Ghost Knight
Chapter 13
by Anne Khushrenada
Treize found the specter of Death seated in the snow
beside the ice-edged Well of Souls, his scythe braced
across his knees. The Ghost Knight wasn't arrogant or
fool enough to think he'd come upon Death unawares;
the specter knew he was there, he always did, but he
gave no sign of it. Over Death's shoulder, he saw
Alice McKenzie seated at his own kitchen table,
papers and file folders spread out before her. It had
never really occurred to Treize before, as his heart
was given to another, that Walker's lady was
beautiful. But in fact she was, the Irishwoman's
hair, long and blonde and worn loose now, as Lady Une
had taken to wearing hers.
Treize stifled a sigh, and shook his head a bit. /Odd
that in all this time I have never brought Walker
here, have never used the powers I have to let him
see her. And he has never asked./ Then, /No, but he
wouldn't, would he? I will let him see.../
Even as Treize watched, Death reached out a skeletal
hand, one finger touching the waters of the Well, a
thing which Treize himself would not have dared to
do. The image in the Well rippled and changed, Alice
and the kitchen table giving way to Mariemaia
standing in a hospital corridor with one arm around
Carolyn. Death reached out again, touched the surface
of the water, and he saw Lady Une leaning up against
the foot of the blue and white Epyon II. Another bony
finger to the water, and Une's face rippled away,
because that of Milliardo, a telephone to his ear.
Again, and he saw Milliardo's daughter, Elena,
staring out the window of her well-appointed cell.
"So you see," Death spoke at last, "that they are
well, and I have been keeping my promise."
"Are you showing off, old friend?" Treize asked.
"Hmm?"
"The gestures- they aren't really necessary for you,
are they? You could command these things with a word,
even with a /thought/ if you chose."
"True enough," Death said, "and no, I am not showing
off. It is good, though, at times, is it not, to
touch something and to /feel/ it- to feel it in your
bones, if I may be forgiven the pun..."
Treize nodded. "Can you feel the waters of the Well,
then? And do they feel to you as more than this
spirit-stuff of which your world is made?" He sat
himself beside the cloaked specter, and he felt
nothing- not the chill wind that should have rose
from the ice, not the cold of the snow on the ground.
"Most certainly," Death said, but when Treize would
have reached out his hand to touch the Well waters, a
skeletal hand grasped tight to his ghostly flesh, and
held him fast. "No. Not even you, I think, could
survive that. You had your time of being flesh and
blood, remember- your brief touch of true /life/
beyond death. I have nothing of the sort, and so it
is fair that I should have this. However little it
is." The specter smiled sadly. "It is ironic and
fitting, though, that there is no one living in this
mortal world for whom I care. No one who's image
touches me the way that these-" he reached to the
pool again, brought Une's image forth again, then
that of Mariemaia "-touch you, Ghost Knight."
"Should they not be here, then, if they aren't still
alive?" Treize asked.
Death shook his head. "Those I cared for...had other
callings. But that was long ago, and I would rather
not speak of it now. Have you found anything?"
Treize sighed. "Walker hears rumors of someone called
the 'Dark Knight', and it seems she is the force
Walker saw as standing in opposition to me, but-" He
shook his head. "There is something we're missing
here, I feel it. Perhaps it is simply that we do not
know all of the legend- Tell me, you who have been
here more years than most have lived, what do you
know of this Dark Knight?"
"I know much of many things," Death said, "but I may
not speak of all of them. The Dark Knight is
something we all choose to avoid as much as we can.
She is said to be your opposite in all things, but it
is more complex than that, as it is with you. We none
of us understand her, what she is or what she does,
but she does not dwell in this realm, nor in any of
the others given over to my kind."
"There are more where you came from?" Treize asked,
and he must have looked both amused and troubled at
the very thought, for Death gave a soft chuckle.
"There are the Fates, and Time, the spirits of
places, things..."
"Fates," Treize said. "Once before you spoke of them.
But if they exist, what can anything we do or do not
do, matter now? If what will be, will be... Why?"
Death seemed to understand the question, and he said,
"Only patterns of fate really exist. The three
sisters of Fate are curious things, and of course we
all fear them greatly. They can weave even my own
destiny out of this place if they so choose. One
weaves the threads of which our lives are made
manifest, one chooses when those lives should end,
and the third- the third I think we all fear most,
more than any of the others, for she is the one who
severs the life-strands. And there are those who
believe that they weave the destinies of the great
ones into patterns, that every movement of their
lives has been decreed. Perhaps it is so, I do not
know. But as for events 'fated to be' on a grand and
general scale- no, there is no such thing. Only
patterns, what may be if things go on as they are. If
this change is made, or that one, the pattern will
not come to be."
"So there is hope yet," Treize said.
"Lad, there is always hope. There is /always/ hope."
"Might we then, Walker and I, consult the Fates?"
Treize asked.
Death shook his head. "No one goes to the Fates, lad,
they only come to you, and that is usually not a
thing which any sane being would welcome. Besides,
think you that they care for the petty affairs of
mortals or the avatars who watch over them?"
"These things are not petty," Treize said.
"Aye, that may be so," Death said. "But if the Dark
Knight is the cause of so much of our troubles,
well... I think that she is the spirit of Entropy if
she is anything at all, and /that's/ not a force I'd
care to reckon with, either. She answers to Fate, but
only in the most general terms. They cannot bring her
to heel any more than I can you."
"I see," Treize said, and by the thoughtful
expression on his face, he clearly did. "Will you be
here if I would seek your council again?"
"Perhaps," Death said. "But wherever I am in this
place, I will keep watch, as I promised."
"Ah- one last thing," Treize said. "I have long
wondered- what we see in the Well, is it happening in
the mortal world in the same moment we see it here?"
"A question for Time, if you can ever find him,"
Death said, "but I think that we are some several
moments ahead of them. There is not much in the
pattern of things that can be changed in a handful of
moments, you see."
"But if something were seen that I felt should not
be-"
Death sighed. "You seek, as always, excuses to
meddle. Yes, I suppose, if you saw something that you
felt strongly enough about- and Gods know you feel
strongly about /everything/, or so it seems! -then
yes, if you acted instantly, very likely you could
stop that event from taking place."
"Thank you. I will remember that," Treize said as he
stood.
Death watched him turn away, along one of the paths
that led elsewhere. "Yes, of course you will, Ghost
Knight," the specter said. "I think at times that you
remember everything."
"And," Death called after him, "as to what you were
thinking of a few moments ago- bringing Walker here
to see what you and I can, would not be so very
wrong."
"I will do so, then," Treize said. Not mentioning
that he had intended to do so whatever the specter's
feelings on the subject. "And one other question-"
Anticipating it, having been waiting for it for some
time now, Death said only, "No."
"No?"
"No. It is the Ghost Knight's right to go forth into
the land of the living upon very /rare/ occasions, if
he has strength enough, but it is not his gift to
take any other soul with him. Walker may not travel
with you when you leave this realm. Though it was
kind of you, for his sake, to inquire about it."
"Am I not strong enough to do what I choose?" Treize
asked. "Have I not will enough to draw him with me
into the world if I wish it?"
"No," Death said. "If it were your lady you spoke of,
or one of your children- perhaps. If they were here
among us, and you wished to take one of these into
the land of the living, then, perhaps. But as it
stands with Walker, no. I am sorry. I would that it
could be otherwise."
Treize nodded, and gave a little bow before turning
and departing again. Death could not tell, for all
his ageless wisdom, weather the bow was meant to be
mocking or not, and this time he let the Ghost Knight
go in peace, or as much of it as he could have these
days.
* * *
Mariemaia eased open the door to Lucian's hospital
room and stepped inside. She smiled slightly at the
sight of her sleeping brother, and at Carolyn
perched, half-asleep herself, in the chair beside his
bed.
"Caro," she called softly, and the redhead looked up.
"Mari."
"Here," Mariemaia said, helping her friend to stand.
"Lean on me, and I'll help you back to your room."
She placed an arm around Carolyn's shoulders and
guided her out into the hall. The other girl gave
directions, and Mariemaia helped her make her way
slowly there.
"I thought I'd stop by," Mariemaia said as she
dropped into the chair by Carolyn's bed, "even though
I figured Lucian would be asleep by now. How's he
doing?"
"Sick enough to have to stay, well enough to complain
about it," Caro replied as she settled back in bed.
"He's a Khushrenada, Caro- he's always well enough to
complain."
Carolyn laughed. "You have a point there. He's doing
alright, though, considering. But he misses Terra,
and as for Elena, well- You know what I meant when we
spoke on the phone?"
Mariemaia nodded. "Of course. Was he dreaming, or-?"
"A dream," Carolyn said. "He kept calling out to her,
and he told me about it when he woke up. They've
always been close, though, haven't they? Your brother
and sister, Elena, and Lewis?"
"Yeah," Mariemaia said. "I need to tell my mother
about all this, but I haven't been able to catch
her."
"Do you think it's important, what he saw?" Caro
asked.
"It might be. It's important that we /know/, even if
we can't prove it, that Nichol is working for Linnea.
We suspected, sure, but knowing is different. And if
Mama says to the others, that she can't show them
proof but she knows beyond doubt it's the truth,
they'll believe. We've all seen some strange stuff,
especially these past couple years, and nobody laughs
quite the way they used to about tales of my father's
ghost, you know?"
Carolyn nodded. "I do know. I've always been glad for
you that you had some way to know him- even if it's
not in the way that most people would understand. I
know how much having two parents means to me, I don't
know what I'd do without my mothers."
Mariemaia smiled. "I think you'd manage, Caro. But I
know what you mean. And, think, you wouldn't even
know it if Dorothy weren't family. And if Mama hadn't
decided that she /needed/ to know, back when the
twins were a little younger and we were having those
custody battles with Linnea." She shook her head. "I
almost wish she was still trying to work that way;
the woman fights dirty, and she's got my little
sister and brother caught up in this crap- and now
/your/ sister and Elena, too. None of us want to
fight her way, but we may not have much choice."
"We'll do what we have to, to stop her," Carolyn
said, "and if it means doing things other people
wouldn't, so be it." She paused. "When I get out of
here...Mariemaia, I want in on this, whatever Mama or
Mom say about it."
"You've got it," Mariemaia said. "I'd feel better if
we had you working with us, to tell you the truth.
The 'adults' still feel a bit odd around me, half the
time afraid to let me do anything, the rest afraid of
what I /can/ do."
"They love you, Mari- all of them do, not just Aunt
Une and my mothers and the others. They don't all
understand you, but they love you."
"And the kids love you," Mariemaia said. "I've never
been very good with them, except Terra and Lucian,
and probably only that because they're my sibs." She
shrugged.
"I think about the strangeness of my family
sometimes," Carolyn said, "when I have time. But
right now I'd give anything to have that cheerful
oddness back again. Sarah-" She sighed.
"I know, Caro, I know. But none of us think they'd
hurt her- it wouldn't be logical."
"Do you trust Linnea to be logical?" Caro asked.
"You, who raged and called her a bitch and all but
threw things when she came to your mother's house at
the start of summer?"
Mariemaia sighed. "I will never trust that woman
until she is dead and can't touch us or hurt the ones
we love anymore. But if she hurts Sarah, /or/ Elena,
she knows what will happen to her. Our families may
be odd ones, Caro, but they are also /old/ families,
and none of us are without power or influence. The
Khushrenada cousins- the mad ones who were always so
at odds with Mama when I was a girl -they would bring
Linnea down in the usual way, ruining her in the eyes
of the world. I have a different form of Khushrenada
justice in mind."
"Mari-" Caro began, and Mariemaia was nearly
overwhelmed with caring for her dear friend, this
sweet and strong girl whom she had known so long.
"No, Caro. I am what I am- I am my father's daughter,
and my blood is that of the Khushrenadas. I come from
a line of warriors, a line of honorable fighters who
have lived and died by the sword. I will do what I
must, to protect, to avenge, my family. And if I need
avenge them- God help them, Carolyn, because they
can't run far or fast enough."
"I thought you didn't believe in God," Caro said.
"I don't believe in anything except myself, and the
lot of us," Mariemaia said, her voice deathly calm.
"I love well the peace my mother fought for and my
father died for, but I will do whatever is necessary.
Whatever is necessary."
Carolyn nodded, and her blue-grey eyes were cold.
"I'll be right there alongside you, Mariemaia."
"Carolyn-"
"No," Caro said. "No. The children were my
responsibility, and whatever drugs Nichol forced on
me, I let them down. I said I want in on this, and I
wasn't kidding."
"Alright," Mariemaia said, taking her friend's hand
and squeezing it before letting go. "Alright, Caro.
My oath. If it comes to that, you're with me."
"Good," said Carolyn. "I'd just have gone after you,
anyway, welcome or not."
"Yeah," Mariemaia said. "I know."
* * *
Duo sipped his coffee, and looked around the small
table in the Preventers cafeteria, taking in the
sight of his friends, his fellow ex-Gundam pilots.
Only Heero was absent, having gone to relieve some of
the others at the hospital. Heero was worth two or
three Preventer guards on his own, and Duo, like most
of them, felt better knowing he was there.
"Is anybody else thinking we should have just taken
care of the Linnea problem at the start of summer,
whatever Lady Une thought?" Duo asked them.
"Yes," Trowa said. "Maybe she was right not to want
to push things, but-"
Quatre shook his head. "I think we all knew she
wasn't just going to go away," he said.
"Hell, even I knew that," Duo said, "and I don't have
your sense for things, Quatre."
"Nor do I," Wufei said, "but I thought the same. The
woman has no right to make claim to such an honorable
name, and we should have gotten rid of her. Now it's
too late. We can't even find her. Gabe McKenzie's
team is working on it, but-" The Chinese Preventer
sighed. "It is not an easy search."
"Try 'needle in a haystack', Wu-man," Duo said. "I
know, but we've /got/ to find them somehow. There
should be records of this crap..."
"There were, at one point," Trowa said. "But the
computers are something of a mess, and if there were
anything worth reading in our file room, we wouldn't
still have one standing."
"Agreed," said Wufei. "We may have wasted valuable
time at the police fire- particularly since what they
were after there is-"
"Someplace safe," Quatre interrupted, with a glance
about the room that reminded all of them that despite
the friendly uniforms worn by the others here, there
might be very unfriendly listeners all too close for
comfort.
"I really hate this," Duo said for all of them. "But,
no worries, I've got a plan."
"May your gods and mine preserve us," said Wufei.
"Quiet, man, I'm serious."
"Alright, Maxwell, what is your plan?"
"We find you-know-who. We make sure the kids are
okay. Then we go break a few heads."
"The idea does have some appeal," Trowa said, "but I
think we'll have to stand in line."
"Hey, I'm cool with that," said Duo, "but I'm gonna
talk this over with Milliardo. I want a piece of
Nichol. /You/ guys can stand in line."
"I think every Preventer who really meant their oath
wants a piece of him," Wufei said. "Hmm. Perhaps the
rest of us can sell tickets..."
"There's an idea," said Trowa. He sighed as his cell
phone began to ring, and picked it up. "Barton." He
listened for a moment, sighed again. "Of course,
John. We'll let you know." Trowa hung up, looking
troubled. "That was John Ling. David's missing."
"And as long as we're searching for half the city
anyway...?" Duo asked.
Trowa nodded. "He asked if we'd keep an eye out for
him, that's all, and Lady Une seems to be worried
about it, too."
"We'll find him, Trowa," Quatre said in an attempt to
reassure his lover, who looked troubled at the
thought of the missing children. "We'll find them
all."
"Hey, Trowa, can I borrow that?" Duo asked, and Trowa
passed him the phone. He dialed a number.
"Yuy, what?"
"Hey, Heero, man, how goes it?"
"Quiet here," Heero said. "You?"
"Oh, you know, the usual crap. Listen, keep an eye
out for David Ling, huh?"
Heero sighed. "Right. Don't tell me Mariemaia's
boyfriend was stupid enough to wander off."
"He's a good kid," Duo said, "I just don't think he
/thinks/ sometimes, you know? His father's pretty
worried, and so's Lady Une, we think. Hard to tell
with her, but..."
"Yeah," Heero said. "We'll keep our eyes open over
here."
"Thanks, pal," Duo said.
* * *
Lady Une leaned upon Epyon II, her back against its
blue and white leg. After a moment she slid into a
sitting position on the foot of the Gundam, and Une
brushed a strand of hair out of her eye with a sigh.
"We've been through much together, haven't we, old
friend?" she asked the refurbished mobile suit.
Howard and the other Preventer techs had kept it in
good repair since the days before the twins were
born, but Une had continued to do most of the work
herself. It was one of the few things she kept from
her days with OZ, a belief Treize had instilled in
her that the best of pilots looked after their own
machinery. And it pleased her, to with her own hands
care for this thing which Treize had built. She took
such little pleasure from anything now- her children,
a mobile suit older than two of three of those
children, and occasional fleeting glimpses of her
dead lover's ghost.
"What a life I have come to lead," Une said. "And I
had never imagined that it might be like this, the
struggles or the pain, or this crushing, horrible
loneliness." She glanced skyward, past the Gundam's
head at the darkening horizon. "I envy Catherine and
Dorothy, and the others, more than I should. And I
miss you so, Treize, sometimes it seems like I can't
go on. But I must, I know that. It's not over yet,
not for me, and there's still too much left to do.
But I am so tired, so very tired..."
She sighed again, and her shoulders sagged, her head
falling into her hands, long hair spilling over her
arms. Une wept softly, as she was prone to doing in
moments like these, and after a time it seemed that
she felt a familiar touch on her shoulders, drawing
her back, drawing her head up, gentle hands brushing
back her hair and soft lips kissing away her tears.
Before she knew it she was no longer alone on Epyon's
foot, but Treize sat with her, held her as she cried
against his spectral shoulder for a time. "Hush now,
Lady, love, hush now, it's alright..." And when the
tears went on, he tipped her chin up towards him.
"You are stronger than you know, my love. And you
always have been."
"Treize-"
"No, it's true," he said. "It is true, and you must
accept it. You must."
Une nodded, unable to speak. He sighed, and kissed
the top of her head. "I can't stay long. I never can,
I know. But your need called me."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Treize said, and kissed her, that
soft, almost too gentle to even be felt, kiss of his
ghostly form. "It is no hardship for me to come to
you when I can. It's all I can do." /And if it costs
me strength, if it costs me some of my power for a
time, then the price is more than worth it,/ he
thought, resolved that she should never know these
things. /And if the time comes when it must be so, I
would lay it all aside for her. Anything, my dear
lady, you need only ask- I wonder that you don't know
that./
"Have you seen the children lately?" Une asked.
"I see many things," Treize told her, "and I look in
on you all as I said I would."
"They are amazing, aren't they?" Une said. "They grow
so fast, my little ones- oh, Treize, where does the
time go? It seems just the other day they were born,
and we thought we had troubles enough then, but now,
now- it is so much worse, I don't know...I see
Mariemaia now, and she is so full of rage. We've all
come to hate Linnea, and Nichol, and whomever else,
but Mariemaia-" Une shook her head. "She is truly
your daughter, my love, for she has your temper."
"That she does," Treize said with a laugh, "and I
know it well. Mariemaia will be alright, Une- you
must believe that. She isn't the child she was when
you brought her into your life, and she will manage
better than you think. Though it troubles me, too-
but perhaps we shouldn't worry. She has a good and
true friend in Carolyn, and that girl was always
sensible. Calm, for the most part. Press her, though,
and she'll fight like a lion."
"Yes," Une said, "she's a lot like /both/ of her
mothers in that." She reached a hand up towards his
cheek. "I'm sorry, love, to fill this small time we
may have with things like this..."
"I don't mind," Treize said. "I see a great deal, but
I miss conversation. I miss being able to talk about
my children." He sighed and glanced back over his
shoulder, as if he saw something she could not. "I
must go, lady." Treize held her tight another moment,
then took her hand in his and kissed it. "Is there
anything I can do for you? You have only to ask, and
if it's within my power-"
"I don't know if you are permitted," Une said, "but
if you can tell me where Elena and Sarah are?"
Treize shook his head. "I can't interfere that much,
I am sorry to say. But I have faith in you all- you
will find them. Milliardo will move every stone on
Earth and every star in space to find his daughter,
too."
"Very true," Une agreed. "Something else, then. Do
you know where David Ling is, Treize? I don't know if
you know of him-" It seemed to Une that the ghost
winced, but she could not be sure. "He and Mariemaia
are close, and he went missing the same day as the
other two-"
Again Treize shook his head. "Forgive me, Lady, but I
cannot grant what you ask of me now, either. Would
that I could." /Gods, how it pains me to lie to her,/
he thought, /but I would not be the least bit happy
if I were permitted to tell her the truth of that.
Oh, no, my dear lady, I would not that you knew it,
none of you, ever, that the one our daughter held so
dear has betrayed you all. You will know, one day-
more to the point, /she/ will know, but I will not
bring that day sooner than it must be./
"Treize," Une said, and he smiled at her.
"Yes?"
"Would you, then, keep an extra close watch on
Mariemaia- and Carolyn, calming influence though she
may be?"
"Of course," Treize said. "/That/, I can do." He
embraced her again and stood. /The leave-taking is
always so hard,/ he thought. /Strange that I thought
it would grow easier. "Farewell, lady." He turned
away- and paused, then looked back. "My dear Une?"
"Yes?"
"See that you get some rest before the week is out,
please. You work too hard, as you always have."
"I'll do my best to take your advice," Une said.
"Who said anything about giving advice, love?" Treize
asked. "Oh yes, one other thing- please eat
something, Une. If you don't, I may have to take
matters into my own hands."
"Really?" Une asked, amused. "And what will you do,
then?"
"I- Why, I'll haunt Alice long enough to tell her how
little care you've taken of yourself lately," Treize
said triumphantly, smiling.
"You wouldn't dare!" Une laughed.
"Try me," Treize replied. He bowed. "Good eve, my
love."
Une settled back against Epyon's foot, watching him
fade even as he walked away along the path. She
sighed. "Good night, Treize."
Chapter 13
by Anne Khushrenada
Treize found the specter of Death seated in the snow
beside the ice-edged Well of Souls, his scythe braced
across his knees. The Ghost Knight wasn't arrogant or
fool enough to think he'd come upon Death unawares;
the specter knew he was there, he always did, but he
gave no sign of it. Over Death's shoulder, he saw
Alice McKenzie seated at his own kitchen table,
papers and file folders spread out before her. It had
never really occurred to Treize before, as his heart
was given to another, that Walker's lady was
beautiful. But in fact she was, the Irishwoman's
hair, long and blonde and worn loose now, as Lady Une
had taken to wearing hers.
Treize stifled a sigh, and shook his head a bit. /Odd
that in all this time I have never brought Walker
here, have never used the powers I have to let him
see her. And he has never asked./ Then, /No, but he
wouldn't, would he? I will let him see.../
Even as Treize watched, Death reached out a skeletal
hand, one finger touching the waters of the Well, a
thing which Treize himself would not have dared to
do. The image in the Well rippled and changed, Alice
and the kitchen table giving way to Mariemaia
standing in a hospital corridor with one arm around
Carolyn. Death reached out again, touched the surface
of the water, and he saw Lady Une leaning up against
the foot of the blue and white Epyon II. Another bony
finger to the water, and Une's face rippled away,
because that of Milliardo, a telephone to his ear.
Again, and he saw Milliardo's daughter, Elena,
staring out the window of her well-appointed cell.
"So you see," Death spoke at last, "that they are
well, and I have been keeping my promise."
"Are you showing off, old friend?" Treize asked.
"Hmm?"
"The gestures- they aren't really necessary for you,
are they? You could command these things with a word,
even with a /thought/ if you chose."
"True enough," Death said, "and no, I am not showing
off. It is good, though, at times, is it not, to
touch something and to /feel/ it- to feel it in your
bones, if I may be forgiven the pun..."
Treize nodded. "Can you feel the waters of the Well,
then? And do they feel to you as more than this
spirit-stuff of which your world is made?" He sat
himself beside the cloaked specter, and he felt
nothing- not the chill wind that should have rose
from the ice, not the cold of the snow on the ground.
"Most certainly," Death said, but when Treize would
have reached out his hand to touch the Well waters, a
skeletal hand grasped tight to his ghostly flesh, and
held him fast. "No. Not even you, I think, could
survive that. You had your time of being flesh and
blood, remember- your brief touch of true /life/
beyond death. I have nothing of the sort, and so it
is fair that I should have this. However little it
is." The specter smiled sadly. "It is ironic and
fitting, though, that there is no one living in this
mortal world for whom I care. No one who's image
touches me the way that these-" he reached to the
pool again, brought Une's image forth again, then
that of Mariemaia "-touch you, Ghost Knight."
"Should they not be here, then, if they aren't still
alive?" Treize asked.
Death shook his head. "Those I cared for...had other
callings. But that was long ago, and I would rather
not speak of it now. Have you found anything?"
Treize sighed. "Walker hears rumors of someone called
the 'Dark Knight', and it seems she is the force
Walker saw as standing in opposition to me, but-" He
shook his head. "There is something we're missing
here, I feel it. Perhaps it is simply that we do not
know all of the legend- Tell me, you who have been
here more years than most have lived, what do you
know of this Dark Knight?"
"I know much of many things," Death said, "but I may
not speak of all of them. The Dark Knight is
something we all choose to avoid as much as we can.
She is said to be your opposite in all things, but it
is more complex than that, as it is with you. We none
of us understand her, what she is or what she does,
but she does not dwell in this realm, nor in any of
the others given over to my kind."
"There are more where you came from?" Treize asked,
and he must have looked both amused and troubled at
the very thought, for Death gave a soft chuckle.
"There are the Fates, and Time, the spirits of
places, things..."
"Fates," Treize said. "Once before you spoke of them.
But if they exist, what can anything we do or do not
do, matter now? If what will be, will be... Why?"
Death seemed to understand the question, and he said,
"Only patterns of fate really exist. The three
sisters of Fate are curious things, and of course we
all fear them greatly. They can weave even my own
destiny out of this place if they so choose. One
weaves the threads of which our lives are made
manifest, one chooses when those lives should end,
and the third- the third I think we all fear most,
more than any of the others, for she is the one who
severs the life-strands. And there are those who
believe that they weave the destinies of the great
ones into patterns, that every movement of their
lives has been decreed. Perhaps it is so, I do not
know. But as for events 'fated to be' on a grand and
general scale- no, there is no such thing. Only
patterns, what may be if things go on as they are. If
this change is made, or that one, the pattern will
not come to be."
"So there is hope yet," Treize said.
"Lad, there is always hope. There is /always/ hope."
"Might we then, Walker and I, consult the Fates?"
Treize asked.
Death shook his head. "No one goes to the Fates, lad,
they only come to you, and that is usually not a
thing which any sane being would welcome. Besides,
think you that they care for the petty affairs of
mortals or the avatars who watch over them?"
"These things are not petty," Treize said.
"Aye, that may be so," Death said. "But if the Dark
Knight is the cause of so much of our troubles,
well... I think that she is the spirit of Entropy if
she is anything at all, and /that's/ not a force I'd
care to reckon with, either. She answers to Fate, but
only in the most general terms. They cannot bring her
to heel any more than I can you."
"I see," Treize said, and by the thoughtful
expression on his face, he clearly did. "Will you be
here if I would seek your council again?"
"Perhaps," Death said. "But wherever I am in this
place, I will keep watch, as I promised."
"Ah- one last thing," Treize said. "I have long
wondered- what we see in the Well, is it happening in
the mortal world in the same moment we see it here?"
"A question for Time, if you can ever find him,"
Death said, "but I think that we are some several
moments ahead of them. There is not much in the
pattern of things that can be changed in a handful of
moments, you see."
"But if something were seen that I felt should not
be-"
Death sighed. "You seek, as always, excuses to
meddle. Yes, I suppose, if you saw something that you
felt strongly enough about- and Gods know you feel
strongly about /everything/, or so it seems! -then
yes, if you acted instantly, very likely you could
stop that event from taking place."
"Thank you. I will remember that," Treize said as he
stood.
Death watched him turn away, along one of the paths
that led elsewhere. "Yes, of course you will, Ghost
Knight," the specter said. "I think at times that you
remember everything."
"And," Death called after him, "as to what you were
thinking of a few moments ago- bringing Walker here
to see what you and I can, would not be so very
wrong."
"I will do so, then," Treize said. Not mentioning
that he had intended to do so whatever the specter's
feelings on the subject. "And one other question-"
Anticipating it, having been waiting for it for some
time now, Death said only, "No."
"No?"
"No. It is the Ghost Knight's right to go forth into
the land of the living upon very /rare/ occasions, if
he has strength enough, but it is not his gift to
take any other soul with him. Walker may not travel
with you when you leave this realm. Though it was
kind of you, for his sake, to inquire about it."
"Am I not strong enough to do what I choose?" Treize
asked. "Have I not will enough to draw him with me
into the world if I wish it?"
"No," Death said. "If it were your lady you spoke of,
or one of your children- perhaps. If they were here
among us, and you wished to take one of these into
the land of the living, then, perhaps. But as it
stands with Walker, no. I am sorry. I would that it
could be otherwise."
Treize nodded, and gave a little bow before turning
and departing again. Death could not tell, for all
his ageless wisdom, weather the bow was meant to be
mocking or not, and this time he let the Ghost Knight
go in peace, or as much of it as he could have these
days.
* * *
Mariemaia eased open the door to Lucian's hospital
room and stepped inside. She smiled slightly at the
sight of her sleeping brother, and at Carolyn
perched, half-asleep herself, in the chair beside his
bed.
"Caro," she called softly, and the redhead looked up.
"Mari."
"Here," Mariemaia said, helping her friend to stand.
"Lean on me, and I'll help you back to your room."
She placed an arm around Carolyn's shoulders and
guided her out into the hall. The other girl gave
directions, and Mariemaia helped her make her way
slowly there.
"I thought I'd stop by," Mariemaia said as she
dropped into the chair by Carolyn's bed, "even though
I figured Lucian would be asleep by now. How's he
doing?"
"Sick enough to have to stay, well enough to complain
about it," Caro replied as she settled back in bed.
"He's a Khushrenada, Caro- he's always well enough to
complain."
Carolyn laughed. "You have a point there. He's doing
alright, though, considering. But he misses Terra,
and as for Elena, well- You know what I meant when we
spoke on the phone?"
Mariemaia nodded. "Of course. Was he dreaming, or-?"
"A dream," Carolyn said. "He kept calling out to her,
and he told me about it when he woke up. They've
always been close, though, haven't they? Your brother
and sister, Elena, and Lewis?"
"Yeah," Mariemaia said. "I need to tell my mother
about all this, but I haven't been able to catch
her."
"Do you think it's important, what he saw?" Caro
asked.
"It might be. It's important that we /know/, even if
we can't prove it, that Nichol is working for Linnea.
We suspected, sure, but knowing is different. And if
Mama says to the others, that she can't show them
proof but she knows beyond doubt it's the truth,
they'll believe. We've all seen some strange stuff,
especially these past couple years, and nobody laughs
quite the way they used to about tales of my father's
ghost, you know?"
Carolyn nodded. "I do know. I've always been glad for
you that you had some way to know him- even if it's
not in the way that most people would understand. I
know how much having two parents means to me, I don't
know what I'd do without my mothers."
Mariemaia smiled. "I think you'd manage, Caro. But I
know what you mean. And, think, you wouldn't even
know it if Dorothy weren't family. And if Mama hadn't
decided that she /needed/ to know, back when the
twins were a little younger and we were having those
custody battles with Linnea." She shook her head. "I
almost wish she was still trying to work that way;
the woman fights dirty, and she's got my little
sister and brother caught up in this crap- and now
/your/ sister and Elena, too. None of us want to
fight her way, but we may not have much choice."
"We'll do what we have to, to stop her," Carolyn
said, "and if it means doing things other people
wouldn't, so be it." She paused. "When I get out of
here...Mariemaia, I want in on this, whatever Mama or
Mom say about it."
"You've got it," Mariemaia said. "I'd feel better if
we had you working with us, to tell you the truth.
The 'adults' still feel a bit odd around me, half the
time afraid to let me do anything, the rest afraid of
what I /can/ do."
"They love you, Mari- all of them do, not just Aunt
Une and my mothers and the others. They don't all
understand you, but they love you."
"And the kids love you," Mariemaia said. "I've never
been very good with them, except Terra and Lucian,
and probably only that because they're my sibs." She
shrugged.
"I think about the strangeness of my family
sometimes," Carolyn said, "when I have time. But
right now I'd give anything to have that cheerful
oddness back again. Sarah-" She sighed.
"I know, Caro, I know. But none of us think they'd
hurt her- it wouldn't be logical."
"Do you trust Linnea to be logical?" Caro asked.
"You, who raged and called her a bitch and all but
threw things when she came to your mother's house at
the start of summer?"
Mariemaia sighed. "I will never trust that woman
until she is dead and can't touch us or hurt the ones
we love anymore. But if she hurts Sarah, /or/ Elena,
she knows what will happen to her. Our families may
be odd ones, Caro, but they are also /old/ families,
and none of us are without power or influence. The
Khushrenada cousins- the mad ones who were always so
at odds with Mama when I was a girl -they would bring
Linnea down in the usual way, ruining her in the eyes
of the world. I have a different form of Khushrenada
justice in mind."
"Mari-" Caro began, and Mariemaia was nearly
overwhelmed with caring for her dear friend, this
sweet and strong girl whom she had known so long.
"No, Caro. I am what I am- I am my father's daughter,
and my blood is that of the Khushrenadas. I come from
a line of warriors, a line of honorable fighters who
have lived and died by the sword. I will do what I
must, to protect, to avenge, my family. And if I need
avenge them- God help them, Carolyn, because they
can't run far or fast enough."
"I thought you didn't believe in God," Caro said.
"I don't believe in anything except myself, and the
lot of us," Mariemaia said, her voice deathly calm.
"I love well the peace my mother fought for and my
father died for, but I will do whatever is necessary.
Whatever is necessary."
Carolyn nodded, and her blue-grey eyes were cold.
"I'll be right there alongside you, Mariemaia."
"Carolyn-"
"No," Caro said. "No. The children were my
responsibility, and whatever drugs Nichol forced on
me, I let them down. I said I want in on this, and I
wasn't kidding."
"Alright," Mariemaia said, taking her friend's hand
and squeezing it before letting go. "Alright, Caro.
My oath. If it comes to that, you're with me."
"Good," said Carolyn. "I'd just have gone after you,
anyway, welcome or not."
"Yeah," Mariemaia said. "I know."
* * *
Duo sipped his coffee, and looked around the small
table in the Preventers cafeteria, taking in the
sight of his friends, his fellow ex-Gundam pilots.
Only Heero was absent, having gone to relieve some of
the others at the hospital. Heero was worth two or
three Preventer guards on his own, and Duo, like most
of them, felt better knowing he was there.
"Is anybody else thinking we should have just taken
care of the Linnea problem at the start of summer,
whatever Lady Une thought?" Duo asked them.
"Yes," Trowa said. "Maybe she was right not to want
to push things, but-"
Quatre shook his head. "I think we all knew she
wasn't just going to go away," he said.
"Hell, even I knew that," Duo said, "and I don't have
your sense for things, Quatre."
"Nor do I," Wufei said, "but I thought the same. The
woman has no right to make claim to such an honorable
name, and we should have gotten rid of her. Now it's
too late. We can't even find her. Gabe McKenzie's
team is working on it, but-" The Chinese Preventer
sighed. "It is not an easy search."
"Try 'needle in a haystack', Wu-man," Duo said. "I
know, but we've /got/ to find them somehow. There
should be records of this crap..."
"There were, at one point," Trowa said. "But the
computers are something of a mess, and if there were
anything worth reading in our file room, we wouldn't
still have one standing."
"Agreed," said Wufei. "We may have wasted valuable
time at the police fire- particularly since what they
were after there is-"
"Someplace safe," Quatre interrupted, with a glance
about the room that reminded all of them that despite
the friendly uniforms worn by the others here, there
might be very unfriendly listeners all too close for
comfort.
"I really hate this," Duo said for all of them. "But,
no worries, I've got a plan."
"May your gods and mine preserve us," said Wufei.
"Quiet, man, I'm serious."
"Alright, Maxwell, what is your plan?"
"We find you-know-who. We make sure the kids are
okay. Then we go break a few heads."
"The idea does have some appeal," Trowa said, "but I
think we'll have to stand in line."
"Hey, I'm cool with that," said Duo, "but I'm gonna
talk this over with Milliardo. I want a piece of
Nichol. /You/ guys can stand in line."
"I think every Preventer who really meant their oath
wants a piece of him," Wufei said. "Hmm. Perhaps the
rest of us can sell tickets..."
"There's an idea," said Trowa. He sighed as his cell
phone began to ring, and picked it up. "Barton." He
listened for a moment, sighed again. "Of course,
John. We'll let you know." Trowa hung up, looking
troubled. "That was John Ling. David's missing."
"And as long as we're searching for half the city
anyway...?" Duo asked.
Trowa nodded. "He asked if we'd keep an eye out for
him, that's all, and Lady Une seems to be worried
about it, too."
"We'll find him, Trowa," Quatre said in an attempt to
reassure his lover, who looked troubled at the
thought of the missing children. "We'll find them
all."
"Hey, Trowa, can I borrow that?" Duo asked, and Trowa
passed him the phone. He dialed a number.
"Yuy, what?"
"Hey, Heero, man, how goes it?"
"Quiet here," Heero said. "You?"
"Oh, you know, the usual crap. Listen, keep an eye
out for David Ling, huh?"
Heero sighed. "Right. Don't tell me Mariemaia's
boyfriend was stupid enough to wander off."
"He's a good kid," Duo said, "I just don't think he
/thinks/ sometimes, you know? His father's pretty
worried, and so's Lady Une, we think. Hard to tell
with her, but..."
"Yeah," Heero said. "We'll keep our eyes open over
here."
"Thanks, pal," Duo said.
* * *
Lady Une leaned upon Epyon II, her back against its
blue and white leg. After a moment she slid into a
sitting position on the foot of the Gundam, and Une
brushed a strand of hair out of her eye with a sigh.
"We've been through much together, haven't we, old
friend?" she asked the refurbished mobile suit.
Howard and the other Preventer techs had kept it in
good repair since the days before the twins were
born, but Une had continued to do most of the work
herself. It was one of the few things she kept from
her days with OZ, a belief Treize had instilled in
her that the best of pilots looked after their own
machinery. And it pleased her, to with her own hands
care for this thing which Treize had built. She took
such little pleasure from anything now- her children,
a mobile suit older than two of three of those
children, and occasional fleeting glimpses of her
dead lover's ghost.
"What a life I have come to lead," Une said. "And I
had never imagined that it might be like this, the
struggles or the pain, or this crushing, horrible
loneliness." She glanced skyward, past the Gundam's
head at the darkening horizon. "I envy Catherine and
Dorothy, and the others, more than I should. And I
miss you so, Treize, sometimes it seems like I can't
go on. But I must, I know that. It's not over yet,
not for me, and there's still too much left to do.
But I am so tired, so very tired..."
She sighed again, and her shoulders sagged, her head
falling into her hands, long hair spilling over her
arms. Une wept softly, as she was prone to doing in
moments like these, and after a time it seemed that
she felt a familiar touch on her shoulders, drawing
her back, drawing her head up, gentle hands brushing
back her hair and soft lips kissing away her tears.
Before she knew it she was no longer alone on Epyon's
foot, but Treize sat with her, held her as she cried
against his spectral shoulder for a time. "Hush now,
Lady, love, hush now, it's alright..." And when the
tears went on, he tipped her chin up towards him.
"You are stronger than you know, my love. And you
always have been."
"Treize-"
"No, it's true," he said. "It is true, and you must
accept it. You must."
Une nodded, unable to speak. He sighed, and kissed
the top of her head. "I can't stay long. I never can,
I know. But your need called me."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Treize said, and kissed her, that
soft, almost too gentle to even be felt, kiss of his
ghostly form. "It is no hardship for me to come to
you when I can. It's all I can do." /And if it costs
me strength, if it costs me some of my power for a
time, then the price is more than worth it,/ he
thought, resolved that she should never know these
things. /And if the time comes when it must be so, I
would lay it all aside for her. Anything, my dear
lady, you need only ask- I wonder that you don't know
that./
"Have you seen the children lately?" Une asked.
"I see many things," Treize told her, "and I look in
on you all as I said I would."
"They are amazing, aren't they?" Une said. "They grow
so fast, my little ones- oh, Treize, where does the
time go? It seems just the other day they were born,
and we thought we had troubles enough then, but now,
now- it is so much worse, I don't know...I see
Mariemaia now, and she is so full of rage. We've all
come to hate Linnea, and Nichol, and whomever else,
but Mariemaia-" Une shook her head. "She is truly
your daughter, my love, for she has your temper."
"That she does," Treize said with a laugh, "and I
know it well. Mariemaia will be alright, Une- you
must believe that. She isn't the child she was when
you brought her into your life, and she will manage
better than you think. Though it troubles me, too-
but perhaps we shouldn't worry. She has a good and
true friend in Carolyn, and that girl was always
sensible. Calm, for the most part. Press her, though,
and she'll fight like a lion."
"Yes," Une said, "she's a lot like /both/ of her
mothers in that." She reached a hand up towards his
cheek. "I'm sorry, love, to fill this small time we
may have with things like this..."
"I don't mind," Treize said. "I see a great deal, but
I miss conversation. I miss being able to talk about
my children." He sighed and glanced back over his
shoulder, as if he saw something she could not. "I
must go, lady." Treize held her tight another moment,
then took her hand in his and kissed it. "Is there
anything I can do for you? You have only to ask, and
if it's within my power-"
"I don't know if you are permitted," Une said, "but
if you can tell me where Elena and Sarah are?"
Treize shook his head. "I can't interfere that much,
I am sorry to say. But I have faith in you all- you
will find them. Milliardo will move every stone on
Earth and every star in space to find his daughter,
too."
"Very true," Une agreed. "Something else, then. Do
you know where David Ling is, Treize? I don't know if
you know of him-" It seemed to Une that the ghost
winced, but she could not be sure. "He and Mariemaia
are close, and he went missing the same day as the
other two-"
Again Treize shook his head. "Forgive me, Lady, but I
cannot grant what you ask of me now, either. Would
that I could." /Gods, how it pains me to lie to her,/
he thought, /but I would not be the least bit happy
if I were permitted to tell her the truth of that.
Oh, no, my dear lady, I would not that you knew it,
none of you, ever, that the one our daughter held so
dear has betrayed you all. You will know, one day-
more to the point, /she/ will know, but I will not
bring that day sooner than it must be./
"Treize," Une said, and he smiled at her.
"Yes?"
"Would you, then, keep an extra close watch on
Mariemaia- and Carolyn, calming influence though she
may be?"
"Of course," Treize said. "/That/, I can do." He
embraced her again and stood. /The leave-taking is
always so hard,/ he thought. /Strange that I thought
it would grow easier. "Farewell, lady." He turned
away- and paused, then looked back. "My dear Une?"
"Yes?"
"See that you get some rest before the week is out,
please. You work too hard, as you always have."
"I'll do my best to take your advice," Une said.
"Who said anything about giving advice, love?" Treize
asked. "Oh yes, one other thing- please eat
something, Une. If you don't, I may have to take
matters into my own hands."
"Really?" Une asked, amused. "And what will you do,
then?"
"I- Why, I'll haunt Alice long enough to tell her how
little care you've taken of yourself lately," Treize
said triumphantly, smiling.
"You wouldn't dare!" Une laughed.
"Try me," Treize replied. He bowed. "Good eve, my
love."
Une settled back against Epyon's foot, watching him
fade even as he walked away along the path. She
sighed. "Good night, Treize."