Heero POV
Haven surprised me. Most of the time while we flew toward the capitol there was a vast plane of ice, sometimes broken by forests. When we neared Haven all I could see was a vast forest. As we neared the capitol it kept getting warmer and warmer, huge steaming lakes popped up and all the snow disappeared.
"It's the lava pools," Duo told me when he saw me staring at the lakes. "Haven is right on a fault line, so it was lots of volcanic activity. The lava rises close enough to the surface to heat the ground and creates these lakes. That's why it's so different here than anywhere else."
"Don't you worry about eruptions?"
"Nah. There haven't been any eruptions in the last few thousand years. There's a layer of rock right above the plate that's thick enough to stop the lava from coming through, it can't find any way out. There haven't been any earthquakes either, since this plate is stuck between a couple other ones and can't move. It's the perfect place to live."
I didn't reply, just turned my attention back to the scenery. It wasn't hot, it was still a temperature that you'd need a sweater for, but it was no where near the arctic temperature I had assumed it would be. It was warm enough to grow trees; something I was grateful for, since I had feared I would miss the forests of Wing.
When the castle came into view, I thought it was a mountain. It was one solid, giant rock face. Had Duo not pointed to the jutting landing stip where we would set down I never would have noticed there was even a castle there. When you were really looking, you could see some windows and dark-colored doors, but nothing more. Even the landing pad just looked like a jutting rock.
"A bunch of times," Duo told me as we neared the castle, "Haven has been able to avoid being attacked simply because the enemies couldn't find her; flew right passed and never saw it."
Our landing on the strip was quick and simple, one moment we were flying, the next we were walking toward the door. I held my breath as Duo slowly turned the knob and opened the door. I hadn't acknowledged it before, but this was a big step. This was the first time I would really see my new home. My new home with Duo.
The room I saw behind the door was a bit anti-climactic. It was a simple stone room with many hooks on the walls for coats and hats and such. There were a few chairs made of dark wood, intricately carved and elegant but nothing... royal.
The room, and I assumed the rest of the castle, was a comfortable temperature, so I followed the others and removed my coat and the pair of gloves Sally had given me.
The door was suddenly opened and a stately man wearing a uniform appeared. The uniform was all a light gray, the same as many of the rocks outside and the color of the walls of the room. There were some blue frills from a tunic underneath peaking out at the cuffs and neck, it also had black boots. On the pocket was one red rose crossed with a sword, some kind of insignia.
"His highness, King Treize requests you appear in his private dining hall as soon as you have settled in," the man said, then bowed and left.
"Man," Duo sighed, "I bet Treize just sent that guy to piss me off; he knows how much I hate the servants that have a stick up their a..."
"Duo!" Quatre interrupted.
"...the ones that are snobby. Never anything but business out of them, some of these guys take their jobs way too seriously. You won't get like that," he said, slinging an arm over my shoulder, "will ya, Heero?"
I wondered what job he was talking about, it would be nice to know I was here for something more than pity, but Sally was moving us out the door before I could ask.
What I saw outside the door stunned me. There was a huge room, so high that I could barely see the ceiling, with twin stairs right in front of us. Instead of the gray stone everywhere else in the building the room was made of white marble with veins of pink, purple, and blue quartz mixed into it. On the ceiling you could just make out several pictures made of crystal of what looked to be the clouds, stars, and the milky way. The stairs were inlaid with gold and other crystals sparkled on the floors and walls. Beautiful draperies, pictures, and sculptures were wherever the eye could see.
I hadn't realized I had stopped until Duo called back to me.
"Hey, Heero, c'mon, the king's a waitin'!" he called over his shoulder and I hurried to follow him, all the while gaping at the beautiful sights around me.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Quatre asked as we walked down a smaller yet no less beautiful hall. I could only nod and go back to my gazing.
"You should have seen Duo the first time he came here, a short little thing with a long braid, dirty clothes, and an attitude. He nearly fell over when Treize brought him into formal hall."
That comforted me a bit, at least I wasn't the only one to be overwhelmed by the beauty of this place. It was a little intimidating to think Duo had grown up in a place like this. Though Duo had shown me a memory of growing up on the streets, so he might not be accustomed to such high class. Still, he was very young in that memory and Sally had said he was smaller when he came here...
I'd find out tonight.
We proceeded down the hall and through a set of intricately carved wooden doors. Inside was a comparatively small room, though it was still large enough to fit about twenty people. A long wooden table dominated the room, with over a dozen matching wooden chairs surrounding it. Like in the halls, there was a thick rug that covered most of the room, both making it seem warmer and more inviting and dampening the echos that would come from having an all stone room.
At the head of the table was a large man dressed in a dark gray. He had short brown air and a red rose in the pocket of his military style jacket. Though he wore no lavish jewels or decorations, he had an air of control and authority that let anyone who entered the room know he was in charge. Sitting in the next seat was a land, dressed in a uniform style outfit of light gray. She wore glasses that gave her a sophisticated air and had her hair twisted into two buns at the base of her neck, a style that I had never seen before.
Both the man and the woman rose, the man smiled and the woman merely nodded in acknowledgment of our arrival.
"Yo Treize, couldn't live without us, eh?" Duo teased and I had only a moment to be appalled at his behavior toward such an obviously important man before the king responded.
"Ah Duo, the same as ever. Still bringing home strays, I see."
"Only the cute ones."
The King sighed in mock-exasperation. "Duo Duo Duo. Must you always have you mind in the gutter? When will you learn to appreciate true beauty?"
"Hey!" Duo squawked indignantly, "I'll have you know I've been a perfect gentleman."
"I'm sure it's been the hardest month of your life. Ah, Sally, my dear, you're looking well."
"No help from these two. Between Duo and Heero's melodrama and Noin's near constant fear of infant mortality, I've been run ragged. I need a week to get over my little vacation."
"Yes, Noin did seem a little over concerned with Mei's health when she was here, but isn't that to be expected from a new mother?"
"Over concerned? She wouldn't let Mei near the window because she was afraid the pigeons would peck out her baby's eyes! Paranoid new mother is more like it."
"Ah, but Sally," Quatre chimed in, "Mei was so adorable."
"You only think that because you're the youngest child. If you had younger siblings you wouldn't be one to talk. Kids are murder at four AM."
"So what do you think of Haven so far?" Treize asked me. I pulled my attention away from Sally and Quatre, who had begun to bicker, and turned to the king.
"It is very beautiful here," I told him.
"Yes, it is when you first arrive, but it gets boring after a while. All the gray leaves people a little dreary, which is why we have so much artwork. If it weren't extremely bad camouflage I'd have everyone here dressed up in neo green or orange or something."
I tried to imagine that and the picture came out simply ghastly.
"I think that would... surprise a few of your visitors."
"I agree! Some of the ambassadors would likely faint at seeing my servant dressed up in gaudy colors like that. I should do it just to see them gawk!"
"Someone planning mischief without me?" Duo asked, coming over to the two of us as Une joined the other two in conversation.
"Just thinking of ways to give the snotty ambassadors heart attacks."
"I must tell you, Treize, some of your servants are absolutely pompous!" Duo said like it was the worst crime in the world.
"They've grown lazy without you around to torture them. Just the other day I saw a servant open the door to you room without checking for a bucket of... what was it last time? Jello?"
"The green kind."
"They've started pouring sugar into their coffee without checking again too."
"What? I can't believe they'd be so brazen!"
The conversation went on in this line of thought and, I must say, I was stunned. The King of Russia was planning pranks with my Duo?
"Sir," another commanding voice entreated upon my thoughts, "I believe we should discuss the mess we are in with the dragons," Lady Une said to Treize.
"Of course, Lady. Sally, why don't you take Heero and show him around the castle?" he asked as Sally moved toward the door. I could tell he just wanted me out of the room so the others could speak in private and it sent a pang of longing through me.
"Of course," Sally told him, "I actually had something I needed Heero for anyway."
"I hope you find this place to your liking, Heero,"Treize told me, "As long as you don't mind, I'll room you with Duo. Sally can lead you to it if you feel the need to rest."
And with that Sally led me out of the room, the door clicking behind us. I followed Sally instinctively, most of my mind still analyzing what had occurred in that room. It was odd to see someone of noble birth acting so... human. Seeing Duo so close to a king, it made me think about our relationship. Was I really good enough for Duo? Did I really deserve Duo's love? Ever since we met, I had been nothing but trouble.
"Heero," Sally called and I blinked to find myself in a small, carpet-less room. It looked like some kind of medical facility; there were two small beds on one wall and several shelves with bottles and other items on the other. There were a few chairs and small table in the room, as haphazardly scattered on the floor as the bottles were on the table.
"Sit over there," Sally instructed, pointing to a small wooden chair. I sat gingerly and watched as Sally pulled out a syringe. I kept my shudder inside and looked away from the thing as Sally stabbed my arm and drew blood. I did not have god memories of needles.
"Treize is a bit overwhelming when you first meet him, isn't he?" Sally asked as she did something with the blood she had just taken.
"Does he always act like that?" I asked. Sally glanced at me and grinned.
"You mean like a big kid? No, he can be very serious when he needs to be, the only people he acts that way around are his close friends, it's very rare that someone outside our group would see that side of him."
"But he let me see it."
"You're part of the group."
"What?"
"What what?"
"What do you mean, I'm a part of the group? Treize doesn't even know me."
"So? He knows Duo, and Duo likes you, so he accepts you. Besides, Duo has sent him a couple messages telling him about you."
"So why wouldn't he let me stay during the meeting?"
"Heero, trusting you with himself is a big enough step as it is, but he really wouldn't be a good leader if he trusted you with the secrets of his country the first time he met you. Give it time."
"Oh."
"Yes, oh. You should think a little more before you jump to the conclusion that people don't like you."
There was a long pause while I digested her words, only the sounds of Sally's movements could be heard.
"What are you doing?" I finally asked.
"Hmm? Oh, this? Come here and see," she told me. I rose and moved beside her. She had the syringe in one hand and several vials of different colored liquids in front of her.
"You see, if I drop some of your blood in this vial," she demonstrated, the vial turned from green to blue, "It turns blue. Had there been any of the Hell drug in your system, it would have turned red."
"Why do you need so much blood?"
"Oh, I don't, I just like to torture you. Dummy! Why do you think? I want to be thorough. You never know what that drug might have been laced with, I have to check for a lot of different harmful substances."
I nodded and went back to my chair. Sally continued with her work for a few minutes, then set her things down and turned to me.
"Well, there's really not much more I can do right now. How about that tour?" she asked. I nodded and followed her out of the room.
The rest of the castle was just as amazing as the first part. There were huge banquet halls and a ball room that could have fit most of Wing inside. The gardens were especially beautiful, kept in the hottest part of the castle they were able to sustain all kinds of exotic flowers. There was even an indoor water fall and lake from an underground river. Everywhere you looked there was beautiful art or sparkling gems. It was a little overwhelming.
I was relieved when Sally turned the corner into a smaller hall with lots of doors and asked if I'd like to see my new room. Though I was a little nervous about it, I nodded. I really didn't want to be out in all this splendor anymore, it was making me feel out of place.
Duo's room had a thick oak door with a scythe and a rose crossed on it. Sally pointed out that Quatre's room, with a snake and a rose on the door, was right across the hall, her room, with a piece of clothe and a rose on the door, was right next to Quatre's, and Treize's room, with the customary sword and rose, was right next to Duo's. There was also another room with a special door insignia, a tiara and a rose, on the other side of Sally's. She pointed this out saying, "That's Relena's room. She visits here often, since Zechs is her unofficial brother, but you probably won't see her much now that he's gone. Lady Une prefers to sleep near her troops, which is why you don't see her crest. She has a crossbow and a rose, just in case you ever see that sign. Well, you look tired. Go get some sleep, I'm sure Duo will be up soon."
Then she left me standing there, staring at the door. I gave a small sigh and opened the door.
I was amazed to find that this room really wasn't all that different from our room back at Wing. The bed was the same style, only it was a bit larger and there were more intricate carvings. The bed had black blankets and sheets, instead of purple. On the floor was a huge carpet that stretched across almost the whole room. It was rather dark, showing mainly the night sky, but across the sky stretched a blue dragon, which, unlike the Chinese reds, yellows, and browns, were fairly common in cold areas like this.
The furniture in the room was different from the furniture at Wing. There was still a tall bookshelf, a table with four chairs, and a few dressers. However, there was also an odd-shaped table that I soon concluded was some kind of game played with small stone balls and sticks.
One the walls hung more draperies, most of them being red, blue, green, or purple to keep the room from looking dreary. There was a picture of a forest with wolves playing in the background, a beautiful rendition of a waterfall, and a rather unnerving picture of a volcano erupting seeing how we were sitting on a center of volcanic activity.
I was almost startled when fatigue washed over me, but I guess I should have been expecting it, since I hadn't slept in a real bed for two days and the trip had been rather taxing. The few possessions I brought with me had somehow found their way to this room, since I had left them in the small entrance room when we arrived, and I spared no time finding a small drawer to put them away in. Once that was finished I curled up on the bed, intending to wait for Duo, but fell asleep almost immediately.
I awoke to someone breathing in my ear, which is not a particularly pleasant sensation. I sat up to find that, somehow, I had lost my shoes, socks, and shirt, and had gained a blanket and a slightly snoring Duo. I smiled to myself, I was either losing my touch or trusted Duo enough to let him do just about anything to me in my sleep. I was kind of leaning toward the latter.
Gently, I ran my hand along Duo's braid, remembering the feel of his unbraided hair on my skin that first night. So much had changed in such a short amount of time, it was almost scary to think of how much my world had changed since the arrival of Duo, and what it would have been like had he never arrived.
Slowly, Duo stirred, his eyes opening and focusing on my face. I had become accustomed to his smiles whenever one of us woke up, and I was not disappointed this time.
"Morning," he said groggily, stretching. He took a moment to grab a small clock from the bedside table, looked at it, and amended, "Good afternoon, I guess. Man, we completely slept through lunch and dinner's not for another hour. Guess I'll just have to live on that breakfast we had. Oh well, it's not like I'm going to starve or anything."
"So," he said, turning to me, "Ever played pool?"
And so the next half an hour was spent with Duo teaching me the rules of a game called pool. It was pretty simple; you hit small, heavy balls with wooden sticks into a pocket of the table. The next half hour after that was spent consoling a sulking Duo, who ranted and raved about the "injustice of hitting every ball into the pocket on the first try."
Dinner, thankfully, was not served in the formal dinning hall. I soon learned that most of the "formal" halls were only for show, special occasions, and when important guests arrived. Food was usually served in an almost military style hall located next to the kitchen. There must have been a few hundred people in the hall, and about thirty waiters, but Haven seemed well equipt to handle them. It wasn't like the halls at Wing, where there was one for the nobles and one for the peasants. Just about everyone ate in the same hall here, though the higher ups seemed to all sit at one table.
Duo, Quatre, Sally, Une, and even Treize all gathered at one table in the dinning hall for dinner. There was also a man there that I didn't recognize. I he was sitting down, I noticed he was tall, a peculiar trait since he seemed to be Chinese in nature. He had the rose, which I was coming to realize represented Treize's empire, and what looked to be a fireball beside it on the back of his shirt.
Treize was still wearing the same outfit he had on earlier. I was surprised that he would appear before his subjects in such plain attire and also that he wouldn't even have a special chair or table, but I was starting to think that Haven was full of surprises. Dinner wasn't quiet or reserved, like Wing, and only once or twice did I feel someone looking at me and only for a second or two. Everyone seemed to gather with a group of friends and people could be heard laughing and joking all over the hall.
The conversation at our table instantly turned to me, since I was, as Duo so eloquently put it, "the new guy."
"So Heero," Treize asked, "What was it like where you came from? What are some of your hobbies, things you like to do?"
"Cleaning," Duo interjected, then covered his mouth like he couldn't believe what he just said. I gave him a glare and Treize raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"Umm, what I mean is... Heero here is... very... clean, " Duo finished lamely, looking for all the world like he was trying to get his foot out of his mouth.
"I was not needed for my original purpose so I did odd jobs in Wing. Most of which had me cleaning something," I said, bailing Duo out.
"Yeah," Duo said, with a relieved tone, then in a lower voice he said to me, "You know, you could have bailed me out sooner."
"I wanted to watch you squirm," I told him, a smirk on my face. Duo gaped for a moment, then decided to look affronted.
"So... do you intend to continue that career here in Haven?" asked Une. Duo broke in before I could answer.
"Actually, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to train him to be on the Night Force with me. If that's alright with you, Heero."
"What is the Night Force?"
"It's a special police force that I run..."
"Duo, you're the only one on the Night Force," Sally interrupted.
"Would you like to explain Sally?" Duo asked, then continued the moment Sally opened her mouth. "The Night Force was formed by Treize to hunt down thieves and lesser criminals. Before Treize came to power, there had been famine and war for years. Most of the land was owned by barons and other nobles, who didn't or wouldn't farm it. The peasants were starving and had no land. The cities turned into ghost towns, where half the population was rich and half was dying. The kids would migrate to the poor side of town, steal from the rich side, then hide out in old buildings or sewer pipes back in the poor part. Most of them were young orphans from war or famine, and had to steal to survive. In such tough times, the laws were changed so that any small crime was punishable by death. Hundreds of people were put to death for trying to get food to stay alive. When Treize finally took over, he tool back control of all the land and reappointed people to control them, then set up people to keep an eye on those people, and so on so that he could make sure everything was running smoothly. Treize had houses built and offered anyone who was willing to work the land housing. From there it's gotten better since we're now able to trade and make profits. However, a lot of the orphans who grew up on the streets don't know anything but how to steal to survive. They don't trust anyone, so they won't go to the orphanages or accept help from anyone. So I go out and bring them in. It's hard for most of the police fore to find these kids in the catacombs under the city, and they really don't know how to talk to them. They don't know anything, really. So I bring them here to the orphanage. If they run away twice I take them to Une for military training, but it's still better than living on the streets. You've gotta be extremely fast to catch the kids and sometimes they fight back, so it's pretty dangerous, but it's a great job. What do you say, buddy?"
I thought about it for a moment, but there really was no question as to whether or not I would join. To be with Duo, do good for others, and get to use my skills as an assassin for a noble purpose was more than I had hoped for.
"I will take the job."
"Not so fast," interrupted Une, "it's not so simple. You have to pass a few tests first that, frankly, I don't think you're up for."
"C'mon, Une, leave him alone. I'll get him into shape in no time," put in Duo, "He just needs a bit of training, he's been out of the field too long."
"What kind of tests? How long will the training take?" I asked.
"The tests are physical fitness and endurance tests. The training will be up to Duo," answered Une.
"You know Une, you don't have enough fun anymore. You should lighten up, maybe it's that room of yours, with the plain gray walls. Maybe I should give you a hand and..."
"Duo, if anything happens to my room I will tie you naked from a pole in the middle of the grand hall."
"Une! No need to be crude."
"The only thing crude here is your taste. Neo green is not a suitable color for a commander's room."
"Yeah, but it was pretty."
"And I'm sure it looked even prettier when you scrubbed it off."
"Humph. Anyway, Heero, since stick in the mud over here is making you take those boring tests, I figured we'd take a week and do some sparing and some weight lifting and then go from there. Sound good?"
"It is acceptable."
"'It is acceptable'" Duo mimicked, "Were'd you learn ta talk?"
"The same place you learned slang; I'm starting to think it's a language of its own."
I had to smile a bit when Duo huffed and stuck his nose into the air. The rest of the table burst out in laughter and, in a minute, even Duo grudgingly joined in.
"So, Heero," said the Chinese man, "is it true Lord J practiced sorcery along with his science?"
Duo went strangely still at my side. When I glanced over at him, he seemed to be deep in thought, but he soon shook himself out of it and gave me a hesitant smile.
"Not that I know of. Why?" I asked.
"Ah," Trieze cut in, "the two of you haven't been introduced yet. Heero, this is Master O, the royal sorcerer. O, this is Heero, the only person to ever render Duo speechless."
"Hey!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, but aren't you Chinese?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"It's just that I have heard that China is not very... accepting of sorcerers."
"This is true, and yet they seem to make the most sorcerers out of any country, because of their close association with the dragons."
"Speaking of China," Trieze said, turning to Quatre, "will you be ready to leave for India in five days?"
"Yes, all the arrangements have been made. The maganacs will arrive in three days, then will need two days to rest and refuel. I'll be meeting the mercenary ships in Isabel's country, that's as far north as they'll come."
"Excellent, we can leave together, but I'm afraid I'll return before you. It will only take me three days to get to China six days there. Round trip should be about twelve days."
"I shouldn't be too much longer. With the maganacs ship it will take me eight days to get to the meeting point, a day to rest and refuel, a day to load the cargo, and eight days back. Eighteen days, if nothing goes wrong."
"Quatre's sisters run most of northern India," Duo said to me, "his father was a sultan or something, but there was a bit of a scandal about Quatre's mother not being the sultan's wife, or even an Indian, so he divided the estate among his sisters and left. Quatre handles all of our dealings with India since he still has so much sway. Besides, India, like most countries, is still pretty hesitant about selling weapons, so we need Quatre's connection to get them from some more unsavory characters."
"Weapons?"
"Yeah, Treize wants to be ready in case someone is trying to start something."
"And Treize must return the dragon to China personally as a sign of good will?"
"You got it."
"I see."
"I'm," Duo paused to give a large yawn, "sure you do. Well, I'm done. You wanna head back up to the room?"
I nodded and rose from the table. It seemed odd to leave that table without making excuses or apologizing, but it really wasn't a formal setting so none were needed.