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"Sensus Divinitatis"Written By: The Plotting Housewife Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sotsu
and associated Parties. This work is written for pleasure not profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements,
Ghosts, Demons, Apocalypse, Major character death, blood, gore, violence Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5x6 Summary: It begins with a prophecy and ends with
Judgement Day. What happens in between will determine the fate of
the human race. The murders of the Gundam Pilots was only the catalyst.
The beginning of the end. " Sensus Divinitatis"
June 24th, AC 206, 7:32amRelena woke up after sleeping like the literal dead with sunlight streaming in between the drapes of the cottage's bedroom window. She yawned, stretching the cricks out of her back, feeling as though she'd slept for a year. She felt unbelievably refreshed though she was a little apprehensive about riding horseback through the forest. She hadn't been on a horse in over ten years. She hoped it wouldn't sense her apprehension. She got up and padded across the room, parting the drapes to let the light in. The rain had stopped finally and the remaining drops of water that clung to the old maple and oak trees sparkled in the sunlight. It filtered in through the woods in spectacular beams of light and gave off a celestial appearance. Strangely, it seemed fitting after her experiences in the last couple of days, though if her friends were right, dark days lay ahead. Albert was already up, frying eggs and bacon in an iron skillet when Relena walked into the kitchen. He greeted her with a bright smile, though she could see the anxiety in the tightness of his eyes. Still, he was doing his best to remain cheerful. "Good morning! How did you sleep?" "Very well, surprisingly. You?" "Not too bad, though I think I may have stayed up a little late." He sprinkled some seasoning into the eggs and stirred them, smiling a little sheepishly. "I was...unsettled, so I did some reading." "Tell me about it. Read anything good?" He held up a book, the cover unremarkable and blank, worn around the edges. "One of my journals." "Ah. I won't ask about it then." He smiled. "No worries. We still have a lot to talk about, I know." Relena remembered that they hadn't gotten very far in their discussion last night. Oddly enough, she'd learned more than she ever thought possible anyway. It could wait. "Need me to do anything?" "You can make some tea. Or, if you prefer, I've coffee in that cabinet up there," he said, pointing to a small cupboard above her head. "No, tea will be great. I'm not very fond of coffee." Ginetti chuckled. "You and me both. Makes me a bit jittery." Relena busied herself with filling the tea pot with water and preparing two cuppas. "I noticed you have a slight British accent, mixed in with your Italian. Did you live there long?" Ginetti flipped a few pieces of bacon and turned to her. "Born in Sicily, but I did my schooling at Oxford. I moved here after the Eve wars." "So you haven't always been a hermit," she giggled, then felt a little bad about the comment, but Ginetti didn't seem to take it personally. He laughed, throwing his head back. "No. I was actually quite involved in the civilized world for most of my life." "Were you ever married?" Ginetti paused, breathing in deep through his nose. He seemed pained and Relena was overcome with guilt at her nosiness. "I'm sorry. If I get too personal, feel free to tell me to shut up." "No, no...it's quite alright," he sighed, shaking his head. "It's a rather painful subject for me, but I'm not opposed to talking about it." Ginetti turned from the stove, his eyes sad. "I was engaged. She was a soldier. She died. She was killed in battle during the Christmas Eve wars." Relena's heart squeezed painfully. He shrugged. "After that I - well...I suppose I just didn't want to deal with people anymore." "I'm so sorry, Albert." He smiled, though it was tinged with melancholy. "I just couldn't imagine ever falling in love again after that." He turned away, pouring eggs into the skillet. "It's hurts too much." "Well, sure it hurts, but there was also joy...wasn't there?" He stirred the eggs, smiling slightly, though he seemed a million miles away. "Yes. Indeed there was," his voice was distant, wistful. "So it was worth it." He turned back to her. "You're a very amazing person, do you know that?" She laughed, flattered, her cheeks flushing pink. "No, I'm really not." He chuckled, "You don't give yourself any credit." He slid the eggs onto a plate and turned off the stove. "Breakfast is served, though I'm afraid we don't have much time to dawdle. We must eat quickly and pack so that we can be on our way." Relena nodded and brought the tea over to the table and sat down. They ate in silence and she found herself completely ravenous, helping herself to seconds. She helped him clear the table and get the dishes washed, now rushing a little, both of them jittery to hit the road. Outside, the ground was wet and a little mucky. Ginetti gave her a pair of his fiance's boots to wear for their trip and she was eternally grateful that he'd saved them, though he looked embarrassed when he handed them to her. He came out with a couple of backpacks and two rolled up sleeping bags and secured them to the horses' saddles. "I packed up the leftovers. We can heat them over a campfire. I also filled a pack with nonperishable snacks so that should get us to Preventers." "We're not going to be staying at Preventers." "I know," he said. "How do you know that? I didn't tell you." Ginetti's back was turned to her, securing the various buckles and fasteners of the saddle, but she heard him clearly. "We're going to ESUNH, aren't we?" He grabbed her hand and helped her up onto her horse, face closed off. "Albert, how did you know that?" He glanced at her, then raised his leg, foot hooking into the saddle's stirrup, and hoisted himself up. "I know it's the safest place to be right now." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a compass that was attached to a chain around his neck. He watched it for a moment, then pointed. "We're going west, right? That way." She grabbed the reigns and used her foot to get the mare in motion and glanced at Ginetti, eyes narrowed. "Tell me what you know." "I know bad things are coming. I know about a prophecy that I believe involves you and I believe you are our last hope for survival." He gave her a solemn look. "The other seals are broken, aren't they?" "How do you know that?!" She shouted, scaring a few birds out from their hiding places. "I read the prophecy. The one Dr. Bensen found. I didn't believe in it at first, but it predicted events that have already come to pass. Namely the wars. I suspected something was seriously off about Dr. Bensen. When I found out that he'd begun working as the Surgeon General and personal physician for Treize Khushrenada, I was floored. He was an archaeologist! I didn't understand how one could go from that...to a practicing medical physician and surgeon." He paused to steer the stallion when it veered off course. "Go on." "I started digging. Trying to find out more about him. I'd known he was from Germany, but the weird thing was, I couldn't find any birth records, or any other records of him...anywhere. He didn't exist in the system. A virtual blank slate. I couldn't figure out how that was possible. We're all traceable to some extent. I remembered some of the things he would go on about when we were working together in Cairo, before he found the prophecy at that burial site. At first, I just thought he was off his rocker, you know?" Relena nodded, silently urging him to continue. He shook his head, chuckling though there was no humor in his voice. "He kept talking about war...about these battles that he said would bring about the end of days. During the first war, it still hadn't occurred to me that that was what he'd been talking about. Wars happen all the time, you know? Then the second war came a year later and these strange things started happening. Weird weather phenomenon, super strength hurricanes, earthquakes that happened in places they'd never occurred before, including here, strange bird migration patterns, increasing unrest all throughout the world. When I moved here, I noticed the wildlife seemed to be nervous all the time. Still, I didn't want to believe it. It wasn't until you showed up that I realized there was something more going on. I heard about the tsunami on my radio when I checked to see what had happened after I felt the quake. That was your home, wasn't it?" "Yes. It's gone. It's all gone." "I'm so sorry, Miss Relena." "Just Relena, please." Ginetti blushed and smiled. "Relena. Anyway, the only information I could find wasn't really helpful, I'm afraid. I know about the three Seals, but I don't know much beyond that." A deer crossed their path and paused, watching them closely. They stopped, the horses whinnying a little. Relena rubbed the mare's neck. "It's okay, girl." She glanced up at the deer. It stared right back at her and she could sense a weird sort of awareness, something she'd never seen before in an animal. It almost felt like the creature knew her, which was ridiculous, but what about any of this wasn't? It barely acknowledged Ginetti, its eyes piercing through her in a way that made her want to avert her eyes, but she held fast, watching it in return. Finally, the stag dipped its head once, snorted, and then moved on. She turned to Ginetti. "That was weird." He was staring back at her with wide eyes. "What?" Her heart skipped a beat and she froze, afraid to move. "What is it?" "There's something...around you. Shapes. Like...people hovering around you." Relena's breath hitched and she glanced around, seeing nothing. "What do they look like?" "I don't know. They're translucent. It's hard to describe, but I think I see five separate ones -" You little buggers. "Ah. Yes, I think you've just been introduced to my friends." It was strange how comfortable she felt about the concept now. Why should she be afraid? They were her friends and they were there to help. "Friends?" "Yes. I must tell you that I found quite a few answers out for myself last night. During my little...episode. The shapes you're seeing, we'll they're one of the other seals." "The Martyrs..." Ginetti whispered, awe in his voice. "But...how?" "I honestly don't know. I know there's an afterlife of some kind, obviously, but I don't know much else. They warned me of what was to come. They told me I was the final seal and that if I died, an entity of some kind, I don't know what -" she laughed a little at the silliness of how it sounded. "They called it the Devil, but..." Ginetti nodded, feeling slightly disappointed when the figures faded and were no longer visible, though he sensed they were still there. "Well, I may have never seen a ghost before, but I think if a ghost came to me and told me the Devil was real, I'm pretty sure I would believe it." He paused, shooting her a wry look. "So you're the Peacemaker." "Apparently," she chuckled. "Go figure. I was told we have to go to Preventers Headquarters and meet up with their director, General Une and she's to escort me to ESUNH which is some sort of military stronghold that was built for this -" She waved her hand around, looking for the right word. "Event." "Yes. I remember when the Prime Minister built it. It's supposed to be the strongest building in the world. Reinforced with titanium and Gundanium. Cost a pretty penny, too." "Yes, it sure did. Why a hospital, though?" "I think he wanted it to be inconspicuous. At least as much as it could be. I don't know." "Have you ever met the Prime Minister?" "Once. When he presented me with the Silver Heart to honor my fiance who died saving a school full of children when Barton's forces attacked." "I really am sorry about your fiance. She sounds like an incredible person." "She was. She loved children, but she could never have any of her own." Ginetti's face was solemn and Relena's heart broke. Those damn wars. They'd taken far too many lives. Ginetti rubbed his nose with his sleeve and sniffled. "So, what else did your friends say?" "That we're not the only civilized planet in the Universe, that we're not the only Universe, and that this has been happening since the dawn of time." It was mind-boggling how large the scope of this really was. It made her feel tiny, insignificant at the realization that their lives were only a little blip in the grand cosmic scale. Though she'd already known that, to have it confirmed was eye-opening. "On every planet?" "So it would seem." "Do you know why?" "There seems to be forces, powerful ones, that exist in dimensions that we can't see, including our Creator." "You're talking about God." "In a sense, yes. I don't know what you would call it, but the Creator is not the only powerful entity that inhabits these planes of existence. Who knows, there may be an infinite number of creators for an infinite number of universes." It was staggering to think about. "But where there's creators, there's also destroyers from what I gather. My friends told me that every inhabited planet is given three seals to protect them from this force, or forces. Makes it so they can't come here and wreak havoc. These forces have henchmen, though. I suppose you could call them demons if you wanted. They work to break the seals so the entity, or entities can destroy us. I guess, for every creation there's anti-creation." Ginetti seemed to comprehend it. He nodded. "Yin and Yang. Matter and anti-matter. There's always an opposing force." "Exactly. That's the gist of what I'm getting from this. And my friends, along with another young woman, and I were the ones currently keeping those forces away. They were killed and now I'm the only one left." "But people don't live forever. What was protecting us before you were born and what will protect us after you die." "I'm going to assume every generation has their own set of seals. When our current set passes on, more are born." "I see." Ginetti shot her a smirk. "That's quite a lottery." Relena laughed so loudly, it spooked her horse and she bent down to soothe her again. "I'm sorry, girl. It's okay." She rubbed the mare's flank and grinned at Ginetti. "Probably not one you'd want to win, though." Another deer crossed their path, followed by three more, followed another five. Scurrying past them, other critters ran by. Squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, possoms, ground hogs...The horses jumped, panicky when black bears appeared and they backed up a little, which Relena and Ginetti allowed before bringing them back around. "Whoa!" Relena pressed her hand over her chest, adrenaline spiking. "Should we be worrying?" She glanced at Ginetti who shook his head, watching in wonderment. "They're not even paying attention to us. Look -" He pointed and Relena could see even more, leading far enough back into the woods that she couldn't tell where they began, or ended. And they were all heading in the same direction. "What's going on, Albert?" He started at them, fascinated, apparently not hearing her. "Albert!" He jolted out of his daze and glanced at her, his brown eyes wide."They're migrating. Something must have spooked them." That didn't sound good. Relena's voice croaked, a mere whisper, fear encasing her in ice. "What could have..." There was an odd squawking sound from the east, high above them and she hunched her shoulders, heart pounding. "What is that?" Ginetti was craning his neck, looking up through the canopy of trees. The sky was darkening, the sound getting louder. "I think it's...birds?" The sound became deafening as they approached and Relena and Ginetti almost fell off the terrified horses as they rose up on their hind legs, feeling whatever the other animals were feeling. The sky above them turned nearly black as flock after flock, what must have been thousands of birds, swooped overhead and they crouched down as low as they could over the horses, their hands flying up to cover their ears. Ginetti shot her a slightly worried look and hollered over the din. "Maybe we should do what they're doing." "Good idea." They kicked the horses into gear and steered them in the direction the animals were going. The horrible screeching faded as the birds passed over them, continuing on into the west. She had no idea what had scared them, but whatever it was, it was big. Big enough to cause what looked like a mass migration. "Could it be a fire?" "Possibly. I don't know what it is and I don't want to wait around to find out." Relena heard that. She shrugged, trying to look on the bright side, despite the dread that had settled in her gut. "At least we were going the right way to begin with."
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