A/N: ...many thanks to Slifer for helping me with this.
Writer's block is an evil, VILE thing I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It certainly doesn't help that Long Covid has been doing my head in, to say nothing of my lungs.
Not feeling my best with yet another damn HOLE in my side...but I've been watching Hazbin Hotel while recovering. Still in a lot of pain.
Long story short, I had to get a massive swathe of skin on my side cut off the other day because my doctors are concerned and checking for cancer. And when I say cut, I mean CUT as in with several scalpels at once, leaving me in horrendous pain. Now I may need to go back to the hospital and get yet more "pieces" removed which has me stressed out even more. Don't get me started about the bleeding and the bandages. Painkillers aren't helping and I'm concerned it might be spreading while trying not to panic over here.
I've since had more pieces carved away on my chest and neck besides. In other words. I. Am. Suffering. Writing distracts me from the pain, if only just.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild, wicked world, one word at a time.
Once more, I own no quotes, references, or memes. Not a wit or a one. NOT! A! THING!
They're all tributes to legends far greater than little 'ol me. Disclaimer over.
"Ah, hope. Such a fragile, fickle little thing.
Take care it does not lead you astray.
But perhaps that too, is hope."
~?
Until Heaven Falls
Naruto walked through the halls of Raya Lucaria whistling a jaunty nameless tune, his hands in his pockets and gait relaxed.
Mid-morning light streamed in through the passing windows, and he got the distinct impression that summer was finally on the way after a lengthy spring. The days were getting longer, the nights shorter, and there was this immutable energy to the academy that was a far cry from the run-down and melancholy place that he, Melina and Boggart had stumbled across all those months ago, the doors barred by a magical sigil that had confounded him and required him to tap into his knowledge of Fuinjutsu to get through.
...knowledge that had instantly proven to be pointless as their host had just opened the bloody thing for them and let them inside.
He was still a little miffed at that, but now, Naruto was more mystified and focused on the fact that it had been so long. It felt like scarcely yesterday he had stepped out of his apartment in Konoha, heard an insufferably holier-than-thou voice command his attention and been whisked off to the heartland of the Lands Between. Yet here he was now, over half a year later, with a litter of adopted daughters, an imposing roof over his head and a fiance waiting in the wings. A tall, beautiful, powerful, intelligent, loving and compassionate fiance who happened to be a gods-damned queen to boot!
"Please stop salivating over Rennala. The air in here turns pink when you imagine cuddling against her," Kurama grumbled from the back of his mind, his voice half amused. To one who had lived a millennium, it must have seemed like even more of a whirlwind romance.
Now that he thought about it… "Hey, Kurama?" he asked.
Kurama squinted at the representation of Naruto in the mindscape, which now took the form of a large blue velvet pillow that the fox loved to roll around in. "No."
The blond narrowed his eyes at the instant reply. "You don't even know what I was going to ask," he said, his voice echoing off the walls. Even though the room was slightly more occupied, the majority of the halls were still empty, and he could thus converse out loud without people questioning his sanity.
The nine-tailed fox sat up, shaking his head. "I know you, Naruto. And I can guess what you were going to ask based on your line of thought. So, no, I didn't really pay attention to your parents courting each other. The closest I ever got was tricking Kushina into sinking her fist into his gut while she was in a seven-tailed Version Two Cloak."
Hearing mention of his parents, Naruto's face lit up, his eyes filled with intrigue, before he pulled back. "Nah, I was going to ask if you ever had any romance yourself."
Kurama opened his mouth to respond but shapely closed it, opening it again only for no words to pass his peeled-back lips. He blinked once, then twice as his long ears flattened against his head in confusion before finally blurting out a flat, disbelieving:
"Wat?"
"Well, given how old you are, there must have been someone. An adventurous shrine maiden, maybe?" the blonde posited, his smile tugging at the edges of his lips, wanting to press on a rare instance of the usually unflappable Kurama's confusion.
His partner gawped at him incredulously, "Naruto, I'm a 125-metre tall fox that can cause natural disasters by swinging my tails too hard. What kind of human would want to take me out for a moonlit dinner?"
"I don't know, maybe there was a boss summon animal that wanted to see if the big bad fox was secretly a big softie at heart. Which I can say you are."
"Keep talking, and I'll roast your internal organs." the vulpine beast shot back, putting his fingers into his ears.
"Or maybe Matatabi-"
"STAHP!"
"Hahahahahahaha!" He dropped his pretence of prying, thoroughly enjoying that he could get the seemingly implacable fox to open up on some lighthearted barbing rather than the fox's usually brusque snark. "I'm joking, Kurama. Anyway, it's just reminding me that so much has happened in such a short time, and before I know it, half a year has gone by."
In point of fact, two whole weeks had gone by since Lorreta, former Carian Knight and current servant of the Haligtree, had returned to her former haunt in Liurnia. The surprise with which she had discovered he and Ranni in the forests and subsequent discovery of his status as Rennala's consort and betrothed had resulted in the statuesque knightess coming with them to the academy.
After a somewhat stilted reintroduction to her Queen, Loretta had chosen to take up residence in a set of apartments above the academy's gatehouse. Close enough to be held abreast of news but still far enough away to keep to herself.
'She's a weird one, that Loretta.' Naruto thought curiously, thinking over the few times that he had interacted with her since she had come to live nearby, though the Knightess had insisted that it was only a temporary arrangement. 'She seems like she wants to get involved with things here but, at the same time is afraid to get involved. Every interaction is so cagey.'
Cagey was a perfect description for the woman as while she comported herself with the grace and politeness of a knight, she seemed to treat the separation created by her duties as a sworn blade of the Haligtree as a reason why she shouldn't get too personal with anyone at Raya Lucaria.
'With a few exceptions,' he mentally added, stopping briefly to look out of one of the large faceted windows that ran along the side of the hallway. His gaze came to rest upon the distant squat structure of the gatehouse, its inward-facing windows shadowed by a passing cloud. Naruto was briefly overcome with the prickling sixth sense that told him he was being watched, and he could imagine for a moment that the tall knight was looking back at him from those windows before he moved off again.
However, thoughts of the former Carian Knight did not leave Naruto's mind that was assailed with a plethora of vivid and, to him at least, amusing memories to do with her. For you see, while Loretta mostly stayed away from the inner reaches of the academy, she had been bold as brass regarding certain aspects of its new regime, specifically him.
He chuckled ruefully at the memories, remembering the mix of confusion and sheer indignance that had betwixt her pretty face when she had come down off her initial should of surprise in the forest. She had denounced the truths that he and Ranni had laid down as folly and falsehoods and been on the verge of drawing her weapon on him, demanding that he hand over both Kaimon and the Moonlight Greatsword because 'obviously' he must have stolen them.
Naruto had not taken kindly to such a baseless accusation, his following one-fingered salute having done little more than cement it in Loretta's mind, but Ranni had proven to be the level-headed one, able to convince her family's former servant that he had in fact been given both blades as a mark of his station as the Full Moon Queen's betrothed.
While the words had served to add a dash of cold water to the boil that was the tall knight's mind, enough to get her to come to the academy and greet her former mistress, they had not banished the spectre of former responsibility. So it was that not two days later, she appeared before Naruto and demanded a duel.
"Hear my words, Naruto Uzumaki. By some miracle, you hath earned the affections of Caria's Queen, enough to be marked as the one she intends to one day wed. I denounce this as an insult and falsehood, though I know not how. By trickery in taking advantage of her scolded heart or thaumaturge bewitchment? I know what, but I can comment on the truth! Thou art a foreigner and of low birth, unworthy to hold either sword of the Queen's affection. Thus I challenge you; come dusk we shall duel upon the lakeside and should you fail to best me in martial combat you shall renounce thy engagement and leave Liurnia, returning the swords till someone worthy of the Queen appears!"
When Naruto had finally finished processing what she had said, he simply walked her out to the lakes, offered to take the duel then and there and proceeded to unceremoniously beat her into the dirt.
To Loretta's credit, she had taken the loss in stride and, over the past weeks, challenged him no less than four times, each with a differing method or timeframe. He triumphed each and every time and succeeded in hammering home that he had more than enough power to be 'worthy' of holding the twin blades he had been gifted with.
Even now, he could just imagine her haughtily turning her nose up at him in silent rebuke of his existence, and he was ready to show that he did deserve to be here no matter how many so-called duels of honour it took.
"All she can do is sniff and snort. She couldn't beat you in a fight even if she trained for a thousand years," Kurama commented, having emerged from his previous embarrassment at Naruto's jokes.
Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "She'll try as many times as it takes for her to feel satisfied. Plus, I'm certain she's holding back a lot if what Sellen told me about the Carian Knights is true. She should have a whole arsenal of spells at her disposal, yet she keeps sorcery to a minimum during the duels." He could respect someone who kept throwing themselves up against a seemingly impossible task yet still maintained some level of honour, even if he did think she was way too proud.
However, as Naruto turned into the next section of the labyrinthine corridors did he find himself not alone. Indeed, for the first time in a long time, he was not the only person walking the halls of the academy, and the figure that stood in the centre of the hall would have drawn the eye of any sane individual. Even a cursory glance revealed that it was not human, but it was certainly no animal or beast. It was shaped roughly like a man but far too thin, its chest a sloping triangular prism of obsidian and ebony with a medium-sized lump of glintstone set into its centre, releasing a shimmering light. It had a set of spindly arms and legs made up of jointed metallic pipes and seven-fingered hands.
The automata paid Naruto no attention as he passed it, its ellipsoid-shaped head made of brass staring impassively forward as it continued its thorough and thankless task of sweeping the floor, a broom and dustpan held in each hand.
Passing three more of such janitorial sentinels, Naruto considered just what else he had gleaned from Loretta with every time they had crossed blades and found that while some of the restraint was born out of chivalric fair play, there was a melancholy regret in every twirl of her scythe or thrust of its wicked edge. 'She feels guilty,' he concluded after a moment, the sight of the automata not phasing him at all, having become used to their presence. The waves of guilt had soured every clang of metal and slowed the showers of sparks that had exploded from their crossed blades, sharp enough to be felt but vague enough to struggle to find its cause.
But now that he thought about it, a conversation with old Moongrum had shed some much-needed light on Loretta's mindset.
(...Flashback...)
"The lady Loretta has…returned?" Moongrum asked, his wizened features full of surprise. Only centuries of service kept him from dropping his helmet in shock. He had just got back from Castle Morne and delivered news to Irina's father of her safe lodging here in Liurnia. He was barely out of his riding breeches when Naruto came to him to catch him up on what had happened since he had been away.
"Yeah, and brought a damn attitude with her. Who does she think she is claiming that I'm a bad fit for Rennala?" Naruto griped. He took up a stiff pose and pointed towards himself, affecting an overly dramatic but still dead-on impression of the turncoat knight. "Woe is it for me to stand such an ignominious man to be the betrothed of such a queen!" his smile dropped with his hands to his sides, "I can't figure her out. She wants to put distance between her and Rennala but still sticks around like a kicked puppy, looking for a reason to defend her but unsure if she should. It's confusing!"
"Ah, I see…" Moongrum's face turned downcast, seeming to age a thousand years in a few seconds. He quietly stowed his helmet at his side and gave Naruto a wan smile. "Sir Naruto, I know that his is a lot to ask but… please be patient with Loretta. She is probably ashamed of her change in loyalty. By your description of her armour, it sounds like she has become a knight of the Haligtree, and thus the Lord Miquella, a child sired from union between Radagon and Marika."
Realisation dawned on Naruto like the rising sun, "Oh… right," he mumbled, considering how that must feel for both Rennala and Loretta. Abandoning the monarch you had sworn your life to, whose house you had grown up in and learned under, believing her a lost cause and swearing yourself to another that was the result of her husband forsaking her… yes, it was indeed a lot of baggage to carry.
"What was he like?" Moongrum looked up at him, quirking a brow in curiosity, "Miquella, I mean. I know he was Marika and Radagon's second son and was associated with the Haligtree, but that's about it. Also that he was tied up with Milicent somehow."
The old knight stroked his neatly maintained beard wistfully, likely recalling the world before the Shattering, of a time when Rennala had merely been severely depressed and not truly mad. "My interactions with him were scant, little more than cordial parlance between Caria and Marika's domains. I was more familiar with the work of his subjects in trying to hold back the rot after the shattering had been upon us, but…" Moongrum let a beat pass before finding the right words. "Pure and radiant. He wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. It was… utterly terrifying."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, listening to the most loyal servant of his fiance talk.
"To witness a battlefield of men driven mad by loyalty, rot, malignance and hat but for a moment be transcended to a brotherhood of mankind, with not but a touch of his internal light. He is a good soul, but in all goodness, there is the implication of terror. That personhood and grudges could be laid to waste with but a flicker of his eyes and men and women alike driven to do what was right, when Miquella was the one with the power, if not the strength, to decide what right was…" His voice fell to a whisper then, "And that is nothing to speak of Messmer."
"Mess-who?" the blonde questioned, earning a dismissive handwave.
"A slip of the tongue, Sir Naruto. But to the matter at hand, I am not so bold as to ask for your kindness at Lady Loretta… but please be patient; her zealotry comes from a good place."
Naruto remained silent then, he had a lot to think about.
(...Flashback End...)
Considering what he knew now and the clearer feelings that he had felt from her in their subsequent duels, a small but reasonably believable hypothesis began to take shape in Naruto's mind. Loretta was conflicted over her elegance between Rennala and Miquella, dancing as she was between Glintstone and Unalloyed Gold. While she worked through the nuances, she wanted to keep her distance but also did not want to threaten the newfound happiness in Rennala's life, thus she tested him, crossing blades with him to see if he was indeed going to make the Full Moon Queen happy or if he was going to cut and run, sending Rennala back into despair.
His hand closed into a fist, 'No way in hell am I ever letting that happen. So let her come, let her test, let her rain every test and magical trick upon me, I'll pass them all. The sky will split apart before I let these people I have found here fall into despair ever again.'
The darkness fell away from his thoughts as he changed tac to consider the lingering intrigue of Melania and Miquella, two people he had never met but had had so much impact on those who called the academy home. Melania, the Blade of Miquella, the so-called biological mother of Milicent and the other Daughters of Rot. She was, technically speaking, Melina's sister by way of Marika's parthenogenesis and was the one that had unleashed the rot upon Caelid, rendering one of Rennala's sons a maddened invalid.
'Ranni, Radahn, Rykard,' he mentally listed, some just names while others conjured strong mental images; Ranni had sent out word for her agents across the land to return to the academy and while most had sent their assent in returning, so far only Iiji, the troll smith and War Councillor had arrived.
Radahn was maddened with Scarlet Rot in distant Caelid ,but so strong that none could fell him while Rykard… that one troubled his mind the most. The praetor of Mount Gelmir had earned himself the name the Lord of Blasphemy for the atrocities that he and his Recusants were committing across the land.
'Just means I'm gonna have to smack him upside the head if Rennala doesn't,' he decided.
But it went beyond that. There was a plethora of other issues and business that they would eventually have to attend to: the Daughters of Rot that apparently hunted for Milicent, what Marika had told them of the Greater Will's machinations for them, the news that Miquella had been 'stolen', and even 'Death's' cryptic words about the afterlife being broken.
"...It's a fucking mess." he finally said under his breath with a sigh. He shrugged his shoulders and felt a reassuring warmth across his upper body, his mood once more tipping upwards, "but at least I've finally got my jacket back."
If there was one silver lining from the whole debacle with Marika assuming direct control of Melina for the day it was that he had finally, after nearly half a year, been able to reclaim his beloved black jacket, and while it had been creased in ways only being used by a child could, it felt so wonderfully nostalgic to be able to wear it over the clothes that he had acquired and been given since coming to the Lands Between. He had nearly lost it when Melina had unleashed her puppy dog eyes upon him in begging to have it back but in a mighty showing of parental backbone-
Kurama scoffed. "You nearly crumbled six times when she faked tears."
-he had toughed it out and secured his position in being able to tell his little girl no!
Occasionally.
...even if he did let her cuddle up in come bedtime.
"Softy."
He was not!
"Softy, softy, softy~!"
Speaking of the little magenta haired little imp, where was she?
Concern gripped the base of Naruto's spine, as he recalled the simple law of nature when it came to children of a certain age; when they weren't bugging, you they were probably bugging someone else.
Increasing his pace to a jog, he lengthened his stride and extending his senses across the academy to get a fix on her.
A metaphysical map took form in Naruto's mind, less an image and more a keen awareness of the lifeforce within the academy and from their position, a rough 'map' took form in Naruto's mind. He could sense the near dozen life signatures that he recognised and immediately zoned in on Renna's silvery blue 'fire' at the top of the academy, absorbed in her work before taking in the hundreds of other small fragments of glinting blue dotted around and beyond the walls of the academy. That was the other reason why Loretta had so few meetings with Rennala, her recent spate of hyperproductivity.
After her vigil over Melina had been broken when Marika's consciousness had been yanked back to the Erdtree, his betrothed had been seized with an all-consuming frenzy of work. For days on end, she would work from morning to night, throwing the totality of her intelligence and hard work behind a litany of projects and busy work that had left the rest of their bizarre little household bewildered. The paramount concern she initially had seemed to be renovating the academy's defences and Infrastructure, for while she had reinstalled and embellished the magical wards, there were parts of the physical masonry and greater internal chambers that had long fallen into disrepair.
Usually, this would have meant enlisting a legion of Naruto's clones, but this time, it seemed his fiance wanted to take on a more proactive approach herself. She had either discovered and reactivated or, more incredibly, built hundreds of automata and golems from scratch to see the mundane realities of building and architecture.
At least, that's how it started. While there were still many hundreds of the mechanical menials working away at restoring the academy to the glory of its halcyon days, the Queen and Headmistress had begun sending contingents of them out into greater Liurnia for numerous tasks. Both to combat the ne'er do wells there but also to build, building what he had yet to fathom because the only time any of them had got to see Rennala these past weeks was at breakfast, and when she came to bed late, exhausted but looking satisfied. It was the kind of satisfied exhaustion that could only be given after a long, hard day's work. Work towards a project that the raven-haired beauty was devilishly tight-lipped on.
What this also meant was most of his nights consisted of the couple spooning against one another in the warm confines of their now-shared bed, and that was something Naruto was all too happy to partake in.
He soon spotted Melina's spark of rose gold lifeforce on a nearby battlement next to Milicent's gold and red cadence and let the awareness of Sage Mode fall away, and he quickly navigated to the needed door. He exited out onto the flat rooftop of what had once been the top of a tertiary inner keep, its once enclosed and turret roof having been worn away by too much time.
Naruto grinned in amusement when he laid eyes upon the spectacle before him.
"Little up! Now to the right!" Melina chirped, extending a pudgy finger to direct the behemoth she was sat upon. The little magenta-haired girl was in fine spirits and had taken to her tried and tested pastime of riding atop something, but instead of the Red Wolf or him, she had set her eyes on a far more imposing figure. Stood in the centre of the roofspace was a large golem made from darkly coloured stone, its body thick and blocky with massive arms and bulbous shoulders adhered to either side of its torso, metallic articulated fingers lifting blocks of granite as big a Naruto was tall and arranging them to form a new battlement. Melina sat upon its 'head', a metallic section of its front that opened to a dark horizontal slit, containing a pair of glowing glintstone eyes peaked out.
The golem placed the block down upon the spot that the little girl had indicated, who clapped happily like any girl her age would when playing with toys. "Good job, Golly!" the little girl praised.
Milicent watched her adopted sister with a childish wonderment and sat as she was on one of the dozen or so similar granite blocks that lined the construction area, seemingly bowled over by the simple act of construction utilised on such a grand scale. Approaching from behind, Naruto silently hopped up onto one of the blocks beside the redhead and plopped down next to her. Wide gold eyes whipped around to look at him as his shadow fell over her, and the redhead let out a startled eep.
Naruto chuckled, "Hey, I'm not that scary, my spiky hair aside." he said, pantomiming a thorny crown with his fingers on either side of his head that seemed to mellow the daughter of the rot.
"I'm not scared of you, father, you just surprised me. You're sneakier than a Black Knife Assassin when you want to be…" she trailed off, looking away from him, unable to meet his look.
Naruto's smile thinned a modicum, sadness prickling behind his eyes. Ever since her little outburst that one morning, Milicent had seemingly calmed down but always acted a little guarded around him, shy even. It seemed that she viewed herself as somehow to blame for the extreme anger that he had exhibited in the immediate aftermath of discovering that her sisters were 'hunting her.' That did not sit well with Naruto, not at all. So he sought to remedy it through one of the only methods he knew how.
"Milicent," he said in a level voice.
She flinched, slowly looking up at him, "Y-yes, father?"
He struck like a viper, arms whipping out and snatching the little redhead into his lap before she ever realised what was happening. By the time she had clocked on to the bare implication that she had even moved, he began to rain upon her a combination attack wrought from the fires of hell. An opening salvo of tickles sent her into peels of laughter while a flanking manoeuvre of well-meaning pokes sent her into a total encirclement of his arms, caught in a genuinely fluffy and tender hug as she giggled. "Ph-hahahaha-fa-hahaha-ther? Stoooo-"
Naruto would not relent, not until he had successfully chased the shadows of misplaced guilt from his daughter and turned that frown upside down, and after softening her up with the initial tickles and cuddles, he came in with the heavy stuff.
Headpats.
Milicent mewled in contentment, her fiery red locks tamped down by a set of surprisingly dexterous fingers and a truly warm palm that seemed to all but bop any lingering feelings of melancholy from the girl. He knew just the right places to attack, where to scratch and where to rub until Milicent was practically radiating a visible aura of cosy happiness. Melina had paused in her stint in conducting construction to watch, hopping down off the golem to glomp the duo, adding her giggles to the mix.
Cycling down from his, in his opinion, masterfully planned assault, he graced his daughters with a sincere smile. "Feeling better?"
The redhead attempted to glower at him but the matching smile pushed through from behind, "Yes, father."
"Good," he replied, hugging both girls to him, though his eyes began to twitch when he saw Melina attempting to rob him of his jacket. "No, Melina, you can't have my jacket back."
"Why not?" Melina questioned impishly, sticking her lower lip out, which, combined with her sealed eye, created a powerful side eye, "I wore it for so long, and you never took it back."
"That's 'cause you barely ever took it off!" he exclaimed, causing his first daughter to blow a raspberry in his face, thoroughly unconvinced by his logic. He kissed her on the forehead, which placated her for now, preening like a freshly fluffed cat while the Golem returned to its autonomous construction, picking up one of the blocks. "Did Momma tell either of you what all these golems and puppets are about?" Naruto asked both girls, assuming that they had spent more time around them.
He received two answers from both girls that were as different as chalk and cheese. Milicent gave him an honest shake of the head, clearly not knowing what was in their collective adopted mother's head. Melina however…
"Papa sure is dumb at times," the magenta-haired girl practically scoffed, thumping a hand against Naruto's chest as if to prove a point. "She's building a castle, dummy."
Having about just enough of his first daughter's sass, a sass she had certainly not inherited from him, Naruto picked up both girls as if they were weightless and placed them on his shoulders. Making for the doorway, he clapped his hands together, "Right, seeing as you're so dead set on stealing my jacket again, why don't we see about getting you something to replace it."
Less than twenty minutes later saw the trio sequestered away in the cosy confines of Irina's apartments where they were joined by Boggart and the stooped yet tall form of Iji the smith. Irina looked far healthier than she had when she first arrived; good hygiene and a dietary regime brought some real life back to the blindfolded young woman. Speaking of her blindfold, she had tossed out the dirty strip of medical gauze in favour of a strip of dark blue velvet that was tied around her head, blonde hair flowing freely down her back. So, too, had her main garment changed; the former bizarre travelling habit and gloves she had worn were replaced by a tastefully modest black dress with red filigree below the bust.
"Boggart, be a dear and thread the needle for me, I need to bring the hem in for reinforcement," Irina said enthusiastically, holding out the small sliver of metal to where she thought the blackguard was and felt it slip from her fingers. Melina let out a burble of discontent from where she stood in front of the castellan's daughter, who smiled and tickled the little girl. "Be still, young lady, lest I poke you with one of the clothes pins, and your new cloak hangs strangely from your graceful shoulders."
Naruto watched the interaction from his place on a nearby sofa, leaning back into the pillows. Other than her apparent inclination towards caring for children, Irina had proven to be a surprisingly good seamstress despite her visual impairment, so long as someone was there to handle the elements that she couldn't do.
"You don't want that, Melina, trust me," Boggart added, biting off a length of black thread with his teeth and threading the needle before handing it back to Irina, "You want good-fitting clothes, especially if you find yourself lost in the wilderness for a spell."
Watching the Blackguard, Naruto found himself again surprised at his features because, for the first time in ages, the surprisingly adept cook had removed his iron helmet, and the initial sight of him had stopped Naruto dead. He was unsure what he had been expecting, but years of wondering what was under Kakashi's mask had predisposed him to the assumption that those who hid their faces were probably either hiding a feature or their own averageness.
He hadn't expected… well… someone so damn handsome!
Big Boggart was a man in possession of a deep, healthy tan, a large nose and a pointed chin but a rugged handsomeness that made his bright blue eyes punch out like a pair of sapphires set into freshly tilled loam. He sported a short, surprisingly well-maintained beard and wavy dark brown hair that jostled about his face in chin-length bangs.
The reason for discarding his characteristic iron helm in private was quite evident. Irina's extremely poor eyesight and choice to wear a blindfold must have made Boggart feel comfortable enough to go without the helmet. His face was free to show the tapestry of emotions that were on display and, knowing that the one he was working with would not see them. And it was a good thing too, because even Naruto, famed for a critical lack of emotional reading at times, could see that Boggart was head over heels for Irina, smitten by her every action. 'Good for them,' Naruto thought, happy that more than just he and Rennala had been able to find love in this fucked up land.
When he had brought his two daughters to the duo, he had broken them from what he assumed to be a tender moment to ask if they could help make the girls some new clothes, particularly a cloak for Melina to replace his reclaimed jacket. Irina had been all too happy to oblige, and with the assistance of Boggart and Iji to bring in the raw supplies, she had already span a new dark blue hooded cloak with a red lining into life and was now just in the process of taking it in. This required Melina to stand still as Irina adjusted textile pins. Being a little girl, standing still was the last thing his first daughter wanted to do.
"You're awfully chipper today, Irina, what's got you so ready to jump to work?" Naruto asked the younger woman, signalling his thanks to Iji when the surprisingly spindly troll handed him a steaming cup of tea.
"Why not? Moongrum has received word from my father. He sends glad tidings and thanks to Queen Rennala for her hospitality and that he shall make haste to come here once the lingering matters at Castle Morne are rectified." Irina answered, taking the fabric of Melina's hood between her fingers and testing how it pulled once the hood was down. "No more than a month, he believes," her smile dimmed for a second, "routing the misbegotten is proving more taxing than he initially thought."
Naruto was about to pry further when she spoke again, turning her blindfolded eyes to face his direction.
"As for my enthusiasm, I was made aware by Queen Rennala that my services may be called on, I just wasn't expecting it to be by you after I finished with the flags."
"What, what flags?" Naruto asked, suddenly confused, which in turn made Irina pause, also confused.
She bit her lip, "Her Majesty occasionally sends messages asking small things of me these last weeks, things I am all too happy to do though nothing too difficult and within my ken."
Iji nodded slowly at Irina's words. "True, the Queen has come to me more than once to put my services to use. She asked me to forge a number of subtle mechanisms for use in her sorceries, though their function I know not and can scarcely parse."
The blonde leaned forwards in his chair, looking between the troll, Irina and finally to Boggart who ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "You?"
"Hunting and stocking up the pantries… all of 'em," Boggart admitted. While it may seem to be a comparatively simple task, when Naruto considered the fact that the academy was a fortress bigger than any fortification back home, barring perhaps Konoha's perimeter wall… that was an astronomical amount of pantries to fill.
Rennala had been asking all the adults, sans Loretta, to undertake tasks for her with the exception of him… and it was about time he found out why.
(.0.0.0.)
The skies over Liurnia that night were clear, allowing the crisp night air to roll over the many towers and keeps of Raya Lucaria with nary a whisper, only the light rustle of passing wind that for so many years Naruto had associated with freedom. The stars twinkled down as a morass of gemstones set into the tapestry of the heavens, all seemingly circling around the moon, which was bright and full, looking down over the flourishing little fief with a cool, aloof care, breathing silvery light upon the lakes that reflected back upon the academy, which when combined with the scores of glintstone lamps and lit braziers dotted from walls and windows alike, made the entire structure seem to glow with a mysterious internal light.
But it was more than that, there was a power to this place, a tension that went beyond the magical energy that filled the wards that hung over the building like a protective dome. It was charged, a slow buildup of power that was being held in stock for a singular moment that was close at hand. The stars were right, the moon was bright and before day had broken, the world would know a new light.
Upon the surface of the lake, far, far below, the perfect reflection of obsidian and azure was contrasted by a lone dot of gold slowly trailing up the stairs to the topmost turret of the tallest tower.
Naruto took a moment to look out over the lakes, awed for the thousandth time at the view the climb to Rennala's personal workshop and astronomy tower allowed him. The planes of water with their shifting navy blue and silver surface was dotted with an archipelago of islands formed from what had once been a thriving commune that millennia past must have served as support for the academy and Caria as a whole, now mostly sunk beneath the rising of the lakes.
But there were new structures now, fleeting and new. The building blocks of something that the Jinchuriki did not yet know but could still see from this great height. Even now, golems moved through the night, wading through the waters with huge loads of stone held above their heads, sinking them down into the water one after another until a long, snaking causeway ran from the gates to currently halfway across the main lake. Others heaped huge bags of ballast and sand from their shoulders to pile on either side of the causeway to give it stability while a legion of automata, pinpricks of light at this distance, worked on other structures, floating grids of wood and platforms of netting that bobbed in the wind.
Curiosity filled Naruto with childish abandon, threatening to overflow, but he continued his trek up the stairs to the doors of the workshop, finding them unlocked. He pushed one of them open and slipped inside with all the quietness you would expect of a traditional ninja, closing the door behind him. Passing through the well lit antichamber, he ascended a small flight of stairs before passing through another set of doors into the workshop.
He was immediately bathed in the royal blue light of the place, the large open space full of the sounds of work and toil. It was much the same as when he had first been brought in here by Rennala to examine his Great Runes: The pillars of crystal and domed ceiling, the endless desks, personal libraries and numberless objects of arcane interest, but there were a few things that had not been there before. He looked across the horizontal plane of the room and noted no less than thirty-three polygonal trinkets floating at obtuse and acute angles in relation to the floor and ceiling. Some of them were uniform icosahedrons made of glintstone while others were metallic contraptions that buzzed and hissed like animals as they went through their clockwork motions.
Each one rode upon a singular narrow band of blue-white light that emanated transitory magical dust, all orbiting around the centre of the room where Rennala stood.
Looking at his tall betrothed, Naruto saw that the aloof beauty was once again donned in the raiment as the headmistress of the Academy, the billowing dark blue robes and red sash worn around her shoulders. Craning his view up, the blonde also took in the fact that she was wearing her traditional crown as the Queen of Caria as opposed to the shortened one she had taken to wearing when running into battle, the gold causing her pale features to glow with the silver light of the moon.
He circled her silently, remaining quiet while she was absorbed in her work, manipulating the bands of light with her nimble fingers moving through esoteric mudras that would make even the most Hand Sign proficient Shinobi green with envy. Four additional spectral arms sprouted from her back made of translucent white shadow, each ghostly appendage conjuring a hideously complicated magical circle that nonexistent fingers began to comb over like a master pianist. With each completed scholastic and sorcery task, a puff of magical vapour and sparking dust was produced and drawn towards the object at Rennala's front. It was a staff that rose up to her clavicle with a greater icosahedron set into its head, suspended within a basket of masterworked gold.
And above it, a single shit of golden crystal in a binary orbit with a crystallised drop of blood.
Ten whole minutes passed before, finally, the last of the circles vanished, and Rennala let out a sigh of contentment, taking a step back from the staff and nodding in satisfaction at her completed work.
"What's that?"
"Meep!" the Queen squeaked before whirling on Naruto, ready to unleash a menace of power, only to be brought up short when her dark blue eyes met Naruto's own bright blue pair. She gulped before drawing herself up to her full height, then seeming to remember that this was someone with which she did not have to maintain the guise of 'the Queen.' "Oh, Naruto. It doth not do thee well to intrude on a woman's private studies when she is hard at work."
Naruto took a deep breath and puffed out his chest, striking a dramatic pose. "And that would'st be true had thy incessant work not precluded any understanding of it within mine ken." he said, waving his hand to punctuate the shakespearean turn of phrase, he still hated when people talked like this but he had been practising for just such an occasion as this.
Rennala blinked owlishly, "Eh?" she said, bowled over by the usually plain speaking Naruto taking a dip into her preferred mode of speech. Seeing that he had her, Naruto advanced across the room and brought his betrothed into a sudden and searing kiss. Her eyes bugged from their sockets for a moment before becoming half-lidded, the tension in her shoulders dropping away as she leaned into the kiss.
When they eventually broke for air, Naruto was pleased to see a strong touch of red on his fiance's cheeks. She sent an interrogatory stare his way, and he cocked his head to one side, "What? Can't I give my girlfriend a kiss when she seems so set on being alone for so long?" his eyes narrowed, "though I'm more curious about what you've been up to all on your lonesome… or more like why not involve me."
She turned downcast at that, her crown's tall pinnacle dipping as she pulled away from him, "Forgive me, my love. I have been remiss in telling you the scope of my work, but know this was not meant to obscure but rather… in aid of a surprise I think worthy of you." She led him over to a chaise lounge and sat with him, meeting his gaze all the while. "Will you sit and hear me speak? It shan't take long."
He thought on it for a second before nodding and giving the beautiful sorceress his undivided attention.
Taking a deep breath, Rennala began. "My time speaking with Marika again after so long hath forced me to comprehend some realities about myself and our relationship in the flow of the cosmos. And from this introspection, I have considered three truths," she explained, indicating him with her hand and then herself. "Believe it or not, the first reality pertains to your own world." Naruto's ears pricked up at this, sitting up straighter in his chair. "You have spoken at length of the capabilities of your 'Ninjutsu' stretching into the realms of space and time and of your so-called 'spiritual brother,' Sasuke, who walks upon alternate worlds."
At the mention of Sasuke, Naruto suppressed the urge to snort, for when he had spoken of the heterochromatic Uchiha, he had used much more colourful language to describe them, most of which involved some variance of the term 'stubborn bastard.'
"With that in mind, the reality is that either he or your kinsman from your original world will eventually attempt some form of a trip to the Lands Between, and were the worst to happen… as they so often do," she added in a depressed flatness, "then they may ask you to leave to go back with them."
Naruto opened his mouth to interject, primed to tell Rennala that he would never abandon her or anyone else, but was stopped when his fiance held up a hand, begging him to let her continue.
"Let me finish, my sun and stars; your passion heartens me, but let me tell you what has led to this," she said, sweeping a hand to indicate the constellation of strange objects still floating around staff in the centre of the workshop. "I know what your reaction will be, and I know that if it were to happen, then other celestial parties may try to twist this unknown variable against us. Thus, some of my actions are to safeguard against this reality."
He smiled a wintery smile at that. "I'm sure you thought long and hard about it. Call it redundant, but I'm not leaving you. Even if the duck ass-haired bastard were to drag me kicking and screaming back home, I'd tell them to come right back."
"Your words hearten me, Naruto. But don't pretend that you alone would move heaven and earth to return to my side. Pay heed to days of yore where I did fight against gods for my will, and my love did only strengthen that will." Rennala mused, fixing him with an amused side eye before returning to seriousness. "And in remembering who I was before the shattering and what I am now has revealed the second reality that I must remedy. I have neglected my duties."
While Naruto watched on with a troubled expression, Rennala got to her feet and began to walk a slow circuit around the workshop's central nexus, trailing her hands over various items. "When I fell to my madness many centuries ago, I shirked my responsibilities as a Queen to mourn the loss of…" she caught herself, "What I perceived to be the loss of Ranni and then the shattering, the Carian Domain withered and became overrun with malignance I willfully chose to ignore. My knights either perished, found new masters, or simply left for parts unknown."
She tapped her crown with the tips of her fingers before gesturing to her robes as the headmistress. "And from there the neglect only grew into my role as headmistress of the academy. I should have picked out the foulness taking root in this place before it poisoned this place of learning into a den of intellect obsessed neophytes who drove the true apostates of the sorcery arts away long before they drove me into my library."
"Rennala," Naruto said sadly; he hated to see her beat herself up over something so many, many years, nay, centuries post hoc.
"And that led me to my final reality, informed by that which I have lost and that which I have gained. This world is broken, a shattered husk being played with by Outer Gods who seem to make sport of the lives of men. But in that world, I have found and made a family again, so it stands that I should make something for them and everybody else to be able to return to."
And with that said, she approached the staff in the centre of the room and tapped its many faceted head, producing a melodic chime that rang across the room. The chime did not grow in volume, yet somehow, it seemed to grow thicker by some intangible factor. He could feel the ringing pushing against his ears, his brain, and every other sense, a 'chalky coldness' permeating his palette as it echoed deeper into his body and mind. Kurama released a startled sound within him, signalling that he two felt the ringing as it connected to even him deep within the depths of Naruto's soul.
Leaning forwards, Renalla extended her hands and took hold of the infinite strands of weaved spellwork that she had weaved in these last weeks to bring this masterwork ritual to life, and the ritual answered. All across the academy, copious amounts of magical energy that flowed through the wards and buildings were drawn up through the academy, using the many towers and buildings as capacitors to quickly step up the energy first ten, then a hundred, then a thousand fold.
The entire workshop began to glow a blinding blue-white, the crystalline pillars crackling with power that arced between them before being drawn into the bands of light and passed through the artificial solar system that Rennala had constructed around her central staff, flowing faster and faster into its head. Atop the golden basket, the golden chit of crystal and crystallised drop of blood began to emit each of their own internal light and rotated around one another, turning into a band of gold and red light before blurring into a rosegold energy that reminded him of…
"Melina?" he questioned, feeling as if she were standing in the room with them.
The Queen of Caria agreed, her voice barely heard over the din of power and wind, "A drop of her blood given with her consent and a single gram of my Great Rune of unbirth, just enough to make use of a system that she was there to lay down when Godfrey was banished all those years ago!" she called over the din before with a snap of her fingers the band contracted to a single point of rose gold light. For a solitary instant of time, all was still in the room before the totality of the stored power was channelled through it in a beam of pure power that pierced through the ceiling and far into the sky above.
Lowering his arms, Naruto blinked several times to banish black spots from his vision and look at Rennala. She stood opposite him and was much the same as before, but to his senses, he saw so much more. His breath hitched in his throat as if seeing her for the very first time. Her visage was overlaid by a luminous figure hewn from moonlight. It wavered and bore cracks of heartache that made his own cry out in pain, but there was so much power, will and love there that he was rendered mute. He knew what this was, for by happenstance or design, whatever Rennala had done had initiated a Ninshu Link between the two as a Bi-product.
Smiling softly at him, Rennala again tapped the gemmed top of the staff and leaned in towards it.
"Denizens of the Lands Between, hearken and take heed, be you highborn or low, misbegotten or true. Be not afraid of my voice, nor the mechanism by which I speak to you, for both shall be explained. To those whomst doth not know my voice, know that I am Rennala, Full Moon Queen of Caria and Headmistress of the Academy of Raya Lucaria and I have much to say."
(.0.0.0.)
The Roundtable Hold was in uproar. It had been a normal day for the most part, the cosy stitch in reality that many called home was usually lit by a warmth that only the camaraderie of those who called themselves Tarnished held for one another. In this place, far away from the worlds above and below, a hollow that had been filled with the shattered remnants of a legion of dreams, and though their dreams had long moved on, the warmth of it was lit by the golden bonfire of grace in the Hold's heart, resting upon the Round Table that gave the place its name.
That was how it usually was, anyway.
But this night, with nary a whisper of warning, the wonderful golden heart of the Hold had undergone a sinister transformation. The once brilliant gold light, crackling like a fire of the heaven's light made manifest, had suddenly shifted to a blue-silver that lit the entire complex in an eerie glow.
After getting over their initial shock, may of the more skittish Tarnished, a certain bald cleric hater at the top of the list, had attempted to leave the back to their last touched grace only to discover that it seemed that all Grace travel was temporarily suspended by whatever method had turned the Grace blue.
This had, in turn, led to a borderline riot within the hold between the few followers of the Golden Order present, who claimed this was high blasphemy and that one of the sorcerers present must be to blame. The Sorcerers and their travelling companions had drawn swords and staffs and made ready to beat the religious nuts bloody when a strong, gravely voice bellowed out from one of the doorways.
"HAVE YOU ALL TAKEN LEAVE OF YOUR SENSES!?" shouted Sir Gideon Ofnar, the All-Knowing, as he stalked out of his study, the blue and silver of the tainted grace reflecting off his armour and helm. "THERE IS A SINGLE, SOLITARY RULE THAT MUST NEVER BE BROKEN TO TAKE LODGING IN THIS HOLD!" He pushed through the throng of Tarnished spoiling for a fight and clambered up onto the table to face them all, gesturing at them all with his staff. "Start a fight within the Roundtable Hold, and you forfeit the right of hospitality it represents. Whatever this is," he pointed at the blue grace, "It does not override what this place represents, and if you spill blood in here, I shall beat the lot of you so bloody you'll look like Albinaurics when I'm done with you." he proclaimed, offering a provocation to any that wanted to try his patience.
More than one of the rowdy Tarnished put their hands on their sword hits, and one bold Golden Order cleric readied a miracle, but when the All Knowing's gaze fell upon them, each felt a colossal pressure slam down on them, and they backed down.
Suddenly, all turned towards the grace as it began to hum, and each man, woman, child and beast felt a voice begin to slip within their minds like an infusion of liquid nitrogen directly into their spinal cords. As Sir Gideon turned to look into the blue grace, the dark abyss of his visor only partially lit by its strange brilliance, they all heard a woman with a regal voice speak.
"To those who are beckoned by the Grace of Gold, Tarnished by any other name, forgive me for the confusion you must feel. Thy grace shall return to its auric lustre in short order, but in this singular instance, I hath used a canny manipulation of the Eternal's network as to speak to all those who are willing to hear."
(.0.0.0.)
Rya… didn't like the Volcano Manor.
It was a short sighted observation she knew, for the Volcano Manor and Mount Gelmir was all she knew. It was not like it was an uncomfortable place to live, she slept in a warm bed and her belly was always full of the richest meat money could buy. And while her clothes were nothing compared to those of her mother Tanith's, they were still of a fine quality.
But then there were the screams.
And the blasphemy.
And the blood… oh, the cursed blood.
It stank and made the already vivid red lighting and decoration downright oppressive. But she had never mentioned her dissatisfaction to anyone because that might mean she would have to speak with her father.
As if on cue, the ground beneath her feet shook as the volcanos which gave the manor its name rumbled, the Lord of Blasphemy churning in his molten entrails. Though she did not want to be a bother, she found herself poking her head out of her room and slinking down to her mother's chambers to see what was going on. But upon slipping inside, she noticed something she had never seen before.
Not the grace, for Tanith kept one in the heart of her chambers on the off chance a Tarnished could be kept in stages of exquisite blasphemy, tenderising his meat and soul before they joined their family. No, it was that the grace was blue.
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"I know that voice… but… no, that isn't possible, she is either long dead or mad!" Tanith wailed, her voice echoing from behind her mask. She retreated into her throne and balled her fists against her head.
"Long centuries have passed since the shattering, and the world has fallen to ruins. From crumbling Faram Azula to the heartland of the Altus Plateau, a sickness has taken root in the land. And I speak not of the Scarlet Rot that bubbles within Caelid. This sickness is far more insidious and demandable, for it is the inability to build something anew. From Limgrave to Lost Nokron, people are simply making do by living in the shattered remnants of what was or fighting for the scraps of what is. None stop to wonder for a moment what could be."
"Queen Rennala…" Tanith quavered, the entire manor shaking and echoing to the bestial roars of Rykard deep below. "Be silent, please, you'll drive your son into a rage…"
Rennala. Rykard. Son.
"I have a grandmother?" Rya said innocently, as many recusants considered how best to commit suicide rather than face the Lord of Blasphamy's anger.
(.0.0.0.)
The Tarnished ran as fast as his legs could carry him; his lungs were burning, and he was sure that he had torn something in his leg. Looking around him, he could barely parse anything through the thick red mist that rose from the sandy wastes. Caelid's desert was difficult to navigate at midday, let alone midnight, the haze of red vapour and foul scent of rot totally confounding his senses. He heard a bestial roar behind him and bolted in one direction with the vain hope that he had picked the correct flight, staving off a painful death.
He had chosen poorly.
A black steel greatsword, its curved baulk as long as the tarnished was tall, fell upon him like a falling star, splitting him in two from right shoulder to left hip. The two bifurcated halves of his body clattered to the dark sands with a wet splat, enveloped totally in the shadow of the titan that towered over him.
It was an imposing figure, impossibly tall and with a wall of pure muscle but with skin as grey as calcified granite and two gold eyes that had been tinged a malefic orange by the rot that squealed under his skin. The darkness of the night was just enough to maintain the illusion of strength, but as the mists shifted, it was clear that the titan panted, collapsing to his knees when the rotted stumps of his feet grew too painful to stand.
It...it hurt. To be unmade.
To have your mind slip away from you and your body mouser beneath you. He was forever trapped in that final moment, feeling Melania's blade pierce him and the Scarlet Aeonia bloom upon him. So much of who he was had been worn away by time, and every day, he wished for death… but death would not take him. He had been born strong, always the strongest and even like this, as lessoned and weakened as he was, the giant man was simply too much to put down. He would never end his own life, for even with his scant remaining faculties, he knew that there was a task he needed to do. To hold the stars so that they could not hold sway over his family… but the stars grew heavy.
As his loyal, skinny steed pawed against him, giving what comfort he could, his monolithic face looked heavenward as if to remind him just what he was fighting for. But it was not the stars that filled his eyes as opposed to the bright full moon, seeming to part the mist over the wastes and bath him in its familiar cool light.
"This is a state of the world that I can no longer abide, an insanity that has shaken me from my own. Life, warmth and the brotherhood of man and beast beneath the light of the sun and moon, this is what I offer. I declare this night the reestablishment of Caria and claim all of Liurnia as our fief."
Someone was talking to him in a familiar voice, he did not understand the words, his brain too rotted, but he knew intuitively that it was that of a close friend. Family even. As she talked, he heard but did not listen, letting the voice roll over him until he realised that it was none other than his mother.
He did not know how she spoke to him, nor could he speak back, but after so long fighting on alone, the pain of his body and mind fell away to a childish euphoria and calm.
It would not last, but for a single, ephemeral moment, General Radahn knew peace.
(.0.0.0.)
"Know that I do not seek dominion across the Lands, for the dregs of the Golden Order and those who seek to roll in their own faeces like common swine are welcome to it. Recognise instead that a Queen once more rules and will act to uplift her kingdom and rain the sky's fire upon its enemies with abject abhorrence."
"Hm, I'm not sure if this is a rallying battle cry or the dirge of a cornered animal," Gherman said, using his surprising strength to manhandle a cart off of the ship they had just brought into port. The Radahn Festival residents were all too happy to have finished their voyage and were keen to get underway.
Jerren spat derisively, checking over his equipment and clearing any remnants of brine from his beard. "It's the ravings of a mad woman who forsook her kin and now seeks to kill any that do not follow her mad rule. We stay to course?"
He inclined the brim of his hat, "Of course, I look forward to this hunt." the First Hunter said, his feelings not quite meeting his eyes. As he began to walk forwards amidst the litter of adventurers, the burial blade's edge freshly sharpened, he questioned just why this moon felt so different from the one he had known and despised for centuries.
(.0.0.0.)
"But neither Queen nor Kingdom is fit without subjects, servants and dreams. Thus, I offer. Those of you who seek greener pastures, to build something, and once again live as propper folk should then make the journey. Come to my seat at Raya Lucaria and help me build. It has been too long since we have had the right to dream and walk our own path, so please, join your dream with mine and let the heavens sing of a new age beneath the sun and moon."
Screams and whoops of need and please for release echoed off the dilapidated brick walls of the sewers beneath the capital, hundreds of Omen scuttling from their homes and making a beeline for the few exits they knew. Field by the promise of freedom and clemency, that they did not have to stay in this wretched place any longer.
All met the business end of Morgott's club, who dragged them back to their cells with a scowl and swish of his burlap cloak.
"There is but one salvation and clemency in this world, and that is through the golden order. Any other path is heresy," he said, his face set in an angry scowl and swatting aside the blue grace.
(.0.0.0.)
"To those who fled from my madness long ago, who were forced away from your homes and place of learning, I ask you to return. Ask, not demand. My malediction may hath soured any loyalty you have to me or the Carians, so if you wish to go your own way, I shan't stop thee. But those who come, I offer welcome with open arms. The criminal shall be pardoned, the sick shall be healed and those who wish new life may choose rebirth."
"AAAAGH!" the woodsman screamed, flopping against the tree as the long curved head of the scythe severed his spinal cord. He did his best to lever himself up onto his side and lament ever moving to Limgrave since the Grafted Lord had perished. He finally managed to turn and look up at his assailants, the four redheaded women who had hounded him for hours before finally picking him apart.
"Why choose rebirth when you need only rot and bloom?" each daughter asked in turn as they drove their blades into the man, their voices layered as if someone was peaking through them.
(.0.0.0.)
"But be weary now ye who listen, of those who even now proclaim blasphemy and sharpen their celestial talons to rend me to offal. To you, Greater Will, Formless Mother, Rot unyielding and all those who follow you. Darken my door or its people once more, and you shall learn this maxim to be true. That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons, even death may die."
Rennala finished her speech with that grave warning and stood still as Naruto watched her, the staff that she had used as an ethereal microphone going inert along with the ringing in his ears. But the Ninshu Link persisted, and for now, at least, he could still see all that she was, every emotion and understanding laid bare. Despite himself, he felt Rennala so much as he washed her across the room to stand before him, and his mouth went dry.
"You… wish to make a Kingdom for us." he stated, having felt the fire in her words, her heart beating as one with his.
"I do, and I will," she replied, her words with a dreamlike tenor. After a moment, she slipped a hand and drew out a pair of objects wrapped in cloth that she held out to him. "I always seem to be giving you trinkets, don't I?"
Naruto chuckled, "I'm not complaining, Rennala. Go ahead-
The blond undid the fine cloth and stared down at the ring there, a perfect match for the one sitting on Rennala's hand. But his mouth went dry when he saw what it sat on.
His gaze snapped back up to meet hers.
A small, tentative smile awaited him, fragile as glass.
"I considered asking Iji to fashion a crown, but I felt this was far more fitting."
Naruto lifted the silver plate affixed to a blue cloth. It was a forehead protector, but it was one unlike any he had ever seen. Instead of the leaf it held the crossed sword and staff of the Carian coat of arms, yet they were now crossed over a familiar spiral placed into the metal. Suddenly, it all clicked for him, the talk of new flags and kingdoms.
Oh.
Ohh.
Ohhh!
His eyes widened. "Rennala…"
She doesn't do anything by half measures, does she?
"Well, my Sun?" The Queen asked, her face drawing close to his, "Will you be my King when the time comes?"
Naruto drew closer and closer until their lips were a hair's breadth apart. Only then did he dare smile. "Til the heavens fall, my Moon."
Their lips met with a static charge, mouths meshed together passionately, arms slipping around each other in a fiery embrace. Though the Ninshu bond was temporary, it was the perfect catalyst to being their passions to the fore, it was an inevitability. So in the topmost turret of the tallest tower, surrounded by arcane knowledge in a world with a moderately brighter future; moon eclipsed the sun to make love.
The stars may be still, but this night belonged to them.
A/N: Aaaaand scene.
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