Month o' Prompts - [o21]
[o21] Wednesday: Bard: brave new world
((Warning: The following stories are AU! Set in the Seven Steps Down... 'verse, once again...))
Rearrangements
Ichigo's mother used to tell her that every last member of their family helped complete The Great Cosmos. Not by working to improve it (or repair the damage her Uncle had done), but simply by existing -- by being part of their family. She likened it to a vast, intricate puzzle, which gave her confused daughter mental images of her cousins pushing and prodding each other, trying to link their heads together just right.
Eventually, however, she understood. Her mother wasn't being literal; she was just trying to say they were all important. Vital parts of their family, the royal court, and the future.
She was lying.
The King of All Cosmos didn't need any of them, only his son -- his heir. The rest were unimportant, not worth remembering. He couldn't even keep their names straight... no, he didn't bother. What was the point? They didn't even register as spares, they were just... extra help.
Insignificant, right up to the end. Even after he'd been thrown off his pedestal, even in his last moments, her Uncle had looked up at her in sheer disbelief, unable to comprehend what was going on. Unable to imagine that anyone, let alone one of those insignificant specks, could strike him down, no longer afraid of his wrath.
|~~~~|
Kuro was the first to be knighted.
Only fitting, she thinks, for the most serious and dedicated among them to rise as the very first Commander. It's the perfect transition: pack away the old sentai uniform, trading it for elegantly fitted armor and new responsibilities. Much like the ones he used to impose on himself, but now it's real.
This may not be precisely what he was training for his entire life, but it's close enough. Closer than he ever would have gotten, before.
Obsidian armor accented with red, just like his old uniform. He even incorporated one of those long, flowing crismon scarves he so loves; it comes up high enough to hide the lower half of his face, a blaze of red underneath the helmet.
If Ryu was here, she'd joke that Kuro was stealing part of his look. If Kenta was here, she'd tease about how a knight should have a noble steed.
Such silly jokes are better left untold, anyway. The Empress of All Cosmos is nothing like the former king.
|~~~~~|
She doesn't miss them.
They all left of their own accord; Ichigo didn't drive them away, never laid a hand on them or threatened them or anything of the sort. They left quietly, quickly, slipping into the Nexus without saying goodbye. She showed more courtesy to them than they did their new ruler, simply by waiting until they had all made it through before sealing the way.
On Colombo's little planet, they found a note, messily folded with her name scrawled on one flap. She hasn't bothered to read it, or any of the other little messages the customary searches turned up. There's no time to waste on such trivalities; there's more important things to focus on. The Great Cosmos lies before her, before the Empress and her Emperor, before the rest of her loyal family...
She has no time to waste on the absent. Colombo, June and the rest chose to leave, and she only wishes them well.
|~~~~~|
Velvet looks positively regal in her namesake.
Dark shades suit her perfectly; black and blue and indigo, complimented by small bits of silver -- a sapphire brooch, or a garnet ring. She prefers unadorned chokers, however: a simple ribbon wrapped around that graceful neck. Elegant in its simplicity, particularly when set beside her Empress, a shadow cast behind the flame.
None of the other ladies have quite developed that art. Paula, perhaps, has come the closest -- but then, she's always stood out a bit among their cousins. She looks beautiful in carnation pink and cream, an understated beauty despite her slight height advantage. A flower blooming in the background, soft and unassuming.
Marcy still tries to outshine her; she never could stand not being the center of attention. Their uncle's fashion sense lives on with her, in every harlequin gown and gypsy skirt, in bangles and bracelets and bells tossed onto arms and ankles with reckless abandon. Thankfully, Ichigo's long grown accustomed to her cousin's idiosyncrasies; whatever reaction she's hoping for, she won't get it from her Empress.
The others will adjust. Surely.
|~~~~~|
Nearly two months passed before Peso even tried approaching them.
She could have ordered him to come long before then. Both she and Dipp had that power now. Either one of them could have summoned him, commanded that he grace his new Empress and Emperor with his presence, made him face them.
Neither of them wanted to, though. He had to come on his own terms, just like everyone else. They were nothing like their Uncle; they could be patient, even if the waiting made her stomach churn whenever she noted just how much time had passed.
When he finally came, Peso clearly knew just how long he'd kept them waiting. Guilt weighed down every shuffling step, dragged his gaze downward, always slightly askew. His eventual smile hardly qualified as such, implied by the vaguest crook of his lips, the way he angled his head.
Nothing would ever be the same between them, and they all knew it. Those days spent clubbing and scouring the night for a good time, just the three of them, were long gone. The Emperor had no need to wander around Earth looking for fun, and neither did she. And Peso...
It was far past time for all of them to put childish things behind them and move on.
That night, Ichigo held Dipp as he cried, finally acknowledging the crumbled remains of a friendship.
|~~~~~|
"But why, Ichigo?"
Honey still wears too much damn pink. Pastel chiffon puffs and winds around her pacing, fretting figure; she looks like she just stumbled out of a cotton candy machine. Doesn't suit her at all.
"Why, Ichigo?" and her voice trembles, quavers, on the verge of breaking, and it's all so perfectly pathetic, isn't it? Honey's playing the part of the perfect little princess, all pretty and sheltered, enjoying her fairytale life until some nasty old witch comes along and shatters it. And now the King is dead and the shards are scattered everywhere, and nothing will fit together the way it used to, never ever again.
Only Honey isn't so pretty. Storybook princesses don't have runny noses and red, swollen eyes.
"Why?" she cries, louder, like raising her voice will accomplish anything. Maybe she's hoping Ichigo will start shouting too; prove she's the same girl that argued with her all the time.
She's not.
So she sits, and lets Honey whine and wail, considering all the things she could say and how they wouldn't actually do her cousin a bit of good. How she wouldn't get it, no matter what.
'We were being used. We were being lied to. We were told we were all special and unique and had our own little places in The Great Cosmos, but our King didn't give a damn about us. We weren't special, we weren't unique, we weren't anything to him. We hardly counted as pawns, let alone family.'
'You know, Uncle would have zapped you by now.'
'Don't you get it, Honey? The Prince was turning out just like him. Nothing would've changed. Our children would've ended up slaving away under that oaf, fixing HIS mistakes, and most of us probably wouldn't have ever questioned it since WE grew up like that.'
'Sometimes you have to cut off a branch or two to save the whole tree.'
"I just felt it was time for a change," the Empress finally replies, gracing her cousin with a sweet, sweet smile.
She keeps smiling until Honey leaves the room.
((Warning: The following stories are AU! Set in the Seven Steps Down... 'verse, once again...))
Rearrangements
Ichigo's mother used to tell her that every last member of their family helped complete The Great Cosmos. Not by working to improve it (or repair the damage her Uncle had done), but simply by existing -- by being part of their family. She likened it to a vast, intricate puzzle, which gave her confused daughter mental images of her cousins pushing and prodding each other, trying to link their heads together just right.
Eventually, however, she understood. Her mother wasn't being literal; she was just trying to say they were all important. Vital parts of their family, the royal court, and the future.
She was lying.
The King of All Cosmos didn't need any of them, only his son -- his heir. The rest were unimportant, not worth remembering. He couldn't even keep their names straight... no, he didn't bother. What was the point? They didn't even register as spares, they were just... extra help.
Insignificant, right up to the end. Even after he'd been thrown off his pedestal, even in his last moments, her Uncle had looked up at her in sheer disbelief, unable to comprehend what was going on. Unable to imagine that anyone, let alone one of those insignificant specks, could strike him down, no longer afraid of his wrath.
|~~~~|
Kuro was the first to be knighted.
Only fitting, she thinks, for the most serious and dedicated among them to rise as the very first Commander. It's the perfect transition: pack away the old sentai uniform, trading it for elegantly fitted armor and new responsibilities. Much like the ones he used to impose on himself, but now it's real.
This may not be precisely what he was training for his entire life, but it's close enough. Closer than he ever would have gotten, before.
Obsidian armor accented with red, just like his old uniform. He even incorporated one of those long, flowing crismon scarves he so loves; it comes up high enough to hide the lower half of his face, a blaze of red underneath the helmet.
If Ryu was here, she'd joke that Kuro was stealing part of his look. If Kenta was here, she'd tease about how a knight should have a noble steed.
Such silly jokes are better left untold, anyway. The Empress of All Cosmos is nothing like the former king.
|~~~~~|
She doesn't miss them.
They all left of their own accord; Ichigo didn't drive them away, never laid a hand on them or threatened them or anything of the sort. They left quietly, quickly, slipping into the Nexus without saying goodbye. She showed more courtesy to them than they did their new ruler, simply by waiting until they had all made it through before sealing the way.
On Colombo's little planet, they found a note, messily folded with her name scrawled on one flap. She hasn't bothered to read it, or any of the other little messages the customary searches turned up. There's no time to waste on such trivalities; there's more important things to focus on. The Great Cosmos lies before her, before the Empress and her Emperor, before the rest of her loyal family...
She has no time to waste on the absent. Colombo, June and the rest chose to leave, and she only wishes them well.
|~~~~~|
Velvet looks positively regal in her namesake.
Dark shades suit her perfectly; black and blue and indigo, complimented by small bits of silver -- a sapphire brooch, or a garnet ring. She prefers unadorned chokers, however: a simple ribbon wrapped around that graceful neck. Elegant in its simplicity, particularly when set beside her Empress, a shadow cast behind the flame.
None of the other ladies have quite developed that art. Paula, perhaps, has come the closest -- but then, she's always stood out a bit among their cousins. She looks beautiful in carnation pink and cream, an understated beauty despite her slight height advantage. A flower blooming in the background, soft and unassuming.
Marcy still tries to outshine her; she never could stand not being the center of attention. Their uncle's fashion sense lives on with her, in every harlequin gown and gypsy skirt, in bangles and bracelets and bells tossed onto arms and ankles with reckless abandon. Thankfully, Ichigo's long grown accustomed to her cousin's idiosyncrasies; whatever reaction she's hoping for, she won't get it from her Empress.
The others will adjust. Surely.
|~~~~~|
Nearly two months passed before Peso even tried approaching them.
She could have ordered him to come long before then. Both she and Dipp had that power now. Either one of them could have summoned him, commanded that he grace his new Empress and Emperor with his presence, made him face them.
Neither of them wanted to, though. He had to come on his own terms, just like everyone else. They were nothing like their Uncle; they could be patient, even if the waiting made her stomach churn whenever she noted just how much time had passed.
When he finally came, Peso clearly knew just how long he'd kept them waiting. Guilt weighed down every shuffling step, dragged his gaze downward, always slightly askew. His eventual smile hardly qualified as such, implied by the vaguest crook of his lips, the way he angled his head.
Nothing would ever be the same between them, and they all knew it. Those days spent clubbing and scouring the night for a good time, just the three of them, were long gone. The Emperor had no need to wander around Earth looking for fun, and neither did she. And Peso...
It was far past time for all of them to put childish things behind them and move on.
That night, Ichigo held Dipp as he cried, finally acknowledging the crumbled remains of a friendship.
|~~~~~|
"But why, Ichigo?"
Honey still wears too much damn pink. Pastel chiffon puffs and winds around her pacing, fretting figure; she looks like she just stumbled out of a cotton candy machine. Doesn't suit her at all.
"Why, Ichigo?" and her voice trembles, quavers, on the verge of breaking, and it's all so perfectly pathetic, isn't it? Honey's playing the part of the perfect little princess, all pretty and sheltered, enjoying her fairytale life until some nasty old witch comes along and shatters it. And now the King is dead and the shards are scattered everywhere, and nothing will fit together the way it used to, never ever again.
Only Honey isn't so pretty. Storybook princesses don't have runny noses and red, swollen eyes.
"Why?" she cries, louder, like raising her voice will accomplish anything. Maybe she's hoping Ichigo will start shouting too; prove she's the same girl that argued with her all the time.
She's not.
So she sits, and lets Honey whine and wail, considering all the things she could say and how they wouldn't actually do her cousin a bit of good. How she wouldn't get it, no matter what.
'We were being used. We were being lied to. We were told we were all special and unique and had our own little places in The Great Cosmos, but our King didn't give a damn about us. We weren't special, we weren't unique, we weren't anything to him. We hardly counted as pawns, let alone family.'
'You know, Uncle would have zapped you by now.'
'Don't you get it, Honey? The Prince was turning out just like him. Nothing would've changed. Our children would've ended up slaving away under that oaf, fixing HIS mistakes, and most of us probably wouldn't have ever questioned it since WE grew up like that.'
'Sometimes you have to cut off a branch or two to save the whole tree.'
"I just felt it was time for a change," the Empress finally replies, gracing her cousin with a sweet, sweet smile.
She keeps smiling until Honey leaves the room.