Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Psionic Saga ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

Duo kicked at the stones as he walked, one hand tugging sporadically on the end of his braid which he had unknowingly pulled over his shoulder. He didn't know why he had gone for a walk. He only knew he could not stand to be in a room with that unresponsive git a moment longer.

Duo was annoyed. He could freely admit it, unlike some people he knew. The problem was, he was not exactly sure why he was annoyed. He could of course have come up with some insane text book reason as to why his face was flushed and his hands sweaty, but that was just the point. Duo didn't want to be a text book; he hated them. Duo wanted to be a real life human being and he had been. Until he came to the private school and ended up sharing a room with the ultimate text book.

It had been easy at first. Duo had been able to sit there while he tapped away at the damned computer. He had been able to completely ignore him if he wanted to. In fact, Duo had not really spent any time in that room in the first few weeks, because it had taken that long to get to know every person in the school. But after he knew everyone it did not take long to realise who he actually wanted to know. The problem was they didn't seem to want to know him.

Perhaps that was why Duo liked them. They were a game, a gaol, a present he was not sure how to unwrap. He had managed Quatre first. The small Arabian blonde was easy-going and far too kind for his own good. All Duo had to do was ask and Quatre couldn't say no. That, more than any other reason, had resulted in Quatre being Duo's first real friend in a long time.

He had had friends once. Well, a friend. But like all the people Duo loved that friend had died. They always died. That was, if you looked in a text book, why Duo was attracted to his new friends. They were too strong for death. They had all overcome it several times and would no doubt do so again.

That didn't make it easy to be friends with them. Duo loved life. Perhaps because death had nicked his heels so often, perhaps not. He was not willing to evaluate his own situation any more than that. Why?

Duo laughed aloud as he walked. He knew exactly why! Because of huge navy eyes that sparkled like twin sapphires. Because of smooth bronze skin that was constantly revealed. Because of tight, hard muscle that was unbreakable. Because of long dark hair that was always in disarray.

Oh yes, Duo knew perfectly well why he wasn't taking a deeper look at his own situation.

Brushing a fallen leaf off shoulder, Duo rolled his sleeves up once more so they sat just above the elbow. The sun was hot and he was feeling it under the heavy black priest's costume. He should have worn something else, but he had glimpsed Heero looking at the wall, completely disinterested and had grown self-conscious. He felt unattractive and had wanted to hide. So he had hid in the largest clothing he could find at the time. An over-sized habit.

Grumbling loudly, something he had found himself doing far too often, Duo walked off the footpath and into the thick stand of trees. He hadn't known it when he started but he was headed for the park.

Few people knew about the park. Just Quatre and Heero, and if Quatre hadn't kept his mouth shut then possibly Trowa. Whatever, they never actually went there. It was always abandoned, a little paradise just waiting for its patron, Shinigami.

Duo had found the park in his first week at the school. He had been surrounded by a gaggle of girls and had been desperate to escape. Feeling suffocated he had sprinted off into the trees and hid for a few hours. It was while trying to get out again he had come across it.

`It' came into view through two large oaks. It was a small clearing, full with knee high grass that sprouted small yellow flowers in the spring. Of course, it was autumn, so there were no such delicacies as Duo stomped toward a large grey rock in the centre.

He climbed on top and then down into the small hollow at the heart. Once inside he was invisible to the outside world. He had spent many hours in the rock, reading manga's or just thinking. He liked to think. It made up for all the noise he made. Besides, the more he thought about things the quicker his brain got and with his new friends Duo knew he needed to be fast.

Looking up at the small grey clouds drifting overhead Duo wondered how far away winter was. He didn't like the winter's at the school. In fact, Duo didn't really like winter at all. It was too cold, the snow freezing his very bones. He spent most of winter indoors, complaining rather loudly and drinking a lot of hot chocolate. Not that you would know. Duo's body ate up everything he shoved inside it. Despite his rather valiant efforts, Duo was still one of the smallest boys he knew. Or rather, he decided as he looked down at himself, the slightest. In fact, he looked somewhat like a girl, all slender, slim muscle and smooth, unmarked limbs. Duo wanted one scar. Just one.

Grumbling again, Duo pulled a small collection of bits and pieces from his pocket and began putting them together. He didn't have enough to do anything fancy, but there was enough to make a small stunner. His fingers were thin, like long chalk-sticks. They slipped between all the tiny pieces of machinery easily.

Duo loved working with his hands. It was the perfect outlet for the madness in his head. Whenever he felt claustrophobic or annoyed he would sit down and start building something. He was never far from something he could work with. His side of his room was smothered in boxes of old junk he could use and his pockets were always full. That was another reason he loved the priest's garb; lots of easy to hide built in pockets.

By the time everything was in place on the small device the sun was going down. Reasoning he had showered at lunch after leaving Wufei's dorm he guessed he had been at the rock for around four hours.

"Getting slow, Maxwell," he chided himself. "You used to do this in three."

Sighing heavily, he held the small piece of equipment up to the fading light and smiled. He may have done it in three before, but he had refined the design and increased the available energy source. An hour more work had resulted in a product far superior to what he had been selling the younger boys at the school. They would pay double for this baby!

Smiling happily Duo leapt to his feet and jumped off the rock, directly into someone's arms. He yelled in surprise and immediately tried to reach the ground, slightly embarrassed, but within a moment he realised he could not break free. The arms that had caught him had him captured in a vice-like grip, one wrapped around his knees, the other his chest. His arms were pinned against his side.

"You can put me down. I'm fine. Really," Duo stammered, but the arms only tightened, squeezing so hard Duo was struggling to draw breath.

He looked up at the face above him and realised he could barely see it. The setting sun made a silhouette of the figure. All that was visible was the shining blue eyes, the same colour as the dying sky. They were beautiful.

"Hey, you know, you have really lovely eyes," Duo squeezed the words out, desperate for air.

"Silence!"

It was a male voice. It seemed determined, and yet Duo was sure he sensed a hint of uncertainty. It worried Duo. He wanted to know what was going on. He could understand why he himself would wear a priest's outfit, but that black cloak was too familiar. Esotericists and Wiccans war such costumes and Duo had been taught to fear such things.

"You desecrate this place with those clothes!" A female voice came from somewhere behind him. Duo let his head fall back and saw the upside down figure of a woman, draped in a similar black cloak to the man holding him. Duo struggled to free himself but it was impossible. He was not strong enough.

"Come on lady!" Duo reasoned. "All you had to do was say strip!"

Duo blanched at the sound that came from her throat. He had the distinct impression women only growled when they were very angry.

The woman was coming closer and another had appeared at her side. And yet another. Duo began to panic as they approached and resumed his struggles. The strong arms holding him dug into his ribs and all air rushed from his lungs. Desperate he kicked out, trying to dislodge the arm around his knees, but strength was fleeing from his body already. Duo cursed himself for having turned down Wufei's offer of lunch.

He tried to talk to the approaching figures, maybe reason with them, but his voice failed him. He had no breath to speak with.

"Let him breathe."

The arms surrounding him relaxed a little, but Duo knew there was no way he could break free. Above him the three female robed figures stood, their heads bowed, watching him. He could see nothing of their faces within the dark hoods.

A hand, cold as winter ice, snatched his wrist and he hissed at the pain as the freezing touch seeped into his veins. He began to feel weak. He refused the groan that threatened to break past his lips. He would give them no such satisfaction.

A second hand grabbed hold of his face. He turned his head from side to side but he was so weak. In less than a minute his struggle was over and his body was numb. Then a heat bloomed at the fingertips on his cheeks and it rushed through his veins, down to his heart where it exploded and seared through the rest of his body, thumping loudly. He could hear it rushing in his ears, feel it pumping through every inch of his being and he couldn't help it. He screamed.

Pain.

The fingers released him but he kept screaming. The agony gave him renewed strength and he began struggling once more, desperate to scratch off his own skin to lose the pain. He felt like his blood was boiling, bones melting...

"Had enough, my pretty one?"

Duo forced himself to still, though he could not keep tears from pouring down his face. He looked up into the hood of the male one still holding him, silently pleading. The man looked up at his compatriots.

"He wants more."

Duo screamed in defiance but the hot touch came again, burning through his body. Only this time it was different. It was more than just the two burns. A third had joined it and this last one pulled at the very soul of his being, tearing it in two, pulling apart whatever it was that connected ethereal to material. It was as if he were charged with energy and two huge magnets were pulling at him in opposite directions. He could not fight it. Instead he screamed.

His mind raced in its pain, desperate to end it. From some place deep within where all was still calm Shinigami was whispering quickly, telling Duo his hand was bleeding. Duo did not understand why that was important. In the midst of the pain he had clenched his hands into fists...

Something is in my hand.

Duo forced his mind to think and finally recalled what he had spent the last four hours doing, building, painstakingly piecing together.

Ignoring the pain, Duo forced himself to curl tighter in the man's arms until he could look down at his hand. Blood was running between his fingers, the cold woman's touch still burning through his wrist.

Ignore it. Duo listened to Shinigami. Trusted Shinigami.

Uncurling his fingers Duo let the small device slip to his fingertips, careful not to drop it. He caught the trigger and pressed hard.

Light exploded in every direction like a huge disco ball had erupted in the now dark clearing. Duo heard shrieks of pain and someone was yelling loudly but he could not hear through the roaring in his ears.

He hit the ground and could hear feet thundering through the earth as people fled. He tried to think what had happened. What had the light device done? He did not understand.

Someone grabbed him. He tried to push them away but there was no strength in his body.

"Duo?"

Someone's voice came like a bellow through his mind. He winced, ran from it. He wanted to answer but he couldn't. He just wanted to run. All his instincts told him to run, so he did. He ran inwards, into the place where Shinigami lives, where no one could touch him, and he curled into a little ball and went to sleep.

End Chapter Two.