By the Red Moon Part 5
When Duo and his two guides arrived at the palace gates of the castle overlooking Romefeller, they were granted entrance without so much as a question from one of the guards standing watch.
Inside the palace yard of stone and marble that glistened in the sunlight, stood a stable for the dragons belonging to those who lived in and protected the castle. Several dragons were secure in their stalls and watched with great interest as Nataku and Ingier were graciously given their own beds of straw, along with food and water. The teenager grinned in amusement as the multi-colored creatures snorted and grunted to one another in introduction and conversation in their own language.
A soldier wearing silver armor from his helmet to his boots approached the three arrivals. Meeting them, Wufei lowered his head and informed, "We came to speak with Relena Peacecraft, the oracle."
The tall man smirked, "Yes, of course she saw you coming and has been waiting for you." His brown eyes went to Duo immediately and they took him in for a moment.
Since his arrival, such stares were becoming a thing of the norm. Since Duo and his friends had entered the palace, those standing and watching followed him with their gazes. If there were a couple of people together, they would lean their heads close and whisper to themselves, shielding their mouths in the process. None of these things went unnoticed.
Of course, he knew that he stood out wearing the clothes that he was in. Occasionally, he would tug at the collar of his red windbreaker subconsciously under the attention he was receiving.
Finally tearing his eyes away, the guard requested, "Please, follow me." Turning on his heels, he led the way to the tall stairs leading into the tall-pillared castle. Wufei and Anna were right behind with Duo falling into step after them.
To the braided youth's amazement, the inside of the palace was even more incredible inside. The corridors were natural crevices within the side of the white mountain, branching and etched out jaggedly at the sides. Cobble-stones and marble flecked with gold made up the floors while great flags of many different designs hung from the walls. Where there was not a flag, there was either a candle burning or natural runoff water dripping down into little fountains that collected them.
Anna peered over his shoulder and shared quietly, "These flags represent all of the nations that make up our world. Romefeller is one of the few places of absolute unbiased views where representatives of all of these lands can come to speak and handle their dealings."
With a small nod, Duo began to count those flags. He reached over twenty-five when his attention was caught by the people that were going about their business inside. Men, women and children of all shapes, sizes, ages and colors wearing a variety of shaded tunics as they walked the halls. Whatever they were doing when they spotted the braided teenager came to an immediate halt and their eyes widened on him.
Once again, whispers filled the air as several women standing together covered their mouths and whispered to one another. Several gasps rose as two white-haired men went slack-jawed, completely forgetting the books that they had been reading at a small table that they shared. The little children that had been at play ran to their stunned parents, tugging on their shirts and pointing at the capped youth.
Lowering the brim of his hat to shield his eyes along with his embarrassment, Duo leaned close to his guides and decided to make up conversation to forget about the scene he was making. "So, you called this place the home of the Gifted. Does everyone here have some kind of ability if Relena is an oracle."
"Brilliant deduction," Wufei snickered softly with a hint of sarcasm. That bit of playful snideness faded away as he stated, "Yes, everyone living within these walls possesses a supernatural gift that exceeds normal humans like us. It could be anything from teleportation to the power to control the weather."
And apparently making light from their own hands, Duo thought to himself when he spotted a little girl with her blonde hair in pigtails making a glowing sphere between her palms that she held facing each other. Her little game ended when she looked up to see him and her hands fell limply at her sides while she stared on in shock.
Just as his face was beginning to burn, the braided youth and the knights were taken into a room at the end of a long corridor. Much to his relief, the guard remained behind and closed the double doors behind them to seal off any and all observers. The moment that the room was sealed off, candelabras sitting on a few round tables spread throughout the space came to life when their candles began to glow.
His mouth hanging open, Duo looked around to find the walls covered with bookshelves that reached the high, white ceiling, filled with books. The titles on the spines were written in gold that glowed in the candlelight and most of the lettering used was more like hieroglyphics that he could not decipher. One large, warm-colored carpet of blended reds and golds covered the whole of the floor to add to the comforting atmosphere even with the lack of a single window.
Then, he saw the only two people seated at the table in the center of the study. A young man and woman, no older than Duo and blonde-haired, smiled warmly at their guests and rose from their chairs. Wearing a deep orange tunic over his brown pants, the boy was the first to reach the knights and embraced them tightly. His short, shaggy hair shone in the candlelight as he cheered, "Wufei! Anna! So good to see you both again, my old friends!"
'Old friends?' Duo wondered to himself. Not one of them was 'old' enough for them to have known each other for very long. Still, the swordsman and the archer gladly accepted and returned the embraces with wide grins.
Nodding to the gifted young man, Wufei greeted, "Quatre."
His dark eyes turned to the young woman approaching them in a long-sleeved, deep pink dress that nearly reached her sandaled feet and was tied at the waist. Around her head of golden locks that fell to the middle of her back was a beaded headband with a teardrop shaped opal pendant that rested at the center of her brow.
"Relena," the swordsman smiled with a light bow of his head before they exchanged a tight hug.
As she moved to next embrace the archer, the oracle smiled, "We have been so anxious for your arrival since I first saw it many moons ago." Pulling back from her friends, she stated, "I certainly hope that you did not run into a much trouble getting here."
Smirking, Anna shrugged, "Only a bear that was easy to fend off. Nothing that we could not handle." She and her lover both parted to reveal the teenager behind them more clearly to their gifted counterparts.
Both Quatre and Relena took him in, appraising head to toe. Under their intense, blue gazes, he swallowed out of discomfort. Chuckling, the blonde young man said, "Yes, we also already know your name, Duo."
His violet eyes widening, the newcomer whispered, "Mind reader?"
At that, Quatre grinned, "Of sorts. I am actually an empath. I can usually make very accurate guesses to what both a person or dragon is thinking based on their feelings that I pick up. My ability also allows me to... adjust emotions should I feel the need to use it in that way." When Duo blinked in surprise, he chuckled, "Of course, that is only something that I would actually do in an extreme circumstance and to a friend, I would never do so without asking their permission first."
Stepping forward, Relena took the braided teenager's hand and commented, "Now, you are here because you have many questions. It would be quite rude of me to not address those inquiries after you made such a long journey here." Her blue eyes shifted to her fellow gifted and added, "What we need to discuss will require our privacy."
Without blinking, the empath's smile grew as he bowed at the waist. "Yes, my wife," he winked before straightening. At the endearment, it was only then that Duo noticed their matching gold bands on their fingers. For such a young couple, it was a bit of a shock to learn that they were married. But then, he had no way of knowing the traditions of these individuals in this strange world.
Quatre placed a hand on either knight's shoulder as he headed for the doors with them and told them, "Let us all visit the terrace. We have much to catch up on." Wufei and Anna stepped out with him after they both took a brief look back at their charge. Then, the three of them were gone with the doors closing behind them.
Suddenly alone with the oracle, Duo stared at the doors for a moment and felt the slightest bit of worry at not having his rescuers close by. While he had no doubt that Relena would cause him no harm, he had come to appreciate having the knights with him.
Turning his head to meet the oracle's blue eyes, he reached up with both hands to quickly remove his baseball cap and grinned nervously, "So... um, it's very nice to meet you."
Relena giggled quietly and placed a hand on his arm, urging gently, "Come and sit with me. There is much to discuss about your being here, Duo." She then led the way to the table where she and her husband had been with a lone, lit candelabra in the center. Returning to her seat, she waited for her guest to take his place across from her.
A warm smile tugging her lips, the girl took a deep breath and stated, "It is always best to start from the beginning of things, I have come to understand. You wish to know where you are and why you are here." Swallowing roughly, Duo nodded his head as he prepared for whatever it was he was about to find out.
"You have come to learn that there are more existences and realms than the one that you have grown to know and that must be quite unnerving," Relena began. "Where you are from is one of many parallel universes, just as this one is. While they do not have names, they no less are there with countless people and creatures that live in them."
There was no arguing that as far as Duo was concerned after crossing between two of those realms. Everything that he had thought that he knew about life was suddenly... very different entirely from his understanding even a couple of days before.
Her hands folding on the table, the oracle continued, "Our realm is, as far as we know, the only one in which transportation between those existences is possible through a portal that crosses over those universes. To have made such a travel is quite dangerous and not an easy feat. It is even a move that we would rather not see used at all. However, the journey can be made in the most dire of circumstances.... much like the one that had taken place many, many years ago in this world."
Intrigued, her listener leaned in. "What had happened back then that would have put the portal in play? What were the dire circumstances?"
The smile on Relena's face faded into a distressed frown. Lowering her head, she answered quietly, "On that day, our world came to know what would be the beginning of a very long, dark time for this realm. A gifted sorcerer by the name of Dekim Barton had made a pact with the dark lord of death to become the most powerful man alive by being able to tap into the dark magic."
Raising her head, her blue eyes swirled with the nightmares that she was recalling even as she spoke, "He made his first attack that night on a kingdom name Sanq- the most northern of all of the nations in the vast realm. With his army of ogres, witches and every horrifying creature at his disposal, the palace walls crumbled and all who retaliated were killed only after they had experienced... terrible torturing. The King and Queen of Sanq were also slaughtered once they began begging for an end."
Slowly raising a finger, the oracle smiled sadly, "However, their only child... their newborn son was spared when his mother gave him over to their most trusted First Knight for protection amidst the initial wave of the attack. That baby was then sent to the portal as the first to be carried through the veil... because just as there are other worlds out there, their passage of time is very different. For some realms, like this one, time passed very slowly compared to others. What for one world may be five or even ten years, everyone here would have hardly more than one."
Frozen in his chair, Duo's eyes slowly began to widen when Relena paused and he mentally began to connect the dots. After taking a moment, Relena breathed, "And for us, time was of the essence. We could not wait for that baby to grow at our rate. We needed him to... catch up to the rest of us. And when the time was right... when he was of age, the portal would reopen to bring him back home to one day be officially coronate as the new King to his people."
That was about all that the braided teenager was willing to listen to as he rose onto shaky legs, backing away from the table. Quick to get to her own feet, the gifted girl rounded the table and slowly approached her guest as he backed away from her.
"You recently had a birthday," she declared matter-of-factly. "Just as the prophecy I had followed said, 'And by the Red Moon on the night of his sixteenth birthday, the Prince would return to become the one true match to the leader of the dark forces.'"
Shaking his head, Duo blinked back the shimmer in his eyes and shouted, "It can't be! You mean to tell me that I'm actually a prince here?!" Though he wanted to deny all of what he was hearing, he was also thinking back to how quick Wufei and Anna were to obey his order to fly here to Romefeller without argument. He recalled how guarded they were when he would ask questions about himself.
Then there was the necklace that he had carried on him from the day that he was found at the Maxwell orphanage. Whoever left it around his neck when he was sent to the next realm wanted him to hold to his name. That name was important to everyone in this world.
He recalled all of the eyes on him when he entered Romefeller.
Duo then thought of how oddly familiar this world was to him when he woke to it... a familiarity that made him hardly think back to the world he left be behind. Not once did he really think of going back.
How else could everything that was happening be explained? The more he tried to deny the past that he would have been too young to remember, the more evident it became to him that every word spoken by the oracle was true.
...And suddenly, he was scared.
He was terrified.
All but collapsing into a chair that he backed into, Duo sagged heavily and stared ahead blankly with wide eyes. Biting her lip, Relena knelt before him and held his hands. Once he regained focus and looked down at her, he was surprised to find tears in her blue eyes.
"I was the one to see what Dekim was about to do with my ability," the girl whimpered. "More than anything, I wanted there to be a way that he could be stopped. I wanted your parents and everyone in Sanq to be kept safe. But, there was nothing that could be done when certain streams of actions were committed."
Trembling, Relena went on in a rush, "Every possible road into the future showed your parents dying... and you as well if they tried to run from their fate. They accepted what was to come and prepared themselves to see that you had a safe passage out when their time came as prophecy never makes it known exactly when the events I see will come about. They wanted you to survive not only to fight Dekim, but simply because they wanted you to live as any mother and father would want for their child."
For... years, Duo had silently wondered why his birth parents would have him left behind on a doorstep. As much as he wanted to know who they were, he had hated them when he was being moved from household to household. And now he was stricken to learn their selflessness to protect him.
He had been robbed of his parents who had loved him... who sacrificed themselves instead of chancing fate by running from certain death.
The tears returned then. And he did not bother trying to fend them back this time.
Swallowing roughly, the braided youth reached down to unzipped his windbreaker. Taking a deep breath, he removed the pendant from under his black T-shirt and held it in his palm. Blinking in surprise at the sight of it, Relena leaned close as he asked, "W-were they the ones who left this for me, then? It was around my neck when I was discovered in the realm I was sent to."
The oracle leaned in a bit for a closer inspection. Smiling, she leaned back with her eyes drying and replied softly, "No. That was given to you by someone else of great importance to you. Without them, you would not be alive today had it not been for their bravery to carry you to the portal."
Duo frowned in thought. Silently, he wondered if that person was still alive in this world. Just when he was about to open his mouth and ask, Relena grinned, "Your parents had left you with their own gifts. From your father, you have his strong will and his determination to always do the right thing. Your mother gave you her kindness and loyalty. Those qualities about you are what will help you in the struggle that is to come."
Biting her lip again, she informed, "Dekim Barton and his army grow stronger by the day, slowly spreading their dark desires of complete rule over this realm one nation and one civilization at a time. He must be stopped at all costs or all that we know here will be cast into a forever night where only despair and pain wait for those who wish to keep goodness in this realm."
"I don't even know what I can do to stop them," Duo argued, the fear coming out in his voice. "I've never held a sword, or even been in a fist fight. How am I going to be able to stand up against someone with dark magic and an army of demons?!"
Not in the least bit deterred, Relena answered, "You are not alone. You have Wufei and Anna to be your blade and shield. You have Quatre and I to be your sight into what you cannot see. And there will be others that will all come into play to help you. You are the one that will hold everyone together that we may be able to defeat Dekim and push his army back into the netherworld where they belong. Without you, all hope will be lost."
Suddenly, Duo felt sick over being given such a burden. Never before did he have a responsibility as great as this. And it was almost too much for him to take at the moment.
All of the questions that he had prior to arriving to Romefeller were replaced by all new ones. The ones that he cared about the most at that second were the ones that he decided to address for the time being. "Can..." he started, only to stop when his voice caught. Clearing his throat, he tried again in little more than a whisper, "Can you tell me more about my parents?"
Beaming, Relena kept their hands joined and took up the empty seat before him to make herself more comfortable. "Of course," she nodded firmly. Her head tilting, she began, "You have your mother's eyes..."
* * * * * *
It was nearly two hours later when Duo had decided that he finally could move on with his new life as best he could. After the oracle had so kindly gone into all of the details of the parents that he had never had the chance to meet, he was tired and needed some time to allow everything to sink in.
Brushing the long skirted front of her dress when she rose back to her feet, Relena asked worriedly, "Do you believe that you will be willing to fight with us, then?"
The prince snorted, "Of course I'm willing." He muttered under his breath, "Whether or not I'm able is still up in the air right now."
A wide smile lighting her face, the girl clearly missed the last remark and exclaimed, "Wonderful! We best be joining the others, then. There is much that will need to be done." Shaking his head, Duo followed her to the closed double doors.
When she opened the room up and quickly stepped aside, the braided teenager froze in his steps to see that the hallway was crowed with people from the palace guards to the gifted that had been looming around. And at the front of them all stood Wufei and Anna.
Grinning, they stepped forward together to take a knee, rest their right fists over their hearts and lower their heads in a deep bow. Everyone behind them followed suit.
Duo snapped his slack jaw shut to swallow roughly and breathe, "Oh, man. What in the hell did I get myself into?"
TBC...
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