Title: I Would Follow You Across Worlds.
Author: Shadow Sorceress aka Zalia Chimera
Archiving: Sure, just ask me 'kay.
Pairings: Okay, this is where it gets complicated.
5x2, '5x'2 (yes, those little marks are meant to be there) and '5+2 (I'm not going nuts honest). 3x4, '3x'4 (they're really meant to be there). '13x'R (ahh, my favourite weird het pairing), 1xR (I don't know if it's possible to go any more nuts than I am anyway).
Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Boys *sob*. I do however own the new costumes, Wufei's dragon symbol, the keystones and the door (it's the front door of my house, so my parents are complaining a little about the draught
since I borrowed it).
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Zalia: Okay, now that that's over, a couple of warnings.
Warnings: A sort of Deathfic. Errrm, not really sure how to put it. A couple of the characters get killed, but are still alive, just not in the universe where they got killed 'cause those were different versions of themselves.
Zehn: If you understood that, then you deserve the Nobel Prize for extreme cleverness.
Zalia: It also contains an AU, an insane Wufei out for blood, language and double portions of G-boys (and girls).
*gets elbowed in the ribs by Zehn*
Zalia: Ah yes, i should also explain the AU. Okay, the AU shown in the first couple of chapters is different to the normal GW Universe. Firstly, there's magic. Not very much and only in a few families. It doesn't really matter since it isn't an integral part of the story. Secondly, the war happened very, very differently. The Gundam exist, but the war changed when there was a sort of alliance between Treize and the Colonies to bring down the Romafeller Foundation. Also, White Fang did not exist. It was Romafeller who took over the Libra, they just didn't try and zap Earth into crisp bread with it. No, they tried to do that to the colonies. Duo became Relena's spokesperson after he bacame friends with her during a stay at Sanq and Treize and Relena are engaged. Oh, and Wufei is co-head of the Preventers and was trained more as an assassin than a Gundam pilot.
Oh yeah, they also have different costumes.
Errm, it's just weird okay.
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Relena threw her arms around Wufei as she arrived at the small chapel, followed closely by Treize dressed in an impeccable black suit. Oh God Wufei! I'm so, so sorry. I should have done something.
Wufei hugged her back tightly. It wasn't your fault Relena. You did all you could.
No, it isn't your fault Relena. But those responsible will pay.
Treize took her arm and led her away. There had been something worrying in Wufei's voice and eyes. Something hurt and broken and... well vengeful was the only word for it. He shook the feeling off. Wouldn't he feel much the same if it had been Relena?
Sally and Une arrived, followed closely by Zechs and Noin, all of them arriving in a borrowed limo and wearing their full preventers dress uniforms. Heero and Hilde came together, Heero supporting the crying woman and looking completely out of his depth, as if he couldn't believe that his best friend had died.
Finally they arrived and Wufei managed to conceal his hatred and anger behind a blank faced mask as he greeted them, accepting their empty condolences and words of sorrow. They didn't even deserve to speak Duo's name and he would ensure that they knew that before he killed them. He had to force back a smirk as he shook their hands, forcing an arcane tracker into them. He had to know where to find them after all.
*~*~*~*~*
There was another burning sensation on Trowa's shoulder and he clutched at it for a moment. It had been happening all day. Ever since the funeral. No, ever since he had shaken hands with Wufei.
An icy knot formed in his stomach.
He slipped the key into the hotel room's door and went in, locking it again after Quatre entered. his blond lover looked at him, face sad. Take off your shirt.
Quatre looked appalled. Trowa! How can you think like that after this morning?
Trowa shook his head. I don't mean it like that. There's something I need to check, that's all.
It's probably nothing, but I need to know.
Quatre still looked puzzled but shrugged out of his jacket and began unbuttoning his dress shirt, finally slipping it off his shoulders and throwing it onto the sofa. Trowa swore and Quatre glanced at him. What is it Trowa? he asked.
Trowa didn't reply but pulled off his own shirt, twisting so he could see his shoulder in the mirror.
A black dragon symbol seemed burnt into his skin.
That's Wufei's symbol, Quatre breathed. The one he used during the war to mark people he was going to... fuck! Why?
Trowa turned. Duo. That's why.
He thinks we let him get killed, Quatre said, shock in his voice. We were Duo's bodyguards but he was killed. Trowa, we're doomed.
*~*~*~*~*
The lights beneath Quatre's English mansion were dim as they descended the stairs. Perhaps it was the spirit of the place. The ancient power that had seeped into every stone over time. The mansion itself was only a few centuries old, but it had been built on something far older, the visible signs of which had long ago crumbled leaving only the invisible aspects. [1]
Quatre was nervous. The essence that permeated the cellar was buzzing in his mind and he was still in shock over both Duo's death and Wufei's death sentence on them. One thing he had sworn never to do was get on the wrong side of Wufei when he was on a mission. Well, he'd broken that promise.
Normally he would say that he and Trowa could handle anything that could be thrown at them, assassins, mobile dolls, anything. But he had seen what Wufei could do, especially when it concerned Duo. There had been one Romafeller soldier who had dared to abuse the braided pilot. Wufei had hunted him for a month, even when the man had been moving constantly, and eventually decided to stop toying with him. Quatre desperately didn't want to think about what the body had looked like when Wufei was finished, burned beyond recognition.
The room that they arrived in was completely bare except for a door in the centre of the room, leading to nowhere. It wasn't ornately carved or covered in strange and arcane symbols, it was simply a solid, plain door. Quatre hated it. It always seemed to burn and it gave him headaches. A few times -- when his father had been teaching him how to open it and during the war when he had been near a gate or particularly prominent entrance door -- he was sure he had been someone else. Still Quatre but merged with some other Quatre in some other world. On one occasion he had locked himself in his room for three days while he tried to figure out who and where he was.
Trowa watched his lover carefully as the blond set the pair of keystones at either side of the door, ready for it to be opened without allowing this world to be flooded. He shuddered. He didn't like the arcane and had no talent at it. He preferred to trust his own instincts and skills than some of the strange works used by Wufei and Quatre during the war, but at this moment, he couldn't deny how glad he was for his lover's skills. It might buy them a little time.
Quatre motioned for him to come over. He took a breath and did as he was bidden. Quatre gave him a brief, sweet smile and placed his hand upon the handle while Trowa wrapped his arms tightly around the blond's waist. There were no fancy lights or swirling vortexes. Quatre concentrated and then opened the door and they stepped through.
*~*~*~*~*
Wufei knelt by Duo's grave and placed the bouquet of roses on the fresh earth. Duo had been buried in the garden of the Sanq Kingdom palace because it symbolised what Duo had always fought for. Peace.
He was silent for a long time, deep in meditation and prayer, asking the spirits of his ancestors to protect his love. Once finished he stood, drawing a long dagger from the sash around his waist. He was no longer dressed in his usual shirt and slacks, or his Preventers uniform, but his clothes from the war. Black assassins garb with a scarlet sash holding throwing stars, two daggers and his katana, a silver dragon motif curled it's way across the front of his top.
Duo Maxwell. I love you more than life. You died with honour, standing for what you believed in and I know that for that you shall gain a truly honoured place in my family. He pulled out the golden ring from it's box and placed it reverentially upon the ground, burying it with his love. I would that this had been in life. Duo Maxwell-Chang, I pledge my life to yours for eternity.
He held the dagger against his palm, not cutting, not yet. You were betrayed my love, by two who should have protected you... who should have given their lives for yours as they were charged to do. Know that I shall not allow this evil to go unpunished. He drew the blade hard across his skin, letting the blood trickle across his hand and fall onto the grave. I swear on my blood and on my love for you that I shall not rest until you are avenged and those responsible are brought to their final justice.
He stood a moment longer and then disappeared silently to begin his hunt.
[1] Of course, it could just have been that some of the light bulbs needed changing.
