Of Kings

By RaistlinofMetallica

Warnings: AU, future, slight crossover with Labyrinth and The Sandman, heavy dialogue

The Long Man of Wilmington was truly an impressive sight in the fading daylight. The sixty-nine meter tall chalk figure had been on this hill for longer than people could remember and its origins were shrouded in mystery. People had been coming here to the English countryside to be married and conduct their religious ceremonies under the watchful presence of the Long Man for centuries.

“You don’t have to do this,” Heero whispered from behind her, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder.

Relena put her hand over his and sighed, looking at the distant chalk figure. “I know.”

He was worried about her, so very worried, and she couldn’t fault him in the slightest for it. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared, too. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be. They had fought for the peace for more years than each of them could count and fate deemed it not enough.

“After sunset, that’s when I’ll go,” Relena said quietly, turning to face him. “We should have time to get something to eat.”

Heero’s fingers tightened in a reassuring squeeze as he nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

They returned in the night, sneaking up to stand at the base of the famous hill. For a moment, they simply stood, drinking in the sight of the ancient chalk figure in silence. Then, Relena stepped forward, touching her fingers to her breastbone and closing her eyes in concentration as she sought out that elusive crystalline thread of power hidden within her body. She clasped it steadily with all her will and roused that power from its dormant state, allowing it to suffuse her being with mystical strength in a burst of sparks and white fire. She opened her eyes and raised her hands, noting the ethereal glow of energy that seemed to coat her very being and the appearance of the plain white v-collared dress that marked her station. It was always so very strange to see herself in this state.

“You’re sure about this?” Heero asked, coming to stand beside her. He, too, had activated his slumbering power, which now danced over his skin and transformed clothing like foxfire.

“I’m sure,” Relena said, nodding and clasping his hands in a reassuring gesture. “Don’t worry. I won’t be gone very long.”

“You remember what Duo told you?” he asked, brows knit in concern.

“Every word.”

“I should go with you,” Heero said quietly.

Relena shushed him, her fingertip resting against his lip, and simply stated, “Non licet.”

The energy surrounding him rippled, reflecting his unease. He had been her protector, her stalwart and loyal knight-errant for so very long and being refused the right to accompany her in this mission was clearly eating him up inside. Still, this was a dangerous enough venture as it was and both of them understood the risks of deviating from the rules on this occasion.

“The map,” he whispered, caressing her face with one hand. The other hand pressed a carefully rolled scroll of pale parchment into her hands. “Return safely.”

Relena nodded, gently cupping his cheek in one hand as she forced down the anxiety churning within her, and turned away to face the hill. She closed her eyes and steadied herself. Then, she raised her head and loudly called out, “Wendel, open thy door!”

The chalk lines of the Long Man slowly began to glow, an otherworldly energy filling them, and then the outline moved. Slowly, surely, the outlined man reached to take hold of the rightmost line and tugged, peeling back the hill to reveal a shimmering wall of light.

“I will wait for you here,” Heero stated matter-of-factly and she knew he would neither move nor sleep until she was back.

Relena nodded, clutching the scroll tightly. She gathered her power and leapt, diving into the doorway between worlds.

She emerged on the other side in mid-air and immediately began to freefall. Cursing under her breath, she flipped herself upright and pushed her power out around her until it wreathed her in white fire. Her descent slowed, until she finally stopped, coming to stand on the air as if she were standing on a solid surface. She sighed, steadying her heartbeat as she looked down at the kingdom sprawling below – the hovering trick was still frightening and impossible for her to fully wrap her head around, no matter how many times she did it.

“Seek you the lands beyond the Veil, where goblins and faery do dwell and dreams doth take form,” Relena murmured to herself, scanning the horizon. “Betwixt the borders of ancient Underground and the Dream-land of Morpheus, a place of challenge stands. If thy heart never falters, thou might take back that which was lost within. But, prithee, take heed: goblins are beings of mischief. In their kingdom, naught is as it seems.”

In the distance, she spotted the edges of a maze and paused, smiling. She moved, her power burning around her as she streaked across the sky like a white comet. It was a very weird sensation to be flying like this – but, then again, there was a lot she’d found about this transformed state that was just plain weird. The first time she’d flown like this, she’d immediately realized it was nothing like the gentle flight of birds and was instead more comparable to blasting around at full-throttle in a mobile suit. She always suspected that the eerie similarity to mobile suit flight made the transformations for Heero and his brothers-in-arms more bearable. She, however, had little experience in that department and instead wondered if this is what if felt like to be Supergirl.

The maze grew clearer as she approached, sprawling across the land in an intricate and convoluted fashion. Here and there the masonry gave way to forested sections and sheer cliffs. A swamp oozed along one edge of the maze, malodorous and festering. The land rose gently near the center of the immense construct and appeared to become a mountain, an illusion heightened by the presence of a medieval city that appeared to spring up around the base of a towering castle.

Relena hesitated and slowed her approach, looking for a place to land. If Duo and his sources were right, this castle was the place she was looking for.

A sudden movement on one of the parapets caught her attention. It was a young blonde man, who appeared hardly older than she was, dressed in courtly finery, and he looked in her direction with frightening intensity. He beckoned with one gloved hand.

Relena shivered, but descended, landing gracefully on the parapet a polite distance from the man. How to start? She couldn’t very well say the wrong words – everyone was counting on her and this place wasn’t exactly like the typical political stage she was used to.

“I come in peace,” she blurted and instantly regretted it. Of all the silly, ham-filled things she could say, she had to say that!

The man laughed, a strange musical laugh that wasn’t quite human, and then smiled in amusement. “I’m glad. For a moment there I was worried I was going to have to have you thrown in the oubliette.”

The throne room of the goblin castle was a large circular stone room, cluttered with scrolls, books, and knick-knacks. An ancient gilded clock with thirteen numbers on its face rested on the wall, quietly ticking backwards. Shadows cast by the sputtering candlelight scattered and chuckled like things alive – and in this place, who was to say that they were not, in fact, alive?

“I must admit I was not expecting a visitor,” the man said matter-of-factly, making his way to the throne at the center of the room and sitting. “Most of our guests are here to face the trials of my labyrinth and little else. So tell me, Foreign Minister Dorlian, what business do you have with Tobias, King of Goblins?”

Relena paled, instinctively taking a half step back. The transformation was supposed to cloud their identities! “How do you know my name?”

“I have many eyes and ears in the world above and I make it my business to know the names of those with power,” the king replied, smiling mysteriously. “You see, down here, in this realm, names are power.”

Pursing her lips, Relena stepped forward and said archly: “If your majesty does indeed have many eyes and ears in the human world, then you might wish to consider withdrawing them.”

“And why would I do such a foolish thing?” the king asked.

Relena held out the scroll with a stern expression. “If you do not, they will be destroyed when the Moon Queen awakens and purifies the world.”

The shadows froze and the clock stopped ticking as the king of goblins stiffened. His eyes, now hard as ice, sought the shadows. “Leave us! Attend to your posts!”

Squealing, cursing and snapping, the shadows fled the room in a great rush, the silhouettes of goblins now visible. Now Relena understood how they had come to be able to so easily obtain her name – for a creature that could easily be concealed in shadows, eavesdropping would hardly be difficult.

“I would choose your next words carefully,” the king said, standing slowly. The air around him began to shimmer and crackled with wild power. “Why are you here?”

Relena lowered the scroll, but did not let her stern expression slip. “I fear and respect the Moon Queen greatly – she is, indeed, a very powerful being – but I cannot sit idly by and let her do this. The idea of forced purification goes against everything I have worked for in this world. Moreover, I know that her purification will not discriminate between good and evil – it will destroy anything and anyone with connections to otherworldly energies and likely sear all the gates to Earth closed.”

She paused, closing her eyes to avoid looking at the suddenly pale face of the king, and took a deep breath before continuing, “We have a plan to escape the Moon Queen and bring as many as we can with us, but we will need allies. What we intend to do has never been done before and we will need all the help we can get.”

“Why come to me?” the king asked, sinking back down onto his throne. “The Goblin Kingdom is not the most powerful realm in this land and I am not the most influential of kings.”

Relena smiled knowingly. “Because you too were human, once upon a time, Toby Williams, King of Goblins.”

The king blinked in surprise, jaw dropping open quite comically.

Duo’s sources were indeed very well informed, she decided.

The Goblin King’s study was as cluttered as his throne room, overflowing with books and scrolls. Discarded and faded toys were stuffed in the bookshelves, some holding empty crystal spheres. Photos and paintings hung haphazardly wherever there was a free spot on the wall. Some moved, some did not, but all had an aged, faded feel, as though they were faded memories.

“I apologize for the mess, Foreign Minister Dorlian,” King Tobias said, clearing his desk of books with a single sweeping gesture. “As I said, I do not entertain company often.”

Relena smiled politely. “It’s perfectly all right – I didn’t exactly announce my intentions to visit.”

“My dear, I doubt there is anyone in the Underground Realms who did not sense your presence when you arrived. I suspect I’ll have more than my share of company after you depart,” he countered, grinning mischievously. “But I believe that was your intention all along, am I right?”

Relena inclined her head, smiling. “You are a very perceptive man, King Tobias.”

“When you are as old as I am, madam, it comes naturally,” he chuckled. “Can I offer you something to eat or drink, perhaps?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I ate before I left and my husband is waiting for me at home. I’ve no desire to remain here.”

“Ah, I do apologize – force of habit. It’s been a long time since I’ve entertained people from the mortal realm that had no intention of remaining permanently,” the king said. He had the decency to look moderately sheepish. “Now, I’m most curious to hear more about this plan of yours. I may have eyes and ears in the mortal world, but they are not as great in number as I would like others to believe.”

Relena stepped forward, placing the scroll down on the desk and opened it, revealing a map of the stars. “I’m not sure how familiar you are with the sailor guardians,” she began. “Most of the older ones are guardians of planetary or celestial bodies. The Moon Queen and the members of her court each correspond to the nine planets of our solar system and the asteroid belt, with the Moon Queen and her husband both representing a united Earth and Moon.”

“Old news,” King Tobias said, dismissively, looking down at the map. “I’ve read reports to that effect.”

She pursed her lips and responded easily, “Did your reports mention that guardians can alter the nature of a planet or space and time by the force of their own will?”

The Goblin King raised his head in surprise.

“Our plan takes advantage of those facts,” Relena said. She tapped a cluster of stars on the map, which rippled to briefly show the Earth, and then traced her finger across the map to another cluster of stars, leaving a trail of white. Again, she tapped the map and it rippled to reveal a small six-planet system.

“You intend to alter one of the planets of this system?” King Tobias asked, examining the planets intently.

“Altering a planet to support life overnight is an unnatural process,” Relena replied, shaking her head. “It requires a constant drain on the powers of the guardian who invokes that power in order to maintain the transformation. If they slip up or die, the whole thing comes apart. Additionally, it would make it impossible for us to transport large numbers of refugees.”

The king stepped back, dropping into his chair with a thud, and casually reexamined the map. “So, if that’s out, what exactly is your plan?”

Relena tapped on the part of the map that showed the Earth again. The image rippled, revealing a large space station. Six large ships were pressed alongside it in various stages of construction. “These spaceships are designed to be used as a platform for large-scale, long-term terraforming of a planet. There was only one problem with their design – they are so large that no normal engine can move them and still have enough energy to maintain the necessary systems.”

She paused, bowing her head. “We intend to place anyone who might be destroyed by the purification on these ships and then use our guardian powers to move them to the system we showed you, where they can start terraforming those planets safely.”

There was a pregnant silence as the king regarded her thoughtfully.

“What exactly did you come to us for, Foreign Minister Dorlain?” he asked, finally.

Relena sighed and looked him steadily in the eye. “How long would it take you and the rest of the Underground to forge a path to those planets I showed you?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t follow,” King Tobias responded. His eyebrows bunched for a moment as he considered. “Are you suggesting that we connect them to this realm?”

“The Moon Queen intends to cut your realm off from Earth. She does not understand the role this realm plays in the cycle of life. She sees only threats,” Relena said solemnly. “Your realm needs an anchor to survive. Many of the people we wish to rescue are fae-touched or magical in some way. Terraforming can’t replicate that.”

The Goblin King frowned, looking at the map intently. “How long do we have?”

“Two years,” Relena whispered. “And then the world falls down.”

His eyes flickered in her direction and again there was silence.

“It won’t be easy, but I will see what I can do,” King Tobias sighed at last, running a hand through his hair.

Relena bowed her head respectfully. “I thank you.”

The Goblin King raised his hand and, with a flick of his wrist, a transparent crystal sphere appeared. He then brought his hand down, the crystal dancing across his fingertips as he peered into it. “Before you go, there is one thing I must ask of you.”

She stared at him, more than a little wary. Goblins were a tricky sort and this was their king.

“Take this with you,” he said, the crystal floating off his fingertips.

Relena hesitantly caught it and gently turned it over in her hands. Inside, there was a small picture of a pair of children playing in a yard.

“They are the mortal descendants of my sister,” King Tobias said quietly. “Take them with you when you leave Earth.”

“I promise,” she said firmly.

The trip back was much easier and Relena found herself slipping back through Wendel’s door and into Heero’s arms in almost no time at all. It seemed that while only a little while had passed in the realm beyond, several hours had passed on Earth.

“How did it go?” Heero asked, the traces of his transformed state fading from his body and leaving him looking decidedly more his usual self.

Relena pursed her lips, letting go of her own transformation, and sighed happily at the reappearance of the modest sweater-vest and knee-length skirt she’d put on that morning. “It went as expected.”

“I’m glad,” he said honestly.

“He wants us to look after something for him, though,” Relena added, holding up the crystal sphere.

Heero gently plucked it from her fingers, staring at the image within. “Should be easy enough to do,” he grunted and gave it back to her.

“Let’s go home,” she said quietly, leaning into his arm.

The Goblin King, now back in his throne room, let the crystal in his hand go clear and smiled, idly twirling it back and forth in his fingers. Around him, the goblins gathered, spilling out of the shadows and tumbling over each other.

“It’s further than you think,” he murmured, thoughtfully.

AN: Man, I haven't written in this fandom in a long while. Okay, so here goes - notes.

Long Man of Wilmington - long story short, it's a huge chalk figure of a dude on a hill in England

"non licet" - Latin phrase meaning "it is not allowed" or "it is not permitted" or something to that effect.

Oddity of superpowers/sailor senshi transformation - I've always believed that the Gundam Wing group wouldn't cotton well to being dragged into another type of battle, even if it did give them keen superpowers. Though, I believe they'd find the flying part the only enjoyable bit. Otherwise, it'd be like a completely alien experience and they might never get used to it. But what are the names of Relena and Heero's senshi states? That is a mystery. However, I will say there are among the very young stars released from the Galaxy Cauldron at the end of Sailor Moon Stars - so young, in fact, they are still looking for planets!

"Seek you the lands beyond the Veil..." - I particularly enjoyed writing the little bit of prose Relena recites that serve as the directions to getting to the Goblin Kingdom.

Duo's Sources - They are both numerous and very well informed. And that's all I'll say on the matter.

Goblin King Tobias - Ahahaha, just a little wishful thinking related to Return to the Labyrinth's cover. I can't bring myself to read the manga after what I've seen of the sample interior art. Dear Christ, Tokyopop, you'll let anyone in. But yes, Toby Williams, the babe with the power, who's big sister Sarah won him back, only to later learn in a horribly drawn OEL sequel that Toby was far from done with the Labyrinth. Toby echoes Jareth's line to Sarah at the end. Relena also makes a casual reference to one of the songs.

Names are power - to name something is to quantify it and take power over it. It's a magic thing.

Why does Relena reject food and drink? - If you eat or drink faery food, you must stay in their world. Very not-cool twist on the Persephone-type of story.

"Purification" - now this refers to an actual canon Sailor Moon event. Neo Queen Serenity is supposed to have "purified" the world after the great disaster - this was mentioned in passing in Sailor Moon R. It also said there were a few people who rejected it and were exiled to Nemesis. It was supposed to have turned the world into a peaceful utopia, but the impression is that time and people kind of were in a bit of a suspended state, perhaps most exemplified by Chibi-Usa/Rini, the 900 year old preschooler. It makes me wonder a lot about what would happen to anyone or any species with mystical connections to other worlds, like faery realms, if they were unfortunate enough to be caught up in that purification wave. Additionally, when I refer to Neo Queen Serenity in this, I tend to paint her as she was in the Sailor Moon R arc before her past self came to the future - a very insular sort of ruler with a blind spot regarding the protection of what she percieves as hers.

Perhaps I'm being a buzzkill, but the real trouble I had merging Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon came from the vast difference in philosophy and I try to bring that through in this fanfiction, that there is a disconnect in their ideals. In Sailor Moon, it's pretty much "I will show you through the feelings of my heart and it will change you and then we'll have peace". Enemies that cannot fathom this are killed or purified right out of existence. It's a world that believes in predestiny and knows it implicitly. In Gundam Wing, the fundamental idea is that "you must fight for what you want, even if you are simply peacably standing up for your beliefs. It is your battle." Enemies are either killed because it's a battle or go their separate ways. They're very much a world on a quest to find themselves in a sense. I dunno, maybe it's the fundamental disconnect between shoujo and shonen stories.

The Magic Map - Exactly what it says on the tin. An enchanted map. Duo's sources may have a hand in this.

I hope you enjoyed, despite my tendency for the dramatic and morbid outlook on the merger of these worlds.