"Once Upon a Wing"
Chapter 36
"War and Peacecraft"
And before the sound of a single pindrop passes,the assembled heroes, so awed by Lord Dermail's climactic demise brought about by, indeed, all of their contributed heroic deeds, a shrill high-pitched voice rings out a warcry, albeit a little too late.
"Out of my way, you ugly faced, nasty excuse for a...ergh...slimy Nilbog! Come out with your hands up, you dirty old coot! I'm warning you,we're armed and dangerous and not scared of you one bit! So there!" Hildey the elf's impish voice cries from somewhere high above, some of her name-calling right on target, though she was naively unaware.
She and Duo were on their Pegasi, flying in by the seats of their elfy pants, ready and rearing to be daring and courageous and-
"I'm afraid you two missed the party." Mistress Sallie smiles drolly at the pair of elves who were a day late and a dollar short to join in on any grand adventure today.
"Oh, NUTS!" Feisty little Hildey sincerely wanted to participate in some serious battle warfare. She sighs and plops on the marble floor once her Peggie zoomed in through the busted open dome roof.
Duo, on the other hand, was smiling from ear to ear, gratified for the break. The elf lad tosses his lazy arms over his pointy eared brown braided head with an utterly smug expression on his goofy features.
"Oh, nuts, shucks darn." He repeats with a snicker under his teasy breath.
"Nevermind, all that mundane humdrum fighting is over, at last. And you, my friends, are all invited to attend my absolutely exciting, spontaneously romantic, Wedding at Aissur Castle of course. And then, due to Aissur 's outdoor rooftop veranda wedding banquet being called off on account of disaster, the reception will take place, umm... at the Sanc Kingdom palace, this very evening!" Full of blonde ambition, Princess Dorothy suddenly and assertively decides to announce the dual kingdom location of this most important, must-attend, social-event-of-the-year. And that causes both the surprised bridegroom and the shocked owner of the wedding reception location palace in question to gulp and drop their jaws at the pushy princess' wonderfully outlandish shotgun scheme.
"Oh! Is that the time, Honey-bunchkins?! If we're to have that perfect sunset wedding, we must be off! So much to do and plan, and so little time! Ta-ta, 'til later, dear friends!" Dorothy grabs hold of Quatre's ochre tunic shirt front and tugs her new willing puppy into a smothering kiss onboard Valkyrie's already airborne back as they fly off towards the unsuspecting North kingdom of Sanc to set up the preparations for the wedding feast.
"I fully expect to see you all there!" In a golden hue of pure happiness for the first time in her life, Dorothy of Aissur, soon to be Dorothy of Noxas, all aglow, sings out in joy of the upcoming event to all the gawkers below.
"Double nuts." Duo letters under his breath. He had a feeling that he didn't like this toffee nosed blonde, and he sure didn't want to go to any boring old wedding.
Then again…
This eager elf gives his Hildey a toothy grin. Hildey suddenly wonders it was such a good idea to agree to his proposal before, but she was in a hurry to get back into the action.
"If you make it a double ceremony, we'll be there, Blondie!" Duo wrapped Hildey's Pegasus' main, and the two winged horses were hot on Dorothy and Valkyrie's trail.
"Relena, dear! Do make certain that my two cousins attend. And maybe with some sort of body we can all see, if we can manage that in your illustrious style, of course, Cousin Treize. I wouldn't dream of tying the proverbial not without either you there, my beloved boys. No matter how much my golden little teddy bear here begs me to, will just have to wait until I get my way. Tata! Until later!" Dorothy seemed happy with her little speech until she remembered something.
"Oh! When I do come down the aisle as the most beautiful bride of the year, I do require your arm – and a solid one would do nicely for appearance's state, if you please, Mr. Treize." Dorothy continues to prattle on endlessly as the golden falcon takes off and flies away. Her own giddy excitement over the actual marriage that would actually take place made her feel rather lightheaded. The one look in Quatre's lovely aqua eyes made her feel even more so.
And this is what true peace meant to Princess Dorothy's fickle little heart, at long last.
"Yes, cousin Dorothy, dear. Yes, indeed…" The nymph that Treize had been brought back to life as drops the façade of playful brainlessness. Although it was becoming more difficult on the coursing constantly blowing winds to access, his superior clever mind was the one thing that had truly crossed over, despite the airy fool's show, although the translucent ever smiling face didn't quite convey that.
King Treize's vast mind, and his large caring heart for his people.
"My people…" Treize recognized that it would take much time for him to master the powers and skills over the very air itself, the wind currents, every flowing zephyr of a breeze, now at his command.
And while now, as an immortal, he had that time to eventually learn to transform into a solid humanlike being on command as the Water and Fire Nymphs standing before him – the citizens of Aissur did not have the luxury of that time.
Their once peaceful Castle had been invaded by evil forces that had taken their sacred Pegasus. Treize's transparent eyes gaze over the herd of winged horses simply a-flow and a-fluttering lost in the clouds above Mythica.
The Pegasus were unsure of where they belonged anymore, whether to go back to the broken remnants of Aissur Castle's home or stay here, in this promised land of milk and honey...
"My people, my Pegasus, need a leader now more than ever in their moment of distress. My people need me. I cannot simply remain here idly when Aissur stands in ruins, its countryman lost and its precious Pegasus wayward. The King I was – the man I was – cannot be expected to give up my duty as ruler to my people, my kingdom. Can I be?" With sadness behind his hazy deep blue eyes, Treize realizes that, though this chance to live again was as an immortal elemental bestowed upon him by the lovely lady Anne's sacrifice of something quite precious to her, with fairy magic added by someone who was growing quite precious to him, he wasn't pleased.
But still, Treize felt highly ungrateful. That despite the immortality they had bestowed upon him, he wanted nothing more than to be flesh and blood again, with the normal lifespan's simple failings and frailty – of the great gift, called humanity…
And yes, Treize saw now that this fairy, Mariemaia was his offspring, the daughter born from the forbidden love that he never even knew existed…Which was the greatest gift of all...
"Duty, yes." King Milliardo knew that he too could not stay here in this idyllic world. His people he must go back to.
And maybe… His eyes look down to the nymph – no, the woman – standing beside him. The one looking at him with those beautiful fiery eyes…
"Return with me to Sanc, Lucrezia." Milliardo orders suddenly to the Fire Nymph who was supporting his wounded body to stand.
"As my Queen." He adds in that raspy yet haughty voice, his platinum long hair flowing in the soft wind that overtook Lucrezia's once vengeful heart.
"Yes. Yes I will." She whispers softly, giving his lips a sweet assenting kiss. An unbelievable gentle, peaceful change in herself was something this angry vengeful woman was both terribly frightened and terribly happy to see.
"Truly? Are you sure? After all, it gets pretty cold up in the Nort—!" Milliardo's sentences cut off and Lucrezia places a a hot tipped pausing finger on his thoughtful pursed lips.
"Milliardo. Don't make me repeat myself – again." Lucrezia says with a certain air of heated flirtatiousness that the cold King of the North was rather unaccustomed to. The red shade of embarrassment ran right up his neck and cheeks as Lucrezia throws herself, body and soul, at him.
"Relena! It's time to leave, before Dorothy takes over our kingdom and puts pink doilies all over the Palace for her silly wedding!" Milliardo figures he could use his little sister as a buffer between himself and the fiery beauty of his until he could sort out his emotions enough to touch the hot to handle burning question.
"Yes, big brother." Princess Relena was having her own romantic liaison. Although, hers was a bit less physical as she was attempting to show Heero how to pet a skittish unicorn gently and tenderly enough for it not to run away.
"I'm not really cut out to be an animal lover." Heero had a hard time ever being 'gentle' to even the docile beast who had wandered into the Cotillion to nuzzle the peaceful Princess.
"I think you would be excellent anything you try to be, my Heero." Relena smiles across to him, enveloping Heero in a sea of her soft eyes as their fingertips touch over the Pegasus' silky mane tentatively.
"But first, I must put this golden orb back into place." Relena, in her naivete, did not realize that the golden power source of Mythica that she was still holding in her hands, would reactivate the land's defense system.
For it was the origin of Mythica's protective shield that kept it untouched by outsiders for centuries –
"ALL SAVE THE PUREST ARE UNWELCOME IN MYTHICA'S SACRED FOREST."
A simple statement echoes in the words of the celestial voice that shakes a very rafters of the building as the entire land's shield surges back to life the moment Relena places the Golden orb on its pedestal.
The psionic magical shield around the legendary land goes up again – and rejects those who had passed through Mythica's Gates while its power was down.
The Fire Nymph.
The Sorceress Witch.
The Dragonmaster.
The Traveler from the Stars.
One by one, these impure heroes flash away in a blinding spectacle of light.
Lucrezia was no longer Milliardo's arms; Lady Anne and Wufei blink away before the Air and Water Nymphs' eyes. And Heero – Relena could still feel the touch of his hand reaching out to hers, as the melancholy look in his eyes seemed to be saying a final goodbye…
Sayonara, Relena… Hero closes his eyes, knowing this was the end of his part of the story…