-~-
Later that afternoon, Heero called an emergency meeting of the king’s council. He quickly told them of the problem and was astonished and infuriated when they didn’t agree with his thoughts on the matter.
“You
don’t understand.” Heero told his council flatly. He couldn’t believe their comments. They were just going to sit there and wait for something to
happen? By the time something
happened…it would be too late.
“Your
majesty…” one of the councilmembers said in a dry tone. “I assure you, the problem is under
control…Port Lunos is the Capital of the Unicorns, and it’s heavily infused
with magic. A few Zarisnian Gryphondancers,
no matter what dance they use, won’t be able to get in there.”
“You
don’t understand! This is MAGICPURE
we’re talking about! Zarisnia won’t
just send a few Gryphondancers; they’re going to send an army! The unicorns may be magical but they’re
physically unstable if their court at Port Lunos is harmed because of the way
they’re all connected to it,” Heero said.
He glared at each councilmember in turn, hoping they’d reconsider their
judgments. “The beaks and claws of a
dancing gryphon will make minced-meat of the unicorns! They’ll destroy the court and then attack
the rest of us! They’re intelligent!”
Councilmember
Septem, one of the military advisors, nearly spat insults at the brash young
king. “They’d certainly see such an
attack coming! It’s not like they
couldn’t call in troops in time!”
Heero
looked at each councilmember in turn, and saw that he was, indeed, beaten. If he couldn’t convince his council that he
knew with certainty that Zarisnia would hit Port Lunos with everything they had
and as secretly as they could, the point was useless. He’d simply have to recollect his thoughts and try this again
later.
“You’re
all dismissed,” he said, turning on his heel and leaving immediately.
-~-
A
scant hour later, both Quatre and Trowa knew.
The three boys frowned in concentration as they tried to find a way to
puzzle out the problem.
“Well…”
Quatre said finally. “The only solution
I see at the moment is for us to go there and use the crown to cage the
magicpure. The crown has many strange
abilities…it’s a very magical artifact.
We can’t waste time on your trying to convince the council.”
Trowa
nodded. “It seems best. We’d be a small group, but…”
“Not
so small.” A female voice said from the shadows. Two figures stepped away from the shadows, one clad in black
silk, and the other in fire-red. Wufei
and Meiran.
“We
have decided to go with you. A war of
the magnitude this much magicpure could create might affect even the dragons,”
Wufei said quietly. He smiled slightly. “Besides, gryphons and dragons are old
enemies, and it would do good to have two dragons there to fight off any
gryphons that come poking around.”
The
king and his two mages smiled. “We’d be
glad to have you,” Quatre said cheerfully.
“That’s
all settled, when do we leave?” Meiran asked, straight and to the point as
usual.
“Three
days. That would be best,” Trowa said.
Heero
tried to ignore the thoughts running through his head, but found he couldn’t.
I’ll
find some excuse to make Duo come along, that’s all there is to it.
-~-
Later
that same day, Heero walked into the back door of the Dusty Dragon and grabbed
the elbow of one of the young thieves.
“Lead
me to your king,” He ordered, releasing the girl. She gulped, nodded, and ran off.
Heero followed swiftly.
As
soon as Duo saw his friend enter the drinking-room, he brightened and
stood. Within seconds, the thief-king
had reached his quarry and proceeded to drag him upstairs to his rooms.
Heero
sat back in a chair as Duo lit candles and poured wine. At last the boy was still and faced Heero
with a slight smile.
“So,
Heero, what brings you here?” he asked quietly.
“Zarisnian
Gryphondancers have discovered magicpure in the west part of Marenia. My council doesn’t want to do anything about
it, but I do, so I’m going, along with Quatre, Trowa, and the ‘bounds Chang
Meiran and Chang Wufei. I…well…” Heero
froze up and gripped the wineglass for comfort. “I thought maybe your assassin skills and apparent art of
thievery would be useful…we’re going to be doing a lot of fighting, and you
know a lot about the quieter arts of death…”
Duo
grinned. “Heero, you didn’t even have
to make something up. I would’ve gone
with you even if you’d just asked me to.”
Heero
coughed nervously. “Was it that
obvious?”
“Yes,”
Duo said, then laughed slightly. “All
right. When do we leave?”
“Three
days,” Heero said. “Do you think you
can be ready?”
“More
than!” Duo said. “Now go on, you’ve
just got to have loads of stuff to do.
I’ll be fine.”
Heero
offered his friend a smile, then left.
-~-
Three
days later, at sunup, Duo rode into the palace and stopped in the main field
that Heero had mentioned to him. Shadow
was loaded with gear, but not overly so; it wasn’t light packing, but
everything had a use and he wouldn’t be short of anything. Lots of traveling had taught him how to
pack, if nothing else.
Soon,
Tsubasa, Legend, and Trick were lined up beside Shadow, their packs slightly
more full and bulky, but not by a terrible lot. They explained to Shadow that Trowa, the beast that looked like a
man, had sent them out here to wait.
Shadow nodded; it was only natural.
He’d talked to the beast that looked like a man before. It was eerie in a way but not at all bad.
Soon
enough, the horses’ masters followed them outside. All three were dressed in pants, shirts, and riding tunics, with
armguards on. Duo was somewhat thrilled
to see that Heero was wearing the armguards that he’d given him as a midwinter
present.
Behind
the king and the mages, Wufei and Meiran stepped out of the doorway. Meiran looked over the packs on the horses
in no small amount of contempt, all but snorting at what she considered to be
messy packing. Wufei noticed this and
sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
He had been hoping that his partner could keep her warlike spirit quelled
for a good amount of time. Evidently a
good amount of time for her was a few days at most. That was not a good thing.
Just then, Wufei was snapped out of his reverie by Heero’s voice calling
out orders.
“Let’s
set out now. The better time we make now,
the less we’ll worry later,” He said.
Nobody disagreed. The four boys,
now on their horses, rode off through the gate, and Wufei and Meiran looked up
expectantly. Sure enough, Dhan and
Dhati swooped down so that their ‘bounds could leap onto their backs.
Soon
enough the two dragons flew into position over the four horses and the six
travelers set a ground-eating pace in the direction of Port Lunos.
-~-
Two
days later, the group stopped at the small town of Crosswaters. The settlement was named for the phenomena
beneath and around it; eight small rivers ran in and out of a gigantic lake,
four going in, four going out, in perfectly lined up angles, no less. The town itself was magically suspended over
the lake, from which they gained fresh water and fish. Looking out, one could point in any of the
cardinal directions and find a river directly lined up pointing in that
direction. Some thought it a magical
phenomenon, others simply a strange act of the gods, perhaps created by the
trickster himself for a bit of fun.
Heero
had decided to stop in the town to pick up some of their delicious fish, and
the others moved on ahead, confident that Tsubasa could catch up with them
quickly if she needed to. Heero moved
among the fish racks, picking out some fresh fish to cook that night and a few
racks of dried fish to gnaw on for trail rations.
It
was then that he saw the scythe.
At
first glance, it was nothing special whatsoever. However, when one paid it a bit more attention, it seemed to be a
bit…special. Magical. It was just something about it that made it
seem that way.
Heero
finished bartering for his newest package of dried fish, the last one he’d get
today. Tying it to Tsubasa’s saddle, he
led her over to where the string of packhorses he’d seen the scythe tied to
was.
At
first glance, Heero saw nobody, so took a closer look at the scythe. The wood was worn in some places from
constant use, and while the blade had a couple of nicks in it, it was one of
the sharpest things he’d ever seen, doubtlessly. Just then he heard a throat clear beside him and looked up. It was a sly, wizened old Kir’a’ti
trader. Moving through three languages
before finding one they could both talk in, Heero settled down to barter.
“How
much for the scythe?” he asked calmly.
“Not
for sale.” The man replied. “Powerful,
magical. Given to me by young man for
three fine horses. Powerful magic, he
say.”
Heero
felt a sinking suspicion in his stomach.
“What did this young man look like?”
“Ahh…”
the trader replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “He have long braid of brown hair, and bright eyes. Purple eyes.”
Heero
forced himself to bite back a shout and glared at nothing until he was
composed. Had Duo really traded away
this weapon for three horses? Obviously
there was something very special about it, and Heero was going to get it back
for his friend. He gently worked
something out of his pocket; a thick, heavy silver coin with sapphires embedded
into it. A royal trading-mark,
extremely rare, and ludicrously valuable…the king himself controlled every
royal trading-mark given out.
The
trader’s eyes lit up immediately as he gazed at the mark.
“Two.”
He croaked.
Heero
dug another mark out of his pocket, and then held out a hand for the
scythe. The trader hurried to hand it
over, and Heero delivered the marks.
The trader scurried off and Heero, carefully handling the scythe,
climbed up onto Tsubasa and made his way away from the town.
As
he was crossing over one of the bridges, Heero looked down into the water with
a sigh. Only a few chunks of ice
managed to make it this far into the rivers due to the constant motion of the
waters, he noted. The light blue color
of the crystalline rivers lightened the grey in his eyes, making them appear
bluer. People said the sky did the same
thing, but he’d never been able to verify that.
Soon,
he heard hoofbeats on the bridge ahead of him.
Looking up, he saw Quatre coming towards him, his palomino stallion
almost sighing from frustration.
“King
Heero! There you are!” Quatre
shouted. “I decided to stay behind and
watch out…what’s that?” he asked, pointing at the scythe.
“Ah,
well, I’ll soon find out if it’s what I think it is.” Heero replied
cryptically, then flicked the reins against Tsubasa’s neck, flying ahead over
the bridge and onto the tree-lined path on the other side.
Sighing,
Quatre turned Legend and moved to follow.
He couldn’t help but wonder what the king was up to. When he caught up with the group—and
Heero—however, he found out.
Heero
had moved Tsubasa to match Shadow’s pace and the silvery-white horse was moving
in perfect harmony with the black one.
Leaning a bit, Heero handed the scythe to Duo.
Duo’s
eyes lit up in a mixture of happiness, shock, and surprise. He turned over the scythe, running his
fingertips across the wood and fitting his hands onto the areas where he’d held
it thousands of times, doubtlessly.
“Heero…how
did you…?” he asked.
Heero
smiled and leaned over. “I met up with
a certain Kir’a’ti trader.” He told the thief.
Duo
smiled, and then asked, “How much did it cost?”
Heero
leaned over even further and placed a hand on Duo’s shoulder, moving to whisper
into the thief’s ear. “No much is too
much for you.”
Duo
grinned when Heero moved back, and said quietly, but cheerfully, “Oh, it’s not
that, I was just hoping you didn’t use all our funds, because I have this
feeling the others wouldn’t like having to eat grass and fight with sticks.”
Heero
laughed.
-~-
That
evening, as reds and oranges streaked across the winter sky, Duo led the group
down a small, deserted trail and straight to a sheltered campground. He looked around at it, then nodded and
pointed to a firepit, and various other things. Evidently the thief had camped here at some time in the past.
Trowa
gently took the tack off of the horses and rubbed them down, then led them to a
small creek nearby to have a drink of water.
They followed him without bolting; it was common. As the horses drank, Trowa struck up a conversation
with a few of the smaller animals in the area.
What he heard from them made him frown.
Trowa
gently tugged the horses’ attentions away from the water and led them back to
camp, instructing them on what to do.
They nodded and ringed the camp, staying mainly in the same area as
Trowa put out grain for them to eat.
Only after he’d cared for the group’s horses did he go to find Quatre.
The
blond naturemage was watching Dhan and Dhati make their landings on two
gigantic trees, giants of the forests.
Wufei and Meiran leapt down, buoyed by a bit of magical influence by
their dragons, and went into the main camp.
“Quatre.”
Trowa said quietly. “Have you had a
chance to talk to the trees yet?”
Quatre
looked startled. “No, I haven’t, why,
is something wrong?”
“Well,
the animals are saying strange things.” Trowa supplied.
The
blonde mage frowned, then nodded. His
eyes fluttered shut and he swayed ever-so-slightly from side to side as he
conversed with the gigantic evergreen trees.
Suddenly
the naturemage’s eyes sprang open and he nearly fell over. Trowa caught one of his arms, supporting
him.
“What’s
wrong?” the beastmage asked, as quietly as he could manage so as not to
frighten the others.
“The
trees…they say there’s a courtyard, stone, all of it stone…with weeds
struggling to grow among the stones…and animals in cages! Eternally cloudy…” he said, as if in a daze.
Trowa
frowned. It correlated perfectly with
what the animals had told him.
“Quatre,
we’ve got to check this out, the animals mentioned the same thing. Except minus the plants and the weather.” He
said, a bit sharply. “We’ll have to do
the soul-search.”
The
blonde mage’s eyes widened and a drop of sweat beaded on the side of his head,
despite the frigid air. “I…I…okay,
Trowa.” He said, biting his lip. It was
true that they needed to check it out, and if Trowa hated him for what he’d
see…that was that. There was no way to
turn back without seeming traitorous.
Trowa
looked around, back at the camp, where Heero, Duo, Wufei and Meiran were
talking animatedly, and then towards the trees. “Where should we go?”
Quatre
closed his eyes slightly, then opened them and pointed down a barely visible
trail into the woods. “There’s a
close-grown cluster of trees that way.” He offered.
Trowa
nodded and led his friend down the trail, to the trees. It was just as Quatre had said; they were
close together and would provide excellent cover. The two boys settled down in the middle, knocking aside some
snow, and raised their hands a bit slowly, resting their palms together in
midair.
Quatre
bit his lip and called on the magic within him, sending vine-like tendrils of
green light spiraling along his arms and around his body, as if he’d made a
spectral plant take root within him.
Quickly, the vines of magic wrapped around Trowa’s arms as well, and
tugged at Trowa’s own magic, enticing it.
The
beastmage’s stormy blue magic rose reluctantly, and then rippled across Trowa’s
skin, taking the form of fur, then feathers, then scales. It whipped to the vines and down Quatre’s
arms, joining the two bright colors in an equally bright turquoise.
Simultaneously,
both boys’ eyes snapped open and they gasped as they stared deep into each
other’s eyes.
Trowa
saw it all. Quatre’s father was on the
Emperor’s Council in Zarisnia, and despite his peaceful ideals, he was still
condemned. A member of the Emperor’s
harem took the youngest Winner boy, who had no mother, and could easily pass
for one not from Zarisnia with his odd coloration. The two escaped in a boat, but the Emperor sent a vicious storm. The boat washed up on Marenia’s shores: the
girl was dead, Quatre alive. The young
boy was found and brought to the palace, and King Terrence and Queen Sakura
were about to order that he be locked in the dungeons when their young son
stopped them. At Heero’s word, the boy,
Quatre Winner, became a free citizen of the country of Marenia, and began a new
life. Trowa felt no hatred towards the
boy, only sympathy.
Quatre
saw Trowa’s past as a boy lost in a gigantic forest, a world beyond his
comprehension, with vague memories of living the show-troupe’s life and not
much else. He saw each facet of the
boy’s twisted past in the forest as he learned to communicate with all kinds of
animals, one by one. Each type of
animal rallied to his cause and helped him through the forest—and ultimately,
to Maren City. He witnessed, with
wonder, the first time Trowa transformed from human to animal—to a cougar. He gasped in awe as a group of animals spoke
as one, naming their new friend Trowa Barton, after a patron saint and god of
all animals. He felt wonder at Trowa’s past,
full of adventure.
Then,
as one, the boys’ souls followed their magic’s path and they slammed together,
one being instantly. They felt each
other’s thoughts and dreams, and after a moment’s shy hesitation, they
conferred and as one single being composed entirely of magic and having no real
shape as the word is commonly defined, flew towards the hideous garden.
Within
seconds the boys arrived, and slowly split into beings crafted entirely of
colored light and pure magic. Trowa was
a stormy blue color, and though he had his usual shape, everything about him
was blue. Quatre was emerald
green. The two boys looked around the
garden. They immediately started
talking to the plants and to the animals, using their own personal skills to
accomplish things.
Trowa
turned to the caged animals, and in particular, a pair of peacocks trapped in a
cage.
“Why
are you here?” he asked, in a gemlike, chiming version of his own voice.
“We…the
emperor…he didn’t think we were perfectly beautiful…so we’re being punished…”
the peacocks replied, their voices dull.
Trowa
turned to a tiger in a nearby cage. His
fur was patchy, his body thinned from starvation.
“What
about you, brother?” he asked the great cat.
“I
was not handsome enough, so I was brought here.” The tiger replied, his tone
flat and almost lifeless.
Trowa
was becoming quite incensed by this time.
He turned to a pair of gem-scaled snakes in another cage.
“What
about you?” he inquired.
“Our
sssscalesss did not sssparkle brightly enough.” They replied in low hisses.
“Where
are we?” Trowa whispered.
“Zarissssnia.”
The snakes replied.
Trowa
immediately had a sense of foreboding.
He whirled around to see Quatre looking up at the sky.
A
chain of thoughts ran through his head.
This
was the Zarisnian imperial palace. Or
at least it was a part of it.
They
were magical.
Zarisnians
protected every inch of their land against magic.
They
had probably overstepped many protections even now…
An
outright magic spell…
“No! Quatre!” he shouted, even as the boy shouted
to the skies and the clouds parted.
A
bolt of bright yellow magic struck the boy, knocking him apart. His gem form flew into pieces, and he
screamed in pain. The sky clouded back
over, and Trowa ran over to where the pieces of Quatre were. He picked them up, one by one, then forced
himself to turn into a liquid shape and surrounded the pieces of his friend,
trying to soothe him. The naturemage
was in a storm of pain, and he screamed in nothing but pain for a few seconds
until he finally calmed down. When that
happened, Trowa gently pulled Quatre’s soul into his, and ran for home, after
shouting out a simple phrase to the evil garden.
“We’ll
be back, I promise it.”
Within
seconds, the two boys were back at their bodies and split into separate souls,
going into their correct bodies. Quatre
collapsed forward, shaking wildly.
Trowa caught him and held him in a protective hug until the shaking
subsided. Only then did Quatre look up
at his friend.
“Trowa…you…you
saw…and…you don’t hate me?” he asked quietly.
“No…why
would I?” Trowa said. “You gave up on
Zarisnia. It’s not like you’re a spy.”
Quatre
nodded slightly and leaned against Trowa a bit more. “I…I guess you saw…everything…then…” he said, blushing.
“It’s
not bad.” Trowa said, leaning one side of his face against Quatre’s soft blonde
hair and closing his eyes. “I’m sure
you saw that I felt the same way about you.”
Quatre
nodded slightly. The two boys leaned
back against a tree, as close together as they could get without melding their
souls once again.
-~-