"Uhh…" A moan sounded as our brunette princess opened her eyes and sat up feeling achy. "Where am I?" she muttered to herself, lifting her hands to clutch her head.
'Wha?' she thought as both of the hands were raised, connected by a brace. A futuristic pair of handcuffs with a lazer-esque chain glared brightly back at her, and surprise was apparent on her visage.
"What happened?" she muttered, looking around to find her angel lying with pain overly apparent among her features. "Secchan!" Konoka cried as she tried to shake her knight awake. Setsuna's eyes opened slowly to see Konoka's teary orbs.
"Kono…chan?" She mumbled dryly, trying to raise her hands to wipe the tears from her princess's face; her hands were cuffed as well. A questioning expression overtook the half-demon's features, as if to say 'What the hell?' but a smile soon graced her angelic face.
"I-I'm glad you weren't... weren't hurt as badly as I thought you were." Setsuna managed. Konoka realized a large amount of blood was flowing from a wound in her friend's side.
"Secchan, you're hurt!" Konoka exclaimed, running her hand down to the damp red spot along her friend's side. A light illuminated her hands, yet nothing happened to the wound her angel wore. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to—" Konoka cried, snuggling close to the raven-haired swordswoman.
"S'okay." Setsuna began, and gasped quietly in pain, "I… I just need some rest." She whispered, and soon Konoka could tell her angel had fallen into the unconscious.
Konoka sat in silent for a while, and decided that sleep was best for her as well, until she was pulled from the ledge of unconsciousness by a familiar voice: "Man, Hime-sama's gonna kill me!" it said; a much younger voice answered.
"Mommy won't get mad at me!" as the voice quieted, the handle of the door to the room the two girls were laying in, jiggled. As the door opened, a small girl, who looked about four years of age, scooted in shyly.
Her hair was white as snow and her eyes were a deep milk chocolate; she kind of reminded Konoka of herself in some ways, when she was young. The woman who followed the young girl was so familiar, Konoka had to double take. A tall, orange-haired woman who wore her hair in pigtails with bells and carried a large 'Buster Blade', followed close behind the tiny girl; an angry glare was her most prominent feature as her blue eyes sparkled with loyalty, anger, and a hint of guild and longing.
"I told you Azu-ne. she's mommy too!" The little girl said, pointing at the brown haired princess who sat confined in a small room with a singular bed in it.
'Mommy?!' Konoka thought, taken aback by the bluntness the little girl exhibited.
"No, Ico, it's not! I told you, these two are spies! They're enemies that want nothing more than to hurt Hime-sama. That's way they look the way they do! That—" The orange haired woman paused and pointed her finger at Setsuna's resting form, "Is the reason they got caught." Hatred deeper than the one from before burned ever brighter in her eyes.
"Secchan is not a 'that'!" Konoka retorted with annoyance.
"Don't you say anything, imposter!" the older woman shouted, drawing her sword at Konoka.
"Azu-ne, don't!" The little girl dubbed Ico cried, running and grabbing onto Konoka's waist as a child would her mother.
"It's mommy Azu—"
"Asuna!" another very familiar voice shouted from outside the room.
"H-Hime-sama!" Asuna said, lowering her sword as an older version of what looked like Konoka walked into the room, with all the air of royalty.
"Asuna, I told you, you don't have to call me that!" she said and turned toward Ico and Konoka. "Ico honey, go with Asuna for a while. I have something I need to speak to these girl's about." She finished; Ico nodded and hurried on her way after she made sure Asuna was going to leave peacefully.
"W-who are you?" Konoka asked, baffled as the beautiful brown haired princess un-cuffed the magic bracers that held Konoka's hands at bay.
"I am the princess and heir of the Kansai and Kanto magic associations, and I currently hold a seat on the board of protectors of the magic community. My name is Konoe Konoka." She said bowing to the younger version of herself.
"You're who!?" Konoka coughed; surprised at the description she was given. She studied the princess's appearance closely. She was a few inches taller than she was now. Her "assets" had filled out quite nicely, and her skin was the same silky soft it once was. Her hair was slightly lighter, due to sun damage, and it was tied back in the middle, unlike the way Konoka let it flow presently.
"B-but I'm Konoe Konoka!" Konoka said as panic rose in her throat.
"I imagine you are. You must have gone through some rift in time when you faced that time demon." The older Konoe said, and turned to look at the room. "I'm sorry," she began again; "I was out. Otherwise you would not have been so cruelly treated." The princess said, turning back to see her younger self with tears heavy on her lids.
"What's wrong?" The Konoe-hime asked surprised that her younger self was close to weeping uncontrollably.
"Please! You must help her! Save Secchan, please!" Konoka cried, looking over to her wounded friend who was now in a restless sleep and breathing in a labored way; the older Konoe's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Se…chan?" she muttered, slowly looking over Konoka's shoulder to see the wounded half-demon, still looking angelic in every way, even while in pain. "Konoka, " the older one started as she grabbed her younger self's shoulder. The younger brunette sat back, and soon stood as the older climbed on the bed and began to lower her lips to meet the half-demon's
Tears pooled in her eyes as she tasted the familiar lips of Setsuna and their bodies began to glow. The younger Konoe, having never kissed Setsuna before, gasped as the light began to fade and Setsuna's features became placid once again.
"She's healed. I, I haven't seen her in four years, you know?" the older woman whispered as she ran a hand across the archangel's cheek.
"How old are you?" Konoka asked quietly.
"Almost twenty-seven, she would be now… I wish she could see how big Ico's gotten." The Konoe-hime answered, forcefully pulling her gaze away from Setsuna's sleeping form.
"Eight years! We've gone eight years into the future?!" Konoka gasped. The Konoe-hime stood and looked at her younger self in a most curious way.
"You need to leave. Get out of here now!" she said pushing Konoka toward Setsuna. "Take her and g—"
"Konoka!" A male's voice called from down the hall and Ico came running into the room with a smile.
"Gramps is coming!" she said, grabbing the Hakama the Konoe-hime wore and snuggled into her leg.
"Ico, you didn't…" the Konoe-hime whispered, bending to pick up the small girl.
"He said he wanted to see younger mommy too!"She said pointing to the brunette behind them. The Konoe-hime sighed as her father walked into the room.
"Hello, father." Konoe-hime said with a small bow of the head. He answered her with a nod and ruffled her hair.
"So, this is our time traveler." He said with a smile at the younger Konoka.
"D-daddy?" she gasped; all of this was beginning to be much too much for her.
"Tell me, how many years?" he asked. Konoka sat for a moment debating on if he wanted her age of how far in the future she was.
"Uh, eight years." She said, finally going with the amount in the future.
"My, so much has gone on… I ask that you only learn the minimum while you're here so the past won't change the future." He said, glancing over at the other two who stood in the room. The Konoe-hime scoffed at the comment, and the little girl in her arms echoed her playfully.
"Eishun-sama!" a groggy voice spoke; Eishun's eye brows arched and the Konoe-hime gasped.
"Father!" she said, moving to his side and grabbing his shoulder. "before you do something irrational , remember what you said about changing things!" The older man looked down to meet the half-demon's gaze.
"You," He said with a voice full of distain. "Even if you're from the past, I will not allow you comfort here, hanyou." He finished with an icy glare, and pointed a finger at the bed. Setsuna flinched, but nothing happened, so she sat up to look at the others.
Eishun walked out of the room, asking the other girls to please follow, and left the room. The Konoe-hime turned, knowing that this was better than what Eishun really wanted to do to Setsuna.
"Wait!" Konoka said to her older self's back.
"There is nothing we can do for you, Setsuna, at the moment. I'm sorry, you two." She said as she began to walk away yet again. Konoka turned back to look at her arch angel with dismay clear in her features.
"I'm sorry Secchan!" Konoka said; the other girl just smiled. "I'm so lost. Don't worry, I'll be fine though. You'll have to fill me in later." She said. The brunette grinned back at her, and ran off after her older form.
"You have to tell me what's going on!" Konoka said when she finally caught up with herself.
"I'll explain everything after father finishes what he has to say." The older woman said, stroking the hair of her child as she began to fall asleep. The two of them arrived at the elder's quarters and were asked to sit.
"There must be a reason you've been thrown into the future." The elder began, positioning his fingers in much the same way the old man Konoemon used to.
"This could change our future as we know it." The Konoe-hime said after her father.
"But I don't want any of this to change! Look at Ico; she's the most beautiful child in the world. I want to have her, no matter who the father is!"Konoka said, but stopped her speech as soon as she saw the face of the room's other occupants. "W-where is the father?" she mumbled, now afraid of who it may be.
"Konoka, I…" the other two said in unison with the same sad look.
"What?" Konoka asked, furrowing her brows. The Konoe-hime looked away and quickly began a new topic of conversation with her father and the younger Konoka was left to wonder.
After the two girls left the presence of their father, they walked on to another part of the expansive property. "Wait, what about Secchan?" Konoka said, and stopped to look back.
"Father contained her in a high voltage barrier, you won't be able to sit with her because father will never trust her again." The princess said.
"Why? What did she do?" Konoka pleaded with her older self.
"She hasn't done anything… yet." The older woman trailed off of her sentence and looked onto the horizon. A distant look remained in her eyes for only a minute until she snapped back into reality.
"Come with me." She whispered and hastily pulled the younger girl down her hallway.
"What?" Konoka gasped trying to catch her breath from running down the hallway.
"Father will hate me, but I must tell you everything. I'm sure you won't negatively change the future. After all, I know you better than yourself." The Konoe-hime said. Konoka smiled, happy that someone would finally tell her what's going on.
"It's not all happy, so be ready. Now…" the princess began her story:
Six years ago
The day was young; today was Valentines Day and Setsuna was going to finally tell Konoka how she felt. Her heart beat quicker than she could ever remember as she waited for her princess. Sooner than she expected, she could smell the familiar scent of chocolate that wafted around her princess, coming closer and she could hear the familiar, almost too light, footfalls coming her way.
"Secchan!" Konoka said with a smile as the half-demon came into view.
"K-kono-chan!" Setsuna stuttered more than usual and forced a smile that was supposed to be slightly less nervous than she.
"What did you wanna talk about with me?" Konoka asked in her adorable voice, placing her index finger on her cheek while tilting her head slightly to the side and arching and eyebrow, every moment screamed "more adorable!" than the last.
"W-well I… uh… That is to say…" Setsuna began rambling along while she tapped her two index fingers together, a gesture that was alien to her.
"Hmm?" Konoka hummed, straightening her posture only to squint her eyes with a sly grin toward her friend."Is Secchan about to reveal a deep dark secret? Oh no!" Konoka began and shot her hands out with surprise, "Maybe, she accidentally cut down gramps' tree while training!" She said playfully pantomiming the gesture.
"N-no! Really, I'm serious!" Setsuna started with a shout, but it dwindled to a mumble.
"Nnn?" Konoka hummed looking over at Setsuna now with serious curiosity.
"I…I" Setsuna finished her sentence, but Konoka couldn't hear.
"What?" Konoka asked, leaning closer to her knight.
"I," Setsuna hesitated, she could say it now; she'd just said it, this made her fill with resolve. "Kono-chan, I love you." She said, grabbing the shoulders of her reason for life. "I only ever think about you, I want you to be with me forever." Setsuna finished, keeping her eyes locked with the chocolate brown ones in front of her now pooling with tears.
"Oh, Secchan!" Konoka cried, throwing her arms around her knight's neck while capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.
*present*
"Later we made a permanent pactio and became eternal partners." The Konoe-hime said to her younger self, causing the younger girl to blush: she knew what a permanent pactio entailed; this was why most partners ended up marrying and living together for the rest of their existence.
"Then why is daddy so mad at Secchan? Did he not like… you together? Or—"Konoka trailed off. The Konoe-hime smiled and shook her head.
"No, he loved the ideal it was something that he'd secretly hoped for. He was happy for us."
"Then, why?" Konoka asked.
"I'm about to tell you." The Konoe –hime smiled and began to continue on.
A year later
Setsuna and Konoka were training in Eva's resort amongst themselves, they were now quite the competitive rivals since Konoka started training as a battle mage. She was a natural at offensive magic and pretty handy with a short blade; Setsuna now had to keep on her toes when her fought her.
"Setsuna!" Eva called to her after their training. "I need you for a moment." The vampire girl said, and pulled the half-demon off to her personal quarters.
*present*
"I'm not sure what kind of embarrassing things transpired there, but Setsuna came back with a special… artifact… That… allowed same sex partners to procreate." The Konoe-hime said with a dark blush. Konoka, too, wore a dark blush at the past that was her future.
"So, you mean… Ico is Secchan's child?" Konoka asked with a happy light in her eyes.
"Yes, but they've never once met, ever. Ico has never known her "father" and with the way my father acts, I don't think he ever will." The Konoe- hime said, and continued her story.
Nearly nine months later
The day was a cold, rainy one, deep thunder rolled over the sky as infrequent sheet lightning flashed through the sky. The princess of the Konoe clan sat very pregnant in her room being kept warm by a blanket and the heat from her partner's body.
"Secchan, the weather is really bad today!" Konoka mumbled scooting tighter into her partner's embrace.
"Don't you worry, Kono-chan! I'll make sure Ico is born safely!" Setsuna said with a grin and held her tighter.
"Mou, Secchan! I told you, you don't know if it's a girl!" Konoka said, puffing her cheeks.
"It's a good name either way!" Setsuna playfully protested, playing with the ring that now adorned Konoka's ring finger.
They weren't married, but the two were close enough to be and had gotten the rings not too long ago, the lightning flashed brightly and the thunder rumbled louder than it had all day. The lights in the room instantly flicked out. Setsuna stiffened as a dark presence entered her range of senses.
"You have to stay here." Setsuna said in a dark tone, standing.
"B-but, Secchan!" Konoka cried, reaching out to grab her knight.
"I'll send a guard to keep the door safe. Please stay here; I promise I'll be back." Setsuna said, grabbing her sword and walked into the elements.
*present*
"So what happened?" Konoka asked, fascinated by the way her older self told stories.
"I don't know, Setsuna left to go fight something; I was later told it was demons…" the princess of the Konoe's mused.
"Did you see her after that?" Konoka asked, the older of the two nodded and continued on.
Later that day
Loud shouts could be heard echoing from outside the door. There could only be one explanation: the guards in front of her door must have fallen. Konoka held her stomach in a protective manner; the door swung open with a loud clack, leaving a familiar silhouette in its wake.
"Secchan?" Konoka whispered the lightning flashed behind her to reveal a red eyed, white haired Setsuna standing with blood stained hands and sword.
"Secchan, are you alright!?" Konoka asked, jumping up to assess the wounds her knight may have. In a split second reaction, she fell back, avoiding a near fatal blow to herself and their child.
"Secchan!" Konoka gasped, scooting further away from the woman she loved. A loud thud was heard and Setsuna fell unconscious to the floor, leaving the elder, Eishun standing behind her with his arm raised, and anger clear on his face.
His sword came down to deal a fatal blow, but stopped as Konoka threw herself over Setsuna's body.
"You can't!" Konoka shouted with tears now running down her face. "You can't kill her, what about Ico? What about me?" Konoka continued, unable to see her father's face through the cloud of tears that now obscured her vision.
A sad expression took over the murderous one that was there before. "This girl is a danger to your child." Eishun said, lowering his blade.
"She wouldn't ever want to consciously hurt us; she was in her demon form. Regularly she's not a danger to anything!" Konoka shouted.
Eishun sighed, "She may live then." He said with regret. Konoka looked up hopefully. "But, she must be imprisoned until I decide she is docile enough in my eyes." Eishun said, calling some guards over to take the unconscious hanyou to a prison until relocation.
*present*
"Soon after that, maybe a few days later, I had Ico and named her that because that's what Setsuna wanted. That's why Ico's hair is white." The Konoe-hime finished, and allowed her younger self to take in her future.
"So, Secchan's never seen her daughter?" the young Konoe asked. The older one called with a solemn air. "Do you know where she's being held?" Konoka questioned, surprising her older self.
"Why?" The Konoe-hime asked highly confused.
"I'm going to see her! She deserves a fair trial, not daddy's bias opinion. If it's been four years, I think Secchan is fine and placid now, and I don't think my Secchan should be imprisoned for something that's she hasn't done! Don't you miss her?" Konoka cried.
"I miss her dearly, but I don't want you to be in danger! I'd rather go." The older girl retorted angrily.
"You can't, so let me!" Konoka shouted back. The two sat there for a while, a battle of wills waged desperately and finally one cracked.
"How will you get there?" The princess of the Konoe's asked quietly looking up with a small glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"Daddy said it, didn't he? I came here for a reason, the future isn't set in stone, and my reason for coming into the future isn't ordained by some divine intervention. I'll make my reason for coming my own!" Konoka said with a determined smile.
"You truly are me…" the older one mused with a grin. "Here, use this to get into the cave, which is marked on this map. I've thought about doing it before. Please, bring her back." The older one smiled with a pat on her shoulder.
Konoka set off with a "thumbs up" happily reassuring her older self.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
AN:
Well, there you go, chapter two… Things have been explained and a lot of stuff has started happening… I hope it isn't so confusing. The older Konoka is always called "Konoe-Hime" and the younger one is "Konoka".
It's a really long chapter X-X
Stay tuned for chapter three, set to release March 18th 2009. (yup Konoka's birthday!)
Happy Valentines Day, all! 333