Title: Two Worlds
Author:Lyndaura
Author's Comments: Well... hee hee! I am having more fun than you know! This is kinda pointless, but all will be explained. One day... And by the way, about the title, if you know anything about Roman history, there was a great conqueror named Hannibal who managed to defeat the roman army with elephants and stuff, and now whenever someone is in trouble, the saying is that Hannibal is knocking on their door. Make sense? I am NOT talking about the cannibal, so don't think that! Okay, on with the story!
Two Worlds - Chapter 14
~Hannibal Knocks Again~
Emily's eyes fluttered open for a moment, but the light was too bright and she was forced to close them. The pain that seized her body overtook her for a moment, and she stiffened in Sage's arms. Sage let another tear fall and cursed herself for it. Emily needed her to be strong, she had to be strong.
"You are dying," Sage tried to soothe Emily's pain, but it was too great for her magic.
"No shit," Emily grunted through the anguish.
"You are being ripped apart from the inside and it is going to take a while to mend. Maybe an hour."
"Another hour of this?!" Emily immediately regretted her out lash as her body screamed out with distress.
"Don't speak," Sage immediately ordered and made Emily lie down on her back. They were in the middle of the forest and Sage was forced to put up a shield to try to prevent Heero or Luke from realizing that Emily wasn't going to make it through the next two hours.
"You and I both know I need to know what is going on," Emily ground her teeth and took a jagged breath in. Sage was right, it sure felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside.
"You are going to die. I can postpone it, but I can not prevent it. I am so sorry," Sage tried not to listen to the screams of torment that her ancestors were yelling at her.
"Do whatever the hell you have to, I need to stay alive as long as possible," the world swirled under Emily, she could feel herself dying, slipping away, slowly losing the fight.
"As long as you don't pull another stunt like you just did, then you may be able to last up to another week, and then I'll see what I can do then, okay?" Sage cursed herself. She didn't want to make it another week. She knew she wouldn't be there, she knew she didn't deserve to be there. Maybe she should just put Emily out of her misery now. That would solve half her problems. But the memories and the influence of the voices of her ancestors overruled her selfish thoughts.
"Frig, just get it over with," Emily tried not to cry but the pain was too much for her frail body. Her voice was starting to shake and was sounding more meek by the second.
"This is going to hurt more before it hurts less," Sage warned. Emily looked at her with pleading eyes, "I'm sorry, but I have to do some pretty painful procedures. But no matter what I do, its for your benefit. I am just worried that you won't survive the process," Sage held Emily's hand softly. She was so weak now. Sage hated the thought of her friend in that kind of condition.
"Do whatever the hell you have to," Emily felt the blood seeping into her throat, her head was swelling and her eyes felt like balls of fire. Everything hurt and she could barely move.
"You could die," Sage cautioned again.
"I'M GOING TO DIE ANYWAY DAMMIT!" Emily cried out in pain as she felt her bones cracking inside her. Emily saw that Sage backed off a little. Sage was just as scared as she was. Emily calmed herself and forced out the last words that she would speak for the next hour and a half:
"I trust you."
The group traveled along the dirt road for another hour until the heat died down and they finally caught sight of Luke, leaning against a tree on top of a large cliff overlooking a small valley.
"Where the hell have you been?" Duo charged his horse ahead to greet Luke. He tried to ignore the burnt debris and the distinct smell of smoke in the air.
"Waiting for you," Luke answered as he got up slowly. His back was hurting, and he had the worst headache. Luke snatched up his staff and mounted his horse tiredly.
"Where is the city?" Wufei asked roughly. As he got closer he saw that Luke had been crying, which only brought forth fury.
"Its right there, want to take a look?" Luke retorted harshly with mock kindness.
"Really?" Quatre tried to break the tension and cross the pack of males to the edge of the cliff. It was a gorgeous city, brimming with people. The buildings were in no way advanced, and they were a dull yellow and beige, but it reminded Quatre of his Arabian home and he smiled.
"So, when do we get to try the grub?" Duo laughed and began his speedy and reckless decent down the hazardous hill. It was steep and filled with rocks and potholes that could easily get the horse or Duo hurt.
"Is he going to be okay?" Luke asked as he turned to the other pilots.
"Fine," Trowa chose to answer for the others for once.
"There is a better way down over here," Luke lead the group to a small path that was slightly overgrown with weeds, but it was much easier to maneuver down than the path that Duo had chosen.
As they were proceeding slower and more carefully they could hear excited calls of 'wee!' and 'yahoo!' coming from where Duo had begun his expedition.
"Sounds like fun," Quatre commented trying to hide his smile.
"Duo!" Quatre called as the group finally reached the bottom of the hill. Duo smiled and charged his horse forward.
"We are going to get a motel and then we are going to get some food," Luke informed Duo and then led the group into the city.
The dirt roads seemed so familiar and the many performers and merchants at the side of the road only greeted them with friendliness and enthusiasm, ignoring Luke's bright red cloak.
"This way," Luke made a sudden turn down another street. It was packed with buildings and signs in different languages. The people were shouting, buying and pushing their way through the crowd. It was a busy place, but yet Quatre didn't like the feel of something. Perhaps it wasn't the place, but something didn't feel right. The energy around him kept destabilizing without warning and it was scaring Quatre.
Finally Luke stopped in front of a large building, one of the tallest in the city and dismounted his horse. The others followed suit and he entered the establishment taking with them their baggage.
Inside was calmer than the chaos outside. The lighting was dim, with only candles to light the room. There were many tables, some vacant and others occupied, but they filled the entire room except for a window on the right that revealed a small kitchen and a cook. The group naturally deducted that the room was some sort of dinning hall. On the left there was a small desk with a woman with unnaturally long ears and nose.
"Is she part fairy?" Duo whispered to anyone, not truly expecting an answer.
"Maybe, but she can't be pure fairy, Sage is the last one," Quatre reminded Duo as they moved closer to Luke who had approached the desk.
"Nek ta oh tabooway. Desut blek okut," Luke struggled out. It was obvious that the dialect was foreign and he was far from used to speaking it. Each syllable was hard and forced out, unlike his fluent native tongue.
"Bella tisu okut bainu," the female at the desk spoke much more elegantly and swiftly, then pointed at a door to her left. Luke proceeded with a curt nod and then led the group towards the doorway.
"Does the translation spell not work for that language?" Quatre asked confused.
"Its supposed to," Luke answered but refused to elaborate on the subject.
Drawing closer to the door, they found that it was actually a doorway to a stairwell. Luke who had understood what the innkeeper had said, knew that they were going up one floor and to room twelve. It was the last place that Katara and him had stayed. He tried to block out the thoughts of Katara as he realized why the translation spell had failed.
Luke guessed that Sage was smart enough to put in place some form of a shield to filter what Heero, Quatre and himself could sense. If Katara was in distress, she didn't want them worrying about her.
Luke still couldn't stop thinking about Katara. She was so precious in his life, if lost her...
"We're here," Luke opened the door for the others and guided them in. There were only three beds, but he would get another room reserved for them after Katara came.
"So, what is the plan for tonight?" Duo flung himself on one of the soft beds.
"The plan is to find out who can give us some information," Luke answered and laid his bags on the bed beside Duo. He was so worried about Katara. If he had the ability, he would switch places with her in an instant. She shouldn't experience the pain that she lived with every moment. She had made the absolute sacrifice and now she was paying for it.
Luke suddenly turned and slammed his fist against the wall. He was angry, frustrated, concerned but worst of all helpless. He slumped down on the bed and clenched his hands into tight fists. Luke growled and closed his eyes. He was trying to control himself, but he couldn't understand why everything was going wrong. He knew the truth.
Katara would die in less than an hour if nothing was done. He desperately wished that he could know how she was fairing, the shield was still active and he had no clue what was happening. She could already be dead and he would not know.
Luke let a tear slip from his eyes, but quickly wiped it away. He loved her more than anything else, and such a angel should never die.
Duo had been wise enough to get off the bed, leaving room for Quatre to sit beside Luke. If it were not for the somber mood, someone might have mused how comical Quatre looked beside Luke. Quatre was so small and slight, the exact opposite of Luke who was brood, tall and muscular. Quatre placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, and although Luke was grateful for his concern, it did not relieve the pain inside Luke. He could not live without her.
"Hey Luke," Katara stood at the door with a soft smile on her face, "I thought I might find you here."
"Katara," Luke got up and met her at the doorway, she wrapped him in a big hug and laughed. She was ecstatic to see him again. Her smile was so radiant and it seemed to light up the room around her, "How did you get here so fast?" Luke looked at her and realized that she had gotten there just after he did.
"Come on, you know that Sage knows teleportation spells! You're so forgetful," Katara teased and kissed him lightly on the cheek which surprised everyone including Luke. But despite everyone's shock, no one spoke a word.
"What now?" Wufei asked as he stood to meet the congregation of people by the door.
"Now we buy weapons and find out who knows some info about where the last stone would be found. Luke, why don't you take Quatre and Wufei to buy some weapons, Sage, why don't you take Duo and Trowa and find us some food or at least some money so that we can eat out. Heero, come with me and we'll find someone who can get us some info," Katara's friendliness was quite disturbing, but everyone merely smiled along with her and went to fulfill their separate missions.
Heero looked at Katara and he felt relief flood his soul. She was alive and she was smiling. Katara was now a permanent part of his soul, and he could not bear to think of her in pain or...
Heero dared not think of it now, she was alive and they were going on a mission, life couldn't get any better at far as he was concerned. The only exception of course was the kiss from Katara to Luke. How he wished that he had been the recipient of the token of affection.
Heero scolded himself for letting his mind wander, or more so his eyes as he found himself studying her backside. Heero had to blink away the thoughts as he forced himself to refocus. Mission. He needed that at the moment, something to keep him occupied so he wouldn't be able to think about what had nearly become of his Katara.
But she wasn't his. She would never be, he could barely figure her out, one moment she was kissing him, and then she was screaming for him to get away from her. Next she is kissing Luke hello after recovering from a near death experience. She was far more complicated then he could ever comprehend, and he didn't know if he was ready for her. She was more than he could handle, but the thought only made her appear more attractive to Heero.
"So I think we should be asking one of the store keepers, but I don't know if he'll be fully cooperative with us. After all, he'll probably think that we are trying to merge the Two Worlds, not trying to stop it and if we tell him that we are trying to prevent it he won't want to get involved in a battle between us and the Fallen Angels. People around here know better than that," Katara turned and looked to him with a devilish grin as she hopped down the stairs to the dinning room of the inn.
"Are you suggesting that we use force while interrogating them?" Heero raised an eyebrow.
"It always makes it so much more fun," Katara joked as she smiled at him biting her lip, she was flirting with him, and taunting him at the same time, but Heero knew better, something wasn't exactly right, yet he felt more drawn to her than ever.
//: Like iron filings to a magnet, I am drawn to you. ://
As if reading his thoughts Katara turned and grabbed his hands, her chest bouncing with every movement, and her hair dancing wildly in the wind of the streets. She was walking backwards into the street pulling him with her as she swayed her hips teasingly.
"I won't hurt anyone anymore, its not necessary," Heero stood his ground but Katara only pulled harder, she was like a kid trying to pull her father towards the candy in a store...
"I wasn't planning on actually hurting them, just... encouraging them," Katara turned and linked arms with Heero dragging him to a nearby fruit stall.
Heero didn't like what he was seeing. After she had been through his soul and she had seen what torture he had been put through, how could she ever joke about violence around him? She knew what it had done to him, and he was trying to change that, and she was only provoking him. She was doing the same thing to him as she had done to Luke. She knew that he would like her no matter what, and she was having as much fun with him as possible at his expense. Kissing Luke, talking about violent acts as if they were fun and a pass-time to be taken lightly. But worst of all purposefully flirting with him. Every action, every body movement was perfectly calculated to taunt him and he knew it.
"Do you speak English?" Katara first asked the middle aged man that had a belly larger than his brain and more holes in his pants than he had hair.
"Some," the man answered, looking Katara over a little too carefully. Heero told himself not to notice, but Katara seemed to be lapping the attention up as she even jutted her hip out of her dress. As it lay on display for the store keeper to view, he straightened up and stroked the stubble on his chin lazily, "What do you want?"
"Information," Katara leaned forward, letting the front of her dress slack off her body slightly.
"About what?" he leaned back, admiring Katara with a slight smile.
"Stones," Katara whispered softly.
"Are you Fallen Angels?" Katara pretended not to notice the grammatical error and only did a slight hair flip.
"No," she giggled, but he was backing off, the red dress was already deterring him.
"Where are you from?" he asked crossing his arms meaning to be threatening, but Katara and Heero had been through too much in the last few days to care about crossed arms.
"Nowhere, I just have a friend who is a collector, and you know how it is," Katara shrugged and looked up innocently.
"I don't know anything," he turned away from her, but Katara reached over the food and grabbed his arm, getting the attention of some of the people nearby, but she refused to let go.
"Subasha," he growled angrily, but she only licked her lips and tightened her grip.
"There are other people," Heero began as he put his hand on her shoulder but Katara shrugged it off violently and returned her gaze back to the man.
"Bastard," she finally let go of his arm and strode away from the store.
"What was that about?" Heero asked as he realized what was happening. He was beginning to understand. It was like she had a multiple personality disorder. One part of her cared about others and had even tried to help him so that he would have power to carrying on what she needed to do after she was gone, but there was another part of her that was like a spoiled brat that would do anything to get what she wanted.
At that moment, he believe he was seeing the uglier side of Katara, the violent pushy personality that shone through that tried to dominate the situation to have everything her way. Heero knew that every person had their bad side, and that Katara was just letting it out for awhile, but his gut told him something more was wrong.
//: Shut up Yuy. ://
"I got the information that I needed," Katara bit her lip and hopped off gleefully. She was far too willing to resort to manipulating the man and it scared Heero. If she took such an unnecessary act so energetically, how much more prompting would she need to use her abilities on someone she knew.
//: Luke? ://
Heero mentally slapped himself as he followed her. This situation was nothing like that. She needed the information to save the world, and she was merely trying to keep the mood light. She had nearly died. She was allowed a certain leverage to have more fun. Death must have changed her perspective on life somewhat, and he had to respect that she was just enjoying life.
"What did you find?" Heero asked as they got to another stall, the woman glared at Katara's dress angrily and then shot a threatening look at her.
"I found that there is a girl named Dusk that might know some information. She is a traveler of sorts and she ends up picking up these little pieces of information," Katara grabbed a few shirts and some more material, but Heero couldn't see enough of them to decipher what clothing it was.
"So she might know where the stone is," Heero studied the crowd around them. Most of them didn't notice the pair, but the store keepers were especially cautious of them.
"If she doesn't she should know someone who does know, either way we're fine," Katara paid for the items and began to walk away with Heero when she turned around and blew a kiss towards the keeper. Outraged she yelled what sounded like foreign profanity.
"Where do we find her?" Heero tried to keep his mind on the mission and his eyes off Katara's body.
//: Damn hormones. Nothing else. Just damn hormones. ://
"She goes to a club often, our best chance to find her is there. Its called Deskilda, which translates to the Titan," Katara strode along with her head toward the sky, "It is so wonderful outside today! Look at the sky, its so gorgeous!" Katara wrapped her arm around Heero's waist as he looked up. She was really changing.
"We should get back to the inn," Heero forced himself to stop starring at the sky. This was insane. This was not what Katara usually acted like, and she was starting to scare him. She couldn't stay the same for three minutes, she was always changing, her personality, her attitude and everything about her was in constant motion.
First she was kind, yet stern, after that she was a totally different person with Luke. The next morning she was all moral and righteous denying her mission, but next she was so violent. Afterwards, she was wise and compassionate in his soul and then she was angry at him for trying to help her, now she was like a child all happy and energetic.
Heero tried to wrap his brain around it but he knew he was missing something huge. There was some element that he did not understand and it was frustrating more than anything else. How could something that he liked so much cause him so much frustration?
//: You're loving every second of this Yuy. ://
"Yeah, I'm starved, what do you want to eat? I'll buy you something," Katara offered as she tickled his sides lightly. Heero was completely unresponsive to her efforts. "Remind me that you suck," Katara stuck out her tongue and then retreated back towards the inn. Heero watched her as she started ahead of him.
//: Maybe it was a spell, or it was her way of flirting. ://
After Heero and Katara had had some food at the restaurant on the bottom level of the inn they headed upstairs to their room to find the others waiting for them, "Hey! Was everyone successful?" Katara asked as she sat down on one of the small beds.
"Did you get any information?" Luke asked, ignoring Katara's question.
"Yeah, of course, do I ever fail?"
"What did you find out?"
"A girl named Dusk is going to be at the Titan tonight and she should have some info."
"Dusk? Is that translation or a given name?"
"Translation."
"From what language?"
"Helta."
"Is she pure?"
"Don't know."
"Does the Titan let sorcerers in?"
"No."
"How do you plan to get us in?"
"That's a stupid question. We are talking about me here, you think I can't handle a slight mind alteration?"
"Fine."
"Fine."
"What would we wear?"
"We?" Katara stood back a step. She had withstood his barrage of questioning so far, but she was not about to take much more.
"I'm going."
"No you are not, Trowa, Heero, Duo, Sage and I are going."
"Why not Wufei, Quatre or I?" Luke shot back defensively.
"Wufei doesn't like undercover, Quatre wouldn't like the club and you are too intimidating, you wouldn't fit it."
"Intimidating?"
"Yes, now trust my judgement and let us go without you, I need you here."
"Fine," Luke turned his back and left the room soundlessly.
"What was that about?" Duo asked no one in particular.
"Luke doesn't like not being in the middle of the action," Katara explained calmly, "Besides, he doesn't like it when he is not there to protect me when we are on big missions."
"So, what ARE we wearing?" Duo asked as he saw what Katara was carrying.
"Well, you are wearing this black silk shirt with fire print on it, with these," she tossed the long and slim shirt to Duo with a pair of black pleather pants.
"Pleather?" Duo looked to Katara for some kind of assurance that it was a sick sad joke but she only shook her head.
"It's a retro Earth club. Its like a novelty here, everyone thinks that anything Earth is really cool," Katara explained tossing a dark green muscle shirt to Trowa with a pair of matching baggy pants with more pockets than necessary
"Really retro..." Duo mumbled as he examined the clothing distastefully.
"You'll look great, relax, everyone will be dressed like that!" Katara waved him off as she threw a black tank top to Heero followed by a red metallic button up shirt and a pair of pants made of thin dark material with many zippers and ties.
"Now, I guess I'll leave you boys to get ready for tonight. Sage, here is your outfit," Katara tossed a mass of dark clothing across the room and winked at her before she left the room quickly, swaying her hips tauntingly.
"I guess I'll be going too," Sage eyed Duo, taking her time to look over him and then licked her lips. Duo swallowed hard and watched as Sage left the room in the same manor as Katara.
"Stop drooling," Wufei ordered Duo as soon as he was sure Sage was out of hearing range.
"Oh you're just jealous because you couldn't handle her in the sack," Duo threw a pillow at Wufei who caught it with ease.
Heero was barely aware of the two bickering as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Katara. He was glad that she was joyful, but his gut told him that it wasn't right. Everything inside him cried out for her to be happy, but it seemed too strange, neither right or natural. He was missing something and he knew it, but he couldn't tell what. The fact was bothering him and he struggled to keep his mind off of her, no matter what he thought about, it all came back to the same subject.
"I could take them both at the same time!" Duo called to Wufei with a widening grin on his face, "Hey Wufei, you're face looks like a tomato!" Duo shouted and then leapt from the bed as Wufei's reddening face came after him. Though Duo only really started running after he saw Wufei had a gun in his hand.
"Maybe you shouldn't have left the bad of weapons near Wufei," Trowa looked to Quatre but Quatre only nodded. For a moment, all Quatre and Trowa did was stare into each other's eyes, both thinking the same thing.
//: They don't know. They have no idea. I am worried about Heero, but they all have no clue. Emily is beginning to disturb me, but she will not be a problem soon. I don't know if this will work. If I fail, if HE fails, then it will all be over. Too many things can go wrong. I can't have that happen, but it's a risk that I need to take. I wish there was something more I could do. I guess tonight will be my last chance. I just don't know about Sage though. She has no idea that I know. I know everything, but she would never guess! She will never know that I am aware. Always aware. You can't keep secrets from me, that is my job. That's right. I'm not who you think I am. I am having so much fun. Are you enjoying my diversions? Are you enjoying my distractions from the real problem? Heero, you are so consumed that you'll never see. You will never foresee what I have been planning since the moment that we entered the castle. Every perfectly calculated move. ://
//: Goodbye Sage. ://
Author's Notes: Hiya! How is everyone? I hope they all enjoyed Christmas as much as I did! I got a cell phone! Well this is my late Christmas present to everyone! Enjoy and may you receive many nakey chibi Heero's and Duo's! And no, Quatre and Trowa have nothing going on, well kinda, but not in the hentai way, but I guess I'll let you guys decide. Feedback on whether to kill Relena or not? I still need some! MEEP! I know I said I had already decided, but I haven't really. I could do it either way now that I have come up with an alternate ending. Yeah, thats right, an ALTERNATE ending!!! Heehee... only 100 more chapters to go.