-In the Court of the Forsaken King-
Despite preparing himself and knowing what to expect, Duo found himself wincing away from the sight of the grisly bag of bones on the throne. It was somehow made only so much worse by the fact the ragged creature was only wearing a pair of sleeping pants like he'd found Quatre in.
Above the clean cool green of the king's pants, his chest rose and fell in unsteady patterns of his breath, bones shone through the paper thin veil of his skin and veins clearly corded out where muscles had once been. The flesh above his stomach was an unearthly greenish shade made worse by the pale flickering light of the candelabra to either side of his chair, as if rot had already taken a hold of him somewhere deep inside where the doctors could not yet reach. His arms rested limply on the chair arms, nothing more then sticks fitted with a human mask really… His head was still the worst. The grinning skull of the insane. The skin there wasn't loose, oh no that would be a relief, but taunt across the firm structure of the bones beneath. His lips were pulled back in an eternal mocking smile, eyes forced to the narrowest glaring point. And like some sick idiot's idea of a joke, the sparkling gold crown of the kingdom rested on a nest of this -thing's- brittle whitish yellow hair.
Still, his steps up to the front of that huge chair never ceased or slowed. No dying waste of space could be allowed to stop this and somehow he knew that. … Though his heart went out to Quatre.
The prince raised his head and got one look at the life putrid form sitting just ahead of them, let out a low whimpering cry of terror, then went limp for the most part in Duo's arms. His head thudded heavily against his shoulder and when Duo glanced down at him briefly, he could see the whites of Quatre's eyes fluttering just underneath his closed lids. He understood completely, it was a hell of a lot to take in on your first day as a free person. Hell, in your first -hour- of being free. The little kitten struggled out from under that confining arm, then curled up under Quatre's chin in a shivering ball.
He took the final steps up to the throne, leaving about a yard between himself and the chairs legs… And then waited.
Runny yellow eyes drifted over the prophet for what felt like forever, then dropped to the child in his arms. That grin slackened just a bit. "Why do you try to steal the boy from me?"
"His name is -Quatre-. Not boy. You know this. I'll accept you calling me that, but show your damned son some show of respect, if only in my presence and for right now. He deserves at least that much from you!"
" …. Quatre then. My pretty pet prince. Why do you have him, prophet? I should have you killed just for touching the door behind which he rested. It is a known rule in this castle."
Duo growled lightly at the term the king used, knowing it wasn't just to get a rise out of him but because the king really did feel that's what the blonde was. "I don't give a flying fig about your rules. You can take them and shove them right up your old puckered hole. What I -do- care about is right here in my arms. I want Quatre, and I will not leave here without him. All I am giving you is a chance to agree with how I leave and nothing more."
"Oh!" Dry barking laughs followed Duo's announcement, sounding more like death wheezes then anything else. Then the king cut then off abruptly and leaned forward to announce with impish glee, "He's not going with you, boy. His place is here, in the castle, in his room. With a locked door between him and us. Unnatural thing that he is, he's alive only because I didn't have the heart to have him drowned in a bucket at birth."
"You bastard! He's a human, a human born out of -love-. There is nothing unnatural about that. You only hate it because it wasn't a part of your love! The woman you were obsessed with could NEVER love a creature like you in return! You held her and coveted her, tried to keep her caged, and in the end you killed her, just like you would with Quatre if given enough time! You keep him not because he's 'unnatural', but because he's all you have that reminds you of Eli-"
"STOP! Mention not her name to me or I shall have both you and he dragged out of here this second and hung!" The king's hands were gripping the ends of his arm so tightly that Duo could see them shaking, and the cords in his neck stood up like small tree branches as the old man screamed in his face.
And yet instead of being shaken off his course by that enraged threat, Duo felt thrilled. It was a shift of power in this room and conversation. He carefully shifted a hand out from under Quatre (silently thankful again that the boy was out of it) and rose it to very lightly stroke the pale blonde locks off the prince's damp forehead, watching closely as the king immediately went silent himself and followed that motion avidly. When Duo spoke again it was in a thought thoughtful whisper. "Just like his mother's, isn't it? That pure untouched sunlight… I bet his would curl a bit if his was long too. How many nights have you thought of him up there, and actually wanted to go and open the door between you, if only to touch his locks as you wanted to touch hers?"
His violet eyes flickered up to the old skeleton, and when the king glanced up at him briefly it was only to shake his head, lick his lips like a man dying of thirst and then go back to watching Quatre again. "His eyes are just like hers too… I've seen the picture, Highness, and I've stared into his eyes. They hold the same beautiful shades within them, like being under water as you drowned and looking up those last wavery few feet to see the sun shining on blindly above. It's like feeling yourself fall a little deeper each time those eyes turn on you, isn't it?
"S-she…" This time the king did answer, in a soft useful voice like he just couldn't help himself. It was still the dry rattle of only those old enough to see the rise and fall of the world around him, but Duo thought it was miles better then his cackling from before. "She always used those eyes on me. She knew, you see? Whenever she just smiled at me… I would -try- so hard to get her the world if that was what she wanted…"
Duo sighed and shook his head, commiserating falsely with that. "But she never wanted anything, did she? You could never give her something and make her smile for you, could you? All that she wanted was that one thing…"
"And I couldn't give her that! She was mine, and she should have known it! It was my right to marry whom I wanted, and I wanted her! I could have given her anything! She should have been happy, but she was never happy with -me-. I offered her money and power, jewels and gowns of the finest silks and satins! Paintings that showed her beauty like nothing else could! I filled her room with fresh flowers myself and built my castle around her whims! Stupid selfish girl!"
That outburst tapered off as the king's old hands lifted to cover his face, weeping into their cupped darkness as weakly as a young child.
Duo watched without sympathy, thinking quietly that those few tears after all these years and come far too late would never be enough to pay for all he'd done. But still, it was going where he wanted it too, and that in itself was hopeful. He gave the king a few minutes and waited until those gasping and snuffly breaths had slowed, then looked down at the boy resting unconsciously in his arms and ventured softly- "It might already be too late to earn Quatre's love, Majesty… There have been so many years when I'm sure he's lain up in his room and wondered about the father he never had and what he did wrong to remain there… But you might still be able to earn his respect and thanks. And you might be able to make sure he remembers you without hate…"
The hands slipped away from the withered face, looking up at Duo with the dark eyes of a watchful and wary predator. But he was listening, and that was all the prophet wanted.
"Let him go, Sire… Free him while he still has the energy and will to live at all. Let him make a life from himself outside of his cage and let him be happy just in that little gift you can give him. He will not be here, but he could have that happy life you tried to give her, and it wouldn't cost you anything but letting us walk out of here quietly." He paused after that soft request, catching his breath and shifting Quatre a little in his arms so the king could see that innocently restful face. "He deserves that chance at least. And if you are worried what the town will think, of you letting your only heir walk away… They need not ever know. You have kept his existence a secret up until now, and if you just allow us to leave together, I see no reason to tell them. They'll never be any wiser to what's taken place, and your son can go somewhere far away with me and learn how to live in the world outside. That could work, Majesty. It only needs your approval and you can stop what's happening now from being a repeat of that past you hate."
He was so expecting a tearful acceptance and a spewing of apologies the boy would never know of, that it caught him off guard when the king's ancient face hardened in anger. His answer was little more then the hiss of a venomous and just plain old pissed snake. "My -son-? That boy is not my child! He is the result of my wife cheating on me! He should never have been born at all. I will not allow you to carry him out of here, no matter what sweet words you offer to aide your cause. I do not owe him happiness or freedom, and HE WILL NOT HAVE THEM!"
Each of those words grew in volume, echoing in the room like broken glass and making Duo hop back a step. The king's bony fingers jabbed at the end of one arm of his chair, punctuating each of those final words cruelly. "He was born in that room! And he shall die there as well! Tonight will be the only night he will have ever seen the world beyond his doors. She chose her death in that room rather then to be with me, and I refuse to give him any choice at all! Perhaps if he is wise he shall leap to his death like my poor doomed Elizabeth!!"
Duo felt those words wash over him like a spray of chilling ice and he held Quatre closer as his head sank defeatedly down. It was clearly impossible to reason with the king, and he would not be given anyway to free Quatre short of a fight with hopeless odds or a miracle… Neither held much stock in Duo's mind. He was going to die after this meeting… And the prince was very likely going to wake up within the same four walls he'd known all his life. There was just nothing he could do, and he'd tried so hard. But still, he looked up with the full intent of -trying- to convince the king one more time -- and paused.
The king was staring at Duo, his mouth opening and closing like that of a fish on land. His yellow eyes were horribly wide and shaking with what appeared to be fear as he just gaped at the prophet mutely and trembled. Duo for the life of him didn't know what the hell had so scared the old man and actually turned around to see if there wasn't another person standing behind him and if perhaps that was what had so struck fear into that shriveled old heart. His own heart took a painful lurch itself when he turned slightly and glanced over his shoulder. Someone was there… His angel.
The small blonde boy was dressed as when Duo'd first seen him, that almost bathrobe-like covering that framed the small form rather then hid it. His face was perfectly proportioned and full, the pretty pink lips resting in a petulant little frown and the gorgeous blue eyes narrowed. There was no trace of sickness in this shining young man, he was the image of flawlessness as he stood on the regal carpets and stared at the king.
It's him… Duo's breath was stolen. He looked over this suddenly there boy, then down at the one in his arms. Twins? Were there were -two- sons born?! Quatre wane face was still deeply trapped in that horror brought sleep, but as he felt Duo's arms tighten around him he let out a protesting little sigh, then rolled over and pressed his face against the demon's shirt. And Duo was torn. Before him stood the angel, the one he'd thought he'd fallen in love with him. In his arms lay the boy who needed his love and protection, and whom he discovered he wanted to care for even if it wasn't the 'Quatre' that had originally sparked his interest. He shouldn't be so weak as he was and Duo knew it, he should look just like that golden form standing there now. Yet still, he felt himself terribly lost between the two conflicting images of the prince that lay right before him.
Before that confusion and indecision could tear Duo's mind apart, the newest form of the prince began to change right before his eyes. The bathrobe he'd first seen Quatre in slowly brightened in color, hues of the sky and ocean creeping onto it around the edges even as the cotton seemed to bell out around the boy's legs. The waist drew in to fit perfectly around his thin middle, and the belt that held that bath piece closed widened and darkened into a royal blue silk. Duo watched as the ends of what was clearly a bow blossomed behind the creature like some new rare flower. His lovely pale legs grew even lighter in color, and it took the prophet a moment to understand that was because there were now stockings covering those limbs. And as his eyes followed the white cloth swirling down 'Quatre's' legs, he saw they now came to an end in a pair of pretty little dress shoes.
The face was the most dramatic change and what very nearly caused Duo to black out himself. As he watched, the creature's eyes never shifting off the king, the beautiful blonde fluff he'd always thought was enchanting began to elongate around this mock Quatre's face. He watched it grow before his eyes like some frightening circus trick, piling on the slim shoulders of what was now a lovely little dress like forgotten gold before rather disturbingly beginning to pull itself up in curls. These ringlets drew up like soft springs and framed a face that was still changing.
Duo watched the cheek bones draw in a little, and actually saw the red appear high on them like the setting sun. He watched the eyes change as well, not in shade but in the slightly more feminine way they rose and in the vague hints of blue that appeared over the lids. He saw that beautiful pliant mouth, the prince's mouth that he'd dreamt of kissing, grow ever so gracefully more plush and pink. It was a woman's mouth, turned down in stern anger. The changes had stopped and when Duo drew out of his shock enough to look over the complete metamorphosis, he saw the woman who haunted his wall in voices of paint and in graves of an artist's flowerbed. The dying king's long lost doll queen, Elizabeth, stood there before them as if summoned from the grave by her name like some child-whispered ghost tale in the darkest of night.
He could have stared at that newly revealed unearthly vision until the day he died in frozen terror, clutching Quatre to himself while his mind screamed at him that human souls weren't meant to see such things, but a low and raspy scream from the king caused him to tear his eyes away and turn.
The old man on the throne was clawing at his own face. Duo winced back in horror as ragged yellow fingernails gouged into the papery flesh along his cheeks and pulled long cuts like gaping mouths, blood as red as any youth's bubbling up and violently flowing down the creature's shrieking face. The prophet gagged as that red soup of life ran into the king's open wailing mouth and was exhaled into the air like an apocalyptic cloud with his next wheezing breath.
He should be dead… Oh god, why won't he just die now?! Duo shrank back and stumbled a few unsteady feet as the being drew it's hands up and started ripping chunks of it's mostly bald scalp off, tossing them to the side like gruesome confetti at some funeral parade. As if that vision weren't enough right now, his backward retreat suddenly brought a cold wave over him, and Duo did start to whimper himself as the form of Elizabeth suddenly started appearing before him. He could only make out the front of her face, turned away from him, and yet for some reason he couldn't see the back of her head, just the back of those childish features. It was as if… Merciful darkness!! I'm in her! I just-- I JUST WALKED THROUGH QUATRE'S DEAD MOTHER AND I'M STILL IN HER!!
That frightening realization hit him like a ton of bricks, and not caring about any scrapes or bruises to himself, Duo just threw himself backwards as hard as he could. The cold veil left him in a rush and the slightly warmer air of the throne room crowded in on him like a blessing. He landed heavily on his ass, bouncing on the carpet with a teeth rattling thump before skidding to a halt about seven feet from the childish specter. In his arms Quatre let out a sigh of protest and a small hand wound into Duo's shirt like a lifeline. Jumping at that grip momentarily, Duo looked down at the pale boy who slept blissfully on and envied him his ignorance on what was happening. He clutched Quatre to himself and looked up again, helplessly not to watch the destruction of sanity occurring in front of him.
Elizabeth never noticed or at least didn't mind the interruption of one demon prophet tripping his way through her, her gaze never left the writhing bloody mass of a king. She stood where she was for nearly a minute after Duo's crash landing as the King wailed away on his seat like only those that have heard their own mind snap can. It was when one gnarled old hand reached up and into his mouth, then emerged with a flapping bit of pink flesh that Duo sickly identified as his tongue that she finally moved.
The little girl silently made her way up to the chair, the tiny slippers on her feet not whispering against the carpets and the folds of her dress never brushing against each other and emitting that normally seduction hiss of fabric. She walked forward until the tips of those little shoes were only an inch from the chair legs, and then she smiled at the mess of her killer.
Old hands fell away from the tattered ruin of a face and even from his far off location, Duo saw the king's yellowed eyes roll wildly up to that somewhat transparent face of the not-child ghost. He froze in much the same way the king did, helpless in the face of the completely unnatural. And when the girl spoke for the first time, it was a voice from beyond the worlds. Sweet as it had undeniably been when Quatre's mother played in the gardens and laughed at the sun over head, it was still that way now, but underneath Duo knew he heard the bubbling laugh of the creatures just underneath the rift of this plane. Dead was still dead, and once something had been touched by that decaying grip, things were tainted no matter who they'd been. Elizabeth from what he'd heard had been sweet and the kindest of souls, and though that essence was still hinted at in this ghost, it was like the threads of a rope popping apart under a very heavy strain… He didn't want to be there when it snapped. His ears tried to reject that young bell-like call when it came to him.
"You have been judged, dear husband… And you are expected."
As tremors quaked through his form, the wide violet eyes of one terrified and less then innocent bystander watched an ethereal hand rise from within the shifting folds of a dress that couldn't have been there. The delicate little fingers, so like those that were currently wrapped in his shirt really, lightly brushed over one of the candelabras to the side of the king. Then with sudden decision, the hand wrapped around the metal and yanked.
Brilliant yellow and crimson flames erupted over the king's crippled form like he'd been made of oil and paper, and that brief second of silence Elizabeth's presence had granted was shattered as screams broke free like glass shattering. He was burning alive while the dead watched and within seconds the thick smoky sent of burning flesh washed over Duo's senses… Still those cries grew louder, shrieks the hit the roof and then piled there nearly visibly as if trying to alert something just outside of this mortal coil.
Duo finally could stand no more. Between his dry heaves from that persistent stench that was everywhere now and the cries he couldn't even raise his hands to block, he was in a state of panic. And even with as loud as those death agonies were, he could hear the king's skin popping and boiling, charring on his bones. He whipped around and crawled on his knees towards the safe retreat of the large wooden doors only yards away, head down and eyes on the floor as he struggled to get himself and the prince out of here before the entire room could catch light.
And he almost made it out without incident too. When he was finally five feet from the closed portal, wondering why he couldn't hear people outside trying to get in (it was there stupid old king who'd just become a human torch after all), he tiredly found a way to his feet. Looking up to find the handle and push the doors open to their path of freedom, he found the little blue dressed ghost standing right in front of him and staring up at him with a thoughtful expression etched on her dead features. Duo didn't even have the mind sense left to scream…
Cool cerulean eyes flew over his face in a calculated way and right now he saw none of that innocent wariness and peaceful interest he'd found in Quatre's mirror image orbs. She may as well have been deciding which way was best to snap his neck for all Duo knew. Then one transparent little hand started to reach up, not for him but for the prince in his arms, and Duo decided ghost or not he'd had enough.
He jumped back instinctively and pulled Quatre's small body tightly against his chest, snarling at the creature angrily-- "Don't you DARE touch him! You can kill me if you want, light me on fire like he who wronged you, but you won't touch him!"
Even as it dawned dimly in his mind that he'd probably just killed then both, Elizabeth's chilly laughter erupted. The ghost smiled softly and Duo thought he saw that blind malice wash out of them as her eyes lowered to Quatre's sleeping face and then back up to his. She set her arm back down and spoke softly, and though that voice still made Duo's skin crawl it wasn't as bad as the message she'd set upon the king. "I shall harm neither of you. I chose you, didn't I? And to destroy you now would undo anything I've tried to accomplish. I'd never hurt him… At least I'd never try too, but sometimes it seems I am forgetting just what things used to mean to me…"
"You forget? You mean that other world and the things there, they-"
Elizabeth cut him off with a quick head shake, one that sent curls that Duo knew weren't really there tumbling around her face. "It's best not to mention them, little prophet." She laughed again, this time at that title as if enjoying some private joke, then continued-- "I should go before I can't control that again though… You have done what I hoped you would since I first watched you enter this tomb, and as much as I can, I give you my blessings now. My child is free, and he is in good, if not somewhat clumsy, hands. Take care of him and keep him close to you, and remember that I watch."
And before Duo could even question her why she picked him, and how she was involved-- Oh, he had his ideas though. Those glimpses of what the prince could be that had drawn his interests, and the help he'd gotten along the way-- she was fading away like nothing more then fog as the sun rose. First she lightened and Duo could clearly see the door behind her, and then it seemed she just drifted apart. At the same instance he realized she was completely gone he also noticed he could no longer hear the King's screams behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know that Elizabeth had come and taken her husband back with her. The king was dead and the only thing he'd have seen on that throne was a pile of still burning limbs that vaguely resembled a man. … And not a very good one at that.
Taking just a second to gather himself, Duo closed his eyes and started forward again, stopping to shift Quatre and reach one hand out in order to open the door. When he stepped through he wasn't surprised not to see the hordes of armed guards that had escorted him there, more likely then not the Queen's arrival had sent them running like mice, but he was surprised to see Wufei picking his uncertainly on the very far end of the main hall and looking a bit shaken. He was currently nudging at one discarded shield with a shoe and looked puzzled, and when Duo quietly called his name with head jerked up like it was on springs.
"Duo! You're all right! … And you have the prince." Wufei's black doe eyes moved from his face to rove over the limp form in the prophet's arms. "Is he hurt?"
He shook his head and started tiredly making his way to the last of the present guards, relieved just to know something hadn't happened to them. If Wufei was here looking for him, then Heero was undoubtedly safe already. "He's just unconscious. We… We ran into a little trouble and he fainted."
A snort. "A little trouble? Heero and I decided to get some horses after all and were waited outside the gate for you. We've given up on this heap of stones and decided to assist you as far as we could on our own way to a new life… We saw the guards and the maids and other staff come running out of the castle like ants and grabbed one to question. You got caught." It sounded like an accusation and right now Duo didn't have the strength to argue it.
"Yeah, we were caught. But we're free now and no one's going to get in our way. Still got those horses out there?" Duo winced as something behind him broke with a splintery crash, probably whatever it was was on fire and couldn't stand the strain any more. But Wufei's attention darted that way keenly and he gasped.
"Duo! That room's on fire!!"
"Keen man you are, my good ol' buddy. Trust me, leave it to burn and lets you and I get the hell out of here, what do you say? And the darling prince of course."
The black eyes didn't leave the fire for a few seconds, then Wufei just nodded and moved to walk back through the front door. He glanced over his shoulder right before they stepped through the door. "you look tired… Do you want me to take him for a bit?"
Duo just shook his head and held the blonde a little tighter. "No. He doesn't weigh much and even if he did, I think I could carry him for a thousand miles and never feel tired enough to want to put him down."
He just got an eye roll in return as Wufei mentally ranted about the foolishness of young love and promises too soon made. But the exotic guard lead the way on without offering again. They slipped out into the night, and Duo looked around in amazement that it could still be dark when it felt like he'd spent an eternity inside that room. Pacing impatiently in the gate as promised was Heero, the reigns of two horses hanging from his hands and the beautiful black beasts themselves standing only a few feet away and looking bored.
At the sight of his lover Heero's foots stopped and he wanted for them to approach in silence, though that broke as soon as they were within five feet. "What's wrong with him?"
Wufei gave Heero a surprisingly fond smile and reached for one of the set of reigns. "Nothing. Passed out, he'll be fine… Duo did a good enough job." he turned and offered the leads to the horse over to Duo. "This one's yours. Two was the safest amount we could get, and besides I figured you'd be wanting to ride with the prince… You will have to hand him to me before you get on though, but he'll be okay."
The prophet found that to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done, handing that thin waifish blonde to the guard. He took a second to stretch himself out, eyes never leaving Quatre's sleeping face as Wufei carefully held him and as Quatre's slumbering form held the quiet again kitten, then flipped himself onto the horse with quite a bit of effort. He balanced on the saddle and took a little bit to get used to it, then looked down to see Heero carefully strapping a bag to the horses side. It was of course the backpack that had been out of place near the green house. They'd gone back to retrieve it and wanted to be damned sure he didn't forget it now.
When Heero was finished and satisfied with the straps, he nodded to Wufei then moved to get onto his own horse, petting the creature's mane and watching the black haired youth approach Duo's mount. He glanced down at the boy's face thoughtfully before going about very carefully hefting Quatre up to the braided male, making for certain Duo had a good grip on him before finally being willing to back away. "He has a good soul… And so do you. I think you two will be happy together."
Violet eyes blinked at him in surprise, then Duo's tired face broke into a smile. "I think so too. I hope so anyway… At the very least, he'll be happy if it kills me."
Wufei raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "He looks like he's going to be the curious sort when he finally opens up, so it just might."
Laughing, Duo nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised. So you guys will follow me?"
"As far as we travel in the same direction, then we will part and send our best wishes with you and he, and only hope to hear from you eventually."
"I'll keep in contact, I promise. Without you two, I wouldn't have gotten this far."
Wufei snorted, "At least we agree on something."
Instead of being insulted, the brunette laughed at the comment and turned to start leading his horse through the castle gates and towards the town. Quatre was balance carefully on the saddle and against his chest, and the steady pulse of warmth from his breath against Duo's throat was a comfort. He heard Wufei jogged to his horse and heard Heero help him up, then they were riding beside him and looking like every pair of friends riding into the sunset of every faerie tale. Only the observant would notice the way Wufei's arms around Heero were just a little comfortable, and the way Heero had a look of contentment in his eyes to match no other.
Their ride together ended far to soon for Duo's liking. They reached the edge of the wintry forest and when he announced he planned to ride north through it and eventually head to the beaches of the turquoise seas, they sadly told him they were heading east towards Wufei's homelands to start anew there. It felt too soon and too final to the exhausted prophet, but he kept a straight face as he said his good-byes and watched them ride away with promises to write or visit once both parties had settled into a steady schedule. He waited there on his horse with the prince in his arms until they were no more then a speck on the other side of the peaceful and still sleeping town, then he waited a while more until they were nothing at all…
Ten minutes later, Duo sighed heavily and instinctively erased some of his sorrows by gently nuzzling the prince's hair, closing his eyes and reveling in the silken softness as he tried to think. Considering the day he'd had, it was a hard task. But at last the man who'd ridden into this kingdom as a hopeful shadow looking for no more then some gold lightly kicked the flanks of the black horse and started through the leafless and reaching branches of the forest towards whatever life might be waiting just beyond.
Despite preparing himself and knowing what to expect, Duo found himself wincing away from the sight of the grisly bag of bones on the throne. It was somehow made only so much worse by the fact the ragged creature was only wearing a pair of sleeping pants like he'd found Quatre in.
Above the clean cool green of the king's pants, his chest rose and fell in unsteady patterns of his breath, bones shone through the paper thin veil of his skin and veins clearly corded out where muscles had once been. The flesh above his stomach was an unearthly greenish shade made worse by the pale flickering light of the candelabra to either side of his chair, as if rot had already taken a hold of him somewhere deep inside where the doctors could not yet reach. His arms rested limply on the chair arms, nothing more then sticks fitted with a human mask really… His head was still the worst. The grinning skull of the insane. The skin there wasn't loose, oh no that would be a relief, but taunt across the firm structure of the bones beneath. His lips were pulled back in an eternal mocking smile, eyes forced to the narrowest glaring point. And like some sick idiot's idea of a joke, the sparkling gold crown of the kingdom rested on a nest of this -thing's- brittle whitish yellow hair.
Still, his steps up to the front of that huge chair never ceased or slowed. No dying waste of space could be allowed to stop this and somehow he knew that. … Though his heart went out to Quatre.
The prince raised his head and got one look at the life putrid form sitting just ahead of them, let out a low whimpering cry of terror, then went limp for the most part in Duo's arms. His head thudded heavily against his shoulder and when Duo glanced down at him briefly, he could see the whites of Quatre's eyes fluttering just underneath his closed lids. He understood completely, it was a hell of a lot to take in on your first day as a free person. Hell, in your first -hour- of being free. The little kitten struggled out from under that confining arm, then curled up under Quatre's chin in a shivering ball.
He took the final steps up to the throne, leaving about a yard between himself and the chairs legs… And then waited.
Runny yellow eyes drifted over the prophet for what felt like forever, then dropped to the child in his arms. That grin slackened just a bit. "Why do you try to steal the boy from me?"
"His name is -Quatre-. Not boy. You know this. I'll accept you calling me that, but show your damned son some show of respect, if only in my presence and for right now. He deserves at least that much from you!"
" …. Quatre then. My pretty pet prince. Why do you have him, prophet? I should have you killed just for touching the door behind which he rested. It is a known rule in this castle."
Duo growled lightly at the term the king used, knowing it wasn't just to get a rise out of him but because the king really did feel that's what the blonde was. "I don't give a flying fig about your rules. You can take them and shove them right up your old puckered hole. What I -do- care about is right here in my arms. I want Quatre, and I will not leave here without him. All I am giving you is a chance to agree with how I leave and nothing more."
"Oh!" Dry barking laughs followed Duo's announcement, sounding more like death wheezes then anything else. Then the king cut then off abruptly and leaned forward to announce with impish glee, "He's not going with you, boy. His place is here, in the castle, in his room. With a locked door between him and us. Unnatural thing that he is, he's alive only because I didn't have the heart to have him drowned in a bucket at birth."
"You bastard! He's a human, a human born out of -love-. There is nothing unnatural about that. You only hate it because it wasn't a part of your love! The woman you were obsessed with could NEVER love a creature like you in return! You held her and coveted her, tried to keep her caged, and in the end you killed her, just like you would with Quatre if given enough time! You keep him not because he's 'unnatural', but because he's all you have that reminds you of Eli-"
"STOP! Mention not her name to me or I shall have both you and he dragged out of here this second and hung!" The king's hands were gripping the ends of his arm so tightly that Duo could see them shaking, and the cords in his neck stood up like small tree branches as the old man screamed in his face.
And yet instead of being shaken off his course by that enraged threat, Duo felt thrilled. It was a shift of power in this room and conversation. He carefully shifted a hand out from under Quatre (silently thankful again that the boy was out of it) and rose it to very lightly stroke the pale blonde locks off the prince's damp forehead, watching closely as the king immediately went silent himself and followed that motion avidly. When Duo spoke again it was in a thought thoughtful whisper. "Just like his mother's, isn't it? That pure untouched sunlight… I bet his would curl a bit if his was long too. How many nights have you thought of him up there, and actually wanted to go and open the door between you, if only to touch his locks as you wanted to touch hers?"
His violet eyes flickered up to the old skeleton, and when the king glanced up at him briefly it was only to shake his head, lick his lips like a man dying of thirst and then go back to watching Quatre again. "His eyes are just like hers too… I've seen the picture, Highness, and I've stared into his eyes. They hold the same beautiful shades within them, like being under water as you drowned and looking up those last wavery few feet to see the sun shining on blindly above. It's like feeling yourself fall a little deeper each time those eyes turn on you, isn't it?
"S-she…" This time the king did answer, in a soft useful voice like he just couldn't help himself. It was still the dry rattle of only those old enough to see the rise and fall of the world around him, but Duo thought it was miles better then his cackling from before. "She always used those eyes on me. She knew, you see? Whenever she just smiled at me… I would -try- so hard to get her the world if that was what she wanted…"
Duo sighed and shook his head, commiserating falsely with that. "But she never wanted anything, did she? You could never give her something and make her smile for you, could you? All that she wanted was that one thing…"
"And I couldn't give her that! She was mine, and she should have known it! It was my right to marry whom I wanted, and I wanted her! I could have given her anything! She should have been happy, but she was never happy with -me-. I offered her money and power, jewels and gowns of the finest silks and satins! Paintings that showed her beauty like nothing else could! I filled her room with fresh flowers myself and built my castle around her whims! Stupid selfish girl!"
That outburst tapered off as the king's old hands lifted to cover his face, weeping into their cupped darkness as weakly as a young child.
Duo watched without sympathy, thinking quietly that those few tears after all these years and come far too late would never be enough to pay for all he'd done. But still, it was going where he wanted it too, and that in itself was hopeful. He gave the king a few minutes and waited until those gasping and snuffly breaths had slowed, then looked down at the boy resting unconsciously in his arms and ventured softly- "It might already be too late to earn Quatre's love, Majesty… There have been so many years when I'm sure he's lain up in his room and wondered about the father he never had and what he did wrong to remain there… But you might still be able to earn his respect and thanks. And you might be able to make sure he remembers you without hate…"
The hands slipped away from the withered face, looking up at Duo with the dark eyes of a watchful and wary predator. But he was listening, and that was all the prophet wanted.
"Let him go, Sire… Free him while he still has the energy and will to live at all. Let him make a life from himself outside of his cage and let him be happy just in that little gift you can give him. He will not be here, but he could have that happy life you tried to give her, and it wouldn't cost you anything but letting us walk out of here quietly." He paused after that soft request, catching his breath and shifting Quatre a little in his arms so the king could see that innocently restful face. "He deserves that chance at least. And if you are worried what the town will think, of you letting your only heir walk away… They need not ever know. You have kept his existence a secret up until now, and if you just allow us to leave together, I see no reason to tell them. They'll never be any wiser to what's taken place, and your son can go somewhere far away with me and learn how to live in the world outside. That could work, Majesty. It only needs your approval and you can stop what's happening now from being a repeat of that past you hate."
He was so expecting a tearful acceptance and a spewing of apologies the boy would never know of, that it caught him off guard when the king's ancient face hardened in anger. His answer was little more then the hiss of a venomous and just plain old pissed snake. "My -son-? That boy is not my child! He is the result of my wife cheating on me! He should never have been born at all. I will not allow you to carry him out of here, no matter what sweet words you offer to aide your cause. I do not owe him happiness or freedom, and HE WILL NOT HAVE THEM!"
Each of those words grew in volume, echoing in the room like broken glass and making Duo hop back a step. The king's bony fingers jabbed at the end of one arm of his chair, punctuating each of those final words cruelly. "He was born in that room! And he shall die there as well! Tonight will be the only night he will have ever seen the world beyond his doors. She chose her death in that room rather then to be with me, and I refuse to give him any choice at all! Perhaps if he is wise he shall leap to his death like my poor doomed Elizabeth!!"
Duo felt those words wash over him like a spray of chilling ice and he held Quatre closer as his head sank defeatedly down. It was clearly impossible to reason with the king, and he would not be given anyway to free Quatre short of a fight with hopeless odds or a miracle… Neither held much stock in Duo's mind. He was going to die after this meeting… And the prince was very likely going to wake up within the same four walls he'd known all his life. There was just nothing he could do, and he'd tried so hard. But still, he looked up with the full intent of -trying- to convince the king one more time -- and paused.
The king was staring at Duo, his mouth opening and closing like that of a fish on land. His yellow eyes were horribly wide and shaking with what appeared to be fear as he just gaped at the prophet mutely and trembled. Duo for the life of him didn't know what the hell had so scared the old man and actually turned around to see if there wasn't another person standing behind him and if perhaps that was what had so struck fear into that shriveled old heart. His own heart took a painful lurch itself when he turned slightly and glanced over his shoulder. Someone was there… His angel.
The small blonde boy was dressed as when Duo'd first seen him, that almost bathrobe-like covering that framed the small form rather then hid it. His face was perfectly proportioned and full, the pretty pink lips resting in a petulant little frown and the gorgeous blue eyes narrowed. There was no trace of sickness in this shining young man, he was the image of flawlessness as he stood on the regal carpets and stared at the king.
It's him… Duo's breath was stolen. He looked over this suddenly there boy, then down at the one in his arms. Twins? Were there were -two- sons born?! Quatre wane face was still deeply trapped in that horror brought sleep, but as he felt Duo's arms tighten around him he let out a protesting little sigh, then rolled over and pressed his face against the demon's shirt. And Duo was torn. Before him stood the angel, the one he'd thought he'd fallen in love with him. In his arms lay the boy who needed his love and protection, and whom he discovered he wanted to care for even if it wasn't the 'Quatre' that had originally sparked his interest. He shouldn't be so weak as he was and Duo knew it, he should look just like that golden form standing there now. Yet still, he felt himself terribly lost between the two conflicting images of the prince that lay right before him.
Before that confusion and indecision could tear Duo's mind apart, the newest form of the prince began to change right before his eyes. The bathrobe he'd first seen Quatre in slowly brightened in color, hues of the sky and ocean creeping onto it around the edges even as the cotton seemed to bell out around the boy's legs. The waist drew in to fit perfectly around his thin middle, and the belt that held that bath piece closed widened and darkened into a royal blue silk. Duo watched as the ends of what was clearly a bow blossomed behind the creature like some new rare flower. His lovely pale legs grew even lighter in color, and it took the prophet a moment to understand that was because there were now stockings covering those limbs. And as his eyes followed the white cloth swirling down 'Quatre's' legs, he saw they now came to an end in a pair of pretty little dress shoes.
The face was the most dramatic change and what very nearly caused Duo to black out himself. As he watched, the creature's eyes never shifting off the king, the beautiful blonde fluff he'd always thought was enchanting began to elongate around this mock Quatre's face. He watched it grow before his eyes like some frightening circus trick, piling on the slim shoulders of what was now a lovely little dress like forgotten gold before rather disturbingly beginning to pull itself up in curls. These ringlets drew up like soft springs and framed a face that was still changing.
Duo watched the cheek bones draw in a little, and actually saw the red appear high on them like the setting sun. He watched the eyes change as well, not in shade but in the slightly more feminine way they rose and in the vague hints of blue that appeared over the lids. He saw that beautiful pliant mouth, the prince's mouth that he'd dreamt of kissing, grow ever so gracefully more plush and pink. It was a woman's mouth, turned down in stern anger. The changes had stopped and when Duo drew out of his shock enough to look over the complete metamorphosis, he saw the woman who haunted his wall in voices of paint and in graves of an artist's flowerbed. The dying king's long lost doll queen, Elizabeth, stood there before them as if summoned from the grave by her name like some child-whispered ghost tale in the darkest of night.
He could have stared at that newly revealed unearthly vision until the day he died in frozen terror, clutching Quatre to himself while his mind screamed at him that human souls weren't meant to see such things, but a low and raspy scream from the king caused him to tear his eyes away and turn.
The old man on the throne was clawing at his own face. Duo winced back in horror as ragged yellow fingernails gouged into the papery flesh along his cheeks and pulled long cuts like gaping mouths, blood as red as any youth's bubbling up and violently flowing down the creature's shrieking face. The prophet gagged as that red soup of life ran into the king's open wailing mouth and was exhaled into the air like an apocalyptic cloud with his next wheezing breath.
He should be dead… Oh god, why won't he just die now?! Duo shrank back and stumbled a few unsteady feet as the being drew it's hands up and started ripping chunks of it's mostly bald scalp off, tossing them to the side like gruesome confetti at some funeral parade. As if that vision weren't enough right now, his backward retreat suddenly brought a cold wave over him, and Duo did start to whimper himself as the form of Elizabeth suddenly started appearing before him. He could only make out the front of her face, turned away from him, and yet for some reason he couldn't see the back of her head, just the back of those childish features. It was as if… Merciful darkness!! I'm in her! I just-- I JUST WALKED THROUGH QUATRE'S DEAD MOTHER AND I'M STILL IN HER!!
That frightening realization hit him like a ton of bricks, and not caring about any scrapes or bruises to himself, Duo just threw himself backwards as hard as he could. The cold veil left him in a rush and the slightly warmer air of the throne room crowded in on him like a blessing. He landed heavily on his ass, bouncing on the carpet with a teeth rattling thump before skidding to a halt about seven feet from the childish specter. In his arms Quatre let out a sigh of protest and a small hand wound into Duo's shirt like a lifeline. Jumping at that grip momentarily, Duo looked down at the pale boy who slept blissfully on and envied him his ignorance on what was happening. He clutched Quatre to himself and looked up again, helplessly not to watch the destruction of sanity occurring in front of him.
Elizabeth never noticed or at least didn't mind the interruption of one demon prophet tripping his way through her, her gaze never left the writhing bloody mass of a king. She stood where she was for nearly a minute after Duo's crash landing as the King wailed away on his seat like only those that have heard their own mind snap can. It was when one gnarled old hand reached up and into his mouth, then emerged with a flapping bit of pink flesh that Duo sickly identified as his tongue that she finally moved.
The little girl silently made her way up to the chair, the tiny slippers on her feet not whispering against the carpets and the folds of her dress never brushing against each other and emitting that normally seduction hiss of fabric. She walked forward until the tips of those little shoes were only an inch from the chair legs, and then she smiled at the mess of her killer.
Old hands fell away from the tattered ruin of a face and even from his far off location, Duo saw the king's yellowed eyes roll wildly up to that somewhat transparent face of the not-child ghost. He froze in much the same way the king did, helpless in the face of the completely unnatural. And when the girl spoke for the first time, it was a voice from beyond the worlds. Sweet as it had undeniably been when Quatre's mother played in the gardens and laughed at the sun over head, it was still that way now, but underneath Duo knew he heard the bubbling laugh of the creatures just underneath the rift of this plane. Dead was still dead, and once something had been touched by that decaying grip, things were tainted no matter who they'd been. Elizabeth from what he'd heard had been sweet and the kindest of souls, and though that essence was still hinted at in this ghost, it was like the threads of a rope popping apart under a very heavy strain… He didn't want to be there when it snapped. His ears tried to reject that young bell-like call when it came to him.
"You have been judged, dear husband… And you are expected."
As tremors quaked through his form, the wide violet eyes of one terrified and less then innocent bystander watched an ethereal hand rise from within the shifting folds of a dress that couldn't have been there. The delicate little fingers, so like those that were currently wrapped in his shirt really, lightly brushed over one of the candelabras to the side of the king. Then with sudden decision, the hand wrapped around the metal and yanked.
Brilliant yellow and crimson flames erupted over the king's crippled form like he'd been made of oil and paper, and that brief second of silence Elizabeth's presence had granted was shattered as screams broke free like glass shattering. He was burning alive while the dead watched and within seconds the thick smoky sent of burning flesh washed over Duo's senses… Still those cries grew louder, shrieks the hit the roof and then piled there nearly visibly as if trying to alert something just outside of this mortal coil.
Duo finally could stand no more. Between his dry heaves from that persistent stench that was everywhere now and the cries he couldn't even raise his hands to block, he was in a state of panic. And even with as loud as those death agonies were, he could hear the king's skin popping and boiling, charring on his bones. He whipped around and crawled on his knees towards the safe retreat of the large wooden doors only yards away, head down and eyes on the floor as he struggled to get himself and the prince out of here before the entire room could catch light.
And he almost made it out without incident too. When he was finally five feet from the closed portal, wondering why he couldn't hear people outside trying to get in (it was there stupid old king who'd just become a human torch after all), he tiredly found a way to his feet. Looking up to find the handle and push the doors open to their path of freedom, he found the little blue dressed ghost standing right in front of him and staring up at him with a thoughtful expression etched on her dead features. Duo didn't even have the mind sense left to scream…
Cool cerulean eyes flew over his face in a calculated way and right now he saw none of that innocent wariness and peaceful interest he'd found in Quatre's mirror image orbs. She may as well have been deciding which way was best to snap his neck for all Duo knew. Then one transparent little hand started to reach up, not for him but for the prince in his arms, and Duo decided ghost or not he'd had enough.
He jumped back instinctively and pulled Quatre's small body tightly against his chest, snarling at the creature angrily-- "Don't you DARE touch him! You can kill me if you want, light me on fire like he who wronged you, but you won't touch him!"
Even as it dawned dimly in his mind that he'd probably just killed then both, Elizabeth's chilly laughter erupted. The ghost smiled softly and Duo thought he saw that blind malice wash out of them as her eyes lowered to Quatre's sleeping face and then back up to his. She set her arm back down and spoke softly, and though that voice still made Duo's skin crawl it wasn't as bad as the message she'd set upon the king. "I shall harm neither of you. I chose you, didn't I? And to destroy you now would undo anything I've tried to accomplish. I'd never hurt him… At least I'd never try too, but sometimes it seems I am forgetting just what things used to mean to me…"
"You forget? You mean that other world and the things there, they-"
Elizabeth cut him off with a quick head shake, one that sent curls that Duo knew weren't really there tumbling around her face. "It's best not to mention them, little prophet." She laughed again, this time at that title as if enjoying some private joke, then continued-- "I should go before I can't control that again though… You have done what I hoped you would since I first watched you enter this tomb, and as much as I can, I give you my blessings now. My child is free, and he is in good, if not somewhat clumsy, hands. Take care of him and keep him close to you, and remember that I watch."
And before Duo could even question her why she picked him, and how she was involved-- Oh, he had his ideas though. Those glimpses of what the prince could be that had drawn his interests, and the help he'd gotten along the way-- she was fading away like nothing more then fog as the sun rose. First she lightened and Duo could clearly see the door behind her, and then it seemed she just drifted apart. At the same instance he realized she was completely gone he also noticed he could no longer hear the King's screams behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know that Elizabeth had come and taken her husband back with her. The king was dead and the only thing he'd have seen on that throne was a pile of still burning limbs that vaguely resembled a man. … And not a very good one at that.
Taking just a second to gather himself, Duo closed his eyes and started forward again, stopping to shift Quatre and reach one hand out in order to open the door. When he stepped through he wasn't surprised not to see the hordes of armed guards that had escorted him there, more likely then not the Queen's arrival had sent them running like mice, but he was surprised to see Wufei picking his uncertainly on the very far end of the main hall and looking a bit shaken. He was currently nudging at one discarded shield with a shoe and looked puzzled, and when Duo quietly called his name with head jerked up like it was on springs.
"Duo! You're all right! … And you have the prince." Wufei's black doe eyes moved from his face to rove over the limp form in the prophet's arms. "Is he hurt?"
He shook his head and started tiredly making his way to the last of the present guards, relieved just to know something hadn't happened to them. If Wufei was here looking for him, then Heero was undoubtedly safe already. "He's just unconscious. We… We ran into a little trouble and he fainted."
A snort. "A little trouble? Heero and I decided to get some horses after all and were waited outside the gate for you. We've given up on this heap of stones and decided to assist you as far as we could on our own way to a new life… We saw the guards and the maids and other staff come running out of the castle like ants and grabbed one to question. You got caught." It sounded like an accusation and right now Duo didn't have the strength to argue it.
"Yeah, we were caught. But we're free now and no one's going to get in our way. Still got those horses out there?" Duo winced as something behind him broke with a splintery crash, probably whatever it was was on fire and couldn't stand the strain any more. But Wufei's attention darted that way keenly and he gasped.
"Duo! That room's on fire!!"
"Keen man you are, my good ol' buddy. Trust me, leave it to burn and lets you and I get the hell out of here, what do you say? And the darling prince of course."
The black eyes didn't leave the fire for a few seconds, then Wufei just nodded and moved to walk back through the front door. He glanced over his shoulder right before they stepped through the door. "you look tired… Do you want me to take him for a bit?"
Duo just shook his head and held the blonde a little tighter. "No. He doesn't weigh much and even if he did, I think I could carry him for a thousand miles and never feel tired enough to want to put him down."
He just got an eye roll in return as Wufei mentally ranted about the foolishness of young love and promises too soon made. But the exotic guard lead the way on without offering again. They slipped out into the night, and Duo looked around in amazement that it could still be dark when it felt like he'd spent an eternity inside that room. Pacing impatiently in the gate as promised was Heero, the reigns of two horses hanging from his hands and the beautiful black beasts themselves standing only a few feet away and looking bored.
At the sight of his lover Heero's foots stopped and he wanted for them to approach in silence, though that broke as soon as they were within five feet. "What's wrong with him?"
Wufei gave Heero a surprisingly fond smile and reached for one of the set of reigns. "Nothing. Passed out, he'll be fine… Duo did a good enough job." he turned and offered the leads to the horse over to Duo. "This one's yours. Two was the safest amount we could get, and besides I figured you'd be wanting to ride with the prince… You will have to hand him to me before you get on though, but he'll be okay."
The prophet found that to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done, handing that thin waifish blonde to the guard. He took a second to stretch himself out, eyes never leaving Quatre's sleeping face as Wufei carefully held him and as Quatre's slumbering form held the quiet again kitten, then flipped himself onto the horse with quite a bit of effort. He balanced on the saddle and took a little bit to get used to it, then looked down to see Heero carefully strapping a bag to the horses side. It was of course the backpack that had been out of place near the green house. They'd gone back to retrieve it and wanted to be damned sure he didn't forget it now.
When Heero was finished and satisfied with the straps, he nodded to Wufei then moved to get onto his own horse, petting the creature's mane and watching the black haired youth approach Duo's mount. He glanced down at the boy's face thoughtfully before going about very carefully hefting Quatre up to the braided male, making for certain Duo had a good grip on him before finally being willing to back away. "He has a good soul… And so do you. I think you two will be happy together."
Violet eyes blinked at him in surprise, then Duo's tired face broke into a smile. "I think so too. I hope so anyway… At the very least, he'll be happy if it kills me."
Wufei raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "He looks like he's going to be the curious sort when he finally opens up, so it just might."
Laughing, Duo nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised. So you guys will follow me?"
"As far as we travel in the same direction, then we will part and send our best wishes with you and he, and only hope to hear from you eventually."
"I'll keep in contact, I promise. Without you two, I wouldn't have gotten this far."
Wufei snorted, "At least we agree on something."
Instead of being insulted, the brunette laughed at the comment and turned to start leading his horse through the castle gates and towards the town. Quatre was balance carefully on the saddle and against his chest, and the steady pulse of warmth from his breath against Duo's throat was a comfort. He heard Wufei jogged to his horse and heard Heero help him up, then they were riding beside him and looking like every pair of friends riding into the sunset of every faerie tale. Only the observant would notice the way Wufei's arms around Heero were just a little comfortable, and the way Heero had a look of contentment in his eyes to match no other.
Their ride together ended far to soon for Duo's liking. They reached the edge of the wintry forest and when he announced he planned to ride north through it and eventually head to the beaches of the turquoise seas, they sadly told him they were heading east towards Wufei's homelands to start anew there. It felt too soon and too final to the exhausted prophet, but he kept a straight face as he said his good-byes and watched them ride away with promises to write or visit once both parties had settled into a steady schedule. He waited there on his horse with the prince in his arms until they were no more then a speck on the other side of the peaceful and still sleeping town, then he waited a while more until they were nothing at all…
Ten minutes later, Duo sighed heavily and instinctively erased some of his sorrows by gently nuzzling the prince's hair, closing his eyes and reveling in the silken softness as he tried to think. Considering the day he'd had, it was a hard task. But at last the man who'd ridden into this kingdom as a hopeful shadow looking for no more then some gold lightly kicked the flanks of the black horse and started through the leafless and reaching branches of the forest towards whatever life might be waiting just beyond.