He felt the gun pressed against his temple, and knew it was over. There was nobody around to save him now that he had made that stupid decision.
'Shit... I'm really going to die!'
It was such a strange nostalgia; at least he found it to be unusual as he was experiencing his last few moments in life. There were no memories flashing before his eyes from his short life, and he wasn't going through any type of 'phenomenon' as people claimed you would.
"You fucking punk! You're going to get exactly what you deserve for trying to steal from me!" The man was much taller than the young man he was pointing the gun at and it was obvious from his bulky physique that he was capable of self-defense without a gun.
Even as he knew his death was close, Duo continued to stare down the man with taunting amethyst eyes. From his expression it almost seemed like he was daring the man to pull the trigger. The reaction that look caused was rage from the massive man, but since he was so focused on the thief who'd tried to pickpocket him he didn't see it coming.
Duo didn't realize there was another young man there until the gunshot rang throughout the empty street. Blood splattered across his face and body, but Duo was still in shock that it wasn't his head all over the cobblestone road. He scrambled out of the way as the man began to collapse, and Duo got a full view of what was left of his face.
The whole bottom of his face was missing for the most part, and one of his eyes was hanging out of its socket. That image permanently imprinted itself in his mind and he could help but get sick to his stomach. When he was clear of the man he threw up.
"Are you alright?" A voice spoke out to Duo who was attempting to recover and catch his breath.
He looked up and found the young man staring down at him while holding the gun limply at his side. The gun that had blown half of that man's face off.
Forcing himself to his feet, Duo stood face to face with the person who had just saved his life. But he couldn't find any gratitude as he looked over at the man lying there in a pool of blood.
He found it odd that the back of his head only had one small hole from the entry of the bullet; while the front of the guy's head wasn't even there.
"Why'd you kill him...?"
Prussian blue eyes met amethyst and Duo could see the confusion in them.
"I saved your life, so shouldn't you be grateful?" The young man slipped his gun into some hidden pocket Duo didn't care to observe. He turned away from the traumatized Duo, "You should clean yourself up or else people will think you murdered him."
It wasn't long after that the guy who'd just saved his life, at the cost of another's, disappeared into the shadows of the night. Leaving him alone at the scene of the tragedy, and he knew that police would be coming soon enough. Perhaps it would've been better if he hadn't run away, instead had stayed to explain what had happened.
But what would he say?
He was about to be shot in the head, and some random guy shot the guy in the back of the head? Nobody would believe a story like that. Not even Duo would believe it if he hadn't just experienced exactly that.
Bordeaux, France was becoming a more attractive city for the more wealthy aristocrats of the early 1800's ever since the building of the Grand Theatre of Bordeaux. Many people were drawn in by the elegant ballets performed and the operas that audiences would exclaim were magnificent. Duo himself hadn't lived there his whole life, and had been drawn in by the hope of becoming somebody great within that theater.
Yet after working there for only a month, he knew there would be no fame given to him. For now his only duties were to tend to the theater to ensure that it was presentable to everyone who came to view the events held there. Duo knew that he wasn't particularly talented, but he was happy at the moment since he was still able to see every show for free.
The hidden downstairs, beneath the stage of the theater, was where Duo and a few other caretakers lived. Each of them had their own tiny room where they were given nothing more than a worn mattress, a supply of candles, and a single bureau for their possessions.
He arrived at the building to find the muses and goddesses glaring at him accusingly, as if he was the one responsible for the man's murder. Duo knew in a way he was because of his stupid idea to try and steal that guy's money. His greed had helped him to make a decision that would alter his life forever.
Hilde was another caretaker of the theater, and was just inside the main doors cleaning up. As she heard Duo enter, her automatic reaction was to turn and smile at her closest friend. Yet when she saw him the smile disappeared, and was replaced by a mixture of fear and worry.
"What happened to you? Are you alright?" Hilde tried to put her hand on Duo's arm, but he recoiled from her touch. That was the type of response that the laid-back Duo never did on normal occasions. "Why are you all bloody? Who did this?"
Closing his eyes, Duo tried not to show his own trepidation. "I'm fine Hilde... I just need to sleep and forget about tonight."
She didn't seem to want to comply with Duo's wish, but knew she couldn't stop him. Hilde still followed Duo downstairs and persisted in questioning him with her silence, but it did no good against Duo. After a while she was forced to leave in order to finish her own work before she was too tired to finish it.
Duo was glad to be left on his own, and now that he was in his sanctuary he could try to figure out what he would do.
The police are definitely going to be all over this... A murder in this town will make all of the higher-ups wary, and they might even end up offering a reward for whoever turns in that guy.
"What if he comes for me next?" Duo thought aloud as he sat on his mattress. He had lit his candle for light when Hilde was in there, but now he blew it out. "That guy had a fancy gun that I doubt any normal person would be able to afford... Aristocrats like that never have to fear about being caught when they commit crimes, or if he's in the military he has nothing to worry about either."
Once the darkness engulfed the entire room, Duo felt an immediate sense of comfort. His whole life he'd lived in obscurity and had always found to be more at ease once the sun set. The young man lay on his side facing towards the door, and once again was confronted with the image of the man's missing face.
Just the clarity of his face was enough to make Duo retch, even with nothing left in his stomach. He got up and went out into the narrow hall to find a bucket, a rag, and some water to clean up his mess. Once he accomplished the task of finding the items he brought them back to his room and cleaned everything up.
He decided to leave the bucket close by in case it happened again.
As he was lying abed Duo found he was trying to picture what the other young man had looked like. Because tonight was moonless, there hadn't been quite enough light for him to make out the details of the murderer's face. Those eyes were the only thing he could remember, and thinking back on it he noticed there was no murderous intent when he'd looked at the guy.
Maybe he'd really just wanted to save Duo?
It took him ours to fall asleep because his thoughts continued like that for so long. When he was woken up by Hilde, he could tell it was late in the morning. Already Duo could hear someone singing up on the stage as his friend pulled him up.
"Do you know how late it is? I know you're exhausted from last night, but you'd better hurry and clean up before one of them comes down here." Hilde was referring to the two men who owned the theater, and both of them were picky with their workers. Their caretakers woke up at six in the morning and tidied up anything they'd forgotten from the previous night, and they were allowed to go out as late as they wished as long as they were awake on time.
When he looked in the mirror of the washroom he noticed some of the blood was gone, but he had neglected to discard his clothes from the night before. Duo stripped and threw the ruined garments to the side. Hastily the young man washed his body of the dried blood still remaining and then dried himself off.
Hilde had brought him some new clothes and placed them outside the door. Thankfully she always thought two steps ahead of everything when Duo was incapable of doing so.
"Maxwell!" One of the owners was banging on the door, and Duo hurried to the door. Before he opened it, he threw the evidence of last night completely out of sight. Bursting into the washroom the stout man shoved his worker against the wall. "What's the meaning of this? This is the second time this week you've slept late! You're not paid to sleep all day!"
Duo picked himself up, "You hardly pay me at all, Monsieur Le Tallec."
Another man followed the pudgy Le Tallec, and towered over the two in the washroom. He was almost the exact opposite of Le Tallec with the fact that he was much thinner, and much taller. He was even much calmer than his partner, but their goals were the same.
"You must remember, boy, that you were lucky to even get this job. If it wasn't for Hilde vouching for you then you would've been living on the street like you should be."
Keeping his mouth shut was the only thing he could do whenever Bernier was around. Duo wasn't all that afraid of Le Tallec since he was sure he could outrun the portly old man, but Bernier had already proven once before to some kid that he could catch them and punish them thoroughly.
"Come Tallec, we must go make sure the guests had a splendid time." Bernier ushered his business partner out of the washroom, but remained behind. "Maxwell, immigrants like you don't often have such job opportunities. There are many people on that street just like you who would die to get any sort of income, so don't jeopardize your employment any further."
Duo waited until both men were completely out of sight before snatching the clothes up from the floor. "I'll just dump these outside and nobody will ever see them again."
"How'd it go?" Hilde popped up from around the corner as Duo was exiting the bathroom. She glanced curiously at the clothes in Duo's arms, but didn't really question it.
"The usual... I honestly think that those two are just waiting for a real excuse to get rid of me. But let's not talk about those two anymore." Duo was followed by Hilde all the way to the back of the theater where he threw the clothes onto the pile of trash waiting to be removed. "By the way, I wanted to thank you for cleaning up my mess all the time lately. I feel horrible how everybody always has you do it when I'm not around."
"If you're really sorry Duo Maxwell, you'll stay here for once and clean it up yourself." She wagged her finger at him with mock sternness. As they began to head back inside the theater she asked him the question he'd been dreading. "Are you going to tell me about what happened last night?"
The silence was answer enough for Hilde as she smiled and shook her head.
"Someday you'll learn not to be so secretive. I have to go now, I'm sure they'll be expecting me to treat their most important guest personally."
Duo grabbed her arm as she was about to leave, "Let me do it. You've been working your ass off all last night and this morning. Go ahead and take a break, and I'll take care of the royal pain in the ass."
Hilde didn't have time to say anything as Duo ran into the building. He immediately headed for the stairs to the balcony since he knew which one all of the guests of the day sat. As expected, Le Tallec and Bernier were already there talking to their invitee.
"Mademoiselle Relena, we know you'll get the best service from our best employee Hilde." Le Tallec introduced who he expected was Hilde, and when he laid eyes on Duo his entire face turned purple. "Excuse me; apparently you'll have another of our excellent employees Duo."
Duo thought that Relena didn't look like ordinary aristocrats. Every time he'd been in the presence of the wealthy they always turned their noses up as if he was disgracing the air they were breathing by being there. Instead she stood up and did a small curtsy before shaking his hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," She had a benevolent presence about her, and a kind smile. Something Duo didn't experience often and was glad to finally meet someone who didn't look down upon him.
"The pleasure is all mine." He grinned and his bosses left then. "Is there anything I can get you during the intermission?"
Relena sat down in her seat and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, my bodyguard has been gone for a while now. Perhaps you can go check on him? He tends to wander around, and sometimes he forgets to come back."
Why would anyone hire a bodyguard like that? I thought they were supposed to stay by the person's side and protect them at all times.
Duo didn't say any of his thoughts out loud and was about to go in search of the man when Relena stopped him.
"Oh, his name's Heero. I'm sure you'll be able to find him right outside the building or close by. Sorry for the inconvenience again." She sounded sincere as she said it, and it made Duo feel awkward.
"Listen, it's my job. You're making me feel weird being so nice!" Duo winked at her and then took off down the staircase. He really wanted to help Relena for some reason, and he chalked that up to that charisma that surrounds her. Once he was down on the front steps he looked around for a guy who looked like a bodyguard. "Let's see... anyone out here look like they'd have the name Heero?"
"My name's Heero, what do you want?" A voice asked from behind Duo and startled the young man. He whipped around and found himself face to face with the person who apparently was Heero.
Duo backed up a few steps and ended up bumping into some woman who was walking with her husband into the theater. The woman cried out in pain even though she'd barely been bumped, and this provoked an angry reaction from the husband.
"Watch where you're going you wretch," He turned his nose up just like Duo was used to seeing, and Duo decided to just apologize and get it over with.
What he didn't expect was Heero's reaction to the man. "Don't blame him for an accident he couldn't prevent."
"You have no right to talk to me like that!"
Duo was going to tell Heero to forget about it, but the glare the bodyguard gave the man and his wife scared the off. He couldn't believe somebody had actually stuck up for him.
"Thanks for that..." He couldn't explain why he was so embarrassed to thank Heero, but he could feel his face getting hot. "Listen Mademoiselle Relena is waiting for you in the balcony... If you're supposed to be a bodyguard why did you leave her all alone up there?"
"Why are you blushing?"
Duo groaned and began pushing the bodyguard back towards the door, "Aren't you worried that she'll be kidnapped while you're out here?"
Heero didn't respond or object as Duo pushed him to the staircase. The two of them walked up side by side and Duo still felt that his face was flustered. He couldn't figure out why he was acting weird around Heero.
Relena seemed glad to see Duo and Heero, and she thanked Duo for bringing her bodyguard back. The two of them seemed to enjoy the rest of the show and they didn't ask Duo to do much. Once the performance ended and everyone was leaving, Le Tallec and Bernier checked up on Relena, Heero, and Duo.
"Did he do a satisfactory job? If not we'll be happy to fire him." Le Tallec bowed to Relena as he spoke.
"No, actually I'd like to request him tomorrow as well." Relena smiled at the shock all over Le Tallec's face, and Duo had to struggle not to laugh.
"Of course, he'll be on time tomorrow." Bernier covered up his partner's mistake as he bid farewell to one of his favorite customers. "You'd better be here on time Maxwell, or I will throw you out."
Duo rolled his eyes and headed to his room, and went looking for Hilde. She was in her room reading some book she'd probably bought with the money she was saving up. "How'd it go?"
Sighing Duo plopped down on the mattress beside Hilde, "Actually it went rather well, except for this one thing..."
Hilde snapped the book shut, "What do you mean? Do you like Relena Peacecraft?"
"Where would you get that idea?"
"You're blushing Duo," Hilde smiled at him teasingly but also it seemed a little sad.
"Actually I don't think it was her, I only got this way around her bodyguard... Shit, I'm a real freak now." Duo put his head in his hands, "If Bernier and Tallec find out I like men they'll definitely get rid of me."
"Listen Duo," she put a hand on Duo's shoulder. "I promise not to tell anyone about it so don't worry."
Duo didn't say anything, he was just glad to have a good friend like Hilde. Especially since he'd just told her the one thing that could potentially make him a permanent outcast. "Do you swear?"
"What would I get out of making you lose your job? You're really special to me Duo, and it's a rare thing to meet a person like you." Hilde smiled as she stood up, "Another show is about to start, do you want to watch? Or would you rather just wait here?"
Staring at the ceiling, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do at that moment. Forcing himself to sit up, Duo grinned at the young woman standing by the door. "Nah, I think I'll go have a walk around outside. Get some fresh air and maybe spend what little money I have on me."
As far as he knew it was going to be some ballet, and he wasn't very interested in that sort of thing. Plus he'd already watched the most of a ballet that morning with Relena and Heero, so he was ready to get out of the stuffy theater. There was a small market place right around the corner that was sure to have some interesting things on display.
He made his way out the back entrance and then joined the rest of the crowd on the street. Duo loved being outside whenever possible, and that was why he always disappeared at night to go have some time alone. Yet he found himself hoping to see Heero just randomly, and tried to convince himself how impossible that kind of desire was.
What are the chances of Heero wandering around out here? After all he does have a job as a bodyguard and most likely will be with Relena.
Duo found himself attracted to a shop that sold items of the 'occult', or supposedly that's what they sold. When he entered the store the only light was from several candles scattered around instead of using the now popular gaslights.
Nobody besides him was browsing through their merchandise, so he quickly set about to see if anything was worth his money. Duo stopped as he a necklace caught his eye. As he approached it a woman popped up beside him, "Please refrain from stealing my things."
"Where the hell did you come from?!" Duo observed the woman, but her face was hidden beneath the hood of her cloak. "I'm guessing this is your shop by the way you're dressed up. And I wasn't going to steal anything."
"Would you like your fortune read? I will give you a reading for four francs if you're interested." The woman gestured towards the back of the shop where Duo could see a wooden table and two chairs. "Will you take me up on my offer?"
"I guess, but I don't believe in that shit so don't expect me to be wowed by it." Duo followed the woman reluctantly and sat down across from her.
She pulled out a deck of tarot cards and began to lay them out. After doing so carefully, she proceeded to read the cards.
"It seems that you're confused about something major in your life and that your love life is in turmoil at this moment. You must beware of any temptations that could have the potential of ruining your chances of finding true love as this might be the most important time to look for a lover." She was about to continue, but Duo stopped her.
He stood up and threw the money on the table, "I don't have the time to listen to this. My love life isn't in turmoil because it's nonexistent right now."
Making his way toward the door, the woman called out for him to stop and he obliged her request.
"Do not be too reckless because you think true love is an easy thing to recover. Once it is lost, there is hardly any chance of you to find it again."
Her warning went unheard as Duo had left, not wanting to listen to the ramblings of some con artist wasting his time. As the young worker was going back to the theater he noticed that Hilde was sitting against the side of the building in a defeated slump. As Duo approached her, he noticed something was wrong with her.
Hilde wasn't breathing.
----
Okay, first off I don't want any Relena or Hilde bashers to flame me for putting them in here. I actually love the two of them (even though Hilde died...) because they're two of the best female anime characters I've seen. So if you're going to rant about how much you hate them, then don't bother reading anymore.
Now that I got that out of the way! I guess I should explain a little bit. Obviously I put this in France and I'm setting it around the early 1800's, but I want to state it clearly for everyone that all of this is not historically correct. It's pretty simple to figure it out from the fact that they didn't have guns like Heero used in the beginning and there are other things that you can see aren't from the time period.
But there really is a city in France called Bordeaux and there really is a Grande Theater of Bordeaux (which was constructed in 1781 or something). So there are some facts in the story, but I'm not writing this to be exactly like it was back then.
In any case, I hope this chapter was enjoyable for readers.
Please R&R!
Shari Maxwell