Disclaimer: Once again, MKR does not belong to me. It never did, and, considering my current jobless state, never will. Ah well. Please enjoy the fanfic!
I'll Be Your Support
Chapter Two: His Will
by Nereix
"Are you sure she'll be here?"
"Of course! She comes here every day. Vaniol saw her."
"Yeah, right. Vaniol is a liar. Remember when he chickened out of the seijuu fight?"
"I did not!"
"Ne, Zagato-niichan, let's go home, I don't wanna be here, we'll be caught…"
"Yahh, Lantis is chicken!"
"Leave him alone, Periif. Lantis, come on."
"Ow!"
"What happened? You okay, LaFarga?"
There was a rustle of leaves.
"I skinned my knee on the trunk. Ow…"
"Lemme see. Oy, that's deep! You should go get it cleaned, cuz it'll get infected. Can you move it? Lemme help you…"
"Thanks, Vaniol. Owow!"
"Sorry. Looks like you hit the bone, too. Periif, help me."
"Yup. Here, 'Farga, gimme your shoulder."
"I wanted t'see the Pillar—"
"So, we'll come back tomorrow. Zagato, Lantis, you guys coming down?"
"Nii-chan, let's go…"
"Go on, Lantis. I want to stay a bit longer. LaFarga, you'll be okay, right?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
The raven-haired boy watchfully kept an eye on his little brother as the latter carefully climbed down the tree trunk. Satisfied that Lantis was safe and LaFarga okay, he looked up to the branches above him and pulled himself up. Zagato continued his ascent up to the highest branch that looked like it could hold his weight, and then gazed out. He had an incredible view from his vantage point. His eyes swept over the perimeter of the forest leading all the way up to the western hills, where the sun was starting to set, casting a red-gold tinge on the world. And he was just about level with a balcony that nudged out of the tallest tower of the castle, facing south. As he watched, a female figure emerged from the doorway.
His mouth dropped.
He already knew that she was supposed to be beautiful. The grownups, who had been around when she hadn't become Pillar yet, told stories about it. He'd heard that she still looked eleven, even though she was really nineteen. But he hadn't been prepared for this. She was—well, short. It was hard to not imagine the Pillar as some all-powerful, great and supreme being, but she really looked like a little kid, hardly older than he. It was like watching a character out of an old fairy tale, except she was more than child imaginations could dream up of. And she had—had some sort of aura around her. Like she was shining. Like her impossibly long golden hair. Zagato sat in the tree branch, and stared in dumb awe.
He watched her turn her head away to look at the sun, its light radiating the material of her dress and sparkling in her blue eyes. Then she looked back at something on the ground—her shadow?—and stopped still. Zagato had a clear view of her face, and she looked…shocked. Stricken. Were Pillars allowed to do that?
And then her eyes filled with grief and spilled over.
Zagato was taken aback. Princess Emeraude was crying? None of the stories ever mentioned anything like this. Even she looked surprised at the tears streaking down her cheeks. Blinking in astonishment, she reached up slender fingers to touch them, and then stood looking at her fingers with an odd look on her face. She stayed like that for a long time until she took a deep breath and wiped them away, turning around abruptly to reenter her chambers, leaving Zagato to puzzle over her strange behavior.
What would the Princess be crying over? Cephiro was a perfect place. There weren't any problems or anything. Everyone was so happy. He was completely perplexed. Why would the Pillar cry?
~~~~~
He never told anyone what he saw. When the other boys badgered him to talk about the Pillar, he claimed to have left before he saw her, having gotten tired of waiting. They were disappointed especially that he refused to go with them anymore to sneak a glimpse of her.
"Aww, Zagato isn't any fun anymore," he heard Periif complain to Vaniol one day. "He doesn't do stuff. He just sits in the library and stares out the window."
"Ever since he went to see the Pillar, he's been like that. And, you know"—Vaniol's voice dropped to a whisper so that Zagato had to strain to hear it—"from the library window he's always at, you get a clear view of the tower she lives in." He sounded worried. "I hope he's okay, really."
Zagato looked down at the carpet, feeling guilty. He was neglecting his friends and making them worry. But he couldn't get the picture of the crying princess out of his head. From the library window, he could just make out the tip of the balcony that she had been standing on, but he still couldn't figure out why she would be crying about something. Cephiro was a beautiful world, and she kept it that way. Was it very hard? Was she crying because she was tired? No, she didn't look tired, she looked sad. But why?
"Zagato-kun?"
Zagato jerked his head up. "Clef-sensei!"
The Guru gave a soft smile in greeting and took a seat next to the boy. "Zagato-kun, I couldn't help but notice that you were rather distracted in class today. In fact"—the mage gave him a piercing look—"you have been so for a few days now. Is there anything wrong?"
Zagato felt another wave of guilt. He was worrying his instructor too.
"Nothing's wrong, Clef-sensei. You don't have to worry about me."
Cephiro's Supreme Sorcerer regarded him solemnly. "You know that if there's anything bothering you, you can always talk to me, right?"
Zagato swallowed over a lump in his throat. The guilt was overbearing. "Yessir."
With a pat on his head, Guru Clef rose up to leave. Right before he left the room, a tense voice asked behind him, "Clef-sensei?"
"…What is it, Zagato-kun?"
A pause. "The Pillar…does Princess Emeraude have anything she could be sad about?"
Clef felt his eyes widen. He turned around to see the boy looking out the window with an indescribable expression. "That's a rather sudden question," he replied cautiously. "May I ask what brings it?"
"I'm just wondering." When the older man raised an eyebrow, he added hastily, "I mean, she's the Pillar, and it's a pretty hard job, right? She has to take care of everything, you know? It's gotta be stressful. So I thought…" He drifted off.
The guru sighed and went to stand next to the boy. "It's true that she takes care of everything. Cephiro is beautiful because of her. But I have watched over her ever since she was born, and Princess Emeraude is very able to fulfill the position of Pillar."
Yeah, that's true, Zagato thought. She probably wouldn't be Pillar if she couldn't be a good one. Because she's there to watch over us, everyone lives in peace. Everyone is happy. Everyone is…
…Happy.
That was it.
"She's not happy," he muttered, hardly aware of the Guru next to him.
The Pillar protected everyone's happiness.
But who was there to protect her happiness?
Zagato's head spun. Ever since she was born…Ever since she was born, Princess Emeraude had lived for others' sake. As Pillar, she spent her life ensuring Cephiro's prosperity. Had she never been able to be selfish? Had she never lived for herself?
No. She hadn't. She hadn't...
She wasn't allowed to act for herself. She was separate from everyone. That's why she was crying.
That's why she was crying.
It was unfair. And everyone just expected her to live for them! Took it for granted! While she was chained!
He'd do something about it. Change it. So that she wouldn't have to cry.
~~~~~
Well, that's the second installment of this fic. The fact that I wrote this entire thing today proves my complete and utter lack of life. I think I need to find a job...
I want to thank Alma-senpai for being my first reviewer! Sankyuu!
I hope you all enjoyed reading. Next chapter will probably be from Clef's POV. Please review! Arigatou gozaimashita!
Until next time, ciao!