into the center of the alleyway, facing the two vampires. The approaching vampire stopped within five feet of Duo. His undead smile melted off his face and was replaced by a look of mild curiosity. He had expected the figure to run instead of to turn face him. "I'm no girl," Duo spat, "so I won't be joining you, but you and your friend will be joining this!"
Duo bent his legs and leaned over, throwing his cloak to his side exposing his scythes. Crossing his arms above his head, Duo grabbed the two handles and whipped out his weapons from their sheaths on his back. He twisted his right wrist, causing the blade to drop towards the ground. Gripping his right scythe firmly, Duo sprung forward and cut the vampire in half from groin to neck.
The vampire's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. With one more smooth twirl, Duo cut his head clean off his neck using the other scythe. The three pieces crumpled ungracefully to the ground and exploded into ash.
The other vampire snarled and released his hold on the girl. "Hunter," he hissed, disgust dripping in his voice like the name was poisonous.
'You know what you just might be right.'
Duo gave a cocky smirk, "Prey." He stopped grinning at the vampire to look over at the girl who was sitting very still on the pavement aghast with her mouth hung open. "What the hell are you waiting for lady!" Duo yelled at her, making her jump, "Go on and get the hell out of here!"
'Why do they always stay and stare!'
She pushed herself off the ground and sprinted towards the sidewalk not looking at either one of them. In the half second Duo turned to glance at her as she passed him, the vampire took the opportunity to knock him to the ground. Duo hit the pavement hard into a puddle, the impact throwing his scythes out of his hands. The vampire charged at Duo with his arms outstretched. Duo instinctively raised his legs up and used them to throw the vampire over his head and into the brick wall of the building. Duo arched his back and jumped to his feet. Recovering quickly, the vampire was up at the same time as Duo.
The vampire rushed Duo trying desperately to get the upper hand in the fight. The vampire swung his right arm hard, attempting to impinge the left side of Duo's face. The hunter leaned back, successfully evading the poorly thrown punch. Duo crouched down and kicked the vampire hard in the stomach, knocking him into a dumpster and then onto the ground. There was just enough time for Duo to grab one of his scythes. Before he could turn around, the vampire rammed Duo hard in the back and grabbed him just beneath the shoulders, pinning his arms to his side.
Duo leaned forward slightly and pushed backwards hard; cracking the vampire's head into the brick wall. The vampire released his grip on him. He sidestepped out of the way and turned around to see the vampire fall face first into the pavement. Duo walked over to his side, slide his foot under the body and kick him over onto his back. The vampire gazed around disoriented, pulling his left arm around to the back of his head, groaning in pain. Duo put his left foot hard on the vampire's chest to keep him down, then plunged the right scythe through his heart. There was a half second when the vampire looked surprised right before he exploded into ash, filling the air with a grayish-yellow cloud.
It was times like this that Duo was glad he wore a mask. A quart of vampire dust in the lungs every night couldn't be good for one's health. He brushed the vampire dust off his shirt, pulled the mask down and leaned against the brick wall. People continued walking by the alley totally oblivious to what just happened. He glanced up at the now blue-black sky above. The night was still young. He decided he would hit a club. Vampires are always attracted to the sexual heat in clubs. The feeding is always more enjoyable when sex is involved. He spun on his heel, walked forward and turned left out of the alley.
After several hours and several more encounters with -unfortunate for them- vampires, Duo had already passed several clubs; none of which sparked his interest. Finally, he arrived at one that he felt had enough dark aura around it. The club was an old brick building he had never seen before with dingy bricks that made it appear abandoned. There was a single black metal door facing the street. Above the door was a red neon sign that read "The Eternal Flame". He approached the door and the bouncer stepped in front of him. Duo got a strong whiff of him; a vampire.
"Sorry kid, can't let you in," he said, crossing his arms in a poor attempt to look more intimidating.
"Oh," replied Duo with a satisfied smirk, "I think you will." The vampire looked into Duo's eyes that had started to glow a radiant shade of violet.
"I see what you mean," the bouncer said in a dull, lifeless tone, "My mistake, go on in."
Duo was not what one would call your "average" hunter. He had an unexplained power over the weak minded vampires, mostly those vampires that had been turned, in other words, not pure blooded vampires. Pure blooded vampires were those born from the original vampires, a "pure" bloodline, born with the curse, born into darkness. However, he could get into the mind of a turned vampire. Duo could manipulate their thoughts, making them do things against their will. His power, however, was limited. If Duo used it all the time then he would exhaust all his strength.
There were plenty of hunters who practiced a fair bit of magic but without a good bit of power behind it, the magic was virtually useless against most vampires. Duo's abilities were - to say the least - different. Many hunters thought Duo was the key to finally defeating the vampires. There were others, however, who believed he was dangerous and should not be trusted. Most hunters worked together, but Duo was mostly alone and that's just how he liked it. He had been alone most of his life and was use to it. Duo never allowed anyone to get too close to him, because they would end up dead; they always end up dead...
"I knew you'd see it my way," Duo said smoothly, walking past him to the door.
Duo opened the door and stepped inside just as a hooded and cloaked figure emerged from the shadows of the alleyway across the street. "There he is!" the figure whispered breathlessly. The door had just closed behind Duo just as the figure began crossing the street. Duo had just started descending down the wine colored velour stairs when he could already hear the loud thudding of bass thick in the air. The walls were lined in crushed, dark velvet as well. Duo reached his fingertips out to run them along the wall as he walked down the stairs when he touched something slimy and instantly regretted the idea. "Erg, disgusting!" Duo muttered, wiping the fingers off on his cloak.
'Note to self: do laundry when you get home.'
Duo reached the end of the stairs and came to a pair of solid mahogany panels with the words "Welcome to Hell" engraved rather rough looking across the top of the frame.
Duo gave an inward smirk.
'Sounds like my kind of place.'
He glanced down at the door's panels, an intricate design masked a key element to the doors most would overlook: hieroglyphics.
'A vampire club. Perfect.'
Duo reached out his finger and traced the ancient symbols as he read.
Duo's eyes widened as he came to the symbol he was looking for,"Treize," he hissed softly.
'I didn't know he had a club here in town. I wonder if everyone else knows.'
Treize was one of the old vampires; one of the twelve that were first. He was very powerful; any hunter who came across him never lived to tell the tale. For centuries the hunters have searched for a way to kill him. He lives in Egypt; the origin of their curse. The history of how the vampires came to be cursed has long been lost. For thousands of years the hunters have balanced the ratio of vampires to humans. However, the tide has slowly been turning against the hunters; their numbers dwindling for quite some time now.
Vampires had their claws into everything: banks, the government - name it. Most people worked for them without even knowing it. Living for centuries, unaware to the fact that the vampires secretly controlled almost everything. Anyone close to the truth is turned or killed. Their one advantage was that the humans vastly out numbered vampires, an army could easily wipe most of them out. Unfortunately, no one could go to the government. No one knew who was working for the humans and who was working for the vampires. Vampires prized themselves in running the night life. Many purebloods owned clubs for the sole purpose of keeping vampires out of the human eye. As a human, to stumble upon a vampire club meant one seriously bad night ahead.
Duo made his way through the heavy doors. The music was instantly louder. Red strobe lights pounded to the beat of the bass. Duo glanced around quickly, getting the layout of the club. The main room was very large, divided into two distinct sections by a bar in the middle. One side sported plush, dark red velvet couches along black walls with projections of moving flames on them. Small cherry wood tables with matching chairs were scattered throughout the middle of the section. The other side boisted an enormous dance floor. There were many doorways along the back wall; instead of actual doors they were covered with black velour curtains.
It was definitely one of the nicest vampires clubs Duo had been in.
'They sure know how to do it right in Europe.'
Duo turned his attention to the bar.
Duo could see that most - probably all - of the vampires in the club were turned. Pureblood vampires were easy to spot by the hieroglyphic embedded on their neck, signifying which tribe they belonged to, a sort of genetic marker. There were twelve tribes in all which made up all pureblooded vampires: The House of Erebus. You will rarely find a turned vampire brave enough to pose as a pureblooded one; oh no. Pureblooded vampires not only hated turned vampires, but they all knew one another; if they found a turned vampire posing as one of them - well let's just say being killed would be the least of their worries.
Duo walked through the crowd and heartily approached the bar. No one seemed to think twice about his appearance. None of them, evidently, had ever encountered a hunter before. Most turned vampires usually lacked the proper fighting skill to survive an encounter with a hunter, so it comes as no surprise that none of them were yelling, "Hunter!" then running for cover. They probably just regarded him as one of those cooky vampires that had seen way too many horror movies, trying a little too hard to dress the part. Duo reached the end of the bar, grabbed a stool and rapped his knuckles on the table.
"What can I get you, honey?" asked the bartender in her sultry voice. She was dressed in some of the tightest red leather ever made; her breasts practically spilling out of her top. Her hair was black, falling just past her shoulders. Her crystal blue eyes widened as they met his and traveled down, taking in his odd club attire.
"JD on the rocks." Duo replied simply and turned to look at the mass of vampires on the dance floor, looking here and there for any other hunters.
"Here you go," said the bartender, sliding him a short glass of amber colored liquid, "anything else I can do for you?" She leaned forward on the table, crossing her arms and causing her breasts to be pushed - if possible - closer together. Duo had his head down, looking at his drink. Vampires always want either two things from you: a meal or sex. Since Duo didn't give off the aura or visage of a human she thought he was a vampire; which meant she wanted sex. He looked up at her breasts and caught her eye before throwing down two pounds and replying dismissively, "I'll pass." She stood up straight, pouting just slightly, "That's too bad," she replied smoothly and walked down to the other end of the bar towards a fairly drunk male vampire, yelling for another round. Duo shook his head just slightly. Vampires were always so predictable.
He picked up his glass and absentmindedly swirled the liquid around, watching the ice cubes overlap and bump into one another. He raised the glass to his lips to take a sip when he felt a strange presence around him, hitting him like cold water. The little bit of liquid he took into his mouth was slopped onto his lap. He wiped his chin off and leered around frantically for anyone suspicious.
'What the hell was that? It felt so..so..'
Duo's mind sought for the proper word to describe the feeling.
'Familiar.'
Duo carefully finished his drink while stealing occasional glances out of the corner of his eye for anything unusual looking. Duo placed his empty glass on the bar. He pulled his arm up leaned his forehead on it, considering briefly that he may had been imagining the whole thing. Unconsciously, he ran his hand through his bangs, a bad habit of his when he was thinking hard about something. He turned his attention to the dance floor. He stared at the crowd for a moment before getting off his stool and making his way toward the sea of moving bodies.
Duo loved clubs and the human nightlife. He had, more than once, skived off a night of hunting to enjoy a good club or two. Duo was addicted to the unspoken seduction associated with dancing with someone. There was just something about just letting your body go to the music. But this was a vampire club, and there was business to be taken care of.
Duo moved against the people around the dance floor. The musty smell of sweat was thick in the air. Bodies were banging together against the music. Frankly, it smelt like sex. There were several vampires necking (quite literally) on the dance floor. Duo eyed them with disgust. He turned, his eyes focused on an unfortunate scene at the corner of the dance floor. There was a young guy dancing unknowingly with two female vampires. They were laughing and grinding up on him. As the song died the three of them made their way off the dance floor and into a back room.
Duo waited for a moment and proceeded to follow them into the back. He was half way across the dance floor when someone passing him bumped into his shoulder hard. Instantly, strange images flashed through his head: he was watching someone bathe in a pool of water surrounded by sand...the scene shifted and he was standing in a dark hallway with sand-colored stones walking towards a dimly lit chamber...a pair of yellow glowing eyes fading into darkness...now he was holding a limp body in his arms...he looked down blood was covering his hands. Duo's mind jerked painfully out of the images and into the nightclub. The room was swirling and he felt like he was about to pass out. He took an unsteady breath and turned around hesitantly to look at the back of the person who bumped into him. The person was wearing a brown cloak with the hood up, so as Duo could not even tell whether they were male or female - or anything else for that matter.
'What the fuck is happening to me tonight! Get it together Duo.'
He continued to look at the back of the hood of the person until they were through the doors and out of sight. Just then, someone rammed him in the back, pushing him forward into yet another vampire. "Watch where the fuck you're going!" yelled the angry vampire, turning around. Duo shot him an icy look of incontestable hatred. "Look man sorry," replied the vampire with a noticeable inflection in his once virile tone. The vampire turned around quickly and continued dancing. Duo looked away from him and back towards the club entrance. Something wasn't right here.
'Oh shit. I almost forgot about the human.'
Duo turned around quickly and forced his way through the bodies; knocking people hard into one another without care. Leaving behind a flood of cursing, he made his way to the closest doorway. Duo pushed the black velour curtain aside, revealing a hallway with half a dozen doorways with heavy, red curtains. He grabbed the edge of the first curtain on the right and pulled it aside just enough to see inside the room. A few candles sat burning along the walls, otherwise revealing an empty room. Duo shut the curtain back and went on to the next doorway.
Just beyond the curtain Duo could hear giggling. He pulled the curtain back and realized he was too late. They weren't planning to drain him; they were going to turn him. The guy's eyes were closed and he was licking blood off the taller vampire's neck. Duo ripped the curtains open, grasped for one of his scythes and threw it through the vampire's heart turning her immediately to ash. The guy fell forward into her pile of ashes with a dazed look on his face.
The other vampire hissed, "Hunter".
"That's right babe," Duo chuckled, "Tonight is definitely not your lucky night."
"We'll see!" she shouted as she ran at Duo head on.
'Why the hell don't they just try to run away!? Plead for their life? Something! But no...they always try and fight. Dumb asses.'
Duo grabbed his other scythe and cut her clean in half across her chest before she even knew what happened. The room was now filled with a suffocating cloud of ash. Duo coughed and waved his hand in front of his face, clearing himself a patch of clean air to breath. "Geez, I'm filthy tonight," Duo told himself quietly, attempting to brush the ash off his, still damp, clothing, causing it to smear in disgusting grayish-yellow streaks.
Walking over to pick up his other scythe, he stopped to look at the guy, laying ungracefully on the ground. Duo knew immediately he had started the change when he started thrashing about, yelling in pain. The boy rolled back and forth, clenching his stomach and sweating profusely.
The boy grabbed Duo's pant leg and pulled himself to his knees, his eyes darting swiftly back and forth across the room. "What happened! Where am I!" he pleaded hysterically.
Duo wretched his leg away from the boy's grip. "Man, you picked the wrong club tonight," he replied matter-of-factly, shaking his head.
Shaking, The boy stood up and leaned over, still clutching his stomach. "Aahhh!" he yelled in pain, "What the fuck's wrong with me!"
Duo took a small step forward. Gripping his scythe firmly, he smiled sadly. "Sorry kid, but the only comfort I can offer you is this." He raised his scythe and stabbed him in the chest, turning him to ash.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Duo grimly sung as he put his scythes back in their sheaths. He gave the ashes on the floor a final glance then turned around, pushed the curtains aside and left the room.
Duo did not have a watch, but guessed it had to be about five in morning by now.
'I better make this night worth it.'
Duo pushed the curtains aside forcefully and reentered the main part of the club with a maniacal grin on his face. Immediately, he noticed the dance floor was far less crowded. The vampires were winding down and staring to head to their homes or safe houses. He whipped out a couple of explosives and headed over to the bar. A couple of patrons at the bar realized what he was about to do and ran out without paying. "Hey! You guys didn't pay," yelled the bartender at the people running frantically out the door.
Duo lit the fuses and chunked several cylinders into the bottles of alcohol. The bartender screamed as some of the bottles broke and the sparks from the explosives caught the liquid on fire. Duo had already ran through the mahogany doors and was on his way up the stairs by the time everyone else realized what had just happened and started heading for the doors in a panic. Duo grabbed the doorknob and turned. Using his shoulder, the hunter rammed the door. It flew open, forcing the bouncer face first into the street's cold pavement.
Duo flashed a deadly glare at the bouncer and threw a scythe right dead into his heart. People walking by screamed and ran. Duo quickly turned and used his body to brace the door shut.
He wasn't a moment too soon as the bodies trapped inside hit the door with great force, trying to escape the flames. He fumbled in his pocket for a second. A victorious smile spread across his face as he took out a small lighter shaped object with a knife looking piece of metal protruding from the side and jammed it into the lock, heating it up instantly and melting it shut from the inside.
Just then, he felt the explosion and jumped aside just in time as flames flew out from beneath the door. Within a moment all the screaming had stopped as ash began to pour from underneath the door. Duo leaned his back against the brick wall and bent over to put his hands on his knees, letting out a heavy sign. He stole a glance upward at the horizon. Pale green lined the edges, warning the approach of dawn.
'Time to head back.'
Duo reluctantly straightened up, pushed himself forward, walked to the middle of the road and picked his scythe up from the pile of ashes. He slid it back in its sheath, dusted his hand off on his cloak, walked back to the sidewalk and headed down the street.
A cloaked figure from the alley behind the club stepped onto the sidewalk and watched Duo stop on the corner.
Duo picked up the pay phone's receiver and dialed 999. A voice picked up on the other end, "Please state your emergency."
"Send a firetruck to the corner of Old Compton and Dean. The Eternal Flame is on fire." Duo declared calmly as he slammed the worn receiver on its dirty hook. Tired, he turned the corner on Dean Street and headed back home.
(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸ ¸.•´¯•..•´¯•.¸ ¸.•´¯•. .•´¯•.¸ ¸.•´¯•..,.:¯)
999 is England's version of 911. I had to say that because I live in the US. I wasn't sure if England had the same set up as the US and was about to put 911, but then decided to look it up to be sure and I'm glad I did. (Breathes a sigh of relief) For a minute there I almost looked like an idiot. This fic is by no means a short one. Chapters are generally posted about a month apart. If you're a true 1x2 fan hang in there, it's going to be a bit.
Thanks for reading and remember to review!
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