Forgotten History of Shin Makoku: The Secret Origin of the Bearbees
Disclaimer: I don't own Kyo kara Maou.
Rated Teen: For references to interspecies liaisons, artificial insemination, and genetic engineering.
Pairing: Slight/Implied Yuuram.
Author's Notes: Reviews are appreciated, especially constructive criticism.
Special thanks to ShinyShimaron for encouraging me to turn an awesome idea into a story!
Chapter 1: Yuuri has a Question.
It was a wonderfully sunny day in Shin Makoku. Yuuri gazed out a castle window while holding his breath. He wished he was outside playing baseball. But instead he was dressed in his most formal attire and attempting to stand motionless in the center of a room while Wolfram painted.
Because of the smell, and since he didn't have anything else to do besides concentrate on not moving, Yuuri thought about various things. Who would win the World Series this year? How many baseball teams would he need to form in order to have the equivalent competition in Shin Makoku? Eventually his mind wandered to bearbees. They had been rather pleasant creatures. Maybe they were even sacred to some people like honey bees were on Earth*.
Yuuri wondered about the bearbees. Where had they come from? Why had they chosen Blood Pledge Castle for a nesting site? Where were they now?
He had once asked Murata where the bearbees had come from, and his friend's cryptic answer only served to make him more confused.
Murata had paused for a few minutes, deep in thought, before he had finally replied. "I'm not really certain, Shibuya. We didn't have them in Shinou's time. Something or other must have happened between one of my incarnations as the Sage. Although, if I had to guess on their origins, I'd say that one day a bear had a little bit too much fun while robbing a bee's nest if you know what I mean."
Yuuri still didn't understand what Murata had meant.
Yuuri had tried asking Conrad about the bearbees, but the soldier had suggested that Günter would be a better person to ask.
When he had tried asking Günter about the bearbees, his tutor had simply replied that the young Maou had much more important things to learn about.
These dead ends only served to make Yuuri more determined to find out about the bearbees.
Yuuri squinched his face up as he caught a whiff of the paint that Wolfram was using. If there was one thing Yuuri knew for certain about the bearbees, it was that their poop did not smell good. Even if it did make beautiful paint.
"Yuuri! Stop making those wimpy faces and try to look like a Maou!" Wolfram commanded imperially.
"I can't help it, Wolfram. That paint smells horrible." Yuuri complained.
"Hmmf!" huffed Wolfram. "I wouldn't expect you to appreciate…" Wolfram started gagging as the paint fumes finally started to affect him. He ran to the window and vomited his breakfast out onto some of the bushes below.
Yuuri breathed a sigh of relief. Whenever Wolfram got sick, the painting session was over for the day. Feeling slightly guilty at this thought, Yuuri walked over to the window to make sure Wolfram was okay.
Yuuri patted Wolfram's back as the blonde finished dry-heaving out the window. "Feeling any better, Wolfram?" he asked.
Wolfram nodded and straightened up slightly.
Yuuri figured this was as good a time as any to try asking someone else about the bearbees. Surely Wolfram would help him find out more.
"Hey, Wolfram," Yuuri began cautiously, making sure his fiancé wasn't about to start vomiting out the window again. "Do you know where the bearbees come from?"
Wolfram paused slightly before replying, "What kind of a question is that? They live up in the mountains somewhere, I think."
Yuuri decided he needed to be more specific. "No, I mean where did they first come from? I asked Murata about it once, and he told me that they didn't have bearbees in Shinou's time."
"Well why don't you decide what it is you mean before you start asking questions, wimp!" Wolfram demanded angrily before stomping out of the room and slamming the door.
Yuuri sighed. Maybe Wolfram was cranky since he had just been sick from bearbee paint fumes. Or maybe he just didn't like not knowing the answer to a question.
-ooo-ooo-
During the rest of the day, Yuuri noticed that Wolfram was suspiciously absent. There was no Wolfram to interrupt a Günter study-session or Gwendel paper-signing-fest. There was no Wolfram to comment on his lack of Maou-like table etiquette at lunch. And last of all, there was no Wolfram to accuse him of cheating while he practiced catch with Conrad.
When he returned to his room after a Wolfram-less dinner, Yuuri began to worry. Just as Yuuri was about to consider asking some soldiers to start searching for the young ex-prince, there was a noise at the doorknob, and a slightly tired Wolfram entered the room. There was some dust and a few cobwebs stuck to Wolfram's usually impeccable uniform.
"Wolfram!" Yuuri exclaimed. "Where have you been?"
"Doing my duty as the royal fiancé." Wolfram said as he walked over and handed Yuuri an old worn out book.
"What is this?" Yuuri asked, wondering what Wolfram meant.
"You wanted to find out about the bearbees." Wolfram said haughtily. "Or have you already forgotten about that?"
"No, of course not, wait…bearbees?" Yuuri exclaimed excitedly. "Where did you find this?"
"In the library archives." Wolfram said while brushing some dust off of his uniform.
Yuuri realized that Wolfram must have spent all day looking for the book he now held in his hands. All because he had asked a question about bearbees. "Thanks, Wolf. I really appreciate that you went through all that trouble to find this for me."
Wolfram pretended not to notice the compliment as he continued to brush dust and cobwebs from his uniform. But Yuuri noticed that he looked slightly pleased.
Yuuri looked down at the book in his hands and frowned slightly as he read the faded out gold lettering engraved on the front of the book:
Fredrick von Karbelnikoff - Castle Laboratory Notes - Years 872-892
"...von Karbelnikoff." Yuuri said as he felt his stomach tighten slightly. "I didn't know Anissina had anything to do with the bearbees."
"Look at the dates, wimp." Wolfram retorted angrily. "Obviously it was one of her ancestors from over 3,000 years ago."
"How can you be sure it's about bearbees?" Yuuri asked.
"There's a drawing of a bearbee on the back cover." Wolfram explained, slightly exasperated.
"Bearbees?" Greta flung open the door and burst into the room. "Greta wants to learn about the bearbees, Papa Yuuri."
"Sure, you can listen too." Yuuri said kindly, while patting his daughter's head. He wondered how long she had been listening at the door before coming in.
She giggled happily and sat down on a nearby chair to listen.
Yuuri ran his hand over the cover of the lab journal. It was worn, dusty, brittle, and cracked with age. Then he carefully opened the book and began to read…
*Buddhists consider bees sacred.