Chapter Text
Lilith Kingdom: Fortified Castle
Thursday 10:46 pm
November 20, XXX
West Wing Guest Room
There was a steady knock on her door.
Three short raps in succession followed by silence and Nikki knew immediately what it meant. It was a good thing she could not sleep that night or else she might’ve been a little annoyed at being called this late, but fortunately sleep had been elusive. Of course it would be, with fresh blood on her mind and the fading warmth of Lunar’s wrist still pulsing in the palm of her hand.
Nikki shuddered at the memory as she slipped from the bed Royce had so graciously provided her with. Her travelling bus had been confiscated during the initial coop along with the rest of her wardrobe, styling recipes, and dignity. She was as she had been when she first arrived to Miraland, called forth by the mysterious Queen Nanari, that being with naught but the clothes on her back and Momo by her side. Though Nikki wished she could feel as optimistic as she had that first time. But the emotion was as elusive as her dreams.
“... Nikki?”
“They’re calling a meeting Momo,” she whispered through the dark to the slumbering cat. At least someone could enjoy rest and for that she was grateful. “I’m not sure what it’s about but I have to go.”
“This late?” He asked sleepily then his stomach grumbled. “Ooohh not sleeping makes me so… hun… gry…” Momo’s snores started back up again and Nikki had to fight a giggle. She crossed the room quietly and tucked in the tired kitty more, gently rearranging the blankets around his tiny form to better protect against the cold of the encroaching winter. She smiled down at him glad that at the very least her oldest friend was still here by her side.
The moment of warmth passed quickly however from the stab of grief that came immediately after. Nikki swallowed back a sob as tears stung at her eyes. This was not the time to be thinking about Lunar. Grieving could come later. Now they needed a plan.
She dressed quick, slipping on her signature dress not feeling quite comfortable enough to wear anything else at the moment (despite how beautiful the dresses Royce had lent her), and slipping into a pair of boots. Normally she’d pick out her favorite pair of pink heels but those were currently stored beneath the bed in favor of something more warm. Royce had said that Lilith didn’t typically get so cold; but these were not typical times.
Nikki took a moment to brush out her hair then silently crept out into the hallway, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible. The click still echoed through the empty corridor however and try as she may her footfalls still rangout. But she was alone in the West Wing, whomever had knocked on her door was long gone.
She followed the unfamiliar corridors, tracing the paths introduced to her in the day that looked so foreign and warped in moonlight. More than a few times she had second guessed herself. Was it the third left or the forth? Was it one flight of stairs down or two? The journey through the dark Lilith castle was slow going but surely she did reach her destination. Nikki sighed in relief when she saw the unassuming door at the end of a narrow passageway and approached it at a hastier pace.
She knocked once then paused, counting the ticks in her head, then knocked five times in quick succession. After a moment the door opened and she was greeted by a familiar face.
“Good, you’re here,” Hika said in a curt and serious voice. Nikki just smiled gently back at the girl as she moved to let her into the room. The door clicked shut behind them followed by the jingle of locks being turned.
The room was fairly large, wide with a low arching ceiling, and made up of mostly stone blocks carved with traditional delicate Lilith designs. At the center of the room sat a large rectangular table block where the rest of the group was gathered around quietly discussing. A map of Miraland stretched out between them.
Royce took notice of her first as Hika returned to his side. The tall prince stood up, bright strands of hair almost brushing against the low ceiling, and offered Nikki a bright smile devoid of the gloom permeating throughout the strategy room.
“Nikki!” He called jubilantly, “Welcome! My most sincere apologies for waking you at this time at night, I hope you can forgive me.”
Nikki smiled gently back at him, “It’s alright. I couldn’t really sleep much anyway.”
“Of course,” Royce replied sympathetically. “With everything going on I would not blame you. Come, come over here. We have much to discuss.” He waved his arm for her and she approached the table. She glanced around at the many familiar faces gathered there, Ace, Joe, Officer Orlando, and . . . .
“Nikki,” a feminine voice greeted. She looked over to see Kimi staring at her with soft eyes.
“Good evening Kimi,” she greeted as well. “How are you tonight?”
The young Apple Federation teen shrugged delicately, “It’s been a long night. I didn’t want to call you out but,” Kimi shot Royce a glare, “someone insisted that we wake you. I did not think it was necessary. I know things have been… difficult for you.” She clenched her pale hand and looked away.
Nikki was at a loss for words then smiled gratefully. It was always surprising to her how the young Heiress could read her so well despite having only known her for a short time. Not even Yoko or Momo had such a good read on her inner thoughts.
“Thank you Kimi,” Nikki said gratefully. “But I want to be here. I- I want to help…”
Kimi blinked at her.
“Ah,” the heiress toned. “Of course. Well, I’m glad to hear that we didn’t wake you after all, but do take care of yourself Nikki. I know things are hard right now but don’t sacrifice your health either.”
“I promise,” Nikki replied feeling warm and happy. “As long as you do too.”
“Hn.”
Nikki softly chuckled.
“Well then,” Royce spoke. “Onto business.” He leaned back down to the map and waved for Nikki’s attention, “We were discussing a few things before you came in. Here you can see,” he pointed to a group of dark green chess pieces gathered next to the border separating Cloud and Lilith marking their current occupation of the eastern country. At the center of the pieces was a single black knight. Nikki didn’t need any explanation to know that this piece represented Henry Nidhogg.
“The Northern army is not pressing forwards yet,” Royce continued. “But our spies tell us that their forces continue to build on that border. The area they’ve chosen is called Da Long Zhong and it contains the remnants of an enormous fortified stronghold left over from the Great War.”
Nikki blinked in confusion. “The Great War? Yoko told me about the Nine day War but I think this is the first time I’ve heard of this…”
“You really aren’t from here are you, Nikki?” Hika stated more than asked. “I suppose now would be as good of a time as any to explain a little of Miraland history.” She contemplated for a second before starting to explain, “The Great War… Happened long before our time. There isn’t much records left over from that chaotic period. Tell me Nikki, haven’t you ever wondered why we settle all our conflict with styling battles?”
The whole room went silent as they focused in on Nikki and her answer.
“Well… I did wonder,” Nikki began slowly. “But with my sudden appearance in this world and everything that’s happened since I suppose I did just take things in stride…” Her voice trailed off and she blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry…” She muttered.
Kimi from across the table sighed in both exasperation and fondness, “Don’t be sorry Nikki, even if you can be a little air headed at time,” the pink-haired girl blushed even harder, “but Hika is correct. Our custom of styling battles actually come from a curse placed on Miraland decades ago.”
“A curse?” Nikki asked.
“A curse may be a little too strong a term,” Kimi admitted. “A spell then. But in the most simple explanation the magic prevents people from committing acts of violence on the soil of Miraland. The Great War from what little records there are tell of numerous deaths and a collapsing society. The war did eventually end and society recovered but people did not forget those dark times. This also ties in directly with the Nine-day-war that you know of.
Close to King Sayet’s death he knew that violence would once again breakout amongst the nations and he feared another Great War. So he sent out his best warriors to search out an ancient magic and placed this spell over Miraland. Then he decreed that as a substitute our society adapted styling competitions to settle disputes. Of course, even if someone did want to commit a violent act the spell would certainly prevent them from doing so. It has been this way for decades.”
Nikki swallowed, “Ah. But…” She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say his name.
“Prime Minister Henry and Lunar?” Royce finished for her sadly.
She nodded without responding, images of sharp silver, limp blue hair, and more red than she thought possible, flashing behind her eyes.
“That is one of the things we are trying to figure out as well,” the Prince said. “But the Northern Army is terrifyingly good at concealing their secrets. Unfortunately for us, Henry is possibly the one person most familiar with Lilith inner workings and our small military aside from my sister. Any spies we have can’t get close enough due to this fact so we can gathered only surface intelligence on their forces.”
“And Apple Federation will not engage with Lilith against the Northern threat,” Kimi added grimly. “I’m not even supposed to be here right now. My nation fears, and rightfully so, that this will be yet another Great War. It’s something that has never been a reality before now and people are scared.”
“But ignoring the issue won’t make it go away,” Nikki said.
“You’re right,” the Heiress agreed. “But that doesn’t stop people from trying to ignore it. And they’ll continue to do so until the issue either goes away or becomes too large to ignore.”
“Which means Lilith is on its own,” Royce finished.
Their group fell silent again.
“Don’t mind if I step in?” Ace, who had been quiet up until this moment, spoke up. No one contested her request so she continued. “Well, fortunately we do have some good news. It turns out that Lilith has some of the best archived records in Miraland and we have found a lead on King Sayet’s spell. Orlando and I have spent the better part of two weeks looking around with his Majesty’s blessing.” She nodded gratefully towards Royce who just flashed her a charming grin.
“We found this,” she reached into her satchel and pulled out an old peeling scroll and unraveled it for the entire room to see. Nikki took in the design of what looked very much like a simple dream catcher. There were detailed notes written in an unknown language scattered across the ancient page. “We’re positive that this artifact is the source of the spell.”
Kimi frowned, “That is not in any language that I know of. What makes you so sure that this is the artifact?”
“Because,” Officer Orlando stepped in. “If you look here,” Ace handed him the parchment and he pointed to the upper right corner where very tiny scrawlings of an unknown phrase was written. “This almost hidden lettering is exactly what is carved onto King Sayet’s coffin. Now why would he have something so obscure and unknown commissioned onto his deathbed?”
Kimi still looked dubious but Ace and Orlando looked confident in their assessment.
“And of course,” the travelling swordswoman said. “The design of this artifact is pretty self explanatory.”
“Wasteland,” Royce said.
“Bingo.”
“The good Officer and I suspect that we’ll find our answers there,” she continued. “I’m willing to go look for leads but I’ll need someone to accompany me there.”
“And I can’t go,” Orlando said. “Lady Kimi was not joking when she stated that Apple Federation is staying neutral on this issue. As an officer of the military I cannot be seen getting involved.”
“Neither can the Heiress of the Apparel Group,” Joe said. “Which means also I cannot be apart of this venture.”
Nikki sensed a trend.
“I-” She began, “I could go-”
“Actually,” Royce cut in. “I have a more important job for you to take on if you truly want to give us your cooperation. Hika can accompany Ace. I know our lands problems are not yours to bear and I do not know what possessed by sister to forcefully bring you to our world but if you truly do wish to help I may know of a better use of your time.”
Kimi suddenly shot him a withering glare which the Prince pointedly ignored in favor of staring straight at Nikki.
“We’ve already talked about this Royce,” the Apple Federation Heiress hissed. “We are not doing that, it’s too dangerous-”
“Do what?” Nikki asked.
“Something reckless and foolish,” Kimi said. “It’s far too dangerous of a mission that this idiot wants to send you on!”
Royce frowned slightly, “I believe you underestimate Nikki’s raw talent. I think everyone here can agree that her styling ability is by far one of the highest in all of Miraland.” A murmur of agreement across the table, “I may even go as far as saying on the level of King Sayet himself.”
“You’re delusional,” Kimi snapped. “It doesn’t matter how good she is because it won’t change the fact that it would be a suicidal mission. We all know what he’s capable of already. This isn’t a simple styling battle, the cost of failure is too high!”
“What mission?” Nikki asked again starting to feel a little miffed at being ignored as the rest discussed her fate.
“Sorry my lady,” Royce said finally addressing her. “Lady Kimi is right that what I am about to ask of you is most perilous indeed. But I believe it could change the tide of the war about to come, perhaps even avoid conflict all together.”
“She isn’t going,” Kimi said.
“Maybe I should be the one to decide that?” Nikki asked. The silver haired heiress looked to her in shock, something akin to betrayal burning in her eyes and Nikki felt slightly guilty. But it still didn’t change the fact that if there was something she could do to help, she was going to do so. “Tell me Royce, please.”
“Of course,” he replied. “You remember when I talked about how Henry is familiar with Lilith internal workings and all our spies?” She nodded. “Well, I am asking you to use your styling skills to go incognito and infiltrate the Northern Army.”
A thick deafening silence permeated throughout the entire room.
Nikki broke it with a stutter. “I-infiltrate?” She softly squeaked in shock.
“I am confident in your abilities to do so,” Royce said nodding. “While as Prime Minister Nidhogg was capable of gathering much intelligence across all nations. I don’t doubt that he has extensive data on operatives in every country. But you. You are new to this land, he would not be familiar with you.”
“B-but I’ve met him before,” she said. “Especially w-when,” she swallowed thickly. “I was holding Lunar when it happened. He’s seen my face before.”
Royce nodded again, “He has. But I have seen your abilities. Nikki, I sincerely believe you are skilled enough to disguise yourself and successfully infiltrate their forces. We need the intelligence on them but Henry knows of too many operatives and is far too familiar with the mannerisms of Lilithians. And no one else has the same level of skills as you do who is untrained-”
“But Nidhogg could KILL her!”
Royce’s mouth snapped shut and he ogled Kimi and her sudden out of character outburst. The Heiress was heaving heavily, pale face flushed red with frustration, and her hands clenched in fists at her side.
“That’s the risk here,” Kimi snapped furiously. “He could kill her if discovered- no, he will kill her. And it would only take one little mistake, one little slip up and Nikki could die-” Her words cut off in a choke and Nikki watched with horror as the normally composed teen began to break down in sobs.
“Lady Kimi,” Joe said in alarm as he grabbed onto her shoulders to steady her.
“Kimi… Please don’t cry.”
Kimi looked up through her tears to see Nikki’s sad face staring at her. She hiccupped and tried to take several deep breaths to calm herself but it didn’t really help.
“Thank you,” Nikki said. “Thank you so much for caring about me enough to cry…”
“You,” Kimi sniffed. “You idiot. Of course, I’d cry for you. I can’t- I can’t bear the thought of something bad happening to you.”
Nikki smiled, “And that’s why I’m thanking you. It was really scary when I first came to this world but I met so many good people, good friends. Being all alone in this world with only Momo, of course I was scared, but now with all of you by my side it isn’t so lonely anymore.”
Kimi sobbed again, “That’s not helping…”
“But,” the pink-haired girl continued. “For my friends as well I have to do this.” She turned to face Royce, “I’m not sure if I’m as good as you say I am…”
“You are,” he reassured.
Nikki smiled, “... But I want to help in anyway I can. It’s scary, the thought of being surrounded and alone and being anywhere near…” Her words trailed off, “Well… I want to do this. I’m sorry Kimi,” she turned back to address the crying teen, “Thank you so much for caring about me. To all of you for watching over me and caring for me but now it’s my turn to help too. The North has to be stopped before anyone else gets hurt.” Her mind flashed to Lunar and her heart clenched with grief, “I’ll do it. I’ll infiltrate the Northern Army.”
Royce smiled a bittersweet smile as the entire room quieted down. Only the sound of Kimi’s quiet sobs filling the air. The grimness from when she first entered the room had doubled and on everyone’s faces were looks of reluctant acceptance and gloominess.
But Nikki felt determination.