Part 5
They walked through the woods in silence for a long time as the sun rose to midday overhead. Heero took the lead; walking a roundabout path back to the village to allow himself time to think while Duo half skipped and hopped a few steps behind him, having recovered his normal happy mood. Duo must have noticed the roundabout route but he didn't say anything. Neither were eager to confront Heero's fae-hating village.
"Why did you save me?" Heero asked quietly. He jumped slightly at the sound of his own voice, he hadn't meant to ask Duo out loud.
Duo took a few quick steps and paced himself to walk beside Heero. He shrugged. "Not really sure, you seemed like a cute kid."
"Cute?"
Duo chuckled. "Yes, cute. You should see the cute little faces humans make when they are trying really hard not to cry, you were no exception. In fact, you were adorable."
Heero scowled and shot Duo a glare, he didn't need to speak. It was quite obvious he disliked the idea of being called adorable and cute. "If that was the reason when I was a child, then what was the reason when you saved me from the mist?"
Duo frowned. "Yeah, well, that was just me being nice. I've seen what that mist does to unwelcome guests, it's not a pretty sight. I mean, at least the ones I end up killing look halfway decent when they die. With that mist you look like pieces of dry shriveled fruit." Duo shuddered and made a face in disgust.
Heero said nothing. His mind concentrated on Duo's words 'the ones I kill'. Heero couldn't help but wonder how many Duo had killed. A strangely morbid side of him though wondered what it would be like to die during such exquisite pleasure. It had felt wonderful when Duo had only replenished part of his strength… and if it only got better from there on… Maybe dying during the act of sex wouldn't be such a bad thing. Heero shook his head immediately as that thought entered his mind and kicked it out. It was just too strange to think about.
"Say, umm, do you mind if I don't mention the part about me being an incubus to your village? They might think I have you under a spell or something."
Heero nodded. That was probably a good idea.
Silence surrounded them as they walked on, their short conversation having dropped off abruptly after Heero's nod of agreement. Duo no longer walked behind Heero, and he had also stopped skipping, instead he waked beside Heero and his violet eyes wee intently focused on the trees around them. Heero noticed this and suddenly stopped walking.
"The birds are silent," he murmured.
Duo nodded. "Yeah, I noticed. In fact there aren't any in the trees, they've all left their nests."
Heero turned to face in the direction of his village, furrowing his eyebrows in concern. "Something's wrong."
"Yeah, wait here a second." With those words Duo raced over to a tree and bounded up into the branches as if he weighed nothing. Standing on the highest branch he could reach he peered toward the direction of the village.
"What do you see?" Heero called out.
"Smoke… fire!"
Heero didn't need another word. Without giving Duo a chance to climb down he sprinted toward the village, Duo dropping down from the branch and taking off after him. Both arrived at the village a moment later and staggered to a halt. Before them stood the village, or rather what was left of it, amiss dancing flames.
Heero recovered quickly and raced to the nearest house, kicking the door open so hard it flew off the hinges. But the sight of what was inside made him pause and turn away quickly, covering his mouth and shutting his eyes. Duo rushed to his side and peered in, hissing in disgust.
All around the small wooden home everything was in flames and there was a thick sharp smell of rotting flesh. Duo's eyes dart to the bed and his eyes widened. Lying on the bed was the family that owned the house, or what was left of them. True to the smell in the small home it was their flesh that was rotting, peeling away from the bones and stretching grotesquely in an attempt to cover the shriveled organs. Small bugs and worms ignored the smoke and fire as they crawled and nibbled on what was left of their skin and eyeballs. Duo's eyes narrowed and purple energy crackled around his body.
Behind him Heero raced for his own home, throwing open the door. This time there was no smell and no body, instead a small pile of silver feathers lay scattered across the earthen floor.
"Trowa's not here," Heero breathed with relief.
Yet Duo entered the door after him and his expression didn't change. Instead the purple energy around him danced faster as he knelt down and grasped a handful of the feathers. Crushing his fist around them blood began to seep from his hand; the feathers were razor sharp.
"Duo?"
"Quatre-sama!" Duo hissed angrily. He clenched the feathers tighter in his fist but didn't seem to acknowledge the pain. Instead he just stood to his feet and stepped out of the house. Facing a tree he gritted his teeth and purple energy let loose from his body, crashing into the tree and ripping it to shreds. His head dropped and the energy disappeared, leaving him to breathe heavily as the newly shredded tree fed the dancing flames.
Heero tentatively walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder tightly. "What was that?"
"They're all dead, that bastard killed them!"
"Who?"
Duo took a deep breath to try and calm himself, the very last of the purple energy fading to a dull glow in his amethyst eyes. "Quatre-sama," he spat out. "He calls himself our lord, the lord of my kind, mostly just because no one will stand up to him. His power scared them too much." Duo waved his hand toward all of the homes. "He can make people rot, the person will basically melt before your eyes and they're alive when it happens too. But they can't scream, so they just writhe on the ground in horror and pain as their body melts away and their internal organs shrink. They do that until he lets them die… and he can keep them alive too. He slaughtered the entire village… because I talked to you!" Duo clenched his fists and dropped to his knees as tears filled his eyes. "God dammit!"
Heero's eyes narrowed and he glanced back toward his own burning home. It wasn't that he didn't care about the other villagers, he did care. But he refused to let anger crowd his mind at the moment and cloud his judgement, especially since he would need to concentrate to kill this demon Duo spoke of.
"Trowa's body was missing," Heero commented in a flat voice.
Duo forced out a laugh. "That's because Quatre has him. He probably expects us to confront him if he has a hostage." Duo paused and turned to look back at Heero, slowly standing to his feet again. "Oh no, you're not seriously considering going after him."
Heero gave one short nod. "I will kill him." He spoke in a low, dangerously calm voice. Without another word Heero turned and headed back for the forest, making a beeline for the clearing and the waterfall. Duo crumbled after hi and grabbed his arm tightly.
"Just when I thought you had started using that brain of yours… Did you even listen to what I said?! This guy scares my kind out of their pants, you can't honestly think that you, a human, can kill him."
Heero tried to shake away Duo's grasp on his arm but couldn't, so instead he settled for simply glaring at the elfin boy.
"You're walking straight to your own death, doesn't that bother you?!"
"I am well aware of the risks." Heero stated plainly.
That made Duo pause. "And you're still going?" he asked in a quieter voice.
Heero gave another short, curt nod.
"Why?"
"Because that was village. Because Trowa is my brother."
Duo let his hand drop and looked down at the forest floor. "You're walking to your death and you don't care!"
Heero's features softened slightly. It was strange but it actually seemed like Duo cared for him. So that was the reason why Duo had saved him those times and it was the same reason why Heero had stumbled back to that clearing when he knew that he didn't even have enough strength left to lift his dagger. Had anyone asked him two days ago if it was possible for him to fall in love with a fae he would have said no. But now… now he knew it was possible because it had happened. He also realized that now that he admitted his true feeling he didn't want to die, because that would mean he couldn't be with Duo.
Heero opened his mouth to offer some words of comfort to Duo but an image flashed in his mind, an image of his brother on the ground as Duo had described, his skin melting and rotting away. Heero blinked and tried to shake away the image but instead it only shifted to become Duo… Duo…
No, he wouldn't let that happen to Duo, not now not ever! Closing his mouth he made up his mind. He was going to kill this Quatre, even if he had to die trying. That would never happen to Duo, if he could help it. And he had no complaints about dying for Duo's sake. Taking a deep breath he started to walk away again.
"I care." Duo whispered behind him, but Heero didn't stop. Instead he just kept walking, leaving Duo to stand there, his eyes shaded and silent tears falling to the ground.
It was better this way, Heero told himself. This way Duo would be safe and Heero would face this Quatre on his own. He tried to tell himself he was protecting Duo, protecting the one… he loved. But the words were hollow in his mind.
Yet he still refused to turn back.
They walked through the woods in silence for a long time as the sun rose to midday overhead. Heero took the lead; walking a roundabout path back to the village to allow himself time to think while Duo half skipped and hopped a few steps behind him, having recovered his normal happy mood. Duo must have noticed the roundabout route but he didn't say anything. Neither were eager to confront Heero's fae-hating village.
"Why did you save me?" Heero asked quietly. He jumped slightly at the sound of his own voice, he hadn't meant to ask Duo out loud.
Duo took a few quick steps and paced himself to walk beside Heero. He shrugged. "Not really sure, you seemed like a cute kid."
"Cute?"
Duo chuckled. "Yes, cute. You should see the cute little faces humans make when they are trying really hard not to cry, you were no exception. In fact, you were adorable."
Heero scowled and shot Duo a glare, he didn't need to speak. It was quite obvious he disliked the idea of being called adorable and cute. "If that was the reason when I was a child, then what was the reason when you saved me from the mist?"
Duo frowned. "Yeah, well, that was just me being nice. I've seen what that mist does to unwelcome guests, it's not a pretty sight. I mean, at least the ones I end up killing look halfway decent when they die. With that mist you look like pieces of dry shriveled fruit." Duo shuddered and made a face in disgust.
Heero said nothing. His mind concentrated on Duo's words 'the ones I kill'. Heero couldn't help but wonder how many Duo had killed. A strangely morbid side of him though wondered what it would be like to die during such exquisite pleasure. It had felt wonderful when Duo had only replenished part of his strength… and if it only got better from there on… Maybe dying during the act of sex wouldn't be such a bad thing. Heero shook his head immediately as that thought entered his mind and kicked it out. It was just too strange to think about.
"Say, umm, do you mind if I don't mention the part about me being an incubus to your village? They might think I have you under a spell or something."
Heero nodded. That was probably a good idea.
Silence surrounded them as they walked on, their short conversation having dropped off abruptly after Heero's nod of agreement. Duo no longer walked behind Heero, and he had also stopped skipping, instead he waked beside Heero and his violet eyes wee intently focused on the trees around them. Heero noticed this and suddenly stopped walking.
"The birds are silent," he murmured.
Duo nodded. "Yeah, I noticed. In fact there aren't any in the trees, they've all left their nests."
Heero turned to face in the direction of his village, furrowing his eyebrows in concern. "Something's wrong."
"Yeah, wait here a second." With those words Duo raced over to a tree and bounded up into the branches as if he weighed nothing. Standing on the highest branch he could reach he peered toward the direction of the village.
"What do you see?" Heero called out.
"Smoke… fire!"
Heero didn't need another word. Without giving Duo a chance to climb down he sprinted toward the village, Duo dropping down from the branch and taking off after him. Both arrived at the village a moment later and staggered to a halt. Before them stood the village, or rather what was left of it, amiss dancing flames.
Heero recovered quickly and raced to the nearest house, kicking the door open so hard it flew off the hinges. But the sight of what was inside made him pause and turn away quickly, covering his mouth and shutting his eyes. Duo rushed to his side and peered in, hissing in disgust.
All around the small wooden home everything was in flames and there was a thick sharp smell of rotting flesh. Duo's eyes dart to the bed and his eyes widened. Lying on the bed was the family that owned the house, or what was left of them. True to the smell in the small home it was their flesh that was rotting, peeling away from the bones and stretching grotesquely in an attempt to cover the shriveled organs. Small bugs and worms ignored the smoke and fire as they crawled and nibbled on what was left of their skin and eyeballs. Duo's eyes narrowed and purple energy crackled around his body.
Behind him Heero raced for his own home, throwing open the door. This time there was no smell and no body, instead a small pile of silver feathers lay scattered across the earthen floor.
"Trowa's not here," Heero breathed with relief.
Yet Duo entered the door after him and his expression didn't change. Instead the purple energy around him danced faster as he knelt down and grasped a handful of the feathers. Crushing his fist around them blood began to seep from his hand; the feathers were razor sharp.
"Duo?"
"Quatre-sama!" Duo hissed angrily. He clenched the feathers tighter in his fist but didn't seem to acknowledge the pain. Instead he just stood to his feet and stepped out of the house. Facing a tree he gritted his teeth and purple energy let loose from his body, crashing into the tree and ripping it to shreds. His head dropped and the energy disappeared, leaving him to breathe heavily as the newly shredded tree fed the dancing flames.
Heero tentatively walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder tightly. "What was that?"
"They're all dead, that bastard killed them!"
"Who?"
Duo took a deep breath to try and calm himself, the very last of the purple energy fading to a dull glow in his amethyst eyes. "Quatre-sama," he spat out. "He calls himself our lord, the lord of my kind, mostly just because no one will stand up to him. His power scared them too much." Duo waved his hand toward all of the homes. "He can make people rot, the person will basically melt before your eyes and they're alive when it happens too. But they can't scream, so they just writhe on the ground in horror and pain as their body melts away and their internal organs shrink. They do that until he lets them die… and he can keep them alive too. He slaughtered the entire village… because I talked to you!" Duo clenched his fists and dropped to his knees as tears filled his eyes. "God dammit!"
Heero's eyes narrowed and he glanced back toward his own burning home. It wasn't that he didn't care about the other villagers, he did care. But he refused to let anger crowd his mind at the moment and cloud his judgement, especially since he would need to concentrate to kill this demon Duo spoke of.
"Trowa's body was missing," Heero commented in a flat voice.
Duo forced out a laugh. "That's because Quatre has him. He probably expects us to confront him if he has a hostage." Duo paused and turned to look back at Heero, slowly standing to his feet again. "Oh no, you're not seriously considering going after him."
Heero gave one short nod. "I will kill him." He spoke in a low, dangerously calm voice. Without another word Heero turned and headed back for the forest, making a beeline for the clearing and the waterfall. Duo crumbled after hi and grabbed his arm tightly.
"Just when I thought you had started using that brain of yours… Did you even listen to what I said?! This guy scares my kind out of their pants, you can't honestly think that you, a human, can kill him."
Heero tried to shake away Duo's grasp on his arm but couldn't, so instead he settled for simply glaring at the elfin boy.
"You're walking straight to your own death, doesn't that bother you?!"
"I am well aware of the risks." Heero stated plainly.
That made Duo pause. "And you're still going?" he asked in a quieter voice.
Heero gave another short, curt nod.
"Why?"
"Because that was village. Because Trowa is my brother."
Duo let his hand drop and looked down at the forest floor. "You're walking to your death and you don't care!"
Heero's features softened slightly. It was strange but it actually seemed like Duo cared for him. So that was the reason why Duo had saved him those times and it was the same reason why Heero had stumbled back to that clearing when he knew that he didn't even have enough strength left to lift his dagger. Had anyone asked him two days ago if it was possible for him to fall in love with a fae he would have said no. But now… now he knew it was possible because it had happened. He also realized that now that he admitted his true feeling he didn't want to die, because that would mean he couldn't be with Duo.
Heero opened his mouth to offer some words of comfort to Duo but an image flashed in his mind, an image of his brother on the ground as Duo had described, his skin melting and rotting away. Heero blinked and tried to shake away the image but instead it only shifted to become Duo… Duo…
No, he wouldn't let that happen to Duo, not now not ever! Closing his mouth he made up his mind. He was going to kill this Quatre, even if he had to die trying. That would never happen to Duo, if he could help it. And he had no complaints about dying for Duo's sake. Taking a deep breath he started to walk away again.
"I care." Duo whispered behind him, but Heero didn't stop. Instead he just kept walking, leaving Duo to stand there, his eyes shaded and silent tears falling to the ground.
It was better this way, Heero told himself. This way Duo would be safe and Heero would face this Quatre on his own. He tried to tell himself he was protecting Duo, protecting the one… he loved. But the words were hollow in his mind.
Yet he still refused to turn back.