I don't own these characters; Sunrise does. I do own Shinobu, Kenta, Dante, Shizue, and Daphne, though.
11: Let the … burn
Mashiro managed to return to the royal bunker without being confronted by any rebels. She assumed that she had gotten unseen, but she supposed that she could only know for sure if her bunker remained unmolested. She put the few royal guards that she had to work immediately, sending messages to rally and ready troops as well as requesting aid from their few allies. She ordered that the army be ready by dawn.
The army, she hoped, would be enough to put down the rebels, but it was not a large army because no country was supposed to carry a massive, standing army anymore because of the Otome. She doubted any country truly obeyed that rule; some were just better at hiding it than others. She ignored the worried gaze that Aoi had locked on her, but as time past ignoring her became unbearable, especially since she would not say anything.
"Aoi, what's on your mind?" the Queen inquired from a desk that she was parked at, sitting on the simple chair as if it were a throne.
"Highness, not to be disrespectful, but this is the second time the principal of Garderobe has offered you advice that you refused to even take under consideration," Aoi pointed out, her voice calm and collected, but the tone was belied by the expression buried in her eyes.
"Her 'advice' wasn't requested or necessary. Besides, she only wants to see the rebels win. Her ideas explain why the Otome haven't jumped in to help," Mashiro hissed, frowning deeply.
"That's not true, your Highness. Chie says the principal needs not only a request from a country for help, but the Otome Council has to approve and she has to have a strategy. You haven't requested help and I doubt that the Otome will help now that they know you have an army and that you have been rude to the principal."
Mashiro frowned and felt her stare turn hot. "You think I'm wrong and she's right? I should just dissolve the monarchy?"
"I didn't say that and neither did she. She didn't want you to turn the country into a war zone, which this will do," the maid argued.
"As I said, it's already a war zone. I'm not going to let them have the country. I'm also not going to allow some school principal dictate my actions or tell me how to govern my country," the Queen declared proudly.
"But, she's not just any school principal and she's a princess –"
"Of a country that's so backwards it's amazing they don't eat with their feet! She doesn't know anything about actually ruling a country or dealing with traitors! Look, Aoi, if you want to side with the principal of Garderobe that's your decision," Mashiro stated.
"I'm not siding with her. And I don't believe she was siding against you. She just didn't want innocent people getting hurt. She wants Arika back, too," Aoi said in low, gentle voice while putting her hand on Mashiro's shoulder.
The Queen felt all sorts of emotions swelling inside of her and she did her best to swallow them down. It gave her the sensation that everything inside of her was twisted and pulled, paining her to even breathe at the moment. Still, she suppressed it all down, pushing it into a little ball to be buried within her soul. Tears leaked out, though. She needed to be strong for Arika, so she viciously wiped away the small, cold traitors. She silently vowed to wipe out the rebels with just as much ease.
"Arika will he fine. You know how she is," Aoi said, still speaking calmly and tenderly.
"Yes, she will be fine because I'm going to get her back and punish those that dare to think they can take her and my kingdom from me," the Queen growled. As soon as her army was assembled, she would show them whose country it was.
-8-8-8-8-
The rebels were grumbling about something, but Arika could not make it out exactly. Her chains were long, so she moved closer to the door. It seemed like there was not the same crowd there as had been because there was no mumbling or background noise. It sounded like Maximilian Straw, Masujiro Danton, and a few others were having a normal conversation, if taking over the kingdom could be considered normal anyway.
"There's talk that she's mobilizing her army," Masujiro said.
"Spies have intercepted a letter from her to one of her generals and others have overheard reports," Maximilian answered, almost as if bored.
"So, she is mobilizing her army?"
"Looks like it."
"So, shall we kill the Otome?" Masujiro proposed, sounding almost hopeful.
"We shouldn't do that yet. We may still need the Queen. Right now, we can use our evidence to discredit her to the people. It'll get more people to join us. We might even get some people to desert the army. We would have even more strength and it would make it easier for the country to transition from her because many would not lament her stepping down or miss the monarchy in general."
Masujiro growled. "Why do you insist on keeping her alive?" He sounded frustrated.
"Because she can be useful and I'm not in hurry to have the country bathing in blood yet. We don't need to become Cardair."
"What use?" he practically spat.
"She keeps some other noble from stepping in to fill the void, a more competent and mature noble. Right now, we can mostly predict her and we can counter her. Let's not ruin ourselves by opening ourselves up to the unknown or even worse, allowing an unknown to gain allies because they might be better than she is at leading. There's too much that could go wrong by killing her now."
Masujiro chuckled. "You're got a good explanation, but we both know you don't have the stomach for executions. You don't want to kill that Otome. You don't want to spill any blood." He sounded mocking.
"Shedding blood taints the message. Look at Cardair. No one is talking about the people's rights anymore. They're talking about the blood running down the streets like a crimson river. They're talking about the murders and executions. Even countries friendly to our cause think Cardair needs to be stopped," Maximilian pointed out.
"Our cause can only be strengthened by getting rid of pig-dogs, like the Queen and other nobles. The ruling class needs to eliminated in order for true equality."
"Once we take care of their attack dogs, the Privileged won't be a challenge. What can the nobles do without the Otome?"
Arika hated that she agreed with Maximilian. The nobles did not stand a chance without the Otome. She hoped that the army could hold things together, even though she had faith in the Otome to defeat the rebels. She wondered when the rebels were going to attack. She hoped that they did not kill her before moving, even though Straw seemed intent on keeping her alive. Of course, Masujiro seemed just as intent on destroying her.
"You are sure we can defeat the Otome, right?" Maximilian inquired.
Masujiro snorted. "You doubt me?"
"I want to be sure," Maximilian stated.
"We're collecting weapons as we speak. I'll have to work on a strategy because it looks like we might not have enough weapons for a frontal assault. Of course, having more men would help, also," Masujiro explained.
Arika actually breathed a sigh of relief at that. She figured that the Otome would be able to get things in order if the rebels did attack. Plus, Mashiro would get the army. She was certain that the combined forces would end the rebels in no time. Then, everything would be able to go back to normal.
"So, while you work that out, I'll inform the people about the Queen and that should get more people on our side, which should certainly get you more men," Maximilian stated.
"Whatever's necessary to build an effective army," Masujiro replied.
"See, the Queen continues to come in handy for our cause." There was a chuckle.
Arika hoped that they were wrong, that no one would rally against her Master. But, in her gut, she just knew that things were not going to the way that she wanted. She tugged at her chains, needing to take action. Of course, the chains did not give and the noise attracted unwanted attention.
"Quiet down in there! Your nanomachines are gone and they're not coming back!" Masujiro barked.
She gasped. It had not occurred to her that they had managed to rid her of her nanomachines. She just thought that she was weak from her injuries. Oh, my god! Is that what those shots did to me? What is going on with these chains? This collar? How did they take my nanomachines? How am I supposed to protect Mashiro without my Otome powers? She wanted to cry, but she managed to suck it up. Crying was not going to get her anywhere.
"I have to get out of here," she growled in a low voice full of her usual determination. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to find something that would help set her free.
-8-8-8-8-
The Reactionaries had taken control of some media outlets, mostly because there were some Reactionaries in the news and publishing businesses, which were dying swift deaths in Windbloom. That would make it easy for Maximilian Straw to reach out to all of the people in the city or even the country. He wanted the world to hear what was happening, to know their side, and to understand why things had come to this. He needed the world to understand that they were the wronged party in all of this, not the Queen, not the monarchy, but the people.
"Is everything ready?" Maximilian asked as he stepped up to a podium.
"Yes, sir. Whenever you're ready," a tech answered.
"I'm ready."
"All right then, on my signal just look into the camera and let everyone know what the problem is." He raised his hand as the signal.
Maximilian stared into the camera and cleared his throat before he began speaking. "Greetings, world. I am Maximilian Straw of the New Politics movement in Windbloom. For months, our movement has struggled to try to bring even the most basic rights to the peasants of Windbloom, only to dismissed as cranks and laughed at as lunatics by the Privileged ruling class, especially that from our all-powerful monarch. Here, the majority of people live by the whim of the Queen, an absolute monarch. A flighty, immature woman who believes that the way to end a massive, devastating economic depression and historical highs in unemployment was to build an amusement park. Our children are sick and starving and our Queen's solution was to build a playground that only the ruling class could afford to play in while a small percentage of the peasants were expected to toil after them, smiling all the way through.
"Adding insult to injury, as we cried for basic rights to at least bring us some security in these uncertain times, she ignored us. She continues to ignore us now. As I tried to push her to at least sign my Natural Rights Doctrine, which would give everyone in the country of Windbloom rights that every human being should be entitled to, I was arrested for my troubles. I was held without charges, as are many people in our jails, put there only by the word of a single person rather than a written law. She could have easily sentenced me to ten years in prison or executed me without any trial to determine my guilt or innocence, or even to determine if I had, in fact, committed a crime to begin with. And this single person only rules by our permission, but she and the ruling class have hijacked that power.
"How is that possible, you may wonder? How can the Queen or anyone rule with our permission? The government is there to bring order to the people. No government is madness because there's no set law or rules for all to follow for the good of the nation, but that has been twisted here. Our government is madness. There are no set laws for all to follow that are for the good of the nation. The people are the nation, but the Queen and the ruling class refuse this basic principle. They believe we are here to serve them and they are the nation, but how could the nation exist without people? Where would Windbloom or any other country be without the people? But, they push for us to believe otherwise because when the people acknowledge their power and take it back, the ruling class will lose all that they have clawed from us.
"To prove how desperate the Privileged are to hold onto this power, the nobles of our nation have pushed a fraud on us for almost twenty years. They told us Mashiro was the lost daughter of our late beloved queen, but I have letters proving that she's really the daughter of the late Grand Duke of Artai, a man with so many children, he could care less to lose one. She was sold to Windbloom nobles, who thought that they would control her thus control the Throne. They all met untimely ends and the Queen now holds sway over us without even being a true daughter Windbloom. They lied to us for the power and continue to kick us while we're down and laugh as they do it, expecting us to accept it and beg for more.
"And now this pretender to the throne refuses us! She claims that this is her nation and she refuses us rights! She says this is her country, but I say this is our country! We are the true sons and daughters of Windbloom! We weren't bought and sold as puppets and we won't lie down silently as she tries to take this country with her illegal army or her Otome dogs. She refused to sign over basic rights to us, well now I call for her to leave the throne altogether. The monarchy and noble class has turned its back on us, so now we must rise on our own. We must take back this nation, our nation!
"We can rule ourselves. We are all competent, more so than the woman who builds an amusement park in the middle of a depression. We will bring about a new era, an era of equality without a ruling class! Every man shall be his own master in a democracy governed by laws that will be born out of this broken and battered monarchy!" In his mind, Maximilian could hear the people cry out. "Rise up with us and we can change this country for the better!"
-8-8-8-8-
Straw's message was received with vigor. The people took to the streets all over the country, roaring over the lies spread by nobility and the Queen. Manor houses were now the targets of the people's wrath. Even the Violas were not immune to this blind fury.
-8-8-8-8-
"What the hell is going on out there?" Nao wondered as a loud explosion echoed through the school. The floor and the walls shook as she saw a pillar of fire in the distance.
"Windbloom has gone crazy after Maximilian Straw gave a speech that was broadcasted around the world!" Natsuki explained in a hurried tone as she ran past the redhead.
"Where are you going?" Nao called after her.
"I gotta tell Shizuru!" the principal replied without bothering to turn around.
Natsuki ran to the apartment, where Shizuru was playing with Shinobu. The television was on, but it was on cartoons. Shinobu walked over to her mother and hugged her around the leg. Natsuki patted the toddler on the back while her eyes met a pair of concerned crimson orbs.
"Natsuki, why are you here? I thought you had a phone meeting with the Otome council," Shizuru said.
"Forget them! We need to really go and check on your family, in person. Maximilian Straw gave a televised speech and Windbloom went nuts when he claimed that Mashiro wasn't the true queen and that nobles planted her there to control the country," Natsuki reported.
"What do you mean?"
"Otome from all over the country said mobs were forming and marching on manor houses and going after their Masters. We need to go!"
Shizuru only nodded. She stood up and grabbed Shinobu's go-bag. Natsuki kept a good grip on their daughter and the family left the apartment. Shizuru followed Natsuki to Yohko's office. The doctor had agreed to watch Shinobu already.
"Behave for Auntie Yohko, all right, Spooky?" Natsuki told the child as she set her down.
Shinobu's chubby face scrunched up. "I thought I was gonna stay with Kaa-san." Her voice was so sorrowful and disappointed it almost crushed Natsuki. The pout was nearly too much.
"Kaa-san will be right back. She and Mom are going to pick up your grandparents," Shizuru replied before kissing Shinobu on the cheek. That seemed to be enough to pacify the child. Natsuki gave her a kiss, too, as a farewell.
"We'll be back soon," Natsuki vowed.
"I'll be good," Shinobu promised. The parents rushed out after that.
"How are we going to get there?" Shizuru asked, knowing that it was dangerous for Otome to reveal themselves.
"Let's just fly. I know you don't care about revealing yourself and we need to get there as soon as possible because who knows what the hell these mobs are downing beyond marching on houses," Natsuki answered.
Shizuru nodded and the Columns took to the air. They were shot at while flying over the burning city, but managed to avoid being hit. There were parts of Windbloom that appeared to be nothing more than ghost towns, sands blowing into empty spaces as the wind howled through deserted high class homes. Towns outside the capital seemed to be on their way to looking the exact same way. Pillars of dark smoke rose from some areas and the whiff of burning hopes floated through the air.
"Equality at a threat and democracy through anarchy …" Natsuki sneered as they moved. She felt ashamed for having the same broad philosophical views as these people.
"Why are they destroying our county? My father has never done anything to hurt people," Shizuru muttered.
"They're not thinking clearly, Shizuru. It's not personal," Natsuki tried to assure her wife.
"To you maybe, but this is my home, my family!" the tawny-haired woman shouted with a glare directed at everything, not her spouse. She then gasped as she saw her house. There was a crowd ripping through everything, throwing rocks through the windows, and there was a fire blazing at the western corner of the house.
"Go get whoever you can and I'll hold 'em off," Natsuki said as she descended into the crowd, leaving no room for argument.
"The Otome dogs have shown up to protect their elitist Masters!"
"Get her!"
Natsuki mentally huffed as the crowd closed in on her because her Element was useless in close quarter combat. As much as she loved her cannon, there was no practical way for her to use it right now. Instead, she got to show the crowd why her classmates did not challenge her to sparring matches.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will put you down," Natsuki promised as she crouched into a fighting stance. No one bothered to listen to her and they charged her. She wasted no time in defending herself and kicked several people across their faces.
-8-8-8-8-
Shizuru rushed through the house, searching for her family and servants. She thought that everyone might have gotten out all right because all she saw as fallen debris and the smell of fire rushed through her nose. But, then voices caught her attention. She charged off in the direction of the west wing and saw her parents trying to beat back flames.
"Okaasan! Otousan!" Shizuru called and they turned with panicked expressions tearing through their faces.
"Shizuru!"
"Where's Daphne?" the Third Column inquired as she stood before them.
"She's trapped!" Shizue cried, pointing into the room that was blocked off by the fire.
Shizuru waited no time breaking through, not caring if her Robe would protect her from the fire or not. The room was covered in smoke, but Daphne was near by, pinned to the floor by a traitorous piece of the ceiling covering her legs. Shizuru flung that out of the way and grabbed Daphne without a word. The youngest Viola coughed as her sister carried her out.
"Is everyone out?" Shizuru asked her parents, who both nodded.
"We got the servants out before the ceiling came down on Daphne," Dante replied, coughing.
"Then let's get out of here. Hold onto me," Shizuru ordered her parents.
Both complied and then Shizuru flew out, going out so that Natsuki could see her. Natsuki was right behind her and took Shizue to lighten Shizuru's load. They had to be careful of gunfire on their way back to Garderobe.
"What is going on? One speech and the whole country claws out its own heart?" Dante sighed.
"People are angry. They just found out their Queen is a lie and think that all of the nobles knew. They feel betrayed," Natsuki pointed out.
"We're on their side," Daphne croaked, her voice scratchy and raw from smoke.
"Shh, don't talk," Shizuru hushed her dear sister.
"Right now, titles choose sides and we're all against them as far as they're concerned," Natsuki informed them. Now, the people had chosen the extreme and she was not sure what to do. If she could even do anything. Maybe it was not her fight, not as an Otome or even as a believer of the New Philosophy. It seemed like a national fight and she was not a national, even though she was married to one. She shook those thoughts away and forged on, returning to Garderobe.
They made it back to the school and the couple went right to the infirmary with the Violas. Shizuru laid her little sister on a bed while Yohko walked over with Shinobu. The child grinned until she was close enough to see how battered her aunt and grandparents were. She stopped mid-stride and examined them.
"You okay?" Shinobu asked concern shimmering in her mismatched eyes.
"We're fine, Binkie," Shizue assured her with leaning down to pick her up. Shinobu clung to her grandmother, who winced as she stood up. Despite the pain on her face, she did not release the toddler.
"Sensei, I need you to examine my sister. She was trapped in a fire by some debris," Shizuru explained, waving Yohko over.
The doctor nodded, but turned her attention to Shizuru's parents. "Don't go anywhere because you're next." She then went to check on the youngest Viola.
"You two feeling all right? Physically speaking anyway?" Natsuki asked. She knew that in any other aspect her in-laws were far from all right. Their home was destroyed and they were being treated as if they had harmed people that they only wanted to help. Betrayed more than likely did not begin to cover how they felt.
"We're a little worse for wear, but all right," Dante answered, eyeing the bed that held his youngest daughter.
"Yeah, we're fine physically," Shizue backed up.
Natsuki nodded because there was nothing else to do. "Look, after the doctor checks out Daphne, I want you guys to take Spooky to Saxas." The couple both became wide eyed.
"Why would we do that? This is our home. I'm not just abandoning it," Dante declared with strength in his voice. He coughed a bit after he spoke, but that did not change the determined glint in his eyes.
"Yeah, those bas—" Shizue bit back the insult, remembering her granddaughter was in her arms. "They tried to destroy us. I'm not just letting that go and something must be done before the country falls into complete chaos."
"Well, we can't have Spooky go alone and you're going to have to take care of Daphne." Natsuki had seen the younger woman's leg and she knew that there was no way that she would just get up and be ready to go.
Shizue frowned, knowing that to be true. "I suppose your parents are expecting us."
"They are. Please, just go. Take care of Daphne and Spooky. I can't make any promises as an Otome –" Natsuki said and she was stopped by Dante putting his hand up.
"Then don't make any promises. Do what you can and don't stress yourself," he told her.
Natsuki sighed; too late. She had to do something, though. She could not sit back and watch good people, which her in-laws were despite being annoying, have their lives destroyed. She could not stand by idly while her wife's home, her wife's nation devoured itself.
Besides, the Windbloom New Politics movement had taken a massive step in the wrong direction, much like Cardair. Unlike Cardair, though, the Windbloom movement gave her an in with kidnapping Arika instead of killing her like the people in Cardair. An Otome dying in the line of duty was considered a part of war and not something the school was expected to get involved in because the Otome were warriors, soldiers. But, for whatever reason, an Otome being held hostage was open to interference by the school because the school had the right to protect its students if the student, current or former, was not actively fighting. I'm going to do something, dammit.
The group was silent for a while, waiting for Yohko to finish with Daphne. The young woman had a nasty set of gashes in her leg and some minor burns along with a shattered ankle. Her leg was broken, the bone poking out of the skin. She had not inhaled a lot of smoke since she had been on the floor, so her throat was not a problem.
"She'll be fine," Yohko assured the worried parents. "But, she's going to need to rest, especially her leg and ankle."
The Viola couple nodded. "We're going to take her to stay with Natsuki-chan's family," Shizue said.
"Saxas has plenty of fresh air and is totally peaceful. Perfect for recovery," Natsuki assured everyone. She suspected the thing that saved Saxas and the surrounding nations was the lack of televisions, so ideas spread slower. Also, there were always suspicions of ideas that came from the main continent.
"It does sound perfect. I'll write up how to care for her injuries and give you what you need to make sure she heals fine," Yohko declared without room for arguing.
Shizuru gave Natsuki a relieved look, apparently happy that her family was going to go Saxas without a fight. Natsuki supposed how that Shizuru saw how bad things were in Windbloom, she understood why her family needed to leave. Natsuki embraced her wife, who turned into her.
"We have to do something," Shizuru whispered. "They didn't do anything. They don't deserve this."
"Agreed. We'll do something," Natsuki vowed. She just did not know what yet.
For now, she focused on getting the Violas, Shinobu, and Kenta out of the country. She was surprised about her brother leaving so easily, especially since Nao could be in danger. Of course, Nao had been the one to convince him to leave and Natsuki did not want to contemplate what had gone onto lead to his compliance. She was just happy that he was going.
"Spooky, you make sure you be good for grandparents, aunt, and uncle," Natsuki told her daughter, kissing her forehead.
"Kaa-san and Momma will come along soon," Shizuru assured the child, also kissing Shinobu's forehead.
"Be good," Shinobu declared, whether it was a promise or an order, it got a smile from both of her mothers.
Natsuki hugged Kenta farewell once he was done with a sloppy goodbye with Nao. Shizuru embraced her mother, father, and her wheelchair bound sister. After that, they were gone and the Otome were left with a mess to clean up. And the mess was only going to get worse.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: Garderobe is under attack.
A/N: having never seen a map of Earl before, I drew a crude version of one myself. You can find a link for it at the bottom of my profile. I just think it helps more if I'm going to continue playing around in this universe. I dunno. Ignore me.
