Author's Note: Most of the vampire and Order of Phytoran history lessons are over. Now on with the core of the story. Visit www (dot) geocities (dot) com (backslash) shinigamiange1 for my fan art. (This won't be updated again til chapter 4)
"Fractured Souls"
(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸ Journey to Rosetta¸.•´¯•. ,.:¯)
Duo felt incredibly uncomfortable being so close to so many people. Loud whispering filled the hallway, as hundreds of hunters waddled slowly through the stuffy corridors, anxiously making their way to Room Four. Duo let out an irritated huff. If they were moving any slower, they would not be moving at all.
"Why Room Four? Isn't it a little small for all these people?" Duo asked quietly, almost as if he were talking to himself. "I wonder what's going on now."
Trowa was in front of him, making no gesture to suggest he even heard Duo talking. "Whatever it is, it must be important," he replied without turning around.
"Oh!" Duo exclaimed softly, tugging Trowa's sleeve, "Maybe they're sending us home! I hope so. I can't stand it here any longer. London sucks. I can't wait to get back to New York. The first thing I'm going to do is get a big slice of Angelo's pizza with extra cheese. Oh yeah." His mouth watered at the thought of the breaded slice of heaven. "Oh," he added in false surprise, "I almost forgot to mention the fact that nearly everyone in this clan hates me and most of them probably want me dead."
Trowa shook his head. "Duo Maxwell, concerned first and foremost about food," he chuckled softly. "I guess somethings will never change."
It was Sunday, and the museum was closed to the public. Steadily, hunters began filling the small white room. Although he immediately noticed all the mages were already present, the first thing Duo noticed when he entered was Quatre, standing next to the Rosetta Stone, conversing quietly with several members of the Council. Violet eyes lowered suspiciously, anger etched into the handsome features of his face.
"Well, we definitely aren't going home," Duo announced loudly for everyone around him to hear, "I've never gotten any good news from any of them."
"If we are going home, it would be on the Council's orders." Trowa said dully.
"Hey!" Duo protested in a falsely hurt tone, "You're suppose to be on my side."
"Well, that would explain why they are here. Besides, they asked to see all of us. Why else would they do that?"
"No, it's gotta be something else. Like you said, they asked to see all of us. Not just the transferees. We aren't going home. I'll bet my life on it."
The young hunters muttered various unheartfelt apologies through the crowd as they made their way to the edge of the room, taking care not to bump into the glass towers throughout the room, housing various artifacts. Duo leaned against the wall. Trowa was standing beside him, his eyes fixed intently on the blonde clan leader. From the side, Duo could see the London Clan's hunter apprentices, sitting perfectly crosslegged in several lines on the floor. They looked excited; their full attention on Quatre and the red robed men and women at the center of the room.
Look at them. So young, naive, and stupid.
Duo stared at them for a moment, staring, but not really seeing. They were blurred little shapes to Duo as he tried to remember what if felt like to have the worries of a normal child. He stopped thinking about it when the trail of miscellaneous thought drifted to a darker place in his mind. Where memories were tattered bloody images, leaving him feeling angry rather than nostalgic. He jerked his mind out of the darkness and looked around the room. In this big a crowd, no one was looking at him, whispering neither snide comments, nor one's filled with false hope.
Duo turned his attention to the front. At the center of the room, Quatre was shaking the hand of the Councilman on his right. A part of Duo could not help but feel sorry for the small blonde. Most clan leaders were much older than him. He was given the responsibility when he was only eighteen; still a child. No other clan leader in history of the Order has been that young. Duo thought he always looked emotionally exhausted, a beautiful sort of sadness that shadowed over his pale features. Heavy stress and constant fatigue masked the unusual grace of his slight form. In many ways, he was like Duo. No one asked Quatre if he wanted to join the Order; he never had a choice in the matter.
The man beside Quatre turned around. Duo sneered - this was the perfect end to a perfectly lousy day.
"Christopherson," he hissed, leering at the man with the very deepest of loathing. Although the Councilman was not looking in his direction, Duo was still satisfied with his silent threat, wishing looks really could kill.
Trowa tore his glance away from the robed man and looked at Duo, "Ignore him Duo. Just pretend he's not there."
"Easy for you to say. The person you hate more than anything isn't in the same room as you."
Everyone was standing uncomfortably close to one another. Shouts of inappropriate touching could be heard from some of the younger, more immature hunters. Duo rolled his eyes. He use to think stuff like that was funny, but that was a long time ago.
Quatre turned around to face the group, cleared his throat and raised his hands high, causing his long white sleeves to fall to his elbows. "Alright! Everybody settle down!" the young clan leader yelled loudly. "I know you are all wondering what this is about. I promise if you all have patience, you'll have your answers as soon as everyone arrives."
He put his arms down and the room immediately erupted in various volumes of hushed whispers. Every couple of minutes a hunter or two would drudge in, rubbing their eyes. They were taking it better than Duo would have. He absolutely hated being woke up. If he had been sleeping when they knocked on his door, they would have simply gotten an unceremonious "Fuck off." And if they entered, various random weapons thrown at them. The braided hunter, along with the rest of the crowd, was getting restless - this was taking far too long.
"I'm outta here." said Duo at once. He turned around and began walking towards the exit, Trowa's voice calling behind him. But before Duo could make it halfway to the door, all the exits were magically closed by the mages beside them.
Quatre's eyes followed the last of the stranglers into the unsettled crowd. This time it was Christopherson's time to quell the impatient crowd of annoyed hunters and mages. "Quiet everyone, Quiet!" he barked. Duo turned back around and began making his way back to his former spot on the wall through the sea of immobile hunters, listening intently to the Councilman. Duo had to bite his lip to resist the overwhelming urge to yell "Fuck you!" as loud as he could at the man.
Christopherson put his arms down and walked behind the blonde clan leader, who stepped forward so his voice would penetrate the room better. "Thank you all for your patience. I will try to make this as quick as possible. I have some rather excited news you all will be interested to hear."
"Oh, I can't wait," Duo mumbled sarcastically.
"Sshh." Trowa let out irritably.
The braided hunter shook his head mockingly behind the taller hunter.
"Now that you're all here," Quatre announced firmly, "we can begin. As you all may know, The Order has financially backed the Peacecraft family's egyptian excavations for hundreds of years. The Peacecraft family has made many important discoveries that have helped us better understand both the origin of the ancient Egyptians and their mysterious connection with the vampire race. We believe, this afternoon, Relena Peacecraft's team has made the most important discovery thus far."
The room had fallen completely silent, their full attention on Quatre.
"Her excavation was near the Damanhur Stela where her ancestor's team found the Rosetta Stone," he paused, gestering to the large stone encased in glass behind him, "before the french's army came and seized it. The French noticed the missing pieces of the stone and naturally, combed the area in an effort to locate them. As history will tell us, they were unsuccessful, of course. The new excavation was attempting to find the missing pieces of the stone to fill in the last remaining blanks of the Egyptian Hieroglyphic language. A little over two hours ago, the excavation team recovered three stone fragments covered in hieroglyphics, believed to be the missing pieces. Upon further examination, on site mages quickly determined we were dealing with something else entirely."
Quatre sounded excited now, a small smile on his face. Duo had never seen him smile before. He was almost unrecognizable without his normal worn-out expression. "Key hieroglyphics have been identified that have lead us to conclude that we have found key artifacts that could finally unravel the specific origin of the vampires."
Everyone in the stuffy room was talking very avidly amongst themselves, causing Quatre to have to speak louder, "We are not going to try to transport the stones magically because we do not know what dangerous hidden properties they may possess. Instead, the Council has ordered a special team of hunters and mages to be sent to Rosetta to immediately transport the stones safely to London." Quatre turned to a member of the Council, who opened a rather old looking scroll and began reading off several names.
Duo tuned him out and nudged Trowa, who turned around, "They brought us in this tight ass room just so he could point at the damn rock? That's dumb as hell. Hey, what do you think-"
"TROWA BARTON!"
A female hunter behind them pushed Trowa forward. "You're Trowa right?" she asked hastily.
"Hn." he replied, a slightly angry look on his face.
"Go! That's the third time they've called you!"
Trowa looked from her to Duo and proceeded to the center with the Councilman.
"You're lucky he didn't punch you," Duo whispered to the girl.
"No," she corrected him, "He's lucky he didn't."
"Sure." Duo said mockingly, crossing his arms, only somewhat paying attention to the names being called.
"Jake Carvike, Amy Deykle, Marshall Finkly..."
He began looking around the room, watching the hunters walk to the group in the center at the announcement of their names, when something bright green caught his eye. It was Aliyas, or more specifically, Aliyas's hair. Eyes sweeping the crowd, she spotted him and waved. He gave her a Duo Maxwell signature smirk, gestering the greeting back. He tugged his hair and frowned a bit, mouthing the question: "why?"
She smiled and shrugged indifferently. Duo shook his head, chuckling shortly to himself. The young spunky hunter changed her hair more than any other person he'd ever met. She was the only person Duo talked to, besides Trowa of course. When he was first summoned to London, she was asked to show him around. Years ago, Duo took to the habit of wearing brown contacts around new people in the Order he met. It helped him give a better impression before they labeled him as "Duo Maxwell: the smart ass, attention-seeking, thinks he knows it all, wonder child of Celes's prophecy."
When he first met Aliyas, she had short spiky dark purple hair with light blue tips. The two talked about their similar interests while she showed him around the secret underground passageways and rooms beneath the British museum that served as the barracks for their clan. She had a twisted sense of humor, similar to Duo's, and the two quickly became good friends. When he told her his name, she smiled for a second before replying cooly, "I thought those looked like contacts."
He was shook out of the memory when he was shoved hard by the same hunter who pushed Trowa.
"DUO MAXWELL!" shouted the Councilman, looking at him wildly, like he was some kind of idiot.
Duo didn't have to look around, he could feel everyone's eyes burning holes in the back of his head. "Go!" the girl behind him shouted. "Do you and your friend just like hearing your names? I think we hear your name enough already."
"Shut the hell up," he hissed dangerously at the girl. Eyes following him, the crowd parted along the wall as Duo made his way to the middle of the room, quickly darting out of view behind the other hunters.
Duo stood quietly behind the dozen or so hunters, waiting for the Councilman to finish calling out all the names. The stocky Councilman closed the scroll as he read the last name, "Aliyas Rossariah."
'Alright. At least Trowa and Aliyas are going too.'
A different Councilman, standing close to Duo opened a similar scroll and began reading. Her voice was very nasal, emitting a not-so-subtle note of superiority, "Will the following mages come forward." Clearing her throat unnecessarily, she shouted loudly "Kyllista Anoctis, Kaitlin Anoctis-"
Duo's body visible tensed up at the announcement of the two names. He slowly peered around the side to watch the Anoctis sisters move through the crowd. Their elegant movements and long flowing silvery white hair made them look like they were floating on air rather than walking. They were in every way identical, from their bright blue eyes down to their flawless porcelain white skin - both characteristics of individuals with a natural affinity for magic. The twin sisters were as arrogant as they were beautiful. At the young age of seventeen, both of them were up for positions on the Council, even though they were younger than any other person that's been on it. Most weren't chosen for the Council until they were past forty. Their skill could be the reason they were chosen for this mission. Then again, it could just be Christopherson trying to make his life (if at all possible) more miserable. The twins hated Duo, and the object of his every frustration knew it.
The Councilman finished running off a dozen or so more names before closing her scroll and stepping back, so that Quatre was once again the center of attention. "The rest of you may go about your regular routines. Thank you for your time." Quatre turned and leaned in to whisper something into on of the Councilman's ears, then walked swiftly over to the group of hunters.
Watching his approach, Duo got an uneasy feeling. Quatre shot him a nervous sideways glance. As Duo caught his eye, the young clan leader looked away quickly and joined the circle of chosen hunters, waiting attentively, "You all have been selected because you possess certain abilities that are required to safely see the stones here. You will work as a team, " he stressed the last word, turning towards Duo, giving him a "this means you" look before continuing, "to achieve the objective. You all should pack quickly. Your flight leaves in an hour."
Quatre gave Duo another odd glance before plunging his hands into his long white robes and rejoining the group of Councilmen in the center of the room. Without waiting for Trowa, Duo sprinted off to their room.
Duo, following the familiar maze of twists and turns under the museum, was grateful the halls were empty. He opened the door of his room and walked inside without fully shutting it behind him. He walked to his bed, and pulled out a worn brown suitcase, chunking it on his bed. Reaching into his nightstand, he grabbed a Snickers as Trowa silently entered the room behind him. He unwrapped the chocolate bar, carelessly throwing the wrapper on the floor. He took a bite, grabbed another bar and motioned for Trowa to take it. Trowa raised his hand and Duo tossed him the bar.
Trowa caught it with ease, "You know we are going into vampire central right?"
Duo gave a short huff, "Yeah. Sounds like they are just trying to off me any way they can now. Did you see how Winner was looking at me? If the Council is involved and they picked me, this whole thing has to have something to do with Celes's prophecy. I'd bet my life on it." Duo spat, shoving a faded black t-shirt into the old suitcase.
"Look Duo," he replied hesitantly, so much so that Duo didn't like the sound of it, "I know you don't believe the prophecy, but look at the facts: your ability to control vampires, your eyes, your birth - It all fits. Would believing it actually be that bad?" Trowa asked, putting the last of his clothes into the suitcase and zipping it.
Duo shut his suitcase hard. Leave it to Trowa to analyze everything logically. "I don't believe it Trowa, because it has destroyed my life. Because of it, vampires killed my family, my friends, everybody. Did you know I don't even remember what my parents looked like. All my life," his voice trembling slightly, "I've been surrounded by death because of something someone proclaimed would save us, but all I've ever seen it do is kill people. If I can't even save the ones I love, how can I save anyone else?" Not looking at Duo, Trowa stared at his suitcase.
A knock at the door broke the uncomfortable silence that had filled the room. Ignoring the slight move Trowa made for the door, Duo quickly stomped over and tore it open, nearly ripping it off the hinges. Behind it stood Quatre. "Speaking of people who ruined my life," he remarked shortly.
"What do you want, Winner?" Duo asked, still gripping the doorknob tightly.
"Beileve it or not, I'm not here for you." Quatre said hotly, stepping into the room.
"Guess there's a first time for everything," the braided hunter retorted, turning his back on the blonde and walking back to his side of the room.
"Trowa, may I have a word with you privately please," he requested.
"Er..sure," Trowa said, dropping a hunter uniform into his backpack beside his suitcase, zipping it shut.
The two stepped into the hall and began whispering. While taking his ponytail out and finally rebraiding his hair, Duo pressed his ear against the wall next to the hall, listening hard to try and understand what the pair were saying, but the walls were too thick. All he could here was incoherent mumbling, and gave up shortly thereafter. There was a whoosh of air as the door creaked open slowly. Through the small opening, Duo could see Quatre's face scrunched up, nodding slightly. He watched as the blonde gave him a sad sort of look, turned and left. Moments later, Trowa entered the room, skin slightly flushed.
"You okay? You look like you're about to be sick. What did he say to you?" Duo asked, watching Trowa fiddle through his backpack.
"Nothing, I'm fine. Let's go," Trowa replied quickly.
The two young hunters grabbed their bags and made for their transports to the airport.
The trip to the airport was uneventful and boring. If Duo hadn't brought his mp3 player, he would have likely died of boredom. Upon arrival, everyone silently exited the black suv's, grabbed their belongings, and headed for a small, private jet. Inside the plane was quite comfortable. Every window had two large red reclining seats. There was room enough for around fifty passengers in all. Trowa sat down in the first seat he came to and Duo plopped down beside him. Duo wasted no time leaning his chair back and putting his arms behind his head. Maybe he could get a quick nap in before they arrived in Alexandria. Before Duo knew it, Trowa was shaking him, telling him to wake up.
Duo slowly opened his eyes. "What? What? What is it? Are we there yet?" Duo replied, yawning loudly.
"Duo! Get up!" Trowa yelled, exiting the empty plane.
Duo rubbed his eyes, noting the bad taste in his mouth. He reluctantly pushed himself out of the overstuffed chair, stretching his arms above his head. Everyone else had already left the plane. Hastily, he grabbed his luggage and made for the door. The sun shone brightly and Duo's eyes didn't have time to adjust to the blinding light. He squinted and reached around in his backpack, grabbing his shades. Making his way down the jet's steps, he skipped the last couple and headed for the only car left that would take them to the train yard.
Oh no. I'm going to kill Trowa! Anything but them!
Duo threw his stuff in the trunk and took the last seat left in the back of the car with the Anoctis sisters. Duo closed the door and shifted to sit as far away from them as possible. They were in every way identical, so Duo didn't know if he was beside Kyllista or Kaitlin. Not that it mattered anyway. It's not that Duo was particularly afraid of them or anything. It's more the fact that when someone hates you with every fiber of their being, you try not to piss them off, if all possible. Duo could not blame them for hating his guts. He killed their mother. She was the witch from the Council ordered to take him from Maxwell Church all those years ago. He didn't want to kill her. It was an unavoidable act of neccessity. Like so many things in his life - he did not have a choice.
The ride to the station was the most uncomfortable thirty minutes of Duo's life. A tense, cold silence laced with sheer utter hatred filled the car. Even though he hated silence, he dared not speak to two people who, more than anything, wanted him dead. When the car reached the trainyard Duo got out as quickly as possible, took his ticket from the driver and grabbed his suitcase. Ahead, the braided hunter saw Trowa get out of the car with the two other hunters: Aliyas, and some other hunter Duo had never spoken to.
Seeing Duo, Aliyas smiled. "Your friend doesn't talk much, Duo. I thought 'e'd be more like you," she commented in her thick British accent.
"Silent, but deadly. He's hilarious, actually. You just have to catch him at the right moment," he replied brightly.
Duo, Trowa, and Aliyas were the only ones smart enough to dress down out in the open. To the general public, everyone else looked like they were in a bunch of halloween costumes. A couple of people raised their eyebrows and whispered as they passed. They could, however, have been talking about Aliyas's bright green hair, which, at the moment, look more like football turf than hair.
"Don't they realize they look a bit out of place?" whispered Duo to her.
"Apparently not," said Aliyas, smirking, "Then again, so do I. No one likes this new style. The first thing I'm going to do when I get back is dye it brown."
"What! You, with a normal hair color! I think I'm going to fall over dead."
"That's not funny, Duo."
They two laughed, handing their tickets to the attendant, loading the train car. Duo made his way to the back of the car, entered an empty cabin, crammed his suitcase into the overhead compartment, threw his bookbag under the seat bench, and chose the right seat by the window. Seconds later, Trowa entered with a book in his hands. He too stuffed his suitcase in the overhead compartment, dropped his bookbag in the floor, then took the seat across from Duo.
"I can't believe you left me for dead," Duo said bitterly, giving his friend his best death glare, but Trowa didn't look up. Instead, he opened his book and started reading.
"Don't blame me. That's your own fault," he replied placidly, staring intently at the first page, "You were sleeping like the dead. I tried to wake you up for a good 5 minutes, and that's saying something."
"Well, since I'm such a nice guy I forgive you. Whatca got there?"
"Magic for beginners," Trowa replied confidently.
"What! You want to try magic! Why didn't you tell me?" yelled Duo.
"You never asked," Trowa replied cooly, turning the page.
"Now who's the smart ass? Magic is addictive, Trowa. Some let it control their lives. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into." Duo said, fiddling through his bookbag for his mp3 player.
There was a knock at the door and Duo looked up. Aliyas's face appeared through the glass. She slid the door over just enough to poke her head in.
"You lot won't mind if we sit in here? I thought I'd give you the pleasure of my company," she explained sweetly, tossing Duo her bags.
He caught them, looking confused, "We? What you got a split personality I don't know about?" he asked sarcastically.
"Kiss my ass, Duo. I meant me and Marshall." Completely pushing the doors to the side, she walked in and sat down.
"Well, I guess you can, since you've already sat down and everything. Oh, by the way, the fee for sitting next to me is twenty bucks. Pay up baby," Duo replied sweetly, putting out his hand.
She punched him in the shoulder, lightly reminding him, "You are not in America anymore Duo. We don't have 'bucks' here."
"Right, how could I forget? Well, looks like you're off the hook, but just this once." He put his arms behind his head and stretched back.
Marshall knocked on the glass, but did not wait for an answer. He slid the door opened and took the remaining seat next to Trowa.
If Trowa knew someone just sat next to him, he showed no sign of it. His full attention was focused on the old book in his hands.
"Just come on it why don't cha." Duo told Marshall, staring him in the eye with a slight scowl on his face. A part of him loved to intimidate hunters who never spoke to him before.
"I'm s..sorry," he studdered, "Aliyas said it would be alright if I sat here."
"It is alright," she said smiling, "Duo's just being stupid."
The whistle blew and the train finally started moving. Marshall glanced nervously at Duo. He grew up hearing his name, but never thought he would actually meet the guy. He let out a deep breath, trying to play it cool, "How long is this ride?" he asked.
The only thing Duo knew about Marshall was that he came from the Sidney Clan in Australia. Even if he didn't know that information about him, upon hearing his accent, one could guess the obvious. Duo resisted the urge to laugh hysterically as he pictured Marshall on a kangaroo, stabbing vampires through the heart with a silver boomerang.
Duo shrugged and took a guess, "Ummm, don't know. Bout ten hours or so."
Marshall shook his head. "Ten hours! Damn, I should have gone to the bathroom at the station. I hate taking a piss in motion."
Duo looked at him, a slightly disgusted look on his face. So much for playing it cool.
Aliyas closed her eyes, shaking her head in a disapproving manner, "That was too much information."
"Well, Cricky! Too late for that now, mate." Duo said jokingly, in his best Australian accent.
Eyebrows raised, Marshall stared at him. It was obvious the Australian Hunter didn't know what to make of the comment. Aliyas snickered, "That sounded quite horrible."
"Just playing with you man," Duo explained quickly, leaning over and punching him in the arm, flashing his best smile.
"I know," Marshall replied unconvincingly, "I can take a joke." He rubbed his stomach. "I'm starved, when do we eat?"
Suddenly, everyone else realized just how hungry they were too. Everyone looked at Duo as his stomach gave a loud growl, even Trowa peeked up from his book, trying to discover the origin of the loud noise.
Duo gave a fake clearing of his throat, "Ahem, Well! Anyone want to go to the dining cart with me?"
"That's sounds great," Aliyas said, standing up.
Everyone started to leave, except Trowa. Duo walked out the door, calling back to Trowa. "Yo Trowa! You coming or what?"
"In a minute," he yelled, turning over another page, "Go on, I'll catch up."
"Alright. See ya." Duo's distant voice sounded through the car.
The small group walked through several cars before coming to the dining car. Duo opened the door, the delightful smell of food filled his nostrils. Duo's mouth instantly began to water. The three sat down the booth closest to the back and grabbed the menus on the end of the table. Marshall and Aliyas were on one side, and Duo was on the other .
"I think I'll have the steak!" Duo announced loudly, licking his lips at the perfect image of a steak on the right side of the menu.
The waitress came by and the group placed their drink orders. She returned very shortly with their drinks. Just as she left again, Trowa slowly walked in. Duo stood up and flagged him over. Trowa sat down next to Duo, grabbed his coke, and took a sip.
"Hey! Get your own!" Duo yelled, snatching the coke away, spilling some of it in the process. Trowa sported a smug look as he watched Duo use a napkin to mop up the sticky brown mess. The waitress came over, took his order, and left again. After several minutes of pointless debate as to which was better: regular M&Ms or peanut M&Ms, the waitress brought them their food. Duo eagerly took his plate. Almost savagely, he cut his steak and promptly began stuffing his face.
No one touched their food, except for Trowa, who began eating his salad. Everyone else just stared with their jaws dropped at the braided american, stuffing his face like there was no tomorrow. Trowa, however, had seen Duo eat like he hadn't seen food in a year many times before.
"Slow down Duo! Geez! You would think you've never seen food before. How do you eat like that and stay that small?" Aliyas asked.
"Metaf-baf-lifzim." Duo mumbled, spitting bits of food on the table.
"Gross, say it don't spray it," said Aliyas, holding up a napkin to block the unwanted projectiles.
Duo swallowed the massive amount of food in his mouth, stating firmly, "Metabolism. Also, makes me a bit hyper if you didn't notice."
Everyone looked over at Trowa, who had his hand over his mouth to prevent anyone getting sprayed by his drink. Coke dripping between his fingers, he grabbed a napkin and began cleaning his sticky hand. "Believe me when I say, EVERYONE notices that Duo."
Aliyas's mouth dropped as she stared at Trowa in utter disbelief. Trowa took a napkin and wiped off his mouth, assuming he had lettuce on his face. Suddenly, Aliyas busted out laughing. "That's a good one Trowa. You're right Duo, he is funny."
"I didn't think that was very funny," said Duo in a falsely hurt tone. Trowa snickered, taking another bit of his salad.
Duo rubbed his now full stomach, "Ergh...I feel horrible. Urgh, God, I'm so tired. Trowa let me up. I think I'll get in a nap before we get there." Trowa got out of the booth to let Duo by. The stuffed hunter slid across the bench and moaned in pain as he made his way to the cash register.
"Eat and sleep. Does he ever do anything else?" Aliyas joked between fits of giggles.
"I heard that!" Duo called back, walking out the door.
Duo pushed open the glass doors of the cabin, cheeks puffed and stomach slightly bulging. With great effort, he felt under the seat, looking victorious as he pulled out a pillow and blanket. He opened his front pocket of his bookbag and pulled out his mp3 player. Pressing play, he got comfortable, and let Linkin Park fill his head as he fell into a hard slumber.
(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸ ¸.•´¯•. ,.:¯)
Duo looked around. He was in some sort of oasis - naked, waist deep in water. The sun was blazing high in the sky, burning his exposed skin. The water beneath him felt cool and refreshing on his hot flesh. He slowly let himself fall back, allowing the cool liquid wash over his body. When he came up for air, he was grabbed from behind by a pair of strong arms. He struggled for a second but relaxed as the person began kissing the back of his neck. His tense body relaxed against the smooth skin behind him. He closed his eyes. He felt so safe. The grip around him loosened as hands felt down his sides. Goosebumps graced his skin where fingers once were. Duo shuddered slightly as fingertips stopped at his hips and gently pulled him lower into the water. Duo felt a surge of ecstacy fill his body. Something about this felt so right. His breathing was heavy and excited. He had to have more. He turned around to kiss the person behind him, but they were gone. "Where?" he asked, smile fading, "Where are you?"
(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸ ¸.•´¯•. ,.:¯)
Duo woke up with a startle, looking madly around the cabin. Aliyas was sitting on the other side of the cabin, looking at him like he just vomited all over himself. "You okay?" she asked, "You were moaning in your sleep, then just started screaming."
Cheeks burning with embarrassment, he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a dream," he said absently, leaning back against the seat, "It was just a dream."
Duo took a deep breath. Something about the dream was particularly unnerving. He had experienced dreams like that before; who didn't? No, this was something else. He felt like he had actually been there - only he knew he hadn't. Lately, he would be doing things, and have the distinct feeling he had done them before; only memory would prove him otherwise. He would sometimes tell people things - and be throughly convinced he did, but they would swear up on down he didn't, frustrating him to no end. And although he didn't tell anyone else this, there were a handful of times he would doze off, then wake up in places he didn't recognize, never being able to remember how he got there.
Duo looked out the window; it was already dark outside. He stretched his arms about his head and yawned. "How much longer do we got til we get there?"
Aliyas looked at her watch, "We are almost to the station. From there, we have an hour's long journey on horseback."
"What, no camels?" he asked sarcastically.
The overhead light flickered off and on. Duo looked up curiously at the fixture. "What the hell was that?"
Aliyas put down her Cosmopolitan magazine and looked up, "Who knows. Probably just a glitch."
Thinking the worst, Duo reached into his bag and pulled out his scythes. Seemingly on cue, their car lost all power. Fingers fiddling through slightly moon-lite darkness, he managed to find the door's lock and pry the panels open. He peered out into the hall, but wasn't able to make anything out.
"You see anything?" she asked, attempting to see over his shoulder.
He pushed her back, "Get your guns. Something's not right," he replied quickly, his voice suddenly serious.
Slowly, the two stepped into the tight hallway, but it was difficult to keep their balance. The car swayed violently as it hit a curb hard. Duo braced his right hand on the wall to keep from toppling over. "We aren't suppose to be going this fast," he said, stating the obvious.
"You think so, do you?" Aliyas said, picking herself off the floor.
Duo turned his head to look behind him. "Where are the others?" he asked, eyes fixed on her bluish tinted outline.
"They just left to - " her voice was suddenly muffled - she was being attacked. Duo wanted to punch the person attacking her, but was afraid he'd hit her instead.
Duo reached deep down within himself, unleashing his cold power, actually hoping it was vampires attacking them. "Stop all of you. Drop your weapons. NOW!" Duo commanded, his eyes gleaming dangerously in the darkness.
"Save your magic child," a sweet voice called out through the darkness, "it's not going to work on us."
'Shit.'
Duo pushed past the shadowy figure in front of him in a desperate effort to get to the adjacent car. Before he was even halfway to the door, he felt a sharp prick in his neck and fell face first in the floor with a heavy thud. Reaching for the spot, he pulled out a small tranquilizer. Immediately, the moonlight brightened, filling the corridor in a bright blue bath of light.
Although everything was slightly blurry, Duo still recognized the man in front of him - it was a face he would never forget as long as he lived. "You!" he bellowed, voice cracking, "What the hell! Why? W..h.." His head was spinning; everything felt so far away. He tried to pull himself up but his arms gave way under his weight. From the low view of the carpet, he strained to look up as two vampires grabbed him by the shoulders, then everything turned dark.
(¯·.¸ .•´¯•.¸.•´¯•.¸.•´¯•.¸.•´¯•.¸.•´¯•.¸,.:¯)
Whoa I almost didn't make it on time this month. This was a little shorter than the last chapter. Originally, I designed this chapter and the next as one whole chapter, but realized how incredibly long they would be together. So, I decided to split them up instead. I may be a little longer in posting the next chapter because there are huge chunks I am taking out and/or redoing entirely. That's the reason the story didn't go as far in this chapter. Sorry for the cliffhanger. What can I say? I love the drama! Don't worry, Heero finally comes into the story in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading and remember to review! -Points to review button- Thank ye!