Holy Crap!!!! it's been a long time!!! College has been running me ragged, absolutely completely ragged. I hope this long chapter makes up kind've for the long wait all of you have had. I had a major case of writer's block with this story. Homework has not been kind to me. I should've been studying for math because i have a test tomorrow, but i just wanted to write on this story. i had an idea and i wanted to run with it. So i did. I hope you all like it. I really hope you all like it. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the g-boys. i do however own the creatures of heaven and hell
Chapter the twenty-eighth
Onward!!
Back in the future
JC, Darien, Vicky, Kaori, and Heero were on their way back as the clouds above them began to clear up. The sky was now a slight overcast dull light. They could see the house in the distance. As it was beginning to become night time, the lawn lights were on and they could see Duo and Alex in the big kitchen window over the flower pots on the window sill. They were still reading the book; Alex's mouth was moving and every once in a while her eyes would look at Duo's to gauge his emotions. As it was, Duo didn't look to pleased but he didn't look like he was ready to go atomic.
JC and Darien lead the walk back to the house with Kaori and Vicky behind them and Heero bringing up the rear. The two female deities were walking with their heads held together while Kaori quietly updated Vicky on the whole story behind the God and Goddess of Death.
"Are you telling me, that they've been "mates" since about 500 years before Christ was born? You can't possibly mean that." Vicky was confused by the fact that for every type of goddess there was a god. She just thought each deity was on their own.
"They've been mates for as long as time as ticked by. Ask father time here." Kaori pointed to JC who turned his blue Mohawk head and lifted a studded eyebrow. "He'd probably know how long they're been 'made for each other.'"
"Why are you referring to me now as Father Time?" JC asked, turning back towards the front. "I've never been Father Time…ever."
"Well," Kaori said, putting a finger to her chin, "To put it lightly, or shall I say, to put it kindly, frankly, JC, you're old….like really old. Your what, over 2500 years old? Maybe more?"
JC had the wise-ness not to say anything. He only walked on.
After finally reaching the door, Darien pulled the screen door open and both Alex's and Duo's head popped up in surprise. They were sitting next to each other, each holding down a half of the ancient novel.
"What part are you up to?" JC asked, walking inside, his surf trunks swishing as he moved.
The two looked at each other, then looked back at JC. Finally it was Alex who answered for the both of them. "Claudius just ran away from Duo."
JC sighed, "You have a long way to go. So, I supposed you should continue reading."
"We've been reading here for almost three hours. I'm hungry I say we go get some food." Duo stood up and went to go walk out the door. Alex stood up after him and went to go move around JC who was in the doorway. Darien was standing in the doorway, his blonde hair framing his head. Kaori and Vicky were behind him, looking inside and Heero was in the back with the sky darkening around him.
Alex looked at Duo, who smiled at her. " I'm in the mood for Italian food."
"After you just read the beginning of an Italian Birth Story?" Alex asked, flashing a broad smile.
"Of course!! That's the best time!!" The two of them laughed, and started walking out the door. "You do know," Duo said with a laugh, "We're going to have to read the rest of that story. I want to know what happens to you and me."
"I'm particularly curious about why in the world I died and came back."
The two of them were only minutely aware that the rest of the group was following them. They held the book between them as they walked into town, arms hooked as if they'd been friends forever.
"The quicker you two finish reading that book, the quicker you can start learning how to harness your powers." JC piped up from right behind the two. He kind of hoped that the two would decide to read more and get it over with.
Alex stopped, unhooking her arm from Duo's, and turned to JC. She looked between JC, Darien, Vicky, and Kaori. "What happens if we don't 'Harness our powers'?"
JC looked at Darien who looked back. Vicky had a confused look on her face. She had no idea what a mate actually was. She knew what love was, growing up human and on Earth. But what exactly did it mean to have a mate?
Kaori shook her head as if to dispel unpleasant thoughts and spoke for the group. "If you don't harness your powers, you both will go insane. Your power, Alex, will continue to almost fall prey to his since yours were awakened and Duo's were his from the moment he was born. Yours were kind of like a recessive gene due to the fact that you were born from a goddess and a human. The feeling that made you run from him for two years will continue to haunt you because his powers are awakening and calling to yours. The reason why you felt that feeling was because your power is being gathered by his, which is stronger then yours, and your powers are strengthening because of his." Kaori was quiet after this. She walked with her head held high, but turned slightly away from the main group. As they watched her in the after silence, a single tear flowed down her cheek.
The group stopped as she spoke. Alex and Duo, arms still linked, looked at each other and just sort of shrugged. Let sleeping dogs lie, they thought.
Continuing to walk, they lead the way to a little mom and pop Italian restaurant. As they peeked over the menu, the rest arranged themselves to fit at the smaller table. The waitress came by, a bouncy brunette with her hair in a ponytail who looked like she was about to drop off her feet. With a smile on her face, she asked what the group would like.
"Howdy, what can I get ya'll tonight?"
They all looked at each other.
JC held up his hands, "Don't ask me to start. The last time I had Italian food was before I was crucified. I can't stomach the stuff after that night. I think I'll pass."
"Me to" Darien said, placing his menu down on the table.
The waitress turned to Heero. Surprise registered on her face. "Hey! You're one of those Gundam Pilots, aren't you?"
He groaned, inching down in his seat, pulling the menu up over his face. A smug smile bloomed on his face when Duo was given the same treatment. The waitress went on for about ten minutes saying how very happy she was for them to have been fighting in the war. She absolutely wouldn't leave until they signed her order sheet.
"Sheila, I need four house specials!! Pronto!!" She called back into the kitchen as she walked over to the kitchen counter and started whispering and gesticulating wildly.
Alex looked at the two boys and burst into laughter. They still wore the smiles they had pasted onto their faces, although there was a surprisingly worried look in their eyes now. They looked like they were about to run out of the small restaurant and hide in some trees.
When she finally reigned in her laughter, she turned to look at Vicky and Kaori next to her. Vicky was snickering behind her hand and Kaori had a mildly confused look on her face.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked Kaori, who turned her gaze upon the dark blue haired girl.
"She didn't even ask me what I want…"
"Well, we're getting the House Special thanks to our resident celebrities here." Alex motioned towards the still red faced gundam pilots.
"Well, what if I didn't want the House Special?"
"Then tell our very spunky waitress what you want."
"She already called in the order. There's no point. I guess I'll just have to try the House Special." Kaori sighed and looked at the designs on the table. "You going to come back to work?"
"I have to now. Now, don't I?" Alex replied, shifting the way she was sitting.
"Yes, you do, Alex," Darien piped up, putting his hands on the table. "You have run poor grim nearly ragged.
Alex looked up at the God of Heaven in shock. "How exactly have I run the guy ragged? He's bones and a cape. There's nothing to run ragged on him."
Darien opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say as a retort to her statement. Coming up with nothing, he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.
Darien placed his gaze upon the Goddess of Death and the now known God of Death. "Tomorrow, the two of you will have to go to Meryl. She can fill you in on any questions that you have."
They both nodded, and settled in to eat as the waitress came walking over holding a platter with four plates on it. It looked like the House Special was Ravioli.
She hefted the heaping plates, placing one each in front of both Heero and Duo and kind of just tossing down the ravioli in front of Kaori and Alex. She turned, giving the two boys a dainty smile saying that they should enjoy the meal and if they needed anything to just call her back before walking back into the kitchen.
"Hey!!" Vicky called after the brunette waitress. "Hey come back!!"
Alex and Kaori looked at each as Vicky said back with a defeated look on her face.
"I wanted Ravioli." She said, "She was in such a hurry to feed the two heroes here that she forgot one of the dishes."
Kaori pushed her plate towards Vicky, "You can have mine. I don't like Ravioli."
As the purple haired deity pushed her plate towards Vicky, the Warrior woman, The God and Goddess of Death, as well as Heero began to eat. Silence reigned the table with only the sounds of plates clinking in the kitchen . When they were all finished, the four of them sat back and waited for their conversation to continue. Darien leaned forward preparing to speak, but Alex beat him to it.
"Where exactly does Meryl live?"
"The Witch lives in the Land of the Dead. You need to travel through the Valley of Silence in order to reach the Land of the Dead. It's the only way to reach her."
Everybody stared at Darien as if he'd just spoken a very shocking thing, which in fact, he did.
"Isn't the Land of the Dead the beginning of Hell?" Vicky asked, giving Darien a glare that could kill.
"Yes, it is. It's the only way to get to Meryl's cottage. She lives in seclusion through the millennia. She won't die, and she's fit as ever, but she's aged. I've only seen her once in the last thousand years." Darien sighed, "I wish there was an easier way to do this. But this is the only way. Your power, Duo, is rising too fast for us to be able wait for the two of you to finish the book."
Duo nodded. "Alright, so, we'll go to the Land of the Dead and get the rest of the story told to us. Or summarized. No biggie."
Kaori turned to Duo, anger showing on her face. "No biggie!? Duo, do you have any idea what exactly is in the Land of the Dead?!"
He smiled nervously, "Uhh, dead people??"
"Much more then that," Kaori said, "Dead people, spirits caught between worlds, demons, fantastical creatures. Duo, not even those are as dangerous as the last problem, the last hazard."
"What's the last hazard?" Duo asked, curiosity peaked.
"The last hazard," JC interrupted, "is the fact that your human. Since no one knows where Meryl's house is and it changes frequently your soul would be attacked from all sides. You would be killing yourself gradually, the farther you moved into the Land of the Dead. On top of that, since you're going to Meryl's, you need to offer something to her equal to what you want from her or you won't be able to find her house at all." JC pulled his lip ring into his mouth letting the first half settle into their minds. "Since you are seeking the life story of the Goddess of Death, your offering should be in your life's blood. The blood will hold a double purpose in the fact that, the more blood the two of you offer, the better a chance you have at not encountering a demon, ghoul, a spirit, or a fantastical creature. Meryl will only give as much information as she deems is necessary for the amount of whatever she is offered. For example, if you both offer a small amount of blood, your scent will attract demons and whatnot much easier, and if you even get to Meryl's she will offer a small amount of whatever you're seeking of her. Plus, you would have to get back."
He paused, "Any questions?"
"Yeah," Duo said, "Why me??"
-end 4 now-
so, how'd you like it. that is six months of writer's block combined with packing for college, packing for my things being packed away in a storage bin, leaving for college, starting college, going through the entire first semester, zipping through thanksgiving break, and writing the night before a math test that i should be studying for. leave me some love. tell me you like it. please? it's been a long time and i'd really like reviews. it'd make me feel good. :) Like my writing wasn't for nothing. Oh and tell me if your confused by anything. love you guys!! Mwah!!!!