Another -25 feb '13
Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.
Warning: due to work-stress, saru had some difficult times putting the images in mind to words...
chapter 17
Duo scratched his head.
Duo tsk-ed.
Duo hummed a long moan with a deep frown.
Duo rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand reflexively.
Duo grinned with a crying frown.
Duo's white horse snorted long with some flicks of her tail in annoyance.
Duo's half-smile froze.
"...sorry, but I'm thinking the worst right now. You should've met her too if not for the beasts separating us...-" he complained with a deffensive tone.
"Are you alright...?" Cail asked from his horse beside Duo, somewhat amused with Duo's antics when he's thinking.
Duo sweatdropped. "-hmmm... why no-one told me that the antler is gone? I'd take care of her myself, but Treize wouldn't let me out of my room...!" he scratched his head again nervously.
"That antler rested in the stable for three days and gone the next day; despite the locked doors and walls and all..." Cail frowned a little.
Duo chuckled dryly. "Ahahahahahh... yeah. Her owner seemed to have enough confidence that she could run very fast when it came to escaping...!"
"So, that owner of her... Where should we meet them?"
Duo paused, and stared matter-of-factly at the Lieutenant with a pout.
"-I was hoping the antler would find that person for me...!" Duo said with doomed tone.
"I see..." Cail seemed calm enough to take this outing as a leisure time, if only he knew Myrica in person; but Duo was hoping the girl wouldn't live up to his expectation that much -like some miracle could happen!- "Why don't you tell me things about this person, so I could suggest places where we should search them?"
Duo frowned with an almost bothered stare at the road. "...okay." But the things about Myrica jumbled together in his brain and he wasn't sure if telling a Palace soldier some things about her would be alright.
"She's a barbarian girl." Duo said fast.
Cail waited to hear more, but after some tens seconds of pause passed he realized Duo had finished his explanation. The man blinked and sweatdropped. "...that's it?"
"Oh... well..." Duo scratched his cheek; "She's from the Roude Lord's people...-" he started with a merriless smile. He tried to recall what her people were called but could only remember something about gold and couldn't put the exact word-
"An Aurilathan...?!" Cail asked with almost surprised face.
"Ah! That's right; Aurilatha...!" Duo smiled at the man and found his deep frown. "-...is something wrong, Lieutenant?"
"Does she have a pass? Aurilathans are not allowed to enter the King's City unless they have special pass from Noble sponsors or the Palace Army." Cail stared Duo with something flashing in his eyes.
Duo gaped at the man.
"...why?"
Cail frowned, something in his eyes told Duo that he was being judged as ignorant right now. "Our Kingdom battled them until they lost their home...?" he tried.
"Aaaahh!" Duo just realized. "-she's kind of barbaric but she's nice; we owe her our lives -and she knew how important the Palace Demon's safety and all that, too...!" he said fast.
The Lieutenant paused for some seconds, watching Duo changed his complexion and air.
"...I'm not accusing or anything, ...Duo... I was just asking whether she has a pass or not?"
Duo calmed down a little; he didn't miss the pause before Cail called him by his name too, it seemed the man still needed some familiarization time to pass the awkwardness. But he was hearlifted with the effort. He smiled with a relieved sigh; and then frowned. "...I don't know!" he said matter-of-factly mostly to himself. "She just said she'll meet me in King's City; but we were in the middle of some beasts' ambush at the time so I didn't ask for details... I'm sorry...!"
Cail blinked at Duo's dejected face, amazed that a boy could make so many cute expressions at that age. But then again, the man lived in the area where even children had to strife for a living; people in his environment were harden fighters. Opposite to being in a peaceful covenant.
"...what do you do in the covenant...?" he reflexively asked.
"Eh?" Duo didn't expect the sudden question, but he welcomed the calmer topic. "Earthly Mothers take care of orphaned children and needy people who couldn't take care of themselves. Wordly Mothers make charms and promises...-"
"Promises?" Cail arched his brows.
Duo chuckled. "Yes. Promises are about between spells and barters, but not as strictly as contracts. That's why it's called 'covenant', they make promises there."
"I see..." Cail said but his mind didn't really get what was said. "Oh, about that auri-girl; I might know some places where she could be. But it's in the shadier area than commoner's places...-"
Duo laughed heartily, "I kind of expecting you'd say that, Lieutenant...! Don't worry about me; I guess I just have to trust your judgement for the City."
The rows of buildings were built on rows of buildings on rows of alleys and bridges on rows of canals; everything was grey-looking and instead of shaddy, the right word should be shadowy, Duo thought. It was around noon and it was no different than dusk or dawn; he could only imagined how dark it would be in the night. The walls had small round holes as windows and were dark enough to be needing some oil lamps lighted the insides. The whole structure was jumbled and the floor plan was kind of maze-like; he wondered if everyone just added this-here and that-there according to their needs without planning at all. That's why he couldn't see the sky even when he looked up from a street, he'd fine someone's floor above his head or another bridge far above him. He'd definitely get lost if he were alone there.
Somewhere between the alleys and the second bridge -he'd recognized just because the sound of running water underneath reached his ears, Duo had lost track of what ground under his horse's feet; it looked like alleys but they passed opened rooms with almost rundown bunks and some tunnels resembling living quarters; and when he thought he was on a bridge and looked down hoping to see a canal, he saw a dark deep gap into the ground and some crisscrossing bridges under them. He sweatdropped feeling his throat somewhat dry. How many time in your life you get to walk on a bridge built above bridges, anyway?
"...why are there bridges under this bridge?" he couldn't help but ask.
Cail didn't even spare a glance down; "Those are not bridges; those are waterways." He said, expecting that kind of question.
"Where's the water?" Duo frowned and a drop of water decided to land on his cheek. He reflexively wiped it with his hand and opened his palm up checking whether it was starting to rain, and looked up.
"Up there."
"-I think I don't want to know the details...!" Duo quipped when he realized there were waterways crisscrossing above them too. He frowned deeper when a thought occurred to him. "Wait; don't tell me that we're walking in a waterway as well?!"
Cail snorted out a small smile; "(that's why) -I'm not telling you...!"
"Whaaa-?!" Duo flustered. "You sure anyone wouldn't try to flush us in here?!" The waterways were made of three-walled tunnels covered with metal bars on the top side, with solid metal gates at every intersection. So that's why there's a stream running in the middle of this bridge, Duo thought; he'd been meaning to ask that but the scene bellow shifted his attention. The tunnel they were in was barred from one-third of its height, that was around average adults' chest, which enabled them to look down, ...or in this matter, to look outside the long cage.
"It's true that there's a risk of being watered down, but we won't drown in this waterway."
"-won't drown, but watered neck-deep without a way to escape, for me, is still considered being drown; it's just not the usual drown...!" Duo objected. That earned him a chuckle from the Lieutenant.
"Why didn't we take the normal way across?"
"This is the normal way..." Cail smiled at Duo's disturbed pout. "The other side is only accessible from the waterways." He added.
Duo thought again and pointed up; "Can't anyone just use the top-way?"
"The cages are made to protect the wires that operate the watergates, as well as being the structure from where the gates are hung..."
"-like a guillotine!" Duo cut.
"Like a guillotine." Cail repeated.
"I hate guillotines!" Duo quipped.
The Lieutenant chuckled again. "Well, they're not made to be loved, but needed anyway...!" -he meant the watergates, not the guillotines.
"To block unwanted people from going into the city?" Duo meant the city as the commoners area, and frowned at the lining relatively neat dim lights he saw on the cliff surface of the other side, just bellow the lowest waterway tunnels; those were supposedly windows. "But we're behind the Palace...!" and countered his own suspicion.
But the shadow of the Palace mountain shaded the area, so it's bound to become a gloomy part of the city, anyway; especially if anyone thought to build their homes into the cliffs that were even bellow the lines of the city's disposal system, which were the canals.
"So, can't anyone just use the top-way?" Duo repeated.
"There won't be opening that's accessible from on top of the cages-"
"I think I see your reason!" Duo frowned again, the other-side just came into view and he was staring at bulky giant buildings with gigantic mills on their tops. The waterways were running to and fro the massive walls, and he reflexively looking for windows or any other opening on their surfaces. He could only found arrow-ports that must be considered as windows; the only things opened were landings and stairs and flying buttresses and if someone would also count in some curtain walls, in fact they're too open that they're made bare without any bars or railing or cases. "What are those?"
"The wind-watermills." And Cail chuckled at the words.
"Watermills that moved by wind? They're so busybodies...!" Duo commented. Cail laughed outright.
"They regulate water from the spring into the city, and circulate it inside their buildings too-"
"What for?" Duo blinked; he could guess the city water-regulating system part.
"Those are verve-factory buildings. They make verve-crystals there; and not only crystals..." Cail left it there.
Duo's brows arched. "That's why they're behind the Palace." He said flatly to himself. So, this was actually a vital area of the city; those were probably the city's weapon factory as well. Too vital that some people thought to hide their dirty secrets down there, he thought. "This can't be the normal way to get into the Factory, right?"
"The roads to the Factory are at the other side of the buildings. Or from the Palace that is not accessible for just anyone-" Cail agreed; "We're not going into the Factory, even if it's you, you'd need a written permission from Master himself to enter the Verve-Factory. The Factory is a city in itself..."
"...and who is Master...?" -that everyone had talked about with more than enough pressure in their tones. Duo felt a little left out at that topic.
"The King." Cail grinned; knowing Duo's thought of the subject.
"-and I thought you're going to say the person who built this Factory..." Duo commented, genuinely curious.
Cail laughed heartily, amused at the fact Duo could slide from the previous subject without embarrassment.
". . . what?" Duo asked with an innocent face.
-and he didn't even realize it; Cail thought.
"You know, Master Duo..." the Lieutenant said when his laughter subsided to chuckles.
"-ma...?!"
Cail put a hand up to stop Duo's outburst; "-either you have natural talent to be cute, or you have the required nerve to be a politician...!"
"WHAAAAATT?!" Duo gaped with flushed face; mostly because of the cute part.
"Oh, it's a compliment...!" Cail added fast while watching Duo's face turned completely red.
"Yo- ...you're going to say just like my cousin, right?" Duo pouted with a disturbed frown; that's mostly about the politician part.
"Ahahahaa; it's true that your cousin is a genius to slide from shame-"
"-You mean he's shameless and delusional!" Duo quipped.
"Yeaaaa- but he's waaay more refined...!" and Cail laughed again at Duo's heavy-pout. "Anyway, the scholars from Arn'crad thought it off... the Factory system...!" and decided he had to lighten Duo's mood back, otherwise they'd be awkward again.
Duo silenced for a moment, blinking his uneasiness away. ". . . you said there's spring. Where is it?"
"Just bellow us...!" Cail grinned stiffly.
Duo made a grimacing frown, took a glance at the dark gap in the ground; "I was afraid you're going to say that...!" he muttered; he never liked the idea of human's act that greatly changed nature's face, it felt like being insolent to the world itself.
"...-and I kept fondle it there, and it made those delicious spasms while sticking its tongue out-..." There was a round of leering guffaws, and snorts and some unholy cackles; the men banged their mugs onto the table, and those who were happened to take chugs from theirs hit the table with their palms repeatedly.
"Mmm! -mm...!" a man lifted his fore finger up to gain attention, and hit the mug onto the table from his mouth. He leered wide with dark gleams in his eyes, his incomplete lines of teeth made the drink leaked out of his slobbery mouth. "-last night the slut kept singing to my stick; and you know how much those pointy teeth felt good when it chew-...!" Another table banging and round of guffaw heard...
And Duo couldn't take it anymore; he tsk-ed with a dark frown and gleaming eyes filled with a promise of vengeance, and stood up. Cail pulled him by the arm to sit back.
"-But they're talking about that in the open-!" Duo snapped with a hiss when his butts hit the wooden chair hard, but his mind didn't register the pain at the moment.
"...we-are-not-in-the-open, Duo...!" The Lieutenant said slowly and carefully to Duo, almost over-mouthing every syllable to make his reason got across. He'd taken Duo to a couple of bars before this one, and usually three was enough to be counted. And that place had its own rules too... The verve-crystal in the Factory made enough energy-wall that magic users couldn't penetrate; that said, even The General wouldn't let Duo to go there without enough protection. No; considering how much he'd been paranoid in the past week, he wouldn't let Duo to go there at all...! And here the man thought he could help the boy by taking him to the most unlawful place in the King's City where thugs and bullies wore Palace attributes...?
Duo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists; never in his life he felt really disgusted by humans like he was then; it should be very easy to use his hands now since he's that angry. His hands were angry too pricking at his skin, banging at his surface to get out and to be allowed to wrack havoc. But he never let them out consciously in his waking hour; yet there's always a first time for everything! -a thought justified itself.
The men at their tables kept bragging about their nights with their-demons (Duo's mind refused to register that they were dreaming and talking of Heero), and others who acted more refined in the room didn't even care to put a stop to their openly showed excitement; some even seemed to discreetly enjoy their erotic conversation, leering by themselves in darken corners or hidden by their mugs at the bar counter. But their eyes showed contempt and agreement to the men's words. It's just as Relena said, you just need to find the right wall to place your ears to eavesdrop, and you'll find such men everywhere. And they were not some ruffians too, judging from their appearance; must be people who worked at the Factory or governmental offices around the area.
And they must blamed the Palace Demon too for their 'sickness', while they're wholeheartedly surrendering to their primal minds every night; that the Palace Demon was taking hold of their right-mind and that the poison had run too deep in every vessel of their bodies and ruling them, though they might never admit insanity for they'd be damned by the Palace. They just enjoyed the game and blamed other; as long as they're on the winning side.
Those kinds of people rot the world!
Cail pulled his hand from Duo's arm when he felt a sharp sting on his palm; he reflexively inspected his hand and found some crisscrossing blackish lines on the skin of his palm, it looked almost like the surface of a fractured pottery. He was aware of the inhumane excitement in Duo's wide eyes, shone with anger and delight in the dark; he knew he had to do something to snap the boy back to his senses, getting berserk in that area was not an option and that wasn't what he took him there for... probably a splash of cold beverage on the face could pull him back? -or would that put him on the wrong end of the boy's anger?
"SHUUU-TUUUUUPP! ME 'ANT EATING TO YOUR WO'DSSS!" a slurred yell followed with an axe kick that successfully broke those men's table in two snapped the bar to quiet.
"-'ANT LIKE NO GRIL, HUU?!" a tall girl stood somewhat wobbly backing the closed door; she was standing with a hunched pose exactly under the dim hanging lamp so her face was darkened by the shadow, but her bright blond hair made enough halo for Duo to recognized her.
She snatched a mug from a gaping man near her and his lax fingers didn't even put up a fight. "WHAAAAA-?!" she downed the content in a swig, which was not much since the man had splashed most of the liquor onto the table when he banged the mug repeatedly just then. "GRILS GOT NO TAIL FOR YOU ANYMORE, HUUH-?!" The girl pulled the man by his neck and actually hic-upped at his face.
"P-...p-hhh..." Duo tried to sigh and inhale some oxygen and say something at the same time, and just realized his throat wouldn't work like that. He inhaled deeply, and barked; "Pay the bill!" and leaped to his feet, tackling the girl straight to the door before a bar fight broke; and he knew the girl would actually enjoyed beating those men until their brains leak out to the floor.
-because he'd do just that...
Cail instantly at his feet, throwing a couple of silver coins onto the table and followed them close, pushing some angered drunks out of his way; when he got out, Duo and the girl were already gone from the narrow alley, so he ran to the direction of the stable where they left their horses, knowing Duo would look for streets that were with less people.
After some rat-tunnels and cat-paths later, a clear joyful laughter guided his way, booming in the narrow passageways and reverberated by the streaming water in the ground.
"-AHAAHAHAHAHAAAHHHAAA... -my Gods, it hurts-... HAAHAAAHAHAHAHAAHH..."
Duo wasn't impressed.
"-Mast..." Cail caught his tongue, "Duo!" he stopped beside Duo and tried catching his breath; he didn't think Duo could run that fast, and while carrying a taller girl on his shoulder too. The girl was -seemingly had been laughing heavily for some time- squatting on the floor hugging her stomach, while her laughter didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon. "Is this the owner...?" Cail asked Duo.
Duo spared a glance at the Lieutenant and frowned back at the girl.
"Hmph. I know you're not drunk; as if anything in this Kingdom could make someone like you drunk!" Duo snorted.
His words actually lessened her laughter to chuckles. "-eheeheeheeehh... that man, you know! That man on the far corner...!" she pointed a forefinger to Duo and left her words for another laughing-bubble broke and she couldn't help herself.
Duo sighed deeply and scratched his head. "You shouldn't make troubles with officials, especially in this city, right...?!" he gave her an admonishing frown.
She stood up. "I know...-hehehee -I'm older than you!" she said between chuckles and gave his shoulders a couple of hard squashing thumps.
"No...-!" Duo grimaced at her strength; "...and since when girls have tails, anyway?"
"AHAAAHAAHAAHAHAHAHHHAAHAAHHA HAHH...!" and her laughing-bubble burst again. Duo sighed deeper, surrendering to that; knowing his Fates had somewhat been kind enough to him giving her some pleasant enough mood so he wouldn't be at the wrong side of her attention.
"This is Myrica; she'd been a great help-..." Duo started to the Lieutenant.
"-'and without her we wouldn't have made it here safely'...!" Myrica continued his words while still chuckling.
Duo glanced at her and obeyed. "And without her we wouldn't have made it here safely. This is the Lieutenant from the Palace-"
"Cail." the man gave her a polite nod.
Myrica was still chuckling while inspecting the man. "You're a Lieutenant now? I know you-..." and she took a deep inhale of the man's scent from around his neck. Cail backed away a step with alerted look. Myrica looked like a cat sighting a mouse, wetting her lips with her tongue. "You're with the Commander 10 years ago...!" she narrowed her eyes delightfully.
Color was instantly drained from Cail's face; he reflexively bowed and opened his mouth to say something.
"-it's in the past now...!" Myrica brushed him off uncaringly and hooked Duo's left arm with both of hers. "Duoooo -, you seeee-..." she tried and chuckled again.
Duo frowned at the smell of her breath. "Don't tell me you've been drinking since you got here?"
"-Mmm-mmmm!" she negated with a grin, "I'm not drunk, just hyper...!"
"You've been drinking a lot, then!" Duo summed up.
She chuckled. "I was saying... -you don't need to feel obligated to mee; -because of you I got a gooood job here!" she grinned again and let go Duo's arm.
"Oh, Alata was-" Duo tried when Myrica presented her back to him and started walking away.
"Yeahh, she'll come find me later..." she waved behind without sparing him another glance.
Duo blinked at her departure. "-don't get into trouble!" he said half-consciously.
She snickered, "AHAHAHAHH! I don't need to!" she said before disappearing in a junction.
Duo's expression froze on his face, between a grimace and a gape. That only meant that she's already in one, right?
"Wait! What kind of job?!" Duo shouted.
"A good one!" her shout was reverberated through the dark cold tunnels.
They were walking quietly in a narrow alley, the width only allowed them to walk in a line; while Duo was somewhat bothered by her words about the good job -because something considered good by her standards couldn't possibly be good for common standards-, the Lieutenant was seemingly had his mind in another black hole too, although his face had had some colors back. Duo didn't need to see it in the dark tunnel a moment ago, the man's air had already given Duo enough reading of how much he was in shock by her words; which just meant that the man knew her from somewhere ...that happened 10 years ago? When was it that her homeland got demolished by this Kingdom's army again...?
Cail suddenly grabbed Duo down and Duo was so surprised he actually yelped like a girl.
"-. . . what?" he asked with a small voice, face flushed feeling embarrassed at the voice he made earlier. His back was pressed to the corner of some protruding wall that could barely make a cover for a person, let alone two people at once.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience; but those men before are definitely searching for you...!" Cail reported flatly, looking out with an eye from behind their wall.
Duo blinked. Could they actually recognize him from just before? He didn't -had yet- exactly do something to be standing out, and in just that instance as he grabbed Myrica and fled? -well, some of them could probably distinguish his long braid; his little-mind countered. "They hold a grudge just because of a broken table...?" Duo tried.
Cail snorted. "They hold a grudge because they're the lawmen!"
"WHAA-mmph?!"
Cail sighed at Duo's incredulous face, knowing Duo would actually make an outburst but giving himself a mind slap for acting too late to cover his mouth. "They are. They're the judicial lawmen; the man in the far corner that your friend had been laughing about was the Great Judge from the Palace, specially having in charge of the legal administration of the Factory area."
Duo gaped under the man's hand cover. "...they're taking leisure time in this kind of place?!" he hissed when Cail's hand left his mouth.
"Where else?" the man said simply. Duo clamped his mouth and swallowed the bile that was rising from his stomach; so actually, Relena's words were for the sake of giving him a warning of such place being existed?
"They didn't seem to recognize your identity yet, we should hurry and leave this place before they notice..." Cail said; some warnings left unsaid from his sentence.
Right; if they knew how he's connected with the General, he was sure they'd use him to blackmail Treize for some political justification. Treize probably wasn't so paranoid about the brawn-workers of some hitmen; he's more paranoid about his smiling-colleagues. "Would Treize be angry if this brings him trouble?" Duo mumbled with a childish tone; his mind already picturing the caged windows of his room that Treize might arrange after this.
"He'll have my hide hanging on the wall of his study." Cail muttered, "That's why we should make sure he doesn't notice about this leisure-outing?" and implied to Duo with a mischievous smirk.
Duo snickered at that, his mood lifted; "Yeah...!" -and besides, this outing wasn't actually a lost one, he did find Myrica in that place; he just have to prevent Treize from having a fit over this. "And what a great time we have in this leisure-outing...!" he chuckled and played along, rolling his braid behind his nape and covered his head with his hood; having an accomplice didn't feel so bad, or so alone, or so guilty.
Cail put on his hood as well, a good thing he thought he should change his outfit to a commoner's instead of wearing his notable white Palace uniform; halve of it was thanks to Duo's wish of not wanting to be standing out being with a Palace escort. He cued Duo and led him to use some rat-tunnels again, pulling a lid covering a small tunnel in the wall from a niche on the ground; the horizontal tunnel was barely 80cm wide but he could walk in it while crouching and without even using his hands, avoiding them getting dirty. And with such agility too that it amazed Duo.
"...this is your playground...!" Duo said quietly.
"I grew up here; in a much lower area that was almost never reached by the sunlight..." Cail smirked without looking back. "I see you too adjusting well to the dark...!"
Duo grinned. "I mostly lived in total darkness before Treize sent me to the Covenant."
Cail stopped and looked back at that. Duo smirked mischievously; "Light freaked me out...!" he said lightly and urged the man to move forward again.
-Oh, that's right! That's why he'd find shelter under some maids' dresses when he played hide and seek; because such hiding was dark but warm-
"-...warm-" -because he was clutching at their legs, wasn't he? Back then they must have thought it was cute but if he think about it again now, wasn't that sexual harassment?
"You're saying something?" Cail looked behind again, finding Duo's face had changed color to a beet red.
"No;-nothing, forget it! I'll forget it too!" he said flustered; waving both hands at his front.
The man frowned but let it pass.
'-...found you!'
Duo blinked.
'-found you, Duo!'
For some reason his memory resurfaced that voice; it was clear and innocent, with a tint of laughter in it. Like the light that was pouring in into his darkness; the clear voice that ruptured his silence... so that was Relena's... was it?
Duo blinked again, repeatedly; his vision was clouded by the fear that resurfaced along with the memory. Why would he- ...no; why did he fear Relena? So much that his mind decided to erase the memory about her from his mind...?
"-wah!" he yelped and reflexively covered his eyes with a hand; he didn't realize they'd reach the other end of that whatever-way and the dim light struck his eyes had felt like a ray of sunny daylight. "-sorry; that surprised me..." he mumbled shyly when the man looked at him strangely while extending his hand to help him out of the tunnel.
The other side was with wider space -width and height, and less grim looking. Duo looked up as they started to walk again and actually saw a balcony with a flower pot on it; after taking up some stairs he just realized that it was the market of that place when he saw a lot of people occupying the alleys. The sellers were doing their business from the stalls in the walls of the alleyways. And since the building plan was that jumbled, some stalls were actually halfway under the alley-ground's line and some were half-story elevated from it, including balconies; some sellers had their stalls on the flying-buttresses with their goods tied in links and dangled down like festoons or curtains, although he wasn't really sure what those goods were -judging from their forms or colors; some sellers used baskets attached with sticks at their ends as the extensions of their hands, some used pulley-carts or buckets; some sellers were on their boats and their patrons were on the bridges or balconies or even doors. It was a festivity of jumbled-ness but still looked like a festival.
"This part seems livelier, right?" Cail smiled and nudged Duo to move.
Duo caught his mind back and swallowed it with a click of his teeth and flushed face; was he gaping that wide? ...for how long?
They pushed their ways into the crowd, and managed to elude some lawmen who were searching for 'a braided-girl that had insulted the officials in the witness of the Judge', they said. Clearly they were not the ones from the bar, they're just their comrades; but couldn't they be more accurate with the search-description? Duo complained with a sigh, and Cail chuckled at his troubled look knowing he was more offended about being misidentified as a girl instead of being the culprit. A taste of his own poison...?
After hearing another misidentification of 'an overly-muscled girl with long braid' Cail couldn't help but laughed out loud; at the time, Duo had already had a severe pout and walked rigidly -trying to not move like a girl- ahead of the man. A report of 'a monstrous-looking girl with long braid' set his laughing-bubbles burst like fireworks; he tried saying sorry between his laughing fit at Duo who walked so fast trying to escape the man he almost looked like gliding on the stone ground.
Cail tried to catch up to him, and called out. "-WAIT! hahahaahahha-sorry...-Duo!" and he was just about to say that at this point Duo probably didn't need to worry about those men searching for him since with their search-descriptions clearly they wouldn't spot him as a suspect. "-Duo, I'm sorry! -haahhahahah- please wait!"
"Well!" Duo turned behind in a snap and put his hands on his hips; "-Sorry for having no muscles as a girl-...!" and because of his speed, the hood fell from his head; and his words died in his mouth when he saw the Lieutenant lost his laughter and was staring behind him with widened eyes, cuing him with alert.
Duo froze when his ears caught two or three men's voices he recognized from the bar not too far from where he was standing; probably from another alley since he was incidentally decided to stop in the middle of a circling-junction. Judging from Cail's reaction, he must have seen them behind him.
Duo cursed; one of them seemingly had the curse to be spotted... most probably him. This morning was that misunderstanding with Heero he had yet to straighten; and now with his pursuers. That reminded him that he should apologize to Heero soon, he wasn't calling him disgusting and-
"THAT'S HER!" the triumphant yell directed at him made Duo jump.
-if he showed them his 'hahaha' down there; would they let him go since he's not a girl? His little-mind wondered, while watching Cail ran to him with an extended hand and the scene looked like a slow motion to his alerted-senses; and his ears picked up the men's heavy footsteps hitting the stone grounds with their boots jangling chains making metal clinks, and their shouts were filled with dark intentions, and Cail's face filled with worried more than guilt -the man had genuine heart, Duo thought; he just felt sorry that he'd make the man afraid of him too, just like the others.
His fingers twitched; if he flicked his hand just with a little twist at those men behind him he could erase them from this world just as easily, this time it should be justified, right? Since he was acting in self-defense... or maybe he should at least let them get some hits or kicks landed on his body just to make his excuse justifiable to common's standards?
Yes... perhaps if he bleeds a little in the process it'll be justified- he smiled sweetly and moved his head to turn around...
-Diiingggggg...
A calm gentle chime of a bell penetrated his mind, two lines of whites fluttering in the stale air, shouts of surprised men; a tug on his right arm...
"What are you doing, we should hurry and run!" Cail's right arm had already circled his shoulders; he was pressed to the man's body, right arm held in a tight grip by the man's left hand; as if he was trying to cover Duo using his own body. Or just embrace him... Duo let out his breath when he heard the man's heartbeats close to his ears; he widened his eyes in shock when he recalled what his mind had justified to do just now.
-Diiingggggg...
The chime heard again, clearer and at the same time calmer. Duo took a chance to glance behind, Cail was taller than him so he couldn't really see much, but his eyes caught the lining women in white long-dresses who walked the slowest pace he'd ever seen, they had white long veils covering the top halve of their faces to their backs, almost sweeping the grounds; the lower parts of their under gowns were lined with black cloth, probably to compromise with the dirty grounds as they walked through the most unclean part of that place. They had tight collars leaving only their chin up visible, the whole image made him remembered of the Mothers in the Covenant; the ones in the front-most hold two long staffs with a colorful pleated-rope at their top ends where an old metal bell hung in the middle. Between the two lines, a single woman with black veil tilted her head towards them when he caught her as Cail took him to turn into another alley; her long-dress was all-white pooling on the dirty surface yet still unsoiled, her feet was not visible but the way she glided was as if she was on a smooth ice-like surface or downright floating. Her air was cold and unchangeable that Duo shivered when he thought she was glancing at him.
-she's not real! His mind warned him.
-Diiingggggg...
The sound jerked Duo and he flailed his arms to free himself from the man's clutch. "-who are those Ladies?" he asked while fixing his hood back once he'd freed.
"The Ladies of Mercy; they're like your Earthly Mothers, in a way..." Cail answered while still keeping his arm behind Duo's back. "We're lucky, people down here wouldn't dare cut their lines; they'd give us some time to get out of here!" he urged indirectly.
Yes, those men didn't seem like they could cut through those women's way eventhough they're looking desperate enough to do just that, Duo thought. "Why not?" he asked.
Cail blinked at him, guessing what that half-sentenced question was about. "No-one dare cutting the Ladies' lines, or their way?" he asked, Duo nodded. The man took a deep breath and sighed, "They're ill." he said, "...people are sick down here; even worse down there. They couldn't afford to buy medicines from the surface; the government of this place turned a blind eye to them, so they only have those Ladies to help them..."
Duo frowned, "What kind of sickness?"
"It's called Factory-sickness; but fearing the officials, people shortened it to Fact.."
They reached the stable and got on their horses; Cail paid an extra couple of silver coins to the stable boy to keep him quiet and left him closing the stable and ran home with a very wide grin on his face since he got no more animal to guard there. At least when the officials got to the stable, the boy wouldn't be there.
After reaching the waterway, Cail turned to Duo with a frown; the boy hadn't uttered a sound after they got their horses, seemingly in a serious thinking. He let him be and took a look out for anything that might still chase them down; although that was unlikely to happen, the Factory residences also needed a special pass to get out of there. It's as hard to get out from as it's hard to get in.
-Fact.
He might have misunderstood the Mothers, then.
'Duo, the Silens of Sillua Covenant had pointed the King's City and its surrounding towns. Could you find some facts there while you visit your cousin?' one Mother asked him, but he thought it was just an excuse to oust him out of the Covenant since they couldn't handle him anymore.
'Facts about what, Mother?'
'hm-hm.. you'll know when you found them...!' she chuckled and said lightly, which had sounded like a made-up excuse.
"...-you meant this Fact...?" Duo whispered to himself.
"Lieutenant, do you know what caused the sickness?"
"No." the man answered, staring at Duo's face and studying his expression as Duo pulled his mind into another deep thought.
Duo had asked to be allowed to have an outing to the surrounding towns first thing as he'd reached the Palace; that was his term to Treize, after that outing he said he'd do anything Treize wanted of him. That was the outing where he got ambushed by the beasts; he'd suspected that his older cousin had a back up escorts somewhere in their way when his soldiers escort failed, and that was Odin's party. And that reminded him that he hadn't thanked the demon for finding him.
Now, when was it that the beasts started to follow him openly? The reason for that could have been something that he shouldn't have found.
"...Lake Nivdell!" Duo muttered. The large lake was almost dry, leaving less than one-third of its original water volume; the officials there had said that it was the heat in the past years that had left the mountain peaks with less snow compared to the long-passed years, because it was a glaciate lake. And it was such a waste too for the new dam to have been finished. "...the dam..." -what if it was actually another Factory?
"Lieutenant..." Duo called softly, "The Verve-Factory produces weapons as well?"
Duo didn't need a verbal answer; the man's discreetly caught look had given enough answer. So he wasn't targeted for ambush because of his name, but because the culprit had thought that Treize had sent him to investigate.
Weapons.
War.
King's City.
He gritted his teeth; no wonder Treize was so paranoid, this Kingdom might be facing a coup soon. And if the political power changed hands, Heero's status would be compromised-
A shift in the air, and his horse neighed in alarm.
"Duo...!" Cail called out. Duo looked up to where the man's eyes trained; the wires were shining bluish dim light. "RUN!" the man suddenly yelled.
Duo only reacted because he heard the sounds of heavy clangs of the metal doors hit the bases of the waterways; they came from all around them. "Are those the guillotine gates?!" Duo asked loudly, the clanging sounds were reverberating through the hollow spaces and tunnels, and bounced by the walls and water surfaces making their actual sources impossible to be recognized.
"YES! DON'T GET SEPARATED!" Cail pressed with urgency; if someone was high enough to have the authorization to operate the water gates, then it wouldn't those low ranked lawmen. It couldn't be the Great Judge doing this just because of what happened in the bar, but if someone knew who he was body-guarding right now... wouldn't that mean the assassins were working with the Palace Officials too? Or it was their scheme... The Great Judge, whether he was just or unjust, he'd go down if anything to happen to the General's cousin while all fingers pointing at him as the culprit for abusing his authorization of operating the water-gates. Two birds with one stone... or just one gate-
-CLANG!
And Duo horse neighed standing on its hind legs; Cail looked behind with widened eyes at the closed gate, he knew when they got separated then the culprit would let the water flood in, since Duo wouldn't know which waterway safe enough from drowning.
"DUO, DON'T TURN RIGHT!" he shouted.
"TOO LATE...!" Duo's shout had a tint of fear in his voice, "THE WATER'S ALREADY IN!" and he had to take the right turn since it's the only way opened. With sinking feeling he realized he was like a rat in a maze waiting to sink. "Draumr, I only have you to find the way...!" he whispered to his horse, and she glanced at him back nodding her understanding.
"DUO, DON'T TAKE TOO MANY WAYS UP; THEY'RE MORE SECURELY SEALED TO GUARD THE WATER FROM SPILLING...!"
Duo heard Cail shouted again; for some reason his logics had said something like that too, but he was supposed to head up too to find the way out... right? -since he was going to the surface and all...
"TWO MORE GATES, LEFT TURN!"
Duo looked up and saw the Lieutenant on a waterway two rows up from him to his left side; he was about to nod at the man but the clang of the closing gate in front of him forced his horse to take the right turn at the second gate. So someone who operated the gates could actually see them, he thought; he searched up and around to see anything resembled a beast, a proxy-bird or probably a gecko in that kind of place. Another clang and a splash of water almost surprised him off the horse's back; he yelped in surprise, she neighed in objection.
"-I'm sorry, I'll concentrate on thi- WAHpp!" an opened gate full of water managed to flush him until he was forced to grabbed the horse's neck while she took another way, accelerating her speed since now the water height chasing them had drown her legs to her knees, slowing her down. Duo was coughing out the water from his airway when he heard the Lieutenant's shout again...
"LEFT, DUO! TAKE LEFT!"
And another clang answered the man making him turned right.
"...RIGHT! RIGHT FROM THERE!" the man's voice sounded desperate; but the suddenly closed gates in front of him forced him to turn to the opposite direction.
Duo cursed under his breath, if only he could find that proxy-eyes...!
Cail widened his eyes when he realized the closed gates with water behind them, just ahead of Duo; the operator must have spent some time to set up this kind of trap. "BACK, DUO! GO BAACK!" he yelled just as he entered a sloping tunnel that cut off his vision of the outside scenery. The length of the tunnel only kept him in the dark for about 30 seconds with his speed, but it was the longest 30 seconds of the man's life. When he was out of the tunnel, he looked up and the scene presented to him was of a certain waterway spilling its liquid content like a waterfall at a certain junction. "NOOOOO-!" he shouted in shock, knowing that waterway was more than 4 meters deep, even if Duo could stand on the horse back for some air, the water would probably sweep him away.
He gritted his teeth and took his horse to run faster, and reached the other end after only taking two more turns; jumped down from his horse, he ran to find a higher place where he could see the certain waterway from any possible opening. With labored breaths he stood in front of a barred balcony three stories up from the exact waterway; it was filled with water and there was no Duo and his horse in sight. He searched desperately with his eyes in the other visible waterways as well; but after about 10 minutes passed, even after the water in the waterway decreased to its original stream, he still found nothing. He lost hope and grabbed the trellis, banging his forehead over and over while muttering curse words, sounding angry and miserable and guilty.
"...excuse me, Sir..." a girl's voice said politely from behind him; Cail ignored her, banging his head even harder trying to scare her away. "I just wanted to tell you... that I wouldn't be held responsible for the bump on your forehead later...!"
Cail stopped and took a pause before turning his head with a gasp.
Duo was standing behind him with a big grin on his face, dripping wet but in one piece. He'd liked to act out as a girl in his guise, taken quite a confidence from such ability, even; he was offended about the muscled-thing parts.
"-ough! ...okay..." he let out with a breath when the man held him in a bear hug. "-ummm... Lieutenant..." he tapped the man's back lightly; "...that's hard enough; thank-you...!" he complained; it's enough if only Treize intended to crush him with a bear hug every time he got out of some trouble.
"-hahhhh! I thought for sure that the General would have my hide this time...!" the man dropped to his knees, still holding Duo's shoulders with head hung, looking like he was begging Duo for something.
"That's your main concern...?!" Duo frowned with an agitated tone but his mouth was still grinning.
Cail chuckled deeply, "I guess...!" he quipped.
"Kyaaa! Please don't mind us...!" several walking girls with baskets in their hands cut their moment as they ran hastily to another alley.
Duo stared them wide-eyed, and realized what they might look like right now. "-we... we're not doing anything!" he shouted innocently to the girls. The way they giggled unpleasantly reminded him of Relena's high-pitched giggles this morning.
"...yeeeeeeet...!" the girls shouted in unison, and giggled some more, eventhough they had vanished from Duo's sight.
Cail pulled his hands from Duo's shoulders a little too forcefully, and he looked like he felt awkward for that. "uhm... I'm sorry, this happens a lot down here; I should've been more careful...!" he said averting his eyes from Duo's questioning gaze and stood up. There were knock marks on his forehead that would definitely turned to bruises later, but he should at least be thankful there were no actual bumps there.
Duo could guess what he was talking about, but he thought he'd try to make the man feel less awkward. "...a lot? Flushing waterways...?"
"No." Cail turned his head from Duo's intense innocent gaze. He cleared his throat, "-uhh... boys...-"
"-prostitutes?"
Cail snapped his head at Duo at that, finding the boy's level face.
"Palace men came here for that, right?" he asked levelly; the man could say nothing, and nodded. "...I kind of suspect that from someone's words..." he smiled to himself; he was talking about Heero's politeness towards him when they just met and took shelter in that one cave. And he knew male prostitutes wouldn't make scandals of later-found illegitimate children to hide too...
"Well..." Duo smiled to the man, "I just happy that you could call my name without feeling awkward anymore, Lieutenant...!"
Cail blinked and sported a little blush on his cheeks. "I just think that you're not being fair, Duo...!"
Duo blinked, losing his smile.
"You realized that you've been calling me 'Lieutenant' the whole time eventhough you said you didn't want to stand out?" the man asked slowly.
"AAAHH!" Duo gaped. The man snickered.
"I'm sorry- I didn't realize that someone would target us because of that...!"
And the man's hand on Duo's forehead stopped his outburst. "I'm glad you're alright. Please try to call me by my name?"
It's Duo's turn to sport a blush; "Cail... I'm sorry." he said quietly.
Cail laughed and slung his arm around Duo's shoulders. "Okay, where's your horse, Duo?"
"I left her over there... finding the way to here took more time than to come out of the waterways; I'm sorry for making you worried that much..." Duo pointed down to his left.
Cail sighed while they walked to where Duo had pointed. "...did you get out by my directions?"
Duo chuckled; "I was preoccupied to find the proxy-eyes at first; Draumr was the one following your directions, turning back and turned right. After that I kind of realized you meant to turn right-right-left from where I couldn't move forward...!"
Cail sighed and wiped his face, his shoulders sagged. "...so you didn't get my message...!" He had thought that it was too hard to decipher in such a short moment too.
"I was in panic, I'll try to think things with cooler head next time I get into trouble. I'm grateful that you've proven yourself reliable enough for the job, Cail...!" Duo tried cheering him up.
Cail laughed dryly; "ahaha... seems like I owe your horse a thank-you, then..."
Duo laughed, "We both do, alright? Fair enough, right...?!"
For a moment the Lieutenant thought that his life might not be that long, with a certain General's sweet smile looming over him too. Promoting him for the job despite its impending hazards, it could've been the Commander's way of taking revenge at him for making him separated with his demon in that outing. And who ever said that Odin wasn't one to take grudge over passed matters...?
"I do get into troubles a lot. They love me... I'm sorry!" Duo said apologetically once they got to his horse.
Cail pulled his mind back after hearing those words; or more like he felt like being slapped by those words, he shouldn't have complained too, it was his task from his superior... "-No; it's my job to keep you safe. Don't mind it." he tried a smile looking up at Duo's face on his horse.
-right... since if it's not Odin taking revenge at him, then it must be the General punishing him for ever losing his dear-cousin while he was in command... Oh, weren't his superiors proven to be reliable mature adults by now...?
Cail sighed deeply with sagged shoulders. He might have to buy new undergarments too, who knows when the General would skin him; he wouldn't want to be skinned while using dirty underwear, right...?
Duo pretended he didn't hear what the Lieutenant had been muttering to himself for some time; he probably should ask his cousin to not frighten his subordinates too much.
"It helps them focused on their tasks...!" Treize said with confidence.
He should've known Treize would say that.
"You were out?"
"Yes..." Duo sighed, feeling apologetic to the Lieutenant, and the other men that had fear his cousin so much, knowing that Treize was actually enjoying frightening them.
"Without telling me?"
"You gave me a bodyguard; I shouldn't be bothering you with lesser reports, right?"
Treize lost his smile and stared at him intently. Duo blinked at the window and pretended he didn't realize his staring.
"I could bother you with something else?" he tried.
"Okay..." Treize's tone was a little too nifty to Duo's ears, but he let it slide. He just needed his older cousin to know that he knew...
"Do you need help from the Covenant?"
"What for?" Treize's smile returned.
"To help with the sick people. The Silens did send me here with a task, you know..." he turned his head from the window; Treize was staring at him with calculating smile. So he was giving Treize trouble; Duo thought.
"You don't need to bother yourself with that. I'm handling it, Duo...!"
Duo stared at him from in front of the window lining with Treize's study chair; he looked refined as always, composed with a little sly-confidence radiating his smile, his posture relaxed and graceful; his desk was always filled with stacks of papers, and he never looked tired even if it was late at night, like now. It didn't look like he was soloing in reforming the whole Kingdom.
He sighed and put the chocolate cup in his hand on the small table at his side, and walked towards his older cousin and sat at the armchair facing the man. "Aren't you tired smiling?" he asked playing with the man's blond hair.
"I trained a lot since I was small...!" Treize chuckled.
"Mm-hmm..." Duo pulled his blond head into his embrace, stroking the back of his head and nape while rubbing his chin to the soft blond locks.
"What kind of service is this, Duo?" Treize asked calmly.
"...just service..." Duo smiled and closed his eyes, continuing what he was doing, and hummed a gentle song softly. He knew he wasn't blood-related with that man, eventhough Treize had been saying the opposite, and acted exactly to his words. But the Maxwells were 'everyone's cousins'; when a Maxwell born, the baby instantly taken into a Noble's household... it was a cunning way to own all Maxwells as the Kingdom's property. He knew that Treize would use him as weapon sooner or later, he just felt grateful that Treize would care for him like he was actually related to himself as if they were real family; if his suspicion was right that the Kingdom was facing a latent coup, then he should cherish his family-playing moment whenever he could.
"Duo..." Treize tried, "...are you tired?"
"Yes..."
"You don't want to sleep alone?"
Duo chuckled at that, finding it funny. "I can sleep well by myself at this age, Treize, thank-you for the offer...!"
". . . . . . you didn't get to sleep again after we moved you to your knew room last night...!"
"Hmm... I worried you unnecessarily, hm?" Duo smiled.
"You're not unnecessary!" Treize pushed Duo by the arms at arm-length; the suddenness surprised him, and the intensity in Treize's eyes were somewhat filled with anger.
...so the war was coming sooner than later... that's why he was needed to be in the Palace, not laying dormant in some Covenant.
He gazed into his older cousin's eyes, feeling remorse for his weakness and finding an urge to find solitude in the darkness. Treize's smile used to comfort him when he was small; it's the one thing that pulled him out of the darkness where he used to hide. He just had to realize that he wasn't a small child anymore; and that Treize wasn't pledging his life to him, it was for the King... or whoever it was that he was seeing in the man's eyes right now. For one thing Duo knew it was not for him...
"I'm going to bed now, Treize..." he smiled a little; "Unless you're the one who couldn't sleep alone...?" he closed with a chuckle.
Treize lost his intensity, and just realized just how much strength he was using to grip Duo's arms. "-sorry..."
"Good night!" Duo bowed and stole a peck on his cheek. He didn't care if Treize left bruises on his arms; it just meant that someone cared enough for him to hold him that hard. He was happy that he finally get to be useful; if Treize asked him to go to the Demon Kingdom and try taking it down by himself, he'd do just that... just as long as Heero wasn't harmed.
The door closed quietly, the Lieutenant who was waiting outside would follow Duo to his new room; he'd arranged a connected room for the man so that he could be close by 24 hours.
But why was his heart still not calmed?
"Riankitten."
A small mass of black smoke burst on the desk and formed a black cat with two very-long tails circling the spacious study making two giant rings. The-cat flicked his tails and turned to a small girl, sitting on the desk facing the General with his feet dangling from the edge to the man's laps.
"...he's dead?" Treize asked levelly.
The-cat nodded once.
"You find the killer?"
The-cat shook his head. "I found one black feather in the operating chamber... on the Judge's chest, just before the man's neatly folded hands... it was crow's."
Treize frowned. "Did you find the Command?"
The-cat shook again. "There was no window to the operating chamber; the only door was locked from the inside, and one of the keys was still hung on the Judge's necklace around his neck..."
"Is that so...?" Treize frowned deeper; the other key should be in the Master's hand. "Could it be a shape-shifter?"
"...but she was there... tailing your cousin...!" the-cat whispered.
Treize closed his eyes, knowing she belonged to whom. "What did she want?"
"Nothing... just watching... For now." the-cat tilted his head examining Treize's face. "You're tired..."
"Just a little bored." Treize denied.
"Then..." the-cat looked almost like trying to smile, or maybe snarling; "...Master is waiting for you in his chamber...!"
Treize was instantly on his feet. "He's arrived? You could've reported that first...!"
The-cat hissed and jumped to his shoulder, hugging his blond head and circled his tails around his neck possessively. "You-want-Judge-first!" he accused with a snarl, although his slow-chanted words beat his angry tone.
"You're right; my apology...!" Treize said, walking to the doors, while stroking the-cat's black head to calm his jealousy down; which was kind of awkward-looking since the-cat's head was currently on his own head.
He is standing in the dark again.
He knows he'd wake up in that darkness;
this time he's the one seeking it for solitude.
A clump of worm-like black-body floats in a standstill in front of him;
he knows what's inside it.
Heero is there.
His tormented, pained-looking Heero in a humiliated pose...
is waiting in there for him.
-Him alone...!
He reaches out his right hand towards the body;
the claws that construct it unfurl themselves and present that twisted-altar again.
-And his Heero is still waiting there...
pained...
tormented...
entangled Heero that is futilely twisting his body to get free.
He's not screaming mutely this time-
eyes closed tightly...
several claws are gagging his mouth
-he is almost looking like he is gasping for some air.
He takes a step forward.
His right hand seeks those brown locks-
tracing the side of the immaculate face slowly,
down to his chest, passed a not-beating heart-
to the taut midsection pulled in a writhe,
to the lower belly...
-he still couldn't see the parts below that
-though he feels nothing right now;
no jealousy,
no anger,
no hatred,
no desire...
no love-
only a sense of possession.
With a sudden pull, he pushes his hand back into the demon's stomach;
making a hole in the middle of his midsection.
A sense of thrill washes over him,
he smiles as he stares at his hand sinks in the demon's body passed his wrist...
-And the demon's closed eyes snap open in an instance;
staring right at him...!
Duo jerked and opened his eyes with a deep gasp sounding like a drown animal finally in touch with air, limbs stiffened as if he was trying to lift a heavy burden out of his body.
On Odin's chest; Heero opened his eyes without a sound...
x - - - - - - - - x
Thanx for reading
(4 more pages and the current project should be finished; it had the WORST time-management so far... we admit that the blame is on us. Maybe we should work on our own story for the time being, but there's more offer to make comics adapted from novels and the payment sounds good; but we're worried that the progress would be like this one again. Since we're not that fond of making comics with scripts from other writers, we just don't have enough love for the characters that way. For saru's case, saru had to be 'in love' with the characters to be able to work, like wanting day and night to 'meet' them; if not, saru's negative-pole will act out, and the building resistance to 'meet' them will rule out the reason to... Do others with bipolar case out there work like this too?)