"Godohgodohgodohgod" was his mantra as he bolted down the halls, feet making soft 'shh' sounds as they hit the ground. His mission had flickered up on his screen less than an hour ago: save Heero, and get back as soon as possible. It was no secret to any of the pilots that Heero was the most valued of them: he focused only on the mission, no matter the consequences. He was a better fighter than any of them, was the only one who could safely pilot Zero. He had been captured by OZ at his last battle when he had been outnumbered by hundreds too many, and his self-destruct button had failed to work.
Long chestnut braid flying behind him like a banner, Duo turned the last corner and stood, staring in shock at the sight before him. Around him as a large room, the only door behind him. The walls were bare of any decoration, save for large-paned windows that ringed the huge space. And in front of him was...
"Drop the gun," came the soft voice, kind, warm, even. It clattered, unbidden, to the floor. "Good boy," came the whisper.
"But... what?!" Duo's eyes flicked between Relena and Heero, not connecting. The blond was dressed more plainly than usual: a plain, white cotton dress that reached her calves, accentuating a slender figure and long, slim legs. Her hair was braided back into two plaits as usual, and she was barefoot. Beside her an unconscious Heero lay, one shoe ripped off and tank top rumpled from a fight. His tousled hair was a stark contrast to the immaculate Peacecraft.
"Hush, boy... Do not ask answers of what you do not comprehend." Her silky-sweet voice was clear and still managed to ooze sickly sweet contempt at the same time.
"Like HELL, bitch!" he snarled. "Let him go!"
"Why do you demand this of me?" She stood, slowly sliding Heero's head down her lap so he gently hit the floor without pain. "I hold all the cards, Shinigami. And you hold nothing. And yet you still demand this boy's life? Why?"
She slowly seemed to glide down the stairs from the throne-like chair of the huge room. Her eyes flicked behind Duo, and the doors behind him slammed shut, the unmistakable, final sound of a lock clicking into place echoing in the room. She walked to Duo, and caressed his cheek with icy fingers. "Why?" she whispered again, staring him directly in the eyes.
"I..." Whatever lie was on his lips melted like sugar candy underneath her powerful gaze. "I... he's important to the mission." He finished lamely, the half-truth seeming to strip him bare. Relena shook her head sadly.
"Cousin!" she called, gesturing. "That will be enough for now."
"Cousin? Huh? What the HELL is going on here?!"
With a grunt, Heero sat up, his eyes narrowed into slits as he appraised the scene around him. Swiveling his head like an owl, he searched for a gun. One lay by his left ankle, and he reached for it with blinding speed. "Uhn!!" was ripped from his mouth as his arm stopped short, fingers
spread-eagled in desperation as he reached for the weapon. There, holding him back at the wrist, was a gleaming iron manacle that hadn't been there an instant before. A sound of snapping locks; weight pulled on his right wrist.
"Nanda kor'ya" came the unbelieving whisper from the American. Never one to be short of words, he whirled on Relena. "What the heck just happened?!" he roared at her. Relena shrugged gracefully.
"Nothing," she said simply. "Merely didn't want him to get away until we've had a chance to talk." With a snarl, Duo ducked down, swept up his gun and hurled it to Heero. The quiet boy snatched it from the air as it hurtled towards him, and emptied all six barrels at the insane girl.
As each bullet hit, Relena's body jerked sickly. She shook her head as if to say, 'Stupid children', and stepped over to Heero once more without a falter to her step. No blood blossomed like cruel roses through her white dress. No holes marred the stark snow-white material.
"Sweet," she said planting a kiss directly on his mouth before he ripped away, glaring at her with wild eyes. "You can't kill me." She turned to Duo, and beckoned with a finger, as if calling an animal. "Come."
"What! Like hell!" In defiance of his words, Duo's knees bent and he took a halting step forwards. "What the hell..." He visibly fought against the pull, trying to force his feet from drawing ever closer to Heero and the insane woman who watched him with cool amusement.
Finally stopping a mere foot from her, he collapsed, his shoulders shaking from his futile defiance. "What are you doing to me?" he asked, terror twisting about his voice like steel bonds. He looked up at her with panic pouring out of his shimmering amethyst eyes. "How can you do this?"
Relena knelt by him and watched him with pitying eyes. "Sugar," she said, pleasure dripping from her tone. "You call yourself Shinigami, do you not? Answer me!"
With a garbled choke, Duo mumbled an affirmative, all the while shaking his head violently. Relena smiled ferally, and pressed herself to Duo. "We'll see," she said against his lips, and kissed him hard. Despite his resistance, Relena managed a grip on the back of his head and held him to her. "Respond to me," she snarled. Reluctantly, Duo allowed the kiss, a cry reverberating from his chest as she harshly bit his lower lip.
Stepping back, she appraised her two captives. Duo glared at her, hatred burning in his violet eyes like a fire. He spat to the side, and a stream of red blood hit the marble stairs with a smack. "You are undoubtedly angry now, and asking yourselves why I'm doing this. Well, loves, I'm doing this simply because I can. Because I'm bored, and you're here." She sat back down at her 'throne', a step on the stairs near to Heero, and absently stroked the boy's hair. "Now how I did this... well, loves, that is an entire different question, is it not? First, answer me a question: who do you think I am? Heero. Why don't you answer this for us?" she said, all but purring.
Heero glowered at her, again wondering why he had never killed her when he had had the chance, and again wondering why Duo simply had to come in then, all that time ago on the dock, just when he had her at his mercy.
"Sweet, I have never been at your mercy," came the patient voice. "Now who do you think I am?"
"Relena Darlian-Peacecraft, last and heir of the Peacecraft line, one of the most influential of the World Powers," he ground out, wondering how she could have know what he had just been thinking Was she a mind reader? She patted his head appraisingly.
"Good boy," she said wryly. "A mind reader of an entirely different sort. In any case, that's who you think I am. Who am I?"
"Why is who we think you are any different than who you are, Peacecraft?" snarled Duo. "And why is this important?"
"Love, calm down. This is far more important than you think it is. Look at me." Both boys carefully looked elsewhere. "Look at me," she snarled. Reluctantly both did.
With a flash of lightning, the room changed. Relena stood, her heavy black robes pooling around her ankles. Though the robes were much too big for her, she ascended the stairs easily. A pair of bat wings hugged her back like a
cape, disappearing through her robes through deep slits. Her eyes, still, were kind, even as she held a scythe so similar to Duo's own in her pale white hands, her fingers over-long, nails more like claws than should have been. Her face was the single thing that saved her from becoming a total monster-like phantom. Her hands caressed her scythe's handle like a lover greeting an old, life-long friend.
"Loves, despite what you may believe or think, Duo Maxwell, despite any dreams otherwise, is mortal. A mere mortal, with all the flaws, all the liabilities, all the limitations. There is only one Shinigami, sweets." She
crossed over to Duo, and caressed his face once more with her eyes. "And I'm it."
"But what do we have to do with this?!" cried Duo. "Why did you capture Heero and me, and.. but... well.." He spluttered to a stop, uncharacteristically at a loss for words. He looked at Heero, his expressive amethyst eyes begging for help. He returned his gaze to Relena, and it stayed there. Backing away as if from a wild animal, he reached Heero's side.
Relena shrugged again, the wings at her back unfurling slightly in the movement. "Again, I said I was bored. Not only that, but OZ would have killed him. Immortality, unlike its glorious sugarcoating, is simply that: life forever. No change, no danger, because once you get used to life, that's it. You've made your mistakes, all the other immortals have jobs that they can't be bothered from, even the evil incarnates are few and far between. So I grew tired of death. Tired of sickness, and being the one that people curse. You mortals are fascinating, you know that? Emotions like hatred, anger, love... love most of all. Beautiful enigmas and magnificent miracles course through your life at each moment. But you've lost the need to look, or even see if you did.
"And so... I borrowed this girl's body for a while. Just the past couple of weeks, so I could see how mortals move, think, fell. She is a vessel, if you will. I'll give the body back to her, don't worry. But I've earned a vacation after all these millennia, wouldn't you think? However short, I've learned a lot here. Heero," she beckoned. "You've been a special adventure in the past few weeks that I've been here. The girl whose body I took adores you, is obsessed with you, believes she loves you. I wanted to feel that." The woman shrugged leegantly. "It's been an experience, Heero Yuy." She walked to him, and kissed him thoroughly. "I'm sorry I couldn't make you love me in return before I had to leave. The hatred was enough emotion," she added dryly. "And I've learned enough about emotion for a while."
She stood, looking Duo in the eyes. "Duo Maxwell, you call yourself God of Death," she said thoughtfully. "Did you ever consider the possibility of actually being one?"
Duo looked at her fear and disbelief and horror flickering through his eyes, then slow understanding. "You're serious? I'd actually be Shinigami?" The apparition nodded.
"Seriously, Duo. You would be, in form, name, and truth, Shinigami. Duo," she said, looking him in the eyes. "It gets dull after a while," she said honestly. "All the power, nothing can kill you. You can kill anything, can not kill everything. The power would be yours."
"Everything?" Duo asked, a light coming to life in the back of his eyes. "Everything no more pain, or worry? No more suffering?" The immortal shook her head. Duo burst out into a smile, his eyes lighting up more than they
had since had killed his first time, had tasted his first blood, held Sister Helen's lifeless body in his arms. "No more suffering..." he repeated, the idea obviously appealing to him more than anything.
"No. No emotions, sweet."
"And no love."
"No love," she reiterated regretfully.
Duo bit his lip, and glanced back at Heero as he was regarded warily. "No," he said after a moment of deep concentration, the sorrow evident in his tone. "I've got too much holding me here in mortality. I wouldn't want to lose that."
Death smiled, a real smile this time. "You are wise, Duo Maxwell," she said. She lay a hand across his eyes, closing them. "Cousin," she called softly. As Duo slumped into her arms, nearly asleep already, she held him and whispered into his ear: "Don't let go of him." She let him gently drop, and turned to Heero.
"Ah, Heero. The only mortal I have ever come close to loving."
"Hn," was all he could think to say.
"He is beautiful, is he not?" she asked wistfully, a hint of longing in her voice. "Take care of my little Shinigami-chan for me, will you not?" She turned to him, and smiled at his confused look. "Don't play innocent, love. I know why I could never make you love me. Go, now. The guards won't be around for fifteen minutes yet, and you have my Shinigami-chan to help away." She kissed him again, lightly, and stepped back.
"Go, my angel," Death whispered. "Go."
Heero gave her a wary look, and hefted his wrists, expecting weight to pull them down like before. He grunted quietly when the manacles slipped from his hands, falling to the ground with a series of metallic clacks.
Giving her a slight half-smile, not his usual smirk but a true smile, he picked Duo up and held him over his hsoulders. Heero ran down the steps and fled the room, not once looking back to the empty room he left behind. |
