Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Morning Star ❯ Prologue

Morning Star - Prologue
This is a tale of a dark time in a great kingdom, of love and romance, of hatred and fear, and of deception and betrayal. It was a time of great destroyers, of despised heroes, and jaded lovers.

Our scene is set a long time ago, in a land faraway from here. It is a place where everything and nothing was possible, where kings were either loved or hated, and where great things went unnoticed. It is a place called Egypt, the land of the Gods.

-----

They were all doomed.

This was Prince Heero Yuy's gut reaction as the people working near or even in the river shrieked in panic and gazed fearfully up at the sky, prompting the young one to do the same.

The sun was disappearing, swallowed up by darkness.

They were forsaken; the gods had turned their backs on his people in light of the destruction of the world.

Around him, people were wailing, falling to their knees, praying fervently to Ra and the others in hope of preventing this great tragedy. But it was of no use, for even now Heero's people let out a great cry as they spotted a shining object descend upon the Earth, then hover over their heads. This mysterious and awe-inspiring vision must be the beginnings of the fire from heaven sure to rain down upon them soon.

Then, the mysterious shining object rotated... and plunged into the Nile with a great splash. Screaming in terror, the people in the water rushed to the shores, as if afraid the object's mere presence in the river's great waters would contaminate all whom touched them. Heero could not blame them; he most likely would have done the same, though with less -much less- of such shrieking and carrying about.

The world was enveloped in darkness as the last bit of the great sun was covered, engulfed by an immense shadow, and the young Prince, for once in his life, was frightened. He had stood up to the strongest and bravest warriors in all the lands, had faced immediate and terrifying danger; but nothing, none of his previous experiences, came close to this- this feeling of complete and utter helplessness, the feeling that he was not in control of his own destiny any more.

And then, with a great flash of unholy light, it was over. All of it. The sun shone bright and strong once again, the sky was clear, everything was as it once was. But Heero Yuy had a feeling things were never going to be the same again.

-----

Trowa was working near the Great River when it happened. He first felt the sun's heat relent a bit upon his tired back, and thought nothing of it, for he thought it to be nothing more than a cloud drifting across the sky, a welcome reprieve from the seemingly relentless heat. His perception changed, however, when he heard one of his fellow workers cry out in panic, his head snapping up in alarm at the sound. That's when he realized what was really happening, as his gaze traveled to where the hysterical woman was pointing. Undoubtedly, he experienced a fright at seeing the sun covered by a dark blanket, but, unlike the others, his face changed to a mask of contentment when he laid eyes upon the mysterious flying object. He couldn't explain it, but -this strange projectile calmed him rather than exited him. Trowa had no time to question this unpredictable sense, however, before the thing crashed into the river, out in the deep waters.

Unlike everyone else, he chose to stay in the water and inspect the crash site, instead of scrambling to stay clear of the -perhaps contaminated- waters. While people pushed to escape the river, he instead pushed to reach it, and as he placed one foot into the water, he was nearly knocked over by a great trembling of the Earth, seeming to center from the middle of the river.

Oddly enough, no one else seemed to notice this disturbing Earth shaking. Trowa passed the none-reaction to the trembling off as mere shock on their parts, and continued on his way. His body made a small splash as he submerged up to his chest in the water, and soon he was swimming full force for the center of the river.

Trowa had always prided himself on being one of the best swimmers around, but the task of getting to a certain spot in the middle of the rushing river was grueling nonetheless. For all his effort, the only things that the tall youth found upon reaching his destination were two or three minute, shimmering objects floating with the current, which turned to weightless silver dust when scooped from the surface of the water. He cursed at his inability to even keep hold of the strange shimmering substance, as it slipped easily from his clenched fingers no matter how hard he tried to prevent it.

A strangled cry brought his attention to a patch of tall reeds near shore, and Trowa turned, heading for the tall, aquatic plants. The struggle to reach the place was minute compared to his previous endeavors, but it still was a task to his tired body, and he nearly collapsed with relief when his feet finally touched the banks of the shore. The tall youth waded in the shallow waters, pushing through the towering reeds around him, until he came to a clearing around the embankment.

It was there that he caught sight of the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

-----

The mortals were at it again.

Wu Fei sighed and buried his head in his hands. "I give up. All this is giving me headache."

Nearby, his fellow God -or, in this case, Goddess- smirked and strolled over to his perch on the stone steps, her long blonde hair shimmering with strands of diamonds. She rested a hand on his shoulder, tightening her grip a bit to get him to look up at her. "It's hard, isn't it? I know what it's like, having all kinds of troublesome mortals to deal with."

A peal of laughter cut off her thought. "Yeah, right," accused Hilde sarcastically. "You really expect anyone to believe your pity party, with the way you're treated by the humans? C'mon, Anakh sul Rinmeh, gimme a break. Or should I call you *Relena*? Oh that's right," she corrected as the other Goddess sent her a menacing look, "only that puny *human* is allowed to call you that. My mistake." The shorthaired girl giggled and spared a glance at the viewing orb, raising one quizzical eyebrow at what she saw. "Woah, I see what you mean, Wu. That certainly wasn't planned on any of our parts, unless Isis added another piece to her little game that I didn't know about. I wouldn't put it past her, either, to send something else to scare the humans more than necessary."

"It's really none of our business, is it?" the Goddess called Relena remarked. "I mean, Hilde, you're just an apprentice Goddess, and Wu Fei- what can I say? You're the God of War and Death. Not of Shining Metal Objects. So get over it, and, while you're at it, get the humans to quite down somehow, would you? That unbearable shrieking is really starting to annoy me. Go... kill someone or something. Maybe it'll make them realize that whining like they are isn't going to win any of the Gods to their favor." Relena turned sharply, gesturing to her cat companion, and with that, the Cat Goddess was gone from Wu Fei's abode. Only Hilde remained, outside of the owner of the place, and all her attention was riveted on the view of Earth.

"Oh, look! I think I see that boy Rel's so obsessed with, Heero-something-or-other. Weird name," She announced, not turning away from the orb. "Boy, he don't look all that hot. Maybe it's because of that Solar Eclipse thing Isis tried? From what I hear, stuff like that doesn't happen very often in the mortal world. But, then again, who knows?" Hilde shrugged and continued watching, giving a play-by-play report, much to Wu Fei's annoyance.

The mortals may have been at it again, but some Gods were worse.

-----

Work in and around the river had ceased entirely for the day. Quatre, unfortunately, didn't work around the river, exactly, so he was currently hurriedly making his way towards the Pharaoh's palace from where he had been picking herbs for the palace healer, Miss Lucrezia Noin. The blonde gripped the small handful of medicinal plants tighter as he made his way along the banks of the Nile, hoping no one at the Palace had been hurt.

Quatre was, as all servants are, familiar with the Prince, but he and Heero had hit it off rather well when they had first been introduced, and that beginning had blossomed into a friendship, of sorts. Heero wasn't much of a conversationalist, but that was fine with Quatre, who wasn't inconvenienced with long silences. Of course, the two often did not have much time to interact, what with both of their duties, but both Heero and Quatre had known this kind of thing would hinder them sometimes, and didn't let it bother them.

There was a slight moan to his right, arresting his attention to a small patch of reeds near the riverbank. Curiosity got the better of the small blonde, and he altered his course a bit, heading for the source of the noise.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he called tentatively, pushing through a bit of reeds.

What he saw wrung a gasp from his throat.

-----

"Oooohhh... he's cute!" Hilde exulted, shoving her face closer to the glass. "Wu, come here a second!" she gestured frantically at the sullen Asian boy, who complied, though more than somewhat unreadily. "Who's this?" Hilde pointed at a figure in the picture, "I've never seen him before."

Furrowing his brow, Wu Fei stared at the view. "I... don't know." He announced at last, puzzled to no end, for he was the God of Death, and was supposed to know the names and identities of every single being on the planet.

This whole scenario was most confusing.

-----

There on the banks lay a boy, but not just any boy. His long, bedraggled hair shone the color of chestnut, and he had on the strangest clothes Quatre had ever seen, mostly in shades of purple and black. The boy shone with an inner beauty.

Realizing that this youth was clearly unconscious, Quatre rushed towards him, checking for signs of life just to be sure. Breathing a sigh of relief, the blonde hooked his arms under the boy's own, and proceeded to drag him from the river. Unfortunately, Quatre was of slighter build than this mysterious figure and it took quite a struggle before he could make a significant move. That was when he heard the lapping of water against a moving figure, and he looked up, spotting someone pushing their way through the reeds.

"Need some help?"

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Feedback always appreciated!

Nozomi