Stupid Cupid
See disclaimer in part 1
When Gulcasa and his bodyguards returned two days later, the clear skies had opened up with light and silver to shower the world with a warm, gentle rain. Noticing them coming up the road, Nessiah hurried out to the castle gate to meet them, standing under the arched ceiling of the wall as the three dragon knights rode across the bridge and out of the wet.
Gulcasa dismounted and gave his dragon a pat on the shoulder as it wriggled under its tack with a squeak of protest at having gotten soaked along the ride from Ishnad to Karona. "Would you two mind taking her back to the stables for me?"
As his two guards left with his dragon in tow, Nessiah walked up to him with a smile. "You must've gotten drenched. You always could've waited until the storm was over, you know."
"It's fine. It looks like it's going to rain all day and into tomorrow, too. Besides…" Gulcasa smiled, unhooked his dripping cape, and tucked it under his arm. "I like rain."
Nessiah laughed and held up an arm to shield his face as the Emperor shook excess water out of his hair like a dog, grinning all the while. "Well, I don't, so stop making it rain in here. How did things go over there?"
Gulcasa sighed and sobered, his smile becoming halfhearted. "Well… the people of Ish have been maintaining the war memorial beautifully. There's even talk of adding a list of casualties from both sides to the wall of the local shrine. They said that members of the Royal Army have been visiting off and on, as well. I think that's a good thing. The loss has to be felt and appreciated by all of us if we want to stop something like this from happening again in the future."
"If anyone can make that happen, you and Yggdra can," Nessiah said simply. "I believe in you. The two of you have the power to accomplish things that I used to think would never be possible."
"We'll see how it goes," Gulcasa agreed, pushing his wet bangs out of his face. "I got to talk to him alone, too. There's something I'm trying to sort out to myself, and I always used to go to him with my problems… I guess I'm still in that habit. Whether it helped or not, at least it made me feel better that I said it at all."
"…………" Nessiah considered the Emperor silently for a moment. "…Gulcasa, give me your hands."
"Huh?" Caught off-guard, Gulcasa held them forward, palms up. "A…alright…"
Nessiah took Gulcasa's right hand in both of his, then gently began to undo the linen bandages wrapped around his wrist. When at last he pulled them away, he gently touched the dark marks along the underside of Gulcasa's wrist—deep purple, thick lines in the shape of a jagged, uneven asterisk, the longest of which reached from the base of the palm to halfway down Gulcasa's forearm.
"They haven't even begun to fade…" Nessiah said softly, stroking his fingertips along the scars. "But I don't think there are any new ones."
"Nessiah, what…" Gulcasa shook his head. "You didn't really think…?"
"I'm making sure," was the fallen angel's quiet response. "Gulcasa… please understand. Yggdra and your sisters aren't the only ones who worry about you these days."
"…Nessiah…"
Quickly and competently, Nessiah rewrapped the bandages, covering up Gulcasa's scars. "There. Come on—let's get you inside. If you don't dry off, you could get sick, and that's the last thing we need right now, since Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Let's go."
"Fine, fine." As Nessiah turned, however, Gulcasa noticed the flash of white bandage beneath his faceplate, then frowned and turned his friend back towards him, tilting his chin up and running his finger along the linen. "What happened to your face?"
"Stood in kitchen smoke longer than was good for me," Nessiah replied with a grimace. "And though I know that you, too, will want to give your five cents on my stupidity, I've already gotten the riot act from Kylier and Yggdra, and we should be inside and warm while you lecture me."
Gulcasa shook his head. "You're impossible, you know that?" With a sigh, he slung his arm around Nessiah's thin shoulders as they started to walk. "Come on. Luciana and Aegina are going to get pissed that you're monopolizing my attention, and we don't need that, either."
"No, I'm sure we don't." Still, Nessiah smiled up at Gulcasa as they went inside. "Welcome back."
---
Rosary was really starting to get fed up.
Everyone else was getting irritated with her, telling her that she needed to stop avoiding the issue of apologizing to Roswell and get it over with. The thing was that while, sure, she had been trying to figure out some other way for the first day or so, now she really did want to do it, and bury the damn issue once and for all. Once it was over and done with, she could stop feeling guilty and frustrated and go on with life as usual.
The problem was, Roswell wasn't cooperating.
Whenever she went looking for him and managed to pick up on his trail, if she ever managed to get in the same room as him, he would always get that cagey look and either discreetly or indiscreetly exit stage right. The one time she had managed to sneak up on him and corner him, he'd gotten that awful defeated look again, said "Not now, Rosary", and brushed past her.
He was avoiding her.
And all she was trying to do was apologize.
It was getting to be really hard not to point that out to him at the top of her lungs every time he slipped off, especially when she was getting the urge to append "you stupid prick" to the end of her frustrated message.
She'd managed to hold back. So far.
Sitting down and making a concerted effort to stay calm, Rosary tried to think the issue through logically.
They obviously had not parted on good terms. And usually, whenever Rosary made a point to look for Roswell, she wanted to pick a fight with him, as she'd done when the two of them had gotten each other into this whole mess. What if he thought that her intent was to attack him again, rather than say she was sorry and commence giving him a wide berth as usual? Maybe—the way Yggdra told it, the very last thing Roswell wanted was to get into another fight, seeing as he was in such a delicate emotional state or whatever. If he was already depressed, then he most certainly didn't need another blow to his self-esteem. Maybe he was acting out of self-preservation instinct (not that Roswell had ever displayed that before—when had he suddenly grown one?) or something like that.
Well, whatever the case, how the hell was Rosary supposed to apologize to him when he was running away from her like this? Sure, she might think that letting the issue die was a good idea, but Yggdra and the others would never ever let her live it down if she didn't say she was sorry.
As usual, Roswell was making her life hell.
Even if this time he didn't seem to mean to.
Rosary groaned and headslumped. Well, this meant that Valentine's Day was ruined for her. She wouldn't be able to gleefully watch as Elena tried to give chocolate to Zilva or as Milanor was forced to accept Kylier's homemade—and, surprisingly, edible—cookies, or as Yggdra and Gulcasa did their adorable yet hilarious "I don't know how the hell I ended up liking you, but I do, and now I'm not sure what to do about it" dance around each other.
Wait. Valentine's Day…
"It's not much, but it's something," Rosary said aloud. Then she groaned. "This really sucks."
---
Dawn had arisen, and Karona was a flurry of activity.
Girls everywhere were busy tracking down their beaux and male friends; the Royal and Imperial representatives found themselves caught up in the rush as well. Yggdra distributed candy to everyone she knew, handing them out with smiles and brief explanations, as Lily presented bittersweet chocolates to a very surprised member of Roswell's necromancer attendants and her younger sister Anemone shyly approached one of Gulcasa's bodyguards. Flone, having successfully given Russell his chocolates, spent the morning arm in arm with him in their own little corner of the castle, separated from the world by a wall of glowingly affianced bliss.
Some girls, however, were not nearly as happy as most of the multitudes.
Take a certain three members of the Royal Army, for example.
Kylier, Rosary, and Elena—sitting in the tower again—looked down at the happy bustle below, turned to one another, and sighed in unison.
"Well, I guess there's really no point in putting it off," Kylier said with another sigh. "I'm gonna go try to find Milanor. I'm sure he's outside, away from the noise and the crowds. It'll be easier now that the rain's let up."
"Good luck, Kylier-san," Elena said timidly.
"Knock him dead with your newly acquired culinary prowess," Rosary commented gloomily.
"And you two stop moping, get off your asses, and find Zilva and Roswell," Kylier retorted in an accusatory tone. "You guys are such downers. Regardless of your bad attitudes, I am going to go give cookies to Milanor and Nessiah."
"Why give cookies to him?" Rosary asked in the tone of dripping scorn she only reserved for Nessiah, and sometimes Roswell. Unlike her cousin, she still harbored a grudge against the fallen angel because of Verlaine.
"Because without Nessiah, I wouldn't have anything to give Milanor at all," Kylier pointed out. "Besides, he's my friend. Therefore he gets cookies too. I'm sure only Yggdra and me will have thought of giving him anything, and that's just plain wrong. So scoff all you want, but I'm going." And with that, she sauntered off.
Rosary grumbled. "I don't know what she sees in that guy."
"Milanor-san or Nessiah-san…?"
"Sometimes, both. But you know which I mean."
The two of them sat in silence.
"So are you gonna sally forth to confess your undying love, or what?" Rosary asked eventually.
Elena went bright red. "I-I-I d-don't know what I'm supposed to say…"
"If all else fails, throw your beloved sempai the chocolate and run like hell," Rosary retorted. "I don't know. I've never made a love confession, or really given anyone chocolate on Valentine's Day other than friends."
"I-I have to think of something first," Elena said, shaking her head. "I-I-I don't want to shame myself in front of Zilva-sama."
"If you say so."
"Um… what about you, Rosary-san?" Elena ventured. "Aren't you going to try to find Roswell-san?"
"I haven't got an ice cube's chance in hell in crowds like these," Rosary told her, gesturing to the scene below. "Either I have to wait until the ruckus dies down, or I'll have to interrogate a million people as to where my idiot cousin's holed himself up. Roswell's usually fine on his estates, and he never had a problem with the army, but he's not very good in situations where he has to be around that many people. Always used to say that crowds make him dizzy."
"But, Rosary-san, you speak like you know Roswell-san so well. Wouldn't you be able to tell where he might go if that's true?" Elena asked.
"Pfft. Maybe, but I haven't known him that well since we were kids. A twelve-year-old Roswell would be hiding in the library right now, but I'm sure a twenty-one-year-old Roswell realizes that that's the first place anyone looking for him would go. Besides, this would be so much easier if he wasn't always running away from me in the first place. The idiot just doesn't realize I'm trying to say I'm sorry."
"…Is that so…" Elena hung her head. "Rosary-san… it seems to me… as though Roswell-san is very afraid of being hurt."
"What are you talking about?" Rosary asked. "The guy's nearly gotten himself killed so many times, I'm starting to wonder if he's got a functional sense of pain."
"Not physically… I mean that he's very sensitive. Something I've learned throughout my experiences with everyone here is that people's hearts are very fragile things. They have the capacity for deep strength, but it takes so little to break them.
"The thought of losing Kylier-san, for Milanor-san… and for His Majesty, fear of failure… Nessiah-san, presented with kindness after so long… for everyone, tears came so easily… and now, Roswell-san knows that it won't take much to break him. He's… afraid, Rosary-san.
"But… all the same, you know Roswell-san so well, and you truly do want to help him… I'm sure that if you try hard enough, you'll be able to find him. He's out there, waiting for you to say the words that can heal him."
Rosary sighed. "You know what? You're right. And I really should go out there after him instead of sitting and whining to you all the time. I'm gonna go now." She stood up and gave Elena a crooked smile. "And… good luck with Zilva. I'm sure you'll figure out what to say."
With that, she left, running down the corridor with a determined look on her face.
Elena remained sitting where she was, hugging her knees with a wistful look in her eyes.
Figure out what to say… if only she could.
---
Contrary to popular belief, even though Zilva was the head of the Imperial Special Forces, she wasn't as frigid as a stone. What seemed to the rest of the world to be coldness was actually control—absolute control of her emotional response. Just because Zilva didn't show her feelings to the world and its kid brother didn't mean she didn't have them.
For instance, on the outside, Zilva treated Elena no differently from the scores of other students she'd trained to become assassins throughout the war.
On the inside, Elena happened to be the teacher's pet. Very few assassins could manage to function while still letting their emotions have free reign over their physical and mental reactions. Elena was the most emotional student Zilva had ever taught, and yet in spite of that—maybe because of it—she adhered the best to the assassin's unspoken code: There is no hatred in killing, only mercy. A swift, painless end is the mark of an assassin who has completed her mission flawlessly.
And in Zilva's personal opinion, "flawless" was a fairly good judgment of Elena.
There were still a few rough spots that Elena had to get over, of course. But she was young. She would learn.
However, these were lessons she would have to learn by herself. Zilva couldn't teach her everything, after all.
Besides… she was cute when she was floundering.
"Z-Z-Z-Z-Zilva-s-sama…" Elena squeaked, radiating panic and embarrassment, flush-faced and shaking.
"Yes?" Absolute control came in handy sometimes. The corner of Zilva's mouth wanted to start twitching very badly, but she wasn't going to let it.
"N-n-nothing! I'm sorry!" Her entire face bright pink, Elena turned tail and fled.
Zilva watched her go, her pale golden eyes registering little more than mild disappointment. Oh, well. Zilva was good at being patient. Elena would figure it out sooner or later.
…She hoped.
---
It was cliché. Milanor knew it was cliché. But still, it was exactly what a day like today called for.
The rain had stopped really late last night, and now the ground outside was dry and warm. The skies had cleared up beautifully, and the sun had been baking the earth for the past several hours.
The castle was all filled with bustle and chatter, for reasons Milanor couldn't possibly guess—but even though the noise made him slightly uncomfortable, he was grateful for it, because it had given him an excuse to come outside.
The Silver Wolf was lying on his back along the grassy slope that led down to Karona's moat, a long grass stalk in his mouth, lazy and content. After all the chaos that had come with the war and the first few months afterwards, when Yggdra had gotten all of Fantasinia alternately up in arms and working like the proverbial bees over her public renunciations of military force and her motions for reconstruction for every country that had suffered damage over the course of the war, it was so good to just lie around without a care in the world.
Maybe he'd been something like a commander in the disbanded Royal Army, but before all that, Milanor had been a thief, and he'd never really enjoyed responsibility.
"Milanor!"
The Silver Wolf sat up, disoriented. "Kylier?"
She was running towards him with a happy look on her face and a basket under her arm. As he watched, Milanor acutely felt his heart do a quick somersault and land in his stomach, sending quivers through his belly. It was something he wasn't exactly used to, but it was becoming a common occurrence whenever Kylier was around.
Oh, wow, went the part of his brain that disengaged and got goofy whenever she entered the immediate area. She's really done it this time.
It had been Milanor's first big post-war realization: Somewhere over those months, he'd become hopelessly stuck on Kylier. And for some weird reason, she seemed to feel the same about him.
"I figured you'd be out here," Kylier said as she sprawled down in the grass next to him. "You big silly, I've been looking for you all morning!"
"Huh? Why?" Milanor blinked at her, confused.
Kylier rolled her tawny orange eyes at him, groaning. "Just like a man. It's Valentine's Day today, duh."
"It is?" Milanor faced forward again, still slightly confused. "Oh."
"Yeah. You know, the way you've been going about life as usual, you've totally missed out on all the drama around here. Open your eyes to the other side of life and get your head out of the masculine zone. You've got way more brain than to just sit around and grunt and point like some guys do." Kylier opened her basket. "Anyway, here you go. Sorry it's not chocolate, but…"
"Ooooh, cookies!" His eyes lighting up, Milanor took them from her and immediately started on them. "And they're really good, too!"
"You think so?" Kylier asked, blushing and giving him a shy smile. "Chocolate was too hard, and even making these was a pain, but… it's worth it if you like them."
"Wait, are you saying you made these?" Milanor pointed at the half-eaten cookie in his hand, astonished. "That's unbelievable! These are awesome!"
"Uh-huh… Flone taught me," Kylier replied, blushing even worse.
"Well, that explains it. You've always sucked at cooking."
"Hey!" Kylier punched him in the shoulder, pouting. "You don't have to be so blunt about it, jerk!"
"Owwww…" Milanor rubbed his offended shoulder, sulking. "I was trying to give you a compliment."
"Dumbass."
"Banshee."
Kylier giggled; Milanor laughed. The two of them linked arms and leaned back into the grass as Milanor finished his cookie.
---
"Oh, dear… what's wrong?"
Elena looked up to see that she had been joined by Russell and Flone, who were both looking down at her worriedly where she sat on a bench in the castle garden, the beautifully wrapped box she'd put her chocolate in sitting next to her.
"I've tried and tried, I just… I just couldn't do it," Elena told them, desperately ashamed. "I couldn't… say anything to Zilva-sama, and I couldn't give this to her."
"Don't worry about it," Flone soothed. "Everyone has trouble giving a Valentine's Day gift the first time they do it. It's normal to be a little shy about it… especially normal for someone like you, I'd say, since you tend to worry a lot, Elena-chan."
"It's not as if the giving part is difficult at all… it's just… I don't know what I should say to her…"
"You don't really need to say that much," Russell told her. "I think Valentine's chocolate is a confession in and of itself, wouldn't you say so, Flone?"
"Definitely," Flone replied, looking up into his eyes and smiling.
"B-but, without explaining…"
"I doubt you really need to explain, either," Russell said, shaking his head. "Gulcasa didn't appoint Zilva as the head of his Special Forces for nothing—she's very perceptive, and she knows you well. I'm sure she's noticed how you feel." He smiled down at Elena, giving her a quizzical look and a shrug. "That said, if Zilva already understands, even a simple 'here you go' will work."
"But I…"
"Elena-chan, the worst thing you can do in this situation is give up," Flone reminded her, patting her on the shoulder. "As long as you can get your gift to Zilva, that's a victory. As long as there's tangible proof of your feelings for her, that's another step forward to starting that kind of relationship. So just keep trying, okay? It'll all work out as long as you hang in there."
"Okay…" Biting her lip, Elena picked up the box of chocolates and bowed to the young couple. "Thank you, Russell-san, Flone-san. I don't know if I can ever repay your kindness, but I'll never forget it, all the same. I… won't lose to my doubt." Smiling and bowing again, she hurried off.
Flone leaned into Russell's shoulder and smiled. "So much like we were at that age, don't you think, dear?"
Russell slipped an arm around her waist and smiled back. "…They sure are. That's why I'm sure everything will turn out just fine for them."
"These days, it's as though every one of us is blessed," Flone mused. "You and I… we're finally going to have the wedding we dreamed of, barely three months from now. Kylier has finally recovered from the battles of Flarewerk and Ancardia, and she and Milanor are set to do great works for the people of Norn Valley and Lost Aries. Zilva and Elena will do just fine, I'm sure, considering the way they adore each other. As long as Rosary can learn to swallow her pride, Roswell can surely learn to trust her—and himself—again. Everyone is settling into peaceful lives. And…"
"I know what you mean," Russell agreed. "The Emperor and the Queen… it's almost like a fairy tale."
"Even when I was a prisoner in our own dungeons, Gulcasa did his best to treat me kindly, but even through all the times I saw him… he never had that cute look on his face that he does when he's around Yggdra," Flone remarked. She paused, then covered a giggle. "He looks just like you did, the first time I ever gave you chocolate on Valentine's Day."
Russell arched an eyebrow and looked down at her, amused. "Oh, really?"
"Yes—half wholehearted adoration, half utter panic, and nary a clue as to what to say or do next. It's the kind of look you only see on a boy who's in love for the first time."
"I would pay to see Gulcasa looking like that," Russell said, nodding. "And I did not ever walk around with that kind of expression, even back then."
"Yes, you did," Flone told him with a laugh, poking him playfully in the chest. "You were the most adorable thing, it just made my heart melt."
"I did not."
"Did too."
"No way."
"You can deny it all you like, but I know you better," Flone said, giggling again. "But don't worry—I always think you're cute. My dashing, beautiful Astral Fencer."
Russell shook his head, but smiled indulgently and kissed her.
It was like a fairy tale.
:TBC:
Notes on the text
Gulcasa's covered scars: The fact that Gulcasa was actively attempting suicide on a regular basis was not made public because it might have caused panic throughout the still-unstable Bronquia considering their state after the end of the war. He keeps them covered by linen bandages at all times whenever he might be around civilians to conceal the evidence of his depression, and plans to continue doing so until the scars fade to the point where they will no longer be noticeable. The only ones aware of these incidents are the Royal and Imperial armies, as well as the doctors and healers of Flarewerk, who were treating Gulcasa and the other wounded at that time. His scars cover the undersides of both his forearms, as well as the sides of his throat, and each one represents a separate suicide attempt.
Teacher's pet Elena: True to the game. Although Elena seems blissfully unaware of this fact and her fellow Imperial assassins don't seem jealous, she's most definitely Zilva's favorite student, which Zilva outright says at one point.
Milanor: Yeah, that's why he hasn't been around. Stupid typical boy that he is, he forgot Valentine's Day was even coming. Silly Milanor. Oh well, Kylier doesn't care as long as he doesn't forget White's Day.
Flone: Locking her up was Gulcasa's last resort to get Russell to stay in his army rather than rejoining the Fantasinians. Although Luciana and Aegina remained suspicious and irritable about the whole thing (as they usually do about most things…), Gulcasa and most of his officers tried to treat her with some civility and let Russell visit her as much as he wanted as long as it didn't interfere with his performance in battle. If asked why he was still trying to be nice about it, Gulcasa would likely reply, "Because I'm not comfortable with doing this. Locking girls up is what the bad guys do…" Thankfully, Flone doesn't seem to hold it against him!
"Niisama" versus "my brother": I'm sure people have noticed that Emilia shifts between calling Gulcasa "Niisama" and saying "my brother" while talking about him, and that's actually not due to your humble author being a spaz. In Japanese, you use separate sets of familial pronouns depending on who you're talking to! While speaking to your brother or to another member of your family, you would call your brother "Oniisan" (with variation on the "-san" depending on your actual relationship), but while talking to someone who's not related to you, you'd call him "aniki", which usually has no suffix on it and means "my brother". It's the difference between saying "Dad" versus "my father" in English, but there are more rules to it in Japanese. Because "Niisama" involves a suffix and is relationship-indicative, I leave it the way it is, but change "aniki" to "my brother" for the benefit of the English-speaking audience. Hence, Emilia calls Gulcasa "Niisama" to his face and to Luciana and Aegina, her adopted sisters, while she says "my brother" around everyone else. (Hope that wasn't too confusing…)
Suffixes: While we're on the subject, yes, I am a suffix aficionado and one of those people who likes her manga and anime to leave them in, but the reason that I have characters use suffixes while speaking to one another in fanfiction goes deeper than that. Japanese is a very polite language (much more so than English!) and requires a great deal of formality and respect between people, and so the myriad suffixes characters use are partly a way to indicate their relationships. Plus, there's really no English equivalent for suffixes, which can make trying to translate their connotation a pain in the ass. You lose the poignancy of scenes where characters suddenly change their suffixes in the middle of a story, showing how their relationship is progressing—for example, take the scene in chapter 7 of YU where Milanor requests that Elena not use suffixes with him because it makes him uncomfortable. In the English version, Elena goes from calling him "Master Milanor" to "Sir Milanor", which loses some of the cute, comedic feeling of the original Japanese, where the floundering and embarrassed Elena simply drops her suffix for Milanor by one level of respect. In an attempt to preserve this extra connotation with relationships, your humble author has left suffixes in, although most of the cast has dropped suffixes altogether out of the camaraderie that remains from the war.