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"Baby Series 3"Written By: Karina Rating: PG Spoilers: None Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the Characters from the series but the baby is mine. Pairing: Trowa + Quatre + Milliardo Notes: Challenge 151. Baby Series 3 #227. Takes
place immediately following Pagan Heathens. Many thanks to ShenLong for her work betaing
this fic.
Sanc "But… if the priest was burned at the stake… surely given how the Catholic Church was at the time, others were sent, in force, to investigate? At that period in history the Catholic Church had vast armies and surely they would have retaliated." Milliardo tilted his head slightly, smiling softly down at the kitten, as he considered how best to phrase his reply to give Quatre some understanding of the people of the time and the manner in which they had lived. Quatre was not Christian so Milliardo supposed his response was tempered by his faith and the less than peaceable past shared between Islam and the Holy Catholic Church. He was, however, clearly august at the idea of a holy man being burned at the stake. "I never said any of the Inquisitors party survived to spread the tale." Quatre's blue eyes widened. "They killed them all?!" "According to the accounts I have read, and there are three different chroniclers, those who did not separate themselves from the Church and their God who dictated to the people how they should worship, met with a bloody end. From the records they died either at the stake or at the business end of a sword. There are accounts of those who renounced their faith and turned to Moon worship, the predominate religion of the time, to save their hides. The local priests were unimpressed by their faithlessness with their God and, as a result, they were ritually sacrificed in a circle of stones, the self same stone circle out in the woods behind the palace, to demonstrate their `new found' devotion to the Moon Goddess." Trowa gaped at the King, knowing without seeing Quatre's face that his lover would be just as wide eyed and staring as he. It was clear that Milliardo was serious and Trowa was sure if he should be called to task to prove the tale that he could produce the necessary documents. "And if anyone had come to investigate there was always the fact the wild lands claimed many travellers." "I… That…" "Was barbaric? By our modern standards yes, it was, but for the times they lived in, given the hell the Inquisition brought to Europe, it was no worse a response than what was perpetrated elsewhere on the people of Europe by the Catholic Church in the name of God. Change comes in many ways, shapes and forms and some of those forms are less than pleasant. How man views God affects how he acts in the name of God. It is not God who commits atrocities but man. No matter what you call God, Allah, Jehova, Jesus, or any one of quite a few other names, it is not God but man who acts in the very worst instances in history. I am not inclined to get into a debate about religion with anyone, but that does not mean I blind myself to such studies, particularly studies of how man sees God. I find that view all too often to be in a selfish and very personally oriented light. In those past days bloodletting and killing in particularly nasty ways was a part of every day life for our ancestors, and the more you read of history the more you find that everyone believed they fought with God on their side." "The people of Sanc worshipped a Moon Goddess in the past?" "In the past and to the present day in some areas of the country. How many members of the Council of Representatives know that about Sanc? How many of them cared enough to know anything of the people living in the hills and mountains surrounding this lowland area near the sea? Or the past history of the other smaller countries swallowed up by their new zones? We are a rather secluded nation, even in this modern day and age, and we have kept to ourselves throughout history simply wanting to be left to live as we choose in peace." "Religion is not something I wish to discuss myself, I understand your reluctance there, Milliardo. How we see God… is indeed a personal thing, but what we do in His name…" Quatre hesitated. "I suppose with each invasion a new religion was introduced." "We have three different kinds of practising Paganism on the official register as being recognised religious practises in this country, plus a healthy sprinkling of Catholic's, Russian Orthodoxy, Anglican, High Church of England, Greek Orthodoxy, Islam, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and half a dozen other lesser known religions the world generally recognises in one form or another, including a group of four registered `white' covens. The witches have been practising openly in Sanc for upwards now of 900 years and expect no unsavoury repercussions; and there is a marked difference between the paganism practised here and those who practise witchcraft. And atheism in this country is almost a religion in itself." "I'm… surprised." Milliardo smiled and shook his head slightly. "I did say we had been invaded multiple times in the past, and my ancestors made a practise of absorbing various aspects of their conquerors. Religion was only one of the things that tended to be absorbed and tolerated what was different until it was accepted. You should not be so surprised. We have a relatively low population and historically we have been very dependent on the sea for our livelihood. The sea is a fickle mistress and mankind will take the help of many Gods to eke out a living of so fickle a mistress when there is little viable land to crop. The changing fortunes of Sanc are a never ending cycle of loss, recovery, gain and decline. It is all just a part of the cycle of life if you are born to Sanc. Throughout much of our history there have been Peacecrafts to watch over the people and help them to absorb the new and find a balance with it simply to go on living." "And the last war..?" "Was just one of many conflicts that came to Sanc's borders with no reason beyond the overreaction of men who had unreasoning fear of a philosophy too different to their own. Under my father Sanc gained notice and men paid it attention, many listening and some in prominent positions feared the tenants of Sanc's King. They feared what he preached would take much of their influence and power if others continued to listen and believe. Their solution was to destroy the threat and as many who followed the man who espoused the threat to their desired order. Subjugated, isolated, Sanc was quickly forgotten by the rest of the world and became nothing more than a base for them to enforce their own ambitions. In the broad outlook of things it was nothing that was not done in the past and from which Sanc once again has emerged with a growing sense of national identity, their pride in being who they are intact." "I thought much of the historical past of Sanc was destroyed in the invasion," Quatre mused. "Artefacts and historical documents alike. I understand the museum burned in the invasion." "We lost a great deal, but there are archives that were not touched in the invasion purely because they were private depositories and well protected by those who have a keen interest in history. I have come to think that not as much was destroyed as I had originally feared. Being invaded so many times in the past teaches you not to keep all your treasures in one place, and always to have them guarded. The Alliance appointed Governor appears to have been something of a history buff himself and my people are finding a great deal he… set aside… for later study." //Stole.// The word flashed through Trowa's mind. "You set me up to take the throne, Quatre, and I had thought to avoid it and leave Sanc to my sister's gentler hand. Since I now sit on the High Chair I will do what I can to protect that which is Sanc. Past, present and future. Whatever changes are necessary to make to see this country flourish as once it did, I will do. One thing I will not compromise on is the national identity of the people who have lived here for generations. Change is good, it stops stagnation, but not all change is for the best. Like that Inquisitor who sought to bring forth fire and brimstone to burn this country clean, the wrong sort of change will be greeted with equal fervour and will be purged before it does harm. Not literally with fire and brimstone. Diplomacy, while taking longer to attain results, will generally give you what you wish… or a reasonably acceptable approximation. Sanc will survive with a national identity, not as a mere dot on a map on the northern border of the European Union, North Western zone." ~ * ~ |
