Another -7 may '14

Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.

Warning: saru having a pair of bad teeth aching in need to be removed immediately... '; -oh, about this chapter, you'll find some controversial issues written; if you don't like them, just pretend you didn't read them, 'kay? (in Indonesian proverb, this is similar to "throwing stones, hide (the) hand (which did it)"...)

chapter 24

-We want to sully them, so we sullied ourselves-

Odin sat on the chair heavily, the fluffy cushion made a dull noise at his weight, and the wood protested with creaking sounds.

-he wouldn't care if the chair had given up standing; he needed some slap on the face to feel that he was awake at the moment... a slap of pain on his butt would also welcomed if the Fates decided to give him one then and there-

Heero's sleeping face was blissfully oblivious-

The new bed Treize had arranged there was pretty decorated wooden bed with curtains tailored with tufts and tassels; something fitting to be Palace-y, in short. It was too luxurious in his spartan chamber... but obviously the General still minded that he had to witness the naked demon's body draped on top of him in such a way.

"-...I wouldn't bother to use the drapes to cover my sleep, you stupid General...!" Odin growled acidly to the night breeze blowing from the absent wall; if anything, the bed drapes would hinder him to access his surrounding when he had the demon lying dead-like on his bed prone to attackers and such. If something the matter, then he'd say that some dirty minds would need to have drapes to cover themselves from showing forth!

And just as suddenly as the Lesard made a wall-wide 'window' to his room, the world he knew turned up-side down... -he'd thought about the same thing when he read that book, right? That sense of déjà vu was not even laughable anymore; it wasn't even interesting to begin with... something like 'karma' was supposed to be written on that-cursed book's cover as its title; 'read; and taste it' should be written under it as the sub-title.

But blaming it didn't do any good, either... he wondered if that First-Maxwell who'd written that book actually placed a curse to anyone who read it to be 'someone who begin something'; like a person who carried some illness before spreading it to the whole world, or something even more gruesome than just plague. Thinking about it, it must be the Maxwells' revenge, right? They were forced to live so bitterly that the word cruelty would've lost its meaning when applied to their life-stories; and now their bitterness had started taking shape? -come to think of it; there was someone in the Maxwells with a name similar to that, wasn't there?-

And what was their suffering for...? In the name of humanity; -the humans who forced them to do inhuman things, and treated them inhumanely from even before they're born until they're dead. That they even had to take their own deaths into their hands to end it all; what kind of hatred would they have? What could sate their hatred if there were such thing lurking in this reality...?

...if possible that all their hatred had meant to be inherited, accumulated and pinpointed into one's vengeance? Just like that part of the book said-

And I -feel content in the possibility of a future where there is only one me standing before their Last

-then, wouldn't that mean that Duo Maxwell was the sole carrier of all that hatred...?

...so we can start over this cycle;
and I -will rise with a new name, or nameless, even

-a new name; an identity... the freedom that all the dead Maxwells were denied to have, the one thing Treize had given to Duo, that label of being a 'human'.

And what was that line nearing the closure...-?

Let it be my End.

Supposedly, if all this was the making of that book at its cycle; than, wouldn't that mean that 'their Last' was already here? It's said 'only one me standing before their Last', right...?

". . . . . . is it talking about you...?" Odin stretched his right hand to brush aside a lock of brown hair played by the gentle breeze teasing the long eyelashes; the demon didn't react even when Odin's fingers traced the outline of his face from his temple to the closed lips-

...something that were beautiful and untainted; unchanging... and called demons- "...if I ask you what you are, would you even bothered to think of answering, ...Heero?"

The now only two pair of wings laid limply on the soft pillow at the sides of the fair face; half opened, showing the underside of them, the layers of inner feathers; the long soft tufts at his sideburns, gently played by the breeze teasing his pointy ears they were supposed to hide... it seemed vulgar in its bizarreness, like the scene of a demon surrendering his body to whomever had the right to claim it. But why was that? They're just wings... just small wings of some nature's decoration that were not meant to fly; it's the same as the extravagant peacock's tail, or the tusks of an elephant. They may have purposes in their respective existence, as nature allowed them to be...

-but it's just these small wings differentiate the whole world from this boy, whom he grew to care more than his own life, with his world, -the world which he had no means to ignore.

they carry the worlds on their wings

"...what world do you carry on yours... can't you tell me, Heero? Is it this world? Is it the world after this world...?" Odin whispered mostly to himself, wishing he could just warp himself to a future where he could just live in an outcome-world where he didn't have a say or obligation to do anything to be a part of it. The red lines circling the lithe neck staring at him boldly, questioning his determination... that value that the demon saw in him the first time they met -or whatever it was the demon thought he had inside that made the demon surrender his-being into his hands -literally; he pulled the thick blanket to cover them in haste...

Abandoning the demon now would be as easily as chopping off his hands in one swift swing of a sword's blade; cold and sharp and cruel... and obedient to its wielder-

-just as he was supposed to be obedient to the King for whatever he was ordered to... only to Thenea's King she made him swear to protect far before that King was born.

Only this one King... -after the end of the King's reign, he'd be freed from the Palace.

"Thenea... you're cruel...!" Odin slumped on the bed, propping his weight on his elbows, head down trying to hide behind his clenched hands; "...your family is full of traps I couldn't get free of...!" -for once his battle hardened face was contorted in pain and sadness; a sheen of betrayal wet his eyes. He was half human, and the Palace seemed to never care about that; all he was needed for was to do inhuman things in the name of the Kingdom.

-...and they called it righteous.

"Please come in... -Oh, please, please do...!" a sudden rush of excitement made the croak high pitched into a squeak. "Come in, Last Master...-Come in -come in!" a series of hard jingles and clattering noises followed the heavy dragging sound nearing where Duo stood unmoving. His mind had wanted to flee, but his legs had decided to actually move closer to that invitation; they were almost dragging themselves on the ragged floor he could hear the scraping sounds they made that made him wondered whether the soles of his shoes were that coarse to begin with.

The four squinting lights blinked rapidly in impatience, nodding ever excitedly in invitation, urging him to move faster towards them; -with a sinking feeling Duo's mind realized that whoever -or whatever it was, the owner of that croak-that-was-not-quite-a-voice; was not able to move closer to where he was because it was restrained... the heavy clanking and jangling sounds were also croaking in its worth, as if they were in worse condition than just being rusty; some grating noises sounded like of stones instead of metals... as lazily audible as a dying man's growl.

A shiver ran up and down his spine; getting stronger and dreaded him in fear as he began to realize that his limbs were shaking rapidly -and yet they kept dragging him forward towards the darkness. The tangy smell of rust and the dry cold air didn't help his other senses either; somehow he could still smell the fishy scent of blood and bits and leftovers of what was once bodies scattered on the floor... although that was impossible; -or so he tried to assure his own mind. The jagged floor were covered by dried things he didn't have the nerve to see whether they were what his mind pictured or something else; but he doubted that they were dried twigs and branches.

At some point it was impossible for his shaking legs to keep dragging themselves with the amount of obstacles spread on the floor; Duo took a shaky deep breath before thinking to risk it assessing his escape route-

"...-please move in a little closer, Last Master..." the raspy sound beat his chance, "...there's something that belongs only for you to see... insi- -de...!" the last word somehow lost its animosity and also its breath and almost sounded like it was anticipating a relief.

Duo blinked and tried focusing his mind; the shiver made his skin tingling, washed with a wave of hot-and-cold sensation, but he didn't dare to show his trembling that close to those squinting and blinking lights. His eyes could make out a lighter shade of color in the darkness, spread about one and a half of his body width, at around his chest's height. With a rising nervousness he realized he was staring at a leer with exposed whole-line of teeth. A large bulk behind was overshadowing what was supposed to be the head, some jagged pointy structures jutting from it as if they were scattered dorsal bones; some arching smaller appendages curved unevenly at the bulk's sides, like spider legs.

Several droopy lines of restraints tied on the jutting structures to some places around the bulk's large mass, perhaps to the dome's structures; it reminded Duo of the ropes of a circus' tent, with lampions and accessories dangling from them... only this was the gruesome image of its resemblance, as his mind eventually allowed what his eyes that could see in total darkness sent to his brain to be processed. That those weren't tent ropes but rusty chains, and the things hanging alongside their length were mosses thick and long enough to drape down to the floor, covering bits of bodies that had dried into pale branches stuck on the links. The bulk was formed from sagging masses of lumpy chafed and cracked skins, like it was melting to the point where those masses became like appendages... or maybe there were no bones inside that bulge of body except for the skull... -the crushed grotesque looking skull covered tightly by thin and torn leftover of dried skin, showing the grey and dusty bones on some places; and that line of teeth was not just a set, but several uneven-shaped sets of teeth piling on top of another protruding from the jaws formed like ragged saws and blooming fangs and tusks covering over half of its face, as if they'd broken their ways out from the inside and completely tore away at the flesh. Two uneven dent covered with wrinkled dried skin marked the missing eyes; instead, there were four spider-eyes planted on its forehead, with no eyelids; the tight slits half-hiding those gleaming eyes seemed like they were made by cutting at the skin with a sharp object.

As Duo's feet pulled nearer in by the sight of horror he was witnessing, he could see the metal restraint around what was supposed to be its neck area, almost completely covered by the sagging lumps if not for the spikes jutting out from between the folds. And that now he could see that those arching spider-legs-like were actually chunky ribs, protruding from the blob of body that had bloated beyond proportion looking like a horrendous torn-spider... And those structures at its back, they were not bones or spikes as he thought they were... -they were large pieces of jagged planks made from some kind of layered mineral-stones; or just part of some walls, perhaps; with glittering lines in beautiful patterns... something like spell binds, breathtaking as the glitters twinkled in succession tracing the lines on the surfaces as if they were alive-

Duo held his breath at the putrid air, staring at those beautiful planks; a little of it reminded him of Heero's wire-wings, only difference was that the mineral-stones were of dark half-translucent material instead of clear-and-milky. Zapping noises sometimes heard when the tracing twinkles collided with each others, and the heavy chains rattled in pained jerks. Duo was almost amazed at the cruelty of how they were used, stabbing the dried blob to the ground... but a wash of self-satisfaction cooled down his fear that he almost smiled at himself, -or at the nasty sight.

A series of coughing-grating gurgle reached his ears and made him frown a little; he shifted his eyes at the grotesque face in front of him... he realized that huge melted mass was laughing; a deeper part of his heart felt a twinge at the realization that the thing was once a man, a human-being.

"-waited! -I waited you for eternity! ...-I did! I did!" the gurgling croak said in euphoria. "Go on, then! -Go on and see...!"

Duo narrowed his eyes apathetically at the encouragement. "Who are you...?"

The gaping jaws with lines of teeth that were impossible to be closed hissed, exhaling vile foggy breath at Duo's direction, but at some distance the fog came back to the source and started corroding the sagging skin. The-thing was screeching in agony, rattling the droopy chains and managed to make some dried bits that stuck on the links fell to the floor; it hissed and snarled at Duo's face in pure hatred but everything coming out of its mass kept turning back and hurt itself.

"...what did you do?" Duo asked uneventfully when the-thing seemed to have given up trying to attack him.

The slumped mass wasn't moving; ragged croaky breath heard painfully filling the silence for a long pause... the grotesque head hung limply on its restraint, the gaping jaws dripping slime that melted the appendage-looking blobs under its mass piling on the floor... but it was as if the-thing had surrendered to the pain as the slime corroding its parts with hissing sound.

"...-I... killed... a little girrrrrrl..." the breathy croak said in remorse, must be because it blamed itself for getting such fate by its own deed; "...-I killed... that cursed-Maxwell's little sisssst'rrrr...!" the pained tone hinted with accusation.

Suddenly flashes of lightning shot out from the mineral planks to each other, burning the already dried flesh with sparks; and the-thing screech again in agony... longer, deeper agony that's destroying the mass from inside; a burst of slimy-explosion, and Duo saw how the ribs burst out tearing the body like a freed catapult's hand, throwing bits and other stuffs as they lodged on the already covered chains. Those stone-grating sounds he heard before were coming from the sticking out bones that scraped at the floor or at each other, he realized; but somehow he didn't care at all.

Duo waited for some time until he was sure the-thing had passed its agony enough to hear him. "...so what was meant for only me to see?"

The dried mass was wrinkled on itself with cracking sounds, it reminded Duo of a caterpillar trying to curl up. It stayed silenced as it tried to painfully breathe, just as Duo thought he wouldn't get the answer and should just looked around on his own, came the dying-like whisper; ". . . . . . behindmeee- . . ."

Duo blinked several times at the timing; not that he cared about getting the answer now that he knew that something that gave him the creeps before was just a tormented ex-human in restraints. He started walking on the dried bits; they were leftovers of some massacre a very long time ago, and once he passed the disgusted feeling he had, those were nothing he should care for. Maneuvering his body so as to not get in contact with the draping mosses and bits and dripping slime from the droopy chains, he got passed the-thing's body and stopped when he realized a pillar of black crystal waited for him behind the-thing.

So, while cruelly tormenting the-thing, the one who punished it made it as that crystal's guardian... –suddenly the surrounding washed by white light, making Duo had to cover his eyes with his hands; and as he felt his body weightless and warm, he opened his eyes; half afraid at the light as he always did, and in perplex found himself floating in a shining white world with nothing but light in it. And the black crystal was floating vertically in front of him; it had pointy ends and flat almost random-sided surfaces, and they didn't reflect the over-abundant light at all. It's almost like a see-through velvet...

Duo smiled unconsciously; a word escaped his lips-

". . . Father . . . !"

I-

rise from the memories of their smiles and gentle kindness_

The General Treize jerked by a sudden pull that tugged at his chest and he paused on what he was doing on the bed, feeling a flare of pain at his core that crept outward with his every breath. He frowned and felt his chest with his right hand palm, knowing his conscience constricted and with a hiss decided to do something about it; straightened his body from his crouching, letting out a che -and couldn't help but snickered when the body that was under him scooted away from him and curled up on the corner of the large bed, covering his exposed self with the bed drapes.

The General Treize chuckled satisfactorily at the pair of round frightened eyes staring at him with contempt. "You're cute like that...!" he breathed appreciatively; earning a hateful hiss from the frightened bundle. And then he left the room while laughing delightfully.

The Maxwell's room wasn't too far from his, he knew that he'd need to be able to reach it immediately when the necessity comes; it's part of his duty, anyway; one that he'd been anticipating eagerly. The possibility to be able to mold a Maxwell to his design thrilled him more than sex -he cackled at that thought, his mind teased him with a bad joke about masturbating and all-

The heavy double doors opened themselves for him when he willed it, he smirked as he enjoyed the Palace Ward's system; the face of a baffled Lieutenant Cail greeted him at once. He put the face of the composed General Kushrenada instantly, hoping the man missed his previous expression by his bafflement.

"...General." Cail bowed and pleased him in, and stayed obediently before the closed doors.

The General stepped inside the chamber, cursorily inspected the condition and half disappointed when he didn't find anything out of its shape. The only thing out of the ordinary was a trail of blackened moss shaped in shoe prints from the window to the white carpet and the bed; at the center, a heap under the blanket exuding negative feelings so dark he could picture them like tendrils coiling and lurching everywhere like snake heads looking for preys. He almost feel like sighing in bliss-

"...Duo, is something wrong?" he tried a sympathetic tone, but knew it heartily that it was still the voice of the General Treize. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Are you alright?" -this time he got the voice of the Cousin Treize right, his lips pulled to a smirk but immediately he thinned them again before anyone noticing.

The heap under the blanket was trembling slightly, light tremors that would soon exploded to a frenzy -that he knew heartily. He tentatively patted the buldge under the blanket that appeared to be a head, feeling a euphoric jolt of pain and fondness clutched at his chest multiple times stronger than the pull before, letting his body to move instinctively -and embraced the covered bundle and rocked it gently; knowing his body had done that many, many times with another Maxwell that was more frail and vulnerable than this one.

-a tear slid down from his eye.

"Did you see something...?" his lips moved automatically; he played along with the flow.

A cough-like whimper followed with a wet wheeze, and then trembling hitched sniffles answered his question; his hands sought the ends of the blanket to peel it from the bundle and found a miserable face straightened up to meet his eyes. A flash of the same face with a much younger appearance resurfaced in his mind, and he let his body moved by its own program of paternal instinct and kissed and pet the Maxwell repeatedly.

The Maxwell boy melted to the familiar touches and soon broke to a frenzied cry, clawing and clinging to his night robe like a baby-monkey, -he almost snickered at his thought, but a whip of anger lashed at his conscience with vengeance; he tsk-ed and reminded himself to have better control of his body and mind... and hugged the Maxwell's body tightly.

"Did someone hurt you?" -a wave of anger welled up in his chest and directed at himself; he quenched it down with a sense of vengeance and hate, sighed in satisfaction when nothing surged up again.

"Duo...?" he tried and kissed the brunette head wrecked by his crying fit. "I'm here, Duo... Come back to me...!" a sense of irony tickled his humorous side, he almost couldn't help himself to leer at the situation.

The Maxwell boy tried to utter something between his sobs and whimpers; his jaws were tight and tongue numb from his crying, so he couldn't say anything coherent at the time. The General Treize stared at the boy fighting his words out, and his patience didn't last too long, he still got a game waiting for him in his bed -and with that in mind he covered the boy's mouth with his, swallowing the sobs and whimpers, teasing the feverish numb tongue with his; and almost moaned in jest when he felt the boy's body stiffened in surprise even in his current state of mind.

He pulled away when the boy's cries pressed down to stiffened sobs; and stared at the wide eyes staring back at him with surprise and a touch of fright and incomprehension -he knew the Cousin Treize never touched this boy like that before.

-right. Shouldn't play with war-tool like that-
"Calmer now...?" he covered his action with a gentle smile. The boy's eyes searched into his eyes with alien look for some time, but eventually melted again into tears; crying in a calmer fashion. He pulled the boy into his embrace again, kissing his head offhandedly while rocking their bodies and hummed a gentle song -his body had already programmed to react like that.

". . . . -ther . . " After some minutes passed the boy found his voice, muffled by the night robe he was pressed to.

"What...?" The General Treize asked softly.

-sniffle. "...I met Father..."

"Father, who?"

-sniffle. -whimper. The brunette head tilted up to face his. "My father..."

The General blinked once, searching for related memory.

Lexiaferran Maxwell-Noventa.
-ahh, the SilverMoon; the one said as the most beautiful of all Maxwells-
-wait. What was the meaning of his name, again?-
-The Ruler of Truth. Right...! The cursed-one Maxwell.-
-He's dead.-
"Did he say something?"

-sniffle. Shook head. -sniffle "He showed me Mother..."

Dysnaeri fe-Leavaterratha.
Lea.
Big Sister.
-She's dead.-
"...and?"

-sob. ". . .and...Grandmother...!" The boy's voice hitched to a higher tone, as if feeling some unbearable heartache, face twisted in pain.

-they're all dead.-
The General didn't feel anything with that piece of info. "And?"

The Maxwell boy stilled suddenly.

The General blinked, realizing that he'd stopped breathing altogether.

"...and... WHYYYYYY...?!" The boy suddenly snapped with delirious stare, pulling at the front of the night robe as if he wanted to actually abuse the fabric. "WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHYYYY-?!" and then banged at The General's chest not caring about how much strength he put into his clenched hands.

The General widened his eyes and moaned a little feeling that it was actually hurt, caught the boy's wrists to stop his frenzy-

"-AAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!"

"DUO!" The General tugged at his hands when he felt his anger rose, knowing that the Cousin Treize wouldn't get angry at this situation -but he didn't have that much patience or affection.

The Maxwell boy stopped his hysteria; hung his head, breathing hard through his gritted teeth and let his tears fell freely to his laps. He closed his air, and The General knew it.

"Duo? ...speak to me?" The General begged.

The boy sobbed once, and shook his head.

"Duo..."

"-get out..." the boy whispered.

"Duo-"

"Get out, Treize." He repeated apathetically.

The General arched his brows in reflex; for a moment he thought the boy had sensed a difference, but apparently he still had his self covered. He thought, and decided that the Cousin Treize would give in with care; so he let go the boy's wrists and placed the hands at either side of his laps gently, and kissed the still hung head. And moved to the edge of the bed to get off-

"All of you." The boy added when The General got one leg down.

"Alright, Duo." He tried an understanding smile, and cued the Lieutenant to return to his own room, leaving the Maxwell boy alone in the darkness he felt safe in.

Nilfaran Maxwell-Darlian.

She was given nickname The BlackFlower; with tan skin and black wavy hair that reflected the light that could put silks to shame, and clear black eyes like a pair of transparent black crystal that charmed with rings of stardust inside. Her alluring charms earned her another name as The BlackWitch; given with contempt from jealous females and lusty males from afar.

She came to the House of Kushrenada after the controversial fall of the Darlians; some said that General Kushrenada caused their demise for the sake of possessing her, and she charmed the General to do it.

But Lilia Kushrenada, in her second year of marriage with the General, knew better than everyone who judged her evil. Nilfaran Maxwell looked like she was 18 years old at the time she got the name Kushrenada attached to her surname, she was a proud lady and a fierce warrior, and also a vengeful Maxwell; she wouldn't let any men own her.
Not with wealth, not with status. Not with love. Not even with life.

-and with that said, she left a long list of men who died in their effort to have her heart. And also for that, General Kushrenada fell in love with her; although at first it was for the sake of conquest.

And Nil let him have his conquest only for once,
and in the same night sneaked in the shadows to find her 10 years old hidden son in a secret place.

And Lilia Kushrenada begged so she could be the mother of the child Nil conceived from that night, to be a part of Nil's design, to be the one who'd give the name Kushrenada as a family and not as sign of ownership.

And thus, Lea Kushrenada was born in the House of Kushrenada in the third year of General Kushrenada's and Lilia's marriage.
Her Maxwell name was Dysnaeri fe-Leavaterratha; the child from a Maxwell and The General, listed formally as the first child of his wife Lilia.
The only Maxwell that didn't have that name, but still shared the curse.

Seven years later, Lilia's only son was born.

And another seven years later, right before The King's son was born,
the 14 years old Lea met Nil's hidden son, Lex, for the first time.
And five years later, after the both of them engaged in the battle to annihilate the Aurilatha;
Duo was born.

-the son of a daughter who married her elder brother from the same mother...
who was also her father...

"-that's whyy... you 're all ABOMINATIONSSS...!" the-thing screeched.

"-a Maxwell could only give birth from joining with another Maxwell, but they hid that fact well...! DO YOU KNOW AT FIRST THERE WERE ONLY A PAIR OF SIBLINGS OF THEM?!" the slobering gaping mouth spat slime with every hateful word-

"The big brother was a lad with such inhuman powers -so the Kingdom made use of him! ...-and The King was infatuated by his little sister's beauty; so he forced himself on that little girl... -but she killed herself saying that 'I BELONG TO MY BIG BROTHER'!-"
"SUCH IMMORAL BASTARDS...-!"
"HE COPULATED WITH HER DEAD BODY IN FRONT OF MEEEE!"
"AND AFTERWARDS HER DEAD BODY GOT PREGNANT WITH ANOTHER PAIR OF GIRL AND BOY -! HE HAD TO CUT THROUGH HER BELLY TO GET THEM OUT 'CAUSE IT COULDN'T GIVE BIRTH...! -ghack -ahck" -a series of coughing-spatting-croaking laugh wrecked the melting mass that kept hissing as the slime ate away at its rotten dried flesh, the fumes covered the air around its uncanny miserable figure until it looked like a thick fog. But the-thing couldn't stop itself, for it was its time of glory it had been waiting for eternity -to exact its vengeance to the Blood that had caused its eternal suffering.

"YOU 'RE ALL DESCENDANTS OF DEATH AND SINS-! YOU 'RE ALL LIVING CARCASSES!" the charges shooting between the planks on its back increased their sizes to bolts of lightning-

"ABOMINATIOOOOONSSSSS...!"
-and with a sickening belching sound, the mass exploded.

Duo jerked to realization again at the occurrence; finding himself standing in the middle of the dome floor, apparently on the center of a spell circle that was made as the floor pattern. He didn't remember what happened after that, or how he got back to his room; the one thing filling his mind was the question, why did they left him to live alone, when all the other Maxwells could have killed him too when they committed their suicides.

- because a sacrifice is needed?

-because this Kingdom wouldn't let them die if it didn't hold at least one hostage?

-because he was...-?

-because what...?

"-whyyyy...?" Duo sobbed, hugging his knees and hid his face from the world; "...why did you ever give birth to me, Mother...?"
-why didn't you all take me with you?

All that's left was the fact that he was the last of the cursed Maxwell.
Alone.
Lost.
And was drowning in his Nightmare in unbearable speed.

_scraping at the rubles and digging into the mud;

_and soon...

Soon I -will be nameless._

Odin stared with a dark scowl at the book page that washed itself with blackness, leaving only those two sentences in smoky white; and knowing that the rest empty pages of that book had also been washed into black from the sight of their side that was clutched under his thumb.

At first, he wanted to check if anything was written about Heero or his kind, even for the most subtle hint he'd missed before; albeit knowing that the book wouldn't provide him with answers to his liking.

...and he was right; that book only gave him escalating dark feelings-

He threw that book on the bed with contempt, before he'd rip it to shreds -or tried to-, and covered it with his pillows... giving more power and time in doing so than necessary, as if he could smother it.

On his bed, the demon lied unmoving like a fair princess waiting for a kiss of Life that would wake her again; but Odin knew that Life wasn't anywhere near him... even if such thing ever existed at all-

In his dark room, Duo wept into his own embrace... curled up on the corner of his bed in the cocoon of his blanket. The dark didn't provide him warmth, nor company; but obediently swallowed him from the world's eyes.

The memory of a 10 years old boy who was joined with his own mother, while she carried the scent and traces of another man who violated her, kept resurfacing his mind like a punishment. Or when he's already 29 years old and joined with his 18 years old sister, knowing full well that she was the daughter of his own mother from his own seed... and that she knew exactly who he was...-

...when he stared at the white full moon in an isolated cave through the large hole of its ceiling, waiting for his mother to arrive... a pouch of dried flowers in his pocket, a gift for her-

-when he punished people who dared to sneer at him or his people with unveiled contempt, and knowing how easy it was for him to do cruel things.

When he put his tired feet into the gentle stream of the small river and cherished the silence of the massacred tribes behind him.

When he plucked a bat-berry and flung it to hit the back of the blond head of his sister-

-when she snapped behind with an angry scowl and beamed with flushed cheeks at the sight of his gentle face...

When they cried silently embracing each other in a helpless heap in the hollowed bark of some ancient tree, whispering words of prayers over and over for their unborn child; spatters of blood clung on their faces and fronts, the only testimony to their crimes...

...when she tried to kill him while clutching at her larger belly, saying she didn't want her child to meet him... to ever share his curse-

. . . when they were alive.

"-stooop..." Duo pleaded, "Please stop...!" But the memories kept assailing his mind; they were always in his Blood, like Heero said, he always had parts of his ancestors inside him; he just had to find them in his core.

And he could see their lives from their eyes; felt the feelings from their hearts.

And he knew that he was loved-
Even from before he was born.

It was just that his Blood was never given the life, -the freed life that his ancestors had to scheme to get it for him... and they all had to live wretched lives-

All because of this Kingdom and the people in it...
These greedy despicable people...
-these vile humans...!

In the dark of hidden secrets and dead crimes, the droopy rusty chains weighed by moss and bits and scraps and fumes rattled slightly.

A ghostly sigh of agony; long and sorrowful, and full of hatred...
-...I am rightful to this land's throne...
-...I am the King...!
-...I will get it back... just you watch, ...Maxwell...!

x - - - - - - - - x

Thanx for reading

saru's note:
very sorry for the long absent; part of it due to work (but that was on may-june), the most part of it was because of this keyboard got its 2nd-function button forever-exists! So, while saru had to give one finger to always press that button while typing, the bad revelation was that the "" button would become asterisk... yeahh, good; there's no way this monkey would resort to copy-paste it every time a dialogue needs it.

Good revelation was that, after playing pacman (while knowing that the arrow buttons were also somewhat not functioning well) and dead a very annoying 5 deaths in a row for the -nth time and in anger banged the flat area under the keyboard and hurt saru's right wrist for 2 days, the 2nd-function button finally stopped trying to be over-existing...hahahahahah... and oni-tan suggested saru to buy portable keyboard! Hahahahahahahhh... but royalty-payment has yet to arrive! Hmph!
Well, the arrow buttons still had errors except the up-arrow... so at least saru's keyboard still could get it up...! (beware of bad joke)

Eh, yeah... saru is typing about notebook. Hahahahahahh...

fasting month is over, so saru could go back to HQ and continue comics-work, which is why saru wouldn't update fics more before the over-due book finished. Let's see... 60 more pages in a month. -oops...