Author's Note: I posted two chapters at once because I thought the first one was so boring and nothing really happens. Thanks everyone who have been waiting three months on this. Well, in the three month time span of not writing these chapters, I have become obsessed with Kingdom Hearts. I want to write a Sora x Riku fic so bad it hurts, but I want to finish this one first. I know I can't do both at once, because neither would ever get updated as quickly as I would like. So hopefully that will provide me with the motivation to finish this one soon. Also in my defense, I have done a lot of fanart for my fic. I've updated my site with the new additions (what the hunter's uniform looks like, Death in angel form, the gate, and more). Enough babbling, on with the chapter...

"Fractured Souls"

(¯·.¸.•´¯•.¸ The Sealed Gate.•´¯•. ,.:¯)

The sound of soft footsteps and creaking wood echoed through the quiet of the old room as Quatre ran a finger across the spines of several tattered books, looking for something, anything, that could possibly be of some help. Sighing, he grabbed "Society of Angels" and "The High Order of Heaven", and wearily tucked them under his arm, then turned toward a book-covered table in the center of the room. He dropped the two additions on the corner and plopped down in the worn leather chair, burying his hands in his pale hair.

An image of the both of them, shadowed by the two souls they each had in their bodies, lingered relentlessly in his mind. Unfortunately, multiple souls in one body happened quite often, especially since the Divide was in such constant chaos now. It is a condition that some are unaware they have. In science, they call it multiple personality disorder. Conflicted souls, each seeking their own different soulmates, rage war on the mind and body, battling for control. He'd personally seen it once before, in a girl as she fell victim to the curse, several years ago. Quatre was seven years old then.

He had watched helplessly as the curse began to take hold of her. At that time he hadn't known the specifics of his own soul's fate, nor did he understand the true purpose of magic. So, with child-like innocence, he remembered how fortunate he felt when he was able to witness what most only read about, courtesy of his present company, a councilman well versed in the magic used to see unbound souls, a type of magic more commonly know as ghost watching. Quatre was young, yes, but he could recall the event in all its tragedy quite vividly, a darkened reminder etched deep within his memory.

Her body had three souls. He had watched, enveloped in a twisted blend of fear and excitement, as each one became infected with the curse. And as he watched her die, he'd seen it first hand. There was one soul seemingly in control, by all means "awake" while her other two were "asleep", somewhere out of her dying mind's awareness. But when Duo's soul was extracted, he watched with a different kind of anticipation, knowing what he was about to see something that no living human before him had: the soul of an angel. It was just as one would have imagined, a perfect being of terrible beauty, crafted single-handedly by God, breathtaking and adoned with wings.

Although he was mesmerized by the phenomenon, it was expected. It was only when he saw Heero's soul extracted did Quatre really fall in awe. He too had another soul within him, and not just any other soul, an angel's soul! There seemed to be some connection between the two, but what? What did it mean? It happening once, maybe...but twice? And to two people he knew, none the less. Quatre had been pouring over books for hours, but there was no record of such a thing ever happening in any previously written text dealing with souls, heaven, or the roles of its angels on Earth.

Had Heero known what laid within him this entire time? How did it happened? Was this why he thought they were soulmates? Was he simply sensing the same resonance within them? Quatre dropped one of his hands out of his hair and began riffling through his newest text. Quatre stared blankly at the opened book. It was no use. He could look here all he wanted, but in the end he knew what he would have to do. If he wanted answers, he would have to go after Heero.

"I know what you're thinking..." Trowa replied in a low voice, arms crossed, leaning against the open doorway. "and there's no use in going. He won't tell you anything."

Quatre frowned and shut his book. Trowa knew him too well. "Maybe you're right, but I have to try. Don't you see? This could be the answer to everything. I have to go find them, Trowa. I have to know."

"No. You don't." he said flatly. "Heero doesn't owe you an explanation, and it's highly unlikely he'll give you one. "

"If you're just here to try and convince me -"

"I'm not here to convince you of anything. I'm here because another summon has came for you, Clan Leader Winner." he explained curtly, pushing himself off the doorway and standing tall. "You can't keep ignoring the Council. You know what will happen."

"..." Quatre stared at the floor. Clan Leader Winner...When had they gone back to such formalities? Wasn't it just yesterday that Trowa had been ready to sacrifice his own life for his? What had changed?

"And."

And. There was always an and. Quatre looked up with round, aqua eyes.

"I'm worried about you. You haven't been the same since we got back." Trowa walked over and surveyed Quatre with a troubled expression, his saddened green eyes searching Quatre's aqua ones. "You let her get to you," he said sympathetically. He sounded defeated, his face betraying emotions he'd taught it to forget. He had let himself become attached, something warriors were never suppose to do, not in a time of war. It compromised rational thought, appropriate response. When had he became so weak? But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop caring about the young clan leader. Even if it was a lost cause, for them both, but still...

"Quatre, listen to me. You've got to stop thinking about it. This can't go on. There are people depending on you; your clan, your friends, your family."

But Quatre couldn't stop thinking about it. Her words haunted him.

I've been waiting for thee...and thy soul. The day shall soon dawn when he begs me to take him.

"Don't you think I've tried?" he snapped angrily, standing up. "It's easy for you, isn't it? To sit there and tell me how I should feel! You're not the one whose soulmate is in Hell! You're not the one who's dead!"

Slap!

Quatre felt the tears well up in his eyes as Trowa's hand came hard across his face. Quatre brought his hand up and shakily touched his stinging cheek, his aqua eyes wide with shock, slowly turning his head back around.

"Did that hurt?" the hunter asked in a low hiss, looking at the clan leader venomously.

"Trowa, what - What the hell was that for?" Quatre shouted angrily.

"I said, did it hurt?!" Trowa repeated, a dangerous look in his eye.

Quatre looked confused. "You slapped me! Of course it did! What -"

"If you were dead, then you wouldn't have felt it. Dead people can't feel, Quatre. So I don't ever want to hear you say that again."

Quatre didn't know whether to feel humiliated or glad that Trowa hit him. Which ever it was, Trowa didn't give him time to decide. He grabbed him by one of his long sleeves and started dragging him out of the room. "We are leaving," he said firmly, "There are bigger things happening here besides this. Duo will be fine with Heero. That guy's not about to let anything happen to him. You still believe in Duo, don't you?"

It seemed like such a corny thing to ask.

If you believed in someone.

"Yeah," Quatre said softly, "I do."

"Well, then that's more than enough." the hunter said warmly with a reassuring smile. A hard tug later, he pulled Quatre through the door, voice booming with energy. "Now come on! Your clan needs you!"

With a death-like grip, Trowa began dragging his superior officer down the hallway. While behind him, Quatre grudgingly followed, unable to resist the small smile that crept onto his face.

,.•´¯•.¸

"Heero Yuy..." Trieze hissed lowly, his voice venomous, "I think you have some explaining to do."

Heero's hands immediately flew to his pants, pulling them quickly over his exposed area. His mind was reeling. A part of him was vaguely aware of what had just happened and another was trying to determine if it was real or not. He wasn't even sure if he was seeing Milliardo and Trieze, or if he was just imagining them there. Was he dreaming? Images of Duo's smiling face slowly began to fade, replaced by cold, hard reality. It hadn't been Duo at all. It was Death. He had let her touch him. And why?

He turned his head and looked back. Duo's back was glued to the wall, his feet dangling uselessly inches above the ground. Heero felt Duo's resonance slowly returning. Milliardo's spell had sent Shinigami out of control of him. Heero rubbed the back of his head as he shifted into a more dignified position, his back aching something terrible. "Put him down." he told Milliardo.

Milliardo shifted his eyes to the side, towards the other vampire.

"Do nothing, Milliardo." Trieze replied sharply.

"You heard me." Heero replied stiffly. "Let him down. Immediately."

Trieze's eyes widened in anger, the knuckles on his tightening first turning white beneath his gloves. "Now you hear me. You're going to tell me how you did this, and you're going to tell me right now."

Heero's eyes shifted to Duo. "You have to let us leave. Now." he explained pointedly. "There isn't time."

"You will find the time!" Trieze shouted. The vampire marched over angrily, grabbing Heero by the throat and pushing him back into the floor. "Tell me right now! How! How did you do it?!"

Heero coughed to try and relieve the pressure against his vocal cords, but it didn't help. It was too late. There was nothing he could say that Trieze would be pleased to hear. He couldn't explain what he planned on doing without letting go of certain secrets he needed to continue to keep hidden from the vampire. His life wasn't the only thing he could end up losing.

"She's...She's always been with him!" he managed to strain out, his voice crushed against the cold hand of the livid vampire.

"That's a lie!" Trieze hissed, tightening his grip, "If that were true, I would have felt her when this boy came here the first time. Now tell me the truth!" Holding Heero's gaze and leaning in close, Trieze's crystal blue eyes began to glow, dark blue gleaming in the candle-lite darkness.

Verum extraho. Truth extraction.

In Heaven, Trieze had been one of the judgment angels, a high-ranked angel charged with judging soulmates to see if they were fit to enter Heaven. He could extract their life's achievements and thoughts. If they had been true to the word of God, they could enter. If not, he would either send them to be torn apart and cleansed, or torn apart and sent to Hell, depending on what they had done to be rendered unfit to enter Heaven. Verum extraho was an ability he, like the other original twelve, had retained after their imprisonment. While he never consummated a child, most of his other fellow banished angels eventually did. Their nephilim offspring were what both the entire vampire society and the Order of Phytoran came to call "pureblooded vampires", beings half angel and half human, cursed from Heaven. They were not by any means "pureblood" anything, but it was the easy thing to call a child born into the life of a vampire. The nephilim inherited various deluded versions of the same abilities, though none quite as strong, nothing compared to this. Heero had seen Trieze use it before, but he had never been on the receiving end.

It felt like his mind was being torn apart. Trieze ripped through his memories, looking for the right one that would tell him what he needed to know. Heero's eyes went dull, his body falling limp under Trieze's hand. Trieze slightly loosened his grip against Heero's neck to allow him to speak. Words Heero couldn't control slipped unbiddingly from his lips.

"She's been in stasis." the scribe explained, his voice raspy and robotic. "Asleep. Hiding. When Fatalica extracted his soul, she became aware of herself. It wasn't suppose to happen. I don't know how it happened."

Milliardo looked away from Duo, turned and glanced from Heero to Trieze.

'She? Who was she? What the hell were they talking about?'

"My lord, what's going on? Who is he talking about? I thought we came here because you said he," he lazily inclined his head at Heero, "was dying? What these two were doing hardly qualifies as -"

"I didn't say he was dying. I said he was in danger of Death." Trieze said flatly, eyes returning to normal. He jabbed a gloved finger at Duo. "That is not Duo Maxwell. It is Death."

Heero's eyes swam back into focus. He coughed and strained his eyes to look upwardly behind him at Duo. "No, it's not." he said, still feeling the effects of Trieze's truth extraction. "She's gone. I can't feel her anymore. I only feel Duo."

Trieze blinked and looked at him with somewhat alarm, releasing his hand from the scribe's throat. "Pray tell, how could you feel her in the first place? The souls of angels can only be felt by their brethren."

It was a little known fact. Heero had pretended it to be the problem when he was trying to locate Trieze's soul before Trieze himself found it. The after-effects of the extraction rapidly fading, Heero could finally lie. 'Think fast. Keep it simple.'

"The absense of Duo's soul's presence is her soul's presence, feeling through unfeeling. Now, I can feel Duo's again. When multiple souls share a body, only one can be in control. You know this."

Glad this answer seemed to satisfy Trieze, Heero mentally breathed a sigh of relief. 'Too close.' he chidded himself. 'I can't have him extracting anything else out of me. He can't know about Death's soulmate. '

Heero looked back at Duo. 'No time! No time!' He couldn't wait. His mind rapidly began formulating an escape plan. 'It won't be long before Lucifer hones in on her resonance. I gotta get Duo and get out of here. ' Heero glared around the room with annoyance. 'What's taking him so long?'

Beside them, Milliardo was no longer listening. He only stared at Duo, a crease falling across the vampire's brow in a confused line. "Death?" he said whispered skeptically, shifting his eyes back on Trieze, "As in the Angel of Death?" He gave Trieze a disbelieving look. The only angels ever to be bound in human form were the original thirteen vampires, none before and none after. "How can that be possible?"

Ignoring the question in front of him, Trieze turned and looked at Heero. "You've been lying to us from the beginning." he said calmly. "Tell me, what was your plan? Use her to kill us?!"

"No," said Heero, seething, "Use her to save you, to save all of us. She's the only one that can do it and you know it. I had to be certain she was in him. That's why I went to see Fatalica. That's why I -"

"You fool. Do you have any idea what you've done?" the older vampire hissed, his voice low and dangerous. He looked at Duo's unconscious form, sneering. "She can not and will not help you. It is not in her nature. God created her to bring an end to life. That is her sole purpose. And in case you've forgotten, she no longer belongs to God. Her soul is no longer her own, it belongs to the Demon Lord now. She knows what's coming next. That's why she hid herself. As hard as it is for someone like yourself to believe, her loyalty still lies with God. You are only human, you can not possible understand."

Heero glared at Trieze hatefully. 'I understand better than you can possibly know.'

"She did not support the morning star in his attempt to overthrow Heaven the first time, tried as he did to convince her. And she doesn't want to help him now. You see, she knows all too well what Lucifer is like and what he plans to do. When she was hidden, Heaven still stood a chance, but, now that he knows where to find her, he will stop at nothing to reclaim her. And when that happens, she'll have no choice, but to fulfill her end of their bargin. Forced to ride one of the horses in the apocalypse, blanketing humanity with disease, madness and fire, Lucifer will use her to burn this world and everything in it to a cinder. With Heaven closed off, all the perished souls will pass directly unto him. Then he'll use her to reopen the sealed gate. Then, after that, it's only a matter of time until he conquers Heaven."

Heero stared at him dispassionately. It wasn't anything he didn't know already. "That's why you've got to let us leave." he explained. "We can not stay here, waiting for him to find us."

Trieze almost laughed, the after effect evident in his tone. "And where would you go?" he asked.

"Somewhere safe." Heero replied easily.

Trieze shook his head, amusement forgotten. "Where? Don't you understand? There's nowhere safe to go. We are talking about the Lord of Hell. No matter where you run, no matter where you hide, he will find her. And there's nothing you can do to stop him."

Heero gave Trieze a knowing look. "You and I both know that there are places in this world that even he can not venture."

Trieze seemed to consider something for a moment, while staring resolutely at Heero. "She'll never go back there."

"Yes, she will. I have something she wants."

"She only wants one thing and you don't have it." the vampire replied snidely as Heero stood. It was dangerous territory. Heero had to be careful what he said next. Trieze snorted, taking Heero's lack of a come back as proof.

"Do not think that you can control her." he said knowingly, "She's already shown you any attempt would be less than futile. There's only one thing left to be done." Trieze raised his hand towards Duo, a ball of intense magic forming against his outstretched palm.

Heero instinctively raised his own hand to summon his own magic to stop him from whatever he was about to do, but the air in front of him remained unchanged. With a terrifying jolt, he realized his power was being blocked. He couldn't stop him. He whipped around at Milliardo. With a devilish smirk on his face, the vampire chiddingly shook his head. He tore his eyes away in anger, looking at Trieze in alarm. "What are you doing?!" he demanded.

"The only thing I can. I'm going to kill her."

Heero lunged forward, but Milliardo held up his other hand, causing Heero's body to fly across the room, only to be slammed against the wall next to his soulmate's. Heero thrashed with all his might, but couldn't move. "Stop it!" he yelled, a desperate plea in his normally collected voice. "You can't! You kill her, you kill Duo too!"

Trieze frowned. "This is not like you, Heero Yuy. Why do you care so much about what happens to him?" A small smile crept onto Trieze's face as his pale blue eyes began to glow. He began casually walking closer. "Or is there something else you're not telling me?"

'No.'

It was happening. And there was nothing Heero could do to stop him. As soon as Trieze re-invaded his mind he would know everything, the truth about his connection to Duo and the truth behind his own soul and the one bound to it. All Heero could do was stare at Trieze, knowing what the vampire would do once he knew. He would force Death's soulmate out of him and do the same to Duo, with no regard to either one of them. Trieze, unlike Heero, had only one final goal: reopen Heaven's gate and go home. What became of the soulmates trapped in the Divide would come second and what happened to Heero and Duo didn't matter at all. Their souls could be torn apart forever and he wouldn't care, not if it meant going home.

Heero's blood ran cold as Trieze's eyes pierced into his mind and began ripping the truth out of him. "I..." he said, straining his voice to stop, tears welling up in his eyes, "have her -"

Suddenly, the room filled with a thick puff of dark grey smoke.

'Finally. He's here.'

Trieze felt his wrist about break as a black, gloved hand connected with it in a painful chop, accompanied by the awkward sensation of a needle prick. His arm felt suddenly useless. At the same time, he felt it beginning to fall against his will. No longer in his control, the spell hit the ground, sending a shower of rock fragments over Heero and Duo. It all happened so fast. The next thing he knew, his knees had gave out and he found himself on the floor, his body unable to move. Powerless, all he could do was lay there on the floor and look into the eyes of his attacker as the person crouched over him, black eyes cold as ice. "Who are you? What did you do to me -?"

Through the black cloth, a chinese accented voice spoke low and dangerous. "Less than you deserve."

,.•´¯•.¸

Milliardo spun around. He couldn't see anything, only a darkened outline of Trieze shifting within the clouded screen. Then, without warning, he saw Trieze's spell hitting the floor, missing it's intended target, followed by the crumpled sound of elder vampire's body as it hit the floor. They were under attack, but by who? And how? How could someone get this far without him sensing their presence? Milliardo sneered, fangs bared. Crystal blue eyes swept the cover of smoke, half his concentration honed on keeping Duo and Heero pinned to the wall, the other half searching for a target. As the smoke grazed his unblinking eyes, they began to water. His attention was snapped when Trieze's desperate voice cut through the smoke.

"Milliardo! Take Death and get out of here!"

Milliardo felt a snap as the magic between his hand and the boy's bodies was suddenly severed. He tore off running through the short distance between himself and his captives, but he was too late. They were gone.

,.•´¯•.¸

Everything seemed so far away. His mind felt heavy, his thoughts not quite clear. Flashes of images and sounds ran through his conscious like forgotten dreams. He could hear Heero's voice.

"What took you so long?"

There was another voice too, someone unfamiliar.

"Ungrateful words coming from someone in need of my help."

Duo could almost picture the way Heero was crossing his arms and staring at the other man with a semi-death glare. He had to force himself not to laugh. "Who are you calling ungrateful? Have you forgotten that you wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for me?"

The other man was seemingly unaffected. "I guess now we're even." he said flatly. His voice sounded young. Under it there was something undeniably cold, the hollow sound of a battle-hardened warrior.

"He wasn't aiming for me, Wufei." Heero told him.

"So, I take it he knows. Well, this boy sure looks more feminine than the others. Are you sure this is her?"

'More feminine than the others?' Duo inwardly scowled. He didn't like being referred to as "her" at all, much less being described as feminine. Duo made a mental note to off this guy the first chance he got.

"I have seen her with my own eyes."

"Were there any problems with the demon witch?"

"No," came the short answer.

"You don't sound so certain, Yuy." Duo felt a short pang of jealousy. This guy - Woofay - whoever it was, must have heard something in Heero's voice that Duo did not. How well did this stranger know his soulmate?"

"The witch did just as I told you she would. She extracted my soul and saw the other. She attacked me."

"Then what?"

Heero immediately fell into a lengthy explanation of what happened: how he let Death's soulmate take him over and how he couldn't kill the witch, so he threw her into the Black Gate, leaving them with their current problem. Wufei stopped him when he got to the part about Milliardo showing up.

"Does Trieze know? About him? About you?"

"He only knows about Duo. And that's enough. If Trieze knew about me - about him - I wouldn't still be here." Heero said darkly, his voice coming closer.

"How much time do we have?"

"Not a lot. Now that Death has awakened, the Lord of Hell will seek her out. By any means necessary."

"And this boy, he has been able to hold her? She hasn't tried to take control of him?"

Who did this guy think he was? He was talking about him like he was some kid, nevermind the fact that Duo had been fighting against vampires the better half of his life (if it could indeed be called that).

Heero was quiet for a moment. The only thing Duo could hear was the rustle of fabric as Heero walked past him. Duo slowed his breathing, continuing to faux sleep. Finally, Heero said, "As a matter of fact she has - and easily succeeded."

Okay, that didn't exactly help Duo's mental arguement. 'Thanks, Heero.'

"What?" For the first time Wufei's voice showed some hint of emotion - apprehension. "Is this - is this her? Why didn't you say anything -- Why did you let me bring her here?!"

"Relax, Chang," Heero said in a bored voice. "She's no longer in control of him, though not by choice."

"Tell me what happened."

"I knew it would eventually come to it, but I didn't think it would happen so soon," Heero began a little hesitantly, "He asked me a lot of questions. Questions, that deserved answers. He saw a pair of soulmates in the Divide. He asked me to explain. It was only fair that I be the one to have told him that Heaven was closed off. He began to get...emotional," Heero said uncertainly, as if trying to decide if that was indeed the right word.

"Why did you tell him that?" the other asked in a severe way.

"Because!" Heero nearly shouted, "He had a right to know."

"But you knew this could happen -"

"Telling him about Heaven isn't what triggered him."

"Then what did?"

"I told him he was my soulmate. I explained how Death and her soulmate used us to find one another again. The next thing I knew, Duo said he could hear her speaking to him. The whole room turned dark. Then I was no longer talking to Duo. I was talking to her."

"What did she say?" Wufei asked eagerly.

Heero began retelling his fateful encounter with Shinigami. He uncomfortably paused at the part when she said she'd help him. Duo felt the color rising in his cheeks. It may not have been him, but he remember everything. He had watched powerless to stop her, as she used his body to seduce Heero, kissing him, touching him. It was the weirdest experience of Duo's life, to both want and not want something, all at the same time. He could see everything happening, but it was like he was behind a pane of glass, watching himself. He could see Heero, but not feel Heero. He couldn't feel anything. No emotion -- nothing. It was heart wrenching. Duo mentally shook his head. There was no way he wanted Heero telling this guy, whoever he was, about any of it. It was too personal.

"It doesn't matter though. She hadn't actually planned on helping me, at least not yet. She only wanted to try to get her soulmate out of me."

"What do you mean?"

'Don't tell him. Please, don't tell him.'

"The rest is not important," Heero told him. "Trieze and Milliardo put a stop to her. They came busting through the door and knocked her out - no questions asked. That's enough. We can discuss the rest later -- time is short."

Duo quietly breathed a sign of relief.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go -- Wake him up."

"He is awake. He's been listening to us talk for the past ten minutes."

Busted!

Duo sheepishly opened his eyes and sat up. He was in a very oriental styled room. Various tapestries hung on the light-colored walls, depicting various pieces of vampire mythology - or at least that's what Duo thought. They were grafted in chinese, so he couldn't be sure, but the pictures gave a fairly clear message without having to understand what was written. Various weapons: shrunkens, silver stakes, swords and several sleek, shiny guns lined one whole wall - a vampire hunter's room. At least this time they were in what Duo would consider to be "good company". His eyes immediately fell on Heero and his conversationalist.

He was a hunter, wearing the same traditional black hunting garb all the Order of Phytorn hunters wore. Seated with Heero at the table, he eyed Duo from under his hood.

"Let's make this quick." the other hunter said bluntly. "Do you know where you are?"

"No." Duo replied truthfully, wondering briefly if the other hunter expected him to.

"You are in China." came the emotionless answer from the hunter, "This is the Shenlong Clan."

"Okay..." Duo said, stealing another quick glance around.

"Duo, this is Chang Wufei. He helped get us out of Pallintine. He helped train me. He can be trusted" Heero explained seamlessly, looking at Wufei out of the corner of his eye. "The new formula works well I see." The comment was bland, as though Heero had just pointed out an obvious fact.

"Yes, though I would have liked much better to have drove a stake through him instead." Wufei replied icily.

Heero eyed him quietly for a moment. "Thank you, Wufei." he said finally. "I know how hard that was for you. I know you wanted to kill him -"

Wufei stood up and cut across him. "We better get started." he said, his voice bitter with some unspoken regret. It was obvious that whoever this hunter was, he shared some kind of personal history with the vampire and it didn't sound good.

"Get started?" Duo replied uneasily, getting to his feet.

"Yes." said Heero, walking over. "We came here for a reason. This place is special."

Duo glanced around some more, unimpressed. "What's so special about it?"

"Can't you feel it?" Heero asked.

"Feel what?"

"That's what I thought. You were hit pretty hard. Death must be out of reach of you for the moment. She'd be able to feel it, and in turn so would you."

'He sounds very confident. Wouldn'tst thou say, Duo?'

Duo's eyes widened and he looked to the side. "It's her."

"Wufei, get back." Heero said quietly, and gave the chinese hunter a gentle push back. Heero stepped forward and grabbed Duo by the arms. "Duo, look at me. What did she say?"

Duo looked back at Heero. His soulmate was looking very serious. Duo could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest at the prospect of Death taking back control of his body. Forcing himself to breath calmly, he looked at Heero blankly and said, "She said that you sounded confident."

Heero's lips drew into a fine line as Duo's eyes shifted in the corner to a slightly more violet shade. "You understand what's happening and I know you know where we are and what I'm about to ask you to do."

Duo's brow scrunched up in confusion. Was Heero talking to him or her?

'Thou seekth the opening of the Parting Gate.'

Duo's eyes shifted to the side. "The what?" he whispered.

"What did she say?" Heero asked.

Duo closed his eyes and shook his head. This was weird beyond words, having a conversation with two people, but not actually getting to say anything at all. Was this how it was always going to be? Having another person in his head, saying weird stuff and him not having any control over it? Duo opened his eyes and looked back at Heero. "She said that you wanna open some kind of gate."

"Yes. It must be reopened. He is coming for you. Right now. Opening the sealed gate is your only chance." He tightened his grip on Duo's arms. "You know what he'll do to you if he finds you."

"Ow, Heero!" Duo complained. Heero looked at him strangely for a moment, then released him altogether. "Oh." he replied in a short, confused tone. "Right..."

"Look. just give me a moment, okay?" Duo held up a hand, bowed his head and closed his eyes.

'What is the Parting Gate?'

'Why art thou asking me? Why not ask him?' she replied in a cocky, amused tone.

'I want...to hear it from you.'

Silence, then, 'Very well, child.'

Duo smiled. She listened to him and did what he asked. It was a start.

'The Parting Gate exists within the Divide. It is the true border between Heaven and Earth. It is nameth as such because it is the place where all soulmates part, be it together into Heaven, or apart back to Earth. Beyond it, is the Judgment Hall, and after that, the Gate of Heaven. I sealed the Parting Gate over four millennia ago, when I left to find my soulmate. I hold its only key. What Heero Yuy says is true. It is the only place in the world the Lord of Hell can not enter.'

'Then what are you waiting for? Open it!'

'To what end? My own? I think not.'

'You heard what he said. The Devil is after you. If you don't do this, right now, you are going to get a one way ticket back to Hell, and you're going to take me with you! Is that what you want?!'

'What I want,' she said, her honey sweet voice low and dangerous, 'is my soulmate back.'

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After several moments of awkward silence, Wufei stepped forward, leaning cautiously around Heero's shoulder. "What is he doing?" he whispered.

"He is talking to her." replied Heero quietly.

"Is that a good idea?" Wufei asked, a fair amount of uneasiness creeping into his tone.

"There is no barrier between their thoughts. He has to talk to her, regardless of if he wants to or not. Duo knows -" Heero snapped his head around, eyes fearfully scanning the room.

Wufei immediately unsheathed several weapons on his person and glared around the room as it grew steadily colder. "Heero?"

"He's found her."

Heero reached out and grabbed Duo, pulling him close. Duo's eyes shot opened. "Duo, listen to me," he said quickly, "We have to go -- Now!"

The three of them cut into the Divide. Duo stared over Heero's shoulder at the large ornate stone gate behind him. Carved in an intricate pattern, the bright white stone clashed luminously against it's dark surroundings. The Parting Gate.

"Shinigami, you must open the gate!"

'You know he is right. It's either that or hello Hell.' Duo told her.

The prospect of Hell was not a pleasant one. She knew she had no choice. 'Give thine body to me.'

"What!" Duo exclaimed out loud. "I'm not giving you my body!"

"Duo," Heero said hurriedly, "Listen to her! She has to open the gate. You have to do as she says."

Duo looked at Heero in disbelief. "Don't you remember what she did to you last time?!"

"What's he talking about?" Wufei asked, but Heero didn't answer him.

"We don't have time to argue this," he told Duo. "You have to listen to me very carefully. You have to want her to do this. You have to want her to take control of you. Do you understand?"

No. He very well did not. What Heero was asking for was dangerous. What would happen if she attacked him? Heero seemed to be reading his mind.

"She doesn't have time to attack us. She needs to open the gate. Let her do it!"

Duo nodded his head and closed his eyes. How was he suppose to want her to take him over? It was the furtherest thing from what he wanted. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He instead focused on wanting to open the gate. He wanted to save them, save Heero. With an uneven jerk, Duo felt himself move. She was moving him. He started to panic. "Relax, Duo!" Heero said. "Let it happen."

Duo watched as she raised his hands, a large, black scythe materializing into his grasp.She wrapped Duo's hands around its twisted, braided handle. It was every bit of five and a half foot long. The blade curved around perfectly, blending seamlessly into the handle. At the bottom of the handle, a strange, key-like design.

'Wow.' thought Duo in awe.'It's beautiful.'

She hoisted it high above his head in an attack position, looking at Heero.

'NO!' thought Duo desperately. 'She's gonna -'

She turned and rushed for the door, giving it a twist. In one swift move, she speared the opposite end into the middle of the door. She then gave the rod a good twist. A low, hallowing sound issued from the gate as its large doors began to slowly creak open. A warm, bright light spilled instantly through the crack. She raised Duo's hand and covered his eyes, one hand still firmly grasping her scythe. With a decisive twist, she turned and pulled it out just as it faded back into nothingness.

"That's it." said Heero. "Let's go."

"Wait!" called Wufei. "How do we know she isn't leading us into some kind of trap?"

Heero turned and stared at Wufei blankly. "Wufei, there isn't time for this. What kind of -"

"He is stalling." replied Death matter-of-factly, eyeing the hunter. She cocked her head to the side. "Thou hast fooled thine friend, but not I." were her smiling, low words.

"What?" was Wufei's automatic response of confusion.

"Wufei?" Heero said in a dangerous tone.

Death crinkled her nose at him, her violet eyes lowering hatefully. "I smellth the scent of betrayal on thee. Thou very breath reeks of it. Tell me, child. What fleeting promise did he make thee? What pleasure is worth thou killing thine own kind?"

"Don't patronize me!" the hunter spat, now on full-defense. "You are no different than I am, angel. I'm doing this to get my soulmate back." His eyes slid sideways at Heero. "It's the only way he said he'd give her back."

Heero shook his head in disbelief. "Wufei, what did you do? Why?"

"Because he is a fool." Shinigami said, shaking her head sadly. "Poor, piteous human. The path thou hast chosen leadth to nowhere. Taking the soul of another is a crime against God, whether she wanted to or not, your soulmate committed that crime."

"Shut your mouth!" he yelled, losing his composure. "All of this is your fault! If you hadn't decided to bring humanity into your own personal vendetta against those angels, then vampires wouldn't exist! She was a good person...She didn't deserve to become one of them. You did that to her!"

"No." she corrected hatefully, her angry violet eyes rising to meet his. "The Lord of Hell did that to her. He is the one that infected humanity, not I. Do not direct thine hatred at me, save it for the demon you've chosen to be your savior." A wave of magic pulsed from Duo, sending the other hunter flying backwards, landing flat on his butt. She turned and grabbed Heero. Scrambling to his feet, Wufei could not hope to reach them as covered the scribe from view, pulling him through the arch and shutting the doors behind them, leaving the hunter alone and in darkness.

Wufei ran forward and pressed his palms against the sealed door, bowing his head in defeat, a single tear falling down his cheek. "Meilan," he said quietly, "I..am..sorry..."

"Chang Wufei," came a cold, deep voice. "How thou hast disappointed me..."

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Heero pulled himself away from her and looked blankly at the large white doors. They had escaped, but barely.

"I should have killed him." she whispered, raising a hand and pressing it flat against the door. "Traitorous scum -"

Heero looked at her, surprised. "You didn't kill him? Why?"

Why indeed. She seemed to struggle with herself for a moment, eyes drifting absently across the gate. She turned and faced Heero. "I know not..." she said.

"It doesn't matter." Heero said immediately. "What awaits him now is a fate worse than death."

She smiled at the irony of his words. "I know why thou art here. And thou must know why I let thee come. Give me what I want first..." Her voice was low and dangerous, raising the hairs on Heero's neck.

He sighed and bowed his head. "I'm sorry." he said softly.

Death looked at him curiously. "For what, child?"

"For this."

Heero quickly raised his hand, a long jet of magic shooting from his palm and hitting her square in the chest. She fell to the ground backwards. All around her the brightness of the room was fading. Softly, she could hear Heero speak again, only his voice seemed far away.

"First Duo," he said, "then you."

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Well, you know you don't have to wait to see what happens next, just click the little arrow button. Away you go...