Extra
Warning:
Almost graphic death scene.
Notes: Many, MANY, thanks to all
of you who reviewed the last chapter! And again to my beta for dealing with my
impatience *looks sheepish*. Enjoy! ^^
Chapter Six:
Cromwall
1815
Spring
Another
explosion heard from the small window of the attic heralded a new day for many
of the servants in the Dunhill Mansion. Several shook their heads softly, as if
already used to the loud noises. They went back to their duties with weary
steps – many still feeling the effects of lack of sleep from the night before.
Their voices seemed hushed and wary in the early morning fog. Everyone was
quite aware of the fighting that had broken out in the town of Marsden, a few
miles south, and it was only a matter of time before it reached the sheltered
walls of Cromwall. Husbands, brothers, sons, fathers, and grandfathers had
begun to arm themselves with weapons for a possible invasion from the enemy.
Wives, sisters, daughters, mothers and grandmothers were left to worry and
dread the day that the call would come for their loved ones to leave their
homestead. All in all, it was a very troubling time for the townsfolk and
everyone seemed to walk on eggshells. One never knew who to trust these days.
Trowa
Barton slipped into his flat-soled shoes quietly. As he began to shrug into his
jacket, he idly noticed that Duo’s bed was empty again. It was no longer
strange to see the small bed barely slept in, as the longhaired servant was now
prone to spending a lot of time with his master in the attic. They had barely
spent two months together and neither had disclosed their pasts to the other.
But from Duo’s behavior, Trowa could tell that the boy was a natural scientist
for his curiosity of how things worked seemed limitless. If anything, Duo had
been the one to ask more questions about the inner workings of the mansion than
either he or Wufei. At first, Quatre had been put off by the brunette’s
enthusiasm, but he had slowly warmed up to Duo and the rest as they say is
history.
At the moment, Wufei was the only one asleep – although Trowa doubted that. The Chinese boy was very prone to waking up at the slightest movement and today would probably be no different. He, Wufei and Duo had met on the final stop at Dinkers, where they had met Jergens. Even during the trip to the mansion, neither boy had talked much to the other but they had all known that there was something they shared and they had noticed it on the spot. Surprisingly though, Wufei had been more ‘responsive’ to Duo, if that were at all possible. The raven-haired boy had refused to speak to Trowa and it was only when Duo made a direct comment to him, was Trowa able to tell that Wufei wasn’t actually deaf or dumb.
Quatre
was already gone for the day, as was his habit every morning. Trowa’s
fascination with their leader had not waned in the slightest but he had been
unable to get Quatre to really speak to him since his arrival. He wasn’t sure
if the blond was deliberately avoiding any situation in which they would be
left alone, but Trowa’s curiosity continued to grow with each passing day. He
wanted to know more about Quatre and he wouldn’t rest until he got the head servant
to indulge him in conversation.
“You
were shot,” came the sudden statement that had Trowa spinning around quickly.
He stared a bit moronically at the young man still lying on the bed as if
wondering if Wufei had spoken in his sleep.
But
seeing the deep-set black eyes staring right back at him convinced Trowa that
Wufei was indeed awake and this wasn’t some strange or surreal moment. He
smiled softly and nodded slowly.
“Yes,
yes, I was. How could you tell?” He knew for a fact that his wounds hadn’t
reopened from any signs of aggravation.
Wufei
shrugged and gave a small yawn before sitting up quickly. The plain white sheet
fell off his body revealing smooth skin, a well-toned torso and slight tufts of
dark hair that no doubt lead to the obvious bulge beneath the sheet. Trowa
tried to tear his gaze away from the sight but seemed hypnotized and unable to
do so.
“And
you?” he asked again, quite surprised at how steady his voice sounded. “How did
you pass away?”
Wufei
swung his legs off the bed, not really caring that the sheet had now completely
fallen off his body to reveal the very thing Trowa had tried not to notice. To
his relief, however, Wufei reached for his pants and began to dress into them
quickly. And just as Trowa felt his question would never be answered, the
dark-haired boy began to speak quietly but firmly.
“I
was born in the city of Chang’an,” he began. “And I had a very happy life with
my family. We were almost considered royalty, but I assume being that popular
and wealthy doesn’t account for much…”
~*~
The
Province of Shangxi
China,
1806
The boy held the parchments tighter against his body as he listened to the raised voices behind the door. He pressed his ear even closer as if wishing he could melt through the heavy object to gain access to what was truly going on in there. He had noticed his uncles Meng Zi and Han Fei arriving earlier in the afternoon, but they had been in the room with his father for over an hour now. Wufei had tried to concentrate on his studies but even his teacher had left to find out what the ruckus was all about.
“Father…”
he muttered softly in worry, only to give a yelp of fright as a strong hand was
placed upon his shoulder. He spun around quickly; ready to give whomever it was
a piece of his mind, when his scowl turned to a small smile as he noticed who
it was. “Sister…what are you doing here?”
The
tall, black-haired girl smiled warmly only to tap her younger sibling’s nose
gently. “Shouldn’t you be studying, Wu Fei? You know what will happen if your
teacher comes out to find you here.”
He
pouted and shook his head gently to get rid of her finger. “They’ve been in
there for hours now, sister,” he replied quietly. “What do you think is going
on?”
The
girl frowned lightly and folded her arms in contemplation. It was times like
this that the youngest heir to the Chang family
found himself ‘falling in love’ with his older sister all over again. As
always, she was dressed in a simple flower print silk jacket and matching pants
that gave her an air of dignity and strength. There was no doubt that Xiu Juan
was the epitome of all that was good about the Chang family. Like her name, she
was elegant, beautiful and graceful but was also considered one of the best
fighters amongst their father’s small army of warriors. Wufei cherished the
moments she spent time to teach him new techniques with the katana. And it was
through her discipline and patience had he been able to achieve any respectable
fighting skills.
“I
do not know, Wu Fei,” she finished with a light shrug. She smiled but the young
boy could see the line of strain around her pink-tinted lips. There was clearly
something not right. “Why don’t you run along and study now. I’ll come by to
check up on you.”
He
opened up his mouth to protest again, but was silenced as she placed a finger
upon his lips.
“Go,”
she said firmly.
And he did. But as he took one last look at her shrinking figure as he walked away, little did he know that it would be the last time he would ever see her alive.
__
It
was the loud unearthly scream that had the boy sitting up quickly from his bed.
His young body was drenched in sweat as trembling hands clutched the silk
sheets tightly. It hadn’t been a dream. He had clearly heard someone screaming
from outside his window. With his heart thumping loudly in his chest, he
reached beneath his bed to pick up the light but very well made katana that had
been given to him by his father on his eighth birthday a few months ago.
Unsheathing it slowly, he rose to his feet, his simple white sleeping gown
hugging his skinny frame as he stood upon his bed to peer carefully out of the
high windows.
Beneath
the watchful eyes of the bright moon, nothing seemed to stir in the exquisite
gardens below him. He held his breath and tightened his hand around the hilt of
the sword, his breath becoming harsher and shallower as he tried to will his
heart and mind to cooperate with him. He needed to have a clear head if he had
any hopes of catching or finding out who their attackers were – if they were
being attacked that is.
Deciding
that staring out of the window wasn’t going to help much, Wufei jumped lithely
off the bed and began to move as silently as he could across his room and
towards the door. He pushed it open carefully, dark eyes peering out to the
corridor only to shrink back in fear as he noticed a shadow seem to leap from
one rooftop to the other. He gasped and stepped out a bit more, his sword now
held out before him in both hands as he tried to catch his breath. They were
being attacked! There was no denying it now.
Another
loud shriek filled his young ears and he felt his heart fall heavily into the
pit of his stomach as he realized that the sound had come from his parents’
quarters. Hardly thinking through his actions, he began to run towards their direction, his bare feet flying across the cold
marble floor. His eyes were already filling with tears and yet anger and
revenge for the traitors who would dare to do such a thing to his family. Sure
enough, his parents’ bedroom door was open and running through it quickly, he
came to a screeching halt as his gaze fell upon the scene before him.
He
felt his stomach give a sickening churn and before he could control himself,
his evening meal escaped its prison as he fell to his knees. The katana slipped
from boneless fingers, his eyes brimming and spilling with hot tears as he
stared at the severed heads of his mother and father. They had been placed upon
two of his father’s prized spears, their glazed and horrified depths forever
frozen in that state as if in disbelief at what had happened to them.
“Mother…Father…”
he croaked out weakly as he crawled slowly towards them. “I couldn’t stop
them…I’m so sorry…”
Xiu
Juan!
Where
was his sister?! If they had gotten his parents, what would have happened to
his sister?! But it seemed as if he didn’t need to go far for two burly figures
leapt into the room to stand before him. He staggered backwards weakly only to
give a breathless shriek as something heavy and quite bloody was thrown upon
his lap.
He
stared into the defiant black eyes – even in death his sister had been brave to
the very end. He could almost see her struggling with her attackers and he
hadn’t been able to do anything. What had he been doing? All this time, his
family had been slaughtered and all he could do was sleep through it all.
He
cradled the head against his body, the tears falling faster as he closed his
eyes and waited for the inevitable.
And
as the sword swung through the air to take away his life, Wufei muttered a
quick chant that would guarantee him a safe return in his next life.
~*~
Trowa
stood dumbfounded at the story as he watched the Chinese boy button up his
shirt carefully. All throughout the tale, Wufei had been surprisingly calm
through it all. Trowa could only imagine the mental anguish the other man had
been going through all these years.
Finally,
he asked quietly. “Did you find out who was responsible for the deaths?”
Wufei
nodded with a small but cold smile coming to his lips. “They were caught by the
Imperial army and given the punishment they deserved…”
“And
what about you?”
“What
about me?” the dark-haired boy asked in bemusement.
“You
said…you chanted…?” Trowa asked carefully while eyeing Wufei with renewed
interest.
The
servant nodded curtly, reaching for a small black ribbon to tie his hair in a
ponytail. “Didn’t you?” Wufei asked with a raised brow. “How else were you able
to return?”
Trowa
blinked and shook his head slowly as it dawned on him that that part of his
life was a blank slate. He willed his mind to conjure up images of a childhood.
But to his chagrin, nothing came. Where were his images of youthful vigor and
innocence? Where were familiar images of a family he should have known?
“I…I
don’t remember…” he said weakly. “I don’t…know…”
Wufei
stopped long enough to stare at his companion in disbelief. “Do you not
remember anything about your past life?”
“I
know I was shot,” the brown haired boy said a bit defensively. His hand
automatically went to his left side. “I was shot and that was it…”
“You
had to be shot for some reason…”
“I
don’t…I don’t remember…” Trowa’s brow furrowed in thought. “All I know is that
I woke up in the middle of a corn field and the family took me in and made me
work for them.”
Wufei
stared at him a bit longer, his expression clearly stating that he did not
believe a word that Trowa was saying.
“You’ll
remember in due time,” he finally said enigmatically. “We’ve got a lifetime to
do so.”
And
with those last words, Wufei excused himself and left the other servant with
his confused thoughts.
~*~
Cromwall
Present
Day
Dr.
J eyed the dying embers in the fireplace with a slight curl of his lips. “Tragic
way for the Chang family to die, eh?”
Relena nodded slowly. “It was believed that Meng Zi and Han Fei were the ones
responsible for the deaths…”
“Li
Chang’s comrades?” The doctor asked incredulously although he knew he really
shouldn’t have been surprised to hear such a thing.
“There
was a dispute over land and who got the most share from their father’s last
will,” Relena explained quickly as her hands flew across the pages of the
leather bound book. “Meng and Han believed that Li had been given way too much
and wanted an expansion of the territory for their political gains. However, Li
did not want that and had tried to make them see reason.”
“So
much for that,” J replied flatly as he sucked hard on his pipe. He glanced
towards the mansion again, noticing that a few stars had broken through the
fairly darkened evening sky.
“You
keep staring at the mansion, sir,” Relena observed with a small smile. “Perhaps
you would like to go there?”
“Have
you been there before?” the doctor asked with a raised brow.
Relena
shook her head softly. “I haven’t gone inside the house per se…I’ve just stood
outside the gates and looked in. But I was sure…” She stopped and lowered her
lashes as if embarrassed by what she was about to say. “You are going to laugh
and think I am crazy as well.”
“Oh,
don’t be ridiculous,” the doctor said with a wave of his hand. “If I can listen
to all of this without batting an eyelash, what would make me disbelieve you,
hmm?”
The girl looked at the doctor, who did look a bit batty, with a wary smile
before continuing shyly. “Well…it was after school one day and I just decided
to take a walk down that road since it’s a bit closer to my house and all of
that. But then I looked into the house grounds and I could have sworn I had seen
little kids running around in there…sir…” She finished lamely again.
“Little
kids?” the doctor asked with a raised brow. “But I’m sure children in the
neighborhood…”
“They
didn’t look like children from the neighborhood, doctor,” she said quickly with
a firm shake of her head. “They were dressed in nineteenth century clothes and
they were darting in and out of the trees pretty fast but one of them did stop
and seemed to look at me.”
The
doctor leaned closer, his eyes now bright with interest. “Did he say anything
to you, Miss. Peacecraft?”
She
pursed her lips and then shivered slightly. “He had shocking blond hair, sir
and he smiled at me and said… ‘Do you want to play with us?’ I couldn’t believe
it, but I think I said ‘No’. He then
shrugged and said ‘Your loss…’ and then he ran away. Pretty crazy, huh?”
The
doctor said nothing for a few minutes as he blew another cloud of smoke into
the air. Finally, he asked. “Do you think it’s who I think it is?”
At
Relena’s soft nod, the doctor turned his gaze towards the house again. “They
are still in there, hmm? Just as I had always thought.”
The
librarian’s head shot up in surprise and her eyes narrowed in wariness. “Just
what were you planning to do, sir? Just why do you really need all this information?”
The
scientist chuckled and waved a hand in dismissal. “Oh, let’s just call it an
experiment in human psychology and just how well one can manage to survive
within his limit of what is reality and just plain…paranoia. But don’t worry,”
he added quickly to Relena’s puzzled frown. “My young ward should be able to
take care of himself.”
I
hope…
~*~
Overheard
from a neighbor’s TV set, in which Alex Trebec was looking exceptionally dapper
this evening…
“A
German word for ‘noisy ghost. As such it is an apparition that is known for
causing a great deal of trouble in a house or making a great nuisance of
itself. They do not harm people but tend to occur in the company of young
children or adolescents.”
And
the answer for two hundred dollars…
“What
is a poltergeist?”
~*~
They
appeared before Duo and Wufei, who were now sitting beside each other on a
garden bench with smug looks on their faces. But unfortunately both were now
children and fully dressed again. Heero felt incredibly embarrassed standing
before them still as naked as the day he was born. He almost wished that Trowa
wouldn’t release him as the other servant quickly stepped away to watch the
proceedings from the side.
Duo
pretended to be repulsed at the sight of Heero’s naked body as he closed his
eyes with his hands to shriek in feigned terror. “Oh the sight! Wear some
clothes! What a terrible sight to see!”
Wufei
smirked. Trowa broke into a small smile and even Quatre who was leaning out of
the window to stare at the happenings below had to snicker at the taunt. It was
as if they were all waiting for Heero to do something – testing him – needing
to see some kind of emotion besides his constant state of surprise or shock.
Heero
clenched his hands into fists by his side; his dark blue eyes pinned on the
teasing violet ones before him.
“What’s
the matter, master?” Duo snickered as
he blew a raspberry and then rolled his eyes. “He can’t do anything, Quatre.”
He pouted and lifted his gaze to the silent blond above. “Why didn’t you get us
someone more interesting. He’s just…boring.”
“He
wanted to play with you and Wufei, Duo,” Quatre replied with a light shrug.
“Why did you revert back to your child-like form? I’m sure he would have made a
perfect playmate then.”
“No
way,” Duo huffed and eyed Heero with a snicker before rising to his feet.
“Wufei would eat him for lunch. Wouldn’t you, Wufei?” He turned to the Chinese
boy for confirmation and giggled as his hand was lifted gently. Heero watched
as Wufei placed a tender kiss upon his partner’s palm.
“With
pleasure,” came the soft reply, which sent something hot searing down Heero’s
spine. Someone growled and judging from the mild surprising looks that came
upon the boys’ faces, Heero knew that he had been the one to make the sound.
Quatre’s
lips quirked into a rather cruel smirk that would have surprised any of the
servants under his care as he watched Heero’s reaction. It was about time
someone put Duo in his place and if anyone could do it, it would be this Japanese
boy...but then again, he had thought the local teen he had brought in a few
months ago had been the one as well. Things had definitely not gone very well
in the end.
Duo
looked startled for just a moment before he replaced it with another smug look.
“What’s this? It looks like the master is about to put up a fight. What are we going to do, Wufei?”
Heero
stepped closer, his lips curling into a rather cold smile as he noticed Duo
step back a little. “Enough with that,” he said curtly as he held out his hand.
“You know what I’ve come here for, Duo Maxwell and as much as I would like to
stand here and chit chat with you over bull shit, I’m afraid the party’s over.”
He
barely acknowledged Wufei growing to his full height or the cold glare that was
now pinned on him as he kept his gaze stubbornly fixed on Duo’s wary depths.
“Get
away from him,” the Chinese boy growled menacingly. “Haven’t you humans used
him enough already?!”
“Back
off, Wufei,” Heero replied calmly although he could feel a sudden chill crawl
up his spine. “I won’t hurt him. I only want him to give me what I want.”
“I
will do no such thing!” Duo bellowed out in fury as he too ‘grew’ to his full
height. He matched Heero’s glare, his neat braid unraveling by itself as an
indescribable surge of energy seemed to swell around them. Heero had to brace
himself so as not to fall, while trying to
will his mind not to dwell too much on how excruciatingly beautiful Duo looked
when angry – extremely angry.
He
was sure just one blow from the furious entity would send him to an early grave
but it would be worth the risk. He couldn’t forget what he had come here for.
Yes, he would have loved to have a rendezvous with Duo and Wufei when the time
was right, but he had been sent here by the doctor to pick up something that
would be beneficial to mankind - at least he hoped it would be. He really had
no idea what Doctor J’s plans were if he did get the elixir. However, the
sooner he got it, the better. Heero wasn’t sure he could take any more of Duo
and Wufei’s teasing or taunts or he was bound to lose his mind.
“Come with me, Duo,” he cajoled again, only to find himself suddenly flying across the lawn. He felt the pain seconds after as he fell hard against a low brick wall. He raised a hand to his throbbing jaw, feeling his mouth fill with blood before spitting it out quickly. Apparently, it looked as if he would have to get a beating first before convincing the stubborn ghost of his good intentions.
Rising
shakily to his feet, he smiled coldly and cocked his head to the side trying
hard to ignore the pain that wracked his injured back. “What?” he asked in
derision. “Is that all you’ve got, Duo Maxwell? You’ve got to do better than
that if you want me to leave you alon….aaaargh!!”
He
had barely seen the boy lunge for him but Heero again found himself flying so
quickly that falling onto the hard earth sent his vision non-existent for a
moment. He groaned and this time found it extremely hard to get to his knees.
Damn, but Duo’s blows were crushing and deadly. Just how could he hit a ghost
that was incredibly fast and could disappear if he even made an attempt to do
so?
He
staggered to his feet again, barely able to stand as he managed yet another
taunting smile. His face felt like hell and he was aching all over, but seeing
the slightly bemused _expression on the other boy’s face was all he needed to
know that his plan was working.
“Come
on, Duo,” he goaded with a snicker. “Give me all you’ve got. I’m right
here…waiting for you…”
The
servant seemed to waver as he stared at the bleeding and naked boy before him.
A small part of him questioned Heero’s sanity and fiddled with the thought of
stopping, but Heero’s smirk was the final straw.
“You’ve got a death wish, boy,” he growled
softly as he began to stomp towards Heero while cracking his knuckles. And
raising his fist, he finished coldly. “And I’ll be more than glad to grant it
to you.”
Wufei
watched rather dispassionately at the fight while Trowa glanced upwards to meet
Quatre’s amused aquamarine depths. It really was hard to read the blond’s
thoughts and this moment was no exception. Trowa had been sure that Quatre
would have been upset at the way Duo was making mince meat of the boy he had
admired but instead the blond seemed to be enjoying it in some perverse way.
Was his jealousy unfounded then? Was there really no reason to think of Heero
as a threat in his quest to please Quatre? Just where did he stand in all of
this? Rubbing a hand wearily across his forehead, he sighed at the dull glow of
pleasure in those beautiful eyes before calling out quietly.
“Make
him stop, Quatre. He’ll kill Heero…”
“Really?”
came the amused reply.
“Yes,
really.”
“He
knows he can’t, Trowa,” said Quatre smugly. “He needs Heero and he knows it.”
He turned towards the silent Chinese boy. “Hey, Wufei…why don’t you go and
remind Duo about something, hmm?”
Wufei
seemed reluctant to do that, but with a resigned sigh, he walked towards the
couple and tapped his partner’s shoulder gently. Duo, who was still in the
process of giving Heero yet another blow to his face, glared angrily at his
partner for the intrusion. It wasn’t until he listened to Wufei’s whispered
words, did he release Heero with a light snort. He stepped away from the
bleeding boy, violet eyes, which had almost gotten black with rage, now
contemplative as they eyed the semi-conscious figure on the ground.
“Why
didn’t you tell me this ahead of time?” he grumbled while raking slightly
trembling fingers through his bangs. He glanced at Quatre, who waved from his
perch with a knowledgeable wink. And swearing revenge on the blond terror, Duo
fell to his knees and cradled Heero’s cheeks. He began to caress them almost
lovingly.
“Look
at me, oh fearless master,” he teased lightly as his fingers slid lower to
trace the outline of Heero’s cracked and broken lips. “I want you to do
something for me. Can you hear me? I said I want you to do something for me.”
Heero
opened up his lashes…well as far as they could go. He was an aching mass of
bruises and for a moment back there he was sure that Duo had been more than
ready to send him to the afterlife. He wondered what had made the angry ghost
stop. Whatever it was, he definitely hadn’t expected to be face-to-face with
Duo – at least not this intimately.
Duo
smiled softly as he noticed he had gotten Heero’s attention and as he wrapped
his arms around the Japanese boy’s neck, he whispered thickly into Heero’s ear.
“I
want your body, Heero. For one day…give me reign to become you and to enjoy
your freedom. If you do that for me…then…I just might give you what you truly
really seek.”