Warnings: Yaoi. Song is "Easier to Run" by Linkin' Park.
Shinigami Chapter 11: Banished
Heero started to step around Shinigami to get to Duo, but was stopped by Shinigami's arm. He scowled at the god. Shinigami stared at him sadly. He cupped Heero's cheek in his hand for a moment and said slowly, "That's a pity..." Heero's eyes widened and he just vanished. Jemima yelped.
Shinigami looked solemnly at Duo who was still holding his head in his hands. "If he refuses to stay with me," he droned, "he will be without us both." He stalked closer to Duo and hauled him once again to his feet. Duo stared at him hard, still trying to clear his vision completely. "Are you quite satisfied?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and strode away. He passed Jemima and descended the stairs.
Before he reached the door, he was stopped by Duo's voice. "What did you do with him?" he asked, his voice wavering as though he were going to be sick.
"Even if I told you, you'd never be able to get him back." Shinigami continued towards the door again.
"STOP!" Duo shouted. Shinigami turned, anger burning in his eyes.
"What?" he shouted back.
"Tell me where Heero is!" the braided boy demanded. He ran around to the staircase and down to the ground floor with Shinigami. He stopped in front of him. "Tell me."
Shinigami sighed and rolled his eyes. "I sent him outside," he said. "But reaching him won't be nearly that simple. You would never succeed."
"Try me," Duo challenged. He noted Shinigami's lonely stare into the darkness of the library. His eyes showed despair under the angry surface.
"You will have to find him yourself," the Death God informed him quietly.
Duo nodded determinedly. "I will." He walked around Shinigami and out of the library for the first time in days. He raced down the hallway, calling for Quatre and Trowa. He found them in Quatre's room, talking quietly. They looked up at him in surprise as he appeared in their doorway. "I'm going to find Heero, no matter what." He then raced off down the hall toward the front door. He was out before they could blink.
He stumbled and coughed as he hurtled outside. The thick, tarry air seemed to stick in his throat and he choked. It took him a moment to get used to breathing like that before he started into the black hell.
Quatre and Trowa went to the front door and glanced around. A voice behind them made them jump.
It's easier to run / Replacing this pain with something numb / It's so much easier to go / Than face all this pain here all alone
"He's left, then?" Shinigami drawled. The pair stared at his forlorn and lonely expression as he said this. He nodded. "I thought so."
Something has been taken from deep inside of me / A secret I've kept locked away / No one could ever see / Wounds so deep they never show / They never go away / Like moving pictures in my head / For years and years they've played
"Why is he searching for Heero?" Quatre asked. "What did you do?"
If I could change I would / Take back the pain I would / Retrace every wrong move that I made I would / If I could stand up and take the blame I would / If I could take all my shame to the grave I would / If I could change I would / Take back the pain I would / Retrace every wrong move that I made I would / If I could stand up and take the blame I would / I would take all my shame to the grave
Shinigami sighed slowly. "Heero broke my spell. If he broke out of it when it was at its strongest point, he would be able to do it again. So he is basically refusing to stay with me. So I told Duo that neither of us could have him and sent him somewhere."
It's easier to run / Replacing this pain with something numb / It's so much easier to go / Than face all this pain here all alone
"'Somewhere'?" Quatre repeated. "Somewhere in the Fifth Level?" Shinigami nodded. "You selfish bastard!" he yelled. Shinigami looked up at him in surprise. Quatre didn't seem like one to speak that way. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, Shinigami! You know that wasn't right! You used to be a pretty decent guy - So what's this all about?" Trowa put a hand on Quatre's shoulder. He fumed silently.
Sometimes I remember / The darkness of my past / Bringing back these memories / I wish I didn't have / Sometimes I think of letting go / And never looking back / And never moving forward so / There'd never be a past
Trowa looked up. "He's right. You know that wasn't fair for Heero."
Shinigami's expression turned mournful. "Yes, I do. I know I'm a greedy, selfish bastard." He sighed. "And I do know that this was not fair for Heero. But I will not change what I did, nor can I." He shook his head and walked into the room leading into his throne room.
If I could change I would / Take back the pain I would / Retrace every wrong move that I made I would / If I could / Stand up and take the blame I would / If I could take all my shame into the grave I would / If I could change I would / Take back the pain I would / Retrace every wrong move that I made I would / If I could stand up and take the blame I would / I would take all my shame to the grave
Quatre and Trowa exchanged glances before following him. He was sitting in a large chair in front of the fireplace. He was unbraiding his hair. He stuck out his hand, palm up and flicked his hand upward. A fire flared up in the fireplace and filled the dark room with a comforting orange glow. Shinigami sighed and stared into the flames.
Just washing it aside / All of the helplessness inside / Pretending I don't feel misplaced / It's so much simpler than change
Quatre stepped forward. "What do you mean? You can't get him back?" he asked softly.
It's easier to run / Replacing this pain with something numb / It's so much easier to go / Than face all this pain here all alone / It's easier to run!
The despairing god shook his head. "No, and I regret ever doing it because Heero doesn't deserve what I gave him. I cannot get him back because he has obviously moved from the place where I sent him. I have already tried to get him back. It's no use." He sighed again.
If I could change I would / Take back the pain I would / Retrace every wrong move that I made / It's easier to go!
"Why can't you just locate him?" Quatre suggested.
Shinigami turned his dull eyes to Quatre. "If I could, I would have by now," he replied emotionlessly. "I can only locate things in my castle, not on the Fifth Level. And although I am the keeper here, I do not know where it is that Heero was sent."
If I could change I would / Take back the pain I would / Retrace every wrong move that I made I would / If I could / Stand up and take the blame I would / I would take all my shame / To the grave!
Quatre looked up at Trowa. "We should go after Duo."
Trowa immediately shook his head.
"Why not!" Quatre cried.
"We should send someone who knows more about the Fifth Level and where to search. Shinigami cannot since he does not know his Level very well, and we certainly can't because we are less experienced than he." Trowa motioned toward Shinigami. "We need to send someone who knows the land here and is not confined to a castle or the other duties of a Level Keeper."
Quatre nodded slowly. Both bowed their heads and thought about who matched Trowa's description. Trowa thought of these people first and smiled softly at Quatre, indicating that he had someone in mind. Soon the idea spread to Quatre and he nodded his approval.
xxx
Duo walked briskly through the dank darkness of the Fifth Level, keeping his thoughts as positive as was entirely possible at the moment. He stopped at the summit of a large hill and gazed around at the land. He saw nothing. As he had expected. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly before setting off again.
It wasn't long until Duo was scared out of his wits when a dark figure popped up out of nowhere and hovered before him. Duo backed up hastily and stared, wide-eyed as the figure drifted down to touch its feet to the ground and started walking toward him.
He stumbled backwards and tripped over a large rock, landing on his back. He stared up as the figure leaned over him saying, "Calm down, Duo - Geez..." The voice was female, and Duo didn't recognize it.
"Who are you?" he asked, scrambling back to his feet and watching the girl.
He heard her sigh. "I'm here to help you find Heero. My name is Hikaru and this is my partner-" Another person popped up out of nowhere and hovered for a moment before lowering to the ground as Hikaru had done. "-Death Sprite!"
A male voice protested, "Stop calling me that!"
Duo recognized that voice from somewhere, but he couldn't tell who the male who spoke was because of the darkness. Duo's aura was dull at the moment and didn't give off much light anyway. It helped him to see if he was going to trip over something that was three inches away, but that's about it.
"Do I know you?" Duo asked.
"You don't know me," Hikaru said. "But you know him." Duo saw her shadowy figure indicate to the male she was with.
"Don't you guys have auras like this? I can't even see your faces," Duo pointed out.
"Yes," replied the male. "But ours are black, so you wouldn't be able to see it anyway."
"They're black!" Duo thought that wasn't possible.
"Yeah," Hikaru replied. "But we can make them different colours - we just prefer black so we can blend into the background more." The boy grumbled something.
"Well? Are you going to change them so I can see who you are?" Duo asked.
"Sure!" Hikaru said, changing her black aura to a blood red one. Duo could now see her, though it was still dark. She had long, black hair with red streaks and narrow red eyes. They were the eyes of a mischievous imp. She grinned at him, revealing a pair of fangs. She was dressed in a black tank top with what looked like black jeans. On her feet were a plain pair of navy blue sneakers.
The boy sighed and also changed his aura to a dull gold color. Duo cried out in surprise. There, standing with his arms crossed in obvious irritation, was Chang Wufei. His lips were slightly pursed in an annoyed, childlike expression and he raised his black eyes to Duo. "Yeah, it's me - Get over it..." he grumbled. Duo noticed small changes in Wufei. For instance, his ears were pointed and Duo saw fangs in his mouth when he spoke.
Duo smiled slightly. "I didn't know you could change like that when you die..." he said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, well, let's go," Wufei muttered quickly. He turned and stalked off into the darkness.
Duo blinked at him. Hikaru smiled. "Yeah, he's right - We should go if we ever want to find Heero-san." She turned to follow Wufei. Duo hesitated before hurrying after them.
xxx
After walking for a surprisingly short time, the trio ended up at the edge of a dark pit. It seemed to stretch on for miles in circumference. The bottom was not visible, so they couldn't tell how deep it ran. Wufei looked at Duo boredly. "Well, come on," he said impatiently as he lowered himself into the hole. Hikaru didn't even bother holding onto the edge and go slowly as Wufei demonstrated; she just jumped in. Duo watched Hikaru disappear under the dark fog inside the hole. Wufei quirked an eyebrow at him. "Do you want to get Heero back or not?" he asked, his impatience growing.
Duo glared sharply at him. A startled look crossed Wufei's features. Duo was a bit touchy about this. He scowled and climbed into the hole after Wufei. He couldn't see anything outside his own dull aura. He heard shuffling to his left and peered hard through the black foggy air. "Wufei?"
"What?" He sounded irritated. In truth, he was stuck. He was attempting to find a ledge beneath him to step on.
"Sorry... I just wanted to know if that was you or Hikaru." Duo continued down the side of the pit and realized that it was a half-circle. It started curving to a more horizontal slant as he got further down. He heard rocks come loose and go tumbling down into the hole, getting louder every time they hit the ground until they stopped at the bottom.
Duo finally was able to walk on the ground and he peered closely into the darkness once again, trying to find his companions. He jumped when he heard something that sounded like a shrill bird call. Another one answered not far away. He realized that that noise must have been Hikaru and Wufei finding each other.
Wufei and Hikaru listened to each other's calls and met up again. Duo heard them chanting something and the fog lifted. Duo inhaled sharply on seeing something that looked like a small house in the middle of the pit that really wasn't very wide after all. It was a very dull yellowish color and it had only one floor. The broken windows were dark and the door stood ajar, hanging by the top hinge. There were shingles missing on the low roof and there were rather old fashion shutters missing their pairs and the paint on the house and the remaining shutters was chipped and peeling. The drain pipe that lined the roof and sides of the house was broken at points and sagged. It was so run down and depressing.
Wufei and Hikaru came up on either side of Duo. Wufei nodded towards the dark house. "There he is."