Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ It's All Been Done ❯ England ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Warnings:
AU, evil cliffhangers, corny name changes, ranting about Fate, past lives, anachronisms, cursing, minor shounen-ai/het, death, over-used text, odd coincidences, bitchy Fate.


Chapter 2: England

"You were wrong, I was right.
You said, 'Good bye' I said, 'Good night' ...

It's all been done...
It's all been done before..."

This week just plain sucked. It's like the whole week was cursed or something. Weird... it really felt cursed. This whole week I had an ominous feeling hanging over my head. I didn't realize what it was though, until that day. That day, Sunday: I just knew it would be bad. Really, I knew! Like waking up from a dream, my life flashed before my eyes! I was in some ancient city then with some weird clothes, but it was definitely me and my life! I was even a thief then, too! Sure, that was Rome and this was England, and that was then and this was now, but it was the same. The same exact life.

I don't know what happened. I saw the woman with the hair so dark it looked navy blue in the sunlight. Her eyes were like twin fires of violet, and her gold jewelry glistened like the morning sun. But I knew her. Hilda's mother. Uh uh. No way. I wasn't going through -that- again. Seemingly fresh pain ran through my back at the thought. I would just avoid the woman and I'd be okay. I did just that, I totally ignored her, but in my trying to avoid her, I was paying so much attention to thinking that I ran right into her. The woman fell on top of me and when I helped her up, her twin golden bracelets had found their way to my wrists.

I gasped in horror and quickly tried to hand them back to the woman, but they were stuck on my wrists. I pulled and tugged, nearly crying with frustration, but to no avail. The woman called me a thief and started attacking me! My street instincts kicked in and I found myself running.... right into the oddly dressed blonde. His clothes didn't match and they were far from the normal tunics I was used to seeing, just like before. Of course, this blonde guy saw the bracelets on my hand and lifted me up by my poor tattered shirt into the air until my feet were literally off the ground.

You know the saying "deja vu?" This wasn't that. This was worse. This was more like, "deja what the hell is going on that I know what's going to happen before it does."

His icy blue eyes stared into me and I knew I was as good as dead. Not by this man, oh no, but by the blue-eyed "warrior" later tonight. No. There had to be a way I could still stop this chain of events from happening! There had to be...

Just at the appropriate moment, a girl about my age came over and started talking to them in that oddly familiar yet foreign language. The girl had short dark hair... wait, screw my description of her - she -was- Hilda. She cast a glance over at me with that annoyingly familiar smirk and continued talking. I swear she knew I knew and did it just to tease me... her eyes practically sang, "I told you so." I couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. This wasn't happening. Wake up, Deven, you're dreaming again. You couldn't possibly know that the girl's going to take you to a tent and tell your fortune. It's not possible. This was a dream. It all had to be a dream...

After a few minutes of the girl's talking, the woman and man exchanged glances, then nodded. Dearest Lord in Heaven, it was all so familiar. I wasn't relieved at all to feel the dirt beneath my booted feet as I was set back on the ground. In fact, I was dreading it. It was all the same. Everything. Before I had the chance to run off, completely nuts and screaming, to go jump in the nearest moat or find the nearest fire-breathing dragon to wake me up, or even do anything, Hilda grabbed my arm. I tried to wrench away, knowing where she would take me, but the girl's grip was as tight as a vice as she dragged me off. I know I heard her say, "Told ya, Deven." Against my own futile efforts, she pulled me along behind her towards wherever she was heading (which I knew to be some place very bad...).

Hilda stopped pulling me when we were out past the boundaries of the city. There she pushed me into that same damn tent and sat down on the same damn blankets. She gestured for me to sit as well. I didn't. I just stood there glaring at her, demanding answers through looks alone. That clever grin never left her face. "You didn't believe me, did you Deven Makeswell? I told you."

"Shut the hell up! What did you do to me? How do I know what's going to happen? Why do I keep thinking everything's Roman? What did you do, Gypsy?!"

She leaned back with one hand on her skirted hip. "Well that's rude. You didn't even ask me my name this time."

I was so frustrated I couldn't breathe. I just shouted back, "This time?! How is there a this time?! How is there a last time?! What am I seeing?"

She sighed lightly. "You're seeing Fate, Deven, or rather, you're seeing one of your past lives."

"Past lives?" The concept was foreign to me. What's all this Fate stuff? Wait.. we've had this conversation....

"You can call me Lady Hildessa."

"Lady Hildessa? Lady my ass! Your name's Hilda and you're a gypsy! And you... you cursed me!" I leaned over and grabbed her blouse, wrenching it until her nose and mine nearly touched. "What the hell did you do to me?!"

She ripped herself from my grasp. In the same swift movement, she put a hand on my shoulder and forced my to sit. "Some gentleman -you- are." She dusted off her skirts and looked back to me. "It was a curse, but not in the use of the word you're thinking of." She paused and when I didn't answer, she began, "Those were my parents you met."

"I know." I interrupted. She ignored me every time I butted in and continued her own train of conversation like a well-known play.

"I told them that there was no point in killing you since they could just take my mother's jewelry back."

"I know, we've..."

"I also said that you'd be good practice for me."

"Practice. Wait... that's it, isn't it? You're not like a professional at this stuff. You screwed up somehow last time and that's why I know all this. I don't want to know anymore. Just, just fix it."

She laughed lightly, her head was bent down slightly in such a familiar manor it mad me sick. Glimmering blue eyes staring up at me as she responded. "There's nothing to fix, Deven. And I didn't do anything wrong." She leaned forward slightly and spoke in a hushed voice. "This is a -gift- Deven. You don't understand now, but after a few more lives go by, you will."

I stuttered at the statement, "Li... lives?! I'm -not- dying like that again!" My eyes narrowed at the remembrance, "I... I can't! Do you have -any idea- how much that hurt? I can't take that again, I just can't." I shook my head over and over again, desperately trying to forget the pain that I knew would come later. No. I would stop it. I had to.

"I do know about pain...."Her eyes suddenly became darker as if she was remembering something, too. Then she nodded and replied softly, "You're not the only human that dies at the end of their life, Deven."

I blinked at the statement. "You... you died, too? In Rome?"

Hilda nodded and took a deep breath sitting up taller, "But that's all in the past now, isn't it?" She smirked. Oh. How clever of her. Lord almighty, this girl was making jokes about dying. Rather than continue with the inquisition of such a... morbid matter, I moved on.

"So, you want to tell my fortune?" I asked the question and immediately couldn't believe it left my mouth. Had... had I actually said that? Oh, no... no more deja vu... make it stop! I couldn't help it, I had to finish the statement. I felt like some sort of puppet with Fate pulling the strings. "Is that why you brought me here?" She nodded. I laughed lightly and leaned back onto my arms. "I have no control. You might as well."

Still with the mischievous smile, she sat up and said, "I need something close to you... the hair or the tunic, Deven?"

I gave her my best sarcastic glance. "Ya know, that joke's not nearly as funny the second time around."

The girl shrugged without answering for a moment, before finishing. "Well, how about a necklace?"

I glared. "Like you have to ask." She looked at me innocently. A sigh escaped my lips as I lifted the silver chain off my head and detangled it from my braid. I closed my eyes in defeat and handed the gypsy the necklace.

The girl took it and admired the pendant for a minute. She then held up the silver "x" and asked, "What's this stand for, Dus?"

"What did you call me?"

She answered me with an innocent face, "Dev. Short for Deven." But I knew what I had heard.... "Well?" She asked still holding my chain in her hand.

"What does it look like? It's a cross, what do you think? It's been in my family for ages. My mother gave it to me so that the Lord would protect me. Why do you..."

She shrugged, knowing smile once again on her lips, "No reason," She exchanged a knowing glance with me, "Really." Hilda placed my necklace on a blanket in front of her. She then took a thin flowered cloth from... eh, you know the drill. "Take a sip." As I did, a brief thought passed through my mind. Now, with the knowledge of -exactly- what would happen, I could stop it! I knew every move that gladiator would make, I knew I would be tossed into that cell, I knew I would be kicked in the gut for talking... I knew everything. And knowledge would be my advantage over Fate.

I looked up from my dazed state of planning to the sound of a splash as my necklace fell back into the small pottery. Hilda sat there staring over the bowl. I interrupted, "Why are you doing this? You know what you're going to see." But she didn't respond.

After a few more minutes, the girl looked up at me. I sighed. "Well? Go ahead and 'break the news' to me." The girl dumped the water unceremoniously out into the ground next to her and handed the cross and chain back to me.

"Are you sure you want to know, Deven?"

I laughed, "Of course I don't, but go ahead and tell me. You've already done all the damage you can."

Without a hint of spite or regret or any other normal human emotions, the girl asked, "Are you really sure?"

I tossed her a sarcastic glance which seemed to answer her question.

"You're going to die tonight."

"... ya know, that, too, has less affect the second time around."

She looked at me in a confused way. "Why do you take this so lightly? Death is death, no matter how many times you do it." Her voice softened, "Believe me."

I grew quiet and asked, "How did you die?"

She didn't respond for a moment. Her eyes were lost and clouded as if she were really somewhere else. After a moment, she looked up, "I'm sorry, what?"

"How?"

"Hm? How what?" I felt like she dodging my question... she probably was.

"How am I supposed to die?" That's not what I meant to say. I meant to say, 'how are -you- supposed to die.' But Fate kicked in and messed with my head again, damn It.

She corrected forcefully, "You're -going- to die in the Tournament."

I raised an eyebrow. "Tournament? I thought it was the Coliseum?"

She smirked at the outrageous statement. "Silly thief, there are no coliseums in medieval England."

"Yeah, but..."

"Fate has determined that you will die tonight, in the Tournament, by a warrior's hand." She paused, her strong eyes lowering with regret. "I'm sorry, Deven. I don't decide these things."

My mind ran through the possibilities. "I can still win, though. I can change Fate. I know what's going to happen, it'll be easy this time!"

She shook her dark head, "This isn't a game, Dev..."

Ignoring her, I continued "Hilda, you're a gypsy, you have a dagger, right?"

Hilda glared. "That was a cruel assumption." She sighed, "But yes, I do."

"Yes!" I couldn't help myself from shouting. "I'm not going to die tonight!" Hilda wasn't even moved by my screaming, she glared at me from the corner of her eyes suspiciously.

"What are you planning?"

I grinned. "Nothing." I replied innocently, "Now, can I borrow your dagger? I'll give it back... tomorrow."

Ignoring my intended humor, she replied sharply, "You can't run from Fate, Dev."

"Oh yeah?" I grabbed the dagger from her and slipped it into one of my boots. I stood and waited for her father to come in, the huge grin still on my lips, "Watch me."

"I see you intend on fighting your destiny. I can't stop you, no matter how much of an idiot you are."

I grinned and took the backhanded remark as a compliment, bowing to her, "Why thank you, kind Lady Hildessa."

"However," She held up a finger, "After this time, you won't be making the same mistake repeatedly." Remembering my cue, I reluctantly sat back down. My nerves were on end, though. I couldn't wait to put my plan into action. Take -that-, Fate!

"Do you believe in past lives?"

"Huh. I do now, I guess."

"This life, or the next, Deven, you're still going to die on this day. That's not a threat, it's a promise."

"You sound like you -want- me to die!"

"I don't..." She sighed and then hardened her eyes on me, "but -I- know when I'm beat. Everything you've done in your life has been done before and will be done again. The only way I can make you understand this, though, is to let you try it for yourself."

I smirked. "And try I will."

Hilda nodded, "You can't change Fate, and this will prove it."

My heart was beating faster with adrenaline as I nodded as well. "And I'll prove to -you- that I'm not going to die yet."

She smirked with a touch of evil in those beautiful dark eyes, "Now where have I heard -that- before?"

I frowned realizing I was quoting myself from hours before I died last time. Wow that sounded weird... "died last time" Ugh, gives me the shivers. Touching the cross around my neck, Hilda muttered, "I hope you realize the consequences by now."

I curled my lip at the remembrance, "You could've warned me about this before you cursed me." She shrugged in response and we both turned simultaneously to greet her father. The flaps to the tent opened and revealed the tall blonde. Hilda nodded to him and the man grabbed me by my collar. I was dragged off without a word.

"I'll see you next time, Dev."

"Hilda..." I growled lightly as I was dragged out of the tent by my heels and back into the harsh midday light. As he dragged me away, my mind wandered back to my boot where the thin blade of my new dagger was slicing into the sensitive skin of my ankle. Not twice. Not a chance. I was going to beat the system if it killed me! (But then again, if it killed me, I didn't beat it did I? Paradoxes.. yuck.)

When I was finally stopped and hauled up to my feet, I came face to face with a tall woman in full armor. I smiled at her politely and bowed. The woman eyed me for a moment before looking at the blonde man holding the back of my brown shirt. The tall blonde man exchanged a glance with her. As crystal blue met the depths of hazel, he spoke one word, "thief." I dropped to the ground before I could be brutally knocked down again. While my face was in the dust, my arms were forced and tied behind my back once more. It's not as bad the second time around, actually. The lady picked me up and held a sword point against my back. Wordlessly but with a knowing smirk, I was forcefully directed closer and closer to the palace of the newly crowned King.

Today was my day. I was in control of everything, of Fate Herself. Now it was a matter of decision... when to use the knife? On the way there, in the palace, in the dungeon, or as a sneak attack on the gladiator? The memories of the warrior surged in my mind and I knew there was no deciding. I had to see those eyes again. I could wait.

I was directed into the large stone castle where I once again pushed myself to the floor rather than be pushed. No one even seemed to notice my odd behavior. The same as before, there was a rather large audience to watch me fall on my face. I began picking out a few familiar faces... two of the entertainers stood out, both in jester's motley and with strange chestnut hairstyles. The boy stood out because he never stared at me like all the others did: his eyes were locked on the King. Hm... And the girl holding knives had the same mysterious eyes as Hilda had. Behind the King were the same two young blonde girls dressed in finery. They were real ladies of the court, I could tell. But one hung back behind the other, and the one in front... her blue eyes looked so lonely... Also behind the King was the tall man with brown hair so light it looked reddish. In the very center of the room, sitting in twin thrones were the royalty: the Queen mother with a small gold crown resting on her blonde head, and the young king about my age with a golden crown resting in his silky blonde hair.

I thought my head would explode from taking in too much information too quickly, but lucky for me, it didn't.

The woman in knight's armor spoke a minute later, "I'm sorry to interrupt your entertainment, Your Majesty, but this boy is a known thief and needs to be dealt with." I sighed, my hot breath leaving a ghost of mist on the cool stone below my cheek. It was all the same. Ah well, I'd deal with it later tonight... "This one boy has been plaguing the town for years, but I've finally caught him. I await your permission to deal with him properly." Just as I was about to make my rude comments, I bit my tongue - literally. It hurt, too. But it was worth it. Without being kicked, I was able to observe everything clearly this time. Yes! Go, Deven! Plus, a little pain is better than a lot any day.

"You mean execute him? I think that's a little extreme, don't you? He's just a thief. And he could be a lot worse, Lady. Besides, he's only a child."

I heard her mutter something about "children on the throne," but I missed exactly what she said. It sounded like a good insult... Yes! I could nail her for treason! Well, if I had heard her completely... and could prove it.... Eh, well I could always hear it next time, right? No! There would be no next time. This was the last time. I wasn't going to die this time, next time, or anytime. "Your Highness, this dirt isn't good enough to line your prison cells, allow me to eliminate him." She unsheathed her sword and held it threateningly to my neck. Amazing the things you don't notice when your doubled in pain; I had no doubt that she had done exactly the same last time.

The king stood, making his power known, "You will not go against my orders, Lady. I think you have some personal agenda here and I will not allow it." Damn, I missed a lot of good stuff when I got kicked, didn't I? Yeah! You go, Your Highness! Kick that Lady's...

"If I may suggest, Lord Quatre..." The man with the reddish hair spoke in such a soothing manor that although it was soft, his voice demanded attention from everyone in the room... well, except that one jester anyway who didn't seem to be moved by anything.... "the Grand Tournament takes place tonight. We've been looking for a suitable challenger for the our victorious knight ever since those gypsies escaped. Perhaps the thief would do."

My head shot up. Gypsies? No way! He couldn't mean...

The king looked at me sympathetically for a moment, "I don't know... do you even think he knows how to fight?"

The man stepped closer to his King and continued in an even softer voice, "He will be killed, but he will have a chance to save himself. Everyone will be sated and our current peace will remain... for the time being. Surely one boy is worth the peace of an entire kingdom, even if the peace does not last." He stood and replied in a louder voice, "Besides, the people want to see fresh meat at the tournaments."

Meat. That's all I was. I wasn't even human. I swear I saw an apology in "Lord Quatre"'s eyes as he nodded silently. Next thing I knew, I was picked up again, dragged down a lot of dark passages below the palace, and tossed into a dank dungeon cell. I sat down there in the dark, once again occupying myself by listening to dripping water of some unknown source. Weird, even the dripping of the water was the same through my lives. That got annoyingly repetitive and just plain confusing to think about after only a few minutes, so I took to thinking about other things instead.

My thoughts didn't make sense and they were confusing even to -me- so I won't bother with the tiny details. Let's just say that Fate was the topic of all of my thoughts (for obvious reasons). The future isn't written in stone; I could still change it, I knew I could.

I had to.

I wasn't in that cell for long, actually. The same amount of time had passed when I was pulled out of my cell, hands still tied tightly behind my back. I was led - guess where?

The Coliseum? Nope.

The Tournament? Sadly, yes.

Yup, someone up there hates me. Fate, God, some wacky angels, all of the above. I must've pissed something off pretty bad.

No. No way I was dying tonight. I was prepared this time. Unfortunately, Fate wasn't about to change her schedule just because I followed the Boy Scout motto.

I was led into a large arena and left there - hands still tied, dagger safe in my boot. I looked around and noticed just how huge this place was. It wasn't nearly as impressive as the Coliseum, but it sure was big. I felt so small in comparison to the open space around me and the gigantic blue sky which was growing darker by the second. Hundreds of thousands of eyes were all watching me, some cheering, some hissing, some just watching. The same people, the same eyes. Let them look! Let them all be witnesses as I told Fate to kiss my little thief ass!

The King came out of a center side of the arena, followed shortly by his mother, the soft-spoken man, and the two blonde ladies, all of whom were dressed in finery for the "event." The King made an announcement to the crowd, his thin voice just barely reaching my ears across the mountains of people cheering. "The challenger - a young thief. His opponent and our current champion, the Perfect Knight. Let the Tournament begin!" At his signal, two large hinged doors swung open with a clang and a knight on horseback galloped into the arena.

My heart stopped as the knight's lance came inches from my face. A JOUST?! I had no lance, no sword, hell, I didn't even have a horse!!! And they expected me to joust? Aw, crap! Loud cheers began as a man in layers of shimmering silver armor sat still on his white stead, waiting for some signal or cue or something. The light played on his shimmering silver breastplate throwing rainbows of color onto me and into my eyes as I stood helplessly before him. Dagger or no, I couldn't whip a guy on a horse (not to mention my hands being tied). I found myself actually -relying- on Fate, praying that the guy would be as fair to me this time as he was the last.

The man hopped nimbly off his horse and walked slowly toward me; each step he took was followed shortly by a clank or chime of his metal armor. When he finally reached me, I saw his helmet move up and down as he surveyed my appearance. I couldn't help but smirk. 'Yup, now, take off the armor, show me those beautiful eyes, and toss me a sword.' But I didn't feel like being killed prematurely, so I kept my confident thoughts to myself. The knight looked around at the crowds and to the King, as if asking a silent question. He then dropped both gloves onto the ground with two small clangs, stirring the dusty earth up in small clouds. I looked at him, desperately trying to hide my satisfied smile. The man continued stripping himself of his armor until only his boots and helmet remained. He then took off his helmet and dropped it to the ground as well.

Damn, even though he killed me, the guy was still beautiful. I couldn't help it, I smiled at the sight.

This beautiful warrior caught my smirk and suddenly looked off guard. He blinked confusedly at me for a minute, but didn't say anything. Shaking his momentary stupor, the man once again circled behind me; I didn't mind that I couldn't see him, I knew what he would do. And he did: he cut the rope tying my hands together. I felt the release and immediately stretched my arms and wrists. I turned and looked at him, smile still on my lips. Those beautiful eyes so full of hidden emotion looked utterly confused at my attitude. His brow furrowed and I heard him speak, "What are you smiling about?"

Okay, not the most romantic first words, but first words nonetheless! I smiled even brighter and gathered my courage. 'Damn, you're hot!' was my intended sentence, but it came out more along the lines of, "Thanks, those things were -killing- my wrists!"

He simply glared at me, snorted lightly, and trotted back over to his horse. There he grabbed another sword and tossed it to me. Oh, right, the whole fight-to-the-death thing. And here we had just started such a pleasant conversation!

I swallowed deeply and just barely caught the sword he threw to me. Okay, I could do this. I didn't have to kill him, I just had to get out alive. I could handle that. No problem. When he was sure I was ready, the guy just charged me and took a swipe. Expecting this first move, I dodged and struck out at his back. He quickly turned and blocked my attack. Damn. Okay, this wasn't part of the plan... I held up my sword, but the reverberations as metal hit metal made my hands shake and tingle. Wisely, I waited for him to attack me. He did, and I just barely fought back. As we continued a similar fighting pattern, I began to sweat. This wasn't working... my grip on the sword was loosening... I couldn't defend forever, I had to attack! He easily sidestepped my weak attempt and landed a huge swipe across my back. The stinging made my back arch in pain and I remember seeing a few droplets of blood hit the ground at my feet. Lord help me, it was happening again. The crowd cheered.

Despite my injury, I kept both hands on my sword. After a few more defensive moves, I attacked, leaving myself open. The knight took this opportunity and landed another harsh uppercut to my side. I shouted in pain and groaned as my knees gave out from under me. I couldn't hold my sword with one hand and use the other to hold my gaping wound (which was currently dousing the dust in think oozing drops of blood between my fingers), so I dropped the sword. Even as my mind was going blank except for the awesome pain which was driving right into my spine, I reached for my dagger. It was expertly knocked away from my hand with a quick skillful slash, followed shortly by another which landed across my chest, forcing me to fall on my back. Utterly helpless again, and shaking with pain, I lay there waiting to die, thinking. What had gone wrong? What had happened to my plan? I lasted longer, but I still ended up in the dirt bleeding and in pain! My vision became distant as the red mist began closing in on my sight. I stared straight up into the evening stars and saw the harsh, uncaring face of the knight as he rose his bloodied sword for a final time. I smiled up at him causing him to hesitate. Knowing that I was about to die anyway, I forced out the thin words (of all the things to say), "You have beautiful eyes...." as the sound was released, a few droplets of blood fell down my lips to trail down my chin.

The knight hesitated, sword raised, and just watched me lay there. He actually almost looked sorry or touched or just confused or something... The last thing I saw were the questioning sapphire eyes as his sword pierced into my chest with the grating sound of metal against bone. I had failed. Fate got the better of me again. The pain that had become all too familiar rushed into me, flooding my senses and causing my back to arch against the sword inbedded into it. For a breathless second, I could hear the crowds cheer as my vision once again blacked out and my precious blood fled for the second time from my grasp into the dust. When my hearing was nearly lost, and the knight above me had blurred into the night sky above him, I heard the same mumbled words and felt the tickle of hot breath against my ear.

"I'll see you next time, Dev."