'...' thoughts
/.../ telepathy
Daystar's Prophecy Part 25
The warm air and light breeze that ruffled the long bangs against his forehead along with the soft surface under his left side comforted Duo as he slowly returned to consciousness. A light floral and earthy scent in his nose and the feel of the familiar, warm body pressed tight to his back though, kept his brain from completely ridding itself of the fog of sleep. Deciding that a few more minutes would not hurt, and not knowing what real reason he would have to be up just yet anyways, he allowed himself to drift back toward slumber.
No sooner had he reached that elusive place that separated napping from deep sleep though, something began to tickle irritatingly at the end of his nose. He immediately scrunched up his face in protest and swatted at the offending object. Unfortunately, it only returned a moment later and he ended up repeating the actions twice more before his growing irritation forced him to crack one eye open to find out what was bothering him. The sight that greeted that one violet orb quickly snapped the other open as well to take in the view of pure white flowers in a field of deep green grass for as far as his eyes could see. That along with the clear blue sky and bright sunlight that for some reason he did not even notice until he had opened his eyes, had him sitting up with a soft gasp.
Turning his head to take in more of his surrounding, the braided fairy quickly noted that the field and flowers stretched in all directions. He also found that he and Heero were not alone. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Solo were all lying haphazardly not far from them and were all still in what appeared to be a deep sleep. For a long moment, he could only sit and blink at the sight while his mind tried to figure out what was going on. Then a soft chuckling brought his attention back to his left and he found himself literally nose to nose with the black cloaked figure that had helped him down from the wall. Squawking in surprise, he shambled backward, nearly falling over Heero in the process, who immediately wrapped an arm around the startled boy's waist to hold him still.
"It's about time you lot decided to wake up." the spirit of darkness chuckled, enjoying the look on the longhaired boy's face. "This illusion isn't the easiest to keep up you know."
"Illusion?" Heero asked suspiciously. He had awaken the instant Duo had sat up and had been puzzling over the field they now found themselves in as well. With a firm shake of his head to clear the last of the sleep, he sat up and pulled the braided fairy into his lap while keeping his eyes firmly on Shinigami.
"Yes, Hee-chan, illusion." Shinigami said with a roll of his eyes. "You don't think this is all real do you?"
"Hee-chan?" Duo's incredulous voice cut in before Heero to retort, as the boy looked first at the black dressed man in front of him before turning his head to look at his lover as well. "Why did he call you that?"
"Uh oh, you better explain quick Hee-chan, before our little fairy gets jealous." Shinigami teased with a bright smile, the look on the small boy's face was priceless.
"Shut up, Shinigami." the dark-haired boy growled even as he tightened his hold around Duo's waist. The violet-eyed fairy however, immediately stiffened at the comment as he turned back to give the man a wide-eyed stare.
"You mean you're..." he breathed in disbelief and just a hint of fear.
"Yup." the spirit smiled in what he hoped was a comforting manner since he really did not want to frighten the boy. "Shinigami, spirit of darkness, at your service." he finished with an overstated flourish.
"But, the scythe." Duo asked, his face twisting in confusion as he tried to recall his last memories concerning the final weapon. "I don't remember transmuting it."
"That's because you didn't and, luckily, you don't have to." the spirit informed him. "I did get to play with Heero though."
"Shin, stop teasing him." a new voice chastised, just before Reestlin's appeared at the black-clad spirit's side.
"You always ruin my fun." Shinigami pouted for a moment before standing to face the newly arrived spirit. "Where are the others?"
"They're on their way." Reestlin stated with a nod toward the three humans and elf, who were just beginning to stir from their own slumber. Slipping from Heero's embrace, Duo stood before pulling the dark-haired boy to his feet as well. Only a moment later, the others were sitting up and taking in the strange field around them. It was Solo that first noticed the small group standing near by and he nearly tangled in his own limbs as he scrambled to his feet and then in their direction.
"Little bit, are you alright?" he asked anxiously once he was standing before the small boy.
"I'm fine Solo." Duo reassured him with a smile, although it did appear a bit tired.
Solo opened his mouth to retort the boy's statement but before he could say a word, the air around them began to shimmer. An instant later, four people, two men and two women, appeared to stand beside Shinigami and Reestlin.
"Rees, Shin, it's so good to see you both again." one of the women smiled as she came forward to embrace the two. She was dressed in a flowing blue dress made from a gauzy material that shimmered as she moved while giving glimpses of pale flesh beneath. Her honey-colored hair hung loose around her shoulders in soft curls and her clear, sea-blue eyes sparkled with happiness at seeing her friends.
"Yes, although I would've preferred different circumstances." the other woman, this one dress in form-fitting, red leather said with a bow of her head, causing her waist-length ponytail to sway across her back.
"It's good to see you both again as well, Diadona, Alinia." Rees stated with a return bow.
"Oh jeez, knock off the formalities, will ya?" Shinigami said with a roll of his eyes. "I say we have a group hug and have done with it."
"Same old Shin I see." one of the men laughed heartily as he walked over and slapped the black-clad spirit on the back. His clothing consisted of dark brown, knee length pants and a matching tunic. Hazel eyes sparkled with humor as he wrapped one arm about the spirit of darkness' shoulder. "Still as impatient as ever."
"Of course, you wouldn't want me to change now would you?"
"Oh the gods forbid." the man returned with a deep laugh.
"Um, excuse me." Duo cut in as he walked over to stand before the gathered spirits, pulling Heero behind him. "Could someone explain to me what's going on?"
"Oh, right, I forgot you were there," Shinigami blinked.
"Yup, same old Shin." the last man said with a shake of his head. His clothing was similar to the other man's; knee-length pants and tunic, but his were of a deep green that accentuated his dark brown hair and eyes.
"Hey, I resent that." the black-clad spirit pouted, only to grace the man with a wide grin a second later. Then turning back to the braided fairy, he threw out a hand, motioning toward the others. "These are my fellow compatriots. This jerk is Hadkon, spirit of air." he said while elbowing the man beside him. "Don't take anything he says seriously, he loves to tease."
Then with a nod toward the man dressed in green, he continued, "That's Midero, spirit of earth and man of the snappy comment. While our dear lady in blue, is Diadona, spirit of water; true beauty and grace with a temper that would ignite ice."
The mentioned lady quickly turned a blistering glare at Shinigami at the comment but he merely laughed before turning to the last of the group. "And finally, we have Alinia, spirit of fire. Do not get on her bad side, and that's all I have to say on that matter."
"Spoken like a true survivalist." Hadkon laughed.
"Why thank you." Shinigami said with a mock bow.
"Will you two knock it off." Reestlin said with a frustrated sigh. "We still have a lot to go over with them and your antics are not helping."
"Oh, by all means continue, your worship." the dark-clad spirit bowed mockingly, earning him a glare before Reestlin pointedly turned his back and raised his hand. "I think we need a bit more comfortable place to finish this."
With a wide sweep of his raised hand, the sprit of light drew a large oval in the air. When he had completed the circle, the space inside shimmered before dissolving and spreading outward. Within a few moment, where there was once a field of white flowers, a dimly lit room with a long table and seven chairs had taken its place.
"Well, no use just standing around." Shinigami said before grabbing Duo by the wrist, snapping him from his shock, and pulling toward the table, wringing a squeak from the fairy and a growl from Heero as the dark-haired boy followed close on their heels.
"Not until I get some answers." Wufei stated a second later, having thrown off his own shock at the sudden change as he crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest and refused to move from the field that still occupied that side of the illusion.
"Now, now dragon, no need to be defensive." Alinia tisked before moving to follow the others. "Did I not promise you an explanation once all the weapons had been found?"
Wufei's dark expression immediately turned to one of shock and recognition as the familiarness of the woman's voice finally registered in his mind. As if in a daze, the black-haired boy found himself following the woman across the seamless threshold and over to the table where he sat down in one of the empty seats while the remaining three followed closely behind.
"Well, now that everyone's settled, I think we should begin." Hadkon stated with a nod of his head before turning to give Reestlin an expectant look
"And why am I always the one to do the explaining." the spirit of light sniffed disdainfully.
"Aw, come on Rees, you know you like being in the spotlight." Shinigami teased as he elbowed the other spirit in the ribs.
"Just because you enjoy being the center of attention doesn't mean that everyone else does." Reestlin shot back with a dark glare.
"Rees, please," Diadona said diplomatically. "you've always been the better speaker."
"Very well." the spirit sighed before turning back to the group seated across from them. "But since we are short on time, I'll make this as brief as possible. Besides, a complete history lesson is not needed to understand what is about to happen." Reestlin explained, clasping his hands on the table in front of him and looking each of them in the eye. "As you may have already guessed, or deduced, we are of the race of ancients that disappeared from this world many millennia ago. And yes, just as Lissia said, we are mages; human mages to be exact."
"But that's not possible..." Duo interrupted with a shake of his head.
"Patience, little fairy." Shinigami smiled. "Give Rees a chance to explain."
"I never thought I'd hear the day when you were telling someone to be patient." Hadkon chuckled from the spirit of darkness' other side, earning him an elbow to the side in retaliation.
"If I may continue?" Reestlin asked and received a sheepish grin from them both before he turned back to the violet-eyed boy. "We are not like the mages of this age."
"Thank the gods." Shinigami breathed and Rees immediately shot him a murderous look. "Sorry."
"We aren't like them, but they are a descendant of sorts from us." the spirit continued. "In our time, there were only a few races with humans being the dominant of them. Yes, there were elves and fairies and such, but their numbers were low and their magic new, meaning they were only just discovering their powers. As for us, we were never a very large people either. We had managed to extent our lifetime to nearly five times that of a normal human and thus we did not need to reproduce. Instead, we focused on learning more and more about the magic that surrounded us."
"It was our people that first discovered how to utilize the four elemental earth magics without being born with them like the fairies." the spirit explained. "Then, nearly a century after we'd finally mastered them, a man by the name of Nalcum found the secret behind the first ethereal magic, light, while his brother Baldom discovered dark magic nearly five years later. Given these two magics properties, it wasn't an easy task to master them, but over time, more and more of our people became quite proficient with them and eventually, they as well as the earth magics, became so common place that we soon became totally dependent on them."
"Which, in and of itself, isn't a totally bad thing." Shinigami interjected. "After all, the magics allowed us to do many things that we normally couldn't have even dreamed of without them."
"Yes, but not everyone was happy with the way things were." Reestlin continued. "Some people believed we had become stagnant in our society and decided it was time for us to move forward. As first, it was just a movement to increase our knowledge of the magics that we knew with the hopes of maybe finding new ones that we didn't know existed. But over time, it degenerated into something more nefarious."
"The scholars who began the research did so for purely beneficial purposes." Alinia picked up. "As a way of increasing our knowledge and possibly giving the other races the ability to control the ethereal magics as well. However, not everyone wanted to be so generous with the knowledge we had gained."
"Zallithus." Shinigami groaned as he dropped his head to the table with a loud thunk. "I still can't believe I let him talk me in to all that stuff."
"You were young and naive." Reestlin stated. "He used that, as well as your friendship, to lure you in."
"Didn't take much luring as I recall." Alinia snorted, earning her a glare from the other spirits.
"That's enough Alinia." Diadona said firmly. "We all agreed to not hold Shinigami's actions against him when he came back to us."
"'Dona's right." Reestlin added before turning to give the spirit of darkness a pointed look. "Now, I think it's your turn Shin."
"Yeah, yeah." Shinigami sighed then turned his attention to the humans, elf, and fairy on the other side of the table. "So, I'm guessing by now that you're wondering who Zallithus is exactly."
"Um, yeah." Duo stammered, even though he was still trying to grasp everything they had already been told. "I guess that would be the next question."
"Well, for all intents and purposes, I guess you could say that Zall was my best friend." the spirit of darkness answered.
"Was?" Quatre asked.
"Yeah, was." Shinigami said with a sad smile. "You can't betray a friend and expect the friendship to survive."
The shocked and mildly reproachful looks on their faces caused Reestlin's hackled to rise and he immediately leveled a glare at each of them. "Shin did what he had to do to stop Zallithus from destroying us all so don't you dare judge him."
"It's alright Rees; they have a right to their opinion." the black-clad spirit said softly even as he placed his hand over one of Rees' in thanks. Then turning back to the waiting group, be continued, "Zall and I met in school where we were both studying to be scholars; it was just about the only profession for darkness masters at that time."
"Just like fairies, our people could use all the magics." Midero explained at seeing the confused looks on the other's faces. "However, a person would always develop an affinity for one of the magics over all the others. Therefore, the person was considered a 'master' of that magic."
"Right." Shinigami said with a nod of his head. "Both Zall and I could use dark magic better than any of the others so we were called 'darkness masters'." he explained. "So, anyways, we met during our first month at university and hit it off immediately. Pretty soon, we were inseparable."
"It was during our first year that the research for more magics began and at first we were both really excited about it. We immediately decided to sign up for the research team knowing it would indulge our curiosity as well as give us the practical experience we needed for graduation." Shin continued. "It was during our second year with the team that Zall made the biggest discover of his life."
"By using different intensities of magic as well as some carefully crafted spells, he was able to combine two of the elemental magics, which in theory created a new, more powerful type of magic. At first, everyone was ecstatic over the discovery and from that day forward, Zall became obsessed with finding more and more combinations of the elementals, as well as finding a way to combine more than two while incorporating the ethereals too. However, as his research failed to create a truly new magic, the other scholars and students eventually turned back to their original course of research."
"Zall wouldn't quit though and six months later, he left school, talking me into going with him. By this time, he had managed to combine the four elemental magics to create what he called gaia." the spirit of darkness said, a hint of sadness filling his voice. "It was also about this time that he started talking about what he thought would happen once he figured out how to include the ethereal magics in gaia."
"I can still remember the day when he told me that he'd figured out that, by combining the six magics, he would have control over creation itself, making himself a god. And then he said that with it, we would rule the world." Shinigami said. "And I just grinned and went along with whatever he said. Hindsight and all that."
"At around the same time, the scholars at the university finally realized for themselves the true implications of Zallithus' studies." Reestlin picked up the story. "But instead of making him the god he believe it would, they discovered that that much magic simply could not be controlled and would therefore tear the world apart. Fearing the implications, they sent out a decree for Zallithus to end his research and for both him and Shin to return to university and their studies there."
"But Zall wouldn't have any of it." Shinigami said. "He cursed them, saying they just wanted to take his discovery away from him so they could claim it as their own. With each passing day after that, he became more and more paranoid, while at the same time, he started gathering followers. Very loyal followers that would do anything he told them to."
"Zealots." Diadona stated.
"Idiots." Alinia snorted.
"Whatever." Shinigami snapped. "The fact is that while the university scholars were trying to reason with him about the magics, he was building an army."
"Yes, an army that he unleashed against his own people without any regards for the lives he was going to take." Hadkon said with a sad shake of his head.
"He didn't care." Shin said in a small voice. "He was frustrated about not being able to combine the last two magics with the other four and he knew his time was running out. By teaching his army the use of gaia, he knew they would be unstoppable since one single element couldn't stand against the combination of four. His goal then, was to take control and place himself in total command so that he could continue his research without interruption."
"And he would've succeeded if you hadn't come to your senses." Reestlin said with a signification look toward the spirit of fire.
"But I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't risked your life sneaking into Zall's fortress to talk to me." the dark-clad man stated.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't about to let that lunatic take my baby brother down with him." Rees sniffed.
"Brother?" Duo asked in shock. "You mean the two are related?"
"Yup." Shinigami smiled. "Opposites and all that."
"Unfortunately." Reestlin mumbled, earning him a slap from the spirit of darkness. "Anyways, once I managed to convince Shin that what Zallithus was doing was wrong, we returned to the capitol where, after some more convincing, the others agreed to let him join us."
"The others being us." Hadkon explained.
"Yeah, they already had this little warrior-group-thing going to try and stop Zall." Shinigami added with a wry smile. "With me, they finally had all six elements."
"So how exactly did you defeat Zallithus?" Heero asked, growing tired of the drawn out history lesson that really did not have any bearing on their current situation.
"We didn't." Alinia stated in a low growl.
"What?!" Solo exclaimed.
"Alinia's right." Reestlin sighed. "We didn't defeat him. Even with our combined powers, we were only able to stop him. And we did that by sealing his spirit inside a specially prepared stone."
"We had to nearly drain our own life-forces to do it too." Diadona added.
"But knowing that Zallithus wasn't completely gone, only imprisoned, we chose to have our own spirits sealed into our weapons for the day when he would regain his freedom." Midero said. "And we knew he would."
"But--"
"Not buts, little fairy." Shinigami cut in. "It was our choice, and besides, we were dying anyways. Like 'Dona said, we had drained ourselves and what little was left couldn't regenerate itself anymore. It was the best choice for us."
"And for our people." Reestlin put in. "They were all dying by that time. The magical fallout from the many battles had not only sterilized us, but had managed to shorten our lifespan. That combined with the fact that only a few thousand actually lived through the final battle, meant that our race only had about two generations left before we became extinct."
"Yeah," Shinigami said with a wide grin. "So by choosing the path we did, we actually cheated death. Kinda cool huh?"
The gathered spirits could only shake their heads in wonder at Shinigami's words as the others looked at him with shock, disbelief, and pity.
Finally though, Heero managed to bring himself back to the present and the reason for them all being there. "So now what happens?"
"That's simple." Hadkon smiled. "Now we complete the merging process, which will not only give you six the magic we possess, but our knowledge of how it's used. Then, you use that magic to defeat Zallithus once and for all."
"Now wait just a second." Wufei snarled as he pushed away from the table. "I do not require your magic to fight my battles. Nor do I need an onna telling me what to do."
"I'm not too keen on the idea of this merging." Trowa added.
"I do not use any other weapon than my gun." Heero grunted with his arms crossed over his chest.
Only silence reigned following the declaration from the three human boys before an amused snort brought all their attention toward the black-clad spirit.
"Something told me you three would be the most difficult ones." Shinigami said with a wide yet malicious looking grin. "First, Wu-Wu," the spirit continued, drawing a dark glare from the Chinese youth. "How exactly do you expect to fight someone who can throw a spell at you from several yards away? Magical battles do not play by the same rules as physical ones. Magic is fought with magic; there's no other way about it. And as for your problem with Alinia." Shinigami snickered. "She may have female equipment, but she's more man than I'll ever be." This point of course, brought an equally dark glare from the black-headed woman and the spirit quickly turned his attention to the tall brunette.
"The merging is nothing." Shinigami said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "After all, you've already started the process when you picked up the weapons and you haven't noticed anything funny have you?" Receiving a shake of the boy's head in answer, Shinigami continued, "The rest of the process will give you the ability to use the weapon correctly as well as the magic that comes with it. Nothing to worry about."
Finally, the spirit turned toward the blue-eyed boy who was currently glaring a hole through his head. "Now, now Hee-chan." he tisked. "Like I told Fei-kins, magic can only be fought with magic. That little gun of yours won't stand a chance against the council members, who just so happen to know earth magic by the way. And if you plan to protect our little Duo, then you'll have to accept the magic."
The faint blush that colored the dark-haired boy's cheeks brought an even bigger grin to the spirit of darkness' face and he had just opened his mouth to rib the boy further when Reestlin planted his elbow firmly into his side, effectively stopping him and leaving him winded for the next few minutes.
"As my brother so eloquently said, you will need the merging as well as the magic to defeat Zallithus." the spirit of light said. "However, we are not about to force this upon you if you absolutely don't want it. Keep in mind though, only the combined magics can defeat Zallithus and you six are the only ones who can wield them. No one else can be found to merge with the weapons, so it's either you or no one."
"Would it be alright if we talk about this among ourselves for a moment?" Quatre asked politely, deciding that the rising tension in his comrades needed a break before things got out of hand.
"Of course." Reestlin said. "Just keep in mind that, while time moves slower on the dream plane, we still have quite a lot to discuss and do before leaving here. And there isn't much time left in the conscious world before Zallithus launches his attack."
"Thanks, we won't be too long." the blonde boy smiled before scooting back from the table. The others soon followed before they moved a short distance away to discuss what they had been told and to decide their next course of action.
TBC...
Back to Gypsie1201's Fanfictions Page