Karneval : Wait, Who Is She Again!?
Author's Note: Curse the Manga for getting ahead of me and poking holes through my fan theories! I just saw a manga page during an image search that renders this entire story null and void, but I'm gonna write it anyway. This was originally supposed to be a side story to Pyromancy, but now it's just a little one shot short story.
"What the hell's going on, Four Eyes!?" Gareki asked.
"Whatever do you mean, Gareki?" Hirato replied calmly as the teenager barged into his office.
"Tsubame told me about the raid on Kuronomi," Gareki growled. "She said Yotaka was there. What the hell? Yotaka's dead! I was there when it happened."
Hirato sighed, stood, and calmly shut the door. "Sit down, Gareki," he stated firmly. The Second Ship Captain knew this subject would come up sooner or later. "What I'm about to tell you DOES NOT leave this room."
Gareki quietly say down as he watched Hirato lock the door. The young captain returned to his desk and pressed a button that hermetically sealed the room. He hoped this would prevent even Nai from overhearing them. Gareki raised an eyebrow. He couldn't recal l Hirato ever seeming so serious before. "I SUPPOSE I could simply tel you that your adopted sister merely BELIEVED she saw her dead brother on the battlefield, due to hysterics brought on by a rather traumatic situation," Hirato said, leaning against his desk. "But you and I both know Tsubame is way too sensible to fall prey to such a thing. Likewise, I know you're far too clever to believe that for an instant, even if we could convince her otherwise. If I have you that typical excuse and let you walk out of here, you'd start snooping where you don't belong and find out eventually, so I may as well tell you now, and get it over with. But Gareki, I want you, do NOT speak a word of this to anyone. If my superiors discover I have you this information, Tokitatsu himself may not even be able to prevent them court marshalling me. Even Tsukitatchi and Akari-Sensei can't know I told you, so you understand?"
" What the hell, Hirato? " Gareki asked.
"Gareki, I'm serious," Hirato said.
" Yeah, sure, fine, whatever! I won't breath a word to anyone, " Gareki promised.
"Thank you," Hirato sighed, adjusting his glasses. This wasn't Yogi who might accidentally let something slip, only to have it drug out of him. When Gareki said he'd keep quiet about something, Hirato knew he could count on the boy to mean it. "Yes, you saw Yotika for back in Karasuna, " Hirato sighed, "It brought me no great pleasure to do what had to be done that night. But, yes, that was Yotika she saw. " Gareki's eyes widened. "Yes, he's alive," Hirato said, " But he doesn't remember anything about his life before we revived him. "
"HOW is that even possible!?" Gareki asked.
"Circus is responsible for the capture and elimination of Varuga," Hirato stated, " We're charged with relieving them of their missery, right? " Gareki nodded. "That's what I did. We destroy the Varuga cells, and the host body is eventually regenerated. However, they don't remember their previous lives. Humans who have become Varuga couldn't return to their families, anyway, they're already believed to be dead. So, we give them new lives, new memories, and some of them reenter normal society, somewhere where their families won't run risk of running into them. But most end up joining Circus."
"What about Yogi? Why couldn't you do that form him?" Gareki asked.
"Yogi's a special case. His own body fought back the Varuga cells and created an anomaly we couldn't do anything about. We currently have no known way to remove the Varuga cells from Yogi while he's alive. All we can do is suppress them. "
"You said most of them join Circus?" Gareki pointed, "Anyone else I know?"
"As a mater of fact, " Hirato sighed.
"You're kidding, right?" Gareki hadn't expected t the answer to be 'Yes'.
"Again, there's no point in hiding it, you'd just discover it on your own anyway, " Hirato sighed. "Remember what I told you about Rimhakka and Yogi and his sister Miumarie?" Gareki gave a slow nod. Yogi was Crown Prince of Rimhakka, a once beautiful, prosperous country which ceased to exist eleven years ago. Yogi was kidnapped and experimented on and forced to watch as his younger sister was ripped apart by a Varuga, calling out for him to save her. It caused Yogi to develop a split personality, and the sheer trauma gave the young prince amnesia. "Remember Rinoll?" Hirato asked.
"How could I forget?" Gareki replied.
Hirato sighed, "Rimhakka's an ugly place without it's royal family, isn't it?" Gareki raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to question how the country could change so much in only eleven years, but Hirato interrupted him. "What if I told you Yogi's sister is on this ship?"
" What? Who? Where? ... When? " Gareki exasperated.
"Think long and hard, she's someone you know pretty well, " Hirato hinted, "She's been here the whole time. Who do you know that would be closest to the same age as Princess Miumarie? Perhaps... Someone who shares certain physical traits as Yogi himself?" Hirato took a seat behind his desk.
"WAIT A DAMNED MINUTE!?" Gareki shouted jumping to his feet. "You mean she!?" He pointed at the door. Hirato have a slow, solemn nod and pressed a single gloves finger to his lips. "But, I thought she was from a rich family?"
" What could be richer than a royal family? " Hirato shrugged.
"That's not what I mean," Gareki snipped.
"If you ask her, the story is that her brother was killed in an accident trying to save her. As her brother had been the heir to the family fortune, she felt the rest of the family believed she should have been the one to die, so she ostracized herself from them." Hirato said. Gareki raised an eyebrow, was that a twinge of pity, or maybe even guilt he just picked up on in the young captain's voice? "To some degree, it's true. Yogi no longer remembers who he is, therefore, Princess Miumarie's older brother TECHNICALLY did die. The upper class family Circus placed her with really had lost a son...AND a daughter in an accident, as the brother tried to save his sister. The family themselves couldn't have their memories altered and as they knew she wasn't really theirs, their feelings were projected so that she perceived it that way. It was, admittedly, a poor placement judgement by the system. One day, Tokitatsu and I were invited to a party at the family's home. I could tell she was unhappy there, and convinced her to join us. "
"And you've never told them? Either of them?" Gareki asked.
"How could I?" Hirato shrugged. "Neither of them remember, and who knows how it would effect them if they were told, rather than let it come back to them naturally."
Gareki sighed and nodded, "I get your point."
"I take solace in the knowledge that they're at least still together, " Hirato sighed.