Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Two Halves ❯ Two Halves 21: His Strength ( Chapter 21 )

*Two Halves 21: His Strength

AU fantasy fic. 1+2 for now. Minor character death (past). Oh, and SHONEN AI fluffiness

Rated PG-13 for some violence

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing characters, or any other anime characters for that matter (sigh). I'm using them here for the sheer fun of it, and am not making any money off of them in any way. Nope, not a cent.

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The place where Duo and his captain had stood was a vortex of raw power. The air combusted and flared, and then the rock around the edges of the maelstrom began to scorch, blacken, then redden and melt. Rao had his wards fully up and had taken the opportunity to step back enough to avoid getting caught in the backlash. He stood staring with a feral grin as his enemy, the crude, foreign bastard, the thorn in his side, finally died screaming. As previously agreed, Kelna and his followers poured every last ounce of power they possessed to feed the small black tornado of flame and destruction, though it was unnecessary. Duo must have died instantly; Rao had felt the man's protective wards fall as he leapt forward, preparing to blast Rao.

Black magic wards were elaborate constructs, impervious to either magic or weapons, though not both, the mage had to choose which to guard against. The wards could be maintained with a minimum of energy, even while the mage slept. The downside was that you couldn't cast through a magic-repellent ward without weakening it, and you couldn't drive a major blast through without dropping it completely. And once gone, a ward took several hours to rebuild. Duo had been left defenceless in the face of the onslaught.

Rao sneered. He'd been right. His spies had tried to convince him the two men weren't lovers, but Rao had sensed a weakness with the instinct of dozens of generations of the wolves of Lin, a predator sensing blood. And he'd been right. Maxwell had shown the weakness he'd known was there, trying to defend the man, and had died for it.

One by one his followers ran out of energy. The storm flickered and died, leaving only a smoking pool of blackening lava.

The smoke dwindled.

Shimmering heat waves from the heated rock warped the vision of...

Duo was crouched, one hand flung out, the other arm wrapped protectively around captain Yuy, thrown to his knees by the initial force of the blast.

"No…" It was an incredulous whisper from Kelna. No one else said anything.

Then Rao let fly. It was a desperate blow, it was now a matter of life and death, his death to be exact. He lanced a concentrated beam of pure energy straight at his enemy's heart.

It didn't bounce and flare off a ward; Duo had dropped those…

Instead it dissipated like smoke around a slight shimmer that covered Duo and a badly singed Yuy. Where Rao's black magic struck, a gentle light briefly glimmered, forming strange elegant symbols that flickered briefly and then vanished.

"Hey Rao!"

Duo's voice was insanely light and sarcastic, as if he hadn't noticed the molten rock cooling in a ring around him a few feet away.

"Whassa matter, buddy? Surprised I could cast a white magic shield? Didn't you know? I'm a man of infinite resources!"

Rao's mind flailed in confusion. No Lord of Lin could cast white magic! This was insane! The delicate shields couldn't bear much of an assault, though they could be raised in a second. They depended on strength of heart and mind instead of elaborate cantrips of wards. But surely no white magic shield could withhold against him!

"Yeah, I was taught by one of the best." Duo noted with pleasure the twitch above Rao's eye. His 'friends' and even his sibling, empty of power, unable to cast any protection for themselves or their leader, had prudently taken a few steps back.

"Laugh it up, Maxwell." Duo was impressed Rao still had the bark now he'd lost the bite. "I don't know how you're doing this, but I do know that you can't cast through a white shield, and it's feeding off your strength as we speak! How long can you keep it up? That's how long you have to live!"

"Rao…" Duo let his voice slip into gentle disapproval. He lifted his hand (Rao's followers took a few more steps back), holding it palm up. Rao just sneered, knowing no magic could pass Duo's shield in either direction. "Rao, baby, you really are a complete ass…"

All sorcerers relied on two or three types of magic, disdaining other forms of attack or defence.

But Duo had never been too good with rules and traditions...

Instead of a ball of black magic, it was a silver flicker that sprang from his spring-loaded wrist-sheathe into his hand and out through the shield as swift as any mage bolt. It flashed through the intangible white magic shield, past Rao's magic-repellent wards and into his heart with a meaty thunk.

Rao gasped, and slowly sank to his knees, barely feeling the ground beneath him as his heart seized around the dagger's blade like a torn oilskin belching out blood. By the time he fell onto his back, his whole body had gone numb, and his life flickered and faded without further notice from those around him.

Duo, an arm supporting his captain, walked towards Rao's supporters with condescending slowness. Kelna chocked once, more in fear of her own life than out of any consideration for her brother.

Duo slowly lifted a hand, finger stretched like a weapon, and centred it on the girl. Kelna flinched back, trying to keep some dignity in what she knew was her death.

"Come over here, your ladyship." Duo's voice still had that casual tone but an undercurrent of steel supplied the 'or else'. Kelna staggered to her feet and approached the two, circling the growing pool of blood from her brother's now still body.

Duo's hand turned palm up, the menacingly stretched finger bent and beckoned as it motioned Kelna closer, closer. Kelna, white as a sheet, got near enough for that hand to brush her cheek.

It suddenly darted forward and grabbed her by the neck. She managed not to squeal, her eyes liquid with fright but otherwise still dry and determined. Duo's lips quirked. Lin fed its children to each other like jackals, but say what you wanted they bred strong and true. He didn't like it, but the end result was nonetheless impressive.

"Oh don't worry, you little tart, I'm not going to kill you." Duo had let Lin make him into a killer but he was damned if he was ever going to enjoy pain or death, Septim's being the only allowable exception. Kelna, twisted forward by the grip on her neck, stared up at him in growing terror. Duo realized what he'd forgotten to add. "Or torture you either." Disbelief and a slight relief flooded the big eyes.

Duo might have enjoyed a bit more gloating but he had other concerns. He was drained from casting that desperate white magic shield, dredged from childhood memories and fuelled by desperation. It was doubtful Rao's friends might recover and start firing, but he couldn't take the risk.

The shield had barely been in time to save their lives during the concentrated attack. Duo was amazed it had managed even that! The amount of energy pounding into it had been considerable. But holding Yuy to him, he'd felt only calm determination that come what may, that shield was going to hold. And it had. He wasn't sure where he'd gotten the strength of soul and mind to do that, he didn't want to know. He just wanted to feel grateful they were both alive and leave it at that.

Another reason not to tarry; Yuy was starting to look very pale. His back was scored with a burn from a lick of flame that had managed to get past the shield before it settled. If he hadn't been wearing his thick leather jerkin he would have been very seriously injured. As such, it must hurt like the eleventh circle of hell but would not incapacitate him too much, if the wound was dealt with quickly.

"I'm going to let this one slide, missie." Duo told Kelna, now more composed. "On one condition. Well, two of them really. First, I want you to realize that you don't have the feet big enough to slip into your brother's boots, if ya see what I mean." Kelna bit her lip, but she obviously knew the truth of the matter. She wasn't anywhere near Rao's level of power. "Second, you're going to move that little ass of yours and teleport us back to camp. I'm kinda lazy and don't want to carry my friend here all the way. I know you're good at that sort of thing. And of course," the grip on her neck tightened, "you will be coming with us so we can be sure to land safe and sound."

"I- I can't- I don't have enough energy-"

"I'm sure you can find it in your heart to make sure I get my friend here taken care of as quickly as possible. Or do you want me to remember what started all this mess…"

Kelna gritted her teeth at the threat, gathered all her energy together and let the world fade around them, pulling them back to the camp which was mercifully quite close by.

TBC…

(Yay, Rao's toast! Getting near the end, now, only seven more chapters to go. This fic was quite the learning experience, and I enjoyed every second. If there's something you particularly like/dislike about it -something you think is very funny or touching, or a joke that falls flat, or a plot-hole- , please tell me, it'll help me for the next one!)