Had some hardware problems but I'm back. Finally a new chapter!

It has a touch of supernatural -or maybe not, depends on whether or not you believe uncle Luddo to be sane -^___^ -

Chapter 4

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Theodore Luduvicko Kushrenada, also known as crazy Luddo, was feeling whimsical today. On account of this, he dug in his large treasure chest for a hat best suited to describe his new mood. He felt it burbling up somewhere in his gut, a bit zesty, but still not quite…there. I could be gas, but old Luddo thought otherwise.

"Panache! This will do!"

Out of a blue nest of feathers and shinny beads came: first one horn, then the whole Viking helmet.

It was old -as were most of his belongings- but intact. Twin ram horns atop a cone-shaped head piece, with iron trappings bolting them all together.

"Ooooh this will do all right!"

He ceremoniously fitted it on his gray crown, looked himself up and down in a monstrously big and dusty mirror, nodded twice and stomped down the attic stairs with glee. Nothing unusual there.

"Yes sires! Now all I need is my boat and I will find me lovely Brunilda today!!" He chortled.

Luddo was the elder brother of the last Arch Duke of Luxembourg, the rightful heir to the title he handed over with not a second thought; that was more than a century ago.

He may be the wealthiest man in the country, and then some, but he was also… How shall we put this… a bit of a loon, perhaps?

His brother -Nathaniel was the noble lad's name- went on as was expected,

Living as full a life as was allowed to a head of state: He married a beautiful upper-class lady. They had four children, two of which died in the Gemini Wars (Luddo dressed his saddest black Top-hat for a year). Nathaniel went on though and ruled with a steel grip, both his remaining country and his family.

"Yes, Nat old boy, you did what had to be done… no one can argue that. You were a good man even if you were such a hard ass…"

His tombstone said as much in bold Romanic letters:

His Excellency

Nathaniel Heinry Kushrenada

Arch Duke of Luxembourg

Honored sire and leader

Died in devoted allegiance to his countrymen and kin.

A.C. 123 - A.C. 176

Now, before his grave in the family plot, Luddo could still see the skinny eight-year-old with the hard blue gaze smirking at him under the tree. Those eyes seemed more alive now than when he last saw them -so long ago- on a balding head. Now they were back under the fringe of dark blond hair, sparkling with knowledge.

"You are up to something Nathanieeeel…" He commented in a singsong tone.

He was four years the eldest and new his little brother's quirks and gests. This particular expression could only mean: - I know something that you don't -

He brushed off the dried leaves and flowers, he knew they would keep toppling down on the marble slab anyway but when you are old, you do things like that.

Before him the stout lilac tree shaded this spot in the graveyard. In return for her services, she fed on his brother's old bones, roots probably tangled around him now.

He died twenty-something years ago. Heinry, his eldest son, gave him only one grandchild: the heir to the Kushrenada name. But what a devil he came out to be.

Luddo guffawed while he sat on -his- grandparents grave. Moira and her husband Paul, Centuries old now.

"That one was a firecracker, people!"

He laughed to the dozens of graves around him. All expensive chunks of rock elaborately carved and adorned. Statues of angelic creatures and gothic mausoleums dotted the place as well as the wild flowers amongst old trees and vines, growing rampant. Not 200 feet away, the enormous castle he called home, watched over his back.

He sat cross-legged on his old folk's gargantuan slab and shred the plastic wrapper from his sandwich. An angel covered in moss stared down at him, hand poised on its lips, as if bestowing a kiss.

"Musch like hish uncle Luddo, sthat one!" he commented around a mouthful of chunky tuna and mayo.

"So… How is it going? You folks doing ok today?" he addressed the cold crowd with bright eyes, his hand reaching for the bottle of wine in his coat pocket.

&&&&&&&&&&&&a mp;&&&&&

Lady Une shook off her olive colored coat, flapping The Preventer's s logo with the motion for the world to see. It was still raining as she entered the ESUN office in Luxembourg, and now, as water poured down the elevator's glass walls, she stared out at the bleak sky. She saw noting but that casket being lift and plunked down in a truck bed… the machine was yellow, it was inadequate for it to be yellow.

Two hours ago she was at the burial site of her former leader -and love interest- Treize Kushrenada. His remains transported to a shuttle port and stored in an empty docking bay for safekeeping.

It was still anyone's guess where he would be buried now. His -hopefully- final resting place was being decided in this building and Commander Une was here to make sure he wouldn't be dumped into space like so much flotsam. It was suggested by historians that in the early days, dated pre colony, people actually wanted their remains to be left adrift in space. It was probably another messed up bookworm's theory.

"The present problem would easily be solved if you allowed a simple honoring ceremony on an ESUN shuttle…"

A glare he received from across the table effectively quieted the lawyer. He huffed and sat back down, arms cross defiantly he recapitulated the debate.

"So at present, our choices are: one, to expedite the transfer to another city in the country while keeping this place a secret and risking civil unrest. Two, publicly expatriate the remains to a neighboring country, never mind none of the border countries or others in this hemisphere have answered to our request. A Third choice, an outer space service is vigorously opposed by the family's representative, leaving us with less than 12 hours to do something. This may not be a crisis or an impending threat to peace, but we most do what's best to sidestep any political snares."

He primed his tie not looking at any of the people around the table, but he couldn't hide a sidelong glance at the Preventer commander when he added "I don't need to warn you all of the potential for this to become a crusade to former OZ or a witch-hunt for bitter ex-Alliance."

Thru all this Une remained impassive. She understood the situation better than anybody in this room but she refused to look complacent about it, so, for this meeting she just dropped that porcelain façade to show them a glimpse of the 'Colonel' Lady Une.

She will never wear her cruel persona like a badge again - she learned that much - but she will remind them, the ESUN board of trustees, who they were trying to sweep under the rug.

So she took seat not only as Preventer but also as the family representative, in her role as Mariemaeia Kushrenada's custodian. Yes it was shameless of her to use the child to gain leverage but none of his Excellency's next of kin had responded to the summons, leaving it up to her to at least ensure things were taken care of respectfully.

The meeting could not be extended anymore than a couple of hours, else the press read into it more than there was. At present, the newly recovered freedom of speech included a loosened leash for news networks. They were still subservient to the higher powers but Relena had nudged them to be more 'inquisitive and truthful' in a speech addressing the reasons for so many crimes to go unnoticed. Yes, centuries of war and repression cowed them a bit.

"Not enough it seems…" Muttered Une as her aide led them to a back door exit, when the meeting was over.

A small group of nervous reporters had gathered outside the building. The clerk invited them in and announced in a factual tone.

"By request of his immediate family, a private ceremony will be held at sea tomorrow for the late Treize Kushrenada. Only family and a few close friends will be in attendance."

"No mentions of the reasons for the exhumation, or comments on the exact place were given. In other related news Foreign Vice Minister Darlian comforted the widows of…"

She muted her vid screen and sighed at the moon glowing outside her window.

Simple solution, but not what she wanted for Mariemaeia. The child's only request was, if possible, to leave her a marking to visit. Spreading ashes over the ocean was not fair for the girl; Une was long past her need to obsess over the man but Mariemaeia needed to keep in mind the memory of the real General Kushrenada not the fallacy she was raised to worship in Barton's house. She had a hard enough life to face now, anyway, for some war-snobs to rob her of that.

So it was that, publicly the funeral at sea was held and ashes were scattered, flower wreaths dumped overboard, champagne served on a big white ship -similar to the one he was so fun of- this one of course was borrowed or rented; and in the meantime she had bought some time to find a new hidden spot for Mariemaeia to visit.

So was the true agreement, settled in the small assembly. It held no real importance but as a favor to his daughter and thanks to the press snooping at their door, the group of tired politicians with much better things to do acquiesced to one last misinformation bulletin. Une had a week to bury him again anywhere she saw fit to common interests.

Why go thru all this trouble? Because you just can't let the bad guys win.

Now to attend to that headache and start making plans. She never new any of his Excellency's relatives or anyone, for that matter, he trusted more than her or Zechs.

The kingdom of Sanque was not a good place, not in a political sense at least.

The ideal solution was to find a piece of soil in his family's name and away from the public eye, that way no one could contest or attempt trespassing as easily as in a public graveyard. She shuddered remembering the last time someone decided to pay a visit to his grave. Fortunately Marie was still in the car while the agents secured the place, she didn't saw the naked couple digging up the unmarked tombstone; male and female, obviously high on something, both ex-military. It was unclear which faction they belonged to during the war or what they intention was but it gave Une something to think about the whole trip back to Marie's home. That was a year ago.

Somewhere in the country there should be a spot safe and dignified enough for the girl to sit by her side and together, make some sense of the past.

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Tbc.

The mood in this chapter (the mood not the Plot, ok?) was inspired by a couple of movies:

"Midnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil" with Kevin Spacey, John Cusack and Jude Law. The graveyard at night, the opulent and strong characters: sometimes funny, most times dark, and always crazy. Love that movie!

Also that one with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as modern day Witches… anybody remember its name? Anyway, these ladies and their eccentric ants, gave the sense of 'family strength' I was looking for. The scenes from their childhood in that cluttered Victorian house (I think it's Victorian, in the movies witches always live in a Victorian house) seemed awfully romantic, even decadent. I like these sort 'a movies! The scenes just pop in my brain like sticky memos when I write or draw. ^.^

They all sound like the kind of familiars to contribute to Treize's personality. The environment he grew up in could only help put this guy in a more human context…

I hope. *.*

I think the reason there are so little Treize centric fics is (thunder rolls) because he is scaaary! And I don't mean the eyebrows!!!

He is one hell of a conundrum to write. Even when out of character it's hard to write him!! I have a headache to prove it. Just from explaining him from another character's point of view keeps me up for hours.

I bet the dude who made GW would probably need a shrink to explain Treize's personality chart. @_@ Hehehe …ermm shouldn't have said that…

Don't flame me?