Warnings: A general shounen-ai-ish taint… and that's about it. Oo! Language too.

Disclaimer: I don't own nuthin' save Shiakara. Don't steal her. :P Heh.

Author's notes: Not only was I tired by the time I finished this, but my sunburn was driving me mad with itching! Aah! It's worse than the part when it hurts some! Oh well. I was having fun while I got it, so I'll deal, ne? *grins* Hope you like this part!

~ ~ ~

Take him home… that was what Heero had said.

In the backs of their minds, each and every one of the small group knew, knew the mage had meant back to the University, but they made a silent decision between the five of them to take him home. Back to the forest and the elvish Clan. Back to his mother and his kin and kind. It was good and right, and they need say nothing of what had happened between he and the human.

Quatre knelt by Duo still, and none of them moved yet, but the knowledge of what they would do was with them all. The faery touched the braided hair, leaned over to kiss the smooth forehead, wiped clean of its cares now. He put a hand to Duo's chest and closed his eyes, the others following suit. Then he murmured a soft prayer in the elvish language to guide the fragile soul on to the Next Place, tears beginning afresh.

Trowa touched his shoulder gently, providing comfort, which Quatre gratefully took. The pantherin crouched to murmur something into his ear, and he nodded then buried his face in Trowa's shoulder, still sobbing.

Wu Fei seemed to take this as some sort of cue and he moved over to kneel beside Duo also, carefully lifting the elf and laying him down his own back. He remained totally still while Quatre haltingly wove a simple faery spell over him to prevent his precious burden from slipping off. Neither Wu Fei nor Noin made any comment about the dishonour of carrying a two-legger.

Quatre got to his feet, then, and Trowa murmured an inquiry to Tia'ara, who nodded and replied in kind.

They all spoke quietly, and only when it was necessary, as it seemed right to do so, though nothing about the stillness and quietness of their normally energetic and joyful friend was right in the least.

Trowa went to Quatre, then, and asked the same of him as he had of Tia'ara.

"Can you help to get us all back? Can we be there in a day?"

"Yes," Quatre whispered, eyes closed and head bowed.

"He chose it this way…"

"Trowa!" Quatre's voice rose and he looked disbelievingly up at the pantherin. "That's not true! It's not! He really thought he'd come through this! He said so! He didn't choose to die, don't you dare think that!" The faery lapsed into a sullen silence then and wouldn't reply to anything Trowa said. He climbed up onto Noin's back when it was offered and spelled she and Wu Fei, then counted to three, as they'd had to before, and set off, leaving Trowa and Tia'ara to follow.

It wasn't until the group set off in the opposite direction to the university that Shiakara realised they weren't taking Duo back there. By the time that realisation hit, it was too late, because they were moving too fast and she hadn't the power to do that. The only way she might be able to stop them was to go back to the University and let everyone know about this. She couldn't let Quatre and the others take Duo away from Heero now! She leapt into the air and flew as fast as she could back to the University.

Quatre felt only momentarily bad for what they'd done as he saw Shiakara's face in the moment before they left, but then he pushed it away. It was the right thing, he knew.

And they carried Duo home, paying no heed to the love Heero had for him, for in their eyes, the love they and the elves had for him was greater.

After all, they told themselves, Heero was only a human…

* * *

Heero could feel the earth shudder beneath him, not physically, but deep in its very fibre. The shudder ran through the energy innate in all things, strongest in living things, but existing in all things nonetheless. He knew where Treize was. The energy recoiled from the spell-sphere the man carried, knowing what it was and what it would do, even though it hadn't been set yet.

He merely followed the trail, gaining on the aristocratic madman with every beat of his horse's hooves, but he didn't know that he'd be in time.

Treize was closing the gap between himself and the Spire of All Things, and the gap between Heero and Treize, while lessening, was possibly doing so at too slow a rate.

And, Heero thought to himself with a touch of very, very dark humour, the mages were probably still arguing in the Great Hall of the University of Magic. They probably hadn't noticed the absence of Duo or the other strangers, and they would only have noticed Heero's for the millisecond he'd had his small outburst in, he was sure.

But he had a promise to keep, and he meant to keep it, so he kept on.

* * *

We do not like this…

The knowledge filtered slowly through the sprites that gathered in flocks around the Spire of All Things. It was their birthplace and they would always return to it after travel, and so there was always a multitude of the tiny creatures surrounding it.

The Spire was indeed just that, a pinnacle of rock spearing straight up into the sky until it could no longer be seen. Some said it reached right into the sky, others that it stopped somewhere before that, still others said it was, in fact, what held up the sky itself. None were certain. The only certain thing was the strength of the energy surrounding it. Four smaller pinnacles, each the hight of two tall men, stood to the north, east, west and south of the Spire, their entire surfaces covered in a strange writing none save the sprites and Old Ones knew how to read. And the sprites never spoke to others and the Old Ones were long gone. The Spire of All Things held no writing; it needed none.

The Spire and its companions stood in the centre of a perfectly circular island in the middle of a perfectly circular silver lake, whose waters were said to cure any and all ailments, no matter how severe, save that of death. A line of trees, perfectly spaced and all a uniform distance from the lake's edge, stood watch around the water, always green and fresh. It was a beautiful, mystical place which deserved reverence at all times.

We do not like this!

The sprites shifted uncomfortably, seated in little holes in the Spire, or atop the lesser pinnacles, or on the green grass or on the water. Tiny wings fluttered on some, on others several eyes flicked side to side. Still others, tails flicked and whipped with unease, or large ears strained for a sound that wasn't there yet.

Make him go!

They looked at one another, none of them sure what to do, for they weren't the smartest of creatures. Above all, they adored play, and always played here, at their birthplace, for it was safe and the Spire watched over them and nothing bad ever happened here.

He must be taken away! Away!

It was here, too, that they came to bring their offspring into being, for what better place to give birth than the place where your very race had been created? Hence, there were many young sprites here, and their mothers and fathers – though a youngling sprite was independent the moment he or she was born.

He spoils the fun…

And indeed he did, for the air of madness and… bad surrounding him had stopped the songs and the music. It had stopped the games and the stories. It had stopped the laughter and chasing. It had stopped all.

He comes, yet, and we do not like it! Somebody make him go!

But nobody could. They didn't know how and he was still coming! Their pleas didn't reach anyone or anything for the first time ever.

The Spire protected them! It should have called wolves or great cats or leopards or dragons or gryphons or succubi or mermaids – Mermaids? someone wondered. What help would that be…? – well perhaps not mermaids… Unicorns, then, or hawks or chimera or something. It always called something!

He comes, yet! Make him leave us!

The earth shuddered again with the terrible wrongness approaching the Spire of All Things and it came to the sprites that that wrongness must be preventing the Spire from coming to their aid. They were beloved, but it could do nothing for them now. It was not completely invulnerable and it could not face all things and triumph. For though all things had entered this world through the gateway provided by the Spire at the beginning of time, things had been created since then by the races of man, elf, OtherKin, faery, centaur, dragon, any race the sprites could think of and put names to. And because the Spire did not know of these creations it could do nothing to combat them, and so the wrongness approached and it could do nothing.

We flee!

They were frightened now, for they knew not how to cope when the very thing their selves came from was threatened. They could deal with threat outside of this sacred place, for it was expected after all, but here, they lost their composure at the approach of the badness and could not think straight, if sprites could be said to think at all. Instinct was likely more appropriate and here, here their instincts were turned off, for they weren't usually needed and now that they were the sprites couldn't reach them.

We cannot flee! The Spire…

The collective mind that existed here between the tiny beings was undecided as to what to do. If the Spire fell, they would perish. Yet… yet… they didn't know if indeed the wrongness meant harm to the Spire. The energy of it recoiled, but it didn't fear… not for itself anyway. Perhaps it knew what was coming, but the sprites didn't and they were undecided.

He comes, yet! He comes, yet!

They were terrified.

~Fear not. I come yet.~

Another voice? Intruding on their collective mind? How dare this mere human think he had the right?! And yet… he didn't like the wrongness either, they could sense that much, and he wanted to stop it, but the man was on the edge of the water now, stepping into a boat – How did that get there?! – and beginning to row across.

~Don't let him reach you.~

That voice again…

Now they had a clear goal, an obvious objective, and they could do something. The water boiled, and flung itself at the boat in a wave, throwing it back onto the shore with the playful giggle of a thousand, thousand voices. Oh yes, this was fun! They had forgotten the wrongness already.

A game!

The music started anew and giggling sprites danced on the edge of the island, watching as Treize tried again to row across the lake. They taunted him, letting him get further this time before calling the water to rise up and dump him back where he came from.

Oh, but what was that he carried with him? He touched it and lifted it high and the energy recoiled and they couldn't call on the water anymore, for the energy wasn't there to answer them!

Flee! Flee!

* * *

Heero swore softly to himself as he watched through the eyes of one of the sprites and saw what happened. He dropped his contact as they fled in sheer terror, the stupid creatures remembering instantly the wrongness, as they called it, once 'the game' lost its element of fun.

Heero hated sprites. He always had.

But he had a little time while Treize rowed across and he prayed it would be enough. He knew a quicker way across the lake than rowing so that gave him another advantage too. But while he was riding, he didn't have anything else to think about and his thoughts inevitably slid to Duo.

It was going to be hard for him, arranging the burial of his beloved and the ceremony involved, but he would do it. And he would see to it that the xenophobic Head Mage found himself in a slave camp somewhere with his connection to his magic severed for life. And then he would see to it that the word was sent out that the University would be accepting other races, any races, and he would make sure that the mages already there didn't limit their apprentice searches to the human race only. It would be good for the place, anyway and… and it was a way of honouring his Duo.

"Duo…" he whispered, but he couldn't allow himself to cry. Now wasn't the time.

He stoked his anger now, pushed it into a roaring flame that he could draw upon and use to his advantage. He thought of Treize and what he'd done, not only to Duo, but to those ten other mages under his command as well. Yes, Heero had counted the bodies. He knew the number and knew they'd underestimated Duo's ability, thanks to Treize. There was no doubt in Heero's mind that the aristocrat wouldn't have explained the full extent of the danger to them. He was sure Treize would have made it seem as though the ten of them would have no trouble… disposing of Duo with little effort.

Heero was avenging them too.

Above all, though, he was so angry that Duo had almost died alone. Had Heero not realised he was gone, had he not spelled his horse to get there faster, Duo would have died terribly alone. It didn't bare thinking about. What Treize had done to his Duo went beyond eliminating a threat. He had lauded it over the elf. And, before that, the aristocrat had forced his loving, caring Duo to kill ten people.

Killorbekilled.

Heero glanced around nervously at the words echoing through his mind, uncertain as to where they'd come from. More likely than not, it was his own imagination, his own mind, pushed to breaking point and bringing a ghost to haunt him.

"Oh, Duo… It must have been awful for you…" he whispered. And yes, it must have been, for he knew for a fact that Duo had never ever killed another person. Only ever animals and birds, never another person. And here he was forced to kill ten, alone, with no shoulder to cry on.

Heero was angry beyond words and he was glad of it. The sadness and loss was seared away, his soul burned clean by the pure heat of the flames of utter, blinding anger.

How dare he!

How dare he force Duo to kill those mages! How dare he keep the full story from the ten of them! How dare he make Quatre cry so! How dare he threaten the life of every mage who lived! How dare he take Duo from this earth! How dare he hurt Duo so! How dare he leave the elf to die alone! How dare he force Heero away from his lover's side when it should be he bearing the body back home! How dare he!

Heero growled low in the back of his throat, feeding a little of the anger into the horse in the form of energy to keep its paces high and fast. He would be there soon and he would make Treize Khushrenada pay for every sin, every slight, every death, every intended death.

And… Heero mused… he would do it slowly.

That brought a feral grin to the mage's lips. He liked that idea very much. Treize deserved to suffer and suffer he would. Heero knew ways to keep Treize alive for a very, very long time… And he was sure he wasn't the only one who would want a turn at watching the aristocrat squirm once they found out what he'd done and what he'd planned to do.

Treize would learn the meaning of pain in return for the pain he'd caused Heero, and the mage would be his primary teacher. Treize would beg for death long before it was near.

Heero licked his lips, still baring his teeth to the wind in that awful grin.

Revenge would be oh so sweet…

* * *

"This is futile…" Milliardo muttered into a momentary lull of argument. "Heero was right. This is getting us nowhere."

"Oh, but brother, you would side with Heero no matter what the argument," Relena hissed back at him, watery blue eyes narrowed in anger and jealousy as she pushed her fringe out of her eyes.

Milliardo sighed and an agitated hand through his hair.

"This is neither the time nor the place for this, Relena."

"Is that because you don't want everybody to know that you want in Heero Yuy's pants…?" she asked in a sly purr.

"What difference would it make to me if they did?" Milliardo enquired, ignoring the few gasps around him. "They already know I'm gay, it's only a small step to tell them I want in another gay mage's pants, now isn't it?"

"But Heero's not-"

"If you think that then you're blind and a fool," muttered an anonymous voice before she finished speaking.

That started a squabble between Relena and the owner of the voice and Milliardo bowed his head, a silken curtain of platinum blonde slipping down to mask his face. He lifted his fingers to his temples and rubbed them, feeling the pressure of a headache building behind his eyes and knowing, when it exploded into the actual pain, it was going to be a big one. Why was it he who'd somehow, by unanimous, if silent, agreement, suddenly become the stand-in for the unscrupulous Head Mage?

The arguments had started again, in a couple different languages, and Milliardo just wanted to leave. He wanted to seek out Heero, Duo, Shiakara and a few other sane mages and start seriously considering the problem at hand and what to do about it.

Suddenly, a shudder ran through every mage in the room and they all drew a hissing breath, holding it in anticipation of another upheaval in the earth's energies. Half had their eyes closed in abject terror, the other half, wide open in the same emotion.

That had hurt…

They all began to relax by minute degrees, twitching every time there was the merest natural shift in the energies they were all connected to, all sure each one would resolve into another of those horrible twisting pulls. Someone finally broke into the silence with a whispered oath and murmurings began again, wonderings on what had happened and if it would indeed happen again.

Arms and legs were tested, muscles flexed and it was found that, whatever it had been, it left no damage behind, not even a slight ache. Not even in their heads, which all of them would normally expect from something like that. They blinked at one another, muttering warily.

"…at the Spire of All things?"

Milliardo caught the end of a tentative question and wondered if that was indeed the case, if something was happening at the Spire. It seemed the most likely thing and it seemed, also, to be the general consensus in the room, if these mages could ever be seen to reach anything even remotely like a consensus.

Then it happened again and the room was silenced, all one in the pain of the earth's energies. Something was definitely wrong, and that was the only thought Milliardo could form as the wave of pain washed through him, setting every nerve afire. Every muscle tensed, trying to combat it, but nothing was to be done. He just had to ride it out.

When it was over, the mages all looked at one another again, not knowing what it was or what to do. It was into this silence that Shiakara burst, spearing in through a window and skittering to a halt on the stone floor by Milliardo.

"Milliardo! Milliardo!" she cried before realising he was right next to her and pawing at his knee with worry. "Milliardo! Duo's… and they're taking him away… and Heero can't… because he's gone to… and if he came back and Duo wasn't here then he'd… and we can't let them! We have to get him back!"

"Shiakara, what are you talking about?" Milliardo asked, only really able to pick up "Duo" and "Heero".

"Treize Khushrenada and Quatre and the others!"

"What about them?"

"They're taking him away!"

"Taking who away?"

"Duo!"

"Treize and Quatre and the others are taking him away?"

There were mutterings from the mages that they knew they shouldn't have trusted that faery and his friends…

"No! Quatre and the others are taking Duo back to the elves! He… Treize he… he… he killed Duo and now they're taking his body back to the elves. Heero can't stop them because he's gone after Treize! We have to stop them! We have to!"

"Duo's… Duo's dead?" Milliardo whispered, which started a plethora of whispers and murmurs.

Shiakara nodded sadly, tears coming to her stark white eyes, and lowered her head.

"He fought Treize… well… the mages Treize threw at him anyway… all ten of them… and he won but… but after that, he didn't have anything left. He… couldn't even stand and Treize… Treize that dirty bastard, stabbed him… He… he killed Duo in cold blood, when Duo couldn't fight back… I don't know what happened after that but… Heero went after Treize… He… he said to us "take Duo home" and I know he meant back here but… they've taken him back to the elves. We have to stop them!"

Milliardo closed his eyes and shook his head a little, sighing.

"We can't."

"What do you mean we can't?!"

"It's more important that we stop Treize Khushrenada."

"What?! But Heero's gone after him! Heero will stop him! We have to get Duo back!"

"And what if Heero doesn't stop him? What if Treize gets past Heero? Then we'll all die and it won't matter where Duo's body is! He's dead, Shiakara, and we're not, but we might well be if we don't stop this spell-sphere. Think with your head, not your heart, and you'll know I'm right."

"You… you… No! Milliardo! We can't!" Shiakara cried, mortified that he'd said that and, more to the point, that he meant it.

"Where did Heero go?" Milliardo asked firmly, but Shiakara set her jaw and shook her head.

"I won't tell you."

"Where did Heero go?" Milliardo asked again, this time with veiled threat.

"I'm not afraid of you, Milliardo Peacecraft," she replied, eyes narrowing.

"I can track him easily enough, but it would be easier if you'd just tell me. Where did Heero go?"

"Fuck you," Shiakara growled, then turned and leapt out the window again, heading in the direction Quatre and the others had gone, even though it would take her over a week to get there. She'd do it.

* * *

Heero reached the edge of the silver lake just at Treize hit the midpoint between the shore and the island. The mage pulled his horse to a halt and vaulted off its back and stood in a line with the westerly standing stone. From there he walked ten paces clockwise around the lake and went to the tree he was now standing close to. Sure enough, there on the tree, was writing in the same language as was written on the standing stones. It was a spiral of writing and Heero put the palm of his left hand against the very centre of it, then lifted his right hand and cupped it around a knot in the bark. He whispered to himself in a language rarely heard, though not that of the Old Ones, and the wording glowed beneath his hand then, across the lake, appeared a silver bridge. It looked far too ethereal and flimsy to hold any weight but it was woven of the energies of the earth and nothing could break it. Only those who knew could access it.

Heero hurried across, murmuring another word once he reached the island. The bridge shivered out of existence. Heero was there in time to be sure Treize never set foot on the island and, with the aid of the Spire of All Things, he was fairly sure he could stop the aristocrat all together.

However, when he reached into the earth below the Spire, he found the energy had withdrawn, repelled by the spell-sphere in Treize's hands. Heero wondered absently who'd made the thing for Treize, but there wasn't time to ask. He reached inside himself, drawing on the anger he'd been busily stoking, and flung a band of energy at Treize, throwing him out of his boat and into the water.

Heero was shocked when the earth rose to lift Treize out of the water and again he wondered who'd made that sphere for him and now, what it could do. What power did Treize Khushrenada wield whilst he was in possession of that thing?!

Treize smirked.

"Indeed, mage. You've realized the peril you put yourself in coming after me. I must say, though, that I'm impressed. I honestly didn't think you'd be able to drag yourself away from the dead body of your lover. My congratulations," he called across the water.

"Don't talk about him. Don't even think about him!" Heero growled, sending twin fireballs in Treize's direction. To the mage's horror, they hit a shield, one he hadn't expected Treize to have. Did the man have full mage control with that sphere?

"You should be afraid. You're going to die here…"

"It doesn't matter anymore. You destroyed what matters to me. And you're wrong. I'm going to kill you. You're going to pay for what you did to Duo and you won't be going to the same place as him so you'll never be able to touch him again. He was good and kind and you're a bastard. You're going to Hell."

"I'm not doing this for the fun of it, you know."

"I don't care."

"I know you don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. You killed my lover. I was only paying back the favour."

"I've not killed anyone in my life. I've come close, but I haven't had to do it. I haven't taken a life."

"Nonetheless you killed him. You and your kind. They wouldn't let him in the University because he wasn't human. It killed him."

Heero paused, hesitating.

"The nymph…" he murmured, remembering that day. It hadn't been so long ago, only four or five years and Heero remembered the argument over whether or not the nymph should be allowed into the University. Shiakara had been very vocal, but she was still young and her opinions didn't seem to count so much as they did at present.

"His name was Gerette. And I held him as he died."

"And I held Duo as he died! You don't seem to care that you've taken my lover from me just like yours was taken from you. I had nothing to do with that! I wasn't even a full mage yet! And Duo didn't even know he had powers! We did nothing!"

"And we did nothing! It wasn't Gerette's fault! He didn't ask for the powers he had and he didn't ask to be denied entry to the University."

"And Duo didn't ask to be forced into killing ten mages! He didn't ask to have a knife driven through his belly when he had no chance to defend himself!"

"You're both a part of that place! By being connected to it, you shoulder some of the blame!"

"He didn't deserve to die." This was nothing more than a growl in the back of Heero's throat, followed swiftly by spears of ice which Heero sent flying at Treize. These, too, shattered against Treize's shielding and Heero muttered a curse under his breath as several bolts of lightning burst into sparks against his own shielding.

"Nor did Gerette!" Treize snarled.

Heero paid no attention, only pulled several large boulders from under the silver lake and lifted them to drop on Treize. Treize flinched automatically as the rocks fell and hit his shields, which made Heero smirk a little. No real mage flinched. He trusted his shields.

It was time he got complicated. He closed his eyes and murmured softly, a green-yellow ball appearing in his hand and floating over to Treize. It was the same spell he'd cast on Relena and it settled itself quickly over Treize's shield. Heero was utterly shocked when Treize shook the spell off, the green-yellow glow bursting into a scattering of sparks and vanishing. It was a rare and very skilled mage who could actually do that. Now Heero really wanted to know where that thing came from…

And he was being attacked. Treize was mimicking the spell he'd just cast and Heero had to work hard to fight it off. For the first time since this thing started, Heero wondered if he was going to come out the victor. He couldn't doubt himself, he knew, and he pulled his energies together, reaching deeper into the earth, all the way down to where the energies had retreated to. He drew on it and fashioned it into a thin thread then began inserting it into the weave of Treize's shield. It was a bit like sewing, he thought as he worked.

Treize wasn't sure what this was in aid of, but he figured it couldn't be good so he began trying to push the energy out. It seemed to stick where it was threaded, though, and he couldn't push it loose. After a time, he gave up and simply watched warily as Heero worked.

The mage finished his "sewing" and did nothing for a time, watching as Treize examined his work, trying to figure out what it was supposed to do. It seemed to him that the extra threads could only strengthen his shields, so what good was that?

Heero gave a slow smile.

~Can't figure out the point, can you?~ he observed inside Treize's head.

Treize only growled and gave the new threads a bit of a poke with his own energies, surprised when he didn't get zapped or fried or something equally as unpleasant. He had another go at tugging it out, but had just as little success.

"What…?" he wondered quietly and Heero's grin only widened.

~Surprise…~ his voice whispered through the aristocrat's head and he suddenly flooded the thread, making it thicken until it forced the shield to shatter around Treize.

Treize's eyes widened and he fought to raise another shield, but there was no time. Heero had been prepared and he resorted to the ever-faithful fireball. It hit Treize full force and the aristocrat fell to the ground, rather singed. The sphere rolled from his hand and fell with a soft plash into the lake. The lake didn't like it and spat it back at Heero's feet. The mage picked it up and tucked it away for later study to find out where it came from.

He seriously considered killing Treize right now, but he really wanted to make the aristocrat suffer, to feel something of the pain that, now he had nothing else to think of, was beginning to worm its way into Heero's heart. He would make Treize suffer…

Heero smiled that somewhat demented smile again, then set off back across the bridge. It appeared the second he set his foot in the right place from this side and he walked quickly across it then disappeared it again. He then Lifted Treize from his tiny private island and carried him over to his own horse, where he tied him. He then tied the horse to the back of his saddle and climbed up onto his horse. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Treize was "comfortable", Heero set off home.

He truly wasn't looking forward to the funeral and the arrangements beforehand and now the sorrow and devastation began to set in. Oh yes, Treize deserved to suffer. He deserved to die slowly and painfully and Heero knew how to do it. It didn't matter that he'd never taken a life, he was angry and hurt enough to take this one with the most pain possible for its owner.

And that, he would enjoy…

~ ~ ~

Author's notes: No, this is not the end. There is more yet to come. Mwahahaha! Will Heero do what's in his mind? Will Shiakara get Duo's body back? Will Milliardo and the rest ever come to a decision on what to do? And will my mother ever let me have a pet snake? Oh… wait… that hasn't got anything to do with the story, has it? ;)