Post by ~Nightpool~ on Nov 4, 2018 16:32:48 GMT -5
When a person turns sixteen, the Fae reveal their destiny. Sometimes the future is bright, sometimes dark, but regardless of its nature, it must always come to pass... so what happens when the future seems nonexistent?
Chapter One
CASE NUMBER: STEL047
FAE: Agent 053
SUBJECT DETAILS
--NAME: Kaito Momota
--RANK: Crown Prince
--KINGDOM OF ORIGIN: Stellastra
DATE OF BIRTH: 12th April 1402
MISSION STATUS: Ready to begin
20:57, 11th April 1418
Crowds of mortals from far and wide waited outside the royal palace of Stellastra, the line winding down the road through the surrounding town. Any Destiny Day was cause for celebration, but when the Crown Prince of a major kingdom turned sixteen, commoners, nobles, and royals alike would flock to the scene to dance, make merry, and see what type of destiny the cards held in store for him. Maki Harukawa blended easily into the crowd, looking for all the world like just another mortal well-wisher.
The town’s enormous bell tower began to toll nine o’clock, signifying the beginning of the party. Traditionally, the night before a youth turned sixteen, they would celebrate and enjoy the last night of their adolescence, then at midnight, a Fae agent would turn their cards, magically revealing their destiny. After that, how they celebrated depended on what the cards revealed.
The palace gates swung open, and the throng of mortals flooded through. Maki scoffed at the thought of calling them mortals. As if I’m not. She casually rested a hand on her hip to make sure her card pouch was still there and joined the merry crowd, pushing her way toward the grand entrance.
Someone slammed into her from behind, elbowing past her, and she looked down to eye the diminutive figure with disgust. “Watch where you’re going,” she snipped.
“Oh, sorry.” The pusher, an uncommonly short boy a little younger than Maki, didn’t sound sorry in the slightest. “I guess I should be more careful.” He jabbed an elbow into Maki’s ribs for good measure before pushing on through the crowd, and she glared after him.
Soon enough, Maki reached the gate, where royal guards were checking everyone to make sure nobody was armed. She submitted freely to a search. She didn’t need weapons to be deadly, if it came to that, as her new employers had warned it might. It was, after all, a Fae agent’s job as a servant of destiny to protect their charge and ensure that their destiny was fulfilled. This was Maki’s first major mission as a Fae, and she didn’t intend to fail.
After being ushered in by the guards, Maki made her way to the ballroom. If there hadn't been so many people, she would have stopped to take in the grandeur of the room with its vaulted ceiling painted with the cosmos, alcoves filled with elaborate statues, and many graceful pillars. As it was, the press of partygoers forced her farther into the ballroom before she had the chance. Dodging through the crowd, she made her way to the wall to survey the room.
Along one wall was a string of long tables covered in a veritable feast of desserts, snacks, and beverages. Many of the guests, especially the poorer ones, thronged the tables, attacking their rich variety. A line stretched from the door along the other wall to a raised dais at the opposite end of the room, where Maki could see a richly dressed elderly couple -- almost certainly the King and Queen of Stellastra, Prince Kaito’s grandparents. Try as she might, though, she couldn’t make out anyone who might be the Crown Prince.
Maki figured that as the Fae agent to Prince Kaito, she ought to introduce herself to the royals, but it seemed nonsensical to her to wait in the immense line. No, she’d wait until the line had died down somewhat so she could properly introduce herself. In the meantime, she scanned the crowd for familiar faces, either friendly or threatening.
Someone tapped on Maki’s shoulder, and she whirled, immediately on guard, only to relax when she recognized the person who had tapped her. “Shuichi,” she greeted her Fae associate. “What brings you here?”
“I do.” A pretty blond girl in a pink dress and a tiara stepped forward, taking Shuichi’s hand in one of her own. “Kaito and I have been friends since we were little. Of course I wasn't going to miss his Destiny Day!”
Realization dawned on Maki. “So you’re Princess Kaede?” She was a bit stunned at the familiar way the Princess interacted with her Fae agent when he had been assigned to her only a few weeks prior.
Kaede looked a bit stunned. “How do you know that?”
“Maki’s an associate of mine,” Shuichi explained.
Kaede’s eyes widened in awe, a reaction Maki still had yet to get used to. “You’re a faerie? I never would have guessed!”
“That’s right.” Maki and Shuichi exchanged an ashamed glance; neither of them enjoyed the deception, but one of the first rules of the Order of the Fae was that no one outside the Order was allowed to know that the last true faeries had died out decades ago.
“Are you here just visiting, or are you Kaito’s Fae agent?”
“Not so loud!” Maki protested. “I’m his Fae agent, but I’m supposed to act like a regular guest until the Card Ceremony to reduce the risk of anyone tampering with the cards.”
“Does that mean you have them with you?”
Shuichi squeezed Kaede’s hand, looking nervous. “These are dangerous things to discuss, love.”
“Sorry.” Kaede seemed to droop a little before perking back up. “Hey, Maki, I know you’re probably busy, but if you ever want to visit Fortissima, we’d be glad to have you!”
Maki thanked her, and the two parties went their separate ways. Love? she wondered, remembering how Shuichi had addressed Princess Kaede. What are the chances? She pushed the thought from her mind. Surely there was no way her closest comrade had broken the rules and fallen for his charge.
Musing on this, she failed to pay attention to where she was going and walked right into something tall, solid, and purple. She yelped, and the tall, solid, purple something turned around, revealing itself to be the most ridiculous-looking young man Maki had ever seen. He wore a long purple coat with gold buttons, which would have looked elegant if not for the fact that only his left arm was in the sleeve; the right sleeve flapped uselessly by his side, causing the coat to gape open and reveal its shimmering lining. As if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, his hair was the same color and stood in swooping spikes atop his head, framing a grin too huge to be real and too mirthful to be false. Last of all, she noticed the silver, star-decorated circlet perched at an angle on his head and realized she was face-to-face with none other than Prince Kaito.
This is what I have to deal with? Maki couldn’t hide her dismay at the prospect; by his looks, he seemed like an absolute idiot, and his first words to her solidified that impression. “Are you waiting for something? You can’t just wait for destiny to come to you; you gotta reach out and take hold of it yourself!”
Maki sighed internally. “You don’t even know what your destiny is yet.”
“Nope!” the Prince agreed, his smile never wavering. “But I know it’ll be something amazing! After all, I’m Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!”
Maki reluctantly curtsied, the gesture of respect utterly at odds with how she actually felt about him. “Maki Harukawa. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Maki Harukawa?” Kaito’s face lit up with recognition. “You’re my Fae agent!” To Maki’s utter dismay, he flung an arm around her shoulders. “I was expecting, like, a faerie godmother-type person, but you look like you’re my age! I’ve never had a Fae sidekick before!”
Maki bristled. “Who says I’m your sidekick?”
“What’s your enemy?”
The question caught Maki off-guard. “What do you mean?”
Kaito actually seemed serious. “You don’t have to tell me. Just, as long as you know what’s keeping you from becoming who you want to be, then you can fight that!”
Maki turned away from him. “It’s not the sort of thing I can exactly fight,” she retorted.
“It doesn’t have to be a physical enemy,” he countered. Stars, he’s persistent! “What matters is that you defeat it with your strength of will, and Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, always helps his sidekicks do just that!”
Maki rolled her eyes. “Did you come up with that title yourself?”
“What, Luminary of the Stars? I earned it, of course!”
Yep, he definitely made it up. Maki turned to walk away, but Kaito grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”
23:49, 11th April 1418
That was how Maki found herself roped into spending the entire first leg of the party with Crown Prince Kaito. She found that even though he was ridiculous, overbearing, and supremely overconfident, his smile was endearing, and his forceful optimism was infectious. She figured maybe if she could get past his annoying qualities, being his Fae agent might not be so bad after all.
The band began a lively dance tune, and Kaito grabbed Maki’s hand. “Dance with me again?” he asked, already dragging her toward the dance floor, and she found herself wondering if he warmed up to everyone he met this quickly.
With more regret than she liked to admit, she pulled her hand away. “I can’t. I have to get everything set up for your Card Ceremony, remember?”
“I’ll just dance you over there, then!” Kaito reached out a hand in invitation.
“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” Maki laughed and took his hand, and he spun her around, launching into the rapid steps of the dance and carrying them both toward the dais. As they drew near, they were forced to halt as someone stepped directly into their path.
Kaito stumbled over Maki’s feet, and she braced herself, trying to help him regain his balance before he could topple over and crush her. He grabbed her shoulders to steady himself, and it was all she could do to keep from stumbling herself. She wrapped her arms around his waist to compensate, and eventually they managed to right themselves, breathing heavily and hardly noticing that they were clinging to each other.
“Hi, Kaito!” said a cheerful voice, and Maki hastily backed away from the Prince, hoping she wasn’t blushing. Turning, she saw that the speaker was the person who had blocked their path -- the same boy, in fact, who had run into Maki earlier in the line.
“Oh, hey, Kokichi!” said Kaito, seeming awfully unperturbed given the circumstances. “Maki, this is my cousin, Kokichi Ouma. We love him, but don’t trust him with anything!” He winked.
Kokichi rolled his eyes. “I think we met once before, right?”
“In line.” Maki gave him a hard look. “You shoved me.”
“Kokichi!” Kaito protested. “That’s rude!”
“I was in a hurry,” Kokichi whined.
“You should apologize to Maki,” Kaito insisted.
“Leave it be,” Maki interrupted. “I need to get set up.” Before either boy could protest, she turned and mounted the steps to the dais to make her preparations. To her great relief, Stellastran royal guards took up positions at the base of each staircase and along the edge of the dais to keep the guests from interfering.
Maki slid a hand into the cleverly concealed pocket in her skirt and pulled out her card pouch, a well-insulated velvet bag lined with silk, with a silver clasp, designed to close tightly so there would be no risk of the cards accidentally coming into contact with iron. She opened it and pulled out a silk cloth, which she shook out, then placed gently over a silver pedestal that the royals had put in place for her. She suspected it had been used for many Card Ceremonies in their family in the past.
Next, she withdrew the cards. Given the importance of royalty to the designs of destiny, in addition to the golden-backed Lifetime Card that everyone received no matter their standing, she had brought one black-backed Destiny Day Card, which would reveal something to come before the end of the card recipient’s Destiny Day, as well as two blank cards, which could become any type of card, depending on what the future held for the recipient. She placed these face-down in a row on the pedestal with the Destiny Day Card on the far left and the Lifetime Card on the far right.
Last of all, she retrieved a small vial filled with silver filings, sprinkling some around the edge of the pedestal as an added protection before setting the vial above the cards for later use. Kaito’s Card Ceremony was ready, and not a moment too soon.
Midnight, 12th April 1418
The bell tower began to toll midnight, and the festive crowd fell silent, waiting with bated breath as Prince Kaito mounted the steps to join Maki on the dais. He stood opposite her, the prepared pedestal between them. Traditionally, nobody was supposed to say or do anything until the Fae agent turned the cards, but Kaito subtly broke the rule to wink at Maki. She rolled her eyes at him before focusing back in on her job.
Mortals had very little magic, but those who became Fae agents were taught to bring out what power they had to its fullest potential. Maki drew on that power now to amplify her voice so she could be heard throughout the ballroom as she began to sing the spell of the Card Ceremony, a low, haunting melody.
“As stars and moon and shining sun
Give life to earth below,
As earth provides a path for stream
And stream moves wind to blow,
As wind gives breath to wild flame
And flame gives form to stone,
Thus from the shadows, bid this mortal’s
Destiny be shown.”
As she finished the song, Maki uncorked her bottle of silver filings and sprinkled a line of them across the cards. As soon as she did so, the cards began to glow silvery, and the blank cards’ natures were revealed. To her surprise, the backs of the cards turned black, indicating that Kaito had not one but three Destiny Day Cards, indicating a highly fateful day.
Maki flipped over the first Destiny Day Card and announced what image it bore, still in her magically amplified voice. “The Wolf: symbol of betrayal.” The Wolf, like any image to appear on the cards, was a figure from ancient legend from times before the cards were used to reveal destiny. In the legend, the Wolf gained a young girl’s friendship, only to betray and devour her. Kaito raised his eyebrows at Maki, and she shrugged, unable to actually respond.
There was a new feeling of tension in the air as Maki flipped over the second card. “The Knife: symbol of violence.” In the legends, individuals who carried swords were generally pure in heart, while those who wielded knives seldom were. The mortals in the crowd shifted uneasily at this development, while Kaito’s grin faded completely for the first time since she had met him, his brow scrunching in puzzlement.
Maki almost didn’t want to know what else destiny had in store for her charge, but she took a deep breath and flipped over the third Destiny Day Card. “The Apple: symbol of poison.” In the legend the Apple originated from, a jealous queen disguised herself as an old woman selling fruit and gave the poisoned Apple to her stepdaughter in hopes of killing her. The atmosphere in the room became one of outright hostility, and Kaito leaned away from the podium, his expression one of confused horror.
Maki stood her ground, refusing to show any sign of weakness or hesitation. She turned the final card, the Lifetime Card, which would reveal the path the rest of its recipient’s life would follow. However, instead of bearing the Crown, the most common symbol for royalty, the Road, symbol of adventure, or even the Raven, symbol of death, Kaito’s Lifetime Card was unlike any she had ever seen or heard of before. “It’s… blank.”
