Lost in the Dark
By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl
Chapter 1 – The Kiran Years
They fled, changing their identities to those of lower class noblemen. They hid undercover as part of the Kiran royal court. No one knew of their true identities. If they did, they would be killed.
Narian officials proclaimed the royal family and guard to be dead. The Witch was very pleased and granted the Nari Empire much of her magic.
The single guard escaped with the Moradian royal family along with his wife and twin sons, Hikaru and Kaoru. They had no need to change their identities.
–
"Dad," six-year-old Namahi asked in the safety of their palace chambers, "Why can't anyone know that I'm a girl?"
Ranka sighed, kneeling down to put his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "Sweetie, there are people who would hurt you if they knew."
"But why? What makes me so special?"
Ranka brought a hand to his head, rubbing his temples in circles. "You know the old Mora Empire right?" Namahi nodded. "Do you know why it fell?" This time, Namahi shook herhead. "The Narians allied with The Witch and together they tore us down."
"Us?" At the rate this child was asking questions he'd have spilled the entire story to her in one night.
"Yes. Us. You have to promise never to tell anyone. Not even Hikaru and Kaoru, alright?" She nodded, wide-eyed. "Your mother was The Witch's daughter. She didn't approve of her marrying me, so she decided to take us out."
"So... The Witch is my... Grandma?"
Ranka nodded. "Very good, Haruhi." She looked at him funny. "No one can know you're a girl, because you're really Princess Haruhi Fujioka." Haruhi's eyes widened even more. "No telling, anyone."
"I'm... a princess?" Ranka nodded and kissed her forehead. "So... You're a... King?" Again, her father nodded. "And Mom... was Queen?"
"Your mother would be so proud of you," Ranka murmured, pushing her hair behind her ears. "You look just like her. Which is also why, you must avoid The Witch as well. She'll know right off the bat that you're her granddaughter."
"Dad, if Mom was a witch, does that mean I am too?" she asked softly.
"Half. And no one can ever know."
"But why can't they know I'm a girl? Why can't I be a girl in hiding?"
Ranka closed his eyes. "Haruhi, your grandmother... She cursed you because you're my child. I don't want my daughter to be a killer because of some stupid curse."
"What do you mean, Dad?" Her big brown eyes were staring at him curiously when he opened his eyes.
"She cursed you, to kill any man that falls in love with you, sweetie. That's why you have to pretend to be a boy. So that no one will fall in love with you. So that my little girl won't become a killer."
–
"Namahi, this is Prince Tamaki Suoh," Ranka said softly, nudging his daughter forward. He had been accepted into the royal Kiran court and the Prince was only a year older than her. After a meeting with the King it had been decided that they would probably make wonderful friends. The 8-year-old eyed the older boy warily.
Would this be a boy who would fall in love with her it he knew she was a girl? It seemed like she had been asked herself this question with every boy that she met since she had found out about her curse 2 years ago.
Even the twins, who she had been playmates with since as long as she could remember had been questioned in her mind at one point. They'd been deemed safe. And now they'd found out she was a girl only about 4 months ago.
She shook her little head. She shouldn't worry about it. As long as the Prince didn't find out she was a girl she was sure that he wouldn't fall in love with her. She bowed politely. "Nice to meet you, Your Highness," she said softly.
He nodded. "You too, Namahi Marioka," he murmured. He seemed polite enough. Not at all snooty like the children of the royal court who she had met. "Let's be friends, kay?"
She nodded slowly in agreement. "Alright!" she said, smiling widely at him. No, this boy wouldn't fall in love with her. In fact, she thought that they'd be great friends.
–
A bell ringer ran through the streets, calling out the news of the day. 10-year-old Namahi sighed and turned away from the noisy man like she normally did. "Dad!" she called through the door of their house.
"Yes?" he yelled back, appearing in the entry hall a moment later, wiping his hands on a rag.
"I'm going to the lake with the twins and the Prince," she mumbled.
"Alright! Have fun and don't go in the water!" he reminded her. She rolled her eyes in response. Like she was actually stupid enough to throw away 10 years of secrecy by deciding to go for a swim in the presence of the royal prince of Kira. She wished she could go swimming. It would be very nice, but she couldn't risk it.
"I'm not stupid, Dad."
"Namahi!" she heard the call from down the street. She turned. Hikaru and Kaoru were rushing toward her and her father. "Did you hear?!" they exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"Hear what?" she asked blankly.
"The Narians have taken over the Eastern Tip!"
Her face paled considerably, as did her father's. That wasn't too far from here. In fact, it was less than 20 miles away. Not to mention the lake was in the region they called the Eastern Tip. Ranka and his daughter shared a brief look. "I'll contact the King and see if we can get a place in the palace or at least closer," he murmured distractedly, ducking back in the little house. Namahi nodded.
As part of the royal court they had the choice to live near the palace or away from it. They had chosen to live about 250 miles from the Kiran-Narian border, saying that they'd move closer if the war brought Nari any closer to them.
It had been raging on for so long now it was almost ridiculous. As long as she could remember she had been hearing news about how the Narians were slowly invading the Kiran kingdom, aiming to take over the entire world.
Before now, they had never succeeded in taking possession of any of Kira's land. When Mora had fallen, they had taken half the land and given the other half to The Witch. Tamaki had told her that The Witch and his father had made a deal not long after he was born to have that land given to Kira.
Nari hadn't been that pleased when they had found out. Thus, the beginning of the war had started when she was only 3-years-old.
"Looks like we'll have to cancel the lake trip," Hikaru muttered unhappily, furrowing his eyebrows in a frown.
Namahi nodded regretfully. "The Prince will be disappointed," she said softly. The twins both nodded in agreement. The Prince, would indeed be unhappy, but they could always find another lake and another day to take the trip. In fact, there was probably one closer to the palace where the Idiot Prince would have better access.
–
Life in the palace was quiet... Except when Tamaki was around. The twins took it upon themselves to protect her from the Idiot Prince. Meaning, they teased him mercilessly all the time. When they were 12, he had almost found out that she was, in fact, a girl.
"Namahi!" three voices chorused as they burst through her bedroom door on her 12th birthday. She stared at them with murder in her eyes, quickly covering up her body. Hikaru and Kaoru blinked in surprise before quickly pushing the Prince out of the room forcefully. She felt her face heat up and prayed to the Gods that he hadn't seen anything. If he had, she was probably done for.
Upon exiting the room she found the twins and Tamaki sitting against the wall outside. She rose her eyebrows at them and shot the twins a questioning glance. They gave their heads a tiny shake and she let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Thanks to the quick thinking of Hikaru and Kaoru, her secret was safe.
–
"Tamaki Suoh! You idiot!" Namahi yelled, rushing forward with a towel. The Prince had dived into the lake near the palace without a second thought. He could have cracked his head open! Or drowned! Now, one of the guards that had been watching us was pulling him out on the shore. He choked up water.
She hadn't gone in the water, she never did. Doing so would have been a dead giveaway that she was a girl. And that definitely wouldn't have been good. She'd gone 14 years without anyone but Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin finding out her true identity. And those two boys had been sworn to secrecy by both her father and their own.
Said twin boys were also splashing around in the lake at the current moment. But unlike Tamaki, they weren't at threat of drowning. And unlike the Prince they weren't heirs to the royal throne.
You'd think that Kiran Prince Tamaki Suoh would have more thought about his personal safety. Especially at the age of 15 when he was about to be taught about all the responsibilities that came with being King.
She was pretty sure he was just a carefree idiot, even so.
"Baka Lord! Baka Lord!" Hikaru and Kaoru teased from the water. Namahi shot them a look. They may be close friends of him, but even they could be shot by guards if Tamaki was offended in any way.
"Namahi," Tamaki murmured from the ground in front of her. He coughed as she glanced down. "It's alright. They're just joking around like always."
She rolled her eyes. "Idiot Prince," she muttered, kneeling down next to him, "You could have killed yourself, diving into a shallow lake like that."
He smiled like a fool. "But it was fun!"
Ah, yes. The Idiot Prince would never learn.
–
Surprisingly, she remained very flat chested even through her adolescence. She and her father had both worried frequently as she got older how they would hide her obvious female parts when they arrived.
She had thought that they could bind them down, which they could very easily do with a simple length of cloth wrapped around her chest tightly several times and tied off in a nice knot. By the time she was 17, she would probably have to use this method.
She was right of course.
The time came not long after she turned 17 that her chest had blossomed enough that she was forced to tie it down every day when she woke up. It hid her femininity very well. No one even suspected who she really was, from what she could see anyway. Perhaps, the King noticed something. But that hardly mattered. As long as it wasn't a Narian, The Witch, or a man that could potentially fall in love with her, it didn't matter.
–
"Tamaki, stop it," she hissed angrily, pushing against her bedroom door to keep him out. She hadn't yet finished dressing and he was trying to invade her room at the current moment. "Baka Lord!" she growled.
"Are you hiding a present for me in there or something?" he asked, ceasing in trying to get it and settling for standing outside waiting.
She snorted. "No. I just value my privacy, thanks," she muttered crossly. That had been too close. Sure, her chest was already bound tightly to her chest but her top definitely wasn't on. She quickly yanked her arms through the holes and buttoned it on, just in case he made another attempt at breaking the door down.
That was the first close call she'd had since she was 12. And it left her heart pumping madly in her chest.
"Sorry," he mumbled from the other side of the door.
"It's fine. Come on in, now," she grumbled, plopping her now full-clothed body down on the bed as her door opened.
She just hoped that there wouldn't be any serious close calls when she moved away from home in a three or four years when she graduated from higher learning school.
–
"Tamaki?" she said quietly when he was helping her study for her exams for her second year of higher learning school. She was 19, almost 20. He was 21, slightly more mature than he had been, but still an idiot. He looked up at her. "Do you think that the Narians know the affect they're having on people's lives?"
Tamaki paused. "They have to be aware of it. But, Namahi, the Narians have cold hearts. Trust me, I've met their princes. And their King... Their King is ruthless, much like his third son. They're aware of the damage they're doing, but they just don't care."
She sighed softly. "There needs to be peace," she mumbled, "Peace is what this world needs. Not wars over land."
"I agreed," he muttered, shutting the book that was in front of him.
Namahi chewed on her lip softly. "Y'know, there's a draft coming up," she mumbled. He wasn't really paying attention, staring off in space and nodding. "I think I'm going to join it."
That got his attention. "What?!" he practically yelled, causing a nearby teacher to shush him with a stern look. He lowered his voice with a sheepish look at her. "You're kidding me right?"
She shook her head. "Not kidding, Prince."
"B-But you could get hurt!"
"I'd gladly die if it were for the cause of making peace come at last," she muttered, ducking her head to look back at the book on the table in front of her. Tamaki was staring at her like an alien. She sighed. "I... just want there to be peace, Tamaki. I'm not going to get myself killed. Don't worry."
She knew he was going to worry anyway.
–
Six months later, she returned to the palace as a fully trained soldier of the Kiran Army. She was allowed to stay with her father until she was deported to the front lines God-only-knew when. Her head ached at the thought of killing anyone.
She wished there was another way that she could possibly keep this war from getting any worse. So far, she hadn't found one. Neither had King Suoh or his many advisers who were set on driving Nari into the ground with weapons of warfare that they didn't possess.
They kept the war up to protect themselves. Diplomats had been sent to the Narian castle several times but none of them had succeeded in creating a peaceful solution.
Nari now had the Eastern Tip and parts of the Southern plateau that was just south of it. Kira was losing land and battles. People were dying by the hundreds every day. And there wasn't anything that she, personally, could do about it.
It angered her to no end.
Tamaki was delighted to see her, waving as she rode up the final stretch to the stables with her companions. She dismounted almost before the horse came to a complete stop and was immediately pulled into a bone-crushing hug by her father.
"How was it?" Tamaki asked excitedly from behind Ranka.
"Ehh," she muttered, "Rough. But it's good training for the battlefield."
Her father shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe you joined the army," he said, swinging an arm around her shoulders and leading her back to their house. He gave her a look that said they'd talk about it later. She'd only just told him while she was packing to leave for the training camp, when there was no way for her to reverse the decision. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Just defending my country, Dad," she mumbled, ducking her head and shrugging off his arm. Hikaru and Kaoru were following them, as well as two cousins by the names of Takashi and Mitsukuni, their newly acquired friends from the training camp.
Mitsukuni had met Hikaru first when they had been training as soldier-magicians for three months. There were few people who possessed the ability to use magic. Namahi was one of them, but she had opted out of telling anyone that, choosing to be a simple soldier.
Kaoru and she had met Takashi during a mission simulation where Takashi had acted as the enemy that Kaoru and Namahi had to sneak past.
They had all been introduced later, after their training was finished with, and invited the two cousins to come home with them until they were to be deported. Ranka had received word of this and very excitedly agreed to let them all stay in his house.
Ranka grumbled. "We'll see," he muttered under his breath. Namahi shot him a look that told him not to interfere with what she was doing. She had willingly joined the army after all. She knew the dangers.
–
"Namahi!" Tamaki yelled, running into the room of Namahi Marioka. She turned around, looking slightly annoyed with the blonde.
"What, Tamaki?" she asked crossly. Could he not leave her alone for a minute? She understood that Tamaki was the only Kiran Prince and heir to the throne, but honestly! That didn't give him the right to bother herevery minute that he deemed fit.
"What're you doing?" He plopped himself down on the bed next to the suitcase that Namahi was stuffing her clothing and belongings in.
"Packing," she replied, jaw set in annoyance.
"Why?"
Namahi brace her hands against the sides of her suitcase, turning her head to look at her friend. "Tamaki, have you forgotten?"
"Eh?"
"Army. Barracks. Tomorrow. Ringing any bells?"
Tamaki's mouth formed an 'O' of understanding. "Right. But Namahi! What if you get hurt?!"
She rolled his eyes and scooped up a black blanket. He'd asked this question when she first told him she was joining the army. "I've been trained, Tamaki. I doubt anything relatively harmful will happen to me," she muttered. 'Not to mention my witch-half will kick in if I do get injured,' she added in her mind dryly. But, Tamaki didn't know that. "Besides. Hikaru and Kaoru are going with me. Not to mention Takashi and Mitsukuni, if I'm not mistaken?"
"What?!" he yelled, "Are all my friends leaving me for the army?!"
"It's merely to protect your future kingdom, Your Highness," Namahi stated with slight sarcasm that flew straight over the young Prince's head. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. The idiotic prince still had so much to learn before he could takeover for King Yuzuru.
–
A/N: I actually struggled to make this at least 7 pages. Gaah. The filler part of my brain isn't working very well lately is it?
Anyway, sorry for the wait. I struggled through writers block a bit with this one. Main plot comes into view next chapter. Starting with her assignment, oh boy. That should be fun! And now I'm going to scuttle off to bed and take a well deserved sleep, thank you.
Review please. Because I know you love getting those Kudos as much as I love giving them out!
Speaking of which. Kudos to Kiriyu-chan for being the ONLY reviewer for the prologue. Like... 10 times the normal amount of Kudos. It's all because of her that I'm even continuing this. AND she got the fact that Haruhi was the princess right. Kudos also to my lovely editor/beta Koharu Veddette.