(Disclaimer: The Twelve Kingdom Characters belong solely to Fuyumi Ono, but Mariette and the other unknown characters I am writing about belong to me. If this disclaimer is wrong, then please do not sue me.)
KChanDreams: This is just an extra for the after math of A Legend Forgotten. The ending is confusing, but you will later know when I write the next story. I have to finish the other stories first though.
A Legend Forgotten One-Shot
Yoko was running around the palace in loose clothing looking around frantically.
"Mariette, where are you?" called out Yoko. Yoko stopped in the garden and sighed.
"She always disappears during the morning," said Yoko worriedly. She suddenly heard a grunt and looked up. In the tree branch above her was six-year-old Mariette in green clothing climbing. Yoko gasped and said, "What are you doing, Mariette?" Mariette looked down at Yoko from the branch.
"I thought I heard something up here, so I wanted to look," said Mariette cheerfully. Mariette suddenly slipped causing Yoko to panic.
"Mariette."
Yoko caught Mariette, but feel on her back in the process. Mariette giggled and said, "Let's do it again." Yoko shook her head and tapped Mariette on the head.
"Don't do such dangerous things all the time," reprimanded Yoko. Mariette looked down and said, "Sorry, mommy." Yoko smiled and hugged Mariette.
"But it was neat that you made it up that high," said Yoko. Mariette burst into a smile and nodded. Yoko pulled away and stood up with Mariette in hand.
"His majesty of En and Enki are coming to visit today, so we have to make you pretty," said Yoko. Mariette nodded in agreement and said, "I want to play with En-Chan." Yoko laughed as she led Mariette inside.
After dressing, they headed toward the throne room hand in hand. Keiki suddenly appeared before them causing Mariette to smile.
"Keiki," said Mariette happily as she ran to embrace him. Mariette hugged his leg giggling. Keiki sighed and looked toward Yoko.
"His majesty has arrived and is waiting in the throne room," said Keiki. Yoko crossed her arms and stated, "That was fast."
Keiki sighed and said, "He said something about that he couldn't wait to see his little kitten." Yoko laughed knowing full well who he was talking about.
Keiki looked down at Mariette, who was still hugging his leg, and asked, "Are you going to let go now, your majesty?" Mariette shook her head.
"Your leg is so warm, Keiki. I could hug it forever," said Mariette softly. Keiki gave a small blush and yanked Mariette away. He handed Mariette to Yoko and said, "You shouldn't keep him waiting." Yoko nodded and carried Mariette with her down the hall. Mariette looked back at Keiki from Yoko's shoulder and waved goodbye to him. Yoko caught a glimpse of Keiki's blush and giggled.
Even though he doesn't remember, the feeling still remains.
Yoko hugged Mariette and said, "But you're still too young." Mariette looked at Yoko confusingly.
Yoko entered the throne room and saw Shouryou and Enki. Yoko gave a small bow with Mariette still in hand.
"Nice to see you two again," greeted Yoko. Shouryou and Enki greeted back. Shouryou spotted Mariette and immediately went to her.
"How are you doing my little kitten?" asked Shouryou in a playful tone. Mariette smiled and said, "I'm doing great. Mommy said that I could play with En-Chan today." Shouryou chuckled and asked, "Can't you play with me too?" Mariette shook her head.
"Mommy said that I shouldn't play with you because you have too much work to do," said Mariette. Shouryou gave out a whine.
"I can make my work wait and play with you," said Shouryou like a little kid. Enki hit Shouryou behind the head.
"Don't you dare, stupid king!" yelled Enki causing Shouryou to whine again. Yoko and Mariette laughed. Mariette jumped from her mother's embrace and looked up at Enki.
"Let's play, En-Chan," said Mariette happily. Enki looked down at her and nodded. Enki just couldn't say no to her. Enki led Mariette out of the room with Shouryou still calling out to her. Yoko stared at Shouryou nervously.
Shouryou did fall in love with her when she was eight before, but I hope he can restrain himself. The Gods really can't get rid of the feelings of love.
Yoko sighed and asked, "Why are you here today?" Shouryou regained his composure and looked at Yoko.
"I actually came here because I wanted to discuss some issues concerning Mariette," said Shouryou. Yoko blinked in confusion.
"What about my daughter?" asked Yoko. Shouryou sighed and said, "Mariette is able to age normally because she hasn't signed the contract yet, so when do you plan for her to sign it?"
"When the time is right; why do you ask?" asked Yoko.
"There have been some rumors going around that the new king of Kou wants to wed her," said Shouryou. Yoko gasped in surprise.
"Wed her? She's only six," said Yoko in disbelief.
"I know, but rumors say that he fell in love with her at first sight. The rumors also say that he is willing to wait for her to become a full fledged woman, thus my question about the contract," said Shouryou seriously. Yoko sighed and placed a hand on her forehead.
"She's so young and she already has a marriage proposal," said Yoko in exasperation. Shouryou sighed and said, "I know what you mean. I don't want my little kitten to get married either." Yoko remembered that the new king of Kou, Yue, had a crescent moon shaped birth mark on his cheek and that he was eighteen. Yoko had a feeling that he was the reincarnation of the previous Yue when she first met him and now she had no doubt.
Yoko cleared her throat and said, "Putting aside that inappropriate rumor, what other issues are there about Mariette?"
"Well there is a scholar who is interested in taking Mariette as an apprentice after seeing her miracle medicine," said Shouryou. Yoko smiled.
"Mariette would like that, but why is it a problem?" asked Yoko. Shouryou sighed and said, "Well there is another candidate to be the scholar's assistant, so he wants an answer right away. The other candidate is pretty high in ranking and is also considered a genius in making medicines."
Yoko thought awhile and asked, "Have you met the candidate?"
"I only saw a picture. He has green hair and he seems to be ten-years-old. Pretty serious looking and somewhat familiar," said Shouryou. Yoko tried to hold back her laugh as she remembered Narumi from Mariette's past.
Looks like Narumi was reincarnated too. I wonder how he will react when he sees Mariette.
Yoko smiled and said, "I'm sure the boy would make a great apprentice, but I'll still tell Mariette about it. Nothing to worry about, anything else?"
"Yes, an acclaimed owner of a radiant hotel wants Mariette to sing to his guests. In the same hotel, twin boys in charge of a Shusei want her to play a major role in their play. How in the world do they know of her voice and acting in such little time?"
Yoko sighed, thinking that the owner and the boys might be reincarnations too. She looked at Shouryou and asked, "Do you dislike them?" Shouryou nodded and said, "When I hear those rumors, my blood just boils, but I don't know why." Yoko nodded approving that the boys were the reincarnations.
"Anything else?"
Shouyou nodded and said, "There's also this one boy in my kingdom, who keeps trying to get in begging me to take him into my court."
"How is this related to Mariette?"
"He wants to be in my court because he wants to see Mariette and fight her as a soldier. I swear that he wants to hurt her."
Yoko thought awhile and asked, "What does he look like?" Shouryou groaned and said, "A sixteen-year-old with white hair. Why would the Gods give a kid white hair?" Yoko sighed and thought that it might be Rai, but she couldn't understand why he would want to fight her.
Yoko smiled down at Shouryou and asked, "Did you just want to talk because you were concerned about the rumors concerning Mariette?" Shouryou nodded honestly.
"I hate it when people talk about her and some are angry that she's a half-beast and black Kirin," said Shouryou. Shouryou sighed as he thought about Mariette. Yoko smiled at Shouryou as she remembered when she first introduced Mariette as a baby to them. The ones who knew her in her past life would break into tears. Shouryou and Enki were part of them.
Yoko placed a hand on Shouryou's shoulder making him look at her.
"Mariette is still young, so don't worry so much," said Yoko in a comforting tone.
"Mariette!"
Yoko and Shouryou flinched when they heard Enki's out burst from the outside. They immediately rushed out and were shocked to see Mariette walking on the balcony rail with Enki trying to get her down.
"Mariette!" shrieked Yoko. Mariette looked at Yoko and smiled.
"Hi mommy," said Mariette as she leaped down from the railing. She approached Yoko.
"I know you told me not to do dangerous things, but En-Chan was walking on the railing too, so I thought it was OK," said Mariette cheerfully. Shouryou and Yoko glared at Enki. Enki laughed uneasily.
"I didn't think she would copy me," said Enki nervously. Yoko picked up Mariette and said, "Let's go inside." Mariette nodded and hugged Yoko around her neck. Yoko looked at Shouryou and Enki.
"I will take care of the issues, so thank you for coming," said Yoko and with that entered her palace. Shouryou sighed and stated, "I wanted to stay with my little kitten a little longer." Enki whacked Shouryou behind the head.
"Don't call her kitten," scolded Enki.
Yoko walked down the hall with Mariette still in hand. Yoko suddenly spotted Rakushun walking down the hall in his rat form. Yoko called out to him causing him to smile.
"Hello Yoko," said Rakushun. Yoko walked up to him and greeted back. Mariette looked at Rakushun and burst into a bright smile.
"Hi daddy," greeted Mariette. Rakushun and Yoko both turned bright red. Ever since Mariette began to talk, she called Rakushun daddy. Rakushun chuckled and patted Mariette's head.
"Nice to see you too, Mariette," said Rakushun. Mariette giggled. Yoko hid her blush and said, "Are you heading out today?" Rakushun nodded.
"I need to go to the school and turn in some documents," said Rakushun. Yoko nodded and wished him a good luck. Rakushun nodded and waved goodbye to them. Mariette watched him leave and then looked at Yoko.
"Can I play with daddy next time?" asked Yoko. Yoko laughed and nodded. She corrected Mariette before about Rakushun's name, but decided to give up.
They entered the bed chamber. Yoko placed Mariette down allowing her to dash to the bed. Mariette jumped onto the bed laughing. She looked at Yoko and asked, "Can you invite Kouya next time to the palace, so I can play with him again?" Yoko nodded. Mariette felt a strong attachment to Kouya, like with the others, and it may be because of her past life with him.
Yoko stared at Mariette as she remembered all the people in Mariette's past life. She hadn't heard anything about Mariette's old beast friends and the people she thinks are the reincarnations of her friends still have feelings for her. The only person she doesn't want Mariette to meet is the reincarnation of her old friend and murderer, Wuya.
Maybe the Gods decided not to bring her back.
Mariette suddenly bolted off the bed and pranced up to Yoko. She smiled and asked, "Tomorrow, can we go to the ocean?" Yoko blinked in confusion.
"Why?"
Mariette held her hands together softly and said, "I just have a strange feeling that I should see the ocean." Yoko stared at Mariette and remembered that the Gods told her that Wuya's body was thrown into the ocean. Yoko could see that Mariette really wanted to go and nodded causing Mariette to cheer.
I guess Mariette still considers Wuya a friend.
Mariette suddenly flinched and fell to her knees. Yoko gasped and went to Mariette's side.
"Are you all right?" asked Yoko. Mariette placed a hand to her chest.
"I just felt something strange in my heart. I feel like something is missing," said Mariette softly. Yoko was confused by Mariette's words. Yoko and Mariette didn't know, but a storm from the past was slowly approaching.
The end?
