Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kyo Kara Maoh, this is purely fan-made.
Note: First of all, I'd like to thank 'NinjaSphynxKitten' for being my beta-reader for this new story. And I hope you all look forward to a story unlike any that's been told before in the Kyo Kara Maoh universe. At least, I think so anyway. As for the timeline, this takes place immediately after Season 3.
Note(12/14/2017): Wow it's been awhile since I've worked on anything KKM related! Gonna have to get used to writing in first person again too. Still, I might as well update a few things here while I'm re-reading the story because it's so different from the one I've been working on recently. I won't change too much here story-wise, mostly just fix some typos and tweak a few things here or there so it looks better. The rest I'm just reviewing so I can write a new chapter for this story.
Chapter 1: A Sea of Stars
(Phoenix Rose by TheKeybladeForger)
Can you see the wings unfurling
As the sky begins to catch fire?
Singing a melancholy song
Of days gone by, singing all alone.
Because there can only be one.
There can only be one.
In the red of the dawn,
Amidst a path of withered roses
Can you hear her dulcet voice
Deep in the shadow of a forest once set ablaze?
Singing a melancholy song
Of days gone by, singing all alone.
Because there can only be one.
There can only be one.
In death, she is reborn,
Consumed by the flames of her birth.
The first and last of her kind.
Singing a melancholy song
Of days gone by, singing all alone.
Because there can only be one.
There can only be one.
So when you hear her melancholy song
Of days gone by, singing for you.
Remember there is life again after death,
Even for you, because you too are a Phoenix.
And there can only be one.
There can only be one…
~ ? POV~
It was supposed to be a day like any other. But there I was, desperately slamming my fists against the glass of the driver's seat window of my car as it sank further down into the murky darkness. Knowing that the further down I sank, the harder it would be for me to swim back up to the surface. The water was almost to my waist now. And any second I knew that the windshield would give way, letting the water in all at once...
There had to be something I could do to escape! First though, I had to try and calm down enough to think about how to get out of this more realistically. That's when it hit me, if I couldn't break it with my bare hands, maybe I should try kicking it? After taking a deep breath I leaned back in my seat -which was already half submerged- and began kicking the window with all my might.
Before long, cracks started to form just as my lungs began to burn and with one final effort the glass shattered. The only downside was that now my last pocket of air was gone, so if I didn't make it to the surface soon, I'd drown. And there was no way after all of this that I was going to let that happen. Not when there was a chance now that I might just make it out this alive.
I had only just reached the other side of the window when to my surprise I saw the faint outline of someone swimming towards me. It was so dark though since the headlights had gone out that I couldn't tell what they looked like. I felt a strong hand grab my arm and the two of us started swimming upwards. And when our heads broke the water's surface it was one of those moments that seemed to last forever, yet was actually all over in an instant...
The water wasn't cold exactly, but my whole body was shaking like a leaf by the time we were back on solid ground. It wasn't long before I realized we weren't on 'solid' land though. I felt the surface beneath me swaying slightly, and once I was able to get all the water out of my ears I heard the sound of ocean waves rather than the river rapids I was expecting. And yeah, believe or not there's a difference between the two sounds. It looked like I was on a boat of some kind. Though obviously I hadn't noticed at first because the only thing on my mind was getting to safety at the time as I let my mysterious rescuer guide me up the rope ladder.
I was still feeling pretty disoriented from the whole ordeal by the time we made it to the top and the only thing I could make out in the near darkness were the outlines of a group of people standing around me as I sagged to the floor trying to catch my breath. They were speaking in hurried voices I could barely understand because of this annoying ringing in my ears that made my head throb uncomfortably. But at least that was one thing I could rationally explain. My ears were probably ringing because I had a large bruise on my forehead from when my head slammed into the steering-wheel during the accident. It was entirely possible that I had a slight concussion from that that was making me so dizzy. I seriously hoped not though.
Either way, in spite of making it out of the car alive, I felt completely alone and scared out of my mind. What happened on the bridge should have been impossible. A group of men dressed in black robes suddenly appeared out of thin air right in front of me in a beam of light and I had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid hitting them. That's when I dove headfirst over the bridge right into the river. As soon as I hit the water, I panicked and felt a sharp ache in my chest that made my heart flutter dangerously fast. And for a moment I could have sworn that I was glowing when the car bobbed to the surface again for just a split second before dropping back down again into the depths.
I jerked in surprise when someone knelt down in front of me, turning only to instruct the others to step back and give me some space. In the dim light I could see that he had long golden hair that rippled over his thin shoulders, wore a pair of lavender tinted shades, and dressed in what almost looked like white robes with a matching fur rimmed cloak which he quickly removed and draped over my shoulders as he elegantly helped me to my feet.
I was speechless. This was like something out of a dream or the beginning of the 'heroes' journey' that I've seen told in so many ways in almost all of my favorite books. Fantastic stories about how someone completely ordinary finds themselves spirited away from the life they've always known and forced to accept a reality greater than their own...
I just never thought I'd be living out that kind of story myself.
Once we were inside, I was brought to one of the cabins and given a proper blanket by the older man who'd rescued me from the car. He was a tall man with dark amethyst eyes and jade green hair drawn back in a long ponytail. His expression was straight forward and serious but he was very gentle with me despite his gruff appearance. And again, judging from how weird everyone looked, I 'wasn't in Kansas anymore...'
That's when things got complicated.
For some reason, my ears were still ringing and I felt extremely lightheaded. So as I sat there in a daze, the boy with the long blonde hair tried to talk to me. I looked up when I heard his voice, but I couldn't understand him very well and could only make out every other word. But how could I explain to him that I didn't understand…?
Hoping that some gestures -even to foreigners- were universal I shook my head and pointed to one of my ears. "I can't understand anything you're saying," I tried to explain, wincing when the ringing in my ears became even louder.
My head felt like it was about to split open and I doubled over in pain. Not to mention that I began feeling nauseous too because the ship was moving so much. Usually I wasn't prone to motion sickness but after the way I'd been jerked around in my seat when the car crashed, my body was still feeling echoes of that initial shock. All things considering I was in pretty good shape and handling this pretty well. For now at least.
"Your Highness, it would appear that this girl is a cast away from a distant country. I don't think she can understand us," the taller man said to his companion as I struggled to keep myself from throwing up.
Glancing back at him from the corner of his eye, the boy nodded. "Yes, I agree. But first things first. Have someone bring me whatever spare clothes they can find and some fresh drinking water." Bowing, the man replied curtly then promptly left the room.
Despite how well I was holding myself together I was at a loss and didn't know what to do or what to think about all this. I had so many questions spinning around in my head like: where did those men in the robes come from? What did they want? Did they appear on the bridge by coincidence or was there something in my hometown they were after. How did I even get here? Where was 'here?' And how the heck was I supposed to get back home?