Re_Birthday-Len Kagamine
Chapter Three- Servant of Evil
Another memory came to me, though this time I was older, eleven twelve maybe, I wasn't entirely sure.
I awoke early that morning, and dressed quickly donning my usual attire, preparing to serve my beloved twin, and Princess. As I fastened the buttons of my yellow waistcoat I wondered what jobs she would have for me today, of course I didn't mind what she asked of me, I was happy to do anything for her.
I looked in the mirror at my pale face, how I looked like her now...Lately peculiar things had been happening to my twin, she'd been frustrated since we were children, this I knew, but now she had become cold, she had started to purchase more and more possessions, as if they could fill an empty place inside of her, a young woman was supposed to enjoy shopping, however this wasn't normal. She horded things, asked for duplicates of many furniture's she already owned, claiming she needed these possessions to feel better. I did admit she had become somewhat spoiled lately, but she was a Princess, I didn't see much of a problem with that, it was the way she was treating her people. She had increased taxes lately, for reasons she couldn't explain to me, she had been smiling a cruel smile I didn't recognise, it made me want to shake her and tell her to wake up, if she hadn't giggled and asked me for tea moments later I may have done so.
My next memory, I was a little older now as I walked through town in a dark cloak, attempting to stay inconspicuous, my beloved twin wanted me to find a man who hadn't been paying taxes, she wanted me to bring him back with me to confront her. I didn't know why, but I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Lately Rin had been putting the taxes up more and more, resulting in the people of our Kingdom not having enough money to pay, this of course angered the Princess, I continued to defend her, I mean, how was she supposed to know they gave up food to pay these taxes? A punishment had been created, I was sent in a black cloak, with a hood that covered my face, to retrieve the ones who couldn't, or wouldn't pay, I was to take them back to her, and she had them locked in a dungeon. She said that this made an 'example' to the rest of the people, if you didn't pay, you'd rot in jail.
I spotted my target; the first time I had done this I had been a nervous wreck, certain that someone would recognise me, but not wanting to disappoint my twin. I understood her point, she wanted the taxes to be paid, if they weren't a punishment was in order wasn't it? So bearing this in mind I had completed the deed. This time of course I was ready, used to this now, I waited until he was alone before approaching him, I bound his hands together forcing him to follow me, not allowing him to get a glimpse of my face, no one must know the Princess's twin was the one behind these abductions. The captive man said little, his head hung as I lead him down an unknown path back to the castle, it seemed that he had been expecting this for sometime now. A man of his age and size could easily overpower a young boy like myself, yet no one ever did try to escape ...when they heard my voice
"The Princess has sent for you" I'd whisper, binding their hands, their eyes seemed to lose colour and focus, they'd dull and await their Fate. I felt guilty, leading him down the vast halls leading to the Princess's throne room, part of me wanted to release the man, but when I reached my twin and saw her smiling sweetly at me once again, I remembered why I went along with these things. They made her happy, and I'd do anything to keep her happy.
"Thank you servant, you may kneel before me" She instructed me, and I did this without hesitation. She turned to the man I had captured and frowned.
"You know why you are here I presume" She asked coldly in a tone that didn't remind me of my twin. I didn't like the way she spoke to these people. The man nodded weakly, not looking up, a broken man awaiting his Fate. Rin gently played with a loose thread on her gown as she spoke.
"I know what you have been doing, you may not think I know but you will be surprised" She glared down at him, drilling him with her blue eyes, waiting for a reaction, when she didn't get one she continued.
"Clever how you did this, to begin with I simply assumed you were like one of the many others who cannot afford to pay the taxes, only you are a persistent one you haven't paid for weeks...a little bird tells me that you are trying to form a group that will bring me down?" These last few words she said bitterly, as if she were trying to rid herself of a nasty taste in her mouth. She was rigid now with anger, hands clasped into fists.
When Rin was this way she didn't seem like my sister anymore, I wished I knew what had happened to our childhood innocence, little did I know whatever childhood innocence we both had left was about to be ripped violently from us. Or at least from me.
"For your heinous crimes against your Princess, I sentence you to death" She stood now, seemingly towering over the two of us, I looked up from my kneeling position, and saw that the captive man had now lifted his head, and was staring at my twin in disbelief. I too looked up with disbelief, she was joking, and she must be.
"What...?" Was all he managed to whisper before she cut in.
"SILENCE" She yelled, looking more frightening than I'd ever seen her, she'd gone a little over the top lately, but death...she'd never sentenced anyone to death before. My stomach lurched as she turned to face me. Was this the reason I'd been feeling so peculiar all day? Had I subconsciously known what she was going to do?
"Loyal servant, you shall carry out his execution" she instructed me, producing a sword from behind her throne and holding it out for me to retrieve from her. I scurried toward her not believing what I had just heard; my sister would never ask such a thing of me. I hesitated before taking the handle, looking up at her, embarrassed to feel tears forming in the corners of my eyes. This wasn't the sort of thing my sweet sister usually asked of me.
"Rin I don't think I can..." I whispered weakly, uncertain now whether she was serious or not. She stared coldly down into my eyes, so like her own, suddenly her expression softened so that she was my sweet sister once again. The same girl I'd played with when we were children, and made tiaras for out of twigs and grass, the same girl who released our message in a bottle into the sea with me.
"Don't you remember that promise we made years ago when we were children? You promised to protect me in my time of need, well how do you know this isn't that time Len? They were plotting against me, and I must stop that" She looked hurt now, tears were shining in her own eyes, sliding down her cheeks, a pained expression on her young face. I felt my heart ache as I saw her sorrow, she was right, I had to make her wish come true, and for all I knew ending this man's life may save hers in the long run. I wiped my eyes and smiled confidently up at her, though of course I didn't feel this way, I took the sword from her hands, and watched her face light up with happiness once again.
"I'll do it..." I told her, inspecting the sword, I didn't know how to use a sword, I'd never been taught such things, but I'd attempt to use it if it would make my Princess smile. She watched me tentatively before giving me more instructions.
"I want you to take him into the forest and kill him there" She ordered, I wanted to ask so many questions, but I wasn't sure if they would offend her.
"My Lady...not that I doubt you however...don't you want to make an example of him? How will they know what has become of him if I dump him in the forest?" A question I needed to ask, after all, the reason she punished anyone at all was to make 'an example' of them, to make the people of her Kingdom fear her, for if she lost her throne she felt she'd lose everything.
"A reasonable question, of course I would not just kill him in front of our people! That would be wrong. I shall instead let them think for themselves, as each of his little group of haters disappears, after a while, they will think the worst, I see no need to spill blood needlessly Len, I am not evil" She explained, I worried about her, was she losing her mind? I shook my head, how could I think that way, she was being her normal caring self, of course she wanted to rid herself of these people who wished to overthrow her, she was frightened, yet she was still too kind to let her people witness this killing. I nodded, bowing low before her, yes I understood now; she was doing this for good reasons.
"Thank you my Lady..." I pulled the hood back over my head again, not that it made a difference if this man saw the similarity between the two of us; he was a dead man anyway. I turned to look at him, his mouth hung open in disbelief, his eyes wide with fear. His clothing was dirty from the work he did; I distracted myself, for I did not have the heart to look into his eyes filled with dread and terror as I lead him out of the throne room. I stared at the tiles on the floor as we walked back through the castle, the intricate patterns in the rugs.
We left the castle hastily, I led him down a beaten track that led into the forest, this path was uneven and I stumbled countless times. I could hear my prisoner whispering prayers behind me, I wanted so much to let him go to tell him to run away from this place the Princess never had to know, I could kill a deer and make her believe the blood on the sword was that of our prisoner. Then I remembered why she wanted him dead, as I manoeuvred around the closely packed trees, he wanted to overthrow my Princess. He wanted to create a group of people to overthrow her. Why would anyone want that? She'd done nothing wrong, sure she'd raised taxes but she was Princess, she knew what was best. My twin, what would I do if they'd succeeded, images of my twin lying dead in a ditch crossed my mind, a tear slipped silently down my cheek. I would never let that happen, I would protect her in any way I could. Once I had found an appropriate spot I stopped. I forced him to kneel down before me with his head hanging so that I could not see into his eyes, his fears, he probably had a family-I let go of these thoughts. No. No pity for those who wished to harm my sister.
Once again I remembered that I wasn't skilled at using a sword, so instead I used my instincts, and trembling, I gripped the handle with both hands, allowing all of my ill feelings for this man to grow within me, giving me the strength to commit this sin. I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath before thrusting the sword into his stomach. I had hoped that this would kill him instantly, but what did I know about murder? Instead I listened to him let out an animal sort of sound, as blood began to slide down the sword; I pulled it out and repeated this action again, hoping this had done the trick. No, he still lived, bleeding to death, my head was beginning to spin, what was I doing? I saw black dots, I was ready to faint, another cry from my victim brought me back, no I had to finish this, I would not allow him to suffer more than necessary...was any of this necessary? I managed to regain control and holding myself together, I swiftly took the sword to the dying man's throat, and finally it was finished.
I watched repulsed as the blood seeped from his wounds. It trickled down the sword on to my hands. I lifted a shaking hand to wipe a splatter of blood from the side of my face. I gagged as I looked at it. Dropping the sword I ran away from this scene of massacre, and knelt retching, by a bush. I allowed myself to vomit; I held my stomach, trying not to look at my blood splattered cape. When I was finished I sat shaking, not knowing if I could face my sister like this, what had I done? As tears dripped down on to my lap. I thought of my sister's distressed expression, and I remembered why I'd done this. I'd do anything to protect you. I returned to the scene of my terrible crime and knelt to pick up the sword, though he wasn't long dead the stench from the body made me want to vomit again, without looking at him I moved slowly away, if I'd had the energy I would've run away, I was drained physically and emotionally, as I'd sat sobbing, I wanted to forget this whole ordeal, however I knew that I would be forced to do this again, after all Rin had said that there was a group of them...
When I finally arrived back at the castle, Rin was waiting for me at the back entrance, she smiled sympathetically at me. As I came closer to her she pried the sword from my bloodied hand and hid it under a loose board in the wall she had obviously prepared. She took my hand, and led me up a grand staircase into her room. Neither of us said a thing during this time. I stared out of the window at the gray sky, gray sky which resembled my feelings as she brushed a loose hair from my face and finally spoke in her sweet voice.
"I had the servants draw a bath, I knew you would need it when you returned...but may I ask one question before I let you relax?" She asked me gently. I nodded weakly, the motion making me feel ill again. Now she took both of my hands in her, not seeming to care that they were coated in blood and vomit.
"Did you do it...is he..?" She daren't say the word death, or dead. I stared at her, emotionless.
"Did I kill him you mean? Yes...I did" I replied in a barely audible whisper, I felt bitter, I loved her so much but what she'd made me do had hurt, now it was I who had lost my childhood innocence. She stood pulling the hood down, and kissed the top of my head.
"Thank you so much Len, for doing this for me, I know it must have been difficult" She smiled at me once again before turning to leave. I sighed; she always did know how to make me forgive her.
I washed the blood from my body and face; I was surprised how much of it there was, even in my hair. Yes the blood was gone, but I knew it was still there, I had ended a life...how could I ever look at my reflection in the mirror again? I did this anyway, remembering once again how much I looked like my twin. This was a comforting thought, I sighed, deciding to retire to bed early tonight, for I knew now as I saw her standing behind me, she was about to ask me to repeat what I had done today. I promised myself that this time I would be ready. If it was to protect my sister I would do anything. I'd even become evil.
