Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Broken Seal ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Broken Seal
by Michalyn Part One of Two Rating: MA  

Author's Note: I started writing this last month, hoping to finish it in time for May 13th (13x6x5 day) but the damned thing got so long that I just couldn't finish it in time. It's supposed to be a oneshot but because this part is already pretty long I decided to break the entire thing into two parts. These are my three favorite GW guys so this is a total piece of indulgence. I hope you enjoy my silliness. ^_^

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Summary: As guardian of Dragon Glen, Wufei spends his days at the mountain temple, watching over terrible demons sealed within stone for their misdeeds. The young mage performs his duties impeccably, until a violent lightning storm brings him much more trouble than he bargained for.

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From the temple mount, Blackmoor forest extended like a lush carpet far beyond the eye could reach. Wufei was so high up that even the tallest trees seemed like children's toys. A frigid wind rippled through the trees, making them sway and turning their leaves silver-green. The gust caught Wufei's crimson cloak with it, revealing the pale magist's robes beneath the heavy material. On his shoulder, his pet dragon, Nataku shifted restlessly, making a hissing noise. Wufei ran a soothing hand over her iridescent scales.

"You feel it too, don't you, little one?" he murmured as thunder clattered overhead and the air became sharp with the scent of imminent rain. For the past six nights Wufei had been unable to sleep, kept awake by an unnamable sense of unease. At best, it was a prickling of the senses, at worst, a heavy foreboding--a premonition of danger that had Wufei jostling the runes in his pocket for comfort. He had become temple guardian in his fifteenth winter and in the four winters since, Wufei had never felt anything like this. Should he send a warning to the village? No ... that would be pointless. What would he say? That they should lock up their houses because he had a bad feeling? They would think he had gone soft in the head from all the years spent up on the mountain.

Wufei sighed, stopping again between the two statues into which the ancient seals were carved. These stone sentinels were the reason for his peculiar existence; the reason that in every generation since his people could remember, the most gifted of their youth was sent to the mountain to watch over the statues and make sure the demons who were sealed inside never escaped again. Wufei had long ago accepted his duty, and with Nataku for company along with the occasional traveler or villager come to the mountain to bring him provisions, he didn't mind his solitary days much. In fact, he was even grateful for them at times. Only occasionally did he feel a twinge as he wondered what life might have been like had he been born a baker's son or a black-smith's apprentice, free to live and love as he chose. During those times, Wufei could not help yearning for a life more ordinary. Being the protector of his people came at a considerable price.

Wufei gazed into the sinister faces of the statues. Their lips were curled back in feral snarls and their stone fingers were sharpened claws. They were almost identical save for the armor each wore. A cape rested on the arm of the statue to the right in many-layered folds while in his other hand, the demon brandished a terrifying sword. Unlike his companion, the statue on the left, however, wore no cape. His tunic was short and he leaned forward on one bent leg, a sandaled foot propped on a large shield.

They were General Khushrenada and his Lieutenant. Legend had it that the demons were once powerful magist-warriors in the service of a great king. They were invincible, vanquishing the king's enemies and ensuring a reign of peace. Those gentle days were not to last forever, though. One winter, the two warriors were drawn into a trap by Septm, a dark lord who sought the throne. General Khushrenada and Lieutenant Merquise were cursed. Possessed, they turned against the very people they once protected, unleashing a bloody rampage on the countryside, the kind of which had never been seen before. For months they were unstoppable, laying waste every village they passed through. They arrived in Dragon Glen and Wufei's people also fell under their sword.

All seemed lost until finally after a desperate battle, a powerful young mage confronted them. Already injured from the fighting, he knew he could not completely defeat them. Their strength was much too great. Knowing, that their destructive power came from Loki, evil spirits, which had bound themselves to the General's and Lieutenant's souls, the mage cast a potent purification spell over the warriors, hoping to lure the evil spirits out and weaken the warriors' powers for a moment. In that shimmering instant when the Loki hovered above the warriors' souls, the young man scorched them with mage fire. The Loki were exorcised, but it was too late for the warriors. The evil spirits had been entwined with them for so long, that their souls were irrevocably affected. The mage knew that General Khushrenada and Lieutenant Merquise were no longer human. With the last of his energy, he sealed the demons in stone and had them carried far away from the village. From that moment on, he lived on the mountain, devoting his life to ensuring they would never break free again.

Thus, Wufei found himself, one in a line of hundreds of other guardians and he had no reason to doubt that another hundred guardians would follow him as well. A soft rain began to fall and lightning rent the clouds. Nataku fluttered her wings, and released a keening cry to the wind.

"Guess we better head back," Wufei said. He pulled on his hood and started to make his way back to his cottage. The rain beat down with increasing force and Wufei hurried, eager to get inside where it was warm and dry. With the usual temple spring cleaning for the fire festival just around the corner, he could not afford to catch cold.

Thunder clattered overhead and the rain pelted Wufei without mercy. He had just reached the temple gate when a powerful flash of lightning burned through the heavens. It was so bright, the sky turned white, blinding Wufei. In that instant, an incredible explosion rocked the ground, sending him tumbling down the temple stairs. Wufei gasped as his shoulder slammed against a column and the rune stones flew from his pocket. Nataku shrieked and flapped around him in alarm, her head gently butting Wufei as she tried to get him to stand up. Damn it! Wufei groaned. His shoulder throbbed with hot pain. What the hell was that?

Steadying himself, Wufei tried to locate the source of the disturbance, but even as he limped to his feet, he could sense something was terribly wrong. The air vibrated with energy and rubble was scattered in every direction. Wufei's heart pounded as he bent to examine the crumbled stone.

"Ouch!" he hissed, dropping the fragment like a hot potato--and it was indeed that hot, its edges scorched and blackened. Wufei didn't want to believe it, but with every minute his dread grew worse. A lightning storm could do a lot of damage but lightning alone could not render magistically tempered stone into these lumps of coal. Worse, the heavy, almost stifling weight of the air was unmistakable: Magic. An incredible power had been released and Wufei knew of only thing for a thousand miles that could generate this kind of energy. And if what he was thinking was true...

Wufei whirled toward the statues and what he saw made his blood run cold. Lightning had blasted both of the seals and now power poured from the breached stone like water from a spring. The seal on the Lieutenant was partially intact but the General's seal was completely blown away. Wufei cursed and dropped to his knees, scrambling amongst the rubble for his rune stones. The General was the more powerful of the two. It would have been much better if the Lieutenant's seal had been broken and the General's stayed intact. If he escaped.... No, Wufei did not want to think about that. He had to do something, and quickly.

Wufei burrowed beneath the dust and plaster and found one rune stone after another until he was missing just one. He searched and searched until his robes were heavy with mud and his fingers were bruised and tender but no matter how hard he looked, the final rune would not be found. Wufei rocked back on his heels, cursing in frustration. With the full set of stones he could concentrate his power to its greatest intensity. Without all five, he would only be operating at about 70%. Normally, that would be more than enough to defeat any enemy, but this was no ordinary foe. Knowing he couldn't afford to waste another moment, Wufei had no choice but to abandon his search and try to repair the seal with whatever power he had before the demon was fully released.

Wufei braced himself and began summoning his strength to restore the seal. It was like pushing against a wall. The air shimmered and distorted as Wufei tried to staunch the deluge of power. He stumbled, perspiration dotting his brow and his shoulder burning as the demon power, eager to be completely released, resisted him. For a moment Wufei wondered if he could really control this himself. Should he call for help? But no, the village was five-days ride by horseback. By then it wouldn't matter what help he had rallied; the demon would have escaped and with no Loki to exorcise, who knew if the General could be sealed again. Besides, if Wufei could not restore the seals, no one could. It was the very reason he was temple guardian. Panting, Wufei chanted the words of an arcane binding spell as he focused all of his power on reconstructing the seal. He hoped to use the ancient spell to compensate for his weakened power and after a long struggle it seemed that he finally succeeded. The broken fragments of the statues rose and reassembled in their proper places, the myriad fissures in the stone glowing before fusing together again. The tension in the air diminished and winked out.

Wufei slumped to the ground, relieved and utterly drained from the effort it had taken to put things to rights again. As Nataku alighted on his shoulder, he petted her slender tail.

"I don't know about you, girl, but I'm more than ready to go home and see this day end."

Nataku's contented cry seemed to say she agreed.

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Wufei's cottage was nestled in a lush arbor not far from the mountain top. When he got inside, he lit the fire and set a pot over the flames to heat his bathwater. Before coming in, he had carried in water from the well and now a large wooden tub rested before the fireplace. He normally had dinner before his bath, but the muck encrusted onto the hems of his robes was too unpleasant to ignore. Wufei loosened his hair and stripping before the fire, he rolled his robes and cloak into a neat bundle to be washed on the morrow.

Wufei took the pot off the fire and set the bathwater to a comfortable temperature. He slipped into the tub, making a deep sound of satisfaction as the warm water enveloped him. Such a simple pleasure, but it felt wonderful after the day he'd spent. Wufei settled deeper into the tub, wincing a bit as the water stung his bruised shoulder and the little cuts across his knuckles from where he had scraped them searching for his rune stones. He had opened the window to let Nataku out to hunt her dinner and while Wufei surveyed the room, a gentle breeze blew in from outside, fragrant with the scent of rain and the night-blooming flowers.

The walls glowed in the firelight and Wufei's eyes traveled from the rough kitchen table with its sturdy chairs to the fresh rushes on the stone floor. The cottage consisted of three rooms. The front room and largest room served as kitchen and living room while overhead, connected by a short ladder, the alcove housed his bedroom and his study. All in all, it was a small space, but a cozy one. Everything he needed was right here. He had a herb garden for both recipes and spells, and behind the cottage was a small corral where he kept a temperamental she-goat named Betsy for milk and cheese. What more could he want? Wufei mused. Companions, a little voice in his head was quick to point out, but Wufei silenced it. He was perfectly happy as he was.

The scent of lavender and chamomile rose from the tub as Wufei washed himself. Humming a faint tune, he soaped his calves then lifted one leg to rub the rag between his toes. When he was done, Wufei rose from the tub and wrung the excess water from his hair. He was just reaching for his wiping cloth when the air next to him crackled with electricity. There was an incredible rushing sound, a gust of wind blasted into the room and before Wufei knew what was happening, something landed at his feet with enough force to cause the stone floor to reverberate.

Not something but someone... Wufei gasped as a large figure materialized in front of the tub.

The man standing before him was easily three heads taller than Wufei and twice as heavy. His broad shoulders were weighted by armor and a navy blue cloak which swept the floor. Wufei was startled to discover his golden breastplate inscribed with Old Verse, a form of writing that had not been used in Dragon Glen for hundreds of years. In fact, only mages and scholars knew it through their studies and even then, only very few were proficient. The words were a common protection charm, more symbolic than magical in their wish for their wearer's safe-keeping. If the power Wufei sensed emanating from the mysterious warrior was any indication though, then the intruder had no need of such a charm anyway.

It also meant that Wufei would be no match for him.

The knowledge was like a fist to the gut but denying it was pointless. Better to know the limits of his power than to have a deluded sense of his abilities. As it stood, he would most likely be hurt, but the latter would surely get him killed before he could warn his people. Wufei's thoughts raced as he struggled to devise some means of defending himself. The world seemed to contract to the pounding of his heart and the leaden weight of his body, unable to move from shock and fear. And all the while Wufei could not shake the feeling that he had seen the warrior's armor somewhere before.

The intruder's tunic, of the same deep blue as his cloak, ended just above his knee to bare strong tanned legs and sandaled feet. The golden thongs of his sandals glittered and the reddish hairs on his powerful calves caught the firelight as he dropped to one knee. The sudden movement startled Wufei; he braced himself for the worst, knowing that running would be useless. The fluttering of the intruder's tunic alone as he lowered himself to the floor had caused the air to shimmer. No, there would be no getting far enough away from this opponent. He would be upon Wufei before he even reached the door. He might as well save all his energy for the inevitable bloody confrontation, Wufei thought, steeling himself. He could only watch, every muscle taut with dread as the warrior leaned closer and closer until his lips were almost brushing Wufei's pubic hair. Wufei clenched his fists, wondering what this strange first move meant.

Lazy blue eyes perused Wufei's form and the intruder's nostrils flared delicately as if taking in his scent. "Well, that is certainly a pleasant sight to wake up to after a thousand years," he rumbled.

At first Wufei didn't think he'd heard correctly. Then blood rushed to his cheeks. Of all the depraved ... perverted—! If Wufei had doubted before, now he was sure he had some kind of evil presence before him. Scrambling out of the tub, he pulled the wiping cloth about his hips. Wufei's hands were trembling as he grabbed his runes from the table and braced himself in a fighting stance.

"Name yourself, Bastard!"

The man ran a lazy hand through his hair. "General Khushrenada," he drawled, advancing on Wufei. "And you must be the pretty little mageling who tried to seal me away."

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The words were like an icy hand around Wufei's heart. His his limbs were shaking and blood was pounding in his ears as he tried to process what the warrior was saying. There was no way. It wasn't ... couldn't be true.

"But ... but ... that's impossible," Wufei protested. "I just... sealed..."

But had he really? Wufei's voice died in his throat as he remembered how eagerly the flow of energy had pulsed from the broken seal and worse, how long it had taken him to find his rune stones before he could repair it. Even then he had only been able to use a portion of his power. When both were considered, it was more than possible--nay inevitable--that a being as powerful as the General would have escaped. It would explain the magic shifting around them even now in carefully controlled currents; it would also explain why the General's uniform looked so familiar. Wufei realized with a gasp that it was indeed identical to the one on the statue. Gods, it did not matter that he would be killed but he would die before warning his people about the bloody fate that awaited them and that was unforgivable. He had failed as their guardian.

"I see you are beginning to understand," Khushrenada said as he studied Wufei's expression. "Actually the seal has been weakening for years, but you could say it was literally a stroke of luck that the storm hit when it did. Otherwise, I would be stuck in that damn stone coffin for ten more winters at least. It's been a long time since I've been in the human world and I must say I'm famished." The demon's laugh was husky as he continued to advance upon Wufei.

Wufei took the demon's mention of hunger to mean that now that the General had awakened, he was once again craving blood . "I may not be able to defeat you, but as guardian of this temple neither can I allow you to prey on the people of Dragon Glen. I will stake my life on it! I will do anything you ask if you promise not to harm them," Wufei ground out, even as it galled him to be pleading with this demon. Still, it was all that he had left. He did not expect any deal he struck with Khushrenada to be honored but he hoped it could buy him some time. For what, Wufei couldn't say; he only knew he had to try for his people's sake. "What is it that you want?" he asked. Perhaps we may reach some sort of agreement..."

"You wish to strike a bargain?" Khushrenada raised an eyebrow. He licked his lips, all but grinning now.

"Yes." Wufei squared his shoulders. He stood his ground, forcing himself to show as little of his panic as possible.

"And what would you have to barter with?"

Wufei took a deep breath. What he was about to offer was dangerous; so dangerous that the risk of it was outweighed only by the potential cost in human life if he did not try to persuade the demon. "I can offer you a Pyrgion talisman."

Though demons were fearsome, because they drew so much negative power from their surroundings, their bodies tended to be somewhat unstable as they lacked little balancing positive energy. It meant that once a demon became very powerful, if it expended beyond a certain threshold of energy it risked destroying its internal equilibrium and annihilating both itself and everything around it. Pyrgion talismans were used to stabilize that excess negative energy and allow the demon to focus its powers without risking destruction in much the same way that Wufei used his own rune stones to direct his powers. That was where the danger lay. Giving the talisman to the General would make him even stronger but because the Pyrgion stone absorbed some of the demon power in order to be effective, there was a small chance of binding the demon by destroying the talisman itself. Wufei held his breath, hoping that the General would take the bait.

Khushrenada made a dismissive gesture. "Come now, surely you don't expect me to be charmed by such baubles? No, you have something else that I am far more interested in."

"Wh...What?" Wufei gasped as Khushrenada's hand closed about his wrist. Even suppressed, the General's power was like a jolt of electricity over his skin. For a commoner, the sensation would have been painful, but for a mage whose very lifeblood was infused with magic it was like being licked by a thousand pleasurable flames. Wufei stumbled backward but the General's arm quickly encircled his waist, preventing him from falling. He moaned as more power flowed into him from that simple point of contact and his knees sagged. Wufei's head was spinning and he looked up to see Khushrenada gazing at him with molten eyes. The General touched a hand to Wufei's waist and the drying cloth he had secured about his hips disintegrated as if it had never been.

"Yes, you do have something much more valuable to offer," Khushrenada purred, lifting Wufei into his arms.

Every instinct of Wufei's screamed for escape as he was hoisted into the air but with the net of the General's power cast about him, he was having difficulty breathing, much less moving. He was impossibly trapped and Wufei once again cursed the loss of his fifth rune. Determined, however, to put up whatever fight he could, he tried casting a repulsion spell but all that came out of his mouth was a helpless groan. The sound drew Khushrenada's attention and the demon bent forward, his face drawing closer and closer to Wufei's. Convinced that these moments were his last, Wufei made a final desperate attempt at escape. He closed his eyes and tried chanting the repulsion spell once more:

"Dragons of the west wind and spirits of the--"

"Damn it, Treize, I thought I told you not to start without me."

Wufei jerked as the husky, almost sulky voice sounded right next to his ear. If he had panicked before, now his heart was filled with terror. Th...that voice ... that power meant there were two of them. And if there were two of them it could only be because Merquise had also escaped his seal and both General and Lieutenant were now standing in his living room. Wufei stopped chanting. Why waste his breath? It was over.

Khushrenada sighed, turning them towards the origin of the complaint. "And was I supposed to wait while you dawdled, Zechs? You certainly took your time getting here."

"Not all of us are lucky enough to have lightning bolts come down from the heavens and free us in an instant. I had to work to get out of that damned statue, you know," the other demon grumbled, folding his arms across his muscular chest. His golden hair tumbled over his shoulders and as he spoke, he flicked the swath behind him, smoothing it with his fingers. His pale eyes fixed on Wufei and though the blond had not touched him, Wufei felt seared. Where the General was grace and power, the newcomer was raw intensity barely leashed. There was something wild about him; from the sensuous bow of his mouth to the lazy thrust of his hip as he studied Wufei. He was also somewhat taller than Khushrenada and broader of shoulder. He came to lean over Wufei, his scarlet tunic rustling against his powerful thighs.

"What a lovely catch we've made this time, haven't we, Treize?"

"Indeed, and it appears he wishes to strike a bargain with us."

"Is that so?" The blond made a rumbling sound deep in his throat. "By the way, don't you think you should tone down your power a bit? You're going to make him drunk like that."

"Hmm, you might be right." Treize peered at Wufei, perhaps seeing just how dazed he was feeling. Even Wufei was not sure how much of that was from the demon's magic and how much from panic. Nevertheless, he was startled to feel the power around him drop by slow degrees until it was little more than his own energy level. Wufei's eyes darted from one demon to the other, his body instinctively tensing for flight. Perhaps escape was possible after all.

"What is this bargain, you want to make?" Merquise asked him. "And does it involve that sweet body of yours?"

Wufei spluttered, his face growing hot as the blond perused his form. Even to his inexperienced eyes and ears, Merquise's look and his words were openly sexual. He heard the rumbles of agreement shared between the intruders and it was only then Wufei realized that contrary to the blood and destruction he had imagined, the kind of bargain Merquise was suggesting was also what Khushrenada had intended all along. Wufei was aghast. He needed no further confirmation of their depravity. Now more than ever he could not allow himself or his people to fall into their clutches, Wufei vowed. Visions of rapine tormented him as he imagined the demons descending on the village.

Ignoring Merquise's lascivious gaze, Wufei twisted out of Khushrenada's arms. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he hit the ground to hurl mage fire at them. Bluish light exploded from his palms and the cottage shook, shuddering so violently on its foundations that Wufei feared the windows would shatter. The heat alone from the blast was enough to scorch the door to a cinder. Smoke billowed, thick black plumes obscuring Wufei's vision so that he could no longer see his own hand braced for attack, much less the two demons.

Wufei waited. For a moment, he could not detect any demon magic and when it did return it was severely weakened. Could it be? Had he somehow managed to inflict serious damage to Khushrenada and Merquise? It was not completely unfathomable. Even missing his fifth rune, he'd put all the energy he could muster into the shot, and by normal standards his power was formidable. Hope swelled in Wufei's breast. It seemed he'd underestimated himself after all. Wufei sprang forward. He must finish them off while they were vulnerable.

"God damn it! What was that for?" Merquise coughed and wiped the soot off his shoulders.

Or maybe not...

The blond waved his hand and the shield-like barrier he'd erected in front of himself and Treize disappeared. It was obviously made to repel magic and Wufei's heart sank when it dawned on him that this was the reason the demon's powers had initially seemed muted. Even as Khushrenada emerged from the fog of smoke, Wufei could feel the power in the room rapidly returning to its previous levels.

"Treize, are you all right?" Merquise asked, still coughing.

"Nothing to worry about at all, Zechs, though this soot will be the devil to get out of my cloak."

"Ghastly stuff. I think you've got some in your hair too, Treize."

"Really? Where?"

"In the back. Come, let me help you with that...."

What had been fear within Wufei boiled to disbelief and then outrage as he watched the two demons pat and groom each other, setting their elaborate uniforms to rights. He lunged forward, an animal cry torn from his throat. He drew on his power and energy pulsed around his hands.

"Bastards! I will not stand for this game any more! I don't care if you're the most powerful demons in the universe. Fight me or get the hell out of my village!"

"Demons?" Merquise frowned. He seemed so puzzled, so truly offended that Wufei stopped dead in his tracks. "Treize didn't you explain it to him?"

"Ah ... I'm afraid I got somewhat distracted," the General offered, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Explain what to me? Stop fucking around!" Wufei shouted.

"Oh," Zechs waved his hand. "We're not demons."