Love Conquers All Part 12
Duo's eyes widened as he clung to Heero. The Light God and the Dark God put all their instinctive discernment at full attention. Each combatant, in turn, fought their own natural impulse to flee the uncertain situation as the rapidly thickening frigid fog swallowed up both the way ahead and the path behind. Now the entire corridor shimmered with thousands of blue-white crystal "ice diamonds".
Some twenty feet in front the haze began to swell. A white wall rose from the floor creating an opaque barrier of frozen mist. Before the solid obstruction the still fluid fog appeared to bend inwards building one horizontal layer on the other. Gradually the layers began to compact into a wavy outline. The churning mist folded in on itself becoming more tightly packed until the blanched vapors resembled a human shape. Bit by bit a face emerged. Long strips of the flowing vapors stretched out from the head whipping like pallid hair blown by the wind. Then with clear and perfect definition a female body veiled in the same fluctuating wisps of white took on its final aspect.
The Mist Maiden, the Element of Wind, was peculiarly beautiful but her deceptively delicate facial features were marred by vacant holes where her eyes should have been. These hollow openings allowed one to see through to the icy wall behind. Her ashen lips curved into a hint of a smile but she made no attempt to speak. More mingling mist ebbed and flowed in ever-changing patterns. Its teasing transparency concealed then revealed her curvaceous nude condition. Full creamy breasts, as well as every other inch of her nakedness, were brazenly presented for the male's inspection.
It would have been easy for Heero and Duo to find themselves spellbound by the Lady's seductively displayed charms. To let her alluring enticements draw them into a disastrous moment of inattention, a too long lingering instant of heedless negligence from which they might not escape. The two immortals were not as easily beguiled by the Maiden's tempting inducements, not as simply lead astray but they, too, felt a certain tug in their genitals that could not be ignored. No it seemed that even being attracted to one's own gender did not totally negate the Maiden's bewitching influence.
"Be careful." Quatre warned his human counterparts sensing that their minds were already being clouded by the Maiden's strong sensuality.
Heero's sword swayed in his loose grip as the lovely Lady's enchanting trance began to take hold. Duo reached out to interlace his fingers with his soldier's free hand hoping the warm contact would compel his mind to resist the female's daydream daze. But his cold-numbed touch refused to cooperate as his hand slipped away.
The God of Light leaned closer to his Dark One, "Remember your story about Chang's transformation into the seductive young man and the affects he had on his adducted victims." he asked recalling Trowa's tale of alluring love and the madness that followed.
Trowa nodded affirmatively.
"Don't become part of your own narrative." he counseled.
Once more the tantalizing mist parted. Once more the enchantress' enthralling nakedness was laid bare. Heero blinked hard to force his quickly waning senses from their mesmerized daze. As his sight and mind recovered he became aware of the bladed weapon's hilt pressed against his hand. Without pause he brought the sword about. This time being confident that the blade would not meet with the Rock Giant's stony resistance he struck out with all the power he had. But contrary to the Giant's hardened surface halting the strike, the blade passed straight through the Maiden's misty middle.
"Of course," Heero chided himself a bit embarrassed by his ineffectual action, "one no can cut the wind."
From the female's churning center a hand sprang out. Slender fingers, like ghostly snakes, rippled with the same illusory deception as the Maiden's flowing "hair". Heero felt an unseen tension on his chest then as if someone had given him a hard shove Yuy was flung against the far wall. His sword struck the floor with a metallic clatter. The "invisible hand" held him firmly in place with head, shoulders and arms pinned by the driving pressure.
Heero fought back but he could not overcome the weighty encumbrance as he struggled to catch his breath. The heaviness continued to squeeze tighter around his aching chest. His ribs pressed into his lungs feeling as though they might splinter at any moment. As hard as he tried he could not even draw in a shallow gasp. His compressed lungs burned. A dim film glazed over his eyes blinding his sight as he felt himself blacking out.
Duo grabbed up the sword. Surprised by the weapon's heaviness he had to use a double handed grip to raise the broad blade. Spurred by the Maiden's crushing assault he reacted with the same flawed reasoning as his soldier had before. With a throaty growl he swung the blade bringing it to bear on the Demon of the Wind.
But before the sharpen tip made contact a second hand extended from the icy haze. Thin fingers caught Duo's face then closed around his chin roughly guiding his mouth until it almost brushed the Maiden's ashen lips. "Would you like to kiss me?" she hissed like wind whistling through tree branches.
The wintry Lady poised her lips and blew out a steady stream of bone-chilling breath. A cloud made up of blue-white ice crystals enfolded around Yuy's defender. Again the sword met the floor. Folding his arms across his chill-lanced body Duo dropped to his knees doubling over at the waist. As the unforgiving frigidity seeped into every pore he shivered uncontrollably. The unbearable cold numbed his mind. Its stinging currents made his lungs painfully contract with each intake of the glacial air. A frosty layer coated over his skin causing it to become gray and his lips to turn blue. The same frozen traces sparkled in his hair making both the braid and the scarlet ribbon brittle. Duo's mouth gaped open with a silent scream as his system gave into the moribund freezing.
"STOP IT!" Quatre screamed wrapping his arms about Duo's quivering frame to rescue him from the Maiden's icy entombment. Only his natural heat could be employed as his magic had grown as cold as the surrounding atmosphere. He pulled Duo closer praying that by some miracle his bodily warmth would be sufficient to save his comrade. Trowa knelt on the other side adding his own embrace to the thawing effort.
The Maiden's empty eye sockets aimed their blank stare first at Heero whose futile flailing had stopped. He hung limply in his pinned position, his blue uniform jacket now tainted with traces of white. His eyes were closed, his face chalky and his chest showed no outward signs of respiratory movement. Next her hollow sight fell on the two immortals with a measure of confusion at their attempts to free the second mortal from his deadly frozen state.
Puzzlement not pity caused the Wind Demon to break her hold on both humans at once. The sudden release of her wretched prey was just as tortuous as each man's previously painful status. Heero slumped on the wall gasping to refill his oxygen-starved lungs. Double vision shook before his eyes, only shutting them tightly eased the dizzying twitching. His chest caught with each labored breath causing him to pant and wheeze. Slowly he slid his back along the wall until he lay in a crumpled heap on the frosty floor.
Duo collapsed rocking sideways on one hip. Trowa sat down helping to brace his limp body as Quatre struggled to keep his friend from pitching forward. "Duo can you hear me?" Trowa asked briskly rubbing Maxwell's arms to restore their sluggish circulation.
"Duo?" Quatre repeated in a panicked tone frightened by Duo's lack of response.
A seizing shiver threatened to jerk Duo from Quatre's grasp. Purple lips trembled, teeth chattered as his pale face contorted against the agonizing bone-jarring convulsions tearing through his stiff muscles. The God of Light shored up his hold striving to reverse the fatal affects of Duo's dangerously low body temperature.
Trowa pushed back masses of icicle encrusted hair from Duo's face. "You have to keep fighting." he ordered cradling his shivering comrade's head on his chest.
"What frail creatures." a soft voice declared in a hauntingly melodious tone. There was no hint of murderous malice in the Wind Maiden's silky voice, not one note of harshness to indicate her truly violent nature. Again her vacant stare turned to rest on Heero. "Strange." she commented as her vaporous "hair" flowed in rhythmic waves fanning out in all directions.
Heero pushed a quivering hand against the wall and with great effort managed to stand on shaky legs. Steadying his shoulder on the glistening stone he studied Chang's second Element through sweat-soaked stands of heavy dark hair that had already begun to stiffen up in the relentless cold. From his place on the opposite side he could not see his lover's perilous condition or his fellow warrior's interventions to save him.
"Who are you?" he wheezed out the question. His vision again wanted to jerk and again he was forced to close his eyes to still the tremors. When he opened them the Element of Wind had tilted her head at the fascinating creature Chang called human.
"I am but an essence." the Maiden answered blowing out chilled puffs with each word, "I can be as gentle as a breeze or as turbulent as a whirlwind. You can no more control me than you can command the wind." The concealing currents drew back once more momentarily exposing her creamy breasts.
"Yet another trick designed to conquer the males." Trowa proclaimed loudly not bothering to hide his detestable attitude.
Quatre nodded in agreement, "She is an arrogant bitch," he announced, "and she will fall just as easily as her rocky associate did."
With the Light God's biting pronouncement the Wind Demon refocused her attention on the pair of immortals and their pitiful human. Her shifting allowed Yuy a full view of his partner and his brothers in arms. Heero's heart skipped a beat as he saw Duo's fitful trembling. Despite his battered body that did not seem at all inclined to cooperate, Duo's soldier quickly joined his lover and his comrades. Kneeling by Duo he took his hand rubbing the chilled flesh hoping that he would feel the warm touch and know his soldier was there. Quatre, with Trowa's help, gently guided Duo to a seated position to help his ragged breathing. The stoop of Maxwell's shoulders and the flopping of his head clearly showed his feeble condition.
"Duo...please...open your eyes." Heero begged increasing the friction on his grayish hand. At the sound of his lover's voice Duo's fingers curled against Yuy's palm. Duo's lids parted but his eyes could not find his mate even though Heero's face was only inches from him. The weakness-laden lids began to close. Heero leaned over pressing his mouth to his lover's lips. "Please," he whispered, "see me."
Cold expelled breath hit Heero's face leaving a hint of crystallized droplets on his skin. "Heero." Duo called using the kiss' lingering warmth to guide him back to his soldier. "Hold me." he implored longing for more of that wonderful warmth. Heero pulled his shivering partner as close as possible not caring if the Wind Demon decided to encase them in an everlasting arctic cocoon. At that moment all that matter was comforting his mate and if they were destined to remain frozen for eternity in each other's arms then damn the fates and let them have their way.
The Maiden floated closer to the reunited warriors, "Is that all the challenge you impotent males can offer?" she taunted pointing at the assembled group, "Are there no females among your ranks, no one that is even near my equal?"
Suddenly Quatre stood up leaving his partner to protect Duo and Heero. Even though Trowa knew that the crossbow's arrow would be as ineffectual as Yuy's sword he kept one hand on the loaded weapon. "False courage," he told himself, "is better than nothing."
Without pause the Fair Immortal moved to stand before the Mist Maiden. Stopping in line with her vacant eyeholes he centered his azure sight. No verbal sound passed between the Lady and the Light God as both intuitive beings silently studied the other. Each no doubt was as fascinated and, at the same time, repulsed by how much they were actually akin.
Then without looking away from his mysterious opponent Quatre stepped backward until his legs touched Trowa. "We can defeat her." he whispered under his breath keeping his eyes locked on the Lady.
Trowa leaned closer, "But she is made of mist and wind, how can we hope to hurt her?"
"She has to become solid to strike a deadly blow."
"She seems to be doing damn well at deadly blows in her present form." Heero stated, "How much deadlier does she have to be?"
"Her powers cannot carry her will all the way to death as long as she is mist." Quatre explained.
Heero shored up his support as Maxwell continued to quiver in his arms. A glassy glaze still washed over Duo's half-closed eyes but his color had improved and his breathing was steadier. "How do you know?" he asked tensely knowing that their lives depended on Quatre being correct in his reading of the Maiden's mind. "Are you sure?"
With a worn sigh Quatre touched Duo's pale face. Duo shifted his sluggish sight in response to the warm hand's caress. "Heero." he whispered faintly before his head drooped back on his soldier's chest. "Are you sure?" Heero had to ask again more fearful for his lover than himself.
"Yes trust me." The Fair One declared, "I saw her limitations in her thoughts. She tried to hide them from me but I saw them clearly. She would not have tried to shield her mind had she not been afraid I would learn her secret."
"What do we have to do?" Heero asked taking up his sword.
"You stay with Duo." Trowa advised reaching for the crossbow.
Heero negatively shook his head, "No this is my fight. I promised to be Duo's defender and I will not be denied."
"All right let me have him." Trowa eased Duo down until his head rested in his lap.
Quatre glanced back at the Maiden who, for the moment, seemed content to watch the fascinating group whisper among themselves. "Over there." he pointed keeping his hand near his body to hide the gesture, "Take your sword and conceal yourself where the corridor curves back on itself. I will lure Chang's bitch to you then make certain by sufficient harassment that she turns into her most vulnerable state."
"How do you purpose to do that?"
"Leave the plan to me. Now take up your sword and when I have her attention steal away and wait."
Quatre nodded to his lover then stepped forward daring to stare into the Wind Element's blackened sockets. "You seem to have many resources to work your magic on men." he stated. "Is that why you seek them out for your pitiful acts of aggression? Answer me this you whoring handmaiden of Satan would you be so brave if there was a female here to challenge you?"
Bobbing lightly above the floor Satan's mistress took a moment to consider the questions, "I see no such challenger," she replied, "but then no woman warrior would keep company with mere males, not if she was truly worthy of her rank and title."
Quatre let a sneer play at his mouth's corners. His usually wide eyes narrowed until azure slits were all that could be seen. The deceptively cunning immortal pressed his palms together. Bright flickers of light began to filter through his fingers. Parting his hands the clusters of pulsing energy expanded in all directions enveloping the Fair One in a luminescent bubble.
Inside the ball an unexpected transmutation was put into motion. Quatre's body became shapely beneath his cloths, more feminine in its contours. His blond hair that already touched his shoulders grew longer until it brushed along his waist. His face was more girlish, his cheekbones higher. The conversion complete the metamorphic bubble dissolved leaving behind an even fairer version of Trowa's mate.
Heero stared at the newly altered God with a full measure of surprise and a bit of disbelief then his enlarged eyes centered on Trowa. "I thought your magic would not work here." he stated in confusion even though the proof of the mystical modification stood before him.
Trowa smiled appearing not at all surprised, "What you just witnessed is not magic Quatre was born with the ability to change his gender."
"Does he do it often?" Heero wondered aloud, as he was suddenly aware that the Light God's feminine form that was as mesmerizing as the Mist Maiden.
"Yes."
"I....see." Heero muttered with an uncharacteristic stammer.
The Element of Wind was also shocked by Quatre's changes. She, too, stared at the bewitching beauty with the a matching mixture of astonishment and skepticism.
"Here is your challenger." Quatre announced boldly.
The Maiden offered no reply as she continued to mutely study the puzzling manifestation.
"What is wrong, are you afraid of a female confrontation? Do you fear me because I am a powerful warrior, one equal to you in every way?"
"That ought to set things in motion." Trowa grinned up at his human counterpart, "I think you had better hide yourself."
Heero nodded leaning over to place a gentle kiss on Duo's cheek as he recuperated in the Dark One's protective embrace. Clearing his mind and preparing his body for battle Yuy started to slink backward becoming one with the fog's darkened fringes.
The Wind Demon cocked her head at an inquiring angle. Quatre could not read her expression. Her face was impassive showing neither fear nor curiosity. "I cannot believe that insult was not strong enough to goad the Devil's consort into action." he told himself certain he had read the Maiden's mind correctly, "Have I made a mistake?"
*"Trust yourself."* his inner voice answered, *"Push her further."*
"If you believe your powers are indeed a match for mine," Quatre spoke with reaffirmed conviction putting as much haughty attitude as he could in his tone, "then I purpose a contest."
"A contest, how interesting." the Maiden replied floating closer to the recently born "she-creature", "You are either foolish or have a death wish if you believe you could stand before my supreme domination." She announced.
"I have the strength of virtue and truth on my side." Quatre declared without a hint of fear, "You are the fool if you think your alliance with the Dragon and Decador will save you from defeat. This hour you will reap the rewards of your allegiance to the Devil."
Several silent seconds passed as the Element of Wind considered the Light God's brazen invitation to fight. "So be it." came the Maiden's reply. "If you are the strongest of your kind then your death will be a most gratifying victory. Afterwards I can without further interference release your comrades from their fleshy bonds to this realm and send them to my Master for proper punishment."
*********
Heero stayed low using the fog's murky blanket to hide his withdrawal. The base works for a ceiling buttress stuck out from the wall's flat plane. On either side a narrow niche set back about two feet. He settled in the niche nearest Quatre and his misty opponent.
Pulling back into the junction so his dark blue uniform jacket blended with the shadowy gloom, he held the sword vertically along his body letting the tip rest on his shoulder. Now the Captain's camouflage was complete as he and his weapon disappeared into the dusky gloom.
*********
Satisfied that the Wind Demon had taken the bait, Quatre put his plan into motion, "I have one request." he stated knowing that the Maiden would listen if for no other reason than curiosity.
The Maiden locked her hollow eyes on the idiotic immortal who in her opinion was wasting her time. "Yes."
"Let us move where we will have room for a proper battle. If by chance one of my comrades were to get in the way and be struck down then you would be deprived of one more pleasurable taste of winning," he stated, "that is if you do win." he added as a final barb.
The Maiden's lips curled into a confident sneer, "Very well, since you are the challenger you may pick your place to die."
TBC...
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