-In Which the Prophet Hunts and is Hunted in Return-

Days went by in the same way they often did after Duo showed whomever he was 'staying' with his true calling. A comfortable pattern erupted in the chaos of his life, and it was well welcomed in spite of the little drawbacks. He rose ate a hearty (and often noisy lunch) then spoke to the king about the events of day that may or may not happen as he so choose, he went back to his room and rested, then rose to join the others for lunch. None of his meetings had proved so tiring as that first, and that was the only day he ever missed his meals. After lunch became his favorite time of the day. He'd leave the company of his unexpected new friends and wander around where he wished. He remembered upon first arriving how he had so badly wanted to take whatever pay he got and go to some of the shops, but now that was the furthest and least important thing in his mind. He hadn't even left the castle once since he'd come in.

Besides, it wasn't like there wasn't more then enough things within this beautiful white walls to amuse him. So far he'd visited the library (beautiful room, really. Huge sky light and it had a nice homey feeling to it, but books just weren't his thing), the armory (oooh, big swords! Crossbows! … His visit lasted a whole five minutes before a very disgruntled guard with an arrow sticking out of one leg showed him the way out), the treasury (how was he supposed to know that a diamond looking glass couldn't be touched?) and just yesterday, the guards chambers. That was his favorite so far. Sure he'd had to outrun a red faced and ruffled looking Wufei and a furious Heero once they'd redressed, but it was worth it for the laughs they had gotten later that night over the situation. And besides, it was hardly his fault for walking in on something like that. They really should have locked the door.

And today, he had plans to investigate a wobbly old stair case he'd found at the end of one hall. It had a rope tied in front of it and there was dust on some of the upper stair planks which suggested it wasn't what he was unconsciously searching for (the door and quarters he was looking for would have been clean and had frequent use, they just wouldn't be accessible to the general public), but it looked promising in other ways.

Duo crept down the halls in a way that may have looked comical to any witnesses, hands held up in front of him, stepping highly in an attempt to be quiet, and his braid twitching behind him like a cat's tail. He made it to the staircase without being disturbed, then ducked under the rope and carefully scurried up. Despite it's appearance, the thing barely swayed at all under his weight.

As his head peeked up through the square hole in the floor, his eyes widened incredibly at what he found. It was far from a king's treasure (ha, he'd seen that two days ago, and it was overrated), but just from some of the stuff he saw already it looked like he could spend hours up here rummaging. Mostly it was old furniture. A velvet couch with a tear in one arm, still grand looking but certainly not suitable for the leader of a kingdom. An old marble chess board that had a chip on one corner and so had been thrust into the horrible life of unloved attic dwellers. Even one of those infamous canopy beds was up here, leaning almost sleepy to one side off in the father reaches of the large space. It was a packrat's paradise.

He stood and dusted himself absently off as his eyes roved over several of the various objects, then grinned and started off through the stacks of things to enjoy himself. This was the type of place he could really come to appreciate.

It was several hours later when he finally emerged from the castle attic to bound down to dinner, and when he came waltzing in he actually had to take a second to figure out why he was being stared at. Duo was covered from head to toe with dust. Little puffs clung to his braid like a cotton swab, other then his wide white eyes, his face was gray, and there was definitely going to be a laundry girl somewhere in the castle tonight cursing the day that a certain prophet was born. Wufei hopped off the stool and came stalking over to him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him out into the hall. "Where in the world have you been? You like you just came back from rolling around in the garden like some common mongrel! There is no way the cook will feed you looking like that, Duo!"

He blinked and peered down at himself, then started cursing. He tried to dust himself off quickly with the idea he could get enough to just sneak in without the cooks noticing, but only succeeded in raising little clouds of dust into the air and causing Wufei to have a sneezing fit.

By this time Heero also came wondering out into the hall, drawn by the curious sounds of Wufei starting to let out a colorful stream of curses in a language Duo didn't understand, then being interrupted by another sharp sneeze. He stopped in to doorway and blinked at the pair, Duo trying to help Wufei and Wufei looking ready to start beating Duo with his own braid, then stepped forward and between the two. He nudged his raven haired lover towards the kitchen door, then turned to Duo and pointed his finger down the hall. "Go to your room and get in the tub. Now. Someone will bring you your dinner up later."

Then he turned and headed back into the dining chambers after his lover, leaving one dusty Duo staring after him and whimpering about his growling stomach. He looked through the doorway at the other people eating rather sadly like a puppy left out in the rain, then turned and started trudging to his room, muttering all the way.

-----

He was soaking in the tub and scrubbing at himself raw about half an hour later when the knock came.

Oh, of course. Duo shook his head and hauled himself out of the tub, nearly slipping from the water that ran down his legs and pooled dangerously on the floor. As he grabbed a towel and started tucking it low around his waist, he snickered at the image of inviting whoever was there in to serve him as he lay sprawled naked and whimpering from several broken bones and nasty bruises. That probably would go over as well as his dusty début earlier.

He made his way over to the door and threw it open, expecting to surprise some poor chamber maid into conniptions with his current state and instead finding himself gawking. First off, the person carrying the tray was obviously not a chamber maid; he was dressed like a noble. And second of all, he was looking up and down Duo's body with a blank, yet somehow amused look on his worn features. The guy couldn't be much more then a few years older then the prophet, but there was something in his eyes, (well, -eye- really, one of them was covered by a stock of brown hair) that looked genuinely tired.

The guy lifted the tray and interrupted Duo's observation of him with the simply and straight forward question- "Where?"

He blinked and looked around his chambers with a frown, then pointed at one of the side tables. "There please."

As the man made his way over and went about putting it down and taking the lid off it, Duo stared and contemplated. He had to be young, no older then Wufei or Heero in any case, but he walked so stiffly, and even that one word Duo'd heard so far was spoken so dully that it was like listening to something in nature rather then a human's voice. When the male turned and looked back at him, he realized he wasn't the only one studying here.

Green eyes moved over him thoughtfully, then came up to meet his own violet orbs. The strange man gave him a slight nod, as if saying he approved of something, then started towards the door by which Duo stood.

He almost got away too, if only because Duo was currently staring and wondering if he had just been checked out by this new tall, dark and creepy stranger. But when the lithe male started by him he stuck an arm out across the door frame to efficiently block his way, shook his head and quickly started in- "Uh uh. No way buddy… Why haven't I seen you down there in the kitchen during meal times, and why did you just look at me like that?"

A firm chest thudded into Duo's arm, then that cool emerald green gaze came to meet his again. When the other male opened his mouth to answer presumably, what came out was so totally unexpected the Duo took a step back and dropped his arm. "You've been dreaming troubled in the last few night, haven't you? About him?"

Watching that blank face after such a cryptic comment was making his nerves hum with unease. "How the hell would you know that? How could you? Have you been spying on me or what?!"

The man just stared at him calmly, either waiting for an answer or just not planning on humoring Duo's own hyped up and shrill questions. That silence only made the smaller male even more anxious. He crossed his arms and started to nervously rub his elbows as he nodded.

"Yeah. I have… So what of it? How do you know how I've been sleeping? And even more importantly, would you please tell me how you know who I was dreaming about?"

"Because he's been dreaming of you too."

And once again the braided boy was floored. He reached a hand out and grasped one of the bed's posts, using it to support himself as his legs decided to go on revolt. His world spun for a sweet second before he came crashing back to find this figure leaning against the now closed door and watching him with vague amusement on his face. With some effort he got his lungs working, and shortly after that, his voice box. "Who are you?"

"Trowa… I'm Quatre's personal caregiver."

Caregiver? This is that guy, the only one, who gets to see him! I've been asking about him and looking for him for a while now, and he just suddenly shows up in my room carrying my- He frowned. "Hey wait a minute. If you are Quatre's whatever, why were you the one that brought my plate?"

"Because I heard about you. And when he started having dreams and describing the person in them, I put two and two together. I wanted to meet you. For my own curiosity and for his best interests."

"His best interests? How does meeting me affect him?" He carefully released his grip on the bed's post and settled for sinking on the end of it with a shaky breath.

"Because you plan on helping him, don't you?"

This was one fellow that Duo didn't think he was ever going to get used too. He could probably adapt to Heero sneaking around and occasionally stopping his heart by grabbing him, and he could deal with Wufei always glaring at him when he thought he'd asked something stupid. But this guy's way of stated exactly what was on his mind and stuff that probably shouldn't be obvious, was really giving him the willies. He was a prophet for crying out loud, but this guy was pretty damned good himself. He debated shrugging the question off or skirting around it, deliberately ignoring it as 'Trowa' had, then shrugged and nodded. "Yes, I do. I don't like what's been done to him, and I want to take him out of here."

"You've been searching for his rooms?"

"Yes. No luck so far, although I found some other useful things… Are you here to tell me where he is? Are you going to help me get him free and take him away?"

For once he caught a distinctive expression on Trowa's face. A frown that looked edged in sadness. "I'll tell you where he is, and when would be best if you decide to make your move, but I won't actually become involved with you taking him."

"No? Why not? If you are willing to do all that they might think you are involved anyway. You might as well be my cohort all the way and just do what you can."

"I'm not worried about being caught."

"Then why the hell not? You're the person who probably knows the best way to handle this!" He was purely exasperated now. By the most ironic of ways he'd discovered a way right into Quatre's rooms and could probably just walk out with him in the middle of the night with this guy's help, and yet he was flatly refusing to give it. "What's stopping you then?"

"… I'd be damning myself by assisting you in taking him away, although I am already going to do that by giving you the information I plan too. Now, either stop questioning me and accept that, or don't and I'll leave now."

He was actually tempted to go with the second option and badger Trowa a little more in hopes of getting the whole truth, but he wisely bit his tongue at the last second. "Fine. What have you got?"

"The best time to attempt any escape would be three nights from now, at quarter after one in the morning. The guards that normally do that hall on that day will be preoccupied in a room at the back of the corridor, and if you are quiet enough they will not hear you. His rooms are the forth door down on the left, in the second floor East halls, they are always locked so you will have to have your own way through that. From there, to avoid being spotted, you'd do best to go past the center stairwell and down the West halls. There is a door there that leads to a smaller servants staircase, and that will open up on the ground floor in the conservatory. There are doors there that lead right outside, and then you are free to do what you want." That last sentence sounded slightly bitter in comparison to the rest of his blandly given information, and that was a fact that didn't elude Duo's attention. He would have wondered at it, perhaps would later on anyway, but for now he was busy memorize the important details he'd been offered.

"All right. The rest I can work out for myself… I hadn't planned on moving so quickly, I wanted to have some extra money in case anything came up after I had him, but I suppose the sooner the better with this, huh? I wish I had been here years ago to do this really, it's already been far to long for someone like him to have to be caged. I haven't ever played hero before, so I hope you don't think this is just an every day thing for me. I didn't plan on anything like this when I showed up, it just happened… And now I can't imagine leaving without him being okay. He's just…" Duo trailed off with a soft smile, staring off at the wall somewhere over Trowa's head. He didn't know what the blonde was, but he knew he'd grown attached to someone without ever having met them.

"You think you are in love with him…"

It wasn't a question. Duo raised an eyebrow and studied Trowa's face, then shrugged… And a second later, nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I think so. I don't exactly know how, I had pretty much sworn off love before I came here, but I think so."

"Then I wish you both good luck. Find him, and take him out of here. Teach him to be alive."

And then Trowa was turning and opening the door once more. Duo didn't rise to stop him this time, just sat on the bed with a little puzzled smile and watched the lanky figure slip into the hall like a shadow or perhaps a wraith. He called out a soft 'thanks' and got the absent wave of a long fingered hand in acknowledgement before the door was closed again, leaving him with his thoughts… And much neglected dinner.

Duo sat there for only a few minutes, making last checks and rechecks of all of what he had carefully stored away in his mind and memory banks, then crawled over the bed much the same way a certain blonde dream boy had done nights ago while he fantasized. He sat there on the full coverlet and picked at a meal that was now for the most part cold and tasteless to him, staring over at the mural on his wall and wondering exactly what skeletons and specters he'd stirred up unintentionally when he'd come to this beautiful, and at least on the surface, perfect kingdom.