Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Back In Your Own Backyard ❯ Chapter 4

Back In Your Own Backyard - Chapter 4
~You are relating to a psychopath
your role model is in therapy,
you must be real far gone,
you're relating to a psychopath,

It never adds up when you do your math
you're relating to a psychopath
yes i'm real far gone
you're relating to a psychopath...~

-Macy Gray, "Relating To A Psychopath"



A great cry rang out, reverberating down the hallway and reaching Ireia from where she was making her way towards her own room in a comfortable silence.

"NEECHAN! NIISAN IS- HELP HIM!" Kelly was yelling as loud as she could, desperate to know what was wrong with her brother. And toddlers had pretty good lungs when it came to making loud noises.

Startled, Ireia immediately began to run full out towards where the shout had come from in fear fro her little brother, finally reaching Quatre's room as young Kelly bounded out of the room, crying and wailing hysterically. She scooped the young redhead up into her arms and attempted to comfort and quiet her, even as Ireia made her entrance into Quatre's room. The older girl gasped as she spotted the blonde in a fetal position on the floor, clutching his head and gasping for air, and quickly set her younger sister on the bed, kneeling down to hover over Quatre's prone form.

"Quatre... Quatre! Can you hear me? What's wrong!? Quatre!" she reached out to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder- and reeled back, gasping for breath as well. She knew her little brother was an empath, that he felt other's feelings upon physical contact, but- ... the boy was practically *radiating* pain! Even in his state, she should *not* have felt anything, for she knew she had not a bone of empathy in her body, and Quatre had never shown any large signs of telepathy, just barely visible urges. For an emotion so powerful to be emitted from him from mere touch alone, it showed that he must be in a gigantic amount of mental stress. What the HELL was going on?!

Quatre blinked, and his eyes, which were clouded over with inner pain, cleared for a brief instant. "Ireia... Dorothy is... has... Tro...wa... get... Wufei... please..." the girl had to lean very close to even understand what Quatre was saying, for his voice was breathy and etched with pain.

She nodded and stood up, glancing at a whimpering Kelly as she did so. "Kelly-chan... stay here with big brother, alright? Watch him for me, ok?" as the little girl's hesitant but determined nod, Ireia turned and sprinted for the door. She was halfway to the throne room when she ran into Erts, who suddenly appeared out of a side hallway and stopped her for a moment. The girl looked like she had been jerked awkwardly out from whatever kind of activity she chose to indulge in: her hair was a mess, her arms were almost clutching herself to keep from shaking, and her eyes seemed to stare at something far in the distance. Making use of her magic charms and spells in her free time, no doubt.

"Ireia? What's the matter now?" the older girl inquired, tone sarcastic and disdainful, as if expecting the answer to be something utterly stupid. In a fit of rage, Ireia whirled on her, landing a sharp, stinging slap across her cheek. In shock at her audacity, the blonde girl brought a hand up to her face, rubbing slightly where her sister had hit her. Then her clear blue-green gaze latched itself once again onto Ireia.

"What the *hell* was that for?" the girl snarled, taking a step forward as if about to counterattack. Ireia stopped her with her next words.

"*That* was for Quatre, and everything you've done to him." She ground out, before turning and resuming her sprint. Erts did not follow.

She burst into the throne room in a flurry of motion, eyes casting about wildly for her father's personal guard. "Father! Quatre needs Wufei now!" she spotted the two talking casually near the ornate dining table to the right, but as soon as her request reached the now re-robed Wufei's ears, he turned and leveled his intense gaze at her from beneath the dark shadows of the hood.

"Quatre?" he confirmed.

She nodded, even as he was already reaching for something in his flowing robes. In an instant, he had it in his hand, and Wufei threw the small pebble-sized object to the ground. There was a bright flash of white light, a smell like sulfur, a cloud of orange-brown smoke. When the fireworks cleared an instant later, the one called Apollyon was gone.

-----

Duo lay, content, on the couch in his apartment over his restaurant. At the moment, he was lazily watching the fan over his head spin around and around and around and around...

The phone rang, and he turned a halfhearted and sleepy glare it's way. Ruin his relaxation, why doncha?

Next to him, Heero lifted his head, gazing blearily from Duo to the phone, which lay just out of reaching distance for the longhaired boy. The arms around Duo tightened a bit, as if they didn't want to relinquish their hold long enough for him to answer the phone.

Unfortunately, the phone wasn't daunted by either of their glares, combined or not. Telephones never seemed to be fazed by anything.

And it kept ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing-

Goddammit. Duo let out a long-suffering sigh and reluctantly removed himself from the comforting circle of Heero's t-shirt-clad arms.

No, regrettably, the two hadn't quite made it to THAT portion of their relationship. Yet. Their make-out session at the pool had been interrupted by Hirde, who had wanted to get home, already, and dammit if the two just wouldn't stop touching each other! So they had made their way towards home, respectively, though Hirde had first walked Trowa home, and Heero had not yet made it home at all. Quatre had come with Duo to collect his things- Wufei staying back so as not to get on the longhaired boy's nerves all too much, then sullenly left the two to their own devices. And when they finally reached Duo's apartment, the adrenaline rush from earlier had long worn off, and the only activity the two wanted to indulge in at that moment involved a blanket, pillows, and intertwined arms and bodies.

Not that the other activity didn't include those things as well, but...

Duo picked up the phone as sullenly as he could manage, clearing his throat before answering, "Moshi Moshi. Maxwell residence."

"Duo!" Hirde's frantic voice cried from the other end. "Have you seen Trowa?"

"Not since when he was with you. Why, has something happened?"

"He's missing! I left him at the gates outside the dojo, but he never made it inside! Catherine-san called me a second ago to ask if he was with me or Quatre."

"Crap." Duo ran a hand through his slightly too-long bangs agitatedly, seeing Heero sit up on the couch out of the corner of his eye. "Well, any idea where he may be?"

"I don't know! I know he wouldn't be dumb enough to go after Quatre, right?"

"Yeah... but maybe... Quatre went after him."

"What? What are you talking about, Duo?"

"Or, more precisely, somebody after Quatre went after *him*."

The line went dead silent for a moment.

"... Dorothy?!"

"Yeah... It's her. I can feel it."

"What are we going to *do* about it, Duo?!"

"I dunno." He ran a hand through his bangs again, letting loose a loud, irritated sigh. "I'll get back to ya, okay, Hirde? In the meantime, don't go anywhere."

"But, Duo-"

"Just... stay put, alright?"

"... Alright. I'll see ya."

"Right. Bye."

-----

Wufei strode into Quatre's room, instantly spotting the blonde youth laying curled on the floor and the young girl on the bed staring fixedly at him. The raven-haired youth knelt down and set a hand on the bare shoulder, reaching into his mind and attempting to divest him of whatever was causing Quatre the pain. He came up against a quickly but poorly erected mental wall that was way too easy for him to knock down. What he found behind it surprised him, and he growled in shock. Emotions, mainly that of unbearable pain and torment, were pouring into the blonde's mind by way of a mental thread. The thread of consciousness shone forest green in Wufei's searching inner vision.

He attempted to severe the thread; that was no good. Even getting too close to it with his intentions caused Quatre more pain. There was only one thing this could be.

That woman then reached him, demanding to know what was wrong with her brother. He turned a glare her way. No use putting the inevitable off, he convinced himself.

"He... has been Bonded." He announced simply, yet with an air of finality, then turned back to his work. Behind him, she gasped in shock.

"What? But... there was no ceremony, he couldn't have-"

Stupid woman, he thought, but he did not voice it aloud. "A ceremony is mainly for show. You should know that. All that is essentially needed for the Bonding spell is a single drop of blood from each participant, and someone with a strong life force to conduct the magic. I suspect Dorothy simply took some of Quatre's blood from the sword she wielded, Forswythe, the Life-Drainer, when she cut him earlier."

"So... is that why...?"

"Partly. Since Quatre is an empath, the Bond *is* stronger than most, so he is literally being suffocated from all the emotions Trowa- that is who I am assuming Dorothy Bonded him with- is sending from his own mind, without even needing physical contact to communicate with his Bond; it is a mental overload for him. However, I suspect Dorothy has Trowa in her possession and is currently torturing him, both physically and with mental torture spells. She knows that anything Trowa feels will be picked up by Quatre until one, or both, of them learns to erect a mental wall between the Bond; like cutting it temporarily off, or closing a door between them that can be reopened later at one's will. Unfortunately, Trowa has no idea how to do that, and Quatre is too weak at the moment to do it himself, though he *has* been trained."

"But what can we do?"

Wufei sighed. "I am currently building a wall in his mind to cut off the Bond for now, though it won't last for long, and it does not work all the way. It won't be long before it collapses, because it is not his own. In the short time we have, we need to locate Dorothy and stop this madness."

As he spoke, Quatre's cries began to subside, and soon the blonde lay still, whimpering but still in much better shape than he had been just moments before. Wufei motioned wordlessly to Ireia, and together the two leaned down and gently picked the boy up, setting him on the bed as Kelly scrambled to get out of their way. When her big brother lay flat on the bed, the little girl crawled up to his side and curled up next to him like a small kitten, attempting to comfort him the only way she knew how.

When he was sure that Quatre would be all right for awhile, Wufei turned to go, again motioning to Ireia to do the same. He didn't know how much help the older sister would be, but she was better than nothing if he ran into trouble- and undoubtedly he would. The pair was stopped by a light protest from the bed before they had gotten but a few steps away, however.

"Wait," Quatre coughed out, voice breathy and a bit hoarse, "I'll... go with you," He announced, trying to sit up with Kelly still clinging tightly to his shirt, as if he would disappear if she even thought about relinquishing her hold.

Ireia whirled, eyes alight. "You'll do no such thing, Quatre Reberba Winner! You'll stay right there and get some rest!"

"Ireia," he smiled weakly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed despite his sister's angry protests, "You know there has to be at least the... beginnings of love in someone's heart to be Bonded. I'm not completely sure yet, but... I at least *like* Trowa. A lot. And I won't lie here while you two go fight my battle for me. You know I won't."

He turned pleading yet determined aquamarine eyes on the two, and it wasn't long before Wufei relented, rolling his eyes at his apparent weakness towards the blonde boy.

"Alright. We'll allow you to come. But if it becomes too dangerous, you *will* find safe cover. You are the crown Prince, and I cannot allow you to die at this stage, no matter the consequences to anyone else."

"...Yes."

-----

"What are you doing?" Heero asked from his position on the couch, puzzled at the form of Duo, butt stuck high in the air as the longhaired Sidhe dug through the clutter that was his closet, muttering to himself.

"Looking for something." Came the muffled, cryptic reply, followed by a few obscure crashes and thuds. "Ow."

"Looking for *what*?"

A few more crashes. Lord, it sounded like he was banging on the wall, or something akin to it. "Something. You'll see." He continued to rummage even as he spoke, not even glancing at Heero for an instant, but, feeling the intense glare on his back, he continued.

"If Dorothy's the one who caused this, and I have no doubt she is, then we're gonna need some serious backup against her. She won't go down easy, even for a Sidhe." He grunted a bit as he attempted to move a rather large box out of the way. Heero smirked and stood up, making his way over to the closet just in time to snatch another box that was teetering dangerously near the edge of a high shelf, and which could have caused Duo some serious bruising from above.

"Need some help?" Heero inquired, smirking all the more as Duo flashed a grin of thanks at him.

"I know it's in here somewhere... It's been such a long time... Aha!" Duo held up his discovery proudly, and Heero couldn't help but admire the sight the indigo-eyed boy made: eyes flashing, loose chestnut hair swirling around his body like a living thing, maniacal grin lighting upon his features- and wielding a lone, jet black pole with a glowing green scythe on it's end. For a brief instant, Heero imagined that Duo's indigo eyes were swirling with an inhuman molten-like activity in their depths, and that the deep black pupils in the center were slit, as of a cat's; but the vision faded as quickly as it had come.

"Shinigami is back from Hell, and ready to get it on!"

-----

"Dorothy has magically sealed living quarters- if one weren't completely Sidhe, - or accompanying one- and looking for exactly what is there, one would not be able to see anything unusual."

Wufei explained as he led the two at a clipped pace, fast enough that, in Quatre's weakened state, it was rather difficult for the blonde to keep up without ending up gasping for breath, but he managed somehow. Quatre and Ireia had no idea where they were going, though it was obvious Wufei did, and that, wherever it was, it was in a part of the UnSeelie territory that neither of them had ever explored or ventured into for even an instant.

In fact, as they traveled deeper into the underground tunnels, the atmosphere seemed to become blacker, deeper- as if the very air around them was suffused with visible pain and torturous emotions. To the core of his being, Quatre's consciousness was whispering, then urging, and finally screaming for him to leave, get away, that this place was the very incarnate of Evil. It looked to be about right, but he couldn't run now, not now.

"Prepare yourselves for anything; an attack from all sides, even." The voice of Wufei pierced the air, the first audible sound they'd heard in minutes. It seemed to break the other two from a dream, and they nodded, though not really understanding the advice. A few steps forward and the raven-eyed youth paused suddenly, whirling and tossing each of them a rather large dagger brought forth from the confines of his robes.

"Defend yourselves," he hissed, his sword glinting as he whirled around again to face forward and unsheathe the blade, slicing through a spider the size of his fist as it dropped from the ceiling seemingly without warning.

Soon the three were surrounded by a swarm of spiders of all sizes, and fighting desperately to keep the nimble little beasts away from their persons.

"What *is* this?" Quatre managed to gasp out, slashing at a large spider that landed on his arm. The horrible thing fell off with a piercing screech, even as several smaller ones took its place, dropping from the ceiling. The arachnids seemed to appear from everywhere: the ground, the ceiling, the walls, even the very air.

"Dorothy's Power," Wufei replied, "the Hand of Death."

"You mean," Ireia interrupted, "these things... are all *dead*?"

"Yes," he managed to get one hand free for an instant, and, raising it upwards, a bright light began to come forth, growing stronger and stronger every moment. The spiders around him retreated as if burned, staying just out of the reach of the light and letting loose a spine-tingling screech of mutual protest. "Get closer to me!"

Quatre and Ireia complied readily, relieved to see the spiders attached to them back off in the presence of the light as well. Grunting in annoyance, Wufei began to lead them forward once again.

"Those spiders are the corpses of ones that have died here over the past centuries. Because of Dorothy's Power, she can control anything that has died in this area since she came to live here, many centuries ago. Luckily, not many big creatures can be persuaded to come down these tunnels- only Sidhe, and then only on those rare occasions. It's a good thing Sidhe cannot be killed as easily as spiders, however, for then we would be in trouble. Sharp light is only effective on the smaller creatures, unfortunately."

"It's helpful, though," Quatre supplied, "I'm glad that's over."

"It is only just beginning, my Prince."

The very air shivered, as if in sadistic anticipation.

-----

"Let's go kick some Sidhe ass!"

"One question."

"Yeah, Heero?"

"Where do we find this Dorothy?"

A pause.

"... Oh, geez."

-----

Their journey had been relatively quiet since the spiders. Too quiet for Quatre. Something was going to happen. He just didn't know what, but he did not have long to wait for it.

Around them, a loud noise, as if the dirt-packed walls around them were groaning, sprung forth. The three did not even have time to prepare before they were suddenly hurled forward by a great gust of wind smelling of decay, then slammed into a wall, falling limply to the ground. Amazingly, Wufei had managed to keep his light spell working, and as they stood, the three noticed that they had come across a fork in the tunnels. Wufei cursed loudly as he looked up and spotted a plaque with an evil, grinning face embedded in the wall between the two paths.

"We have come to an impasse. One way is the right way; the other leads to disaster beneath our feet. Dorothy's second and last Hand of Power is the Hand of Illusion; we will not know which path is the correct one until we try."

"Isn't there any other way?" Ireia asked, and Quatre nodded, wondering as well.

"There is one," Wufei turned, onyx eyes intense upon the two of them. "It is a rather simple spell, but it consumes magical energy, as do all spells. Dorothy is trying to make us waste our magic before we even begin our confrontation with her."

"But without that spell..."

"Without it we could find ourselves falling into a bottomless pit; never landing, always falling, until all of us die of starvation."

"What's the spell?" the blonde inquired. The odds of them surviving without it were only half.

"Truth Spell. Either of you should know it well enough. If you are going to do it, thrust the spell down one of the tunnels. It will reveal whether it is the correct path or not."

"I'll do it," Ireia agreed. Her little brother needed all of his small magical power for later, especially since he, unfortunately, did not have an evident Hand of Power. Lifting one hand, she recited the familiar chant, then, feeling the waves of the magic, hurled it into the right-hand tunnel. There was a great flash of light, and the tunnel was revealed to taper off, ending at a large hole in the ground not twenty steps from where they stood. It was the wrong tunnel, obviously.

The next fork had three paths leading off of it. Halfway down the left corridor of earth, Wufei paused, almost causing the others to run into him. He motioned frantically for them to be silent, and the light emitting from the orb suspended above his hand faded to almost nothing. The three stood there in the dark for moments that carried on for an eternity, listening to the sounds of the Earth, straining their ears for any unusual sound.

A clear, high tinkle, as that of a small bell, resounded around and inside of them for one striking moment, and Wufei's light suddenly burst forth again, brighter than ever.

"They've found us! Run!" he cried, grasping the nearest hand- which happened to be Ireia's- and sprinting forward. The girl immediately seized Quatre's hand so he would not be left behind, even as the blonde youth whipped out the dagger he had been given by the raven-haired member of the King's Guard earlier. He stumbled backwards as Ireia tugged insistently on his arm, but kept his gaze to the rear, to fend off any attacks as they ran. As he was practically dragged along, he gaped at the figures that seemed to ooze from the packed earth around them, now and again regaining his senses and slashing, almost ineffectively, at one when it approached too near.

"They are the dead souls and bodies of those unlucky enough to have died here or up above on the crust of the Earth, both Human and Sidhe alike." Wufei informed them even as he was concentrating on getting them out of there. "They are called Gibdo- the ReDead [1]. They feel no pain, and no artificial light can harm them."

"They're also pretty slow." Quatre added, slashing at another one and stumbling backwards again.

"Do not let any get near you!" the urgency in his friend's voice startled the blonde, and he backed farther away from the lifeless beings. "If they get close enough, they will latch onto you and drain your life energy like we consume a drink. Their hunger for life is, for them, almost unbearable."

"How-" Ireia gasped out, "How can we stop them?" she pulled her brother a little closer, not wanting him near those awful Gibdo things.

"Here!" they finally paused for breath, Wufei running his hands over a pair of large, stone doors that stood in their way. "Quatre, help me open this. Quickly!"

The Gibdo were closing in fast. The blonde rushed towards the door, straining to move the left one with Wufei's help. It seemed as if an eternity passed, and his sister became more nervous the longer it took.

"You guys... those things are awfully close now... How long is this going to take?"

"Not... long..." Wufei panted, and, with one last burst of effort, the door was open enough to allow a person to slip between. Quatre motioned Ireia through, then glanced at Wufei, who urged him forward. As soon as they reached the other side, the two youths turned and pushed the door closed- and only just in time, for they shoved the doors together over the hand of a Gibdo that had reached them. Severed from its limb, the appendage fell to the floor, lifeless, as it should have been all along.

Wufei allowed them all a small reprieve, then stood, lightly rapping the knuckles of one hand against the stone doors, as if to test their strength for himself. "They cannot pass through or around these doors. We are safe from them. For now."

-----

"Here." Duo tossed what looked like a miniature version of his own weapon, which he lovingly called Deathscythe, to Heero, who caught it effortlessly in one hand. "If we run into any trouble, just will the blade to come forth, okay?" he explained, putting off an air of nonchalance that wasn't all that effective, "And I have a feeling trouble will find us soon enough. We're rather good friends, him and I."

"Ryoukai."

Duo had contacted a source he had in the Sidhe court to discover the whereabouts of Dorothy, since he had no clue where the long-time assassin might have set up shop in the Sidhe world- he had been gone for over twenty years now, and she and him had never been very good friends. Unfortunately, the contact wasn't much help in the matter, but he *had* pointed them in the right direction, and the longhaired boy had figured it out from there. The two had had to sneak into the territory of the UnSeelie court under cover of darkness, because for some reason Duo still did not want too many people to know that he was alive and breathing. Now Heero and he were traversing the dank underground tunnels of the area, Duo leading the way.

"I can smell her," Duo had announced, and the Japanese youth did not think he meant anything to do with his nose.

It was dark down here, the lamps not issuing enough light to illuminate the whole passageway, for the farther they went, the farther apart the lamps were spaced, until finally there were none at all, and Duo used his weapon for illumination.

After what felt like an eternity following the twisting underground pathway, the ground suddenly began to crackle beneath their feet, and the chestnut-haired boy paused, hair blanketing his body as he leaned down to investigate. "Spider husks," he announced after a moment. "Looks like Wu's been here already. We better hurry before we miss all the action, ne?" that with a wry chuckle.

They were in luck, he found out when the two reached the separating passageways. All he had to do was follow the lingering scent of Wufei's power to learn the way to take. That fact made their journey one step easier. He was just beginning to relax, thinking all the danger must have followed the others, and turned to Heero to say something, walking backwards for just a moment.

That was when he ran straight into a Gibdo.

-----

They were up against a wall. An apparent dead end.

Wufei snorted derisively. "Dorothy's last and most pitiful trick. She did not think we would make it this far, I see." He thrust his right hand into the wall- and it, facing little resistance, went right through. Illusion, Quatre realized. Of course.

The blonde winced a bit as he passed through the not-really-there wall. The closer he became to where Trowa was, the stronger the pain became, and Wufei's mental wall was crumbling fast. He only hoped he could make it to Trowa before he couldn't move for the pain again.

He only hoped Trowa was going to be all right.

The three emerged into a vast chamber carved into the rock, lit by an unknown source of unnatural light; so much so that Wufei finally cancelled his light spell. There seemed to be nothing much to see, but the chamber itself was a sight: it rose fifty feet into the air, and was at least that much across. The smallest whisper was seized and echoed multiple times across the massive space, and Quatre was in awe of it all.

But... the question was, where was Trowa? Certainly not *here*. And the blonde couldn't spot another entrance to this gigantic place anywhere.

As Wufei approached the center of the chamber with light footsteps, he became aware of a growing sense of anxiety inside of him. Something was going to happen. Something was here. Lying in wait for them.

A chilling gust of wind swept around the area, whipping Ireia and Quatre's hair as the two watched warily from the side of the chamber, and causing the little blonde to hug himself for conserved warmth. The air reeked of death and decay, and as the raven-haired Sidhe reached the center of the chamber, a sharp howl pierced the air, and the corpse of what might have been a wolf emerged, jumping out from the ground itself.

"How'd she get a wolf *here*?" Wufei cursed as he leapt backwards, reaching for his blade to defend himself. He whirled as he found it absent from its sheath, instead finding himself staring straight into the triumphant blue- green eyes of Erts. The girl was grinning maliciously and swinging Mortal Dread from side to side, mocking him. His eyes narrowed dangerously, but he held out a hand as calmly as he could manage.

"The sword, Madam."

"Oh, I don't think so." She replied, throwing something the size of a pebble to the ground. Wufei reeled back at the bright flash of light, and when he lifted his eyes again, she was gone. With his be-damned sword, at that!

The wolf leapt.

-----

Duo heard Heero gasp out his name as the Gibdo- damnable things, those- wrapped itself around his body, pinning his arms to his sides within the grasp of its decaying arms and causing him to drop his beloved Deathscythe. He grimaced as it clattered to the ground and went out, struggling to get free as the Gibdo sank it's revolting teeth into the side of his throat and began to suck his energy dry, not breaking the skin by way of it's magic. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling, having one's energy drank by something not quite dead. Even as he felt himself weaken, he thanked whatever Gods were listening that he had not re-braided his hair back at his apartment, and concentrated.

He felt his hair reach up and wrap itself around the Gibdo's throat, pulling it off of him and tossing the disgusting thing a good twenty feet [2]. Duo gasped for breath and almost fell, the only thing stopping him was Heero's strong arms as they caught him. He barely had time to breathe easier however, before a shriek rang through the air.

" Mary Mother-of-Jesus, what *is* that thing?! It looks dead! Oh, get it away from me!"

Duo winced, as a headache suddenly began to throb in his head.

Oh, God.

He stood up, inching suspiciously down the way they had come. "It's a Gibdo. Stay away from it," He called helpfully.

Silence.

Ooohhh. Busted.

Yep, it was Hirde, all right. She had followed them, when he had deliberately told her not to move. And, if he wasn't mistaken, she had brought someone with her.

Solo, of course. He couldn't figure out how the boy had managed to hook up with his girlfriend and get *here*, of all places, but here he was.

And with them all possibly surrounded by Gibdo. Great. Just great.

"Hey Hirde, Solo-buddy. Back up against they wall and come over to us as fast as you can," He whispered. The longhaired boy could literally hear them hesitate for a second, "Hurry!"

They hurried, and soon they were with him and Heero, wide-eyed and looking way beyond scared.

"I *told* you not to go anywhere, Hirde!" Duo vehemently admonished, even as he was on the lookout for more Gibdo. There didn't seem to be that many around, lucky for him- and them.

"Yeah, but, Duo- You know I can't just wait around when Trowa may be hurt. And I brought Solo along."

"I see that." His eyes narrowed even further, but they couldn't tell in the dark.

"Hey, kid, don't worry. I can take care of Hirde-babe here. So what's up with the whole Trowa situation?" Duo's longtime friend, Solo, asked. Solo had been his first acquaintance when he arrived at Tokyo five years ago, when he had made himself the physical age of about eleven, and they had been friends ever since, though the blonde boy now lived on the other side of the city, so they couldn't talk as much.

"He has been taken prisoner by a powerful, ruthless Sidhe, someone you guys have no chance to beat, and now we all may be surrounded by Gibdo, who will suck all of our life energy out of us before we can even get near her," he hissed. "In short, everything's just great. Peachy, even."

"I can help!" Hirde was stubborn on this point.

"No, you *can't*," Duo's eyes flashed. "This is *not* a video game, nor a role playing game. And now you may get us all killed, on top of everything else!" He whispered furiously, eyes an angry molten-indigo in the dark.

"Duo," Heero called, handing the longhaired boy his weapon when he turned his way, "Let's go."

He cast another furious glance at the two even as he spun around and motioned them forward. "All right."

-----

Wufei cursed as he barely dodged another swipe of the wolf's great paw. If only he could get away for three seconds, he could defeat this beast. Though it would waste precious magic, it was his only solution, for that damnable woman had stolen his sword, bringing herself down to the role of common thief in the act.

"Quatre! Could you hold him off for me? I just need three seconds or so!"

The blonde nodded at the call and strode forward, aiming his dagger at the wolf with the precision that had been trained into him. With one quick toss, the blade was imbedded in it's side, yet the beast did not even seem to notice it. It did, however, turn towards Quatre, and that was all the time Wufei needed. He smirked confidently and recited the spell, then tossed the flaming ball that burst forth over his hand at his unsuspecting opponent. It immediately burst into flames with a long howl, attempting one last pounce before it dissolved into an acrid smelling midnight smoke in front of their eyes.

The dead had a weakness for fire.

Ireia wandered up to them, "Now what? I don't see anyplace to go from here."

A sweeping glance taking in everything around them, Wufei sighed, "I'm not sure. It might be more illusion; then again, it might not be. I can't tell for certain."

"Hey, guys? Hello? Is anyone there?" the faint sound of another voice carried to them, causing Wufei to jerk at the sound, startled, eyes narrowing suddenly in annoyance.

"Maxwell," He ground out, striding over to the small entrance. "Maxwell! What the *hell* are you doing following us?"

"Aw, Wu, I didn't know you cared," Came the laughing reply, "Hey, help us out, will ya? How do we get to you guys?"

The youth seemed to hesitate for a second, "It's illusion. Just walk through the wall."

"Um... OK, whatever you say."

It was interesting to watch the others come through the illusion wall. First, the head would appear, as if disembodied, followed by the neck and, quickly, the rest of the body, due to them having to duck through the rather small opening. Once Duo was through, he reached out and helped first Heero then Hirde through, the girl followed closely by someone Quatre had never seen before. The grinning youth was quickly introduced as Solo, a longtime childhood friend of Duo's.

So there they all were: Wufei glaring at Duo, Heero glaring at Wufei, and the others looking decidedly uncomfortable. The silence was broken by none other than the onyx-eyed King's Guard.

"So. Maxwell. Whatever possessed you to come after us?" he demanded frankly.

"Well, Wu, I got kinda upset when I found out Trowa had been kidnapped by Dorothy, and since he's my friend too, I thought I could help," The mock- sarcasm dripping from Duo's words as he toyed with the weapon in his hands was surprisingly not as hostile as he had been earlier.

"This is none of your concern, Maxwell. We can handle this just fine. We do not need your help."

Duo smirked, "Awww, how cute. I love you too, Fei," This reply had Wufei seeing red, but he continued, unhindered, "But I ain't gonna stand around and let you have all the fun this time around. It ain't happening."

A tug on his braid from Heero prevented Duo from become hostile, and Quatre realized that the reason for the change in the longhaired boy's behavior around Wufei was standing right next to him. So, the two had finally gotten together! Quatre was happy for them, but he wasn't about stand around and argue about who was coming with them, when Trowa was still in real and immediate danger.

"Boys, we don't have time to argue here," Ireia beat her brother to the punch, however. "We have a kidnapped person to save. And we have no idea what Dorothy might be doing to him at the moment."

"Right!" Duo cheered, pumping a fist and smirking at Wufei. "Let's go!"

"Um... that's the problem. There seem to be no other entrances or exits, aside from the one we all came through," Quatre informed them regrettably, nibbling on his bottom lip in worried thought.

"No way!" this exclamation came from an irritated Hirde, who threw her hands up in the air and glanced around suspiciously, "This *can't* be just a dead end, with what we went through to get here!"

Behind her, Wufei sent Duo a Look that clearly questioned his decision to bring a Human Woman with him, and the braided boy just shrugged before turning and continuing a hushed discussion with Heero. All Quatre could make out was a muffled, "...hair... threw it... braid... is..."

A sudden, piercing laugh grazed their senses, and Duo's weapon was back in his hands in an instant, green blade blazing forth. From everywhere around them, the voice of a girl issued forth, and Quatre knew it well. It was the taunting voice of his older sister Rila.

"Oh, it's not over yet, Humans. This is one last puzzle just for you; one that you will never escape from in time. Have fun, kids."

"More trickery!" Wufei sneered, glaring at nothing in particular and wishing he had his sword with him. The others were already running hands along the walls, hoping to locate a way out. It was big surprise to everyone, however, when, after a time, Hirde suddenly let out a small shriek and fell *through* the part of the rock she was currently inspecting.

"Um... I think I found it," came her slightly muffled voice, and everyone gathered around her, Quatre protesting a bit.

"But I just looked there! It wasn't like that before!"

"It sure is now," Duo remarked, sweeping a hand where the rock used to be. It had disappeared when Hirde fell through, "Maybe you just skipped over it by accident or something."

"I could have sworn that I checked there..." the blonde muttered, puzzled, as the dark-haired girl poked her head out of the crawl space and motioned them forward.

"C'mon, hurry! We don't have all day to save Trowa!"

"That was relatively easy," Solo observed, even as he bent down to enter the small space, "That girl made it seem like it was going to be hard. Comin', Babe,"

"Maybe she was just lying," Duo replied offhandedly.

"Or maybe..." Suspiciously, Wufei cast a glance down the tunnel, but did not continue his thought.

-----

Dorothy grimaced at the view in the small hand mirror that she was holding, which showed her the pitiful little party that was fast approaching her. So, the Humans had a Dead Cell in their possession, did they?

No matter. They would all die sooner or later, even with that silly girl around. She just had to take a few more... precautions, was all.

It was just a matter of time.

-----

Hirde emerged from the tunnel first- and came up against what looked like a plastic bubble surrounding them, and barring their entrance from another unnaturally lit chamber. Behind her, Duo and Solo emerged form the tunnel, then Quatre and Heero. They all ogled at the barrier, Duo pounding on it in a fit of anger, as if he expected it would give way under the pressure.

"Dammit! What the hell *is* this?!"

"A Barrier Bubble, Maxwell. Easy to start, not as easy to end. It seems we are once again trapped."

"But..." Hirde began, reaching out and running a hand along the smooth surface that kept them there, "if the spell is so simple, as you say, Wufei, it has to be relatively easy to-" she gasped as the barrier vanished and she once again stumbled forward, landing on her hands and knees. Solo rushed towards her to make sure she was all right, and she waved him away, turning and leaning upwards, casting a suspicious glance towards the others, as if they had had something to do with what had just occurred.

"What... just happened?"

Duo blinked, glancing around them, where the Bubble had just been, "It disappeared," he stated matter-of-factly, voice a bit awestruck.

The others were looking at her. Hirde started nervously. "What? What's the matter?"

"You... It is just as I suspected," Wufei began, "You are what we Sidhe term a 'Dead Cell'."

"What's... that?" she demanded, not sure if she actually wanted to know.

"Well... It means, basically, that you absorb magic into yourself. Magic has no effect on you or anything you touch. This condition is very rare, I believe... especially in non-magical beings."

Her reaction wasn't quite what Wufei was expecting. "Cool!" she exclaimed, short hair bobbing as she jumped up and latched onto Duo's arm, giving him a superior look. "See? I *told* you I could help!"

"So you did."

-----

"The little kids got through."

"I noticed."

"Now what?"

"... Let Dorothy handle them. It's what she's getting paid for, isn't it?"

"Yeah. OK."

"But watch the girl. She could be dangerous." An afterthought.

-----

Their entrance into the next, and hopefully last, room of their underground journey was barred only by the strings of rose-vines sporting wicked thorns that grew across the carved entrance. Those were easily taken care of by Duo's scythe, and their path was unhindered any further. There *was* a peculiar cold spot directly in front of the doorway that sent instant and gut-wrenching chills down each of their spine's as they passed through it, but it was just as soon forgotten as not, in light of the view they were afforded upon looking around.

The decorations were lavish; the carvings seemed to flow together in a living, fluid motion that left the viewer breathless at the first and following glances; the lighting was generous, almost to a fault. Carvings of jet-black stone and something that looked suspiciously like glass or diamond glittered beneath the once again unnatural, but more human- warmer, it seemed- light. The place gave off an aura of a ripe, golden apple- tainted with the presence of a dark worm, as Dorothy stepped from the ill- afforded shadows to their right, and Quatre was the first to spot a bruised and bleeding Trowa, chained to the wall on their left and seemingly unconscious for the moment. Peculiar, that- Quatre could still feel pain in his head not his own, a barely tangible thing through the mental wall, that should not have been if the brown-haired boy's mind was truly floating in the depths of oblivion as it seemed. He suspected magic, if nothing else.

"What...?" Hirde began, glancing around in wonder, but her boyfriend cut her off with his next statement, just as awe-filled.

"It's... an ancient Sithi shrine... I never thought I would actually see one..."

The sound of hands clapping- tauntingly, mockingly- brought them out of their reverie, and the group's attention was now almost fully focused on a smirking Dorothy, who stepped carefully closer to them, the shadows retreating from the light as she did so, but seeming to cling to her form, as a young pup taken forcefully from its mother.

"I'm impressed, boy. You're correct, of course... although 'Sithi' is not a word we commonly use here," the sharp, sky-blue eyes glanced at each of them in turn, measuring them beneath the peculiar, molten, three-shaded depths- cat eyes, they were; almost completely feline in nature. And her grin was that of a cat- a cat that, for lack of a better cliche, had eaten the canary and had a bowl of cream added to the bargain.

As Quatre stepped impulsively, threateningly closer, her eyes flew towards him, catching and holding his widened gaze as she mock-bowed towards the blonde, eyes never relinquishing the hold they had on him.

"Quatre-sama. It is a pleasure to welcome you to my... humble abode... as the case may be," she purred, standing- almost sliding, or slithering- gracefully back to her feet. When she turned, breaking the sacred contact of their gazes, he reeled backwards as if burned, clutching at his throat and gasping for air as if he had come to the surface after a very long time under water. He thought he heard her hiss lightly in annoyance as he blinked and regained his breath, but the blonde half-Sidhe couldn't be sure of anything at the moment, as Wufei was instantly at his side, supporting him.

"What did you do to him?" the onyx-eyed youth growled into the still air, so low it was almost inaudible, and it was incredible that Dorothy heard it from across the room, but somehow she did- that, or she had guessed what the question had been.

"Why, *nothing*, of course. You wound me with your words, dear Captain of the Guard," she trailed her fingertips lightly across something lying on the middle altar, and Quatre hissed in pain, clutching his heart, "I didn't even *touch* him, did I?" at the emphasized word, she whirled, eyes flashing a bright gold and lips pulling back to reveal a very inhuman set of teeth, complete with fangs, as she hissed again, a feral sound, and thrust a hand forward, pushing... *something* towards Quatre and disturbing the air between them. Her fingers did not move from their spot on the altar as the blonde youth sank to his knees, eyes going blank for a moment. Across the room, Trowa moaned from the depths of his seeming rest, drawing the attention of the others for a slight time.

"Trowa!" Hirde gasped and started forward, unheeding of the cries from both Duo and Solo to wait. Dorothy was on her in an instant of cat-like grace, sword unsheathed and pushed against the dark-haired girl's throat threateningly.

"Don't move," the Sidhe breathed huskily at the others who had also rushed forward, stopping them in their proverbial tracks. "The enchantment may not work on the damned brat, but I assure you, the blade works just fine for what I have in mind," the last part of her sentence was almost completely lost to a breathy purr that carried on long after she was finished speaking, and she jerked the sword for emphasis.

Wufei stood and reached for his own sword, only to find it still gone from its usual place by his side. That thrice be-damned woman! He would have her hide for even daring to steal his blade!

To his left, Duo's scythe sprung to an emerald life, and he began to slowly and carefully approach Dorothy and her captive. "Let her go," his voice was potent, full of promise- not unlike the popular vision of Shinigami, "Your quarrel is not with the girl, I believe. She was foolish. Leave her be, and cease hiding behind weaklings," he smirked, voice changing to the Duo everyone else knew, "Besides, I've had enough of your crap for one century."

An appraising sapphire eye was raked up and down his black-clad form warily, then Dorothy chuckled almost humorlessly. "So you're the legendary Shinigami-san... you're everything I thought you would be: reckless and bold, and foolish if you think can fight and defeat one of your elders, boy." She sniffed disdainfully, but dropped her sword-wielding arm swiftly, pushing Hirde forward to bump into Duo, "Alright. Take the vixen. Humans disgust me." She smirked and lashed out suddenly against Duo, who barely had enough time to parry with his own blade before she was upon him. The longhaired youth grunted and pushed her off of him, swinging around to land a glancing blow to her side, slicing through her thin outfit and a layer of cream- colored skin.

In a flash, Quatre was over to Trowa- she had forgotten about the little halfling brat in lieu of the heat of battle, but his efforts would prove wasted nonetheless. His weak-willed, Human whoreson was surrounded by another Barrier Bubble, something she had taken extra care to add more charms than was necessary to. There was no way the stupid child would ever break through, with his pitiful excuse for magic his only tool.

Her sensitive Sidhe ears caught the words as that uppity Guardsman instructed the little slut to go to Quatre and help. Like a weakling Human child could do anything but meddle. Better not take chances, though. In one fluid motion, she whirled and tripped the Human. Then, ceasing her attack on the stupid braided boy who dared to call himself the God of Death, Dorothy suddenly jumped backwards onto the three-foot-tall middle altar, sheathing her sword for the moment. Her hands began to dance together in an erratic pattern that flowed together like water from a stream, the motion fluid from many earlier practices.

"Diggers of the Earth, I call thee forth!" her voice ran clear and bold through the antechamber, "Come at the beckon of your dark Mistress!" her hands paused, completely still, as if frozen in time, "Come to me! /Boghanik Bukkenn/!"

Those last two words, Words of Summoning if Quatre didn't known better, sent a chill down the half-Sidhe's spine, and for good reason. An instant after the words died from the girl's lips, they were cut from the air like scissors do to words on paper- no echo was heard, from one side of the room to the other. The two torches- for Quatre realized there *were* torches, after all- suddenly died down to nothing, as if an invisible breath had simple puffed out their short life, and the antechamber was plunged into a despondent darkness.

Quatre jerked from where he had been pounding on the damned Bubble that kept him from helping Trowa, eyes blinking rapidly, as they had suddenly gone blind. His heart was instantly anxious, as he had no idea where the others were, could not see them if he tried- Dorothy might be standing over him with her blade ready to slice him in half, for all he knew. That thought brought on a fit of nervous energy, and he held his breath, straining his ears for any sound. He was relieved to hear Wufei's curse, as if that one word erected a bridge between him and the rest of reality. A green, curved light drew his eyes, and, after a moment of study, he realized he was staring at Duo's Deathscythe- and another, miniature version of it as well. Strange.

The physical bubble beneath his hands was a comforting anchor as well as a vexing barrier, as at least he knew where he was in the room, but suddenly coming aware of ragged breathing not far from him sent a stab of fear through his heart- until the voice spoke to him.

"Quatre?" Hirde guessed, crawling slowly towards him, "Is that you? Yell-... well, say if it is."

His heart thumped so loudly in his chest that he guessed the whole world could hear it by now. "Yeah," he whispered, even as he heard the fighting resume- and something else, something not right, begin. There was a screech, and inhuman sound of sadistic glee, and Duo's emerald light puffed out of existence as easily as a candle, just as Hirde reached the blonde boy. The youth jerked and jumped away as he felt a hand on his arm that was definitely *not* Trowa's or Hirde's- in fact, it didn't feel even slightly human, more like claws- and knocked right into Hirde, who fell backwards onto the stone floor with a loud *thump*. His sincere apology was halted when he felt what must have been at least another five hands on his shoulder, and this time he shrieked in fear, as they began to pull him back- back towards the wall, the black, deep, wall-

"What? What is it?" Hirde's voice was breathless with worry, but she crawled forward, grabbing his arm. Immediately he felt his glamour- his magic that disguised certain aspects of himself- fade, and- more notably- the grabbing hands release him with a scorned hiss of empty lungs. He gasped and clung tight to the girl's arm as if it were his only hope for survival- and for him it might have been- even as he tuned in to the voices of the others. From the talk, he began to piece together what was happening under cover of darkness, though he could never puzzle out the whole of it, afterwards.

"Dammit! What the hell'd she do to my Deathscythe?! What the hell *was* that?!"

"Where is Prince Quatre?"

"I think I saw him over there, with Trowa. Don't worry, Hirde's going over there, too."

A yelp, as someone attacked, then a barely suppressed hiss of pain. Someone backed off.

"Don't touch him."

"Ah... thanks, Hee-chan!"

"Hn." A bit strained.

Suddenly, "What's that sound?"

"Oh, Goddess, I think something's got me."

"Solo! Get to Hirde. She's the only one who can-" a gasp.

"These things are-"

"Light! We need a light! Hurry!"

"Bukkenn! Earth-Diggers!"

"Oh, Lord-"

"The dark- the walls- don't let them get-"

"Duo!"

A blaze of emerald light. Frantic breathing.

"I'm fine. Get Heero, quick!"

"Already done."

"Woah. Nice goin', Ireia."

"No problem."

"I think... they're gone. For now."

"For now." Dorothy's voice agreed. "But you won't live long enough to witness their Second Coming." A smirk tainted her hissed statement.

"Wait..." in hushed tones, Solo countered, as if in deep thought, "Duo... the third altar, the one on the right... If I remember correctly- we need to get her place both hands on the altar! It's the only way to stop her!"

"Right!" a bit doubtful, but-

The sounds of a struggle, mixed with frantic hissing.

"Wu, a little help here?"

"Agreed."

"Hurry... Up!"

Scuffling. Growling. Meshed noises, all mixing together.

"There!"

An expectant pause. Chuckling begins to be heard, floating around the room.

"A valiant effort. I see your Human child has been brushing up on his 'Sithi' myths," purring, violent voice, "unfortunately, not all myths-" a sharp attack, viscous backlash, "-are TRUE!"

Two startled gasps. Connection, then fall. Psychotic embrace, violent struggle.

"Oh, God! Duo! Be careful!"

"Maxwell! If you get yourself killed, I think Yuy here will shoot you."

"Thanks..." a grunt, "Wu. You're..." twist, pull, "a great help!"

Victory light. An opening. A chance, taken.

"Hirde! Now! Touch her!"

Realization. Pull back, pull back!

Reach her. Hurry, skin. Find bare skin!

Aha! There!

Done.

-----

In a daze, Quatre saw the torches light again, and Hirde stand from kneeling over the unmoving body of Dorothy. The girl made her way to him, reaching out and running one hand down the length of the Barrier Bubble, and again. The spell thinned, then disappeared altogether, and Hirde pushed forwards to the once-trapped occupant, placing a hand on either side of his face and staring at the vacant eyes. Immediately, the injuries with had been lashed across the martial artist's body disappeared- illusion of a very powerful sort. It took a moment longer, but the pained look and Trowa's fine-featured face faded as well, and the taller youth's eyes closed as he slipped into a deeper, more restful sleep than before.

One brush of Hirde's fingertips on the ancient steel cuff hooked to the wall unlocked them- clasped together by magic as well, no less. Trowa slumped forward, and Quatre caught his body, relieved to finally hold him in his arms and feel no pain. The blonde flashed a faint, grateful smile at Hirde, then suddenly realized how exhausted he was, and leaned back against the now comforting stone wall, letting his mind be washed away by the peaceful waves of Trowa's already slumbering one.

His last thought before he floated off into sleep, like a tiny boat pushed out onto a great black ocean, was: "Whatever will Father make of all this?"

-----