:Damn it, I don't like this.:

:The guards said that he was being held down here,: Heero replied silently. They were currently cloaked in illusions, and had overheard the guards talking. They were in Treize's castle - or rather, under Treize's castle, in his dungeon. It had taken them almost three weeks to track Quatre here after... whatever happened after Trowa conjured the two of them hundreds of miles away. A farmer out in that remote region said that he'd seen a brilliant flash of light, and that a few days later a large group of 'troublesome-looking men' had passed through the area. It had taken them almost a week to figure out that the 'troublesome men' had been a bunch of Oz Hunters in disguise, and even more time to find out where they'd taken Quatre.

They were cloaked and had been wandering around the dungeon for several hours now, because although they could feel Quatre's presence in their minds, it was indistinct, almost as if he was unconscious, and it wasn't providing them with any guidance. They didn't dare use any magic here, so close to Treize and the mages in his employ. They probably could have handled anything that Treize could throw at them, but maybe not before his soldiers got to Quatre and hurt him, so they'd decided to opt for secrecy. So they'd been wandering around randomly, and it was only luck that they'd heard a comment from one of the guards that sent them down here, to the lowest level of the dungeon where it looked like no one had been there in years, searching for Quatre. They hadn't bothered to look for Trowa once they heard that the Hunters had captured the blond-haired faery. They'd all felt one of their own fade from their mind, and had resigned themselves to the death of one of their own.

Duo was trying to tell himself that it wasn't his fault, that Trowa hadn't died simply because he'd been his friend. Heero had told him it multiple times, and even Wufei had snarled it at him once when he got tired of Duo's moping around. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't believe it. Everyone he'd ever cared for had died, and now it was happening again. First Trowa, and the others would followed. Even Heero would die, and he'd be left alone. Again.

He tried to shake off those thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. :Why can't we feel him? He can't still be unconscious.: Duo hesitated. :Could he?:

:Treize might not have wanted him to be in good condition,: Wufei said grimly. :He might not have treated any injuries Quatre had.:

:He wouldn't do that,: Duo said, wishing he believed it. :He wants him alive, right?:

:Alive, but not necessarily whole. He doesn't need to be completely healthy to utilize his powers,: Wufei pointed out. Duo wished he hadn't brought up that point. They flattened themselves against the wall as a guard walked by.

:We must be getting close,: Duo said unnecessarily.

:Here it is,: Heero said as they came to a door with a single torch burning next to it. The door was heavy, solid wood, with only a small hole in it to look through, and that hole was also currently covered with wood. Heero slid the wood away and peered inside. :I can't see anything,: he reported. :Duo, can you get this door open?:

Duo understood the unasked portion of the question - without magic. It would be simple enough to magic the door open, but they were trying to avoid that. The illusions that were hiding them were completely self-contained, directing their magic inward, so that they wouldn't be sensed, but almost anything else would give them away. Duo dropped to one knee, reaching behind him to grab the lock picks that he habitually stored in his braid. :Grab that torch, will you?: he asked silently. :The light here sucks.:

Heero pulled the torch out of it's socket and held it closer to the lock. It was old and heavy but not very complicated. In less than a minute he had it unlocked, and pushed open the door. It was pitch black inside. :Hand me that torch,: he instructed. Heero handed it to him and he stepped inside. At first, he saw nothing. Then he heard a low whimper and the clink of chains.

His eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness and he could make out a small figure crouched by the wall opposite the door. His eyes widened. "Quatre?"

The figure whimpered again and cowered lower, hiding his face in his arms. :His eyes,: Wufei said sharply. :The light hurts his eyes.:

Duo quickly handed the torch to Heero. :Quatre? Is that you?:

The figure gave no sign that it had heard him, so he resorted to normal speech. "Quatre? Is that you?"

The figure raised it's head slightly. "Duo?" asked a familiar voice. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Duo responded, staring in horror at Quatre. His clothes were torn and dirty - or burned, it was hard to tell - and didn't seem to protect him at all from the cold of the cell. There was a large thick metal collar around his neck, and manacles on his wrists. All three were attached to the wall by chains. Quatre's eyes seemed almost entirely blue - his pupils were huge and dilated, probably from trying to see in the dark room. There were a few bruises visible on his pale face, and Duo frowned. "Come on, we're getting you out of here."

"No!"

"No?" Duo asked, then something struck him. There was no way that those chains or this cell could ever hold any of them. Why hadn't Quatre escaped on his own? "Quat, what are you doing here? Why didn't you escape? We were looking for you."

"I..." Quatre swallowed and lowered his head, staring at his manacled hands. "I should be here. I am... exactly what Treize said. I'm a dangerous animal that needs to be locked up."

Duo froze, horrified by the words coming out of Quatre's mouth, as well as the defeated tone he had. "Quatre, you can't mean that..."

Quatre turned his head away. "Duo, did you see what I did to those bases? Did you see what I did to the men in them? To the men in my own home? To..." his voice caught slightly. "... Trowa." His voice fell off to a whisper at the last word.

"Quatre... that wasn't your fault..." Duo tried to tell him.

"Then whose fault was it?" Quatre asked softly. "It was my fault. I know that. I let the power take control of me, instead of the other way around. And that's why I have to stay here - it's safer for everyone that way."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're not going to hurt us."

"Trowa thought that, too. I'm not going with you - I can't risk it. You know about this, Duo, you have to understand," he pleaded. "I don't want to hurt you."

Duo knew exactly what was going through Quatre's mind, because it was exactly what he'd thought about himself a thousand times, that maybe if he'd left, stayed away, those he loved wouldn't have been killed. That didn't mean he was going to accept it from Quatre, though. He fell back on the one argument he knew Quatre could never ignore. "And what about the war? Are you going to abandon all of humanity because you're afraid about what might happen? We need you."

Quatre smiled sadly at him. "Can't you feel it, Duo?"

"Feel what?"

"Look at me. I've lost my power."

"What?" But even as he spoke in disbelief, Duo was examining Quatre with his other senses, and found... nothing. Quatre still looked like a faery, but that was it, no magic, no energy coursing through him, nothing. He was, for all intents and purposes, human. Now that Duo realized it, he could see some physical differences in Quatre. He was more than just pale, he was practically translucent, washed-out, like he was half-dead already. Maybe he is. Trowa is dead, and the two of them were so close... "It can't be."

"I've lost my powers. All of them. I can't even heal this," he said, gesturing at his face, then pulled away as Duo raised a hand to do just that. "Don't. It doesn't hurt much, and it's no more than I deserve."

That was at the center of it, Duo realized. Quatre believe that he deserved to be punished for all that he'd done, especially killing Trowa, if he was reading Quatre's motives correctly. "There... there's nothing left?" he asked. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I can't sense anything, though. I... I feel very empty, now. I was so used to feeling people, but I couldn't even feel you when you opened the door - I thought it was one of the guards. I can't feel you now."

"Kuso!" Wufei swore quietly, and Duo felt shock run down the link.

:What?: he asked silently.

:We have to go,: Wufei told him.

:We can't leave him here!: Duo protested. :And why do we have to go?:

:I can't feel Quatre at all.:

:So?:

"You guys are talking, aren't you?" Quatre asked softly. "I can't hear anything, but you always have that slightly distant look when you talk..." He shifted slightly, and Duo winced when he heard the metal links of the chain clink against each other. "You'd better get out of here. I'm sure you're shielded, but there's no reason for you to risk yourselves on my account. I've done enough damage already."

"Quatre, we're not leaving you here," Duo said, but even as the words left his mouth, he knew them to be a lie. Well, sixteen years without a lie isn't bad, he thought pragmatically. So that's what lying feels like. It's not so hard.

"Yes you will. Heero and Wufei know it, don't they? I'll fight you if you try to take me out of here, and it's not worth it for a human boy who can't even wipe the bruises off his own face. So you're going to have to leave me. Will you do me a favor?"

Duo couldn't look Quatre in the eye. "Sure Quat. What do you want?"

"Will you please kill Treize?"

"What?" If there was something he was expecting, that wasn't it.

"I... I think I hate him. I'm not sure, I'm not used to these feelings. But I guess now that I don't have my powers anymore, I can do that. I... I want him to die. I don't want him to hurt anyone else. I... I don't like these feelings," he stammered, blinking away tears. "But I feel more strongly this way about him than almost anyone else."

Shit. Duo promised himself that Treize would be dying for a very long time for doing this to Quatre. But something caught his attention. Almost anyone else? "Almost anyone else?" he repeated blankly. Please don't let it be me.

"I hate myself most of all."

-----------------------------------------

"Now that we're out of there, would you please tell me what the hell you were talking about? The whole world is going to hell, Quatre's... well, you saw him! And Trowa..." he trailed off.

"Trowa's alive," Wufei said quietly.

"Trowa's... what?" Duo asked blankly.

"He's alive."

"What?! What are you talking about?! How can... what?"

"Quatre's lost his powers. We were in the room with him, and we couldn't feel him at all. But we all feel something... and it's not Quatre. So Trowa has to be alive."

"But... we all felt someone fade away..." Duo said, then he realized. "That was Quatre? But..."

"Why can't we find him?"

"Quatre thinks he killed him, he must have been badly hurt. He could be unconscious still, in a coma."

"OK. Maybe I'm just really tired or really desperate, but this is all making some kind of sense to me," Duo shook his head. "But why did we have to leave Quatre? And why did he lose his powers? I thought that couldn't happen, ever."

"We had to leave him because of the reasons he said. He would have fought us if we tried to rescue him. He is punishing himself for the things he did - especially for Trowa's death. Did you notice? Even when he was... not sane, he made it so that he could avoid killing. After the first two bases, every base he destroyed was completely abandoned. Even insane, he tried to avoid taking lives, even if it was unconscious. But now he thinks he killed Trowa. And you know what was between the two of them," Wufei said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, of course I know. You'd have to be deaf, blind, and stupid as a rock not to see it," Duo said impatiently. "OK, I see why he's punishing himself. So how did he lose his powers?"

"Remember what Zechs told us? That Quatre can't hate people - it's not in his nature. And we all know that our nature is tied up in our powers, however we might wish it otherwise." Duo wondered what Wufei meant by that comment. "I think that's why his powers have failed. He's not supposed to be able to hate, but the power of his emotions has somehow overridden his very nature. Probably the only reason he was able to do it himself was that he wasn't hating anyone else, just himself. You heard him - Treize is responsible for the death of his father, of most of the people he'd known, and is also indirectly responsible for the deaths of all those soldiers, and he believes that Trowa is dead - Treize is responsible for all of that, and he *thinks* that he hates Treize."

"Shit," Duo muttered as he thought about it. Poor Quatre wasn't able to hate people, so he'd finally turned it against himself. And that must have somehow gone against his powers, so as long as he hated himself, he'd never be able to sense them. And because he couldn't sense them, he didn't know that Trowa was still alive, so he wouldn't stop hating himself. It was a nice circular trap, and Quatre wouldn't be getting out of it on his own - if anything, he'd probably say that he deserved it. He's punishing himself more than he knows. "So we have to find Trowa, figure out where the hell he's been and what's wrong with him, fix it, and then take *him* to see Quatre so he can talk him out of this depression thing he's into, right?"

The other two stared at him. "What?" he asked them.

"Don't you need to breathe?" Wufei asked sharply.

"Sure. Why?"

Wufei shook his head. "How are we to find Trowa? We know that no one near the... blast site saw him. So where do we go next?"

"Treize must have him locked away somewhere," Duo said. "He and Quatre would have been near each other when Treize's soldiers found him. So..."

"What do you suggest, we start working our way through Treize's men until we find one who knows what they did with Trowa?" Wufei asked sarcastically. "Quatre was the one who was good at that delicate mind stuff - I can cast the spells to make them tell us information, but if it doesn't destroy their minds, they most certainly will remember the incident. We can kill them, of course, but he's going to get suspicious if large numbers of his officers disappear, and may move Trowa."

Duo frowned. It was basically the same problem they'd had with Quatre. An idea occurred to him, and he grimaced. "Ah, you guys are going to hate me for this, but I have an idea."

Heero looked at him curiously. Well, Duo knew it was a curious look, even though it just looked like a blank stare. Finally he grunted. "What?"

"We could go back to Sank."

He found it infinitely amusing to see Heero Yuy actually flinch, while Wufei took a step backwards. "Why?" he snapped.

"Well, she's the ruler of a foreign nation, right? She's got to have some spies in Oz, maybe even in Treize's people. It's worth a shot, anyway. We don't have to stay long." They looked at him in horror. "I promise."

------------------------------------------

Treize smiled to himself. He'd been expecting the three remaining Chosen to try to retrieve Quatre. The only disappointing thing was that he hadn't caught them in the act - he'd only heard from his sources in the city that the three boys had been seen leaving through the main gate. But Quatre was still here... his smile widened. He was useless to them like this, no wonder they'd left him behind.

He'd been prepared to pile magical restrictions on top of the boy when he was brought in, but anyone with any sensitivity would have known that there was something wrong with him the moment they saw him - a human probably would have guessed that he had some fatal wasting disease, but a mage could see the problem: he had no magic left, no power at all. It bothered Treize that he didn't know how it had happened, but he had bigger problems, like capturing the three remaining boys. They'd left his city, but where would they go?

They might head back to the faery forest, but somehow Treize doubted that the braided one would want to go back there, especially after seeing what happened to Quatre's family. The other two had no connections to speak of - they might head back to the circus, but the circus was unlikely to accept them with open arms after they lost the boy with the strange bangs. He smiled to himself.

So what was left? They hadn't left the Sank kingdom under the best of circumstances and it was unlikely they'd go back there, but he'd have his men check it out anyway. Most likely they'd try to disappear into the populace at large, and they could probably do it quite easily. It didn't really matter - now that he held a key player in the upcoming battle, he was sure not to be left out. Even Quatre, without his powers, might still prove useful.

With that thought he moved to the mirror in his dressing room. He passed a hand over it, murmuring a few words, and an image appeared in the mirror. Lady Une, stalking through the palace, berating a young group of guards... but it wasn't the Lady that held his attention. It was the young man drifting silently behind her, almost like a shadow. It was the Solemn Clown - or Triton, as he was now called, who'd somehow survived his battle with Quatre but had lost all of his memories in the process. He still wore a bandage around his head. Treize had had several of his people exhaust themselves healing his body, but had been afraid to let them near his head. They didn't really understand their powers, and he hadn't wanted to take the chance that they would accidentally help him regain his memory. He still had all of his powers, but no memory of them or how to use them. Everyone in the palace had been forbidden to speak to him about the differences between 'faeries' and humans, and the bandages hid his ears, so chances were he didn't even know he was different yet. He'd only regained consciousness a week ago and was pathetically grateful and believed all the lies Lady Une told him about his past. Sometimes Treize wondered if he was actually better off this way - the past she'd given him was much nicer than the one he'd actually lived, and he was probably much happier now, too.

Right now he was dressed in an Oz uniform, following Lady Une around as a personal aide. The Lady said he was actually quite brilliant, when his lack of memories didn't get in his way. Treize found that interesting, but as long as he retained control of one of the five (four now) whose powers still worked, he was satisfied. Things were going well.

------------------------------------------

:Hee-chan, come on! The spy has finally arrived!:

Heero growled something unintelligible and hopped down off the top of the tower he'd been sitting on. His wings snapped out and caught him before he'd fallen more than a hundred feet and he glided smoothly to the ground in the garden in the center of the palace.

Despite Duo's promise, they'd been here for almost two weeks. Relena had been very pleased (too pleased) to see them again, and had immediately summoned her spymaster, but it took time to travel from Oz to Sank, and it took more time than that because first the spy had to manufacture an excuse to leave so that he wouldn't be detected. Heero knew all of this, and understood the necessity, but it had meant that he had to spend two weeks here, with that woman...

Whenever she wasn't engaged in official business, Relena came to see him, to talk endlessly about a number of topics. Sometimes Duo came to rescue him, but most often he would sit in another room and make rude comments about Relena, so that he had not one, but two jabbering idiots to worry about, only one of which he wanted to deal with. Wufei disappeared whenever Relena was in the room, and Zechs was out of the area (probably searching for them), so there was no one else to stop her. As a way of getting some quiet, Heero had taken to hiding on the highest towers he could find, completely inaccessible by normal humans. At least there Relena couldn't talk to him, although it didn't do much about Duo, who could follow him anywhere, or talk directly into his head if he wanted.

Somehow, Heero didn't mind listening to Duo's endless prattle. Sometimes he even found it somewhat soothing. They hadn't had sex since Quatre went crazy, but Duo still liked cuddling a lot, and they'd slept together almost every night. Especially right after, when they thought Trowa was dead and were searching for Quatre, Duo had had horrible nightmares all night long, and it didn't take a mindreader to know that he was blaming himself. Illogical, but there it was, and Heero didn't know how to convince him that it wasn't his fault. So he'd settled for holding Duo until the dreams went away, and then slowly coaxing him back to sleep.

The thought that Quatre was sitting in that dungeon, blaming himself for Trowa's death all this time wasn't helping, either. Quatre was too nice for his own good, Heero decided. If it had been him, he would have been upset, but he would have continued to fight. Quatre was so busy punishing himself that others were going to suffer. But what if it was Duo who'd died? asked an insidious portion of his mind. Heero felt his heart beat speed up at the very thought, and pushed it away. Duo wasn't dead, and he wasn't going anywhere, not if Heero had anything to say about it. The sooner they found Trowa, the better, because then they could get Quatre back and he could stop thinking about these things.

:Location?: he asked.

:Her private quarters. You know, the ones behind the throne room that we went to the first day?:

Heero grunted his understanding and landed in the garden, ignoring the startled look the gardener gave him. He quickly absorbed his wings and then conjured himself to the room in question. Wufei and Duo were already there, as was Relena... and a pair of women?

:Who are they?: he sent to the other two as Relena began to speak.

"Heero, I want you to meet Sally Po and Lucrezia Noin. Sally is my spymaster in charge of all of my agents in Oz, and Lucrezia works in the Palace itself. Hopefully between them they can answer any questions you have." Relena beamed at him and fell silent, but showed no signs of leaving.

:This is ridiculous!: Wufei snarled. :What good will a couple of women do?:

:Take it easy,: Duo muttered. :We might as well ask them.:

"So you're the ones that the King is searching for," Noin remarked, studying them carefully. "You're the ones that the prophecies speak of."

"What do you know?" Heero demanded flatly.

Noin smiled slightly. "I've worked on researching some of the prophecies describing you, the saviors of humanity." She frowned slightly. "But weren't there supposed to be five?"

:She doesn't even know about Quatre and Trowa, she's useless,: Wufei growled.

:Hostile much? Give her a little more time,: Duo said, but he sounded worried.

"I'm afraid that Noin is a little out of touch, Treize doesn't tell his own people much," Po apologized. "It's what she might have observed in the Palace itself that has use to us," she said with a nod to Noin. "I have a slightly broader view. I run an inn on the edge of Oz's territory, so I receive reports from all over, as well as the gossip of travelers. According to my sources, one of you has been running around destroying every base he came across. That is, until several weeks ago, when there was a flare of light in a virtually deserted area in the northern end of Oz. Following that flash of light, the attacks stopped, but there was a sudden increase in the number of Oz soldiers not in uniform in that area. Rumor has it that they recovered something from that area and transported it out, back to the Palace."

"There was a high-level prisoner brought in about a month ago," Noin said thoughtfully. "I didn't see anything, but I heard that it was one of the mages that the King had been looking for. He was installed in the lower dungeons, and I haven't heard anything since."

"That's Quatre," Duo said grimly. "We've already seen him."

"You have? But... how?" Noin asked. Then her eyes narrowed. "Never mind, I've read the prophecies. I know what you're capable of. But why in the world did you leave him down there?"

"He won't leave."

"What?" both women asked in unison. Po stared at them for a second. "We could use a little bit of background here," she said.

Duo glanced at Heero, who nodded after a moment's consideration. Telling them could be dangerous, but they did need these women's help, and they did need some information to work with. While he didn't hold Wufei's automatically low opinion of any woman, he was automatically suspicious of anyone's abilities until they were proven to him.

"OK. It started a couple of months ago, when Quatre went to visit his father. While he was there, Treize attacked, trying to capture them, and killed off half of the people who lived there, including his father."

"The Winner Massacre?" Noin asked. "But it was a bunch of bandits..." she trailed off when she saw Po shaking her head.

"No, that's common knowledge, but it isn't true. I managed to get someone into the Winner household, and they were able to identify some of the bodies of the killers. Definitely Oz soldiers. I didn't know why they were in Winner's house though, or how they were killed," she added. "So the son did it?"

"Yeah. See, after his father was killed, Quatre sort of... went crazy," Duo confessed. "We... we can talk mind to mind, and trust me, it wasn't Quatre in charge over there. It took us a couple of weeks to catch up with him, and Trowa tried to talk him down, so that we could help him."

"Trowa?" Noin asked.

"He's the other one who's missing. He and Quatre were..."

"Lovers?" Po asked, quickly filling in the blanks.

"No, not exactly, but they were in love," Duo explained. "It was really sweet, actually, until Quatre went crazy. Anyway, he was about to wipe out most of Oz's army, but we frightened them away while Trowa went to face Quatre. He used some sort of Earth magic that we can't duplicate to transport the two of them hundreds of miles away. Something happened out there - we heard Quatre scream, and then a presence faded from our minds."

"What?"

"We're linked. Even when we're far apart, we can feel each other. It's supposed to be a defense mechanism so that we know if someone else is in trouble," Duo explained, drawing on the memories of his predecessor. "Anyway, something happened out there, and we felt someone disappear, and we thought that Quatre had killed Trowa. We finally figured out where Treize took Quatre, and we went to see him."

"You said you thought Quatre killed Trowa. He didn't?" Po asked.

"Yeah. It turns out that it was Quatre we felt fading away, he's lost his powers, temporarily at least."

"How is that possible?" Noin asked.

"Look, it's really complicated, but Quat's powers are tied up in his feelings. He's not allowed to hate people, and right now he hates himself, so he's lost his powers. He hates himself because he thinks that he killed Trowa. But we can still feel someone, and it can't be Quatre, so it has to be Trowa. He's alive, somewhere, but he must be unconscious, because we can't talk to him or figure out where he is. So we've got to go find Trowa so we can convince Quatre that he isn't evil incarnate," Duo explained as quickly as he could.

"And Quatre wouldn't leave because he thinks he's evil?" Po asked. "You have quite a problem there. I'll see what I can do about finding him. I haven't heard anything about some of Treize's men keeping an unconscious boy somewhere, but that sort of thing wouldn't be hard to hide. I'll work on it. What does he look like?"

Duo responded by creating a life-sized illusion of Trowa, complete with the bangs that somehow seemed to define him. Half of his face was always hidden, just as he hid so much of what he was feeling. Po didn't respond with any shock at the display of magic, but walked in a slow circle around the image, studying it carefully.

Noin suddenly gasped. "I don't believe it! That's Triton!"

Everyone looked at her. "What?" Duo asked. The name didn't sound familiar.

"Triton! He... he arrived at the Palace a month ago, and he was very sick, but no one except the Hunters or Treize was allowed to see him. A couple weeks ago he got out of bed - he's Une's personal aide now, follows her around everywhere. Everyone's been forbidden to speak to him about mages or anything, but I didn't know he was a mage himself! I heard he's got total amnesia."

Duo exchanged a glance with Heero.

:That would explain why we can't talk to him,: Wufei said quietly, his earlier protests abandoned. :He doesn't know that he can do it. Treize has him completely helpless, and he's purposefully keeping him that way.: He was practically seething with anger.

:Shit, he's practically living on top of Quatre, and neither of them know it,: Duo remarked, disgusted. :I'm going to KILL Treize.:

:Wait,: Heero advised. :Trowa or Quatre might want to do that.:

:Good idea,: Duo said, turning towards the exit.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Relena cried.

"To find Trowa, and get them both out of that hellhole," Duo told her, then arched his back as his wings popped out. Noin's jaw dropped, and even Po looked a little surprised.

"Ah, can't you wait a few weeks? Until I get back into place so they don't know that I was involved?" Noin asked, a little desperately.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Duo said, and Heero mentally agreed. "You really don't want to be there for what's coming."

------------------------------------

Wufei wasn't sure if he hoped that they ran into Treize or not. He really, really wanted to kill that... man for what he'd done to Quatre and Trowa, and if he ran into him, he would kill him. And Heero had a point, Quatre and Trowa would probably like to kill him themselves. It would probably be best if they didn't run into him, in that case. They flew directly to the top wall of the Palace, cloaked in illusion, and then started wandering through the Palace.

:There's got to be a better way to do this than wandering around,: Duo commented after a half-hour found them no closer to finding Trowa.

:She said that he's acting as Une's personal aide,: Heero said. :Where would she be?:

:Yelling at her troops, probably,: Duo remarked sarcastically.

:Where would they be?: Heero asked.

:Heero, I was being sarcastic. Although that probably is true,: Duo said, reconsidering. :I don't know, outside in the courtyard?:

:Freeze,: Wufei suddenly instructed, flattening himself against the wall. He'd seen what he thought was a familiar face, and they might be in trouble.

For once, Duo didn't question him, and all three of them fell silent as a man walked down the hall. Wufei clearly remembered his face from when he'd been captured, but that wasn't what had first clued him in that something was wrong. A faint aura of magic hung around him, which meant that he had to be one of Treize's Hunters. If he had the right kind of power, he might sense them.

Sure enough, as the man passed them, he stopped walking, turning his head around in confusion. Wufei silently muttered curses on the man's ancestors to the beginning of history while he hoped that Duo had the sense not to try and talk mind-to-mind with the man right here, he'd be sure to sense that. The man stepped a little closer to them and looked straight through Wufei. The man frowned slightly, shook his head with a slight shrug, and then continued down the hall.

They waited for a full minute until they were sure he was gone. :We should have just killed him,: Duo muttered.

Actually, Wufei agreed with him - the man was a dishonorable wretch who'd beaten him when he couldn't fight back - but now was not the time. :Let's go.:

:Holy shit!: Duo suddenly exclaimed as he rounded another corner, and he jumped backwards. In a second Wufei saw why.

Trowa came walking around the corner at a brisk pace, obviously on an errand. He slowed and raised his hands to his forehead as he passed them, then stumbled to a stop, looking around with obvious confusion on his face. It didn't seem right to see that much emotion openly displayed on his face. :What now?: Duo whispered.

Wufei couldn't believe what he was about to say. :Say something to him!: he hissed.

Duo hesitated for a second, then said, :Trowa?:

Trowa's head snapped up. "Who said that?" he asked out loud, looking around.

:Um...: Duo quickly switched to private speech between the three of them. :Quick, where's an empty room?:

:Two doors down on the right,: Heero responded immediately.

:Go down two doors and go into the room on your right, and I'll show you,: Duo told Trowa.

"I... I shouldn't. I'm on an errand for the Lady."

Leave it to Trowa to be reasonable with the voices in his head.

:This is more important.:

Trowa shook his head uncertainly. "I really have to go."

:Trowa, you have to come with us so we can help Quatre.:

Trowa froze again. "Quatre? That name... it sounds so familiar..."

:Yah. Come on, he's in trouble. We'll explain everything as soon as you just go in that room and close the door.:

"We?"

Well, that established that losing his memory hadn't made him any less observant.

:Just come on in, and I'll explain everything.: Privately, Duo muttered, :He's almost as stubborn now as he ever was. If he doesn't come soon I'm going to hit him over the head and drag him into that damn room, heal him, and explain it all when he wakes up.:

:Might work,: Heero conceded.

Luckily for all of them, Trowa decided that the name 'Quatre' was important enough to investigate, and obediently walked over to the door in question, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him. The other three exchanged a glance (which was difficult, while invisible), then opened the door and followed him in. He looked startled when the door opened and closed on it's own, and more so when the three of them suddenly became visible. Surprise and fear were obvious in his one visible eye. "Who... *what* are you?" he asked.

"We're friends of yours," Duo told him.

"I... I can't remember anything," Trowa confessed.

"We know."

"You do?"

"Uh-hu. You're very important, to a lot of people. We can help you get your memory back."

Trowa seemed to consider that for a moment. "Who's Quatre?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Duo asked, caught off-guard by the sudden topic shift.

"Who is Quatre?" Trowa repeated patiently. "It sounds... so familiar..."

"He's another friend of yours," Duo said quickly. "Well, more than a friend, actually... this is really the sort of thing you should be discussing with him."

"Where is he?"

"In the dungeon."

"The dungeon?! What is he doing there?"

Amazing. He doesn't even know who Quatre is and he's still in love with him, Wufei thought, less disgusted with the entire situation than he'd been when it started. Still protective, too, he observed.

"Look, Trowa, we've already been through this once," Duo said impatiently. "Just let me heal you, then you'll remember everything, and we can cut out the four or five days it would take to explain the entire situation to you. OK?"

Trowa's eye blinked. "You're going to heal me?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Look, this falls into the category of things you'll understand once I heal you, OK? Just trust me on this one. You would have before."

Trowa began to look stubborn. "No."

"What?"

"You haven't given me any evidence that you knew me before. You could be... whoever did this to me. You're doing... impossible things. You're not even human. I should leave." He turned to leave.

"How about Quatre?" Wufei asked. It was the one thing that seemed to have gotten a reaction out of him.

Trowa hesitated. "I..." he never got a chance to answer, because Wufei suddenly saw a surge of power from Duo and Trowa dropped to the ground. Duo caught him before he hit his head.

He looked up sheepishly. "I don't want him to remember walking out on Quatre when he comes out of this. This way, no more guilt. I have a feeling the two of them will be doing enough of that as it is."

Heero grunted, and Wufei was mildly surprised as Duo once again showed himself to be more insightful and compassionate than he appeared on the outside.

Duo held a glowing hand over Trowa's head, his brow furrowed in concentration. "This is a little weird," he muttered to himself. "It's not entirely physical, but I think..." he trailed off, but Wufei suddenly saw *something* change in Trowa's aura, and it was definitely a good change. Like popping a dislocated joint back into place.
"I think..." he started to say, but was cut off when there was suddenly a huge surge of power from Trowa, knocking them all off their feet. Actually, it sort of slammed them into the wall and destroyed most of the furnishings in the room. If they hadn't instinctively shielded, it might have killed them. It also shredded most of Trowa's clothing, which was just as well. Wufei didn't think that it would be a good idea for Quatre to see Trowa in an Oz uniform.

Then Trowa woke up. He immediately sat up and looked around, and the surge disappeared. The other three dropped lightly to the ground. "Remind me never to piss you off," Duo grumbled. "Do you remember everything?"

Trowa's eyes turned vague for a few seconds as he concentrated on healing himself and restoring his memories, then his one visible eye opened wide. "Quatre! Where is he?"

"He's below us, in the dungeon. He thinks he's killed you, and he hates himself, so he's lost his powers," Duo told him.

"Take me to him." Trowa opened his mind, obviously expecting to be given the placement that way so that he could conjure himself there.

"But we've been trying to hide our magic..." Duo trailed off as Trowa's eye narrowed slightly. "Never mind. If they didn't feel that, they'd probably have to be dead anyway. Let's get him out of here." New clothing appeared on Trowa as Duo sent an image of the door to them, and they conjured themselves there. One of the limitations on conjuring yourself to a place (other than the inherent limitation of distance) was that you actually had to see where you were going. They couldn't go directly into the cell because it was pitch black, and they could have very easily gotten lost and never arrived at their destination.

As soon as they appeared, Trowa frowned at the door, which obediently dissolved. There was a low whimper from inside as the little light from the corridor streamed inside, and Trowa actually hesitated. :I can't feel him.:

:He thinks you're dead, and he's lost his powers,: Duo reminded him. Trowa nodded once and stepped inside.

"Quatre?"

There was the clink of chains. "Trowa?" asked a hoarse voice.

Wufei's eyes were beginning to adjust as he stepped inside. Quatre was there, looking just as he had the last time they saw him. Wufei frowned slightly. No, not exactly the same - there were more, not less bruises on his face, causing Wufei to tighten his grip on his sword. He began to hope that the guards who'd done this would come down and try to stop them.

Trowa was standing just a few feet inside the cell, frozen in shock as he stared at Quatre. Quatre, for his part, was shielding his eyes against the feeble light, trying to get a glimpse of Trowa. He rose unsteadily to his feet, still shielding his eyes. After several more seconds he pulled his arm away from his eyes and stared at Trowa, a shocked expression on his face. He took a step forward, then another, and was suddenly jerked up short by the chains around his neck and wrists.

He stumbled, hands going up to the collar around his neck... Then he suddenly covered his ears with both hands and retreated back to the wall. "Go away!" he shouted, voice hoarse. "You're not real! You can't be real! I killed you! Leave me alone!"

His hysterical words seemed to break Trowa out of whatever trance he was in. He took several quick steps forward and gripped the collar, which crumbled under his fingers, then embraced Quatre fiercely. For several seconds Quatre didn't respond, he just stood there, shaking his head, a pained expression on his face. "It can't be real, can it?" Quatre asked out loud, but Wufei didn't think he was talking to anyone. "Trowa?" he continued, looking at Trowa's face. He tried to lift a hand to touch him, but the chain was tangled around something and he couldn't move his arm enough. "I killed you."

"I'm alive," Trowa said softly, holding Quatre's face with his hands, forcing Quatre to continue looking up at him.

"No, you can't be... I've seen you so many times... but I could never touch you..." Quatre whispered, trying to raise his hands again. Wufei felt something stirring in the back of his mind. Quatre's hands got caught by the chains again. "But you're touching me..." The presence in the back of his mind grew stronger as Quatre pressed his cheek against Trowa's chest. "You're real..."

Wufei sucked in his breath through his teeth as Quatre suddenly exploded with power, his magic flaring around him like a miniature sun.

"Get these things off me!" Quatre demanded angrily, pulling at the chains around his wrists. Suddenly they exploded outward in all directions with a flare of power that was visible even to normal eyes. Wufei threw up a shield and felt several pieces impact against it.

Trowa, much closer to the source, didn't have time to shield and grunted as one of the pieces hit him and opened up a cut on his thigh.

"Oh gods!" Quatre exclaimed, nearly hysterical again. "I'm hurting you again!" He immediately bent down and healed the minor cut.

"Quatre," Trowa said gently with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I'm so sorry! I... it's all my fault! I..."

"Quatre."

"You should just stay away from me! I'm dangerous..."

He sounds like Duo, Wufei observed, watching the strange interaction.

"Quatre!"

Quatre finally stopped babbling and looked at Trowa again. "What?"

"Are you all right?"

Quatre stared at him. "My... my eyes hurt. And I'm tired. They... they didn't give me very much food."

Trowa gave him sharp glance. "That's all that hurts?" he said, a hint of doubt in his voice.

Quatre actually blushed. "No, that's not all. They... every day they came in... it's not really their fault, they were angry because I killed a bunch of them and destroyed all those bases..."

Unbelievable. He was defending the people who'd been beating him every day while he was in this hellhole. Wufei felt like taking Quatre by the shoulders and shaking some sense into him.

:Well, it's good to know he hasn't changed much,: Duo commented. :Ah, I hear something. Me and Hee-chan will go out and make sure that they aren't interrupted. Keep an eye on them?:

Wufei wanted to demand to know what he expected him to do, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. It rarely was, with Duo. :Fine.:

Trowa's hands moved swiftly over Quatre's body, finally resting on Quatre's cheeks, wiping away the bruises. "Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," Quatre responded.

"Now we're even."

"Even? Trowa... after what I did to you..." Quatre sounded horrified. Now started the guilt exchanging that Duo had predicted.

"I wasn't there for you," Trowa responded.

"But that was my fault!" Quatre protested. "You lost your memories! And you had to spend time with Une!" He wrinkled his nose in distaste. It appeared that he had already fallen back into the habit of unconsciously picking up basic information from their minds.

Trowa smiled slightly. "She was actually quite kind to me, under the circumstances. The only complaint I have is that she kept me away from you."

Quatre dug his nose into the base of Trowa's throat, and Trowa rested his chin on the top of his head. "I'm so sorry," Quatre murmured out loud. The two of them were silent (at least out loud) for several minutes, but Wufei was aware that they were having a very involved discussion mind-to-mind. Wufei stared at the wall and tried not to intrude on what was obviously something very personal.

Despite himself, he found himself glancing at them every couple of seconds, then mentally scolding himself for his lack of discipline. But no sooner did he finish scolding himself than he found himself glancing at them again. What was wrong with him?!

You're jealous. Wufei froze as the thought occurred to him. Impossible. Crazy. Insane. And true. Wufei began mentally reciting all the curses that he knew of. He couldn't be jealous of those two, it was impossible. Damn it, he considered both of them to be his friends, but he wasn't interested in either of them in any other form. So where was this infernal jealously coming from?

It's not that you want to be with either of them, you're just jealous about what they have together. You want someone to care for you like that, his interfering brain told him. But again, it was true. Duo and Heero had gotten together for reasons beyond his understanding, and the attraction between Quatre and Trowa had been obvious even when they were still in captivity. But if something happened to him, would anyone care that much?

The others would be upset, he was sure of that, but he was equally certain that Quatre wouldn't try to drive himself insane as punishment if Wufei was hurt. That was the truth, and in a way, it hurt.

Wufei steeled himself against such emotions. They were unworthy of himself or the others. He'd just come to that decision when Quatre and Trowa finally came to an agreement, whatever it was. "I'm fine, really," Quatre insisted.

"You need real food," Trowa said firmly.

"I'm fine," Quatre repeated, getting a stubborn look on his face. He took one step towards the door and almost fell. Trowa caught him and in the next second swung him up into his arms. "Trowa! Put me down!" Quatre shouted.

"You can't walk."

"I can so."

Trowa nearly dropped Quatre on his feet, then caught him again as his legs collapsed out from under him. He gave Quatre a look.

"Just... just give me some energy and I'll be fine," Quatre repeated stubbornly.

Trowa raised an eyebrow, but Wufei saw him cast some of his energy at Quatre, who effortlessly caught it. "OK..." Quatre said slowly. "Just put me back down on the floor. Slowly this time," he added.

Trowa silently obeyed, and this time, Quatre stayed on his feet. "All right - I'm good now." He took several careful steps forward, Trowa less than a step behind him, ready to catch him if he fell. "Let's just get out of here."

Trowa asked, "Treize?" There was definite anger in his voice, and Quatre's expression darkened.

"Yes. We need to deal with him before we leave." There was a terrible note of finality in his voice, something that seemed horribly out of place coming from Quatre.

Wufei preceded them out of the cell, but stopped short when he almost tripped over a body in the hall. A dead body. Duo was leaning against the wall, humming happily to himself, and Heero was crouched over one of the *six* dead bodies cluttering the hall. Wufei looked at them. "I didn't feel anything," he remarked.

"Well, we thought it would be best to do it the old fashioned way," Duo remarked cheerfully. "They do know we're somewhere in the palace. We figured this way they wouldn't be able to pinpoint our presence right away. Of course, I don't know why we bothered, seeing how you people were just tossing energy around in there." His tone became less jaunty and more concerned. "How you doing, Q?"

"Much better," Quatre told him. "I'm sorry I caused so much trouble."

"No problem," Duo said with a shrug. "Just glad the two of your are back. I've had no one to talk to for weeks."

Wufei looked over at Heero, who was attempting to clean one of his three-sided blades on the guard's clothes. He gave both the knife and body a look of disgust when he realized that the knife wasn't getting any cleaner, due to the amount of sweat and grime on the guard's uniform.

"What now?" Duo asked.

"I..." Quatre exchanged a glance with Trowa. His voice suddenly turned stoney. "We want to find Treize, first. He has to pay for what he did to Tro... us. And father." His voice turned sad towards the end. "Then I want a long bath and some food," he finished plaintively.

"Oh. So if it doesn't matter if they know where we are..." Duo trailed off and made a gesture towards the cell, which suddenly imploded. They all shielded themselves as the walls collapsed inward, pulling down a good portion of the ceiling as well as the supports were destroyed. After a few seconds, the din he'd made died down to an uneasy silence. Wufei could barely see anything in the dust cloud that Duo had raised, but around their feet were several large blocks of stone that would have crushed them if they hadn't shielded.

"Ah, Duo?" Quatre said into the silence, then coughed.

:Yeah, Q?: Duo said, sounding a little shaken by what he'd accidentally caused. He'd definitely wanted to destroy that cell, but the four cells around it and the ones above it had been an accident. It was a good thing they'd been uninhabited.

:Do you know anything about physics?:

:What?:

:Calculating trajectories with a catapult and aiming for the weakest part of a wall or building to destroy it?:

:Ah, no.:

:And your predecessor didn't, either?:

:Not that I know of,: Duo said after he quickly checked.

:Remind me to give you a lesson later.:

:Check. So what do you say we go find the son-of-a-bitch?:

:Duo?:

:Yeah, Q?:

:I knew his mother, before she died. She was a sweet old woman.:

:Quatre... just say yes.:





Well, I was going to go a little farther with this file, but it's long enough as it is. So I'll get to the big revelation scene in the next chapter. (No, it's not the end - sorry to raise your hopes.) But you do get to find out why I called this story Prophecies (beyond the obvious - I did have an ulterior motive).