Author's Note: Hello, beautiful peoples! If you're here, you probably agree that we need more MikuXRin content in the world. Well, here's my contribute to the cause! lol I hope you like it. :)
I actually got this idea through a dream (hella ironic since dreams play such a big role in this story). It was so good, I just had to write it. Even more, this was supposed to be a one-shot, not a three-shot, but there was so much I wanted to include that I decided three smaller parts might work better than one massively long part. I'm, as I write this author's note, halfway through writing the second chapter, so you shouldn't have to wait too long for the update!
If you like what you read, don't be afraid to hit that Follow button so you don't miss any updates. Reviews are always appreciated, and if you want more MikuXRin content, check out my other fanfic Blood Rose (which is on hiatus right now but will begin receiving regular updates in June). The fanfic does have a MikuXKaito and MikuXRin love triangle going on, but it's still worth checking out if you like slow burn half as much as I do. :P
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Vocaloid. Each character used belongs to the respective company that produced him/her; I merely borrowed them for non-profit entertainment purposes. However, I do claim ownership to the cover art and words below. Please enjoy.
Everything was on fire.
The walls.
The furniture.
Even the blood of her husband was licked up by the flames.
This, Michaela thought, must be how hell is.
When Riliane woke her and Kyle up to tell them the rebels had come, both man and guard forced Michaela to hide in the closet and to not come out, to not open the door until it was safe. Yet Michaela could not leave the deciphering of the sounds on the other side to her imagination. She had to know what was going on, so she opened the closet door just to peak.
And witnessed one of the rebels beheading Kyle.
Michaela had to choke back the scream threatening to tear from her throat.
This is for the revolution, they said. Kyle was a lord and the king's favorite cousin. If the people wanted a revolution, they needed to wipe out everyone who could inherit the throne before they dethroned the king himself. And not just those who stood in the way of a new era, but anyone related to these people as well.
Michaela knew if she was seen she would die. Yet as the flames the rebels started after they left consumed everything she held dear, she knew she would die if she remained. So much of her screamed to flee, but she stayed. Riliane told her to wait, and wait she would. She trusted Riliane. If that trust cost Michaela her life, then so be it.
Gasping, Miku bolted upright in bed. Her pajamas and her sheets clung to her sweaty form. Her heart raced as if it would explode from her chest at any given moment. That dream again. Always that dream.
Miku wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked at the time. She frowned. Only an hour remained until her alarm was supposed to go off. No point in trying to go back to sleep. Might as well get up and shower and make the best of her time until her morning class.
Naturally, with not much to do with her extra hour, Miku arrived to class early. She walked into the empty classroom and sat in her seat, front row and closest to the window. Pulling out her notebook and textbook, Miku flipped through the chapter they would be going over in humanities that day. It was about the country of Felicity and what became of it after the revolt.
As Miku reread some of the paragraphs, she couldn't help but swallow her saliva. Just like in my dreams. Perhaps that's why the dreams began, she reasoned with herself. The class was giving her ideas. Except, she hated to admit, the dreams started before this chapter. They started when-
As the classroom door flew open, Miku snapped her head to the side to see who arrived. Not that she needed to see. Only one person demanded such a presence when she entered.
Short blonde hair, piercing cerulean eyes, and well-toned muscles despite her small frame – these were all the characteristics of Erin Kagamine. Like usual, she wore shorty shorts and a cropped tee. Erin, Miku did not deny, was very cute, but Erin apparently went out of her way to not be seen as such. She always looked angry, and she had a sour attitude most of the time. If Miku was being honest, she was a little scared of the blonde.
It didn't help that Gumi, Miku's seatmate in this class, went to high school with Erin and could confirm that her tough exterior was no mere act.
It wasn't until Erin, seated diagonally across from Miku, cocked her head to the side and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?" that Miku realized she was staring.
Face going hot, Miku answered, "N-no. I'm sorry." She focused her attention back on the pages. Her heart began pounding. Despite herself, Miku wanted to look at Erin again. She couldn't figure out why.
Smoke invaded her lungs. Her head was heavy. She would lose consciousness at any moment. Death would soon follow. Yet Michaela remained in the closet.
Kyle was dead, she knew that for sure. Riliane had not come back for her, so Michaela feared she was dead too. If both people were already gone from this world, then Michaela wanted to be dead as well.
Then the closet door flew open.
"Let's go!" said a voice Michaela knew better than her own.
Strong arms hauled Michaela up and practically carried her out of the burning room. Riliane lead Michaela into one of the secret tunnels, where the flames had not yet touched but the smoke was thick in the air. Michaela didn't realize she was coughing until Riliane put a cloth over her nose and mouth in an attempt to filter out the smoke. Together they walked hurriedly through the tunnels, going deeper and deeper underground.
They emerged a hundred yards away from the manor. By this point, the flames were so high Michaela could watch as her home collapsed in on itself. Kyle's body was still in there. He would never be buried. His ashes would mingle with those of the home they shared together, only to be scattered by the uncaring wind.
When the emotions hit Michaela, they hit hard. She wailed and collapsed to her knees. Her chest ripped open. Her heart torn in two. Kyle had planned for them to take a boat to go to a neighboring country until this revolt passed. They were supposed to leave that morning. They were so close to getting away, but not close enough. Now . . . it was too late.
"Shhh." Riliane sat beside Michaela and put her arms around the lady. She pulled Michaela onto her chest and rested her chin on top of Michaela's head. In response, Michaela wrapped her arms around her guard and sobbed onto her. It was Riliane's body that muffled Michaela's screams.
"He's dead," she cried. "Kyle's dead."
Riliane didn't hide what Michaela already knew. "Yes."
"I thought you were dead."
"I'm not."
"I thought you were dead."
Stroking Michaela's hair, Riliane held her tighter as she vowed under the night sky, "No matter what the world throws at us, I won't leave you so easily, Michaela. No distance is too great. No ocean too large for me to swim across. I will always find you."
It was those words that replayed over and over in Miku's head as she awoke. "I will always find you." With six hours between humanities and algebra, she seized the opportunity to nap in her car. She didn't expect her dream to continue where it left off or to leave her feeling so emotional.
"I will always find you."
It was why she struggled to concentrate on her homework as she sat in the college computer lab. Gumi, who shared algebra with Miku as well, prattled on about God knows what as she did her own algebra problems. The only break Gumi gave in speaking was when she took a bite of her salad, and Miku didn't focus enough to give a response to whatever Gumi said during those breaks.
Finally, Gumi shook Miku and asked, "Hey, you okay? You're not really paying attention. I mean, you've been stuck on that problem for fifteen minutes, and I know it's not because you suddenly forgot the quadratic formula."
Blinking, Miku shook her head and answered, "Sorry. I'm fine. Really, I am. I guess I just can't get my mind off what we learned about in humanities today."
Gumi frowned. "You mean the revolution?"
"Yeah." Miku retrieved the textbook and opened to the page the professor spent most of their class time looking over. Seeing the names listed again caused Miku's heart to skip a beat. Kyle Marlon and his wife Michaela. Just two names in the brief list of casualties the author decided to include, yet the names reverberated through Miku in ways she couldn't understand.
"You know," Gumi said as she looked at the page and pointed at the painting of the couple, "Michaela looks a lot like you. It's kind of scary."
"It is," Miku agreed.
Gumi asked if this was why Miku couldn't stop thinking about the lesson, and not knowing how to explain her weird dreams, Miku answered positively. The history records claimed Michaela died with her husband; Miku could not begin to understand why her dreams insisted a different outcome, especially since there was no Riliane documented either. It was almost like an alternate history, yet these dreams felt so real Miku couldn't help but believe there was some truth to them.
"Here comes trouble," Gumi muttered, bringing Miku back to the real world.
Erin walked into the computer lab, dropped her backpack on the floor, and sat at the computer on the other side of the girls. This whole situation would probably have been less awkward if the three of them weren't currently the only ones in the computer lab.
Miku wanted to ignore Erin. Gumi had other ideas.
"Hey, Rin!" Gumi called, using the nickname Erin only allowed family, friends, and acquaintances she tolerated to use. "What'd you think of humanities class today?"
Erin blinked, surprised. Then, "Interesting, I guess."
Much to Miku's embarrassment, Gumi did not end the exchange there. She scooped up Miku's textbook and carried it to where Erin sat. Pointing at the painting, Gumi asked, "Doesn't Miku look an awful lot like Michaela?"
It took a while for Erin to answer. "Too much alike." After she spoke the words, Erin looked up from the book and turned her attention towards Miku. "They could be the same person."
Not knowing why, Miku blushed and held her head down. While Gumi and Erin talked, Miku pretended to be too busy finishing her algebra homework to participate in any more conversation.
It had been three days since the attack on her home. The revolt was still going strong. At this point, the kingdom as it was would be no more.
"This is why we need to get away before everything falls apart," Riliane had said. "If you're going to live, my lady, we must flee to one of our neighboring countries and live under new names. We must do as Kyle had planned for both you and him."
"I don't know if death would have been better," Michaela replied, earning a scolding from Riliane.
"No matter how appealing death may be, you will live," she all but demanded of Michaela. Riliane normally looked angry, but never at Michaela. It was so different and uncomfortable, Michaela shook as she tried to adjust to Riliane's angry glare directed at her. "No matter what, choose life. Do I make myself clear?"
It was something Michaela thought about often since the conversation happened, even now as they walked through the marketplace. To keep from being recognized, Michaela wore a mask and claimed to be ill with a highly contagious disease. She even wore the hood of her cloak to hide her bright hair. Riliane, on the other hand, needed no such disguise. Nobody knew who she was. To the general public, Riliane didn't exist.
Michaela couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid?"
"Only for your safety."
"Not for your family?"
"My family is dead."
The confession slapped Michaela in the face. She froze where she stood, blinked, and jogged to catch up with Riliane before she lost her in the crowd. It was still early, but more people were arriving to the marketplace by the minute. "You never told me that."
Riliane kept walking. "There was no need to."
"There doesn't have to be a 'need to' if you want to. Riliane, are we not friends?"
If the question caught Riliane off guard, she didn't show it. "I was employed by Master Kyle to keep you safe at all costs, my lady."
"But Kyle is no longer with us," Michaela whispered, her voice breaking. "You are no longer employed to protect me. Why continue risking everything for me when you have no reason to anymore?"
"You wouldn't understand." Riliane shook her head. She repeated the words softly, sadly. "You wouldn't understand."
Michaela never wanted to see or smell food ever again. They had only been on the boat for two days, and there were many more to come. She didn't know how she would survive the trip when her seasickness was this bad.
If she wasn't in bed, barely conscious, Michaela leaned over the bucket the girls were supposed to use to relieve themselves and hurled up everything Riliane suggested she eat. Riliane, to her credit, did all she could to make the experience less miserable for Michaela as possible. There wasn't much she could do other than apply a wet cloth to Michaela's forehead and sing softly to pass the time, but Michaela was grateful nonetheless.
By the end of the third day, Michaela grew used enough to the rocking motion to even try keeping something down. Riliane had brought in a bowl of soup from the dining quarters. It tasted awful, but Michaela drank the broth anyway to appease Riliane's insistence.
"I shall never ride a boat again," Michaela promised as she handed the empty bowl back to Riliane.
"If everything goes according to plan, we won't have to." Riliane set the bowl aside and then tucked a strand of hair out of Michaela's face. "Once we arrive to Thornton, our problems should consist of no more than finding employment and a place to sleep. We only need to remain strong for a little while longer."
Michaela didn't reply. Leaning into Riliane, she asked her companion to sing. After listening to a couple of Riliane's songs, Michaela expressed her interest in retiring for the day.
"As you wish, my lady." Riliane stood, but Michaela asked her to wait.
"Would you please lie with me and hold me close?" she questioned, unable to look Riliane in the eyes. "Just until I fall asleep?"
Taking a deep breath, Riliane answered, "Of course, Michaela."
When the two women laid side-by-side, Michaela snuggled close to Riliane. The older woman wrapped Michaela in her strong embrace. They weren't like this long before Michaela began to cry, her hot tears seeping through Riliane's tunic.
Riliane kissed Michaela's forehead. "It's going to be okay."
"But I'm scared, Riliane." Michaela buried her face deeper in Riliane's chest. "I'm scared."
"I'm right here, Michaela," Riliane vowed. "No matter what monsters torment your nightmares, you're never alone. Remember my promise: I will always find you."
