Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shade Darker ❯ Chapter 14

Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.

A Shade Darker Part 13

By: Elf

"This isn't right," a soft female voice said. Quatre turned around to see that petite, elfin blond again, dressed all in black, her blond hair tied back from her face. Her hands were splayed over a mirror and she was tracing her reflection.

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked her, studying her. She looked back at him with silver eyes. Eyes the color of molten silver actually. She was startlingly beautiful with this purity about her. She turned to face him when he noticed the priest collar she was wearing.

She indicated to the reflection. She answered, "This. The image, its all wrong."

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked the nameless girl.

She reached out and traced the reflection's face. Quatre gasped as the image changed. The curves turned to lithe muscles, the chest flattened and widened, legs grew longer, shoulders grew broader, hair turned from golden blond to rich, chestnut brown and formed itself in a braid. The features became more masculine, but they still kept their gamine quality. The wide eyes turned from that glowing silver to a brilliant violet and the serious expression became a smirk.

"Hey, Q-Man, how ya doing?" Duo Maxwell asked as he stepped from the mirror. He wrapped his arms protectively around the girl's waist and she leaned her head against his chest. Quatre had to admit that they were a handsome couple. There was something else though that he couldn't put his fingers on though.

"Death," the blond said with a smirk as her fingers lightly tapped on Duo's chest.

"What?" Quatre asked her, not quite understanding what she was saying.

Duo spun her around, laughing. He chuckled, "I cause death and she controls the dead!"

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked them as they danced around him.

She laughed, "It's a trap. It's not good to become a rogue. Exspecaly if your the Hero of the Day."

Duo smirked and asked, "I had no idea that you listened to Metalica, buddy."

"I don't, you do," Quatre told him as he tried to follow the spinning couple.

"You've just gotta understand the rhyme and reason of the chaotic madness," Duo chuckled as he dipped the blond.

She looked up at him with her silver eyes and said, "The trap is set. The Dark Queen will capture the Bishop. Are you a pawn in this game?" Then she laughed.

Quatre blinked at his reflection in the mirror. It would be hours before Treize, Minerva, or, most important, Trowa would be up. He turned away from the mirror and walked out of the room. He found himself wandering to Trowa's room. Without really thinking, he opened the door and walked in.

The room was pitch dark, the only light coming from the hallway, silhouetting the pilot. Quatre swallowed and walked over to the bed. Trowa was lying flat on his back, his arms crossed over his chest, just like a body prepared for a funeral Quatre realized with a chill. He noticed that he wasn't breathing, just still and quiet, exactly like a corpse.

He walked closer to the bed and lightly touched Trowa's cheek. It was icy to the touch, like marble. A cold hand reached up and grabbed his wrist as the dark green eyes shot open. Quatre opened his mouth to scream, but Trowa's other hand clamped down on his mouth.

The vampire sat up, keeping hold of Quatre. He noted dimly that his hands started to warm up as he woke up, but it was still chilling none the less. Trowa let go of him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Quatre answered, "I had a vison."

"About what?" Trowa asked as he rose from the bed.

Quatre looked down at his hands and answered, "It made no sense. Remember the vison I had before, with the girl in it."

"The necromancer," Trowa said, nodding. He leaned against the wall. Shadows surrounding him like a comforting blanket. "Go on," he said in his quiet voice.

Quatre described the vision and ended by saying, "The girl said, 'The Dark Queen is about to capture the Bishop, are you a pawn in this game?' What did she mean by that?"

Trowa looked thoughtful as he sat on the bed. He said, "I'm assuming that the Dark Queen is Lilith, but who would be the Bishop?"

Quatre thought for a moment. The Bishop was the holy piece in chess, but which one of the pilots had the most faith. An image formed in his mind of a silver cross and white collar. He looked up at Trowa and said, "She wants Duo."

"Why?" Trowa asked.

"I don't know. What does he have to do with this?" Quatre replied, sitting on the bed, resting his head in his hands.

"Everything," a sharp male voice said from the doorway. Quatre looked around to see Zechs standing there and Trowa scowled.

Trowa said, "Treize mentioned Duo being a vampire hunter."

"Not any vampire hunter, the vampire hunter," Zechs said as he walked into the room.

Quatre frowned and asked, "What do you mean?" He felt the hairs at the back of his neck start to tingle. He placed his hands on his temples and concentrated. The use of his powers was new to him, but something was off about him, exspecaly how he came back from the dead.

Mixed blood lines. A cross of darkness and life. Mingled into one who is neither. Then, the crossing over to darkness. A world feared between vampires and humans alike: Damphier.

"You're not human," Quatre stated, somehow, with all the strange stuff happening in his life, he wasn't surprised.

Trowa moved closer to him, protectively. He asked, "What are you then?"

Zechs answered, "A Rogue."

"What the hell does that mean?" Trowa asked.

"Not in the least. You're getting a dark impression of me, aren't you?" Zechs asked with an ironic grin.

"Yes," Quatre answered as he stood up, standing beside Trowa. He asked, "What are you anyway?"

"Someone who crossed the line," Zechs simply said as he turned around.

Trowa stated, "You drank blood."

Zechs smirked and asked, "Did Treize tell you about me?"

"I'm just observant, Zechs," Trowa answered.

Quatre sighed and asked, "What about Duo again?"

"He's one of the Called. They're decedent from a special bloodline. A genetic memory to stalk vampires. They have the abilities to do it. They can mask their presence from them, sense them out, they're immune to mind control, they're stronger than a normal human, and they can feel emotions. Empathy," Zechs stated.

"What is that supoce to mean?" Trowa asked crossly, standing at his full height.

Zechs calmly answered, "What that means is that Duo is what is standing between Lilith and the end of the world. She wants him dead because she would be the only person alive or undead who could resist her power. It doesn't affect him."

"Why Duo?" Quatre asked.

Zechs shrugged and said, "He was just the one unfortunate enough to be born in that bloodline, Quatre. It wasn't Oz that gave him the name 'God of Death', it was the vampires and other creatures of darkness. He's good, one of the best if his reputation serves him right."

"Did any of the scientist know this?" Quatre asked, curious. Were all of them interwoven since the beginning of time to stop this? It was an interesting thought.

Zechs shrugged and answered, "I don't know. It would make a lot of sense if they did, why they chose Duo and Heero."

"What do you mean?" Trowa asked suddenly.

Zechs calmly answered, "Heero's like me. A product of a human woman and a male vampire."

"That explains how he could do half of the stuff that he did then," Trowa said thoughtfully. Then he asked, "If Duo was so great, then how was Oz able to get a hold of him."

"Deathscythe was in pretty rough condition in space. Besides, he was tortured, wasn't he?" Zechs asked calmly.

"Why didn't Duo get away, if from what you're saying, when he could have?" Quatre asked.

Zechs smirked and answered, "Duo, despite all of his gifts is human. A very flawed human. He acts too much on impulse and instinct, nothing is planned with him. That is what makes him so good at what he does. Most of your more powerful supernatural beings plan everything, and Duo, being almost chaotic in nature, ruins that. Besides, he went against almost everything that the Catholic Church taught him."

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked, getting interested more and more by the moment.

"The Called, from my knowledge, are found by some member of the Catholic church then trained and raised," Zechs answered.

"Duo was raised in a Catholic orphanage," Quatre said with dawning realization.

Zechs nodded and said, "Exactly. Father Maxwell found him just in time. That's why he survived the plague at L2, because of what he was."

"So Lilith wants him dead because she knows he can stop her," Trowa said grimly.

"So, we find Duo and Heero before it's too late," Quatre said firmly.

Zechs made a sound like a grunt, one that sounded strangely like a sound Heero often made. He said, "Easier said than done, Kid."

*******

Heero turned to face Duo and asked, "Who the hell was that?"

"That was Joshua Hunters," Duo said with a sigh as the trio walked out of the alley. Heero glared at him and Duo went on, "Basically, the vampire's version of a vampire hunter. He hunts Damphiers, Called, vampires who are on the 'wrong' side, humans who know too much, or witches or werewolves that cause too much of a problem for the leeches."

"Why didn't he try to kill you then, or me?" Heero snapped at him, almost losing control of his emotions.

"Because Quinn was the target, not us," Duo said as they entered the city lights once more.

"Why?" Heero asked sharply. It wasn't fair. Hell, he didn't know what he was thinking. He didn't know what he should be thinking right now.

Duo answered, "Because he was a traitor. He had half the vampires on Earth killed at one time. He was the father to dozens of Damphiers, like you buddy, and the greatest Called ever born. Liam O'Rouke was the baddest of the bad. He was also half vampire, but he didn't have to worry about turning Rogue or anything. The Called in him kept him from getting all bloody and shit. Just for that, being Liam's dad, was enough to get him killed. Lilith was probably the one to set the bounty on his head."

"So he gets payed?" Heero snapped, getting more angry by the moment. The thought of Hunters killing Quinn for money made his blood run cold.

"No, then Forest Anderson would be after him," Duo said, shaking his head, causing his braid to fly around him.

Aurora said, "Hunters hunts for honor and the sport of it. That's the way that some vamps live."

Duo added, "Not all vamps are power hungry, we've seen that. Some live for the hunt, that challenge. It gives them meaning."

All of their words fell on deaf ears. Heero looked ahead, his blood running cold in his veins, and he thought briefly of Relena.

*******

Lilith looked at Joshua Hunters' face over the comlink. The vampire's silvery blue eyes were glimmering with grief. Lilith placed her chin on the palm of her hand as she studied the vampire. She asked, her tone purposely mocking, "Do you miss Quinn?"

Hunters' jaw twitched as he answered, "I've done as I was commanded, Lilith. Good luck to you."

"You don't want the world to end," Lilith said, playing with a strand of her black hair.

"No," he replied in an icy tone.

She chuckled and said, "You're going to be fine. I know I couldn't ask you to bring me Yuy or the necromancer."

"I have a feeling that Yuy will challenge me one day," Hunters said without emotion.

Lilith chuckled and replied, "And you will face him in a neat little battle. You killed the boy's father. Also, what about Zechs Marquise? You killed his father as well."

"If they find me, fair is fair, they can kill me," Hunters said without any tone betraying his voice.

Lilith laughed and said, "Oh, that would be a shame. You're our hunter, Joshua." Hunters said nothing and the screen went black.

"That was rude," Damon said as he strode behind Lilith. She smiled up at him and held out her hand to him. He took it and knelt by her side as she sat on her throne. Damon said, "They should be here soon."

She sensed a tenseness in his voice, his posture. She asked, "Something wrong, Damon?"

"Nothing that can be fixed, Dark Queen," he answered, respectfully kissing the palm of her hand.

Lilith was puzzled by his answer. She searched his mind. He automatically put up walls around his thoughts but she was the First, the Dark Queen, the Dark Mother, and his Master. She easily pushed through them, reminding herself to punish him later for this resistance.

The blond necromancer cried out, clutching tightly around him. He could smell her blood, her innocence all around him. He smiled as he looked down into her huge silver eyes. She was his now, and no one else would have her.

Lilith snarled, "You want her. You want the necromancer."

"My Queen, it's . . ." he began, but he never got the chance to finish. Her hand struck his face hard. She stood up from the throne to glare down at him. He looked up at her with his brown eyes and waited.

She built up her power and unleashed it on him. He cried out, clutching his head. She fed on his nightmares, letting him live them in his mind. She growled, "How dare you disobey me like that. There are hundreds of young virgins you could have and you choose the one that I need! I should rip your fucking heart out with my bare hands, you bastard!"

Damon was taking deep breaths as Lilith kept inflecting the torture of his own mind on him. "Lilith, can I help?" a childish voice came from behind her. Lilith turned to see Illiana, in pig tails and overalls smiling at her.

Lilith held out her hand and said, beaming at her favorite Chide, "Of course my darling." Illiana giggled as she took a hold of Lilith's hand. Lilith let go of Damon's mind as she held Illiana's small, porclin hand in hers.

She ran one of her sharp fingernails over her wrist, letting dark blood well up there. Illiana giggled with glee as her eyes started to glow.

******

Relena heard a male scream from Lilith's throne room. Jason smirked and said, "Looks like Lilith was disobeyed."

Relena demanded, "What is going on in there?" Hawk chuckled.

Jason flipped through the pages of the leather bound journal in his lap. He answered, "Lilith is inflecting her punishment. You wouldn't want to go in there."

"I don't care," Relena said as she stood up and walked to the throne room. Illiana was holding Lilith's hand, blood was trickling from Lilith's wrist, staining the floor, and there was a handsome vampire screaming in pain. Lilith looked up at Relena and smiled. Illiana let go of her hand as the vampire slumped to the ground, gasping in pain.

Illiana smiled and said, "They're here."

Lilith smirked and asked, "Really?"

Illiana giggled and hugged Lilith. She answered, "I can feel their power. Lily, its time!"

Lilith smiled as she walked over to Relena. She said, "Now you're going to find out why I brought you here, darling."

"What do you mean?" Relena asked, tasting bile at the back of her throat. She was so terrified it wasn't funny. She had been through death, kidnaping, assassination attempts, capture, and war less afraid then this. At least with the aforementioned things she had some familiarity to them. With this, it was completely new.

Lilith looked her in the eye with crimson eyes. She said in a hypnotic tone, "You'll find out soon enough." With that, the world plunged into darkness.

******

Duo looked over at Aurora, she was curled up in a ball, her blond hair falling into her face. He reached out and brushed the silky strands out of her face, listening to the soft sound of her breathing as she slept. Heero looked at him, watched his movements.

Duo looked up at him, lightly caressing Aurora's downy cheek before pulling away, and thought, Heero can protect her if anything happens. Well, if I ask anyway. She's not annoying like Relena and she's never been really bitchy to Heero either. I think he may understand her better than I do.

Duo said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Do you love her?" Heero asked bluntly, not answering the question.

Duo looked at her as she slept. There was a tender innocence to her that he wanted to protect. She was refreshing in their jaded world. She sighed and shifted in her sleep. His gaze lingered on her as he thought.

She drove him insane.

He wanted to hold her forever.

He had trouble being away from her.

He wanted her.

He wanted to keep her safe from harm.

He needed her reassurance that he wasn't going to die.

Yeah, he was in love with her.

He smirked as he answered, "Yeah, I'm in love with her."

Heero grunted and said, "I'll protect her."

"How did you know I was going to ask that?" Duo asked him suddenly.

Heero quietly replied, "I just had a feeling."

Duo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. They had been through a lot together. OZ prisons, hospital rooms, stealing Gundam parts, breaking the other one out of some sort of confinement, blowing up stuff together, and saving humanity together. He smiled as he said, "Don't do anything careless now."

"I can say the same to you," Heero told him with an almost half smile.

Duo blinked. One, Heero almost cracked a smile. Two, the insult. Sure, Heero insulted him all the time. Duo thought it was Heero's way to show affection. He replied, "Hey, that was harsh."

"Doesn't mean that it's not true," Heero told him suddenly.

"Please place all seats in their upright and locked positions and store all food trays. Make sure that your harnesses are fastened because we're landing. Thank you very much," a mechanical female voice told everyone on the shuttle.

Duo leaned over and nudged Aurora gently. She woke up and blinked, her sleepy, grey eyes trying to take everything in. Duo gently told her, "We're about to land, sweetheart." She yawned as she sat up and facined her harness.

******

Heero, Duo, and Aurora exited the shuttle. Aurora yawned as she asked, "Now what?"

Duo looked around and answered, "I guess we find a hotel and check in."

Heero didn't care either way. He shifted his bags on his shoulder as he looked around. Heero Yuy. The Perfect Soldier, a soft, seductive feminine voice called out to him. He looked at Aurora. It sounded nothing like her voice. She looked around, a puzzled expression on her features.

Duo asked, "What is it, babe?"

Heero, I have something for you, the voice told him again.

"Where are you?" Heero asked aloud, looking for the voice.

"Telepathy," Aurora said quietly.

"Vampire," Duo hissed as he drew his scythe from his duster. He spun it once and grinned. He said, "Bring it on."

I have something that you want, Heero, she told him, and he got the impression of a catty smile.

"What?" he asked, looking around.

An image sprang to his mind of a girl with long dark blond hair. She was dressed in a long white skirt and a fushia blazer. She had her back turned to him, looking out a huge French door to a kingdom by the sea. She turned to face him, a smile on her beautiful features, her blue eyes twinkling at him.

Relena tossed her hair off her shoulders as she sat up on the window sill. She smiled at him and asked, "Are you going to stay and protect me?" Her voice was slightly teasing and slightly worried. Then she asked, "Or are you going to kill me?"

"Where is she?" Heero hissed between clinched teeth.

Open up your senses. Feel her in her mind. Her purity, all that crap, she sounded disgusted.

Heero closed his eyes and focused. He felt the lively, warm energy that was Duo, he felt the cold wind that was Aurora, he felt the sparks of warmth from the people around them, then he felt the shining clearness, like a diamond, perfectly clear and sparkling. Pure, full of ideas and hope.

Relena.

He hissed and said, "Stay here." Then he went to go find her.

******

Duo watched as Heero ran off. Aurora said, "Something doesn't feel right." Duo nodded, seconding that emotion. There was something severely off that he couldn't put his fingers on, something that was masking its presence to the necromancer and the Called.

Aurora pointed to the east and said, "There's a cemetery not too far from here."

Duo asked, "Now how the hell do you know that?" He sensed a rush of familiarity from her, something reaching. He asked her, "You can sense it, can't you?"

Aurora licked her lips and nodded. She said, "Yeah, I can. That's the safest place I can be."

Duo smirked and shook his head. "No one would wanna touch a necromancer in a graveyard with an army of zombies she could call," he quipped.

She smiled as she replied, "Exactly. Come on." She took his hand and they began to walk.

******

"I don't like this," Minerva said as she looked out the window at the falling snow. Noin couldn't help noticing that the girl didn't cast a reflection in the glass. She turned away and remembered what she had over heard earlier today. It was surprising that Trowa, being what he was, didn't know she was there.

Or Zechs for that matter.

She thought she knew Zechs better than anyone. Apparently she was wrong about that. She wrapped her arms over herself in a sort of protective hug to ward off the chill building inside her.

"Something wrong, Noin?" Lady Une asked her. Noin turned to see her former general standing before her. The other woman pushed back her chestnut brown hair and studied her with keen brown eyes. It was surprising to see those eyes without the glasses over them.

"She knows," Treize said with a tiny smile on his elegant features as he approached them.

"About Zechs?" Une asked.

Treize smiled and answered, "About Quinn's Prodical Son."

Noin demanded, "I want to know everything." She met Treize's cornflower blue gaze hard, standing at her full height.

Treize turned around and told her, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Fine, I will," she snapped as she walked out of the room. This place was unfamiliar to her. She knew nothing about it and felt uncomfortable in the castle-esque building. She wandered, determined to find the man she loved.

She heard rustling in one of the rooms. She peered in it to see an armory of sorts filled with swords, guns, crossbows, wooden staffs, spears, and other things she couldn't even begin to name even with her military training. Standing in the center of the room, at a table filled with weapons, was Zechs.

He was dressed in black cargo pants, a black tank top, combat boots, and there was a duster lying on the chair. He had a sword and a crossbow strapped to his back and was strapping various knives made of wood and silver on his body. He looked up at her with his electric blue eyes. Despite all that they had been through together, she still wanted to brush that platinum blond hair from his face.

He asked, "What are you doing here Noin?"

"I wanna know what you are," she demanded, walking toward him.

"No you don't," he told her, turning around from her, studying a throwing star.

"You're half vampire," she snapped at him. He turned around to face her, his eyes narrowing. Good, I got a reaction out of him, she thought as she looked up at him.

He sighed and said, "I wish you never found that out."

"I don't care! I just told you a while back that I'll never leave your side and I meant it," she cried.

He walked over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. He gave her a good shake and she realized how much taller he was compared to her. He sneered, "I'm not human. I could kill you right now."

"I know how dangerous you are, Lighting Count," she replied, ignoring that his grip was getting tighter around her arms. She snapped out of his grasp, blinking tears away from his eyes. She said, "You almost destroyed the earth! If that's not dangerous, then I don't know what is."

He gave a dry, humorless chuckle. He replied cooly, "I'm not talking that kind of danger."

Noin looked at him; there was something wrong with his eyes. They were too bright, too shining, almost glowing an icy blue. Her mind was a whirl with the conversation that she had heard earlier.

"He's half vampire and half human. A Damphier," Quatre's quiet voice stated before he asked, "But that's not all, is it?"

"A Rogue."

"Not in the least. You're getting a dark impression of me, aren't you?"

"Yes, what are you anyway?"

"Someone who crossed the line."

"You drank blood."

"What does being a Rogue Damphier mean?" Noin asked him suddenly. Zechs' eyes widened at the question as he stepped away from her. He turned to the table and picked up a silver knife. Its hilt was incrusted with different colored red jewels, like different drops of blood. He looked her right in the eye and he held the blade up to his throat.

She gasped as she took a step toward him, trying to stop him. He grunted as he slit his own throat open. She cried out wordlessly as blood began to flow from the wound. Almost as fast as he had cut it the wound resealed. She walked up and touched it in amazement. He jumped away.

"Don't touch me," he spat, "I'm not worth it."

She ignored him as she found a wash cloth on the table. She grabbed it and held onto his shoulder. He didn't move away as she began to sponge up the blood with it. She looked at his eyes and asked, "What forced you do that anyway?"

"Turn?" he asked her quietly as she put the rag down on the table. She nodded and didn't move away from him. He looked away from her as he answered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me. You can tell me, Zechs," she told him, lightly touching the side of his face.

He sighed and told her, "It was when we were in school together. I thought it would be only that one time. I was wrong. Once is too much, it changes you."

"How?" Noin asked, more curious than afraid.

Zechs sighed as he answered, "You become vampiric. You gain all the powers but none of the weaknesses." He lifted a cross in his hands and Noin looked at him. Zechs smiled and called out, "Minerva, come here please."

A few moments later she walked into the room. "Catch this," he told her as he threw the cross at her. She caught it and cried out, letting it drop to the floor. Her hands were smoked from burns. She glared at Zechs with crimson eyes.

"That was vulgar," she snapped at him as her eyes returned to their normal color. Then she looked at Noin with a smirk. She said, "Oh, so she knows now. Warn me before you start tossing Holy objects at me again." With that, she walked out of the room.

She asked Zechs, "Why did you send her to protect Relena?"

Zechs answered, "Relena's my half-sister, a target for both myself and Heero. She could be used against both of us, but I think Lilith doesn't have plans for me."

"What do you mean?" she asked him as he rested his hands on her sides. She shivered inwardly at thee intimate contact.

"I'm going hunting. I know I shouldn't be asking this of you, but part of me tells me that you'd be angry as hell if I don't. So, will you come with me?" Zechs said, avoiding her question.

She smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She told him, "I'd told you I'd stay by your side and I meant it."

"So you're not afraid of me?" he asked her, his intense blue eyes locking with her's.

"No, I'm not frightened," she answered him.

He smiled, a beautiful smile, a bit devilish as he gave his usual dry snort. "You're a stubborn woman, Noin."

"I know, but tell me what this shit is used for," she said, pulling away, suddenly mourning the loss of his body. He smiled as he unstrapped the crossbow from his back.

******

Heero held his gun out in front of him as he crept into the alley. He saw Relena standing there, her bright blue eyes staring blankly at a brick wall. The look on her face was pleasantly blank, which startled him. Relena was always thinking, her eyes always snapping and bright.

"Relena," he said to her as he walked over to her. There was no answer. He reached out and lightly grabbed her shoulders. Still no response. He gave her a light shake as he demanded, "Relena, snap out of it."

"Not until I say so, Perfect Soldier," that seductive, amused feminine voice told him as slender arms reached out and grabbed Relena. Long raven hair floated around a girl who was slightly taller than Relena dressed in black leather. She looked up at Heero with grey eyes and as he watched, they turned brilliant aqua.

"Let her go," Heero hissed, pointing his gun at her.

"My name's Lilith," she told him with a smile.

Heero gave her his Death Glare. She was the one plotting the end of the world. He told her in his calmest, most detached voice, "Let her go."

Lilith ignored him and studied Relena. She asked, "What's the appeal of her anyway? She's pure, so?" She pushed the hair off Relena's neck and Heero felt a surge of protective anger in him. She said, "She's a pacifist. She'd get killed in the real world." She studied her face thoughtfully. "But, she's beautiful and has this fire to her, I've gotta admit, and she's stubborn as hell. She's pure too, like I said earlier. I wonder what she would taste like," Lilith mused.

Suddenly, she made a slight cut on Relena's neck and blood welled up. She pushed her into Heero's arms and he struggled with the burden. He smelled the sweet, coppery smell whifting up to his nose as Relena's prone form pushed up against him. He felt her heart beat against him as he held her warm body.

"Tell me," she said in a dark, seductive tone.

Heero was tempted. Then he looked into Relena's sleeping face. He looked Lilith in the eye and smirked dangerously. "No," he told her.

"Heero?" a groggy voice asked him.

"Yeah," he replied as he looked down into Relena's face with relief. She looked at Lilith and her eyes widened with fear. "She won't hurt you," Heero said as he shielded her with his body.

"No, but I bet my people have already killed Duo and have Aurora right now," Lilith hissed as she disappeared into the shadows.

"Dammit," he sneered as he looked away. He started to move, supporting Relena against him. He wasn't about to let that bitch get her claws on Aurora or hurt his best friend.

******

It stank. That was all Duo could think about. He was sitting on a tombstone with Aurora beside him and a horde of zombies surrounding them. Their flesh was in various stages of decomposition and they stank.

"It stinks," he groaned as he leaned back.

"You get use to it," Aurora retorted. He looked at her doubtfully from under his cap. She wrinkled her nose and looked around. She added, "No, you don't." He smiled at her cute expression and sat up.

"You're actually feel safer here than any place you've been too?" he asked her cheerfully.

She smiled at him and answered, "Yeah, well, any other graveyard at least. I just feel at home here." She rested her chin on her knees as she looked around. She said, "I have a whole army to call on here. Besides, I can feel them."

"That's sorta gross," Duo realized as he grimaced.

She laughed again, a charming sound as she studied him. She nudged him with her shoulder and said, "No, not like that. I mean I can feel their power. I'm my most powerful, not bleeding, while in a cemetery." She held her left hand, running her fingers over the scars there.

He took her hand and lightly traced over each one. There were several, most of them recut repeatily. He softly asked her, "You had to do this a lot of times, didn't you?"

She nodded and looked away. She whispered uneasily, "Yeah, I did. Sometimes this fucking pain in the ass can be useful." He had the urge to wrap his arms around her and hold her. She sighed softly as she rested her head against his shoulder.

He smiled slightly as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her close. "I won't let anything hurt you, I promise," he swore to her, tracing the scars on her hands.

She chuckled softly and replied, "Thank you. Even to do so is death."

"Hey, I could say the same for me," he told her grimly as he rested his chin on the crown of her head.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Heard of the Maxwell's Church Massacre?" he asked her grimly, trying to block the flow of memories in his mind.

She nodded and watched him. He looked in the distance, seeing all the blood around him, Sister Helen and Father Maxwell's body. The fires around him. Death, pure and simple.

He sighed and said, "When I was little I didn't know my parents. I sorta drifted to an L2 colony. I found a boy named Solo who had a group of kids, orphans like me. They were a gang. They took me in. A virus struck. Solo was dying. I stole medicine from a hospital, but I was too late. Solo died.

"Then I was found by this priest. Father Maxwell. No one wanted to adopt 'Maxwell's Demon', besides no one could adopt me anyway. I was the Called, their pet warrior. I was taught for a couple of years when a group of rebels took over the church. They said if someone got them a mobile suit that they would let us go. Of course, I ran to steel one.

"I was too late.

"I came back with the suit, but the Alliance had already made work of the rebs and Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. I broke onto a ship where Professor G found me, wanted me to be a Gundam pilot. I wanted to defy every thing so I did."

He gave a shaky sigh, not letting himself cry. She turned to face him, studying him. "Duo, I'm sorry," she said softly, her silver eyes bright with tears.

"Don't cry," he told her, leaning to her. He rested his forehead against hers, letting all the pain wash away.

"Kiss me," she whispered to him. He bent down and as soon as their lips touched, she jerked back. She stood up, startled. The zombies fell to the ground, corpses.

"What happened?" he asked, drawing his scythe.

Aurora's eyes were wide with fear as she looked around. He sensed something very wrong, something like Aurora's power but a lot darker. Then he heard the childish laughter.

"Illiana," Aurora spat, "Of course, no wonder the little brat is Lilith's pet and the Ghoul Queen."

Duo looked around, getting ready to fight. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"The bitch is a necromancer too," she hissed.

Duo cursed, "Fucking shit."

"Run," Aurora said as she took off sprinting. Cursing, he began to follow her.

******

Trowa was thinking about a little of everything. He could feel Lilith near by. Treize was talking about something to Une, who was nodding in agreement. Minerva was studying a computer screen and Quatre was looking at the fire, curled up into a small ball.

Trowa smiled slightly at the image. Quatre looked so cherubic and innocent, looking at the flames. He hoped that the smaller boy wouldn't lose his purity after all of this. Then, Quatre's eyes went blank as he looked at Trowa.

He shook his head and stood up, a rapid motion. He cried out, "Duo's in trouble!"

"Where?" Trowa asked, knowing to trust his visions.

Quatre concentrated, trying to remember. Trowa could feel the strain from the other boy. He said, "There were graves. A graveyard. There was also a headstone with a reaper on it."

"I know where that is," Treize said, dawning his cape as he headed out the door.

"I'm coming with you," Trowa said, wanting to make sure that Duo didn't get hurt or killed either.

Minerva stood up too, sliding into her leather jacket. She said, "Count me in too, Nobleman."

Treize studied them both with a smile. Trowa looked to glare at Minerva who only smiled. Quatre stood up too, putting on his pilot's jacket. He said, "You're not going without me."

"Fine," Treize said. Trowa could feel his amusement as they all walked out of the door. He heard Une's voice call out, "Be careful."

Treize smiled and Trowa felt the message that he sent to her, We will, beloved Lady.

******

Duo sensed the ghouls coming after them. Aurora suddenly stopped, digging her heels into the graveyard soil. He turned to face her, wondering what the hell she was doing. He asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

She dropped her bag to the ground and opened it. Duo saw her pull out a canister of salt. She quickly drew a circle around them with the salt. Then she looked at Duo's scythe. "Cut my hand," she demanded, waving her left hand with its scars at him.

He looked at the small, delicate hand, marred by pink and white scar tissue. "No," he told her, slicing his own palm with his blade. He hissed at the sharp, burning pain as hot blood welled up out of the cut. Aurora looked at the blood, slightly fixated as she quickly reached out for the blade. He couldn't stop her from cutting her own hand. Blood welled up with a sharp hiss from Aurora. She looked at him and said, "Give me your hand."

He held out his wounded hand to her and she entertwinded her fingers with his. He watched as their blood mingled and dropped in huge crimson rivulets into the snow. He felt the rush of power that surged between them and gasped. Aurora stared at him with her huge silvery eyes, wide with wonder.

Then it hit, this wave of power binding them both.

He stared at her, over come with need to take her. He wanted to push her down into the snow and ravage her until neither of them could move. He felt the need to take her as his and his alone. He felt that intense need from her as well.

She blinked and whispered, "The dead, hear my call. I awake you from your grave. I am your Master, serve me. Protect us."

Duo watched in fascination as the graves began to move, shift, rotting hands with greyish-green flesh digging up from the soil. He almost laughed when he saw a foot come out of one of the graves. Next heads immerged, then whole people.

Fuck, it stinks, he thought as the air was over powered by the sweet decaying odor of rotting flesh. Zombies surrounded them as they were locked within the power of the spell. Duo vaguely remembered that sex could intensify magic, and in some cases, a spell had to be cast during or after a sexual act.

She looked at him as they were surrounded by screeching ghouls. He smirked. He could actually fell their fear. He quipped, "They're afraid."

"I didn't know it would do this," Aurora said softly, "I can't even think strait. All I want is . . ."

"Yeah, babe, I know," he told her as he looked around.

"Just one thing, you didn't count on me," a cynical male voice said. The magic crashed around them like a window shattering. It was sharp and stinging. Aurora cried out and Duo grunted as the zombies crashed to the ground.

They looked at the figure and Duo gasped. He remembered not being able to use a crossbow properly, red and black candles, a pentagram, a nude girl about to be sacrificed, and a witch with blond hair and yellow eyes. His eyes narrowed as he sneered, "Shit, I know this guy."

"You do?" Aurora asked, gasping.

Duo nodded and answered, "Yeah, dark witch, demon worshiping."

"Fuck," she cursed as she tried to regain her breath.

"You," the witch sneered, looking Duo over. Duo took the scythe in his hands.

******

Heero kept on running, trying to get a hold of Duo's unique energy pattern. He had Relena in tow, and the princess was herself again. She was running with Heero, not asking any questions, trying her best to keep up.

He turned his head to look at her, with her free hand she pressed on the cut on her throat. "You're bleeding," he told her.

She smiled at him and said something very familiar to him, "It's nothing." He sped up, searching frantically for Duo and Aurora. He had felt a rush of power then it had died away too replaced by a dark presence.

They ran down the street, ignoring people as they ran. Until Heero sensed something very familiar. "Zechs," he hissed. Zechs, somehow, was here and alive. Well, that wasn't surprising because Zechs was basically the same thing that he was, except darker somehow.

"My brother here?" Relena asked, looking around.

As if on cue, Zechs and Noin emerged from the shadows. They were both dressed in black combat gear with weapons used for hunting vampires. Relena automatically demanded, "What is going on here?"

Noin smiled wirily and answered, "It's a long story."

"You're like Heero, aren't you?" Relena asked, looking strait at Zechs.

"Come on, Relena, we have to get out of here," Zechs told her.

"Take her," Heero stated calmly, looking his former enemy in his icy blue eyes. He pushed Relena into his arms before he ran off. Duo was in trouble.

*******

Duo sensed a very old and powerful vampire, a vamp with some age to them, a fledgling with a familiar feel, and Quatre? "Quatre?" Duo asked as he kept running, dragging Aurora with him.

"Who?" Aurora asked, breathing hard. She was doing a good job of keeping up. They heard Illiana's childish laughter in the background. "Fuck," Aurora cursed as she looked behind her.

"Quatre!" Duo shouted, hoping to locate his friend.

"Duo!" the familiar soft voice cried out. Duo smiled as the small blond Arab emerged from the darkness. Then the smile melted off of his face when Trowa joined him. Trowa was the fledgling.

Trowa's been vamped? No way, that's not possible. I see Wu-Man getting bitten before Mr. Silent. Who? Duo thought as he looked at them. Then he looked at Aurora. She was the important thing here.

Then he made a decision.

He ran to Quatre and Trowa. He said, "Quatre, take care of her. Make sure nothing happens to her and run like fucking hell when I tell you too."

"Duo, what are you doing?" Aurora asked him, clutching to his arm. The look in her eyes was enough to go to hell and back for.

He passed her to Quatre and looked directly at Trowa. Trowa said, "You have no chance of escaping."

"I'm good at changing the odds," Duo quipped as he looked down at Aurora.

Quatre said, "We'll keep her safe, Duo."

"Good, because if you did I'd come back from the dead and kill you both," Duo said with a last grin.

Aurora's eyes flashed as she realized what he was going to do. He handed his scythe to Trowa and Aurora grabbed his arm. She said, "No, I won't let you."

"You don't have any choice, Aurora," he told her, looking at her for one last time. Then, he grabbed her, breathing in her scent one last time and holding her warm, supple form in his arms.

The kiss was hot, intense, furious, and full of passionate hunger. It spoke words better than what Duo could and with more intensity. She tasted warm and sweet on his tongue. He pushed her into Quatre's arms and shouted, "Run!"

Duo held his gun out in front of him as the zombies approached.

******

"Who the hell are you?" Aurora spat. It was better to be angry than upset she thought as she looked into the gentle aqua eyes of the blond boy.

"I'm Quatre Rabeba Winner," he told her with a sweet smile.

Aurora would have smiled at the irony if she didn't feel as if her heart was going to burst. Duo had thought that she was one of his sisters when they first met. Now he had pushed her to this cherub looking boy with the pale golden hair and the huge aqua eyes. Then she realized that the boy not talking was a fledgling vampire.

She could get away from them. She jerked away from them. Quatre said, "Come on, please, Miss. I told Duo that I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"If it was in your power, and I'm not," Aurora told the physic boy.

The vampire studied her with intense, dark green eyes under a fall of tawny hair. She squeezed her left hand into a fist, causing a fresh wave of blood to spill from the wound. She focused her power on the vampire. He couldn't put up much resistance.

She could feel him in her mind, how to exact harm. She closed her eyes as she contorted his insides. The only change was that his eyes wavered and narrowed. He should be screaming in pain right now, Aurora thought as she looked at him.

"He won't," a rich male voice said from the darkness. Aurora froze. It was the ancient vampire she felt earlier as well as the mid-ranged vamp. She saw as a tall man with ginger hair dressed in a black cloak materialized from the darkness with a girl her age with wine-colored hair beside him.

The girl studied her and said, "This is the girl."

"We have to get out of here, now," the devishly handsome vampire told them.

Aurora looked at him and sneered, "Not without Duo."

"I'm sorry, dear, but you're the important one right now, besides, she won't hurt Duo," the ginger haired vampire said to her. She looked up into startlingly blue eyes and froze. The power baring down on her was incredible. In her weakened state, all she could do was surrender to the darkness with one last thought of Duo.

******

Duo cursed, "Ass fuck." His gun clicked uselessly. The ghouls were still approaching. There were too many of them to hold off now. He could sense that Quatre had gotten Aurora away, and that was all he cared about.

He gave a humorless laugh as the ghouls grabbed him. He was brought up to the familiar witch, Illiana, Hawk, Damon, That fucking French bastard, and a vampire that he'd never met before.

But he knew to be afraid.

She had long black hair so dark that it had blue highlights. She was tall and curvy, dressed in a leather bodice that bearly covered her huge breasts and tight leather pants. She looked at him with soft lilac eyes that turned a dark brown.

"Lilith," Duo hissed at her. Every Called secretly dreamed of meeting and slaying the first vampire.

She walked up to him with a smile. She said, "Not what I was looking for, but you'll be fun."

Duo could only glare at her as he was drug away.

To Be Continued!

Author's Notes: Oh, I didn't put them on the top of the story! Oh! Yeah, as I stated eariler, I'm a BIG Zechs/Noin fan. Okay, what should I do with Relena with the exception of killing her and no Heero hooking up with one of the guys?

Thanks for reading and I'm still looking for fan art!













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