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"The King and the Shaman "Written By: Jewel of Hell Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, Fantasy/Drama/Romance, Yaoi, lemon, language (the usual), peril, violence, animal shamans, neko Duo, king Heero, impending war, sentient-formless evil Pairings: 1x2, others Summary: Heero is the young king of a country
he wants to expand into an Empire. One day he is approached by a woman
who claims she is an animal Shaman, creatures of legend and myth.
She makes an offer Heero cannot refuse. " The King and the Shaman "
At the End of the World It took two more weeks. By that time snow lightly dappled the ground in places, the air so cold it froze in the lungs. Duo resorted to sleeping in his leopard form just to keep the two of them warm enough. The horses had grown a wooly overcoat and looked surprisingly shaggy. Heero was utterly worn out. He never felt rested, even after a full night's sleep. Most nights dreams chased him in ragged circles, never leaving him a moment's peace. The feeling of urgency was such that he always felt anxious and short of breath. Duo was sweet and understanding, giving Heero space when he needed it (almost never), and allowing himself to be held tight when he needed it (almost always). He could feel it. They were drawing closer to the source of his turmoil. And as they got closer to it, he felt both afraid and relieved. Duo, who had been precious to him from day one, suddenly became more. So much more. Like the very air he breathed, or the blood in his veins he just knew he couldn't live without his kitten. He was coming to terms with it quickly, even though he felt it wasn't wise to become so dependent on any one person . . . And it was strange, his feelings for Duo didn't change even when the Shaman lay in his arms as a leopard at night instead of a man. All that soft, incredibly soft fur against his skin, it only made him love Duo more. "We're almost there," he said abruptly, briging his horse to a halt. Duo, pacing along beside him in leopard form, stopped and looked up at him with ears perked. So beautiful. Heero slid off his horse, giving the shaggy beast a pat. He didn't tie either one of them, because he wanted them to be able to run. Just in case. He had no idea what would happen now, but he knew something would. He could feel it. Anxiety curled in his gut, but also a feeling of . . . rightness. Like this was where he should be. Digging around in his saddle bags, he pulled out a long, thick robe and held it up. Duo didn't need a verbal request to transform into his human shape, immediately shrugging into the robe and belting it tightly shut. Heero drew him into an embrace, burying his face in that wonderful fall of chestnut cinnamon hair. Duo melted against him like he always did, sweetly compliant to his lover's needs. When Heero tried to pull away to walk, Duo remained pressed against him. Frowning slightly, Heero looked down at him. Duo gave him a playful grin. "The ground's cold," he explained. Reminding Heero that his kitten's slender, pretty feet were bare. Snorting softly, feeling a bit more like himself, Heero easily lifted Duo into his arms. Duo snuggled against him with a blissful little sigh. "Better?" Heero teased, grinning. Duo just nodded. "Mmm," he purred, nuzzling his face into Heero's throat as he had ever done as a kitten. Heero carried him for probably half a league before the air went from cold to frozen and dead. It was like he'd walked into a wall of frigid filth, a sticky, inky veil that enveloped him in a poisonous embrace. He stopped, eyes going wide. He could feel it. He could feel it, the taint in the air, taste it like an oily coat on his tongue. Such malice, such black hatred, such a vicious desire to destroy, a single-minded intensity with only one goal. Then he saw it. A rend in the earth. A place where all things living had been scoured away, tarnished by the roiling darkness slowly licking at the edges of its prison. The ground around it was a diseased brown, and it spanned far out of sight. An open, weeping wound on the planet's surface. A place where evil bled forth with vindictive glee. Heero carefully lowered Duo to the ground, catching the young Shaman's horrified expression. "It . . . what is that?" Duo whispered in a breaking voice. No voice to answer, Heero just stared at it. This all seemed . . . surreal. As though he were watching all this happen from a great distance. He took a few steps forward, hardly able to breathe for the poisonous filth in the air. And when he was almost close enough to reach out and touch it, the darkness suddenly surged into life. It boiled up out of the wound in the earth, and in an eyeblink - too fast for reaction - it had swallowed Heero in its icy black grip. And everything went still. Everything went dead. In fact, Heero was pretty sure he was dead. Just like that, it all came back. The memories of a lifetime so long ago it seemed a dream. A distant, yet painfully vivid, dream. He was a Divine Shaman, the only ever to be born. An answer to the world's distress. He was very young, running through the fields in his infant form, a small wolf pup. Pure white in color with sky-blue eyes. Playing with the other baby Shamans. He was an adult, ghosting through the mountains, a great white wolf, power unrivaled. He was in love with a young leopard, his soulmate. He was facing the evil with only his love by his side, knowing its terrible power could no longer be contained. His lover was terrified. He'd known the evil would defeat him. And then it would continue spreading, eventually consuming the whole world with its baleful appetite. But it reacted to his presence before he could form a plan. It attacked. It had never attacked before. It came surging up out of the rend, latching onto his beautiful lover in seconds. He had time to see those huge, luminous eyes widen in pain and horror before he was gone. He felt him die. A lingering, painful death of frozen fear and despair. Just like that, the one he loved was gone. His heart turned cold in his chest. He poured his hateful power into the evil. It barely accomplished a thing other than draw its malicious attention. It turned on him next, and it swallowed him, too. But he was ready. He allowed it to envelope him, then he released all his energy and enormous power. The evil froze, completely caught off guard. His soul separated from his body, and he used all its unimaginable power to confine the evil. It could not grow anymore. It could not do anything at all, locked in constant battle with an energy it could not define or fathom. He battled it, fueled by his hatred of it and the knowledge that one day, his love would be reborn and drawn to him. Then one day, his soul weakened. He weakened, reborn as a mortal man. A human. One without power. Son of a king. Destined to unite a world. An empire. And then one day, the Shamans brought to him a kitten. A tiny, newborn kitten who would grown into a powerful Shaman. His soulmate then, his soulmate now. Reunited at last. He would not let this evil win again. His fragmented soul was brought back together inside the evil dark shell. In one split second Heero was a human, no idea of his part in any of this. In the next he was something more. Human only in body. In the next heartbeat his memories returned, and with it, all his power flooded back into him. The evil didn't just flow off him. It exploded outward, leaving him standing in a pool of sudden calm. A pale blue nimbus surrounded him. For a moment he disregarded the evil for something that would always be more important. Kyr'an. Where was . . . no. That was not his name anymore. Duo. His dark blue eyes found him instantly. Crouched not too far away, eyes wide and horrified. Heero realized belatedly he probably looked a little different now. Not the same as then, a millennia ago. But not quite the same as just moments ago, either. And he probably smelled different now, too. "Duo," he murmured, stepping out of the shallow impression, holding out a hand toward him. Duo shook his head, taking a step backward when Heero approached him. Heero stopped, knowing his love could not be pushed. Even then, his sweet one had been known for his stubbornness, a willful disregard for the rules, a fiery temperament that he had never been able to tame. He almost smiled. Not for want of trying. Oh yes, he'd tried. "It's me, Duo," he said gently. "I'm still your Heero." "No you're not," Duo ground out, voice surprisingly raspy. "You don't look like him. You don't even smell like him. I don't know what you are, but you're not Heero!" He could feel the evil behind him, beginning to recover. That blow could be compared to slapping a person hard enough to daze them. Nowhere near hard enough to hurt them. It would recover. And quickly. "Yes, I am," Heero said quietly. "Touch my hand, Duo. You'll see." Don't abandon me now, my love. Not after all I've given up for you. Torment roiled in those beautiful indigo violet eyes. They'd been a stormy indigo-blue in his previous life. A similar color, but more, the person behind them was so familiar. In a thousand years, he hadn't changed. Still wild and untamed. Still so, so beautiful. My entire world. His love for Heero overcame his trepidation, and he crept forward to stretch out a trembling hand. The moment their fingers connected, Heero sent a pulse of wordless love into Duo. Along with it, he sent memories. Short flashes. He sent it all at once, and Duo's eyes widened. His breaths came in stuttered gasps, knees buckling. Heero easily caught him, pulling him into his arms where he belonged. "God," Duo gasped. "Ah, god. It's like it all happened yesterday. You . . . you died for me!" Heero breathed deeply that familiar scent. "It was the only way I could save you," he whispered. Because that evil consumed souls as readily as earth. It would have utterly destroyed Kyr'an, and thus, Duo. "Heero . . . god, Heero, I love you so much," Duo whimpered. "But it's still so strong." He pushed back to survey the evil that was gathering again. "It's still stronger than us." Heero turned his blue eyes onto it. "Yes. As we are now, it is. But I know now what I should have done then. Or rather, what I never got the chance to do because it took you from me. Duo, I can defeat it. If you're by my side, I can defeat it. We can." Those dark eyes peered into his, despair and hope warring for dominance. "How?" The smile that crossed Heero's face felt sad. "I contained it by separating my soul from my body. I thought that would be enough, but it wasn't. All I could do was keep it from spreading. If I do the same for both of us, it will be enough." Blink. "We have to give our lives." Heero reached up and stroked Duo's cheek. "Yes. But death is not the end, Duo. We are both living testament to that." Duo's eyes closed briefly. When he opened them, they were smiling. "Yeah, that's true. I guess if I have to die, at least I can die with you." Returning the smile, Heero leaned forward and kissed him. It was a hard, demanding, borderline-desperate kiss. Duo whined into it, and it was almost physically painful to break away. When he looked into those dark eyes once more, they were shining with determination. All traces of fear were gone. Heero couldn't help his tiny grin. Duo returned it. Then they linked hands. A pale light appeared around them both, pale blue for Heero, silvery violet for Duo. The colors met and merged, forming a soft halo around them both. Heero stole one more kiss, this one gentle and tender, slow and lingering. Then they turned together to face the evil one last time. o8o o8o Relena shivered at the unnatural chill in the air. Standing on the balcony outside her bedroom, she watched snow fall on the distant mountains. A white veil wreathed them in a cold embrace, smothering all sound until it felt like there was no one else in the world. An uneasy shifting inside her made her place both hands flat on her round belly. It had been six months since her husband and his consort left the palace. Six months with no word. Though there wasn't exactly any proof, she somehow knew they were dead. General Agrom Blackstone had mobilized half the army looking for them. Quatre, the lovely Star Shaman, had told her the evil haunting the land was inexplicably destroyed. But there was no sign of Heero or Duo. Even Quatre could not see with his power what had become of them. She shivered and pulled her heavy shawl tighter around her. The shifting of her child became more insistent. "Relena?" Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, crystallizing from the bitter cold. She missed them. Terribly. "Dear gods, Relena, what are you doing out here?" Hands on her arms. She could feel the heat through her dress. "You'll catch your death! Come inside!" Relena allowed Sally to lead her in. Exposed to the warm air, the tears melted and streamed down her cheeks. A servant had followed Sally with a tray of tea. Sally bade her put it down. "Go fetch Lord Wufei," she said. "Hurry!" The servant fled. Relena bowed under the weight inside her body and heart, all but collapsing against Sally. The chamberlain managed to support her to the plush couch, sinking down to awkwardly hold her. She'd sincerely wanted to spend the rest of her life as Heero's wife and empress and Duo's closest friend and confidant. Now, that would never happen. Wufei came at a run. It took him all of two seconds to assess and act. He immediately sat beside Relena, pulling the crumpled woman into his arms and holding her tight. His heat seeped into her, almost scalding. "Here," he said softly. "You've got to stop torturing yourself, Re. We don't know they're gone. Heero is one stubborn son of a bitch." Relena couldn't help it and laughed at the words. It was a small laugh, but it managed to lift her spirits. "Didn't your mother teach you not to swear in front of a lady?" Wufei smiled. "Pardon, Majesty." The tears didn't cease for a moment. "Don't stop calling me Re," she whispered. Only he ever called her that, it was a nickname she'd never had before. For some reason, it comforted her. He snorted and pulled her back against his chest. "I won't. Now, stop your fretting and crying. You'll upset your baby." But she couldn't help it. She wept on his shoulder for a long, long time. Until she felt sick and completely worn out. Sally gave her a mildly sweet, soothing tea that calmed her and made her drowsy, but she didn't mind. Sleep, at least, brought her some measure of peace. It was late when she started out of a deep sleep. Night had fallen, probably only a few hours left until dawn. The fire behind the grate was mostly embers now, casting a warm red glow about her room. She had never been able to sleep in Heero's bedchambers. It felt wrong, sacreligious somehow. As though she would taint the beautiful love between her husband and his consort by intruding. For several moments, she stared at the ceiling, wondering what had awakened her. She'd not been dreaming. Frowning, feeling too wide awake to sleep for awhile, she sat up and absently rubbed her belly. The child slept, which was a relief. It felt like she had ten children in there for all the kicking and squirming this one did. Slowly rising, she moved to the hearth and stirred the fire back to a blaze, adding another thick log. It should have been warm spring by now, but for some reason winter had yet to relinquish its stubborn grip. Sighing, she closed her eyes briefly. The aching loneliness in her chest intensified. She missed them so much. "Relena . . ." That intense gaze of Heero's, always so understanding and warm. "Relena . . ." And Duo's sweet voice and smile that could bring sun on the cloudiest day. A cold hand touched her shoulder. She felt nothing at all, but she was aware of it just the same. Even though there was no one in the room with her, she was not alarmed. Why? She couldn't say. She turned, a strange sense of longing settling in her breast. And there, as though he had stepped right out of her thoughts, was Duo. No, he was not there. Duo had been warm and vibrant and gloriously brilliant. This was a pale, washed out afterimage. But it was him, from his dark indigo-violet eyes to his cheekily grinning mouth. A ghost, perhaps. Or a memory made visible. Either way there was no fear. There was only the distant, leftover ache of bitter grief. "You look good," he said, grin growing. "Bigger than I remember." Her lips quirked into a sad grin. "You look a little less real than I remember." "Yes, well, I'm not really here." The hollow ache grew. "No. I suppose you never will be again." "No." A pause. "But we did it, Relena. We destroyed the evil. I wasn't sure we could do it. But we did, and now the world is safe. Forever." "And what about you two?" Relena asked, half dreading the answer. But she had to know. "Are you and Heero . . . really dead?" Another pause. Longer this time. "Yes. It's strange that you're the only one who knew that." A single tear managed to spill past her lashes. Duo reached out and touched her cheek. He didn't, really. Couldn't, probably. But she felt the cool echo of his touch, and it was enough to make her hand come up, cupping her cheek as if to capture the sensation forever. "Don't cry, Relena. Heero and I are happy. We wanted to both come, but Heero used all his strength getting me here. We can rest now. Both of us are tired. But you, it's your time to live. Heero still wants you to finish what he began. He said, if anyone can do it, it's you." Closing her eyes, smiling, she nodded. "I did promise him." "Then promise us one more thing." "Anything." "No more tears. You've cried for us enough. Now it's time to look forward to your bright future." Offering a faint laugh, Relena nodded and wiped at her eyes. "All right, Duo. No more tears." "Good!" he chirped, his image smiling brightly. Such a sweet smile. "I have to go now, Relena. I know you won't forget us, and I promise you we'll never forget you. We love you. Both of us love you very much." It was harder not to cry this time. But the tears were less pained this time. "I love both of you, too," she breathed. "So much." "Don't worry," he said, smile softening. "You'll see us again someday. Now, you just focus on living and your babies. And Relena, one more thing." "Yes?" A wide, teasing grin. "Heero says you have his blessing to marry Wufei." And he was gone. For a long, long time Relena stood there, half stunned into motionlessness. Then she sank to the floor, shaking with laughter. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'll keep my promise tomorrow, Duo, Heero," she managed. "I won't cry anymore. But tonight . . . just once more. Just let me . . . once more . . ." Tomorrow she would put her grief aside and allow them
to give her the closure both of them wanted her to have. But tonight,
tonight she just wanted to cry.
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