WARNING: Very dark content ahead- R RATED

Chapter Fourteen: All Hell Breaks Loose

           *"Hiiro! Hiiro! Where are you going Hiiro?" A high voice called out. Hiiro stopped.

"Jaritha, Jocanan, you shouldn't be here. Go play somewhere outside." Hiiro told the children that had begun running to catch up with him.

"But we want to play with you Hiiro! You're all better now, aren't you?" Jaritha looked up at Hiiro, trying to catch her breath.

"Hiiro can't play now little girl." Quatre tried to soothe her.

"Who are you?" Jocanan asked forcefully.

"My name is Quatre, and Hiiro and the rest of us are very busy."

"More men of the Damned! Are you children as well? Will you play with us too?" Jaritha squealed. Duo shot Hiiro a questioning glance.

"They call our society the Damned." He answered roughly. Then he knelt to one knee. "Do you two know where I can find Andrew's room?"

"Yes, of course! You go down this hall and turn left. His is the last door on the left." Jocanan stated proudly. Then he stopped. "But he's in there with Serenity!"

"What? How do you know this boy?"

"We just came from that hall. Serenity was screaming so loud… I wanted to go in and help her, but Jocanan ruined my plans and wouldn't let me." Jaritha huffed.

"Jaritha." The boy turned to her, his proud smirk suddenly replaced by sad eyes. "You didn't want to see what was happening, I promise you."

"But Jocanan! How come you know what was going on in there and I don't? I want to help Serenity!" The girl protested.

"She can't be helped." The boy spat sadly.

"Yes, she can." Hiiro growled. Jocanan looked at Hiiro. Really looked. In that moment, Hiiro saw wisdom beyond the child's years in his eyes.

"Maybe. But not by Jaritha or me. Andrew's too strong for us." He answered.

"But you would help her if you could?" Hiiro retorted. This was it. Though the boy was young, if he was old enough to be able to order women around, if he was old enough to understand what was happening behind Andrew's doors, then he was old enough to make a choice. Would he be a violent man, such as Darien and Andrew, or would he grow to be a man with a sense of conscience?

"Of course I would- it goes without question. Serenity is the only one who ever made sure that I ate and slept. She took care of Jaritha and I… I loved her." Jocanan answered without hesitation.

"Listen here Jocanan. Go to your rooms and dress in your warmest clothes. After that, get Serenity's warm clothes. Then come back here and wait for us to return." Hiiro told him. His mind was going miles a minute… he was going solely on his emotions at this point.

"Is this a new game?" Jaritha asked, unaware of what was happening. Jocanan looked back at Hiiro one last time, then he nodded.

"Yes Jaritha, it's a game. We're going to pretend to go on a trip! We need to get ready now."

"Sounds like fun! What do I pack Jocanan?"

"I'll help you, come on." As the two children went off quickly, Wufei turned to Hiiro.

"You're not serious Yui."

"I am."

"Hiiro, we can't take them with us! Serenity maybe, but two kids?" Trowa frowned.

"They can't stay here."

"Why not Yui? It's their home!"

"Neither has a mother- both of them were beaten to death. I'm not leaving them behind where it can happen to them too."

"So you'll chance them on the mountain in those storms?" Wufei argued.

"For their freedom? Yes. Let's go."

"Hiiro…" Quatre began.

"Let's go!" He ordered again. The guys sighed. So now that Hiiro was back he was reverting to his old self. With one exception- he was going overboard. But then, maybe it was just a phase acting up, after all, he had suppressed everything so long he was bound to have a few quirks when he let everything go. They reached the door and paused.

"I'll stand guard." Quatre offered. Hiiro nodded, and the rest of them drew their guns and readied to kick in the door. Hiiro and Duo kicked at the same time, and the door creaked and gave way beneath their force. It few open, shooting splinters of wood and dust everywhere.

Hiiro and Duo rushed in followed by Trowa and Wufei. They stood with their guns cocked and aimed in the darkening room. In front of them was a large fireplace with a warm fire roaring within it. In front of the fireplace sat a long couch and an armchair. On a table beside the armchair sat an old fashioned bottle that looked as if it held some sort of liquor.

"You again?" Hiiro heard Andrew sneer. The blonde man was sitting in the armchair smirking. In his hand he held a large wine glass. As he looked at Hiiro and the others, he smirked and swirled the liquid in the glass. Taking another sip, he began again.

"You're too late you know, man of the Damned."

"Where is she." Hiiro's gaze darkened and his finger tightened on the trigger.

"Why? Miss her already?"

"Where is she!" Hiiro repeated louder.

"She screamed you know. She moaned and whimpered, and then she screamed some more. She enjoyed it."

"One more chance. Where is she?" Hiiro repeated, his voice lowering and his gaze darkening. Andrew still smirked on.

"Where every other whore ends up with me- in my bed." He motioned to the other side of the large room. Hiiro shifted his gaze slightly to see the large curtain covered portion of the room. Now his ears picked up soft cries.

"You are a sick man." Wufei looked at the man with pure contempt.

"Maybe. But I have fun while being one, so I don't see the real harm in it. Besides, she is going to be my blushing bride. I don't see the harm in getting a head start on our ceremony night, do you?"

"Cover me." Hiiro ordered the others. Not that he had to, they were looking at Andrew with such anger that he thought they would shoot him on sight if he asked it of them. Hiiro let his gun down and walked over to the bed. He drew back the curtains and stepped inside. Two small candles above the bed gave off a pale yellow light. Hiiro looked down at the bed and spied what he had come for. There she was.

She lay on the bed, face down. Her clothes and the bandages he had placed on her earlier that day were gone, and a thin sheet partially covered her. Her hair was matted with sweat and blood, and her entire body was covered in bite and scratch marks. Her entire body was shaking violently, and from the smell it was obvious she had thrown up.

"Serenity?" He whispered. She whimpered and drew back. Curling herself up as tightly as she could, she softly sobbed.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" Hiiro's heart broke.

"Serenity, it's me, Hiiro."

"Stay back, please!" She sobbed harder.

"Serry…" Hiiro whispered.

"Hiiro?" She half looked up, as if she was scared she would find out it was all a dream, a vision. Only one man had ever called her that… her dream man, Hiiro. Hiiro… Hiiro Yui…

"Serry?" He tried again. She was becoming more responsive.

"Hiiro!" The girl cried. Hiiro took it upon himself to climb onto the bed towards her. But she shied away again…

"Serry, it's me, Hiiro. I won't hurt you, I promise." He tried to comfort her. He had a flash and remembered her saying the same thing to him once… only then it had been in their dreams. This time he was trying to comfort her in reality.

"Hiiro?" She asked again. He finally reached her and as he did, he held out his hand to her. She looked at it for a moment, then, very slowly, reached out and took hold of it. Hiiro pulled her into him and she fell into his arms. As he stroked her hair, she stopped her heartfelt sobs, but tears still streamed down her face.

"He… he… he touched me Hiiro." She cried softly. "He beat me, but then he…and I… but he…" She cried harder and shuddered into his chest.

"I know, I know. And he won't get away with it." Hiiro vowed.

"But Hiiro…" She was going to argue with him even after this? He took hold of her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"No. You listen to me. There is a difference between tradition and slavery. One is fine, but the other… the other causes pain and suffering that shouldn't exist. You and the rest of the women in this utopia are slaves Serry. There is a fine line between punishment and cruelty, and the people here have crossed it." He explained to her gently.

"I know Hiiro. God I know." She cried out quietly. "The Gods no longer look upon us with favor, we have fallen from grace too many times to be considered worthy. I see how they treat women. I see it! I know I shouldn't complain, I know I'm a lazy, incompetent girl who doesn't know her full place yet, but I see things the others don't. I see that we are taken advantage of. I see horrible beatings because women refuse to cook because they're so tired from the day's chores. I've seen women executed simply because they tried to run away. That is what happened to Jocanan's mother. I see it all. And I'm sick at heart because of it! I want to get away from this place. But I don't want to kill anyone doing it." Her sobs had subsided, but she was still violently shaking, and tears still kept spilling over.

"Serry, he raped you! Your own cousin took advantage of you, beat you, and raped you. He hurt you. And you want him to walk away without punishing him?"

"Rape…" The word sent her into hysterics again. Hiiro held her tightly, wishing he could take her pain and make it his. He wanted to see her smiling again, to hear her light faeryish laughter, to have her call him love…

"Alright Serry. We won't kill him. Just severely maim him." He told her, trying to get her to laugh. It didn't have much effect. Suddenly Hiiro heard the sounds of a scuffle, and he immediately became tense. Pulling away from Serenity, he soothed her one last time and stood from the bed. He had to find out what was going-

"Who the hell are you!" his mind raced. Darien! He must have knocked Quatre out to get in…

"Hiiro?" Serenity whispered, still crying.

"Stay here." He told her gently. Then he paused. "I won't kill them, it's a promise." Then he left the curtained area.

"You!" Darien growled. "Hiiro Yui, Matthew Jay's boy! I told you to get out of here!"

"Hnn."

"I gave you your chance boy. Now I'm going to do what I should have done from the beginning!" And Darien lunged for Hiiro. The other boys moved to help him, but he stopped them.

"My fight." Hiiro warned them. "Watch Andrew- don't kill him though." He ducked as Darien swung. The two men circled each other.

"Once I finish with you, I'm going to touch her you know." Darien taunted. "That's right Hiiro Yui. I'm going to rape my own sister. Oh, how foolish of me. You think of that as disgusting, don't you? Too bad you won't be around to watch. I'd tie you up and force you to, but I would much rather kill you and then let her see your dead body first. Then she'll be more spirited."

"Hnn."

"Grunting again? No words? She has a nice body, doesn't she?"

"Hnn." His rage was increasing.

"Full curves, pouting lips, soft hair. And she always smells so good…"

"Shut up!" Hiiro screamed. Darien took the moment to swing a punch. Hiiro, who had been knocked off his guard, had no defense. The punch landed solidly across his cheek and the sheer force blew him off his balance. Darien swung again, and hit Hiiro directly to the stomach. Hiiro fell to the floor and stay still, his eyes shut tightly. Vaguely Darien wondered what the boy was thinking.

"She's going to be broken one way or another. I'm just going to do it this way. No hard feelings, you'll understand." Darien smirked- then frowned as he watched Hiiro Yui's lips turn into a thin smirk as well. And then the pain hit him.

"You under estimate Matt Jay, and you under estimate me." Hiiro said. Then he opened his eyes and glared. Darien stumbled backwards from the force of the kick Hiiro had just dealt him. Hiiro quickly stood and took advantage of the situation. He landed punch after punch, ignoring the pain that was growing in his chest.

Finally Hiiro swung his arm hard and landed a bone crunching punch to Darien's jaw. Darien fell to the ground heaving, bloodied, and bruised. Hiiro kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to moan in pain and turn over onto his back.

"What are you waiting for? Deal the final blow." Darien taunted. "Maybe I didn't under estimate you after all- you're too weak at heart to kill anyone." Duo snorted in the background, and Hiiro frowned.

"I'm an assassin for a living." Hiiro smirked, then frowned. Darien gasped. "I have killed more people in a day that you have in your entire life."

"Then why not finish me off?"

"Serenity took pity on you. I promised not to kill you or Andrew. After all, you were her family."

"She always was a sentimental chatter mouth. She would have made a great whore though, I'll give her that much." And Hiiro landed a devastating punch to Darien's face. The man on the floor went limp, and Hiiro knew the fight was over; Darien had been knocked out.

"It's done, let's go." Hiiro said. *

~~~Everyone hanging in there? There are three chs left! Yes, I have finished this, I'm just drawing it out to be evil! I've also finished Virtues of the Western Front and Though All Was Quiet… and I'm just drawing them out to be even more evil! Don't you love me? –Vixen~~~