"Aha!" Heero cried, as he finally succeeded in picking the lock. The door to their cell swung open and the three boys rushed out. Trowa looked sadly at the sun. "It may be too late now," He said.
Heero looked up and nodded. He slammed a guard in the face and knocked him out. "We still have to try," Heero said, taking the guard's keys and unlocking the next door. The three boys rushed out and headed down to the inn to grab their stags.
"We don't have time!" Quatre insisted, "It will take less time if we ride," Heero said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes,"
Quatre grumbled but followed and mounted the stag. Then he followed Heero and Trowa down the path towards the sacred grounds.
When they got there, they saw that the sacrificial pole was empty.
"Oh no!" Quatre cried, "They've already gotten her!" He sighed in despair.
"They're taking her up to the castle!" Heero growled. He pointed up. The others followed his gaze and they saw Lee, in her white dress, being carried off by two vampires.
"Do you think we can get to her before..." Quatre gulped and broke off.
Heero nodded, "Maybe, if we hurry. Keep sight of those vampires! They'll lead us straight to the castle!"
"Right,"
They kicked the sides of the stags and raced up the mountain after the vampires.
"We won't make it," Trowa said under his breath. They watched the vampires go into the clouds and disappear. "It'll take us way too long to get up there!"
"Then we can avenge her by killing the Dark Lord!" Heero said.
"Don't say that," Quatre whined, "We need to stay positive!"
The others ignored him as they continued to climb up the mountain, urging the animals forward. They wouldn't stop until they reached the castle at the top.
Lee felt someone sit on the edge of her bed and she opened her eyes slowly. She saw a caped figure sitting on the edge of her bed, staring out the window. She recognized the braid hanging from the back of his neck. She gasped and sat up.
He turned and smiled at her. "So you're awake?"
Lee edged away from him, but she was too afraid to get up and run.
"I brought you some food." He said, motioning to where a tray was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. Lee only glanced at it, before returning her gaze to the Dark Lord sitting right next to her. He had gone back to staring silently out the window.
"You should eat," He said, "You won't be getting much during the day with a bunch of vampires around." He chuckled softly. "Our one and only weakness. But you wouldn't be thinking of taking advantage of that, now could you?"
Lee shook her head, keeping his gaze. She had been hoping she would be able to sneak away when the sun rose.
He laughed again. "Yes you were, but don't worry, even without guards it's quite impossible to get out."
It seemed as if he could sense her hopeless feelings. He stared at her for a long time. "You remind me of someone," He stated. "And I'm not sure why."
"W-who?" Lee asked.
The Dark Lord seemed shocked that she was speaking, but continued talking without mentioning it. "A girl I was once in love with. But that was four hundred years ago."
"F-four hundred?"
"Yes, vampires are immortal unless they are killed." He sighed deeply and fell backwards onto the pillow. He lay down next to her and stared up with his hands resting behind his head. Lee inched a bit further away, glad that she was under the covers and he was on top. She wasn't really sure why she was afraid of him; after all, he could have killed her a long time ago.
Lee took a deep breath and gathered her courage. It took everything she had to ask this next question. "Why didn't you kill me?" She asked.
He looked over at her and almost smiled. "I've been asking myself the same question. You look nothing like Hilde, you don't even seem to act like her, but when I saw you, I thought of her."
"Hilde's the girl..."
"I was going to marry her," Duo said firmly, "and then the original Dark Lord came by and killed her and turned me into...into this!" He looked at his hands in disgust.
"I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, but I'm afraid I just wished it on you."
"What...what do you mean?"
He sighed, "It's hard to explain, really." He said. "Maybe later. We've got an eternity to talk."
Lee didn't like the sound of that. She was going to escape this place, no matter how impossible they deemed escaping was. Did they really think they could keep her here forever? The guys would come after her for sure! But what if they thought she was already dead? Surely they would still come up here. After all, Heero's goal in life was to kill the very vampire that was sitting next to her, and Trowa and Quatre would want to make sure. She decided that they would come for her, she only needed to wait.
The Dark Lord sat up again and said, "How about some introductions. If you're going to be staying here then we might as well know each other's names right?" He smiled broadly.
Lee looked at him oddly. Why was he being so casual with her? He was supposed to be eating her! Drinking her blood and sucking the essence out of her! But no! He wanted an introduction. It was certainly not what she expected from the Dark Lord.
"What is your name, beautiful?" He asked with a sweet smile.
"L-Lee," She stammered, looking down at the floor.
"Lee, that's a nice name. Just call me Duo. Dorothy gets on my nerves by always saying 'My Lord'. Every single time she wants to talk to me for the last four hundred years!" He threw his arms up in exasperation.
Lee tried to hold in a giggle. Duo smiled at her and got up. "I'll leave you alone for a while," He promised, "Just call if you need anything." With that, he walked out the door. She heard it being locked and then he went down the stairs. Lee sighed and looked at the tray of food next to her bed. It looked very good, and her stomach was growling because she hadn't eaten all day. She reluctantly picked up a fork and started to eat.
Everything was delicious, but it left her mouth feeling dry and she afraid to drink whatever red liquid was in the wine goblet next to her plate.
They wouldn't really give her blood, would they? She picked up the goblet and took a tentative sip. It tasted good, almost like apple cider with a twist of cranberry. She took a few more sips and lay down on her bed. She started to feel groggy and she fell asleep.
Lee dreamed again, this time in even more detail. It seemed that the longer she stayed in Mythrill the more detailed her dreams became. She was back in the strange cave, and there was a hooded figure with the black dagger again. This time, it removed the cloak to reveal a man with shades, a Hawaiian shirt and a pointy beard. He sealed the dagger away in a cave of some sort, and then he disappeared.
"Keep moving," Heero ordered. The group had abandoned their stags a way back and were going by foot now. The animals had given up a while ago and they had no time to stop and let them rest.
"We're too late," Quatre moaned. "She's dead, I know it!" He started to cry.
"Calm down, Quatre." Trowa said. "We don't know that."
"We're getting close." Said Heero. He pointed ahead of them and they could see the dim lights of the castle ahead of them. Quatre was still crying when he looked up.
"We should get there by nightfall." Heero said.
"Great," Trowa grumbled, "Then we can face them when they're awake."
"Good," Quatre stopped crying and clenched his fists. "Then they can know what's happening for what they did to Lee." Quatre's despair turned to rage as he thought about Lee's fate.
"Stop whining and keep going!" Heero growled. "The sooner that Dark Lord pays, the sooner we can stop this whole prophecy from coming true."
Quatre nodded and continued to follow Heero up the cliff. He would make it; he would do it...for Lee.
Wufei sat against a tree near Terra Valley. He had just left the town, and he had heard from the elves that they had sacrificed an intruding girl to the vampires. Wufei was sure it was Lee, the Earthling girl whom Howard had brought to Mythrill by mistake. He bit into a piece of fruit and went over his information in his mind again. He was trying to figure out the location of the cave where Howard had hidden the dagger over a thousand years ago. He heard a strange noise from his bag and opened it up. He pulled out the mirror that let Howard contact him whenever he needed to. Wufei cursed himself for keeping it.
"Wufei!" Howard's face appeared on the mirror.
"What do you want, old man?" Wufei snarled.
"It's about the deity!"
"What about the deity?" Wufei sighed. Why was Howard contacting him? Didn't he realize that Wufei was no longer his student? "You know that I don't care what you're up to. I'm going to find that deity and send her back to Earth whether you like it or not!"
"I know, I know!" Howard sighed. "I just want you to know that you won't be able to send her back until she has fulfilled her mission here on Mythrill."
"WHAT!"
"Until the deity is awakened, she won't be able to return home. I don't have enough power left to send her back, and you never had enough power in the first place. And if the deity is awakened, she'll want to fulfill the prophecy and stop the dragon! So you have to listen to me and find her and get her to defeat the dragon!"
"I've been trying to find her, Howard. Now leave me alone! Why are you calling?"
"I know you don't trust me, and I'm still angry with you for running off like that, but you have to listen to me!"
"Alright! What is it?"
"I think I may have made a mistake!"
Lee was surprised when she woke up after sunset. She looked around, wondering how she could have slept right through the day.
"It was the drink." A voice said.
Lee jumped and saw Duo standing in the doorway. "W-what?" She asked.
He chuckled, "The drink we gave you, it made you sleep through the day. Just a little precaution."
"Why do you want to keep me here so badly?" She asked shakily.
Duo approached her and held out his hand. When she hesitated, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed.
"A Vampiric rule." He said, "How about I give you a tour of the castle and we'll talk?"
Lee didn't know how to turn down a vampire, so she allowed Duo to lead her out of the room and down the stairs. When they got to the bottom, Duo hooked onto her arm and pulled down the hall. She shied away from him, but his grip was strong.
"No need to be afraid of me," He said, "I wouldn't hurt you."
"What is going on?" Lee gasped. She felt dizzy and wanted nothing more than to fall down and go to sleep.
"Don't pass out," Duo warned, "Or one of these idiots running around might try and suck you dry."
Lee froze at the mention of being bitten by a vampire.
"Relax," Duo laughed. "Now, what were you saying?"
"I wanted to know what was going on!" Lee almost screamed.
"Hn, well, as a vampiric rule, if a sacrifice is made, that would be you, then the vampire accepting it must...accept it I guess. Meaning, basically, I had to drink from you, or I'd be breaking the law. Not a good thing for the Dark Lord." He chuckled. "Oh, this is Billy, he's human. Works here for me as a guard for any humans we have down here. And believe me, we do sometimes have human visitors. Like uh...dark wizards, or good wizards, or people trying to get out help to take over the world. And the occasional ransom."
Billy nodded to them as they passed and went back to whatever he was doing.
"Sounds like a Mafia family." Lee muttered.
"A what? Oh, what was I saying? Oh yeah, we got dwarfs and stuff here too. But that wasn't it was it?" He looked at Lee, who was getting slightly annoyed. "Hey! Cut me some slack! I'm four hundred years old!"
Lee groaned and said, "So why did you let me go, if you were bound by law to kill me?"
"Please, drink, drink from you, kill sounds so harsh."
Lee sighed and stumbled over a loose stone in the floor. Duo caught her. "You OK?" He asked.
Lee nodded.
"Ok, well, the only way to not drink from a sacrifice is if she's gonna...*ahem*," Then he mumbled something so quietly that Lee couldn't understand a word that came out of his mouth.
"What?" Lee asked quietly.
"I said uh..." He broke off when he saw Dorothy.
"Dorothy!" He cried. "Come over here."
Dorothy nodded and walked over to them, "Yes, My Lord?"
Duo shot Lee an I-told-ya-so look and Lee stifled a laugh. "Dorothy, this is Lee."
"Hello, Miss Lee," Dorothy curtsied. "Do you need anything?"
"Dorothy, give me a hand here. I'm trying to explain to Lee what's going on here but I..."
"I understand Sir. Would you like me to...?"
"Yes, please." Duo sighed and blushed. He went and stood against a wall and watched Dorothy talk to Lee.
"Basically, Miss Lee." Dorothy started, "According to Vampiric law, if the Dark Lord decides not to drink from a sacrifice, the only way that could be possible is if he marries her. Naturally a man can't kill his own wife."
Lee gasped and stumbled again. Duo rushed forward to catch her. "Are you OK?" He asked.
Lee felt like she was hyperventilating.
"The choice is yours." Duo whispered in her ear.
"Take me back to my room." She whispered.
"Dorothy, get her some water! Come on, we'll just..."
"TAKE ME BACK!" She screamed.
Duo nodded and helped her up. But Lee was unable to stand, her knees felt like pudding. So instead, he picked her up and carried her back to her room. She was sobbing into her hands, and Duo couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Did she really hate and fear him that much?
He climbed up the stairs to the tower and opened the door. He placed her on the bed and stood there for a moment.
"I know it's not really fair to you, but I don't want to have to kill you. It's a hard decision: your life or your soul." He looked at her for a long while. Lee lay on the bed, shaking with sobs. Duo was compelled to go to her. He sat down on the edge of her bed next to her and rubbed her back. "I'm sorry," He said. He leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder and hugged her. "I'm really, really sorry."
Lee continued to shake. "Why does all this have to happen to me?" She whispered.
"I'm sorry," Duo repeated. He lay down beside her and held her tightly.
"Go away!" She snapped. She pulled away from him and rolled onto her stomach. Duo sighed and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
"What else has been happening to you?" Duo asked, trying to get her mind off things.
"Hn, I was taken away from my home, to another PLANET! And I've faced elves, vampires, perverts, fireballs and hostile villagers all in the last five days! And lets not forget being mobbed, sacrificed to a vampire, and this weird rogue wizard!"
"Is that all?" Duo laughed. But Lee wasn't laughing with him. "Ok...so you're from a different planet?"
Lee nodded, "I'm from Earth," She sniffled.
"Ah..."
"And to top it all off," She continued, "I haven't been able to sleep since I got here!"
"Hun? Why not?"
"Dreams," She answered, "Really strange dreams."
"Dreams? What have you been dreaming about?"
"Everything, in one dream I was running through a vortex, and in the other I saw an old man hiding a dagger."
"A-A dagger?" Duo choked. "What did it look like? Was it black with a skull on the end?"
"Y-yeah, how did you know?"
"That's the dagger of legend. The same dagger that is supposed to kill the Dark Dragon! Maybe Dorothy was right! So now how do I wake you up?" He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He seemed to be talking and thinking to himself now, rather than to her. She looked over her should and saw his thoughtful expression. He was mumbling under his breath about something. As if by chance, he glanced up and looked straight into her tear-filled eyes. His expression faded into one of concern, and then his eyes sparkled. He carefully wiped a tear away from her face and pushed back her hair.
Lee was too scared to move, and too entranced by his eyes. His perfect violet eyes.
Duo began to lean in towards her and cupped her face with one hand. She could see his mouth aiming for hers and she suddenly recalled that he was a vampire. And a vampire that was going to kiss her too!
Lee gasped but was unable to pull away. She shut her eyes tightly and waited. She could almost feel his ice-cold lips on hers and his sharp teeth pricking her tongue... She was just about ready to scream, to push him away and run away from the castle. But she couldn't, she was locked in the castle, and stuck in that spot, about to be kissed by the most evil of all the vampires.
She could just feel his lips brushing hers when a loud pound on the door and the sound of splintering wood caused him to jump and turn around.
Lee gasped with joy at what she saw.
"Quatre! Trowa! Heero!"
