A/N: yowhadup. this chapter has been almost done for 6 months. some parts of this im super super happy about, some other parts ehh.
"Is anyone out there?!"
A young girl sat alone in a quiet snowfield, her tattered pink dress the only source of warmth amidst the frost she found herself laying in. "Father! Lady Capella! Anyone, please! I'm sorry!"
There was no response, not even her own voice returning in echo; the snow absorbed it all.
"Someone… anyone… Please help me…" She despaired, curling into the fetal position as the wind picked up, and the flakes piled higher.
"It's so cold…"
-oOo-
Her Highness slept for a long while, the exhaustion of casting becoming worse with each fortress raised from the earth. She slumbered through construction and offloading of supplies, she even slept through the walk from her new creation back to the carriage.
Akko had learned to love the interior of the ornate wagon: it's small, closed off nature as a transport vehicle brought the defender great comfort. All of the windows were visible to her from their seat and there was only one entrance to worry about, one that was virtually impossible for any would be intruder to open while the cart was moving.
The seats were comfortable too.
The only environments that made her job easier than this were buildings built by and for the Chosen; her thoughts drifted to Her Highness' tower, the only way in behind an entire castle filled with legions of soldiers and guardsmen.
Such environments made the princess' shield feel safe, which meant that by extension her charge was doubly safe.
Akko could relax in these places, the tension and stress leaving her body through a purposeful exhale. The next location was a ways off, near the great southern forest, Her Highness had strictly mandated an excess stop at the forest's edge, to quote: "Pay respects and pray for guidance and safety."
She didn't understand what that meant, couldn't Her Highness pray in the carriage? It was surely safer and more comfortable than a snowy wood in the winter. She knew there was some kind of holy site down south, but nothing concrete. Her newfound piousness was only recent born, and she had yet to purchase a copy of the texts for herself.
"Do you know anything about where we're headed?" The defender asked her bespectacled coworker sitting across from her. "The forest I mean."
Lotte seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had been in for the past half an hour- silent thoughts of her own no doubt. "What? -Oh. It's where the Chosen are buried, I suppose she wishes to pray to her ancestors while we're close by."
Akko's eyebrows shot up into her hairline -it was the first she had ever heard of this. Up until that moment she assumed royalty were entombed in a catacomb or graveyard, a place filled with statues and monuments to the Chosen and their great lives. "In a forest?"
The handmaiden smiled and sat up straight, recognizing the confusion on the brunette's face and the need to explain. "When a Chosen of the Nine dies, their corpse slowly begins transforming as the magic leaves their body." She explained further, meeting eyes with Akko to gauge her understanding. "The end result of this process is a tree sprouting from their burial site."
The brunette's lips parted, her eyelids flapping rapidly before her head creaked downward to look at Her Highness' slumbering features. Her nightmares had conjured up images of the princess' deceased form before, still as a marble statue and somehow even paler, but perhaps the correct comparison would now be a carving. She imagined the sight, a beautiful willow eternally blossoming with pale purple flowers, multitudes of mushroom species hiding in the shade of its branches.
Giving a moment of pause for the shock to subside, Lotte continued.
"According to scripture, at the centre of that forest lies the spot where Polaria first touched down onto this world; the remaining Eight following close behind. It is the holiest of places, and the Chosen are buried nearby that they might protect it in death as they did in life."
The southern forest was incredibly large, a veritable sea of trees, the thought that each one might be a person crossed the defenders mind, stealing her breath. "Are… are all of them Chosen?"
Lotte shrugged, gazing out the window. "Surely not? Many of them must be dryads or ents, or even just normal patches of forest- a few mandrake here and there."
Mandrake.
Akko scowled, rubbing the armour plate over her thigh. The species of giant plant had bore her first kill, and first job for Her Highness- how far they had come since then. She remembered the stench of whatever the princess had slathered over Claiomh Solais, burning away the impurity covering its glorious face.
'Glorious and resplendent… the fires of justice set free.'
Her jaw clenched involuntarily, but she actively loosened it in response, breathing out slowly, again with purpose.
"I guess the stop makes sense then. She wants to visit the family grave." She hummed, burying her agitation by continuing the conversation as normal. "Our family grave is just outside the town, my mama and papa would take me there to wash the stone. They prayed a lot- there and elsewhere." Akko fiddled with a lock of her hair as she spoke, reflecting on a past now lost. "I didn't really understand as a kid, but I do now."
Whenever the two girls were 'alone' their conversations always seemed to start on Her Highness and end on family. The two things they both cared about over everything else.
"Everyone reaches a point in their lives when you realize you're the only one in control. That no one is going to make decisions for you, no one is going to tell you right from wrong- tell you how to live your life or fix your problems. In the beginning your parents do that, but after they've taught you everything, you're on your own and just as clueless as they are." Atsuko felt that weight now: her old life torn apart, her mentor gone, suddenly knowing the decisions she made affected the safety of others and by proxy the entire kingdom.
"It really helps to know there's someone out there always watching over you, someone that knows the answers…" She trailed off, slightly embarrassed at the rambling train of thought she had just unloaded.
Lotte closed her eyes as the defender grew quiet, humming in agreement and reassurance. "The Nine know how it all turns out Akko, and they'll guide us through. Just have faith."
"…Thank you Lotte. I think I would like to pray with Her Highness as well." Akko murmured, staring unfocused at the seat cushions, tracing the tiny gaps between her teeth with her tongue. "And…" She looked up at her co-worker- her friend in duty, offering a bittersweet smile. "When we finally get home, let's go to a service together- you, me, and our families."
The handmaiden's return smile was comforting and genuine, filled with a quiet joy. "I would like that."
-oOo-
There was very little in the way of signposting for the southern forest, the first of two ways one could know they were approaching holy ground was the growing weight in the air. "The spirits of more than just my ancestors exist amongst the trees." Her Highness explained, sensing their anxieties. "Many beings are drawn to this place of beginning, let them wash over and through you."
The second and only visible indication were numerous cairn lining the forest's edge, stacked stones untouched by human hands for untold centuries and covered in moss. Their carriage rolled to a stop some distance from the boundary, and they emerged into the chilly evening air bundled in coats and scarves. The sun had fallen beyond the horizon and there was only a residual light remaining in the sky, reflecting off of the pure white snows to guide their path.
"Are you cold at all, Highness?" Lotte queried, following behind and to the side of the princess and her shield. "Gloves are available if you need them."
Sucy shook her head, lifting her dress with one hand to prevent it from dragging as her shoes sunk into the softer snows. "I am fine, thank you- though some boots may be in order. The snow here gives way under my feet unlike most other places in our frostbitten kingdom."
Indeed as they crossed the boundary line of the forest, the trio felt their bodies warm ever so slightly- even the wind at their backs dulled in force and bite.
"This must be the combined work of the spirits and my ancestors." The princess hummed to herself with a calculating look, her eyes tracing the outlines of something no one else could see. "It looks similar to the wards in our gardens. Do you remember, my shield?"
Akko continued to stare at the princess' facial features as she thought back to their time together. In her eyes she saw trust and fear, the sharing of vulnerabilities in a quiet place. In the curves of her nose and jaw she saw the elegance of a monarch- austere, commanding, inspiring. Finally in her smile and petal soft lips Akko saw a blooming rose in the dead of winter, eternally defiant, eternally beautiful.
Something of her thoughts must have shown on the defender's face in the long moment of silence because Her Highness started to fidget, darting her gaze away bashfully before almost chiding herself and returning to lock eyes again. "…The garden Akko?"
"I do remember, Your Highness." She affirmed, though not breaking eye contact. "Roses that never wilt- you said His Majesty's magic protected them."
Her Highness' pale cheeks had slowly reddened over time, a mixture of cold and fluttering heart sending blood rushing into her face. Turning away from the smouldering gaze of her dearest, the princess looked once more upon the sea of trees. "Yes, the Gift of Monocera. It nurtures, supports, and bolsters life. The prayers of my ancestors and the devotion of the sprits shroud this place in her warmth, holding back the winter."
"Alas in the end, this place too shall fall." A voice whispered on the wind, calm and regal, rustling branches as it came. "Darkness rises as despair grows."
A mote of light gently drifted down from the canopy, mimicking the path of so many leaves. It's fall slowed to a halt in front of the princess, though it continued swirling lazily. "This darkness is at thy back, child. Time grows short."
Sucy lowered her head in a deep bow, signalling her two servants to kneel and show proper respect. "Revered ancestor, blessed are we to receive such an audience. I expected to simply pray and place offerings."
"Rise Chosen and servants. Thine arrival was foreseen, as was the danger soon to follow." They explained, urgent tone and speed of speech implying that soon was not an overstatement. "Thou must prepare. A fortress of stone, a wall of earth, an army of dauntless character and strong stomach."
Other spirits entered their vision: from the bark of trees, from the stone of cairn, from the canopy above. They remained in the distance, leaving the speaking role to their representative.
"That is mine intent, ancestors." Sucy agreed with another respectful bow of her head, longing for Akko's arm to soothe her growing nerves. "Estimates based on the beast's past movements suggest we still have time to-"
"Thine estimates are wrong." The spirit interrupted. "She comes now. seeking the light with terrible vengeance. Thou must prepare."
-oOo-
There are no words to express the aura of doom surrounding such a foe, the voices of sorrow and fear billowing from it like the mountain wind. That wind was around them now, screaming past their ears, buffeting their bodies, nipping at their very being little by little.
Yet they continued onward, wrapped in as much fur and cloth and down as they could gather. The beast walked far ahead of them, it's colossal stride unbroken by the multitude arrows sticking from its hooves and its branches.
"Stop ignoring us you bastard!" Amanda shouted, the blizzard and snow muffling her voice to a tiny yelp. A wolf rose from the snow beside her and she replied much like a bear to a leaping fish, cutting it in half with a swipe and a roar. "Your minions are useless against me!"
Amanda and her soldiers had been following it for hours. They were cold, hungry and injured. Her Highness' estimated position was approaching quickly and the monster before them showed no signs of stopping.
Desperation was setting in, all sense blown away in the wind.
"It's times like this you gotta do something ridiculous…" Amanda mumbled to herself, pushing her tired horse to give just a little more, closing the distance between herself and the behemoth.
It felt wrong somehow, just to be near the thing- it radiated feelings of wrongness and unease like it's simple existence broke the laws of reality and the soul knew.
"Escape someplace warm after this, yeah?" She cooed to the brown stallion, affectionately patting the creature on the head. "I don't think I'll be joining you any time soon."
She sheathed her blade and rose, carefully climbing up to stand crouched behind the saddle, holding out her arms to keep balance. "Ready?" A snort of confirmation came from the loyal mount in response. "Let's go."
With a grunt of exertion, Amanda leaped off of the horse and into the beast's branches- 'cold.' holding on through sheer spite as she climbed the titanic thing's back. The wind and frost coming off of its skin blasted through its boughs, threatening to blow her away at the first slip up.
Reaching the height of the demon's shoulders, far above the dead forest, the Swordmaster drew her weapon once again. "Thought you could ignore me?" She raised it high, two fists gripping tightly. "Thought you could escape a Swordmaster?"
"IGNORE THIS!" She roared, thrusting her sword deep into the creature's back where the branches began. The metal of her blade supercooled instantly, searing her flesh as the accursed thing began to thrash violently.
A plume of darkness sprayed forth from the wound and into Amanda's covered face, paradoxically hot despite the rest of the monsters entire body radiating deathly cold. She could taste betrayal and smell hate as the black blood washed over her, staining her snow caked wrappings the colour of tar.
'What are you? Where did you even come from?'
The storm shrank in intensity as the creature thrashed and shook its body, focusing the entirety of its wrath on the tiny insect that nipped at its shoulders.
A single enraged blast of air was enough to send her tumbling, away from the beast and down, landing hard enough in the snow ground to create a deep indent.
The beast left free a thunderous cry, visibly pushing back against the falling snow with only its voice.
"At least you finally stopped, you stupid stump." Amanda coughed out in pain, the flaring blue candle in her heart the only thing that kept her from freezing solid. Her loyal dumbasses were still trying to fight the beast, she could hear yelling and horses squealing as the thing swatted them aside like flies.
She couldn't feel her arm, it had gone numb below the elbow, and a good majority of her body was frostbitten- everything both hurt and didn't. "I think I'm dying."
'Loyal Swordmaster. You cannot die just yet.' The little flame said, outputting as much warmth as it could without burning the knight's internal organs. 'Rise if you would. This kingdom still needs you.'
Amanda's body obeyed without her thinking of it, her one good arm grasping for purchase in the snow, pulling the rest of the body up to a sitting position. She could see the battle better now: someone had made the desperate move to light the forest on fire and it had spread quickly, the dead wood burning hot despite the blizzard. The warmth felt nice. There were others like her, rising from their almost graves like zombies and coughing up blue flames.
"Sword…" She groaned, struggling to stand. "I need a sword…" Fortunately or unfortunately, one was nearby, held in the frozen hand of a girl who couldn't heed the call to survive as she was already gone. It was carefully and respectfully pried from her fingers, all five of which were then placed over her heart.
Amanda grasped the borrowed blade tightly, stabbing it into the snow to help herself onto her feet. "I'm sorry soldier, we'll bring you home when this is done." Her voice barely worked, rough and scratchy from both constant shouting and the inhalation of subzero air.
She stood there for a moment, glaring at her foe as it's fury kicked up into a frenzied blizzard once again. "I have served you and your Chosen for many years." She murmured to the heavens, numb to the cold gale surrounding her. "Not as long as some, but for most of my life in this world you shaped."
"I've never prayed before, but hear me out this one time."
The beast roared again, slamming the ground with a giant fist, hoping to crush the group of soldiers throwing burning sticks and firing flaming arrows in its direction. "Many have sacrificed their lives today, for you- for your Chosen and your kingdom." Some rolled out of the way in time, others didn't.
She readied her stance, bending her knees, tightening every muscle that yet lived. "Allow these heroes into your hallowed halls, to dance and drink and sing until all things turn to dust." It turned its head to look at her, terrible white eyes meeting her own. "As for me… well, I'd rather stay down here and continue the fight."
With all her soul and might channeled into her blade, she let out a long controlled breath of air.
'Grant me the strength to see the sun rise.'
A moment of stillness, and then the coiled spring that was her body finally released, blasting Swordmaster O'Neil across the snow in an attack that could shatter stone.
-oOo-
Sucy felt lightheaded as the final wall was pulled from the earth, the prayers of her ancestors shouldering some of the burden and keeping her consciousness from slipping into the night.
"I cannot end here…" The princess panted, stumbling back into Akko's waiting arms. "There is more to be done." She raised a hand behind her signalling to her handmaiden. "Sixteen-four."
A small vial was produced from the many pouches and sacks hanging from Lotte's shoulders, offered towards the princess with two open palms. "Here, Highness."
The thin glass vial was filled with a sickly green fluid that churned and swirled of its own accord, mixing itself eternally. Her Highness, barring her fangs, bit into the cork stopper, yanking it, and the horrific fumes within free. "Oh Nines…" Someone gagged.
Sucy, uncaring of the smell or consistency, downed the whole thing in one go, her head involuntarily shaking with a cringe. "Euhg. But better than 16-3 I suppose. Blood seems to be an overpowering taste." Multiple notes were jotted down in her brain for later. "Thine incessant complaints have at least contributed to the progress of science, my dear." The princess shot a grin up at Akko, but the defender had been rendered incapacitated by the smell at some point and thus gave no response. Her unconscious body turned stony, muscles tightening and hands gripping tighter. The thing inside her dearest preparing for battle.
Her Highness' grin drooped into a frown. "Mine joy is stolen, a usurper claims the throne." She grumbled to herself, shaking the comatose shield's arms off of her and standing. "Name the next task, revered ancestors."
The ball of light at her side said nothing for a brief time, and when it finally spoke again, it's tone was somber. "…The lost light flares- she draws near." The brightness of its glow was dimmed by shadow- absorbed by the snows.
It recovered quickly, shaking off the choking darkness like a hound does water. "Quickly, thou must erect a barrier, we will assist in its upkeep. Call upon the Immortal Monolith to shield us from the night and it's horrors."
Sucy's fist clenched involuntary and she chided herself for the blasphemous action. Lady Capella was not to blame for the hijacking of her beloved- she had in fact not been seen or heard from in an age- no, the princess suspected that accursed sword. Time after time it had led her shield astray, teasing violence and righteous fury from a squire's innocent picture of knighthood.
Her gaze flashed green, glancing to the side at Atsuko's puppeted form. It's eyes were open, glaring across the landscape at something in the distance, blade drawn and itching for blood. The bizarre amalgam of magics in the defender's chest churned unending, the tiny flame of her oath steered toward another directive yet unknown.
"Disturb not the lost light." The sprit of her ancestor hummed, sensing the princess' distrust and anger and casting a soothing warmth in her direction. "The beast is anathema to all servants of the Nine; this aberration included. Focus on thine own efforts- what comes after will come after."
"Yes Ancestor." She acquiesced, trying not to feel like a scolded child in the presence of the ancient Chosen. It was the same many hours ago as her father struck down hopes of inheriting the final gift sooner- anger at her worries being discarded; shame at such petulance before those with far more experience and wisdom than herself.
They were right of course: her affection for this one knight was beginning to control her every thought and cloud her better judgement. But such was love- a maddening thing.
Taking a breath of calm, Sucy once more stepped forward, chin up and hands clasped over her heart, letting the Nine's glory burn through her veins.
Closing her eyes, she began to murmur in supplication. "In your names I pray."
"Piscoria, Monocera, lay your gentle hands upon this place, protect your children body and mind from the winds of corruption; the claws of chaos." The soothing comfort of a mother's touch rested gently on her shoulders, melting the stress and fatigue of hours into nothingness. "Polaria, Cirenia, Corvia, guide your people through the struggles to come, let your wisdom and light lead the way." The many candle flames surrounding and before her flared, reinvigorating all under her banner with purpose.
"Arae, Caela, let your constructions stand firm, let all that you have built whether this storm of darkness. May all who bask in your works know the glory of the Nine." The stonework beneath her feet warmed, glimmering like polished silver even in the dark of night. "And finally, when all is said and done: Mira, our shepherd, take the souls of the fallen into your flock; guide them to safety, to a place where the sky is forever blue and the songs never end."
Private prayers complete, the princess opened her eyes and her arms, pointing both to the sky.
"Lady Capella!" She called towards the heavens. "Place thine almighty guard over us! Defend us, the innocent and weak from the evils of this world!" Workers, servants, and soldiers alike stopped to witness multitudes of spirits circling around her, great fire burning red at her feet as her sermon apexed. "Let the enemies of righteousness know failure! Let them crash helplessly against the rocks and despair! In the name of justice, grant us a shield unyielding!"
Spell completed, a grand scarlet bubble blasted outwards from the princess' body, growing to surround the entire fortress in a thick protective barrier. The people below looked up in awe, cheering their praises to the Nine, the Chosen, and to Sucy.
And then…
As if enraged by the magic of its enemy, a fell howl billowed across the plains towards them. It was like a gale of wind and a low droning cry in one, causing a shiver to travel up every spine, and the cheering to come to a sudden halt.
A dark form appeared in the mists, tall as a pine tree, as wide as a great redwood; eyes of white light pierced through the fog, their gaze hateful and cold.
The fell beast of endless winter stepped out onto centre stage.
"Ahh… sweet child, what has become of you…"
The time had come.
A/N: i have a lot of half finished side stories and originals in my writing folder, none of them are sukko but i'll try and finish and post them to give you guys a drip feed of something until next chapter.
