Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Elements ❯ Chapter 26 ( Chapter 26 )

Disclaimer: Neither Gundam Wing nor its characters are mine. They are the property of their respective owners. Rhys (when he shows up) is not mine. He is the property of Laurel K. Hamilton. The Sidhe, the way I use them, are Laurel K. Hamilton's interpretation of the faeries from mythology. If I use Hands of Power, which I might, they are the creation of Laurel K. Hamilton, too.

Pairings: 2x1 (eventually), 6+1, 5+1, implied 3+4, R+H, H+9+H, others to be named Rating: NC-17, probably Warnings: AU, OOC, probably lemon, semi Duo- bastardization (don't worry, he gets over it), I should probably add angst, NICE RELENA Chapter 18, 3x1 lemon, but don't worry, it's just sex.

//blah// denotes thought

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Archived partially at : mediaminer.org

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The Elements

Chapter 26

Trowa stared at Quatre as he burst into the room, Duo and Wufei following after him. He wasn't that surprised that someone had been listening to him and Rhys-he'd heard several "gasp"s and "shh"s from behind the door-but what *did* surprise him was Quatre's reaction. His anger. Trowa was trying to figure out how to placate Quatre when Rhys spoke.

"Sit down, human," he said to Quatre. "We do not have time to deal with your petty grievances. We have much more important matters to discuss." Rhys pointed to Duo and Wufei. "You two, also. You've already heard this much-just how much, I don't know, but it's enough-you might as well hear the rest."

Trowa snorted as Duo and Wufei snapped their gaping mouths shut, and they and Quatre sat in some plastic hospital chairs. The Sidhe always had thought they were better than humans, and seeing Rhys order his friends around like dogs (and said friends actually *obeying* his orders) was insulting-yet a little funny.

"Okay," Rhys said, when all three boys were seated. "Trowa, I told you I'd tell you all I knew, and I will. It'll be a little hard to tell, though, as there is so much known about the Riders, yet very little of it is of any use. I guess "begin at the beginning" is always an intelligent thing to do, so I shall.

"No one knows how or why the Riders came about. Some say that they were once humans that were changed into the Riders after angering some demigod or other-Strife, maybe. Others say that the Riders were born as such-evil beings forced to use others' bodies in order to do any damage-that they were born as Riders, live as Riders, and will die as Riders. And still others say that they were created by the God and Goddess themselves-bless their names-at the same time as the Elements, as the Evil to their Good. The Chaos to their Order.

"But they're just theories. As I said before, nobody *truly* knows the origins of the Riders. All anybody *really* knows of is their first confrontation with the Elements. The-"

"Excuse me," Duo said, interrupting Rhys, "but who are the Elements? And what do they do?"

Rhys looked exasperated that he was going to have to explain something so *simple* to someone over five years old. Trowa caught his eye and motioned that he would tell it.

"Duo, are you aware of the five elements of the Middle Ages?" Trowa asked his friend, looking directly into Duo's eyes. He wanted to get it across to Duo that the question was a serious one. He could see Wufei and Quatre out of his periphial vision, as they were sitting on either side of Duo, but he focused only on violet eyes.

"Well, yeah. Kinda," Duo said. "Some scientist hypothesized that everything was made of these elements that were really just compounds or chemical reactions. I don't really remember his name, though, I kind of fell asleep during that lesson. And anyway, I thought there were only four elements, you know. Earth, water, air, and fire. But what's that got to do with anything? They're not real elements. Technetium, Promethium, Curium. *Those* are real elements."

"They're also all synthetically prepared," Trowa said, automatically. It had been drilled into him during Intro to Chemistry-the Psycho-Bitch-From-Hell's class. "But the other Elements are real, too. Sort of. There are five of them-Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. They were created at the beginning of time, and work to keep the Riders out of our world. They keep the Order-without their presence, whether in corporeal form or disembodied-you'd be pulled apart at the seams."

Duo looked confused, as did Wufei and Quatre, and Trowa felt a pang of sympathy for them. After all, it *was* some pretty unbelievable information to take in. Of course, the next piece of straw might break the camel's back in five, four, three, two...

"You said corporeal," Wufei stated, and Trowa moved his eyes to lock on his. He nodded his head. "Do you mean that they can be *human*?"

"Yes," Trowa said. "But as far as I know, they rarely ever are human. They usually take other forms. I believe that at the moment, they are faeries. Half Sidhe and half Elf."

//That wasn't so bad,// Trowa thought to himself. //I thought for sure that I'd have to tell them about Heero.//

"Yeah, and that's enough info on the Elements, my little nymphet," Rhys said, effectively silencing any questions the trio of humans might have asked. "Back to the Riders-their first fight with the Elements. There was only four of them, as Water had died in the womb. They were werewolves in that life and all in the same litter. Spirit absorbed Water's power.

"The remaining four were about twenty-four when the Riders attacked. The Riders were non-corporeal by that time, and they entered the Elements' bodies. The leader, Death, entered the-for lack of a better term-Dual-Element. The Riders-Death, War, Plague, and Famine-terrorized the known world before Spirit killed them after nine months. She used her "borrowed" Element and drowned them in a flood.

"The next two times it happened in almost the exact same way. The five were multiple births, one died, and she took over their power. She killed the Riders those times by erupting a volcano and then by pulling them into tornadoes. All three times, the Riders were banished into a hell dimension, but it was at a great cost. Many people died, as well as the Elements themselves. But this time it's different..."

"How so?" Duo asked.

Trowa bit his lip as he wondered what his friends-especially Wufei-was going to think of the answer.

"Because this time, it was Spirit who died. Earth took her power into him," Rhys answered, "and I don't know if Heero can beat them."

***

Oberon stood outside of the club, looking up at the policeman with tears in his eyes. Someone not loyal to Heero-probably a succubus, they weren't loyal to anyone but themselves and Oberon had seen one or two lurking around-had figured out what he did to Ariana and had called the police.

The unit had arrived at the scene of the massacre to find one survivor. A sniffling, terrified boy by the name of Heero Yuy.

"Oh, God, it was so horrible!" Oberon exclaimed to the officer standing by the car with him. His partner had gone to look inside the club, and he had stayed behind to call for backup and comfort the distressed teen. "The killed everybody! I was so scared! I was sure they were going to find me and kill me, too!" Oberon broke down and launched himself into the cop's arms, sobbing his eyes-and lungs, for greater believability-out.

"Hey, kid, it's okay now," The man said, patting Oberon on the back, obviously uncomfortable with having an armful of crying boy. "Why don't you come down to the station with me and Officer Hendrix, and you can tell us exactly what happened, okay? You don't have to be scared, kid, you're safe now."

"I know I'm safe," Oberon said, sneering into the cop's chest. His tears dried, and his demeanor changed. "But I 'm not so sure about you. Oh, and I don't need to go anywhere to tell you what happened-I'd much rather show you right here."

The policeman-Officer Fordman, his badge read-stepped back, realization dawning on his features. He tried to run away, but Oberon grabbed his forearms, forcing him to stay. He let go of one arm, and Fordman started screaming. Oberon ignored the man's pleas for mercy and laid his free hand on the man's chest.

"I would say that this isn't going to hurt, but it is-a lot," Oberon warned, before rearing back and punching his fist into the cop's chest cavity. Oberon clutched Fordman's heart and tore it out of his body, letting go of his arm as he did so. The body fell as Oberon stepped back, a look-amazingly-of both disgust and enjoyment on his face.

"Ray, don't let the kid go back in there. It's a blood bath-there were body parts everywhere. It must be some kind of theme club, too, because I swear I saw some wings and other costume parts." Officer Hendrix said on his way back to the squad car. "Whoever did this is a psychopath."

That was so nice, what he said about him, although Oberon thought himself more along the lines of "sociopath." Oberon dropped the heart in his hand and walked toward Hendrix. It was time for the cop to find out just how right he was, and how much fun it could be!

Selune