Labyrinth - Gundam Wing Style Part 4
Unconsciousness stinks. All those movies one will see, and all the books one will read, tell of someone being knocked out and then waking up soon afterward. And they always wake up just in time to run away, or to have the sun shining into their eyes, or to escape their impending doom. Despite all these popular notions there is only one thing that Duo Maxwell woke up to.
A huge headache.
He groaned loudly and rolled onto his back, holding his head as the darkness around him swirled. Opening his eyes he was surprised to find the world around him didn't change. Oddly enough the room he was lying in was just as black as the back of his eyelids. Making sure his eyes were actually open he scanned the ceiling for any sign of light or anything, but he couldn't make out a single thing. Sitting up he reached his hand above his head. Nothing. He repeated the motion as he stood, still nothing.
He couldn't reach the ceiling.
There wasn't a single light in the room!
Quickly he reached into his pockets and tried to see what he had, but they were unfortunately empty. Walking carefully he moved around the dark area, trying to find a wall or something. But he had no luck. Sighing softly he dropped to sitting once more and running a hand through his bangs.
"He's cheating, he's gonna keep me locked here until the hours are up. It's NOT FAIR!"
Duo paused and yelled once again, listening to his words bounce off the walls and ceiling he'd been unable to find.
"YOU HEAR ME? NOT FAIR!"
Behind him there was a small amount of scratching and he turned, to find himself blinded. Duo quickly shut his eyes and put his hands up to shield his face. After a few moments he slowly opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the sudden change in light and surroundings. Blinking he found part of the room lit up quite brightly by an old dripping candle.
The candle was held in the hand of the merboy he'd met at the entrance, Trowa. He also found, upon inspection, that the merboy sat next to yet another murky pond that made the sewers look clean. The merboy's eyes settled on Duo.
"I'm sure he heard." Trowa said softly.
"Good," Duo said, standing up. "Then he'll let me out of here, right?"
Trowa shrugged. "It's not Heero-sama's fault you fell in this hole."
"That's not the point!"
"Oh?"
Duo opened his mouth to respond but stopped. Trowa had a point; it wasn't Heero's fault. He could clearly remember he fell in the hole because he wasn't watching where he was going, so it was all his fault. Duo sighed softly and glanced back around the now lit room. He found it to be a simple cave with a black metal door above them and nothing else beside the murky pool.
"So how do I get out?"
"Two ways," Trowa said, setting the candle on the ground and stepping up beside Duo. "You could go back up," he said with a nod of his head.
Duo frowned deeply. "I'll take my chance with the other way, thank you very much."
Trowa shrugged. "Or you can take the route I used." With those words he nodded to the murky pool.
"Go for a swim?" Duo walked over to the small pool and gagged. It even smelled like a sewer. He glanced back to Trowa. "And how exactly does this work aside from getting me soaked from head to toe?"
Trowa smirked quietly and walked over to the pond, dipping his scaled toe into the water. "You follow me and I'll lead you out."
"To where?"
"The pond you met me at before." Trowa took another step into the water but Duo grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.
"Are you kidding?! You're going to take me all the way to the beginning? There's got to be some other way."
Trowa shook his head. "Certain ponds in the area are connected, but this pond leads to the one outside the main gates. There is nothing I can do about that."
Duo's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything. Instead he made a great show of sighing loudly and throwing his arms up in the air. After this he turned back to Trowa and tapped his foot. "Well, lead on then, the sooner I get out of here the sooner I can make up for time lost."
Emerald eyes traveled over Duo's face for a moment, but then Trowa let it drop. He didn't like how Duo had made the huge show of giving up, but then again he wasn't about to say anything. He could easily tell the boy was planning something, and a large part of him didn't want to stop the boy. All the circumstances surrounding this boy and Heero were quite interesting, something he wanted to see, and he wanted to know how things would turn out. Yet he didn't dare cross the Goblin King, especially not in the land he ruled.
Like it or not he had to lead Duo back to the beginning, no matter how much he wanted to help the boy.
Beckoning to Duo he stepped farther out into the small pond and then descended down below the surface. The boy followed, after taking a deep breath. Trowa couldn't help but laugh silently at that; there was no way the boy could hold his breath that long. Turning around in the water he swam over to Duo, and before the boy could protest, placed his lips over Duo's.
Duo's eyes grew wide and he tried to pull away, but he stopped as he felt the thick and salty air being pushed into his lungs. He understood what Trowa was doing and nodded, letting the boy pull away and beckon for him to follow. Swimming quickly the two boys swam to the bottom of the pool where there was a strange shadowy like doorway.
Duo found, as he swam, that he didn't need to worry about his breath, it was almost as if he'd been given temporary gills from Trowa. Pondering this thought he realized that he would probably be able to swim around underwater for a while because of it. On this thought he began to carefully watch their surroundings as he followed the merboy through the passage. He began to notice small patches of black all around them, all in the shapes of small ponds and openings.
He grinned to himself and changed directions on a whim, swimming for one of the shadows and leaving Trowa forgotten.
Trowa felt the shift in the movement of the water behind him and whirled around, just in time to see Duo disappear through one of the passages. His eyes widened in surprise and he moved his feet, sending himself flying after Duo. He couldn't let the boy just wander; there was no telling where he could turn up! Not to mention that if he didn't take Duo back to the beginning of the labyrinth Heero would be angry as all hell. He'd planned on pointing the way out to Duo for how to get to the castle, but letting him end up somewhere besides the beginning was out of the question.
Swimming quickly Trowa still found himself far behind Duo and didn't catch up before Duo reached the connecting pond and his head broke the surface. Without pausing Duo scrambled out of the pond and onto the forest like area around him. Standing up and shaking off the excess water, then ringing it out of his clothes as much as he could without taking them off, he peered around. Behind him Trowa's head burst the surface.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" Trowa demanded in a soft voice.
"Heading for the castle, going to get my brother." Duo replied matter-of-factly as he squeezed the excess water from his braid. "Without your help."
Trowa frowned. "I was instructed to take you back to the beginning."
Duo turned and flashed a 'devil-could-care' grin at Trowa. "Well, go tell Heero that I outsmarted you and leave it at that. I'm leaving and heading back for the castle. Thanks for showing me the way out."
Tossing his braid back over his shoulder he started down the path; surrounded by hedge walls full of thick thorns.
Trowa raced after him, scaled feet leaving wet footprints across the dusty ground. Catching up to the boy he grabbed his wrist, pulling Duo to a stop. "You don't understand," he said softly. "I have to take you back to the beginning."
Duo yanked his hand away angrily. "No, you don't understand. I'm going to go save Solo, and that's all there is to it!"
The merboy's hand dropped away and he just watched Duo with worried eyes. Duo immediately felt guilty.
"Look, he can't blame you for this, just say I got away and it's not your fault. I'm the one who ran off so he shouldn't blame you right?"
Trowa shook his head. "It doesn't work like that."
"He'll still blame you for letting me go?"
Trowa nodded.
Duo sighed heavily. "I'm not going back to the beginning, I can't afford to, not with all the time I've wasted. But...but you can come with me to the palace and when I get there I'll explain what happened to Heero and that it wasn't your fault. Whether I win or not I'll make sure he doesn't blame you for this." Duo placed a comforting hand on Trowa's scaled shoulder. "Ok?"
Trowa watched him for a moment, pondering his words, then slowly nodded.
"Unfortunately," said a voice behind them. "I blame who I want to, regardless of a human boy's personal feelings."
Both boys turned to see Heero step out from behind a thorn hedge. He wore deep black clothing and his eyes were set in an angry glare, aimed straight at Trowa. Trowa took a step back in surprise and mild fear. Granted he'd been intrigued with how Heero and Duo had been reacting toward each other, but he'd never planned to become so directly involved!
"Trowa," Heero said softly as he approached them. "You failed in the task I set for you." Trowa took another step back.
"It wasn't his fault," Duo said quickly, stepping between the boys. "I'm the one who figured out that all the waterways connected. After all, it only makes sense in a place like this."
Heero shook his head. "That does not matter, the point is he failed." Ignoring Duo, the Goblin King moved toward the merboy, looking quite angry.
Duo frowned deeply and walked up to him, blocking his path. Without even a pause he slapped the king across his face. Heero froze and the glare disappeared from his face to be replaced with a look of shock. Slowly, in disbelief, his hand reached up to rest on his now stinging cheek. His eyes shifted to Duo's face.
"You just don't listen to anyone, do you?" Duo yelled angrily. "I said it wasn't his fault. You take my brother and now you're going to get pissed off at one of the few people in this place who would help me, even though its my fault he's in trouble in the first place? No! Just leave Trowa and the other residents of this maze out of this. The challenge here is between you and me, no one else!"
The Goblin King blinked in surprise, his mind still processing the fact that someone had actually dared to slap him across the face. He opened his mouth to respond, to respond somehow, but he couldn't. The words just wouldn't come. No one, not even those who had raised him had ever dared to lay a hand upon him, especially not in a scolding manner. But now, this boy...
Heero's eyes narrowed. How dare this boy touch him! On his face no less! Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously and he took his hand from his cheek, revealing that Duo had left a rather large red handprint. He took a step back from the two and his glare intensified.
"Trowa, you have made your own choice, and will be dealt with accordingly. Let it also be known that any who choose to side with this human will be dealt with in the same manner."
Duo snarled angrily at the king. "I protect my friends, just like I protect my siblings. You won't lay a finger on him or anyone else, I'll make sure of it."
The two boys stood there, their eyes narrowed dangerously and anger filling the air. Then Heero lifted his arms and shifted shape into a rather large owl. Flapping his wings he took off once again, flying for the castle at the center of the labyrinth.
Trowa swallowed where he stood, watching the owl fly off into the sky and out of sight. Slowly he turned to Duo.
"We should get moving," Duo said, letting his anger melt away.
The merboy didn't move.
Duo glanced back at him. "Trowa? Are you coming with?"
"Did you mean that?"
Duo raised an eyebrow. "Mean what?"
"About protecting me...and my being a friend." He added the last part softly, almost as if he were embarrassed, or afraid it wasn't true.
Duo smiled. "Yeah, I meant it. It's not your fault I swam down the other path and I'm not going to let him punish you for it. And yes, you are a friend, or at least the closest thing I have to one in this place."
Slowly, Trowa returned a very small smile. He nodded in agreement.
Satisfied Duo turned and started down the path in front of them, but Trowa frowned and raced up to his side. "This way," he said, pointing down a different path in the hedges.
"You don't have to show me the way."
Trowa chuckled softly. "Yes I do. The look on Heero-sama's face when you slapped him was priceless. It's about time someone showed him exactly where in the world he stands. I'm going to help you save your brother."
Duo grinned. "Alright! That way it is then."
And with that the two traveling companions started down the paths, walking deep into the thorn hedges. They would make it to the castle and save Solo yet.
TBC...
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