Another -17 august '13
Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.
Warning: saru try typing this while adjusting to the new prescribed glasses, so you should expect for some typing errors... ';
chapter 22
...then I shall call you Odin,
since you will be alone from now on...
But for being alone throughout ages,
you are always one.
He likes to sit under the big tree at the outerline of the compound.
His loose hood covers most of His face, perfectly hiding the white wings underneath.
Eyes stare at the vast blue sky reflecting its color on them.
I like to sit in front of Him and watch those mesmerizing eyes ignoring me;
drowning myself in time as He drowns His existence in the value of the world.
-A daring color pulls my eyes to stare down at His front,
it was a bold red spreading on His white clothes.
I scream at the top of my lungs...-
"Myrica..., I belief?" Treize frowned.
The girl chuckled; "Oh, yeahh... Duo screamed my name, hu?"
"Is he okay, by the way?" she added conversationally.
The General narrowed his eyes.
She sniffed at the scrutiny; "...just wondering." and arched her shoulders.
"...what are you doing?" Treize asked slowly.
Myrica blinked, looked down at the unmoving Odin in front of her crossed legs, a stack of folded white cloths next to her; and chuckled louder, merrier. "Ahahahaa... No! He did this to himself. But, if you asked, I should be skinning his bloody hand right now, but I think he could depend on Lord Demon there for that...?"
At some frowning baffled faces, she grinned. "Is that not okay with Lord Demon? If so, then I'd deal with the hand now- ...oh, you should burn the bed and carpet afterward, for the blood spatters; so much with the ruckus about the bedding now, hu? Hahahahahahahh!"
"...you are...-" Treize started slowly, narrowing his eyes deliberately showing his suspicion.
"Oh, yeah. I got here late too... so don't feel bad about yourselves!" She tsk-ed and whacked Odin's head. "If anything, the oldman should feel bad about himself! -oh, I could do that only when he's dead! Hahahahaah... do you want to do it too?" Myrica beckoned with her waving hand.
Treize's party blinked. "He's dead?" he asked with a calmer tone, although his brows were still frowning.
"Yeah. -oh, no; not that dead; he's just suspending his life, is all...!" Myrica grinned. "...is... that not okay with Lord Demon?" she frowned at the awful looking demon in Treize's arms, trembling slightly as if he was fighting off cold or holding his breath.
Treize glanced to the demon and stared back at Myrica, but looked down on the demon again in surprise; finding his neck bled out some red, seeping to the surrounding skin under his shirt.
"No, don't touch that-!" Myrica yelled; "It's the bond; that's the oldman's wound -oh, damn, it's gushing out -I'll isolate the poison soon, sorry -just put him down somewhere...!" she waved cuing down to the baffled Treize. "Just put him down! It's lethal poison that could kill an average person in seconds...!" she pressed when Treize didn't budge.
One of the Sixth pulled the chair up from the floor and put it in front of Treize who put the demon on it carefully; while the others were still on guard with hands on the hilts of their swords.
"Do you want me to isolate his hand, too? He ripped his knife-wound with it before I could get near him; -which was a wise decision, though... if the poison made it into his veins he'd die in breaths' span; even if it was Odin!" Myrica glanced at Heero's torpid face, noticing what he didn't let showed outside, and smiled. "You're too kind, Lord Demon...!"
Her relaxed face turned serious and her tail snaked from behind her, the scaly-end swelled up making a slender ovoid head and opened into two parts completed with two sets of teeth-lines. "Sorry, this's going to be hell...-", and with that warning she stabbed it into the wound in Odin's stomach, making the demon jerked visibly-
-"You're bleeding!" I scream in horror; instantly covering what I think the source of the gushing red with my hands.
The bold color doesn't wet my palms; I barely feel it as liquid, in fact... it's just almost misty feeling like when I touched His wings-
His blue eyes shift to mine; I know He doesn't care to care about Himself-
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP-!" I spring to my feet and run towards the compound; "-HE's bleeding! -Do something...-!" I shout as I see heads sticking out from the various dwellings; pointing frantically at Him. They seem surprised at first, but as they see Him they just smile and laugh; and leave without offering an explanation or a care.
I stare at them disappearing with my gaping mouth of disbelief; confused and feel betrayed- ...gasping for air while trying to say something but my mind can't form any word to be spoken...
"Just leave him be...!" His grandfather said through his nicely carved white-pipe.
I stare at the homey-looking old man in confusion; tears are starting to weigh my eyelids.
"He's not yours to be concerned of." the old man closes; his rocking chair creaks lazily in the air.
-why...? My mouth can't word it out loud.
A flowing white veil sways in the glistening air; I widen my eyes at His arrival and immediately run towards Him -His blinding smile lights up to me... I grab His loose robes...-
"Oh, it's rare that you managed to hurt yourself!" His mother says with an amused smile.
He laughs pleasantly and waves at her-
"I'm sorry I made you worried-" His pleasant smile is directed at me;
-I shake my head in negation; I am still worried.
"-NO ONE DO ANYTHING-!" I yell, the tears start to slide down my cheeks; shaken by how much everyone doesn't care about Him.
He laughs and strokes my head, His hand is always gentle and filled with kindness; it doesn't make sense to me why He wouldn't be kind to Him too...
"He suffers for you; aren't you going to care for Him...?!" I clutch at the flowing white robes, pulling at them pleadingly.
"Oh, Odin..." He smiles and bends His body to me; "I know He suffers my pains; but that is only natural...!"-
...my tears drip down from my chin. The gravity doesn't care about their meaning-
"...ha!" Myrica gasped and held her breath, her grin froze on her face; her tail pulled out slowly from Odin's open wound, a clear glass ball between the tail's teeth. "-ohohohohohoo...!" she chuckled appreciatively as she inspected the glass ball carefully in front of her face.
There was a luminescent clear purplish-blue globe inside the glass ball, its surface was lumpy with cracks and jagged points, currents traveled between the cracks as if chasing each other; some tentacles were wiggling at some elongated points; while it was rotating slowly in the glass ball. It's almost mesmerizing to watch if not for its deadliness.
"...niiiice-!" she breathed; "This poison this amount could easily kill 10 grown men in breaths span...!"
She stared down at Odin's open wound and licked her lips; "Well, thanks to his reflex he managed to slightly turn his body to his side, so that the knife didn't penetrate his stomach or other organ and just stabbed his waist muscles at his back. -His hand was large so when he ripped it to force some of his poisoned blood out, he made the wound wider, though!" Myrica turned to Treize's party, watching their faces made surprised expression of different levels when her tail's 'mouth' swallowed the glass ball of poison with a gulping sound.
"Hehehehehh! Don't worry, he's pretty resilient despite his old age...!" she grinned at Treize's suspicious frown, "By the way, Lord Demon..." and decided to change the topic; "Considering changing Contract?" she asked pointing at her face.
"What?!" Treize asked incredulously.
"The oldman staked his hands and Lord Demon staked his neck; do you think that's fair?" Myrica frowned back.
"-That's...!" Treize almost barked.
"That's Lord Demon's term; I know!" Myrica frowned deeper; "But if the Contractors are equally balanced in standings; the Contract would be staked with equal lives...!"
"You may call it jealous,-" she cut when Treize opened his mouth to react, "-But I don't like the fact that Lord Demon spoils the oldman rotten! It's demeaning the oldman's disposition!"
Treize snickered skeptically; "Heero's spoiling Odin?!"
"...aren't you?" Myrica asked innocently to the demon, her wide eyes conveyed that she believed her words as a fact.
Treize glanced at Heero, who was still looking like he needed to breathe soon despite he never did; and staring at the thinned lips that were slightly trembling, Treize knew Heero was being defiance... -so she might be true saying that Heero was spoiling Odin, but that was not everyone's business who was outside their Contract.
"That's not your business." Treize frowned his warning at the Auri-girl; if Odin could exclude him whenever Heero involved, despite he was being his superior -or because of it, then others should be excluded too -except for his King, of course; since he's Odin's King too.
"You're saying that I am not related to this grandbrat?" she gave a sleek smile; "-...but I am! It's my business that the oldman is only weeks older than the last time I saw him 10 years ago!"
At surprised faces she continued, knowing that the facts started to dawn in their eyes; "Lord Demon, you froze his time since the making of the Contract; which is natural when two Contractors of different lifespans formed a Contract... But until when? Until you abandon him? Until you're bored with this world and decide to let your head roll after everyone he knows died-?"
A twitch on Odin's arm stopped Myrica's words; she blinked and waited Odin to come to as Treize's party's eyes turned to his lying form.
"-whhhhh...at -natural...?" a low slurred mumble muffled by the pillow started, "...mmmy-hummmuheyhmmmh- huh?"
Myrica blinked and stared with drooped eyes at the demon; "He usually talks in his sleep?"
GRAB!
Odin's left hand reflexively took hold of the swaying tail.
Treize's party gasped at the sudden move.
Odin instinctively pulled his right arm towards himself and used it to prop his upper body weight so that his chest could accommodate his lungs better when he wheezed in deeply.
-the tail's head pecked at his shoulder repeatedly...
Odin's narrowed eyes shifted to it; and he growled a warning, long and low.
Myrica wasn't impressed, looking down at him with her arms folded on her chest; then smacked Odin's head again. "How dare you lower your guard while you know other's lives are on the line too...!" she muttered with an unhappy frown.
It took two seconds before Odin sprang on his hands up and crouched, keeping his face at Myrica's face level while snarling with wild grimace. She snarled back with her wild expression.
The similarity jerked Treize as a realization formed in his mind.
"-Rrrrh...and what'rrr you angry at me forrh?" Myrica rumbled with narrowed eyes.
"How darrre you took my demon's wingsss, Brat!" Odin spat it out at the end.
"Hmph!" she snorted; "Thank me that you got no casualties on yourrr side!"
"Ha!" Odin spat, "That's coming from someone who turned the attackers into red liquid without catching any hostage to be interrogated...!"
-SLAP!
Myrica smacked her face with both hands and kept them there in dramatic pose; "THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GO LIKE THAAT!" she looked like she was genuinely surprised by the outcome too. "-I mean, I probably should have picked a tamer song than The Rain Wielder; but it's a farewell song not a killer song...! It usually used the raindrops to suspend the offenders into stillnessss!" she reasoned, slapping her hands onto the laps of her crossed legs.
Odin narrowed his eyes until they turned into dangerously shining slits and stared into her eyes.
"OKAY! -so the outcome is usually based on the owner's type and strength and intentions; but it didn't occur to me at the time that Lord Demon's power type was to kill dead people into their rightful place!" Myrica eventually broke; "-well, that's not right! You can't kill people that are already killed; -I mean, he put lives in order! Yeahh, that's it! -No!"
She sniffed and said conspiratorially; "...he put deaths in order...!". Then her fire died down as she blinked repeatedly and glanced with uncertainty at the demon.
"...-...what kind of power is that?" she frowned worriedly staring into the demon's eyes who ignored her.
Odin glanced at his demon and che-ed, cursed something nasty under his breath and pushed his body off the bed. In several strides he got himself in front of the demon, carefully holding his face by the chin to inspect his folded wings; seemingly satisfied enough when he found the white wings weren't glued tightly to his cheeks like what happened before all that. He sighed, and pulled the demon's body up into a bear hug.
"...you know each other?" Treize frowned unhappily. The-cat sniffed at Odin's direction, smelling the blood on him, and did nothing else; keeping his mind's eye at everything that moved in that room but didn't spread it sharp enough to disrupt the demon's Contract-space which was Odin's chamber.
Odin che-ed in unrefined manner, jerking his head behind at the still sitting Myrica left on his naked bed, who was currently propping her right elbow on the stacked white cloths and twitched her brows up a couple times playfully when all eyes turned to her. "-...that's my grandbrat!"
"-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHH!" Myrica instantly rolled on her back laughing, holding her stomach with a hand and hitting the mattress with the other.
"-your what?!" Treize glanced back and forth between the two.
Myrica snickered while sitting up again; "He's my grandbrat too...!" she winked with a wide grin.
"-Hahahahaha." Odin mimicked the laugh with a level mocking tone and closed it with a growl, showing his fangs.
Myrica chuckled, and sprang to her feet; loosening her gauzy turban with one pull then slapped a handkerchief onto Odin's wound; ignoring the man's growl of complaint, and used that long cloth as bandage. "...'cuse me, Lord Demon!" she said when her hand sneaked between Odin and Heero's bodies.
"Yes, I accuse you for stealing my demon's- Ough!"
Myrica kicked Odin's bandaged wound with her knee. "Don't chew on it!"
"You BRAT!" Odin snarled again, put Heero's feet on the chair so that the demon's head was on his shoulder.
"That's a healing-charm!" she waved while sitting on the bedrail.
"Odin...?!" Treize started to get irritated, now that he knew Odin wasn't on the brink of death taking the demon along with him.
"...grandbrat! -like grandchild...!" Odin almost barked at Treize, who froze.
"Yeah; grandbrat...-like granddad!" Myrica snickered.
There was a 10 seconds of silence before Treize exploded; "-WHAAAT?!"
"Oh, come-on! You never know he's an Aurilatha the whole time...?" Myrica waved the General's heat down; and blinked. "Hey! For REAL?!" she widened her eyes.
Odin was only staring down the Sixth's eyes that were trained on him with surprise, something formed in their minds and he dared them to word it out.
"You never told them, oldman?" Myrica threw a sandal from below the bed with her foot that hit Odin's left leg.
"They never asked...!" Odin said levelly.
Treize blinked his surprise off repeatedly. The difference between the people of Aurilatha and the others was that others would call them Aurilathan(s), while they would call themselves as the name itself, only Aurilatha... as if being one and in whole as one name. And his mind pointed to him that Odin never did call them Aurilathans; he used to say 'the Auri' to reffer to those people ...-his people? That couldn't be right...! His late father had ordered Odin to demolish the Aurilathan's land-!
"Odin-! You...!" Treize frowned in alarm.
"-have different traits...?!" Odin growled almost sounded offended; "I'm from different tribe!"
Treize stared at Myrica, who grinned pointing at Odin and at herself with different hands. "Different tribes! -pure blood!"
At baffled stares she chuckled; "We're not blood-related; for which I feel grateful...!"
Odin snorted when Treize stared at him again; "Hmph! Grandfather-by-duty! Of which you wouldn't understand...!"
"...Aurilathans belief they carry certain duty in life; and for which living-system made them frightened by other races for their audacity...!" Treize commented half-reflexively.
"Audacity sounds cool! Haha! Frankly it's just for the oddness or aberration..." Myrica smiled, "The oldman's great-grandfather was the only survivor of his tribe when my ancestors annihilated them; and I'm the only survivor of mine when the oldman, and his collaborators, annihilated my tribe. So, in lines; he's the fourth-lined father to me, the seventh-lined child. He's grandfather; I'm grandchild...!"
"-...Whaaaat-?!" the logics in that didn't enter Treize's brain. Who annihilated whom and that makes them family?-
Myrica laughed pleasantly at the dumbfounded faces at her explanation. "...it's in lines! As in, the Blessing-lines...?"
"Oh!" she clapped once, "Did you know that my sister gave her blessing to Duo while he was still conceived by his mother? ...-thaaat was when his father and mother came down to hunt every single one of my tribe...! And succeeded at that, too; my sister bartered her Blessing for my life, she knew the would-be-last-Maxwell would desperately need it; oh, but that makes him my second-lined of Blessing... like my child?" she arched her brows at the end.
"...-...whaaaaaat...?!" Treize's voice started to take a much higher pitch. The Sixth blinked, and they had never done anything significantly besides being some baffled spectators too, they thought.
Myrica chuckled at him.
"-what's... -what with the...!" Treize gaped at Odin, pointing his finger at Myrica.
Odin huffed, looking like he actually minded it to have to explain their logics; just because it's a bother to explain in length.
"...high...-priest..." a whisper said in slurred tone.
"Aaaahh... Lord demon could tell, hu? That's not very fun...!" she commented with a wide smile; "Yes, it's the Blessing-lines of Aurilatha's High Priest, -my sister was Priestess, though; who in generations is assigned to choose the King."
"Your ancestors knew him by the crowned name of Beast King, by the way. That's what the Generals before you feared of so much that they decided they should demolish our land before a Beast King is chosen, General Kushrenada...!" Myrica added silkily, staring with unholy light into Treize's eyes and sugared it with a sweet smile.
Treize blinked; it somehow clicked into shape, but not really with whole pieces together.
"So, oldman; I want a King in exchange for saving your arse... give me one!" Myrica demanded rather childishly while throwing the sandal's pair at Odin's leg again.
Odin knew where it would lead, that's why he'd acted hostile; "Go get your own!" he rumbled, as if it was a complete sentence saying that he'd already had one and wouldn't betray his King, or whoever he deemed equal to be his King. Treize knew what implied by the man's words, and instinctively knew that the girl would intentionally cross his lines just for the fun of it, apparently it's in their Aurilathan blood; so he took a couple of steps back, cuing his Sixth to do the same too.
"Yes!" Myrica pointed to Odin's back; "-Exactly that one, give me my King...!"
-GRRROOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!
CRASH! -a thunderous growl, and the chair flew in invisible speed and hit the bed, exploding splinters everywhere, so hard that they managed to rip through the already half-ripped curtain still hanging poorly on the windows and embedded at the walls after penetrating some other fittings, including the floors and ceilings too.
He roared once again in a challenging furious manner at the abused bed; hunching down and fisting his hand with bent arm in provoking pose. His spines obtruded in spikes, up to the curved horns on the back of his neck; with bony gills-like layers on his shoulder blades carved his back together with thicken hard skin that was chillingly so relief-like. His face was contorted in a terrifying beast-mask with small horns protruded from his skin in perfect symetric pattern at the sides to the pointy horns adorning his forehead; three jagged ridges lined his head to the back of his skull. Some people would think the beast-Odin looked hellishly beautiful if they're into that sort of thing, the Master would find that appearance cute...-a cute ogre?
The Sixth gasped in alarm and reflexively pulled their swords out.
Treize widened his eyes; he used to hear people said 'Odin is a monster' but never really witnessed it in physical, and so he thought it was only a metaphor used by the easily-frightened people. -but then, the Aurilathans were supposed to be half-beasts; that's why the humans didn't see them as equals. So it's a proof that Odin was one...-
-...a vicious dominant too, at that. Should he say an alpha male?
Maybe that's why the girl's ancestors annihilated Odin's tribe...
"Odin!" Treize called levelly, his voice and tone didn't break by surprise or fear; his Sixth glanced cursorily at him looking for assurance and calmed down a level seeing their General's composedness.
The beast-Odin rumbled a warning, challenging the General to try to soothe his anger at that level. Myrica chuckled with a pleased sound as she enjoyed the happening, eyeing the demon that was thrown -but almost unbelievably gently so- to Odin's wounded side that was the farther side from the general's party, clutched with a protective hand from under his thighs looking like a small child compared to Odin's monstrous form.
Treize almost backed a step when Odin's eyes trained at his, they were bright yellow with black slits at the centers and shining striations forming beautiful patterns on the irises; the wild light in those eyes almost shocked him, it's like the eyes of a beast that never acknowledged him as an acquaintance much less a superior. The Ward reacted inside the General's link, and he understood that Odin was actually tied to it; like a Familiar to its human-master... and somehow he was saddened at the thought, knowing what the masters in that Palace had ordered the man to do -probably without his full consent too... like demolishing his blood's land-?
-...the demon said that no human in that Kingdom could...
He thought the demon was talking about forming the Contract; whereas he might have pointed about the human part... that he wasn't going to make contract with a human; the Auri-girl that kept asking whether she could be his Contract should be enough affirmation that perhaps such Contract should be done between a demon and a non-human...
Master of my master... -that's what the demon called his little King back then; like maybe he meant it as in literal...that the demon could see it when he saw Odin the first time. Maybe Odin wasn't tied to the Ward, but to the Throne...or to the King's lineage...
Birds of the same feather...-or the same cage.
"...Odin." Treize called out again, a touch of vulnerability in his voice, like imploring. The Sixth glanced at him again in surprise, they frowned but didn't object out loud. "...should I call out the ties that bind you to-" Treize frowned almost sadly when Odin rumbled louder at him, he really didn't want to beat someone into submission... not someone he cared for.
"...that's not necessary..." A white hand sneaked up and touched Odin's face, the white wings flapped jerkily chasing off some cramps and then opened slowly; the outline missed a pair of almost upright fanned feathers that were his uppermost wings, now there were only the pairs of horizontal and the slanted down wings.
-Odin was right to be angry about that; ...the picture was almost seemed wrong in a rueful way.
"...it's just something that needed to be done..." the demon whispered in a coaxing tone. Well, almost.
"What for-?!" Odin's voice was rumbled with another growl underlying it, almost like the sound of two creatures speaking simultaneously; Treize somehow understood that it was the voice of the human-side and his beast-side altogether.
"-WHAT are you so angry FORRR?!" Myrica complained with a howl; an oval golden light that was floating above the destroyed bedrail opened like a cocoon and revealed the unscathed Myrica sitting in the air with her tail snaked from behind her and the ovoid eyeless head was actually giggling when her hand petted it. She humph-ed.
"-you know I CANNOT kill you with the Blessing-line! -OR the other way around; so I ASKED you nicely!" she accused; "...besides, Lord Demon could become my Beast King without severing the Contract with you; it's the opposite, you could become his High Priest-"
Odin roared again, a short bark that meant to shut her up; Myrica clamped her mouth with a click, but then snarled her lips showing her fangs as if she was in disgust. "Or you just don't want to severe your ties with your master? -she was that beautiful, huh?!"
Odin's beast-mask turned neutral; Treize's party snapped their eyes to him with arched brows. Odin had a love story...?! That's probably the most shocking revelation than him being a beast-
A sleek leer; "BRAT! Don't. Dictate. Me." Odin purred, as if he was enjoying a mind-game. His chuckles were rumbled, but it was an alien tone to Treize's ears; as if the beast-side had its own persona that wasn't quite Odin... the thought chilled his spine.
"She's dead!" Myrica said together with Odin; she was pointing it out while Odin's tone was a closure. They silenced afterwards, feeling the pause inserted itself with a mocking sneer reflected their words and thoughts back to them.
Treize swallowed his nervousness; what is this? -his mind ran frantically in the mill that was his brain; he never heard of anything about Odin's past from his father, especially a past like that...! But if he thought about it, it's probably due to the fact that his father didn't know a thing about it too; except for some facts like he was notorious and obnoxious and liked to kick asses and someone you wouldn't want to make enemies with-
-but his predecessors might have known it that Odin could never turn enemy... if he was tied down...-to what? -to whom?
...Reconnaissance Troop, 28th Rank. It meant that Odin had been promoted to a higher level of ranks 28 times; if the man had accepted those promotions, he would have had a rank that was way higher than a General! It's impossible-! That's why the skeptical men had ignored that fact... It was just numbers and nothing else, they told themselves. Treize had once looked it up in the Military Logs but found it written in the Palace Journal, instead; meaning that Odin was appointed by someone from the Palace, with higher rank than the Military heads that were the Generals... which would be the King's family? -if not the King himself. But which King? That part was never written in details, or maybe it had been concealed.
Odin snorted; the beast-mask ceased slowly, the small horns on the sides of his face pulled in with wet cracking sounds of the closing broken skin, leaving the horns on his forehead jutted proudly on the still thickened hard-skin. "I gave my word to Queen Thenea that I won't let her children die a dog's death...!"
Myrica blinked, arching her brows.
"-well, I didn't set a time limit! I'll enjoy it while it's worth the fun...!" Odin said with a defiant tone, pulling his chin up. "YEEEESSS- Cute Master; I am thaaat old...-!" he rolled his eyes, leering a grimace knowing Treize had a jawdrop without needing to see it.
-but... -but... Queen Thenea was the King's great-grandmother!
Myrica blinked again, staring at the gaping humans; a part of her brain couldn't understand what provoked them to react like that, despite she knew that their people had different lifespans...-since her beast-side ran on instincts, not logics. "The grandbrat would be 100 years old this year; that's why I thought I should come and pay my respect...!" she commented levelly.
"We have longer lifespan, the Wild ones... especially the lasts of our tribes; because we'd need to conserve our Blood and make sure we have offspring." she added glancing at Odin's face, an alien light lit her eyes for a second.
"...somehow you don't feel the need to conserve your Blood or make offspring, it's beyond me!" Myrica frowned folding her arms on her chest.
"...I told-" the demon forced a whisper out. Odin covered his mouth instantly.
"What's with you people and babies...?!" the man said with exasperated tone. A sigh answered him. "Don't you dare laugh, Heero; I'm offended!"
Heero's hand that was still on Odin's face tapped its fingers twice on the man's cheek, than fell limply; while his eyes closed and face turned neutral. Odin stared down at the brown head lulled on his shoulder with wings folded neatly; his demon looked tired, which meant that he was relaxed enough to let it showed even in the presence of a stranger and other people. A feeling of relief echoed in their shared link; he wasn't sure if it was his relief or the demon's...
A deep sigh. "-he needed to take that wound!" Myrica said with a grim tone.
Odin tsked, his appearance almost looked normal now. "I'll never hear the end of it, huh?! That poison-!"
"You could handle it in your beast-form, I know!" she frowned at Odin; "...but you're not a pure blood, so I didn't know if you still have it-"
"So you're worried...!" Odin leered with a mocking tone and a disturbing grin.
Myrica turned her head away, a vein popped on her temple. "Yeah, so?!"
"You're probably more worried about my demon than about me-!"
Myrica tsked in annoyance. "His Majestic-form was so grand, I couldn't help it! My tail saw a glimpse of it on the Palace court...!" she arched her shoulders; "He's a LORD, you know?! You're belittling him...!" she pointed out with unhappy frown.
"-we know he's a-..." Treize reflexively made an excuse.
"No. Not that kind of Lord...!" she cut frowning into The General's eyes, and snapped at Odin. "And I wasn't talking about your wound, but his wound...!"
Odin was inspecting his bloody left hand that the discoloration on his skin pulled into the red loops on his wrist. He snapped his eyes at Myrica with a new angry frown. She held her hands up.
"Huff; I thought so, you didn't realize it...!"
"Duo's seal-blades..." she glanced at Treize for a second, "-he had to take them or else they'd break the Contract!"
"You're in Blessing-line from blood; while he had a direct Blessing from my sister -the High Priestess, weaved into his life while it was forming. His mother didn't know she was pregnant at the time, if not for my sister telling them -but, hah...!" Myrica averted her eyes with a mocking snicker; "-his father was a real monster, you know? He didn't even have to make an effort to kill-; and you called us monsters...!"
Treize stared her with a neutral face; he knew what kind of power Duo's father had -a little part of him felt grateful that the man killed himself before Duo could know him.
"Anyway...!" she turned to Odin again; "If Duo had pulled his Blessing, you would have lost, Grandbrat! He's in Blessing-lines too; mine! A Second-line is higher than your Fourth-line! But you still won't be able to kill each other! Lord Demon had warned you to stay away from Duo, right?! So start thinking...!"
Odin blinked at the harsh tone but didn't look like he care enough. "...that speck of blood on his wing..." he muttered flatly.
"You're lucky Duo didn't know about that!" Myrica cut. "If Lord Demon didn't take those seal-blades, they'd have ripped his body with that blood on him...! So I meant to cleanse it, so that Lord Demon could release himself from the seal, alright? I didn't mean to make those wings dirtier with more blood! -Sorry!" she admitted and ended it with defiant-ashamed tone.
"So that was what needed to be done...?!" Odin growled.
"-I belief that's what he meant." Myrica closed, glancing at the sleeping demon who didn't breathe.
Odin stared her flatly; she didn't break under the scrutiny. "So..." and he started smiling and was saying in slow, almost gentle tone; and people knew when Odin smiled that it wouldn't lead to something good. "-you're saying that Master Duo had the upper hand to actually break my Contract with my demon;-"
"I didn't mean it like-"
"But you prevent that from happening and before he realized it, too...!" Odin cut Myrica's burst; "So you're protecting Master Duo...?"
Myrica blinked; "Well-" No, Lord Demon was protecting Duo, she thought; but she couldn't say that, she realized what he was doing when he made sure that every witness on and around the court thought he was protecting Odin, right? "No-yes, I meant to protect Duo..."
She cleared her throat feeling Odin's gaze actually scalded her skin; "-from the possibility of turning himself into your enemy; or being labeled one by you...!" she added the last part with an overly-convincing smile and nods.
Odin wasn't impressed.
"BECAUSE YOU CAN'T KILL EACH OTHERRRR! And the one ripped in the middle would be Lord Demon -you are so childishly annoying for a 100 years old oldman, oldman!" Myrica barked eventually, she needed a leeway.
"Anyway, Cama is after the perpetrator; and the drooling Lesard is after Cama chasing the perpetrator... so if you want to have a chance to catch the perpetrator, I suggest you call back the Lesard before it eats my antler...!" Myrica flicked a hand towards the door to the laundry landing; "-I assume you didn't give the Lesard permission to swallow the perpetrator, right?"
Odin blinked.
Treize turned his head at Odin and blinked repeatedly, cuing him that he was waiting for the man to do something.
". . . like you think the Lesard would come if I call out to it?!" Odin asked with an offended frown.
"Well...?" Myrica and Treize actually said together it's almost comical. Too bad Odin knew he couldn't point that out without having a furious General breathing fire on his tail -not that he had one to be minded, though. The-cat stared at him lazily from Treize's shoulder; and Odin knew he was giggling in his mind-space that was not visible in physical form; and he thought... -Okay, just get me a damn new bed already! -since he started to feel that he needed to lie down; or lie his demon down so he could inspect that damn seal-blades wounds...
"Lesard..." Odin started with a growl; "...I'm raping your rider and the General is watching with his entourage...!"
"WHAT?!" Treize asked in disbelief with redden face.
A long whistling sound pulled their concentration to their ears; it's getting louder and ended with a loud bang and the already abused bed burst in more splinters with rock fragments rained into the room and a large gaping hole was now adorning Odin's wall letting the breeze in and a very annoyed-drooling Sauria was chomping at Odin's head glancing frantically in turns at the human party under its deep frown...
Treize noticed a piece of black cloth stuck on its scythe-limb; "Did you get the perpetrator?!"
-Kreeeeee?!
Lix purred a question with incomprehensive tone.
"The General meant the human you were chasing, Lesard...!" Odin said from between the lizard's jaws; pushing the lower jaw with his free hand so that his face wasn't touching the droolly tongue.
-eeek?
Lix blinked its big eyes, arching its thick brow-skin and made a questioning expression.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahaahh...!" Myrica laughed as the oval light opened around her again, hitting her laps with both hands, and suddenly froze with serious face. "I told you the-kid was chasing my antler...!" she repeated slowly with pressure.
Lix squeaked and pointed outside through the gaping hole on the wall towards the town.
"The crow escaped into the City?" Treize asked with alert tone. The lizard blinked at him; not really grasping what was happening, but realized its chase had ended. So it let Odin's head go with a wet cough.
Odin gave Lix a grudgeful stare, but the lizard didn't pay attention to his face. Looking around and turned its long body towards the floating girl after giving the objecting General a few wet sniffs, Lix arched its lizard-brows up with a surprised squeak seeing Myrica's tail beckoning it.
"-LITTLE DOGIIIIIIIIEE...!" Myrica instantly sought the lizard's head with both hands.
"Oh, for Ground's sakes! It's a lizard, not a dog!" Odin objected exasperatedly while wiping the lizard's drools from his face.
-Kreeeeaaaa-ke-ke-kee...!
Lix looked like it was laughing and jolted its scythe-limbs happily when the Auri-girl rubbed the undersides of its muzzle, its tail made a waggling 'U' in an undignified way for a huge lizard to do.
"-And don't make weird sounds, Lesard!" Odin would slap his forehead if it's not already slimy.
"Ha! You're just jealous that you couldn't handle-!"
SNAP!
-and the world clicked into slimy black, with a wet gurgling sound and a loud burp.
Treize gaped while his Sixth made surprised yelps and pointed their weapons and the satisfied-looking lizard was licking its lines of teeth with its long blue tongue innocently.
Odin blinked with a bland face.
"...Lesard! That's the grandchild of mine you're not allowed to swallow...?" he asked as if reminding Lix about something they'd agreed before; or maybe he should have made that agreement.
Lix turned its head to Odin again, sniffing the man several times and snorted long at his face; gave a greeting lick to the sleeping demon and walked to the landing with swaying happy gait.
The rest of the people left in the room stared at the disappearing lizard, most of them were still gaping at the sudden end of what was still unconcluded... -or was it?
"...and that's that." Odin closed. "Would you mind sending me a new bed with proper bedding that would be to your liking?" he asked levelly at the General.
"-I'll move you to a new room!" Treize shook his head trying to chase away the last thing happened that was still burning behind his eyes.
"What's wrong with my room?!" Odin growled.
"It's broken!"
"It's breezy; and I don't need to worry about drapes for the new window!"
"-ODIN, FOR GODS' SAKES, IT'S A HUGE HOLE -FORGET IT! Wait for your new bed here!" Treize threw his arms and left; but came back again pointing towards the landing. "THE SAURIA SWALLOWED-"
"I saw that too." Odin confirmed levelly.
Treize blinked. "IT SWALLOWED YOUR-"
"Yes. That happened sometimes." Odin confirmed again.
"AAAH -OKAY! Treat your wound! -and him!" Treize gave up and pointed his finger at the demon.
Odin frowned unhappily and turned his body a little so that Treize's finger didn't point at his demon. "I know!"
"Good!" Treize turned, walked a couple wide strides but came back again with a snap; jumped and clouted Odin on the head and left with an exasperated growl.
Odin grimaced with offended frown at his closing doors. "The hell's his problem...?!", knowing the-cat was grinning from ear to ear in his mind-scape staring at his expression.
"Aren't you going to leave my space?!" he growled at two of the Sixth that were still standing in his chamber.
"We're taking guard, to make reports to the General." one of them quipped.
"Like I ever need protection...?!" Odin barked with angry tone.
"But you did." the other one pointed out simply. It shut Odin up instantly; thinking that he would never hear the end of it if he didn't make anything bigger than that to cover that slip up.
So he complied and waited in silence; sitting on the chair with his demon still in his arm, and turned his mind-wheel to plot something that could go off with a louder bang than the sound of the demon's Lesard breaking its way into the chamber.
-...he was smiling, wider and sweeter with more passing time; and the two Sixth there pretended they did NOT see it... and that it didn't directed at them.
". . . but why?" I sniffle, "He feels your pain; so you should treat Him...!"
"Odin..." He wipes the tears from my cheek; "He feels my pains; and I feel His. And it's not something you should be concerned about, so please don't be upset..." His blinding smile blinds my eyes- it's like the sun; is that why He always looks up at the sky? Because He's searching for His sun...?
-But His Sun doesn't search for Him...
Duo arched his brows when he realized he was in a black world, feeling light and actually quite content.
He must have fainted -nope!
His body must have fainted... Ooh, he felt sorry that Cail had to carry him to his chamber again.
Great; he thought, if Treize heard about him fainting a lot, the man would freak out again...!
He decided to change his mind's track from that;
there was that one nagging his thought since when he was still in Relena's memory-scape.
So what if Heero wasn't a demon...?
Wouldn't that annul the Contract from the beginning?
Hmm... not quite, right?
That would just mean that the demon Kingdom didn't really oblige to fulfill the Peace Pact...-
. . . . . . -oh, wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -WHAAAAAAAAT?!
Duo opened his eyes instantly; wide, somewhat frightened eyes... the voice of his mind was still ringing in his ears saying its last shriek, as if a loud booming thunder that kept a ghost of its reverberating after-sound in his brain, clamoring in his skull like a commotion of his brain cells making a coup against his shocked mind.
Cail stilled beside the bed, a bowl of water in his left hand, a wet cloth in his right; he blinked and sighed out a relief smile, and sat on the chair and dabbed the wet cloth gently to Duo's face. "I was going to call for the healers to look at you... again; but then the General is not here yet... Well, I hope he hadn't... like when we're not in here-?" he grimaced at the last part; he didn't want to meet the fact that the General had come there only to find them not there before he gave the clearance to leave-
"I was grounded, yeah...?" Duo gave an almost grimacing smile; the déjà vu feeling slapped his brain back to reality.
Cail laughed dryly without merry tone.
"Duo, I'm coming in...!" Treize shouted from outside the doors and opened them with an unhappy frown.
Cail jumped by surprise and threw the bowl from his hand and Duo tried to catch it and their hands hit each other's and lost the bowl a couple times and it landed on the bed with Duo's body reflexively tackled it down on the wet bed...
Treize stopped at the sight of Duo and the Lieutenant chuckling breathlessly trying to make it without a sound and it's obviously wrecked their hunched bodies -the Lieutenant's on the night stand, and Duo's on the bed- with laughing tremors and pained stomachs; and he frowned deeper at them for being wet.
"...both of you are too old to play water in the room; especially on bed...!" Treize criticized coolly.
"-sorry... accidents happen...-!" Duo tried between breathy giggles and wheezes. Treize didn't look impressed but he let it slide; walked over to Duo, nodded his acknowledgment when the Lieutenant sprang to his feet to greet him.
Duo sat up and put the bowl from under his body on the night stand, still trying to stop his grin from blossoming but he didn't really care that he was rather too merry-looking when he's being grounded. Treize brushed the air around his head with a hand; his frown hadn't loosened yet; if ever, it was getting deeper. Duo thought he had to do something about that...-
"Did someone touch you?" his older cousin beat him to it; Duo blinked, his grin froze in a click.
"...why do you ask that?" he reflexively asked back.
Treize made a contemplating hum to himself and didn't answer, only checking Duo's complexion and eyes, and didn't seem to become alert over something he suspected. Duo thought Treize could sense whatever-air clinging on his being with the scent of Relena's Familiar in it on his body, so he half-awarely spoke-
"I should apologize..." Duo started remorsefully; "-it was wrong of me to ignore you... and to attack Heero, and ...all that..."
Treize didn't comment to that, so Duo tried another way.
"...is he alright?"
Treize stared into his eyes for several seconds, Duo didn't like that his frown still hadn't loosened even for a bit. "He's hurt."
Duo blinked his mind back, an image of Heero's stoic face that was floating in his mind started to drown in red; he widened his eyes in horror. "Wh-... I didn't-!"
Treize was going to use that to teach Duo his lesson, but seeing his guilty expression in horror he decided he didn't want to let Duo fall that deep. "Some assassin managed to get Odin; Heero shared the wound through their shared-link."
Duo froze and gaped; "Odin's hurt?" he gasped.
Treize recognized that Duo felt genuinely worried, either for Odin's safety because Heero deemed his existence important, or because Odin's safety means Heero's safety; but there was no resentment or bogus sympathy in Duo's eyes. He felt relieved for that and let his anger dissipate.
"Odin is more resilient than what you think; ...Heero is currently resting. But it's not what I came here for." Treize said levelly.
Duo blinked and cooled down, though his shoulders stiffened a little. "Okay." he said looking at his nervous hands.
Treize took a long unnecessary pause and Duo stole glances at his face; the man didn't seem to realize he'd done it, so Duo thought he should expect something in classification of doom coming out from his cousin's mouth. What else could be so difficult to get into words?
"Did you use your hands before all that?" Treize asked flatly, his frown showed that he knew the answer to that and didn't like it.
"What?" Duo arched his brows in surprise. "No -I might have lost it a couple times when I had nightmares; but never before with my full intention...!"
"A couple times?" Treize tested.
Duo's face twitched uncomfortably and he gave in after a few seconds passed; ". . . -several times; but not in my waking hour!"
Treize paused at Duo's defensive tone and just studied his expression; Duo felt even more uncomfortable under the scrutiny and averted his eyes.
". . . supposing this Kingdom depends on you, and not the Peace Contract; can you win it?" Treize asked slowly.
"Win what?" Duo frowned.
"War."
"-with the demons?" Duo asked in disbelief; "You mean the demon King-dom...?!"
Treize nodded once with level face.
". . . -wha . . . . . . -then what about Heero?" Duo asked worriedly, he started to develop a sick feeling in his guts.
"Depending on Heero's Contract is too risky; you knew how fragile it is in terms..." Treize said levelly.
"Yeaa- but no one's engaged in a war and turn up as casualty...!" Duo quipped.
Treize cocked his head a little and stared into Duo's eyes deeply; and Duo clamped his mouth with a click realizing that he'd dived in and drowned himself completely from head to toes. He sagged his shoulders and averted his eyes with a grimace. ". . . I see your point -it''s cheating making me say it...!" he accused with flushed cheeks.
Duo waited for a full minute staring at the floor, but the admonishment didn't come eventhough he was waiting to hear it. Stealing a glance and found Treize's wall-like level face that was almost devoid of emotion, a spark of worry went off in his heart again. "Treize...-"
". . . was that an option . . .?" Duo asked slowly sounding like a child.
Treize blinked but didn't look at his eyes anymore. "You're grounded for a week, Duo. Do not leave this room without my permission!" he stood up.
"This ROOM?!" Duo inched to the edge of the bed in haste. "I'd die of boredom!"
"Read books. Make charms. Do anything that doesn't concern you as a Maxwell." Treize said flatly.
"I get it! I understand...!" Duo hurriedly jumped off his bed and rounded his cousin and held his arms stopping him from walking further. "I'll apologize to Odin! I'd beg him for anything if it's necessary! Just please don't make me-"
"He's okay, Duo...!" Treize cut sternly, looking down at Duo's pleading eyes and felt bad for what happened.
"-...who?" Duo gasped.
Treize sighed and melted, held Duo's head with both arms and pulled it onto his chest. "You're so transparent I have to worry about you all the times...!" he muttered.
Duo blinked and mulled it over, and he knew that Treize knew he was worried about Heero to the point of panicking, and clamped his mouth in embarrassment and took the arrangement to hide his face on his cousin's chest. Treize knew how he felt despite that, and chuckled softly.
"Heero's okay; if he's not, Odin would have exploded...he's someone even I cannot contain! I don't think he would forbid you to be around Heero, though; he'd looked at you as his new toy, already. So, if anything, I'd rather you stay away from them for the time being." Treize said softly.
Duo blinked several times in thinking but didn't say anything.
"I'm more worried about you being a Maxwell, than about him being a demon." Treize added.
"Sorry." Duo said in reflex.
"If anything ever happens again between Odin and my cousin; I give you permission to hit Odin before my cousin does." Treize said louder staring at the Lieutenant.
"...Sir?" Cail had the expression of a thief that was caught red handed, and Duo instantly felt sorry for the man; knowing what Treize had in mind.
"Then it'd be between you and Odin; without jeopardizing the Contract." Treize said simply.
The Lieutenant blinked rapidly, chasing his bafflement away. "...Yessir!" he half-reflexively answered; but his mind had yet processing what that order implied.
"And you, have more self-control!" Treize pushed Duo at arm-length.
"Yes...!" Duo pouted staring at the floor behind his cousin; he was angry at himself, too.
Treize nodded, quite satisfied with the answer. "Now, do you know anything about Sanctuary Trees?"
Duo's brows shot up almost to his hairline; "...o-...that! ...-no." he sounded baffled and disappointed at the same time.
"Okay. Heero had never done anything openly before; I'll just wait and see how things develop from now on. So, please, stay away from anything for awhile."
"I-...I know, I'm sorry. He's kind, you know?!" Duo asked hastily, pulling at Treize's cuff when he released him.
"Duo... kindness and loyalty don't always get along..." Treize stroked Duo's head with his other hand; his smile didn't reach his eyes. Duo gasped but no more word formed in his mouth; he was being contradictive, and couldn't even say his side.
Treize patted his head and left; "...I'll do something." he offered before the doors closed. Whatever that meant.
Treize walked down the corridor in silence; the sounds of his steps didn't falter, but his mind was weighed with new thoughts. He didn't like not knowing...
He stopped somewhere near a junction.
"Rianka, make room." he muttered.
The-cat materialized on his left shoulder, his long tails circled the space around Treize and secured it. Treize sighed and closed his eyes; calling out to the Palace Ward and connected a link to the Covenant. A spell-circle shone under his feet, a pole of light in front of him; it opened like a gate and revealed an apparition of a Mother standing in calm pose with her hands at her front hidden under the long flap of her maroon hood that reached her ankles. Her black dress under the flaps looked solemn, but she was smiling with kindness.
"Bless you, my child..." she spoke.
Treize opened his eyes and frowned lightly. "...please don't lump me together with the others...?"
She chuckled, her eyes lit up and shone with motherly warmth. "I'm sorry; are you in trouble, already...?"
Treize thinned his lips and gave the stare, but it was lasted only for a second.
"Duo is really more than a handful, hm?" she beat him before he objected.
"That's not what I link with you for..."
She arched her brows.
"Well... not entirely." he admitted fast; "Did you know that Odin is an Aurilatha?" he frowned.
"Mm-hm." she nodded.
Treize's frown got deeper. "...why didn't you tell me-?"
"But you never asked." she interjected fast.
Treize gasped but sighed it out; he wouldn't win that argument. "...did Father know?"
"What do you think?" her smile thinned.
Treize tsk-ed. "That's between him and Odin, then. Do you know anything about Odin and Queen Thenea?"
She chuckled amusedly before Treize could say another thing. "You'd like to think Odin had a love-story, hmm?"
Treize frowned like he was offended by her merry tone.
"Did someone come for him?" she asked when her chuckles subsided. Treize was objecting with his stare that his question got answered by a question, but she cocked her head demanding her answer and he gave in; he got the-stare from her, anyway.
"An Auri-girl, saying she was Odin's grandbrat...!"
The Mother chuckled merrier; "...yes, yes. He's that old, already...!" she gasped between chuckles. "So?"
"So?" Treize asked back.
"So what do you think?" she asked fast.
"...about?" Treize sounded impatient and almost rolled his eyes.
"About Auri-males." she arched her brows again.
Treize blinked; didn't expect that to come. "Males-?"
"Hmmm... aren't they sweet?" she hummed dreamily.
Treize narrowed his eyes. ". . . Mother . . .!"
"They take good care of their younger females, Treize. Depending on their tribes and their customs, there should be some alteration to the practice; but in general, there's a blood-tradition that strong males take weak or distressed younger females under their wings. Like sworn-little sister...!" she brightened at the end.
Treize mulled at the information. "So... Queen Thenea..."
She chuckled. "Yes; unfortunately, that's what Queen Thenea to him. But isn't that endearing of him...?" and closed it deeper chuckles.
-. . . to protect one's heirs to the point that he'd lost his own identity...? His mind whispered that Odin might still hold his promise to Queen Thenea until his last breath; that's the kind of man he was...
"So, Odin is older than her?" he asked flatly.
"I heard he met her when they were still adolescents, he looked a few years older than her... but you couldn't really tell with the Aurilatha." she smiled. "What's this really about? You feel for Odin...?"
Treize looked offended. "Please don't say it disgustingly."
Her laughing-bubbles popped and she laughed openly as if hearing the best joke of her life.
". . . . . . Mo-theeeer . . . !" Treize objected slowly.
She fought to stop her laughter, and cupped Treize's cheeks. "Ohh... Treize, Son; you're still as cute as ever...!"
Treize fought hard to keep himself from rolling his eyes, and she knew it.
"So... what trouble are you in?" she asked gently.
"Why did you decide to go to the Covenant?" he asked lightly. "Was it to stay away from the politics, or for Duo?"
She blinked and took a step back, releasing Treize's face gently with a kind smile. "What kind of answer do you want to hear?"
Treize closed his eyes and sighed; "I'm sorry, it's not you; I'm just worried about Duo...!"
She tinkered and nodded; "Duo could take care of himself; -belief me, I know...!" she pressurized at the end. She was implying something that he couldn't quite catch, but he let it passed.
He felt more at ease knowing that Odin was still the Odin he knew before revealing that he was an Aurilathan, or that he had a grandchild that somehow connected to Duo by fate -or karma, and that Duo was so... Duo. He at least should feel grateful about the last fact; his duty now was to protect Duo from being too Maxwell-y.
He snickered at the last thought; and just realized that his Mother was watching him with amusement, her eyes shone with pride... and it made him embarrassed. He cleared his throat; "It's ...-fine. I'm sorry to have suddenly bothered you, Mother."
"Off, now?" she sounded disappointed, "Let me see you for a while longer...!" and cupped his face again, searching into his eyes and quite satisfied that he still had that unwavering gaze; and kissed his forehead -not like they could feel the touch physically, but it's enough that they could still experience that contact. ". . . take care, My Son." she smiled; and not long her figure closed into a pole of light again and the spell-circle died under Treize's feet.
Treize was still staring at where his Mother's eyes were before, although it was an empty space now. His mind felt exalted seconds ago; but it soon felt like drowning again...
-. . . the problem now was Heero.
He felt the guilt biting, already.
x - - - - - - - -x
x - - - - - - - -x
thanx for reading
saru's note:
trying to work while trying to find a house to buy is not working and buying... (it doesn't make sense, hu?)