Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 31: Fact, Fiction, and Rumor
Eventually, everyone but Harry, Trowa, and Zechs filed out of the room with Cathy hesitating for just a moment as she eyed Harry with concern. Trowa only stayed because Zechs showed no sign of leaving and the green eyed teen didn't think it wise to leave Harry alone with the man due to the wizard's current emotional state. Zechs on the other hand stayed because he was currently in a state of shock not unlike Harry's as the twenty year old tried to process everything he'd learned about Harry (and Harry's abilities) that morning.
Wolfstar's natural curiosity (a personality trait based upon Harry's memories of Remus) kicked in after while and the small sentient suit pulled away from Harry's loose grip. The suit then switched itself into flight mode and began buzzing lazily around the room, occasionally circling one of the three people in the room. The playful behavior of what was technically a deadly and dangerous weapon of war eventually drew Harry's attention back to the present and he smiled slightly as he watched Wolfstar orbiting around Zechs in an unknowing imitation of stars (or birds) circling around a cartoon character's head indicating the character had been knocked for a loop. The irony of Zechs being completely dazed by what amounted to an information overload only made Harry laugh softly at the imagery.
"Silly, Wolfstar," Harry murmured under his breath as he slowly climbed to his feet and brushed off his pants.
"Are you going to be alright, Taliesin?" Trowa asked as he looked away from the suit's antics to study Harry critically.
"Yeah, I'll be fine; I just wasn't expecting Heero to blindside me like that. I honestly didn't think he'd ever release my oath because I didn't think he'd ever believe I was capable of protecting myself."
"What are you going to do now?"
"I was thinking of maybe getting something for breakfast."
"I meant about Heero releasing you from your oath."
"Oh… there's really nothing I can do; the magic binding me to my oath unraveled and it can't be put back. I suppose I could swear another oath but I'm not inclined to tie myself to another in that way any time soon."
"And what about your relationship with Heero? I seem to recall you mentioning something about a promise to kill him the moment he released you back when we first met."
Harry huffed and rolled his eyes before dryly muttering, "I was angry, scared, and hurting when I said that. He's still my brother and the most I'd do is string him upside down and hex him when he acts stupid. And I was only pissed with him earlier because I misunderstood his question and jumped to the wrong conclusions. I suppose I should hunt him down and apologize for automatically thinking the worst because I should have known better than to think that he'd make me do something like that. Though in my defense I'm not exactly blind and I am fully aware that all five of you have been concerned about what happened during the battle when I flew Wolfstar."
"Can you blame us for being concerned? We all experienced our worst fears while under the influence of the Zero System and while I thought you might be able to hold out longer because of that Mind Magic stuff you were working on learning, I never imagined you'd end up taking control of the system instead. Nor did I think you could hold off the hallucinations indefinitely. Wolfstar suddenly gaining a form of sentience out of the deal is a whole nother can of worms entirely."
Harry couldn't help but snicker over the comment about Wolfstar as the suit in question finally returned to his side, reverted to suit mode, and settled down to sit on Harry's left shoulder. He only started laughing harder when Trowa rolled his eyes and shook his head. After a while, Harry sighed and ran a hand over his face before he smiled at his brother and turned to leave the room only to be brought up short by a Zechs addressing him.
"You lied to me."
Turning around, Harry arched an eyebrow at the man, silently demanding clarification. Zechs pushed up out of his seat but didn't move any closer as he frowned at Harry.
"I asked you for your real name and you told me that you never knew your name; you lied to me."
"I didn't lie; there was a time I didn't know my name. I just didn't tell you the full truth," Harry retorted as he crossed his arms and stubbornly lifted his chin. "I was nothing more than your prisoner at the time and I was not stupid enough to give you anything that could be used against me or my family. Besides… what difference does knowing my name really make? Taliesin Bard is just as much my name as Harry Potter; only it's a name I chose myself to represent the life I'd made here with my family."
"Okay, I deserved that," Zechs admitted with a grimace. "It's just annoying to find out that I can't really trust much of anything you've told me because if you could twist the truth about your name you could have twisted the truth about anything and everything else."
"In the game of life; honesty is one of four aces you are dealt," Harry philosophically stated with a careless shrug of his shoulders that nearly knocked Wolfstar off his perch.
"And the other three aces?"
"Common sense, luck, and attitude."
"I thought luck was the queen of hearts?"
"Nope; luck and ladies don't mix," Harry quipped sagely.
"Don't let Cathy hear you say that," Trowa warned with a snort as he walked passed Harry and left the room, leaving Harry and Zechs to deal with their issues in relative privacy now that he knew Harry was feeling more himself.
"How can I prove to you that I don't wish you any harm?" Zechs asked softly as he held Harry's gaze.
Tilting his head to one side, Harry narrowed his eyes slightly as he gave the question due consideration; if only because he could read the desperation and sincerity on the man's face. After a moment, he closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face before threading his fingers through his hair as he debated with himself. He then bit his lip as he opened his eyes to study Zechs once more while fingering the hidden leather cord that held the four trunks that had been Sirius's final gifts to him with his other hand.
"Are you willing to risk the possibility that I might learn something of you or your past that could potentially be used against you?" Harry demanded quietly. "And before you answer that; you should know that I have a way to force you to tell the truth, no matter how much you might wish otherwise, for exactly twenty minutes. There will be no chances for evasions, no time to carefully word your replies; you will answer any and every question you are asked with the cold, hard truth the moment you are asked."
"So, basically you are asking me if I trust you enough to allow you to somehow draw the truth from me. Just how many people will be present during the questioning? And are you willing to offer me the same chance in return?"
"I suppose that's one way of putting it… and it would just be me. I'll even conduct the questioning in a place that I can guarantee has no security cameras and where there is no chance of anyone disturbing us. As for giving you a chance to question me in return using a similar method; it would depend on what I learn from you."
"Say I agree to this questioning… wouldn't you be worried that I might just be using this as an opportunity to get you alone?"
"The thought did cross my mind when I was considering whether or not it would be worth the risk of actually giving you a chance to prove yourself. However, do you recall what you told me about the isolated rooms you locked me after you'd caught me?"
"Which bit?"
"The part about the security of the rooms being so tight that you and you alone were the only one able to enter the rooms or allow anyone else to enter the rooms? Well, the place I have in mind has similar protections on it that make it so I am the only one who can get in or out of them and if you attack me while we're inside you'd have no hope of ever getting out. And I'll also be bringing along a bodyguard in the form of a snake or two."
"Ah… one last question… if I allow you this opportunity are you going to purposefully dig for any skeletons in my closet or can I trust you to keep your questions focused on what you think you need to know so I can prove that I am not seeking to harm you?"
"I have no desire to dig into your past or draw forth a full list of your sins," Harry dryly countered with a slight shudder of distaste. "I'll stick to asking you questions about your intentions towards me and my brothers as well as a few about some of the things you've said and done to us. I'll even provide a list of say no more than thirty or forty questions that I intend to ask and you can veto up to five if you feel some of them are too invasive."
"In that case, I will agree to allow you to question me."
Harry nodded sharply and headed out of the room, calling back over his shoulder, "I have a list of questions to write, a brother I need to have a serious discussion with, a potion to dig out, an antidote to hunt down (in case the potion poisons you because you have no magic), and an interrogation chamber to set up. I'll come find you when I'm ready to start."
Stepping through the door, Harry practically tripped over Duo, who was leaning against the wall with his laptop in hand; the long haired teen having been watching the video feed from the security camera inside of the conference room. Harry rolled his eyes and mock glared at the taller teen over his glasses before heading off towards the kitchen to get something to eat. Duo quickly snapped his laptop shut and fell into step beside him.
"Ya sure ya know what your doin', Taliesin?"
"No… I'm not entirely certain I really want to know the answers to the questions I would like to ask him. On the other hand, the man knows far too damn much about me and my abilities; so not getting those same answers might yet see me strapped to an operating table in some lab some day in the future."
"So why couldn't ya have at least allowed one of us ta be there with ya when ya question him?"
"Trust… he is trusting me not to exploit him during those twenty minutes where he will basically be at my mercy as far as my questioning goes so the least I can do is show him that I'm willing to trust him just enough to be alone with him to get my answers. Besides, it's not as if I'm going to be defenseless; I'll take Seth and a viper or a couple asps with me if Seth is still gallivanting about the desert."
"The others aren't gonna be all that happy. I'm not exactly all that happy; even if I do understand your reasonin'."
"I'll be alone with him for maybe forty minutes max; ten minutes to get him ready, twenty minutes to question him, and ten minutes to make certain the Veritaserum is cleared from his system and that the potion isn't going to kill him. If we don't return by then you know something went wrong."
"And what about da bit where ya practically agreed ta allow him ta question ya in return?"
"I didn't promise… I simply said it would depend upon his answers and I'd want a chance to veto a few questions of his before he actually asks them."
"Hnn… What exactly is it you're gonna do ta make him tell da truth?"
"I'm going to administer the most powerful truth serum I have on hand. All it takes is three little drops and for twenty minutes he'll answer any question he is asked with nothing but the truth. The only potential flaw is that the potion doesn't differentiate between the actual truth and what one believes is the truth so there is some room for error if you aren't careful with how you word your questions. One of the reasons I need to think about the questions I want to ask him before I actually ask them to him."
"I hope ya at least plan ta allow us ta help ya put together da list of questions ya plan ta ask."
"As if you or any of the others would allow anything less," Harry deadpanned.
"Just makin' sure we're on da same page, kiddo."
"Yeah, yeah… you wouldn't happen to know where Heero snuck off to, would you?"
"I might… ya aren't gonna do anything drastic, now are ya?"
"No. I just need to talk to him."
"In that case, he's in da underground hanger tinkerin' with his Gundam."
"Thank you, Duo," Harry murmured as he pulled away from the taller teen and headed towards the nearest door leading out into the courtyard and the shortest path to the underground hanger; all thoughts of food vanishing as he focused on the upcoming discussion he needed to have with his honorary brother.
Harry found Heero perched on Wing's torso surrounded by an assortment of system boards, wires, and tools working on upgrading the Gundam's internal computers. Now that he'd found the brother who'd once been his bane, Harry felt uncertainty well up inside of him and his feet froze as he studied Heero's back as the teen worked. Twice he opened his mouth to address the other teen and twice he shut it without saying a word. There was so much that they needed to talk about though and so after ten long minutes of hemming and hawing, Harry squared his shoulders and strode up to the suit.
"We need to talk."
"I'm busy," Heero called back without looking at Harry.
"Heero, please?"
Heero's answer was to drop down inside of the cockpit and Harry felt a stab of pain in his heart followed by a flash of irritation. Leaning against Wing, Harry took a few calming breaths as he tried to think of a reason why Heero would be avoiding him all of a sudden (aside from the earlier misunderstanding). Biting back a scream of frustration, Harry kicked Wing before turning to walk away, his shoulders slumping dejectedly as he headed back towards the exit.
He was halfway there when he stopped and glanced back towards where he'd last seen the other teen and allowed his memories from the past twelve months to play through his mind. Narrowing his eyes, Harry stubbornly set his chin as he weighed his current options for dealing with his brother while recalling the number of times that Heero had been rather persistent in confronting Harry.
"I'll give you a choice, Heero," Harry called out as he came to a decision. "You can willingly get your ass down here so we can talk or I can come up there, hex the snot out of you, and then haul you down here so we can talk. I'll give you one minute to decide and then I'm going to make the choice for you."
"I'll take the choice where you walk away."
"Damn it, Heero; why are you being a jerk!?"
"In case you forgot, you once swore you'd kill me the first chance you got the day I freed you from your oath and I'd really like to live a little longer. I don't have a death wish, you know."
"Oh for the love of Merlin's hairy nipples," Harry cursed as he pulled out his wand. "Accio idiot brother!"
Heero yelped as he was forcefully pulled from the cockpit of his Gundam. Harry ended the summoning charm when Heero was just a few feet away and immediately cast the levitation charm before Heero dropped to the ground as he turned and walked out the door, his brother floating haphazardly along several feet behind him. As he stomped along, Harry groused under his breath.
"Stupid idiot… think he'd know the difference between lashing out angrily in fear and simply wanting to talk. But no… he's completely forgotten everything that happened between that day and now as if none of it ever happened. Won't even give me a damn chance to apologize for jumping to conclusions earlier and then just ups and disappears after dropping a virtual bomb on me; never once even considering the repercussions of a released oath. I ought to hex him six ways from Sunday till he can't sit down for a month of Sundays."
"Put me down!"
"Shut up! I don't have to listen to you anymore. I ain't gonna put you down until I'm damn good and ready to."
When he'd traveled quite a ways out into the desert, where he'd have plenty of room to hex his brother (should things regress to that point) without worrying about hitting anyone or anything else, Harry dropped Heero onto the sand, wrapped his feet up using an incarceration hex, and pushed him back down onto the sand the moment the pilot attempted to leave. He then dropped down beside his self-claimed brother and socked him rather hard on the shoulder in irritation when the blue eyed teen tried to get up and leave again. They sat there in silence for several minutes before Harry finally addressed Heero without looking at the teen.
"You do know that it wasn't my oath that made me consider you my brother, don't you? You didn't order me to change how I saw you and you sure as shit didn't order me to stop resenting you. I really thought you knew that; hell we even talked about it that first day Zechs dragged you into the secure room where he was keeping me isolated."
"You have no idea how intimidating it is when you are in a true rage and your magic is out of control," Heero stated before he sighed and dropped back so he was propped on his elbows as he stared up at the cloudless blue sky. "Having had that rage directed at me on more than one occasion isn't an easy thing to forget either."
"I'm sorry," Harry meekly offered as he set Wolfstar down on the sand to explore and then wrapped his arms around his knees. "I should have known you well enough to know you'd not intended what your question implied or at least asked for clarification instead of flying off the handle. I was… I was an idiot and feeling Wolfstar's fear as he understood exactly what your question implied because I'd been thinking about what it would mean if I was forced to reverse what happened. You know, I actually considered destroying Wolfstar when I first learned I'd brought him to life but the thought of feeling him die through the connection I have with Zero made me sick. Especially after I'd realized that he'd become of an extension of me through my magic."
"No different than how I overreacted that day I made you swear your oath. Harry… my freeing you the way I did isn't… it didn't hurt you, did it? I never even thought to ask you what would happen when I finally released you from your oath."
"No, it didn't hurt me but it was so unexpected and the feeling of the magic unraveling so suddenly was a bit of a shock. You know I never really thought you'd ever release me from that stupid oath because I never thought you'd think me capable of protecting myself; despite the fact that you'd promised just that the day you'd offered me a choice between being an unwilling guest and being a student of sorts to all five of you. It's going to be odd for a while without it too; simply because that oath has saved me from doing something stupid a time or two."
"Have you really forgiven me for what happened that day?" Heero asked after a few minutes as they both watched Wolfstar cavorting about chasing a butterfly. "I know you said you didn't hate me when we talked about it briefly the day you began drawing the blood to ward Wolfstar but…"
Harry cut the blue eyed teen off before he could finish, "Yeah, I did; a long time ago. I knew I'd forgiven you the moment you had Wing pluck me from the sky the night I escaped from the Luxembourg Castle. Just like I realized that I never really hated you the day you'd been set on blowing up Wing with you still inside. It was during the time I spent with Trowa at the circus I finally admitted to myself that you weren't the only one to make mistakes those first few days after I dragged you in off the beach."
Harry released Heero from his bindings at that point and the two of them wrestled for a bit before they played a game of tag with Wolfstar, Harry cheating by freeing his wings to give him an advantage. When the sun and the heat got to be too much, the two of them headed back to the house to get lunch (both of them having missed breakfast) and Harry filled Heero in on the agreement he'd made with Zechs.
Heero predictably had the same concerns and asked pretty much the same questions that Duo had earlier and Harry gave him the same answers in return. After lunch, Heero, Duo, and Trowa all sat down with Harry to help him write up a list of questions to ask Zechs while Quatre went to deal with running his family's business and Wufei returned to working on Dragonstar.
Harry passed Wolfstar to Heero, softly ordering the sentient suit to stay with the teen (not wanting to risk the suit's shrunken state destabilizing the charms on his library trunk). The suit crossed its arms and pouted but Harry simply admonished him to behave while hiding the slight amusement he felt over the suit acting like the child he had compared him to just a couple of days earlier. Harry then gathered up the rucksack that held everything he thought he might need, including one of the two venomous snakes that would be acting as his bodyguards for the duration of the interrogation.
Stepping up to the trunk he'd chosen to use for the questioning (the others holding stuff he'd rather not show Zechs before he knew if he could trust the man or not), Harry opened the lid and held it in place as he glanced at the man in question and drawled, "After you."
Zechs took a deep breath and nodded as he stepped forward and climbed down into the trunk. Harry waited for him to get several steps down before he glanced at his brothers one more time and followed the man down into the trunk. Harry soon caught up to Zechs at the bottom of the stairs where the man had stopped to stare around at the sheer number of books filling the numerous shelves. Harry cleared his throat and gestured towards the folding table and chairs that he had set up in the small open area near the stairs (having pulled them from his supplies in his storage trunk). Sitting on top of the table was a full tea service that Harry had prepared and brought down earlier so he wouldn't needlessly clutter up his hands when entering the trunk with Zechs.
Once Zechs was seated, Harry pulled a red spitting cobra (a yearling male he'd named Anubis) out of his bag and settled the snake on the table just off to the side of the chair he'd be sitting in. The snake hissed and flared its hood for a moment before it docilely curled up with its nose pointed towards Zechs. The twenty-year old showed great restraint in not flinching over the antics of the snake (the man long used to Seth's presence after four months spent around the darker, older cobra).
Harry's second bodyguard made itself known at that point as a triangular tan and brown head slipped out from beneath his shirt and slipped around so that it was draped over both of Harry's shoulders. This one was an older female European viper, her thick body colored a light tan with a wide, medium brown zigzag stripe that ran down her back from the back of her head all the way to the tip of her tail. She was one of the few that Harry had not named.
Bodyguards accounted for, Harry next pulled out a bottle of water, a thick roll of blank parchment held in a wooden dispenser, a quill that was charmed to write down everything said within ten feet of it once activated (and preloaded with enough ink to write forty-thousand words according to the box Harry got it from), a small vial holding what looked like water, a wafer thin slice of stone, a potions encyclopedia, and a hand written list of about forty questions. Harry arranged those items on the table in front of his seat, hung the now empty rucksack over the back of his chair, and cleared his throat a second time before he began speaking.
"The small bottle you see in front of you contains a potion called Veritaserum; it is one of the most powerful truth serums ever created. Three drops of this potion, or one dose, is enough to make a grown man speak the truth for up to twenty minutes depending on his age, weight, height, and the size of his magical core. According to my potions encyclopedia you should suffer no ill effects from ingesting the potion even though you have no magic (that I'm aware of) though the period of time the drug is active may last slightly longer. The small bit of what looks like stone beside it is a slice of bezoar; in the event that the truth serum does make you sick it will prevent you from dying of poisoning once you swallow it. If you wish to read the entry about Veritaserum from my encyclopedia I brought it with me and have the page in question bookmarked."
"I might be interested in reading it another time," Zechs stated as he eyed the rather thick and heavy looking tome. "Can you tell me what side effects I can expect to experience from the serum?"
"Slight disorientation when you first take it, a sense of detachment once it starts working, and once it runs its course a feeling of nausea that should quickly pass. It will also numb your emotions and affect your speech in that you will slur some of your words."
"That doesn't sound too bad."
"Here is the list of questions that my brothers and I came up with, please take a few minutes to read through them and let me know if any of them make you feel uneasy."
"Is there a reason why you are asking me my name? And why are you asking about the mask?" Zechs asked after quickly skimming through the list.
"The first question is just to ascertain that the potion is working," Harry replied as he worked on setting up the parchment and quill that would be recording the interrogation and as such missed the grimace and slightly worried look that passed across the man's face. "As for the mask… I want to know for personal reasons due to past experiences from before I ever saw you that first time. I don't plan on analyzing your reasons I just wish to hear why you always wore it."
"I see. Then I guess I have no problem with any of the questions you wish to ask."
"Do you have any questions before we start?"
"No."
"Okay. The potion is both odorless and tasteless and while it can be administered directly it is recommended to take it mixed in with a beverage to help reduce the sensation of disorientation you'll feel once it hits your stomach. Taking it with something else also should help reduce the nausea you can expect to feel once the potion has run its course," Harry stated as he gestured to the tea pot and the bottled water. "I wasn't certain what you'd prefer to drink so I brought water and made tea earlier."
"Tea will be fine."
Harry nodded and set about pouring an inch of tea into one of the three tea cups sitting on the tray and poured himself a full cup. He asked Zechs if he wished for milk or sugar (neither) before preparing his own tea the way he preferred it. Next he carefully added three moderately sized drops of Veritaserum into Zechs' cup and stirred it with a spoon before placing the cup on a saucer and passing it to the man. Harry then checked to make certain the quill was working as intended (it was) and sat down at last after accepting the list of questions back from Zechs.
"Please drink every drop in the cup. If you wish for more tea when we are finished I brought a spare cup so you don't have to worry about any residue left behind from the serum. It will take approximately one minute for the potion to begin acting."
Zechs swirled the cup for a moment before he lifted it and drank the laced tea in one gulp before setting the cup down on the saucer and moving it so Harry could see that it was now empty. Harry took a drink of his tea and ran a finger down Anubis's back while he waited for the serum to start taking effect. He knew the instant it did as Zechs raised a hand up to hold his head, as if he'd just experienced a dizzy spell or a headache and a glance down at the watch on his wrist indicated that the requisite minute had indeed passed.
"One minute has now passed since Zechs ingested the Veritaserum," Harry dictated to the quill before he addressed Zechs. "Are you feeling any ill-effects from the potion other than those that were expected?"
"No."
"Then I will now begin asking the agreed upon questions. What is your name?"
"Milliardo Peacecraft."
Harry sucked in a sharp breath at the unexpected answer and he floundered for a few seconds before asking a question that wasn't originally on his list. "Who is Zechs Merquise?"
"I am Zechs Merquise."
"Did you give yourself the name Zechs Merquise to hide your real name?"
"Yes."
"Okay, that was unexpected," Harry stated as he took another drink of his tea, crossed his legs, settled back in his seat, and returned to the agreed upon questions. "Do have any intention of harming me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I do not believe children should be harmed."
"Have you ever, at any time, intended to do me any harm?"
"Yes."
"When did you wish me harm and why?"
"It was before I knew you were just a child. I wished to defeat you in battle which probably would have ended with your death," Zechs replied with a slight slur as he slouched a bit in his chair.
"Do you have any intention of harming the five teens I call my brothers; the teens who are also known as the Gundam Pilots and the Star Pilots?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I know how important they are to you, I have no wish to cause you pain, and they are but children themselves."
Again Harry was caught slightly off guard by the answer but he shrugged the mild shock aside as he continued on with the next question on the list, "Have you ever intended on harming any of my brothers?"
"Yes."
"When did you wish them harm and why?"
"When the Gundams first arrived on Earth I was ordered to capture or kill them to prevent them from interfering in OZ's plans to overthrow the United Earth Sphere Alliance. At the time I had not known that the pilots of the Gundams were just children."
"Why did you go to the trouble of making me your ward?"
"I believed that you needed someone to take care of you and protect you from yourself.
"What is it that you want from me?"
"Respect, acceptance, trust, and for you to accept me as a father figure."
"What do you want from those I call my brothers?" Harry demanded as he tried desperately to ignore the answer to the previous question he'd asked.
"I want the relationship that they share with you."
This time Harry couldn't ignore the answer as he stared at Zechs, the memory of the jealously he'd thought he'd detected from Zechs the day he brought Heero to his room during his isolation flittering through his mind. A half a minute passed in complete silence as Harry lifted his cup to take a drink of tea only to be forced to set it back down right away as he nearly spilled it all over his lap because his hands were shaking so bad. Wanting to change the subject, Harry moved onto the questions he had about Zechs' behavior during the ambush along the decoy transport routes and his two month of imprisonment in Treize's Luxembourg castle.
"Why did you single out the Gundam Wing during the ambush that OZ had set up to capture the Gundams?"
"Gundam Wing was considered the second most dangerous of the five Gundams and I was ordered to detain you to prevent you from attacking the true transport once you learned that both of the scheduled transports were decoys. I also wanted to battle you in a suit that was better matched to see who the better pilot was."
"Why did you force a one on one fight with just swords that day?"
"An aerial battle in the Tallgeese would have killed me due to the flaws in the suit and I wished to see how skilled you were in sword fighting. I would have preferred to fight you face to face with nothing but blades but at the time did not believe you would take such a risk."
"Did you know that Lady Une was going to take the Colonies out in space hostage in order to make the Gundam Pilots surrender?"
"No."
"When Treize first had me kidnapped from the circus after the private show we put on at his castle, why did you constantly try to get me to agree to cooperate with Treize?"
"As part of the agreement I made with Treize for his help to obtain custody of you once we'd found you, I agreed to do everything necessary to get you to cooperate with Treize. We assumed that because you appeared to be nothing more than a child that you would quickly fold under pressure and give us what we wanted freely without resorting to torturing you because we didn't think your body or mind would handle the pain."
"What exactly was it that Treize wanted from me?"
"Information on the Gundams that were sent to Earth; why they were sent, who had sent them, what they were sent to do, who was ordering them to attack the targets they did, and a list of weaknesses that could be exploited on all five of the suits."
"Whose idea was it to kidnap and threaten Trowa and Cathy to make me cooperate with Treize?"
"Treize's; because he thought they could be used as leverage to gain your cooperation and because he believed that Trowa was another Gundam Pilot."
"If he thought Trowa was one of the pilots; why did he agree to let him go?" Harry asked as he once again deviated from the written questions.
"He used your demand for their freedom to have Trowa followed in the hopes that he'd lead us to one of the Gundam Suits and so he could have him recaptured and taken to another location without your knowledge. The man that was sent to trail Trowa disappeared just hours after he left the circus the same afternoon that he was released and all subsequent trackers found no trace of the teen. The two men we had watching the young woman disappeared a week later while they were trailing her in the hopes that she would lead us to one of the Gundams."
The next handful of questions dealt with the night Lady Une visited Harry in his cell and his voice shook slightly as he asked Zechs if he knew what Lady Une had planned to do that night, if he had allowed or encouraged her to carry out what she had planned, and if Zechs had ever considered doing something similar in order to break Harry's spirit. Harry breathed a bit easier when Zechs replied negatively to all of those questions as the fear that Zechs had been a part of what happened that night was laid to rest. Harry then moved onto the questions dealing with the four months he'd spent as Zechs' unwilling guest slash prisoner on the Lunar Base.
When he reached the questions surrounding Zechs' decisions to disobey direct orders from his superiors, Harry hesitated again as he instinctively knew that those questions would further alter the way he viewed Zechs. If he didn't ask them though he knew he would constantly wonder over Zechs' motives and so he took a deep breath, mustered his Gryffindor courage, and once more dove back in feet first.
"Why did you refuse to send my brothers to Earth when ordered?"
"I did not believe that they deserved to be executed and I knew that if I allowed them to be killed you would hate me more than you already did. I did not wish for you to be hurt."
"Why did you refuse to send me to Earth as ordered?"
"At the time I received the orders I'd just figured out that the weapon you used to disable the Wing Zero Gundam was actually an ability that you alone possessed and not an actual weapon that anyone could operate. I also learned that you were afraid that you would be brainwashed into fighting for OZ, used to father an untold number of children, or that you would be experimented on. OZ would have made your fears reality and I could not allow them to harm you. I'd also promised you that I would not allow that to happen before I ever received those orders."
"Why did you allow the guards to beat you the day you were arrested instead of answering their questions?"
"Honor; I had no desire to sell another out just to save myself. And because I wanted to protect you from those that wished you harm."
"Why did you follow me back to Earth instead of staying in space with the soldiers that followed you?"
"Since the day I stood over your broken body you have been a mystery that I needed to solve and the more I learned about you the more I found you teaching me about myself. You touched a part of my heart that I once thought was long dead and I did not wish to lose it again. I also felt that I owed you and Heero a debt after learning that it was the two of you who saved my little sister's life during an assassination attempt."
"Huh, who'd have thought? Small world," Harry mused as he immediately realized Zechs was speaking of Relena Darlian. He finished off the last of his tea to wet his throat and noted that he only had about five minutes left before the truth serum was due to wear off before returning to the list of questions, "What do you plan on doing with the information you have about my abilities?"
"Nothing."
"Have you told anyone else what you have learned about my abilities?"
"No."
"Do you plan on telling anyone else about my abilities?"
"No."
"Are you considering turning me over to OZ now that you are aware that the abilities I have stem from my magic and allow me to do far more than you ever imagined?"
"No."
"Does the fact that I have magic bother you in any way?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Knowing that what I had mistakenly thought were simple Talents actually stem from what you call your magic does not really change who you are or what you have come to mean to me."
"Do you have any intention of kidnapping or attacking me now or in the future?"
"No."
"Do you have any intention of turning in or attacking any of my brothers, now or in the future, now that you know where we are based out of on Earth?"
"No."
"Why did you always hide your face behind a mask?"
"I put on the mask to hide my face from those who would recognize me and to hide my emotions on the battlefield because I was ashamed of myself for abandoning the beliefs of my family."
"The truth serum should wear off in another minute, are you feeling at all sick to your stomach?"
"No."
"Would you like something more to drink to help flush the potion from your system faster?"
"Yes."
"Tea or water?"
"Tea."
Harry moved the cup he'd used to administer the potion to Zechs and placed it upside down on the tea tray before pouring the man a fresh cup of tea. Once he passed the man the new cup, he addressed him one last time.
"Please let me know when you feel the potion wear off; you may still feel slight sense of nausea and should feel clarity coming back to your mind. Feel free to help yourself to more tea if you are still thirsty when you finish what you have."
Standing up, Harry headed for the stairs to let his brothers know they were almost finished and that there had been no problems during the interview. Once he'd done that, Harry returned to the trunk floor but instead of sitting back at the table, he collected Anubis and absently browsed through the nearest shelves of books as everything he'd learned swirled endlessly through his mind. He never really noticed the passing of time and eventually stopped walking altogether as he just stared at the shelf in front of him without actually seeing it. He would have never known that Zechs was trying to get his attention if not for the red snake coiled around his wrist and arm.
'The other two-legged one is making noises at you, nest-brother,' Anubis declared as he lifted himself up and bumped his nose against Harry's to get his attention.
Harry blinked down at the snake before glancing over his shoulder to see Zechs half standing as if he'd been considering walking over to him in order to get his attention. Sighing, Harry absently thanked the snake and scratched him beneath the chin as he slowly made his way across the room to the table. A glance at his watch let him know that thirteen minutes had passed since he last checked the time and he was glad he'd given his brothers an update before he'd spaced out; otherwise they might have gotten cranky because he was now officially running over the estimated forty minutes he'd thought it would take.
"Are you feeling sick at all? Headache? Stomach pain? Unexplained lethargy?"
"No, I feel fine now."
"Okay," Harry murmured as he reached over and lifted the quill from the parchment to end the enchantment that kept it writing. Harry then tore the used parchment from the dispenser and waved it through the air a couple of times to make certain that the ink was dry before passing it to Zechs. "Please read through your answers and let me know if there is anything there that you'd rather I not share with my brothers."
While Zechs did that, Harry mechanically began packing away the extra parchment, the quill, the encyclopedia, the left over Veritaserum, the bezoar, and the unopened bottle of water. He then stacked up the dirtied cups and saucers to give his hands something to do while he was waiting for Zechs to finish.
"I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't mention my real name, the information that I have a sister, and my reasons for wearing the mask."
Harry considered his request for a brief moment before he put his hand out for the parchment and took out his wand. He then cast one of the few spells that were safe to use inside of the trunks because the amount of magic powering the spell was so small he might as well not be using any magic at all. Pressing his wand tip to the parchment over the three sections that Zechs wished not to share, Harry siphoned off the ink; removing the words completely. When he finished, he silently passed it back to Zechs who glanced at the three sections in question before thanking him and passing it back.
At that point, Harry silently led the way back up to the room above as he curled the long strip of parchment into a roll. Once he stepped out, he held the lid open so that Zechs could exit as well. Harry then used one spell to clean up the written dialogue and another to affix the roll to a wooden rod so it wouldn't get damaged. He unrolled the scroll and noted that there were no longer any spaces revealing that sections had been removed before he rolled it back up and handed it over to Heero without a word. Ordeal over, Harry collected Wolfstar, slipped from the room, and headed towards the snake rooms so he could return his two bodyguards and summon them their proffered rewards for helping him.
The moment he was finished taking care of the snakes, Harry returned to his bedroom to grab his Firebolt. Not bothering to walk all the way downstairs, Harry opened his window, climbed up onto the sill, straddled his broom, and flew out of his room. Wolfstar quickly shifted into flight mode and took up a position just behind Harry as he leaned low over the broom and pushed the broom as fast as it would go as he headed straight out into the desert; doing his best to outrun his confusion. He kept right on going, taking care to edge around any cities or villages he came across out of habit, until he reached the Persian Gulf. Harry then turned south to follow the coast around passed the Gulf of Oman to the Arabian Sea until that turned into the Gulf of Aden which he followed to the Red Sea as he turned back north.
It took him a little over three full days, traveling at just over one hundred and fifty-miles per hour, to travel over approximately three quarters of the Arabian Peninsula's coastline before he finally turned inland and made his way back to the Winner Estate. He had never even noticed the rising and setting sun or the scenery passing below him during that time; his mind focused completely inwards as he struggled to accept what he'd learned. Wolfstar paced him nearly the entire time (only parking itself on the broom in front of Harry once after the first thirty-six hours when it needed about six hours to recharge), the suit reveling in the long flight as it had been rather cooped up since it had awoken towards the end of the Battle for the Moon.
When he finally landed in the courtyard he was hit with a wave of exhaustion and hunger and he nearly fell flat on his face four or five times while making his way towards the house. He was met at the door by a concerned Quatre (who'd felt him growing closer over the past couple of hours) and helped up to his room where he immediately passed out. He slept for eighteen hours straight, his mind for once blessedly empty. When he woke up he took a long, hot shower before applying some of the healing cream to his wind chapped and lightly sunburnt face and left hand.
The moment he returned to his room he found all five of his brothers seated around a fold out table eating a light supper with an extra chair and place setting waiting for him. As he slid into his seat, Harry half expected the five teens to yell at him for taking off like he did but they simply asked him if he was feeling any better. When he learned just how long he'd been gone, Harry even more surprised that they weren't threatening to chain him to his bed for the next five years.
Quatre, upon noticing his anxiety and confusion, explained that while they had been worried they knew that Harry could take care of himself and that he'd needed the time and space to deal with everything he'd learned. That made Harry realize that his brothers had actually stopped seeing him as the child he still resembled and had begun thinking of him as the young adult he actually was. He acknowledged his change in status by apologizing for worrying them and going on to promise to make a conscious effort to not take off without having a way to stay in contact again.
The talk then turned to the current political climate on Earth, news from space for the past few days, and what the six of them (and the pilots that followed them) would be doing. During the rest of the evening, Zechs and the information they had learned was not mentioned once; though that information was not far from the minds of all of those present. After his five brothers had bid him goodnight around midnight, Harry crawled back into bed and slept for another five hours before he headed outside to the courtyard to stretch and work through his katas for a couple of hours to work out his slightly stiff muscles.
He then began the tedious process of creating an amplifier for Wolfstar that would not harm the sentient suit and still provide Harry with a way to use his magic while piloting the suit. Part of the problem was the way the cockpit was set up, with the interface butting right up against the front of the chest almost half inside of the large green dome on the outside with the door opening off to the left of the dome. That firmly put the interface between Harry and the one place on the suit where the amplifier would be the most effective. When Harry couldn't figure out a viable solution on his own, he took the problem to his brothers and it was Duo that suggested using mirrors to route his spells through an alternate path; much like a telescope or a microscope.
The idea had merit except mirrors tended to weaken and disperse the magic in the spell, making the spell far less effective. Combining the idea behind using the mirrors to bounce the magic along an alternate path with using a series of smaller amplifiers however would negate the lost power and actually reduce the amount of magic Harry would have to expend to use the main amplifier since the smaller amplifiers would require far less magic to fully charge them and ultimately double the amount of magic they passed onto the next one in the series. Duo helped him build the casing for the amplifiers while Harry tested various gems in order to determine which ones would give him the best results.
He ended up using a mixed assortment of gemstone-rods an eighth of an inch in diameter etched lengthwise with seven 'v' shaped groves all the way around the circumference and bound into bundles. Each bundle had a single diamond rod in the very center surrounded by three emerald rods separated from each other by three amber rods. Outside of the amber and emerald ring was a ring of alternating ruby and sapphire rods, six of each. Diamond slivers were then tucked into the gaps all of the inner stones and in the gaps between the rubies and sapphires to give the appearance that the entire bundle was one large rod with different colors shot through it. When fully assembled the rods were just under three quarters of an inch in diameter and about three inches long.
The receiving end of each rod (the side that would sit facing Harry's wand) was cut so that the spell would hit a flat surface at a ninety degree angle (or perpendicular to the rod's surface). The opposite end, on the other hand, was cut so that it came to a point that was angled towards the next amplifier in order to concentrate the magic into the smallest possible beam. The bundles were then bent at the exact center using magic so that they would fit into the Gundanium Spell Router (Duo's name for the contraption) at the proper angle to move the magic through the tube without it hitting the sides as they flowed through the straight sections of the tubes.
The mirrors being used to bounce the magic through the needed angles to traverse the path the spell would take were then fixed to the point where the bundled rods were bent after that side of the rod was shaved flat so the mirror would lay flush against the rod and prevent the magic in the spells sent through the amplifiers from being scattered by an uneven surface. There were a total of three angles and five rod bundles involved; one bundle butting up against a miniature diamond amplifier that in turn butted up against the wand tip, one for each angle in the tube, and one butting up against the external amplifier. The numbers involved were all based up magical primes to increase the effectiveness of the amplifiers and stabilize the entire set up.
The diamond that would have direct contact with Harry's wand was cut much like a cone with the wide base of the cone completely flat and the angled sides cut so that it had one hundred and twenty facets all precisely placed to form a starburst when viewed from the flat side of the cone. The tip of the cone had been cut off and a hole for the wand tip bored into the resulting flat surface so that the smallest point of the cone was one thirtieth of an inch larger than the diameter of Harry's wand tip and snugly held the tip so that there were no gaps.
The external amplifier looked similar to the one on Dogstar, though it was far larger and made up of seven diamonds cut and set to give it the appearance of a single gemstone (five to represent the points and two shaped like the two halves of the yin-yang symbol for the center). The huge amplifier was integrated into the green dome on Wolfstar's chest and sat fairly close to the Zero interface module. The Gundanium setting holding the diamonds in place was far smaller so as to increase the surface of the diamond that was in direct contact with the suit. The final rod bundle fit into the bored out tip of the giant amplifier like a sharpened pencil pushed into a piece of wet clay.
The two most difficult parts of creating the entire system were creating the rod bundles and etching all of the protective and enhancement runes over every inch of the finished product. Installing the system to Wolfstar was even more difficult as the suit hadn't really liked having its insides messed with and it had absolutely hated having the external amplifier being integrated into the green dome. Once the system was in place though, Wolfstar greatly admired the pretty star on his chest (vain suit that he was) and he practically purred when Harry began testing the effectiveness of the amplifier from inside the cockpit.
It didn't take him long to discover that the magic he sent through the Spell Router was being unexpectedly augmented by the magic that filled the suit while the excess magic that normally would have been lost from the system was in return absorbed by the suit which meant there was no power lost either from the suit or the spell being fired. After the amplifier had been installed, the only upgrades that remained were the additional weapons that Harry had asked Duo to help him make (modeled after the weapons the long haired teen had designed and created for Dogstar), the compartments in which the new weapons would be stored, installing a bathroom, and a new paint-job.
That included another set of twelve throwing knives, a pair of beam rifles that were smaller and less powerful than the custom twin buster rifle, and a third beam sword that looked like an extra-large version of Gryffindor's sword. The twin blades that the suit was originally equipped with were further modified so that they could be combined into a double bladed staff like Dogstar's twin swords. The mock Gryffindor sword, on the other hand, was designed to be used with the pile-driver shield that Harry couldn't just discard because it was part of the suit and necessary for Wolfstar's to transform into flight mode (even though he disliked fighting with the shield).
The storage for the weapons was pretty much in the same location as they were on Dogstar, with the knives split between the inner arms and legs, the twin beam swords on the outside of the arms, and the beam rifles stored on either hip. The custom twin buster rifle was stored on Wolfstar's back between the 'wings' that housed his thrusters and the broadsword was sheathed in a compartment on inside of Wolfstar's shield just beside the hand grip of the shield where it would be within easy reach.
Additionally the machine cannons that were mounted within the clavicle sections of Wolfstar were modified so that the ammunition caches for each canon held three times the normal amount of rounds allowing him to last longer during a fight. The same thing was done for the Vulcan missile launchers that were mounted behind the wing binders and were solely intended for use when fighting in the suit's fighter mode. (Similar modifications would be made to the original Gundam's weapons now that Harry was no longer quite so skittish about the fact that the suits were designed as war machines.)
Unsurprisingly, Harry chose to paint Wolfstar in shades of gray, silver, white, black, and gold-brown to give him the appearance of a wolf. The base coat, like the original six Star Suits, was black except for the wings which were painted white. The feet, ankles, hands, and lower arms were painted white with silver, gray, and brown-gold highlights that gave the suit the appearance of fur like socks. The rest of the body was drawn over with fine lines of dark gray, dark silver, and dark gold-brown to continue giving the impression that the suit was covered in fur. Highlights on the wings were done in pale silver to give them the impression of being made up of feathers instead of fur or metal.
All of the optic sensors and external lights were done in amber and the shield was painted to look like the top view of a snarling wolf face complete with laid back ears, angry amber eyes, and razor sharp canines (that had been added to the sides of the shield). All of the weapons were done in gunmetal grey with gold and white lines to given them definition. Overall the new paint-job gave the sentient suit a feral look that matched its name (both the one Harry had given to the suit and the title that had been given to them both by those that had witnessed the suit's performance at the Battle for the Moon).
About the time that Harry was starting Wolfstar's custom paint-job, Wufei and Heero began training those pilots that had been born and raised in space lessons on the differences between flying a suit in space and flying a suit on Earth. Trowa split his time between caring for the still unconscious Une and upgrading the suits they'd brought with them from space. Duo split his time between helping Trowa upgrade the other suits and helping to train the pilots with Wufei and Heero. Quatre helped watch over Une, ran the Winner Corporation (with the help of several of his sisters and his father from space), and ordered parts and supplies as needed (which included helping Harry restock his larder).
Hilde spent quite a bit of her time working on the Taurus suits as she'd obtained a solid understanding of the suits (and by extension the mobile dolls) during her time as a soldier of OZ under Lady Une. And Zechs helped Wufei and Heero monitor the rumors and news flying about Earth and the Colonies and watched Harry from afar. Zechs had originally wanted to continue shadowing Harry but Heero and Trowa (the two who knew Harry best) had talked him into giving Harry space and time in order to come to terms with everything he'd learned about the older man.
Additionally, the five Gundam pilots started holding what basically amounted to war councils with key individuals that were working for their cause, including; Rashid and Abdul (representing the Maganacs), Zayeed (representing the small rebel faction that had stayed on the satellite), Zechs (representing the former OZ soldiers that had followed him), and Captain Trant Clark (representing the Loyalist Faction). Harry would have sat in on those meetings as well but he had more than enough to occupy his mind and hands at the moment and knew that his brothers would pass along any important information.
It was collectively decided that their group would not pick sides in the three basic factions that were currently fighting on Earth (the Romefeller OZ faction, the Treize OZ Faction, and the Alliance Rebels) and would instead focus on protecting the innocents and the smaller kingdoms that were being trampled all over by the other three. Their reasoning behind their decision was quite simple; the Romefeller Foundation wished to experiment on and exploit Harry in addition to killing the five Gundam pilots, Treize had personally made an enemy of Harry and all five pilots, and the former Alliance had made their feelings regarding Harry perfectly clear.
Zechs, once considered a close friend of Treize, had surprisingly not tried to talk them into joining the Treize faction. When asked why, Zechs admitted that he'd stopped seeing eye to eye with the man and his methods sometime during the time he'd spent on the moon; specifically the four months during which Harry had been in his custody (this was after he'd already been questioning the man's decisions and actions after the destruction of Luxembourg Castle). He didn't think his one time friend was evil but he did think that Treize went about accomplishing his goals the wrong way; something he had not realized until after he met Harry.
There was just something about Harry that made people stop and take notice of him (without him even trying) and his views and beliefs (while seemingly naïve and childish) reflected a combination of true innocence and cold cynicism that shouldn't have been possible. That he retained a shred of innocence in light of everything he'd experienced in his lifetime (relatively short though it was) was a miracle in and of itself. In a way, he represented balance; a theme that he projected mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and magically and that was reflected in his actions and beliefs.
An example of that balance was his desire to avoid any senseless killing (regardless of whose side those dying would be on) and his willingness to kill in order to protect the lives of as many people as he could (most especially those that he considered his family). Another poignant example would be his utter loathing for Une and what she represented to him and his inability to leave the wounded woman to her fate the day he destroyed the base.
AN: Another long chapter with lots of info, some action, and clarification on some of the actions taken by various characters earlier in the story. I'm not certain I'm happy with the way the interrogation turned out and I'm certain that I forgot a few important questions that should have been asked but it's far better than the original draft. Anyway, the next chapter will show how the other pilots react to seeing Wolfstar's new improved look, Zechs will get a few answers of his own, and we'll have a small glimpse of what is going on with the rest of the world.
The last thing I want to do is thank all of my readers and reviewers… I know I've been lax on replying to reviews again but I've been a bit swamped with writing, editing, answering PMs and e-mails when I can, and gearing up for the holidays. I do appreciate all of the wonderful reviews that have been left and if I didn't reply to yours, I apologize; I am not intentionally ignoring you. ~ Jenn
12-18-12: Corrected a minor grammatical error in the second half of the chapter.