"Yuy!" It wasn't Duo's voice that broke the reverent moment. Chang Wufei was running towards him, Nataku firmly in his hand. The katana was darkened with the residue of slain demons and looked battered. Wufei grabbed Heero's hand. "What happened to you? Are you all right?"
"I think… I solved the puzzle," Heero said.
Shocked, he looked around. The church and the yard were gone, and all he saw was the massive onslaught of dark entities, slain by Shinigami who breathed fire and tearing them apart with his strong claws. Heero couldn't stand still reflecting on what he had done, helping Solo to move on to the afterlife. Wufei needed his help, and he needed it now.
"We have to hurry," he told Wufei. "Solo is going to open a rift to the real world!"
"I thought so," Wufei said. "I had a hunch it was him, but…" Apparently, Duo hadn't told him everything about his brother either. "No wonder he is so strong. We are dealing with an entity that has been able to fester on Solo's feelings of abandonment, loneliness and grief for at least fifteen years, if not longer. He is corrupted beyond recognition."
"What happened here?"
"This is all minor hell spawn," Wufei said disdainfully. "The lesser troops of Solo's army, so to say. Unfortunately, there are so many of them that keeping them at bay may take all of our energy. We need Duo. Without him, we cannot bring this to an end."
"How?" Heero refused to show his fatigue, but he was sure Wufei was seeing right through him. The spirit hunter didn't comment, though.
"You have to return to the real world to wake him up," Wufei said. "Whatever you have done… solving the puzzle as you called it… it has restored Duo's soul and returned it to his body. Bring him back here."
"What about you?"
"I can hold my position here." Wufei arched an eyebrow, as if he dared Heero to doubt his words. He didn't. "Shinigami has a lot of energy, but it will take time to get through the sheer number of entities."
"I'll hurry," Heero said and he suddenly realized that he had no idea how to return to the real world. "But how do I…? I went down an abyss. How do I get back?"
"I will perform a ritual," Wufei said. "It will bring you back to the real world for about five minutes. I cannot risk any longer. Otherwise my own energy will be depleted. You will have to hurry."
"Like I've heard anything else," Heero sighed.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing… Just perform the ritual! Please," he added at the last moment. Wufei didn't bother to ask for any elaboration, swung Nataku around and carved a circle in the brittle ground of the otherworld. He quickly added signs and words in a language Heero didn't understand, but the light that burst through the circle was a light he recognized very well. It had the same warmth and comfort to it as the light that had surrounded Solo Maxwell, and with confidence and ease, Heero stepped into it…
…and right into the bathroom in the west wing of the Peacecraft Manor. Duo was still on the floor, covered with towels, exactly the same position they had left him in. The temperature was sauna-like, yet Duo looked pale, his face showing yellowish spots, as if rigor mortis had set in.
Frantically, Heero started shaking him. Duo felt so cold to the touch… He couldn't be dead.
The reason why I can - and will always - wield Deathscythe is because I'm dead, Heero.
"No, no, no! You're NOT dead! Duo! Duo! I saved your soul! Duo!" He shook and shook, becoming more agitated as precious seconds flew by. "Duo!"
After all he'd been through, he couldn't deal with this. Not Duo. He couldn't be dead. If he was dead, he was going to kill himself too! Without Duo, his life had no value whatsoever, and fuck the entire otherworld, fuck Solo Maxwell and his rift and his army of dark entities, and fuckfuckfuck…!
His voice echoed hollow in the bathroom. He barely realized he was screaming… until another sound mixed in with his pleas and cries, a soft, moaning sound. Heero abruptly went quiet, holding his breath.
"Stop…shaking…me…" Duo rolled his eyes, his cheeks an unnatural red, and he coughed a few times. Heero moved his right arm around Duo's shoulders and cupped his face with his left hand.
"Duo, you scared the living hell out of me!"
"It's nice to see you too," Duo answered deadpan. He squinted his eyes and let out a shaky sigh. "Ow, such a headache."
"You have to take it easy…"
"I don't have time." Duo tried to free himself from the towels. "We have to stop Solo from opening the rift. How much longer can you stay here?"
"I'm not sure," Heero said. "Chang said about five minutes."
"All right. Go. Go help him and Shinigami. I'll find you."
"Oh no, I'm not going to let go of you!"
Duo answered him by shifting his arms around him and latching onto him for a firm kiss. His lips were still cold, but the ferocity in his kiss was enough to set Heero's entire body on fire.
"Not now, my love," he said. "We're going to save the world first, okay? Then we'll have sex - and lots of it."
Heero suppressed a chuckle. "I was scared that you were gone…"
Duo shoved the towels away and moved his limbs one by one, stretching himself. "I was afraid I was a goner too," he said. "It took almost everything I had to keep my soul alive."
"Then you're not strong enough to go back. Duo, I…"
"You forget who I am," Duo said rudely. "I have to go back, and so do you. We have unfinished business to take care of, and we both know many lives are at stake."
"The body Solo was talking about…"
"Yes." Duo nodded. "It's Mark. Don't worry, Heero: once we stop Solo, we can fix everything and retrieve both his body and Khushrenada's soul."
Heero had forgotten all about the playboy actor and only felt slightly guilty about it. His attention was on Duo only, and the spirit hunter noticed; he gave Heero another kiss, a little less ferocious, but not without any less love.
"Hold for another moment," he said. "I'll find you in the otherworld. We'll end this together, all right? Now go back to Wufei and Shini. They need you."
Heero nodded, albeit reluctantly. He had to restrain himself to not throw up, and slowly he broke up the hug. Still reluctant, he moved back to the light behind him and stepped back into the otherworld.
"Did you find him?" Wufei yelled over the screeching sounds of the demons slain by Nataku. The katana whirled around but with considerable less speed. Nothing had changed about the intense heat of Shinigami's flames, and the dragoyle took out wave after wave of minor hell spawn and dark entities.
"I can't understand why there are so many," Heero muttered.
"I have never seen it like this before either," Wufei was quick to answer. He lowered his arms, breathing erratically. "This has been years in the making. Solo… No, the demon calling itself Solo has had plenty of time to plan all of this meticulously, and we knew nothing about it until it was almost too late."
"Duo is alive," Heero said, "and he's going to find us."
"Good. Let us help him out by thinning out a few ranks, shall we?" Wufei pulled out Shenlong and tossed it to Heero. "Be more careful with it next time," he chastised him. "It belonged to Master Long."
Heero took the weapon and unsheathed it, not wondering about how Wufei had been able to retrieve it. The otherworld was full of surprises and strange events; explanations, if there were to be any, had to wait for later.
The dark entities had spotted him and crawled towards him, and their hatred and anger wasn't the only thing that Heero felt. Pain, agony, resentment… Everything negative was thrown at him, latching onto his last physical and emotional strength. Everything that had negativity in it, every dark demon, spirit or entity lashed out - and Heero answered, with a blessed weapon in his hand and the utmost belief in and love for Duo in his heart. He sliced through the first wave of darkness with ease, and the bosses ran away howling and screaming, finding nothing to parasite on.
Relena gave me a job because I was qualified. I've never known my real father and mother, but I forgive them. They had their reasons for doing what they did. Leaving me into foster care and with Odin Lowe was probably the best choice they ever had. I don't hate them. I don't resent them. I love you, Duo. I love you with my heart and soul.
Were they advancing? Heero didn't see any difference between the entities coming at him, except for their size and their tenacity to cling to all that was negative, draining him and Wufei.
How much longer would they be able to uphold their strength? Shinigami didn't seem to be affected, the creature still breathing fire, but the sheer number was simply overwhelming.
Despite everything, Heero's movements slowed down, his body at its limit. Wufei was struggling as well, using his powers as a Judge to ban dark entities and the sharp blade of Nataku to dispose of the minor hell spawn, but it was just too much.
They weren't making much progress, and every minute that they were dealing with the minor entities, the demonic version of Solo Maxwell moved forward, supported by the stronger creatures, opening the rift to create his passage to the real world.
"Get…out…of…my… way!" Heero gritted his teeth as he slashed and cut. For every dark entity slain, three or four others popped up, all of them tenacious and obnoxious, and he couldn't see an end. Shenlong dripped with the residue of the creatures, leaving puddles of dark goop on the ground.
"Maxwell sure is taking his time," Wufei, close to him, wheezed. He'd been fighting the demon army for quite a while now, and Heero knew how important it was to eat and rest - but there was no time, not now!
"We have to keep going," he tried to encourage the other.
"We are barely making any progress! The longer we waste our time here, the sooner Solo has opened the rift!"
"Keep going!" Heero repeated, lifting up his arm to take another swing at the entities. Before he could use Shenlong again, the crowd came to a standstill. The entities huddled together, silent, anger and hatred still tangible, mixed with… fear?
"There you are, Maxwell," Wufei said without looking behind him. Heero almost dropped Shenlong and turned around, his muscles sore and his body exhausted, but his heart beating proudly.
"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess right now," Duo said. Clad in his armor, Deathscythe firmly in his hands, and his face determined, he was every inch the Executioner. The dark entities felt it, and if it was possible, they moved back, scared and anxious. "If you mind getting out of the way, gentlemen?"
Wufei was next to Heero and dragging him along before he could even respond. Duo lifted up Deathscythe, the curved blades sharp and menacing. Shinigami, hovering above, opened its mouth and spat a huge ball of fire, straight towards Duo, yet the fire didn't catch him, instead finding the blessed weapon. The blades turned red from the intense heat enveloping them, but the metal didn't melt.
Blazing with the force of a dozen suns, the dark entities cowered at the sight, trying to escape. They had nowhere to run to. The screeching got louder, the screaming turning into wailing as Duo swung his weapon, and Deathscythe launched two large blades of fire, cutting through the entire army like a hot knife through butter. The darkness was torn apart and went under while screaming and begging, but there was no mercy for the corrupted souls.
As they were burnt out of existence, the innocent part of their souls moved on, letting go of all the hatred, pain and anger that had bound them to the otherworld. It was a strange sight, to see the light, innocent souls flying sky high to move on, while the heavy darkness was on the ground, coloring it a deep, bloody red.
"We're not done yet," Duo said, swinging the still burning scythe over his shoulder. Shinigami moved forward, its flight less speedy as before; apparently even the dragoyle had its limits. Duo pointed forward, to a huge column of light, previously obscured by the army of dark entities. "He's got to be there! Come on!"
It took every ounce of willpower left in Heero to follow Duo's jog. He forced himself to focus on his steps, on Duo's pace, forcing the exhaustion at bay. He wouldn't be helping anyone if he fell down now, if he gave up now…
Repeating it as a mantra, he managed to hold on, ignoring the dark mass and the goop on his shoes. Demon-Solo's army was scattered, but there were still a few dark entities around him, the stronger ones like qullu'ans andthe hyn-davilyn that had kept Wufei prisoner.
Heero saw Demon-Solo with Mark Wilkinson's body next to him, amassing the energy necessary to make his transfer. With a human body, he would be able to step through the rift and become corporeal, living in the real world…
Heero didn't want to know where Mark's soul was at the moment. He desperately hoped that Duo would be able to bring him back and that Mark wouldn't suffer from his experiences in the otherworld. He ignored how Relena's husband had ended up here in the first place. Demon-Solo had no eye for everything that was happening around him, as he was busy preparing for the transfer. The hyn-davilyn was the first to notice the approaching Judge, Executioner and Heero.
"Master, Master," it cried out, "they're here! They're here!"
"It doesn't matter." Demon-Solo kept his hand on Mark's shoulder, and turned around to look at the others. "Hey, Duo."
"You'll be Judged and Executed," Duo answered coldly.
"You're always so quick with your decisions," Demon-Solo complained. "But then again, thinking isn't your forte, is it?"
"Shut the fuck up!" Heero had no empathy for him. "You're not Solo. He has moved on. You have no right to exist!"
"I only want to live. That's all I want!"
"You can't fool us any longer," Duo said. "We know you're not Solo. You have played parasite on Solo for years, using his anger to grow and strengthen yourself."
"That was another bad decision, wasn't it, Executioner?"
"I don't owe you shit." Duo was rude, but his eyes belied his words. He looked sad, downtrodden. "It was a bad decision; you could say that. It was my mistake, and I assume full responsibility for it."
"Then you're fifteen years too late," the demon smiled as he spoke. The hyn-davilyn, with its hypnotizing charcoal eyes, whirled around Demon-Solo as if in total rapture. "What a bitter anniversary, isn't it?"
Duo didn't hesitate. "I wanted to keep my brother alive, and I would go to hell and back to make it so. And so I did."
The demon pursed his lips. His hand all but clawed at Mark's shoulder.
"I have accepted every bit of responsibility that comes with the task of Executioner," Duo continued. "I died and I live, and I am who I am. I am what I am. No more regrets, no more pain! Solo moved on, and now it's time for me to move on."
He swung Deathscythe, the tips of the blades pointing towards the demon. "I don't care for your name. I don't care who you are. I don't care what you are. You'll be Judged and Executioned!"
"Bullshit." The demon shoved Mark's body in front of him. Relena's husband moved like a string doll, his arms swaying back and forth. His eyes were empty; Heero felt bad for him. "Your holy fire will burn him to a crisp. You don't want that to happen, do you? You're all for justice and executions, but you won't kill an innocent man. Well, he's not that innocent. Wouldn't you like to know how far he wanted to go to get elected as a mayor? I love - love - greed and corruption, you know that by now."
"Take your hands off of him," Heero hissed. His knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on Shenlong.
"Show your true self, coward," Wufei edged the demon on.
"I'm your brother," the demon said to Duo. "Why are you denying me my chance to live?"
"Because Solo already is alive," Duo answered. He put his hand over his heart. "Right here."
"Bullshit! Lies! Nonsense!" A string of colorful expletives followed, and Duo moved Deathscythe just a little to the right, enough to distract Demon-Solo.
Heero took advantage, throwing Shenlong at the demon's unoccupied arm - and piercing it at the wrist. With a high-pitched screech, the demon let go of Mark, who fell lifelessly to the ground. Wufei jumped forward but missed at the last second. Nataku cut only air; the demon, still with Solo's face, managed to avoid being hit. It cradled its arm to its chest, hissing in pain.
"Enough is enough," Duo said. "We have a rift to close, and you're standing in the way, demon. There's nothing that will redeem you. You're a pool of endless darkness that needs to be stopped!"
Demon-Solo's face was distorted with a horrible grimace, marring its features beyond recognition. "I am your brother!" It yelled with a booming voice as its body started to break and tear, with deafening sounds. The body it had manifested itself with, was shed like a serpent shedding off its skin, but the accompanying sounds were terrible; Heero winced, as if it were his own bones breaking.
"Brace yourself," Wufei said. "It is showing its true face!"
Heero didn't need his warning. He already saw how Demon-Solo was changing, shifting into a grotesque dark being beyond everyone's imagination. He took a step back, overwhelmed by its size and the menace radiating off of it; Shenlong trembled in his hand.
"How are we even going to fight this thing?"
"Leave it to me." Duo looked over his shoulder. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
Shinigami fell from the sky, grabbing the dark entity with its claws and tearing it apart. As soon as the dragoyle got a grip on the demon, Duo swung Deathscythe once more, creating two blades of fire, the heat so intense that both Heero and Wufei started to sweat.
The demon roared, no mouth visible, and it grabbed the surrounding bosses, gwynnfyrs, qullu'ans and more hyn-davilyns, absorbing their negative energy to grow stronger. The dark entities screeched loudly as they were absorbed, spasming and convulsing. Two large arm-like appendices grew from the demon's body and it moved with the speed of light, punching both Heero and Wufei, throwing them away.
Duo didn't have the luxury to spend time to see how they were doing; the two blades hovered in the air, ready to go after their goal as soon as he gave the command.
"You took my brother's face, my brother's name, and even my brother's soul," he hissed.
"Don't be so offended," the demon grinned, if it were possible. His bodiless voice seemed to envelop Duo. "Why shouldn't I benefit from the mistakes of others? If anything, it's all your fault. Don't blame me; blame yourself."
"I'm blaming myself enough as it is," Duo said. The scythe caught the intense glow of the flames and mirrored it. "But neither the otherworld nor the real world is going to suffer from it. You…are…finished!"
Shinigami tore at the demon as the two blades of fire hit it full-on; the roar that escaped it dissolved into a high-pitched ear piercing screech, and its form was torn apart, with both halves immediately catching fire. Burning, it fell to the ground, splattering into every direction.
Duo fell to his knees, dropping Deathscythe. The weapon hit the ground, clattering loudly as the blades cut into the brittle stone.
"Duo!" Heero yelled from afar.
The demon had managed to throw him and Wufei away, and it was hard to ignore the physical pain. Panting for breath, Heero rolled over, lacking the energy to get up and straighten himself; crawling on all fours, he closed the distance between him and Duo. Shinigami landed next to him, surprisingly gentle and silent for a creature of its size; grumbling, it pushed at Duo with its snout.
"Duo…" Heero was finally close enough to grab him at the shoulders, and turned him around. This time he didn't start shaking; Duo's eyes were open.
"I'm fine," he said. "I'm fine, Heero. I just want to get the hell away from here."
"Me too," Heero nodded, relieved. The momentary silence got broken by a loud rumbling from Heero's stomach and Duo laughed. He laughed so hard that tears ran down his cheeks. His laughter turned into hysteria; Heero wrapped his arms around him and kissed him on the wet cheeks.
"It's all right, it's gone," he said. "He wasn't your brother, Duo. Solo is in your heart, not this abomination that carried his face."
"I know, I know," Duo cried. His hands all but clawed at Heero's sweat-soaked shirt. "It was all my fault…"
"It was not, and you know that, Maxwell." Wufei looked just as haggard as the other two; clothes torn and dirty, and a few strands had managed to break free from his tight ponytail. For some reason, the look on his face was much softer than Heero had ever seen from him before.
"Thank you," he said. Wufei only nodded.
"We still have to close the rift, or our work is for nothing." He looked up. "You go ahead, back to the real world. I have some energy left to take care of it."
Heero thanked Wufei again and gathered Duo in his arms. Deathscythe was still on the ground; the weapon had lost the flames and its curved blades were back to their normal, metallic appearance. He didn't bother taking it with him.
The rift was right ahead, and with his last strength, Heero forced himself, while carrying Duo, to get upright and step through the opening, leaving the otherworld behind him. He ended up on the bathroom floor again, unable to uphold Duo's weight.
With a grunt, he collapsed along Duo, and both were sprawled on the floor. Duo had stopped crying, his eyes closed, his face smudged with dark residue from the fight, and his chest heaving. Heero curled up next to him, completely drained.
He barely noticed Wufei stepping through the rift and closing it behind him, before the spirit hunter collapsed himself. The bathroom wasn't that large, and they were all in a heap on the floor. Someone had to get up and get them out of there… but no one could muster up the energy.
Heero had no idea how long they were on the floor, when someone banged on the door, accompanied by a female voice: "Heero? What's going on? What was all that noise? Heero? Heero!"
Chapter 12 | Chapter 14 |