Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mages of Asmadur ❯ Part 7 ( Chapter 7 )

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Mages of Asmadur

Part 7

“Mr. Chang…Wufei?!

It took a while until Wufei's mind registered that somebody was calling his name. When he opened his eyes he was lying on one of the beds in the hospital wing. Sally Po, the academy's healer stood over him, a gentle smile on her face. Her hand felt cool and soothing against his heated forehead. Her smile widened a little as she noticed that he was awake.

For a moment Wufei thought he was still dreaming. Shouldn't he be at the Western Forest together with Master Treize? The last thing he remembered was being attacked by poachers. He had been grazed by a dart and then everything went black. “Did I pass out? How did I get here?” he wondered.

“Pass out? You nearly died.” The healer's voice was soft but underlined with concern. “Mister Chang, you were extremely lucky, not many people survive a Poxweed poisoning.”

“Poxweed poisoning?” Wufei asked confused. He had heard the term before, during herb studies. Poxweed was a plant whose blossoms could be used to make a very potent and fast working nerve poison.

“Yes, you were struck by a poisoned arrow. If it had not been for your master's quick actions you would have been beyond help within minutes.”

“Master Treize?! Where is he?” Wufei tried to sit up, but Sally Po held him back.

“Relax Wufei, I'm here.” His master's voice reached him from the left, and when he turned his head the youth found Treize standing by the door.

“Master Mage,” Dr Po exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and admonishment. “You should not be on your feet yet. Teleporting two people over such a distance is a difficult task even for someone as powerful as you are. Your energy levels were dangerously low when you got here. You shouldn't take that lightly.”

Treize flashed the young woman one of his most charming smiles. “I assure you, I feel fine. I'll rest after I return home. But before I leave I'd like to have a few words with my apprentice, if you don't mind.”

“I suppose I can't stop you, but if you are leaving you are doing so against my advice.”

“Your concern has been noted, doctor.” His smile turned into a smirk. “And if I should fall onto my nose I won't hold it against you if you say `I told you so'.”

Sally Po laughed even as she shook her head. “I'd rather not see that happening. But very well, you have ten minutes; Mister Chang needs his rest as well.”

The master mage nodded in acknowledgement. “Thank you.”

As the healer left the room to give them some privacy, Treize pulled a chair next to Wufei's bed and sat down.

“How do you feel?”

“Weak,” the young mage admitted.

“I'm not surprised. Your body had been through a lot over the past few hours.”

“I'm sorry.” Wufei apologized, voice barely above a whisper. “I have messed up again, haven't I?”

“No,” his master shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about. If anybody is to blame, it's me. I should have known the risk. We should never have gone any further once we discovered the reason behind the breach in the magic field. It was a serious error in judgment on my part.”

“But if I'd just been able to protect myself... I don't know what happened. I have dueled many times during Battle and Defense Magic class and I should be able to raise a shield of defense within seconds. I just choked. Master Rashid would be ashamed if he would have seen me.”

“Nonsense.” Treize's voice was firm but not harsh. “You are being too hard on yourself. Master Mage Rashid would be the first to tell you that there is a big difference between a mock duel and a real life battle. You should not blame yourself for what happened.”

“But neither should you, Master.”

Treize raised one eyebrow in surprise.

“Dr. Po told me that you saved my life. I didn't even thank you yet.”

The master mage made a dismissive gesture. “It was simply a matter of knowing what to do in the situation.”

“Nevertheless, I'm grateful.” He is so modest. From what Dr. Po told me it was anything but simple. He exhausted his own powers in order to save me. I think I'm slowly starting to understand why the Arch Mage Dermail wanted me to get to know him better before judging him.

“Well, I'd better take my leave now.” Treize announced as he rose from his chair. “Dr Po is right, you do need to rest. I'll be back tomorrow. Is there anything I can bring you?”

“Perhaps the book I was reading. It's lying on the nightstand next to my bed, and my glasses.”

“Very well.” His master nodded. “I'll see you tomorrow then.”

#####

“Wufei, are you sleeping?”

“What a silly question is that, Maxwell. If I was sleeping, how could I answer you?” Wufei grumbled.

Since there were only few patients at the hospital wing, he was the only one occupying this four bed room. He was grateful for it too, because it allowed him to reflect on everything that had happened of late.

Duo grinned from ear to ear as he stepped into the room followed by Heero Yuy. “Yep, he is definitely feeling better. He is just as grouchy as usually.”

He walked over to the bed Wufei was lying in and set a ribbon wrapped box in front of his friend. “This is for you.”

“What is it?”

“Cookies; the girls baked them especially for you,” Duo explained. “But since Dr. Po only would allow two visitors they ask me to deliver them to you.”

“They trusted you, with freshly baked cookies?” Wufei seemed surprised.

The braided youth huffed. “I'm insulted. Of course they did.”

“Of course they didn't,” Heero corrected. “They put a protection spell on the package. Only you can open it.”

“Well, apparently they didn't trust you either.” Duo made a face at his friend.

A knock at the door interrupted their playful quarreling.

“Tea anybody?” Sally Po was carrying a tray with dishes and a pot of steaming hot tea. “Those girls must really admire you, if the go as far as to bake cookies for you.” She winked at Wufei and set the tray down on the nightstand.

“I'm sure it's nothing like that.” he snapped as he looked away, trying to hide the blush he could feel creeping into his cheeks.

The healer laughed as she turned to leave the room. “Whatever you say.”

“Thanks for the tea,” Duo called after her. “Come on Wufei, open the package. Those cookies won't get any better with time.”

Wufei shook his head even as he started to untie the colorful bow that held the package together. A few moments later the three teens were munching sweet sugar cookies and drinking tea.

“You know, you really scared the hell out of everybody,” Duo remarked as he reached for another cookie. “When we heard what happened, we thought history was about to repeat…ouch.”

The braided teen glared at Heero, who had kicked him to shut him up. But the damage was already done. Wufei looked at them questioningly.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing really. Just a figure of speech.”

“Duo,” Wufei growled. “Don't give me that. Tell me the truth, what did you mean by `history repeating itself'?”

“Well…,” Duo looked at his friend for help, but Heero wasn't going to clear up the mess he had gotten himself into. “Um… Your master used to have another apprentice before you, but he died.”

“Died? How?”

Both of his friends shook their heads in unison. “We are not sure. We only know that it happened five years ago, but that's pretty much it. I'm sorry Wufei; I shouldn't have brought it up. But I'm an idiot, you know that right?”

“It's alright.” Wufei lied. Reality was it wasn't alright at all. He wasn't sure why, but the revelation left a bitter taste in his mouth. Did his master really trust him so little that it kept such secrets from him?

 

#####

“Master, you wanted to see me.”

“Yes, come in, Milliardo.” Tubarov was working on some kind of brew that was simmering slowly over the fire.

The blond mage entered cautiously even though the master seemed in a good mood today.

“You have been taking care of Quatre, how is he doing?”

“He is still weak. I put a sleeping spell on him, so he should recover soon.”

“That's good. This will help him.” The old mage added some ground up roots and a handful of dried herbs to the pot, and the brew bubbled even stronger. “It's almost done; you can take it to him soon.”

Tubarov stirred the pot one last time then turned to face his apprentice. “I had not planned on waking him quite yet, but what's done can't be undone. I might as well go ahead with my plans.”

“May I ask what kind of plans?” Milliardo asked cautiously.

“Of course you may,” his master replied graciously. “All this time I have been preparing for the day when I'm going to punish those who are responsible for your death.”

“My…death…?” the young mage stammered bewildered. “But I am alive.”

“You are now, but only because I was able to bring you back.”

Milliardo's eyes widened.

“Sit down Milliardo, and I'll tell you how it happened.”

Stilled shocked the young mage dropped into the nearest chair, so abrupt as though somebody had pulled his legs away from under his body.

Tubarov, black robes fluttering, rounded his desk and settled down across from his apprentice. “Once I was even more powerful that I am now,” he begun. “I was one of the Mages of Asmadur and a member of the high magic council. But there were other mages, one on particular, who grew envious of my powers and decided to do away with me. So they framed me, set a trap and tried to seal me to a different dimension. Even though I was able to escape their spell at the last moment I lost much of my power in the process. Once they thought they had gotten rid of me they turned to their next target, you, because you were my apprentice and loyal to me. The man who called himself your friend and became your new master, but once he realized that he could not sway you he decided to kill you. I was too late to save you, and for that I'll always blame myself. But at least I was able to preserve your bodies so that I could bring you back later.”

“What about Quatre?” Milliardo asked quietly. “How does he fit into this?”

The master mage rose and walked to the window. For a few moments he stared silently into the night before he replied. “He was just a poor innocent soul; an eyewitness to what happened, so he had to die as well.”

Milliardo's eyes darkened, his hands curled into fists. “Who…,” he pressed through his teeth. “Who did all of this, Master? Tell me his name.”

“His name? His name is Treize Khushrenada. There were others who helped him but he is the one who is to blame.”

“But why? Why would anybody do such cruel things?”

“Greed and hunger for dominance are powerful forces that came make people do all kinds of things.” And so are ignorance and gullibility. The master mage smiled wickedly at his own reflection. Soon…soon, I'll get my revenge.

#####

Treize paused for just a moment to brace himself before knocking at the door to Wufei's room.

“Come in.”

The young mage was sitting up in bed, looking a lot better than only the day before.

“How are you feeling?” this master asked, as he walked over to him.

“Much better, thank you. Dr Po said I might be released in a few days”

“I've brought you the book you ask for and your glasses,” Treize set the items down on the nightstand before he added. “I'll have Alden pack up the rest of your things and bring them over later.”

Wufei gave them master mage a confused look. “Why? Aren't I going to return to your castle soon?”

“Wufei…The mages council will be meeting in a few hours. I know that several of the members have requested for you to be paired up with a new mentor. And I'm afraid I agree with them.”

“But…I don't understand. You said I did nothing wrong. Why won't you at least give me another chance?”

“I assure you, this decision has nothing to do with you personally.” Treize sighed inwardly as he lowered his gaze to avoid looking into the boy's eyes. There was no easy way to say this. “What happened yesterday at the Western Forest made me realize that I'm not ready to take another apprentice.”

Because seeing you collapse after being wounded by that poisoned dart, and watching your life slip away quickly, felt like a dagger being stabbed into a freshly healed wound. It brought back memories of the living nightmare I had hoped to forget.

“Does it have anything to do with the dead of your former apprentice?” the young mage asked quietly.

His master's head snapped up. “You knew?”

“My friends told me, just this morning. They only found out about it themselves after doing some research.”

“I see.” Treize nodded. “What exactly did they tell you?”

“Not much; but I really would like to know what happened.”

“Are you sure about that?” The master mage gave a short sardonic laugh. “I'll tell you what happened. I killed him.”

Wufei swallowed, eyes wide in shock.

The moment the words had left his lips Treize regretted the harsh response. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes momentarily. “I'm sorry. That was totally uncalled for.”

“No…I…shouldn't have asked.”

The master mage shook his head, as he pulled a chair next to the youth's bed and lowered himself onto the seat. “I can't blame you. I think you have a right to know. There is still time before the council meeting starts. I'll tell you what really happened back then.
I'm sure you've heard the name Tubarov before. He was a powerful mage and a member of the mages council. He was not the first person who, tempted by power and riches, turned to dark magic. When the council learned about it it was decided that Tubarov was to be banished and his spirit sealed in a different dimension.
At that time Tubarov had an apprentice, a young mage by the name of Milliardo Peacecraft. The Peacecraft family and my parents socialized in the same cycles, and Milliardo and I knew each other since we were little kids. When his parents died my family took him in, so we were to say the least good friends, or so I thought.” Treize paused for a moment, staring down at his hands before he continued. “According to our laws Milliardo's magic should have been sealed and she should have been dismissed from the academy after his master was banished. However there were people, including myself, who felt that it was unfair to punish him, considering that he himself had done nothing wrong. So I asked the council to allow me to continue Milliardo's training, because in my youthful arrogance I thought that our…friendship was stronger than the bond he had with his former master.
But I was wrong; Milliardo deceived me and everybody else for a long time. We think that he was trying to find a way to break the seal that keeps Tubarov's spirit confined. Ironically it was another student, a young boy by the name of Quatre Winner, who noticed what I was too blind to see. I believe that he was trying to stop Milliardo, but was attacked by him. When I got to them I tried to stop the battle, but that was easier said then done. Milliardo had always been an incredible fighter. I had no choice but to use lethal force to stop him. In the end however it was all for nothing. I don't exactly remember what happened after the battle. I must have passed out at one point because the Maganacs found me unconscious outside Tubarov's castle. The wing where we had fought was burned to the ground and both of their bodies had turned to ashes.” The master mage cleared his throat but didn't look up once he had finished his account.

Wufei was speechless. Really, what should he say, what could one say after hearing such a story. He could not even begin to imagine what the master mage must have felt when he was forced to kill his friend and apprentice.

“I'm sorry,” he finally managed to whisper.

“Yes, so am I.”

After a long moment of uncomfortable silence Treize finally rose from his chair. “It's time for me to go. Good bye, Wufei. And good luck!”

Wufei felt numb as the door closed behind the master mage. So that was it? A good bye and good luck and they would just go their separate ways? But why do I even care? I didn't want to become his apprentice to begin with. When exactly did that change? Why do I feel like somebody punched me in the stomach right now?

 

###

“Mister Chang, what are you doing here?” Master Mage Dermail asked surprised, as the youth walked into the room where the council was meeting. “Shouldn't you still be in the infirmary? Does Doctor Po know that you are out of bed?”

“I'm feeling better already, and I'll go back to bed right after I'm done here,” Wufei assured the headmaster. After Treize's visit the young mage had mulled over the situation for a long time before deciding that he needed to do something, and he needed to do it now. “I apologize for barging in here without invitation, but I need you to listen to me.”

“Doesn't it have time until later? As you can see, we are in the middle of a council meeting here.”

“No, later will be too late,” Wufei insisted. “I realize that this a meeting reserved for members of the magic council only. However, since you are about to make a decision that will be affecting me personally, shouldn't I at least be allowed to speak and present my opinion in that matter?”

“Very well,” Dermail finally agreed. “Since you feel so very strongly about it, we will listen to you. But at least sit down, Mister Chang. We wouldn't want you to collapse in the middle of your speech, now would we?”

Master Mage Rashid, who as sitting closest to the door, rose and offered his own chair to the young man.

“Thank you.” Wufei gave his teacher a grateful nod as he took the seat. When he looked up he noticed that every eye in the room was locked on him. Feeling suddenly very self-conscious, the young apprentice lowered his gaze and cleared his throat before he started to speak. “Headmaster, you promise me that after staying a few weeks with Master Mage Treize it would be up to me to decide if I wanted to stay with him or not. But now I hear that you have come together to choose a new mentor for me without ever consulting me about it. I already made my decision. I don't need any other teacher. I want to continue my apprenticeship with Master Mage Treize, because I believe that he is the best mentor for me.”

“Young man, as much as we appreciate your enthusiasm and your devotion toward your master, the decision about what's best for you should really be left to the council.” Master Mage Septm suggested with a patronizing smile, and Master Mage Quinze added. “We have a lot more expedience in pairing up a student with a suitable mentor.”

Wufei was about to reply something when Treize raised his hand to quiet him, and spoke instead. “They are right, Wufei. I'm not fit to teach an apprentice. I thought you understood that after our conversation earlier today.”

Wufei's eyes narrowed. “Is that why you told me the whole story so willingly, to scare me off? But I'm afraid I'm not that easily scared. I trust you, Master. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rule that states that an apprentice and master shall not be separated once they have formed a bond; or at least not unless extraordinary circumstances call for it?”

What are you talking about?” Bonaparte huffed. Are you suggesting that you and Master Mage Treize have already bonded? That's impossible in such a short time.”

“With all due respect, Sir, I beg to differ. Why don't you tell them, Master? You must have felt it too.”

All heads turned toward Treize at that revelation.

The master mage looked rather uneasy as he admitted. “It's true. I can't explain it myself.” I don't know what happened. I have done my best to keep my distance…

“I believe Gentlemen, that poses somewhat of a dilemma,” Arch Mage Dermail announced. Somehow he didn't sound too distraught so. “We can't break our own rules, now can we? Mister Chang will continue his apprenticeship under the guidance of Master Mage Treize.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Wufei gave the headmaster a respectful nod.

Treize's face was an unreadable mask. He didn't say a word, didn't even look at his apprentice.

Suddenly the young mage questioned his own intentions. Did I come here to show my support to my master, or am I just being selfish?

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T.B.C.

 

Author's Note: 

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