Okay, this is it! I would like to thank everybody that read, especially those who reviewed. I would also like to thank my friends who I attend school with and my other good friend who I no longer attend school with. Lastly, I want to thank Shadow of a Rose for inspiring me to actually write and post this fic. Coming soon: "Virus"! That's a sci-fi one about Wufei! Thanks again!
8. Kyrie e lei son (Latin: God have mercy on our souls)
Heero stumbled back slightly as Quatre fell into his arms screaming his head off. He watched in confusion as Quatre struggled away from him and crawled into a corner. There he sat rocking violently, holding his knees.
"Quatre…" Heero's voice trailed off as Quatre shook his head and started rambling in some incomprehensible language. He looked for all the world like he'd gone insane. Heero attempted to approach him only to be stopped by his loud and panicked whimpering. He didn't want to believe that Quatre had lost his mind but everything about his manner said that he had. Suddenly Quatre began to murmur something that Heero understood.
"It should've been me. It should've been me. It should've been me. It should've been me. It should've been me. It should've –." Quatre rocked rhythmically as he repeated the words again and again. Heero was about to try to approach Quatre a second time when he heard shuffling behind him. He exited the hallway he was in through the door in the direction he thought the sound had come from. The door led him into an unbelievably large kitchen. Once inside the kitchen, the sound of soft humming reached his ears. He edged cautiously around the enormous counter and caught sight of Trowa sitting on the floor, twiddling a knife in his fingers. Scarlet blood stained both the blade and his fingertips. He was staring absent mindedly at the metal, softly humming a haunting melody. Heero raised a questioning eyebrow. Should he stop Trowa? He decided that he shouldn't allow Trowa to further harm himself. He moved forward to take the knife and Trowa didn't resist. However, when his fingers closed around the handle, Trowa refused to let go of the knife. Using all his strength, Heero attempted to take the knife again but he just couldn't pry it from Trowa's hand. Heero thought this to be odd, to say the least, but what he considered even stranger was the fact that Trowa wouldn't even look up at him. He had also continued to hum that same melancholy tune the whole time they had wrestled over the knife. Heero suddenly released the knife as a cold wave of realization swept over him – Trowa had gone insane too.
"Trowa, can you hear me?" Heero called. Trowa's eyes stayed locked on the knife.
Soon they will all know what I can do…what I am capable of...they cannot stop me…
Heero grunted with effort as he hoisted Trowa to his feet. He more or less dragged him back into the hallway where Quatre still sat and sat him down near the trembling boy. He stood there and observed the two of them for a moment. They didn't seem to recognize him or each other. He didn't know what to think. The only rational thought that would come to his mind was that they needed help. If they weren't able to think, they wouldn't be able to pilot their Gundams which was not acceptable. After awhile he realized that there was another pilot he needed to find – Wufei. He had merely found both Trowa and Quatre by coincidence; he might not have the same luck in finding Wufei. A loud scream broke into his thoughts. Perhaps he would have luck finding Wufei after all. He followed the sound but soon found himself stuck at an intersection of corridors. He didn't know which way the sound had come from. As luck would have it, another pained cry echoed from one of the halls. This was followed by loud, angry swearing which further aided in Heero's locating of Wufei. He found him curled into a fetal position on the floor of the conservatory, cursing obscenely and holding his stomach. Heero hoped that Wufei was still in his right mind but the way he was acting was shattering his hopes quickly. He stood over Wufei and attempted to talk to him.
"Are you alright, Wufei?" he asked. Though his voice carried no emotion, he was a bit worried. If Wufei had gone crazy and he should lose his mind too, there wouldn't be anyone to pilot any of the Gundams. That, of course, would not be good. Wufei didn't respond to his question. He only curled up tighter into his protective ball and spat more acidic curse words. Just as he had suspected, Wufei had also become mentally incapacitated. With mild resistance from Wufei, he lifted the boy into his arms. Wufei clung to him firmly, resembling a frightened child which, in essence, he was. Heero took Wufei back to the place he had left Quatre and Trowa and not surprisingly, found that they were both still there. He sat Wufei down near Trowa and watched as he turned to the wall and curled up once again. Heero sat in front of his three copilots and tried to think of a way to help them. After awhile he still hadn't come up with any good ideas and he was starting to get frustrated. He soon found himself rocking violently back and forth. He gasped and stopped himself immediately. 'I can't let my mind go.' he told himself. An idea came to him. He could call someone. Then he shook his head as he remembered that there wasn't any electricity. But wasn't there? How could he know for sure that the power was really out? It seemed to him that the only sure way to know was to try what he had thought of. He got up and walked into an adjacent room. There was a phone in it, just as he had thought. He went to the phone and turned it on. The vid-screen remained black and he didn't hear a dial tone. 'It's just Duo trying to make me think it's not on.' he reasoned. He was about to give the number when the screen lit up. Duo appeared in front of him.
"What's up, Hee-chan?" Duo giggled. Heero scowled at the grinning image before him.
"Duo, you have to stop." he growled.
"Oh, but I'm having too much fun to stop." Duo whined, feigning sorrow. He chuckled briefly then sighed. "There is a way to make me stop, you know."
"What is it?"
"I've told you countless times. There's only one simple thing that you have to do and then you'll be free."
"Tell me!"
"You have to forget." Heero rolled his eyes at this statement. 'Not this again…' he grumbled inwardly. Without warning, Duo's hand shot through the screen, grabbed the front of Heero's shirt and pulled him through. Heero landed hard on his stomach, nearly getting the wind knocked out of him. The deafening roar of mobile suit engines filled his ears. He looked up to see his Gundam, Wing Zero, locked in battle with Duo's Gundam, Deathscythe. Duo's voice boomed out over the grassy field Heero was laying on.
"And now, witness the fall of the mighty winged Gundam, Zero!" he announced. Heero's eyes widened in horror as the glowing scythe came down on his Gundam. There was a flash of white light as the weapon made contact.
"NO!" Heero cried. He leapt to his feet and ran for the fighting Gundams but was stopped by a huge gust of wind. He was powerless to stop the destruction of his Gundam now. He could only watch as the top half of it slid to the ground, its massive weight making the earth tremble, and the bottom half fell to its knees then joined its other half on the ground. Heero trembled with rage.
"I will kill you for this!!" he screamed, not realizing what he was saying. Duo responded with a hearty laugh.
"I'm already dead, you idiot, thanks to you!" The wind passed and Heero bolted for the Gundam that he knew he was no match for without his own. Hands appeared from nowhere and caught hold of his arms. He was yanked back violently. His back thumped against cold steel.
"Let go of me!" Heero snarled as he fought the grips of the mysterious hands. Now the sounds of voices came to him.
"Don't let him seize…"
"He's too strong…"
"Somebody get some valium!"
"He might not make it this time…" These were just a few of the things that were said. Heero's eyes snapped open, though he hadn't even realized they were closed. He was staring into the faces of nearly a dozen surgeons all of which looked horrified. He had to squint because the light they were using was shining directly on his face. Cold air blew on his face making him notice the oxygen mask strapped to his head. A scalpel cut into his chest and he did something completely alien to him – he cried out in pain.
"Oh God, he's awake!!" one of the surgeons screamed in panic. Just then a new voice rang out.
"Quiet!" the voice yelled. Silence swept over the room. The face belonging to the voice leaned forward into Heero's vision. Half of the face was covered by a blue surgical mask but the large violet eyes were all too familiar. In fact they were deathly familiar.
"Hello, Heero." Duo said through the mask. "Do you remember me?"
"Duo…" Heero gasped. Even with the mask on Heero could tell that Duo had begun to smile.
"Well, that's too bad." Duo held up a shiny scalpel. "I might as well have a little fun then." Heero tried to threaten Duo but no sound came out of his mouth. Duo lowered the scalpel and sliced through Heero's flesh. Heero fought against the restraints holding him down with everything he had in him. He squeezed his eyes shut and strained every muscle in his body. He suddenly became aware of the restraints tightening around him. He stopped struggling briefly and reopened his eyes. He was in complete darkness but there was definitely something wrapped around him and there was still something very sharp digging into his skin. He scanned the area around himself and caught a glint of purple in the darkness. A highly recognizable hissing sound filled his ears. Heero opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a sound he found himself staring into large yellow eyes with slit pupils. The enormous cobra hissed fiercely, its eyes glowing a deep shade of purple. Then it rose above Heero's head and fanned out its wing-like skin flaps. The snake opened its huge jaws and to Heero's surprise, pulled the corners of its mouth back and up into a hideous smile. Duo's voice filled the vast abyss, now sounding harsh and malicious, and each word that it spoke seemed to echo though there were no walls for it to reverberate off of.
"Will you accept Death when it comes for you?" Duo asked. "Or will you run from it like a frightened child?"
"I'm not afraid of you." Heero growled through gritted teeth. Duo let out a long, loud hiss then chuckled a moment.
"It is better to live having had fun, than to live having had none. For Death comes sooner for others than some; sooner than soon can possibly come." he sneered. Duo tightened his coils even more, somewhat restricting Heero's intake of air. Heero noticed a slight pain in the side of his neck but chose to ignore it for a moment.
"Duo…" he began. Duo cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"Are you ready to join me?" he demanded. Heero stared into the hate-filled eyes of the serpent. The day of Duo's death played again and again in his mind. If only he had acted sooner…he could have saved Duo. But he hadn't and Duo was gone forever. Duo was gone forever… Heero's head dropped and all he could feel was pain and grief. But then something happened. Something stirred in his mind. He raised his head slowly to glare directly into the eyes of the snake.
"No." he said. He said it calmly and quietly. He said it without emotion but it carried such a profound message that the snake's eyes actually widened in surprise. "No," Heero continued, light beginning to shine once again in his tired eyes. "I will never join you. I will never become what you have become. I will never…ever…forget who my friends are. And I won't ever forget…who I am." The monster that was Duo drew back in both shock and anger.
"Fool…" was the only word he could choke out.
"I know that I won't be able to escape death when it's my time to go and I won't try to. But when I do die, I will remember those who stood by my side and who helped me – unlike you." The cobra's face contorted into an enraged grimace.
"You will pay dearly for those words." Duo hissed. The monstrous reptile struck but just before its gleaming fangs were about to sink into Heero's flesh, Heero thought the snake changed back into Duo. A look of sorrow was eminent in his features. He could clearly see Duo mouthing his name – then there was only darkness.
***
Two nurses clad in starched white hospital uniforms strolled down the hallway of the Green Peaks Mental Institution. One had shoulder length, light brown hair and a sparkling name tag that read 'Jennie'. The other had long black hair but its length was concealed by the tight bun it was pulled back into. Her name tag was a bit less shiny and clearly old and worn. It displayed the name Sandra. She also looked a bit older and wiser than her companion.
"…And so they ended up here. That, my friend, concludes the story of 'The Five'." Sandra was saying. A confused expression crossed Jennie's face.
"But you said that only four of them lived. Why do you call them 'The Five'?"
"Well, they all have hallucinations about the fifth one, the one that died. They all 'talk' to that one so it's like he's there with them." Jennie tilted her head back slightly as if to help absorb the information and made a small humming sound.
"Do you…do you think I could…see them?" she asked out of the blue. Sandra frowned slightly at this.
"Are you sure you want to? They aren't like the other milder patients here – they're really very dangerous." Sandra warned.
"Well now that you've told me all about them…I just have to see what they look like."
"Alright," Sandra said with a slow nod. "Don't say I didn't warn you though." Sandra led Jennie down a few more corridors, each one darker and more heavily barricaded than the last. Finally they came to a thick door made of Gundanium alloy that was riddled with locks and chains. Jennie's marine blue eyes widened considerably at this sight.
"Is this where you keep them? Is this where you keep those poor, defenseless little boys locked away?!" she demanded, her voice raising an octave with every word. Sandra smirked at Jennie's words.
"They may be poor little boys but they are by no means defenseless. They've killed and hospitalized more of this hospital's staff than you'll ever know. That's part of the reason you were even hired." Sandra stepped forward and held out her pass for a machine to scan. The machine beeped approval and the two attendants waited for several doors to unlock and open. Afterward, they stepped cautiously inside the room and the doors slid back into place. Jennie jumped as the last lock slammed to a stop.
"Why did the doors lock again!?!" she practically screamed. Sandra sighed at the young girl's stupidity.
"If the boys get loose and attack us at least they can't get out of this room. To the government, one old hag of a nurse and one airhead of a nurse is a small price to pay to ensure that the world stays safe – from certain things, anyway." Sandra moved into the center of the room and clicked on a dim light. She used a remote to turn it on; it was embedded in a 3 inch thick layer of plastic and was protruding directly out of the ceiling so that no wire was exposed. Jennie now saw three of the former Gundam pilots and another door. They were all strapped to revolving beds but none of them looked remotely dangerous to Jennie.
"Why do you keep them all in one room together?" the young nurse inquired.
"I can't begin to describe what happened the last time someone tried separating them. It's strange, though – when they're all together they don't even acknowledge each other, but when someone tries to separate them they go crazy. Oops! No pun intended." Sandra strolled calmly toward a small blonde boy near the far corner of the room. She reached out slowly to pat his head. He leaned away from her hand and tried to scream but there was a gag over his mouth.
"How's my favorite patient today? Are you okay, Quatre?" she cooed in a soft voice. Quatre squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain while Sandra stroked his hair. Jennie edged closer, seeing that Quatre wasn't one to attack a person.
"He…he doesn't look so scary…" Jennie said, her trembling voice barely above a whisper. She stretched a shaking hand out to pet Quatre.
"DON'T DO IT!!!" Sandra barked, snatching Jennie's wrist violently. Jennie let out a small yelp.
"He doesn't know you and if he feels threatened…you could never imagine…" Sandra growled darkly. "Don't EVER underestimate any of them. EVER. That's what the last girl in your position did. As you can see, she isn't with us anymore." After saying this Sandra turned back to Quatre to calm him; he had been frightened by her yelling at Jennie. Jennie, now shivering uncontrollably, backed away from both Sandra and Quatre – and nearly bumped right into another ex-pilot across from them. She stopped when she heard his breathing and she whipped around to see who was behind her. Hollow, dark eyes met hers. His shoulder length black hair was loose and hanging wildly around his head. It had formerly been held back by a rubber band – a rubber band that now held some unfortunate nurse's throat shut forever. The attendants had thought the rubber band was neither large enough nor had the stretch capacity to fit around a person's neck – they had thought wrong. This boy also had a gag over his mouth but he made no sounds as he stared at the scared young nurse. This only proved to scare Jennie even more. She jumped at the sound of Sandra's voice.
"I'd stay away from him if I were you. He's not too fond of us females." Jennie thought to herself that she would stay away from him anyway; his eyes seemed to promise a horrible death to anyone who came near. Then her attention turned to another young man across from the second door. She walked over to him to examine him. He glanced at her, one of his emerald green orbs concealed by a long overhang of mahogany colored hair. The look in his eyes was somehow comforting and Jennie found herself beginning to smile. She couldn't tell whether or not the boy smiled back because he too had a piece of cloth tied over his mouth but she didn't care. She was lost in his eyes. Sandra's voice sounded right by Jennie's ear.
"Yeah, people like to look in his eyes. A lot of people have been sent to their graves looking in his eyes. He's tricky, this one. He'll even talk to people like he's perfectly sane and the minute they let their guard down…"
"Why do they kill so much?" Jennie asked.
"Well part of the reason is the fact that they were all soldiers in the big war."
"Do you mean the war that's being fought now?"
"Yep, that's the one I'm talking about. People say the other reason has to do with the one who died. His nickname or other personality was 'Shinigami', the God of Death. They say that Shinigami stole their minds and souls and has them working for him now." Jennie opened her mouth to speak but another voice cut her off.
"That isn't true." the voice said firmly. Both Sandra and Jennie spun around to see who had spoken. They saw a heavily shadowed figure standing in front of the second door.
"I didn't want them to remember me that way…but they couldn't see past their own guilt…" The voice was distant and quiet, almost as if it wasn't even there, but it was clearly male. Jennie nearly fainted but Sandra stayed strong.
"Sir!" she called. "You're not allowed to be in here without a pass, sir." The figure didn't respond. Sandra moved swiftly and with purpose towards him. She reached out to grab his shoulder but her hand touched only cold air as the shadow vanished, dissipated to the corners of imagination. The sound of chains rattling floated out of the room behind the second door. Without hesitation, Sandra waved her pass at a second scanner and waited for the door to open. The room inside was dark and chilly, despite the thick padding on all the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Jennie peeped over Sandra's shoulder and her eyes widened as they adjusted to the light. There was the same phrase ripped into every inch of the padding – 4-get.
"Oh God…" Jennie gasped. The boy inside was chained to one of the walls but just barely. Numerous chains were broken. The boy's Prussian blue eyes were tired and empty; it was obvious that he hadn't slept for a long time. A tiny smile appeared on his face as he stood, causing the chains around his limbs to clink loudly.
"He was here…" the boy said. His voice was frighteningly enthused. "He came back for me. I was his favorite, you know…but I let him be killed…I wonder if he ever forgave me…"
"Heero, you just got out of surgery. You should be asleep." Sandra told the boy. He started to laugh. It was soft at first but then it grew louder, stronger and more crazed.
"There was only one thing he wanted me to do, y'know!" Heero said nearly screaming but still smiling at the same time. He threw his head back and howled with mad laughter.
"And what was that?" Sandra demanded, though her voice was beginning to tremble.
"FORGET!! FORGET, FORGET, FORGET, FORGET!!!!!" Heero screamed the words at the top of his lungs, making the two nurses cringe in both pain and fear. Everyone else in the building that was Green Peaks mental Institute shuddered as the chilling word echoed through the halls – forget…
They say that until a person's forgotten
They're never really gone
But what do you do
When more than the person's memory is living on?
Forget
*Whew! It took long enough! Well, I tried my best with this and I hope everyone liked the end! I did but that doesn't really count. So did Duo drive the pilots crazy or did their own guilt drive them to the brink of insanity? Or are they just so crazy that they only think they're in a mental hospital? Hmm…it's something to ponder, isn't it? Please read my upcoming fic 'Virus'! See ya soon – Gundam Wing Imp. P.S. If you have any questions that really bother you, put them in a review and I'll try and get back to you. If I get enough, maybe I'll post the answers – well, it's an idea. ^_~\\//*