Title: The Forsaken
Author: Link Worshiper
Pairings: 1=2, maybe some others if I feel like it
Rating: PG-13
Stuff: Fantasy AU, fluff, sap, language, adventure, WoW nerdiness

Disclaimer: I own Gundam Wing action figures? Warcraft and its lore belongs to Blizzard Entertainment. Both things are being played with out of fangirl love.

Thanks to Taw and Natea for the once over. Despite the fact this is part of Natea's birthday present, I still needed her to fill me in on the Alliance history they don't teach us on Horde, so thanks for that also =P

OH SHIT GUYS. I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME A MILLION YEARS. LIFE IS CRAZYYYYYYY RIGHT NOW D:

By that, I mean I'm still unemployed and have been doing a fuck-ton of commissioned illustration to barely keep my head above water; doesn't leave that much room for writing or even creative thought, which sucks so hard, I can't even tell you. It didn't help that this chapter was giving me a lot of trouble for quite some time to boot. I'm still not totally pleased with it, but I am also insanely critical of myself.

Part XXI
Infiltration

The aged tracks terminated a few yards before the tunnel did, and, in the face of the obstruction, the abrupt end to Heero's march nearly caused the motley crew following him to stumble clumsily into his back. There arose an aggrieved clamor from the lot of them, Wufei complaining about following Trowa so closely only because the elf had taken off so unexpectedly after Heero and Duo, to which Trowa only scoffed that he had been forced to chase them down lest they lose their only light source by Heero's hand. Heero berated them with a sharp glare and a word that they were practically beneath Stormwind, though he found himself met with disdain. But despite Heero's attempt to take charge, they were, instead, only silenced by the realization that there was a faint glow emanating from behind the wooden barricade, the source of which could be none other than the tunnel housing the main rails of the Deeprun tramway and thus, a main artery of the Alliance's trade routes between Stormwind and Ironforge. They fell in line grudgingly, their faces making their impatience with this errand far from a secret.

"Well?" Duo asked, trying hard not to pay Trowa and Wufei that much attention; "What now?"

Heero had a few ideas in mind already, but all of them involved knocking down the ancient wood that sealed the two passageways apart. He was tempted to just snatch Wufei's axe and start hacking away at the timber, but even he had the sense to know that something like that wasn't the most tactical plan in the world. He crossed his arms and frowned, the lantern swinging next to his torso and warming the leather of his tunic as he glared into the light while the others looked on idly. The grim silence was broken only once by the squeal of metallic wheels on the rails beyond, the clang of machinery rising to a loud crescendo and then fading away as the tram car passed by en route to Ironforge. Heero tried to calculate in his head how long it would take the tram to reach its destination and then pass by again, but was only frustrated by the notion that it would probably do so without pause for what lurked nearby in the darkness. Then, he wished Quatre had been there.

A long silence ensued. Duo squatted down next to Heero's feet and idly traced patterns in the dirt with the tip of an exposed phalange until Asahi popped out of Heero's hip pouch and scuttled out to rejoin his proper master. Wufei had moved towards the wooden barricade and was currently pounding at it with the butt of his axe as though he meant to test its durability, while Trowa stood with his back to the group, idly staring back the way they'd come. The gloom of the mineshaft still whispered around them, though it was dotted with the crackle of gnomish electricity, which lit the main railway beyond the boarded-up archway impeding them. Every now and again, a mechanized wail would resonate from somewhere afar.

"How far away is Ironforge anyway?" Duo stabbed through the awkward quiet. "It's been quite some time, and that tram has yet to pass by on its return to Stormwind."

To be honest, Heero wasn't sure. There was no real way to tell where along the route this forgotten passageway connected until they broke down the wood and saw for themselves. So he merely said, "It depends on how close we are to our destination."

"So we could be sitting right on the doorstep of the Alliance capitol as we speak?" came Wufei's displeased voice, his reddened eyes glinting sharply with the embers of Heero's lantern. He turned to the other Horde loyalists and protested vehemently: "I say we turn around before it's too late. Who's to say there isn't an entire army mobilizing on the other side of this wall right now?"

Duo was really started to get tired of Wufei's attitude, justified or otherwise. Though he did not rise to his feet, his anger cut through the darkness, honing straight for the orc: "And who would have alerted the Alliance that we were here at all? Nobody, that's who," he snapped with a curling sneer, jabbing at the dirt with his bony finger and nearly impaling poor Asahi, who had been marching along the patterns Duo had been drawing on the ground. "If you're so doubtful of how this will end, then go running back to Orgrimmar and cry to your warchief about it. But for the love of Elune, desist prattling; it's hurting my head." He rubbed his temple as if he had a migraine, though the words were really more figurative than anything.

Wufei snorted at Duo, unimpressed. He grunted dismissively at Heero, "Rogue, be sure to curb your dog if we are to continue this way. His barking is insufferable." He said the last word with an emphasis drawn from the gusto with which he swung his axe about, embedding the blade into the wooden barrier with a very audible thwack that made the very earth quiver and rain debris down upon them.

"Quiet, all of you," Trowa spoke up, his regal tone commanding their attention immediately. He combed dirt out of the long, red bangs that were combed across his face, crinkling his nose with silent disgust every time he picked out a particularly thick clump, and went on, "I came all this way to see if the human was capable of stealing from his own king, and now that we are here, I refuse to think that all that journeying was for naught." He pointed a directive finger at Heero, declaring, "You are going to steal that elixir for Duo if it's the last thing you do, and I will be there to gloat as Milliardo Wrynn realizes that one of his own has turned traitor, oh yes." A dangerously pleased smirk crossed Trowa's face; "Ah, to see the look on that smug bastard's face when he realizes his prize assassin cast him aside at the behest of a dead warlock! O, the very thought will kill him!"

As Trowa spoke, Duo silently got to his feet and crept into a dark corner so he might brood without anyone being able to see the mixed emotions touching his face. He might have expected that Trowa's true purpose in tagging along was something along those lines, but it was some of the detailing that needled at Duo. He knew Trowa could only have inklings of the true nature of Heero and Duo's past relationship because Duo had never told anyone about it. He couldn't decide if he should just come clean about it so that he wouldn't have to endure such derision anymore. Still, it was doubtful that Trowa would accept their history so easily, but Duo also knew that he didn't want to lavish details to make the story more palatable for Horde ears, especially with Heero so near. Truth be told, the entirety of it would probably just make an enemy out of all of them, and Duo was already struggling as it was with the task of regaining Heero's trust. He wondered what Heero would do if he found out that Duo still kept a few secrets from him yet.

Always the one to be grounded in reality, Wufei spoke up again, voicing his dubiousness towards their quest yet again. "That's all well and good," he said, "but how's a lot like us going to really pull this off? You can't even come up with a strategy for intercepting the tramcar, much less getting into the city itself!" Then he jabbed an accusatory finger at Heero, frowning tightly around his upturned tusks: "And if you mean to tell me that you're just going to send that rogue in there alone, well –"

"You idiot, of course we wouldn't send him in alone. Why in the hell do you think I came with him all this way in the first place?" Duo snapped, glaring over his shoulder. He was absolutely unable to handle how contrary Wufei had been since he joined up with them and refused to allow the orc the pleasure. He boldly stepped to Heero's side and snatched his wrist into his fleshy hand; "I have my reasons for pursuing this as I have, and I suppose Trowa does too. If you have a problem with it, Hellscream, then you can loiter in the woods on guard duty. Or you can rot down here; I don't much care." His hand tightened around Heero's forearm, a silent testament to his allegiance and loyalty to him.

Any retort Wufei might have been boiling with was lost as the clang of the tramcar began to resonate in the adjacent tunnel, a sure sign that it was approaching their location on its return trip to Stormwind. Heero wasn't sure if it was the fact that Duo was gripping his wrist so tightly, or if it was merely his nature, but as the tram's machinations grew steadily louder, Heero decided he'd had enough strategic thinking for one day. In a heartbeat, he leapt at Wufei and ripped the battleaxe from his unsuspecting hands. Then, he whirled towards the boarded up archway and took to the rotting timber like a man possessed. Woodchips flew through the air and a sliver of light began to break through the darkness as the other three stood back and stared at Heero, dumbstruck by the zeal and efficiency with which he hacked through the barrier. Even Duo, who was familiar with Heero's temperaments, was having a hard time alienating this single-minded relentlessness in Heero from the demon that lay dormant within him. The very suggestion was one that left Duo greatly disturbed.

Heero managed to break down enough of the wood to get through to the main railway, which sat at the bottom of a deep trench almost immediately beyond the archway. Just as the tramcar was approaching, he dashed along the narrow ledge to meet it with a speed that almost seemed inhuman. The vehicle was self-propelled by gears unseen beneath its passenger deck, but Heero seemed to have confidence he could stop the tram long enough to get his companions on board as well. Perhaps it was because Heero had once been a frequent rider of the tram in the past that he knew to pry up a section of the metal flooring in order to get at the engine, but the precision with which he did so was also rather uncanny. With one fell motion, he thrust the haft of the battleaxe into the gears below, jamming the gears and bringing the railcar to a screeching halt mere feet from the archway where Duo, Trowa and Wufei could only stand and watch, mortified.

As the high tension of the moment subsided, Duo and the others took the cue to step into the light, the harshness of which momentarily blinded Trowa and Wufei's mortal eyes. But while Trowa actually found himself impressed by Heero's recklessness and lauded Heero with clapping, Wufei was far from pleased. Just short of ready to take off Heero's head, he stormed onto the stalled tramcar, roaring, "How dare you degrade a warrior's weapon in such a way? His weapon is his soul!"

"Calm down, Hellscream," Trowa said with a roll of his eyes as he, Heavypaw and Duo followed the orc onto the tram. He strode over towards where the axe protruded from the exposed engine. "Just think of how much honour is bound to the tool that helped us infiltrate the Alliance viper nest," he said as he gripped the axe at the neck and gave it a sharp tug, jerking it free of the gears that it had stalled. He had meant to hold it out for Wufei to take, but he never got the chance, for the moment the gears were able to turn properly again, the tram suddenly lurched forward, nearly sending the entire party over the edge and onto the tracks.

"For the love of Elune, Trowa! Are you trying to kill us?" Duo gasped, his arms wrapped around one of the trestles that arched up over the passenger deck and supported a mechanism channeled electric power from an unseen line of cabling fixed into the steel-clad roof of the tunnel. Were any of the Horde loyalists a bit less stubborn, one might have actually noted how ingenious gnomish engineering truly was.

"Why do you always say that?" Trowa asked, somehow able to catch his balance with far more ease than the rest of them, standing naturally with his pet lion as though he were still on unmoving ground. "I thought you abandoned the faith of the moon when you died? Or surely at least when you began studying the dark arts."

"Old habits die hard, I guess," Duo replied, still clinging to the trestle, though the dark stare he simultaneously shot Trowa also seemed to tell him that it was none of his damn business.

Trowa simply shrugged, nonplused by Duo's attitude. "Forgive me," he said; "I just think it's odd for one who manipulates the demons of chaos to still swear by a goddess who opposes that very thing."

The tone in Trowa's voice vastly irritated Duo, and he almost forgot that he was hanging onto the trestle for a reason as he raised a bony fist at the blood elf prince. "For someone who doesn't like talking about himself, you sure ask a lot of questions," Duo hissed. "The day I tell you about why I became a warlock is the day you stop being so judgmental." And with that, he refused to say another word about it, while Trowa pretended like he didn't care.

Meanwhile, Heero stood at the front of the tram, his arms crossed as the corridor rushed by on all sides. An unsettling haze had besotted him now that they were so close to Stormwind. When they had first set out, Heero remembered how he would have given anything to be back here, receiving high honours from his king for his service to the place he called his home. Now, he found himself somewhat wishing that their journey could have gone on forever, or at least a little while longer. There had been something ultimately freeing about wandering across Azeroth with Duo and Trowa, invigorated by the fact he could choose his company without fear of retribution.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly toppled over when the tram ground to a halt at the end of the track. The station was usually deserted, something which Heero was silently thankful for as he and his unruly companions disembarked onto the Stormwind platform. As the Horde loyalists absorbed the oddities of the station's gnomish design, Heero had to admit that there was a certain comfort in the familiarity of this place. With a glance at Duo, whose undead nature left him in a strange limbo between Horde and Alliance, the irony that both the warlock and his home city could invoke the same sensations within was not lost on Heero. He just wasn't exactly sure what it meant.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen," Duo was saying, his confidence returned to him now that he was no longer on the speeding tramcar. "Heero and I are going to infiltrate the castle keep, for that is where the treasure we seek is held," he said, outlining his sketchy plans to the others. "Hellscream, you're on diversion duty," he decided, not really caring what Wufei had to say on the matter. "I don't care if that means running through the streets hacking off the head of every Alliance soldier you see, just as long as none of them are paying attention to the rest of us." Then, he turned to Trowa, but he never got a chance to give Trowa an order, for the elf clearly had other ideas.

"There is no need for one such as myself to go sneaking about," Trowa announced, idly stroking Heavypaw's thick mane. "I think I will go visit with Milliardo Wrynn while you are about on your errand."

"Not in those colours you're not," Duo quipped, though it was hard to say if he really cared all that much that Trowa had his own plans. "In red, gold and green, you are like a beacon for Silvermoon from a league away."

A rather sly smile crept across Trowa's face as he retorted, "I should hope so: I am, after all, Silvermoon's prince."

"All the more reason someone will want you dead," Duo cautioned.

"Diplomacy dictates otherwise," Trowa countered, already checking his gear like he meant to get going right away. "Besides," he added, reaching into his hip pouch and withdrawing the familiar owl charm from its depths and holding it up for to see, "I have this. So long as I mean them no harm, then no harm will befall me – I was promised."

"Looks like it's too late for that," Wufei grunted under his breath, clearly ready for some action. Being reduced to the level of a mere sentry no longer bothered him when he thought about battling his way through the city to its front gates. He slapped his axe into the open palm of his off hand and let out a mighty roar, practically daring any nearby soldiers to come investigate the disturbance.

No one even had a chance to reprimand Wufei for being so reckless. Within mere seconds, there was a shout from the top of the stairs that led up to the city streets above, announcing the approach of two fully armoured soldiers. Both were clearly a little surprised when they found themselves facing a Horde party that seemed to be in the company of one of their own, and the hesitation it induced cost them the upper hand as Wufei charged them eagerly. He barreled straight into one of the soldiers and sent him crashing to the ground on his back, Wufei sitting on his chest with his axe ready to lay into the poor guard's head.

Even as Trowa drew his bow, commanding Heavypaw to assist Wufei, and Duo started to conjure one of his demons to deal with the other soldier, Heero could only stand and watch as if he had lost mastery of his own person. He felt removed from the scene as the soldier Wufei and Heavypaw were tearing apart began to scream in fear and agony, as if he were watching a play whose story he had no control over. When he'd last been in Stormwind, sentries such as them had been his comrades, loyal subjects of King Milliardo Wrynn, but now, as they defended their city against what they saw as intruders, they had become his enemy. Wufei raised his axe again in order to smash its blade back into the soldier's flesh, and all Heero could think of was how it didn't have to be this way between Horde and Alliance.

But then the other soldier was nearly upon Duo, charging at him with his sword drawn and a battle cry in his throat. It was all Heero could do to snap back to attention and leap between the unprotected warlock and his attacker, raising his dagger to meet the onslaught of the soldier's steel. Duo had a fistful of fire ready to blaze forth from his palm, and his blue voidwalker demon was clawing at the soldier's plate-covered back, but the fight had now become Heero's, and it seemed to have left them at a bit of a stalemate.

"Wh-What are you doing?" the solder asked Heero through grit teeth, clearly unsure as to why one of his own had come to the aid of a raiding party. "Are you not one of King Milliardo's top men?"

Heero hesitated, unsure what to say, and Duo called from behind, "I'll lay waste to him, Heero. Just step aside!"

That Duo not only knew Heero's name, but had also offered his assistance, was enough evidence for the soldier to make some quick deductions. Suddenly far more aggressive than he had been moments before, the soldier broke the lock between his and Heero's blades, swinging his over his head and preparing to strike down with the might of both hands. "Traitor!" he cried as he leapt at Heero again, this time aiming for the kill.

Heero barely had time to jab his dagger forward, impaling the soldier's throat through the unprotected space between his helm and his breastplate. A fountain of blood spurted out and speckled Heero's face, more of it bubbling out from the eye slits in the helmet's visor. He hardly noticed the gore, far more aware of how the soldier's body had become limp in his hands. Quickly, he dropped the corpse to the floor, where it landed awkwardly in a smear of its own blood.

With both soldiers dispatched, everyone relaxed, though Heero turned to find a rather grim look still written upon Duo's face. "Don't tell me you're having second thoughts now," he said as he banished his voidwalker back to the nether with a wave of his hand. "You can't hope that every encounter from now onwards will leave you so fortunate. You have to kill them before they kill you, or worse, go squealing to that swine of a king and alerting him of our presence here."

"Ideally, I'd like to not kill anyone," Heero said with a stubborn frown, though he knew in his heart of hearts that Duo was right. He usually didn't have a problem with eliminating adversaries, but then again, he also hadn't anticipated this much awkwardness in infiltrating the castle of his own king. The weakness was probably more infuriating to Heero himself than any of the others. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight from one foot to the other in agitation, saying, "From now on, our key operative is stealth. I'd like it to seem as if we were never here at all."

His eyes inevitably came to rest on the two corpses strewn across the tramway platform, and his frown deepened, his previous words implicating his thoughts exactly. Without having to say anything else, he and the others went about the grisly business of disposing of the bodies. The best place any of them could find to hide them was a sewage grate near the stairs, but were dismayed to find that the opening was too small to fit a pair of grown men in plate armour through. After a few failed attempts to force them through the grate anyway, it was Duo who had the idea to sever the limbs and decapitate the bodies after removing the armour, and Wufei was more than ready to follow through with the suggestion, though Trowa would only let him proceed after Heavypaw was allowed a sampling of the fresh meat. Once again, Heero found himself having an out-of-body experience as he watched Wufei butcher the two soldiers with a rather disquieting glee.

Through with that grisly business, Wufei wiped the blood from his axe blade onto his leather jerkin and hooked the weapon to his belt. Obviously satiated by the fighting, Wufei seemed in brighter spirits and more willing to put up with Heero and Duo's quest. "Don't worry about anyone noticing you," he said as if he had been game to do so the entire time; "I'll keep them too busy to even realize you're there."

With that, he jogged up the stairs and took to the streets. The immediate screams and commotion that ensued was a clear indicator that Wufei's unexpected emergence had startled the denizens of Stormwind into a mindless frenzy. Heero, Duo and Trowa lingered in the tramway station and listened, not quite sure they wanted to be met with the reality of whatever Wufei was doing up there. Heero hoped that the orc had the decency to simply stir up a commotion, not sure he would be able to forgive him if he found himself standing in the wake of a bloodbath when he finally left the station too.

"Don't look so pale," Duo commented, glancing at Heero from the corners of his eyes. "If there's one thing that idiot understands, it's battle tactics. He won't do anything disruptive enough to get them paranoid there's more of us."

Heero hoped Duo was right, but he couldn't safely say he shared Duo's confidence that Wufei would keep his head on straight. He'd seen the fire in the orc's eyes even when they were disposing of those two bodies, and he shuddered to think what someone who truly hated the Alliance that much would do if he were let loose in the very seat of its power. He had to forcibly steel himself, knowing that concerning himself with such fears was only going to distract him from their goal there. "We should get moving," he said, hoping to hasten their mission. "Lingering here will only spell more trouble."

It was then that Heero and Duo noticed Trowa had wandered off and was already halfway up the steps leading to the streets, Heavypaw trotting obediently at his heels. Immediately, Duo took offense to Trowa's immediate disregard to everything Heero had just said and quickly marched up after him. Grabbing Trowa by the hem of his cloak, Duo jerked the blood elf prince to a halt and held him fast as he growled, "And just where do you think you're going?"

"Unhand me!" Trowa huffed, trying in vain to shrug Duo off. Heavypaw started gnawing at Duo's leg in an effort to help his master, but Duo's dead flesh and bone felt nothing of it.

"Just tell me where you have to be that's so much more important than here?" Duo pressed, gritting his yellowed teeth in a menacing scowl. "I thought we were going into this together."

"I think you are more than capable of babysitting your human pet without my assistance!" Trowa argued back, not about to admit that he felt very much on the outs without even the likes of Wufei to serve as a fallback ally. "Besides, there are things I can attend to while I wait for you to finish your thieving. I still mean to visit King Milliardo."

At once, Duo dropped Trowa's cloak and stood back, staring at the elf with a slightly cockeyed expression on his face. "Really?" he wondered aloud. "I thought you were joking about that."

"Surely you know I'm not the joking sort," Trowa scoffed back with folded arms and a frown, which then melded into a smirk as he added, "Though I do mean to humiliate him in front of his court that for all his sneaking about, his plans to crush the Horde were still foiled."

"Are you sure that's really a good idea?" Heero interjected from the bottom of the stairs, his even tone punctuated by his blue and sharp glare. "You might deceive us, and then all of this will have been for naught."

"The only deceiver here is you, traitor," Trowa jibed back, not about to let some human deride him in such a manner. "From the moment that king of yours took the throne, he has ignored the pleas of the Sin'dorei and would sooner see us die out than welcome us back into the arms of the Alliance. For that disgrace, I want to see his true face revealed before those he considers his most loyal."

Trowa's fist clenched at his side as he spoke, despite the lackadaisical air that permeated his tone. Not even Duo had seen the elf so impassioned, and against his better judgment, he crossed his arms and grudgingly allowed him to continue on his way. "T'will serve as a test of friendship," he warned as Trowa nodded and turned to go once more.

Had Duo been able to see Trowa's face, he might have seen the sentimental expression that crossed his features as he assured his friend of his loyalty. "You are my brother, Duo," he said; "Why would I ever want to endanger that?"

Before Duo had a chance to speak, Trowa took off running, disappearing over the horizon of the top step and into the noonday sun.

Though Wufei seemed to have done his job well, leaving the common streets of the city devoid of life, Heero didn't quite trust the open air, especially when he could still hear the commotion Wufei was stirring up rising in the distance. When he had first begun his life of vagrancy in Stormwind, the first thing Heero learned about the city was that its immense canal system was the fastest and stealthiest way to get around, and it was by this tried and true method that Heero chose to proceed. In such a bustling metropolis, no one stopped long enough to peer over the side of a bridge or down a ledge long enough to notice the likes of him slinking on by.

The tramway station was on the edge of the dwarven district of the city, naturally, but the good fortune in this was that it didn't make their trip to the castle very far. Creeping through the shadows, Heero led Duo passed a number of smithies and a bell maker, right up to the edge of the nearest canal before diving right in. Duo followed suit, trusting that Heero knew exactly what he was doing. He had to say, he was impressed by how long Heero was able to hold his breath, hardly needing to come up for air the entire way.

The canal flowed right up to the castle's outer curtain, passing through it by means of a grate fitted into a small archway. Not needing to breathe in the first place, Duo treaded water beneath the surface of the canal and watched as Heero masterfully took to the securing bolts with a small wrench he'd procured from his hip pouch. The force of the water pushed the grating out of the way the moment Heero had removed all the bolts, thus opening the way for them, and onward they swam until the canal began to shallow out somewhere in the bowels of the fortress. Able to stand with their heads above water, Heero and Duo alighted the waterway to find themselves at the mouth of the castle's sewers. With a small toss of his hand, Heero bade Duo to follow him some more, continuing into the dank labyrinth with a gloved hand over his mouth to keep from gagging at the stench.

"You certainly are at ease with this. I almost wonder if breaking into the castle vault was something you had been planning long before I suggested it," Duo commented as they went, nonplused by the smell. Asahi was happily riding on his shoulder as though the stink was actually something he was drawn to.

Heero's voice was muffled by the back of his hand as he responded, "Our guild was entrusted by King Milliardo with the secret passages into the castle vaults should the city ever need to be evacuated. In all my years of service, I have laid a few treasures to rest within."

"Heh, well, I guess he never thought one of them might betray such information like this," Duo proclaimed with smug triumph as he watched Heero start tapping at the slimy wall one brick at a time. He was eager, almost unable to believe that he was finally moments away from restoring the life he'd lost, not only with breathing flesh, but one that included Heero in it again.

"He is an arrogant man," Heero muttered as he tried to remember where the switch for the secret passageway was, only able to recall its vague whereabouts. His fingers hovered above a chipped brick, hesitating before he tapped it and said, "With each passing moon, I trust him less and less, truth be told. He may have been young when he inherited the crown, but he has grown into a man whose promises seemed to be veiled with ulterior motive." Grimacing, Heero added, "Though the hour was dark, and the Alliance surely would have been lost without a king on the throne, I wish fate might have chosen another."

As he said this, Heero tapped yet another brick in the sewer wall, and all at once, there was a great roar, like stone grinding against stone. But even as the wall began to give way, a section of it swinging open to reveal a hidden shaft that concealed an ascending ladder, Duo could only stand back and stare at Heero with a very curious look on his face. It was partially contemplative, and partially sorrowful, like he sensed something that he was tempted to voice aloud but wasn't sure he ought to. When he finally did speak, he found himself addressing Heero's back as he mounted the first rung of the ladder, his voice slightly parched: "Well," he said, "at least Milliardo is of the proper bloodline. Was his father not brother to the king that reined before the orcs laid waste to Stormwind?"

"It's true," conceded Heero, finally high enough on the ladder to allow Duo the space to begin the climb as well. "But royal lineage a just king does not make," he said, as he reached the top of the shaft, which terminated beneath a wooden trapdoor whose padlocked state was no match for Heero's lockpicking skills.

Duo clung to the ladder just beneath the rung that supported Heero's feet, trying hard not to look down, for he realized a little too late that the ladder was much taller than he'd have liked. "Do you ever wonder if he's still out there?" he wondered at length, trying hard to distract himself from his fear of heights. "The real king – you know, the actual son of the one who came before Milliardo."

Pausing, Heero took a moment to actually ponder such a question. It was something he sometimes wondered, but never long enough to really consider in a serious manner. However, with this talk of how unfit to rule Milliardo seemed to have proven himself to be as of late, it posed a rather interesting postulation. Heero decided – silently, of course – that he liked the notion that there was a more noble ruler lost somewhere in Azeroth; it gave him hope that the future of the Alliance, or even the world as a whole, was not entirely lost. "One day, I will find him," murmured Heero as the padlock clicked open and slipped from its rusted prison, plummeting with sickening speed by Duo's head.

Pushing the trapdoor open, Heero climbed up into the castle vault, Duo scrambling up behind him with due haste, and there they stood in the midst of the Alliance's greatest treasures. Heero had seen this trove before and regarded it as naturally as one might take in any other everyday fixture in life, but Duo couldn't help but stare in awe at the wealth that surrounded him. Great coffers were stacked upon each other, draped with fine silks and weaves; gilt weapons and armour leaned up against them and hung from the walls amongst great shields and polearms. There were shelves of ancient texts and scrolls that left Duo almost absent of the real reason they were there, and many, many other great rarities that he would probably never again see in his lifetime.

While Duo dallied, Heero was already opening a rather innocuous looking chest that shared a table with an oil lamp that shone brightly in the dim light. Sidling next to Heero to see what he was getting into, he peered over his shoulder as the rogue lifted the lid to reveal a number of flasks and phials, all of which no doubt contained obscure potions of varying sorts. Quietly, he lifted each bottle out of the case and examined it until he found the one that he sought, which he then held out to Duo with the simple words, "My promise is met."

Duo was almost too overwhelmed to take it at first, but he quickly mustered the nerve to withdraw the treasure from Heero's outstretched hand, albeit with shaking bones. It was an innocuous flask that had a bulbous, flared base and a long neck, around which was tied a length of twine strung with a faded tag. The words on the label read as thus:

~ Mighty Elixir of Volatile Life ~
Reagents: Lichbloom, Eternal Fire, Goldclover
Requires: A Princely Sacrifice
Brew well before consumption.

Duo read and reread the tag three times, his brow furrowed in deep contemplation at what the directions required of him. There was only one phial of this potion, and to taint it with the wrong ingredient would render it completely useless. But when it soon dawned upon Duo what the missing substance might be, he found himself at a loss as to how he might ask for it.

Heero watched the myriad of emotions flicker across Duo's face with confusion, unsure as to why Duo would be feeling anything but glee at this moment. Frowning at this unexpected reaction, Heero asked, "Duo, what is wrong?"

Wordlessly, Duo presented Heero with the tag so that he might read it more closely, but the riddle of what 'a princely sacrifice' might be didn't seem to faze Heero as much as it had his undead companion. "We are surrounded by all the princely riches in the world," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Surely something here is fit for such a requirement."

Duo only pursed his lips at the suggestion, already certain of what he needed to complete the mixture. He hadn't really wanted to upset the delicate balance of things any more than he had, but for the sake of reviving himself, there was no other way to proceed. "Heero," Duo began tentatively, hoping that his careful choice of words kept his revelation from being too overwhelming; "Do you remember what I mentioned just a moment ago? When I offered the speculation that perhaps the true king of Stormwind might still draw breath?"

All at once, it clicked in Heero's mind where Duo was going with this, and he immediately stood at attention, eager to hear more. "The lost prince?" he queried, his shining eyes betraying his stern lips. "Duo, if he is the one you need to complete that elixir, I will surely venture with you to find him." His heart was pounding manically in his chest, its thrum so loud, he was sure that it would betray their secret entry into the vault. Without a thought, he stepped forward to grab one of Duo's hands, holding the delicate bones in his fleshy hands with a sincere grip: "I will go not only for Stormwind, but for you," he whispered, harpooning Duo with his fathomless stare.

"Heero, I…." Duo faltered, a little too overwhelmed with a sensation akin to the vague memory of emotion. He gripped the neck of the flask tightly in his other hand as his phalanges curled around Heero's knuckles, entwining themselves between his fingers. Straightening, and hoping to meet Heero with as sincere an expression his empty eye sockets would allow, he said simply, "We needn't travel far."

Before Heero had a chance to wonder what had come over Duo, the warlock clarified: "He stands before me," said Duo as he sunk to one knee and drew Heero's suddenly limp hand to his dead lips, the dancing embers in his eye sockets never once leaving Heero's face, even as his voice fell to nary more than a mumble. "You, my prince, the one and only King of Stormwind: I am but your loyal servant," he mouthed against Heero's skin.

No sooner had the words left Duo's lips did his shape blur before Heero's eyes, a parade of nearly repressed memories and forgotten words filling his brain with such relentless vigor that his forehead throbbed violently until his eyes rolled back into his skull and he collapsed to the floor.

TBC!!

I really hope you guys still enjoy this story. Again, I am so sorry it took me a long time to write more.