Rating: T+
Relationships: Nezumi x Shion, Shion v Aster (brotherly love/rivalry), platonic!Nezumi x Rin, onesided!Kai x Rin, onesidedEden x Rin, Hayden x Pia, Haruko x Rikku, Edward x Elizabeth, Nath x Dylan, Dylan v Black (rivalry), onesided!Black x Aster
Warnings: OOCness, OCs (and loads of them, haha), rantings from a mad author, (very) inconsistent updates, grammatical errors and no beta.
Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own No. 6, the song Children's War by the Kagamine Twins or Beyblade (I'm borrowing Kai and Jack), only the plot and the OCs. They belong to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.
Dedication: To nezushijustwantstobefree, as usual. Happy Birthday!
Anime: Welcome to the first chapter of Children's War. I really shouldn't do this but I wanted to return to fanfiction with No. 6 goodness. Most of these characters will seem familiar to you cause they've been seen in my other No. 6 fics. Enjoy!
~~~Only you are a suitable rival for me~~~
1: One King, Not Two
A lot of people wished they had a twin sibling. A person they could talk to and not feel judged by. A person that always had your back and a person that had been with you since the moment you had been born. Being a twin was a gift and was sort of rare in this small kingdom.
If it was a gift, Shion wished he could give out his.
The moment he and his brother Aster had been born, they had been groomed to be the next monarch of their kingdom of Lucifenia. Unfortunately, they had both come across the same conclusion: There could only be one king.
Since then, they had lived a life trying to one-up the other, attempting to impress their father and mother. Their older sister Elizabeth thought they were immature in their attempts at being so competitive but what did she know? Her position as the future duchess of Rolard was secure, unlike their current situation.
At the moment, Shion and Aster's future was yet to be written. Their father had recently gotten ill and, as his condition worsened, the more pressure they received from their people. One of them had to become king in case their father did not make it.
Shion knew he was going to be the king. Despite being born on the same day, Shion was older than Aster by seventeen minutes. That should've secured his position as heir, having been the first born son of the king, but his parents wanted Aster to have a chance.
Aster was probably better fit to be king, despite the denial Shion had. Aster was better in politics and in running the kingdom. He had helped their father, once when they were both eleven, deal with the famine in Lucifenia and had even created laws that were met with positive remarks from the people. Not only that, his skills in archery and hunting were perhaps the best in all the kingdoms.
All hail Aster d'Arte Lucifen, future king of Lucifenia.
Despite that, Shion was better in some things Aster was not.
Shion dealt better with relationships with the people. He helped with charities and was a generous patron in orphanages. He knew how to keep the people happy and he was deadly with a sword, just as Aster was with his bow. While Aster excelled in hunting, Shion thrived in duels and those skills were on par with one another.
All hail Shion d'Arte Lucifen, future king of Lucifenia.
Really, the minds of the people were easily swayed.
Because they thrived in different areas, Shion and Aster both picked up similar hobbies and tried to one-up the other. When Shion decided to learn how to play music, Aster had decided upon the same thing. However, Shion preferred the flute, ocarina and other woodwind instruments while Aster prefered the lyre, harp and other string instruments.
Shion preferred to dance while Aster preferred to sing. Shion was an artist while Aster was a poet. Shion was good at horseback riding while Aster was good at training their dogs. Shion could bake while Aster could cook. Shion preferred peace while Aster preferred war.
It seemed they could never be better than the other. They seemed like the broken halves of a true king. Sometimes, when they were angry, the same thoughts ran through their heads: If you weren't around, I would not feel incomplete.
There could not be two kings. A similar problem had occurred once, when Shion and Aster had been eight years old. The neighboring country of Draconia, the strongest of the Former Five Kingdoms, had a problem with a succession following the death of their monarch. Apparently, the king had died in bed without naming an heir from his four sons and no one, not even the Queen, could choose one of the children.
The four boys, ten at the time, were quadruplets so, much like Shion and Aster's parents, the kingdom of Draconia did not want to pick a new king based on who was born first. While everyone began to lose their minds, one of the boys - Maxiel Ilian Draconian - suggested the impossible: why not make all of them kings? Maxiel's brothers agreed and so began the reign of the Four Kings of Draconia. They did not have a long reign, the kingdom attacked by their longtime rival of Ebinzaka two years into their reign.
While the Four Kings had been good rulers, this showed that having too many monarchs wasn't a very smart idea. Shion and Aster both learned then that only one could obtain the throne of Lucifenia. They would not repeat the mistake of Draconia.
At the moment, Shion was spying on Aster who was reading up on some old texts for their upcoming tests. Aster was even taking sidenotes on seperate pieces of parchment, the ever dutiful prince. Shion snorted, Aster looking up at him. He sneered at his brother, "Oh, is my slow little brother taking notes again? You were always slow, Aster. That's why I got out of the womb first and you took seventeen minutes to follow me. You're always behind, little brother."
"Oh?" Aster raised an eyebrow, although Shion could see he looked annoyed at his comment. Aster fixed him with a smirk, "Wasn't it you, darling big brother, that only got one answer correct in last week's history exam?" He chuckled, "At least I remember the names of the Four Kings of Draconia. If I'm slow, what are you?"
Shion glared and Aster shot him a similar glare. The glares were identical, except Shion's looked terrifying thanks to his eyes. Their eyes were the reason people didn't get confused on who was who, considering they had identical faces, eye shapes, white hair and height. Their eye color, Aster's brilliant green and Shion's blood red, was the biggest difference between the two arguing princes.
"Stop fighting, you two. It's getting annoying."
Shion almost fell as he felt someone push past him. Seeing the long white hair head to the bookshelves, he glared, "It's none of your business, Elizabeth." Elizabeth turned to them, holding about six books in her arms. She fixed them with a look that was scarier than Shion's because she had the same red eyes and she knew how to use them.
"You two are squabbling like children. You are turning sixteen in a bloody week and you cannot even act the part." Elizabeth said, her tone cool and final. The way she spoke was like she was their mother scolding them. Their actual mother, kind and sweet, never spoke to them in that tone. Elizabeth was the only strict voice they knew and that is why she was called their stepmother once.
The two looked away and Elizabeth sighed, "All you are doing is hurting your brother's feelings, boys. You two loved each other ever since you were born. What changed to make you so angry?"
The succession to the throne. The answer was obvious and Elizabeth knew it. She just wanted to know if there was more to it. She looked away, wondering why her parents had let it escalate to this point. Before, when they were younger, Elizabeth had laughed at the comments they had exchanged between each other. They were childish ones like "you stink like a skunk" or "at least I didn't wet the bed when I was five". The older they grew, however, the crueler the comments got. She couldn't count with her fingers the times she had spotted Aster or Shion crying in their rooms - they used to sleep in the same room until they were ten and a half - over a comment the other had said.
Aster got up and left, holding his notes close to his chest. He had his head down and Elizabeth wondered if her sensitive younger brother was running away to hide inside of the many rooms in the castle. Shion's words must have hurt him. Elizabeth huffed, "Shion, Mother was looking for you."
"Okay." Shion said, following Aster out of the library with his eyes. He headed to his mother's favorite sitting room, leaving the lonely nineteen year old girl alone to think about the actions of her foolish twin brothers.
~~~Only you are a suitable rival for me~~~
Aster used to cry to Shion all the time. Ever since they were born, Aster was the one that cried the most. Shion would be quiet and try to calm him, even when they were newborns. Their mother sometimes saw a newborn Shion placing a hand on Aster's head, as if to comfort him. As toddlers, Shion would be the one that would hold his hand if he was scared and tell him things would be okay if he got hurt. As children, Shion was his only friend and a person he dearly loved more than anyone in the world.
After the Fall of Draconia, Shion distanced himself from him because there could only be one king. Aster had agreed - foolishly agreed because it was true - but that hadn't stopped him from crying when they had moved to seperate rooms.
Over the years, the love he had for Shion died down and he now treated Shion with the same disdain Shion treated him with. He was fiercely competitive and he wanted to be better than Shion. But, there was still a little boy that lived inside him that wished he could love his big brother.
When Shion's comments were too harsh, Aster would always escape to their old shared room. It looked like it had before, as if time had stopped in this room. He liked this room because it was proof that Shion didn't really hate him. He curled up in Shion's bed, just like he did now, clutching Shion's pillow and wondering if his brother would continue the insults if he saw him cry.
Aster knew that, deep down, he hurt Shion too with his cruel comments. He couldn't help it, though. He was just a bad person. He closed his eyes.
I don't care who becomes king anymore.
"Shion." He whimpered.
I miss you.
If only they hadn't been born into a royal family.
~~~Only you are a suitable rival for me~~~
Shion entered the sitting room and found his mother sipping on tea while sitting down with a man that Shion didn't like. It was Lord Thomas Glassred, a noble from Elphegort that Shion had hated since they had first met. The man was creepy and he was always smiling as if he knew something he didn't.
"Shion dear, you remember Lord Glassred, right?" His mother smiled at him excitedly while Shion sat down between Glassred and his mother. The lord smirked at him while his mother continued, "It seems the royal family of Elphegort wishes to unite with our family."
"Elphegort?!"
The reigning family of Elphegort was the Daerkling family. They were the richest country of the five kingdoms. If they decided to accept Lucifenia's proposal, then Shion would marry Eden Daerkling, the handsome rogue prince of Elphegort. His cheeks turned slightly pink at that realization.
"Of course. His Royal Majesty Eden is coming to Lucifenia tomorrow to meet with you and Prince Aster. His parents have decided to make him meet you two and meet his spouse."
Oh.
Right.
Aster d'Arte Lucifen of Lucifenia.
Another reason his brother was a nuisance.
By all means, Shion would have married Eden Daerkling, as the first born son yet he had a spare. A good for nothing spare, a cheap imitation of him. Really, Shion wished he could gift his twin away. He wished . . .
He wished Aster hadn't been born his twin brother.
~~~Only you are a suitable rival for me~~~
The palace of Lucifenia was bursting with activity, maids and pages rushing to the ballroom. Some of the less dedicated butlers followed suit while ladies and lords of the court rushed to see the event that was occurring in the room that was usually unused unless other royals came to visit Lucifenia.
This excitement led the three royal children to follow their servants. Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting, an energetic Nami Sakamoto, was practically dragging the royal princess, encouraging the princess to hurry because even the Duke of Elgand - Edward Chamberiane, Elizabeth's fiance - was present.
"What's happening?" Aster asked calmly as he spotted the knight Aaron Shinomiya among those that were heading to the ballroom. The knight flushed upon seeing the prince's attention on him before looking down, unable to hold eye contact. Aster sighed, "Aaron, what's happening?"
"A duel between Mage Dragoheil and Sorcerer Regaliane." He answered curtly, cheeks still warm. His fellow companions - knights Arwyn Erin and Hiroshi Sanada - snickered as poor Aaron couldn't stay so close to his crush Prince Aster. Aster nodded before rushing forward, wanting to see the duel.
The kingdom of Lucifenia was the only kingdom to have magic, thanks to their friendship with Draconia. Everyone from the old kingdom were born with some form of magic, from the Four Kings to the poorest civilian. People of Draconia tended to have a strong friendship with Lucifenia so many people of Lucifenia had traces of Draconian blood in them. Half-Draconians and full-blooded Draconians were rare but not uncommon in the Kingdoms after the Fall and the Ebinzaka Crusade which led to the deaths of many Draconians.
The Queen of Asmodean, for example, was a full-blooded royal of Draconia and so were the magical folk that resided in Lucifenia Palace: High Dark Sorcerer Black Regaliane and High White Mage Dylan Dragoheil. As such, seeing a duel between the two Draconians filled with magic was a sight to see.
Aster reached the ball after Elizabeth and before Shion. Shion grinned at seeing his close friend Dylan and waved at the mage. Dylan blushed lightly at the attention before waving back.
Dylan was a good-looking male with sandy-brown hair that would shine gold when in the light. His eyes were celestial blue and the pupils were scalene, similar to a cat's, the trademark eyes of a Draconian. He was dressed in long white robes and wore a golden necklace with an aquamarine gem.
Across from Dylan, the sorcerer Black snorted, "Wagging your tail at Prince Shion?"
Black was the complete opposite of Dylan. While Dylan's hair and eyes were light in color, Black's were not. He had dark hair with a tinge of red in them while his cat-like irises were spartan crimson with flecks of gold. He was dressed in black robes and wore a silver necklace with a ruby gem.
"Says the one that looks at Prince Aster like a lovesick puppy." Dylan shot back, a dark smile gracing his features, "Shion and Aster are my friends. I do not see them as anything else."
"Of course. You wag your tail to my little brother." Black said cruelly, smirking at the dark look in the eyes of the light mage, "What's wrong? Did I strike a nerve?"
"It's as if you want to die rather than duel." Dylan hissed dangerously.
"Oh, they seem to be trash talking!" Nami whispered to Serenity the maid, who nodded vigorously. While the two magical males weren't enemies, they certainly weren't friends. The two, along with Black's brother, were brought to Lucifenia as one of the few survivors of the Draconian Massacre. While Black had stayed away from the royal family, Dylan and his brother had become friends with the twins and were part of their entourages. It was something Black envied of Dylan, as the King favored Dylan more than him.
"Ready?" The head butler, Sebastian, asked, the judge of the battle. Dylan and Black both nodded, walking to their respective sides opposite of one another. Dylan's apprentice, Kibou Shimura, whispered words of encouragement to his master and Black's apprentice, Mick Andrews, did the same to his master.
"Who do you think will win?" Shion asked Nath Regaliane. Nath stared at him, his eyes and hair identical to Black's as Nath was the other's younger brother. Unlike his dark, brooding older brother, Nath was a soft-spoken minstrel whose music could move anyone. His songs could lead to pure joy, insanity, sorrow or love, depending on his mood. It was his own type of magic. His good looks also led to many admirers, including Dylan.
"I am biased, Shion. That is my dear friend and my older brother, after all." Nath answered, staring at the two duelists, "I do wish they'd stop arguing."
"The day that happens is the day when I give the throne to Aster willingly." Shion snorted and Nath looked at him sadly at that. Shion blinked, "What?"
"I had hoped that wouldn't be the case." Nath said curtly, walking towards Aster. Shion felt upset at that. Why couldn't Nath understand that, in Lucifenia, there couldn't be two kings? Why didn't they understand him?
"Uh-oh. Hope he doesn't play for you or it'll end up like last time. I never could get rid of the burn marks in my office and clothes, you know."
Shion turned at the voice and sighed happily, "Hello, Safu."
Safu Midford-Laelia was a beautiful girl with short brown hair and brown eyes that shone with intelligence. Not only was she duchess of Eluriyas, a city of Lucifenia named after the goddess, she was the best scientist in their world partially governed by magic. To make her even better in the eyes of Shion, she was Queen Karan's niece, making Safu Shion's cousin.
The incident Safu was referring to was when Shion had caused a horrible ordeal to scare Aster - involving a crazy horse and a snake - but had caused his brother harm. While everyone was angry, Nath began bellowing out a rage-filled song that had almost caused Shion to set fire to himself but, luckily, Safu intervened. Her intervention led the fire to burn most of her office and her fine gown but at least Shion was okay. Shion huffed at the memory, remembering how neither of his parents had been angry at Nath even though he had nearly set him on fire.
"Made another remark about Aster, Shion-dear?" She asked, rolling up the sleeves of her lab coat. Unlike the other ladies of the court, Safu was dressed in a white coat, a black button shirt and a black skirt that made it to her knees. Safu was the only lady that wore men's clothing but no one thought badly of her for it. She was expressing her individuality and that was no crime. Besides, the last man that told her anything learned that Safu didn't just possess brains.
"Something like that." Shion said. He saw Aster chattering excitedly with some maids, knights and Nath. He envied his brother's easygoing nature somewhat. Even if Shion was close to the staff and the people of the court, he knew that most people prefered Prince Aster.
"This battle for the throne shouldn't have split you apart. That's what I think." Safu said but didn't say anything else. That's why Shion appreciated his cousin so much. She was the only one who didn't lie to him and say things like 'there can be two kings' or 'being the king isn't worth it'. She knew that people had done terrible things to gain the throne, things that neither Aster nor Shion did despite their desire to be king. Being king was worth many things. Safu, the genius that she was, understood that.
"What? Don't you think this childish war of ours is better than a civil war?" Shion questioned.
"Begin the duel!"
"I suppose this is a better alternative." Safu answered.
~~~Only you are a suitable rival for me~~~
Queen Karan sat by her sickly husband's bedside, weaving a tapestry of her beautiful family consisting of her husband, herself, her eldest daughter Elizabeth, and her twin sons, Shion and Aster. She loved her three children that took more after their father than her. She was the only brown haired member of the family while the others had white hair. Aster, however, was the only one that inherited Karan's green eyes while Elizabeth and Shion inherited their father's red eyes. She didn't mind that the children didn't take to much after her, though, because she loved them all equally. She hummed, about to weave the interlocking hands of her twin boys, when her king spoke.
"How did it fare with Lord Glassred?" King Jack asked.
"Fairly well," Karan said before resuming her work on the tapestry, "I think Prince Eden would make a fine match with either one of the twins."
"I told you to engage Prince Eden with Shion, Karan." Jack said, coughing weakly. Karan pursed her lips and continued weaving. The king sighed, understanding why she was upset, "This is not favoritism, Karan. Shion is the older twin and I decided to engage my children in order of birth."
"That is not fair for Aster, Jack. He and Shion were born in the same day. They deserve to have the same opportunity to get bethrothed." Karan said, "Besides, you had offered Aster's hand in marriage before you had gotten Elizabeth bethrothed to Edward."
Jack remained silent, contemplating his three children.
Elizabeth, the first born, was headstrong and vastly intelligent but she had no interest in the throne. To her, he chose to wed her to Edward Chamberiane, the duke of Elgand, who was quiet and seemed to enjoy listening to Elizabeth's ideas. The two were a fine match, one that made everyone from the Kingdoms accept their betrothal.
Shion and Aster, his twins, were the two sides of the same coin, unable to be complete without the other. He could remember the days where they were so close that people mistook them for one child. When the twins had been five, the King of Draconia had come to meet them, bringing along his four seven year old sons that all flourished in different fields. They had gotten along rather well, the twins and the quads, so the two kings had decided to arrange a marriage between them. Jack had chosen Aster to be the match for the Draconian King's eldest son Giancarlo Eros Draconian while Shion had been chosen to be the match for the youngest son Maxiel Ilian Draconian.
After the king's passing, the Four Kings, at the age of ten, invited him to speak with them in their kingdom. Maxiel had informed him that he didn't want to marry Shion, wishing to remain an unwed King, while Giancarlo had agreed to his marriage with Aster. The two were to marry as soon as Aster was sixteen, but Ebinzaka eliminated Draconia and its Four Kings. Unbeknownst to Aster, he had lost his fiance the day Draconia fell.
"I engaged the twins at the same time, Karan. There are no other bachelor worthy of the twins than Prince Eden."
"The kingdom of Asmodean still have their crown prince and their relatives. Beelzenia has royal children as well. Why will you not engage the twins at the same time?"
"Karan, I do not want them to fight over a man when they are too busy fighting for the throne." Jack answered, looking at the unfinished tapestry, "That tapestry will never be complete so long as the twins are in such discord."
This painful children's war will never finish unless a king is chosen for there can't be two kings.
~~~Only you are a suitable rival for me~~~
Anime: Thanks for reading! Chapter two will be up soon (and I don't mean soon as in six months from now. Haha. . .)
**Notes**
*The next installment of my No. 6 fanfic universe: Children's War! This happens before the Story of Evil and I'll find a way to show how the two stories sort of connect (*winks*).
*The names of the countries come from the Evillious Chronicles (which the Story of Evil is part of): Lucifenia, Leviantha, Elphegort, Asmodean, Beelzenia and Ebinzaka (actually, this is just a city in Jakoku but I like the name of Ebinzaka better). Draconia is the only country whose name I made up. Ironically, it's the one that fell.
*King Jack aka King Jackson Overland d'Arte Lucifen is not mine! He's actually Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. I made him the father of Elizabeth, Shion and Aster because 1) I wanted them all to have white hair and needed one of their parents to have white hair and 2) Jack is Aster's father is Frozen Butterfly Wings, where Aster originated from.
*Jack and Karan have different eye colors than their original counterparts. That's because Jack with red eyes sounds so cool and I had to make the genetics line up with their eye color. So Karan has brown hair and green eyes while Jack has white hair and red eyes in Children's War.
*Shion is the older brother and Aster is the younger brother while it's reversed in Story of Evil. This shows that Aster is a better big brother than Shion is.
*Aster is loved by a lot of men and women in the court romantically (and platonically) while Shion is seen as an untouchable prince. Why? Because most people think Shion will be king and Aster will be married off somewhere. Aster is also much more easygoing in this version than Shion.
*The Four Kings of Draconia are (in order of age): Giancarlo Eros Draconian, Sehel Ureil Draconian, Halt Alren Draconian and Maxiel Ilian Draconian. In terms of power, Maxiel was the strongest, followed by Giancarlo, Halt and Sehel.
*Nezumi will come out in chapter 2, along with several other OCs that have been previously introduced in DRAMA