East of the Sun and West of the Moon
By Katsu
Rewritten 10/11/01
Author's Note: I hadn't really intended to rewrite this story or even look at it
again, but this year someone nominated it to Nanashi. I intended to scan
through it quickly to make certain it was presentable, and it really brought
home to me how much my writing has improved in the last two years. ^.^;;
So here it is...the story as I truly intended it, with a lot less fangirl Japanese
and a lot more clever Duo and plot.
* * *
Once, in reaches of time we have long since forgotten, there lived a humble
wood cutter at the edge of a forest that some said was enchanted. With him
was his son, who was so beautiful that he surpassed even the most comely
of women in his radiance. The boy, whose name was Duo, had long,
flowing chestnut hair that he wove into a braid every morning, and violet
eyes deep enough to drown in. He did not allow his beauty to go to his head
or spoil him in any way, however; every day, Duo and his father woke at
first light and went far into the forest to cut down trees for firewood so they
would have enough money for food to eat the next day.
One day, the peace of their simple existence was shattered when Duo fell
ill. He burned with fever and could not be woken, no matter how hard his
father shook him. Distraught, the wood cutter ran into the woods to a certain
spring that he knew. Supposedly, the spring had healing properties, though
no one in memory had every drunk from its waters; it was guarded by a
fearsome black wolf.
The spring was beautiful, surrounded by lush cherry trees covered with
fragrant blossoms. The wood cutter paid them no heed, however, and
stumbled to its bank, where he fell to his knees, blindly searching his
pockets for the bottle he had thought he'd been carrying.
Suddenly, he stopped. There was an itching between his shoulder blades,
like someone was watching him intensely. Slowly, fearfully, the man
turned.
He met the cold, prussian blue eyes of the largest black wolf that had ever
lived. All the color drained from the man's face as the wolf stepped forward,
inspecting him. After it had looked him over, it sat on its haunches and
regarded the woodcutter with level, human eyes. "What do you want?" it
asked in a somewhat nasal, though not altogether unpleasant masculine
voice.
"W-w-want?" The woodcutter stuttered in fear.
"Yes. What do you want?" The wolf demanded, impatience showing in his
voice.
Abruptly, the wood cutter remembered his son, dying back in their little hut.
He threw himself at the feet of the wolf, weeping terribly. "I have come to
take a small amount of this healing water back to my son...he
is dying, my lord! Dying!"
The wolf regarded the wailing man without so much as a twitch.
"I know you are the guardian of this spring...please let me have just a little
water, my lord!"
"I will allow you to have water," the wolf said, "if, when the time comes,
you will return the favor that you owe me."
The poor wood cutter froze, sore afraid. The lord alone knew what it was
the wolf wanted...perhaps his death.
"Choose." The wolf said, coldly. "Either take the water or get out. This is no
place for you."
Tears began to run from the wood cutter's eyes once more. "I...I..." He
would do anything to save his son. Anything. "My lord, I would take the
water, but I have lost the bottle I had with me!"
"I see." The wolf turned away for a moment, and then pushed a silver bottle
toward the man with one foot. "Take the water and go. Do not forget your
promise to me."
Terrified, the wood cutter filled the bottle with spring water, and fled, glad
to have escaped with his life.
***
"Yo, dad!" Duo tossed his braid over his shoulder, waving a silver disc with
one hand. "Check it out! I got my new CD! All right!" He shoved it into the
CD player and grinned as the first few bars of heavy guitar began to pound
from the speakers, causing the windows of the hut to rattle.
Duo's father smiled politely, wincing. He couldn't stand the trash his son
played, at times, but he couldn't deny the boy anything. After his son had
drunk of the magic spring's water, he had been cured of his illness and
become even more beautiful to behold, as well as strong and quick of both
mind and body. Duo had quickly become famous as an adventurer, ensuring
that neither of them would ever be hungry or cold again.
Duo, who had been playing air guitar, stopped, looking toward the door.
"Did you hear that, dad?"
"What?"
With a grimace, Duo spun the volume control dial, and the music retreated
to a more reasonable level. "Sounds like someone knocking..." The boy
walked over to the front door and opened it.
There was a long silence.
"Hey, dad, I think it's for you."
"Who is it?" Duo's father called back.
"The biggest freaking wolf I've ever seen in my entire life."
"WHAT?" Duo's father sprang to his feet. Indeed, it was the wolf. Duo
stepped aside, and the animal entered the house. For a long moment, the
wolf silently regarded the old man. The wood cutter trembled. He
remembered his promise. "What do you want?" He whispered.
"I have come to collect what is mine." The wolf said coldly.
"What? What? Dad, what's this all about?" Duo danced from foot to foot,
breathless with the need to know.
The old man just stared at the wolf.
The wolf's bottomless blue eyes flicked for a brief moment toward Duo, a
strange softness entering their depths. "Your son."
Duo stopped bouncing. "WHAT?"
The old man shook his head. "That's the one thing I can't give! Don't take
my son, I can't live without him!"
"You swore." The wolf said.
"Please..." the old man fell to his knees.
"Dad, what the hell is going on?" Duo yelled, waving his arms frantically.
The wolf's eyes narrowed. "Then you will face the punishment of all oath
breakers." he intoned.
Duo's eyes widened with fear, and without thinking, he whipped out the gun
that he always carried, and shot the wolf. The wolf let out an agonized howl
and collapsed, but strangely, did not bleed. Duo continued to point the gun
at the wolf, his hands steady, ready for if it moved again. "You okay, dad?
What is going on?"
"Do you remember when you were sick, Duo?" The old man put his head in
his hands. "The wolf gave me magic water to heal you, but for a price that
he did not name. He came to collect on his favor. I thought he would just
want me, want my life...but..."
A soft noise drew Duo's attention back to the body of the wolf...but the wolf
was no longer there. In its place lay a young man with hair so dark a brown,
it was almost black. He was the most beautiful sight that Duo had ever seen.
"What the hell..." he noticed that the young man was nude and forgot to
breathe.
The young man opened his eyes--they were the same blue as the wolf's, and
just as bottomless. Slowly, he sat up, and Duo forced himself to take a deep
breath before he suffocated. They stared at each other until Duo spoke.
"Who are you?"
"Heero Yuy." The young man said shortly.
"What do you want?" Duo forced himself to continue to point the gun at the
beautiful face before him.
"I wanted...you." The young man watched Duo with dead eyes. "If you had
come with me, I would have become human again, and we would have
stayed together for the rest of eternity...but because you killed my animal
form, the evil man who rules the kingdom east of the sun and west of the
moon has me in his
power again." The color drained from the boy's face. "He will make me do
something truly horrible."
Intrigued despite himself, Duo lowered the gun. "What's that?"
"He'll make me marry his step daughter." The boy looked as if he were
going to be sick.
Duo immediately regretted his hasty action. The girl that Heero had to
marry must have been horrible indeed, to make the expressionless young
man pale like that. He stowed his gun away and reached a hand down to
help the other boy up. "It can't be all that bad, man. Just say no. Stay here if
you want to."
Heero took his hand after a moment of hesitation. A shock passed between
them...but then the air grew cold. Heero's eyes slid shut.
"What?" Duo gave the boy's hand a soft squeeze. The door of the hut flew
open. Cold, damp wind swept in, blowing every loose paper around the
room. It grabbed Heero, tearing his hand from Duo's, and as strangely as he
appeared, he was gone.
For a long moment, Duo stared at his hand. Only one word could describe
what he had just seen, what he was feeling now.
"SHIT!"
***
"Are you sure you have to go, Duo?"
"Yeah, daddio." Duo slung his pack over his shoulder. "It's my fault that
Heero is going to have to marry some nasty girl. I have to go bail him out."
"Do you even know where you're going?"
Duo grimaced. He'd known there would be a few flaws in his plan. He just
hadn't realized they'd be quite that glaring...
With a soft sigh, Duo's father spoke again. "I asked around for you, son. If
you go into the forest, there is a spirit in a grove of trees near the spring
where I met the wolf...Heero. He might be able to help you."
Duo grinned, a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "Then I'm off to save
Heero...bye dad!" Without looking back, he ran down the path, toward the
center of the forest.
For what felt like hours, he ran and ran along the path that went toward the
spring his father had spoken of. At long last, he heard something that didn't
belong with the other sounds of the forest...the delicate, poignant sound of
soft violin music. The lilting strains drew him off the path and further into
the forest until he burst into the clearing that the music was coming from.
In its center stood a pile of lichen covered rocks, and upon the rocks sat a
beautiful young man. His hair was sunlight, his eyes the secret green of
forests, and he was dressed in clothing of doeskin and leaves. He was
playing sweetly upon a violin that was wrapped in shining strands of ivy.
The moment Duo stepped into the clearing, the boy stopped and looked up,
startled.
"Er...sorry, I just heard you playing and you sounded real good, so I thought
I would check it out. Hi!" Duo waved nervously.
The golden-haired boy smiled, and the world brightened in response. "You
must be Duo." He said softly. "Your dad told me you might be coming."
"Yeah, he sent me...uh...who are you?"
"My name is Quatre. I'm the spirit of this forest." Carefully, the boy set his
violin down. "What did you need to ask me so urgently? I haven't even had
time to start tea."
Duo took a deep breath. "Well, there was this wolf that I shot and he turned
into a guy...a really great looking guy...but anyway, because of me he's
going to be forced to marry some kind of horrible ugly girl and I feel kind
of guilty about it so I'm going to go save him, but all I know is that he's
somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon and I have no idea where
that is!"
Quatre's eyes got round at the volume of words Duo had managed to speak
in such a short time. "I see..." he shook himself back to reality. "I know the
life of the forest, and it has told me of the kingdom east of the sun and west
of the moon, but not where to find it...I can get you there, late or never,
though; I know someone else we can ask." He smiled, and a unicorn stepped
delicately into the clearing.
"Awesome!" Duo grinned. "I'll get going, then!" He headed for the unicorn.
"Wait!" Quatre called, and Duo stopped. The boy blushed. "Would
you...mind if I came with you, at least as far as the next stop?"
It struck Duo as strange, but he liked the blonde boy, so he nodded. "Let's
go!" he said cheerfully.
***
"Ow..." Duo slid off the back of the unicorn. Who would have known how
uncomfortable riding one would be! His rear would never be the same
again. There was an incredibly long, silver hair dangling from one of his
sleeves; it had come from the tail of the unicorn, probably from when he'd
slid off its back. Bemused, Duo rolled the single hair into a neat bundle,
which he tucked into his pocket. "Where are we, Quatre?" he asked,
shivering as a breath of cold wind battered at him.
"We're at the beginning of the sea." Quatre said, seemingly not bothered by
the chill. Instead, he was happier than ever, a bright smile lighting up his
face.
Duo eyed the rocky, grey beach they stood on with a grimace on his face.
"Man, I'm COLD!"
Quatre didn't seem to hear...he was listening for something else, head
cocked to one side.
Curious, Duo ceased griping for a moment and listened as well. Over the
crash of the waves against the rocky beach, he could hear...something...it
sounded like...flute music?
Quatre grabbed his hand and dragged him along the beach, toward the
ghostly music. It led them into a natural cave in between two huge rocks.
The cave was filled with warm, buttery light, and the flute music echoed
sweetly through it. In the center of the cave, reflected by a pool of still,
calm water, sat a boy. His long brown hair flowed before his face, partially
blocking it from view. His one visible eye was the cool green of rock moss,
and he was dressed in clothing made of scales and bleached white fish
bones. He stopped playing the instant Quatre made a sound, and he looked
at the blonde boy, his face developing a slow, gentle smile.
The forest spirit let go of Duo's hand and walked quickly to the new boy,
reaching out to gently touch his shoulder. The strange boy covered Quatre's
hand with his own, and for a long moment, they simply looked at each
other, almost tangible warmth flowing between them.
Duo began to feel jealous, and he fidgeted.
The two looked away from each other and at Duo.
"Ah...Duo, this is Trowa, the spirit of the sea." Quatre smiled. "He might be
able to help you...Tell him what you told me."
Duo took a deep breath. "Well, there was this wolf that I shot and he turned
into a guy...a really great looking guy...but anyway, because of me he's
going to be forced to marry some kind of horrible ugly girl and I feel kind
of guilty about it so I'm going to go save him, but all I know is that he's
somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon and I have no idea where
that is!"
Trowa's visible eye widened at the sheer volume of words that fell from
Duo's mouth. After a long moment of silent consideration, he spoke. "I
know the cool depths of the sea, and it has told me of the kingdom east of
the sun and west of the moon, but not where to find it...I can get you there,
late or never, though; I know someone else you can ask."
Duo's shoulders slumped. "Geeze." He muttered.
Trowa was unconcerned. "If you go to the beach, there is transport waiting
for you."
"Okay...thanks." Duo turned to go.
"Duo, wait!" Quatre said.
"What?" Duo glanced back.
Quatre smiled at him. "Trowa and I want to thank you for bringing me with
you. There's a present for you at the cave entrance. Hopefully, it will be of
some use to you in the future."
"Give it to the person I am sending you to see. He'll know what to do with
it." Trowa said softly.
"Thanks!" Duo grinned and waved with far more assurance than he felt.
Without looking back again, he left he cave, checking by the entrance. A
scythe leaned against the rock. It was old and looked junky, but something
about it made Duo pick it up. Despite its rusted blade and cracked handle, it
felt right in his hand, so he took it with him as he went down to the beach. It
was impossible to tell when strange things would come in handy, after all.
There was a huge turtle on the beach.
Duo's eyes got very round. "You have GOT to be kidding..."
***
"Shit..." Duo hissed quietly as he rubbed his hands together, trying to force
blood to flow back into his severely chilled flesh. "I think I'm gonna just
walk next time..." he muttered. Still, it had been nice of the turtle to give
him a ride, so he patted its shell. "Thanks, man." A piece of the turtle's shell
flaked off in his hand. It shone like a pearl. Since one never knew what
would come in handy, Duo tucked the piece of shell into his breast pocket,
then turned to regard the new cave that the giant turtle had delivered him in
front of. "Well, no use waiting." He walked inside.
Immediately, he was surrounded by heat, enveloped in it. His hands thawed
in a painful, tingling rush, and he shook them as he walked, trying to get
them to stop hurting. With each step, the cave...no, it was more like a
tunnel...grew progressively hotter until he began to consider taking his shirt
off, or maybe even turning around. Sweat ran down his face as he spotted a
red glow at the end of the tunnel-it was so HOT-but he was determined, and
he forced himself through the nearly tangible heat until he stepped into the
red-lit chamber at the end...
The heat immediately lessened, as if the searing temperature of the tunnel
had been only a dream. He stood on a large cliff over a sea of liquid rock; it
colored everything red and orange. In the center of the sea was
another rock of black, volcanic glass. On it, completely unaffected by heat
that would surely burn a normal man to death, sat a boy in the attitude of
meditation. He was dressed all in white silk that shone with its
own light, starkly contrasting the rock he sat on. His hair was the same
black as the rock beneath him; it threw off red and orange sparks.
As Duo entered the room, the boy opened his eyes and looked up. "Quatre
and Trowa sent you to me, right? I am Wufei."
Caught off guard, Duo only nodded. Then he remembered the scythe in his
hand. "Trowa said to give this to you, you'd know what to do with it."
"Yes, I do." The boy didn't move a muscle...there was a low rumble that
echoed through the cave, and the molten rock began to seethe. A giant
shape burst from below its surface and wound toward Duo. It was a dragon,
made of silver, one with five claws on each foot. Delicately, the giant
dragon took the scythe Duo had, and disappeared below the surface of the
lava once more.
Duo, for once, was too shocked to say anything. He simply stared at his
hands.
Wufei sighed softly. "There must be something else, or they wouldn't have
sent you to me. What is it?"
This was familiar ground. Duo took a deep breath. "Well, there was this
wolf that I shot and he turned into a guy...a really great looking guy...but
anyway, because of me he's going to be forced to marry some kind of
horrible ugly girl and I feel kind of guilty about it so I'm going to go save
him, but all I know is that he's somewhere east of the sun and west of the
moon and I have no idea where that is!"
Wufei watched Duo, his sloe eyes widening slightly at how many words
Duo managed to get out in one breath. Finally, he snorted. "Those
incompetents." he said, but his voice was affectionate. "I know hidden fire
at the heart of the earth, and it has told me of the kingdom east of the sun
and west of the moon, but not here to find it...I can get you there, late or
never, though; I know someone else you can ask."
"What, again? That's what Trowa and Quatre said, too. Doesn't ANYONE
know where this stupid kingdom is?" Duo demanded, exasperated.
A small smirk pulled at the corner of Wufei's mouth. "The person I will
send you to definitely knows. It knows every thing, every place, every
person." The dragon rose from the lava again, and Wufei walked up its back
to the ledge Duo was standing on.
"The north is cold, and full of old knowledge." the Wufei said quietly. "It is
the place death comes from." He held out a hand, and the dragon gave him a
scythe.
It was not the scythe that Duo had had before. This one was shining with
cold fire, its blade honed so thinly that it was translucent. It LOOKED
sharp. Very sharp. Wordlessly, Wufei handed it to him. It was hot to the
touch, but not burning. "Wow..." was all he could think to say.
Wufei smiled slightly. "Now go save that idiot Yuy."
"You know him?"
"He's an old...friend of ours." Wufei crossed his arms. "There is
transportation waiting for you outside."
"Thank you..." new scythe in hand, Duo turned and left. He was almost glad
to be in the cold outside. The sweat on his face dried almost immediately in
the chilled breeze. Then he stopped in his tracks.
In front of him stood a dragon.
"Now we're talkin'!"
***
"This isn't promising." Duo looked around the barren cliff that the dragon
had left him on. There were no loose rocks, nothing at all, just a matte black
cliff of stone much like Wufei's rock of volcanic glass. A bit of silver
caught his eye--it was a piece of wire, which had made up one of the
dragon's small spines. It must have fallen off during their landing. He
picked it up and tucked it into his pocket before yelling, "Hey! Is
anyone out there!"
The only sound was his own voice echoing back at him. Duo sighed and
clutched the scythe more tightly. "Great, I got this far, and now I'm gonna
die on some barren cliff..."
The quality of the silence changed ever so slightly. There was presence
now...something--something big. Very big.
Slowly, Duo turned.
Behind him stood the biggest gundam he had ever seen. It was black, and
seemed to whisper a single word into the air...death.
"Uh...are you the one I'm supposed to see?" Duo said, suddenly feeling very
foolish about talking to a machine...but...it wasn't just a machine.
And suddenly, he knew what to do. He walked up to it, and climbed inside.
"All right." he muttered, feeling strange familiarity, strange knowledge.
"You must be Deathscythe."
Assent.
"Let's go, then."
And they went.
***
Duo was impressed, and after what he'd seen lately, that was an
accomplishment to brag about. He had never seen a dwelling as lavish as
the palace before him in his entire life. It was huge, at least a hundred rooms
with glass walls, and completely surrounded by ornamental gardens so vast
that they never seemed to add. In one corner of the gardens, there was an
enormous hedge maze that was overgrown and ill-tended. Duo had hidden
Deathscythe at its heart.
There was ivy growing up all of the castle walls, the only thing that
prevented the glass from blinding him with reflected sunlight. Duo eyed it
speculatively. It was just right for climbing...but not yet. It seemed
to be a better idea to enter the palace with permission first. If that didn't
work, THEN he'd resort to guerilla tactics.
He was in luck. There was a sign by one of the side doors that said "help
wanted, inquire within." Duo knocked.
It opened right away, revealing an old, haggard woman. "Yeah?"
"Uh...the sign said for work, I inquire." Duo smiled disarmingly.
As cranky as the old woman looked, not even she could stand up against the
full charm of Duo's smile. "That's true." She said reluctantly. "We need a
new maid." She eyed Duo for a long moment. "You'll do, I guess. You're
pretty enough that the master won't complain...shouldn't even notice you're
a boy if you don't talk loud. Lucky for you."
"Shouldn't...notice..." Duo narrowed his eyes as the old woman pulled him
into the kitchen.
"You look like you need work. Don't be too picky." She made him sit at a
cluttered, rickety table in the corner of the kitchen, which was what the
room was. "Let me get your dress and apron."
"Dress...?"
***
Duo had never felt so foolish in his entire life. He was dressed in a short-
VERY short-black dress with a tiny white apron. The old woman had
twisted his long braid of hair into a bun, and made him put on lipstick...and
he looked like a...like a...girl.
There was a mirror across the hall from him. He glared at it, then
immediately smoothed his expression back into a pleasant smile. The ruler
of the castle was rounding the corner, and he dropped into a low curtsy.
"Master Treize."
The tall man, clad in a uniform of royal blue, stopped in front of him for a
moment. The scent of roses, which would have been quite pleasant if it
hadn't been so strong, wafted around him like an almost tangible cloak.
"Are you almost done here?"
"Yes, sir." Duo said.
"Good. The rooms in my step daughter's wing need cleaning."
"Yes, sir." he curtsied again. 'Of course I'll be happy to wait on that bitch
hand and foot.' he added mentally. He had only met Treize's step daughter
Relena once, but it was enough for him to decide he didn't like her. She was
just so...so...unhinged. Yeah, that was the word. The girl seemed to be off in
her own happy little world where everything went her way, and it got on
Duo's nerves.
Especially, he acknowledged internally, because Heero had said that he was
going to be forced to marry her.
"Excellent. And when you are done, have tea prepared for her and I in the
west parlor."
"Yes sir." Duo curtsied again, not wobbling too badly for once as Treize
swept by him. He was starting to get a hang of the dressing like a girl thing,
which was a bit disturbing. It meant that he'd been here too
long, which he had. He'd been up to his eyes in soapy water and dust more
times than he could count while cleaning the palace, but there was still no
sign of Heero anywhere. He hadn't cleaned Relena's rooms before, though,
so perhaps he would find a clue there.
Relena's rooms were a nightmare. Everything in them, from furnishings to
walls to rugs, was a blinding shade of pink, and none of them quite
matched. Still, they were at least neat, so he didn't have to straighten much.
As he went though the room, he found Relena herself, seated on a rose pink
chaise lounge on a neon pink carpet. He curtsied to her quickly, making
sure to keep his eyes low. He knew better than to make eye contact with
her.
"Ah, Esmerelda!" she said.
Duo winced at the sound of his made-up name, but curtsied again. "Yes,
miss?"
"Come help me look at this catalogue. I'm trying to decide on a dress."
"Yes, miss." he approached her cautiously.
A large bridal catalogue was covering Relena's lap. She pointed to two
pictures of gem encrusted dresses. "What do you think, pearls or rubies?"
He didn't know much about fashion, so he guessed. "Pearls, miss. They're
more pure."
"Of course, of course. What a lovely idea I've had...I think pearls are perfect
for the occasion. Don't you?"
"Yes, miss." Duo fought the urge to stick his tongue out at her. "What's the
occasion, miss?"
Relena laughed, a sound that would have been lovely if it weren't coming
from a blonde-haired troll. "My wedding, of course, you stupid girl. How on
earth could you not know that?" She pointed at a picture in a pink glass
from on her end table. "There's my fiancé."
Duo smiled to himself. A lead, at last! He leaned forward to look. It was,
indeed, a picture of Heero. Heero chained to the wall, to be more specific,
with Relena leaning against his chest, a happy smile on her face.
He'd leaned just a bit too far to look. Duo stumbled, almost falling, and
bumped into the end table, knocking the picture to the floor. The frame
shattered.
"You stupid girl!" Relena gave his hair a vicious yank, and he managed to
transform his howl of outrage into a more girlish squeal.
"I'm sorry, miss!" he said quickly.
Relena quickly snatched the picture from the floor, leaving the pile of pink
glass shards behind. "I can't stand such clumsy people!" she said, clutching
Heero's photo to her chest. "Clean that up, immediately. And you will have
to buy me a new frame."
"Yes miss. I'm sorry miss."
"I expect you to be gone and my apartments to be spotless when I return."
She said, flouncing to the door, "And you are not to touch the room next
door, is that clear?"
"Yes m--"
The door slammed shut behind her.
"--iss Bitch." Duo said, kneeling to pick up the glass shards. "I ought to put
these in your food, pushy wench." Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit lighter
in the heart, despite his aching scalp. If there was a room that Relena didn't
want him touching, surely there would be something interesting in it.
Later, when he tried the door for the next room, the one Relena had told him
not to touch, it would not open.
"Interesting." Duo muttered. "I'll have to check this out later."
* * *
He did just that. While Treize and Relena were eating their evening meal
out in the garden, Duo discarded his embarrassing disguise and dressed
himself in his old clothes. Pure black and comfortable shoes were much
better for sneaking about in.
The castle was colored gold and orange as he walked through its halls; since
so many of the walls were glass, the sunset shone in from every angle.
Relena's wing was deserted; none of the servants cared for her
over much, so it was just Duo, and the door.
The door was a problem. It wouldn't open, but it had no lock. The only
thing that would do that would be barring the door from the inside--but
there was no other entrance to the room, he had checked! It didn't even have
ivy growing around it to climb up.
Then Duo remembered that he'd heard Relena say something after she had
left him to clean. It had been muffled by the walls, but he was fairly certain
she'd said "Drop the bar."
"That's it." he whispered. "It must be a magic bar that responds to her voice.
Great." He fumbled through his pockets, looking for anything that would
help him. His fingers encountered the piece of wire and the coiled up
unicorn's hair. "All right!"
He quickly bent the wire into a hook and tied the hair to it, then dropped his
contraption over the top of the door. After only a few seconds of fishing
around, his hook grabbed on to the bar. Hoping the hair wouldn't break, he
reeled it in, pulling the bar up. In less than a minute, he was in.
The room was completely bare, the wood floor coated with dust. With a soft
sigh of disappointment, Duo stepped inside to take a better look around...
And froze. The south wall was alive with rose bushes, covered floor to
ceiling with the thorny plants, eagerly drinking in the light that flooded
through the windows of the north wall. The room was almost cloying, the
scent of roses was so strong. But that wasn't what made Duo freeze; no, it
was the fact that wound so tightly in the clutches of the rose bushes that
there could be no possible escape was Heero. His head hung forward, and
he was covered head to toe with scratches from the thorns of the roses; he'd
obviously struggled.
"Heero..." Duo breathed softly, in shock. His entire body felt hot, then cold,
then hot again as his eyes took in Heero's situation a little more thoroughly.
Slowly, the other boy looked up, his face betraying no emotion. When his
eyes found Duo, they widened, and something sparked in their ancient
depths; hope. "Am I dreaming?" his voice was very soft, disbelieving, and
afraid.
Duo shook his head, swallowing hard. "This is real." he said, just as softly
as he fell into Heero's eyes.
Heero's head dropped forward again. "You're too late. I'm supposed to
marry..." his lips curled in distaste, "Relena tomorrow."
"I'll bust you out." Duo took a few careful steps forward until he was within
reaching distance. Slowly, he reached out and touched Heero's arm where a
rose thorn had cut him badly. Dried blood came away on his fingers, and he
felt himself go cold with rage once again. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly.
Heero took in a sharp breath at the touch, one that had nothing to do with
pain. "No..." he said. "You're here."
The words proved to be too much for Duo, and he did something he'd been
wanting to do since he'd first seen Heero. He tilted the other boy's chin up
and leaned in, carefully brushing his lips against Heero's. They both froze.
And then Heero kissed him back.
For a long, long moment, Duo felt as if he was going to set fire to the
floorboards.
Then the door of the room was flung open, and a too familiar, annoying
voice shrieked "GET AWAY FROM HIM, BITCH!"
Duo jerked away from Heero. The other boy grunted softly as the rose
thorns scratched him, sending a few fresh drips of blood running down his
arms. Duo turned his horrified eyes toward Relena. She still thought he was
a woman, probably because she recognized his hair. It was just as well;
things could have only been worse if she'd known Duo was a boy.
She had a gun pointed at him. "What are you doing kissing MY fiancé?"
Duo backed away slowly, shooting an apologetic look at Heero. Heero
glared at the girl. "I will kill you." he threatened. Relena ignored him.
"Well?" she shrieked again.
Duo backed up another step. "Look, I don't think the fiancé thing holds any
water. I don't think Heero ever said yes."
Relena cocked the gun. "Of course he did. He loves me."
"No I don't." Heero said flatly.
Relena ignored him. "He just needed a little time to think it over."
"Geeze, you turned him into a wolf!" Duo yelled, exasperated on Heero's
behalf.
"For over three hundred years." The other boy added stonily. His right hand
twitched as he stared at Relena, as if trying to pull the trigger of a gun.
"Now he's back, so we're going to get married."
"Man, you really ARE a troll, aren't you!" Duo suddenly realized that it
probably was not the best thing to say. Trolls never like admitting that
they're trolls.
Relena fired at him. The bullet hit his chest, flinging him back and he went
crashing through the bank of windows. "This can't be happening..." He
heard Heero scream "DUO!"
The ground came rushing up to meet him at a rapid rate, and Duo slammed
into it so hard that he nearly bit his tongue in half. "Oh God..." he reached
up to touch his chest, where the bullet hit him...
There was no blood. It hurt like hell, but there wasn't even a wound.
Confused, Duo sat up, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. With a shaking hand,
he pulled the piece of the turtle's shell from his pocket. The bullet was a
flattened lump in its center, and before Duo's eyes, the shell split in half.
"Well, shit..."
More shots were fired, hitting the ground nearby, and Duo scrambled to his
feet. He'd almost forgotten that he was being attacked. "Don't give up,
Heero!" he shouted, then high tailed it for the maze, where he'd hidden the
gundam.
Behind him, he could hear Relena shrieking.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERO!"
***
"Oh yes, Relena, you are going to pay...you should never have messed with
Death..." Duo laughed softly, now standing before Deathscythe. "Oh yes,
you are going to pay...we're going to make sure of it, right, pal?"
Assent.
It had taken a lot longer than he'd wanted to get to Deathscythe; he'd hidden
the gundam a little too well, it seemed. Then he had to doctor the cuts he'd
gotten from going through the glass...not to mention the broken ribs from
getting shot at. Dawn was now touching the horizon, making it the day that
Heero was supposed to marry Relena.
Duo gritted his teeth. Not if HE had anything to do with it. Nothing could
stop the God of Death.
One small problem, though. Deathscythe didn't have a weapon.
"Man, what's death without a scythe?" Duo grumped, trying to cover his
steadily rising panic. He needed to move, and move NOW if he wanted to
save Heero.
Scythe.
Slowly, Duo turned to look at the scythe that Quatre and Trowa had given
to him, the scythe that Wufei had re-made. It was pitifully small beside
Deathscythe, but something...something made him go pick it up, and carry
it to the gundam...and put it in its hand.
The scythe disappeared.
"What the hell?" Duo shook his head, then glanced at the side. "Not enough
time. Deathscythe, man, I hope you know what you're doing, because I sure
don't."
Assent.
Without another word, Duo climbed into the cockpit. With unnerving
silence, the black gundam made for the palace. By the time they reached
their destination, it was full light. Duo could see into the windows of the
room.
Relena, dressed in a white, ridiculous dress that seemed to be made entirely
of lace was leaning in to kiss Heero...
"NO!" He couldn't be too late. He refused to be too late...sudden rage
consumed Duo, and a miraculous thing happened.
A scythe, blazing brightly, hotter than the fire that was Wufei's domain,
appeared in the hands of Shinigami. Duo didn't stop to think. He struck...
***
Where the old palace of the kingdom east of the sun and west of the moon
lies, there is only rubble, melted shards of rock that look as if some giant
reached down from heaven and destroyed the building with a single blow.
The tangled wreckage is laced with thousands of roses. The roses are redder
than any rose has a right to be; the red of heart's blood. Some say it is from
the blood of Heero, who was held so cruelly by them. Others say that it is
from the blood of Duo, who tore the cutting vines away with his own hands
on that morning so long ago.
There is now a new palace, one much smaller and more modest, but
infinitely grander because of the two that live in it; or five, rather. The three
spirits of earth, sea, and fire have rejoined their old friends there.
Many search along the difficult path that Duo traveled, and never find what
they are looking for...but if ever they make their way east of the sun and
west of the moon, there lies a great kingdom, and all will be welcome there.
By Katsu
Rewritten 10/11/01
Author's Note: I hadn't really intended to rewrite this story or even look at it
again, but this year someone nominated it to Nanashi. I intended to scan
through it quickly to make certain it was presentable, and it really brought
home to me how much my writing has improved in the last two years. ^.^;;
So here it is...the story as I truly intended it, with a lot less fangirl Japanese
and a lot more clever Duo and plot.
* * *
Once, in reaches of time we have long since forgotten, there lived a humble
wood cutter at the edge of a forest that some said was enchanted. With him
was his son, who was so beautiful that he surpassed even the most comely
of women in his radiance. The boy, whose name was Duo, had long,
flowing chestnut hair that he wove into a braid every morning, and violet
eyes deep enough to drown in. He did not allow his beauty to go to his head
or spoil him in any way, however; every day, Duo and his father woke at
first light and went far into the forest to cut down trees for firewood so they
would have enough money for food to eat the next day.
One day, the peace of their simple existence was shattered when Duo fell
ill. He burned with fever and could not be woken, no matter how hard his
father shook him. Distraught, the wood cutter ran into the woods to a certain
spring that he knew. Supposedly, the spring had healing properties, though
no one in memory had every drunk from its waters; it was guarded by a
fearsome black wolf.
The spring was beautiful, surrounded by lush cherry trees covered with
fragrant blossoms. The wood cutter paid them no heed, however, and
stumbled to its bank, where he fell to his knees, blindly searching his
pockets for the bottle he had thought he'd been carrying.
Suddenly, he stopped. There was an itching between his shoulder blades,
like someone was watching him intensely. Slowly, fearfully, the man
turned.
He met the cold, prussian blue eyes of the largest black wolf that had ever
lived. All the color drained from the man's face as the wolf stepped forward,
inspecting him. After it had looked him over, it sat on its haunches and
regarded the woodcutter with level, human eyes. "What do you want?" it
asked in a somewhat nasal, though not altogether unpleasant masculine
voice.
"W-w-want?" The woodcutter stuttered in fear.
"Yes. What do you want?" The wolf demanded, impatience showing in his
voice.
Abruptly, the wood cutter remembered his son, dying back in their little hut.
He threw himself at the feet of the wolf, weeping terribly. "I have come to
take a small amount of this healing water back to my son...he
is dying, my lord! Dying!"
The wolf regarded the wailing man without so much as a twitch.
"I know you are the guardian of this spring...please let me have just a little
water, my lord!"
"I will allow you to have water," the wolf said, "if, when the time comes,
you will return the favor that you owe me."
The poor wood cutter froze, sore afraid. The lord alone knew what it was
the wolf wanted...perhaps his death.
"Choose." The wolf said, coldly. "Either take the water or get out. This is no
place for you."
Tears began to run from the wood cutter's eyes once more. "I...I..." He
would do anything to save his son. Anything. "My lord, I would take the
water, but I have lost the bottle I had with me!"
"I see." The wolf turned away for a moment, and then pushed a silver bottle
toward the man with one foot. "Take the water and go. Do not forget your
promise to me."
Terrified, the wood cutter filled the bottle with spring water, and fled, glad
to have escaped with his life.
***
"Yo, dad!" Duo tossed his braid over his shoulder, waving a silver disc with
one hand. "Check it out! I got my new CD! All right!" He shoved it into the
CD player and grinned as the first few bars of heavy guitar began to pound
from the speakers, causing the windows of the hut to rattle.
Duo's father smiled politely, wincing. He couldn't stand the trash his son
played, at times, but he couldn't deny the boy anything. After his son had
drunk of the magic spring's water, he had been cured of his illness and
become even more beautiful to behold, as well as strong and quick of both
mind and body. Duo had quickly become famous as an adventurer, ensuring
that neither of them would ever be hungry or cold again.
Duo, who had been playing air guitar, stopped, looking toward the door.
"Did you hear that, dad?"
"What?"
With a grimace, Duo spun the volume control dial, and the music retreated
to a more reasonable level. "Sounds like someone knocking..." The boy
walked over to the front door and opened it.
There was a long silence.
"Hey, dad, I think it's for you."
"Who is it?" Duo's father called back.
"The biggest freaking wolf I've ever seen in my entire life."
"WHAT?" Duo's father sprang to his feet. Indeed, it was the wolf. Duo
stepped aside, and the animal entered the house. For a long moment, the
wolf silently regarded the old man. The wood cutter trembled. He
remembered his promise. "What do you want?" He whispered.
"I have come to collect what is mine." The wolf said coldly.
"What? What? Dad, what's this all about?" Duo danced from foot to foot,
breathless with the need to know.
The old man just stared at the wolf.
The wolf's bottomless blue eyes flicked for a brief moment toward Duo, a
strange softness entering their depths. "Your son."
Duo stopped bouncing. "WHAT?"
The old man shook his head. "That's the one thing I can't give! Don't take
my son, I can't live without him!"
"You swore." The wolf said.
"Please..." the old man fell to his knees.
"Dad, what the hell is going on?" Duo yelled, waving his arms frantically.
The wolf's eyes narrowed. "Then you will face the punishment of all oath
breakers." he intoned.
Duo's eyes widened with fear, and without thinking, he whipped out the gun
that he always carried, and shot the wolf. The wolf let out an agonized howl
and collapsed, but strangely, did not bleed. Duo continued to point the gun
at the wolf, his hands steady, ready for if it moved again. "You okay, dad?
What is going on?"
"Do you remember when you were sick, Duo?" The old man put his head in
his hands. "The wolf gave me magic water to heal you, but for a price that
he did not name. He came to collect on his favor. I thought he would just
want me, want my life...but..."
A soft noise drew Duo's attention back to the body of the wolf...but the wolf
was no longer there. In its place lay a young man with hair so dark a brown,
it was almost black. He was the most beautiful sight that Duo had ever seen.
"What the hell..." he noticed that the young man was nude and forgot to
breathe.
The young man opened his eyes--they were the same blue as the wolf's, and
just as bottomless. Slowly, he sat up, and Duo forced himself to take a deep
breath before he suffocated. They stared at each other until Duo spoke.
"Who are you?"
"Heero Yuy." The young man said shortly.
"What do you want?" Duo forced himself to continue to point the gun at the
beautiful face before him.
"I wanted...you." The young man watched Duo with dead eyes. "If you had
come with me, I would have become human again, and we would have
stayed together for the rest of eternity...but because you killed my animal
form, the evil man who rules the kingdom east of the sun and west of the
moon has me in his
power again." The color drained from the boy's face. "He will make me do
something truly horrible."
Intrigued despite himself, Duo lowered the gun. "What's that?"
"He'll make me marry his step daughter." The boy looked as if he were
going to be sick.
Duo immediately regretted his hasty action. The girl that Heero had to
marry must have been horrible indeed, to make the expressionless young
man pale like that. He stowed his gun away and reached a hand down to
help the other boy up. "It can't be all that bad, man. Just say no. Stay here if
you want to."
Heero took his hand after a moment of hesitation. A shock passed between
them...but then the air grew cold. Heero's eyes slid shut.
"What?" Duo gave the boy's hand a soft squeeze. The door of the hut flew
open. Cold, damp wind swept in, blowing every loose paper around the
room. It grabbed Heero, tearing his hand from Duo's, and as strangely as he
appeared, he was gone.
For a long moment, Duo stared at his hand. Only one word could describe
what he had just seen, what he was feeling now.
"SHIT!"
***
"Are you sure you have to go, Duo?"
"Yeah, daddio." Duo slung his pack over his shoulder. "It's my fault that
Heero is going to have to marry some nasty girl. I have to go bail him out."
"Do you even know where you're going?"
Duo grimaced. He'd known there would be a few flaws in his plan. He just
hadn't realized they'd be quite that glaring...
With a soft sigh, Duo's father spoke again. "I asked around for you, son. If
you go into the forest, there is a spirit in a grove of trees near the spring
where I met the wolf...Heero. He might be able to help you."
Duo grinned, a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "Then I'm off to save
Heero...bye dad!" Without looking back, he ran down the path, toward the
center of the forest.
For what felt like hours, he ran and ran along the path that went toward the
spring his father had spoken of. At long last, he heard something that didn't
belong with the other sounds of the forest...the delicate, poignant sound of
soft violin music. The lilting strains drew him off the path and further into
the forest until he burst into the clearing that the music was coming from.
In its center stood a pile of lichen covered rocks, and upon the rocks sat a
beautiful young man. His hair was sunlight, his eyes the secret green of
forests, and he was dressed in clothing of doeskin and leaves. He was
playing sweetly upon a violin that was wrapped in shining strands of ivy.
The moment Duo stepped into the clearing, the boy stopped and looked up,
startled.
"Er...sorry, I just heard you playing and you sounded real good, so I thought
I would check it out. Hi!" Duo waved nervously.
The golden-haired boy smiled, and the world brightened in response. "You
must be Duo." He said softly. "Your dad told me you might be coming."
"Yeah, he sent me...uh...who are you?"
"My name is Quatre. I'm the spirit of this forest." Carefully, the boy set his
violin down. "What did you need to ask me so urgently? I haven't even had
time to start tea."
Duo took a deep breath. "Well, there was this wolf that I shot and he turned
into a guy...a really great looking guy...but anyway, because of me he's
going to be forced to marry some kind of horrible ugly girl and I feel kind
of guilty about it so I'm going to go save him, but all I know is that he's
somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon and I have no idea where
that is!"
Quatre's eyes got round at the volume of words Duo had managed to speak
in such a short time. "I see..." he shook himself back to reality. "I know the
life of the forest, and it has told me of the kingdom east of the sun and west
of the moon, but not where to find it...I can get you there, late or never,
though; I know someone else we can ask." He smiled, and a unicorn stepped
delicately into the clearing.
"Awesome!" Duo grinned. "I'll get going, then!" He headed for the unicorn.
"Wait!" Quatre called, and Duo stopped. The boy blushed. "Would
you...mind if I came with you, at least as far as the next stop?"
It struck Duo as strange, but he liked the blonde boy, so he nodded. "Let's
go!" he said cheerfully.
***
"Ow..." Duo slid off the back of the unicorn. Who would have known how
uncomfortable riding one would be! His rear would never be the same
again. There was an incredibly long, silver hair dangling from one of his
sleeves; it had come from the tail of the unicorn, probably from when he'd
slid off its back. Bemused, Duo rolled the single hair into a neat bundle,
which he tucked into his pocket. "Where are we, Quatre?" he asked,
shivering as a breath of cold wind battered at him.
"We're at the beginning of the sea." Quatre said, seemingly not bothered by
the chill. Instead, he was happier than ever, a bright smile lighting up his
face.
Duo eyed the rocky, grey beach they stood on with a grimace on his face.
"Man, I'm COLD!"
Quatre didn't seem to hear...he was listening for something else, head
cocked to one side.
Curious, Duo ceased griping for a moment and listened as well. Over the
crash of the waves against the rocky beach, he could hear...something...it
sounded like...flute music?
Quatre grabbed his hand and dragged him along the beach, toward the
ghostly music. It led them into a natural cave in between two huge rocks.
The cave was filled with warm, buttery light, and the flute music echoed
sweetly through it. In the center of the cave, reflected by a pool of still,
calm water, sat a boy. His long brown hair flowed before his face, partially
blocking it from view. His one visible eye was the cool green of rock moss,
and he was dressed in clothing made of scales and bleached white fish
bones. He stopped playing the instant Quatre made a sound, and he looked
at the blonde boy, his face developing a slow, gentle smile.
The forest spirit let go of Duo's hand and walked quickly to the new boy,
reaching out to gently touch his shoulder. The strange boy covered Quatre's
hand with his own, and for a long moment, they simply looked at each
other, almost tangible warmth flowing between them.
Duo began to feel jealous, and he fidgeted.
The two looked away from each other and at Duo.
"Ah...Duo, this is Trowa, the spirit of the sea." Quatre smiled. "He might be
able to help you...Tell him what you told me."
Duo took a deep breath. "Well, there was this wolf that I shot and he turned
into a guy...a really great looking guy...but anyway, because of me he's
going to be forced to marry some kind of horrible ugly girl and I feel kind
of guilty about it so I'm going to go save him, but all I know is that he's
somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon and I have no idea where
that is!"
Trowa's visible eye widened at the sheer volume of words that fell from
Duo's mouth. After a long moment of silent consideration, he spoke. "I
know the cool depths of the sea, and it has told me of the kingdom east of
the sun and west of the moon, but not where to find it...I can get you there,
late or never, though; I know someone else you can ask."
Duo's shoulders slumped. "Geeze." He muttered.
Trowa was unconcerned. "If you go to the beach, there is transport waiting
for you."
"Okay...thanks." Duo turned to go.
"Duo, wait!" Quatre said.
"What?" Duo glanced back.
Quatre smiled at him. "Trowa and I want to thank you for bringing me with
you. There's a present for you at the cave entrance. Hopefully, it will be of
some use to you in the future."
"Give it to the person I am sending you to see. He'll know what to do with
it." Trowa said softly.
"Thanks!" Duo grinned and waved with far more assurance than he felt.
Without looking back again, he left he cave, checking by the entrance. A
scythe leaned against the rock. It was old and looked junky, but something
about it made Duo pick it up. Despite its rusted blade and cracked handle, it
felt right in his hand, so he took it with him as he went down to the beach. It
was impossible to tell when strange things would come in handy, after all.
There was a huge turtle on the beach.
Duo's eyes got very round. "You have GOT to be kidding..."
***
"Shit..." Duo hissed quietly as he rubbed his hands together, trying to force
blood to flow back into his severely chilled flesh. "I think I'm gonna just
walk next time..." he muttered. Still, it had been nice of the turtle to give
him a ride, so he patted its shell. "Thanks, man." A piece of the turtle's shell
flaked off in his hand. It shone like a pearl. Since one never knew what
would come in handy, Duo tucked the piece of shell into his breast pocket,
then turned to regard the new cave that the giant turtle had delivered him in
front of. "Well, no use waiting." He walked inside.
Immediately, he was surrounded by heat, enveloped in it. His hands thawed
in a painful, tingling rush, and he shook them as he walked, trying to get
them to stop hurting. With each step, the cave...no, it was more like a
tunnel...grew progressively hotter until he began to consider taking his shirt
off, or maybe even turning around. Sweat ran down his face as he spotted a
red glow at the end of the tunnel-it was so HOT-but he was determined, and
he forced himself through the nearly tangible heat until he stepped into the
red-lit chamber at the end...
The heat immediately lessened, as if the searing temperature of the tunnel
had been only a dream. He stood on a large cliff over a sea of liquid rock; it
colored everything red and orange. In the center of the sea was
another rock of black, volcanic glass. On it, completely unaffected by heat
that would surely burn a normal man to death, sat a boy in the attitude of
meditation. He was dressed all in white silk that shone with its
own light, starkly contrasting the rock he sat on. His hair was the same
black as the rock beneath him; it threw off red and orange sparks.
As Duo entered the room, the boy opened his eyes and looked up. "Quatre
and Trowa sent you to me, right? I am Wufei."
Caught off guard, Duo only nodded. Then he remembered the scythe in his
hand. "Trowa said to give this to you, you'd know what to do with it."
"Yes, I do." The boy didn't move a muscle...there was a low rumble that
echoed through the cave, and the molten rock began to seethe. A giant
shape burst from below its surface and wound toward Duo. It was a dragon,
made of silver, one with five claws on each foot. Delicately, the giant
dragon took the scythe Duo had, and disappeared below the surface of the
lava once more.
Duo, for once, was too shocked to say anything. He simply stared at his
hands.
Wufei sighed softly. "There must be something else, or they wouldn't have
sent you to me. What is it?"
This was familiar ground. Duo took a deep breath. "Well, there was this
wolf that I shot and he turned into a guy...a really great looking guy...but
anyway, because of me he's going to be forced to marry some kind of
horrible ugly girl and I feel kind of guilty about it so I'm going to go save
him, but all I know is that he's somewhere east of the sun and west of the
moon and I have no idea where that is!"
Wufei watched Duo, his sloe eyes widening slightly at how many words
Duo managed to get out in one breath. Finally, he snorted. "Those
incompetents." he said, but his voice was affectionate. "I know hidden fire
at the heart of the earth, and it has told me of the kingdom east of the sun
and west of the moon, but not here to find it...I can get you there, late or
never, though; I know someone else you can ask."
"What, again? That's what Trowa and Quatre said, too. Doesn't ANYONE
know where this stupid kingdom is?" Duo demanded, exasperated.
A small smirk pulled at the corner of Wufei's mouth. "The person I will
send you to definitely knows. It knows every thing, every place, every
person." The dragon rose from the lava again, and Wufei walked up its back
to the ledge Duo was standing on.
"The north is cold, and full of old knowledge." the Wufei said quietly. "It is
the place death comes from." He held out a hand, and the dragon gave him a
scythe.
It was not the scythe that Duo had had before. This one was shining with
cold fire, its blade honed so thinly that it was translucent. It LOOKED
sharp. Very sharp. Wordlessly, Wufei handed it to him. It was hot to the
touch, but not burning. "Wow..." was all he could think to say.
Wufei smiled slightly. "Now go save that idiot Yuy."
"You know him?"
"He's an old...friend of ours." Wufei crossed his arms. "There is
transportation waiting for you outside."
"Thank you..." new scythe in hand, Duo turned and left. He was almost glad
to be in the cold outside. The sweat on his face dried almost immediately in
the chilled breeze. Then he stopped in his tracks.
In front of him stood a dragon.
"Now we're talkin'!"
***
"This isn't promising." Duo looked around the barren cliff that the dragon
had left him on. There were no loose rocks, nothing at all, just a matte black
cliff of stone much like Wufei's rock of volcanic glass. A bit of silver
caught his eye--it was a piece of wire, which had made up one of the
dragon's small spines. It must have fallen off during their landing. He
picked it up and tucked it into his pocket before yelling, "Hey! Is
anyone out there!"
The only sound was his own voice echoing back at him. Duo sighed and
clutched the scythe more tightly. "Great, I got this far, and now I'm gonna
die on some barren cliff..."
The quality of the silence changed ever so slightly. There was presence
now...something--something big. Very big.
Slowly, Duo turned.
Behind him stood the biggest gundam he had ever seen. It was black, and
seemed to whisper a single word into the air...death.
"Uh...are you the one I'm supposed to see?" Duo said, suddenly feeling very
foolish about talking to a machine...but...it wasn't just a machine.
And suddenly, he knew what to do. He walked up to it, and climbed inside.
"All right." he muttered, feeling strange familiarity, strange knowledge.
"You must be Deathscythe."
Assent.
"Let's go, then."
And they went.
***
Duo was impressed, and after what he'd seen lately, that was an
accomplishment to brag about. He had never seen a dwelling as lavish as
the palace before him in his entire life. It was huge, at least a hundred rooms
with glass walls, and completely surrounded by ornamental gardens so vast
that they never seemed to add. In one corner of the gardens, there was an
enormous hedge maze that was overgrown and ill-tended. Duo had hidden
Deathscythe at its heart.
There was ivy growing up all of the castle walls, the only thing that
prevented the glass from blinding him with reflected sunlight. Duo eyed it
speculatively. It was just right for climbing...but not yet. It seemed
to be a better idea to enter the palace with permission first. If that didn't
work, THEN he'd resort to guerilla tactics.
He was in luck. There was a sign by one of the side doors that said "help
wanted, inquire within." Duo knocked.
It opened right away, revealing an old, haggard woman. "Yeah?"
"Uh...the sign said for work, I inquire." Duo smiled disarmingly.
As cranky as the old woman looked, not even she could stand up against the
full charm of Duo's smile. "That's true." She said reluctantly. "We need a
new maid." She eyed Duo for a long moment. "You'll do, I guess. You're
pretty enough that the master won't complain...shouldn't even notice you're
a boy if you don't talk loud. Lucky for you."
"Shouldn't...notice..." Duo narrowed his eyes as the old woman pulled him
into the kitchen.
"You look like you need work. Don't be too picky." She made him sit at a
cluttered, rickety table in the corner of the kitchen, which was what the
room was. "Let me get your dress and apron."
"Dress...?"
***
Duo had never felt so foolish in his entire life. He was dressed in a short-
VERY short-black dress with a tiny white apron. The old woman had
twisted his long braid of hair into a bun, and made him put on lipstick...and
he looked like a...like a...girl.
There was a mirror across the hall from him. He glared at it, then
immediately smoothed his expression back into a pleasant smile. The ruler
of the castle was rounding the corner, and he dropped into a low curtsy.
"Master Treize."
The tall man, clad in a uniform of royal blue, stopped in front of him for a
moment. The scent of roses, which would have been quite pleasant if it
hadn't been so strong, wafted around him like an almost tangible cloak.
"Are you almost done here?"
"Yes, sir." Duo said.
"Good. The rooms in my step daughter's wing need cleaning."
"Yes, sir." he curtsied again. 'Of course I'll be happy to wait on that bitch
hand and foot.' he added mentally. He had only met Treize's step daughter
Relena once, but it was enough for him to decide he didn't like her. She was
just so...so...unhinged. Yeah, that was the word. The girl seemed to be off in
her own happy little world where everything went her way, and it got on
Duo's nerves.
Especially, he acknowledged internally, because Heero had said that he was
going to be forced to marry her.
"Excellent. And when you are done, have tea prepared for her and I in the
west parlor."
"Yes sir." Duo curtsied again, not wobbling too badly for once as Treize
swept by him. He was starting to get a hang of the dressing like a girl thing,
which was a bit disturbing. It meant that he'd been here too
long, which he had. He'd been up to his eyes in soapy water and dust more
times than he could count while cleaning the palace, but there was still no
sign of Heero anywhere. He hadn't cleaned Relena's rooms before, though,
so perhaps he would find a clue there.
Relena's rooms were a nightmare. Everything in them, from furnishings to
walls to rugs, was a blinding shade of pink, and none of them quite
matched. Still, they were at least neat, so he didn't have to straighten much.
As he went though the room, he found Relena herself, seated on a rose pink
chaise lounge on a neon pink carpet. He curtsied to her quickly, making
sure to keep his eyes low. He knew better than to make eye contact with
her.
"Ah, Esmerelda!" she said.
Duo winced at the sound of his made-up name, but curtsied again. "Yes,
miss?"
"Come help me look at this catalogue. I'm trying to decide on a dress."
"Yes, miss." he approached her cautiously.
A large bridal catalogue was covering Relena's lap. She pointed to two
pictures of gem encrusted dresses. "What do you think, pearls or rubies?"
He didn't know much about fashion, so he guessed. "Pearls, miss. They're
more pure."
"Of course, of course. What a lovely idea I've had...I think pearls are perfect
for the occasion. Don't you?"
"Yes, miss." Duo fought the urge to stick his tongue out at her. "What's the
occasion, miss?"
Relena laughed, a sound that would have been lovely if it weren't coming
from a blonde-haired troll. "My wedding, of course, you stupid girl. How on
earth could you not know that?" She pointed at a picture in a pink glass
from on her end table. "There's my fiancé."
Duo smiled to himself. A lead, at last! He leaned forward to look. It was,
indeed, a picture of Heero. Heero chained to the wall, to be more specific,
with Relena leaning against his chest, a happy smile on her face.
He'd leaned just a bit too far to look. Duo stumbled, almost falling, and
bumped into the end table, knocking the picture to the floor. The frame
shattered.
"You stupid girl!" Relena gave his hair a vicious yank, and he managed to
transform his howl of outrage into a more girlish squeal.
"I'm sorry, miss!" he said quickly.
Relena quickly snatched the picture from the floor, leaving the pile of pink
glass shards behind. "I can't stand such clumsy people!" she said, clutching
Heero's photo to her chest. "Clean that up, immediately. And you will have
to buy me a new frame."
"Yes miss. I'm sorry miss."
"I expect you to be gone and my apartments to be spotless when I return."
She said, flouncing to the door, "And you are not to touch the room next
door, is that clear?"
"Yes m--"
The door slammed shut behind her.
"--iss Bitch." Duo said, kneeling to pick up the glass shards. "I ought to put
these in your food, pushy wench." Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit lighter
in the heart, despite his aching scalp. If there was a room that Relena didn't
want him touching, surely there would be something interesting in it.
Later, when he tried the door for the next room, the one Relena had told him
not to touch, it would not open.
"Interesting." Duo muttered. "I'll have to check this out later."
* * *
He did just that. While Treize and Relena were eating their evening meal
out in the garden, Duo discarded his embarrassing disguise and dressed
himself in his old clothes. Pure black and comfortable shoes were much
better for sneaking about in.
The castle was colored gold and orange as he walked through its halls; since
so many of the walls were glass, the sunset shone in from every angle.
Relena's wing was deserted; none of the servants cared for her
over much, so it was just Duo, and the door.
The door was a problem. It wouldn't open, but it had no lock. The only
thing that would do that would be barring the door from the inside--but
there was no other entrance to the room, he had checked! It didn't even have
ivy growing around it to climb up.
Then Duo remembered that he'd heard Relena say something after she had
left him to clean. It had been muffled by the walls, but he was fairly certain
she'd said "Drop the bar."
"That's it." he whispered. "It must be a magic bar that responds to her voice.
Great." He fumbled through his pockets, looking for anything that would
help him. His fingers encountered the piece of wire and the coiled up
unicorn's hair. "All right!"
He quickly bent the wire into a hook and tied the hair to it, then dropped his
contraption over the top of the door. After only a few seconds of fishing
around, his hook grabbed on to the bar. Hoping the hair wouldn't break, he
reeled it in, pulling the bar up. In less than a minute, he was in.
The room was completely bare, the wood floor coated with dust. With a soft
sigh of disappointment, Duo stepped inside to take a better look around...
And froze. The south wall was alive with rose bushes, covered floor to
ceiling with the thorny plants, eagerly drinking in the light that flooded
through the windows of the north wall. The room was almost cloying, the
scent of roses was so strong. But that wasn't what made Duo freeze; no, it
was the fact that wound so tightly in the clutches of the rose bushes that
there could be no possible escape was Heero. His head hung forward, and
he was covered head to toe with scratches from the thorns of the roses; he'd
obviously struggled.
"Heero..." Duo breathed softly, in shock. His entire body felt hot, then cold,
then hot again as his eyes took in Heero's situation a little more thoroughly.
Slowly, the other boy looked up, his face betraying no emotion. When his
eyes found Duo, they widened, and something sparked in their ancient
depths; hope. "Am I dreaming?" his voice was very soft, disbelieving, and
afraid.
Duo shook his head, swallowing hard. "This is real." he said, just as softly
as he fell into Heero's eyes.
Heero's head dropped forward again. "You're too late. I'm supposed to
marry..." his lips curled in distaste, "Relena tomorrow."
"I'll bust you out." Duo took a few careful steps forward until he was within
reaching distance. Slowly, he reached out and touched Heero's arm where a
rose thorn had cut him badly. Dried blood came away on his fingers, and he
felt himself go cold with rage once again. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly.
Heero took in a sharp breath at the touch, one that had nothing to do with
pain. "No..." he said. "You're here."
The words proved to be too much for Duo, and he did something he'd been
wanting to do since he'd first seen Heero. He tilted the other boy's chin up
and leaned in, carefully brushing his lips against Heero's. They both froze.
And then Heero kissed him back.
For a long, long moment, Duo felt as if he was going to set fire to the
floorboards.
Then the door of the room was flung open, and a too familiar, annoying
voice shrieked "GET AWAY FROM HIM, BITCH!"
Duo jerked away from Heero. The other boy grunted softly as the rose
thorns scratched him, sending a few fresh drips of blood running down his
arms. Duo turned his horrified eyes toward Relena. She still thought he was
a woman, probably because she recognized his hair. It was just as well;
things could have only been worse if she'd known Duo was a boy.
She had a gun pointed at him. "What are you doing kissing MY fiancé?"
Duo backed away slowly, shooting an apologetic look at Heero. Heero
glared at the girl. "I will kill you." he threatened. Relena ignored him.
"Well?" she shrieked again.
Duo backed up another step. "Look, I don't think the fiancé thing holds any
water. I don't think Heero ever said yes."
Relena cocked the gun. "Of course he did. He loves me."
"No I don't." Heero said flatly.
Relena ignored him. "He just needed a little time to think it over."
"Geeze, you turned him into a wolf!" Duo yelled, exasperated on Heero's
behalf.
"For over three hundred years." The other boy added stonily. His right hand
twitched as he stared at Relena, as if trying to pull the trigger of a gun.
"Now he's back, so we're going to get married."
"Man, you really ARE a troll, aren't you!" Duo suddenly realized that it
probably was not the best thing to say. Trolls never like admitting that
they're trolls.
Relena fired at him. The bullet hit his chest, flinging him back and he went
crashing through the bank of windows. "This can't be happening..." He
heard Heero scream "DUO!"
The ground came rushing up to meet him at a rapid rate, and Duo slammed
into it so hard that he nearly bit his tongue in half. "Oh God..." he reached
up to touch his chest, where the bullet hit him...
There was no blood. It hurt like hell, but there wasn't even a wound.
Confused, Duo sat up, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. With a shaking hand,
he pulled the piece of the turtle's shell from his pocket. The bullet was a
flattened lump in its center, and before Duo's eyes, the shell split in half.
"Well, shit..."
More shots were fired, hitting the ground nearby, and Duo scrambled to his
feet. He'd almost forgotten that he was being attacked. "Don't give up,
Heero!" he shouted, then high tailed it for the maze, where he'd hidden the
gundam.
Behind him, he could hear Relena shrieking.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERO!"
***
"Oh yes, Relena, you are going to pay...you should never have messed with
Death..." Duo laughed softly, now standing before Deathscythe. "Oh yes,
you are going to pay...we're going to make sure of it, right, pal?"
Assent.
It had taken a lot longer than he'd wanted to get to Deathscythe; he'd hidden
the gundam a little too well, it seemed. Then he had to doctor the cuts he'd
gotten from going through the glass...not to mention the broken ribs from
getting shot at. Dawn was now touching the horizon, making it the day that
Heero was supposed to marry Relena.
Duo gritted his teeth. Not if HE had anything to do with it. Nothing could
stop the God of Death.
One small problem, though. Deathscythe didn't have a weapon.
"Man, what's death without a scythe?" Duo grumped, trying to cover his
steadily rising panic. He needed to move, and move NOW if he wanted to
save Heero.
Scythe.
Slowly, Duo turned to look at the scythe that Quatre and Trowa had given
to him, the scythe that Wufei had re-made. It was pitifully small beside
Deathscythe, but something...something made him go pick it up, and carry
it to the gundam...and put it in its hand.
The scythe disappeared.
"What the hell?" Duo shook his head, then glanced at the side. "Not enough
time. Deathscythe, man, I hope you know what you're doing, because I sure
don't."
Assent.
Without another word, Duo climbed into the cockpit. With unnerving
silence, the black gundam made for the palace. By the time they reached
their destination, it was full light. Duo could see into the windows of the
room.
Relena, dressed in a white, ridiculous dress that seemed to be made entirely
of lace was leaning in to kiss Heero...
"NO!" He couldn't be too late. He refused to be too late...sudden rage
consumed Duo, and a miraculous thing happened.
A scythe, blazing brightly, hotter than the fire that was Wufei's domain,
appeared in the hands of Shinigami. Duo didn't stop to think. He struck...
***
Where the old palace of the kingdom east of the sun and west of the moon
lies, there is only rubble, melted shards of rock that look as if some giant
reached down from heaven and destroyed the building with a single blow.
The tangled wreckage is laced with thousands of roses. The roses are redder
than any rose has a right to be; the red of heart's blood. Some say it is from
the blood of Heero, who was held so cruelly by them. Others say that it is
from the blood of Duo, who tore the cutting vines away with his own hands
on that morning so long ago.
There is now a new palace, one much smaller and more modest, but
infinitely grander because of the two that live in it; or five, rather. The three
spirits of earth, sea, and fire have rejoined their old friends there.
Many search along the difficult path that Duo traveled, and never find what
they are looking for...but if ever they make their way east of the sun and
west of the moon, there lies a great kingdom, and all will be welcome there.