Sally watched as Quatre tossed and turned restlessly. His face was flushed and his breathing was ragged. She patted his face with a damp cloth and willed for the others to hurry, that is, if they were still alive.

Quatre forced his eyes open and whimpered when the sunlight made the ache behind his eyes even worse. His blurry vision barely made out Sally’s form next to him. He swallowed and let loose a series of dry, hacking coughs. Quatre was barely aware of the glass of water that was being pressed into his hand. The cool water revived him somewhat and he settled back against the pillows.

“Sally…”

“Yes?”

“Do you think… they’re alright?”

The young woman smiled and pulled the sheets over his bare chest. “They’re skilled warriors and they have a lion, a panther, a tiger, and leopard with them. They’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

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

Trowa gripped HeavyArms’ mane tightly as his boots squished in the damp mud. His other hand drifted to his bow. The lion suddenly stopped and looked around, as if lost. “We’re lost…” The words were quickly swallowed up in the silent mists. “Heero! Duo! Wufei! Can anyone hear me?!”

Nothing.

Trowa shivered as the fog seemed to close in on him. The air grew thicker and wrapped around him, smothering him like a blanket.

The pendant glowed, forming a blue-green bubble around him and HeavyArms. The mists seemed to clear up. The gem glowed again, sending three beams in different directions.

A minute later, three bubbles merged, each one holding his missing companions. The bubbles popped, sending each warrior back onto the muddy ground. Trowa stared as the pendant flickered and darkened, as if it was weakening. He tucked it under his shirt, reminding himself not to use it unless he needed to, but since he didn’t know how, it didn’t make much difference.

Heero drew out the map and tried to decipher the ancient text as best he could. “We don’t have much farther to go… maybe another two miles.”

“Oh, that’s just peachy, why don’t we just dump all our weapons and go piss off some monster too?”

“Duo…”

“Can we at least rest?”

“Hn, baka.” But Heero complied and decided they rest. Not that standing in the middle of the Moors of Abandon was his idea of resting.

“Aw, Wuffie, what crawled up your ass and died?”

“Leave me alone, Maxwell!”

Trowa hid his grin behind his hand as he watched Duo irritate Wufei. For a brief moment, they seemed to forget that they were on a dangerous quest, that their friend was dying. At the moment, they were just normal boys.

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

Quatre tossed restlessly as sweat dripped profusely down his pale face. His head pounded so much he could barely think. The pain was getting worse and he was seriously considering asking Sally to knock him out. All he wanted was to go to sleep, which at the moment, seemed like an impossible luxury.

Sally’s voice seemed too loud, booming in his ears and making his head throb with vicious pain. “Quatre? Quatre?”

After some time, he managed to croak out an answer. “Yes?”

“Do you need anything?”

“No thank you.” He whispered as sleep finally claimed him.

Sally smiled as the long lashes fluttered and drifted shut. “He must be feeling better…” She murmured to herself as she spread the blankets over him once again. Sandrock looked up from his spot on the floor and sniffed at her. “I know, boy, I know.”

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

Duo shook water from his damp braid and silently thanked the gods that the fog was thinning and they seemed to be nearing the edge of the moors. The killer fog had made no more attempts to suffocate them but he was dirty, smelly, and ready to kill even the little woodland animals if they looked at him funny.

He never noticed the way the mist began to shift and twist into ghostly shapes. He did notice three very familiar figures standing before him. His violet eyes widened impossibly as he whispered, “Sister Helen, Father Maxwell… and Solo…” They drifted closer with accusing looks on their transparent faces.

“You failed us, Duo.”

“No…” The chestnut haired boy whispered, falling to his knees next to DeathScythe. “Y-you can’t mean that… I tried my hardest…”

“But you still failed…”

“No… you can’t…”

Not far away, though it certainly seemed that way, Trowa stared blankly as the misty forms drifted closer. He gripped his bow and drew an arrow, if the need to kill something did arise. A second later, the bow and arrow dropped to the muddy ground. The archer gaped as Quatre’s form emerged from the fog.

“Trowa, I’m afraid you were too late.”

“You can’t be dead!”

“Trowa, why couldn’t you come sooner?”

Tears filled the deep green eyes as the assassin reached for the translucent form. “I-I’m sorry, love.”

“I thought you loved me…”

“Please forgive me, angel.”

“I trusted you…”

Trowa reached out to the ghostly image of his love, only to have the figure draw away. “Please don’t leave me, Little One…”

Wufei looked around and cursed silently when he saw that he and his friends had been separated yet again. His string of swear words came to an abrupt halt when he saw the fog forming into his very special and very dead, wife. “Meiran…”

“Wufei, you’ve failed me…”

“Meiran… Nataku, don’t say that…”

“Not just me, but our entire clan.”

“I-I tried, I really did.”

“Your efforts weren’t enough.”

“I-I…”

Heero glared impassively at the fog. It was twisting into some strange figure but what was strange was that the mist itself didn’t know what to change into. Realization hit him in an instant.

//That mist is trying to weaken my resolve by changing into someone I care about. That’s why it separated us the first time, to look inside our minds and see whom we loved. I’ve never loved anyone except Duo but it can’t use that against me. I care for no one else. // The fog finally shifted and merged to form…

“Relena?” Heero wanted to smack himself over the head. //Hn. That stupid mist should know that’s the last person I’d care about. //

Still, the misty form reached out to him, wailing plaintively, “Heero… why did you ever leave me?”

In one swift motion, he drew a dagger and threw it at her dead center. “Because I don’t love you, you cow.” The fog melted away, leaving him alone. The Perfect Soldier gripped Wing’s fur and walked towards the source of soft crying.

He saw Duo kneeling in the grass, staring blankly at three foggy figures. Without wasting any time, Heero grabbed the boy’s shoulders and said, “Duo, snap out of it! It’s a trick!”

Violet eyes flickered back to life as Duo looked him. “Huh? Heero?”

The cobalt-eyed boy grabbed his love’s hand and dragged him through the tall grass. “We have to find Trowa and Wufei and get out of here.”

Trowa ignored the tears trickling down his face as he whispered, “I’m sorry, Quatre. I’m truly sorry.”

“Do you hate me that much?”

His emerald eyes blazed with fire as he screamed, “I love you with all my heart! Why can’t you believe me?” Suddenly, the pendant glowed and vivid images flashed through his mind. …Quatre running through the field and laughing, holding his hand out to him…

Quatre snuggling close to him in their bed, whispering, “I’ll always love you, Trowa.” …His blue eyes shining as he whispered, “Come back to me…”

The young man’s head snapped up and he snarled, “You’re lying. Quatre’s still alive and I won’t let him die.” The mist disappeared and thinned out. He stood up and turned to face Heero and Duo, who were running to him.

“Hey Tro! You okay?”

Trowa’s voice was cool as he answered, “I’m fine, Duo.”

“We have to find Wufei.”

“WUUUUU-FFIIIIIIE!!!!”

“Not that loudly, baka.”

Trowa ignored the two and started walking in a different direction. “He’s not that far away.” They found the Chinese boy kneeling in the grass, staring at a ghostly figure.

“I’m sorry, Meiran.”

Without warning, Trowa tackled him to the dirt.

Instantly, the trance was broken and he sat up yelling, “What was that for?”

Heero helped the green-eyed archer up while explaining, “The mist separated us earlier to search our minds and see what or whom we cared for the most. Your ‘wife’ was just an illusion.”

The black haired boy stood and stalked off through the mist, his white tiger and the others trailing behind him. “We. Are. Leaving.” Duo noted idly that Trowa’s hands were shaking and there was that vein popping out of Wufei’s forehead but felt he was still too young to die.

Trowa tried to control his trembling hands as he and his friends waded through the marsh. The incident in the Forest of Illusions and what just happened in the moors had badly shaken his confidence in both himself and Quatre. Stop thinking about that, He mentally scolded. Still, fear and doubt continued to eat away at him.

The dark green eyes blinked almost owlishly as the mists parted to reveal a towering mountain range. The mountains were so dark they were black. Duo rubbed his neck out of age-old habit and mumbled, “So this is the Black Magic Peaks.”

Heero glared at the impressively high cliffs and said flatly. “Yes, now let’s go.”

“W-what? We’re climbing this thing?”

“You never asked.”

“Waaaaaahhh…”

The boy who called himself Death grabbed onto the slippery rocks and wanted to cry, scream, and generally make a big fuss to anyone who was unfortunate enough to be near. Which was somewhat understandable considering he was thirty feet up a very dangerous mountain with only DeathScythe and a rope keeping him from certain death.

“Thisreallysucksthisreallysucksthisreallysucks.” Duo mumbled to himself as he gripped another rock and hauled himself onto a narrow ledge. He collapsed and lay on the damp stone, panting.

Wufei stood over him with an irritated look on his face. “Baka. We have to keep moving. Quatre doesn’t have much time.”

“Oh yeah!” Duo jumped to his feet and started back up the rocky wall. “C’mon, Wuffie!”

“Wu-FEI!!!”

Heero tugged at the rope and climbed alongside Wing. The leopard dug his claws into the rock and pulled himself up higher. “Just a little higher…” He said as he reached for a handhold. Heero could just about see the peak of the mountain. Somewhere within that mountain was the Spring of Life.

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

Quatre was drifting from pain to oblivion as his fever steadily worsened. Sally had tried to give him some herbs but he was so dizzy that anything he ate he would probably throw up. The blond boy felt her fingers brush across his damp forehead. His throat ached, making it nearly impossible to say anything. Through the haze of pain, he could barely make out Sally shouting, “Get away from him!”

The doctor tried to push the blond man away but with incredible strength, he knocked her down. Sandrock leaped at him but was thrown into the wall. After making sure they were both unconscious, Zechs leaned over the pale figure in the bed and fingered the delicate features. Quatre forced his eyes open and saw the supposedly dead sorcerer standing over him.

He let out a hoarse cry and backed away, only to have Zechs pin his wrists down. “Y-you’re supposed to be dead!”

Dried blood was crusted on the older man’s robes but there was no indication that he was even wounded.

“I’m sorry, Little One. I’m as alive as I’ve ever been.” With that, he bent down and kissed the small boy with bruising force. His hands let go of Quatre’s wrists and traveled down his bare chest and ripped his pants off.

Zechs ran his hands over his naked body, caressing the soft skin. Quatre whimpered and tried to move away but he was too weak. His leg was completely numb and he didn’t even have enough strength to work the basic spells.

The invasive fingers stroked his nipples as Zechs whispered huskily, “Don’t fight me.” One hand continued its teasing as the other ran down to the soft nest of golden curls between his legs.

“Please… stop…” Quatre choked out, tears sliding down his face. “Trowa… please help me… please hurry…”

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

Trowa’s head snapped up and he started climbing with another burst of energy. “Quatre’s in trouble… we have to hurry.” HeavyArms roared his agreement. He hauled himself onto the mountain peak and waited impatiently for the others. The minute they were all on the mountain, he jumped onto HeavyArm’s back and they took off through the misty forest hidden in the Black Magic Peaks.

“Hey wait up, Tro!” Duo hopped onto DeathScythe and ran after him, Heero and Wufei riding after them.

“Trowa! Wait!” Heero caught up to the quiet boy and stuck the parchment in his face. “We’re not far from the where the spring’s supposed to be. Slow down.”

Reluctantly, he slowed his lion down and they traveled at a more relaxed pace. Wufei looked around and stared disgustedly at the signs of carnage and bloodshed. Bodies and skeletons littered the ground and a smell of death lingered in the air.

“Something is guarding the Spring of Life. But what?”

“Serpents.”

They came to a clearing.

A shallow pool was there, fed from a bubbling spring in the middle of the pool. Beyond the pool was a large crystal shaped like a star. A young girl their age was inside the crystal, eyes closed as if asleep. Two enormous stone snakes were entwined around the crystal, their heads bending over the pool, as if guarding both.

“Wow…” Duo scratched his head and looked questioningly at the crystal. “Heero, what’s that crystal for? You never mentioned that.”

“Neither did the map.”

“Well, what’re we waiting for? Let’s get the water and leave.”

“Right.” Trowa took a flask from his pack and dipped it into the spring. The pool glowed and the stone serpents started to move. “Everyone get back!”

One snake lunged at Wufei with blinding speed. Still on Shenlong’s back, he leaped into the air and brought his sword down. The dragon on the hilt glowed and the blade flashed with fire, leaving a long a gash on the stone back.

The white tiger leaped from within the numerous coils, dodging the serpent’s head. Meanwhile, Duo stood in front of the second one, making faces at it. “Nyah nyah, your mother’s a leather handbag!”

Just as the snake struck, DeathScythe jumped out of nowhere and Duo jumped onto his back. The panther weaved in and out, trying to get the snake to tangle itself into a knot.

Finally, he jumped off DeathScythe’s back and swung his scythe. The snake bucked and hissed. As it turned, Trowa let loose a hail of arrows.

Wing ran down the snake’s back, Heero turned and threw a spear at it with all his might. The snake drew his attention away from Wufei long enough and both warriors stared in dismay as the spear bounced off it, leaving only a tiny scratch.

The massive tail knocked into Wing, sending the leopard and its owner flying to the ground. Heero grunted as his body impacted with the hard dirt.

The cobalt-eyed boy looked and saw the crystal. He reached out one hand and blinked when a crack appeared. Heero stared at it and the girl inside, mesmerized and completely unaware of the battle raging behind him. The crack widened and dark, cat-like eyes opened.

The age-old eyes weren’t just one color, but many shades of gray, brown, and black. One moment, they were hazel, then slate gray. The crystal splintered and he saw her face for the first time. Long, curved bangs framed a delicate heart-shaped face and a long black braid hung down her back. She wore a short silver tunic and silver boots. She seemed small, fragile, but was strong and muscular.

Time and elements had taken away everything soft and unnecessary and left behind only what was strongest and most essential.

“Who are you?” Heero blurted out.