Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. Guess what?
There might actually be a PLOT in this part!!! I know,
it came as a surprise to me, too.
Thalia ::to readers:: You think ~you're~ surprised!?
Eros: Yeah! We're her muses and even ~we~ don't know
where this came from...
Don't mind them. It's not ~that~ out there... And it
makes sense, you don't even have to think that hard
about it. ::realizes she sounds desperate and
sweatdrops:: But this means it's less humorous and
more action-oriented. Ummm, oh yeah, and squiggly
lines like these ~ ~ are for emphasis. And awaaaay we
go!
Disclaimer: Don't own the G-boys, Greek mythological
characters are represented "liberally." Shounen ai,
switching of POV's, most likely OOC. I live in North
Dakota. It's about -6 degrees outside. Flames will be
appreciated!
Heero peered around the corner of the hall, waiting
until Wufei had left as well. It wasn't often he was
overcome by his curiosity, but he found himself
intrigued by the bow and quiver. He'd never before had
a chance to examine such archaic weapons, and the
Perfect Soldier was nothing if not opportunistic. He
was pleasantly surprised to find that it would have
been ~preferable~ to have two people to open the
stairs to the attic, but not absolutely ~necessary~.
He walked up them. Then he began to search the attic
methodically until he found the bow and quiver.
He picked them up and tested the bow's strength. He
couldn't pull it back. He frowned and exerted more
pressure. Still the bow would not bend. He clenched
his teeth as he used his strength full force.
~THWANG~
Heero found himself sliding headfirst down the far
wall. He landed with a dull ~thud~. The bow lay on the
ground where he'd been standing, bowstring still
humming. He blinked rapidly. Surely the faint red glow
around it was just a result of the blow to his skull.
He stood and shook his head to clear it before
crossing over to the bow and picking it up. He fixed
it with a poisonous glare and tried to figure out how
Duo could use it and he couldn't. When the bow made no
move to explain this, he dropped it unceremoniously.
"Hn," he grunted, and turned to the quiver.
He drew an arrow from it, examining the fine wooden
shaft and expertly split feather fletchings. The arrow
head itself appeared to be made of some sort of
pinkish-red stone. The shape was lost on him. He
tested the edge, then narrowed his eyes as the
slightest brush gave him a thin cut on the pad of his
thumb. That soft red glow glimmered around the
arrowhead for a moment. He glared it into
non-existence. Just like he glared at Relena...
A silent yet almost - dreamy? - sigh escaped his lips
as he thought of the girl he just could ~not~ kill. He
caught himself just before he could break into a -
wistful? - smile. What was wrong with him? He was
thinking about ~Relena~ like that? He contained a
shudder. He frowned and glared at the arrow in his
hand. This was puzzling. Was there some sort of drug
on it? He couldn't afford to start daydreaming about
Relena with her beautiful eyes and golden-brown
hair... He found himself unable to suppress a gag. {1}
"Hn," he reiterated, shaking his head again.
Definitely some sort of hallucinogen on the tip. He
set it back in the quiver. He should go lie down for a
while to get it out of his system... or better yet, he
should take a cold shower. Hopefully afterwards he
wouldn't feel so dirty...
A sudden thud from the floor below him made him drop
the quiver. In a flash he was halfway down the stairs,
gun drawn and ready as he listened to the stream of
blistering curses.
"Shut up, Thalia, d'you wanna get us caught?"
"Sorry, but ~some~ of us don't have wings to
gracefully soar in through windows. We have to climb
in like lowly ~mortals~," the girl's voice replied
with scathing sarcasm. "Besides, this house is so big
no one will hear us. Let's just get the bow and arrows
and leave. Aphrodite can cram her 'entertainment' up
her pretty little a- "
"Freeze," Heero said tonelessly, having followed the
voices to the room that was their source. Since the
open door obscured his view, he could only see the
girl, at whom he pointed the gun. She whirled to face
him, looking chagrined. He was surprised to see the
purple toga, but kept his face carefully neutral.
"'No one will hear us,'" the male he couldn't see
mocked in a falsetto. "And it's the one with spandex,
too. This mission just keeps getting better and
better."
"Shut up, Erry. You're not helping," the girl hissed,
then spoke to Heero. "Don't shoot us, please? We don't
mean you any harm. We just want the bow and quiver."
"Who are you and who sent you?" he demanded as he
cocked the gun. "OZ?"
"OZ? What the Tartarus is OZ? ~We're~ from - "
"Don't tell him, Thalia. Mom's gonna be pissed off as
it is."
"Easy for you to say! You aren't the one who's got a
gun at your head."
Heero's eyes flickered to the direction of 'Erry's'
voice, then back to 'Thalia.'
"Come out where I can see you," he ordered.
"I'd rather not."
"I'll shoot the girl."
"Go ahead."
"Erry!" Thalia squawked.
"It won't do any good, you're immort- "
"Erry - " she said, warningly this time.
"What? Our cover's already blown."
"Hey! Why did you just stop me from explaining if our
cover's blown?!"
"Shut up," Heero said.
"Hn. They probably won't believe us anyway. And we
wouldn't be in this mess if ~you~ hadn't fallen in the
window."
"Look who's talking Mr.
I'm-so-special-'cause-I've-got-wi- "
"SHUT UP," Heero repeated.
"Look, all we want is the bow and quiver. They're
mine, and they're pretty dangerous to just leave lying
around," 'Erry' said, sounding irritated.
"You are not in the position to be making demands,"
Heero said and gestured with his gun. "Out in the
hallway, both of you. Now."
The girl rolled her eyes and sighed. She complied with
some grumbling, of which Heero caught confusing bits
involving someone called Aphrodite and a plague of
whoopee cushions. Heero waited for the man to come
out, but just as there was a hint of movement from
behind the door, there was a rumbling. The ground was
shaking, and the house groaned uneasily around them.
The hall was filled with the smell of sulfur. Thalia
was suddenly extremely pale.
"Eros! Is this what I think it is?" she shouted.
"No, it ~can't~ be! Zeus told him not to come up in
the human world anymore! Not since Persephone!"{2}
came the reply. The shaking increased significantly.
"Then again..."
"Come on, we've got to go! If it ~is~ him, someone's
got to protect the mortals!"
Heero tried to keep his balance, but the violent
shaking threw him to the ground . Thalia cried out as
a great ~CRACK~ signaled the cave in of the floor.
But before this...
Quatre was surprised to see that the table had been
cleared already. Having an idea who would've done
this, he went into the kitchen. Sure enough, Trowa had
his arms buried in soap suds as he washed the glasses
and empty lemonade pitcher. Quatre smiled and came up
to him unnoticed.
"Thanks," he said simply. Trowa glanced at him and he
smiled wider. The banged boy was cute when he was
startled. Quatre doubted anyone else could really tell
on Trowa's expressionless face, but with all the
studying the blonde did of him, he could. Trowa
blinked at him, the tiniest hint of warmth in his
eyes.
"I wanted to help."
"Well, now it's my turn to help. I'll dry," Quatre
said, taking out a dish towel.
They worked in companionable silence and had just
finished when Wufei came into the kitchen. A limp form
in black swim trunks was in the Chinese boy's arms.
Quatre frowned worriedly and walked over quickly,
followed by Trowa.
"Wufei, what happened?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know," Wufei replied snappishly. "One second
he was fine, the next he was out cold."
Quatre examined him closely. He was obviously trying
to look like his normal uncaring self, but there was
worry in his ebony eyes. Quatre frowned in sympathy.
"Hmm. Well, maybe we should put him in his room and
call Sally Po to come and look at him-"
He was cut off as the ground began to shake.
"What the hell?" Wufei yelled, dodging pots and pans
that were falling from their hooks on the wall.
"Quatre, I didn't know your place was near a fault
line!"
"It's not!" Quatre shouted back. "We've got to get out
of here!"
Wufei needed no urging and ran back down the hall to
the patio. Trowa and Quatre followed closely as the
house began to shudder under the stress. They were
almost to the door when the roof caved in. Quatre
turned to see Trowa fall under a pile of debris.
"TROWA!" he cried, and rushed back. He tore wildly
into the heap, not feeling the cuts he was getting
from broken glass and twisted metal, intent on finding
the banged boy. He finally unearthed an unconscious
Heavyarms pilot, heaved him up, and staggered out of
the door as more of the house collapsed. He didn't
stop running until he made it to the far side of the
pool, where Wufei was kneeling beside Duo. Wufei shook
his shoulders, trying to wake him up even though it
was a useless gesture. Quatre placed Trowa down
carefully.
The ground cracked, a wide chasm forming between them
and the house. The pool split and the gallons of water
gushed noisily into the slash in the earth as sulfuric
gases rushed just as noisily out of it. Quatre gasped
for breath and Wufei began coughing earnestly. Then a
voice like the baying of a pack of hounds rose from
the pit.
"AH, MY DEAR SHINIGAMI! YOU HAVE FINALLY COME TO JOIN
ME!"
Heero didn't know exactly how it happened, but somehow
or another he was being born away from a collapsing
house on the back of an angel. {3} White wings pumped
on either side of him, and he clung to the bare
muscular shoulders as he looked down at the grounds. A
gaping jagged crevice had formed between the mansion
and the pool. The winged being known as 'Erry' flew
directly above it through the vent of noxious gases.
Heero coughed but looked down through watering eyes
into the abyss. He saw what appeared to be a river of
glowing green - stuff, which swirled unpleasantly,
making him nauseous.
"AH, MY DEAR SHINIGAMI! YOU HAVE FINALLY COME TO JOIN
ME!"
"Hurry Eros! He's coming up!" screamed the girl, who
was being carried in the angel's arms.
"I'm trying!"
He landed in front of the other four pilots, unfurling
his wings to their full extent. He turn his head back
to Heero.
"You should stand back," he shouted as Wing's pilot
dropped down. "Let us take care of this."
Heero just nodded silently, feeling extraordinarily
out of his depth. He stepped back a few paces, pulling
his tank top over his nose and mouth to filter the
air. Quatre stood and staggered over to Eros and
Thalia.
"What's going on?" he demanded of them, choking from
the fumes.
"It's - " began Thalia, but was cut off by a sudden
flare of green fire.
A tall swarthy man stood at the edge of the cavernous
maw into the Underworld, wrapped in a black cape that
seemed to be more a shadow than cloth. He smiled
eerily at them. The man snapped his fingers, and the
three conscious pilots all froze. Eros and Thalia
glared at him.
"This is quite a pleasure," Hades said, his voice no
longer magnified but still holding a wild frightening
undertone. "I knew at least one other God was here,
but I hardly expected a muse as well."
"We weren't expecting you, though," Thalia replied
easily. "I'll give you one thing, you sure know how to
make an entrance."
"Cut the pleasantries. What are you doing here? You
know Zeus's command," Eros said coldly.
"Ah, but this has special circumstances, my dear
grand-nephew. You see, I am merely collecting that
which is mine," Hades said smoothly.
"Just like you did with Persephone?"
Hades laughed, a sound as bleak as the winter wind
howling through a forest.
"No. This time Zeus and Demeter can do nothing.
Shinigami is my grandson," the God of the Underworld.
{4}
If the gundam pilots had been able to react, this
declaration might've seemed more dramatic. As it was,
Heero's eyes widened, Quatre's already-wide-eyes
became the size of dinner plates, and Wufei throat
strained to curse. Thalia merely snapped her
fingers... or tried to anyway.
"Of course! I ~knew~ there was something different
about him when I chose him for this!" she exclaimed.
"My dear, how very perceptive of you," Hades said.
"And while I'm quite enjoying our little chat, I
really must take what I came for and get going."
The god snapped his fingers. Duo's body stood, but his
head lolled to one side, making it quite clear that he
was still unconscious. His legs moved in a jerky
parody of walking, making his way to the god. When he
was close enough, Hades wrapped the braided teen in
that strange shadow that was his cloak. With a last
eerie howl of laughter, he snapped his fingers and
disappeared. But instead of a mere flare of flames,
there was an explosion followed by a wave of green
light that threw everyone back twenty yards. Even the
Olympians were knocked unconscious, and the ground
began shaking again as the rift began to close.
{1}- ::shudders:: Sorry! I ~know~ Heero wouldn't think
like this even if he was on crack. Put it down to the
power of Erry's Arrows of Luuuv.
{2}- Insert the legend of Persephone here. One thing I
made up. In my fanfic here, Zeus has apparently
forbidden Hades to come to earth again. That does not
happen in the actual myth.
{3}- Well, that's what Eros looks like! And Heero's a
soldier, how would he know about the obscure
references to ancient Greek mythology?
{4}- Ooooh, the plot thickens! Can we say 'soap
opera'?
Duo: Hey! What about me an' Wu-chan over here? I
though for sure that this fic was headed for a
Wufei-uke lemon scene what with the sunburn lotion and
all...
Wufei: WHAT??? INJUSTICE!!!
Duo: ::big kawaii grin:: Awwwww, you're so ~cute~ when
you're angry. ::nudges Wufei with an elbow:: You know
you like it.
Wufei ::furious blushing:: I don't know what you're
talking about, Maxwell!!
Duo ::big kawaii leer:: Suuuure you don't, Fei-babe.
O_o ... Ah well, this fic is going on for another
couple parts, it looks like. ::ignores groans from
G-boys, muses, and readers:: ::points at nasty
cliff-hanger ending:: I hate cliff-hangers. Now look
what I've gone and done! And I ~do~ plan on explaining
everything. Just let me get around to it... In the
meantime SEND C&C!!!! DAMMIT!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Thalia ::rolls eyes:: Eros, you know the drill.
Eros ::nods, then nocks a heart-tipped arrow and aims
bow at readers:: C&C please, or I'll make you get an
obsession for the nearest spandex-wearing terrorist
who wants to kill you.
Thalia: Oooh! Goody! I get hold the sign! ::holds sign
that reads: "Send all Comments and Criticisms to