"I don't care that they respect me so long as they fear me."
-Caligula
Dinner brought the imperial family together that night and a decently sized, low sitting table separated them from each other while they feasted on extravagant food. Four, armored guards equipped with halberds and sheathed swords stood in all four corners of the room silently, while two out of the three Trifecta stood on the side of the room their general sat, neither speaking a word but both staring at the scene in front of them with less than piqued interest. At the head of the table of course sat the emperor and the empress by his side (along with her annoying hand-maidens that sat dutifully off to the side of her—a total of five of them), while their children sat on opposite sides of the table. Orihime sat on their father's side while Sora sat on their mother's. It was by no means an awkward dinner, though it started and usually ended in silence, but this particular night was filled with noise.
The first groan started about twenty minutes after the first course of food had arrived for them, then the second once Orihime had taken her first bite, but the third never came as a sudden shriek of terror rang up from the floor and spread throughout the room like an alarm. The sound frightened the maidens and made them cower, the guards tensed and tightened their hold on their weapons, both men of the Trifecta looked around with their eyes questionably for the source of the noise and eventually found it, the empress frowned, the emperor gazed at one of the drains in the corner of the room slightly in thought, the archduke's eyebrows knitted together in what was a displeased expression, while the archduchess continued to eat without pause. The shriek was shortly lived and didn't last for more than five seconds, the silence that ensued afterwards made some relax in the absence of it but that shortly lived as well as the next fifteen minutes was taken up by the most blood-curdling screams anyone had ever heard. It made the hairs on the back of everyone's necks, minus the emperor's and archduchess's, rise up. It was also accompanied with crying and pleas for mercy as well as obscenities that made some of the maiden's color and others grow pale.
The emperor had already started to eat which in turn prompted the rest of his family to do so as well, but hadn't continued when the screaming first started, wondering why it sounded familiar to him. He stared at the drain and tried to draw on his memory while he went over the reasoning for the drain even being there. It made it easier for the peasants when it came to cleaning, but that wasn't the original reason why the drains were specifically built in all the corners of the room including the center. It took him some time but he remembered when the drains were first installed considering they hadn't been there before and neither the rooms connected to them. Aizen had just been part of the court then and couldn't figure it out until one of the commoners made the dastardly mistake of insulting the emperor of his cruel intentions and was subsequently tortured in one of the rooms built below the dining room. The previous emperor nearly basked in the heinous noises and seemed quite pleased with the idea of creating such rooms for that purpose and it disgusted Aizen then, as it did now. He originally made to have the drains and the rooms itself abandoned and never used again when he stole the throne, but he wanted a reminder of the previous emperor and decided that the rooms would be one of them since they were a representation of what that man was: rotten and unnecessarily cruel. So of course it said something to him when his daughter used it. He wouldn't say anything aloud, especially in front of her precious Trifecta—she would've gotten defensive, but he would get the truth out of her like he usually did. She could lie all she wanted to her mother and brother, they would believe her, but she could never lie to him and expect him to not see through it.
He could remember the times when Orihime and Sora were children and they hated this room. Whenever Aizen would gather them up in the room for dinner, they would hear the moans and cries of prisoners below them as a backdrop for their otherwise silent gathering. The frightened children didn't know where the sound was coming from so their little minds conjured stories of ghosts and demons for an otherwise explainable phenomenon. Aizen would more or less coddle them by saying nothing would ever hurt them while he was around to protect them and sure enough it made eating in the room easier for them and they whimpered less. Eventually the sounds were far and in between one another, hardly ever being heard again, that and the fact that this particular dining room was one of many reserved just for them.
Aizen considered the placement of the dungeons and cellars below them completely inappropriate and were hardly ever used for that reason, but also because he would rather the offender be toted elsewhere considering they were no longer worthy enough to be permitted within the imperial grounds in his eyes. He only had the dungeons used when the prisoner had committed an act against any member of the royal family that infringed upon him personally, which was slim to none. However, this was a known fact to his children and that sort of knowledge made him wonder why exactly his daughter had whoever that man is down there.
The emperor cut his gaze over to his wife and saw the twitching of her lips, a tell-tale sign of her impending anger and he decided then and there that he would intervene before she did, "Dearest daughter," her fiery-head head immediately lifted and she stopped eating, "how about you send one of your men to see what he can do about the noise. Hmm?"
The tone of his voice made it sound like what he was asking for was a simple suggestion, but the hard gaze he was giving her was anything but. A slight frown began to mar her face and he rose his eyebrow at her as if to question if she would really defy him right here and right now. It was rare for him to force his hand with her considering he usually let her have her way, but this is something he would not allow and he would force her to listen to him if he had to.
His daughter locked eyes with him awhile longer, silver eyes crashing against deep and knowing brown ones before breaking contact and locking her jaw. She seemed to be adamant on leaving the two down there alone but nevertheless beckoned to one of her men with the sharp flick of her hand. Nnoitra approached immediately, his strides long and strong as he was by her side soon after she called. Aizen noted his impressive height as he had to kneel down to her level and then lean forward so she could speak softly into his ear. He noted their close proximity that wasn't exactly intimate per se but familiar all the same and watched as Nnoitra's long, black strands of hair brushed his daughter's cheek as he stood to his feet. The leader of the Trifecta regarded all of the imperial family individually and bowed at the hip before leaving the room completely. Aizen returned his attention back to Orihime and he could see the silent anger brewing in the storm of her eyes. Slightly amused, he wondered again what had her so hell bent on torturing a single man. Maybe he offended her in some way. Nevertheless she never came to him with her complaints.
"What has he done?"
The question came from his son and it was being directed towards himself. Of course he wouldn't automatically think his sister was the reason why there was a man underneath him being tortured to death.
Aizen, the emperor, regarded the young man with slight amusement, "I do not know. It was not I who put him there."
In the corner of his eye he could see Orihime bristle and shoot him a quick accusatory look that her mother somehow seemed to miss. Instead of outright calling her out he let her brother come up with his own conclusions, making the reveal a bit bigger than it needed to be.
"Then you mother?" Sora questioned next.
Said woman's beautiful hair shimmered as she shook her head gently, casting her own daughter with a pointed look, "Your father would've seen to it that whoever offended me or any of us for that matter would be killed on sight, not mindlessly tortured until they died in their own filth. He is not so...barbaric."
The emperor didn't miss the disapproving tone in his wife's voice and knew where the conversation would be headed to next. He only wished they didn't have an audience, as quiet as they were, and would've sent them away if he didn't need them. Chopsticks were calmly placed on the table and he could see his daughter trying to reign in her darkened anger.
"Father," She shut her eyes as a sneer crossed her face, "may I retire to my quarters? It seems as though I've lost my appetite."
"No." He told her simply.
Her eyes opened and narrowed at him and he could only stare back at her, wondering if she would scream at him while others were present. Meanwhile, Sora gave his sister a disapproving stare.
"I thought we talked about this," Orihime's head immediately snapped to Sora's face, "torture, swords, fighting, you're the Archduchess of the most powerful territory in the land and instead of getting married and bearing offspring you're more interested in battlefields that have no place for you."
Her nose flared in fury, but she somehow managed to keep her voice level, "Please do not place the limits you have of yourself onto me, brother."
Sosuke's eyebrow rose in amusement at his daughter's words and he could tell Rangiku was having trouble trying not to be amused herself despite her disapproval of the whole situation. Her slightly smirking face was hidden behind her large sleeve.
Sora's face darkened as his sister openly attacked his pride in front of their father, whom he idolized, "I'd watch what you say little sister," he sneered, "you may look up one day and find your precious Trifecta gone."
Her fingertips gripped the very edge of the table as the air filled with hostility. The open threat towards her three trusted men was the biggest she ever chose to receive, and even the commoners knew to never mention the Trifecta with negativity in her presence, "That's quite presumptuous of you to even consider that you would ever have the strength to rid of them yourself," She seethed, "such big words for a small man."
The atmosphere around them turned as cold as the armor the guards standing around the room wore. Orihime's short fuse was a problem ever since she was a small child. Her mother truly thought it wasn't normal and once had her evaluated by a doctor. Before she possessed the Trifecta her anger was explosive and terrifying. She would rage at anyone that offended her and would immediately sentence that person to death no matter their position or title. There was no such thing as a soft punishment to her. An option such as that one made no sense to her.
"You can't kill everyone, Byakko," Even though her father said this, there was still a slightly amused smile on his face, "some of these people are of great use to you and may provide a better shield than others."
Angry, silver orbs peered up at her father incredulously, "Why give that person another chance to live and make another mistake?"
Rangiku watched their conversation from the safety of the shadows at the mouth of a corridor, the torch on the wall only illuminating the fiery head of the young archduchess and the deep brown head of the middle-aged emperor. She stood behind her husband's back and away from the sharp eyes of their daughter.
He was knelt down to her eye level with his hand on her head. He rubbed small circles into her scalp and looked down at her with a fondness he only rarely showed his own wife.
"Everyone deserves a second chance." He told her.
His response made the young girl frown and shake her head a little, "Then it would infringe upon you should they mess up that second chance, father."
This statement seemed to make him take pause and lean back a little as if in thought, "I would suppose it does, Byakko, but how would that harsh decision make you look to the commoners you rule over?"
She thought for a moment before immediately coming to find her answer, "Like a ruler. One that isn't taken lightly and is feared and respected."
He sucked in a little breath, wondering where she could've gotten these ideas from, "You're right about them fearing you, but if they don't come to love you, they will one day turn against you and wait to strike out when you are the weakest and all you had ever worked for would be for naught."
His eyes had shown with seriousness and remembrance. That was exactly how he had led the rebellion in the first place and overthrew the previous emperor, however, her cruel logic reminded him of someone he used to know but couldn't place. A part of him had an idea of who it was lingering along the borders of his sub-conscious mind but the rest of him refused to acknowledge the presence.
Even after the entire conversation it was still apparent that Orihime didn't understand (or rather didn't want to) and instead of sticking around to attempt to do so, she went back to her chambers and stayed there for the rest of the night. Her silvery hues seemed to stare into his very soul as she backed away from him and into the darkness of the opposite corridor where only the soft padding of her small feet could be heard. Those eyes stayed in his mind even after she left and he dreamed of them that night; those eyes that were so unlike his own.
Her father stayed in that kneeling position for a while before standing. His robes slightly brushed the floors and was outlined in gold. The waves in his brown hair were in slight disarray from rousing out of his sleep earlier and his feet were bare as he continued to stand there.
"She will one day grow out of such a way of thinking," He had told her as he continued to watch the spot his daughter once stood, "our daughter's heart has been hardened by something I perhaps will never know during the rest of my lifetime. Knowing this makes me fear for her."
Assuming her presence had already been detected, Rangiku ventured from the shadows and into the dim lighting of the torch. Her own fiery hair was in a low ponytail and trailed down her back while her wavy bangs framed the sides of her face. The usual graceful posture she upheld was all but lost in the safety of the corridors connecting the royal bedrooms to the rooms of their children on opposite sides of the palace.
As of now they were on the right side, where the sun will soon shine through the top windows of the wall but was all dark for now. The opposite side of the palace where her brother slept was illuminated by the moon.
The empress hugged her arms closer to her body which suggested to her husband that she was cold but in reality she was a wreck with memories of the past and emotions she had long left behind in a time where she was the most unhappy, "Those kinds of thoughts and ideals don't just go away so easily."
Sosuke watched her steadily. He stood so still and so formally that she almost believed he knew the real source of her anxiety. The way his eyes looked down at her made her sun-kissed flesh crawl with fear that he had to have known, but his next words reassured her that he did not.
"How could you be so sure? She's only eight." He turned away from her and walked into the shadows that she had previously left from, "come back to bed."
She stood under the torch light a moment longer than she should've and glanced at the spot she saw her daughter standing in and felt the rush of memories flood back to her. She clutched her arms tighter to herself and covered her mouth to swallow her despair. Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes and without any sort of pause to her gait she hurried back to the warm side of her husband.
She was reminded of that night every time Orihime ordered something harsh for actions so small. Simple mistakes would invoke a wrath like no other in her and orders of death and torture would follow soon after. It was why her father was so lenient with how close she got to her Trifecta. He believed that the men teaching her how to fight and even allowing her to battle was relieving her fury via violence against those that actually deserved it for more serious crimes. But Rangiku feared that soon Orihime would figure out that those crimes were relative in consideration to who was looking at them. Once she learned that, she would dish out her own version of punishment to anyone that slightly offended her except she would have a sword in her hands.
It was a thought process like this that made Rangiku snatch away from her own daughter as if she were a monster. When Orihime was much younger she would attack other children that tried to play with her as well as anyone that she ordered to take care of her while she had business to attend to. Any dolls she was given were torn apart and anything that looked remotely feminine that was near her was destroyed beyond repair. Her father continued to coddle her and excuse any strange behavior because he favored her for some reason or another. He would make up excuses that he expected Rangiku to abide by and she would but in reality she abhorred the entire situation. Her mindset was so different from theirs and the empress would make no moves to find out what until she had to. One thing she was grateful for was that her daughter wasn't born a boy because if that were the case she would have even more power than what she already did and would succeed in having her elder brother rule over a kingdom of corpses.
The empress returned to the situation at hand when she heard Sora speak in a tone he didn't usually take.
"I'll show you small." He growled threateningly.
All of the maidens that were in the room covered their mouths and looked at each other uncertainly, while some of the guards shuffled awkwardly. The last male of the Trifecta left seemed amused at most but largely unaffected.
"That's enough," Sosuke said, finally putting a stop to something he had created in the first place, "if you wish to 'Hime you may leave."
As soon as the words left his mouth she rose quickly and spun on her heel without so much as a glance back at them, the rest of her food going unnoticed and discarded. The last of her Trifecta stepped aside for her to pass him and he then bowed to the rest of the royal family in a somewhat lazy manner and languidly followed after her. The guards surrounding the doors to their dining room parted like seas to let them through and one of them noticeably shivered as the archduchess stormed past him with an angry glare. The doors were shut quietly behind the two and the room was silent again except for the sound of chopsticks clinking against porcelain due to the emperor resuming his meal.
A/N: This was late. Extremely late. Just like the updates to my other stories.
Byakko - white tiger
