The hotel suite was rather luxurious, compared to what was available. Sanq’s borders weren’t exactly a hot spot for international tourists and there wasn’t much choice in accomodation. The two bedrooms were seperated by a smaller room the size of a broom closet, which they had used to stash all their luggage and equipment. A miniature size ‘living room’ completed the suite - two wooden seats with flat, hard pillows, a dented coffee table and something resembling a chaise-lounge, complete with stained, worn upholstery..
Duo waited up for Heero to return, but as time passed by and there was still no sign of him, he decided to go to bed. He tried to fall asleep, annoyance and worry fighting for dominance in his heart. He hated not knowing what was going on, and not being able to decipher Heero once more. He never had to distrust him, they had been in a loving relationship where Heero’s love and dedication were simply unquestionable. But what was he supposed to think now, having seen with his own eyes that Heero had been talking to someone he couldn’t trust? Chang Wufei, tied to Khushrenada in some way, the katana wielding warrior who stole the first part of the Never-Ending of him.
Growling, he turned around in the bed, refusing to think where Heero could be and what he was doing. He had wanted to give the other an earfull, but blissful sleep was claiming him slowly but surely. Duo didn’t like to think in a pessimistic way, but he knew better than to expect to get an answer out of Heero. Even under the greatest pressure or in torture, Heero Yuy didn’t talk. With a sigh he turned around again, taking the mass of blankets with him, snuggling into the warmth. Duo propped his hand under his chin. Yes, sleep, finally…he could almost feel himself slowly sinking away, the darkness tugging at him, his eyes heavy, his breathing slow…and there was an undefined, creaking sound coming from his door. Duo’s other hand went under his pillow, fingers clenching around the Uzi he’d hidden there. The irony of it all was that he couldn’t force himself to be fully awake. His body and mind registered the soft noises, the presence of someone else in his room. It felt like a dream sequence, something unreal, and he doubted if he was agile and fast enough to pull out the Uzi and fire if this person proved to be a burglar. Duo forced his breathing back under control. Footsteps, slightly muffled by the carpet. Someone was approaching his bed. His fingers cramped around the gun. Stay calm. Stay calm. Why wasn’t he awake? Why couldn’t he open his eyes?
It took all of his remaining willpower to not gasp out loud, to not shiver or moan, as he felt warm lips pressing to his cheek. Rough lips, not soft, etched from weather and wind, carrying a scent with them that he longed to smell again and again. He knew how those lips tasted, he knew how they liked to be kissed, he knew how they could turn into a warm smile, meant only for him…. By all means, Heero should’ve noticed long by now that he wasn’t really asleep, yet he continued to kiss him - feathery light, across his cheek, close to his temple. It was soothing, and it brought back mixed emotions: he wanted to turn around and throw his arms around him, pulling Heero with him on the bed and strip off his clothes and kiss him like mad, but on the other hand he didn’t want to give in, the wall between them too high, the bond too fragile to be repaired with just a few kisses. Before he knew it, the footsteps moved away from him again, leaving his skin cold and untouched. His tight grip on the gun under his pillow loosened itself as sleep overwhelmed him, the kisses lingering in his mind.
The Land Rover had no trouble whatsoever dealing with the road - that barely even deserved the name ‘road’ since the asphalt left much to be desired - and the engine was purring like an oversized cat. This part of Sanq country, so close to the border, was accessible fairly well; Duo snorted as he thought back to the flyers he’d seen in the hotel lobby: tourist agencies offering excursions to visit the ‘deep, mysterious heart of Sanq’.
Only people who had been to Sanq before knew that the tourist excursions wouldn’t lead too far or that deep into the country - in the course of time, Sanq had turned into an unpredictable jungle as nature took back what was hers, and wildlife and vegetation had developed accordingly. No wonder it was protected by many international laws - Sanq was now acknowledged as a natural wildlife preserve, and the only excursions allowed were for research purposes, studying the plants and animals under strict and professional guidance. If tourists paid enough, they could participate in sightseeing excursions, but no travel agency in their right mind would allow tourists to wander around in the jungle on their own. Quite a few natives were making a good living off of these guided tours. Duo and Heero, albeit not tourists or researchers, had crossed the border with official papers - it wasn’t hard to get the right papers if you knew the right people. Nonetheless, as Sanq didn’t promote archaeological research, it had taken them quite some bribery to waive the rule that a guide should accompany them. They didn’t need anyone, and they didn’t want any guide to trek along with them.
As Heero was driving, Duo sipped a little water from his bottle. Strapped into his seat, he’d drawn his knees up to his chest, leaning against the door to look out of the window. He was very grateful that Trowa had provided them with a Land Rover - an open jeep was unable to withstand this rough jungle. The lower tree branches bashed against the roof of the car continuously, and sometimes Duo winced. He really didn’t want to imagine how the Land Rover was going to look like as soon as they were finished with their expedition.
The sturdy belt around his waist shifted a little, exposing the holsters with the guns, as well as the row of clips mounted on them for easy and quick change - another nifty invention of Hilde’s, enabling him to reload his guns within a matter of seconds instead of digging around in pockets or his backpack for new ammunition.
“You aren’t suffering, are you?” Heero suddenly asked.
Duo looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“What you’re wearing,” Heero said, chuckling. “It must be very hot. Have you forgotten that the weather in Sanq is all but tropical?”
“No, I haven’t,” Duo said, slightly miffed. “You should’ve recognized this fabric - it’s Hilde’s special design, thank you very much. It adjusts to any change in body heat or outside temperature. I’m never hot or cold.”
“You’re always hot,” Heero said lamely, then stared in front of him. This road might be the most accessible, but it was slowly crumbling down, decades of lack of maintenance taking its toll. The Land Rover shook and bumped along, its double axles getting a heavy workout.
Duo pursed his lips a little before grinning. “My, my, I think you just made an erotically suggestive comment, Heero my dear.”
Heero didn’t answer, but kept his eyes on the road as if in trance. His gloved hands rested casually on the steering wheel, and he didn’t blink when tree branches hit the roof or windshield, or when the car bumped through another pothole. Duo focused on the window, simply looking outside, and tried to not pay much attention to the shaky and bumpy ride. Bad roads were probably the least of their problems, and he wanted to avoid developing a headache.
They hadn’t said much since breakfast. Duo had waited patiently for Heero to start talking, to explain what happened yesterday, why he had left the hotel room and met up with Chang. He wasn’t really surprised when no explanation left Heero’s lips, acting like nothing had happened. Duo had been torn by either keeping silent himself or forcefully asking Heero, but decided at the last moment against asking. Instead, he would give Heero the opportunity to respond later, when they had arrived at the heart of Sanq’s capital…when there was no one around to disturb or to overhear them. He had proceeded finishing up his gear, adding bottles of water and some more provisions, as well as a small first-aid kit. He even arranged for extra provisions for Heero, earning a soft, but genuine “Thank you” in return.
“Thank God for GPS,” Duo muttered as he pulled the device out of his belt and stared at the small screen. The few available maps of Sanq were outdated; it was hard to document the changes the wild nature added to the country, and the former inhabitants hadn’t bothered to draw a proper map to begin with. They had felt so safe in their own little nation, protected by the royal family, that they had slowly started to stand outside of the rest of the world. A true utopia that finally crumbled under the heavy weight of their collective naïvety and blind faith; how the Peacecrafts could ever think they were safe from war just by simply hanging onto their principles of peace, astounded him.
“The Royal Palace is not far off now,” Heero said. “It’s a good thing Howard used satellite imagery to track it and log it into the GPS. That saves us a lot of time of searching around.”
“A good thing, yes,” Duo answered. “My ass is going to be so black and blue from all this shaking and bumping around.”
Heero tugged a little at the wheel. “These roads aren’t exactly paved with gold, you know.”
“More like paved with blood.” Duo quickly sobered. Decades ago, tanks and trucks loaded with war materials had driven through here, flattening every building, killing thousands of innocents, while the Peacecrafts had called upon their pacifistic policies in vain. The country had been literally trampled by the first mobile suits, designed by mankind with no other purpose than to destroy. In the general panic, the survivors fled the country, and Sanq would be occupied for the duration of the war. No one blamed the royal family for their beliefs and their passive attitude; moreso, their principles gained a large following all over the world tired of war, and the family itself was still hung up on their vision of total disarmament and global peace. Relena was one of the first to actually adjust her vision, understanding that sometimes violence was needed to maintain and to defend peace. She wasn’t happy to acknowledge that realisation - but she was aware of it. She was the first of her family to understand that as long as people were still willing to trade weapons, as long as not everyone supported global peace, total disarmament simply wasn’t possible.
Duo shook his head. What a horrible irony for the girl to follow her her family into their every footstep and principles, only to learn of her brother Milliardo taking up arms in the war that had driven them out of their homeland. A black sheep, he paid dearly for the ‘sins’ of his youth, in an attempt to defend what was dear to him - now he paid with silence and slavery, unable to help his sister. Relena’s delicate position in the peace balance of the world was too much and too important to endanger; the colonies would immediately declare war if the Queen of the World was compromised.
“Here we are, the outskirts of the city,” Heero announced as he hit the brakes, grunting as he saw the wide ditch in front of them. “We need to put planks in place.”
Duo nodded to Heero and jumped out of the Land Rover. This was even too wide for their vehicle to cross, but the jungle provided enough logs to create a makeshift bridge. Heero helped him to hoist two large logs over the ditch, lining them up perfectly with the Land Rover’s wheels. As Heero carefully continued to drive, the logs bended dramatically under the excessive weight. Duo shouted directions to him, beads of sweat running all over his body. It was hot, extremely humid weather, and his chestnut bangs were sticking to his face. He wished he was back in the car with the comfortable AC running. Or a shower, a shower sure would come in handy…concentrating on the job at hand, he guided Heero over the logs who splintered at the last moment, causing the Land Rover to slip; with a firm dot of gas and Heero’s good driving, the vehicle stayed on the road.
It would take them another ninety minutes before they reached the heart of what once was the majestic capital of Sanq. Duo felt disheartened to see every building, every ornament, every little shed, torn and shot to pieces. It was one thing to discover a civilization being mauled at the hands of time, but it was a whole another thing to find a nation being mauled at the hands of mankind. Even battered mobile suits, a silent sign of the weak resistance the people had put up, were still on the streets, covered with moss. Desolation was almost tangible here - Duo had seen paintings and early pictures of the country, reminding him of sunny Spain with the fresh white wall plaster, colorful red roof tiles and the arches everyone was so fond of in this typical architecture. Children should be running around here, playing on the streets, cats and dogs meowing and barking… People should be out and about to do their job, a chore or running an errand, whatever they wanted to do…but there was nothing but chunks of stone, broken support beams, torn tiles and silent destruction.
He checked his watch - early afternoon, surprisingly enough. It felt like they had been on the move for an entire day. Travelling had been slow due to the bad road; his whole body felt numb. They could spare a few minutes to have lunch. He glanced at Heero who parked the car in the shadows of what used to be a church. Duo looked at the building, his braid swinging with every movement. The Royal Palace was their destination as they assumed it held more clues concerning the artifact. It was known for its large – and only – national library, and harboring some kind of shrine with ‘relics and remains from past times’. Duo had no doubt the shrine would only contain some heirlooms, dusty jewelry the Peacecrafts had kept for sentimental value… but who knows, maybe the mysterious shrine held information on the Never-Ending Circle, or was even the home to it. Maybe the second part, the blade, was to be found under the church. Wouldn’t it be highly ironic if the place where the God of Death broke his instrument had become holy ground? Ironic enough to give it a shot.
Duo shook his head. He turned around to see Heero walking towards him, hoisting a shotgun over his shoulder. They were both armed and dangerous, the way they used to be...the way it used to be.
“Let’s go,” he simply said. Duo nodded, apparently Heero wasn’t in the mood for lunch. Taking out an energy bar from one of his many pockets, Duo nibbled on it as they moved up the large steps, towards the doors of the Palace. His eyes took in their surroundings, but he didn’t see any trace of other footsteps - it seemed like they were really the only ones here.
What once was white, had been corroded by time. The walls bore a sickly grey colour, cracked here and there, covered with darkish moss in some spots. Inside, the heavy smell of gathered dust and mold was thick enough to choke on. The frames of the paintings on the walls were chipped and dusty, and the canvas torn and ragged. Duo noticed how the paintings were aligned in historical context, depicting a chronological line of ancient rulers, the respective heads of the Peacecraft family. There was no painting of Milliardo - he’d been too young to assume his position as head of the family, and if they knew of his participation in the war…Not all of the Peacecraft family was dead or broken, Duo mused. Their politics, their beliefs and their traditions were still very much alive. I wonder what would happen if it were all to blow up into Khushrenada’s face, when royalty turns against him and his plan backfires. Duo grinned - Khushrenada might think he held the upper hand, but he might not be holding it much longer.
Heero walked beside him as they crossed the large hall, the ceiling even higher than at Maxwell Manor. Massive amounts of chalk cluttered their way, crunching beneath the thick soles of their boots. There was nothing much to see - some leftover furniture, all but decayed and moulded, dusty and fragile - that was all the grandeur left in the Palace. Standing still for a moment, Heero consulted an old, paper layout of the building before continuing to lead the way. Duo kept an eye on everything, adrenaline pumping to give him a boost when necessary.
The place had been picked clean by thieves and less scrupulous people; the Peacecrafts were rumored to have left the Palace with only a little money and the clothes on their backs, hoping to return when the atrocities of war were over. He barely suppressed a snort. They probably expected to find everything untouched and unspoiled whenever they were to return. Such naïvity must’ve been a bliss.
The large hall ended up in a square room, reminding Duo of the ball room he had seen at the Khushrenada estate. The tiles had faded, and the few carpets left on the floor showed big holes, threads unraveled. An impossibly large table caught his eye immediately, as well as the broken chandelier on top of it, its weight having crushed the wood. Heero mumbled something about this being a dining room for official banquets. He read it off of the map, trying to locate the library.
“The library is downstairs, close to the cellar,” he finally said. “It’s not as large, probably twice the size of your office.”
“What? That’s too small for any library!”
“Apparently, this library wasn’t for books, but for the nation’s records only. Documentation was stored there, and behind the library was the shrine for the artifacts. I can’t make out how large that shrine is. It’s been drawn into the map and then erased, so I’m not sure if these pencil lines are even correct. It’s as if they wanted to indicate it doesn’t exist…yet.”
“Maybe they had plans for constructing a place to store their artifacts,” Duo suggested. “That is, any artifact resembling a weapon. Maybe they never got around to build it.”
Sanq had been known for its lovely art and objects, mostly pottery, manufactured in bright and lively colours. A weapon wouldn’t be crafted by the inhabitants, and certainly not a weapon like a scythe. The kingdom had rejected every kind of weapon, no one would think of putting something like that on display. Heero agreed.
“If the scythe or a part of it would be here, they would’ve kept it separated. Not in their shrine, somewhere different, far away.”
“And if it’s not there, we can at least find another clue if we’re lucky,” Duo added. “Libraries are usually left untouched by thieves. Let’s see if we can make something out of those records.”
The way down to the cellar and library was blocked by the remnants of a huge marble banister, which had crumbled and fallen down. Duo scratched the back of his head pensively. As usual, he had explosives with him, but it wasn’t his intention to use it for every minor setback; dynamite was mostly a last ditch effort. Heero noticed his reluctant look, not really keen on using explosives either. They could bring the entire Palace down with just one explosion, no matter how small; this was a delicate location.
“Maybe we can reach the cellar and library another way,” he suggested. “The layout isn’t really clear. Placing charges would just be a luck of the draw, and we’d do more harm than good.”
“Any charge could bring this whole building down,” Duo said superfluously, kicking at a pebble. “It wouldn’t exactly help us to get the roof on our heads.”
Heero heaved as sigh and tried to estimate the weight and size of the broken marble. It was impossible to climb over it, and removing it was not an option: not only would it take too much time, marble was far too heavy for the two of them. He consulted the paper layout again, patiently.
“Hmmm…I think there’s another way. A shaft in the kitchen, a handy elevator structure to bring up food and stock from the cellar to the upper floors.”
“All right, let’s go for it,” Duo agreed. He squinted a little, mentally noting that the sun was already going down. In this type of countries the sun would set real fast, it was almost overwhelming. At the moment there was enough light, shining through all the cracks and holes in the Palace walls. It was easy to find the kitchen, but Duo checked his flashlight anyway. The batteries would last for hours and he had a spare pack with him. If there was one thing that Solo had taught him, it was to be prepared for anything, and to be prepared well. It was Duo’s own fault to be rather lax, though he would never forget his essentials: his Uzis and his flashlight.
“The kitchen,” Heero announced. Duo coughed a few times, dust and chalk acting on his throat. He tilted his head a little, staring blankly at Heero who studied the map. He still hadn’t mentioned anything about his meeting with Chang - what exactly was he hiding, and why didn’t he confide in him? What are you hiding from me? It hurt. Annoyedly, he pursed his lips. He wasn’t a small child anymore, and if it wasn’t for Heero’s superior physical strength, he would so deck him. Maybe he simply should, to get a reaction out of him. Abruptly, Duo turned around. Khushrenada was not going to be the last one laughing, he wasn’t going to end up with the artifact. Heero or not, Duo had promised the Never-Ending Circle to Quatre Winner. He had taken his commission to get back into the field and goddamnit, he would get back into the field, even if it would take his life.
The large kitchen, fashionably outdated, was full of setting sunlight due to the extremely large window panes. Despite them all being broken, the remaining shards in the frames reflected the light and converted it into a soft, vintage glow, illuminating the room with a tenderness that was breathtaking. Duo tried to imagine how this kitchen looked like in its glory days - busy, filled with people working hard to provide their royal family and guests with the most delicious of foods. There was a sadness lingering here, or maybe only Duo was the one feeling it…Heero was looking diligently for the elevator and found it behind a cracked panel. Prying it open, he turned on his flashlight and stuck his head into the shaft, trying to gauge the altitude.
“It looks quite sturdy,” he muttered. He shifted a little, groping around with his hands to find the ropes of the pulling mechanism.
Duo came to stand close to him, putting his hand on a large winch, rusted all the way through. “If we use this, we can simply bring back up the elevator?”
“It’s worth a try, though it probably won’t take our weight - it was used to transport foods and stock, not humans.”
“Who knows, maybe it’s strong enough. The shaft looks rather roomy to me.”
“All right, let’s give it a try.”
They both tried to get the mechanism to work, but eventually they had to give up, especially after the winch came loose from the wall and fell to the floor, too rusted to even budge.
“It’s stuck,” Duo confirmed. “We have to use the ropes to get down.” He flexed his fingers, knowing that the material of his gloves would be able to deal with any kind of rope or cable. Heero simply nodded, but reached for his backpack first to take out his own gloves. He strapped his flashlight onto his right shoulder, fastening it with velcro so it wouldn’t move, leaving his hands free as he put his gloves on. He swung his legs over the edge and squirmed a little.
“Not as roomy as you think,” he commented and grabbed the ropes.
“All right, let’s go!”
He started to climb down, followed by Duo, who had mimicked his earlier movement and had also strapped his flashlight to his shoulder. They managed to work their way down rather fast, the ropes still in a surprisingly good condition to support them on their way down. Heero waited for Duo before moving on, his flashlight immediately catching the device used to pull up the supplies, standing outside the shaft, demolished by rubble.
“That’s the reason why we couldn’t move it.”
“It wasn’t even in the shaft. Strange,” Duo said. “The Palace wasn’t attacked from the inside, was it?”
“I don’t think so. This could simply be something completely unrelated to the war…maybe a clumsy servant, or it was taken out for repairs…”
“Hm,” Duo made a non-committal sound.
“I haven’t studied Sanq history…I only know the things that Relena told me.”
“Relena also gave you the map of the Palace?”
He shook his head, his chocolate brown hair covered in dust and chalk, and he had also picked up some cobwebs in the elevator shaft.
“Relena was too young, she doesn’t remember much. She told me bits and pieces, but not really any revealing information. I bought this layout at an auction, as I collect Sanq valuables for her. I know my way around in that world, she doesn’t.”
“It must be hard to leave your homeland and now it’s all…rubble and destroyed,” Duo said.
“She doesn’t remember much,” Heero repeated, albeit soft. “She’s glad she doesn’t. She can’t miss the memories she doesn’t have, she always says.”
“Smart woman,” Duo whistled.
“We have an artifact to retrieve.”
“Yeah.” Duo increased the volume of his flashlight and looked around. The cellar was huge; rack after wooden rack, empty and rickety. Barrels and boxes were stocked up against the walls, most of the wood ready to crumble under the slightest touch. Baskets with rotten and severely mutated potatoes were strewn all over the floor, huge lumps of mould, and the air felt clamp and stuffy; they both heard the familiar sounds of rats scurrying around. Heero pulled out his map again and studied it, scrunching up his face.
“Whoever drew this map should be shot.”
“What’s the matter?”
“It says that this is the main cellar, connected to a whole maze of other, smaller cellars by a system of confusing hallways. It could leave us walking around for hours on end.”
“Where’s the library?”
“Here,” Heero pointed to the map.
“That’s the first floor! We just got here!”
“Like I said, whoever drew this map should be shot. The library is drawn in on the first floor, but every other map I consulted had the library located close to the main cellar…this one.”
“Well, the Never-Ending Circle isn’t here, that’s for sure,” Duo said, staring at the crates and boxes as if he could see the mould grow. “We’ve retrieved artifacts from more desolate places and with more difficulty than this. It never is too hopeless for us. If we can find the armor of Horus after searching all over Egypt, then we can find a stupid scythe.”
“Absolutely,” Heero agreed, showing a small smile. “Let’s get outside this cellar first.”
“That should be pretty easy,” Duo pointed at the heavy, iron door which was opened at a small crack. “I hope you didn’t have too much for breakfast!”
Squirming their way past the door, Duo touched the walls to find torches or oil lamps, or any trace of electricity. “There’s no illumination here. Oh, wait, wait, here’s a lamp, but it doesn’t look like it’s connected to anything.”
“Thanks to their rather…old-fashioned beliefs, Sanq was late with installing plumbing and electricity, or so it appears,” Heero said. “I doubt that any of the current Peacecrafts would want to return to their Palace even if it would be untouched by the war - everything is so outdated that it would take years and years of renovations to bring it back up to nowadays standards.”
“This system of hallways is pretty complicated,” Duo noted. “It makes good for scaring off burglars and thieves. Why did they keep the library down here?”
“Probably because of the temperature conditions? It’s cool, and they probably thought storing their documents in a cool, stable environment would be the best preservation.”
“I swear the people here were pretty fucking naïve...”
“You can’t blame them, Duo.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m not blaming anyone. They just…blinded themselves with their own backward beliefs, and they paid a very high price for it. Leaving your country and everything you held dear behind isn’t something you do on a daily basis. It’s just that...it’s stupid. If Peacecraft invested a little more in his defence and his military system he would’ve been able to fend off the attack.”
“It was his belief, Duo,” Heero said softly. “His belief to not fight or respond with violence, but to talk and negotiate with people.”
“And look where the negotiations brought him…”
“It would do you some good if you were to take notice of his visions, Duo…”
“Are you saying I need fucking anger management?”
“Sort of,” Heero mumbled and shone with his flashlight to the left. “Let’s go to the east. The library should be across here somewhere. We can’t keep walking around to see if we can find it at random. The system of hallways is far too complicated, we’d be down here for days.”
“Where would they keep their secret stash?” Duo said, a little mockingly. He was anxious for Heero to start talking about Chang, and he was building up anger that the subject of his annoyance was painstakingly avoided..or rather, ignored.
“Secret stash?”
“If you’re a peace-loving nation with no weapons whatsoever, where would you keep an artifact that clearly represents death and destruction? That is, if they didn’t destroy it at first sight?”
“I doubt they would destroy it, despite what it represents,” Heero answered calmly. “The habitants of Sanq respected their history too much for mindless destruction.”
“That doesn’t exactly mean they embraced their history,” Duo shot back. “Do you really think they would want to keep an instrument of death right under their pacifistic noses? They had somehow the tool of the God of Death in their possession, if what Howard deducted from the staff is true. It belongs to the Peacecraft’s history and past because it has Sanq’s markings on it.”
“It would be devastating for the people still attached to Sanq, for those who passed all their history and knowledge about the country down to the next generations,” Heero said.
“They’re only adding to the legends and myths,” Duo breathed harshly. “Within a century, every one of the Peacecraft will be nothing but saints! Despite everything, the country will be crawling with treasure hunters, uncaring for nature and the wildlife, and there’ll probably be rumors about how Excalibur can be found here, for all that it’s worth.”
“Yes, and we use those rumors and legends to hunt for artifacts ourselves, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Duo waved with his hand and heaved a small sigh. “To the east it is, then.”
They found the library soon enough and intact, to both their relief. Heero opened the heavy wooden door and peeked inside. A few rats quickly scattered as they entered - Duo didn’t fancy a rat bite, and checked the library thoroughly while Heero breezed past the large racks filled with documents.
“It’s all loose paperwork,” he said. “Nothing in binders, nothing written down in catalogues… it’ll take ages to work our way through this.”
“Any way of narrowing it down?” Duo asked, getting used to the hollow echo to his voice. He choose a few wads of paper randomly and studied them before concluding that it was an overview of invoices, paid in a year he couldn’t make out.
“This is nonsense…we made it all the way out here to look for an artifact and we’re caught in paperwork.”
“Duo, the only way for us to find any clue is to check whatever’s down here. You wouldn’t want to miss any more information about the Never-Ending Circle because you’re too impatient to carefully search for it, now would you?”
“Impatient my ass,” Duo grumbled. “You said yourself that there was a room behind the library drawn into this map.”
“Which is not entirely accurate…?”
“Get me your thing…”
“What thing?”
“That thing that measures the density of the walls,” Duo said. “I know you have it with you - you packed more of your electronics than you did food, you moron.”
“Hey, there’s no need for name calling!”
“Give it to me, sweetheart,” Duo batted his eyes at him and Heero sighed melodramatically.
“Sometimes I think you have the mood swings of a girl, you know that, don’t you?”
“I’m entitled to - you were always the man in our relationship.”
“This doesn’t have anything to do with top or bottom…”
“Oh, shut the fuck up.”
“Here,” Heero pressed the small device into Duo’s hand. “Use it, and let me study these papers, okay?”
“Okay doll,” Duo answered and switched the density meter on, grinning briefly at Heero before he started walking past the walls, halting every now and then. Hollow rooms were nothing new in their line of business - they had found artifacts in the weirdest places. Duo checked the readings on his screen; this was all solid rock, and he started to believe he might’ve had the wrong idea. He slowly made his way around the library - Heero had been right, it wasn’t that large and it held no books, just rows and rows of rolled up papers, tied together with tiny ropes. Everyone in Sanq would probably have a heart attack when computers would be introduced, Duo thought to himself as he halted in front of the north wall, and his eyes widened in surprise when he checked the reading.
“Bingo! Hollow room,” he said out loud.
Heero turned towards him. “Really?”
“Check it out,” Duo answered, holding out the density meter. There was a small wooden rack in front of the north wall, loaded with those typically rolled up papers. It wouldn’t be too much work to get this out of the way, but he waited for Heero’s confirmation first.
“You’re right, this isn’t the consistency of rock,” Heero said and he took the flashlight from his shoulder, shining it along the wall. “They did a very good job…see? There’s the seam…I take it back, it’s an excellent job.”
“Let’s get this thing out of the way.” Duo grabbed the rack, tugging at it. Heero helped him to move the furniture, shoving it aside.
Touching the damp wall, Duo traced the seam of the door opening, and knocked a few times on it. “It hardly sounds hollow. I didn’t know the people of Sanq were so adept at constructing hidden rooms like this.”
“There must be some mechanism to open it. Check for switches, levers… anything irregular.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Duo replied and moved with his hand, touching and checking the wall for anything that could trigger the door. Frowning, they worked towards each other, meticulously examining the surface.
“I can’t find anything.”
Heero shone with his flashlight on the wall, obviously lost in thought. Duo heaved a sigh, taking a sip of water. They had been at work for the whole day, and he hadn’t eaten a thing since the energy bar.
“Heero, sit down, eat something. We’re staring ourselves blind.”
“All right.” He sounded tired. “I guess we can do with a little break.”
“We aren’t exactly in a hurry, you know. Or are you afraid someone is after you already?”
“I’m not afraid of anyone coming after me.”
“You sound incredulous.”
“I am. What makes you think I’m afraid of anything coming after me?”
“Since you were pretty worried about Khushrenada earlier.”
Heero snorted, taking some of his provisions out of his backpack. “Khushrenada doesn’t worry me. The fact that he’s toying with powers that are way above and beyond him worries me.”
“Really, now…” Duo stared at him while he took another sip. Come on Heero, I’ve given you plenty enough opportunity to start talking about it…
“How are we to open the entrance?” Heero sighed, unscrewing his own bottle of water. “I can’t find a mechanism, and there wasn’t a lever on your side either. I suggest we start searching the room, it can’t be far off. Otherwise we have to think of more drastic measures to get it open.”
“As you wish,” Duo said and nibbled at another energy bar. They tasted like wet cardboard, but each one of them provided sufficient energy and nutritional value for an adult. Neither Heero nor Duo had room in their backpacks for full kitchen gear, and cooking was out of the question. They enjoyed their ‘dinner’ in silence, gathering the wrappers of the bars and stuffing it into a side pocket of their backpacks; no need to start littering the place.
“All right, let’s tackle the door!” Heero stood up and turned around, taking a few paces towards the north wall again. Duo was about to follow him and put his foot in front of the other - and was almost thrown off guard as the floor started to move.
“Wh-what?”
Heero remained standing, hands flying to his shotgun, a primal reaction, as his eyes darted through the room, scanning for danger.
“An earthquake?” Duo quickly followed Heero’s example, though guns wouldn’t help them if it really was an earthquake.
“The…it’s the floor,” Heero said, noticing how his left foot was sinking away. “A panel! We stepped on panels..!”
“Is the door opening?”
Heero growled. “Yes, it’s opening! Can you make it through?”
“What happens if I… Jesus!”
A large chunk of concrete dropped from the ceiling, missing Duo by a millimetre, and he jumped to the side, yelping out loud.
“Fuck!”
“The door is closing again!”
“Run!”
Duo grabbed Heero by the shoulder in passing - he had yet to be beaten in running, and he had often saved his life and that of others by simply being as fast as possible. There was only one time he hadn’t been fast enough. No! It wasn’t his fault! Not allowing himself any time to think about it, Duo yanked at Heero to keep him moving, hurling him through the closing door now that it wasn’t triggered any more by the pressure pads.
“We made it,” Heero wheezed, almost falling to the ground. He had to catch his breath - not from the exertion, but from the momentary surge of adrenaline running through his body. The door closed behind them, sealing them off from the library. It was pitch black but for the beams of light coming from their flashlights.
“Everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” Heero said. “I hate it when there’s no logical or rational way to open a door, though.”
“The mechanism is hidden well but we would’ve found the pressure pads eventually.”
“Yeah, and you would’ve been crushed.” Heero shook his head.
“Classic safety precaution.” Duo shrugged. “Thieves in front of a temple…it only shows that we’re getting close. Whatever there’s behind this, it was worth the trouble of devising a trap to protect it.”
“You’re right.” Heero straightened himself again. “We’re on the right track, and we should’ve known there would be some kind of trap. There’s always some kind of trap.”
“Even the pacifistic Peacecrafts thought of traps,” Duo said, suddenly amused. “It doesn’t fit with their principles, however…that was quite the sign of violence, dropping a block of concrete on one’s head when trying to open a door.”
Heero chuckled, his voice echoing. “Maybe the family didn’t know, and this was constructed before their time…I do agree, it is quite the sign of violence to drop a block of concrete on your visitors.”
“Unwanted visitors,” Duo remarked dryly.
“True. Still…a block of concrete?”
“I always thought that a pool of igniting oil was more effective…”
“India, right?”
“The temple of Hyderabad,” Duo mused briefly and a smile was visible on his lips. “I thought we were done for, until you found that ledge we could hold on to.”
“I found that ledge, but you found the way into that temple in the first place. We make a good team, Duo.”
His smile turned a little wider, but he didn’t pursue the topic. “Let’s see where this corridor leads to, and what more nifty traps our shrewd family had installed.”
Adjusting the flashlight on his shoulder again, Duo could make out that the corridor was rather small, barely fitting two people next to each other. Leading the way, he went step by step, careful for any more pressure pads. Heero was right behind him, following his lead.
“It seems like we’re going down,” Duo mentioned after a while. The air in the corridor was damp and heavy just like in the cellar and the library - no one had been here in ages. He didn’t keep count of all the cobwebs getting tangled in his hair; his braid swung loosely on his back, catching a lot of the dust. Heero nodded, even though Duo couldn’t see it.
“It also seems that there’s a lot more hidden below the Palace than one could ever presume.”
Duo snickered. “That’s not much of a surprise now, is it? We’ve seen so much already, that hidden doors and secret passages are a standard routine in our work.”
“No end to this corridor in sight yet?”
“Now that you mention it…”
Duo halted, his flashlight shining on a door. “I think we stumbled upon it… it looks like a safe.”
Heero squirmed past him to get a good look, frowning.
“No apparent lock or handle…it’s carved out of the same stone. Unless we find the right mechanism to trigger it, there’s no other way we can force it open,” he said.
Duo inspected the large door, extending his hand to touch the surface. There were four receptacles in the middle, with the edges chipped off.
“Some kind of bolt was here,” he murmured. “Probably the weight was the decisive factor for the door to open.”
“Is there some way we can simulate the weight?” Heero looked down. “There’s more than enough rock and rubble at our feet.”
“Let’s hope weight is the trigger to this door,” Duo said out loud. Using the flashlight again, he looked around, at his feet. “This looks like the original bolt. See the carving of the stone? It’s like it was placed onto the receptacles…”
“… and immediately smashed into pieces,” Heero finished his sentence.
“Were they afraid of what’s behind this door?”
“Who knows…maybe there is something behind this door that even will strike fear in us,” Heero said before bending down and gathering some of the rocks.
“Who knows, indeed…?” Duo kneeled down as well, and together they lifted up a chunk of the bolt, its weight too heavy for one man to carry.
Stapling everything they could find together, Duo felt every muscle in his body protest after the physical exertion. Heero was breathing heavily next to him, focused on the task at hand.
“One more piece…we have to put everything together, if we created enough weight on the receptacles it should open by now.”
“It’s not really cooperating,” Duo sighed, placing one of the last pieces he found onto the receptacle. He barely had finished his sentence as a loud clank echoed throughout the small corridor.
“What?”
“Is the door opening?”
“Careful!”
Heero took a step back. “It’s opening, yes…get back!”
Obediently, Duo took a step back, keeping an eye on the door that was drawn up like a gate, unlike the hidden door in the library. As his flashlight shone down, Duo immediately noticed the smoke coming through the cracks, curling around their ankles.
“What the hell? Heero!”
“It must be some kind of gas,” Heero said. “It’s another trap!”
“There’s no ventilation here,” Duo yelled, quickly digging around his backpack for a piece of cloth to tie around his nose and mouth. “Fucking figures!”
“We have to hurry…we don’t know what kind of gas this is!”
The white smoke crept up around their legs, its tendrils swirling through the air. Duo finished tying the cloth around his face, leaving only his eyes uncovered - hopefully the gas wasn’t acid, but he was already feeling light-headed, and Heero started to cough violently. Mind working at top speed, Duo ran past all their options: he had a first aid kit with him, but that wouldn’t help against something as elusive as gas. If the door opened fast enough, they could slip under it and get away from the smoke…
“Hold on, Heero! The door is almost open…hold on!” Another metal clank was heard, and Heero almost collapsed, coughing wildly. Duo wrapped his arms around him to keep him upright, despite his own body trembling. Heero latched at him, fingers digging into his arms for support. Duo moved forwards, taking Heero with him, all but dragging him through the opening, yelling at him to hold on. The door was lifted up slowly by a rattling mechanism, outdated and rusty, and if they had to wait one minute longer in this corridor they would suffocate from the smoke.
“Come on,” Duo growled and pushed Heero through the opening, forcing him on his knees to crawl forward. He was coughing himself, eyes slowly starting to tear - what the hell was this kind of gas anyway? - and his vision started spinning. Blinking, willing himself to stay focused, he crawled after Heero, underneath the door.
“Water,” Heero mumbled and blindly searched for his water bottle, unscrewing the cap and taking careful sips, moistening his lips. Duo mimicked his gesture, unable to unscrew the cap right away because of his trembling fingers. They couldn’t afford to stay here, not with the lingering smoke - Duo only took a few sips and licked the droplets off of his lips, using the moment to get his mind clear again.
There wasn’t much difference between the corridor they left and the one they were facing just now, with the exception that this one was absolutely a dead end. Nothing but a spiral staircase leading into…a dark pit in front of them, and angry curling smoke with whatever health hazard behind them.
“I guess this is what keeps the excitement going, right?” Duo grinned half-heartedly, adjusting the position of the flashlight once again. Heero didn’t comment, obviously collecting his bearings, coughing now and then. He brusquely wiped off the tears on his cheeks, his eyes irritated from the gas, and his breathing still was uneven. There wasn’t much of a choice left for them.
“We have to move.” Duo nudged him, resulting into a sharp nod and another coughing fit. Heero didn’t comment on Duo going down first - the moment they worked together again they had fallen back into their old routine of taking the lead and following, guiding and examining, alternating and switching whenever the situation asked for it. They had never established a pattern beforehand; it just…came naturally to them.
Moving away from the gas, Duo started descending the stairs. The steps were carved out of stone and were ridiculously small; he lost track of counting them, and he lost track of time. Deeper and deeper down it went, in his imagination they were approaching the center of the Earth by now. The walls became even narrower as they progressed, and it was a good thing he wasn’t claustrophobic. The rubber soles of their boots made no noise on the stairs, and it went down and down and down…endlessly down.
“I wonder where we’re going to end up,” Duo finally said, his voice sounding muffled. Slightly annoyed, he pulled the cloth he had wrapped around his head down, repeating his words.
“I wouldn’t know,” Heero answered him, his voice hoarse and raspy. The strange smoke they encountered earlier hadn’t been poisonous, but Duo was wary of the consequences. As soon as they had finished their business here, he wanted to have both of them examined by a doctor.
“Whatever has been buried here, they wanted it to be hidden extremely well.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Duo said, and he shivered from the excitement. They were getting close now, at the brink of a new discovery - even if it would end up a dead lead, even if they wouldn’t find a thing, it was the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of the game. Suddenly his foot touched the ground, and he stumbled forward.
“Holy shit! I touched the ground!”
“Finally,” Heero heaved a melodramatic sigh, coughing again. His calves hurt from the monotonous movement and he shook his legs, flexing his muscles.
He swung his flashlight around, shivering from the cold. His clothing wasn’t of the same material as what Hilde had invented for Duo, and the temperature had dropped significantly along the way down.
“There’s no other path to take then what’s right in front of us,” he said. Duo was checking the GPS, trying to calculate where they were.
“South and southwest…” He clicked with his tongue. “I think we’re almost literally in the heart of the country.”
Sanq wasn’t that large, and the Palace was the heart of the capital, built on the geographical center of the nation. He opened his mouth to say something again, but closed it.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Duo said, tugging at his braid. Heero threw him a quizzical look. He seemed to be fine again after breathing in the strange smoke, and was eager to continue their expedition, especially now that both were feeling that they were getting close. He waited until Duo would continue talking, but when he remained silent he simply turned around to follow the small corridor. Sounds were deceptive, especially so deep underground…Duo told himself that he imagined hearing a strange sound. Get in, get the artifact, get out again. That was the only thing that mattered right now.