Disclaimer: I do not own any of the series mentioned in this story save for just the two characters, Viola and Bastian. All characters (save for them) belong to their respective creators.
*This dream sequence was the original dream I had in place in chapter 14 in Where the Heart Lies. You do not need to know the story to enjoy this short excerpt, but I would appreciate it if you took a look at the story. Also, try to name the references as you go along! Some are obvious, others are not.*
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Viola hunched over the map pondering over what they were to do. That thrice damned general of Oceania had foiled all her plans and seized most of their territories. If they didn't figure something out soon, the nation of Prussia would fall to their ways. Their nation was a proud one and she'd be damned if those posh princes ruled over them!
"Sherlock, what do you think we should do?" she asked her tactician.
"What is there to do, Milady?" Sherlock Holmes said, frustrated. "The enemy has anticipated all of our plans accordingly. All of my carefully laid out plans that ensured victory have failed. Ugh! How are they doing this?"
"Don't blame yourself. I know your plans are brilliant." Sherlock was the most clever tactician in all of the awesome Prussia. His IQ was without equal in all the land. However, recently his carefully thought out plans failed because either their enemy knew they were there and would advance on them or they would block their paths. Yet, it was more than coincidence Oceania was managing to push them towards the capital. They couldn't know all of their plans, could they? She glared at the country of Oceania on the map. "What I don't understand is how that damned Lord Phantomhive anticipated our every move. He may be brilliant, but even he can't know where we plan to go next."
"Yes, Phantomhive doesn't even have Moriarty working for him anymore. So, how..." Sherlock trailed off. Realization dawned on him in the most terrifying way Viola has ever seen. "No. How could we be so stupid!? You, I know. No offense, Milady, but how did I not notice!"
"What?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, we may have overlooked one factor. We have a spy in our midst."
A chilling sensation of horror trickled down her spine. "How do you know?"
"What other explanation is there? They know all of our plans before we can execute them! Someone within the palace must be leaking information to the enemy." His hands pressed together against his lips. "I suspected we might have a spy but thought it unlikely up until this point. To think someone could slip past our defenses with so many of our soldiers within the castle."
"Wait. If we have a spy in our midst, then is it possible it's someone we know? They couldn't have known our plans unless they were here when we discuss them!"
He growled, glaring at the map. "I don't know! I hate to admit it, but if our spy was an excellent actor I would have no idea. John would give me an idea if he were here."
"Sherlock..." Everyone lost someone during this war. Viola lost most of her family to many battles early on in the war, leaving her to rule. They were in this war to begin with because the Crown Prince, her beloved twin brother, Sebastian (or Bastian as she called him) was killed on a border patrol. His remains were found on Oceanian territory, leading her kingdom to suspect Oceania was the one to have killed him. There was the rumor that the bodyguard of Oceania's king had killed him as his infamous knives were found in a bush around the area. Oceania denied such a thing and argued Prussia was at fault for crossing into their borders in the first place and they were well within their rights to defend. One thing led to another and this war began, leading to many lives being lost in the process to end the conflict.
Sherlock was no exception to losing those close to him. He lost his brother, an ambassador, during peace negotiations in the very beginning and recently lost his best friend, Captain John Watson. Sherlock tried to hide the pain as best as he could until he avenged his dear friend. Even after killing John's murderer, Jim Moriarty, Sherlock was still hurt. Sometimes, Viola thought he was beyond repair and tried to help him. During this war, there wasn't enough time.
The two were thrown out of their darkened thoughts when a large explosion rocked the room. Viola and Sherlock steadied themselves by holding onto the table. Various items and decorations within the room clattered to the ground, some shattering on contact. When the shaking ended a moment later loud yells and screams echoed from below followed by gunshots.
The doors of the war room burst open. Viola's trusted friend and head of her knights, Cloud Strife, ran into the room breathlessly. Smoke and dirt smeared his pale features from his blonde and outrageously spiky blond hair to his complexion. The only thing that stood out past the soot were his glowing blue eyes.
"Lady Emrys, the enemy is storming the gates!"
"What? How did they get past our defenses? What happened to our sentries?" Viola demanded. She could hear the drums of battle thrumming out in the courtyard. Damnit! It shouldn't have been possible their sentries were taken out so easily.
"They were dead before the gates were opened. It was reported someone was seen opening the gates from within."
"Our spy?" Sherlock demanded.
"Possibly. Whatever the case we must get you to safety, Milady," Cloud stressed. "My knights have cleared the escape route. We must hurry."
"No. I refuse to leave everyone here fighting for their lives while I flee to safety," Viola adamantly denied. She should be here with her people until the last stand. If she were to flee, what kind of ruler was she?
"That's not an option, Milady." Cloud strided forward and grabbed Viola by the forearm. She began to protest as he dragged her through the opposite door. Sherlock followed closely at their heels. "Sorry, Milady, but your survival is what's best for the nation."
"No. What's best is if I stay with my men when they need me the most. Damnit, Cloud, let me go!" She struggled to slip out of the soldier's grip in vain. Being much stronger than her, she couldn't pull away. "Cloud! I order you to release me right now!"
"Again, sorry, Milady. Long before you ruled, your father ordered me to keep you safe even when the capital was about to be seized. He hoped if you were to survive the people would believe in you and hope for you to return. We've already lost a benevolent leader and his heir. We cannot lose you as well."
Viola's eyes pricked at the mention of her father. The kind and gentle king of Prussia, he was killed in one of the beginning battles. He fought in this war because his people wanted justice for the murder of their prince, which Oceania failed to acknowledge. There was no choice but to go to war. She believed she would never amount to what her father started. No, she was sure of it.
Cloud dragged Viola down the hallways leading to the servant's quarters towards the service entrance. Sherlock trailed behind with a tome in hand in case someone followed. They reached the small back doors normally used by the servants. Cloud was about to open it when he suddenly tensed. He pushed Viola to the side and unsheathed his massive blade so it was in front of him. Viola was unsure why he would do such a thing.
The sound of singing metal filled the air. It came from above. Viola looked up in time to see shining metal before she was pushed out of the way. Cloud managed to push her out of the way before he raised his blade. A split second later a seven foot deadly blade but through the air, blocked by the Buster Blade. A chill went up Viola's spine when she saw the wielder of such a sword.
"S-Sephiroth!" both Cloud and Viola exclaimed-one in hatred and the other panicked.
"It's good to see you, Cloud, Queen Viola," greeted Sephiroth in a sultry tone. He smirked maliciously down at Cloud. "How have you been?"
"Not good thanks to you!" Cloud snarled as he faced down his worst enemy.
Viola gulped at the former head of knights before her. Sephiroth used to be the captain of her father's personal guard and was known as a hero within Prussia. However, once the war with Oceania began, Sephiroth betrayed their kingdom on account of learning his mother, an Oceanian citizen, was killed by Prussian knights when he was a baby. This was enough cause for him to swear revenge against them and switched sides to see the Prussian Kingdom fall. She hadn't known Sephiroth personally but she knew his friend, Zack, whom he killed before leaving. Zack had tried to convince Sephiroth to stay to ultimately be met with a sword through the chest. Cloud had witnessed Zack try to stop Sephiroth from leaving and swore to kill him to avenge his fallen friend.
And now Sephiroth was here to kill her. No one, no one, has ever managed to defeat the one people nicknamed the Nightmare. Because that's what he was. Just one look at him in battle and Sephiroth would haunt those who saw him in their sleep.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Sephiroth said in mock sympathy. His smirk betrayed the insanity beneath his calm composure. "Perhaps I can make it all go away? Starting with you, your Highness."
"That's not gonna happen!" Cloud roared. He pushed all his strength into his blade to throw back the silver-haired man. Sephiroth flipped back to right himself before he hit one of the walls. His feet planted themselves against the wall and he used that as leverage to propel himself back forward. Cloud would have none of that, throwing himself forward to clash with him once more. Their two swords met once more, crashing against one another in an attempt to kill the other. While they were trading blows, Cloud snapped blue eyes onto Sherlock. "Get Viola out of here!"
"I already know," Sherlock snapped back. He rolled his eyes and took Viola's wrist from where she stood, frozen at what could have happened to her. "Come along, your Highness. Your bull-headed, stubborn captain of the knights shall distract Sephiroth."
"Will-Will Cloud be all right?" Viola stuttered, glancing back at Sephiroth and Cloud. They battled at high speed that was almost impossible to see. Neither of them gave their enemy an inch to breathe as they sliced down any obstacle in their path while wielding their swords like they were nothing. After Cloud began to attack, Sephiroth didn't spare her another look-most likely because he was more interested in Cloud than her.
"Oh, yes. He'll be fine. Well, he may lose an arm or some form of appendage, but he'll live."
"That doesn't really help."
"It's not supposed to."
She saw no more of their battle as Sherlock dragged her out of the hall and into the darkened world outside.
Black smoke was the first thing they found outside. Viola and Sherlock had to cover their mouths with their sleeves to avoid inhaling smoke. All around them fires burned from the bushes and sheds outside. The servants ran around, screaming when soldiers bearing the familiar mark-a purple six petal flower-struck them down where they fell, never to move again. Already the grounds were littered with the bodies of the servants Viola had grown up with her entire life. To fight off these soldiers were some of Viola's own knights, members of her personal guard. Singing iron clacked from everywhere with the occasional magic spell. When the two burst through the doorways some of the enemy soldiers spotted them.
"There! Get the queen!" one of the soldiers cried. This one was without an enemy to fight. As such, he ran towards them with his blade drawn to cut her down. Just with the two of them he must have thought they were easy to kill.
Unfortunately, he didn't know Sherlock.
The moment the soldier drew his blade Sherlock had his tome open. Viola didn't know why he did that since he didn't even look down at its pages. He already knew the chants by heart. A strange language passed through his thin lips silently, eyes never leaving the approaching guard. Once the guard was a few meters away, he finished his chant.
Wind erupted all around Sherlock, blowing in a whirlwind to protect him and Viola. The solider was sent crashing into the nearest burning shed that collapsed on top of him. The wind died down as Sherlock snapped his tome shut with a dignified huff.
"Honestly, what goes on inside all of your heads? Are you truly that ignorant?" he questioned, dusting off his black coat. "If he had wanted to kill us, he should have done better than approach us from the front."
"Sherlock, you scare me," Viola stated. She always knew Sherlock could get aggressive when he wanted to. There was one time when her father was still alive when one of the servants had the gall to shove away her nanny, Mrs. Hudson, to leave her with a nasty bruise. Sherlock had the man thrown out the third story window several times. So many times he said he lost count. It was a miracle the man was still alive after the abuse the tactician put him through.
Sherlock smirked and chuckled at her.
"Good. You should be. Now, come along, your Highness. We should be on our-"
He never got to finish his sentence (and Viola knew how much he hated being interrupted) when, suddenly, ice shards fell from the sky. Sherlock and Viola pressed their backs against one another to get away from the shards. The deadly ice did not aim for them, however, as it fell in a circle to surround them. They were trapped in an icy cage.
"I've always wanted to put you in a cage before I ruined you," said a clear, boyish voice. It was only clear because the moment it spoke the battlefield surrounding them fell silent.
Viola moved her eyes to the side only to narrow them. Past the giant icy shards, standing in the middle of a silent battlefield, was a small boy of fifteen. He was far too small to be a soldier because he was unfit to be one. He was also dressed in regal navy clothes and a single silver crown on his head that no middle or lower class could afford. Cold eyes like that of the shards met her gaze in amusement, triumph making them glow in the burning night. Once upon a time, she would have said he was the most adorable boy she had ever seen. Now, his appearance made her want to stab him through the heart.
"Phantomhive," she hissed.
"Lady Emrys," King Ciel Phantomhive of Oceania greeted in kind. He gave a polite smile that might have warmed their hearts. Yet, somehow, it managed to freeze them for that smile held no warmth. He bowed at the waist in greeting. "It is lovely to see you once more. The last we met was before this war started, was it not?"
"Was this before or after you killed my brother?" Viola replied. She grit her teeth at the sight of that infernal boy. "You know, where you denied having killed him in cold blood while he was on a border patrol?"
"We were well within our rights to kill him after he wandered into Oceanian territory."
"He was dragged across the border after your soldiers killed him in our territory!"
Phantomhive waved his hand in a dismissive manner.
"Details. It will not matter about who was in whose territory. What matters now is that all your land is now mine."
"Not while I live and breathe."
Viola had enough of listening to Phantomhive brag about winning the war when she was still alive. The day she would surrender to that pompous brat would be a cold day in Hell. Even after she breathed her last breath, she'd find some way to haunt Phantomhive for the destruction of her country.
"That can be arranged," Phantomhive said with a smirk. He raised his hand above his head. Above Viola and Sherlock, more deadly shards appeared right over their heads. The ones surrounding them were too large for them to escape. They were trapped. "Any last words, Lady Emrys?"
"How about…" Viola grasped the sword at her side and drew it from its sheath. Readying herself in a stance, she twisted her body around to slash at the shards all around her. Sherlock had to duck before his head was decapitated or sliced in two like the shards around them. In one swift movement their icy cage was broken apart. She rebalanced herself and grinned at Phantomhive. "I'll see you in Hell!"
She jumped over the remains of the cage and ran straight for Phantomhive. The Oceanian knights saw their king was being attacked and abandoned their current opponents to stop her. Being a woman, the queen for that matter, they suspected she would be weaker than they imagined. What they didn't know was that Viola was anything but.
The first soldier that came at her with a lance was quickly cut down as Viola swiped the tip of her blade at an exposed part of his armor. He went down with a cry, blood gushing from the wound. That didn't stop the soldiers from coming at her, but they were stopped by a wall of wind that blew out around her. Viola took one glance over her shoulder to find Sherlock chanting more spells to stop anyone that came near her. Her own men went after the Oceanians to protect their queen.
The battlefield became frantic once more. The soldiers of both sides fought to serve and protect their ruler. It became much more hectic once magic from Sherlock and Phantomhive were thrown into the mix. The enemy always had the idea they could take out the opposing ruler only to be stopped by Sherlock's biting magic or frozen solid by Phantomhive's ice magic. There was only one way to defeat the other ruler and that was a battle to be decided between the king and queen.
Viola wasted no time in joining the battle in an attempt to take out Phantomhive. Sherlock followed closely behind her to serve as her back up. She parried and slashed at any opponent that stood in her way, ducking and rolling when necessary. Her immediate surroundings blurred, her vision solely on that despicable ruler. She parried the sword of a knight from her right and disarmed him. Kicking at his leg, the knight went down. She had no time to celebrate before several knifes came flying out from behind where the knight once stood.
Another gust of wind sent the knives flying in all directions away from her. Hurried footsteps came running and became louder as they approached her.
"Your Highness!" Sherlock came to a halt beside her, panting heavily. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I'm just-" Viola could say no more. Suddenly, she raised her blade to block a shining knife dyed red from the firelight and the blood of many. Raising her blade as a reflex, she met the eyes of her attacker only for her heart to stop. Blood red eyes met her own and she gasped. "You…Sebastian?"
"How do you do, your Highness?" Sebastian Michealis asked, pleasantly as if they were meeting for their daily chat. When he addressed her it was full of mirth and mocking. "I never imagined we would be introduced like this on the battlefield."
"Sebastian," Phantomhive called before Viola could demand why his presence was there. "Stop fooling around. You do not need to speak to that foolish queen anymore than necessary."
"Of course, my King." Viola gasped at the title. King? What did he mean by that? "This war need not go any further when victory is well within your grasp. I shall take care of this immediately."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Sherlock quipped. He chanted a wind spell as swiftly as his lips could say them. That wind managed to shove off Sebastian enough to allow Sherlock to grab the queen back to his side.
Sebastian was unaffected by the spell and retreated towards Phantomhive's side. Viola stared, dumbfounded, at the scene of the man she came to know well standing by the side of her greatest enemy and was unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Sherlock pieced it together immediately, just as he's always done.
"You…You're the spy." Sherlock laughed, incredulous. "You took the persona of an innocent gardener when you were really within the palace to sneak information to your beloved king. And you were skilled enough to erase any traces of being an Oceanian…Oh!" He gasped as if he realized something that was amazing, shocking, and not good news for them at all. Viola saw all those emotions flash through his eyes in a split second. "You're not just skilled. You're King Phantomhive's loyal bodyguard! You are the one said to have murdered Prince Sebastian in cold blood, which led to this war starting!"
"No..." Viola gasped. She couldn't believe what Sherlock deduced in that single moment. That couldn't have been true. But, from the look of it, it was nothing but true. Sebastian stood there, wearing a smirk matching the evil gleam in his eyes. There was no love or kindness there. There was only unholy pride of the sin he had committed. Hundreds of lived lost and he wore that crime with pride like it was a badge. "You? You're the spy? Why?"
"Well, it was quite easy. You were a heartbroken girl and so vulnerable. It wasn't difficult to get you to trust me," Sebastian chuckled.
"You killed my brother," she said flatly. All emotions were zapped by her astonishment. No...How could she have been so blind?
Sebastian Michealis was a gardener in Viola's private garden. He was the only person she trusted to take care of the plants she and her mother took care of. They met a week after Bastian was killed. The whole reason they were at war because his death and she wished for nothing more than to have her dear brother back. It was like she had lost a part of herself when he died. Sebastian had found her crying in the garden and offered his condolences. He comforted her when she needed it the most.
Since then, they became close. They continued to meet in the garden to talk about everything and anything that could cheer her up. Sebastian was her shoulder to cry on when she needed it. As such, Viola found herself falling deep in love with him with each passing meeting. To discover the bodyguard of Lord Phantomhive, who was the one who killed Bastian, was Sebastian...This hurt in a way she couldn't describe. It was like someone ripped her heart out and crushed it in the palm of their hand. Her chest tightened to the point she couldn't breathe.
Her hand curled around the hilt of her sword, Falchion. She couldn't see straight, only seeing Sebastian with his damned proud smirk. Oh, how she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. She wondered what kind of face he would make when her sword stuck out of his body.
"You fucking bastard. I'm gonna kill you!"
Drawing her blade, she charged at Sebastian. Sherlock shouted for her to stop, but she was too far in her anger to listen. Sebastian drew the sword on his side and ran to meet her. Viola slashed at his chest only to have it parried and Sebastian's blade about to hit her side. She shifted her weight to move out of its original destination and smack the blade away from her. But, she also had to go back again when Sebastian attempted to attack her defenseless side, which she blocked.
Viola and Sebastian exchanged blows, focusing on fighting one another. They hadn't noticed the battle continued around them, Sherlock and Phantomhive joining the fray. The tactician and the king fought one another with their magic. They tried to attack the other with wind and ice magic to see which of them would be bested. Viola saw a glimpse of that when she and Sebastian had to separate just as a giant ice shard struck the ground between them. That didn't stop them from fighting each other again.
Viola and Sebastian were about to clash again when there came a shout. A blur out on nowhere a brown haired man in a tweed suit caught the two swords clashing with his own into a deadlock.
"Doctor?" Viola gasped.
"Viola, no! You can't fight Sebastian Michealis!" the Doctor cried.
The three ripped their weapons out of the deadlock. Sebastian jumped back to gain some distance now that a third person had joined the fray. Sebastian smirked.
"Is this the best you can procure? A mad man with a sword?" he taunted.
"I prefer mad man with a blue box, actually. But that's not the point!" The Doctor dropped his sword like it was acid and grabbed Viola's shoulders. He stared at her straight in the eye and said, "Viola, this is all a dream. You need to wake up!"
"What?" she stuttered. The Doctor said some insane things but what was hhe talking about?
"You're not in the middle of a war! You're not the ruler of this land nor is Sebastian Michealis your enemy! This is a dream. A dream created from a combination of a high fever and the truth of Agni's deception. None of this is real!"
"Of course it's real! Doctor, you can't mean that!"
"Yes, it is! Look, I'm not even real! I'm the part of your creative thoughts leaking into your fevered brain to create hallucinations to think this is all real! You need to wake up!"
"But-"
Before Viola could say another word, she felt the searing pain enter from behind her back. Gasping, she looked over her shoulder to see Sebastian's malicious and victorious grin as his sword pierced through her heart.
"No, you-"
She could say no more as her world turned black.