Chapter 8: 3 Steps at a Time
The first time she felt the whip on her skin, she screamed.
"First reprimand, Luka."
Always making mistakes. Always failing. Within a week her skin, still bearing the scarring from the fire, now bore fresh red marks from where the rope snapped against her.
"Child of ashes, you must prove your right to live. Your Fairy Godmother saved you. Do you not love her?"
Though they spoke her language, their thick accents marked them as hailing from the same place that the invaders came from.
"You must perfect yourself. Feel nothing. Be nothing more than a blade. Cinderella followed orders, as shall you."
To her, becoming a princess only meant one thing – destroying the people that had ruined her and snatching the crowns from their heads.
One day, the whip would touch her flesh and she felt nothing. She did not cry. She did not whimper or shake.
And so the knife was placed into her hand and she was sent to her first kill.
Though her first thrust was lethal, it wasn't deep enough, giving him just enough time to slash her face with the last of his strength, leaving a long cut along her face, over her right eye.
Yet even as the blood dripped down her eye… she felt nothing.
Cendrillon suffered, but never broke. Cendrillon toiled, but stayed forever strong and graceful.
She would become like Cendrillon and one day she would ascend as she had. Then and only then would she feel anything again.
Blood ran down her right hand as Luka drove blindly down the dirt road. She'd had a messy escape from the prison. A bullet had grazed her as she escaped in the chaos, but she'd managed to weave through the city and evade her pursuers. Now only two thoughts raced through her mind. In order, 'This is a mistake!' and 'I can still fix this!'
Over and over.
She sped off the road, hearing bullets firing after her as the stunned soldiers surrounding the trailer quickly realized the military car did not belong to one of their allies.
This was all happening because she dropped her defenses. Because she let something vile and terrible corrupt her. She had the Prince right there, and she didn't try hard enough to kill him! And that wretched, terrible man felt sorry for her?!
In the dark ahead she saw the road begin to fork. Which way would the Prince have gone?
She had him right there and she hadn't even thought to interrogate him. While he was yammering on about his thoughts and feelings… she could have coaxed something out of him!
Her car slowed to a halt as she had to make a decision.
'Which way?'
If she killed him, would anything matter anymore?
If she let him live, she would most assuredly never live freely again.
Never.
She yearned to feel nothing once again.
She saw headlights behind her. It was decision time. What was her best option?
'I must stay in pursuit. I have no other choice.'
Cendrillon ran from the Prince.
Luka would run after him.
Three steps at a time.
"Hmph, not much of a place, is it?" Meiko sighed as she ran her fingers along the dusty surface of the coffee table.
With Kaito, Miku, and Gakupo gathered around with the sudden addition of two women, the tiny room in the quaint bed and breakfast was already feeling rather cramped. Rin and Len had already run off to get some gas – Kaito suspected they just wanted more excuses to spend time alone given their long separation.
In spite of everyone feeling exhausted, there was to be no sleeping without the singer and her camera woman explaining themselves. While Meiko seemed to possess all the personality, Gumi was the more somber of the pair, sitting on a well-used wooden chair while Kaito rested on what was to be his bed for the night. "Meiko, was your acceptance of my invitation merely a lie?" he finally asked. A harsh question, but given how he'd spoken to her that night perfectly convinced of her sincerity, an honest one.
She twitched under the question. She swayed back to face him, her hands folding front of her as she smiled. "Ohhhhh, please don't misunderstand things, Prince! I wasn't trying to use you… persay… but…"
"… your invitation was very convenient given Nordland's need to assess the situation in Estmarch."
"G-g-g-g-GUMI! Not like THAT! This is why I do all the talking!"
Meiko's overt scolding of her partner didn't even phase the photographer as the woman calmly sifted through a large envelope of photos. "Look, I'll be upfront with you. Yes, Gumi and I are spies. As such a prominent singer in Nordland, I was recruited because I could get into places normal spies couldn't. Like the castle of Estmarch."
"I fail to see how I wasn't simply being used."
Kaito couldn't conceal his crushing disappointment. "To think my appreciation of your talents and your position in Nordland was simply an excuse for you to steal from me…"
Meiko tried to recover. "No no no, you don't understand! Nobody knew anything about you in Nordland! It's not like any of us have met you. There were even rumors you weren't even real… and if you were that you'd be like them. I didn't expect you to be so… well… nice…"
"-she felt sorry for you."
"GUMI!"
For all the consternation the green-haired woman was causing her partner, she kept a rather serious face as Meiko twiddled her fingers around. "Listen, Your Highness, I was just happy to find out that you were still alive. Gumi took pictures of your 'assassination' and-"
"She has pictures?"
Miku sounded nervous as that revelation appeared. Gumi casually lifted a few gray photos out of her bag and flicked them onto the table in front of them.
All of them of the final moments when Kaito's life was still normal.
The moments of intimacy he'd shared – the kiss, the hug, the whispered words in the rose garden.
But the photos revealed what he hadn't seen – Miku reaching under her skirt, pulling out the knife and applying the toxin that sent him into a coma.
The moment of his stabbing.
He clutched his bandaged wound as if it were fresh.
"These aren't the only photos I took of course. I was quite busy that evening, trying to account for all of the guests, their interactions with each other… and your date was strange because after all the research Meiko and I had done to prepare for the event, she was someone neither of us had heard of. So I paid very close attention to her…"
For a second, Kaito thought she detected something approaching regret in Gumi's voice. "I would have intervened but it all happened so quickly… and a simple photographer stopping her escape would have drawn attention to myself and Meiko… all I could think to do was shout and hope someone would come to his aide…"
Kaito stared into the photographs, a wretched reminder into the worst moment of his life, preserved perfectly for eternity. Miku reached out and touched them, her fingers shaking as she rested them on the one of her stabbing him. For how cold and precise her actions appeared in the photos resting in front of her, the girl sitting on the bed with him showed far more emotion at being confronted with the act a second time.
"So your Highness," Meiko said more seriously, "That's enough about us. You were supposed to be dead, but you're still alive. So who are you working for?"
Kaito wanted to snap at her – making such an accusation against him! But before he could speak, Gakupo of all people spoke up for him. "Ah, I can fill in some of these details I believe. After all, I was the one that patched him up the night of the attack on the capital."
Meiko looked the doctor up and down like she hadn't even thought to consider him before. "And now you helped him break out of prison. Isn't that a little suspicious? An assassin that easily breaches the castle, a doctor that escapes with her… it would be the perfect setup to stage a politically convenient event…"
The doctor seemed to find her supposition amusing as he burst out laughing. "Oh, I assure you I'm not really that devious! But the night of the attack, the young lady brought the Prince to me. And ah, the distress and sorrow in her lovely blue eyes, how could I say no? Though my nurse and I tended to his wounds, she was never far from his side the entire night, worrying to his health."
"… there's no reason to stand up for me, Gakupo, though I appreciate your kindness."
Miku's shaking had ceased as she addressed the two spies. "Kaito is innocent. I was deployed by the Fairy Godmothers to win Kaito's trust and assassinate him. I chose to spare his life and go on the run with him instead. I've yet to uncover the identity of the person who ordered his death and kicked off the coup."
She sounded so much braver now when she spoke of her actions.
"Fairy Godmothers…" Meiko muttered, "Who the hell are they? Gumi and I got chased out of the capital by a woman in black, long light green hair… we thought she was a kid, honestly. We managed to lose her but we thought she must have worked for the Crown or something given how persistently we've been pursued."
"Another Cinderella? For you?" Kaito wondered.
"I don't believe our actual identities were discovered," Gumi said as she gathered up the photos again, "But I took quite a lot of photographs that night. I suspect I captured something I shouldn't have aside from the assassination itself. So what are these 'Fairy Godmothers?'"
"If you're such fantastic spies, I shouldn't have to inform you of their existence."
Meiko jerked around. "Hey, we're not completely blind! You think nobody outside of Estmarch noticed just the right people starting to drop dead without their assassins being caught? We thought the Royals were in the middle of purging their rivals, given all the insurrections rising up. Even the trip to the castle could well have been a death trap for all Gumi and I knew! Nobody in Nordland knew what was happening down here except that Estmarch just kept absorbing everything around it! Belgica, Daenmarch, Lucilin, Holtland…"
"…Sudland."
Kaito finished it for her, the guilt of the "Day of Ashes" rising up again. How did he know that Luka's town was the only one? How many more Saint-Familles had there been?
"Prince, if you come back with us to Nordland, you can tell us everything you know."
"That would be nothing, as per usual," Kaito said. Coming to grips with his own powerlessness in the prison cell, of finally recognizing his status as his parent's prisoner even as the people of his kingdom believed him a powerful man… even if he trusted Meiko, which he didn't right now, he had nothing to offer. "As I told Miku, I am little more than a glorified figurehead. The extent of my political intrigue was the ability to extend an invitation to a ball to a singer I greatly admired."
"You're joking… even if you had no direct power, you must have heard something or saw something important. You were around your parents all the time..."
"I have nothing more to give you!" Kaito shouted, cutting her off again, "You… you wasted your time on a worthless asset!"
"Kaito…" Miku whispered.
Gakupo stepped into the middle of the room before matters grew more heated. "As a medical professional, I must point out that everyone in here is no doubt exhausted, and several of us are injured. Hence, I would prescribe that all major decisions should be made after everyone has slept soundly."
Gumi gathered her things. "So be it. If you try and run off, we'll just chase you anyway."
"GUMI!" Meiko hissed.
The odd woman's demeanor seemed to keep even Gakupo on his toes. "Now, we only have three rooms, and only one of them has two beds… can I understand you two ladies will be sharing your own bed?"
Meiko's smile returned as she winked and put her hands on her hips. "Of course… Gumi and I don't sleep apart."
Gakupo began to count on his fingers. "Well then, that would mean… ah! Rin and Miku can take one room, and I can take another with Len and Kaito… well, that's three people… do we have enough…"
"I will be staying with Kaito."
The doctor grew flustered at the suggestion. "OH! I-I-I-I mean I didn't realize you two were-"
"Miku is my bodyguard. I assure you there is nothing indecent taking place in this room."
He didn't even wait for Miku to explain. He wanted to lift some of her heavy burden, if only for tonight. "I'll trust you and the twins to sort things out with the last one."
Finally, the invading spies and the doctor had left and it was only Kaito and Miku once more. He watched her begin to undo her own pack to change her clothes. "Miku, are you okay? They were quite cruel to you."
"It was to be expected," she said bluntly, "Even you didn't trust me after what happened between us. Why would complete strangers think I had committed to altruism?"
Miku bundled up her clothes and wandered into the bathroom. "Your bag is over there – I got your bed clothes in there before we ran."
When the door closed, Kaito took that as his cue to change. He walked over to the bag and started to pull out fresh clothes. His mind returned to the way he'd seen Meiko tonight. When his freedom was so heavily restricted, the records his servants acquired for him were a lifeline to his troubled heart. Meiko possessed such a unique talent, as if even on the recording she sang just for him.
Perhaps he'd crafted an impossible image in his head of what this mystery woman was like. When he'd finally had the chance to meet her face to face, she seemed to match that image. But now he knew she was merely entertaining him – any connection he'd thought was merely an illusion.
'While she stole from my family…'
As he slipped the shirt over his head, he ran his hands along the fresh bandages. He glanced back to the door where Miku was changing and reflected on his connection to her. Had they not met under even worse circumstances? Yet he found himself trusting Miku more than anyone in his life now.
He found himself worrying that he'd been too quick to judge again. Was he really that angry at Meiko? Or was he upset with his own failure to read into her interest in him?
'I can't help it, my allies and my enemies are so hard to tell apart. I even gave Luka more of a chance.'
Miku came out of the washroom in fresh bed clothes. He tried one more time to be gallant. "Miku, that couch is far too small. Please take the bed-"
"You're injured. I'll take the floor tonight."
He glanced to his accommodations - how to convince her to take care of herself? It looked like a bed large enough for two. He swallowed his bashfulness – this wasn't for intimacy after all!
"You're injured as well. I cannot abide any injured person in my company sleeping on the floor. The bed is large enough for both of us."
As the suggestion registered to Miku she let out an embarrassed gasp. "I-I-I-I could not think of imposing on a Prince like this and-"
"Miku. They already know where I am and that I'm alive. You must be in peak health to be a successful bodyguard. That is all I intend to ask of you."
Finally, she seemed to accept the kindness out of necessity. Kaito crawled into the bed first, turning away and facing into the wall. He felt Miku's weight on the mattress and his heart pounded just a little harder for a moment as the blankets tugged over her.
"I apologize, I should have said something sooner, but… Miku, I'm relieved you're safe and sound. I worried over you when I thought Luka might have killed you."
He heard Miku curling up tighter in the bed. "I couldn't think of anything else but rescuing you, Kaito," she said softly, "I don't know why fate led me to you, but… I must protect you. When we get to Westheim and you're safe, I'll leave, I promise."
He recalled his conversation with Len earlier in the day. Of his worries about Miku's behavior. He couldn't imagine she was holding up well after seeing the photographs on the table. 'I know I forgave her but when she talks like this, it feels like I haven't done enough for her.'
Miku sometimes appeared to be two people – at once strong and frail, unstoppable and fearful… was this a result of what happened to her?
Kaito recalled his conversation with Luka. Of the horror she'd revealed to him. "Miku, before we sleep, I must know… are you aware of the Day of Ashes?"
"Hmm… I've never heard of it."
So it might not have been widely spoken of further away from Sudland. "Then what did they tell you about how Sudland fell? How that Rose War ended?"
He wanted to know how far the deception ran.
"We knew it couldn't have been pleasant after such an utter victory. We were told the Sudland royal family conducted a bloody campaign against their own people after they tried to surrender to the might of Estmarch. That their executions were punishment for a great crime."
'So… everyone was lied to.'
"Kaito, did Luka tell you more than that?"
Of course. Miku had known Luka before. She would have guessed her history given her accent, even if Luka had concealed as much of it as she could.
"She told me of my family's cowardice. Of a massacre conducted against her home. I… I couldn't blame her for wanting me dead… I told her I had to live to set things right and…"
The light came back on at the edge of the bed and Miku sat up. "You're not tired either, are you?" she asked calmly.
"… no. Too much has happened today."
Miku walked over to the chairs and pulled a long green coat out of her bag. "I'm going to take a little walk until I'm tired. Would you like to come?"
She tossed the coat on right over her night gown, buttoning it up so tight it was hard to tell she wasn't wearing proper clothes underneath.
"… yes. I would."
The few streetlights of Katzhagen provided a dim light as Miku stayed near Kaito. She wanted to relax – there were so few people out here after all – but it was difficult to do so after seeing him hurt today.
She wasn't sure she could handle sleeping, but after hearing Kaito trying to make sense of the day's events, she wanted to give him the chance to feel better. Besides, she wasn't going to sleep. Not after seeing those photos again.
Miku looked up into the sky and spotted the waxing moon. 'The moon is almost full again… almost a month already?'
She wasn't sure how to feel about her place right now – she'd saved Kaito from death and departed the wretched cycle of the Godmothers against her. She could walk outside freely. She could speak of whatever she wished.
She felt guilty, but even as terrible as everything in the world felt right now… she was starting to feel something resembling happiness again.
She heard Kaito's footsteps come to a stop and she turned to see him watching a small pond, approaching it as he drew his deep blue coat closer during a strong gust of wind. He knelt down in the grass, intently searching for something. "Did you drop something?" Miku asked.
"OH! Ah… well, it's… it's not… wait, maybe this will work!"
He reached down and plucked a small stone out of the grass, turning it over in his fingers as he inspected it. "It's flat and thin… we might have some luck with it."
Kaito reeled his arm back and tossed the stone into the lake, watching it skip along the surface twice before sinking into the water. "So the Prince still has a sense of play?"
He looked a little embarrassed at his childishness, but that didn't stop him from grabbing for another stone. "Here Miku, you can have this one."
She took the sleek stone into her hand and stared out at the water. She hadn't skipped stones since she was an innocent girl. Gamely, she tried to do it anyway, reeling her hand back and hurling it – watching it plunge straight into the waters like the rock it was.
"I guess I don't know what I'm doing…"
"Then I'll show you."
Kaito handed her a second stone, keeping one for himself. "You need to hold your fingers like so… your index finger like this…"
She tried to mimic the position of the Prince's fingers. "There, perfect! Now just watch me… when you throw it, it shouldn't be that hard. Just snap your arm…"
Kaito stepped near the lake and this time as he tossed it, she watched his movements carefully as his stone managed to bounce off the water twice again. The movement seemed so precise, but by now Miku was good at precise movements. When she snapped her arm and released the rock, she made sure to follow through the entire way…
"WOW! Four skips!"
Kaito sounded so impressed as Miku rock skidded along the surface twice as far as his had gone. "I should learn from you!"
Miku found herself joining Kaito for a few moments in searching for more stones to throw. Soon their hands were overflowing with them, Miku resting hers in a small pile.
"So did you receive royal stone throwing training, your Highness?"
Kaito laughed at Miku's excessive formality. "Only if being taught by my Grandmother counts as 'royal training.'"
His next stone made it three skips.
"She taught me to do it. When she was still alive, I would tug at her skirts whenever I wanted to play. We'd retire to the great pond in her rose garden and throw stones for hours! I learned many years later she'd have the servants scour the pond for the rocks after we departed to ensure there were enough for the next time. When she was gone… I'd just do it myself. It helped me to remember her… it gave me a return to simpler times."
Only one skip on Miku's. "Do you wish for that now?"
Kaito's stone plunged into the water from a particularly careless throw. "It's so tempting to me to idealize everything before that fateful ball. I was just a prince, I was just supposed to learn and grow and hide from the world. But looking at it now, I knew how unhappy I was. I can't look back at myself then without seeing how much I allowed to happen."
Miku threw her next stone a little too strongly, but it still made two brisk skips along the water. "What could you have done? You didn't even know what was happening. They concealed all of these truths from you to keep you compliant!"
Kaito barely managed to get another skip out of his next stone. "I may not have known what exactly was happening, but I still knew something was wrong. Yet I stayed content within the walls of that wretched castle. I wish I'd been as strong as you are. That I'd taken such a risk to escape their sight. I could have fought my way out, I could have snuck away and run… then I could look at myself now, even if I failed, and admit I'd tried…"
In their first encounter, with Miku wearing the clothes and title constructed of lies, Kaito had so easily opened up to her. But here he was doing the same without any of those false pretenses. He knew who she was, and he trusted her with his worries and fears.
She wanted to ease them.
"Kaito, you saved those people today without a single thought for yourself. I saw your true character, and I'm certain that everyone else there did too. You love your people… you'll save more now that you're free."
Kaito's throws seemed to be stabilizing. "No… but I won't excuse my past self. From the way Meiko was talking, Sudland's 'Day of Ashes' wasn't the only atrocity I have to answer for."
'Kaito has so much on his shoulders… the crimes of other people…'
"When you were asked to commit murder… you stayed your hand. I can't imagine the pressure they placed upon you."
No, he couldn't.
Luka was her handler. Luka had given the order.
Luka was sent to kill her for failing.
But Miku had let Kaito save her.
"You spared Luka. "
Kaito hesitated before he threw another stone. "I still don't know what either of you endured. What she did to you. I just couldn't leave her to be killed… not after what she told me my family visited upon her. A massacre that my family name will never live down. She survived it only to be forged into a weapon against the family that stole hers. "
Luka was her handler, her mentor. Thus she performed the training on Miku meant to harden her, perfect her skills…
… except when she herself was on missions.
Then Miku would be left with other Godmothers. And they were always so much harsher with her, teaching her how to live without, to endure suffering.
Sometimes when she saw Luka return, she saw her with barely healing injuries that she would shrug off. And in those moments, Miku felt fear at what her own missions would be like. But she was preserved, kept pure even as she trained without rest. Eventually the physical assaults stopped to leave her skin clear and her body unbroken. Punishments would be loss of food or warmth.
She learned to silence her crying.
Somehow, she'd always known she was being groomed for something unique.
She never knew if Luka hated her for that, but when her mission to kill the prince was assigned, the woman seemed agitated.
In one moment, Miku hated Kaito for risking himself to let Luka survive when she thrived on his dying.
But in another, Miku knew she could have stopped him from releasing her and she refused to.
Quietly, she'd decided in that moment to take responsibility for protecting Kaito from her as long as she had to.
It was up to Luka to decide what her own freedom would mean.
"Miku, how many groups are there out there like the Emerald Dawn? More organizations like the Emerald Dawn that were fighting my family? My parents often complained about rebellious elements."
She tried to count on her fingers, pressing her last stone into each one. "I didn't know the Dawn very well, but there was a great deal of resistance from the nations your family conquered. The largest is the Confedere de lys from Sudland of course. But the Emerald Dawn… frankly it feels like they swept in out of nowhere, silencing the others."
"Hmmm… so the only real faction opposing them is the Loyalists…"
"If Meiko and Gumi are connected, they might be able to provide you some more background than I can."
Kaito held onto his last stone, turning it over and over in his fingers. "How do I trust her after everything that's happened? She admitted she had other motives."
Miku didn't entirely trust her either – but she also doubted Meiko had the means to truly upset their plans in returning to Westheim with Kaito. At most she'd likely try to convince him to return to Nordland instead. "You know her better than I do…"
"Clearly not," Kaito quipped.
"… I'm just saying, it's poor cover for a spy to gain fame. None of us Cinderellas were famous. I doubt she was a spy first and a singer later."
Maybe Miku just knew what to look for in people being forced into things they weren't happy with.
"You really think so?"
Kaito continued to hesitate on throwing any more stones. "When I was still imprisoned in the castle… her records were one of the few things I enjoyed without guilt. She would sing of wonderful things I wanted for myself, with such power and strength…"
This woman had become an image of freedom for Kaito. She could never live up to that image, but for her to have used his love for her to get close to him? Miku recalled the way he lashed out at her when he first awoke after the attack. More than anything, Kaito feared being used.
'But Meiko wouldn't have known how Kaito thought of her. And she was upset that he was seemingly murdered.'
"Logically, she wants the same thing you want – no war. She came to Estmarch to stop one, even if she intended to do it through espionage. You both share the same goal. We may be able to get useful information out of her. And…"
Miku didn't like to admit she couldn't protect Kaito by herself.
"… we… we still need allies. If we're to arrive in Westheim safely."
Kaito stepped away from the water. "All right… I'll speak with her. Perhaps she can help, even if she clearly wants something out of it. Better she's at least honest about her relationship to us."
The Prince's innocent smile returned. "It's strange, Miku, but it's always easy to speak to you about these matters. I appreciate you continuing to indulge me."
Miku found herself smiling at just seeing Kaito happy. "I'm doing my best to help."
He gestured towards the edge of the pond. "Would you like to join me in one last throw before we turn in for the night?"
She walked to Kaito's side. Gazing up at his face, highlighted by the dim November moonlight, she couldn't help but be struck by his handsome profile.
The night they met, she'd told him she loved him.
In this moment, with him so close... she wondered if that had been sincere. If those feelings still churned in her heart. Yet somehow no matter how many times he told her he forgave her, it felt shameful to admit that someone like her could love him.
She turned away to the water and on the count of three, Cinderella and the Prince skipped stones along the pond.
Once more bathed in the red moonlight, Miku danced with Kaito as she counted out every minute of their shrinking time together. She kept praying somehow the minutes would stretch out, that the bells would never toll, that she would be forever in his welcoming embrace.
The sea of white masks covered the faces of every one of his enemies, only Kaito remaining pure, his face as open as his heart. "Cinderella," he beckoned, "I can protect you. I can make you a princess. You'll be happy at my side."
She followed the prince, her heart pounding, leaping down the stairs three steps at a time. In a castle where orphans gathered, he seemed as if he were a seraph, embracing her deceitful love with his pure wings. The bells tolled and she pulled into his embrace, thrusting the knife forward with an eternal farewell.
She heard the flashes of the camera bulbs as her terrible crime was recorded for all time...
Miku bolted awake, clutching the sheets close to her body as if drawing another person close to her. She released them as wakefulness claimed her sanity, hoping Kaito hadn't noticed…
"Miku are you okay?" he said, roused awake by her sudden motions.
Of course he would notice. She carefully checked her face with her fingertips, and was relieved the tears were only in her dream.
"It was only a dream, Kaito… please don't worry about them."
She stepped out of the bed, even though the sun had barely risen in the sky. She checked a clock on the wall – it was only 7 am. "I should prepare for the day. We don't know how long we can safely stay here."
"Oh, of course!"
She felt guilty waking him. He deserved sleep, after all. "This little inn will be serving breakfast. I doubt it's much, but we still have some money for it…"
"Oh, I wonder what they'd serve in a sleepy place like this!" Kaito said happily, "Hmmm, maybe some kind of oatmeal or toast…"
She couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought of Kaito marveling over common food again. She dug through her bag, as if she was looking for her clothes, before her hands curved around a familiar hard, long object wrapped tightly in soft cloth. She felt it over carefully, ensuring the precious heirloom was intact – miraculously, even with their multiple escapes, it hadn't broken.
"If you need help when you talk to Meiko, I'll stay with you."
She slipped her black dress and white blouse out of the bag. 'I should be grateful Rin and I aren't that different in dress sizes… nobody even noticed when we switched clothes even though I'm a little taller than her.'
" In the moonlit night, the echoing sound of water dripping, and the melody of the countless sighs that eats deep into the heart…"
As Kaito left the bedroom, he heard a familiar melody being sung by a familiar voice, accompanied by a piano. 'Is that Meiko?'
He walked through the hallways and found the brunette woman wearing a long ankle-length red dress underneath an elegant but practical red wool coat. While she wasn't heavily made up, she looked far more feminine today than when she was wearing the men's uniform she'd stolen. Her fingers graced the keys while she sang the familiar melody. Kaito glanced around and noticed the inn keep was absent – so right now he and Miku would be her only audience.
"The cold, freezing breath is white, you have always been encouraging and protecting me…"
Kaito realized the familiarity of the melody wasn't because it was one of Meiko's famous songs, but something else entirely. "Is this… Flowers Falling in Ruins?" Kaito asked.
Meiko kept playing the melody uninterrupted, even as she stopped singing to speak. "I've never heard of that song… this one is 'Poem Weaved in Ruins'. We sing it in Nordland."
Kaito listened to the melody as Meiko played a few more notes. "Is there other song popular in Estmarch?"
"Yes. My music teacher taught me how to sing and play it. It's a folk melody, but it's quite similar."
"Oooooo! A music teacher?! Why didn't you say you could play?"
Meiko scooted over on the piano bench and patted the open spot. "I keep trying to teach Gumi to play piano, but she says she only likes music when I sing. Sweet talker."
So, Gumi was more than just a co-worker. Kaito had trouble imagining the blunt, cold woman he'd met the night before being loving and open, but then again he had just met her. It was somewhat comforting to know she had another side to her.
"Okay, you play yours. I have to hear this!"
'I thought I was supposed to be discussing strategy!'
But for a moment he felt that spark of joy that an admired musician was asking him to perform for her. He began to play his own melody, singing the words he'd taken to memory. "Covered by thin clouds, the pale moonlight begins to shine on the ruins. As we stood still, the rubble beneath our feet piles up and collapses, screaming audibly..."
Kaito heard Miku taking a seat. 'I hope she isn't getting bored.'
He stopped playing a moment. "That verse and yours are so close, see? That's why I thought it was familiar."
Meiko grinned happily at him. "Okay, you play your next one and I'll teach you the way my song goes!"
" Lightly, the white petals drift down, burying the black shadow, freezing us as it continues to gather up…"
"AH! My song has the white flowers in it too!"
Kaito stopped playing as Meiko took over. "See, like this! With my back to the cracked walls, I sing… Tears fall as I look up to the sky… The white flowers that dance down unexpectedly are so beautiful…"
The two of them continued going back and forth, in a stranger half-duet as each one tried to teach the other something deep and personal through the only common language they had. By the time they'd finished, Kaito looked back to Miku as if to apologize, only for her to be staring intently at him. 'Is she… blushing?'
"Well well well… maybe our songs were the same a long time ago, changing as the singers separated over time… I'm impressed you know so much though! You didn't bring that up."
"No, I had… other matters to attend to that night…"
Now the more difficult subject reared it's head again. "Meiko, I'm sorry I was cross last night. You must understand my situation."
"Oh, I'm not mad. It's all business."
Her pleasant personality slipped away. "I doubt you came down here just to talk about music."
Before Kaito could say anything else, he heard the sound of the innkeeper returning. "Ah… well, if we're to speak about certain things…"
Meiko smiled. "Oh, anything you can tell me is good!"
He felt a little more confident now at least. For whatever reason Meiko had fashioned herself into a spy, he could at least trust that the woman he'd admired from afar was still genuine. She just had secrets.
"Do you need me to stay?"
"Only if you wish to, Miku," Kaito said as he got up again, "Actually, could you check on the others? I haven't heard them up yet."
Miku knocked lightly on the door. "Rin? Len? Gakupo? Are you awake yet?"
She heard some shifting of footsteps in the room. "It's okay, you can come in! Len and I are dressed and Gakupo fell asleep in his clothes anyway!"
Miku pushed open the door to a rather strange sight. While Len was back in his old butler's uniform again, Rin once more in her plain white dress, the rather tall doctor still lay sprawled out along one of the beds, Len poking at him with his hand. "Is he dead? I mean he can't be, he's still drooling…"
"Oh, let him sleep! Besides, when he's like this, even an earthquake won't move him! But if we need to get him up, feel free to punch him or something."
Len jerked his head back. "What?! Is that safe?"
Rin laughed at him. "Oh, he can take the abuse! He needs a good jolt of pain when it's really important anyway!"
"Is everything okay in there you crazy kids?"
Miku turned back as Meiko and Kaito walked through the halls. "Oh, everything's fine! Gakupo's just in nap mode. Do we need to leave yet?"
Meiko crossed her arms along her chest. "We should soon, we are on the lam and all. But Kaito and I are going to talk over next steps. You guys make your plans while we're waiting. Oh, and try the jellied toast! It's wonderful!"
"Mmmm… jellied mountain goats…" Gakupo murmured, interrupted by a loud snore.
"Rin, are you sure this guy knows what he's doing!?"
Rin approached Miku and folded her hands along her skirt. "Miku, now that we're not running for our lives, I've really wanted to talk to you! Why don't we grab some of that jellied toast and have some breakfast outside?"
'What does she want to talk to me about?'
"I… I suppose there's no problem with that," Miku said nervously as she heard the door close behind Kaito and Meiko. She shot Len a look.
"Len, keep an eye on that door. Just in case."
Len straightened his ribbon confidently. "No need to ask. Why don't you and Rin make sure to eat in sight of their window too?"
The morning sun made the cold morning somewhat more bearable than the last night for Miku as she and the young nurse sat at a small outdoor table with a small plate of toast and bowls of jelly. She kept an eye on the window where she could barely make out Meiko before the brunette disappeared. Kaito briefly walked past, but his calm demeanor assured her he was okay. Then why didn't she feel like he was safe?
Would she ever be free of the paranoia?
"Where did you and Prince Kaito get off to last night anyway?" Rin asked, startling her.
"Does everyone know?!"
Rin took a bite out of her toast, dripping with orange jelly. As she swallowed, Miku saw her expression soften. "Just me… well, probably Meiko too, I heard her up. She was probably making sure you two weren't running away."
She nibbled on her slice of bread thoughtfully. "Old habits are hard to break – I like to keep an eye on everyone near me. And unlike someone, I'm a light sleeper."
'Right. Rin was a Cinderella.'
The thought of their shared experience seemed to be chasing away Miku's appetite, as she only took a very tiny bite out of her own mint-jellied toast. She wouldn't be able to conceal anything from Rin, was that why she wanted to speak to her?
"Kaito and I took a walk to the pond and skipped stones until we'd calmed down enough to sleep."
Rin was already spreading jam along another slice of toast. "I can imagine after the last day alone… honestly, Gakupo and I were worrying about both of you ever since we first met you."
Miku barely managed another bite of toast as she braced herself for the intrusion that she was expecting…
"How many kills did you have?'
"None."
Rin nearly dropped her knife in surprise. "But… you're older than me, right? They never sent you out on missions before?"
"No."
Miku tried to focus on the window again, not wishing to talk about such terrible matters. "So… you managed to run away without getting your hands dirty. You're braver than I thought."
The tone in Rin's voice drew Miku away from the window. She recognized the guilty pangs in the girl's voice. "I'm not brave. I didn't… I didn't even know until the last tolls of the bells whether I would save him or let fate continue forward unchanged."
"Fate… that's how they taught us to look at everything… that we had no say in what we did…"
She was right… Miku's concept of fate had been so heavily influenced by the Godmothers. "It didn't matter how I felt about Kaito, all I was supposed to focus on was his death. Whenever I hesitated… in that sea of white masks, I didn't know who was a friend or a foe. I was so terrified that he'd die regardless of what I did…"
Even as she'd stolen back into the garden in the wake of the Emerald Dawn's attack to retrieve Kaito's unconscious body, she'd feared that somewhere in the roses her handler or another Cinderella would leap out and kill her.
"The night I messed up my assassination, I almost didn't want to survive… if I went back to the Godmothers like that, they might have just killed me outright. When Gakupo took me in, I kept expecting Luka to sneak in and stab us both for my insolence. It took… months… before I started to think my plan had succeeded…"
Miku had expected an interrogation, but with Rin confessing such fears to her, she realized there was something deeper.
Neither woman had ever met someone that had suffered their experience. Rin rubbed her bandaged thigh as she finished eating her toast. "Rin… does it ever get easier?"
"Being free?"
She dumped the crumbs from her plate into the grass. "It wasn't simple. At first I had my life, but I was still so indoctrinated I didn't even feel anything. It wasn't like I'd had some grand revelation that made me change my ways, I'd almost died."
"Gakupo… he gets an idea in his head, he just won't let go. He was certain that I wasn't just sick in body but in spirit… and it was like one day I felt everything all at once and I couldn't stop crying…"
The blonde girl walked away from the bench, starting to trace her toes in the dirt as tried not to face Miku. "Then I couldn't escape the guilt. People were dead because of me. I wished he'd never saved me! I wished I'd died to make up for them. So he put a uniform on me and told me I could be a nurse. I could save life. I could make up for it. So… I did that. I just focused on being a nurse. One step at a time."
Miku twisted the bread around in her hands. "So you started to get better because you focused on Gakupo?"
Rin's head shook in denial. "I thought that for a while, that I was just fighting for him. But I finally realized I wasn't just living for him anymore. I was scared of ever seeing my family again and telling them what I did, but… I wanted to see my twin's face again. I wanted to see my parents. I wanted to take back the things that were stolen from me… I kept trying to speed things up. Planning with Gakupo, saving money. So when I was ready, I'd be able to run after him. Like running up the stairs three steps at a time!"
"Then you focused on Len."
It sounded so strange to be so dependent on people like this. What if they weakened or broke? What if they weren't strong enough? What if they hated her?
Why couldn't she be strong enough to exist on her own?
'Why can't I?'
"I just kept changing my focus, that's all! I started to see the ways that I was still 'chained' even though I was free. To my past, to my guilt, to my fear… they'd bound me in so many ways. So I decided if they wanted to keep Len from me, finding him would break another chain."
Rin raised her hands to her face and wiped something away before turning back to Miku and… smiling? "I didn't expect to find him like this, but do you know how wonderful it feels? I took something back, for me!"
Miku rested back on the bench, looking up into Meiko's window, seeing the back of Kaito. "I have nothing to take back," she said somberly, "It was well and good for you to have your brother, but I don't have a family waiting for me. They were glad to be rid of me."
"I see…"
Rin looked up at the clouds in thought. "… look, one step at a time first. Don't beat yourself up over using whatever you have to stay sane. If the Prince is what you used to free yourself, then… don't be afraid to lean on him when you need him."
'One step.'
So slow.
Rin returned to the bench. "If you have any questions, I'm here too… I'll understand all of it. I promise."
'A promise…'
"Maybe today that can be your step… trusting me. If you want."
'Trust.'
Miku's stomach suddenly felt so empty. She devoured her toast with renewed vigor, grateful for the sharp, cool taste of mint.
"When I touched your wound, you were shaking slightly, not knowing where to go, you were looking at the distant sky…"
Rin was singing a familiar song. Miku was certain she'd heard it on the radio before, sung by a pair of twin sisters from Nordland. She remembered the next verse. " It's not like I want the answer to the pain in my heart, as long as you're here I just need to fulfill my promise…"
At hearing Miku's nervous voice, Rin clapped her hands eagerly. "A dry wind is flicking over the pages of a fairy tale! "I'm not alone," I feel that I could be stronger, just with those words…" Miku continued.
"I spread my injured wings and attempt to fly again, if this voice goes through to you, then I don't have to be afraid of anything!"
Miku was starting to understand why Kaito felt so much closer to Meiko after just sharing a song with her.
One step.
"The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together! There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away!"
Gakupo let out a loud yawn as he faintly heard the sounds of two people singing outside his open window. "Ah… is that Rin? And… someone else…"
He stepped out of bed, wandering over to the sill and leaning on it. The other girl was… Miku?
'Ah! The same frightened little Cinderella has a song in her heart!'
The doctor beamed happily as he saw the two girls outside sharing the song by the two blonde, green-eyed twins from Nordland. 'Anon and Kanon… I wonder if they ever thought their song would go this far?'
"The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo"… I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever..."
The sight of Miku's shell breaking, of Rin filled with life and heart…
… made Gakupo vow to fix every single Cinderella no matter how hard it would be.
'They don't need Prince Charmings to be happy. They only need their own strength. If only I can show it to them.'
For a moment he imagined the blue eyes of the assassin. The genuine sadness as she treated the injured with tender care. If he could only find a way to get that compassion to come out elsewhere, maybe he could save her too.
"Oh finally, you woke up!"
The doctor turned his attention to Rin's mirror twin. "As a medical professional, I believe proper sleep is paramount!" he said.
"Are Miku and Rin still out there? Kaito wants me to round everyone up." Len cricked his head towards the open window.
Gakupo sighed. "Such a shame to interrupt a touching performance though…"
Gakupo beckoned to the window and Len approached. His eyes widened as he took in the sight. "They're… singing… and Miku's actually smiling…"
The boy listened for several minutes. "Take heart. Rin was once like Miss Miku, but you see how far she's come. The dreaded shadow of the Godmothers can be cast off. Every one of these women is capable of freeing herself… if only we give them our support when they need it."
Len smirked. "And here I thought you were simple… you can be pretty deep when you want to be."
Gakupo winced. "I see that sharp tongue runs in Rin's family!"
"The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo"… I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever..."
Dex practically sprinted out of the car, rushing up the stairs of the castle. Three steps at a time, in his haste, causing many stares. But he cared not how wild he looked. He had to deliver this news in person. He needed orders!
His dashing ended as he found the familiar guard surrounding the audience chamber. The white uniformed honor guards pulled out their pistols and Dex came to a stop. "Stop! You can't just walk in here whenever you want!"
"Idiots!" Dex growled, "I have an important message for them! Where are they?!"
The guard didn't seem to like Dex's tone. "We'll deliver it, then let her decide whether to meet with you."
The white-haired youth stomped his foot in impatience but acquiesced. 'He'll be sorry when she hears this one.'
"Just tell her… that I have the location of their 'precious jewel.'"
Of course the meaning of the words went over the guard's heads, but Dex knew they'd mean something to the right person. He was never close to Kaito, but he'd never forget the look on the Prince's face whenever he was called by the nickname…
Sure enough, the guard came out a few shades paler. "His and Her Royal Majesties will see you at once."
The guards parted to allow Dex inside the tiny chamber. He heard the door crash behind him, leaving only himself and the two people he was here to meet.
The King and Queen of Estmarch.
The King bore a stern face, worn with age and fierce as befitting a conqueror. Though his hair showed tinges of white, it was still largely dominated by the deep shade of black of his tightly-trimmed hair and long tight mustache. These days he rarely appeared without his white military uniform and numerous medals, always a symbol of the military strength still loyal to House Shion.
The Queen sat by his side, her blonde hair pulled into one great long braid that snaked around her shoulders. Where her husband was stern, she wore a polite smile… one that hid a brilliant tactical mind. Where the King could be known for being bombastic, the Queen was cool and calm as she dissected those she found wanting. Her deep blue gown showed that even in this temporary exile, she refused to hide her status.
"Dex, last son of House Grauwolf. You sent word about my 'precious jewel.' I hope you have a good explanation for delivering this in person and abandoning your missions in the Rhune Valley."
He knew not to waste her time. His father may have had a great station, but his father had died in the capital and now all of his house's fortunes rested on him. "I would not interrupt my operations in the Rhune on a mere whim. But I met Prince Kaito in the flesh in Zweissen. His face, his eyes, his voice… the stories he told me to prove his identity… it could be no other man. Somehow, your son did not die in the attack."
He expected to see some kind of joy or relief from the royal parents. For all their terror rested upon others, Dex had been downright envious of the love they showered upon their pampered, sheltered son. But they gave no such reaction. Perhaps they simply didn't wish for him to see it.
"How many others know?" the King asked.
"Your son came out of hiding to save a few common lives yesterday afternoon, so everyone in the Rust District knows that someone claiming to be him is out there."
The old castle possessed no telephone service and was far too remote to receive radio signals. Hence it was no surprise the King and Queen had not been updated on this movement yet.
"He just broke out of prison in Zweissen. I have a hunch I know where he is, but I don't dare approach him alone, without your orders."
The King looked to his wife a moment, and she waved her hand in assent. "Do not tell anyone what your true mission is. Say you are locating a person of interest. Then bring him into custody."
"Custody?"
What were they on about?
"Dex. He may have been a very strong imposter," the King continued, "We cannot risk the idea of people possibly following a false Prince. When he's brought to our stronghold here, we can confirm for ourselves if he is our son."
There was a certain logic to it, if cold. "At once, your majesty. What should we do with his companions?'
"Companions?"
The Queen looked intrigued. "I don't know how many people he's working with, but he mostly certainly had a blond boy with him. And I spotted him running off with a girl with green pigtails…"
At the mention of the girl's description, the Queen's smile tightened. She turned to her husband and whispered lightly in his ear, too quietly for Dex to hear anything beyond one word. The King projected power and authority with his final order.
"Dex. If they put up a fight, execute them on sight and take the man claiming to be the Prince. Otherwise, take them into custody as well."
He raised his fist along his chest. "At once. To Estmarch!"
A/N:
WELL! It only took EIGHT chapters but Miku and Kaito *finally* sang.
So while editing this chapter, I caught a mistake in the passage of time. Only about three weeks have passed in the story. I actually doubled back and counted again. I had been operating under the memory of the story starting in October. But I double checked and Chapter 1 declared starting in September, while Chapter 6 mentions it being November. So I've had to pull a dreaded edit an older chapter to correct the setting, and I made the call to change Chapter 1 to list "October" and not "September". Yep, even when I plan the world to this level of detail, I can do something like make a dating mistake. I've already gone to the various sights and corrected this… so… for new readers you won't actually see my mistake, heh. You'll just know it happened.
You know, when I invented the destruction of Luka's hometown, I thought I was inventing an atrocity from my own imagination… only to learn while doing some research that what I described literally happened in WWI by occupying Germans trying to get some of their conquered territories under control.
Sometimes this is a hard story to write. I pushed ahead with it because some of the themes are relevant to me – it's got a romance at the core with Kaito and Miku, but it's so much more than the two of them. Being a realistic story with no magic, it's a bit frightening that my mind is able to conjur up wretched atrocities that I thought were beyond human abilities, only to learn that such evil is real and actually happened.
You know what else is hard? Realizing I only have a vague chapter count in my head (somewhere between Nutcracker and Broken Wings length) and knowing there's only so many lyrics I can borrow from Cendrillon for the chapter titles.
Music Credits: Did you guys miss me having enough songs to give them their own section?! Obviously I gave out Kaito and Meiko's songs by name – "Flowers Falling in Ruins" and "Poem Weaved in Ruins" are both songs by prolific producer Hinayukki (aka Shigotoshite-P) who is best known for the iconic Kaito and Meiko duet "Tsugai Kogarashi" as well as being a strong Meiko and Kaito producer (though she's been inactive since 2015 *sniff*). I've wanted to include "Flowers" before, but I kept holding back because I knew that it's deliberately meant to be paired with "Poem" and if you listen to them back to back you pick up on the melodic similarities. So I finally had a chance here! The final song is "Promise", a Miku and Rin duet by the late samfree. I wanted to put one of his songs in this story somewhere because he was such a great producer and I'm still so sad that he's gone :(