The Strange Affair of the Katsu Ruins, Chapter One
Here is a new story, I hope you all enjoy.
Katsu Ruins, Altai-Aries Border
The ruins were located in the northern part of Aries, closest to the border with Altai. In order to access them, one had to pass through the Demilitarized-Zone that separated Aries from Altai, as their location was one of many under near constant border disputes since the Altai government's restructuring.
They'd been discovered quite by accident after the brief snit when the Arch Duke had decided that it'd be fun to invade the tiny country of Windbloom – a young pilgrim on his way to the countryside to visit the sacred shrine that had been erected in honor of those fallen in the Twelve Kingdoms War had chanced upon them, and had promptly alerted the authorities that there were some suspicious buildings just off the road that he was quite sure had not been there before.
Because of their agreement after the war, the president of Aries gave Windbloom, and through it, Gaulderobe, the first chance to have a look at the ruins. The people gathered on the side of the road to watch as the three heavily-laden supply trucks, along with two smaller over-land vehicles from the far-off kingdom rumbled past. There was very little rejoicing, for the small country had caused far more that its fair share of trouble in recent months – people were wary of the power that the small country suddenly had, with Atari out of the picture.
Juillet Nao Zhang sat in the back of one of the supply tucks, her thick coat pulled tightly against herself against the cold wind that billowed though the open back of the truck. She was annoyed, to say the least, that she had been dragged along to this god-forsaken place to look at some old ruins with the rest of the Five Columns of Gaulderobe. It was just her luck to get dragged into this sort of thing; especially when she could be doing something far more interesting – like hunting down bad guys or working out a better way to finance her gang, now that she was a person of some importance.
Shifting her position ever so slightly, she glanced at the young woman beside her, who was quietly absorbed in what looked to be a trashy romance novel – the like of which she had seen many times during her time at school, although never in the presence of this particular person. The woman's russet-colored eyes turned towards her, and Nao felt herself look away before the older woman caught her staring. She'd been brought up to be polite, and in her country, staring was about as rude as it came. On top of the fact that the woman next to Nao radiated such raw power than Nao was terrified to cross her.
"Is there something wrong, Nao?" The woman's formal language, even outside of the presence of those with which the language would be needed, was infuriating to Nao, just like there were so many things about this woman that she respected and admired – this was perhaps her worst trait.
Nao shook her head, and turned her attention again away from the woman, who was now speaking quietly to the only one of them who seemed to be out of place – Natsuki Kruger, principal of Gaulderobe and the second column of the Otome. The woman was wearing her usual scowl and the flowing blue coat that identified her both as a Column and as nobility. Glancing down at her own rather sack-like Column dress, Nao wanted to know why it was that Kruger was allowed to wear pants. She'd asked several times to make modifications to her column uniform, citing that it was outdated and cumbersome.
Her requests, so far, had fallen on deaf ears.
The trucks rumbled to a stop, and Sara Galagher leaned out of the back to see if they'd reached their destination. Her eyes widened and she adjusted the small pair of glasses that she always wore perched precariously on her nose. "We're here." Her voice was grim, although Nao could not think of a reason for it to be. This was just another routine 'go and look at the old rocks, see if there's anything left from before the Twelve Kingdoms War and be on your way, thank you very much' mission. Frankly, it was a nuisance.
The woman next to Nao rose, and Nao found herself again the victim of the appraising smile of one Shizuru Viola. After a moment of being stared at, she demanded, perhaps rudely, "What?"
"Nothing," Viola absently waved her hand as she stepped out of the back of the truck, helped down by Kruger, who was forever the gentleman when it came to anything involving that woman. Nao was not a romantic at heart; she understood what love did to people and never really wanted to experience it. Sex was something else; however, it was something she could not experience until she stepped down from her current position.
Kruger and Viola were perhaps the most in-love people that Nao had ever interacted with. It was sometimes sickening to watch them interact, but it also filled Nao with a want to find out what it was that they shared together and claim that for her own.
Nao blinked and shrugged, deciding that leaving the two lovebirds to their own devices was the most healthy way to go – for it did not result in death glares and amused smiles hidden behind elegant hands. After having spent as much time with the principal of Gaulderobe on their spontaneous road trip across much of the continent, Nao had gotten to know the woman a little better; and, embarrassing details aside, she was forced to admit that working with these women was a great privilege. They were good Otome, good people and good at their jobs. Nao just wished everyone could be like that in the world of diplomats and government officials in which she suddenly found herself employed.
Clambering out of the back of the truck, Nao let out a low whistle, looking at the large concrete wall in front of her. It was impressive, and intricately constructed so as to prevent any chance of intrusion. If she didn't know better, Nao was willing to bet that this was a fort of some sort. The wall clearly suggested the wear of ages, with small bits of moss growing out of the cracks were the concrete slabs had been put together – where the mortar had fallen out.
"Oi!" Nao grimaced, bracing herself for what she and the other students had once called 'the small-minded dictator'. Haruka Armitage was trotting towards them, trailed by a smaller woman, with messy hair and classes. Nao recognized her as the president of Aries, one Yukino Chrysant. "It took you long enough to get here, did you get lost?" She stood before them, even though their rank was higher, and looked at them appraisingly like equals.
Next to Nao, Shizuru smiled and laughed, "No, but the roads were considerably worse than they were the last time I went on a trip, Haruka."
Nao closed her eyes, resigning herself to the fact that the volcano was liable to erupt at any minute. Much like two younger Coral-Grade students that Nao knew quite well, Armitage and Viola had been roommates while at Gaulderobe, and their rivalry, although quieted with age and maturity, was still ever present when they were within each other's presence.
"Why don't we have a look inside?" Sara asked, steering Haruka back towards the dark entrance to the ruins, some thirty paces from them. As they passed her, Sara winked at Nao, before continuing to Haruka, "Really, Haruka-onee-sama, you shouldn't let her provoke you."
Nao sometimes wondered about Sara, and about what would happen if Sara ever got to have her way with General Armitage the way she seemed to want so badly.
Kruger smiled, "She's already had her laugh at our expense for this year," she admitted, and Nao flushed, for that had been completely and totally her fault.
"It got us a ride, didn't it?" Nao asked over her shoulder, heading after Sara and the still raging Armitage.
-
"President Chrysant," Kruger called, directing her flashlight at a particular section of wall, far into the meandering tunnels of the ruins that seemed to have no end. "What do you think of this?"
The president adjusted her glasses, staring intently at the strange hook-like symbol that had been carved into the wall. "I don't know," she admitted, moving to get a better look.
"It's definitely a symbol." Viola said, reaching out to touch the painting, wondering if there was more to the image that was just being covered by the dirt on the wall. From her place against the far wall, Nao could clearly see that there were symbols carved around it. From here, she could make out what looked like a pair of eyes and the rough sketch of a snake and a wolf intertwined together. A spider, what looked to be some sort of plant, a dog, a crow - there were twelve images in all. Nao wondered if the number had significance, for everything in their world seemed to work better in groups of twelve, and there had always been twelve kingdoms.
As she watched, wanting to voice her opinion to someone, and turning to find that Maya, the silent fifth Column had appeared behind her, Nao realized that there was something nostalgic about this place - a feeling of deja-vu that she could not shake, "They're symbols around the main mark." Her tone was businesslike, "I think that there's a dog – perhaps a wolf, and a snake, I can't make out the others clearly." Nao blew air out of the corner of her mouth, annoyance clearly written on her face. She took my idea…
What happened next was anyone's guess, as Shizuru raised her hand to brush the image of the snake intertwined with the wolf, the hook-like symbol began to glow red – like the eerie star that they'd seen on the night that the two corals-turned-otome had fought their epic battle.
"Shizuru!" The principal's tone was frightened, and as she lunged forward to grab the taller woman's hand and pull her away from the wall, the light emitting from hook-like symbol intensified and Nao found herself unable to see, blinded by the eerie red light now being emitted from the symbol on the wall.
A moment later, however, the blinding red light had subsided and Nao lowered her hand from her eyes, expecting to see Sara or even Maya looking at her funny for cowering in the way that she had. Seeing no eyes on herself, Nao glanced around the cavern, her flashlight's bulb flickering ominously.
"Where's Shizuru?" Kruger demanded, pushing herself away from the wall that she'd just crashed into and spinning to face the rest of them. Her eyes, to Nao, seemed wild – frightened and panicked. Nao gulped as she felt the bile rise in her throat – this was bad. They needed to get out of this place, fast.
A faint moan, from far deeper inside the cavern drew her attention away from the principal. Pulling out the small knife that she'd been given when she had finally had the formal ceremony to become a Column of Gaulderobe, Nao advanced as silently as all her days of sneaking up on unsuspecting men with her gang could allow.
Under yet another picture of that strange cluster of snakes, and clutching what looked to be a pillow, lay the missing woman in question. Nao blinked to make sure that her vision was clear – for this Shizuru looked quite different from the one that had vanished just moments ago.
On top of the fact that this girl didn't seem to be wearing anything that would appear out of place in the pictures that Nao had seen of Zaiping. Kneeling down and shoving her knife out of sight, she poked the girl at her feet. "Viola-san?" She asked tentatively.
The woman's eyes opened and Nao could have sworn that she had just stepped into her nightmares – for they were blank, emotionless and devoid of life. "Ah, Yuuki-san, is there something I can do for you?"
