Disclaimers: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing nor it's characters. It's a loan.

Warnings: Shounen-ai, OOCs, AU (what else do I write?), gloomy Duo (sorry, can't help it for now)

Circle of Destiny

Part 4

Trowa met Wufei again outside the slaves' quarters. It appeared as if the Eastern man was guarding the entrance.

"What are you doing here?" Trowa asked a little suspiciously. Once again he carried the simple black collars for his new slaves and clothing for each of them. He wasn't sure if they would fit, but given the circumstances it was better than the mere rags he had seen them wear. It was criminal for such a beautiful body to be wearing rags. If he had anything to say about it, he would dress Quatre in all the jewels he owned.

He had nearly tripped after that thought. Where had that come from? He barely knew the man and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the blond. That thought did make him drop the things he was carrying. Spend the rest of his life? He shook his head to clear it of inappropriate thoughts of a certain blond slave. He wondered why all thoughts of Quatre somehow ended with edible cream of some sort being spread across his naked chest. He had never had much interest in relationships of this sort but it was not lacking for offers. After picking up the collars and the clothes, he continued towards the bottom level of the castle.

He worried for the other slave. He looked really bad yesterday and Trowa had no hopes for him being fully functional for a long time, maybe ever. The damage was a little too extensive. Once again he squelched the desire to hunt down the slaver and dole him a little justice Trowa's style. So wrapped up in his thoughts that he wasn't aware that his feet had brought him to his destination, where Wufei stood outside of in an extremely defensive position. His right hand was on his sword and looked ready to draw it at a moment's notice. A spark of resentment formed in Trowa as he took in the alertness within the other man that wasn't always present when he was protecting Heero. It wasn't that Wufei was remiss in his duties as the king's body guard but he never showed this level of suspicion in any situation. It was as if Trowa finally saw the real Wufei for the first time.

"I'm making sure no one goes into their room that's all," Wufei's tone was flippant, but there was something behind those eyes that told Trowa otherwise. The obsidian eyes were raking the hallway back and forth like a hawk.

"Shouldn't you be doing that to Heero's room and not the slaves'?" Trowa challenged, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Wufei snorted. "If Heero's guards aren't able to protect him, then I would be dead as well even if I was standing over his bed."

Trowa bit back a retort but knew Wufei had a point. His cousin's personal guards were handpicked and personally trained by the Sword Master. They were a deadly and an impenetrable force. They may not be as good as Wufei but if all of them were to miss an assassination attempt, the assassin would be either a sorcerer or an elf. These were the only two that were able to move stealthy enough and quick enough to get close to Heero without triggering a call of alarm.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Wufei shrugged. "I subdued five of your servants that decided your new slaves were fair game."

Trowa paled at the image of his blond slave subjected to that sort of treatment.

His blond slave? A part of his mind whispered mockingly.

"Where are they?" Trowa asked, his voice tight with rage. Whatever the reason, no one abuses his property. They were his to protect.

"Forget it, Trowa," Wufei told him evenly. "They have enough of a lesson from me as it is. You will be missing a few servants at your service today." There was a feral gleam of satisfaction in his eyes that took Trowa aback for a moment.

It was a look Trowa was sure was a slip on the normally calm Sword Master's part. The look quickly disappeared behind the calm façade once again.

"Is that for them?" Wufei levelled a dark look on the collars. Trowa knew Wufei's stand on slavery, he had always been extra gentle and kind with them but his almost enraged expression was new. "I don't understand…"

Trowa held up a hand to stave off any further argument. "They are still slaves until freed and these," he lifted the collars and flashed his family's insignia at the Sword Master. "… would provide them with the necessary protection until Heero frees him." He noticed his slip when Wufei quirked an amused eyebrow at him. "Them, frees them."

Wufei smiled speculatively at the now blushing Trowa and moved out of the way. "Don't hurt him," he warned in a low tone as Trowa moved past him.

Trowa stiffened, realising that he was transparent as glass when it came to the blond slave that somehow evoked such protectiveness in him. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and entered the room. Two pairs of equally unusual eyes stared apprehensively at him. He stifled a gasp when he realised the other slave had not only awoken, he appeared to be glowing with health. This wasn't the same slave he saw yesterday, all bruised and battered. Sure there were still signs of his ill treatment but the massive damage that was present yesterday was…. gone.

Trowa's green eyes travelled up the near naked body of the brown haired slave and wondered at the blood in Quatre's family. What was it that made the men in his family as different as day and night but equally exquisite? Where Quatre was golden, his brother was burnished brown, and he had so much of it all bound in an untidy braid right now. Sea coloured eyes clashed with the most intense azure Trowa had ever seen. Actually, he hadn't exactly seen eyes that colour before. Quatre was almost pale but his brother had a creamy hue to his skin. They looked about the same height with features perfectly formed to create an overall appearance of almost perfection. Quatre was perfect without a mar on his skin, but his brother…

There were scars all over his bared chest that spoke of torture in the past. His violet eyes would have been something to behold in the past but right now, they were so haunted and aged it looked out of place in that young face. In fact, they both had dull, jaded eyes, only in Quatre's brother, Trowa wanted to weep when he looked into them. It was almost… empty.

"Master Trowa," Quatre brightened considerably as he tried to disentangle himself from the cage his brother's arms made.

Trowa noticed Quatre's brother sneering slightly at that title but before he could snap a rebuke, the violet eyed slave's narrowed eyes flew open as he stared at something behind him. Without turning, he knew the presence behind him was Wufei. Once again suspicion rose. There was an odd jumble of relationship between the three of them and Trowa couldn't even begin to see where the snarl began to unravel it. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Eastern man inclining his head slightly and the answering, almost regal nod from the long haired man, no, boy. They both were still boys, though not much younger than Trowa and Heero. Wufei's age had always been indiscernible to them and after a while, they stopped guessing.

"My name is Trowa Barton," Trowa introduced himself to both slaves, more for the benefit of Quatre's brother.

"Our Master?" The chestnut haired man was definitely sneering and without caution.

If Trowa was a harsher master, he would have ordered the slave whipped for his insolence. Maybe that was the reason for all the old wounds that peppered his body. "Yes," he rammed that point in. "And also the man that saved your worthless life!"

"Duo!" Quatre turned and hugged his brother before turning and shooting a venomous glare at Trowa.

Trowa felt like a fist was clenched around his heart when he saw the near hate reflected in the blond's eyes. He wasn't sure what he said, only wanting to put some backbone into the seemingly ungrateful boy. Somewhere off to his side, Wufei hissed his annoyance, which in the past was a prelude to a slap on the back of the head. This time however, Wufei merely stood stiffly and silently behind Trowa. Ignoring the man, Trowa turned back to his slaves and was shocked to the core to see Duo, that was his name, huddled in on himself, his skin the colour of ashes and he had on a look that spoke of complete horror and guilt. Duo was shaking as his eyes were horrifying blank as Quatre clutched his brother to him, whispering softly and soothingly.

"Quatre," Trowa began hesitantly, taking a step into the room. He screwed up and he screwed up bad this time. He wasn't certain what he said but all he knew that it was the wrong thing.

"Stay away from us," Quatre snapped with unprecedented heat and venom. Then his expression softened. "Please, Master, for now."

Nodding tightly, Trowa left the two alone, and found him facing a very irate Wufei in the hallway. The odd thing was, the Sword Master didn't rip at him, something which Trowa fully expected him to do. They stood there in uncomfortable silence, the collars and clothes still clutched stupidly in Trowa's hands while he watched the muscles in Wufei's jaw working spasmodically. His hands were clenched so tight around the hilt of his sword his knuckles were white with the strain.

"What did I say wrong?" Trowa asked Wufei quietly.

"Everything," Wufei bit out harshly and turned resolutely away from him.

XXxxXX

Someone was singing.

It washed through him like a stream of pure joy.

Duo looked at his brother who was humming a soft tune. "Cat?" He asked uncertainly. Once again he fell into that deep, dark place buried within the layers of guilt. Then he remembered what triggered it.

Quatre stopped humming when he realised his brother was once again with him. He levelled Duo with a scathing glare. "You are not worthless!"

The other man issued a sigh but otherwise kept silent.

"It is stronger here," Quatre said in an offhand manner.

"What is?" Duo asked, not really interested in the current flow of conversation.

"The Weaves."

That caused Duo's attention to sharpen. "You can see them?"

Quatre nodded, his eyes slightly out of focused. "It is stronger here than I've ever experienced in a long while. It's here!"

Duo jerked as if slapped. "It can't be here." He closed his eyes and felt something inside him shift, come together and completing a part of his soul he thought had died.

"Maybe it became a family heirloom here or something. Maybe they don't even know what it is!" Quatre was definitely getting excited but Duo was filled with the same dread from so long ago.

Pushing the euphoria away, Duo looked warningly as his brother. "No, that is impossible."

"How so?" Quatre's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"It can only exist when Odin is here and he is dead," Duo said bitterly.

"Maybe he left it with someone or…"

Duo was shaking his head vehemently. "You will never understand what I mean. Forget it, it is not here. This is a mistake. We need to runaway," he told Quatre urgently.

For once, Quatre wasn't about to let Duo dictate his actions. "I am going to find it whether you let me or not. I will bring it home so we can all go home. I am not running away here. You can run for the rest of your life if you want, but I won't be joining you." He looked towards the door. "Wufei is certain it is here as well and he is going to help me find it."

"Wufei?" Duo asked softly, surprised at his brother's resolve. "The warrior? He believes it too?"

Quatre grabbed his brother by the shoulders and force Duo to look up at him. "We can go home now. We can find it and go home. You won't have to live with this guilt anymore." He cast a pleading glance at Duo. "Please, for me, let me make things better, for you and for everyone."

Unable to deny his brother anything, especially when those wide innocent eyes were wielded with such precision, Duo nodded in resignation. He had been a slave for so long, what were another few years? In a few years Quatre would realise that they would never find it simply because the man who had it was long dead. This was probably the echo of it. That mean Odin was buried here somewhere. Despite how much he hated the man, Duo felt something in his heart give way at the thought of seeing his grave.

XXxxXX

"You are to wear these," Master Trowa passed them the collars as Duo flinched from them as if burnt.

He stared at the beaten metal with a crest hanging from it. Duo guessed it was Master Trowa's family insignia, marking them as property. At least, no branding this time. He remembered the pain on Quatre's sweet face at the sight of his horribly disfigured body and he had wanted to crawl into the nearest hole and pulled the earth along to bury himself.

Taking a deep breath, Duo reached for the circlet and opened the clasp. He stared at the open collar for a long time, exchanging an anguished look with his brother. Once again, guilt ate at him. This was all his doing, this slavery, this torture.

He saw his brother nod imperceptibly to him and without thinking further, he put the offending circlet around his neck and snapped it shut. The weight of the collar lay heavy around his slender neck, as did it around Quatre's. He stood there with his head bowed low and once again lamented for the loss of freedom that he had brought on them all.

"These are clothes for both of you," Master Trowa continued after a length of uncomfortable silence. The long haired slave had lost all his resentment and was resolutely staring a hole in the ground.

"Thank you," Quatre reached out and took the small bundle from him.

What descended later was even more uncomfortable. Duo continued to study the ground, while he felt Quatre and Master Trowa staring at each other silently. He lifted his head and noticed Master Trowa staring from him to his brother to the stack of clothes in Quatre's grasp.

"You want us to change with you in the room?" Duo exploded, his eyes growing impossibly wide.

He saw a slight softening in Master Trowa's expression before realising that the eyes that was once the pride of his people could still be used very much like Quatre's. Also, his master was enough of a softie for that to happen. He quickly filed that information away along with a quick stifled smile. Maybe this master wouldn't be as bad as the others. But he didn't like the way he was staring at his brother. Noblemen were liars all of them and he didn't want the master to be touching sweet, innocent Quatre. He didn't want his brother to feel the same heartache and pain he went through with the traitorous Odin Lowe.

"We are all men, and I need to bring you to your duties," Master Trowa refrained from looking at the two of them, unable to stop the faint blush that coloured his cheeks,

Duo and Quatre exchanged amused looks with each other. Years of slavery had eroded any sense of embarrassment of their naked bodies. For Quatre, he was confident that it was an extremely attractive body and had been baring it for years to men and women alike. For Duo, his was a body scarred from years of whipping and branding. He had been humiliated with public stripping as a form of punishment for years now. The brothers proceeded to strip their rather tattered garments and dropped the rags in a pile in the middle of the small room. They each took a tunic and a pair of pants from the pile and put them on, finding it to be a good fit. Quatre rolled his eyes at his brother, noting his choice in clothing was once again dull black. Duo smirked at that familiar expression but otherwise kept silent. Once done, they turned in unison to face their master.

Master Trowa stared at them for a while and in that silence, some of Duo's long forgotten humour rose to the surface as he quipped gently, "Shall we go or do you want us to pirouette for you?"

That snapped Trowa into action as he nodded curtly and led the duo out of the small room. He met the amused expression of the once stoic Sword Master. The door had been tightly shut, but somehow, Trowa suspected he had heard every single word spoken within the room. Once again, the age old question ran within Trowa's mind. Just who exactly were these people?

This was the first time Duo and Quatre had seen the inside of a castle. Their usual owners were either merchants or noblemen but Castle Feldrock was a massive structure made out of granite. Though bleak, it had a beauty of its own. It was also teeming with life. The brothers tried to appear as unobtrusive as possible, knowing the less attentive they bring onto themselves, the better. However, Duo noticed they weren't completely successful in this endeavour as hungry eyes stared at their passage. Why were they here? Why were they slaves?

He swung a look at the following Wufei who silently returned the accusation with a calming stare of his own. There would be a lot to speak of later. The small crowd that gathered inclined their head as the brothers' passed them while a few reached out to touch their sleeves, pulling back when they were gruffly ordered back to work.

"Are you alright?" Quatre asked Duo under his breath. He knew Duo had never been comfortable with reverence from anyone, even after he was raised as Master within their people.

"Why are they here? Did I do that as well? Make them all slaves?" Duo had a pained frown and there were tense lines around his mouth.

Quatre gripped Duo's arm, but otherwise appeared to be staring at Master Trowa's back and following him to wherever their master decided was their duty. "There is a reason. You did not make them all slaves. They would have been safe back home." He stressed his statement with another squeeze. "We will speak to Wufei about this later."

Duo nodded.

"Here we are," Master Trowa announced, missing the entire conversation between his new slaves and threw open the stable doors. "This is where you will be working from now on."

For the first time in years, a true smile formed on Duo's lips as the sounds of horses neighing and dogs barking filtered through the massive room to his ears. Life, it surrounded him, seeped into his consciousness. He peeked at his brother and saw the same rapture on his pale face. Quatre was right, the Weaves were stronger here and they were present every where, in every facet of life at Feldrock. It was feeding into the two of them like drugs.

Quatre was right, it was here.

That meant, Odin was here.

Tbc

Hello! Circle and Heaven have been updated because I am going out of town. Reflections will be updated tonight.

See ya.