Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Pure Blood ❯ Part Five ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vision of Escaflowne or Gundam Wing. They are owned by Sunrise and Bandi and their own respective creators.

Pure Blood Part Five: Guilt and Warnings

By: Elf

Folken looked around at the destructive ruin that Duo had caused. He smiled to himself as he looked around. He bent down and touched a shard of the machine that had held Heero Yuy. The important thing was that Van had escaped.

"Folken, that demon boy escaped," Dillandeu said with a hiss.

Folken replied, "So he bested you?"

"No, he simply had a good stroke of luck," Dillandeu huffed.

Folken smiled and replied, "Oh, did he?"

"He's a demon. He has to be," Dillandeu sneered, looking around. "And look at what he did! I'm surprised that Emperor Dornkirk hasn't sent me after that demon to slay him. And I will." Folken turned to see the demonic glint in Dillandeu's garnet eyes. He saw that look in them whenever he spoke about Van. Folken hated that look.

"We'll just wait Dornkirk's orders," Folken said cooly.

"Ah, you'd trade in your own brother for your own power. Very interesting. You are truly the Master Traitor," Dillandeu said. He spun away with his black cape flying around him.

Folken grit his teeth. Dillandeu's words stung. He had his own reasons for doing all of this, but the death of Fanala had been too much for him to bear. He sighed and ran his living fingers through his hair. His mechanical arm stayed limp beside him, a curse and a reminder of what had happened.

He was a disgrace to the Fanala name. He had failed the Dragonslaying test while his brother had passed with flying colors. He had betrayed his kingdom in a blind moment of fury and to be whole once again. Except that thing which was attached to his shoulder didn't make him whole at all. No, it was a painful reminder of all the penitence he was going to pay one day.

A horrible, painful reminder of the Hell he was going to face.

******

Duo Maxwell was going to Hell. This was a fact he had known for a very long time. The priest's collar he wore around his neck was a reminder and a sort of dark irony. He had tried to deny that fact recently, thinking that he had repented all of his sins. Except, how could the God of Death repent?

He sighed and looked up at Heero's prone form. He looked into Van's sherry colored eyes. This guy was Folken's brother. He studied the young king for a moment then looked back down at Heero. They looked a little alike and they both had that unspoken quality to them that he lacked.

And was jealous of.

He wanted to move, to act, to bury himself in his work so nothing could touch him. He had always kept moving, drifting, never staying at a place for too long in fear of being hurt. Or remembering. He clinched his fingers around the high back chair he was straddling.

He had almost killed his best friend. Who was some sort of fallen angel or something. Hell, he had just almost killed an angel. The worse part was that he enjoyed it, that part of him welcomed it and rejoiced in the fact that he had beaten Heero Yuy, The Perfect Solder. He had beaten the most perfect person on the planet and he didn't care what rules he played by. And he had enjoyed every moment of it.

It made him sick to his stomach.

His head pounded. He remembered the steely look in Heero's eyes when he threatened Relena. Hell, he couldn't blame her for being so pissed. If he was in the same situation, he would have killed himself already. Except, he had no one to be in that situation with. Hilde was just a friend, nothing else. Or a sister, rather. So, he was sort of lonely about that. Then he saw how complicated Heero and Relena and Zechs and Noin's relationships were and was glad that he was alone.

Van asked, "How did you get here?"

Duo remembered sitting down, ready to watch a vampire movie, popcorn in hand and everything. He sighed and said, "I was getting ready to watch a movie and suddenly these knight guys come bursting in. I'm unarmed and there are far too many of those fuckers to get my gun. Then there's this bright damn light and I'm in this room with these scary guys in shrouds."

Duo shivered, remembering the men in the shrouds. He could still see them in his mind now, after he had fought off the brainwashing. He could feel the pain mentally and physically they had inflicted on him. They had tortured him beyond reasoning. They had twisted his mind so that he would turn on his best friend. He wrapped his arms around himself and sighed.

"They did things to me," he managed.

Van asked in a quiet voice, "What did they do to you?"

"They . . . they . . . made me see things that weren't there, changed memories, made me hate my best friend," Duo stuttered, looking at Heero's sleeping form. He reached out to touch him, but he yanked back, afraid that he would hurt him.

"I destroy everything that I touch," Duo realized, talking to himself.

"What do you mean?" Van asked, moving closer.

Duo spun around and pointed to Heero's sleeping form. He shouted, "I nearly killed a fucking angel! That's what! An angel who's my best friend and I fucking enjoyed it! I enjoyed threatening him!"

"Heero is not an angel," Van stated calmly. Duo looked at the intense sherry eyes and took a deep breath. Van added, "He is a Draconian."

"What the fuck is a Draconian?" Duo asked, crossing his arms. He really wished that he had pockets. He just wanted some place to put his hands so that he didn't have to see them. After all, they were stained with his best friend's blood.

Van asked, "Do you know anything about this world?"

"Yeah, its hidden and Earth can be seen as a second moon. Zaibach is trying to take it over and you're the king of Fanala and the pilot of Escaflowne, and Folken's brother," Duo answered calmly.

"What did that traitor say?" Van asked, his sherry eyes darkening.

Duo blinked and answered, "Not much . . . He just mentioned that he had a brother and that he was stronger than he was and he wouldn't let anything happen to him. Then I figured out that brother was you just because of how Folken reacted around you."

Van was about to say something before a feminine shout cut through their conversation. They both ran out of the room and ran up to the deck. Duo was surprised to see Relena "Princess of Pacifism" Peacecraft or Dorlin, whatever the hell she was calling herself now, taking up a fighting stance as the other girl, Hitome, reeled.

"How dare you say that about me!" Relena shouted.

Hitome stood up and punched her. Hitome snapped, "It's true! It wasn't your friend's fault!"

"That street rat? He's not my friend!" Relena sneered.

"Street rat?" Duo echoed. He narrowed his eyes in anger. Van was about to run over to them, but Duo held out his hand. He said, "I'll handle this."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Van replied.

"I won't hurt Hitome," Duo told him as he calmly strode over to the fighting girls. He stepped calmly between them and said, "Okay, if you're gonna fight a cat fight, the number one rule is to tear off eachother's clothing."

"What?" Hitome asked, blushing a deep shade of crimson.

"You pervert," Relena stated, "This is the sort of behavior that I expect from a . . ."

"Street rat?" Duo interrupted with a dark grin.

Relena held up her head and gave a haughty toss of her dark blond hair. She replied, "No, a murdering monster."

"I prefer God of Death, Princess," Duo returned.

Hitome took a deep breath. Duo looked at her and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, she didn't get a good hit in," Hitome replied with a smile.

Duo crossed his arms and looked over at Van. He said, "Yeah, hanging around him would probably get you use to taking the licks." Then he turned to face Relena. He asked, "Now what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"None of your damn business, Duo," she snapped, crossing her arms and staring up at him. Then she pointed at Hitome and said, "She slapped me."

Duo smirked at Hitome. He liked the girl. He could see why Van was so protective of her. He replied, "You deserved it." He parted away from the two women and sighed. He could understand perfectly well why Relena was so pissed. Hell, he was probably more pissed off at himself though.

He had a lot of questions to ask Van. He said, "I've got a mobile suit to repair and questions to ask."

"Understood," Van said.

******

"The Draconian's blood is working exactly how we needed it. Everything is how I envisioned," Dornkirk said with a smile on his withered features.

Folken looked at the blurred image and smiled faintly. Dornkirk could alter fate now. He was going to change everything as they knew it. He had to form some sort of plan to stop him.

"Now, we just need to stop the dragon and everything will be perfect," Dornkirk said with a smile.

Folken grit his teeth. He had to warn Van. Hell, that was all he could do. Dornkirk said, "I want you to prepare an attack to the Crusade from the Dragon Slayers. I think Dillandeu could handle that."

Folken gave a respectful bow and answered, "Of course, my lord. It will be done."

"Excellent. You will be rewarded," Dornkirk said as the image left the screen.

Folken sighed and had the Dragon Slayers assembled. He had to buy Van and the others some time. How, he did not know, but he was getting an idea. He did know that Hitome was the key though. She could stop all of this, possibly, with Van and Escaflowne's help as well.

He walked into the main room and looked at the Dragon Slayers and a grinning Dillandeu. He took a deep breath. He said, "Emperor Dornkirk wants you to attack the Crusade."

******

There were people with wings all around him. A swinging pendent fell across his line of vision. A blue eyed, blond girl turned around and Dillandeu appeared, grinning demonically. Heero watched all of this and sighed.

Altering fate? What did that mean, exactly? He knew the pendent had something to do with it, of course, but what was beyond him. Hitome had the pendent, but what could she do with it?

Heero suddenly knew what was going to happen. Or at least what Dornkirk was planning.

Heero took a deep breath of air and sat up. Pain crashed around his body and he noticed that his clothing, save for his briefs, had been cut off. "Damn it," he cursed softly as he looked around the infirmary. There had to be something he could wear, for decentcy's sake at least.

He sighed when all he saw was a discarded blue jacket. He slid into it. It had to be Allen's, so it hung to mid thigh on him. He guessed that would do. So, he walked out of the room. He ended up wandering to the hanger.

He was surprised to see Duo hanging upside down while tinkering with the black guymelef. Van was sitting on its arm and they were talking. Duo looked thoughtful before a pained expression crossed his face. He could read their lips. Duo was saying, "I understand. I think. But this world's pretty fucked. No offence, Van."

"None taken," Van replied as he handed Duo some sort of tool. He looked at the repair work that Duo was doing and said, "That's amazing that you can do this, and you came from a world with no guymelefs."

"But we had mobile suits. If I had my Gundam, I would have taken out all of Zaibach by now," Duo grumbled, tightening a bolt.

"But our Gundams were destroyed," Heero called out. Duo and Van both looked down at him. Van swung from the arm while Duo sat there, looking at him in disbelief.

Van said, "You're awake."

"Yeah," Heero replied. He was still hurting though. He healed faster than a normal person simply because of all the training and chemical treatments he had gone through as a Gundam pilot. He was still light headed from blood loss as well.

Duo carefully climbed down as Van began to walk over to him. He watched as the ex-Deathscythe pilot swallowed nervously. There was a pained look in the violet eyes as he looked Heero over. Heero expected a smart ass comment about his clothing. Instead, Duo said, "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Heero told him matter-of-factly, "You were brainwashed."

Duo snorted and said, "Tell that to Relena."

Heero said nothing. Instead, he walked over to the repaired guymelef. He ran his fingers over the cool surface and appreciated the craftsmanship. Duo was good at two things: piloting and salvage and repair. He could salvage and repair almost anything as well as pilot almost anything. Heero had been trained to do such and was a master at it, but Duo was all natural talent. Or supernatural talent, in Duo's case.

"We're going to need this," Heero said simply. He turned to Van and asked, "Changing fate?"

"What do you mean?" Van asked, tapping his fingers on his sword.

Heero said, "I dreamed, remembered really, my parents. They were talking about having the ability to change fate." He wasn't going to say anything about the vision yet.

Allen walked in the hanger. His own men were repairing his suit. He looked Heero over and smiled briefly. Van turned around and asked Allen, "Changing fate, is it possible?"

"The Atlantians, your decedents could, according to legend. That was one of the reasons that Zaibach wanted Fried's sword so badly, it was the key to all of that," Allen answered grimly.

Duo looked confused as he looked to the three men. He asked, "Okay, now what the fuck are you three talking about?" He pointed to Heero and said, "I know you're a Draconian and they're decendened from the Atlantians, the people who made Gaea." He pointed to Allen and said, "He's a knight who the prince of Fried is his bastard son." Then he pointed at Van and said, "And he's the king of Fanala and Folken's younger brother."

"Who is half Draconian," Heero replied calmly. Duo's eyes widened as he looked around.

He proclaimed, "This is just getting more fucked and fucked by the moment. And I think Hitome's pendent is some powerful thingie too!"

Heero looked at Van and asked, "What did you tell him?"

"How Hitome came here, the problems of Zaibach, and about Gaea in general," Van answered, looking confused.

Heero smirked and said, "You're not as stupid as everyone believes."

"Bite me, Heero," Duo grumbled, flashing his middle finger.

Van looked between the two friends and asked, "What about Hitome?"

"Her pendent. I had another dream, and it was kept swinging in my face. And I also saw a little girl turn into Dillandeu," Heero answered him in his monotone. Then he looked at Van and said, "Do you think Hitome would let me see her pendent?"

******

Hitome was surprised at Heero's request. She took off the crimson gem and handed it to him. She said, "It was a gift to me from my grandmother. She had it for a very long time."

"Thank you," Heero said as he took it. He swung it and it spun, acting as a pendulum as always. He held it and closed his eyes.

Relena asked, "What are you doing?"

Hitome looked at Van, who was leaning against the wall, watching Heero. Allen was standing beside him and Millerna beside him. Merle wrapped her arms around Van's waist and he stroked her pink hair as they watched. Relena, as predicted, was right next to Heero.

She didn't see Duo anywhere. So, she turned and left the room, wanting to give them their privacy. After all, she was from the Mystic Moon. She didn't belong in there.

She walked up to the deck and looked up. The stars were glittering bright in the sky and the Mystic Moon and the true moon were out and full. Duo had climbed to one of the outlooks, his head tilted toward the sky. Hitome easily climbed up there with him and said, "Hi there."

"Hey, this is sorta surreal," Duo said, pointing to the sky.

She smiled and said, "That's what I thought."

He didn't say anything, just looked up. He still looked lost and hurt. She said, "It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah right," Duo sarcastically replied.

Hitome dug out her Tarot cards and said, "I could do a reading."

Duo's eyes widened as he turned to her. He asked, "You do Tarot?"

"Yes, do you know anything about it?" Hitome asked with a smile, eager to share.

"The Rabit-Reader deck, not that type," Duo replied, tapping the top card after she finished shuffling.

She smiled as she arranged the cards in the Cross pattern. She over turned the first card. It was the Death card. It was facing away from her and toward Duo. She bit her lip and said, "This is your card."

"Figures," Duo grumbled grimly.

Hitome closed her eyes and flipped over another card. She smiled and said, "Ah, the Tower. You're a compassionate person."

"I like the sound of that," Duo replied, looking at the cards.

Hitome smiled and flipped over another one, the Serpent. "You survive all obstacles when others can't," she told him. She flipped over the Hangman and placed it over the Death card. She said, "I sense change for you. Change that has already happened and you have gone through it." She flipped over two more cards, the Lovers and the Star card. "You're close to a best friend and even closer to an enemy."

"The only enemy I have right now is Dilly," he told her with a snort.

Hitome studied the cards and said, "No, I read that wrong, you'll become even closer to an enemy and won't even know it."

"That sort of sucks," Duo replied, resting his head on his knees.

"No, it's a good thing. It changes them from evil too good," Hitome said with a smile.

Duo perked up and asked, "Really? Cool."

She smiled and put her cards back together. She said, "Heero knows that it's not your fault."

"Yeah, but it still creeps me the fuck out though and makes me sick. But Zaibach's gonna pay," Duo said, a dangerous light hitting his eyes.

Hitome wasn't going to warn him. She didn't know him at all. So she nodded and said, "I understand, but you should . . ."

"Ziabach is going to attack," Folken's voice was winded. Hitome and Duo spun around to see a shirtless Folken standing there. His black wings were fully extended and he was breathing hard. His left arm was purely mechanical.

Duo whistled and said, "Nice entrance, Folken."

"Duo, I'm serious, Dillandeu and the Dragon Slayers will be here soon. They are going to attack," Folken told him.

Hitome asked, "Then why didn't you just tell Van?"

"Do you think that Van's gonna believe him?" Duo asked with a dark grin.

Hitome realized that and said, "You're right about that."

Duo asked, "So, its Dilly and the Dragon Slayers then?"

Folken nodded and said, "Yes. I came as soon as I could."

"I can kick their asses, no problem," Duo replied with a grin as he began to run down to the hanger.

Hitome looked at Folken. She asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"My own reasons that you wouldn't understand now," Folken said, his ebony wings lifting him up.

"Brother!" Van's voice was harsh. Hitome looked down to see Van, Heero, Merle, and Allen standing below. Duo double taked and ran back.

Duo said, "Van, hear him out."

Van shed his shirt and growled. His beautiful silvery white wings spread. He flew up to them and Hitome looked them over. Folken was paler skinned than Van and had white hair while Van had ebony. Folken's wings were black while Van's where the beautiful silvery white. They were exact opposites, but they both had the same sherry colored eyes.

"Traitor, why should I believe you?" Van hissed.

Duo shouted, "Fuck!" Then he began to climb. Heero shed the shirt he had borrowed from Allen and sprouted his own wings. Hitome blushed to see that all he was wearing were his briefs. He flew up there as well.

Duo finished his climb and said, "Folken actually cares for you, Van. He has his reasons."

"He's a traitor," Van hissed, drawing his sword.

Heero said, "Hear him out, like Duo said."

"Thank both of you," Folken said. He took a deep breath and said, "There is a reason to my actions Van, but I can't explain it right now, but the Dragon Slayers are coming."

Hitome saw them coming. She saw flames around them all, Heero's body empaled on a spear of liquid metal, Van becoming more battered with each attack, Allen falling, and Duo the only survivor, lost on a world he knew very little about as more grief was placed on his head. She shouted, "They're coming! I can see them!"

"I can't see shit," Duo said, squinting.

"Baka, she means she can see them," Heero grumbled as he flew off of the platform. Then, the first blast of fire came whirling at them.

"Fuck, they can't use their stealth cloaks in flight!" Duo shouted as Heero was barely able to dodge the blast of flame. Hitome looked up to see the red guymelef and its followers swarming around them.

"How the hell did they get here without being seen?" Van shouted, looking around.

Hitome knew what he was talking about. Both of them should have seen the guymelefs. Heero was flying to the hanger. Hitome looked over at Van and both of them suddenly knew the answerer, "The Draconian blood," they stated at the same time.

"Oh, Folken, I'm not surprised that you would do something like this," Dillandeu shouted gleefully.

Duo sneered, "I'm gonna kick that little fucker's ass." Then he started to climb down the platform. He ran to the hanger, following Heero. Allen had already taken off as well.

Folken grit his teeth. "Say good bye to your brother, Folken!" Dillandeu cheered.

Hitome watched in horror as the spear of silver metal came shooting at Van, faster than before.

To Be Continued!

Author's Notes: Okay, how did you like!? Oh, I'm not a Relena-Basher or Lover. I'm nuteral on the Relena front. But, I do like the idea of Relena and Heero together though, but I've written it before where they always go their separate ways. You'll just have to see with this story.