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"In My Lover's Arms "Written By: Jewel of Hell Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, violence, slavery, language, war, torture, fear of the unknown, AU/Fantasy/Drama Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, other Summary: New part, new warnings, new dedications, new threats, new dangers. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "In My Master's Arms", DO SO BEFORE READING THIS STORY! This one will not make much sense otherwise. Also, this one picks up pretty much exactly where its prequel leaves off, so I will NOT recap. I hate recap. Blegh.
"In My Lover's Arms "
Duo's body stilled, and indigo eyes looked up at Heero full of adoration and vacant love. "Master." o0o Heero felt an unpleasant lurch somewhere inside his heart. "Duo?" "It's me, master," Salyn said, scrambling toward him on all fours. "He's here, but he's unworthy. His thoughts aren't of complete obedience, he doesn't want to serve you like I do." What? "What do you mean?" Heero demanded. "He wants to drown me out, he doesn't love you like I do, he - " "Be silent and let him speak," Heero snapped. Salyn's head lowered, body shuddering, and when he lifted his eyes again it was Duo looking up at him. The vacant, adoring expression was gone, replaced by what looked like wry amusement. Duo smiled. "I'm still here, Heero." Startled to hear such a normal greeting, Heero blinked. "Duo?" That smile took a wicked edge. "Did you really think you could mindbreak me? Carine, this collar you put on me is reacting strangely to having two different sets of power. Since Heero separated me and Salyn, its serving to restrict Salyn and not me. Well, that's not quite right, I still can't use magic in any meaningful way. But it kept him from overwhelming me until his consciousness was mindbroken. It's really strange having two different sets of thought in your head." Heero couldn't resist the urge to grab him and kiss him, fierce and hard and maybe a little desperate. Duo returned it, then he gently disentangled himself. "I need to question him about what his purpose here was," Heero said. "Then we can get him out of your body. Carine knows a way." "Yes," the sorceress herself said briskly. "I don't expect either of you to have heard of a soulgem?" Both shook their heads. "They are ancient devices made by sorcerers, rather like mindbreakers. Soulgems were used as a way to try and save lives, but while sorcerers learned how to put a soul inside one, they could never figure out how to get the soul back out. All the soulgems in the world were destroyed centuries ago by the Tower, but Heero could make one with mine and Maritias' help. The mindbroken Salyn will not resist." "Will destroying the soulgem kill Salyn for good?" Heero asked. "Regrettably," Carine said with an irritated expression, "no. It would simply free his soul to look for a new host. But no soul can escape from a soulgem. Once he is trapped safely within, it can be put in a safe place where it will never harm any person again. Such as, the bottom of the ocean." Heero snorted softly. "All right, Duo. Let me question Salyn, and then we'll create the soulgem." Duo nodded and lowered his head. Now it was Salyn's vacant eyes that gazed up at him. "Master," he purred, sinking down at Heero's feet and rubbing his cheek against Heero's leg. "I'll serve you much better than him. I love you so much more than he does." "I doubt that," Heero growled, wanting to inflict as much pain on this . . . abomination as possible. Unwilling to hurt Duo's body. "Don't touch me. That will please me." Salyn didn't try again, sitting back a little and wringing his hands. "Master," he said, tears welling up in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, I've planned such wicked things, I shouldn't have done that, but I'm very sorry and I'll never do it again and the plan won't come to fruition now because I can see the error of my ways and I love you and I won't ever - " "Shut up," Heero said quietly. As much as he wanted to see Salyn suffer, it was deeply disturbing to see the kid grovel like this. Even more so because he knew Salyn himself would never do it without magical compulsion. "All I want to know is what you had planned, and who set it in motion. Names, dates, any detail you think would help me." "Yes, Master. The master who bound me by my collar is a sorcerer in the Tower - " "A sorcerer?" Carine cut him off, sounding startled. "A sorcerer took a slave?" "Yes," Salyn said stiffly, otherwise not acknowledging her. He kept his eyes on Heero. "He sent me with two other sorcerers, knowing that Duo would be sympathetic to a sorcerer who wanted freedom. I had been feeding the Tower information about everything going on here. Where you were going, where you would be, how you planned to take over Dobraia and Penniar, and what kind of strike you would organize against the Tower. I told my master you planned to free Maritias and Carine, and the Tower allowed it. They wanted to make you feel safe so you would be bolder when taking and freeing sorcerers, lower you guard and walk into a trap set by the Tower. I also told them Duo had planned to organize anti-sorcerer forces. I was supposed to keep you out of Cera as long as possible, because the sorcerers haven't found a way to break down this barrier or get past it. They have terrible things planned for you, Master. They want to perform tests on you because you're only half human, they want to see what differences there are between a fey's magic and a human's, and to Duo as well because he uses magic differently than any human ever has before, and - " "Enough," Heero cut him off. It was more than he could bear, seeing this pathetic wretch gaze up at him from Duo's face. "Why did you possess Duo?" "I wanted him," Salyn replied. "I've never possessed anyone more powerful than a Blue before, I wanted his power. I was only a Yellow in my original body, but I had such a unique skill the Tower had never seen I was raised with great care. My first master was Tevinter Yoric, one of the three Reds who controls the Tower. I was killed by Maritias, but the Tower quickly found a new body for me. I've served the Tower for a long time now, but I wanted to rule it. I thought Duo would be worthy host. Won't you let me stay in this body, Master? I would love you so much better than - " "No," Heero cut him off, not even wanting to hear that. "You disgust me. I'm going to take you out of his body and lock you up in a tiny prison where you'll stay for the rest of your unnatural existence. That will make me perfectly happy. You'll just be a little parasite without a host. Now subside, Salyn. I don't want to hear you again." Salyn whimpered and closed his eyes, and when he opened them they were clear. Duo. The beautiful Black looked shaken. "He can do more than just possess someone's body, Heero," he said quietly. "He's also capable of projecting emotions that might be entirely false. When he possessed me, he practically overwhelmed me with feelings of love and need and devotion. It was a strange and unsettling sensation." "Yes," Carine piped up from where she'd remained uncharacteristically silent, "that was a trick he learned somewhere in his colorful past. It's not easy to do that, because a sorcerer's senses are particularly difficult to fool. Duo, he used your gentle nature against you, your desire to see the best of people. He's very skilled at making people see things the way he wants them to. Has always been." Duo looked up at Maritias. "I kept getting weird bursts from him. Why does he think of you as Mother?" Maritias lifted her chin. "He was brought to the Tower very, very young. Six, I believe. Younger than most. I was a teenager, and I played a fairly significant role in raising him. I always despised that role. I could feel from the beginning that something was wrong with him. Something deep down, something dark and evil. He called me Mother because he knew I hated it." Heero saw Duo shudder. "It's like having a snake in my head," he said, wrapping his arms around himself. "It's cold and dark and . . . it feels so filthy. He wants such . . . despicable things. He's done so many horrific things, Heero. He killed his own mother. It warped him beyond imagining." Unable to stand watching him suffer alone, Heero gathered his love in his arms and held him tightly. "Carine, what will become of the host?" "The young Blue?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "He will be lost beyond saving, I'm sure. Salyn inhabited that body for many years, and I'm certain his consciousness will have either destroyed the boy's or have bled into it until there's nothing left to save. It would be best to simply put him out of his misery." "He's a person, not a rabid dog," Duo snapped. "Salyn probably entered his body without his consent." Carine shook her head. "You misunderstand. When Salyn inhabits a host, he suppresses the consciousness completely. Duo, he was unable to do that with you and frankly, how is a mystery. But that Blue in the dungeons will now be like an empty shell. A body without a soul. Or rather, a soul that is no longer capable of expressing itself through that body. It would be a merciful release for it, killing the body." "No," Duo growled, shaking his head fiercely. "Haven't enough people died because of Salyn?" "Shh," Heero murmured, pressing a soft kiss to Duo's forehead. "You've been through enough today. Just rest." For once, the boy allowed himself to be quieted without a fuss. It let Heero know exactly how worn out he was. "I agree with you, Duo," Maritias said softly, "but I'm afraid we may not have a choice." "We can decide on that later," Quatre said. "Why don't you three work on the soulgem while I question the host and see if there's anyone there to save?" Duo looked up, his indigo eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you, Quatre." "Good, then we should start immediately, Heero," Carine said. "It's not natural for a body to house two souls. Even if Salyn sleeps, it will still place undue pressure on Duo because of the two, he's the one not used to it." "Fine," Heero said. "Quatre, go. Whatever you learn, wait until I summon you." "Yes, Majesty," Quatre agreed, bowing and leaving. Carine looked at Maritias, then back down to Heero.
"Then shall we begin?"
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