Lovely
Chapter Seven
By Dreaming of Everything
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, or anything related to it, in any way, shape or form; neither do I own the story Beauty and the Beast, although it's way past it's copyright date by now. The "mythology" for Terrae I've created here is of my own invention, as is Terrae itself, and the rest of the world this is set in.
Author's Notes: Sometimes the writing works. Sometimes it doesn't work. The past few chapters of Lovely haven't worked; this one has. Bliss!
Again, there are 15 planned chapters for this story, meaning there's 8 more to go, and I'm going to stop writing in English sometime around late August/early September (so I can concentrate on learning another language.) I'm trying to finish this up before then, but I can't make any promises.
That said, thank you so much for all the support people have offered me! I'm glad people are enjoying the story.
As promised, this chapter features a mythological interlude in the form of a creation story created for Terrae. It's been adapted from the general over-reaching themes of several different cultures (various Native American Indian, Egyptian, Greek, Sumerian, Chinese… It's a hobby) but is pretty much of my own creation.
As always, thank you so much to my beta, Lady Friselle.
oOoOoOo
"No one would wait forever."
--Signal Fire by Snow Patrol
oOoOoOo
"Huh. I wonder what's with all the white roses all of a sudden?" Duo said, musing aloud.
It was a few days, nearing a full week, since Quatre had woken up, and Duo was with Quatre; the two of them had decided to go out and explore the extensive gardens more thoroughly, while Trowa and Wufei continued their game of chess in the library. It had been raining, earlier, and the two of them were already soaked through, from brushing against and pushing through bushes soaked with rainwater.
Duo was the only one who had seen Heero at all, since Quatre had collapsed, and even that was only during dinner—and for the first few days he had only made a five-minute appearance to growl his proposal.
"There are a lot here, isn't there?" Quatre replied. "'Roses are for love, except for white roses. White roses are for forever—' That's what my grandmother used to tell me, at least."
Duo laughed. "I got told the same thing! Only it was my mother. She'd served as lady's maid to some rich noblewoman, once upon a time, and she'd picked the language of flowers up. She used to tell it to me instead of bedtime stories." Duo smiled, his expression more reserved (but more unguardedly happy) than it usually was.
"I wonder if it's a speaking garden…" Quatre said, brightening a little. The grounds were pretty, but there hadn't been much more than that to keep the two boys occupied.
The garden was tastefully and formally designed, but it seemed that it had been neglected recently. The dark evergreen hedge should have been strictly clipped, but it had been neglected, forming a more natural, hap-hazard appearance, and the white roses had rioted through the garden bed under their free reign, weaving themselves through the other plants until parts of the hedge couldn't even be seen under the tangle of blossoms and thorn-covered vines. A fountain still trickled water, though it was half-covered in moss and being slowly enveloped by a bush that was in turn covered with the ever-present roses.
Most of the flowers were in white, where there were any at all, and heavy pots formed out of white marble stood, irregularly placed, throughout the square of greenery the hedge fenced off; the path of white marble stepping stones wove through the jungle of plants, edged with bright red flowers, one of the few sparks of color in the garden.
"Well," Quatre said, "the hedge is yew."
"For sadness," finished Duo. "What are those spiky things in the pots?"
"Aloe, for bitterness and pain. We had them back in Maae—I'd never thought I'd see them here. They're good for sunburn. And there's wormwood, for absence."
"Nope, woodworm's for absinthe," Duo muttered, to great private amusement. "Red geraniums are for stupidity and hydrangeas for—"
"Frigidity?" Quatre said, face purposefully innocent.
Duo laughed out loud. "Never heard that one. Nope, I got told that hydrangeas were for heartlessness. Dogwood for duration, though—it matches the roses."
"Dogwood?" Quatre said, eyeing the waxy, four-petal flowers Duo had indicated. "We always called that a cornel-tree, but it has the same meaning."
Duo shrugged. "Basil for hatred."
"Or for love," Quatre added.
"Peonies for shame."
"Heather for solitude."
"This looks like wolf's bane, but its flowering white," Duo said, poking gingerly at the plant in question.
"We had a white form in Maae," Quatre said, peering over his shoulder. "Wolf's bane means 'beware.'"
"Especially if you're a wolf," Duo added brightly. Quatre laughed a little. "Trumpet-flower for separation, and daffodils for egotism."
"This is what you call a daffodil?" Quatre said, pointing to the nodding, cupped white flower. Duo nodded. "We always called them narcissus. I'll have to tell you the story some time—but yes, definitely for egotism. And poppies for oblivion."
Duo sniffed at the air appreciatively. "And there's a mock-orange here somewhere—I can smell it. For deceit," he added. "This isn't a particularly cheery garden, is it?"
The two boys paused at the very end of the garden. Cautiously, Duo drew a finger down the leaf of the plant that flanked either side of the exit the hedge gapped open to form.
"Verain, for sorcery" Duo breathed.
"We call it verbena," Quatre said softly, a second after Duo, taking care not to touch the plant.
"You've heard the stories too, then?"
"That if you've got it, it takes your power and gives you back more, but roots insanity in you? Yeah," Quatre said, looking slightly shaky. "It happened to a magic-worker our family had employed, a while ago…"
The two left the still, serene garden quietly, preoccupied with what it had had to say.
"Freaky," Duo said, finally. Quatre managed to crack a grin at that.
"Definitely," he agreed.
"Yeah, I liked the water gardens better. Hey, I bet we can find a conservatory!"
"You think we can? The castle's older than we're used to, it might not have one…"
oOo
The little garden filled with white roses had turned into a winding, hedge-edged pathway, with the bushes lining it probably twelve feet tall and carefully maintained. The grass underfoot was lush and trim; even though Duo and Quatre hadn't seen any sheep (1)—or, indeed, any animals at all, ever since their arrival in the castle. The five of them were the only living creatures inside the walls, and the ghosts—or 'memories,' as Wufei had described them once—of the servants were the only other things that moved (and even then intangibly) except for the castle itself.
"I wonder where this is going—" Duo said as they turned a corner.
They were surprised to find themselves looking at Heero.
"Oh!" said Quatre, the word transformed into a gasp of surprise. Duo watched him carefully, but there were no signs of collapse.
Heero looked—actively startled; his widened eyes diluted the threat of his rising hackles.
"Fancy meeting you here," Duo said, with a grin carefully calculated to ease the rising tension between the three of them—nevertheless, he had a watchful eye on Quatre in case he reacted to the lord's presence again, and he was also paying careful attention to Heero himself. Relations hadn't been good between the two of them, and he was strong enough that Duo didn't have a chance in Hell of survival, if it came to a fight; even if Heero didn't get a jump on him.
"It's a pleasure," Quatre murmured, looking surprised—probably because of both Heero's presence and the fact that he was getting a good look at him for the first time, and because he hadn't fallen over in a dead faint. Duo thought, whimsically, that it would have taken a not inconsiderable amount of work for any other person to keep those words from sounding bitter and/or sarcastic.
Heero nodded his head in acceptance of the greetings, and the three stood in a frozen, silent tableau for a few too-long minutes.
"I must be going," said Heero, voice stiff, at last, brief seconds after Quatre opened his mouth to say something both harmless and complex and interesting enough to base a conversation off of—it would have probably ended up being about the weather, which changed between seasons on a day-to-day whim in the hidden castle. The Maaean boy shut his mouth quickly.
"See you around, Heero!" Duo called out.
"I see you every day at dinner, Maxwell," ground out Heero, not bothering to turn, so the sound seemed echoed from his retreating back.
"Yeah, great chat now, but what will we have left to talk about later?" muttered Duo angrily. Quatre looked worriedly in his direction.
"Shouldn't you two be trying to get along?" he said, carefully.
"I can't stand him," Duo replied. "The guy's impossible. I don't know what this curse-thing was thinking, but it has some of the worst judgment I've seen. He's about as loveable as a brick, and he's just not trying." He carefully didn't mention recent arguments they'd had.
Quatre gave him a questioning look. He had the feeling that Duo was holding something back, purposefully or not, and he was very good when it came to emotions. Still, he didn't want to pry. Duo was his friend, and he trusted him.
oOo
Heero had arrived at dinner that evening like he always did, sweeping into the room, striding directly and purposefully to his chair, glowering slightly at Duo while he served himself and then started eating before shifting his attention to something—anything—else. Sometimes he turned his attention back to Duo when he started talking, if he started talking, but not always.
This evening, though, Duo had taken maybe three bites, laid his fork and knife and down with a clink that rang with finality, then started speaking. "No, Heero, I will not marry you. Now that that's over, we should go somewhere. Think of it as a quest! We can go quest for the smaller dining hall and have some actual company for dinner. Not that you eat…"
Heero was staring at him in bewilderment. Hilariously, his ears had tilted back slightly with his surprise, reminding Duo strongly of a cat he had gotten to know, once upon a time.
And then Duo stood up and left, holding the door open for a minute before letting it fall closed with a shrug.
Inexplicably, Heero wanted to follow him.
Why not? It was his castle, after all… And it would be good to see Wufei again, at least.
oOo
When Heero arrived in the lesser dining hall, all of the chairs had pointedly disappeared from around the table; except the one that was next to Quatre.
Duo had served himself a plate of food that was now close to being thoroughly demolished, and was talking animatedly to (or maybe at?) Trowa about something or other. Wufei was interjecting comments as he saw fit, and Quatre seemed to be mostly observing—although the comments he did offer were listened to.
Heero slid awkwardly into the chair, suddenly uncomfortably aware of how little he fit into the scene. Fortunately, the chair didn't break under his weight—they had at least had the good graces to pick a solid seat. As he sat, the chair strengthened beneath him, and adjusted itself slightly to better fit his height.
The castle had always been most aware of him and his needs, except for when it came to matters that truly concerned him. Except when it came to things he cared about.
"Anyways, we should all go out some night to look at the stars," Duo was saying. "Since Wufei knows so much, and all. I've never been able to pick out more than the Ladies, and that's only because they were bright enough that we could see them in the city."
"Ladies?" asked Quatre.
"Yeah, the Ladies. Haven't you heard the story?" Duo said.
"No…"
"He's from Maae, Duo," Trowa interjected. "He's got no more reason to know about the Ladies than you do about the Seven Gifts."
"So it's a story?" Quatre frowned, trying to figure it all out.
"A creation story," said Wufei.
"Yeah!" continued Duo. "In the beginning, Time met with the Matriarch, who had been all alone, before he came, and from their union the Mother was born. But Time died of age, and then the Matriarch was left alone again, except for her daughter, the Mother.
"Then the Oldest Earth came, and the Mother bore his daughters, the Morning and Evening Ladies. But the Oldest Earth became angry with the Mother, who loved her daughters and her mother, the Matriarch, so he tried to block them out with smoke and ash. And the Matriarch grew angry, and her fury poured out of the sky in a rain of fire, and the Oldest Earth perished, and the Matriarch and the Mother and the Ladies were alone once more.
"And then the Creator and the In-Between Earth, who were brothers, came, and both fell in love with the beautiful Evening Lady, who at first would have nothing to do with them. But they pursued her, and eventually she came to love the Creator, and bestowed her favor upon him. And the In-Between Earth, in a jealous urge, caught her sister, the Morning Lady, who was not as fair in his eyes, and raped her, and their union bore a daughter, the Sky.
"Together, the Matriarch and the Mother and the Evening Lady and the Sky heard of this horrible deed, and they gathered their forces and attacked the In-Between Earth for what he had done. And he could not stand in the face of their power, and they pressed him further and further back, chasing him until he cried, 'Save me, for I am weak, and I erred, but I will not do so again.'
"But they did not listen to his pleas, and the Sky caught him fast, and the Evening Lady hurled the lightening she had caught—for only she was fast enough to catch the bolts—and struck him dead. And they turned their faces on him, and left him there without burial.
"When the Creator heard of his brother's death, he snuck away one night and returned to the place where his brother lay dead, and gave him life once more, which was his gift. And though he pleaded with his brother to stay, the In-Between Earth refused, and left, and the Creator returned home to the Evening Lady.
"But the In-Between Earth was still bitter, and so he mounted an attack on them in turn. And he struck out at the Morning Lady, whom he blamed for his trouble, but the Evening Lady, the Lady he still loved, and did not mean to kill, flung herself in front of her sister, trying to save her.
"When the Creator saw what his brother had done to his wife, nothing could contain his fury. He took back the gift of life he had given to the In-Between Earth, and turned away from his once-more-dead brother.
"But he could not bring the Evening Lady back to life, for she was too powerful. And the child she bore—his own—began to grow still inside her, so he cut her open and from her womb drew out the child, and gave him the life he had taken from the In-Between Earth, and this became the Young Earth, the earth we live on now.
"The Young Earth cried from birth, because he knew of the death of his mother; it had been born into his bones. And to comfort him, the Sky curled around him, and in-between them the Creator brought forth all the animals and plants, and the humans, in memory of the Evening Lady. And this became what we live between today. But they were made of his own body, and he died in the creating.
"And the Morning Lady stooped to cry over the body of her dead sister, and eventually her tears began to run through the Evening Lady's veins like the blood that had been spilled by the In-Between Earth's blow, and life sparked in her once more. And the two rose together, to rejoin the Mother and the Matron, watching over their own children: the earth and the sky. And that's the story."
There was a moment of quiet as the tail ends of the story faded into the air; the oddly stilted wording of the story had woven the five of them up together in a rhythmic spell.
Wufei looked startled. "I'm—impressed by the retelling you managed," he said finally.
"It's how my mother used to tell it to me," Duo shrugged.
"Thank you, Duo!" Quatre said. "It was a beautiful story. That reminds me—I was going to tell you about Narcissus, right? It all started with a man who believed himself to be the most wondrous person in the earth or the heavens…"
oOo
Trowa had excused himself, saying he wanted to finish the last chapter of a book he'd started reading. Duo left soon after that, claiming he was tired. Wufei managed to wrangle the fact that he didn't have anything in particular to do out of Heero, then claimed he, himself, wanted to run through some kata before bed and left, leaving Heero and Quatre together with no (polite) way for Heero to leave.
"It was a nice day today, wasn't it?" said Quatre, a bit desperately.
"Yes," Heero said, sounding unsure—as if he didn't know what to do, how to act. Duo was easier to respond to; he was annoying. But the Winner…
"I'm so sorry!" Quatre said suddenly, in a rush. "For collapsing like I did. There was no excuse… I don't know what you were informed of, but I'm an empath, and I just ended up overwhelmed by the strength of your thoughts—not that I ended up overhearing anything, don't worry about that, the over-all strength was enough that I barely got the most vague impressions—
"I'm making a mess of this… Really, though, I am sorry. It was unconscionably rude of me."
"It's—fine," Heero said.
There was another moment of heavy silence.
"I hadn't thought that Maae's attitude towards magic would have changed so much."
Quatre winced, though Heero couldn't see it; he had his faced turned to look at the table.
"It—hasn't."
There was another silence. Heero thought about asking, but didn't know how to bring up his question, not politely.
Quatre stilled answered his unvoiced curiosity. "My eyes—don't show it. I'm sure you've noticed that much. And it was never showy magic, so nobody realized, for quite a while. When it was discovered, the family couldn't afford to get rid of me, even if they had wanted to. I'm the only heir, but I have enough sisters that the fight to get one of their sons onto the throne would have been—violent. It would have been likely that our holdings would have been split apart, with different factions following different possible heirs. And we've never been very religious, and nobody—except for one of my sisters—believes that we are mocking the great ones' power, certainly, so that wasn't a problem.
"And so my family moved to Terrae, where they could quietly find me a tutor, to help me learn to control my power, and wait for me to fully grow into it before we returned.
"—and that's why the three of us—Duo, Trowa and I—are all here right now. That Ellyaugh man was running from my family's guards when he found his way here; if he hadn't gone after me, he would have never found this place, and he would have never sent Duo, and I wouldn't have ended up walking into it as well, and Trowa wouldn't have been there at all, because he wouldn't have been there to guard me."
"…It's as much the slaver's fault as it is yours," said Heero, not sure of what else to say. Not sure how comforting he was even capable of being, and not sure of what would be more disconcerting that doing nothing at all would be.
"Thank you," said Quatre with a sigh, relaxing a fist that had subconsciously clenched itself.
Heero couldn't think of anything else to say. "You're welcome," he said, after a minute, the rote phrases of polite speech slowly coming back to him. It had been—a long while, at the very least, since they had been automatic.
oOoOoOo
(1) The origins of the carefully-maintained suburban lawn is in fields of grass that were kept grazed to approximately lawn-level by sheep, way way back there in time. (The More You Know!)
--End Chapter—
