Author's Note: Thalia :: carrying bound and gagged

authoress :: Hello all! We're sick of waiting ten

minutes for our authoress to get to the fic, and so

have taken precautions to avoid her rambling in an

extended Author's Note. So without further ado, we

give you this chapter.

Disclaimer: Eros: I'll be handling the disclaimer. Our

authoress doesn't own Gundam Wing. The Greek myths and

deities have been twisted into a nearly-unrecognizable

mess. Shounen ai, switching of POV, general weirdness,

and most likely OOC. These ~ ~ are for emphasis.

The fields were warm and sunny, a summer breeze

blowing across them. Duo was faintly puzzled by the

sunlight, for the sky was as pitch black as it had

been before. The sounds of laughter and happiness

filled the air along with the scent of wildflowers. He

crept along quietly, not wanting to disturb the

residents. He approached the woman shown to him by

Hades cautiously almost afraid of what her reaction to

him would be. She didn't notice him, busily plaiting a

garland of wild flowers for a pretty little girl. The

blonde child looked up and saw Duo. She smiled

cheerily at him.

"Hullo!" the girl greeted him. Duo's mother glanced up

from her work with a smile, which swiftly turned to

surprise and confusion. She handed the garland to the

girl.

"Moira, why don't go play with Sally and Jane?{1} I

bet they'll want to see your pretty necklace," the

woman said. The child nodded and skipped away.

Standing, the woman took in every aspect of Duo, who

longed for his normal clothes and not the swim trunks

in which he was still clad. They stood stock still,

staring at each other for what seemed like an

eternity. Then with a rapidity that startled the boy,

she crossed the space between them and enfolded him in

a hug.

"So you're mine. I've been worried about you," she

said in a teary voice. "You have his eyes, you know.

Sure they're a bit more human, but they're just as

purple. Have you met your father yet?"

"N-no," Duo said, voice strangely hoarse. Funny. Half

his life he'd wanted to find his parents and talk to

them, ask them questions, ~know~ them, and now that he

was here, he couldn't think of a single thing to say.

His mother released him, backing up a step.

"Do you know my name?" she asked, barely pausing to

hear his answer. "I died before I could even name you,

and your father was always busy working I suppose...

He told me what Zeus did. What's your name? You're not

dead, are you?"

"I'm Duo Maxwell, and I'm not dead," he told her, a

bit in shock. Was that how he sounded when he was

babbling? Well, at least now he knew that it wasn't

his fault, it was in his genes. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kayla Sunn. But... will you call me... Mom?" she

asked tentatively. She looked at him with eyes

sparkling with tears. Duo couldn't help but to smile.

A bubble of happiness was welling up in him. He'd

finally found his mother. Granted, she was already

dead, but still, you can't choose your parents.

"Okay, Mom," he said, feeling his eyes sting. {2}

Wufei plummeted downward between the snaking, twisting

mass of green energy, dodging the bolts of jagged

lightning that came his way. He smirked and banked,

avoiding another writhing feeler. He kept diving,

feeling his eyes water from the wind that whipped at

his eyes. He had to get to Duo, had to find the boy

before the Underworld was completely superimposed on

Earth. He didn't quite understand all the implications

of that, but he knew that it was not a good thing.

Plus he didn't know what horrors were being inflicted

on ~his~ Duo by that monster of a god.

Finally, Wufei reached the bottom of the chasm. He was

so far down that he could no longer see the opening

above him. Silver sand slipped around his feet and he

jogged to keep from sinking in it. Ahead of him was a

great gold and silver gate encrusted with jewels and

gems, the doors flung wide open. He saw no sign of

this 'Cerberus' creature, but he wouldn't have been a

gundam pilot if he hadn't been trained to be wary of

everything. He took the bow off his shoulder and drew

an arrow from the quiver, nocking it carefully as he

came up to the gate.

A sudden baying froze him in place. His heart skipped

a beat. The howl was in terrible harmony, the sound of

pure fear. As the undulating cry went on, a hulking

shape emerged from the shadow behind the gate. The dog

was the size of a grizzly bear, with three massive

heads all screwed into masks of hate as they switched

from howling to a menacing growl that Wufei could feel

in his bones. Wufei aimed the bow, swallowing hard as

he approached.

Cerberus lunged with a fierce. Wufei just barely

managed to leap to one side, firing the arrow. It sank

deep into the beast's side, causing a cry of fury. It

spun with more agility than anything that size should

have had, and one of the heads nearly bit Wufei's leg.

Only a reflex tensing of his shoulder muscles saved

him from becoming a chew toy. How weak was he, to

forget he had wings? He flew gracefully into the air,

nocking another arrow. Cerberus leapt to catch him,

but missed by a few inches. Wufei hovered just out of

reach, took aim, and loosed the arrow. Again, it

struck it's target, but had about as much effect.

Fury lent strength to the creature, and before Wufei

had even finished drawing his hand from the quiver, he

found himself being crushed beneath enormous paws.

Cruel claws dug into his chest, and he struggled to

free even one arm. Three grotesque faces snarled at

him, rank breath making it hard for him to

concentrate, drool dribbling onto him. They all began

to howl triumphantly when they suddenly stopped and

ran off to one side.

It took a second to register that he was free. It

finally clicked when a hand appeared in front of him,

offering help. Too stunned to really do anything else,

he took it. He was heaved to his feet, and found

himself staring into glowing violet eyes. The

heart-shaped face and lithe figure were incredibly

familiar, but the short cloud of dead white hair all

but canceled out any resemblance. The new appearance

smiled slightly at the hell hound, which was now

chomping noisily on something that looked suspiciously

like a triple-decker chocolate cake. {3}

"Who are you?" Wufei demanded, unnerved but the

strange eyes.

"I am Thanatos, Shinigami's father. I have temporarily

incapacitated Cerberus," his savior said calmly. "The

Avatar of Justice, are you? I assume you are here to

retrieve my son."

"Yes. Don't try to stop me," the young man said. A

peaceful chuckle was his response.

"I wouldn't dream of it. We were meant to be guardians

of this place, to keep the dead and the living

separate. What my father is doing is madness, and I

will do all in my power to stop him. I cannot rescue

Shinigami myself, Hades would know immediately. Not

even I can overpower or outwit him on his own ground.

But I do know where my son is."

"Where?"

"He is in the Elysian Fields. Fly straight forward

from the inside of the gate, and don't turn around or

stop for anything until you reach him. When you do

find him, keep flying straight forward. You will find

your way back here. Hurry, you don't have much time.

The Underworld is leaking out too quickly." Thanatos

urged him through the gate. "Good luck. I shall try to

distract Hades with my presence. He shouldn't be able

to sense you, you yourself are mortal. The Spirit of

Justice is simply working through you."

"I understand. Thank you," Wufei said, and took off.

Trowa watched in amazement and not a little fear as

the silver sand quickly spread across the area around

Quatre's home. It had been rolling hills and trees,

but now as far as he could see there were only dunes

of sparkling silicon. He turned his eyes to Quatre to

see how he was taking it. Quatre's aquamarine eyes

were deeply troubled, and he paced around on his

cloud. Trowa guided his own misty support to a level

with Quatre's. He stepped onto the other boy's and

stood beside him unnoticed, as Quatre had his back to

him. The European boy had an urge to put an arm around

the blonde's shoulder, but restrained himself.

"How are you holding up?" he asked quietly. Quatre

jumped slightly and turned to face him. Then he

smiled, but it looked forced.

"I'm okay, I guess," the Arabian reassured him.

"You're worried about Duo and Wufei."

Quatre gave a mirthless laugh. "Am I that

transparent?"

"You shouldn't be worried. Duo and Wufei can each take

care of themselves. And now that they've both turned

out to be... whatever it is they are, they should only

be more capable of doing so," Trowa said, then fell

silent.

"But look what they're up against. Gods? Whatever

lurks down ~there~?" Quatre gestured to the

ever-widening chasm, losing his pretense of a smile.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "There's so much at

stake, and it's ~my~ fault. I made Eros and Thalia

become solid. The bow wouldn't have been a problem if

they'd stayed in their own plane of existence."

Trowa startled himself by putting a hand on the

shorter boy's cheek. He frowned slightly at his

inability to control the impulse, but he just ~had~ to

comfort his... friend. He gritted his teeth as he

recalled that ~that~ was all they were. There was no

way Quatre would feel any other way for ~him~. Then he

realized that he was just standing there stupidly

staring at Quatre without saying anything, and that

Quatre was looking back with something indecipherable

in his beautiful eyes.

"Don't blame yourself, little one. You are human, you

make mistakes. These gods should have been the ones to

take care of their possessions, not you," he said even

more softly than normal.

"But Trowa... what if they don't come back?" Quatre

asked, guilt and worry in his tone.

"...." Trowa groped for words to reassure. Quatre

suddenly wrapped him into a warm hug. He was stunned,

and before he could get over it enough to return the

embrace Quatre had pulled away, but a small smile

curved his lips.

"You always know exactly what to say."

Trowa returned the smile with a faint one of his own.

Wufei had been flying for what seemed like an eternity

over the endless silver dunes, and he was growing

desperate. He had the strongest feeling that he was

being followed, but he heeded Thanatos's advice not to

turn around for anything. He had to find Duo, and he

didn't know how much time he had left before it was

too late. To make matters worse, the wounds he'd

received from Cerberus were painfully making

themselves known with every movement of his wings or

torso. He grimly refused to let himself slow down to

ease the pain; he had a mission to complete.

He was going so fast he almost missed it, a flash of

green suddenly shimmered into existence below him. He

dived sharply, straining the deep gashes on his chest

and belly. He passed through a barrier of whipping

wind and stinging sand and found himself over a

breath-takingly beautiful field and forest. He saw the

souls of the innocent and pure, and looked among them

for the familiar braid and manic grin.

Then he saw something that shocked him out of the sky,

landing awkwardly at the feet of a pretty

thirteen-year-old girl. She blinked at him in equal

shock.

"Wu- Wufei?" Meiran asked. {4}

Hades stood in the exact center of the Underworld, a

shadow that blended almost perfectly with the shadow

of the dune beside him. He watched as the pitch sky

began to sparkle with stars, and grinned maniacally.

The merging of worlds was nearly complete. Soon he'd

be beating Zeus at his own game, locking him forever

in impotence on Mount Olympus. Then Earth would be

~his~ and his alone, as it should have been from the

beginning. He would have laughed if he had not become

aware of another's presence behind him.

"Ah, Thanatos. Come to bask in my soon-to-be glory?"

"No, Father. I'm here to talk some sense into you,

before it's too late."

"It's already too late, my son. Look around! Nothing

can stop it now. Shinigami won't be able to get free

without help, and none of the grand idiots of love and

comedy have attempted a rescue. Those so-called Gods

on Mount Olympus haven't even caught on yet, so

distant have they become from humanity. They abandoned

the mortals long ago, why should they even care?"

"They are not so aloof as you think. Why else would

Eros and Thalia have been with the mortals in the

first place, if the Gods have turned their back on

mankind?" Thanatos pointed out in his waif of a voice.

"Hn," Hades snorted, with a dismissive wave of his

hand. "Then they have become worse than aloof. They

use the mortals for mere amusement, as toys."

"Is that not what you are doing?"

"No. Shinigami is not a toy. He is a tool. There is an

important difference. And he will be rewarded amply

for his services," the King of the Underworld said

with another smile. Thanatos fixed him with an

uniterpretable expression.

"Do you think it is a reward to push an adolescent

into an eternity of killing?"

Hades looked puzzled for only a moment.

"He is a God. It was his destiny from the moment he

was conceived."

"Shinigami may be a God, but Duo is mortal. He has

killed enough for any human lifetime, and I do not

wish to see him suffer because of what you call his

destiny. Have you yourself not become distant from

humanity, to forget what pain is? To forget what your

task as Guardian of the Dead is?" Thanatos demanded,

violet eyes flashing.

"I ~never~ forgot. ~I~ always was close to the

mortals, closer than any other God on Olympus. Even

after most of the mortals forgot about us, ~I~ still

kept taking them in when they died. I will be there

for the mortals, a tangible God right there on Earth."

"How is inflicting living death on mortals going to

prove that you care? The Elysian Fields will die and

decay, Tartarus will expand to cover the Earth. And

you shall rule a graveyard more dismal than the

Underworld could ever be, with the haunted husk of a

mortal child forever chained to a scythe," Thanatos

whispered.

"You will destroy the world in attempt to gain

vengeance on your brother," the God of Death went on

cruelly. "All I have to ask you is, does Mother know?"

Hades winced visibly at that. "I'll take that as a no.

Do you think that she will take the death of her

living Earth well? She and Demeter will be quite upset

by now."

And as if by cue there were twin poofs of green smoke.

On the sands of the Underworld stood two women, one

matronly with rich dark brown hair and an earthy

complexion, the other a young woman with sandy blonde

hair and voluptuous curves. Both looked - for lack of

a better expression - extremely PISSED OFF. The blonde

stepped forward and stood with her hands on her hips,

glaring at him.

"Er - hello, dear," Hades greeted weakly.

{1}- It's 2:34 AM and I'm on a crash from a sugar

high. There is no brain power left to think of names.

My apologies.

{2}- It's just so touching... ::sniff::

Thalia: Yeah, you can just see the sparkles. ::rolls

eyes::

{3}- Hey, I didn't even have to make this up! In Greek

myths, Cerberus could easily be distracted if you gave

him cake. Weird, huh?

{4}- Whoa! Betcha didn't see ~that~ coming from a mile

away! Total surprise, right? Riiiight.

Continued in next part! They were originally one

chapter, but I thought if was a bit too long, so I

split it up. But that doesn't mean you can skimp on

reviews! I need the feedback! My ego isn't big enough

yet!

G-boys and muses: ::cough::yeahright::cough::

Hn. I work and I slave over this fic, and this is the

thanks I get. Anywho, C&C! I'll give you pocky and/or

cookies and/or naked G-boys dripping with hot fudge!

^_^

G-boys: O_o WHAT!?!?

I'm so evil. ^_~ BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Eros: ::sighs and holds up a sign that reads: "Send

all Comments and Criticisms to [email protected]"