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"The Knights' Chronicles "Written By: SkyLark DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters.
I just love playing with them. Pairings: 1x2x1, 5xOC Warnings: Serious AU, Angst, Violence, Sap, Romance
A Sidefic to By the Red Moon Betaed by ShenLong "The Knights' Chronicles " It was late afternoon when Odin walked into the classroom,
his face etched in harnessed concern. First Marshall Hornsby blinked
in surprise over the unannounced visit as he turned away from the
board that he had been writing on. Nodding his head firmly, he greeted,
"Commander." Raising a hand as he moved towards the front of the
room with his officer, Lowe replied, "I apologize for the interruption,
Charles. This will only take a moment." At that, he turned on his heels to face the class with
his eyes falling on the cluster of three desks that he sought. "Yuy.
Chang. Fraise," he called, stern in his addressing the lot. "I
need the three of you to come with me." All eyes fell on the named trainees, who sat up rigidly
to look on Odin with wide eyes. To have them brought out of class
was a sure sign that whatever he needed to discuss was urgent enough,
but to call them by their last names as he had... well, the matter
had to be of great importance. Once they were outside, Lowe led them down the winding stairs that wrapped the thick tree trunks without so much as looking back at his charges. The stiffness in the man's shoulders did little to settle
the building anxiety in the knights-in-training. Swallowing roughly
during their descent to the ground, they cast each other nervous glances
in silent questions to which none of them had the answers. Finally, when their feet did touch the earth, Odin did turn to face the teenagers standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Casting a glance up to the school high in the trees, he whispered, "We cannot talk here. There is too great a risk that someone may overhear us." Something in the way those words were spoken sent a
chill running up the spines of the Terrible Trio. Never before had
they known their superior to have such a tension from the way he stood
to the tone of his voice. And when he turned to lead them off, they
remained close to his heels. In passing some of the squires when they entered the
stables, Odin put on a smile as he nodded in acknowledgment. Peacemillion
raised her head when she smelt her rider approaching. Her gold eyes
brightening along with the smile that spread across her muzzle, she
leaned her head down to nuzzle him. "Hello, lovely," Odin sighed with a small
smile as he ran a hand over her snout. "It looks like we have
an unplanned flight to make." Alert and ready, the orange-red
dragon raised her head to nod it firmly, a snort puffing from her
nostrils. Stepping back, the knight moved for the door to her stall
and opened it. Remaining silent, Heero, Wufei and Anna followed suit
by unlatching the doors to the stalls that housed their steeds. In
mere minutes, they were strapped securely into their saddles as Peacemillion
led the beasts in the charge beyond the stable to soar high into the
overcast skies. With the encampment well behind them and nothing but
the clouds surrounding them, the Commander looked to the trainees
flying alongside him and frowned, "I received an urgent letter
from the king and queen saying we were all to meet with them in their
private chambers immediately." He paused to take a deep breath to calm himself before
he informed, "There was no explanation, but in Solo's handwriting
he ordered that I destroy the note upon my reading it and to make
sure no others learned of our summons." Their eyes widening, the knights-in-training could feel
their hearts pounding in their chests. Something was most definitely
wrong... and it involved their royal couple. All at once, they thought of Sophia and her still having
a couple months to go in her pregnancy. Had something gone wrong? Not about to voice their fears, the three held their
tongues and turned their eyes onto the castle that was suddenly all
too far from them for their liking. * * * * "I cannot recall that flight ever taking so long,"
Wufei muttered under his breath as he and his 'family' headed through
the palace corridors. At either side of him, Heero and Anna only nodded
their heads in silent agreement while they practically had to jog
to keep up with Lowe. Upon their reaching the last stretch in their rushed
walk, they came against no opposition from the armed guards flanking
the hallway. So, it was evident that their arrival had been announced
to those men. The reason for the visit, however, was likely kept a
secret from them. It was an eerie thing for the knights to walk into the
empty, darkened throne room... to hear the falls of their feet echo
off the walls. In their passing, the flags hanging above waved in
the brief gust that they made as though happy to be able to show some
sort of life. If it was possible, the whole scene made the mood that
was lingering over them all the more ominous. Then at long last, they reached the closed steel door
in the wall behind the thrones. Raising fist when he came to a stop,
Odin gave two strong knocks. When the door opened, the lot gasped
in surprise at the person who peered back at them. "Q-Quatre," Anna stammered in a breath, having
to force herself to keep her jaw from hanging open. It was not only
the unexpected presence of the empath that startled the knights, but
the young man's state as well. His shoulders slumped, hair slightly mussed and eyes
rimmed by dark circles, Winner was a pale image of his normal self.
It looked as though he had not slept in... a very long while as the
pinkish hue to what should have been the whites of his eyes revealed.
After a long pause, he gave his friends a sad smile that held not
a hint of sincere happiness. No. There was nothing good about this summons. Bowing his head, the empath said, "Thank you for
coming so quickly, everyone." He opened his mouth to speak again,
but stopped himself and the forced grin fell away as he cleared his
throat. Shaking his head, he physically declined saying anything further
and simply stepped aside instead. For a brief moment the soldiers remained where they
stood, hesitant to enter the private chambers. Then, swallowing roughly,
Odin made his way past the gifted. Gathering their strength from the
Commander, Heero followed right behind with his siblings. Gathered at the long table inside sat Solo and Sophia with their chairs nearly atop each other, they were sitting so closely. Seated across from the royal couple, Relena peered over to meet her friends’ gazes. Looking every bit as worn down as her husband, her lips curved up into a weak grin while Quatre took to the chair next to her. For Heero and the others, their focus fell onto the
queen's belly, finding that it retained its large swell as she kept
a hand draped over the top of it. Letting out some of the air that
they had been holding, the sight came as a welcomed relief to the
knights that the baby was clearly not in danger. Alarmed, the new arrivals froze stiff where they stood. “Majesties?” Odin managed in a strangled voice. Raising a hand, Solo smirked, “It is all right, everyone.” He lowered his hand to the empty chairs at the end of the table and offered, “Please, sit.” Sophia nodded, a small smile tugging the corners of her mouth. Squeezing his wife's free hand, the king released it
to fold his hands and rest them on the table. A solemn expression
falling on his face, he stated, "Our friends, here, have come
with... unsettling information that we needed to hear." The gifted
shifted uncomfortably, heads lowered. And that gesture was enough for three of the people
in that room to know what this meeting was about. The darkness. Heero, Wufei and Anna felt their breaths hitching in
their lungs. For many years leading up to that moment, they had wondered
what that unseen time held for their world. Now with their questions
finally on the brink of being answered... they wanted noting more
than to go on not knowing. The blonde girl licked her lips before she scanned the
knights' faces. Slowly drawing a deep breath, she began, "For
many a year now, the ability of every seer has been blocked from gazing
into a certain period of our future. that veil had been lifted, we
have been through a countless number of sessions to piece what we
could together." Her mouth opened and closed without another
sound as her eyes shimmered in the flickering candle light around. Quatre seemed to be struggling with containing his own
emotions as he rested a hand on her shoulder. Without looking back
at him, Relena lay a hand over his in appreciation and cleared her
throat. In little more than a breath, the seer declared, "We
are heading into what we now know will be the darkest days that this
world has ever seen. Everything that we know will be thrown into a
time of unspeakable terror and a true test of the survival every living
creature and all that is good." Beneath the table, Wufei and Anna's hands automatically
sought one another, locking together in a tight grasp as they began
to tremble at what they were taking in. Shaking his head, Heero struggled
to find his voice before he questioned, "W-what are we up against?" "The Keeper will have a gateway into this world
through a messenger whom he has chosen," Relena answered in a
rasp. A strangled cry broke from the wide-eyed soldiers, but no one
knew who it came from. They were all too shell-shocked to know if
the sound was even their own. Shuddering, the gifted girl went on, "That messenger
is shielded from our vision so we will be unable to stop them before
they begin their grim task of smiting out every land one-on-one with
an army of the forbidden realm of the damned. Demons and creatures
unlike anything that our worst nightmares could create will rise in
swarms to destroy us all." A small whimper broke from her as she groaned, "And
it will all begin with the fall of the Sanq kingdom." Unable
to contain their shaking, Solo and Sophia wept silently. Odin rose to his feet in one swift motion, slamming
his fist onto the table as he shouted, "Then we will stop them
here! I have hundreds of the best soldiers that this world has to
offer under my command! We will call in all of the support we can
muster from our neighbors to end this attack before it can even begin!"
As much as they wanted to agree with their leader, the
knights-in-training remained still, aside from their shaking. Already,
they had the terrible feeling that it was not about to be solved nearly
that easily. Not after their meeting with Gallon. Raising her head and her damp gaze up to Lowe, Relena
frowned deeply, "The seers and I have spent over a year in councils
regarding this vision. We have plotted out every possible alternative
to see if this land, and all those around, could be spared. However,
any such involvement on our end will only result in the certain end
of this world as our only hope will be lost in the process." "The baby," Anna whispered, blinking in surprise
that she had spoken the words aloud. She covered her mouth with her
free hand as the shocked eyes around fell on her. Quatre gave the archer a smirk as he nodded firmly,
"That is right, Anna. We had a feeling that Gallon would not
have met with the three of you without giving some sort of glimpse
into what we are dealing with. We could feel the faint hint of his
gift that he had bestowed onto you when we saw you after his passing."
Completely numb, Odin fell back into his chair. Grey
eyes filled with disbelief, his face was pale and clammy from the
sweat that was beginning to build. Perplexed, he ran a hand through
his short hair and questioned, "How in the world is a baby going
to save us from a minion of the Keeper and his army?" Sagging back into her chair, Relena replied simply,
"The portal." Panic washed over Heero in a rush that nearly had him
reeling where he sat in hearing that. His breath coming in quick,
uneven pulls, the room spun so quickly that he did not realize he
had swayed until he felt Wufei's hand rest on his back to steady him.
A sharp laugh booming from his chest, the Commander
missed his apprentice's reaction as threw his hands in the air and
cried, "The portal!? You intend to have our heir sent through
the portal to another world!? T-that is madness!" "The heir to the throne must be sent through the
portal. In other worlds, those living there age faster than we do
and so they will catch up before they return to help us," Quatre
explained. "They will return ready to do what they must. We do
not know to what extent they will be our chance in defeating the Keeper
and his men, but they are. That much is clear by the telling of every
seer." If there would be further argument from Lowe, that last
announcement silenced them all. Eyes wide, his arms fell limply at
his sides and that strangling silence fell over the room once more. "Then... we are dealing with a true prophecy,"
Wufei whispered, a shudder wracking his body. True prophecies were
rare, and they only came with the confirmation of all seers over councils
such as that they had spent over a year configuring. Sophia covered her mouth against a sharp whimper, her
head resting on her husband's shoulder. His arms tightening around
her, tears fell from Solo's eyes as well. One possible glimmer of hope sparked in the Commander's
gaze and he grinned, "But there is something that is wrong in
the telling. The way to the portal is only known by the eldest gifted
for the safety of the door between worlds to not fall in the wrong
hands. Gallon has passed, making the way unknown. And any flaw in
a prophecy denounces it." Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Relena shook her
head, "There is not a flaw in the telling." Slowly turning
her head in the direction of the Terrible Trio, she scanned their
faces and informed softly, "Gallon has shown the way to one before
he died." Heero's head lowered as the others cast their eyes on
him. Swallowing roughly, he gave a small nod but refused to look back
up. The sound of blood pounding through his head filled his ears.
Why... why did Gallon trust him with such a thing? "Dear Creator," Odin breathed, his hands coming
up to shield his face. When they fell away again, his eyes were glistening.
No longer about to fight what was clearly the inevitable, he focused
on the seer and resorted to pleading. Voice cracking, he almost sobbed,
"There is nothing that can be done, then?" Relena wrapped her arms around herself against a shiver,
her face sad as she silently cried along with Quatre. Taking what
strength she could when her husband rubbed her back, she swallowed
the lump in her throat and responded, "My kind and I have looked
into every possibly angle for another alternative only to find that
there is none." Keeping her eyes locked on the Commander, she told him,
"The Sanq kingdom will fall. Your men will fail, most of them
dying in the attempt to defend it. All living within the city walls
will be struck down. The fortunate ones will face their end quickly.
The others..." A choking sound stopped her short. "It is all right, dear," Solo reassured. With
a deep breath, he turned towards his trembling knights and smiled
sadly, "Quatre and Relena were kind enough to still make it our
decision what we will do." At that, the queen wiped her eyes
and rocked her shoulders back as she straightened herself. Tired, but firm in her resolve, the queen grinned, "The
Creator works in mysterious ways and it is not up to us the how's
or why's of His plan. But, we are steadfast in our faith that we will
join Him and the good spirits that have gone before us when the time
comes." By then, the knights-in-training were beside themselves from the overwhelming emotions that brought silent tears to run down their faces and tremors to shake their bodies. It was all too much to bear and to reason for them. A quiet chuckle bubbled from Sophia, a hand resting on her swollen belly. “For us, it is actually a great honor to know that our baby will be a light against the darkness. We will just be watching from afar.” Clearing his throat, Solo mimicked her hand with a proud smile and nodded. Looking to the empath across from them, she stated, “After this meeting, Quatre has been kind enough to offer the use of his gift to have us forget all of this so that we can just enjoy the days we have with our little one.” Bowing his head, Winner promised, "You will not
have a care in the world for the remainder of your days. It will be
a privilege for me to see to that." Nearly melting from the relief
that came with those words, Solo and Sophia smiled genuine smiles. A sharp puff of air that he must have held for some
time broke from Solo and he faced his knights at the other end of
the table again. Leaning towards them, a sense of urgency filled his
eyes as he sighed, "We specifically called upon you so that we
can have a peace of mind before our memories are altered." Odin dried his face with one wipe of a large hand and
straightened himself with a firm, "Whatever it is you need, we
will be honored to serve, sir." Beside him, his charges collected
themselves as he had, all of their focus on their king. Pointing a finger at the soldiers, Solo opened, "You
are my most trusted of knights. We do not know the exact time of the
attack, only that it will come after our child is born." Sure to have his gaze scan over all of them as his hand
lowered back down, he ordered, "I want the four of you stationed
here to keep watch over them at all times. If our baby is going to
be taken our of our home in the thick of battle, we need to know that
it will be one of you who will defend them." "With our lives," Heero vowed without hesitation,
the shock and dismay that had crept into him all but forgotten. Wufei,
Anna and Odin repeated the oath as one right behind him. The corner of his mouth tugging upward, Solo smirked,
"I expected no other response from you. Since Sophia and I will
not be able to care for our little one, it is a relief to know that
he will be in the best of hands with you." Raising an eyebrow, the queen grinned at her husband,
"He?" Gently kissing her brow, the king chuckled and shrugged,
"Who am I to question your intuition?" Sophia beamed and
rested her head on his shoulder as they wrapped their arms around
each other again. Quatre dried his eyes before he focused on the knights-in-training
to say, "Relena and I will need to sit with all of you privately
to discuss further details of the prophecy that specifically involve
you." Blinking in surprise along with his charges, Odin glanced
from the gifted to his pupils. Chuckling quietly, the seer smiled, "As it turns
out, your Terrible Trio is even more special that you thought, Commander." "That does not shock me in the slightest,"
Lowe laughed, his head shaking in amusement as he looked on the nervous
lot beside him. "I always thought that great things would come
of them since the day they enlisted." Along with their already
prickled nerves, the 'family' blushed and ducked their heads in embarrassment. It did not take long for the horrific details of what
was discussed to dampen the brightened air. Sniffling, Sophia looked
to the empath and frowned, "Quatre, this is all becoming too
much now. Would you...?" Squeezing his wife tightly against himself,
Solo's wet eyes shared the need for her unspoken request. All but jumping to his feet, Winner answered in a rush,
"Yes. Of course. You have heard more than you need to endure."
Planting his hands on the edge of the table, he glanced to the soldiers
to suggest, "You may want to head out to pull yourselves together.
They cannot know that anything is wrong when they see you again. We
shall meet you back at the encampment when I have finished my work
here." More than happy to spare their royal couple any further
distress, the knights rose onto unsteady legs. "Wait!" Sophia
cried when they moved for the door. In reaching Odin first, she threw her arms round him
and kissed his cheek with a whispered, "Thank you..." Pulling
away from the Commander, she did the same for Heero, Wufei and Anna
with a sincere, "Thank you all so much. We will forever be in
your debt." Solo was not far behind his wife to give his own words
of gratitude and embraces. Keeping back to give them some privacy,
Quatre and Relena watched on with heavy hearts as they held onto each
other for support. Nearly coming apart from the kindness of their beloved
king and queen, the Terrible Trio and their Commander gave their parting
words before stepping from the private chambers. Closing the door
after them, Odin leaned his back heavily against it. Only a few feet away from him, Anna finally gave into
the sob that she had been fighting when a tearful Wufei wrapped his
arms tightly around her for his sake every bit as much as hers. Heero felt his whole body shaking as the chill of everything
crashed back down on him. Nearly blinded by the dampness that filled
his vision, he was pulled into a fierce embrace from his sister and
brother. And for a long moment, they simply took what courage they
could in the tight hold that they had on each other. Beyond the high windows, even the heavens mourned as they released the steady rain that covered the doomed Sanq kingdom.
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