Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ For Love of Darkness ❯ Sun and Moon ( Chapter 5 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Disclaimer: Same as every other disclaimer in this fandom. Don't own Gundam Wing, so don't sue me!
Pairing(s): Ocx2, 5x2, 3x4
Warnings: AU, crossover
Chapter 5
Star and Moon
AC 198, November 17th
Quatre walked through the crowded streets, unconsciously rubbing at his chest. Trowa was still hesitant to allow him out of the house after the incident a little over two weeks ago. The doctor had found nothing to explain the sudden attack. He had written it off as work-related stress.
Duo and Wufei had not been heard in that time. Sending Rashid and Abdul to their house showed it was empty. Books on magic and the occult had been scattered throughout the house. Dirty clothes, an unmade bed, and dishes overflowing from the sink gave no clue as to what caused the two Gundam pilots to go into hiding.
A flash of familiar chestnut brown disappearing into an alleyway made Quatre pause. He quickly chased after his missing friend, hoping to demand answers from him as to why they disappeared for so long.
Duo was as quick as always, and several times, Quatre thought he had lost him. Every time, though, he caught sight of the end of his braid disappearing into the crowd or another alleyway. Soon, Quatre was close enough to reach out and grab the very tip of the plait.
A feminine voice cried out. Quatre blushed when he realized he had grabbed a young girl's hair, not Duo's braid. “Let go of my hair, mister!” she whimpered. “I promise I didn't take anything!”
Quatre released her. The girl stood in front of him, holding her hair protectively. Her dark-blue eyes watched him cautiously. Quatre knelled down to show he wouldn't hurt her. “I'm sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine. He had hair like yours. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'll get you ice cream as an apology.”
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The pair of strangers sat on the park bench, silently eating their ice cream cones. Quatre looked out of the corner of his eye at the little girl. She was small and slender, with chestnut brown hair and navy blue eyes. Her skin was pale, despite being on Earth, and she spoke with a somewhat regal air. She was polite and quiet.
“It's dangerous for someone as young as you to be wandering around on your own,” Quatre said, breaking the silence. The little girl glanced at him. “Where are your parents?”
“I don't know. My brother and I woke up two weeks ago in an empty house. Yuuko and Treize have been taking care of us ever since.” She swung her legs in a normal child-like manner.
Quatre froze. “Treize? Does this Treize have a last name?” He knew that Treize was an uncommon name, but he hoped anyway.
The little girl paused. “It's Kushrenada. The former OZ general killed during the first Eve War.”
“If you know he's dead, then how is he helping raise you?” Quatre asked.
The girl looked at him, and Quatre swore her eyes changed from dark blue to violet. “How much do you believe in magic?”
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The silence was almost tangible as the two former enemies met for the first time in almost three years. Quatre couldn't believe his eyes. Treize Kushrenada looked as calm and regal as he did in life. Alya, as the little girl was called, and later Mai, the small Chinese woman, had explained to the blonde just how the general had “survived” his death. Knowing the truth, Quatre couldn't help feel sorry for the trapped soul.
“It doesn't bother me, I'll have you know,” Treize said suddenly. Quatre stared at him. “Being stuck in this fake body. I had a choice. Move on, or stay behind to keep an eye on the peace.”
“Oh…” was all Quatre could say. “I don't understand though. So both Wufei and Duo were… Magicians?”
“Actually,” Mai said calmly, “Duo Maxwell was the last of the Alchemists, a group of… How do I describe them… They were a sort of Magical Preventors. They kept the peace between Light and Dark.”
“You said the last. What happened to them?”
Mai's eyes became impossibly darker. “Vampires who didn't appreciate their interference killed them all in their little town of Belle Foreste. It seems Duo's mother managed to get him to a nearby family before she succumbed to her wounds. They adopted him and took him to L2, but they were killed in another of the colony's famed rebellions. He was never properly trained in his abilities so he never knew about them.”
“What about Wufei?”
Treize laughed softly. “The Chang family is famous in the Magical world for their strong abilities. They also had a reputation for a fiery temper.”
Mai glared at the ghost. “The Dragon clan was a powerful family. They were the judges of Light Magicians, punishing those who break the laws. Yue is already displaying the attitude for his family's duty.”
“Then Yue and Alya are… Wufei's children.”
“The twins are both Wufei's and Duo's. Alchemists had the ability to create life out of nothing. The sheer amount of energy needed to cause the momentary rift between worlds triggered Duo's innate ability, and the twins were created from Duo and Wufei's life energy.”
Quatre paled at the thought of the loss of his friends. “So they're dead?” he whispered.
“No. Yuuko has already found them in another world. Wufei needs a little more medicine to keep Duo's bloodlust away, but other than that, they're both fine.”
“Bloodlust?” Something the woman had already said came back. “You mean he's….” Quatre trailed off.
“A Vampire? Has been for about seven months. Wufei made a deal with Yuuko to become Duo's sole source of blood, and he takes pills to make sure he has enough blood to feed Duo once every week. Duo will start to feed less and less as time goes on. It turns out the prince of the Vampires was the one who changed him. Making him, and in turn his children, heirs to the Vampires. Dante has disowned Nikolai. Duo is, in effect, the prince of Darkness.”
Quatre laughed slightly. Treize and Mai stared at him. “He always did call himself Shinigami.”
“Death is not evil; it serves a purpose,” a soft voice said from the door. The three adults turned to see Yue standing in the door. Unlike his sister, who looked more like Duo, Yue resembled Wufei. His hair was an almost black brown, and slim reading glasses framed his dark blue-violet eyes. Yue was taller than Alya by a couple of inches. He carried a large book under his small arm. “At least, that's what Truth said. It marks the end of a life, but it also allows another to be born. It's equivalent exchange; to gain something, something of equal value must be lost.”
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Quatre walked outside into the fading sunlight. He had spent the entire day talking to the mismatched family about the missing pilots. He told the two children everything about their parents. Alya and Yue were wonderful listeners, absorbing knowledge at an alarming rate.
“I'll come by every once in a while to see how you are doing,” Quatre said, knelling down next to the distraught Alya. “It's not like we'll never see each other again.”
It didn't help. The little girl sobbed harder. “B-but… I…don't…. want…you…to…leave!”
“I promise I'll see you next week.”
Mai took a step forward and lifted the little girl easily. “Don't worry about these two. I've already stationed Magicians to protect them. They'll be safe. Treize will also be here for them.” Quatre nodded his understanding. “You should also take these visits to refine that ability of yours. You could find that it might come in handy one day.”
Trowa pulled up in the car; Quatre had called him early. Treize quickly vanished from view. “I should get going.”
“Bring some ice cream next time,” Yue said calmly. “Then she wouldn't cry as much when you leave.” Quatre stared at the little boy. Already Yue was much older than his 12-year-old body appeared.
“I don't cry too much!” Alya yelled at her twin brother.
Yue huffed, a perfect imitation of Wufei's snort. “Of course you do.” The twins began to bicker.
Yue huffed, a perfect imitation of Wufei's snort. “Of course you do.” The twins began to bicker.
Quatre laughed softly. It was almost as if Duo and Wufei had never disappeared. He turned to the Chinese woman. “Can you tell me if there's any information about Duo and Wufei?”
“Of course,” Mai said. “In return, you have to keep me informed about your abilities. You're more powerful than most, Quatre Winner. With training, you could have become one of the strongest in history. Now get going, Winner. Your friend is waiting.” Somehow, the small woman managed to put a different meaning on the word friend; Quatre blushed furiously. He fled to the car, and Trowa drove off.
“Who were those two children?” Trowa asked after they had turned the corner. “And why did I think I saw Treize Kushrenada disappear when I pulled up?”
“You'd never believe me if I told you.”
Trowa snorted. “Try me.”
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Heero glared at the small blonde. He refused to believe what Quatre had just told them. Magic did not exist, and Treize Kushrenada could not be a ghost. Duo was not a vampire. This just couldn't happen. It just didn't make sense. “You're lying,” he said bluntly.
Trowa frowned. “I believe you, Quatre.”
“Thanks, Trowa.” The blond teen smiled. “I'm going back to see Alya and Yue next weekend. You don't have to come with me, but you should meet those two. They're so much like Duo and Wufei.”
Heero grunted, but said nothing.
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AC 198, November 22nd
Heero sat on the back porch as the two children, two teens, and one ghost played a game of hide-and-go-seek. Mai was standing under a tree, acting as a sort of referee. The Japanese pilot couldn't believe that Alya and Yue were Duo and Wufei's children. Admittedly, the twins looked and acted just like the missing pair, but they were also very different. Alya read most of the time, and Yue calmly kept informing the newcomers of random facts about the world.
“You seemed confused,” a new voice whispered into Heero's ear. The former soldier spun around, swing a flat hand down, but the tall woman with long black hair caught his wrist easily. “Now, now. Calm down.”
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The woman smiled softly. “I have a lot of names, but you can call me Yuuko. I grant wishes.”
The woman smiled softly. “I have a lot of names, but you can call me Yuuko. I grant wishes.”
“Bullshit.”
“It's true. Though the wish you want granted would cost you far too much.” She smiled again. “But I get the feeling that something else is bothering you.”
Heero glanced back at the group. Alya was laughing at Quatre, who had chosen a bad spot to hide. The blonde grinned slightly at the twins. Yue was scanning the yard for Trowa and Treize. “Are they… Are they really Duo's children?”
Yuuko looked over at the children. “What do you think?”
Yuuko looked over at the children. “What do you think?”
“I don't know what to think. I was taught that science was the only thing to believe in, but with all this talk about magic, I'm not so sure anymore.”
“Just make a decision and go with it. You've fought enough; you don't have to join this war.”
“I know that.”
“Then, there's nothing I can do.”
Heero looked at the ground. “Can Duo and Wufei come back?”
“To this world? Of course. To this time? It's all a matter of fate.” Heero looked over at her. “I almost think it would be better for them to stay away from here.”
“Why?”
“You have to remember that Duo is a Vampire, and Wufei has become his sole source of food. Neither of them will age from where they are now. They will have to watch the three of you and even their children grow old and eventually die.”
“All things have to die.”
“Of course, but Vampires can live a very, very long time. He'll be around when man lives on Mars and even beyond that. He'll watch countless more wars, see the best and worst of humanity.” Heero looked away again. He refused to believe. “Just trust them to survive.”
“Mr. Heero! Mr. Heero! Come and play with us!” Alya yelled, running up to the Japanese man. She grabbed his hand and pulled on it. Heero smiled and allowed her to pull him across the yard. He could afford to relax for once.
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Mai looked up when she felt the sudden, but subtle, rise in power. “Dante.”
“Mai,” the Vampire King said. Dante was the oldest of the Vampires, hundreds of years old, but he looked like he was in his mid-20s with short blond hair and piercing dark blue eyes. “How are the children doing?”
The Chinese Elder sighed. “They're… different. Wise beyond years but they can still be children. Their abilities haven't been tested.”
“I never would have believed that an Alchemist survived the massacre at Belle Foreste. There was so much blood… It reeked.”
“I remember, but I'm glad that one survived to create those twins, even though he didn't know any of the techniques. It's amazing…”
“I'm concerned about why your rogue son and that Magician performed that spell. Why go to another world?”
Dante sighed and frowned. “My son,” he said the word with distaste, “believes that he should be a king himself, even though I will not die for another thousand or so years. I suspect he's trying to build himself an army. He doesn't realize how hard it is to keep control of the more violent Vampires. The fool is going to ruin that world, and if he finds a way back here, there will be war.”
“I'll start gathering our forces. They'll be prepared for Nikolai and Erik's army.”
“As will the Vampires. Any of Nikolai's spawn are a sin against our kind. Even those who speak out against me will agree with me. Nikolai will be sorely mistaken if he thinks that we will surrender quietly.”
“We'll have to be careful. Most humans don't know that Magic exists. We could cause a mass panic if we wage all-out war. This cannot happen.”
“The twins will be a prime targets if war breaks out.”
“Magicians are already assigned to guard them. Seals, charms, and barriers have been set up. They're safe. For now. Nikolai won't be able to hurt them.”
Yuuko appeared in the doorway. “I've told Mokona to stay with our two lost boys. I have a feeling that they'll need him eventually.” The three left the house. “Treize will remain here to be the father figure in the family. Duo would have wanted his children to have a relatively normal childhood.”
“Of course,” Dante said. “Those two will lead the next generation of both Magicians and Vampires. It's almost as though this was planned.”
The three supposed enemies went silent. Mai looked up at the night sky. “I'm sure this is fate. Finally this stupid war can come to an end.”
Yuuko nodded. “But at what cost?”