Author's Note: Many thanks to Mama-sama, artemis1082, Tori, and KaT aka Mistress Shinigami for reviewing. Y'all made it worth it to post it! Also, thanks to Nekko for not only reviewing but pestering me all the time. This chapter is for you because without your constant nagging (which is a good thing!) I would have procrastinated this chapter a lot longer than I already have!
Disclaimer: I am an author who don't own anything. I just sit around and write all day. But if you asked me to own anything, I would tell you, I will own Gundam Wing. (Sing that to the tune of We Are the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything)
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Beauty and the Anti-Heero
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Chapter Four: Secrets
The clock struck nine as Hilde shoveled porridge into her mouth. She sent a glare towards in the general direction of the clock, or at least the direction the sound had come from. If life had worked her way just this once she and Relena would have already been well on their way home, but alas, once again life conspired against her and she was forced to remain in the grandiose castle with servants to wait on her hand and foot. Despite all this Hilde was determined to fight fate in her own way, starting with wearing her own shabby clothes. They were dreadfully out of place in the elegant castle, but she did not care. They would have to fall off of her body before she would put on another article of clothing provided for her by the castle, no matter how beautiful or extravagant the garments were.
Silence reigned and Hilde was once again reminded that Relena was upstairs on her bed, fast asleep. Hilde had tried to get more rest herself, but sleep eluded her and she had found herself hankering for some food. She may not be willing to dress in garb the castle offered, but she was determined to eat enough to put a serious dent in their cash flow. Setting down her third bowl of porridge she demanded Sylvia get her a fourth. She was stuffed already, but she could not meet her goal if she did not consume mass amounts of victuals.
Whilst waiting for Sylvia to return, Hilde decided that she really could not eat that much porridge and so left the dining hall in favour of exploring the castle more in-depth on her own. Sylvia would simply have to discard the wasted food, and it would almost be the same as eating it.
Starting in the main entryway Hilde began to wander from room to room. Several of the rooms were so full of dust that she feared the sneezes would never leave her; those rooms, she decided, were never used. Stepping inside of one room she discovered that it was a ball room. Giddy with glee she stepped inside and closed the door behind her before giving in to her childish impulses and twirling around the room as if she were dancing with a handsome prince. A handsome prince with manners and no braid, that is. She twirled herself into the middle of the ballroom and paused, her cheeks rosy with the exercise and cold. Dim light shafted in through closed shutters, giving the room an eerie glow. It suited Hilde, and she decided she liked this room. It was where she planned on spending most of her time. Turning slowly, trying to take it all in at once, she paused yet again as her eyes landed on a piece of woodwork so beautiful that she could not help but gasp at its sight: a piano. Running lightly towards the musical instrument, Hilde fairly glowed with excitement. Upon reaching the piano she lifted the lid and gently stroked the keys with her cold fingers. Dust flew away at her touch, revealing white ivory in its place. Hilde could not help but sit down at the bench and pluck a key. She only wished she knew how to play.
"I could get someone to teach you how to play." Her thoughts were personified and she whirled around only to see the braided prince walked towards her. "It's a truly marvelous piece of work, that is, but for the life of me I cannot figure middle C from high F sharp."
Without meaning to Hilde slammed the piano lid and only barely managed to keep herself from wincing. This man was the sole reason she and Relena were stuck in the castle and she refused to be civil to him. "I think I can figure it out on my own," she said coldly.
"Is it just me or is it cold in here?" he asked, obviously catching her tone of voice.
"It's cold everywhere in the castle where there isn't a fire lit," Hilde snapped. Not giving him a chance to respond she hurriedly left the piano and the ballroom to continue her self-guided tour in peace. Unfortunately for her, the prince did not seem to understand that she meant to be alone.
The prince kept his tongue in check though, so at first Hilde tried ignoring him. It worked for a wee bit until she discovered herself a small room where she did nothing but run into him. Next she tried to glower him into submission, but he started whistling annoyingly cheery tunes in recompense. She tried physically harming the prince by shoving him and "accidentally" knocking him into things, but that did nothing but make him laugh. Finally she got fed up with it and screamed at him to leave her alone.
"But it's my home," he pouted petulantly. "I don't have to leave you alone."
Hilde stared at the red handprint on his face and ran. She had slapped him, but she didn't know where the urge came from. One moment she was screaming and the next she was slapping him. "Oh gosh," she breathed, slumping against a banister to one of many staircases. "What's getting in to me?" she whispered. "I need to calm down. Oh dear, I slapped a prince! Now I must apologize, but does royalty accept apologies? And can I apologize to him without getting a complex?" Miserably Hilde held her head in her hands wondering just how she was going to get out of this mess. She didn't like apologizing to people she disliked and Shinigami definitely qualified as someone she disliked, but proper manners and common courtesy demanded she apologize and be sincere about it. "Oh what am I going to do?" she moaned.
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"Who slapped you today?" Heero asked as cheerily as he ever got—which meant the words were only accompanied by a glare.
Duo sighed as he flopped in his usual chair. "One of the girls."
"It's always a girl. Which one?"
Duo gave a half shrug. "Fresh meat. She doesn't like me, which means she'll love you, Heero. We're as opposite as can be."
A scowl replaced Heero's glare. "Then it's a good thing I'll never meet her."
Duo didn't even bother responding. What was the point? Heero'd just deny anything he said or try to kill him, and either way he should've just kept his big mouth shut. With another sigh he thought about the girl Hilde. He was pretty good at reading people and predicting their actions, but he hadn't seen that slap coming. Judging from her shocked expression afterwards and her rabbit-like scampering, he was sure she hadn't seen it coming either. That girl was a mystery to him. Usually he liked mysteries, but he preferred that the mysteries also like him. It was no fun trying to solve a woman if she didn't want to be.
Leaping up, Duo offered Heero his most charming grin. Like usual it had no effect on Heero save to irritate him which was Duo's goal right about now. "So buddy, when are you going to take a stroll of the castle? The girls can't see your beauty if they can't see you!"
Whistling Duo left the study without even waiting for an answer. A mighty roar erupted behind him. Oh yeah, he'd irritated Heero. "Mission accomplished!" the braided prince laughed. Coming to the top of the stair case he hopped on the banister and slid down, jumping off at the last second so as to miss the knob that would injure what no man wanted injured. Throwing one hand behind his head he began another stroll around the castle. He'd started one earlier but had had it interrupted when he ran into the lovely Hilde in the ballroom. He hadn't meant to trail after her, but after watching her twirl around the ballroom like a princess he just couldn't help himself. A girl like that deserved to be watched, deserved attention, and there hadn't been any save him to heap it on her. So what if she hated him? She'd eventually get over it, especially once she realized none of them could leave the castle, not just her and her pretty blonde friend.
Duo let his thoughts drift, latching onto nothing in particular as his feet took him around the immense stone establishment. He meandered the halls of Heero's palace until he found himself near her wing. He stared the door for three seconds before pushing it open and entering her territory. Instantly heat touched his icy body and he basked in the warmth. Her wing was small, only six rooms, and she kept it well heated especially since she never left it. She was a woman over twenty years who had been as unfortunate as Hilde and Relena to enter the castle grounds two years ago. Duo had had hopes for her to be Heero's love, but not much time with her proved that her heart already belonged to another, one whom she longed to go back to but could not because of the horrid curse Duo had caused to befall the castle. She lived in solitude in these rooms, visited only by Sally.
"Ho!" Duo called out, making his presence known as he stepped forward. "Anybody here?"
"Just a moment!" a feminine voice called out. A few moments of rustling ensued before the lady of the wing herself stepped out into the small corridor where Duo was positioned. Looking at her, it suddenly struck Duo just how much she looked like Hilde, a thought he previously would not have had. She and Hilde had the same blue-black hair and the same shape of eyes, although slightly different colours. Where Hilde's eyes were cornflower blue, this lady's eyes were violet (yes, he actually noticed eye colour). "Your highness," she said, offering a deep curtsy. "How may I help you?"
Duo shrugged, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. "I just came by to see how you're holding up."
"I'm just fine, thank you," she said. "Is that all you wanted?"
Again Duo shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah." He turned to leave, wondering why exactly he had come to her vicinity. A thought struck him and he paused, his hand on the doorknob, and turned back to the lady. "We have two new guests if you would like to become acquainted with them," he said. "They're both female, and lovely youths at that. Should you ever feel so inspired to meet them just ask Sally to lead you to their apartments."
Something akin to fire flashed in her eyes, proving she was still alive. "Thank you, highness," she breathed. "I think I shall indeed find myself befriending them." With that Duo left her apartments. Shutting the door behind him, he found he could breathe again. Odd, that he should have such problems around her. He wasn't in love with her, and in fact felt no emotion at all around her. She was simply there. So why was it he had been choked up?
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It was well past noon but Hilde didn't care. She'd had such a large breakfast that morning that her stomach did not demand a lunch. Opening yet another door she sighed in disappointment when the braided prince was not lurking behind it. Quite some time ago she'd decided to apologize despite her feelings for the prince, but he was making the already hard task quite impossible. If only the castle weren't so big! Why couldn't princes live in normal houses like everybody else? At least then she'd be able to find him. Turning around, Hilde surveyed her surroundings. Great, she didn't even know where she was.
"A map would be handy right about now," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "A lot of things would be handy right now. Wish away, Hilde, none of them are going to magically pop up. As if magic even exists." Setting her sights back in front of her Hilde continued on her not so merry way, wondering just where under the sun, moon, and stars that stupid prince could be.
What must have been at least an hour later, Hilde found herself in a familiar area. "Finally," she muttered. Now to determine what made it so familiar…
Realization swept through her like the first shock of jumping into cold water. She was near the West Wing. Shinigami had forbidden her and Relena to come near here, but here she was, and she didn't see a servant in sight… Innocently Hilde made her way a little further down the corridor until she came to a stair well, the one that led to the West Wing. Still playing at innocence she ascended the stairs one at a time, pondering all the while what she would find at the top. The top platform came and she found she could only turn left where a large, gilded mahogany door was the only thing blocking her entrance to whatever it was the braided prince didn't want her to see. Stepping towards it she placed her hand on the door before attempting to open it. The door felt warm, as if a fire were going on the other side. It was a nice contrast to the icy chill the rest of the castle had. Taking a deep breath Hilde latched onto the handle and pulled the door open.
Stepping inside Hilde's breath caught in her throat. The room was warm indeed from a roaring fire in its place, but that was all the light the room had to offer. Strewn all across the floor were curtains viciously pulled from windows and mass amounts of glass, obviously the product of a vase or some other glad product smashing into the wall. Tables and chairs were upturned and random items had rolled away from the tables. The only thing that seemed to be untouched was a chair which, in the dim light, she could just barely make out to be red velvet.
Leaving the door open behind her incase a quick exit was needed, Hilde ventured further into the room. Was this where the prince lived? He's a slob, she thought ruefully. Not that she had expected much else from him, but it was disappointing to discover that a prince wasn't neat and orderly.
Straining her eyes to see further she saw three rooms that a corner entrance gave way to. Making her way through the debris littering the floor she walked towards the door that gave way to a small corridor which apparently the three rooms were connected to. It was a set of apartments, she realized. The prince must indeed live here; why else would he forbid her to venture here? Taking another step forward she determined to enter the first of the three rooms when a shadow on the wall stopped her. The shadow was the size of a monster! What did the prince have hiding in his quarters? Another step, then another. She shadow moved! Hilde froze in place, fearing the worst.
"Duo?" a deep, male voice growled. "Stop tiptoeing around. I can hear you. Your childish games won't scare me." Who was Duo? More importantly, who was the owner of that voice? Fear and curiosity battled in Hilde's mind, and curiosity won out. She ventured further towards the room where the voice had come from when suddenly a hideous beast slinked out. Before she could even think, Hilde let out a scream. Her frightened eyes made contact with the cruel ones of the beast. She knew she was going to die. "Who are you?" the beast demanded harshly. It talked! Hilde was paralyzed with fear; she couldn't so much as blink. "WHO ARE YOU!" the beast roared, frightening Hilde to the point of near insanity. Her silence irked him. "GET OUT!" it continued roaring. "GET OUT!" A huge paw came swinging out of nowhere and suddenly Hilde found just how fast she could move. With a cry of terror she flew out of the room, slamming the door behind her, and ran down the stairs blindly, not seeing a thing in front of her, only imagining the giant beast chasing her. Near the bottom of the stairwell her foot caught a stair and she tumbled forward, only to be caught by someone. A scream erupted before she realized it was a real person, not a beast.
"You shouldn't have been up there," a kindly female voice said, the owner of it idly rubbing Hilde's back for much needed comfort. "He doesn't much like people." Blinking away her immediate terror, Hilde focused on the woman in front of her. She opened her mouth to say something, but paused as it registered in her head who was standing in front of her.
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A/N: I wrote another chapter! I have no opinion of it yet so I won't say anything about it. Can you guess who the woman is? (It's not that hard, people, especially if you know me at all…) What do you think of it? I'm sorry of there are any spelling mistakes or anything, I haven't edited this chapter yet. Review please! ~~Callisto