I'M BACK!!! Sorry this one took so long!! I had writer's block! AAH! It was so horrible! I was so frightened! Lol

Anyways!!! I hope everyone who's reading this, aka mama-sama, enjoys!

The Great Hero

Chapter Three: In which many annoying characters appear!

By: the Angel of Death

Disclaimer: nothing is mine, 'cept the story! Is that an oxy moron? (ah!)

ENJOY AND R&R!!

Thank you and have a good Monday!

~*~

Duo did a double take when he saw the woman he had met at Sally's come running towards him. She was much larger then before and her wings were non-existent. "Noin?" he asked.

"Well aren't you a genius! So why exactly did my husband disappear like that?!" she demanded.

Duo looked around and noticed that Howard had conveniently vanished, "There was this little lizard guy and he-"

"A likely story!" she said as she glared at him, "Well you are the great hero, so move your butt so we can get on with this and my husband can come back." She said as she turned and walked back into her house, Duo hot on her heals.

Duo entered her house and blinked several times for good measure. 'What the…?'

The room looked like a typical fairy tale cottage should. There was a wooden table and something like a kitchen; several doors and furniture, making the room look comfortable. What surprised Duo were the large amounts of spinning wheels.

"You ummm… you have a lot of spinning wheels." He said, uncertain he wanted to know what they might mean.

Noin rolled her eyes, "Well duh. I spin straw into gold! Why wouldn't I have spinning wheels?" she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, "I realize you didn't know that, but you have to realize that I'm a little upset. My husband, you see, he has a habit of disappearing on me. Last time he was gone for a year and two days! I just don't want that to happen again." She said as she moved to the mantle and picked up a picture.

Duo looked at the picture and raised an eyebrow. It was a picture frame full of little pictures of the same blond haired man. 'She's a stocker…' he thought to himself as he watched Noin start to cry over the picture.

"Umm… You okay?"

"No! My Zechs is gone!" she wailed.

Duo blinked her what was gone? "Um Noin this is suppose to be rated PG, you really shouldn't say things like that." He whispered to her.

*WACK!* Noin broke the picture over Duo's head, "Oh shut up you pervert! I didn't say s*x! I said Zechs! Z-E-C-H-S! Moron."

Duo looked up and saw those annoying little birds flying around his head once again. 'Damn birds, one day I will get you…' he vowed mentally.

"So what am I doing here anyways?" Duo asked.

"I'm supposed to give you something, no matter how much I don't want to." She mumbled.

"Well! Hand it over so I can be on my way!"

"No." she said simply.

"What? Why no?"

"I won't give you anything until you find Zechs for me!" she said as she turned her back to him.

"What?! Why? That's not fair! Howard said his name not me!" he protested.

"I don't care." There was a flash of blue magic and Duo found himself outside, "Get going!" Noin yelled as she slammed her front door.

Duo sight, "Geez… why are women so damn bit*hy?" he mumbled.

"That is an easy question. Women are emotional because they are weaklings." Came a familiar voice.

"Wufie!" Duo said, glad to see a male again, "what are you doin' here?"

"I'm going to accompany you on your quest for a short period of time." He said as he flipped his midnight blue cloak back to reveal lose black pants and a white Chinese shirt. He wore a belt that hung off one hip, from that belt hung a nasty looking katana.

"Really?!" Duo asked, overjoyed at the prospect of some company other then Lady Une.

"Yes weakling. Now let's find Zechs so we can move on." Wufie grumbled.

Duo got the sudden impression that Wufie didn't want to be anywhere near him. So he shrugged and followed Wufie back into the forest.

~*~

A few hours latter the sun was beginning to set and Duo was hungry… again.

"Wufie! Let's stop. I need food!" he whined.

Wufie rolled his eyes and groaned, "You ate twenty minutes ago!"

Duo nodded, "Yeah! Now I'm hungry again!"

Wufie dropped to the ground in an inelegant heap. Why was he being punished like this? What had he ever done?

Duo rubbed the stone on the pouch, "Lady Une? Can we have some food, please?" he added.

There was a purple flash and food appeared, "Ask me anything else tonight and you'll be sorry." She warned as the light faded.

Duo decided not to ask for a place to sleep and turned to Wufie, "Dig in!"

Wufie cocked an eyebrow and picked up a drumstick.

They ate in silence; Wufie just didn't want to talk to the moron. And Duo didn't know what to say without getting yelled at.

"Umm, Wufie?" Duo asked tentatively.

"What is it?"

"Why do you freak whenever someone says Sally's name?"

Wufie flinched at the mention of her name and glared at Duo, "Why do you think I'd tell an idiot like you?"

Duo shrugged, "Well you said that only the great hero could find out. And well I'm the great hero!" he said with a smirk that he hoped Wufie couldn't see in the fading light.

Wufie glared at him and lowered his head, "I did say that didn't I?"

Duo nodded.

"Very well weakling. I will tell you." He made himself comfortable and began his story; "I have know Sally since we were very little. We were close friends in our youth and ended up in the same school training to be a magic bearers."

Duo spoke up, "What' that mean?"

Wufie rolled his eyes, "It means I became a magician and she a witch."

Duo nodded and Wufie continued, "During our training we became closer then ever before, we were inseparable." A look of pain crossed his face, "But during our training we discovered that witches and magicians are not allowed to be together. That they are in fact supposed to be hated rivals. We ended our relationship knowing that it would be going against tradition if we continued."

Duo was taken aback, "That's it?!" he exclaimed.

Wufie looked at him in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"You broke up with Sally because of tradition?" Duo shook his head, "Man are you ever sad! You know if you guys really cared about each other you should have just said to hell with it and stayed together."

Wufie looked interested, "But it isn't done."

"What? Two people fallin' in love? Sorry Wu-man that happens all the time."

Wufie bristled at the nickname but didn't comment.

"Why don't you just start again? Nothin' stopin' you. Go for it!" Duo encouraged.

Wufie's eyes lit up, "I could… I should!" he stood up, "I will!" He turned to Duo and smiled, "Thank you Weakling, I will not forget your help."

"Hey! Where ya goin'?!" Duo exclaimed.

"I am going to see Sally. I will return at dawn." He smirked, "Maybe." He said with a knowing look in his eyes.

Duo laughed, "Go for it!"

There was a puff of blue smoke and when it cleared Wufie was gone.

Duo sighed and lay back on the grass.

"That was a nice gesture." Came a soft voice from above him.

Duo blinked and thought he saw an angel.

"Who… who are you?"

Soft blue eyes smiled at him, "My name is Princess Hilde, Great Hero Maxwell." She said, her blue hair floating around her head.

Duo stood up and looked her over, she was dressed in a long blue dress with princess sleeves and a v-neck front that Duo couldn't help but appreciate. Her most stunning feature was the large soft blue wings that protruded from her back.

"How…how did you know who I am?" he asked, trying very hard to breath.

Hilde smiled, "I know who you are good Hero. You are the one destined to save up all."

"Why are you here now?" he asked.

She looked at the ground, her eyes sad, "This isn't my true form. I'm being held captive in a tower three days away." She said sadly.

Duo jumped up, "Captive? By who?" he demanded.

"A man named Trowa." She responded.

"Trowa?" he asked, "I think I'm suppose to see him!" he exclaimed, "why would he have kidnapped you if he's one of the good guys?"

Hilde laughed, "Just because you have to get a magical item from him does not make him one of the good guys, didn't they teach you anything?" she laughed again.

Duo felt immediately taken with this girl. She was beautiful, but not only that she was happy and filled with a love of life that he had missed so much during the war… He smiled at her and hugged her tightly, much to her surprise.

"Duo!" she exclaimed.

"Hilde!" he said in the same tone.

They laughed and talked all night. Hilde was a sylph, an air elemental. Thus she had some control over wind movements and such things. She was a little shy of Duo because most people either feared her or took advantage of her powers and tried to make her use them for their benefit, like Trowa. He hadn't told her why he wanted her, but she knew he was only a middleman working for someone much more powerful.

"And when I was younger, other kids would make fun of me, they'd tease me and pretend to be my friends just so I could make it a snow day or make a tornado to destroy the school." She sighed and Duo wrapped an arm around her, "It's okay Hilde." He said.

She leaned into his embrace, "I've only just met you but I feel like I've known you forever."

Duo smiled and they stayed like that until dawn.

~*~

Duo woke up when he felt someone shaking him, "Wake up Weakling." He opened his eyes to see a devilish Wufie looking at him.

'Well he looks happy.' Duo thought as he noticed the smirk that he couldn't help but hide. "I'm up Wufie. Did ya have fun?"

Wufie actually blushed! Duo thought he must be crazy! "I did, thank you for giving me the courage to face my fears. I owe you for that."

Duo smiled, "No prob. So tell me Wu-man, is she good in bed?"

Before Wufie realized what he was doing he answered, "Amazing… no one could be better…" he trailed off and looked at Duo, "You! You!!!" he growled.

Duo laughed. A few minutes latter, they calmed down and Duo realized something, "Hilde's gone!" he jumped up.

"I'm glad you noticed." Came a cold emotionless voice from behind them.

Wufie glared at the cloaked figure, "You! What are you doing here?!"

The figure didn't show any emotion, "Nice to see you to Wufie. I am here to help the braided idiot on his mission. Well the information part of it anyways."

Wufie looked down right pissed off, "Yuy what information could you have?"

"A lot regarding Hilde."

Duo's ears perked up at the sound of her name, "Hilde?! What about her?" he asked.

"My name is Heero Yuy, I am the resident Seer." He gave a swift bow, his deep green cloak revealing nothing about what was under neither.

"I'm Duo. Now make with the info."

Heero nodded, "The image you saw of Hilde was her spirit body, she wasn't actually here. She's still trapped in Trowa's tower. When she woke up, her spirit returned to her body." He said curtly.

Duo nodded, "Okay, hey! Can you help me find Zechs? I wanna go find Hilde."

Heero nodded, "He's behind that rock." He pointed to a rock not three feet away.

"Damn you Yuy! I'll kill you for that!" a man with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes rushed at Heero.

Heero ducked away from him, "You know you can't beat me Zechs." He said as he sidestepped him.

"Hey! Mr. Zechs! Noin wants you! You have to go see her so I can move on with this Quest!" Duo called out.

Zechs looked at Heero, "That's not him is it?"

Heero nodded once.

Zechs groaned, "Very well. Let's go." With a sweep of his hand they were back at Noin's cottage.

"ZECHS!!" Came a scary high-pitched scream.

Noin came running out to meet him, she wrapped her arms around him, "I missed you!"

Zechs embraced her tightly, "I know. You miss me if I leave to go to the bathroom."

Noin glared at him, "What's that suppose to mean?" she said, her tone dangerous.

Zechs gulped, he was in trouble now.

Noin released him and started to yell at him.

Duo jumped in between them before things got out of hand, "Whoa! Whoa! Hold up guys! I need to get whatever you're going to give me so I can move on!"

Noin glared one last time at Zech, "You're on the couch tonight buddy." Zechs looked at the ground and Noin turned to Duo. "Very well, come inside and give me your over coat." She said as she extended her hand.

"Why?" asked Duo as he gave her his coat.

"Because I have to sew the golden thread into it!" she said as she pulled out a needle and golden thread. With lightning quick motions she sewed the thread all through his coat.

"THERE!" she said proudly, "Now these pockets will hold anything! They can expand to any size without adding bulk or weight."

Duo was impressed.

"Are you done then? We need to go." Wufie said coming up behind Duo.

Noin glared at him, but nodded.

"Good." Wufie grabbed Duo's braid, "Let's go."

"OOOOWWWWwwwww!!!! Bye Miss Noin! Thank you!!! Wufie let go! It hurts!!!" he whined as Wufie dragged him out the door. Heero said nothing but nodded to Zechs, earning a nasty glare from his rival.

Wufie let go of Duo and he fell to the ground clutching his precious braid, "You are a jerk Wu-man! That hurt!" Duo looked at his braid one last time before tucking it in his coat.

"Stop calling me Wu-man! My name is Wufie! Now come on! We don't have time to waste!" he said as he began walking in the direction of Trowa's tower, or so Duo assumed.

"Where are we goin'?" he asked for good measure.

"My house." Said Heero, "I need to pick up some things and give you your item." It didn't sound like he cared much.

"My item? What is it?" Duo was suddenly very eager to know, he began bouncing around Heero like a kid on Christmas morning.

"You will find out when we get there." Heero said.

"But I wanna know now!!!!"

Wufie pulled out his katana and held it to Duo's thought, "Shut up."

Duo was very happy to comply.

~*~

They had walked all day and Duo was getting tired. And hungry. Again.

"Can we eat now?" he asked.

"No." replied Heero.

"No." said Wufie.

"Please?"

"No."

"No." Duo frowned and kicked a stick into a nearby bush.

Poor foolish Duo didn't know much about this world, because it was never smart to kick a stick, or anything else for that matter, into a perfectly innocent seeming bush. Because bushes only looked innocent to maintain the idea that no one ever suspects the bush.

As was normal, the sick was thrown right back at Duo's head.

"Ow! Hey!" Duo turned around to face the bush, only to find not a shrubbery, but an annoyed looking creature Duo didn't recognize.

"Who the hell threw this stick at me?!" it demanded with it's man like head.

Heero took several steps away from the creature and Wufie drew his katana.

"What have you done now Weakling?" demanded Wufie.

"I kicked a stick! What's the big deal?" Duo asked.

Heero rolled his eyes, "I leave you to deal with this. Wufie get him to my house in one piece." He said and in a puff of green smoke he was gone.

"Heero! Heero you coward!" Wufie said as he turned to face Duo, blade always pointed at the creature.

"Do you know what that is?!" Wufie demanded.

Duo shook his head, "No idea."

"That is a Manticore! Idiot! It is a man eater!" Wufie said as the creature approached him.

"Umm excuse me…"

"A man eater?!" Duo exclaimed running backwards.

"Yes! Now he'll eat you!"

"He wouldn't!"

"Hello?" said the Manticore.

"He would and he will!"

"Then let's get out of here!" said Duo as he turned away from the Manticore.

"That is the best plan you have ever come up with!" said Wufie as he put the katana away and ran with Duo, leaving the Manticore alone.

Well almost alone.

"You know, you'd think they'd have stopped to take a good look at your face." Said a small voice from the ground.

"Well, that's Mr. Duo and Mr. Wufie for you. They don't stop to think. But despite their habit of rushing in head first, I truly believe that they will complete this mission to the very best of their abilities! They can defeat anything and anyone they come up ageist because they are truly kind people. And in the end of every fairy tale the kind people always come out on top. Do you know why Howard?"

Howard did what any basilisk in his situation would do. He looked at the Manticore.

There was a horrible scream and a final shout of, "You're such a kind person!" before the Manticore turned to stone and began to turn into dust.

"Well, kind to the readers anyway." He said as he flashed the victory sign and walked off to no doubt do something else critical to the completion of Duo's quest.

But don't fear Quatre lovers, no matter how much I would love to kill Quatre off. I just couldn't do that to Dorothy, or Trowa or whoever (though some of those pairing are messed!! AH!)

Dorothy appears from behind the scenes, "Hey! I tried to kill him, what do I care if you kill the wussy?" She demands as she brushes off her flowing white dress and (of course!) matching cape. She looks better then Dorothy could ever look with all the Dorothy haters out there. She actually looks beautiful!

Trowa walks in, "Why me? Why must everyone pair me up with the stupid pansy who only talks about his feelings and beauty! I mean really if I wanted a relationship like that I'd date women!"

Angel of Death walks out, "What the hell are you two doing here?! YOU!" she exclaims pointing to Dorothy, "Do not come in 'till chapter 6! GET BACK TO YOUR DRESSING ROOM!"

Dorothy is out bitched and leaves.

"And YOU! Shut up before Kuroi Shi and her army of TxQ worshippers come after me! You're not in for at least another page! SO GET LOST!"

Trowa also leaves.

Angel of Death turns to the readers, "Sorry about that… That was a combination of sleep-depravation, a need to get this story out, my love of making fun of Quatre and an unhealthy dose of writers block! I promise to keep any more scenes like this to a minimum! Sorry again!" walks off and Duo and Wufie appear walking towards Heero's.

"Well I'm sure glad we avoided that fight!" said Duo proudly as he walked along happily, Wufie at his side.

Wufie just nodded, "We're here." He said as they approached the sea.

"The sea?" Duo asked, "He lives in the water?"

Wufie nodded, "With the Princess."

Duo thought about it for a minute, and began thinking, that he should be putting two and two together. He racked his brain, but he couldn't figure out what was supposed to click.

"Why?"

Wufie looked at him like he was an idiot, "You met Princess Relena did you not?"

Duo nodded, it was starting to come to him. But the whole picture was still escaping him.

"Heero lives with her, she's his fiancée."

Duo's face lit up, "Oh!!!" he looked thoughtful again.

'All that thinking must be hurting his brain.' Wufie thought to himself.

"But hey! She's a mermaid! How do they umm…. You know." He said.

"This story is PG rated, I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Wufie said as he walked to the water's edge.

"Well then, how does Heero breath underwater?"

"Princess Relena can take the form of a human woman, and Heero can become a merman. He is a form changer and mermaids can take three forms. They can be entirely fish, the cross breed, or mermaid and fully human." He looked Duo over, "Understand?"

Duo nodded, "So are we going down there?"

"Yes we are."

"But! I'm not a fishy! I can't breath water!" Duo protested.

Wufie was considering lying to Duo and telling him he could breath underwater, just to see the weakling choke.

"I am a magician. Do you really think I wouldn't have spells for such things?" Wufie asked annoyed.

"Oh." Duo said as he approached the water.

There was a purple flash, "I am not going in there!" Came Lady Une's voice.

Duo looked at Wufie, "What do I do with her?"

"Leave her on that Quatre-rock." Wufie suggested as he pointed to the rock that Quatre hade appeared to Duo when he had met Relena.

"NEVER MIND!!!" Cried Lady Une, "I'll go in…"

Duo smirked; he liked how Wufie's mind worked.

For his smirk however he received a shock of disapproval from Lady Une.

"Shall we?" Wufie asked.

"Whenever."

Wufie raised his arms in the air and chanted several words that Duo couldn't understand. There was a flash of dark blue light and Duo felt a tingle run though his body.

"There you can breath underwater." Wufie said as he disappeared under the surface.

"Cool!" Duo said as he dove in.

Once his eyes adjusted to the murky water Duo couldn't help but admire the scenery. There were two fish not far from his chasing each other around. One of them had claws appear out of seemingly no were and clawed the bigger one.

The bigger one swam away as fast as it could.

Duo assumed that they were cat and dogfish.

They swam deep into the sea, and Duo began to wonder if that pressure thingy was going to set in, but decided the spell was taking care of that two.

Soon they reached an underwater cave with a walkway leading to the entrance. There was a garden out front filled with plants Duo never knew existed. He began to wonder where the light was coming from as there was none lacking. In fact it was a bright at the bottom of the sea as it was on land.

Magic he assumed. He was starting to like this place, whatever he didn't understand, he could blame on magic. It was really convenient! (For the author as well! /_\')

They approached the entrance and Wufie spoke to a fish at the entrance. He nodded and led them inside.

Duo swam in behind Wufie still wondering how much else he could blame on magic.

"Wufie! Duo! I'm so glad to see you!" called out Relena as she swam to them and hugged Duo tightly, knowing Wufie might use his katana on her if she hugged him.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Duo asked cheerfully as he scanned the cave for Heero.

"Can't complain, I am after all in charge." She laughed at her joke and Duo tried very hard to smile politely.

"Heehee!"

VERY hard…

Heero appeared from a darkened room, "Duo come with me. I have something to give you."

Duo nodded and swam after him, trying hard not to knock anything over as he kicked.

They entered a room that was filled with a strange dark green light, "This is my laboratory. Not even Relena has been in here." He looked at Duo meaningfully, "I want to keep it that secrete. Everything you see in here must never be reviled. Understood?"

Duo nodded, he didn't know if he wanted to try Heero's anger.

Heero nodded and walked to a low table, "This orb can tell you anything you want to know. It's set so that you can ask it three questions. I'll leave you alone. Just remember you cannot repeat anything it reveals." Heero said as he left.

Duo looked at the orb, wondering what he should ask. He knew he wanted to know about Hilde, so…

"I want to see Hilde, if possible." Duo said.

There was a flash and Duo looked into the orb, there was Hilde. She was lying on a cold stone floor, her wings were held close to her body. For warmth, Duo assumed. She looked so sad; he saw tears running down her face. He wanted nothing more then to hold her tightly and wipe her tears away, telling her that everything would be all right.

"Who's holding her captive?"

The picture changed and Duo was sad to see Hilde vanish.

There was a man all in dark orange sitting on a throne, looking rather smug. As he had a right to be, so far Duo had not mad a single coup against him. Other then the fairy, but could one really consider that a threat?

The man in the chair called someone to him, and Duo had a suspicion that it was Hilde. The orb was great, but there was no sound.

Hilde appeared a few moments latter and he spoke to her again. She shook her head and he slapped her.

Duo lurched forward, that bastard! Duo would kill him! The man only nodded to her fallen form and the orb when green.

"Okay, last question… Can I defeat him?"

The orb blinked and changed several colours before going black. The light from the orb faded and Heero walked in.

"You asked about the future didn't you?" he asked with a sigh.

Duo nodded, "Is that bad?"

Heero looked at the orb, "Not really, but the orb will require several days to recharge." He looked back at Duo, "Go back to your quest. After three days have passed you may return here and ask a different question."

Duo nodded, he would have said more, but he felt bad for hurting the orb. He left the room and saw Wufie trying very hard to avoid Relena. Duo smirked in understanding.

"Come on Wufie. We're done here."

Wufie's face brightened, "It took you long enough Weakling." He said as he nodded to Heero and left.

"Bye Heero! Bye Relena! Thanks!" Duo said as he followed Wufie back to the surface.

Wufie removed the spell for breathing air, and used one to dry their cloths, much to Lady Une's relief.

"Now where?" asked Duo.

"Now we head for Trowa's tower."

Duo nodded, he was getting closer and closer to saving Hilde.

~*~

At duck they saw the tower come into view, it was a bright and happy place. Duo did a double take when he saw a clown dancing around out side, "Um, Wufie you sure this is the right place?"

Wufie nodded, "Yes I'm sure!" he turned to Duo, "Trowa is not a real enemy, he is being controlled by someone else."

"Who?"

Wufie rolled his eyes, "This is your quest, not mine. You figure it out."

Duo pouted, "If you guys had all the answers from the start, why did you need me to do this? Why not just send Sally or Heero or Relena, or ever go yourself?"

Wufie glared at Duo, "You are the legendary hero. You have to do this and for a very good reason too!"

"What reason?"

Wufie turned pink then red then looked like he was going to explode.

"Wufie?"

Wufie just looked angry.

Duo understood, "You don't know do you?"

Wufie glared at Duo, "No I don't."

"So you need me to figure out why you need me?" Duo was getting dizzy.

"In simple terms yes."

"Oh!! What are the long terms?" Duo asked.

"If I told you, I'd have to bring Relena and Quatre here to help explain it."

Duo blanched, "Umm that's ok. I don't need to know! I'll stick to the simple version!"

Wufie almost laughed, "It thought you would."

They walked up to the tower and Duo looked at Wufie, "Hey, how do we get in?"

Wufie looked at him like he was an idiot, "We knock."

Duo looked surprised, "Really?! That actually works!?" he said, completely and totally amazed. That never worked in the movies!

"When someone knocks on your door do you ignore it?"

"No."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Yeah! It was hard and annoying! I finally couldn't take it anymore and then had to chase the Mormons away with Death Scythe." He admitted. He really didn't have anything against Mormons, but he was catholic after all.

Wufie nodded satisfied and proceeded to knock on the door!

~*~

END CHAPTER 3!!!!