Sorcerer Stabber Shinigami Part 6
"Trowa!"
The emerald-eyed sorcerer looked up as the angry voice echoed in the air around him. He was sitting in his room at the inn across town. He'd chosen the room and purchased it under a false name, Triton, so he would have easy access to watch Duo and carry out his orders of bringing the boy back to the Tower. At the time he'd been working on a plan on how to get Duo back, but the magical calling interrupted him. Trowa stood up from his seat as the voice echoed around him again.
"Trowa! I know you can hear me!"
Trowa shook his head and smiled softly. He hadn't expected Duo to call him, but he supposed this was as good a time as any to speak with the boy. Closing his eyes he let his body melt into the magic, melt into energy and drift out of the room. Upon opening his eyes he found himself in the room which was Duo's at the Winner Inn. He pushed his magic away, regaining solid form and peered around.
He found Duo sitting on the edge of the bed; his legs swinging back and forth slowly as he clutched his amulet in his hand. As soon as Trowa appeared Duo set down the amulet and stood to his feet. He approached Trowa, a welcoming grin on his face.
"Duo." Trowa said softly in greeting.
"Trowa," he responded, his lip twitching.
The next move caught Trowa completely by surprise and before he could even blink he was on the floor, the side of his face stinging horribly from the hard impact. His eyes widened and he gingerly touched the side of his face. In shock he glanced up at Duo. He found the boy glaring angrily at him; the welcoming grin wiped completely off his face. Of all the things he'd expected from Duo he never expected him to punch him like that!
Duo moved forward and roughly grabbed the front of Trowa's outfit, pulling him harshly to his feet. "Where are they?!" He snarled.
Trowa blinked in confusion. "Who?"
Duo dropped Trowa, letting him fall back to the ground, and spit at the floor beside him. "You know something? I used to have respect for you and your Master, used to think you and the school were pretty decent people. But now? I've just about had my fill!"
"Duo, what are you talking about?"
"First you blame Heero for me breaking into the room of forbidden spells, then curse him to turn into a dragon so I have to lock him away, and now you steal the only two people who I might possibly be able to trust, even my apprentice! This ends now!"
Trowa put his hands up in defense, but only in time to deflect Duo's second punch from hitting his face, it landed square in his shoulder instead and he hissed slightly in pain. Standing up he shoved the angry boy back and put as much distance between them as he could. "Duo! Calm down. You say your two friends are gone? The boy and his warrioress friend?"
Duo's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, Quatre and Hilde are gone and it's pretty obvious they didn't take a stroll in the park."
Trowa frowned. "Then Treize has them? Believe me, you know I wouldn't take such a cowardly action."
The violet-eyed sorcerer sighed angrily and dropped to sitting on the bed once more, his fingers wrapping once again around the amulet lying next to him. "You had nothing to do with it?"
Trowa shook his head. "I swear, I had no idea this was part of his plan to get you back." He took a few steps closer to Duo. "And what was it you said about Heero?"
"You don't know what happened, do you?"
Trowa shook his head. "All I know was that he received punishment for breaking into the room of Forbidden Spells. And then you left."
Duo shook his head. "No, it's a hell of a lot more complicated them that. For one, I was the one who broke into the room and Heero got blamed for it."
"What curse did they use?" Trowa asked softly.
Standing to his feet Duo stuffed the amulet in his pocket. "I'd be better off showing you."
Trowa nodded and stepped forward, wrapping his hand around Duo's. They both knew that Duo was horrible at transporting himself from one place to another with magic, it was a skill not many could master. So instead Trowa closed his eyes and worked the magic for both of them, taking then to the place Duo specified in his mind.
When they opened their eyes they were standing in the mountains at the edge of the town and fields, in front of a cave. Trowa let go of Duo's hand and stepped toward the mouth of the cave. He couldn't see the power covering the entrance but he sure could feel it. Whatever spell Duo had cast it certainly wasn't going to be broken by anyone on the outside, much less anyone on the inside. As he neared the opening of the cave he noticed another form inside, a boy his age. Trowa's eyes widened as he saw Heero stand up slowly and step into the light.
"He locked you in?" Trowa asked of Heero.
"I told him to." Heero responded in a flat voice.
There was a sizzle in the air before them and both watched the magical barrier dissolve into nothing, leaving the cave completely empty. Heero's eyes immediately darted from the setting sun to Duo, who was walking toward him.
"What are you doing?" He demanded quickly.
Duo pulled the amulet out of his pocket and tossed it to Heero. "Put this on."
Heero caught it but still looked confused. "The sun is setting Duo, you know I could turn back any minute."
"Put on the chain so I can finish the spell, then I'll explain."
Heero frowned but did as Duo said and slipped on the necklace, feeling the cold metal settle around his neck. It felt strange, almost like it was alive with power. He watched patiently as Duo placed his hands over the necklace and concentrated. Purple energy flared up around the two in long strands of ribbon, twirling and swirling in the air. Duo took a step back and the energy ribbons wrapped tightly around Heero, covering every part of his body as if he were a mummy being wrapped for burial. Then the sight shattered into small sparkles of energy. Heero blinked and flexed his arms, still able to feel the ribbons around his body.
"A binding spell?"
Duo nodded. "I came across it while I was trying to find something in the scribes' shop. It should keep you in human form for a while, at least long enough for us to get back to the Tower and kick Treize's ass."
Both boys frowned and looked at Duo in confusion. Duo tossed Heero a cloak to cover his naked body then proceeded to explain.
"Treize took Quatre and Hilde and I'm betting he took them to the Tower. The Tower is also most likely the only place that holds the counter spell for you, Heero. So, with that in mind I'm going back there to settle this once and for all. This is the last time that Treize gets to play with the lives of my friends and this is the last time that any of my friends suffer for my mistakes. Heero, that amulet should keep you in human form long enough for you to come with me and help me find the counter spell. Trowa, you can either come with and help us or stay here. I don't really care, but we're leaving now."
Trowa nodded. "Considering the circumstances I will come with and help, if nothing else but to demand an explanation from Treize for what exactly he hasn't told me."
Duo nodded and glanced at Heero.
Heero's eyes shifted to the sun in the sky as it hit the horizon. "When they gave me my punishment they also said that any attempt for me to regain access to the Tower would result in my death and the deaths of those who helped me."
Duo nodded. "Not surprising."
Heero's eyes shifted back to meet Duo's. "But you're right, this ends here."
Without another word Trowa stepped forward and took the hands of both boys. Using the power gathered them he pulled them with him to the Tower. All three boys dissolved into thin air, leaving the mountain empty and soon the wind blew away all traces of where they had stood.
~*~
Quatre opened his eyes slowly and sat up, gazing at the room around him. He found Hilde lying a few feet away on the floor and they were in a large room with no windows and seemingly no doors. After shaking Hilde until she stirred Quatre walked over to the wall and began running his fingers against the smooth stone.
"Where are we?" Hilde murmured, rubbing her head and quickly checking to see that her sword was still attached to her belt. It was gone. "Aw, damn!"
Quatre glanced back at her. "The man in the inn, he knocked me out right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, and then convinced me to follow him so you wouldn't get hurt. He's probably the one who took my sword; great just great." Hilde stood up and peered around the room, noticing the complete lack of doors and windows. "It's a wonder there's any air in this room at all. So any idea as to where we are?"
"My bet would be somewhere in the Tower of Fang."
"They kidnap their students now? This is far too strange, everything I've ever heard about the Tower of Fang is that they are all powerful and respected sorcerers, not that they are as immature as my little brothers!"
Quatre nodded but he was only half listening. A second later he completely banished Hilde from his mind and ignored her, concentrating on the walls around him. There had to be an entrance to the room, people didn't just create a room with no doors and windows. Plus the air had to be coming from somewhere because neither one of them were slowly suffocating, so there was a door... he just needed to find it.
Walking over to the wall he placed his hand on the smooth stone and closed his eyes. With slow and careful steps he began to make his way around the room, sliding his hand on the wall as he went. Yet he wasn't searching for an opening with his fingers, he was searching for something else. Once again it was one of those things that Duo had never taught him, but he figured it was worth a shot to trust his instincts. Walking slowly he concentrated on the wall, searching with all his senses for any change, anything.
Hilde stood in the middle of the room watching her friend quietly. She recognized that he was doing something, but she didn't know what. Still she knew when to stay silent and just wait. She watched him make his way practically around the entire room, then something strange happened. The wall in front of him seemed to sputter, as if it moved out of focus and then dropped back to normal.
"Quatre, did you..."
The blond boy opened his eyes and took a step back, looking at the wall before him. Had Hilde not seen the strange sputtering image she would have still thought it was a normal wall, but now they both knew it was some strange kind of illusion.
"Is that a door? Or was I seeing things?"
Quatre frowned. "There's something there... I don't know what." Stepping forward again, this time he placed both hands on the wall, his palms flat. He closed his eyes and concentrated, hard. With all his will he voiced his desire, to get out of the room, and practically battered the wall with that desire. Focusing all his energy he only had that one thought in his mind, repeating it over and over. Each repetition was like a physical blow to the illusion, causing it to sputter and waver before Hilde's eyes.
Then a bright flash moved through the room and Quatre collapsed to his knees, nearly out of breath. Hilde rushed to his side in a panic but soon found he was all right, just exhausted. Looking up they both found that the wall was no longer smooth and perfect. Before them was now a thick oak door.
Hilde helped a struggling Quatre to his feet and let him lean on her shoulder as she grasped the door handle, intent of throwing the door open and making a run for it. However a certain someone else had other plans. Hilde threw open the door, only to be hit by a bolt of energy which sent her and Quatre tumbling back into the room with small cries. Both looked up in surprise to see Treize standing in the doorway, watching them with an amused smile.
"Very impressive, I can see why he chose you to be his apprentice."
Quatre glared as he tried to catch his breath and recover from his loss of energy in finding the door.
"Given your obvious potential I would be willing to admit you as a student here at the Tower. You show almost as much promise as Duo did the day we admitted him."
"No thanks," Quatre said quietly. "I already have a Master."
The amused look melted off Treize's face and for a moment there was rage, then that too melted away to a blank look. "A student can not be a Master. Duo has not finished his years here at the Tower, and if the last year is any indication he still has much to learn. He is not your Master and you are not his apprentice. Once he returns to the Tower he will forget all about you, unless you wish to learn by his side."
"Not a chance."
As the two spoke Hilde crouched beside Quatre, seemingly forgotten. She was listening but didn't speak a word. Instead her attention was focused on something completely different from the conversation; she was watching her father's sword. Treize's had the ancient blade strapped to his own belt, sitting in a sheath that looked practically made for it and much better then her old leather one.
She wanted her sword back. Period. And she was going to get it!
Without warning to the other two, Hilde dove forward, making a grab for the sword. She caught onto the hilt but Treize quickly knocked her away, standing to his feet with a snarl. Hilde caught herself in a roll and landed in a crouch, ready to dive forward again.
"You have promise as a student, however your friend has outlived her usefulness."
Hilde glared angrily at the tall sorcerer, just daring him to make his next move. He did. A powerful blast of energy was sent flying in Hilde's direction, but it shattered as it hit the protective wall that Quatre threw up at the last minute. Unfortunately the wall fell apart as soon as Treize's attack was gone and Quatre groaned softly with the effort.
"Quatre?" Hilde looked at her friend in worry.
"You're friend can't protect you forever, all power has its limits and he seems to have reached his."
Hilde stood to her feet. "I don't need protection. I can fight on my own." Stepping forward she pulled a small dagger from her boot and glared at Treize. "At least I fight with my hands and don't rely on magic to save my ass."
Quatre looked up in surprise. "Hilde, don't!"
But Hilde didn't pay attention to him. Instead she kept taunting Treize, just wanting to get her sword back or possibly even bully him into a physical fight, which she knew she could win. However her plan backfired and Treize just chuckled.
"If one has the magic, then there is no shame in using it."
The next moment was a fury of movements from everyone. Treize raised his hand to attack while Hilde moved forward with her dagger. Quatre, meanwhile, jumped to his feet and dived at Hilde, knocking her to the ground as Treize fired a burst of energy at them both. Quatre knocked Hilde's completely to the ground and shielded her with his body, waiting with shut eyes for the inevitable burst of pain.
But it never came.
Quatre slowly lifted his head and turned to look at Treize. He however found that another had joined them in the room. Trowa stood in front of Treize, holding the man's hand tightly and glaring at him. The emerald-eyed sorcerer glared at his Master.
"This stops now."
~*~
About the same time Trowa appeared to save Quatre and Hilde, Duo and Heero materialized in another part of the Tower. Opening their eyes they found themselves in a small room with only two beds and a fireplace, neither of which had been used for a long time. Duo frowned.
"Our room," he said softly.
Heero nodded. "We should be able to find the room from here. Do you still remember where it is?"
"Yeah. This way." Duo raced out of the room on silent steps, followed by Heero, and they moved down the corridor at top speed. Duo only ran faster from guilt. He hated how things had turned out and the only plan they could use involved using Trowa, Quatre and Hilde as a distraction. He hated using his friends like that, but Heero didn't have much time and he knew the amulet wouldn't hold up for more then one night, if even that. So he was just going to have to beg for forgiveness after the whole situation was resolved. He just prayed that Quatre and Hilde would be able to stand up to Treize until then and he hoped that Trowa was actually on their side. Because if not... if the emerald eyed sorcerer betrayed them everything was going to go straight to hell.
Both boys reached the large doors without incident; they didn't even run into any of the Masters or students. But then again that was understandable since there were a small number of people in the Tower to begin with. The Tower only allowed one student per Master, which meant you could basically count the students and Masters within the Tower on both hands and still have a spare finger or two. All the better.
Stepping up to the doors Duo was about to force them open when Heero gave a cry of pain. Duo whirled around in time to see his friend crumble to the ground, clutching his sides while his face twisted in agony.
"Heero?!"
Heero's body jerked and silvery blue scales began to appear all over. They covered his arms and his legs and half his face. One eye shifted to become more reptilian but then the transformation stopped. Sweat beaded across the boy's forehead as he took a few deep breaths.
"Heero! The amulet is suppose to be working, that's not supposed to happen!" Duo was nearly in a panic, the amulet was supposed to work! There was no reason why it shouldn't!
Heero struggled to his feet and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I'm fine, for now. We need to find that counter spell or I'm going to end up changing and taking the entire Tower with me."
Duo nodded and turned back to the door, shoving it open with a healthy mix of physical and magical strength. In fact he pushed so hard the doors fell off their hinges, but neither of the boys cared. Speed won out against caution, they both knew they didn't have much time.
Before them was a room walled from floor to tower ceiling with shelves upon shelves of books. Books everywhere and not enough time to look through all of them. Duo quickly raced to one of the shelves and began pulling out books at random, unsure how else to approach the problem. Heero merely stepped into the middle of the room.
"Duo... stay still."
Duo turned and looked at his friend. "You got a spell for finding stuff?"
Heero nodded. "Something Relena taught me." Closing his eyes he began to murmur a soft chant while Duo stood still and watched. He'd never learned anything from Relena for two reasons. The first being that she hated his guts and the second was that her style of magic was very different from most other sorcerers. The things Relena taught were more for the use of those who could not use magic. It relied heavily on symbols and chants and chance. That kind of magic generally wasn't used, specifically because of how hard it was to learn, if you could simply cast spells and fire energy with a thought why bother with a chant? However, in Heero's case where his power was minimal, it was perfect.
The chant moved around the room setting itself to an eerie tune. Heero never once moved as he continued to utter the words, putting his full concentration behind them. Duo watched as a soft gray mist began to seep up from the floor at Heero's feet. The mist curled into one long string, constantly spinning as it wove its way through the air and around Heero's body. It paused for only a second then sped off along the walls, running along the rows of books.
The small whisp of air spent the next few minutes running along the books, as if it were just running past. Duo was beginning to become impatient when it stopped at one particular book and disappeared from sight. Heero's eyes snapped open and he stopped chanting.
"There."
Duo moved over to the book and pulled it down from the shelf, flipping through the pages. Like the book in Wufei's shop there were no words, only pictures. Heero walked to his side and stopped him on one of the pages. The page showed a line sketch of someone standing before a gathering of tall men in robes, the person was stripped down and there was a ball of energy racing toward him.
"That's the curse they used," Heero muttered softly. Turning the page they both looked at the next picture. It was the same person from the last one, but he was kneeling on the ground doubled over in pain. Large dragon wings sprouted from his back and his eyes glowed with an eerie light. Rising up in the background of the picture was a magnificent dragon which blew ice from its mouth.
"And that's what you turn into," Duo murmured.
Both boys turned the next page and Duo nearly dropped the book. This time the picture showed one of the tall men from the first, stabbing a sword into the dragons' chest as it screamed in pain. The picture melted into another toward the bottom of the page, depicting that same boy lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood with his eyes closed.
Heero closed his eyes and drew in a shuttering breath, yet still managed to keep a hold of the book. Meanwhile Duo took a step back and shook his head.
"Tell me that picture doesn't mean what I think it means," he whispered.
Heero closed the book and calmly placed it back on the shelf. "There is no counter spell. I turn back when I die."
"That can't be true!" Duo cried out. "There's always a counter spell! There... has to... be..." his voice dropped off sadly and he looked away, trying to hold back the tears. No! It wasn't fair! He'd just found Heero and all of this was his fault. This was worse then not knowing where he was. It was worse to know that the one you loved would only be human and only recognize you for three days every five years. No! It couldn't be true.
Duo felt smooth and scaled arms slide around his body, holding him in a comforting embrace. Lips met his forehead in a soft kiss, just like they had that first day, and he relaxed in spite of himself and the situation. Opening his eyes he gazed into Heero's sad cobalt orbs.
"It's not your fault," Heero whispered softly.
"Yeah, it is." Duo countered in a low voice. "I'm the one who broke into the room and you got blamed for it. I'm the one who should have been cursed."
"What's done is done." Heero smiled softly and ran a hand down Duo's braid, hugging the boy tightly. "I love you Duo," he whispered, placing another kiss, this time on the boy's lips.
Duo kissed back, tears slipping down his face. He wrapped his arms tightly around Heero and kissed back as if there were nothing else in the world to care about. He wanted that moment to last forever; he never wanted the kiss to end, because he knew what would happen when Heero pulled away. Closing his eyes he savored the moment, running his hands all over Heero's body as he desperately tried to memorize the feel of the boy.
In the end Heero didn't pull away. Instead his body jerked and he stumbled backward, catching himself on a bookshelf as Duo watched in horror. The shelf came loose and Heero tumbled to the ground, books raining down around him. The boy gave a cry in pain as the back of his robes tore, large wings snapping out from beneath the cloth and wrapping around him. A tail sprouted from his back and the rest of his skin became covered with scales. He looked like some strange human and dragon hybrid, standing there in the shape of a human covered from head to toe in scales. Both his eyes had become reptilian shaped while his hands and feet now held sharp sparkling claws. Thankfully, though, the transformation stopped there.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself Heero clutched the amulet around his neck. "It won't last another hour." His voice was scratchy and hoarse, making it obvious that it was an effort for him to speak. His sad eyes flickered to Duo for a moment, then he turned and headed out of the room.
Duo stood there in a horrified daze, not wanting to move. Most of all he wanted all of this to end. He wished he'd never stepped foot into the room with the forbidden spells. He wished he'd never left the school. He almost wished he'd never found Heero, because if he was still searching he could have still held hope that one day they would meet again. And hope was so much easier to deal with then the harsh, cold truth.
Shaking his head Duo forced himself to move, running out into the hall after his friend. Reaching the transformed boy he grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to a stop.
"Heero! Where are you going?!"
Heero frowned and pushed Duo's hand away gently. "If I have to change back I'm going to take Treize with me. Let him be destroyed by the monster he created."
Duo swallowed and nodded. Gathering his courage he pushed away his fear and sadness, locking it away until a better time. Heero was right; Treize deserved worse then death in this case. Not to mention that he had his friends to save. As much as he hated it he would have to mourn his and Heero's problems later. Right now Treize needed to be stopped, for good. Before he caused any more damage.
TBC...
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