Shadow of the Revolution

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me. I wish it did, but it doesn't. However, this plot does, so please don't take it.

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"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," the voice of the ringmaster of the circus boomed out over the speakers. "I present to you the knife-throwing act of our circus, starring Catherine and Trowa!"

The audience cheered loudly, welcoming the beautiful knife thrower and emotionless clown. Trowa bowed and Catherine curtsied as the colourful spotlights were shone upon them. Trowa, wearing his clown getup and painted half-mask, positioned himself in front of the target board, while Catherine was entertaining the audience with some tricks.  They cheered loudly when she was done, and Catherine prepared to throw the knives. The first sharp blade was thrown, and it buried itself only a few centimetres from his face. She threw two more, before doing a combination throw and released all her remaining 5 knives at once. One landed above Trowa's head, two beside his legs, and two above his arms. The audience burst into a loud applause, and the two bowed, before making their exit in a grand puff of smoke. Trowa quickly went to change, since after the lion act, he was performing again in an acrobatic routine. Quietly, so that no one would notice, Trowa climbed up the long ladder to the elevated platform above. He could hardly see where he was going; the only lights in the circus on at the time were the small spotlights pinpointed at the lions. The loud cheer from the audience told him that the performance was over, and that he would be performing next. His performance was announced, and Trowa stepped forward into the public eye, grabbing hold of his high-hanging swing. He looked out to see all the eager faces of the crowd; it made him want to smile. There was a large assortment of people: little children, babies, mothers, fathers, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and any other relatives you could think of. Deep down, Trowa envied them, knowing who their parents were, what their name was. He could use his gymnast abilities to entertain people. He liked making people smile; this job suited him perfectly. As his eyes wandered over the huge masses of people a peculiar girl caught his interest. She was standing at the far back of the stadium. She was leaning lightly against the tent's side, her ebony hair flowing down the left side of her face. She looked composed, arms folded across her chest, her eyes watching his every move. Her eyes were the things that sparked his interest. From the far distance, he could tell that she had deep hazel eyes. Her gaze upon him was one of intensity, and Trowa unwillingly found himself unable to break their eye contact. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but she made him very uncomfortable. Maybe it was because her gaze reminded of Heero's gaze: powerful, stubborn, and resistant. But they were also eyes of a warrior, a warrior who wanted war. She reminded him of Quatre when he was manipulated by the Zero System, and it was not a pleasant thought. To his surprise the girl smiled, and Trowa realized he had been staring at her. Her smile brightened her features, but the warmth of her smile did not reach her icy eyes. Deciding he'd better get on with his performance, Trowa finally turned away from the girl and leaned his weight onto the swing, jumping off of the platform. He then shifted, and moved onto the next swing, and the next. The crowd watched astonished as Trowa moved onto the last swing, did his trademark flip, and landed gracefully on the platform on the other side. An explosion of cheers broke the silence as Trowa performed, and he quickly bowed to the audience. He looked up to see the strange girl he saw earlier, but found that she was gone.

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Mariemaia sat in her room with her head bowed. It had been a couple of weeks since her attempt to run away, and she had returned to her normal routine in the Sanq Kingdom. She went to school, came back and did her homework, and afterward stayed in her room. She was not used to it, having been trained since a very young age to be in command and live in the heart of battle. It was so hard to control yourself when everything, all the systems and nerves in your body were practically begging for war. She never told anyone, and behaved like she should. How could you tell someone in a peace nation you lived only for battle? She acted everyday like nothing was wrong, and probably for everyone else there was nothing wrong. But for her, ever since Lady Une died, life had lost its value. She wanted the thrill of battle, something to excite her senses between these long, dreary days. In battle, months may seem like minutes, but here, minutes seemed like years. No one could possibly understand, no one who lived here, anyway. All of them were pacifists, unable to see through the bloodshed to the beauty of war. She longed for war, longed to see the magnificent battle staged before her own, longed to see her father in battle. She had never known her father, and her mother refused to tell her of him. She later found out from Lady Une that the reason her mother never spoke of her father was because they didn't know each other. Her father had been an anonymous sperm donor, and her mother happened to have his child. Her grandfather Dekim said she was her father's pride and joy, but how could she be when she didn't even know him, and he didn't know her?

She sighed, thinking of her worthless life. The silence of the room was driving her insane; such a contrast it had to the battle cries of war. From behind her, she heard rustling and turned her wheelchair around. She was startled to see a man standing there. How she got in, she didn't know. He was elegant, tall, and chic. He was wearing a military uniform, and Mariemaia had seen enough pictures of him to recognize who this was.

"You're… you're…" she stuttered, unable to finish.

"Mariemaia, my you've grown," he said almost fondly. "I know you hate it here. You were trained for war. You can't possibly live here. This is the life of cowards."

At these words, Mariemaia recovered herself and gained some of her spunk.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.

"Why Mariemaia, no need to get sadistic. I thought I would be doing you a favour by coming, because I know you hate it here."

"How could you possibly know what I'm feeling?" she almost shouted. "You've never been there for me."

"I know you enough to know you love war. And a war is exactly what I'm planning to stage. You'd be able to be a figurehead once again, after we claim victory."

"A war?" she asked. "That's impossible. All weapons were destroyed and prohibited a year ago"

"Nothing is impossible, Mariemaia. I'm alive, aren't I?"

Mariemaia considered the choices in her head. Starting a war was foolish; it killed many innocents and destroys everything. But it also has beauty, a beauty she hadn't seen for a very long time. She'd have control, and a beautiful battle would play before her eyes. Should she choose the right choice, or her own selfishness?

The man stretched out a hand to her, and she hesitated. Giving in to her own temptations, she took his hand. After that he had whispered softly to her.

"Welcome to my world, Mariemaia. A beautiful world of paradise…"

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Blade smiled to herself as she got off the shuttle and set foot on the moon. She had come to the place to shop, still needing an outfit for the full-size party that night. She wanted to make sure she looked her best. She already had a dress made and waiting for her to pick it up, but she still needed a matching scarf to wear, some new shoes, and maybe a ring.  She set out to all her favourite places to shop first, then proceeded to enter any other stores where she found anything that caught her eye. In the end, she got a nice pair of baby-blue shoes that matched her dress. She didn't find a scarf, but instead found a beautiful silver sapphire necklace that fit snugly around her neck, with an armband to match. She went to the tailor's next to pick up her dress. It looked beautiful, and she paid for it and took the next shuttle flight out to earth. With her many missions, she had an apartment on almost every colony and every country on earth. She headed for the reconstructed Sanq Kingdom, home of the National Hall.  Once there, she got to work right away.

Emerging three hours later from her bathroom, Blade looked quite ravishing. Her silk blue dress was cut horizontally, leaving her left shoulder open. Her armband was worn on that arm, and the matching necklace gleamed in the light. Her hair was worn in curls, with half of it left down. Her eye shadow was the same colour as the dress, and not too much of it was applied. Her lipstick was a soft shade of pink, almost the exact same colour as her lips. A mild pink blush coloured her cheeks, and neither her mascara nor eyeliner were over-used. The side slits in her dress revealed her new shoes on her feet as she walked. She looked in the mirror and grinned. She didn't think any of the pilots would recognize her like this. She grabbed her purse, keys, and 'bracelet' as she headed out the door.

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Blade arrived right on time, and her assigned limo driver drove away. She took out the invitation from her purse, and handed it to the servitor at the door. He checked her invitation, and then beckoned her inside. Through the rotating doors, Blade saw the elegance of the Hall, beautifully decorated for the 'joyous' occasion. The many large chandeliers were lighted, heightening the sophistication of the hall, bathing everything in a beautiful yellow light. The walls were covered with pictures of many great politicians and world leaders. Blade was standing on a wide staircase that separated in the middle and broke off into two directions, and a lower staircase that led straight down. She descended down slowly and gracefully, fully aware of the attention she was receiving. Many of the older guests who had arrived earlier had taken to staring at her. She remained nonchalant, and nodded a greeting to them politely as she passed them on her way down. She saw that the Hall had two other doors, one leading to the dining area and the other to the ballroom. She searched around for signs of her comrades. She found them easily enough, and the pilots along with them. She didn't see Wufei though; she wondered what could have happened. She was told that all the pilots were attending.

What are you complaining about? She asked herself. One less of them means less work for you.

She walked around the main foyer, and watched as the guests arrived. She talked to many people, and they found her charming and polite. She made sure to avoid the pilots, in case they recognized her. After a while, a bell sounded, signalling that dinner was about to be served. Blade followed the huge flock of people heading towards the dinning area. She made sure to stay well behind, and seated herself as far away from the pilots as possible. The appetizer was served, followed by the main course. Dessert was excellent, and needless to say Blade mentally kicked herself for eating so much before a mission. She was so full she felt like exploding. She waited politely for the other guests to finish eating, chatting with the man sitting beside her. He had long blond hair and the bluest eyes. He was a Preventer, it seemed, and his name was Zechs Merquise. Before dinner had fully finished, Blade had excused herself from the conversation to go to the bathroom. Instead, she had headed up the staff stairs to the second floor balcony. She flipped over her 'bracelet,' and the time on it said 00:48. She waited, and as soon as the numbers said 00:00, guests poured out of the dining area into the main foyer. She pressed something on her bracelet, and a beeping arrow guided her to her stashed equipment. She found it with no problem, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Relena Peacecraft take her place on stage behind the podium.

"It's time to get this party started…"

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Author's Notes: Yay, I got the next chapter out! Do you people know the plot yet? Guess who the mysterious man is? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took the better part of my day to finish. Thank you to those who reviewed: Kywraith Amnesi, Myst-Lady, Shin'sTwin, Misty, and Meghanna Starsong. Misty, I apologize for Heero's lack of involvement in this story so far. Next chapter is mainly for him, but the main person in this fic is Blade. I will really try to give the pilots more of a role in this, but you'll have to wait for later chapters of the story for more G-boys involvement. Oh, and if you'll please, could someone read my fic Restraints?

Keep those reviews coming, please!

~Seeress.