Treize examined his image in the mirror as he slipped a new crystal on, nodded once in satisfaction as his image shimmered and he looked fully human again. He'd waited until after he spelled a new crystal for Une to put on one of his spares. He wasn't sure how the spells would interact if he tried to cast a spell on the stone while he was wearing one himself. All he needed was for the two spells to get crossed somehow, so he'd end up with Une's eyes and chin stuck on his face.
Luckily, he still remembered how to cast spells on stones. He was very lucky that he was able to do that - few of today's mages could. Une, for example, could cast little illusions and heal occasionally, but no more. Casting the illusion into the crystal was easier than he'd remembered - much easier, as a matter of fact. Except for a momentary weakness that washed over him, he felt fine. Either he'd gotten stronger from when he was young, or he remembered it being much more difficult that it actually was. Probably the latter - magic wasn't like a muscle, that grew stronger with time and practice. You could become more skillful, certainly, but not stronger.
He was still trying to figure out how they'd managed to get through the shields that surrounded the castle. The shields had been there since the mage wars, and had lasted through them. They should have stood up to just about anything - even the chosen shouldn't have been strong enough to get through it. He'd definitely sensed all five of them - maybe they'd combined their strength somehow? Their power was breathtaking - even though they weren't physically present, the power had felt like a lightning bolt striking him.
He thought they'd been surprised that he could see them, and so they retreated in confusion, which was his main advantage. They had enormous amounts of power, but they were still children. They didn't have the experience he had, and they were by themselves, or close to it. He smiled grimly. By now they would have heard that several of the Winner daughters were on their way to Sank. He wondered how Quatre was reacting...
---------------------------------------
Trowa turned in time to see Quatre turn white, but his expression of polite interest didn't change, and he asked quietly, "Do you know what members of the Winner family?"
"Five of the daughters."
Trowa could feel Quatre's relief, even as burned out as he was. Trowa knew that Quatre loved his father very much, but that there was a lot of anger on both sides now. Lord Winner had... well, not abandoned Quatre, but Quatre obviously viewed it that way. His father had been willing to risk himself to get Quatre out of the compound, but refused to admit that there was anything wrong with Treize keeping the mages locked up. And Lord Winner... Trowa couldn't imagine what he had been thinking, leaving Quatre in that place. He assumed that Winner cared for Quatre, because everyone who met Quatre liked him and wanted to protect him, but still...
"Do you know their names?" Quatre asked, still deathly pale but composed.
"How many sisters do you have anyway?" Duo asked, quickly stepping away before Heero could grab onto his braid again.
"Twenty-nine. Didn't I tell you before?"
Duo smiled sheepishly. "Maybe, I don't remember. How did you end up with twenty-nine sisters?"
"My father had a lot of wives," Quatre said with a slight shrug. He'd begun to regain some of his color. He turned back to Hilde. "Do you know which ones?"
"Ah, no, but the Queen gave me a copy of the message. I really must get back," Hilde said with a nervous glance at Heero, who was splitting his time between eyeing Duo's braid and glaring at her. Well, that's probably what it looked like to Hilde - she didn't know that that was Heero's normal expression. She turned and fled the room.
Trowa was about to ask Quatre if he was all right when he noticed something odd about Heero and Duo. They were somehow... connected, and they hadn't been when he brought Quatre up here. His eye met Duo's for a fraction of a second, before Duo looked away, like he was embarrassed. Was it just Trowa's imagination, or was *Duo* blushing? Duo, whose sense of humor was one of the crudest Trowa had ever seen? And he'd been raised by mercenaries, who weren't known for their sense of decorum.
"Trowa, can you..." Quatre asked softly, squinting as he tried to read the page in the dark room. Trowa quickly brought his attention back to the boy in the bed. He held up a hand and conjured a tiny ball of light, just enough to read with, and not enough to hurt Quatre's eyes. "It only says the name of the one in charge," he muttered to himself. "It's Iria." He raised his head, his eyes glazed as he was obviously thinking very hard. "She's... one of my oldest sisters. I've only seen her once or twice, but she seemed nice." Quatre seemed torn between relief and disappointment. Relief that he wouldn't have to face someone he knew well and disappointment that it wasn't one of his favorite sisters. "It... it says they'll be here the day after tomorrow."
Trowa looked up as there was a slight scuffle at the other end of the room. Heero once again had Duo's braid in his hand and was dragging him through the door, mumbling something about leaving them alone. Trowa stared. Tact? From Heero?! There was definitely something going on here. He wondered briefly at the link he'd seen between them - was that it? He turned his attention back to Quatre.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly.
"Yes... no... I don't know. I... I'm angry at him, most of the time," Quatre said sadly. There was no question as to who 'he' was. "And I don't like feeling that way, but I can't help it. It's... it's really best that's he's not coming," Quatre said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself.
Trowa sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to Quatre, who immediately leaned into him. "Please? Can you just... stay here for a while?" Quatre begged.
Trowa wrapped one arm around Quatre and pulled at him until he was leaning against his chest, his cheek resting on Trowa's shoulder. Trowa rested both of his arms around Quatre and sat. It never failed to astonish him how Quatre could derive such comfort just from being held, just from being physically near a person. He could feel Quatre trembling slightly - his body was tense, unyielding. Trowa tightened his arms slightly, and felt Quatre press into him in return.
Trowa wasn't sure how long they sat there together in the darkness. It became almost completely dark while they sat there as the sun went all the way down. Finally Trowa felt Quatre begin to relax a little, and he stopped trembling entirely.
Trowa was somewhat relaxed, which was probably why his mental shields slipped a little. He felt Wufei, still practicing with his sword. He felt Duo and Heero... they were together... Suddenly a wave of surprise hit him as Heero kissed Duo - and he wasn't joking about this kiss! Duo was surprised at first, then enthusiastically responded, just as Trowa managed to raise his shields again, as embarrassed as he'd ever been. So that was why they'd been linked.
From somewhere else in the castle, Trowa heard an outraged howl. That would be Wufei. Apparently Trowa wasn't the only one who'd let his shields slip a little.
Quatre, who'd apparently been dozing, jumped a little and sat up suddenly. Then he winced and leaned back into Trowa, rubbing at his own head. "What happened? I thought I heard shouting."
"Wufei."
"What happened?"
"Duo and Heero."
"What?!"
"I felt them."
"Who went first?"
"Heero, I think."
"I'm glad," Quatre declared, snuggling into his chest. "They've been thinking about each other for the longest time..."
"What?" Now Trowa was surprised. "You peaked?"
"I can't help it. It's when we're sleeping. Everyone's dreams get mixed up with mine."
"I didn't realize."
"It's not so bad, most of the time. But sometimes Duo has these horrible nightmares. Wufei too. And Heero doesn't dream. Except about Duo, that's how I knew." Quatre giggled quietly, sounding very young. He was still half-asleep. "I was wondering when they'd get together."
"Hm." They were silent again for several minutes.
"Trowa?"
"Hm?"
"I think I'm about to fall asleep. You might want to move or you'll get stuck."
"I'm fine."
"Trowa? I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I should have told you that I was tired."
"Hm." Trowa's arms tightened around Quatre again. A few minutes later Quatre's steady breathing told him the smaller boy was asleep. He was stuck. And he couldn't be happier.
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Two days later Duo waited with the others, in Relena's throne room, waiting for Quatre's sisters to arrive. They were hidden in a crowd of Relena's servants, virtually invisible to everyone present but with an excellent vantage point.
Duo glanced over at Quatre who hadn't said a word all morning. He had the same politely patient look on his face that he'd had ever since they started waiting. Duo was convinced that all this silence wasn't healthy, and he had a strong urge to grab Quatre and shake him, just to get some response other than politely worded nothings.
As if he'd read Duo's thoughts, Trowa put one arm around Quatre and glared at Duo, who held up his hands in mock surrender. It wasn't like he was actually going to do anything to Quatre, he just wanted him to react to something.
As Heero noticed Trowa glaring at Duo, he grabbed onto Duo's braid, his glare at Trowa sending a very clear message. *Mine.* Trowa shrugged and turned his attention back to the floor. Duo smiled happily. He'd been dreaming about Heero for some time, but the reality was far better. He didn't know what had made Heero decide to suddenly admit his interest, but he was very glad it had happened. Whatever it was. He hadn't been this happy since he lived with the faeries... It made him nervous - how long until Heero was taken away from him like everything else?
:No,: Heero told him shortly.
:But..:
:I'm not leaving. Baka.:
Somehow it was very reassuring to hear Heero call him that. Duo grinned again, then his attention was riveted to the floor in front of the throne as several young women in expensive-looking clothes came forward. "Your majesty," said the one in the lead with a graceful curtsey. "King Treize of Oz conveys his greetings and well-wishes, as does my father."
:That's them,: Quatre told them tersely. :The one who spoke, that's Iria. The one to her left with the dark hair is Reeysa. The next one over is Maran, I think. Then Wis... ah, her full name is Wisen. The last one is Patrice. She's Father's first born.:
:If she's first born, why isn't she in charge?: Duo asked.
:She... doesn't get along with father. And she doesn't like me at all. It's hard for her - she is first born, but I would have inherited. I'm not quite sure what father will do now,: he added thoughtfully.
:Oh.:
Iria continued to talk politely to Relena, but her eyes traveled around the room. It was obvious she was searching for something. Her eyes traveled over their concealed group, then turned back. They rested directly on Quatre for a second, then she turned back to Relena.
:She's seen you.:
:Yeah, but she didn't say anything. She wants to talk to me, but not in front of anyone. I'll talk to her later.: With that, Quatre backed up and slipped out the inconspicuous door made for the servants. After a second, they followed him.
:That went pretty well,: Duo commented to Heero. :From the way he's been acting, I was half-expecting him to collapse or something right after he saw them.:
:Hn.:
:You know what I love about you, Hee-chan?: Duo asked playfully, :it's your conversational skills.:
:What did you call me?: Heero demanded.
:Nothing,: Duo said quickly, seeing that Heero still had a hand on his braid.
:Hn.: Heero was silent for a minute, then pulled him in for a rough hug. Duo hugged him back, realizing that for some reason Heero needed some reassurance that he wasn't going anywhere.
I'm going to hunt down and kill whoever it was that taught him that he shouldn't have emotions.
:Already dead,: Heero told him.
:What?:
:He's already dead. Died in a failed assassination attempt.:
:Oh. Good.: Duo gave Heero another squeeze, then pulled away. :It will be a few hours until we can go meet Quatre's sisters. You wanta...: Duo trailed off, wiggling his hips suggestively.
He actually saw a flicker of a smile on Heero's face before he found himself being dragged off again. "Heero! Leggo of my braid! Damn it, it's not a leash!"
----------------------------------
Wufei was silent as he followed the others to the rooms where the Winner delegation was staying. This was... difficult for him. Seeing Quatre's family (a very large one, much like his own) brought home the magnitude of his loss. His own parents had died when he was very young, but he'd been raised by numerous aunts and uncles, so that he knew his duty to his family. And it had been his duty to marry, to bring different Clans together. When they all died... it was his duty to avenge them. And now... now he found himself in a situation that was not expected, could never have been anticipated by his teachers, who'd found him a willing scholar who learned to fight because it was good for a balance of mind and body. And without knowing what his duty was, he wasn't sure what to do.
So at this point he was following his own conscience, and staying with them, because it seemed like the right thing to do. His companions had a certain nobility to them, in the way they handled their destinies, which was why he put up with them, especially that yammering fox Duo. That was the *only* reason that he put up with him, right? But where did that put him? He'd failed to protect his family, failed to avenge them... of course, if they truly defeated the invaders and their demons, he would have vengeance, but what then?
Wufei realized that he was thinking a little too far in advance. With any luck he'd die in the upcoming battle and not have to worry about afterwards. He wondered at how pathetic he'd become, that death would be preferable to having to face living.
He pushed his thoughts aside as they reached the room. Quatre hesitated briefly, then knocked on the door. It was opened to reveal the face of a young maid, one who'd propositioned Wufei several times before he was reduced to leaving the room every time she came near. It was humiliating to run from a woman, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. She ignored his words, becoming more and more aggressive. He couldn't fight her - he didn't fight women - so the only way to avoid her was to not be around.
"I'm here to see Iria," Quatre told her.
"Yes sir," the girl said with a slight curtsey. She knew who they were, and more specifically, who Quatre was, but for appearances, he was requesting to see Iria, the diplomat, not Iria, his sister. Former sister. Maybe. Quatre seemed serious about giving up all past ties, but he also felt very strongly about his sister, that was clear.
She disappeared for a few seconds - very few - then reappeared in the door before opening it all the way and stepping aside. "Please come in."
Quatre murmured his thanks and walked inside, the others following. By the time Wufei got inside, Iria had her arms wrapped around Quatre in a fierce hug, while the other four women watched with varying expressions. Wufei noticed in particular the woman that Quatre had identified as his eldest sister was watching with thinly veiled distaste, and also that her eyes were fixed on Quatre's obviously-pointed ears.
Finally Iria let go of her brother. "Oh, it's so good to see you well, little brother," she said, affection for him clear in her voice.
"It's good to see you too, Iria. How have you been?" Quatre asked. Silently he added, :It's been almost four years since I've seen her.:
Wufei noted with amusement that Quatre had no problems talking behind people's backs, as long as the appearance of manners was maintained. Even more astonishing, he could feel Quatre continuing some private conversation with Trowa at the same time as he continued to talk to Iria.
:Smooth little bugger,: Duo remarked to Heero and Wufei. :I'm beginning to think that there's more to our little guy than it looks. How the hell is he keeping track of two conversations at once?:
:Hn,: Heero commented.
Wufei, watching Quatre cheerfully carrying on two conversations at once without ever letting his sister know, thought to himself that Quatre would have made a very good ruler, either inheriting from his father or taking over the throne if Treize had no sons. It was a shame and a waste.
:Yeah,: Duo agreed with him, and Wufei shot him a dark look. Duo held up his hands. :Hey, if you don't want me reading your thoughts, you shouldn't think so loud. And you should shield. And the only reason I heard you was because I was thinking the exact same thing. I always have, ever since I met his Lowness. When I met him, and I saw Quatre with his father, I said that Quatre would make a better king than Trieze.:
Wufei was not as surprised as he might have been. He'd learned in the preceding months that such issues as decorum and rank did not matter in the least to Duo Maxwell - unless it was faeries. He could very easily see Duo saying that out loud to Treize's face.
:Yeah, that's me, the bigmouth,: Duo agreed grumpily. :But you'll never guess what he did next: He agreed with me. Weird, huh?:
Wufei nodded silently, wondering why the man would do such a thing. He dragged his attention back to Quatre and his sisters as he was introduced. He bowed slightly, wondering how Quatre had introduced Trowa. Somehow he thought the phrase 'my lover' had never passed Quatre's lips. Of course, that wasn't technically true, they weren't lovers - yet. Wufei didn't know why they were waiting - Heero and Duo certainly hadn't. Still...
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Iria said with a warm smile and a slight curtsey. It was easy to see her relationship to Quatre when she smiled like that. "Our lunch has just been delivered. Would you like to stay?"
Wufei very much did not want to stay, but after he saw the pleading look Quatre threw in their general direction, he nodded his agreement, along with the others. They all sat down and took sandwiches from the large platter of them that had been delivered. They chatted about absolutely nothing while they ate - for about a half-hour, then Iria finally asked if she could talk to Quatre in private. Wufei sighed in relief that he'd finally be able to escape this awkwardness, but Iria rose and guided Quatre into another room, leaving them with no reasonable excuse to escape, and an even more awkward silence.
"So," Duo said nervously, his voice breaking the silence. "Read any good books recently?"
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Quatre waited until Iria had closed the door behind her. They were in one of the several sleeping quarters attached to the main chamber. "You wanted to talk?" he asked politely, outwardly composed. Inside... well, his hands were clammy, his heart was racing, and it was all he could do to remain standing. That problem, at least, was solved when she seated herself on one of the few chairs in the room. He immediately seated himself opposite her, grateful that he no longer had to stand, especially since he wasn't sure how much longer he could stay in that position.
"When I first heard the news, I didn't want to believe it," she said softly, sipping at some tea she'd brought from the other room. "They called you an animal, Quatre."
"I know," he said softly. "They called us that to our faces, too. I never believed it though."
"Neither did I," she said quickly. "At first I thought it was a lie, but then I took a good look at what I remembered of you, your hair, the way you always hunched your shoulders..." she reached forward to hesitantly touch one of his pointed ears before Quatre pulled back. "Then I realized that you really were... a... a..."
"A mage," he said quietly, realizing she was looking for a word that didn't demote him out of the human race. "One who can control magic power. Not a faery. We resemble them, slightly, because we are more in tune with the magical energies of this world than normal humans, but we are not faeries. I have met them, and we most certainly are not them."
Her eyes flew wide open when he said he'd met faeries, but she quickly regained her composure. "Yes. A mage. But once I realized that you really were a mage, I realized that there must be something wrong with the common perception of... mages, because you were nothing that they said you were. I tried to talk to Father about this but... many of Father's so-called friends were very cruel when they spoke about you to him. He never believed any of it, but..."
"He didn't believe it about me, but he did believe it about the others," Quatre said quietly. "I couldn't abandon them."
"Yes. I understand. But he doesn't. He only sees your rejection, your disobedience. He's still angry, Quatre, but he does love you still."
"I know," Quatre said softly, fighting back tears. Strange that he's sees me rejecting him, while I see him rejecting me, rejecting my kind.
Trowa felt his distress and reached out a tendril of thought. :Are you all right?:
:Yes. How are things out there?:
:Duo's talking. I don't think he's stopped to breathe in the last five minutes.:
:I'll be out there soon.:
Iria was silent for a minute, then she said, "You know, Rashid and the others were very close to coming to rescue you, King Treize or no."
"They were?"
"Yes. They didn't hear about it for a very long time - you know how isolated their base is, out in the desert. They were preparing to travel when you escaped on your own."
"They would have come to rescue me?" Quatre asked, surprised. "Even after the knew what I was..." The Maganac Corps were a group of independent mercenaries who worked for his father, holding an outpost at the edge of his territories. He'd first met them when he was younger, when a caravan he was in was attacked by the Maganacs. It turned out that there were some slavers running a very illegal operation on Winner land, and the Maganacs thought that Quatre's father knew about it. Quatre had told them differently, then earned their respect when he traveled with them to the slavers camp and fought alongside them against the slavers. He'd even saved the life of their leader, a huge man named Rashid, by pushing him out of the path of an arrow. That had earned him their loyalty, along with a nice wound.
"Oh, Quatre, Rashid knew what you were all along," Iria told him.
"He did?" Quatre asked, astonished.
"Did you forget how you met? He remembered seeing you heal up that wound you got while defending him. He also remembers you going around to his men, helping them. You may have tried to disguise it as normal care, but he's observant. He asked me to tell you that if you ever need a place to live... or hide, no one will ever think of his base."
Quatre smiled. "Yes, it is on the edge of nowhere, isn't it?" Their base was on the very southern border of the Winner lands, which were on the southern border of Oz. South of them was only the Great Desert, a seemingly endless wasteland of wind and sand and nothing else. The slavers had been in that region because they figured that no one would ever be down there in the first place, and they'd been close to right.
"Yes. Quatre, there's one thing I don't understand. How did you escape? I've heard some very strange rumors, and I know that Treize hasn't been able to find a single one of the... mages who escaped with you. What happened?"
Quatre took a deep breath. "I... I'm not a normal mage, Iria. There are great forces at work in this world, greater than anything I ever imagined, and there's a war coming, a war that I have to fight in."
"A war?!" Iria cried. "Is it..." she shook her head slightly. "How... I..."
Quatre mistook her reaction for shock. "Yes. And it..." Quatre hesitated as his vision blurred. He closed his eyes for a second, shaking his head. I must not be over the backlash entirely yet, he thought. He opened his eyes. His vision was now clear, but Iria was slumped in her chair, unconscious. Her teacup was still resting in her fingers, but now it tilted at a crazy angle, spilling it's contents on the ground.
The tea... Quatre managed to think as the entire room tilted. :Trowa! The food was drugged!: he tried to shout in warning, but a great weariness was spreading over his entire body, and he wasn't even sure if his call made it out. He tried to call on his healing power, but everything was so far away... He felt disconnected, aware of his body but unable to control it. Then everything went black.
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Trowa was the first to wake up. His arms were bound behind his back, and he was blindfolded. He called on his powers and dissolved away the bonds on his wrists and ankles, then pulled off the blindfold and looked around.
He was laying on the floor of a small stone room with no visible furniture. No windows, either. The other four were also laying on the floor, also bound, still unconscious. He remembered, just before unconsciousness claimed him, Quatre shouting a warning, something about drugged food... but Relena would never have done that to them. But even if she had, she would have acted before the Winner contingent arrived. It must have been one of Quatre's sisters. He quickly reviewed in his head and determined that Quatre's oldest sister, the one who didn't like him, had not eaten anything, and that she was the only one. Betrayal from your own family... He shook his head slightly.
The first thing he did was attempt to heal himself, and was pleased when it worked. That meant that they were still being held by Quatre's sister, and not Treize, because he knew what they could do and would probably have piled magical restraints on them, as well as keeping them drugged until they were brought before him. Quatre's sister didn't know they were anything but a few minor mages.
With a thought he dissolved all the ropes that bound his companions, and then healed them all in the next breath. :Wake up,: he said directly into their minds, and they woke.
"What the fuck..." Duo said, tearing the blindfold away, his eyes immediately traveling to Heero to make sure he was OK.
"We were drugged," Trowa said quietly, not voicing his suspicions to spare Quatre.
Quatre's face was gray, his lips pressed in a thin line. "It was Patrice, wasn't it?" he asked. "She's the one who drugged us. She drugged Iria, too. I saw her collapse just before me."
Trowa nodded once, and if it was possible, Quatre's face became paler, and there was no expression on it.
"We have to get out of here," Duo said. "That bit... I mean, she's probably called Oz soldiers to come for us."
"Yes, she has," Quatre said quietly, his eyes glazed, indicating that his mind was literally elsewhere. "Let's go."
Duo was already at the door, which opened at his touch, despite the absence of a handle and the presence of a lock that they did not have the key for. "Which way?"
"We're on the top floor of a house in the city," Quatre murmured. It was obvious he'd pulled the information from someone's mind, probably his sister's. Trowa's lips twitched downward at the thought of Quatre having to touch the mind of sister who'd betrayed him.
"Down then," Duo decided. "Which way to the stairs?"
"This way," Quatre gestured, then hesitated. "Just a second." He walked several steps down the hall and stopped at a door. "Duo, can you open this quietly?" he asked. Duo made a vague gesture, and suddenly there was a click and the door opened.
Quatre immediately stepped inside, and Trowa followed him. Inside, sprawled on a bed and several couches, were four of Quatre's sisters. There was a dim glow throughout the room as Quatre healed them, purging their bodies of the drug, and they all woke. Quatre immediately walked to the bed where Iria was laying.
"What happened?" she asked groggily. "The last thing I remember was..." Suddenly she sat bolt upright, looking around. "Patrice! She... Quatre, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. It just put us all to sleep. But she's already called the Oz soldiers. We have to leave. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right before I left."
Suddenly Heero, who had been waiting at the door, threw it open and stepped out of view. A few seconds later he came back in, dragging a very unwilling Patrice with him, her arm twisted behind her back, a knife pressed against her throat.
"Patrice!" Iria shouted, jumping to her feet, but not trying to go to her sister's aide. "You did this? You betrayed us?"
"I betrayed no one! He isn't even human!" Patrice said, her voice heavy with hate. "You heard King Treize! They're dangerous animals that have to be locked up! I was only doing my duty! The Oz soldiers will have the house surrounded by now!"
"She's right," Quatre said quietly to everyone in the room. "I can feel them. But they won't come in for a few minutes. We have that much time." He slowly walked across the room to stand right in front of Patrice, who all but growled at him. "Why did you really do it? I know it wasn't because you believe I'm an animal. If you did, you would have called me 'it', not 'he'. So what was the real reason? Was it really just jealousy, after all these years?"
She glared at him. "I was first-born," she declared after a moment. "I should have been heir!"
Quatre was shielding himself completely, so Trowa couldn't feel what he was feeling, but he closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped. He turned his head away from Trowa, hiding his face for several seconds, but turned back when Patrice started speaking again. "How did you escape? The drug should have lasted for several hours yet..." she fell silent when Quatre lifted a hand, perhaps remembering that Heero still had a knife at her throat. "What? Are you going to have one of your lackeys kill me now?"
"I would never do that to you," Quatre said in a whisper, then touched her forehead. She immediately slumped to the ground, unconscious.
:Do you want me to kill her?: Heero asked.
:No.: There was a long silence, then, :I never realized she hated me that much.:
:Quatre, you can't blame yourself. She's a bitch, and just because she can't deal with life doesn't mean it's your fault,: Duo told him. :And we'd better get out of here. You up to fighting a bunch of Oz soldiers?: It didn't really matter if he was ready or not. With their newfound powers, any one of them could have handled an entire division without any problems.
:Do we have to fight them? I think there's another way.:
:What?:
:How far do you think you guys can fly?:
"Fly?" Duo was so surprised that he spoke out loud.
"Fly?" Iria asked, still not moving. "What are you talking about?"
"We're discussing ways to get out of here," Quatre said. "You're sure you'll be all right? I don't want the Oz soldiers touching you," he told Iria. At the same time, in their minds, he said, :We can always fight our way out, or use magic to conjure ourselves out of range, but you know that we can't conjure ourselves more than a few hundred feet. Do you really want them to see what we can do yet?:
:But fly?: Duo asked as Iria responded, "We'll be fine. We're ambassadors. They don't dare touch us. The worst they can do is send us back to Oz."
"Please... if you can, get word to Relena and tell her what's happened. We'll try, but there's no telling what might happen," Quatre requested. :There is a stronghold in the very southernmost corner of my family's lands. There are people there who have offered us shelter there, and it's the last place Treize would look for us, because it is, technically, in his lands.:
:But fly? We don't even know if our wings work!:
:I checked. They work,: Quatre said quietly. :And since they are, by definition, magic, we ought to be able to go a good long way before we have to stop. I think we could make it to the stronghold in a day or two.:
:I still don't see why we can't just blast them,: Duo grumbled.
:Because we don't know who our enemy is yet,: Quatre said patiently as he exchanged goodbyes with his sisters, the four that were still conscious. :We know that the invaders will take over the bodies of some people here, and those are the ones we'll actually be fighting. We don't know who those people are, and we don't want what we can do to be common knowledge. It's bad enough that Treize has all those people researching the old times. He'll probably know what we're capable of, but we don't want to give that knowledge to our enemies.:
:Yeah, I guess so,: Duo said, not sounding happy. :What the hell? Let's give it a try.:
"Where are you going?" Iria asked as they all turned towards the door.
"The roof," Quatre said as Heero walked out the door.
"Not without me!"
"Iria, it's safer if you stay here..." Quatre started to say, then got a good look at his sister's face. "You won't be able to come with us."
"I'm staying with you until I see you safely beyond the guards," Iria said firmly.
Quatre nodded and they all walked out and up the stairs. Quatre apparently somehow had the entire layout of the house in his head.
:I pulled it out of Patrice's mind,: Quatre told him, his tone sad.
:There wasn't anything you could do,: Trowa told him.
"You can fly?" Iria asked.
"Yes," Quatre said shortly. "You'll see."
:You let a woman order you around?: Wufei asked derisively. Trowa was just about to jump in and say something to defend Quatre when Quatre unexpectedly laughed in their minds.
:Have you ever tried to go against a Winner woman when she had that look on her face?: he asked Wufei.
:Of course not.:
:If you had, you wouldn't be asking that question.:
By then they were on the roof. Trowa looked around as they got outside. It was morning.
"She kept us in that room until night, and then it took her several hours to transport us out of the palace without any of Relena's guards catching her," Quatre said in response to an unspoken question. "We were lucky. She didn't realize that some of Treize's people have been watching the castle ever since we arrived, in plain clothes. If she had, she would have just given us to them. Or maybe just me. She only took you because she didn't want any witnesses."
Trowa shuddered at the thought of any of them back in Treize's hands, especially Quatre.
"So what now?" Iria asked, shivering in the wind.
"Now..." Quatre trailed off with a gasp as the golden wings sprung from his back. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it was a very unusual feeling. Of course, how else would you describe the experience of having magical wings spring from your back? It was unlikely that there would be any other experience like it to compare to.
Iria gasped, one hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Quatre..."
Trowa reached within himself, and felt his back arch as his wings appeared. He stretched them out to their full length, getting used to the sensation of having muscles pull that weren't supposed to be there, at having feeling in something that was not in his body. He flapped them a few times experimentally, and did rise off the ground a few inches. It required less effort than it should have, based on the birds he'd watched. The body-weight to wingspread didn't seem right, so magic must be involved. If having wings in the first place wasn't strange enough.
If anything, Iria's eyes got wider as she watched the rest of them snap out their wings, one by one. "But... how can this be..." she whispered.
"Go," Quatre instructed out loud to the others. "Go south, for now. We've a ways to go before we'll need more specific directions. We should hide ourselves with illusions, for now."
Trowa felt their agreement, and the other three suddenly disappeared. Or so it would appear to Iria. Trowa could still see them quite clearly. He saw Duo flap his wings and rise into the air with a stunned look on his face. He circled once, then held out his hand to Heero. With great sweeps of his huge white wings, Heero took off and caught up to Duo, touching his hand briefly before heading south. Wufei flapped his wings very slowly, much more slowly than the others, but also smoothly rose into the air. He glanced once more at Quatre and then flew off.
"I told you we weren't normal," Quatre said with a sheepish smile. "You know where we're headed? To the place we discussed earlier. Please don't tell anyone."
"I won't," Iria said. "Quatre..."
"Yes?" Quatre paused in the action of flinging himself off the roof.
"You... you look like an angel," she said, her voice tinged with wonder. Trowa quite agreed with her.
Quatre smiled, completing the picture. "I love you, Iria," he said softly, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
He glanced at Trowa, smiled, and cast an illusion of invisibility on himself. Trowa watched as he took off. Quatre barely flapped his wings at all. Of course, shimmering, glowing wings weren't exactly things you saw in nature. Trowa nodded once to Iria, then covered himself in an illusion of invisibility and flew after Quatre.
----------------------------------
As he glided over the shifting desert sands, Duo reflected on the past few weeks, since they'd escaped from the Oz soldiers (again) and flew out here to the very edge of Oz's land.
Duo decided that he really liked flying. Really, really, really liked it. It was the best thing next to sex. Before they'd flown for more than half a day, he found himself doing deep dives and as many loops as he could fit into as small a space as possible. The reactions from the others were predictable - Wufei glowered, Quatre giggled, Trowa just watched him without any expression whatsoever, and Heero watched him very closely, to make sure he was all right. He was fine. He was great. Something about flying just suited him.
It took them three days of steady flying to get to the stronghold Quatre had mentioned. It was maintained by a bunch of very large, muscular men who practically worshipped the ground that Quatre walked on. Duo knew there was some sort of long story behind it, but it was several weeks before he managed to get it out - something about them capturing Quatre and holding him for ransom, and then Quatre *joining* them to fight slavers, and even saving the life of the lead guy. Duo tried to picture Quatre holding a weapon and fighting in an actual battle, against other people, and failed miserably. It was like trying to... like trying to picture Heero laughing! It just didn't work.
Quatre seemed to get better once he was with his friends, but there was a shadow behind his eyes, and more than once the others had found him sitting by himself in a darkened room, just staring at nothing. Even if he wouldn't admit it, his sister's betrayal had hit him hard. Just thinking about it made Duo want to go back and kill the bitch, and the only thing that kept him from doing just that was that it would probably upset Quatre, for reasons beyond Duo's comprehension. Even more incomprehensible was Patrice's betrayal in the first place. Duo would have given almost anything... (well, maybe not anything, but a whole lot) to have a family. He'd grown up on the streets, made his own families, first with Solo, then with the faeries, and most recently, with Heero and the others, but it wasn't the same. Or so he guessed, not having any basis for comparison. How could you just go and betray something like that?
In the middle of the fourth week Duo was out for his morning flight when he saw a figure on horseback racing across the desert towards the stronghold. And a stronghold it was. Duo had traveled quite a bit in his time, and had seen all sorts of forts and castles and supposed strongholds. This was about as close to invulnerable as he'd seen. The walls were tall and thick, and there was not one, but several wells inside and plenty of room for the entire garrison. They had large stores of food and weapons, and the defenders were fit. Any army that wanted to attack would have to try to lay in a siege, not an easy thing to do in a desert, especially with no water supply. All of this probably contributed to the fact that no one had ever tried to take this stronghold. The men kept themselves busy chasing various slavers and thieves who thought it would be a good idea to hide down here in the middle of nowhere.
All of this made the appearance of a rider more curious. This wasn't exactly along the way to anywhere, and Quatre had told him the annual shipment of supplies wouldn't come for a month or more. So what the hell was someone doing here? He watched with interest as the figure reached the outer wall and shouted something to the guard. A few seconds later the gates opened to admit the rider.
Without really thinking about it, Duo cast a spell to get a better look at the man. His clothing gave away his identity - a messenger of some sort, working for one of the nobles of Oz. And, given the location of this base, there was only one noble who would be sending a message here - Lord Winner. Shit. He reached out. :Trowa?:
:Yes?:
:There's a messenger here, and he's got to be carrying a message from Quatre's dad. Where's Quatre?:
:With me.:
:Good. Keep him there while I figure out what's going on.:
A third voice intruded on their conversation. :I'm not an infant,: Quatre said with a sigh. :I can take care of my own problems.:
:You heard that?!: Duo exclaimed, more than a little embarrassed. He'd thought he was talking only to Trowa.
:I hear everything when anyone talks like this,: Quatre replied. :I've learned to ignore it when it doesn't concern me. Where is the messenger?:
:Ah, he just went in the north gate,: Duo said, not at all comfortable with the idea that Quatre heard all of their mental conversations. His mind traveled back to all the conversations he'd had with Heero, thinking they were private.
:Don't worry, I don't pay attention if you're talking to each other,: Quatre said directly into his mind.
:And that's another thing we have to talk about, this endless reading of my mind!: Duo said, mock-scolding.
:Sorry, Duo. I don't do it on purpose,: Quatre apologized. His apology was entirely sincere, which made Duo feel even worse, because if he knew anything, he knew that Quatre would never intentionally hurt someone. He also knew that Quatre was far too inclined to take everything he said seriously, unless he made it very obvious he was joking around.
:It's fine, Q. I know you don't mean to do it.: If there was anyone who knew that sometimes it could be very difficult to control their powers, it was him. He'd thought himself a murderer for a very long time because of one brief lapse. In the end, it had taken Heero to convince him that he wasn't just a killer.
And Quatre's powers were the only ones that were actually linked to other people - it had a weird effect on the way those powers worked, and on Quatre himself. This whole episode with his sister was weighing down on him, and now a communication from his father...
Suddenly another thought occurred to Duo, and it shook him so much that he stopped paying attention to his wings, and plummeted several hundred feet before he got control of himself. What if his father knows he's here? They'd been here just long enough for the Winner girls to have traveled out of Sank back to their homeland, for them to speak with Lord Winner, and then for him to send a message here. Shit. Duo had been operating under the assumption that it was just a normal communiqué, which was bad enough, but if it was actually from Lord Winner to Quatre...
His mind made up, Duo folded his wings to his back and dove forward, aiming for the walkway around the top of the wall. From there he could get inside, to the living quarters, pretty fast. Hopefully fast enough to beat the messenger there. He had a really bad feeling about this.
There, I promised there'd be a little more action, and there was. Things kinda speed up a lot after this.
Luckily, he still remembered how to cast spells on stones. He was very lucky that he was able to do that - few of today's mages could. Une, for example, could cast little illusions and heal occasionally, but no more. Casting the illusion into the crystal was easier than he'd remembered - much easier, as a matter of fact. Except for a momentary weakness that washed over him, he felt fine. Either he'd gotten stronger from when he was young, or he remembered it being much more difficult that it actually was. Probably the latter - magic wasn't like a muscle, that grew stronger with time and practice. You could become more skillful, certainly, but not stronger.
He was still trying to figure out how they'd managed to get through the shields that surrounded the castle. The shields had been there since the mage wars, and had lasted through them. They should have stood up to just about anything - even the chosen shouldn't have been strong enough to get through it. He'd definitely sensed all five of them - maybe they'd combined their strength somehow? Their power was breathtaking - even though they weren't physically present, the power had felt like a lightning bolt striking him.
He thought they'd been surprised that he could see them, and so they retreated in confusion, which was his main advantage. They had enormous amounts of power, but they were still children. They didn't have the experience he had, and they were by themselves, or close to it. He smiled grimly. By now they would have heard that several of the Winner daughters were on their way to Sank. He wondered how Quatre was reacting...
---------------------------------------
Trowa turned in time to see Quatre turn white, but his expression of polite interest didn't change, and he asked quietly, "Do you know what members of the Winner family?"
"Five of the daughters."
Trowa could feel Quatre's relief, even as burned out as he was. Trowa knew that Quatre loved his father very much, but that there was a lot of anger on both sides now. Lord Winner had... well, not abandoned Quatre, but Quatre obviously viewed it that way. His father had been willing to risk himself to get Quatre out of the compound, but refused to admit that there was anything wrong with Treize keeping the mages locked up. And Lord Winner... Trowa couldn't imagine what he had been thinking, leaving Quatre in that place. He assumed that Winner cared for Quatre, because everyone who met Quatre liked him and wanted to protect him, but still...
"Do you know their names?" Quatre asked, still deathly pale but composed.
"How many sisters do you have anyway?" Duo asked, quickly stepping away before Heero could grab onto his braid again.
"Twenty-nine. Didn't I tell you before?"
Duo smiled sheepishly. "Maybe, I don't remember. How did you end up with twenty-nine sisters?"
"My father had a lot of wives," Quatre said with a slight shrug. He'd begun to regain some of his color. He turned back to Hilde. "Do you know which ones?"
"Ah, no, but the Queen gave me a copy of the message. I really must get back," Hilde said with a nervous glance at Heero, who was splitting his time between eyeing Duo's braid and glaring at her. Well, that's probably what it looked like to Hilde - she didn't know that that was Heero's normal expression. She turned and fled the room.
Trowa was about to ask Quatre if he was all right when he noticed something odd about Heero and Duo. They were somehow... connected, and they hadn't been when he brought Quatre up here. His eye met Duo's for a fraction of a second, before Duo looked away, like he was embarrassed. Was it just Trowa's imagination, or was *Duo* blushing? Duo, whose sense of humor was one of the crudest Trowa had ever seen? And he'd been raised by mercenaries, who weren't known for their sense of decorum.
"Trowa, can you..." Quatre asked softly, squinting as he tried to read the page in the dark room. Trowa quickly brought his attention back to the boy in the bed. He held up a hand and conjured a tiny ball of light, just enough to read with, and not enough to hurt Quatre's eyes. "It only says the name of the one in charge," he muttered to himself. "It's Iria." He raised his head, his eyes glazed as he was obviously thinking very hard. "She's... one of my oldest sisters. I've only seen her once or twice, but she seemed nice." Quatre seemed torn between relief and disappointment. Relief that he wouldn't have to face someone he knew well and disappointment that it wasn't one of his favorite sisters. "It... it says they'll be here the day after tomorrow."
Trowa looked up as there was a slight scuffle at the other end of the room. Heero once again had Duo's braid in his hand and was dragging him through the door, mumbling something about leaving them alone. Trowa stared. Tact? From Heero?! There was definitely something going on here. He wondered briefly at the link he'd seen between them - was that it? He turned his attention back to Quatre.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly.
"Yes... no... I don't know. I... I'm angry at him, most of the time," Quatre said sadly. There was no question as to who 'he' was. "And I don't like feeling that way, but I can't help it. It's... it's really best that's he's not coming," Quatre said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself.
Trowa sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to Quatre, who immediately leaned into him. "Please? Can you just... stay here for a while?" Quatre begged.
Trowa wrapped one arm around Quatre and pulled at him until he was leaning against his chest, his cheek resting on Trowa's shoulder. Trowa rested both of his arms around Quatre and sat. It never failed to astonish him how Quatre could derive such comfort just from being held, just from being physically near a person. He could feel Quatre trembling slightly - his body was tense, unyielding. Trowa tightened his arms slightly, and felt Quatre press into him in return.
Trowa wasn't sure how long they sat there together in the darkness. It became almost completely dark while they sat there as the sun went all the way down. Finally Trowa felt Quatre begin to relax a little, and he stopped trembling entirely.
Trowa was somewhat relaxed, which was probably why his mental shields slipped a little. He felt Wufei, still practicing with his sword. He felt Duo and Heero... they were together... Suddenly a wave of surprise hit him as Heero kissed Duo - and he wasn't joking about this kiss! Duo was surprised at first, then enthusiastically responded, just as Trowa managed to raise his shields again, as embarrassed as he'd ever been. So that was why they'd been linked.
From somewhere else in the castle, Trowa heard an outraged howl. That would be Wufei. Apparently Trowa wasn't the only one who'd let his shields slip a little.
Quatre, who'd apparently been dozing, jumped a little and sat up suddenly. Then he winced and leaned back into Trowa, rubbing at his own head. "What happened? I thought I heard shouting."
"Wufei."
"What happened?"
"Duo and Heero."
"What?!"
"I felt them."
"Who went first?"
"Heero, I think."
"I'm glad," Quatre declared, snuggling into his chest. "They've been thinking about each other for the longest time..."
"What?" Now Trowa was surprised. "You peaked?"
"I can't help it. It's when we're sleeping. Everyone's dreams get mixed up with mine."
"I didn't realize."
"It's not so bad, most of the time. But sometimes Duo has these horrible nightmares. Wufei too. And Heero doesn't dream. Except about Duo, that's how I knew." Quatre giggled quietly, sounding very young. He was still half-asleep. "I was wondering when they'd get together."
"Hm." They were silent again for several minutes.
"Trowa?"
"Hm?"
"I think I'm about to fall asleep. You might want to move or you'll get stuck."
"I'm fine."
"Trowa? I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I should have told you that I was tired."
"Hm." Trowa's arms tightened around Quatre again. A few minutes later Quatre's steady breathing told him the smaller boy was asleep. He was stuck. And he couldn't be happier.
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Two days later Duo waited with the others, in Relena's throne room, waiting for Quatre's sisters to arrive. They were hidden in a crowd of Relena's servants, virtually invisible to everyone present but with an excellent vantage point.
Duo glanced over at Quatre who hadn't said a word all morning. He had the same politely patient look on his face that he'd had ever since they started waiting. Duo was convinced that all this silence wasn't healthy, and he had a strong urge to grab Quatre and shake him, just to get some response other than politely worded nothings.
As if he'd read Duo's thoughts, Trowa put one arm around Quatre and glared at Duo, who held up his hands in mock surrender. It wasn't like he was actually going to do anything to Quatre, he just wanted him to react to something.
As Heero noticed Trowa glaring at Duo, he grabbed onto Duo's braid, his glare at Trowa sending a very clear message. *Mine.* Trowa shrugged and turned his attention back to the floor. Duo smiled happily. He'd been dreaming about Heero for some time, but the reality was far better. He didn't know what had made Heero decide to suddenly admit his interest, but he was very glad it had happened. Whatever it was. He hadn't been this happy since he lived with the faeries... It made him nervous - how long until Heero was taken away from him like everything else?
:No,: Heero told him shortly.
:But..:
:I'm not leaving. Baka.:
Somehow it was very reassuring to hear Heero call him that. Duo grinned again, then his attention was riveted to the floor in front of the throne as several young women in expensive-looking clothes came forward. "Your majesty," said the one in the lead with a graceful curtsey. "King Treize of Oz conveys his greetings and well-wishes, as does my father."
:That's them,: Quatre told them tersely. :The one who spoke, that's Iria. The one to her left with the dark hair is Reeysa. The next one over is Maran, I think. Then Wis... ah, her full name is Wisen. The last one is Patrice. She's Father's first born.:
:If she's first born, why isn't she in charge?: Duo asked.
:She... doesn't get along with father. And she doesn't like me at all. It's hard for her - she is first born, but I would have inherited. I'm not quite sure what father will do now,: he added thoughtfully.
:Oh.:
Iria continued to talk politely to Relena, but her eyes traveled around the room. It was obvious she was searching for something. Her eyes traveled over their concealed group, then turned back. They rested directly on Quatre for a second, then she turned back to Relena.
:She's seen you.:
:Yeah, but she didn't say anything. She wants to talk to me, but not in front of anyone. I'll talk to her later.: With that, Quatre backed up and slipped out the inconspicuous door made for the servants. After a second, they followed him.
:That went pretty well,: Duo commented to Heero. :From the way he's been acting, I was half-expecting him to collapse or something right after he saw them.:
:Hn.:
:You know what I love about you, Hee-chan?: Duo asked playfully, :it's your conversational skills.:
:What did you call me?: Heero demanded.
:Nothing,: Duo said quickly, seeing that Heero still had a hand on his braid.
:Hn.: Heero was silent for a minute, then pulled him in for a rough hug. Duo hugged him back, realizing that for some reason Heero needed some reassurance that he wasn't going anywhere.
I'm going to hunt down and kill whoever it was that taught him that he shouldn't have emotions.
:Already dead,: Heero told him.
:What?:
:He's already dead. Died in a failed assassination attempt.:
:Oh. Good.: Duo gave Heero another squeeze, then pulled away. :It will be a few hours until we can go meet Quatre's sisters. You wanta...: Duo trailed off, wiggling his hips suggestively.
He actually saw a flicker of a smile on Heero's face before he found himself being dragged off again. "Heero! Leggo of my braid! Damn it, it's not a leash!"
----------------------------------
Wufei was silent as he followed the others to the rooms where the Winner delegation was staying. This was... difficult for him. Seeing Quatre's family (a very large one, much like his own) brought home the magnitude of his loss. His own parents had died when he was very young, but he'd been raised by numerous aunts and uncles, so that he knew his duty to his family. And it had been his duty to marry, to bring different Clans together. When they all died... it was his duty to avenge them. And now... now he found himself in a situation that was not expected, could never have been anticipated by his teachers, who'd found him a willing scholar who learned to fight because it was good for a balance of mind and body. And without knowing what his duty was, he wasn't sure what to do.
So at this point he was following his own conscience, and staying with them, because it seemed like the right thing to do. His companions had a certain nobility to them, in the way they handled their destinies, which was why he put up with them, especially that yammering fox Duo. That was the *only* reason that he put up with him, right? But where did that put him? He'd failed to protect his family, failed to avenge them... of course, if they truly defeated the invaders and their demons, he would have vengeance, but what then?
Wufei realized that he was thinking a little too far in advance. With any luck he'd die in the upcoming battle and not have to worry about afterwards. He wondered at how pathetic he'd become, that death would be preferable to having to face living.
He pushed his thoughts aside as they reached the room. Quatre hesitated briefly, then knocked on the door. It was opened to reveal the face of a young maid, one who'd propositioned Wufei several times before he was reduced to leaving the room every time she came near. It was humiliating to run from a woman, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. She ignored his words, becoming more and more aggressive. He couldn't fight her - he didn't fight women - so the only way to avoid her was to not be around.
"I'm here to see Iria," Quatre told her.
"Yes sir," the girl said with a slight curtsey. She knew who they were, and more specifically, who Quatre was, but for appearances, he was requesting to see Iria, the diplomat, not Iria, his sister. Former sister. Maybe. Quatre seemed serious about giving up all past ties, but he also felt very strongly about his sister, that was clear.
She disappeared for a few seconds - very few - then reappeared in the door before opening it all the way and stepping aside. "Please come in."
Quatre murmured his thanks and walked inside, the others following. By the time Wufei got inside, Iria had her arms wrapped around Quatre in a fierce hug, while the other four women watched with varying expressions. Wufei noticed in particular the woman that Quatre had identified as his eldest sister was watching with thinly veiled distaste, and also that her eyes were fixed on Quatre's obviously-pointed ears.
Finally Iria let go of her brother. "Oh, it's so good to see you well, little brother," she said, affection for him clear in her voice.
"It's good to see you too, Iria. How have you been?" Quatre asked. Silently he added, :It's been almost four years since I've seen her.:
Wufei noted with amusement that Quatre had no problems talking behind people's backs, as long as the appearance of manners was maintained. Even more astonishing, he could feel Quatre continuing some private conversation with Trowa at the same time as he continued to talk to Iria.
:Smooth little bugger,: Duo remarked to Heero and Wufei. :I'm beginning to think that there's more to our little guy than it looks. How the hell is he keeping track of two conversations at once?:
:Hn,: Heero commented.
Wufei, watching Quatre cheerfully carrying on two conversations at once without ever letting his sister know, thought to himself that Quatre would have made a very good ruler, either inheriting from his father or taking over the throne if Treize had no sons. It was a shame and a waste.
:Yeah,: Duo agreed with him, and Wufei shot him a dark look. Duo held up his hands. :Hey, if you don't want me reading your thoughts, you shouldn't think so loud. And you should shield. And the only reason I heard you was because I was thinking the exact same thing. I always have, ever since I met his Lowness. When I met him, and I saw Quatre with his father, I said that Quatre would make a better king than Trieze.:
Wufei was not as surprised as he might have been. He'd learned in the preceding months that such issues as decorum and rank did not matter in the least to Duo Maxwell - unless it was faeries. He could very easily see Duo saying that out loud to Treize's face.
:Yeah, that's me, the bigmouth,: Duo agreed grumpily. :But you'll never guess what he did next: He agreed with me. Weird, huh?:
Wufei nodded silently, wondering why the man would do such a thing. He dragged his attention back to Quatre and his sisters as he was introduced. He bowed slightly, wondering how Quatre had introduced Trowa. Somehow he thought the phrase 'my lover' had never passed Quatre's lips. Of course, that wasn't technically true, they weren't lovers - yet. Wufei didn't know why they were waiting - Heero and Duo certainly hadn't. Still...
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Iria said with a warm smile and a slight curtsey. It was easy to see her relationship to Quatre when she smiled like that. "Our lunch has just been delivered. Would you like to stay?"
Wufei very much did not want to stay, but after he saw the pleading look Quatre threw in their general direction, he nodded his agreement, along with the others. They all sat down and took sandwiches from the large platter of them that had been delivered. They chatted about absolutely nothing while they ate - for about a half-hour, then Iria finally asked if she could talk to Quatre in private. Wufei sighed in relief that he'd finally be able to escape this awkwardness, but Iria rose and guided Quatre into another room, leaving them with no reasonable excuse to escape, and an even more awkward silence.
"So," Duo said nervously, his voice breaking the silence. "Read any good books recently?"
-----------------------------------
Quatre waited until Iria had closed the door behind her. They were in one of the several sleeping quarters attached to the main chamber. "You wanted to talk?" he asked politely, outwardly composed. Inside... well, his hands were clammy, his heart was racing, and it was all he could do to remain standing. That problem, at least, was solved when she seated herself on one of the few chairs in the room. He immediately seated himself opposite her, grateful that he no longer had to stand, especially since he wasn't sure how much longer he could stay in that position.
"When I first heard the news, I didn't want to believe it," she said softly, sipping at some tea she'd brought from the other room. "They called you an animal, Quatre."
"I know," he said softly. "They called us that to our faces, too. I never believed it though."
"Neither did I," she said quickly. "At first I thought it was a lie, but then I took a good look at what I remembered of you, your hair, the way you always hunched your shoulders..." she reached forward to hesitantly touch one of his pointed ears before Quatre pulled back. "Then I realized that you really were... a... a..."
"A mage," he said quietly, realizing she was looking for a word that didn't demote him out of the human race. "One who can control magic power. Not a faery. We resemble them, slightly, because we are more in tune with the magical energies of this world than normal humans, but we are not faeries. I have met them, and we most certainly are not them."
Her eyes flew wide open when he said he'd met faeries, but she quickly regained her composure. "Yes. A mage. But once I realized that you really were a mage, I realized that there must be something wrong with the common perception of... mages, because you were nothing that they said you were. I tried to talk to Father about this but... many of Father's so-called friends were very cruel when they spoke about you to him. He never believed any of it, but..."
"He didn't believe it about me, but he did believe it about the others," Quatre said quietly. "I couldn't abandon them."
"Yes. I understand. But he doesn't. He only sees your rejection, your disobedience. He's still angry, Quatre, but he does love you still."
"I know," Quatre said softly, fighting back tears. Strange that he's sees me rejecting him, while I see him rejecting me, rejecting my kind.
Trowa felt his distress and reached out a tendril of thought. :Are you all right?:
:Yes. How are things out there?:
:Duo's talking. I don't think he's stopped to breathe in the last five minutes.:
:I'll be out there soon.:
Iria was silent for a minute, then she said, "You know, Rashid and the others were very close to coming to rescue you, King Treize or no."
"They were?"
"Yes. They didn't hear about it for a very long time - you know how isolated their base is, out in the desert. They were preparing to travel when you escaped on your own."
"They would have come to rescue me?" Quatre asked, surprised. "Even after the knew what I was..." The Maganac Corps were a group of independent mercenaries who worked for his father, holding an outpost at the edge of his territories. He'd first met them when he was younger, when a caravan he was in was attacked by the Maganacs. It turned out that there were some slavers running a very illegal operation on Winner land, and the Maganacs thought that Quatre's father knew about it. Quatre had told them differently, then earned their respect when he traveled with them to the slavers camp and fought alongside them against the slavers. He'd even saved the life of their leader, a huge man named Rashid, by pushing him out of the path of an arrow. That had earned him their loyalty, along with a nice wound.
"Oh, Quatre, Rashid knew what you were all along," Iria told him.
"He did?" Quatre asked, astonished.
"Did you forget how you met? He remembered seeing you heal up that wound you got while defending him. He also remembers you going around to his men, helping them. You may have tried to disguise it as normal care, but he's observant. He asked me to tell you that if you ever need a place to live... or hide, no one will ever think of his base."
Quatre smiled. "Yes, it is on the edge of nowhere, isn't it?" Their base was on the very southern border of the Winner lands, which were on the southern border of Oz. South of them was only the Great Desert, a seemingly endless wasteland of wind and sand and nothing else. The slavers had been in that region because they figured that no one would ever be down there in the first place, and they'd been close to right.
"Yes. Quatre, there's one thing I don't understand. How did you escape? I've heard some very strange rumors, and I know that Treize hasn't been able to find a single one of the... mages who escaped with you. What happened?"
Quatre took a deep breath. "I... I'm not a normal mage, Iria. There are great forces at work in this world, greater than anything I ever imagined, and there's a war coming, a war that I have to fight in."
"A war?!" Iria cried. "Is it..." she shook her head slightly. "How... I..."
Quatre mistook her reaction for shock. "Yes. And it..." Quatre hesitated as his vision blurred. He closed his eyes for a second, shaking his head. I must not be over the backlash entirely yet, he thought. He opened his eyes. His vision was now clear, but Iria was slumped in her chair, unconscious. Her teacup was still resting in her fingers, but now it tilted at a crazy angle, spilling it's contents on the ground.
The tea... Quatre managed to think as the entire room tilted. :Trowa! The food was drugged!: he tried to shout in warning, but a great weariness was spreading over his entire body, and he wasn't even sure if his call made it out. He tried to call on his healing power, but everything was so far away... He felt disconnected, aware of his body but unable to control it. Then everything went black.
-----------------------------------
Trowa was the first to wake up. His arms were bound behind his back, and he was blindfolded. He called on his powers and dissolved away the bonds on his wrists and ankles, then pulled off the blindfold and looked around.
He was laying on the floor of a small stone room with no visible furniture. No windows, either. The other four were also laying on the floor, also bound, still unconscious. He remembered, just before unconsciousness claimed him, Quatre shouting a warning, something about drugged food... but Relena would never have done that to them. But even if she had, she would have acted before the Winner contingent arrived. It must have been one of Quatre's sisters. He quickly reviewed in his head and determined that Quatre's oldest sister, the one who didn't like him, had not eaten anything, and that she was the only one. Betrayal from your own family... He shook his head slightly.
The first thing he did was attempt to heal himself, and was pleased when it worked. That meant that they were still being held by Quatre's sister, and not Treize, because he knew what they could do and would probably have piled magical restraints on them, as well as keeping them drugged until they were brought before him. Quatre's sister didn't know they were anything but a few minor mages.
With a thought he dissolved all the ropes that bound his companions, and then healed them all in the next breath. :Wake up,: he said directly into their minds, and they woke.
"What the fuck..." Duo said, tearing the blindfold away, his eyes immediately traveling to Heero to make sure he was OK.
"We were drugged," Trowa said quietly, not voicing his suspicions to spare Quatre.
Quatre's face was gray, his lips pressed in a thin line. "It was Patrice, wasn't it?" he asked. "She's the one who drugged us. She drugged Iria, too. I saw her collapse just before me."
Trowa nodded once, and if it was possible, Quatre's face became paler, and there was no expression on it.
"We have to get out of here," Duo said. "That bit... I mean, she's probably called Oz soldiers to come for us."
"Yes, she has," Quatre said quietly, his eyes glazed, indicating that his mind was literally elsewhere. "Let's go."
Duo was already at the door, which opened at his touch, despite the absence of a handle and the presence of a lock that they did not have the key for. "Which way?"
"We're on the top floor of a house in the city," Quatre murmured. It was obvious he'd pulled the information from someone's mind, probably his sister's. Trowa's lips twitched downward at the thought of Quatre having to touch the mind of sister who'd betrayed him.
"Down then," Duo decided. "Which way to the stairs?"
"This way," Quatre gestured, then hesitated. "Just a second." He walked several steps down the hall and stopped at a door. "Duo, can you open this quietly?" he asked. Duo made a vague gesture, and suddenly there was a click and the door opened.
Quatre immediately stepped inside, and Trowa followed him. Inside, sprawled on a bed and several couches, were four of Quatre's sisters. There was a dim glow throughout the room as Quatre healed them, purging their bodies of the drug, and they all woke. Quatre immediately walked to the bed where Iria was laying.
"What happened?" she asked groggily. "The last thing I remember was..." Suddenly she sat bolt upright, looking around. "Patrice! She... Quatre, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. It just put us all to sleep. But she's already called the Oz soldiers. We have to leave. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right before I left."
Suddenly Heero, who had been waiting at the door, threw it open and stepped out of view. A few seconds later he came back in, dragging a very unwilling Patrice with him, her arm twisted behind her back, a knife pressed against her throat.
"Patrice!" Iria shouted, jumping to her feet, but not trying to go to her sister's aide. "You did this? You betrayed us?"
"I betrayed no one! He isn't even human!" Patrice said, her voice heavy with hate. "You heard King Treize! They're dangerous animals that have to be locked up! I was only doing my duty! The Oz soldiers will have the house surrounded by now!"
"She's right," Quatre said quietly to everyone in the room. "I can feel them. But they won't come in for a few minutes. We have that much time." He slowly walked across the room to stand right in front of Patrice, who all but growled at him. "Why did you really do it? I know it wasn't because you believe I'm an animal. If you did, you would have called me 'it', not 'he'. So what was the real reason? Was it really just jealousy, after all these years?"
She glared at him. "I was first-born," she declared after a moment. "I should have been heir!"
Quatre was shielding himself completely, so Trowa couldn't feel what he was feeling, but he closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped. He turned his head away from Trowa, hiding his face for several seconds, but turned back when Patrice started speaking again. "How did you escape? The drug should have lasted for several hours yet..." she fell silent when Quatre lifted a hand, perhaps remembering that Heero still had a knife at her throat. "What? Are you going to have one of your lackeys kill me now?"
"I would never do that to you," Quatre said in a whisper, then touched her forehead. She immediately slumped to the ground, unconscious.
:Do you want me to kill her?: Heero asked.
:No.: There was a long silence, then, :I never realized she hated me that much.:
:Quatre, you can't blame yourself. She's a bitch, and just because she can't deal with life doesn't mean it's your fault,: Duo told him. :And we'd better get out of here. You up to fighting a bunch of Oz soldiers?: It didn't really matter if he was ready or not. With their newfound powers, any one of them could have handled an entire division without any problems.
:Do we have to fight them? I think there's another way.:
:What?:
:How far do you think you guys can fly?:
"Fly?" Duo was so surprised that he spoke out loud.
"Fly?" Iria asked, still not moving. "What are you talking about?"
"We're discussing ways to get out of here," Quatre said. "You're sure you'll be all right? I don't want the Oz soldiers touching you," he told Iria. At the same time, in their minds, he said, :We can always fight our way out, or use magic to conjure ourselves out of range, but you know that we can't conjure ourselves more than a few hundred feet. Do you really want them to see what we can do yet?:
:But fly?: Duo asked as Iria responded, "We'll be fine. We're ambassadors. They don't dare touch us. The worst they can do is send us back to Oz."
"Please... if you can, get word to Relena and tell her what's happened. We'll try, but there's no telling what might happen," Quatre requested. :There is a stronghold in the very southernmost corner of my family's lands. There are people there who have offered us shelter there, and it's the last place Treize would look for us, because it is, technically, in his lands.:
:But fly? We don't even know if our wings work!:
:I checked. They work,: Quatre said quietly. :And since they are, by definition, magic, we ought to be able to go a good long way before we have to stop. I think we could make it to the stronghold in a day or two.:
:I still don't see why we can't just blast them,: Duo grumbled.
:Because we don't know who our enemy is yet,: Quatre said patiently as he exchanged goodbyes with his sisters, the four that were still conscious. :We know that the invaders will take over the bodies of some people here, and those are the ones we'll actually be fighting. We don't know who those people are, and we don't want what we can do to be common knowledge. It's bad enough that Treize has all those people researching the old times. He'll probably know what we're capable of, but we don't want to give that knowledge to our enemies.:
:Yeah, I guess so,: Duo said, not sounding happy. :What the hell? Let's give it a try.:
"Where are you going?" Iria asked as they all turned towards the door.
"The roof," Quatre said as Heero walked out the door.
"Not without me!"
"Iria, it's safer if you stay here..." Quatre started to say, then got a good look at his sister's face. "You won't be able to come with us."
"I'm staying with you until I see you safely beyond the guards," Iria said firmly.
Quatre nodded and they all walked out and up the stairs. Quatre apparently somehow had the entire layout of the house in his head.
:I pulled it out of Patrice's mind,: Quatre told him, his tone sad.
:There wasn't anything you could do,: Trowa told him.
"You can fly?" Iria asked.
"Yes," Quatre said shortly. "You'll see."
:You let a woman order you around?: Wufei asked derisively. Trowa was just about to jump in and say something to defend Quatre when Quatre unexpectedly laughed in their minds.
:Have you ever tried to go against a Winner woman when she had that look on her face?: he asked Wufei.
:Of course not.:
:If you had, you wouldn't be asking that question.:
By then they were on the roof. Trowa looked around as they got outside. It was morning.
"She kept us in that room until night, and then it took her several hours to transport us out of the palace without any of Relena's guards catching her," Quatre said in response to an unspoken question. "We were lucky. She didn't realize that some of Treize's people have been watching the castle ever since we arrived, in plain clothes. If she had, she would have just given us to them. Or maybe just me. She only took you because she didn't want any witnesses."
Trowa shuddered at the thought of any of them back in Treize's hands, especially Quatre.
"So what now?" Iria asked, shivering in the wind.
"Now..." Quatre trailed off with a gasp as the golden wings sprung from his back. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it was a very unusual feeling. Of course, how else would you describe the experience of having magical wings spring from your back? It was unlikely that there would be any other experience like it to compare to.
Iria gasped, one hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Quatre..."
Trowa reached within himself, and felt his back arch as his wings appeared. He stretched them out to their full length, getting used to the sensation of having muscles pull that weren't supposed to be there, at having feeling in something that was not in his body. He flapped them a few times experimentally, and did rise off the ground a few inches. It required less effort than it should have, based on the birds he'd watched. The body-weight to wingspread didn't seem right, so magic must be involved. If having wings in the first place wasn't strange enough.
If anything, Iria's eyes got wider as she watched the rest of them snap out their wings, one by one. "But... how can this be..." she whispered.
"Go," Quatre instructed out loud to the others. "Go south, for now. We've a ways to go before we'll need more specific directions. We should hide ourselves with illusions, for now."
Trowa felt their agreement, and the other three suddenly disappeared. Or so it would appear to Iria. Trowa could still see them quite clearly. He saw Duo flap his wings and rise into the air with a stunned look on his face. He circled once, then held out his hand to Heero. With great sweeps of his huge white wings, Heero took off and caught up to Duo, touching his hand briefly before heading south. Wufei flapped his wings very slowly, much more slowly than the others, but also smoothly rose into the air. He glanced once more at Quatre and then flew off.
"I told you we weren't normal," Quatre said with a sheepish smile. "You know where we're headed? To the place we discussed earlier. Please don't tell anyone."
"I won't," Iria said. "Quatre..."
"Yes?" Quatre paused in the action of flinging himself off the roof.
"You... you look like an angel," she said, her voice tinged with wonder. Trowa quite agreed with her.
Quatre smiled, completing the picture. "I love you, Iria," he said softly, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
He glanced at Trowa, smiled, and cast an illusion of invisibility on himself. Trowa watched as he took off. Quatre barely flapped his wings at all. Of course, shimmering, glowing wings weren't exactly things you saw in nature. Trowa nodded once to Iria, then covered himself in an illusion of invisibility and flew after Quatre.
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As he glided over the shifting desert sands, Duo reflected on the past few weeks, since they'd escaped from the Oz soldiers (again) and flew out here to the very edge of Oz's land.
Duo decided that he really liked flying. Really, really, really liked it. It was the best thing next to sex. Before they'd flown for more than half a day, he found himself doing deep dives and as many loops as he could fit into as small a space as possible. The reactions from the others were predictable - Wufei glowered, Quatre giggled, Trowa just watched him without any expression whatsoever, and Heero watched him very closely, to make sure he was all right. He was fine. He was great. Something about flying just suited him.
It took them three days of steady flying to get to the stronghold Quatre had mentioned. It was maintained by a bunch of very large, muscular men who practically worshipped the ground that Quatre walked on. Duo knew there was some sort of long story behind it, but it was several weeks before he managed to get it out - something about them capturing Quatre and holding him for ransom, and then Quatre *joining* them to fight slavers, and even saving the life of the lead guy. Duo tried to picture Quatre holding a weapon and fighting in an actual battle, against other people, and failed miserably. It was like trying to... like trying to picture Heero laughing! It just didn't work.
Quatre seemed to get better once he was with his friends, but there was a shadow behind his eyes, and more than once the others had found him sitting by himself in a darkened room, just staring at nothing. Even if he wouldn't admit it, his sister's betrayal had hit him hard. Just thinking about it made Duo want to go back and kill the bitch, and the only thing that kept him from doing just that was that it would probably upset Quatre, for reasons beyond Duo's comprehension. Even more incomprehensible was Patrice's betrayal in the first place. Duo would have given almost anything... (well, maybe not anything, but a whole lot) to have a family. He'd grown up on the streets, made his own families, first with Solo, then with the faeries, and most recently, with Heero and the others, but it wasn't the same. Or so he guessed, not having any basis for comparison. How could you just go and betray something like that?
In the middle of the fourth week Duo was out for his morning flight when he saw a figure on horseback racing across the desert towards the stronghold. And a stronghold it was. Duo had traveled quite a bit in his time, and had seen all sorts of forts and castles and supposed strongholds. This was about as close to invulnerable as he'd seen. The walls were tall and thick, and there was not one, but several wells inside and plenty of room for the entire garrison. They had large stores of food and weapons, and the defenders were fit. Any army that wanted to attack would have to try to lay in a siege, not an easy thing to do in a desert, especially with no water supply. All of this probably contributed to the fact that no one had ever tried to take this stronghold. The men kept themselves busy chasing various slavers and thieves who thought it would be a good idea to hide down here in the middle of nowhere.
All of this made the appearance of a rider more curious. This wasn't exactly along the way to anywhere, and Quatre had told him the annual shipment of supplies wouldn't come for a month or more. So what the hell was someone doing here? He watched with interest as the figure reached the outer wall and shouted something to the guard. A few seconds later the gates opened to admit the rider.
Without really thinking about it, Duo cast a spell to get a better look at the man. His clothing gave away his identity - a messenger of some sort, working for one of the nobles of Oz. And, given the location of this base, there was only one noble who would be sending a message here - Lord Winner. Shit. He reached out. :Trowa?:
:Yes?:
:There's a messenger here, and he's got to be carrying a message from Quatre's dad. Where's Quatre?:
:With me.:
:Good. Keep him there while I figure out what's going on.:
A third voice intruded on their conversation. :I'm not an infant,: Quatre said with a sigh. :I can take care of my own problems.:
:You heard that?!: Duo exclaimed, more than a little embarrassed. He'd thought he was talking only to Trowa.
:I hear everything when anyone talks like this,: Quatre replied. :I've learned to ignore it when it doesn't concern me. Where is the messenger?:
:Ah, he just went in the north gate,: Duo said, not at all comfortable with the idea that Quatre heard all of their mental conversations. His mind traveled back to all the conversations he'd had with Heero, thinking they were private.
:Don't worry, I don't pay attention if you're talking to each other,: Quatre said directly into his mind.
:And that's another thing we have to talk about, this endless reading of my mind!: Duo said, mock-scolding.
:Sorry, Duo. I don't do it on purpose,: Quatre apologized. His apology was entirely sincere, which made Duo feel even worse, because if he knew anything, he knew that Quatre would never intentionally hurt someone. He also knew that Quatre was far too inclined to take everything he said seriously, unless he made it very obvious he was joking around.
:It's fine, Q. I know you don't mean to do it.: If there was anyone who knew that sometimes it could be very difficult to control their powers, it was him. He'd thought himself a murderer for a very long time because of one brief lapse. In the end, it had taken Heero to convince him that he wasn't just a killer.
And Quatre's powers were the only ones that were actually linked to other people - it had a weird effect on the way those powers worked, and on Quatre himself. This whole episode with his sister was weighing down on him, and now a communication from his father...
Suddenly another thought occurred to Duo, and it shook him so much that he stopped paying attention to his wings, and plummeted several hundred feet before he got control of himself. What if his father knows he's here? They'd been here just long enough for the Winner girls to have traveled out of Sank back to their homeland, for them to speak with Lord Winner, and then for him to send a message here. Shit. Duo had been operating under the assumption that it was just a normal communiqué, which was bad enough, but if it was actually from Lord Winner to Quatre...
His mind made up, Duo folded his wings to his back and dove forward, aiming for the walkway around the top of the wall. From there he could get inside, to the living quarters, pretty fast. Hopefully fast enough to beat the messenger there. He had a really bad feeling about this.
There, I promised there'd be a little more action, and there was. Things kinda speed up a lot after this.