'...' thoughts
/.../ telepathy
Daystar's Prophecy Part 15
Sitting comfortably in one of the recreation rooms, Howard was enjoying a moment of peace and quiet in an otherwise hectic day when one of his dwarves came rushing through the door with a frantic look on his face. With a sigh, the dwarf leader knew his day was about to become even worse.
"What is it now, Manny?" he asked, the exasperation clear in his voice. "Can't we have just a few minutes without something happening?"
"Sorry, Howie--"
"My name is not Howie." he bellowed as he stood from his chair to meet the other dwarf eye to eye. "Just because it's what the kid and those other two brats call me, does not mean everyone else can."
"Jeez, boss man." one of the dwarves from across the room yelled. "Blow a blood vessel why don't ya."
The statement brought a series of laughter from those gathered in the room and Howard turned to glower at them. "Just laugh it up ya bunch of lay arounds. But I don't wanna hear ya crying when ya get extra duties next shift."
Instead of quailing their amusement though, the head dwarf's threat only caused the laughs to become louder. Turning back to the dwarf still standing before him, he grumbled under his breath, "Buncha good for nothing idiots."
"Boss," Manny began while trying to control his own laughter. "there're some visitors at the doors. They're requesting to see you."
"Well, let them in for crying out loud." Howard yelled. "Can't anyone do their jobs around here?"
"But, they're elves boss."
This caught the dwarf's attention and his head snapped toward the dwarf. "What the hell are elves doing here?" he growled.
"They said they're here to help the Seeker. I told her she'd have to wait outside while I cleared it with you."
"Her?" Howard reiterated, his eyes narrowing further. "What's her name?"
"That's funny; she said you'd want to know that." the dwarf said perplexed. "Anyways, she told me to tell you her name was Midnight."
Manny watch with a growing sense of dread as an evil grin spread across the other dwarf's face and was preparing to make a run for it, when Howard clapped him on the shoulder. "Well, it's about damn time. Now, let's not leave a lady waiting outside the door shall we?"
"But, Howard--"
"Don't question." he commanded with a glare before turning to one of the dwarves still sitting in the room. "Go find Hilde and that sorry excuse she has for a husband." he told the dwarf. "Should probably find the kid too and the other boys. Bring them all to the quad."
With that said, he turned and stalked out the door, Manny following close on his heels.
********************
Upon arrival at the large stone door, Howard immediately signaled for them to be opened slightly, allowing him to exit. Under most normal circumstances, the doors were left open to allow easier flow both in to and out of the hold. However, ever since the arrival of Duo and his companions the following day, the doors had been shut and remained so unless absolutely necessary; and even then they were not opened any further than was needed.
As the doors parted, the dwarf saw five riders waiting on the other side. Of the five, only one had dismounted and as the person turned, he saw the woman's steel grey eyes glare back at him. The elf stood no more than five foot five and had hip length brown hair that she normally kept in a high ponytail. Currently she was dressed in shades of brown from her brown leather boots and pants to the loose fitting peasant's top, the color accentuating her sun-browned skin.
"Jess!" the dwarf said as he strode up to her and embraced her slight form. "What took ya so damn long?"
"You know very well it takes time to get here." the elf stated with a mock glare. "We've been riding for three days straight; ever since we received word from Shantari of what happened. Is he here yet?"
"Arrived yesterday; the kid was still under the sleep spell Solo used to get him here alive since those jackasses left the stone active."
"Dammit Howard," Jess snapped. "I thought we agreed you'd tell us before you pulled him so we could help."
"I didn't even know myself, not until two days later." Howard explained as he led them inside the hold, hearing the heavy clank as the door swung shut once again and the bolt was thrown. "But I agree with Solo's actions; if the council hadn't killed him, he would've done it himself the minute he got the chance."
"Duo's not the suicidal type, Howard."
"Trust me, if the council had been successful in what they tried to do that night, he would've been." the dwarf hedged and smiled at her suspicious glare. "You'll see what I mean soon enough."
********************
From his place on Heero's left side, Duo could not help but cast nervous and hurt glances at the two elves standing a little apart from his own group. When the dwarf Howard had sent found them, they were just leaving the lounge with the intent of eating an early dinner then retiring to the meeting room to begin planning how to retrieve the sword. All thoughts of the scythe were discarded until the light element's weapon had been found and transmuted, then they would start the search for it. When the dwarf explained Howard's orders though, they had immediately headed for the quad where they found Solo and Hilde all ready waiting but in the last few minutes, as they stood there awaiting Howard's arrival, the braided fairy noticed that neither of his best friends was talking to the other. A searing pain lanced through his heart at realizing he was the cause of the rift between the two and he swore that as soon as he knew what Howard wanted with them, he would sit the two down and work the whole thing out.
They had been waiting for nearly ten minutes when the fairy finally saw a group of six people emerge from the tunnel, Howard leading the way with someone walking beside him; the other four where on horseback and as they entered the quad, they broke off for the stables, leading a fifth horse. Watching intently, the fairy was one of the first to notice that the person walking with the dwarf was an elf. Beside him, he felt Heero tense as he too realized the woman's race and the blue-eyed boy immediately stepped in front of the fairy, preparing to shield him if necessary.
From across the open area, Jess immediately noticed the human boy's actions and her eyes widened in disbelief. Turning to give the dwarf a pointed look, she nodded her head at the four boys. "Those the human boys the council was talking about?"
"Yup, the council tried to have 'em executed. That's why they had to leave the capitol." Howard explained and watched the understanding dawn on the elf's face.
"I'm guessing that Duo didn't want that to happen." she smirked as she watched the fairy slip his hand into one of the dark-haired boy's standing in front of him.
"That would be an understatement." the dwarf chuckled darkly. "Evidently he actually stood up to them about it, which of course got him punished. Unfortunately, Duo's the only one who knows exactly what happened in the chamber room, besides those bastards who call themselves a council."
At the mention of the fairy's punishment, the grey-eyed elf's lips pulled back into a snarl. "And those bastards would probably turn it around so it was Duo's fault."
"Undoubtedly." Howard agreed then fell silent, appraising the violet-eyed fairy closely then turned his attention to the elf standing several feet from the boy he considered a little brother. With a sigh, the dwarf shook his head sadly as they reached the waiting boys.
"Hey kid, how ya feeling?" the dwarf asked.
"I'm all right, Howie. Who's your friend?" Duo asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"She's exactly that, a friend." Howard explained, as he gave each of the braided fairy's protectors a pointed look. "This is Jessline Haylin, aka Midnight, the head of the elven side of the resistance."
Instead of putting the boys at ease however, the revelation seemed to cause the tension to increase as the four boys moved closer to the violet-eyed fairy who had suddenly gone completely still. Seeing the situation quickly escalating out of control, Hilde looked toward the dwarf and said quietly, "They don't know, Howie. We haven't had the time to tell them."
"Figures." Jess mumbled under her breath before sending a glare at the two elves. "This is why I wanted to take you two out of the protector roles you were given. He should have been told ages ago dammit."
"He didn't need to know about any of this." Solo snarled.
"This is why you should never have been named his protector." Jess growled. "You're too attached, too personal. And it's interfering with your judgment where Duo is concerned."
Solo opened his mouth to retort the elf's statement but the elbow that Hilde buried in his stomach caused him to double over and he began coughing sharply. With a nod to the grey-eyed elf, Hilde turned her attention back to her husband as she tried to help him breathe correctly again.
Shocked at the other woman's actions but no less grateful, Jess turned to look at the braided fairy still standing behind the human boy. "Hello Duo, it's nice to finally meet you face to face. I'm sure you have plenty of questions and I'll be more than happy to explain everything.
"Um, thanks..."
"Jess."
"Thanks, Jess." Duo said with a smile. "We can talk in the lounge that way we can sit comfortably. No offense Howie but those chairs in the meeting room get kinda hard after a while."
"I agree." Howard said with a smile of his own. "This'll probably take some time to go over too."
********************
After their arrival at the lounge, they took the time to shift the chairs around until they had a large circle so they could see each other clearly as they talked. Still holding the fairy's hand, Heero led the boy to a chair near the wall, placing the boy on his right. Solo, who had watched the interaction between the longhaired fairy and the human boy immediately moved to sit on the fairy's other side.
"Hey, Duo." the blonde elf said softly once he was sitting down, half afraid the violet-eyed boy would not answer.
"Solo." the boy said, his voice cool as he stared directly ahead. His earlier intentions to make up with his foster brother had been immediately discarded at the elf's statement only a few minutes ago.
"You're still mad at me." Solo said with a sigh as he hung his head. "How long are you planning on staying that way?"
"I don't know, Solo. Maybe once I figure out all the secrets you've kept from me, I'll think about forgiving you." Duo hissed as he turned to glare at the elf.
"I'm sorry little bit. I never meant to hurt you."
"I know." the braided boy bit out then closed his eyes as he tried to control his anger. "I just wish you'd had more faith in me, that's all."
Knowing he could not deny the boy's statement, the elf nodded his head dejectedly. With a heavy sigh, Duo reached over and gave the elf's hand a squeeze. "We'll talk later ok? I don't hate you or anything; I'm just trying to understand."
Solo's head snapped up at the longhaired fairy's words and at seeing the sincere look in the boy's violet eyes, he allowed a smile of gratitude to tilt his lips, squeezing the small hand in return.
"I guess I should probably start with some background information." Jess stated once everyone was settled, surveying the faces before her eyes came to rest on the violet-eyed boy sitting across from her. "The resistance came to be immediately following the end of the war to bring the elven council to an end.
"But why?" Duo interrupted, a confused look on his face. "I mean, I know why I hate them, but why you?"
"You're not the only one whose life they've tried to ruin, Duo." Howard offered.
"We were created by those elves who saw and disagreed with the desperate means they used to totally destroy the other side during the war. Most of our people lost loved ones in the final battle or participated in it." Jess stated solemnly. "While others have joined since then as they learned first hand what the council is capable of, whether it was the loss of their homes, livelihoods, or families."
Getting up from her seat, the elf walked across the room to kneel before the longhaired fairy's chair, looking up into his apprehensive eyes. "I saw you there at the final battle and I saw what they put you through that day." she said softly as she took the boy's hands in her own. "I knew at that point that they were not the benevolent leaders they had made themselves out to be."
"How...." Duo croaked out as the memories rushed back, his hands unconsciously tightening around the elf's. As punishment for disagreeing with their plan to decimate the enemy by using their own people as canon fodder, the council had forced the young fairy to watch the battle from start to finish. Unable to look away since they would use the stone if he tried, he had been so overwhelmed by the pain and death he witnessed, he was actually wishing for his own by the time the fight was over. The council would not allow him to escape the misery though and forced him to return home with the scenes still fresh in his mind.
Giving the longhaired fairy's hands a gentle squeeze in reassurance when she saw the tears begin to pool in the boy's eyes, she smiled weakly at him. "My father was on the front line the first day. He was one of the first to fall under the council's carefully orchestrated plan; one of their 'acceptable losses'."
"I'm sorry." Duo whispered hoarsely as a tear trekked down his pale cheek. "I couldn't stop them. I tried so hard but they wouldn't listen."
"It wasn't your fault." Jess stated and shook her head for emphasis. "I know there was nothing you could've done. Nothing any of us could've done. Besides, you suffered far more than anyone else." she said and took a deep breath before continuing. "When they informed my family of my father's death, I ran away from home, headed for the battle because I wanting to see for myself that he was gone. I arrived on the morning of the last day and as I snuck in through the tents, I saw you kneeling at the edge of the encampment while the council stood behind you, forcing you to watch the fighting. I could tell by the exhaustion on your face that you had been there for a while."
"They made me watch it all." Duo said, his voice hoarse with tears. Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped themselves securely around the small fairy's frame as his best friend began to stroke along his back soothingly, not able to say anything around the lump in his own throat. On the violet-eyed boy's other side, Heero sat stunned by the revelation as he tried to come to grips with what his little love must have gone through.
"It was after that day," Jess continued as she gently rubbed the backs of the fairy's hands. "that I started the resistance. At first, we were just a small band of elves speaking out against the council's decrees. After a while though, more and more began to join and not just elves, either. We have representatives from all the races except the trolls and gremlins. We've had some of them approach us about joining, but we have a standing policy that as long as they still consider fairy a menu item, they cannot join.
The little bit of humor managed to draw a light laugh from the braided boy and he eased himself out of Solo's embrace, smiling at his best friend in gratitude before turning back to the elf still kneeling before him. "What are your objectives exactly? You're not planning on starting another war are you?"
"No!" Jess stated forcefully, her eyes fierce. "No more wars, Duo. We just want the council to step down and let the people choose their own leaders, fairly."
"That's not gonna be easy." the fairy grimaced at the thought of what the council would do when they found out about the resistance's plan. "The council's not gonna give their power up easily and unfortunately, most of the people still believe in them."
"We know, but that's where you come in." the elf explained. "The council's power and influence is based solely on their ability to control you. If you start speaking out against them and/or just standing up to them, the people will follow."
"I don't wanna be a king or anything like that, Jess."
"I know and we don't plan on putting that much pressure on you. We just want you to stand with us against them. Once the people see the truth, we'll call for a democratic vote to elect a new council, one that will be better for our world." she said.
"I don't know." Duo said softly as he removed his hands from hers and began rubbing against his forehead where he felt a massive headache forming. "I really need to think about all this."
"That's fine, Duo. I didn't expect your answer right away."
Giving her a wane smile, Duo reached over and took Heero's hand firmly in his before standing and pulling the other boy up with him. "Thanks, I promise to let you know what I think soon." he stated to the elf who had also stood. Then before anyone could stop him, he pulled Heero from the lounge and down the hall. He noted the dark-haired boy's silence as they traveled through the hold but since he did not really feel like talking either, he did not question the silence as he approached their room.
Once they were inside the sanctuary the room provided, Duo turned and locked the door behind them just as Heero had done earlier that day. As he was doing so, the flow of time finally caught up with him and he felt himself sway slightly on his feet. 'My god,' he thought, 'With everything that's happened you'd have thought three days had passed instead of one. And even worse is that it's only just passed dinner time.' Of course, his stomach chose that moment to reinforce his thought as he remembered he had missed lunch and now dinner as well.
"We should go see if we can get something to eat." Heero said. "You haven't eaten since breakfast."
"You either." Duo pointed out then sighed unhappily at the thought of leaving the room but he knew that missing two meals would not do either of them any good. Therefore, he turned back to the door and unlocked it but before he could turn the knob, someone knocked on the other side. Sharing a look with the blue-eyed boy beside him, he reached out and opened the door to find Hilde standing there with two food trays balanced carefully in her hands.
"I know you both missed lunch and I had a feeling you skipped dinner too so I brought some food." she explained as she handed the trays to Heero. "It's not much, but it should tide you over until breakfast tomorrow. Goodnight."
Not even stopping to wait for an answer or a thank you, the elf pulled the door shut behind her as she left, Duo staring wide-eyed after her. "Well, that was weird."
"I think she just didn't want to interfere." Heero offered as he placed the trays on the bed before turning back to the longhaired fairy.
"I really need to talk to both of them." Duo said as he turned and wrapped his arms around the dark-haired boy's waist. "I'm not even that mad at them anymore."
"That's good." Heero said as he rubbed his face against the fairy's hair. "They're your family, you shouldn't be angry with one another."
"Believe me, that's not always easy with a brother like Solo." Duo snorted from where his head was pillowed on the blue-eyed boy's shoulder causing his breath to brush across the boy's neck. "But you're right; I'll talk to them tomorrow and see if we can't straighten this mess out."
"Hn." Heero grunted then pulled the boy to the bed and the food tray. Hilde had been serious when she said the food was not much; sliced fruit and various nuts for Duo and some stew and bread for Heero, but they did not much care as they greedily ate every bite.
Once the meal was finished and the mess cleared away, the boys quickly changed for bed, turning their backs to each other in order to maintain a hint of modesty. After dressing, they slid into the bed together as Heero immediately pulled the braided fairy into his arms.
Looking up into the other boy's striking blue eyes, Duo swallowed sharply. After watching the dark-haired boy struggle with the story of his past earlier that day, the violet-eyed fairy knew he could do no less than give the boy his own. Even though he knew the telling would be difficult, he agreed that Heero had a right to know and since they now had some quiet time to themselves, he knew it was now or never. "Heero, I think it's time I told you a few things about my past."
Heero, who had been intently watching as the emotions played across the longhaired boy's beautiful face, was taken a little aback by the sudden statement. "Duo, you don't have to tell me anything. I'll understand."
"I know, but you told me yours this afternoon so it's only fair that I tell you mine." Duo said seriously. "Besides, after that meeting, there're some things I need to get off my chest."
"Ok Duo, I'm listening."
"Thanks." the fairy smiled brightly before he began. "Well, you already know about my fostering with Solo's family. I didn't stay with them all the time though, there were occasions when the council would send or take me somewhere for a short period. One of those times was when they put a control stone in the back of my neck."
"I know." Heero interrupted, not wanting the small boy to relive the event if he did not have too. "Solo told me about it the night we escaped from Shantari."
"Oh, well that's one less thing I have to explain at least." Duo smiled wanly. "And I guess you already know I was at the last battle from what was said in the lounge. In actuality, the council made me watch several battles before the war ended; it was their way of showing their power over me. Forcing me to accept that they were the ones in control of my life and if they wanted me to do something, I didn't have any other choice but to do it. It's painful for fairies, watching people die. Something they're well aware of and while the smaller battles were bad enough on their own, I didn't think I was gonna survive the last one. Actually, I didn't wanna survive, but I knew that mom, dad, and Solo would be sad, so I wouldn't let myself die. Of course, the council wouldn't let me either."
"Things got a little better after the war ended. The council was pretty sure I was completely under their control so they just let me finish growing up. Once I reached adulthood though, they immediately demanded that I leave home and begin searching for the artifacts and since I was well aware of the alternative, I did as I was told. Luckily, I'm very good at what I do, which keeps them happy most of the time so I'm only punished every fifty or sixty years now."
"For what it's worth, my life was going all right up until about fifty years ago. I usually spent most of my time alone except during the visits to Shantari to bring an artifact to the council but I was normally too busy trying to find the items to feel very lonely. That is until I was searching for one of the artifacts in the northern mountains and met Gaison, after that, everything went to hell."
TBC...
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