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Eclipse of Dusk

By: Hseru

Warnings: Shounen ai later on 1x2 3x4 5x? (poor Wuffers)

Disclaimer: I own not Gundam Wing, but I do own the world the G-boys traverse. Fear my god power

Chapter 13

Heero blinked as the little girl said this.

"The embodiments of our world?" He asked, slightly perturbed. The girl nodded, her multicolored hair rippling down in glowing waves.

"I am the earth spirit, what many would call…the mother earth." She said, black eyes wide with what appeared to be barely suppressed youthful amusement as she watched his compelling reaction. "My sisters are the air, fire, and water spirits."

Skepticism was Heero's inevitable reaction, and he now looked at her again in this new light. Ironic, he thought, that the mother earth would be a child.

"Right now, you are doubting my credibility…" She murmured knowingly. "I understand that it is hard to get past my outer appearance, but be assured; I am who I claim to be."

"And how do you expect me to believe that?" He asked almost indifferently, now surreptitiously glancing around for the weapons he could feel were no longer on his person.

With a slight nod, as if she had expected the question, which was quite possible, she moved over to the stone wall, raising a small hand to its smooth length.

"Your companions are not far from here…" She murmured. "They are searching for you both. The elvish commander does not wish to remain, but the others still wish to search further. They fear for the worst…"

Heero angled his cobalt gaze to her as she said this.

"How do you know these things?" He asked. She glanced back at him, those black eyes peering straight into his soul with a clarity even Heero himself could see. Then she traced a light circle against the wall, touching it with her fingertips.

Much to Heero's wonder, the stone there changed, becoming transparent. Then he realized, not transparent, but a window of sorts, as a picture of the elvish party came into view.

"I can see all that happens on my ground. As my ground consists of all the world, I have but to think of a place and can then see it and all that transpires." She again looked back at him.

"You have no idea how far back a world can remember..." She murmured, with a hint of sadness it seemed.

Directing his attention back to the view portal, she swiped her hand across it, changing the picture. The elves blurred away, and Quatre and Wufei came into view. Heero was almost surprised to see the silent figure of Trowa there as well, but then again, Quatre had his methods.

"They have parted ways." She said, voice back to the cheery, yet paradoxically undermining tone. "The elven leader wanted to continue hunting the black dragon, whilst your companions wished to be certain you both were lost beyond their aid."

They should have continued with the mission, Heero thought, while Phenris passively watched him.

"They care about you too much..." She said, again reading his thoughts. He angled a glare at her, but she didn't show any inclination to react to it.

"Your dream..." She instead began, turning from the stone wall as the pictures faded and again became so much rock. "You never answered me what you dreamt."

The sudden change of subject threw him for only a second. He considered not answering her, but for some reason he did believe that she was who she said she was. Perhaps the way her eyes had bored into his core being, looking past all the barriers, and the inhuman coldness that had grown within him to the still living, breathing center.

"I saw a great animal..." He began slowly, hesitantly. Standing was tiring his already sore body, so he sat on the edge of the bed he had previously occupied. "Black. I believe it was a dragon. It rose from the flames that were the ground, and flew towards me. Then the flames grew, shaping themselves into a bird equal in size to the dragon, wreathed in flames. A bolt of lightning struck the ground between them, then they both attacked whatever caused it in unison, killing it, but it killed the dragon in the process..." He paused for a moment after the unusually long string of words left his lips. "The bird...it cried its loss...and then I woke up." That cry still made him shiver as he recalled its horrible pain.

Looking up, he met Phenris' black gaze. She nodded slowly after a moment.

"Time is short then..." She said, taking a step back from him. Then she turned, heading over to where Duo lay.

Following, Heero glanced down at Duo as she pulled up a low stool next to his bed.

"Do you know why you have possession of your gift?" She suddenly asked him. Heero blinked.

"My ...gift?" He asked, somewhat perplexed. She turned to look at him.

"Know you not that you have the gift of the Phoenix?" She questioned. "Your abilities. They were given to you because you are brethren to them in some way or another." She looked like she had expected him to know this already.

It was news to Heero. Glancing at his hands, he eyed her.

"Phoenix? There are none still living. The last one was killed over a hundred and fifty years ago." He said in response. Phenris sighed, as if she were exasperated with dealing with the inept.

"Do you think I would voice something so important if I were hazarding a guess?" She asked, and Heero had to admit, at least to himself, that the question had been his first response, rather than the smartest. So he kept quiet rather than answer her again.

"I want you to use your abilities to protect him…" Phenris went on after a moment of silence. Heero blinked at the abrupt change in object of discussion.

"Why?" He asked, then elaborated on his query, adding one of the most important questions he had to ask to it. "Why, of all of us, was he singled out?"

She at first did not answer him, looking the long haired youth over with hooded eyes.

"…That storm was sent by a powerful sorcerer." Phenris finally said quietly. "He wants this boy out of the way."

"Why? Who is he, and what threat does Duo pose to him?" Heero immediately asked again.

"…Sarkan knows that if this boy ever broke free of his chains, he would have no chance of succeeding in his plans." Phenris said quietly, extending her hands over Duo's prone body.

"Chains?..." He was silent for a stunned minute. His eyes strayed to the abrasive collar about Duo's pale neck, and understanding dawned. "...What is this...Sarkan...planning?" He then asked slowly.

Phenris looked up at him, and for a moment, he had a glimpse of the world through her eyes. Through the years upon end that she had lived, aging her in his own eyes a million times over. Every war that so called sentient creatures had created, every death, every birth, even down to the very first living being that had crawled from the primordial ooze with her gentle aid behind it. But he also saw her helpless frustration at not being able to stop those deaths and wars. All she could do was watch as her children died.

"...He wants to open a portal to the lower realm. He's summoning forth his master, a terrible being that once loose, would bring death and destruction upon the entire world..." Her voice was eerily quiet, expressing no emotion that Heero could detect. It would have been disturbing coming from anyone, but coming from an apparent child's lips, the implications seemed almost too horrible to contemplate lest one go mad.

"...Does he know?" Heero asked, motioning to the unconscious youth on the bed. Phenris gently shook her head.

"No. Some time ago, Sarkan got his hands on him. He locked away this boy's essence in a diamond placed atop his staff. All of his memories were washed away, leaving him empty and powerless." Her hands began to glow a soft white, the light reflecting in her eyes. Eyes that showed the most profound sadness in their black depths.

"Sarkan stole his soul..."

Heero was startled as she almost silently uttered this, so much that it stilled his natural habit to question for a while.

The white light suffused from her hands, and flowed like silken fog over Duo's body. Despite the fact that Heero could not readily see what was taking place, he had a feeling that she was speeding his recovery and return to consciousness.

After a while, the light dissipated.

"That's all I can do at the moment…" She murmured, lowering her hands from over Duo's still inert body. "If I go too fast, there could be lasting damage…and the rest he can handle himself."

Finding his ability to speak once again, Heero made an attempt to voice the thoughts and questions that had been spiraling about the inside of his mind.

"You…you said that Duo's…essence...was sealed away. What did you mean by that?" He asked slowly.

Turning black voids on him, Phenris simply watched him for a moment, not answering. She almost looked to be judging him in some way. After a time, she came to a decision, for she stood, and walked the few steps to where he sat.

Despite the fact that she was so diminutive in stature, Heero had to look up from where he was sitting to meet her eyes.

"The one you know as Duo…his real name is Shinigami." She said quietly. "Sarkan took his true form from him, and left him as human, hoping it would do to keep him out of the way. The two are separate beings, yet share the same soul. However…" Here she paused, glancing over at the youth. "Shinigami's great spirit is not one to bow down submissively to being the slave of another. He is trying to break free of Sarkan's control and return to Duo so the two can be one again. It slowly kills the both to be so separated."

She angled her eyes to Heero, the soft orbs suddenly as sharp as her voice.

"I charge you, Heero Yuy, as everything you are, to protect him. He is the only being with the power to stop Sarkan's master. But…not only must you protect Duo…you must find Shinigami's soul and release it. Then will the two be one.

Then will the great black dragon fly free again."

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