Heaven's Kingdom
Chapter Two
It's so dark; my body feels like lead, and my head is swimming in pain. Oh, what did I do to incite so much pain? Am I drunk? No, I can't be . . . could I? What does it feel like to be drunk? I can't remember . . . I can't remember?! Who am I? I am . . . I am. Uh? I am . . . crap! Who am I? Damn it! Come on eyes, open!
"He's coming around."
Voices? Light slowly begins filling my sight as I force my eyes open; they are greeted by a dark headed figure. Slowly as my eyes adjust, I can see that it's a girl with blues eyes and long navy blue hair. Wow, she's cute; at the risk of being cliché, what a wonderful sight for sore eyes. I try smiling at her, but the look of confusion upon her face shows that I must be failing. Well, let's see if my voice can at least work.
"h- hel- lO . . ." Ouch. My voice is sucking right now. Well, so is my life so far ; what else is new?
"Hello yourself, Mr. Yuy."
Hmm. Is that my name? What kind of name is that?
"You . . . Know me?"
"Try not to speak. You need to conserve your energy for later."
For what I wonder? Her voice doesn't sound all that friendly towards me.
"How's our prisoner?"
What?! Who is this new voice? I move as best as I can to see, but I suddenly become aware of the tight ropes binding my hands to posts of the bed I am currently lying on. An old man with sunglasses comes into view as he stands next to the girl sitting on my bed. He seems rather calm but when we lock eyes he seems to panic.
"Hilde!! What have you done!? This isn't Yuy!"
I'm not?
"He's not?" Hilde asked in surprise.
"No, this is Maxwell!"
The old man comes over to untie my hands. Hilde steps to the side, her eyes never leaving mine. She leans up against the wall twirling a knife in her hand in a show of skill. I think she's trying to tell me not to try anything . . .
"I thought I told you to stay away from Heero!"
"Who?" I ask in confusion.
"What? Maxwell, are you all right?"
"Howard you fool! Look at him! He had the hell beaten out of him! I don't think that he would be okay !"
Hilde pushes off the wall in short lived anger, and returns to her previous seat on the bed.
"Do you even know who you are?" She asks me.
Her voice is a little nicer but her words hurt. Hurt because they reveal the truth.
"No. I . . . can't. Remember."
"Well, I found you in a dumpster with a badge that has the name Heero Yuy, who Howard has just proven you are not. Unless you lied to him."
"How would I know!?" I say to her with my voice returning, however it still hurt like hell to speak. "I don't even remember him, much less talking to him."
"Calm down Hilde. I know he told me the truth. I've worked with Maxwell here for a year." Howard explains.
Howard turns to me and smiles; a sad smile that has some hidden meaning, almost like he knows something that's too painful to tell. Brace yourself Maxwell, this may suck monkey balls. Monkey balls? Where in the hell did that come from?
" You're a good kid Maxwell; a little on the slow side but good none the less."
If I could be standing now, I would have just fallen over. Slow?! Stupid tacky shirt wearing, freaky sunglasses . . .loser of an old man!!
"But he could still have lied . . ." Hilde protests.
Howard cuts her off with a raised hand.
"Trust me. I know he isn't."
A charged pause takes over the room. I look back and forth between the two. The silence is killing me; and like I've said before, I hate silence.
"I don't like it Howard. If he isn't Yuy, then he has a connection to Yuy and that is something none of us need."
I do not like this girl at all. Looking to Howard for support I see that he is thinking about her words.
"If this you are so convinced that he is dangerous Hilde, then why did you even bother to drag him out of the dumpster and carry him all the way here?"
Her face turns red at his accusing words. Hilde opens her mouth but too soon she closes it. She looks to me and I see pain in her pretty eyes. And what's this? Tears?
"Not bad! I . . . not BAD!!" Gah, it hurts so much to speak.
" Sigh. "
Howard removes his sunglasses to clean them on his shirt. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts I ready myself for impact.
"Ok Maxwell, here's what I can do for you. I can tell you what you told me about yourself. But don't get your hopes up. What you told me isn't much at all. A year ago you and one other called Solo came to me looking for work. I'm a mechanic and a sweeper for Pearl City so I could have used your help. But you two kept getting yourself into trouble, almost like you wanted to start those fights. You two were always joking and laughing about something. But I knew it was a ruse to hide the truth."
"W-what truth?" I ask.
"Huh? Well I don't know much, but there was more to you than what you let on. The main point here, is that about three weeks ago you two disappeared for a week. Then, when I thought you where gone for good, you came back alone, hurt and cursing up a storm. You disappeared into the room I gave you and came back with a load of guns and explosives. I tried to stop you but all you said was . . . No one fucks with Shinigami ."
Shinigami. God of Death. That . . . feels so familiar. Is that me?
"Heero Yuy killed Solo. And you went after him to get revenge when I told you not to, you dumb ass! Why didn't you listen! Look at you now!"
"Calm down man. Uh, you're hurting my head."
Howard takes a breather as he composes himself. As he does, I let his words sink in. Solo, a friend of mine killed? Heero, the killer? I had a friend. And I lost him. Man what kind of trouble am I in? I really need to find out before Heero realizes I'm not dead.
"That's all I know. Sorry I can't help, but you weren't much help in the information department either."
"Thanks Howard."
He moves to the bed and places a reassuring hand on my shoulder; I smile at the kind gesture.
"You're a good kid. Just on the slow side. Maybe next time you will listen to this old fart here?" Howard takes his hand back from my shoulder and starts to move away when he turns back to me. I guess he wasn't finished with me just yet . . . "Hilde here is a good kid too. She'll take care of you." Somehow I don't think that is true. "She calls herself Raven, but I think that Cat would suit her much better; she has a mean set of claws and a fiery temper to match. Remember that and you'll do fine. Now I'm off, so you kids take care!"
Sound seems to have left with Howard as another silence takes over the room. Why did he have to leave? Why is she glaring at me? Fine I'll glare back. As I glare at her, her face starts to falter into a smile and suddenly she erupts into a fit of laughter.
"You should see your face! You look so funny trying to glare at me."
"Well, at least you knew it was a glare!"
"So you really don't remember anything?" Ignoring my words, Hilde leans closer to me. I feel a hidden meaning in her words. Her words sound almost hopeful. Does she know something?
"Nothing. Can I have a mirror?"
"No."
"What?"
"Trust me. You don't want to see yourself . . . although, it is a huge improvement from how you looked two days ago; when I first found you."
"You know . . . you people, say that a lot . . ."
"Say what?"
" Trust me . How can I?"
"It's been two days that you have been in my care and you haven't died yet. That's how."
"Two days?"
"Yeah, you passed out after I pulled you out of the dumpster."
A dumpster. Thrown away like I was nothing better than trash. I would hate to have seen what Heero did to Solo. Maybe I did and it was so horrible that I wiped it from my mind. I need to clear my mind and gather what ever memories I have. . . . . . Relena.
"Relena?"
"What? Why do you say that?"
"I remember the name. A blonde?"
Hilde looks out to the window beside the bed. She seems to be deep in thought.
"Yeah, a blonde." She seems sad about it. I wonder why.
"Who is she?"
"Man Maxwell, you really are screwed if you don't know." All I can afford as an answer is a confused stare. "You really don't know?" I roll my eyes. She's just now is catching on, and Howard thought that I was slow . . .
*Smack!*
"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" She hit me? Me! A guy that had his memories beaten out of him!
"For rolling your eyes. Jerk!"
"Look, just tell me what you know about this Relena person. Please?" Hilde seems to soften at my plea.
"I really know nothing just that she lives in Heaven."
"She's dead?" Hilde's eyes widen at my response.
"No. Shhh. Hear that?" She stills herself to let another silence in. I strain my ears to hear, what? I don't know. I wait a few minutes and sure enough I hear a low hum of some kind.
"What's . . . ?"
"Heaven. That's Heaven you are hearing. It's a city that is suspended in the sky. That sound you hear is the ground generators that keep it from falling."
"A floating city!?"
"Yes. See over there." Hilde points out another window at the end of the room. She doesn't need to tell me what to look for. Dark smoke rises from the ground. A fire? "That's one of the many vents where the smoke escapes from Pearl City . Underneath us is an entire city built for one purpose; to power the generators that keep Heaven floating in the sky. If the workers stop, then Heaven is surly going to fall and kill them all, us included."
Man, talk about an incentive to keep the people working . . . I think to myself. Life must be hell like that.
"The pollution has seeped its way up to the ground here, killing the land. They say this place was once beautiful with green grass. Hn. I don't even think such a thing even existed, green grass that is." Her words are grim, and I begin to wonder, what kind of world I have awoken to?
"Who is Heero?"
"He is an Officer of Sanc. Sanc is the old name of this Kingdom. Heaven calls them Angels," She scoffs "but they are in no way angelic. They come down to Slaughter Pin, that's where you are now, and make sure that we stay in line, or we're sent down to Pearl to work. Sometimes they just take us to Pearl to work. At least that's the happy version, but; sometimes the story is very much darker; as it is with Heero. No one knows what he looks like, since he kills all he everyone that he comes across."
"Then how is he known?"
"We don't know if it is him or his victims that do this but every time a body is found the name 'Heero Yuy' is found written in blood. Plus other Officer's tell wild tails about Yuy. He's become quite a Boogie Man here."
"And no one knows what he looks like?"
"I just said that. No one has survived his attacks, or if they have, no one wants to tell."
"I know. I'm. Thinking. I could. Use this. To my. Advantage. You know. Get back at the bastard."
"You're insane! You want to go around calling yourself Heero Yuy?!"
"Hey. It could work. No one will know the truth."
"Except Heero! What if we run into him!?"
"We?" I can't help but chuckle at the blush that flushes her cheeks. But all too soon I find that the blush is really rage as her face turns red with anger.
"What?! Think I can't help, huh? Think I'm nothing but a useless whore?! Is that all I am to you? A . . ." Hilde catches herself before she let something out. Did we meet before? Nah, she would have said something. Right? "I can help you. Remember? You have no memory and it's a sure way to get yourself killed to walk around like that. I am your only friend here. So sorry mister, but I am you guide until you get your memory back."
"Fine." I try to get up but my body doesn't want to comply. Stupid body. WORK!!
"Relax Maxwell. You're not doing yourself any good moving around."
"I need to move. I can get past. The. Pain!" Hilde makes no move to help me and somehow I respect that.
"Fine. Knock yourself out."
For the fist time I really took notice of how badly I was beaten. My legs seem to be bruised badly, I can feel a few ribs broken but most of the damage was done to my head. Maybe Hilde is right, maybe I shouldn't see what Heero did to me. I rub a sore spot on my chest and I feel sticky. Looking down I see my bruises are covered in some kind of goo.
"It's an ointment that helps heal bruises much faster. That way you will spend less time healing." She must be a psychic.
Devil's Den:
A Night Club
"Think you can find him?" A beautiful blonde sits down next to a tall young man with dark brown hair. His green eyes shine in the dimmed light of the club.
"Yes."
"He may be dead already, Trowa. Like Solo."
"We won't know unless we find a body. Until then, Duo is a lose end."
"He's our friend too. Let's try and save him ok?"
"Hn." With that said, Trowa exits Devil's Den in search for his lost comrade; Duo Maxwell.
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Thanks to Duo Sheilds for all the help! He helped edit my work. And thank you for the reviews!