Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ The Pea Conspiracy ❯ The Game is On! ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: All Gundam Wing references and characters belong to Sotsu Agency, Sunrise and Bandai. As far as I know, the Princess and the Pea is fair game for writing fodder and aside from that, this story is barely based on it.

A/N: As this story was supposed to have been a Christmas present for Ladybug Oblivion, I let her pick the scenario. She wanted "The Princess and the Pea" with Duo and Wufei as the leads, she gets "The Princess and the Pea" with Duo and Wufei as the leads. Needless to say, I've missed the deadline by ALOT since I started it in '07. I am hoping to finish it for her before this Christmas, though. Here's to motivation! XD

The Pea Conspiracy
- The Game is On -

Duo sat back in his throne and half-listened to the herald drone on about the Bride Candidates duties now that they had been introduced. Basically, it was a long list of rules confining the girl's behavior over the next thirty days. The only reason he was listening at all was because he needed to find out which princess was singled out for the "Test of the Pearl" tonight. Howard's heralds were always so good about singling out test subject number one without allowing the other princesses to feel as if they were being spurned or ignored and the chosen princess, The Princess of Tears, was gently lead to her quarters for the duration.

Now that the ceremony was finally over, Duo had work to do. Specifically, he had to make sure none of the airheaded little twits introduced to him that night proved themselves worthy of becoming his bride. The Tears retinue. That was easy enough. They were on the third floor of the East Wing with direct access to the servant's corridor. Duo wouldn't even have to leave the building.

He retired to his suite, by all appearances, for the evening, simply waited an hour for the rest of the castle to retire and then he slipped on a pitch-colored outfit, tucked his braid down the back of his shirt and slunk silently out into the corridor. The game was on.

There was no way he was going to allow a stupid tradition to chain him to a vapid fame-seeker for the rest of his life. Call him old fashioned, if you will, but he decided long ago that he wanted to marry for love. He'd choose his own wife, thank you very much. There was no way in Hell that he would take the suggestion of an inanimate object.

The tradition was based around the legend of his family's ancient pearl. Yes, the Pearl with a capital P, was a pea-sized black pearl that had been in his family for as long as his family had been in power and it was said to have the power to reveal who should marry the Crown Prince, or King if that were the case. Yes, supposedly, you could put The Pearl under the luxuriously plush mattress of a bride candidate and if she were worthy, she'd wake up with a bruise on her back. Not possible, right? Well, it had been proven generation after generation as worthy brides had been found for every one of Duo's predecessors. Duo's aim tonight was to remove that pain-in-the-ass Pearl from under Princess Scarlet's mattress without waking her or alerting her guards.

Just across the hall from his suite was a painting of the one true god, Shinigami. Behind that painting was a passage leading underground to the East Wing. Duo felt around the edge of the frame for the release device, triggered it and small panel slid open next to the painting. He scrambled inside and made sure the panel was securely latched behind him before turning to make his way down the lightless corridor. It was a journey he'd made a thousand times, even in the complete blackness, and Duo was confident that he could navigate it with no problems at all. That is until he ran directly into a solid mass blocking the passage, a soft, slightly person-like solid mass blocking the passage.

He had the good sense not to scream though the notion did cross his mind and at the time seemed almost acceptable. The choice was taken from him when a hand firmly planted itself over his mouth and a voice came from just inches in front of his face.

"I knew you were up to foul play, Big Brother." Relena? The hand released his mouth. "This is just the first time I managed to catch you in the act." She made a sound that vaguely resembled "eew" and he felt her wipe her hand off on his shirt. "Really, sabotaging the tradition by stealing The Pearl? That was the best you could come up with?"

"Well, er..." was all he could manage. He never imagined he'd get caught and by Relena of all people. How in Shinigami's name did she even find the secret passage?

"Don't talk," Relena ordered. She didn't sound angry, just determined. Duo hated it when his sister was determined about anything. It usually meant problems for either him or Quatre. Or both. "There's no point in making excuses now. You've been caught. The jig is up. But don't worry! Your precious little sister has a plan and if you promise to do exactly what I say, I won't feel obligated to inform Dad about what you've been doing these last nine months. Agreed?"

Howard would kick Duo's ass if he found out what Duo had been doing and then he would probably pick out the worst possible girl for Duo to marry just to spite him. But Relena would do it if she didn't get her way. Duo knew that she would. He also knew that what she wanted he truly, honestly didn't have the power to give it to her. "I already told you, I can't assign Heero as your personal bodyguard. It's not something that's left up to me!"

Relena laughed and patted him on the shoulder. She had freakishly good aim in the total darkness. "I just knew that's what you were going to say." This was how she usually reacted to his protest though she didn't normally find it funny. She grabbed his hand and held on firmly with both of her own. "This isn't about me, you silly boy. It's about you."

Duo was hit with a sudden sinking feeling, the kind you might get if you're told that your sickness is terminal and you only have two days left to live. What was she getting him into now?

To be continued...