Mind, Body and Spirit – Chapter 11

Yes it is finally here folks! The next chapter that you all wondered would ever happen. Great thanks to animegal who was willing to take over beta reading this chapter.


Mind, Body and Spirit – Chapter 11

Wufei strolled along the path to the abbey with a huge grin plastered to his face. The source of his sublime happiness was a pair of foxes rolling around on the ground wrestling and nipping at each other playfully.

To the casual observer it would seem funny even cute watching the pair, one blue eyed, one green, tumble over each other but it would never explain the aura of joy the young man got from watching them. After all, how would the casual observer know that the feisty fox pair was also a gorgeous pair of fey? Or that the young man had spent the past four days engaged in every erotic fantasy he could think up with them?

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he watched Duo pounce on Trowa. The feral had clearly been anticipating such an attack because he allowed the two of them to roll and tumble further down the path before Trowa halted their progress by pinning Duo. The imp made a few snarling yips and tried to bite his way free, but the feral kept his hold. Finally conceding defeat, Duo gave Trowa's muzzle a fond lick.

"Looks like we will have to work on your attacking skills." Wufei murmured. Breaking apart, Duo bounded over to the priest looking for sympathy after his failed attack. When the man didn't open his arms to him, the imp pawed at the hem of his robe and whimpered. The priest rolled his eyes knowing full well that Duo was perfectly fine, and not in any distress. His only problem was that he was a complete affection hog.

Feigning reluctance he kneeled down and wrapped his arms around his imp combing his fingers through the thick fur. "You should probably both change anyway." He said quietly, "We are almost to the abbey and should start seeing other people soon."

Duo, who wanted to be carried, changed into a mouse and curled into Wufei's palm. At the same time Trowa melted into an exact replica of the imp's cat form. Right down to the correct eye color. Apparently, Trowa's shape shifting skills were quite more advanced.

The trio trotted down the widening pathway almost to the point where they would be able to see the top towers when they smelled the smoke. It had a burning acrid scent mixed with something sickly sweet.

Immediately all three were on alert. Wufei started scanning the sky and trees to find the source of the smoke while the noses and ears of Trowa and Duo were twitching viciously.

"Duo, quickly try a bird. Can you tell where it's from?" By the time the priest raised his arms above his head Duo had already transformed and taken flight. He watched as the tiny sparrow flew above the trees circled once then dove back at him.

"Wufei home!" Duo chirped frantically.

"The abbey is on fire?" He asked, his feet quickened their pace carrying him faster and faster towards his home.

"No!" Duo said, causing Wufei to pause for a moment. "No fire now."

"It smells like old fire." Trowa meowed.

Again Wufei sped up piecing together a scenario in his head. The abbey must have suffered a fire while he was away. Was there anyone injured? What about his friends? Creator, he hoped no one was hurt.

Sprinting the last bit, he almost tripped on his robe when he reached the edge of the trees and caught his first sight of the building. It was completely unchanged. No scorch marks or burned out windows. The only difference was the cloud of smoke hung heavy around it like an ominous fog.

Cautiously he closed the distance and circled the outer wall for the source of the smoke already alarmed that he had yet to see anyone. The source of the smoke was coming from a large pile of debris between the gardens and the training grounds.

The pile was large and had mostly burned itself out. His stomach gave a little flip of relief that the abbey and his friends were safe until he caught sight of a section of the debris that was not completely burned beyond recognition. His brain froze and refused to accept the information his eyes were telling it. No! It couldn't be!

With his heart in his throat he ran through the small garden gate that he usually used to escape without notice. He barged in through the door heedless if anyone saw or heard him. Indeed, he would have been overjoyed at this moment to have been yelled at for causing a ruckus but he saw no one.

The smoke had somehow permeated the building and hung through the corridors like bizarre cobwebs. Too revolted to even touch it, he dodged and weaved as best he could to the closest room he could think of. He hammered his fist on the door and charged in a heartbeat later without waiting for a reply.

Heero and Quatre's room was much like his own. The only concession that they were given as a pair was an extra bed that they had tied together with the first. Wufei's heart clenched when he saw an almost grey Quatre lying on the double bed with a very miserable Heero watching over him.

"Heero!"

Heero looked up dejectedly at him as if he'd just noticed that the mind priest was in the room. His eyes were glassy and wet with unshed tears and his expression was one whose world was about to fall apart.

"Wufei?" he asked hoarsely "Wufei where were you? Quatre was worried he even tried…" the body priest broke off in a harsh sob.

Wufei's heart clenched again with guilt. While he was off having the best time of his life everyone else he cared about was suffering. "Heero, what happened here?" he asked moving to stand beside the grieving man.

"Everyone just started getting sick." He whispered harshly. "At first Quatre was okay, but he felt he needed to help, and then yesterday… yesterday he started to feel the tiredness."

"Tiredness?"

Heero closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath and Wufei could tell he was only moments from falling completely apart. "Everyone who got sick always started off complaining they were tired but they just never seemed to get better from it."

Wufei with his extensive reading and experiences helping out in the medical wing immediately tried to think of all possible ailments.

"Was there anything else? Fever? Rash? Coughing?"

Heero shook his head "No, just tiredness." Again the grieving man let a sob escape. "I can't loose him Wufei. He's my sunshine, my reason for being. I can't…" the man put his face in his hands and started sobbing in earnest.

Wufei, uncertain of what to do embraced the other man while he cried. Only someone who was three days dead would not be able to tell how completely in love Heero and Quatre were, but it was unusual for Heero to speak so eloquently about it.

Trowa and Duo, who had been following at a much more cautious pace, entered the room agitated. Trowa was crouched low, with his ears lying flat against his head and his tail puffed out. Duo was flying in frantic circles trying to avoid the streams of smoke that were in the room. Finally too upset, he changed into his own form.

Wufei suffered a brief heart attack and practically dropped Heero while he leapt to slam the still open door closed.

"Duo are you mad?" he hissed while Trowa yowled in disapproval and warning. Wufei spared a quick glance to Heero who sat where Wufei had left him looking stupefied.

"I can explain this." He told the other priest then to Duo "What do you think you are doing?" he hissed again.

Duo was more agitated than he had ever seen him. He didn't even look this distressed when his foot was caught in that snare. When the imp wouldn't answer, he looked to his feral. The cat looked just as puzzled but all he said was "This place smells bad."

"Death." The imp growled "I smell life being exchanged for death. I can feel it in the air all around us." He finished in a whimper clutching his head and squatting in a tight ball. When Wufei went over to hold him he could see the trembling throughout the imp's body.

Life exchanged for death? Wufei looked up at the grayish form lying on the bed. Quatre had always been extremely pale, but it was clear this was not a normal pallor for any human being. Only a marble statue should look that cold and pale. Only his shallow breathing marked him as a living creature.

While studying the sprit priest's still form, the mind priest tilted his head. What was that? Was it a trick of the light? "Trowa, can you stay with Duo?" The cat padded silently up then gave a rather meaningful look at Heero.

"We can deal with him later." He said quietly. Trowa-cat nuzzled Duo quietly offering what reassurance he could while Wufei stood and paced the room. He carefully examined the room and the patient from all four corners. Then he opened the shutters to let in more light and examined the room again.

The smoke didn't appear to be coming from the bodies burning outside, nor did it seem to be coming from the hall. It hung in the air in long filaments and one appeared to be going through the wall into Quatre, or more accurately from Quatre through the wall. Before he could test his theory however, he was distracted by the sound of a blade being unsheathed.

His heart almost suffered another attack when he quickly spun to find Heero pointing his sword at Duo.

"What did you do to him?" Heero growled at the imp who was barely aware of the danger he was in. "You will fix him now!" he demanded.

"Heero!" Wufei launched himself at the body priest not caring if he was endangering his own life, but Trowa beat him to it. Heero suddenly found one clawed hand at his throat and another holding his sword hand in a bone crushing grip.

"Back away human or I'll end your life now." Trowa snarled.

"Trowa wait! Heero, please?" he begged looking at the pair. Wufei knew his lover well enough to know that he wouldn't back down until he was certain he and Duo were safe. He also knew that Heero was not in his right mind right now or he wouldn't have attacked Duo. He slowly inched himself between his friend and his imp lover.

"Heero, please." He begged again. "You know me; I care about you and Quatre. I'm here to help." Heero wavered for a fraction of a second so Wufei plowed on. "They are with me Heero. They were the reason I was away for the past few days. Please, maybe we can save Quatre."

The last caused the body priest to waver enough that Wufei was able to disarm him with a quick blow to his wrist. Heero, still in a daze of grief and confusion almost didn't seem to notice.

Suspicious about how easily he was able to overpower the gifted young body priest, Wufei grabbed Heero's discarded sword and paced the room again. He wasn't the least bit surprised to find a smaller, thinner filament trailing from Heero.

"Heero, do you feel tired right now?"

The body priest looked at him dazedly and Wufei already had his answer. "What does it matter now? I can't live without my sunshine." He said and shuffled back to the bed to stroke Quatre's hair.

Holding the sword near the wall, he aimed it to swipe down through Heero's filament. Annoyingly, it passed right through and the filament stayed put.

"Duo, do you see this?" he asked calling the imp over. When Duo didn't respond, Wufei pushed love and support through the bond they shared and called him again. Duo responded as if waking from a bad dream and joined him.

Duo focused on the same spot on the wall as he did squinting and tilting his head. Wufei stepped away and closed the window shutters again to see if it would help.

The imp's eyes did that trick where they started to glow like a pair of gemstones through candle light. "Life." He whispered.

"Trowa, can you see it?"

The feral shook his head, "No but I can smell… something."

"Can we break it?"

Both fey shook their heads. "Magic, we need to stop magic." Duo said then his face changed. "Leg trap."

At first Wufei was confused, but then he remembered the strange snare he'd found Duo in. "The snare? But you were able to shape shift in it."

"Change yes, but it still not let me escape. Maybe not let life escape."

Wufei was certain the logic didn't all connect but he needed to try something and it was probably the only magic like item in the whole abbey. Rummaging through his bag he found the silvery cord he always kept with him and wrapped it around the hilt of the sword. He could have tried passing the cord through, but he was still loath to come close enough to possibly touch the threads.

This time when he drew the sword down, the filament cut and seemed to snap back into Heero. The body priest gave a shuddering breath and blinked a few times.

"Heero? How do you feel?"

The priest blinked a few more times and took a few deep breaths. "Tired, better. What was that?" then with a frantic glance at the love of his life, "Quatre!" he called looking at Wufei.

"I've got it." He assured chopping harshly down on the stream that was pulling the blond priest's life out of him.

Quatre bucked and gave a long shuddering breath when his life slammed back into his body but he quieted down quickly. Although his color didn't improve much, his breathing settled to that of a person in deep sleep. As soon as the blond looked settled, Heero raised his head and looked ready to pelt him with more questions.

Wufei held out his hand to stall him "I know you have lots of questions, but I need to check on the rest of the abbey. Stay with Quatre and watch to see if he improves. Oh, and if you see anyone please don't mention my friends. Duo, Trowa lets go."

Heero's eyes boggled when Trowa melted back into a cat while Duo changed into a small mouse and burrowed into the folds of Wufei's robe. His tiny body was still trembling badly, but he seemed to draw strength from his two lovers.

Wufei left before Heero could gain enough wits to stop them. Once in the hallway he began slashing filaments left and right indiscriminately. As he headed towards the medical wing the threads thickened and became denser. It would have been impossible to walk through the corridors and not have at least several of them touching him without his sword to cut them.

Not wanting to leave a single one, his progress slowed to a crawl like he was trying to hack through a thick overgrown forest path. Sadly, he didn't see a single other person the entire journey that would have questioned why he was waving madly about with a sword. By the time he reached the doors to the hospital, the hallway was completely clear. He hoped he was in time to save those inside.

Every bed was occupied. The young priest was relieved to find the room clear of filaments, but unlike with Quatre and Heero some of the patients here still seemed pretty bad. Sally was the first to spot him.

"Wufei! Where have you been?" she asked almost accusingly but then she stopped and checked him over. She looked painfully exhausted. She had probably been somewhere between Heero and Quatre's different stages before he'd severed the lines going to the room.

"I was out." he stated lamely. How the heck was he supposed to explain where he was? His only saving grace is that he normally went missing for a day or two.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" she asked patting him down nervously. He grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"I'm fine. Can you tell me what happened?"

"You shouldn't have come back! People have been getting sick. We can't tell if it is a plague or poisoning. We've lost almost a third of our people." She began in her normal brisk manner but then like Heero, she just fell apart.

Putting his arms around her he let her cry. "Oh Wufei, I've lost Noin! And I'm losing Zechs!" she wailed in a harsh whisper.

No. Not Noin. She was a strong and kind woman that everyone liked to be around. She couldn't be dead. Someone that sweet and gentle, it was just wrong. He tried to avoid thinking that one of those bodies on that burning pile had been a bright and sunny woman who treated him like a kid brother. "Where is Zechs?" he asked around the lump in his throat.

Sally didn't let go but nodded her head towards the corner. It took a moment for Wufei to recognize the once strong vibrant man. Like Quatre he looked grayish, but unlike him, Zechs' breathing had not recovered.

It was then that Wufei realized how cruel this life-drawing disease was. Perhaps it was due to his bond with his two fey, but Wufei could tell that his life had been extracted past the man's ability to keep himself alive. It had kept him alive past where he should have died so it could draw every last drop of life out of him. The young mind priest looked at the once proud and strong body priest and knew with horrifying certainty that he would never wake. Sally would loose both parts to her trifectum.

Unconsciously his hand covered the small bundle under his robes that was Duo. The imp squirmed under his hand sensing his grief and trying to offer reassurance. Trowa padded up and rubbed against his leg purring.

He had to find the source of this 'illness'. Gently prying himself away from Sally he instructed her to stay with Zechs while he checked the rest of the abbey.

Looking down at his hands he realized that he'd put Heero's sword down somewhere but it was nowhere to be seen. Knowing him and what Sally would have said, he would not have carried the thing through the hospital, but where was it? It wasn't just inside the doorway and there were very few people walking around. More importantly, none of them were close enough to him to have moved it. He might have put it down before he entered the hospital so he went to check at the doorway.

Outside the door he was surprised to find Howard leaning against the opposite wall facing the door. Reaching behind him he pulled out Heero's sword with the silvery cord still tied to the hilt. "Looking for this?" he asked blandly. When Wufei took a step towards it however, he pulled it back. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to continue what you are doing."

tbc