Three: The boy from Gaia

Bold: signifies Duo speaking in his native Fanelian tongue (in this chapter only)

and:

Italics: signifies thinking or dreams or empathizes on a word

"So your leaving to study abroad? Somewhere else?" Quatre asked curiously starching the back of his neck.

Heero nodded slowly. Relena stood by his side holding his hand tentatively with a somber expression.

"This is indeed a true surprise Heero Yuy. I hope we shall cross paths again someday," Dorothy said gracefully with a short curtsey. Heero blinked at her formal 'good-bye' and nodded. Quatre gave her a scolding look as his fingers played with her knuckles while Dorothy gave him her semi-good natured smile.

Catherine came up to the silent teenager with tears brimming her eyes before she threw her arms around Heero's neck. "We'll miss you," She said unwrapping her arms from his neck. Heero simply blinked with a knowing look he didn't want to nod again his neck was beginning to hurt.

His eyes traveled toward Trowa who gave a nod much to his dismay. His eyes shifted to a certain Chinese duo who stood beside Quatre and Dorothy. "Take care of yourself in the real world," Wufei said calmly. "I'll be sure too," Heero grumbled in response scratching his neck. He wore his trade mark attire with a twist.

He wore his green sleeveless shirt an unbuttoned plaid hunter green dress shirt a dog tag hung around his neck, he wore a pair of worn out jeans that were close to blue but crossed over to the shade of white and lastly his caramel brown boots.

He and his friends were the only ones that stayed after school hours to find a quiet place of their own to hang out instead of going to pizza parlors like most teenagers their age did. "So when are you leaving, Heero-sama?" Catherine asked having a tendency to mistake him for a higher authority in social status. Heero wanted to roll his eyes at Catherine but mentally decided against it knowing it would be rude.

"Tonight at the latest ... midnight is the next flight to earth," Heero replied simply. Catherine nodded placing her arm on Trowa's shoulder who shifted his weight from his legs to against the wall, Heero's gaze glanced down at Relena who was the only on in their group with an unhappy face (the others wore curious or surprised expression) he looked up at everyone with a small smile noticing the sun had become a usual shade of red.

"We'd better head off. I'll talk to you guys later ... if I can," Heero said walking away pulling Relena with him. Quatre, Trowa and Wufei nodded in response while their girlfriends watched the couple fade around the corner of the school building and silence overcame them as they pondered on their time with Heero.

"Who wants to head to the pizza parlor? I'm just dying for a pizza!" Catherine exclaimed trying to lighten the mood a bit. Nataku nodded in agreement while Quatre and Dorothy gave the others looks of uncertainty knowing they would quiet the magnets in popular public areas if the press was around.

"Hm. Why not, I could use a pizza myself," Trowa agreed to Catherine's notation with a smirk. Wufei 'Humphed' knowing he would have to follow anyway since Meiran Nataku wanted to go. "Fine," He replied bluntly. Meiran jabbed him in the ribs. "Be silent Wufei," She mumbled following Quatre, Dorothy, Catherine, and Trowa who had began to head for Catalonia's golden limo. Wufei grumbled something under his breath before heading after his wife.

Heero and Relena made they're way across the track slowly passing the time they had left with eachother, tears silently fell down Relena's cheeks but she caught them with he sleeve of her blouse before they went any further. Heero held her close to him with a feeling of dread wash over him as they continued on toward the gate of the school when the sound of fast approaching footfalls behind them, the two stopped in their tracks turning to meet the fast approaching assailant they knew as Hilde Schbeiker; the friend they never saw much.

The German girl stopped in front of them with a skid and tried to catch her breath. Relena stepped from behind Heero with a questioning look. "Heero-sama...," Hilde breathed lifting her head up to meet the Japanese boy's seemingly cold gaze.

"Before you go... ... I... I'd like to ask a favor of you. If I... If I can run 100 meters in the time it takes this pendant...," Hilde released the object in her hand from captivity catching the couple's eyes; the chain was shinning as if made from pure gold, the small jewel attached to it was the shade of a cheery blossom and inside it contained just that; a cheery blossom pedal. The jewel glistened in the setting sun as Hilde continued. "...to swing 13 times... If I break the 13 second barrier... I'd like you to give me my first kiss!" Hilde cried in sheer panic with a squeak in her voice.

"WHAT?!" Relena gasped outraged now clinging to Heero's arm like a wild-woman. Heero managed to rip his arm from Relena's grasp before placing it around her waist trying to reassure her.

"I can't do that... Schbeiker... (if I were single I would) but I will swing the pendant to see if you can break the 13 second barrier. If you can't I'll see to it that you won't make it into the girl's track team," Heero said sternly. Hilde's heart skipped a beat as her hopes were dashed, the light in her eyes faded slightly.

"If we are to remain friends Hilde, then please don't ask me do something as silly as giving your first kiss. You'll find someone sooner or later. I promise," He said emotionlessly. Hilde nodded slowly with a small smile at the promise he had made her. "Thank you Heero-sama," She said gratefully with a sigh. So much for the kiss..., Hilde thought glancing at Relena who was glaring at her with a fiery gaze. Eeep... I should have asked him when she wasn't around...

Dark had come and the only light that shined through the dark was starlight. Hilde wore her running attire ignoring the spring breeze that wrapped around her ankles like shackles, she huffed as focused her sight on the end of the track in front of her trying her best to ignore Relena's cold stare from a distance. Pumping herself up she awaited Heero's signal.

"Schbeiker. Are you ready?" Heero shouted in question. Hilde nodded with a determined look. "Yes, anytime you are," Hilde said before the headlights shine caught her attention. Hilde turned to the side the light was coming from noticing Sylvia was standing near the gate with a duffle bag hanging on her shoulder, the green eyed girl waved to Hilde with a good luck smile.

"Sylvia..," She breathed in relief as she readied herself. Heero felt Relena tighten her grip on his unoccupied arm (the left arm) as he got ready to drop the pendant from his fists. Focus everything you've got ... and launch yourself forward, Heero thought absentmindedly before dropping the pendant. "GO!" He called.

"Ah!" Hilde launched herself forward with all the strength she could muster as the pendant began to swing. Her legs excreted the determination through the power of her muscles as she pass the couple, her lungs burned for more air she picked up her speed pacing herself as the images of her vision repeated in her mind.

Hilde felt as if the boy wearing the armor was right beside her, her feet thundered against the ground as she set out to achieve her new goal; beat her very own pendant that her late grandmother Olivia Schbeiker gave to her as a little girl.

The heat returned to her body only this time it emitted from the ground weaving itself into the gentle spring breeze and that's when everything began to slow down. "Focus...!" She cried as she felt herself coming to a halt.

Time seemed to stop right then and there. Clouds began to form in the night sky as a light began to pierce through them crashing to the ground with a thunderclap. Following closely behind a figure began to float slowly to the ground and Hilde wasn't too far away from the impact of the light; she tried with all her might to slow down as she watched figure engulfed in light landed on the ground completely his braid wiggled behind him like a cat's tail almost.

He was confused, how in the seven hell's did he end up here?! And where was that damned creature?! Just as he began to step forward he caught a glimpse of Hilde who was going to collide with him; the braided teenager grunted in surprise ready from impact. Hilde's running form faltered as her hands lowered slightly, she tripped on her loose shoe tie and crashed into the boy with a cry of pain, the braided boy was quiet annoyed by this woman's presence and with a quick shove he threw her off of him. Hilde crashed to the ground butt first. "Who the hell are you?! W-where am I?!" He shouted in demand.

Sylvia noticed the boy had a sword, fearing the worst she rushed to Hilde's aid followed by Heero and Relena who jogged after her boyfriend. Hilde groaned watching with one eye as the braided teenager looked around the area acting like an alien in a new country, she examined his clothing; it was extremely odd for one thing. He wore a strange assortment of armor over a strange dirt-bown shirt his hand were gloved in black letherish gloves.

He had weird contraption on his back that had to be attached to the roundish object on his left hand and his pants were thin in appearance and his boots were a darker shade of black than his gloves and almost knee-high. His hair was chestnut brown styled in a 10cm long braid his skin was near pasty but tanned fairly well and his eyes were the most beautiful shade of coalbolt blue she had seen in her entire life.

"Hilde-!" Came Sylvia's voice as the dirty-blonde girl came to a halt before kneeling in front of her friend. "Are you all right? Hilde?" Sylvia asked just as Heero and Relena came up, Heero jumped in front of the three girls ready to fight. He hadn't done that in a good while.

The braided teenager lifted his sword in defense only glaring at the Japanese teenager with a passion. "Are you from the demon world?!" The boy shouted in some sort of jibberish. (Sweatdrop) Heero was completely caught off guard by what he had said or whatever the jibberish was.

Sylvia and Relena stared at each other as Hilde climbed to her feet. "It's him! It's the guy from my dream!" Hilde dusted herself off before speaking again. "No were not people from the demon world!" Hilde stated with her hands against her chest. "Who the heck are you?" Sylvia gave her friend a strange look wondering how the German girl was able to understand what the boy had said to her, Relena was wondering as well; she knew German well and knew what the kid had said to them was not at all German. "Hilde?" Sylvia whispered in confusion.

"Duo Maxwell of Fanelia," The boy responded. "Where am I?" Duo.. that's a strange name..., Hilde cocked an eyebrow at him. "What?" She stammered in question. Heero, Relena, and Heero looked to the smaller girl in question. "Hilde? You can understand what he is saying?" Relena asked confused. Hilde never answered she was more interested in how this boy, a figment of her imagination came to be a real person that supposedly came from the stars above.

The boy named Duo clutched his sword tighter in his grip with a hardened expression staring off into the distance. "Then he's probably coming too...," Duo blinked turning his gaze toward the four figures in front of him. "Get out of here, a dragon is coming!" He shouted in English staring straight at Hilde pretending not to notice Heero, Relena, or Sylvia.

Hilde was startled by his sudden notation... a creature described in fairy tales was coming here? Now? "Eh? A Dragon?" Hilde managed to say in confusion beginning to think that this boy was high on something. Duo scowled in annoyance wanting to kick the lot of them for ever thinking there was a possibility that he was a nutcase. With a deep intake of breath through his nose he tried again.

"Get moving! Do want to be eaten by a dragon!?" Duo shouted. Heero gave a roll of his eyes making his way over to Duo who's head shifted away from them toward the space he was staring into a second ago. "I don't know what your talking about pal but--," Duo shoved Heero out of his way just the hair upon his neck began to stand on end.

There was a flash of lightening that crashed to the ground but did not effect any one of them followed by the mysterious light that had brought Duo down the ground. "It's happening again..." Heero said breathlessly. Hilde, Relena, and Sylvia watched in horror as the light became brighter expanding across the ground until there was a silence afterwards.

A mixture colors appeared before being replaced by a foggy and dead forest scenery. Chills ran up Hilde's spine knowing something was not right about this entire situation that was going on around her, the ground began to shake only ceasing for very brief moments before it would began again. In the corner of her eye she noticed Sylvia was ready to bolt at any time as her body quivered with fear that radiated off her body like a heater. Heero placed Relena behind him she automatically clutched his upper arm in fear realizing everything that was happening was no dream in the least, it was frighteningly real.

Duo's hands trembled under the immense grip he had on his sword's hilt catching a glimpse of two glowing eyes in the distance that were getting closer toward them. A growl and huff of hot air whipped passed his face as he readied himself for his postponed battle. He would finish what his brother didn't he would run that damned creature through with his sword.

The creature growled furiously as he stepped through the dimensional plane onto the race track drooling with anticipation as he caught sight of his target; the fool of a boy had just come creeping into its nest positioning his sword in the middle of his chest ready to kill him.

Why, the dragon wasn't certain but he would make sure he wouldn't do it again by ending his life. He popped his head out neck letting out an enraged hiss into the air as he pulled the rest of himself onto the track ready to stop Duo dead in his tracks when he noticed four interesting specimens he had never seen before.

He blinked in curiosity at them noticing there strange outfits. Hilde and the others were frozen with fear as they gazed upon the creature they believed to be mythical and made up in stories, Relena was on the brink of screaming when Duo armed himself with a crossbow and fired the arrow straight into the beasts eye. The land dragon howled in a high pitched cry of pain as the immeasurable pain engulfed his skull from the sensation of his damaged eye.

He shook his head in away to stop the pain from becoming any greater when he noticed the four people he saw not too long an ago in his only good and remaining eye. He hissed enraged ready to strike them down when he heard the boy below him shouting at him.

"Oi! Your supposed to be fighting with me! Remember!?" Duo shouted spreading his arms out waving them about. The land dragon was just about fed up with the little puke of a human. throwing his head back revealing his abnormal chest the beast created a raging inferno within him before firing it back at the braided teenager.

Acting quickly Duo brought his right arm up in front of him and with a wave of his left hand (that held his sword) a shield was created forming a perfect fanlike circle catching the impact of the fire that surrounded Duo but never touched him he began to sweat as if it were raining upon him at that very moment.

The land dragon ceased his fire-breathing attack to ensure he had gotten the human but to his dismay Duo was still standing and not looking too pleased by his actions. Irritated, the dragon threw his tail back gathering enough momentum he whipped it forward smashing Duo in his side sending him tumbling across the ground like a rag doll.

Sylvia screamed behind her hand thinking the braided teenager was dead as a door nail and they were the creature's next victims, Hilde clutched her chest as her heart beat harder against her chest. Duo shook the purple haze that clouded his vision from his eyes attempting to climb to his feet when he felt something warm unusually thin and fluid traveling upward inside him and the next thing Duo knew was he had spat up a fair amount of blood onto the ground.

He growled stumbling to his feet before realizing the people he had met had not moved from their places yet and run for a safe haven like he had ordered them to. "Now I get it, he wounds his prey and finishes them off later...," Duo rasped in pain before glancing to the others. "What are you waiting for?! Get out of here!" He shouted pointing to open gate.

Heero snapped out of his trance looking to the braided teenager who gave him a look that could rival Master O's angered expression. With a nod Heero grabbed Relena's hand yanking her forward from her place gesturing the other two girls to follow him. Hilde and Slyvia ran after them after taking brief glances at the relentless young man behind them. Relena did her best to keep up Heero who was running at a reasonable pace for her sake while keeping a firm grip on her wrist her lungs worse than they did when she had fell through thin ice one winter when she and Milliardo along with Lucreiza had gone skating.

Relena was almost beside her boyfriend until her foot got caught up in her skirt bringing her down the ground taking Heero down with her onto his knees. "Relena?!" Heero gasped crawling quickly over to her side. Relena held back the oncoming tears that threatened to fall pointing to her right ankle biting her lip. "I think I sprained my ankle!" She cried. Releasing her wrist Heero stood to his feet just as Hilde and Sylvia came running their direction before bending down in front of Relena.

Knowing what he wanted her to do the honey-blonde girl scooted closer to him throwing her arms around his neck, Heero slid his arms under her legs lifting himself and her from the ground careful of her injured ankle. "Schbeiker, Noventa hurry up!" He demanded haughtily before running off toward the shine located not too far in the woods. Hilde grabbed her friend by the arm and took off across the street after Relena and Heero.

The dragon caught wind of their escape when he began to smell fear and panic wafting in the air giving Duo a ghost of a wicked grin (if that's possible) the land dragon bolted from his spot dashing across the track field out through the gate bearing it's fangs. "Damn!" Duo cursed knowing where the beast was headed. The 16-year-old bolted from his spot rushing after the creatures pushing all his power into his legs like his brother had taught him.

He caught a glimpse of the beast's tail whipping against several trees knocking them over leaving destruction in his wake Duo speed up his pace breathing hard through his mouth to supply more power to his body. "You won't get away from me!" Maxwell shouted in anger revealing a strange hook from underneath the location his shield grabbing hold of a part of the dragon. The land dragon didn't seem to notice him (thankfully) and continued his pursuit for Heero, Relena, Hilde, and Sylvia while Duo tagged along for the ride.

Hilde followed behind the others as they traveled up the stairs toward a shrine panting, fear traveled through every fiber of Schbeiker's being as she looked behind her. She sighed, the dragon was nowhere in sight which meant they were safe unless the dragon killed Duo.

Hilde began to wonder if she was given this foresight for a reason, her grandmother had always told her that her foresight was not a curse in the least instead it was a gift given to her by God to warn her of horrible or wonderful things that would come to pass. Hilde thought of her foresight as a curse.

She had seen the death of her own grandmother no sooner after her thirteenth birthday and could do nothing to prevent it because it was a natural death she would be dying of to her dismay she hated God for a good while before making her peace with him.

Pushing the thought aside Hilde returned to the present watching the stairs beneath her fly passed her eyes before leaping upon damp grass behind Sylvia unaware of that the creature was behind them every step of the way. The German teenager watched Heero scan the area suspiciously.

"I think we'll be safe here," Heero said between breath's keeping his hold on Relena tight. Sylvia nodded still catching her breath when the sound of a screech that stopped her lungs dead in their tracks. There was a violent gush of wind that came from above causing Hilde look skyward only to gaze upon the belly of the land dragon they presumed dead or out of it's way. Sylvia and Hilde broke into a run following after Heero who rushed to the side of the shrine.

The dragon landed on the ground with an earth shaking thud ready to put the trio's life to an end when out of nowhere Duo came from behind leaping into the air raising his sword, he came down on the creature's back with his blade. But to his realization and disappointment the blade of his sword just slid down the dragon's scales as if it were dull.

Duo landed on the ground with a grunt gritting his teeth staring at his chipped blade. "This sword won't work against his scales--!" The braided teenager turned his head to meet the smoking mouth of the dragon. Oh no..., Duo thought. The land dragon fired another blast of fire in Duo's way, the 16-year-old leaped out of way landing on the side in front of the dragon.

The beast was at his wit's end with Duo and his agility he growled infuriated at how long it was taking him to kill the young man before him before thinking of a way to killing him once and for all; he swung his tail in hook-like position above his head aiming for the braided teenager's back while appearing to be out of ideas to defeat him.

On the sidelines Hilde and co. watched as Duo ready himself for the finishing blow when a cold death like feeling washed over Hilde like nothing she had felt before. There was a flash of light and amongst the chaos reeking inside her consciousness she caught a glimpse of dragon brining his tail down on the braided teenager impaling him through back with a sadistic gleam in it's yellow eye.

Hilde's legs felt like jello and her stomach turned in knots after what she had just seen, she glanced up noticing the dragon's tail was right above the young man. "He's gonna die... he- he's gonna die...," She whispered unable to accept it. In the midst of confusion Hilde found herself running to Duo's aid ignoring Heero and Sylvia shouting her name.

She dashed across the grass not caring if she was impaled instead of him throwing her hand forward in a way catching his attention. "Look out, above you!" Hilde shouted skidding to a halt. The beast roared in anger knowing his plan had been foiled, Duo's head snapped upward just as the dragon's tail speeding down toward him, Hilde screamed in horror clamping her hands over her eyes.

Duo leaped out of his way barely escaping with his life as he watched the sharp end of the dragon's tail slice through his armor revealing his sleeveless red shirt and impale the dirt instead of him, he stumbled across the ground before launching himself forward at the beast. Duo ran along the back of its tail before stabbing his sword into venerable flesh of the land dragon, he was then sprayed with the beast's pale purple blood when he yanked the blade out rushing around the front.

The dragon roared in pain falling to his side before feeling the human's sword impale his chest cut it open, with one last howl his head dropped to the ground and succumbed to the calling darkness of death. Hilde removed her hands from eyes staring at the dragon-blood drenched young man before her in complete awe.

He's alive! She thought happily as her heart rate slowed slightly. Duo glanced at the girl briefly with a look of embarrassment; he could have taken care of that dragon without her help, who did she think she was? Pushing the thought aside he pulled apart the chest of the dragon grabbing the huge object appearing to be a pink crystal.

Duo stepped back as the creature's body began to burn away leaving nothing but it's bones Duo looked down at himself realizing the blood of the dragon was gone as fast as it had put itself on his body. "Woah...," He mumbled staring at the crystal in his hand before the sound of someone making an attempt to speak to him snapped him out of his trance of admiring his handy work.

He glanced to his left staring at Hilde with a questioning expression on his face, Hilde fidgeted nervously under his eyes; she sensed something strange emitted from his soul and his charismatic aura. "Is he head?" Hilde asked timidly. Duo cocked an eyebrow at the girl staring as if she had grown two heads before glancing at the remains of the dragon; either this girl was blind or she liked to ask rhetorical questions.

"Hai," He answered for good measure. Hilde sighed happily placing her hand on her chest, before asking yet another question. "Are you all right?" She whispered with concern. Duo rolled his eyes before closing them and turning his head in the other direction opposite to her. "I'm not so bad off that I need a woman to help me," He said arrogantly.

"I could have handled the dragon fine without your help. Let me guess, you want a reward. Fine. Come to my castle, then. But don't get too cocky. It'd be an apology for involving you and your friends in the dragonslaying. You didn't help me kill that dragon, you know--" Duo was silenced halfway through his sentence by a slap in the face from Hilde. He did not bother to soothe the pain throbbing in his cheek instead he gave the girl a look that would have scared the dandruff clean off a dog's back; but not Hilde she stared him down with a glare of her own before poking him in the chest.

"What is your problem?! I don't want anything you have or anything you can offer!" Hilde screamed. "Would have hurt you to say "thanks for helping"?!" Duo was at a loss of words, no woman had ever slapped him before, no even his mother she was the first and the only one if he could help it. "I did what I did because I thought you were gonna die! I thought you were gonna... I was scared! Really scared! The least you could do is say "thanks," all right? I shouldn't have saved you! I should've let that stupid dragon eat you!" Hilde said before burying her face in her hands and began crying.

Duo listened to her sobs watching her shoulders shake from her crying... That was a first. I was gonna die?..., He thought dumbfounded by her words when the object in his hand began to glow. Duo looked down in confusion at the crystal in his hand as the wind began to pick up around them.

"The energist... it's glowing...!" He muttered in confusion before the same pillar of light that had transported him to this strange but interesting world surrounded him and Hilde. Hilde stopped crying for a moment to realize that her feet were slowly rising from the ground she screamed in horror as her body began to rise upward following Duo's who was a bit confused himself but found this phenomenon to be a natural happening (so he wasn't panicking).

Hilde was trying to fight her way back down to the ground when she spotted Heero below reaching out for her. "Hilde grab my hand!" He shouted standing on his tiptoes. Hilde reached desperately for his hand but to her dismay he was out of her reach and the only thing she was able to grab was her grandmother's pendant that unlaced itself from Heero's fingers.

"Heero-sama!" She screamed as her body's speed accelerated faster into the air. Heero watched in disbelief as Hilde and the strange speaking teenage boy with the braid vanish into the stars above along with the pillar of light. I couldn't save her..., He thought in anguish clenching his hand into a fist. Sylvia walked up beside Heero unable to believe her eyes. Hilde had disappeared into the star painted skies above them, her hands shook in an unknown emotion unable to accept that her friend was gone.

"Hilde... HILDE!!" She screamed in hopes that her friend would hear her. Relena held her ankle watching Heero with saddened eyes. She knew he couldn't accept failure, he was one thing he feared besides loosing her. And she would have to help him through it... if she could. "Heero," Relena whispered.

Duo climbed off the ground with a groan holding his unoccupied hand against his throbbing head before smiling. "Heh... Balgus. I made it...," He whispered to himself before glancing down at the girl. He was not all that surprised that she had followed him back home. "We're near the village of Aras," Duo said to her.

Hilde was completely dumbfounded. Arzas? She thought as she climbed off the ground feeling as if the energy had been drained right out of her being before scanning the area around her. This was not Japan She thought before looking up at the sky. Hilde's breath was caught in her throat at the impossible view before her.

"What did you do?! The earth?! How come I can see the earth?!" Hilde cried in a panic before picking up the duffle bag Sylvia had been carrying. "We're surrounded," Came Duo's voice snapping her out of her present state of mind. She scanned her surrounding area in confusion, who were they surrounded by?

She didn't see-- several shadowy figures rise up from the ground-- surrounded indeed they were. Hilde rushed over to Duo and hide behind him careful not to touch any part of him. Duo gave her a strange look before readying his sword for battle. Since he was stuck with this girl, he would have to protect her from this point on. And he would.

Author's note: Gomen nesai for taking so long. I got punished and couldn't get on the computer for a bloody week. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It took me forever to write it. Sorry for any misspelled words or grammatical errors. Sakura123