This is a world where charas are born to everyone with the willpower to obtain their inner strength. This is where it all began.
Heritage
Heels echoed through the near-empty hallway. Silence came back for a split second, but soon ended when the shoes clipped down the circular ebony stairs.
The silky light pink dress slowly skidded along the pale crystalline marble that scaled the ballroom floors. The gold-diamond chandelier twinkled throughout the white satin walls. The floor was completely empty; all of the tables and chairs hadn't been laid out yet. The party tonight was going to be splendid. It was finally time.
Kimi was finally old enough to hold an engagement party – she hadn't been yet, but every rich man and their son will be at this party… finally, love will blossom in her life.
She let her dark purple waist-length hair out of its bun and ruffled her white bangs around. Her top-corset sleeveless puff dress, light pink in all its glory, pranced along the marble.
As she twirled and shuffled, dancing with her eyes closed, she imagined her dream husband moving her along. Messy brown hair, big eyes, big smile, bright personality, but big hands, and a big figure; that way she would feel completely safe every time they embraced.
She started singing to herself… again. Her soft and petite voice echoed throughout the room.
"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, 'I'll never let you go,'… when all those shadows almost took your light…"
As she imagined, and danced, and sang, she almost lost herself completely. In her own imaginary world…
She started to stumble, but felt something catch her. She looked up to see her older brother, Arlo.
"Oh, h-hi, Arlo Nii-chan…" she mumbled shyly.
"Clumsy as ever, I see," he chuckled. He brushed some of his bright orange hair out of his face.
"Thanks, Nii-san… aren't you excited for me later? I'll finally get a husband! Being 18 really IS great!"
"Yeah, well, being 22 isn't too swell, heheh…" he rubbed his hand on the back of his head.
"Nii-san is so silly! So, will you be there with me, tonight?"
"I'll try to, Kimi. But work calls, and Fiona can't seem to handle the kids on her own…" he saw a look of sorrow take over his sisters face. He kneeled down and patted her on the head. "I'll be there, okay?"
"Yes, Onii-chan!~" She giggled and smiled intently, but softly. "Hey Alro-onii, want to hear me play this new song that I learned on the piano?" she grabbed his hand before he could answer and led him to the music room next door. She sat him down on one of the couches as she herself sat down at the sleek black grand 82-key. Her small fingers brushed against the smooth white and black keys before she played. "It's called, 'Musician'."
She started slow, and as she got into playing, she started to sing.
"Soshite bouyawa nemurini tsuite… ikitsuku, haino nakara honou, hitotsu, futatsuto…"
Their beautiful, ginger-haired mother entered and interrupted the piece. "It's about time to get dressed for the party. Come along, dear.
"Yes, mother…" Kimi stood up and waved to her brother before closing the door behind her. Arlo sighed.
'I hope I can make it,' he thought.
As Kimi followed her mother to the dressing room, she expected to wear something pink again, maybe white, red, black.
Her mother pulled out a puff corset-top sleeveless yellow dress. It was silk as well, but the patterns were different. It came with a fairly large white flower pin for her hair.
"I really like the floral patterns, mother. They suit the dress well."
"They will suit you as well, darling." She called in the dressers, and they tailored to dress smaller, but curvier, to fit her figure. She noticed this dress was a little lower at the top, to show her cleavage more. Corsets made it imminent, since she had large girls.
She slightly squirmed uncomfortably in her revealing dress, and after they fitted her, her mother came in.
She pondered a while before saying, "I don't like the puff. Take is off and replace it with flow silk, maybe a foot long, starting as mid-waist."
"Mother, that's awfully small!" Kimi blushed.
"Look, do you want a husband or not? They're not going to be attracted to you unless you show them how sexy you really are. And, for arguing, take another inch off.
Kimi pouted and let the seamstresses do their work. When the dress was done, it was about five or six inches long starting from the top of her thigh. She felt exposed, but… anything for her mother. And for a husband.
It was about time for her to make an entrance. She shuffled in her yellow heels before having the large double doors opened for her.
She gallantly trotted towards the balcony, leaning against the rail, and staring at the crowd below her. Some of the men had brought their sons along with their wives, but mostly men filled the dance floor. She smirked to herself and took a small breath before speaking.
"Hello everyone. Welcome to my party," she said with a very soft and sincere voice. "I am glad you all could attend." She received applause, to which she stepped back and let her father take back over. She walked over to her black throne and sat down, pulling her dress slightly forward, and crossing her ankles.
As she listened to her father's deep and slow voice give a quite boring speech, she drifted into daydreams again. Thinking about her future dream husband…
She snapped back into attention when the speech stopped. It was time to receive her gifts. Everyone would bring her something, as this would be one of the tests to see who was 'worthy' of her.
The first boy walked up. He was a very small face, and long blonde hair that reached his shoulders. His eyes were dark and mysterious.
'He makes me think of a French man… I hate French men…' she thought. She wore a glass smile on her face.
"Hello missus," he said politely. "I am Frederick Von Hagen the Third." He kneeled down and bowed his head. "It is a pleasure to meet you.
"I pleasure our meeting as well," she replied.
"I have something special for you," he said intently with his very nasal and overconfident tone. He clapped his hands twice, and two maids rushed up the stairs, carrying something in a bag. They opened the bag to reveal a very lacey black dress with a silk choker; it was an ankle dress, very elegant.
"I thought this would suit you best, missus," he chuckled gingerly.
"I enjoy it very much. I thank you warmly." She nodded her head as he headed downstairs. The next man came up.
He had short black hair and glasses. He had a petite figure, but he was quite tall. He bowed and introduced himself, not smiling once.
"I am Juushiro Harimachi. I have brought you something special today, missus." With that, a butler came upstairs, holding a purse. He displayed it in his hands.
"It is a Chinese Forleign Purse, made of tiger skin, with tufts of real tiger fur. It is embroidered in the finest karat gold on the sides, top, bottom, and handle. The middle of the bag in bordered with white topaz beads that follow the lines of the stripes."
"I enjoy what you have brought me. I thank you warmly." She nodded, and he headed back downstairs.
Man after man came, most of them snarky and ugly. They brought her things like new clothes and accessories; some even offered shares in their business portfolios. Like a girl would want that.
But, Kimi really could care less about most of the things she got. What she really liked getting were homemade presents, or something out of the ordinary – out of the realm of a 'princess'.
Sometimes she dreamed of working on a farm, or being part of the Delta Kingdom, where all the magic is. Magic just sounds cool, you know?
She was in the Alpha Kingdom, though. And she knew her parents would never let her go there. So, she guessed dreaming would be as good as it gets.
She hadn't really seen any men that she felt romantically interested in – yet. But she also hadn't seen her brother. Bright orange hadn't highlighted the party floor quite yet.
'I hope he comes' she thought. She sighed and placed her hands on the rails once more, locking her elbows and looking over at the crowd of males. 'I still have to dance. Ugh. This party is getting boring since I can't find a guy I like.'
Suddenly, Kimi heard loud footsteps coming from the hallway outside the door behind her. "Whoever could that be?" she whispered to herself.
The large double doors slammed open, and In entered a scrawny, panting squire, an exasperated look spread across his face. He approached the King and whispered something in his ear. At first the king looked shocked, but then he nodded and walked towards the balcony.
"What's wrong, fathe-"
"I am sorrowful to announce that my son and heir, Sir Arlo Takayama Kashi the Third is now dead. He, along with his family, was attacked by assassins. They are all gone from us."
Kimi stood up. She started to walk towards her father.
"So, whoever marries my daughter will receive heir to the throne!" the crowd below him mumbled ferociously. Kimi grabbed her father's arm and forcefully pulled him to the side.
"Father, what is the meaning of this?!" She exclaimed in a hushed tone.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Your heir is DEAD. And you haven't shed a single tear." Her own tears started to well up.
"He was a mistake child. He could never do anything; couldn't play any sports or instruments, and nearly failed school. I never planned for him to become the heir at all. His passing is not a problem to me since it was never to my interest to be proud of a failure."
Kimi gasped and backed away slowly. In a fit of rage, she stormed out the double door. She ran through the kitchen, across the balcony hall, down the stairs, and through the foyer. She slammed the front doors open; ran and ran, and never looked back.
All she could think to do was run. She didn't care about who would miss her or if anyone would look for her. She just ran and ran; never stopping.
As she ran, she stepped in mud, scraped against trees, tripped many times on roots; all causing her to lose her heels, and ripping her dress and skin.
Even when she felt like puking, she continued. She didn't want to go back. Ever.
Eventually, after running for what seemed like forever, she pieced together what seemed like a gate of some sort; her vision was blurry, not helping the current situation. As she curiously lifted her head to see how tall it was ,she fell over in the process – unconscious.
(Kimi's POV)
As I slowly faded back I noticed some one - or thing - with bright pink all over their head carrying me. I tried shifting to become more comfortable, but this caused them to notice me, to which I was placed on the soft dirt, against a tree.
I opened my eyes further, adjusting my sight. I figured out it was a boy that had carried me; he looked around my age, but his hair was bright pink and very long, and his clothes were very scraggly. His face made me think about Arlo…
I slowly started sobbing. The boy noticed this, and came closer. I looked up with a teary face to see him, right there. I was startled slightly.
"W…why are you crying?" he asked. His voice was very quiet and conceded, like mine. It was cute.
I wiped my tears and wore a fake smile; you know, the thing princesses get special training for to master.
"Oh, nothing," I lied. I sighed and continued. "It's nothing."
He slowly approached me and grabbed my chin with a curious expression. I flinched slightly in surprise.
"There is something. You're being weird." This caught me by surprise. I batted his hand away.
"It's nothing you should be concerned about," I remarked with a serious tone. When I looked back at him, he was still looking at me, his eyes full of excitement. I sighed and relaxed my shoulders.
"Ugh, fine. Alright. My name is Kimikoami Amaya Kashi… you can just call me Kimi, alright? Well, I am royalty. I have this older brother with orange hair, too. He is my favorite. And today, I had a party to find my fiancée… it's something rich people do. But, I found out that he died, and nobody cared… I couldn't take it. So I ran away."
The boy rubbed his chin and mumbled to himself. "Ah, that makes sense."
"W-what does?" I asked suspiciously.
"Well, at first, when you said royalty, I didn't believe you, since I've never seen you on the TVs before. But then I remembered I found you on the other side of Heaven's Gate-"
"You picked me up from the other side?! That's illegal! And that gates are watched 24/7! How could you have possibly achieved that?!"
"Um, in case you haven't already realized, you're in Delta Kingdom. So I just used my powers."
"You didn't hurt them, did you?!"
"No, no… here, close your eyes."
I was hesitant at first, but quickly agreed. I heard his voice soon after.
"Ok, open."
I opened my eyes to see nothingness before me. "Okay. So you're fast?"
"No… reach out."
The voice seemed painstakingly close. I cautiously reached out, and felt something soft, and stringy. I moved my hand more to the left and felt something jutting out. I quickly pulled my hand away.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Silly, that's just my nose." I tried squinting, but all I could really see was a faint outline of the boy. I reached out again, and caressed his face with my hand. This was so unreal…
"I'm not invisible anymore." I guess I had become to amazed. I pulled my hand back in embarrassment. "S-sorry," I blushed.
The boy chuckled. "You're the weirdest person I've ever met. Ever. And that's a while."
"How old are you?"
"I think I'm 18."
"You think…?"
"Well, one day I woke up, and there was nothing in my memory. It felt like my life slate had been wiped completely clean. I couldn't remember anything."
"Well… can you at least tell me your name?"
"I… don't have one…"
I looked at the boy in concern and sympathy. I felt really bad for him, so…
"Hey, I thought of a name for you."
"Really?! Tell me now! I really want a name!" his eyes were full of joy. I couldn't help but tear up and smile brightly when I gave his name.
"Your name is Arlo… Arlo Takayama."
"Arlo… Takayama? Cool! Sounds super awesome! Thanks Kimi!" He embraced me tightly, with excitement. I almost couldn't breathe at one point.
Once he let me go, I realized I had been pretty cold this whole time. I looked at him.
"Are you cold too?" I asked.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't cry your hair very well…"
"…huh…?"
"Well, you were very beaten up and muddy, so I washed you in the river."
I looked down to notice I was bare. I quickly wrapped my arms around my bent knees. I felt like an utter fool,
I finally realized my hair was damp when I felt cloth land on my head. I reached up to see he had thrown me his shirt.
"You can wear this," he told to my face. I quickly pulled it over my head. It covered my bottom as well as the previous dress did, but at least I had some sort of sleeves.
"Come on, let's go," he instructed as he nodded me in the direction he was walking.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Somewhere." I giggled and caught up. Finally… a life out of royalty. Maybe now I can be free…