On Tuesday, all eight were edgy and restless. They could not concentrate during lessons. They could feel the strangers' eyes watching them, following their every movement. They kept looking over their shoulders and jumped whenever anyone touched them. Some were physically calmer, like Heero. But his mind was not.
Miss Une was in her office tidying some papers on her desk. It was break time and the field was noisy with shrieks and laughter. A magic spell or two flew by occasionally. Other than that, all was normal. Out of the corner of her eyes, Une caught an unfamiliar person opposite the school gate. His face was hidden by the shadows of the huge oak tree. From his built, it was easy to tell that he was an imposing man. Une do not like it at all. She feared for the safety of the girls. She crunched up some papers and threw it into the waste-paper basket, intending to question the man after finishing tidying up. When she looked up again, he was gone. She trotted out of her office to the school gate, scanning the area carefully. He was nowhere to be seen. Was she being overly suspicious? Perhaps the man was only stopping for a rest. Taking a deep breath, she chided herself quietly and went back in.
The school bell rang, signaling the end of a school day. Miss Une sighed and stretched herself. She brushed her dark hair back. Suddenly finding it annoying, she reached for the ribbons lying askew on her table and tied her thick hair into two neat buns. From the reflection of her mirror, she can actually see the school gate. Une had deliberately placed her mirror in such a way so that she can keep a lookout for any suspicious characters that might bring harm on the girls. The tall, imposing man was there again. This time, there was no mistake. She headed out of the school immediately with a stern expression. She was not taking any chances.
" Bye Miss Une!" some students called out to her. She put on a quick smile and waved to them. Une cautiously approached the man. He noticed her but made no movement. The man was Treize.
" Excuse me, what are you doing here?" she asked, not attempting to show any politeness. Neither does she like to beat around the bush.
Treize regarded her for a second before stepping out of the shadows. Une widened her eyes. I know him, the thought flashed across her mind. However, she was sure she had not met him before. She struggled to remember. " You have a very nice school," he answered, smiling.
Une cleared her throat. " From morning till now you mean to tell me you were only admiring our school? And for what?"
He snorted. " I do not have such time in my hands right now. I have no reason to harm any of your normal girls if that's what you are worried about, Madam. I just paid a visit to my friend and happened to pass by here and stop to take a look. You do have a wonderful school with wonderful pupils."
His story sounds convincing enough to Une. Une was sure she had not met him before but she could not shake the thought off her mind that she had. Maybe a long time ago. He turned and walked away. Une watched his back, studied it. Her brows furrowed. She touched and adjusted her glasses. No, this does not seem right. She took off her glasses and stared at his back. And she remembered.
" Treize?" she said softly, but still audible to his sharp ears. Treize stopped. " Treize?" Une asked, a little louder this time. She ran forward as he turned to face her. Treize was no doubt shocked. Who is this woman?
" Treize Khushrenada?" Une persisted despite his silence. " Do you remember me? I'm Une, Lady Une. Or Little Lady Une as you used to call me?"
Upon hearing the name, Treize remembered. The memory shot through him like a thunderbolt, as clear as it can be. He studied her face, looking into her eyes and ran his gaze from her head to toe. He could hardly believe it. She has grown. Those pair of eyes, the glow in her face, flushed cheeks, shy smile belonged to Little Lady Une. The tone she spoke to him a while ago, firm and strong. Her directness, the confident composure, the no-nonsense look also belonged to Little Lady Une.
Une, seeing his astonishment began to smile, laughing a little. Tears came into her eyes. She swiftly untied her two buns and showed him the two ribbons. Her silky brown hair fell and the wind caught it. " The ribbons, you gave them to me. Look, I still have it."
Those pink ribbons. Yes, this is Une.
" Une. I don't believe this."
" Neither do I."
*******************************************************
" Une! Little Lady Une!" cried a small Treize as he ran up to her, panting. Une turned and laughed. They were both children then, delicate and innocent.
" I thought you would rather stay at home?" she teased.
Treize huffed, his chubby face red. " And miss this glorious day? You know I don't mean what I say." He looked up into the azure sky. The fresh green grass swayed gently in the breeze. To them, this evergreen field of grass was like a soft green ocean, stretching miles and miles away, never-ending. They both sat on the ground, bathing in the golden sunlight.
" I'm going to be a soldier when I grow up," Treize informed Une.
She yawned. " You told me that thousands of times already."
" Do you want to join me?" he asked her suddenly. " I can make you my right-hand man."
" I'm no man."
" Right-hand woman then."
Une pondered over this. Treize said, " Your mother was a Lady. You'll be a Lady too when you grow up. If you join me, you'd have higher status. Also, you don't have a clue what you are going to do when you grow up and so as your best friend, I offer you this career option."
" But do I look like a soldier to you?" she asked him softly. The idea was tempting.
" A soldier has to be tough, merciless, cold and fierce. He must give the enemy no chance. He must be witty, clever, strong and powerful. So you can start practising from now," Treize said, overwhelmed with enthusiasm.
Little Lady Une laughed. " What about you? You don't have any of those too."
" Then we'll practise together. From now on, you listen to me! Ok, soldier?"
" Ok!"
Treize paused, frowning. " Hey, I don't think any soldiers has long hair. Either you cut it off or you tie it up."
Une stared at him, horrified. " I'm not going to cut it off! No way! I like my hair!"
He shrugged. " Ok, then we'll tie it up into one big bun." He delved into his pockets and pulled out two pink ribbons, scattering sweet wrappers and coins onto the ground. " I wanted to give you the ribbons yesterday but I forgot. Here." He handed it to her
Une was delighted. " Thanks! It's lovely." But her smile faded. " I don't know how to tie my hair into a bun."
Treize took the ribbons from her. " Luckily I know."
" You know?!"
" Yeah, I saw my aunt doing that a couple of days ago." He worked on her hair quickly but Une's hair was layered and so it was hard to keep all of it in place. The shorter strands kept falling down. Frustrated, Treize told her, " I think we'll make it two buns."
Little Une winced as he tugged fiercely at her hair. Soon, two neat buns formed. Treize inspected his handiwork with satisfaction. " Let's start!" he announced as he grabbed his fallen coins and ran on ahead.
" Where are you going? Treize!" she shouted after him.
" Follow me!"
**********************************************************
" How have you been?" Une asked.
" So-so."
" So what are you doing now? Are you a soldier?"
Treize shook his head, seeming regretful. " No, I-I was childish then."
" That makes two of us," Une assured him. " Have you had your lunch? My treat."
He shook his head once more and smiled. " Thanks but I'm not hungry. Glad to know you are doing so well. Are you a teacher here?"
" The principal," she smiled.
Treize raised his brows. " Ah, good. But learn to take things easy, don't give yourself too much pressure. Take things easy." Une looked puzzled and he continued quickly. " I have to go now."
" Is there any way I can contact you?"
" Not at the moment. I'm busy. Bye."
" Bye," Une said. Treize was different. She could sense that. He watched him till he turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
Outside of Magic Town, Zechs Merquise stood on the hill looking at the town. Slow footsteps approached him and stopped as he turned to face the intruder. It was a woman with short dark purplish-blue hair and intense eyes. Her side-parting long fringe covered almost half of her face, enhancing her strong features and svelte figure. She was dressed in a navy blue long-sleeved shirt with black pants. Her silvery shirt buttons gleamed in the sunlight. She bowed slightly to Zechs, eyes lowered to the ground.
" Mr Merquise, I am sent to assist you and Mr Khushrenada," she said. Her voice was steady with a tinge of firmness. She straightened her body up.
His blue eyes looked at her. "Why?" he asked.
" In case you need help with the girls," she replied simply. " After all, I'm a woman."
Zechs nodded and he took in a deep breath. " Honestly, I'm afraid they will cry." Zechs has had little experience with girls. She bit back a grin. " Thanks, Lucrezia."
"Call me Noin, please."
" And you address me as Zechs. Mr Merquise sounds much too formal. And I'm sure Treize would want you to call him by his name too."
Lucrezia Noin nodded. " Actually, I'm also sent to work under you, Mr – I mean, Zechs."
Zechs sneered. " It seems like I'm under suspicion."
" No, it's just that Master thinks you need one to help you. There is no such intention, please do not be mistaken."
Zechs turned to look at the scenery. " Is it?" Both fell into silence mode.
After school on Tuesday, some students stayed back at school to practise magic skills and for extra lessons. Heero found Wufei practising a new magic skill at the back of the school, near the school's gym. Trees filtered sunlight in from behind the fence.
" I rise upon power and lay upon death – Fury Strike!" The spell hit a tree, snapping it into half. Wufei pointed at the tree. He looked serious throughout the whole process. " Elements of Nature – Wood!" A low rumbling sound. Then, the broken tree shook and it rejoined itself back into its previous pristine condition. Heero sat on a boulder.
" You are worried," Heero said. It was more like a statement, not a question.
With his back still towards him, Wufei said, "So are you."
" I couldn't find anything about them," Heero said.
" That is what makes it so strange." Wufei turned and sat down beside him. " I have a very bad feeling. It is exactly the same feeling I have when my hometown was destroyed."
" Is that why you arrived in this magic realm?"
" Partly. I don't want to talk about it. What about you?"
" Me?"
" How you arrive here."
" It's a long story. I don't wish to talk about it too."
" Looks like we both have something in common – we have had some sufferings."
" I think this applies to all five of us."
At this point of time, Quatre ran up. His expression looked strange. " Heero, Wufei, come quick. Trowa found something in a magazine. Duo's there already."
Trowa and Duo were waiting for them in the library. The old library was repleted with old archaic books, giving it a musty smell. The two boys were sitting at one of the mahogany tables, staring into a magazine. They have the whole library to themselves.
" What is it?" Wufei asked.
They two looked up. Something was wrong. Even Duo was looking very dire. Trowa spoke, " I found this article when flipping through this magazine. It was published more than two years ago. One survivor claimed that a mysterious group called OZ was after his life. This group consists of a huge army led by two young men. One of the men had long flowing platinum-white hair. Both were able to wield powerful spells. This man died later from his injuries."
" Wait a minute, what do you mean by one survivor?" Heero interrupted.
" He was the only survivor of his entire 36 family members. OZ massacred his whole family when they refuse to produce their family heirloom – a book that contains one of the world's most dangerous magic. Their ancestor had made them promise never to touch the book for the spells written in there were simply much too destructive." Trowa paused to take a breath. " Even after the family relented and handed them the spell book, the whole family, including the women and children, was still not let off. They were all killed. Police tried to track down the group but to no avail. It was as if they had disappeared into thin air. It was also stated here that thirty years ago there was a similar case, but the object they were after were elixirs. The army was led by a woman. They also called themselves OZ."
There was a stunned silence as they tried to absorb this new information. Now they have a clearer idea who they were dealing with. " So their chief wants to get rid of us because he dreamt that we will someday defeat him," Trowa concluded.
" Who is their chief?" Quatre asked.
Duo and Trowa both shook their heads. "No one knows," Duo said sadly. " I'm still puzzled about how we can defeat this OZ. I mean, we are only teenagers. And there are only five of us here. Plus the girls, it's only eight. Tell me, how on earth do we subdue a whole army who is as evil as the Devil himself?"
None have an answer. " We need to inform the girls," Quatre told his friends. They stared at him.
" You go tell them," Wufei answered. The rest murmured in agreement. Since the long history of the two schools, both sides have being arch enemies. Though there had been cases of students from the two schools eventually ending up as couples, all of them decided to keep the tradition alive. In honour of thy school, they claimed. To Wufei who felt repugnant towards women, they being the weaker vessels, this arrangement cannot be better for him. The lesser the contact, the better.
Quatre sighed. He personally felt that the tradition was stupid. He has sisters, and usually they are easy to get along with. His friends were still waiting for his nod. Heero was wearing his you-better-do-it-or-else look. Duo was grinning. Trowa, even the deadpan Trowa, was sharing Heero's expression. Wufei, needless to say.
Quatre sighed again. " Can I say no?"
" No," all four said in unison.
It is a dirty job. And very embarrassing if any of his schoolmates caught him. It would be the gossip of the lifetime. But if you don't go to hell, who would? " All right, I'll tell them tomorrow if I have the chance."
Tomorrow, what will happen tomorrow?
