Turned.

Chapter 16

Heero ducked as Shinigami spun around sending fire to where his head had been only a moment ago. In the same motion Heero pushed off the ground with his feet and maybe to trip Shinigami but the smaller long haired boy jumped back and landed a few feet away. Heero was quick though and jumped again, this time catching Shinigami's hand and spun him onto the ground.

Shinigami kicked out his foot, just as Heero was going to pin him down and sent Heero flying into the railing of the ship. Water came up and threw him back down to the ground, knocking his breath out of him. In the same motion fire swept towards him. Heero put up a rock wall just in time and got to his feet. The rock wall shattered and Shinigami started walking towards Heero, like he had done to Bane. Heero felt his muscles tighten up as he tried to move.

Shinigami was walking towards him slowly, and something was screaming in his ear. Like hell itself was telling him to run. This is what Bane had gone through. He realized as he noticed his muscles were twitching as he tried to move.

Shinigami was suddenly thrown aside as water came jetting into him in the form of ice. Shinigami shot out his had towards Odin and sent the man flying into one of the wooden walls of the ship. Odin got to his feet and made to run towards Shinigami, but Heero stopped him with a simple no. Shinigami was breathing hard and turned back to Heero, who was know standing breathing just as hard. Heero's wing ripped out from his back, blood splattering along the deck.

"I don't want to hurt you, because you look like him, I love him damnit, and I'm going to be there with him. I'm going to protect him." Heero growled out. Shinigami smiled, not a good smile.

"Like you protected him with Bane?" Shinigami asked sweetly. Heero's heart ached at that.

"I tried to protect him…I thought that if I removed the circlet everything would be okay." Heero argued, Shinigami smiled.

"Then I guess I should thank you before I ki-" Shinigami was pulled down into a shadow. Heero and the others waited to see what would happen. Suddenly Trowa fell out of a shadow on a wall, unconscious, but still alive. Shinigami stepped out and walked towards Heero. "I am tiring of these game. You will die now." Shinigami held out his hand, Heero felt a pain in his chest, around his heart.

Shinigami suddenly screamed out in pain and fell to the ground. Grabbing his head. Quatre was standing over him, his hand out in front of him. Heero rushed forward while he had the chance and grabbed Shinigami's hand.

Shinigami threw Heero away with everything he had, causing Heero to slam into the wall that Odin had slammed into earlier. Shinigami reached up and grabbed Quatre's hand twisting it in his grip.

"You little bitch." He growled out. Quatre cried out in pain and lifted his other hand to Shinigami's face, focusing on his mind. Wufei joined him and put Shinigami into a choke hold. Bringing the monster down to the ground. He was starting to shaking in pain, and finally lost consciousness. Odin shook Heero and helped him stand once he came too again.

Then suddenly Wufei was thrown into them, knocking them all to the ground. Quatre was next to fallow. Heero stood and walked towards Shinigami, who was on his knees gripping his head in both hands. He looked up and saw Heero. His eyes shown for a second. "Heero help me." It was Duo's voice. Heero knelt down at him.

"Duo?" He said.

"Fool!" Shinigami said, launching himself at Heero and pinning him to the ground. He stuck his fingers into Heero's chest, and tried to rip out his heart, like he had down to Bane. But he couldn't. His hand seemed frozen.

"He won't let you hurt me." Heero said. Shinigami growled out and tried harder. Heero smirked and grabbed Shinigami's face into his hands. Shinigami started screaming as he felt his power slipping away. Quatre ran up to them, and used his powers again this time succeeding in knocking Shinigami out. He pulled the smaller man off Heero and placed his hand on his chest. The five wholes, from Shinigami's fingers, disappeared into nothing.

"This is a little disturbing. Heero, you need to be careful when you enter his mind to wake him, I have a feeling that Shinigami will be there too." Quatre said. Heero sat up.

"I know, but for know I have his power as well." Heero said, lifting his hand and letting the flames dance, turning into water, then into stone. "I think if I work quickly I'll be able to handle it. Be prepared to pull me back if things go wrong." Heero said.

"I will, I don't know how you're going to wake Duo but do it quickly." Quatre said and touched both of his hands to their foreheads.

----------

Heero only blinked and found himself in darkness. He started walking toward the small town he saw in the distance. Mountains surrounded him in a second, ones he recognized as the Arcane's. There where people walking around, all of them, faceless shadows of this beautiful town. "This must be Archaic." Heero thought. He was walking passed a house when a small chestnut haired child ran passed him, pushing him softly and running to a house, leaving the door open.

Heero followed him slowly, ready to protect himself if the need came. The house was completely black.

"Duo!" He called out.

"NOOOOOO…Don't….please…mamma….please….Don't kill him…Daddy!" Duo was talking near by, but Heero couldn't see him and he didn't seem to be getting closer.

"Stop…no more please…it hurts so bad…stop…please." He was sobbing and screaming. Heero started running, following the voice, but it never got closer.

"Duo!" Heero yelled out. "DUO, I'M HERE PLEASE." Heero screamed.

"Heero!….you killed him….NOOOOO!!!" Duo screamed.

"DUO NO I'M NOT DEAD!" Heero called out again.

"Who are you?" Heero turned to see a small child with shoulder length chestnut hair. Heero just starred at the child form of Duo. "I asked who you are, it's a simple question to answer, unless you are mute or something, if that is the case then you don't have to answer." The kid said. Heero was a little confused.

"You don't know who I am?" Heero asked.

"If I did I wouldn't have to ask, sir." The kid was incredible polite.

"No I guess not…Heero." He said, the kid smiled.

"I like that name, it really fits you. So, why are you in my home? Have you seen my dad, I heard humans have entered the town and I was trying to tell him." The boy said. Heero wanted to hurry and find Duo, but Duo wasn't talking anymore.

"I'm looking for the older you? I want to bring him back home." Heero said, the kid smiled doubtfully.

"But he is home." The kid said. "He's been in his room all day. Mommy is trying to heal his fever." The child said and pointed behind Heero. Heero turned and found that Duo had appeared. He was lying on a bed with a cloth over his fore head. Next to him laid Shinigami, a darkness seemed to be consuming Duo. Heero ran to him and looked for a way to help him. Heero went to touch the blackness slowly crawling up Duo's skin.

"Stop." The kid said pulling Heero away. "If you touch it, it will kill you. Just let him sleep, he's home now, he'll be okay." The boy pleaded.

"His home is with me…not here…not alone." Heero said, the kid smiled sadly.

"I like you, I wish you were here to protect me from them." The kid said, pointing at the men coming into the house that seemed so clear now. Heero watched as Duo's mother ran to him, pulling him into her arms. Duo's father stood over them.

Heero watched with sad eyes, unable to move from his spot.

"Duo listen to me…you must remember that you are my baby, we will always be with you. No matter what happens get to White Fang, the king will protect you there. " Duo's mother said, taking her child's face in her hands.

"Mommy no." Duo said crying his eyes out and grabbing on to her dress. She started whispering a chant, with words Heero didn't understand. Duo's body started glowing, Heero watched as all the orbs of power, from Volaer's that have already lost their lives entered his body.

"Mommy loves you Duo, and Daddy does too, but you have to run, and you have to run fast, don't look back…don't you ever come back here." She said, she pushed her son away and fell to the ground a sword in her back. Duo looked up to see a red haired young man smiling at him, his father being pushed to the ground, dead. In the read haired man's hand was an orb.

"Is this what your power is. ORBS!" He yelled kicking the kid in the gut. Heero wanted to punch the man, then he realized who he was looking at, a teenage Bane, he really, really wanted to punch Bane. He watched in horror as Bane swallowed the orb. That was how Bane had gotten his power, no wonder he was so sick, he was a human turned Volaer, he was a demon, an abomination of nature.

Heero was subjected to watching Bane slice the child's throat. Duo laid there hand on his throat as the men around him, beat him, kicking him and punching him. But still his eyes stayed open, pain filling them, and small cries escaping his lips.

"Why won't he die?" One of the men asked.

"It's that bitch mother of his." Bane said. "She must have done something."

"We have to kill them all, it was an order." Another said.

"We could tie him to a stone and drop him in a lake." One suggested.

"Or we could lock him up in a cave for the rest of his life, let him suffer and watch the world around him." A wizard said.

"No!" Heero called out. The boy on the ground looked at him.

"Shh! It's okay….maybe one day you can come for me?" He asked. Heero nodded, then ran for the men as they knocked the boy out, realizing he could move again. But as his hand would have connected with Bane's head, it didn't. He fell to the ground, and the men walked away, dragging the boy with him.

"Heero behind you!" It was Quatre's voice in his head. He turned to see Shinigami rising from the bed and looking at him. Heero stood and prepared for another battle, but Shinigami was looking at him differently this time.

"It was you I saw here?" He said a little out of it. "I thought you had been a dream. I had thought it was so funny because that night I had a dream of myself, much older, sleeping here, on this bed, and that you had come to see me. I thought that my mother had told me a few too many fair tales. I'm sorry I attacked you Heero." His voice was still the same as before it echoed around them, though only in itself. Heero kept ready to fight.

"You know I love Duo." Heero said. "You need to bond with him. It'll be better for both of you." Shinigami nodded, shrinking until he was an orb and floated down into Duo. Heero ran to Duo's side and cupped his face.

"Duo!" he called out again. Duo slowly opened his eyes. They saw Heero and he turned away. It was a dream. Heero forced him to look at him again. "Duo, please, you have to wake up." Heero said, Duo's eyes widened slightly and he sat up.

"Heero, you're not dead?" He asked. Heero shook his head and kissed Duo.

"No, I was never dead. Bane just lied so that you would think it. He was trying to break you." Heero said. Duo looked around frantically, of course it was dark again.

"Where's Shinigami?" He asked.

"He went home." Heero said, touching Duo's chest, where the orb had gone. Duo sighed in relief, then started crying, throwing himself into Heero's arms.

"I thought you were dead…I gave up…I just wanted to die because I thought you wouldn't be there anymore." He sobbed.

"Heero you need to get out." Quatre said quietly.

"Duo, I need to go. When you wake up…I promise I will be there." Heero said seriously. Duo was confused but he nodded, trusting Heero, he let go of him and watched him vanish.

----------

WOOOOOOOOOOO I love this.