Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and all its recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi.
Dreams of Ashes
by
cherii tomato
Stranger
It took Mikan ten seconds to realise that she had woken up in a room that was a complete stranger to her. There were no posters on the wall to greet her; there were no glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling staring right back at her. She blinked at the large map above her, a map of lands that were unknown to her, one where lands were separated by planes of white. But this map wasn't one she recognised, there wasn't a land that showed Asia, America or Australia. The lands were positioned differently and their sizes were different.
She sat up from bed immediately then scanned her surroundings. Where am I? She thought to herself. There was something about the room that bugged her, everything was so historical. From the wooden furniture carved with intricate patterns to the blue and silver damask that covered the walls.
A chilly breeze swept passed her and Mikan's head instantly snapped towards the opened windows. As she pulled the heavy covers over her body, she contemplated moving over to shut the windows but her legs refused to move no matter how hard she tried and a wave of panic washed up within her.
At that moment, a plump woman in her early forties strode into the room, humming a tune. But when her eyes landed on the girl sitting upright in bed, she dropped the silver tray in her hands and her legs buckled underneath her. Tears were welling up in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Mikan asked but the woman just kept crying. Soon later, a man with a head of sandy blonde hair rushed in. He took in a large gasp as his eyes fell on Mikan as he stood there, rooted at the doorway. Mikan took note of his luxurious maroon outfit as well as the air of authority that surrounded him. She figured he must be someone of great importance. But what interested her the most was the snow white falcon that was perched on his shoulder. Its black beady eyes were trained onto Mikan and she felt a chill ran down her spine. There was something human about that bird.
The man stepped forward cautiously, both his and the bird's eyes never left her face. Mikan felt herself shrinking further away on the bed until her back came in contact with the cold bedframe. Sensing her discomfort, the man stopped in his tracks and broke into a brilliant smile. Mikan was mesmerised and instantly, her muscles eased and she smiled back.
"My lady, are you well?" It was as if her wellbeing was of the utmost concern to the man as Mikan noted the genuine concern in his tone.
Mikan nodded her head. "Yes, I am well." The man's shoulders immediately relaxed upon hearing those words and he breathed out a sigh of relief. He walked towards the bed then took Mikan's hands in his before kissing the back of them. For the first time ever, she realised that there was a mark on the back on her hand. Only when the man removed his lips from it did she look at it more closely. It was an eight-petalled flower. She furrowed her eyebrows.
"What is this?" She mumbled to herself but the question was answered her.
"That's the mark of the Summoners, my lady." He ran a thumb over the mark but his eyes never left her. Mikan noted the growing concern in them. "Do you know who you are?"
"Mikan," she replied.
The man smiled once more. "That's right. You're Mikan Yukihira, the daughter of Lord Summoner Izumi Yukihira and Her Majesty The Queen Yuka." Mikan recognised the names as her parents' but the words 'Lord Summoner' and to have her mother be called Her Majesty The Queen puzzled her.
"Summoner? Queen?"
The man noticed the expression on Mikan's face and his smile immediately stiffened. He turned his head towards the woman who was still kneeling on the ground. "Send for a healer."
Without a word, the woman got up while rubbing tears away from her eyes, bowed then hurried out from the room. When the man turned back to Mikan, his smile was completely gone.
"My lady, answer me truthfully, do you know who you are?"
"Of course, I'm Mikan Yukihira, I'm seventeen, I live in Tokyo with my parents, Izumi and Yuka Yukihira and I'm a senior in the Alice High. My father's a businessman while my mom's a housewife, not a Lord Summoner or a Queen." Then Mikan realised she didn't know who was the person before her. "Who are you?"
This time, it was the man to look puzzled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Master of Heralds, Lord Herald Koko Yome of Woods. And it seems to me that my lady is suffering from a serious case of confusion," he narrowed his eyes at her, "I don't know what is this 'businessman' you spoke of but I can assure you that Lord Summoner was not a 'businessman', he was the Master of Summoners and Her Majesty The Queen was not a petty housewife. She was the King's queen; she was the Queen of the kingdom of Alicia."
Mikan felt her blood turn cold upon hearing his words. "Was?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You said was when you were talking about my parents as if—" Mikan couldn't bring herself to continue her sentence. Her parents were not dead. They weren't.
Lord Herald Koko looked away. "I am deeply sorry, my lady. Your parents parents passed away while you were still asleep." He closed his eyes painfully as the memories came rushing back. "Three years ago, King Shiki went mad after finding out the affair between Lord Summoner Izumi and Queen Yuka. He ordered them to be killed and so they were. Summoners as well as the Council of the Eight were outraged after the murder of the Lord Summoner, many rebelled against the King. War was waged, many died."
Mikan felt like her blood had frozen under her skin, her heart had stopped beating. "H-how many?"
Lord Herald shook his head solemnly. "Hundreds, thousands perhaps. Many from the Council of the Eight were killed. The previous Masters of Heralds, of Knights and of Servants all died in the war. The entire line of Summoners was wiped out. You are the only Summoner left. You are the Mistress of Summoners now, Mikan."
Mikan was simply bewildered by all the things she heard, all the information she was thrown with. Council of the Eight? Masters? Summoners? She felt her world spinning and was sent another wave of panic. "What is this? I don't understand anything! What is this?" Her head pounded painfully.
Lord Herald immediately pressed both his hands to Mikan's shoulders and tried to calm her down. His honey coloured eyes were staring into Mikan's. "Everything's all right, my lady. Everything will fine. It's all right. You've been asleep for so many years, I should've thought of that before I sprang all this on you. My apologies."
Mikan closed her eyes and remembered the mantra she was taught years ago by her mother. Breathe in, one, breathe out, two, breathe in, three, breathe out, four, breathe in, five, breathe out, six... Soon later her shoulders relaxed and when she snapped her eyes open, Lord Herald Koko was still staring at her worriedly.
Mikan cleared her throat and looked out the window. The breeze kept coming and Mikan would shiver a little whenever the wind licked her cheeks. She had so many questions, about her parents, this strange place she was in, the Council of the Eight, the Masters she spoke of… But why is everything so naturally different? It's as if I'm in—
Her head snapped back to Lord Herald and Mikan's face broke into a wide grin. "This is a dream isn't it? I'm in a dream! Of course!"
As she laughed, the Lord Herald only looked more worriedly at her. "This is not a dream, my lady. I understand that you may be slightly bewildered after being asleep for so long, but you're awake now, you're no longer asleep. This is reality." Mikan couldn't help but be annoyed at his clear enunciation of each word, she knew when she was being patronised and right this moment, the Lord Herald was talking to her as if she was a child. And she definitely didn't like being patronised in her dreams.
So she did the one thing that she thought could prove that she was in a dream—or not—Mikan pinched herself. But no matter how much pressure she applied, nothing happened till eventually she could no longer stand the pain; she removed her fingers and looked back at Lord Herald.
"I'm not in a dream?" Her voice quivered as reality began to dawn onto her. "I'm not in a dream?"
At this moment, the woman from before appeared once more with a man behind her. She bowed then announced, "The healer's here."
Lord Herald nodded his head then moved away from Mikan's bed. "Good, do take a look at her and see if she's all right. Though," he gestured the healer to move closer to him and when the latter did, Lord Herald Koko whispered into the healer's ears, "she seems to be deeply confused of her surroundings. See if you can find a way to cure this quickly."
"Of course milord," the healer bowed once more then hurried over beside Mikan. "Pardon me, milady, if you'll allow me."
And so Mikan was examined by the healer. Her head was turned, throat tapped, temples were rubbed. She was still too busy digesting the new information and barely realised it when she was being pushed back to bed and the covers were pulled over her body.
The healer went back to stand by the Lord Herald, giving him his report. "The Lady Summoner is in perfect health; perhaps she'll need some time to adjust herself. You can only imagine how confused she must be, to have her parents—" The healer trailed away in his speech. "But I've given her some scents, she needs some rest."
The Lord Herald flared up upon hearing his words. "Rest? You want her to rest? It's been five years now, she's been asleep for five years and now you want her to rest? Isn't five years enough? Do you not realise the urgency of the current situation? Ever since the passing of King Shiki and the Lord Summoner Izumi, the throne has been empty for about two years now. We need to bring the Lady Summoner back to Kensington now."
The healer shrank back. "I understand, milord," he tried to calm the Lord Herald down. Though known to be the one with the brightest personality out of all Masters, Lord Herald Koko was also not one to be messed with whenever he was furious. It was also best not to anger someone who knew of every single dirty little secret there was to know. "But Lady Summoner Mikan has to rest now; she can't take in everything at once. She needs to adjust. Five days, milord. Five days and you may bring her back to Kensington."
The Lord Herald continued to eye the man with contempt before eventually looking away. "I'll give you until tomorrow."
Mikan watched everything under heavy eyelids and when the Lord Herald Koko turned to leave the room, her eyes closed and she felt herself falling into deep slumber, her mind at peace.
The blaring alarm cut through the silence in the morning while Mikan was still curled into a ball beneath her covers. With a groan, she reached out a hand to turn the alarm off then sat up from bed with a yawn. After clearing her mind of sleep, she found herself a little bit distraught. The last time she remembered, she was in a room, hearing words like 'Summoners', 'The Council of Eight', 'Lord Herald' and other phrases that made no sense to her.
"It was all—a dream?" Mikan murmured to herself. Although she knew that dream are meant to be real when you're in them, but Mikan felt a cold chill when she thought of the realism of her dream. It was far-fetched, but even after waking up from it, Mikan thought her dream felt more like a memory than just her imagination.
Everything was just so believable.
But Mikan's parents were said to be dead in her dreams. As the bits and pieces of her dream began coming back to her, her eyes widened and she bolted out from bed then ran down the stairs. Her heart was beating frantically against her chest.
"Mom?" she shouted for her mother while running to the kitchen.
She almost cried when she saw her mother walking out from the kitchen, complete with an apron around her waist and gloves with grains of rice stuck to them. Yuka looked at her daughter with worry in her eyes. "What what? What is it Mi—"
Her words were instantly cut short when Mikan rammed into her and she felt her daughter's arms wrapped around her waist. Yuka was of course taken aback.
"Mikan darling, is something wrong?"
"Where's dad?" Mikan's voice was muffled by her mother's shirt.
Yuka was more puzzled than ever but nonetheless, she answered her daughter's question. "He's in Nagoya on a business trip, of course. Are you fully awake, Mikan? What is it,sweetheart? Did you have a bad dream last night?"
Mikan lied, shaking her head then pulled away from her mother. Of course, Yuka didn't buy it one bit. The woman pursed her lips at her daughter. "Liar."
But the young girl just smiled. "I'm going up to wash up." With that, Mikan went back upstairs, leaving Yuka to deal with her own bucketful of questions from her strange behaviour.
"Ahh… This girl…"
As usual, after taking her breakfast, Mikan bade her mother goodbye and left home for school. However, as she walked, thoughts of her dream kept interrupting her thoughts. Rarely did she mull over dreams, good or bad, but Mikan couldn't shake off the feeling that her dream was somehow real. Even the pain from when she pinched herself felt strangely real but when Mikan inspected her arm, it looked perfectly pale, not a single blemish in sight.
Soon later when she arrived at school, Mikan pushed her thoughts away. There were much more important things that needed her attention. The school carnival, prom, her mother's birthday… She didn't have time to be occupied by thoughts of a mere dream.
When Mikan arrived at the school, Natsume was already patiently waiting for her by the gates. Once her eyes fell on her raven-haired lad leaning against the wall, her face immediately broke into her large grin. She ran over to him then enveloped him in her arms.
"Good morning, Nat-su-me." Mikan's voice rang through the morning skies. Natsume dismissed her greeting with a casual 'hn'. But actions speak louder than words for he took her bag before holding tightly onto her hand. Just like any other morning, they walked into the school compound, hand-in-hand.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Natsume asked. He knew something was wrong when Mikan began biting her lip and looking away. "Did you cheat on me in your dreams?"
Mikan's jaw dropped at his accusation. "No! Natsume, don't be ridiculous! It's just…" Her voice trailed away. She didn't want to tell him what was on her mind, that a small, small part of her believed that her dream last night was not just any dream. It was much more. But knowing Natsume, he would probably just call her an idiot. As always.
"It was okay. I was just trying to remember my dream."
"Mikan," Natsume raised his eyebrows, "you are a horrible liar."
Mikan paused in her steps. She didn't want to lie, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. Natsume noticed her dilemma and as curious as he was, he didn't want to push it. So he just placed an arm around her shoulders. "I won't be walking you to class, Polka. I'm heading over to the music room to practice, all right?"
Though disappointed, Mikan smiled. "Okay." She reached out to retrieve her bag from Natsume. "Recess?"
Natsume just winked before turning around. "We'll see."
At recess, Mikan was disappointed to find that Natsume was nowhere in the canteen, nor was he under the cherry blossom tree they usually spend their time. However, when she neared the music room, figuring he would still be practicing for the weekend's school performance, her ears were instantly greeted with the gentle melody of Liebestraume No. 3.
"Liebestraume was composed by Franz Liszt and it was actually three pieces, though most people only knew of one only. The first one was about religious love, the second was about erotic love but the third one was about the purest form of love."
When she closed her eyes, Mikan could picture Natsume sitting by the grand piano, his eyes half-opened as the sun reflect off his eyelashes, the steady rise and fall of his chest and his body swaying slightly as he played. A smile reached her lips. There was a reason why Natsume had chosen this song, not because it was well known, not because of its beauty, not because this piece required a ridiculously high degree of technical ability.
This was their song. She was the reason why this song was chosen among all the others. According to Natsume, this song represented them. It reminded him of her. It reminded him of them.
"Unconditional."
Mikan wrapped her fingers around the door handle. The music was gradually reaching a crescendo, to its climax. Mikan pushed the handle down then inched the door open.
"Untainted."
Just as she had predicted, Natsume was sitting there, the exact replica of the image in her head. He was too engrossed in the music to realise her arrival but she didn't mind. Quietly, she took a seat and closed her eyes.
"Perfect."
Mikan once again opened her eyes to a familiar-looking map. Familiar, but not the typical map she was used to. She sat up in the cloudlike bed in bewilderment. She had already established that her previous strange experience was nothing but another dream, but to be in here once again after such a short period time meant that it wasn't that simple.
"This is not a dream." She said to herself. Her mind was filled with other possibilities to explain her current situation. Time-travel? Soul-switching? Divine intervention? Alien abduction? Scientific experiment? Every single possibility, fantasy or science fiction, fact or theory, passed her thoughts.
Mikan closed her eyes then calmed herself down. Once her mind was at peace and there was no conspiracy theory to distract her, Mikan tried to think.
Where was I? The school's music room. Natsume was practicing for his performance. The sun was shining, he looked like perfection. I sat down then closed my eyes. So, what does that mean? Am I asleep? But I don't feel asleep. Am I unconscious? The ability for me to think that suggests otherwise. Okay, so I'm awake, I'm not asleep.
But then, what happened?
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fill in the blanks between her being in the music room and her being on the bed in a world she wasn't familiar with.
She bit her lip and thought harder, but nothing other than the words 'fell asleep' came to her mind. With a sigh, she opened her eyes and nearly jumped when she saw Lord Herald Koko standing before her, staring at her curiously. The creepy falcon was doing the same thing.
"Did you sleep well, Lady Summoner?"
Mikan couldn't find her voice so she nodded instead. The Lord Koko smiled. "Good, have your memories returned?"
She figured that he didn't mean memories of her past 17 years as Mikan Yukihira of Tokyo but rather the one that lived in the world where Summoners and Lord Heralds existed. Mikan shook her head and noticed how his face fell.
"Never mind then, now that you're awake, we have to return to Kensington immediately." Still standing before her, the Lord Herald bellowed, "Madam!"
Seconds later, the plump woman from before came rushing in; her cheeks were rosier than what Mikan had remembered. "Yes, Lord Herald?"
"Get the Lady Summoner dressed for travel. We will depart for Kensington as soon as everything's done. Have you prepared enough provisions?"
The madam bowed. "Yes, milord. Is a week's worth for three enough?"
Lord Herald nodded. "Yes. Kensington is only five days away, given if everything goes as expected."
"Wait," said Mikan. Both the madam and Lord Herald turned to her. "Where exactly is Kensington?"
The two looked at each other then looked back at Mikan, unsure how to proceed. Everyone in Alicia knew where Kensington was. Even if they might have never been to that place, every citizen of Alicia, young or old have at least heard of the city of Kensington, the royal city where the King, the royal family and the royal officials reside. Kensington was the heart of Alicia, it was the city that defined the Kingdom, so to have someone not know of the place was truly unheard of.
Until now.
"Kensington," Lord Herald began slowly, "is—a place you belong at, Lady Summoner."
"So—where is it?"
The room went quiet for a moment but alas, Lord Herald ignored her question and turn back to the madam. "Make sure that everything is prepared accordingly. I'll ready the carriage." Then he turned on his heels and left.
Mikan felt ridiculous wearing her gown. Rather than just putting on one piece of cloth over her body, there were pieces to her gown. First there were the undergarments, then the gown itself was separated into another few parts, each part heavier than the one before. As madam helped dress her up, Mikan couldn't help but to ask about the clothes and their parts and her questions were enough for madam to give her shifty eyes. After the third question, she could tell that madam was thoroughly annoyed so Mikan kept her questions to herself.
By the time she was fully dressed, Mikan felt hot and heavy and uncomfortable. But when she took a look at herself in the mirror, her breath was taken away by the sheer beauty of the gown. It was in a stunning shade of blue, a series of intricate floral pattern was sewn on the front of her bodice and Mikan adored the cut of the dress where everything above her chest was naked. She never really did admire the how slender her pale neck was until now.
Lord Herald was already standing by the carriage and when he first laid eyes on Mikan, she noticed how his eyes lingered longer than they should be. His clothes were still as luxurious as ever, mainly a silver doublet with golden embroidery. He pulled the hood of his cape over his head. Lord Herald Koko nodded towards a young boy who hastily came over to open the carriage door.
The Lord Herald held out a hand towards Mikan. "Lady Summoner." With her head held high, she accepted it and stepped into the carriage then Lord Herald followed behind her to take his seat across her. When everything was ready, the horses whinnied then began to move, pulling the carriage behind it.
Mikan craned her head out the window to take a good look at the castle which was said to be the place she had been sleeping in for the last five years. It was an imposing sight, tall and magnificent, the aged grey walls suggested that the castle has seen more than any man in a lifetime.
"It belonged to your father, one of his private estates which very few people know about." The Lord Herald Koko explained. "It was the safest place to keep you in. Not even the King knew about this, even though they were extremely close friends. You spent your entire life here, do you remember?"
Mikan shook her head. There was nothing for her to remember besides her life in Tokyo. This wasn't her life, but if this was a dream, she might as well play along with it. "The King? The one who killed my father?"
Lord Herald Koko cleared his throat then looked away. "Yes. They were friends. In fact, Lord Summoner Izumi and the late King Shiki grew up together. They were close."
"Then what happened?"
He looked at his fingers. "Your mother, the Queen, she was the daughter of a powerful duke in the Waterlands. The marriage between her and the King was merely for diplomatic reasons, they barely knew each other. The first few years, when the King was just a Crown Prince, they saw very little of each other. Back then, it was your father who kept her company, it is said that they met when the Queen had taken the identity of a commoner to roam the streets on her own. Your father saw her out and it was said that it was then the relationship started.
"But then, King Tenji, father of King Shiki died and the Crown Prince ascended the throne as a King, naturally the Crown Princess became the Queen of the realm. The royal couple spent more time together and soon later, the King fell for his Queen. Which isn't surprsing, perhaps you might remember, your mother was very lovable, both as a person and as a Queen."
Mikan smiled at that comment. The real Yuka Azumi who she knew was the same; no one who has met her would not love her.
The Lord Herald continued. "But your mother's heart belonged to the Lord Summoner and his hers. However, he was married himself, tragic really. Perhaps one of the most tragic love stories since Celedra and Aphaelios."
"Who's Celedra?"
The Lord Herald just smiled to himself. "That's a story for another day, Lady Summoner."
A moment of silence passed between them before Mikan cleared her throat. "So what? I'm illegitimate?" Her voice was trembling as she spoke.
Lord Herald Koko shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. He pressed his lips together before nodding. Mikan laughed mirthlessly. The absurdity of the situation was truly unbelievable. Her parents were dead, she was illegitimate; if this wasn't a dream, then what could it possibly be?
Lord Herald was eyeing her carefully. "Lady Summoner, are you truly unable to remember anything at all?"
They're probably not the memories you are expecting, she was tempted to say but instead, she just shook her head. The Lord Herald sighed but then smiled brightly. "Well, I've always enjoyed being a teacher. And we have five days to spare."
"Now," he rubbed his palms together then placed them on the either side of his lap, "where to begin?"
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I would like to make it clear that Dreams of Ashes is rightfully mine. The reason why some of you might find this story familiar is because I had once written and published a similar story called 'Supremacy' then renamed 'King' (ifi'mnotmistaken), but I decided to delete the story because I just wasn't satisfied with how IT was going. Dreams of Ashes was based on the idea for 'King' but I assure you that I DID NOT PLAGIARISE. In fact I condemn that very action.
So once again, DREAMS OF ASHES WAS BASED ON A PREVIOUS STORY I HAD PUBLISHED BUT THEN DELETED. HOPE THIS CLEARS THINGS UP.
Feedback is much appreciated. (: