"What?!" Treize demanded, actually jumping out of his seat in shock.
"They're all dead, your Majesty," Lady Une said without batting an eye. "All of the men we sent to capture the Desert Prince are dead, as are most of the house staff, Lord Winner himself, and a few others who were in the house at the time who got in the way."
"How?"
"Our men killed the staff, Winner, and the others. As to what killed our men... currently unknown," she reported. "I did feel a large surge of power coming from inside the castle and shielded myself before all of our men dropped dead. And the boy has escaped."
Treize closed his eyes for a moment, very upset, although he'd never let it show. First of all was Une's casual acceptance of the death of the fifty men under her command - he was going to have to speak to her about that. It just wasn't normal to accept the fact that you were getting all of your people killed so calmly. Next on his list of problems was the utter disaster that this entire fiasco had turned into.
What in the world had he been thinking when he authorized that level of force on the mission? And he knew the men who'd been sent - beasts, most of them, suitable only for combat on the front lines in the event of a war. Why had he done it? He would have known that the results would have been a massacre of the sort that he was now dealing with. He could clearly remember giving the orders to Une, but the memory was odd, as if he'd been separated from his body at the time. For a moment he considered the possibility that one of the Chosen had gotten past his shields and forced him to do it, but immediately dismissed that thought. They had the power to do that, but if they had, they most certainly would not have forced him to give those orders. The Seeker might have forced him to give those orders, but the Seeker hadn't emerged yet. So why had he given those orders?
Damn. He'd never wanted anyone to be killed, much less Lord Winner. He wasn't close to the man, but respected and trusted him, two very rare occurrences. He spared himself a moment of grief at the unnecessary death, then wondered who he was going to find to take over Winner's realm. One of the daughters, perhaps. Winner might have insisted upon that idiotic male-inheritance, but Treize saw no need, especially now that Quatre had been eliminated from the succession. One of the girls would do just as well.
Quatre. Treize suddenly froze. No, it couldn't be. But who else could it be? Who else could have killed all of his men instantaneously? Well, any of the five could have, but who had the motive? Quatre, whose father had just been killed.
Treize wondered how he'd found out. More importantly than that, was there anything he could do to stop Quatre?
He was still considering the issue when a page came stumbling into his quarters, breathing heavily. "Majesty..." he gasped for breath. "There's a report from Fort Mauro."
"Yes?"
"It's gone."
Trieze frowned slightly. "You mean that it's been attacked? Abandoned?"
"No sire. Gone. Entirely. There's nothing left but a big black spot on the ground. The stones, the buildings, the men... there's nothing there."
Treize felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that when it came down to hard facts, there was nothing he could do to stop Quatre. The thought was very, very frightening.
-----------------------------------
When they reached the castle that Quatre's father ruled from, it was dark. No torches anywhere, no guards. After a few minutes of searching they found a few rooms that were lit, in the center of the castle, far away from the walls. As soon as they pushed open the door, an old man and several women were facing them, attempting to hold some crossbows on them. Wufei was about to knock them all out with his power when a female voice shouted, "Stop! Don't hurt them! They're just trying to protect me!" It took him a second to realize that the voice was addressing the four of them, rather than the women holding the crossbows.
The women exchanged a glance and then slowly backed up, lowering their weapons. A blond-haired woman walked through the gap they'd made, and Wufei recognized her. "You're Iria. Quatre's sister."
"Yes. What are you doing here?"
"We're trying to find Quatre."
"He's gone. He left. We haven't seen him since..." she broke off, a pained expression on her face.
"What happened?" Duo asked, looking around.
For the first time Wufei looked around and noticed that the large room - which had a throne at one end - had been transformed from a receiving room to an infirmary. There were humans lying all over the place, most of them with serious injuries. With the exception of one or two who were very close to death, they were all women, a few children, and a few old men. What was going on?
"There was an attack, of sorts, in the middle of the night. A bunch of men - they were dressed like commoners, but they were soldiers, and they were looking for Quatre. They moved through the castle, and they killed every able-bodied man they found, and quite a few others. They mostly spared the women... this is what's left of the residents of the castle. All of the guards are dead - everyone who knew how to use a weapon..." She smiled bitterly. "I received word today from his majesty," she spit out the words as if they were a curse, "that I am now the Lady of the realm. After all of this, I've inherited from my father. But he didn't send anything else, except for a parchment with his royal seal saying that the Winner lands are now mine. No supplies, no men..." She trailed off again. "I've already sent word to several of our closest garrisons, but even at their fastest, it will be another few days before they arrive. Until then we're vulnerable. I've pulled everyone back here, so we can defend ourselves..."
"Defend yourselves from who?" Duo asked, pausing as he walked around the room to look at a young woman with a head wound. The soldiers had struck her to knock her out and she hadn't woken yet.
"We're on the southern border of Oz. At some points our border is secure because of the desert, but at many others we're constantly fighting the Zions to keep them from taking our land. The forces that live on the Winner lands have always been vital to keeping Zion out of Oz. If they hear what's happened..." she trailed off once more, not needing to explain what would happen if they found out.
"We need to talk to you. In private," Wufei told her.
She cast a guilty look around the room. "I really can't leave them. They're my people now..."
Wufei held back a sigh. It seemed that Quatre wasn't the only one with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility in the family. He wondered whether it was something in their blood or something they were taught. :How long will it take to heal all of these people?: he asked silently.
:Just a few minutes,: Duo said grimly. Then, more playfully, he added, :I didn't know you cared, Wuffie!:
:My name is Wufei,: he responded, mostly out of habit. He immediately bent and healed the person closest to him, a woman with a deep gash in her shoulder. She was conscious at the time, and although her eyes widened with panic when he bent over her, she didn't make a sound. The surprise on her face as she discovered that she was healed was almost comic. She started to babble her thanks, and he grunted in response. He'd never been good at dealing with the weaker sex.
In just a few minutes the four of them had healed every person in the room. Duo was the only one in the group that dealt with the thanks they received with anything approaching grace. The rest of them were too used to being by themselves to have anything resembling people skills, and Wufei wasn't too dense to notice it, despite what other people might have thought. He just didn't care enough to try to change that fact.
When they were done, they took Iria off into another room. "What happened to Quatre?" Duo asked immediately.
"He... he killed them. All of them," Iria said, her voice unsteady.
"All of who?"
"The soldiers. Here, I'll show you." She led them out of the small room and down a hall to another large room. It was impossible to see anything in the darkness. "You'll have to make a light, we're running a little short on torches and candles - the soldiers did a lot of damage on their way through the castle."
Wufei muttered imprecations about women who assumed things and took on too much authority, but he did create several mage-lights. And stared. He hadn't seen this sort of massive death since the slaughter of his family. It was a large room - possibly a ballroom - and the floor was almost entirely covered with bodies. Well over a hundred, maybe two. They seemed to be divided up into two groups - on one side of the room were about fifty bodies, on the other side, over a hundred.
"I had my people move all the bodies we could find in here. We'll have a mass funeral and burial as soon as reinforcements arrive. Until then... I'm keeping this room shut off. That side..." she gestured to the larger group of bodies. "Are my people, those who were slaughtered by the soldiers. The other side are the soldiers themselves. There isn't a mark on any of the bodies, but, well... look." She walked over and flipped back the sheet covering one of the bodies to reveal the face.
Wufei looked at it, then automatically recoiled. It wasn't just the taint of magic that infested the corpse, although that was part of it. It was the look of utter horror on the corpse's face, as if the last thing he'd seen before his death had been Hell itself.
"Quatre doesn't mess around," Duo remarked in a subdued voice with a strange twist to it, as though even he wasn't sure if he was joking or not. He looked at the body, then passed his hand over it, and the face suddenly relaxed, eyes closing. Duo shuddered, then looked around the room, his eyes glazing. Wufei glanced at him, then stared at he saw the dark vortex of energy around Duo, entering him from all around. Wufei shook himself slightly. Of course. Duo's power was Death - he would draw power from this situation whether he wanted it or not.
Duo looked around, then his attention was drawn to one of the bodies on the 'allies' side, which had a rich velvet covering, instead of a sheet. "Who's that?" he asked.
"My father," Iria said, closing her eyes for a moment before walking over and flipping the end of the cover down to reveal a middle-aged man with blond hair and a thick mustache. Quatre didn't much resemble his father, it appeared. "He wasn't even armed when they killed him. It happened so fast... Samir tried to protect him, but they killed him too... And then Quatre arrived." She fell silent for a moment, and they waited fairly patiently, considering this was the information that they'd been after the entire time. "His face..." she shuddered. "It wasn't Quatre. Not really. I know my brother pretty well... well, as well as I could, with his secrets..." She shook his head. "It wasn't him. He was... distracted, it seemed like, when he arrived. Then he saw Father..." she looked at her father's body. "And for a second I thought he was going to cry. They fought a lot, and there was a lot of anger on both sides, but there was love, too. When he saw what had happened... His face went blank, and there was this dead look in his eyes. It's like he wasn't even there anymore. Then, then there was this rush, through the air... no, not exactly. I could feel it in my bones. I can't explain it any better than that." She looked at them.
Wufei nodded grimly. What she was describing was the closest a non-mage could come to feeling magic. And she probably could have felt it, based on the sheer amount of power that was floating around in any of their bodies right now. "Then?"
"He started glowing. All over his body, but especially his eyes. It kept flickering in and out, like he was... like there was something inside of him, fighting for control. I thought... for a second... he was going to come back, then the soldiers came up behind him. He blinked, and they just dropped to the ground. I thought he'd knocked them out, but then the glow was there, and it wouldn't go away. And he started laughing. It was the most horrible sound..." she broke off and shuttered again. "Then he disappeared. I checked the soldiers... Since then I've been trying to keep the survivors alive and together, to keep everything together until reinforcements arrive." She raised her chin slightly and her back stiffened. "And I will." Her expression softened again. "You're going to go look for him?"
Wufei nodded sharply, neglecting to mention that there might not be anything they could do to bring Quatre back, and that they might have to kill him. He might not be tactful, but he wasn't stupid.
"Thank you." She stood up, covered her father again, and wiped at the few tears that had escaped her attempts at control. "I'm sorry, but I really have to get back to my people. They get upset if I leave for long, and they've already been through so much... If you need anything on your way out, feel free to take it. Horses, supplies, anything you need, just take it."
Wufei nodded dismissively, then felt a sharp pain in his side as Duo elbowed him. He glared at Duo, who didn't appear to be paying any attention to Wufei at all. "Thank you very much, Iria. We'll do our best to help Quatre." He shot a very sharp glance at Wufei, and elbowed him again.
Wufei suddenly realized what Duo wanted him to do. He cast a furious glare at Duo... I'm going to kill him the first chance I get, he promised himself. "Thank you," he muttered to the woman, who accepted it with considerable grace, considering how it was delivered. She then left.
"Bright Lady!" Duo exclaimed out loud. "What is wrong with you guys?! I know that you don't spend much time with people, but damn! And you," he turned to Wufei. "Weren't you an heir or something? Don't you have any manners? I grew up on the streets and I know better than that! That woman has just lost just about everyone she's ever cared about, and all you can do is grunt at her?!" Duo shook his head and fell silent for several minutes while the others stared at him. "Never mind. I should know better by now," he muttered darkly. Then he grinned at them. "So where are we going?"
To say that Wufei was astonished would be a vast understatement, and he began to suspect that Duo was even more disturbed than he had previously assumed. He'd gone from dark and brooding to joking in less than a second. And why was he so excited over the way they acted around that woman? Certainly, she was having personal difficulties...
Oh. Maybe that was it - Duo had seen his 'family' slaughtered, and was now empathizing with her. It made sense.
But what was really strange was Wufei's lack of empathy. The same thing had happened to him, after all - his family had been slaughtered right in front of him, and his wife. Shouldn't he feel something in this situation?
Wufei thought hard for a moment, trying to remember the last time he'd really felt anything. Sure, he felt normal emotions in response to his everyday actions - fear when the demons were chasing them again, irritation at Duo's continual rambling, concern when Quatre overreached himself (mixed with an equal amount of irritation for making him feel like that in the first place), but when he thought about his family - nothing. He'd never mourned for them. He was, officially, in mourning for them - that was why he wore white - but he couldn't remember any time that he'd sat down and actually grieved.
In comparison to Duo, who was still grieving for family he'd lost, and Quatre, who had gone insane when he lost his father, that made him look more than a little bit heartless.
Wufei realized that they were still waiting for an answer to Duo's question, and put his own thoughts aside for the time being. It seemed like he was doing that a lot. In fact, that might have something to do with the emotional void he was in now - he'd been so busy surviving and escaping that he didn't have a chance to think about his loss.
"I can track him. I can't tell where he is right now, but we can follow him," he told them.
"So, should we bother taking horses so we're incognito, or just fly?" Duo asked, proving once again that there was more to him than appeared. "I hate to say this, but I think Quatre's whole 'I'm going to kill every Oz soldier alive' thing has sort of shoved our secrecy down the drain."
Wufei saw the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of Heero's mouth, and sighed. The two relationships in their little group complicated things so much that it wasn't even worth looking into.
Heero snapped out his wings in response to Duo's sort-of question. They followed suit, and launched themselves out of the nearest window. Trowa hadn't said a word since he'd told them what he'd felt from his link with Quatre. Wufei concentrated on the magical residue - Quatre was acting a bit like a miniature sun right then, casting off magical energy in all directions, so the trail wasn't hard to pick up. Unfortunately it had very little of his own unique signature in it. Wufei didn't want to think about what that meant, either. In any case, the trail was so strong Wufei thought that a non-mage could probably find it. It didn't make him any happier to note that the trail headed straight for the northern border of the Winner lands. On one hand, it meant that he retained enough of his personality that he wasn't going to attack anyone who had worked for his father. On the other hand... he was killing people. Lots of people.
With those grim thoughts as company, they started chasing Quatre across Oz. He had a three-day head start on them.
-------------------------------------
He took a breath, and then another. The sound of air rushing in and out of his lungs sounded deafening to him, although he knew that it wasn't that loud. All of his attention was focused on the small outpost in front of him. It was more of a stopping place for supply caravans then any sort of military outpost. There were only a hundred Oz soldiers there, but it was better than nothing. He'd actually waited eight hours before striking, because there had been a bunch of merchants resting there.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, he recognized the caravan as it slowly pulled away, down the road. Something very familiar about it... He shook his head slightly. That wasn't why he was here. He removed the illusion of invisibility he'd cloaked himself with. To the men on guard on the walls below, it must have looked like he just appeared out of thin air. He heard shouts of alarm, shouts that quickly turned to terror as he started to gather his power for the strike. He knew that he was glowing, and for a moment, felt a gentle sort of regret. There was something very wrong here, something wrong with this entire situation... The men didn't want to die, and he... he didn't want...
There was a surge of energy, driving him on in his quest and banishing the thought. He was here to destroy them. His power had reached the necessary level. A moment's concentration was all it took. The men didn't even have time to scream. There was suddenly a large blackened hole where the outpost had been. He smiled slightly, then glanced down, surprised to discover that his hands were shaking. In fact, his entire body was shaking. What was wrong with him?
~You killed them!~
-So?- he snarled, already used to the long arguments he had with the voice in his head. It said that it was actually him, and that he had to stop his quest. Sometimes it cried. That was when it was hardest to ignore. It had given him it's name before, but it was easier just to think of it as the voice.
~Please, stop. They're people.~
-They're the enemy. They deserve to die.-
~They've never done anything to you.~
-They're the enemy.- That was, of course, enough of an answer in itself, and he could never understand why the voice wouldn't accept that.
~Please stop.~ It sounded like the voice was on the verge of crying again.
Tears formed in his eyes, and he angrily swatted them away. The voice wasn't him! -Who are you and why are you talking to me?!- he demanded angrily.
~I told you. I'm who you're supposed to be, but I lost control,~ the voice told him. ~That's my body you're using to kill people.~ It sounded infinitely sad.
He snorted. He was here, he had a body, and his mission was to kill Oz soldiers. It was simple, and it was the truth. Why was he having such a hard time accepting it? Angry with himself, he shoved the other voice back, hearing a startled squeak from the voice, then it fell silent, and he nodded to himself. It was getting easier to ignore the voice. Soon he wouldn't have to worry about listening to Quatre at all.
-------------------------------------
Duo stared at the remains (not really) of the last fort that Quatre had taken out. When he decides to take something out, he doesn't do it halfway, he thought, observing the black spot that was all the evidence that there'd ever been something here. "How many does that make?" he asked aloud, even though he already knew the answer.
"Eight," Heero replied, looking around.
"He did this less than twenty-four hours ago," Wufei said, his gaze unfocussed. "We're catching up with him."
"Is there a him left?" Duo asked bitterly before he could censor himself and come up with something a little better-sounding than that, especially with Trowa nearby. He saw Trowa stiffen for a moment and felt even worse. They'd been traveling at full speed for over a week now, trying to catch up with Quatre. Wufei was still tracking him with magic, although it was hardly necessary, what with the trail of massive destruction he was leaving. He wasn't even bothering to try to make random strikes - there was nothing Oz had that could stop him, and he knew it, so he was just jumping from one fort to another, in a very steady pattern. At least this way the soldiers had a little warning - he'd heard that they were deserting their posts when they thought Quatre was coming. It was keeping down his body-count. Apparently he was more into physical destruction than actually killing people, because the last two forts he'd taken out had been deserted and he'd blasted them just the same. Not that Duo blamed the men.
He clung to the fact that Quatre apparently wasn't out to just kill people as a sign that something of himself remained.
They all turned at the same time as there was a massive flare of magical energy somewhere to the north. There was enough energy that Duo actually saw a shaft of pure white light shoot into the sky in the distance. Duo swore under his breath. That's nine. He knew that Wufei saw magical energy all the time, all around him, but he usually had to make an effort to see those same currents. If he could see it without trying...
But it also meant that they'd finally caught up with him. Almost, anyway. "Come on! Let's go!" he urged the others, who exchanged a glance before they took off again. If he didn't move, they'd catch up to him in less than an hour.
:I hate to crush your endless optimisim,: Wufei grumbled. :But does anyone have any ideas how we're going to stop him if we have to?:
:There are four of us,: Heero said simply.
:Yes, but we haven't given ourselves completely over to the power,: Wufei reminded him.
:Shit. You mean he's more powerful than us right now?: Duo asked, mentally adding, In addition to being insane?
:He is power right now.:
:Between the four of us, can we take him down if we need to?:
Wufei considered, far too long in Duo's opinion. :I believe so.:
:Great. So we can do it if we have to. But lets try talking to him first, huh?:
------------------------------------
He walked across the blackened spot that was left of the stronghold. This was the third one he'd found that had been completely deserted by the time he arrived. Another day without a kill. He frowned. Destroying their resources was good, but not what his mission was. Then he shrugged mentally. He could always kill them later. For now, the voice didn't bother him as much when he didn't kill anyone. It was getting fainter now, it bothered him less, and it actually hadn't spoken to him in almost two full days, a vast improvement over the time when it was talking to him almost constantly.
He sensed something strange south of him, and cast out his senses. Four powerful creatures were flying towards him. He took a closer look, and saw that they were mages, powerful ones, like in the old times. Who were they and what were they doing here?
~They're looking for you. Me.~
-Where have you been?- he demanded.
~Hiding.~
-What?-
~You're trying to kill me.~
-What?!- He didn't particularly like the voice, and he didn't listen to it very much, but he didn't want to... well, kill it, or whatever it was you did to voices. -No I'm not.-
~Well, maybe not on purpose, but I can't exist forever without a body, and you've got mine,~ the voice explained patiently. The voice, whoever or whatever it was, was so patient and forgiving it was ridiculous. If it had shown some sort of anger at being ousted, he might have been inclined to give it its body back. Well, probably not, but he would have entertained the idea. ~And your subconscious is trying to hunt me down.~
-Well, I don't have any control over that,- he retorted. -Who are they?-
~Friends of mine. Not Oz,~ the voice quickly added. ~They're like me. Like you. Please don't hurt them.~
-I won't, unless they try to interfere in my mission,- he said. He didn't know why he cared at all what the voice said or thought, but he was willing to humor it - to an extent.
~They want me back,~ the voice said uncertainly, which was answer enough.
-I will not permit them to interfere with the elimination of Oz,- he said firmly. Then his curiosity got the best of him. -Why are they coming after me? You.-
There was a moment's hesitation. ~There's a prophecy... the five of us - the four of them and me - were supposed to protect the world. If I don't get my body back, they may lose. And...~
-And?-
~And I love Trowa.~
"Trowa?" Even as he repeated the name aloud, he felt a strange pressure in his chest, and he felt his heartbeat speed up. The name was *so* familiar...
"NO!" the word was ripped out of his throat before he realized what he was saying. He was in control. He didn't feel anything for this Trowa - it was the voice that was making him feel things, it had to be. "Stop it!"
~It's not me,~ the voice said, sounding excited. ~It's you. It's both of us. You remember him, don't you?~
-NO!-
~You do!~
He felt a strange pulling sensation in the back of his mind. -What's happening?!-
~We're beginning to merge back together. Please, I want to see Trowa!~
The name had the same effect on him as before, and it made him even angrier. "NO!" he shouted out loud, shoving Quatre away as hard as he can. Pain lanced through his forehead and he nearly blacked out. The voice suddenly disappeared, and he wondered whether he'd finally gotten rid of it for good. For some reason, the thought that it might be permanently gone panicked him. No. Certainly he'd just pushed the voice back into hiding again. It would be back eventually, hopefully after he... dealt... with the newcomers, one way or another.
He turned his head towards the newcomers as they flew into view. His eyes immediately were drawn to the third one in the line, a mage boy with brown hair that covered half of his face, even with the wind blowing in it, who had large brown wings. Trowa. His heart contracted again. He frowned. There was something very wrong here, and it had to be dealt with immediately, so he could continue his work.
They saw him standing there and swooped down to land. All four of them stared at him without speaking for several minutes. Then the long-haired boy hesitantly asked, "Quatre..."
That name! So they thought that this body was supposed to belong to the voice as well. "I am not Quatre," he said slowly, calmly. "Quatre is not... here right now," he finished, having no idea where the voice went when it wasn't talking to him. "Who are you?"
The boy stared at him with a mixture of horror and disbelief on his face. "OK... um, I'm Duo. Ah... you said that Quatre's not here right now. Where is he?"
He shrugged. "Not here. Sometimes he talks to me. He said he knew you."
"Yeah, Quatre's a good friend of ours. We'd kind of like to have him back. Can we talk with him?"
"He's not here. What do you want?"
"Ah... Actually, what we want is Quatre. We want our friend back. Hey Quatre, are you in there?" Duo called out, still looking at him. Idiot.
He made a gesture with his hand and knocked Duo over with pure power. That felt good. The blue-eyed one suddenly put himself in front of Duo, and one of his hands held a sphere of incandescent white energy. The blue-eyed one threw it at him. He automatically blocked it. "I will not permit you to interfere in my mission," he said simply.
"Your mission?" Trowa asked. He looked at the brown-haired boy, and once again felt that strange pressure in his chest. He pushed it back and swallowed.
"I... I promised him that I wouldn't kill you unless it was absolutely necessary," he told Trowa. "Don't get in my way, and I won't."
Trowa's face was expressionless, but his eyes were also empty, and there was something wrong with that, but he couldn't think what. Before he had a chance to chase down why it was wrong, he felt something to the north. A lot of somethings, actually. A feral smile appeared on his face as he realized what it was.
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Duo got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as Quatre - or whatever was currently in control of Quatre's body - suddenly cocked his head to one side, as if he was listening to something. The bad feeling increased exponentially when a feral smile slowly appeared on Quatre's face, driving home the fact that this wasn't Quatre. Quatre would never have that expression on his face. Never.
"What is it?" he asked nervously.
Quatre... whoever he was... turned to look directly at Duo, and Duo noted with shock that Quatre's eyes were yellow-tinged. That was definitely new - he was quite certain that color had never been in Quatre's eyes before - those strange gold flecks in the blue. "Oz," he breathed, a hint of excitement in his voice. Uh-oh.
"Ah, Quat... whoever you are," Duo hastily corrected himself as anger flashed through those strange eyes. "What is your mission?"
"Kill Oz," Quatre said matter-of-factly.
Shit. They were so screwed. What did they have here? Well, it looks like we have an insane Quatre who thinks he's someone else, talks about himself in the third person, who flattened me with power alone without an effort, and who happens to be a homicidal maniac right now. Great. He glanced at the others. Heero was still standing in front of Duo, although Duo was uncertain if any of them could defend against him right now. Trowa was still just staring at not-Quatre, and Wufei was looking in the same direction that Quatre had looked, a frown on his face. Looked like keeping up the conversation was up to him, as usual. "Ah, why?" he asked.
Quatre blinked, confusion running across his face for a moment before that eerie expressionless mask returned. Duo expected to see that sort of thing on Trowa or Heero - he'd suspect there was something seriously wrong if they started showing emotions, but Quatre wasn't supposed to be like this. "It's the mission."
Great, now he sounds like Heero. "But why is it the mission?" he pressed, trying to reach the real Quatre. He had to be in there somewhere.
Again that moment of hesitation. "They... they hurt someone. They must be killed."
Gotta get him off this whole 'kill' thing. "Who'd they hurt?"
Quatre froze, his eyes vacant. Finally he whispered, "Quatre. They hurt him."
Duo winced when he started talking about himself in the third person again, but nodded encouragingly. "And why is it your mission?"
Quatre frowned. "It is my mission. Quatre says that you were his friends. You should want me to do this too." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "You lied to Quatre." His head turned again in the same direction as before, and he actually giggled. Things were going downhill fast. "They're looking for me. How ironic," he drawled with a smile on his face. He started to rise into the air, and Duo took several steps forward, intent on stopping him. Heero scrambled to stay between them.
"Quatre stop!"
Quatre turned his head back to stare at Duo, then his eyes narrowed again. "I'm not Quatre!" he said sharply, and made a broad gesture with his hand. Duo felt the air around him crackle with the enormous amount of energy Quatre had just directed at him. He felt Heero grunt as he absorbed most of the blow meant for Duo. "No!" Quatre snarled. "You are not permitted to interfere!" He gestured again and Heero went flying.
"Heero!" Duo shouted, and suddenly found himself rooted to the spot. He couldn't move at all as Quatre slowly walked up to him, glowing yellow energies flaring around his right hand. Duo conjured a ball of black fire and threw it at Quatre, but the ball never reached him, dissolving mid-air. Duo watched in shock as Quatre raised his fist, obviously about to strike him. No. He couldn't. This was Quatre. This couldn't be happening...
Quatre hesitated for a fraction of a second, then started to bring his hand down.
"Stop!" Trowa suddenly threw himself in front of Duo, and Quatre froze. Duo suddenly found himself able to move again, and he stumbled backwards, face white. Quatre really had been going to kill him!
Now Quatre was frozen, staring at Trowa. Tears appeared in his eyes and started to trickle down his cheeks, but he impatiently brushed them away with his left hand, and there was no sign of emotion in his eyes. "Trowa, get out of my way," he said sharply. "I don't want to hurt you, but I have to kill them."
"No, you don't. Please, Quatre..."
"My name is not Quatre!" he said again, and started to rise into the air. Trowa, flapping his wings, matched him, but made no move to stop him.
:Get the soldiers out of here,: he instructed them silently. :Give me a chance to talk to him alone.:
:Mission accepted,: Heero said, immediately taking off in the direction of the approaching soldiers at top speed. Quatre and Trowa were fifty feet in the air, just hanging there, so there was a good chance he'd get to the soldiers first. Wufei took off after him.
Duo cast one last glance at the pair. :Be careful, Trowa. That's not our Quatre,: he warned, and then chased after the others.
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Trowa paced Quatre as he flew towards the soldiers. He'd managed to keep Quatre in one place for several minutes by talking to him. Quatre... or whatever it was that was currently inhabiting his body... insisted that he needed to go kill the Oz soldiers, but he stayed to listen. Or maybe he was listening to something else, based on the way he kept tilting his head to one side at random intervals. It would have just looked ridiculous, but Trowa recognized the gesture as one Quatre made when he was carrying on a mental conversation. So who was he talking to?
Suddenly he became still, looking in the direction of the soldiers. "You tricked me," he said sharply. "You're delaying me. It won't work. I'm going to kill them." And with that he took off, Trowa struggling to keep up. Quatre flew through magic alone, while Trowa had to actually use his wings, so although his flight was magic-assisted, it was a lot of work to keep up with Quatre when he was going at full speed.
Quatre stopped and hovered as he observed what had probably been an army ten minutes earlier. Now it was a mass of men screaming, running, and fighting without any sort of organization. What they were running from was patently obvious - the three huge illusion-monsters that were growling, stomping, roaring and breathing fire at the retreating army. Duo had created a huge shadow-creature of blackness that towered fifty feet in the air, with glowing red eyes that seemed to shoot fire at everyone. Heero had created some sort of ogre creature, and done so with such detail that Trowa suspected he might have actually seen one. That was an unpleasant thought. Wufei, going for simplicity, perhaps, had simply made a huge red dragon. If Trowa had been those men, bereft of magical protection and not knowing the illusionary nature of their enemies, he would have run, too.
"No," Quatre growled from beside him. "They won't get away." He raised both of his hands above his head and a ball of light appeared between them. The gold flecks in his eyes seemed to glow.
"Quatre, please stop!" Trowa said desperately as he saw what Quatre was going to do. Duo, Heero, and Wufei were standing down there, all of their attention focused on their illusions. Normal illusions were simple, but to maintain something that size for any amount of time required all of a person's concentration, as well as a good deal of their energy. There was no way they could see what was coming. The blast that Quatre was preparing would obliterate them, as well as the majority of the army.
Trowa began muttering a long and complicated spell to himself, being very careful not to stumble over the words in his haste. This was so-called 'High Magic' at it's most complicated, and he wasn't as good at this as Wufei. On the other hand, this spell was intrinsically tied to his power, so none of the others would be able to follow, and Quatre wouldn't be able to use the spell to get back. At the very least, it would give the others several hours with which to scatter the troops. As he spoke the last words of the spell, he threw himself at Quatre.
The world lurched around them, and they were suddenly in the air above a cornfield. Trowa could see a small village in the distance. He hadn't set the spell to take them to any particular place, just to a distant point of energy. There were spots, seemingly randomly spaced around the globe, where the energies of the earth seemed to converge. He'd never been to most of them, but he knew the location of each like the back of his hand. They were almost a twenty-four hour flight from the location of the soldiers - plenty of time to settle this, one way or another.
Suddenly Quatre shoved him away, eyes practically glowing with rage. He opened and closed his mouth several times, then backed up several feet. An invisible force suddenly slammed him to the ground, and as he sensed Quatre drawing in his power again, he idly wondered if he was going to survive long enough for the others to even find him.
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~Stop it!~ Quatre shouted at him.
-He's interfering with my mission,- he growled back.
~He's Trowa!~ Quatre shot back, as if that was an answer in itself. Maybe it was. He hesitated. Trowa stood on the ground, looking up at him.
-He stopped me from completing my mission. He tricked me!- he growled, and threw a ball of energy, much smaller than the one he'd been preparing. Trowa would easily be able to deflect it, and he knew it, too.
:Quatre?: said a voice in his head, different than the one that usually talked to him.
-Who are you?- He realized the answer before he got a response. -Get out of my head.-
:I won't fight you. I just want to talk to Quatre.:
-Get out!- he growled.
There was a short silence, and he was acutely aware of both of them watching him, waiting for him to do something. Finally Quatre said, ~You know, you can't keep my body forever. You're not real. Either it will break down because of the stress you're putting on it, or I'll get it back. It's mine.~
He hated to admit it, but there seemed to be some truth to what Quatre was saying. No sooner had the thought passed through his mind before he violently rejected it. No! It was his body. And besides... -It's my body now,- he said smugly. -And you're getting weaker. I can feel it. I have felt it. A few more days and you'll be gone for good.-
He felt a brief flare of panic from Quatre, and then a surge of energy. Quatre's presence in *his* mind suddenly strengthened as Quatre moved to take his mind back. He felt a stab of panic at the sudden strength Quatre possessed, then his eyes fixed on Trowa. There was an almost visible line of energy flowing from Trowa to his body, but he couldn't feel it. Trowa was supporting Quatre, was trying to help him, and it was working!
All of this passed through his (Quatre's?) mind in a second. After that he had no time to think it through, only to react, and he reacted instinctively, to protect himself. He gathered up a large amount of energy - enough to vaporize a three-square-mile tract of land, roughly - and threw it at Trowa, who made no move to defend himself.
An instant after the energy left his hand, he realized what he'd done and pain stabbed through his chest. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the ball continue towards Trowa, who still didn't even move, much less try to shield himself. He gasped, grasping futilely at his chest. NO! TROWA! he screamed within his mind, and in that moment he wasn't sure whether it was himself or Quatre who had cried out. Then there was a flash of light in front of his eyes as Quatre suddenly darted forward to take possession of his body, banishing the other personality.
His eyes widened in horror as he dove towards Trowa, but by then the energy ball had reached him, and Trowa didn't know that he was back in control, so he still made no move to defend himself. As the ball hit Trowa, Quatre felt a stab of pain through his chest that eclipsed anything he'd felt before, and he lost consciousness, his failure screaming at him from every direction as Trowa faded from his mind.
The failure mocked him. He'd fought so hard to get his own body back, to take it back from whatever had possessed him for what seemed like an eternity now. And he'd succeeded, succeeded in getting his body back just in time to watch a blow he'd delivered kill Trowa, and he was too late to do anything about it, too late to stop it, too late to even warn Trowa...
Too late.
Too late...
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Duo stared in satisfaction as the last of the soldiers ran off, most of them screaming in terror. And as far as he could tell, they'd managed not to kill anyone. Not that he had a major problem with killing Oz soldiers, but they might need them later. He wasn't a tactician or anything, but it seemed obvious, even to him, that you don't destroy your resources until you get a good look at the enemy. He looked at the other two. :Well, that was fun,: he remarked cheerfully, completely serious in his comment. It had been fun. :What now?:
:We have to find them,: Heero said immediately.
Wufei was looking around, his eyes glazed. Suddenly he stiffened, eyes glazing. "Kisama!" he hissed, a second before the pain hit Duo.
It was a good thing that he was on the ground when it happened, because he lost control of everything in that moment of agony, and when it passed, he was sitting on the ground next to Heero and an unconscious Wufei.
Duo raised a hand to his head, trying to ease some of the pain when he felt something else. His mouth dropped open in shock and horror as a presence faded from his mind. Since they remained aware of each other even when they were asleep, there was only one explanation he could think of for the emptiness he felt now.
An anguished cry rose into the air, and he only dimly recognized it as his own. "Bright Lady! NO!"
Don't worry, it will get better soon and I'll be able to get to the actual fight part. Those of you who have seen the entire show will know where this is going, but I'm going to write it as if it was completely original (ha!) and not give anything away beforehand, to bear with me if I take some time getting there.
"They're all dead, your Majesty," Lady Une said without batting an eye. "All of the men we sent to capture the Desert Prince are dead, as are most of the house staff, Lord Winner himself, and a few others who were in the house at the time who got in the way."
"How?"
"Our men killed the staff, Winner, and the others. As to what killed our men... currently unknown," she reported. "I did feel a large surge of power coming from inside the castle and shielded myself before all of our men dropped dead. And the boy has escaped."
Treize closed his eyes for a moment, very upset, although he'd never let it show. First of all was Une's casual acceptance of the death of the fifty men under her command - he was going to have to speak to her about that. It just wasn't normal to accept the fact that you were getting all of your people killed so calmly. Next on his list of problems was the utter disaster that this entire fiasco had turned into.
What in the world had he been thinking when he authorized that level of force on the mission? And he knew the men who'd been sent - beasts, most of them, suitable only for combat on the front lines in the event of a war. Why had he done it? He would have known that the results would have been a massacre of the sort that he was now dealing with. He could clearly remember giving the orders to Une, but the memory was odd, as if he'd been separated from his body at the time. For a moment he considered the possibility that one of the Chosen had gotten past his shields and forced him to do it, but immediately dismissed that thought. They had the power to do that, but if they had, they most certainly would not have forced him to give those orders. The Seeker might have forced him to give those orders, but the Seeker hadn't emerged yet. So why had he given those orders?
Damn. He'd never wanted anyone to be killed, much less Lord Winner. He wasn't close to the man, but respected and trusted him, two very rare occurrences. He spared himself a moment of grief at the unnecessary death, then wondered who he was going to find to take over Winner's realm. One of the daughters, perhaps. Winner might have insisted upon that idiotic male-inheritance, but Treize saw no need, especially now that Quatre had been eliminated from the succession. One of the girls would do just as well.
Quatre. Treize suddenly froze. No, it couldn't be. But who else could it be? Who else could have killed all of his men instantaneously? Well, any of the five could have, but who had the motive? Quatre, whose father had just been killed.
Treize wondered how he'd found out. More importantly than that, was there anything he could do to stop Quatre?
He was still considering the issue when a page came stumbling into his quarters, breathing heavily. "Majesty..." he gasped for breath. "There's a report from Fort Mauro."
"Yes?"
"It's gone."
Trieze frowned slightly. "You mean that it's been attacked? Abandoned?"
"No sire. Gone. Entirely. There's nothing left but a big black spot on the ground. The stones, the buildings, the men... there's nothing there."
Treize felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that when it came down to hard facts, there was nothing he could do to stop Quatre. The thought was very, very frightening.
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When they reached the castle that Quatre's father ruled from, it was dark. No torches anywhere, no guards. After a few minutes of searching they found a few rooms that were lit, in the center of the castle, far away from the walls. As soon as they pushed open the door, an old man and several women were facing them, attempting to hold some crossbows on them. Wufei was about to knock them all out with his power when a female voice shouted, "Stop! Don't hurt them! They're just trying to protect me!" It took him a second to realize that the voice was addressing the four of them, rather than the women holding the crossbows.
The women exchanged a glance and then slowly backed up, lowering their weapons. A blond-haired woman walked through the gap they'd made, and Wufei recognized her. "You're Iria. Quatre's sister."
"Yes. What are you doing here?"
"We're trying to find Quatre."
"He's gone. He left. We haven't seen him since..." she broke off, a pained expression on her face.
"What happened?" Duo asked, looking around.
For the first time Wufei looked around and noticed that the large room - which had a throne at one end - had been transformed from a receiving room to an infirmary. There were humans lying all over the place, most of them with serious injuries. With the exception of one or two who were very close to death, they were all women, a few children, and a few old men. What was going on?
"There was an attack, of sorts, in the middle of the night. A bunch of men - they were dressed like commoners, but they were soldiers, and they were looking for Quatre. They moved through the castle, and they killed every able-bodied man they found, and quite a few others. They mostly spared the women... this is what's left of the residents of the castle. All of the guards are dead - everyone who knew how to use a weapon..." She smiled bitterly. "I received word today from his majesty," she spit out the words as if they were a curse, "that I am now the Lady of the realm. After all of this, I've inherited from my father. But he didn't send anything else, except for a parchment with his royal seal saying that the Winner lands are now mine. No supplies, no men..." She trailed off again. "I've already sent word to several of our closest garrisons, but even at their fastest, it will be another few days before they arrive. Until then we're vulnerable. I've pulled everyone back here, so we can defend ourselves..."
"Defend yourselves from who?" Duo asked, pausing as he walked around the room to look at a young woman with a head wound. The soldiers had struck her to knock her out and she hadn't woken yet.
"We're on the southern border of Oz. At some points our border is secure because of the desert, but at many others we're constantly fighting the Zions to keep them from taking our land. The forces that live on the Winner lands have always been vital to keeping Zion out of Oz. If they hear what's happened..." she trailed off once more, not needing to explain what would happen if they found out.
"We need to talk to you. In private," Wufei told her.
She cast a guilty look around the room. "I really can't leave them. They're my people now..."
Wufei held back a sigh. It seemed that Quatre wasn't the only one with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility in the family. He wondered whether it was something in their blood or something they were taught. :How long will it take to heal all of these people?: he asked silently.
:Just a few minutes,: Duo said grimly. Then, more playfully, he added, :I didn't know you cared, Wuffie!:
:My name is Wufei,: he responded, mostly out of habit. He immediately bent and healed the person closest to him, a woman with a deep gash in her shoulder. She was conscious at the time, and although her eyes widened with panic when he bent over her, she didn't make a sound. The surprise on her face as she discovered that she was healed was almost comic. She started to babble her thanks, and he grunted in response. He'd never been good at dealing with the weaker sex.
In just a few minutes the four of them had healed every person in the room. Duo was the only one in the group that dealt with the thanks they received with anything approaching grace. The rest of them were too used to being by themselves to have anything resembling people skills, and Wufei wasn't too dense to notice it, despite what other people might have thought. He just didn't care enough to try to change that fact.
When they were done, they took Iria off into another room. "What happened to Quatre?" Duo asked immediately.
"He... he killed them. All of them," Iria said, her voice unsteady.
"All of who?"
"The soldiers. Here, I'll show you." She led them out of the small room and down a hall to another large room. It was impossible to see anything in the darkness. "You'll have to make a light, we're running a little short on torches and candles - the soldiers did a lot of damage on their way through the castle."
Wufei muttered imprecations about women who assumed things and took on too much authority, but he did create several mage-lights. And stared. He hadn't seen this sort of massive death since the slaughter of his family. It was a large room - possibly a ballroom - and the floor was almost entirely covered with bodies. Well over a hundred, maybe two. They seemed to be divided up into two groups - on one side of the room were about fifty bodies, on the other side, over a hundred.
"I had my people move all the bodies we could find in here. We'll have a mass funeral and burial as soon as reinforcements arrive. Until then... I'm keeping this room shut off. That side..." she gestured to the larger group of bodies. "Are my people, those who were slaughtered by the soldiers. The other side are the soldiers themselves. There isn't a mark on any of the bodies, but, well... look." She walked over and flipped back the sheet covering one of the bodies to reveal the face.
Wufei looked at it, then automatically recoiled. It wasn't just the taint of magic that infested the corpse, although that was part of it. It was the look of utter horror on the corpse's face, as if the last thing he'd seen before his death had been Hell itself.
"Quatre doesn't mess around," Duo remarked in a subdued voice with a strange twist to it, as though even he wasn't sure if he was joking or not. He looked at the body, then passed his hand over it, and the face suddenly relaxed, eyes closing. Duo shuddered, then looked around the room, his eyes glazing. Wufei glanced at him, then stared at he saw the dark vortex of energy around Duo, entering him from all around. Wufei shook himself slightly. Of course. Duo's power was Death - he would draw power from this situation whether he wanted it or not.
Duo looked around, then his attention was drawn to one of the bodies on the 'allies' side, which had a rich velvet covering, instead of a sheet. "Who's that?" he asked.
"My father," Iria said, closing her eyes for a moment before walking over and flipping the end of the cover down to reveal a middle-aged man with blond hair and a thick mustache. Quatre didn't much resemble his father, it appeared. "He wasn't even armed when they killed him. It happened so fast... Samir tried to protect him, but they killed him too... And then Quatre arrived." She fell silent for a moment, and they waited fairly patiently, considering this was the information that they'd been after the entire time. "His face..." she shuddered. "It wasn't Quatre. Not really. I know my brother pretty well... well, as well as I could, with his secrets..." She shook his head. "It wasn't him. He was... distracted, it seemed like, when he arrived. Then he saw Father..." she looked at her father's body. "And for a second I thought he was going to cry. They fought a lot, and there was a lot of anger on both sides, but there was love, too. When he saw what had happened... His face went blank, and there was this dead look in his eyes. It's like he wasn't even there anymore. Then, then there was this rush, through the air... no, not exactly. I could feel it in my bones. I can't explain it any better than that." She looked at them.
Wufei nodded grimly. What she was describing was the closest a non-mage could come to feeling magic. And she probably could have felt it, based on the sheer amount of power that was floating around in any of their bodies right now. "Then?"
"He started glowing. All over his body, but especially his eyes. It kept flickering in and out, like he was... like there was something inside of him, fighting for control. I thought... for a second... he was going to come back, then the soldiers came up behind him. He blinked, and they just dropped to the ground. I thought he'd knocked them out, but then the glow was there, and it wouldn't go away. And he started laughing. It was the most horrible sound..." she broke off and shuttered again. "Then he disappeared. I checked the soldiers... Since then I've been trying to keep the survivors alive and together, to keep everything together until reinforcements arrive." She raised her chin slightly and her back stiffened. "And I will." Her expression softened again. "You're going to go look for him?"
Wufei nodded sharply, neglecting to mention that there might not be anything they could do to bring Quatre back, and that they might have to kill him. He might not be tactful, but he wasn't stupid.
"Thank you." She stood up, covered her father again, and wiped at the few tears that had escaped her attempts at control. "I'm sorry, but I really have to get back to my people. They get upset if I leave for long, and they've already been through so much... If you need anything on your way out, feel free to take it. Horses, supplies, anything you need, just take it."
Wufei nodded dismissively, then felt a sharp pain in his side as Duo elbowed him. He glared at Duo, who didn't appear to be paying any attention to Wufei at all. "Thank you very much, Iria. We'll do our best to help Quatre." He shot a very sharp glance at Wufei, and elbowed him again.
Wufei suddenly realized what Duo wanted him to do. He cast a furious glare at Duo... I'm going to kill him the first chance I get, he promised himself. "Thank you," he muttered to the woman, who accepted it with considerable grace, considering how it was delivered. She then left.
"Bright Lady!" Duo exclaimed out loud. "What is wrong with you guys?! I know that you don't spend much time with people, but damn! And you," he turned to Wufei. "Weren't you an heir or something? Don't you have any manners? I grew up on the streets and I know better than that! That woman has just lost just about everyone she's ever cared about, and all you can do is grunt at her?!" Duo shook his head and fell silent for several minutes while the others stared at him. "Never mind. I should know better by now," he muttered darkly. Then he grinned at them. "So where are we going?"
To say that Wufei was astonished would be a vast understatement, and he began to suspect that Duo was even more disturbed than he had previously assumed. He'd gone from dark and brooding to joking in less than a second. And why was he so excited over the way they acted around that woman? Certainly, she was having personal difficulties...
Oh. Maybe that was it - Duo had seen his 'family' slaughtered, and was now empathizing with her. It made sense.
But what was really strange was Wufei's lack of empathy. The same thing had happened to him, after all - his family had been slaughtered right in front of him, and his wife. Shouldn't he feel something in this situation?
Wufei thought hard for a moment, trying to remember the last time he'd really felt anything. Sure, he felt normal emotions in response to his everyday actions - fear when the demons were chasing them again, irritation at Duo's continual rambling, concern when Quatre overreached himself (mixed with an equal amount of irritation for making him feel like that in the first place), but when he thought about his family - nothing. He'd never mourned for them. He was, officially, in mourning for them - that was why he wore white - but he couldn't remember any time that he'd sat down and actually grieved.
In comparison to Duo, who was still grieving for family he'd lost, and Quatre, who had gone insane when he lost his father, that made him look more than a little bit heartless.
Wufei realized that they were still waiting for an answer to Duo's question, and put his own thoughts aside for the time being. It seemed like he was doing that a lot. In fact, that might have something to do with the emotional void he was in now - he'd been so busy surviving and escaping that he didn't have a chance to think about his loss.
"I can track him. I can't tell where he is right now, but we can follow him," he told them.
"So, should we bother taking horses so we're incognito, or just fly?" Duo asked, proving once again that there was more to him than appeared. "I hate to say this, but I think Quatre's whole 'I'm going to kill every Oz soldier alive' thing has sort of shoved our secrecy down the drain."
Wufei saw the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of Heero's mouth, and sighed. The two relationships in their little group complicated things so much that it wasn't even worth looking into.
Heero snapped out his wings in response to Duo's sort-of question. They followed suit, and launched themselves out of the nearest window. Trowa hadn't said a word since he'd told them what he'd felt from his link with Quatre. Wufei concentrated on the magical residue - Quatre was acting a bit like a miniature sun right then, casting off magical energy in all directions, so the trail wasn't hard to pick up. Unfortunately it had very little of his own unique signature in it. Wufei didn't want to think about what that meant, either. In any case, the trail was so strong Wufei thought that a non-mage could probably find it. It didn't make him any happier to note that the trail headed straight for the northern border of the Winner lands. On one hand, it meant that he retained enough of his personality that he wasn't going to attack anyone who had worked for his father. On the other hand... he was killing people. Lots of people.
With those grim thoughts as company, they started chasing Quatre across Oz. He had a three-day head start on them.
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He took a breath, and then another. The sound of air rushing in and out of his lungs sounded deafening to him, although he knew that it wasn't that loud. All of his attention was focused on the small outpost in front of him. It was more of a stopping place for supply caravans then any sort of military outpost. There were only a hundred Oz soldiers there, but it was better than nothing. He'd actually waited eight hours before striking, because there had been a bunch of merchants resting there.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, he recognized the caravan as it slowly pulled away, down the road. Something very familiar about it... He shook his head slightly. That wasn't why he was here. He removed the illusion of invisibility he'd cloaked himself with. To the men on guard on the walls below, it must have looked like he just appeared out of thin air. He heard shouts of alarm, shouts that quickly turned to terror as he started to gather his power for the strike. He knew that he was glowing, and for a moment, felt a gentle sort of regret. There was something very wrong here, something wrong with this entire situation... The men didn't want to die, and he... he didn't want...
There was a surge of energy, driving him on in his quest and banishing the thought. He was here to destroy them. His power had reached the necessary level. A moment's concentration was all it took. The men didn't even have time to scream. There was suddenly a large blackened hole where the outpost had been. He smiled slightly, then glanced down, surprised to discover that his hands were shaking. In fact, his entire body was shaking. What was wrong with him?
~You killed them!~
-So?- he snarled, already used to the long arguments he had with the voice in his head. It said that it was actually him, and that he had to stop his quest. Sometimes it cried. That was when it was hardest to ignore. It had given him it's name before, but it was easier just to think of it as the voice.
~Please, stop. They're people.~
-They're the enemy. They deserve to die.-
~They've never done anything to you.~
-They're the enemy.- That was, of course, enough of an answer in itself, and he could never understand why the voice wouldn't accept that.
~Please stop.~ It sounded like the voice was on the verge of crying again.
Tears formed in his eyes, and he angrily swatted them away. The voice wasn't him! -Who are you and why are you talking to me?!- he demanded angrily.
~I told you. I'm who you're supposed to be, but I lost control,~ the voice told him. ~That's my body you're using to kill people.~ It sounded infinitely sad.
He snorted. He was here, he had a body, and his mission was to kill Oz soldiers. It was simple, and it was the truth. Why was he having such a hard time accepting it? Angry with himself, he shoved the other voice back, hearing a startled squeak from the voice, then it fell silent, and he nodded to himself. It was getting easier to ignore the voice. Soon he wouldn't have to worry about listening to Quatre at all.
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Duo stared at the remains (not really) of the last fort that Quatre had taken out. When he decides to take something out, he doesn't do it halfway, he thought, observing the black spot that was all the evidence that there'd ever been something here. "How many does that make?" he asked aloud, even though he already knew the answer.
"Eight," Heero replied, looking around.
"He did this less than twenty-four hours ago," Wufei said, his gaze unfocussed. "We're catching up with him."
"Is there a him left?" Duo asked bitterly before he could censor himself and come up with something a little better-sounding than that, especially with Trowa nearby. He saw Trowa stiffen for a moment and felt even worse. They'd been traveling at full speed for over a week now, trying to catch up with Quatre. Wufei was still tracking him with magic, although it was hardly necessary, what with the trail of massive destruction he was leaving. He wasn't even bothering to try to make random strikes - there was nothing Oz had that could stop him, and he knew it, so he was just jumping from one fort to another, in a very steady pattern. At least this way the soldiers had a little warning - he'd heard that they were deserting their posts when they thought Quatre was coming. It was keeping down his body-count. Apparently he was more into physical destruction than actually killing people, because the last two forts he'd taken out had been deserted and he'd blasted them just the same. Not that Duo blamed the men.
He clung to the fact that Quatre apparently wasn't out to just kill people as a sign that something of himself remained.
They all turned at the same time as there was a massive flare of magical energy somewhere to the north. There was enough energy that Duo actually saw a shaft of pure white light shoot into the sky in the distance. Duo swore under his breath. That's nine. He knew that Wufei saw magical energy all the time, all around him, but he usually had to make an effort to see those same currents. If he could see it without trying...
But it also meant that they'd finally caught up with him. Almost, anyway. "Come on! Let's go!" he urged the others, who exchanged a glance before they took off again. If he didn't move, they'd catch up to him in less than an hour.
:I hate to crush your endless optimisim,: Wufei grumbled. :But does anyone have any ideas how we're going to stop him if we have to?:
:There are four of us,: Heero said simply.
:Yes, but we haven't given ourselves completely over to the power,: Wufei reminded him.
:Shit. You mean he's more powerful than us right now?: Duo asked, mentally adding, In addition to being insane?
:He is power right now.:
:Between the four of us, can we take him down if we need to?:
Wufei considered, far too long in Duo's opinion. :I believe so.:
:Great. So we can do it if we have to. But lets try talking to him first, huh?:
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He walked across the blackened spot that was left of the stronghold. This was the third one he'd found that had been completely deserted by the time he arrived. Another day without a kill. He frowned. Destroying their resources was good, but not what his mission was. Then he shrugged mentally. He could always kill them later. For now, the voice didn't bother him as much when he didn't kill anyone. It was getting fainter now, it bothered him less, and it actually hadn't spoken to him in almost two full days, a vast improvement over the time when it was talking to him almost constantly.
He sensed something strange south of him, and cast out his senses. Four powerful creatures were flying towards him. He took a closer look, and saw that they were mages, powerful ones, like in the old times. Who were they and what were they doing here?
~They're looking for you. Me.~
-Where have you been?- he demanded.
~Hiding.~
-What?-
~You're trying to kill me.~
-What?!- He didn't particularly like the voice, and he didn't listen to it very much, but he didn't want to... well, kill it, or whatever it was you did to voices. -No I'm not.-
~Well, maybe not on purpose, but I can't exist forever without a body, and you've got mine,~ the voice explained patiently. The voice, whoever or whatever it was, was so patient and forgiving it was ridiculous. If it had shown some sort of anger at being ousted, he might have been inclined to give it its body back. Well, probably not, but he would have entertained the idea. ~And your subconscious is trying to hunt me down.~
-Well, I don't have any control over that,- he retorted. -Who are they?-
~Friends of mine. Not Oz,~ the voice quickly added. ~They're like me. Like you. Please don't hurt them.~
-I won't, unless they try to interfere in my mission,- he said. He didn't know why he cared at all what the voice said or thought, but he was willing to humor it - to an extent.
~They want me back,~ the voice said uncertainly, which was answer enough.
-I will not permit them to interfere with the elimination of Oz,- he said firmly. Then his curiosity got the best of him. -Why are they coming after me? You.-
There was a moment's hesitation. ~There's a prophecy... the five of us - the four of them and me - were supposed to protect the world. If I don't get my body back, they may lose. And...~
-And?-
~And I love Trowa.~
"Trowa?" Even as he repeated the name aloud, he felt a strange pressure in his chest, and he felt his heartbeat speed up. The name was *so* familiar...
"NO!" the word was ripped out of his throat before he realized what he was saying. He was in control. He didn't feel anything for this Trowa - it was the voice that was making him feel things, it had to be. "Stop it!"
~It's not me,~ the voice said, sounding excited. ~It's you. It's both of us. You remember him, don't you?~
-NO!-
~You do!~
He felt a strange pulling sensation in the back of his mind. -What's happening?!-
~We're beginning to merge back together. Please, I want to see Trowa!~
The name had the same effect on him as before, and it made him even angrier. "NO!" he shouted out loud, shoving Quatre away as hard as he can. Pain lanced through his forehead and he nearly blacked out. The voice suddenly disappeared, and he wondered whether he'd finally gotten rid of it for good. For some reason, the thought that it might be permanently gone panicked him. No. Certainly he'd just pushed the voice back into hiding again. It would be back eventually, hopefully after he... dealt... with the newcomers, one way or another.
He turned his head towards the newcomers as they flew into view. His eyes immediately were drawn to the third one in the line, a mage boy with brown hair that covered half of his face, even with the wind blowing in it, who had large brown wings. Trowa. His heart contracted again. He frowned. There was something very wrong here, and it had to be dealt with immediately, so he could continue his work.
They saw him standing there and swooped down to land. All four of them stared at him without speaking for several minutes. Then the long-haired boy hesitantly asked, "Quatre..."
That name! So they thought that this body was supposed to belong to the voice as well. "I am not Quatre," he said slowly, calmly. "Quatre is not... here right now," he finished, having no idea where the voice went when it wasn't talking to him. "Who are you?"
The boy stared at him with a mixture of horror and disbelief on his face. "OK... um, I'm Duo. Ah... you said that Quatre's not here right now. Where is he?"
He shrugged. "Not here. Sometimes he talks to me. He said he knew you."
"Yeah, Quatre's a good friend of ours. We'd kind of like to have him back. Can we talk with him?"
"He's not here. What do you want?"
"Ah... Actually, what we want is Quatre. We want our friend back. Hey Quatre, are you in there?" Duo called out, still looking at him. Idiot.
He made a gesture with his hand and knocked Duo over with pure power. That felt good. The blue-eyed one suddenly put himself in front of Duo, and one of his hands held a sphere of incandescent white energy. The blue-eyed one threw it at him. He automatically blocked it. "I will not permit you to interfere in my mission," he said simply.
"Your mission?" Trowa asked. He looked at the brown-haired boy, and once again felt that strange pressure in his chest. He pushed it back and swallowed.
"I... I promised him that I wouldn't kill you unless it was absolutely necessary," he told Trowa. "Don't get in my way, and I won't."
Trowa's face was expressionless, but his eyes were also empty, and there was something wrong with that, but he couldn't think what. Before he had a chance to chase down why it was wrong, he felt something to the north. A lot of somethings, actually. A feral smile appeared on his face as he realized what it was.
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Duo got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as Quatre - or whatever was currently in control of Quatre's body - suddenly cocked his head to one side, as if he was listening to something. The bad feeling increased exponentially when a feral smile slowly appeared on Quatre's face, driving home the fact that this wasn't Quatre. Quatre would never have that expression on his face. Never.
"What is it?" he asked nervously.
Quatre... whoever he was... turned to look directly at Duo, and Duo noted with shock that Quatre's eyes were yellow-tinged. That was definitely new - he was quite certain that color had never been in Quatre's eyes before - those strange gold flecks in the blue. "Oz," he breathed, a hint of excitement in his voice. Uh-oh.
"Ah, Quat... whoever you are," Duo hastily corrected himself as anger flashed through those strange eyes. "What is your mission?"
"Kill Oz," Quatre said matter-of-factly.
Shit. They were so screwed. What did they have here? Well, it looks like we have an insane Quatre who thinks he's someone else, talks about himself in the third person, who flattened me with power alone without an effort, and who happens to be a homicidal maniac right now. Great. He glanced at the others. Heero was still standing in front of Duo, although Duo was uncertain if any of them could defend against him right now. Trowa was still just staring at not-Quatre, and Wufei was looking in the same direction that Quatre had looked, a frown on his face. Looked like keeping up the conversation was up to him, as usual. "Ah, why?" he asked.
Quatre blinked, confusion running across his face for a moment before that eerie expressionless mask returned. Duo expected to see that sort of thing on Trowa or Heero - he'd suspect there was something seriously wrong if they started showing emotions, but Quatre wasn't supposed to be like this. "It's the mission."
Great, now he sounds like Heero. "But why is it the mission?" he pressed, trying to reach the real Quatre. He had to be in there somewhere.
Again that moment of hesitation. "They... they hurt someone. They must be killed."
Gotta get him off this whole 'kill' thing. "Who'd they hurt?"
Quatre froze, his eyes vacant. Finally he whispered, "Quatre. They hurt him."
Duo winced when he started talking about himself in the third person again, but nodded encouragingly. "And why is it your mission?"
Quatre frowned. "It is my mission. Quatre says that you were his friends. You should want me to do this too." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "You lied to Quatre." His head turned again in the same direction as before, and he actually giggled. Things were going downhill fast. "They're looking for me. How ironic," he drawled with a smile on his face. He started to rise into the air, and Duo took several steps forward, intent on stopping him. Heero scrambled to stay between them.
"Quatre stop!"
Quatre turned his head back to stare at Duo, then his eyes narrowed again. "I'm not Quatre!" he said sharply, and made a broad gesture with his hand. Duo felt the air around him crackle with the enormous amount of energy Quatre had just directed at him. He felt Heero grunt as he absorbed most of the blow meant for Duo. "No!" Quatre snarled. "You are not permitted to interfere!" He gestured again and Heero went flying.
"Heero!" Duo shouted, and suddenly found himself rooted to the spot. He couldn't move at all as Quatre slowly walked up to him, glowing yellow energies flaring around his right hand. Duo conjured a ball of black fire and threw it at Quatre, but the ball never reached him, dissolving mid-air. Duo watched in shock as Quatre raised his fist, obviously about to strike him. No. He couldn't. This was Quatre. This couldn't be happening...
Quatre hesitated for a fraction of a second, then started to bring his hand down.
"Stop!" Trowa suddenly threw himself in front of Duo, and Quatre froze. Duo suddenly found himself able to move again, and he stumbled backwards, face white. Quatre really had been going to kill him!
Now Quatre was frozen, staring at Trowa. Tears appeared in his eyes and started to trickle down his cheeks, but he impatiently brushed them away with his left hand, and there was no sign of emotion in his eyes. "Trowa, get out of my way," he said sharply. "I don't want to hurt you, but I have to kill them."
"No, you don't. Please, Quatre..."
"My name is not Quatre!" he said again, and started to rise into the air. Trowa, flapping his wings, matched him, but made no move to stop him.
:Get the soldiers out of here,: he instructed them silently. :Give me a chance to talk to him alone.:
:Mission accepted,: Heero said, immediately taking off in the direction of the approaching soldiers at top speed. Quatre and Trowa were fifty feet in the air, just hanging there, so there was a good chance he'd get to the soldiers first. Wufei took off after him.
Duo cast one last glance at the pair. :Be careful, Trowa. That's not our Quatre,: he warned, and then chased after the others.
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Trowa paced Quatre as he flew towards the soldiers. He'd managed to keep Quatre in one place for several minutes by talking to him. Quatre... or whatever it was that was currently inhabiting his body... insisted that he needed to go kill the Oz soldiers, but he stayed to listen. Or maybe he was listening to something else, based on the way he kept tilting his head to one side at random intervals. It would have just looked ridiculous, but Trowa recognized the gesture as one Quatre made when he was carrying on a mental conversation. So who was he talking to?
Suddenly he became still, looking in the direction of the soldiers. "You tricked me," he said sharply. "You're delaying me. It won't work. I'm going to kill them." And with that he took off, Trowa struggling to keep up. Quatre flew through magic alone, while Trowa had to actually use his wings, so although his flight was magic-assisted, it was a lot of work to keep up with Quatre when he was going at full speed.
Quatre stopped and hovered as he observed what had probably been an army ten minutes earlier. Now it was a mass of men screaming, running, and fighting without any sort of organization. What they were running from was patently obvious - the three huge illusion-monsters that were growling, stomping, roaring and breathing fire at the retreating army. Duo had created a huge shadow-creature of blackness that towered fifty feet in the air, with glowing red eyes that seemed to shoot fire at everyone. Heero had created some sort of ogre creature, and done so with such detail that Trowa suspected he might have actually seen one. That was an unpleasant thought. Wufei, going for simplicity, perhaps, had simply made a huge red dragon. If Trowa had been those men, bereft of magical protection and not knowing the illusionary nature of their enemies, he would have run, too.
"No," Quatre growled from beside him. "They won't get away." He raised both of his hands above his head and a ball of light appeared between them. The gold flecks in his eyes seemed to glow.
"Quatre, please stop!" Trowa said desperately as he saw what Quatre was going to do. Duo, Heero, and Wufei were standing down there, all of their attention focused on their illusions. Normal illusions were simple, but to maintain something that size for any amount of time required all of a person's concentration, as well as a good deal of their energy. There was no way they could see what was coming. The blast that Quatre was preparing would obliterate them, as well as the majority of the army.
Trowa began muttering a long and complicated spell to himself, being very careful not to stumble over the words in his haste. This was so-called 'High Magic' at it's most complicated, and he wasn't as good at this as Wufei. On the other hand, this spell was intrinsically tied to his power, so none of the others would be able to follow, and Quatre wouldn't be able to use the spell to get back. At the very least, it would give the others several hours with which to scatter the troops. As he spoke the last words of the spell, he threw himself at Quatre.
The world lurched around them, and they were suddenly in the air above a cornfield. Trowa could see a small village in the distance. He hadn't set the spell to take them to any particular place, just to a distant point of energy. There were spots, seemingly randomly spaced around the globe, where the energies of the earth seemed to converge. He'd never been to most of them, but he knew the location of each like the back of his hand. They were almost a twenty-four hour flight from the location of the soldiers - plenty of time to settle this, one way or another.
Suddenly Quatre shoved him away, eyes practically glowing with rage. He opened and closed his mouth several times, then backed up several feet. An invisible force suddenly slammed him to the ground, and as he sensed Quatre drawing in his power again, he idly wondered if he was going to survive long enough for the others to even find him.
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~Stop it!~ Quatre shouted at him.
-He's interfering with my mission,- he growled back.
~He's Trowa!~ Quatre shot back, as if that was an answer in itself. Maybe it was. He hesitated. Trowa stood on the ground, looking up at him.
-He stopped me from completing my mission. He tricked me!- he growled, and threw a ball of energy, much smaller than the one he'd been preparing. Trowa would easily be able to deflect it, and he knew it, too.
:Quatre?: said a voice in his head, different than the one that usually talked to him.
-Who are you?- He realized the answer before he got a response. -Get out of my head.-
:I won't fight you. I just want to talk to Quatre.:
-Get out!- he growled.
There was a short silence, and he was acutely aware of both of them watching him, waiting for him to do something. Finally Quatre said, ~You know, you can't keep my body forever. You're not real. Either it will break down because of the stress you're putting on it, or I'll get it back. It's mine.~
He hated to admit it, but there seemed to be some truth to what Quatre was saying. No sooner had the thought passed through his mind before he violently rejected it. No! It was his body. And besides... -It's my body now,- he said smugly. -And you're getting weaker. I can feel it. I have felt it. A few more days and you'll be gone for good.-
He felt a brief flare of panic from Quatre, and then a surge of energy. Quatre's presence in *his* mind suddenly strengthened as Quatre moved to take his mind back. He felt a stab of panic at the sudden strength Quatre possessed, then his eyes fixed on Trowa. There was an almost visible line of energy flowing from Trowa to his body, but he couldn't feel it. Trowa was supporting Quatre, was trying to help him, and it was working!
All of this passed through his (Quatre's?) mind in a second. After that he had no time to think it through, only to react, and he reacted instinctively, to protect himself. He gathered up a large amount of energy - enough to vaporize a three-square-mile tract of land, roughly - and threw it at Trowa, who made no move to defend himself.
An instant after the energy left his hand, he realized what he'd done and pain stabbed through his chest. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the ball continue towards Trowa, who still didn't even move, much less try to shield himself. He gasped, grasping futilely at his chest. NO! TROWA! he screamed within his mind, and in that moment he wasn't sure whether it was himself or Quatre who had cried out. Then there was a flash of light in front of his eyes as Quatre suddenly darted forward to take possession of his body, banishing the other personality.
His eyes widened in horror as he dove towards Trowa, but by then the energy ball had reached him, and Trowa didn't know that he was back in control, so he still made no move to defend himself. As the ball hit Trowa, Quatre felt a stab of pain through his chest that eclipsed anything he'd felt before, and he lost consciousness, his failure screaming at him from every direction as Trowa faded from his mind.
The failure mocked him. He'd fought so hard to get his own body back, to take it back from whatever had possessed him for what seemed like an eternity now. And he'd succeeded, succeeded in getting his body back just in time to watch a blow he'd delivered kill Trowa, and he was too late to do anything about it, too late to stop it, too late to even warn Trowa...
Too late.
Too late...
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Duo stared in satisfaction as the last of the soldiers ran off, most of them screaming in terror. And as far as he could tell, they'd managed not to kill anyone. Not that he had a major problem with killing Oz soldiers, but they might need them later. He wasn't a tactician or anything, but it seemed obvious, even to him, that you don't destroy your resources until you get a good look at the enemy. He looked at the other two. :Well, that was fun,: he remarked cheerfully, completely serious in his comment. It had been fun. :What now?:
:We have to find them,: Heero said immediately.
Wufei was looking around, his eyes glazed. Suddenly he stiffened, eyes glazing. "Kisama!" he hissed, a second before the pain hit Duo.
It was a good thing that he was on the ground when it happened, because he lost control of everything in that moment of agony, and when it passed, he was sitting on the ground next to Heero and an unconscious Wufei.
Duo raised a hand to his head, trying to ease some of the pain when he felt something else. His mouth dropped open in shock and horror as a presence faded from his mind. Since they remained aware of each other even when they were asleep, there was only one explanation he could think of for the emptiness he felt now.
An anguished cry rose into the air, and he only dimly recognized it as his own. "Bright Lady! NO!"
Don't worry, it will get better soon and I'll be able to get to the actual fight part. Those of you who have seen the entire show will know where this is going, but I'm going to write it as if it was completely original (ha!) and not give anything away beforehand, to bear with me if I take some time getting there.