Crystalline Reflections
Disclaimer: Mai Hime is the property of Sunrise, Bandai.
Warning: A slight spoiler warning, for anyone who hasn't seen the ending of Mai Hime yet, this story contains spoilers for events of episodes 18 and after.
The world, for some it's a place of freedom, to others nothing more than a prison, but this is only true from the limited standpoint of the masses. The true world was now, and had always been, a place shaped by the rising and waning presence of a rogue star, known as the HiME Star by a select few. Those who controlled the star, controlled the world, and the one who controlled the star was a being called the Obsidian Lord.
He ruled from the land of Fuuka, and more specifically from the hidden depths of the Kokuyouguu. Inside the cavernous space below the academy that formed, ostensibly, the heart of Fuuka, two beings stood waiting. From on top of the rocky island that lay in the centre of the underground lake they awaited the arrival of their guests, for the returned ruler had some decrees to make. But before that, they had some uninvited company.
Many passages connected to the lake, but they only had eyes for one. Slowly a small white barge drifted inside the main cavern and into the view of the two onlookers and the entanglement of cables and screens that hung suspended above them and the atoll. The newly reincarnated Obsidian Lord smirked at the futile act that was about to begin, though they were uninvited their arrival was not unexpected. They'd have come sooner, had they known who he was. Now though, it was too late for them to do anything.
"Here they are," Nagi stated, unperturbed by what was sure to be an attempt on his master's life. Like his master he knew they were too late, he had made sure of that by manipulating the entire course of the Festival. After so many he had becoming exceedingly good at it.
The small boat stopped halfway to the island and both pair of antagonists observed each other in silence for a moment. Superiority almost seemed radiate from the occupants of the hidden heart, but neither of the boat's passengers gave any sign of being disturbed by it.
"For you to be here," the Obsidian Lord said, "don't you enjoy being the Queen of Hell?"
The young girl in the wheelchair, young only by her deceptive appearance, showed no sign of being surprised by the person she saw standing next to Nagi. It made a lot of sense to her now in hindsight, but that wasn't going to be of use anymore.
"So, you were the vessel for the Obsidian Lord this time, Kanzaki Reito."
"All of my memories have returned to me, but in any case, congratulations on the wonderful job you did these past three hundred years, Mashiro. Or should I say, Crystal Princess?" Reito answered, turning around fully to the small barge, but it was already empty. An element of surprise, no matter how small, wasn't something she could pass up. Even after several centuries that hadn't changed.
Fuuka Temple, the largest in the region and heart of the land of Fuuka, surrounded by mountains and forests, had a magnificent atmosphere. Surviving all, from the changing eras to the fighting in the Warring States, nothing had marred its walls.
The temple itself consisted of five great features, beginning with a plaza in the centre, a plane of grass covered by intricate tile formations. To the north of the plaza was the main building and largest of them all by far. Smaller versions were placed at the west and east side of the square, with a large gate to the south.
Taking care of everything from daily businesses to worship, the temple was maintained by shrine maidens who lived in the smaller buildings. Many of them were needed to keep up with all the work, but only few now remained. Ever since the monsters known as Orphans had appeared, most people had fled. Those maidens who remained were also those who fought against the Orphans, sometimes together, sometimes competing for the task. A subgroup of the temple's many inhabitants they had taken on the name of Ikusahime, a title bestowed to them by the one who orchestrated everything.
Now all twelve maidens of Fuuka Temple stood in a large circle on the soft grass of the plaza, their attention focused on the white-haired boy who stood in the centre. He had given them the name of Ikusahime and it was he who set them to fight against the Orphans. He was also the one, as some had found out, who was in control of the monsters.
"I'm so glad you could all come," Nagi said, his voice dripping with false sincerity. Still, at least half of the girls believed in him, despite the arguments made by the others.
One of the maidens could barely contain her feelings, after she found out the truth she had so wanted to put a stop to the boy's schemes, but instead it broke the feeble unity of the girls in half.
"You have all done very well," he continued, looking at each of them in turn. When he came to her he paused just a few seconds longer, as if wanting to say 'you've had your chance, but I'm in control here'.
"The Orphans have been defeated and won't be returning anymore for a long time."
An excited murmur broke out as well as a feeling of relief, the battles were over and things could finally return to normal, the people would return and they could all be happy again. She saw it in everyone's eyes, but she also saw the sadistic look in Nagi's, so she couldn't believe he meant it when he said things were over. All she could do was steel herself against the inevitable. Whatever he was truly planning this time it wouldn't be good.
Unable to keep looking at his visage any longer she caught the eyes of the girl standing left of her in the huge circle. Amakawa Sakuya, her best friend, was a cute looking girl with long pink hair with two equally pink ribbons on the side. As usual she had her small cat cradled to her chest, absentmindedly petting his purring body. The two were rarely seen alone.
Sakuya looked troubled, like the other girls she hoped it was truly over, but the two shared everything with each other, so she was also aware of Nagi's duplicity.
"However," Nagi said, using silence for a few seconds to increase the impact of what he was about to say. That simple word had already silenced the girls and created doubt in their minds, which was visible to him in their stance.
"This is really just the beginning of the true Festival. As I told you, you are the Ikusahime, participants in an event that takes place roughly every three hundred years. The Orphans were nothing more than a test to prove your worth."
He pointed up to the sky, to the form of the star that had come closer and closer every day. They'd all known that star for their entire lives, but it had always been a speck of light near the moon. Now it began to dwarf the moon in comparison.
"The time of the HiME star is upon us, and the true Festival will begin. To protect this world and your beloveds, you will continue to fight, continue to win, until the victor is decided. Then this world will have prosperity for centuries to come."
Again mutterings broke out between the maidens of Fuuka, but now they were weary instead of hopeful. They had to keep fighting, but what did they have to fight? The Orphans were gone, so what did that leave them with? The answer was a frightening one, not all the monsters were gone, there were still twelve left.
"Yes," Nagi said, the dawning apprehension impossible to miss, "Your enemies will be…the other Children."
"No!" She called out, unable to keep herself down anymore, "What are you saying? If we kill a Child we'll kill someone's most important person!"
"You knew the risks of being the mother of a Child when you accepted them," Nagi simply said.
"We'll never do what you say," she declared, but she felt it was futile. Already the other girls were looking at each other in distrust, deciding for themselves that they had no choice. Not all of them were friends, especially not after they were divided over Nagi. She realized now why he had honestly told her that he was the master of the Orphans, he wanted her to tell the others and break up their ties, weaken their bonds with each other. It had succeeded; she'd done exactly what he wanted without knowing it. Her anger could not be disguised, she even worried Sakuya, but she wouldn't back down.
It only seemed to amuse the instigator of her anger though, "Temper, temper, my little maiden of the flame, you are mistaken if you believe you have a choice in the matter. You will do it, just like all the other girls. You will do it because you are told, you will do it because otherwise the star will spell disaster for the entire world and, maybe most importantly to all you young girls, you will do it to protect the life of your most precious person. And if even that isn't enough for you, the winner of the Festival will gain unimaginable power."
He was right, the other girls would do it, if not just for love than for the promised power, even Sakuya would be forced to kill and she didn't want her friend to go through that. She wanted to protect that girl's kindness at least.
"Kagutsuchi!" She called out and an inferno erupted around her. Sakuya and the other girls backed away from the heat, fuelled by the anger of the maiden who summoned it. Out of the flames rose the white dragon with wings of fire, his eyes immediately focussing on the source of his mistress' raging emotions.
"Oh, scary," Nagi commented, looking completely unimpressed by the show of power. Instead of intimidating him he seemed even more amused. The other girls did look frightened; none of them had expected her to summon her child just like that just against Nagi. But the maiden of the flame wasn't taking any chances.
"You will be scared," she said to him, but before she could give any command the ground shook violently. Dark spikes rose from behind the western dormitory and a dark reddish hill followed after. Was it another Orphan to assist Nagi? If it was it wasn't anything any of the maidens had seen before. A form moved on its back, but his identity was hidden behind a dark cloak and hood. In his hands he held two swords, a black claymore and a sheathed sword.
"The Festival is absolute," Nagi said, though there was hollowness in his voice that hadn't been there before. Though the swordsman did not speak directly, she was sure that the antagonist in front of her was used as a medium for his will. Had she been mistaken in believing Nagi was behind everything?
"Not even the user of Kagutsuchi is exempt from obeying. You will not further disrupt providence."
The sheathed sword in the man's hand suddenly glowed with a malicious red and disappeared, moments before the dragon started struggling against invisible bonds. The dragon was in pain, so much even she could feel it.
"Kagutsuchi?" She said, her voice a feeble whisper. Her mind was numbed; her Child was in pain and seemed to be dying. If that happened, she didn't dare think it. Brother, she cried desperately in mind as her voice called out for her Child.
A lance of red lightning pierced through the dragon's snout and jaw, leaving a large and cumbersome sword in its place. Weakened, but not defeated yet, he was forced to drop lower to the ground.
"I told you, you will fight," Nagi said, his voice returned to normal, "but you had to be punished for disobedience, so your Child's power is now partially sealed. A pity, though I doubt anyone else here thinks so."
Unable to help herself she looked at the other maidens, but found Nagi to be absolutely right. Before Kagutsuchi had been the most powerful of all of them and her victory had seemed assured to the others. But now, now they felt they had a chance, some even smiled openly, only Sakuya seemed sad, only her.
Brother, she thought desperately, really wanting to cry. In her gamble to save them all she had probably doomed him. Brother, Sakuya, please forgive me.
Reito looked bemused as Mashiro approached him from behind, her wheelchair pushed by her faithful assistant Fumi. Again he waited a while before he'd turn around; there was no need for him to rush the encounter along. His people from the First District wouldn't start to arrive for some time to come, giving him plenty of time to enjoy the long overdue reunion.
"I will defeat you," Mashiro stated firmly with all the authority she had mastered, "In order to finally put an end to the accursed destiny of the HiME's."
"To even go as far as placing your soul in the form of a Child and remain in a fake vessel yourself," Reito said, giving woman and girl only a sideways glance.
He now smiled widely and condescendingly, he had seen many Festivals and many winners, but this was the first time he'd ever witnessed something so foolhardy.
"You wanted to kill me that desperately?"
"Yes," Mashiro answered honestly, bracing the scorn she had known would come. There was no going back from this, not after all she'd done to get this far, "Since it was you whom I once loved, big brother."
"Fumi," she commanded, throwing the dice of her gamble, figuratively speaking. Behind her the pink haired woman took a single step back from the wheelchair. Sometimes she wondered if her old friend would have grown up to look like her had she not been born into the same accursed destiny.
Mashiro's maid raised her hands, bringing forth a blue flame. She clapped her hands a single time over the flame and when she separated again it formed into her scythe Element, only used a handful of times and only in dire need. All the while her expression stayed in the same dispassionate state, fitting as the harbinger of death. This would hopefully be the last time she needed it for the girl she was taking care off. Once the Obsidian Lord was out of the way the girl who had become most important to her would finally be free of her heavy burdens.
Setting of against the tiled floor of the isle the distance that separated her and Reito, though she refused herself to think about him as the student he once was, disappeared in mere seconds. Why wasn't he doing anything to protect himself, she wondered? He even had his eyes closed. Only to late did she realize it could only be a trap, but by then she refused to back down.
She jumped to cut her unresisting opponent in half with a downward slash from her scythe, but then a familiar dark claymore streaked into her field of vision from the left. The two blades clashed against each other, the momentum both wielders had keeping them suspended before Fumi broke off the hold. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, the wielder of the sword was supposed to be dead.
Mikoto whirled Miroku around several times, sending off sparks where it scraped the ground. The look in her golden eyes was fiercely protective, "I won't forgive anyone who tries to hurt my brother!"
"You did it again?" Mashiro sounded aghast; it was as if the past was reliving itself. Reito's maliciously triumphant smirk told her enough, that was why neither he nor Nagi had made any move to protect themselves against Fumi, their protector would just do that for them. And she was certainly highly qualified for the part.
"Even if you tried to kill me, it would just be a waste of your power as a Child," Reito said calmly before focussing on his young protector.
"Now, Mikoto," he said to the girl, who turned her head eagerly at the call of her name, "My beloved little sister, fight for my sake."
"Yes, brother," Mikoto said, the dedication in her voice made Mashiro feel ill. It was all too much like the past, the past she thought she'd mostly gotten over after three hundred years. But it seemed she wasn't quite as finished with it as she'd previously believed.
Once again the remaining maidens of Fuuka stood on the central plaza, but things had changed a lot. The star now not only dwarfed the moon, but blocked it from sight, and only two of them were still left. No one had been able to stop the fighting from occurring and as the course of the Festival dictated the casualties had begun almost immediately.
Everything had changed, lives were destroyed and friendships ruined. Fuuka Temple, which had survived throughout many turbulent times, including the era of Warring States, now lay in shambles. The gate had collapsed and the two dormitories had gone up in flames. Only the main building still had any semblance of what it once was. The grass on which the two girls stood was scorched, no longer the beautiful green that had gotten so much nourishing in the past.
The girls stood in silence; it was no longer necessary to say anything, the time for being best friends was regretfully over.
How she wished things could have gone differently, but after her failed coup-de-tat everything had gone the way Nagi had planned it. Maiden against maiden, the battlefield was as tearful as it was bloody. She'd done her fair share of the fighting, proving that even though her Child's full power was sealed she was far from helpless.
Sakuya too had been a prime target in the beginning, the other Ikusahime mistaking her kindness for a weakness. They had paid for that with their lives; those that hadn't died themselves were but shadows of their former selves. Mentally the pink-haired girl lost as much as the people she'd beaten, only showing traces of her kind side to her pet and Child, Tsukiyomi. To all others her eyes only shot frosty daggers, if they even showed any feeling at all.
Her cute little cat stood protectively behind her, only he wasn't so cute or little anymore. Standing far taller than either of the girls, the yellowish beast was a formidable fighter. With parts of his body protected by black armour with gold finishing and a pair of powerful wings on his back, there was little the Child couldn't face. Weaker than Kagutsuchi when the dragon had been unsealed now things stood more on even ground.
"Kougetsuren," Sakuya said, her voice devoid of inflection or emotions. She seemed to exist as an emotionless doll now, her only way of protecting herself against the harshness of what she had to do. Even if she won it didn't look like she'd ever fully recover. In her hands a blood red crescent scythe appeared, seemingly glowing with an unearthly radiance from the light given off by the red star.
In response she summoned her own Element, a double bladed sword. Like the scythe her weapon had also seen too much combat, too much sorrow. With Kagutsuchi behind her she would face her friend like all the others; there was no return from the path they'd chosen.
Wordlessly they charged at each other, rips of their dishevelled clothing whipping behind them. In the centre, where once Nagi had stood, the two weapons clashed. Both girls braced themselves, trying to push the other back by force, and in doing so brought them eye to eye. One pair of eyes showed anger, anger at herself, her opponent and destiny itself. The other's remained completely devoid of feeling, an unnerving sight that had gotten Sakuya the advantage before.
But she refused to be intimidated by the girl's current state and pressed on.
"Kagutsuchi!" She shouted.
Sakuya replied just as clearly, but still without emotion, "Tsukiyomi."
Immediately the dragon answered the call, flying up a few meters before firing a ball of flames at the other Child. Though the attacks he was now capable of were weaker than they should be, they still packed a good punch. Coupled with the ability to fly he still had an advantage over most of the others.
Tsukiyomi was different though, like the dragon he wasn't bound to the ground even though his ability to fly was somewhat weaker than Kagutsuchi's. Pushing off against the ground with his powerful legs the cat soared over the ball as it exploded on the ground, his own wings carrying him from the blast range.
Before the white flyer could react he slammed into his chest, digging in his claws into Kagutsuchi's body and embedding his teeth into the neck. The dragon let out a mighty roar before falling back to the ground, creating a small impact crater when he crashed on his back. On top of him the feline continued his assault, secure in the knowledge that he had the superior position now.
Kagutsuchi roared and closed his burning wings around the cat that was holding him down. Now it was Tsukiyomi's turn to hiss in pain as the flames started to set fire to his yellow fur. Out of options the cat jumped away, allowing his former captive to take to the air again.
Sakuya ran ahead, taking the few steps up to the temple's entrance in one large stride, her crimson scythe trailing behind her.
Fire was starting to break out in numerous sections, but she paid it no mind as she followed the other girl in. The main entrance hall was empty by the time she set foot inside, her quarry hidden behind one of the many sliding doors. Searching them one by one wasn't an option.
True to the title Nagi had used to rile her up, the maiden of the flame created several flares that danced around her two blades. With precise swings two jets of fire flew from the tips of her weapon, igniting all the boards on both sides of the hallway. It revealed nothing; Sakuya had already gone in further. With the building on fire, that didn't give them much time to fight.
The hunt continued till the main audience chamber, where she found the girl waiting for her on the altar at the far side, flanked by statues of the creator gods Izanagi and Izanami.
As she slowly approached the pink-haired girl did the same, till they stood only two meters apart on the creaking wooden floor. From the corner of her eyes she could see the walls starting to smoulder, time was already running out. Sakuya though, she didn't give the approaching blaze any mind.
Without words she tried imploring her friend to stop fighting, but as much as she hoped things could be resolved peacefully in her heart she knew it couldn't be done.
"Your brother," Sakuya said, the first time since the battle that she'd spoken to her directly, "I could have gone after him at any time."
Her friend's words stopped her cold, all this time she had believed to have kept the identity of her most precious person hidden, but there was no fooling this girl. They were too close for that. But if she had known all along she could have won without this battle.
"I want us to finish this face to face," Sakuya continued, the only feeling she showed was when one of her eyes twitched slightly, otherwise she was as cold as ice, "We owe each other that much."
"Thank you," she answered, none of the other girls would have shown the same consideration. Part of her wondered, with some shame, if she would have given Sakuya the same courtesy if she had been absolutely certain of her important person's identity.
"No need," Sakuya said, swinging her scythe low and then up. The double-bladed sword intercepted the slash, and with a spin brought the wicked blade out of the way while striking with the other end.
With Kougetsuren's hilt Sakuya stopped the attack and took a few steps back. Then they were at each other again, exchanging blows and slashes, none of them meant to disarm, only to kill. As they fought the walls were beginning to burn in earnest and small pieces of the ceiling clattered down around them. Still neither of them made any move to get to safety, instead both kept up their unrelenting assault. Parries were beginning to get sloppy and some of the strikes missed the potency they had at the beginning. Blood from small wounds dripped to the floor, but if either of them felt any pain they didn't show it. Surrounded by fire they stepped away from each other for the last time.
There were so many things both still wanted to say to the other, but instead they charged. Kougetsuren came up low and fast from the right, Sakuya's signature move. Even before she saw it coming she reacted to it, blocking the crescent edge with the lower blade of her sword.
Prepared for anything she was nonetheless surprised when her opponent just stopped with a look of surprise and relief in her no longer dead eyes. Kougetsuren fell to the floor and Sakuya coughed once.
The maiden of the flame didn't understand what was happening until she saw the blood coming out of her friend's mouth. As she followed the drops down she saw a horrible sight when she came to her stomach. There, surrounded by an expanding patch of red liquid was the upper blade of her sword.
"Sakuya," she whispered, letting go of her Element's hilt, unwittingly taking away the stabbed girl's support. Sakuya fell forward into her arms, and she slowly knelt down with her.
"I-I'm so sorry," Sakuya cried, the clear liquid of her tears mingling with the blood that trickled out of her mouth.
"Sakuya!" She shouted as her friend drew her last breath in a sea of fire.
What happened next was like a blur; somehow she found her way out of the raging inferno, leaving behind her friend in the immolating flames. Maybe she could be at piece now. Victory was hers, but she didn't feel anything like celebrating.
Outside two familiar, but unwelcome, figures awaited the Festival's winner. The mysterious swordsman who had single-handedly prevented her from saving her friend and Nagi, who knelt at his side, looked at her standing against the fiery backdrop.
"Congratulations on yet another outstanding Festival, Nagi," the Obsidian Lord said to him.
"I live to serve, my lord," The boy answered, though the satisfied smirk he showed the last maiden clearly said he enjoyed orchestrating and manipulating everything and everyone as much as it was his duty.
"And congratulations to you too, for fighting so well for my sake, my beloved little sister."
"Mikoto," Fumi whispered sadly, she knew that the devotion the girl was showing would only end up hurting her, like it had with Mashiro. But it was too late to do anything about it now, Reito, the Obsidian Lord, had to be defeated even if it meant going through the young girl. Behind her the crystal princess had decided the same thing, no matter what the cost the plan had to be continued or the cycle might never be broken.
"I have no choice then," Mashiro spoke softly and stood up from her wheelchair for the first time. The time of her existence as director of Fuuka Academy, Kazahana Mashiro, had finally come to an end.
Blue fire, like when Fumi had summoned her Element, emerged from the floor to fully envelop Mashiro's body before growing in size. In reaction the eyes on Miroku's blade blazed red and started to open while Mikoto gritted her teeth.
Inside Mashiro grew like the protective cocoon of fire had done until her body stood as tall as an adult's. Her life had never permitted herself to grow up naturally, so it was an interesting feeling to exist in an adult form. But she wasn't an adult, she wasn't even human anymore. As her body grew taller, her hair grew longer and a pair of horns formed on her forehead. The clothes she'd worn had altered themselves into a something more resembling the old priestess clothes she'd worn so long ago. In her hands a double bladed sword, with blades very similar to that of the claymore Miroku, appeared. It was her Element, as if transferred over through time it was still hers after taking the form of a Child and it still felt familiar in her hands. It trembled, and blue markings that were equally similar to Miroku's red ones appeared along both ends of the weapon.
She opened her eyes, and now three pair of golden eyes surveyed each other, they were related through time if not by blood, just like a family.
The Crystal Princess looked coolly at the girl standing in the way of her centuries old goal. Crackles of red energy burst from Miroku in reaction to the appearance of her Element. They shared the same foundation, but were aligned against each other. Now would be the time to see which of the two was the stronger.
"Miroku!" Mikoto cried out to her Element and Child and dashed forward. Around her black spikes, like giant spear points, shot from the ground to back her up. Both swords clashed and the resonance shook the area and for a moment there was balance. But the winner of the fight was already determined long before the battle had begun. In an explosion of multi-coloured light one of the blades broke through the other and its wielder. When the display of power settled down the loser's broken form lay discarded on the ground, limbs bent in unnatural directions.
With the hand of her brother, the Obsidian Lord, on her shoulder she let herself be led down into the caves beneath Fuuka. Going further down and through passages she never even knew existed.
They crossed a cave with eleven pillars, and Nagi explained to her that the essences of the people most important to the defeated maidens were inside of them. With all the Pillars of Sealing erected the true Kokuyouguu would be revealed.
She only heard parts of it though; the brief show of fierceness she had mustered when she left the burning temple behind had been completely crushed when she saw the identity of the man responsible for all the suffering they'd endured.
Then they were in another place that defied what she knew possible, a large stone island suspended in space. But parts of it were made of a black material she'd never seen before, and there were lights not made by fire. In awe by this she barely noticed being led to a large teal crystal, shaped like a star with four points. Inside was a girl, seemingly asleep.
At her side the Obsidian Lord made a gesture and the girl slowly separated from the crystal to slump down on the ground beneath it. If she had any consciousness left, there was no sign of it.
"The winner of the previous Festival," the Obsidian Lord started explaining, making her notice for the first time that Nagi hadn't followed them in.
"She wasn't as strong as you and even before three hundred years had past her mind just shut down. But I know you are stronger than that."
She looked up at him, wondering what this all meant for her. She loved and hated him both, loved him for who he was but hated him for what he had done. How long had he been the Obsidian Lord, playing her and the others like a puppet from behind, and how long had he been her real brother.
Whenever she had seen him he had been exactly as he always was, kind, supportive, not at all like man she saw now. But he was good at deception; even after he sealed Kagutsuchi he showed no difference in his behaviour. She feared the kind brother she knew had been nothing more than a mask all along. Nevertheless he was all she had left now; all her bridges were burned behind her. Whatever he wanted from her, she'd give it to him.
"The Festival's winner becomes absorbed by the crystal and will serve as a gate to guide the star, thus ensuring the prosperity of the world. You should be very honoured, my Crystal Princess."
She didn't reply to him and soon found herself in the other girl's place, sealed within the crystal. Now one with it she guided the star back beyond the moon, giving the world another three hundred years before another Festival would need to be given.
As the years, decades and centuries went by she learned of many things. The existence of the First District, Searrs Foundation, the true identity of the Obsidian Lord as a timeless being and many more. History went by without her, but she was always watching from inside the crystal.
She could understand how her predecessor could have given up, only being allowed to watch and not act was maddening. But, unlike her senior, she still had a purpose. No matter what, she had to make it to the next Festival with her mind in tact.
So she watched as history went by without her, as the people squandered the prosperity they should have gotten from appeasing the star. Wars and disasters, but also things that seemed like miracles such as the progress of science, she saw it all. But what pleased her the most, was how in hundreds of years the people's attitude towards women started to change. They became more assertive, less easy to control, making Nagi's work harder and giving her an actual chance. For she planned, there was little else to keep her busy for sometimes years at a time till some event in the outside world caught her attention. She planned to make her one time goal possible, to stop the Festival from ever ruining lives again. Instead of her mind weakening over the course of time her resolve only grew stronger.
Nearly three full centuries had gone by, and many things in the land of Fuuka had changed, when an archaeological expedition started their excavation. With them came a girl, Kazahana Mashiro, and an unfortunate accident that gave her a real foothold in the world once again.
And now, when that life had been extinguished as well, and her soul had once again returned to her body inside the crystal, she waited for the seeds she'd sown to sprout. She had learned from Nagi, learned how it was always best to come prepared with many plans. One plan was left, but for that to work she had to be back in her body; otherwise the powers granted to her for being the princess of the crystal could not be used. A sacrifice, but a necessary one at that point, though she felt very sorry for her assistant Fumi, for the pain this was sure to cause her.
Only one plan left to go, but if she hadn't misjudged the girls of Fuuka Academy than both the Obsidian Lord and Homura Nagi had a big surprise waiting for them.
Author's Notes:
Usually I try to avoid using any Japanese in my stories (the only exception to date has been one honorific used twice in a story), unless there's no real English equivalent. This time I kind of got stuck with two such cases.
The more important of the two is for "Kokuyouguu"; where after some searching around in online dictionaries I came up with two likely possibilities.
The first part of the word is Kokuyou, meaning Obsidian, which is also what I used for the Obsidian Lord (Kokuyou no kimi) as used in the subs I've seen.
But the end was a bit of a problem, 'guu' I found was often used in words that translated to either something with palace or shrine, where I really only considered words that had to do with a place.
That makes the likely translation either Obsidian Palace or Obsidian Shrine, but since neither was ever used in any of the translations of Mai Hime I've seen, for the sake of familiarity I kept Kokuyouguu around.
The second was the title of the HiME at that time, Ikusahime. No translation for that was ever given either, which is why I kept the original. This time the translation wasn't really that hard to find.
Hime means princess and the word Ikusa stands for war, battle, campaign or fight. So the title would roughly translate to Warrior Princess.
After some deliberation I did decide to use Crystal Princess instead of Suishou no Hime, though I do like the sound the latter has better. After all, this is a story written in English first and foremost with a reasonable translation being available.
One last thing, the cameo of Amakawa Sakuya, a HiME from the Playstation 2 game Mai Hime: The Another. Since not much of Mashiro's past is known and I did need another girl for her to fight, with some emotional impact, she could be included easily without disrupting the canon of the series.