by Queen of Sarab
Chapter 8
"You were born to a rich family in France," he began. "A family
who had made its fortune in... shady... dealings. You were just burdens.
Your parents were old fashioned, wanted a son for an heir. But we wanted
you. Early on you showed signs of extraordinary powers. So we took you.
Kidnapped you and brought you to a remote mansion in the country to be
brought up under our influence."
"Stop," Celeste commanded. "You're lying."
All eyes in the room turned sharply in her direction.
"Excuse me?" Aurora asked.
"About our family." Celeste was staring, eyes wide with shock.
"He's lying his ass off. Bastard."
"How are you telling this?" Staring liberally, Duo took a tentative
step toward Celeste.
Her head whipped around, locking angry green eyes on Duo's violet
ones.
"I have no freakin idea." She turned back to her "father". "But
he's lying. OUr parent's were respectable aristocrats. They loved us very
much. This guy," she jerked her head toward the man,"killed them. Shot."
The man averted his eyes.
Trembling wildly, Aurora's hand flew to her mouth, stifling a
cry that sounded like someone struggling to breath. Wufei uncharacteristically
reached around to support her and keep her from falling.
Celeste was still staring at the man she now knew as the murderer
of her parents. Her reaction, unlike her sisters, was not one of shock,
but one of pure, undying hatred.
Through a cloud of red, she noticed Trowa was still holding a
gun, and very suddenly she lurched for it. For once in his life startled,
Trowa barely had time to step aside before she reached it, leaving her
to fall flat on the floor. Before she could move, Heero had pinned her,
holding his own gun to her.
"Stop. Now."
They lay locked in a battle of willpower for several seconds,
neither wanting to be the one to give in first. Finally Celeste sighed,
relaxing her muscles, and Heero let her up. Face drawn with suppressed
emotion, Celeste stood calmly.
"Fine," she said. "What do YOU want to do with the murderer?"
"We don't know for sure he's a murderer," Trowa pointed out.
"We're just assuming so because you think..."
"He's a murderer," Celeste insisted icily. "I'm sure of it. And
a murderer, I might add, who you were going to assassinate in the first
place, so why the HELL can't I do it?!"
"Because you'll regret it," Aurora said softly. "It's just revenge
killing, Celeste. You're letting your temper get the best of you..."
"Well, gosh," Celeste smiled sarcastically. "I'm sure it's ten
million times better when these lovely boys kill enemies than when I do
it. Isn't theat right, Quatre?" Smiling sweetly, she wheeled to face the
blond boy, who was looking slightly disturbed. He didn't answer. "Hm," Celeste continued. "Guess not."
The room had gone unnaturally silent. Celeste was almost radiating
contained anger, green eyes narrowed like a cat ready to pounce. The murderer was looking extremely nervous, eyes darting quickly from one
person to another. It was Duo who finally spoke.
"I'm with Celeste," he stated. "I think we should kill him."
"I don't see that we have a choice," consented Heero. Trowa nodded
mutely in agree ment.
Aurora was shaking her head furiously, blond hair flying wildly
around her head. "No. NO. We do have a choice. I don't think there
needs to be any more killing here. It's Celeste and I who are hurt by this,
and I can't stand the fact that there are going to be more deaths just
because of us."
"Isn't there some other way?" Quatre asked quietly.
Wufei was the next to speak. "It's not just to kill a man unable
to defend himself."
"Listen, " Celeste cut in. "I've spent the last however the hell
long it was, it seems like an eternity, thinking that my father was dead,
that Oz had killed my father. I've spent my whole LIFE thinking this bastard
was my father. I don't even know who the hell I am anymore, and its
this guys fault. Honestly, I'd love to torture him for several years before
killing him. But I'm willing to compromise at a quick death. In my mind,
no death isn't a real big option."
"Seems we're in a deadlock," Duo muttered.
With a worried glance in her sister's direction, Aurora
spoke up. "I have a suggestion. We give him twenty-four hours- tomorrow
night, if he can give us a good reason to let him live, he lives. We'll
decide how to handle that when we come to it. But if he can't come up with
anything, you can kill him."
"It's better than arguing all night," Heero stated. "But he's
not staying in here with Celeste. We can put him in the closet in my dorm.
Any objections?"
All eyes turned to Celeste, but she only sighed in defeat and
shrugged her shoulders. "Fine," she said.