Disclaimer: I still own three goldfish and not Gundam Wing.

Thanks to Jaid Skywalker for the rose!  And to all that have reviewed, you are TOO kind!!!! Thanks again!! AND Thanks to my beta-reader, Anne!!!

THIS IS THE REVISED VERSION!

OH! And before I forget – this < italics > indicates a flashback just in case you guys get confused. ^_^

The Colours of Life

Chapter 5: Codes and Keys, anyone?

By: J.B. Santiago

-        Paris, Earth – Real Time –

“Go with them.”  Relena looked at her husband-to-be.  The words were forced and her throat dry but her eyes still had a determined gleam to them.

Heero just stared into her aquamarine eyes, his dark Prussian blue ones telling Relena everything he wanted to say but couldn’t voice.  They continued their staring contest until the phone rang, breaking Relena’s concentration as she glanced at the phone.  “It’s them.”

She turned back to Heero’s waiting stare.  “They need you more than I do.”

Heero finally moved, shaking his head, though he couldn’t say the word ‘no’.

Relena let out an exasperated sigh.  “Damn it, Heero!  Do you think I want you to go?  I want you to stay with me.  I want you with me forever…” She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to cry.  Relena silently cursed the single tear that slid down her cheek.  ‘Stuff it!’

Relena hugged him tightly, sobbing into his shirt as his arms enveloped around her.  He began to rock her gently edging towards the bed and the phone, snaking out a hand to unplug the incessant ringing.  Heero gently lifted her tear stained face, wiping away a runaway tear.  He hated to make her cry.  He had promised himself that Relena would never cry sad tears again.  Especially over him.  <‘Did you know she cries for you every night before she sleeps?’> Heero blinked as the unwanted memory popped up in his head.  Dorothy had said that to him.  She had said it so casually, like she was asking Heero for the time.  He shook his head a little, staring back into those aquamarine eyes he loved so much.  ‘Why does she tell me to go, then asks me to stay…?’

“Relena…”

Relena saw the uncertainty in Heero’s eyes.  He was so much stronger than she was.  He would be useful.  She would not.  ‘The Darkness doesn’t negotiate.’ She thought bitterly.  At times like these she wanted to take part in the physical battle, not be in the stands watching.  She wanted to save Catherine; she wanted to be there for Dorothy; she wanted to near Heero.  ‘Stop being so selfish, Relena!  You’ll only be in the way.’  She blinked away the treacherous tears.  “Heero, please, go save the world.  I love you, please do this for me.”  Her eyes pleading with him.  She felt anything she would say would come out wrong.

Heero pulled her closer to him.  He wanted to smell her honey coloured hair.  He wanted to feel all the indentations of her body.  Every curve and dip.  He wanted – no he couldn’t – wouldn’t – live without her.  “Why…Why do you want me to go?” He whispered in her ear.

Relena shivered involuntarily, no matter how many times he did that, she would always react to it  like it was happening for the first time.  “Because…Because I can’t help but you can…Please, please Heero.  It’s a selfish reason – I just don’t want to feel so helpless.”

Heero nodded.  His Relena would never be helpless.  He would go save Catherine; destroy this new threat.  For Relena.

**************

-        Florence, Earth – Real Time –

Dorothy stood near a gelati shop situated on the corner of the Piazza della Signoria.  Small groups of people, walked by, either going into stores or leisurely chattering about something.  The weather was gorgeous, the sky a beautiful shade of blue, no clouds with a breeze that was hardly detectable.  She looked up at the building opposite to where she was standing.  She could see an outline of a person looking out on the centre of the Piazza.  She smirked. ‘Quatre’.  She casually scanned the pillars besides the building.  A man stood leaning against a pillar, next to a vendor. ‘Trowa’.  She knew Duo was in the ‘getaway’ car, Sally and Hilde were in the second ‘getaway’ car and Wufei was in the room above the gelati shop.  The only one she couldn’t find was Heero. ‘Still the perfect soldier, Heero?’ Dorothy snapped out of her reverie when someone tapped her on her shoulder.

“Want some?” Bethany held out an ice-cream cone at Dorothy’s face.

“Bethany, this is no time to be eating dessert.” Dorothy’s tone a mix of scolding parent and exasperated teenager.

“Dory!  That’s what Firenze is famous for!” Bethany licked her ice-cream.  “It’s Double Choc Mocha with nuts, dipped in thick, dark chocolate.  Sure you don’t want some?”  She held it in front of Dorothy’s face, slowly swaying it around.

“Bethany.  Firenze is famous for the Duomo, Michelangelo’s David and the Ponte Vecchio.  Not an gelati shop on the corner.”  Dorothy was getting impatient. ‘Where are they?’

“So I take it, you don’t want any? Your loss.”  Bethany shrugged and continued to devour her double choc mocha with nuts covered in dark chocolate.

“Miss Bethany, Miss Dorothy.  A pleasure to see you again.”  The two cousins turned to face the person who had just spoken to them.  Two man with jet black hair, slicked with enough hair gel to put Trowa to shame, olive skin, dark eyes and each standing at least four inches taller than the two gave a smile that said, ‘I’m lying’.  They could have been poster boys for the Mafia.

Dorothy smirked at them. “Mr Alessio, Mr Mario.  The pleasure is all yours, I’m sure.”  Bethany just continued to eat her ice-cream, ignoring the two men.  “It’s amazing. You’re the first ones here.”  Dorothy kept her smirk on, her voice dripping with bland sarcasm.

Mario looked over at Bethany.  “Can I have a taste?” He said leering, trying to look down her summer dress.

Bethany gave a dangerous stare at him before kicking him in the shins.

“Oww! Ma va funculo! - ”  He was about to continue when a voice stopped him cold.

“Lasciare la sua solo, voi idiot.” They all looked at the person who had spoken.  Standing there was a dark-haired, semi-built man, with green-blue eyes. “Hello Miss Dorothy, Miss Bethany.”

Next to him stood a woman with the classic Italian features of Southern Italy.  She gave an easy smile at everyone.

“Giuseppi!  Veronica! It’s so good to see you again!”  Bethany gave the two a hug, mindful not to spill her ice-cream.  Dorothy nodded to them both, smiling back genuinely before glaring at the two other men and continuing her search through the crowds; building up for midday shopping.  She arched a delicate eyebrow as a tall, pale man with light brown hair walked up to her.  “Mr William!”

The man gave a sad smile.  “I know we’ve lost both of them, but I and the Blue Council want to help.” 

Bethany had stopped talking to Veronica and Giuseppi, and smiled sympathetically at the newcomer.  “I speak for the rest of the Council, when I say that we are truly sorry for your loss.”  She gave him a consoling hug, which William took willingly.  Dorothy ignored the touching scene.  She wasn’t trying to keep up her ice-bitch façade; she just didn’t want to think about his loss – to lose his father and brother in one go…She blinked her eyes roaming the crowds again.  She didn’t have to look for long.  Two light blond heads were seen weaving through the crowds.  Both had their hair at shoulder length, one wearing it up in a bun while the other had left it down.

“Everyone’s here.” Dorothy nodded towards the two blond women.  Bethany, who had been reacquainting William with the others, stopped and turned in the direction Dorothy had pointed to. 

Bethany brightened as the last of the council arrived. “Sylvia, Myra! It’s been too long.”

         *******************

“Sir, We can easily pick them off from where we stand.  They have four on the lookout but none of them have seen us.  Two escape cars are parked on the side road.  We can easily take them out as well.”  The soldier reported back his findings to the man.

The man shook his head.  “We only have a Net that can hold one key or code.  Kill one, any one.  Do it when they’re in the cars.  We still don’t know which base their going to.”

The soldier saluted, turned and began signalling the orders.

         *******************

Heero watched as the group of eight piled into the two cars. ‘Sylvia Noventa is one of them?’  He never thought he’d see her again, after he had offered his life to her.  He didn’t like how easy this had been.  They had been as discreet as possible but this was too easy.  He watched as the last person, a man with jet-black hair, climb into the car.  He heard a soft swish and then the man fell. 

His gun out and already down the flight of stairs, Trowa meeting him at the bottom of the stairs and they both ran to the fallen body.  The car he was supposed to get in was already speeding through the narrow streets away from the dead body.  The crowds had scattered as the other ex-pilots joined Heero and Trowa. 

Wufei looked at the dead body.  The man had been shot in the head, the bullet neatly exiting through his left eye.  “How the hell did they get a shot like that?!”  He angrily scanned the rooftops, searching for any movement at all.  The place was deserted now, not one person emerged.  Before he got started on an angry tirade, a cloud of black smoke drifted slowly, almost lazily towards them. 

“What the - ”

“Wufei!  Get out of the way!”  Quatre pushed him out of the way of the smoke as it began to wrap itself around the dead body.

“Shoot it!”  Heero began shooting at the black smoke, which had completely covered the body.  The bullets doing nothing as the black smoke seemed to get smaller and smaller until it had disappeared, dead body and all.

The four of them all stared at where the body had been.  Heero finally breaking the silence, “Let’s go.”  He began to walk towards another car hidden under a dusty covering.  “We need to tell them the Darkness has a another one.”

         *******************

The screams had started yesterday.  Catherine couldn’t block out the sound from her mind.  The screams seemed to reverberate around the cell.  It had made the other two prisoners in the cell draw more inwardly into themselves.  They had stopped eating.  Now they just rocked back and forth, almost in time to a beat Catherine couldn’t – didn’t want to hear.  The other girl, however, ‘Nanashi’ she had called herself seemed to be able to block out the screams.  She continued on, exactly the same before the screams.  Nanashi helped keep Cathie’s mind off the screaming even if for just a few minutes.  Catherine shivered as she heard the sounds of footsteps near the entrance of the cell.  The lights flickered on and food entered through the opening.  Catherine let go of the breath she hadn’t noticed she was holding.  Every time she heard the footsteps, she feared they were about to take her away…Away to where the screams originated and where they stopped.  Shuddering again as she heard someone get dragged out.  They weren’t as vocal as the other ones but she knew it would only get louder.

“It’s really systematic.”  Nanashi said behind her on the cot bed.

“What?”  Cathie felt her way to Nanashi’s cot, sitting beside the young woman, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin.  She needed anything to keep her from thinking of the screams.

“It’s systematic.  For the last three days, they’ve been taking out a person, every six hours. If we’re going by the numbers on our hand, than we have less than three days left.”  Nanashi whispered softly, her eyes staring blankly at the small table in the middle of the room.

Catherine closed her eyes.  ‘Now Nanashi’s given up hope as well.  Oh Trowa, where are you!?!’  She blinked the tears threatening to pour out.  “No Nanashi!  Don’t think like that!  We have three days.  We’ll think of something.”  Catherine tried to sound like her optimistic self.  She wasn’t going to die here. No way.

         *******************

“Turn back now! Butana!  Turn back now!  My brother - ” Alessio was cut short as Dorothy pointed a gun to his face.

“Your brother is lost to us now.  The only reason they didn’t kill all of us was because that Net could only hold either one key or code.  So, Mr Alessio, I suggest you just sit there and be quiet.”  Dorothy glared at him; the tension rose to new heights in the car.

Alessio spit in Dorothy’s eye.  “Ma va funculo.  You used my brother as bait.  When we destroy the Darkness, I’ll kill you.  I’ll kill you.”

Dorothy wiped the spit from her eyes with a handkerchief.  She continued to glare at Alessio.  “I look forward to it, Mr Alessio.”  Her voice cold, she put the gun back into its place in her long jacket. 

Duo glanced in the rear mirror, his face creased with a frown. ‘Shit!  This just gets worse and worse.’  He kept his eyes on the car in front of him, but not before giving the electronic map, situated where the CD player was a quick look. Three coloured dots moved around on the map.  The red one was the car he was driving, the green dot – the other pilots and the blue dot was the other ‘getaway’ car. Hilde was driving that car and he hoped the people in her car weren’t so hostile. His chest constricted; this Darkness had just shot the other guy in the middle of a crowded street with a bunch of Council people around him.  ‘What if they couldn’t stop the Darkness? What would he do if Hilde got hurt?  What if he died?’  For the self-proclaimed God of Death, these thoughts were unwelcome.  ‘I love you, Hilde.’  He promised himself that they would get through this.  They would.  He gave another glance at the backseat.  ‘Shit.’

Everyone was so quiet.  Sally glanced at Hilde who was focusing so hard on driving, sweat was beginning to form on her brow.  Sally had never been one to believe in fanciful ideas.  Nevertheless, this whole mess was an eye opener into a world she didn’t really want to find out about.  ‘The Darkness, ‘magical powers’, the Council, Dorothy being able to heal like that…’ Sally turned fully towards Hilde.

“Do you think that’s why her eyebrows are like that?”

Hilde didn’t move from her position for a full five seconds and Sally was about to repeat her question when Hilde gave her a strange look.  “Sal…” Then the two broke into giggles that turned into loud laughter as they both laughed out their fears, relief and hopes.

Someone lightly tapped the glass, separating the front and backseats. “Hey, you two, what’s going on?”  Bethany’s voice, filtered in softly through the glass.  The two immediately ceased their laughter.  Sally shook her head, while Hilde stared diligently at the road.  Sally pressed a button, making the glass slide down.  “Sorry, Bethany.  Nothing to worry about everyone.”  She said reassuringly at the other passengers. “Nothing to worry about at all.”

Trowa sat passively in the passengers seat, watching Heero pull up into a long driveway that led up to a Roman style mansion, on the outskirts of Florence.  Heero looked like his normal impassive self but Trowa could sense his underlying nervousness.  He hadn’t thought Heero would leave Relena, but five minutes before the plane left, he was on the plane with them.  No one said anything; even Duo kept his mouth wisely shut.  Trowa turned back to the passenger window. He saw the two other cars parked at the front of the entrance to the mansion.  They had been here earlier in the morning since they had headed straight for this place right after the plane had landed.

<“The Greater Council has bases in every single estate it owns but we don’t employ anyone without the blood of the Ancestors running through them.  Considering your abilities as former Gundam Pilots; I don’t think the Council will mind too greatly that we are going to use you to fight against the Darkness.” Dorothy said in that calm, bland voice.  She had given all of them the security codes to get into the underground base and was now heading to the main control room.  The main control room was full of hi-tech equipment; a low humming and whirring sounds could be heard from the machines.  Each wall had a screen that covered most of the wall except for the last metre, which had panels protruding out, going all across the wall and constantly flashing an array of lights.

“It’s amazing that something like Romefeller could have a secret Council that fights a magical entity without using soldiers as their pawns.”  Wufei said suspiciously. He didn’t trust Dorothy or her cousin but if Sally wanted to help, then he’d help – not that he would ever tell Sally that.

“Romefeller was too busy fighting in the Alliance and Eve Wars to waste soldiers on a battle they thought they had already won.”  Interjected Bethany, who had pushed a series of buttons on the control panel and was now sitting on a swivel chair, “I think it’s time to show you guys the equipment needed for subspace travel.” >

Trowa blinked as he remembered Bethany showing them the ‘equipment’.  <“Darkness Soldiers were once humans but are now efficient zombies; their souls taken by the Darkness to quench it’s thirst for Life.  Fire is the only thing that can kill them.”  She said, showing them a strap-on petrol pack with a fire gun attached to them.  “Grenades work well too.”>

Trowa and the others walked towards the great wooden front doors.  Quatre typed in the security codes and the door opened slightly.  They walked quickly to the library, Heero pulling out a panel hidden in a book on the vast bookshelf.  He remembered everything Dorothy had told him to press.  Once he finished the codes, a chute opened up in the corner of the bookshelf.  They slid down the slide, landing more gracefully then the last time they had gone down a chute.  Upon landing in the control room, a large group of people were there to greet them.  (Only Duo really greeted them.)

“Lets get the introductions out of the way.  This - ” said Dorothy, pointing to an angry man with jet-black hair, “ – is Mr Alessio, Black Council.  That is the Gold Council, Miss Veronica and Mr Giuseppi.” Veronica gave a small smile, while Giuseppi nodded in their direction.  “The Green Council, Miss Sylvia and Miss Myra.  Mr Yuy, I know you’re already acquainted with Miss Sylvia.”  This was said with a smirk but Heero gave no indication he was fazed by it.  “ – And this is Mr William, from Blue Council.”

“Blue?  Hadn’t they lost their code and key?” blurted out Duo.

Bethany glared at him.  “Yes but he is still going to help.”  William gave her a grateful smile which she returned.

“We don’t need someone who will turn into a liability.”  Said Trowa.  They were wasting time.  He needed to find Catherine now.

Before Bethany could give him a piece of her mind, Quatre cut in, “He’s part of the Council.  He won’t be a liability to us.  Is everything ready? Shouldn’t we suit up now?”  He knew Trowa was just worrying about Cathie.

Dorothy glanced at Quatre. ‘Always the peacemaker, aren’t you, Mr Winner.  Why do you care so much?’  Dorothy turned away from his quasi-angelic face. ‘Think about the task at hand, Dorothy.  The task at hand.’  She walked to the other side of the room and placed her hand on the scanning system.  Another panel opened up and she pressed the small red button.  A whirring sound was heard as one of the screens was pushed back to reveal another room loaded with different types of firepower.  “Bethany, ready the transportation link.  Miss Sally, Miss Hilde you know what to do.  The rest of you please follow me.”  Dorothy walked into where the screen used to be and the others followed.  Once everyone was inside, the screen went back into place.

Bethany, put on her earpiece and mic.  She sat on the swivel chair and rapidly began typing on the panels.  She glanced at Hilde and Sally who had slowly walked to their designated areas.  It had been a very angry fight on the plane, but the pilots had convinced the two that it would be better if they were helping Bethany in the control room.  She sighed inwardly. ‘Wish I had someone who cared for me like that.  Hilde’s so lucky to have Duo.  Hell even Sally’s lucky to have Wufei…’ She smiled before speaking into her mic.  “Dory can you hear me?  Testing, testing, la la la la la la la la - ”

“Yes I can hear you Bethany.”  Came a reply from her earpiece.

“Just checking.” Her smile turning into a grin, “Everyone suited up?”

“Yes.  Engage transportation link.”

“Aye, aye Captain!”  Rapidly pressing a series of buttons, a panel opened up, revealing a lever.  “Here goes nothing.” She muttered pulling down the lever.

         ********************

-        Subspace – Unknown Time –

Keioa tightened her hold on her sister’s hand.  What was left of the Council, were all linked together in a circle around the entrance of the portal to Joir.  The keys and codes were strong enough to drive the Darkness from Earth but they couldn’t destroy it.  Their forces were too depleted to kill the Darkness.  Keioa felt all her power draining. ‘No.  Just a little longer…’ But the niggling feelings of doubt had already sprouted as she felt another wave of Darkness scream around them.  It was now in Joir but it still had too much power.  They wouldn’t be able to close of the portal, even with the keys and codes.  Keioa felt herself slipping in the link. ‘No! Come on, come on, we can do this…’

Lavirea gripped her sister’s hand right back.  With the Council linked every thought, hope, fear – every feeling they were thinking she could see; the effect happened both ways but she doubted anyone was concentrating on what someone else was thinking.  They were too busy fighting a losing battle against the Darkness.  ‘We’ll all die this way…’ Then it came to her.  The answer so clear - so sudden she almost lost her link to the Council.  Wasn’t she the most powerful out of what was left of the Council?  Didn’t the Red power have no other power to balance against in the Council?  Green was cancelled out by Blue, Gold cancelled out by Black.  Red was the rawest and most powerful – it symbolised Life; it symbolised blood – the life force of every living thing on Earth, on Joir.  Lavirea knew exactly what to do.

Keioa felt it, her sister’s thoughts.  She hadn’t really been paying attention to it, focussing all her energy into destroying the Darkness.  Keioa snapped her head towards Lavirea.  She saw her closing the link to everyone.  “NO!!!” Keioa grabbed her sister back; the chain was breaking as Lavirea’s link was closing.  Lavirea turned her glowing red eyes towards her sister, her link still open slightly.  The rest of the Council were getting drained faster with the links weakening as Lavirea tried to close hers.

“No…” Keioa said before letting go of her sister’s hand and jumping into the Darkness.

         *********************

-        Subspace – Real Time –

“Something tells me were not in Kansas, anymore.”  Everyone ignored Duo’s attempt at a joke.

“Duo, can you hear me?” He pressed the earpiece closer to his ear.

“Loud and clear, Hilde.  I don’t think you’d want to go here for vacation.”  He surveyed the landscape, which consisted of about two hundred different shades of grey and strange looking tree-like stumps that were about two metres tall. He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the gun.

“Duo, be careful.”

“Sorry to break up such a sappy moment but everyone needs to hear this.”  Interrupted Bethany.  “Ok, time in subspace is fast.  You’ve just lost three days, meaning you have two days left to find Catherine and destroy the Darkness.  The dimensional haze isn’t affecting our tracking devices on you, so we can see your movements.  However, Darkness Soldiers are harder to track, as they don’t give off heat.  I suggest everyone be really, really careful and if you see black smoke coming towards you - run.”  She paused before continuing. “They have built a fortress around the portal.  I can’t give you an accurate map to where the fortress is, but I can give you the general direction.  Their soldiers are more likely to be around the fortress but still be alert.  I think it would be best if you took out the keys and codes now.”

Dorothy nodded.  Unlike the pilots (and William) who were wearing head gear that included the mic and earpiece, a backpack-like container filled with petrol; fire gun attached to it and a grenade holder slung over one shoulder, the Council were wearing ancient talismans on their hands and a tiara-like talisman on their heads along with the headsets.  Both had on a shield that was connected by bracelet-like gadgets on their arms, legs and neck. She addressed the other members of the Council (except for William).  “It’s time to let out the keys and codes.”  They nodded and one by one each, glowed their colour.  Alessio made a diamond shape with his hands, and the blackness began to form around his fingers until a key developed.

“That’s a key?!  It’s a sword!”  Duo gawked at the sword in Alessio’s hand.

“The key’s are in the shape of swords.” Alessio sneered back.

While Giuseppi placed his hands in front of his chest, never touching the other hand.  A golden light shown and a flurry of symbols came rushing out.  “This is the code of Gold.”  It continuously circled around Giuseppi but its golden colour had dimmed considerably.

The others doing the same; Sylvia held the Green key, Myra the Green code and Veronica the Gold key.

“Why aren’t there two people for Red?  Does the Darkness have a Red key or code?” asked Wufei.

“No they do not.  I have both.”  Dorothy did the same as the others and the Red key and code materialised. 

“Good.  I think it’s time you guys head one click to the south-easterly direction.  The fortress is in that general area.”  Sally said.  She watched the screen as the little red dots signifying the group began to walk slowly through the dimensional haze.  ‘Come back alive Wufei.’

         ********************

“Sir, we have detected their entry into subspace.  They are no more than 3 miles away from the fortress.  Shall we send seven Nets to take the remaining keys and codes?” 

“No.  Send one Net, every time they get a mile closer.  Kill them one at a time.  We have two days until the portal is fully open.  Consider this a reward for serving the Darkness.”  The man grinned.  He knew how demoralising it would be for those weak Councillors, when he killed them so easily.  The Darkness welled up inside him.  It was getting stronger and stronger.  Soon everything will die.

         *******************

“Bethany, how much more time left?” asked Trowa.  They had been walking for what seemed like hours as the greyness stretched on forever.

“You’ve been walking for nearly half a day.  In subspace that equates to about one mile.”

“One mile?!  Oh crap!  This is ridiculous!  We haven’t moved anywhere.  Why couldn’t we have brought a Gundam in here?  It would have gone much faster if - ” Duo never finished as they were bombarded with bullets.  “Shit!”  The bullets hit these shields that opened around them, looking like blue bubbles.

“Everyone spread out!”  The pilots all took strategic positions against the assault, throwing grenades at where the bullets were coming from.  The Council began throwing energy at where the bullets were being shot.

The bullets stopped after a few minutes.  “Dorothy, you ok?” Quatre stared concernedly at Dorothy who was leaning against one of those tree things.  She nodded.  ‘No, I’m not ok! Sheesh…relax, Dorothy, calm, calm…how can I stay calm! I heard…’ She nodded her head again.

“Duo?! Duo!?  Is everyone ok?” Hilde asked frantically.

“Yeah…These shields are holding on pretty well.”  Duo tried to stop his voice from sounding nervous. 

Heero motioned to Duo and Wufei to go forward and survey the area before them.  They came back, shrugging their shoulders.  “Looks like we scorched a few of the bad guys.  We must be getting closer cause - ”

“GIUSEPPI!!”  Everyone turned to where Veronica had screamed.  Dorothy grabbed onto her, as she tried to help her brother who was being devoured by the Net. “Don’t fire at it!”

“NO!”  Veronica began to sob, as she sagged into Dorothy’s arms.  The Net vanishing as it had when it devoured Mario in Florence.

“Why can’t we fire at it?” asked Heero, trying not to notice Veronica sobbing.

“Because it’s a Net.  You can only fire at it if it hasn’t devoured anything.  If it has and you fire at it, it will only get stronger and will be more likely to devour another thing.”  Replied Bethany in a quiet voice that could barely be heard through the earpiece.  Her heart rate was slowly calming down. ‘Giuseppi was gone.  I’m so sorry Veronica.’  She knew what it was like to lose a brother.  Her voice grew stronger, “Dorothy stay alert, ok?”

Dorothy just nodded as Veronica kept on sobbing in her arms.

         *******************

“Another code, another step closer to complete Darkness.”  The man stared out into the grey of subspace. ‘3 codes and 1 key to us; 2 codes and 4 keys to them.’ He chuckled.  Then he began to laugh loudly.  It almost sounded like a game.  A game he would win.  He stopped laughing and made his way through the labyrinth to where the sacrifices were being held.  Another would die now.  His face twisted into a smile.

         *******************

“Alright everyone, a whole day has nearly gone by.  I think it would be best if you guys rested for a little while.  The fortress shouldn’t be too far from here.  And no arguing.  There’s no point in you people being too tired to fight because you’re so excited to get there.”  Bethany said, as she rubbed her eyes.  ‘I’m going to need glasses after this.  These screens are killing me.’

Trowa was about to object, when Heero nodded.  “I agree.  I think it would be best if we rest for a short time.”  He nodded in the direction of the Councillors, and Trowa nodded hesitantly.  “Good.  I’ll take first watch, Trowa you take second and Quatre you take third.”

The rest nodded, nobody was really in the mood to argue.

“You know Hilde, the best thing about this subspace is that the ground is clean.”  Duo said softly unto his mic.

Hilde gave a small smile. “Goodnight Duo.”

“Hilde, do you think you could talk to me?  Not that I’m saying your voice puts me to sleep! I mean – I just want to hear your voice.”

Hilde blinked away her tears, “Of course, Duo.”

Quatre had a fitful sleep and was grateful when Trowa had woken him up to take over for guard duty.  He kept having a nightmare where utter blackness would swallow up his friends and he would be left because the blackness wouldn’t take him.  Quatre looked at the sleeping people.  Duo was snoring, while Wufei sat in a mediative position.  Veronica had cried herself to sleep, Sylvia and Myra slept back to back, and William was curled up in the foetal position sleeping lightly while Alessio had an iron grip on the key but he was still asleep.  Quatre gazed at Dorothy who was laying a few metres away from him.  She had her back to him and he could see her body rise and fall as she breathed. He was supposed to be on guard but he couldn’t help look at her.  She shifted slightly and lifted her head, as if she had just heard something. Her trail of sight led her to look at straight at where Quatre was sitting, leaning on the tree-like stumps.  His eyes widened as he saw an unfamiliar tint in her eyes.  Fear.  He could see fear in Dorothy Catalonia’s eyes.

         *******************

Next on TCoL (I really want to do this sort of segment even if it’s just once):  What the hell is happening?!!  Will the gang save the world? (it depends on my mood) or will Earth be plunged into eternal Darkness?!? (cheap dramatic music) Find out in the Next Chapter of TCoL where something actually happens!! (maybe…)

Person who has finished revising another chapter! Amazing!:

This is long.  I also think it’s winding.  And no, I don’t think it’s a road. (sorry for the bad joke or pun or whatever it is).  R&R and C&C and flames! Yeah to flames! Please someone just give me one!! ^_~