Noooo! My cousin was giving me the evil eye earlier! From personal experience, this means that I'll be dragged off to some out-of-the-way place outdoors within three days! I can't take outdoors, I'm an indoor person! And I'll be forced to go since my mother believes that mountain air is good for your health... T^T
And the worst thing is that I'll be far away from civilization! (The last time he just took my phone and threw it somewhere. That's no way to treat a phone! Especially my precious white iphone, I fear for it... But since the next iphone is coming out, I'll just force him to buy it for me if he ruins my current one XD )
Oh well, if they find my body at the bottom of some ravine, the bright side is that I won't need to write a suicide note (not that I'll have anything to write on or with anyway) since it's totally understandable that I jumped there myself to escape from my suffering.
So if you don't hear from me in a month or some, just assume that the worst happened ;D
If you're reading this Papercutvictim, sorry! I couldn't resist publishing this before I go XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid
"You betrayed me."
Those three words, whispered into the cool night air, delivered without any of her usual fire, said with those dead eyes, those dead, cold, lifeless, defeated eyes; slapped her harder than any of the stinging slaps that always drew blood that she used to give; it hurt her far more that any of the physical torment that she had put her through before.
Wordlessly, not saying anything in her own defense, she continued to stare at the shadowed figure in a twisted sort of morbid fascination.
"Miku…" She cooed and Miku obeyed, pressing herself as close as possible to the iron bars that imprisoned her. Miku always obeyed whenever she called.
"Lovely, lovely Miku…" A cold hand reached in between the iron bars and closed the distance between them, stroking Miku's cheek gently. "Sweet Miku… Dearly beloved Miku…"
Miku closed her eyes and savored the familiar sensation that she had longed for so long, it restored a sense of normalcy to what else might be a chaotic world, allowing her to pretend for a moment that everything was fine like in the past.
However, Miku knew that it wouldn't last. It never did.
Sure enough, her hand, her painfully thin hand, suddenly paused in mid-stroke and withdrew back into the shadows, leaving Miku to mourn its sudden loss and wonder why it felt so terribly cold once her hand left.
"YOU!" The accusation was spat out with such venom that it made the guards at the far end draw closer to hover protectively over the still kneeling Miku.
"You traitor! You betrayed my father, who raised you! Common filth such as you still dare approach ME?"
Pale hands lunged to wrap themselves around Miku's throat, but an alert guard swiftly pulled Miku back by the collar of her shirt, saving Miku from possible strangulation and saving her from having more crimes to bear, but the guard couldn't save Miku from the shattered mess that was her heart.
"You were against us from the very beginning!" She accused, hands gripping the iron bars tightly as if willpower alone could bend them; working herself into a frenzy that the guards grew alarmed as whatever remnant of her sanity rapidly deteriorated before their very eyes.
"Doctor!" One guard opened the heavy iron door and shouted. "Doctor!"
At that, a large number of guards burst into the room, flooding into the quickly unlocked cell and they pinned her down, maniacal laughter echoing around them.
Miku watched it all with wide eyes, wanting to look away but she was unable to.
Despite seeing the same thing happen every night, Miku couldn't reconcile the image of the stark raving mad prisoner with the intelligent and self-assured princess that she had been.
A bespectacled old man who Miku recognized to be the director of the sanatorium hurried in, accompanied by several nurses bearing trays loaded with all sort of medicine. He stopped just before the cell and selected a flask from the trays, his confident steps turning into a cautious crawl as he entered the cell.
"Hold her mouth open."
As a guard scrambled to follow the director's orders; never one to give in without a fight, she jerked her head left and right, biting several fingers in the process and it took an additional two guards before they managed to keep her head still and pry her mouth open.
The director grimaced as he stepped forward with the flask, pouring its contents down her throat as fast as possible and the guards swiftly forced her mouth closed, pinching her nose to force her to swallow the vile concoction.
In the midst of all that, ice blue eyes found Miku and Miku held the gaze, the guards and director leaving her cell and the room, leaving Miku alone with the original six guards and a heavily sedated prisoner.
Miku slowly crawled forward on her knees, not breaking the eye contact as she slowly made her way into the cell, knowing that she didn't have much time left.
Tears blurred her sight as Miku approached her, her eyes closing tiredly as she drew a ragged breath.
"Y-Your highness…" Miku whispered as she ran her eyes over the heavy iron manacles that were around her hands and feet, chaining her to the wall.
Miku had argued that it wasn't necessary to chain a defenseless and insane dethroned princess, furthermore to the point where there was an additional iron collar around her neck, as if she could escape in her condition.
Naturally, they hadn't listened to a word that Miku said and even threatened to revoke Miku's permission to visit her, so Miku had then kept her silence ever since, not matter how unhappy she was with their treatment of her, because Miku was all that she had left.
"Your highness…" Miku repeated, and her eyelids fluttered open. Miku gently rubbed the spot where the manacles had chafed her skin, her skin had always chafed easily; Miku also noted how thin she had become, to the point where the manacles that had been made to fit perfectly were slipping down her arms.
Gently placing her head on her lap, Miku tried her best to keep the worry from showing on her face as she ran her hands through what had once been bright pink strands of hair, now faded to a dull sheen that matched the rest of the fallen princess.
"Princess… Luka…" The eyes that had been staring up at Miku blankly focused for a moment before they clouded over again, lost in images that only she could see.
"Miku…" The dry and scratchy sound was so different from the alluring voice which used to summon her in the past, but it still sounded wonderful to Miku's ears.
Bending low till only a tantalizing distance separated their lips, a distance that Miku yearned to close; Miku could only choke out one word.
"Yes?"
Luka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again to fix Miku with that blank gaze. "You're not real."
Miku cast a stricken glance at the guards beyond the cell, all of whom had suddenly found the ceiling to be extremely interesting the instant Miku had entered the cell. Miku didn't know if it was out of pity or something else, but those six were genuinely nice to Luka, unlike the rest, and for that Miku was grateful.
"I'm so sorry…" A tear fell onto Luka's cheek as Miku gently brushed their lips together. "I never wanted this to happen to you, I swear…" Miku squeezed her eyes shut in pain. "I promise that I'll get you out of here. I promise!"
"Liar." Miku's eyelids flew open in surprise as she stared down at Luka, who was watching her with an inscrutable look in her eyes.
"Liar." You lied to me.
Miku heard what Luka had left unsaid and when she reached out a hand to comfort her, Luka slapped away her hand with surprising strength.
"LIAR! Everyone lies to me! Father lied! Mother lied!" Luka suddenly shouted, her eyes growing wild as she trashed about, chains clanking on the ground along with her.
"Even you Miku..." Luka's voice dropped to a whisper. "Especially you..."
"Why…" Luka whispered before the full effect of the concoction hit her and she fell unconscious.
Miku stared at the sleeping Luka for several minutes before she moved, grabbing a cushion that had been nearby and slowly lowering Luka's head onto it. Frowning at the tattered piece of filthy cloth that served as a sorry excuse of a blanket, Miku got one of the guards to fetch her cloak from the cloak room and she wrapped it around Luka securely, knowing that it would keep her warm.
"Good night Luka," Miku kissed her furrowed brow, and after running her hands through pink hair one last time, Miku left.
It was ironic that Miku could only see the Luka that she knew when Luka was drugged.
After refusing one of the nurse's kind offers of a cloak, Miku walked out into the chilly night, welcoming the biting cold as a meager sort of punishment for causing Luka to end up in that place. Giving the white-washed walls of the sanatorium one last glance, Miku hurried away to the dock to catch the last ferry back to the city.
Luka's trial would be in a few days' time, and with the king dead, the blame for everything would definitely fall onto the only surviving member of the royal family: Luka.
There were still many things that Miku had to do, many things within a short time, but Miku never ceased her nightly visits to Luka, even forgoing the precious sleep that she needed just so that she could see her former master every day, continuing with her efforts to ensure Luka's freedom in the day.
Some had scorned her and questioned her loyalty to a diabolical tyrant that was "better off dead", but a few had sent Miku sympathetic looks and promised nothing, but it gave Miku renewed hope that things would turn out fine.
As Miku wandered the streets of the city, those still out at such a late hour greeted her with respect, to them she was one of the heroes of the revolution who had freed them from the reign of terror under the cruel king, their liberator, for it was by Miku's hand that the king had perished.
"Such a difference, isn't it? In the past, once the sun set everyone hid in their homes, fearful of the soldiers that would catch anyone wandering about in the dark. Now everyone is free to wander about to whatever time they choose!" A voice said cheerfully into her ear.
"But still, idiots might get mugged in dark alleyways, regardless of whether in the past or present."
"Right you are miss!" Cobalt eyes twinkled in amusement. "But idiots, being idiots, would be idiotic enough to either bring all their valuables with them, or bring nothing at all. I think I belong to the latter, don't you think?"
Miku remained silent.
"Things will be fine, Miss Miku. Don't worry."
Miku found herself unable to sleep that night, instead she wandered about the city, subconsciously revisiting places where she had been with her before; ultimately ending up at the beach where they had first met.
Sitting on a large rock, Miku stared moodily at the shoreline, noting that it was almost dawn; thinking about how much had changed since her last visit here to watch the sunrise.
A cool breeze blew and Miku closed her eyes, imagining the sensation of leaning against a warm back, pink strands tickling her cheek lightly as her hand was held tightly, yet firmly.
"Miss Hatsune."
Miku opened her eyes and the illusion was shattered.
The person she was longing for was long gone, a hollow shell left behind. And even if the courts somehow pardoned her, there would still be people after her, satisfied only with her death.
"What is it?" Miku turned to see two of the city guards watching her with an uncomfortable look on their faces.
'Smile,' Miku reminded herself.
"Well, you see…" The younger-looking of the two began, eyes dropping to the ground as he fidgeted. "The… the princess, she…"
"What about the princess?" Miku said sharply, all her attention on him.
It was the older guard that answered.
"Princess Luka committed suicide."
Hmmm... Long or short? Flip a coin, roll a die.
I'll probably decide whether Luka should stay dead or not while sitting on some log ;_; Oh well, it makes no difference, only between a sad and happy ending... Or a sorta ending! Oooh. Which should I do, I wonder?