[Merrywinds]

Synopsis: A night of rest in the compound for three refugees.


The glass never hit the floor; the fool caught it just in time. Some wine spilled, but was instantly sucked in it, leaving it clean as ever. The fool put the glass on the table. Adna refilled it, leaving just as quickly as she had appeared. The dark hall was almost cocooned in a calm atmosphere. Soft music played in the background, couples danced and laughed softly. No loud, raucous shouting. Yet. A few people asked to have their glasses filled at a promising rate, though.

Nothing is as it seems said yet another voice. It was unlike the ones before, sounding more cynic. Baddon shook his head.

'Are you really serious?' he asked aloud, already knowing the answer. Mind-speech was forced to truth. Nobody lied in it.

Everybody

'Lies', said the fool. 'That you can always trust.' The contact had been broken. The fool returned his cold gray-blue (steel blue, Baddon realized, steel blue) eyes to his drink. Baddon blinked. His eyeballs felt frozen. The fool grinned, a cynical, insane twist of a smile.

'Oh come on, you aren't really that shocked,' he said to Baddon. Baddon shook his head. The fool was right again; now that the initial shock had passed, Baddon was able to assess the situation calmly. Besides, the shock had not come so much from the fool's age, but from the differences in the screaming voices. He took his glass, hand shaking only slightly and drank it all down.

'What next?' he asked the fool. The fool spun his glass lazily and thought.

'I think one of my assailants will come to see me in a moment. You should stay and take a look. The cathedralics are a one of a kind lot,' he huffed. Baddon clenched his jaw, stomach tingling in anticipation.

'Will he attack you?'

'I don't think so. They are not dumb enough to attack me in groups smaller than four,' he said. Baddon raised his eyebrows.

'All squads sent to kill another member never number less than four. Sometimes they are a dozen strong, but that is very rare, unless the target is one of the Primes,' the fool explained.

'Primes?' Baddon asked, though the name gave him some idea of these ”Primes”.

'Yes. The oldest and most experienced assassins still active. They are very...' He paused for a moment, searching for a word, 'I really can't translate it. They can not be trusted in anything; some will kill themselves, some will kill the hunters and others will kill everything else around. Some just laugh and get killed, some are never caught. Some will just turn themselves in. You can never know what stunt they will pull, but most end up being killed, one way or the other. People tend to get a little unstable by time,' he smiled. Baddon nodded silently. The music had got a low, thudding bass beat to it. It sounded like huge, soft heartbeats. It felt warm. Baddon opened the top two buttons from his shirt.

'Do you know who is chasing you?' Baddon asked. The fool shook his head. He asked Adna for another glass of his dark, bubbling drink. He got his drink. Adna stayed there, obviously waiting for something. The fool turned to her. She was breathing more swiftly, her skin almost glowing now. Somehow everything seemed softer now, even the lights. Baddon cursed himself for drinking all that wine so quickly.

'I think we should continue our little... conversation in a moment. I'm currently waiting for somebody,' the fool said. Adna winked and bit her lower lip coyly. The fool turned towards Baddon,just about to say something, but stopped in mid-breath. His eyes widened. No, his irises widened, filling all the white space in his eyes. His pupils shrunk into small black dots. It was revolting to look at.

'Notice the difference?' he almost hissed. Baddon blinked in surprise. Nothing was wrong. Except for the pair of huge, completely gray eyes.

'Look around you! Listen, smell, sense!' The fool almost purred in sudden elation. A vein was pulsing in his neck. Baddon felt his stomach twitch uncontrollably.

The music had indeed changed. It was like... like the music in high-quality erotic films, soft, sensual and rhythmic. He thought that he even heard soft female sighs and moans in it. The room smelled odd. It took him a few deep breaths to recognize the soft, intoxicating scent. The room smelled of sex. It was a shocking revelation. He stole a small glance at Adna, without even knowing it. She drew his gaze to her only by... Being as she was. She was holding the table in a death grip, breathing shallowly, face upturned, eyes closed. Her dress was wet from the loins. He had to rip his eyes away from her, from her rapturous, sensual beauty. He shifted his weight on the soft chair. The movement caused him to feel something very hard in his groin. Harder than ever, actually, and that was really saying something. His pulse was climbing to rates never seen before. Sweat was forming on his forehead, along with other wetness in his groin.

He looked around him, at everyone else in the room. Everywhere, in twos, threes and even in fours or fives, people were starting to... cavort. He had heard of such orgies, yes, orgies, but had never seen or participated. The situation was getting quite critical, as people were staring to get rid of their clothing as well as of their partner's. He shook his head to clear it. He lifted his gaze to the fool, who was grinning a bit too widely. It was a very disturbing sight. His eyes were even wider than before. Baddon flet his neck tingle at those eyes. Not a pleasant tingle, but like the one you feel when you have almost run yourself to death.

'What is this...' Baddon started, but stopped when he heard the low softness of his voice. It made him twitch. The fool smiled, unnaturally wide.

'It's Lust,' he said, and as Baddon heard his voice, a voice like a sudden dive from a soft, warm bath to a raging river of freezing water, a voice like a chill wind, his head cleared and he felt his hardness relaxing. He took a deep breath to calm down his racing pulse. He suddenly felt his vision clear and was in control once again.

'Yeah, I kinda noticed that,' he said. The fool shook his head very quickly. His face became almost blurred by the movement. Baddon blinked. It must have been the darkness and the rush that had overcome him just a moment ago. Or the alcohol.

'No. It's Lust. Just like I'm Fool. And he's here,' he said, his words a slicing whisper. He turned around in his seat and let his eyes wander around the crowd. He assessed the sweating, cavorting mass with cold amusement. His eyes passed over the doorway. A lone man was standing there, his silhouette visible against the light of the entrance hall. Fool waved for him. He walked slowly towards them.

Fool? Baddon thought, but any further mental progress was prevented by another rush of heat. He was unable to resist the urge to stare at Adna who was trembling slightly, her hand gliding along her dress, up and down.... Fool gripped his shoulder and his head cleared again. He nodded his thanks and stole another glimpse at the approaching man, a very quick glimpse; he didn't want to lose himself just now. Although the thought was very tempting....

'Take a deep breath,' Fool said as the man passed Baddon. He did as he was told and felt the overwhelming rush rise again. This time he remained in control however, and the feeling passed as the man seated himself next to Fool, leaving him between himself and Baddon. When he was seated, the rush disappeared completely. Baddon leaned on his hands and looked at the man, who was now completely visible in the dim light coming from the control tower.

He had curly, shoulder-long black hair that seemed to move in waves as he moved. A few locks were curled up on the forehead. His eyes were the deepest brown that Baddon had ever seen, almost reddish close to the center. His muscles ripped under his fluidly moving dark silk shirt. His face was hard-lined, painfully handsome and masculine. He smiled and white teeth flashed. His soft laugh made Adna bend over and gasp, both hands now sliding on her body, finger shaking from excitement.. Suddenly Baddon had a very vivid image of hiding from a huge explosion of heat behind a chunk of ice, while everyone else was burning. Apparently Fool shielded him from the effects Lust had on everyone else with his presence.

'Hi, Fool,' Lust said. Baddon gritted his teeth against the effect as he felt himself rising again. He dug his nails to his thighs, but to no avail. Then he took another deep breath and felt control returning.

'Hi, Lust. I see you brought nobody with you,' Fool answered. Lust nodded. His hair reflected the soft light in a million angles.

'You look... odd,' Lust said. Fool raised his eyebrows. The voice once again had the same effect on Baddon, but this time it passed sooner.

'How come?'

'We were told that you were extremely... ,' Baddon could not understand the last word or words. They seemed unlike anything he had ever heard before; it was hard to even believe that a human mouth could have uttered the syllables he had heard. Fool shook his head.

'That is the common term. I have no idea if it's really true. And besides, it is irrelevant at this point. Do you have anyone else with you that I know?' he asked. Lust nodded.

'Rage,' he said.

'Pearl,' he said.

'Blind,' he said. Fool grinned.

'And a few novices, I suppose?' Fool asked. Lust nodded.

'Two. Piece and Crack. Both are very promising,' he smiled. Fool let out a short, silent laughter.

Baddon had noticed something odd. He was not feeling anything odd anymore, but everyone else... Everytime Lust spoke, the people in the hall moved more intently and the music became even more arousing. When Lust moved, the hall seemed to revolve around him. Adna was on her knees, still beside the desk. A long man with one black eye, one golden, was calmly watching the events of the hall, with a glass of something that looked like white wine in his hand. Apparently he had a will of iron or was completely impotent; Adna was kneeling just two feet away from him. Baddon had a vision of what he would have done in the man's place and shook his head to get rid of the disturbing images.

'And who is this?' Lust asked Fool. Fool turned around to look at Baddon.

'A friend, I suppose,' he said. Lust laughed and Adna gasped repeatedly, her body shaking.

'Friend? You are definitely shitting me. You are incapable of such feelings,' he said.

'A friend, as much as possible, I probably should have said. I think he might kill your precious novices tomorrow,' Fool smiled. Lust shrugged. Then he leaned closer, an intensive look in his deep eyes. He placed his hand on the table, merely inches away from Fool's.

'What would you do if I attacked you right now?' Suddenly all the sounds, lights and even the atmosphere turned somehow tense, as if waiting for a

ECSTATIC

release. Baddon felt all his body hair rise, along with something else. Even taking deep breaths did not help at all. Small blue lighting flickered between the two hands on the table. Adna was now positively panting, faster and faster. Fool leaned closer, so close that his blond hair almost touched Lust's black. For a moment Baddon saw a scene like he had seen on countless low-class comics(far out missions seldom had any quality entertainment); two stone-faced rivals facing each other, with the background split in two by a lighting-shaped line. He didn't have enough time to realize the background, although he did get a fleeting image in his mind's eye. Steel blue eyes facing red-brown. Red and ash. Lust and Fool.

'Find out,' Fool whispered. For a moment nothing moved. Baddon sensed a silent match-up between the two assassins, lethal intent swirling around deadly intention. The two wills faced each other for a second, then withdrew. Lust smiled, and the atmosphere relaxed. The music came to a release, as did the lights, flickering on and off blindingly, fast and bright. Adna collapsed on the floor, letting out a small whine. The same happened all around the hall. Baddon was quite certain that it was happening everywhere in the compound, except for him. Fool's(for Baddon suddenly accepted the name. One was just as good as another) presence had shielded him. Only the tall man with his odd eyes remained standing.

'I shall,' Lust spat. Fool winked and sipped his dark, sparkling drink. Baddon felt his drenched shirt and especially his drenched pants stick to his skin. He determinedly avoided looking at Adna, out of fear of losing his self-control.

'Till tomorrow, then,' Lust said and stood up. Fool gave a small mock salute and Lust answered in kind. He turned and left the steaming hot hall quickly, leaving everyone still conscious to gather themselves from the floor. Most had fainted, though. Everything was starting to return to normal.

'Don't worry, she'll be fine,' Fool said. Baddon looked at him, not understanding.

'Sham has slept all this time. She might be a little... Well, I think you can imagine, but otherwise unharmed. Who knows, it might actually do her some good,' Fool continued, musing to himself. Baddon gritted his teeth in sudden anger. Fool looked at him.

'You should get some rest. I cannot prepare you for tomorrow any more than this. You saw what's coming. Help her,' he said. His irises returned to normal, pupils widening to normal size. Baddon rose from his chair, hands curling to fists. He turned sharply and stormed out.

'Last words matter more than first,' he heard Fool whisper as he left the hall.

Fool remained seated. Grallav walked to him, nimbly vaulting over the table to sit beside him.

'And he was one of your foes?'

'Yes. Lust,' Fool answered. Grallav let out a short laugh.

'Quite a fellow. I think we will have a long night ahead of us,' he mused. Fool looked around him and nodded. The full effects of Lust's aura had gone, but people were still quite... excited. Many were rushing to their private quarters with their company, leaving their clothing on the floor. Only a few had regained their wits enough to grab their gear with them. Grallav filled his and Fool's glasses to the brim again.

'What next?' Grallav asked. Fool scratched his side.

'I think I'll call an old friend. Then...' He winked at Adna, who was climbing up from the floor, still shaking and breathing fast and shallow. She opened her mouth and licked her lower lip. Grallav laughed again. Adna sunk back to the floor, her eyes rolling back in her head. Fool shook his head slowly, a smug smile on his face and turned to Grallav.

'Do you still have that loophole-thingy in here?' Fool asked. Grallav's laughter died. He nodded and reached under the service disk. He pulled out a small headphone with an equally small microphone, attached to each other by a plastic stick. He gave it to Fool, who unceremoniously stuck it to his ear. Immediately his eyes rolled back and his back arched. His glass shattered in his hand and blood dripped from his clenched fist. His neck and face tensed, tendons and veins clearly showing. In a few seconds his face was a grotesque network of criss-crossing, bulging veins. Grallav shook his head.

'Idiot,' he said and drank his glass empty, watching Adna. She was still having great trouble controlling herself and was constantly doing things which Grallav found very interesting. After a while he felt his glass grow cold. He looked at Fool, who was slowly regaining his composure. Fool ripped the small headpiece away, flinging blood in a wide arc. He looked at the remains of his glass and let the bloody shards fall to the floor from his hand. Grallav silently handed him some liquid bandages. Fool let the red fluid fall on his hand, which stopped bleeding immediately. He then poured a few drops in his bleeding ear, with similar effects. He made a face.

'Shit that hurts. It's broken,' he said, pointing to the small black headpiece. Grallav snapped it in two.

'So I see.'

'I'm not sure if I got my message through. Too much disturbance from the ruins nearby,' Fool said. Grallav shrugged and gave the table a coded tap. Slowly it sprouted a glass filled with the same liquid Fool had been drinking all night, straight from the dark surface. Fool raised his eyebrows, muttered ”show-off” and took the glass.

'Nothing better than a cold coke and a beautiful woman,' he said and rose up. Grallav nodded as Fool fluidly vaulted over the table and lightly lifted Adna up on his arms. She immediately kissed him ravenously, breathing even louder than before. He quickly snatched a bottle of golden wine from under the table, shrugging to Grallav who winked. Adna let out a little moan as Fool shifted his grip, her dress sliding along her warm, wet legs and stomach. Her long hair fell in a dark fall of silk down her neck to Fool's chest. Her nails raked the back of his neck, trying to grab his short, greyish-blond hair.

'Room four,' Grallav said and Fool nodded his thanks.

Fool walked out of the hall, trying to navigate his way out and kiss Adna at the same time. The floor was full of clothes and wet spots. He saw a few people still entwined in each other, lying in the dark corners of the hall. Lust had grown strong. He smiled in mid-kiss. Adna only tightened her grip. He kicked open the door to the hallway, seeing a few people very engaged in each other there too. The entire compound was like that, he guessed. He felt the mental heat flowing from all around him, only growing hotter and hotter as it was trapped within the energy walls.

Room four was locked. He looked at the lock, and it clicked open. At least he could do some things without his hands. He kicked the ornate oak door open and closed it behind them. Auto-assigning lights slowly came to life, and soft, sensual light filled the room. Fool carried Adna to the large white silky bed, laying her down. He gave the room's AI a mental command and a large wooden vat filled with ice appeared on the other end of the bed. He kicked his shoes off and ripped his shirt away. Adna purred on the bed. He smiled a small smile and slowly pulled her wet dress off, dropping it on the floor. She moaned and he kissed his way up her body.

And the room pulsed in unison with them.

*****

A few hours later Grallav was still sitting in the now empty hall, spinning his ninth glass of wine around. He was definitely drunk. Drunk and a little bit jealous]; everyone but him was having the best night of their life. He had had to seal the compound as even the guards fell victim to the aura of lust. He shook his head and emptied his glass, amused himself by shattering it on the table and then watching it sink to the dark, misty surface only for a new one to rise up, full with his favourite white wine.

A high, crackling noise filled his ears and he turned around swiftly(proving to anyone watching that maybe he wasn't so drunk after all. However, there was nobody watch him, so his little secret was safe), a small photon ripper appearing from under his skin. He calmed down, however as he saw only a faint, dancing hologram, a small humanoid. It was clearly speaking, but he could not make out the words. The small, menacing weapon sunk back to his wrist.

'Amplify,' he commanded. Static filled the room, drowning all the words.

'Filter,' he said, and the static disappeared.

'Filter at maximum,' the room AI replied. 'Beacon loophole at estimated seventeen trillion hexagon light year radius. Collapse risk high,' it stated. Grallav was instantly sober. What the hell? Seventeen-howmany-what? Collapse...

'Record beacon,' he commanded.

'Beacon recorded,' came the soft reply with a feminine voice. The hologram disappeared.

'Play beacon,' Grallav said and watched as the hologram appeared again.

'Set to voice level, repair image,' he said and the words became louder, about the loudness of normal speaking voice. The form seemed to first clear, then solidify and grow. It was a bald man in a plain red robe with a hood. His artificial hands were hanging at his side. No marks, jewelry or anything else worth noticing. Completely white eyes.

'...mmander Red to Shatter Grey, request pinpoint location for uplift. Repeat, request pinpoint for uplift. If unable to pinpoint, we will be forced to used orbital lifter. Send beacon for planetary confirmation. Repeat, beacon for planetary confirmation. Loophole sink in four. Arrival without beacon may cause primal rippling. Confirm request Mother. Confirm report of file Croussan,' it said. Then it bowed and disappeared .

Grallav sat for a while, scratching his chin. Shit. He knew that red uniform and he knew what it meant. He'd better send the planetary beacon. Mother.... His eyes glazed. It had been so long... He'd never dreamed of this day. Shatter Grey. So Fool really was that old figure of terror. Then he gasped. Mother! It could only mean one thing.

'Send planetary beacon immediately! Full power resource available!' he screamed. For a moment the power in the compound sizzled on and off. Lightning crackled around the poles outside. A lightpipe exploded, tearing a hole in the roof. The everything returned to normal.

'Planetary beacon sent. Damage result: 1%. Power grid normal. Power matrix normal,' the room responded.

'Activate weapon systems prime,' Grallav muttered, turning to his wine.

'Weapon systems activated. Compound seal level 78 %., full seal in seven. Generators online,' the compound AI, a masculine, sharp voice said. It continued on and on, indicating all possible systems. Grallav shook his head.

He stood up and walked quite straight and very determinedly towards room number four.

*****

Fool lifted his head from between Adna's legs. That last one had sent her over the edge and she had fainted. He hadn't stopped though, and she was slowly coming back. A loud thumping from the door however made him stand up.

'Identify guest,' he said silently.

'Master identification required,' the room replied. Fool walked to the door, grabbing a white silk towel to wrap around his waist as he went. He opened the door and looked at a very angry Grallav. He was holding a small cylinder in his hand. He tossed it to Fool and walked away without a word. Fool quietly closed the door and looked at the cylinder.

'Engage,' he said. A small red-robed hologram appeared on the floor. It quickly grew to human size.

'Commander Red to Shatter Grey, request pinpoint location for uplift. Repeat, request pinpoint for uplift. If unable to pinpoint, we will be forced to use orbital lifter. Send beacon for planetary confirmation. Repeat, beacon for planetary confirmation. Loophole sink in four. Arrival without beacon may cause primal rippling. Confirm request Mother. Confirm report of file Croussan.' Fool smiled. Then he laughed softly. Primal rippling? Grallav had taken care of that already. He tossed to cylinder to the waste bin and thought for a while. No confirmation counted as confirmation. That had been the deal. He smiled. Wonderful.

He felt something soft press against his back. Two of something soft. Two slender hands removed his towel, letting it drop to the floor. He felt soft lips on his neck and two soft legs curled around his. Something wet touched his thigh. Adna rubbed herself on his leg. He smiled and grabbed her, walking backwards to the bed. Femininemoaning filled the room.

The night was still young.