Chapter 2
The Cherry Blossom of Ransei
Oichi prodded her stew until a venomous rainbow filmed over it. Her friends were sent away and she'd been forced to squirm under the protective gaze of her mother for the rest of the day. The queen sat at the other end of the long table. A hardened, aging woman with graying hair of oak pulled taught in a bun. She gave a tight-lipped smile and caught the flicker of the torches in her brown eyes as she looked at Oichi. "The Ignis men can't hurt you anymore dear," she said, over the crackling hearth.
The Emperor sat next to her, robed in indigo wool. The crown and his pulled-cotton eyebrows veiled his face as he sipped. He was a good many years older than the queen, Oichi had only known an old father.
He was in such poor health even the slightest chill made a fierce foe. The last time he fell ill, Oichi feared she would lose him for good.
This evening was to be filled with laughter, performances, and happiness. Instead, the three of them supped only with Choan, the royal ambassador; and the twenty azure guards standing watch around the edges of the room. Even wild Munchlax had more manners than Choan, and the adult Snorlax's could look upon his girth with envy. He was clad in green, but one would never know it beneath the grease staining his shirt as he tore apart his meat.
Her stare fell back on the stew. She wondered how the food was in the dungeon. Her mind hung on the urchin's words, 'I was very hungry...I know that doesn't make it right...I have no money and no home'. She'd never known what hunger felt like. It made her sick just to think about it.
"I am certain you are aware, we are past negotiations with Ignis," Choan said, suckling his fingers. The queen turned her eyes back on him, drawing in a polite spoonful.
"Will we go to war then?" she asked.
"Mmm, hmm, no need, I think," Choan chewed. "Not Aurora anyhow."
"What do you mean?"
The Emperor shared a whisper with the queen.
"What!? That's ridiculous, we have no allies this far south. King Aqui of Fontaine has been usurped, and Greenleaf has love for nothing but the trees they so fondly embrace," the queen pointed out. "We should send for Violight, we can crush Ignis between our might," the queen pounded the table.
The Emperor whispered again.
"Absurd, Ordan! We cannot let this outrage stand! I say we hang the men on the morrow, send for aid, and mobilize immediately."
"Her Majesty is a brilliant tactician," Choan offered, picking another piece of meat from the platter in front of him. "If I may, my sources tell me Ignis has risen quite a force. Over 100,000 warriors. It would be a gambit at best to attempt to fight rather than reason."
"100,000!" The queen asked. "Even if we reasoned with this new regent of Fontaine and Greenleaf, they are hardly a match for that many," she scoffed.
"Ah, again, Her Majesty is all too observant," his lips twisted into something like a smile. "Lord Pyre, ruler of Ignis has fallen dreadfully ill. On his deathbed I hear. I do not have any spies close enough to tell, but I believe the fire lord will not live out the year."
"A year? Do you expect us to lock our daughter away until Lord Pyre is in the ground? This assassination failed, the next step is smoking our crops and starving our city to death. I see them now, coming over the hills in a swath of hell-" she said.
"Mother," Oichi interrupted. The queen locked eyes with her. Confronting mother properly was key to getting what she wanted. "I do not care what happens to the Ignis men, but might we release the...boy?"
Ary looked at her husband, small good that did. Whether or not he heard the request, he was perfectly content with his food. "Ordan, our dear daughter has suffered so much anguish this day. What did that urchin do to you? Did he touch you-"
"Mother!" Oichi blurted. "He saved my life."
The queen scoffed, perhaps even began a laugh but retired it when she looked back at her. "Ser Naoshige saved your life," she corrected.
"Father," Oichi turned on the emperor, keeping her voice clear and easy.
"Young lady!" her mother barked. "That is enough."
"Yes, I agree, they will burn the crops first," Choan concurred hesitantly, shifting gaze from her back to the queen. "But allow to me to put the Queen's heart at ease," he sank back in his chair, ringing his slimy hands. "We have to ally ourselves with Fontaine and Greenleaf to threaten Ignis. Create a ceasefire long enough to end Pyre's reign. That will leave Prince Hideyoshi to the throne. The boy is green. Without its head, Ignis will be unable to defend itself, or properly attack. We then march a small, but elite squad who either force peaceful negotiation or slay the young lord in battle if he chooses. Greenleaf are a simple people, they want peace from war, freedom of hunger. Scare them into obedience with threats from Ignis, or pay them, it does not matter. As for Fontaine, this usurper is young and agreeable, so his people say. We stayed out of his rebellion and spoke nothing of his ascension. He has no reason to hate us. Marry your daughter to him," he suggested, poking more meat into his mouth.
Oichi's anger flared. She must have been showing it because her mother was eyeing her now. "May I be excused," she said.
The Emperor shared another whisper with his wife.
"Ordan, no, that's ridiculous. For Arceus sake! She is frightened."
The Emperor gave a flip of his hand, a sneer and a grunt.
"-Ugh!" The queen sighed. "Your father wishes to know what vex's you."
"I don't wish to speak on it," Oichi replied. "May I be excused?"
"Young lady, you may not. You haven't even touched your stew, your favorite, for your birthday."
The Emperor whispered again.
"-Ugh," the queen sighed.
The Emperor gave another practiced flip-sneer-grunt.
"Fine! His Majesty dismisses you. Tsunehisa! Please escort the Princess to her bedchamber."
Tsunehisa stepped forward into the torchlight. He had been in service of Aurora's royal family for longer than anyone hoped to remember. He had served two Emperors before her father, and was fifteen years his senior, but wore his age far better. Hair, like silk, fell down to the center of his back, and a long twisty beard to his chest. His eyes strained to set on her.
"I can see myself to bed, mother."
"No more! Do not force me to punish you on this day," the queen threatened.
Oichi looked to her father, but three waves in one dinner was pressing even his luck.
"As my queen commands," Tsunehisa bowed.
Oichi turned, Tsunehisa scrambled to open the door for her, but she was already stalking through it. The very nerve that man has, talking about me like some...thing! As if I weren't even there. My mother and father should behead him for even entertaining such an idea.
Walking from the cold deadness of the royal dining hall into the knight's banquet hall was to wake to noon daylight. She couldn't stay angry.
The warriors were in high spirits, shouting tales of triumph and draining more than their share of wine. They sat in rows at long roughshod tables and on log benches, groping at succulent fare. Tsunehisa led her through the muddle.
Hawk-eye was billowing out with his companions at the center table. Oichi found him handsome in his black flight suit. "To the princess!" He hollered when she drew near, garnering attention from the neighboring tables. He raised his glass. His cheeks had grown plump and red from the wine.
Oichi bowed, "Today I am grateful, commander."
"To Tsunehisa then!" He shouted without hesitation. "Who saw the extinction of Aerodactyls." The men roared with laughter.
"Not all that young yourself," Tsunehisa muttered. Slowly they all droned into song about the Great Warrior of Ransei. It was a fast and happy tune. Hawk-eye rose off his bench, throwing an arm around Oichi. Before she had the choice, she was being swept into one of his strange jigs. The men clapped and hooted. Naoshige was a foreigner, a fact Oichi found most exciting about him. He had come to Aurora only a year past, and his talents had already won him love of the other knights and position as a commander.
Tsunehisa wedged them apart in an instant. He pressed a hand on Hawk-eye's chest. The voices died. "His Majesty the Emperor has bid the lady goodnight," he said. "Come Princess, to your bedchambers."
"Fine then, I shall escort the Princess to her bed," Hawk-eye said, grabbing for her wrist. Tsunehisa swatted him away.
"Me thinks the wine makes you forsake your age, Naoshige," Tsunehisa remarked.
"Me thinks your age makes you forsake your cock," Hawk-eye shot back. The men started to laugh again. Oichi couldn't help but snicker as well.
Tsunehisa ushered her ahead. She waved to Hawk-eye as they left the dining hall. Silence felt deafening as Tsunehisa closed the door behind them. The nights could be chilly, but the high walls of Aurora palace repelled the wind.
The palace was a stone labyrinth, designed to fool enemies. Corridor upon corridor of quarters, bedchambers, and gathering areas circled around a central grand pagoda. Even growing up in the palace, Oichi wasn't certain she had seen its entirety. Smallfolk told rumors of secret passages and rooms with treasure. Peasants' ranting mostly. What would the Emperor need with more gold?
"My apologies for Ser Naoshige, Princess," Tsunehisa said.
"Please, he is drunk, he has reason to celebrate," she replied.
"Yes—" Tsunehisa declared hesitantly. The old man may not have known ancient Pokemon, but he had served her father for her whole life. In that time, he had become one of the few ears that would not recite her words to her parents. "What is the matter my Princess?" he asked as they rounded a corner.
She was so relieved he asked, "The urchin—"
"The boy," he corrected.
"Yes, what is going to happen to him?"
Tsunehisa looked grave. "My Princess, I have only heard the jailer's gossip. It is for the Emperor to decide. As it stands, he attempted to kidnap you. Also, the investigation has yielded over twenty complaints of theft from ten different food and cloth vendors."
Oichi looked down, she wondered now how many times the boy had given his pitiful speech to get out of trouble. Still, how many Pignites had he fist fought?
"I am afraid the very best the boy can hope for is slaving the farm fields in the summer, and living out the winters in the dungeon. Provided he is a good laborer. I am sure his past crimes would be overlooked, had he not kidnapped you and injured His Majesty's Snorlax."
Oichi had nearly forgotten about the Snorlax they collided with, add that to his list of misfortunes, she thought. Now or never though, "You have been a great confidant to my father—"
"—And his father, and one emperor before him," Tsunehisa reminded her. Oichi had not noticed his Persian stalk silently up to them.
"Could you convince His Majesty to let the boy go?" She asked. Tsunehisa looked stern as they passed beneath a lantern. He said nothing. "That is, to thank him for saving my life, forgive his past crimes," she explained.
"He saved you because he was running from Aurora Guards. Nothing more than chance, my princess," he said.
"Nonetheless, I am here because of him. Naoshige would have been too late if he were not there," she said. She could tell he enjoyed the thought of Hawk-eye being lucky rather than skilled.
He shook his head. "I am deeply sorry, Princess. To let him go would go against everything I know in royal service to the people I swore to protect. True he saved your life, but I cannot let a thief loose on the streets to terrorize the citizens, please you must understand."
"I do." She didn't. Their walk ended at her door. "Goodnight Tsunehisa," she said.
"Goodnight my lady," he answered as she quietly shut him out. She sighed and sat against the door, more exhausted with the droll evening than the excitement of the day. She was old enough to know Choan was only using that betrothal ploy to play on her parent's obsession to marry her off.
The queen must have explained a hundred and fifty times that she was their only child. Without a son, there was no heir to Aurora's throne and that she should marry a good man to take her father's place. Is it right to marry smart?
Truthfully, she cared about her father, but was in no hurry to marry, especially suitors whom she hardly knew.
Deep reds and pinks adorned her room. The tapestries on the walls, the silks over her bed, the gold statues, the gemstones of her jewelry, it all made her sick while thinking of the boy in the dungeons. What is like to sleep on the streets? What is it like outside these walls? She had to wonder.
To make matters worse, she had been given his Eevee. It had been tethered to a gaudy Arceues statue between four red pillars standing in the center of the room. Oblong, red lanterns were strung overhead, casting a warm glow on the Pokemon. Her mother insisted it was a sign of good fortune.
"Puff!" her Pokemon chirped, smacking the Eevee with a pillow. Bora was a Jigglypuff, also a rare Aurora Pokemon. Jigglypuffs were balloon-like Pokemon with stubby feet and arms, and pointy cat-like ears. Bora's eyes were big emerald moons.
She whacked away as the Eevee lay submissively on its side. Oichi had seen it in action, the boy's Pokemon could make short work of Bora if it wanted to, tether or no. "Stop that!" Oichi shouted, snatching the pillow mid-swing, tossing it into the bed.
She knelt down to the Eevee who stared back sullenly. When she stroked his warm fur, he rolled away. I am sorry, she thought.
Bora screwed up her face and inflated to twice her normal size. "Don't give me that," she looked down at her. "You know what you did."
"Puff!" Bora snubbed her, climbing up on the bed. Oichi shrugged, pulling the Eevee into her lap. He just lay limp and lifeless in her arms. When they had first brought him in, he had barked unheedingly.
An Eevee, she thought. The Pokemon was so rare that she never learned about them when studying Aurora's Pokemon. Some said an Eevee hadn't been seen since the great hero of Ransei.
A light rapping sounded at her door. "In!" she called. Maa entered with a steamy bath of water and spicy scented oils, her Mincino romping around her feet. Maa was her age, and Oichi envied her blue eyes and creamy blond hair. She wore a turquoise gown that Oichi found very becoming.
"You don't look as bad as they say," Maa remarked, setting the tub down.
"Ugh, mother is so overprotective," Oichi moaned. "We supped with Choan tonight."
"Oh? How is our portly ambassador?"
"He is as rotund as he is tall." The two girls laughed. Maa slid behind her and started to brush Oichi's burgundy locks. "Your hair is glorious, your father must have been handsome before turning gray."
"I wouldn't know," Oichi said, wincing once. Maa's Pokemon, Kyo had wrestled Bora from the bed to brush her as well. Mincino's were renowned for their perfect coats. Oichi had always wanted one. Their round ears and long wispy tails made them irresistibly cute. "Pray tell, what is mother telling everyone?"
"Just that your half-charcoaled body is bedridden. The other serving maids and I have already gathered the flowers for your funeral," she japed.
"Oh is that all. I bet half of Aurora thinks me dead. Arceues knows, no one has seen me since the parade."
"I heard your float blew up as well," Maa said.
Oichi nodded. Maa slapped her on the shoulder playfully. "I'm brushing!"
Oichi giggled. She ran her fingers through her hair and gave it a toss. "Brat," Maa put the brush down. "Far be it from me to spare my lady a bad hair day." Maa always said "my lady" to mock her.
"Did you see my flying rescuer?" She asked as Maa led her over to the bath. Oichi bent over the swath of lavender oil.
"Heh, no. You mean Hawk-eye?" Oichi felt Maa's curiosity pique. She retrieved a metal dipper from the tub and splashed it over Oichi's head.
"Nope, an urchin boy. He swung by on a lantern rope, snatched me right off the float at the last moment." She decided to spare her the part about stealing the dumplings and running from the guards. "We crashed into father's Snorlax."
"Oh, that boy they brought to the dungeon?" She asked, pouring more water.
"Pfft. Yeah." Oichi spat soapy water back into the tub. Maa unlaced her gown and started scrubbing her shoulders with a coarse sponge.
"Handsome for an urchin," she said.
"Declare your betrothal now. It will give the Emperor all the more reason to spring him from the dungeon. His Eevee will be happy to have him back," Oichi gestured to the brown lump lying against the Arceues statue.
"An Eevee!" Maa shrieked, leaving her over the bath.
Oichi grabbed the cloth next to the tub and began drying her hair. The Eevee roused to Maa's touch, sniffing her hand and eyeing her. He even rolled onto his back so she could rub his stomach. "He's adorable," she cooed. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Mother says he is a sign of good fortune." One perhaps she should pass along to Maa. Oichi sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"
"You know I can't," Maa answered sarcastically, looking up at her.
"What do you think of Commander Naoshige?"
Maa was nonplussed. "He is old."
"He is not so old, Mother was much younger than father when they married," Oichi pointed out.
"Are you saying you are fond of Hawk-eye?"
Oichi blushed, hesitated, then nodded.
Maa rolled her eyes back to the Eevee. "I think my lady can do better."
"The people love him, he is brave and rather becoming for a man his age, he would make a splendid emperor," she pointed out.
"Perhaps," Maa said, tracing her gaze back to Oichi's. "You are serious aren't you?"
"Yes! He has only been in Aurora for a year. I can see he wishes to leave again. I want to see the world, to leave the country. My mother can serve as regent until Naoshige and I are ready to ascend the throne. I intend to speak with him tomorrow while mother and father hold assembly on what to do about Ignis."
"Well then." Maa rose with a half smile. "I will bid my lady goodnight. You simply cannot meet your love looking tired." Maa called Kyo back to her side and gathered her things. Oichi hugged her and they pecked each other's cheeks. "I'll return in the morning," she said, leaving for the night.
As she lay down and the silk sheets exhaled to fit her body, she recounted the legend of the Great Warrior of Ransei.
Acreus was a lowborn peasant, but a warrior from birth. He earned the Emperor's respect by winning tourneys at a very young age. It was said, his Eevee was able to change form at will to take on any opponent, even mighty rock Pokemon, which were known to confound Aurora breeds.
Pleased and amazed, the Emperor asked Acreus to lead his army. Expand the reach of Aurora. He told Acreus that if he could unite all of Ransei, the legendary Pokemon would appear to him, and with it no one could stand up to Aurora's might. He also promised his daughter's hand in marriage. A woman for which Acreus's love knew no bounds. Hesitantly, he agreed.
He ventured forth, conquering kingdom after kingdom with his might and wit. Over the years, he could no longer bear the burden of blood on his hands. His true mission became clear. Despite the Emperor's wishes, he no longer intended to bring the legendary Pokemon back to Aurora. Instead, he would use its power to bring lasting peace to all of Ransei.
Eventually he met Serpus the Black, Dragon Knight of Dragnor. The ambitious knight was every bit as renowned as Acreus. The two battled their Pokemon for a fortnight without rest. It was then Acreus realized his death. Their battle ravaged the "head" of Ransei, spanning across four nations. On the sixteenth day, warrior and Pokemon collapsed of sheer exhaustion.
Serpus perished just moments before Acreus. It was in that brief victory, the legendary Pokemon appeared. "Acreus, I acknowledge your might. You have given yourself to unite all of Ransei. You have my eternal gratitude. I will grant you any wish your heart desires."
More than anything, Acreus wanted to go back to Aurora, to marry the Princess, to live out the rest of his days in happiness. He was the only person to look upon the God, he said, "I wish only for peace in Ransei."
A child's tale, Oichi thought. She had to get away from her parents, and Aurora palace. Perhaps she would yearn to come back, she needed find out. But how? Knighthood she thought as sleep overtook her.
