SHONEN ALLIANCE
RE:BIRTH
OPENING THEME: RANBU NO MELODY (Bleach)
"What did you need to tell us, Shantella?"
Vine had taken Edward, Alphonse, Aliasse, and Shantella to a local coffee shop. Obviously, it was closed, but since Vine was friends with the owner, that only really made it a perfect place for a private chat. Aliasse was happily sipping a large mug of Hot Cocoa, but the others were only really watching hot coffee turn cold. Shantella in particular had a sad look in her eye.
"We starting with the fact that you don't have amnesia?" Vine finally spoke up before being the first to take a sip, instantly regretting his smug statement when karma awarded him with a burnt tongue.
"You knew!?" Shantella gasped.
"Please, you needed the sympathy of strangers, had clear reason not to want to talk about your past, and just happened to have amnesia from your crash? This set up is so cliché it's probably cliché to call it a cliché. Though admittedly, I only suspected it prior to your declaration of needing to tell us the truth."
"I knew it," Ed admitted, "Yugi and Ichigo said they were looking for a missing princess from somewhere called. Lunaria. You're her!"
"They said that?" Shantella stuttered, her expression changing from distress to shock, "that can't be right."
"Why not?" Alphonse asked, "you are the princess, aren't you?"
"No," Shantella nearly shouted, the alchemists noticing tears were beginning to leak from her beautiful, brown eyes, "I'm no princess. If I can be called anything with relation to my home, traitor of Lunaria would be more fitting, or at least coward."
"Sounds like your being pretty hard on yourself," Vine observed, "care to share?"
"Where do I even begin?"
"Usually, people begin stories at the beginning."
"You know," Ed said, elbowing Vine in the rib, "it wouldn't hurt you to learn when to stop."
"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" Vine sighed, rubbing where Ed had elbowed him.
Fortunately, the unintentional comedy routine got Shantella to let out a short but heartfelt round of laughter.
"Alright, the beginning then."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
I wasn't born a Lunarian princess, or any kind of princess for that matter. In fact, my life started about as far from that of a princess as you can get. I was the daughter of a blacksmith.
My father was a good-natured, intelligent man, responsible for forging much of the armor and weapons that were used by the Knights of Lunaria. As a result, I did spend a lot of time at the castle, meeting the knights as I helped with my father's deliveries. I never met the king when I was helping my father, however the queen would often greet us when we arrived, always accompanied by a young, silver haired girl.
I remember that I didn't like Teresa initially. She struck me as timid and spoiled, the way she always clung on to her mother. Looking back, I wonder if even Teresa's own father fully understood how sick she was.
Nion, on the other hand, I know I didn't like. Something about the king had never sat well with me, even before everything he had done came to light. Father and Mother never trusted the king either, and they weren't shy about letting it be known. It only made it that much more suspicious when they died.
Supposedly, they had walked in on a robber who had panicked. That was the official story, and at five years old, I wasn't old enough to question it, though after Nion was dead and gone, General Braun had mentioned doubts he held about the story. Doubt driven by how professional and clean the killing blows against my parents had been for supposedly coming from a frightened thief.
I wonder even now if Queen Fiona knew anything. I never had the guts to ask, but it's difficult to otherwise explain why a queen would adopt the orphaned daughter of a dead blacksmith.
Regardless, whether it was guilt or the pure nobility of the woman, after my parents died, Queen Fiona was the one who took me in.
It wasn't a bad life, far from it actually. The queen certainly didn't lack for her own daughters. Thanks two unexpected sets of twins, she would end up with nine before her king's sins caught up to our family. Despite that, I never felt like I was less important then my sisters. Not to mother at least.
Nion was another story. After all, his daughters were all half Lunarian, half Saiyan hybrids, not that we knew that at first. I had no idea why I couldn't keep up with my sisters when it came to physical combat. Even Teresa's sickly body gained strength at an impressive rate. Kayla was the only exception. Not only was her body even weaker then Teresa's, but I'm pretty sure her little terror of a twin, Flora, ended up with all the battle sense that was supposed to be distributed between them.
Isabella never ended up becoming much of a fighter either, now that I think about it. She was the only one who's Lunarian half seemed to overcome her Saiyan half, manifesting in the healing powers that had been the mark of Lunarian royalty since long before Mom ever took the throne.
As for me, I wasn't Nion's daughter, nor was I really Fiona's. Neither Saiyan blood, nor Lunarian Royal blood flowed through my veins. Just the blood of a simple Lunarian blacksmith.
So, I did the only thing I could. I made knowledge my weapon.
My father had stacks of manuals and books about his craft, and Queen Fiona kept a detailed record of every inhabited world in Universe 7. This included a version of Earth where intelligent alchemists made the impossible into reality.
It wasn't easy. I had no real means of learning as much as I would have liked, but in time, I started to understand the basics.
Nion never accepted me, but I was fine with that. As far as I'm concerned, my only regret is that that man was never truly made to pay for the things he did. He had been gone for years when his sins caught up with us.
And when they did, they definitely made us pay. The Dark Saiyans were a threat we never had any hope of defeating. All of Lunaria would be destroyed as a punishment for the sins of its deceased king.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"So that's the story behind the Dark Saiyans. Yugi and Ichigo didn't say much about them, but I got the impression they must have been powerful," Edward reasoned.
"So your home was overwhelmed by the Dark Saiyans, necessitating a retreat," Vine summarized, "but I don't see why you'd call yourself a traitor."
"When it became apparent that we were losing, Queen Fiona gave a critical order. The knights of Lunaria were to use the few space pods we had in order to evacuate the princesses. They would travel to the other worlds of our universe and bring help to turn the tide of the fight."
"So you got away and came here!" Alphonse realized.
"That still doesn't answer the big question," Vine said, beginning to bite down on the tip of his thumb, "why don't you believe the other princesses are here for you, and why did you call yourself a traitor?"
"Because I wasn't supposed to leave!" she blurted out, her face turning red from frustration.
"Weren't supposed to leave?" Ed repeated, "but you would have died!"
"This is exactly what I was afraid of," Vine muttered to himself. The veteran soldier had witnessed survivor's guilt enough times in the past to know the signs when he saw them. "Shantella…"
"I'm not done," Shantella silenced him, "it's not just that I ran away. Lunaria only had nine functional space pods. That was one for each of the nine princesses. Since I ended up with one…"
"One of the other princesses couldn't get away!" Ed realized.
"I wasn't entirely lying when I claimed amnesia," Shantella revealed, her body becoming shaky as she continued, "there is one thing I don't remember. I don't remember how I ended up in that pod. I don't remember anything that happened just before I stole that pod and left one of the princesses to die."
Edward, Alphonse, and Vine were all left speechless, uncertain how to approach this new revelation.
"That doesn't make any sense though!" Al protested.
They tracked her to our world, so they had to have some way to find her, Vine considered, maybe they tracked her pod, but that wouldn't explain… "why fight Duel Academy?"
"What?" Ed asked.
"Why did Lunaria join the fight with Duel Academy? That wasn't their fight and they had nothing to gain. If they really just came all the way here to take a traitor to face judgement, there was no reason for them to involve themselves. No one would have stopped them from taking her and leaving."
"That's true. I know Yugi promised V1 that he'd protect that girl, Zuzu, but she's not here. They took her back with them," Ed reasoned, "there really wasn't a reason for them to help us fight Duel Academy."
"If they're all like Luffy, maybe that's just how they are?" Alphonse suggested.
"Maybe," Ed acknowledged, "but if their focus right now is on these Dark Saiyans, would it really be smart to waste time tracking down one traitor? Seems like they'd have more important things to worry about."
"Well, instead of wasting time conjecturing about it, we could always just ask," Vine suggested.
"That seems risky. What if they are after Shantella?" Ed questioned.
"Well, either way, it's kinda moot at this point," Vine admitted, nodding towards the entry to the coffee shop.
Anyone who lived in Amestris could have noticed that the silver haired woman who stood in the doorway was out of place. Her armor, her aura, even her physique carried the air of someone from very far away. Worlds away, to be accurate.
Even from only the little they knew about her, the alchemists could tell already. This woman was Teresa, princess of Lunaria.
When Shantella showed no signs of dismay, a thought crossed Vine's mind and he decided to confront her.
"You were planning on turning yourself over to them from the beginning."
Shantella nodded as confirmation. "I couldn't leave without telling you the truth. Not after everything you did to help me, but I have no intention of trying to escape. Whatever happened, I've committed an unforgivable crime against my family. I have to pay for it."
"I owe you so much for helping me. I'm sorry I can't do anything to pay you back for everything you did."
"You can thank these two," Vine indicated Ed and Al, "I just kinda got dragged along for the ride."
"Of course. Heavens forbid you lose face by admitting to being kind," Shantella chuckled as she rose to her feet.
"Your new friends?" Teresa asked as she approached, "are you going to introduce us?"
Shantella said nothing as she turned to face her sister. She was trying to remain stoic, but her trembling was apparent to everyone. Vine's focus, however, was on Teresa's face.
That's quite the smile for someone about to arrest a traitor. Why do I smell a second act twist coming up?
"Teresa…" Shantella finally began to say, but fell silent when her sister took her into a full embrace.
"Do you have any idea how worried everyone has been!? We were afraid the Dark Saiyans had gotten you! Why didn't you call us!?"
"Huh… I… but… we…" Shantella's composure shattered, throwing her into a fit of stammering and stuttering.
"What's wrong?" Teresa inquired, confusion so thick in her expression the alchemists could have almost sworn they saw question marks floating above the silver haired princess' head.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Vine's expression conveyed extreme annoyance as he was showered with hot coffee. Teresa apologized profusely but even the usually composed princess had been completely thrown by Shantella's story. By now, Shantella's expression was as confused as Teresa's had been a few minutes before.
"So… you're saying you don't remember what happened?" Teresa questioned.
"No. I just remember waking up in the pod, but since we only had a few, I knew if I was in one, one of you didn't have one!" Shantella pouted in reply.
"I see," Teresa replied sharply before she took a suspiciously long sip from her coffee and refused to make eye contact with anyone at the table.
"Care to share with the class?" Vine finally spoke up, prompting a long, aggressive sigh as Teresa put down her coffee cup.
"Uhmmm, well… you see…" she stammered so awkwardly it came back around to being cute.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNOCKED ME OUT!?" Shantella roared at Teresa who was once again sipping from her coffee cup as she tried not to make eye contact again.
"Your cup is empty," Edward pointed out, drawing an alarmed cough from the princess.
"Well you see," she stammered when she finally regained herself, "I knew you wouldn't go if I didn't do something, so… when you had your back turned… I kind of gave you a quick chop on the back of the neck and shoved you in a pod so you couldn't protest."
That revelation resulted in a lengthy moment of silence that prompted Edward and Vine to take a sudden and deep interest in their cups of, by now lukewarm, coffee. Finally, Shantella spoke up again.
"So… wait… does that mean you were the one who didn't get away? How did you survive?"
"I didn't say I didn't get away. My plan was to stay and try to help hold off the enemy until the rest of you could bring help. As it happened, Karina had other plans. Plans she wasn't above using a syringe full of sedative to see through. You weren't the only one out cold when you were launched in a space pod.."
"No… then Karina is…"
"No one's dead," Teresa revealed.
"Huh? Then… we won?" Shantella said hopefully.
"The presence of a Dark Saiyan in Fusion Dimension definitely casts some doubt on that possibility," Vine reminded.
"What!?" Teresa exclaimed before calming herself, "questions for later. As it turned out, the Dark Saiyan of Lust had plans for mother and the eight of us. Personally, I think death would have been more dignified then what he had planned for us, but it is because of him that mother and Karina were spared. As for everyone who did die in the attack, they were returned to life by the Dragon Balls."
"The Dragon What-nows?"
"So… everyone's okay then!?"
"Well, Silphia pushed herself a bit to hard trying to find you and made herself sick, but it's nothing a bit of rest can't cure. Other then that, yes. Everyone is okay."
"That's great news!" Alphonse pointed out.
Shantella looked ready to break down. "Yeah… it's really great news," she sobbed. Then in an instant, her emotions shifted from joy to annoyance. "YOU KNOCKED ME OUT!?"
Teresa resumed trying to sip imaginary coffee from her empty glass as her eyes wandered anywhere Shantella wasn't.
"Uhh, would you like more coffee?" Vine finally offered.
"May I? That would be wonderful."
"DON'T IGNORE ME!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Teresa whined as they left the shop.
"Oh, my dear Teresa. You don't have to apologize at all," Shantella said as sweetly as she could, making it that much more unnerving when her expression turned malicious and her voice turned venomous, "it won't save you from my vengeance anyway."
"I can't tell if she's vindictive, sadistic, or both," Edward observed.
"Kinda makes me miss her amnesia act," Vine admitted.
"That reminds me. I have a favor to ask. That world I told you guys I studied."
"It was ours," Vine spoiled her revelation.
"I thought that was pretty obvious," Ed admitted.
"Okay, you guys are no fun!" Shantella pouted, "I guess it can't be helped though. You'll just have to teach me alchemy to make up for it."
"Make up for what?" Ed asked, confused. Vine sighed and shook his head before developing a wicked grin. "Oh great, now his sadistic side is coming out."
"I don't mind teaching you, on one condition," Vine snickered.
Shantella shuddered a bit. "Oh gosh, what kind of unsavory humiliation do you have in store for me?"
"Only the absolute worst kind."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Oh come on! Anything but this, please!" Shantella pleaded.
"This is my condition. You can take it or you can leave," Vine delivered his ultimatum.
"You're a cruel man. How can you be so cruel to a fair maiden!?"
"If the 'fair maiden' wishes to be an Alchemist, she'll need to learn to face any challenge. Now, are you ready or not."
"DAMN IT!" Shantella cursed, sinking into her chair as she looked over the chess board between her and Vine. "How many games have we played?"
"Thirty-five," Teresa sighed deeply.
"And how have I done?"
"You haven't even threatened to beat me once," Vine shattered her hopes callously.
"How are you this bad at chess?" Teresa couldn't help but ask as Shantella lay her cheek flat on the table and began to whine.
"All I wanted was some Alchemy training!"
CLOSING THEME: SHUNKAN SENTIMENTAL (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)