"I'm just a soldier. I'm not worthy."

"Nor was I."

- Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime

"I'm going to die."

- Akane Higurashi

"I believe the word you're looking for is AAAAHHHHHHH!"

- The Penguin

"Uu."

- Maria Ushiromiya


"Aka… ne…"

The aging emperor choked on his bloody breath. Crossbow bolts were stabbing his lungs and a corner of his heart. The front of his white dress shirt and the white carpet bearing the Krau-xeku coat of arms underneath him were turning ruby red.

Court attendants argued and hung their heads in dejected sorrow. Akane held Kazuya in her arms as he shivered and grew colder. She was surrounded by both of her sons and two of her daughters. The entire castle rumbled from a distant explosion.

Cardair's royal Meister—Akane's oldest child—rushed into the throne room wearing her Robe. The panicking adolescent girl gasped for breath as she stopped on her pearl heels.

"What happened?! Some kind of ambush?" she said as soon as she entered. She saw the throne room in disarray, the nobles huddled together with forlorn faces… and the harrowing state of the emperor collapsed in Akane's lap. Her eyes widened in horror and she ran to the throne screaming "Papa!"

Kazuya tried to mumble something from his drowning lips, but couldn't form the words. His frail shaking hand brushed over his charcoal hair, and continued reaching upward. The Cardair crown rattled in his weak grasp as it pointed toward his eldest son—a boy not even eleven years old. His sobbing little brother was only around half his age.

Ministers came forward to take the crown out of Kazuya's hand and bestow it on his frightened son, Kazuo. The dying emperor made a sound that may have been a relieved wheeze. Relieved because he never really wanted the crown to begin with, or relieved with the knowledge his son had the immutable right to succeed him and hopefully surpass him.

His other bloodied, shaking hand started to reach aimlessly into the air. His fingers outstretched desperately toward his wife and daughters. His oldest girl looked down at him in silent heartbreak.

The daughters were like three precious nesting dolls when they were lined up together. The oldest and tallest, armed in her combat Robe. The middle sister, covering her mouth and shaking her head in frantic denial. The youngest and smallest, clutching her stuffed tiger for security.

The eldest daughter had the very rare privilege of being allowed to advance to Meister rank even before her 16th birthday on account of her good family name. The Academy had recently released her so she could begin serving her kingdom on the condition that Akane would be her trainer until she completed all of her credits. Today's madness would have to be her de facto final exam.

Hundreds of screams echoed from outside of the castle as the invaders breached another stockade.

Akane stared at Kazuya's raised trembling hand with her lips tightly pursed together. She wanted to sob louder than any of her children, to revert back to the same lost and hopeless child she had been almost two decades ago the first time he'd been taken away from her. But she couldn't do that. She had to remain strong and fearless. For her kingdom. For her family. For Kazu.

She was losing him again, and the half-dozen bolts plunging five inches deep through his heart made certain he was never coming back this time. At least he left behind three daughters. Three powerful chances to protect the kingdom from total obliteration.

Akane had turned three on the same day the princess of Windbloom was born, and then Windbloom was notoriously sacked a few weeks later. It was only natural the same curse would eventually follow her to her own kingdom. The harshest lesson she learned in her young and foolish years was she couldn't just flee from her problems. They would pursue her ruthlessly no matter where she went.

Maybe she could have avoided all of this if she had remained loyal to her childhood home and never changed her allegiance to Cardair. But if she hadn't gone to Cardair, then she would have faced an even more painful fate: An empty, regretful life without Kazuya and his beautiful children.

Akane let her husband rest against her knees and closed both of her hands around his palm as she were in prayer. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his knuckles as she felt his pulse slow. His arm was going limp.

The eldest daughter's Robe vanished at the same moment the emperor's heart stopped beating. The dissipating energy reverted back into a pristine white maid uniform, and the unsteady panic on the girl's face instantly changed to utter despair.

As the daughter wailed into her palms beside her two younger sisters, Akane looked over toward her son Kazuo with his father's crown engulfing his small round head. She thought of Cardair's tragic history. She thought of young Argos XII.

Another artillery shell thundered miles away in the background. Akane made a decision.

She let go Kazuya's cold fingers and guided his arm down so it rest peacefully over his impaled heart. She calmly rose to her feet and approached her devastated oldest daughter. The children were all weeping, the world outside was turning to Hell, but Akane remained as quiet as a mountain.

"Mama, I…" the daughter struggled to speak over her endless tears. "I'm so sorry. I never even got a chance to…"

Akane quickly thrust her arms around her daughter before the girl could cry another word. Her arms crossed behind the girl's neck and cradled the back of her head like they had so many times before when she was just an infant.

Akane tucked her chin against her daughter's shoulder and kissed her. Kissed her on the ear.

The Malachite GEM chimed softly, confirming the new contract.

The daughter gasped with confusion before she went completely silent. She wasn't even sure what had happened at first. She glanced toward her father. His motionless hands were empty. She glanced toward her little brother Kazuo. The crown was sinking over his head, but both of his small hands were empty as well. She glanced down. Her mother was wearing the Master Signet.

Akane slowly shook her head to calm her daughter's fears.

"You're still the Otome of the Cardair Throne. I'll be your Master so Kazuo won't have to risk his life."

"How can you still have faith in me? I already messed up…" The daughter whimpered with disbelief.

Akane could have told her the simple truth: Nothing about this chaos was her fault. She was barely a teenager with no control over the sinister, crooked, murderous underbelly of their world. She'd been undone by a sinister assassination scheme that caught her off guard for a brief, fatal moment just like everyone else in the palace. She wasn't there to shield her father only because she'd been vigilantly standing guard up on the battlements when the invasion began. Few Robes were as quick and nimble as the famous Pure Heart Malachite, but even she couldn't be in two places at once.

But the truth would just leave the poor thing doubting and blaming herself in an endless cycle, and that would create an indecisive soldier. It would create certain doom for Cardair, and for the royal family. Instead, her mother told her what she needed to hear.

"So did I," Akane said in a wary voice, recalling her own reckless past she'd told all of her children countless times as inspirational and cautionary bedtime stories. "Look at what I accomplished when my Big Sisters helped me try again."

The fear and regret faded from her daughter's eyes. The girl re-activated her Meister Robe at once without needing any further motivation. She tried to smile thankfully at her mentor, and partially succeeded with teary eyes.

The daughter crossed her wrists in front of her chest in an "X" formation. Her gloves flashed as she Materialised a pair of platinum kusarigama. Mechanical chains unlatched inside the handles and extended the sickles down to the flight ring on her waist.

"Rendezvous with the Meisters from the lower households," her mother instructed. "Lead them into a defensive line at the northern gate. I'll let you decide on the tactics. If any of the older girls get fussy and start questioning your orders, remind them you're acting directly on my behalf."

Every Otome in Cardair looked up to Akane these days. She was the Otome who chose her own contract out of love and founded a new dynasty that had brought light to their darkened and corrupt nation. Only those closest to her—namely, her daughters—knew how much Garderobe had aided her behind the scenes so her dreams could come true.

Akane's attention turned toward the open palace doors. A hazy gray sky hung over the building while the sounds of intense warfare rumbled in the horizon.

"If this happened back when I was your age, I could've relied on the Columns to bail me out. They followed me around everywhere to make sure I behaved myself. You'll have to be the one who shows everyone we Soir girls can stand on our own."

The daughter acknowledged her mother's orders by nodding firmly and silently. If she let any sound escape her mouth, she might start crying for her father again.

"Now take to the sky and perform your duty, Guardian Angel," Akane said with a supportive smile.

The girl nodded again, this time appearing fully confident. She sprinted toward the doors and launched off of the outside stairwell to the tune of luminous whistling turbines. She was a tiny shining speck breaching through the storm clouds a couple seconds later.

Akane's daughter was younger than she'd been when she graduated, but she also wasn't the blubbering emotional mess her mother had been during those early years. She was a Malachite with ironclad courage and an unwavering devotion to protecting the family she loved. If anyone could rise to the challenge of repelling Cardair's enemies and bringing glory to the kingdom, it was her.

The Krau-xeku household's majordomo approached Akane while she was skygazing. He opened his mouth to pay his respects to her, but just like every other crestfallen mourner in the palace, he was at complete a loss for words. Akane calmly issued her commands so he'd know she welcomed and appreciated his assistance.

"Take the emperor and the other children to the sanctuary. Instruct the house attendants to evacuate and make sure they follow you. Let my husband rest until we can make the proper arrangements for a burial. I'll stay here so I can advise our Royal Guard."

"But Your Majesty, if the princess is defeated, you'll…" the majordomo started to gasp.

"And what if I do?" Akane scoffed, sharply raising her voice to show her resolve. In another time, when she was a much weaker person, the mere idea would have terrified her. But now… "What does it matter anymore? The throne belongs to my son now. I'm expendable."

Her eyes never left the dreary sky when she was speaking.

"There's an old saying from where I was born. I used to whisper it to Kazuya whenever it seemed like we'd never be able to stay together. He loved how I said it, even when I didn't completely believe it. 'Impossible n'est pas Florì.'"

The majordomo squinted in puzzlement. "Your Majesty?"

Akane explained with a flat tone. "'Impossible doesn't exist in Florince.' It's a loanword our language had to steal from somewhere else."

She turned toward the servant so he could see the desperation on her face.

"Now please, get my children out of this nightmare."

The majordomo responded with a rushed a bow and hurriedly directed the entire court toward a false wall in the back of the throne room. Akane carefully watched the crowd escape to safety until the only persons left in the room were herself, and her husband's remains.

Finally, without the ten trembling eyes of her children watching her, Akane lowered her face into her hand and allowed herself to weep. Her painful, despairing, bewildered emotions ran loose until she was exhausted. She brushed her shoulder length hair away from her face and sucked in a long gasp of air, and then she could think clearly again. Her own fairy tale life had ended in violent misery, but that didn't need to be the ending for the entire story.

Facing away from her husband's body, her eyes glanced up toward the sky.

"I'm sorry I'll have to keep you waiting for a while, Kazu. One of us has to stay here to make sure these kids grow up right. I'm not planning on joining you any time soon."

Wiping her tears away, she crossed her arms in her regal layered blouse. Her mouth began to curl into a confident smile as she gazed out the doors toward the distant pillars of smoke rising out of her city. It looked scary from here, but her daughter and friends would have the problem under control within a matter of minutes.

"Claw that Rat King and his rodent army to pieces, Erstin. Keep your little brothers out of danger," the Empress Dowager whispered softly.


Author's notes:

This is not the only timeline where Akane and Kazu live long enough to have kids. It's probably one of the less likely timelines, in fact. I'm more of a "They should rule in uninterrupted harmony for 70 bajillion years and then peacefully die in their sleep at the same time so the family can guide the country justly and fairly while they're beloved by all" kinda guy. This is just one possible outcome.

If I had named this fanfic "Tsumugareta Rekishi" or "Revolving History", do you think anyone would "get it"?

Maybe I should rename it "Long Live the King" and change the thumbnail to a picture of Jeremy Irons. That would simply be… ironic.

That detail about the daughter still being a Magical Girl Academy trainee isn't really necessary. It's the exact same story if you take that part out. You could say "Oh, so you're just making her into a Cardair version of Arika." But I'm like, "Naw. It gives the story that extra feeling of Muv-Luv vulnerability."

Judge Dredd be like, "She's a pass."

You might also be telling yourself "My, this is a very different Akane. I'm not used to seeing her act like this." Yeah. She's acting exactly like how I wrote Shizuru in "Messing with the Morrigan." That's the entire point. Passing wisdom through the ages. Student becomes the Master. Bringing yourself full circle. All that stuff.

Akane's official birthday in Mai HiME is September 7. Nina's, Mashiro's, and Arika's official birthdays in Mai Otome are all September 7. I just Megazorded the two ideas into one.

Someone on the RedLetterMedia subreddit posted a poorly drawn MS Paint picture of Jay holding a Blu-Ray copy of Salo: 120 Days of Sodom. That got me thinking about how Nao in Mai Otome is sometimes shown casually reading Marquis de Sade in the background. Nao hangs out with Akane a lot when they're in the Academy, which means there's a fairly high chance Akane (in-universe) knows what 120 Days of Sodom is. That is the fate she must protect her children from.

Writing this story gave me the same weird feeling I got when I was writing the most recent couple of chapters in my long Fushigi Yuugi fanfic. I'm 36 irl. Here I am, writing about these "older" characters gradually wearing down from the effects of their "later years," when they're… in their early or mid 30s, at most? Assuming Akane and Dead Kazu-kun were 16-17 at the end of the Otome TV series, and Garderobe let her retire around 19-20ish? I'm envisioning them as creaky, tired, near-senior citizens when they're still younger than me. Other than the times my brain goes "Holy shit! It's been 25 years since Nick Patrick screwed up the three count at Starrcade!" or something random like that, I never really *feel* that old. I guess it was just a lot different being in your 30s in the Medieval era (or the pseudo-neo-Medieval era, in Mai Otome's case).