Chapter Six
Duo was out of bed and dressed remarkably quickly. He had been given a room of his own – and a very nice room it was, too. An ornate and sinfully comfortable bed lay in the middle of it, large enough to fit three of him. It had heavy bedposts on each of the four corners and lush, deep red velvet material hanging on all sides. Plush covers – they had to be filled with feathers of some sort! – that were simply wonderful to burrow in lay heavily on top of it.
Of course, the rest of the room was nice too, but the bed – it was the sort that simply called, sang out, the sort that was made just for lovers.
Duo flushed slightly, wondering if anyone had actually used it as such...
He sighed, fluffed out the covers over the bed and patted them down neatly. He had entertained the thought that maybe the room had been gifted to him as an apology of sorts from the sullen prince, but that had been firmly shoved away when he remembered the look that had flashed in the man's eyes.
The servant that had led him to the room hadn't looked terribly pleased with Duo, either, leading the poor minstrel to wonder if perhaps he had done something wrong. Besides the jarringly obvious, of course.
He had been hiding in his room for exactly four days now. Quatre had wandered in once or twice, letting him know that they were all quite fine, and that much of the shock had worn off now. Apparently Wufei was practically giddy with delight, and was busy studying everything he could get his hands on. Zechs was acting much the same, albeit with a little less enthusiasm, and Quatre and Trowa were both doing quite fine.
Duo sighed. They were all enjoying the life of luxury just fine – it was just poor, little ol' him.
He wondered why exactly the prince hadn't kicked them all out. It certainly wouldn't have come as a surprise to Duo. In fact, he had spent much of his four days of self imposed exile waiting for that grouchy looking servant to sweep into his room and demand for him to get out at once. Or even the prince, in fact, if he could spare the precious time he normally used to brood and generally hate the world and all living things.
The bitterness that came along with that spiteful thought shocked Duo for a bit. Since when had he started to become so malicious? It had never once been a factor in his personality, and he would have thought that with all his previous pity for the prince he would be the last person Duo's anger would be directed at.
But no, he reminded himself, Heero didn't want pity. Nor friendship, as it so seemed.
Duo eyed the window. He obviously wasn't wanted – why, four days and he had seen no living thing but the hand that pushed open the door to deliver his meals.
It was, after all, common manners to apologise when one yelled at someone, was it not?
There was the niggling thought that perhaps Duo had been wrong also, and that Duo should really be the one to apologise, because he had also been out of hand and he was the one taking advantage of Heero's hospitality – however grudging that hospitality was.
Duo scowled. Him and his damned conscience.
He eyed the window. It was truly a lovely day, and the days of seclusion and darkness, stuck in his room, hadn't been for him at all.
He swung his lute determinedly onto his back. He'd see if he could find himself a nice, living garden to sit in, and play, and watch and listen to the birds singing their songs.
Now, that was a nice thought.
Duo sighed forlornly. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to sit in his room. He had somehow gotten lost, and although he could sometimes have sworn that he had heard giggles and chuckles around him, there was no one to be found.
"Having a hard time?" someone asked dryly.
Duo looked up and managed to spy the still form of the prince within the shadows. This whole place was so dark…
"Oh, I'm fine," Duo bit out. "Simply lovely." On impulse, he added, "Please tell those charming servants of yours that I'm glad they find me so amusing. So, what about you? It must be so much fun lurking about in the shadows."
There was a dark chuckle. "You should try it sometime." He stepped out of the shadows and seemed to find something interesting to study right behind Duo.
Duo, in turn, tried in vain to figure out if he'd been in this particular hallway before. Painting, portrait, painting, painting… after time, they had all grown to look identical. He blinked and sighed in frustration.
A sound alerted him to the fact that the prince was no longer under the pretence of looking anywhere but at Duo – and he was laughing!
It was anything but a nice laugh, though. Somewhat like the one Zechs' father had produced, but less insane, and much more bitter.
"Funny, am I?" Heero stopped abruptly, and was now simply just staring at Duo coldly, assessing him like some mere animal. This made Duo uncomfortable, which then made him annoyed and angry.
"Stop it!"
The prince smirked.
Duo was one inch of sanity away from ripping his hair out and strangling the man with it.
He had laughed.
The thought struck Heero even as he continued staring – rather rudely – at the man before him.
It hadn't been a happy laugh – he doubted he was even able to physically produce one of those – but still… he hadn't laughed at all since… Since Marie's death, he remembered. He could think about it now without wincing. Was that how heartless he had become?
He narrowed his eyes at the braided bard standing before him. His mouth was moving, but Heero's brain was really processing the words. Briefly he entertained the thought of simply reaching out and grabbing hold of the man, then watching as the turned lifeless, mouth open like all the rest of the fools.
A painful jolt ran through him. It was gone rather swiftly, but afterwards came the waves of guilt. He felt bad about even thinking it, about wanting to do that to someone who hadn't really done anything to him but try to be nice.
But all of them… none of them had ever done anything to Heero. Nothing, at least, that meant they deserved what they got.
But they had asked for it, he thought fiercely. They had all wanted nothing but the wealth, the fame he could gift them with. Not one of them had even entertained the thought of getting to know him – and they had all thought they could get him to love them.
Fools. All fools.
The man – Duo, something told him, it was Duo – had now stopped talking, and was watching Heero warily. He had no reason to be worried, the idiot. There was no way he could, he would, turn the man. It would be too much like turning Marie again.
Did that thought mean he still cared? He couldn't remember caring about much for a very, very long time.
The man's expression changed, he looked calmer, and for a moment Heero worried that he had somehow said his thoughts out loud. But a quick recount assured him that he hadn't.
It was almost ironic, that even after the many young ladies he had turned, not one of them had ever aroused anything but hatred within him. But after so long, along came this… this man, but with all the innocence of a boy – and suddenly he reminded Heero of Marie, although they were nothing alike.
Not in appearance, at least – only in the eyes. If Heero squinted – though he wasn't about too any moment soon – he could imagine that the curious shade of Duo's eyes were, in fact, the slightly bluer, slightly lighter violet version that had been Marie's.
There had been silence for quite a while now, Heero realised. He wondered if the man realised he was fiddling with his braid. It seemed like the sort of thing that would ordinarily be annoying Heero, but for some reason he was finding it sickly endearing. He scowled with irritation at himself, but levelled it in the bard's direction.
Duo was fidgeting. "Well?" he asked expectantly.
Heero rose an eyebrow.
"Aren't you going to offer to take me where I want to go?"
"Why would I do that? You're already overstepping your bounds simply by staying, as it is."
Even as he said that, Heero was thinking that maybe, he didn't want the long-haired male to go after all. He hadn't known, but sometimes, late at night, Heero had made his way to Duo's bedroom and simply stood quietly at the doorway after pushing it open and looked at the man. Looked at him as his chest rose peacefully up and down, listened to his calm breathing.
He had deliberately placed the minstrel's room close by to his – not too close, so that the man wouldn't be able to find it – but Heero knew a few underground passageways that could be found under specific paintings. Duo's room was right next to one that led straight to the outside of his own room.
Once, just once, he had been caught in fitful sleep, startling Heero. He hadn't thought that the man had had anything but a peaceful life, though after a moment of watching him in the throws of a nightmare, that had become obvious. Duo had cried out a name in his sleep – Bard Maxwell – and for a moment Heero had thought that that was a name of a past lover. But then he had remembered that Duo had introduced himself as Duo Maxwell, so perhaps he had been a guardian that Duo had looked up to.
It had never occurred to Heero that perhaps he should simply ask Duo, instead of coming to his own conclusions.
Duo scowled, looked annoyed, and sighed. Really, the emotions just played upon his face.
"Uhm…" he hesitated, something that Heero found quite interesting. "Look… I'm sorry."
That was… strange. Did he somehow think that an apology would make Heero fall for him? But… he wasn't here because of that, was he? Why… why was he here? Heero was positive he had asked that question, but he couldn't quite recall the answer…
"Oh, forget it," Duo huffed, "Obviously you're not in a very good mood… I'll just find my own way!"
"Where… where do you want to go?" He had to physically restrain himself from biting his lip – something he hadn't done since he'd been a young boy getting a good scolding.
That thought – of his youth, of his family – brought waves of bitterness, so much so that a heavy weight seemed to have been placed upon him, threatening to make his legs buckle – the horror!
He didn't like what this man was making him feel. He hadn't doubted himself until he had come along, had barely spoken at all, in fact.
This couldn't be good. He couldn't let himself grow too comfortable, too… happy?
That was ridiculous. He wasn't happy.
He couldn't be happy. He didn't deserve to be.
"Are you okay?" He was coming closer, making Heero feel vaguely crowded in, vaguely sick. He couldn't think, his head felt numb…
Help me, he wanted to scream, as he looked blurrily at a figure in front of him.
He pressed himself desperately against the wall, trying to get away…
"Hey… hey… come on, get up!" He could hear mild hysteria clouding that voice… who's voice…?
No voice, as he sank to the ground and his eyes closed.
"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!"
Why was the ridiculous boy hovering over him so?
As that thought passed, and sanity returned to him, he snapped, "Move back!"
The other male jumped. "Hey, no need to get snappish now!"
Heero wanted to push him away, only barely restraining himself from doing so. "Baka, get back!" He scowled as his instructions were followed.
Duo was sighing. "Damn, just as I was beginning to think you weren't half bad…"
"Idiot," Heero said, as he pushed himself up, trying to avoid the more obvious question as to how he got on the floor in the first place. There was painful, awkward silence.
"Look, are you going to show me to where I wanna be or not?" These halls made one's voice echo, Heero mused. Funny how he hadn't noticed that before.
"Who said I was going to do that?"
"You did!" Duo exclaimed. If he got just a bit more aggravated, Heero was positive his face would turn quite red.
"All right." Heero wondered why he had said that, but stopped caring when he saw the flabbergasted look on the man's face.
The prince had taken Duo to a garden, starting to walk before the phrase had barely left his mouth. Duo had wanted to mention that a living garden was a rather important factor, but had decided against it when a strange, cold expression had come upon Heero's face.
Duo had almost started to believe that the prince could be human, especially when the man had somehow… blacked out. However, Heero was certainly trying to put that thought out of Duo's head.
That man was so confusing it made Duo want to black out. And he was completely unreadable!
"We're here," Heero said curtly, turning to go back inside. Duo had barely even noticed they had left the palace…
He bit his lip, watching the figure grow smaller and smaller… "Stay!" he burst out.
The man froze.
"Uh… please?"
He was turning around, which could either prove to be a good thing, or a bad thing. Suddenly Duo became ultra-aware that his life could lie in that man's hands, should he deem it so.
Heero was staring very suspiciously at Duo. "I… I mean it," he muttered, awkwardly.
"Why?"
"I… it might be nice." Just what had he gotten himself into?
"Fine." Duo let go a breath, and smiled.
The prince started walking back slowly, stopping when there was a comfortable distance between them. Duo figured that were no personal spaces invaded, his life could be quite safe.
Or so he hoped.
"So," Duo started, trying to make friendly, casual conversation. About the weather, perhaps.
"What are you doing?" Heero demanded curtly.
"Excuse me?"
"What. Are. You. Doing?"
This guy was impossible, Duo decided. "Well, I'm making conversation." He really, really, really wanted to stick his tongue out at the man…
Heero was fixing him with a stony look. "What are you doing here? Why haven't you gone yet?"
"Do you want me to?" Duo asked. Was it his imagination, or was this conversation getting very old?
There was silence for a little while, then a not very convincing, but very explosive, "Yes!" sounded. Heero narrowed his eyes. "Of course I do, you fool."
Duo sighed, and decided upon ignoring him, choosing instead to place his lute down carefully. He flopped backwards and lay on the sweet grass. Two cold eyes hovered over him.
"What are you doing?"
Duo raised his eyebrows. "Same question again? Well, making conversation didn't work too well, so now I'm taking a leisurely rest."
The prince's face disappeared, and Duo could see him take a seat – stiffly – on one of the benches close by.
He pulled himself up into a sitting position, crossing his legs, and rested an elbow on a knee, and his chin on his hand. He smiled at the prince. "Nice day, hmm?"
Heero grunted.
"Take that as a yes. So tell me," nice innocent question, he reminded himself, "Do you get this sort of weather here often?" Nice, innocent questions were usually stupid, he decided.
It didn't matter, as he doubted Heero had heard his question at all. Instead, the man was staring at Duo, like he didn't quite understand something.
"Why do you keep staying here?"
Duo resisted the urge to bang his head on the grass repeatedly. "Why wouldn't I?" he shot back. Because, when he thought about it, he didn't really know, just that something said he had to, some deep, guttural instinct.
The prince scowled. "Don't you have some lover back at home waiting for you?"
Like it or not, that question hurt. "No, in fact, I don't." He shrugged. "Don't really have anyone, actually."
Heero's face had gone still; it was completely blank.
"I guess we're the same that way, huh," Duo whispered, and he didn't know if he had been heard.
When Heero said nothing, Duo sighed.
Amazingly enough, they had spent much of the day there. Sitting down, standing up, walking around… The birds had sung and the sun had shone. Duo had taken out his lute at some point and played a variety of happy tunes – the sort that were both terribly annoying and yet irresistible not to sing along to.
Oh, the prince hadn't sung along, but Duo was sure that at one point, there had been the slightest smile on his face.
Of course, that could have simply been a play of the sunlight on his face – but Duo could hope, could he not?
The prince had left just moments ago – standing up and leaving, though Duo had been sure he was going to say something. Part of Duo had wished that the man had smiled and thanked him for a lovely afternoon, but then again, that would probably have given the bard a heart attack…
As he worked on the fingerings of a particularly tricky tune, his fingers began to burn slightly. How long had he been playing for, anyway?
He ignored the slight pain – something he had trained himself to be very good at doing – and started thinking about this whole trip – something he had tried to avoid doing for a very long time.
By this stage, Duo was feeling terribly confused. This had seemed like a good idea, at one point in time – he knew it had – but now, it had all happened so quickly, and he wasn't sure that his mind had quite caught up with what his body had been doing.
He looked around, fingers still plucking a tune. This wasn't exactly a very pretty garden, as such. It seemed rather plain, in fact, with only a bare amount of trees and hardly any flowers. However, it was impeccably kept, not a single blade of grass out of place.
For some reason, that terribly annoyed Duo.
His fingers stumbled, a slight pain arcing through them, causing the tune to go horribly wrong. He sighed, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the ruined song or the damned palace and the prince that lay within it.
Leaving wasn't an option now. He didn't know what the heck made him come here, couldn't quite remember why it had seemed like such a great idea – but there was no way he was going now.
Because, like it or not, Heero needed someone. And damn it to hell, Duo was going to be that person.
Duo had somehow managed to stumble his way back to the room. His hands had started cramping up, his fingers were burning painfully and his back ached from the bent position he had been sitting in. He had skipped a bath in favour of slipping straight into bed. He threw his boots off, removed his outer clothing, and slipped into bed. He had been half asleep before his head had touched the soft pillow.
He woke up, dazed and blinking, as he had before. For a moment, as he opened his eyes, he wondered where he was. The pillows were too soft, the bed covers to silky, the blankets had to be filled with feathers – they couldn't afford these things, could they?
And then – oh, yes. Realization.
Duo sighed, eyes half open. What was he doing…?
The sudden, painful image of the prince standing within the shadows hit him, and he shut his eyes. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't so sure why the man had managed to aggravate him so. After all, Duo had dealt with a number of annoying people in his lifetime – at least this one had a feasible reason. Who wouldn't be a little bit angry after all the prince had been through?
Slowly, he brought up the memory of that flicker of a smile – he still did not know if it had truly been one – and smiled himself. It was amazing how different the prince could seem to be when Duo wasn't directly around him. He liked Heero a lot more when he wasn't around him.
He remembered the grip he had held on the man, the feel of toned muscle and flesh beneath his hand.
He had felt so… real.
At that, Duo wanted to laugh – after all, the man was real. But-
He gripped onto a fist-full of his soft blankets, ran a hand through his hair, feeling the texture of individual strands forming a cohesive whole, thoughts of past trivialities sifting through his mind. Remembered plaiting the hair of a little girl in his town; remembered the feel of the soft fur of a stray cat; the soft touch of Heidi's hand upon his. And then, even though he didn't want to, he felt bad for the prince.
And then and there he decided: there would be no more doubt, no more confusion about why he was here, or how he got here, or what he was doing. Those questions didn't help him at all, after all. And they didn't matter.
He wasn't quite sure where this revelation had come from.
He sighed tiredly – he seemed to be doing that a lot lately – and readied himself to go out and face the outside world.
He realised that new clothes had been placed on the small table at the corner of his room. That was an unnerving thought – that someone had come in while he had been sleeping, that someone could have so easily harmed him, that someone could have gone through his things… That he hadn't been awoken.
He had impeccable reflexes, he should have known if someone had been through his room. The table was on the opposite corner to the door, meaning that whoever laid out the clothing must have made their way across the floor, past his bed.
He shivered slightly, making a mental note to watch out for any possible intruders more carefully.
After more perusal of his belongings, it became apparent that his used clothing had also been taken out – for cleaning, he supposed. Duo wasn't sure if he felt indignant about that particular invasion of privacy, or flattered – he had never been waited on so well before. Never really been waited on at all.
He was in the midst of slipping his undershirt on when a smallish young lady crept in. She looked up when he coughed and a heavy blush stained her cheeks when she saw him in such a state of undress. A series of mumbled apologies later she turned to go. He called out, wondering why the cursed shirt wouldn't go on properly. Ignoring the shirt for the moment he hurried to her side.
"Please, wait a moment."
She wasn't quite looking at him; instead she was alternating her glances between the unused shirt in his hands, his bared chest, and the floor.
He tried to smile reassuringly while pulling the shirt on – it came on at last, to his relief.
"Were you the one who's been bringing in my clothes?"
She nodded, looking slightly bolder. "And yer food, sir."
Duo smiled. "Oh, well, thank you."
She returned his smile hesitantly, while slipping furtive glances at the open door.
"Have you been here long?" She was his only hope for information, and he wasn't about to let her go anytime soon!
"Oh, all my life, sir." Of course, Duo realised, they couldn't exactly leave whenever they wanted, nor was it exactly easy to get in. At that, he wandered vaguely about Zechs' strange father, and how he had managed to enter.
He nodded. "Oh, how rude of me! Duo Maxwell, at your service." He stuck out a hand.
She looked uncomfortable and was staring uneasily at his hand. Finally, she bobbed a small curtsey. "Sir."
"You have a name?" he prompted.
"Hilde," she said, warily.
"Pretty name," he told her, smiling. She blushed. She was quite like the girl Heidi from his home, he thought. Their names were similar, and their looks enough alike that they could most likely have been taken for sisters. It had been a while since Duo had seen Heidi, though, and she might have changed since then. He brought his thoughts back to the here and now.
"Have you ever waited on the prince?" he asked, casually.
She blinked, startled. "Oh, no, never." She shuddered, not bothering to hide it.
"Are you… scared of him?"
"Oh, we all are, sir." Looking nervous, she added, "yer not gonna tell him, are ya?"
"No, no. But why?"
She looked so surprised, like that was the most ridiculous question she had ever been asked. "He… he's just plain mean, sir. We've… we've seen how he's been actin' ta ya, sir, we've all seen." She reddened. "We all think yer real brave, sir, stickin' up to him like tha'."
"But has he ever talked to you?"
She laughed, a tinkley, girly sort of laugh – exactly like the ones Heidi used to give that had grated on his nerves so. "Oh, no, ne'er, sir. He ne'er talks to no one! Jus'… jus' sits 'n' stares at stuff…"
"Then why are you all so scared?"
"You've never seen 'em, sir?" She shivered, but her eyes were gleaming. "All 'em statues, dead-like. I know this one, 'e says 'e saw 'im do it, jus' grabbed onta the girl an' then she was one o' 'em!"
"They say 'e likes girls, too," she whispered, beckoning Duo closer. "Young girls, and 'e makes 'em fall in love – witchery, they tell us. Then 'e jus' grabs 'em an' kills 'em."
That couldn't be true, could it? He could have sworn he had seen pain in Heero's eyes, at one point or another. It was unclear why he was feeling so defensive for a guy who had been nothing but rude to him, but these servants of his – they were all operating under somewhat false fear, were they not? They should have tried to help him, at least! No one – but no one – could make such a direct change from being a normal human to being cursed with such a horrid thing. If someone had tried to be there for him, things could never have gotten this bad!
…Right?
She was still speaking. "They say it's cuz' of 'is sister."
"Sister?" Now that he thought about it, that painting he had seen some days ago… the queen had seemed quite fat – or, well, pregnant.
"Yea'… yer know what 'e did, right?"
"What?" He was also whispering now.
"He… he turned 'er, sir!" she finished triumphantly. "On the very firs' day, too… That's what started 'im all…" she gestured randomly, "all crazy like."
"That would turn anyone crazy," Duo murmured, mostly to himself. And afterwards, having to live with everyone fearing him and hating him… what a hell on earth.
Hilde was looking strangely at him. "Everyone's scared of him?"
"Oh, yea'," she assured him, "everyone. Well," she paused, tapping a finger on her chin. She certainly didn't seem nervous anymore… "Sometimes yer get one of 'em. The ones tha' think they can… yer know, break the curse 'n' all."
"The curse… tell me more about the curse." The urgency in his voice shocked Duo, even.
She looked startled, but recovered fairly quickly. "Well, yer know, he turns stuff ta gold 'n' all. And he's real old, too… Ne'er dies… immortal. S'posed ta be tha' if someone gets 'im to fall in love with 'em, an' they kiss or somethin', they break the curse."
All right then, there was his answer. Duo was obviously here so he could help the prince to fall madly in love with some servant girl – after he got over himself – and live happily after. He'd be happy, everyone else would be happy, and Duo… Duo would be happy, right?
He shook his head, forced a smile onto his face and wondered why that thought hurt.
"They stopped tryin', tho', years ago. My ma said tha' hardly anyone believes tha' 'e can love a' all." She shook her head. "Cruel, cruel man. Always has been."
He was about to ask about Relena, when she answered his question for him. "Tho', there was this girl, 'n' 'er father." Hilde's eyes misted up. "She was right nice, too. Ne'er did nothin' wrong. But then she started goin' strange, started tryin' ta get close ta 'im… We all warned 'er… Oh, we warned 'er, but she didn't listen, and 'e turned 'er…"
"Her name?"
She blinked. "Oh, we called 'er Relena, sir."
Duo sighed. "Yeah, I thought as much."
"You knew 'er, sir?"
"Not really, no." He left it at that, searching for any other questions he wanted to ask her. It seemed like he'd had a million, but now, he couldn't think of any…
"If you're quite done…"
Duo flinched at the utter venom in that now-familiar voice, and Hilde practically jumped out of her skin.
Duo looked up at the open door – and at Heero standing in front of it. "H… Heero," he uttered, biting a lip. What exactly had he heard? And to see Duo with this girl, gossiping like schoolgirls – and about him!
Hilde dipped into a curtsey so low she was barely in Duo's line of vision. "Yer Highness," she whimpered.
The prince looked stunning, Duo thought numbly. He ran his eyes over the still figure, wondering if this was it. He'd thought that maybe, things would work out, but the still look on the prince's face, the look in his eyes that scorched Duo from the inside…
"Have a nice chat?" Heero asked, words clipped and tainted with some bitterness.
Yes? No? Duo didn't know. What was he supposed to say?
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Nothing to say? A pity."
Hell, had his tongue gone numb? Duo could only blink at the man in front of him.
They stood like that for a long time, and Duo couldn't help but feel as if he had somehow betrayed Heero in some way. He wondered if maybe hearing their conversation had hurt the blue-eyed man – and then, as he saw the emotionless face before him, wondered if anything he could do would ever hurt the man.
The deathly silence was broken when Hilde, who had been flicking her eyes back and forwards, gave a low moan of fear, and started to make for the door.
It was almost funny, Duo thought later, but it had been like he just knew what was going to happen. Even as he called for her to stop, he could see that she would try to dodge around the prince, try to avoid him and get out of the room. And he could just see Heero – almost shocked – to react on instinct and try to defend himself from an attack that wasn't meant to be, as Hilde tripped. And Duo just knew, even before it happened, that Heero would throw out a hand purely based on gut reaction and grab onto her.
And then everything happened, and though he had practically seen it in his mind, known the sequence of events, that didn't make it any easier to watch.
Watch, as Heero's hand gripped onto Hilde's slender wrist. Watch, as the girl's face grew into one of pure terror, then a second later, resignation, regret. And then he saw her face freeze that way, still and unmoving, and right in front of his eyes he saw her turn to gold.
He couldn't really dredge up an emotion, and nothing sprung up inside him. Only that same resignation that he had seen on her face, and only an ever-increasing numbness that grew in his gut and spread all over.
Duo looked at the prince then, and saw the shock written there, the regret that could maybe have been felt in a greater amount than Hilde herself. And Duo saw disgust, almost self-hatred, as Heero looked at the still golden form.
"Sorry."
It didn't feel like it had surfaced from his lips; then again he didn't – couldn't – feel anything at that particular moment.
Heero blinked, looking up, and then all that painful, heart-wrenching emotion was gone, replaced with deadness.
And in a slow, precise voice, he intoned, "You may leave now." With that he was gone, his steps still echoing in Duo's ears long after.
It seemed an eternity until Duo could move, and even then his limbs felt sluggish. It was too much, he thought. A few girls were coming in, throwing themselves on the ground and weeping over the still, lifeless body, but their cries were only a fraction of the sound pounding in his ears.
Too much.
Heero walked for a long time, wondering momentarily if he was perhaps moving in circles. Again and again he could see Duo's face, and it tore at him in a way he had never been torn. It felt like old wounds had been ripped viciously open and left to burn in the hot sun – and perhaps they had.
He hadn't even seen it coming – much to his chagrin. Never seen the silly girl – just another one of them. But she didn't matter, not really. Duo did, and the look on Duo's face had been similar, too similar, to the one on his sister's.
Finally, on an old, deserted corridor, one that even the bravest of servants didn't venture into, he dropped to the ground. The cold floor numbed him further, and for the first time in a long time, though he didn't know why, he wondered if he could still cry.
TBC-
End Note: Terribly sorry for my extremely OOC Hilde... I have no excuse. (Except the one Kimiki gave me!)
Also, Kimiki asked me: IS HEE-CHAN BASICALLY AGE-SUSPENDED IN THIS CURSE. I KNOW THAT HE DOESN'T AGE, BUT WHEN THE CURSE IS BROKEN, WILL HE FADE TO DUST BECAUSE OF HIS AGE, OR WILL HE PICK UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF? IS IT THE SAME FOR ALL THE GOLDEN STATUES? -- Duo wonders the same thing later. -grin- so just hang in there, okay? I will endeavor to have that question answered in the coming chapters.
Thanks Kimiki, for the great beta (just like all the previous ones). I'll work on my horrid two liners and obsessive use of commas – or try, at any rate.
Reviews make my day, as always. Thanks so much: Yasei Raiden, Mineko Yuy, ahanchan, ravel queen, jess-eklom, InfectedLife, Lost-Remembrance, ZaKai, for sticking with this fic, and anyone whose previously reviewed.
I do apologize for the long time it took me to post. I'll try harder!
