Okay, so femaleshinigami asked for fantasy and magic and so I sort of cheated and revisted one of my universes cause I got stuck for ideas. But, since I had only talked about Wufei, Tro and Q in that one, I figured I could show what Heero and Duo might be like in that one. So, I had Tro and Q make a brief appearance just to keep all things even. Hope this is okay!
Ifrits & Angels 2
"There's a sandstorm coming."
Dr. Heero Yuy stood at the opening to the tomb and frowned at the golden cloud on the horizon. "So I see. Have the men seek shelter in the caves- once the wood frames are in place, they should be safe. We found one large enough for the animals?"
The man beside him, the representative of the museum, nodded. "They are already inside it. Most of the men are already inside- will you-"
"No. I'll stay here. I should be safe enough. There's plenty to do still and we're on a deadline." he pushed his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes.
"The church gave you a deadline?"
Yuy shrugged, settling his glasses back in place. "I have only a few weeks before they'll send someone else. The site here is apparently precious to them in some way. They want the translations done as fast as possible."
"So you'll work through the storm?"
"I only need my lights and my notebooks- I have those already. Please make sure someone puts some frames over the entrance here and I should be fine."
"We'll leave you some food and water too- depending on how long the storm lasts, you may want it."
"That's fine. Thank you."
Heero turned back into the tomb, flicking his flashlight on and focusing on the task ahead of him. He wasn't sure why the church had been so insistent on getting the translations done so quickly, but they were paying him well to do so.
He made his way down to the end of the passageway and sat down on the floor in front of a huge black rock covered in pictographs. He turned on the battery powered lamp that he'd left there earlier and picked up his notebooks.
The symbols on the rock were familiar- and yet not. Some seemed to be like the ancient cuneiform of the Sumerians, some were like the hieroglyphs of the Egyptians, some were like the graceful brush strokes of the ancient Chinese. Interspersed here and there was ancient Greek.
What did it all mean? The rock was huge- there had been attempts to move it, or so the men that had contacted him about this job had said- but they had all failed.
"I don't usually do fieldwork."
"We are willing to pay you to make an exception," the young priest had folded his hands and given Heero a serene smile. "You'll be perfectly comfortable- the camp has running water-"
"It's not the camp that worries me," he interrupted. "It's the light. What you're describing is down in the dark somewhere- I need to be able to illuminate it fully in order to examine it-"
"We have tried taking it out," the priest sighed. "Unfortunately, it hasn't been possible."
"It likes the dark," said the other priest who was standing by the window. He pushed his blond hair out of his eyes and smiled at Heero. "But you should be able to see it well enough."
"I will do my best."
"Please do," the priest in front of him sighed again. "We've already lost a few translators..."
What had he meant by that? This wasn't a dangerous place- it had been well built- and the workmen had put in lots of supports. At the time, Heero had assumed that the translators had either quit or been fired- or ran out of time.
But down here, in the dark, with the faint sounds of the sandstorm beginning to howl down the passageways-
Heero shook himself. This was ridiculous. He had no time to entertain odd fantasies. He had a job to do and he meant to solve this puzzle.
Placing his hands on the rock, he resumed his task- he had already made rubbings of the symbols and copied those into his notebooks. Now he was trying to see if he'd copied them correctly- if there were any marks his rubbings had missed- or if he'd added what were simply scratches on the rock itself to the symbols.
Carefully tracing the outlines of each one, he compared it to the symbol he had in the notebook. He'd had to make only a few corrections so far, but he was sure there would be more.
It was time consuming work, and several times he stood up to stretch or rub his eyes. He could still hear the wind howling outside- according to his watch it had been three hours since he'd talked to the museum representative. As he stood beside the rock, he thought about going to the entrance and fetching the food the man had promised to leave there. It sounded like a good idea and the short walk with get his blood circulating again.
He placed his hands on the rock and stretched. Not for the first time, he wondered if this had been some sort of door- it didn't match the rest of the passageway and might have been meant to discourage grave robbers.
Letting his fingertips lightly trace over the symbols they were touching, he had to laugh. Both were ancient Greek- and both meant open.
On a whim, he said the word aloud- and the symbols started glowing with a strange violet light under his hands.
Startled, he tried to pull away, but his hands were stuck fast- they were sinking into the rock!
Opening his mouth, he realized that he couldn't yell for assistance- there was no one to hear him. Struggling, he fought the pull on his hands, but even as he struggled, the rest of him was being pulled into the stone... He managed to suck in a final breath before the stone enveloped him completely.
Cold. Bone chilling cold.
He fell, released, and felt the coldness of rock under his hands. It was so black that he couldn't see and he gasped, fighting sudden panic.
Something spoke.
"What? Who's there?"
The voice had been soft, the words unrecognizable. But something had spoken. Heero took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Had he fallen into another passage? Maybe one of the caves? Perhaps it was one of the men on the dig?
The voice spoke again, and Heero could almost understand the rush of words... but...
Something soft brushed his cheek- it didn't feel like skin- or fabric-
It felt like feathers.
Cursing himself for an idiot, Heero fumbled his flashlight out of his pocket and switched it on.
The light was too much for a moment and Heero's eyes watered. When they cleared, he found himself nearly face to face with the stranger- and stranger he was. Heero knew the men of the dig by sight at least- and this wasn't one of them. None of them had hair falling so long- past the shoulders- maybe further still?
Violet eyes blinked at him and the stranger's lips curved into a smile. "Light," he said and Heero felt fingertips brush his own where he held the flashlight. "It's been so long... since I've seen light..."
"Are you trapped here too?" Was this one of the other translators? "I'm sure we can get out somehow- the men will be looking for me after the storm-"
"Get out? Freedom? You will free me?"
"As soon as I can find a way out of here-" Heero reassured him- and then blinked. The man wasn't speaking English- he wasn't speaking any language that Heero knew, and yet-
"I can get us out- but I need to be freed first..."
The stranger tipped the flashlight and Heero gasped.
Wings. Large black wings. Rising out of the stranger's back- and pinned to the stone wall behind him with two silver knives...
"Please. I have been so lonely, here in the dark. Please... free me..."
The stranger put his cheek against Heero's. "Please...and I will help you get out- I will serve you always-"
Was he dreaming? Had he fallen asleep by the rock? This couldn't be real...
"Please... I want to see the light again..."
He couldn't ignore the pain in that voice- the pleading in those eyes so close to his...
Getting to his feet, he reached up with both hands and pulled the knives out.
The wings folded around him, wrapping him in a warm embrace, easing the chill of the chamber and the stranger laughed in his ear.
"Free! Thank you my master! You have freed me- and I am yours- now give me what I need to live in the light-"
Lips touched his, cool and sweet, and Heero felt his strength draining from him. Darkness swirled up into his vision and he fell...
~*~
"Awake at last, I see!" Heero blinked up at the man leaning over him- the museum representative- he remembered. "You gave us quite a scare! Remember what happened?"
Heero pushed himself up. He was in his tent, lying on his cot. "There... there was a sandstorm?" His head ached and he reached for his glasses.
"Yes and you insisted on staying to work on the translations. You must've fallen and hit your head on something- we found you unconscious by the entrance. Do you remember?"
"No..." he remembered being in the tomb- by the rock-
"Scared us all pretty badly. Your assistant has called for a doctor to come out and take a look at you-"
Assistant? He didn't have an assistant...
"Is he awake?" The door to the tent had been pushed aside and a young man had stuck his head in. "Dr. Yuy! How are you feeling?"
Oh right. Of course he had an assistant. Maxwell. Sent from the university. How had he forgotten?
He smiled into the concerned violet eyes of his assistant. "I'm fine. A little headache-"
"Doctor's on the way. There's a man from the museum here to see you, sir," Maxwell said to the representative who quickly exited the tent. Maxwell took his seat on the stool beside Heero's cot, pushing his braid over his shoulder. "You sure you're okay?" he brushed his fingertips lightly over Heero's cheek.
"I'm sure. I need to get those translations finished-"
"I brought your notebooks back- you can work here until the doc clears you."
"All right," Heero agreed and rubbed his forehead. "I wish I could remember what happened- I don't remember falling- or even going back to the entrance-"
"I'm sure you'll remember someday," Maxwell smiled, his fingertips still on Heero's face. "When the time is right. But for now- you need rest. I'll get your notebooks- and you stay put." He got to his feet and headed for the door.
"Thank you," Heero settled back against his pillows and closed his eyes- just until the doctor came. He didn't hear the soft response from Maxwell as he slipped from the tent.
"Anything for you, my master..."
TBC...
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