Chapter
Thirteen:
Our Lady Of Peace
Chapel
Earth
The candles flickered and almost went out as a cold
gust of wind rushed into the small chapel. The young nun’s hands shook a bit
and unconsciously she clutched the miniature medallion that hung around her
neck in reassurance. Taking another deep breath, she focused her attention on
lighting the other candles that stood before the statue of The Blessed Virgin.
The soft chimes from the large church across the street echoed soothingly into the
small worship area and for a brief moment, she felt a sense of peace and
security.
“Hail Mary the Lord is with
thee,” she muttered softly, as she bowed before the statue. “Blessed are you
amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb…”
A loud slam of a door caused
her to jump in fear. She darted fearful eyes around the empty chapel, hands
tightening around the medallion.
“Who…who is here?” she asked
in a shaky tone. Her young body seemed poised for flight at the thought of
someone lurking in the dark shadows just waiting for her.
Dear Lord…give me strength…
She nearly screamed as she
bumped into the statue of The Lord behind her and holding onto to it to steady
herself, she glanced towards the confessional. That was where the noise had
come from.
Oh, why did I have to be on duty tonight? Why couldn’t
I just keep my big mouth shut and not volunteer my services?
“Relena.”
“AAAAHH!!”
She stumbled backwards and
fell to the floor, blue eyes widening in abject terror as they took in the looming
figure that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. She slapped a hand over her
mouth, biting hard into the soft flesh to curtail her growing hysteria. The man
didn’t look that dangerous come to think of it. He had light brown hair with a
lock that fell across his forehead. Weird shaped eyebrows over sparkling blue
eyes in the handsome face completed the picture, leaving the frightened girl
slightly in awe of his magnetic presence.
“Do not be afraid, Miss.
Peacecraft,” came the soothing, husky voice from the strange man. “I have come
to ask you for a favor. A very big favor.”
He held out a hand as his
features broke into a warm smile. “Will you come with me, Sister Relena?”
As if hypnotized, she found
herself reaching out to grasp the offered appendage, only to shake her head
quickly and pull it back. She shifted back slowly, narrowing her eyes in
distrust. “Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want from me?”
Treize Khushrenada eyed the
girl with a small nod of satisfaction. He had made the right choice after all.
This girl looked like she would be able to carry out the task without a
problem. It was just unfortunate that she had chosen to become a nun. He
stooped to her level, barely able to control a small chuckle at the way she
moved away again.
“I promise that I will not
harm you, Miss. Peacecraft,” He reiterated calmly. “I have only come to give
you a gift.”
“A gift? What
gif…aaaaaaaaaah…” The cool touch of his hands upon her forehead sent her eyes
fluttering closed. She was pushed back to the floor gently and Treize was quick
to mutter a few chants over her prone figure. He placed his hands upon her
stomach and closed his eyes. A soft glow seemed to emanate from them and before
long, they were both enclosed in a pale golden aura that slowly faded away as
he opened up his eyes.
“Yes,
Lord Khatet’s Castle
Zechs paced restlessly around
the comatose figure of his partner and superior. Treize had been ‘gone’ for way
too long now and the status of Heero, Trowa and Wufei was yet to be
established. He had sent several messengers after the hunters, not knowing what
lay ahead for any one of them.
A slight stir from Treize
sent Zechs scurrying to his side quickly. “Were you successful? Did you find
the right person?”
The older man groaned and
lifted weary eyelids to stare at the anxious visage of his lover. “Yes, I did,”
he finally mumbled out as he tried to get to his feet. With a little aid from
Zechs, he managed to get himself composed and he glared angrily at the opened
chamber doors remembering the disobedience he had had to deal with earlier.
“Any sign or word from them?” he asked curtly as he straightened out his suit
with quick impatient jerks.
Zechs shook his head slowly.
“No. It has been strangely quiet since you ‘left.’ The loud rumbling sound we
heard earlier seems to have died down.”
“Do not be fooled by
Amon-Rah’s tricks, Zechs. You know as well as I do that he is laying a trap for
us.”
“Yes, I know that…but…” He
bit his lower lip in thought. He was really anxious to know who the chosen girl
was and at this point, he didn’t want to upset Treize by asking.
“She is a nun.”
Zechs blinked and gaped at
his lover in disbelief. He had forgotten all about their telepathic abilities
for a moment. “A nun?! But…but…”
Treize leaned forward to
seize Zech’s lips in a quick but hard kiss, pulling back to eye his flustered
mate with mischief in his blue depths. “Ah, ah, ah, my impatient little love.
All will be revealed in due time, you’ll see.”
“My Lord Treize! My Lord!” A
messenger ran towards them, having just scouted the other parts of the castle.
“We have discovered the body of someone that is believed to be the real Solo,
my Lord!”
Treize and Zechs exchanged
glances and giving a curt nod, the brown-haired man barked out to the remaining
messengers. “Bring him here quickly. Zechs, I want you to heal him as soon as
he arrives.”
“But where are you going to?”
the blonde asked in bewilderment.
Treize’s lips pursed in a
firm line, his eyes darkening with determination. “I am going after them,
Zechs. Someone has to make sure that things do not get out of hand, remember?
Once Solo comes out I want you to ask him some questions, okay? He might be the
key to bringing Duo back to his normal…what the hell was that?!”
A loud explosion was heard as
the entire building seemed to shake and tremble in its aftermath. Debris fell
from the roof and everyone had to duck as another rumble followed soon after.
“Damn it! The entire place is
collapsing!” Treize shouted out several more commands. “Hurry up! We don’t have
too much time! I am going in!”
With a curt nod, he whipped
out his gun and dashed into the waiting darkness beyond the large chamber
doors.
Quatre opened up his eyes
slowly. The pain in his groin was slowly ebbing away and he felt as if he could
move…a little. Wincing slightly, he sat up on his elbows and tried to make
sense of his surroundings. For a moment, nothing seemed to come to mind, but as
he dared shift again, the memory of Duo’s assault on him came rushing back
causing him to cover his face with his hands in shame and humiliation, but most
importantly sorrow.
“Duo…what…why?”
But where was he now? He
removed his hands, unaware of the tears that had fallen from his eyes. He
stared at his surroundings in frank curiosity. For one thing, he was no longer
in that room with the huge statue. He wasn’t on that cold slab either. He
blinked at the rough stones that made up the wall that surrounded him in a
circular shape. Raising his head, he stared at the endless ceiling before him.
There was no door to escape, neither was there a window, but somehow he could
see perfectly. How had he come in here? Had he been dropped? Where was Duo?
What was that bastard demon doing to his love now?
He held out his hands and
closed his eyes. Duo had given him the power even if Amon-Rah had had a hand in
it. All he had to do was concentrate and maybe…just maybe he could blast his
way out of the dungeon.
It turned out that he would
have no need to do such a thing for a loud explosion sent him reeling backwards
and into a corner of the room. Curling himself into a tight ball, aware that he
was still naked and was yet to deal with his humiliation, he peered up
fearfully, hoping and praying it wouldn’t be Khatet again. For a moment nothing
was seen except a lot of smoke, but soon enough it cleared to reveal the
familiar figure of his nemesis.
“Are you alright?”
Quatre bared his canines in a
purely animalistic move that was done completely on instinct. He had had to
deal with running away from them all these years and now to have Heero see him
in this state….it was too much for the blonde
to take. Not caring about the pain that seared through his body at the
movement, he lunged for Heero, hands ready to wrap themselves around the other
boy’s neck in a chokehold.
Moving swiftly, Heero stepped
out of the way and Quatre found himself falling into the waiting arms of Trowa,
who, quickly, wrapped a jacket around the naked boy’s body. Gasping in
surprise, Quatre lifted shimmering aquamarine depths into the understanding
green ones above him. He was unable to stop the tears that slipped out as he
felt Trowa’s warm embrace. He longed for the security a pair of strong arms offered.
He had missed having someone to hold and protect him and this little gesture
from the hunter did more to break his already crushed spirit.
“Duo…” He muttered out
harshly against Trowa’s chest as he hitched in his breath, the sobs coming out
forcefully. “He took Duo away.”
Wufei stepped into the room
and asked sharply. “Do you remember where he was taken to, Quatre?”
The blonde shook his head
slowly still clutching onto Trowa’s shirt. “I don’t…don’t remember much…”
“In here.”
All eyes turned to face the
stoic Japanese boy, questioning his plain statement. Heero had his hand pressed
against the solid stone and his eyes were closed. “I can feel them. They are in
there waiting for us. I am going to blast us through.”
Wufei placed a hand on his
arm and shook his head. “No. You have used up enough energy already, Heero.
Allow me this time.” Wufei brought out his katana and raised it high above his
head while muttering a few prayers. The weapon seemed to glow with a bright
light and in a movement that was too fast for the human eye to follow, he
sliced through the stones quickly. To their amazement, each fell to the floor
in neat little chunks and soon enough a miniature doorway of sorts was
revealed.
“Ready to go?” All boys
nodded in agreement, and allowing Heero to lead the way, they stepped through
the door and into the waiting darkness beyond.
Zechs held the cup of water
to the lips of the dark-haired boy with a look of concern in his eyes. He
waited for the liquid to go down before patting Solo’s back gently. Dark eyes
lifted to gaze at the blonde before them in slight fear. And for the first
time, Zechs got a chance to see how beautiful Solo really was. Despite the
grime that had accumulated on his skin throughout his stay in the dungeon, they
did little to hide the piercing dark eyes, the perfectly shaped nose, the full
lips and his long jet-black hair. He was dressed in what looked to be a simple dark
blue suit although it seemed as if it needed a good dry-cleaning.
“Solo?”
“Yeah?”
Zechs grinned at the wary
look that had filled the boy’s eyes. “I am going to need your help.”
Khatet growled lowly, sickly
gray eyes watching the immobile figure that hung high above him. Duo wrists
were bound in chains and raised above his head. Trails of blood from the gashes
on his wrists coated his flesh like a bizarre red painting. His long locks
flowed freely around him, successfully hiding his bowed face from view. He was
completely nude and the low sounds of his blood dripping onto the mummified
body below him were the only things that filled the ominous silence.
Khatet shuffled closer to the
body, holding up the bowl that contained Quatre and Duo’s combined essences
within it. He placed it beside the prone figure and fell to his knees. With his
hands clasped together, the old sorcerer began to chant the Hymns of the Dead.
His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his prayers became more forceful and
fervent. A small wisp of smoke began to rise from the bowl and it seemed to
flow into the mummy’s decayed wrappings.
The loud explosion sent the
sorcerer’s body into quick jerks. He cursed at the interruption but refused to
be deterred. Instead, he picked up the pace and intensified his chants determined,
by all costs, to bring Amon-Ra back to life. Duo’s blood had now completely
soaked the mummy’s head, creating a dull shade of red that looked ghastly in
the pale light.
Duo stirred and moaned as he
tried to gather his wits about him. The rotten stench of death filled his
nostrils and he opened up his eyes wearily to stare into the horrific sight
below him. The smoke from the bowl had now completely engulfed the mummy and it
seemed as if it was beginning to rise from the floor.
“Damn!” He struggled
fruitlessly, only doing more to make the chains dig into his already bruised
flesh. But he didn’t care at this point. Freeing himself from the imminent
ritual that was to take place was all that filled his mind now.
Khatet got to his feet and
cackled in glee. The mummy was slowly beginning to unravel itself. The musty,
decayed wrappings fell to the floor in a long coil slowly revealing the brown
and withered flesh beneath. Duo’s eyes widened in fear, his body tensing up as
the mummy now stood hovering before him. The last of the wrappings fell to the
floor and it took all of the young boy’s strength not to scream like a girl at
the being.
“Soon! Soon! My Lord Amon-Ra
will come back to life!! Once he has taken all of your soul and drained you
completely!!”
“Like hell!!” Duo struggled
even more violently. The chains scratched his wrists again, causing more blood
to flow from the wounds. Blood fell into his hair and eyes causing him to be
blinded for a moment. A low creaking sound like that of breaking bones caused
him to lift his gaze again.
The mummy was…rebuilding
itself??
From the decayed and rotten
flesh, Duo watched in mute fascination as the bits and pieces of skin seemed to
place themselves back onto the skeleton. He gasped as he felt a dull flare
shoot down his spine. It felt as if someone was taking away the innards of his
body.
“Stop it…please…stop it…”
Khatet’s maniacal grin
widened even further. “Feed, my Lord. Take your fill.”
Another loud crash sent the
sorcerer growling in frustration. “Enough of those pesky little hunters!!
Armies of the dead arise from your sleepless state and attack those that dare
to disturb Our Lord’s awakening!!!”
Heero froze in his steps as
he heard the sound. His body tensed as did the other boys behind him. They
could feel the presence of other beings, not of this world, surround them and
without wasting time, all whipped out their weapons to fight. Trowa glanced at
the still trembling boy in his arms and muttered out softly. “I think you
should stand aside and let us handle this, Quatre. I do not want you getting
hurt.”
The blonde flashed angry
depths on Trowa’s visage. “I will do no such thing. I am going to get Duo back
and if it means fighting to the bitter end, then so be it!”
Wufei’s sharp cry of ‘Look
out!’ sent them all ducking as something flew over their heads. The fluttering
of a million wings from the biggest bat-like creatures they had ever seen
quickly followed it. Heero began to shoot blindly, not caring if he got any of
them or not. His destination was for the room beyond this one. He had no time
to waste on petty creatures of the night.
Trowa and Wufei sliced and
blasted through as many as they could, while Quatre was quick to summon up the
little strength he had to form as many energy blasts as he could. A sharp tug
on his arm sent him crashing into the lithe form of Heero.
“What do you think you are
doing??” he asked with a frown as he tried to release himself from Heero’s
grasp.
“Follow me! We have to get to
the other door now!!” he bellowed. The noises from the slain bats were ear
splitting and the dark bluish blood that spilled out from their bodies fouled
the air with its sickening smell.
Thinking that they had gotten
most of the bats killed, but to their dismay another flurry of the unwanted
creatures seemed to fly out from nowhere again.
“Fuck! We are never going to
be able to get them all!!” Wufei cried out as he struggled through a throng of
three or four that had now surrounded him.
Trowa was faring no better.
The bats were draining their energy and he could barely hold up on his own.
“It’s no use, Heero. You are going to have to go on with Quatre. We can handle
it on our own-.”
A sudden blast of firepower
filled the room and more bats fell to the floor. The four boys gaped at the
line of messengers that stood armed and ready for more onslaughts from the
creatures. Treize stepped out from the shadows and frowned at them. “Well? What
are you all waiting for? Go on and go get Duo! Hurry! You are almost out of
time! Amon-Ra is almost awake…”
Heero didn’t want to hear
anymore. He tugged on Quatre’s arm again and began to lead them out of there.
They could vaguely hear the sounds of more bats approaching and the gunshots
that rang out from Treize’s army.
“Do you think they will be
alright?” Quatre asked with a quick glance behind him.
“Yes. Don’t worry about Lord
Treize. He is not a leader for nothing.”
They made the sharp turn
around a corner and screeched to a halt as they stared at the large golden door
with the Egyptian symbols written all over it.
“Amon-Ra’s throne room,”
Wufei muttered softly. He tried to reach for the handles, when his hand was
quickly slapped away by Heero.
“Do not touch it, Wufei,” he
commanded quietly. “Only one can open up this door.”
“And why is that?”
Heero released Quatre’s hand
and closed his eyes. “Khatet is the only one that knows the secret combination
to opening it.”
Quatre blinked. “But isn’t
Khatet in there now? How do we get him to open up the door for us?”
For a moment silence reigned,
until Trowa sighed and shuffled his feet restlessly. “We have to get the one
next in line to Khatet’s power.”
“Who…what?”
The hunters stared at each
other in understanding . “Solo.”
As if on cue, a sudden gust of
wind came rushing past them and all covered their faces to stop the sand from
entering their eyes. Coughing and choking, they lifted their gazes to stare at
the bewildered dark-haired boy before them.
Solo blinked and spun around
and around as if wondering if he were in some kind of bizarre nightmare. It was
only a slap on his shoulder from Wufei that caused him to stop.
“Jeez…snap out of it, will
you?” Wufei bit out coldly. “So Zechs finally shuttled you down here, didn’t
he?”
Solo nodded weakly, although
he failed to mention that due to the intense strain on the blonde’s mind, Zechs
was no longer in commission at the moment. “Yeah….he did…”
“Good!” Wufei cut in rudely.
“Now open up this door, will you? We have to go rescue a friend of yours.”
Solo shook his head rapidly.
“I don’t know what you expect me to do. I don’t know anything about this…”
Heero’s clipped tone
interrupted his words. “You have been under Lord Khatet for a while, haven’t
you?”
“Only as a student. He was my
professor…how the hell was I supposed to know he would go crazy on me?!”
“No need to get all panicky,
Solo,” Trowa muttered softly. He pointed towards the door again. “All you have
to do is walk up to it and I am sure it will come to you. Besides, you don’t
know who is behind there, do you?”
The boy shook his head,
although a wary glint had filled his eyes again. “Who…is it someone that close
to me?”
A loud cry filled with gut
wrenching ache and pain came through the door and the boys gasped in shock at
the intensity of it. Quatre screamed out and tried to lunge for the door.
“DUO!!! HE IS KILLING DUO!!”
“DON’T TOUCH THE DOOR,
QUATRE!!” Heero shouted as he wrapped his arms around the struggling boy’s
waist to pull him backwards. “DAMN IT!! DO YOU WANT TO DIE TOO?”
He turned to face Solo, eyes
flashing with anger and frustration. “HURRY UP, SOLO!! OPEN UP THE DAMN DOOR!!”
“D…D…Duo? My Duo?”
~ Blood brothers for life,
right, Solo? You will never leave me, right? ~
~ Blood brothers for life,
Duo, you jerk. I will always be at your side. I promise… ~
“No…no…” Solo fell to his
knees and covered his face with his hands, his body trembling with emotion.
“Oh, God…Duo…what have I done?” He lifted up his head and threw it back and
with an anguished cry of his long lost brother’s name, he held out his hands
and sent out a wave of light so powerful, that it sent the door flying open.
Still reeling from the force
of the explosion, they tried to make their way into the room, only to stop as
Khatet’s voice filled with smug satisfaction reached their ears.
“Welcome in, boys. You are
just in time to get a first hand look at the new and revitalized Lord of the
Darkness!! Presenting my Lord….Amon-Ra!!”