Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Of Spirit and Servitude ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

 

Chapter 2

 

Duo stayed close to Heero as they entered the city. He was well aware of the many eyes on them, and it was turning him into a nervous wreck.

 

In the short time that Duo had known Heero he'd had more social contact then ever before. The demon didn't think that he would ever adjust to the vast numbers of people that occupied the town and from the look of it, they would never adjust to him either. The people seemed absolutely terrified of Duo. That hardly surprised him. After all, he was a monster to these people. Still, that understanding did nothing to calm his nervousness or make him believe these people would ever come to think of him as anything but a dangerous outsider.

 

Heero seemed to sense the demon's anxiety because he stayed close to him and sent glares out into the crowd.

 

Once they reached the castle Heero and Duo parted ways. Wufei had to report in with Treize and Heero had wanted to get Duo `accustom' to his surroundings, whatever that meant. Duo didn't think he'd ever get used to this kind of life. The shear numbers of people were overwhelming and the castle seemed to close in on Duo. The demon was thankful when Heero finally brought Duo back to his chamber. He was not at all used to that the many eyes that followed him wherever he went and the prince's chamber offered a sort of shield to that. At least he was going to get to spend a lot of time with Heero now.

 

Duo sighed dropping down on the bed. “I don't know how you stand it Heero. All these people are going to drive me insane.”

 

“They think that you are the embodiment of evil.”

 

“Yeah well I feel the same way about them. Don't they have their own lives?”

 

“Hmm,” Heero came to sit beside the demon offering him support in his own way. Duo leaned against the other closing his eyes and breathing in his bonded's sent. He knew that this was only the beginning. Soon, so very soon he would have to face Heero's father a second time. There was no turning away from this life now. Not because he was a prisoner to the bond, but because he wanted to be here. For the first time in his life he had found a companion, and a lover. And that knowledge alone would give him the strength and the freedom he needed to survive.

 

~~~

 

Wufei was quite thankful that Zechs was no where to be seen when he went to confront Treize. The man tended to be a great deal more professional when he didn't have a shape shifter straddling his lap.

 

“Ah Wufei, I am glade to see you are back and unharmed.” Treize was seated at a desk across the room. He gestured for Wufei to have a seat as well. Wufei would never understand this human. One minute he was kind and curious, the next he was authoritarian, treating Wufei like a tool, nothing but a slave under his whim. It seemed that Treize was in a more agreeable mode at that time. Something that Wufei was quite grateful for.

 

“How did things go with the demon?”

 

Wufei took a deep breath, this was what he was reporting on. Treize did need to know what had happened. That went without question. Wufei just wished that he didn't have to be the one to tell him.

 

“Duo preformed fine, but you should know about a few things. It was a mythical that kidnapped Heero, a nymph named Quatre. He belongs to Prince Trowa, or actually King Trowa now. King Barton tried to murder myself, Prince Heero, and Duo. He failed miserably and paid for it with his life.”

 

Treize leaned forward resting his head on one hand. “So this Trowa is the new king. What do you make of him?

 

“He is more descent then his father was. He's loyal to his people and he seems to want peace. He'll be sending a ambassador to come and meet with you sometime in the following mouth. A mythical named Inu that was the king's bonded until he died.”

 

Wufei was thankful that he had succeeded in keeping the emotion out of his voice when he spoke of Inu. He had grown quite close to the fox over the course of the time they had been together. He had come to consider the creature and friend, and perhaps even more. Wufei was not about to share this with the king, particularly when he was so unsure himself.

 

“And just how did King Barton die?”

 

Wufei smirked at this, “he was killed, by his own mythical's hand.”

 

“Nani? But that's not possible! A mythical can not strike out against its bonded master.”

 

Wufei grinned a dangerous spark flashing in his eyes. “It is possible, and Inu is living proof of that. Not only did he defy his master's orders in killing him but he gained his freedom in the process.”

 

Wufei could have sworn that Treize's face had just became a shade paler. The dragon's bonded was not one to squirm or even show signs of nervousness but Wufei knew him well enough to clearly see that the king was uncomfortable. Wufei hardly blamed him. He would be fearful too if his life was the only thing standing between an enslaved dragon and his freedom.

 

Less than a month ago Wufei would not have hesitated to kill Treize if given the chance. Now, when he knew there was a way he was not certain he could. Since going on his trip with Duo, Wufei had realized that there could be happiness found between bondeds. He had seen the way that Heero and Trowa cared for their charges. It was obvious to anyone how much the two prices loved and cherished their respective lovers. They were partners rather than master and slave. Equal in one another's eyes. At first Wufei had been sickened by this display. Why was it that so many bondeds developed such a relationship? To think that a person could fall in love with the creature that stripped them of their freedom was unheard of to the dragon. And yet part of Wufei was jealous of Quatre and Duo. They had found happiness, they'd found love. They were no longer slaves to their bondeds.

 

Wufei was glade for his two friends, but part of him longed for the same treatment. But Treize had Zechs, and so Wufei could never be anything but a weapon to him. A tool needed to hold down the kingdom. No, Wufei did not think he could kill Treize if he broke free. It would be an unfair fight, damaging to the dragons honor. Besides he did not want Treize's death. Oh he was not falling in love with the man. No, not a chance of that. But he did think that Treize was descent, at least for a human. Wufei sighed, turning to leave. He was not going to tell the king that he did not intend to take his life if given the chance. He'd let the elegant bastard sweat a bit, he deserved that much at least.

 

“Wufei wait.”

 

Wufei growled as he turned forced to obey the simple command. “Yes master?”

 

Treize raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by Wufei's words. The dragon never called him master. Wufei let out a small hiss, “baka are you going to stand there staring at me the whole time or did you have something you needed to say?”

 

For a moment Treize stood there staring at Wufei in silence. He seemed torn for a moment, then the uncertainty disappeared from his eyes. “We've had some problems since you've been gone. It seems the mythicals have become unhappy with us. I fear they are preparing for war.”

 

Wufei raised an eyebrow, it seemed that Treize had reverted back to his no nonsense commander routine. This was a change that suited Wufei just fine. This Treize he could deal with. “So my people are finally putting you humans in your place. I don't see how that's bad news. So what do you expect me to do about it Treize. If you think I am going to attack my own people then you are out of your mind. I will fight you with every fibber of my being, human, so don't even think about giving me that order.”

 

“I wasn't going to Wufei I just…”

 

“Just what oh mighty master? What scheme are you planing to murder my people? I promise you Treize it will not work.”

 

Then he shock his head, “Listen, I…”

 

“You what?”

 

“Nothing dragon, nothing important. I have no plan to attack your people. I want peace with them Wufei.”

 

The mythical crossed his arms over his chest. “You have an odd way of showing it. If you truly wanted peace then you would not enslave us in the first place.”

 

“Wufei I had no choice!”

 

The dragon studied him for a minute. “I'm leaving now. If you need me I'll be training.”

 

Treize did not object as the dragon stalked out slamming the door so hard behind him that it caused the room to shake. Wufei did not know why Treize infuriated him so. He just did. Wufei shook his head, he was not going to spend his day worrying over a human. Wufei headed for the training grounds the guards used. Hopefully Wufei could find some peace there while he was fighting, if nowhere else in his life. Some how he did not think he could get that damned human out of his mind. But then again Treize was always there, haunting him and reminding him that his life was no longer is own. Wufei was a slave and that was all he was ever going to be.

 

~~~

 

Duo quietly made his way through the deserted hall. Heero had gone off to report into his father and had told Duo he had free run of the castle. He had also mentioned something about some gardens outside that Duo was determined to reach. The young demon didn't know what a `garden' was exactly but if it was outside it had to be better then this place. Duo just hoped that he could find it without running into any humans. He was sure that such an encounter would lead to nothing but trouble.

 

“Duo-chan is that really you? Wow it is, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again. I can't believe you saved oniisan! Did you hear that I get to stay? I don't have to marry Prince Trowa.”

 

Duo chuckled as he turned with a beaming smile in place. He didn't mind running into this one human.

 

“Hi Mari, boy it's good to see a friendly face. How do you ever get used to it here?”

 

The little girl blinked staring at Duo with a look of confusion in her eyes. “Get used to what?”

 

“All the people! I tell you they're everywhere. They just pop out of no where and there's far too many of them. That and they give me the weirdest looks.”

 

The little girl nodded vigorously, “yeah I know what you mean. They do that to me too. Toosan says it's because I'm a princess. I don't know, but I don't like it either.”

 

“Well that doesn't explain why they do it to me.”

 

“Well they do think you're a monster. I mean I thought that too, until Heero said that you weren't. Don't worry, they'll get used to you. They used to do the same thing to Wufei. He hated it to.”

 

“Mari, can I ask you a question?”

 

The little girl smiled, “sure what is it?”

 

“Do you know where the garden is? I think I'm completely lost.”

 

Mari laughed at this and grabbed Duo by the arm swinging him around and then pulling him off in the opposite direction that he had been walking. “You silly, the gardens the other way. If you kept going that way you'd end up in the main watch tower.”

 

“Tower? What's that?”

 

“You don't know what a tower is?”

 

Duo shook his head, “no I really don't know about any human things.”

 

“Oh, well a tower is like a really high building. Ours is used as a place to look to see if we have any enemies coming our way. It's really windy but the views are great. Come on, you'll really like the gardens and we can order a picnic to eat there as well.”

 

Duo blinked as he found himself being dragged off by the little human. He wasn't entirely sure what a `picnic' was but he had a feeling he would find out. The tower sounded interesting. It had been a while since Duo had been up high and he greatly missed the feel of flight. It was a freedom that he loved, and had rarely indulged himself in. Though Duo was very flexible in the air, he was also very venerable. He was easy to spot and would have been a definite target to any mythical that felt like going after him. Duo knew that he could not expect to do much flying anymore.

 

The gardens turned out to be an amazing stretch of botanical life. They were different from the forests that Duo had grown up in. It was clear that they were man-made and well groomed. They had a unique charm to them, a beauty unlike that of the forest.

 

“Come on Duo, over here!”

 

The demon followed the young human to a spot over by a pond. The pair sat down and lunch was brought to them. Duo ate ravenously, enjoying the meal after so long on the road. For once Duo let someone else lead the conversation.

 

Mari told Duo about what had been going on since he had left. It seemed that all of the mythicals were gone from the forest and there was talk of a possible war between them and the humans. Duo didn't like the sound of this at all. He had enough to worry about with just Wufei and Zechs. He couldn't take a whole army.

 

Duo sighed leaning back. The day was going by quickly, soon Heero would be out of his meeting.

 

“Well, it seems I've stumbled across a demon.”

 

Duo blinked siting up and cursing himself for letting his guard down once again. He was not with Heero right now, and he was far from safe. He climbed to his feet and positioned himself so he was between Mari and the intruder. Duo knew the young human would not be harmed, but years of running and hiding told him otherwise. Oh how he would have loved to take flight right then, and run as far and as fast as he could. But he couldn't do that. Not anymore. “What do you want Mythical?”

 

Before him stood Zechs, the shape shifting Mythical he had met when he had first come here. Duo had hoped to avoid another meeting with this creature. It seemed he was not so lucky.

 

Zechs grinned tossing a knife down by Duo's feet, “we never finished our contest demon. You may have proven yourself to Treize but you have yet to do so with me. I will test your skills, and decide for myself if you our worthy of remaining here or not.”

 

Duo bent low picking up the knife. He knew that this was not a challenge he could refuse. He had to prove his worth to this mythical, or face a lifetime of ridicule and hatred. He refused to hide behind Heero and Wufei any longer. “I have as much right to be here as you do Zechs. And if this is the only way to prove that to you, then so be it.”