"Destroy the enemy and there won’t be a problem." -Chang Wufei
I awoke to the sounds of water being squeezed out of a washcloth, and that washcloth being placed on my forehead. I didn’t open my eyes; Father always used to have me practice getting to know my surroundings without using sight as a primary sense. My memory had left me, and I tried to focus on what had happened earlier. Soon the events came flooding back. The train trip, the prissy princess, my uncle, and that woman. ‘Why had I blacked out?’ I wondered. As I became more alert, voices floated to my ears.
"I hope she’s okay. You should have told me that she is Heero and Miss Relena’s daughter, Zechs. I wouldn’t have done that!" the female voice exclaimed.
"Well, I didn’t think you’d do anything in the first place. We do get visitors sometimes, dear." my uncle replied.
The woman answered with, "Well, sorry, but when I walk in the door coming home from grocery shopping, and there is someone in our home pointing a gun at you, my first natural instinct is to protect you! You’re my husband, and death certainly isn’t going to part us soon!"
I figured this woman to be my aunt, an decided now was a good time to open my eyes. "Ohh...what happened?" I moaned, reaching up to hold my throbbing head.
They stopped their bickering and stared at me. "She certainly has Heero’s healing gene." my aunt commented, handing me a glass of water. "I’m terribly sorry about what happened, I just acted on my emotion...I should have thought about it first."
There was that "acting on your emotions" idea again. Unconsciously, I stated, "The only way to lead a good life is to act on your emotions."
Miliardo stared at me. "Where did you head that?" he asked, face becoming serious.
"My father, why?"
"Nothing, it’s just...nothing..."he turned to look out the window, unconsciously opening and closing the blinds before him.
The woman of whom now I had a good look of, was very pretty. She had purple black hair, and very beautiful violet eyes. She seemed to have an understanding air about her, and for some odd reason, almost militaristic. Her voice was a lovely, bell-like sound, and she seemed full of joy. She gazed over at my uncle, whose long, platinum blonde hair shone in the sunlight, and smiled. "He’s real talkative..." she stated under her breath.
"I’m sorry, but we haven’t been properly introduced. I’m guessing you know my parents as well?" I inquired after a short time.
"Oh, yes, I know Heero and Miss Relena. Very well, in fact." she smiled at some brought up memory. "My name is Lucrezia Noin Peacecraft, and I believe I’m your aunt."
Noin...somehow that name seemed very familiar to me. Then, my mind flashed back to Mother’s history class...
"And the Lieutenant Noin left the Lake Victoria base to..."
I snapped back. ‘Could she? Could she possibly be...?"
"Where you ever in the military, specifically, the Oz organization?" I asked pointedly. Uncle Miliardo whirled abruptly on my question, and stood facing me.
My aunt looked at her husband. "Yes, yes I was. What did your parents tell you?"
"Well, not much, but they did mention a Lieutenant Noin, and when I heard your name it reminded me of it. Are you...her?"
"Um, well, I was, yes. But now my life consists of peace and the idea of pacifism...well to some extent. Prissy shouldn’t count, though. She provokes it..." she trailed off, glancing over at her husband who smirked royally. Fitting, since he was then a King.
I decided now was an appropriate time to introduce myself. And I did, at which Aunt Lucrezia laughed. I think, specifically, at my middle name, which, if you haven’t noticed, happens to be my Uncle’s last name as well. Gee, what a coincidence.
She suggested that we go down to the second parlor, the one with a view of the mountainside. Walking with my uncle she whispered something that sounded like, "I can still see Relena sitting at that desk, looking so old for 15, and dictating like a real Queen would..." she stopped when she noticed my prying eyes gazing their way, and smiled broadly. "Yes?"
"Oh, sorry, nothing. You just...are very beautiful, that’s all." I complimented.
"Why thank you, and I bounce that comment back to you as well. You have a lot of your father in you, as well Miss Relena. But I think a bit more of Heero, which is a very nice feature. I always thought Mr. Yuy was a very handsome boy..."
"You thought my archenemy was cute?" my uncle asked indignantly.
‘Archenemy? Had I heard that right?’ I wondered. ‘Why would my father and uncle be archenemies?’
"Archenemy? Alright, wait, don’t answer that." I interrupted his premeditated explanation. "Let me explain my situation first. My parents have home schooled me since the day I was old enough to talk. My father started training me when I was five..."
"Your father trained you?" Aunt Lucrezia asked, mouth agape in astonishment. She looked to Miliardo, who didn’t seem affected by this statement.
"Well, what would expect? This is Heero we’re talking about..." he explained, then turned to me. "Keep going, Sarah."
"Anyway, so I have been very, well, let’s say, sheltered. As an example, this is the first time I’ve left home to see other people, the first time I’ve ever conversed with people other than my parents. And then, I find out that my supposedly dead uncle is the famous Zechs Merquise, the Lightning Count. I did know you existed, but only as Miliardo Peacecraft, my dead uncle. And then there’s this picture," I reached into my pocket, pulling it out. "of these guys and my father, and mysteriously unique mobile suits in the background. This is the only picture my father has of them, and he told me to find them. I don’t have a clue as to who they even are, much less where to start. But he gave me a train ticket, telling me this was my start. And then he and my mother were gone, left to go off and do whatever it is they do alone. So I board this train, not knowing where the hell it’s going, and pray that I make it home alive and with the answer to my one question. What the hell are Gundams?"
My uncle sat there for a moment, then broke out laughing uproariously, unable to contain himself. Aunt Lucrezia shot a scolding look his way, and he just shrugged and continued. She got up and made her way over towards me.
"Excuse me." she stated while grabbing a pillow as I adjusted myself. She then turned and hurled it at him with deadly accuracy. Right before it was about to smack his face, he stopped laughing and caught it with one hand. It lowered slowly to reveal his serious expression, and my aunt smiled. "Still got it..." she whispered as he glared at her, seeming angry. Then I saw the twinkle in his eyes return and a small grin tug at the corners of his mouth, while he replied quietly, "But not as much as I do..." He stood up slowly, placed the pillow down, and raised an eyebrow menacingly. Then he tackled her and they rolled around in the front hall, tickling each other and kissing at every possible moment. I watched this spectacle for a minute or two, then decided that for me to get any answers I would have to be firm.
"Miliardo!"
The laughing and playing stopped, and my uncle looked up at me, considering something it seemed. he glanced up at his wife, who was sitting on his stomach and gave her a look I would give anything to see now. It was a mix between fear, confusion, joy, and a bit of the look of a rebel.
After she got up, he stood, face calm, and turned to walk away. "Come with me." his raspy voice commanded. I looked to my aunt, who mouthed, "Go on!" and gestured towards his distance gaining figure.
I followed him for about five minutes, down farther and farther into the castle, until he stopped at a door. He had been silent the whole time we walked together, but now was different. He pulled a necklace from the folds of his shirt and took it off. Holding it up, he asked, "Have you ever seen something like this before?"
I had. On the chain was a long shard of white metal, almost iridescent, yet not. I dug into my pocket and pulled out the copy I had, reaching out to hand it to him.
"No, keep it. Did your father give it to you?"
"Yes, along with other things. What is it?"
"When Zechs Merquise was alive, he wore a mask to hide himself from the world. That was a part of it. Your father picked up the pieces when it broke, and kept that one for you. Zechs no longer needed it..."
"But I thought you were Zechs! You said he died and..." I interrupted, confused.
"Zechs Merquise is dead!" he shouted, pounding the wall with his fist. I saw the pain he took to say that, and it caused my lip to tremble uncontrollably. Closing his eyes, he leaned towards the door, silent apologizing for his outburst. Suddenly he turned to speak, asking, "Your father trained you, you said. Can I pick locks?"
‘Could I pick locks?’ I thought indignantly at his ignorance. But, after seeing how he acted earlier at my outburst, I responded quietly with, "Yes, I can, sir."
Nodding in approvement, he pointed at the door. "Open it." he ordered.
"Okay." I replied quickly, reaching into my pocket for a safety pin. He stopped me with the touch of his hand on my arm. Looking up with a scared thought in my head, I saw his face soften as our eyes met.
"Not with that. Use something else."
Immediately I knew he meant the shard I still held in my left hand. Reaching up, I pushed it into the lock and just barely jiggled it when I heard the click. This door was set. It didn’t have a key literally. This one piece of a mask once worn by a famous soldier was the "key" that opened my mind to broader horizons. I pushed the door open with the anxiety of a fiver year old opening presents on Christmas morning. My curiosity overwhelmed me, as I was known for it. ‘What could possibly be behind this door that has not been opened since before I was born?’ ran through my head, tripping sensors and alarms, making me more alert than ever.
When I left home, I had decided I was prepared for anything the world had to offer me. That I could parry every thrust with and ease like none other. But I couldn’t prepare for this. No one could prepare themselves for this. Not even Father himself.
What loomed up before me, what was hidden behind this heavy metal door, took my breath away. A mobile suit, unlike any I’d ever seen in the history books, stood nonchalantly in this gymnasium of a room, facing my uncle and I. My eyes widened at the overwhelming sight of it, its red and black armor glittering beautifully in the small amount of sunlight let in through the ceiling. It was also much larger than what the books said the normal mobile suits were supposed to be.
I glanced at my uncle, who stood motionless facing it, with closed eyes and lips moving in a silent web of greetings to an old friend. He must have felt my gaze and prying eyes, for he opened his own to look at me and smile. Raising his hand towards the monstrosity, he introduced his "friend" to me.
"Welcome to Epyon."
Those three words still work their way into my everyday life, bringing themselves into existence once more, although I don’t know if the own of such a name still haunts this world and reminds us of the war we went through. I say "we" and yet I mean "them," people like my parents and uncle.
"Was it...yours?" I stuttered out, walking around on the platform before it.
"Originally it was your father’s, but I think the suit was built with me in mind. It was created by a very old friend of mine and given to Heero, who ended up switching with me for his own suit."
‘His own suit?’ I pondered. "I’m sorry, but could you repeat that? I thought I just heard you say that my father had a mobile suit..."
My uncle chuckled. "I did, and he did. I also had another one, but that was destroyed during the war. The third one is still in possession, but I’m not opening its door..." he trailed off, looking up at Epyon.
"Tallgeese?"
He turned back to me and smiled, nodding. "So, Heero did give you a little information after all. What else did he tell you?"
I looked at my feet, ashamed at my ignorance and answered quietly, "Not a lot."
"Why did he send you on this mission?"
For once, a question I knew the answer to. "To figure out what the Gundams were or are. He wouldn’t even give me a hint, just a list of names and numbers, such as ‘Duo Maxwell, number zero-two.’ Are you going to explain it for me?" I asked, reaching over and taking his gloved hand. Confusion spilled over his features for a moment, but he tightened his grasp around my hand and ld me down a few flights of stairs to the bottom of Epyon.
"No, I’m not going to explain what the Gundam are, but I will tell you a part of a few special ones that will give help in your answer. If I told you flat out, first of all, Heero would be disappointed , and second, your mission would be easily completed. And you need to meet the others.
My face fell. Just as stubborn as my father. How could I not have expected this? He was, after all, the notorious Lightning Count, and a Peacecraft.
"Alright?" I heard him ask.
"Yeah, okay."
He grinned and wrapped his arm around my waist, which I did not expect. Then he shot some kind of a line up the front of the mobile suit and it pulled us up to the cockpit, which he opened and jumped inside. Sitting on the arm of his chair, I watched as he turned on the monitors and screens surrounding us, and the suit itself. A low hum filled the area causing him to raise his voice a bit as he explained, "I’m going to teach you about the Zero system, something only three suits were actually made with. It’s very dangerous, so be careful..."
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