Jin Habari raced down the corridor towards the private room where his wife and newborn daughter were resting, his Clansmen at his heels.
Are they alright? he wondered, remembering the reports that there seemed to be some complications because Nayara was delivering a breach baby.
Please let them be alright.
Obviously, his prayer had been heard, because when he reached Nayara's room and opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of his wife carrying a blanket clad bundle in her arms; she looked exhausted and pale, but content, her smile somehow managing to make her face glow.
" Nayara. "
At the sound of her husband's voice, Nayara looked up, and found herself meeting at his worried, but relieved face as he came to her side. She sighed and leaned into him, grateful for his warmth and strength as he embraced her and their daughter. They remained like that for a long time, completely oblivious to the world, or the other Blue Clansmen who had followed their King, and were now waiting outside the room for a glimpse of the little princess who had come into the world.
Thank God they're alright.
His relief at seeing both of them was so great, the Blue King almost trembled with the intensity of his emotions. He kissed his wife gently on the forehead, before he found himself looking into two sets of soft pools of sandstone dark blue, one of them coming from the wriggling little pink bundle cooing at him.
The first time he had truly seen the beauty of the world, Nayara had finally let down her defenses and admitted that she loved him too; the second time was when she told him that she was carrying his child inside her.
Today was the third time he saw the beauty of the world as he looked into the eyes of his wife and daughter.
Without saying a word, Nayara knew that her husband wanted to hold their child, and she was happy to oblige. Carefully, she placed the innocent life she had made with her husband in his arms, her heart swelling with love for both of them as he accepted the baby from her.
The Blue King felt like his heart would burst as he savored the feeling of his daughter in his arms, and the clean scent of innocence.
Little flower…
A gift from God…
The baby was looking up at him now, as if aware of his presence, and who he was. Jin felt a rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he saw that her skin was light pink, and she kept on stretching before she reached up a tiny hand, and grabbed a handful of his black hair in her fist. When he reached up with his other hand and caressed the soft skin of her face, she released his hair and grabbed his finger, holding on with an incredible strength.
When she wrapped her hand around his finger, he felt like she was wrapping her hand around his heart.
" I was waiting for you so we can name her together, " Nayara informed him.
" Any ideas? " the Blue King asked, kissing his wife again on the forehead.
" Not yet, " Nayara declared. " I was hoping you had an idea. "
" Naricia, " her husband declared. " Our little gift from God and the skies... "
His wife blushed, smiling shyly at her husband's decision and declaration.
It was a difficult and heavy burden that she had to carry on her frail shoulders; it made her a child of two worlds, the ordinary human world never being one of them, but because of this, she was able to understand the burdens and responsibilities that a King carried on his or her shoulders when chosen by the Dresden Slates, while at the same time, she was also aware of the dangers that a Strain would have to face, even when becoming the member of any of the Seven Clans.
And yet, she bore it with pride because for her, it was proof of who she was; to deny the truth would be to deny who she was, and to deny who her parents were.
And she would never deny who she was, or who her parents were, because she was not ashamed of who they were.
Because they made her who she was.
The former Blue King, Jin Habari, met and fell in love with a unique Strain named Nayara Shirohana after hearing various rumors of a Strain who was always fighting the Gold Clan off whenever the Gold King sent the Rabbits to arrest her, and have her brought to him since he was interested in harnessing her power for himself. The middle daughter of a wealthy, but cruel, tyrannical father, and a scheming, pathological liar for a mother, Nayara had been taken in, named, and raised by her maternal aunt who treated her with the love and kindness she never received from her parents, thus she had a compassionate heart; Nayara took her aunt's maiden name as her own, distancing herself from her twisted family, and refusing to let them dictate her life for her.
Her maternal aunt, Aria, was a woman others accused of always having her head in the clouds, but Nayara had known better; her aunt always tried to see the good in the world, and if there was none to be found, she would make a space for that light to shine. She was a woman who loved the ancient European legends as much as those in her home country, and when she had seen her niece, Aria had known that she had inherited her own special ability, thus she was the one who named and raised her.
Nayara's first meeting with the Blue King, Jin Habari, did not go well at all. Due to the traumatic experiences she'd had throughout her life – several of them being thanks to her parents trying to sell her to the Gold King so that he would allow them into the Chamber of Slates, she believed that all Kings were the same, the Blue King being no different.
However, that wasn't the case.
True, Jin Habari was intrigued by her abilities since they made her quite powerful, but Nayara's spirit and beauty had won him over.
He had fallen in love with her.
It took several months, and much effort from his part before she came to trust him.
When she opened her heart to him, romance soon followed, resulting in their marriage, and the birth of their only daughter, Naricia, her name of a variation of her mother's, which made sense in its own way since they looked alike, and to the man who loved both of them with all his heart, they were the warmth and beauty that came with spring time.
The little girl's coming into the world, however, wasn't an easy one. Born six weeks early as a breach baby, both she and her mother had almost died before she was delivered.
The Blue King's daughter was born in the midst of one of his clashes with Genji Kagutsu, the Red King, so he was not present at the time that his wife went into labor; he was only informed afterwards, and wasted no time making his way to the hospital where he saw his exhausted wife holding a pink bundle of life in her arms. Jin Habari embraced them both, relieved that they were alive, and hating himself for not being there with his wife during that trying time, however, all was not as well as it seemed. The couple was later informed that due to the complications of Naricia's birth, which had almost cost both mother and daughter their lives, it would be dangerous for Nayara to become pregnant again; any attempts to have another child could result in the death of one, or both of them.
Like her parents, Naricia possessed and was surrounded by the Blue Aura; it was part of her from the time she was conceived in her mother's womb, and it would be so until the day she breathed her last. Invisible to the ordinary eye, it was visible to both her parents and others who knew of Kings and Clans; no one could take it away for her, and it was a clear indication of where she belonged.
From the very start, it was clear that she had inherited both her parents' abilities: like her mother, she could turn into a white swan, and also possessed her abilities of nullification which could cancel out the dangerous abilities of other Strains by her mere presence, although others were left unharmed; she also possessed her mother's ability of healing, as well as her mental shield against sensory interference. She also inherited her father's ability to manifest different types of swords from out of thin air, and like him, she could use them to shield her from attacks by making them spin around her in defense mode as well as attack an enemy when on the offense.
Naricia was a miniature of her mother, although there were angles where she also looked like her father. Like Nayara, she was petite, and slender, her round, violet tinted, dark blue eyes like sandstone of the same color set in an oval shaped, doll like face with flawless, pale skin, her long hair tumbling down her back in a veil of pale silver gold that that made it look like sunlight dancing with moonlight and starlight, giving her a slender, fragile appearance younger than her years.
Little Naricia was very attached to her parents, never leaving their sides, or allowing anyone else near her; whenever someone else tried to touch or come near her, the little girl would burst into tears, and not stop crying until one of her parents comforted her. She was often seen walking between her parents, holding their hands, or following one of them around. She would either be reading a book, or watching her mother as she treated visitors to the infirmary, sometimes handing her the tools or medicines she needed; when she wasn't helping her mother, she was often found playing or reading in the Blue King's office, sometimes on his lap as he worked, even holding some of the papers he had signed for him.
Whenever he returned from one of his clashes with the Red King, Genji Kagutsu, or any other assignment, Naricia would run down the grand staircase that led to the entrance of Scepter 4 Headquarters, and rush into his arms to greet him. It was a welcoming sight upon Scepter 4's return to headquarters after a long and tiring day; the Blue King's often easygoing, yet sometimes stoic façade would melt at the sight of his daughter running into his arms, and he lifted her into the air as she laughed with delight. His wife would be alerted to his return by the sound of her daughter's laughter, and greet him as well as he carried Naricia inside.
The lives of the Blue King with his wife and daughter seemed like a dream.
And perhaps it was…
Because like all dreams…
Nothing lasts forever…
The Dresden Slates chose Genji Kagutsu as the Red King, and the first person he had made a Clansman was his younger brother, Shinji, who, like him, was quite a troublemaker; he was almost a perfect mirror of his violent tempered older brother except that he was only much worse since he was quite reckless.
The wheels of destruction and fate were set in motion when Shinji Kagutsu locked horns with one of his fellow Clansmen, the situation exacerbated by their short fused tempers, reckless arrogance, and constant itching to get into brawls.
This time, however, things went too far.
The man that Shinji Kagutsu had decided to pick a fight with was one of the strongest, most violent members of the Red Clan, second only to the Red King himself. During the fight, the challenged Clansman struck the Red King's reckless younger brother in the chest with his palm, inadvertently smashing his breastbone, and causing the broken fragments to pierce his heart.
The Red King, like his brother, was fighting some local gangsters who had been causing trouble for his clan elsewhere, but when he heard of his brother being severely injured, he rushed to where his troublesome sibling was. Shinji died a slow and painful death, drowning in his own blood in his brother's arms even as the Red King tried to save him.
In his grief over his younger brother's death, Genji Kagutsu obliterated everything around him, including his own clansmen; among them, the one who had accepted Shinji's challenge also perished.
Just like the Red King's emotional and mental condition, his Sword of Damocles began to crumble, deep cracks appearing on its surface with every moment that passed. He disappeared only long enough to bury his younger brother, and when he reappeared, things went straight to hell.
Having gone over the edge, the Red King invaded the Blue Clan's territory while his rival was off base after being alerted about a group of rogue Strains, injuring several of his clansmen, including Jin Habari's wife before kidnapping his five year old daughter, Naricia. Things were extremely tense when the Blue King returned to Scepter 4 Headquarters, and found that half of it had been razed to the ground, several of his clansmen dead, others – including his wife – severely injured. Upon learning that their daughter had been abducted by the crazed Red King, Jin Habari set off to save the child while his wife attended to the wounded clansmen, but not before warning Nayara to be ready to leave in case only their daughter came back and he didn't.
The damage to the Red King's Sword of Damocles was accelerating at an alarming rate, and by the time the Blue Clan arrived, it was clearly about to fall.
Jin Habari fought a desperate fight – to save his little girl, and prevent the fall of the Red King's Sword of Damocles.
In the end, he won the battle, but lost the war.
It wasn't as if Genji Kagutsu cared what happened, or who got hurt though; the entire time he had held his rival's daughter captive, the little girl didn't know what was more frightening: the dead emptiness in the Red King's eyes, or the insanity that seemed to consume him at the most unexpected moments, resulting in him either laughing maniacally, or striking her whenever she came into his line of vision. If anything, he didn't care about anything as long as he could go on a rampage, dragging down as many people as he could with him.
The selfish and violent man that he was, the Red King had kidnapped his rival's only daughter to goad the Blue King into killing him, and hadn't even noticed when his Sword of Damocles fell and crushed him.
Although he managed to save his daughter, Jin Habari wasn't able to prevent the Red King's Sword of Damocles from falling, and as a result, almost a million lives were lost, and a giant crater had opened up, forever changing the country's landscape.
The three of them had only barely managed to survive thanks to the Blue King erecting his shield, although his second in command, Goki Zenjo, lost his left arm, and sustained an X shaped wound that almost covered his entire face.
His failure to prevent the disaster that cost so many lives broke the Blue King's resolve, and before the horrified eyes of his little daughter and his second in command, a large crack appeared in his own Sword of Damocles, echoed by the sound of crashing thunder.
Knowing that another Damocles Down was imminent, Jin Habari sadly bid goodbye to his little princess, and gave Goki Zenjo one final command:
Do not let my Sword of Damocles fall.
Goki Zenjo obeyed his King's final order, carrying the burden of his death on his shoulders.
The grief stricken faces of Nayara and Naricia Habari would haunt his dreams and nightmares in the next decade to come.
For Nayara, part of her heart died when she saw her husband's crumbling Sword of Damocles vanish amidst the grey clouds of the stormy sky, her only reason for living being the child who was both of them.
She had always known that loving him was a dangerous risk, but she continued bravely, because she loved him so much; she knew that if she could do it all over again, she would still love him.
For Nayara, Jin Habari would be the first, the last, and the only man she would ever love.
Although she was relieved to be holding her daughter again in her arms, Nayara's heart was forever broken by the loss of the man she loved, the cold fist of fear that had followed her for most of her life now wrapping its fingers around her once again.
The time of dreamlike harmony and bliss was over.
Because like all dreams…
Nothing lasts forever…
For little Naricia, seeing her father die was more than just losing the man who had been her world; it was the end of the world she knew.
Despite her young age, Naricia had always felt that the world beyond the place she called home was dangerous and full of monsters; the only thing that stood in its way was her father, but he could only keep her and her mother safe for so long…
With her father gone, the danger that had been lurking in the shadows finally revealed itself, rearing its ugly head like a snake about to strike.
Years before, Nayara Shirohana had been forced to fight off the Gold Clan and their King in order to live; when she met and married Jin Habari, the Gold King had been furious, demanding that the said Strain be handed over to him since he desired her unique power. The Blue King had refused, and the Gold King was forced to back down in order to avoid instigating a clan war that would surely tarnish his reputation by revealing the depths of his greed.
Still, he had watched from the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to finally take what he wanted. The birth of the Blue King's daughter meant that there would also be a new power – both of a Strain, and a King – to be utilized, and make him more powerful. Upon seeing the Blue King's Sword of Damocles disappear from the sky following his fight with Genji Kagutsu, the Gold King set about preparing to capture the wife and daughter Jin Habari had left behind, only allowing enough time for his funeral.
Barely a few hours after Jin Habari's ashes were placed in the crematorium where fallen Blue Clansmen were laid to rest, the Gold King and the Usagi arrived at Scepter 4 Headquarters to take custody of the late Captain of Scepter 4's widow and daughter, only to find that they had vanished without a trace.
In all his excitement, the Gold King never anticipated that the Blue King had prepared a getaway plan for his wife and daughter in case the worst would ever come. After registering Naricia as a Strain, he had made sure to remove the GPS trackers that were placed in her body, and that of her mother's so that they would never be found if ever they needed to go into hiding; funds in an anonymous account were also available for their use, and a place that only the three of them knew of would serve as their haven away from the eyes of the dangerous world that they were born into.
Naricia and her mother could not go out into the sun without exposing themselves to those who wished to harm them. The child was home schooled, and as a result, she was quite sheltered from human interactions, with only her mother as company, the latter taking online typing jobs under various aliases in order to augment their income; on the rare occasions that they ventured out of their tiny haven, mother and daughter always had to make sure that they were carefully disguised.
The Kagutsu Crater Tragedy wiped out more than half a million people, including the majority of Naricia's own twisted family; as a result, only Nayara and Naricia, along with the former's estranged older sister, Temari remained - as far as they knew.
Nayara and Temari were both Strains, and had both rebelled against their parents, however, the latter was shown to be as selfish and manipulative as they had been in life; as a result, a giant rift opened between the two sisters, and they remained on barely speaking terms for years, despite both of them eventually getting married, and having their own children.
Although Nayara eventually found her sister ( without giving her own location away ), the reunion wasn't a happy one. Temari confirmed that although she had survived the fall of the Red King's Sword of Damocles while the just about everyone else had perished, her husband, and her four year old daughter hadn't; she couldn't accept that her sister still had her daughter with her when her own child was gone, and would rather not be around any of them. Not surprisingly, her selfish declaration maintained the rift between the two sisters, never to be mended.
Ironically enough, it would have been better if Nayara had never found her sister since that reunion would play a major role in the tragedy that would soon unfold for her and her daughter.
One of the jobs that Nayara took up to supplement her income and give her daughter a chance to see a glimpse of the outside world was that of a street artist. She would go to the local park with Naricia, their faces often obscured from view by the hats that they wore to protect them from getting sunburned, and she would sketch or paint those who wished to have their portraits done; the best times for these ventures was during festivals, and although she loved watching the dancing colors, Naricia never left her mother's side for fear of getting lost, or possibly snatched away by a stranger.
It was during of these ventures when Naricia was eight years old that her path would cross with one of the two people who would one day become a very important part of her life.
He was a teenage boy between fourteen to fifteen years old, tall for his age, and wearing glasses that didn't seem to tarnish his handsome appearance. The little girl was intrigued by his majestic and elegant air, but most of all, she was captivated by his intense amethyst eyes.
Luckily for Nayara and Naricia, they had always made sure to tell no one about the little haven that was their home, always mindful that one wrong slip could mean the end for them; they also wanted to preserve the memories of the times that they spent there with Jin Habari when he was still alive since they had spent many happy days together in that place.
They told no one about their hiding place, not even Nayara's older sister, Temari.
Ever since Nayara had found her sister, she always felt like there was something about Temari, that she couldn't quite put her finger on; it hadn't been there before they parted ways, however, ever since the Kagutsu Crater Tragedy that claimed the lives of both their husbands, she sensed a change, a darkness in Temari that put her on guard whenever they were together.
Naricia felt it too, and at one point, begged her mother not to go and visit Temari anymore, telling her mother that the look in her aunt's eyes reminded her of the monsters that dwelt in the darkness of the most horrifying nightmares of the living.
It was like looking into a deep, dark, pitch black pit, and sensing the demons that dwelt there as they moved, even though you couldn't see them, while feeling their eyes on you.
Most adults would have scoffed at Naricia's description of her aunt's eyes, and said that the child had a creative, overactive imagination.
But not Nayara.
Her daughter's words seemed to confirm the fears that she had long held inside her regarding her older sister, and as a result, both of them distanced herself from Temari, something that seemed to cause her much displeasure despite her claims that she would rather not be around any of them.
One day, when mother and daughter ventured out of their haven – not to paint, or purchase the necessities for everyday life, but simply to be outside - disaster struck.
There was a doctor under the Gold King, a mad scientist by the name of Koshi Mizuchi working at the Nanakamado Strain Educational Centre that used a cancer treatment hospital as a front for his own self serving experiments who had been extremely aggressive - almost obsessive in his pursuit of the late Blue King's widow and daughter. Like the Gold King, he coveted the power of the two for his own use, and also the possibility of turning one of them into the Blue King since the said throne was vacant; he wanted to capture them, and make one of them sync with the Dresden Slates to create a new King, which, in his eyes, was the ultimate proof of his own power, making him superior to the Gold King, and therefore moving the ownership of the said Slates into his hands.
Along with the rest of his henchmen, Mizuchi attempted to corner the mother and daughter, only to be met with a warrior like resistance that resulted in several deaths and severe injuries of his men, forcing him to retreat temporarily in order to heal them so that he could continue with his pursuit.
Despite being able to escape Mizuchi, and cause sufficient damage that forced him to retreat, Nayara and Naricia didn't come out unscathed; no sooner had they managed to reach a safe spot away from prying eyes and the mad scientist in pursuit of them, Naricia found that her mother had been mortally wounded. Despite her attempts to try and prevent the death of her remaining parent, her powers weren't strong enough to nullify the body's normal reaction to massive internal damage, and severe loss of blood any more than Nayara's was due to her condition.
Neither the late Blue King, or his wife, or even his daughter had ever dreamed that their lives would turn out the way they did; their fates, however, were at odds with their hopes and dreams, and as a result, the child they loved with all their hearts was left to bear a heavy burden on her young shoulders all on her own.
Part of her heart had had died with her father during the Kagutsu Crater Tragedy, and now, as she held her mother in her arms for the very last time, another part of her died again when she saw the light in her beautiful eyes going out forever.
Naricia didn't know how long she had stayed like that, holding her mother who looked like she was only sleeping, even though the young girl knew she would never wake again; she neither noticed the rising, nor the setting of the sun, any more than she felt the heat and chill that came and went with its journey across the sky.
She only knew that her mother was gone just like her father, and she was alone in the world.
Despite her broken heart, Jin Habari's young daughter eventually emerged from her shock, realizing that her mother needed to be laid to rest. Her heart numb and broken from the loss of another bright light in her life, Naricia went about creating a funeral pyre, and when it was finally finished on the evening of the second day since her mother had breathed her last, the young girl gently lay her mother atop the small structure, before breathing a soft prayer for her mother's eternal rest beside her father, and set it ablaze with a box of matches she had managed to grab during the confrontation with Mizuchi. Despite the blisters and cuts on her hands, Naricia dug a small trench around the pyre where her mother lay to prevent the flames from spreading out, and causing a forest fire. When her mother's body had finally turned into ash, Naricia gathered all her ashes in the shawl that had belonged to her, making sure to secure it carefully so that none of the ashes spilled before changing into her swan form and flying to the funeral parlor that handled the necessary details for members of Scepter 4. Upon her request – with additional payment – Naricia had her mother's ashes placed in an urn, and placed in the compartment that also held her father's remains; Nayara's name was added to the plaque that marked her husband's resting place, her picture identifying her beside him.
All of this had been done with the greatest discretion, thanks in part to the funeral director being a taciturn man who never asked questions, and only did his job. He allowed her to remain in the mausoleum after her mother's ashes were interred so she could say goodbye, and when she had done so, she left the shadows of the crypt, glancing back one last time as the gates were closed.
When the funeral director left her alone, she changed into her swan form and flew back to the house where she would spend her first night alone without her mother.
Naricia moved like a zombie – and perhaps she was – as she went about making sure that the doors and windows were locked before turning off the lights and going upstairs. She stood under the hot spray of the shower for hours, the chill within her so intense that she was unable to find even a measure of warmth as the water flowed over her.
She cried her heart out, and kept on crying as the night wore on, the cold feelings of loneliness and grief finally set in.
Her father was gone.
Her mother was gone.
Both of them were gone.
She was all alone…
She remained lying in bed for three days, only moving to pick up a picture of her and her parents from the bedside table, and place it next to her where she could see it. She would sleep and wake alternately, but she never moved from where she lay, her grief and loss eating at her.
It was only on the third day when her cramping stomach forced her to rise from her place on the bed, and find something to eat that she took the first steps needed to stand on her own, and begin the slow process of healing – if that was even possible. It had been five days since her mother died, and Naricia felt so lost.
She ate slowly, giving her stomach time to adjust to the presence of food within it, and once she was done, she showered, and headed out to see her aunt, Temari. As much as she disliked her aunt, and vice versa, she was still family; she had a right to know that her estranged sister was gone.
She arrived at Temari's house before lunch, dressed in black. When she caught sight of her aunt as the latter emerged from the house, she felt a familiar chill of unease as the woman's eyes fixed on her, and her funereal attire.
As quickly as she could, Naricia relayed the news about her mother's passing before turning and leaving her aunt standing where she was, the woman's cold, empty eyes frightening her with every moment that passed. Temari hadn't shown the slightest amount of grief following the revelation that her sister was dead, or any concern for her niece who was now an orphan; if she had shown any of those emotions, Naricia might have given her the benefit of the doubt, even considered trying to form a relationship with her estranged aunt, but none of it was to be.
The grieving daughter returned to her home, memories of her mother still fresh in her mind, and present everywhere she turned; many times, she expected her mother to come in through the front door, or emerge from one of the rooms in the house, her heart breaking all over again when she saw that her mother was nowhere to be found, and she would never come back.
It was almost two weeks from the day Nayara died in her arms that Naricia made herself pick up the pieces, and try to put them back together. She went about her daily chores like before, only this time, reminding herself that she had to stand on her own now; she also made sure to use the secret way of earning money that her mother had taught her when she was alive to supplement her income until she was old enough to take up her mother's part time job of sketching people in the park ( while keeping her face obscured ), and studying from home.
In the midst of her home schooling and sketching in the park, Naricia also made sure to practice using her powers – something her mother had instilled in her at a young age; not only did she practice using and controlling her powers, she made sure to sharpen her fighting skills.
Ever since she was a child, both her parents – and later her mother – made sure to remind her never to abuse her power, and only use them when necessary; her mother told her that there would come a day that she had to use either her power, or her fighting skills, or maybe even both to survive, so she should never let her guard down.
She rarely visited her estranged aunt, and when she did, it was clear that she wasn't welcome; her aunt's somewhat creepy behavior often prompted Naricia to leave almost immediately. Years of constantly looking over her shoulder taught her to always be on her guard, and when she noticed that Temari became more aggressive when questioning her on where she and her mother had been staying when the latter was alive, and where she was now hiding, the young Strain knew that something was wrong. It didn't take a doctorate in psychology to know that there was an ulterior motive behind Temari's constant barrage of the same questions, and in the end, barely six months after she lost her mother, Naricia stopped visiting her aunt altogether.
One day when she was fourteen going fifteen, and long after she had stopped visiting her aunt, she learned the truth about why she had kept on badgering her to reveal her whereabouts. Deciding to see if her aunt had changed for the better, the young girl decided to go and visit Temari, half expecting her to ambush her with her questions.
What she found when she arrived was that the inside of the house looked like it had been hit by a tornado, and her aunt was nowhere to be found.
There was a note above the fireplace addressed to Naricia. When she opened it, the note informed her that Temari was being held captive by the Gold Clan's mad scientist, Koshi Mizuchi at the Strain Educational Center in Nanakamado, and he would release her aunt in exchange for her.
She knew that place, although she had never been inside; it was a place of nightmares under the control of the Gold Clan that used a cancer treatment center as a front to hide their own nefarious activities. Many a Strain had been brought there after being " arrested " by Scepter 4 and handed to the Gold Clan to do as they pleased, never to be seen again. Even though Naricia had never been to the place, she knew that the Strains who had the misfortune of catching Mizuchi's eye was brought to that place and destroyed all for the sake of his self serving experiments, many of them never surviving the torture inflicted upon them. It would not have surprised her if that was where she and her mother would have ended up if they had not escaped following her father's death.
Now, Temari was being held there, and Mizuchi was doing only God knew what to her until Naricia submitted to his demands.
Naricia wasn't going to lie to herself; she held next to no affection for her selfish aunt, but she was the only family that she had, despite the wide gulf that separated them, and she couldn't just leave her to suffer at the hands of the bastard who had killed her mother.
She had to do something.
Somehow, she would save her aunt.
Trying to ignore the fear that made her tremble, Naricia headed out to the Nanakamado facility, but something stopped her along the way.
The undeniable sense of grief and loss – feelings that she was all too familiar with – seemed to explode and spread in the area around her, and when they struck her, she felt her heart break again as memories that she knew weren't her own began assailing her.
" Anna! "
A tall man lifting a beautiful little girl with snow white hair and violet tinted, ruby eyes into the air above him, his face alight with the love and joy that only a father who loved his child could feel…
" Anna! "
A woman with the same white hair embracing the same girl she had seen, the look on her face just like the man from before.
It was a look Naricia knew too well, for those looks had been on the faces of her parents when they were alive, those precious memories locked away in her own broken heart.
All those memories, along with flashes of an all too familiar face that had filled her nightmares, his cruel, spider like eyes alight with greed and excitement when he realized what her power was – flashed in her mind; he was telling the little girl's parents that there was something wrong with her brain, and she needed to be left at the facility in Nanakamado to be treated for her " condition ", but when she was leaving with her parents so that they could get her clothes from the house so she could have something to wear at the hospital, Anna had told her parents that she didn't want to go there because she wasn't sick, and the doctor that they had spoken with wanted to do strange and scary experiments on her because he knew that she had a power that he wanted to use.
Koshi Mizuchi…
A woman with a sad look on her face holding the little girl in her arms, telling her that there had been an accident, and her parents were gone.
Anna's world collapsing at the news, and her attempts to close her heart to those around her because she felt that it was her power that had caused her parents' deaths…
One detail that had caught her attention had been that in all the visions she had seen, everything was a monochromatic black and white; the only color that was clear was the color red.
Naricia gasped and opened her eyes to find that she was sitting on the ground, her breath almost gone from her as several people on the sidewalk clutched at their throats, uttering cries of pain and sorrow, tears streaming down their faces before collapsing.
Anna…?
She didn't know the girl, although she had inadvertently seen some of her memories – things that ordinary people wouldn't understand because they lacked the capacity to understand the world hidden in their midst.
Did I see and understand those memories because I'm a Strain just like her? Naricia wondered. If her emotions had overflowed, and affected those around her – including me – could that mean that she's nearby?
The girl knew that the only way to find out was to follow the trail of people who were collapsing. She ran through the streets, following the overflowing emotions, while at the same time, releasing her powers of nullification to wipe away the danger that those feelings were causing the people she passed.
Naricia could feel those emotions becoming stronger the more that she ran, and finally, after two blocks, she found the one whose young soul had been wounded by the greedy ambition of the one who had been responsible for her own loss.
She was barely more than a child – around six to seven years old. The girl was dressed in a frilly blue dress, her doll like face contorted in grief, her eyes overflowing with tears. Those eyes widened as Naricia approached her, and just as her arms went around her, Anna's emotions caused her to collapse in her embrace.
The Strain whose eyes were the deep blue tinted with violet tightened her hold on the child in her arms, her knees buckling under her weight, and causing her to sit on the pavement while keeping her precious cargo off the cement. They remained like that for what seemed like a long time on the empty street in the approaching darkness of twilight, Naricia's locked up feelings also beginning to overflow as she felt an undeniable maternal protectiveness and tenderness for the child in her arms blossom, the emotions so intense that she trembled. Adjusting Anna's weight so that she was half lying on her lap with her head pillowed on her shoulder, the older girl concentrated her power on her to negate the harmfulness of those feelings so the little girl would be free to release them without having to bear the burden of being dangerous to anyone.
Perhaps the unconscious girl in her arms had inadvertently sent out a cry for help while running, or perhaps it was because the memories that she had released were all too familiar to Naricia, which was why she had run to find her; either way, their meeting would seal the emotional connection that tied both of them together despite the different paths that they would take.
The power that she had to use to negate the effects of Anna's emotions was immense, and as she tried to remove those effects without affecting her other abilities, Naricia could feel the toll that it was beginning to take on her. The severity that she was trying to fight began washing over, making the surface of her skin tender, pain attacking her senses until she felt like she was being burned by liquid fire being poured over her.
She could feel her strength draining, her body weakening, but still, she persevered.
Anna shouldn't be denied her right to feel her emotions because of how dangerous they can be if released, Naricia thought. I don't have the right to take her ability from her because there may be a time that she will need it, but at least, I can protect her from the price she will have to pay for releasing them when they become too much for her.
To those who knew nothing of clans, it looked like the sunlight and starlight locks of the teenage Strain were being lifted by a slight breeze even if there was no wind blowing; to those like her, and those who belonged to different clans, the azure colored aura that marked her as a member of the Blue Clan surrounded her and the child she held as she tried to endure the pain that was spreading throughout her body.
Come on, she prayed – although she didn't know to who she was praying, or if anyone who heard her would even care - as the world began to fade in and out of focus as her power took its toll on her body. Please… let me do this for her…
Please…
She knew that she had succeeded the pain began to abate slightly, although she felt like the veins and muscles in her limbs were going to be torn apart as she slowly rose to her feet. She remained standing for a long moment with Anna in her arms, trying to orient herself, the pain in her body eventually becoming bearable enough for her to move without her having to worry about collapsing. Wincing at the pain that tore through her, Naricia was about to carry her in the direction of the school where she saw from one of her memories that Anna's aunt, Honami Kushina, worked as a teacher when the sound of sirens blaring reached her ears; even without seeing them, she knew that they belonged to Scepter 4, and they were heading to where she was.
Quickly, she tried to carry Anna to a place where she could change into her swan form without being seen, and bring her back to her aunt, however, just as she took her first step forward, her surroundings began to spin, and she felt herself falling.
She only had enough time to turn so that Anna wouldn't hit the ground.
It would have been so easy to say that she wanted to vomit when she opened her eyes because she still felt nauseated, and everything was a merry go round of bright colors that made her head hurt, however, that wasn't the truth.
What made her sick was that she was in a room with a short rectangular table and three chairs – two sofa like chairs that were side by side, and another on the opposite end of the said table. On it was a map, and three red marbles.
Naricia was seated on the sofa chair that was on the right, and when she turned her head, she found herself looking at the little girl she had met in the street, and tried – but failed – to help.
Anna was still unconscious, and Naricia hoped that she stayed that way so she wouldn't have to witness any kind of nightmare that was being committed in this place, which without her being told, she knew was the place that she considered to be Frankenstein's domain and house of horrors.
Slowly, Naricia rose from her chair and made her way to where Anna was, taking one slow step at a time since her body still hurt from earlier. When she reached the seat, she bent down, and gathered the precious child in her arms. Anna opened her eyes then, those violet tinted ruby pools seeming to see straight into her soul; Naricia was glad she had found her. She could feel the little albino's fear, and wondered if her own feelings had overflowed so that they were contagious, her arms tightening protectively around Anna when the door opened.
When Koshi Mizuchi entered the room barely five minutes later – his spider like eyes flashing with delight and excitement, he wasn't alone; Temari was with him, her smile cold just as her eyes were empty as they focused on the niece she had betrayed.
Naricia understood then: Temari had been working with Mizuchi in order to capture her estranged sister and niece, thus her constant badgering the two with questions as to where they were hiding, the task focused solely on Naricia now that she was an orphan, however, since she was quite skilled at evading the Gold Clan, she proved quite difficult to catch; when pursuing her following her mother's death proved quite fruitless after she went back into hiding, Mizuchi had suggested setting a trap by pretending that Temari had been kidnapped in order to lure her estranged niece to the facility.
Temari spoke upon seeing her niece's expression, revealing that she had always hated her and Nayara because she had loved Jin Habari at the same time as her; the Blue King, however, he had chosen Nayara over her, and Naricia had been the result.
She obviously didn't understand that the Blue King had loved Nayara because she wasn't selfish like Temari.
Any love Naricia might have felt for her aunt, along with the slight hope that they could mend their relationship and become a family died then; she now no longer considered Temari her aunt, but a monster on the same level as Mizuchi and the rest of the Gold Clan.
Mizuchi then revealed his plans to turn her or Anna into the Blue King since that was the throne that was vacant, and she already possessed the Blue Aura, although the child with her possessed the ability of perception. He spoke as if his intentions were for her own good, but Naricia knew better; he had long hunted her and her mother down because he was a mad scientist who considered himself a god, and like her grandparents when they were alive, he had wanted to be able to manage the Dresden Slates.
Now that Naricia had fallen into his trap, he intended to use her power, combined with Anna Kushina's in order to access the Dresden Slates, and wield their power.
Naricia didn't speak when Mizuchi mentioned Anna; she hugged her close, praying that she could get the little girl away from here, and back to the safe arms of her aunt and the Red Clan ( as she had seen Anna's interactions with them from one of her memories ), and that Mizuchi would not be able to touch her.
He ordered her brought to the laboratory where he would break her down so that she would no longer defy him before using her and Anna to sync with the Slates to see which one of them could be made the Blue King, while the other would be made into another of the Seven Kings, or another addition to his collection of freakish minions.
He refused to believe that the Slates chose the different Kings on their own, when they deemed the time right; he believed that he could force one or both of the girls who were his desired targets to sync with the Slates to make a King of his own choosing.
As she and Anna were brought to the lab, Mizuchi and Temari in tow, Naricia set the child down, placing herself between her and the mad scientist who had been responsible for the ones they loved. The girl made her stand and unleashed her Blue Aura to shield her and Anna, along with her powers to nullify those of her captives, and those who came as their backup, rendering them powerless. It wasn't temporary, either; she had held back when using her ability on Anna in order for her to still be able to retain her perception, although she would now be able to release her stronger emotions without harming others, but with Mizuchi and his henchmen, she negated their powers permanently. Her cancelling out their abilities meant that even if they were to be initiated by any King – even their own if they had any – they would still be ordinary people; they would have no aura, or special powers until the day they died, no matter what they tried.
With Anna, there had been a lot of pain when Naricia had worked to nullify the side effects of her emotions since she was careful not to take her ability away from her, which had exposed her to the painful effects it would have had had she not taken action, however, with Mizuchi and those who sided with him, there was none since she wasn't holding back.
As soon as Mizuchi and his army of freaks were disabled, Naricia picked Anna up in her arms, and moved away from her would be captors, her blue aura shielding them from those who were trying to harm them.
She held them off using both her parents' abilities as she tried to find a way out, only to have a hole blown in the ceiling above them, heralding the entrance of the Red King, and injuring the enemy. Not surprisingly, Anna knew the man, and after she had run to him, he told her to stay back, oblivious to the older girl with her amidst the threats being hurled at her by the mad scientist.
As Mikoto Suoh activated his sanctum, Naricia changed into her swan form, and Anna climbed onto her back, holding on for dear life as she ascended through the hole that had marked the Red King's arrival. A glance behind her showed that a giant slab of concrete had crushed Temari to death, while Mizuchi's other henchmen lay injured all around him.
Ignoring Mizuchi's demands for both girls to come back to him, Naricia continued her upward flight, and when they reached ground level, Anna pointed out a sandy haired young man who seemed to be with the ones who had come to rescue her. After being assured that Anna would be safe with them, Naricia changed into her human form, and set the little girl down, taking the time to bid her goodbye before changing back into her winged form, and leaving.
She felt nothing for the aunt who had so heartlessly betrayed her and her mother, but she was glad that Anna was alright….
Naricia was devastated when she heard the news that Honami Kushina's memories of Anna, and that the little girl was her niece had been wiped away by the Usagi following the collapse of the facility in Nanakamado.
Koshi Mizuchi had escaped despite the cancellation of his powers, and the severe injuries he had sustained at the hands of the Red King, so Naricia knew that it wasn't over, and he would reappear someday; she and Anna were still under threat.
However, Anna had been taken in by the Red Clan, and been made a clansman by Mikoto Suoh, something that seemed to be marked by the frilly red and black dress she now wore, so Naricia knew that as long as she was with them, Mizuchi couldn't get to her so easily, if at all.
As an investigation into the destruction of the Nanakamado facility was launched, the nefarious activities of the Gold Clan – mainly their inhumane experiments of various " special foreigners " – were uncovered, placing each and every member in hot water, causing many to question the credibility of the Gold King, and whether he should still be the one to control the Dresden Slates.
At least now, the Gold Clan was exposed for what it really was – greedy, dishonorable, and cruel behind the façade of nobility that it tried to maintain in the face of the public. Many prominent government officials who were known to be connected to them were arrested, others forced to resign in shame; those who would not face the consequences of their actions took their own lives to avoid the humiliation that they knew was to come.
Still, Naricia was heartbroken at the revelation that the only family member Anna had no longer remembered her thanks to the machinations of the Gold Clan in order to cover up what they had done. After learning that Anna was now staying at the HOMRA bar that was the Red Clan's base of operations, Naricia went to visit her in her swan form one night, leaving gifts on the windowsill before the little girl entered her room to go to bed.
Please, she prayed. Keep her safe…
She didn't know if He could hear her, or if He cared.
Still she prayed…
She prayed for Anna's safety…
She prayed that they would be able to meet again…
She prayed that one day, the nightmare would be over…