Utopian Kingdom

Utopian Kingdom

Chapter 2

By Moony

Relena had her bag packed and flipped it over her shoulder. Quatre looked at her very annoyed. He still did not want her to come. She grinned at him and he looked away from her.

"Well, I'm ready. Lets go," Relena smiled.

"It's not that easy," Quatre replied and looked at the sky. "We don't know which way to head or who did this."

"That's easy to remedy," Relena replied and ran off. She soon returned with a young woman. "Tell him what you told me," She ordered. The girl nodded.

"I, I was with the king and queen. I was preparing her majesty when suddenly a man came through the window. Glass flew everywhere, my lord. I was thrown back behind the bed and that is where I stayed, but I watched. The man was dressed in all black. It looked royal. Well, he started towards the queen," the peasant said. "King Millardo jumped in front of him to protect My Lady, but the man simply pushed him aside and he flew into the wall. I have never seen such strength before, and then behind him came a woman with long blond hair. She had an evil look about her as well. She walked up to Queen Noin and said some enchantment over her and the queen fell asleep at the man's feet. He grabbed her and the three flew out the window, but then the king got up and ran to the window. He screamed for the queen and she awoke, I suppose, because she screamed his name. Then the woman turned, in mid air and shot something at us. I ran to the door and out of the room before the… er… whatever it was reached us. That part of the castle fell and, by God's grace I was saved."

"I see…" Quatre said. "Did they say any names?"

"Yes, my lord, they did. The woman called the man Heero," the small woman explained.

"Heero?" Quatre cried and leaped to his feet. "Are you sure of this?"

"Yes my lord," the woman confirmed. Quatre turned and pointed at Relena.

"Then you defiantly aren't coming," he said with a light cynical laugh and shook his head violently. "No, that would be only foolishness."

"No!" Relena cried. "I'm going! I do not care what you say! I will get alone if I have to! I'll run away, but I will not sit here and do nothing to help Noin!"

"Relena," Quatre said a bit calmer and walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. "You were kept a secret just for this purpose. This man, Heero, or rather a vampire…"

"Vampire?" Relena questioned.

"Yes a vampire, and he wants your brother's kingdom. That is what he is doing. Trying to kill the king and marry the queen and take the throne, in a rather 'dignified' way," Quatre explained. "Your brother wanted to prevent that. He hid you away for no one to find and declared that you would take his place if something happened to him no matter what, not the queen."

"What stops this vampire now from coming and marrying me?" Relena replied. "Surely once I am given the thrown he will come for me. Wouldn't it be better for me to stay hidden with you, the Born Wizard, until he is killed and destroyed?" Quatre gave her an unbelieving look.

"How did you suddenly get so wise?" he asked and let go of her. He turned and put his hand under his chin. She was right and he knew it. It would be smarter to keep her with him. "Fine Relena, you win again. I know who he is. I know what we need to do and you're coming with me." Relena gave a joyful yelp and jumped into the air. Quatre soon felt arms around his neck. Relena was hugging him. She kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, Quatre," She smiled with her face inches from his. "Thank you." She let him go and ran to get her bag. "We have to leave right away. We don't have long until night fall." Quatre shook his head at her.

"Alright then, lets go. So," Quatre sighed as Relena ran in front of him. "Our adventure begins."

* * * *

Everything in Relena was on fire. She could not believe the rush she was getting just head out, away from the safety of her castle. She would have gone all night if Quatre had let her, but he insisted on stopping and resting until morning.

"We're only get ourselves lost in this darkness. Now come and help me build a fire," Quatre ordered as he collected some wood in a small pile. Relena submitted to Quatre, knowing not to press her luck with him. She began collecting firewood. After Quatre felt they had enough he waved his hand over it and a blaze began in the wood. "Now we can cook something warm," Quatre smiled and pulled out a bag. To Relena, it looked empty, but once Quatre reached into it and pulled out a small-uncooked chicken, Relena knew it was enchanted. She sighed and lied back on the small pallet she had made for herself by the fire. She closed her eyes and was filled with confusion and surprise when she saw a man standing there. He smiled at her and she opened her eyes and leaned up. Quatre noticed how startled she was.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked. Relena grabbed her head.

"No, nothing," She replied. Quatre continued cooking the chicken. Relena lied back down and looked up at the stars that were starting to appear above her. She again closed her eyes and he was there again. She examined him. He was wearing all black. He had tossed brown hair and startling blue eyes. She was standing in a dark room. It looked much like her brother's thrown room. He sat on the thrown.

"Who are you?" her mind asked to him, expecting no answer. He smirked at her, then his eyes became soft. He stood and walked up to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. It felt so real. Relena gasped and wrenched up from her sleeping position.

"Relena?" Quatre cried.

"I, I," Relena gasped, gulping in as much air as her lungs could hold. "I saw something."

"What?" Quatre cried and sat down the almost completely cooked chicken. "What did you see?"

"A, a man," Relena explained. "He touched me…" Quatre made his way quickly to her side.

"Was he as the maid servant described?" Quatre asked, very troubled.

"Yes," Relena said in a dizzy, dreamy tone.

"Relena," Quatre grabbed her face and made her look at him. "Did you let him in?" Her eyes seemed far off and oblivious to what Quatre was saying. "Oh God!" Quatre screamed. "Relena!" He shook her and finally as a last resort, he slapped her. She was suddenly shaken and looked very shocked at him. She touched her cheek.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He knows," Quatre said. "Damn it." He stood up.

"What?" Relena asked.

"You let him in, didn't you?" Quatre yelled furiously.

"Huh? Who?" Relena asked.

"Get up," Quatre ordered and put his hands out to her. Relena too then and he helped her up. "I should have warned you. This is half my fault."

"What? What are you talking about Quatre?" Relena asked.

"You saw a man right?"

"Yes I saw him," Relena said.

"Did he ask you to let him be with you?" Quatre asked.

"No, he didn't," Relena asked.

"Good, he's not in control," Quatre said and thought for a moment.

"Excuse me Quatre, but I wish you would tell me what you are talking about," Relena said becoming angry herself.

"The Vampire knows who you are, Relena. He must know the decree as well. He's trying to get into your mind and take it over," Quatre explained. "If you allow him to he will lure you to him. No one will be able to stop you. Only killing you or him would stop you. Don't say yes to anything he says. I can't put a spell over you to protect you from him. This is all up to you Relena. Please what ever he does, don't say yes!"

"Okay, Quatre. Make me promise. If you do I'll have to keep my word no matter what," Relena said.

"Promise me, Relena, you will not say yes to anything he asks," Quatre ordered.

"I promise," Relena assured. She smiled at him. "You underestimate me, Quatre darling." Relena put her hand on Quatre's cheek. He looked at her. She looked deep into his eyes. "I am a little stronger than you think." Quatre took her hand off of his cheek and kept it in his.

"I know, Relena, but these are different from the enemies I have put you against. These are real. He is a womanizer. He knows how to do it," Quatre said. Relena only smiled. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then Quatre let her hand go and stood up. "Are you hungry?" he asked as he stuck the bird back in the fire.

"No," Relena yawned. "I'm going to try and sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Be careful Relena," Quatre ordered. Relena smiled at him and lied back down. She turned to her side facing away from the fire and closed her eyes.

He waited to come to her. He wanted her completely asleep and the wizard couldn't interrupt him. Relena found herself, again, in the dark thrown room. And there he was, in the same position on the throne, one leg on the armrest and the other dangling close to the ground. He stood up and strutted over to her.

"Hello, princess," he said. His voice sent trimmers up Relena's spine.

"I'm not a princess," Relena replied. He pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Of course you are. Don't lie to me," the last sentence was stern and he looked deep into her eyes. Relena backed away from him. She knew he could see the fear in her eyes. He smiled at her and stepped closer to her.

"Get back," she ordered.

"Oh darling," he said gently and proceeded closer. "I won't hurt you."

"Ha," Relena's voice quivered. "You'd kill me if you had the chance." He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"He told you about me?" the man asked with a slight grin.

"Who told me about you? Do you mean Quatre? How do you know him?"

"Oh is that who he is?" the blue eyes became dark. "Tell me, is he a Born Wizard?" Relena turned her back on the man. She searched for a way out of the room, but everything was too dark for her to see a door. Suddenly she felt hands on her shoulders. She whorled around and he was face to face with her. "Is he a Born Wizard?" Relena's mind raced. He was looking deep into her eyes and she felt paralyzed.

"Promise me, Relena, you will not say yes to anything he ask," Quatre's words began to echo in Relena's mind. She closed her eyes and let them sink in.

"Look at me!" the man ordered. "Look at me!" he began to shake her. Relena opened her eyes. She was again confident. She flung her arms out, forcing him to let go of her.

"I don't have to answer a thing to you," She said audaciously. His facial expressions changed from shocked, to angry, then, to Relena's surprise, he smiled.

"It seems I've underestimated you," He said and crossed his arms over his chest. "May we restart?" Relena looked at him with a bewildered look on her face. "Alright." The man closed the space between the two. He put his arm out to her.

"Hello, princess. I'm Heero," He said. Relena just looked at him. He stood for a moment then became very angry. "Damn it! Talk to me! Let me shake your hand! I'm not going to kill you!"

"No," Relena said strongly and backed away. "No, I will not shake your hand. I don't even want to talk to you. I want my sister back. I want you to leave my family alone!"

"So you are the princess?" Heero smirked. Relena gasped and covered her mouth. Heero laughed lightly at her. "Foolish little girl. Be gone from me."

"Relena," a voice said to Relena and she jerked out of her sleep. Quatre was at her side. "Relena, we need to get moving." Relena touched her head and closed her eyes.

"He tricked me," Relena sighed. "I told him I was the princess."

"That doesn't matter, Relena. He already knew," Quatre assured. "Now stand up. We have to pack. We have many things to collect before we can go and confront this vampire." Relena nodded and allowed Quatre to help her up. They packed their things and as the started on their walk Quatre handed Relena a piece of bread.

"He asked about you," Relena said with her mouth full as she walked backwards, facing Quatre.

"He did?" Quatre asked surprised.

"Yep," Relena said after she swallowed the piece that was in her mouth. "He wanted to know if you were a Born Wizard. He didn't trick me into telling him that!" Relena shook her head. "He's very smart."

"Yes, one who's lived for over a thousand years would be," Quatre assured her. "The wizards who raised me spoke of him. He's been trying to destroy your brother's kingdom for a long time. Every time the Born Wizard who was alive at the time stopped him."

"Really? Well, what makes him think he'll be able to do it now?" Relena asked and turned back to the road.

"I'm not sure," Quatre replied. He watched Relena skip up the dirt road. She had insisted on wearing pants. She seemed sometimes more like a boy than a girl. The only think keeping her feminine, other than her long hair, was her incredible beauty. She turned back to face him, her cape flying in her face. Quatre smiled at her. She pushed the cape back behind her and returned the smile. Quatre looked past her and his eyes became big. Relena took another bite of her bread, then noticed Quatre's strange look.

"What is it?" Relena asked and turned to see where he was facing. There stood a beautiful white creature. Relena gasped. Relena had only seen pictures of something so beautiful. "A unicorn…" She whispered. The creature looked up at her and had fear in it's eyes. It moved to bolt when Quatre cried out to it.

"Hold dear friend!" He cried. "We mean you no harm!" The creature stopped and looked past Relena to Quatre.

"'Tis truly magic," she heard the creature say without moving it's mouth. "You are a Born Wizard."

"Yes," Quatre smiled. He walked past Relena to the creature. "But I am surprised to see one such as yourself here now. Where is your pride?"

"I got lost and I fear that they have left me and returned to our Lands," the unicorn explained.

"That is quit a dilemma," Quatre sighed. "Would you like to join us? We are on a mission to save the kingdom of the Peacecrafts."

"Oh…" The unicorn cried. "From the vampire?"

"Yes."
"Yes, of course. If the vampire had his way he would destroy all the unicorns. It would make my Pride proud to know their baby Unicorn finally did something right."

"What's your name?" Quatre asked with a smile. A unicorn was a wonderful companion when you were going to face a Vampire.

"Hilde," She said. "And I see another one of your kind behind you. Tell me, can she understand me?"

"I can," Relena said and stepped up beside Quatre.

"Then you are of royal blood," Hilde stated. Relena smiled at the unicorn.

"I've never seen a unicorn before…" she said. Quatre looked up at the sky.

"We must get moving if we are to make it to where I want to be," Quatre explained. "Let's be on our way."

"Wait," Hilde, the unicorn cried. "If I help you, will you help me? Once the Vampire is destroyed you will help me get back to my Pride?"

"Yes!" Relena cried happily. "I would have it no other way and until they return from your realm I promise you full protection, even if it means my life!"

"Then, we must be on our way," The unicorn said and stamped her front two hooves.

"Alright then," Quatre smiled. "We have things we must find." Quatre pulled a scroll from his belt and pulled it open. "We'll need Fairy dust, the hair of a mermaid, and the scale of a dragon."

"Dragon!" The unicorn and Relena cried together. Quatre looked over at them.

"It's what I need to destroy the Vampire," Quatre smiled at the two's fear.

"Then I guess there's no choice. We must do what we must," Relena said as bravely as she could.

"That's the spirit," Quatre said and pulled out a different scroll a map. "We need to go… that way." Quatre pointed down a darker path.

"Must we?" The unicorn asked. Relena put her hand on the unicorn's back.

"I'll keep you company. Two chickens are better than one," Relena grinned. Hilde laughed and Quatre started walking.