(9/99)

BY Hope of Watch Tower J

Beta read by Syx Maxwell

Daedules Inverse ran down the darkened halls of the academy. Every one was sick. His twin, Lina, was dying. He only had one choice: sacrifice his power and his future in exchange for a cure. His mazuko friend, Xellos, had given his word that Lina and the others would be saved. He had even found a way for the youth to come back one day.

He slid to a stop at the door to the courtyard. Taking a deep breath, he went outside into the bright sun to meet his fate. The words spoken by the monsters drifted past him, he just wanted it over. Then came the pain of his powers being sealed and the agony of age regression. For a brief moment, a child of four stood in Daedules' place. Then he vanished with out a trace.

Duo woke with a start. A dream not a dream, but a very painful memory. The day Daedules Inverse died and the nameless boy who would become Duo Maxwell was born.

And OZ wondered how it could function under water. Duo chuckled briefly. If they only knew!

After climbing out of bed, the braided youth went about getting ready for the day. He had a mission later, with a narrow window. With a few pre-prepared Runes, it wouldn't be that difficult. The runes themselves were designed to encourage people to not notice him. It wasn't as good as invisibility, but under the circumstances, better than nothing.

He showered and dressed in his usual Rune protected black priests cloths, then ate breakfast. It had taken a total of three years to infuse the proper protection Runes into the cloth, but it was worth it. Now his garments were like lightweight armor.

Then, pushing such thoughts from his mind, Duo sped down the highway.

Duo slipped silently down the halls of the OZ base. It felt like a set up. He hadn't encountered a single person. Not a soldier, not a guard, no maintenance personal, nothing! OZ, and especially Treize, would NEVER be this careless. Conclusion: it had to be a trap.

He eased around the next corner and came to an amphitheater. Carved into the wood floor, in the center of the room, was a circled five-point star, a Demonic seal.

An eerie, hollow laugh echoed through the room and Duo froze. From the shadows stepped Lady Une, Treize's aid. Her eyes glowed a deep green, and Duo could all but see the dark power she gave off. It was something he knew all too well. She was a monster.

"So the last of the Gundam Pilots is finely here. Come and join your friends!"

The next thing Duo knew, he was in a different place. It took him a moment to realize she had sent him to sub-space. A crash sounded off to his right. There, Duo saw Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Heero, and Relena. They were being attacked by ten lesser demons and were badly burned. It was obvious they were loosing.

Duo took all this in at a glance and moved to help them. "Guys! Get back!"

Duo created a quick protection shield and was more than a bit surprised that it worked. Such high level Magic should be beyond his range. As the events of the last few moments passed through his mind, he began to smile. The monsters had directly interfered. He had all of his powers back. For good!

Over his shoulder he said, "Get ready to run on my signal. You won't have much time."

Then he closed his eyes and began to chant a spell.

(5)

(7)

The power needed for the spell surged into his small body and he screamed with it. He was on fire. He was fire. Old fire. It was too much. It wasn't enough. He never wanted it to end. It had to stop.

Around them the barrier collapsed with the sudden onslaught of raw power. Power as old as Creation.

"Go," Duo gasped. "Run. Get out. I gotta let it go… and when I do… it's gonna be ugly!"

Heero gave a curt nod and picked Relena up. Then the four pilots raced from the base. Duo held the power as long as he could to buy them time.

"Devil Spawn! Hear me! I cry CHALLENGE!" he screamed on top of his lungs.

"You mortal? You cry challenge of me?"

Duo looked at her in contempt. This creature had broken the rules, and it was time to pay the piper. Throwing back his head, Duo completed the spell.

The sheer power of the spell was staggering. The amount of devastation caused was beyond imagining. A pillar of fire roared up from Duo's body, but left him untouched. Bands of power twisted from him in a spiral of destruction. An invisible explosion spread out in a dome to vaporize the base and all vegetation for five kilometers in every direction leaving behind only scorched earth. And there, in the center of it all, stood Duo Maxwell, completely unharmed.

****

From the air the explosion was both horrible and spectacular. In seconds the base and everything around it was gone, consumed by the invisible, silent explosion. Trowa could only stare at the scorched area in horrified amazement from the pilot's seat of the stolen plane.

At a silent agreement with the other pilots, the acrobatic youth landed the plane on the scorched earth. When they disembarked, there was no heat radiating up from the desolate soil, no evidence that the explosion had just happened instead of days ago.

"Duo," Wufei asked in a hesitant voice. Are you OK?"

The braided teen turned and looked at the Chinese youth and murmured, "No."

Then he passed out into Wufei's arms.

They took him to one of Quatre's holdings after that and put him to bed. None of the teens had even the slightest idea What had happened, or how to deal with it. All they could do was wait until Duo woke up and hope he could give them some answers.

In the end, they had to wait two days before the braided pilot of Shinigami woke up. His hair had gradually darkened, but it was still far to pale. Duo commented on this as he held his now gold braid in front of his eyes.

"A day, maybe two before I'm back to normal."

Quatre sent for some food, and while they waited, Duo began talking. "Relena, I don't know why you're here, and I don't care. Interrupt me and I'll turn you into a toad or something, got it?"

At her shaky nod, he began his tale. "Time is believed to be a line, in truth it is more like a tree or road. It has many forks and branches, other worlds and realms. Some are similar, some parallel, and some would be totally unrecognizable to you.

"Daedules and Lina were unsurpassed in strong magic. So their parents sent them to a hidden Sorcery Academy when they were still very young to learn how to control their powers.

"They attended there for several years and completed apprentice and journeyman training. Then the day before they were to be made official Masters, every one in the school became deathly ill. The healers couldn't find a cure, and people started dying. Everybody but Daedules. Then a member of the Monster Race approached him.

"They made him a simple offer: Allow his magiks to be sealed away and surrender his future, and every one in the Academy would be spared.

"You see, he was a threat to the Monsters. He had mastered several spells from a book of magic called the Clair Bible, the last recording of some of the most ancient secrets of sorcery. Many of which had been lost for a thousand years.

"The boy was also a descendent of the Mazuko, and thus ultimately bound to the world of his birth. In the end, his powers were sealed so he could only use minor White Magic and Rune Spells. Then he was age-regressed to four years old, and sent here."

Quatre had to all but manually lift his jaw off the floor. "You're Daedules Inverse?!"

"Yes. Now that the Monsters have directly interfered, I have all of my powers back."

"Is there any way for you to go home," Wufei asked.

"Yes. I have to fulfill two conditions. The first is to bring about peace to this world. The second is to gain the love of a warrior."

"And have you?" Wufei asked

"Have I found love?" At Wufei's nod he frowned. Images of his last fight with Heero flashed through his mind. The harsh words, raised voices, the slap to his cheek, and Heero's final betrayal rang in his ears, 'I only wanted the sex as relief from the stress… I could never love you… Relena is the one I want'… "I… thought I had. I was wrong."

"There is no such thing as magic," Heero growled.

"Ever wonder why Shinigami's thermal scythe could function under water? I channeled the Ragna Blade through my gundam. That way might not be as powerful as a straight Ragna Blade, but it still worked."

The food arrived then, and the other pilots were treated to a horrifying sight: a half-starved sorcerer eating. It was rather like watching a bunch of sharks in a feeding frenzy.

Between bites, Duo explained. "Magic (munch, munch) burns a lot of energy. (gulp) The bigger the spell, (munch, munch) the more food needed afterwards (slurp). You never see fat magic wielders (munch, munch) in the upper power levels (gulp) 'cause too many calories get burnt."

By now Duo was all but pouring the last of the pasta down his throat. When he was finished, Quatre had a maid take the tray and dishes down to be cleaned.

The other pilots sat back in stunned amazement. Duo Maxwell, the mouthy pilot from L2, a sorcerer. Unbelievable! And yet, they had all seen the proof with their own eyes!

"So what happens now?" Wufei asked.

"I use my magic to end the war a little sooner. The monsters try hard to kill me, and we keep trying not to end up dead," was Duo's sleepy response.

When Quatre saw Duo fighting a yawn, he smiled and said, "Why don't we let you get some sleep? You must be tired."

Duo nodded and settled back into the pillows he had been propped up on. Dimly he felt someone, 'Wufei' his magic sense told him, tuck him in. The Arabic youth ushered the others out and they all retired for the night.

Later Quatre and Trowa were in bed. Trowa lay on his back; hands tied to the headboard, while Quatre did the most delightful things to him with a feather. They had talked about what Duo had revealed for several hours before moving on to more… pleasurable endeavors.

"Q-quatre p-please! N-no more!"

(Smack!)

"What did you call me, Slave?" the other boy asked caressing the red handprint that now decorating the green eyed youth's thigh.

"Gomen ne, Master," he whispered.

"That's much better, Slave. And since you have been so obedient, you will be rewarded."

The blond teen dipped his fingers into the nearby jar of lubricant, and slowly spread it into Trowa's trembling body.

Then with tender care, he eased into the body beneath him. Quatre held still while Trowa adjusted to the intrusion then began to move. The rhythm was slow at first, then as they began to writhe, the pace increased. Faster and deeper until their world exploded into a wave of pleasure and light.

After the return of his powers, Duo used them whenever they would benefit a mission. He kept the use of high level spells of mass destruction to a minimal. The only exceptions were when fighting Monsters or when he was really, really pissed.

The most memorable of these occasions was when a mission he and Wufei were on went south on them, rather abruptly. The Intel had been bad, and Wufei was badly injured.

Duo had looked at the bleeding, shocky teen and something inside of him had snapped. The braided sorcerer had turned to face the squad of Mobile Dolls. He threw his head back and shouted the spell to the heavens.

When the other pilots caught up with them, Duo was siting next to the Chinese teen, his hands glowing. He explained that he was using a high-level healing spell. In mere minutes, it was as if Wufei had never been injured.

Finally, hard won peace came, followed by one blissful year of happiness. Happiness for all but Duo. He was beginning to feel the onset of despair set in. It only got worse when the Barton Foundation's bid for power was put down. With no more fighting, how was he to find a warrior? Let alone love? Most nights he worked himself into the ground, so he would be too tired to dream. Or to think about everything he had lost.

Then a lucky break came. While wondering around the place she had last been seen, something caught Duo's eye. It was a small plastic toy. As he held the thing, he started to get a strong impression.

Using a simple location spell, Duo found where she had fell down an open storm drain. She had hit her head, and was barley conscious. Badly dehydrated after seven days missing, she was rushed to the hospital. She would make a full recovery.

After that Duo and Wufei continued to work together on missing persons cases, assignments from the preventers, and other such work.

Hesitant at first, Wufei gathered the world-weary sorcerer into his arms. Truth to tell, Wufei had loved Duo Maxwell for some time. That was why he had volunteered to be the partner of a preventer who chose to live as far away from civilization as possible.

But for the longest time he had lacked the courage to tell Duo the truth. Afraid Duo would leave him behind when he returned home. For now, none of that mattered. Duo needed him, and that was enough.

He confessed his love that night, and Duo smiled with such radiance that Wufei cursed himself for six kinds a fool for doubting him. Slowly, almost shyly, their lips met. It was a meeting of two world-weary travelers; two battle scarred souls. They would never be apart again.

Elsewhere, things weren't so happy. The monsters were trying desperately to find a way to split the two up before that bastard Inverse could find a way back. Especially since the Dragon Child would go with him!

"Yes. You have done well. Far better than your predecessor, Une."

"Thank you, my master."

When Treize Krushinada woke, he was told that the world could still be his. A calculating man, he did not believe the things told to him by the disguised monsters. It took over four months, but he gathered all the data on the former Gundam pilots he could and went to see his dragon.

The sun was hot, and the air dry. Duo had gone to the town at the foot of the mountains for supplies. Wufei was behind the cabin doing his katas. Treize eased around the corner and was greeted by a topless, sweaty, totally gorgeous Chang Wufei.

"Dragon," he breathed in a whisper.

"Oh Treize!" he sobbed. "I thought I killed you! Never leave me again!"

"Never, dragon. I swear."

"Wufei I'm ho-" Duo broke off as he took in the sight before him. Treize, the REAL Treize his magic told him and Wufei… in an impassioned embrace, kissing each other.

"No," he choked out, dropping the grocery bags. Then he turned and fled a trail of tears falling in his wake.

Wufei spun at the choked cry. "Duo!"

But it was too late. The braided teen was gone. "K'so!"

"Dragon?" Treize asked uncertainly.

"Treize-sama, I am sorry. But things have changed. If you wish to be with me, than you must accept Duo as well. I love him."

"Hmm, you and the braided pilot of Shinigami? Such a bargain!" leered the former OZ leaded.

Wufei blinked and shook his head. Then he turned to follow the other teen. "We have to find him before he does something stupid."

As they ran, Wufei cast locating spell, quickly found the supreme sorcerer. They raced down the forest trail and came upon the braided youth in the same clearing where Wufei had confessed his feelings for the other soul weary warrior.

Duo knelt on the moss and cried. He truly was cursed. He had brought peace to the world. Had thought he had found love. Now that love had been denied him yet again. He would never be loved. Would never go home… what's the point, he wondered. Why go on only to be hurt?

His decision made, Duo grasped the dagger he had taken from the house. It was a cursed blade, one that would kill instantly. He lifted it and turned the tip to his chest.

Wufei felt his blood freeze even as he cast a spell to stop the other warrior. Treize heard him whisper, "Dear sweet merciful gods, no!"

When Duo awoke, he became aware of several things. He wasn't dead. He was being held in a rose scented embrace. And Wufei was yelling at him.

"Damn it Maxwell! Don't you EVER scare me like that again! I love you and for Kami's sake, I'm never gonna leave you!"

"But Treize is…"

"Actually," Treize cut in. "I've always been fond of three ways."

At this statement, the two former Gundam pilots blushed a deep red.

"You mean it?" Duo asked timidly. "You're not just saying this to make me feel better?"

In answer, Treize leaned forward and lightly nibbled on Duo's earlobe. His breath gently caressed the damp flesh when he whispered, "You deserve love, and so much more, Duo Maxwell."

His roar of frustration echoed to the heavens themselves, where three figures sat upon a cloud, laughing.

The first, a man, turned to the woman beside him and said, "Well, Helen, it would seem that Duo is a source of frustration for these dark beings."

The boy on the woman's other side laughed, "Oh yeah! The kid's got those losers jumping at shadows! Man, Maxwell, this is getting good!"

"You're right, Solo. But the final confrontation is still coming. Our Duo still must find his way home, and fight Gaav."

"You worry too much, Helen. He's got Sefreet's cub, and that mouthy Mazuko to help him," Solo declared.

"Regardless," the man said. "All we can do for him is offer him advice through his dreams and watch over him. Once he is home, it will be Xellos' task to watch over him."

The other two nodded and they turned back to watch the world below.

For the happy lovers, time passed slowly. Duo gathered all of his journals and began seeking a way to go home. The three had decided to go together. After all, Wufei's clan and colony were gone. He had nothing to stay for, and everything to gain by leaving. Treize couldn't be seen in public or there could be a riot. As for Duo, he was eager to see his sisters again. He missed Lina and Luna terribly.

The next thing he did, was visit Trowa and Quatre. He told them of the coming trip. And that it was unlikely they would return. To calm their worries, he cast a spell on the fountain in the garden. If they wanted to see the trio, all they had to do was cast a violet bloom into the waters. To speak with them, they needed to cast a red rose, a purple lilac, and a snapdragon into the fountain.

One particularly beautiful afternoon, Duo talked the other two into having a picnic. They packed a lunch, blanket, and Duo slipped in an aphrodisiac or two. Then they were off. There was a gorgeous glen not far from the cabin. It had a clear waterfall, soft grass, and a warm pool of water to swim in.

As they reached their destination though, the Monsters hit. The air around them darkened and began to warp. Duo's quick thinking saved them from being trapped.

With all of his strength, Duo swung the sword of black power, cutting through the barrier. The three tumbled out onto soft grass. Behind them came a soundless explosion, and the rift closed.

When they gained their feet, they found them selves in unfamiliar grassland. "Where are we," Wufei asked nobody in particular.

"Not sure, Wu-chan," was Duo's response, "But we can't stay here. I don't think I'll be able to fight anymore monsters for a while. The Ragna Blade just takes to much power."

Treize nodded in agreement and the trio set off in a random direction. After several hours, during which they stopped to eat lunch, Duo stashed away the aphrodisiacs, and fought a bandit gang; they came to a village.

They found the inn and rented a room for the night. Then they went down to the dining area. The food was delouses and the ale surprisingly smooth. While they ate, Duo asked the Innkeeper a few questions.

"We're new in this land, I was wondering if you could tell us what the closest city was."

"Well," the bearded man said thoughtfully. "There's Atlas City, it's two days travel north on foot."

"Atlas City?" Duo blinked. That name… "Have you by chance ever herd of Lina Inverse? I ask because she is an old acquaintance of mine and I hope to see her while I am in the area."

"As a matter of fact, yes. She's a very good customer of ours. Always tips well. Last I herd, she was heading for Saroun."

Duo thanked him and paid him a silver peace for the information. Then he returned to his meal. "We're heading east in the morning," Duo told the others.

"Why east?" Wufei asked.

"To pick up a few things we'll need. You see, Wu-chan, I'm home."