Labyrinth - Gundam Wing Style Part 9

The entrance to the castle of the so-called Goblin King was right out of a fantasy novel, much like everything else in this strange world. High stone walls led to only one entrance, which was sided with tall slotted towers and a spiked gate, which was closed. Duo and his party walked up to the gate and frowned, he placed his hands on the metal gate, testing it around the spikes.

"I have a feeling he knows we're here," Duo murmured. Beyond the thick iron gate he could hear sounds of movements but could see very little. Still, the sounds he heard weren't inviting, especially not when he'd read so many books. He knew what kind of defenses many castles employed to keep out intruders. From this point on he knew they could expect anything from boiling oil to guards with spiked clubs. The problem was that everything in this land was changed to its own uniqueness so in reality he could only guess at what they were running into.

Duo turned back to the others. "Ok, any ideas on how to get in? The gate's pretty firmly shut."

Wufei sauntered up to the stone wall and eyed it curiously. Narrowing his eyes he followed the gate up to where it disappeared between the stone walls. "Shut and locked, it would take considerable work for them to open this thing, which means they really want to keep us out."

Quatre just smirked. "It is metal right?" Snapping a long nailed finger the group watched as a small flame appeared in his hand, dancing a light blue and white. "Back away."

The group backed away from the gate as the fire demon advanced toward it. Upon reaching the gate he twirled his hand and pointed to the gate, closing his eyes in concentration. Slowly the metal began to smoke, a small curl of discolored air appearing. Little by little a red hue covered the metal until it was glowing brightly. Duo and the others shielded their eyes as the small line of fire from Quatre's hand grew brighter, so bright it hurt their eyes.

Still, even with their eyes turned away they could hear the hissing of the metal as it began to melt away. Strange metallic plinks were heard as the molten metal dripped onto the pieces below, hissing wildly. Then there was a thick clank, the sound of metal hitting the ground. Duo chanced looking back at Quatre's handy work and grinned.

A large hole was now cut in the middle of the gate, just large enough for them to step through one at a time. Quatre offered a small smile and then dropped back against the wall taking deep breaths. Duo raced over to him.

"You all right?"

The fire demon nodded, wiping away the small sweat droplets from his pink skin. "Yeah, just a little winded. It's hard work keeping up a flame that hot, even for me. Just give me a second to rest and I'll follow you right behind."

Duo nodded and glanced to the melted gate. Motion to the others he stepped through, followed by Trowa and Wufei. True to his word Quatre followed a second later.

The castle courtyard spread out before them in a magnificent display of shades and hues. Duo stopped in his stride and just stared as his eyes crossed over everything. Gardens. Gardens filled with every flower imaginable, planted and growing so close together they created a thick patterned carpet all the way to the main door. Everywhere he looked all he could see was the flowers, leaves and vines, no path in sight. Behind him Wufei gave a low hiss from the back of his throat. Duo turned to see the neko-boy on all fours, his back arched and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"There's no one here..." Trowa wondered quietly out loud. "No people, no goblins, just... plants."

"I don't like this," Quatre murmured. Worriedly he moved his hand, but his powers only responded with a weak spark. He threw a helpless look at Duo, telling him wordlessly that he'd be able to help, just not with any fire any time soon. Melting that gate had taken more out of him then he thought.

"Well, no sense standing here admiring it. I don't have much time left." Duo took a step toward the carpet of flowers, walking right up to where the edge began. Eyeing the plants warily he moved his foot into them. There he stood, for a good minute, one foot in the flowers and one foot waiting on the inside. He held his breath as he waited for something to happen, but nothing did. After a while he sighed with relief and stepped completely into the flowers, beckoning for the others to follow.

The group walked in silence, their eyes ever open, watching everything. They knew the bed of flowers couldn't be trusted and the tension that grew between them as they walked was nearly solid by the time they reached the main gate. In fact when Wufei jumped out of the flowers and onto the normal ground again by the door, his small meow of happiness made them all gasp in surprise. A second later the group stepped out on to the normal ground and laughed.

"I thought for sure some big Venus fly trap was going to spring up and eat us," Duo admitted, rubbing his head and peering back over the flowers.

Trowa nodded. "I do feel guilty for walking over them though, we certainly made a large pat-" His voice dropped off as he looked back and saw no evidence of their footsteps though the carpet of color. He frowned deeply. "Something's not right."

"Like it or not let's keep going, before something does happen." Wufei stood up and reached for the handles on the large bolted wooden doors, wrapping his hand around...

Air?

All four watched as the door snapped out of existence, leaving in its place only a solid brick wall. Wufei hissed angrily and hit his fist against the wall, receiving no response. At the same moment sound came from behind them, sounds of movement.

Duo and Wufei gave twin cries as vines shot forward, wrapping tightly around their bodies. Without even the chance to blink they were both pulled back into the carpet of plants and disappeared beneath the many color petals and leaves.

"Duo?!" Quatre whirled around and eyed the flowerbed, panic covering his expression. "Where'd they go?"

The merboy shook his head worriedly and jumped forward, shoving Quatre against the wall as another set of vines shot for them. Both boys cried out at the contact but thanks to Trowa's movement the vines missed.

Trowa bit his lip against the pain and shook his hands, trying to cool them off. "Did you see where it pulled them in?"

Quatre shook his head. "No, it happened to fast. We can't even see where they went, how are we going to find them without getting caught ourselves?"

"Like this," Trowa pressed the palms of his hands tightly together then brought them back apart, a strong spray of water shooting from his hands into the flowers. All around them the air filled with high pitched screeches as the water pressure uprooted the plants and blew them to the side.

Water flowed from Trowa's hands, seemingly endless as he walked forward, washing the plants away, despite his earlier comment of guilt. Behind him the blond fire demon clung tightly to the stone wall, eyeing the water with fear, it was getting far too close to him for his own comfort. It wasn't long before he was forced to latch onto the wall and actually attempt to climb it, anything to get his feet off the now flooded ground. Holding on for dear life he shrunk against the wall, praying that he would just be able to hold on until Trowa found them.

"Trowa! Stop!"

"You're going to drown us you fool!"

Trowa closed his hands and the water stopped, revealing one wet human and a very unhappy looking soaked neko-boy. Trowa rushed over to them as they stood up and shook off the remnants of the plants which still clinging to their bodies. As Trowa got closer Wufei took a swipe at his chest, missing by a hair, glaring angrily.

"I just saved you and you threaten to slice me up?" Trowa remarked with a barley hidden half smile.

The neko-boy just hissed angrily and shook his body, sending the fur and water flying. Duo gave a cry and blocked his face, however Wufei still managed to soak him.

"Thanks a lot," he murmured.

"Umm... can I have some help over here? I think I found a door."

All three turned to see Quatre still holding onto the wall, but he nodded to a dark opening which had just appeared above him, just slightly out of reach. In response to his call Wufei scurried over the wet ground and up the wall, easily scaling it. Reaching down he helped Quatre into the opening and then waiting until the others also reached him.

The next room they entered wasn't nearly as inviting as the other obstacles, but at the same time it was a little more welcome. Instead of some strange booby trap they found the opening they walked through closed immediately upon their entry, and they were left with one pathway to follow, though that wasn't the worst of it. That pathway, in particular, soon opened to a room full of goblins, armed to the teeth. Surprisingly thought, none of the goblins were watching the door, they were just muttering in clumps and not caring about the as yet unseen intruders.

The four froze and their eyes widened.

"No way we're getting past all of them!" Duo whispered to the others.

"You've got bigger problems." Trowa pointed out. Duo followed his hand to a clock hanging on the wall. A clock with thirteen hours on it... and only a few minutes left! Duo's jaw dropped.

"No way!"

Wufei just looked at him and grinned quietly. "Go, just run, we'll cover you as best we can."

Duo shook his head. "I'm not leaving you three to fight them, there's too many."

Wufei frowned. "You don't have time to object. Just trust us, but isn't he more important?"

"But..."

Wufei rolled his eyes and shoved Duo forward, right at the goblins. "Go!"

And then Duo was running.

Racing forward, right into the surprised group he shielded his face and body with his arms, but barely paid attention to the short armored bodies around him. He just ran, his eyes set on the stairway just beyond. All around him he could hear them calling out, metal clanging together and feet moving, but he ignored it all. Only a few minutes left... he couldn't lose!

He reached the stairs with only a few scratches and took only a moment to glance back. Trowa met his eyes and smiled back, urging him on and then Duo turned and ran up the stairs. He felt guilty about leaving them there but they were right, Solo was more important. He had to trust that his new friends could handle themselves. They would take care of the goblins, and it was his job to take care of Heero, the Goblins' King.

~*~

The room was dark, the thick air crowding around him tightly until he could barely breathe. Duo took a deep breath and stepped forward into the darkness, summoning his courage. How was he supposed to face someone he couldn't see?

All around him the silence was deafening, roaring against his ears with nothingness, but still he moved forward with careful steps. No, he wouldn't be stopped and he wouldn't let his fears overcome him. He didn't let himself think about what could possibly be hiding in the darkness, what could be stalking right up behind him, what could be leaning over his shoulder right now-

Duo shook his head and stopped those thoughts too, they weren't helping.

Taking another step forward this time he was forced to stop as the world around him suddenly burst into view. Light flooded his vision and blinding him as he cried out and threw up his arms. His eyes ached from the sudden change and he rubbed them violently before blinking them open cautiously.

No longer was there darkness around him, but instead he stood in a world swirling with icy colored mists. Every shade of blue imaginable flowed around him like so many rivers, a world created of magic with no top nor bottom, just the mist. Turning around slowly he surveyed the strange world, realizing he wasn't standing on anything that he could see, but he could still feel the ground beneath his feet. However he was just surrounded by mist, nothing else.

"Heero!" He cried out angrily, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Show your face you spineless jerk!"

His voice echoed around him, swirling and then being swallowed into the mist with no answer. Well, no answer that would have helped. Instead he heard a quiet sound, a small sobbing. Duo whirled around at the sound and froze.

Kneeling before him was Solo, hugging his knees slowly as his shoulders shook.

"Solo?!" Duo raced to his side and reached out to touch him but the boy slapped his hand away.

Duo blinked in surprise as Solo looked up... no, it couldn't be Solo! The boy before him wasn't his younger half-brother. The boy before him had a greenish-brown tint to his skin, eyes a black icky color. His ears curved up into distinct points while he was almost half Duo's height. It wasn't Solo, it couldn't be, but at the same time...

"It is you... isn't it?" Duo whispered softly.

The red haired goblin just looked at him in confusion. Then he snapped out of existence leaving Duo crouching on the ground, once more alone.

"Heero! HEERO! Do you hear me? Get out here where I can see you! You cheating bastard!"

A laugh echoed around him and Duo watched as the icy mist swirled into a set of cobalt blue eyes, then they blinked and Heero stood before him, smirking quietly.

"You lose," he whispered, his voice gaining an amused tone.

Duo stood to his feet and glared. "What are you talking about? I made it to the castle, in the time you said. I made it through your maze and your traps and I'm here in one piece. I win because I made it through."

Heero shook his head. "I said you had thirteen hours to reach us and retrieve him, in the second you failed."

"You made him disappear! I can't retrieve him when you play dirty tricks like that!"

"That doesn't matter anymore. The challenge is over and you lose." Emphasizing his words Heero moved forward, his hand reaching for Duo's face. Duo tried to move, tried to slap that hand away or back off, or anything, but he couldn't. He found himself frozen in place as the Goblin King moved forward and slid his hand down his face.

"Do you know how amazing you look like this?" Heero whispered in a husky voice. "Your hair down, your clothes torn..."

"Get your hands off me," Duo hissed, discovering that he at least had control of his lips.

However, the Goblin King ignored his words and slid his smooth hands under the remains of Duo's shirt. Smirking at the human boy he leaned forward, their lips meeting in a harsh and hungry kiss.

Duo's eyes narrowed and he took advantage of the situation. Catching Heero's bottom lip between his teeth he bit down, hard. The boy cried out in surprise and jumped back, bringing a tentative finger to his lip and wincing as he touched the freshly bleeding cut. His blue eyes darted back to Duo in confusion, and were those small tears attempting to form at his eyes?

Duo blinked back in surprise. He never pegged Heero as one to react in such a way to pain, but now that he thought about it that was nearly the same reaction he'd gotten when he'd slapped him before. For just a few seconds a mask seemed to fall away, revealing a young boy, a young boy who seem scared and frightened. The same now, Heero stood there, the small line of blood traveling down his chin as his lips trembled. He looked like a lost child.

"I'm sorry," Duo said quietly.

Heero's brows knitted together and he wiped away the blood angrily. "No you're not," he said angrily, his mask seeming to slip back into place.

Duo's lips curved into a sad little smile. "No, I'm not sorry for biting your lip. But I am sorry for you."

Confusion crossed the boy's face again and he shook it away. "What are you talking about?!"

"I heard about you, about what happened, from Quatre. About how you showed up here and how you didn't change, how you still stayed different-"

"Shut up!" Heero's eyes narrowed to small slits of anger and he moved forward quickly, hand at ready to hit Duo with a punch that would have sent him flying backward. But Duo didn't flinch.

"No one should have to go through that."

Heero's hand stopped in mid-motion and he took a step back, shaking his head. "What would you know!"

"I know that everyone feels like they don't belong at times, but that doesn't mean they should leave."

"You have no idea!"

"Yes I do! I know! And I know that you can't hide in your fantasies forever, no matter how happy they may be!"

Heero's eyes widened and he flinched like he'd actually been dealt a physical blow. Doubling over he clamped his hands over his ears. "NO! Shut up!"

Power shattered around Duo and he found he could move again. He took a small step forward as a test then dived forward as he saw what was going on. Heero's body was shaking, feathers beginning to form around him. But this time Duo knew what to do.

Jumping forward he clamped his hand around Heero's wrist, hard. The boy's eyes flew wide open and he tried to pull his hand away, the feathers around him wavering in and out of sight.

"Let go!" He screamed out, his voice high and panicked.

"No! I won't let you change back into your fantasy, listen to me! None of this is real!"

Heero shook his head and pulled desperately at Duo's grip. "Let me go! I can't..."

"This isn't real," Duo repeated quietly but forcefully. "And you know it."

Heero opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out. He was interrupted by a loud crack, which echoed around them. Both boys were thrown to the ground as a great force ripped the world around them. Everything seemed to crumble, the mist stopped swirling and became solid, crumbling into darkness. The world around them was completely falling apart.

Duo sat up and found a huge crevice growing between him and Heero, the ground shaking beneath him like a great beast trying to throw them off its back.

"Heero!" He cried out to the boy, but got no response. Instead the Goblin King crouched on the ground; his eyes wide with fear as the world around him shattered and crumbled away.

Duo threw out his hand over the crevice. "Heero! Move now! You can't just sit there!"

Tears slipped down the boy's face and he shook his head, the mask completely gone. He wasn't the Goblin King anymore; instead he'd changed into a simple frightened child. A child so frightened he was paralyzed with fear, and all he could do was sit there, shaking.

"Heero! Listen to me! Please move! You can't just sit there! Please!"

But Heero just shook his head, the tears flowing rapidly from his eyes. Even though the ground beneath his feet crumbled and feel away he couldn't move. He didn't move until there was nothing else left to stand on. Then he just fell.

Duo's loud scream filled the air as the last of the ground crumbled away. Darkness swallowed him until the world snapped out of existence with a loud pop.

TBC...

 

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