Notes: So this will be... odd. It's AU, so all of the expected rules don't apply, and yet, many of them do, but in different ways. Totally making it up as I go. Not sure if it shows or not. Or even if it should. And for you anime-only folk, prepare to be somewhat lost and slightly spoiled.

Summary: Riko is overshadowed by her mother's fame. Faputa is drowning in her mother's love. For each princess to escape their unwanted destiny to succeed their mother, they must effectively overcome both the infinite and the eternal. Drowning would be so much easier than swimming against the current.

Chasm Children
A Made in Abyss Fanfiction by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

A Brief History of Orth
Compiled by the "Sunshine" Sovereign

The history of Orth is a curious one.

It all began with a relic, now known as a Star Compass. It guided explorers to a then-unknown island. The expedition was a fantastic failure: nearly the entire team died, leaving only two survivors. The first, seriously injured but still determined, decided to regroup and return with better supplies and a new team. The second, however, noticed that the Star Compass was now pointing to a new location.

The first survivor returned to the original site, this time emerging with wondrous relics.

The second survivor discovered a second island. And, continuing to follow the Star Compass, a third. And so on, until he definitely discovered a total of four new islands, and left signs of his landing on each. He was never seen again, but the Star Compass was found floating in the ocean.

The first survivor learned all of this from his base on the first island. By then, he had decided it was best to stay there, and leave exploring the other islands to someone else. He continued to explore the first island, which continued to share its elusive secrets with him, up until the day he died, on his forty-third birthday, precisely. He was eaten alive by a many-eyed horror that defied all description, and fortunately, he was never tasked with describing it (the next to find it, and his bones, were cursed with that duty).

It is a tale of madness and stupidity, to be certain. But more than that, it is a story of the human spirit's need to know and see, even if only certain doom is the end result.

Orth is a city carved by and for explorers, into the heart of an island chain that famously has no heart. In Orth, exploring is not a way of life. Rather, it is a rush to death. But what a journey is that rush, is the feeling shared among the inhabitants.

Exploring is something of a family business in Orth. I stress "something of" because no proper family would do what people in Orth do to their children. We fill them with wild stories and raise their hopes that they will become, or rather find, something great. And meanwhile, we fail to mention that our greatest heroes are the parents who were never home to raise them. We give these heroes lofty titles, such as Sovereign of Destruction (the first explorer, who certainly paved the way for his own), liken them to gods. And when they inevitably fall, their children continue the oh so noble work.

I am no better. Worse, even: having lost my family, I was taken in by one with a notable history, and am doomed to continue it.

But the story that follows isn't about me. It is about a friend of mine, who, while she first dreamed of being a loyal explorer of Orth, eventually came to see that role as so many shackles, and cast them off. I envy her. But I do not envy her journey. And I pity any doomed to repeat it, even if it means finally grasping true freedom in life.

My friend's name is Riko, the self-styled Princess of Annihilation. She is (or was) the daughter of Lyza, the Sovereign of Annihilation. In turn, Lyza was the great-great-great granddaughter of the Sovereign of Destruction. Fittingly, Lyza had no memory of her own father, which I believe is somewhat tradition in the family. But she wanted something different, if not for Riko, then for herself. Because as I'm sure she would be the first to say, Lyza wanted a lot of things. And got most of them through sheer force of will, as well as her unique brand of violence. And for better or worse, through all her trials, the one thing Riko never seemed to realize, was that the more she refused to accept her fate, the more she very much proved herself to have inherited her mother's gift of causing chaos wherever she went.

Chapter 1: Crowning Moments

Living in an orphanage will do funny things to a kid's head.

Riko could not actually remember a time when she had not known exactly who her mother was. But it had been stressed to her that this was largely meant to be a secret, for her own safety. Riko was not bothered by that. Tempting as it was to shout from the rooftops that her mother was famous, that would lead to many questions that Riko couldn't answer.

So despite the fact that Riko knew she had a mother, and was reasonably sure that mother was alive, Riko began to think of herself as an orphan. Or at least, as a child that would never share a home with her mother. There was no evidence to suggest otherwise. She was not even certain she'd ever been in the same room with her mother since learning to crawl. Also, thinking of herself as an orphan made Riko feel like she had more in common with her friends, who certainly did not have constantly adventuring, absent parents (although, she had never asked, and might have been surprised by some of the answers).

So it came as a great shock when, virtually out of nowhere, Riko was dragged to the orphanage director's office one day, and instead of finding herself in trouble, found the office empty, save for a blonde woman who seemed eerily familiar.

Then the woman said, "Hi, Riko," and everything slid into place with stunning finality.

It was impossible to live in Orth and not have some idea what Lyza the Annihilator looked like. In that moment, at least, Lyza had done her best to escape her usual image: she was wearing a plain dress, carrying no gear that Riko could see, and had done something to her hair that made it look... softer. Clearly, she had dressed up for the occasion. Riko couldn't decide how that made her feel. But, she believed, Lyza had brought either very good news, or very bad news.

After a long moment of no one speaking (or of Riko staring and not replying to the greeting), Lyza gestured to the chairs that had been provided. "We should probably sit. You won't like some of what I'm here to tell you. Maybe all of it, really."

Riko quickly sat down. Lyza did so more slowly.

"First, I need to apologize to you. You need to know something about me that you won't find in any book." Lyza leaned forward and peered into Riko's eyes. "I'm a greedy woman. I want everything I can get my hands on. I thought that meant chasing my dream, even at the cost of raising my child. But it wasn't enough. I wanted more. I wanted you, Riko. It's entirely unfair, you'd be better off without me, and you could probably throw a rock in any direction and hit a better mother than me-"

"Just to be clear," Riko interrupted. "Are you saying you're going to quit exploring, to raise me?"

"No."

Riko almost laughed. "I didn't think so."

"I won't lie to you. I'm not going to stop exploring entirely. I will try to limit how often I'm away from Orth. When I am here, I want it to be you and me. When I'm away, I want you to come back here, so you won't be in an empty house. I've worked it out with the orphanage. That is, assuming you want to come live with me at all. You don't have to."

"But you wouldn't give up if I said no, would you?" Riko guessed.

"No. I don't give up when there's something I want."

"Does that mean, you didn't want me before?" Riko asked softly.

"Is that what you thought?" Lyza moved forward and gently seized Riko's hands. "Didn't they tell you? I was trying to protect you. And not simply from me being a lousy mother. There was a time when I thought I could protect you by keeping you with me. I failed, and you suffered for it. And I swore I'd never let that happen again. I thought the best way to keep you safe was to stay away from you. And it worked. But I can't do it anymore."

"Because you're greedy," Riko offered, earning a smile from Lyza.

"Yes, I am. I want you back, Riko. Even if it's not safe. It's your choice. Please say yes."

"You're a terrible parent?"

"The worst."

"Can you cook?"

"Well enough to get by in the field, but I'm told the standards are higher in a kitchen. And when feeding a kid. I'll work on it."

"Why do you think I should say yes?"

"I'm hoping you'll decide that as big a mess as I am, my mess is better than no mess."

"Do you love me?"

"More than you'll ever know, and more than I can ever say. But I will say it, if you want me to."

Riko shook her head. "We can work on that, too."

"There's a we now?" Lyza asked cautiously.

Riko sighed. "There's been a we. You're the one who couldn't see it. We've got a lot to review, if this is going to work."

Lyza grinned. "People tell me I have a habit of always making things work."

Riko couldn't deny that. Ten minutes ago, she never would have thought she'd take such a conversation so well. Although she found it more likely that Lyza usually forced things to work. It was nice to know a different approach had been used for the occasion. Blunt honesty seemed to be their preferred language.

Lyza drew something out of her pocket. "I brought you a gift. It's not much, but I hope you'll accept it."

It was a small, thin piece of wood that easily fit in Riko's palm. It was coated with a shiny lacquer, and seemed to have a simple stick figure carved into it. When Riko mentioned this aloud, Lyza smiled.

"I said that, too. I got this in a foreign village. In their language, this symbol is 'haku'. It means 'treasure' or 'most highly valued thing'. Also, you've got it upside down."

"So it's meant to look like someone diving in headfirst." Riko smiled. "It suits us."

Later, Riko was amazed. She woke up an orphan that day, yet fell asleep in an unfamiliar house, in an unfamiliar bed, with her mother sitting next to her, describing fantastic places Riko had never heard of or managed to imagine. But the day after that, Riko woke up to find Lyza's arm draped possessively over her, Lyza's snores in her ear, and the rather amusing factoid that Lyza was apparently the true Immovable Sovereign, but only while asleep. Riko thought about all she'd learned of her mother in only a few hours, and came to a firm decision.

If she was going to be the Princess of Annihilation, she needed to learn how to fight.

When Lyza woke up, Riko told her this. Instead of being shocked, dismayed, or impressed, Lyza only said, "You know what's great about being me? I can get someone else to knock you around and call it training, so I never have to. Let me make a few calls."

Having a bedroom next to the queen's had been a compromise, and not the treat it should have been.

Vueko knew what she had done, and would never regret it. She would only wish that she had done it, or something far more drastic, sooner. But she also knew, in the eyes of the village, and more precisely, the Sages, that she was a traitor.

And it wasn't as if they couldn't understand. Belaf had been firm, but sympathetic, always. He had not opposed imprisonment, and had claimed that the crime was ultimately victimless: the village was still established, and there was now peace between the queen and the Sages.

Wazukyan had insisted on confinement and the loss of status. Vueko knew she deserved both, and wasn't in a position to protest anything.

The queen agreed only to Vueko's dismissal as a Sage. But to the rest, she said, "No. Vueko belongs to me." And that was that.

The power balance was not truly a balance at all.

It was the queen's will, power, and body that protected them all. Her word, rare as it was that she chose to put weight behind it and overrule the Sages, was law. And for Vueko, she would, always. Especially now that she knew what might happen if she failed to.

So Vueko was no longer a Sage, but she stayed close to the queen, both out of desire and some necessity. Wazukyan could hardly claim Vueko was being deceitful while directly within the queen's eyesight.

But that was his mistake: thinking that Vueko was the one being deceitful.

Vueko had accepted long ago that she was slowly going mad, day by day. And even she did not have it as bad as some of the less fortunate villagers. Whatever her condition, her body remained resilient, and she recovered from most illness within a few hours of symptoms manifesting. She never told a soul that, late at night, she could hear the voices of the queen's deceased children, whispering in her ears, pleading for more of her songs. So she sang them, seemingly to herself, and imagined it made the souls a tiny bit less restless. But the thing was, she assumed it was all in her head, some sort of vivid fever dream. Certainly, she knew the children were all dead, and the queen mourned them even now. Though it did not explain why Vueko knew each and every one of their names (and never questioned that she knew them all), when really only the queen should have.

But on this night, it was the queen's voice that called to her. And Vueko would never mistake that voice for another's.

"Come to me, Vueko. She's here, and she wants to meet you."

With no idea of what this meant, Vueko got out of bed and went straight into the next room. The side door was unlocked, as always, though Belaf had insisted there be a lock, anyway. The sight that awaited Vueko filled her with horror and sadness.

The queen was curled up in bed, happy tears streaming down her face as she cuddled... no, not possible, not again, never again, would this hell never end... a tiny, furry baby in her arms. It was a small, sad comfort that as the queen nuzzled the child, placing soft kisses on its face, the baby responded in kind, instinctively seeking more of the pleasing sensations, even if it could only clumsily push its face against its mother's lips.

"Look, Vueko," the queen whispered, her voice trembling with emotion and sheer effort. "Isn't she beautiful? Come and meet her. I want you to be the next one to hold her."

But Vueko could not bring herself to care about the child just then. She did come closer, but only to wrap her arms around the queen, tears spilling over at the shortness of breath, the way the thin arms trembled. The queen was exhausted, and Vueko's greatest fear was that when the child went, the mother would follow, leaving Vueko alone. And, selfishly, she buried her face in the queen's hair and pleaded, "Don't leave me, Irumyuui. Please don't leave me behind!"

The queen frowned, not quite understanding Vueko's words, at first. But then their eyes met, and she read the fear and desperation in them. Slowly, she pressed a small, warm hand against Vueko's cheek. "No leaving," she agreed. "Only meeting." And with no further warning, she pressed the baby into Vueko's arms.

The child had begun developing rapidly in just the few seconds that had passed, Vueko realized with a small shock as she felt what might have been a small, but deceptively strong hand gripping the front of her gown. The baby stared at Vueko, with golden eyes so like her mother's. She did not smile, maybe it was too soon for such things, but Vueko could sense no upset in the baby. And then, eerily reminiscent of her mother, the baby pressed her face into Vueko's neck, and began sniffing industriously, committing Vueko's scent to memory.

The queen watched them with a weary smile. Vueko could not help reaching out to place a hand over the queen's heart, needing to feel it beating steadily. It did not disappoint, and the queen only slid her hand over Vueko's, making no attempt to remove it.

Her inspection done, the child settled down. She showed signs of wanting to return to her mother, but also seemed to think Irumyuui was tired, and instead curled up on Vueko's lap. Only now could Vueko appreciate how... unique the baby's body looked, but given how some of the others had looked, she'd had no real expectations after a certain point. And, too, she had thought Irumyuui was done having children. More to the point, so had the Sages, and this latest child might not exactly be welcomed by them. And in her weakened state, the queen was likely in no condition to argue, or to protect the child. It would be Vueko's job, then, ill-prepared as she was for it. Hesitantly, she lightly ran her fingers along the baby's back, and what definitely sounded like a pleased purring erupted from the child, the sound making her small body vibrate tremendously.

The queen giggled, and started to say something. Then her smile faded, and she turned toward the main door, doing her best to sit up. A few seconds later, the door burst open, and both Sages rushed in, stopping short when they saw the child. It didn't take them long, they were no doubt recalling the same horrors that Vueko had. Belaf in particular sank slowly to his knees, his face looking haunted.

But the queen called his name tenderly, and stretched out her hand to him. Slowly, reverently, he took it, and she pulled him closer with surprising strength, forcing him to rest his head in her lap while she stroked his hair. He may have looked foolish, but the tears falling from his eyes with every stroke were anything but. Out of respect for his dignity, Vueko had to turn away from the sight, and was glad she did.

Wazukyan did not look haunted. Not at all. If anything, he looked haunting. She saw the shadow pass briefly over his face, then return and settle firmly upon it. He licked his dry lips, then spoke.

"My queen. I think there has been a grave miscommunication here."

The queen stared at him. "None. But please tell me where you believe the mistake lies. Speak to me, my Sage."

It was an invitation, a challenge, and a warning. He served her. Not the other way around. And if he planned to snatch another baby from her ever again, it would not go as it had before.

Wazukyan sensed the difference as well, and chose his words carefully. "No one regrets my role in our shared past in quite the way I do, my queen. I have no desire to repeat it, and I did not think you did, either. We made promises to each other, did we not?"

"I recall my promises. To view the villagers as my children, and to treat them as such. To carefully consider the advice of my Sages in all village matters. To protect the village with all of my strength. I see no mistake. None at all."

"I was under the impression, perhaps mistaken, that you would bear no more children. That since you had the villagers, there would be no need-"

"I never promised that," the queen said sharply. "You no longer needed me to bear children. But after all I went through to have them, I believe it was foolish, in the extreme, to think I never wanted to keep them. I broke no promises. And you will keep yours to me, Wazukyan."

He nodded slowly. "I will never lay a hand on your children again, my queen. Their fate is entirely in your hands. But as one of your Sages, I must question why you did this, and why we were not informed until after the birth."

"Because I knew you would not approve, and I was in no mood to hear it. I do not require your permission or blessing to have a baby, Wazukyan. Nor do you need the same from me, if that becomes your desire one day."

Wazukyan smiled and shook his head slightly. "That is different. I am not the queen."

"Exactly. Meaning my child is your princess, and you will honor her. I think you will find her to be far more sturdy than my previous children."

At first, he began to shake his head again, ready to dismiss that as the blind belief of a mother who could not bear to accept the loss of yet another baby. Then the smile dropped off of Wazukyan's face, and he stared hard at the child with growing understanding. "You used... but you couldn't have-"

"Why could I not have?" the queen asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I-I only meant... no disrespect was... please forgive me, my queen."

After a long pause, she nodded. "You are forgiven, my Sage. I'm sure you have questions, and I will answer them in time. But for now, I wish to be alone with my daughter and my Vueko."

Vueko blushed slightly, but did not disagree on any level. She was not and would never be Irumyuui's mother, they had both agreed to that, even if only Belaf knew the deeper reason. But in all ways other than name and blood, Irumyuui was her child. And especially now, the queen insisted on reminding everyone who Vueko belonged to. Particularly in front of Wazukyan, as she never wanted him claiming to forget.

After firming up some final details (Vueko would temporarily move into the queen's room to help with the baby, and in fact was perfectly happy to turn her room into a nursery if needed, though Wazukyan was reluctant to agree), the Sages started to leave. But Belaf paused at the door.

"What is the princess's name, my queen?"

"Faputa," the queen replied, and immediately, the child dove out of Vueko's arms, slithered around the queen's body several times, and ended up draped over Irumyuui's shoulders like a fluffy cape. She nuzzled against her mother's cheek, an adorable sight, but Belaf was shaken. He had seen the unmistakable spark of intelligence and recognition in those golden eyes: this child, not even an hour old, knew her own name. As surely as she continued to draw breath, long after so many siblings before her had been cut down. As surely as she knew her purpose was to survive, and to rule.

The Immortal Princess had finally come, and there was no going back now.

When the Sovereign of Dawn first submitted reports to the guild about the sixth island, there was interest, but only a polite amount. Initial findings suggested the journey to be largely impossible for anyone else, so the guild was happy to leave it to him. He certainly seemed fascinated enough.

But then the Sovereign of Annihilation unexpectedly made the trip as well, without consulting Bondrewd. As usual, her reports were less scientific, based on first reactions, and largely involved what she ate and how not to die. Her habit of applying grand labels to her discoveries served far too well in this case. Curiously, Bondrewd had neglected to name much of anything during his own trip, so despite this being a bit of professional toe-stepping, Lyza's names stuck.

She named the surrounding waters, "The Sea of Temptation". There was plenty of marine life, all of it edible, but much of it addictive if eaten in large amounts or over a prolonged period. The locals used it solely to lure and kill off predators, slowly, through withdrawal symptoms, which often included painful diarrhea, frequent vomiting, and ultimately, lack of hunger entirely.

The island itself had been nameless. The locals cared only for the village, which was named for their queen. Lyza named the island, "The Devil's Cradle".

Bondrewd had listed all the vital officials, but Lyza gave them more impressive titles.

The queen was Irumyuui of the Night Sun. (There was some initial confusion over the queen's proper name, as she had been repeatedly addressed as "Iru-chan" in Lyza's notes. Lyza eventually corrected the mistake, but said that as a personal friend of the queen, informal address had been encouraged.)

The princess was Faputa of the Endless Stars. (Lyza revealed that only the queen was allowed to address the princess informally, which made sense. Faputa was not exactly close enough to anyone else.)

The council included Wazukyan the Wicked (Bondrewd's main point of contact), Belaf the Thin, and Vueko the Longsuffering.

Curiously, the locals did not mind Lyza's labels, and in fact invited her and Bondrewd both to return as often as they wished.

With two Sovereigns convinced of the village being worthwhile for further study, there was no reason for Orth to take any position other than officially interested. However, again, due to the perilous travel conditions, no one other than a White Whistle could formally request funding or supplies for the trip. And as it was unusual enough for two White Whistles to cooperate without pressure from the government, no others showed interest, considering the island to be Bondrewd and Lyza's territory.

More unusual was that the government did not need to exert pressure to get Bondrewd and Lyza to continue their exploration of the island: they actually wanted to. Individually, preferably, but they were not exactly opposed to a joint venture. And as it turned out, they both had the same excuse for a return trip: the need to expose a younger companion to a vastly different culture.

Continued in Chapter 2: Princessing 101

Riko thanks her teacher. Faputa learns her mother's secret.

Endnotes:

Some stuff that may stand out as weird, but was definitely done on purpose.

-The Abyss restructured as an island chain, rather than a single island. Which in turn expands delvers to explorers. Don't worry, there are still curses.

-The Sovereign titles largely being related and inherited. You could view it as both personalities and relics staying within a family. And yes, the "Sunshine" Sovereign is connected to Bondrewd (but is not him, for clarification).

-Lyza and Bondrewd know each other. This sprang up from my realization that neither Lyza nor Ozen look horribly mutated and both have properly fashioned White Whistles, which leaves three possibilities. 1) There was or is some other site where the whistles can be fashioned, presumably in the 5th layer or higher. 2) Exposure to some relic had some interesting side effects. 3) Bondrewd's many trips (why stress there were many unless we were supposed to notice?) to the 6th layer were in part a side hustle to have White Whistles fashioned for others, assuming he was the only delver that could travel back and forth relatively safely. This may seem most unlikely, except he could exchange such trips for rare relics, and it's not like he could use someone else's whistle, so there's no reason for betrayal (unless the owners refuse to pay). And clearly he is not entirely opposed to assisting, in the most traumatic ways possible. And since nobody in the know wanted to lose that exclusive service, no one bothered to shut him down.

-Irumyuui is alive, not mutated, and the village is named after her. But of course the situation is not as happy as it might first seem.

-Lyza has more of a relationship with Riko, and thus has more of a direct influence on Riko.