Disclaimer: I in no way own Gundam W or AD&D. Don't sue; I'm simply an E5 in the USN, therefore I have no money. Ha.
A/N; :psionic power:
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Trowa crawled hastily to Wufei's side even as the warrior flung yet another arrow away, having pulled it roughly from the still, pale chest it had been immersed in. Tanned fingers gripping the bloodied boy's throat, the Easterner snarled quietly, "Breathe, damn it. Breathe!"
The acrobat stared, emerald eyes huge with complete and utter shock as he stared at the small boy.
'He took the arrows that were coming for me.'
'He saved my life. He sacrificed himself for me.'
"BREATHE!"
'Please, please Quatre. Don't leave me. Don't leave me now!'
Reaching with shaking hands, Trowa gently touched the boy's chest. Instantly he recoiled from the small body. "No... he's growing cold...!"
Wufei simply ignored him, shouting, "Duo! Get over here now! Bring one of those healing potions I know you swiped from the temple!"
"Coming!" the voice of the mage rang from the woods.
"NOW!"
Staggering free from the bramble that grew along the path's sides followed by Heero, lips set in a scowl and the beginnings of a rant upon his lips, Duo glowered at the warrior. Eyes falling upon the small pale body lying beside him instantly destroyed all yells upon his tongue as he abandoned his anger for concern and ran to his friends' sides. Staring at the blonde, he fumbled at his belt, reaching into one of the multitudes of pouches that hung from its coiled length. "Oh Gods, no..." he whimpered, digging as frantically and quickly as he could.
"Duo, hurry," Trowa whispered from beside him, his fingers shaking even as they pressed into Quatre's wrist. "I... I can't find his pulse anymore."
"We're losing him," Wufei growled, closing his eyes.
"Can't you do anything?"
"No, I can't. I can't utilize anything quickly enough to save him."
"Dammit!" Duo cursed even as he drew a small glowing vial from his pouch and quickly yanked the cork from its mouth. Pouring it quickly between the still, blue lips of his downed companion, he stared apprehensively.
"Why isn't it working!" Trowa instantly cried out, watching as the remains of color that floated upon Quatre's cheeks slowly faded.
"The fucking bands!" Duo cried, pointing to them even as they flickered, absorbing the magic of the Healing Potion right from Quatre's body and locked it into themselves. "They're absorbing the Healing Potion right out of his blood! We... we can't heal him..." Sitting back, the mage sighed, quietly muttering, "Maybe it's... it's for the best..."
"No..." Trowa softly breathed, his emerald eyes staring blankly at Quatre's still form.
"Step back."
Duo and Trowa backed away without question, doing so quickly at the command barked from Wufei's lips.
Wufei's katana whistled shrilly through the air as it raced in a blinding arc towards its destination, its mystically sharp edge glistening fiercely. The ring of metal striking metal sounded through the still atmosphere loudly, followed immediately by its twin.
Duo blinked a few times before realization struck him that yes, those viciously attached armbands were neatly cut, each small bolt severed at the skin and the portion of the armband that held each welded bolt head laying on the ground. Gripping Quatre's arms even as Heero pulled yet another of Duo's pilfered Healing Potions from his pouches and yanked the cork from its mouth with his teeth, he pulled at the metal bands. Yanking at the stubborn devices with all of his strength, he ripped them off Quatre's arms, leaving bloody trails and gristle as he tore the posts that had held them in place out of the muscle and bone that had so long ago healed onto them. 'Sorry, but it's for your own good,' the mage thought as he ripped each mithrel band away and threw them wildly into the woods.
Heero was already pouring the light blue, glowing liquid of the Healing Potion over Quatre's still lips and into his mouth as Duo snatched the bands away.
He gasped as the boy's light blue eyes snapped open and his body twitched. Opening his mouth, Quatre screamed.
Duo's hands immediately grabbed the blonde's bruised shoulders and he looked desperately to Heero and Trowa. "Help me hold him down! He's going to hurt himself!"
"NO!" Wufei shouted, grabbing Duo by his braid and yanking him roughly away, "Don't hold him down. Help him up!"
"Are you fucking insane!" Duo snarled.
Ignoring the mage, Wufei immediately fell to his knees and grabbed the screaming blonde and forced him to sit upright. Quatre's shaking hands gripped his profusely bleeding arms as Wufei's grip kept him straight. Shaking, Quatre let his head bow, gritting his teeth.
He screamed again as the flesh of his back ripped and burst in a colorful spray of blood and tissue.
Everyone stared at the huge, blood-covered white wings that had erupted from the blonde's body and arched grandly behind him, their vitae-coated radiant span shining in morbid glory.
"Quatre..."
The aquamarine eyes rolled back as the Solar slumped into Wufei's arms, wings drooping to lay in the dirt that made up the road.
Wufei looked up at Trowa as the acrobat knelt by his side, then carefully shifted the winged boy in his arms to hand him over. As Trowa gathered Quatre into his arms, he ran a shaking hand over the blonde's sweat-dampened hair. "So... it's true. He's really..."
"A Solar," Wufei murmured with a nod.
With a nod, Trowa nuzzled the small boy's neck. "He really is an Angel."
Duo frowned before turning to Heero. "Only thing I'm worried about now is what he's going to do, you know?"
Arching a brow, the warrior frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I almost didn't want those damned bands removed."
"That would have assured his death, Duo."
"I know. That's the only reason why I pulled 'em. Otherwise..."
"Why?"
"Don't you realize what we've done?" Duo asked, arching a slender brow over a worried violet eye. "We've just released a being more powerful than anything else in these Realms. A creature no one could ever survive against. And that creature's been waiting for years for vengeance - he's been waiting so long that he's started losing his mind. We've got an angry, bitter, nearly insane Angel with the very power of the Gods right over there, Heero."
"And with those restraints gone..."
"Right. Ain't nothin' gonna stop him from taking revenge. And that revenge might very well be the destruction of everything that lives."
Duo bowed his head, even as Heero laid a hand upon his shoulder.
"Insanity's driven him to the brink of evil, Heero... and I don't think that there's really anything holding him back from that crumbling edge."
"Hold some hope, Duo. There may yet be salvation."
"How so?"
Smiling gently, the warrior inclined his head towards the fallen Solar, watching as Trowa carefully lifted Quatre's body into his arms, listening as he told Wufei to take the horse as there was no way he could mount with 'his Angel' in his arms. "Because, Duo. With Trowa's love so strong and enveloping, he won't be allowed to fall over that edge. Trowa will be able to hold him back."
"Hmph. We can only pray that you're right, Heero."
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Quatre groaned softly in his slumber, slowly attempting to roll over. He was laying upon his stomach, resting on what felt to be nothing more than a thin bedroll spread to protect him from the dirt and rocks of the ground, near the crackling of a warm campfire over which crackled fresh meat, judging from the pain that racked his body and the odors that assaulted his nostrils. Stirring, eyes squinting as he felt the tender brush of feathers along his back and side, he tried to lie upon his right side.
Something was in the way. It hurt to lie in that position. Without thinking, his mind unconsciously told his wings to shift, to lay straight behind him instead of curled at his sides.
Blinking, the blonde instantly became aware of his situation.
'What the...'
Sure enough, he was resting upon a cot near the center of a small, quickly established camp. A campfire roared but ten feet away, the remains of a quartet of skinned and cleaned rabbits roasting in the heat of its flames. And surrounding him was a sight he'd not seen for decades.
Delicate, huge white feathers, their edges marred with gray streaking.
Gently lifting one of those feathers into his hands, he stared at it for many a long minute before turning his eyes to glance over his shoulder.
Quatre smiled tiredly.
"There you are. I've been looking for you for over twenty years. You know that, don't you?"
Laying his head back down, he drove his mental state from complete rest to restoration of his physical body, dedicating the power that laid within his mind to managing the swift manipulation of the structures of his very cells to speed his healing.
'I can return to the Outers now. I'm free. I no longer have those restraints on me. I can go home!'
'But not until after that comes to pass.'
Giggling softly, a dark and ominous tone hovering upon his lips, the boy rolled back onto his stomach, folding his marvelous, huge wings along his back once more to utilize their soft, thick masses to protect him from the chill of the evening air.
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Trowa lightly laid his hand upon the sleeping Solar's head, petting his blonde hair gently in an attempt to wake him even as his companions broke down the rest of their camp area and started dividing the load amongst themselves, their one remaining live horse and the new steed Duo had conjured by use of his magic that morning.
It took many moments until Trowa succeeded, bringing the boy to consciousness. Smiling tenderly, the acrobat assisted him into a seated position, watching the large wings with fascination as they stretched behind Quatre's slender body, arching high and dipping to drag their longest flight feathers on the ground. "Good morning, Quatre," Trowa shyly muttered, bowing his head.
"Morning..." Quatre grumbled with a tired yawn.
"Ready to move out again?"
"Of course."
Trowa watched, both brows arched, as the naked winged boy hastily got to his feet.
"After all," Quatre began with a sly smirk upon his lips, "it's time to get the ball rolling, neh? It's been waiting far too long..."
"Quatre? What are you talking about?" Trowa asked as he gained his own footing, standing before the smaller blonde and resting a hand upon his shoulder.
"I've been waiting too long. I can't abandon that quest now... especially not now that I've the means to complete it."
"Quest?"
"To return home. To set things right in this mortal world before diving back into the Astral, freeing myself from the bonds of this dull, hateful place."
Watching the maddening swirl of the blue eyes, Trowa gulped. "But..."
"It's time for me to return home. It's time for me to make my sacrifice to the Gods that will allow me access to the Outers once more."
"Quatre... you won't consider staying?"
"Staying!" Laughing, the boy looked at Trowa, his eyes wild with madness. "Trowa, dearest, I wouldn't stay for anything. Not for Wufei, not for Heero, not for Duo. Not for anything once vengeance has made itself known, once his blood has run the length of my scimitar and my mind has tasted his misery!"
"For me...?" Trowa softly whispered, the hand upon Quatre's shoulder tightening its grip upon the pale, white flesh.
Blinking a few times, Quatre frowned, his wings slowly unfolding from his back and spreading to his sides. "I... I wish to. I wish to stay with you, but..."
"But?" Trowa's voice quietly whimpered into Quatre's ear.
"I can't. I can't deny myself any longer. I love you, but it isn't... it isn't... I'm placing you above the Gods themselves in my heart, and I can't help it. I can't let it happen anymore. I can't deny the scream for vengeance that's pounding in my ears. I can't refuse the call to go home. I can't run from the call of Death, screaming for Archmagus Vincent VonWinner's blood. I can't remain here. I can't love you. I can't. I can't!"
Trowa watched as the boy turned and ran from him, his mighty wings flapping once as he leapt into the air, carrying him with one huge downward swoop onto the gentle morning breeze and out of sight.
"Quatre!" he yelled into the heavens, watching the last remnants of the sun's soft glimmer vanish from the retreating white wings.
Duo and Heero were instantly at his sides, both staring.
"What the hell's he running from now?" Duo groaned, slapping his forehead, before muttering, "Neh, you didn't piss him off again, did'ja, Tro?"
"No. He's... he's not running away this time."
"Then where's he going?" Heero snorted, staring into the empty sky.
"He's running towards the darkness of Death. He's..."
"He's going for vengeance?" Duo whispered.
"Yes," Trowa answered, simply nodding his head, his bangs flopping lifelessly over his face.
"He's headed to Waterdeep."
Glancing over at Heero, Duo frowned. "Think we can head him off? If he's going for vengeance..."
"I know, Duo. Thousands are in danger. He's irrational, he's a Solar, he's angry... they're doomed. But as per heading them off, can you teleport us as Trowa said you did in the dreamscape?"
"No," Duo sighed quietly, crossing his arms. "It only worked in the dreamscape because it was a dream; I could do everything I'd ever wished there. Doesn't quite work that way in the real world, you know."
Wufei's voice rang behind them, "If it's only to Waterdeep, perhaps I can be of assistance."
Everyone turned sharply on their heels to stare at him.
Frowning, the Easterner crossed his well-muscled arms over his chest. "I don't want to land us into town - I don't want anyone inadvertently getting injured by the energies used to create it - but I can land us within a good half-mile of the East Gate, if you wish."
"How the fuck can you do that?"
"Simple. :Dimension Door:."
Heero and Trowa smirked, even as Duo's jaw dropped wide open.
"Let us finish packing quickly. We've got a Solar to stop."
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Vincent VonWinner lifted his wine glass to his lips, drawing a deep draught from it.
'My house guard has failed. Elminster will not join my cause again, meaning that Kelban Blackstaff will not, either. Without Blackstaff, I stand no chance of convincing the rest of the Hidden Lords of the urgency of this matter.'
'The elves have failed. The dragons have failed. The bandits have failed.'
'Will I have to resort to utilizing the powers of the dark elves...?'
"You'll not have to worry about what monstrosities you're going to utilize next, Magus. You'll not have to worry about anything again. Your life will be over by the end of this night."
The elderly mage stiffened as the voice hissed softly at his back. "Quatre, my dear boy..."
"Dear boy, my ass."
Shivering as the pale hand roughly clamped his shoulder, Vincent closed his eyes.
When he opened them once again, he stared in disbelief. "We're atop Castle Waterdeep. But... you couldn't have used :Dimension Door: with this amount of precision! Such requires..."
"Magic."
Turning, the Magus stared, his eyes huge within their sockets, his body suddenly trembling with fear.
Blue eyes nearly glowing white with unbound rage, scimitar upon a loose leather belt that encircled the otherwise undecorated waist, the nude Angel spread his wings, their gray-fringed white feathers sparkling in the dim light of the setting sun.
"You're... you're free..."
"Keen observation."
"And you're here to kill me...?"
The Angel's lips twisted into a diabolical sneer.
"I'm here to do much more than that."
tbc...
