One
Once upon a time, there was a treacherous kingdom. It was ruled by a little fourteen year old princess, Rin. She was a fair little girl, with a pretty face and short blond hair. She got everything she wanted. Rin had all of the finest things in the kingdom. If money got low, she would just tax the poor, ignorant people of her kingdom.
The little princess became the ruler of the kingdom of Yellow when both her mother and father died. The king died first. He was on the way to land negotiations with the empire of Purple when he was ambushed by a small section of the army of Purple. The king and his small guard fought off the men and they took the general prisoner. His majesty and the few remaining men rode home as quickly as the could. The king had suffered horrible wounds and died a few days after reaching his palace. The queen took his place on the throne after his death.
She was even more ruthless than her husband. She conquered many of the countries near by, she also started taxing he subjects more. Rin gained the throne from her mother when she died of pneumonia when Rin was eleven, the king died when she was five. Rin kept all of the taxes in place that her mother had put up. But Rin also added a few more, unknowingly causing even more of the poor peasants to lose their homes, land, and lives.
One day a villager came and pleaded for less taxes, because his town was in serious debt. "Please, your Majesty, my town has no money or food. Our farms cannot grow crops because we do not have enough money for seeds. We have been killing off all our livestock just to feed ourselves. We have given all we can and more to you," the young man pleaded. "Please help us."
The princess thought for a second, but no longer. "Because of your insolence against our decree, and the fact that you cannot pay your taxes, you shall be executed." Rin motioned to a servant and the young man was escorted out kicking and screaming. The servant had to call over some of the guards to help him.
"How can one as young as you be so corrupt? How?" that was his last statement.
The princess ignored his hollering.
"Oh, it's snack time."she said motioning to a servant, and she walked away. He was killed before he could have a final statement.
The princess retired to her beautifully furnished sitting room. She had tea there then she called for her favorite servant, Len,who looked rather a lot like her. "Len, it's time for my afternoon ride, please send some one to prepare my favorite horse, Josephine."
"Right away, Princess." he answered in a soft voice.
As he left she said, "You're such a good boy, Len." he did not hear this.
The next day the princess was in town dressed as a commoner. There she saw the prince of the kingdom across the sea, she fell madly in love with him.
The prince was Kaito from the country of Blue. He was in his late teens and had blue hair and eyes. Kaito always wore the highest fashion, but he also wore a blue scarf constantly. He is so elegant and handsome. She thought. She had tried to send a marriage proposal to him but he refused because he was already betrothed to the princess of a neighboring country, Miku the Princess of Green. She had long green hair and eyes that looked like an ocean.
This news filled Rin with rage. How could he choose her, that horrible green Miku, over me? How? He is supposed to become mine. I want him. I'm going to kill that Miku, her and all of her vile green kingdom. Once she is out of the way, Kaito will agree to marry me. Then he will have eyes for only myself.
She called for the general of her army. "Make sure the country of Green is badly stirred." She said in a voice not to be heard.
The young man bowed to her, "Yes, Your Highness." The general's name was Kaumi Gakupo. He was around his twenties with long eggplant colored hair. It was always kept in a ponytail. Gakupo was a very formal person. He was loyal to the princess, and would carry out almost any order she gave. She kept him in one wing of the castle most of the time. He was only let out when she needed his leadership for war.
"And send Len in as you leave." He stood there for a moment, bowed and took leave of the room, Len side stepped in as the general exited. "Len, I want you to kill Miku. Please do that for me. I will have the army kill the rest of the green haired women in that kingdom." The princess said pouting.
Len smiled and said "Yes, your majesty." And he left with a smile still on his face, but none in his eyes. The princess did not notice that.
"Princess Rin," Len said as he approached her the next day.
"Yes?"
"It has been done. I have accomplished my task, your majesty."
"You're such a good boy, Len." Was her response to this.
And so, there was a war between her kingdom and the kingdom of Green. Many lives were lost on each side, although the greater losses were of Green. Houses burned to the ground. Hundreds of voices would never make another sound. Her army won. There was no celebrating after this war.
Surely now, Prince Kaito will have me as his wife. She thought to herself. Now that the horrible Miku is gone, I can have him for myself. He is so beautiful, like a rose. I will be beautiful at his side. We will be the most lovely things together. Instead of her marrying the prince, he helped led the revolution of her poor, starving people.
It was lead by Kaito, and a lady mercenary in red. They had no trouble leading the people past the guards of the castle, they were all tired from the war. All of the servants fled the castle.
In the middle of the night of the same day that the revolution started, the princess was captured. It was the prince and the mercenary who caught her. She put up no fight, and they knew that she would. They caught and held her at sword point. All she said was, "You insolent man!"
The princess was imprisoned, and sentenced to death at three. She was jailed with no one at her side defending her like it had always been.
Practically three entire towns had come to see the execution of the infamous Daughter of Evil. Aside from the normal citizens and the ones from the revolution, there were people of high standing mixed in with the mob. Kaito was part, and so was the lady in red. Also near the front of the crowd, there was a person wearing a hooded cloak, holding a bottle.
When the time came, the church bells rang and to her they sounded rather lame. She was led up to the guillotine. She did not look at her former people, she just said "Oh, its snack time." The blade came down and her head fell into the basket. There were no cheers. One person could be heard crying, but that was the only sound.
Within the next month the people spoke of her as though she was nothing. They said that the 'Daughter of Evil had received what she had sought.'
Two
You are my princess, and I am your servant. Adults separated twins for their selfish reasons. After the church bells blessed us, our destinies were split in two. I love you, and I will protect you, so I will become evil for you.
I would often think of the time when we were little, before we were given our destinies. I think of the day we were first separated the most. It was a warm spring day, the sun was out and we were sitting in the castle gardens. Rin and I had picked some little flowers and she was making a little crown out of them. She had just finished and was handing it to me when our mother and the head butler came out of the castle headed towards us. I know they said something but I don't remember what. I was picked up by the butler and put over his solder and Rin was carried away by her mother. The butler trained me as a servant after that. Rin became the princess. I kept the little crown that she made for me. I have it in a little glass bottle, although it has dried up and could easily turn to dust if any one were to touch it.
My older sister is beautiful she has short blond hair that is always shiny and full of life. She has very pretty blue eyes that always express emotion. I look similar, but my eyes are a dull blue and my hair is kept in a pony tail and is also dull. I like to look like my sister, but I don't want anyone to know that I keep my hair the same length as her.
One year, Rin wanted to go to see the ocean. We went to a small harbor town. I had heard about a legend that if you were to put a note with a wish on it in a bottle and send it out to sea, it might come true. One day, while Rin was enjoying the sun on the beach, I brought out a glass bottle, about the size of a jam jar, I had gotten in town and a scrap of parchment with the words, Let my sister find happiness wherever she is. I put the note in the bottle and put the cork in the neck. Then I rolled up my slacks up to my knees and waded out a ways into the ocean.
"Len, what are you doing?" she asked.
"I learned of a way to make wishes through the ocean."
"And you believe that this will work?"
"Yes I do."
"You're serious about this, aren't you, Len? It can't possibly make your wish come true."
I laughed, "Would Milady like to try this too?"
"No," she answered huffily, "it's a game for the peasants, I don't need to try it." Then she smiled, "I mean, Len already grants all my wishes, don't you?"
My sister's words and her smile lightened my heart.
Years later, I went to the neighboring country one day and I saw a beautiful girl with lovely green hair and a smiling face, and her voice was so kind. I fell in love at once. The girl was Miku, the Princess of Green. She was betrothed to the man my sister, Rin, was in love with. This news filled her with sadness and then rage.
The princess sat in her room for a few hours and just cried her eyes out behind a fan, since she was not allowed to show her emotions publicly even to her own brother. I sat with her an comforted her and said it would be alright, while she spilled her heart out to me like she had never done so before. This must be really hurting her. I thought as she sobbed on my shoulder.
I did not tell her that I had feelings for Miku, or that I had gone on a walk with her on my day off. I remembered how we went to a wishing well and we tossed coins into it and made one with each. I have no idea what Miku wished for but I wished for Rin to be happy. It seems not to have worked out.
"I cannot believe that Kaito would chose a bland and boring girl like Miku over me. He should be mine. I hate her! I hate the entire country of Green. They should all die in the flames of hell. I must have Kaito. I will kill every other eligible girl if I have to. I hate how everyone is out to thwart me of the things I deserve. I feel that everyone is going to turn their backs on me. Len, you'll be with me forever , right?" Rin half sobbed, half screamed.
"Of course, I will always be at your side. I promise."
She called for me a few hours later, after she had a conference with General Gakupo. Gakupo was a fairly nice man. Most of the servants thought of him as a pet to the princess, and he was. She kept him in one wing of the castle most of the time. He was only let out when she needed his leadership for war. Her mother also kept him like this. He was odd though, he had long purple hair, he kept it in a pony tail. I entered as he said, "Yes, Your Highness." and left.
"Len, I want you to kill Miku, please do that for me. I will have the rest of the green haired girls killed by the army." said my sister after she had calmed down. I smiled for her because I was going to do so. I will do what ever my princess needs me to. Even if I do not want to, I will.
I went into the forest after sending a note to Miku telling her to meet me there. I left it with a maid of her's, she had long white hair tied back with a ribbon. It had taken me a good thirty minutes to ride into the forest on a pony. I was cloaked and I had a knife in my hand. If the princess wishes for her to be erased, I will answer that. She came a few minutes after I arrived.
She came smiling her smile. I had to swallow my feelings. My hands shook with fear and sadness. I took my knife and I stabbed her. Miku put her hands over mine, and twisted the blade. She was still smiling as she fell to the ground. She never grimaced, showed surprise, or any sadness. Tears slowly fell from my eyes. Miku's eyes were dry.
Why? Why won't my tears stop?
Looking at her lying there I snapped. "Why are you just lying there dieing? Shouldn't you be begging for help or at least crying? What are you doing? You do know you are dieing, right? You are going to be dead within minutes. Cry or something." I started screaming at her. Tears fell from my face. Miku's eyes were completely dry, but they were starting to glaze over. I couldn't take it, so I ran away. I ran back to the only place I could go without people looking at me like I'm a horrible murderer. I ran back to my sister and her dark castle full of light, and hope, for me at least.
When I got back to the castle I reported to the princess I her room. It was late and dark but that didn't matter, she would want to hear that I had done what I had to. When I came in, she took one look at me, turned white and gasped.
"Len, you're.."
"May I ask what Milady is shocked about?"
"You're covered in blood."
"Excuse me?"
"Len, you have blood splattered all over your face and shirt. It startled me. I did not expect it."
I apologized for scaring her and when to clean myself up.
The next day, I awoke at my usual time, early in the morning. I was ready to work in minutes, as always. I set out my princess's clothes, then I woke her up. A maid came in to help her get dressed, since I am a boy some of the servants are worried that I might do something to her, but I would never, plus I am her sibling. She then took breakfast. After she saw a few lords about how they should be taxing the people of their small districts. Around three, the cook sent me out to find the princess. She was out in her gardens. She was sitting on a bench near a rose tree.
"Today's snack is brochette." I told her. She laughed a laugh that was innocent. She had her snack with tea and then she went for her usual afternoon ride on Josephine. After she had supper and went to bed. That was the last day of our normality.
Before long this country will end at the hands of its countrymen. That man, who stole the hearts of the two girls I cherish most, and a young peasant girl with red armor were leading the people of this land against my sister. The revolvers rioted outside the castle gates, that blue man got them all riled up. They will take the castle soon. If they say you shall die, I shall oppose that with all I can do. I ran to find my princess. She was sitting at a window looking sadly out at the masses outside.
"Here, change into my clothes. Please do this and escape immediately." I told her. She gave me a questioning look that said 'What on earth do you mean?' Then realization sprang upon her face.
"But.."
"It will be alright. We're twins, surely no one will realize." I smiled sadly. She took my cloths and quickly changed into them, while I put on her best dress, it was yellow and black with black roses and lace on it, and took my short blond hair out of its ponytail. I put her hair up like I usually have mine. She looked just as I usually do. And I looked like her.
Now I am the princess, you, my dear princess, are a fugitive. If they say you are evil then I am too, for I have the same blood running through my veins. For we are twins. And the same.
Rin started to tear up as I gave her directions to a secret escape rout out of the castle. I smiled, kissed her on the forehead, and then left her.
My older sister was crying as I ran into the main hall, because we would now be separated permanently. I wished I could have cried too. But, my sister would ever have cried in front of anyone, but me. Since I am being her, I cannot. As I am leaving I call back to her "Please escape as quickly as possible. Go to somewhere no one will expect."
"Len, oh, Len, my lovely little brother."
Rin, I'm sorry I broke my promise. I'm leaving your side. Please do not cry for me, I'm not worth it. If you can escape, I will be happy. My purpose in life will be fulfilled. You will be safe.
I am captured as the princess, and no one notices a servant running away. "You insolent man!" I told the prince of Blue, who was helping lead the revolution with this woman in all red. I am sentenced to death at three the next day.
Once upon a time there was an evil kingdom of inhumanities and ruling over it was my very cute sibling. I am her ever-loyal servant and I will do any thing in my power to keep Rin safe. If all the world becomes her enemy, I will protect her so she can be somewhere smiling. I will do all I can for you. I will even kill or die.
At three I am to be killed as the princess. The bells ring. Today they sound dull, and metallic. I don't look at the crowd. All I say is "Oh, it's snack time." I do not realize that I have a tear running down my cheek. Then the guillotine comes down. I hear a familiar sob before the blade hits.
If we could be reborn, I'd like it to be with you again.
Three
A handsome prince lived in a great kingdom by the sea. He could woo any girl he wished. They were all in love with the handsome eighteen year old Prince Kaito of the country of Blue. He had the most luxurious furnishings for his castle. His servants were all good and loyal. With his kingdom's tremendous power, nothing he wanted slipped out of his hands.
He was tall and handsome. His hair and eyes were blue. He always wore the highest fashion, and his long coat, which was blue and white, and his blue scarf.
Kaito felt that he needed a queen to help him rule over his people, but the right one had not appeared. One day he decided to go across the sea bordering his lands. He headed to the country of Green.
There he went visiting all of the castles to see if any had a suitable bride for him. Ah.. When will I find the right one?
At the main castle he found the right one. She was the king's daughter. She was the most beautiful thing he had seen aside from himself. She must me mine. He thought. She had long green hair, it was almost brushing the ground when she had it up in her usual high pigtails. And the color, it was a green, but it was almost teal.
He confronted her in the main hall in front of the king of Green. And asked her to marry him. She looked at the king for permission, or so he thought, and the king agreed to the marriage.
That day they were going through the castle town and everyone turned their heads to see the betrothed couple. Prince Kaito enjoyed all the attention. To show off to the people, he went to the best florist and bought Miku a bouquet of green roses, they were the most expensive kind of flower in the shop, The green looks like her hair. He thought.
Kaito had to return to his country across the sea because of political matters. Once he reached the harbor where he was to leave from, a messenger ran up to him. "Your Highness, I have a message from her majesty, Princess Rin, of the kingdom of Yellow," the messenger handed over a paper. "She eagerly awaits your reply." said the messenger. The prince's eyebrows rose up as he read.
"This is absurd!" exclaimed the Prince, "I am already betrothed, and even if I wasn't I would never marry that horrible girl!" The messenger looked terrified.
"I-if you could p-please put that in writing and send t-that to her, I would really appreciate it." he said in a nervous voice.
Kaito just turned and left. I think I will have one of my best writers come up with an apology letter explaining the situation. He boarded the fastest ship he owned and set sail to his beautiful country.
After a few weeks of getting back into his luxurious lifestyle, he got horrifying news. From one of his spies in the country of Yellow, he heard that the princess had started a war with his fiancee's country. Fearing for Miku's life, he rushed to the country of Green.
When he arrived at her castle, he asked, "Where is my beautiful Miku? Where is she? Tell me!" He grabbed the nearest servant, a young girl with long white hair.
"A boy wearing a cloak came and delivered a note for her and I gave it to her and she left in a hurry." the girl said terrified.
"Where did she go?"
"T-towards the forest."
Kaito dropped the girl, and ran out of the castle. The prince was fairly good at sports, but usually the sports did not involve this much running. And so midway across the ground he had a cramp in his sides from sprinting.
It was dusk when he finally found her. He had scoured most of the forest by then. Miku was in a clearing with an old well and a table and bench. She was lying on the ground on top of some old leaves that covered the ground. Is she sleeping? He asked himself. He rushed over to her. He toughed her shoulder to see if that would wake her. She was still. "No..." he whispered "No it can't be. NO! This is not right! I am supposed to marry the beautiful princess! She can't be dead!" he screamed into the blackness of the forest.
His beautiful Miku was stabbed in the chest and because she was lying on her side the blood and blade were hidden from plain sight.
When Kaito reached the castle he was covered in his late fiancee's blood. The young servant that he had interrogated gasped when she saw them and then collapsed in a dead feint.
"She will pay. I swear to God that the Daughter of Evil will pay." Kaito promised to the king. Sadly the the kingdom of Green did not survive to see that he kept his word.
The next day he was in the country of Yellow in a tavern of a poor town. He saw a young woman who looked ready to either cry or kill someone. He asked the woman if she wanted there to be a revolution. "Hell yes. My husband was executed because he asked for help since we were starving." she replied.
They rounded up as many restless people as they could while they marched towards the Palace of Yellow. The mob had to wait out side the gates while Kaito made a speech. "The Daughter of Evil has caused us much pain. She has taken our lands. She has taken our food, our money. And she has taken our loved ones. We can tolerate this no longer. She must be brought down. That is the purpose of this crowd.
"We will take the castle and then we will capture the Daughter of Evil and sentence her to death. Try not to kill the guards or the servants because she was moving them around as pawns. If they resist, hit them, if they attack, kill them. Losses are what we cannot afford. The Daughter of Evil must be taken down from that happy palace of hers and have everything taken away from her, like she has done to hundreds."
The mob took the castle with little trouble. The soldiers were exhausted from the war with Green. All of the servants fled before him as he led the mass of attacking people. The mob let all the servants go, but they captured all of the guards they could find.
Kaito saw Meiko running strait into the castle and he followed so he could be there to capture the little princess. While chasing her, a man with long purple hair in a pony tail tries to cut Meiko's head off with a sword. Kaito stabs the man in the arm causing the purple haired guard to drop his sword. Blood spurted from the wound in the man's arm and it splattered the prince as he ran by.
He and Meiko found the princess. Kaito held her at sword point. She posed no fight. "You insolent man!" was what she said to the prince of Blue. She was taken prisoner.
After Kaito went to the nearest inn. He was exhausted from the battle, even though he did very little. As he walked by a few peasants at the bar, they stared at his face. He thought nothing of it since people were always staring at him because of his beauty.
When he entered his small room he went to the little basin of water by the mirror to wash off all the sweat and dirt from the attack. He had just dipped the small face towel in the water when he spotted himself in the mirror and screamed. His face had a large streak of blood on it.
He stood there in shock. Was I hit? I don't think so, but maybe one of the arrows the guards were shooting grazed my face. Oh no, if it leaves a scar, my face will be ruined. Kaito took the towel and started to wash the blood off. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was someone else 's blood.
The next day, she was going to be executed at three. She was brought to the guillotine as the clock chimed three. Everyone stared as she was led proudly to her death. She is insane. Kaito thought.
He heard someone crying in the crowd.
"Oh, it's snack time." Rin said.
The blade fell down. The crying person sobbed even harder after she was killed. The prince paid no attention to this.
He went back to his country of Blue and live out his years with out a proper wife, but he still ended up with several heirs arguing over who would get the throne.
Four
Once upon a time, within a kingdom of inhumanities, was a small poor village. In it lived a young woman with beautiful long reddish-brown hair. Her name was Meiko.
She was an immigrant from the old country of Red, which was taken over by Yellow many years back. Meiko was one of the few who still remembered the old country, although it was taken over when she was still a small girl. Meiko was betrothed to a young man around her age from the village she lived in.
Within the village the aristocrats were military policemen. All of the livestock had died off, and food was scarce. The family of the red maiden had died of starvation. The only person left that she loved was her fiance.
The people of the village asked him to go to the castle to plead for help. He went hoping to bring good news and cheer to the village and his dearest love. "Please, your Majesty, my town has no money or food. Our farms cannot grow crops because we do not have enough money for seeds. We have been killing off all our livestock just to feed ourselves. We have given all we can and more to you." the young man pleaded. "Please help us." he begged.
The Princess was not amused and she sentenced him to death. At the execution, he was not allowed to speak. As the blade fell, Meiko vowed "I shall never forgive you for this."
The princess fell in love with a man. The man did not love her back for he was in love with another woman. This enraged the princess so much that she started a war with the country of Green.
"Did you hear? Yeah, the Princess was turned down by Prince Kaito."
"What? Oh yeah, I heard that he was engaged to Princess Miku, the princess of Green. If you saw her, you would know why he turned Princess Rin down." The happenings of the royalty were mostly what people gossiped about within towns.
"Oh dear, now the Princess is going to start a war with Green. I don't know what will become of this kingdom while Princess Rin is in charge."
"Ooh, you better not let one of her spies hear that. You will be put to death just like Meiko's fiance. I feel really bad for her. And they were planning to get married too." Conversations in her town often went like this. She had cut her hair short in mourning, as was tradition, and the people did not recognize her because of this.
I miss him. I really miss him. But I wish the idiots of this town would have the decency not to talk about the incident around me. I know I got a dramatic hair cut, but they should look around before they speak. As she thought this she crawled deeper into her bottle.
"I cannot believe what just happened. Princess Rin just had the Daughter of Green killed! Poor Princess Miku, God rest her soul. And Poor Prince Kaito, this must really be tearing his heart apart."
"I know, and all of the women with green hair were killed too. I guess jealousy got to our horrible little Princess."
I don't care what is going on in royalties' lives. I just want my dearest back. If I can't have that, I want, no, demand vengeance. I refuse to let her get away with murdering so many people. Meiko was shocked to hear that she had called for not only Princess Miku's death, but all of the green haired women deaths too.
Days later, a tall young man with blue hair, a blue scarf and a long coat came into the bar where the red haired Meiko was drinking her sorrows away.
"Miss, how would you feel about a revolution? Would you be for it?" the man asked.
"Hell yes, my husband was executed because he asked for help since we were starving." she said her sad eyes full of blood red furry. "I would do just about anything to get my husband back, but because that is impossible, I will settle for revenge. If I can get I can my hands oh her she will rue the day she sentenced him to death."
"Not the day she was born?" he asked.
"No, I had no real problem with her until now. Yes, she taxed us to death but she probably did not realize how poor we were. Royalty often don't. But she killed my love and she shall not get away with it."
"Ah, but do you know of any one else who would be interested in joining up?"
"Yes. In fact, I believe an entire town or tow would be more than happy to join. Just put out the word and they will flock to you. And may I ask your name?"
"I am Prince Kaito of the kingdom of Blue." he said with an air of arrogance.
"A pleasure to meet you, and my condolences about your fiancee. I am Meiko, originally from the lost country of Red."
"Let us begin our revolution then." said the Prince of Blue who had never heard of any country of red because Yellow had taken it several years before he was born.
As Meiko had said, people from all over the kingdom had flocked to where the army was forming. Hundreds of people had congregated before they set off to the castle and more kept coming. When they arrived at the castle the prince made a moving speech before he let them lose to wreak havoc onto the castle. Once he was finished she took off like a rabbit and was the first one in.
She dashed past the guards and when one tried to stop her she kicked him square in the stomach and he collapsed, with the wind knocked out of him. Prince Kaito ran after her desperately, knowing that she was heading towards the princess and not wanting to be absent when she is captured. A guard with long purple hair was about to take a swing at Meiko's head with his sword, when Kaito stabbed him in the arm. Meiko was unfazed by this. He caught up to her and she paid not even a glance at him.
They burst into a large hall where the princess usually spoke with people in meetings. She will put up no fight. The princess was standing there. Looking much the same as when she had seen her before, but something was off. Kaito did not notice this and held the girl, boy?, at sword point.
"You insolent man." she, he?, said. They captured her.
Ah. Now I get who this is. This is the princess's servant, the one who looks just like her. Ren was his name I think. What ever it doesn't matter. I have a feeling that she loved him. Now she will feel my pain. Sadly this ended with us at an eye for an eye. And now her eye shall be taken, just as mine was. There are many blind people now.
The prisoner, fake princess, was to be executed at three in the afternoon. Meiko was standing in the crowd that had gathered around the guillotine stand. Kaito was in the crowd a few yards away from her. Also within the crowd, she noticed a person wearing a hooded cloak. That's probably her. Meiko thought.
The bells had finally told. The fake said only one thing before the blade came down and took his life, "Oh, it's snack time." After the boy was dead, she noticed the cloaked person sobbing. Yes, that is her. Now we have the same pain. You will get no sympathy from me. I got through this alone and if you can't, then you can't.
Five
Miku was walking around the town just outside the mansion where she lived with her father and servants. She had heard from some friends of her that the Prince of Blue was traveling the nearby countries incognito looking for a bride. She knew that the princess of Yellow, Princess Rin, was after his heart. She wanted Rin to be taken off of her throne, and taking the man she had feelings for would do something but she wasn't sure what.
She saw a man with beautiful blue hair, and a regal face. That must be him. Miku approached the young man. Pretended to trip and drop the shopping that she was carrying right in front of the young man.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I am so clumsy sometimes." she said to him blushing a little bit.
"Are you alright, miss? And it is alright, everyone trips." the young man smiled at her and he bent down to help her pick up her things. This caused Miku to blush even more, he is so pretty.
"Thank you for helping and for your concern, I am fine. I am Miku Hatsune, my father is the lord of the mansion on the edge of town."
"Hello, I am Kaito, I am from overseas. Your town is very beautiful."
"It has been a pleasure to meet you, but I must be going, good day." she turned and left.
A few days later Kaito visited the mansion and asked for her hand. Miku accepted. And they became betrothed.
"Miku, did you hear that your betrothed, Kaito, is being courted by the Princess of Yellow?" asked the King of Green, Midori a few days after she had accepted his proposal.
"Yes, father, I did hear. I know that he will be loyal to me. He loves me very much." replied Miku.
The princess of Green was an extremely pretty girl. She had very beautiful long green hair, usually worn in high pigtails. The end of her hair almost drug on the ground when up. Miku was around the age of sixteen. Normally she wore pretty dresses of green, white, teal, and black satin. The dresses were always very pretty and looked perfect on her.
Kaito was away on business in his own country for a while so Miku decided to go around town and see what the merchants had to sell. It was a beautiful day at the town. She went from stall to stall looking at all the wears the shopkeepers had to offer. She saw something that caught her eye, but it wasn't in one of the shops. It was a young blond haired boy. He was starring at her and when the noticed her looking back at him he turned away and blushed.
She laughed. What a cute boy. I think he has become infatuated with me. But he is a very cute kid. I wonder how old he is. She approached him.
"Hello, young sir. How are you doing this fine morning?" she asked him.
"Good morning, miss, I am fine, and I certainly hope you are feeling as good as anything. er.." the boy said nervously and glanced around as if he was expecting someone to pop out and surprise him. "I am Len, a servant to the Princess of Yellow. May I ask your name?"
"It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, I am Miku Hatsune, the princess of Green." She smiled at his face as it turned even redder from blushing. "Would you like to walk with me?
"If you don't mind, your Highness, then I would be honored to accompany you on a walk."
"Please Len, just call me Miku." She smiled at him again. He nodded and blushed even more.
They walked around the market for an hour or two. Then, they headed towards the forest. This forest was not very grim and dark, it was light and airy. Sunlight would filter through the leaves and it was always green inside there. The only exception to that was if you traveled deep into the center of the forest. It went from a light cheery green to dark. In the center many people get lost if they are unused to the forest. Miku had often wandered around within it.
They wandered around in the green edges for a while. Len pointed out a few birds he had never seen before and Miku would tell him their names, if she knew them.
Then Miku stated to head towards the center. "Where are you going, Miku?" he asked.
"Into the center of the forest. I know that there is a nice place to rest and there is also a wishing well."Miku replied.
They continued to walk deeper into the dark section of the woods. When they reached the place Miku had spoken about, it had taken them a good ten minutes. It was grim and dark, but still it was a beautiful place. Leaves littered the ground and made a soft crunching sound when stepped on. There was a stone bench and table as if this was an old favorite picnic spot. A strange thing was that the table and bench were not covered in leaves like the rest of the statuary there. The wishing well had a wooden lid over it. That too had no leaves on it, as if it, and the table and bench, had been used recently.
"Come here Len I want to show you how deep the well goes. Then we could wish."
He came over and looked in. the well looked like it went on for ever. "Wow, it looks like it has no bottom. Do you know how far it goes, Miku?"
"I don't think it goes very far because," she picked up a little stone from under the leaves, "if you toss a stone in," she threw it in, a little plunk could be heard soon after, "the noise of it hitting the water comes very soon after you toss it in."
"This is an amazing place. I never expected to find such a peaceful place this deep in the forest." He laughed "Actually this is my first time ever coming into the forest. I rarely ever get days off." Len smiled.
He has a very nice smile. I think I like him. Too bad I'm engaged. But I guess he doesn't travel much. Oh yeah he said that he was a servant to that princess of Yellow, no wonder.
"Do you want to make a wish. I know it's childish but I enjoy wishing, it's fun."
"Sure. But just to let you know I don't think that it is childish." he laughed, "Even my princess likes wishing. I wish a lot too. Everyone does. They just don't mention it because thy know that wishes are not granted regularly and some people might find the wish childish. They don't want to be let down." Len smiled again, this one had a little sadness hidden in it but only for a moment. "But, lets wish any way."
He and Miku take coins out of their pockets and they held the coins in their hands while they made their wishes.
Please let things end happily. That was her wish every time. They tossed their coins in one after the other. Two plunks came seconds later. I wonder what Len wished for. Well I don't think it matters that much.
"Len, thank you for keeping me company for so much time. I really enjoyed it. I hope that we can meet again." Miku smiled at him.
"I hope so too. But now I must get back to my duties to my Princess. Farewell Miku." Then Len left Miku standing in the woods alone.
He should at least walk me out of the forest. Well I guess he doesn't want that Rin to kill him. I remember hearing something about a young man who was asking for help from the princess and she had him killed. She is really horrible.
Hmm. Why did Len make me think of that princess, I know that he works for her, but there was another similarity? What was it? Well it doesn't matter much. He really is a cute guy, if I wasn't already engaged, I would like him to marry me, but I know that Kaito will not give up his claim on me. Maybe I can use Len to my advantage. He could be a good way to hurt Rin.
Its good to be loved by all.
She smiled to herself and went back to her room at the manor her father owned. She went to a young woman with white hair, "Haku, I met this nice young man today in town." Miku told her all of what happened between them and how she felt about Len.
"Well, Miku, he certainly makes a better mach for you than that prince. Although you both do look lovely together, but he is less of a status gap. I guess he is not allowed to marry though, being a servant to a princess, and her favorite." replied Haku to her story.
Miku opened her mouth to say something and then shut it again. Oh yeah, she believes that I'm a servant to this manor, just like her. I better not blow it or father will be angry with me and so will Haku. Then I will have no real friends, or at least none that aren't masks in high places.
She had met and taken in Haku Yowane when she had tried to run away from all of the politics of her life. Haku had found her and took care of her for a few days and they had become friends. Miku had decided to go back home. She did not want Haku bowing and scraping at her feet so they both had signed up as maids at her father's castle.
Miku smiled and then she said that she had to go, and retired to her room.
A week went by. She and Len did not meet up again but the did send letters to each other regularly. One day after she came back from riding her horse, Haku was holding a letter for her from Len. "Miku, a young blond haired boy came and delivered this for you and he said that it was urgent." she handed Miku the letter.
"Oh, it's from Len." Miku opened the letter. Her eyes moved back and forth as she read the note. "Haku, if anyone comes looking for me, tell them I'm in the forest. Do you understand?"
Haku nodded. "Yes I know. But why do you need to go into the forest at this time? Even if you go by horse you would arrive at the edge of it by sunset."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just do this for me, OK?"
"Alright I will."
Then Miku headed back out to the stables to get a horse. Haku watched as she rode away towards the forest.
She reached the place where the well and table were. Len was there. He was wearing a dark cloak with a hood. When he saw her he gave a forced smile.
"Len, I got your note, what's going on?"
"She asked me to kill you." he replied, voice sad.
She looked at him perplexed, "Who told you to kill me?" Then it struck her, "Rin did, didn't she? She told you to kill me so that she could marry Kaito. Am I right?"
Len looked down and nodded. Then he took out a knife. She went over to him. Miku smiled. "Go ahead, I don't care if I live or die, Kaito wants me as a trophy. And if Rin wants me out of the way so she can have him, I don't care." she told him gravely. This must be the way I get rid of that horrible Rin. I guess it won't end happily, but I will do this to make others happy. Len will appreciate this, well not my death, but his freedom from Rin will make him happy.
Len lifted the knife up to her chest. She grabbed his hand which held the blade and plunged it into her chest. She smiled again and thanked Len who had tears running down his face. Then she fell down onto the dead leaves and when Miku landed there was a crunching noise from the leaves. She looked down at the ground.
Now Rin shall be taken off her throne because Kaito will surely be furious about my death. I am glad that I have few regrets. I was loved by many and I was as kind as I could be to everyone. But my only regret is the fact that I did not love any one with my whole heart, but I'm happy and I don't care.
Six
"I'm sorry for being alive." That had become a favorite phrase of mine. I lived in a small village within the country of Green. All of the women there had pretty green hair. I was the only one with boring plain white hair. No one found it interesting, everyone just laughed, and called me a freak.
I never had any real friends because of that. When my mother died I was left alone. I was truly alone. I still lived in the tiny village. I had no where else to go, I had no loving relatives and no friend so I just stayed in the tidy little cottage that I had lived in my whole life.
Near the village was a great forest. It was huge and it covered most of the landlocked country of Green. Some of the people in the village, the one who would talk to me like a person and not just ignore or tease me, said that on the other side of the forest was the capital of Green. When I asked other people about it, most said that it was false.
I enjoy walking in the forest. It is peaceful and pretty, even though it is green. I do not hate the color green. I like it. It is white I hate. Not on everything, when its on clouds or snow I like it, but since I am the only one with white hair, I cannot stand to look at myself.
The forest is one of the few things I like about the village. It is fairly light within it. In the forest, there is a huge tree. No one knows what kind it is, but it has been there since the forest started some say.
While walking in the forest one evening I thought I saw some one lying in the underbrush. I went over, out of curiosity, to see who was there, if it was anybody.
As I approached, I heard a soft moan that almost made me turn away, but I didn't. I saw a girl about my age lying on the ground. It looked like she had fainted form exhaustion.
She was wearing a pretty teal dress and it was covered in mud with tears in some places, where I presume it had gotten caught on a bush. She had long green hair, which I envied, in a braid down her back.
"I cannot leave her here." I said aloud, to no one. So I lifted her off the ground and took her to a near by stream. The forest was full of them. The girl was light, but I was not strong enough to carry her all the way back to town. I tried to wake her up by splashing her face with cold water, but it didn't work.
I ended up sitting with her most of the night. Luckily it wasn't that cold that night. She woke up just as I was starting to doze off, which was when dawn was nearing.
"Good morning, you collapsed, so I was taking care of you." I said to her, since she looked thoroughly bewildered. "I am Haku Yowane. May I ask your name?"
"Hello, I am Miku. Where exactly are we?" she asked looking around.
"We are inside the Great Forest, near a stream." I was starting to get self-conscious because she was looking at me. "If you feel up to it, we could head back into my town now, or I could go and find us something to eat before we head in."
"If it is not too much trouble, some breakfast would be welcomed." she said, still looking at me.
I headed off into the trees heading towards where I remembered a plum tree. There were a few ripe so I picked those and headed back to where Miku was.
After we ate, I led her into the town. She stopped and looked around the market we passed on the way to my small house. I didn't stop with her. I was tiered and I needed to sleep if I was going to be able to work in the afternoon.
I had just entered my house and sat down at my old table when there was a knock at my door. When I answered it, Miku was standing there with Gumi, a young lady who took great joy in tormenting me and my hair.
"Ah, hello, sorry for leaving you in the market, Miku. I was really tiered and I have to go to work in a few hours, so I thought I would try to take a nap. Thank you, Gumi, for bringing her here. I didn't mean to leave her behind, really." I babbled, I was rather embarrassed about abandoning Miku, and having Gumi bring her here.
"No problem, Haku the white." she grinned at me, in the teasing way she always did. "Miku is a really nice girl, where did you two meet? I can tell she isn't from around here. I found her at the Jackson's stall looking at their fake jewelery. So, Haku the whitest of the white, whiter than snow, did you steel her from some lord's castle? She can't be a small town girl. Or did you find her running around in that mucky forest you love to go into. Oh and on that note, you should just move into the cursed thing. Every one would like it better they wouldn't have,"
"Sorry about running off like that, Haku." Miku cut her off, "I just got sidetracked by all of the pretty things at the market." she smiled at us sheepishly. "Thank you again, for showing me the way to Haku's house. Bye."
I shut the door when Miku stepped inside. She was grinning at me. "I hope I am not being a bother. I didn't ask her to show me the way to your house. She saw me looking at one of the stalls and she just came up and started blabbering. Gumi can talk, and very little of it seems to be of any relevance. All of it is just mean things about shopkeepers, little things that bug her about people, and when she got to you," Miku paused, and looked at me to see if I was alright if she went on. I nodded and she continued. "She went on about how much of a freak you are because of your white hair. I said that I was going to be staying with you and she gave me a mean look and she said that I needed to go back to your house and she led me here."
"She really hates me. I don't know why. Although, most people in this village would treat me fairly normally if it wasn't for her." I looked at my feet. "My mother said that she was just jealous of how different I am from everyone else and she wants the attention I get."
I sighed and went to my little room and told Miku to wake me in an hour or so. I lay in bed thinking about how strange she is. She has an interesting speech pattern. It sounds like she is trying to speak with poor grammar and odd slang.
"Haku, you asked me to get you up, so I am." Miku touched my shoulder and my eyes flew open since I wasn't sleeping. "Ah! Oh you startled me."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I wasn't actually sleeping." I got up and walked to the door. "Miku, if you want to you can wander around the town. There won't be many market stalls open, but you can always find things of interest around."
"Where do you work? I'd like to know, in case I can't find you house again. I don't want to have some one you don't like bring me back to your house again."
"Well, I work at a little dress shop, it is near the bakery."
"Thank you. You have been very kind to me, I do not deserve such treatment." she looked down at the wood floor. She looked like she wanted to say something.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'What'?" She asked in return.
"Nothing really, you just look like you wanted to say something." She laughed softly and headed to the market. I went to the tailor's shop. I worked in the back of the shop, so I was away from people. I was happy about that. The lady who owned the store, Teto Kasane, used to have me mother working for her. I have worked in this shop since I was little. My mother would bring me to work since father was dead, and on one would watch me. I would help my mother and Mrs. Kasane out buy fetching cloth, buttons, thread, and other materials for them while they were sewing. Now I am mostly doing all of the work myself. I don't mind though.
I finished up work and then on the way out , someone ran up and tackled me. They had latched their arms around my waist, and I was about ready to beat them upside the head, when I realized it was Miku.
"I want to get out of here. People are too nosy here. I have to leave." she whispered to me.
"Let's go into the forest, they won't follow." I assured her. She nodded and we headed to the forest.
It was a long walk but this time I didn't find anyone passed out along the path. We reached the place I was headed to last night, a semi clearing with a huge tree in the center. It was always beautiful at sunset and rise.
"It's so, peaceful here. It's so calming. This place reminds me of that place near the mansion." Miku said with a awed and dreamy look in her eyes. "But this place is much brighter. It is grim there but her there is plenty of life, it looks like a place of death there."
I didn't ask where she was talking about. "I think this place is like you, Miss Miku. It is full of beauty and life, like you, but it is very mysterious too, again like you."
Miku stared at me. Then shook her head with a smile. "No, Haku. This place is very much like you. It has a unique beauty, and is honest. There is no mystery to this place, although there are are many secretes."
"Please do not say such kind things out of pity. I don't need any from you or any one."
"But, Haku, I do mean all that I say"
Her words were the first kind, and sincere words that I had ever received from a person other than my mother and Mrs. Kasane's good jobs. These words were directly to me, not to my work, or to my character, but to me. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I tried to wipe them away, but I just started to cry more when I saw Miku worried face.
"Haku, whats wrong? Was it something I said? If it was then I'm terribly sorry." Her concern touched me and to my embarrassment I continued crying harder.
"Miku, it's not your fault. No one has ever complemented me and you've been so nice to me. I'm sorry for being like this." I said between sobs.
"It's alright. Do not fret." She said soothingly.
She walked over to were I stood sobbing and gave me a hug. My legs gave out. She caught me, since she was still holding me. Then she lowered me down to the ground so we could sit. I cried on her shoulder for a long time.
"Let's leave this place. I know somewhere we can go." she said with a smile after I had calmed down. "Come, let's go right now."
We traveled through the forest to the capital. There Miku led me to the king's palace and I waited outside in a hall while she spoke to the king. When she came out she told me that we now had jobs here as maids.
A few weeks later, Miku was being courted by a prince from the country of Blue. He even asked for her hand, and she accepted. I could hardly believe that a prince would fall for her, although she was extremely beautiful. I had heard that he even turned down the proposal from the princess of Yellow. Then the next day she told me about a young boy that she had met in town who was the princess of Yellow's favorite servant. Those two would have been a better match by far.
A week after all of that happened, a young boy with longish blond hair wearing a cloak, came up to me while I was doing laundry and he handed me a note for Miku. I told him that I would give it to her. The whole time he looked like he was doing something that he knew that he would regret. When I saw her, I handed her the note and she rushed off to the forest.
An hour after she left, that prince of Blue came running up to every servant and yelling something at them. When he noticed me he rushed over and picked me up by the shoulders and shook me while screaming, "Where is my Miku? Tell me girl!"
I told him that she went into the forest and he ran after her. Several hours after, the prince came back into the castle holding Miku. He had a dark stain on his clothes. Miku had a large stain on her dress too. Miku's eyes were closed, she was limp, she was dead. I gasped, then the world went gray around the edges and I fainted.
When I awoke, I was under fallen curtains. The room was so hot. It was on fire. I threw off the burning drapes and looked around for the nearest exit. The door was blocked by fallen beams from the ceiling. I was thinking surprisingly well for someone who had just fainted from shock. I searched for a window. I looked all around the room from where I was standing near the burning curtains. Then it dawned on me, there was a window behind me. I leaped out of it. Glass shattered when I went through, it cut my arms. Luckily I had fainted in the main hall on the first floor. I landed in the shrubbery below the window.
Once I got back up on my feet I took off running. I ran for several miles with out direction, I just ran away from the little happiness that had been ruined in my sad life. I finally collapsed near the middle of the night. I had no idea where I was. I didn't care.
Please, just let me lie here forever. What have I done to anyone? Nothing that I know of. Why am I targeted for such misfortune?Why? Why?
When I awoke I was in a strange building on a bed. The sun was streaming through a window. I heard the crashing of waves on sand and rocks. So I went all the way to the sea.
"So you are awake." A young woman came in. She was dressed in a nun's habit and she had long blond hair in a side ponytail.. She smiled kindly. "You were collapsed outside this church. I brought you inside. I'm Neru."
Before I knew it I was working and living at the little church in the country of Yellow. I heard from the towns people that the country of Yellow had completely wiped out the country of Green. Most of the men were killed in battle, and all of the women with green hair were slaughtered. It was said that the princess of Yellow had ordered the slaughter. Rumors said that the princess had sent out her best assassin to kill the princess of Green, who apparently was Miku.
For the first time in my life, I really began to hate someone. I was not mad at Miku at all for keeping her rank a secret. I did not mind at all. I began to hate the girl who was the daughter of evil. I could not do anything though.
Then days later, there was an uprising at the castle of Yellow and the princess was overthrown. The revolution was led by Miku ex-fiance. I was glad, to my horror, to heat that the princess was to be executed by guillotine at three the next day. I would not be attending the beheading, which I was glad about, since I was on the boarder near the old Country of Green and the ocean, and it was being held at the capital which was farther north.
A messenger came riding into town a few days later. Once he reached the first house on the lane, he began to yell at the top of his lungs, "Princess Kagamine, the former princess of Yellow, was beheaded yesterday, at three pm. The Kingdom of Yellow will now be ruled by the people."
Three days after the messenger, I was walking on a path overlooking the ocean, I had gotten into the habit of doing that a few days after I came here, and I saw a body lying on the side of the path. It seem I always find people like this, or they find me like this.
I went over to see if they were still alive. They were. She was a cute little girl. She looked about fourteen or fifteen. She was covered in dirt and grime, except for some tear streaks running down her cheeks. She had short blond hair. There was a piece of string knotted in her hair, like it was in a ponytail but it fell out. It was a little strange that she was wearing a butler's clothing too. Her shoes were scuffed and falling apart. She also was clutching something to her chest.
I picked her up and took her to back to the church and Neru. She was as light as a feather. I wonder who she is. It looks like she has come a long way. Poor thing, she must be starving and exhausted. Neru and I will take care of her. I hope she is not in trouble, I think there might be blood stains on her shirt and maybe a drop or two on her face.
When I reached the church, I took her inside and put her on to my bed. I went out to the well to get some water to wash her face off. I went back with the water in a basin and a small hand towel. I began to clean her face. It was then that I was sure that she did have blood on her. There was a lot of blood on her.
"Poor thing" I said aloud.
"Who is this Haku? Someone you found? Is that blood?" Neru came in then and stopped in the doorway.
"Please try to keep it down. I am sure that she has been through a lot. Let's let her sleep."
"You don't have to be quiet just for me." Hearing her speak out of nowhere startled me. I hadn't even realized that she had woken up.
"Oh, you're awake. I'm Neru Akita, and this white haired lady is Haku Yowane. You may stay here as long as you like." Neru said in welcome. "Although if you say too long, I'll put you to work out in the garden."
"Thank you. I would like to say. You both seem very nice. But I'm not very good at doing anything. I always had L-" she broke off mid sentence, as if thinking about something hurt her.
"Well don't fret about anything right now. You need to rest up. For now, we'll take care of you." I said to the girl, then I thought a moment and asked, "May I have your name?"
"Ah." her face turned a little red, "My name, um, it's Rin. I have no last name."
Neru and I smiled and then she went off to get Rin a fresh set of clothes. I stayed to help her get cleaned up. She was so small and dainty. Rin was very pretty when she was cleaned up, although the clothes we had to put her in were too big.
She stayed at the church and we began to have her working at small things around the house. She was horrible at everything. She did not know how to do laundry, clean anything, garden, and she couldn't even cook. I decided to teach her how to cook because it seemed that was the only thing she might be good at. It was fun teaching her. She was always amazed when I did something as simple as making bread. When I gave her a task to do, like mixing the ingredients, she was always so happy when she did it correctly.
One evening, Rin was in the tiny confessional of our church talking to Neru. I know I shouldn't have, but I stopped on the other side of the wall to eavesdrop.
"I have done so many horrible things, and I know it, but there is no blood on my hands. Not even his." Her voice choked up. She began to cry as she spoke. "Everyone thinks that I am dead, but it was him, he died for me. He, he would always do everything for me. Anything." she sobbed for a minute. Then once she had calmed down, she whispered, "I am the daughter of evil"
I understood what she had said, but it had taken me a moment to have it sink in. This girl, she is the one who is to blame for the death of Miku and the downfall of Green.
I would avenge Miku. I couldn't let a little demon like that live, she had tricked even me. I could not stand by and watch her ruin the lives of others. Once she had gone to bed I went into the closet we had given her to sleep in since she didn't want to sleep in the same room as Neru and I. I stood over her. How should I do this? I think she should have an accident. That would be best. I could always have her fall into the sea.
That day I spent thinking how I could get rid of that girl with the least effort. I didn't see her the whole day though. And when I asked Neru where she was. She told me that Rin had gone into town to get something, but she didn't know what.
When evening came I went out for my walk along the shore. I saw her. She was standing knee deep in the waves on the shore. She leaned down to put something in the water. I took this chance. I walked quietly up behind her while taking out my knife. I stood over her bent-over figure with a knife held high over my head ready to stab. I looked at her before I started to bring the knife down in an arc. There was a boy out in the waves standing over a glass jar bobbing in the waves. She was shuddering. She was crying.
She is just like I was. She is.
I dropped the knife into the sand at our feet and I took her in my arms and led her back to the church. The next day there was a little glass bottle sitting on a windowsill it had some bits of dried grass in it. Also she asked how brochette was made. She was pretty good at making it actually. But who was that boy, he looked like Rin.
Seven
I was standing in the crowd to witness my own execution. I wore a cloak with a hood so that no one would recognize me.
When I was leaving the castle, I went by Len's room. I don't know why. I found a little bottle with the remains of the tiny crown I had made for him when we were little. I was crying already but this brought fresh tears to my eyes. The fact that he had kept it all these years, it amazed me. I took it with me.
I was clutching the tiny vial waiting, terrified, for my younger brother to be brought up on the platform and killed as me. The crowd was growing more and more restless as three o'clock came closer. I could hardly hold my tears back. I knew that I wouldn't be able to once Len was brought up, in my clothes. Kaito, the man I loved, now stood over everyone. He was the one who really caused this. I started that war and killed Miku over him. I realized that he was horrible. Kaito was just worth his pretty face.
There was also a woman with him. She was in red armor. She had led the attack on the castle, and captured Len. She was looking at all of the people in the crowd with a bored expression. When she looked at me she stayed staring. She knew that the person they were going to kill wasn't me. She knew that I was standing in the crowd.
The bells told three and they sounded dull and metallic. A man brought Len up to the guillotine. He was wearing my favorite dress. The dress was yellow with black ruffles at the bottom and black lace at the neck and cuffs. It had three-quarter length sleeves that flared out at the ends. Len had my black rose hair piece in his hair. I knew that he had always dept his hair the same length as mine. He looked so dignified and regal as he was led to his death. I wouldn't have been able to keep such a face in his position, but he was acting like he thought I would act.
When I saw him mount the stairs to the stage, the tears came. I couldn't hold them back. I wanted to turn away, and leave, or go up and reveal myself, so Len could live. I could not, I was frozen. Len was led up to the guillotine. The guard put his head and hands in the lunett. He was not looking at the crowd.
"Oh, it's snack time." He said loud enough for the whole crowd to hear.
The executioner pulled the lever. The blade came down fast. There was a chunk sound when it hit. I could no longer hold my self back.
I started bawling my eyes out. I was clutching the little bottle I found in Len's room so hard that my knuckles were turning white. The crowd was leaving. They had see what they had come for. I ran up the steps to the platform, and no one tried to stop me. I assume that they saw me as a servant who was still loyal to their mistress.
Len was a bloody mess. Seeing him like that scared me more that anything, even my death. The blade was still down, it had not been pulled up, it had a huge splatter of blood going up the front and back. The boards of the stage also had a layer of blood. I did not know how much blood a person had. It made the platform slippery too. It didn't matter to me. I walked up to the guillotine and struggled with the lock on the lunett. It cam open then I lifted the heavy wood up so I could release my brother.
I lifted him up. The blood mad him a little slippery, but there was no blood around his waist so I held him there. I tried to get the basket with his head under one arm but it was too bulky for me to carry it and Len. A woman in the crowd took pity on me and handed me an empty sack. I must have looked really pathetic to have someone help me. I put his head into the bag. It made it easier to carry him. I left the stage. I almost fell on the way down but I caught myself.
A guard started to walk towards me, but then he too another look at me and backed off. I walked out of town.
I kept walking. I had no idea where I was going. It didn't matter to me. I just wanted to find a beautiful place where I could bury Len. My feet started to ache once I had gotten a few miles out of town. I ignored it. While passing through a forest, I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since before we made the switch. I didn't care. If I died taking my brother to find a place to bury him I would be happy because I was with him.
I finally ended up near the ocean. I was just barley keeping my feet under me. I reached the sand and collapsed. I started to dig then. I made a pit deep enough so that no animals would come and dig him up and it was far enough up the beach that the tide would not be a problem.
I went back up to the path near the beach and collapsed under a bush.
I feel something wet wiping my cheek. I hear voices.
"Who is this Haku? Someone you found? Is that blood?" one voice said.
"Please try to keep it down. I am sure that she has been through a lot. Let's let her sleep." replied the other.
I opened my eyes. I was in a small well lit room. It looked like it was sunset. There were two women in the room. One, with long white hair in a ponytail, was sitting next to me on a small cot, with a wet cloth in her hand. The piece on cloth had a dirty streak on it, where I assume she had cleaned part of my face with it. The other woman stood by the door. She had very long blond hair in a side ponytail. She had bangs. The other woman had bangs too. They were both wearing plain brown dresses with white aprons.
"You don't have to be quiet just for me." I mumbled. The white haired one turned to me in surprise.
"Oh, you're awake. I'm Neru Akita, and this white haired lady is Haku Yowane. You may stay here as long as you like." the blond one said smiling. "Although if you say too long, I'll put you to work out in the garden." she laughed.
"Thank you. I would like to say. You both seem very nice. But I'm not very good at doing anything. I always had L-" I broke off. It was too painful to talk about him, and I did not want to start crying in front of people I had just met.
"Well don't fret about anything right now. You need to rest up. For now, we'll take care of you." said Ms. Haku, the white haired one. She thought a moment and asked, "May I have your name?"
"Ah." I said, I could not show my identity, "My name, um, it's Rin. I have no last name."
Ms. Haku stayed to clean me up while Neru left the room to get me something to wear. When Ms. Neru returned she handed me a white dress. It was very plain, and simply made.
"Sorry, this is the smallest dress we have here. I hope it fits alright. If not we could find you something in town." she apologized.
I put the dress on. It was huge on me. I did not mind. I thanked Ms. Neru and said that the dress would be fine for me. She smiled and started to laugh when she saw me in the dress. She said that I was swimming in the thing.
Days went by. I stayed in a little closet that I had to my self because I did not want to share a room with them. I rested and tried not to cry most of the time. I did not want to eat much. This worried Ms. Neru, and one night when I refused to eat. She sat me down at the little kitchen table and force fed me. Then she warned me that if I ever made her do that again she would not feed me for a week. I started eating a little bit more every day.
When I told them that I wanted to live there with them they were happy. They tried to give me a simple job to do, but I was useless. I was too weak to garden. Although I could help pick ripe fruits and vegetables. I could not sew, or do laundry. I just made the clothes look worse. I failed at cleaning. I was no good at cooking either. But Ms. Haku saw that I had potential for it so she kept trying to teach me. I didn't really care about regular cooking, but I loved baking. Ms. Haku always gave me simple tasks to do, but I usually messed them up no matter how hard I tried not to.
Ms. Haku and Ms. Neru lived in and ran a little church. No one preached there, but many people came there to pry or to talk to Ms. Neru in the confessional. One night I decided to confess to Ms. Neru who I really was. I would not, no could not, come directly out and tell her directly who I was. I waited until she was in the confessional. There was a lot of people waiting to talk to her. I wanted to be the last person, so I waited. When I saw my chance I took it.
"Good evening child. What have you come here to talk about?"
"I am full of sin."
"Now dear, why do you say that? You seem so young. What have you done, or think you have done?"
"I have done so many horrible things, and I know it, but there is no blood on my hands. Not even his." My voice choked up. I began to cry as I spoke. "Everyone thinks that I am dead, but it was him, he died for me. He, he would always do everything for me. Anything." I sobbed for a minute. Then once I had calmed down, I whispered, "I am the daughter of evil"
There was silence for a moment before Ms. Neru spoke again. "Silly girl,"she chuckled. "the daughter of evil is dead. She was killed."
"No! That was not me. That was my brother and servant, he is the one who died. I buried him around here too. I am not dead. The daughter of evil still lives!" I was frantic now. I had to have her understand.
"So you are saying, that you are the princess and that someone disguised as you was killed in your place."
"Yes. Len was killed. I'm still living." I was becoming less frantic because I thought that she was beginning to understand.
"Are you also saying that, since the daughter of evil is still alive, you will do evil things and cause sorrow still?"
"No. I never wanted to cause sorrow. I had no idea that the peasants were being truthful. The nobles told me that they were exaggerating. I even put one to death because I was tired of hearing the same story over and over again. It never occurred to me that they were right. If I had known I would have done some thing to help." I was crying not for me or Len, but for my stupidity.
"That is why I say that the daughter of evil is dead."
I left the confessional and ran to my closet. I went to sleep. Oddly I slept well. I had a dream that night. It was of the day that Len and I had come to this town many years ago. He had heard of a legend from some locals that if you put a piece of paper in a jar and send it out to sea, your with will come true. Len had gotten a jar and made a wish and sent it out to sea. I had teased him about it, but he just teased me about something and we both were laughing all day. It was a fun day.
When the first light of morning came under the crack in the door, I got up and headed into town. I was in a daze for most of the day. All I can remember is that I went and bought an empty jam jar. I got a little slip of paper and wrote something I don't remember on it. I don't know why but it was noon by the time I had gotten all of the things I wanted, the jar and paper.
It was early evening by the time I had gotten to the beach. I hitched up the skirt of my dress up to my thighs, and I waded into the waves up to my knees. I released the little bottle into the water it drifted away.
I was crying as I watched the little bottle drift out to sea. Then I saw and image standing over the bottle. He was there, looking like he had always done. His pretty blond hair up in the little ponytail it was in. He was smiling at me. My knees gave out and I fell into the water. I knelt there crying. Suddenly Ms. Haku was there. She wrapped her arms around me and helped me stand up. She led me back to the little church.
I continued living there. If Ms. Neru knew that it was me who confessed to being the daughter of evil, she didn't show it.. I got better at baking slowly. I eventually could make a decent brochette.