What if: Myth
By Prinder
Rating: PG 13- R for swearing, violent situations and POSSIBLY some suggestive dialog
Disclaimer: I do not own gundam wing or any of its characters. I also do not own Felina or Jasmine they were so gratefully lent to me by my dear role-playing friend Ashley.
Claimer: I DO own Fiora and JinChi, so please don't use them unless you ask me first. Thank you!
Keys:
"…" Denotes Speech
'…' Denotes Thought
(Notes from me)
Chapter 12
"GAHHHHHHHH! Oh man, I am one sore sea monkey!" Fiora yawned.
"Pwa? Sea Monkey?" Felina questioned.
"Humph! About time you woke up" Wong huffed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Gah! No wonder I'm so stiff!" Fiora exclaimed.
"What is it?" Duo asked as he loaded his bedroll back onto his horse.
"I fell asleep with a rock under me!" She laughed as she rolled up her bed sheets.
"Felina, how are you feeling?" Trowa asked, thinking it wise to change the subject before Fiora could start get into another one of her long-winded stories.
"I'm as fit as a fiddle!" Felina chirped in reply, bouncing from one foot to the next excitedly.
"Well, now that everyone is all rested up. Lets say we head back to Cinq?" Quatre asked, looking around at the other men and women in his party.
"Please, lets be off as quickly as possible. We may not have been gone long, but I'm already worried about my brother and his wife, what if that army came back while we all were away?" Relena worried.
"King Milliardo knew the risks of them coming back when he sent the other men with us. It is unlikely that they would attack again so soon." Heero replied.
"Unlikely…HA! I wouldn't put it past them to try it! If it's one thing I've learned on the high seas, it's that you have to expect the unexpected." Fiora exclaimed.
"Then let's hurry, shall we? The sooner we get back the better it will be for King Milliardo." Quatre replied.
"Right, to castle Cinq?" Trowa asked.
"TO CASTLE CINQ!" everyone cheered as they galloped off.
With high hopes, our heroes made their way through the forests. But, as fate would have it, there was still one more twist, one more peril for them to face before they could finally make it back to Princess Relena's beloved Kingdom. After stopping for a quick lunch by a large elm tree, they decided to ride slowly for a bit and enjoy the scenery. It was then that Fiora, once again, happened upon "horse troubles".
"WHAT IN THE HHEL-AAHHHH! Ooof! Ohhhhh…AHHHHH!" Fiora screamed, having been bucked off from the front of her horse this time and very nearly trampled over by her steeds hooves.
"Fiora! Are you okay?" Duo asked, alarmed.
"…That's it… from now on… I WALK!" Fiora said, gasping and grunting as she stood back up.
A few of them laughed at her, some out of pity, some out of spite.
"Hold it, someone is coming." Wufei said, raising his hand to silence everyone, looking down the path behind them, the sound of hoof beats barely heard in the noontime air.
"Everyone, into the trees!" Duo whispered to them as he jumped off his horse and went to hide, the others following not far behind him.
"Are we expecting any other guests to join our party?" Heero asked calmly.
"Not that I know of, and certainly not from that direction." Jasmine replied in a hushed whisper.
Everyone waited in the eerie silence as the hoof beats drew nearer and nearer, and nearer still. Then suddenly, they stopped! The only sound that could be heard now was the sound of men jumping off of their steeds and the clanking of iron pots.
"Ya know what fellas? I still carn't ber'lieve 'dat 'dey won 'dis time, from what 'de mesin'age say'd, 'dey was tak'n all too eas'erly 'dis time 'round" One of the unknown men said in his heavy accent.
"Oy Vay! Ya'ight Mack! Seems j'st a touch too simple, don't it? I mean, who'd ev'a be'lieve it, j'st fifty of ou' weakest men took the whole lot of them, when j'st a few days ago that the'e castle took on two of ou' a'mies and WON!" Another man replied.
"You read the note Mack, did it say anything about them getting Peacecraft?"
Relena covered her mouth and gasped out of shock.
"No. He still at 'arge it seems." Mack replied.
"That's a downe'. Means WE gets to be the ones that get to t'ack the damn bloody sucke' down!"
"Aye, I know. Well, we's best be off!" and with that they got back onto their horses and continued on their way.
"Oh my god! This is terrible!" Relena cried, fearing for her brother's safety.
"Cinq as fallen?" Quatre asked, numb with shock.
"Poor King Milliardo! Poor Queen Lucrezia! Poor Relena! She's heart broken!" Jasmine exclaimed, wrapping a comforting arm around her fellow Princess.
"He shouldn't have sent all of us! That was just so stupid!" Wufei yelled angrily.
"Ha! So much for heading to Castle Cinq, the only greeting we'll get there is a war axe banging down on our scrawny necks!" Fiora laughed.
"This isn't the time for jokes, Eleri!" Wong snapped.
"Jeez! I was just trying to lighten the mood!"
"The question is where do we go now?" Trowa asked.
"I say we continue on our way to Cinq" Quatre replied.
"WHAT? That's just plain crazy talk Quatre!" Duo shouted.
"OKAY you see? Now THAT'S not funny! That's just suicide!" Fiora exclaimed.
"We know that King Milliardo is still alive, that means that there must be hiding somewhere. If we go to Cinq we can ask around and hopefully find him and Queen Lucrezia before they do." Quatre replied calmly.
"Oh Christ! How IS IT that I always seem to get myself into these messes? If I hadn't helped Duo, I would have been far, FAR away from this whole problem by now! Why me? My god, WHY?" Fiora pouted.
"Who is going to come with me? You know I won't make you come if you don't want to." Quatre said.
"I'll go. I need to know if my bother and his wife are alright." Relena replied.
"Catherine was still at the castle when they attacked, I want to know that she survived." Trowa said.
"PWA? Cathy? I'll come too. Cathy was nice to Heero and me. I want to help!" Felina exclaimed.
"I'll come too. My cousin and I are irrespirable." Heero said tonelessly.
"It is my duty to return and assist in anyway possible." Wufei replied.
"As well as it is mine." Wong added.
"I'll come Quatre." Jasmine said softly, still trying to comfort Relena and lull away the other princess' sobs.
"Hey, it's just by mere luck that I'm even still alive today, I'll go with you guys!" Duo chimed in.
"Ugh! And then I guess it leaves just me to pick where I stand, huh? FINE! I'll go, but if we all get killed, don't say that I didn't warn you!" Fiora groaned.
"Humph! If we all get killed, we won't be able to!" Wong snapped.
"Alright, let's be off then." Quatre said tiredly.
"Right." Duo replied.
And as everyone moved his or her steeds back onto the trail leading to Cinq, Fiora suddenly started laughing as she said:
"Told ya they would try it again!"
And to which everyone replied:
"SHUT UP FIORA!"
This, of course, only made her laugh even harder. Clearly, this was going to be a long, LONG, ride back to the kingdom of Cinq.
It was already well past midnight when our heroes arrived back at the aforementioned kingdom. And the sight for their sleep deprived and extremely sore eyes was one that was beyond nightmarish.
There before them lay millions upon thousands of men, of soldiers, dead upon the blood drenched grounds. King Milliardo's men all lay dead at their feet. Not a single building left standing among the rubble. Dead wives and children lie slumped up against what little remained of the marvelous manmade structures, slaughtered in their attempts to flee from the massacre. Trees still aflame from when the army ran through the now fallen pacifist kingdom's streets, taking torches and lighting the city aglow with hells fire and demon spawn from the shadows. Many of our heroes had to close their eyes to the scene before them, though; it did little to stop the wails of the tortured souls of the innocent from reaching their ears.
"Oh my god! NOOOOOOOO!" Relena screamed and buried her face in her hands, crying for her people, her friends, her only family she had left: Her elder brother and his wife.
Fiora numbly climbed off of her horse and staggered onto the battlefield, stopping in front of one of the few enemy soldiers that lay dead. "You call THIS a battle? HA! This wasn't a FIGHT! This was an enemy assisted mass SUICIDE!" she screamed as she slammed one boot clad feet onto his bloody head and crushing his skull under the sole of her shoe.
Duo's lips tightened into a thin line as he choked back his tears, his memories, and his pain. He gripped the reins tightly within his fists, making his steed, which he had begun to call Deathscythe, all the more tense after happening upon the scene.
Jasmine could only cry in young King Quatre's arms, as he let tears of his own fall upon her head like rain.
Wufei let out a battle cry while Jin bowed her head and let tears of her own be shed from her eyes without notice.
Felina's tears, though few, hit the ground and sprouted forth vine-like plants and flowers beneath her horses feet. Fairy tears were enchanted things that helped in the creation of life, and so their tears still carried the life-giving magic to make plants spring forth from the bloody battleground.
Heero looked on blankly at the rubble, not even aware of the ever so slight dampness on his cheeks and the vines threatening to seize his steed's hooves.
Trowa could only afford to let one tear drop to fall from his face, the picture of his adoptive sister burning in his mind, the thought of her dying much like the women and children that lay scattered in front of them.
So lost in their grief, they didn't notice the tall slim figure with soft, curly, auburn locks and icy blue eyes. "Thank god you made it here alright!" the figure sighed, running over to her brother and hugging him fiercely around the neck and kissing his cheek out of relief.
"C-Cathy! You're alright!" Trowa said still numb with shock.
"Of course I'm alright! I didn't learn to how to be a knife thrower just because I look good in the costume! Everyone's been worried sick about all of you! Specially you Princess Relena! Your brother almost didn't leave in time because he was still looking for you!" Catherine scolded angrily.
"Maiden Catherine, how is everyone? Are they alright?" Quatre asked.
"No. Only the King, Queen and I made it out alive. Both were badly wounded in our escape." Cathy replied sadly.
"Oh god, no." Relena whimpered, her hands over her mouth, and her eyes filling up once again with fresh tears.
"Come along. I'll take you to them." Cathy turned, motioning them to follow.
Everyone got off of their horses and followed her on foot, for the ground was too rough and would be dangerous for the horses to walk over.
They journeyed across the barren wasteland, and one couldn't help but be reminded of how it once looked so beautiful and filled with life. Then you would be knocked back onto reality by tripping over a rock, or some unfortunate dead soul and see what it had become in such a short time.
They, after a long days worth of trekking through the rubble, came to a small cave along the costal shores, the sun hidden by clouds and the lack of birds in the sky did nothing to lift our adventurers' hearts.
"They have arrived, your majesties." Cathy said, kneeling before King Milliardo, who was leaning up against a large rock, and Queen Lucrezia, who was sitting by his side.
"Thank you Catherine." Queen Lucrezia said, rising to her feet, wincing in pain from jarring her wounds.
"Lucrezia! Brother!" Relena cried as she pushed her way past the others and over to them.
"Relena… I'm so… glad… that you're alright." Milliardo gasped, grinding his teeth against the pain in his chest.
"Sshhhh! Don't talk Brother. Lucrezia, Who did this?" Relena choked, her eyes filled to the brim with tears.
"We still don't know. I'm just glad that you didn't listen to us when we wouldn't let you go. If you hadn't gone against our orders, you might very well be dead right now." Lucrezia smiled weakly.
"Queen Lucrezia, King Milliardo… I vow to find who did this and make them pay with their lives for what they've done!"
"Thank you Ambassador Wufei." Lucrezia replied.
"I'll be going too! I can't just sit around and do nothing. Your kingdom and mine are allies, and what they had done wont go unpunished! I promise you!" Quatre said firmly.
"King Quatre, you always were your mothers son." Milliardo said with a slight smile.
King Winner was never a fighter, and would avoid it at all costs, his wife, however, would fight, and did, to the bitter end, and that same determination gleamed in her son's eyes at that very moment in time, that one instance where Quatre's true strength was revealed.
"WHOA! Whoa, whoa, whoa! WAIT JUST ONE MOMENT! Hello? Are you all NUTS? In case ya hadn't noticed! We're just a bunch of KIDS! What the hell do you think we could possibly do against THEM! You all saw what happened! That goddamned battlefield looks like god himself put on his boots and FLATTENED King Milliardo's army for Christ's sakes! WHAT THE FUCK COULD TWO SCHOLARS, THREE DAMN BLUE BLOODS, A FUCKING STREET KID, A SHIT-HEAD CLOWN WITH A MASK, TWO FAIRIES, AND IDIOT PIRATE THAT DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO RUN DO? NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT!" Fiora screamed, on the verge of a panic attack.
"What CAN'T we do? That would be a better question! If we all pull together, we could be almost unstoppable!" Felina chirped.
"…ARE YOU FUCKING DELUSIONAL? GODDAMN IT ALL TO MOTHER FUCKING HELL! DIDN'T YOU HEAR A SINGLE WORD THAT I SAID? WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK THAT?"
"Because you're the ones." Heero replied coolly.
"Say WHAT? What the FUCK does that mean?"
"You don't mean…" Trowa started.
"That we were the ones…" Quatre continued.
"All along?" Duo finished.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL TALKIN' ABOUT?" Fiora exclaimed, confused out of her wits.
"The fairy legend." Felina replied, as if it was common knowledge.
"And what, pray tell, is that?" Wong asked calmly.
"Twin cousins, born in the moor of fairy blood fair, but of no parents are gifted to. Destined to meet of human eight, noble, humble, kindred, kind. Three of Kings blood, one with a nameless face, one an earth bound demon, another a curse to the human race, two from the land of the sunrise. All shall these be keepers of the gates into Mystic, the land of the forgotten isles." Felina replied with a proud squeak and a smile.
"HUH?" Fiora scratched her head.
"I see." Wong said suddenly, turning to face the others, trying to figure out the riddle. "Three of kings blood… Princess Relena, Princess Jasmine, and Prince Quatre." she said, pointing. "One with a nameless face, Trowa with is mask," she said after a pause. "The earth bound demon… Duo Maxwell, I have heard tale from the men that took Wufei and I to Cinq that there was a boy in the Winner Kingdom, which is kin to Cinq, and that sailor's home, that you were known as the Maxwell Church Demon. Is that not true?"
"…Yeah, it's true." Duo mumbled, kicking the sand with the toe of his boots.
"And pirates are nothing but a curse to the human race." Wong said with snort.
"…You know, that might've hurt, if it wasn't the truth." Fiora muttered under her breath.
"Then that leaves you and Me, Wong, as the two from the land of the sunrise." Wufei added.
"Correct master Wufei. And it is very much true, the sun does rise in the east, and that is where we are from." Wong replied.
"That's fine. But what does this have to do with anything?" King Milliardo asked.
"It has everything to anything! It's part of the legend! We have to go back to the moor Heero! To Castle Grandeur! And tell King Wynford!" Felina replied, bouncing all around her cousin happily.
"Wait! What about my brother's kingdom? What about those men that did this?" Relena asked.
"Fiora was right about one thing… we aren't strong enough to do anything about that yet. We will go see King Wynford, king of the fairy people, he might be able to help us." Heero replied.
"I was right? Wow! That's a shocker!" Fiora laughed.
"Shut up Fiora." Everyone exclaimed.
"Jeez! Okay, okay…"
"Man! We just got BACK from there, and now we have to go through all of that AGAIN?" Duo sighed.
"It's the only way." Heero said tonelessly.
"Man! Next time, try to use your head a bit, will ya?"
"Same to you."
"WHAT?"
Heero didn't reply.
"Hurry now, all of you. I'll stay here and take care of King Milliardo and Queen Lucrezia, so don't worry about them. Go!" Cathy said as she ushered all of them out of the cave.
"Goodbye sis, we'll be back soon." Trowa said.
"I know you will. Good luck!"
"Luck? HA! If ya gotta wish something for us, wish us SKILL! We'll need that more then any dumb old luck!" Fiora laughed.
"Well I still wish it the same. Hurry now! You don't have much time!"
"Right! Be careful of yourselves!" Quatre waved as he and the others ran, or, in Wong's case, trotted, back to their horses and were soon riding back into the forest where they came.
Their pace was swift, and their hearts set on completing their quest. And by the next morning's light, they were at the entrance to the moor.
"So, this is it, is it?" Duo asked, looking at the large moonstones that encircled them.
"Now the only question is, how do we get in?" Quatre asked as he looked under the hefty moonstone alter, shacking his head when he found nothing of interest under it.
"Mosses! When Heero and I would go in, we just put our hands over the alter, like this!" Felina chirped as she extended her hand over the stone table.
"Felina, that may not work, it would take us in, but there is the chance that they would still be stuck on the outside." Heero said calmly.
"Oh. But it can't hurt to try!" Felina said, at first sounding disappointed but then perked up at the thought of at least trying it.
"It couldn't hurt couldn't to try, could it?" Relena asked, reaching her small hand out to Felina's, only to have it snagged by Heero's larger one.
"We don't know that. Fairy magic and humans very rarely mix." he said sternly.
"I-I'm sorry." Relena stammered taking her hand back nervously and looking at the ground, unknowingly missing the worried and the, somewhat, hurt look in his eyes.
"Well, the way I see it. If we don't try, we might never get into that blasted kingdom of yours and then we'll never get to talk with your king, who then wont be able to help us, and if he doesn't help us, we're good as dead anyways! So why not give it a shot? It's not like we've got anything to lose!" Fiora laughed.
"Besides our lives." Duo mumbled.
"Wasn't you that said," Fiora paused to mimic his voice. "It's only by pure luck that I'm even still alive to begin with."
"That's not funny." Duo pouted.
Fiora just laughed as the others joined in.
"Let's keep looking. If we can't find any other way then we'll try Felina's idea." Quatre said as he continued to search.
"Hey Heero! Heero!" Duo shouted.
"What is it?" Heero asked, walking over to him.
"Do you know what these things mean?" Duo asked, pointing at the carvings in the stones around them.
"Oh that? That's just fairy words." Felina said, looking over her cousin's shoulder.
"I kinda figured that, but what does it SAY?" Duo demanded.
"Echwan Fermok Perperfeomph, Tahtah Nomock Kekeuko." Heero replied with a slight smirk.
"HUH? What's that mean?" Duo asked.
"Here stands Perfection, keeper of the Sword." Felina giggled.
"Huh… what about this one?" Duo asked, pointing at another.
"Echwan Fermok Kkelonte, Tahtah Nomock Neohnki." Heero said, reading his language aloud.
"Here stands Just, keeper of the Armor." Felina translated.
"Humm… and the next one?"
"Echwan Fermok Leckma, Tahtah Nomock Feugosote." Heero read.
"Here stands Dark, keeper of the Cloak." Felina said, with Wufei and Wong paying extra close attention.
"What about this one you guys?" Fiora said, catching on to what Duo was trying to do.
"Echwan Fermok Pareomf, Tahtah Nomock Grehongodo."
"Here stands Innocence, Keeper of the Shadow book."
"And this one?" Trowa asked, also catching on.
"Echwan Fermok Honto, Tahtah Nomock Cahlanontole."
"Here stands Jester, Keeper of the Hunt."
"And this one here?" Fiora asked.
"Echwan Fermok Hingcog, Tahtah Nomock Nemongiles."
"Here stands Freedom, Keeper of the Stars."
"What about this one?" Duo pointed.
"Echwan Fermock Vernlingk, Tahtah Nomock Diningcongfo."
"Here stands Voice, Keeper of the Bird Note."
"This one?" Jasmine asked, finally figuring out what they were all trying to do.
"Echwan Fermock Neek, Tahtah Nomock Jiklomote."
"Here stands Defended, Keeper of the Staff."
"Here?" Quatre asked, following Jasmine's lead.
Echwan Fermock Tumtuno, Tahtah Nomock Rengowanti."
"Here stands Illusion, Keeper of the Change."
"And the last one?" Fiora asked.
"Echwan Fermock Sinjizoton, Tahtah Nomock Zentradi."
"Here stands Serenity, Keeper of the shield…" Felina said, trailing off before adding, "That's all of it."
"What do you suppose it all means?" Quatre asked.
"Do you think that they're grave stones?" Relena asked.
"No. We don't bury our dead." Heero replied.
"Oh."
"Then what could they be then?" Jasmine asked.
"Anything, they could also be nothing. Fairy is strange, the words can have meaning, but there are times when it's not the word, it's the symbol that's important." Felina's voice tweeted.
"I don't think that was it. If it was only the symbol that was important in this case, then why does it make sense?" Wong questioned.
"Good point Lady Wong." Quatre replied.
"You guys are so fucking blind it's not even funny!" Fiora exclaimed.
"Oh really? And I suppose you have it all figured out right? Well, do you woman?" Wufei asked smugly.
"You have NO I idea how much I SO wanna say that I do, but I don't. I do know that Duo has however!" Fiora laughed.
Everyone turned to look at Duo, who was looking at one of the stones.
"Duo, is she right?" Quatre asked.
"I hope so. I think I've got it." He said with a snap of his fingers as he began to move everyone around and saying things like: "could you stand over here for a sec? Thanks, you're a babe!" and "No, no! You go over THERE! Not here, sorry about that." or "On second thought, maybe it's YOU that goes over THERE and he goes over here." This went on for the next few hours or so until he was sure it was right and stood in front of the last stone that wasn't taken.
"Okay. So, now what do we do?" Jasmine asked, curious.
"Now we all walk to the alter-thingy and do whatever it is that Heero and Felina do to get inside." Duo replied with a smile.
"Maxwell, are you sure this will work?" Wong asked.
"Nope." Duo replied with a laugh.
"Oh… that's just perfect! LOVELY! Oh well… everyone ready?" Fiora said.
"As ready as we'll ever be." Trowa replied.
"Okay. GO!" Duo said and they all started walking towards the center at the same time.
"Everyone, hold out your hands, place them over mine, palms down." Heero ordered and everyone complied.
"Well, so far so good." Duo said, placing his hand just as Heero instructed.
"Now what?" Wufei asked when nothing happened.
"We wait." Heero replied.
And, as if triggered by their words, the large, upright, pillar-like, moonstones around them began to glow an unearthly shade of blue and a bright red light exploded from the alter around their hands, frightening the horses and making them gallop away.
"Oh no!" Relena shouted as she watched the horses run, wanting to brake away from the others to try and get them back.
"Don't move your hand!" Heero yelled at her, making her snap her head to look at him.
"But the horses--"
"Can take care of themselves! Don't move your hand!" He ordered, cutting her off.
"…Alright…"
"Uh guys? Is this normal?" Fiora asked, watching as ghost-like creatures, bathed in an amber glow, pulled themselves away from the moonstone pillars and began to circle around them.
"Nuh uh." Felina replied, shaking her head now.
"I'm gonna die!" Fiora yelled, clenching her eyes shut as the ghost creatures continued to twirl around them, as if trapped inside the eye of a tornado.
Suddenly the earth underneath their feet began to tremble, almost expecting their doom. The ghosts spun closer, and closer, and closer still to the red light that encased their quaking hands. The sky darkened, lightning zoomed down around them, striking the moonstone pillars, thunder crashing and clashing like great swords fighting in the heavens, like Satan and God himself had chosen that exact moment to wage a war, with them trapped in the middle. The ghosts flew into the red beam of light, creating an explosion of light, sending them all reeling into unconsciousness.
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Mah ha ha ha ha! I love making cliffhangers! Yes, I know, you hate it when I do this to you Ashley, but I couldn't help it, besides, if I didn't, I never would have been able to finish this chapter! I didn't get even half of all I wanted to in this chapter, but still, this is some pretty hefty stuff! You know my e-mail so feel free to R&R okay? Byes!