Sankt Jeder, Federal Republic of Giad
March 11th, Stellar Year 2146
"Frederika, why exactly are we hiding in this closet?"
The earthy, faintly dewy scent of mothballs and old clothes hung thick in the air. Mostly dresses and suits that had been worn once for one event or another, then set aside to be forgotten. Shin had spotted a couple of spiders sitting pretty on their cobwebs above the both of their heads, but decided to let the seven-year-old Last Empress of Giad (and her fear of bugs) continue on in blissful ignorance of their presence. At least for now.
"You fool, Shinei! It's because Kiri will punish us if we are discovered!"
"He'll punish you, you mean," Shin said dryly. "I wasn't the one who stole all of Ernst's paperwork."
Frederika clutched the thick sheaf of reports to her chest, as if she were hugging them - or hoarding them.
"That pencil-pusher spends far too much time at his desk! If he buries his head in pointless matters too much, then he will let what is most important pass before his very eyes."
Shin pinched the brim of Frederika's pink and very much oversized hat. Frederika had a moment to look up, puzzled, before Shin yanked the hat down over her eyes.
"Ah! Aaaah!" the Empress of Giad squealed and flailed her hands at her head. "It's stuck! I can't get it off! I can't seeee!"
Shin was decidedly, unreactively blithe to her panic. "So you felt ignored and wanted to get his attention."
"Fool! I wouldn't possibly feel lonely because of a mere bureaucrat."
He found himself smiling. At least, there was something that might be called a smile on his pale face. A faint trace of one. Expressions were often rare for him. His red eyes, however, were a little more honest - they shone bright with humor and affection.
"If you say so," Shin said vaguely.
"Besides," Frederika continued, her hat now successfully pulled back into place. "You accompanied me as I stole these papers! You are an appomplice, Shinei!"
"The word is 'accomplice,' Empress." A pause. "And so?"
"And so Kiri will punish me and you if he finds us."
Shin smiled outright this time. He was a boy that had a way of looking uncommonly, sometimes frighteningly older than his age sometimes, but this smile - the gentle, kind smile of an older brother - took those years away, for a moment making him look like the carefree fourteen year old he should have been.
The boy put his hand on top of the Empress' little head. "Well, I guess it would be annoying if he lectured me again."
She turned up at him with a smug grin lighting up her face. "Naturally! Is your question now answered, Shinei Nouzen?"
The older boy bowed his head in a simple nod. "Yes, yes, Empress," he said placatingly. "But if hiding is your goal, you chose a bad spot."
"Why is that!"
Shin crouched down to be at eye level with her, cupped his hand around her ear, and whispered in a tone of grave importance:
"because there are spiders in here."
The little girl's face froze with an expression that was equal parts shock, iron-bound resolve, and looming dread.
"I, I, I-I am the Ee, Empress of Giad! I will not be scared by the likes of mere sp-spiders..!" Her voice trembled like a leaf on the wind. And exactly on cue, as if drawn by the sound of her high, squeaky voice, one such spider - a pale, thin one about the size of a pinky nail - began to descend on a strand of web. It stopped at a delicate dangle right in front of Frederika's face. Its tiny dot-eyes were fixed on hers, as if curious about the creature making so much noise.
Frederika jolted back, thumping against the closet doors. Her eyes (also red like Shin's) grew wide and glassy.
"I am… I am the Empress…" she whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut.
Then an idea seemed to occur to her. A sudden relief flooded her expression as she snapped her eyes open - and they began to glow a soft, brilliant red.
"Ah," she said. "Kiri's getting closer to us, Shinei. We must find a new hiding place!"
Shin smirked very slightly. "I think we're well-hidden right here."
"A-absolutely not!" she half-shrieked, and without another word turned and bolted out the door.
She clattered to the floor in a tangle of swinging limbs, sprawling herself out on the floorboards for several long seconds before she managed to scramble to her feet. It was a very noisy maneuver.
"Hime-sama?" Kiriya called from a distance down the hall, his voice echoing eerily through the mansion's long corridors. "Is that you?"
"Shinei!" Frederika whispered furiously. "Let's go, let's go!"
"Yes, yes," Shin said. With movements that were smooth and languid, but never slow, he scooped up the little Empress in a princess carry and set off down the opposite hallway.
Shin was many things. More to the point, he had been forced to be many things throughout his short life. Tainted children with mixed blood running through their veins often had little say for themselves in what they did. At fourteen years old, Shin had been a few times a spy, many times a soldier, and once, four years ago, a killer - but more and before all that, Shin was a Nouzen, and the Nouzens were one of the two greatest warrior-clan of the Giadian Empire.
The Onyx blood in his veins, that of champions and veterans and countless legends of the battlefield, granted him many talents, and the life he'd led, however short, had whetted those talents to an inhuman edge. As he carried Frederika through the long hallways of Ernst Zimmerman's mansion, his footsteps were almost supernaturally quiet. He kept track of his pursuer with senses sharp beyond measure. Every one of Kiriya's footsteps was as easy to hear as thunder on a clear night. Stealth was a specialty of Shin's.
And there was that too, of course.
Those of certain bloodlines could sometimes manifest extra-sensory abilities. The royal family of the United Kingdom to the north were pure-bred Amethysta, and occasionally produced heirs with astronomical, immeasurable intelligence. The blue-eyed Sapphira had once created a legacy of kings and queens with the ability to see years into the future. And the Pyropes, who claimed the tainted half of Shin's blood, had a reputation as seers and telepaths. Those who were born with these powers were known as Espers.
Frederika, with the ability to see the present and past of those she knew, was one of them.
Incidentally, so was Shin.
When he had been younger, before the Empire had fallen and the clan scattered, Shin and his brother and mother had been able to hear each others' thoughts and feel each others' emotions. One of the earliest memories he had left was of his mother's love for him as he saw her off to battle, a feeling like the warmth of being tucked into bed. That warmth had lingered for only a short, sweet time after their last goodbye, and then had turned abruptly cold. And before then, in times he could no longer remember, he was told his older brother had used their telepathic connection to always be there for him just when Shin needed him most. That Shourei had always been listening for when Shin felt sad or scared or lonely. That he had always been ready to help.
Shin's ability had changed in the years since. Partly as a consequence of growing older. Mostly because of what had happened four years ago. His power, such as it was, would be of no use here; it pertained only to the dead.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Shin did not realize his hand was rubbing idly at the jagged shrapnel-scar across his throat.
Frederika had closed her eyes. When she opened them again the glow had faded. Cool red irises gazed up at him. She tugged his shirt in the direction of an austere mahogany door. One of Ernst's many unused guest rooms.
"We could hide here," she said.
Shin nodded. Even without Frederika's ability to sense the present-state of those she knew, Shin had known Kiriya was getting close. He could hear not just his footsteps, but his breathing too, and the slight metal rattle at every motion of the holstered pistol on his hip.
A grimace crossed the young Empress' face, perhaps thinking of spiders again. "Or maybe we could keep running?" she asked.
"This mansion doesn't go on forever, Frederika," Shin said with scathing dryness.
"Hmph!" She puffed her cheek in a pout and turned her head aside. "Such an insolent retainer."
Shin pushed the bedroom door open (silently, of course; not even the hinges creaked) and closed it behind him. He scanned the space, noting the closet in the corner and the three-paneled divider beside an ornate dresser, before settling instead on the impressive canopied bed that was the room's centerpiece. More specifically, the top of it. He shifted the little girl in his arms with a stronger grip, carrying her up to the wooden lip of the canopy.
"Up you go, Empress." Shin spoke her title with exquisite sarcasm. "And remember to stay quiet this time. He wouldn't have caught you the other day if you hadn't screamed for no reason like a little girl."
"I am a little girl, fool!"
Wish you'd act like it.
There was just enough time to secure her safely on the hardwood canopy and ensure she had ducked under the decorative border before the door swung open, hinges squealing.
"Shinei," Kiriya said evenly, crossing his arms. His steel-blue Federacy flight suit was as impeccable as ever, ironed down to the very last crease. His black hair, of course, was meticulously combed, and the look in his equally-black eyes was the scathing are-you-fucking-stupid gaze of a commanding officer. "Where is Hime-sama?"
Shin shrugged. "I don't know."
"I suppose you don't know what compelled you to start searching through Zimmerman-sama's guest rooms, either?"
"Got bored."
"…Right." Kiriya took a step closer, studying Shin's face like it might wilt and fall off under hard enough scrutiny.
When Shin's expression offered nothing but perfect neutrality, the older Nouzen began to inspect the rest of the room instead. He threw open the closet with a theatrical flourish and was almost able to hide his disappointment when it turned up empty. He checked behind the three-panel divider and the ornate dresser. He even deigned to crouch down to check under the bed, though it smeared dust onto the knees of his stainless uniform. He did not, however, check above it. In Shin's experience, people rarely looked up.
When Kiriya had finished his tour of the guestroom, he turned back to his younger kinsman with a look torn three ways between faint indignation, suspicion, and disappointment. Shin found a small wonder in the older boy's powers of expression.
"I suppose you weren't with her after all then," Kiriya said, and sighed. "You know, Shinei, Hime-sama causes a lot more trouble when she's around you."
Shin shrugged again.
"While it is true that she is our Empress and our sole sovereign authority, you must remember that she is only seven. She is at a very impressionable age, and looks up to those who are older than her. Thus, it is our duty as her knights to set a good example, so that she may grow up into a splendid, responsible woman. She may well reclaim her crown some day, you know, and it would not do for our Empress to have only learned how to organize petty pranks in her tender years."
Shin, in the face of this tirade, turned his head to appraise the curtains.
"I know that since the Empire's fall, we have not had the luxury to appoint her tutors for etiquette or administration, and that it was not originally our duty to take up such roles for her. And I understand that it is difficult to teach her the art of rule when her existence itself must be kept secret, lest her safety be compromised."
Not having any knowledge of textiles or architectural fashions, Shin decided that the fabric looked fancy. Maybe velvet or silk? They were… what was the word… embroidered, too, with a silvery floral pattern.
"However! With these losses, it has only become more important to devote everything we have for her sake. We two are her last followers, and until it comes time for her to reclaim her throne we shall stand alone in our duty. It is up to us to ensure that Hime-sama will grow strong and wise enough to enact her destiny."
Come to think of it, embroidered was something else. 'Brocaded' was the word he meant.
"Shinei! Are you even listening to me?"
"No, not at all."
For just one moment Kiriya Nouzen looked as if he might commit murder on his last remaining kinsman. That moment did pass, though, albeit reluctantly, and eventually, he seemed not to forgive Shin (it was doubtful that would ever happen) but to give up on him, his shoulders slumping visibly. Kiriya sighed for a very long time.
"In any case, Hime-sama's mischief was only one reason why I was looking for you." There was a pause, and in it Kiriya stood up straight, shoulders squaring. "There is another," he said, and his voice reflected a sudden steel, low and sharp.
Shin turned from the curtains and met Kiriya's gaze for the first time since the conversation began. Red eyes met black, and all traces of humor had faded. One pair was as hard and clear as polished jet. The other shone cold like frozen blood.
"They found your brother."
Hello and thank you for reading!
So, I've been a little bit obsessed with 86 ever since I watched the anime a few weeks ago. I've read all the currently released light novels (up to volume 9) and watched most of the clip videos at least two or three times by now, not to mention reaction and story analysis videos. I was getting to the point where I was preparing to re-read the light novels all over again when I thought, you know what Verb, if you're so obsessed with this story, then why don't you put that obsession to work! So here we are now.
I look forward to working on this project. 86 presents a bit of a challenge for fanfic writers in a few ways, the least of which being that Asato Asato really knows her way around symbolic storytelling. Her characters are very closely entwined with the plot, worldbuilding, and the other characters, to the point that trying to carelessly change any of these aspects can easily throw the rest way out of balance. Plus, all those aforementioned aspects are very, very well thought-out and meticulously crafted. Effectively, it's very easy to ruin what makes 86 "86-y" if you're not paying attention to the ripple effects of every element you choose to change.
It's been an interesting challenge, to say the least, but I think I'm up for it. Anyway, all my rambling aside, I hope you enjoyed these chapters; I'll be updating again as soon as possible!
-Verbosity