"Heero, wake up. Wake up, Heero."
"What...?"
He blinked, pain flooding immediately back to him. His head pounded, and his hand felt like it was broken -- it was hard to move. He tried to stretch his fingers -- he was still holding the sollevar. It was dark around him, and an almost familiar stench hit his nose; apparently, he was still in the dungeon. It wasn't someone he expected to speak to him right here, however.
"Relena...what are you doing here?"
The girl stood right in front of him, though she didn't do anything to help him. She smiled, looking perfectly all right.
"Get up, Heero. We have work to do. Please, get up."
Forcing himself to get up, Heero got back on his feet, the sollevar scraping over the floor when he straightened himself. Taking the weapon into his other hand, he stared at the girl. Relena simply continued to smile, disarming as always, but something was off. Where were the others?
"They're not here," she simply said, shocking him. Since when did he voice his thoughts out loud? "Heero, we have to go."
"Go where?"
"Go away from here," she said and looked at him strangely. "It's not safe here, Heero. You should know that."
"We wait for the others to arrive," Heero said. "How did you manage to get down here?"
"Don't be silly, Heero, I just followed the hallway until I found you. Come, let's get out of here," Relena pleaded.
"We wait for the others," he repeated stubbornly.
"The Fire mage destroyed everything behind us. We can turn back, now, before it's too late."
"Duo?"
Duo and his powerful dortang; the Detonation. Heero cocked his head. He didn't...there was still something off, and it was coming from Relena.
"Too late for what?"
"Too late to save yourself," a male voice boomed and Heero whirled around, immediately pointing the sollevar into the direction the voice had come from. A tall man lifted up his hands defensively.
"No need to point that at me," he said. "I mean no harm."
"Heero, this man saved me," Relena said chidingly. "He helped me fight off some bandits outside, where I was waiting for you."
"What about Quatre's embrace?" Heero asked. Something flickered over Relena's face; it went away so fast that he wondered if he had even seen it in the first place.
"It wasn't strong enough," she said.
"Really? I thought it would be strong enough to withstand anything."
"No, it wasn't," she repeated. "Let's go, Heero. It's scary down here."
"Who are you?" Heero ignored Relena and glared at the man. The stranger was taller than him, and though he didn't carry a visible weapon, Heero regarded him as dangerous. The man didn't have an ounce of fat on him, his body wiry as far as it wasn't covered by his dark cloak, and his face wasn't exactly friendly -- stern and hollow. His eyes were hard to read, but they didn't let go of Heero. Calculating, but in a different way than Dorothy Catalonia. This man was calculating his chances of defeating him in a fight, while Dorothy had tried to calculate how she could manipulate him. The grip on his sollevar tightened.
"My name is Trent," the man spoke. "I'm a farmer, and I was passing by when I saw the young lady being attacked."
"It's late at night," Heero objected. The sollevar didn't waver. If the man felt intimidated by the weapon, he didn't show it.
"It's early in the morning," Trent said, a smirk curling his lips. "I travel from afar. Iria country has a market today. I usually don't travel this early, and I usually mind my own business, but I couldn't stand by and watch what was happening to this girl."
"What happened to Wufei?" he barked.
"He fought bravely," Trent answered, "but even a noble fighter like him couldn't withstand all those enemies, so I decided to help him out."
"Come on, Heero," Relena said again. "We owe esshan Trent our gratitude, not our disrespect or distrust. We better leave this place."
"Or else what?"
"Nothing." Relena beamed at him. "Are you afraid of something, Heero? We better leave here."
"You've repeated that often enough," Heero interrupted her. "We leave here, but not until we have found the others. And what about Sylvia? Have you forgotten about the girl?"
"She's not here," Trent was quick to answer. "Esshouin Khushrenada doesn't want the girl to be harmed."
Heero almost tripped, and the sollevar did waver -- it almost cut through the man's cloak. Narrowing his eyes, he straightened himself again.
"What did you say?"
"He wants Sylvia close to him," Relena said, "so he can keep an eye on her. He wants to take care of her. It's not that bad, Heero. He can take care of us. Wouldn't that be nice? We would never have to run again, never be afraid again..."
"I'm not afraid," Heero answered. Something was terribly wrong here, and that frightened him, despite his words. Was Relena under some kind of spell? "Giving into Khushrenada's threats would make you his pawn. You have never been a pawn, Relena!"
"What's wrong with being a pawn, if that means you're still alive?" She even had the gall to bat her eyelashes at him, smiling coyly.
"The Relena I know never quits, never gives up, no matter how difficult things might have become."
Relena gave him a soft smile. "Sometimes you just know when it's not worth fighting anymore, Heero."
"You should listen to her, san'durin," Trent joined the conversation and he tried to sound suave, but he failed horribly. It sounded like someone was chiseling and grinding bones together. "I'm in Khushrenada's service myself. His army welcomes every soldier, and he would be ecstatic to welcome especially such a good fighter like you."
"I knew it," Heero hissed and lifted the sollevar so it touched Trent's chin, the sharp trident tip denting his skin. The man was clad in dark red robes...a mage in training? Was he studying to become a Fire mage, just like Duo? Why was he wondering this moment about Duo, and especially his safety? The mage could take care of himself, he didn't need to worry at all. It was Relena who had him worried. She would never, ever go with someone like Trent, that was out of the question. Trent oozed danger. Still, she was standing in front of him, throwing an occasional glance over her shoulder at him, her braids shifting with every movement, that same smile on her face, as if she wanted to encourage him...
"Khushrenada is a usurper," Heero said rudely. "He annexes one country after another, plunders treasure and stock, and leaves the people to their own devices. He doesn't appoint good governments, and he only thinks of his own riches."
Trent laughed snidely. "This is just a preparation for a new world order under his command," he said. "Before that is achieved, some dead wood needs to be chopped, and people who don't want to listen need to be steered into the right direction."
"With force," Heero said. "Killed, if they don't want to." He looked at Relena. This was her cue to talk about how peaceful and hopeful everything should be, how people should talk and share instead of fight and kill. Why wasn't she saying anything?
Trent merely shrugged. "Some people don't understand things unless you use some force to make it clear. Words don't always convey the right meaning, if you know what I mean."
"I don't know what you mean," Heero said. "What have you done to Relena?"
Relena stiffened, her eyes suddenly unnaturally wide. Trent's hands clenched into fists. He didn't dare move out of fear the sollevar would rip his face open.
"Would you please take that...thing away from me?"
"Only if you answer my question," Heero asked dryly, exerting a little pressure on the sollevar, piercing the skin. "What have you done to Relena?"
"N-nothing," he said, licking his small lips. A drop of blood slid slowly over his chin. "She was...very impressed by what to what I told her."
"You're not a farmer! Who are you really?"
Trent heaved a sigh, as if disappointed that Heero had seen through him.
"I'm just here to offer the both of you the same riches you spoke of earlier, Heero. Imagine -- you would never have to be a servant, you will be served. You would receive a mansion, your own land, your own battalion to command, if you want. You and Relena would never be apart, and you would live your life in great luxury."
"And why would that exactly be?"
"Esshouin Khushrenada likes to know the people he...cares for are well taken care of," Trent said. "All what I can offer you is yours, on the condition that you will join his army...and if you don't want to, that you won't cross his path."
"Pawns," Heero snorted. "He wants his pawns close and secured, so they either work with him or not lift a finger up against him."
"You're a very interesting young man," Trent said. "You're very smart, smarter than we...I thought. Still, you don't know half of it, do you? Well, esshouin Khushrenada knows, and he can help you."
Relena hadn't said a word, and her lifeless smile was unnerving him. Her eyes lacked life; she was as soulless and motionless as a doll.
"I don't care," Heero said, glancing at Relena and back to Trent again. "I'm not interested in whatever you're offering me."
"It's not only about you," Trent snapped. "Think about it -- it also involves your friend here. Consider wisely my friend, or it all ends here, and not happily ever after."
"You wouldn't," Heero said, pushing the sollevar again, and Trent groaned. If the man was truly a Fire mage, he was in big trouble. Quatre's embrace had worn off, and it wasn't supposed to withstand fire in the first place. His sollevar wouldn't protect him from flames. He needed to think fast; otherwise he would end up as a pile of ashes at Trent's feet.
"Don't you want a life with your friend? And if you don't, why would you want to ruin her life? She already made her choice, but the final decision depends on you, Heero Yuy. If your choice is bad, she'll suffer from it too."
"Don't be ridiculous," Heero snarled, but his weapon twitched a little. Just a moment of insecurity, he wavered...and Trent lashed out, but not at him.
Relena's body suddenly was engulfed in flames, but she didn't utter one scream. She might have been dead instantly, burned to death from the vicious flames.
Heero cried out. "NO!"
Had he been wrong? Was she really dead? Wasn't she supposed to be an illusion? Heero knew from Duo's excessive talking that mages were able to create an illusion, but they were actually quite rare. Trent could be one of those few capable to make him believe that this was all real. Something with that barrier in that room... his brain didn't want to cooperate, the shock of seeing Relena die was too great.
"Such a shame," the man's grinding voice resonated through the dungeon, "a pretty girl died because you were unable to make a decision."
She was still alive, she had to be! His instincts never deceived him, and everything about Relena had been off. Still, if Trent was one of those illusion mages, he could have deceived Relena and convince her to come down here, and she was dead because of his hesitation.
"You made a big mistake," Heero hissed. "By killing her, you signed your own fate. It wasn't about her, or me..."
"Oh no, it's not all about you, but you and your friends," Trent said. "One by one all will die if you don't take the right decision, and you will let them all down."
"No!" Heero said out loud, and lifted up the sollevar. He didn't have any friends but Relena, and Duo's face flashed in front of his eyes. He didn't know where he was, and he told himself sternly that he just didn't care -- but he had made a promise to Darlian, to himself, and he would live up to that promise. "Where have you hidden her, you bastard?"
"Hidden? You just killed her by refusing me, so who's the bastard now?"
Heero couldn't stand the conceited look on Trent's face and growled, noticing the red flames leaking from the man's hand. He had to give the other one thing -- he wasn't intimidated by the weapon at all. Brave, but stupid -- Heero knew other ways of incapacitating someone and though it was tempting to kill Trent on the spot, he would make him suffer for killing Relena.
Pushing the sollevar, he was going to stab Trent in the face, before he could unleash his Fire powers. He stepped forward, losing his footing immediately -- the ground and the walls rumbled and shook around them, the bricks falling apart. Trent seemed to pale when he saw the large opening in the wall, and those who were revealed by it. He took a step back.
Heero didn't realize what was going on until he saw them -- Duo, Quatre and Trowa, clothes covered with dust and sand. They all looked shaken, a little upset, but Duo radiated pure murder.
Relief washed through him when Heero realized the look was meant for Trent, not for him. Duo stepped forward, for the first time his clothing dirty; not even the hems floated above the ground like they usually did. Quatre looked like he was only standing upright because of his willpower. Trowa had throwing knives between his fingers, his bow and quiver on his back. His frown was directed at Trent as well, and his hand trembled -- not from fear of exhaustion, but from eagerness to throw his knives.
"Trent," Duo snapped. Quatre suddenly stepped to the side to Relena's body, the flames still leaking.
"Duo," Trent answered coolly and he sketched a mock-bow.
"What have you done? How could you choose Khushrenada's side?"
"I wasn't told that I was forbidden to choose my own path," he said, annoyed. "I made my own choice, Duo. My choice, not yours."
"We are supposed to stay outside of politics."
"And a fine job you did," Trent snorted.
"Enough," Duo cut him off, and it was a loud growl. "If you want to settle this, Trent, you know the deal."
The man stepped back again, raising his hands in defense. Heero was disgusted by the man's cowardice, but it dawned to him that Trent probably was weaker than Duo and knew he was going to be defeated. He was just trying now to save his own hide.
"You don't understand. Khushrenada pays well, and he's the righteous leader, you know that he'll unite every country and place it under his power."
"Maybe the words hunger, war, death, sickness and despair don't mean anything to you," Trowa spoke up, "seeing as you dress nicely and have a three course meal every evening, don't you? You couldn't care less that it's over the back of hard-working people."
"We are mages," the man protested indignantly. "We're not supposed to be anything but worshipped. Khushrenada acknowledges our powers and our potential, and rewards us royally!"
"These powers were gifted on you," Duo hissed, "and you squander them for gold and riches? You sicken me, Trent!"
"Not everyone wants a life sleeping under hedges or keeping to himself, hiding out in whatever backwater town, hiding the powers that were gifted on him," Trent tried to defend himself. "Your little utopia is outdated, Duo. You can't keep everyone safe; and you should know it, as you deal Dea--"
"You don't understand at all," Duo interrupted him rudely. "I know first-hand that I can't control anyone nor do I want to! Everyone is free to make their own decisions, yes, even if they're disastrous. I only hoped to keep people together, especially in the world where fear and misconceptions about magic still exists. I wanted us to take those judgments away, not to add fuel to the fire."
"Too bad," Trent moved with his hand just a little, "what's done, is done. People are only interested in the knowledge you managed to acquire, not in how you drill your lackeys."
"Don't be stupid," Duo started, "you..."
"Watch it!" Trowa was faster than Trent. The mage's eyes suddenly broke and glazed over as he fell down, a throwing knife protruding from his chest. Out of his hand clattered a dagger with an ominous purplish glow. Duo clicked with his tongue and went over to the body, knelt down, grabbed the dagger and hissed at it.
Trowa was next to his side in a heartbeat, ignoring Heero and looking at Trent. He moved his foot, pushing against the dead man. For a moment, Heero thought he was going to kick the body, but he rolled him over. Duo had retrieved Trowa's knife, cleaning it on Trent's robes.
"Clearly reaching above his standards," the archer said and took his knife back from Duo, who just grimaced. He then turned towards Quatre -- none of them had expressed any panic at seeing the charred remains.
"What's going on?" he asked the Nature mage, who had extinguished the flames with his Ice magic; cold water was dripping from the burnt... chunk of whatever it was. A human form couldn't be recognized from the lump on the ground.
"A very powerful illusion. This is some kind of a doll of Relena," Quatre said. He looked up at Heero, smiling softly. "She's safe, Heero. If she was dead or hurt in any way, I would have known. My embrace is still in place, and Wufei is with her."
"I thought so," he nodded, though he hadn't been so sure about his earlier assessment of the situation. If Relena really had died because of him...
"Did she say anything?"
"Yes, she kept telling me to leave here, and how wonderful it would be if we were in Khushrenada's safe arms."
Quatre shook his head. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you," he said. "If only you had been prepared more..."
"Prepared for what?" Heero asked. Quatre looked up, almost shocked and surprised, as if Heero wasn't supposed to have overheard his last words. Duo came to stand next to him and poked at the charred lump.
"I see some people still haven't lost their tricks," he sneered, and muttered something under his breath that Heero certainly didn't mind if he hadn't overheard. Somehow, Duo knew the most expletive and colorful curses, and they spilled over his lips with ease.
"Tubarov," Quatre growled. "I thought he didn't have much power left, and unable to conjure such strong illusions anymore, let alone craft another mobile doll."
"Would somebody be as kind as to explain it to me?" Heero demanded.
"Remember the barrier?" Duo said. "It was a trap. It was a combination of Death magic with a strong illusion, with the goal to retrieve the greatest fear from your mind and project it to you." He tilted his head a little. "It wasn't...nice for anyone of us."
Trowa snorted loudly, sticking his knife to wherever he had hidden it previously. The Fire mage frowned in annoyance.
"Tubarov is a sick man, and one of the reasons why I wanted to keep him in Libra was because of his dolls. He can create dolls from scratch with a striking resemblance to anyone he wants. They're mobile because they can walk, but they don't have a soul or a will of their own. You need to control them to make them act and speak like a human being. Trent was in control of the Relena doll to try to get you to join Khushrenada's cause."
"He can do this easily," Quatre said. "It will exhaust him, but Tubarov can do this -- though he needs another person to help him; the one to control the doll. They didn't know how well you knew Relena, but hoped to have convinced you before you would see through their trick. In any case, they were wrong."
"And ended up dead," Duo continued. "At least, Trent did. Death magic and illusions is literally a deadly combination. When you're caught in an illusion, you can die, and most of these illusions are aimed to kill people. If you can't discern illusion from reality, you're done. I guess we have to be thankful -- it could have gotten way, way worse."
"I don't like knowing that Tubarov is obviously working for Khushrenada," Quatre voiced softly. "What's worse, he's probably somewhere very close to have made this doll and collaborates with Trent. Maybe he was even in the Castle..."
"We aren't going to return to the Castle anyway, not if we find Sylvia Noventa," Duo answered. Silence fell, a little uncomfortable.
"The question is: who's the one doing the Death magic?" Trowa spoke calmly, but glanced briefly at Duo. He held Trent's dagger, having lost its ominous glow, and stuck it in his belt.
"I'll find out," Duo said curtly and turned around, facing the breached wall. He was going to continue along the hallway, still with their original mission in mind. Heero quickly caught up with him, leaving Trowa to help Quatre. Something what Duo had said had intrigued him.
"So everyone was faced with their worst fear?"
"Yes," Duo answered. "That could be anything, but what most people fear is death of a loved one, failure... everyone has a deep, dark fear or secret." He waited a minute before adding: "Inner demons."
"What demons did you face?" Heero wanted to know, though it was too personal to ask. Duo hadn't asked him if he needed any help or what he had seen either, but his curiosity got the better of him. He was genuinely taken aback when Duo suddenly laughed at him.
"What demons I faced? Demons face me, Heero Yuy. They face me."
Silence hung between them as they continued down the hallway, leaving Heero enough time to brood. Trent had called him a san'durin, and 'a very interesting young man'. He didn't have much knowledge of the Ancient Language which was commonly used between mages and scholars, and he didn't recognize this word as all. Duo and Quatre had spoken to each other in the language around the fire when they had first met -- apparently, mages were very keen on preserving their specific language.
Heero wanted to ask Duo about the meaning of the word, but the tangible silence felt like it couldn't be broken. Were they all reflecting on whatever demons they had faced? What had Duo seen...and what did he mean with 'demons are afraid of me'? The torches still ignited when Duo walked by, the hem of his robes dragging instead of floating. There was a staircase leading down, and Quatre heaved an audible sigh. The whole group was looking tired, except for Heero. He had taken the lead again, descending down the stairs in front of them, his boots making the most noise.
Another large, wooden door obstructed their path, and now Heero wanted to sigh as well. There didn't seem to be an end to this blasted dungeon, and if there were more of these animals to be fought, he didn't know how well the rest of the group would hold up. Trowa was probably fine, but Duo and Quatre? They needed the destructive powers of the mages, and if both were too tired to conjure their spells...he wanted to know how Relena was doing, and was itching to get back upstairs, above ground, into the fresh air.
Duo looked at Quatre, who nodded briefly and stepped forward, folding his hands and lowering his head, as if in prayer. Nothing happened -- Quatre stood as still as a statue, eyes closed, apparently in deep concentration.
"What is he do..."
"Shhh," Duo said, though it didn't sound admonishing. Heero shot him a quizzical look, before glancing at Quatre again. The Nature mage suddenly opened his eyes and nodded again, taking a step back.
"There's someone behind this door. But weak...very, very weak."
"Sylvia Noventa?" Duo called out loud. No answer. "Sylvia Noventa, if you are in there, back away from the door!"
He prepared a circle of fiery orbs, unleashing them on the door, setting it on fire. Quatre had backed away as well, the intense heat burning down the wood, melting the iron hinges. Heero didn't wait until the complete door was destroyed; he kicked at the charred planks and created an entry for himself. It was dark in the room and Duo, who followed him closely, quickly conjured another set of those strange light bulbs, illuminating the environment. He squinted for a moment, and a sudden movement in the corner didn't escape him.
"Over there!"
"Stay back!" Quatre grabbed Heero at the elbow, and shook his head when he looked at him.
"Leave it to me." He let go of Heero's elbow, though he wasn't by far strong enough to hold him back if he really wanted to. Quatre straightened himself and walked into the direction they had seen the movement, calm and composed.
"Sylvia, it's all right," he said, voice soothing. "You're safe now. No one will hurt you."
Another movement, but weakly. It came from the stack of hay in the corner -- someone was hiding in there. It was amazing how someone could have survived in this dungeon in the first place -- no daylight, no fresh air, no refreshments. On the floor was a bucket with dirty water, and next to it a piece of bread -- moldy, with maggots crawling over it. It reeked of feces and blood and sweat, and the hay was colored brown, the whole dungeon smelling like death and despair.
"Sylvia, you can show yourself to us. We're friends, we won't hurt you..."
Trowa shivered. He stood next to Duo, and he was obviously feeling uncomfortable in these close quarters, the archer losing every touch with nature so deep under the ground. Heero couldn't imagine how life could be, captive and locked up like this; he had enjoyed his rather pleasant and carefree life at the farm before...life had taken a different turn.
It took quite some coaxing from Quatre, but finally, he stretched his arms out and reached into the hay, lifting up a person -- a woman, no, a girl...an emaciated girl, her body dehydrated and underfed, a mass of tangled brown hair hanging in her face. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her up as she could barely walk.
"She needs Healing, bad," he said. "I can't apply it here. We need to get back above ground as soon as possible."
Sylvia tried to crawl away in his robe, but she was too exhausted and frail to do anything but sigh and move limply. Her clothes hung around her like burlaps, all dirty and torn. A few mewling gasps were audible, her chafed and cracked lips parting in an attempt to speak.
"We leave here," Duo agreed. "We can't leave here fast enough."
With no more spitting wrouven or any other animals or illusions to fight, they reached the surface quite fast, carrying Sylvia between them. Passing the iron gate, Heero blinked in surprise at the sun -- it was already rising fairly high. They had been down in the dungeon far longer than he had assumed. They all looked disheveled, clothes covered in dust and sporting either burn marks or frayed spots where the spit of the wrouven had affected the fabric. Their faces weren't in any better condition; hair sweaty and soaked, cheeks smudged, and in Heero's and Trowa's case, small scratches and cuts dotted their skin.
Relena came running towards them, face set in horror when she saw the group. Wufei followed her, jogging behind her in a calm pace, imperturbable. The magical embrace surrounding her dissolved when she halted in front of them. Heero was relieved to see her, knowing that she wasn't injured -- he pointedly ignored a few dead bodies shoddily covered with branches and leaves. Undoubtedly, Trent's men who had attacked her and met Wufei on their way.
"What happened?" she cried. "What took you so long? I was so scared, I..." Her eyes caught Sylvia, clutching at Quatre's side. "Oh, the Twelve have mercy, Sylvia! What have they done to you?"
The girl cringed from Relena's loud cry, and tried to bury herself in Quatre's robes. She heaved spasmodically, as if the fresh morning air was too much for her to deal with.
"We have no time for this, Princess," Duo said, glancing at Wufei to reassure himself that he was all right. "Put Sylvia on Vayeate," he continued. "We have to leave here, and fast!"
Relena pointed at the horses close by, and asked question after question, lowering her voice. She wanted to take Sylvia in her arms, but the girl shrieked and clutched at Quatre, eyes wide in fear. It took quite some cajoling from the Ice mage to calm her, and they got her on the horse without any further troubles. When Relena came to sit behind her, Sylvia leaned backwards, apparently calmed down enough to accept the other girl's presence and help. Relena threw a blanket about her bony shoulders, shielding her from the chill.
Duo climbed on Mercurius, together with Quatre. It didn't escape that Quatre was the one in front leaning against Duo, who had his arms around him, fingers gripping the reins. The horse danced around a little bit, obviously not used to two riders on his back. Trowa broke out in a jog, Wufei following in his path.
"Move, move!" Duo said and both horses jumped forward -- they galloped, away from the dungeon's entrance, Vayeate taking the lead along with Heero. He held the sollevar in his hand and he ignored the dark red clumps on the trident-shaped head. He wasn't tired at all and could easily keep up with the pace; his breathing was controlled and his legs moved, one foot in front of the other, on and on and on. He was glad to leave here, away from Catalonia Castle that loomed over the mountain top, as if it had eyes that were watching his retreating back.
The small village they entered after at least one hour riding wasn't very crowded, fortunately -- the group was a sad excuse for a bunch of travelers, smudged, injured, and with the exception of Heero, deadly tired.
The morning was already halfway passed, and the people up and about threw curious looks at them, mothers keeping their children away from the dirty party, their curiosity leading them to wanting to touch the strange travelers. Heero ignored the distrust and suspicion; this was nothing compared to the people in the capital city. He looked over his shoulder to check up on Relena; she held Sylvia close to her, the girl so frail that she would fall out of the saddle with the slightest gust of wind.
Nobody spoke, and it seemed as if the horses knew their way around, leading them to a fairly large two-story house, reminding Heero of the house where he had eavesdropped on Seditch and Nichol; it was certainly the same style.
Catherine Bloom welcomed them -- a slender woman with shoulder length, curly brown hair and wearing large, star-shaped earrings. Three white feathers were stuck in her hair, as showy as her red and pink dress. Heero thought the feathers were slightly strange, but after spending time with Duo and his group, almost nothing struck him as weird anymore. Mythical weapons, magic, monstrous beasts and dark dungeons -- he had learned his lessons. Deep down, it made him regret his earlier life and all the time he spent on the farm. The world was so large, so wide and so interesting... the guilt that followed was something he didn't know how to deal with.
The woman urged them to get inside, not only to discourage the curious neighbors, but also because almost everyone needed help, one way or the other. Quatre Healed Sylvia, but he was so exhausted from the earlier events in the dungeon that the Healing took the last of his strength and he collapsed. Trowa whisked him away, the archer seeming to be at the end of his rope as well. Wufei was still standing upright, shoulders straight, but leaned a little too casually on his sword. Duo didn't fare much better than Quatre; he was swaying on his feet and didn't protest when Catherine, acting like a mother hen, sent him to find a bed in one of the rooms upstairs.
She was clearly a woman of action -- she commanded her maid, Miidi, to provide for soap, towels, blankets and other clean bed linen, and took it upon herself to serve the people still awake and not keeling over, something to eat. Setting the wooden table with simple silverware and plates, she put a rather large porcelain bowl in the middle of it.
"Here," she said firmly, "eat to your heart's content, I can always make some more. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
Turning around to take care of Sylvia, the girl shaky, in tears and babbling incoherently, Catherine told Relena to eat something, but the girl politely declined, as she didn't want to leave Sylvia's side.
Heero served himself and Wufei some soup; he was feeling very hungry. His stomach was almost gnawing on itself. The soup was all right; a little burned and some of the ingredients, cut very roughly, were undercooked. Still, it all tasted like heaven to him; even Wufei had two helpings before excusing himself as well, leaving it to Heero to finish off the complete contents of the bowl, including two large loaves of bread.
He knew Catherine had returned as soon as he heard that typical swishing sound of her dress; the sore combination of extremely bright pink and red was painful on the eyes. The woman didn't seem fazed at all by Heero eating the whole pot, enough to serve at least a family of five. Instead, she asked if he wanted some more, and he politely declined. Catherine didn't seem to be a poor woman, judging from the simple yet classy decoration of her house, but he didn't want to eat all of her food, never mind that his stomach was still growling.
"It's all right," she said as if reading his thoughts. "Duo told me about you and I have plenty in stock to sustain your appetite. I'll ask Miidi to get you some more."
It was tempting, especially since he felt like he hadn't eaten much at all. Soup was light on his stomach, and the bread didn't fill up much. He still declined though, but Catherine just smiled at him and called for Miidi. The servant, a friendly red-haired girl, had already anticipated her mistress' wishes and carried a tray with several hearty dishes, including roast meat, grilled fish and a very generous helping of potatoes and vegetables.
As Heero ate, Catherine joined him at the table, carefully adjusting her dress before sitting down. As she didn't strike up a conversation and Heero didn't feel like talking, too busy eating, there was a silent atmosphere between them, though not uncomfortable. After a while she took a slice of bread and nibbled delicately on it. It would be lunch time for her soon; it felt strange to have a meal outside of regular hours, but this was just a...exceptional situation. Heero couldn't get past the fact that she was taking this all so calmly and lightly, as if it was normal for a bunch of exhausted travelers with a more-dead-than-alive girl in their midst to show up on her doorstep.
"You dealt with Duo before?" It was out of his mouth before he could do something about it.
She laughed heartily, putting the slice of bread down.
"I'm Trowa's sister," she said, and he did a double take. Her face softened, a fond look crossing her features. "Albeit not by blood, though I wish it would be. He's an orphan, and we found him with a bunch of mercenaries. Our caravan passed by, and I asked him to come along with us. I didn't think the environment he was growing up in would be of any good to him."
"Caravan?"
"We were a traveling troop of performers," she said proudly, and in a blink of an eye she held throwing knives in her hand, exactly the same way Trowa had done -- or maybe exactly the way he had learned it from her. He almost choked on a potato.
She smiled, obviously amused. "I think you can take a guess what my performance was," she continued. "We traveled all over the world -- we had exotic animals, the strongest man, a bearded woman, gymnasts...it was a hard life, but a satisfying one. We were as free as a bird, and if we didn't like it someplace we would simply pack our things and leave. Khushrenada ended it all."
She didn't sound bitter, unlike a lot of people -- but maybe Catherine Bloom was more accepting of change than anyone else. Heero held her for a very practical woman who didn't waste her time on tears, but who would roll up her sleeves and do something.
"What happened?" he asked, though he could take a very good guess.
"We were forbidden to travel around any longer," Catherine continued. "Out of fear we could be smuggling or presenting any other kind of danger. Besides, a lot of family members of our performers were in countries that already had been overrun. They wanted to go back to make sure there were... any survivors. I used my family's heritage to buy this house," and this time a little sadness was audible in her voice, "just to have something of value. I didn't know what else to spend the money on, not in this time, and with not many of my relatives alive anymore... should Khushrenada or his army confiscate the house, it still has served its purpose -- a hideout to any one resisting the current tyranny... people like Duo."
"What do you know about him?" Heero asked. He didn't want to sound too eager, and missed the soft smile on Catherine's face as he cleaned his plate with the last piece of bread, rather taken aback to find his plate empty.
"Not much," she said. "Only that he's the strongest Fire mage in the area, if not the strongest one in this world. I learned very quickly to not get on his bad side, though his bad side is barely... to be seen. Duo is quite easy-going."
"He's a jokester," Heero muttered. Catherine's smile turned a little smug, as if she knew a secret and he didn't.
"You'll learn exactly what he is," she said and rose from her chair. Her movement was so rash that Heero wondered if he offended her, but she bowed to him, barely, holding up her dress as she bent a little through the knees.
"I have errands to run," she said. "Try to get some rest, Heero. Miidi will show you to your room -- everyone else is asleep, and you need to regain your strength."
He had definitely offended her, but he didn't know how. Sleep sounded good to him, and Miidi was already in the doorway, an amused look on her face -- probably because of the amount of food he had managed to take in, and he sure was glad he didn't have to do all the dishes. The girl showed him to a small, but decent room with a bed, a dresser and a large, wooden chest. The curtain was already pulled close, but couldn't keep all the daylight out. The girl giggled when she wished him a good night -- after she had left, Heero put the sollevar in the corner between the bed and the window and rolled into the covers, asleep before he could turn around.
Chapter 6 | Chapter 8 |