Shinigami crossed the skies with Heero and Duo on its back. Duo was sitting in front of Heero, his legs crossed. To him, riding the dragon's back was fairly normal, but Heero clung to him, as it was impossible for him to find a good sitting position between the hard scales. The large scythe lied in-between them. Heero ignored the blades as much as possible. The only thing that mattered right now was the one-on-one contact with Duo.
He held his arms wrapped around his waist, avoiding putting his head against his shoulder, due to the sharp, pointed triangles on the shoulder pads. It was impossible to feel Duo's body heat. His armor-like clothes were cool to the touch, and his braid hung lifelessly on his back. Shinigami's speed and the wind made it impossible to keep up a conversation, yet Heero gave it a try. He tapped Duo on the shoulder. As soon as the other turned his head, he hollered at him: "How far?"
"I don't know!" Duo yelled back.
Just as he said it, Shinigami took another sharp nosedive and they had to hold on for dear life. If it weren't for the noisy wind, Heero would swear that he could hear Duo laughing. Shinigami landed and folded its wings, allowing its riders to slide to the ground.
"So, what's going on?" Heero asked.
"Wufei is being trapped by a hyn-davilyn," Duo answered. "This could be a lot tougher than I thought."
"What do you mean? What kind of entity is that?"
"It's a manipulative creature with shape-shifting capabilities," Duo said. "It's highly intelligent. Wufei would never have fallen for its lies and manipulation if he hadn't been so extremely tired. That's why I always tell you to keep your energy levels up and eat plenty. Human life and soul energy is a banquet to the dark entities." He heaved a sigh. "The dav took advantage of Wufei not being fully prepared. It caught him off-guard and sprung a trap on him… I'll chew Wufei out later, but first I want him safe."
"All right, but how?"
"We have to be careful. Hyn-davilyns are always surrounded by… Well, you could call them groupies. Fanboys. Weak demons and very minor hell spawn, who are attracted by the power the davs radiate. They flock together... like this."
Heero's heart sank to his shoes when he saw what Duo was looking at. In front of them was a huge, darkened field of demons and entities, pressed together, crawling on top of each other, like a continuous, nauseating sea of waves. The negativity that radiated off of the field was massive; petrified, Heero wanted to search out Duo's hand.
However, Duo took a step forward, right into the field, and the entities moved aside, like a splitting ocean. An almost reverend crowd, and as he followed Duo, Heero could hear "Executioner" here and there. Did these entities even have conscience and awareness enough to realize what Duo was?
Behind him, close on his heels, the entities closed the gap behind him, tumbling and crawling all over each other again. Whatever respect they were paying to Duo, it was barely enough to include him. Heero could feel them scraping his shoes and back, sometimes even nudging his shoulders, and it made his skin crawl.
"Where's Wufei?" Duo asked a sinister looking creature. It folded its wings right in front of it, hiding its face, not answering. Duo's eyes were as dark as his jacket. The scythe didn't catch any glimpse of light in this area; the weapon loomed just as evil and eerie as the black entities around them. Duo asked other creatures, but none of the entities dared to look at his face, and moved to step aside, creating a path. Heero couldn't see where they were going, and followed Duo. The spirit hunter turned around, his eyes determined and focused.
"Careful now," Duo said, "let me do the talking, Heero. If the dav asks you something, you can answer, but keep it short."
"He can actually ask me something?"
"I told you, it's highly intelligent and very manipulative," Duo said. "Here we are. Pay attention, and be careful."
"All right." Heero blinked a few times. The otherworld was strange, and on top of it, it was screwing with his eyesight. Out of nowhere, a building rose up in front of them, a majestic castle without walls or borders. The laws of physics didn't seem to work here either; the huge door that was as tall as a skyscraper blocked their way, despite the castle being totally open, the furniture and rooms visible. The door was fitted with golden lining and symbols and sported a golden bell. Duo shrugged.
"We have a vain one - or so it seems," he said and moved his hand to pull the chain. The door slid open after the first ring. The weaker demons hadn't followed them; they were alone in a large hallway, lit by golden chandeliers, hanging in mid-air without any obvious support. A velvet red carpet stretched out in front of them; without another word, they started walking.
"How long..?" Heero whispered after he saw what had to be the millionth chandelier. Duo didn't bother to answer.
Another door was blocking their way, but Duo didn't ring the golden bell attached to it. Instead, he grabbed his scythe and swung it towards the door, slicing it in half. The two door panels fell inwards with a loud thud. Duo stepped calmly through the door, straight to a small, elevated platform in the middle of the huge room.
Next to the platform was Chang Wufei in a silver birdcage, sitting in a lotus position, strict and serene, and he didn't seem to notice see anyone or anything around him. He didn't react to Duo or Heero entering the room. Heero wanted to call out to him, but he remembered that Duo had told him to only answer to questions.
His eyes caught the sight of a throne on the platform, a preposterous piece of furniture with gold and silver panels on it, hideously carved with grotesque sceneries of people being tortured and adorned with huge and massive gemstones.
"I see you're admiring my throne." The hyn-davilyn spoke with a voice that could be a male as well as a female. It sat draped all over the throne, a humanoid creature with anthracite skin, in which the obscene throne mirrored itself. It even had a face, which could be described as ethereally handsome.
It was rather fascinating, that it could speak even though it had no visible mouth to speak through. The facial features were moving, but it had no lips, no teeth… but the creature had eyes, charcoal eyes, completely focused on its visitors.
"Who do you bring before me, Executioner?" It laughed, a joyous, contagious sound - Duo didn't laugh. "An exchange for your beloved Judge? I see you have brought a strong one along with you. A very strong one. This one will do."
"Shut up, dav." Duo's voice was cold, so cold. "I'm not here to exchange anything. I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine."
The hyn-davilyn hissed. "So try to take back what's yours, Executioner."
With a swing of his scythe, Duo cut through the silver and gold throne, and the dav jumped away elegantly, sliding through the air like the wind and materializing close to the birdcage, folding its arms. "A strong one. He'll be much more amusing than the Judge. What's your name?"
"My name is Heero Yuy," Heero answered, taking great pride that his voice didn't waver at all. He wasn't even flinching. The creature looked at him with more than admiration, with fascination.
"You instructed him well. I didn't expect anything less from you, Executioner." The hyn-davilyn was completely at ease. He didn't seem to care much for his precious throne, reduced to rubble. "Tell me, Heero Yuy, what made you come here? Were you following the Executioner? Or is there something else that brought you down here?"
Heero was about to answer, but Duo stopped him, putting a hand on his chest.
"Don't try to trick him, dav. You ask too many questions. You're allowed to ask only one question every turn. Don't tell me I have to explain you how it works."
"Very well. Choose the question you would like to answer, Heero Yuy. As long as I'm only allowed to hear one answer, you're allowed to stay here and live."
"I came here to rescue a friend." Heero looked at Wufei, but he was pretty sure that even calling him a friend wouldn't change anything. Not a single hint of recognition came from his cage.
"Humans." The hyn-davilyn was indeed amused. "So predictable and weak."
"You have your precious answer." Duo moved the scythe again. "Release the Judge. You're bringing this world out of balance. I'll find the one who's pulling the strings here."
It crossed Heero's mind that Duo had formed his sentences with care, carefully to avoid asking any question himself. It had something to do with the unwritten rules of this world, and Heero made a mental note to ask about it later. Every creature had its own approach, he guessed. He was glad that Duo was dealing with it. He wouldn't like to find out what happened if he had unknowingly answered more of the entity's questions.
"Do you really think there's someone pulling the strings?" As quick as he was amused, the hyn-davilyn was quick to anger. "I took that fool by myself! He was as audacious as to barge into my home and demanding to release the souls I've been gathering! He was Judging my collection of soul reapers and condemning me to not use them anymore! He was so open to suggestion, the fool!"
Another move with the scythe made the entity go silent. Its charcoal eyes were paying more attention to the scythe than to Duo or Heero.
"The Judge," Duo said. "You will release him - right now - or you'll be banished to Nothing."
If it was possible, the creature would have been licking its lips. "I can't give you to him, Executioner. Not without an exchange." The scythe swung closer to it, and the hyn-davilyn danced out of its way, with the same elegance, now laughing, if only a little nervous. "Even you have to obey the rules. Even you don't rule supreme here, Executioner. You can banish me, but you'll still know nothing. An exchange, if you please."
"An arrangement," Duo said.
"What kind of arrangement?"
"You'll give me the Judge, and I'll leave."
The hyn-davilyn laughed again. "And what's in it for me?"
"Like I said, I'll leave. Don't make me repeat myself ever again, dav."
"As you wish," the entity folded its arms again and made a gesture with its hand. The birdcage fell apart; the silver bars rolled over the floor. "Take him. But Executioner…"
"If you dare to threaten me, the agreement is off. Nothing is nothing compared to where I'll banish you to then," Duo growled. The hyn-davilyn hissed, screeching out loud, and it disappeared all of the sudden. Duo raced towards Wufei, followed by Heero.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"Just a fart in his direction," Duo answered. "There's nothing compared to Nothing, but fortunately for us, he didn't know that. Wufei! Wufei!"
"He's barely breathing!" Heero checked for a pulse. Duo shook his head.
"It's some kind of meditation technique, but I didn't know he was capable of it in the otherworld," he said. "He can bring himself into a state of suspended animation. We have to make sure to bring him back slowly and carefully; otherwise we'll tear his soul apart."
"How do we leave here?"
"Shinigami will bring us back to the rift," Duo said as he lifted up Wufei. "He'll be waiting for us outside. Let's go, Heero."
Heero took Wufei from Duo and left it to his lover to create a path through the amassed crowd of weak demons and minor hell-spawn, aware of those green, red, and charcoal black eyes looking at the both of them. The hissing, snarling and grunting sounds had added to his nausea; he'd wanted to get out of here, fast.
Now that the hyn-davilyn had left, the castle dissolved, disappearing with a gust of the bone-chilling wind, as if it had never been there. Shinigami, not hundred meters away from them, had breathed a little fire of joy when it saw Wufei. It was the longest, hardest hundred meters in Heero's life.
The dragon brought them back to the rift and when they crossed over to the real world, Heero felt the same cold and pain as when he had entered the otherworld. Somehow it was easier to bear the second time around, perhaps because of Duo's presence, but it wasn't something enjoyable. Combined with his fatigue, Heero panted roughly when he stepped back into the pantry of Khushrenada's villa.
Duo ordered him to lie Wufei down. Before Heero could comment that there were two Wufeis on the floor, Duo had started to perform a ritual. Wufei's soul reunited with his body in a painful procedure, twitching and arching just like Trowa Barton had done when the boss had been removed from his soul. Wufei screamed, flailing his arms and kicking his legs, until he collapsed. While Heero was staring aghast at Wufei's body, Duo scurried around to find a table cloth. He wrapped it around Wufei in an attempt to get his body temperature up.
"What did you do?" Heero asked. He saw the fatigue on Duo's face; performing the ritual had taken a lot of his energy.
"I'd love to educate you on the fine arts of binding souls and how to return them to their body, but I'm beat," Duo said. "Besides, we're trespassing. We better get going."
Not even Shinigami made a fuss about its mode of transportation; the dragoyle waggled into the cat carrier itself and rolled up into a ball, huffing just a little bit of smoke. Duo took his backpack and the carrier while Heero carried Wufei, who was as silent as a corpse.
It was heaven to lie on a comfortable bed. Duo's bedroom housed the large bed, a nightstand, a cupboard, and a myriad of cushions, pillows, rugs, and afghans in the most colorful patterns possible, strewn all over the bed and the floor.
Despite the warmth in the room, Heero could still feel the cold of the otherworld. It didn't help that Duo wasn't next to him; he was in the kitchen to make all the food necessary for their recovery. How he still had the energy to stir into pots and pans was a mystery to Heero. He wanted to curl up and stay in bed for the rest of his life.
A few minutes later, Heero pushed at the covers and swung his legs out of the bed. He couldn't leave all the work to Duo, and besides, he didn't like being weak. He put on a bathrobe and tied the belt in front of him before leaving the bedroom.
Tiptoeing through the small hallway, he passed the guestroom. He didn't need to take a look to know who was in there; he had put Chang Wufei to bed himself, with a little help of Duo.
He went into the kitchen, amused to see Duo dressed in an oversized shirt - one of his shirts - and a pair of sweat pants. He was adding another helping of scrambled eggs on a large plate, next to a huge stack of pancakes, sandwiches, and a bowl of soup.
Heero slipped his arms around Duo's waist, the spirit hunter leaning against him, his head against his shoulder. A tired smile showed on his face, but his eyes vibrated energetically.
"Cooking up a storm again, hm?" he said.
"Yes, we really need to replenish our energy," Duo said, as he was sprinkling the scrambled eggs with salt and pepper.
"I know." Heero held Duo close, almost hampering his movements. "It was quite scary, back there."
Duo tilted his head and pursed his lips for a kiss despite the awkward angle, but as soon as their lips touched, they both heaved a sigh.
"Don't ever follow me that recklessly again, Heero. I mean it." Duo's gaze was stern. "You could've gotten yourself into trouble that I couldn't have gotten you out of. You saw how difficult it was to save Wufei, and he's a full-trained spirit hunter. He's going to get an earful as soon as he wakes up."
"Is he hurt?"
"Nah, only his pride. When I'm done cooking, I'll perform a cleansing ritual on him to make sure there's no residue left. He was open to an attack, and the dav immediately preyed upon it."
"Why did Chang rush in anyway? He knows better."
"We'll ask him." Duo pointed at the pan. "Let me finish the hash browns and then we'll wake him up."
Heero waited for Duo to finish and followed him to the guestroom. He was curious to what kind of ritual Duo was going to perform. Wufei was still in bed, tucked in, lying motionless, his chest barely heaving. Duo gently pulled back the covers to reveal Wufei's trim body, clad in a warm pair of track pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
Moving his hands, Duo made sure not to touch Wufei, but he shifted his hands meticulously as he spoke words in a language Heero didn't recognize. There was nothing to see, actually, just Duo moving his hands, from Wufei's head to his toes.
Finally, Duo heaved a sigh and dropped his arms next to his sides. "It's time to wake up, Wufei."
Almost immediately, Wufei's eyes went open, blinking a few times. "Maxwell," he said with a raspy voice. "Did you… Did you manage to close the rift?"
"At least there's nothing wrong with his memory," Duo said and chuckled. "Let's eat, and then we'll talk."
Heero expected Wufei to protest, but the spirit hunter obediently climbed out of bed. He wavered a little when he stood straight up, and Duo reached for him to help him gain his balance. Wufei shook his head, not accepting any help. Heero figured that it went against his honor to show any kind of weakness, but as Duo didn't comment, he did neither.
Together, they went back to the living room. The table was quickly set, and Duo brought in the dishes. Shinigami was under the table as usual, munching on some meat; the noises it made were oddly comforting to Heero. The dragoyle had saved his life; without the creature, Heero had never been able to find Duo.
Bowl after bowl was emptied, the pots and pans turned upside down to get the last bit of food out. They ate in comfortable silence, only exchanging small talk like "Pass me the salt" or "Can I get some more pancakes?"
After finishing the meal, Heero brought the dirty dishes to the kitchen while Duo made some tea. He returned to the living room with a huge pot of tea, mugs, and a large box with assorted cookies, shortbread, and muffins.
Wufei had changed seats, staring in front of himself with an afghan wrapped around his body. He accepted the tea with a mumbled "thank you" and continued staring into nothing. Duo joined Heero on the couch, curling up against him with his own blend of coffee.
"It's my fault." Wufei broke the silence. "I wasn't fully prepared, and I was low on energy."
"What made you decide to go back to the Khushrenada villa?" Duo asked.
"I checked Master Long's library," Wufei explained, sipping the hot tea. "I found information on Ky-loon-aung, the boss who played parasite on Barton. Something bothered me about him, and I worried that he was just one of many, like a piece of chess, put on a giant board: a board of strategically placed humans to parasite on. I wanted to find out who was behind it all. I recklessly entered the rift and stumbled upon the hyn-davilyn who told me that he knew where to find others like Ky-loon-aung. I agreed, even though I should've known better. I know not to trust a spirit or demon in the otherworld, still I just… fell for it. As soon as I took a few steps, he caught me in the silver cage. You were on time to save me, Maxwell, Yuy."
"You're clearly not recovered yet," Duo said. "You can stay here and rest up."
"I'd love to," Wufei said dryly, "but we have a rift on our hands. We can rest as soon as we got it fixed."
"I don't want a repeat of what has happened," Duo said brusquely. "You're going to stay here and rest up while I think of a plan to get this all sorted out, all right?"
"For now." Wufei pulled the afghan closer around him. His body temperature still wasn't at its regular level, a side effect of his suspended animation. Duo picked up the teapot, noticing that it was empty. He left for the kitchen, and Wufei didn't waste a moment to inquire Heero. "How did you manage to end up in the otherworld?"
"I hitched a ride," Heero said and looked at Shinigami, who was snoring on a pillow in front of an old coal heater. The dragoyle huffed tiny clouds of smoke every time it exhaled. Wufei actually smirked.
"Shinigami is a strange, yet wonderful creature," he said. "I keep combing Master Long's library to find information on him. I'd love to know his origins. But not even Maxwell does. He's a veritable mystery."
"Why do the demons call you Judge and him Executioner?"
"You saw Deathscythe," Wufei said.
"I saw his scythe, yes."
"It's called Deathscythe. It's a holy weapon, just like my Nataku." Heero nodded. He'd been in close contact with Wufei's katana before. "These weapons have been blessed to fight the dark demons of any otherworld. Nataku was passed down in my family; previous generations Chang have guarded and protected this world from any malevolent entity. It's our duty, our calling. Not many people can wield similar weapons. We have been assigned the role of Judge, to pass judgment on souls that need to move on or not. Deathscythe is given to the strongest of us all, the one who decides everything. The one who doesn't pass judgment, but the one who executes. A fearful position, a dreadful position."
Heero looked over his shoulder. In the kitchen, Duo still busied himself with the tea and fresh cookies. He lowered his voice. "But how did he get the weapon?"
"Maxwell's story is his own to tell," Wufei said sternly. He hesitated, shifting around uncomfortably. He also looked in the direction of the kitchen, and lowered his voice to a bare whisper. "I can only tell you this: Deathscythe is only given to those who have died themselves."
"What!" Heero yelled so loud that he startled Shinigami, the creature flying up from its position under the table and flapping around wildly.
Wufei looked like he was already regretting his words, and the next second, a loud ringing noise broke the silence: Heero's smart phone. Shocked, it took him some time to locate it.
When he looked at the display, Heero noticed he had at least 70 missed calls. Quickly, he answered. "Yuy here."
"Mister Yuy, finally!" It wasn't like Harriet to totally panic. "Where have you been? We couldn't reach you! Mrs. Peacecraft needs you, right now!"
Heero brought up his arm to look at his watch. It stood still, so he looked at Duo's wind-up wall clock. Baffled, he realized that he had been away from the office for at least two whole days.
Chapter 8 | Chapter 10 |