"I ate a babeh."
- Fat Bastard
"You ain't never seen my movies? Juice? That was a good one! Deep Blue Sea? They ate me! A fucking shark ATE ME!"
- Dave Chappelle (doing a Samuel L. Jackson impression)
Akane was sitting on the throne that had killed little Argos XII in his childhood almost sixty years ago. But this wasn't her throne to rule by herself. It belonged to her husband, the emperor, who was very much alive and healthy thanks to all of her hard work.
This is how it was after the sun set and everyone departed from the palace with all of the day's business concluded. No one was ever up this late except for a handful of regular soldiers guarding the gates, the five devoted Otome legionnaires guarding and cleaning the inner manor, and the royal family's famous clowder of pet cats slinking around in search of stray rodents. With every electrical system except the background security sensors shut off, the empty throne room became something akin to a very welcoming mausoleum.
Six decades of bloodshed still haunted Cardair's capital palace. These walls had seen an innocent child-king slain, a genocidal despot take control in the power vacuum, an entire Otome squadron slaughtered in a vengeful barbarian invasion, and finally Akane's rushed commission with Kazuya as a last-ditch effort to heal this wounded land.
It was also the new princess's nursery. This is where Akane always brought her when she got fussy late at night, and Kazu was too cranky and exhausted to roll out of bed. She had her mother's round amber eyes and a glossy patch of her father's charcoal brown hair.
The princess got her midnight snack on the royal throne while Akane sang her soft lullabies. The empress was gradually starting to enjoy the idea of becoming a Founder once she reached the end of her own natural life—whether or not she was ready to admit it.
"Just as Garderobe always wanted" was a funny phrase to toss around. But Akane hardly ever thought about some carefully planned secret agenda where she was just a high-ranking chess piece caught in a larger system. She was never the "secret agenda" type, hence why she was the perfect choice to be Cardair's honest and gentle empress.
This is what she always wanted, and she was happy to be a role model for the next generation of Otomes protecting her family. Her personal story of love, rebellion, and redemption had turned her into a popular legend within the Sisterhood. The Pure Heart Malachite, the Meister Otome who chose her own Master, and helped save the world with romance rather than following the orders of the old kings who only cared about war.
The baby princess yawned as she nestled in the ruffles of her mother's imperial gown. She expressed her satisfaction with a tiny burp.
Akane's eyes started to get a little watery. Mostly from joy, but also from a faint hint of melancholy.
"Don't worry, Erstin." The empress whispered lovingly into her daughter's ear. "Kazu's here with me. I won't get distracted again. I'll finish raising you this time."
Her tired eyelids slowly blinked once her baby was relaxed. Her head drooped slightly as she started to doze off in her seat.
"Aka-neeee neeee-san!"
A friendly familiar voice echoed near the torches lining the open palace doors. A voice Akane hadn't heard in years.
She looked up from her half-drowsy reverie thinking it was one of her young Otome successors coming to greet her. She was confused (and a bit startled) to see the transparent likeness of Erstin wearing her red Coral trainee apron. The original Erstin, who'd been murdered in the Schwarz conspiracy that almost destroyed Windbloom.
She looked exceedingly cheerful for a dead girl. She never said anything else once she had Akane's attention, but all of her energetic mannerisms said she was happy with how everything had turned out. She propped her straightened palm against the blonde curls dangling around her forehead as a lighthearted salute to her mentor. Then she spun around on her toes and ran toward the open doors with her arms playfully stretched out like an airplane's wings.
As Erstin reached the doorway, Akane noticed another transparent figure standing in the torchlight off to the right side. It was Sister Fiar, wearing the dark violet and navy blue Meister uniform of the previous Cardair regime. The regime lead by Argos XIV, who had taken the shambles of the empire that survived the Dragon King War sixty years ago and nearly corrupted them to the point of worldwide doom.
But this Fiar wasn't hostile. She was cold and stern, but there was a proud way she glanced toward the empress. This Fiar stood on her own terms, far away from the manipulations of the cold-hearted Master who'd been killed with her.
A final transparent figure was looming under the torchlight on the left side of the door. She appeared younger than Fiar, but a little older than Erstin. The same age Akane had been when Erstin was her lieutenant. The graceful apparition wore the pale cream-colored maid dress of a Trias I, the same style of apron Akane wore in her graduation days. Long straight silver hair swept down her shoulders like a regal mantle, and she stood with her arms crossed in her frills and a reserved smile on her face. She offered a small nod in the empress's direction as her own salute.
Akane didn't need to be told this legendary Otome's name. She'd taken it upon herself to learn every facet of Cardair culture once she left her native kingdom Florince behind, and this Otome's story was the most tragic event carved into Cardair's history.
Erstin made it through the door and continued running toward dark starry sky. Her elder Sisters both turned toward her and slowly followed her outside.
The three illusory Otomes faded together into the tranquil night air. Their spirits were free.
The empress sat back in the throne and sighed with all the pain leaving her heart and all the weight of the future resting on her shoulders. Princess Erstin Julen Krau-xeku napped quietly in her mother's arms without a single enemy threatening her or a single conflict worrying her.
Author's notes:
This fanfic guest stars Minami Kuribayashi, The Other Rie Tanaka Otome Character Who Isn't Tomoe, and Yamashiro With Her Hair Dyed Silver. Other Rie Tanaka Character wasn't part of the initial planning phase for the fanfic (the ghosts were originally just going to be Ers and Silver Yamashiro), but I decided to add her at the last minute. I think she helped bring the story full-circle.
The idea for this story started with the "I'll finish raising you this time" line, and then everything spiraled into schizophrenic chaos / peaceful closure from there. I was thinking a lot about that scene from the extended version of the Stargate movie when Jackson is wandering around the empty throne room after being revived, and he sees a cat just chilling out on Ra's throne.
You can assume the Orbital Destiny Zeus Cannon Eyeball scene I was describing in the notes for "Cardair Pandora" happened a year or two before this fanfic. Or just come up with your own "Final Akane Mission" I guess. (Silver Yamashiro just blew up in a blaze of Death Star glory to end the tragic cycle and now Sarigiwa no Romantics is playing.)
Hey. Including Fiar in this story means this is also a timeline where Lacus dies. That's a kinda cool unintentional coincidence.
What if this was the follow-up to "Nothing Nowhere Never at Any Time"? lol.