The Tale of Snow White . . .
Part 1
By, Mikia
Chapter 1
"Funny ol' piece of crap," Duo mumbled as he gazed at the object.
Noin just laughed and shook her head.
" It's called a magnifying glass Duo," Noin replied a she gave him a weird look
" I see," Duo answered as he gazed through it making it his eyeball 3 times larger then usual.
" Noin, this library is huge," Relena complimented as she chose a book.
" Thanks Relena, it took me forever to get it straight," Noin remarked as she looked at Relena's chosen book.
" Hmmm, No Dark Place, a very lovely book," Noin remarked.
" It interests me, after all, look at the cover," Relena added.
" Heh."
" Duo, what's so funny?" Noin asked as she turned her head at his direction.
" Look at this, it has Heero's face on the front," Duo replied as he held up a book. It had wicked witch from Snow White. Noin just laughed out loud just in time for Heero to look from his book.
" Duo, let me see that, now," Heero commanded.
" You sure? It isn't one of your best pictures," Duo joked and hid the book behind his back.
Heero just smirked and saw who was just above and behind Duo. Trowa of course. Then, Trowa jumped down from the balcony and snatched the book away from Duo.
" Hey! No fair! I can't do somersaults!" Duo whined and tried to get the book back.
" Too bad for you," Trowa remarked and threw Heero the book. Heero just gazed at it and started to twitch. Duo just whined and backed away. He knew was coming, and he didn't like it. Heero just scowled and got up from the sofa. He just stood and threw the book at Duo. It hit him in the face leaving a bright red mark. Noin and Relena just laughed some more and went back to searching for books.
" Wait a minute, usually the Snow White stories have, well, Snow White on the front," Noin replied as she realized what she remembered.
Relena understood and walked over to the book and picked it up. Her eyes widened and shook her head snapping out of it. She walked back to Noin and showed it to her. Noin as well gazed in confusion at the book. The cover was horrifying. The witch, was on the front, and looked even more evil. Her eyes her blood shot, her gray hair streaming down, and what was worse, she was holding a bloody knife, and the heroine of the tale, was lying on the floor, before the villain.
" I have never seen such, a book," Noin whispered loud enough for Duo to act serious.
" What's wrong?" Duo asked as he walked over to Noin to check it out.
" This book, it's, the cover is horrifying," Relena replied covering her mouth.
Duo just stared at the book and started to blink.
" Um . . . I was sure that it didn't look like this at first, the witch, she, looked, just, like a normal witch. You know, the triangular hat, broom, face all green, wart-covered nose. But, not like this," Duo added very confused.
" It's seems old," Noin replied as she looked on the back.
" That's strange, it's locked," Relena added as she pointed out the golden small lock.
The room went silent and the library windows just tapped against the side of the wall. The curtains came streaming following where the wind was blowing. Heero just stared at the window and Trowa started breathing hard. Relena blinked and started to back away to one of the bookcases. Duo's heart started to pound, and to him, it felt as if it was echoing through the whole house. Noin just looked at the window and swallowed hard. Relena started to shiver, and everyone else felt the cold. Relena's back bumped against the wall and everyone just for the moment, stopped breathing.
Then, Relena felt two hands touch both of her shoulders. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out.
" Relena."
Relena face went pale but there just one voice whispering in her ear, but two voices whispering in each ear.
" Relena."
Then, a scream went throughout the library making everyone else jump and scream as well, including Heero. Relena ran away from the bookcase and turned around. Her face went red from anger for, she forgotten that Quatre and Wufei were also on the balcony looking for books.
" You stinkin' dorks! I swear! You scared the living crap out of me!" Relena yelled
" We kinda figured that after you screamed," Quatre added as he unplugged one ear. Relena's face was still red, but she also embarrassed. Wufei smirked and looked at Quatre. Quatre just let out a big grin and Wufei and him rolled their eyes. Noin just let out a breath of relief and slapped Quatre upside the head as well as Wufei. Heero just rolled his eyes and picked up his book. Trowa let go of his chest from not having a heart attack. Duo just let out a big breath and slammed his head against a globe. Quatre and Wufei just laughed and got up. They went over to the metal staircase leading to the bottom level of the library and walked down still smiling.
" Hey Noin, can I see that book?" Quatre asked.
" Uh, yeah, sure," Noin answered and handed Quatre the book. Quatre stared at it and his grin went away. Wufei peeked over Quatre's shoulder to see what this whole book matter was about. When Wufei finally saw it, he stood cold, his grin gone as well. Quatre swallowed and gave Noin the book back his face confused and scared. Wufei shot his eyes over to Noin, pale, and confused.
" Uh, and that's supposed to be the story of Snow White? Kinda gruesome for a child's book," Quatre finally replied.
" Unless the author was really demented," Wufei mumbled.
Quatre just let out a laugh and returned his direction towards everyone else.
" So, it's locked right?" Quatre questioned.
" Yeah, and I have no idea where the key is," Noin answered. Quatre just let out a breath of relief and went back to smiling. Wufei's face went back to it's normal color and his face looked as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. Heero went back to reading, as so was Trowa. Noin picked out a book and seated herself next to Heero. Relena seated herself on the floor with Duo next to her. Quatre and Wufei also sat on the floor, making sure not to get too close to Relena.
Then, it past about 15 minutes of quiet chatting till' everyone noticed that Relena was quiet half the time. Heero looked at her, and saw, that her attention was at the globe that Duo banged his head against. Everyone went silent and looked at Relena.
" Um, Relena? Are you okay?" Noin asked.
" Yeah, sort of, but, for some reason, the globe, isn't what it's suppose to be," Relena answered.
" It's a map of the world Relena, what other purpose is it suppose to be?" Wufei added.
" Hmmm."
Relena got up from her seat on the carpet and walked over to the globe. She stared at it at different angles and touched it. She squinted her eyes in confusion at the straight in the middle of the circle that represented the equator. She lifted the top part up and miraculously, it did revealing a wooden box.
" My goodness Relena, how in the world did you know that?" Noin questioned in confusion.
" When Duo banged his head against it, it didn't sound hollow, and mostly all globes are hollow," Relena informed and picked up the box. She looked at it and opened it. Inside revealed an old Victorian key. She walked over to Noin and showed it to her.
" Interesting, you know, this key may fit in that Snow White book," Noin replied as she observed it.
" Should we give it a try?"
" Probably so, if you want to know exactly how demented this thing is Heero," Noin joked.
Everyone just laughed and Relena handed Noin the key. Noin took it and turned the book to the back where the lock was. Noin placed the key in the lock and turned it. It let out a click and Noin pulled the key out and lifted the lock flap and opened the book. She looked at everyone and laughed. She examined the pages and to her, it was just like any other book. Then, she saw a very, odd illustration. It was not as gruesome like in the front, but a picture of a girl with long blonde hair coming to the door of a small cottage. Her eyes were a mysterious sky blue, and she looked someone with a clouded past.
Then, Noin saw something very odd. For a quick moment while she was examining the girl's face, Noin thought she saw the girl, smile. Noins eyes widened and she jaw dropped. Then, she couldn't take it anymore and shut the book.
" Hey, Noin, what's wrong?" Duo asked as Noin placed the book on the lamp table next to her.
" Um, nothing, it's just getting late, and we need our sleep, that's all," Noin replied trying to keep her voice normal.
" Whatever you say," Duo answered and got up.
Everyone else arose from their seats and went to the door leading to the main hall. Duo flicked off the lights and closed the library door and followed the others up the stairs to the bedrooms.
They got to their bedroom doors, said goodnight to each other and went to sleep, knowing nothing, will go wrong.
Chapter 2
It was about one hour after every one went to sleep. The library was dark, except for the moonlight glittering through the curtains and on to the floor, the shadows dancing in the light. The book was still on the lamp table, the front facing the ceiling. Then, the table shook violently, making the lamp dance off of it. The book shook along with the table and opened to the first chapter. The lamp crashed against the floor echoing the sound throughout the house.
Noin quickly sat up from her bed and started to breathe hard.
Relena yet out a yelp making the boys wake up.
Noin jumped out of her bed and raced to the door. She met up with everyone else in the hallway wondering what had happened. Then, Noin heard a sound as if someone was running. She turned her head to her right and her eyes widened in fear. A huge lump in the carpet was rolling quickly towards the group. Relena saw it as well and screamed. The boys turned their direction to the mysterious object and jumped out of the way. Noin jumped backwards her back hitting her bedroom door and Heero pushed Relena to a nearby wall. The worse was soon to come.
The whole house started to shake violently making everyone lose their balance and on to the floor. Wufei was the only one trying to stand up but something more drastic happened. All the windows and doors in the whole house opened automatically at the same time.
Since Noin and Wufei were holding on to the doorknobs to their bedrooms, they tumbled back-wards back into their rooms.
Wufei's back hit the side of lamp table making him pass out.
Noins back hit the wall but she was still able to take anything. She looked at her window and the wind was blowing fiercely making the leaves cover up her floor.
Then she heard more screaming coming from the hall. Noin got up and ran towards the door and looked out. She saw Relena staring down the hall, Heero holding her by the shoulders, Duo was trying to keep his balance, and Quatre was about ready to pass out. Noin turned her gaze to where Relena was staring and her eyes widened in fear. Before her stood, a girl, her eyes clouded in gray and blue, and her hair was spreaded behind her. Her feet wasn't touching the ground and what horrified Noin the most, was that, her wrists, were slit opened, and a bright gold light shone behind her blinding everyone and everything went silent as everyone dropped to the floor passed out from the all the intensity.
Chapter 3
The sun seeped through the torn curtains at the end of the bedroom hall. The seven figures lay sprawled on the floor. Noin was the first to wake up. She looked opened one eye and gazed straight. She rose her head up and looked at everyone else. Relena was curled up against Heero; Trowa had his legs up the wall and his head on the floor. Duo was just plain sleeping on the floor, Quatre, was, passed out, and Wufei was in his room on the floor.
" Everything seems to be normal, I'm guessing it was just a tornado or something," Noin mumbled and sat up. She gently patted Relena and Heero on the shoulder. Relena weakly opened her eyes while Heero mumbled something and snuggled closer to Relena. Relena just looked at Heero and blushed and patted him on the shoulder. Heero woke up and looked down at Relena. He just blinked and sat up blushing. Noin was already trying to wake up Duo who was snorting and swatting her hand away. Finally, Noin got frustrated and just kicked him in the arm. Duo opened his eyes and screamed waking up Trowa and Quatre. Noin then remembered about the last person and rushed into Wufei's room. Wufei was already awake trying to figure out what happened by still lying on the floor. Noin took Wufei's arm and draped it around her shoulders and helped him up. She walked with him to the hallway where every was waiting and trying to figure out about what happened last night. They decided to head downstairs.
About mid-way down the stairs, they heard other voices.
" Guys, how bout' I check it out while you wait here," Noin asked as she looked at everyone noticing how pale they have been. They nodded and sat on the stairs waiting for Noin to return.
Noin walked down the stairs noticing things that weren't there in the first place. Like flags and torches instead of lamps. Plus, the smell of wine and cooked meat traveled throughout the house. Then, Noin heard the voices loud and clear in the library. She wondered what happened to the door for a second and peeked around the walkway. Then, she saw it. It was about a group of men, about 5 of them talking in front of the fireplace. And the most thing that frightened her the most was that, they were wearing armor. The kind of armor in medieval books that had the country's banner on the front. Noin gasped and saw everyone quieted. She quickly backed her head away and ran for the stairs. Not knowing that one of the men followed her.
Then, Noin stopped in her tracks from hearing other footsteps following her. She didn't want to dare to turn around. The footsteps stopped as well a couple of feet behind her. She heard a slight gasp and the footsteps continued towards her. Scared to death, Noin ran for it, the footsteps running after her. Not realizing the carpet that some how appeared around the corner, she tripped over it pushing it further back making whoever was behind her trip as well. But instead of landing like she did, she heard the armor crash into the stone floor. She tried to pull free but instead, she found that her leg was caught in the carpet, giving the other person enough time to catch her. She looked away not wanting to see the fate that would come upon her, the footsteps stopped a couple of inches from her right side and she looked to the left.
" Are you okay?" the voice replied in true concern.
Noin swallowed hard as she heard the armor clashing together as the person knelt down beside her. Noin couldn't take it any more and turned her face to have her eyes meet a pair of cold, sky blue ones. White, blondish bangs falling over his eyes, Noin soon realized that she was blushing.
" I- I think that I'll be fine," Noin admitted feeling her breath close as the person came closer to her face. " I beg your pardon?"
" Do you need help?" he whispered in her ear making Noin have shivers go down her spine. Noin nodded as she felt the carpet rise above her leg. She started to stand up only to have his hands grab on to hers and lifting her gracefully up. She looked up to only to see his whole face in a surprised and confused expression.
" Is- is there a problem?" Noin asked dryly.
" Nothing, I was just thinking how beautiful you are."
That's what hit here. ' This guy is so, polite, and true.' she thought as he touched her cheek with his hand making her blush like mad. His face came closer to hers, his blue eyes shining, and her face blazing with embarrassment. Then, just when their lips almost met, a voice rang out through the halls.
" Miss. Noin? Where are you?"
Noin turned around and yelled back.
" Over here Quatre!"
Then around another corner, came the others still pale and worried. The paused when they saw Noin blushing like mad and a man with white, blondish, long hair looking at them.
" Um, Noin, who's that?" Relena asked as she stepped forward and next to Noin. The man just looked down at Relena in confusion and at the boys. Quatre swallowed hard and stepped back while Duo stood there unmoving and blinking like an idiot. Heero, Trowa, and Wufei were about 1 minute away from shooting the guy until he spoke.
" Who are you?" he said almost irritated.
" Um, we're staying here," Heero answered.
" I wasn't told of this. You obviously are trespassers," the man scowled.
" Um, excuse me, but, we arrived here yesterday, and well, we never saw you here before," Noin replied calmly.
" I was here all day yesterday and today and I have never laid eyes on you before," the man replied harshly.
" Then I may as well introduce myself, my name is Relena Darlian."
" I'm Heero Yuy."
" Trowa Barton."
" Quatre Rebabra Winner."
" Wufei Chang."
The man looked at everyone else and bowed his head.
" My name Zechs Merquise. Zechs to my friends and fellow soldiers."
He turned his gaze towards Noin and stared at her.
" And what is your name?"
Noin stared at him blankly and smiled.
" My name is Lucrezia Noin. I prefer to be called Noin."
Zechs just stared at her and had a face of pure confusion. He just shook it off and looked at everyone else.
" Alright, you guys could stay, this is only that you seem no harm at all and that I can't resist the looks of pretty girls," he spoke and made a gesture for them to follow him. He seemed to slow down enough for Noin to be at his side. Then Noin felt comfort, like she was meant to be this close to him. It was practically like the fitted together. They walked until they exited out of the house and was greeted by trees that didn't seem to be there before the previous days when they arrived. They walked down the path quietly chatting and having quick glances over to the man next to Noin and then kept silent.
Soon enough, the path ended into a small village. This really gave everyone a shock because; the village wasn't there the day before when they came up to the house. The village seemed to come out of some fantasy book from the looks of the houses and shops.
" Feel free to shop around if you like," Zechs replied as he continued to greet some of the villagers.
The group scattered going into some of the shops. One particular shop that interested Quatre was a shop that looked like a magic shop. The sign said, " Magery and Spells" in black letters.
Just when Quatre was about to enter the shop, a hand grabbed his shoulder from the behind. Quatre spun around to see it was only Zechs.
" Don't go in there lad, that's the shop of the devil. It's own by golden haired seducer and she'll put a spell on you if you lay eyes on her. Take my word for it, you don't want to get involved with her," Zechs warned sternly and walked away. Quatre watched Zechs walk away and turned back his gaze towards the shop. Then, for a split second, he saw a pair of cold blue eyes peer behind the black curtain covering the window, but then it disappeared.
" Quatre! Let's go back! It's almost dark out here!" Duo yelled and Quatre followed still looking behind he's shoulder at the shop.
*~*~*~*~*
" That boy, could he be the one?" a girl replied astounded by what she saw. She let go of the curtain and turned around coming face to face with a man in a black cloak.
" Dorothy, what were you doing?" the man replied with anger in his voice.
" N-nothing sir, I was just seeing if anyone was going to come to our shop," the girl stuttered.
" I don't believe you, maybe you need to bathe in the cauldron, maybe that'll set your mind straight," the man bellowed as he moved closer to the girl.
" Please no sir! I beg of you, don't put me back in there!" she screamed trying to find something to protect herself.
" I know what you were doing Dorothy! You were looking for the one to free you!" the man yelled as he reached out his hand.
" Of course not sir! P-please have mercy!" the girl choked has the man grabbed her by the throat.
" …What mercy…" he replied coldly and punched her with his other hand in the face.
The girl screamed in agony has he threw her across the room. She let out a sharp scream of pain as she hit the wall of the fireplace. The man came forward again holding a chair and raised it above her.
The screams of pain rang through the night.
Chapter 4
" Hey Quatre, we're going down to the village to see if we can find more suitable clothes for this day and age. You wanna come?" Duo asked as he put his black cap on.
" That would be great," Quatre replied.
The two just laughed and walked out the door and down the path to the medieval village. Mostly every person in the small town was up and about walking into variety of shops and coming out with smile on their faces. Surely enough, it was something out of a fantasy book. Quatre let out a huge grin and looked around at all the village people while Duo was checking out the beauties by the well. Duo laughed and nudged Quatre on the shoulder turning his attention to the flirty girls that were batting their eyelashes and giggling. Quatre just blushed and shyly waved his hand at them, they giggled some more. Then one girl caught his attention. It was a lady hunched over with a torn cloak around herself. He watched her actions as if he was hypnotized and felt his legs go closer to her. Then the sound of a horse snapped him out of his trance and looked up.
There was the girl on the ground trying to protect herself from a white steed trying to trample her. The village went silent and gathered around the two frightened figures. Quatre had a reaction and raced into the middle of it, grabbing the horse by its harness saying calm words and petting it. It calmed down and there was a moan heard. He turned around and saw another cloaked figure in red on the ground covered in mud from falling into a puddle.
" If I do say so myself!" the muddy figure exclaimed coughing and getting up from the mud puddle. The figure removed the hood over it's head revealing a woman with shoulder length brown hair. She was wearing a red dress with gold sashes, but at the sight of her plain, gold crown around her head, each and every villager dropped to their knees, as did Quatre, Duo, and the near horse pancake.
" Lady Une! Your majesty, would you like new clothing? We have a fine violet silk in my shop reserved just for you if you like?" a nearby woman offered.
" No, it's alright, Lasline just got frightened," the woman replied petting her horse gently. " You, girl, are you alright? Seemed you got quite a shock yourself," the woman replied sympathetically.
" Please don't look at me your majesty," the girl replied hiding her face with her hood.
" What's wrong girl, are you ugly?" the royal replied giving the girl a stern look.
" Not that your grace, they say I'm a beauty, but I burnt my face last night near the fireplace, and the mark is too gruesome for someone as majestic for you to look at," the girl informed getting up and looking at Quatre.
" I thank you sir' for helping me. I owe you my debt of gratitude," the girl replied and bowed mid-way and ran off to her own shop. Quatre looked as she hesitated to open the door giving him a quick glance of her face. She had a pale face, with cold blue eyes and gold strands of hair were streaming down her face.
' She looks so familiar, but from where?' he thought as he saw her disappear into the dark shop.
" Haha! You go girl!" Duo exclaimed patting Quatre on the back. " You found a babe! Wait a go!"
" You go girl?" Quatre questioned giving Duo a bad-look.
" It's an American expression."
" No wonder."
Duo just laughed and saw a weapon shop.
" Uh, hey Quatre, I'll be right back, I want to check out that store real quick," Duo replied and ran off to the store leaving Quatre next to Lady Une.
" So lad, where do you come from? I've never seen such, interesting clothing before. You from the land east of here?" she asked.
" Um, not exactly. It's hard to explain. You can say we're visiting a friend," Quatre replied sheepishly.
" Oh? Whom you visiting lad, go on speak up," she commanded giving Quatre a stern look.
" Um, Zechs Merquise. The man who lives in the castle up the hill," Quatre informed.
" Zechs Merquise!" a voice shouted from a passing person.
" Why, yes," Quatre answered taking a look at the speaker.
It was a woman about 20 years with two blonde pigtails and sky blue eyes. She was wearing a dress with a white apron in the front and holding a basket full of apples.
" Whom might you be lass?" Une replied turning her attention to the maiden.
The woman curtsied and replied, " Moi name 'tis Sally Po mar'm. Oi'm the daughter of the farmer that works that the castle."
" Pleasure to meet you Maiden Sally. This is my friend uh-er-" Une stuttered glancing at Quatre for a name.
" Oh! My name is Quatre Rabebra Winner, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss. Sally," Quatre announced bowing slightly.
Sally just giggled.
" What's so funny?"
" 'Tis your name sir, sounds loike somethin' my Da' would make up," Sally answered giggling some more.
Then there was a scream from the weapons shop. And out came Duo with a big red mark on his cheek followed by a short violet haired girl holding up a sword.
" You perverted 'idle rat! How dare you look at me jugs! I 'outta slice off that demon hair of yours and throw it in de' fire for supper!" the girl screamed.
" I wasn't looking at your-uh-jugs! I was looking at the display case! It so happen that your chest was in the way!" Duo shouted.
The girl just turned redder and dropped the sword. Her lip began to quiver and she slightly bowed mid-way.
" Forgive me sir, 'tis a misunderstanding do not pay me any heed sir," the girl begged crying softly.
" Please don't cry! Um, why don't you give me your name and we can forget about this whole mess!" Duo whined waving his hands pitifully.
The girl looked up with mercy in her eyes and smiled brightly.
" My name is Hilde Schbeiker!"
Duo smiled and bowed mid-way.
" And my name is Duo Maxwell fair maiden," he introduced and looked up to see the girl giggling.
Sally and Une just laughed while Quatre was looking at the spell shop. The girl was once again peering out of the window curtain.
' She's looking at me again, but why?'
Part 1
By, Mikia
Chapter 1
"Funny ol' piece of crap," Duo mumbled as he gazed at the object.
Noin just laughed and shook her head.
" It's called a magnifying glass Duo," Noin replied a she gave him a weird look
" I see," Duo answered as he gazed through it making it his eyeball 3 times larger then usual.
" Noin, this library is huge," Relena complimented as she chose a book.
" Thanks Relena, it took me forever to get it straight," Noin remarked as she looked at Relena's chosen book.
" Hmmm, No Dark Place, a very lovely book," Noin remarked.
" It interests me, after all, look at the cover," Relena added.
" Heh."
" Duo, what's so funny?" Noin asked as she turned her head at his direction.
" Look at this, it has Heero's face on the front," Duo replied as he held up a book. It had wicked witch from Snow White. Noin just laughed out loud just in time for Heero to look from his book.
" Duo, let me see that, now," Heero commanded.
" You sure? It isn't one of your best pictures," Duo joked and hid the book behind his back.
Heero just smirked and saw who was just above and behind Duo. Trowa of course. Then, Trowa jumped down from the balcony and snatched the book away from Duo.
" Hey! No fair! I can't do somersaults!" Duo whined and tried to get the book back.
" Too bad for you," Trowa remarked and threw Heero the book. Heero just gazed at it and started to twitch. Duo just whined and backed away. He knew was coming, and he didn't like it. Heero just scowled and got up from the sofa. He just stood and threw the book at Duo. It hit him in the face leaving a bright red mark. Noin and Relena just laughed some more and went back to searching for books.
" Wait a minute, usually the Snow White stories have, well, Snow White on the front," Noin replied as she realized what she remembered.
Relena understood and walked over to the book and picked it up. Her eyes widened and shook her head snapping out of it. She walked back to Noin and showed it to her. Noin as well gazed in confusion at the book. The cover was horrifying. The witch, was on the front, and looked even more evil. Her eyes her blood shot, her gray hair streaming down, and what was worse, she was holding a bloody knife, and the heroine of the tale, was lying on the floor, before the villain.
" I have never seen such, a book," Noin whispered loud enough for Duo to act serious.
" What's wrong?" Duo asked as he walked over to Noin to check it out.
" This book, it's, the cover is horrifying," Relena replied covering her mouth.
Duo just stared at the book and started to blink.
" Um . . . I was sure that it didn't look like this at first, the witch, she, looked, just, like a normal witch. You know, the triangular hat, broom, face all green, wart-covered nose. But, not like this," Duo added very confused.
" It's seems old," Noin replied as she looked on the back.
" That's strange, it's locked," Relena added as she pointed out the golden small lock.
The room went silent and the library windows just tapped against the side of the wall. The curtains came streaming following where the wind was blowing. Heero just stared at the window and Trowa started breathing hard. Relena blinked and started to back away to one of the bookcases. Duo's heart started to pound, and to him, it felt as if it was echoing through the whole house. Noin just looked at the window and swallowed hard. Relena started to shiver, and everyone else felt the cold. Relena's back bumped against the wall and everyone just for the moment, stopped breathing.
Then, Relena felt two hands touch both of her shoulders. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out.
" Relena."
Relena face went pale but there just one voice whispering in her ear, but two voices whispering in each ear.
" Relena."
Then, a scream went throughout the library making everyone else jump and scream as well, including Heero. Relena ran away from the bookcase and turned around. Her face went red from anger for, she forgotten that Quatre and Wufei were also on the balcony looking for books.
" You stinkin' dorks! I swear! You scared the living crap out of me!" Relena yelled
" We kinda figured that after you screamed," Quatre added as he unplugged one ear. Relena's face was still red, but she also embarrassed. Wufei smirked and looked at Quatre. Quatre just let out a big grin and Wufei and him rolled their eyes. Noin just let out a breath of relief and slapped Quatre upside the head as well as Wufei. Heero just rolled his eyes and picked up his book. Trowa let go of his chest from not having a heart attack. Duo just let out a big breath and slammed his head against a globe. Quatre and Wufei just laughed and got up. They went over to the metal staircase leading to the bottom level of the library and walked down still smiling.
" Hey Noin, can I see that book?" Quatre asked.
" Uh, yeah, sure," Noin answered and handed Quatre the book. Quatre stared at it and his grin went away. Wufei peeked over Quatre's shoulder to see what this whole book matter was about. When Wufei finally saw it, he stood cold, his grin gone as well. Quatre swallowed and gave Noin the book back his face confused and scared. Wufei shot his eyes over to Noin, pale, and confused.
" Uh, and that's supposed to be the story of Snow White? Kinda gruesome for a child's book," Quatre finally replied.
" Unless the author was really demented," Wufei mumbled.
Quatre just let out a laugh and returned his direction towards everyone else.
" So, it's locked right?" Quatre questioned.
" Yeah, and I have no idea where the key is," Noin answered. Quatre just let out a breath of relief and went back to smiling. Wufei's face went back to it's normal color and his face looked as if a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. Heero went back to reading, as so was Trowa. Noin picked out a book and seated herself next to Heero. Relena seated herself on the floor with Duo next to her. Quatre and Wufei also sat on the floor, making sure not to get too close to Relena.
Then, it past about 15 minutes of quiet chatting till' everyone noticed that Relena was quiet half the time. Heero looked at her, and saw, that her attention was at the globe that Duo banged his head against. Everyone went silent and looked at Relena.
" Um, Relena? Are you okay?" Noin asked.
" Yeah, sort of, but, for some reason, the globe, isn't what it's suppose to be," Relena answered.
" It's a map of the world Relena, what other purpose is it suppose to be?" Wufei added.
" Hmmm."
Relena got up from her seat on the carpet and walked over to the globe. She stared at it at different angles and touched it. She squinted her eyes in confusion at the straight in the middle of the circle that represented the equator. She lifted the top part up and miraculously, it did revealing a wooden box.
" My goodness Relena, how in the world did you know that?" Noin questioned in confusion.
" When Duo banged his head against it, it didn't sound hollow, and mostly all globes are hollow," Relena informed and picked up the box. She looked at it and opened it. Inside revealed an old Victorian key. She walked over to Noin and showed it to her.
" Interesting, you know, this key may fit in that Snow White book," Noin replied as she observed it.
" Should we give it a try?"
" Probably so, if you want to know exactly how demented this thing is Heero," Noin joked.
Everyone just laughed and Relena handed Noin the key. Noin took it and turned the book to the back where the lock was. Noin placed the key in the lock and turned it. It let out a click and Noin pulled the key out and lifted the lock flap and opened the book. She looked at everyone and laughed. She examined the pages and to her, it was just like any other book. Then, she saw a very, odd illustration. It was not as gruesome like in the front, but a picture of a girl with long blonde hair coming to the door of a small cottage. Her eyes were a mysterious sky blue, and she looked someone with a clouded past.
Then, Noin saw something very odd. For a quick moment while she was examining the girl's face, Noin thought she saw the girl, smile. Noins eyes widened and she jaw dropped. Then, she couldn't take it anymore and shut the book.
" Hey, Noin, what's wrong?" Duo asked as Noin placed the book on the lamp table next to her.
" Um, nothing, it's just getting late, and we need our sleep, that's all," Noin replied trying to keep her voice normal.
" Whatever you say," Duo answered and got up.
Everyone else arose from their seats and went to the door leading to the main hall. Duo flicked off the lights and closed the library door and followed the others up the stairs to the bedrooms.
They got to their bedroom doors, said goodnight to each other and went to sleep, knowing nothing, will go wrong.
Chapter 2
It was about one hour after every one went to sleep. The library was dark, except for the moonlight glittering through the curtains and on to the floor, the shadows dancing in the light. The book was still on the lamp table, the front facing the ceiling. Then, the table shook violently, making the lamp dance off of it. The book shook along with the table and opened to the first chapter. The lamp crashed against the floor echoing the sound throughout the house.
Noin quickly sat up from her bed and started to breathe hard.
Relena yet out a yelp making the boys wake up.
Noin jumped out of her bed and raced to the door. She met up with everyone else in the hallway wondering what had happened. Then, Noin heard a sound as if someone was running. She turned her head to her right and her eyes widened in fear. A huge lump in the carpet was rolling quickly towards the group. Relena saw it as well and screamed. The boys turned their direction to the mysterious object and jumped out of the way. Noin jumped backwards her back hitting her bedroom door and Heero pushed Relena to a nearby wall. The worse was soon to come.
The whole house started to shake violently making everyone lose their balance and on to the floor. Wufei was the only one trying to stand up but something more drastic happened. All the windows and doors in the whole house opened automatically at the same time.
Since Noin and Wufei were holding on to the doorknobs to their bedrooms, they tumbled back-wards back into their rooms.
Wufei's back hit the side of lamp table making him pass out.
Noins back hit the wall but she was still able to take anything. She looked at her window and the wind was blowing fiercely making the leaves cover up her floor.
Then she heard more screaming coming from the hall. Noin got up and ran towards the door and looked out. She saw Relena staring down the hall, Heero holding her by the shoulders, Duo was trying to keep his balance, and Quatre was about ready to pass out. Noin turned her gaze to where Relena was staring and her eyes widened in fear. Before her stood, a girl, her eyes clouded in gray and blue, and her hair was spreaded behind her. Her feet wasn't touching the ground and what horrified Noin the most, was that, her wrists, were slit opened, and a bright gold light shone behind her blinding everyone and everything went silent as everyone dropped to the floor passed out from the all the intensity.
Chapter 3
The sun seeped through the torn curtains at the end of the bedroom hall. The seven figures lay sprawled on the floor. Noin was the first to wake up. She looked opened one eye and gazed straight. She rose her head up and looked at everyone else. Relena was curled up against Heero; Trowa had his legs up the wall and his head on the floor. Duo was just plain sleeping on the floor, Quatre, was, passed out, and Wufei was in his room on the floor.
" Everything seems to be normal, I'm guessing it was just a tornado or something," Noin mumbled and sat up. She gently patted Relena and Heero on the shoulder. Relena weakly opened her eyes while Heero mumbled something and snuggled closer to Relena. Relena just looked at Heero and blushed and patted him on the shoulder. Heero woke up and looked down at Relena. He just blinked and sat up blushing. Noin was already trying to wake up Duo who was snorting and swatting her hand away. Finally, Noin got frustrated and just kicked him in the arm. Duo opened his eyes and screamed waking up Trowa and Quatre. Noin then remembered about the last person and rushed into Wufei's room. Wufei was already awake trying to figure out what happened by still lying on the floor. Noin took Wufei's arm and draped it around her shoulders and helped him up. She walked with him to the hallway where every was waiting and trying to figure out about what happened last night. They decided to head downstairs.
About mid-way down the stairs, they heard other voices.
" Guys, how bout' I check it out while you wait here," Noin asked as she looked at everyone noticing how pale they have been. They nodded and sat on the stairs waiting for Noin to return.
Noin walked down the stairs noticing things that weren't there in the first place. Like flags and torches instead of lamps. Plus, the smell of wine and cooked meat traveled throughout the house. Then, Noin heard the voices loud and clear in the library. She wondered what happened to the door for a second and peeked around the walkway. Then, she saw it. It was about a group of men, about 5 of them talking in front of the fireplace. And the most thing that frightened her the most was that, they were wearing armor. The kind of armor in medieval books that had the country's banner on the front. Noin gasped and saw everyone quieted. She quickly backed her head away and ran for the stairs. Not knowing that one of the men followed her.
Then, Noin stopped in her tracks from hearing other footsteps following her. She didn't want to dare to turn around. The footsteps stopped as well a couple of feet behind her. She heard a slight gasp and the footsteps continued towards her. Scared to death, Noin ran for it, the footsteps running after her. Not realizing the carpet that some how appeared around the corner, she tripped over it pushing it further back making whoever was behind her trip as well. But instead of landing like she did, she heard the armor crash into the stone floor. She tried to pull free but instead, she found that her leg was caught in the carpet, giving the other person enough time to catch her. She looked away not wanting to see the fate that would come upon her, the footsteps stopped a couple of inches from her right side and she looked to the left.
" Are you okay?" the voice replied in true concern.
Noin swallowed hard as she heard the armor clashing together as the person knelt down beside her. Noin couldn't take it any more and turned her face to have her eyes meet a pair of cold, sky blue ones. White, blondish bangs falling over his eyes, Noin soon realized that she was blushing.
" I- I think that I'll be fine," Noin admitted feeling her breath close as the person came closer to her face. " I beg your pardon?"
" Do you need help?" he whispered in her ear making Noin have shivers go down her spine. Noin nodded as she felt the carpet rise above her leg. She started to stand up only to have his hands grab on to hers and lifting her gracefully up. She looked up to only to see his whole face in a surprised and confused expression.
" Is- is there a problem?" Noin asked dryly.
" Nothing, I was just thinking how beautiful you are."
That's what hit here. ' This guy is so, polite, and true.' she thought as he touched her cheek with his hand making her blush like mad. His face came closer to hers, his blue eyes shining, and her face blazing with embarrassment. Then, just when their lips almost met, a voice rang out through the halls.
" Miss. Noin? Where are you?"
Noin turned around and yelled back.
" Over here Quatre!"
Then around another corner, came the others still pale and worried. The paused when they saw Noin blushing like mad and a man with white, blondish, long hair looking at them.
" Um, Noin, who's that?" Relena asked as she stepped forward and next to Noin. The man just looked down at Relena in confusion and at the boys. Quatre swallowed hard and stepped back while Duo stood there unmoving and blinking like an idiot. Heero, Trowa, and Wufei were about 1 minute away from shooting the guy until he spoke.
" Who are you?" he said almost irritated.
" Um, we're staying here," Heero answered.
" I wasn't told of this. You obviously are trespassers," the man scowled.
" Um, excuse me, but, we arrived here yesterday, and well, we never saw you here before," Noin replied calmly.
" I was here all day yesterday and today and I have never laid eyes on you before," the man replied harshly.
" Then I may as well introduce myself, my name is Relena Darlian."
" I'm Heero Yuy."
" Trowa Barton."
" Quatre Rebabra Winner."
" Wufei Chang."
The man looked at everyone else and bowed his head.
" My name Zechs Merquise. Zechs to my friends and fellow soldiers."
He turned his gaze towards Noin and stared at her.
" And what is your name?"
Noin stared at him blankly and smiled.
" My name is Lucrezia Noin. I prefer to be called Noin."
Zechs just stared at her and had a face of pure confusion. He just shook it off and looked at everyone else.
" Alright, you guys could stay, this is only that you seem no harm at all and that I can't resist the looks of pretty girls," he spoke and made a gesture for them to follow him. He seemed to slow down enough for Noin to be at his side. Then Noin felt comfort, like she was meant to be this close to him. It was practically like the fitted together. They walked until they exited out of the house and was greeted by trees that didn't seem to be there before the previous days when they arrived. They walked down the path quietly chatting and having quick glances over to the man next to Noin and then kept silent.
Soon enough, the path ended into a small village. This really gave everyone a shock because; the village wasn't there the day before when they came up to the house. The village seemed to come out of some fantasy book from the looks of the houses and shops.
" Feel free to shop around if you like," Zechs replied as he continued to greet some of the villagers.
The group scattered going into some of the shops. One particular shop that interested Quatre was a shop that looked like a magic shop. The sign said, " Magery and Spells" in black letters.
Just when Quatre was about to enter the shop, a hand grabbed his shoulder from the behind. Quatre spun around to see it was only Zechs.
" Don't go in there lad, that's the shop of the devil. It's own by golden haired seducer and she'll put a spell on you if you lay eyes on her. Take my word for it, you don't want to get involved with her," Zechs warned sternly and walked away. Quatre watched Zechs walk away and turned back his gaze towards the shop. Then, for a split second, he saw a pair of cold blue eyes peer behind the black curtain covering the window, but then it disappeared.
" Quatre! Let's go back! It's almost dark out here!" Duo yelled and Quatre followed still looking behind he's shoulder at the shop.
*~*~*~*~*
" That boy, could he be the one?" a girl replied astounded by what she saw. She let go of the curtain and turned around coming face to face with a man in a black cloak.
" Dorothy, what were you doing?" the man replied with anger in his voice.
" N-nothing sir, I was just seeing if anyone was going to come to our shop," the girl stuttered.
" I don't believe you, maybe you need to bathe in the cauldron, maybe that'll set your mind straight," the man bellowed as he moved closer to the girl.
" Please no sir! I beg of you, don't put me back in there!" she screamed trying to find something to protect herself.
" I know what you were doing Dorothy! You were looking for the one to free you!" the man yelled as he reached out his hand.
" Of course not sir! P-please have mercy!" the girl choked has the man grabbed her by the throat.
" …What mercy…" he replied coldly and punched her with his other hand in the face.
The girl screamed in agony has he threw her across the room. She let out a sharp scream of pain as she hit the wall of the fireplace. The man came forward again holding a chair and raised it above her.
The screams of pain rang through the night.
Chapter 4
" Hey Quatre, we're going down to the village to see if we can find more suitable clothes for this day and age. You wanna come?" Duo asked as he put his black cap on.
" That would be great," Quatre replied.
The two just laughed and walked out the door and down the path to the medieval village. Mostly every person in the small town was up and about walking into variety of shops and coming out with smile on their faces. Surely enough, it was something out of a fantasy book. Quatre let out a huge grin and looked around at all the village people while Duo was checking out the beauties by the well. Duo laughed and nudged Quatre on the shoulder turning his attention to the flirty girls that were batting their eyelashes and giggling. Quatre just blushed and shyly waved his hand at them, they giggled some more. Then one girl caught his attention. It was a lady hunched over with a torn cloak around herself. He watched her actions as if he was hypnotized and felt his legs go closer to her. Then the sound of a horse snapped him out of his trance and looked up.
There was the girl on the ground trying to protect herself from a white steed trying to trample her. The village went silent and gathered around the two frightened figures. Quatre had a reaction and raced into the middle of it, grabbing the horse by its harness saying calm words and petting it. It calmed down and there was a moan heard. He turned around and saw another cloaked figure in red on the ground covered in mud from falling into a puddle.
" If I do say so myself!" the muddy figure exclaimed coughing and getting up from the mud puddle. The figure removed the hood over it's head revealing a woman with shoulder length brown hair. She was wearing a red dress with gold sashes, but at the sight of her plain, gold crown around her head, each and every villager dropped to their knees, as did Quatre, Duo, and the near horse pancake.
" Lady Une! Your majesty, would you like new clothing? We have a fine violet silk in my shop reserved just for you if you like?" a nearby woman offered.
" No, it's alright, Lasline just got frightened," the woman replied petting her horse gently. " You, girl, are you alright? Seemed you got quite a shock yourself," the woman replied sympathetically.
" Please don't look at me your majesty," the girl replied hiding her face with her hood.
" What's wrong girl, are you ugly?" the royal replied giving the girl a stern look.
" Not that your grace, they say I'm a beauty, but I burnt my face last night near the fireplace, and the mark is too gruesome for someone as majestic for you to look at," the girl informed getting up and looking at Quatre.
" I thank you sir' for helping me. I owe you my debt of gratitude," the girl replied and bowed mid-way and ran off to her own shop. Quatre looked as she hesitated to open the door giving him a quick glance of her face. She had a pale face, with cold blue eyes and gold strands of hair were streaming down her face.
' She looks so familiar, but from where?' he thought as he saw her disappear into the dark shop.
" Haha! You go girl!" Duo exclaimed patting Quatre on the back. " You found a babe! Wait a go!"
" You go girl?" Quatre questioned giving Duo a bad-look.
" It's an American expression."
" No wonder."
Duo just laughed and saw a weapon shop.
" Uh, hey Quatre, I'll be right back, I want to check out that store real quick," Duo replied and ran off to the store leaving Quatre next to Lady Une.
" So lad, where do you come from? I've never seen such, interesting clothing before. You from the land east of here?" she asked.
" Um, not exactly. It's hard to explain. You can say we're visiting a friend," Quatre replied sheepishly.
" Oh? Whom you visiting lad, go on speak up," she commanded giving Quatre a stern look.
" Um, Zechs Merquise. The man who lives in the castle up the hill," Quatre informed.
" Zechs Merquise!" a voice shouted from a passing person.
" Why, yes," Quatre answered taking a look at the speaker.
It was a woman about 20 years with two blonde pigtails and sky blue eyes. She was wearing a dress with a white apron in the front and holding a basket full of apples.
" Whom might you be lass?" Une replied turning her attention to the maiden.
The woman curtsied and replied, " Moi name 'tis Sally Po mar'm. Oi'm the daughter of the farmer that works that the castle."
" Pleasure to meet you Maiden Sally. This is my friend uh-er-" Une stuttered glancing at Quatre for a name.
" Oh! My name is Quatre Rabebra Winner, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss. Sally," Quatre announced bowing slightly.
Sally just giggled.
" What's so funny?"
" 'Tis your name sir, sounds loike somethin' my Da' would make up," Sally answered giggling some more.
Then there was a scream from the weapons shop. And out came Duo with a big red mark on his cheek followed by a short violet haired girl holding up a sword.
" You perverted 'idle rat! How dare you look at me jugs! I 'outta slice off that demon hair of yours and throw it in de' fire for supper!" the girl screamed.
" I wasn't looking at your-uh-jugs! I was looking at the display case! It so happen that your chest was in the way!" Duo shouted.
The girl just turned redder and dropped the sword. Her lip began to quiver and she slightly bowed mid-way.
" Forgive me sir, 'tis a misunderstanding do not pay me any heed sir," the girl begged crying softly.
" Please don't cry! Um, why don't you give me your name and we can forget about this whole mess!" Duo whined waving his hands pitifully.
The girl looked up with mercy in her eyes and smiled brightly.
" My name is Hilde Schbeiker!"
Duo smiled and bowed mid-way.
" And my name is Duo Maxwell fair maiden," he introduced and looked up to see the girl giggling.
Sally and Une just laughed while Quatre was looking at the spell shop. The girl was once again peering out of the window curtain.
' She's looking at me again, but why?'