Author's Note: Thank you Mama-sama, Artemis 1082 (yes, those are my couplings…what gave it away? ^__~), Ley, Lisi Naiku (little imp!), and Pinkmoon for reviewing. Sorry I took so long to get this chapter up, but I lost my inspiration and then my daddy took my computer to Europe with him that had the beginning of this chapter in it so I had to re-write it. Oi vey…
Disclaimer: I OWN EXTENDED DVD LOTR: FOTR!!!!!!! (Just got it yesterday. LM I LOVE YOU!!) I don't own Gundam Wing…although I suspect on my 10+ tapes of recorded anime I probably have several episodes…hnh, I should really check that out…
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Beauty and the Anti-Heero
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Chapter Three: Trapped
Yawning luxuriously, Relena reached her arms over her head and stretched. She was well-rested and felt ready to face a brand new day. A half-dreamy smile crept onto her face as she remembered the dream she'd had last night. Imagine getting stuck in a snow storm and finding a handsome prince hidden in a castle! Laughing to herself, Relena decided she couldn't wait to share the dream with Hilde. Pulling back the covers, she set her feet on the floor and froze. Her bare feet were in contact with cold stone, a floor that was nonexistent in her house with Milliardo. Truly opening her eyes for the first time, Relena took in the expansive room she was in. Large, sparkling windows stood at the end of the room, blocking the sun from shining in due to the shutters on the other side. In the darkened room there was the bed she was occupying, large and comfortable with pale pink sheets and a white comforter dotted with small pink flowers. Rugs covered the stone floor in most areas save where Relena's feet were and in front of the fireplace. A grand wardrobe was beside the door, tall and elegant and holding many fancy clothes, she suspected. A wash basin was on the floor next to a tub and a stack of white-flowered pink towels. Her basket of food sat on the table in the middle of the room surrounded by three chairs. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, unlit. Childlike pleasure encompassed Relena's face as she took in the grandeur and beauty of it all. Smiling with giddy pleasure, she stood up and twirled around the room, feeling like a princess. Her joy was cut short as the door flew open, fear entering her heart, but immediately she smiled again when she realized it was Hilde.
"Oh Relena, have you seen our rooms?" Hilde exclaimed. "I didn't realize how beautiful they were last night! Isn't it amazing? I think my room alone is the size of three-quarters of your home! I guess that braided prince can't be all that bad to give us rooms like this!"
The prince. It must not have been a dream then. "I love it, Hilde! Don't you feel like a princess?" Relena asked. "All we need is a silk dress for each of us—" She cut off her speech as Hilde dashed to the wardrobe and threw it open. The inside came to life with colour as dresses of all shapes and cuts and fabrics became apparent. Running to the window Relena opened it and threw open the shutters before hurriedly closing the windows. The snowstorm had slowed a wee bit, but snow was still coming down heavily. Turning back to the wardrobe, Relena gasped. The light luminated the dresses and she couldn't help but let out a delighted laugh. "We really can feel like princesses here!" she exclaimed.
"Get dressed, Relena, and then we can go find something for breakfast!" Hilde said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Pick a dress, any dress! I'll meet you in the corridor in half an hour!"
Agreeing to it, Relena happily sent Hilde along her way and started petting through the elegant dresses in front of her. There were so many choices! Did she want silk, velvet, or linen? Purple, pink, blue, or some other colour? Lace or no? So many choices! Feeling almost overwhelmed, Relena sat down on the floor to observe her options. The moment her backside connected with the floor, though, she was up again because the wall beside the armoire opened! Jumping back a pace or six, she clasped her hands together as the body of a young lady stepped out.
"Good morning!" the young woman said, shutting the wall behind her. The woman had golden hair and bright, lively blue eyes. "My name is Sally and I came to help you dress and fix your hair before escorting you to the dining hall so you don't get lost. Have you made a selection yet?" Relena shook her head. Eyeing the dresses, Sally walked over and picked up a beautiful dress of pale pink satin, lace adorning the neckline and cuffs. "This will look astounding on you, my lady!" Still not speaking due to shyness, Relena allowed Sally to help her step out of her shabby clothes from home and into the elegant dress. Sally found a brush and immediately set to work on Relena's hair. By the time her half hour was up, Relena looked and felt like a princess. Smiling, she wished for a mirror, an object apparently not to be found anywhere in the castle. Turning to Sally, she offered a curtsy.
"Thank you, Sally, for your help," Relena said. "I feel like a princess!"
Sally laughed. "If you feel like a princess in that, just wait until the princes opt to hold a formal evening meal and you wear a party gown!"
"Well, unless they decide to hold one tonight, I fear I shall never get that opportunity," Relena said regretfully. "My friend and I must depart as soon as the snow is settled."
"You just keep telling yourself that," Sally laughed. "Now come, I'll show you to your meal." Giddy with glee, Relena stepped out into the hall to see Hilde standing there with Sylvia, the girl from last night. A gasp escaped Relena's lips at her friend's appearance. Hilde's dress was velvet, a dark rich colour that matched her hair and eyes. Her short hair was adorned with gems that set off the dress nicely and sparkled in the light of the torches lighting the corridor.
"Relena, you look breathtaking," Hilde breathed.
"Same to you," Relena whispered. "Who'd have thought, Hilde, that we'd ever get to touch clothes such as these, let alone wear them?"
Grinning together, the two girls linked arms and followed Sally and Sylvia to the dining area where awaited them on the table breakfast. Stepping into the dining area, together the best friends paused, staring at the spread before them. It was more food than they had ever seen at one place in their entire lives! Every imaginable breakfast food adorned the table. Grinning at each other, the two friends said as one, "Bon appetite!" and rushed to the table to eat their fill, Sally and Sylvia laughing at them.
Towards the end of the meal, the braided prince came in, freshly clean and dressed, his braid having been redone (they could tell due to the lack of excess hairs sticking out, a thing all girls notice). "Good morning ladies!" the prince greeted them cheerily. "That storm sure is something, raging about like it has been all night. Well, once you two are finished inhaling the cooks' masterpieces, I'd be delighted to show you around the castle if you should be of a mind to do so."
Relena and Hilde shared a conversation in looks before their decision was made. Hilde still didn't trust the man, but Relena wanted a tour of the castle, as did Hilde despite her mistrust. Alright, we can do it, but it makes so much as a hint at an inappropriate move…Nodding together, the girls verbally agreed to be toted around the castle, but paused at the prince's sour glare. "What is it?" Relena inquired.
"Stop it with that conversation within looks thing! I hate it when women do that!" he scowled. Laughter erupted from the two girls, and he said menacingly, "I mean it! Now come on." Standing up from the table Relena and Hilde hurried after him. Outside of the dining hall he turned to speak to the two of them, but his words died on his tongue. He hadn't realized before just how beautiful they were…
"Something wrong, my lord?" Relena inquired of him.
Swallowing, he replied, "No, nothing at all. Just follow me, please." They did just that, the two country bumpkins trailing along behind the mighty prince.
Several minutes passed before any more speech was spoken, but finally it was Hilde who said something. "Forgive me, sir, but I would like to inquire as to what you call yourself. You have not yet given us a name."
Grinning his trademark grin, he replied, "I like to call myself Shinigami."
"The god of death?" Relena asked. "How…morbid."
"Yes, I suppose you could say that," he replied. "Well now, here we are at the front entrance which you two acquainted yourselves with last night. Nothing else special here. Moving on, this is Grand Corridor, the biggest hall in the entire castle and the only hall to sport pictures of the royal family. See that picture there? He's the former prince of this castle. He died when he tried to procure an apple tree for the garden and got attacked by the fifty somewhat birds residing in the tree."
"Funny, he doesn't look like you," Hilde mused.
"Is he supposed to?" the prince asked, raising an eyebrow before going on. "That there is the man who founded this castle. He was a good man until he decided his wife didn't please him anymore. A lesson all men can learn from him is never tell your wife she's old, ugly and fat while she's still quite capable of physically harming you. That woman could work wonders, and those wonders she sure worked on her husband! He teetered between life and death for three weeks before he finally croaked."
"What happened to his wife?" Relena asked.
"She lived on for another fifteen years, rolling in his wealth and cursing him daily."
"My kind of woman," Hilde muttered.
The tour of the castle commenced without pause for several hours until they arrived at the West Wing. Taking a step towards the stairs, Relena found her way barred by the braided prince who called himself Shinigami. "Trust me, lady, you don't want to go up there," he said gravely, the first true sign of seriousness the two girls had seen him exhibit.
"Why not?" Hilde said, ascending the stairs simply because he had said not to.
Leaping up after her, the prince grabbed hold of Hilde's arm and dragged her back down to Relena's step. "Let's just say we have a rabid animal up there," he said seriously. "Please, just don't venture up that way until I tell you its safe."
"To be completely frank with you, monsieur, as long as my friend and I are stationed here I shall try everything in my power to go up there," Hilde informed him. "But for now I shall refrain from doing so because you are in my presence."
The prince stared at her for a moment. "Fine. I'll do everything I can to stop you. But should you somehow manage to make it past me and the servants don't say I didn't warn you. Whatever trouble should befall you will be of your own doing and you'll get no pity from me."
Relena and Hilde both faltered for a minute, Hilde re-evaluating her decision. The prince ended the tour without having covered the entire castle because of its immensity and returned them to the dining hall where they devoured lunch.
The girls saw no more of the prince that day and spent the remainder of their time there exploring their rooms and questioning Sally and Sylvia on how to act like a lady. Perhaps it would come in useful once they returned to their homes the following day, for by that evening the storm had come to a complete stop, leaving a beautiful wonderland of snow behind. Night descended upon the castle and the two girls fell asleep in their respectful beds, ready to go home the next morning.
Morning dawned bright and beautiful in Relena's room. The rising sun awoke the honey-haired girl and she was allowed the pleasure of watching the dark sky swirl into a myriad of crimson and gold before turning a lovely blue. Smiling in pleasure, Relena forced herself to get up. Staring mournfully at the armoire full of gorgeous dresses, she put her own shabby outfit back on and gathered her basket in her arms, slipping into her thin cloak. Stepping out of her room, she hurried to Hilde's room where her best friend was just tying on her own cloak. "Good morning Hilde," Relena said upon entering the room. "This is a truly lovely place, and I'm sad to be leaving."
"As am I," Hilde agreed, "but I honestly can't wait to go home."
A grin lit up Relena's face at the prospect of seeing Milliardo again. "Neither can I." Together the girls linked arms and found the stairs leading to the front door. Turning around once, Relena waved once to Sally and Sylvia, wishing that they were there to see the wave. The two girls had truly been an asset yesterday. Wistfully she hoped she and Hilde could one day again find this castle, but that thought was short-lived. Turning back to her path, she and Hilde walked out the front door and towards the gates which were partially open from the night the two girls had trespassed upon the castle grounds. Opening the gate wider, Relena walked through with a final goodbye to the castle. Funny, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to walk past the gate. Trying again, Relena again found herself still on the castle side of the gates. Brows furrowing in thought, Relena put all her willpower into walking past the gates. Once again it didn't work. Walking back several paces, she ran with all her might only to be viciously thrown against the ground once she reached the gate opening. "Why can't I go through?" she cried out desperately.
"It's not just you," Hilde said mournfully. "I can't pass either."
"What's wrong with us?" Relena cried out fearfully. "What has happened since we came here?"
"I told you that it's impossible for you to leave," the braided prince's voice rang in their ears. Twirling around in the snow, Relena ignored the dampness seeking through to her bones.
"Why can't we leave? What's wrong?" she demanded.
"You're stuck," he said simply.
"Why?" Hilde yelled. "We didn't do anything to deserve being stuck here!"
Folding his arms, Shinigami said, "Your crime is you crossed the threshold. You are here forever until you die or otherwise set free by the prince of this castle."
Reaching up to touch one of his hands, Relena pleaded, "But you are the prince of this castle. Please let us go! You know we have not done anything! Please sir, I implore you to let us go!"
"It's not my decision," he said sadly. "I do feel for you girls, but there's naught a thing I can do about it. Simply accept your fate and come back inside where it's warm and dry."
"I knew you were up to no good!" Hilde shouted. "I knew it from the moment I first saw you! You're mean, vicious and cruel!"
"I am not! It's not my fault you are stuck here! It's by your own doing! You chose to come here and now you must pay the price by being our fresh meat!" he snapped.
Relena's eyes widened and she cowered in fear. "You mean to eat us?" she asked weakly.
Realizing what he had said, the prince laughed. "No, not meat in that sense. Perhaps eventually you will come to know what I mean."
"This is not a laughing matter!" Hilde shouted. "We're stuck here! Help us get out! We have a family waiting for us, someone who cares! We must go back!"
"I can't," he said simply.
"Please, sir, please, I beg you," Relena pleaded, tears filling her eyes. "Please, my brother is waiting on me and I need to return to him! Please sir, I beg you, release us from this devilry that keeps us here!" A sob welled up in her throat and she felt tears trickle down her cheeks. "Please! Let us go!"
"I can't," he said again.
"Please!" Relena screamed, hysteria taking over. "Please! PLEASE!" She hurled herself at him and without realizing it let her fists fly (not like they did much good). "LET US GO!"
Hilde leapt up from the snow and grabbed Relena, forcing her off the prince. "Relena!" Hilde shouted along with a slap at her friend's face. "Stop it, Relena! Attacking our host isn't going to be any good! Accept it, sister, we are here for good." Relena fell to sobs, collapsing against her best friend. Oh Milliardo, her heart wailed.
"Go back inside and go to bed," Relena vaguely heard Shinigami say. "Sally and Sylvia will get you anything you should need." The two girls returned to the castle and soon Relena found herself again inside the room she had been occupying. Hilde gently placed her on the bed and she cried herself to sleep.
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"I hope you're happy," Heero growled at Duo. "They're here for good, but they hate us. I blame you."
"Everybody blames me these days," Duo sighed as he lounged in the red velvet chair. "Nothing new. But one correction, your highness. They hate me, not you. They don't even know you exist."
"Keep it that way," Heero snarled as he stalked across the floor, his large form blocking the heat and light from the fire. Duo shivered in the sudden cold.
"Yeah, I will, for a little while, but then you're going to end up falling in love with one of them. How else are we all going to get out of this prison?"
Whirling around, Heero let loose a roar loud enough to raise the dead. "I will not be falling in love!" he roared.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Duo half smirked. "I told you they were fresh meat, and I meant it. I still mean it! You're doomed, buddy. Just hope whichever one you end up with isn't like your great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great grandmother who killed your great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great- great-great-great grandfather!"
"Not funny. You're far too chipper," Heero snarled, raising a paw. His claws shone viciously in the firelight. Duo gulped.
"Somebody has to be, Heero, because you're ready to keel over and give up the ghost."
"I have one year left to live," the beast snapped. "Let me brood it in peace."
"Eh, whatever floats your boat," Duo said, standing up and stretching. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a scheme to hatch and a serving body to inform of my scheme once it's hatched. Happy brooding, buddy!"
The braided prince left, leaving Heero behind to brood. Instead of brooding, though, he entertained a bout of self-pity. He greatly appreciated what Duo was doing, but he knew it was futile. After all, who could ever learn to love a beast?
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A/N: Oi, that was a long'un. So what do y'all think? Sorry it took me so long to post! But if you'll believe it, I actually wrote it in one day! I would be greatly obliged if you would press the review button. 'Twould make my day! ~~Callisto
Press it!
NOW, darnit! :-Þ