(no subject)
Title: Lovely
Author: Dreaming of Everything, dreams_of_all
Series: Gundam Wing
Characters/Pairings: Duo, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo/Heero
Rating/Warnings: T for various things, not really pushing the rating. Slash.
Summary: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When someone stumbles into an enchantment hidden deep within a forest, he trades his life for the lives of one of his slaves... 1x2 shounen-ai.
Author's Notes: My eternal thanks to Lady_Friselle for being fantastic beyond words. (She betaed, for the record.)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
FFnet link
Duo stumbled into his room, exhausted to a point where he was past thought. Life had really done a number on him this time; the drugs, malnutrition, bruising, the long ride, mild dehydration... It had all added up to just too much. What was left of his own magical ability wasn't powerful enough to heal anything, even paper-cuts, let alone make up for the damage his system had suffered while under the 'care' of Ellyaugh.
In fact, keeping him inches from death had been a form of insurance against the magic his violet eyes alluded too. Ironic. Painfully so.
His last thoughts were bitter as he fell into an oblivious sleep. The silence was still heavy around him, his rooms holding the same liquid silence as the rest of the castle, heavy and oppressive, though Duo was in no position to realize that. A slight breeze circulated through the room, weaving through curtains and around furnishings. If anyone had been awake in the room they would have noticed that, outside the castle, while the gardens still looked as if they were deep asleep for the advent of winter, the air was much warmer, and the source of the breeze was a window cracked open to let in the cool night. Moonlight dripped in as well, splattering over the floor and walls, turning the intricate decorations into something beautiful.
Quatre couldn't help but feel over-whelmed as he undressed and lay down in the soft bed he'd been provided with. He was tired, both from his short stint as a slave and from the events of the day; he was beginning to realize both that he was caught up in a spell (or curse... his mind whispered) and the huge scale of that magic; it was a frightening thought. His family was from Maae; they kept no slaves (Maaeans were much more civilized than Terraens, in general) and viewed magic as the work of demons: horrible, a blight, sure to bring disaster to anyone who enlisted its help. Anyone with power was killed, to cleanse the family.
He was the only one who knew of his own powers, for two reasons. If he was found out he would be poisoned, then his body burned and his ashes scattered, denied an honorable burial in the ground he had come from. The shame to his family would be inconceivable; imagine, the Winner family heir found to be tainted! Left with only girls to continue care of their lands... Shameful. He was incredibly lucky he was one of the very few born with power that didn't reflect in their eyes the way Duo's did.
He supposed Duo was lucky that he wasn't as prejudiced to magic as most Maaeans were. If he hadn't known better from personal experience, he knew that there was a chance that he would have killed the boy, as honor demanded.
No culture's ideals were perfect, though they all thought they were.
He just had time to notice, sleepily, the open window and wonder at the soft warmth of the night air before he fell asleep. He didn't notice the single burning candle left to illuminate the room extinguish itself, without the help of any night breezes at all.
Though Trowa was tired he couldn't sleep. He could pretend it, as he was doing now, a habit born of long years in dangerous jobs, but he couldn't actually rest. He had never been around such a blatantly powerful magic; most tended to be small, subtle things, charms to distract a too-curious guard or prevent fire; Lords and Ladies, or at least the rich ones, could afford to hire magic-workers to make showy, low-power displays to impress their peers, but never anything intricate, complex, lasting or functional.
Magic like this was from another time; most magic-users had died in the plague, before the healers figured out how to combat it. Only those with an innate healing ability had had a good chance of survival. The plague, and the fires that followed it, when buildings were burned along with the dead, both accidentally and purposefully, had cost an untold amount of knowledge in all fields, magical included.
But somehow they had stumbled into a castle apparently cut off from the rest of the world. Trowa certainly hadn't heard about it before, and he heard about nearly everything eventually. The weather was different here, and magicking the weather took so much power it was only talked about as a legend. And weather was only the beginning-the season itself was different, the apparent age of everything; dust hadn't settled inside the house as it should have, and he had seen no servants, no trace of them. Somehow, whatever it was that they were wrapped up in had known their names when none of them had said anything, then engraved them on their doors.
Had someone here-or the magic itself-known they were coming?
Wufei hadn't wanted to sleep, but he had made himself. He would be doing no one any favors if he didn't manage the few hours' rest he still had left. Over the years he had gotten very good at controlling his body; there was little else to do in the castle. For years he had had to be continually alert as the servants' numbers had slowly dwindled and, with it, their sanity. There had been more than one person who had lost all their minds in the cruel, illusive and implacable web the spell had woven.
During his life, before he had been caught within the castle, he had been called many things: cruel, inhuman, fair, impersonal, controlled, and he was all those things and more. He had been everything a good lord should be, analytical and removed; he had lacked all human values: love, dreams and joy, but also hate, anger, rage, sorrow... In his mind it had been a fair trade. The only choice he could make for his position and his people.
Still, after so many years, he couldn't help but hope. For while he was past Lord and one-time Heir of his ancestral lands, raised since before the cradle to be everything a ruler should be, he was, after all that, human.
He knew that Heero was as human as he was. He wished that someone would realize that, and it wasn't just for his own good that he wished...
oOo
Something paced, restless and barely controlled, moving deep within the castle. The slight amount of moonlight that had snuck its way past the heavy curtains covering the windows illuminated the room, silvering dark fur and shining on claws, the fury of helplessness filling the figure, spilling over, leaving him with no way to vent and too much emotion for even his iron control.
oOo
It was well past noon and edging into evening when Duo awoke, much clearer-headed. He stretched, luxuriating in a bed and blankets, exponentially nicer than anything he had ever had as a slave, and even before that, as a pick-pocket on the streets.
The events of the past few days snapped back to him and he shot up out of the warm cocoon of blankets, bathed in sunlight from the half-curtained window-no doubt the light was what had woken him-glancing wildly around in a half-dazed attempt to determine his surroundings.
He found himself in a room just breathing age and respectability. A thick rug covered a cold stone floor; hangings obscured the stone walls along with paintings, all landscapes, hunting scenes and still lifes-no people and only fleeing animals were pictured. Several doors apparently led into other rooms; from the night before he half-remembered that this was the second room of the set, with an anteroom the one directly off of the hallway.
The room was terribly tasteful, done in shades of cream, beige and honey-brown with tasteful gold accents; everything was matched, from the desk to the bed-linens to the curtains to the set of combs and hair-brushes set on the-and here he paused with some alarm-vanity, clearly meant for a girl. Though, he reflected, he would use the brushes anyways; it had been a long time since his hair had been brushed.
That train of thought led him to notice that, for a slave, he was wearing remarkably nice clothes, even though they were sleeping garments in what looked to be an archaic style. Nicely made clothes by any standards, actually, and certainly not what he had fallen asleep in. He noted with relief that they were clearly not meant for a girl.
Duo, following the natural thought patterns of the very sleepy, realized with some alarm and a considerable amount of embarrassment that someone had to have undressed and then redressed him; he felt a fierce blush bloom on his cheeks. At least they definitely knew he was male, then.
Forcefully putting the matter aside for a minute, he noticed that there was tray of food steaming gently next to him on the table. Made up of toast, tea, fruit and a delicately cooked egg dish of some sort, it was a large amount of food for anyone, and a ridiculous amount for a three-quarters-starved (and slight!) slave.
Duo was, admittedly, a teenage boy, a group known worlds over and for time out of mind for their large appetites; however, he had never had access to large amounts of food on a regular basis, being a pick-pocket and thief during a time of plague (and therefore famine) and then a slave who was kept under control by starvation.
He managed only a few small bites of each dish before feeling nearly uncomfortably full. (1) Everything was delicious, leaving him disappointed he couldn't eat more, but he relished the tea most of all. It felt as if every inch of his body was desperately thirsty, calling out for water. While he had been given some just the day before, it had been drugged, further depleting him of much-needed moisture. His body had never reacted well to medicines, harmful or not, a lingering reminder of the magical ability he had lost.
It's funny, he thought mirthlessly, that someone who had magic destroy their life would be pulled into such a huge spell.
He finally found the energy and force of will to drag himself from his bed. Poking through the various cabinets, chests, wardrobes and bureaus eventually led him to finding clothes he would be willing to wear, though it took a while, and a fair bit of muttering to himself.
"...clothes, clothes, something without lace, clothes that I can wear, something comfortable, please... Aha!"
After finally finding and pulling out a pair of pants and a simple shirt he walked out of his rooms and into the deserted hallway. There were two doors to either side, each marked with a name; the one labeled Quatre Winner had been left open, and the quiet murmur of two voices could be heard within it.
"Hello?" he called into the room, rapping on the door.
There was a brief pause, the voices halting, before he could hear footsteps. Their sources were quickly revealed to be the two people he had met the night before-Trowa and Quatre, he thought their names had been.
"Hello!" Exclaimed the shorter blond one, his voice soft and gentle. The other person, taller and with one (presumably) green eye obscured with a fall of hair, simply nodded.
"Hey!" greeted Duo cheerily. "Quatre and Trowa, right? Any idea what's going on?"
"No, I'm afraid not-your name is Duo, yes?" At the braided boy's affirmative nod, Quatre continued. "Are you feeling better now? You didn't look very good last night..."
"Much. It's amazing what a good night's sleep, food, water and, oh, getting the drugs out of your system will do for someone.”
Trowa only nodded slightly in greeting.
Duo and Quatre chit-chatted for a few minutes, Trowa watching impassively until Duo broke off.
“…And damn but you're quiet, Trowa."
"No point in saying nothing."
"Well, whatever floats your boat. Anyone seen anybody other than one of us three since we saw Wuffie last night?"
"Wufei," came the cold response from behind. Duo's eyes widened comically as he spun around. In reality he had known that he was there already-one doesn't pick-pocket for years (and quite successfully, he had to say) without picking up a few things-but it was always best to keep at least something to yourself.
"Hello! Hey, mind telling us what's going on here? And sorry about the name-It's just; Wufei doesn't seem to suit you too well."
Wufei was unamused. Why couldn't it have been the sweet-tempered blond boy or the tall and quiet one who had been chosen by the spell? As things were, this...peasant was one of the most infuriating people he'd ever met. Not to mention one of the most ill-suited to Heero's personality. He tried to suppress the rush of bitter disappointment-there was still at least a chance that this Duo would be the one to fulfill the prerequisites set out by the curse. Maybe.
"Yes. I owe you all an explanation, at least." He turned, face stern and back stiff (only someone who knew him well would recognize that he was annoyed beyond his normal levels,) automatically assuming that the three new-comers would follow along behind him.
Duo and Quatre exchanged glances, the former giving an expressive shrug, Trowa watching both of them blankly. They seemed to reach a consensus, no one actually needing to say anything, turning and following after the Araean boy, hurrying to catch up with his quick stride.
They quickly came out of the castle, moving out into the thin sunshine of a high-walled courtyard. The gardens were sober and severe in their arrangement, designed to be admired, not enjoyed. The orange-copper flicker of fish in the formal pool was the only hint of color, even though the weather seemed to be appropriate for mid spring; by all rights, the ground should have been a riot of color.
"Sit," ground out Wufei, already annoyed by the near-ceaseless movement of that braided creature, as he had taken to calling him. He added a "please" as an afterthought.
"I would guess that you have already figured out at least some of this by yourself, but-" he paused, his eyes flicking to Duo, "-there's always the chance I've overestimated one of you."
Duo was almost as annoyed by Wufei as he was by him; only the knowledge that his apparent oblivion bothered Wufei more than anything else kept him from responding directly to the constant challenges and barbs.
Quatre was developing a headache from all the tension in the air. Trowa's constant silent observation wasn't helping the situation.
"Nearly five hundred years ago a curse was placed on this castle. There was a...mistake made, and a powerful being was offended. She gave the lord of the castle at that time, Heero Yuy, the shape of a...beast, and bound both him and I into the spell, so that neither of us would age or die until the terms of the spell were fulfilled.
"She said that only when someone agreed to love Heero as he was, with his new form, would we be released. Until then we would live alone in this castle, attended only by the 'ghosts of the castle,' the memories of people who used to live here."
The three new-comers were all getting a bad feeling about what was coming next. They could all begin to guess, at least, how this would end up turning out.
"Our chance to fulfill the terms of the curse would come every so often when someone of the proper age would be brought here, or be made to come here by someone else who had found their way. That person would be required only to eat dinner every evening with Lord Heero; they had no obligations. At the end of that time, no longer than nine months, if the spell still isn't satisfied, then that person is free to leave, they are paid well for their time and left unharmed."
Wufei saw Quatre open his mouth, about to ask a question, and cut him off. "Before you bother asking, only Duo is bound by the terms of the curse. As far as we-as far as Lord Heero-knows, you two, Trowa and Quatre, were brought in with him on accident."
"Oh," said Duo simply, eyes huge.
"Is there any way that I could return?" asked Quatre, looking remarkably shuttered for someone so generally open. "My family..."
Trowa's one visible eye had narrowed, upset by the facts: he was out of his league, trapped without magic or any obvious assets other than experience, the only person responsible for his charge, the Winner heir, trapped for an indefinite amount of time with no way to even send a message to the outside world.
All Wufei could do was hope that Duo would take it this well when he actually saw Heero. The first meeting hadn't gone well even once over the 500 years this had been happening.
At least Heero has had practice at being less immediately threatening, he thought, amused. The long and the short of it was that Heero was both physically and mentally incapable of being non-intimidating, but, on a more serious note, he had learned at least a little about ways to not approach someone. Following the girl (or boy) around in the near-dark until she noticed him behind her had been one of the more graphic mistakes...
Even the amusement in the memory couldn't overwhelm the darker side of things. Having everyone who met you scream, or faint, or panic, or run, or any combination, had to hurt, no matter how often the lord of the castle denied it. It was a lot of year’s worth of reminders that he was a...monster.
Turning, he judged that Duo had worked his way through the shock enough for now. "Dress nicely for dinner; be ready by eight, and wait for me to come get you. You two may do whatever you please; your meal will be served in the hall at the end of the corridor your rooms are along, but you are free to take your food wherever you desire to actually eat it.
"For the rest of the day, do whatever you choose. There is a library if anyone is interested, and any of the rooms you can find are open. If there is a room or corridor you persistently try to open and can't, it is forbidden; let it rest. You are free to go anywhere outdoors, though none of us are capable of entering the forest. It's part of the curse. That is all."
"Uh..." managed Duo, looking dazed. ”What time's dinner again? Why can't I eat with Trowa and Quat?"
Quatre startled slightly at his new nickname; Trowa merely looked bemused.
"Dinner is at eight and the reason you can't eat with the two tolerable people here is because you are eating with Heero, the lord of the castle." Wufei's temper was completely shot; he didn't know whether he was just out of practice at keeping it (it had been a long time since he'd dealt with other people) or the fact that Duo had reached levels of annoying the rest of the world could only imagine.
Oh well-at least he could rest easy with the knowledge that Heero would not be nearly as tolerant as he was, and a lot more capable of ripping him into apple-sized chunks and then feeding him to the horses.
That actually wasn't a half-bad idea. It would be proof there was justice in the world, certainly.
Wufei didn't even bother hiding his vindictive smirk. Duo was still too shocked to notice it, anyways.
oOo
"You do know I'm a guy, right?"
It was later in the afternoon and the four boys had remained in the courtyard-Duo and Quatre because they had nothing else to do, Trowa because he was watching Quatre, and Wufei only because he owed it to Heero; he had given his word that he'd make sure the boy was...as prepared as he could be to meet him.
"I mean, the hair can sometimes throw people off, but I don't have any... girly bits. Um. And I do have guy bits. And that could get a bit awkward. I mean, I don't really look all that girly, but it's happened before...”
Wufei sighed heavily. This was always one of the more...difficult parts of the conversation.
"Our first male... Visitor, for lack of a better word, was 150 years ago. We have had a mix of both genders from that time on. Heero is-" and Wufei was very glad the Lord wasn't here at the moment "-Heero doesn't seem to-care either way. Things have changed a lot over the years."
Trowa could see that Quatre was slightly shocked by this admission, frowning slightly. As a member of the nobility, it wasn't something that was liable to be talked about around him. It certainly wasn't accepted. Wufei looked approximately the same, uncomfortable with the subject and vaguely disproving, probably from generations of past lords with very strict ideas of what was proper, and love between men had never been a borderline subject.
He himself was fine with it; you met a lot of interesting people in his line of work. All kinds of interesting, and all degrees.
And Duo? Over the course of the afternoon he had quickly realized that it was hard to tell what Duo was thinking. Or rather, you could generally figure out something that Duo was talking about, but not any more than that. The (ex) slave had multiple trains of thought going at once, all completely unrelated, and only the harmless, non-useful information made it past his censors-though that, at least, generally showed up clear as day.
Trowa was almost certain that his strange relationship with reality and touch-and-go personality were an act designed to make people under-estimate him.
But then again, he thought as Duo's final rambling comment on being male and not female sent Wufei plunging over another edge, maybe not. If it is, it's a damn good act.
"Oh. Well then." said Quatre finally, causing Duo and Wufei to break off their swiftly-escalating argument. "You don't mind, Duo, do you?"
Duo blinked. "I hadn't actually thought about it much. I mean, haven't had much time or reason too. I've been with that bastard Ellyaugh the past two or three years, plague mostly before that... Hm. I dunno."
In the short silence that followed Duo imagined that he could actually hear Wufei's teeth grinding. "Tell you what, 'Fei-fei, I'll think about it and get back to you. You're not that bad looking yourself." He flashed him a grin and winked for added affect.
The strangled noise that greeted him was entirely worth it.
oOo
The sun was still lingering in the sky, still above the horizon, though just barely; it's reddish-tinted light lending Duo's room a strange, other-worldly feeling, as if the light itself had somehow been permeated with blood.
That was a bit melodramatic, thought Duo. Hardly proper thoughts before going to dinner. Roses--that suited much better. Rose sunset light. Still mushy and over-done, but much nicer, over-all, than blood.
He fidgeted subconsciously with a button-hole, dropping the fold of black cloth quickly once he noticed what he was doing. His clothes were stiff and uncomfortable, designed directly for style rather than use, and they had managed entirely new levels of impracticality. Fashion seemed to have changed over the past 500 years-he had never seen anyone wear anything even remotely similar to what his wardrobe (that had been a weird incident) had provided. True, recent fashions for those with money were stupid as well, but times had gotten a lot more difficult with the onset of the plague.
His mind was (thankfully) forced off of that subject with a sudden knock at his door before it was opened, revealing Wufei, looking regal and foreboding in the now-golden light.
He eyed Duo critically, forcing himself to admit that he cleaned up well. Except for the hair, which was obscenely long, and still braided.
Speaking of which… “Can’t you do something about your hair?”
“No,” said Duo flatly, voice filled with determination and deep-rooted stubbornness, a dangerous look in his eyes; he was prepared to defend the point, if necessary. Wufei didn’t try to press the matter.
“You will be expected to behave yourself at least decently while at dinner; it’s a matter of respect. I know you’re probably not used to these sorts of situations, but please just… do your best.”
Duo had to admit, he was a bit surprised. Not about the hair-that particular point was so obviously going to come up that it wasn’t even worth thinking about-but that there was a note of… worry in Wufei’s voice?
“Try to be tactful at least. Heero-I told you the curse changed him. He looks… very much not human. Take this as a warning. I can’t say any more than that, I’m afraid I’d prejudice your own opinions, but please…Think before you act.”
Wufei’s face grew even more severe. “If you end up hurting him, surviving long enough to get out of here will be the least of your worries.”
Duo could tell a warning when he heard one. He also guessed that this wasn’t the time to do what he liked to term “lightening the mood” but which was, in reality, better named “pissing people off.”
“It’s time, then,” Wufei said, walking to the door and waiting a minute, looking over his shoulder to double-check that the other boy was following behind him. They walked down through a set of oppressively dark hallways, taking multiple turns as they navigated the complicated warren that was the castle.
They eventually came to the second-most impressive set of doors Duo had ever seen, dwarfed only by the castle doors themselves; the dark wood was finely carved with an intricate design; Duo couldn't quite make it out in the half-light.
Wufei turned to his increasingly nervous companion and bowed slightly, punctuating the earlier conversation with another impressive glare before turning and leaving. The doors swung open nearly silently, the only noises a slight grinding from the hinges and its whisper as it was pulled over the empty carpet.
Duo swallowed slightly, impressed (and slightly intimidated) in spite of himself, before walking in.
The room was heavily shadowed, with only a banked fire and the slight flicker of candles to light up the room. The ceiling soared upwards for an impressive distance, the dim lighting adding to the illusion that it went on forever. A long table stretched away as well, with two place settings clustered at the near end with a set of steaming dishes.
The room was also empty. It was a bit of a let-down, actually.
Duo stood fidgeting for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, before the creak of the doors opening made him jerk around.
The figure standing in the doorway was, as Wufei had said, definitely not human-looking, even half-obscured by shadow as it was now.
It was too tall, for one, and built wrong, and covered in shaggy fur; the head was too heavy and the wrong, the jaw belonged to a predator. The eyes were invisible, sunk in shadows and covered by hair, a particularly disturbing effect. He could still see that they were arranged in the wrong position, made for hunting instead of escaping.
Even through the fur he could see the muscle covering him, rippling with his movements, and the motions themselves were barely controlled, as if the energy harnessing them was seeking to escape. There was a terrible air of power around him.
Duo covered his fear by bowing slightly. The cold, calculating part of his mind was whispering about not showing fear, potential escape and how totally under-matched he was if it came to a fight. The more human part of his mind was cowering in abject fear, whimpering to itself. The end result of the mis-matched suggestions ended up putting him down a very Duo path: wing it and do your best to act as if nothing’s wrong. Wait for cues from his... dinner companion. Who just happened to have his eventual freedom based on whether or not Duo would love him.
He gulped slightly, and the slight flicker of motion caught Heero's attention. He waited, heart cold, for the panic that would surely follow.
"Hey there, I'm Duo, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're Heero. Mind if we eat? I'm starving!"
(1) When you don't eat for long periods of time your stomach shrinks, so you feel fuller faster. It's not that he's not hungry, or doesn't need the nutrients, it's that he can't physically fit much more food into his body without being violently ill, definitely not what he needs, health-wise.
Author: Dreaming of Everything, dreams_of_all
Series: Gundam Wing
Characters/Pairings: Duo, Heero, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo/Heero
Rating/Warnings: T for various things, not really pushing the rating. Slash.
Summary: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When someone stumbles into an enchantment hidden deep within a forest, he trades his life for the lives of one of his slaves... 1x2 shounen-ai.
Author's Notes: My eternal thanks to Lady_Friselle for being fantastic beyond words. (She betaed, for the record.)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
FFnet link
Duo stumbled into his room, exhausted to a point where he was past thought. Life had really done a number on him this time; the drugs, malnutrition, bruising, the long ride, mild dehydration... It had all added up to just too much. What was left of his own magical ability wasn't powerful enough to heal anything, even paper-cuts, let alone make up for the damage his system had suffered while under the 'care' of Ellyaugh.
In fact, keeping him inches from death had been a form of insurance against the magic his violet eyes alluded too. Ironic. Painfully so.
His last thoughts were bitter as he fell into an oblivious sleep. The silence was still heavy around him, his rooms holding the same liquid silence as the rest of the castle, heavy and oppressive, though Duo was in no position to realize that. A slight breeze circulated through the room, weaving through curtains and around furnishings. If anyone had been awake in the room they would have noticed that, outside the castle, while the gardens still looked as if they were deep asleep for the advent of winter, the air was much warmer, and the source of the breeze was a window cracked open to let in the cool night. Moonlight dripped in as well, splattering over the floor and walls, turning the intricate decorations into something beautiful.
Quatre couldn't help but feel over-whelmed as he undressed and lay down in the soft bed he'd been provided with. He was tired, both from his short stint as a slave and from the events of the day; he was beginning to realize both that he was caught up in a spell (or curse... his mind whispered) and the huge scale of that magic; it was a frightening thought. His family was from Maae; they kept no slaves (Maaeans were much more civilized than Terraens, in general) and viewed magic as the work of demons: horrible, a blight, sure to bring disaster to anyone who enlisted its help. Anyone with power was killed, to cleanse the family.
He was the only one who knew of his own powers, for two reasons. If he was found out he would be poisoned, then his body burned and his ashes scattered, denied an honorable burial in the ground he had come from. The shame to his family would be inconceivable; imagine, the Winner family heir found to be tainted! Left with only girls to continue care of their lands... Shameful. He was incredibly lucky he was one of the very few born with power that didn't reflect in their eyes the way Duo's did.
He supposed Duo was lucky that he wasn't as prejudiced to magic as most Maaeans were. If he hadn't known better from personal experience, he knew that there was a chance that he would have killed the boy, as honor demanded.
No culture's ideals were perfect, though they all thought they were.
He just had time to notice, sleepily, the open window and wonder at the soft warmth of the night air before he fell asleep. He didn't notice the single burning candle left to illuminate the room extinguish itself, without the help of any night breezes at all.
Though Trowa was tired he couldn't sleep. He could pretend it, as he was doing now, a habit born of long years in dangerous jobs, but he couldn't actually rest. He had never been around such a blatantly powerful magic; most tended to be small, subtle things, charms to distract a too-curious guard or prevent fire; Lords and Ladies, or at least the rich ones, could afford to hire magic-workers to make showy, low-power displays to impress their peers, but never anything intricate, complex, lasting or functional.
Magic like this was from another time; most magic-users had died in the plague, before the healers figured out how to combat it. Only those with an innate healing ability had had a good chance of survival. The plague, and the fires that followed it, when buildings were burned along with the dead, both accidentally and purposefully, had cost an untold amount of knowledge in all fields, magical included.
But somehow they had stumbled into a castle apparently cut off from the rest of the world. Trowa certainly hadn't heard about it before, and he heard about nearly everything eventually. The weather was different here, and magicking the weather took so much power it was only talked about as a legend. And weather was only the beginning-the season itself was different, the apparent age of everything; dust hadn't settled inside the house as it should have, and he had seen no servants, no trace of them. Somehow, whatever it was that they were wrapped up in had known their names when none of them had said anything, then engraved them on their doors.
Had someone here-or the magic itself-known they were coming?
Wufei hadn't wanted to sleep, but he had made himself. He would be doing no one any favors if he didn't manage the few hours' rest he still had left. Over the years he had gotten very good at controlling his body; there was little else to do in the castle. For years he had had to be continually alert as the servants' numbers had slowly dwindled and, with it, their sanity. There had been more than one person who had lost all their minds in the cruel, illusive and implacable web the spell had woven.
During his life, before he had been caught within the castle, he had been called many things: cruel, inhuman, fair, impersonal, controlled, and he was all those things and more. He had been everything a good lord should be, analytical and removed; he had lacked all human values: love, dreams and joy, but also hate, anger, rage, sorrow... In his mind it had been a fair trade. The only choice he could make for his position and his people.
Still, after so many years, he couldn't help but hope. For while he was past Lord and one-time Heir of his ancestral lands, raised since before the cradle to be everything a ruler should be, he was, after all that, human.
He knew that Heero was as human as he was. He wished that someone would realize that, and it wasn't just for his own good that he wished...
oOo
Something paced, restless and barely controlled, moving deep within the castle. The slight amount of moonlight that had snuck its way past the heavy curtains covering the windows illuminated the room, silvering dark fur and shining on claws, the fury of helplessness filling the figure, spilling over, leaving him with no way to vent and too much emotion for even his iron control.
oOo
It was well past noon and edging into evening when Duo awoke, much clearer-headed. He stretched, luxuriating in a bed and blankets, exponentially nicer than anything he had ever had as a slave, and even before that, as a pick-pocket on the streets.
The events of the past few days snapped back to him and he shot up out of the warm cocoon of blankets, bathed in sunlight from the half-curtained window-no doubt the light was what had woken him-glancing wildly around in a half-dazed attempt to determine his surroundings.
He found himself in a room just breathing age and respectability. A thick rug covered a cold stone floor; hangings obscured the stone walls along with paintings, all landscapes, hunting scenes and still lifes-no people and only fleeing animals were pictured. Several doors apparently led into other rooms; from the night before he half-remembered that this was the second room of the set, with an anteroom the one directly off of the hallway.
The room was terribly tasteful, done in shades of cream, beige and honey-brown with tasteful gold accents; everything was matched, from the desk to the bed-linens to the curtains to the set of combs and hair-brushes set on the-and here he paused with some alarm-vanity, clearly meant for a girl. Though, he reflected, he would use the brushes anyways; it had been a long time since his hair had been brushed.
That train of thought led him to notice that, for a slave, he was wearing remarkably nice clothes, even though they were sleeping garments in what looked to be an archaic style. Nicely made clothes by any standards, actually, and certainly not what he had fallen asleep in. He noted with relief that they were clearly not meant for a girl.
Duo, following the natural thought patterns of the very sleepy, realized with some alarm and a considerable amount of embarrassment that someone had to have undressed and then redressed him; he felt a fierce blush bloom on his cheeks. At least they definitely knew he was male, then.
Forcefully putting the matter aside for a minute, he noticed that there was tray of food steaming gently next to him on the table. Made up of toast, tea, fruit and a delicately cooked egg dish of some sort, it was a large amount of food for anyone, and a ridiculous amount for a three-quarters-starved (and slight!) slave.
Duo was, admittedly, a teenage boy, a group known worlds over and for time out of mind for their large appetites; however, he had never had access to large amounts of food on a regular basis, being a pick-pocket and thief during a time of plague (and therefore famine) and then a slave who was kept under control by starvation.
He managed only a few small bites of each dish before feeling nearly uncomfortably full. (1) Everything was delicious, leaving him disappointed he couldn't eat more, but he relished the tea most of all. It felt as if every inch of his body was desperately thirsty, calling out for water. While he had been given some just the day before, it had been drugged, further depleting him of much-needed moisture. His body had never reacted well to medicines, harmful or not, a lingering reminder of the magical ability he had lost.
It's funny, he thought mirthlessly, that someone who had magic destroy their life would be pulled into such a huge spell.
He finally found the energy and force of will to drag himself from his bed. Poking through the various cabinets, chests, wardrobes and bureaus eventually led him to finding clothes he would be willing to wear, though it took a while, and a fair bit of muttering to himself.
"...clothes, clothes, something without lace, clothes that I can wear, something comfortable, please... Aha!"
After finally finding and pulling out a pair of pants and a simple shirt he walked out of his rooms and into the deserted hallway. There were two doors to either side, each marked with a name; the one labeled Quatre Winner had been left open, and the quiet murmur of two voices could be heard within it.
"Hello?" he called into the room, rapping on the door.
There was a brief pause, the voices halting, before he could hear footsteps. Their sources were quickly revealed to be the two people he had met the night before-Trowa and Quatre, he thought their names had been.
"Hello!" Exclaimed the shorter blond one, his voice soft and gentle. The other person, taller and with one (presumably) green eye obscured with a fall of hair, simply nodded.
"Hey!" greeted Duo cheerily. "Quatre and Trowa, right? Any idea what's going on?"
"No, I'm afraid not-your name is Duo, yes?" At the braided boy's affirmative nod, Quatre continued. "Are you feeling better now? You didn't look very good last night..."
"Much. It's amazing what a good night's sleep, food, water and, oh, getting the drugs out of your system will do for someone.”
Trowa only nodded slightly in greeting.
Duo and Quatre chit-chatted for a few minutes, Trowa watching impassively until Duo broke off.
“…And damn but you're quiet, Trowa."
"No point in saying nothing."
"Well, whatever floats your boat. Anyone seen anybody other than one of us three since we saw Wuffie last night?"
"Wufei," came the cold response from behind. Duo's eyes widened comically as he spun around. In reality he had known that he was there already-one doesn't pick-pocket for years (and quite successfully, he had to say) without picking up a few things-but it was always best to keep at least something to yourself.
"Hello! Hey, mind telling us what's going on here? And sorry about the name-It's just; Wufei doesn't seem to suit you too well."
Wufei was unamused. Why couldn't it have been the sweet-tempered blond boy or the tall and quiet one who had been chosen by the spell? As things were, this...peasant was one of the most infuriating people he'd ever met. Not to mention one of the most ill-suited to Heero's personality. He tried to suppress the rush of bitter disappointment-there was still at least a chance that this Duo would be the one to fulfill the prerequisites set out by the curse. Maybe.
"Yes. I owe you all an explanation, at least." He turned, face stern and back stiff (only someone who knew him well would recognize that he was annoyed beyond his normal levels,) automatically assuming that the three new-comers would follow along behind him.
Duo and Quatre exchanged glances, the former giving an expressive shrug, Trowa watching both of them blankly. They seemed to reach a consensus, no one actually needing to say anything, turning and following after the Araean boy, hurrying to catch up with his quick stride.
They quickly came out of the castle, moving out into the thin sunshine of a high-walled courtyard. The gardens were sober and severe in their arrangement, designed to be admired, not enjoyed. The orange-copper flicker of fish in the formal pool was the only hint of color, even though the weather seemed to be appropriate for mid spring; by all rights, the ground should have been a riot of color.
"Sit," ground out Wufei, already annoyed by the near-ceaseless movement of that braided creature, as he had taken to calling him. He added a "please" as an afterthought.
"I would guess that you have already figured out at least some of this by yourself, but-" he paused, his eyes flicking to Duo, "-there's always the chance I've overestimated one of you."
Duo was almost as annoyed by Wufei as he was by him; only the knowledge that his apparent oblivion bothered Wufei more than anything else kept him from responding directly to the constant challenges and barbs.
Quatre was developing a headache from all the tension in the air. Trowa's constant silent observation wasn't helping the situation.
"Nearly five hundred years ago a curse was placed on this castle. There was a...mistake made, and a powerful being was offended. She gave the lord of the castle at that time, Heero Yuy, the shape of a...beast, and bound both him and I into the spell, so that neither of us would age or die until the terms of the spell were fulfilled.
"She said that only when someone agreed to love Heero as he was, with his new form, would we be released. Until then we would live alone in this castle, attended only by the 'ghosts of the castle,' the memories of people who used to live here."
The three new-comers were all getting a bad feeling about what was coming next. They could all begin to guess, at least, how this would end up turning out.
"Our chance to fulfill the terms of the curse would come every so often when someone of the proper age would be brought here, or be made to come here by someone else who had found their way. That person would be required only to eat dinner every evening with Lord Heero; they had no obligations. At the end of that time, no longer than nine months, if the spell still isn't satisfied, then that person is free to leave, they are paid well for their time and left unharmed."
Wufei saw Quatre open his mouth, about to ask a question, and cut him off. "Before you bother asking, only Duo is bound by the terms of the curse. As far as we-as far as Lord Heero-knows, you two, Trowa and Quatre, were brought in with him on accident."
"Oh," said Duo simply, eyes huge.
"Is there any way that I could return?" asked Quatre, looking remarkably shuttered for someone so generally open. "My family..."
Trowa's one visible eye had narrowed, upset by the facts: he was out of his league, trapped without magic or any obvious assets other than experience, the only person responsible for his charge, the Winner heir, trapped for an indefinite amount of time with no way to even send a message to the outside world.
All Wufei could do was hope that Duo would take it this well when he actually saw Heero. The first meeting hadn't gone well even once over the 500 years this had been happening.
At least Heero has had practice at being less immediately threatening, he thought, amused. The long and the short of it was that Heero was both physically and mentally incapable of being non-intimidating, but, on a more serious note, he had learned at least a little about ways to not approach someone. Following the girl (or boy) around in the near-dark until she noticed him behind her had been one of the more graphic mistakes...
Even the amusement in the memory couldn't overwhelm the darker side of things. Having everyone who met you scream, or faint, or panic, or run, or any combination, had to hurt, no matter how often the lord of the castle denied it. It was a lot of year’s worth of reminders that he was a...monster.
Turning, he judged that Duo had worked his way through the shock enough for now. "Dress nicely for dinner; be ready by eight, and wait for me to come get you. You two may do whatever you please; your meal will be served in the hall at the end of the corridor your rooms are along, but you are free to take your food wherever you desire to actually eat it.
"For the rest of the day, do whatever you choose. There is a library if anyone is interested, and any of the rooms you can find are open. If there is a room or corridor you persistently try to open and can't, it is forbidden; let it rest. You are free to go anywhere outdoors, though none of us are capable of entering the forest. It's part of the curse. That is all."
"Uh..." managed Duo, looking dazed. ”What time's dinner again? Why can't I eat with Trowa and Quat?"
Quatre startled slightly at his new nickname; Trowa merely looked bemused.
"Dinner is at eight and the reason you can't eat with the two tolerable people here is because you are eating with Heero, the lord of the castle." Wufei's temper was completely shot; he didn't know whether he was just out of practice at keeping it (it had been a long time since he'd dealt with other people) or the fact that Duo had reached levels of annoying the rest of the world could only imagine.
Oh well-at least he could rest easy with the knowledge that Heero would not be nearly as tolerant as he was, and a lot more capable of ripping him into apple-sized chunks and then feeding him to the horses.
That actually wasn't a half-bad idea. It would be proof there was justice in the world, certainly.
Wufei didn't even bother hiding his vindictive smirk. Duo was still too shocked to notice it, anyways.
oOo
"You do know I'm a guy, right?"
It was later in the afternoon and the four boys had remained in the courtyard-Duo and Quatre because they had nothing else to do, Trowa because he was watching Quatre, and Wufei only because he owed it to Heero; he had given his word that he'd make sure the boy was...as prepared as he could be to meet him.
"I mean, the hair can sometimes throw people off, but I don't have any... girly bits. Um. And I do have guy bits. And that could get a bit awkward. I mean, I don't really look all that girly, but it's happened before...”
Wufei sighed heavily. This was always one of the more...difficult parts of the conversation.
"Our first male... Visitor, for lack of a better word, was 150 years ago. We have had a mix of both genders from that time on. Heero is-" and Wufei was very glad the Lord wasn't here at the moment "-Heero doesn't seem to-care either way. Things have changed a lot over the years."
Trowa could see that Quatre was slightly shocked by this admission, frowning slightly. As a member of the nobility, it wasn't something that was liable to be talked about around him. It certainly wasn't accepted. Wufei looked approximately the same, uncomfortable with the subject and vaguely disproving, probably from generations of past lords with very strict ideas of what was proper, and love between men had never been a borderline subject.
He himself was fine with it; you met a lot of interesting people in his line of work. All kinds of interesting, and all degrees.
And Duo? Over the course of the afternoon he had quickly realized that it was hard to tell what Duo was thinking. Or rather, you could generally figure out something that Duo was talking about, but not any more than that. The (ex) slave had multiple trains of thought going at once, all completely unrelated, and only the harmless, non-useful information made it past his censors-though that, at least, generally showed up clear as day.
Trowa was almost certain that his strange relationship with reality and touch-and-go personality were an act designed to make people under-estimate him.
But then again, he thought as Duo's final rambling comment on being male and not female sent Wufei plunging over another edge, maybe not. If it is, it's a damn good act.
"Oh. Well then." said Quatre finally, causing Duo and Wufei to break off their swiftly-escalating argument. "You don't mind, Duo, do you?"
Duo blinked. "I hadn't actually thought about it much. I mean, haven't had much time or reason too. I've been with that bastard Ellyaugh the past two or three years, plague mostly before that... Hm. I dunno."
In the short silence that followed Duo imagined that he could actually hear Wufei's teeth grinding. "Tell you what, 'Fei-fei, I'll think about it and get back to you. You're not that bad looking yourself." He flashed him a grin and winked for added affect.
The strangled noise that greeted him was entirely worth it.
oOo
The sun was still lingering in the sky, still above the horizon, though just barely; it's reddish-tinted light lending Duo's room a strange, other-worldly feeling, as if the light itself had somehow been permeated with blood.
That was a bit melodramatic, thought Duo. Hardly proper thoughts before going to dinner. Roses--that suited much better. Rose sunset light. Still mushy and over-done, but much nicer, over-all, than blood.
He fidgeted subconsciously with a button-hole, dropping the fold of black cloth quickly once he noticed what he was doing. His clothes were stiff and uncomfortable, designed directly for style rather than use, and they had managed entirely new levels of impracticality. Fashion seemed to have changed over the past 500 years-he had never seen anyone wear anything even remotely similar to what his wardrobe (that had been a weird incident) had provided. True, recent fashions for those with money were stupid as well, but times had gotten a lot more difficult with the onset of the plague.
His mind was (thankfully) forced off of that subject with a sudden knock at his door before it was opened, revealing Wufei, looking regal and foreboding in the now-golden light.
He eyed Duo critically, forcing himself to admit that he cleaned up well. Except for the hair, which was obscenely long, and still braided.
Speaking of which… “Can’t you do something about your hair?”
“No,” said Duo flatly, voice filled with determination and deep-rooted stubbornness, a dangerous look in his eyes; he was prepared to defend the point, if necessary. Wufei didn’t try to press the matter.
“You will be expected to behave yourself at least decently while at dinner; it’s a matter of respect. I know you’re probably not used to these sorts of situations, but please just… do your best.”
Duo had to admit, he was a bit surprised. Not about the hair-that particular point was so obviously going to come up that it wasn’t even worth thinking about-but that there was a note of… worry in Wufei’s voice?
“Try to be tactful at least. Heero-I told you the curse changed him. He looks… very much not human. Take this as a warning. I can’t say any more than that, I’m afraid I’d prejudice your own opinions, but please…Think before you act.”
Wufei’s face grew even more severe. “If you end up hurting him, surviving long enough to get out of here will be the least of your worries.”
Duo could tell a warning when he heard one. He also guessed that this wasn’t the time to do what he liked to term “lightening the mood” but which was, in reality, better named “pissing people off.”
“It’s time, then,” Wufei said, walking to the door and waiting a minute, looking over his shoulder to double-check that the other boy was following behind him. They walked down through a set of oppressively dark hallways, taking multiple turns as they navigated the complicated warren that was the castle.
They eventually came to the second-most impressive set of doors Duo had ever seen, dwarfed only by the castle doors themselves; the dark wood was finely carved with an intricate design; Duo couldn't quite make it out in the half-light.
Wufei turned to his increasingly nervous companion and bowed slightly, punctuating the earlier conversation with another impressive glare before turning and leaving. The doors swung open nearly silently, the only noises a slight grinding from the hinges and its whisper as it was pulled over the empty carpet.
Duo swallowed slightly, impressed (and slightly intimidated) in spite of himself, before walking in.
The room was heavily shadowed, with only a banked fire and the slight flicker of candles to light up the room. The ceiling soared upwards for an impressive distance, the dim lighting adding to the illusion that it went on forever. A long table stretched away as well, with two place settings clustered at the near end with a set of steaming dishes.
The room was also empty. It was a bit of a let-down, actually.
Duo stood fidgeting for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, before the creak of the doors opening made him jerk around.
The figure standing in the doorway was, as Wufei had said, definitely not human-looking, even half-obscured by shadow as it was now.
It was too tall, for one, and built wrong, and covered in shaggy fur; the head was too heavy and the wrong, the jaw belonged to a predator. The eyes were invisible, sunk in shadows and covered by hair, a particularly disturbing effect. He could still see that they were arranged in the wrong position, made for hunting instead of escaping.
Even through the fur he could see the muscle covering him, rippling with his movements, and the motions themselves were barely controlled, as if the energy harnessing them was seeking to escape. There was a terrible air of power around him.
Duo covered his fear by bowing slightly. The cold, calculating part of his mind was whispering about not showing fear, potential escape and how totally under-matched he was if it came to a fight. The more human part of his mind was cowering in abject fear, whimpering to itself. The end result of the mis-matched suggestions ended up putting him down a very Duo path: wing it and do your best to act as if nothing’s wrong. Wait for cues from his... dinner companion. Who just happened to have his eventual freedom based on whether or not Duo would love him.
He gulped slightly, and the slight flicker of motion caught Heero's attention. He waited, heart cold, for the panic that would surely follow.
"Hey there, I'm Duo, and I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're Heero. Mind if we eat? I'm starving!"
(1) When you don't eat for long periods of time your stomach shrinks, so you feel fuller faster. It's not that he's not hungry, or doesn't need the nutrients, it's that he can't physically fit much more food into his body without being violently ill, definitely not what he needs, health-wise.