Part 4
**
Quatre spent the next few morning hours searching throughout the entire city, speaking with all the people he could and asking about Trowa's whereabouts. It was somewhere around noon that he finally decided to give it a rest, especially since his stomach was crying out from lack of food. Quatre chose a empty crate in an alley to sit on and watched the crowd before him as he pondered the situation.
He'd searched for most of the morning and yet there was no sign of Trowa. Not a single person in the city had even heard of a boy matching his description and he was no where in site. Quatre couldn't think of what else to do, aside from becoming the priest and wishing for Trowa to return to him. But the whole problem with that idea was while he was the priest he had no idea what was happening to Trowa. What if he was hurt somewhere… and Quatre didn't call for him with Suzaku's power in time? What if the slave traders had him and he'd been sold…
Quatre shook his head to chase away the unpleasant thoughts but they remained in the back of his mind. No, becoming the priest was out of the question until he found Trowa. Besides, he had no guarantee that becoming the priest would even grant him the power Heero had spoken of. It was perfectly plausible that the entire thing was just some old myth that actually meant nothing in real life. He couldn't take that chance, he had to find Trowa first.
Quatre's sighed as his stomach growled again. "I guess I should have eaten something before I left," he muttered quietly. "Oh, where could he be?"
There is the sound of quick footsteps behind him and Quatre turns to look, but before he can he is knocked to the ground and a pair of arms wrap around him tightly.
"There you are! Who are you looking for, hmmm? I was back at the palace!"
"Duo?!" Quatre's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"
Duo snickered. "Following you, silly."
Quatre coughed and tried to push her away. "Lady Duo, please, I can't breathe…"
With a bright smile Duo let go and stood back up, offering Quatre a hand to help him to his feet. "Seriously, where are you going Quatre? It's dangerous for you to just wander around the city without a guard, you're lucky I followed you. You could have gotten into some really big trouble."
Quatre turned and glanced back toward the crowds of people carrying about their everyday business and sighed. "I was looking for someone."
"Someone? What do you mean? How is it that you know someone in this world?"
Quatre shook his head and sat back down on the crate. "No, he's not from this world. He arrived with me, but we were attacked by slave traders or something and he told me to run. When I looked back he was gone. I want to find him… I'm afraid something bad has happened."
"Cheer up, Q-man." Duo said with a grin, patting him on the shoulder. "You're the priest of Suzaku now, all you have to do is call Suzaku and wish him back."
Quatre shook his head. "I haven't even agreed yet, and besides that I have this nagging feeling that something horrible will happen while I'm concentrating on being the priest. I want to find him now, I'm afraid to wait."
"No problem. You're the priest, and you have your five warriors… err well you have three of the five warriors, but anyway we're bound to your service. So all you have to do is ask us to help you look for him. That's five more people helping you and then you don't have to wander around alone, besides, I'm sure Heero-sama would help too if you asked. And he has so many guards and money that we'd find your friend in no time."
Quatre seems to brighten up at her suggestions. "Is it really that easy?"
"Well, yeah, not that I've tried it or anything, but all you have to do is ask right? What's the worst that could happen?" Duo smiled brightly. "I'll help no matter what they say."
"Thank you, Duo!"
Duo grinned and gave Quatre a quick rib-crushing hug. "Great, now lets get back to the palace and bug them about it, ok?"
Quatre nodded and followed Duo toward the exit of the alley, but just as they were about to step out on to the street a large shadowy figure stepped into their path and blocked them from the street. The large man was dressed in a black cloak that was too small to hide his bright blue armor. At the sight of the man Quatre stepped back and spun around, only to find their other entrance blocked by another man dressed in the same armor.
"Sorry, but you won't be heading back to the palace, least not the one you're thinking of." The first armored man sneered. From beneath his cloak he unsheathed a large sword and pointed it toward them. Duo's eyes narrowed as she noticed the blue scale covered hilt of the sword.
"Shimatta! Quatre, they're Kuto soldiers, get back!"
"But-" Quatre shut his mouth quickly and backed away, but immediately turned around to face the other soldier, realizing there was nowhere for him to 'get back' too. "Duo…" he murmured in worry, Duo took a moment to glance over her shoulder and spotted the other guard, she swore again under her breath and backed up to guard Quatre.
"We only want the boy, you're free to go if you don't put up a fight." Growled the first soldier.
"But then again, a female from the Emperor's royal harem would be a fun captive," one of the others added with a leer.
Duo's eyes narrowed and she rolled up her sleeves. "I'm the only one who's going to have any fun here, buddy!" A mischevious grin spread across her face as she cracked her fists.
"Oh really?"
Duo only grinned. "Yep!" With that she pounced forward and pulled her fist back, nailing the one who'd made the nasty comment with the meanest right hook Quatre had ever seen in real life. The man immediately doubled over with a cry of pain, dropping his weapon to the ground, but nowhere within Duo's reach.
Behind Duo the first guard raced toward her, swinging his sword. Quatre watched Duo spin around, her long braid whipping over her shoulder and her red symbol glowing so bright it shown through the many layers of clothing. For a harem girl she certainly knew how to fight! As soon as the man got close enough she dropped to the ground and kicked out her foot, hitting him straight in the knee. The man tumbled to the ground with a loud thump.
Duo turned back to Quatre and opened her mouth to tell him to run but she was cut off as the soldier she'd just tripped grabbed the end of her dress and yanked hard, sending her tumbling to the ground. As soon as she hit the ground the man wrapped his thick and strong arms around her tightly and pulled them both to their feet. The man leered at Quatre.
"Let me go, you big ugly oaf!" Duo spat out as she struggled against his rock hard grip.
Quatre moved toward Duo, not sure what to do, when the other soldier grabbed him from behind.
"Quatre!"
"No… let… me… go!" Quatre gave a cry of frustration as he struggled and suddenly the alleyway flooded with a bright red light. The man holding on to Quatre immediately let go, tumbling to the ground and screaming about burns on his skin. Duo watched in amazement as bright and lively red flames danced around Quatre yet didn't burn him. Instead the sandy ground below him turn black as it was scorched and began to resemble glass, and Duo could feel the heat even though she was being held a ways away.
"Well I'll be damned," she murmured. "He really is the Preist of Suzaku."
The flames danced around Quatre for a few minutes as he just stood there in shock then they died down and Quatre crumbled to the ground, unconscious.
"Quatre!?! No! Now is not the time to take a nap, dammit!" At that moment the cold metal of a sword met with Duo's neck and the man holding her spoke in a hiss.
"Stay quiet, or I swear you will never wake up again."
Duo swallowed her anger and bit her tongue hard as she watched the man with the burned arms move timidly toward Quatre. His arms were burnt so bad they'd already started to blister and peel away, not a pretty sight that was sure. His armor was no longer the brilliant blue scales of the Kuto Empire, but was instead a charred ugly brown and in many places it had cracked. Duo glanced down and noticed with amazement that the ground under Quatre had indeed turned into a flat sheet of glass, wow that was some power!
As the men pulled the unconscious Quatre and the silent Duo into a waiting carriage a single shape stepped out of the shadows and watched quietly. Almond shaped eyes watched them without any emotion as they disappeared. Twisting his staff slightly, and causing it to jingle, he tapped his Frisbee-shaped straw hat and stepped back into the shadows, disappearing once more from sight.
**
"HEERO-SAMA!"
Heero winced as he heard Relena's voice cut through the air of the throne room and a second later she came racing in, holding her skirts high so she didn't trip. Gasping for air she stopped in front of the throne, a worried look across her face. She opened her mouth to explain her rush, but then remembered etiquette and dropped into a clumsy bow first.
Well, at least she remembered her manners, Heero commented in his mind. He raised an eyebrow in question.
"The priest… Quatre… he's… missing!"
Heero stands up from his throne quickly. "What? What do you mean he's missing?!"
Relena took a deep breath of air and tried to calm her rapid breathing from the run. "I went to check on him this morning and he wasn't in his room. And Duo's missing too… they weren't anywhere in the palace."
Once Relena pointed it out Heero realized that that morning had been the first in a long time where Duo hadn't tried to convince the guards to let them eat breakfast together, as she always tried to do. And he hadn't see her in the hallway between his chambers and the throne room either, which was quite strange. At the time he'd passed through said hallway his mind had been on the priest so he hadn't really thought about it, but now that Relena mentioned it… Either Duo had taken deathly ill or she wasn't in the palace.
"Are you sure you checked everywhere?" He asked with a frown.
Relena nodded quickly but stopped. "Well… I checked everywhere for the priest."
"Figures," Heero muttered under his breath. Relena couldn't care less if Duo rolled over and died. "Guard!" Heero called out loudly, three guards immediately stepped into the throne room and dropped into low bows. "Take several men with you and conduct a complete search for both the Preist of Suzaku and the Lady Duo, I want them found!"
"Hai!" All three guards nodded once and headed for the door to begin the search when a soft voiced echoed into the room, dancing through the air around them.
"You won't find them."
Heero moved quickly and a breath later had his sword in his hand. Whirling around he faced in the direction the voice seemed to have come from, sword ready. He glared angrily at the shadows.
"Who's there?" Relena asked quietly.
Heero, Relena and the guards watched as a man seemed to fold out of the shadows and become solid right in front of their eyes. He moved out of the shadows as if they were a door to be stepped through. He wore a simple outfit of gray lose pants and a white shirt, with a dark blue and red sash tied from his shoulder to his waist. A large straw hat shaded the majority of his face while in his right hand he clutched a long golden staff with an ornate top filled with many rings. As he stepped out of the shadows he touched the staff to the ground, causing the rings to jingle.
"They are no longer within your empire," he murmured softly as he took off the hat, revealing his hair to be black and fall in loose waves across his shoulders. His almond colored eyes met with Heero's, but he said nothing more.
"They are in Kuto," Heero murmured, placing the pieces together in his mind.
The strange man nodded. "They were taken this morning by Kuto soldiers. By now they are well past the border."
"You saw this?"
The man nodded once more.
Heero's hand tightened in anger around the hilt of his sword. "Then why did you not help them?"
At those words the man's eyes narrowed and his emotionless mask seemed to break. "They were weak," he murmured. "If they can not defend themselves then they do not deserve my help."
Heero took a step toward the man in anger. "This palace's security is air tight, there is no way you could have made your way in, unless you are a warrior of one of the four gods. You are helping us now so I assume you are one of us, a Suzaku Warrior."
"You assume correct."
Heero's voice grew dangerously low. "Then you had a duty to protect them!"
The man shook his head. "No, I did not. The boy, the one you call the priest, has not agreed to such a fate yet and as thus is not the Priest yet. It is better he taste how dangerous his tasks will be before he makes a decision. They will not kill him in Kuto, you know that as well as I. They wish only to prevent him from becoming the Priest of Suzaku. If he still agrees after this ordeal then I shall stand by his side in protection, but not before." The man's eyes met with Heero's blazing with anger. "The role of the Priest is not a game for mere boys to play."
Heero growled at that but said nothing in response. Instead he whirled around and headed for the doors on his own. He fully intended to march right over to Kuto and take the Priest and Duo back with him, with or without the other warrior's help. He didn't care what this strange man said, he'd seen Quatre's powers and he wasn't about to let the boy be killed.
As he reached the door to go outside his throne room a silent figure dressed in a gray robe caught his arm. Heero stopped and turned a deadly glare on the man. "You will let go of my arm," he commanded in a low voice.
The silent man frowned but did not let go. "Heero-sama, as your top advisor I can not allow you to place yourself in such direct danger."
"The life of one person doesn't matter. The Priest is more-"
"But you, Heero, are no mere person. You are the Emperor of Konan and without an heir. If you were to die the empire would be thrown into chaos and Kuto would not give pause to take control. You can not afford to act so recklessly when such actions could lead to civil war and the deaths of your subjects."
Heero gritted his teeth in anger.
"Your advisor is correct," the man from the shadows said softly.
Heero yanked his arm away from the advisor in anger but turned away from the door, returning to sit on his throne, brooding in anger and thought. Off to the side the man from the shadows turned back to shadows to disappear once more.
"Wait," Heero spoke quietly, the anger mostly gone from his voice.
The figure paused and glanced back at him in question.
"If you are truly a warrior of Suzaku show me your symbol."
The man nodded and slid the shoe off his right foot as he leaned on his staff. A red symbol blazed to life on the top of his foot. "Crater, the cup." He spoke quietly, then slid his foot back into his shoe. He glanced back to the Emperor "The boy is yours to deal with as you see fit. I will return when the Preist of Suzaku appears, be it him or not." Then he turned and stepped back into the shadows, dissolving into nothing.
Heero glanced to the three guards still standing near the door and frowned. No point in sending them to search now. "I retract my last orders, dismissed."
The guards bowed and left the room quickly.
Meanwhile Relena glanced between Heero and his advisor, frowning. "What? You're kidding me right? No one is going after them?"
"Relena, please leave. I need time to think."
Relena swallowed quietly and opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it. With a short bow she left the throne room, as did Heero's advisor, leaving the young emperor to brood in his throne… and plan.
**
Duo placed her hand lightly on Quatre's shoulder and shook him a bit.
"Quatre? Wake up already…"
Quatre groaned quietly and rolled over onto his side, grabbing his head. After a few moments of holding his head as if it were in pain he managed to keep his eyes open and glance up at a very relieved Duo. "What…?"
"Oh, good! I was beginning to get worried you weren't ever going to wake up. Do you remember what happened?"
Quatre moved to sit up and winced as his head spun around quickly. He quickly closed his eyes until the dizziness went away. "I left the palace looking for Trowa… and we were attacked… and then everything turned red and hot." Quatre opened his eyes and looked around, trying once again to sit up. This time he managed without much protest from his aching body. "Where are we?"
"We're in a cell in the Kuto empire. Those thugs that kidnapped us brought us here."
Quatre frowned. "Kuto?"
"Yeah, the kingdom to the East of Konan. Those slimy bastards always have one serious case of jealousy. They've always had some dumbass reason to hate us."
Struggling to his feet Quatre walked over to the bars of the cell and glanced around the room, noting they are surrounded by numerous other cells, though the other all seemed to be empty. Leaning against the bars he turned back to Duo and hung his head. "Great, guess I really messed up, huh?"
"Hey, it's not you're fault, Q-man. I'm the one who was supposed to be protecting you remember? You certainly gave it your best, I've never seen power like you showed there in that alley before."
Quatre sighed and didn't look up. "What good is a power like that if I can't control it?"
Duo stood up and walked over to Quatre, placing both her hands on the boy's shoulders. "Quatre, listen. If anyone screwed up it was me for not protecting you. In any case there's nothing we can do about it now so we just have to wait here and see what happens. We're still both alive and that's a major plus. So no worries, all right?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Quatre sighed softly and glanced away, to the cell across from them. He blinked in surprise as he thought he spotted movement. Turning away from Duo he looked into the cell with hope. "Is someone in there?"
For a moment there was silence then a young girl stepped to the bars. She was dressed in dirty and worn-out robes with ruffled dark hair and dark blue eyes. Timidly she looked at them but still stayed a ways away from her bars as if they would bite or something strange like that. "My name's Hilde," she said quietly.
"I'm Quatre and this is Duo, do you know a way out of here?"
Hilde shook her head sadly. If I did I would have left a long time ago."
"Hey," Duo interrupted suddenly. "Heads up, we've got company." She nodded toward the door where there was the obvious sound of key rattling. Hilde immediately sunk back into the dark corners of her cell, far from sight, while Duo and Quatre backed away from the bars of their cell.
The thick wooden door swung open to reveal a man dressed from head to toe in shining blue armor with a bluish green cloak hanging from his shoulders. Light blond hair hung loosely across his shoulders and his blue eyes concentrated immediately on Quatre with intelligence. Quatre knew immediately that this man was smart, and he had a look on his face like he was accustomed to planning things and getting them to go his way, always. Quatre immediately didn't like him.
The man spoke in a calm cool voice, directing all his attention to Quatre as if there was no one else in the room. "You are the one they call the Priest of Suzaku."
It was a statement, not a question, but Quatre still felt compelled to nod before he could stop himself. His eyes widened as he watched the door to their cell swing open on its own accord, and the man nodded toward him.
"You have but one chance to live, please step out of the cell."
Quatre swallowed hard and glanced back at Duo in worry. He looked back to the man and took a deep breath, gathering his courage. "Why? What do you want me to do?"
"You will step out of your cell and show me the power of Suzaku. You will fight against me with the power of Suzaku and then I will allow you and your friend to live."
"I… I can't! I can't summon it at will!"
The man nodded and turned away from them, the door to their cell swinging shut on its own once more. "Then you die in the morning." With those words he headed for the door.
"Wait!" Quatre yelled quickly, Duo jumped forward and grabbed his arm.
"Are you crazy? You can't fight him! Anyone can tell from his armor that he's a pro, you wouldn't stand a chance!" Duo turned her deep violet eyes toward the man. "If you're going to fight anyone, fight me!"
The man turned back to them with a smirk of amusement on his face. "You have the fire of battle within you, true, and I have no doubt it would be entertaining. However, I desire only to see the power of Suzaku. Not the fists of a mere harem wench."
Duo's eyes narrowed at those words but Quatre shook his head.
"I don't want to fight you, there is no reason. All I want to do is find Trowa and go home."
The man shrugged. "Well, Priest of Suzaku, it seems you have no choice."
Quatre swallowed hard and bit his bottom lip. Taking a deep breath he gave a slow nod.
"Quatre?! You can't be serious!"
"It's my fault you're in this mess in the first place." Quatre turned back to the man and locked eyes with him. "I accept."
**
Quatre - The Priest of Suzaku
Trowa - A boy sucked into the Universe of the Four Gods with Quatre
Heero - Emperor of Konan, a Suzaku Warrior
Duo - a lady in Heero's harem, also a Suzaku warrior
Zechs - the mysterious man who saved Trowa from slave traders
Relena - a lady in Heero's harem, also a Suzaku warrior
Hilde - a young woman in the cells of Kuto
**
Quatre spent the next few morning hours searching throughout the entire city, speaking with all the people he could and asking about Trowa's whereabouts. It was somewhere around noon that he finally decided to give it a rest, especially since his stomach was crying out from lack of food. Quatre chose a empty crate in an alley to sit on and watched the crowd before him as he pondered the situation.
He'd searched for most of the morning and yet there was no sign of Trowa. Not a single person in the city had even heard of a boy matching his description and he was no where in site. Quatre couldn't think of what else to do, aside from becoming the priest and wishing for Trowa to return to him. But the whole problem with that idea was while he was the priest he had no idea what was happening to Trowa. What if he was hurt somewhere… and Quatre didn't call for him with Suzaku's power in time? What if the slave traders had him and he'd been sold…
Quatre shook his head to chase away the unpleasant thoughts but they remained in the back of his mind. No, becoming the priest was out of the question until he found Trowa. Besides, he had no guarantee that becoming the priest would even grant him the power Heero had spoken of. It was perfectly plausible that the entire thing was just some old myth that actually meant nothing in real life. He couldn't take that chance, he had to find Trowa first.
Quatre's sighed as his stomach growled again. "I guess I should have eaten something before I left," he muttered quietly. "Oh, where could he be?"
There is the sound of quick footsteps behind him and Quatre turns to look, but before he can he is knocked to the ground and a pair of arms wrap around him tightly.
"There you are! Who are you looking for, hmmm? I was back at the palace!"
"Duo?!" Quatre's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"
Duo snickered. "Following you, silly."
Quatre coughed and tried to push her away. "Lady Duo, please, I can't breathe…"
With a bright smile Duo let go and stood back up, offering Quatre a hand to help him to his feet. "Seriously, where are you going Quatre? It's dangerous for you to just wander around the city without a guard, you're lucky I followed you. You could have gotten into some really big trouble."
Quatre turned and glanced back toward the crowds of people carrying about their everyday business and sighed. "I was looking for someone."
"Someone? What do you mean? How is it that you know someone in this world?"
Quatre shook his head and sat back down on the crate. "No, he's not from this world. He arrived with me, but we were attacked by slave traders or something and he told me to run. When I looked back he was gone. I want to find him… I'm afraid something bad has happened."
"Cheer up, Q-man." Duo said with a grin, patting him on the shoulder. "You're the priest of Suzaku now, all you have to do is call Suzaku and wish him back."
Quatre shook his head. "I haven't even agreed yet, and besides that I have this nagging feeling that something horrible will happen while I'm concentrating on being the priest. I want to find him now, I'm afraid to wait."
"No problem. You're the priest, and you have your five warriors… err well you have three of the five warriors, but anyway we're bound to your service. So all you have to do is ask us to help you look for him. That's five more people helping you and then you don't have to wander around alone, besides, I'm sure Heero-sama would help too if you asked. And he has so many guards and money that we'd find your friend in no time."
Quatre seems to brighten up at her suggestions. "Is it really that easy?"
"Well, yeah, not that I've tried it or anything, but all you have to do is ask right? What's the worst that could happen?" Duo smiled brightly. "I'll help no matter what they say."
"Thank you, Duo!"
Duo grinned and gave Quatre a quick rib-crushing hug. "Great, now lets get back to the palace and bug them about it, ok?"
Quatre nodded and followed Duo toward the exit of the alley, but just as they were about to step out on to the street a large shadowy figure stepped into their path and blocked them from the street. The large man was dressed in a black cloak that was too small to hide his bright blue armor. At the sight of the man Quatre stepped back and spun around, only to find their other entrance blocked by another man dressed in the same armor.
"Sorry, but you won't be heading back to the palace, least not the one you're thinking of." The first armored man sneered. From beneath his cloak he unsheathed a large sword and pointed it toward them. Duo's eyes narrowed as she noticed the blue scale covered hilt of the sword.
"Shimatta! Quatre, they're Kuto soldiers, get back!"
"But-" Quatre shut his mouth quickly and backed away, but immediately turned around to face the other soldier, realizing there was nowhere for him to 'get back' too. "Duo…" he murmured in worry, Duo took a moment to glance over her shoulder and spotted the other guard, she swore again under her breath and backed up to guard Quatre.
"We only want the boy, you're free to go if you don't put up a fight." Growled the first soldier.
"But then again, a female from the Emperor's royal harem would be a fun captive," one of the others added with a leer.
Duo's eyes narrowed and she rolled up her sleeves. "I'm the only one who's going to have any fun here, buddy!" A mischevious grin spread across her face as she cracked her fists.
"Oh really?"
Duo only grinned. "Yep!" With that she pounced forward and pulled her fist back, nailing the one who'd made the nasty comment with the meanest right hook Quatre had ever seen in real life. The man immediately doubled over with a cry of pain, dropping his weapon to the ground, but nowhere within Duo's reach.
Behind Duo the first guard raced toward her, swinging his sword. Quatre watched Duo spin around, her long braid whipping over her shoulder and her red symbol glowing so bright it shown through the many layers of clothing. For a harem girl she certainly knew how to fight! As soon as the man got close enough she dropped to the ground and kicked out her foot, hitting him straight in the knee. The man tumbled to the ground with a loud thump.
Duo turned back to Quatre and opened her mouth to tell him to run but she was cut off as the soldier she'd just tripped grabbed the end of her dress and yanked hard, sending her tumbling to the ground. As soon as she hit the ground the man wrapped his thick and strong arms around her tightly and pulled them both to their feet. The man leered at Quatre.
"Let me go, you big ugly oaf!" Duo spat out as she struggled against his rock hard grip.
Quatre moved toward Duo, not sure what to do, when the other soldier grabbed him from behind.
"Quatre!"
"No… let… me… go!" Quatre gave a cry of frustration as he struggled and suddenly the alleyway flooded with a bright red light. The man holding on to Quatre immediately let go, tumbling to the ground and screaming about burns on his skin. Duo watched in amazement as bright and lively red flames danced around Quatre yet didn't burn him. Instead the sandy ground below him turn black as it was scorched and began to resemble glass, and Duo could feel the heat even though she was being held a ways away.
"Well I'll be damned," she murmured. "He really is the Preist of Suzaku."
The flames danced around Quatre for a few minutes as he just stood there in shock then they died down and Quatre crumbled to the ground, unconscious.
"Quatre!?! No! Now is not the time to take a nap, dammit!" At that moment the cold metal of a sword met with Duo's neck and the man holding her spoke in a hiss.
"Stay quiet, or I swear you will never wake up again."
Duo swallowed her anger and bit her tongue hard as she watched the man with the burned arms move timidly toward Quatre. His arms were burnt so bad they'd already started to blister and peel away, not a pretty sight that was sure. His armor was no longer the brilliant blue scales of the Kuto Empire, but was instead a charred ugly brown and in many places it had cracked. Duo glanced down and noticed with amazement that the ground under Quatre had indeed turned into a flat sheet of glass, wow that was some power!
As the men pulled the unconscious Quatre and the silent Duo into a waiting carriage a single shape stepped out of the shadows and watched quietly. Almond shaped eyes watched them without any emotion as they disappeared. Twisting his staff slightly, and causing it to jingle, he tapped his Frisbee-shaped straw hat and stepped back into the shadows, disappearing once more from sight.
**
"HEERO-SAMA!"
Heero winced as he heard Relena's voice cut through the air of the throne room and a second later she came racing in, holding her skirts high so she didn't trip. Gasping for air she stopped in front of the throne, a worried look across her face. She opened her mouth to explain her rush, but then remembered etiquette and dropped into a clumsy bow first.
Well, at least she remembered her manners, Heero commented in his mind. He raised an eyebrow in question.
"The priest… Quatre… he's… missing!"
Heero stands up from his throne quickly. "What? What do you mean he's missing?!"
Relena took a deep breath of air and tried to calm her rapid breathing from the run. "I went to check on him this morning and he wasn't in his room. And Duo's missing too… they weren't anywhere in the palace."
Once Relena pointed it out Heero realized that that morning had been the first in a long time where Duo hadn't tried to convince the guards to let them eat breakfast together, as she always tried to do. And he hadn't see her in the hallway between his chambers and the throne room either, which was quite strange. At the time he'd passed through said hallway his mind had been on the priest so he hadn't really thought about it, but now that Relena mentioned it… Either Duo had taken deathly ill or she wasn't in the palace.
"Are you sure you checked everywhere?" He asked with a frown.
Relena nodded quickly but stopped. "Well… I checked everywhere for the priest."
"Figures," Heero muttered under his breath. Relena couldn't care less if Duo rolled over and died. "Guard!" Heero called out loudly, three guards immediately stepped into the throne room and dropped into low bows. "Take several men with you and conduct a complete search for both the Preist of Suzaku and the Lady Duo, I want them found!"
"Hai!" All three guards nodded once and headed for the door to begin the search when a soft voiced echoed into the room, dancing through the air around them.
"You won't find them."
Heero moved quickly and a breath later had his sword in his hand. Whirling around he faced in the direction the voice seemed to have come from, sword ready. He glared angrily at the shadows.
"Who's there?" Relena asked quietly.
Heero, Relena and the guards watched as a man seemed to fold out of the shadows and become solid right in front of their eyes. He moved out of the shadows as if they were a door to be stepped through. He wore a simple outfit of gray lose pants and a white shirt, with a dark blue and red sash tied from his shoulder to his waist. A large straw hat shaded the majority of his face while in his right hand he clutched a long golden staff with an ornate top filled with many rings. As he stepped out of the shadows he touched the staff to the ground, causing the rings to jingle.
"They are no longer within your empire," he murmured softly as he took off the hat, revealing his hair to be black and fall in loose waves across his shoulders. His almond colored eyes met with Heero's, but he said nothing more.
"They are in Kuto," Heero murmured, placing the pieces together in his mind.
The strange man nodded. "They were taken this morning by Kuto soldiers. By now they are well past the border."
"You saw this?"
The man nodded once more.
Heero's hand tightened in anger around the hilt of his sword. "Then why did you not help them?"
At those words the man's eyes narrowed and his emotionless mask seemed to break. "They were weak," he murmured. "If they can not defend themselves then they do not deserve my help."
Heero took a step toward the man in anger. "This palace's security is air tight, there is no way you could have made your way in, unless you are a warrior of one of the four gods. You are helping us now so I assume you are one of us, a Suzaku Warrior."
"You assume correct."
Heero's voice grew dangerously low. "Then you had a duty to protect them!"
The man shook his head. "No, I did not. The boy, the one you call the priest, has not agreed to such a fate yet and as thus is not the Priest yet. It is better he taste how dangerous his tasks will be before he makes a decision. They will not kill him in Kuto, you know that as well as I. They wish only to prevent him from becoming the Priest of Suzaku. If he still agrees after this ordeal then I shall stand by his side in protection, but not before." The man's eyes met with Heero's blazing with anger. "The role of the Priest is not a game for mere boys to play."
Heero growled at that but said nothing in response. Instead he whirled around and headed for the doors on his own. He fully intended to march right over to Kuto and take the Priest and Duo back with him, with or without the other warrior's help. He didn't care what this strange man said, he'd seen Quatre's powers and he wasn't about to let the boy be killed.
As he reached the door to go outside his throne room a silent figure dressed in a gray robe caught his arm. Heero stopped and turned a deadly glare on the man. "You will let go of my arm," he commanded in a low voice.
The silent man frowned but did not let go. "Heero-sama, as your top advisor I can not allow you to place yourself in such direct danger."
"The life of one person doesn't matter. The Priest is more-"
"But you, Heero, are no mere person. You are the Emperor of Konan and without an heir. If you were to die the empire would be thrown into chaos and Kuto would not give pause to take control. You can not afford to act so recklessly when such actions could lead to civil war and the deaths of your subjects."
Heero gritted his teeth in anger.
"Your advisor is correct," the man from the shadows said softly.
Heero yanked his arm away from the advisor in anger but turned away from the door, returning to sit on his throne, brooding in anger and thought. Off to the side the man from the shadows turned back to shadows to disappear once more.
"Wait," Heero spoke quietly, the anger mostly gone from his voice.
The figure paused and glanced back at him in question.
"If you are truly a warrior of Suzaku show me your symbol."
The man nodded and slid the shoe off his right foot as he leaned on his staff. A red symbol blazed to life on the top of his foot. "Crater, the cup." He spoke quietly, then slid his foot back into his shoe. He glanced back to the Emperor "The boy is yours to deal with as you see fit. I will return when the Preist of Suzaku appears, be it him or not." Then he turned and stepped back into the shadows, dissolving into nothing.
Heero glanced to the three guards still standing near the door and frowned. No point in sending them to search now. "I retract my last orders, dismissed."
The guards bowed and left the room quickly.
Meanwhile Relena glanced between Heero and his advisor, frowning. "What? You're kidding me right? No one is going after them?"
"Relena, please leave. I need time to think."
Relena swallowed quietly and opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it. With a short bow she left the throne room, as did Heero's advisor, leaving the young emperor to brood in his throne… and plan.
**
Duo placed her hand lightly on Quatre's shoulder and shook him a bit.
"Quatre? Wake up already…"
Quatre groaned quietly and rolled over onto his side, grabbing his head. After a few moments of holding his head as if it were in pain he managed to keep his eyes open and glance up at a very relieved Duo. "What…?"
"Oh, good! I was beginning to get worried you weren't ever going to wake up. Do you remember what happened?"
Quatre moved to sit up and winced as his head spun around quickly. He quickly closed his eyes until the dizziness went away. "I left the palace looking for Trowa… and we were attacked… and then everything turned red and hot." Quatre opened his eyes and looked around, trying once again to sit up. This time he managed without much protest from his aching body. "Where are we?"
"We're in a cell in the Kuto empire. Those thugs that kidnapped us brought us here."
Quatre frowned. "Kuto?"
"Yeah, the kingdom to the East of Konan. Those slimy bastards always have one serious case of jealousy. They've always had some dumbass reason to hate us."
Struggling to his feet Quatre walked over to the bars of the cell and glanced around the room, noting they are surrounded by numerous other cells, though the other all seemed to be empty. Leaning against the bars he turned back to Duo and hung his head. "Great, guess I really messed up, huh?"
"Hey, it's not you're fault, Q-man. I'm the one who was supposed to be protecting you remember? You certainly gave it your best, I've never seen power like you showed there in that alley before."
Quatre sighed and didn't look up. "What good is a power like that if I can't control it?"
Duo stood up and walked over to Quatre, placing both her hands on the boy's shoulders. "Quatre, listen. If anyone screwed up it was me for not protecting you. In any case there's nothing we can do about it now so we just have to wait here and see what happens. We're still both alive and that's a major plus. So no worries, all right?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Quatre sighed softly and glanced away, to the cell across from them. He blinked in surprise as he thought he spotted movement. Turning away from Duo he looked into the cell with hope. "Is someone in there?"
For a moment there was silence then a young girl stepped to the bars. She was dressed in dirty and worn-out robes with ruffled dark hair and dark blue eyes. Timidly she looked at them but still stayed a ways away from her bars as if they would bite or something strange like that. "My name's Hilde," she said quietly.
"I'm Quatre and this is Duo, do you know a way out of here?"
Hilde shook her head sadly. If I did I would have left a long time ago."
"Hey," Duo interrupted suddenly. "Heads up, we've got company." She nodded toward the door where there was the obvious sound of key rattling. Hilde immediately sunk back into the dark corners of her cell, far from sight, while Duo and Quatre backed away from the bars of their cell.
The thick wooden door swung open to reveal a man dressed from head to toe in shining blue armor with a bluish green cloak hanging from his shoulders. Light blond hair hung loosely across his shoulders and his blue eyes concentrated immediately on Quatre with intelligence. Quatre knew immediately that this man was smart, and he had a look on his face like he was accustomed to planning things and getting them to go his way, always. Quatre immediately didn't like him.
The man spoke in a calm cool voice, directing all his attention to Quatre as if there was no one else in the room. "You are the one they call the Priest of Suzaku."
It was a statement, not a question, but Quatre still felt compelled to nod before he could stop himself. His eyes widened as he watched the door to their cell swing open on its own accord, and the man nodded toward him.
"You have but one chance to live, please step out of the cell."
Quatre swallowed hard and glanced back at Duo in worry. He looked back to the man and took a deep breath, gathering his courage. "Why? What do you want me to do?"
"You will step out of your cell and show me the power of Suzaku. You will fight against me with the power of Suzaku and then I will allow you and your friend to live."
"I… I can't! I can't summon it at will!"
The man nodded and turned away from them, the door to their cell swinging shut on its own once more. "Then you die in the morning." With those words he headed for the door.
"Wait!" Quatre yelled quickly, Duo jumped forward and grabbed his arm.
"Are you crazy? You can't fight him! Anyone can tell from his armor that he's a pro, you wouldn't stand a chance!" Duo turned her deep violet eyes toward the man. "If you're going to fight anyone, fight me!"
The man turned back to them with a smirk of amusement on his face. "You have the fire of battle within you, true, and I have no doubt it would be entertaining. However, I desire only to see the power of Suzaku. Not the fists of a mere harem wench."
Duo's eyes narrowed at those words but Quatre shook his head.
"I don't want to fight you, there is no reason. All I want to do is find Trowa and go home."
The man shrugged. "Well, Priest of Suzaku, it seems you have no choice."
Quatre swallowed hard and bit his bottom lip. Taking a deep breath he gave a slow nod.
"Quatre?! You can't be serious!"
"It's my fault you're in this mess in the first place." Quatre turned back to the man and locked eyes with him. "I accept."
**
Quatre - The Priest of Suzaku
Trowa - A boy sucked into the Universe of the Four Gods with Quatre
Heero - Emperor of Konan, a Suzaku Warrior
Duo - a lady in Heero's harem, also a Suzaku warrior
Zechs - the mysterious man who saved Trowa from slave traders
Relena - a lady in Heero's harem, also a Suzaku warrior
Hilde - a young woman in the cells of Kuto
