Born in Chaos Part 3
Relena looked up from her book as a young woman entered the room. "Yes?" She asked.
"Milady, I'm sorry to disturb you but, you have visitors. They say it's important."
She set her book aside. "Alright, show them into the receiving room, I'll be there momentarily."
"Yes, Milady." She girl curtsied and left.
The young Queen stood and smoothed the folds of her gown, then without a sound, she left the room to go greet her visitors. Entering the receiving room, she smiled as she caught sight of the tall man with platinum hair standing there.
"Milliardo!" She cried running forward to take his hands in hers. "It's so good to see you. You haven't been home in so long."
"I hardly think of this as home anymore, Relena. Nonetheless, it is good to see you, too." He replied, leaning over to hug his sister.
Stepping back, her eyes fell on the quiet blonde boy standing behind him.
"Relena, I'd like to present my apprentice, Quatre Winner."
She bowed her head slightly as Quatre stepped forward and bowed to her. Then turning back to her brother. "My maid said that you told her it was important."
"Yes, I'm afraid it is."
"Well, come to the family room, both of you. We can talk there." She said leading them from the room to a smaller, less formal room.
"I'll start with telling you about Quatre, here." Milliardo said as they sat. "He is a healer, along with being my student."
"A natural one?"
"Yes."
Her eyes brightened. "That's wonderful. There have been so few healers born of late."
"Well, his sensitivity to the living planet has caused him to sense certain things...changes. So, I set him to the scrying bowl."
She leaned forward. "And what did you see?" She asked of the young blonde.
Quatre repeated what he had seen in the waters.
"I don't understand..." She said as he finished.
"I'm not sure myself," Milliardo answered. "But it appears that the lost guardian is trying to call her celestial warriors to her and the shadows are struggling to bind her even more."
"But, what about the other things that he saw?"
Milliardo sighed and sat back. "I'm not sure. I have my suspicions, but I dare not say unless I'm sure. A false interpretation could cause more harm." He studied his sister for a moment. "One thing though, Relena. Guard yourself carefully."
"I always do, brother."
"Just see that you continue to do so. I assume my old apartments are ready? If you do not mind we'd like to stay for a few days."
She bowed her head. "Of course, we keep them ready at all times."
The three stood and Milliardo lay a hand on Relena's shoulder. "I believe we are to see many things in the near future."
"I hope not for the worse."
Milliardo offered the young Queen a smile and motioning for Quatre to join him, the two left the room. Relena sat down in front of the window, watching her people move around outside, her thoughts heavy.
A movement off to the side of the courtyard caught her eye. "Heero." She murmured. Her mysterious warrior... she hoped he'd be here to help her....
Heero stood outside his quarters and watched to two blonde men cross the courtyard, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. There was something about the younger one that disturbed him.
Quatre gasped and stopped suddenly, his sapphire eyes wide.
Milliardo turned to him. "What is it? What do you sense?"
"A like presence... someone the same as me but as different as one can be." His eyes scanned the area, finally settling on a dark form on the far side of the yard. "There. The power he contains is awesome...."
He concentrated trying to make out the person's face. Out of the shadows, cobalt eyes regarded him coldly, before turning and melting into the shadows. Shaking his head, Quatre turned to look at his teacher, who was studying him with an unreadable expression on his face.
Without a word Milliardo turned and led his pupil into the building that housed his rooms.
~*~
"I didn't realize that you were the Queen's brother," Quatre said as he sat down at the table, beside his teacher.
"It wasn't necessary for you to know. My relationship to the royal family has nothing to do with me teaching you."
"I remember hearing stories, when I was younger, about how the heir to the throne had passed succession to his sister. But, no one ever seemed to know what happened to you."
Milliardo sighed. "I always thought she'd be a better ruler than I. She's more even tempered and caring than I could have ever hoped to be. But, now I wonder if maybe her youth doesn't make her a little naïve and reckless."
"You're thinking about what I saw again." Quatre's blue eyes were sad. "If only we knew what it all meant."
"I think I know more than I've told you." The man's ice-blue eyes were guarded. "I believe that the five creatures you saw, represent the celestial warriors. It may finally be time for them to appear."
Quatre gasped softly. "Then there may be truth to the old stories?"
Milliardo nodded. "Quatre, let me see your pendant."
The blonde removed his pendant and handed it to his teacher.
Studying it carefully, the tall man asked. "Do you know where it came from?"
"My mother. Father told me that when she died from birthing me, her last request was for me to have it... that it belonged to her immediate descendant."
The platinum-blonde stood and faced Quatre. "You are not to speak of what I'm about to do. Just keep in mind that sometimes for one to embrace the light... then one must experience the dark." The man closed his eyes and held his hands out, palms up with the pendant resting in them. After a moment, the pendant moved, rising to hang in the air above his hands.
Quatre shivered as he felt a numbing cold creep into the room, his eyes never leaving his teacher.
A breeze picked up, lifting Milliardo's long hair, making it appear to float around him and he frowned in concentration. Inky tendrils of shadows started to swirl around his hands, wrapping themselves around the amber, forming a cocoon of undulating black.
Within just a few moments, a stream of pure light broke through the shadows, causing the young boy to gasp. As the shadows tried to tighten their grip around the pendant, more light erupted from underneath until with a burst of light, the shadows disappeared and a gentle warmth flooded the chamber.
The amber pendant hovered above Milliardo's hands, glowing like a star, filling the room with white light. Then... it started to dissipate leaving the amber to glow softly, enhancing the etching of the winged horse in it's heart, as it lowered back into the man's hands.
Milliardo opened his eyes and handed the pendant back to his student. "It's as I thought." He murmured. "I don't know why I didn't realize it until now."
Quatre watched him with wide eyes. "You controlled the shadows."
"Yes," The older man sat back down. "I walked in the realm of shadow for a time before seeking the light. Quatre... I need to tell you of a story."
He sat back, closing his eyes while Quatre watched him intently. "Many centuries ago, when the dark first threatened us, the first guardian was created. Each guardian thereafter was committed to live in a palace of light until cam the time for a new guardian to be born. Then she would seek the lands for a mate, bearing and raising the new guardian to take her place. It was destined that all guardians would be born female, the embodiment of their gentleness reflecting the light itself."
"Everyone knows this story, master." The boy spoke softly.
"But there's parts that are only passed on to certain people. At the same time the first guardian was created, five warriors were also created to protect her. They would only appear to her in her time of need. They were sent out into the land to live as mortals, handing their power down to each generation until they were called upon to serve their lady. When the last guardian was lost... it set into effect a chain of events that would call for the birth of the celestial warriors. For each warrior born, a new star would appear in the sky... hence the six stars we see now."
"The light and her warriors," The young blonde breathed.
Milliardo bowed his head in agreement. "When the new warriors came of age, they would be drawn to each other to join and aid their mistress. It is said that like will recognize like and each warrior will carry a symbol of their place by her side. Something that even the darkest shadows could not extinguish." He watched Quatre's face, closely.
Shock crossed the boy's fine features. "You mean...."
"Yes, and whomever you sensed in the courtyard also."
~*~
Morning.... Quatre and Milliardo rose to decide how to approach this new discovery.
Queen Relena sat in her receiving room and listened soberly to a young black-haired girl. And old book lay open in the young queen's lap.
Outside the gates of the city, a young man stared up at the walls, his dark eyes troubled. Was this where his dreams were leading him? He felt the darkness in this city... but he also felt light.
Why was the dark more appealing to him?
Fingering his pendant, he walked to the gates to enter the city... not noticing that the dragon etched deep within the orange amber was fading.
TBC...
Back to Lady Nagisa's Fanfictions Page