FicWad

TITLE: CAPTAINS
FANDOM: Gundam Wing
PAIRING: 1x2 and some het pairings in the background
RATING: R/NC-17
GENRE: AU, Adventure, Historical, Romance
WARNING: yaoi, cross-dressing, swearing, graphic violence, sex
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything save for the story, so please don't sue poor little me
SUMMARY: A huge reward on his head, a crew who doesn't take him seriously, a few vindictive ex girlfriends and a vicious curse which sticks like a bad smell. The fearsome pirate Shinigami thinks it can't get worse. A stalkerish Heero will prove him wrong.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh boy! I can assure you that writing that was even more painful for me than it was for you to wait for it. You know how bad I am at dialogues? Well chapter 17 is an unending dialogue which ended up being twice as long as standard chapters so you'll have to forgive the time it took to write. In these conditions I was forced to boost the promised Trowa and Heero scenes to the next chapter. I hope you won't be too disappointed. On the bright side, this chapter will answer a whole lot of questions. Enjoy!

Chapter 17 : The Plot Of doom

After the broken sound of shattering clay, the tense silence was almost deafening by comparison. The petite brunette had her arms braced on her desk and her hands were clenching and unclenching while she made praise-worthy efforts to rein in her temper. After a few minutes of the same tense silence, no more objects had come crashing in the visitors' direction. That was an encouraging sign in and of itself but Hilde's fury didn't seem like it had abated for all that admirable show of restraint. Upon noticing the amused smile and fond look Shinigami was now directing at the girl, Quatre thought it was a wonder she hadn't yet attempted further lethal actions. For having himself been on the receiving end of Duo's occasional patronizing, Quatre was very aware on how grating it could get, especially coming from someone that behaved like a child most of the time. He hadn't known Hilde capable of that much self-control.

The next sound came from Dietrich who had been standing frozen in the far corner of the room since the beginning of the scene. Everyone had completely ignored him until then and Quatre couldn't fathom for the life of him why the fool would want to change that. Nevertheless, his tactless and resounding throat's clearing attracted with unerring accuracy the attention of everyone present when much tougher men had learned the hard way to avoid that very situation. Once he had their attention, far from deflating, the man threw them a brilliant smile and welcomed them jovially.

"Hullo boys! Such a pleasure ta see y'all! How come we don't see ya anymore?"

The worst was probably that the puzzlement as the joy appeared genuine. That didn't prevent him from earning a scathing look from his daughter, which he not only took in stride but altogether dismissed. Quatre was of course too polite to say what he thought of the man's daunting; however, that wasn't Wufei's case. The latter had always considered indiscretion as being the ninth deadly sin, coming just behind stupidity; both of those Dietrich had in spades and Wufei positively despised him. Thus, the Chinese man's disparaging snort surprised no one but earned him his very own Hilde-glare, which he responded to with his usual infuriating raised eyebrow. Sometimes, Quatre could just slap that arrogant prick. It was no secret either that Wufei and Hilde had always just barely tolerated each other. Wufei thought all women were weak and inferior, save perhaps for Meiran and more recently Sally who either way were the exception rather than the rule. Meanwhile, Hilde loathed his superior attitude, with good reason too. And his friends wondered why he had insisted it was such a bad idea to come here; more fool them! It was begging trouble --as if they hadn't already more than their share of it.

Resolute or maybe resigned, Quatre chose to support his companions no matter how stupid they obviously were. Hilde's anger hadn't dwindled but in having it aimed at more than one target it could at least be made manageable without impending murder. It was the time for the Prince to take his share of the burden and it wasn't that hard to get when one was such a fine strategist. Hilde had always been on the plump side, not fat per se, but voluptuous to the extreme and strangely that had always been a sore point with her. That was the only way in which her feminine vanity manifested. Usually, Quatre wouldn't stoop so low as to taunt someone on such a mundane thing but he knew that sometimes even callousness was called for.

"Throwing axes Hilde? That's wise. They're much more effective than knives. Too bad they're so heavy; I'm not robust enough myself to carry it off."

The seemingly off-hand comment was emphasized by a pointed look to the chubby forearms left bared by the blue camisole she wore and if Quatre pulled off the innocent and guileless air well enough, no one was fooled for one second. The three other men actually winced while Hilde flushed and growled. There! Now she was angry at everyone and not exclusively at her ex-lover. Her anger thus dispersed didn't carry on anymore the dangerous levels it had when channelled: Duo's chances of survival had just greatly improved.

After that it didn't take all that long for the pirates to be seated round the desk in a parody of welcome. They were even offered refreshments and everybody made a point not to comment on the fact that Duo was the only one served with clear water while Quatre sipped the jasmine tea he favoured and Wufei tasted Maotai for the first time in years. Those two beverages were equally, if for different reasons, hard to come by in Port Royal, especially when of that quality and Hilde must have gone to a lot of trouble to find those. When one knew that Duo's preferred drink was the sweetened rum that could be bought anywhere in the Caribbean, the girl's statement was clear: "yes I can do much for people and will in most cases, but you can die!"

In a more subtle way, she was also telling them that she had awaited their visit and had been prepared for it. That meant she knew of Deathscythe's crew's suffering and was willing to help as long as it was clear to everyone that she wasn't doing it for Duo. Hilde was usually pretty blunt but she had visibly put much thought in her grudging offering and they knew they should take it at face value and not push for more. She wasn't their friend anymore but would provide help of sorts. It was still better than to have her as an enemy.

"So Duo, how did you land half your crew in the hospital exactly?"

The Captain bristled at the accusation; it wasn't his fault... per se. They all had been enthusiastic enough with this treasure hunt in the beginning. It wasn't as if he had to force anyone. No one could have foreseen the unpleasantness that would follow the retrieval of that damn cross. But no matter, Hilde would put all the blame on his head of course. Life was so unfair!

"I'm not sure you'd believe me even if I told you. Let's just say we have had the worst of luck lately and we have reason to believe it might be the fault of an artefact Serin wanted us to bring back."

A spark of interest lit behind the blue eyes: obviously there had been something in that short explanation the girl hadn't been privy to. That was a good thing because if you managed to rouse Hilde's curiosity, it was always much easier to gain her favours.

"How bad a luck are we talking about?"

"Bad. Even by my account if you know what I mean..."

She made an uncompromising humming sound; she knew what he meant. Duo, for all his faults, was neither squeamish nor a coward so, what he thought merely bad would have called for much more dire adjectives from anyone else.

"Okay. That explains why you would dare to come in here at least. I'd like to have specifics however: I need to know what kind of bad if you want me to help."

Duo studied her expression intently, wondering if she was just fishing for the juicy bits or if it really was important. Coming to a decision at last, he nodded to Quatre, silently giving permission to continue the story. If someone had to give his ex-lover weapons against him that might as well not be himself. Perhaps that would be comforting once the sad story was known everywhere in the Caribbean and the slander began. Quatre took on where he had left off without missing a beat and with more diplomacy than Duo would have used.

"Some things mightn't seem all that weird when you think about it: like systematic bad weather wherever we sailed, illnesses and odd injuries to all of us, even some skirmishes with other ships that turned out rather more badly than usual. Those things might be explained simply because of what we do. That's why we weren't all that worried in the beginning, but that's just it: it doesn't stop and it's getting... weirder."

Hilde made an agreeable sound, prompting him to go on. That she hadn't yet interrupted him sufficed to prove she wouldn't dismiss the matter. She knew enough to suspect they wouldn't bother her for something as mundane as a regular string of bad luck as all pirates were meant to hit once in a while. She was just waiting patiently for the punch-line to wager an opinion.

"We found bugs in our rations within a week of sailing. It's possible of course, if the flour hadn't been inspected properly, but Auda and Meiran did the purchases and well... you know how they are... At the same time we were stranded several days in the middle of nowhere without a wisp of wind. I had never seen such a calm spell before, it felt... unnatural."

The slight frown on Hilde's chubby face reflected her worry and everyone was staring at Quatre with concern. He hadn't before told any of them what he had thought of their stranding and it was worrying when the Prince admitted to feeling something bad. He had always been more in tune with the world at large and had often strokes of inspiration or manifestations of instinct that for all they couldn't be explained, proved deadly accurate nine times out of ten. His faint sense of wrongness, unclear as it was, suggested they were indeed in a lot of trouble. They were all observing a wary silence and it didn't appear that Quatre would say anything further. That's when Wufei intervened with his usual snark.

"Then the seagulls attacked."

Hilde and Dietrich --whose presence everyone had forgotten yet again-- did a double take while Quatre sighed with resignation. Duo was glaring at Wufei, silently scolding him for having revealed their most embarrassing misadventure. Indifferent to his Captain's ire, Wufei smiled smugly and continued the tale in gory details. It was clear that was the thing he had found most disturbing in the lot and he wasn't anywhere near ready to forgive the fact that Meiran had been hurt. As long as he had no one other to blame for the incident, Duo would take the brunt of his indignation as it should be. In Wufei's eyes, the Captain should be held accountable for everything that went on on his ship and that was that. Hilde seemed to be of the same opinion but as she was working under a previous prejudice against Duo, it wasn't all that surprising. She also appeared duly impressed by that last feat and agreed that if nothing else the seagulls' attack proved without a doubt that they were cursed. Duo's shoulders slumped. He had known it was most likely it, but he really really didn't want it to be a curse and had still hoped there was another explanation. So much for that!

"Hmm... Who did you say commandeered the artefact?"

"Serin."

"Serin? Bloody Hell! The man disappeared about a month ago. But I guess you knew that already?"

"Yeah, we knew. That was one of the nasty surprises waiting for us when we arrived in Port Royal. And he had promised us such a nice recompense for the damn thing... Anyway, we thought you might know something about his... timely disappearance?"

"/Timely/? Oh! I see. You think he might have wanted you to get stuck with a cursed artefact. Well, honestly I wouldn't have pegged Serin for the sort to do that to you... Not that I believe the old bastard is able to like anyone but because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be fool enough to want to anger Shinigami. So, I don't know. Seems a little farfetched: someone would have to make a really impressive offer... Yet again, the rumours surrounding his disappearance seems a little farfetched too. Something about a nephew he had to take care of or some such."

"His nephew? Isn't that interesting?"

Hilde who had harboured a thoughtful expression all along her explanation was now watching Duo with interest. She was curious to know what about this hypothetical nephew could warrant an interruption. Duo gave her that self-satisfied smirk she had learned to hate all the more since she had been quite fond of it in a previous life.

"What? Hildie sweetheart, don't tell me there is something you don't know about! I am very disappointed in you. I admit that it is rather old news but still... I believed everyone knew about that."

Duo was staring at her with an innocent expression so false it made her want to hurt him... well, want to hurt him more. The two other pirates had perked up and were trying hard to look uninterested... and failing, while Dietrich was obviously recounting all the old gossip he ever spread to find the relevant bits. Good luck with that!

"Serin hasn't spoken with his sister for more than thirty years, when she up and went to get married to Dekim Barton."

Quatre spluttered. "Lagrange's Governor? You're kidding right?"

"Nope! Then, he wasn't Governor yet mind you. There were even rumours Dekim's wife was the one who helped him do his father in in order to speed the proceedings with the succession of the post of Governor. I wouldn't be surprised if it was true. She was a nasty piece of work even as a kid. After all, not all poor sixteen years old girl managed to get the rich father of their bastard child to marry them."

Everyone was looking at Duo with a mixture of admiration at his knowledge of events so long past and disgust at his callousness in digging up that old filth. Quatre appeared in deep thinking and Duo stayed silent waiting for him to come up with the only logical conclusion. He wasn't disappointed when the Prince began his argument aloud after only a few minutes. It took awhile because Quatre had to dredge up all the knowledge he had assembled about Caribbean politics since he had begun sailing with Shinigami. Unfortunately, the events he needed to refer to had all happened before his enlistment and had occasionally been dismissed as irrelevant; some of them were thus hard to conjure.

"Okay. Barton is Serin's brother in law. Tell me if I got that right. Barton had two kids: a girl and a boy, Leïa and Trowa. Trowa Barton died eight years ago, hmm... in the Mediterranean if I'm not mistaken. So, admitting Serin was being truthful, and that's a big if, he couldn't be talking about Trowa... However, he could have been talking about Leïa's husband which would be his nephew too, if only by marriage. Leïa is also dead but she was married to..."

Quatre gasped and it was Wufei who finished ominously: "Treize Kushrenada."

"That makes sense." That was Quatre again and Duo ducked just in time to dodge the glare Wufei was aiming at the Prince. There was no reason after all that Duo should suffer his comrade's anger when it wasn't aimed at him for once. He had already had more than his fair share, thank you very much! Quatre received the glare in full force but was much too polite to cringe and only explained himself in that collected aristocratic voice he invariably used when Wufei was getting angry with him --which to be honest, was not nearly as often as he got with Duo.

"Well, sorry Wufei but it does. On one side we have the man who sent us looking for the cross linked with Kushrenada and on the other we have Merquise conveniently attacking us just after we left the island. In light of this new development it doesn't seem all that weird anymore that the two of them were all chummy last night in a dark alley. That's obvious they have plenty to plot about." A pointed glance to Duo: "That would be your untimely demise Captain... with all due respect."

Wufei's glare had abated if not completely disappeared in front of Quatre's logic but Duo wasn't yet convinced.

"Why would they go to such lengths?" Duo pursued hastily when he caught Hilde readying a scathing reply. "I mean, I get why they would want to kill me: they sure are no friend of mine but what I don't get is why would they ally themselves, and why a curse? No matter how you're looking at it that's going a little overboard. I can't believe I am that big a threat to whatever else they're plotting."

Nobody had an answer for that, especially when no one was willing to stroke Shinigami's already over-inflated ego by telling him that yes he could be that big a threat if he put his heart into it and a damn pain in the ass in the meantime. Duo appeared to be musing over something on his own anyhow and it was usually best to leave him to it. It was no secret that his mind worked in strange ways and that he could at times make leaps of logic that even Quatre's brilliant mind couldn't come up with. The downside was that those illuminations were unpredictable and even more so because Duo was easily distracted. He hummed to himself and turned to Hilde once again.

"Did you hear anything about Merquise or Kushrenada lately? Like what they are up to?"

Hilde had obviously been thinking along those lines and answered as soon as prompted.

"Nothing much from Merquise, aside from him being even more of a recluse than usual; you'd think all of Port Royal had gotten the leprosy or something. Well that and the Bitch going around boasting that they kicked your ass and sent you running to your mother."

"The Bitch" was how most people refered to Merquise's second and the name was well chosen even if the blond Valkyrie insisted to be addressed to as Sette Contessa --which was a so-called inside joke between her and her Captain, if the rumours were to be believed and if one could imagine that either of them had any sense of humour, something about her insisting on being below him. Hilde hated the woman and was thus divided between frowning at the thought of her sole existence or grinning at her recent slander of Duo. The latter made a noncommittal noise and Hilde resumed her gossip.

"As for Kushrenada, he appears to be his usual arrogant self, a little busier maybe but still faithful to Melanie's brothel. He's coming back every three weeks like clockwork. A few days ago there was also talk about him being attacked by a couple of ships, one from Lagrange and the other Romfeller's, working together! That was so ludicrous nobody's buying it. And... well that's all."

"What business would Lagrange have for attacking him anyway if he's the son in law of the Governor?"

Wufei's naivety could almost be endearing at times. The man had zero concept of treachery and took to family honour more faithfully than any religious zealot to their god. Duo might have pounced on the stupid question and have a go at Wufei's illusions if the latter had not gone on with increasingly misplaced confidence.

"Now that I think about it, I seemed to recall he also has family in Romfeller anyway. Dermail is his uncle or something..." Wufei stopped abruptly when he noticed the pole-axed expression on the faces around him. "What?"

The others were calling themselves all kinds of fools. The evidence was so glaring it was a wonder it hadn't pierced a hole through their brainless heads. Quatre actually struck his palm on his brow; the accompanying "duh!" was silent but heard clearly to all present all the same. It was Hilde that gave voice to their collective realization.

"I never thought about how much power that man could get if he simply tried. Officially he is commissioned by Oz and it's common knowledge that he's sleeping with the Governor's wife. There are rumours that she's already the one pulling the strings behind the scenes with her husband's dying. So that means Kushrenada has some leeway in three of the four colonies. That's..."

Well yeah, exactly! There wasn't really any word fitting such a situation. To discover that a man as arrogant and cunning as Treize Kushrenada had managed to gather so much potential power with no one the wiser was terrifying indeed. And Duo was suddenly thinking that he was privy to just the bit of information that would tip the scale from a big problem to an all and out cataclysm. Lucky him! He had always wanted to be seen as the Harbinger of Death.

"You can make that all four colonies Hildie."

She gave him a sharp look and he tried to keep his voice dispassionate even under the breathless attention she and his friends were weighing on him.

"He's chummy with Merquise. Quatre said it himself and that would be his link to Sank."

The scrutiny got more intense if at all possible and he snorted disgustedly.

"Am I the only one with half a brain here? Don't tell me none of you ever wondered who the Hell Merquise is and why he wears that stupid mask."

There were blank looks and he rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Let's see! First piece of evidence: an incredibly rich man appears out of nowhere three years ago with a brand new ship and decides to become a pirate while he obviously thinks the lot of us are beneath him. Second piece of evidence: he wears a mask that he never takes of, suggesting that he's hiding something... like his identity maybe? Come on, think people!"

The silence stretched; his audience didn't appear to be breathing and he took pity of them.

"Does nobody remember who disappeared in strange circumstances barely a year before that? I'll give you a hint: he was a rich spoiled brat with an attitude, long blond hair and connections..."

Quatre got it at last and exclaimed in a defeated tone: "Milliardo Peacecraft! The son of Sank's Governor. We're all doomed."

"Congratulations Quatre. Were it not for that disheartening comment at the end I would have given you a reward. I believe my friends that we have on our hands two megalomaniacs out to conquer the world. I hope you'll forgive me for wishing we would be back to battling flesh eating zombies."

They all sat stunned and nobody even appeared to notice Duo's attempt at sarcasm. In the end it was Hilde who broke the silence once again. You had to give the girl points to keeping her head.

"Well now at least we know why they cursed you. They have little influence in Port Royal but they must know that we would fight them. The last thing they need is for us to have someone under whose banner to rally and the logical choice for a leader would be Shinigami. But of course if you and your crew are fighting off a vicious curse and become the laughing stock of the pirating world, they can count on us being too disorganized to be any kind of threat. That is annoyingly clever."

Everyone agreed silently. Duo didn't have the heart to complain that people would simply expect him to save them. There was a long time he had come to terms with those odd twists of fate that kept on piling up on him. It was usually no use protesting, rather like with curses really, and speaking of: "Well that is good and well but I suppose we shan't take that lying down so... those who think we should try to get rid of that damn curse so I can get on to be the Free World's saviour, raise your hand!"

Nobody did of course but his jibe had a mixed success in shaking everyone out of their apathy. That was a start. Brave relentless Hilde was the one to go on once again.

"What kind of artefact was it exactly? That might narrow the number of potential curses, which will be necessary if we want to find a counter curse."

Rather than waste time in pointless descriptions, Duo opened his vest and took out the bundle of clothes which enveloped the cross. He unceremoniously dumped it on Hilde's desk. "Here it is! Look for yourself!"

The girl's answer was to shriek in indignation: "You brought a cursed artefact in my home? Are you insane? Take that thing away!"

Duo considered her with a mix of incredulity and disgust that was quite surprising coming from the usually tolerant persona he reserved just for Hilde. "Of course I brought it here! It is damn logical to bring the object one want to be identified to the person who's expected to identify it. How come you didn't puzzle that out by yourself is beyond me."

"Because I thought you would have the sense to throw the damn thing away you dimwit! What the Hell did you keep it for?"

Duo was already feeling the twin accusing glares of his crewmembers and sighed tiredly. It was damn uncomfortable to be pinned between the onyx gaze from one side and the clear blue eyes from the other. It was a little like being trapped between Hell and Heaven when either seemed so unappealing. Stuck in the Purgatory; the story of his life really. He was about to launch into another explanation on why he thought it would be such a bad idea to get rid of the cross without trying to know more about that particular curse when the ever forgotten Dietrich came unexpectedly to the rescue.

"Are you daft Hilde? You don't trifle wit' a curse. That make' it worse! If t'was easy ta gerrid o'one just getting rid o' the cursed thing, nobody would botha ta curse no one. Ain't it true Duo?"

For a man who had spoken English exclusively for more than twenty years, his mastery of the language left much to be desired especially when his German accent was coming forth even more when he was upset. Duo still got the gist of what Dietrich meant in spite of the horrendous diction and found himself amused by the horrified expression, and even more so by the hopeful appeal at the end. Howard had told him years ago that a drunk Dietrich had confided once he believed his daughter to be a curse some angry woman had cast on him. It was an interesting way to see parenthood for sure and the two pirates had found it hilarious. Sobering, Duo recalled they had even been tempted to believe it at the time: Hilde had been such a bratty kid, a real hellion. Of course, it was long before she got all grownup and developed such a nice pair of breasts. He wondered humorously if the old German had really contemplated throwing his own kid on the curb and refrained only for fear of getting cursed with something worse. Anyway, as mistaken and wrong as it was, Dietrich's conviction was working for him and he would have been a fool not to seize the occasion to strengthen his position.

"You know your dad's right Hilde. Even if you never encountered a curse on your own, I was led to believe that you knew something of them."

It was true. It wasn't any kind of secret that good-natured Hilde --good-natured when she wasn't pissed off anyway-- was friendly with the native Arawaks and the escaped slaves who populated the inland of Jamaica. Those people were well versed in ancient arts and traditions that encompassed, but were not limited to, the feared voodoo and other kinds of dark magic which the rest of the world tended to consider as rubbish --little did they know. Duo was quite certain that the girl had managed to pick up a few things while amongst them even if it was only knowledge and didn't include any hand-on practise. Most people knew about that peculiar hobby of hers but usually kept silent about it because sailors tended to be superstitious. That's why probably Hilde was observing Duo like a scientist would have some intriguing but disgusting bug. It was clear that she was reluctant to share the secrets that had been entrusted to her. She might also have been doubting Duo's own trustworthiness. He didn't fret under her watchful stare and in the end she seemed to yield.

She took a careful breath and with a muttered "very well," bent over the bundle of cloth still lying on her desk. She carefully unwrapped it and the cross appeared at last. Duo watched the proceedings dispassionately while Quatre and Wufei discretely averted their gazes, as if looking at the thing would somehow worsen the curse. On the contrary, Dietrich and Hilde gasped in a perfect ensemble when they got their first look. Duo couldn't blame them. The cross was really a damn fine object aesthetically speaking: beautifully crafted in the purest gold and incrusted with enormous cuts of emeralds, sapphires and diamonds. Duo suspected however that Dietrich's appreciation came more from the value of the cross than from its beauty. He also thought that Hilde's reaction had nothing to do with awe one way or another: more likely she had already identified the thing or made a good guess; and she wasn't impressed, or rather she was but in all the wrong ways, which was even worse.

"Duo, where did you find it exactly?"

She hadn't even lifted her head, still appearing to study the cross she held with a sort of fearful reverence. Her tone was oddly strained too and Duo was beginning to worry. He hoped she hadn't discovered he just contaminated her with the curse or some such: that would piss her off.

"A little archipelago in Lagrange territory. Nobody live there."

"I see. And you didn't think it was weird?"

"Huh... no? It's not quite that unusual; there still are many uninhabited islands in the Caribbean Hilde."

"Okay maybe, but was there any particular reason you could think of for people to avoid that archipelago."

"Well yeah... nasty reefs, unpredictable currents, tricky swamps, poisonous flora, unfriendly fauna and... sucky weather!"

He had playfully ticked off the points on the fingers of one hand and blurted out the last with a helpless shrug once he noticed he held Hilde's unamused attention. Finally she threw her arms in the air with an exasperated grimace.

"And that didn't give you a clue you should well leave the damn thing alone?"

"Well... it happens in our line of work. We lived through worse," he answered with a pout.

"It was put there so no one would dig it up, you moron! That's the Pectus/ Fidei/!"

Duo started and his face drained of all colours. "No!" It was meant to be sharp but came out in an uncertain tone as if he was begging for reassurance. None was forthcoming.

Wufei was blank, obviously not knowing what it was all about but Quatre appeared introspective. His lips were moving, forming words silently while he tried to recall long forgotten Latin studies. When he spoke it was in an hesitant tone and with a puzzled smile.

"Pectus Fidei? Heart of Faith? That doesn't sound all that dreadful... does it?"

Duo refused to answer or he might even not have heard the question at all. Hilde trailed a nervous hand in her short dark hair and sighed before saying: "That was the original name. Now most people know it as el/ Corazòn de Pega/; I suppose you've heard of that one?"

Quatre's eyes widened. "Oh."

"Yeah: oh!"

Hilde looked disgusted by the whole situation and at the same time furious to feel as powerless as she did. She glared accusingly at Duo, clearly all the more determined to put all the blame on him.

"Of all the cursed artefacts to put your greedy paws on, couldn't you have found one which had a known cure? It got every crewmembers of the Sea Monkey last time it was found and not in a pretty way if the rumours are true."

Duo was still unresponsive, eyes glazed and lips parted in a stunned expression. Hilde snorted and accused: "For fuck's sake Duo, I thought that you if anyone could recognize such a famous item. Similar things happened to Guybrush Threepwood after he got the cross, it doesn't take a genius to make the connection."

At long last, Duo stirred but when his voice rose, it was shaky and lost. "B-but... given the name, I always thought it was a jewel... a red one you know? There isn't even a ruby or a garnet on the thing."

Hilde stared at him as if he was incredibly dumb and he made a helpless gesture. She pinched her nose between thumb and forefinger and asked longsuffering: "I believe you grew up in a church Duo..? So... remind me what item is usually at the center of the Catholic faith? At the "heart" of it if you prefer?"

"Huh... hm... a cross which refers to Jesus crucified," he recited dumbly before adding defeated: "You're right, I am a moron."

Wufei was next to interrupt the uneasy silence and it soon appeared his thoughts hadn't been idle all that time.

"If I recall the story correctly, wasn't Threepwood supposed to have thrown the cursed artefact at sea at some point, in a desperate bid to get rid of the curse?"

Duo answered in that same defeated tone: "Yeah that's what people say anyway. That's also after he got rid of the thing that the curse got worse and his crewmembers began to drop dead one after another. Nice chap that Guybrush but not too bright: anyone could tell you it was stupid to try and guess with such a powerful curse. I have a feeling he didn't throw the cross in the ocean but rather buried it somewhere out of the way in the hope it would stop acting out, which was every bit as stupid in any case. He always had a thing for weird deserted island, I really should have guessed."

Mercifully, no one made any further comment on that subject. It was clear that Duo felt guilty enough on his own without the need for anyone to needle him. It was a testament to how much they were all unsettled that no one even reacted to the fact he spoke of Guybrush Threepwood as if he had known him when the man in question had died more than fifty years before. Maybe it was just that Shinigami could empathize with a Captain whom had witnessed the suffering and death of his crew and all he held dear before dying himself only because he had been stupid enough to unknowingly steal a cursed artefact. Shinigami had to come to terms with the reality that it might just become his own fate and one couldn't really fault the depths of his misery.

Fortunately, Duo wasn't one to dwell and he had no intention to stop fighting no matter how impossible the odds he was pitched against. He always tried to see the bright side of everything by thinking that he had already lived through worse, and in most cases it was true. What did he have to lose anyway? He straightened with determination and set his features in stone. The strange purple eyes were gleaming menacingly and a muscle in his jaw kept twitching.

"Okay people! It is bad and it is going to get worse but what the hell! I am not going to wait to watch all of us die! Guybrush was a moron and had always had the worst of luck to begin with. That is not our case. We're lucky bastards usually so that gives us something of an advantage. There has to be a way to lift that curse, we just haven't found it... yet!"

His eyes were now bright, his smile manic and predatory and he was almost shouting. No one would have dared to interrupt him: they knew it wasn't Duo anymore but Shinigami in all his glory and the temptation to flee his awesome presence was compelling. Impervious to the growing tension in the room, Duo went on with unshakeable focus.

"Everyone heard about what the curse did to the Sea Monkey crew but little is known about where they found the artefact. Only vague references to some Catholic Mission somewhere in the jungle. That's where we have to begin: retracing the path of the cross and we will find a cure! Guybrush couldn't have found his own ass with two good hands but he liked to brag about his so-called adventures and I am sure there is someone somewhere that heard that particular story; we just have to find them!"

Then, he slumped like a puppet whose strings had been cut while his audience stared shell-shocked. Duo wasn't usually one for inspirational speeches nor that good with strategy, it was thus not that surprising that his harangue had taken such a toll on him. It had been effective however, in shaking everyone else out of their apathy if nothing else. Quatre put his mind to work almost immediately and if his next suggestion was a little stuttered and preceded by an undignified squeak promptly swallowed, no one held it against him.

"We should go where he used to live. There might still be people there who knew him or at least heard about him... However, I'm not sure where that is to be honest... Hilde?"

The girl was still watching Duo as if she was hypnotized, not that anyone could blame her. When he was behaving like that, it was easy to understand the fascination Shinigami exerted on people, and when she was completely honest with herself, she knew she wasn't yet over him nor if she ever would. It was trying to get back on tracks and she needed a little more time to contemplate the might-have-been's. Fortunately, no one called her on it because Dietrich was the one to answer Quatre. After all, he was a pretty good gossip in his own right and when it came to such old stories he was even more reliable than his daughter.

"That'd be Melee Island, lad. Old Guybrush used ta court the Governor Elaine Marley there. Rumours have it that she wouldn't have given him the time o' day but he kept tryin' anyway."

"Melee Island? Governor Elaine Marley? Since when can women be governor?"

The questions and indignant protest came from Wufei of course and Dietrich just shrugged and finished his explanation seemingly undaunted by the interruption.

"She was no real governor, jus' looked like it. Wasn't the same in the old days. Everyone was doin' almost as they pleased. There was a group of islands where pirates lived at that time just south of where Niew Romfeller's main island is now. There was an old man that proclaimed himself Governor and when he died his granddaughter stepped in his place. She mus' have been kinda scary because no one made a move ta stop her."

They all took a time to digest the new information but there wasn't any question in anyone's mind that the Deathscythe was about to depart for a new adventure and that Melee Island would be their next destination. Without wasting any more time, Duo began to make a hasty list of what they would need for the journey and gave it to Dietrich, impressing on him the necessity to make everything available immediately. They couldn't well depart without sails for example and Deathscythe's old black ones had been damaged beyond repair by the crazy seagulls. As it went, Duo hadn't needed to be worried as when it came to business Dietrich was more than capable. That he was already privy of the dire of the situation also helped and it was with swift diligence that he exited the office bellowing orders to his employees.

In the room where the others were still seated now there wasn't much they could get done immediately, the silence stretched uncomfortably. Hilde had gotten her bearings at last and was annoyed with herself for having succumbed yet again to Duo's magnetic aura. That's what, more than the need to end the interview on a lighter note, pushed her to make her next comment.

"Hysterics aside Duo, I was kind of surprised to see you come in with trousers on. I heard you made an unexpected fashion statement not that long ago. A purple dress? Bold!"

She smirked and Duo blushed and spluttered. "How can you know about that?"

"I saw it in my crystal ball of course. What did you expect?"

"Okay. I probably don't want to know... I didn't wear the thing for pleasure anyway, those were dire circumstances!"

"Whatever you say Duo... Hm, now that I think about it, that explains a few things..."

She had on a thoughtful expression that was obviously exaggerated but Duo was too reeled to notice it or the devilish sparkle in her eyes. Quatre was trying to smother his chuckles behind his hand and even Wufei was almost but not quite grinning. Looking falsely chastised, Hilde offered a sympathetic look to Duo and went as far as to take his hand and pat it with dramatic commiseration.

"That must have been so hard all these years trying to hide what you were inside. Oh Duo! I am so sorry, if I had known, I wouldn't have been so hard on you. I should have guessed with your hair and the way you can't get emotionally attached to another woman. But really Duo, you shouldn't hide something like that, we are your friends, we wouldn't turn on you just because you're a little queer."

Duo's face had reddened so hard it was almost purple and he looked about to suffocate. "I am not queer!"

Far from frightening Hilde into silence, Duo's outburst only convinced her to up the act another notch and she brought a hand to her mouth as if to repress a sob. "Oh poor dear! That's obvious you're in denial..."

That and the teary eyes might have been a little over the top but at this point Duo was too far gone to realize it. He spluttered some more and simply stormed out in a rage. The door slammed behind him and the others were left behind to stare at the chair that had fallen in his wake. Hilde was smiling smugly with the air of the cat that got the cream and soon all three were laughing hard. Even Wufei seemed to have forgotten for the time being that such vulgar behaviour was beneath him. After a few minutes of heartfelt laughter that did wonders in dispelling the gloom of the past hours, Hilde complained playfully.

"Pity that man has so short a temper! I was just getting into it. I didn't even have the time to talk about the besotted officer that searched for him everywhere in Sank's Capital. I would have loved to see what he came up with to explain that!"

Then she was chuckling anew unaware of Quatre's sudden gasp. Now that he thought about it, Duo's reaction had been a little excessive. He was pretty sure his Captain had been called worse things than "queer" along the years. He wondered if there wasn't a little more to that story, especially when he had found a half naked "besotted officer" tied up on Shinigami's bedroom floor that very morning. After all, as the saying goes: there's no smoke without fire.