Sorry for the wait, everyone!
This update is about twice as long as the first chapter, but I found it very hard to try and keep everything concise. As such, the pacing of this chapter might be a bit terrible and I sincerely apologize for it! I also apologize for mistakes, I crank these out, give 'em a quick read and then I publish them. I don't have a beta or anything.
The song this chapter is based on should be painfully obvious, but feel free to guess away anyway.
"Ah, it's Len and Rin!"
The children of the village square stop what they're doing, drop whatever's in their hands and run over to the pair of twin blondes. Len and Rin make trips into the village often, running erands for the royal family, but there are always days where they visited just to visit.
Len kneels, ruffles the hair of some of the younger boys and grins. "Afternoon, everyone."
"Hey, would you two tell us a story? Please? The one about the witch - !"
At this request, Len blinks, then glances up to Rin. On her face is an equally questionable look.
"Who told you about that one, kid?" she asks them. There's a faint murmur among the children, but one of them speaks up.
"Papa and Mama mentioned it the other night! I wanna hear about it, so pretty please, Rin? Len?"
They're hesitant to comply, and usually they have no problems with telling a story, but considering the matter of this particular one...
Len sighs, and then shortly after, Rin does too. They give each other a look, then nod.
"Alright, sit down, you little brats," the female twin starts, "Do you guys have your hankerchiefs? This is a sad one."
時を止める魔法忘れるくらいの
No need for a magic to stop time, no spell can achieve what I feel
Not very long ago, there lived a young prince Gakupo who had just become of marriagable age. He was to find a spouse, be it from another royal family or from the village.
He had already met many of the royal ladies his family was affiliated with and, to be quite honest, Gakupo was not pleased with any of them. They were too singty, or too hotheaded or too greedy. He only wanted a spouse that would love him equally.
He had been walking around the village when a strong gust of wind came through; he clenched his eyes closed, preventing anything from getting into his eyes and when he opened them again, he spotted something in the air.
A bonnet. Perhaps torn off from a maiden's head by the wind?
Coincidentally, it had started to fall towards him and, the gentleman he was, Gakupo reached his arm out and grasped it with his fingers. The fabric was soft, delicate against his skin. He looked around; to whom did this bonnet belong to?
"A-Ah, excuse me...!"
His answer had been found. Running towards him, a lady with pink hair who seemed to be in a hurry. Gakupo's eyes gazed at her figure, watching as her hair flowed freely behind her and, as she approached closer, he could feel his cheeks turn hot.
"That is... That's - my bonnet, thank you so much," the woman breathed out, exhausted from the run that she must have gone through to retrieve her accessory. The prince glanced at the bonnet in his hand, then back to the woman, then back to the bonnet.
Prince Gakupo smiled faintly and, with a soft voice, said to her, "It's not a problem. You should make sure you tie it more tightly, the winds are strong today, my lady."
Looking at her face, those deep blue hues that were her eyes and watching as her cheeks flush pink - shades lighter than her own hair, but still noticeable - the prince was sure that he had fallen in love.
Penitenziagite! Penitenziagite!
Penitence for your crime! Penitence and your life!
Miku had not seen Luka for some time, which was odd, because they were close friends and had no reason to not see each other. The past few weeks seemed to have dragged, as Miku recalled their last meeting.
But then, she supposed, that she had found the reason why their meetings had been so sparse.
Running errands for the Minister of the Chruch - her father, in other words - was nothing new to Miku, but what was that as she made her way to the village market, she spotted them.
Prince Gakupo and Luka were talking happily, standing off to the side of a flower merchant's cart. He handed her a bouquet and Miku watched as Luka accepted them with a smile on her face. In turn, Gakupo had also cracked a smile.
The sight was... far too mesmerizing; here stood the handsome prince and the beautiful Luka. There was something about this sight that put Miku off, though she was unsure as to what it was.
Was she jealous of whatever it was that was blossoming between the two of them? Miku had always admired the prince for his charms, and Miku had always admired Luka for her gentleness, and for the two of them to be seen together so happily in public...
Something inside her stirred.
魅了する魔法に囚われた者の
She kept all the magic out of sight, how else to achieve what you feel?
"Prince Gakupo!"
Turning around, the man looked over his shoulder to see a girl with twin-tails approach him.
"Ah, you're... The Minister's daughter, aren't you?" he asked, "Miku?"
She nodded, "Yes, that's correct!"
Miku had stopped him as he was making his way to Luka's cottage. While he did enjoy the company of the villagers, Gakupo wanted this to hurry up - he didn't like it when he made the pink-haired woman wait for him. He cleared his throat and tilted his head to the side.
"Is there something you need?"
He watched as she shuffled for something underneath the cloak she wore and, within a moment, she presented him a piece of paper.
One with Luka's picture on it, with the words, "Wanted for Witchcraft" scrawled at the top.
The prince stared long and hard at the paper before he averted his gaze back to Miku. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I saw this on my way to the market earlier today, and I remembered seeing you with this woman several days ago, your highness," she started to say and inside of her, Miku could feel her stomach knot, "I also heard from some of the land owners my father was talking with yesterday - this woman, your highness, she's enchanted you! She used magic for you to fall in love with her -"
"I don't understand what you're saying," Gakupo stammered out, but he knew where this was going. Of course he did. The prince was not stupid.
He waited for those words, face contorting in frustration and in pain.
"She's a witch!"
十字架に繋ぎ悪魔呼ぶ
Hear the witch crying louder as she's tied up to her eyes!
Three days ago, Luka had arranged to meet with the prince at her home. They were planning to have a picnic, somewhere in an open space and enjoy a meal together, just the two of them. She had worried that something had happened; he was late, and the prince was normally a very timely man. Luka thought nothing of it and waited for him, and when Gakupo had finally showed up...
"Luka," he had simply said, "We have to go." And then Gakupo had dragged her - a rough hand tangled in her hair and walking away with her in tow - to the village. She grimaced with each step they took, and she asked him why he was doing this. What had she done?
When they arrived at the village, she noticed that a wooden cross had been prepared in the square. It was large enough for anyone to be tied to it, and she looked up at the prince with wide eyes. "Your highness...?"
"Luka," he simply said again, "I'm sorry."
With a swift motion he had brought her in front of him, her back facing his front, and with the sword that rested by his side, he brought it through her hair in a graceful motion.
Locks of pink fluttered in the wind, then fell to the ground.
"Quickly, tie her to the cross before she has time to use her magic!"
The voice was not the prince's, but it was someone else's that she knew.
Grabbed by men from the crowd, Luka turned her head and saw the source of the voice. Miku.
"... Why?" she asked quietly, but her answer was not a verbal one; all she needed to know was on Miku's face. The tealette's lips were quirked up in a smile, and she held a book close to her body.
"Luka Megurine, you are accused of being a witch and committing witchcraft! You have deceived us all with your charms and your grace, and furthermore you have seduced Prince Gakupo!" Luka had never heard Miku's voice project so loudly before, had never heard her mirror the way her father did in church. Her eyes were wide.
"I didn't -"
But there was no time for Luka to defend herself. The crowds had grown considerably, and the crys of "witchcraft!" echoed in the village square.
血の涙の理由（わけ）を忘れるな
Take these tears, tell their story and please don't forget to cry
The sky was limitless, it seemed, and for three days, Luka stared up at it. There was nothing to look at but the sky, after all.
Her arms were sore, tied tight to the cross that was now in the center of the village square. Her hair had been cut - oh goodness, her hair that she had taken such good care of, now cut away - and she was sure that rope marks were visible along her wrists and her ankles. It hurt to be tied to this cross, condemned for something she had not done.
Not only was Luka tired, but she felt betrayed.
The people she had considered dearest to her - Miku, her friend, Gakupo, her lover - had stabbed her in the back. They had called witchcraft, they had claimed that she used black magic to seduce the prince, to have everyone in the village admire her.
Biting her lip, she tried to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes from dripping down her face, but it was inevitable. She would cry silently, because she would not give either of them the satisfaction of hearing her sob.
She didn't notice a crowd forming until she heard the familiar soprano voice speak over top of the murmuring and the whispering.
"It's time, Luka," Miku started, stepping out of the crowd with Gakupo by her side. "Today, you'll repent for your sin."
"Miku..." she would have said more, but Luka was far too tired, far too weak too say anything otherwise. Anger filled her body, the feeling of betrayal welled up in her. Luka bit down on her lip, blood drawing just slightly underneath her teeth.
There were torches ready, lit with flames that would die the scene red. Luka knew what they were for; she had seen this many times in her stay in this village. They would burn her at the stake, the only worthy death for someone who used black magic.
Under her breath, choked out in between silent sobs, Luka muttered something.
"You'll all pay for this... You'll all regret this..."
It was growing hotter - Luka could feel the heat of the flames as they lit the base of the cross. She was soon to be surrounded by fire, and Luka had no will to die. She did not want to die.
From her lips escaped a scream, and from her back protruded two large, black wings - similar to a raven's. The flames reached to where her feet would have been but...
After snapping out of the shock they were in from the sight of the black wings, Miku and Gakupo looked at the wooden cross.
Luka was not there. In her place, black feathers fell down from the sky in slow waves.
あるところに魔女がいたそうな
ある王子をたぶらかしたそうな
One time long long ago, there lived a young witch in the land
Ah yes, she came to trick a young prince, so the story goes
"W-What... what happened to the witch?" asks a girl who's trying to hold back her sniffles. Rin shakes her head, picks up the girl in her arms and cradles her close.
"I'm not sure, kid, something must've happened."
"That story isn't just made up, right? This really happened?" another boy asks.
Len shrugs, "Maybe, maybe not. We heard this from someone else."
A young girl's voice pipes up, "It's really sad, weren't the witch and the minister's daughter friends?"
"Seemed like it but..." Len pauses, shifts his weight between his feet, taking the question in consideration and recalls the story in his head, "If you feel really strongly about something, you're willing to do whatever it takes."