Majesty
By Trish.
Disclaimer: 'Juuni Kokki' or the 'Twelve Kingdoms' does not belong to me. That honour belongs to Fuyumi Ono, Media Blasters, and Madman Entertainment.
A/N:I've only recently started to follow this anime, and as such, may not have a complete understanding of the rules and laws of the Twelve Kingdoms. This is from Keiki's POV. My first Twelve Kingdoms fic!
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Keiki followed his empress at a respectful distance as she made her way down the ceremonial red carpet flanked by the prostrated figures of her court. Today was the official investiture and Youko would be presented to the people as the new Empress of Kei or Kei-Ou.
He thought that she looked very regal in the daikyuu. The black gown and the black crown really offset her crimson hair. The imperial treasure of Kei, the sword Suiguu hung from a sash around her waist. As they approached the entrance and saw the imperial banners waving in the immense courtyard, his mind drifted back to the day they first met – in a high school classroom in Hourai.
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"Who are you?"
Keiki gazed at her in silence. He had been searching this world for months for a Kei taika, a person whose ranka had been blown to Hourai in a shoku before they were ready to be born. He had been looking for someone who didn't seem to belong, who didn't seem to fit in, when he saw this red-haired girl. "Finally, my search for you has ended." He walked towards her.
Youko rose from her desk in disbelief, "What?"
"Please, you must come with me." He needed to bring her back to Kei, back so that the Kingdom could once again prosper after two years of misery.
"What…who are you?"
'Taiho, I sense the enemy,' Hyouki's deep voice came from beneath his feet, causing the young girl to gasp. His shirei were as observant and alert as always for danger towards their master or the chosen one. Hyouki's comment meant that it was even more imperative to get his young empress to safety.
"It seems that we've been followed," Keiki explained to the girl.
"Huh, where did that voice come from?" she gasped.
"I do not have time to explain," he leaned forward and grasped her hand. "Excuse me, there is much danger here. We must go to a safer place."
Youko baulked, and tried to pull her hand out of his grasp. "No! Let go of me! Just who are you anyway?"
"There is no time for me to explain this," Keiki repeated. "The enemy approaches. Please, come with me." Her green eyes widened in fright and she wrenched herself free from his grasp.
"NO!" As Keiki walked towards her, she scuttled back until she was almost against the cupboard.
"Don't come closer!" her voice was high pitched with fear. "I don't know who you are!"
He gazed at her. The ouki, or aura of a ruler, was definitely present in this frightened school girl. Whether she liked it or not, the Heavens had chosen her to be the next ruler of the Kingdom of Kei. "There is no mistake, it is you."
Youko blinked. "I think you may have the wrong person."
"Don't be stubborn," Keiki growled, just a little frustrated as he knelt down before the surprised girl and bowed his head. There was no mistake, no mistake at all, for a kirin never bows down to anyone except for his or her master. To those to whom the kirin bows, the Heavens bestow the kingdom from which the kirin hails.
"I swear never to desert my post before your throne," he vowed.
"What? But…I.." Still she hesitated.
He glared up at her. "Accept it."
"Accept it?" Must she have so many questions?
"If you value your life in any way, you must say that you accept it."
"What? How do I…"
"Now. Quickly," he gritted his teeth. If she did not accept soon, he would be unable to protect her from the youma who would be coming.
"I…I…accept," she finally whispered. That was enough for Keiki. His vow of fealty and her acceptance of it meant that he could call out his shirei to protect her.
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It came not a moment too soon. The attack by the Kochou heralded the start of a series of attack by youma. Youko had finally slain the giant bird with the help of Keiki's hinman, Jyouyuu.
Jyouyuu…he was glad he had ordered the hinman to stay dormant inside the girl. For without it, he was not sure that Youko would have survived all that time he had been captured under Kourin's spell.
He had not been certain of his own fate, enchanted and chained against his will near the false empress. What happened to a kirin when he is unable to speak against a false ruler, or free to find the true ruler, lost somewhere in the world of the Twelve Kingdoms? Would he slowly die from shitsudou because the will of the Heavens was being thwarted? Would Youko then die, an innocent victim, because if he died, then so would she. Such was the price for acceptance of the mandate from the Heavens.
Keiki's mind snapped back to the present as the crowds cheered their appearance. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kei-Ou look a little shocked as all kowtowed before her. The reality of her situation must have been brought home to her, amid all the pomp and ceremony. For a moment she looked like a slightly scared school girl, which she once was, Keiki reminded himself.
At sixteen, she was still so young, still had much to learn about her own world, let alone the world of the Twelve Kingdoms. Would she be able to withstand the rigours of ruling a kingdom?
Of course, just because she was young didn't automatically mean failure as a ruler. Ryou-Ou was just as young, if not a bit younger, and she had been ruling for a century now. Whereas, Yo-Ou, who was a mature woman, lasted only six years before she lost her way and reason.
He shuddered at the recollection of the madness in her eyes, of the hatred for her gender when she told him to kill the first group of women, and then to exile all the women from the kingdom of Kei. It was then he knew that there was no chance of redemption for her, that the Heavens would punish both him and his monarch. Should he have stood up to her? A kirin was a holy creature of truth and justice. But it was against the law for a kirin to disobey their master, no matter how wrong they were acting – so he had not.
But that did not mean he could not. He heard from Enki that Kourin had disobeyed her king's orders to kill Youko. When Saku-Ou charged with the sword, Kourin stepped in and took the fatal blow. Why had she done it? Perhaps she knew that she was dying anyway, and there was no hope for redemption. Keiki did not hold any malice towards Kourin for her part in his capture and enslavement, nor for her part in the youma attacks on Youko. After all, she was just doing what her master had ordered.
Speaking of Enki, Keiki was sure that the diminutive kirin, En- Ou and the hanjyuu Rakushun were in the crowd of dignitaries somewhere. Kei-Ou had insisted that they be invited along to her coronation, as she considered them to be her closest friends and allies.
Rakushun had found her unconscious and nursed her back to health, then had accompanied her on the journey to the Kingdom of En. Once there, he had informed the En Taiho and En-Ou of Youko's circumstances, and she had been taken into their protection.
Not that Keiki would have protested their presence at the coronation. While he did not know Rakushun very well, he did know the Emperor and the En Taiho. Even though Enki's personality seemed to be the exact opposite of Keiki's, they got along extremely well. Enki was loud, boisterous, cheeky and at times, downright insubordinate; but talk to him at length and you would find a very wise, serious, and compassionate soul. Sure he sounded like a little braggart sometimes, but after 500 years of peaceful rule, one was entitled to a little ego trip now and then.
The En Taiho had been the one to discover Keiki's plight, enchanted and rendered mute at the false ruler's feet. Keiki had told him about his plan to travel to Hourai to find the new ruler, and so Enki had kept an eye out for any kaikyaku who had recently been brought to their world by the shoku he had witnessed.
En-Ou, Shouryuu, had explained with Enki's help, the dynamics of the political system in the Twelve Kingdoms to Youko. They had pressed home the fact that should Keiki be left to die, Youko would also die. The will of the Heavens was never to be denied.
With the assistance of En-Ou and his royal army, Youko was able to lead a rescue mission into Kei, save Keiki, and overthrow the false empress, Joy. The will of the Heavens had been restored.
Sometimes Keiki wished he was a little more like Enki. People complained he was too serious, too uptight, too aloof to the point of being cold. He was trying his best with the aloofness, he had never been good with making small talk – but he had learnt a lot from little Taiki before that kirin had vanished mysteriously all those years ago. As for being uptight, he would argue that he had pretty good reasons for being so. After all, the first ruler he had chosen had lasted only 6 years before Kei was plunged into strife once again. That was a very poor record compared to other kingdoms, and Keiki owed it to his people to make sure that this new Empress succeeded. He could not let the kingdom go to ruin again.
Youko would need a lot of guidance, she was after all, only sixteen and a taika, not used to the ways of this world she was called to rule in. However, En-Ou was a taika too, and he had proved himself to be one of the most successful rulers of all. En was by far the most wealthiest and prosperous of all the kingdoms, surpassing even the Kingdom of Sou, whose emperor was still reigning after 600 years. Perhaps being a taika ruler, had its advantages – their experiences in the other world and its modern ways, enabled them to run the economy more efficiently.
The kirins of the other kingdoms had all sent their best wishes for the occasion, and the hope that Kei had been blessed with a great ruler this time. Keiki hoped so, he hoped that he had found the one ruler, the right ruler, and achieve a long and prosperous reign. Thus ensuring a peaceful and prosperous kingdom for his people.
It was the wish of every kirin that the one they chose would be the one for all time. Sourin was the closest to achieving this ultimate goal, Sou-Ou would soon break the records for having the longest reign in history. Enki and En-Ou were the next closest, Shouryuu having ruled for 500 years. Both these kirin and their respective rulers made formidable teams, they understood each other perfectly. Although the relationship between En-Ou and Enki seemed at times, more like that of older brother and bratty younger brother than political partners.
One day, he and Kei-Ou would reach that same level of understanding as the rest. He knew that there was still much that she needed to learn, so much that he still needed to learn about her. He believed that she had the potential to be a great empress, perhaps the greatest empress Kei had ever had.
He was not the only one. Rakushun, En-Ou and Enki were confident in Youko's suitability as ruler. In fact, Enki was her greatest supporter. While Rakushun tended to fret and wring his paws over how Youko was doing, and whether she was doing the right thing; Enki tended to believe that unwavering faith in a person and encouragement will pay off in the end.
Keiki sighed, he knew that he was overly critical and harsh on Youko at times, but he needed for her to succeed. Not just for the people of Kei, but because his own future was bound to hers forever. Should she lose her way and become evil, he would sicken and die. Then she would die. And he really didn't want to die – he had come close enough to it last time.
Being a holy creature such a kirin was not all fun and games as some people thought. Suffering and death for another person's sins was not fair, nor was the fact that the shirei devoured the kirin's corpse. Kirins were very tasty, or so Hankyo had joked one time. At least he thought he was joking.
Kei-Ou showed promise though. When she had released him from the spell, he could see that she had changed so much from when they first met. He had seen a frightened, nervous, schoolgirl. He now saw a confident young woman, who was willing to do what it takes to embrace her destiny.
She was willing to learn, as shown through her copious taking of notes. He wished that she wouldn't take so many, but he begrudgingly admitted to himself that there was a lot to learn for someone who wasn't born in that world. It probably was just a habit she'd retained from her old world – she'd soon grow out of it.
Youko would make it, he could feel that in his heart. He could see how happy the people were to finally have a bona fide ruler after two years of hardship. He prayed to Tentei that they would not let the people down. He prayed for guidance and that the Heavens would grant him wise counsel to offer his empress.
Together, they would make it. He would do his utmost to make it so.
Silently he repeated his vow of loyalty. 'By the mission and authority of the Heavens, I now pronounce you as queen. I swear never to desert my post before your throne. Now accept my promise and protection as queen.'
'You are my Majesty.'
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Author's Note: My first Twelve Kingdoms fanfic and quite frankly, I'm nervous. As I'm only a recent newcomer to this anime, I may not have all my facts right. This takes place after King Ko's passing, so I have used the posthumous name of Saku-Ou (see the interlude at the end of Volume 5).