The Mandred Chronicles:

Consequences of Magic

by zapenstap




Heero remained kneeling for a moment, shielding his eyes as the wind died down about him. The supernatural light lighting up his face faded with the closing of the portal. In silence, Mandred followed Teleb out of the room, moving at a controlled, deliberate pace, the nimbus surrounding him still burning with Teleb's cracking orange flame. As he disspeared beyond the archway, the light went with him, the tension of power went with him, but Heero could still feel lit, rumbling like thunder in the distance.

Only then did Heero begin to breathe again, lowering his arm. His body shook with a strange trembling, the aftershock of pent up emotion and desperationg fizzling to nothingness. There had been real rage in Mandred's eyes, a fury fit to burn the world. It was something Heero had never seen or even imagined before in Mandred, and it frightened him. Vainly he sought for the memory of their pleasant conversations, of Mandred's hearty laugh and undying patience, but they alluded him. Mandred was terror itself. He was something other than human, clearly now, something dark and strange, full of fire and mystery.

Kyra broke the ominous quiet. "Stay with me, Falora," she said breathily, cradling the tiny girl's head in her lap, stroking her face and hair. "Just hold on."

Falora whimpered and Heero turned to look at her closely for the first time. Her face was ashen, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, a teardrop glimmering in the corner of her eye. The hands at her sides trembled as if she were clenching them, as if she were fighting to hold tightly to something that was trying to pull away. Abruptly her eyes opened and she stared up at Kyra, her brow crinkled and sweating. She said something, too softly to be heard, and Kyra responded in kind, encouragement and concerned urgency equal in her face.

"I'm not sure we weren't better off before!" Duo gasped suddenly. He was staring after the way Mandred had gone, his eyes attached to the door as if glued there, his reaction a bit delayed in his shock. Duo swallowed and managed to turn his head to look at Heero. He looked positively bewildered. "Was that was Mandred? He's one of these guys too?"

Emotion leapt in Heero's gut; fear, hope, anger... Mandred. Mandred. None of it made any sense, but the reaction surprised and confused him, it was so strong. His Mandred was... something else. Lies, betrayal... no... Kyra had told him, but to see it... It was all so strange, like watching a dream. Was he concerned, afraid, angry, hopeful...desperate?

Kyra saved him from having to respond, her head lifting from its studious concern over Falora to look in Duo's direction, and a bit beyond him. Her usual jovial face was creased with worry...and love. "Is Coran awake?" she asked. Those commanding, steady tones in her voice made her seem as confident and in control as always, but that look in her eye betrayed her. She was fighting, trying to control the situation, trying keep everyone and everything that depended on her to keep rolling forever forward, to make serious problem appear trivial by will alone. Falora certainly depended on her. Heero could tell just from the way she relaxed at the sound of Kyra's voice, the way her brow smoothed and her breathing deepened.

Duo glanced behind him. "No. Not yet. He looked pretty peaceful, though."

Kyra smiled then, her lips curving slightly. The concern in her eyes faded some and Heero caught a flash of humor flit across her face. "He's sleeping, eh?" she said, and must have kept relief out of her voice by some miracle. "That's so like him!" she chuckled. "I should kick him," she said matter-of-factly.

Falora coughed. "No. Let him sleep. Keep me awake."

"Oh, right," Kyra said, but Heero knew she hadn't forgotten Falora, not in the way she held her so carefully, nor in the controlled tone of her voice, though her eyes lingered over Coran's still form. "Want me to tell you a story?" she said cheerily.

Falora smiled weakly.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

"Earthquake," Duo muttered in amazement.

"The colonies don't have earthquakes!" Heero shouted.

The lights swayed alarmingly overhead, the rumbling of the building thudded loudly in their ears. There was no protection, no shelter. Coran awoke suddenly, coughing as dust rose from the floor.

Relena moved with the ground, unaware of the phenomenon. Relena! Panic clenching around his heart, Heero rose and darted to her side, holding her as the world rocked alarmingly, but as he touched her, he could feel in his blood her tortured body and felt his heart break. Oh God, she was dead. Flashes of her exploded in his mind, the brightness of her hair, her sad smile, the lonely look in her eyes that always seemed to plead with him, the way she always singled him out in a crowd with a glance or a gesture. She was so kind, so caring, so selfless, so strong. A classy, well-bred girl with a heart like a lion, a soldier princess... She was dead.

He forgot about the shaking of the ground. His heart was going to shatter. Grief welled up in him, poured over his head. He fought back the pain, the rage, the despair, physically shaking with the effort. Mandred, help me.

there must have been something in his face because Duo stared at him as he tried to steady himself. "...Heero?"

Cracks rent the earth, crawling across the floor like spiders webs, racing up the walls. They were not large, but their existence was alarming. Clutching Relena close, Heero stared about him with wild eyes. "Is the colony going to break?"

"No," Kyra gasped, bracing herself with one hand while still holding Falora. "This won't be felt everywhere. This is Mandred's doing, or Teleb's. Either way, it will be over before any serious damage can be done." She sounded so certain, but...

"These buildings aren't built to stand up to earthquakes," Coran coughed, speaking suddenly as he rose to his hands and knees. "I hope Mandred had the foresight to evacuate. Who knows what Teleb might do when cornered?" He looked at Falora. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah," Kyra said, again with absolute confidence, but Heero wasn't sure how well he believed it.

"Is Mandred in danger?" Duo asked. "Can we help him in any way?"

"No," Kyra said. "Mandred will be fine. He's a Master. There is a reason Teleb is afraid of him. He's gentler than Ranlath and he's not a bouty hunter, but he knows things the Throne has forgotten and he won't waste much time. Falora can't hold on forever."

As she spoke so reassuringly, the shaking and rumbling suddenly ceased, but other sounds could be heard, thuds and crashes like thunder and lightning just overhead.

Heero stroked Relena's face, listening to the sounds. Did anyone care that she was dead, or could they just not believe it, as he could not believe it? She still seemed to glow faintly, but he wondered if he was imagining it. She could not survive such treatment for this long. It was a mercy she was dead. A mercy... He felt his heart constrict at the thought. He didn't know how long he stared at her, absorbing the crisp and blackened skin, the burnt and broken hair. It wasn't really her, not like this, not something that had been so lovely... Suddenly there was tremendous rumble like something hitting the floor with great speed.

"They're outside," Falora gasped suddenly, her eyes clenched shut. "Someone else has come. Teleb is defeated." Then she groaned in pain.

Coran scowled. "That's so irritating. After all we did... Masters."

Kyra just looked at him, but she was smiling now, triumph in her eyes. How could they be so confident?

"How many of these Renegades have you... fought like this?" Duo asked in wonder.

"A few," Kyra said. "This encounter has been rather mild really, but the consequences are still..." She shook her head. "Mandred will fix it. He'll fix everything."

Heero was no longer listening. Relena was glowing. And she still felt warm, but he could not understand how. He swept back her bangs and felt her forehead. Yes, she was warm. He felt for her pulse under her chin and felt her blood pumping beneath his fingertips in amazement. Slowly, but steadily. She seemed to pulse with a golden light. Fury and hope crashed together inside him almost at once. "What is wrong with Relena?" he shouted in panic.

Everyone stared at him in amazement.

His breathing quickened. "Has Teleb done something to her? Is he extending her pain? Why can't he just let her die." He kissed her forehead and felt her ragged breathing against his throat. She breathed... "Don't make me kill you," he half-cursed aloud to her through sudden flowing tears. He had never cried before, but he did not notice it now. "Don't make me kill you. Why won't you just die?"

"Falora is holding her," Kyra said to him, urgently now. He trembled, raising his eyes to look at her. She held his gaze. "Falora has suspended her life state by putting it in time with her own, holding her here. She's not dead. It is possible she can be saved. Even if you stab her in the heart this moment she will live as long as Falora holds her. But Falora is fast losing strength."

Alive...

He kissed Relena's forehead again, pulling her close, tears drying on his cheeks. Live, he thought. Live for you, not for me, but live. Inside, his whole body shook with pain and rage and desperation. How could this have happened? He couldn't believe her dead anyway. Not her. Falora was holding her. She could be saved.

Mandred... He wasn't human. Had he been lied to all this time? It didn't matter, if she could be saved.

Blue light glowed suddenly pale and cold on his face. Heero looked up, cheeks stained with tears as Mandred suddenly returned, stepping out of thin air. The bright aura that had surrounded him vanished immediately. So did the portal. He looked normal, solid and patient, wise and caring. He looked as he always had. The anger had vanished from his face; the familiar thoughtfulness had replaced it. He strode into the room purposefully, as he had when coming home in the evenings.

Home.

Heero laid Relena carefully down and surged to his feet without any clear purpose. All he knew was the grief in his heart, the anguish and uselessness that seemed all there was left of his being. That, and an untamable and irrational fury.

"You lied to me!" he shouted in rage. "You, Master! Alfarian! Save her!" he yelled, demanded, ordered. He had never shouted at Mandred. He had never even dreamed of it, but crushing sorrow blanketed his reason and he felt as if his heart had stopped beating. "You can save her! You have the power! Damn you, save her!" Tears streaked his face, but he did not care and did not stop. He fell on Mandred like an enemy, all the while begging for his help. He aimed blows at his face and chest, clumsily, but in all seriousness. And Mandred somehow caught each and every one without effort. "This is your fault," Heero cried, and lost his momentum. His punches became weak and his whole body shook with tears and anguish. Mandred stopped blocking his attacks and suddenly Heero found himself being held, sobbing uncontrollably like a baby. "Nothing in my life was good before," he choked. He had never been held before, not that he could remember. He gasped, his legs weak, his body drained of energy.

"Is this about you?" Mandred asked gently.

"No," Heero said thickly, and glanced up. There was sorrow in Mandred's eyes and the hint of tears, but it was little more than for the present moment. Heero suddenly perceived that Mandred had many sorrows, a thousand times more grief than Heero had ever known in his own life. And more regrets too. "Can you save her life?" he asked hoarsely, remembering who this man was, who he believed him to be. He wasn't even clearly sure what that meant, but he believed.

"It is against the commands to interfere directly in the healing or harming of Outworlders," Mandred said. Heero felt as if a cloud had covered the sun. "But I will heal her anyway, if she wants to come back," Mandred continued, stepping away and past him toward Relena. "Come with me. You must call her. She will hearken to your voice if anyone's and I must concentrate."

"Hurry, Mandred," Kyra said. "Falora is fading."

Heero cursed himself for wasting time. Of course Mandred would do what he could. Against the commands? "What will happen if you disobey the commands and save Relena?" he asked.

"I will be apprehended and taken to trial," Mandred murmured without much concern, kneeling beside Relena's scorched and battered body. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed her. "There I will be judged and the Council will pronounce a sentence."

"Surely they won't incarcerate you for saving a life," Duo interjected. "I mean, Teleb did this to her, right? So isn't it your people's responsibility in a way?"

"The Council will decide that," Mandred said. "Please be quiet. She is wounded to the death and in great pain of body. Teleb was not kind." A softly glowing aura sprang up around him.

Heero watched anxiously, not caring about the strangeness of Mandred's abilities as he knelt on the other side of Relena. He took her left hand, blackened on one side, and clasped it tightly. Would she ever be able to walk again? Or see? Or smile? Her career would be ruined, as often in the media as she was, for she was no longer photogenic. He would have to make amends for that, somehow, if Mandred really could save her life.

Mandred laid a hand on Relena's forehead and smoothed back her bristling hair, his eyes running over her body, assessing the damage. The aura around him blazed brightly and Relena too began to glow. "She's in my control now, Falora," he said quietly. "Release her to me."

The soft golden glow Heero had noticed earlier vanished. Relena gasped, coming suddenly to life, but she was dying. Heero could tell she was dying. He could feel the energy ebbing away, could see her body sinking, her heart stopping.

"Relena," Heero called.

Mandred nodded, though he did not take his eyes from her.

And something changed. Abruptly Relena took in a deep breath, her chest rising, and Heero felt the blood pumping steadily in the veins of her wrist. She lived, a broken, blackened corps, but she lived...

He opened his mouth to speak to her, to tell her....

He had thought it was done, but then realized in amazement that he was mistaken. Relena lay unconscious, her life systems restored but her body still twisted and blackened when suddenly she flashed a solid white. Light rushed through her skin, turning her translucent. To Heero's amazement, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, the burned and scalded skin smoothed itself and became whole. Dead skin flaked away and vanished, absorbed into the light. The blackened hand Heero clasped rejuvenated, turning pale and shapely once more, the skin smooth and soft. The crisp, ruined flesh melted back into place and life and color flooded suddenly her face, flushing smooth cheeks. The light ebbed away, leaving a residue of newness. And then she opened her eyes, glowing blue like the light from the portals, staring into his. He thought the oceans must be contained within them, and could not wrench his gaze away. But she let out another gasp, convulsing slightly in shock as if ice water had been poured over her head. Her eyes rolled back to look at Mandred. Heero started as strength came suddenly into to her hands, for she squeezed his tightly and sat up, staring at Mandred. Her honey-blonde hair, soft and long, fell about her shoulders where moments before it had been crisp and dead. Heero let go of her in astonishment.

"Are you an angel?" she said breathlessly to Mandred.

"No," he replied with a smile. "How do you feel, my dear?"

"Like the work is all done and it's the beginning of summer," she said breathlessly. Her hand clutched at Heero's again, and she turned to him in amazement. "How is this possible?" she asked. "I was sure I was dying."

He touched her face uncertainly, bewildered, but no, it was as soft and whole as it looked. She stared at him in surprise as he touched her, but he did not notice. "I don't know," he said at last, drawing his hand away. He blinked, coming to himself. "Relena, you've met Mandred. This is his miracle."

She looked again at Mandred in surprise. "Sir," she breathed.

"Miracles belong to God and the people who receive them," Mandred refuted contritely. "This is standard procedure in Alfarian medical attention."

"I can't do it," Falora said dreamily.

"You're not an Alfarian," Mandred replied, but he still seemed absorbed in looking Relena over, as if making notes about her condition and health.

Heero turned to look at Falora. Her face was pale, but no longer ashen and she sat up slowly, blinking tiredly, though with a more natural fatique.

"You couldn't heal a bruise," Kyra told her. "And I thought you were supposed to be fainting?"

"I feel better now," she said firmly with a child-like air.

"You need sleep," Mandred said firmly, "and you'll be right as rain."

"That's our Falora!" Coran laughed, then added, "I could use a nap too."

Heero wasn't watching them. Relena tucked her hair behind her ear and inspected her own skin in growing astonishment, turning her hands over before her eyes. Duo seemed interested too, sitting cross-legged several feet away and peering at Relena with a scrutinizing eye.

"How do you feel?" Mandred asked. "You seem fully recovered from what I can tell."

"I feel fine," Relena said. "I hardly remember anything." She blinked. "My eyes, my skin... How is this possible?"

"Pain is a passing thing," Mandred said, shifting to stand. "That's part of its wonder. I am glad you are well."

Mandred stood, crossed the space between them and took Heero's head in his hands, staring deeply into his eyes. Heero gasped as a feeling like cold water rushed through him, followed by a glowing warmth that left him drowsy. Yet, when Mandred took his hands away, he felt fully restored. Even his mind seemed more aware, his emotions more stable. Mandred had already left him and walked to Duo, who backed up several paces with wide eyes before Mandred caught him. Duo tittered shakily as Mandred released him and moved on to Coran, who accepted his administration patiently. Heero got to his feet uncertainly and offered Relena a hand to rise. She took it with a smile, pulling herself up to stand beside him. He thought she might wobble, but she seemed steady enough, and merely held his hand.

Falora was the last Mandred came to, but she fended him off. "If you heal me now, I'll just drop to sleep. I want to stay awake for a bit."

Mandred nodded.

"How come?" Duo asked. "I mean, I feel more awake."

"I've restored your energy with mine," Mandred informed him. "But Falora's exhaustion is different than yours. She is magic-weary, and my life energy would not aid her there. Sleep is what she really needs, so she can restore herself."

"Are you tired now?" Relena asked Mandred.

"A little. Not much." He smiled mysteriously. "I have great resources of strength."

"Mandred," a new voice game softly and gravely. Everyone turned to see Immilie standing in the doorway. An aura of white surrounded her slim form and she stood patiently with timeless grace. She was more beautiful than Heero remembered, like an angel. There seemed to be a strange glittering about her hair, as if it were threaded with silver, but he could not make it out against the light of her aura She smiled a small, secretive smile and abruptly both the aura and the strange beauty vanished. "You're in trouble," she said with over-severity, leaning against the doorway.

"Immilie," Heero informed Duo. Duo blinked and scratched his head.

Mandred hummed a little tune which probably had some significance between them because she smiled.

"Don't worry, Mandred," Falora said brightly. "I won't tell the Council."

"But I will," Immilie said quietly, folding her hands in front of her. Her expression was calm and warm, but resolute, and Mandrd nodded thoughtfully.



Originally, this was the last chapter, but it was getting long. I divided it up so I can be more thorough with the resolution. Does it flow awkwardly? Revising something is more difficult than writing it straight through sometimes. Please Review!