Zechs and Wufei looked up from a thick volume they had been examining when Duo and Quatre approached them, and for a weighted moment, no one moved.
Then a huge rush of unexpected relief flooded through Duo at the sight of the two, so involved in something that seemed so natural, so comfortable, when the last thing he could remember was seeing Wufei blood soaked and a blade rushing towards Zechs.
Pausing only to place his lute upon the floor carefully, he rushed to their sides and wrapped his arms around them, squeezing gently before letting go. As he pulled away, he grined embarrassedly and pulled at the end of his braid. "I'm glad you're both okay," he told them solemnly.
Zechs blinked, then smiled at the bard. "I'm rather glad myself," he replied.
Wufei started to splutter. "I imagine you have absolutely no concept of invading one's personal space, but I hope you learn before you try to accost me again, Bard!" But the smile on his face, the gleam in his eyes, made the relief within Duo rise again to the surface almost overwhelmingly.
He could only grin as he fell into a seat with a great sigh. "Well," he said.
"Well, indeed," Trowa said, dryly, leaning against the great doors of the library. Then his gaze came to fall solely upon Quatre. "I'm glad to see you've found him." There was nothing special in his tone of voice, yet the softness within his eyes brought a happy flush upon the blonde's cheeks as he fidgeted under the gaze.
"Yes..." his voice trailed off. "I found him." Words seemed to fail Quatre, so he looked up to meet Trowa's eyes. Duo, who was sitting in a position between the two, felt suddenly like an awful hindrace, and stood up to wander over to Wufei and Zechs, on the other side of the table, trying not to seem hurried.
"What's been occupying your time, 'Fei?" he asked lightly, pointedly ignoring the other two for the moment. Somehow, their relationship seemed to be somewhat tentative, and he didn't think it would stand well against teasing or even mentioning of any kind.
Perhaps both Wufei and Zechs had come to that same conclusion, because Zechs immediately drew up a chair for Duo to sit next to him, and Wufei pointed at a section of carefully scribed words.
"This library is excellent! Quite magnificently catalogued, too, and I managed to find what I was looking for almost immediately! And all these volumes of books – this one here, there were only ever five copies written out." As Wufei gestured, Duo scanned the writing, squinting his eyes as he did so.
"No wonder," he said, finally. "Must have taken a lifetime just to write out one!"
Wufei scowled at him, but before he could speak Duo interjected, his words light but soft. "You know... I think it's the first time I've looked at you and thought to myself... he's home."
Wufei blinked, but Zechs started chuckling. "Interesting you should say that, Duo... I'd agree with you, except that I have that feeling every time I see 'Fei surrounded by books."
Duo almost thought that Wufei was flushing, for a moment. But... of course, he wasn't. Quite. And when he spoke, it was not what Duo had thought he would say.
"It was my parents," Wufei said, smiling gently. "I don't think I have a single memory of either of them without in book in hand. And it was hard, you know... or perhaps you don't? I couldn't say for sure of the state of things outside of Hei – but within our town of Ran, it seemed near impossible to get any new books. And yet..."
"Their house was full of them," Zechs finished. "Filled to the brim, from the roof to the floor and piled against every wall." Now they were both smiling fondly.
"I don't quite know how my father managed it, but I was never for want of anything to read. Histories, legends, facts, fairytales... I read them all. And each time I'd finished a book, I'd run to tell my mother... and then she'd always smile at me, the most wonderful smile... and then my father would take my hand and give me another volume to start upon. After their death... every time I picked up a book I'd feel that they were right there with me. That I… wasn't alone."
Wufei spared a quick glance at Zechs. "Of course... I never was alone."
Duo looked at them, at the softness in their eyes. "You know... I'm glad that I met you." He studied their faces, and grinned. "Honest, I am."
Zechs began laughing. "Ordinarily, I'd be glad for that compliment... but somehow, with you, Duo, I'm not sure if it's a good thing!"
The bard winked. "I suppose... I couldn't say for sure, either!"
Zechs was laughing, Duo was grinning, Wufei was pointedly avoiding looking at the two of them whilst hiding a smile, and then Quatre and Trowa made their presence known again. Until that point, they had vanished behind a large shelve, and were now emerging, Quatre clutching a large volume in his hand.
"I found it," he said, eyes shining, excitement carefully latched under control. He was looking at 'Fei and Zechs, as if expecting them to depict further meaning from his words. They were both studying the cover of the thick volume, in a way that make Duo feel rather out of the loop.
"It?" he asked, trying to find something about it that made it any different from the piles of books surrounding them.
"Yes, yes," Quatre agreed, sounding distracted.
"Something to do with what that man was... uh... trying to do?" the bard hazarded.
"Ah... something like that." Quatre smiled at him, almost apologetically. He walked towards them, sliding the volume into Wufei's hands. "For later," he told the dark-haired man in low tones. Then he looked up at Duo. "Has 'Fei put your questions to rest?" he asked.
"Questions?" Duo echoed.
The blonde's face twisted slightly. "About... what's happened."
Duo wanted to mirror his expression. "Yes... I want to know what happened."
Wufei was smirking in a way that somehow made Duo feel slight better about having to recall the rather bloody happenings. Although that expression left his face rather quickly when he pursed his lips, eyes growing distracted as he tried to slot things into a preferable order before he began to speak, for the second time, about 'what happened'.
"I suppose I should start from the beginning," he started saying slowly.
'As good a place as any,' Duo thought, but refrained from interrupting, somehow sensing that it wouldn't be quite the best idea.
"-if you could call it that. Perhaps look upon it as what was the start of more recent events, though I can't help but think that it was a culmination of multiple things, but to do that we would have to delve into occasions many years ago, and-" Wufei scowled at Zechs, who was smirking amusedly, and hurried to continue, "-we won't quite do that now." He cleared his throat lightly, and pushed back his hair.
"I'll try and make it rather quick, shall I? You saw the girl, didn't you? She was laid out, cut up, the way she was, deliberately. Yes, quite deliberately, I am positive. Done so in a way that brought sorcery into her death – the sorcery of blood majick."
"After she died, Quatre heard her scream. In actuality, I believe that scream only occurred after he had already killed her. There was... copious amounts of blood, as I'm sure you noticed," he winced, "but her neck was also broken. That man killed her in a way that ensured her soul being trapped within her dead body, which accounts for why Quatre, ever susceptible to great bursts of emotion, felt it as strongly as he did. After killing her, he made his way to our room – Zechs' and mine – where he tried to hurt us. However, for whatever reason of his own... he changed his mind," and here Wufei flushed, "and decided instead to use me as another... vessel for the blood majick to work within. Unfortunately, by that time he had gained considerable power, and so I was unable to... prevent myself from going with him."
He looked angry, now. "I didn't think that I would be able to do anything... he was drawing upon the soul of that dead girl, he was excessively powerful, and also... he was mad – completely and utterly so. Somehow, the journey which he took to get here, and then, also, the... death of his daughter-" his eyes drew downwards, away from Zechs, "must have all been enough to drive him insane, and so, willing to do such things.
"However, before he managed to do anything but paint me with... blood, Zechs found us." There was softness in his eyes when he looked at the tall blond. "Which... helped me, mentally," he flushed, "but physically, we were both unable to overcome his insanity, and his use of blood majick. Trowa and Quatre found us at this time, but they, also, could not do anything."
He looked pointedly at Duo. "His use of blood majick was that strong.
"Then you came," he finished, and exhaled meaningfully.
"Me."
"Yes, Duo. You." There was something different in Quatre's voice.
"I... screamed,' Duo said, trying to decide what it was they wanted to hear him say.
"You screamed, and he collapsed."
The introduction of Trowa's voice made the braided man start, though, fortunately, it was barely perceptible. Duo wasn't really sure why he suddenly felt so on edge – a feeling that hadn't been there when he had first sat down, something that had only crept its way into him in the last few moments, without his awareness.
"Yes," he said slowly. "I screamed – I don't even know why, really, I just... didn't know what else to do. And then, I saw him collapse, and then, it all went dark." Something occurred to him, and he sifted through the blurry memories he held. It seemed awfully insignificant, but the words left his mouth anyway. "No. No, I didn't see really see him collapse. I saw... the blade. The blade with blood on it, I saw it – shatter. Into fragments, and there were shards of gold... Or maybe..." he shook his head, laughing tiredly. "Maybe that was a dream. I couldn't say."
"You saved my life, Duo." It was no heartfelt gush, just the simple statement, and Duo was glad. As it was, he felt unsure what to respond with.
"No," he told Wufei, feeling an abrupt surge of guilt. "If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't even be here!"
"If it hadn't been for you, Duo, we would never even have dared to hope that the curse upon the Prince and upon Hei could even be broken within our lifetimes!" Zechs had an awfully nice smile, and it wasn't his words that eased the awkward feeling but that smile.
"Anyhow," Wufei said, "that was what happened, as far as I gather. He did collapse, although he is still breathing, and we managed to get some servants to help us in shifting him to one of the cells in the dungeon, and keep watch over him there. I also, very fortunately, found a volume containing the reversal and purge of blood majick, so he is quite powerless in that sense. The girl's body..."
"I warned one or two of the servant girls to keep well away from that area... I believe the sight of blood will be just as effective. Just until we find a way to give the poor girl a decent burial of some kind..." Zechs' voice trailed off.
"I just..." Duo stared, then lost his train of thought. His lips parted again, instead settling for, "Why?" The bard's voice was soft, wondrous, his eyes looking towards Wufei.
The Eastern man blinked, looked almost confused. "Why?" he echoed.
"Yes. Why?" Duo's eyes flickered around to the others, including them in his question. "Why blood majick? Why him? Why did he try to find the castle? Why did he search for you?"
Zechs was smiling at the braided bard. "You have quite the ability to ask all the questions that matter, Duo."
Duo grinned lightly, but continued to look expectantly at Wufei, whose eyebrows were drawn together in thought.
"Why blood majick? And why him? I suppose, although I didn't quite have those questions in mind, they were things that I wanted to find out, hopefully by something written here." He gestured around the great room.
"And did you find out?"
Wufei met his eyes. "Perhaps," he said, somewhat reluctantly. Then he added a word. "Quatre."
Automatically, Duo's eyes drifted over to the person in question. "Quatre?" he repeated, voice rising at the end in query.
The blonde man sat down, and spoke, matter-of-factly, "'Fei thinks, and I agree with him, that to get to the castle that man somehow tapped into the power of the sorcerer who originally cast the spell on the Prince. That would explain how he managed to get through the multiple hazards stopping anyone from finding this palace. You know very well that we would not have been able to arrive here if it hadn't been for your... particular invulnerability."
"I suppose you're right," Duo said, reluctance edging his voice. He hadn't really paid much attention to that fact before, with all the thrill of actually coming upon the palace, and then meeting Heero...
"Well, if he somehow tapped into the sorcerer's power, it would mean that upon his death, the sorcerer must have left some fragment of himself behind. I believe it is possible, especially for a sorcerer from the time frame of the last royal family of Hei, for this fragment to slowly build itself back up into a being of considerable power. Power, that is, to manipulate the minds of others. People especially vulnerable... people, perhaps, who hold great dreams, but whose dreams rested upon another, and upon the death of that other person, have shattered.
Wufei sighed, and said, "The thing that troubled me when I first saw the girl, first recognized the use of blood majick, was – where did that... man learn of such a thing? Was it in Hei, was it within the castle? Ultimately, I suppose, it was a mixture of both those things."
"You see what we're saying, don't you, Duo?" Quatre had been speaking evenly throughout, never placing particular emphasis on any phrase, and he continued in similar fashion. "We believe that that man, the father of Relena, slowly grew more and more insane after she was turned by the prince. Perhaps he had come here with hopes that she would be the one to break the curse, that she would succeed in somehow securing the Prince's love and therefore leading him, as her father, into an enviable position of wealth and prestige. Perhaps, in order to ensure that they could reach the palace, he searched for alternative ways to succeed and called upon the sorcerer, or maybe it was the sorcerer who first came upon him. Either way, he, along with the young Relena, arrived at the palace, took up posts, all without much fuss.
"Then she was turned by the prince. And he slowly grew more and more disturbed, until he snapped, killing the girl – possibly driven to that point by the sorcerer. At that time, of course, the sorcerer would have leapt on the opportunity to completely invade his mind, utilize this blood majick that holds such great potential power, and in turn, use this majick to... purge the castle of unwanted beings."
"Us," Duo said, unhappily.
"Yes."
"Still... why? Why us?"
Quatre paused, though it was definitely not a hesitation, and looked at him, blue-green eyes different now, closed off, cold, even. This Quatre seemed different, drastically so, from the one Duo had thought he'd known. His eyes... they were conveying a message, but in no way one that Duo wanted to receive.
When Quatre spoke, his voice was harder, unyielding. "It just seems to ridiculous, doesn't it, that the spirit of the sorcerer has been lying, latent, within the castle, and the Prince just... happened not to ever realize it. Especially since this sorcerer, from what I've read, seems to be the only one who could reverse the curse... the curse which has made Prince Heero's life an utter parody of Hades."
"What are you saying, Quatre?" Duo furrowed his brow, trying not to believe that what he was thinking was what the small blond wanted him to think.
"What do you think I'm saying, Duo? Can you tell me that it seems impossible to you? I assure you that it isn't."
"Quatre! Why are you... you never... why are you saying this now, when before..." Duo's voice trailed off as he struggled to come to terms with what Quatre was implying. The blond seemed to be acting completely opposite to what Duo had come to expect, and the bard had never ever imagined that he could say such things... especially since the blond knew how much Duo believed in Heero's... well... goodness.
Finally, Duo gritted his teeth, and said, "Heero would never do that! Make a deal with the man who cursed him, try to hurt 'Fei. Never!"
"Don't be unreasonable, Duo. You must see that it seems completely improbable that things could have happened any other way. Heero must have known about the sorcerer's presence." The matter-of-fact tone grated at Duo's nerves, making him wonder how things could have taken such a drastic downhill slide. He was becoming too emotional, he knew, and it meant that he couldn't quite get enough of a grasp on things to tell Quatre, quite logically, how it would have been impossible for Heero to have been involved with that... madman.
It was all quite too much information, too fast, in a moment when all Duo could think of when he tried to collect his thoughts was how Heero had looked, asleep, and utterly at rest.
"No," he said firmly, pushing back his chair and fixing his eyes with Quatre's. "You're wrong. Heero is a good person. Heero had nothing to do with that insane man. You're wrong." His hand ran angrily through his hair and gripped the edge of his braid. "You're wrong."
Without pausing to ponder over why he had become so upset so quickly, or even why he was as upset as he was, he began walking to the doors. He wanted to see Heero. Just... just to see the other man would be enough to assure him beyond any doubt that the prince was good, even if Heero didn't believe it himself.
Duo spared one last look at the group of four men, sheer indignance roaring though his body. But Quatre was still sitting there, no sign of repentance whatsoever, eyes perfectly calm, sure, cold. And the other three sat with eyes all carefully avoiding Duo's gaze.
And awful feeling of being let down gripping at his gut, Duo pushed open the doors and set out to find Heero.
---
"Was that really necessary, Quatre?" There was a disapproving tint to Wufei's words, an emotion also evident within his dark eyes as he studied his blond friend.
"Yes," Quatre stated firmly. His shoulders slumped slightly, and he reached up to rub his eyes, sighing tiredly. "It was not really a lie, you know, 'Fei. All that I said about the sorcerer, and that man – I really am sorry, Zechs, to have to have mentioned Relena – weren't they all true? And it did give me an awful fright – it was horrific! But I'm positive we can handle that – the sorcerer, and whatever he's left behind of himself – ourselves... aren't we more than equipped to do so?
"Duo," he said, surely, "must stay by the prince's side. He must realize himself that he is the one who will free the prince of the curse... he is the only one who could possibly find a way of breaking the curse! No one knows exactly how... that's what it says, no doubt about it. No one knows exactly how to break the curse... no one save the one bearing the heart of gold.
"Yes, Duo will break the curse, I am sure of that." He bit his lip, and hesitated, voice getting slightly more doubtful, even unhappy. "I just... I hope that when that happens... it will not be in a way that hurts him."
He spared a gentle smile at the others, and nodded towards the book he had originally brought out. "Take a look at that, will you? It's to do with the curse... reiterating everything we've believed in for some time now, but it has an interesting take on things."
"I do wonder, though," Zechs said, thoughtfully, "Why Duo hasn't come across anything mentioning him within these books... he has spent some time in the library, along with the prince – I've heard the servant girls talking about it."
"He doesn't know where to look," Quatre said, softly, an almost guilty look in his eyes. When the others turned to look at him, he flushed gently. "I... I had a feeling that he would try the library – he is intelligent! I couldn't have him learning about it before he had a chance to come to a conclusion of his own... if he reads about the curse, about the part he has to play in it... it might impair his ability to reach the correct solution. You... you agree with me, don't you?"
Wufei studied his face, but refrained from commenting, simply inclining his head and resuming his stuffy of scratchy handwriting. Zechs chuckled, nodding leisurely and saying, "You really do surprise me sometimes, Quatre."
It didn't help the flush to go away; instead Quatre turned his head so his hair fell across his face. "I'm tired," he told them, pressing his lips together firmly and leaning his head upon Trowa's shoulder, eyes falling close.
The almost light-hearted atmosphere would have greatly surprised Duo. But he wasn't there to witness it.
---
Heero's muscles were aching like they hadn't ached in a long, long time. Nevertheless, he kept going, doggedly slicing through the air with his sword in the ancient pattern of intricate footwork. He berated himself for having abandoned his sword for so long, hating the way he had tired already, persisting in continuing the endless movement. Up, down, step to the side, turn, faster, faster!
Movement didn't come so easily now, each step causing a dull throbbing pain to sweep through his body. His vision grew dusty, blurred, and the only thing left in his mind was the transition between one stance and the next.
It was all wretchedly nice: the ache, the pain, the victory of mind over body as he kept moving even as his physical self wanted to fall upon the ground – it all made him feel vaguely human again.
Human. Life. Breath.
Death.
He stumbled a little, off balance, protesting limbs unable to hold him up as his mind drifted from single-minded focus. He breathed harshly, unable to regain his previous grip upon his body. A tremor ran through his sword-bearing arm, his body shook and he was unable to stop it.
Heero stood there, perspiration staining his skin, a tenuous grip upon the hilt of his golden sword, no longer moving because he simply couldn't anymore.
Why... was he here? Why... was he here?
Wretched, wretched life...
The heavy thumping of his heart within his chest, resounding between his ears, made him want to reach into his chest and rip it out, just to see if it would too succumb to the curse...
The curse...
There was the echoing sound of a footstep falling upon the ground behind him, and Heero spun around unsteadily, eyes struggling to take in the person standing before him...
"Heero?"
Duo.
The bard took another step forward, right arm outstretched, eyes looking worried, almost uneasy. Troubled violet eyes... That shade seemed to reach out and smash into his chest, making the prince's stance even more unsteady than before...
Dilated eyes blinked, a darker blue than Duo had ever seen.
Then the sword tumbled from Heero's grasp, the light hitting the gold and forcing a wince from the bard.
Heero blinked harshly, the sharp clatter of the sword meeting the floor merely an empty echo resounding in the back of his mind. The only senses his mind was interpreting was the sight before him – Duo, eyes awfully wide now, arm still resting in the air, delicate fingers outstretched, towards him, and then, now, tugging hesitantly at the corners of his lips, an unsure smile...
This... this fool! Smiling, smiling at Heero, when Heero could never smile again... Smiling at Heero, when his smile was a lie, because Heero had seen him smile at another.
Anger rushed through the prince, hot and heavy and tugging at his skin, reaching through his body and dispelling every trace of exhaustion that had existed before.
And Duo was still smiling at him...
Heero would make sure that he never smiled again... Never smile at another, ever, ever again. Heero would curse him, just as he himself had been cursed, Heero would make the other man shoulder the burden he had bore for so long now...
And Heero rejected the source of the anger, the why, only seeking solace in the way it burned so surely within him, alive.
The prince flexed his fingers, drawing them into a fist and slowly unfurling them, watching the movements of his right hand for a moment... then he looked up, and fixed dark cobalt eyes upon Duo.
He would make sure he never smiled again...
TBC
A/N: Shorter, this chapter... but I had to break it off there. I really do apologise for the huge delay in posting – I meant to have this out a month ago, but life just got completely out of control. I haven't written for weeks… hopefully I haven't forgotten how to! I'd promise to be much faster, but my track record isn't so good. (wince) Anyhow, thanks to everyone who reviewed and let me know that you're reading. It means so much and I swear I'm sticking this fic out till the end!
THANKS TO:
Kimiki, for all her beta work and picking up on all my fragments and strange usage of words.
Professor Potter-Malfoy: Thanks so much – that's high praise indeed!
Serenity a.k.a. Serena: hmm... you're definitely not the one who has to apologise for being late! I'm so thrilled about how much you like this. (beam)
Ariel: ooh. I swear, when I have the time I plan on going through this fic and fixing all the discrepancies. Just... don't know when that'd be. Thanks for pointing that one out!
Pandora-chan: You're imagined endings... ooh, you're pretty good there! Though I will tell you I'm a sucker for happy endings, although I do love the angst in between...
kirallie: Right there – something is affecting Heero – glad you picked it up! Duo... made Heero like him. (!)
InfectedLife: Thanks so much for your review – I was feeling quite insecure about how this chapter panned out so it's so nice to know you liked it. I'm so sorry you had to wait long, what with the pseudo-cliffies!
Onee-sama: Thanks (again)! And SO sorry about the wait…
Spark of life: The progression is rather slow, but I guess that's the way it turned out... We'll get there eventually!
Natasha AKA Tash: If Duo kissed Heero and Heero didn't touch him – he wouldn't be turned. As will soon be demonstrated. And thanks for the review – it gave me such warm fluffies!; piper: thank you! (flattered) and sorry to keep you waiting...
The Plot Bunny Whisperer: I'm glad you're enjoying the pace – it's one of those things that just kind of works out that way. Thank you so much!
BrokenChains: hmm.. chapters seem to vary in action and um... the necessary bits in between. I guess this wasn't very action heavy either, but... all in due time, and I felt awful about taking so long to update... damn RL!
jess-elkom: soon! And thanks!
tyleet88: yeah, sometimes I think the 100 chapters might not be too far a stretch... but I don't think I could handle that! Less that 25, I'm hoping, at this stage. Thank you!
GoldenRat: yup, it's someone on their side!