The Broken Seal | By : Michalyn Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1821 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
The Broken Seal
by Michalyn
Part One of Two
Rating: MA
Author's Note: I started writing this last month,
hoping to finish it in time for May 13th (13x6x5 day) but the damned thing got
so long that I just couldn't finish it in time. It's supposed to be a oneshot
but because this part is already pretty long I decided to break the entire thing
into two parts. These are my three favorite GW guys so this is a total piece
of indulgence. I hope you enjoy my silliness. ^_^
---------------------------------------
Summary: As guardian of Dragon Glen, Wufei spends his days at the mountain temple,
watching over terrible demons sealed within stone for their misdeeds. The young
mage performs his duties impeccably, until a violent lightning storm brings
him much more trouble than he bargained for.
---------------------------------------
From the temple mount, Blackmoor forest extended like a lush carpet far beyond
the eye could reach. Wufei was so high up that even the tallest trees seemed
like children's toys. A frigid wind rippled through the trees, making them sway
and turning their leaves silver-green. The gust caught Wufei's crimson cloak
with it, revealing the pale magist's robes beneath the heavy material. On his
shoulder, his pet dragon, Nataku shifted restlessly, making a hissing noise.
Wufei ran a soothing hand over her iridescent scales.
"You feel it too, don't you, little one?"
he murmured as thunder clattered overhead and the air became sharp with the
scent of imminent rain. For the past six nights Wufei had been unable to sleep,
kept awake by an unnamable sense of unease. At best, it was a prickling of the
senses, at worst, a heavy foreboding--a premonition of danger that had Wufei
jostling the runes in his pocket for comfort. He had become temple guardian
in his fifteenth winter and in the four winters since, Wufei had never felt
anything like this. Should he send a warning to the village? No ... that would
be pointless. What would he say? That they should lock up their houses because
he had a bad feeling? They would think he had gone soft in the head from all
the years spent up on the mountain.
Wufei sighed, stopping again between the two
statues into which the ancient seals were carved. These stone sentinels were
the reason for his peculiar existence; the reason that in every generation since
his people could remember, the most gifted of their youth was sent to the mountain
to watch over the statues and make sure the demons who were sealed inside never
escaped again. Wufei had long ago accepted his duty, and with Nataku for company
along with the occasional traveler or villager come to the mountain to bring
him provisions, he didn't mind his solitary days much. In fact, he was even
grateful for them at times. Only occasionally did he feel a twinge as he wondered
what life might have been like had he been born a baker's son or a black-smith's
apprentice, free to live and love as he chose. During those times, Wufei could
not help yearning for a life more ordinary. Being the protector of his people
came at a considerable price.
Wufei gazed into the sinister faces of the statues.
Their lips were curled back in feral snarls and their stone fingers were sharpened
claws. They were almost identical save for the armor each wore. A cape rested
on the arm of the statue to the right in many-layered folds while in his other
hand, the demon brandished a terrifying sword. Unlike his companion, the statue
on the left, however, wore no cape. His tunic was short and he leaned forward
on one bent leg, a sandaled foot propped on a large shield.
They were General Khushrenada and his Lieutenant.
Legend had it that the demons were once powerful magist-warriors in the service
of a great king. They were invincible, vanquishing the king's enemies and ensuring
a reign of peace. Those gentle days were not to last forever, though. One winter,
the two warriors were drawn into a trap by Septm, a dark lord who sought the
throne. General Khushrenada and Lieutenant Merquise were cursed. Possessed,
they turned against the very people they once protected, unleashing a bloody
rampage on the countryside, the kind of which had never been seen before. For
months they were unstoppable, laying waste every village they passed through.
They arrived in Dragon Glen and Wufei's people also fell under their sword.
All seemed lost until finally after a desperate
battle, a powerful young mage confronted them. Already injured from the fighting,
he knew he could not completely defeat them. Their strength was much too great.
Knowing, that their destructive power came from Loki, evil spirits, which had
bound themselves to the General's and Lieutenant's souls, the mage cast a potent
purification spell over the warriors, hoping to lure the evil spirits out and
weaken the warriors' powers for a moment. In that shimmering instant when the
Loki hovered above the warriors' souls, the young man scorched them with mage
fire. The Loki were exorcised, but it was too late for the warriors. The evil
spirits had been entwined with them for so long, that their souls were irrevocably
affected. The mage knew that General Khushrenada and Lieutenant Merquise were
no longer human. With the last of his energy, he sealed the demons in stone
and had them carried far away from the village. From that moment on, he lived
on the mountain, devoting his life to ensuring they would never break free again.
Thus, Wufei found himself, one in a line of hundreds
of other guardians and he had no reason to doubt that another hundred guardians
would follow him as well. A soft rain began to fall and lightning rent the clouds.
Nataku fluttered her wings, and released a keening cry to the wind.
"Guess we better head back," Wufei
said. He pulled on his hood and started to make his way back to his cottage.
The rain beat down with increasing force and Wufei hurried, eager to get inside
where it was warm and dry. With the usual temple spring cleaning for the fire
festival just around the corner, he could not afford to catch cold.
Thunder clattered overhead and the rain pelted
Wufei without mercy. He had just reached the temple gate when a powerful flash
of lightning burned through the heavens. It was so bright, the sky turned white,
blinding Wufei. In that instant, an incredible explosion rocked the ground,
sending him tumbling down the temple stairs. Wufei gasped as his shoulder slammed
against a column and the rune stones flew from his pocket. Nataku shrieked and
flapped around him in alarm, her head gently butting Wufei as she tried to get
him to stand up. Damn it! Wufei groaned. His shoulder throbbed with hot
pain. What the hell was that?
Steadying himself, Wufei tried to locate the
source of the disturbance, but even as he limped to his feet, he could sense
something was terribly wrong. The air vibrated with energy and rubble was scattered
in every direction. Wufei's heart pounded as he bent to examine the crumbled
stone.
"Ouch!" he hissed, dropping the fragment
like a hot potato--and it was indeed that hot, its edges scorched and blackened.
Wufei didn't want to believe it, but with every minute his dread grew worse.
A lightning storm could do a lot of damage but lightning alone could not render
magistically tempered stone into these lumps of coal. Worse, the heavy, almost
stifling weight of the air was unmistakable: Magic. An incredible power
had been released and Wufei knew of only thing for a thousand miles that could
generate this kind of energy. And if what he was thinking was true...
Wufei whirled toward the statues and what he
saw made his blood run cold. Lightning had blasted both of the seals and now
power poured from the breached stone like water from a spring. The seal on the
Lieutenant was partially intact but the General's seal was completely blown
away. Wufei cursed and dropped to his knees, scrambling amongst the rubble for
his rune stones. The General was the more powerful of the two. It would have
been much better if the Lieutenant's seal had been broken and the General's
stayed intact. If he escaped.... No, Wufei did not want to think about that.
He had to do something, and quickly.
Wufei burrowed beneath the dust and plaster and
found one rune stone after another until he was missing just one. He searched
and searched until his robes were heavy with mud and his fingers were bruised
and tender but no matter how hard he looked, the final rune would not be found.
Wufei rocked back on his heels, cursing in frustration. With the full set of
stones he could concentrate his power to its greatest intensity. Without all
five, he would only be operating at about 70%. Normally, that would be more
than enough to defeat any enemy, but this was no ordinary foe. Knowing he couldn't
afford to waste another moment, Wufei had no choice but to abandon his search
and try to repair the seal with whatever power he had before the demon was fully
released.
Wufei braced himself and began summoning his
strength to restore the seal. It was like pushing against a wall. The air shimmered
and distorted as Wufei tried to staunch the deluge of power. He stumbled, perspiration
dotting his brow and his shoulder burning as the demon power, eager to be completely
released, resisted him. For a moment Wufei wondered if he could really control
this himself. Should he call for help? But no, the village was five-days ride
by horseback. By then it wouldn't matter what help he had rallied; the demon
would have escaped and with no Loki to exorcise, who knew if the General could
be sealed again. Besides, if Wufei could not restore the seals, no one could.
It was the very reason he was temple guardian. Panting, Wufei chanted the words
of an arcane binding spell as he focused all of his power on reconstructing
the seal. He hoped to use the ancient spell to compensate for his weakened power
and after a long struggle it seemed that he finally succeeded. The broken fragments
of the statues rose and reassembled in their proper places, the myriad fissures
in the stone glowing before fusing together again. The tension in the air diminished
and winked out.
Wufei slumped to the ground, relieved and utterly
drained from the effort it had taken to put things to rights again. As Nataku
alighted on his shoulder, he petted her slender tail.
"I don't know about you, girl, but I'm more
than ready to go home and see this day end."
Nataku's contented cry seemed to say she agreed.
---------------------------------------
Wufei's cottage was nestled in a lush arbor not
far from the mountain top. When he got inside, he lit the fire and set a pot
over the flames to heat his bathwater. Before coming in, he had carried in water
from the well and now a large wooden tub rested before the fireplace. He normally
had dinner before his bath, but the muck encrusted onto the hems of his robes
was too unpleasant to ignore. Wufei loosened his hair and stripping before the
fire, he rolled his robes and cloak into a neat bundle to be washed on the morrow.
Wufei took the pot off the fire and set the bathwater
to a comfortable temperature. He slipped into the tub, making a deep sound of
satisfaction as the warm water enveloped him. Such a simple pleasure, but it
felt wonderful after the day he'd spent. Wufei settled deeper into the tub,
wincing a bit as the water stung his bruised shoulder and the little cuts across
his knuckles from where he had scraped them searching for his rune stones. He
had opened the window to let Nataku out to hunt her dinner and while Wufei surveyed
the room, a gentle breeze blew in from outside, fragrant with the scent of rain
and the night-blooming flowers.
The walls glowed in the firelight and Wufei's
eyes traveled from the rough kitchen table with its sturdy chairs to the fresh
rushes on the stone floor. The cottage consisted of three rooms. The front room
and largest room served as kitchen and living room while overhead, connected
by a short ladder, the alcove housed his bedroom and his study. All in all,
it was a small space, but a cozy one. Everything he needed was right here. He
had a herb garden for both recipes and spells, and behind the cottage was a
small corral where he kept a temperamental she-goat named Betsy for milk and
cheese. What more could he want? Wufei mused. Companions, a little voice
in his head was quick to point out, but Wufei silenced it. He was perfectly
happy as he was.
The scent of lavender and chamomile rose from
the tub as Wufei washed himself. Humming a faint tune, he soaped his calves
then lifted one leg to rub the rag between his toes. When he was done, Wufei
rose from the tub and wrung the excess water from his hair. He was just reaching
for his wiping cloth when the air next to him crackled with electricity. There
was an incredible rushing sound, a gust of wind blasted into the room and before
Wufei knew what was happening, something landed at his feet with enough force
to cause the stone floor to reverberate.
Not something but someone... Wufei gasped
as a large figure materialized in front of the tub.
The man standing before him was easily three
heads taller than Wufei and twice as heavy. His broad shoulders were weighted
by armor and a navy blue cloak which swept the floor. Wufei was startled to
discover his golden breastplate inscribed with Old Verse, a form of writing
that had not been used in Dragon Glen for hundreds of years. In fact, only mages
and scholars knew it through their studies and even then, only very few were
proficient. The words were a common protection charm, more symbolic than magical
in their wish for their wearer's safe-keeping. If the power Wufei sensed emanating
from the mysterious warrior was any indication though, then the intruder had
no need of such a charm anyway.
It also meant that Wufei would be no match for
him.
The knowledge was like a fist to the gut but
denying it was pointless. Better to know the limits of his power than to have
a deluded sense of his abilities. As it stood, he would most likely be hurt,
but the latter would surely get him killed before he could warn his people.
Wufei's thoughts raced as he struggled to devise some means of defending himself.
The world seemed to contract to the pounding of his heart and the leaden weight
of his body, unable to move from shock and fear. And all the while Wufei could
not shake the feeling that he had seen the warrior's armor somewhere
before.
The intruder's tunic, of the same deep blue as
his cloak, ended just above his knee to bare strong tanned legs and sandaled
feet. The golden thongs of his sandals glittered and the reddish hairs on his
powerful calves caught the firelight as he dropped to one knee. The sudden movement
startled Wufei; he braced himself for the worst, knowing that running would
be useless. The fluttering of the intruder's tunic alone as he lowered himself
to the floor had caused the air to shimmer. No, there would be no getting far
enough away from this opponent. He would be upon Wufei before he even reached
the door. He might as well save all his energy for the inevitable bloody confrontation,
Wufei thought, steeling himself. He could only watch, every muscle taut with
dread as the warrior leaned closer and closer until his lips were almost brushing
Wufei's pubic hair. Wufei clenched his fists, wondering what this strange first
move meant.
Lazy blue eyes perused Wufei's form and the
intruder's nostrils flared delicately as if taking in his scent. "Well,
that is certainly a pleasant sight to wake up to after a thousand years,"
he rumbled.
At first Wufei didn't think he'd heard correctly.
Then blood rushed to his cheeks. Of all the depraved ... perverted! If
Wufei had doubted before, now he was sure he had some kind of evil presence
before him. Scrambling out of the tub, he pulled the wiping cloth about his
hips. Wufei's hands were trembling as he grabbed his runes from the table and
braced himself in a fighting stance.
"Name yourself, Bastard!"
The man ran a lazy hand through his hair. "General
Khushrenada," he drawled, advancing on Wufei. "And you must be the
pretty little mageling who tried to seal me away."
---------------------------------------
The words were like an icy hand around Wufei's heart. His his limbs were shaking
and blood was pounding in his ears as he tried to process what the warrior was
saying. There was no way. It wasn't ... couldn't be true.
"But ... but ... that's impossible,"
Wufei protested. "I just... sealed..."
But had he really? Wufei's voice died in his
throat as he remembered how eagerly the flow of energy had pulsed from the broken
seal and worse, how long it had taken him to find his rune stones before he
could repair it. Even then he had only been able to use a portion of his power.
When both were considered, it was more than possible--nay inevitable--that a
being as powerful as the General would have escaped. It would explain the magic
shifting around them even now in carefully controlled currents; it would also
explain why the General's uniform looked so familiar. Wufei realized with a
gasp that it was indeed identical to the one on the statue. Gods, it did not
matter that he would be killed but he would die before warning his people about
the bloody fate that awaited them and that was unforgivable. He had failed
as their guardian.
"I see you are beginning to understand,"
Khushrenada said as he studied Wufei's expression. "Actually the seal has
been weakening for years, but you could say it was literally a stroke of luck
that the storm hit when it did. Otherwise, I would be stuck in that damn stone
coffin for ten more winters at least. It's been a long time since I've been
in the human world and I must say I'm famished." The demon's laugh was
husky as he continued to advance upon Wufei.
Wufei took the demon's mention of hunger to mean
that now that the General had awakened, he was once again craving blood . "I
may not be able to defeat you, but as guardian of this temple neither can I
allow you to prey on the people of Dragon Glen. I will stake my life on it!
I will do anything you ask if you promise not to harm them," Wufei ground
out, even as it galled him to be pleading with this demon. Still, it was all
that he had left. He did not expect any deal he struck with Khushrenada to be
honored but he hoped it could buy him some time. For what, Wufei couldn't say;
he only knew he had to try for his people's sake. "What is it that you
want?" he asked. Perhaps we may reach some sort of agreement..."
"You wish to strike a bargain?" Khushrenada
raised an eyebrow. He licked his lips, all but grinning now.
"Yes." Wufei squared his shoulders.
He stood his ground, forcing himself to show as little of his panic as possible.
"And what would you have to barter with?"
Wufei took a deep breath. What he was about to
offer was dangerous; so dangerous that the risk of it was outweighed only by
the potential cost in human life if he did not try to persuade the demon. "I
can offer you a Pyrgion talisman."
Though demons were fearsome, because they drew
so much negative power from their surroundings, their bodies tended to be somewhat
unstable as they lacked little balancing positive energy. It meant that once
a demon became very powerful, if it expended beyond a certain threshold of energy
it risked destroying its internal equilibrium and annihilating both itself and
everything around it. Pyrgion talismans were used to stabilize that excess negative
energy and allow the demon to focus its powers without risking destruction in
much the same way that Wufei used his own rune stones to direct his powers.
That was where the danger lay. Giving the talisman to the General would make
him even stronger but because the Pyrgion stone absorbed some of the demon power
in order to be effective, there was a small chance of binding the demon by destroying
the talisman itself. Wufei held his breath, hoping that the General would take
the bait.
Khushrenada made a dismissive gesture. "Come
now, surely you don't expect me to be charmed by such baubles? No, you have
something else that I am far more interested in."
"Wh...What?" Wufei gasped as Khushrenada's
hand closed about his wrist. Even suppressed, the General's power was like a
jolt of electricity over his skin. For a commoner, the sensation would have
been painful, but for a mage whose very lifeblood was infused with magic it
was like being licked by a thousand pleasurable flames. Wufei stumbled backward
but the General's arm quickly encircled his waist, preventing him from falling.
He moaned as more power flowed into him from that simple point of contact and
his knees sagged. Wufei's head was spinning and he looked up to see Khushrenada
gazing at him with molten eyes. The General touched a hand to Wufei's waist
and the drying cloth he had secured about his hips disintegrated as if it had
never been.
"Yes, you do have something much
more valuable to offer," Khushrenada purred, lifting Wufei into his arms.
Every instinct of Wufei's screamed for escape
as he was hoisted into the air but with the net of the General's power cast
about him, he was having difficulty breathing, much less moving. He was impossibly
trapped and Wufei once again cursed the loss of his fifth rune. Determined,
however, to put up whatever fight he could, he tried casting a repulsion spell
but all that came out of his mouth was a helpless groan. The sound drew Khushrenada's
attention and the demon bent forward, his face drawing closer and closer to
Wufei's. Convinced that these moments were his last, Wufei made a final desperate
attempt at escape. He closed his eyes and tried chanting the repulsion spell
once more:
"Dragons of the west wind and spirits of
the--"
"Damn it, Treize, I thought I told you not
to start without me."
Wufei jerked as the husky, almost sulky voice
sounded right next to his ear. If he had panicked before, now his heart was
filled with terror. Th...that voice ... that power meant there were two of them.
And if there were two of them it could only be because Merquise had also escaped
his seal and both General and Lieutenant were now standing in his living room.
Wufei stopped chanting. Why waste his breath? It was over.
Khushrenada sighed, turning them towards the
origin of the complaint. "And was I supposed to wait while you dawdled,
Zechs? You certainly took your time getting here."
"Not all of us are lucky enough to have
lightning bolts come down from the heavens and free us in an instant. I had
to work to get out of that damned statue, you know," the other demon grumbled,
folding his arms across his muscular chest. His golden hair tumbled over his
shoulders and as he spoke, he flicked the swath behind him, smoothing it with
his fingers. His pale eyes fixed on Wufei and though the blond had not touched
him, Wufei felt seared. Where the General was grace and power, the newcomer
was raw intensity barely leashed. There was something wild about him; from the
sensuous bow of his mouth to the lazy thrust of his hip as he studied Wufei.
He was also somewhat taller than Khushrenada and broader of shoulder. He came
to lean over Wufei, his scarlet tunic rustling against his powerful thighs.
"What a lovely catch we've made this time,
haven't we, Treize?"
"Indeed, and it appears he wishes to strike
a bargain with us."
"Is that so?" The blond made a rumbling
sound deep in his throat. "By the way, don't you think you should tone
down your power a bit? You're going to make him drunk like that."
"Hmm, you might be right." Treize peered
at Wufei, perhaps seeing just how dazed he was feeling. Even Wufei was not sure
how much of that was from the demon's magic and how much from panic. Nevertheless,
he was startled to feel the power around him drop by slow degrees until it was
little more than his own energy level. Wufei's eyes darted from one demon to
the other, his body instinctively tensing for flight. Perhaps escape was possible
after all.
"What is this bargain, you want to make?"
Merquise asked him. "And does it involve that sweet body of yours?"
Wufei spluttered, his face growing hot as the
blond perused his form. Even to his inexperienced eyes and ears, Merquise's
look and his words were openly sexual. He heard the rumbles of agreement shared
between the intruders and it was only then Wufei realized that contrary to the
blood and destruction he had imagined, the kind of bargain Merquise was suggesting
was also what Khushrenada had intended all along. Wufei was aghast. He needed
no further confirmation of their depravity. Now more than ever he could not
allow himself or his people to fall into their clutches, Wufei vowed. Visions
of rapine tormented him as he imagined the demons descending on the village.
Ignoring Merquise's lascivious gaze, Wufei twisted
out of Khushrenada's arms. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he hit
the ground to hurl mage fire at them. Bluish light exploded from his palms and
the cottage shook, shuddering so violently on its foundations that Wufei feared
the windows would shatter. The heat alone from the blast was enough to scorch
the door to a cinder. Smoke billowed, thick black plumes obscuring Wufei's vision
so that he could no longer see his own hand braced for attack, much less the
two demons.
Wufei waited. For a moment, he could not detect
any demon magic and when it did return it was severely weakened. Could it be?
Had he somehow managed to inflict serious damage to Khushrenada and Merquise?
It was not completely unfathomable. Even missing his fifth rune, he'd put all
the energy he could muster into the shot, and by normal standards his power
was formidable. Hope swelled in Wufei's breast. It seemed he'd underestimated
himself after all. Wufei sprang forward. He must finish them off while they
were vulnerable.
"God damn it! What was that for?" Merquise
coughed and wiped the soot off his shoulders.
Or maybe not...
The blond waved his hand and the shield-like
barrier he'd erected in front of himself and Treize disappeared. It was obviously
made to repel magic and Wufei's heart sank when it dawned on him that this was
the reason the demon's powers had initially seemed muted. Even as Khushrenada
emerged from the fog of smoke, Wufei could feel the power in the room rapidly
returning to its previous levels.
"Treize, are you all right?" Merquise
asked, still coughing.
"Nothing to worry about at all, Zechs, though
this soot will be the devil to get out of my cloak."
"Ghastly stuff. I think you've got some
in your hair too, Treize."
"Really? Where?"
"In the back. Come, let me help you with
that...."
What had been fear within Wufei boiled to disbelief
and then outrage as he watched the two demons pat and groom each other, setting
their elaborate uniforms to rights. He lunged forward, an animal cry torn from
his throat. He drew on his power and energy pulsed around his hands.
"Bastards! I will not stand for this game
any more! I don't care if you're the most powerful demons in the universe. Fight
me or get the hell out of my village!"
"Demons?" Merquise frowned. He seemed
so puzzled, so truly offended that Wufei stopped dead in his tracks. "Treize
didn't you explain it to him?"
"Ah ... I'm afraid I got somewhat distracted,"
the General offered, looking somewhat sheepish.
"Explain what to me? Stop fucking
around!" Wufei shouted.
"Oh," Zechs waved his hand. "We're
not demons."
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