Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.
Author's Note: This is an alternate reality fanfic where vampires, witches, werewolves, zombies, etc. exist. Also, all the scenes in the cartoon with Trieze standing out in the daylight, they never happened. The events of this story take place after the Gundam Wing series last episode and before "The Endless Waltz". Thanks. Please send all comments to Jennifer Bratcher, at slaybrat@aye.net and/or slayerbrat@yahoo.com. Thank you very much. I hope you like my serious stuff as much as my comedy.
A Shade Darker: Part 3
The blond girl was quick. Duo and Heero were running after her, the thing was, they were quicker. Until she went into the rave that Duo almost went into. The two stepped into the club. Heero asked, "Why are we after her?"
Aren't you gonna ask about the fang posse back there who dusted themselves? How the hell did they turned into dust like that? Why they had fangs? What the hell where they? Duo thought as he looked into his compaion's fathomless dark blue eyes. Heero reminded Duo of some of the older vampires he had came across. When he first saw Heero, his first thought was: That guy looks like a vampire. Better get that chick away from him.
Heero healed fast, but not vampiricly fast. A gunshot to a vampire, unless the bullet was silver, would just tick one off. It would heal almost immediately and that would be it. When Duo had shot Heero, he wasn't using silver bullets. He didn't have any of the Called's tools with him. Not even the Gundanium scythe.
Duo answered, "She's just important."
"Why?" Heero replied in his monotone. He looked around, scanning the den of people for the tiny blond.
I need to know if I need to kill her or not, Duo thought to himself. Practicing necromancers, the one who used true Dark Magics to control the dead, were to be killed on site. It was policy. Besides, if a person used true Dark Magics, worshiping Lucifer and all that stuff, they were pretty much evil anyway. They had reached the point of beyond caring.
There were good witches too, of course. Healers, herbists, physics using magics to help people. The Catholic Church use to burn them as well, but now they made a general practice to stay away from them. Duo ticked off Kincad one time when he enlisted the help of a physic to help him find a coven of dark witches that had been kidnaping small children. In fact, he even dated the girl for a while before Duo got fickle and had to go do something else.
Before becoming a Gundam pilot, he had a lot of flings as The God of Death. Some vampires had even tried to seduce him before, females and even males alike. That was just creepy, being seduced by a guy with fangs. Luckily, he was immune to mind control.
He searched the crowd. Heero started to move through them, looking for the necromancer. Duo had other methods. He closed his eyes and groped through the crowd, sensing the spark of the necromancer's cold powers. The arms at the back of his hairs and neck slowly began to pick up as he sensed the crowd. He felt a flair of intense, cold power.
He opened his eyes and saw the small girl and the silvery aura that was her power. It faded quickly away, but she had her back turned to him. Duo went into the crowd. People parted for him, the boy with the aura of death, as he walked toward the girl.
She was dancing, trying to assume an image of normalancy. Duo went up behind her and took her high held hands. She gasped as he brought her to him. She was a little thing, he realized up close, her head bearly came up to his nose. This close he could also tell it had been a while since she had a shower. Her blond hair was greasy, her clothing was smudged with dirt and she smelled.
She spun around, her eyes snapping. He realized that her windbreaker was covering up most of her hair. It was past her thighs, almost knee length. Like his unbraided. Duo grinned and whispered, "Caught ya."
She hissed, "What are you?"
He gently took her arm and guided her out of the people. He answered, "I could be asking you the same question, Zombie Queen."
She froze and looked him over. She asked, "You're one of them, aren't you?"
Duo grinned and answered, "I gave up the Church a long time ago, Honey."
She looked puzzled. It was an endearing expression. She asked, "So, you're one of the Called, then?"
"Yep," he answered her with a grin, "And you're a necromancer. The question is, sweetheart, is it a natural talent, are you calling up the Dark Arts?"
"It's a curse," she spat.
Duo grinned and replied, "Natural. That's a rare little ability you've got there, Kid."
"Bite me," she spat as she turned around. Duo grabbed her arm and jerked her back to him.
He looked her over and grinned. The invitation was hard to resist. He told her, "Don't tempt me. You're coming with us."
"So you can turn me into the Church," she said sarcastically.
"I'm as popular with the Church as you are, Babe, so don't give me that," Duo told her.
She glared up at him. Her power was flaring. She felt threatened, but since Duo was a living thing, it wasn't going to work on him. She snapped, "Then what's up with the cross and the collar, asshole?"
Duo flinched and said, "Oww, just because I'm not really on the Church's side doesn't mean I don't believe in God."
"Really?" she asked sarcastically. She started to look around the club. Duo sensed it too, vampires. A couple of them. They were position in perfect striking distance in perfect positions.
"Damn," Duo cursed. They found him. He said, "Get ready to run, Babe."
"They're after me, idiot," she hissed at him.
Duo looked at her, then found the vampires. Once you find them, they stick out in a crowd like a sore thumb. They were different from humans, faster, more graceful, and more beautiful than most humans. Their power beat along Duo like a drum. He couldn't shake it off. They were old and powerful. The girl's power faired out around them like a shield. It would work on the vampires.
"What the hell is going on?" Heero asked as he stood beside Duo. He watched the vampires as well. His dark blue eyes were bright with hatred.
"Tell you're idiot friend over here that they're after me," the girl spat at Duo.
"Charming girl," Heero commented dryly. Duo grinned.
He replied, "Oh, yeah, she's a great person."
She took off. "Damn it," Duo shouted as she made her way through the crowd. He and Heero pushed back people to get to her.
Heero asked, "What the hell is going on?"
"Why the hell were you looking for me?" Duo replied as he shoved a Goth girl away.
"Because I had to," Heero answered simply, "I've been having dreams."
Heero a physic, somehow, that doesn't surprise me, Duo thought as they made their way through the crowd. He asked, "About what?"
"Me hunting something," Heero curtly answered.
"Damn it," Duo cursed angerily. The girl had made it out of the club and so did the vampires.
"That way," Heero pointed to the left, into another alley. Duo sensed the flare of vampiric and the necromancer's power. Duo took off with Heero following close behind. Duo heard a scream. It was the girl.
He felt the flair of power thick around the air around him. It clouded his brain and senses. He wanted to shout at it, beat it, just get the cold, dead feeling away from him. Heero tensed up visibly beside him. They ran into the alley.
There were four vampires, all male, and all physically older than Duo and Heero. The one holding the girl was tall with a shock of thick, bright, blood red hair and the atypical vampiric red eyes and fangs. The one beside him had light brown hair and he hadn't vamped out yet, so his eyes were a deep, rich brown. He had an almost cherubic face, like Quatre almost. The other two had blond hair and looked like twins.
The redhead was flaring the most power. Heero said, "Let her go."
"Hey," Duo said, slightly stunned, "That's my line!"
The one who wasn't vamped out looked at them with a look that was pure intelligence. Duo froze. The amount of power coming off this guy was eminence. He had been hiding it from him, and now that Duo had gotten a full sense of him, he was afraid. The God of Death was afraid of a vampire. The world must be coming to an end. Wait. It was.
Tiny shivers traveled up and down the Deathscythe pilot's spine. He couldn't help it. All of his senses were screaming on full alert. Heero moved up toward the vampire and said, "Let her go. I don't know what you are, but I will kill you. I have to." His words were cold, as usual, but most of the time, when Heero spoke, there was no emotion to his words, now there was hate underlining the casual coldness.
Duo looked over at his friend and his fear was even intensified. Heero was fairing power now, power that Duo had caught glimpses of before, like when Heero had saved him when Oz captured him. Besides, Heero could bend steel bars for hell's sake. Maybe Duo had over looked something. He just didn't want to kill his best friend, though.
Heero attacked. He moved quickly, like he always did. Duo always put a flamboyant air to when he fought. It annoyed the hell out of most opponents and got them off their game. Not Heero.
Heero gave one of the twins a quick chop to the neck, a move Duo knew would break any one's neck. The other twin snarled and charged at him; Heero dodged and flipped the guy to the ground.
Duo shook himself out of his stupor and brought out his scythe. He smiled and quipped, "It's time for you to meet the God of Death." He spun the scythe gracefully over his head. Its weight felt very natural in his hands. He snapped it down toward the first vampire. His severed head crumped to the ground in an explosion of ash. The screams of his brother soon followed them.
Duo spun the scythe to see Heero facing off against the two other vampires. The one with brown hair smiled and straitened to his full height. He said, "Most interesting." His voice held the hint of some sort of accent. French. Great, he's French. Man is this my night or what? Duo thought.
Then he felt the rumble of power around the vampire. Duo instinctively reached out and grabbed the girl. He shouted to Heero, "Run!" He took off into the crowded club again, listening to lightly accented French laughter. Heero was close behind him.
******
Lilith paced angerily in the huge encampment which her base had been set up. She was angry. Trowa Barton had gotten away, and he was a huge part of her plan. It was rare knowledge to know that Duo Maxwell was not just a Gundam Pilot, but one of the Called. So she was planning to use Trowa against him.
Then there was the whole problem with the necromancer. The Cycle of Darkness was about to come to a full circle and she needed Duo Maxwell out of the way and the virgin necromancer still intact. The necromancer was a sacrifice to one of the Elder Demons. He was to take her before he killed her.
Her power would help increase the demon's powers as they ruled the world. She was needed for their plan and she needed to be intact. She paced some more, angry because Trowa had gotten away.
She had watched that boy for years, waiting for the right time to take him. His blood had been the sweetest she ever tasted, pure and free of imperfections. He had felt so right in her arms. She knew she couldn't seduce him and change him during the course of sex, so she used her power on him. She had hoped that they would make their first kill together then celebrate it together. She had been wrong.
He had ran, the bastard. This boy who had no past and no future had run from the fantastic gift she had given him. Her finger nails began to grow into claws and dig into her flesh as she clenched her fist tightly. Blood trickled from the wounds only to heal them anew. The pain was welcoming to the first vampire.
The comlink blared and Lilith spun around, her black hair flying around her. She shouted, "Answer that!"
The screen flashed to life and her most trusted minion, Damon, and one of her finest, if sadistic and idiotic, warriors, Hawk, stood beside him. Damon's handsome face looked frightened. Damon was never frightened. He could usually turn a situation to better fit his needs. Mainly by seduction with his soft French accent and soft brown eyes.
Damon bowed and said, "milady, I bring bad tidings."
Lilith rubbed at her brow and asked, "What is it, Damon?"
Hawk answered for him, "The God of Death has found the girl. That bastard took her from us."
"And you managed to get away alive," Lilith told him cooly.
Hawk ran his fingers through his unruly, bright red hair. He replied, "My Queen, he killed Franz and Zwans."
"Your Darkness, there is also a Dampier of incredible power," Damon interjected, "I think the same man who was the Rouge's father is this abomination's father. They had the same look about them."
"I thought that Quinn was killed," Lilith said coldly as she played with a strand of her jet black hair.
Damon replied, "I think he managed to sire another abomination before Hunters killed him, My Liege. He was a renegade, taking to killing is own kind."
"He was Liam O'Rourke's father," Lilith spat. Liam O'Rourke was the only Called ever in history that had vampiric blood running in his vains. He was the most dangerous one whoever crossed Lilith's path. If Duo Maxwell was the God of Death, then Liam O'Rourke was the Apocalypse.
Liam sacrificed himself to stop the coming of the Cycle of Darkness in the 21st century. He was too noble for his own good, as was Quinn, his father. Quinn shunned his vampire brethren and protected humans, all the while hunting with his own kind.
Hawk said, "It was Heero Yuy, the Gundam pilot. He's got the hots for Relena Peacecraft on Earth, Lilith. We could use her to get to him."
Lilith glared. She maybe only sixteen physically, but she was much older than that. She sneered, "Silence. How dare you speak to me with such disrespect?"
Damon bowed and said, "I apologize for him, Dark Mother, he knows not what he does. Besides, we need a warrior like him."
Lilith sighed and said, "I think you are right. Just bring the girl back to me." She smiled and added on a whim, "As well as Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy."
******
Quatre looked at the circus around him. Everyone was busy, paying very little, if any, attention to the Winner heir. He looked around him, drawing his leather jacket around him, and he walked over to where Catharine was arranging something. He over heard her words, "Trowa hasn't been seen in more than three days, damnit, we have to look for him!"
One of the clowns she was talking to looked at her and replied, "Sorry, Cathy, but you know how Trowa is. He's probably on Gundam business or the like."
Quatre walked up to them and politely said, "Excuse me, but if Trowa was on Gundam business, then why am I here?"
They all turned to look at him. Catharine walked up to him, saying, "Quatre, I'm glad that you were here." They started to walk around the cold circus. They didn't have the heaters running in the tent yet. She pushed her auburn hair behind her ears and said, "He's been missing for three days, Quatre. I first thought he was on a mission until I called you."
Quatre nodded and asked, "Where was he at last?"
Catharine looked around and answered, "I'm not really sure. He said he was going to take a walk, but he never came back."
Quatre froze. Anything could have happened to Trowa in that amount of time. An image of Trowa lying on the cold, winter ground with his dark green eyes staring at the sky blankly filled Quatre's mind. He shook his head and said, "No."
"What?" Catharine asked, alarmed, her tone taking a defensive quality.
Quatre answered, "He's fine Catharine, and I'm going to find him."
Catharine said, "I'm going to help you. I'm not leaving my brother out there to die."
Quatre kindly smiled and told her, "Thank you. I'm sure Trowa will appreciate it."
Catharine stood haughtily and said, "I'd just feel sorry for the bastards that took him when we find him."
"Assuming he was abducted. Assumption always leads to mistakes," Quatre quoted.
"Sounds like something Trowa would say," Catharine said as she slid into her jacket.
Quatre shook his head and answered, "No, it's something that Heero told me once."
******
Trowa awoke in a dark room. He sat up, taking in his surroundings almost immediately. He was in a windowless bedroom with a canopy bed which he was sitting on. Someone had taken off his shoes when he had blackened out before putting him in this bed. The blankets were heavy, rich, dark green velvet. The curtain around the bed was made out of the same fine fabric.
There was a knock on the heavy door. He froze, then relaxed slightly when he realized it was Une. He said, "Come in."
Une came in holding a bundle of fresh clothing and a thick, heavy, red towel. She said, "Maybe you want to take a shower and change."
Trowa looked down at his jeans and black sweater, they were torn and mud stained. He stood up and took the bundle from her. Everything looked like it was made for his slender body. There was a pair of jeans and a black silk shirt along with black combat boots. He looked at her, noticing the pulse of the artery on her pale throat, just hidden behind the fall of her chestnut brown hair.
He licked his lips and felt his fangs began to lengthen. He wasn't going to feed off of her. Hell would freeze more than first. He said, "Thank you."
She pointed down the hall and said, "The bathroom's the fifth door on the left. Treize is in his study, waiting for you."
Trowa nodded and walked out of the bedroom. "Trowa," Une called out. He turned around and looked at her. He held respect for the former Oz general and pitied her when she had her ordeal with the split personalities. She said, "I'm sorry."
He half smiled and bitterly replied, "It's not your fault, Lady Une." With that he walked to the bathroom. It too was expensive with blue tiles, a huge bathtub, a shower stall, and brass fixtures.
As the hot water steamed around his cold body, he leaned his head against the tile. He didn't know what to do. He was alone in the world except for a former enemy. What would the others think if they found out that he was a vampire? That vampires existed? It would probably horrify gentle Quatre. Heero wouldn't believe it. The Wing ZERO pilot was skeptical through and through. Wufei would try to kill him because anything that fed off the blood of others was evil. Duo Maxwell's reaction would be unpredictable.
After he was clean, he turned off the water and wrapped his body in the towel. He noticed that the bathroom didn't have a mirror, as did his bedroom. He leaned against the sink for a moment, letting the hot steam swirl around him.
His skin wasn't cold now, but he knew that would fade away very quickly. He was nothing more than a walking corpse. "Damn it!" he cursed as he pounded his fist into the tile. The unmoveable, unflappable Trowa Barton had an outburst. He looked at the tile. It had tiny cracks all in it. He looked down at his hand. He knew that it should be hurting if he hit the wall that hard, but it wasn't. His knuckles weren't even scratched.
He dried off and dressed. He left the shirt untucked and the sleeves unbuttoned. The silk was cool against his skin, soft and smooth. The shirt was almost a sensual feeling against his skin. He put on the boots and walked out of the bathroom.
The hallway was gently lit with lanterns. Trowa could see every detail in the semidarkness as he walked to the study. His body began to hurt. It was a dull ache that he could ignore at first, but as he walked closer to the study, it intensified. He licked his lips. His body was on fire.
He managed, somehow, to walk in the study and look at Treize. There was a goblet full of blood. Unthinkingly, Trowa took it and drained the contents. He sighed as his body stopped hurting, but he felt the craving, the bloodlust, as Treize had referred to it as, still lurking under the surface.
He looked up at Treize who simply said, "Good evening." Trowa angrily pushed the goblet away from himself. Treize said, "Lights, setting three." Dim lights illuminated the room. It wasn't as painfully bright as the bathroom or the rest of the house had been.
Treize asked, "How did you get changed?"
Trowa glared. He said, "That's none of your concern." Trowa had plans to find the bitch and hunt her down after he could fully control himself.
Treize replied, "My dear friend, you do not know what you are dealing with."
"I don't have to. I'll simply deal," Trowa told him icily.
Treize laughed, a musical sound that bounced off the walls of the study. He said, "Spoken like a true Gundam pilot."
"That's what I am, isn't it? A Gundam pilot," Trowa replied.
Treize grinned and said, "You are so much more than that, Trowa. So much more. Let me show you what you will be dealing with." Treize stood up and the room immediately picked up energy. Trowa could feel the cold power building around him. The room started to shake, the goblet rumbled off of the table. He looked directly into Treize's face.
Treize's normal cerulean blue eyes had bled all through his eyes, covering up the whites and the pupils, leaving only the brilliant blue slits. They were glowing as well. His skin seemed paler as it seemed to glow like a pearl.
Trowa was broken away from the site of Treize to look around the room. Several glass bottles exploded, shattering into a million fragments. Then, the power stopped. Trowa looked back at Treize.
Treize said, "And that, was only a small sample. If I wanted to, I could call on the very elements, make storms, things like that. And there are even those who are more powerful than me."
"I'm not impressed," Trowa told him, "Power is fleeting, Treize, you of all people should know that."
Treize threw back his head and laughed, "I was a king before your ancestors were even born, boy. I've seen kingdoms rise and fall, Trowa, and one thing remains eternal."
"What's that?" Trowa asked coldly.
Treize smiled and answered, "Death. Nothing is truly Immortal, Trowa, not even us."
"I don't plan to live forever, Treize," Trowa told him, looking away from the older man.
"You've been given a gift of sorts Trowa. Don't disregard it so quickly," Treize told him in a quiet voice. Trowa looked at him and Treize went on, "You'll be able to see and do so many things, Trowa. You don't have to lurk in the shadows."
"Like you?" Trowa asked bitterly.
Treize laughed and replied, "Like me Trowa, exactly. But I don't think that you wish that sort of responisibilty on your head."
"I want to kill the one who did this to me," Trowa replied.
Treize nodded and replied, "That is understandable, but, could you tell me a little about your sire first?"
Trowa's mind froze. He could see her so clearly in his mind. Her long black hair falling around her pale, angelic face, and her eyes. He could clearly see her eyes in his mind, those amazing eyes that changed from color to color every moment. Those haunted, wicked eyes, and her mesmerizing voice.
He answered, "No."
Treize said, "I understand. The Change can be a terrible experience and you may not want to share that information with someone whom you had just recently called an enemy."
Trowa looked away. He said, "It's personal."
Treize smiled that madding smile of his once more. He said, "Well, since you are so hellbent on killing your sire, maybe I should show you some things first."
Trowa looked up at him and asked, "What do you mean?"
Treize stood up and offered his hand. It was the same gesture that he had shown Trowa in the alley. He said, "I need you to come with me."
Trowa stood up, without taking the other vampire's hand.
******
Zechs sat in an overstuffed crimson velvet chair. The soft glow of the laptop beside him cast the fierce mobile suit pilot in a soft, blue light. His platinum blond hair fell around him softly and his ice blue eyes caught the light of the room around him.
She should have been here by now, Zechs thought wearily and impatiently. His long, strong fingers started to tap a rhythm on the table beside him. There was a soft knock on his door. He felt the powerful spark of the person who knocked.
He smiled. It had increased since the last time he had seen this person.
The door opened and a young woman of around sixteen years of age walked in. She was tall and slender, a striking girl dressed all in black with waist long wine colored hair and pale skin. When she met Zechs' eyes, he noted that they were a bright, pale green; striking in comparison with her pale skin and wine dark hair.
"Hello Minerva," he told her softly.
She replied, "Hello Milliardo."
"I don't go by that name any more," he told her coldly, knowing that, in all honesty, this girl could kill him with a thought almost.
"Zechs then?" she asked.
Zechs shrugged and answered, "It doesn't matter to me anymore, Minerva. I'm dead to this world."
She walked over to him and looked at the laptop. She said, "No, you're not. You're dead in your world, not ours. You've crossed the line, Zechs."
Zechs inwardly flinched at the girl's words. She was right. He had given up his humanity a long time ago. She said, "You have what all of us craves, young prince, and yet, you drive for even more. You almost destroyed the earth, why?"
The girl was far older than what she seemed. She only looked like a child, but Zechs knew that she was much older than she looked. Much older than him. He listened to her husky voice and thought for a moment.
"Zechs, what you were doing was ludicricy," she told him.
Zechs stood up and towered over Minerva. She simply looked up at him. He snapped, "You have no idea what was going on in my mind while I was up in Outer Space."
"Outer Space, god, all you people from this century are obsessed with Outer Space. Listen, kiddo, I was around when man first landed on the moon. My employer was alive while they were doing witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Zechs, this is only another step in man's evolution. Within a hundred years, humans will move onto something else. Trust me, it happens all the time. I've seen many things Zechs, and what you almost did wasn't the worst of them," she told him simply.
Zechs almost smiled at her. Minerva was a professional, unchanging person, refreshing in a world of chaos. He asked, "Do you know why you are here?"
She nodded and pushed strands of her hair behind her ears. She answered, "Yeah, the Cycle of Darkness is almost complete and you want me to protect someone."
"Yes, my sister, Relena," Zechs answered as his sister came to mind.
She smiled and asked, "Half sister?"
Zechs glared and replied, "Yes, my half sister."
Minerva said, "So, I'm going to the Sanq kingdom to protect the princess and Noin."
"How did you know about Noin?" Zechs asked her sharply.
She smiled, flashing her fangs. She answered, "Zechs, you've got power, but not that much." She turned away, her long, wine-colored hair swinging around her. She said to him, "You better chose your side quick, Lighting Count, the shit is about to hit the fan." With that, she faded into the shadows, leaving Zechs alone with his brooding thoughts.
******
Duo successfully picked the lock and they slipped into the penthouse suite into the Marriot. Nine hours before their shuttle was scheduled for take off. Plenty of time for Duo to get some answers as well as give some.
The slight blond girl stood glaring at Duo and Heero. She spat, "You're gonna get yourself killed by being around me."
Duo grinned and started to shove her into the bathroom. His nose wrinkled at her stench. It had been at least a week since she had bathed last. He replied, "Smelling you is gonna kill us, Sweetheart."
"Burn in hell," she spat as he shoved her into the bathroom.
He grinned and said, "Naw, it's gonna be a while before I do that yet. I haven't committed all of the seven deadly sins yet. Now, Baby, you're gonna get cleaned off and you're gonna tell me what I want to know."
"What the hell do you think is gonna make me stay?" she spat at him. He felt her power rising inside her, prickling along around his skin like a cold wind.
Duo grinned and replied, "As soon as you're in the shower, I'm taking your clothes. Now, you better get in there or I'll undress you myself." He looked her voluptuous form over. She was well proportioned for someone only five feet tall. He leered, "And that would be something I'd really enjoy."
"Bastard," she cursed as she stepped in the shower. Her clothing was thrown out beside his feet.
He grinned and replied, "Yeah, you've got that right." He picked up her clothing and said, "I'll get you something else to wear."
"Whatever, just leave," she snapped at him as the water turned on.
"See you in about ten minutes, Babe," he told her cheerfully as he closed the door behind her.
Heero was leaning up against the archway. Duo asked, "You have questions, don't you?"
"Yeah," Heero answered in his monotone.
Duo, despite the lunacy of it all, chuckled. Heero Yuy of all people was going to be the first person he had ever broke cover too. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen helped train him, so they knew what he was, but other than that, Duo had never spoken a word of it to anyone. He pushed his bangs out of his eyes and looked at the floor.
He said, "Well, I'm gonna tell you some things first. Yeah, those were vampires. Vampires exist. They've existed almost as long as man. It's a long story. Anyway, they exist, and so do a whole bunch of other things that you don't wanna fuck with.
"Werewolves, witches, zombies, ghouls, ghosts, and so on. I'm not sure about demons on Earth, but that's something I don't wanna mess with. They live within our society, Heero, hunting us, changing us, whatever. Now, there are some good witches and people with natural powers. Psychics like Quatre, healers, and natural born necromancers like the girl in the shower.
"And they're are people like me. People born to hunt them. It's not something I wanted, buddy, it was something that I was Called for. It sucks. I hunt vamps and other nastys until someone kills me. It's a load of shit. They're real, and hardly anyone knows about it, except certain sects of the Catholic Church, but you can't trust them either. They're in for their own gain.
"Any questions, Heero?" He looked at his friend's endless dark blue eyes.
Heero nodded and asked, "Yeah, you mentioned something about being called. What did you mean?"
Duo grinned and said, "The God of Death isn't necessarily a name I gave myself. Vampires had been calling me the God of Death long before the Maxwell Massacre."
"How come none of us found out?" Heero asked.
"Because I wasn't supoce to let you. The Church got really pissed when I became a Gundam pilot. I told them to kiss my ass. That pissed them off even more. But I hid things from you," Duo answered him with an ironic grin.
He could hear the water in the background. An image of long, golden hair gliding over silken curves entered his mind. No matter what shit hit the fan, he would always have his wonderful hormones.
"Like what?" Heero asked.
Duo grinned and answered, recalling a certain instance, "Well, remember when we were both at that school, right after we won the basketball game?" Heero nodded, his intense eyes not leaving Duo's face. Duo swallowed and went on, "One of my powers is empathy. That means I can read emotions. Even Trowa's and yours. I felt what you were feeling about attacking that base. I felt the change in you after you piloted ZERO. I can block it out most of the time, and I try to because having the emotions of a couple thousand people beat down on you isn't that pleasant.
"Anyway, I didn't see it in your eyes. You and Trowa are pretty damn good at hiding stuff. I actually focused to get what you were feeling," Duo told him with a grin. He wasn't about to even mention what Heero felt whenever Relena Peacecraft was around. He had focused on Heero once while he was around Relena and found some very private emotions there. Probably some that Heero didn't even know he had. Or forgot that he had.
Heero asked, "Why the dreams?"
The water turned off. Duo said, "Hold that thought. I'm gonna get our lovely guest some clothing. Even though I would like her to run around necked, I don't think that everyone else would approve." He took the folded pile of clothing that he had gaffed from the luggage rack as he snuck in the room. Heero and the girl didn't even know that he had stolen anything. Some old habits died hard.
He set the pile on the toilet. He said, "Hey Babe, I've got you some clothes."
"Thanks," she said icily.
"Geeze, you're pretty cold," he told her with a grin.
"Get the hell out of here, you little bastard," she hissed at him.
Duo chuckled as he shut the door behind him. He asked, "Where were we?"
"My dreams," Heero answered icily.
Duo shrugged and said, "I don't know."
"He's a Dampier," the girl said as she walked into the room.
To Be Continued!