Kage Riku
[The Shadowed Lands]

By: Kc-chan

Chapter 13
~epilogue~

The earth has always looked so beautiful. . . I don't think the people of earth can truly appreciate their planet, not until they see it from afar. An exquisite gem of piercing ceruleans that cut and contrast so sharply the planets of gray that circle it. The Colonies are what they are. . . We of the space . . . We of the vast emptiness ventured out to search for our riches. . . To go beyond the constraints of Earth. . .

History has always been about leaving and striking out to new lands. I can not say this is merely a human trait. . . No it seems as though we, the gods themselves, have inherited this desperation to find the most beautiful place in the universe. We have transcended the Earth and now have moved into space. . . She calls her children to her. . . A mother calling its babes to keep it company in the hollow emptiness that will always surround her.

And now I sit, my love in my arms. . . So much I have struggled just to hold you. . . More than you can imagine. The best things in life are worth waiting for, yes? Some of the best things, are those we haven't seen or discovered. I have watched you grow up, lost you countless times, and now, with dozens of useless wars behind us, I can sit with you in my arms. . . And I believe. . . No. I *know* it is over.

But at what price? I have ruled this world for millennia. Perhaps. . . Perhaps I should not have ever meddled. I always wanted to think that I could shape the future. . . Make the difference.

Prince of Majik.

Prince of Daemons.

Death itself yields its powers to me. Commanding it like the hundreds of souls I could crush with a single thought. . . A single motion. Yet, I have never, until today, single handedly killed a mortal shell with my own hands.

Meiren.

Mai Ran.

I don't know if these events of wars and strife are because I should have killed her soul so long ago. That these events. . . The bloods not yet dried on my fingers, are simple reactions to my indifference.

So now we stand before our fallen friends. . . My generals. . . Our friends. The blood shed today was too great a price to pay. Dumah once asked why we gods and goddesses fight amongst ourselves. . . I can not remember the reason now. Pitiful, yes?

Now I understand his sediments. We are the dying race. Replaced quickly for newer and lesser gods, being born to modem induced highs. . . Sacrificed to time just as quickly. Times have changed and now we must hide ourselves. We must bend to the flow of instants.

Clearing my throat I slowly look down upon my three fallen. Vrita and Dumah have arranged them so that Zechs is flanked by each of his lovers. I will send their bodies the way of their spirits. . . But first. . . First I must say what should be said. . .

"Mephistopheles. . . My charming little elfin prince. One of my eldest. . . Yet always mingling in the background. My sweet blond general. . . the destroyer. My prince of deceit. And yet. . . I can not recall any time that you ever were. It becomes a joyous mystery to where along the way you had gained that title. I will miss you. . . Your lovely intelligence and manners. . . I am glad that you were able to die in the embrace of your lover. . . "

Green orbs have flooded with tears. . . "I have seen too many of the old ones die. Mephistopheles. . . May we never come to this war again."

Moloch holds back his sobs and gently brushes past his lover and places his hand on Noin's fallen form. Brushing his pale fingers across her broken, bloody flesh. He looks to me, aqua orbs pleading to give her parting words. With my nod, he begins, "Aka Manah. . . Noin. We. . .We feel your loss too much, deep within my soul and the recesses of my heart. Pain. . . How much we reflect one another. All you wished for was a place in your master's heart. . . To be held by him in your last moments. For us you left your Order and position. . . For us you rose up through the ranks. . . Daemon of sensual desire that never completely captured the man you so desired. . . Our precious succubus. . . You reflect humanity in your actions and your eyes. Following your prince across life times, I can only hope that your next life. . . In that rebirth you step out from his shadow and learn to step into the sun. I think you need to cast your own shadow. . . Sleep well."

Trowa walks forward to lead his distraught lover away. The beautiful boy curls into his strong embrace, sobs raking his body. . . How much you have changed. . .

And finally. . . This is the one that I wish I would not have to do. . . "Asmodeus. . . Heero. My second in command. . . Strong and valiant. . . Chaotic birth of holy and divine and daemonic and damned. To fall by the hands of your own blood. . . You were there in my times of struggle. . . Protecting not only my body but my judgment. . . I wish I could have told you. . . You were like a son to me. . ." I can feel the wetness on my cheeks. . . My tears. . . I have not cried for a loss in so long. . . "A.. I wish I could have said that. Vrita may have been my soul, heart and everything. . . But you were our pillar of strength and reason. . . In remembrance of you . . . Your Gundam Wing will never stand again. . . You are free. . . Heero. . . You are free."

~~~~'~~@@~~'~~~~

Vrita stepped forward, awkwardly at first before gaining in his strides. Stopping short of the bodies he pulled out a black rose. He had killed it with diseases and warped it with his plagues. Twisted and gnarled rusted stem, thorns that had pierced his flesh. . . Petals crisper than ash and black velvet.

Gently, bronze fingers placed the rose before them. "I have no right to begin to say anything. . . It is false, but I fear the guilt that crawls inside me. . . There were battles you fought against me. . . And for me. . . I do not deserve that honor. Betrayal I gave in return for kindness and friendship."

Pausing slightly he then stepped back. "We will set things right. I will set things right. Forgive me, for there will always be some part of me that will not. And in the darkness of night I will remember the pain I have caused you all. Dark nightmares. . . This I truly deserve and I accept that. . . I only wish I could have come to my senses before you paid for my mistakes. I am sorry."

Turning back he walked to his love's arms. Strength enveloped him. The warmth he never wanted to part from ever again.

Sammael lifted one arm and the pyre was set. Shadows circled the living and transported them outside the ship. Duo wiped the ash from his bangs that had returned to their auburn state. "And we send you into the sun. . . Burning brighter than any in this cold expanse. . ."

The four watched until the ship was no longer in view and delving towards its final resting place. . . the sun. Watching, with tears in their eyes. Silence marking the tune for the dead.

"Come. . . we have one last loose end to cut before we are through," Duo murmured and teleported them to the marble steps of the great building.

~~~~~~'~~@@~~'~~~~~

The congregation gasped as four of the world's most widely known terrorists just appeared before them. A black orb had merely set down upon the stage and then vanished leaving a small, calculating blonde, a silent green eyed angel, a bronze toned black eyed daemon, and the playfully smirking violet eyed boy.

Energy crackled about them, dancing like a cat awaiting to pounce its prey. Many of the lords and ladies of the gentry shrieked in terror. Chairs and desks along with papers flew everywhere, as they ran towards the only exit.

Violet eyes narrowed and within seconds the inky blackness crawled from under their rampaging shoes and surrounded the great hall. Their cries couldn't reach heaven. . . So they turned to face the four standing calm before them.

Not one word was uttered as the four walked without sound. Descending from the stage and into the huddling crowds. Nature had never been so quiet. And in the strangeness of lingering dread, there was a serenity about it. Liquid movements that drew no sounds from the plush carpets and hard marble floors of this institution.

Then, faster than mercury and with no sound uttered, chaos broke loose. The few that remained after the hell burnt fires never uttered what happened in those few moments. . . But it was murmured in the most hushed tones, that they had seen the inferno worse than Dante's hell. They were the ghosts that were still living flesh. Haunted, round eyes filled with unfathomable fright.

The ashes they somehow crawled out of left nothing. No evidence of who, or what, had come down upon them that day. But those few survivors, hair struck white from horror knew. They *knew*.

Those burning eyes filled with fury and rage. Aqua eyes of a child that slaughtered their brethren with its bare hands. Walking through the bodies like one would through water. Limbs and soul soaked with the blood of ages, only to be joined by theirs. He carried the face of a child. . . the aura of the lost. . . And some swore they heard the echoes of children's laughter surrounding him before his claws snuck deep within the pits of their internal organs.

They thought he would save them. . . The grace of god. Silence cloaked him. Impassionate eyes that blankly stared at them before his scythe devoured them. The blue and black flames that danced about him. The black inky wings that forced them to cower against shadowed walls. . . Claw at each other to push further back and away from him. . . The silence that only death could bring.

Misery and dread. The conundrum apparent within onyx orbs that reflecting their life's terrors back to them. Hollow eyes that directed pain and misery to them. He played with their fears and vanities. Plagues and disease eating away at them. . . Letting them die slowly while their peers backed away in horror. Their flesh bubbling and eroding, their bodies bloating and contorting. They could see their inner ugliness pouring through their veins and letting the world see it. Screaming they would claw at themselves, trying to end their misery, a reflection of his own self hatred. . . They would die in loneliness and confusion, a world he knew too well.

Violet eyes and a grinning face. He heard the names so often acquainted with him and his fiery home. Devil. Satan. The damned. He was the last eyes any of the living saw as his servants walked as silently as they attacked back to him. Flanking him, they watched as he called his infernos. His shadows encasing them in their own fiery grave. He whisked the other three away and eerily smiled at them, as the walls they had surrounded themselves with, came tumbling down.

But none truly knew who had delivered the Romefeller Foundation to the ground that day, other than the remaining few. And they wouldn't speak. . . They couldn't. . . Their tongues had been sliced out and their minds were trapped in their own madness.

Slowly the world moved on, the Foundation and Oz forced into the forgotten lines of history. . . Trowa held his love as they stood on the grassy hill with Wufei, away from the smoke and fire. "It will take a long time for any one power to rise again. . ."

"The earth and her people need that. . . This false peace between the Earth and the Colonies. But it will be forgotten and war will come, this time on a greater battlefield. . ." Quatre whispered, leaning back and pressing a chaste kiss to his lover's lips.

"A greater battlefield, but it will be a smaller group. The Foundation will be lost in history, a forgotten ideal that didn't work. . . People will not let it work again. They had forgotten who they represented. . . That the people can take up arms and fight. That they would fight," Wufei whispered watching building collapse.

"Indeed," A fourth voice chuckled.

"Master. . ." Dumah and Moloch acknowledged.

"Sammael!" Wufei stood up and threw himself into his love's arms and leaned up to press his lips to those desirable ones above him. Duo's rosebud lips parted and embraced his lover.

The braided boy held the Chinese boy close as they ascended to the grassy ground. "I love you."

"And I love you," Wufei whispered, leaning back against his master's chest. Fingers embedding themselves into that weave if chestnut tresses.

"Where are you two off to?" Duo inquired, turning his head to look at his friends.

Trowa chuckled and hugged Quatre tighter. Beaming with a sunshine smile Quatre replied, "We are catching a flight back to my Colony, I'll step back into mortal life for a while running the business with Dumah."

"Good." The violet eyed boy smiled.

"And you two? Where will you go?" Trowa asked.

Looking down, Wufei giggled and quickly pressed a chaste kiss to his lover's lips. Duo smiled and replied, "We are going to spend some time wandering about earth. . . Catching up. . ."

"You are going to join us back on L4, Duo?" Quatre asked.

"Sooner or later. . ." Duo replied with a shrug.

"We'll see you then," they replied and walked off leaving their master and his lover on the grass.

The two watched their compatriots and friends walk down the hill and towards the city, watching them pull into their human avatar forms and disappearing into the crowds.

"I love you. . ." Wufei whispered, looking and blinking gray eyes adoringly at his love.

"I love you too, my precious. . ." Duo replied and they watched the Foundation's ashes take to the wind. . . Blowing away like a bad nightmare would at morning's light. Their nightmare was at long last over. . . They could rest for a while in their human avatar forms, living life for a while, after all it would take some time before the mortals and gods recovered from this war. . .

The gentle breeze played with wisps of their hair, tickling the grasses about them. Stirring the lazy leaves as night fell. "What do you want to do, Vrita?" Sammael whispered playfully into a pointed bronze ear.

Wufei turned slightly and smiled. "Now? I want to lie here in your embrace and watch the stars come out."

"Is that all?"

"It's all I need."

owari.

~Only legends know
That once there were gods in the sea
Giants in size
With lullaby eyes
And dreams,
Like you and me.

But when the lands
Broke out in war
The oceans in between
Were raging storms and fiery hot
And filled with children's screams.

A few survived to see the day
When sunlight was dark amber
And heard the sound of the gods at sea,
Leaving us
Forever.~
-Gods at Sea by : Terry Moore (used withhout permission)

Finished and last revision: 9-01-01

End notes: 
Wow. . . never thought I would get to the end, huh?  (well after 200 pages of reading I think you could make a teacher think it was all for the sack of your next bookreport....) Well, I want to thank everybody who graciously has written me about Kage.  I mean it, without replies, hell I would never have gotten this far. . .  Special Note of thanks to Sapphire Rose-san!!!! ([email protected]) and especially to Cheshire-san ([email protected]) for beta-ing and proofreading and generally listening to me rant!! I want to thank my friend for translating some things from the show for me.  As stated in the beginning, there are some parts of this fic that are quotes from the series, and while not all are highlighted and have blazing lights about them, many of the parts that were huge Relena debates were quotes from the series.  Those are copyrighted to Bandai.  I would also like to thank Akumu and her roommate for more translating and spell help.  Wai! Thanks for reading!

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Kc-chan

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