The Mermaids Scar…Gundam Style
Chapter 4
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Une's face filled with surprise at his remark. "How did you know??" She whispered.
"When I heard about the boat accident." Heero answered, wrapping the bandage again. "I knew…I knew that only an Immortal could survive from an accident like that. You ate it too, didn't you? The mermaid's flesh(1)."
"I…" Une struggled with her voice. Realizing there was no way to escape her present situation, she nodded. "Yes, I did. A long time ago…" She breathed deep.
"But I'm surprised it took you so long to heal." He added lightly. She looked at him sharply.
"What do you mean?" Une asked roughly.
"I don't think you're completely Immortal…" He said.
"How can I be half-immortal? There can't be such a thing. You're either Mortal or Immortal." Une snapped. Heero shook his head, disagreeing.
"No…sometimes the flesh doesn't take affect properly. It depends on the person. People unfortunate enough to be like me become Immortal, only dying when someone cuts off our heads."
Une winced at the harsh tone he used. She lowered her head.
"Then there's the people who end up like you…you'll live much longer than you're supposed to…maybe a century or two…but eventually the flesh's power will wear off and you'll be Mortal again."
Heero watched her as she lifted her head to him slowly, her lower lip quivering. Her eyes trembled. Heero ignored this…it was too late to help her. He'd seen too many suffer to worry about a woman who'd already overstayed her time on Earth.
"And some people…most people, actually, never even get one moment of immortality."
"What happens to them?" She asked quietly, though she really didn't want to know. Heero clenched his fists, and felt his throat swell up painfully.
"They become a Lost Soul…" He finally answered, his words stinging in his own mouth. "Their body…their mind…it twists…they loose mortality, and their human form disappears. They become nothing but a monster…"
Une stood quickly, her jaw now gaping open.
"Why? How can the flesh react so differently?" Une questioned, gasping.
Heero felt the twist again… "Because the flesh is also a poison. Some people aren't fated for this curse of immortality. The Lost Souls don't feel anything but hatred. They dwell in a private hell."
He took a step toward her. "Tell me where you got it." He demanded. Une opened her mouth to answer…but the door creaked slowly open. Heero turned around angrily, but the feeling dissolved when he saw Mariemaia standing there, looking frightened and pale.
"Momma…dinner…" Mariemaia commented softly. Heero sensed Une shift uneasily behind him, making him glance at her from the corner of his eye.
"Come back later." Une mouthed. "When the child is not here."
Heero nodded, and stepped out. He patted Mariemaia's head on the way out and said goodbye airily. As he walked out the front door he saw Duo say goodbye, and noticed that Mariemaia had warmed up to Duo immensely. The little girl looked disappointed to see the longhaired boy go.
"You'll come back and visit me, won't you, Duo?" She questioned, smiling. Duo nodded, and when Mariemaia turned around to say goodbye to Relena, Heero laughed inwardly to see that Duo had braided her apple-red hair.
The trio stepped out, Duo and Heero lingering on the front porch a moment as Relena walked down the steps. She looked at her watch and yelped.
"Got a hot date?" Heero teased. Relena turned to him and blushed.
"Yes, actually…" Relena said sensitively, not able to hide her small smile. "Good night, boys!" She waved a final time before reaching the end of the walk and turning down another street.
Heero looked up at the windows of the Solar Room once more before slowly walking away.
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Une watched Relena walk off, and then the two boys go in the opposite direction a moment later.
"So it's true then?" She asked the air. "I won't live forever?"
She didn't know whether to be relieved or to grieve at this revelation…
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- Hence, "The Mermaids Scar". Its like this, if you eat magical mermaids skin, you become immortal…well, sometimes. This was a part of the anime I don't remember a lot of, bear with me if you've seen it. ^_~
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