A/N: Hi guys, again so sorry it took me so long to publish this chapter. I had been dealing with writer's block and near constant power cuts, but thankfully I completed it. Thank you for your patience and enjoy the chapter!
Three days had passed since Kirsch invaded Shisui's home and attempted to murder him. In those three days since Shisui's life spiraled into a complete mess that he was still trying to fix. It all started after some patrolling guards rushed into his home when they heard Kirsch screaming her lungs out. Upon witnessing the situation the guards initially branded him a traitor and accused him of being a spy for the monsters and threw him into the dungeons below Lescatie, where he had been since. Kirsch on the other hand had been taken to the hospital and has been in a coma since. Sitting in his cell how at how everything went to hell Shisui's mind went back to the events of that day.
(Flashback)
Shisui stood idly in front of Kirsch's now unconscious body as he heard the voices of various knights getting louder as the approached his home, until eventually barging through the door. When the garrison of knights saw Shisui they all froze in shock.
"You...How could you...?" One of the guards asked in disbelief.
"I can explain..." Shisui said calmly.
"The hell you can! You murdered a member of the Ice Flower traitor!" One of the knights yelled angrily.
"Shisui Uchiha! You are under arrest for the murder of Kirsch of the Ice Flower!" The other knight announced firmly as he had his sword drawn towards Shisui, placing handcuffs on his hands. Shisui on the other hand, did not resist.
When news of what happened that night became public, everyone in Lescatie branded Shisui as 'Shisui the slaughterer' and 'Shisui the murderer' The Heroes of Lescatie, especially Sasha, were shocked and heartbroken at what Shisui had 'done'. Two days ago Shisui was initially scheduled to be executed by hanging until Sasha requested a trial be held for Shisui. The council initally refused, however King Castor pointed that since Sasha was a veteran hero and that Shisui of all people saved the life of Wilmarina, he to take place the following day, which the King thanfully approved of. The next day came and Shisui was led into the Lescatie courtroom handcuffed and escorted by two armed guards. The crowd jeered at him as they hurled various insults at the young Uchiha.
Sitting down in front of the judge, who was King Castor, Shisui remained as stoic as the night he was discovered to had 'murdered' both Kirsch and Marisa. Next to him Shisui noticed that Sasha was there.
"Don't worry Shisui. I know you are innocent." Sasha whispered reassuringly, which brought a smile to the young Uchiha's face.
After King Castor ordered the voices demanding Shisui's head to calm down, he announced the beginning of the trial. The accuser, Priest Noscrim made a strong case for Shisui being the murdered, all the while hurling petty insults whenever he could.
"Your honour, if I may." Sasha said formally.
"Yes? Do you have any evidence to prove Shisui's innocence?" the King asked.
"I do your honour. A few hours after the incident we discovered the lifeless body of Shisui's former servant Marisa."
"That is common knowledge Lady Sasha" Priest Noscrim spoke up.
"Mr. Noscrim, I request politely that you do not interrupt Sasha again or else I shall drop this case." The King warned sternly.
"Tccchh" The Priest muttered as he sat back down. Frustrated that the idiot King cannot obviously see that Shisui is the remorseless murderer that he is.
"As I was saying your honour. I tasked one of my underlings Primera Concerto to inspect Marisa's body and the sword of Lady Kirsch and the what we discovered that..."
"Marisa's wound was inflicted by Kirsch's sword." Sasha revealed.
"That's ludicrous! Kirsch was unconscious when-"
"The guards discovered Shisui? Priest Noscrim if I may ask. If Shisui 'murdered' Kirsch then how is she still alive?" Sasha asked the priest.
"Alive? But how?"
"Primera sensed she still had a pulse, and she is currently in a hospital ward in a stable condition as we speak." She explained confidently.
A sinking feeling of realization dawned upon the Priest, his case was falling apart fast; damn that woman and her half-breed archer he swore to himself.
"What is more is that Priest Noscrim explicitly forgot to mention how Shisui was unarmed when the guards entered. Upon examining Kirsch's body Primera found no signs of blunt force trauma inflicted upon her body; she was perfectly fine." Sasha added as even the King seemed to be amazed.
"Hmm I see. Due to a lack of evidence to incriminate Shisui Uchiha this case shall be dropped and he shall be released from prison tomorrow morning. He shall also have his rank of Hero be restored and all personal belongings be returned to him." The King announced as he pounded his hammer on his table.
(In the present...)
Shisui sat patiently in his cell as he heard the clanging of metal get ever so closer to his cell.
"You're free to go." The guard announced formally as he opened the gate to Shisui's cell. Almost instantaneously Shisui's vision was enveloped by turquoise hair and his leg suddenly felt heavier than usual.
"Mr Shisui!" Jennifer cried out as she snuggled her face into his leg.
"I told you you had nothing to worry about." Sasha said as she continued to hug Shisui.
"Thank you Sasha. I truly appreciate your help." Shisui said heartfully, smiling his trademark smile.
"Do you want to come visit the Orphanage Shisui? Everyone has been worried sick about you." Sasha offered.
"After everything that's happened in these last three days, I'd love it come by." Shisui answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
The walk back to the Orphanage was a quiet and relaxing one. Mainly because Shisui was glad he wasn't being treated like a certain blonde knucklehead back in Konoha. If anything the townsfolk were all very eager to apologise to the young Uchiha, claiming that they didn't know better. Shisui, despite the scorn he had received from the townspeople decided to forgive them as he knew holding onto a grudge would be like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
Finally reaching the orphanage, which had almost become like a second home to Shisui, Sasha opened the door.
The sound of footsteps slowly grew louder and louder until approximately eight children reached the entrance, with all eight children screaming-
"SHISUI!"
The young Uchiha was tackled from all sides by the children, whom all hugged him wherever they could.
"This is gonna happen every time I visit here isn't it?" Shisui asked rhetorically.
"Yep." Jennifer replied happily.
Smiling genuinely, Shisui reminded himself that is was moments like these that gave him all the more reason to protect his new family, especially after Marisa's passing.
"So what have you little scoundrels been up to since I was gone?" Shisui asked jokingly.
"Nothing! We swear!" All the orphans replied simultaneously.
Shisui smirked, he knew the orphans were definitely hiding something. Wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt, he played along.
"Ok guys. If you say so I believe you." Shisui said smiling.
"Actually Mr. Shisui, we all have a surprise we want to show you." Jennifer revealed as she grabbed Shisui by the hand.
"Ohhh? I wonder what that'd be?" Shisui asked curiously.
"Come with us!" Jennifer said as she led Shisui towards the dining room of the Orphanage.
Accompanying Jennifer to the dining room, Shisui couldn't help but wonder what the girl had in store for him. When Jennifer swung opened the door Shisui was greeted by a booming "Welcome back Shisui!" from most of the orphanage, accompanied by a large cake in the centre of the table.
"Jee thanks guys, but you didn't have to." Shisui said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Of course we had to! After we heard what happened to Miss Marisa we wanted to find a way cheer you up." Jennfier explained.
"Wow really? I'm flattered that you'd do that for me." Shisui admitted.
"It's the least we could do Shisui." Sasha now said as she entered the room.
"Especially with how you have made everyone here, especially Primera, much happier since you arrived." She finished as she flashed him a warm smile.
"You're all uh...welcome." Shisui stammered as he blush crept across his face he felt the sensation of butterflies in his stomach again.
Four blissful hours had passed where Shisui had genuine fun as he frolicked with the children. He had almost forgotten what is was like to be a child since back home he was forced to grow up before his time.
When dusk set, Shisui announced that while he had a lot of fun spending time with everyone in the Orphanage, he had to go home now. The children all said goodbye reluctantly as Shisui exited the orphanage.
Making his way home Shisui had a certain person in mind he wanted to visit again. Upon reaching his home Shisui went to his bedside table and picked up the amulet that Maylin had gifted him. He had to admit the amulet was a very fine piece of jewellery, especially the gem in the centre.
Despite being in Lescatie for three days now, he had only gained very little knowledge about the history of this world and even if he asked the higher ups or went to the library for information Shisui knew that the information there would be either filtered, absent or both.
With a sigh he pressed the gem in the centre of the amulet which instantaneously transported him back to Maylin's castle. Finding himself back in the same corridor where he left the last time, Shisui tried to find where Maylin's bedroom was, however he had one little problem.
He couldn't remember where her bedroom was.
Wandering around aimlessly Shisui tried hard to remember where Maylin's bedroom was. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even hear a certain someone call out his name and only felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist.
"You're back so soon! What brings you here Shisui? Not that I'm complaining." Ghilanna cried out in joy.
"I was looking for Maylin. But I can't find her bedroom." Shisui explained.
"Her bedroom? I can take you there, under one condition." Ghilanna asked playfully.
"Really? What would that be?" Shisui asked.
"That you hold my hand while I take you there." Ghilanna revealed.
Shisui sweatdropped. This girl wasn't being serious was she he thought to himself. Having no other choice he accepted her offer.
The journey to Maylin's bedroom was a rather short one to Shisui's surprise, considering the massive size of the palace. He had also underestimated how fast Ghilanna was, as he had barely kept up with her.
Finally arriving at Maylin's bedroom Ghilanna gently knocked on the door.
"Please do come in." Maylin softly answered.
With Ghilanna opening the door, Shisui noticed that Maylin was more moderately dressed this time, something that he was internally grateful for.
"Shisui, you are back. To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you again?" Maylin asked gracefully.
"I uh..." Shisui trailed off, unable to explain his reason for being here.
"What is it Shisui? I promise I won't judge you for whatever reason you are here." Maylin reassured.
"A close friend of mine, Marisa, was killed three days ago. And the assassin tried to kill me." Shisui explained.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that." Maylin said.
"That is truly horrible, do you want to stay here so we can make you feel better?" Ghilanna offered as she looked at Shisui solemnly.
"I'd...appreciate it a lot thanks." Shisui answered as he smiled weakly.
"Lady Maylin will be hosting a royal party soon, all of Monaxia will be there, why don't you join us?" Ghilanna asked excitedly.
"Sure I can but...I don't exactly have the attire for such an event, plus I've never been to a party in my life." Shisui said sheepishly.
"That is not an issue, we can simply find the finest robes made for you." Maylin announced as she clapped her hands twice in quick succession.
Two handmaidens, one with waist length blue hair and the other with brown hair tied into a ponytail entered the room as the simultaneously asked the Queen how they could help her.
"Our guest Shisui is in need of dress robes for tonight's ball. Please will you take his measurements and dress him with the finest robes we have." Maylin instructed the handmaidens.
Shisui was ushered by both the handmaidens to another room, where they both took his measurements.
"Sir Shisui, that symbol on your headband, are you a part of the Order?" The blue haired Elf girl asked.
"Yes I am." Shisui answered.
The handmaidens looked at each other worringly, as if they sensed a form of danger at Shisui's revelation and continued taking his measurements as if nothing had happened.
Shisui was confused, why were they afraid? They weren't mosnters and to his knowledge Elves weren't deemed enemies of the Order, so what did they have to worry about?
Shisui pondered on those thoughts all throught the dressing session as the Handmaidens adorned him with a silver long sleeve shirt and a coat of sorts with a cape that covered his right arm.
Escorted by the two handmaidens back to Maylin's room, Shisui had to admit the clothing was very fine indeed, as not only did it look good, it was extremely comfortable as well.
Arriving back at Maylin's room Ghilanna gasped in shock, no doubt very impressed by Shisui's new outift.
"Shisui, you look splendid." Maylin praised. Shisui noticed that Maylin wore a midnight blue dress that was adorned with little stars all over, almost as if she had ripped out a piece of the night sky.
"That he does Lady Maylin, he looks as if he could be your consort." Ghilanna commented, earning a deep blush from the Queen.
"He certainly does. Today however he is a personal guest of mine, and I want to show him the opulent comfort of Elven society." Maylin announced as she gently held Shisui's arm.
"Let us make our way to the party, my dear guest." Maylin announced, making sure to put emphasis on the guest part.
The trio of Maylin, Shisui and Ghilanna graciously made their way to the main hall where the party was being hosted, and upon the guards opening the giant white doors to the hall Shisui noticed an entire congregation of Elves in the hall, whom all gave a small round of applause for the Queen.
"Greetings to you all fair citizens of Monaxia! Tonight we celebrate yet another year of peace and prosperity of our glorious kingdom!" Maylin announced to all the Elves.
"Next to me is a human man by the name of Shisui Uchiha. He is my personal guest tonight, and I'd love you all to give him a warm welcome." Maylin added.
"A pleasure to meet you Shisui." One male Elf greeted.
"Welcome to Monaxia."
A few hours had passed as the evening sun had sunk below the horizon with the moon taking it's place in the now night sky. In that time Shisui had greeted and learned about the people of Monaxia and had engaged in small talk with the Elves. Most of time however he kept to himself as truth be told he wasn't very good in social situations, especially parties.
Retreating to an empty balcony Shisui looked up at the night sky. His thoughts again strayed back to the Uchiha clan's situation. Deep down he was guilty of thrusting the responsibility of stopping the Uchiha clan's coup onto Itachi. Sure Itachi was a very skilled shinobi, but he was still a 13 year old boy at the end of the day. His thoughts then drifted to Lescatie, and the decrepit state that it's government allowed it's citizens to live in. He noticed how the rich subjected the poor, almost as if they weren't human beings. He noticed how that Priest Noscrim didn't like him, which culminated into a failed attempt on his life. He noticed how during his hearing the Priest was vehemently trying to prove Shisui's 'guilt'. He knew without a doubt that the man was trouble and was not to be trusted. Every issue in Lescatie always seemed to lead back to him somehow. Shisui knew that man had to be removed from power in order of Lescatie to improve, but how was going to do that? The man was a high ranking government official and was virtually untouchable. This was Danzo all over again.
Shisui sighed, he hated it when there was a problem he couldn't fix at the moment.
"Are you alright Shisui?" Maylin asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Yes...well actually no I am not." Shisui revealed.
"What is the matter?" Maylin asked.
"I'm just thinking about matters back home. There is a high ranking Priest who wants me gone." Shisui explained.
"I think it's time I came clean. The real reason I came to you is because I want to now the real history of the ongoing war between the Order and the monsters." He added, still looking up at the night sky.
"I see. I can take you to my personal study so you may get a better understanding of what's going on, and what you're truly fighting for." Maylin said.
"Hehe really. I'd really appreciate that. Thank you May- I mean Queen Maylin." Shisui said as he gave a respectful bow.
"It is no problem dear. And by the way you don't have to call me Queen Maylin when in private, you may just call me Maylin." Maylin stated as she smiled warmly.
"Follow me dear." Maylin instructed as both she and Shisui made their way toward her personal study. The study was enormous to Shisui's eyes. It almost rivalled the size of the Konoha library.
"Before we begin our history lesson there is a question I need to ask you. How much do you know about the Order?" Maylin asked, the seriousness in her voice clearly evident.
"Not much honestly. Just that they are religious institution devoted to the Chief God who aim to keep humanity same from the monsters." Shisui explained.
"You are partly correct. If I may ask again have you ever seen one of these so called 'monsters'?" Maylin asked again.
"Now that I think about it, no I haven't. My first mission for the Order was to help out a town that was losing their villagers to monsters every week. When we got there there were no monsters, instead it was a man who murdered the entire village claiming that he had did so as payback for how the Order murdered the monsters, or mamono as he called them." Shisui answered.
"That is truly horrible." Maylin said sadly.
"It is, that's why I want to find the killer and bring him to justice." Shisui stated.
"Best of luck to you Shisui. Now back to the Order, did you know that us Elves were the original race blessed by the Chief God?" Maylin asked.
"N-no I didn't" Shisui stammered, the revelation of such information still processing in his brain.
"Just like the current humans in charge of the Order, us Elves were devoted followers of the Chief Goddess, we served her dutifully until one day we learned a shocking truth..." Maylin explained.
"What was it?" Shisui asked, his interest greatly peaked.
"That the Chief Goddess was using us as her pawns. She would deliberately allow us to die. When Elven civilisation was on the brink of total destruction she would give us her blessings to destroy the monsters of old and overthrow the then ruling Demon Lords." Maylin continued to explain.
Shisui was taken aback by this information. He knew that the Order was hiding some details about their conflict, but he didn't know they were hiding this much.
It felt a punch to the gut. He wholeheartedly believed that the Order was genuine in their beliefs, Sasha was a perfect example of this. But this, this, all felt like one big lie.
"So that means...I'm nothing more than a pawn?" Shisui asked softly.
"Unfortunately yes. But please do not fret for there are a group of people who want to bring peace and love to the world." Maylin said.
"And who would they be?" Shisui asked.
"The mamono." Maylin answered.
"And how do I know I can trust them?" Shisui asked rather harshly.
"Ask yourself this Shisui, have you ever encountered the so called vile, malicious man eating monsters the Order constantly speaks about?" Maylin asked.
"No I haven't." Shisui admitted.
"See? Trust me Shisui, you have nothing to worry about. The mamono mean no harm." Maylin stated.
"I'll take you word Maylin since you did take me in after that battle with the kunoichi." Shisui stated as he gave Maylin a thumbs up.
"Lovely. Now let me show you the history of the Elves. Follow me." Maylin ordered.
Arriving at her personal study, Maylin stood on what look like a large stone tablet embedded into the floor.
"Let us begin shall we?" Maylin said as the library around her and Shisui disappeared, being replaced by a futuristic city.
"Whoa? Where are we?" Shisui asked amazed.
"This is Asfaleia. A city that was once the pinnacle of Elven civilization for it's highly advanced technology and impenetrable defenses." Maylin explained.
"What happened to the city?" Shisui asked.
"It was...destroyed during the Elven uprising." Maylin revealed.
In a blink of an eye, the once utopian looking city turned into a ruined metropolis littered with dead Elven bodies.
"What in the world...?" Shisui quizzed as he saw a Valkyrie impale an Elf soldier through the chest, killing him instantly.
"After the legendary Elven hero Lothos Dawnfall discovered the truth about this cycle of endless suffering upon killing the then Demon Lord, he informed the King of his intentions to rebel against the Chief God. Unfortunately despite very careful planning the uprising ended in the death of the King and Lothos and all of Elves that didn't perish were forced into hiding" Maylin explained.
"..." Shisui had no words to speak out. He was in complete shock at how the Chief God and her Valkyries could murder so many innocents in cold blood. He clenched his fist in anger, trying desperately to keep his anger from reaching boiling point.
"There was one silver lining to the uprising though. Lothos managed to sever the Chief God's connection to the Earth before dying, which meant that the Chief God had no control over the monsters, which in turn allowed a succubus named Lilith to usurp the previous Demon Lord and usher in the era of peace we have today." Maylin said.
"I see...and the Chief God was not happy with this cycle being broken?" Shisui asked.
"Yes. She attempted to murder the current Demon Lord early in her reign, however she underestimated Lilith and her husband and was forced to retreat to Heaven," Maylin answered.
"And let me guess, she's been losing ever since this Lilith took over, hence why she summoned me to this world to fight for her?" Shisui asked again as he placed the puzzle pieces together in his head. In the meantime Maylin brought the both of them back to the study.
"Yep. Do you have any more questions Shisui?" Maylin asked.
"No. I know what I need to know and I thank you greatly for telling me this Maylin." Shisui said.
"I almost forgot, take this." Maylin said as she pulled a large brown book from her shelf and handed it to Shisui.
"What is this?" Shisui asked, analyzing the women on the cover of the book.
"That is the Monster Girl Encyclopedia. It shall explain the nature of various mamono and our world in better detail than I can. Just make sure when you take it back that one discovers you with the book." Maylin warned.
"I see. This book will help me a lot, thank you again Maylin"
"It is no problem dear. Now I advise you return home before anyone gets suspicious at your absence." Maylin instructed.
"Will do. Until next time Maylin" Shisui said as he took out the amulet and pressed the gem in the centre, which took him back to his bedroom in Lescatie.
Looking for a safe place to hide the Encyclopedia, Shisui decided that for now the safest place would be in a drawer in his bedside table.
Lamenting on today's events, Shisui had his suspocions about the Order confirmed. If he wanted to save Lescatie he would have to act soon.
It finally dawned on him. He could still use that technique, Kotoamatsukami, to control the Priest. He knew it wasn't the most honourable of methods of solving this problem but right now it was the only solution he had. As long he got eye contact with Noscrim, everything would be smooth sailing from there.
Shisui knew it seemed ambitious, almost foolish even. But ever since Lescatie become his second home and the Orphanage children and Sasha had become his second family, especially after the passing of Marisa, he was determined to protect them at any costs.