Akbar
Chapter 3 "What do you want?" Treize asked, his eyes hardly left the parchment in front of him.
"I was wondering, dear father," Treize's head lifted at the nearly- sarcastic injection, "If I might have my leave for a day or so." Trowa curled his hand around the hilt of his sword, waiting for his father's answer. Treize scanned his second son, his roving gaze slowed when it came to the magnificent hilt of Trowa's sword.
"Where you are going?" Treize asked, he at last turned his face to Trowa.
"To visit a friend in Hatsu." Trowa answered, meeting his father's icy stare with his own.
"A friend in that dirty little town? How...intriguing. And, pray tell, who is this friend?" There was a gleam in Treize's eye as he asked the question. Absorbing every diminutive movement that Trowa made, he looked for signs of a lie.
"You will meet him soon." Trowa answered vacantly. Treize swept back a honey-brown bang and went back to his work, "Send word of your safety when you are in Hatsu." His voice lacked worry or care. Trowa's bowed head lifted for a moment. The smoldering green eyes steeped in the richness of his father's clothes and passed slowly over his forked eyebrows. Averting his eyes abruptly, Trowa bowed to his father and turned on his heel to sweep out of the extravagant room. As he walked down the main hall he heard the red-wood doors slam shut behind him with an air of finality. Things weren't going to last like this for long, everything, even the bated air, knew this.
The princes' sage cloak billowed out behind him as he made his way down the hushed hall. He had decided that it was time to retrieve Quatre; Wufei's family was coming to the OZ castle in a few days and then the Hurda's planned to make their move. Trowa silently passed the ebony pillars that guarded the hallway. Each pillar was jacketed with their own part of OZ's ancient history. The histories of preceding OZ kings were on several of the pillars. Trowa didn't care for any of them, they were all reflections of an unrestrained government.
His mind brushed against the memory of Usagi's angelic face, broken and pale from her misery. He had burned with his desire to steal her away from OZ that day. Maybe Treize had known, because he had become more suspicious of his second son thenceforth. Trowa had realized long ago that his father and brother had been keeping their plans for Usagi a secret from him. His princely green-eyes' dimmed at the knowledge. He only knew that Treize and Adaron, his brother, planned to use the Dragon clan's measureless talents to extricate the needed information from Usagi. Trowa had to steal Usagi away to safety before then. But time was running out, he had to retrieve Quatre before Treize or his brother got their hands on Usagi. With a sigh he put a hand to his temple; so many things could go wrong with the plan. Looking up at the vaulted ceiling he sent a prayer to the gods.
When he opened his eyes he was once again reminded of how quiet things were in the castle. Quiet until he left, that was, Trowa was sure of that much. Gathering his magic together he turned his fiery eyes to the pillars. Murmuring a few words of magic to the ebony guards of the hall, he left the castle. They would watch on her in his stead.
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Usagi leaned against the door, trembling and sweating from her fit.
"Milady, are you alright?" A tentative voice asked.
Usagi's scathing eyes swung to the slave, "Am I alright? I'm only a prisoner of this tyrant OZ!" She said hoarsely. The slave curtsied and set her silver tray down, not minding a word of what Usagi was saying. "Milady, it would be best if you ate, then you could keep your strength." The slave took the twisted sheets from Usagi's bed and used them to gather up the shards of porcelain that littered the floor. Usagi sprang up and beat her fist on the door. The glassy spell that encased the room rippled from her touch. "Let me out!" She yelled at the spell as loudly as she could.
"Oh stop! You're going to get in an awful lot of trouble if you keep screaming like that." The slave said almost commandingly.
Usagi snorted and whipped around to glare at the slave. "How can you even suggest for me to give up? Do you know what these people did to me?" Usagi's eyes watered from the memory, "They murdered my family!" Her crescent began to glow with her anger.
The slave gaped at the mark on Usagi's forehead, 'Adaron was right', she thought. But the crescent burnt out seconds later as Usagi continued to sniffle. The slave girl moved to kneel down next to Usagi. "Things like that happen all the time milady, but people forgive and move on." She said soothingly. Usagi felt the rush of the magic as it uncurled from inside her, it sensed something. The tingling sensation of the magic flew to her fingers, ready to fly out at her whim; and then, just like all the other times, it was forced back. Usagi whimpered as the power left her hands, she knew that it was her only weapon. Her slender fingers lingered against the spell wall. If only she could use that incredible power that she had stored somewhere inside her.
"I can't forgive for something like that...I'm not strong enough to do that...Why did it have to happen to me?" Usagi turned her drained face to the slave. The slave had the countenance of an upper-class lady; the kind that sometimes walked through the market. The upper-class ladies were always attractive, well-fed, and bred with manners that were 'superior' to those of the commoners. There was no doubting that she was a slave of OZ though, she bore the tattoo of interlinked chains on her neck. "Who are you?" Usagi asked.
"Ashat...I mean, Asha," The girl smiled nervously, "I've been here for a year or two. OZ took me away from my family so that I could serve them."
Usagi shuddered, "That's awful...something needs to be done about them. Why didn't your family stop them?"
Asha's eyes flew to the ceiling, "What could they do...against the OZ soldiers?"
Usagi turned away and said serenely, "I'm going to kill the OZ family." Asha rose up indignantly, "I wish you would stop saying such things. If one of the others hears you, imagine what would happen then. You could be put in jail for treason or even killed."
Flinging her hair away from her face Usagi stuck her tongue out, "They can't do anything to me. I have their crystal, and as long as I have it, they're powerless."
"Powerless?" Asha said quietly, "What happens if they torture you, what then?"
"They already have tortured me," Usagi mumbled, "...no physical pain can be as much as Mamoru's death." She said sternly. She glanced at Asha who was clumsily making her bed. The servant of OZ started in surprise when Usagi pulled her hands away from the sheets. "I'll find a way to free us both. I have the power now." Usagi said earnestly, she desperately needed someone to believe in her.
"Then why can't you go out of this room?" Asha pointed out.
Usagi smiled, "I'll find a way...The magus has something to do with it. He's put some kind of spell on me."
Asha watched as Usagi plumped the pillows herself and fixed the sheets.
"What happens if you fail?" Asha asked suddenly.
"What do you mean, fail?" Usagi said slowly.
Asha's eyes pierced Usagi, "I mean, what happens if they find the crystal?"
Usagi frowned, staring at Asha, "They can't find it. I have it well hidden from them; in a place they would never think to look."
"They're going to get what they need out of you one way or another." Asha said thickly, "And then you'll just be another girl."
"I am just another girl...I'm a commoner." Usagi said, laughing at her own words. Asha turned her face away, "That's just why you're wearing the best of OZ's silks..." She said under her breath. She picked her way around the broken basins, pitchers, and ornaments and headed towards the room's door.
Usagi called to Asha, "What's wrong?"
Asha smiled thinly, "Nothing...I have to go now and do other chores, but I hope we see each other again." Asha curtsied stiffly and left. Usagi almost caught the closing door but because of the broken porcelain everywhere she had lost the opportunity. She smacked the spell-wall in frustration. Rubbing her face, she decided that now was as good a time as any to summon her magic. "Okay. Here I go." She said. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited. Nothing happened. She tried again, three more times to be precise, and still nothing happened. She could feel her magic inside her, like a cool, gathered wind; but she didn't know how to catch it up and use it. Usagi grit her teeth. "I'm going to escape from here! You just see!" She said confidently loud.
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The magus's doors reached to the ceiling and were covered in gleaming gold and silver filigree. The door knobs were two hands lifted in offering, warped from too many years of use. Asha took one of these wooden hands and turned it. The massive door swung open just enough to let her squeeze through. When she slipped through the tiny aperture she felt the stuffy air whooshing out of the room as the door creaked to a close. She had entered the magus's room.
Adaron looked towards the door when he heard its straining sound and saw Asha leaning against it. She looked slyly at him before she stalked over to him. Adaron grinned, "I thought you would have had to take longer with her."
Asha rolled her eyes, "You forget that I'm a slave Adaron. A poor, helpless, little slave girl kidnapped by OZ, she's a sucker for those kinds of people."
Adaron laughed at the remark and reached for Asha's hand. "Wait for the magus so he can remove that ugly illusion from your neck." He said warmly. Asha's slim hand clasped at his. She bent to one knee and bowed before him. "Very well, first prince of our lord Kushrenada, I will do as you wish."
Adaron snorted, "Father will hopefully be pleased with what you found?"
Asha removed her hand from Adaron's, "Ah-ah-ah, I'm not telling you yet, I'll wait for the magus before I speak a word to you."
Adaron's eyes narrowed, "It better be worth my while." Asha shrugged her shoulders, "What're you going to do if its not? Wring my neck?" She said, her pupils widened into dark pits, "Are you going to slaughter me like you slaughtered that girl's family?" She said, she tossed her head back and laughed harder. The soft sound grew deeper and became hollow. Her body seemed to grow fat from her laughter and then she stopped abruptly. Bringing her head forwards she revealed her pupils that had grown to such an enormous size that her green irises had disappeared.
"I have the authority to do anything I want to you." Adaron said simply. The magus entered the chambers just then through an adjoining room. At the sight of Asha he gaped. "Adaron!" He said sharply, "What did I tell you about my wraiths? They're not creatures that will just kneel and pleasure you!"
With a sweep of his hand the magus split Asha's human skin and let the wraith free of the spell. Glittering white teeth grew from the blunt, square teeth of Asha's mouth and her tongue grew long and broad. Six arms grew from her sides and her legs grew bulky with muscle. Asha's face changed to a bruised black and her clothes clung to her bulging body. Adaron smoothly and in a sense, politely, moved from his chair as the wraith's hand knocked it across the room. "Do you still like what you see mortal?" The wraith asked, its voice made the room quiver.
"If you are a woman, no. If you are a male, even less." Adaron answered with a smile. The wraith laughed, throwing its head back and making the room shake. The magus looked disgusted, "Please, Prince Adaron, stop joking with the defiling creature."
Adaron's smile became even wider, "You're wraith was able to get information from the girl."
The magus didn't look surprised, "How wonderful... It's about time too Ashati." He said severely. The wraith bared its teeth, "I think that the little wretch is seriously going to murder you all in your sleep." She said, laughing widely. The magus murmured a word and the wraith was silenced. "I want to know what she said to you right now." The magus demanded.
The wraith's clawed hands twitched in anger, but she nodded. "The crystal, as Usagi put it, is hidden in some place that you would never find it. And I think a magus like her would find a place that you would never think of, so good luck." The wraith said, happy to have caused more trouble.
The magus snorted, "She is most definitely not a magus. How many magus's do you know with power like that? Just living in the desert as some kind of commoner when they can raise themselves up to power in an instant?"
Adaron nodded his head in agreement, "It is a little odd. Especially if she loved that little family of hers so much, why couldn't she have just magicked up something to provide for them?"
The magus thought for a moment, "We'll just have to find out through her, there's no other way."
"She wouldn't tell me." Ashati said boomingly. The magus glared at the wraith, "Ashati, of all wraiths, you are by far the worst and most annoying."
Ashati bowed, "Just give me an OZ soldier and we'll see how bad I am." Laughing to herself she disappeared with a loud pop. Adaron glanced at the magus, "Can she just leave like that?"
"She's gone to the only place she can go, to her cell. I spelled all the wraiths that I've caught so that they can't teleport themselves wherever they want. The same goes with that girl. She's been trying and trying to break my magic. A good effort too...Adaron, we must find out who this girl is and where the crystal is soon. I looked into the other four crystals for advice and all I see is this light, this incredible light. It burns my eyes nearly every time I so much as glance at them."
Adaron smirked, "Well, we can't have that now can we?"
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Quatre tore his gaze away from the lady, "So you don't know where she is?"
"Oh no. I saw her that one night...but then she disappeared after that."
Quatre leaned against the wall and stared at the sky in despair. He could only faintly remember how brilliant Usagi's eyes had been.
"Is something wrong young man?" The lady asked, her wrinkled old face wrinkling even more in her concern. Quatre pushed himself off of the wall and out of the shade, "No. I'm fine, thank you miss." He handed her a few rupees before turning to walk down the road filled with venders. The old lady watched him go. His heavy black cloak trailed him, hiding his wickedly curved blades from the crowd. Smiling a little, the old lady fingered the fine rupees, "Hurda's," she said, "always were loners."
Quatre had asked every one of them. All of them. For a year he had done nothing but ask and ask and ask. None of them had had anything to say to him. Every each escaped prisoner from Akbar had seen Usagi but didn't know where she had gone. In most opinions she had gone either east, south, west, or north. Quatre knew he didn't have the time to scour the desert for Usagi, and it hurt to know it. The noisy people in the market place jostled and pushed him around as he made his way to the entrance of the city. And through it all, he couldn't help wishing that the crowd would push him down and trample him. He had lost the only thing that had sustained him all these years. The weight on his shoulders was almost enough to topple him over. He had left Usagi not for a few years as he had first thought, but for forever. He hadn't been able to find her, or save her in any matter. His wishes and dreams flew into his head, wilting when they came to the standing fact; Usagi was gone.
At the entrance of the city he gathered his cloak about him. The soldiers looked at him suspiciously as he passed through their gates. He ignored them and continued on the path for a long while, panting slightly from the scorching heat. Without even looking back, he darted behind a sand dune and continued on his way towards the flaming sun. He would have to head back to the OZ citadel now.
"What took you so long?"
Quatre looked up in surprise. Trowa's tall frame stood in front of him, his sword in hand. Quatre frowned at the weapon and glanced at his Dewolf. Gasping at the sight he rapped out a quick command. The brutish creature immediately backed away from the half-eaten carcass it had in front of it. Quatre walked up to the torn and bloodied creature, wincing at the sight. "Sorry. If my Dewolf had known who you were I'm sure this," Quatre glanced at the remains, "wouldn't have happened." Quatre saw, out of the corner of his eye, his Dewolf licking its bloody muzzle clean.
Trowa sheathed his sword, "It was only the best horse in my father's stable." Trowa said unperturbed. Quatre laughed, "It's good to see you again. How are things back at the castle?"
Trowa smiled faintly, "How did your search go?"
Quatre's face dimmed, "Not well. I couldn't find her." The wind whistled in his silence. Quatre shuffled awkwardly, "I had felt sure that I would find her but no one knows where she's gone. I've asked everyone." The words were softly spoken.
"You've been gone a year." Is all that Trowa said. The laconic statement spoke a hundred words at once, all of them telling Quatre that it was time to give up, and go home. Quatre nodded his head in understanding, "I know. It was a wild hope in the first place," He murmured. He walked up to his Dewolf and pulled himself on. Trowa climbed onto the Dewolf's back with the same ease that Quatre had. "I'm sorry." He said gently to his silent friend. Quatre turned his head and shrugged his shoulders, "Not your fault." Turning back forwards he bent over to whisper into his Dewolf's ear. "To Treize's castle." Quatre commanded. Stealing into motion, the overly large wolf flew over the sand.
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Usagi squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her shoulders in her effort to ignore the pain. The magus stood watching stonily, commanding the wraiths that surrounded her. The wraiths flew about her, touching her and shooting monstrous amounts of barbing energy through her. "Stop." She said pleadingly to the wraiths. They gave her another bout of energy. Her body shuddered from the attack, bruising with each touch. The magus continued to keep Usagi from using her magic, savoring the fact that his victory was near. The four to five OZ soldiers that stood reservedly in the corners of the magus's room watched silently.
The magus narrowed his eyes in awareness as he felt Usagi's magic struggling for its mistress's waning life, "Cut her now," he growled to Ashati. One of Ashati's clawed hands shot out and raked itself across Usagi's back. Her clean, red blood spilled forth. It cascaded down her back and soaked the back of her dress in a cloying copper. She fell to the ground from the blow, clenching her teeth. Shedding few tears, she hugged herself tighter. Her lungs heaved to fill themselves with oxygen, trying to help her body recover from the shock. Usagi turned her darkening eyes to a soldier. He stared back at her with passionate cobalt blue eyes that saw her and all her blood. She heard the magus say something and turned her gaze to him. Ashati took advantage of the moment and lunged forwards. She buried her claws into Usagi's bleeding back. Usagi screamed and bent her forehead to the floor, sobbing. Ashati's hand pushed further into Usagi's skin. She was relishing the body's convulsions as she dug deeper and deeper. Usagi felt her body becoming paralyzed with the pain, her back burnt from it. She wished that she could sink into the icy floor to stop the burning.
The magus's eyes darted to an OZ soldier that had stepped forwards. The soldier unsheathed his sword and hurled it into the air. The sword soared through the air like an arrow before it speared Ashati's body. Ashati had been knocked off her feet and was pinned to the wall from the force of the throw. The wraith wrapped her hands around the plain hilt and drew the blade from her stomach. Ashati hardly even winced when her blue blood dribbled out of her wound. The soldier threw off his helmet and lowered his collar so that only the wraith could see what he was showing. Ashati screeched, "Oh forgive, forgive!" She howled, covering her face from the armored man. The soldier lifted his glowing hand and sent Ashati flying through the air, regardless.
The magus stared at Heero in shock. He told the wraiths to get away from Usagi. "I didn't expect a soldier to know words of power. In fact, it's rather strange that a man like you is an OZ soldier at all." Grinning slightly, the magus motioned for the wraith's to surround the man. "They call me Orig, master magician of OZ." Orig said, hints of a threat were in his voice.
"I know who you are." He said simply. Orig shrugged his shoulders, "And who doesn't nowadays...But what is your name warrior?"
"Heero." Heero's thrilling dark-blue eyes glared at the Magus.
The magus didn't flinch under the soldier's gaze. Pulling at his chin thoughtfully the man motioned for the injured Ashati to come closer to him. He whispered a question into the wraiths ear and then straightened upon the answer. "You're a Hurda warrior aren't you?"
Heero remained silent, his hands were limp by his sides.
"Only a Hurda warrior could summon some spell like that!" The magus said fanatically, "Admit it!"
Heero's forceful gaze moved to the girl who lay broken on the floor. "What is a magus most afraid of brother wraiths?" His voice was low.
The wraiths, black and swirling, snapped their heads up. Their luminous eyes were wide with triumph. A hiss of glee escaped Ashati, "What is a magus most afraid of brother?" She said, her eyes turning to Orig who was dumbfounded. Orig felt the prick of Heero's magic trying to undo the spell he had done on the wraiths. The magus's chestnut eyes darkened, "You think you can defeat me?" Orig laughed, "A simple Hurda warrior! Wraiths, I don't know what game you're playing but destroy him!"
The wraiths remained where they were snickering among themselves as wraiths do. The magus smirked, "Fine with me, you think I just play little parlor tricks for OZ, wraiths? Have you forgotten how I captured each and every one of you with ease? You'll see." The fires flickered and then went out from the explosion of air. The guards were thrown flat to their feet. All the men except Heero, who stood with a slight grin on his face, were knocked unconscious from the blistering power of the magus. "Do you remember your lore Magus?" Heero's voice filled the room. The magus gave a slight inclination of his head, "I do little warrior." He said menacingly. Heero's smile left him as he slid the collar of his uniform down to show Orig what he had shown Ashati. The magus's smirk faded, "The mark."
"The mark of Auri-Un." Heero said, his hands began to glow, "I have come from the western corner of the desert because of you. You stole the demons and wraiths away to serve your own greedy purposes and now their lord has come to punish you for it."
"Wraiths," the magus said disgustedly, "Are nothing more than the remains of a once great soul! You are nothing, Wraith Lord or not, I will destroy you!" Lifting his hands, Orig sent a shaft of magic speeding towards Heero. Heero deflected the spell with frightening ease. Orig didn't notice, he was concentrating on the most valuable object in the room, Usagi. Throwing random spells at Heero he kept the wraith lord distracted easily.
Heero's eyes grew dark with suspicion, the magus was up to something. He could feel the divided magic from the magus. He abruptly turned his attention to the girl. Clenching his fists, Heero remembered his promise to Trowa. Darting away from the wall Heero ran towards the girl. The magus snarled as he muttered something under his breath. A vine sprang from the stone floor and grasped Heero's ankle. He smacked the floor, immediately all the wraiths surrounding him leapt into action. The four hurtled towards the magus. With a snort the magus sent light cutting through them and they turned to dust.
Orig the magus, turned his eyes triumphantly to Heero only to find that Heero was not where he had left him. The vine lay limp on the floor, cut down by Heero's dagger. Orig's eyes went to the girl and were alarmed by the sight. Heero had her in his arms and was preparing to teleport away. Desperation gave the magus strength, whispering another word he sent his spell out. The whirling ball of flame flew at Heero. Heero lifted his hand to deflect it but it exploded before he could do such a thing. Heero felt his face twist in anger as he was thrown in the air before the emotion passed away, he had to control himself.
The girl had been flung from his arms and was covered in soot in a far corner of the room. Even from across the room, Heero could hear her ragged breathing and her whispered words. Orig's gaze swung to Usagi as wings bloomed from her hurting body. Orig parted his lips to speak but couldn't as a solid black spell flew into his mouth and began to wind around his head. Orig's body heaved for air, summoning his power again he burnt the spell.
Heero had no time to waste on the magus though, he was giving all of his energy to the girl. Her closed eyes opened and the crescent on her forehead began to glow. Her eyes were full of electric anger, "Magus," she said, "You won't even know what hit you." Her eyes just barely brushed over Heero who was still feeding her his energy before she turned her full attention to the magus.
She threw up her arms and her wings arched upwards in unison. Orig was thrown against the wall and held there as the light that he had seen radiating from the other four crystals, blinded him. Heero covered his eyes against the light, he could feel the pain of the light needling his stomach. Wraiths were never that good against spells that had anything to do with light, he thought to himself as his body began to smolder from the radiance. An arrow, laced with drugs, cut through the light. Heero never saw it coming, it buried itself into his side. Gasping in surprise, Heero's hands moved to pull the arrow from his side but his movements were so strangely slow. He struggled to move the feathery tip from his body but fainted midway. The radiant light ebbed, Usagi's head turned to the fallen Hurda. Revenge was coursing through her veins but she pushed it away, Usagi wasn't going to let her savior die right in front of her. That was how she was caught off guard. A gray magic shot across the chamber just as she had begun to heal Heero. Before she could do anything she was being smothered by the spell.
She struggled against the suffocating magic, falling to her knees as she fought against it. The spell tightened its hold on her and she finally gave way. The spell immediately removed itself from her once she fell to the ground. The chamber was silent once more. In the doorway, Adaron stood with his bow in hand, a magus was next to him. The magus's lustrous black hair and beady black eyes were characteristic of his people. On the side of his neck was the tattoo of a spiraling dragon.
"Thank you Orich." Adoran bowed respectfully to the magus. Orich hid his trembling hands in his wide sleeves, "She is strong."
Adoran smiled to himself, "Not for long. It seems that you came just in time."
Orich nodded his head, his gaze shifted to Heero, "You've angered many people Adoran."
Adoran's smile grew even wider, "You can't keep everyone happy now can you?"
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Usagi woke when she felt the first drop of water hit her sore back. Rolling over she arched up in pain when her open wounds touched the freezing stone floor.
"Are you alright?"
Usagi squeezed one eye open and was thoroughly shocked when she saw Heero. "It's you!"
Heero remained silent, holding the bowl of water in his hand. A dark bruise was on his cheek and the armor that he had worn was gone. Usagi blushed when she met his eyes, their dark centers sucked her straight up into them. Tearing her eyes away from Heero, who was giving her a funny look, she scanned her surroundings. She was in a jail cell. The iron bars were brown and crusted over with rust but were still unbreakable. Multiple spells were laid on the bars so that Usagi couldn't even begin to undo one spell before another would warn the stoic jailer who stood at the end of the hall. Usagi began to relish the cold floor beneath her, it was cooling her burning back. "Thank you for saving me." She said through chapped lips. Heero shrugged, "I keep my promises. Turn back over, your cuts need to be cleaned."
Usagi winced at the thought, "Do they have to be? And what promise?" Heero simply flipped her onto her stomach, ignoring her questions. Usagi complained at the situation before Heero gave her a severe, silencing glare. She lay meekly on the ground after that. Her eyes flew open when she felt the buttons of her dress being undone. She turned her face so that she could watch what Heero was doing, wary of him. The cuts were obscene, they were covered with hardening blood and oozing pus. When the air stung her cuts Usagi tensed, she couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible it would be to get them washed.
Heero's calloused hands would forever remember the split seconds that they had to touch her silken hair when they brushed it aside. For a moment, Heero's eyes grew lighter and glowed with a flickering light then, without warning, they darkened; the light had gone.
"Don't use your magic around me." Heero said when he felt the hole in his side begin to tingle.
Usagi frowned, "Why not? I could heal you, you know?"
"Your magic is based by light. I'm a wraith, you can't use light magic on me...unless you want to burn me." Heero said.
Usagi sighed, "I just wanted to help."
Heero smirked, "How could you possibly help me?" She didn't have time to answer because the water pouring onto her back effectively silenced her. Her body trembled as each adhesive bead of water filled her split skin. "You'll be fine." Heero said in monotone.
"What're you doing?" Usagi mumbled. Her smarting cuts were beginning to complain just a little less. Heero silenced her with another glance before he concentrated on the task in front of him. Spiraling ribbons of black were falling from his hands and onto Usagi's pale skin. The black magic pooled on her back before seeping into the gashes. Reciting his words of power he closed his eyes, feeling the drain as his energy flowed out of him with his magic. The wounds began to slowly knit themselves back together.
When he was finished, all that was left of the cuts were long, fine scars from Ashati's claw's and a circular scar from where Ashati had gouged her hand into Usagi. Heero ran his hand over her back, checking his work over. Usagi stilled under his hands, Heero noticed. Quickly he re-buttoned her dress and moved away from her. Usagi slowly sat upwards, pausing every second or so to see if there was any pain in the motion. Once she was sitting all the way up without the slightest hint of pain she broke into a grin. "Thank you!" She squealed as she leapt onto Heero in an overjoyed hug.
Heero pushed her away, "Stay away from me." He snapped. Usagi was startled by his words but didn't let them stop her from bowing to him. "Thank you Lord Heero."
The wraith lord snorted, "You're so strange."
Usagi's eyebrow arched upwards, "And what makes you think that?"
Heero ignored her, it was time to take care of his own hurt. Usagi watched as Heero's sculpted arms pulled his shirt up and off. Usagi stood in fascination, she had only seen Mamoru's stomach once. Mamoru's body hadn't been something to gawk at though it had been firm. Heero however, was more than just firm. Usagi was wracked with the temporary guilt of Mamoru's death having only been a few days ago. But the temptation standing in front of her was overwhelming. Heero's stomach flinched when the cloth was pulled from his injury. Usagi watched as a few drops of blood leaked from his wound. Without thinking she closed the distance between them and put her hands on his trickling injury.
Heero was immediately made speechless from the pain, she was making his injury far worse. Stifling a gasp, Heero's eyes were surged by light. Under Usagi's hands his skin was burning, he could only feel the awful sensation of the light as it ate into him. But the wound was closing, the skin was coming together over the gaping hole.
When Usagi's mind was jolted with the memory of what Heero had said earlier to her, she tore her hands away from him. Fear tickled her spine, what if she had killed him? He was leaning so heavily against her that she couldn't be sure. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes grew wide when she felt his hands wrap around her waist. Sucking in air, Usagi glanced upwards, afraid of what she would see. She was at once pulled into his depthless eyes. She found a warmth in them that hadn't been there before, they were unlocked doors. He lowered his lips onto hers without warning. She stood frozen, until she felt his mouth imploring with hers. She yielded to him and opened herself to him. He caressed her lips with a crushing passion. Leaning forwards, he smoothed her neck with his kisses. Usagi's breath came rolling out from between her red lips, hot and moist. She felt the familiar pulse of her magic through his roaming hands. 'This is wrong.' A voice whispered in her mind.
Heero's hands froze where they were on her hips and his caresses came to an abrupt halt. He had heard the whisper too, because the voice was strongest in his own mind. Usagi yelped in surprise when Heero shoved her away from him with a furious strength. Tripping over her feet she hit the iron bars and fell to her feet. "Why did you do that?" Usagi gasped out in alarm. Heero's pithy eyes glowed, "Don't come near me again." He snapped.
Usagi gaped before her brows turned down in anger, "You think I'm strange? What do you call what you just did?" She yelled at him.
Heero was exploding with anger, "Don't you know what I am you idiot girl?"
"A wraith! So what! You're a good wraith, you're not evil like the others." Usagi's words tumbled from her mouth, nearly-incoherent in their rush.
Heero's blue eyes were shadowed to an onyx, "You obviously don't know who I am." His fingers brushed against his mark, "I was one of the four who first discovered how to use magic. Unlike you, you just propel it around with your emotions. But I discovered how to use magic. I learned the words that formed the first spell...the first magic that could be controlled."
"You're the first magus?" Usagi said incredulously, "But then...how can you still be alive? The records say that you died millennia's ago. AND," She said indignantly, "what does that have to do with anything?"
Heero's hands clenched and he looked away, "Listen." He ground out, "I'm not alive or dead...I'm a wraith. And a wraith, as Orig so kindly put, is the remains of a once powerful soul...my soul, when it was whole and complete, hated death. And so, when I was on the brink of falling into the dark chasm of Hades my soul split in two so that it could remain on this Earth. The pure part of me left and I remain." Heero stared at his hands, "I am the fearful, envious, power-hungering side of the first magus's soul. I was the part of him that he left behind to wander this earth, as a wraith."
Usagi's eyes were dazed, "You're an evil wraith then?"
Heero's eyes bore into Usagi, "Some would say that." Usagi frowned, "But that kiss...it wasn't evil." She said as blood filled her cheeks, "And, and the feeling...that wasn't wrong." Her words hardly reached his ears.
"It was your light that was controlling me." Heero answered stiffly, "I would never willingly smother myself against the likes of you. I can't love anymore anyway so you can try to explain it as much as you want."
Usagi shook her head, "You're wrong Heero, I touched another side of you. You can't possibly be the evil part of the first magus's soul. You're just...too nice. You did after all save me and heal me." She said brightly.
"I had promised Trowa I would."
Usagi stuffed her ears and crossed her eyes, "Too much information." She said huffily. Heero crossed his arms over his chest, "Another reason why I wouldn't choose to romance you."
Usagi stuck her tongue out, "Too late, you already kissed me."
Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Only because you did what I expressly told you not to do."
"Heal you, you mean?"
"If you hadn't 'healed' me then your magic wouldn't have entered me."
"What does my magic have to do with anything?"
Heero let out a short breath, "Light magic will destroy me. I don't want to be killed Usagi, I want to rejoin my soul and be whole again."
"How're you going to do that? Wouldn't you want to die then, so you could go to the other part of your soul?" Usagi's mind was buzzing.
"I must sacrifice a part of myself, but I don't see how I can do that when I'm not even alive. What is there to sacrifice? A heart? I don't have one. A friend? I have none. Why is it, Usagi, that wraith's are always killing people? They hope that sacrificing them will be enough. There is so little in a wraith's life that self sacrifice can be very difficult for them." His eyes were glowing in their intensity.
The buzz in Usagi's ears quieted, "Then why are you here? My magic wasn't controlling you, it was you who kissed me."
Heero opened his mouth to speak but the screeching of a rusty door spoke first. Usagi's eyes darted to the jail keeper. She could just barely make out the figure of another man next to him as they strode towards her cell. Her breathing became quick and shallow, "Heero, they're coming here."
"You're afraid?"
Usagi swung around, "Of course I am," she snapped, "what if they want to hurt me again?" Heero frowned at her alarmed eyes, "Then you do what you did before, you stand your ground. Die before you tell them about the crystal Usagi."
Usagi's mouth fell open, "How did you know about that?" She began to pace back and forth in the cell, frightened.
"I have my own sources, why do you think I was in the chamber where you were being tortured? I'm a Hurda, Usagi."
Her feet stopped their pacing. Her mind wheeled back six years to when she had discovered that Cat had been a Hurda. The memory was like a hot brand on her skin. It had itched for years to come to the surface but she had put it away. Cat had left her and that was that, she had told herself. But now, standing with another Hurda, she was afraid. She didn't know if she could stand through another torture alone, abandoned by another Hurda. "Protect me then." She whispered, covering her warm cheeks. Heero's brows bent together, "You'll be fine."
"Don't let them take me." She reached for his hand. Heero's eyes traveled up its length until he found himself in her gaze again. "Please Heero." She murmured, begging him. Heero insides squirmed, "If only..." He didn't finish his sentence. He took her hand and drew her close, "Stop whining." He said. Usagi didn't care what he said, she was safe while she was beside him. He wouldn't leave her like the other Hurda she had known, he would stay. Their cell door opened and Adaron stood in the doorway. Heero felt Usagi's grip tighten. Adaron gave a devious grin, "Why hello Usagi."
Usagi shook her head, "I'm not going to tell you anything."
Adaron stepped aside, allowing Orich to step in. "I don't think that'll be a problem anymore." Usagi hid herself behind Heero, peeking over his shoulder at the two men.
Orich's eyes flicked to Heero, "Step aside wraith, there is nothing you can do."
Usagi's nails dug into Heero's hands, "Don't go." She whispered, thinking that Heero couldn't hear her.
The wraith locked eyes with the magus. An unseen battle passed between the two ancients in a matter of seconds. The wraith turned his eyes away from the magus. Orich's forked tongue flicked out, tasting the defeat. Heero stepped aside, revealing Usagi, and unlatched himself from her. "There's nothing I can do." He told her, he refused to acknowledge her questioning eyes.
The light in her soul had waned. Drawing herself up, she faced the magus alone. Orich rolled his eyes at her last show of defiance, "Come along, there will be no pain in this." She ignored him completely. Just before she left the cell, Usagi looked to Heero, he hadn't moved an inch. She opened her lips to say something, goodbye maybe, but the words didn't come. She turned her back to Heero, there would be no goodbye's between them. Taking deep breaths she lifted her chin and kept her eyes skyward. She wouldn't let the tears fall from her eyes. 'I can bear this.' She thought. 'I am strong.' A tear rolled from her eye and fell to the floor. 'I am strong.'
****Review, Please!! ~~Sorry it came out so late~~ Toodles, Qt~chan
P.S. I have final exams so the next chapter will be awhile...meanwhile have fun complaining for me to ff.net about how my story doesn't show up on the story page.
Chapter 3 "What do you want?" Treize asked, his eyes hardly left the parchment in front of him.
"I was wondering, dear father," Treize's head lifted at the nearly- sarcastic injection, "If I might have my leave for a day or so." Trowa curled his hand around the hilt of his sword, waiting for his father's answer. Treize scanned his second son, his roving gaze slowed when it came to the magnificent hilt of Trowa's sword.
"Where you are going?" Treize asked, he at last turned his face to Trowa.
"To visit a friend in Hatsu." Trowa answered, meeting his father's icy stare with his own.
"A friend in that dirty little town? How...intriguing. And, pray tell, who is this friend?" There was a gleam in Treize's eye as he asked the question. Absorbing every diminutive movement that Trowa made, he looked for signs of a lie.
"You will meet him soon." Trowa answered vacantly. Treize swept back a honey-brown bang and went back to his work, "Send word of your safety when you are in Hatsu." His voice lacked worry or care. Trowa's bowed head lifted for a moment. The smoldering green eyes steeped in the richness of his father's clothes and passed slowly over his forked eyebrows. Averting his eyes abruptly, Trowa bowed to his father and turned on his heel to sweep out of the extravagant room. As he walked down the main hall he heard the red-wood doors slam shut behind him with an air of finality. Things weren't going to last like this for long, everything, even the bated air, knew this.
The princes' sage cloak billowed out behind him as he made his way down the hushed hall. He had decided that it was time to retrieve Quatre; Wufei's family was coming to the OZ castle in a few days and then the Hurda's planned to make their move. Trowa silently passed the ebony pillars that guarded the hallway. Each pillar was jacketed with their own part of OZ's ancient history. The histories of preceding OZ kings were on several of the pillars. Trowa didn't care for any of them, they were all reflections of an unrestrained government.
His mind brushed against the memory of Usagi's angelic face, broken and pale from her misery. He had burned with his desire to steal her away from OZ that day. Maybe Treize had known, because he had become more suspicious of his second son thenceforth. Trowa had realized long ago that his father and brother had been keeping their plans for Usagi a secret from him. His princely green-eyes' dimmed at the knowledge. He only knew that Treize and Adaron, his brother, planned to use the Dragon clan's measureless talents to extricate the needed information from Usagi. Trowa had to steal Usagi away to safety before then. But time was running out, he had to retrieve Quatre before Treize or his brother got their hands on Usagi. With a sigh he put a hand to his temple; so many things could go wrong with the plan. Looking up at the vaulted ceiling he sent a prayer to the gods.
When he opened his eyes he was once again reminded of how quiet things were in the castle. Quiet until he left, that was, Trowa was sure of that much. Gathering his magic together he turned his fiery eyes to the pillars. Murmuring a few words of magic to the ebony guards of the hall, he left the castle. They would watch on her in his stead.
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Usagi leaned against the door, trembling and sweating from her fit.
"Milady, are you alright?" A tentative voice asked.
Usagi's scathing eyes swung to the slave, "Am I alright? I'm only a prisoner of this tyrant OZ!" She said hoarsely. The slave curtsied and set her silver tray down, not minding a word of what Usagi was saying. "Milady, it would be best if you ate, then you could keep your strength." The slave took the twisted sheets from Usagi's bed and used them to gather up the shards of porcelain that littered the floor. Usagi sprang up and beat her fist on the door. The glassy spell that encased the room rippled from her touch. "Let me out!" She yelled at the spell as loudly as she could.
"Oh stop! You're going to get in an awful lot of trouble if you keep screaming like that." The slave said almost commandingly.
Usagi snorted and whipped around to glare at the slave. "How can you even suggest for me to give up? Do you know what these people did to me?" Usagi's eyes watered from the memory, "They murdered my family!" Her crescent began to glow with her anger.
The slave gaped at the mark on Usagi's forehead, 'Adaron was right', she thought. But the crescent burnt out seconds later as Usagi continued to sniffle. The slave girl moved to kneel down next to Usagi. "Things like that happen all the time milady, but people forgive and move on." She said soothingly. Usagi felt the rush of the magic as it uncurled from inside her, it sensed something. The tingling sensation of the magic flew to her fingers, ready to fly out at her whim; and then, just like all the other times, it was forced back. Usagi whimpered as the power left her hands, she knew that it was her only weapon. Her slender fingers lingered against the spell wall. If only she could use that incredible power that she had stored somewhere inside her.
"I can't forgive for something like that...I'm not strong enough to do that...Why did it have to happen to me?" Usagi turned her drained face to the slave. The slave had the countenance of an upper-class lady; the kind that sometimes walked through the market. The upper-class ladies were always attractive, well-fed, and bred with manners that were 'superior' to those of the commoners. There was no doubting that she was a slave of OZ though, she bore the tattoo of interlinked chains on her neck. "Who are you?" Usagi asked.
"Ashat...I mean, Asha," The girl smiled nervously, "I've been here for a year or two. OZ took me away from my family so that I could serve them."
Usagi shuddered, "That's awful...something needs to be done about them. Why didn't your family stop them?"
Asha's eyes flew to the ceiling, "What could they do...against the OZ soldiers?"
Usagi turned away and said serenely, "I'm going to kill the OZ family." Asha rose up indignantly, "I wish you would stop saying such things. If one of the others hears you, imagine what would happen then. You could be put in jail for treason or even killed."
Flinging her hair away from her face Usagi stuck her tongue out, "They can't do anything to me. I have their crystal, and as long as I have it, they're powerless."
"Powerless?" Asha said quietly, "What happens if they torture you, what then?"
"They already have tortured me," Usagi mumbled, "...no physical pain can be as much as Mamoru's death." She said sternly. She glanced at Asha who was clumsily making her bed. The servant of OZ started in surprise when Usagi pulled her hands away from the sheets. "I'll find a way to free us both. I have the power now." Usagi said earnestly, she desperately needed someone to believe in her.
"Then why can't you go out of this room?" Asha pointed out.
Usagi smiled, "I'll find a way...The magus has something to do with it. He's put some kind of spell on me."
Asha watched as Usagi plumped the pillows herself and fixed the sheets.
"What happens if you fail?" Asha asked suddenly.
"What do you mean, fail?" Usagi said slowly.
Asha's eyes pierced Usagi, "I mean, what happens if they find the crystal?"
Usagi frowned, staring at Asha, "They can't find it. I have it well hidden from them; in a place they would never think to look."
"They're going to get what they need out of you one way or another." Asha said thickly, "And then you'll just be another girl."
"I am just another girl...I'm a commoner." Usagi said, laughing at her own words. Asha turned her face away, "That's just why you're wearing the best of OZ's silks..." She said under her breath. She picked her way around the broken basins, pitchers, and ornaments and headed towards the room's door.
Usagi called to Asha, "What's wrong?"
Asha smiled thinly, "Nothing...I have to go now and do other chores, but I hope we see each other again." Asha curtsied stiffly and left. Usagi almost caught the closing door but because of the broken porcelain everywhere she had lost the opportunity. She smacked the spell-wall in frustration. Rubbing her face, she decided that now was as good a time as any to summon her magic. "Okay. Here I go." She said. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited. Nothing happened. She tried again, three more times to be precise, and still nothing happened. She could feel her magic inside her, like a cool, gathered wind; but she didn't know how to catch it up and use it. Usagi grit her teeth. "I'm going to escape from here! You just see!" She said confidently loud.
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The magus's doors reached to the ceiling and were covered in gleaming gold and silver filigree. The door knobs were two hands lifted in offering, warped from too many years of use. Asha took one of these wooden hands and turned it. The massive door swung open just enough to let her squeeze through. When she slipped through the tiny aperture she felt the stuffy air whooshing out of the room as the door creaked to a close. She had entered the magus's room.
Adaron looked towards the door when he heard its straining sound and saw Asha leaning against it. She looked slyly at him before she stalked over to him. Adaron grinned, "I thought you would have had to take longer with her."
Asha rolled her eyes, "You forget that I'm a slave Adaron. A poor, helpless, little slave girl kidnapped by OZ, she's a sucker for those kinds of people."
Adaron laughed at the remark and reached for Asha's hand. "Wait for the magus so he can remove that ugly illusion from your neck." He said warmly. Asha's slim hand clasped at his. She bent to one knee and bowed before him. "Very well, first prince of our lord Kushrenada, I will do as you wish."
Adaron snorted, "Father will hopefully be pleased with what you found?"
Asha removed her hand from Adaron's, "Ah-ah-ah, I'm not telling you yet, I'll wait for the magus before I speak a word to you."
Adaron's eyes narrowed, "It better be worth my while." Asha shrugged her shoulders, "What're you going to do if its not? Wring my neck?" She said, her pupils widened into dark pits, "Are you going to slaughter me like you slaughtered that girl's family?" She said, she tossed her head back and laughed harder. The soft sound grew deeper and became hollow. Her body seemed to grow fat from her laughter and then she stopped abruptly. Bringing her head forwards she revealed her pupils that had grown to such an enormous size that her green irises had disappeared.
"I have the authority to do anything I want to you." Adaron said simply. The magus entered the chambers just then through an adjoining room. At the sight of Asha he gaped. "Adaron!" He said sharply, "What did I tell you about my wraiths? They're not creatures that will just kneel and pleasure you!"
With a sweep of his hand the magus split Asha's human skin and let the wraith free of the spell. Glittering white teeth grew from the blunt, square teeth of Asha's mouth and her tongue grew long and broad. Six arms grew from her sides and her legs grew bulky with muscle. Asha's face changed to a bruised black and her clothes clung to her bulging body. Adaron smoothly and in a sense, politely, moved from his chair as the wraith's hand knocked it across the room. "Do you still like what you see mortal?" The wraith asked, its voice made the room quiver.
"If you are a woman, no. If you are a male, even less." Adaron answered with a smile. The wraith laughed, throwing its head back and making the room shake. The magus looked disgusted, "Please, Prince Adaron, stop joking with the defiling creature."
Adaron's smile became even wider, "You're wraith was able to get information from the girl."
The magus didn't look surprised, "How wonderful... It's about time too Ashati." He said severely. The wraith bared its teeth, "I think that the little wretch is seriously going to murder you all in your sleep." She said, laughing widely. The magus murmured a word and the wraith was silenced. "I want to know what she said to you right now." The magus demanded.
The wraith's clawed hands twitched in anger, but she nodded. "The crystal, as Usagi put it, is hidden in some place that you would never find it. And I think a magus like her would find a place that you would never think of, so good luck." The wraith said, happy to have caused more trouble.
The magus snorted, "She is most definitely not a magus. How many magus's do you know with power like that? Just living in the desert as some kind of commoner when they can raise themselves up to power in an instant?"
Adaron nodded his head in agreement, "It is a little odd. Especially if she loved that little family of hers so much, why couldn't she have just magicked up something to provide for them?"
The magus thought for a moment, "We'll just have to find out through her, there's no other way."
"She wouldn't tell me." Ashati said boomingly. The magus glared at the wraith, "Ashati, of all wraiths, you are by far the worst and most annoying."
Ashati bowed, "Just give me an OZ soldier and we'll see how bad I am." Laughing to herself she disappeared with a loud pop. Adaron glanced at the magus, "Can she just leave like that?"
"She's gone to the only place she can go, to her cell. I spelled all the wraiths that I've caught so that they can't teleport themselves wherever they want. The same goes with that girl. She's been trying and trying to break my magic. A good effort too...Adaron, we must find out who this girl is and where the crystal is soon. I looked into the other four crystals for advice and all I see is this light, this incredible light. It burns my eyes nearly every time I so much as glance at them."
Adaron smirked, "Well, we can't have that now can we?"
******************************************
Quatre tore his gaze away from the lady, "So you don't know where she is?"
"Oh no. I saw her that one night...but then she disappeared after that."
Quatre leaned against the wall and stared at the sky in despair. He could only faintly remember how brilliant Usagi's eyes had been.
"Is something wrong young man?" The lady asked, her wrinkled old face wrinkling even more in her concern. Quatre pushed himself off of the wall and out of the shade, "No. I'm fine, thank you miss." He handed her a few rupees before turning to walk down the road filled with venders. The old lady watched him go. His heavy black cloak trailed him, hiding his wickedly curved blades from the crowd. Smiling a little, the old lady fingered the fine rupees, "Hurda's," she said, "always were loners."
Quatre had asked every one of them. All of them. For a year he had done nothing but ask and ask and ask. None of them had had anything to say to him. Every each escaped prisoner from Akbar had seen Usagi but didn't know where she had gone. In most opinions she had gone either east, south, west, or north. Quatre knew he didn't have the time to scour the desert for Usagi, and it hurt to know it. The noisy people in the market place jostled and pushed him around as he made his way to the entrance of the city. And through it all, he couldn't help wishing that the crowd would push him down and trample him. He had lost the only thing that had sustained him all these years. The weight on his shoulders was almost enough to topple him over. He had left Usagi not for a few years as he had first thought, but for forever. He hadn't been able to find her, or save her in any matter. His wishes and dreams flew into his head, wilting when they came to the standing fact; Usagi was gone.
At the entrance of the city he gathered his cloak about him. The soldiers looked at him suspiciously as he passed through their gates. He ignored them and continued on the path for a long while, panting slightly from the scorching heat. Without even looking back, he darted behind a sand dune and continued on his way towards the flaming sun. He would have to head back to the OZ citadel now.
"What took you so long?"
Quatre looked up in surprise. Trowa's tall frame stood in front of him, his sword in hand. Quatre frowned at the weapon and glanced at his Dewolf. Gasping at the sight he rapped out a quick command. The brutish creature immediately backed away from the half-eaten carcass it had in front of it. Quatre walked up to the torn and bloodied creature, wincing at the sight. "Sorry. If my Dewolf had known who you were I'm sure this," Quatre glanced at the remains, "wouldn't have happened." Quatre saw, out of the corner of his eye, his Dewolf licking its bloody muzzle clean.
Trowa sheathed his sword, "It was only the best horse in my father's stable." Trowa said unperturbed. Quatre laughed, "It's good to see you again. How are things back at the castle?"
Trowa smiled faintly, "How did your search go?"
Quatre's face dimmed, "Not well. I couldn't find her." The wind whistled in his silence. Quatre shuffled awkwardly, "I had felt sure that I would find her but no one knows where she's gone. I've asked everyone." The words were softly spoken.
"You've been gone a year." Is all that Trowa said. The laconic statement spoke a hundred words at once, all of them telling Quatre that it was time to give up, and go home. Quatre nodded his head in understanding, "I know. It was a wild hope in the first place," He murmured. He walked up to his Dewolf and pulled himself on. Trowa climbed onto the Dewolf's back with the same ease that Quatre had. "I'm sorry." He said gently to his silent friend. Quatre turned his head and shrugged his shoulders, "Not your fault." Turning back forwards he bent over to whisper into his Dewolf's ear. "To Treize's castle." Quatre commanded. Stealing into motion, the overly large wolf flew over the sand.
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Usagi squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her shoulders in her effort to ignore the pain. The magus stood watching stonily, commanding the wraiths that surrounded her. The wraiths flew about her, touching her and shooting monstrous amounts of barbing energy through her. "Stop." She said pleadingly to the wraiths. They gave her another bout of energy. Her body shuddered from the attack, bruising with each touch. The magus continued to keep Usagi from using her magic, savoring the fact that his victory was near. The four to five OZ soldiers that stood reservedly in the corners of the magus's room watched silently.
The magus narrowed his eyes in awareness as he felt Usagi's magic struggling for its mistress's waning life, "Cut her now," he growled to Ashati. One of Ashati's clawed hands shot out and raked itself across Usagi's back. Her clean, red blood spilled forth. It cascaded down her back and soaked the back of her dress in a cloying copper. She fell to the ground from the blow, clenching her teeth. Shedding few tears, she hugged herself tighter. Her lungs heaved to fill themselves with oxygen, trying to help her body recover from the shock. Usagi turned her darkening eyes to a soldier. He stared back at her with passionate cobalt blue eyes that saw her and all her blood. She heard the magus say something and turned her gaze to him. Ashati took advantage of the moment and lunged forwards. She buried her claws into Usagi's bleeding back. Usagi screamed and bent her forehead to the floor, sobbing. Ashati's hand pushed further into Usagi's skin. She was relishing the body's convulsions as she dug deeper and deeper. Usagi felt her body becoming paralyzed with the pain, her back burnt from it. She wished that she could sink into the icy floor to stop the burning.
The magus's eyes darted to an OZ soldier that had stepped forwards. The soldier unsheathed his sword and hurled it into the air. The sword soared through the air like an arrow before it speared Ashati's body. Ashati had been knocked off her feet and was pinned to the wall from the force of the throw. The wraith wrapped her hands around the plain hilt and drew the blade from her stomach. Ashati hardly even winced when her blue blood dribbled out of her wound. The soldier threw off his helmet and lowered his collar so that only the wraith could see what he was showing. Ashati screeched, "Oh forgive, forgive!" She howled, covering her face from the armored man. The soldier lifted his glowing hand and sent Ashati flying through the air, regardless.
The magus stared at Heero in shock. He told the wraiths to get away from Usagi. "I didn't expect a soldier to know words of power. In fact, it's rather strange that a man like you is an OZ soldier at all." Grinning slightly, the magus motioned for the wraith's to surround the man. "They call me Orig, master magician of OZ." Orig said, hints of a threat were in his voice.
"I know who you are." He said simply. Orig shrugged his shoulders, "And who doesn't nowadays...But what is your name warrior?"
"Heero." Heero's thrilling dark-blue eyes glared at the Magus.
The magus didn't flinch under the soldier's gaze. Pulling at his chin thoughtfully the man motioned for the injured Ashati to come closer to him. He whispered a question into the wraiths ear and then straightened upon the answer. "You're a Hurda warrior aren't you?"
Heero remained silent, his hands were limp by his sides.
"Only a Hurda warrior could summon some spell like that!" The magus said fanatically, "Admit it!"
Heero's forceful gaze moved to the girl who lay broken on the floor. "What is a magus most afraid of brother wraiths?" His voice was low.
The wraiths, black and swirling, snapped their heads up. Their luminous eyes were wide with triumph. A hiss of glee escaped Ashati, "What is a magus most afraid of brother?" She said, her eyes turning to Orig who was dumbfounded. Orig felt the prick of Heero's magic trying to undo the spell he had done on the wraiths. The magus's chestnut eyes darkened, "You think you can defeat me?" Orig laughed, "A simple Hurda warrior! Wraiths, I don't know what game you're playing but destroy him!"
The wraiths remained where they were snickering among themselves as wraiths do. The magus smirked, "Fine with me, you think I just play little parlor tricks for OZ, wraiths? Have you forgotten how I captured each and every one of you with ease? You'll see." The fires flickered and then went out from the explosion of air. The guards were thrown flat to their feet. All the men except Heero, who stood with a slight grin on his face, were knocked unconscious from the blistering power of the magus. "Do you remember your lore Magus?" Heero's voice filled the room. The magus gave a slight inclination of his head, "I do little warrior." He said menacingly. Heero's smile left him as he slid the collar of his uniform down to show Orig what he had shown Ashati. The magus's smirk faded, "The mark."
"The mark of Auri-Un." Heero said, his hands began to glow, "I have come from the western corner of the desert because of you. You stole the demons and wraiths away to serve your own greedy purposes and now their lord has come to punish you for it."
"Wraiths," the magus said disgustedly, "Are nothing more than the remains of a once great soul! You are nothing, Wraith Lord or not, I will destroy you!" Lifting his hands, Orig sent a shaft of magic speeding towards Heero. Heero deflected the spell with frightening ease. Orig didn't notice, he was concentrating on the most valuable object in the room, Usagi. Throwing random spells at Heero he kept the wraith lord distracted easily.
Heero's eyes grew dark with suspicion, the magus was up to something. He could feel the divided magic from the magus. He abruptly turned his attention to the girl. Clenching his fists, Heero remembered his promise to Trowa. Darting away from the wall Heero ran towards the girl. The magus snarled as he muttered something under his breath. A vine sprang from the stone floor and grasped Heero's ankle. He smacked the floor, immediately all the wraiths surrounding him leapt into action. The four hurtled towards the magus. With a snort the magus sent light cutting through them and they turned to dust.
Orig the magus, turned his eyes triumphantly to Heero only to find that Heero was not where he had left him. The vine lay limp on the floor, cut down by Heero's dagger. Orig's eyes went to the girl and were alarmed by the sight. Heero had her in his arms and was preparing to teleport away. Desperation gave the magus strength, whispering another word he sent his spell out. The whirling ball of flame flew at Heero. Heero lifted his hand to deflect it but it exploded before he could do such a thing. Heero felt his face twist in anger as he was thrown in the air before the emotion passed away, he had to control himself.
The girl had been flung from his arms and was covered in soot in a far corner of the room. Even from across the room, Heero could hear her ragged breathing and her whispered words. Orig's gaze swung to Usagi as wings bloomed from her hurting body. Orig parted his lips to speak but couldn't as a solid black spell flew into his mouth and began to wind around his head. Orig's body heaved for air, summoning his power again he burnt the spell.
Heero had no time to waste on the magus though, he was giving all of his energy to the girl. Her closed eyes opened and the crescent on her forehead began to glow. Her eyes were full of electric anger, "Magus," she said, "You won't even know what hit you." Her eyes just barely brushed over Heero who was still feeding her his energy before she turned her full attention to the magus.
She threw up her arms and her wings arched upwards in unison. Orig was thrown against the wall and held there as the light that he had seen radiating from the other four crystals, blinded him. Heero covered his eyes against the light, he could feel the pain of the light needling his stomach. Wraiths were never that good against spells that had anything to do with light, he thought to himself as his body began to smolder from the radiance. An arrow, laced with drugs, cut through the light. Heero never saw it coming, it buried itself into his side. Gasping in surprise, Heero's hands moved to pull the arrow from his side but his movements were so strangely slow. He struggled to move the feathery tip from his body but fainted midway. The radiant light ebbed, Usagi's head turned to the fallen Hurda. Revenge was coursing through her veins but she pushed it away, Usagi wasn't going to let her savior die right in front of her. That was how she was caught off guard. A gray magic shot across the chamber just as she had begun to heal Heero. Before she could do anything she was being smothered by the spell.
She struggled against the suffocating magic, falling to her knees as she fought against it. The spell tightened its hold on her and she finally gave way. The spell immediately removed itself from her once she fell to the ground. The chamber was silent once more. In the doorway, Adaron stood with his bow in hand, a magus was next to him. The magus's lustrous black hair and beady black eyes were characteristic of his people. On the side of his neck was the tattoo of a spiraling dragon.
"Thank you Orich." Adoran bowed respectfully to the magus. Orich hid his trembling hands in his wide sleeves, "She is strong."
Adoran smiled to himself, "Not for long. It seems that you came just in time."
Orich nodded his head, his gaze shifted to Heero, "You've angered many people Adoran."
Adoran's smile grew even wider, "You can't keep everyone happy now can you?"
************************************************
Usagi woke when she felt the first drop of water hit her sore back. Rolling over she arched up in pain when her open wounds touched the freezing stone floor.
"Are you alright?"
Usagi squeezed one eye open and was thoroughly shocked when she saw Heero. "It's you!"
Heero remained silent, holding the bowl of water in his hand. A dark bruise was on his cheek and the armor that he had worn was gone. Usagi blushed when she met his eyes, their dark centers sucked her straight up into them. Tearing her eyes away from Heero, who was giving her a funny look, she scanned her surroundings. She was in a jail cell. The iron bars were brown and crusted over with rust but were still unbreakable. Multiple spells were laid on the bars so that Usagi couldn't even begin to undo one spell before another would warn the stoic jailer who stood at the end of the hall. Usagi began to relish the cold floor beneath her, it was cooling her burning back. "Thank you for saving me." She said through chapped lips. Heero shrugged, "I keep my promises. Turn back over, your cuts need to be cleaned."
Usagi winced at the thought, "Do they have to be? And what promise?" Heero simply flipped her onto her stomach, ignoring her questions. Usagi complained at the situation before Heero gave her a severe, silencing glare. She lay meekly on the ground after that. Her eyes flew open when she felt the buttons of her dress being undone. She turned her face so that she could watch what Heero was doing, wary of him. The cuts were obscene, they were covered with hardening blood and oozing pus. When the air stung her cuts Usagi tensed, she couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible it would be to get them washed.
Heero's calloused hands would forever remember the split seconds that they had to touch her silken hair when they brushed it aside. For a moment, Heero's eyes grew lighter and glowed with a flickering light then, without warning, they darkened; the light had gone.
"Don't use your magic around me." Heero said when he felt the hole in his side begin to tingle.
Usagi frowned, "Why not? I could heal you, you know?"
"Your magic is based by light. I'm a wraith, you can't use light magic on me...unless you want to burn me." Heero said.
Usagi sighed, "I just wanted to help."
Heero smirked, "How could you possibly help me?" She didn't have time to answer because the water pouring onto her back effectively silenced her. Her body trembled as each adhesive bead of water filled her split skin. "You'll be fine." Heero said in monotone.
"What're you doing?" Usagi mumbled. Her smarting cuts were beginning to complain just a little less. Heero silenced her with another glance before he concentrated on the task in front of him. Spiraling ribbons of black were falling from his hands and onto Usagi's pale skin. The black magic pooled on her back before seeping into the gashes. Reciting his words of power he closed his eyes, feeling the drain as his energy flowed out of him with his magic. The wounds began to slowly knit themselves back together.
When he was finished, all that was left of the cuts were long, fine scars from Ashati's claw's and a circular scar from where Ashati had gouged her hand into Usagi. Heero ran his hand over her back, checking his work over. Usagi stilled under his hands, Heero noticed. Quickly he re-buttoned her dress and moved away from her. Usagi slowly sat upwards, pausing every second or so to see if there was any pain in the motion. Once she was sitting all the way up without the slightest hint of pain she broke into a grin. "Thank you!" She squealed as she leapt onto Heero in an overjoyed hug.
Heero pushed her away, "Stay away from me." He snapped. Usagi was startled by his words but didn't let them stop her from bowing to him. "Thank you Lord Heero."
The wraith lord snorted, "You're so strange."
Usagi's eyebrow arched upwards, "And what makes you think that?"
Heero ignored her, it was time to take care of his own hurt. Usagi watched as Heero's sculpted arms pulled his shirt up and off. Usagi stood in fascination, she had only seen Mamoru's stomach once. Mamoru's body hadn't been something to gawk at though it had been firm. Heero however, was more than just firm. Usagi was wracked with the temporary guilt of Mamoru's death having only been a few days ago. But the temptation standing in front of her was overwhelming. Heero's stomach flinched when the cloth was pulled from his injury. Usagi watched as a few drops of blood leaked from his wound. Without thinking she closed the distance between them and put her hands on his trickling injury.
Heero was immediately made speechless from the pain, she was making his injury far worse. Stifling a gasp, Heero's eyes were surged by light. Under Usagi's hands his skin was burning, he could only feel the awful sensation of the light as it ate into him. But the wound was closing, the skin was coming together over the gaping hole.
When Usagi's mind was jolted with the memory of what Heero had said earlier to her, she tore her hands away from him. Fear tickled her spine, what if she had killed him? He was leaning so heavily against her that she couldn't be sure. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes grew wide when she felt his hands wrap around her waist. Sucking in air, Usagi glanced upwards, afraid of what she would see. She was at once pulled into his depthless eyes. She found a warmth in them that hadn't been there before, they were unlocked doors. He lowered his lips onto hers without warning. She stood frozen, until she felt his mouth imploring with hers. She yielded to him and opened herself to him. He caressed her lips with a crushing passion. Leaning forwards, he smoothed her neck with his kisses. Usagi's breath came rolling out from between her red lips, hot and moist. She felt the familiar pulse of her magic through his roaming hands. 'This is wrong.' A voice whispered in her mind.
Heero's hands froze where they were on her hips and his caresses came to an abrupt halt. He had heard the whisper too, because the voice was strongest in his own mind. Usagi yelped in surprise when Heero shoved her away from him with a furious strength. Tripping over her feet she hit the iron bars and fell to her feet. "Why did you do that?" Usagi gasped out in alarm. Heero's pithy eyes glowed, "Don't come near me again." He snapped.
Usagi gaped before her brows turned down in anger, "You think I'm strange? What do you call what you just did?" She yelled at him.
Heero was exploding with anger, "Don't you know what I am you idiot girl?"
"A wraith! So what! You're a good wraith, you're not evil like the others." Usagi's words tumbled from her mouth, nearly-incoherent in their rush.
Heero's blue eyes were shadowed to an onyx, "You obviously don't know who I am." His fingers brushed against his mark, "I was one of the four who first discovered how to use magic. Unlike you, you just propel it around with your emotions. But I discovered how to use magic. I learned the words that formed the first spell...the first magic that could be controlled."
"You're the first magus?" Usagi said incredulously, "But then...how can you still be alive? The records say that you died millennia's ago. AND," She said indignantly, "what does that have to do with anything?"
Heero's hands clenched and he looked away, "Listen." He ground out, "I'm not alive or dead...I'm a wraith. And a wraith, as Orig so kindly put, is the remains of a once powerful soul...my soul, when it was whole and complete, hated death. And so, when I was on the brink of falling into the dark chasm of Hades my soul split in two so that it could remain on this Earth. The pure part of me left and I remain." Heero stared at his hands, "I am the fearful, envious, power-hungering side of the first magus's soul. I was the part of him that he left behind to wander this earth, as a wraith."
Usagi's eyes were dazed, "You're an evil wraith then?"
Heero's eyes bore into Usagi, "Some would say that." Usagi frowned, "But that kiss...it wasn't evil." She said as blood filled her cheeks, "And, and the feeling...that wasn't wrong." Her words hardly reached his ears.
"It was your light that was controlling me." Heero answered stiffly, "I would never willingly smother myself against the likes of you. I can't love anymore anyway so you can try to explain it as much as you want."
Usagi shook her head, "You're wrong Heero, I touched another side of you. You can't possibly be the evil part of the first magus's soul. You're just...too nice. You did after all save me and heal me." She said brightly.
"I had promised Trowa I would."
Usagi stuffed her ears and crossed her eyes, "Too much information." She said huffily. Heero crossed his arms over his chest, "Another reason why I wouldn't choose to romance you."
Usagi stuck her tongue out, "Too late, you already kissed me."
Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Only because you did what I expressly told you not to do."
"Heal you, you mean?"
"If you hadn't 'healed' me then your magic wouldn't have entered me."
"What does my magic have to do with anything?"
Heero let out a short breath, "Light magic will destroy me. I don't want to be killed Usagi, I want to rejoin my soul and be whole again."
"How're you going to do that? Wouldn't you want to die then, so you could go to the other part of your soul?" Usagi's mind was buzzing.
"I must sacrifice a part of myself, but I don't see how I can do that when I'm not even alive. What is there to sacrifice? A heart? I don't have one. A friend? I have none. Why is it, Usagi, that wraith's are always killing people? They hope that sacrificing them will be enough. There is so little in a wraith's life that self sacrifice can be very difficult for them." His eyes were glowing in their intensity.
The buzz in Usagi's ears quieted, "Then why are you here? My magic wasn't controlling you, it was you who kissed me."
Heero opened his mouth to speak but the screeching of a rusty door spoke first. Usagi's eyes darted to the jail keeper. She could just barely make out the figure of another man next to him as they strode towards her cell. Her breathing became quick and shallow, "Heero, they're coming here."
"You're afraid?"
Usagi swung around, "Of course I am," she snapped, "what if they want to hurt me again?" Heero frowned at her alarmed eyes, "Then you do what you did before, you stand your ground. Die before you tell them about the crystal Usagi."
Usagi's mouth fell open, "How did you know about that?" She began to pace back and forth in the cell, frightened.
"I have my own sources, why do you think I was in the chamber where you were being tortured? I'm a Hurda, Usagi."
Her feet stopped their pacing. Her mind wheeled back six years to when she had discovered that Cat had been a Hurda. The memory was like a hot brand on her skin. It had itched for years to come to the surface but she had put it away. Cat had left her and that was that, she had told herself. But now, standing with another Hurda, she was afraid. She didn't know if she could stand through another torture alone, abandoned by another Hurda. "Protect me then." She whispered, covering her warm cheeks. Heero's brows bent together, "You'll be fine."
"Don't let them take me." She reached for his hand. Heero's eyes traveled up its length until he found himself in her gaze again. "Please Heero." She murmured, begging him. Heero insides squirmed, "If only..." He didn't finish his sentence. He took her hand and drew her close, "Stop whining." He said. Usagi didn't care what he said, she was safe while she was beside him. He wouldn't leave her like the other Hurda she had known, he would stay. Their cell door opened and Adaron stood in the doorway. Heero felt Usagi's grip tighten. Adaron gave a devious grin, "Why hello Usagi."
Usagi shook her head, "I'm not going to tell you anything."
Adaron stepped aside, allowing Orich to step in. "I don't think that'll be a problem anymore." Usagi hid herself behind Heero, peeking over his shoulder at the two men.
Orich's eyes flicked to Heero, "Step aside wraith, there is nothing you can do."
Usagi's nails dug into Heero's hands, "Don't go." She whispered, thinking that Heero couldn't hear her.
The wraith locked eyes with the magus. An unseen battle passed between the two ancients in a matter of seconds. The wraith turned his eyes away from the magus. Orich's forked tongue flicked out, tasting the defeat. Heero stepped aside, revealing Usagi, and unlatched himself from her. "There's nothing I can do." He told her, he refused to acknowledge her questioning eyes.
The light in her soul had waned. Drawing herself up, she faced the magus alone. Orich rolled his eyes at her last show of defiance, "Come along, there will be no pain in this." She ignored him completely. Just before she left the cell, Usagi looked to Heero, he hadn't moved an inch. She opened her lips to say something, goodbye maybe, but the words didn't come. She turned her back to Heero, there would be no goodbye's between them. Taking deep breaths she lifted her chin and kept her eyes skyward. She wouldn't let the tears fall from her eyes. 'I can bear this.' She thought. 'I am strong.' A tear rolled from her eye and fell to the floor. 'I am strong.'
****Review, Please!! ~~Sorry it came out so late~~ Toodles, Qt~chan
P.S. I have final exams so the next chapter will be awhile...meanwhile have fun complaining for me to ff.net about how my story doesn't show up on the story page.