Ever wonder what your parents will leave you? It's sad to think that way, but some people do have to think that way. (Sniffle) CHAPTER EIGHT: WINNER LANDS.

Shout outs!! I know I have at least one faithful reviewer!! Thanks Fairren!!

Fairren: Sorry that one was too short. This one's a bit longer. That's the way I pronounce Quatre too, only without the "u". The way I say it is Katch-ra. (The "ch" is really fast so only when I slow it down do I hear it. (Okay, I need to stop thinking about linguistics)

Still for Fairren!!: Okay, about the next fic. I'm not even sure I really want to post it. It's way, way, way (maybe too many "way"s) OOC. But there are some parts I do like. But it set nearly a millennium after this story, and it's set north of the Deserts that are to the north of Perdition and Loquacity. Grist is a long strip of land bordered on the south by the mountains of the Mitselo, vicious winged folk that live high in their domain. The rest is sea, and as Britain is to Europe in the naval department in the 1800's, so is Grist to the Continent. The only problem is, pirates have been raiding their shores. The story starts with the loss of the Northern Desert Lord, who was only three when he was kidnapped, never to be seen by his people again. Fifteen years later, a lord of an area of Grist near the Southern Mountains dies, and his son (who had also been kidnapped at five, or so the stories go) shows up and takes over. He brings a woman he claims is his wife. Also, a new king takes over in the Pirates, claiming the servants and spies of the original king. To boot, an innocent ship is taken by this new king, and the pirate threat is bigger than before. Three years pass, and Grist manages to capture the sibling to the pirate king and decide to bring her to the place they call Prison Island. Not a lot needed to know about that place, only that it exists. A thief is captured near the mountains; he has obvious Desert Trader heritage, and then the young lord of the mountains joins the ship where a young lieutenant is getting started on his career on the Prisoner ship. Mix it all together, and that is one very long summary. Enough of an idea?? (My fingers hurt . . . --;;)

I found that this (""") works to separate stuff, so that's what I'm doing now on. Quickedit can't hate that!!

I own a total of five DVD movies, three anime, one manga, and a huge amount of books and paraphernalia. I would not hide it if I owned Gundam Wing. I do not own it. Got it?

"""

I'll tell you how the sun rose: one ray at a time. -Emily Dickinson

"""

Last time:

"""

Quatre struggled weakly, but it was ended by a strong blow to his head. He curled up against the wall, trying to get a hold of his body. It was impossible; his mind was too frantic to control anything. A kick came to his back as a mental blow came. He cried out one last time before he let his mind loose of its constraints and gave his body up for lost.

"""

The mental pain hit his mind suddenly, yet he was not thrown as before. Maybe that was because he had been in a padded area, cushions all around him. Fear filled his mind, and panic, but he easily pushed it aside.

"Helen!" he cried suddenly, getting to his feet. "Call Helen!" His boy disappeared instantly and Duo slipped down the link creating the panic, holding a part of him back in his mind to ground him.

Never before had he seen the mind in such a panic. When his mind had been blasted apart, the boy had some calm to him. This time, his mind was falling apart, and his body was failing quickly. The mental pain and panic was causing his heartbeat to become irregular and his breaths to come shorter and shallower. Duo tried to send a feeling of calm to the boy, but it had no effect. Panic was taking over quickly.

He found the source of the mental pain quickly. A link was leaking red power, the crimson of blood that mixed in his mind, starting to fill it with pain. Duo knew he could not break the link. Not now. He had his mind only half in his body.

A questioning thought appeared in his own mind. He sent a relieved thought to Helen and quickly used her as a grounder and threw his entire being down the link. With a sharp slap, he broke it and the red power fled, like smoke in a wind. He tried to surround the mind with his calm, yet panic was still there. Panic for his body. Panic for the red power. Duo searched the mind wildly, and found another link. This one leaked the red power as well, yet not as much. He reached his willpower to break it, but there was a slap of rage from the boy's mind. Even panicked, he knew what he wanted. Duo sat for a moment, regaining his senses before the mind settled him straight.

He could not save the boy without getting rid of the link. The boy did not want the link to be broken. He would need to get down that link. That meant letting go of it all. Duo knew the danger of it. The danger of letting his mind out of his body without a grounder. He might not ever get back.

He sent an apologetic feeling to Helen and one of reassurance. He got only a confused reply. Duo let go of his grounder and found himself totally in the boy's mind. He felt Helen grasping around desperately, yet he knew she would find nothing. He prayed she would keep his body alive until he returned.

He wasted no time to throw himself down the link, using the boy as a grounder, and found a darkened mind, walls keeping him from seeing most of it. The red power was breaking it, and he could see pain in some parts of his life, his past. The mind sent a hate-filled feeling at him before it cast some light around itself.

There. The link to the red power was in the back of the mind. He sent it a sharp jab and the power disappeared like a wave on the sand, retreating with roar, but did not come back. There was a feeling of gratitude and Duo returned to the boy. (1)

He was calmer now, but too weak to do anything to protect his body.

Duo quickly pulled his mind in front of the boy and opened his eyes. The men who were attacking him were not using just fists, and he hated it with all in him. Quatre was in Perdition and did not find safety.

Though Quatre was powerful, he could not use all his power. He had not been trained sufficiently. Duo knew how. He called it to his summon and the power healed the battered body in a heartbeat by pure power. Filling the fist with a ball of power, he attacked the nearest body and a man flew backward, his body impacting against the wall of the alley with a sickening crack.

Duo stood the body on its feet and glared at the remaining men. To his side, he could see the companion, Wufei, getting to his feet, his sword drawn to fight again. "Quatre? Your eyes."

Duo let the body smile. "I am not Quatre. Quatre knew how to use a little less than half of his power. I know how to use it all." The thugs stared at him in shock and then started to back up.

"Your eyes!" one man shouted. "You're the enchanter!" Duo smirked and stepped forward.

"Yes. Did you hear about how I destroyed the treason that started? I killed all but one. Without much trouble at all." The thugs started to walk backward. "Get out of here, and if you touch this boy or his companion again, I will kill you both."

They were gone quickly. Duo turned the body to see Wufei, his body strained and tired, but elated. "You saved his life. Our lives."

Duo pictured the smile of the Winner family and let the body show it. Wufei gasped and looked away. "Don't do that," he snapped. "He looks exactly like her."

Duo was about to ask, but he felt a persistent tug at his mind and laughingly gave the body to Quatre. Quatre came out, elation obvious on his stance. "He saved us, Wufei! I knew we could trust him!" Wufei smiled and sheathed his dirty sword. Suddenly, Duo found the boy's face implanted in Wufei's chest, and he knew that if he had had a body, he would have blushed.

'I need to get back to my body.'

'I can help you.'

Quatre surrounded him as Duo had done not long before. What he grounded himself on, Duo did not know, but without a single shake, he was suddenly back in his own body. Duo took in a deep breath that his body had not had for a while. His heart started, and Duo felt a wave of relief. He had not been gone for too long.

His eyes opened, and he found Helen crying over his body. "Um, Helen?"

The older woman screamed and jumped back. "DUO MAXWELL! I will kill you!" she yelled, tears running down her face. "Don't ever do that to me again!" Duo felt guilt hit him and he sat up and gathered her shaking body to his chest. "I thought you had killed yourself! Why would you just drop it all?"

Duo rubbed her back encouragingly. "I was helping someone. That boy's almost here. I tried to warn you; I'm sorry." Helen's sobs quieted and she just sat in his arms. He leaned her back and wiped her eyes dry. "I doubt that once he gets here that I'll need to do that any more."

There was shouting in the hall and then his door was thrown open. Sally burst in, her eyes wide in horror. She took in the scene and then breathed before she began to laugh. "That's the third time Maxwell," she muttered. "The third time you nearly killed yourself."

"He gave me each and every one of these gray hairs," Helen snapped, fingering a graying lock of blond hair. "If I survive to old age, it'll be a miracle."

Duo gave her a wily grin. "Oh, you aren't there yet?" She slapped his arm and laughter burst out in the room where tears had been shed so much earlier.

"""

Quatre was feeling more anxious as time went on, and he and Wufei found themselves just before the gate. And yet, he found more power in him than ever before. Wufei had mentioned twice that he looked like he was glowing. He guessed it was the power that Duo had called upon, breaking a dam in his mind, opening a hole in the entire wall that hid his total power.

There were a few guards at the walls, and they saw him instantly. They shouted and he found his power rising in answer as if to a challenge. Wufei drew his sword to defend them if necessary.

It was. At least a score of guards came rushing at them and Wufei soon found himself hard pressed to defend them both. That was okay. Quatre could block their attacks with his hands as well as Wufei blocked with his swords. More than several guards had to go run to get their weapons again.

"Stop!"

Quatre let the voice take his attention, and he knew right away the voice that he had heard in his mind for so little time. A blade connected with his arm and he cried out, falling back. Several guards jumped at him, but a violet wall shielded him from them. The guards stopped then, in shock. A wall was surrounding Wufei as well, yet he attacked it just as fiercely as the guards outside it.

"Just stop Wufei."

Wufei did stop to hear his name spoken by a man he did not know. The enchanter nearly floated down the steps, his bulky robes hiding his feet. Duo did not stop when he reached the protective wall he had put up around Quatre. He walked right through it. His hands touched the wounded arm before he took Quatre's chin and lifted it, looking straight at his eyes for the first time.

"You look so much like them both."

Quatre's eyes widened in shock and the violet wall fell. "You- you know my parents?"

"Knew. There is much to tell you."

"Duo."

The guards instantly pointed at Duo as the king descended, not as gracefully, yet every bit as regally. "Why do you prevent my guards from doing what they were trained to do?"

"Because they attacked your most important ally at this point." Surprise filled the entire courtyard. "My King Darlian, this is Quatre Raberba Winner, heir to the Lands and Titles of his father and mother." Terror and wonder filled Quatre's face as he looked around in surprise. "He has run from his former king to offer his services and beg for your mercy."

The king looked at Quatre, who weakly nodded, one hand still on his bleeding arm. He cast his eyes over the boy and shook his head. "He looks just like her."

"I know. I think I can understand why Loquacity King would not tell him his heritage. How much easier it is make a follower out of a peasant than a lord."

It is well known that the faint that Quatre pulled at that point came not from loss of blood, but from shock. After all, it is not every day that a peasant finds he is the son of his lord.

"""

Heero slunk into the new enchanter's room, hoping he was not asleep. He was lucky. Blue eyes were watching the stars out of his window, him reclined in the bed. A bandage was prominently displayed around his arm where a guard had done his job.

Heero normally did not slink around strange people's rooms, but he had a job to do as well, yet he doubted his would be as dirty as the guard's job. The shadow slid through the darkness, silent as his race name.

The enchanter sat up suddenly, and Heero stood still. The boy looked around the room, his eyes wide and, Heero winced, glowing. "I can see you," the boy whispered, and Heero only watched him. "Come into the light."

"I do not care to."

"What are you here for, then?" the enchanter asked, moving into a more comfortable position on his bed, the light behind his eyes dimming.

"I have come to find your loyalty."

"If I am loyal to your king, I will not die, is that it?"

"You are perceptive for a child."

"I'm fifteen."

"Child."

The enchanter scowled. "Come into the light, or I will make a light."

The shadow shrugged and pulled himself into the light, making his unsheathed dagger obvious. The boy glanced at it, but did not linger on it. "Are you going to ask for my loyalty?"

"Yes."

"Will you ask, then?" the boy murmured, pulling his knees to his chest. "I'm finally getting tired, and I doubt you would appreciate me going to sleep on you."

"Are you loyal to Darlian?"

The boy thought silently, his eyes shaded by his bangs. "What is loyalty?"

"Following what the king commands, no matter what the cost. Not questioning his decisions."

The enchanter lifted his eyes. "But what about the king? Does he not have a part of why a person is loyal to him?"

The shadow was confused, but showed none of it on his face. "Maybe. He needs to give a person reason to be loyal."

"In that sense, then, no," the enchanter said plainly. "I am not loyal to Darlian. But!" He stiffened, holding out an arm to protect himself from the shadow's thrust, a dirty job, but what he was commanded. "In that sense, I have broken all ties to Treize. I have no loyalty to any land as of now."

The shadow was silent, before lowering his blade. "You wish for a reason from the king to be loyal to him."

"I cannot stand to have my trust broken again."

"You are intelligent for being raised on the streets." The boy winced, but smiled afterward.

"A mute can never speak, and only listens. In that way, he learns a lot," the enchanter murmured quietly. "You have your answer. Excuse me, but I feel sleep calling me." The boy slid under the covers of his bed.

Slowly, the shadow stepped back, fading into the Shadows to get back to the room he shared with Odin. This child was interesting to say the least. The Princesses had given him much knowledge. Heero sheathed his knife and started toward his patrol, intent on making sure others who had loyalty did not attempt harm to his king. That was his job. Whether he did it out of loyalty or not, he did not know, but he did it.

Maybe he could argue that idea later. Heero smirked in his mind, excited. This was a sparring match he had not participated in for a long while.

"""

"Here we are, Quatre," Duo called pleasantly from the lead horse. Quatre gripped the foreign guide ropes for the horse he rode and weakly tightened his grip on the horse's girth. The only reaction was a twitch of an ear. Quatre groaned and tried again. This time, the horse looked at him as if confused.

"Hup, there," a voice called and the horse jumped, and trotted up to catch up with Duo. Quatre bounced like a bag of flour on the horse and quickly reined it in, the horse flicking its ears confusedly. Duo chuckled at his fearful face and shook his head.

"I guess he was right."

"Of course I was," Wufei grumbled, riding up to Quatre's side. "He's never ridden before in his life. Why you put him on a horse that needs definite signals I will never know." Wufei gently soothed the horse and turned a glare to Duo.

"Just cause you saved our lives does not mean I trust you," Wufei snapped. Duo shrugged, smiling.

"That's fine with me. I just need to trust you. Are you nervous, Quatre?"

Quatre weakly smiled. "Sort of."

"What are you talking about?" Wufei muttered. "You're terrified."

Quatre looked at the dusky mane of the horse he rode. "I've never seen them before, Wufei. I'm scared. What if they don't like me?"

"Don't you worry about it at all," Duo said comfortingly. "I will tell you this right now, I've never seen a group of people so loving as these young women."

"Some not as young as they used to be," a guard mumbled under his breath before a sharp glare from three powerful people was shot at him. He fell silent in an instant after continuing with one last smart comment. "What? It's true. Twenty-nine might be too many, don't you think?"

"Twenty-nine, all an attempt to find him," Wufei murmured.

"May I ask who calls?"

A young boy stood calmly at a gate, and Quatre was visibly shocked. "It's so huge!" The walls were covered with vines, yet were carefully groomed to look beautiful. The gate itself was delicately carved from wood, looking like a living vine. Beyond the gate lay an open area, grassy and clean-cut. At the edge of the field stood a huge house, looking like it was carved out of a huge tree itself. "It's beautiful!"

"Tell the Lady Iria that it is the enchanter, sent by His Kingship, to introduce a special someone to her," Duo replied calmly, only smiling at Quatre's wide-eyed shock. The boy opened the gate and left it open, letting them close it themselves. The boy then disappeared, running like the wind for the front door to announce them.

"Welcome, Quatre, to the Winner ancestral land. This is what you are heir to."

Wufei's eyebrows raised at this statement. "Wow."

"That's right."

It took quite a while to cover the ground before the house, and Quatre found his fear rising as he drew closer. Before long, he found his horse's mane so much more interesting than the house as the house grew larger.

He heard Duo and a woman talking, yet he did not register much of it. He did not even realize that he was being spoken to until Duo entered his mind gently. 'Look up, Quatre, and see your older sister, Iria.'

Quatre obeyed slowly, his blue eyes meeting eyes that were wide with shock, and then disbelief, and then, surprisingly, love. "Quatre! Oh, Quatre! Our little brother has come home!" Quatre gratefully slid off the horse and did not hesitate to run into her arms. There was something in her voice, and in her eyes, that he could only respond to. Though he had never seen her before, he knew she was his sibling. His flesh and blood. His sister. His remaining family.

He soon found himself in her embrace, but only to be passed to another, who was another sibling just by feeling an aura he did not notice. In moments, he was surrounded by twenty-nine women, raging in age from sixteen to forty, all hugging him and crying. Somehow Wufei got pulled into the mix, women exclaiming about saving him and being there for him. Quatre could see this greatly embarrassed him, yet he did nothing to save Wufei.

Duo watched it all, definitely touched as he watched tears shed for a lost mother, lost sibling, and lost father, all pour out as they wept another time, for a found brother. There was a strong throb and he stared at Quatre carefully. There was a glow around him, growing stronger as he danced in the love his sisters showed him.

Interesting. The presence of his own flesh and blood intensified his power. So did the pain of learning of a death of a family member. Duo winced as he remembered the conversation about his father's death. Quatre had taken it rather quietly, but Duo could see the mounting power, growing and pulsing like the sea on the beach. Ever throbbing, ever withdrawing, ever moving. Sometimes the tide came in, and it seemed to be rising still. The Dragon Princesses had been generous. Too generous.

The Dragon Princesses were legendary beings from which every enchanter was given power. Yet, it was possible they had been real, and now their power resided in a mountain to the far north, the power in the mountain's stones flowing like a sea within those stones.

Would the tide ever go out? And when it did, how much power would it take with it? Or would it continue to grow until it overwhelmed him? Was it possible for it to continue coming in? Duo sighed as these questions raced about his mind. There was no way to answer that. It would mean experimentation, which meant tearing apart the reunited family. Surely they would understand. Surely they would let him leave, let him learn, let him be what he was meant to be.

A Binder. The most powerful kind of enchanter. Duo had seen his mind and the power within it when he had first taken Quatre's body, and it had enthralled him. Enchanted. Drew him like a beggar to market. Like a beggar in the market, he might be able to steal a smidgen of what was there, yet he knew it would do him no good.

There was a wall. That too he had seen, a wall cutting Quatre's power in half. Half of it was easily accessible to him, yet the other half was buried away. It was a strong wall, and only once had he ever been able to break that wall: when Quatre was so weak the wall had no defenses. The whole could be felt by sensitive enchanters, but only half could be used. Yet even then the half was a huge amount.

The only way to break the wall was to find what built it. Duo had touched it once, when the boy slept, and he had only felt fragments of memory, pain and fear. It was probably from a childhood experience. Yet what?

"""

(1) Just so that you know, yes, Wufei had some of the mental torture during this part. That is what is leaking the power out. That's why Quatre's so mad. I know, I didn't explain it well, but that's the best I can do without making it totally obvious. A mark of a good writer is being able to describe and not completely state everything out flat. (Or at least that's what I tell myself.)

My hand just stopped working. Darn swimming. It just started, and I'm horribly out of shape!!!

Teaser:

"""

A feeling of understanding touched Duo's mind and then Quatre's movements slowed again. The power was draining quicker and then, suddenly, it was gone. Duo jumped up, fear in every muscle in his body, until he felt the throb.

"""

SIGH. NO ONE REVIEWS EXCEPT FOR FAIRREN!! Pout I know I had more people reading than just Fairren.

I am done for now. Just for now. I will come back in a week.

'''Kay Kylo