It was a simple proposition; Treize Kushrenada had a taste for beautiful things.
The last of an ancient and influential family, Treize had been raised to appreciate the nuance of beauty around him. His standing as the head of OZ encouraged this, as did the tastes of his peers and the odd coincidence which had surrounded him with beautiful people throughout his entire life. All of these things mattered - but at heart, there was only one reason why Treize liked beauty.
Because it was beautiful.
War was beautiful. Peace was beautiful. All things were beautiful if viewed in the correct light, and Treize, for one, possessed that vision. It was rather unfortunate that most of those around him did not.
"Bastard!" Wufei cried, and leapt at him again and again, ignoring his own fury, ignoring his own pain, caring about nothing more than protecting the honor of long-dead people and avenging the perceived waste of their lives.
"Treize-sama!" Une cried, as she gave order, after order, all to please him. Only to please him.
"My lord," said Milliardo, giving up his throne, giving up his identity, to stay in the service of the man he had so come to love.
...It went on and on. At this stage in his life, Treize was so used to people being obsessed with him that he no longer bothered to give it thought; instead, he concentrated on how he could put it to use.
He was proclaimed as a warmonger; as the messiah of a new era; as a monster and near-deity by people in the same homes. He was both worshipped and abhorred, but the simple fact was that Treize held in his hands more power than any one being ever had, on earth or in space, save God - and as Treize was fond of saying, mankind had long ago begun to need a higher system than that.
Behind him, Une cleared her throat. Treize paused for an infitismal second before acknowledging her presence.
"Yes, Lady Une?" he said expectantly, continuing to water his plants.
In response, Lady Une stood straighter and clicked her heels. "Lord Treize," she announced sharply, "I have news regarding the whereabouts of the gundam Deathscythe."
Treize paused to adjust his aloe vera. "02, you mean?"
"Yes. I have reason to believe it is presently being kept in Arabia."
Again, the infitismal pause; again, the one eyebrow raised. "Arabia?" Treize repeated doubtfully, as if he had reason to believe otherwise.
Perhaps he did. As far as Une was concerned, Treize knew all.
"Yes, sir," Une said, responding to his almost-disapproval with further militial gruffness. "I would like to request permission to send a search party there; I believe with proper use of radar and satellite, we could locate this gundam - possibly without the pilot inside, therefore making it an easy target."
"Lady Une, such things are never easy targets," Treize chided mildly, not looking at her as he continued caring for his plants. Aloe vera was such a fascinating flora; the oil in the leaves was even an excellent medicinal source.
Once you broke them.
Une waited in breath-held silence, obviously needing more of an answer. He turned to face her. "And if the pilot is there?"
"Then we will attack him," Une said simply, and Treize restrained a smile. Such efficiency, Lady Une, he thought, but refrained from saying. Then just for fun, he abruptly put his watering can down and took up her hand instead.
"Lady Une," he said earnestly, making eye contact and pretending not to notice the way she flinched, the way her eyes widened and lips parted, the way every muscle in her body seemed to tremble at even this limited physical contact. Not for the first time, Treize thought that if he ever went so far as to kiss her, her head would explode.
What an amusing thought. Messy, but amusing.
"Please be careful to control yourself, Lady," he said. "I would rather not see a repeat of the... incident at New Edwards Base."
Une stared at him without response for a moment, resembling nothing more than the wild, spooked deer that he kept on his estate for hunting. With ribbons.
"I..." Her voice cracked; she cleared her throat and tried again. "I would like to employ the nets, sir."
Treize raised one eyebrow, releasing her hand and reaching for his watering can in the same smooth movement. "The nets? I thought they were still in prototype stage."
"They are," she replied, visibly forcing her professionalism to the surface. "However, I believe that a field test is in order, and if, as I hope, we can catch this gundam pilot unaware, then his machine will be debilitated before he even gets into it."
"And he could be killed," Treize murmured, stroking the plant's leaves with the familiarity of a lover. "I believe I asked you to keep the pilots alive when possible."
"When possible. Sir." Une's tone was almost cold; this was the one and only point in which she disagreed with her beloved Treize-sama.
The pilots must die. All of them.
Treize laughed softly as if he'd heard that thought. "Of course, Lady Une, " he soothed, turning to sit again on the divan. "I want to see this carried out with the greatest of efficiency and discretion. I will give you my answer regarding the use of the nets in an hour. Dismissed, Lady."
Une bowed sharply at the waist - not seeming to care that from his position he could not see her - and retreated. The soft sound of the door closing behind her did nothing to quell the room's glorious atmosphere; but somehow, Treize felt it had already been diminished.
Ah, Lady, he thought, studying the way his aloe vera made shadows on the wall. You have so much further to go...
Pouring himself a small glass of sherry, he settled back and pondered. There was much to think about tonight; and because he really was in a pensive mood, he decided to rise from his seat and turn off the lights.
Oh, much better; now he could see the stars from his balcony. Suddenly yearning for fresh air, he opened the double French doors and walked out, drinking in the night sky. And because he was standing out there, invisible in the dark, he saw Wufei coming.
Wufei had already scaled the wall and dropped soundlessly to the kneaded topsoil of OZ's French Headquarters' front lawn. He had taken every possible precaution; a wide expanse opened before him, which he successfully managed to cross undetected because of the dark clothing he wore - and since neither his skin nor hair were light by any means, in dark cloth he was nearly invisible. It was then a work of two moments to avoid the few soldiers in that area, planting handkerchiefs scented with rabbit's blood and cocaine to render the guard dogs incapable of following him. The blood drew the dogs' attention, and the cocaine numbed their nasal passages; an effective technique used long before man had colonized space.
The trouble didn't really start until he reached the hedge.
Around the back of the manor was a magnificent hedge maze; it provided - in theory - hours of fun for visiting children of dignitaries, and certainly made for an elegant view from the house itself. However, it was also a royal pain in the neck for Wufei. Floor plans, he'd found; guard schedules, he'd memorized - but on the hedge maze, he could find no information at all. So, he was reduced to exploring.
By the time he finally reached the exit, he'd been forced to kill three guards and gag two others; this meant that scheduled check-ins would be missed, and his presence could only go undetected for another twenty minutes.
More the reason to hurry.
Ducking low as he ran quickly across the lawn, Wufei leapt onto the trellis and began to climb as if his life depended on it, not bothering to slow down to avoid scratches from the thorns of whatever flower Treize had growing there. He had one mission, and he was going to do it; if he succeeded - then it wouldn't matter if he died. If he failed - well, then dying would actually be preferable. Either way, Wufei could not outright lose - and as a young man who'd lost any reasonable desire for life beyond pained past and bloodied vengeance, he felt the choices before him were perfectly acceptable.
He reached the balcony - ironically enough, the same balcony from which Treize had been watching him not two minutes earlier - and hopped over, moving quickly through the room toward the door on the far side and ignoring the shadows that seemed to shift toward him in the dark. He moved as confidently as if he'd lived in the place all his life; of course, he HAD memorized the floor plans. Two doors down, three lefts, a right, and he would be in Treize's personal quarters, where, naturally, Treize would be. Any sane, responsible person would be in bed at this time of night; it was not quite three a.m., and leaders of the world especially had to keep themselves thoroughly rested.
Unfortunately, Wufei's logic failed to scope the anomaly that was Treize Kushrenada.
Smiling, Treize flipped on the lights and shifted his sword, blade catching the light. "Wufei," he said calmly, looking his visitor over carefully. "As honored as I am to see you again, I thought we had agreed to battle in mobile suits when next we met - ne? Why are you here?"
Wufei stiffened, but to his credit, showed no further surprise. He proceeded to draw a very dark, odd looking sword.
"I have come to kill you," he said simply, never one to beat around the bush. Time to prove yourself, he thought at his wooden blade, and lunged.
"My, my," Treize said, eyeing Wufei with somewhat increased interest, and then they began.
Not long after the battle, Treize sat in a reclining chair - the divan being rendered completely unusable in the course of the fighting - and considered the evening's events.
Much had happened here today; he was not sure if he should be pleased or appalled at his own behavior. Really, baiting the boy to come back in the first place had been irresponsible; but now...
He had been both amazed and mildly disturbed to see Wufei suddenly dart from the bushes and fly at him tonight, eventually challenging him with what had turned out to be a wooden sword of astounding workmanship. It was interesting that the boy had come for him; it was amazing that he had, to a point, succeeded.
No, not "amazing" - it was extraordinary.
Curiosity peaked, Treize had decided wait and deal with this obviously eager child on the boy's own terms, rather than call the guards. He had been ready for him, of course - Treize had never known what it was like to be unprepared for anything - although truthfully, he had not believed the boy would actually come back. He had baited him for it, yes; but hoping and realizing were two entirely different things and he really had not expected this.
He sipped his tea and considered the situation as academically as possible.
It was a well-known fact that birds, if domestic, would often return to their owners when released. The reality that there were not food and water cups everywhere in the world was often enough to ensure this reversion, and in any case, Treize liked to play the game of setting them free just to see them come back to him. He had long ago learned that the addictions of comfort and a gentle hand could be enough to overturn freedom's call, and had found that the power to prevail over nature and instinct was truly an addicting one.
Une had asked him once why he liked to do such a thing; setting free one's pets seemed an odd pastime for the leader of the known universe.
"Why do you do that, Treize-sama?" Une said, watching the birds flit away with more than a little puzzlement.
"Do what, Lady Une?"
"Set them free. The birds."
Treize smiled to himself, thinking over the deep and half-karmic need the act fulfilled; to be the type of man who could stand still for hours just for the chance to shoot a few wild birds - and then at the same time be the type of man to release his own domesticated pets. It was a kind of justice; a balance in the circle of life and death, and a true measure of the only power he honestly respected: that of nature.
He looked at Une and knew he could never tell her that.
"Because I like to see what they will do," he said - which was not entirely untrue. "I like to see them come back to me; if they do, then perhaps I was not as bad a master as I could have been...?"
Of course he hadn't told her the real reason. That reason involved a lust for power, a desire for control, a NEED for the beauty that could only come when things were pushed to their utmost limit.
Une would never have understood; and here, Treize suspected, was another example that Une would never be able to understand.
If Wufei's appearance and method of attack had not been enough to make him look twice, his choice of weapon and advancement of skill certainly would have.
It was obvious the boy had been practicing.
Treize had seen wooden swords of that make before, of course; in fact, he owned three of them - but even he himself had never mastered this particular type of blade to the extent that Wufei had. Wufei fought with a fury; with fire in his eyes and his teeth bared, throwing a hint of desperation into every move that almost rendered him less effective.
Almost.
By the end of the duel, Treize had actually been winded, and fighting to keep himself from LOOKING winded. This was something that never happened; it peaked Treize's curiosity even more. And at the end, when he had finally and luckily managed to knock away Wufei's sword and catch him, rapier-tip to throat, the child had... collapsed.
Not physically, of course; Wufei's pride would not have allowed him to do that. But his eyes...
... the absolute yearning for death that Treize saw there; the complete deflation of hope, of survival instinct, of everything that had been there only moments before - replaced by a dead, hurt desire to no longer be among the living.
Obviously unaware of just how enthralling his eyes were when he was miserable, Wufei had taken a step forward - cutting his own skin on the tip of Treize's sword - and demanded that Treize kill him. Which, of course, he had not.
How could he do something like THAT? Treize had suspected Wufei was an extraordinary boy before; now... well, he was actually impressed - and more than a little curious. Why had his failure hit him so hard? The child had not acted like one who had to prove a point...
He had acted like one who had lost everything he had to live for.
Treize smiled, steepling his fingers and watching the aloe vera's shadows on the wall. No, he had not killed him - but he had proposed a bet. It was not entirely fair, he'd said, for Wufei at this juncture; after all, Wufei was obviously extremely capable and gifted beyond his years. The difficulty lay, quite simply, in his youth.
"I am some nine years older than you, if the reports are correct," he said, hoping that his reports were indeed correct and he was not making a fool of himself.
Wufei had merely looked at him, as if not quite comprehending why Treize was talking and not executing.
"Those nine years make quite a difference, Wufei," Treize continued, careful to use gentle, non-threatening tones - spooking the boy now could ruin everything. What "everything" was, he had no idea; but that hardly mattered. "I do hope you see where I'm going with this."
"No," Wufei said. "Kill me."
Hm. Apparently conversation was going to be sparse.
"No," Treize replied, lowering his blade somewhat - and the look of horror, of pain and of shame, that flashed through Wufei's eyes was enough to hook him on the child for at least a few months to come.
He HAD to understand what made this boy tick.
"I would rather propose something... more fair than that. It would be ludicrous for me to take your life when you have obviously completely misunderstood the situation.."
Wufei had blinked at him, his mouth gaping in confused disgust. "KILL me!" he shouted. "Don't you GET it? This is not a GAME, you ass! Kill me now or eventually I WILL kill you! What the hell is WRONG with you! You WANT to die?"
"Wufei," Treize interrupted sharply, deciding to try something. He leveled a slightly disapproving gaze on the younger man. "We are discussing things as adults now, as I suspect you would prefer to be treated. And since we are discussing things as adults rather than children, I would appreciate it if you would refrain from using such tone of voice in my presence." It was condescending; it was reprimanding; and it had exactly the result Treize had been hoping for.
Wufei flinched slightly, dropped his gaze, and fell into scowling silence.
Ooh. This had potential.
Treize lowered his sword completely and continued talking.
"I propose... a simple bet," he'd said, shooting off the top of his head.
The result had been more successful than Treize had expected. Still not entirely
sure what he was aiming for, he had coddled and placated the boy until he'd
HAD to listen to him; and, after a good deal of grudging silence on Wufei's
part and further discussing by Treize, Wufei had accepted the terms.
The boy would return, as many times as need be, and duel with Treize again - but on more even ground. They would expand their "dueling" to include matters of the mind, such as chess; and since Wufei was still not quite Treize's equal, the penalty for loss would not be death at this point. Rather, it would be something like... oh, sharing of information.
A bizarre proposal, yes; suicidal, in fact, if not downright stupid. Wufei had thought it was stupid. Wufei had said so, loudly enough that if any guards had been nearby, they would have come running. But Wufei had eventually accepted, because Treize held a carrot in front of his nose that he could not resist:
Knowledge.
"Wufei," Treize had said, speaking as if to a child that insists on misbehaving even though it knows better. "I know you are struggling here; and I see you carry with you... much hurt. However, allow me to suggest that you do not know everything in this case; and I would welcome the chance to teach you. I am honorable, Wufei - whatever others may say about me - and I will not betray you. Give me the chance to show myself to you - and you me - and then see what conclusions we reach. Ne?"
Treize had known that most of that nonsense would go in one ear and out the other; as with wild animals, it was the tone rather than the words that mattered, anyway. However... it had had a better result than he'd thought possible.
By implying that Wufei did not "get" him - that there was some deeper facet about Treize Kushrenada, be it large or small, that Wufei did not understand - he had apparently triggered a hot spot. Wufei had bristled at the very idea that he could be intellectually wrong about any concept, and he had immediately accepted the bet. He'd probably be berating himself for hours afterward, but he HAD accepted; Treize was not likely to forget the reason why.
Treize then had - again as a matter of faith - called a guard and had Wufei escorted safely off the premises without telling said guard just WHO Wufei was. The boy was unarmed, of course; now, Treize held the abandoned sword in his hands and marveled at its beauty. It was perfect; unique, crafted, a thing of unusual quality and workmanship - not unlike Wufei himself - to the extent that it even outshone his own private sword collection. It also explained why Wufei had slipped past the metal detectors safely.
No one had ever thought to come at him like that before.
So Wufei was... what? A child who thought outside the box; whose desire for... justice, apparently?... so outweighed his desire for life that being robbed of it made him want to die. A child who already bore more anger than most adults would in their entire lives.
An intelligent child who peaked his curiosity.
Well, no matter; Treize had given Wufei his own personal communication codes - again, a step of trust - and told the boy to contact him when he wished to duel next. All safety would be guaranteed; this would be, above all, a fair battle.
The confusion on the boy's face as he had left had been... truly lovely. Much better than the anger; Wufei's face did funny things when he was shouting at people. Perhaps Treize could stop him from shouting. He mentally put it on the docket of "things to do IF Wufei should actually bother to contact me again" and, on impulse, changed his mind on whether or not to use the nets Lady Une had mentioned.
Neither he nor anybody else was aware how much history had now changed.