Falling into Darkness Chapter 2

By Shinigami y Inochi

Genre: angst, supernatural

Disclaimer: I seem to have forgot this on the previous chapter so here it is: I don't own Gundam wing, or any other characters in this story that belong to Bandai.

Reviews: Would love critiques! Using this as a way to get back into writing and would love suggestions!

"Damn the little fool!" The dark lord condemned as he stood, the very stone of this throne shaking with the fury of his words. "He's getting too strong for his own good. That last blast could have actually done some damage." The shadow paced back and forth before the glowing mirror, anger emanating off him in hot waves that burned at the Oracle's senses.

She came out of her trance after a moment, shaking with the remnants of reality out of her vision. "Your, grace, may I speak plainly?" She watched is restless pacing with calculating eyes, eyes that know far more then they let on.

"By all means Oracle, you alone have never failed me, you alone have offered advice useful to my mission." He stopped pacing for a moment to gaze at her, the mirror behind him casting his features further into shadow, an outline of sheer power.

"Was not the point of all these years to awaken that potential the death of all those close to him, his mother, the orphanage where father Maxwell took him in, and solo? Was not the point of all that to awaken the anger inside him. To make him hate?" She questioned, placing a red clothed hand on the back of the throne, leaning her lithe frame across the cold stone almost seductively.

"That is true, my Oracle, but you know all this already. After all, it was through your power that these events occurred." He furrow his brow in annoyance at being reminded of facts he already knew, but also knowing that the Oracle rarely spot without a reason.

"Since he must come willingly to you my lord, why then are you allowing him to have feelings for another and not yourself?" The Oracle cornered, challenging him. At the same time holding her tongue on information she held as leverage. She knew far more now about the prophecy she gave her master when this child was born than she was willing to let on.

A knowing smile crossed the demon's dark features. "He will not come willingly to me, no matter how much pain I put him through. If I allow him, nay encourage his love of this foolish human pilot, then I can use that love to claim him. Little Duo would not allow harm to come to this boy and will willingly forfeit his soul to me to save him." His voice tingled with triumph in his plan; positive it would work to his advantage.

The Oracle nodded, her bright eyes saddened ever so slightly. "I understand my lord." The shadow nodded and resumed his pacing, plotting against his prey. 'You will fail in this my lord, if you are not careful. You have never loved, in all of your eternity, and thus you fail to realize it's power.' She watched her master quietly, scenes flashing before her eyes with every step, each one a possible future. She saw the young braided pilot face down in the mud, a pool of blood mixing slowly in the rain falling all around him. She watched him burst into frustrated tears, pounding his fists into the headstone of a grave before his friends pulled him away still struggling. She felt his ecstasy in the pleasure of his brown haired lover as he stripped a brown uniform from his muscular arms with the words "preventer" written on the chest, and finally she saw him kneeling before this very throne; chained and bleeding, the light long since gone from his eyes as her master laughed at the tortures he put his new play thing through.

Still, she held silent. Never influencing what may come. She watched the lord of this undead world pace back and forth patiently; she was quite used to his plotting and knew things worked out better for her if she kept silent. Suddenly he stopped, turning towards the doorway with a look of vial inspiration.

"Despair!" He called out loud, the walls shaking against the deep godly power of his voice. Bits of stone and dust fell from the ceiling, falling all around them as the earth shivered. A pile of stone dust fell on the Oracle's shoulder, drawing her attention. She glared at the offending earth and it burst into tiny flames on her shoulder, effectively ridding herself of the problem, the heat of the flames scorching earth, but doing no damage to the soft fabric of her robes.

"You summoned me your grace?" The hollow, unfeeling voice came from the doorway, an instant appearance to his summons.

"Do come in Despair, I have a job for you." Their master commanded beckoning the demigod forward. Despair nodded, stepping into the room with the practiced grace of a cat. He wore robes of royal blue with the hood thrown back to allow his raven locks to drape about his shoulders, shimmering in the light of the mirror. His eyes were a pale blood red, and lifeless as the damned. The flat disk of color held no pupil to dilate nor iris to give it focus, giving the causal on-looker the impression the being was blind; but Despair saw perfectly well; though his gaze usually fell onto those in dreams.

"As you command my lord." Despair glided closer, emotion absent in every word he spoke.

"I want you in Duo Maxwell's dreams this night. Remind him of all his past memories and regrets. Give him a tiny glimpse of his future. Make it a nightmare, Despair, a nightmare greater than any you have ever created before." Shadows still clinging to his muscled body, the lord commanded his disciple jubilantly, a flicker of sharp teeth glinting in the light from his grin. "I want him thrashing in fear before you're done with him."

Despair's eyes sparked to life a moment in anticipation. "Of course your grace."

"And when he wakes?" The Oracle demanded, her voice harsh with disapproval. "What more will you do to him then?"

"Nothing." The smug reply started her for the briefest moment. "I leave it up to Heero Yuy to do the rest." The Oracle narrowed her glowing turquoise eyes at him, but said not a word. "Now go Despair, back to the land of the living with you. Do not return until your task is complete."

"Of course my lord." Despair pulled his hood over his distinct features and covered his clawed hands, passing only vaguely for human in the ethereal light.

"Oracle." The master commanded, drawing her attention back to the two me. "A doorway please." She nodded in understanding, focusing her gaze on the surface of the mirror. He eyes began to glow brightly, the glow of the mirror matching pitch with her power and coming into complete focus. The flawless surface before her began to waiver, tiny ripples spreading out from the center as though a stone had been dropped in the center of a vast never ending lake. The once solid glass turned transformed into a pool of liquid magic. Despair stepped forward after a moment, placing hand tentatively to the mirror's bright surface. The pool rippled at his gentle touch, fingertips just barely gracing the once still waters. He plunged his hand below the waves, the mirror yielding to him easily taking in his form as he stepped through, never reflecting back where he was headed. When Despair had disappeared through the shimmering pool the glass wobbled a moment, hardening slowly as tendrils of ice crawled across it, returning to its original properties as if nothing had happened.

"Keep your eyes on that mirror, Oracle, and tell me immediately when Despair returns, understood?" Came the issued order in a voice of one used to his orders being followed commands a servant without thought.

"As you command your grace." The Oracle replied her voice hard, but none-the-less complacent.

"I have other matters to attend too, I shall return only when you have called." He strode from the room with confidence, his feet silent on the stone floor. The Oracle waited until her master was beyond ear shot before she folded herself gracefully into his throne, her turquoise eyes glowing eerily in the shadows of the room.

'Fool. He has absolutely no idea what he's doing. He's plotted too long on this task to throw it all away so easily.' The Oracle's thoughts fell on all that had happened to the boy her master hunted relentlessly, almost in pity, an emotion she had long ago thought she no longer possessed. She signed and closed her eyes, opening her mind to visions of past and future that fell on her. 'Soon, all that has been written will come to pass.' She drifted on completely into the sight…

Duo skipped dinner with the other pilots that night, an action extremely unusual for the braided pilot; after all, Duo loved to eat, food came second only to causing havoc. Duo sighed heavily as he closed the door to the room he'd be sharing with Heero, his damp hair wrapped gingerly in a big towel to dry and draped half-hazard over his shoulder.

"A few minutes alone will do me some good." He commented to the air, enjoying the silence. He sat down on the bed nearest the far wall, a tiny worn-out mattress with squeaky springs, and watched the trees blow in the soft breeze from the window. "Earth has so much to offer. Why wouldn't anyone want to live here?"

No one answered him, but the he didn't expect an answer. Duo let his cheerful façade fade into the background as he stared out the window. He didn't move for an hour or more, completely engrossed in the movement of the leaves. He found it soothing at times, it helped to clear his head of unwanted thoughts, or rather, unwanted voices. He didn't see the dull red eyes watching him from the far wall, nor did he notice when Heero entered the room.

Far below them the Oracle screamed in agony, pulling herself from her vision forcefully to find that she was kneeling on the floor of the throne room, her hands bloody from clawing at the stone chair. She caught her breath slowly, shaking her head to clear it of the last gruesome scenes flashing still before even open eyes.

"This cannot be…" She groaned painfully as she rose. Passing one bloody and bruised hand over the mirror, she brought into focus four of the gundam pilots finishing their dinner plates and talking in hushed voices….