Of Assassins, Samurai, and Magic
A/N: And the next chapter is up! I've tried to keep everyone as close as possible to their characters in the anime though I'm sure there will be a few OOC moments. Comments and reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.
*** ~ Chapter 5: The Death of Yagami Hayate ~ ***
"Hayate-sama."
"Hai Shamal?" Blue eyes looked up from the scroll they were focused on.
"Vita-chan and Signum-san have returned from their walk" the short blonde haired woman replied.
"Thank you Shamal." The Empress smiled at her attendant.
Shamal smiled back, dismissing the messenger who had originally informed her of her companions' return. Blue eyes glanced back down at the scroll in her hand. A small shadow flitted past the messenger, unnoticed by the man and continued silently towards the Empress' attendant.
"Rein."
The shadow froze just behind the head of the blonde woman. "Hai Hayate-sama?" came a bubbly reply.
Shamal lurched forward, startled by how close the bubbly voice was to her head. Trying to steady herself, Shamal ended up stumbling forward and tripping on the hem of her long green robe. The one named Rein giggled. Only Zafira's quick reflexes saved the attendant from an embarrassing spill at the feet of the Empress, the blue demon wolf using his body to cushion Shamal's fall.
"Rein" the Empress repeated. "What did I tell you about scaring Shamal?" Hayate couldn't but chuckle at the scene.
Tiny blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Not to scare her when she's cooking?"
Yagami Hayate. A ghost. A living legend. And Japan's most guarded secret. At age nine, she became the youngest Empress in the history of Japan to take the royal throne. As the only remaining pure blooded relative left from the previous Emperor's reign, Hayate lived the first nine years of her life amongst the nobles of the upper court, without knowing that the Emperor was her grand father. Just the same, no one in the court of nobles knew Hayate was the grand daughter of the Emperor either.
"Rein-chan!" Shamal scowled, sitting on her romp. Though, with Shamal being the kindest person you had ever known, her scowl looked more like a pout. Rein giggled again, long silver platinum hair fluttering about.
"Rein." The Empress' voice was firm and unwavering. As much as she was mildly amused by the interactions of those closest to her, Hayate had to set an example of proper etiquette. It would be unbecoming of the Empress if she did not. "Apologize to Shamal."
"Awwwwww but Haaaaaaayaaaaaateeeeeee!"
"Rein. Don't make me say it again."
The little guardian pouted before she floated down to Shamal's eye level looking to the side. "Sorry Shamal-san" Rein said, quickly glancing to the blonde before looking away again. She clasped her hands behind her back shyly.
Shamal glared at the small one, trying oh so hard to stay angry at Rein. But Shamal could never hold a grudge and soon the blonde's angry expression softened. "I accept your apology Rein-chan. Just don't do that again, ne?" Shamal reached out and patted Rein on the head.
Rein turned to look at Shamal, an innocent face smiling sweetly back at the green robed attendant. "Hai!"
It was the wish of the Emperor that his grand daughter live the life of a normal girl. To ensure this, Gil Graham, retired advisor to the Emperor watched over her, vowing to protect Hayate with his life if it came to that. He did his best to provide a normal life for the young Hayate, making sure that her every convenience was taken care of. But when the Emperor gave up his life to stop Precia Testerossa, the capital and all of the country was left in disarray without their leader. Gil returned to the palace acting as the intermediary Emperor, but even his efforts were not enough.
Hayate smiled at the exchange between guardian and attendant. Rein was a crafty one, and the Empress fully expected more attempts by the small guardian to scare the living daylights out of Shamal. Her little guardian was very much like a child in that regard. Not unlike herself when she was younger. Though between the both of them, Rein was the more mischievous one.
"So where did you disappear to earlier Rein?" Hayate asked, her gaze returning to the scroll in her hand. It was a request from Signum to double the numbers of samurai in the middle district. Signum suspected another incident of the magical kind would soon occur there. And the pink haired captain wanted to be best prepared should her fears be realized. Signum had yet to be wrong.
Rein zipped through the air, swirling around Hayate once before stopping to hover just above the scroll she held. "I went exploring" Rein said happily.
Blue furry ears twitched. Now that Shamal was on her feet once more, Zafira took his place next to the Empress and sat down on her left. The demon wolf yawned lazily before he lay his head down on his front paws. Brown eyes watched the small guardian hovering in front of his master. Whenever Rein went exploring, you knew that she always went looking for trouble. She was very much like Vita.
"Exploring?" Shamal said truly intrigued. "That sounds like fun."
A small smile crept up on the Empress' face.
"It is!" Rein said jumping up and down in the air. The little guardian zipped over to the blonde attendant. "The middle district has all of these neat things I've never seen before! You should come with me next time Shamal-san. I'll show you." The silver haired guardian giggled just thinking about her previous adventures.
"How are Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan doing?" Hayate said, looking up from her scroll yet again.
The truth of her heritage and birthright wasn't revealed to Hayate right away. It wasn't until a year after taking the royal throne did she finally learn of everything. Plucked from her normal life, suddenly thrust into the world of politics and imperial nobility, the short brown haired girl found it difficult to switch from one life to another. Hayate no longer had the freedom to do what she wanted, when she wanted, nor did she have the solitude she much enjoyed as she was now watched 24/7 for her own safety and protection.
The small silver haired guardian paused in her animated movements, having been in the middle of telling Shamal about the fisherman from the middle district she was spying on earlier. Tiny blue eyes looked at larger blue ones, a flicker of sadness coming to the surface.
"I see..." the Empress said quietly, looking back to the scroll in her hand. Without a second thought, Hayate stamped the scroll with her imperial seal, approving Signum's request.
Yagami Hayate had to grow up quickly. The imperial court needed her. Her people needed her. Her country needed her. But even so, all of the responsibilities of ruling a country were overwhelming for a nine year old child. She no longer had any living family left to support and guide her. She missed her friends terribly. And she held the fate of the country in her tiny hands. That was a lot to take in.
Despite all of this, it was the loss of her friends that impacted her the most. It was her friends who got her through the tough times. Takamachi Nanoha, the one who always made her laugh with her clumsiness. Alisa Bannings, the one who would always chase the boys away from teasing her. Tsukimura Suzaka, the one who would always made the best tasting tea in all of the districts. And the newest addition to their group of friends, Harlaown Fate, the one who would always cheer her up with a smile.
"Rein."
"Hai Hayate-sama?" The small guardian looked at her master expectantly.
"Keep watching over them for me, like you always do." Hayate smiled at the little one before fetching another scroll from the pile on the table next to her.
"Hai!"
Unable to go back to her past life as a normal girl, Yagami Hayate became one of the many victims who were killed in the Garden of Time incident. It hurt her so much to have to lie to her friends, the people she looked to like family. But that was a necessary precaution. She didn't want her friends to be targeted because of her. So the girl known as Yagami Hayate died 10 years ago, much to the grief of her best friends. Only her closest attendants and guards knew her real identity. Everyone else only knew her as the Empress.
Yet even so, the Empress still watched over her friends and would continue to do so. Even if they thought her dead.
A/N: Some of you will notice that some of the character names in this chapter are written with the first name followed by the last name, and others are written with their last name before the first name. I was fighting with myself about this for the longest time. In Japan, people typically write their last name followed by their first name. And in America, it's the opposite with the first name followed by the last name. So what I've decided to do was to write the Japanese names with last name followed by first name and the non Japanese names with first name followed by the last name. Somehow it just sounds better that was for me, though I'm sure I may have mixed a few of the names up. Oh well. Bear with me. Lol.
For those of you unfamiliar with the non-English words, I have translated them below.
Hai = Yes
For an explanation of Japanese honorifics (eg. [name]-sama), please check out: http:/en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics