The journey passed uneventfully; it wasn't nearly so frightening to pass through the Divine Realms as it had been galloping through the dark Portal that first time. Trowa had his own personal passage as God of the Underworld that would take him quickly from any place directly through to his own realm; that had been the long dark tunnel she'd raced through during that first terrifying ride. Any other god or goddess going to or from his realm had to take the long route through the Divine Realms.
Some of the places were very strange indeed; the Dream Realm in particular was… odd; none of the images and creature floating here and there through the ever-changing landscape made any sense to her. There was a Realm that made her glad that Trowa had given her a cloak to wear, for it was completely frozen over with a howling, snow-laden wind shrieking past her ears. Many of the Divine Realms were modeled after places in the mortal realms, there were even divine realms that were copies of some of the ruins that Trowa had taken her to; she wondered idly if any of the gods and spirits worshipped by those ancient civilizations still resided in those realms, just floating there in an endless limbo with no one to remember or adore them.
Midii was left alone with the quiet of her thoughts as the chariot she rode in carried her farther and farther away from the Underworld. Try as she might she couldn't stop thinking about the fete the evening before. Certainly she'd been looking forward to departing from the Underworld and returning to her home in Romafeller but that morning Midii had felt a small twinge of what one might mistake for reluctance. It had happened when she'd seen his face looking so forlorn and trying to hide it. Midii couldn't help but contrast that subtle expression with the tender and adoring look he'd worn while he had walzed with her the evening before. He wasn't precisely the life of the party, but in his own quiet way she found his company intellectually stimulating. He'd certainly had a subtle bit of fun taunting her Lady the evening before and Midii had felt her loyalties divided for the first time; on the one hand Lady Une was her Lady but on the other Midii had never seen the Queen of Romafeller so thoroughly stymied before. Midii had to admit that Trowa had a fine mind, and a sense of humor however subtle it was.
It was a slippery slope to stand on. Allowing herself to love one thing about him opened the possibility that she would eventually come to love all things about him. However hard she fought it Midii could not help but see his quiet strength, his keen mind, his hidden kindness. She liked his quiet voice, his gentle entreaties, his somber tenderness when no-one was looking. She liked the way he looked at her; like she was the only person in the room. She wouldn't even admit to herself that a good part of the reason she had so carefully chosen that dress she'd worn for the fete was so that he could admire how pretty she looked and lavish her with those mesmerized emerald eyes. Maybe it was she who was falling under his spell because last night had felt like a dream to her.
Midii roughly shook herself out of it. Truly it was time to return to her senses! She couldn't let some silly dance completely turn her head. Trowa was her enemy and she couldn't afford to forget that. Not even when her heart had seemed to skip a beat when he had first taken her into his arms to walz with him. She was going to return home and she intended to forget all about him while she was there!
At last the chariot stopped outside of the hallowed halls of Romafeller, neighing shrilly to announce its presence. Hilde, one of Lady Une's other handmaidens blinked a little at the sight of her and then promptly ran screaming to embrace her. She'd always gotten on well with Hilde, who was one of the few handmaidens to look past Midii's roots and position of favor to see the real girl inside. She was also one of the few handmaidens who actually did a lot of the real work of a handmaiden; most of the others just attended Lady in the bath and her dressing room and called it a done task. Hilde and Midii were her social secretaries, personal assistants, her executive officers, her mail-sorters, and whatever else the Lady required of them. Midii found tears springing up in her eyes as she embraced her nominal best friend, both of them babbling at each other from joy and relief.
Lady Une emerged from the front gate of her palace and hastened over to where Midii stood hugging onto Hilde and still babbling. Lady Une never hurried, but her pace was much swifter than it normally was, and her elegant, calm face was in rare lines of happiness and relief. Her two loyal handmaidens sank swiftly to their knees in an elegant curtsey before their Lady and waited with their stola's pooled about them to be bid to rise.
"You have returned I see," she noted, her voice as calm and regal as it ever was as she signaled them both to rise and attend to her. "Good. I knew he would do the wise thing and obey me."
"I have returned for a month only my Lady," Midii said, rising from her curtsey. The Queen of the Gods stiffened and turned to face her young handmaiden, her face, usually so cool and elegant was marred slightly by a frown.
"What was that?" she demanded softly, with a slight edge in her voice.
"I have returned for a month only Lady Une," Midii replied. "Trowa and I made a deal; he would allow me to come back home as a reward for arranging matters for the fete but it would be a temporary reprieve only."
Lady Une dismissed it with a wave of her hand and a sniff.
"Well then," she said, sounding satisfied. "It is of no moment. He may be God of the Underworld, but we are no longer in the Underworld; here in Romafeller I hold sway. He cannot coerce you from me in my own kingdom and I have no intention of allowing him to carry you off a second time. Come along."
Midii hung back however.
"I gave him my Oath," she said reluctantly. "As a condition of my release here I promised him my most solemn vow before all of the Powers that I would return to him in the Underworld in a months time. An Oath before the Powers lady, as we both know, cannot be broken or it will make me Foresworn."
Even the powerful Lady Une shuddered a little at that. To be Foresworn was to be reviled among all of the gods and even the mortals. To be foresworn was to be marked for all of eternity, to be denied all that made one divine and to have the company of the gods and spirits closed to one for all time. Such a fate was horrifying to one who would see eternity.
"But it was an oath made under duress," Lady Une protested.
"It still counts," the voice of her husband said softly from behind her as he wrapped both arms around her waist.
"Yes, whether it was a condition of my temporary freedom or not, I still made the choice of my own free will," Midii said. "Still… at least I get that much time away from that realm. You've no idea how happy I am to see the sun again!"
"I think I can imagine," Hilde said sympathetically. "Lady told me all about what the Underworld was like. Did he really force you to be his servant?"
Midii looked at Hilde in some surprise. It appeared that gossip, in that way that gossip always did, had skewed the state of matters just a touch.
"His servant?" Midii said, looking in inquiry over at Lady Une.
"You did say that you had been made to arrange the fete so I took it to mean that you had been forced into the position of chatelaine of the household," Lady Une said gently. "You poor thing, forced to slave in that dreary place!"
"It's not like that at all," Midii protested. "It's true that I took command of the estate and arranged for the gala but that's only because I made a deal with him. I'd get to come back here for a month if I prepared his creepy place for a masquerade. Otherwise he's treated me very well."
"This is the same guy that kidnapped you and dragged you away from your home and down into the Underwold with him; we are talking about the same guy right?" Hilde said, a little uncertainly.
"Yes," Midii said a little defensively. Trowa might not be on her good list right now but being back in Romafeller had made her feel a bit more charitable towards him. Besides, no one else was sticking up for him and Midii had always had a soft spot for the under-dog. Her contrary nature had always made her inclined to play devils advocate.
"Let me say it again," Hilde said slowly with great emphasis. "He kidnapped you. He dragged you down to his underworld. He defied your Lady."
"But he never harmed me," Midii defended while wondering at the same time just why in the name of everything holy she was defending him when it was she who was the injured party.
"Why are you defending him?" Lady Une demanded. "After all of the injuries he's done to the honor of both of us; kidnapping you and defying me…"
"I wonder which one makes you angrier," Trieze said softly. Lady Une glared in his direction.
"I've been worried about my handmaiden of course!" she snapped. "He has her trapped down there doing the divine powers only knows what to her and I'm powerless to stop him in his own realm… I've been worried sick about Midii!"
"She has, you know," Hilde whispered, sotto voce, to Midii. "She doesn't show it on the outside but as her personal assistant and the one who knows her best besides you or Trieze, I can tell. She doesn't sleep as well as she should, and her feed is off. Not even Treize can console her."
"Oh, poor Lady," Midii said, sympathetically. She now felt a little guilty for what small pleasure she was able to derive in her time in the Underworld, and for comparing her old duties here with her new powers there so unfavorably. What a trial her Lady had been through. Midii hastened to reassure her mistress that everything was fine.
"Oh Lady you don't need to worry," Midii said, rushing to her side to sit her down and comfort her. "Trowa may seem cold and emotionless but he's very honorable and deep down he really cares for me. He'd never hurt me, I just know it! He treats me with all honor; grants me privacy in my own suite, and readily gives me anything I ask for… well except my freedom, of course. I think he'd pull down the moon if I asked him to. The only thing he ever asks of me is for the occasional walk around the garden; he's never once even hinted at forcing me. He's just not that kind of man."
"He stole you away by force," Lady Une pointed out. "How am I to know he won't force something else that he wants from you?"
"Trowa may have kidnapped me but he's a good man; just-- lonely. He's been stuck down there for so long that it's like death and killing is all he knows anymore."
All the more reason for me to be concerned," Lady Une replied. "I too thought I knew him as well as any. We'd fought together long ago in the Daemon Wars but this sudden seizure of my handmaiden took me by surprise. Why didn't he at least attempt to court you honorably?"
"Lady," Hilde said, giving her a skeptical look. "This is the Lord of Death's Realm we're talking about. Could you see him courting anybody? Besides, it's not exactly as if he could hop up here every few days. His duties keep him pretty busy."
"And in addition to that, my beloved but overprotective Lady," Treize interjected smoothly. "Is your fearsome reputation. Be honest; if he'd come up here to court Midii with honorable intentions would you have let him anywhere near her?"
"Of course not!" Lady gasped, outraged at the very idea. "I would've…"
"Told him to take himself off and guarded Midii all the more jealously," Trieze finished for her. She glared but couldn't argue, knowing he was right.
"Are you saying that Midii's kidnapping is somehow my fault?" she demanded dangerously. "That I am somehow to blame for his reprehensible behavior in carrying Midii away from me practically right under my very nose?"
"Of course not my beloved Lady," Treize said silkily. "But you must admit, you do tend to keep your maidens rather close."
"I admit nothing," Lady Une growled. "And Midii has been kept here in Romafeller for her entire life, she's too sheltered to handle going out anywhere else."
"Ummm…" Midii interjected reluctantly; stung by honesty to tell her Lady the truth. "That's not entirely accurate. Trowa… Trowa took me with him one day when he went about his errands in the mortal realm."
"He what!" Lady Une demanded, shocked and appalled. "Has he no sense at all! Oh, my poor dear, I can't imagine how terrible it must have been for you!"
"It wasn't so bad," Midii said. "Okay well, parts of it were; but I only fainted once and that was because of all of the blood and that awful screaming."
Lady une looked even more horrified upon hearing that. But Midii went on without noticing.
"But then after that we spent the most wonderful day together. He showed me around all of these ruins that were so ancient that they'd been forgotten by the mortals and he cast illusions about with his power to show me what they had looked like when thy were new and people were still living in them. He's very detailed you know…"
Hilde, that fun-loving inveterate romantic, got this sly look on her face; like a cat that had found the cream. But since they were in the distraught presence of their Lady she held her tongue and saved her teasing for later.
"What an ordeal for you to endure," Lady Une said sympathetically. "Here, go to your quarters and get some rest."
Midii nodded obediently; she was a little tired. Hilde walked with her to her room even though she knew the way there; they had both seen Trieze subtly nod her out and took the hint that he wanted to be alone with his Lady.
"So," Hilde started as soon as they were alone out of earshot. "He treats you very well does he?"
"Yes," Midii admitted.
"That stola you're wearing is raw spider-silk, certainly a much nicer garment than the ones you wear here," Hilde continued.
"It is," Midii agreed neutrally.
"And he let you have the run of his entire estate?"
"He did," Midii said shortly.
"Sounds choice," Hilde enthused. "He dotes on you, how romantic!"
"It's dark down there," she said, her voice quavering a little. "It's like being trapped in a cellar."
Hilde's face looked instantly apologetic.
"I'm sorry Midii," she said, reaching over to hug her again. "But from what you said to Lady Une, I thought you might be coming to like it there and just didn't want to tell her so. I should have known better. Well then I think he's terrible for doing something like this to you; sticking a poor girl away from the sunlight is not good for her complexion and just look at you, you're so pale!"
Hilde had gone from lightly teasing to outrageously indignant in no time flat in the manner of best friends. Midii smiled wanly and looped her arm through hers.
"Let's go out into the garden instead," Midii said. "I want to be in the sun!"
"I don't blame you," Hilde said, still sounding indignant.
"And I'll tell you all about it," Midii said as they seated themselves at their favorite fountain near Treize's rose patch of sea-roses. And she went on to detail to her best friend the terror of her kidnapping, Trowa's command that she be happy in his dreary place, the strange silent realm she found herself in, the Shadowed Ones that had attended to her, the awful morning she'd spent attending him in the Mortal Realm followed by the surprisingly fun afternoon they had had together, the deal she'd made with him, her preparations for the masquerade, the party itself, and finally her journey to Romafeller. Hilde had interjected with comments throughout the narration, she'd been appalled at her kidnapping, a little envious of the freetime she'd gotten in the Underworld plus the clothes and attendants, sympathetic that she'd had to spend all of her time in such a dismal environment, utterly aghast at the kinds of horrors she'd faced in the mortal realm but when Midii told her about the rest of their day together and her evenings in the library with him since then and then how they'd danced together on the evening of the masque she looked a little uncertain.
"Are you sure you don't like him?" Hilde asked dubiously.
"How can I?" Midii retorted. "He stole me away from the only home I've ever known and then made me stay down there in that dismal hole of his!"
Midii flashed from outraged to calmer and even a little sympathetic as she said softly
"But it's just that… I can't help but see how very sad and lonely he is. What would you do Hilde?"
"I'd hate him for it and refuse to talk to him," Hilde shrugged. "But you've always been more fair-minded than I am."
"Well I'm not that fair-minded," she said firmly but even Hilde could hear the note of uncertainty in her voice. She decided against pursuing the matter however, poor Midii was confused enough as it was.
Then let's not even think about him for the rest of your stay here," Hilde said instead and she began to style her best friends hair with the hair jewels she'd brought with her and they spent a pleasant afternoon discussing lighter topics. Hilde told her how much she'd missed having her nominal partner around to help with the real work of being Lady Une's handmaiden; there had been two unsuccessful attempts to train one of those other bits of fluff that Lady Une called handmaidens into Midii's position that had ended in near disasters.
"I have a secret," Hilde confessed at last. Midii was her best friend as well as someone who could be trusted to keep a confidence.
"A secret? You?" Midii said, surprised. Hilde was so open, she'd never kept a secret before to Midii's knowledge.
"Yes," Hilde said, her eyes dancing with excitement. "Duo's been courting me in secret; he wants me to run away with him. In fact he's a little put out with Trowa right now because his kidnapping of you has made Lady Une all the more fanatically watchful. But they don't call him the trickster god for nothing; he always finds a way to see me. Sometimes he even sneaks in through Heero's Realm."
"The Realm of Dreams?" Midii said, surprised. It was hard to sneak past Heero's security.
"It's our secret meeting place. He's so wonderful; I want to be his friend forever."
"His friend?" Midii questioned. "You two sound like you're more than friends."
"Duo's got enough femme lovers," Hilde said firmly. "I've no intention of being another conquest. But he doesn't have nearly enough friends, probably because he's played so many tricks on different people that everyone's wary about being around him. You see if I'm his lover then I'm just another girl, but if I'm his friend that makes me special."
"Are you okay with that?" Midii said dubiously. "I mean, even if you are special as his friend it also means he'll never see you as a girl. Can you be in love with a guy and forever have it unrequited?"
"That's better than having my heart broken when it's over," Hilde replied. "It'll be fine to be his friend, I genuinely like being with him. He's a lot of fun."
"If that's the way you want it then I guess I'm happy for you," Midii said, still a little doubtful. Hilde smiled agreeably but Midii could see the small shadows of doubt hovering about her and she knew that her friend was not so blasé as she made herself sound.
Out of courtesy Midii changed the subject and the two of them went on to discuss their Lady and the changes that had occurred there in Romafeller since Midii had left. It was the first truly pleasant afternoon Midii had spent in quite a while, but she couldn't help but feel deep, deep down that there was something lacking about it.
She had only been gone for a week and Trowa already felt her absence like a physical feeling. Despite her reluctance to be there, Midii's presence had filled the palace with a lightness and life, like a beautiful song that drifted through the rooms and lifted his heart upon hearing it. Without her the realm felt cold and dead once more. Trowa drifted in and out of the rooms as if searching for her; perhaps it was only the habit he had grown of searching her out every time he came home and even though he knew he would not see her for another two weeks he could not help but hope she would be there somewhere if he looked hard enough.
He was moping, and he knew he was moping, but he couldn't help it. Everything was so empty and lifeless without her. The landscape was so barren and he could not even look upon her beautiful face to brighten his world. He had thought many times about simply taking Mortis up to Romafeller just so he could see her again, but he was stopped by two things; firstly Lady Une was still very upset with him and if he entered Romafeller he would be in her realm and at her mercy, secondly he did not wish to ruin Midii's hard-won reprieve and he knew well that he would be persona non grata. Still, he missed her so.
Trowa was surprised when there came a soft flash of multi-colored light and suddenly his sister stood before him in the gardens he'd so often walked in with Midii. His elder sister Catherine, Goddess of Joy, was joyful, vivacious and overprotective, in that order. Right at that moment however she looked cross with him (which did not happen often). Without preamble she said
"What is all of this news I hear about you stealing Lady Une's favorite handmaiden from out of Romafeller and holding her here against her will?"
Trowa didn't fear many things; he was the Lord of Death's Realm after all, and he'd been a soldier from the day he'd been Born, but the displeasure of his elder sister was one of the few things in this world he had a weakness for. There was no hope for it, he was going to have to be honest with her.
"I also heard you've been keeping her here as your slave," Catherine continued.
Trowa started in surprise. He would never do that to Midii!
"I have not!" he said, startled. Catherine's anger abated a little, not much, but a little. She, of all of the gods, had always had a soft spot for her soft-spoken and lonely younger brother.
"I'm listening," she said after a moment. She seated herself on a nearby bench gesturing her brother to sit beside her. "Love what you've done with the place by the way; I'd always thought you should have something here besides that creepy Whisper Gallery."
"I built it for her," Trowa said.
"Go on, tell me everything and don't leave anything out," Catherine ordered.
"I visited Romafeller for Trieze's presentation ceremony for Mariemaia," he began. "And while I was there I saw Midii and fell in love with her."
"At first sight? Are you sure Quatre didn't have anything to do with this?"
Trowa shook his head.
"He wouldn't, especially not to his best friend," he said. "Any road, I knew very well that Lady Une would never part with her and that if I let on that I had an interest in Midii I'd never get to see her again; so I waited a little while, built this place to make her comfortable, and then while no-one was paying attention I stole up to Romafeller and made off with her."
"Trowa! I'm surprised at you!" Catherine scolded. "I disappear for a month to attend a revelry in my honor in my patron city and something like this happens in my absence."
"It was the only logical course of action for me," he defended. "I couldn't be with her any other way."
"And how does she feel about all of this?" Catherine demanded.
"She certainly wasn't happy with me," Trow said. "Especially at first."
"And now?" Catheirne inquired.
"She seems to be warming up to me a little." He went on to describe their afternoon together, and their evenings playing Strategem, and the deal he'd made with her to arrange the fete and all of the little things he'd noticed about her and a slight description of his campaign to win her over. Catherine shook her head and laughed herself silly to hear him describe his idea of courtship in such militaristic terms. Only Trowa would see love as a battlefield!
"It sounds to me, little brother, that you could use a little hint about the nature of love and since Quatre isn't cluing you in I suppose it's up your big sister," Catherine said. "Despite the old saying that love and war are often one and the same there is a very significant difference."
"And what's that?" he asked.
"In war, it's about one side conquering the other," she explained. "It's about strength versus weakness."
Trowa nodded his head in agreement. Cathy was a civilian; despite being the older sibling she had never fought in the Daemon Wars. Hers was a peaceful nature and disinclined to battle, but she had heard him speak of war and strategy often enough that she knew enough about it to make comparisons.
"But love is just the opposite," Cathy went on. "In love it's not about conquering your enemy, nor being conquered by them. In love both parties are vulnerable. You will have to open yourself up to being hurt in order for her to make the same sacrifice."
"Can I not bargain from a position of strength?" he questioned, disliking the tactical disadvantage of such a weakness. It was bad enough that his love for her had become a chink in his armor, worse that he would have to remove his breastplate to her completely and allow her the chance to run him through.
"No," Catherine said. "Not if you want her to love you in return."
"But why is it this way?" he asked.
"For both sides of the relationship to be equal, the risk must be equal," Catherine explained.
"She does not like me, let alone love me," Trowa argued. "Exposing my heart to her would be a good way to get it handed back to me on a platter."
"That may be, or it may be that she'll recognize the kind of strength it takes to bare such a weakness to her and admire you for it."
"Admiration is not love," Trowa said.
"It's a start," Cathy said back.
"Is there no other way to win her affections?"
"Well you've told me that she cannot be bought with gifts, nor charmed with kindness, but think back; those times when you showed something of yourself, of the man you are, what happened?"
Trowa thought back. The morning she had spent with him on his errands had made her cry but part of those had seemed to be tears of pity for him, which meant that she had been feeling sympathetic… a favorable emotion! Then the afternoon they had spent together he'd showed her his favorite hobby, that of history; and she had spent the evening with him of her own free will! He had then granted her freedom, equal power and a measure of sovereignty in order to arrange the fete and had been rewarded by a bevy of practical jokes worthy of the trickster; that didn't seem so favorable. But if he looked at it another way, the tricks could be said to be a form of playfulness. Friends played practical jokes on each other, perhaps she was comfortable enough with him to consider him a friend. That was favorable. Trowa made the connection; when she got past his shields a little and got to see the man he was under the intimidating specter of death she seemed to warm to him a little.
"I understand now," Trowa said solemnly. "In order for her to love me, she will first have to come to know me. It means exposing myself to weakness and I like that not… but she is worth any risk to me."
Catherine smiled comfortingly and patted his hand.
"That's the way it should be."
She kissed him on the cheek and rose to leave.
"Trowa, this doesn't mean she won't respond favorably to gifts," Catherine said as she wove her joy-light about herself in preparation to disappear once more. "Just see if she doesn't respond more actively to gifts that include thought and something of yourself in them. Think about it."
With that, she disappeared.
Midii had kept herself busy for the past week in Romafeller under Lady Une's protective and solicitous eye. Hilde hadn't been able to keep up with both her own job as attendant to Lady Une and do Midii's share of the work as well so things had fallen behind after they'd given up on trying to train one of the other ten brainless wonders. It was both a comfort and a trial to be returned to her accustomed duties. In her short time as the Lady of Deaths Realm she had perhaps gotten a little too comfortable with having her way in everything and arranging matters to her own satisfaction. Midii chafed a little at all of the restrictions on her time and the narrow confinements of her duties. Once again she didn't even get to place flower arrangements without the nod of Lady Une, nevermind wanting to remove that enormous statue of Trieze in all of his glory that adorned Lady Une's dressing room.
Midii discovered somewhat to her inner dismay that there were other things that she missed; her jokes on Trowa being among them oddly enough. He was so serious all of the time, seeing the look on his face when something unexpected happened had been amusing to her. And then there was the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't watching him; it wasn't as though she liked it, but really any girl would be susceptible to someone who looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in existence. She was always the first thing he sought out upon his return to his realm; not that there was much else to look for but hearing everyday that he had been waiting all day to look upon her face was beginning to have its effect on her. So it wasn't really her fault that her mind kept wandering back to him.
She was a little (a very little mind you) concerned; Trowa was a fully grown adult but he spent too much time alone. And his duties were so ghastly. She was apprehensive that he was going to succumb to ennui without someone to talk to. Spending so much time alone in such a dismal environment wasn't healthy after all, so it definitely wasn't because she was worried about him personally!
Still, it wouldn't hurt anything to check on him. Just purely for her own peace of mind of course, because for all she knew that estate could have run itself into the ground without her there to supervise; that she knew darned well that it wasn't possible was aside of the point!
Midii silently snuck back to her private chambers. She was currently supposed to be sorting Lady Une's prayer-mail and discarding the calls of the faithless from the ones in true need of her services. Temple-prayers came in pink envelopes; they'd sacrificed two goats at least. Once within her familiar room she checked about for the presence of the invisible servants that periodically came in to clean up and put away (despite Midii's efforts to get them to leave things where she left them). There were none about, so she dimmed the lamps that they had lit and slunk into her closet, the darkest place in her entire suite.
"Shadowed One," she called softly into the gloom. She knew it was there; she had seen the occasional flicker of moving shadow each morning and discovered that her stolas had been neatened and laid out for her before she awakened.
"Shadowed One?" she repeated.
"Ysssssss…" a flit of darkness replied, the first sound she had ever heard out of one in fact. Most they were just there, silent, ubiquitous, laying everything out near to hand.
"I… Umm," she said, flushing a little and feeling unaccountably shy. The Shadowed Ones had no feelings good or bad, they did what they were bid and served so it was illogical that she would feel shy in front of one.
"I want to see him," she said softly. "Show him to me."
No need to specify the "him" in question; there was only one "him" it could be when making a request of a Shadowed One. The Shadowed One swayed a bit in the gloom, misted over then coalesced into a mirror of blackest obsidian. There in its surface she saw Trowa; he wore his cloak of shadows and his working armor, his face was a little averted as he bent to a task she could not see. Well, he looked fine enough…
She saw him let out a wistful little sigh and abruptly a horse's muzzle nudged at his shoulder, almost seeming to comfort him. He turned and patted the animal on the side of the neck, his demeanor softening a little with his silent companion. The God of the Underworld and his steed Mortis were the stuff of legend, so it would make sense that they would obviously have a close working partnership. He said something to the beast that did not carry through the image-only mirror and Midii discovered an odd pang at not being able to hear his voice.
Stupid, she thought to herself. This man was her enemy; just because she spent time with him didn't mean she liked him. Because she didn't; she didn't like him at all…
She banished the image, the mirror and the Shadowed One with an abrupt gesture and strode out of the room to attend to her proper duties like a good handmaiden should. Really, it was a waste of time to worry about him all alone in his miserable existence. She had work to do!
"I pray for glory, I pray for good crops, please bless my house with a bountiful harvest, please tell that odious jerk to get off my tail…" Midii muttered to herself, riffling through the morning's prayers to her mistress.
Lady Une was a popular goddess for a number of reasons; as Goddess of Nature she usually got the usual requests for bountiful harvests, protection from storms and earthshakes, and pleas for mercy when nature showed its teeth. Mortals were too short lived to realize that the short-term inconveniences they prayed against were necessary changes to maintain a greater balance. As Protectress of women she got her fair share of requests from the distaff for her protection against the stronger sex; not surprising, it was in many ways a man's world in the mortal realm. There were places where women were treated equally as it should be, but there were also lands where women were treated as chattel; unfortunately in those lands Lady Une held little sway and so could not properly visit her wrath upon them for their effrontery. She did what she could.
At the moment Lady Une had in mind the expansion of her influence into one of those impudent territories that dared mistreat its women with chains and beatings; all she was looking for was the right pretext. Usually she chose a mortal woman of unusual strength and character to be her chosen avatar. Lady would grant her person special powers which would enable the woman to do her work; her fist task would be to start an underground worship that would breed on discontent into an uprising, during which Lady would ruthlessly oust the reigning nature-spirits and assimilate their cults into her own worship. Once her power base was secure she was free to go about distributing her favors and meting out her justice until the stubborn men of that realm awakened to the fact the women were there to be their partners not their slaves.
Oh, Lady was sweet and gentle a good part of the time, but she was utterly ruthless when there was something she wanted. If Trieze ever asked a favor of her it was like setting the hounds of hell loose; she tear up anything that got in her way. It could be scary, usually Treize didn't ask. Midii didn't blame him one bit.
Midii was bent over her handful of Lady's missives as she walked down the hall to attend her morning dressing meeting and so she didn't notice when someone manifested directly in her presence. Didn't notice that was until she walked directly into her. Midii fell backwards, landing on her rump with an expression of surprise. That was odd, this hallway was almost always empty. She didn't immediately recognize the woman she was faced with either… some minor goddess or other to judge by her glow. Oddly enough she was frowning down at Midii fiercely while she picked herself up and gathered her Lady's mail. Midii couldn't recall anything she had done lately to offend anyone, she was the shyest and least offensive of Lady's handmaidens so the unknown goddess must be displeased about something else.
"Excuse me," Midii said quietly, bowing he way out of the Goddess's presence and continuing on her way.
"You're not excused," the goddess informed her sharply. "Come, I will talk with you."
"With me?" Midii said cluelessly. She'd never met the woman before in all of her life! Why did she suddenly feel the need to talk with Midii? She looked unhappy about something… Midii tried to think back to anything she might have said or done to offend the goddess but came up blank. Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity.
"I'm Midii, Lady Une's handm—"
"I know who you are," the goddess snapped at her. "Come along."
As a goddess she outranked Midii by, well, quite a bit, and Midii couldn't disobey a direct order from a powerful being but her Lady was expecting her and Midii couldn't shirk her duties either. She was caught between a rock and a hard place. But the Goddess already had her by the wrist and was dragging her off for her little chat so…
"Um… excuse me," Midii said a little timidly. "But my Lady is—"
"Lady Une has eleven other handmaidens," the goddess said unequivocally. "She can spare you for the morning."
Midii fell silent and let herself be dragged off. Really what could she do?
Why me? she wondered dismally. At least this one didn't seem inclined to force her away from her home. Indeed, the goddess sat her down beside a reflecting pool and seated herself beside Midii.
"Now," the goddess said by way of preamble. "I hear that you find my brother unsatisfactory in some way and I mean to find out why."
Midii blinked, now well and truly confused. Brother? Unsatisfactory? Huh?
"I'm sorry… who are you?" Midii asked. The woman blinked for a moment at this, taken aback, then her face cleared.
"I am Catherine," she said. "The Goddess of Joy."
"And who is your brother?" Midii persued, trying to get things straight.
"You've been staying with him for weeks," Catherine said. "Trowa, the God of the Underworld of course!"
Midii was taken aback. The Goddess of Joy and the God of the Underworld were related! What a weird combination. Catherine seemed so sociable and Trowa, well—wasn't.
"Oh," Midii said eloquently.
"What precisely is your problem with my brother," Catherine demanded directly.
Midii just stared at her for a moment as if she were incredibly dense. What was her problem with Trowa! Where did she want her to start?
"He kidnapped me," Midii said, stating the obvious. With dense people it was probably best to be direct.
"Okay…" Catherine said, nodding a little as if making a mental note of it. "Go on."
Midii stared again; there was something very odd about this situation.
"He forced me to stay in that dismal hole he calls a realm with him without any sunlight," Midii added.
"I see, and what else?"
"He insulted and defied my Lady," Midii replied.
"Is that all?"
"…"
Well, yeah, pretty much, she thought. He's nice to me, so those are really his only crimes, well that and his fashion sense.
"He won't let me come home for good," Midii said at last, for good measure.
"So, that's all then? You're only mad because he kidnapped you and won't let you come home? You don't have a problem with Trowa as a person?" Cathy pressed.
Midii was brought up a little short by that.
"Ano… yes," she said, surprised to hear the admission emerge from her mouth. She knew at once however that it was truth. She didn't have anything against Trowa personally; in fact she even rather liked him… sort of. It was his actions that had made her have an aversion to him.
"Marvelous!" Catherine said. "I don't see the problem then!"
"The problem," Midii said acidicly. "Is that he kidnapped me from my home, makes me stay there in his dismal realm with him and won't let me come back where I belong!"
"But you're here now," Cathy pointed out, sounding a little cajoling.
"Only because I had to swear to him that I would return in order for him to let me go for even this long," Midii shot back.
"It's not so bad down there," Cathy said reasonably.
"Oh no? Why don't you live there then?" Midii replied. "Maybe then he wouldn't need company so badly he goes about stealing innocent handmaidens!"
"I can see you're upset, and I suppose that given your situation you have every right to be," Catherine said slowly.
You're darn right I do, Midii thought but didn't say out loud. It didn't matter; Catherine could probably read the thought on her face anyway.
"But can you honestly tell me," Cathy continued. "That after having spent some amount of time in his company, willing or not, that you feel nothing for him at all?"
Midii was a basically honest person and it wasn't in her nature to lie. She had been struggling wih the very same question for days herself; she knew she felt at least concern for him but she also knew that if she allowed herself to feel anything more for him that it would create problems for her. She was Lady Une's handmaiden; her place was with her lady. If she allowed herself to acknowledge his growing presence in her thoughts then it would only create pain for her when she finally did leave him to return home for good. She knew that she would too; nothing could withstand against a determined effort by Lady Une.
"Well?" Catherine pressed after watching Midii stare at her hands in silence for a few minutes.
"It doesn't matter," Midii said at last, deciding to sidestep the issue altogether.
"Of course it matters!" Cathy replied. "Why are you being so stubborn about this? Sure, he kidnapped you from your home. Okay, so he lives in a gloomy doom-castle. And fine, he's not precisely the life of the party. But none of that will matter if you let yourself see what a wonderful person he is inside. If you let that happen you'll be sure to love him, and love would make you happy."
"That's precisely what I'm afraid of!" Midii snapped, losing her patience at last. "Have you ever seen what happens to people who get in Lady Une's way? She'll tear bloody strips off from him in no time flat once she found a pretext to invade his realm. Nobody thwarts Lady Une. She'll get me back and Trowa will suffer for it."
"But he's willing to try simply because he loves you," Cathy argued. "Trowa doesn't care how angry your Lady gets with him as long as he can live with you beside him. He's willing to brave the most terrible and fearsome goddess in Romafeller just so that he can keep you near him. Would it be so bad to let him?"
"It's not that I don't see what a truly good man he is under all that grim silence, and it's not that I don't care about him," Midii said. "But it just can't work. I miss the sunlight too much when I'm down there and I worry about my lady too. I have responsibilities here, and Romafeller is my home."
"Home is where the heart is," Cathy said, getting up to leave. "Think about it…"
And with that she flashed out of the room. Midii sighed to herself a little forlornely.
Why me? she wondered to herself. Truth to tell, the longer she spent away from Trowa the more she thought about him rather than less. She hadn't had the courage to go and find her Shadowed One and get another peek at how he was doing but that didn't mean she didn't think about him. There were times during the day where she would be arranging her lady's schedule when she'd catch herself absently listening for his footsteps in the hallway. It had become a habit for her. Or she'd be out sitting in the garden sorting through her Lady's mail when she'd find herself absently straining to catch his voice talking to his horse Mortis nearby. Of course this was Romafeller and he wasn't nearby.
Face it. Be honest with yourself Midii, she thought to herself. You miss him.
The recent conversation with Catherine had rather brought matters to a head for her. She discovered that she no longer felt the desire to waste energy by spending so much time and effort ignoring things that were very difficult to ignore. Trowa was a good man; honest, hard-working, dutiful and kind (and he was handsome too). So what if he lived in the Underworld? It was still seriously creepy down there but the improvements she'd made around the estate made it bearable. Treize had had a point; if Trowa had come to Lady Une openly with intent to woo her handmaiden away from her the Lady would have sent him on his way. So he'd kidnapped her, so what? He'd never mistreated her thereafter (excepting the fact that he wouldn't let her come back home). He'd even devised a way to get her out into the sunlight again but his stoic nature had blinded him to the fact that he had an awful job and one that would greatly disturb her. Once he realized that she found the unpleasant aspects of his occupation terrible he'd immediately taken measures to soothe away her fright and make her happy again.
Midii still resented (a little) the fact that she couldn't bring herself to hate him the way he deserved for taking her away from her home, but she decided then and there that resentment for someone she was growing to care for was a waste of her time and efforts. Lady Une had once told her a good piece of wisdom about holding grudges, she had said; "Midii, regrets are a waste of your time. They are the past crippling you in the present." Sage advice really, though the giver would probably be dismayed that Midii was going to take it to heart in this situation.
Trowa was a good man and he deserved to be happy. Midii was coming to care for him, and really what was the harm in letting herself feel for him? If she went right on dwelling on this thing then she'd only be impinging upon her own happiness! She knew deep down that allowing herself to feel something for him besides resentment wasn't only just "making the best of a bad situation;" if she really opened her heart to him there was a good chance that she was going to feel something a great deal more meaningful than pity. Just look how much she'd grown to care for him while making a concentrated effort not to! If she removed that last barrier stopping her heart from having its own way her concern for him would most probably evolve into something very significant indeed.
So I guess it's settled then, she thought, quite surprised at herself and her own decision. A week ago if anyone had asked her if she'd ever make a choice like this of her own free will she'd have scoffed and told him to take himself off. Perhaps absence really did make the heart grow fonder.
"Shadowed One," Midii called quietly, knowing that no-one would be along to intrude on her solitude for a few minutes yet. Her own shadow cast by her body intercepting the path of the light suddenly stretched and flickered as her Shadowed One grew up from it. It hovered there, dancing, awaiting her orders.
"Fetch me a vase from the mortal realm," she orderd it. The thing flickered out and Midii walked out into the gardens. She wandered about the paths and fields that featured grand flower-sculptures, curtains of flowering vines and fountains of roses carefully selecting a blossom here, a bloom there. Midii was an old hand at flower arrangement and soon she had a bunch that was lively and pleasing to all the senses. A moment later the Shadowed One appeared bearing an exotic vase of blue crackled glass and she set the flowers in it and arranged them further to her satisfaction, cutting a stem here or moving a flower there. Satisfied she handed the vase over to the Shadowed One.
"Take this to Trowa, and be careful not to drop it or disarrange the boquet."
In a trice the Shadowed One disappeared. Midii smiled in satisfaction; flowers were just the thing to brighten up the Underworld. The recipient would be pleased too and she found oddly enough, that that pleased her as well. Feeling good, and well-pleased with herself, Midii wandered off to catch the last of the morning meeting she had missed, sorting mail as she went.