The Knights' Chronicles Part 23
It was late afternoon when Odin walked into the classroom, his face etched in harnessed concern. First Marshall Hornsby blinked in surprise over the unannounced visit as he turned away from the board that he had been writing on. Nodding his head firmly, he greeted, "Commander."
Raising a hand as he moved towards the front of the room with his officer, Lowe replied, "I apologize for the interruption, Charles. This will only take a moment."
At that, he turned on his heels to face the class with his eyes falling on the cluster of three desks that he sought. "Yuy. Chang. Fraise," he called, stern in his addressing the lot. "I need the three of you to come with me."
Everyone's focus fell on the named trainees, who sat up rigidly to look on Odin with wide eyes. To have them brought out of class was a sure sign that whatever he needed to discuss was urgent enough, but to call them by their last names as he had... well, the matter had to be of great importance.
Quickly closing their books to stuff them in their packs, they gathered their belongings to hurry after the retreating Commander. Along the way, they could feel the eyes of their peers following their own backs.
Once they were outside, Lowe led them down the winding stairs that wrapped the thick tree trunks without so much as looking back at his charges. The stiffness in the man's shoulders did little to settle the building anxiety in the knights-in-training. Swallowing roughly during their descent to the ground, they cast each other nervous glances in silent questions to which none of them had the answers.
Finally, when their feet did touch the earth, Odin did turn to face the teenagers standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Casting a glance up to the school high in the trees, he whispered, "We cannot talk here. There is too great a risk that someone may overhear us."
Something in the way those words were spoken sent a chill running up the spines of the Terrible Trio. Never before had they known their superior to have such a tension from the way he stood to the tone of his voice. And when he turned to lead them off, they remained close to his heels.
In passing some of the squires when they entered the stables, Odin put on a smile as he nodded in acknowledgment. Peacemillion raised her head when she smelt her rider approaching. Her gold eyes brightening along with the smile that spread across her muzzle, she leaned her head down to nuzzle him.
"Hello, lovely," Odin sighed with a small smile as he ran a hand over her snout. "It looks like we have an unplanned flight to make." Alert and ready, the orange-red dragon raised her head to nod it firmly, a snort puffing from her nostrils. Stepping back, the knight moved for the door to her 'room' and opened it.
Remaining silent, Heero, Wufei and Anna followed suit by unlatching the doors to the stalls that housed their steeds. In mere minutes, they were strapped securely into their saddles as Peacemillion led the beasts in the charge beyond the stable to soar high into the overcast skies.
With the encampment well behind them and nothing but the clouds surrounding them, the Commander looked to the trainees flying alongside him and frowned, "I received an urgent letter from the king and queen saying we were all to meet with them in their private chambers immediately."
He paused to take a deep breath to calm himself before he informed, "There was no explanation, but in Solo's handwriting he ordered that I destroy the note upon my reading it and to make sure no others learned of our summons."
Their eyes widening, the knights-in-training could feel their hearts pounding in their chests. Something was most definitely wrong... and it involved their royal couple.
All at once, they thought of Sophia and her still having a couple months to go in her pregnancy. Had something gone wrong?
Not about to voice their fears, the three held their tongues and turned their eyes onto the castle that was suddenly all too far from them for their liking.
* * * * * *
"I cannot recall that flight ever taking so long," Wufei muttered under his breath as he and his 'family' headed through the palace corridors. At either side of him, Heero and Anna only nodded their heads in silent agreement while they practically had to jog to keep up with Lowe.
Upon their reaching the last stretch in their rushed walk, they came against no opposition from the armed guards flanking the hallway. So, it was evident that their arrival had been announced to those men. The reason for the visit, however, was likely kept a secret from them.
It was an eerie thing for the knights to walk into the empty, darkened throne room... to hear the falls of their feet echo off the walls. In their passing, the flags hanging above waved in the brief gust that they made as though happy to be able to show some sort of life. If it was possible, the whole scene made the mood that was lingering over them all the more ominous.
Then at long last, they reached the closed steel door in the wall behind the thrones. Raising fist when he came to a stop, Odin gave two strong knocks. When the door opened, the lot gasped in surprise at the person who peered back at them.
"Q-Quatre," Anna stammered in a breath, having to force herself to keep her jaw from hanging open. It was not only the unexpected presence of the empath that startled the knights, but the young man's state as well.
His shoulders slumped, hair slightly mussed and eyes rimmed by dark circles, Winner was a pale image of his normal self. It looked as though he had not slept in... a very long while as the pinkish hue to what should have been the whites of his eyes revealed. After a long pause, he gave his friends a sad smile that held not a hint of sincere happiness.
No. There was nothing good about this summons.
Bowing his head, the empath said, "Thank you for coming so quickly, everyone." He opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped himself and the forced grin fell away as he cleared his throat. Shaking his head, he physically declined saying anything further and simply stepped aside instead.
For a brief moment the soldiers remained where they stood, hesitant to enter the private chambers. Then, swallowing roughly, Odin made his way past the gifted. Gathering their strength from the Commander, Heero followed right behind with his siblings so that Quatre could close the door behind them.
Gathered at the long table inside sat Solo and Sophia with their chairs nearly atop each other, they were sitting so closely. Seated across from the royal couple, Relena peered over to meet her friends' gazes. Looking every bit as worn down as her husband, her lips curved up into a weak grin while Quatre took to the chair next to her.
Automatically, Heero and the others looked to the queen's belly, finding that it retained its large swell as she kept a hand draped over the top of it. Letting out some of the air that they had been holding, the sight came as a welcomed relief to the knights that the baby was clearly not in danger.
What little consolation that held was lost when the red-rimmed eyes of the royal couple turned up to lock on their guests. On the skin of their cheeks, there were faint traces where tears had fallen.
Alarmed, the new arrivals froze stiff where they stood. "Majesties?" Odin managed in a strangled voice.
Raising a hand, Solo smirked, "It is all right, everyone." He lowered his hand to the empty chairs at the end of the table and offered, "Please, sit." Sophia nodded, a small smile tugging the corners of her mouth.
Tightly squeezing his wife's free hand, the king released it to fold his hands and rest them on the table. A solemn expression falling on his face, he stated, "Our friends, here, have come with... unsettling information that we needed to hear." The gifted shifted uncomfortably, heads lowered.
And that gesture was enough for three of the people in that room to know what this meeting was about.
The darkness.
Heero, Wufei and Anna felt their breaths hitching in their lungs. For many years leading up to that moment, they had wondered what that unseen time held for their world. Now with their questions finally on the brink of being answered... they wanted noting more than to go on not knowing.
Biting her lip when her husband could not go on, Sophia covered his folded hands with hers. "Relena," she addressed softly as the seer's eyes met hers. With a shallow nod, she requested, "Please tell them everything you told us, dear."
The blonde girl licked her lips before she scanned the knights' faces. Slowly drawing a deep breath, she began, "For many a year now, the ability of every seer has been blocked from gazing into a certain period of our future. that veil had been lifted, we have been through a countless number of sessions to piece what we could together." Her mouth opened and closed without another sound as her eyes shimmered in the flickering candle light around.
Quatre seemed to be struggling with containing his own emotions as he rested a hand on her shoulder. Without looking back at him, Relena lay a hand over his in appreciation and cleared her throat.
In little more than a breath, the seer declared, "We are heading into what we now know will be the darkest days that this world has ever seen. Everything that we know will be thrown into a time of unspeakable terror and a true test of the survival every living creature and all that is good."
Beneath the table, Wufei and Anna's hands automatically sought one another, locking together in a tight grasp as they began to tremble at what they were taking in. Shaking his head, Heero struggled to find his voice before he questioned, "W-what are we up against?"
"The Keeper will have a gateway into this world through a messenger whom he has chosen," Relena answered in a rasp. A strangled cry broke from the wide-eyed soldiers, but no one knew who it came from. They were all too shell-shocked to know if the sound was even their own.
Shuddering, the gifted girl went on, "That messenger is shielded from our vision so we will be unable to stop them before they begin their grim task of smiting out every land one-on-one with an army of the forbidden realm of the damned. Demons and creatures unlike anything that our worst nightmares could create will rise in swarms to destroy us all."
A small whimper broke from her as she groaned, "And it will all begin with the fall of the Sanq kingdom." Unable to contain their shaking, Solo and Sophia wept silently.
Odin rose to his feet in one swift motion, slamming his fist onto the table as he shouted, "Then we will stop them here! I have hundreds of the best soldiers that this world has to offer under my command! We will call in all of the support we can muster from our neighbors to end this attack before it can even begin!"
As much as they wanted to agree with their leader, the knights-in-training remained still, aside from their shaking. Already, they had the terrible feeling that it was not about to be solved nearly that easily. Not after their meeting with Gallon.
Raising her head and her damp gaze up to Lowe, Relena frowned deeply, "The seers and I have spent over a year in councils regarding this vision. We have plotted out every possible alternative to see if this land, and all those around, could be spared. However, any such involvement on our end will only result in the certain end of this world as our only hope will be lost in the process."
"The baby," Anna whispered, blinking in surprise that she had spoken the words aloud. She covered her mouth with her free hand as the shocked eyes around fell on her.
Quatre gave the archer a smirk as he nodded firmly, "That is right, Anna. We had a feeling that Galon would not have met with the three of you without giving some sort of glimpse into what we are dealing with. We could feel the faint hint of his gift that he had bestowed onto you when we saw you after his passing."
Completely numb, Odin fell back into his chair. Grey eyes filled with disbelief, his face was pale and clammy from the sweat that was beginning to build. Perplexed, he ran a hand through his short hair and questioned, "How in the world is a baby going to save us from a minion of the Keeper and his army?"
Sagging back into her chair, Relena replied simply, "The portal."
Panic washed over Heero in a rush that nearly had him reeling where he sat in hearing that. His breath coming in quick, uneven pulls, the room spun so quickly that he did not realize he had swayed until he felt Wufei's hand rest on his back to steady him.
A sharp laugh booming from his chest, the Commander missed his apprentice's reaction as threw his hands in the air and cried, "The portal!? You intend to have our heir sent through the portal to another world!? T-that is madness!"
"The heir to the throne must be sent through the portal. In other worlds, those living there age faster than we do and so they will catch up before they return to help us," Quatre explained. "They will return ready to do what they must. We do not know to what extent they will be our chance in defeating the Keeper and his men, but they are. That much is clear by the telling of every seer."
If there would be further argument from Lowe, that last announcement silenced them all. Eyes wide, his arms fell limply at his sides and that strangling silence fell over the room once more.
"Then... we are dealing with a true prophecy," Wufei whispered, a shudder wracking his body. True prophecies were rare, and they only came with the confirmation of all seers over councils such as the one they had spent over a year configuring.
Sophia covered her mouth against a sharp whimper, her head resting on her husband's shoulder. His arms tightening around her, tears fell from Solo's eyes as well.
One possible glimmer of hope sparked in the Commander's gaze and he grinned, "But there is something that is wrong in the telling. The way to the portal is only known by the eldest gifted for the safety of the door between worlds to not fall in the wrong hands. Galon has passed, making the way unknown. And any flaw in a prophecy denounces it."
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Relena shook her head, "There is not a flaw in the telling." Slowly turning her head in the direction of the Terrible Trio, she scanned their faces and informed softly, "Galon revealed the way to one before he died."
Heero's head lowered as the others cast their eyes on him. Swallowing roughly, he gave a small nod but refused to look back up. The sound of blood pounding through his head filled his ears.
Why... why did Galon trust him with such a thing?
"Dear Creator," Odin breathed, his hands coming up to shield his face. When they fell away again, his eyes were glistening. No longer about to fight what was clearly the inevitable, he focused on the seer and resorted to pleading. Voice cracking, he almost sobbed, "There is nothing that can be done, then?"
Relena wrapped her arms around herself against a shiver, her face drawn in profound sadness as she silently cried along with Quatre. Taking what strength she could when her husband rubbed her back, she swallowed the lump in her throat and responded, "My kind and I have looked into every possibly angle for another alternative only to find that there is none."
Keeping her eyes locked on the Commander, she told him, "The Sanq kingdom will fall. Your men will fail, most of them dying in the attempt to defend it. All living within the city walls will be struck down. The fortunate ones will face their end quickly. The others..." A choking sound stopped her short.
"It is all right, dear," Solo reassured. With a deep breath, he turned towards his trembling knights and smiled sadly, "Quatre and Relena were kind enough to still make it our decision what we will do." At that, the queen wiped her eyes and rocked her shoulders back as she straightened herself.
Squeezing his wife's shoulders, he announced, "Sophia and I have agreed to accept our fate. We will stay here and say nothing of the impending destruction of our homeland. Our sacrifices... the sacrifices of all those lost are necessary to see that the Keeper does not succeed in taking the whole of this world."
Tired, but firm in her resolve, the queen grinned, "The Creator works in mysterious ways and it is not up to us the how's or why's of His plan. But, we are steadfast in our faith that we will join Him and the good spirits that have gone before us when the time comes."
By then, the knights-in-training were beside themselves from the overwhelming emotions that brought silent tears to run down their faces and tremors to shake their bodies. It was all too much to bear and to reason for them.
A quiet chuckle bubbled from Sophia, a hand resting on her swollen belly. "For us, it is actually a great honor to know that our baby will be a light against the darkness. We will just be watching from afar." Clearing his throat, Solo mimicked her hand with a proud smile and nodded.
Looking to the empath across from them, she stated, "After this meeting, Quatre has been kind enough to offer the use of his gift to have us forget all of this so that we can just enjoy the days we have with our little one."
Bowing his head, Winner promised, "You will not have a care in the world for the remainder of your days. It will be a privilege for me to see to that." Nearly melting from the relief that came with those words, Solo and Sophia smiled genuine smiles.
A sharp puff of air that he must have held for some time broke from Solo and he faced his knights at the other end of the table again. Leaning towards them, a sense of urgency filled his eyes as he sighed, "We specifically called upon you so that we can have a peace of mind before our memories are altered."
Odin dried his face with one wipe of a large hand and straightened himself with a firm, "Whatever it is you need, we will be honored to serve, sir." Beside him, his charges collected themselves as he had, all of their focus on their king.
Pointing a finger at the soldiers, Solo opened, "You are my most trusted of knights. We do not know the exact time of the attack, only that it will come after our child is born."
Sure to have his gaze scan over all of them as his hand lowered back down, he ordered, "I want the four of you stationed here to keep watch over them at all times. If our baby is going to be taken our of our home in the thick of battle, we need to know that it will be one of you who will defend them."
"With our lives," Heero vowed without hesitation, the shock and dismay that had crept into him all but forgotten. Wufei, Anna and Odin repeated the oath as one right behind him.
The corner of his mouth tugging upward, Solo smirked, "I expected no other response from you. Since Sophia and I will not be able to care for our little one, it is a relief to know that he will be in the best of hands with you."
Raising an eyebrow, the queen grinned at her husband, "He?"
Gently kissing her brow, the king chuckled and shrugged, "Who am I to question your intuition?" Sophia beamed and rested her head on his shoulder as they wrapped their arms around each other again.
Quatre dried his eyes before he focused on the knights-in-training to say, "Relena and I will need to sit with all of you privately to discuss further details of the prophecy that specifically involve you." Blinking in surprise along with his charges, Odin glanced from the gifted to his pupils.
Chuckling quietly, the seer smiled, "As it turns out, your Terrible Trio is even more special that you thought, Commander."
"That does not shock me in the slightest," Lowe laughed, his head shaking in amusement as he looked on the nervous lot beside him. "I always thought that great things would come of them since the day they enlisted." Along with their already prickled nerves, the 'family' blushed and ducked their heads in embarrassment.
It did not take long for the horrific details of what was discussed to dampen the brightened air. Sniffling, Sophia looked to the empath and frowned, "Quatre, this is all becoming too much now. Would you...?" Squeezing his wife tightly against himself, Solo's wet eyes shared the need for her unspoken request.
All but jumping to his feet, Winner answered in a rush, "Yes. Of course. You have heard more than you need to endure." Planting his hands on the edge of the table, he glanced to the soldiers to suggest, "You may want to head out to pull yourselves together. They cannot know that anything is wrong when they see you again. We shall meet you back at the encampment when I have finished my work here."
More than happy to spare their royal couple any further distress, the knights rose onto unsteady legs. "Wait!" Sophia cried when they moved for the door.
In reaching Odin first, she threw her arms round him and kissed his cheek with a whispered, "Thank you..." Pulling away from the Commander, she did the same for Heero, Wufei and Anna with a sincere, "Thank you all so much. We will forever be in your debt."
Solo was not far behind his wife to give his own words of gratitude and embraces. Keeping back to give them some privacy, Quatre and Relena watched on with heavy hearts as they held onto each other for support.
Nearly coming apart from the kindness of their beloved king and queen, the Terrible Trio and their Commander gave their parting words before stepping from the private chambers. Closing the door after them, Odin leaned his back heavily against it.
Only a few feet away from him, Anna finally gave into the sob that she had been fighting when a tearful Wufei wrapped his arms tightly around her for his sake every bit as much as hers.
Heero felt his whole body shaking as the chill of everything crashed back down on him. Nearly blinded by the dampness that filled his vision, he was pulled into a fierce embrace from his sister and brother. And for a long moment, they simply took what courage they could in the tight hold that they had on each other.
Beyond the high windows, even the heavens mourned as they released the steady rain that covered the doomed Sanq kingdom.
TBC...
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