Quick note: There IS a prologue, just incase you were confused by chapter 1.

Angelic Revolution Part 2
II.: The Ultimate Test~

Duo fingered a lock of chestnut hair, eyes distant and slightly unfocused.

He met with Sister Helen today.

Father had not been there; hadn't been for the past week. Sister's worry was evident through her near-hysterical joy upon seeing Duo. She wept tears of joy as she held the boy to her bosom, and he was reminded for the hundredth time just how much he missed both of them.

Solo had been there too, all cocky grins and smartass remarks. "Glad ya finally found someone, kiddo, even though he's not as cute as me," he'd said with a wink, but Duo had detected traces of jealousy. Solo was much older than he had been when he'd died--late teens, the American had noted. When questioned, Taiyo had explained that in Death, children still age like they would had they been alive.

They, unlike him, hadn't changed.

Tsuki poked her head in the doorway of Duo's temporary quarters. "Duo..."

He started. "What is it?"

"Someone is here to see you--one who was able to return to the realm of the living."

Duo's eyes widened. "Send him in please."

But when the man DID step in, his heart stopped and he nearly died. AGAIN.

A handsome noble face, framed by long platinum-blond hair, peered back at him. Crystalline blue eyes glittered in amusement and thin lips curled up at the corners in something of a grin. "Greetings. Hisashiburi...long time no see."

Duo twitched feebly. "Z-Z-Zechs!" he croaked in disbelief. A small part of his frozen mind registered that he was sitting down and was thankful, because he would have FALLEN down.

The blond man shrugged innocently. "Why are you so surprised to see me? You of all people should know that I'd DIED." He cocked his head. "I trust Heero told you, if you did not see the broadcast."

"But you came--went back during the last battle...didn't you?"

"Of course."

Duo was confused. "But then, why did you come back here after you were able to return?"

The expression on the prince's face seemed torn between sorrow and anger. "My Deed was fulfilled; I helped end Merimeia's reign of terror."

"I still don't underst--"

Zechs waved his hand. "Never mind, you will." He pulled up a chair. "Now, the reason I came here to see you is that I want you to relay a message to my sister--"

"But I don't know if I'm going to succeed," he interrupted.

The ex-Talgeese pilot gave him a look that made Duo wince...those blue eyes were so cold. "You will," he told him quietly, fiercely, "or I wouldn't be wasting my time here."

Duo gulped; this guy could make his voice as icy as Heero's--like glaciers, the American had often teased.

"I want you to relay a message to my sister," the noble repeated. "Tell her that a new war is stirring, but this one is unlike the others she has experienced. It will be a battle of will, strength, and determination above machinery and technology. Tell her to be strong." He paused nail the other with a chilling glance. "I know you and the others will see to the rest. You especially."

There was deafening silence, then Duo said slowly, "Just how do you know all this stuff?"

The smile on Zechs' face was probably meant to be reassuring, Duo decided, but sure as hell wasn't. "I have my ways," he answered evasively. "That's all I can tell you right now."

As he stood up to leave, the braided boy couldn't help but ask, "Who else has succeeded has in this?"

"Albert Einstein--he died during an experiment and accidentally took sixty people with him," Zechs explained. "He also started the atomic bomb used on Japan during the World War II."

Duo made a face. "I didn't think Einstein even made mistakes. Who else?"

The braided boy wasn't sure who else's name he had expected to hear, but it certainly was not the name dropped from Zech's lips.

"Dorothy Catalonia."

He walked out, leaving behind a very stunned Duo to stare after him.

~*~

Scary Eyebrow Chick?! Of all people...!

Question after question ran through Duo's mind. When did she die? Why did she have to go back? It's not as if she'd actually hands-on killed a bunch of people. Why was she still alive? Did she complete her Deed? Come to think of it, why was Zechs back here again?

Both and Taiyo and Tsuki were at 'work', receiving some Big Important guy. President of Microsoft or some other shit like that. Anyway, he couldn't ask them right then. Duo cursed and dropped his head into his hands. Zechs, Einstein, Dorothy... He wondered briefly if their playing enormous roles in government and politics had anything to do with their returns to the mortal world. If yes, then...

//I'm in deep doodoo.// While he WAS a Gundam pilot, he'd never actually influenced any big shots on making Really Big decisions. He frowned, finding it curious that Zechs had been so sure that he WOULD succeed, even as Duo himself wasn't. And that message he was supposed to deliver to Ojousan... It was almost as if the prince could--Duo shuddered.

It was almost as if the prince could see into the future.

Maybe that was a part of the Death package he wasn't aware of?

~*~

Two days. Two days since he died, and already so much as happened.

But it was time to go; everyone could feel Kami-sama's impatience. Time was running short before the God carries out his punishment.

Duo knelt by the prayer stool and clasped his hands before him.

"Now, try to open your mind to them and let them enter your soul," he heard Taiyo whisper to his left. "If they are truly telepathic and share that special bond with you, they will respond."

At his right, Tsuki was silent for once, eyes closed and her head bowed in prayer, just like the other ninety-nine Death Nymphs spread around various places in the enormous room. They formed a pattern, he later learned. From the top, they were shaped like an angel wing with Duo at the front--where the wing would attach to its owner's back.

All part of the ceremony, Taiyo had explained.

He forced himself to concentrate, to slow his breathing until he could no longer tell if he was awake or not.

//Come on, Quatre, Wufei...// He had wanted to try and reach Heero, but Zechs had reminded him that the ex-Wing pilot's mind and thoughts were probably too jumbled to really do him any good. So Duo had agreed, albeit reluctantly.

Quatre had been an obvious choice; the American had often wondered if the little blonde was just faking his connection to the universe and the Space Heart. But after seeing what a world beyond Earth had to offer, Duo quickly agreed that the other boy's claims were entirely genuine.

Wufei had been a slightly more difficult decision; after all, he hadn't really been a part of them until only a short while ago. And even then, he still kept himself more distant than even Heero. Of course, in a time like this, one does not think of personal preferences.

Duo's brows furrowed in concentration. Then, out of the blue, something jolted his awareness. There it was! That little *zap* Zechs had told him to look for. He felt cold all of sudden, as if someone had just spilled a bucket of ice water on him. But the strange thing was that he was burning at the same time. Sweat trailed down his face but he ignored it. He ignored everything but the feeling of entering someone else's consciousness. This may just work...

//Please hear me...//

~*~

"...We cannot feel wholly triumphant due to the loss of a brave worrier and wonderful person, but let us celebrate this joyous day..."

Come on, Quatre, Wufei!

Quatre started, aquamarine eyes flickering from where they were fixed on Relena at her golden podium to all around the room. That voice...! His Uchuu no Kokoro began to pound, and his hand tightened on the armrest of his seat.

Beside him, Trowa felt his lover tense, a miniscule change in composure that would have gone unnoticed by all but the most observant.

"Quatre...?"

For once, the other boy did not answer, which only concerned the ex-Heavyarms pilot more.

Please hear me.

The blonde felt his stomach do a violent lurch and he bolted from the lavishly decorated hall, Trowa at his heels.

Finally in the corridor, he clutched tightly at the taller boy's sleeve, eyes impossibly wide and quivering.

"Trowa," he managed to gasp through his disoriented haze, "Duo needs something."

~*~

Wufei nearly fell off his Gundam when an urgent cry pierced his meditation and seemed to resonate in his skull.

"What? What?" he asked no one in particular, looking about frantically for unseen enemies, hand reaching for the katana that SHOULD have been at his belt but wasn't.

Please hear me...

//Duo?!// There was no mistake; the voice hadn't been heard by his ears, but his mind.

I need my crucifix, quick. Bring it to me through meditation.

Wufei didn't understand, but his body was hopping into the cockpit of his beloved Shenlong and his hand was punching in the code before his brain registered what exactly he was doing.

~*~

Quatre burst in the door of his family manor and, ignoring the servants' surprised questions, flew up the stairs into Duo's room. Only Trowa's quick reflexes saved him from a rather painful collision with Heero, who stood, motionless, before the bed.

Its occupant was glowing.

Duo's aurora was bared to them, a flame of pure white energy that seemed to positively crackle with life. Wufei entered then, stopping short just like they had, to stare with wide eyes.

Heero and Trowa watched as Quatre and Wufei nearly tripped over each other to get to the still body. Then, before Heero could do any bodily harm, the Chinese worrier yanked off the gold chain that hung around the slender, bloodied neck.

Both he and the blonde pilot fell to their knees, the cross between them.

"I can only take you so far," Quatre was saying.

Wufei nodded. "I'll take care of the rest," he promised.

~*~

Duo couldn't see, it was too dark.

"Where am I...?"

The rest of his words were cut short as pain racked his entire being. Warm liquid seemed to shoot out of every pour and he tossed his head, face pinched in agony as he thrashed about in the empty void. He tried to clamp down on the choked scream, but it escaped anyway.

He suddenly couldn't breath, either. Was this what the Death Nymphs had meant? Was he turning into an angel? Was his body too weak to withstand the strain? He could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth, the hot rush of fear burning its way through his veins.

Was his soul being torn?

Off in the distance, there was a light, faint but visible. He heard his name being called as that light drew nearer and nearer, until he could make out Wufei's clear-cut features.

He reached out a hand, nearly covered in red, to touch it, the source of the glow, and then, nothing.

~*~

The first thing Duo saw upon opening his eyes was Zechs' triumphant smile, along with several Death Nymphs.

"You did it!" they were cheering as he simply lay on the cold tiles, stunned by the recent ordeal. Waitaminute...

Was he an ANGEL?!

Duo sat up quickly, head swimming as he searched his back.

They were there.

His jaw dropped in disbelief as his groping fingers encountered something that had NOT been there this morning.

Taiyo snapped her fingers and a long mirror appeared before him.

Wings.

Warm, leathery, magnificent black wings, like the devil.

"Oh my god..." he managed, eyes wide as saucers and face pale. Duo Maxwell was an angel, the angel of death, who wore an astonished expression and absolutely nothing else.

TBC...

*gasps and faints* I'm actually PLEASED with what I wrote for once! ;)

This chapter was longer than usual and more happened. Ya liked? *sparkly eyes*

 

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