'...'- thoughts
*...*- pictures of visions
What the pilots had before them was the result of a disaster. No, not just a "disaster"- a tragic cataclysm. Everything in sight was in shambles. Once finely furnished tables were reduced to splinters, windows to crystalline shards, and curtains were nothing but scraps that looked like they were made for quilt making. Heero put on the best poker face he could muster and entered the living room... or what was left of it anyways. Trowa followed with his usual calm, while Wufei just barged on in like it was absolutely nothing. Quatre and Duo, on the other hand, took a good look around, and followed in reluctant pursuit. Whoever... or whatever did this... couldn't still be here... could they?
'Have to make sure no important details go unturned...' Heero thought as he scanned and tipped over various parts of leftover furniture. What had the enemy tried to succeed in doing? Kidnapping? Destruction? Uncovering certain items? All 3? Whatever mission that the enemy had accepted was undoubtedly completed. He glanced over at his peers and saw that they were thinking the exact same thoughts.
"Ya kno what's funny?" Duo asked aloud. "There's no blood in this room..."
"So evidently, no murder was committed, correct?" Trowa finished.
"We can't be too sure about that," Quatre commented. "After all, we haven't checked upstairs yet."
"True... and here's another thing. Wouldn't you think that Zechs or anyone from the Preventers would've noticed this by now? After all, the Peacecraft mansion should have the top of the line technology in protection, right? That should include alerting someone in a distant somewhere if an intruder should... well intrude," Duo added.
"The intruder could've disabled the protection lock somehow, or Relena or Shinsei or Eterna could've simply turned if off, assured that there was nothing to worry about," Trowa implied.
"Of course, there was something to worry about..." Quatre added softly.
"Well, what happened has happened. Let's split up and check the rest of the house for Shinsei, Eterna, and Relena," Heero ordered. "And if you encouter the enemy..." His eyes narrowed dangerously at the thought.
"You know what to do."
"How're we supposed to know what this "enemy" looks like?" Duo questioned nervously.
"Instinct always worked for me."
"Well, you're inhuman!! The rest of us MORTALS don't have that kind of super-human ability!"
"I don't ever recall instinct being called a super-human ability."
"But-"
"I just thought of something..." Quatre said.
"Yeah?" Trowa inquired as he cast a questioning glance towards Quatre.
"What if this is a wild goose chase? And Miss Relena and the other 2 just went out for tea while their house got torn apart?"
"Maybe, but we have to make sure that Relena or her bodyguards weren't caught up the middle of this catastrophe." Heero replied.
"How could you tell they were bodyguards?" Quatre questioned.
"Wasn't it obvious? Why else would they be so infuriated with her for going out with that Odin guy without their knowing?" Wufei commented.
"They could always be really protective friends..." Duo muttered.
"Enough!" Wufei said with piercing glare directed at Duo. "We're wasting time. Let's just get this over with."
"Let's just look for the three first. If you can't find them, then look for some kind of lead on where they could've gone if they possibly escaped from the house." Heero commanded. "If you can't find anything, they just meet up in the living room and wait for the rest to finish their searches, all clear?"
The rest of the crew nodded their heads as they ran in seperate directions. Quatre, Duo, and Trowa stayed on the 1st floor to inspect the dining room, kitchen, and any other rooms in need of checking. Heero and Wufei climbed the long flight of stairs to the 2nd floor to check the bedrooms and any other rooms in sight. What Heero and Wufei instantly noticed when the flight of stairs ended was that the upper floor was the complete opposite of the previous floor.
Everything here was in perfect order.
Nothing was in shambles. Nothing was broken. If the pilots had seen this floor instead of the other one, they would've suspected that Heero's instinct had lead him wrong for the first time.
Of course, that wasn't the case... but still...
Heero and Wufei cast each other a confused glance and walked towards seperate rooms to inspect.
"Did ya find anything Quatre?" Duo asked as they met up again in the living room.
"Not a thing," Quatre said in a confused tone. He shook his blonde head slowly. "The enemy sure took careful steps in ensuring nothing remained out in the open..."
"How 'bout you Trowa?"
Trowa shook his head slowly as he glanced around the living room again.
"Me either..." Duo commented as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Something here just doesn't smell right..."
"I know what you mean... If only we had some kind of lead or-" Quatre implied softly, but was interrupted by a shaft of light that enveloped the trio.
"What the hell is going-?!"
No other words were spoken as the three disappeared with the light.
Heero paused in his continuous search as he realized something wasn't right anymore. He shruged off the feeling as he resumed his search in Shinsei's bedroom. All he found was clothes, knick knacks, jewelry, certain unmentionables, and a laptop. He made an attempt earlier to access the laptop's files, but to no avail.
Although he was a professional hacker, the password to Shinsei's laptop was a spoken word. Yes, he was the perfect soldier, but no one could mimic a voice entirely, and he certainly didn't have her voice DNA. He probably could access the laptop if he had more devices and a lot more time, but time was essential right now. He couldn't afford to waste it on something that probably had no lead to whatever he was looking for.
He stood up from his kneeled position on the floor, returned the laptop to its original place, and took another look at the room. It was sparsely decorated and hardly filled. A twin bed was in one corner, a nightstand in the other, a dresser in front of a wall, and a closet at the other end of the room. The room was almost empty...
'Too empty...' Heero thought. Surprisingly enough, he hadn't found any weapon or other alternative method of defense in the entire room. As Relena's bodyguard, shouldn't she at least have a gun hidden somewhere? He shook his dark head slowly.
'Maybe this IS a wild goose chase...' he thought, but shook his head again. 'Instinct has never failed me. It won't stop now...' He narrowed his blue orbs and glanced around the room again, absorbing every and any detail that he had missed. He had missed something.. he MUST have missed something....
"A wooden chest?" Heero thought aloud. Surprisingly enough, he had missed a wooden chest at the foot of the bed. 'How could I have missed that...?' He shruged his bit of curiosity off and kneeled in front of the antique. He lifted the lid slowly and glimpsed at what was inside.
It was empty, except for a small metal box in the corner.
His eyebrows raised in curiosity as he took the box in his hand and peered at it. A simple design of wings were imprinted on the front and on the back as well.
*the angel wings on the back of the lady in the dream*
His prussian blue orbs went wide as he realized the similarity, but shook the vision off.
*a shaft of light over a field of wild flowers*
His hands trembled. Beads of sweat rolled down his tan skin. His mouth went dry.
"What's.. wrong with... me...?" Heero thought aloud as his hand tried to grope his racing heart.
'Empty... I feel so.... empty....' He took one final long breath before prying the box open.
A necklace. A simple silver chain with 2 rings hanging from it. One was a simple silver band. The other was a silver band with the design of a lion on it. He eyed the necklace in the box curiously before placing it on the bed. Suddenly, his eyes spyed a small piece of paper that had fallen out of the box when he had opened it. He slowly picked it up and glanced at it before a flood of memories drowned him, creating a barrier over his sense of reality.
*A lady in a blue ensemble standing in a flower field*
*A close up of her face- soft, warm, chocolate eyes... dark locks that drifted past her shoulder... a warm, loving smile*
*The lady turning around in the flower field, smiling, and pointing her index finger towards the sky*
*A battle ground*
*Blood spilling from an arm with a black ribbon tied to it*
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he cocked his head heavenwards in shock. That... woman....
A picture of a dark haired, Asian woman in a white dress had dropped to the floor. She was smiling and had her index finger pointed towards a starlit sky.
That same lady had been in his dream. Was this mere coincidence? He willed his shaking legs up while leaning on the wooden box for support. Why had this lady shaken him so?
After thinking thoughts over, he pocketed the metal box as well as the picture. He would probably find Shinsei again and would return it to her anyways, but for the time being, he would keep the necklace close. Something about that had necklace drawn him to it. Whatever it was, he would like to confirm that certain "something", or...
Or what exactly he didn't know.
Wufei and Heero met up outside the rooms and confirmed their findings. Wufei had found nothing in Eterna's room. Heero didn't mention the necklace and the picture just yet, for he knew Wufei wouldn't agree to the idea of taking something from here unless it was a clue to Relena's wherabouts. It was only a little shy of stealing... and he didn't want to get in an arguement now. After a little talk, they headed towards the last unchecked room in the house.
The Vice Foreign Minister's office.
Unknown to them, an auto-lock had been placed in the door to lock all entering beings inside the room to prevent anyone from going in and outside the room. This was installed so that if an intruder were to enter and find out confidential information, s/he would never escape with it. The windows and screens were unbreakable, and the door was of course- "unopenable". You needed a certain key to get out from the inside. The only 3 were the bodyguards and of course the vice foreign minister herself.
So what would happen if an armed intruder were to lock themselves in and someone were to open the door? Wouldn't that certain someone be harmed? Good question...
Once Heero and Wufei had entered the room, the door slammed shut behind them and a small beep sound followed.
"What the...?" Wufei gasped. A chill ran up the 2 pilots' spines as they realized what had happened.
"We're locked in," Heero confirmed.
"Can we get out?"
"Probably not."
"We've GOT to find some way out!!"
"That's unlike you. You usually don't lose your calm this easily."
"I don't like this... I don't like this at all. Something's been bothering me ever since we came here..."
"You're not the only one."
~*Tsuzuku*~
(Author's note: Ok... to all you ff8 fans reading this... can you figure out who the lady is now? It's pretty obvious ^_~ lol. I'm sorry for the delay in writing this. I haven't really found the time nor the inspiration to write this chapter... but now I have!!! It's called boredom ^^*. lol can Heero and Wufei get out? And what happened to Duo, Quatre, and Trowa? Find out in "Of Angels and Feathers: Chapter 8- Paradise." Shyaaaaaa baby ^_~)