Chapter 10: The Castle Where Orphans Gather
Kaito could smell the faint scent of salt in the sharp cold air. 'Is this the ocean?' he thought to himself, 'At least… I'll have some experience with it before I…'
No. He would not have any enjoyment of the seas. He had limited time to carry out his plans.
He was certain that his own parents had ordered his assassination. There was no mistake any longer from observation. He'd built a careful case in his mind no matter how much he yearned for it to be false. That meant that somehow… Kaito himself had become an obstacle to their conquest.
From this point forward, his life was forfeit. He was going to die. Therefore… he had to make his death count.
And so he plotted out how he would assassinate his own parents.
He knew full well that such an action would not guarantee him any survival – the Loyalists had chosen to stand behind the King and Queen of Estmarch. The Prince meant nothing to them, nor did he believe himself capable of rallying them to him after committing parricide. Besides, their Honor Guard would be close and would shoot him dead within moments.
So his only choice was to make sure his shots counted.
That he end the line of House Shion in one day.
The Emerald Dawn would win, but he had no solution to stop both evils from darkening Estmarch. If he could only destroy one, at least that would give his people a fighting chance.
But the more he tried to work up the nerve to commit to the crime, the more his nerves shook. He had never killed a man. No matter how good of a shot he was, he'd never pointed his gun at a living person and expected to hit them. Now he was not only intending to break his own codes of pacifism, but he was to turn on the two people he'd loved the most for so much of his life.
'I should have asked Miku how to do this when I had the chance. But then… she hasn't killed anyone either, has she? I suppose that wouldn't have worked then.'
"Are you quite well, your Highness?" Dex asked.
Kaito tried to maintain his spirits. Dex was driving the vehicle, with Kaito the only passenger. "I have experienced a great many terrible events in these last weeks. Being reunited with my family only grants me a small comfort."
"Be grateful. Not all of us have that luxury."
Kaito tried to read between the lines. "Then Lord Grauwolf…?"
"They lined him up against the wall, along with everyone he was with. They didn't even care for the title – they even shot the footman as if he was responsible for it all. I'm all that remains. I was lucky the Loyalists made contact with me and that your parents trusted me with so much. At least when he died for me… the King told me he'd make sure my life mattered. That this coup ends with every last one of the bastards dead and everyone who helped them rotting. No matter what I have to do to make that happen…"
The car rolled over a wooden bridge covering a gorge, where Kaito could see a small river that no doubt emptied into the ocean below.
Kaito almost envied the young man's intensity. He had a goal, and nothing stopped him from pursuing it. How many had he already managed to kill simply because he believed it was right? 'And here I can't even work up the nerve to put an end to… my mother and father…'
Dex's anger began to calm. "I just consider it a great fortune that Lady Daina Rotfuchs had cancelled her attendance that night or I would even be without a fiancé. But she and her family are safe in Westheim… I doubt they'll return any time soon."
The silver-haired youth remained a mystery to Kaito. How much did he know? Did any of the Loyalists know the full extent of the plan? He briefly considered telling Dex what he suspected, but he held his tongue. Right now, all of Kaito's evidence was circumstantial. He believed it to be true due to his deep understanding of how his parents operated. Dex had none of that experience, and as he'd just revealed, he had a near fanatical belief in them.
Unfortunately for the Prince, this task was his alone.
'I wonder if it will be Dex that shoots me in the end?'
How strange their paths – Kaito had never properly befriended the noble youth, now a lord to a precarious house of Estmarch. But over one week the two had something of an acquaintance. As their fathers spoke of the political business Kaito was constantly sheltered from, the two had engaged in target shooting.
Dex was from a family with illustrious military victories, and there was no doubt a war on the horizon for him to continue his family's legacy. And of course, Kaito was to one day be King. The two youths each carried massive expectations on their shoulders, and for a few days, they had someone else to share those with. And a shared love for a simple sport. But that was the last Kaito had seen of the young Lord Grauwolf.
"… I don't suppose when this business is resolved with your parents that you'd be up for a rematch?"
So apparently it still meant something to him. Kaito knew that rematch would never happen, but he dare not let his plans escape. "Of course."
He stared along the road, watching the sheet of grey clouds seemingly heralding the coming of an early winter…
His mother fussed over his clothes with unusual nervousness. Was it just because of the possibility of the marriage arrangement? The way she tied his sash, straightened his collar, it was as if she didn't think him capable of presenting himself to an eligible young woman.
"Meiko is arriving soon, right?" Kaito asked pointedly, "I do hope I'll have enough time to speak with her."
"She's in her quarters now with her photographer," the Queen said.
The Queen brushed Kaito's hair out of his face, and he had about had it. "Mother, what makes you so nervous? I promise I won't be an obstacle in marrying this woman that Tonio has set up for me."
'Set up.' Kaito always knew he would inevitably marry someone his parents chose, but it still sounded so stilted. But he tried to remind himself to be polite. He hadn't met the girl yet, and she had the right to be given a fair chance. Besides… there was always a chance she was different.
"My shining jewel."
Kaito tried to suppress his cringing.
"You are everything to Estmarch, but more importantly, you are everything to me. Your mother. On this eve, I see you as not just my son, but the man you could become. I only ask that you not forget my love for you as you follow your path into the future."
The earnest words spoken from his mother caught him off guard. Was she merely worried about losing her son to a possible bride? Suddenly Kaito stopped seeing her as the controlling matriarch she'd become and he saw the lines in her face, the gray hairs creeping into her braid. He was her only son, and she'd only had to share him with her husband… not with an outsider.
As trying as she could be… as much as she kept him free of his duties in Estmarch… she was still his mother. And he could see the love in her actions even as she vexed him.
"Mother, I promise you… I will be as Prince Charming to her this eve."
He bowed to her as she'd taught him and he thought he saw the hints of tears in her eyes as he rose. "Thank you, Kaito. My son."
Snow began to fall as Kaito and Dex entered into his family's estate. He'd glimpsed it in photographs before – only those depicted it in luxury and splendor. Not as it was now, converted into a base for military operations. The furniture seemed less grandiose when crammed next to gun racks and provisions.
He searched the faces of the soldiers, wondering if he'd known any of them. There appeared to be no familiar faces – he would know his parent's honor guard by their uniforms, not their names or faces.
Kaito had never been granted his own personal guard. The fortress he'd grown up in was supposed to be enough to protect him.
'But not from them,' he thought to himself.
Soon enough, he was met by a woman with long, pale blonde hair with two small braids in front. She wore a black uniform shirt and long black skirt, with a blue sash around her neck. 'That must be her…'
But she looked so young! Was she another lost Cinderella? Obviously the King and Queen were not above hiring them. Was she also working for them?
'Must I distrust every innocent looking woman I meet from here forward?'
It didn't matter. He was going to shoot his parents and then he needn't trust anyone.
"Sir."
Of course nobody would be told of his arrival, of who he was supposed to be. As Dex explained in the car, while he was certain that Kaito was who he claimed to be, the King and Queen had not yet met him and they intended to keep his claims quiet until he could provide proof. So this young lady wouldn't have been informed either.
"My name is Ia. I've been given strict orders to take you back. Consider yourself lucky, you've been granted a private audience with the true rulers of Estmarch."
He waited with tense breath as she began to pat his body down for obvious weapons… but not thoroughly enough. As she stopped, he felt relief that she'd missed the pistol strapped tightly to his body. The whole murder plan would come to nothing if he was unarmed.
His father was a crack shot after all.
Kaito waited impatiently in the hallway for his father to finish up his latest business. Political business, as usual. 'I should be meeting with Meiko now!' he lamented, 'But I must stay abreast of this…'
He strained his hearing to try and make out any words at all, but there remained nothing for him to hear. More and more his father was calling private meetings, and Kaito knew what that meant. He'd lived through four Rose Wars now, and they were always preceded by his parents sequestering themselves away.
'I should be at that table too. I'm an adult! I'm the Prince!'
At last the door opened and he saw his father step out with his advisor, Lord Tonio. "Kaito. You should be with your guest. I'll remind you we brought her here at considerable expense."
He waved off Tonio, and the bearded man barely regarded the prince as he strolled past. He thought little of it – most of the people of import did that. They knew how little power he held, and that he was far too good natured to have them punished for petty slights.
"Father, you must be honest with me. Meiko came all the way from Nordland tonight. I am not blind to your intentions."
The King brushed aside his concerns. "I assure you that Nordland's fortunes do not turn on the whims of a mere singer. She has no connections to their crown."
Kaito inhaled deeply, trying to steady his temper. "I am aware of this. But I ask that before Estmarch engages on another rash path, that you at least speak to her. She may not be Nordland's crown, but she most certainly represents Nordland's heart."
"Kaito, this business is not the concern of-"
"If something were to happen to you, who would rule in your stead?! Someone like that Tonio person!?"
Again Kaito felt his temper boiling over. "You and Mother never stopped speaking of me as your grand heir, but here I stand, ready to play my part in Estmarch, and you still conceal it all from me! If there is truly such violent elements in our kingdom, what if, god forbid, they were to claim you? I would King of a land I know nothing of, of people I've never met, marshalling wars I've never fired a single shot within!"
"That is enough!"
Apparently his father had finally found a way to lose patience with him. "You are the heir of Estmarch, and right now your duty is to stand before its people and marshal their spirits! The business of politics will be left to you when you are ready!"
"And when is that ever going to happen!?"
His father's face darkened further and for just a moment Kaito felt a flash of fear. The other servants within the castle often scurried out of the man's way, though Kaito never understood why. Except in this moment.
"Prove that you can be generous to the woman that Tonio is arranging for you and we'll speak of it. Right now, that is your duty."
Kaito's fear faded as the King's temper slipped back into the regent's control. He strode away from his son, glancing back for only a second, as if Kaito were about to disappear into nothingness.
'I only have to treat her well.. fine then… I can do this. Hopefully she's warm and kind and it will be easy.'
The weight of expectation pressed down upon him and he stared outside the open windows into the stars. 'If I marry… would that allow me to finally have my freedom?'
He began to wonder where this 'Marchenland' was and wished fervently in his heart that if all went well… she could be a path to the outside world he so yearned to see…
He was to be as Prince Charming upon the dance floor and finally he would have his fate.
As Kaito passed in doors, past one guard after another, he felt the weight of his task bearing down on him. Every door appeared an escape, an excuse to run away. But he couldn't run. Even if he was trying to marshal the strength to escape and flee his horrible fate, he tried to press on by remembering what good he was about to bring to Estmarch.
'This is my fate. This is why I was born. I was born to save Estmarch. From my family.'
He saw two ominous double doors and realized from the Honor Guard's uniforms that this must be the room containing his parents. So quickly it was coming to an end. So swiftly he was to die. He ran over the plan in his mind.
"I don't know why fate led me to you, but… I must protect you."
He could still imagine Miku's voice in his mind. 'Miku… perhaps your fate was to save me long enough to save Estmarch.'
He approached the doors and Ia opened them up for him, Kaito passing into the threshold.
He tried to will himself to draw his weapon as his eyes settled on two familiar faces. This was what he'd built up to, his final fate! He had to do this, he must! His arm shook as he tried to pull the weapon…
…but just the sight of his mother's worried face, his father's calm eyes…
He thought of falling asleep in her arms as she read him stories… he dreamt of the days he spent carefully preparing his performances for them…
He dreamt of the target shooting with the King, of his pride at his son's skill…
Tears came to his eyes and Kaito surrendered himself entirely, his arms falling to his sides. He had no will for the deed any longer.
He was too weak.
"Father… Mother…" he whispered, "You're alive… you're both alive…"
For a few moments nothing else passed between them. Had he not known the truth, he would have expected his mother to come running to him… but she and the King remained seated at the edge of the room, far from him. But even seated they couldn't hide their feelings. His mother clutched at the center of her chest, her fingers tracing small circles from her nerves. His father's hands tightly clenched at his knees, the knuckles turning white from pressure.
But all too quickly Kaito had to break the silence and shatter the lies between them. He needed only ask one question.
"Why?"
The Queen's nervous fingers intensified. "Whatever do you ask?"
"Why did you send a Cinderella to kill me?"
She began to clutch at her jewels while his father spoke for her. "For the same reason we sequestered you far from the corrupt rot of the courts and the fetid stench of the decaying masses. Because we believed in Estmarch's future."
Now Kaito was hearing his father speak as only a tyrant would. "We raised you in perfection, to create a perfect heir that would marshal Estmarch into its rightful place as the ruler of this continent. But we erred – we loved our son more than we loved the Empire."
"Your heart retains its innocence, a belief in the inherent goodness of all. We should have broken you of it before it took root. But we could commit to what was needed. We loved you too much to destroy what you were."
"Then I apologize for my concern for the people who starved so the rich might eat, for the wounded torn apart by your need for conquest… for the children who burned in Sudland merely for believing they had the right to live for themselves."
Kaito spoke curtly as his temper simmered. How could they speak of loving him after what they'd done?! "And the Godmothers, you hired them after Lord Mayor Kiyoteru spoke with you, did you?"
A moment of silence fell. "They found us, actually. We were at a loss over what to do for the future of Estmarch! We couldn't put someone like you on the throne, you don't understand what must be done for the greater good! You have not the will!"
The King seemed hellbent on shattering any of his son's illusions that he had ever truly been what the same man ever desired in a son. The harsh words became like daggers slicing at the poor man who had committed no apparent sin save for believing in a better world.
"You colluded with them?" he murmured.
His mother's resolve seemed to be recovering, even if she still played with her necklace. "They are people who understand necessity. The true path forward. They gave us access to the Dawn. They gave us a way forward."
Kaito couldn't believe his ears. "Are you saying the Fairy Godmothers wield the Emerald Dawn?!"
"As our puppets, yes. This civil conflict was a necessity to clear out the weakest parts of our country. Cleanse the rioters and agitators. It's merely gotten out of hand."
Madness… people were giving their lives for his family's name and all because his parents saw an opportunity. "Then the military assets in the north are to take Nordland."
Kaito looked up at his parents as his temper boiled. "Then you were planning on pinning the whole thing on Meiko… portraying her as a spy perhaps?"
He almost wanted to point out the irony to them that the "innocent" singer was actually working against them for once. But he saw little point. He hoped quietly that Meiko had indeed managed to get her warnings out to the Nordland crown.
"We were ready to make the sacrifice needed. We both love you… but we must face reality. If the culmination of your life was to be so beloved upon your death that we could rid Estmarch of evil and bring the jewel of Nordland under our control… we had no other choice."
Kaito had always known his mother to possess a sharp intellect, but to see it deployed to such ruthlessness…
"Then what is my place now? I am still the only heir to Estmarch. Who do you intend to have carry on the bloodline without me?"
"Assuming your mother cannot simply bear another child, we will be forced to seek out an heir apparent," the King spoke gravely, "But perhaps that is best. We won't be clouded by the mindless love for a child, we will simply seek out the correct person from many suitable candidates. House Shion would adopt him and the line would be pure."
Silence again. Had he stumped them? Had they a moment of questioning the idea of Kaito possibly being swayed into joining them?
"The Godmothers, are they still working with you? Do you truly think those foul people can be trusted?"
"They've provided us valuable aid so far. Targets we could use to undermine the Dawn. 'Grand General' Tonio seems to believe he's actually in charge, but he'll find quite the surprise when the Fantasie rolls up to his forces."
'The Fantasie… was that why it was headed this way?'
But moreover, everything he'd seen of the Godmothers so far gave Kaito no indication that they were truly "loyal" to anyone. "What makes you so certain they're of value to you? If you didn't found them, then who did?"
"My shining jewel."
Kaito cringed at hearing that name again, uttered from his mother's lips. "You've no need to concern yourself with these matters. Clearly, you're not level-headed enough for the Loyalists. Did that young Cinderella charm you with her lies?"
"Don't. Insult Miku."
The lovely sad maiden that stood by him through all the evil surrounding them.
"You don't see it? She saw a chance to snatch a bit of power for herself – just killing you would have gotten her a pittance. But swaying you to her cause would split the kingdom up the middle – a romance torn apart by tyrants."
"I'm warning you."
He could handle their insults being turned on him – at least that was a dose of honesty. But Kaito knew Miku's true heart. He knew what she'd suffered.
"You already know her capable of lying to get close to you. What makes you so certain she won't manipulate you once you've made it out of Estmarch, into the waiting arms of allies? Quite frankly, the little tart has you wrapped around her finger-"
A gunshot rang out in the court…
… and as Kaito's hand throbbed from the bullet grazing the top of it, forcing his weapon out of his hands, he knew he'd been had. "If you wanted to kill us, your best opportunity was when you first arrived," his father scolded, holding his still smoking pistol.
Before another word passed between them, Kaito found himself pinned to the floor by several armed Honor Guards. He struggled for just a second before he cried out when his stitches pulled at his old wound. "Your Highness! What is your command!" barked Ia as she kept a sword pointed at his throat.
The King's face was filled with indignant fury. "This man is an imposter, posing as our deceased son!"
"No-!" Kaito protested.
"Take him out into the back gardens and call the soldiers together! We must make an example of him lest another sprouts up in his place!"
Kaito stared into the eyes of his mother, but she bore him no mercy. But why would she? She'd sent him to his death before… and just now she'd pulled every one of his heart strings to provoke him and prevent her from committing the deed herself.
He was yanked back up to his feet as his wrists were bound behind him. "It will take but an hour, Your Highness!"
Pushed through the halls, Kaito briefly laid eyes on Dex. "What… what is going on?" he asked in shock.
"You allowed an imposter to enter this fort and nearly assassinate our beloved rulers!" Ia shouted, "How do we know you're not involved?!"
"But there must be some mistake! That man, he-"
But then the King and Queen strode out and the pale haired youth stammered into silence. "Spare the young Lord your wrath," the Queen said calmly, "This man was a very good imposter if he managed to trick us. But we must trust that you'll learn from this if House Grauwolf is to stay on good terms in the future."
"Dex…" Kaito murmured.
Dex walked over to him, staring long and hard at him… or was it at the bleeding wound in his side? And for a moment, Kaito thought he might have some belief in him – but then Dex lowered his head. "Of course I trust you, your Highness… I'm sorry I allowed my emotions to cloud my judgement."
And as he stormed away, Kaito felt the last flicker of hope die in his heart. 'The Fantasie is coming… I couldn't stop a war, I couldn't stop anything… now I'm merely to serve as a pawn to shore up loyalty…'
He gave no more protest. He merely wanted it to come to an end.
Kaito skipped behind his grandmother in the rose gardens, singing a song to himself as she admired the flowers.
"When a strong-willed flower, blooming in a wheel rut, subtly changes its expression in a split second, I exclaim in awe of the delicate elegance of its solitude, that I become at a loss, unable to bring myself to tread over it…"
The white haired matriarch bore a broad smile as her hands ran over the delicate petals. Her fingers were gnarled much like the twisted trunk of the bushes, but even in her old age she radiated a lovely beauty and strength from within.
"Welcoming dawns with morning dews, and then bidding to dusks farewell, the swift-footed time leaves behind nothing more than its footprints…"
Kaito abruptly stopped his song as he spied several flat stones in the grass. The child scrambled through the grass as he gathered them up. When he stood up, his grandmother was already in front of him, and he barely reached halfway up her legs. "And what has disrupted your song, little rose?"
'Little rose' had long been her nickname for Kaito, and he cherished it – she granted no such nicknames to Kaito's father, her own son.
The child Prince proudly opened his hands to show her the stones. "For us!" he said happily.
His grandmother sifted through the stones and took her favorite out, examining it so closely it may well be a precious metal and not a simple garden pebble. "I like this one best. You've such a good eye for this."
She gave her grandson a loving pat on the head.
"Do you think we could get mother and father to do this some time?"
The old woman's expression grew grim. "They seem to be having far more important matters to attend to," she whispered.
Then the woman looked straight into his eyes and Kaito thought he could see years of weariness behind them. "Kaito, do you know what a Rose War is?"
"Ah! Mother says it's like how the rose bush takes root within the soil and spreads it's branches across the world!"
His grandmother released a sad sigh and turned back to the roses. "Kaito. The strength of the rose is not in its size or its thorns, but in its endurance. In snow and frost, it bides its time… until calamity passes and it casts its blooms out unto the world."
She gently ran one of her fingers along his cheeks. "Kaito, you must be like the rose. Unyielding, but pure. Be the blossom that banishes the calamity."
A chilly wind cut through the outdoor air as Kaito stood, his wrists bound behind him and keeping him strong against a pole as the snow built up along the ground. The back gardens were a massive, walled in complex – clearly meant to serve not just as a place of pleasure but a possible gathering place for soldiers. Even when his parents claimed to be building a secret place of pleasure, they'd merely been attempting to create another staging ground for a war.
And now Kaito was in the center of them. Before him was a sea of faces, all wearing the uniforms of Estmarch, the kingdom he'd once been promised. Everyone of them believing him to be false, and never knowing of their complicity in regicide.
Technically, his parents needed no such subterfuge – his father was of the long line of Shion and could simply declare his own son dead by divine right. But even Kaito recognized that such an act would hardly aid his parents. Thus the lie to paper over the crime – and to allow Kaito to be done away with without either one of them pulling the trigger.
He wanted to shout out his true identity and challenge them, but when even Dex doubted his identity, how could he expect strangers to believe him?
He heard footsteps behind him as a blindfold wrapped around his eyes. The moment was finally upon him, and he wouldn't even know when it would happen. When the bullet would enter his heart and he would cease to live.
'Miku… I'm so sorry… I only thought to protect you from them. I didn't wish for you to suffer.'
As his heart beat increased from the anticipation of the killing shot, he decided to spend his final moments thinking not of his own failures, but of the brave Cinderella he'd had the fortunate circumstance to meet. He began to imagine a different life for them, outside of the tragedy. He envisioned himself far from the cold of Estmarch, the shots of war, somewhere peaceful… playing by the ocean? Why not?
'Miku… however short this time was… having you in my life was the greatest boon I could ever imagine…'
"Rifles up!"
He tried only to think of the lovely sea green of her twin tails, flowing in the wind…
"In the name of Estmarch, I sentence thee, traitor, to death! Let this be a warning to all that defy the mighty of the true ruling house!"
He could hear the loud buzzing of the Fantasie's engines approaching the castle and clenched his teeth…
… "Ready… aim…"
He thought he heard the sounds of a scuffle outside the castle. Had someone broken in?
"Wait! Stop her! Stop her now!"
Kaito heard footsteps approaching him and felt two feminine hands grasping his own… before two loud gunshots rang out…
… from behind him.
"The King! The Queen!"
"Merde! Already they turn on them?! Were they just waiting for them to get into one place?!"
And as the blindfold fell from his eyes… he gasped in shock.
Kaito's parents on the ground, shot square in the forehead.
They were dead.
Before the shock could fully settle in he realized he was looking right at the pink-haired assassin that had tried to kill him before, standing just a few feet in front of him scanning the sky behind him, a pistol drawn and pointed behind him. "Luka, you… you killed-"
"Luka, find that damn sniper! They're not on our side!"
"Miku!" he shouted in shock as he felt someone cutting at his bindings on the pole.
"Luka, please-"
Luka rushed forward, her eyes above him, trying to put herself between some unseen fore. Two more shots fired out… he watched smoke drift from Luka's pistol… he saw blood rush down her face from a wound along her right eye… she collapsed along the ground…
Behind him, he heard a body fall and hit the ground but nothing worried him more than the fact that Luka had just died for him.
As the ties were cut, he rushed towards her body in a panic. "Luka!"
"M…Merde…" she muttered, trying to stand.
"Oh my god, you're still alive…"
"I didn't do it… just so you know, I didn't kill either of them…" she groaned, trying to stand up, "Their pet Cinderella stole it from me…"
"Kaito, we can get her to Gakupo, quickly!"
He turned up to see Miku again, real and alive. "We don't have much time, the Fantasie is right overhead!"
Without another word, Kaito scooped the woman up in his arms. "Kaito, come on, we only have a tiny window of escape!"
He rushed across the empty garden, tossing a glance at the fallen sniper and recognizing her as the woman he'd known as "Ia." "Is Gakupo here?!" he shouted.
"Of course he is! We all came!" Miku cried out, "We have to get out, they're going to make everything so much worse-"
And that was when it seemed like the entire world suddenly burst into flames. The bombs began to fall from the sky, bursting apart. Kaito was nearly thrown to the floor from the shock. "The… The Fantasie… the Dawn…"
"As if the Godmothers would have allowed them to have their air force…" Luka murmured.
As they stumbled to stand, a member of the Honor Guard appeared. "What have you monsters done?!" he shouted as he charged forward…
Only to collapse to a loud shot from Miku's pistol, the bullet piercing his forehead…
Somehow everything became so much more real. The green-haired girl showed no emotion to having shot a man dead. "Keep going! There's planes outside… they must be planning on levelling it all!" she barked out to him.
Kaito kept a hand on his pistol as he tried to steady Luka, watching her condition with care. Her face was still covered in blood even as she shook. "I can still fight…" she coughed.
Another explosion in front of them almost ended them as the castle's roof began to collapse. "Rendezvous this way!" Miku cried out.
And it seemed there were no obstacles in her path. Any remotely threatening figure was rapidly dealt with by Miku's expert shots. He cried out as he heard a gunshot right in his ear before he realized it was Luka shooting at someone behind him. "Idiot, you should have left me behind," she muttered, "This is worthless if you die here."
"It's worthless if you die for no reason," he tried to say in a reassuring manner.
"Come on, we cleared them out over here!"
'Dex?!'
He tensed up expecting a fight when he saw the silver-haired youth guarding a path out, but he lowered his pistol on Kaito's approach. "You are surprisingly hard to kill, Your Highness," he said with a sly smirk.
The boy kicked the door open and gestured outside. "He's got a wounded and there's more behind him!"
On the word "wounded", Kaito saw Gakupo run in with his medical kit, followed by Meiko and Gumi, the latter of whom kept firing wildly behind her with a machine gun. He took one look at Luka's bloody face and he took her from Kaito's arms. "I can't save anyone else here," he murmured, "But I won't let her die. I will try and save one life today."
The doctor's confidence seemed shaken by the violence around him. Kaito looked to Dex. "You believed me after all?"
"We'd all heard the story about you being stabbed by your dance partner. And you were bleeding in that same spot. That along with everything else… I don't know how much further the King and Queen went, but I'm certain now that my father became a casualty to their mad ambitions!"
"Dex helped us get in, he shot the door guards," Miku explained, "We never would have gotten to you in time to stop the execution otherwise…"
Despite his actions in his service, Dex still appeared grim. "We have no time. We have to escape. You have to live. They wanted you to die, and I want nothing else but for that to be wrong. You… You are to be King of Estmarch."
King. He was now King. Because…
Kaito tried to bury all of it in the sensation of the need to survive as another bomb fell from overhead. "Go! You, treat her elsewhere!"
Gakupo was clutching Luka tightly to his side, and he whispered something into her ears. "We'll do our best."
And at once Kaito was running across a battlefield, trying to stay out of the range of enemy bullets. He saw a man take aim at Miku – and he fired without a second thought.
He felt sick as he watched the body crumple. 'There was no choice… there was no choice…' he tried to reassure himself.
"Damn them, they're chasing us down!" Meiko shouted, "This isn't going to work! We'll never get you to the cars with Rin and Len if this keeps up!"
Dex clutched his gun tightly. "Then I'll stay behind and stall them."
"NO!" Kaito shouted, "That's a suicide mission!"
"I let them talk me into horrible atrocities…" the boy murmured as he tried to keep his gun focused behind him, "Let me do this."
"I'll join you and we'll actually make it out alive!" Meiko commanded, "Gumi, I want you to take Gakupo and Luka the hell out of here while Miku and Kaito escape and-"
"Meiko! Please, I can't just-"
The normally cold girl seemed horrified at the prospect of being separated from her partner. More explosions rang out behind them as the fighting grew closer. "Gumi, one of us has to make it home and warn the King. Gakupo will keep you alive. Luka will fill in the gaps. I'm the expendable one… and anyway Dex and I are going to keep the lot of you safe. We all know where we're heading – we'll meet up in Westheim. I promise."
"Please…"
Miku grabbed at Kaito's arm and started to drag him forward. "Westheim. I'll be waiting for you," Kaito shouted as he continued his panicked run.
He and Miku tried to stay low as they heard gunfire from above – the planes were strafing the fields he was in, cutting down more and more of the Loyalist army. "They leave nothing to chance!" Kaito shouted.
"Neither do we!" Miku reassured him, "The cars! Onward!"
He spotted the blond twins standing outside their cars near the road back out of the Zellen Sea. "Rin! Len!"
As he approached he saw several dead soldiers surrounding the vehicles. Each twin was holding a weapon… it was unlikely only one of them had done the deed…
"Where's Meiko and Gumi?! Where's Gakupo?!" Rin asked in a panic.
Miku looked backed grimly. "Gakupo and Gumi are escaping on their own with Luka – she was gravely injured. Meiko and… and Dex… they're buying us time."
Len turned a shade whiter as he realized what they had committed to. But he tried to further resolve himself. "Then we'll still take two cars. Miku, Kaito, you get ahead of us, Rin and I will make sure the back is clear. We have some 'surprises' for anyone chasing us! You know the road out, Miku!"
"Right, up the hills and into the mountains!" she called out.
"In this weather?!" Kaito said, kicking at the rapidly accumulating snow on the ground.
"It will give us cover from the skies-"
The Fantasie's explosive payloads silenced any more discussion. Kaito could hear the buzzing of the strafing planes, the sounds of their rapid gunfire from the air…
"We can do this, Your Highness."
Rin had yet to talk to Kaito using his title, but the gravity in her choice of it gave Kaito an idea of how important it was to her that he escape. His heart pounded as he leapt into a vehicle with Miku. She started it up quickly and screeched ahead. Kaito made sure his pistol was loaded and kept watching out the back window for any pursuers. Rin and Len quickly caught up to them.
A white plane dove out of the clouds, firing its weapons. Kaito tried to clip it with his own weapon, shooting at the wings helplessly but a mere pistol wasn't going to be enough. He tried to level his weapon at the engine, but at the speed it was closing in on them, he couldn't train his gun on it properly. He ducked his head inside trying to dogde more bullets, but he knew once the plane was close enough it could easily shoot through the vehicle and kill himself and Miku…
That's when the car behind him suddenly began to… glow?
No – it was on fire.
"LEN! RIN!" he shouted, "Did that plane hit their engines!?"
His own car lurched forward as Miku pressed down even harder. "We can't leave them behind, Miku! We can't just-"
"Their car is full of explosives!" she shouted, "We have to get away from it and over this bridge!"
Kaito watched the flames grow as Rin and Len's vehicle slowed its acceleration. Either there was no driver… or the driver was dead.
The explosion from the car shook the bridge to its very foundations. And due to the plane's incredibly close proximity to the exploding vehicle, it couldn't help but be thrown by it…
As Miku got the two of them over the bridge, it collapsed. Kaito watched the pursuing plane crash dramatically into the wall of the gorge…
And with that last great explosion, they had no more pursuers. The only thing left for them was the snow as Miku sped along the road and into the mountains…
'They're gone… they all… they all gave their lives… for me…'
Kaito sank deep into his seat. His life had been saved… but at what terrible cost?
"Iroha, I must have a full report."
The orange haired girl practically purred with satisfaction, straightening out her ruffled pink and white maid's dress. "General Tonio's raid on the Zellen Sea was a perfect success!" she said cheerfully, "The scouts that surveyed the aftermath reported hundreds of dead Loyalists! And we found what was left of the King and Queen."
Her boss sipped a glass of red wine and breathed a sigh of relief. "And the Prince burned with them?" she said.
"W-w-well… we haven't found his body yet, but-"
Her cheerful report was cut off. "Let me understand this – after Prince Kaito's last disappearing act, you expect me to believe him dead for certain when we can't even locate a corpse?"
Iroha squeaked as she took the scolding. "But-but-but Macne said nobody could have survived! There was that explosion on the bridge, maybe that was him-"
"Maybe. Could have."
Her boss scoffed at the words. "Iroha. We leave nothing to chance. The Shion house must be eliminated in full."
"Then… should I tell Prima to convince Tonio not to continue with the strike on Nordland? It will be…very… hard to get him to stop given his first taste of it…"
The boss groaned, setting the wine glass down. She curled her hand under her chin as she rested her arm on the small table near her soft chair. "No… we must take Nordland while we have the element of surprise. We never located the Nordland spies, and we cannot leave that to chance."
The woman appeared lost in thought, but Iroha knew she was only plotting. She'd held the Godmothers together for so long… at the moment of her triumph, she would not make a mistake.
"Have we gathered the Faerie Dust yet?"
"We have enough to deploy it either on the front or… or on the way through Westheim."
"Get it ready then," she said, "If the Prince is alive, he will try to rally anyone left. We must eliminate his avenues of escape. He won't go back to Jagenschatz… thus he will be heading through either the mountain passes… or the village of Sainte-Urbain."
She seemed satisfied with her planning. "Have Prima make the arrangements to scatter it along Sainte-Urbain. That will deprive him of an avenue of escape. And start preparing from more drops along the way."
"Ah! I see, because the effects linger for so long…"
"… he'll die on his way through once he's exposed."
Iroha clapped at her master's cunning. "I'll send the telegrams right away! Oh, it will be so wonderful to have the last of them dealt with! It's just a shame we had to lose so many Cinderellas… Luka in particular was so valuable…"
"… if they're dead, it was their fate."
Her boss grasped at the wine glass again. "Every one of them has a role to play. Even to die. We only had one destined to become a princess…"
Iroha watched the woman grasped at the stem of the glass so hard she feared it would bend and break under her grip. "…but she denied her fate. She never understood the value of her innocence. Therefore, she must be destroyed utterly. Leave no stone unturned in locating her."
"Of course," Iroha said, bowing and smiling like a happy cat.
"It will be done, my lady."
"Dammit! The tires can't get any grip! Not with all this snow!"
The car's tires spun helplessly along the mountain road. "Ah, maybe I can try and put some sand under them… Kaito, you wait, okay?"
He watched as Miku left the car and started digging around, looking for something, anything to try and keep their escape path clear.
And now he was alone all over again. With only his thoughts.
'So many dead… what was the point of it? They died because I still live…'
'Dex, Meiko, Gumi, Gakupo, Rin, Len… even… even Luka…'
His stomach churned at the thought. He pressed open his car door unnoticed by Miku and started to trudge away in the snow, with little thought to the cold air whipping against him, the frozen snowflakes pressing against him.
He just kept walking up the road, his feet willing him forward as he couldn't release the terrible thoughts. He'd watched his parents die… and he loathed how he still carried so much conflict in it. Even as they plotted his murder for their insane plans, he still found himself mourning their death as he stepped further and further away, the car finally going out of sight as he rounded a bend on the mountain path.
He heard the crashing of water around him and he dragged his body forward, close to the cliff side. He stared straight down, the height of the cliff almost making him dizzy, the sound of the waves smashing against the rocks unceasing. He instinctively began to step away from it.
Then the weight of it all smashed into him and a wretched impulse began to take hold of him. 'There is no Shion family no besides me… if it were gone… would that not be better for the people?'
They wouldn't throw their lives away for just one man's symbolism. They may fight for themselves. Maybe they'd overthrow the Dawn without him serving as an obstacle to weaken them as they committed to yet another man planted on the Estmarch throne by blood and not by any other skill.
'I'm only standing in the way… if I'd died that night, as was my fate… it would all be over. No Loyalists… no lost causes…'
He took a stride forward, his toes lining up against the edge of the cliff. One more step and he would fall into oblivion.
'Miku, I'm… I'm sorry…' he thought to himself as he contemplated that last action…
But then an even more wretched thought entered his thoughts. 'If I disappear… what will Miku do?'
Would she search the mountainside until she froze to death in the snow storm?
Would she fall off the mountain chasing his corpse?
What would Miku do?
If he died now… he could well take Miku with him.
'She… she doesn't deserve it… not Miku…'
And Kaito began to step back before he heard his name being called in a panic. "Kaito! Kaito, where are you?!"
She emerged around the bend, her eyes wide with fear. She stared at him, then at the position of his feet. "K… Kaito please…"
He backed away quickly at seeing her so upset. "I… I was merely… curious about the height…" he stammered, trying to reassure her with a comforting lie.
Even as he did so, she didn't appear comforted. "Kaito… I'm sorry for all you've lost…"
As if she were responsible for it. He approached his Cinderella, and even with the tragedy tugging at him, he found himself drawn in once more by the sadness inside of Miku. She didn't even move as he stepped up right in front of her…
… and placed his arms around her in a comforting hug.
She returned it at once, grasping at him like he were some wretched figment about to disappear into the winds. "Miku…" he murmured, "I… I loathe this life I have. This title is an obstacle to me, and a danger to those I love. I wish… I wish I could throw it away."
He sounded so selfish as he spoke.
"Then do so. As far as anyone knows, you're still dead."
He pulled back and stared into Miku's eyes with curiosity. "You promised to…"
"I promised to take you to safety. Westheim was your idea. Because of your uncle. If we keep on that path… you will still be a Prince of Estmarch. You will be expected to become King… and unite a warring country."
And she pressed her head right into his chest. "If that weight is now too much for you to bear… then we can go elsewhere. We can escape Estmarch as two peasants. We can escape… somewhere far from Uralia, where nobody knows you. Where you aren't a Prince and I'm not Cinderella."
Did Miku still desire escape as well? "Miku…" he whispered as he watched her eyes fill with tears while she held him.
"I can't even not be a Cinderella… not now… we could cross the ocean to Columbia… or we could take the great train into the Orient and hide ourselves within the Celestial Empire… I just… I can't…"
"I can't lose you. Because I love you."
Upon hearing those words, Kaito traced his fingers along Miku's face, turning it gently towards his own. "Miku, I love you too," he said softly.
And he leaned in and desperately kissed her.
The snowstorm that roared around him may as well have not even existed.
A/N:
HOLY CRAP AN ON TIME CHAPTER!
But really, this one flowed pretty quickly all things told. This is probably the chapter I've had the tightest planning on because so many elements had to come together at once.
I decided early on that this would be a reflection of the first chapter, which was told almost entirely from Miku's perspective, in which this time the entire chapter would be told from Kaito's perspective (save one scene.)
As for what happened to everyone else… you'll have to find out soon enough =D
At least I finally let Kaito and Miku have that long-delayed kiss.
Of course this story would have to start integrating the aerial combat that defined World War I, especially the zepplelins that terrorized Great Britain. Given some of the events currently going on in the real world, I felt shaky approaching this chapter that I knew would end with bombs falling out of the sky, but in the end I pressed forward. They served as a new type of conflict for Kaito – one that he really can't win yet, only run away from.