Author note: I do not own the Last Story, nor the song 'Romeo and Cinderella' sung by the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku that inspired this fic.
Warning: ZeshaxCallista, mentioned onesided Zaellista, spoilers for the game, a bit drabblish so it might feel a bit weird at times...
Constructive Criticism would be great, and I hope that you read, review and enjoy! Thanks! XD
Romeo and Cinderella
Romeo never got to be with some Juliet, never got justice for what he truly deserved for his efforts.
The Prince Charming never came for Cinderella, leaving her in the confines of those that despised her.
What was left?
A broken Romeo and Cinderella.
Who would they turn to, then?
Each other.
Callista thought that she was getting close to happily ever after. The whole war over the Outsider was resolved, there was a peace treaty with the Gurak, and she was, for once in her life, free. And she was with Zael, and she loved him and he loved her back.
...At least, that's what she thought in terms of the last part.
"I don't see you in the same way, Callista. I'm...sorry."
Zael had broken it to her gently, as soon as he realized that she wanted to really be with him and not in the way that he thought it had been. He thought that their relationship was just simply a close friendship, or like brother and sister if it had to be close. Not romantic.
Callista had been absolutely heartbroken.
She was so heartbroken that she didn't realize, until it was too late, that she was about to run into someone.
As soon as they collided, Callista immediately looked up to see none other than Lord Zesha (the new King of the Gurak), who looked as equally surprised as her. He looked much different in the kingly robes, even though they were just simply a more fanciful version of his regular armor. Callista nearly forgot, for a moment, that he was here to visit and talk over political things that needed to be smoothed out. The two just simply stared at each other, before Callista spoke up.
"A-apologies, Zesha...I didn't mean..."
"It's fine." She heard him mumble, before the former right-hand man of the late Zangurak glanced at her tear-dripping face. He paused, before reluctantly taking out a handkerchief and giving it to her. "...You're crying..."
"I-I know..." She quickly tried to dab at her eyes with the still-folded handkerchief, but then Zesha took the handkerchief from her, unfolded the handkerchief, and handed it back to her to use. "Thank you..."
Zesha paused, his expression still slightly stoic as he nodded, before speaking. "You're welcome."
She would occasionally catch glances of him in the library, or wandering Lazulis Castle.
The visits from the Gurak King, Zesha, had become more frequent lately.
Zesha claimed it was because of the vast knowledge the library had, that he couldn't exactly borrow every single book in there and that he was doing some research to find a way to stabilize the Vono Islands. That reason was partially true.
The other reason was that all the myths in the library intrigued him. Especiallly 'Arganan and the Sorceress,' that tale of those two in love and the sacrifices and decisions they made together.
It eventually turned out, after some prying, that he was interested in the myth because he was apparently unsure about something.
When pressed further about this, he admitted that he was extremely confused by how he felt towards Callista. Did he feel romantically close to her, or just friends, or accquaintances, or...
Well, if there was one thing they were both akin to, it was this.
Both knew what it felt like to lose so much. They lost any chance of freedom from their political duties (not that they would ever get any freedom ever again, anyway), the ones they love, and even much of their stubborn old selves.
This was the first time Callista had ever seen Zesha be so flustered.
"I...I don't know if this is supposed to be right, I-"
She gently shushed him with a quiet kiss, squeezing his hands that she was holding with hers. "It's alright. I'm here." She tried her best to reassure him. It was very, quite quickly apparent that Zesha had absolutely no romantic experience with anyone, not even anyone of his own kind, before Callista. But...he would grow towards the whole physical side of romantic relationships, surely. At least, Callista hoped so. She just needed to be patient...
"Alright..." He hesitated, before attempting to kiss her forehead. Callista giggled a bit at this-he really was inexperienced with it all, wasn't he?-and then went on her tiptoes again, reaching up to kiss him.
Making out with the new King of the Gurak in the darkest depths of the library was certainly something she hadn't been expecting.
Zesha knew this was very dangerous. Not just socially, but politically as well. The newest Gurak King, being in a relationship with the Countess of Lazulis? Not exactly something anyone was expecting, let alone himself.
Some people were shocked. Others seemed enraged. And Zesha...Zesha himself didn't know what to think about it all.
What he did know was that Zangurak and Zepha would have been disappointed in him for this. Falling in love with a human would have been completely abhorred by the both of them-and they probably would have killed Zesha for it, if they were still alive. Of course, they weren't alive anymore, but the thought of it haunted him the most above all his worries in terms of this relationship.
At times he wondered if he was being used. After all, Callista did use to love Zael...was Zesha only a replacement for him?
Yet whenever he was with her, he never felt that she was using him in such a way. He felt that she loved him because he was who he was, not because she was replacing him for that knight that saw her as a close sibling. That could never be.
He just hoped that he was right about that assumption.
Romeo and Cinderella's story turned out, at the end, not to be a complete tragedy.
Zesha and Callista's story was not tragedy, either. At least, they could both claim it to not become a tragedy for now.
All they could do was hope and pray that for once in their lives, this could be something that actually turned out right.