Chapter Twenty-four
News of the victory travelled all around the realms. Suddenly, everyone sees hope. OZ is not that formidable after all. Magic Kingdom and its people were seen as angels that had descended from the vast space. They flocked to Magic Kingdom, hoping to have some of its magic rub on them, to bring them luck and peace. For over 13 years, this majestic realm had not seen such a bustling sight. And this is a good omen.
The day that Relena Peacecraft is to be crowned, a huge celebration was held all across the realm. A holiday was declared and every heart was united as one. The day started like a fresh bud that blossomed into an iridescent rose. The doves carried their ethereal songs to every participating citizen, announcing the arrival of a better era. The past forty years had been full of misery and OZ had simply taken it and magnified it.
Relena wore her best regalia – a simple, snow-white piece of gown with a large ribbon tied to her back. Noin helped her put on a pair of matching gloves. A diamond necklace adorned her neck, chosen by the courtesy of her brother. Two servants piled up her hair to the top of her head and another one applied make-up on her.
Sylvia teased her. " Don't you think that your V-shape neckline is a little too high? Why don't you make it lower? Girls are meant to be pretty."
Relena widened her eyes. " Sylvia!"
Noin smiled. " Our Relena is a conservative girl, right?"
"Oh?" Sylvia studied her for a second before draping her arms over the queen-to-be with a light-hearted grin. " I'm only kidding. This is your big day."
Relena smiled back at their reflection in the mirror. " Thank you, all of you."
Impatient knocks sounded on the door and Duo's voice came through. " You ready in there, O'Queen? Everyone's waiting for you!"
Noin answered the door. " Yes, Queen Relena is ready."
Duo whistled. " Wow! Wait till Heero gets a look at you! You are a beauty."
" Don't you have something to do?" Noin asked him.
" Oh yeah. You reminded me. I almost forgot to change!" He glanced down at his black, everyday garb. " You got any suit that fits me?"
" Duo!" she said with an exasperated sigh. " The ceremony will start in half an hour."
" Hey, you know I hate to wear suits! They are so stuffy and hot."
" Are the other guys ready?"
" Yeah, except me. I woke up late."
Shaking her head, Noin pulled Duo out of the room. " Come on, I'll find you a suit."
Inside, everyone was laughing.
As the priest placed the crown on Relena's head, everyone in the room rose to an ovation. Zechs stepped forward to hug his sister and everyone crowded round to congratulate the new queen. Through handshakes and words, Relena's eyes seek for another pair. A pair that she had grown to love and treasure.
Heero was standing at the back along with all four of his friends. They were not used to such an occasion. Their eyes met. For a while, there was no one in the room except them. Time seemed to have vanished. Duo, now in a clean suit, has been observing them with much amusement. He broke into their thoughts with a " Heero says you are beautiful!" statement that sent the entire crowd into laughter and the two red in the face.
Heero glared at the obviously delirious boy and clapped his mouth shut. The two boys broke into a tussle that was soon broken up by Wufei and Trowa. Duo stuck out his tongue and laughed.
" Admit it! Say you like her! Say you want to be with her for the rest of your life!"
Heero ignored him. " Someday I'll send you to the moon. You talk too much."
This led to an argument between the two boys.
" You are such a blockhead!"
" And you are a busybody."
" Should we stop them?" Trowa asked Wufei.
" Nah. It'll just lead to another battle."
Noin came over to them. " Reception is this way, gentlemen." She led them away.
Quatre silently left the group.
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Quatre wandered about aimlessly in the garden. Why am I not happy? My memories…no matter how unhappy memories they are, they are still mine. Now I have lost it. What the rest of the boys do, I just can't connect with them, I don't understand at all. My heart is still here, but my mind is a blank piece of paper. How was I like before?
The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice someone else in the garden.
The person was none other than Dorothy. She had came especially to congratulate Relena, but had lost her way. Dorothy stared at Quatre.
" Quatre Raberba Winner," she acknowledged him with a graceful sweep of her hair.
Quatre paused. He had no recollection of her. " Who…are you? How do you know my name?"
Now it was Dorothy's turn to be puzzled. " What do you mean who am I? I'm Dorothy, don't you remember? Or is this a trick huh, Mr Playboy?" She took a step nearer to him and he backed away in caution. She frowned. Something is not right with him…
He lowered his head. " I'm sorry but if you are my friend, I can't remember. I…I have amnesia."
At the other side of the garden was Sylvia. Her face revealed nothing about her hostile personality but inside her, thoughts whirled like a dark tornado.
They have got back half of EverlastVille. They will soon get back all. That Winner boy will never recover but to be on the caution side, I have better deal with him again. He's here somewhere. Now if I can just find him…And right after him, shall be Relena Peacecraft. With two of the six gone, we shall rule the world forever and ever! Now where's that damned boy?…
…Hmm, where has he gone to? Nevermind then, he can wait. Relena, face your doom. She stopped near a thick bush and raised her hands towards the sun. " God of the Sun, life to all people…"
She was intervened by two voices.
" Impossible…" Dorothy examined Quatre from head to toe. " This is…"
Quatre felt uncomfortable. " Are you looking for someone?"
" I'm here to congratulate Relena but I seem to have lost my way."
" Follow me."
Both felt uneasy as they walked. " You really can't remember anything?" she asked again.
" No."
" What happened to you?"
" I don't know."
They met Sylvia.
Sylvia smiled at Quatre. " So there you are. I was looking for you. Why did you leave the party?" She noticed Dorothy. " You are…"
" My name's Dorothy Catalonia. I'm a friend of Quatre and Relena."
" Nice to meet you."
Both girls put on a friendly front, smiling politely at each other. But in their hearts, they were thinking otherwise.
This girl is not a normal girl.
Quatre studied them. He could not tell what was wrong, but the atmosphere suddenly seemed very, very suffocating.
Sylvia continued to smile. I'll have to be careful with her. " I'll show you the way in."
" Thank you," Dorothy replied. " Come with me, Quatre."
Left with no choice, he obediently followed her.
The other girl was furious. Damn that twin-eyebrow witch! She ruined my plans!
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The following day was not as exciting as the previous day. The day dragged on with little things to do. Zechs and Noin were busy with the new soldiers. Dorothy hanged around Relena and Quatre.
It was as if she knew. Silently, Sylvia wished her dead.
Wufei was alone in his room, reading a very thick book about history. (No, he is not reading it because he loves history but because there is simply nothing to do!) Then, it came so suddenly that he dropped his book in astonishment.
Hello Wufei, Sally's voice came from nowhere. It was telepathy.
Sally!
Hi. Did I catch you by surprise?
Sort of.
I want to tell you something. I can't talk for long, though the security magic here seems to be deactivated but I can't be sure. Listen, this is the secret location of OZ, where the Master really lives.
Wufei straightened up. Go ahead. Tell me.
It's…"…It's in EverlastVille," Wufei told the other four boys and Zechs.
None could believe what they had just heard.
" Could you, could you kindly please repeat that again?" Duo said.
" It's in EverlastVille. The only way to enter their headquarters is for someone to open a gate from the inside. This gate is located between two green coloured rocks and is invisible to most people. The headquarters of OZ exist in another space."
" You mean, all we have to do is to find the two rocks and have someone open the gate for us?" said Zechs.
" Yes."
Duo snapped his fingers. " Now I know why their attack on EverlastVille was so quick and elaborated. They wanted to prevent us from finding out their secret location."
Then, they turned to Zechs. " When we asked you, why did you say you don't know?" Heero asked.
" I really don't know. I just can't remember."
Wufei snorted. " You're lying."
"You should know what kind of a person I am. I really want to defeat OZ. I am puzzled myself as to how I can forget the location."
A voice startled them. " Maybe I can help."
Dorothy had silently came into the room. She shut the door behind her.
Wufei glared at Duo. " I thought someone is supposed to lock the door?"
He objected. "But I did!"
" And I picked it," she answered for them. " Maybe you should tell Pargon not to oil the door too often."
" What do you want?" Trowa asked.
" I overheard what Mr Zechs said. I think I can help."
" How?" Zechs asked.
Dorothy approached Zechs and placed her fingers on his forehead. " I'm going to hack into your mind. Maybe we can have an answer."
" Hack into his mind?" Heero studied her.
" Well, it's an unorthodox skill. Unlike the penetration one that the doctor used, this method is stronger."
" You have always been an unorthodox girl."
Dorothy laughed. " Since when have you learn to joke, Heero Yuy?"
" What is it called?" Zechs asked.
" I don't know. An old woman who taught me this was reluctant to tell me. You have no idea how much cajoling it took before she agreed to teach me this. Now be quiet, all of you."
Dorothy went into a trance. Duo moved his hands in front of her eyes but she did not even bat an eyelid. Zechs sat very still. Like her, he did not move a muscle at all.
Ten minutes passed, then twenty, thirty… Both were sweating. The boys were all feeling uncomfortable. As sudden as Dorothy had slipped into the room, she let out a blood-curdling scream and fainted. Zechs remained in a motionless state. Shocked, the boys took about a second before they realised that something had gone wrong.
Heero caught the girl before she hit the floor while Trowa took out his Heavyarms tablet and hit Zechs on the head with it. Holding the back of his head, he whirled round to him and cried, " What are you doing?"
Trowa answered with alacrity, " That's to wake you up. If not, you would have gone back to your maker."
Quatre dashed out of the room and back again with a towel and basin of cold water. Meanwhile, Duo was trying to wake Dorothy by slapping her face. " Hey! Don't sleep! Surely you don't want to see Hades yet, right? Dorothy!"
He grabbed the cold towel and hurled it at Dorothy's face. She woke up with a forceful jerk. Then, it was Wufei's turn to knock her on the head with his tablet. Secretly, he had always wanted to do that to her.
" What – you – what are you doing?!" she screamed.
Heero folded his arms. " One of the first thing a magic practitioner learns is…"
The other four boys said in unison. " …If a mind penetration spell fails and a person loses consciousness, no matter what, you must wake her up, if not she would died."
Dorothy contained her anger. " So you saved my life, huh?"
Zechs bit his grin. " Dorothy, how is it?"
" As I suspect, the part of your memory concerning the secret location of OZ is erased. It must be the same with Noin's."
" Erased? How?"
" By someone more powerful than any of you here. Must be the work of that Master. I wonder how strong he is."
A slight pause, then Heero said, " Duo, contact Hilde and Sally. Tell them to be extra careful. We are going to need their help to break in."
*************************************************************
" Sally, news from one of the Gundam Guardians," Hilde said with a triumphant grin.
" Duo? What did he say?"
" I just told them how to find the two rocks. They need our help to open the gate."
" Do you know how to open the gate?"
" No. But we are going to find out. Meanwhile, they are going to claim back EverlastVille and hopefully, other realms."
Sally was thoughtful. " They should be able to do it easily."
" What's wrong?"
" That Master. I can't help but find him rather…strange."
" What's so strange about him? We hear his morning pep talk everyday." Hilde stretched her back.
" Maybe I'm over-suspicious but I find him…not the same. Anyway, we need to be careful. He might have something up his sleeves."
Sally was right. The boys and Zechs got back the whole of EverlastVille quite easily, along with two other smaller realms. It was triple blow to OZ and Master was on fire. He did not know what to do next. He just fumed and paced about all day, waiting and waiting for this person.
Sylvia put on a joyful semblance for the victorious group. In the darkest corner of her heart, she wanted to break free from them and make contact with that mysterious friend of hers. She was extremely worried and afraid because she just realised that she had developed feelings for one of the boys. And that person was none other than…him.
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Treize handed a rose to Lady Une and sat down. " How are you feeling now?"
" Thanks. I'm better now. I can go back to work tomorrow." She poured him a glass of water. " You look disturbed."
" OZ lost three battles which Master ordered me not to join in."
" Leave OZ," she told him quietly.
" Pardon?"
" I have been thinking, no, I have remembered why I'm here. I should have been on the other side, with my students."
Treize leaned back. He was breathing heavily. " I pleaded with Master not to do that to you. I wanted you to be yourself. But I wanted you by my side. With you around, I know I can't go wrong. You are always here to support me."
" And I will continue to do that," she replied without hesitation. " Master is using you. He does not trust you. He's not your friend. What he had told you before were all lies."
" I have always known that Master is a dangerous person but I cannot escape, Une. He has my life. I'm not afraid of death but there is no place for me to go. Even if I manage to leave, he would not let me off and the people out there…everyone knows me."
She boldly, and gently, put her hand on top of his and knelt down beside him. " We can go to a place far away where no one knows us."
Treize looked into her eyes. My Lady Une… " It's impossible. You have not seen Master's prowess, have you? My magic is not even half of his. Don't be foolish. I'll let you leave here if you want."
" No!" she said vehemently. Passion and love reflected in her ardent eyes. " Treize, I once told you I would follow you. And it's still the same now. I live because of you."
He hugged her close to him. His mouth moved, but no sound came out. But she understood, she knew what he had just said. She hugged him back.
" Where are you going Treize?"
" Follow me!"*************************************************************
" See you at dinner, Noin." Relena waved to her and went back to her room. She had just come back from an inspection tour and was feeling a little exhausted. The past two weeks or so had been especially tedious.
She washed her face and went to her desk to finish a two-page speech she had prepared for tomorrow. Sitting on top of the papers with a complacent smile was a chocolate-brown teddy bear with kohl-dark eyes.
There was a little note tucked under its chubby arm. Relena read the encouragement note and broke into a delighted smile. Though the person had not wrote his name, she recognized his clean, yet somewhat untidy handwriting. Looking out of her window, she saw him walking in, looking very normal.
She ran out of her room and down the stairs. She opened the door just before he reaches it. " Heero," she showed him the bear. " Thank you."
He looked away. " It might not be from me."
" You cannot deceive me. I know your handwriting. Even if you try to disguise it, I can still recognize it."
" Really? Good for you."
Her eyes had a mischievous glint to it. " Heero…" She took a step forward and tripped. Whether she did it on purpose or not, only she herself knows. He caught her just before she fell. Her head was resting on his shoulder. He froze, but only for a second.
" Relena…"
" Yes?"
Footsteps interrupted them. Guess who's here? Duo Maxwell!( He always seem to appear at inappropriate times.)
" Oops, I see nothing! I see nothing at all!" He turned his back on them. " Ok, do it and if you are done, tell me."
" What are you thinking?" Heero said. Relena and Heero immediately kept a distant from each other.
The debonair boy faced them. " Oh, nothing, nothing. But are you thinking what I'm thinking, lover boy?"
" And are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Heero frowned.
" Oh! I don't know. Why don't we ask Queen Relena?"
Relena blinked. Her face was red. " I know nothing."
" Oh really?" Duo eyed them with amused interest. " Heero and Relena sitting on a tree…"
" Duo! Behind you," Heero interrupted him.
" What?"
The two 'lovers' fled in different directions. When Duo turned back, they were gone.
" Heero!" He shook his head and sighed. " You don't have to be shy. I told you I won't peep." He whistled and walked way.
